evildiva
Reading "Twilight Series" has produced unhealthy e
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2006
- Messages
- 317
This is the story of a lovely lady who wanted to go back to Disney very badly. Her coworker, who loves Disney as much (or more) was all set to go and then through scheduling problems needed to back out...What will happen to our traveler? Will she make it? And just who are these people anyway? 
Cast:
Me: Katie 28, single, Disney lover, looking to get my Disney fix.
Co-Worker: Kim, ??, married with children (3 boys bless her heart), fellow Disney lover
Since May 2007 I have been itching to return to Disney. I had just returned from the House of Mouse with my best friend. We traveled to FL for a wedding and of course had to stop by for a 6 day vacation.
Two days after I returned I settled on my first house (actually a condo). With my new real estate and then the purchase of a new car, I was certain that I would not be able to travel to Disney in 2008. Then President Bush and Congress decided to grant me a $600 economic stimulus check.
Well that settled it…I decided to stimulate the economy by purchasing airline tickets and scheduling a trip for Free Dining. 
Of course Kim and I had been talking about a girls only trip for a little while and we decided that Free Dining would be the perfect opportunity. Not only would we be able to enjoy the parks, but we could eat for free, thus making this a bank account friendly trip.
I woke up early on the morning Free Dining was released to Disney Visa cardholders and called at exactly 7am. I think I was on hold for about 5 minutes, unheard of I know, and scheduled our trip for September 15th thru the 18th.
A very short trip, but since we are seasoned Disney travelers we knew that we could do exactly what we wanted in the short amount of time. No need to see everything, just the good stuff (Soarin’).
Since Kim and I are both faithful to the DisBoards, really you wouldn’t believe the amount of email that has to do with postings and not work that we trade, we already had our wish-list for dining and I was able to get all of the reservations we wanted: Whispering Canyon, Ohana, Yak and Yeti and Crystal Palace.
The following week as Southwest was getting ready to release the flight information, I decided to check in with Air Tran to see what they were offering. To my astonishment they had flights for $54 each way! We had a quick pow-wow and decided to book the trip. Since I did the Disney part, Kim offered to do the flight part. We were ready to go. I had already started stocking up on Purel, and sunblock.
Then about 3 weeks later, Kim found out that back-to-school night for two of her three boys would be during our trip.
She could not miss this time to meet the teachers, and honestly if I were her I would have done the exact same thing.
I was still going no matter what. My best friend, who traveled with me last year, just had her son so she would be unable to leave for a vacation. And honestly no one else really gets Disney like I do. Most of my friends think I’m crazy for going to the kiddie park, but us Disers understand that. Anyways, I asked my mom what she thought. The last time she had been was in 1990. She was reluctant at first but then agreed when I insisted that she needed to take a vacation for herself.
New Cast Member: Mom: ??, she’s my mom! I love her, she’s my best friend and I am very excited to spend this time with her. She has been married to my dad for 34 years and they couldn’t be happier.
Luckily Kim was able to transfer her plane tickets to my mom with just a small fee. With that, I called Central Reservations and changed the information from Kim to my mom. Signed up for Magical Express and began adjusting my touring schedule.
Since my mom hasn’t been in 18 years we had a lot of ground to cover. Also, a few years ago she had major back surgery so the roller coasters and bumpy rides would be out. (She is still going to ask her doctor if she can ride Tower of Terror). So Yak and Yeti was out, we would not be visiting Animal Kingdom due to the limited amount of time at the parks and the fact that other than Bugs Life the only thing she could do would be the shows.
So here is where my Dis-time paid off.
I used the EMH and special event calendars to determine which parks we would visit when, and then which ADRs I would make that would please both mom and myself. Here is the current schedule as it stands:
Monday September 15:
Arrive around 9am to MCO
Lunch at Everything Pop
Afternoon at MGM (hey I’m old school)
Early dinner at Kona
Evening either back at MGM or EPCOT
Tuesday September 16:
Spend the entire day at EPCOT
Dinner at Chefs de France
Wednesday September 17:
Spend the entire day at Magic Kingdom
Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern
Thursday September 18:
Early morning EMH at Magic Kingdom
Late Breakfast at Crystal Palace
6pm flight home
I made and changed several ADRs to arrive at this schedule. While I really wanted to go to Whispering Canyon on our first night, mom and I wanted to go to Kona more. Trying to get a reservation for 2 before 9pm though was proving impossible. Since April I have become a faithful Podcast listener and took the advice of Kevin (I believe) and made the reservation for 3 instead of two. Here was his reason and mine as well. Last year when I went with my best friend it was just the two of us the entire trip and not once were we sat at an actual table for two. We were always at a four top. Now I know that some people will flame me for it, but until they fix the reservation system, it is what it is.
Do not fear though, there will be a third person for dinner that first night…my Aunt Pat will be joining us for our first two days in the parks. She is my mother’s sister and lives about an hour from Disney. Since we don’t get to see each other very much, she is coming up for two days of our trip. So that third seat at Kona will be full.
With all of our plans made it was now time to start vacation shopping. I had to go out and get the basics: Purel (with purse hook), Coppertone Sunblock (with purse hook), extra Coppertone to refill the small one, travel size shampoo and conditioners, etc. There is nothing I love more than shopping for vacation! I also made my father buy my mom luggage for her birthday this year. Previously I was the only family member with real luggage, my parents always use oversized duffle bags from my dad’s boy scout camping days. Not really going to cut it for a trip to Florida when you have two women lugging it through the airport. Besides, everyone needs a nice piece of luggage for travel.
May turned into June and June turned into July. Before we knew it, it was August and my parents began dealing with a harsh reality of life…the possibility that my dad would go on strike. He works for Verizon and the CWA Union was coming to the end of its contract and things were looking bleak. We were very worried that they would go on strike, and then what would my parents do with only on income?
Thankfully, dad did not go on strike, and all is now at peace in the world.
Our Magical Express tags came the second week of August, and I was so stinking excited! I called mom right away, she seemed a little excited but kinda eh. (Still dealing with possible strike at this point). So I called the only person I knew who would be excited, Kim, my original travel partner for this trip. She was very excited for me and even sent me a picture of Cinderella’s Castle for my cell phone.
A few days ago I received our travel documents from Disney. You know with the wonderful smelling plastic folder? All of our vouchers and the cute luggage tags to keep forever and ever.
So that is where we are as of today. We leave in less than a month and I couldn't be more excited! Mom is starting to get excited too, I think she is really just ready for a vacation!
Until next time...
Cast:
Me: Katie 28, single, Disney lover, looking to get my Disney fix.
Co-Worker: Kim, ??, married with children (3 boys bless her heart), fellow Disney lover
Since May 2007 I have been itching to return to Disney. I had just returned from the House of Mouse with my best friend. We traveled to FL for a wedding and of course had to stop by for a 6 day vacation.
Two days after I returned I settled on my first house (actually a condo). With my new real estate and then the purchase of a new car, I was certain that I would not be able to travel to Disney in 2008. Then President Bush and Congress decided to grant me a $600 economic stimulus check.
Well that settled it…I decided to stimulate the economy by purchasing airline tickets and scheduling a trip for Free Dining. Of course Kim and I had been talking about a girls only trip for a little while and we decided that Free Dining would be the perfect opportunity. Not only would we be able to enjoy the parks, but we could eat for free, thus making this a bank account friendly trip.
I woke up early on the morning Free Dining was released to Disney Visa cardholders and called at exactly 7am. I think I was on hold for about 5 minutes, unheard of I know, and scheduled our trip for September 15th thru the 18th.
A very short trip, but since we are seasoned Disney travelers we knew that we could do exactly what we wanted in the short amount of time. No need to see everything, just the good stuff (Soarin’).Since Kim and I are both faithful to the DisBoards, really you wouldn’t believe the amount of email that has to do with postings and not work that we trade, we already had our wish-list for dining and I was able to get all of the reservations we wanted: Whispering Canyon, Ohana, Yak and Yeti and Crystal Palace.
The following week as Southwest was getting ready to release the flight information, I decided to check in with Air Tran to see what they were offering. To my astonishment they had flights for $54 each way!
We had a quick pow-wow and decided to book the trip. Since I did the Disney part, Kim offered to do the flight part. We were ready to go. I had already started stocking up on Purel, and sunblock.Then about 3 weeks later, Kim found out that back-to-school night for two of her three boys would be during our trip.
She could not miss this time to meet the teachers, and honestly if I were her I would have done the exact same thing. I was still going no matter what. My best friend, who traveled with me last year, just had her son so she would be unable to leave for a vacation. And honestly no one else really gets Disney like I do. Most of my friends think I’m crazy for going to the kiddie park, but us Disers understand that. Anyways, I asked my mom what she thought. The last time she had been was in 1990. She was reluctant at first but then agreed when I insisted that she needed to take a vacation for herself.
New Cast Member: Mom: ??, she’s my mom! I love her, she’s my best friend and I am very excited to spend this time with her. She has been married to my dad for 34 years and they couldn’t be happier.
Luckily Kim was able to transfer her plane tickets to my mom with just a small fee. With that, I called Central Reservations and changed the information from Kim to my mom. Signed up for Magical Express and began adjusting my touring schedule.
Since my mom hasn’t been in 18 years we had a lot of ground to cover. Also, a few years ago she had major back surgery so the roller coasters and bumpy rides would be out. (She is still going to ask her doctor if she can ride Tower of Terror). So Yak and Yeti was out, we would not be visiting Animal Kingdom due to the limited amount of time at the parks and the fact that other than Bugs Life the only thing she could do would be the shows.
So here is where my Dis-time paid off.
I used the EMH and special event calendars to determine which parks we would visit when, and then which ADRs I would make that would please both mom and myself. Here is the current schedule as it stands:Monday September 15:
Arrive around 9am to MCO
Lunch at Everything Pop
Afternoon at MGM (hey I’m old school)
Early dinner at Kona
Evening either back at MGM or EPCOT
Tuesday September 16:
Spend the entire day at EPCOT
Dinner at Chefs de France
Wednesday September 17:
Spend the entire day at Magic Kingdom
Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern
Thursday September 18:
Early morning EMH at Magic Kingdom
Late Breakfast at Crystal Palace
6pm flight home
I made and changed several ADRs to arrive at this schedule. While I really wanted to go to Whispering Canyon on our first night, mom and I wanted to go to Kona more. Trying to get a reservation for 2 before 9pm though was proving impossible. Since April I have become a faithful Podcast listener and took the advice of Kevin (I believe) and made the reservation for 3 instead of two. Here was his reason and mine as well. Last year when I went with my best friend it was just the two of us the entire trip and not once were we sat at an actual table for two. We were always at a four top. Now I know that some people will flame me for it, but until they fix the reservation system, it is what it is.
Do not fear though, there will be a third person for dinner that first night…my Aunt Pat will be joining us for our first two days in the parks. She is my mother’s sister and lives about an hour from Disney. Since we don’t get to see each other very much, she is coming up for two days of our trip. So that third seat at Kona will be full.
With all of our plans made it was now time to start vacation shopping. I had to go out and get the basics: Purel (with purse hook), Coppertone Sunblock (with purse hook), extra Coppertone to refill the small one, travel size shampoo and conditioners, etc. There is nothing I love more than shopping for vacation! I also made my father buy my mom luggage for her birthday this year. Previously I was the only family member with real luggage, my parents always use oversized duffle bags from my dad’s boy scout camping days. Not really going to cut it for a trip to Florida when you have two women lugging it through the airport. Besides, everyone needs a nice piece of luggage for travel.
May turned into June and June turned into July. Before we knew it, it was August and my parents began dealing with a harsh reality of life…the possibility that my dad would go on strike. He works for Verizon and the CWA Union was coming to the end of its contract and things were looking bleak. We were very worried that they would go on strike, and then what would my parents do with only on income?
Thankfully, dad did not go on strike, and all is now at peace in the world.
Our Magical Express tags came the second week of August, and I was so stinking excited!
I called mom right away, she seemed a little excited but kinda eh. (Still dealing with possible strike at this point). So I called the only person I knew who would be excited, Kim, my original travel partner for this trip. She was very excited for me and even sent me a picture of Cinderella’s Castle for my cell phone.A few days ago I received our travel documents from Disney. You know with the wonderful smelling plastic folder? All of our vouchers and the cute luggage tags to keep forever and ever.
So that is where we are as of today. We leave in less than a month and I couldn't be more excited! Mom is starting to get excited too, I think she is really just ready for a vacation!
Until next time...
