I can't believe we're still in one piece! A GG TR - updated 3/19/09 !

[BarbieGal457]

Hi my fellow DISers! This is my first ever try at a pre-trip/trip report! I hope I interest at least one of you guys!

Anyway, onto the story.

One hot June weekend, in an inflatible kiddie pool in a small South Philadelphia back yard, myself and three friends were discussing a past trip to the World last January. Only two of us had gone (myself and..the "friend"), and the other couple was now dying to go. We tossed the idea back and forth, until finally, the last week in July, it was decided - we were definitely going to the World! After a few Facebook messages and asking all around, we've come to be known as the as-of-now-nameless Grand Gathering!

I'll get on to the cast in a bit, but here are the basics:

8 friends
6 couples..and one sort-of..I'll fill that in too!
2 rooms at Pop Century, January 3-10, 2009
7 day MYW + Park Hopper


THE CAST

Me: I'm Natalie, and I turned 20 in June. I'm a college student from Philadelphia, and am majoring in sports management (awesome, I know!). It's pretty nice being one of the few girls in a male-dominated major, but a bit crazy at times. I absolutely love the World! This upcoming trip will be my 10th! As a child, I had gone quite a few times, until my trip when I stayed at the Days Inn Suites. On the way home, I thought I choked on a piece of food, and refused to eat. I was put on a liquid diet for more than a year, and would often go to Disney World as a way to reward my progress, and to give me an escape from my stress- and anxiety-filled life. It's true, I was always quite anxious as a child, and still am today. For the past six years, I've suffered greatly with my health. I rarely am able to eat, and have had the gamut of tests run on me. As I write this, I've had two in the past 24 hours, and have another next week. Planning this trip is one of the only things keeping me sane right now! Besides Disney, I looove baseball and shopping. I'm an anal trip planner (it definitely runs in the family!) and the mastermind behind everything.

Mike: He and I had been going out for almost three years before ending things and remaining friends. He went to Disney for his first time back when we went in January of 2008. He's also a college student, and a year older than I am. We're still quite close, and see each other mostly day. We haven't ruled out getting back together, so we'll see where things take us. He was either petrified or bored of every ride, and this resulted in me telling him I was going to drive to the Everglades and throw him in the swamp with the gators. He also took a dive at the BoardWalk, and now has a Mickey-shaped scar. Serious. I'll post the YouTube later when I find it.

Lauren is a close friend of both me and Mike, and is Lou's girlfriend. She is absolutely insane, and along with Lou (and their pool), we came up with the idea to go to WDW. She hasn't been there since she was 11, and couldn't be more excited! Even though we're very close, this is the first time we're going anywhere further than Wildwood down the Jersey Shore!

Lou is Lauren's boyfriend, and also a close friend of me and Mike. He, too, hasn't been there for many years, and helped come up with the idea to go. He's an absolutely amazing hockey player, and would probably be pro if he was a bit taller. Up for anything, and my roomate on this trip, along with Laur. Lou, Laur and Mike all graduated a year ahead of me, from the same school, and Gianna (below) graduated a year after me.

Jessy is Laur's work friend. We've gone to Wildwood for Memorial Day Weekend with her before, but never anywhere else. She's a nice girl, and cannot wait for this trip. Her one and only request was "the under the sea restaurant!". Request granted! More on that later. Kinger is her boyfriend.

Gianna also works with Jessy and Laur. She is Lou's cousin as well. We're all one big loving family! I've known her about six years, but we've never gone away together. Frank is her boyfriend, who I've met once (eek!) but knowing the sweet girl she is, I have no worries.

That's all for my first post - park plans and ADRs to come shortly!!

Hope someone enjoys

ADRs & Park Schedule!
Random Babbling, Pt. I
We can fly! We can fly! We can fly!
T-minus 80 days...
World Series, Pt. I: No Way.
World Series, Pt. II: Title or Bust!!
World Series, Pt. III: The Finale: Partyin' Like It's 1980 !!
One Month and Counting..
ONE WEEK !!
IT'S TIME TO GOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
On the Road Again...
We're Late! We're Late! We're Late for an Important Date!!
Donovan McNabb crashes the party.
Thrills&Spills at DHS!

 

[BarbieGal457]

Seems I have no readers yet It's ok, I shall lumber on, as I realize it's probably quite early that I've started one. In happier news, we put down the deposit this past weekend on the rooms! Locked in, woohoo!!

On to ADRs!!

I've never been quite the ADR fanatic. When I was little my parents did all the work, of course. When I went in 2006, we had a ton, but I waited until probably 6 weeks before to make them (and I got them all!). In 2008 we had none, since my guy friends wanted to cook at the condo - I hated the idea, and it took away precious park hours every day. This year, however, we're back with the program again!

This is what we have planned so far, along with our park schedule (based on EMH and who's open latest each day):

Saturday 1/3/09: 7:40pm dinner at Tony's Town Square. I've never eaten here yet, although I'd planned to in 06, but we cancelled at the last second. We arrive on this day, so I figured by then we'll either be settled in (or leave our bags there and go right to the park), do some attactions, and be starved. I figured it also gives us ample time to enjoy the park in the later hours.

Sunday, 1/4/09: edited 9/19/08: Ohana. Today is EPCOT day. Usually, I have a tradition where I spend the first night there at EPCOT, and do MK the next day. Because of EMH however, I've flip-flopped them. I'm also hoping to see the icicle lights on the castle if they have them again! I'm going to try to bribe everyone to eat at Cantina de San Angel at some point during the day, now that I scheduled a character meal at Ohana. My ex and I ate there in January just randomly, and although there were no seats, we sat on the huge ledge around the back of the building. It was so nice and relaxing just to stare out at the water and share a meal. We missed Illuminations on this trip, although this would have been a lovely viewing spot. We'll most likely go back to the resort to relax and swim this night, as I'm sure we'll be extremely exhausted.

This is only one of two breakfasts, and both are character. I figure the character aspect 1. gives us a reason to get up more!, 2. makes it easier on character hunting later, and 3. is a fun way to start our trip. This breakfast is at 9:30, and I figure, I adore the Poly, and want everyone else to see it, and we can just hop the monorail over to EPCOT. I'm just so excited!!

Monday, 1/5/09: 6:30pm dinner at Sci-Fi Dine-In Theatre. You guessed it, Studios day! I tried to make our meals for later because I know we'll be munching on quick stuff early on, and none of us are really huge eaters, so it'll give us some time to work up a hunger. Also, I think we're all too scared to eat and then do ToT (I sit that baby out..my fear concentrated as one ride! A huge drop! ) and RnRC (my absolute favorite!). It also gives us time to see shows, etc. Since we're 8 people, we have to be split into two cars, which I don't mind so much. I think we may do Universal City Walk this night, just to see what it's like. Out of the 8 of us, 2 - myself and Gi - are under the age of 21. We'll have to take two cabs here, so I'm hoping this isn't astronomical.

Tuesday, 1/6/09: 9pm dinner at Raglan Road. This is now a free day. I'm going to leave this day open til we get there, and see what they want to go back and do. I'm thinking I might be able to shimmy them over to DHS again in the afternoon to catch Fantasmic, and then head on out to Raglan Road. We're hitting up Downtown Disney this night, and since some of our group is Irish, I figured a pub would be pretty cool, and something different. I usually hold off my huge shopping haul til the end of the trip, but I might do it this night, just in case we don't make it back here.

Wednesday, 1/7/09 -edited 9/6/08: Chef Mickey's for dinner at 7:05pm. No longer an open day. Today is Animal Kingdom, and usually I forget to eat when here. I kind of feel bad eating meat in front of the animals! And the straws gross me out to noooo end. I understand they're that way so the animals can digest them if they eat them, but, I just can't bring myself to drink from it. We're also doing the BoardWalk this night. So in order to get to Chef Mickey's for the reservations I just made, I plan to move the gang along this path: AK until about 1:30 or so; back to POP to swim, nap, shower, etc; back to AK until maybe 6ish since its EMH; over to the Contemporary to eat; over to MK to get the bus to the BoardWalk; from there, DTD to get the POP bus, and then finally home! Unless they want to take cabs, but we'll need like 3-4 of them! I also plan to haul the gang over for the Kitchen Sink .

Thursday, 1/8/09: 8:05am breakfast at Crystal Palace. A super super early day, but none of us sleep late anyways. I also figure this is going to provide an amazing picture opportunity (since I took 2,000+ photos last trip...yes, really). This is also our only character breakfast. We plan to spend all day here, and I figure it's enough time between Saturday and today to want to relive some things, etc, and catch what we missed then, and redo things in daylight. If I don't do Splash Mountain then, I'm going to try it now. This is another one that terrifies me. One of the few Disney rides I've never done. I feel like rides are so much safer in Disney hahaha! Tonight is another free night, during which I'm hoping to go back to Downtown Disney and do my usual arm-breaking shopping haul.

Friday, 1/9/08: 8:55pm dinner at Coral Reef. Another EPCOT day. I'm sure there's thing we'll want to do again, and this time I definitely want to allot enough time for World Showcase. Last time, it took our friends forever to get out of bed, and then they waited 2+ hours for pictures to be developed, so my ex and I went off and were forced to rush thru it in under 3 hours. This is the night we stumbled upon the Cantina. I made our dinner reservations based on J's request of "the under the sea restaurant with the fish!". I'm hoping sooo much we're able to get a table next to the fish tanks. I've always wanted to eat here, so I'm really excited, even though The Boy can't stand fish and will probably complain of the smell. I tried to make it very late so we can enjoy the whole day. This is the final hoorah, very sadly . My cousin was proposed here in January of 2007, by a guy holding a sign under the water. Does anyone else have Boy Meets World flashbacks at EPCOT? .. Unfortunately, this is our last night in the World.

Saturday, 1/10/09: quick breakfast at POP food court. So not exactly an ADR, but I like to make myself think that we're still doing stuff this day, even though we're really going home! I can't even bear to think about this day, so I don't.

All in all, we have a ton of stuff already done. We're booking our flight sometime within the week, which I hope isn't much drama, since I'm only booking for me and the ex, and the rest have to get on the same flight on their own. I simply can't charge $2,000+ to my parents' credit cards. After this I'll set up Magical Express, and then all we need are our tickets, which we're going to buy at the local Disney Store in December.

Sidenote but...

Does anyone else feel that when you're on the phone with Disney, and you're in a room-only type ressie, they try to talk you into adding the package? It makes sense, yes, but one thing that really turns me off is pushy sales pitches. I was schooled for 10 minutes on the perks of the Dining Plan (which I did in 06) and then on a separate call asked "Well, don't you need park tickets?!" I told them we're poor college students and are receiving them as Christmas gifts since we don't have the money right now. It just irks me a bit. Okay, rant over!

 

[BarbieGal457]

I know I read somewhere how to create links to certain posts and place them back on the original post (such as to link my #2 post to #1) but I can't seem to find it now! If someone could help me out, I'd appreciate it so much! Also, DISboards doesn't seem to like letting me title my links..ugh.

 

[Alice BlueBonnet]

Hey, just wanted to say I'm enjoying your pre-trippie! If your friend Jessy is so excited about the Coral Reef, you should see if you can get the diver to hold up a sign for her, and get custom menus made. It's a really cool FREE thing that Disney does, if the diver is available. And there doesn't really have to be a reason like an anniversary or anything. Looking forward to reading more!!

 

[BarbieGal457]

Hey, just wanted to say I'm enjoying your pre-trippie! If your friend Jessy is so excited about the Coral Reef, you should see if you can get the diver to hold up a sign for her, and get custom menus made. It's a really cool FREE thing that Disney does, if the diver is available. And there doesn't really have to be a reason like an anniversary or anything. Looking forward to reading more!!

YAY MY FIRST READER !! I'm so excited!!

And wow, it's free?! Maybe he can hold up a sign for our whole gathering. How do I do all this, do I just call the dining line and talk about it? That would be so awesome, and a great surprise for the group. We still don't have a name for our gathering yet, currently known only by our group #. We're also going to get tee shirts once we figure it all out!

 

[MousekaMaddi]

great start!! keep it coming! You are a great planner There is a direct line for coral reef but I dont know it, keep chatting about it and some nice Dis friend will jump in with it

 

[PrincessToozie]

I'm in....sounds good so far....keep it coming!

 

[Alice BlueBonnet]

Hey! I'm pretty sure the number for Coral Reef is 407-560-6856. You want to talk with Debbie Secleux (I'm sure that's spelt wrong), she's the one who can arrange everything. The diver is only available during certain hours, but I'm fairly certain the menu's are always available. Good luck!

 

[BarbieGal457]

Hi all!

Hello new readers!! I guarantee you're in for a ride, considering on our last trip, L&La ended up in a battle that involved a butter knife, Sprite, towels specked with something that looked suspiciously like blood, and two broken cell phones! I made them promise to be on best behavior at Disney, though. No crazy fights, especially now that we're roomies!

Sorry I haven't updated anything lately, but I've been in and out of the hospital with stomach tests, and then helping my sister with her three-week-old twins. Since I was waiting for hoursssss today to get my tests done, I was really thinking about the trip and how excited I am. The Boy and I have been in little tiffs, I'll say, because he isn't a ride person. I know - a non-ride person going to Disney? WHAT? Well, he did lots of them in January, but was either bored to tears or too scared to get on (like RnRC..I left him in the dust). He only found a few rides actually interesting, and that led to me demanding the $300 I paid for his Park Hopper back, among other things!

That said, I think he's actually excited to go again this year. We tried to get an even larger group, but they almost all declined because they went away this summer, Christmas, etc. I've never gone anywhere past the Jersey shore with this group, so I'm pretty excited! We're all a hugeee group of friends, so this is just a small section of us.

Last visit I racked up 2,000+ photos, and so lately I've been thinking I should get them printed and fill up the three 2008 photo albums I have! Most of what I took was scenery. People always ask me, "But did you see anything?" Of course I did! I have a point-and-shoot kind of thing, so it worked out nicely. That was also my first time using PhotoPass, which worked out quite nicely! It was, however, a pain in the bum to keep trying to edit everyday to find room on my two cameras. This year, I'm hauling down my laptop, USB cables, and camera docks and will upload them every day. I haven't decided yet if I should pay the $10 for internet and do a live TR, since I'm pretty sure my anemia will probably be hounding me that week.

Right now, all I'm worried about is getting our flights and what character I want on my park pass! Last time was Minnie, so I'm going for somthing new. all my other tickets are either the old-school paper (!!!!) or my KTTW card. Any opinions? I'm thinking I should give Minnie a matching Mickey card, but then again, Pluto is calling me..and I also figure, if I had my way, it'd be my KTTW card, so this is probably one of the last, if not the last, times I'll have a store-bought pass.

That's it for today (I think!) but since I'm reliving last trip, I've thrown in one of my favorite PhotoPass pics!

This was pretty fun. Right before this, Jungle Cruise broke down about 15 feet from the exit. We threatened to jump and swim for it so we could meet her again. Thankfully, no one went overboard, and we were moving within 15 minutes - and a lifetime of terrible jokes from the skipper!

That's all for now, but definitely lots more pics to come, and of course, pre-trip planning goodness!!

 

[BarbieGal457]

Hey! I'm pretty sure the number for Coral Reef is 407-560-6856. You want to talk with Debbie Secleux (I'm sure that's spelt wrong), she's the one who can arrange everything. The diver is only available during certain hours, but I'm fairly certain the menu's are always available. Good luck!

Thanks a ton! I'm going to give her a call as soon as we get our Grand Gathering name. That's probably the only part of this trip I'm not resposible for/planning, since it's too hard for me to think of something. What are the custom menus like? I've never seen one of these.

 

[BarbieGal457]

We're finally booking our flights! My father is doing it for me and The Boy tonight after midnight. He was in the travel industry foreverrrr until September 11th happened. He moved to Tahiti the night that he graduated high school! Because we're 8 people, he's only booking me and The Boy, and the rest of the group has to do it themselves. Like he said, I planned absolutely everything for them, they can be responsible for this. Besides, my parents are exactly thrilled at the thought of charging almost $3,000 worth of plane tickets and insurance to their card. I'm pretty excited, because for me the big parts are all secured - my flight, and my room! I told the others to book ASAP but if they don't we'll just have to meet up - as I said, I just can't be responsible for all of us for this part.

We're going to fly US Airways out of Philly at 6:35am and arrive in Orlando at 9:06am on the third. We figure this will give us time to nap on the plane - most of us, The Boy, on the other hand will be saying the rosary the entire time! - and get to the hotel and run right off to the Magic Kingdom. Even if we lounge by the pool and grab lunch at POP, we'll still have a ton of time in the park that day/night. Our return flight, which I don't even want to think of right now , would be 10:05am out of Orlando, coming back to Philly by 12:42pm. Everyone except for me starts school again that Monday, so we wanted to get home at a good time Saturday. We could have gotten a much cheaper flight, but it'd be at like, 6am, and really, who wants to leave the Florida sunshine for the brutal winter weather so early in the am?! When I found these flights, my father was shocked - his little girl finding a better deal than Mr. Airlines himself?! I must say, we were both very proud of me!

Since I'm becoming a master packer like my father (where I got my planning skills from!) I'm taking just one checked bag - for $15! The second would be $25. No, thank you, I don't need to overpack myself for $40 extra. I'll just learn to limit myself. I'm taking a big purse as well as a backpack on the plane, and I already have my packing lists all set up, but that's an entirely different post.

We still have no Grand Gathering name. Being the products of the 90s that we are, we keep tossing back and forth team names from the show "Legends of the Hidden Temple." Will we be the Purple Parrots? Silver Snakes? Orange Iguanas? Kirk Fogg and the Seven Olmecs? Who knows!! I just hope we have a name soon. The CM I dealt with on my very first call told me we can get special tee-shirts made up, so we're definitely doing this. I'll wear it with no shame through the parks.

On a somewhat related note, me and The Boy had decided not to do Christmas gifts, which is what we did last year too. Both years, it just doesn't make sense for us to spend so much money on a holiday, only to go on vacation a week later and spend just as much. I work during the schoolyear, but not as much as I do in the summer/on school breaks, and he doesn't work during the schoolyear at all. It just doesn't really work for us financially. Last year I bought him his Park Hopper, because I owed him some money and then just treated the rest of the price difference as his gift, and he got me a few CDs/DVDs and a lovely journey necklace. This year we again agreed no gifts, but I'm going to surprise him!

He treats me so well through everything, especially all of my sickness. He leaves parties early to take me home, and then sits with me while I curl into a ball and sleep until my parents come home, since he knows I can't sleep by myself. For all of this absolutely craziness that has been me being very sick, he's been there, and I would like to treat him to something he'd never buy himself. I'm going to treat him to two surprises , but based on the fact that he may stumble on this post, you guys will have to wait until January to find out what they are!!

Anyways, I'm off to deal with my ever-stinky health, watch the Phillies give me a heart attack, and let my dad get his stuff all set up to book us tonight. My next post will probably be related to packing, packing for the parks, and my recent packing-related purchases!!

 

[Alice BlueBonnet]

Thanks a ton! I'm going to give her a call as soon as we get our Grand Gathering name. That's probably the only part of this trip I'm not resposible for/planning, since it's too hard for me to think of something. What are the custom menus like? I've never seen one of these.

The menus are pretty cute, and are a great take-home keepsake. They basically are about 8.5x7, and on the inside left, you can have pictures or a quote or whatever. When I went with my aunt, my mom had them done for her, and it was a title saying "have a magical time", a picture of her and my aunt as kids, and a poem on sisters underneath. It was a great surprise for my aunt, and I'm sure you're group would think it was pretty awesome as well. Good luck!!

 

[BarbieGal457]

Today is exactly four months until the big departure day! Or 122 days!!

I am sooooooo excited! This is the hardest part though, just waiting. I already have my flights booked, and I'm just waiting on the others to book theirs. Tonight I'm going to call and set up ME for me and The Boy. I also was thinking of maybe trying to get an ADR at Chef Mickey's. I ate there once when I was small, so I don't really remember it, but I just hear how everyone raves about it. I think we have two open nights so I have to go over my schedule and see what I can do. I'm thinking of maybe canceling Raglan Road, but then again I'm not sure. I wanna eat at the T-Rex restaurant too, but I'll play it by ear.

I don't really have much of an update besides that, but I just had to post seeing as it's the 4-month mark!!

 

[inkedupmomma]

Hi I'm here! Followed you from my post about snacks

 

[BarbieGal457]

Hi I'm here! Followed you from my post about snacks

Helllloooooooooo inkedupmomma!! Thanks for swinging by! I just checked this post again haha since I'm not super-super-close to the trip I haven't been posting often. By I'm so happy you're here!!

 

[bettyann29]

Im in.. Im enjoying reading your PTR..

Sounds like you guys are going to have a BLAST!!

We ate at Chef Mickeys for dinner one night on our recent trip and really liked it.. Crystal Palace has a wonderful breakfast too! Can you tell Im a foodie..

 

[BarbieGal457]

I'm on page two!! Wahoooooo!!

Im in.. Im enjoying reading your PTR..

Sounds like you guys are going to have a BLAST!!

We ate at Chef Mickeys for dinner one night on our recent trip and really liked it.. Crystal Palace has a wonderful breakfast too! Can you tell Im a foodie..

Hello there bettyann29!! Welcome!

I think we're going to have a good time too. I don't think it's sunk in with any of us that we're actually going!! I've eaten at Chef Mickey's but when I was like, 10, and I figured it would be a fun thing to do with all my friends. I've planned a few character meals to try to cut down on the time we spend hunting them in parks! Crystal Palace has always been a favorite of mine since my grandmom Dolly would take me there every trip. It just isn't a trip without a visit there. This year I got a really early ADR so hopefully we can get some awesome pictures of the park before it opens. I used to be a foodie but some health issues have caused my love of food to diminish haha but I'm trying! I'm most looking forward to a nice turkey leg mmm!

 

[Disneylove1228]

found your pre trippie PJ!!

so excited for you! YAY!!

Subscribing!

 

[BarbieGal457]

found your pre trippie PJ!!

so excited for you! YAY!!

Subscribing!

Hey there Disneylove1228!! I'm getting better at checking this regularly now that I'm getting closer to my trip. I just love saying hi to all the new readers! It touches my heart hehe Pretty soon I should have another big update on my packing process so far..I know, I'm already packing!!

 

[BarbieGal457]

So I decided it's time for an update! Lots to tell everyone about that's been happening in the past few weeks. Boy how time flies!

Much of my time is taken up by school. This is midterms week and I've been studying my legs off for accounting 1. This, mixed with postseason baseball, and the fact that my Phillies are only ONE blessed win from the World Series has me going out of my mind. Tonight is game 5 of the NLCS, and I have a midterm tomorrow (and Friday!) but what am I doing? Going to Chickie's & Pete's, a local sports bar, to watch the game with my friends. Management? Fundraising? Who can even think when you're this close! My friend and I bought tickets to see The Who across the street from the ballpark that night, but I warned him - if the Phillies make the World Series, he'll have to find a new date! He's a rival Mets fan, but he understands, thankfully.

I'm only two blocks away from the sports complex here in Philly, and it definitely makes for quite a festive - and rowdy - atmosphere. My father works for the team, so I'm at pretty much every game all season long, and all of the postseason games. If my Phightin's do, in fact, make the Series, I get to go with my parents to wherever it's held (either Boston's Fenway or the Trop in Tampa Bay) and go to the away games. What an incentive to get all of next week's schoolwork done ahead of time! And if it's in Tampa Bay, it'll be a record 3 times to Florida this year for me, and in less than 80 days I'll be back to visit the Mouse!!

Speaking of school, I've applied to some sports teams for my junior internship in the spring. One called me back today, but I missed it, and when I called back she was gone. Looks like we're playing phone tag now! At least I got a call!!

In case you haven't noticed already, I am married to baseball. When it's the offseason, I read all the trade rumors and gossip incessantly. I don't know what I'd do without it. My icon is David Wright who is the 3rd baseman for the New York Mets. "But you're a Phillies fan! How can you love a Met?!" you say. Yes, this is true. I've heard this countless times..but I just adore David. That said, I'm sure my love of baseball will pop up many more times here! My other loves, besides the Mouse of course, are sunglasses (I can't stop collecting..I just can't!), shopping, fashion in general, Louis Vuitton, Juicy Couture, and organizing everything I possibly can. This should all make for one interesting trip!

I've also started the packing process. I plan to take a backpack with me as my carry-on, so right now I have it sitting in my spare bedroom open, piling up things I'll need. This way they aren't thrown all around my room, and I'm less likely to forget something. I bought a hanging organizer at my local Ikea to hang on the bar in the "closet" when we get there. This is so I can unpack my suitcase but not use the hotel drawers - I just have a thing against them, not sure why. Each day, I'll put the dirty stuff into my suitcase, and bam! By the end of the week, all packed up already! I love living out of a suitcase, just because I hate spending the final hours of vacation putting clothes away when I could be elsewhere. The organizer is also DISboards lime green I couldn't resist! Also thrown in there are travel bottles of mouthwash from my last trip to Naples, FL, tanning lotions/oils, and two nylon drawstring bookbags that always seem to come in handy there.

Right now I plan on taking a purse and backpack on board, and checking one piece of luggage. I am a huge overpacker, so I'm forcing myself to cut back this time. In my suitcase I'm packing a Vera Bradley duffle which is small enough to be a carry-on but large enough to accomodate the souvenirs I'll be taking back, and everything that was in my backpack on the way down. I'll pack the empty backpack in the suitcase, and voila! Ready to roll. I even have planned out all the stuff that's being carried on, and what compartment it gets packed into, and in what order...am I a mess?!

I recently bought a little purse to take out with me at night, when I need less than I do during the day. I'll definitely post pictures of it when I get in later. This weekend I'm picking up a new wallet as well. My wallet now is the one I bought for my trip in 2006. It was only supposed to be a cheapie wallet for the trip, but boy has it lasted!! Sometime soon I'm going to go pick up 8 little plastic sleeves for our tickets, and label them with everyone's name. This way, when we send a runner for FPs (aka me, no one else knows how they work but me and the Boy, and he'll get lost somewhere along the way..), they can be returned to their owner and not cause all the crazy mess-ups the next day with the finger scanner. That's happened one too many times for me to want to deal with it again !

Speaking of everyone else, their flights are all booked except for L. His mother works for US Air, and so he'll fly standby. The others are all flying Southwest. I have to call and get them all set up for Magical Express sometime this week, and see what I have to do for L, since he won't know until shortly before if he's on our flight or theirs.

On top of all of this other craziness in life, I've been dealing with very severe gastroparesis. This is basically when the nerves in your stomach are damaged and either don't digest food, or digest it extremely slowly, leading to nausea, vomitting, weight loss, bloated feeling, etc. For the past month or so, I've been existing on pasta, pizza, and white slice bread with water. Yummy, yes! My friends have all been pretty supportive, which is very helpful, especially when I feel very left out that they get to eat so much good food and I have to order something and only eat the bread it comes with. Hamburgers, however, are on the safe food list! It's basically the reverse of dieting - eat everything that's highly processed and not good for you. I'm down to 105 lbs, and I'm 5' 9". I've never weighed more than 115, but supposedly for my height I should be at least 135. My dietician even told me the Body Mass Index chart says I technically don't exist! Hopefully this will all clear up and I can enjoy mostly everything in Florida. Thank gosh Citizens Bank Park - home of the Phillies - has the best pizza and fries anywhere! I'm taking a liking to water, simply because I'm forced to. Oh well...My medicine is shipped from England, to Canada, to me, so I'm waiting for more to come in. This piled on top of the depression and axiety the disease has caused..whew am I in need of some Disney time.

There's so much in life I'm stressed and excited about, but my nephews make it all better. My sister had twin boys on July 19th, and they're getting so cute! They're getting Christened on November 9th, and I'm so excited!! I'm the godmother of Gabriel, who's the smaller of the two. I'll definitely post pictures when I get home tonight. Her in-laws are in the World now, and already spoiling them with stuff. I'm definitely making sure they're going to grow up little Disney-and-baseball-loving boys!

This seems to be all for right now, but I'll be updating later tonight with the promised pictures. I just love posting pictures..wait'll you see the bombardment of them from my trip!!

xoxo

Edit: I forgot to add that a new couple will be there when we are! We went with them this past January, and they are now returning and staying at POP with his family from the 1st until the 6th! They were supposed to go the 26th - 2nd, but plans got changed. We're all pretty excited about this, although I demand we keep our ADRs I worked so diligently for! Hehehe!