I think I can, I think I can, I think I can get my DH to let me go back to Disney!

[DisneyTiger]

Hello everyone! The first thing I need to say here is that I CANNOT believe that I am writing another PTR because that means that I'm already going back to Disney!!! We just got back from our trip of a lifetime in October and never did I ever imagine I'd be going back in May - but alas, I am So here's my story...

My name is Talissa and I am a 32 year old domestic engineer. I am married to my wonderful partner in crime, Jason. He is 32 as well and works as a physical therapist. He works his little butt off so that I am able to stay at home with my two wonderful kids. Aubrey is 3.5 and Brendan will be 2 in a few weeks!

Our Disney history...
I had been to Disney a few times in high school with my youth group and Jason went once with his family when he was about 8. I had a friend that was getting married around the same time as we were and they were planning on going to Disney for their honeymoon. I can vividly remember thinking how strange it was that they were going to Disney of all places. I mean, your honeymoon was supposed to be a romantic place, not somewhere filled to the brim with screaming kids, right! Our plan was to go to the Poconos for our honeymoon. Home of the champagne glass hot tub. This is what a honeymoon was supposed to be....

Please note that this is NOT a picture of me and my husband. But we did have one of these puppies in our room! Well, hindsight is 20/20 as they say. Looking back on this er, vacation, I realized that it was not the place for us. Fast forward a year or so to our first year of marriage. We needed a trip to redeem our honeymoon so we decided to give Disney a try. That was November of 2003 and since then we've been back 8 times. We were officially hooked the first time we walked in the gates together. On our second to last trip, we finally decided to take the plunge and join DVC. We had looked into it before but when we found out that AKL was going to be our home resort, we were sold! This is by far, our favorite place of all.

After we joined DVC, we began planning our first family vacation. You see, we had gone to Disney twice since our kids were born and hadn't taken them! It was time. Aubrey's 3rd birthday was coming up in September of 08 and we felt it would be a perfect way to celebrate. We booked our dream vacation and stayed in a 1BR Villa at the BC. It was amazing (see trip report below).

Ok, I am having my first PTR interruption. I should warn all of you about this ahead of time. I have two small kids that often cause me to have to cut my posts short. Like now, my DD is pullling on my leg and DS is ready for a nap. I must go tend to them for now but will be back for the rest of our introductions and explanaion of this unexpected trip. I hope you stick around to read more

 

[DisneyTiger]

I'm back. I was not able to get my DS down for a nap so we'll see how long I am able to stay on this time!

Here we are, on our last trip in Sept/Oct...

And my favorite photopass pic of the trip. We had the bright idea to get both of the kids an icecream cone. The photopass photographer actually left his post at the Eiffle Tower in France to come over and take pics of us. It was quite a sight!

What are ya gonna do??

And here is one more pic. I had this moment plan for months - the first time DD saw Cinderella Castle. I strategically planned for my husband to walk in a bit ahead of us with the camera so that he could catch her reaction as we turned the corner onto Main Street. She was holding onto me so tightly, about to burst with excitement. This moment is absolutely priceless to me and I am lucky enough to have a picture of it. I have it framed on my bedisde table...

Ok, I lied. I have to share another pic. This was another very memorable moment for DD. This was the first time she saw Illuminations. Her reaction was hysterical. I know she looks terrified in this pic but trust me, she was laughing and screaming with excitement. It was great!

Ok, enough pictures for now. Let me tell you about our upcoming trip since this is in fact a PRE-TRIP REPORT

So, on the last night of our trip, DH and I were talking about when we would be back. We both decided that we would wait at least until DS's 3rd birthday (he was 18 months at the time). I got online and banked out DVC points which means that we wouldn't be able to use them until June 2009. Surely we wouldn't be going back before then

Alright, fast forward a few months to when the "stay 4 get 3 free" promo was released. Now, I should note here that in my spare time, I am a travel agent and I specialize in, what else, Disney vacations! I have a sister that has been wanting to take her kids and I knew this would be a great opportunity for them to go. I managed to convince not only her, but another one of my sisters (I have 4, and 2 brothers - yes, we're Catholic ) to book their trips! Now, my sister has never been to Disney and was asking me all kinds fo questions. She was very overwhelmed and nervous about taking the trip by herself and jokingly said "Why don't y'all come with us??" Ok, at first I just laughed it off but the seed was planted. I started playing with the dates and decided to approach my DH a little bit a time saying things like, "Wouldn't Aubrey have a blast with her cousins in Disney?" or "Tonya (my sis) sure is overwhelmed and I would love to be able to help her." Once I start talking like this, DH knows it's all over. He finally cracked and told me to just book it already! The only difference this time is that it's just going to be me and DD!!! Yes, we are officially planning a Mother/Daughter trip I called DVC and realized that I would now have to borrow points since I banked the ones from 2008. It really wasn't that big of a deal and before I knew it, we had a studio booked at AKL!!! Woo hoo!

We will be going 5/27 - 5/31 and I can hardly wait. This is officially the best Mother's Day present ever. That's what we're calling it. I can rationalize anything can I tell you!

So that's the background. I'll be back with all of the details. Thanks for reading

 

[coteau_chick]

Woo Hoo I am first!

 

[my2disneyboys]

No fair.... I tried to be the first one and I was blocked. LOVE LOVE LOVE your Trip Reports!!

 

[DisneyTiger]

Woo Hoo I am first!

Yay!!!!!

 

[DisneyTiger]

No fair.... I tried to be the first one and I was blocked. LOVE LOVE LOVE your Trip Reports!!

Don't know what that is about. Maybe you and Couteau_Chick were trying to post at the same time???

Anyway, still so glad you popped over. Glad you like the reports. I am havinga blast writing them. Cant' wait to get started!!!

 

[vamassey1]

Okay I'm in! Let the party begin!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Yay!!!

Of COURSE I'll come over here!

 

[WannabeAriel]

Whoo Hooo! I'm in! I loved your last trip report and even though I didn't post much... I read faithfully!!!

I'm also a little jealous of your camera!!!

AND I also want to sign up for DVC but I'm so far too scared to take the plunge!!!

I'm also from Louisiana and can SO relate to your Disney obsession! We went 5 times last year!!! DH and I are obsessed and we don't even have kids!!! Over Mardi Gras break we went skiing and DH said... "I feel like we're cheating on Mickey!"

It will be a while before we get back to WDW though because we are heading to CA to Disneyland this summer! Maybe Thanksgiving at WDW again???

 

[DisneyTiger]

Okay I'm in! Let the party begin!

You know it's always a party when DisneyTiger is around

Yay!!!

Of COURSE I'll come over here!

Thank you faithful Piglet

Whoo Hooo! I'm in! I loved your last trip report and even though I didn't post much... I read faithfully!!!

I'm also a little jealous of your camera!!!

AND I also want to sign up for DVC but I'm so far too scared to take the plunge!!!

I'm also from Louisiana and can SO relate to your Disney obsession! We went 5 times last year!!! DH and I are obsessed and we don't even have kids!!! Over Mardi Gras break we went skiing and DH said... "I feel like we're cheating on Mickey!"

It will be a while before we get back to WDW though because we are heading to CA to Disneyland this summer! Maybe Thanksgiving at WDW again???

Hi! So glad you followed me over here! I do have to say that my camera was an impulse purchase and I contemplated returning it and not even bringing it on my trip Man, am I glad I didn't. I really do love it. It's worth the investment. You can spend a lot more money on the fancier Nikons, but mine does just what I need it to. My sister recently got the one above mine and it's got so many knobs and buttons on it! Way too confusing. I mine!

As for DVC, yes, I was totally scared to sign those papers. We had actually joined once before when they were selling SSR and we backed out at the last minute. It just didn't feel right. It is just so comforting to know that as soon as we get it paid off, our accomodations will be covered until we're 80! I did notice that the price has gone up quite a bit since we joined. I would do it sooner than later if you're really considering it.

And, ok, 5 times in one year??? You are officially worse than me And I love the comment about cheating on Mickey. That's the truth! I bet he's been looking for you! We may be going back for Thanksgiving too. And I hope to make it to CA one day. You should do a PTR and TR on that trip. I would love to read about it!

Thanks again for reading along

 

[mousetravel]

I can't wait to hear more about your upcoming mom/daughter trip.
That will be sweet for you & your DD to have a one on one trip.
That's what me & my DD do, take trips together. We are actually leaving Monday night!

 

[arizonacolbys]

Yay! A mother/daughter trip sounds like so much fun! Can't wait to hear all about your trip & the plans leading up to it. Loved the last report!

I'm going into withdrawals with no trip planned until December & our last trip was Aug 2007! This is the longest hubby & I have gone without a WDW since we were married in 2000! Thankfully, we'll be getting AP's & plan to make up for it next year.

 

[DisneyTiger]

I can't wait to hear more about your upcoming mom/daughter trip.
That will be sweet for you & your DD to have a one on one trip.
That's what me & my DD do, take trips together. We are actually leaving Monday night!

Wow!!! How exciting! How old is your DD? I would love to make that a tradition with my DD but I am already having some serious guilt about leaving DS behind I will have to find something special to do with him too! He's only two now but I'm sure one day he'll ask why I took DD and not him Oh well, guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it!

Yay! A mother/daughter trip sounds like so much fun! Can't wait to hear all about your trip & the plans leading up to it. Loved the last report!

I'm going into withdrawals with no trip planned until December & our last trip was Aug 2007! This is the longest hubby & I have gone without a WDW since we were married in 2000! Thankfully, we'll be getting AP's & plan to make up for it next year.

Wow, that is a long time. I would be having withdrawals too! You know, our plan was not to go back until next March. We're talking a year from now And now, I have a trip planned in May and possibly one in Nov It just gets in your blood. Guess there are worse things to be addicted to right??

I am excited to write about our trip. I really haven't done much planning which is very unlike me. Hopefully this PTR will give me a kick in the butt that I need to start obsessing Thanks for reading a long!

 

[DisneyTiger]

Hello everyone! I am at home today when I should be running errands. My kids are in a MDO program on Tuesdays and Fridays from 9-1 and I am usually running around town like a crazy person on these days. Unfortunately, today I am home with a sick DS He's been sick all week actually. It started with throwing up, the constipation, and now we're on to diarreah. Sorry, TMI. Fun fun. I am tearing myself away from playing nurse for a few minutes to do an update

Alright, so here's the plan. My sisters are going to WDW from 5/25 - 6/1. I, however, will be joining them in the middle of the week: 5/27 - 5/31. We were going to fly out on Thurs 5/28 and go straight to the parks. Unfortunately, I could not find a flight time that would work for us. I didn't want to fly out at the crack of dawn but I also didn't want to get to Orlando too late and waste a half day. So the solution??? You guessed it, leave a day early I found a flight out of New Orleans at 6:15. We live in Baton Roouge which is about an hour away from the airport. This flight time would be perfect because DH could take us to the airport, we could eat dinner together, and he could see us off. On Thursay, I have another one of my sisters watching DS and DH is taking off Friday to be home with him. It all fell into place perfectly.

We will arrive at MCO around 8:30 or so and then ME will whisk us off to the hotel. I booked a room only at ASMu through AAA for $100! Thought that was well worth it. I am having one dilemma though. We will be sleeping at ASMu that first night but the rest of our trip will be at AKL. Unfortunately, there was nothing available at AKL that first night which is why I had to book ASMu. Anyway, in order to be able to use the dining plan on our first day, we are going to have to wake up at the crack of dawn, check out of ASMu, head over to AKL to check in and get our room keys. Otherwise, I will not have access to my dining plan It's going to be a pain but I have put myself on the wait list for AKL. Hopefully something will come through. It would only be 9 more vacation points so what the hay!

I would have originally booked the 4 nights at AKL but I was trying to save as many points as possible. We were planning on using DVC to go to the beach this summer and it was going to cost us a lot of points so I didn't have many to spare. Unfortunately, we were not able to get the dates we wanted at the beach so we had to book it on our own. Side note.... I am SOOOOO excited about our beach trip. You have to check out where we are staying...

http://www.baytownewharf.com/

There is a Disney story here. Jason and I were in Destin last summer and stumbled upon this place by accident. It is a cobblestone pedestrian village that has tons of shops, restaurants, and all kinds of activities. When we were walking around, he looked at me and we were thinking the same thing- it totally reminded us of Downtown Disney! We decided then that we wanted to stay there this summer. We then realized that we would be able to book a stay through Disney Unfortunately, it didn't work out for us using DVC but I am still thrilled to be going back. We rented a one bedroom condo that will be just perfect for us. Can't Wait!!!

Ok, back on track... So, after we get all checked into AKL, we will be heading over to Epcot to meet up with my sisters.

Itinerary coming up shortly, promise

 

[DisneyTiger]

Hello, sorry I haven't been around in a while. I have been busy planning our last minute trip to the beach! We leave tomorrow for a quick trip to Orange Beach, AL. It has been a stressful couple of weeks. DH has been working long hours and I haven't been able to exercise like I like to - that is my form of stress relief! Also, DD has had this test scheduled for kidney reflux (when she potties, urine can reflux back up into the kidneys and cause infection). She was tested for it at 18 months and only had a slight case. It's supposed to correct itself over time so you have to keep checking them to see if it's gone or not. Well, the test is horrible. She has to be catherderized, dye injecteinto her bladder, and they has to lay there under an exray to see if the dye goes back up into her kidneys She had a horrible experience at 18 months. Because of where my DH worked at the time, we were forced to go to a hospital that did not do these tests on kids often. They tried to catherderize her with an adult catherder and they tried it for 30 minutes!!!! She was definitely scarred from that so needless to say, I was not looking forward to this follow up test. It was Monday and it was horrible, but she was a trooper. She still does have some reflux which means she will have to be tested again in a few years. Until then, we have to give her an antibiotic every day! When the test was over, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. We decided at the last minute that we needed a little family getaway so we're headed to the beach!


I was out picking up a new portable DVD player for the car ride at Sears today and I made an impulse purchase that I must share with you. Check this out...

Isn't it pretty?? Sears has this whole sterling silver line of Disney jewelry. Who knew! And ontop of that, it was marked WAY down. It was regularly $99 and I got it for %75 off! I am not the kind of person who wears Mickey everything. I like having a few little things though. I can't wait to wear this on our trip

 

[coteau_chick]

Hello, sorry I haven't been around in a while. I have been busy planning our last minute trip to the beach! We leave tomorrow for a quick trip to Orange Beach, AL. It has been a stressful couple of weeks. DH has been working long hours and I haven't been able to exercise like I like to - that is my form of stress relief! Also, DD has had this test scheduled for kidney reflux (when she potties, urine can reflux back up into the kidneys and cause infection). She was tested for it at 18 months and only had a slight case. It's supposed to correct itself over time so you have to keep checking them to see if it's gone or not. Well, the test is horrible. She has to be catherderized, dye injecteinto her bladder, and they has to lay there under an exray to see if the dye goes back up into her kidneys She had a horrible experience at 18 months. Because of where my DH worked at the time, we were forced to go to a hospital that did not do these tests on kids often. They tried to catherderize her with an adult catherder and they tried it for 30 minutes!!!! She was definitely scarred from that so needless to say, I was not looking forward to this follow up test. It was Monday and it was horrible, but she was a trooper. She still does have some reflux which means she will have to be tested again in a few years. Until then, we have to give her an antibiotic every day! When the test was over, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. We decided at the last minute that we needed a little family getaway so we're headed to the beach!


I was out picking up a new portable DVD player for the car ride at Sears today and I made an impulse purchase that I must share with you. Check this out...

Isn't it pretty?? Sears has this whole sterling silver line of Disney jewelry. Who knew! And ontop of that, it was marked WAY down. It was regularly $99 and I got it for %75 off! I am not the kind of person who wears Mickey everything. I like having a few little things though. I can't wait to wear this on our trip

Courtney had to have that test when she was little they thought she had reflux but she didn't. I will never forget it. My daddy came with us and he was just as traumatized as Courtney. Poor Audrey. I am sorry you had to go through that. Have a good time at the beach.
I like your necklace it is so cute.

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Just found you and subbied!!

That champagne glass made me LOL!!

What an adorable family; your children are so cute!!

And, I'm in love with your necklace. You said Sears, right? I wonder if DH will let me venture over there...

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Thank you faithful Piglet

Anytime.


I hope everybody is feeling better! I looked at the website of that cute little beach village you're going to in the summer. It looks so nice!

And I like that necklace you got. They just re-opened a Sears up here so maybe I oughta check it out!

And have a great time at Orange Beach! I hope the weather is decent for you!

 

[my2disneyboys]

Hey I missed you!! A few of my friends that have girls all have had to have that test done and a couple have been put on antibiotics for a very long time. i am sorry your little girl has to go through all that!

I am off to watch my Thursday night shows but wanted to say have a wonderful vacation. I am jealous- first Disney- now beach vacation - and then you will be back to Dinsey soon. You are a lucky girl!!!

 

[DisneyTiger]

Courtney had to have that test when she was little they thought she had reflux but she didn't. I will never forget it. My daddy came with us and he was just as traumatized as Courtney. Poor Audrey. I am sorry you had to go through that. Have a good time at the beach.
I like your necklace it is so cute.

Uhh, how old was Courtney? The only reason we had her tested was because she had a UTI at 18mo. I have a niece who has the reflux too and it's very heriditary. Brendan was tested at 4 mo and thankfully didn't have it!

Just found you and subbied!!

That champagne glass made me LOL!!

What an adorable family; your children are so cute!!

And, I'm in love with your necklace. You said Sears, right? I wonder if DH will let me venture over there...

YAY!!! So glad you are reading along. Sorry it hasn't been too exciting thus far

Yes, the champagne glass hot tub is something that still cracks me up. But you know, it was really nice. The think was 6ft in diameter with jets. Very relaxing. I could have lived in it. In fact, we practially did for our whole honeymoon!

Thanks for the compliment on my family. I have to say that I think they're pretty fabulous too

Yes, you should check out the necklace at Sears. The sale price was %50 but I had another coupon to use ontop of it. It was a no brainer. But even for $50 I still think it's a good deal. It really is very pretty. Understated Mickey That's what I like.

Anytime.


I hope everybody is feeling better! I looked at the website of that cute little beach village you're going to in the summer. It looks so nice!

And I like that necklace you got. They just re-opened a Sears up here so maybe I oughta check it out!

And have a great time at Orange Beach! I hope the weather is decent for you!

I can't wait to go back to the Baytown Wharf in July! It really is an awesome place!

We are all feeling much better and so ready for our little weekend getaway. I will share pics when I get back!

Hey I missed you!! A few of my friends that have girls all have had to have that test done and a couple have been put on antibiotics for a very long time. i am sorry your little girl has to go through all that!

I am off to watch my Thursday night shows but wanted to say have a wonderful vacation. I am jealous- first Disney- now beach vacation - and then you will be back to Dinsey soon. You are a lucky girl!!![/QUOT

The test is a lot more common that I thought. I'm just glad it's over. Maybe the next time when she's a little older it will go a bit smoother. Maybe she'll understand a little more what's going on.

I know that I am a very lucky girl. DH and I believe that our family and vacations are really what life is all about. You never know how long we're going to be here so we try to live for today but still plan for tomorrow. It's a very hard balance! I will be back on Sunday and will have lots of fun beach stories to share. Enjoy the shows. I'm about to go watch too!