FRIENDS, PHOTOGRAPHS, and Birthday FUN! 3/3 30 Day Photo Challenge Day 21

[-Hope-]

Hi all! I can't believe I'm starting a PTR for a trip that is nearly two years away but I just had to cancel our trip for this year and I NEED a way to get my Disney (and disboards) fix. So here I am.

A little bit about me...

I am generally the photographer and don't have pics of me alone so you get this family shot a PP photographer took with my camera. I've been married to a wonderful guy for 16 years and we have two great kids that I stay home with and homeschool. We took a family trip to Disney last September, you can read all about that in the TR linked in my sig.

When it comes to planning I can get a little obsessive. I love pouring over menus and park maps, I love looking at crowd predictions and park hours. For me half the fun of Disney is PLANNING for Disney. I love to travel and go lots of other places besides Disney and always have a fabulous time no matter where I go. But no place is as much fun to plan for as Disney. This is largely due to the Disboards. There is so much information here AND I get to have a place to share my crazy obsessive plans with other people and read about their crazy obsessive plans as well.

A little about this trip...
Honestly I don't know much at this point because it's so far away. What I do know is that one of my bestest friends evah, Karen (twoboysnmygirl) wants a girls trip for her birthday in a couple of years- no husbands, no kids. So we have Feb 23-25, 2013 marked on our calenders to celebrate Karen's big day (albeit a little early) WDW style.

I shamelessly stole this picture from her PTR...

Karen is just as obsessive about planning as I am (ahem, she is the REASON I'm obsessed with Disney). We are both also photographers and are looking forward to a trip where we can take tons of pics without any kids (or husbands) whining for us to hurry up.

As you can tell from Karen's pic we do enjoy indulging in the adult beverages and a sans kids trip will not only include lots of pics but also margaritas, grey goose slushies, and plenty o' wine.

We don't know yet where we'll be staying but we know it will be somewhere fabulous. Since we're each only buying tickets and food for one person and splitting the cost of a room we can afford to stay somewhere that would be beyond the budget for a family trip. We're thinking Boardwalk or Beach Club. Anyone have any thoughts on these two resorts?

I like the idea of Boardwalk because we can walk to WS when we're partaking in those adult beverages I mentioned earlier. It also looks like a fun atmosphere with the street performers. The clown slide is absolutely horrifying though.

I like the idea of Beach Club because, well, the beach. Relaxing by the water with my toes in the sand at the end of a day full of touring sounds fabulous.

We haven't discussed how we'll get there yet. I think it will depend on airline and gas prices at the time.

So, that's it so far. Welcome to the mad house!

Disney Planning TOC
Karen's intro
Decisions, decisions... resort talk
More resort talk...
And even more resort talk...
Yes, we're still talking about resorts...
Stay with me folks, we'll have a decision soon... I think!
FINALLY, we have a winner!
This trip is all about the pictures!
Castle photo ops
Shooting around AK- no not THAT kind of shooting, with a camera, sheesh!
Karen's castle photo ops
More photog talk... World Showcase
Priorities, priorities... where will we EAT?
I can't believe we have it all planned out a year and a half in advance...
How much time do we really need? And re-thinking resorts... again?
Karen's wants
Hope's wants



Disney Days (Themed food, decorations and activities for the kiddos- just because.)
Mad Tea Party
Tangled
Kim Possible
Phineas and Ferb
NOT a Disney day but worth sharing- Kya's birthday party!
Lilo and Stitch


Other Vacation Planning/Trip Reporting TOC
Countdown to Chicago!
We MUST have some custom shirts for our trip!
Journal pages for the kiddos
Chicago touring plans Day 1
Day 1 changes- already!
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4- Final day
A few Chicago related details...
Completed shirts
Chicago TR: Amtrak and checking into our hotel
Chicago TR: Rainforest Cafe
Chicago TR: American Girl Place
Chicago TR: American Girl Cafe
Will we EVER get to Legoland??
Legoland!
Field Museum and Oak Street Beach
Navy Pier

 

[Pixiedust530]

WooooHoooo! I'm first!

So glad that you are done sulking and are ready to rejoin us crazies here on the DIS! It is so hard to stay away! WOW...a girls trip...no hubbies & no kids! Sounds FANTABULOUS!!!!

I can't wait to hear more!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

WOOT!!

Ok, first off, I'll be nice and let you have GREEN Hope, I'll use purple for my posts. See what a good friend I am???

Secondly, you are cruel, cruel to post my drunken pic as my intro pic!

Third, (b/c there has to be a third) the end of Feb. 2013 is when they'll have the Princess 1/2 marathon, it's just about a week or so before my 40th Birthday and I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to run the Princess 1/2!! I have plans to run it in 2012, but not sure we'll go there as Rey wants to save and go to Germany.

Here is a PROPER picture of me at Disney, thank-you-very-much!

Oh wait, that's me drinking again!

You know Hope, I have a drunken picture of YOU too, remember the wine tasting?!?!? I may have to use that as blackmail! No matter, I'm sure we'll both have some pics after this trip.

I know it seems far away, but it will fly, so I'm all for starting a PTR 1 3/4 years in advance!!!!!

Proper picture of me after doing my second favorite thing to drinking at Disney...EATING! At Tusker House in 2009...

I'm not a lush, I swear!

 

[-Hope-]

I'm sure you have no evidence of me drunk because as I recall YOU were the one getting rowdy when we stopped to eat.

 

[Parla]

When it comes to planning I can get a little obsessive. I love pouring over menus and park maps, I love looking at crowd predictions and park hours. For me half the fun of Disney is PLANNING for Disney. I love to travel and go lots of other places besides Disney and always have a fabulous time no matter where I go. But no place is as much fun to plan for as Disney. This is largely due to the Disboards. There is so much information here AND I get to have a place to share my crazy obsessive plans with other people and read about their crazy obsessive plans as well.

Hooray to no more sulking! I love planning the trips too. I planned a trip to Chicago and it was so hard without an entire message board to help me. However the Dis still came through and gave me lots of tips when I asked for them.

We don't know yet where we'll be staying but we know it will be somewhere fabulous. Since we're each only buying tickets and food for one person and splitting the cost of a room we can afford to stay somewhere that would be beyond the budget for a family trip. We're thinking Boardwalk or Beach Club. Anyone have any thoughts on these two resorts?

I like the idea of Boardwalk because we can walk to WS when we're partaking in those adult beverages I mentioned earlier. It also looks like a fun atmosphere with the street performers. The clown slide is absolutely horrifying though.

I like the idea of Beach Club because, well, the beach. Relaxing by the water with my toes in the sand at the end of a day full of touring sounds fabulous.

I personally didn't like BWI because it had no QS. The best you could do was walk outside and get a hotdog from the street vendor. Not exactly what my kid needed when she was feeling sick. But, for two adult party girls it might be fun!

WOOT!!
Here is a PROPER picture of me at Disney, thank-you-very-much!

I'm not a lush, I swear!

You two have convinced me that on my trip around the world during the food and wine festival I shall make my dear hubby photograph me with every adult beverage I partake of. I may start a scrapbook when I get home.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

A drunken scrapbook! PERFECT!

That picture brings back some fun memories. I had just had my first Disney meltdown on our 4th day of commando EMH touring (our first trip with a friend) and I was working with 4 hours sleep when I broke down like a sobbing baby...my friend took me right over to Mexico and got me a margarita, you can see I'm all splotchy from crying still!!! (and it was blazing hot)

 

[-Hope-]

Hooray to no more sulking! I love planning the trips too. I planned a trip to Chicago and it was so hard without an entire message board to help me. However the Dis still came through and gave me lots of tips when I asked for them.

I'm planning a trip to Chicago this summer as well. I found all of the info I wanted through google but it just wasn't as much fun as being on the dis. I even joined a family vacation forum but it is just NOT the same.

You two have convinced me that on my trip around the world during the food and wine festival I shall make my dear hubby photograph me with every adult beverage I partake of. I may start a scrapbook when I get home.

LOVE IT!

A drunken scrapbook! PERFECT!

That picture brings back some fun memories. I had just had my first Disney meltdown on our 4th day of commando EMH touring (our first trip with a friend) and I was working with 4 hours sleep when I broke down like a sobbing baby...my friend took me right over to Mexico and got me a margarita, you can see I'm all splotchy from crying still!!! (and it was blazing hot)

I cried on my first trip too but no one got me a margarita! There will be NO crying on our trip! We will have a magical time dammit!

 

[Parla]

That picture brings back some fun memories. I had just had my first Disney meltdown on our 4th day of commando EMH touring (our first trip with a friend) and I was working with 4 hours sleep when I broke down like a sobbing baby...my friend took me right over to Mexico and got me a margarita, you can see I'm all splotchy from crying still!!! (and it was blazing hot)

Ah, now that I look at it again I can see you were crying. Thank goodness you were in the World Showcase and not MK.

I cried on my first trip too but no one got me a margarita! There will be NO crying on our trip! We will have a magical time dammit!

Pretty sure I've cried there too. Especially last time when we all got sick and I realized that I once again would not get to eat my way around the World.

 

[DrMomof3]

Hope,
I am SO happy to see you starting a new PTR!!!! I've missed you and I love your updates. You and Karen have so many wonderful ideas and such a great energy!

Amanda

 

[-Hope-]

Pretty sure I've cried there too. Especially last time when we all got sick and I realized that I once again would not get to eat my way around the World.

I think there's just something about the combination of expectation, heat, exhaustion and adrenaline that can produce tears at WDW. Thank goodness it's usually short lived!

Hope,
I am SO happy to see you starting a new PTR!!!! I've missed you and I love your updates. You and Karen have so many wonderful ideas and such a great energy!

Amanda

Thanks Amanda!

 

[DrMomof3]

What about YC? It has a slightly more "adult" feel to it compared to BC or BW but still shares all the cool amenities of BC. It's in between BC and BW so you're still super close to Epcot but also a bit closer to DHS. My DH and I loved it for our adult-only trip.
One other thought is to price the Swan/Dolphin. You don't get DME but you get everything else that resort guests get. I've heard the rooms are lovely but priced a bit better than deluxe Disney resorts.

Amanda

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

We'll have to look into YC! I like the look of BC and really want to be able to walk to Epcot...but we should also consider AKL and Contemporary...Ooooh, and the Poly!!!!!! This may be my only chance to stay Deluxe b/c we're splitting the cost, so we should go for it!

 

[-Hope-]

What about YC? It has a slightly more "adult" feel to it compared to BC or BW but still shares all the cool amenities of BC. It's in between BC and BW so you're still super close to Epcot but also a bit closer to DHS. My DH and I loved it for our adult-only trip.
One other thought is to price the Swan/Dolphin. You don't get DME but you get everything else that resort guests get. I've heard the rooms are lovely but priced a bit better than deluxe Disney resorts.

Amanda

Thanks for those suggestions- we will definitely have to look into those!

We'll have to look into YC! I like the look of BC and really want to be able to walk to Epcot...but we should also consider AKL and Contemporary...Ooooh, and the Poly!!!!!! This may be my only chance to stay Deluxe b/c we're splitting the cost, so we should go for it!

I agree- AKL is so beautiful and so is the Poly. The Poly is definitely more expensive than BC or BW but with a 40% pin code I'm sure one of us will get it's totally doable.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

BC has counter service, right?

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

On the other hand...if we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter, think how much more money we would have for drinks?!??

 

[-Hope-]

On the other hand...if we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter, think how much more money we would have for drinks?!??

I knew we were friends for a reason.

 

[-Hope-]

Those of you who followed my other PTRs know that Karen and I love to have Disney fun whenever we can. When we can't be at WDW we bring the fun to us by having Disney themed days with our kids (we pretend this is for the kids, shhhh don't tell them it's really for us). We do this every couple of weeks and will do one soon but in the meantime I thought I'd share some pics of someone else's Disney fun. Yesterday our girls attended a birthday party for one of their good friends and the theme was Alice in Wonderland. Our friend Trisha, the birthday girl's mom, went ALL out with the theming of this party.

The girls dressed up and had a mad tea party outside...

Then they came in to a table full of sweet treats...

Then they played Pin the Smile on the Cheshire Cat...

They even borrowed a kitten from the birthday girl's grandma and renamed her Dinah for the day (pictured here with the birthday girl's little brother)...

Such a fun day... and for once I didn't have to plan, shop, cook or clean up!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I DREAMT about resorts last night!!! This choice seems way harder than when it's me and my family. I think b/c we are limited by money when it's the whole family, but staying at a Deluxe is possible with just me, myself, and I! (and Hope!)

So, I'm torn b/c I love the look of Poly, but REALLY love the look/feel of CBR. Poly has the transportation I really crave though. With such a short trip, I really don't want to spend my time on buses, and we will most likely fly...then again, out of the Deluxes, Poly looks the best to me...but it's one of the most expensive!

So is the $200+ that I will spend on Poly worth it not to ride buses from CRB everywhere???

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

I'm here, Hope! It is so great that you're taking a girl's trip - you're going to have so much fun! I like the idea of POFQ so that there's more money for drinking but since this is a trip without husbands or kids, it makes sense to splurge on deluxe accommodations. I'm so excited for you guys!

 

[Tink-erin-belle]

I DREAMT about resorts last night!!! This choice seems way harder than when it's me and my family. I think b/c we are limited by money when it's the whole family, but staying at a Deluxe is possible with just me, myself, and I! (and Hope!)

So, I'm torn b/c I love the look of Poly, but REALLY love the look/feel of CBR. Poly has the transportation I really crave though. With such a short trip, I really don't want to spend my time on buses, and we will most likely fly...then again, out of the Deluxes, Poly looks the best to me...but it's one of the most expensive!

So is the $200+ that I will spend on Poly worth it not to ride buses from CRB everywhere???

I've been known to dream about different aspects of a Disney trip myself. Personally, for a quick trip I would pay for the convenience of staying at a monorail resort. Especially Poly! I love it there! CBR is very nice, but I say live it up on this trip!