Girls-Only Trip ~ Old planning thread, see first post for new link

[MommyWithDreams]

Happy Weekend everyone!
Hope you all are doing well.

I've really been down in the dumps lately.....my niece and nephew left last Sunday. It was SOOOOOOO hard to say goodbye. We had such a wonderful visit so I'm thankful for that. I ended up taking them to the airport alone. I was able to get a Security pass so I could stay with them upstairs as they boarded their plane. It was really bittersweet. I knew the tears were going to come...but I didn't realize just how much. I hugged them and they started to board and my niece just lost it...then of course I completely lost it as well. Just thinking about it again gets me really upset. Anyway....we hope they make it for Christmas, but I have a feeling I won't be seeing them until June when she graduates from High School. Anyway...here's one picture with my family before I took the kids to the airport. Then another one from when the kids and I went to the park. It's really sad because I look at these pictures and I see me happy, I see like the old me. When they are not here I just feel like a piece of me is missing and I'm really empty and lost

Plans a for our December trip are starting to look gloom as well. I'm still hoping for the best.....And still keeping my fingers crossed for the Diva trip as well...only time will tell.

This weekend we have the airshow happening less than a mile from our house. We have had the jets flying over for the past week practicing. The landing strip is walking distance from our house so needless to say it's been pretty noisy around here. We woke up to some lightening and light rain this morning so I'm wondering how it's going to affect the show. We're supposed to go watch it with some neighbors tomorrow.

I'm super excited for the exchange this time...already got a couple of things! Ayden is going to be the receiver this time around since his birthday is on Halloween. Thought he'd love that.

That's all from here....just really in the dumps and when that happens I know a quick hello and visit to my DIS will help.

 

[kelmac284]

((hugs)) Janelle! I know when I used to live out of state and my mom would come visit I got SO depressed when she would leave. That was my only connection to "home" and it wasn't that I didn't like living up there but it was just me and the ex and I felt SO lonely up there and I REALLY missed my family so I SO know how you feel! Hopefully the feeling will pass quickly. Try to find something here to look forward to, to get your mood up like the exchange or something with Ayden! That always helped me!

We have our first official soccer game today and as Janelle said I woke up to rain! WEIRD! It was actually kind of nice cuz it has been SO flippin hot. So hopefully since our game isn't till 11:30 it won't be so hot! Then if everything works out we might FINALY get to see Harry Potter! Katy had some weird stomach thing yesterday and was pretty sick in the morning but she was better by yesterday afternoon and is back to her old self. My neck is still bothering me but I am taking my drugs so hopefully I can get through the day cuz I want to see the girls game and esp the movie! Something has come up EVERY time we have tried to go see it so I really want to do this.

Then Lynn has to work tonight and Shane is going to play poker with one of the guys from our soccer team tonight. So that is my day!

Not sure what is on for tomorrow. They are just having one service at church cuz it is homecoming day and they are having a potluck afterwards so not sure if we are going or not. I really want to get out and get my exchange shopping done and I desparately need a haircut and to get my oil changed in my car but I just haven't felt up to it so SOMETIME this next week I need to do all of those things.

The girls have school pics on Tues so we are supposedly going to mom's on Monday night so she can trim up their hair so they don't look like heathens.

Anyway that's bout it for me. Hope everyone has a good day and has something fun planned!

 

[DangerMouse]

Callie--I was checking out the cruise website, and there are family suites that sleep 5. I'd hope that would cost less than 2 rooms.

Hey Tina! The family size suites are actually way more expensive than doing 2 connecting rooms. The problem with the #5 is that they want an adult in each room, and you have to pay full fare for the first 2 people in each room, so we only really get a discount on 1 child. It stinks.

Donna, I am REALLY REALLY REALLY regretting not being at D23.

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

Callie, it was a gamble, being the first D23 expo. The first day we had a big presentation about the animated films by Bob Iger, who is a nice guy with a warm personality (as all the CMs say, "not like that last guy!"). The voice of the princess of Princess and the Frog sang for us and we got to see 30 min of the film. The hand-drawn animation is so beautiful, like the classic films, and there is a sequence with the villain that rivals Dumbo's surrealistic nightmare.

The story is set in the 20s in New Orleans, a fabulous setting. Great clothing and wonderful characters.

After an hour of previews and such, we got to see the Legends awards, something that is usually done in private on the studio lot. Art Linkletter was in the audience. On stage were Betty White and Robin Williams, who both gave funny speeches. The daughters of "Madame Leota" accepted for her.

Later in the day we went back to the big arena to see the presentation on Disney television. Courtney Cox, Fraiser guy, Al Bundy actor, and Patricia Heaton spoke in a panel.

Meanwhile there were a few other choices for talks and of course the Dream store was a big deal for collectors, especially Vinylmation collectors. I think more people may become V collectors after they see how cute the special D23 expo exclusive is.

So we were quite happy with the day, even though the exhibition floor seemed dead on Thursday. Several people, all from out of town, were disappointed that day. It really helped if you came with someone because you could coordinate waiting in lines, etc. It also helped that our hotel was right next to the center, although if you had a car you could put your cell phones or bags in your car during the day.

Yes, cell phones and cameras were strictly banned and an elaborate system set up for checking them in. We are also wanded as we enter. It was the right thing to do, it would have been flash city with cameras.

Even after the incredible presentation yesterday, we met one very nice guy (who gave me his voucher for a pocket thingy that I missed - you have to be there before 8 to get all the vouchers) from out of state with his wife. They were still disappointed and wished they hadn't of come.

The worst moment was a crowd crush in the hallways leaving the arena that would make even a non-claustrophobe claustrophobic, but if you didn't check a cell phone, you could have avoided that. Vicki told me she was not taking her phone today, which is smart.

Janelle, wonderful photos - what a beautiful family you have. Steph, am going to PM you about recovery info. About Alaska, it's the only cruise we've ever done (request of my MIL). To not have to pay for the single supplement, (gettig two rooms), we got a mini mini "suite" and put three of us in it. I think we picked Princess because they had those rooms that worked for three. Lucky I like my MIL!

 

[disney-inspired]

Good afternoon!
I don't kno w what I'm going to do today. All of my roomies are out for the day. One is at home, one is hiking with friends and one is in Whittier trying out for a play. No dorm events this weekend but coming up this week they are having movie night and a "how well do you know your roommate" event in the MPR.

I actually think I'm going to the gym today a big shocker for me. So one of the cutbacks of living on a mostly commuter school is that there isn't much of a campus life on the weekends. Gotta figure a way to do something about that!

SO, anyways back to Disney!
I have to wait just a little bit longer to see the hours for my birthday. That sucky part is that I have school on my birthday

 

[mommaU4]

Hi everyone. Wow, super quiet here on the boards lately.

Donna, D23 sounds awesome! I saw the youtube of Capt. Jack coming out and it looked really cool. Glad you all had such a great time.


Tracey, your birthday sounded like so much fun!! I'm so jealous, but happy you got to spend your day there.


Janelle, I'm sorry you are missing your family. I think you should make plans for another get together for the holiday. If it means that much to you and makes you that happy, then you simply must find a way to make it happen.


Cristabel, hope your weekend is going well and you found something to entertain you!


Rochelle, glad to hear you are feeling a bit better. Hang in there.


Kelly, we actually had a few rain drops here today too!! Not that it cooled us down at all. We were still close to 100 degrees today.


Tina, I need to start saving for our Alaskan cruise too! This ladies trip in February will be my last one. Someone else will have to take over planning for the next one. I'll be eating PB&J and saving for our cruise. LOL


Callie, so are you going to book the cruise?? Yesterday I spent an hour at AAA talking over the Alaska cruises. The lady I spoke with was a huge Disney fan. She was born the year DL opened and grew up in Anaheim. She said the best thing for us to do was to book the cruise on the 28th when it opens up just to have a spot and in the meantime continue researching other Alaskan cruises.

She said she anticipates the Disney Alaska cruise will be much higher priced than any other cruise lines with the same itinerary. And they all do pretty much follow the same schedules. She said since demand will be high, and it will most likely sell out quickly they can charge more. She did say that in the past the deposit has been high, but fully refundable, so if we book it but then decide later on it's not worth paying almost double just for a "Disney" cruise, we can cancel and use either Princess or Royal Caribbean which were her second choices for families.

And she did say it's better for us to get two staterooms versus paying more for a suite. I want the cheapest room possible!! LOL I don't plan on being in it much. I want to see the ship and Alaska, not the inside of my room.
Anyway, I cannot decide what to do. I have a feeling the DCL cruise will still be too high for us. Unfortunately. We'll probably end up with an Royal Caribbean cruise. But, as long as I get to see Alaska, it's all good.



OKay, enough babbling from me. haha. Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. TTYL!!!

 

[disney-inspired]

I just finished looking at the concept art for the Fantasyland expansion at WDW and I'm so excited for it! Now I don't mind waiting a couple of years to plan my next trip but then again I kind of have to anyways

Here's a link to the ideas and art

 

[mommaU4]

I just finished looking at the concept art for the Fantasyland expansion at WDW and I'm so excited for it! Now I don't mind waiting a couple of years to plan my next trip but then again I kind of have to anyways

Here's a link to the ideas and art

I saw that on Callie's FB page!!! I'm so excited.

OKay, so now I'm planning an Alaskan cruise for May 2011, and a WDW/Universal trip for November 2012. Guess I'd better get a job!

 

[mommaU4]

Good morning everyone!!! (Anyone??? lol)

I was up way to stinkin early this morning. Ruben had to work since he'd taken Friday off, so I woke up when he left at 6:20. Now I'm ready to go back to bed.

Hope you all have a good Sunday.

 

[21yankees]

Morning! I'm here.

I'm camped out in my room. I doing alot of and . Hopefully in the next few days I'll be able to be on my feet for more than a few minutes at a time. I have a busy couple of weekends coming up so I need to be ready to go. That last weekend of this month we're going apple picking and to a Greek festival. The weekend after that we're going to Disney on Ice. And then the following weekend is Rhys's Birthday and we don't have a clue as to what we're going to do.

Okay I'm done rambling...

I am definetly ready for this trip!

steph

 

[lisadoll93]

Good Morning Ladies!!!

Hope everyone is doing well. We are just counting down the days..... I am not sure what I going to do when we get back because I won't be able to pull the Mickey card to get the kids to clean

I ordered with Vons for the first time today for delivery. Keeping my fingers crossed that it works.

 

[BillyFan]

Good morning!

So I was all over the Alaska cruise, but since I saw the WDW Fantasyland expansion, I'm all about going there! I think I need to become a travel writer or something, so I can take all these trips!

Lisa. I've used Vons delivery before, and it's worked perfectly. I had it delivered to Hojos, and the hotel staff put it in my fridge when I was in the park.

Steph--I hope your foot heals up real fast!

 

[kelmac284]

Well I got my exchange shopping done! WHEW! One thing down! Plus the girls are going to a slumber party next Saturday so I was able to get that gift bought as well! So I am glad to be done with that! Still have to get a haircut and my oil changed but at least I got half my list of "to do's" accomplished so that is good!!

We went to subway yesterday after soccer and Shane and I had the same kind of sandwhich and we BOTH had stomach issues all yesterday and he is still not feeling that hot today. I didn't sleep well at ALL last night and neither did Shane. He didn't get home from the poker tournament till 1 and ended up sleeping on the couch because he was using the bathroom so much and didn't want to disturb me but little did he know I was up myself! LOL.

NOT a good night for either of us! But needless to say I don't know now if we are going to make it to HP. UGH! SOMEONE does NOT want us to go to that movie! I am telling you. EVERY time we try to go something like this happens. And next weekend we have to clean because my friend is coming out from Pittsburgh the following Thur for my uncle's party.

I watched all the stuff about D23 and NOW I wish I had joined. If for nothing else I would have liked to have gone to the expo. THat looked amazing! Plus I am SO excited about all the new changes! Fantasyland at DW really NEEDS an overhaul! We usually only go over 3 years and had NO trip planned for the first time since we have gone over the last 9 but now I have something to shoot for! Not saying we might not go before then but I would like to hold out and go when all that is completed. That looks SO fun!

I just wish my girls were going to still be a little younger. I just hope they don't think it is "dumb" by then. They will be in jr high by then. I know "I" will love it though!!

Anyway not sure what's going to happen the rest of the day yet but it's not looking good!

 

[disney-inspired]

Good morning!
I woke up super late because I went to bed SUPER late. I just cleaned the bathroom and started to make lunch. I'll tidy up my room later. It's hard to keep it clean when I use it a lot.

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

Hi ladies!! Those I've met and those I look forward to meeting! I am on my iPhone waiting for my last panel at d23. Lasseter will talk with imagineers about pixar in the parks. It is an hour and a half away and we've been given vouchers and put in a special holding room. It is carpeted so everyone is on the floor, most doing what I'm doing.

Lasseter spoke earlier and showed new clips of toy story 3 (new toys voiced by Whoopie and other actors), and tinkerbell (direct to video. Looked fantastic) Rapunzel, and more of Princess and the Frog. It was a song by am alligator. The music is so good. I am now interested in the special Disney studios screening as they are offering some fun stuff after (will have to do more research on that). If you have a young daughter this sounds worth it (she says after almost fainting seeing her Disney visa bill-need to do some creative financing there).

Crowds are managable and I have never waited for a bathroom here. Met some nice people from various boards. I still need to hit the vinyation trading game and see the resorts exhibiton before I leave.

Stacielee they were selling wii toy story here but I found out today. And of course they are all out. Hopefully amazon will be delivering on Tuesday, the official release.

Sorry for any typos. I missed the parks presentation (yesterday) so all I know is what's online.

Beth are you 100 percent now?

 

[cccdisney]

Good afternoon all! What a crazy day so far!
Anyway I need to research this FantasyLand expansion at WDW. I saw Callies link on FB but didn't watch it yet. (Maybe because my 10 yo was too interested in watching the StarTours announcement! )
We are going to WDW in Nov 2010 and I don't want to postpone it!
That Alaska cruise really looks tempting too! Too bad we didn't have a money Tree!
Someday we will go on that cruise though.

 

[toocherie]

Hi girls--I'm HOOOOOOMMMEEE.

Don't have much time but wanted to say had a fun DLR weekend. Worked in a booth all day Sat. at the D23 expo--didn't get to see much else. But loved seeing Donna, Linda, Bree, Vicki, and some others.

See ya all later gators!

 

[BillyFan]

It really is quite around here lately!

We've had a super-lazy movie watching day today. We started with The Secret Life of Bees, which we hadn't seen before and really liked. Then we moved on to Bridgette Jones, and now Love, Actually. I've been doing laundry, sorting pictures, making shopping lists, etc while watching the movies, so I'm not totally useless today! Marty says That Thing You Do will be our next feature presentation.

I hope everybody is having a great Sunday!!!

 

[QueenDoOver]

Hi Ladies! Man is it hot here for this time of year. Not sure if I mentioned it, but I don't like heat. That's why I love the NW. Callie, did you bring this with you?? Speaking of which, did you see the Mukilteo Fireworks last night?

Donna, sounds like a really great time at D23. I'm so glad you're enjoying it and got to go back for another day. Cheryl, sounds like a great time for you too

Life is only going to get more hectic for me. Just found out that my nonprofit that I helped start got the grant that I applied for to start a new program here in the state to reduce loss to follow up for newborn hearing screening. I am thrilled that we got the funding, but now I really feel the pressure to make it happen. Life obligations are important, but geesh, when will I have time to dis??

okay, off to update my pretrip report, so chat with you all later.

 

[jordansmomma]

Hmmm what is this about Fantasy Land??? We are going to WDW Dec 2010.