I got laid off, but HEY I went to Disney!!! Update 10/27

[team weasel]

Well…kind of.

You know that feeling you get before you go on vacation? That walking on sunshine sensation? I had it. BIG TIME! I was telling anyone who would listen that I had “X” days until I was in DISNEY BAYBEE!!! Then I jinxed myself with conversation.

First things first…the cast.

Me (Dianna) – Writer of the TR. Planner of vacations. Promised DH that if he took me to Disney in 2001, we would go to Vegas the next year. We have been to Disney 6 times now, and still haven’t made it to Vegas.

DH (Mark) – My soul mate. No doubt. He is the ying to my yang. The peanut butter to my chocolate. The Noah to my Ally, and the Edward to my Bella. Takes me to Disney at least once a year, and tends to answer most questions with “whatever makes you happy sweetheart”.

Honorable mentions….

There are members of my family that did not travel with us on vacation, but there will be constant references to them, so I have to introduce them.

Mamaw – my grandmother. My gravity. I cannot put into words the depth of my love and admiration for this woman. Practically raised me, and made me the person I am today. I begged her to come on vacation with us, but she refused. She is always afraid she will be the third wheel – even though I assured her that’s never the case. She went to Maryland to stay with her sister, but requires daily updates of any/all activity.

Tori – my dog. Aka Tori-dog, T-dizzle, and Scoots. Yes, we call her all of those names on occasion, and she answers to all of them. She’s a rescue from a local shelter. We don’t know much about her case, but she has some real anxiety issues.

Mini – my other dog. Aka Da Mouse, Stank Stank, and Turd Sandwhich. She only responds to Mini or Mouse as she finds the other two names highly insulting. This dog stinks. Actually it’s not her, but her breath. OH MY GOD!!! It’s like death resides in her mouth. She’s another rescue with some issues. She has an enlarged heart, which presses against her windpipe and makes her cough a lot. She’s on medicine for it and does fine. She’s also our resident gangsta. When we were having x-rays done to solve the coughing issue, we discovered that she had been shot, and the bullet is still in her. The vet says it isn’t hurting anything, so she didn’t want to remove it.

 

[team weasel]

On the morning of September 10th, I had a conversation with one of my co-workers discussing trips of Disney past. DH and I have been blessed enough to go to Disney each September since 2004, but every year, something happens. In 2004, we came home to a sick dog, who passed away within 2 months (old age). In 2005, we came home and our other dog was sick, and she passed within a month (cancer). In 2006, DH’s brother had a massive heart attack/stroke two weeks after we got home and spent 3 weeks in the hospital. In 2007, my grandfather was put in the hospital for the last two days of my vacation, and died within a month of me being home.

On that day, October 19, 2007, my world shattered. My grandparents play a huge part in my life. They raised me when my parents couldn’t - so I didn’t just lose a grandparent - I lost a parent, and a best friend. It is still very painful to talk about, so I won’t say anymore.

So there I am spilling my guts to my co-worker, telling her hopefully 2008 will be the FIRST year where I can go on vacation and not have to worry. I went to lunch with a confidence that only an impending vacation can bring. When I was on my way back to the office, I got a phone call. We’re having an office wide meeting. I knew immediately what it meant. My heart sank, but not for the reason you think. I had two thoughts run through my mind simultaneously. #1 – Can I still go on vacation in two days? #2 – DANG IT! There goes my vacation next year!! How’s that for Disney dedication?

During the meeting, we were told that most of the positions in my office will be eliminated by the end of November. So luckily, I have a pretty good “heads up”. I can honestly appreciate that. A local company closed last week. Locked it’s doors, and closed. No severance. No notice. No nothing. I have a great notice, plus severance, and a few other benefits. Assuming I stay ‘til the end.

Although I have now found peace with the situation, it took the wind out of my sails. No more vacation celebration for me. I went home early that day and started reviewing our financial situation. Depression set in, and I couldn’t even do the Disney dance anymore. I finished out my week, and actually took half the day off on Friday.

We previously talked about leaving on Friday and staying over night in Valdosta, putting us much closer to Orlando on Saturday. That didn’t happen. We both felt it was un-necessary to spend the extra money at that point. I used the extra time to finish packing, and play some World of Warcraft.

 

[team weasel]

I usually love travel day. I can’t sleep, but for good reason. Well, I couldn’t sleep the night before this travel day, but it wasn’t because of excitement. It was dread. Now, I am not completely naïve. I work in the mortgage industry, which has taken a beating of late (mostly deserved), so I knew my days were likely numbered. I just didn’t want my number to be up so soon. I was thinking I had until early 2009 before an announcement was made.

I woke up at 4:42 am and started blankly at the clock. I didn’t move, just stared. Usually I would have jumped out of bed and made as much noise as I could to wake Mark up, but I didn’t. I actually went back to sleep. I woke up again at 6:00 am, and looked at the clock. After about 30 minutes, a scary though crossed my mind. I actually didn’t care if I went to Disney or not. I couldn’t believe I just had that thought. Luckily Mark woke up and started moving around, which forced my hand.

We packed the car, kissed the dogs and hopped in the car. Usually we would have gassed up the night before, but I simply didn’t have the desire or the energy, so our first stop was at the gas station down the street.

Behold the glory that is the Circle K:

We were finally on the road towards Disney at 7:30 am. Latest start for us. Ever.

The drive was very smooth. No problems, thankfully. We listened to some good tunes (Kid Rock and 3 Doors Down), and some great comedy (Rodney Carrington and Kat Williams). In Tifton, we stopped to top off the tank, and I saw the neatest thing at the gas station.

This pump actually broadcasted CNN while you pumped. I had never seen pumps like this before, so I took a picture. Yep, nothing screams tourist like taking a picture of a freakin’ gas pump.

According to Mark, during the ride I was in a “funk”. Well – when we hit the Florida line, I finally let go. I came to peace, and exhaled….letting out a big YYYYYYAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!! Mark looked at me, smiled, and said “thank you”. Apparently he was worried that I wasn’t going to enjoy the trip.

We stopped in a small town on I-75 and ate lunch at a Whataburger. Whataburger has to be the best fast food burger joint. The burgers are made fresh and the fries are best described as the old McDonald’s fries. Before they changed them. Yum. We don’t have Whataburgers in Columbus, so anytime we get a chance to go, it’s a must.

Full bellies, fat and smelly, we hit the road again headed straight for Orlando. Now I really, really wanted to try the new shortcut that I have read so much about. The one that breaks off of the Turnpike early and takes you straight to Disney property, but I also wanted to hit the outlets. It’s our little tradition to swing by the Character Warehouse at the Prime Outlets to pick up a few starter souvenirs. So we made our way to I-4 and International Drive.

The first few years we went to Disney, the Character Warehouse was a BARGAIN! Back when there were two of them, we would walk from mall to mall checking out the deals at both locations before purchasing anything. Ever since the two locations have been combined, I have been a little disappointed. The bargains aren’t as good as they used to be, and there just doesn’t seem to be as much to chose from. But hey, at Disney – any discount is a blessing. We really didn’t buy much. We got a couple of light up ears for our nephews and some t-shirts for our nieces. I picked up a few pins to add to the collection. I’m one of those collectors that has absolutely no idea what I am doing. I just buy, or trade, for the ones I think are cute.

After our little pit stop, we hopped back in the car and headed straight for the maingate. Our little travel partner, Mickey, was really excited to be heading home.

Once on property, we headed straight for the Pop. Yep, THE POP! It always makes me laugh when I am talking to a cast member on the phone and when I say “The POP”, they confirm with “so you are staying at Disney’s Pop Century Resort?” Poor things. That’s such a mouth full.

 

[team weasel]

I did not take any pictures of The Pop. It’s been seen a million times. I’ve been lucky enough to stay there for the past three years, and given half a chance, I will return. I absolutely love this resort. I love it for its value, I love it for its atmosphere, and I love it for its central location.

Mark and I do not take advantage of Disney Transportation busses. We used to, but that ended when we had to wait 1.5 hours to get on a bus after the Halloween Party a couple of years ago. So The Pop is just about smack dab in the middle of everything. We can be at any park on property in less than 10 minutes. With that being said, we prefer the rooms that most people hate. We desire the dreaded parking lot view.

It was pushing 4:00 by the time we were ready to check in, so it was busy. We were checked in by someone at the Concierge desk, who informed us that our room had been assigned and was ready. Great. Room 4158. She seemed kind of proud to be giving us such a prime room. It was a stone’s throw away from the Hippi Dippi pool, and a hop skip and a jump from the bus depot.

I really didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but I asked anyway….”Is there anything closer to a parking lot?” She looked at me like I just told her Maelstrom was a Fastpass. After she got over the initial shock, she informed me that no, there wasn’t anything else ready and the room was pre-assigned, blah, blah, blah. She lost me at “no”.

I sucked it up and told Mark which building we were in. Now, the young cast member did not circle which end of the building we were in, she circled the WHOLE building on the map. So I held out hope that maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. Well we start to hike. And hike. And hike. And hike. Finally we find our room. At the very freakin’ back of the resort. I don’t think we could have been given a room further away from a parking lot. But we did have a good view.

Sort of.

One thing that was cute about this room was that each night when we would come home, there would be bunnies waiting for us. We named them Roger, Buggs and Jessica. No idea if they were boys or girls, but we named them anyway.

I didn’t take any pictures of the room either. Shame shame.

This day was a bonus day anyway. We added it to our trip about a month or so before we left. It was a room only reservation, so no tickets, and no dining plan. So what to do when we can’t do parks? Downtown Disney of course!

We headed straight for World of Disney to check out all of the merchandise that we will never buy. This place was a MADHOUSE, as usual on a Saturday. We only stayed in for a minute, and then left. We went to Ghirardelli’s to get a shake. This is another ritual for us. They are usually so good, but this one just wasn’t. It was too watered down or something. We drank it anyway. We headed down to The Candy Cauldron for me to get my first candy apple. I love the apples from there. Plus, they will slice them for you, so it’s not so much work on your teeth to bite through the candy.

By the time we were done at Dowtown Disney, we were ready to pick up some dinner and chill at the resort. Once again, another ritual for dinner. Flipper’s Pizza has to be one of the best-kept secrets in Orlando. I absolutely LOVE this place. We drove to the location in Old Towne and got the pizza to go. Pepperoni and Provolone, extra sauce on the pie, and extra sauce in a cup – heaven in the shape of a circle. MMMMMmmmmmmmm.

After we ate, we went to the pool and lounged about for a while. Then we headed to our room, took showers and hit the sack. I was tired. Plus, I wanted to be ready for the next day. Our first park day.

 

[LMCT88]

Subscribing, can't wait to hear more

 

[team weasel]

Subscribing, can't wait to hear more

Oh my gosh! Stop my heart. Someone is reading!

Thank you!

 

[michellem1118]

I'm reading too! Update soon, please.

 

[ChelleinNC]

Looking forward to more

Hope the job situation gets better soon

 

[krismom]

I'm on board as well!
Great writing and cool pics!

 

[GirTheGecko]

I'm on board as well!

 

[team weasel]

I'm reading too! Update soon, please.

Looking forward to more

Hope the job situation gets better soon

I'm on board as well!
Great writing and cool pics!

I'm on board as well!

Thank you all so much.

 

[Ti2GrLvr]

I'm enjoying the report......waiting for more.

 

[DoOverDreams]

Wonderful report! I can't wait to read more!

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

This made me sad...
I am so sorry for your bad luck surrounding every trip. I hope that you were able to make the best of this trip ad enjoy it...I will keep reading.

 

[team weasel]

We awoke on Sunday morning geared up and ready to go. Any dread I had seemed to have disappeared during my first night’s sleep in Disney. I was myself again. My Disney self.

We brought along some breakfast foods like bagels, cream cheese, peanut butter, and cereal. What’s missing? Milk. I am a milk drinker from way back. Matter of fact, I drink so much milk, dairy farmers write me personal thank you notes at Christmas.

Not really – but I do drink a good bit of milk.

Since this was the first day of our free dining experience, it made since that milk would be our first snack credit of the trip. YAY! So we walk up to the Pop food court and grab a single serving milk. While we were out, Mickeefan called me to set up our fridge swap. What a great thing that was. We were able to have a fridge, a toaster, and a coffee maker for the duration of our trip.

After picking up the fridge, we headed out to our first park of the trip. Magic Kingdom.

At the TTC, there was a decision to be made. Monorail or Ferryboat? I like them both, and the monorail tends to be a little quicker – BUT – it doesn’t offer quite the view that the Ferryboat does, in my opinion. Seeing the castle from the water, the Magic Kingdom in all of her glory, it’s an uplifting experience. So we hop the boat and make our way to the entrance.

When we arrived, I noticed immediately that it was more crowded than years past. I wrote it off to being the weekend, and kept moving forward. First ride of the day? HAUNTED MANSION!!!! That ride never gets old for us. We know the text from the stretch room by heart, and like to torment others by talking in unison with Master Gracey in our most creepy voices.

We walked around, fighting the crowds, and did a few more rides – including Pirates and Splash. I have yet to perfect the art of the Redneck photo, but here’s my shot:

I’m in the green, Mark is in the white.

Here’s another shot I took of Mark acting goofy in the train station:

Somewhere between riding rides and people watching, we decided to grab some grub. We went to Pecos Bill’s. Mark had the bacon double cheeseburger, and I had the taco salad. We got a large Coke and a large bottled water, and both got carrot cakes for dessert.

Now I know for a fact that I took a picture of Mark’s hamburger, but for the life of me I cannot find it…but here’s my taco salad:

Of course, that’s the finished product. After the trip to the fixins bar. It was kind of neked before I made the adjustments. I added some additional lettuce (I prefer a taco salad and not a salad taco, thank you very much), some grilled onions, and some salsa – plus the little tube of sour cream they gave me. YUM.

Mark doctored his burger with lettuce, tomato, pickles, banana peppers, ketchup and mustard. Plus some cheese sauce to go with the fries. Now apparently, Mark did not like his burger too much – but he did not tell me. He let me get one later in my trip to decide for myself.

After lunch, we decided to walk around for a bit and just take in the sights. We noticed that although the park seemed crowded, the wait times for attractions were manageable. Except for Peter Pan, of course. What the heck is up with that ride? I mean, I love it, but OH MY GOD! The line for that one is always so out of control …and deceptive! From the front it looks like the line isn’t that bad, but then you find out that it queues all the way down the side of the building. I feel a little bad for some of the parents – just trying to make their kid’s Disney dream come true.

After messing around for a while, I was ready to return to the resort to get some rest before dinner and adventures at Epcot. Yes, I snuck a nap in at Disney. Is there anything better?

We arrived at Epcot about 5:00 pm with a 6:45 ressie at LeCellier. First things first, we had to ride Spaceship Earth. It was being rehabbed last September, and we were both really excited to see the changes. First things first, the new voice over. Now – I love me some Judy Dench, but I think I would have preferred someone like Morgan Freeman. Her voice is just too smooth to evoke the emotional response I think they are looking for in this ride. The scene updates were okay, but I absolutely LOVED the new ending. I took some pictures when we rode it again a few days later.

After SE, we headed for Soarin’. This is Mark’s favorite ride. I love it too, and it used to be my favorite, but I think something beat it out this trip. The wait was posted at 40 minutes. We hopped in line, and hoped for the best. Turns out this was a true 40-minute wait. I say a true wait, because sometimes the posted waits don’t quite match up with the actual wait – good when it’s less, bad when it’s more. This time, it was on the spot.

After Soarin’, we slowly meandered over to the World Showcase on our way to LeCellier Steakhouse in the Canada pavilion. This place is a must for us on every trip.

Our waiter was great. Very prompt, and very friendly. We already knew the ropes though, so most of his script was lost on us – he didn’t seem to mind. He took our drink orders, and brought them out quickly. LeCellier is one of the few restaurants that allow smoothies on the DDP – so that’s what we got. I got the Mango smoothie and Mark got the Raspberry smoothie. YUM.

We were thirsty, sorry.

We started with the spicy chicken sausage and polenta (paid out of pocket for appy). Somehow I didn’t take a picture of this, but it was good. A lot spicier than I remembered from last year, but Mark said it was perfect. I ate the polenta.

For entrees, we both got the fillet. This thing is smokin’. Melt in your mouth. And the cream cheese mashed potatoes are indescribable.

While we were eating our entrees, a couple was seated next to us. At some point in the conversation the wife mentioned something about the Disboards. I almost choked on my steak. “I’m a Dis’er too!” I yelled. Probably a little too loudly, but hey I was excited.

The conversation exploded from there, and we truly enjoyed dinner with our new found friends. I am pretty sure she said her Dis name was JinxTink. JinxTink – if you are out there – thanks for the great conversation!

Soon it was time for dessert. I knew exactly what I wanted because I’d seen pictures. I wanted the Moose. Mark got the crème brule. I got a little over excited and took a bite of mine, and forgot to take a pic of Mark’s.

It’s the thought that counts, right?

Mark liked his crème brule, but felt like it was just too much. In the past, they had a sampler that was thinner and had two types of brule.

We said goodbye to our new friends, tipped our waiter and made our way out to walk around World Showcase, and wait for Illuminations. What a great show.

My one and only picture of Illuminations:

WTH was I thinking?

We thoroughly enjoyed the show, and had a great viewing spot right in front of Italy.

On the way out of the park, I saw one of the things that makes Disney so great in my eyes. Sitting on a bench, right where World Showcase meets Future World, were four people in their late 60s, early 70s. Each one of them had a slushy in hand, drinking and laughing. No children, no grandchildren, just two couples enjoying life to the fullest at the happiest place on earth. No one does it better than Disney.

 

[team weasel]

This made me sad...
I am so sorry for your bad luck surrounding every trip. I hope that you were able to make the best of this trip ad enjoy it...I will keep reading.

Awww...Don't let me make you sad. This trip ended up being one of our best.

Wonderful report! I can't wait to read more!

Thank you!

I'm enjoying the report......waiting for more.

Update just posted!

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

Awww...Don't let me make you sad. This trip ended up being one of our best.

So glad to hear that...

 

[Trentmom]

Hey Dianna!!! I just noticed your trip report link in your siggie over on our thread


Had to come by and subscribe


So sorry with all the bad luck you have after each trip and I am very sorry about your job


Glad you were able to have a good time despite it and get out of the funk

Really enjoying your report.

 

[Jenvenza]

Great start!! Waiting for more!!

 

[crzy4mickey]

So sorry to hear of all your bad luck. As a matter of fact I can relate to the lay off one...I was laid off 10 days before one of my Disney trips. It was one where I took the kids with a friend, her kids and my sister. I was so sad. But Hubby just said go...the trip is already paid for and you saved your spending money too. Go, have fun! I love my hubby! I sent out resumes before the trip so I had to check in with hubby every day and see if I had to schedule any interviews but other than that Disney made me forget my job loss for the time i was there. It was a great trip!

The next trip same people went and the first night we were there my nephew smashed up my sisters brand new car! It was very stressful, when you're so far away and you can't see them or touch them to be sure their ok it's not fun. But we were assured (after several phone calls) that nephew was ok. (he wasn't when his mother got home! )

Glad to hear you got out of your "funk"!