I don't wanna ride that.......Let's ride again again!!!

[Tinka_Belle]

Let me start with a little background. Last year was our first trip to WDW as a family. It was DH's and DD's first trip as well. Well they both got hooked even though DH says he's not. (yeah right!!) About four weeks before we were supposed to leave this year DH lost his job. I suggested that we cancel our trip and use the money to help us survive until he finds another job. DH refused and suggested that we just downgrade our trip some. He didn't want us to not go. He said that would make him feel really bad if we didn't get to go because of him. (He can be sweet like that sometimes.) So originally we were supposed to stay at the Coronado Springs Resort with the Deluxe Dining Plan. We downgraded to an off-site hotel (the one we stayed at last year). We saved $1000 by doing so.

Now the cast of characters.

Me: Crystal/Mom-I'm the one who planned the entire trip. I made all of Jenna's clothes for this trip with the exception of two of her princess dresses. I Disney. I have been to WDW about 5 times as a teenager and DL about 15 times also as a teenager.

DH: Colby-He says he doesn't like Disney, but I've seen him smiling too many times while we are there to believe him. He has also already agreed for us to go back in fall 2009 and he wants us to move to FL. Very suspicious behavior for a Disney-hater.

DD: Jenna/Bug/The Bug-The reason I love sewing. Jenna is my little princess in every way. She has become a Disney fanatic and is now obsessed with custom clothing. Her favorite thing to say right now is "My mommy made it."

Tinkerbell: The first dog that we got. She is a nervous wreck most of the time. She had to be sedated for us to be able to have her in the car. The sedatives didn't work and she ended up riding in the front seat curled up on a pillow in DH's lap on the way to FL and my lap on the way back. She is still her momma's baby.

Roxie: The doxie with all the moxie. She rode in her tiny crate. She is the reason that not much fit in the backseat of the Hybrid.

 

[Tinka_Belle]

This is the boring part.

On Thursday night I was frantically trying to finish sewing some custom outfits for Jenna. I got the outfits done, but I didn't get to finish her PJ's like I promised her. I ended up getting into bed around 6 am Friday morning and had to be at work by 10 am. I was tired and only Jenna's things were packed. After work I came home and finished all of the packing. DH was no help at all. He was busy playing Halo 3, because (as he said) he wasn't going to be able to play for a week. Remember I said he can be sweet sometimes? Well sometimes he's not so sweet. Well everything got packed into the car. Since we were driving in DH's Hybrid we were limited on space. Everything just barely fit.

Everything was finally packed and in the car. My grandparents were calling me around 11 pm asking when I was coming to get Jenna. My grandpa told me he was going to bed, locking the door and it wasn't going to be opened until morning if I didn't hurry up and get Jenna. We drove as fast as we could to get to my grandparents house. When we get there Jenna has a little ice-chest that my grandmother has packed for her. After a little arguing with The Bug she convinces me that it will fit. It gets squeezed in somehow and we are finally off.

DH started out driving. We had an agreement that he would drive half of the way there and I would drive the rest of the way. I slept as best as a person can sleep in a Hybrid. (not very well I might add.) We reach the half way mark and it is my turn to drive. This is where it gets scary for me. I am still tired. I can barely stay awake and have to keep stopping just so I can try to wake myself up. That is when I discovered No Snooze. This stuff is amazing. It's caffeine so it's not too bad for you. At about noon my grandpa calls me to tell me that my cousin has died. He died that morning in a car accident. He fell asleep while driving, flipped his car and drowned in some water that he landed in. This made it very hard for me to continue driving. I asked my grandpa if I should turn around and he said, "No, that is not what Joshua would have wanted." He was younger than I am so his death really hit me kind of hard. While Colby and Jenna were asleep I turned on the radio and the song "Arms of the Angels" came on and that is when the crying started for me. Ok enough sadness for this trip report.

Jenna woke up about 1pm from her little nap and we had this little conversation that I thought was really cute.
Jenna: "We are in Florida now. Right?"
Me: "Yes we are. Why do you ask?"
Jenna: "I saw palm trees and those are only in Florida."
I love her reasoning. We finally checked into our hotel and after the car is unloaded and Jenna changes her clothes, her and I are off to the MK.

 

[RachelNinja]

DH: Colby-He says he doesn't like Disney, but I've seen him smiling too many times while we are there to believe him. He has also already agreed for us to go back in fall 2009 and he wants us to move to FL. Very suspicious behavior for a Disney-hater.

This description made me happy! I don't understand why people just refuse to admit that they too love Disney! Even if it's not as much as your average DISer, I just wanna be like, "Admit it, you feel the Disney magic too "

At about noon my grandpa calls me to tell me that my cousin has died.

Awww, I'm so sorry to hear that I hope you were able to find some comfort while being at WDW.

 

[teresajoy]

Silly Crystal!!! This is not boring!!! I'm loving it. I was so sorry to hear about your cousin. I think you did the right thing by continuing your trip.

 

[EnchantedPrincess]

What a great start of a trip report... I am so sorry about your cousin!

Love Jenna's reasoning that you guys must be in Florida because she saw palm trees!

Jenny

 

[CampbellScot]

Great start!!!

I'm so so sorry about your cousin.

I hope y'all had a wonderful trip though!!!

can't wait for more!

 

[Tinka_Belle]

So Jenna and I headed to MK. We didn't have tickets and to our dismay all of the ticket windows are closed. I was hoping that atleast one would be open. I am now in panic mode. So I ask the nearest CM if there is any way that I can still purchase tickets. He says with a very nice smile that I can purchase them at Guest Services . YAY!!! The CM saved my sanity. So we get our tickets and head to the park.

For some reason Jenna's favorite place to start is always Tomorrowland. Our first ride is always Buzz Lightyear. I won!!

She looks bored in this pic, because for some reason there wasn't anyone in that area that would respect the fact that I was trying to take a picture.

We left the ride and went and got Fastpasses for Buzz again, because the line suddenly got longer. Off to the Laugh Floor. I love this show and I love that they have changed it a little since last year. Jenna told me last year that her Disney Dream would be to get picked by one of the Monsters on this show. Alas it did not happen last and did not happen THIS time.

We were hungry so ate at the Starlight Cafe. Jenna just loves that little alien.

Well we decided that we were done with Tomorrowland and headed to Fantasyland. Of course our first ride is Teacups. Another of Jen's favorites.

For some reason that girl loves to be dizzy.

We rode Buzz again (Jenna won this time!!) and because it was getting late we decided to go back to the hotel. We called it a night.

Up next.... Epcot and dancing with Prince Charming.

 

[tadamom]

Can't wait to read more!!!

 

[rie'smom]

Great report and not at all boring and I can't wait to read more!!!! Love Jenna's outfit.
I'm very sorry about your cousin.

 

[Tinka_Belle]

I forgot to add about Jenna's Pixie Dust that she got.

When we were in Fantasyland we had to take a detour to the restroom. On our way just a couple of steps away from the restroom, a CM steps right into our path. At first I thought I was gonna have to put this fellow on the ground. After all my Jenna had to potty and it was an emergency. Well anyways he starts sprinkling Mickey Mouse glitter on Jenna's head and hands her a sticker that says she is an Honorary Princess of the Day. Awwww isn't that sweet. So this gentleman has avoided being laid out because he came baring stickers . After we used the facilities we headed over to Auntie Gravities for some icecream. Jenna struck up a really nice conversation about her shirt with the CM that was taking our order. As this conversation was going on a gentleman was standing next to the CM. He looked like he might have been her supervisor. He then hands a set of Tinkerbell pins over to Jenna. Jenna was on I wish I could have gotten a picture of the look on her face. She was so excited. She looked at me said "I'm gonna give one of these to Miranda." (Miranda is her friend in our neighborhood.) Anyway that was her Pixie Dust that she got on our first day at MK.

 

[Tinka_Belle]

Our First full day at WDW was Sunday. Jenna and I woke up around noon (we were tired). We had a little discussion and decided that today was Epcot day. I briefly woke up the bear (DH) and asked if he wanted to come with us. He was too tired I guess because he wasn't coming with us. He'll call when he is ready to go (fine I'll show him). So off we go.

We entered Epcot and since I'm a super genius I decided not to get a map. BIG mistake!!! I didn't know where anything was. The first ride we see is Spaceship Earth. I mean seriously how could you miss it?? So we lined up to ride it and the entire time while we are in line Jen is asking, "What does it do? What's it called? It's a Shaceship! It will go fast! Does it go fast? I don't want to ride it!" I tried my best to calm her down and when it is our turn to get on the ride she is sort of ok. She is a little freaked out as we are going up the hill, but calms down some when it levels out. The panic mode kicks in again for Jenna when we smell smoke.

This is the conversation:
Jenna: "It's on fire!! We can't get out!!"
Me: "It's not on fire Jen."
Jenna: "Than why do I smell smoke?"
Me: "Because they did a good job."

She is fine again when she sees no flames. Let me just say that I really liked this ride. I don't remember ever riding it before, so I can't make any comparisons, but it is pretty cool now. I won't give anything away in case someone hasn't been on it yet. So we get off the ride and hear the words that prompted the title of this TR. "Let's ride it again and again, Mom!!"

We decided that we were hungry so we waited in line behind what we thought was a small group. They would order and then pay for thier stuff, but they wouldn't move. Then they would wave for someone else in thier group to come over and they would order and then pay and then wave someone else over. I couldn't believe that the CM behind the register was allowing this to happen. We decided that it wasn't worth it. I mumbled something to Jenna about people being rude and we went somewhere else. We got our lunch of Chicken Nuggets and Fries and sat down underneath an umbrella (It was a very sunny day). We were enjoying our food and the shade when all of a sudden a nice CM comes over and closes our umbrella. We asked why and he said that he had to close them because it was getting windy and they didn't want the umbrellas to blow away. It wasn't that windy, but we didn't complain it was his job after all. While we sitting on our now hot bench DH texts messages me and tells me that he is ready to join us. I ignored him, because he didn't want to come with us when we first left the Hotel. Yes I did!! When we were done eating we decided to walk around.

Well like I said we didn't have a map so we just kind of followed the crowds around for awhile. We saw some kind of a table set up with markers on the table so we go over and find out that Jenna can color rocks all by herself. I thought it was a little odd, but Jenna the Geologist was intrigued. So she colored two white rocks and gave them faces. Again I have to say .
Here she is coloring her rocks.

And some random pictures that she talked me into taking.

Well we decided that we had wasted enough of DH's time so we decided to go get him. When we got to the hotel room Jenna had a surprise waiting for her in the room.

A super sweet Disboutiquer (MrsMiller) gave Jenna a Disney basket. She got a Tinkerbell Autograph book (that will be seen again and again in this TR) a light up crown and an Ariel pin. to MrsMiller you made Jen's day.

Next up Dancing with Prince Charming.

 

[Tinka_Belle]

We had an ADR for dinner at 1900 Park Fare. Jenna was very excited about being able to see Cinderella and the step-sisters. I made a reproduction of Cinderella's pink dress from the original movie and she was so excited.

I don't know why, but as we were headed down the stairs from the Monorail I decided to take this pic. I liked the way that Jenna's dress was catching the stairs as she walked down them.

We got to the hotel a little later than we were supposed to. It wasn't busy, but we expected to have to wait. We settled in with our little flashy thing. Jenna decided to twirl around a bit. Just as she was starting to get dizzy the flashy thing started flashing. We were lead to the big doors and both of the hostesses made a big fuss over Jenna's dress.

As soon as we walked into the room we saw Cinderella. She stopped to talk to Jenna and to tell her what a pretty princess she was. Jenna was beaming ear to ear.

We got our food and had a seat. We were in a little corner and at first I was afraid that we wouldn't get to see the characters very well.

The first character to come over was Prince Charming. He was cute, but not very friendly. He signed Jenna's book and took a couple of pictures and he was gone.

A little after Prince Charming left Cinderella was at the table next to us and Jenna was getting super excited. Cinderella is her favorite and she just could not wait to talk to her in real life. Then she walked away!! Jenna was devestated.

Then all of a sudden Anastasia comes over to Jenna and says very loudly, "That's my sash!! And those beads!! You wait till I tell Drisella!! Drisella!! She has your beads on!!" She then looks at Jenna and says "You just wait till I tell!!"

Cinderella and Prince Charming went to go dance in the middle of the room and the Cinderella whispered something to Prince Charming and points over in our direction. Well here comes Prince Charming taking my baby by the hand to the middle of the room.

I was on the verge of tears (happy tears mind you).

Jenna was on cloud nine all of a sudden. Then Cinderella comes back to see Jenna. Cinderella sat on the floor and pulled Jenna into her lap. They talked about her dress and how Jenna was afraid that the step-sisters were going to rip her dress. Cinderella assured Jenna that she would not let them do anything to her dress or her necklace.

After Cinderella leaves, the fun started. First came the step-mother. It took her a minute or two to figure out the dress. When she did she asked Jenna to stand up. This is what she had to say about it...."Those beads.... That sash...There is something very familiar about this." She was really checking out Jenna's dress.

Just before Lady Tremaine walked away she told Jenna that she liked the dress much better on her.

The next thing that we know we had two step-sisters at our table.

They were both fussing over Jenna having "their" things on. Drisella asked Jenna if she had gone through their trash to make her dress. Drisella also asked Jenna if she knew how to sweep a floor. She told her that they needed a new maid and she looked right for the job. She called Jenna CinderJenna and even signed her book to CinderJenna. After she finished signing Jenna's book Jenna's pen got knocked onto the ground. When Jenna bent down to pick it up Drisella told her "Pick that up!!"

Before the step-sisters left they started screaming at Shane the man servant. They wanted him to see Jenna's dress.

After the step-sisters left a little impromptu dance party broke out with the little girls from the table next to us.

(I swirled the face because I don't know the children in the pic.)

After the dance party we left and did some shopping in the gift shop. Then it was back to the hotel. It was kind of late so we just went back to the hotel and went swimming.

The next day was Downtown Disney.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Great update...how exciting for Jenna. But why were you up at 3:53am writing it???

 

[coolbeans]

Okay, I got teary with the whole Prince Charming thing........so awesome!!

 

[RachelNinja]

Aww, I loved reading about the interaction between all the characters and Jenna!

 

[Tinka_Belle]

Great update...how exciting for Jenna. But why were you up at 3:53am writing it???

Insomnia due to new stresses.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Insomnia due to new stresses.

Oh no...do I dare ask????

 

[Tinka_Belle]

Oh no...do I dare ask????

We are probably going to end up losing DH's car. His payments are too high and he isn't making enough at his new job. He is about to get a promotion, but it will end up being too late and still won't be enough. I feel it is his fault. He said he was going to work two jobs to cover all the bills, but he never did. Even though I feel it is his fault I still stress with him. We'll get past this I know we will.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

We are probably going to end up losing DH's car. His payments are too high and he isn't making enough at his new job. He is about to get a promotion, but it will end up being too late and still won't be enough. I feel it is his fault. He said he was going to work two jobs to cover all the bills, but he never did. Even though I feel it is his fault I still stress with him. We'll get past this I know we will.

I'm going to come down to Lousiana and kick that man in the bottom

Hugs to you and Jenna for putting up with him!!!! MEN

 

[Tinka_Belle]

I'm going to come down to Lousiana and kick that man in the bottom

Hugs to you and Jenna for putting up with him!!!! MEN

I appreciate the support, but I don't think kicking him in the butt is going to do anything. I know I've already tried. Although I do think that because he is now faced with losing his car he is beginning to realize the importance of him having another or different job. I do not understand the reasoning of Men .