I think you are obsessed.. But it's still cute. An AUGUST FD PTR!

[ashmarie06]

Hey Everyone! After learning a TON of stuff here on the DisBoards, I finally decided to write a PTR, not only so I can keep my plans straight, but to get feed back from you guys!

Let me start with the most important questions!

Who: Ashley (ME) and DBF Graham

Ashley : I am 24 and I'm known to be somewhat Disney obsessed. I have been many many times with my family and my best friends family. My idea of a vacation most always includes Disney , and the Ocean. I'm very much a summer girl. When i'm not planning a Disney trip, I work as a Full time Medical Records coordinator at a local nursing home. I love my job, and very thankful that it gives me the means to plan Disney Trips.

Graham: Is 23 but will be 24 at the time of our trip, we are actually going to be celebrating his Birthday in Disney. Due to school constraints we had to postpone our trip. Graham is your typical outdoor obsessed guy. His idea of vacation is being in the mountains in the middle of winter with his family. Yikes! He also works at the same Nursing home as I do. But he is a nurse aide. He is also in school to become an EMT/Paramedic.

When: August 25- August 31

Where: All Star Sports


I can't wait to share more about us and our plans! I hope I get some followers!

 

[ashmarie06]

As you can tell by the title of this post, since Graham and I are two peas in a pod, we are lovingly referred to as "Grashley."

Graham and I have been friends since 2007, when I went out on a date with his best friend. I had just gotten out of a LONGGG relationship. That night my Aunt (more like my mom) called to ask me how my date went. I told her it went okay, but i was going to marry his best friend.



At the time Graham was in a relationship, so we just maintained a great friendship. Until August of 2009, when he FINALLY became single.

Lets just say, we have been inseprable ever since. We went on our first date October 18, 2009 and made it officcial December 30, 2009! We moved in to our first place April 25, 2011 and couldn't be happier.

He is my best friend, and I can't wait to see what the future will bring.


Anywho, Back to the planning!

 

[ashmarie06]

As I mentioned before, my family has been going to Disney every year since I was in Middle School. Graham had never been.

His dad lives in Sarasota Florida with his wife, and I knew Graham would go down every year to spend a week with his Dad. July 2010 Graham invited me down, so I happily gave up my chance of going to Disney so we could spend our first vacation together! We drove down from Cincy and had a ball. I actually didn't miss taking a vacation way from Disney. However I did mention to Graham this trip that I really hoped he would go to Disney with me one day.

Fast forward to June 2011, we had decided that since we had just moved out and money was tight we would drive to visit his dad again. Although, I would have never told Graham this, I was bummed about missing my family vacation to Disney. One day we were driving home from the beach, and Graham said what if we go to Disney tomorrow? Well, even though it wasn't a week long trip with all of the ammenities, I happily agreed and the next day we went to MK.

Graham finally understood why I missed Disney so much, but would it be enough to talk him into going back?





YES!


In November of 2011 I was a bridesmaid in my best friends wedding in Ft. Myers. We flew into Orlando and I whined with every step over to the HErtz counter, because i wanted to jump on the DME! WE stayed with his dad once again, and that night driving back from the Wedding, he sai "magic Kingdom tomorrow?"


YAYAYAYAY!

HOwever, despite our two day trips this year, I really wanted a full week in DIsney. I missed being in a Disney Resort and just being surrounded by Disney.


How would I ever get graham to agree?

 

[ashmarie06]

My birthday is in December, and I threw out the idea to Graham, that I wanted to celebrate my big 25 in Disney. He agreed it would be fun, but i'm always throwing out crazy plans and we never go along with them.

Fast Forward to January 2, 2012. I had had the worst day ever! My car was on the fritz, My Seasonal Depression was in full swing, and I was super sick. I would soon find out I had lupus. I'm sitting in the middle of my bed, surrounded by clothes that needed to be folded and the new Disney commercial came on.

I LOST it. I started wailing. Graham came in, and thought someone died. He asked what's wrong. I started bawling and told him I just needed to go to Disney. It was my happy place, and at that time I just wasn't happy.

He thought i was nuts.

He agreed to a Disney trip, and told me to start planning it.

I never thought I would hear those words, but even at that point, I didn't think we would ever go!

 

[ashmarie06]

After spending the next 72 hours obsessively price checking Disney Prices. I finally narrowed it down to a date.


Although I reallyyyy wanted to go in December for my birthday. I figured it would probably be a better deal to go in August.


So August 25-31st it is! We will go visit his dad post disney until September 3, 2012!

I ended up booking All-Star Sports (Graham's Pick) I would have preferred POP. But compromise is a beautiful thing! With the DDP! ( We would later find out this would be free!) Once free dining came out, we upgraded to the regular ddp from cs.

So the deposit was placed, and all hope was restored in the Grashley household.


But how on earth would we get there?

Picture of me and my best friend circa 2005 <3

 

[ashmarie06]

So the trip is booked, and we are 200 and something odd days out.

So what do I do? Obessively start looking at flights. Did I mention I have OCD?


Graham and I kept going back and forth on renting a car or flying. We are taking this trip on somewhat of a budget, and since we are under 25, renting a car isn't always the most economical option!


I finally found plane tickets out of Columbus Ohio direct to MCO. We are flying Airtran, and paid under 500.00 for our two round trip tickets.


SOLD!


Graham was standing over my shoulder looking at the flights on my laptop, when he handed me his credit card and said "Happy Birthmasversiary" See Graham didn't plan very well. My birthday is December 13, Christmas is the 25th and our anniversary is December 30th. He spends ALOT of money in the month of December. So as an early present, he bought BOTH plane tickets! Love this man!

(On the AirTran plane, in november, waiting for take off )






Now it reallyyyyy feels like this is for real.


WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!

 

[ashmarie06]

So on this day, to save a little cash, we will be driving the two hours to CMH, the airport in Columbus Ohio. We will be flying Airtran. I don't mind flying, but I am definately not a fan of the take off and landing. So I am not a fan of connecting flights, then you have to do it twice! Our flight is a direct flight leaving @ 12:02 pm, and we will land in Orlando @ 2:48pm.


I figured we would pack up and leave our apartment by 6:30am. I am compuslive, and I would rather sit at the airport for hours, then be late and miss my plane. DBF, not so much.

I figured we should be checked in, and ready to head to a park by 4:30, unfortunately no parks are having PM EMH, so we are going to head to

EPCOT!


Graham has never been here, and he is quite interested in drinking around the world, so I figured an extra half day at epcot would be great.


I figured by this time, we would be STARVING. We will probably start with a quick lunch at Sunshine Seasons. I'm debating making an ADR and just paying OOP that night, but i'm not even sure if we will be hungry enough for a big meal after eating at SS.

I have it planned that since this is our half night, we will stick around and watch Illuminations on this night, but close to the exit. We will need to make a quick exit so we can get back to our room at a decent hour, so we can head to my favorite place, bright and early the next morning.

 

[BearcatsFan]

I've been (im)patiently waiting for more updates and details ... pleeeeeeease tell me they are forthcoming!

 

[ashmarie06]

I didn't think anyone was reading, but yes I plan on posting again tonight or tomorrow.

THANKS FOR READING!

 

[ashmarie06]

Graham and I paid off our trip yesterday! 3 whole weeks early! Super big accomplisment for us! We are so excited!

We recieved an email from our TA yesterday night that said All Star Sports main pool was going to be closed our entire trip! We were totally looking forward to afternoons by the pool. So she said that she would have our reservation switched to....

AND LET ME TELL YOU, I'M NOT SAD OVER THIS ONE BIT! Pop was the original resort that I wanted, but Graham is my sports man, and he wanted Aspo. He is okay with POP now that i showed him all of the fun things that they have there.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Hey Ashley!! Followed you over from the August thread. You are you DBF remind me a lot of DH and me - mostly because you're a young couple and a lot of TRs I read are of families. But my DH had never been before he met me either and I had always gone with my family growing up.

If Graham thinks two single MK days was good, I think you guys will LOVE LOVE LOVE Epcot, especially drinking and eating around World Showcase. It's our favorite thing to do!

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[pigletto]

Also here from the August thread!! Can't wait to read more and plan along with you!!

 

[ashmarie06]

While planning our ADR's I couldn't get the idea of an early morning ADR before my FAVORITE park opened...

Finally Graham said, "can't you eat in the castle? Lets do that." I had to laugh because there was absolutley no reservations left at all. Once again, I was a day late and a dollar short.


Leave it to my TA to stalk the disney website! She found an 8:05am ressie at CRT! Score! Helloooo Pixie Dust. I was enthralled. on our two day trips to MK, G tried so so so hard to get a castle reservation, to no avail. I think he secretly wants to eat there more than me!



So I figured we would be up and at'em by 6:15-6:30 this morning so we get to MK by 7:30 or so. Graham thinks this is early. But i'm not sure how much I trust disney transportation, especially because this is a 104.00 breakfast that we pay for no matter if we show up or not. I'm actually debating taking a cab...

Anywho, I'm such an OCD planner that I figured after breakfast we would go to fantasyland, and FP PeterPan. I want to ride the new dumbo ride too! Graham and I promised that this trip, we would meet as many charcters as possible. I also am thinking about buying an autograph book. Am I to old to do that?

Around 12:30 if we are hungry enough for a meal I want to go to CHH, and try the Yummy tuna sandwich. I'm embarassed to say, in the numerous times i've been to MK I didn't even know this place existed. I stink! But i'm so excited to try it. If we aren't hungry, we plan on grabbing a snack, and heading back to the resort for some swimming, and lounging by the hippy dippy! So excited!


I figured that during our afternoon trips back to the resort, we would get dressed in different clothes, maybe even dress up

Depending on what time we get ready we either want to go to MK again, and spend some time on main street usa. Which is my favorite part of Disney. Or head to the tambu lounge before our 6:50 reservation at O'hana.

You will see that alcohol will be a very fun theme to our trip. We are young and ready to have fun!

After Ohana we plan on heading back to MK, maybe by boat, and hitiing all the rides that we can. We plan on skipping the parade and wishes this night, in hopes to walk on a lot of rides. Luckily MK has EMH until 12am this night. We want to be able to say that we rode every ride in Magic Kindom this trip. Hopefully we can get it all done!

 

[Trinity524]

I am here! You are not talking to yourself!

I, too, went to disney every year with my family and my DH never went before me. 7 trips later and he and me DS4 are hooked. Can't wait to see not only the PTR but the TR. I love seeing the world through a newbies eyes.

 

[NightAngelX]

Saw your link on the August board and thought I'd join in! Since I'm a first timer I hope to get some ideas!

 

[ashmarie06]

Saw your link on the August board and thought I'd join in! Since I'm a first timer I hope to get some ideas!

You will absolutley love it! I have been a ton of times, and each time feels like the first time. Although Graham has been to magic kingdom twice, and DHS for a couple hours, he has never experienced food at disney, or disney resorts. I think that is why i'm so excited for this trip.

I hope you love it! If you have any questions feel free to ask me!

 

[ashmarie06]

Hey Ashley!! Followed you over from the August thread. You are you DBF remind me a lot of DH and me - mostly because you're a young couple and a lot of TRs I read are of families. But my DH had never been before he met me either and I had always gone with my family growing up.

If Graham thinks two single MK days was good, I think you guys will LOVE LOVE LOVE Epcot, especially drinking and eating around World Showcase. It's our favorite thing to do!

Can't wait to hear more!

I cannot wait to drink around the World. This is my first trip being over 21 where I will have the opportunity to drink. People look at me like i'm crazy, because i'm so excited about it.

 

[ashmarie06]

I am here! You are not talking to yourself!

I, too, went to disney every year with my family and my DH never went before me. 7 trips later and he and me DS4 are hooked. Can't wait to see not only the PTR but the TR. I love seeing the world through a newbies eyes.

TY for following!

 

[ashmarie06]

Well in my last post I was telling you guys how the Assports main pool would be down for refurb. Wellllll I was under the impression that we would get to move to pop. However... After talking to our TA on Monday she told me that there was only one value resort left that could accomidate our FD ressie. So now... we will be at.


Wait for it..

I am honestly bummed... but what can ya do? After doing my research, it looks like a very nice resort. I am sure we will have a blast, we are in Disney afterall!


On a positive note, I finally picked out, and recieved the bag I intend to use in Disney. It's a 31 Gifts Organizing shoulder bag in the Lotsa Dots pattern. I was going to save it for Disney.. But i'm already using it. Awful I know, I will be devastated if I mess it up and have to get another one! I should probably put it away till August!







I guess the next thing we have to look forward to is Mickey Mail! YAYAY!




Real Life Update:

Just to give you guys a little background on me, I am a Medical Records Coordinator/ Administrative Assistant for a local Nursing Home. Our Nursing Home is one of ten privately owned around here, and it's honestly a great place to work. I have been at my facility now, for almost five years, and up until a year ago, I loved it. Then our owner, decided to shuffle our Administrator's around. Our Admin at my facility moved to another one, and I was crushed. I was always close to our Admin, Lets call her Tracy. Well our new admin, lets call her Satan, is just absolutly insane. She judges on the basis of, if you have a degree or not, even though the company only requires them for certain positions, on the way you act/dress, and even on if you have to live paycheck to paycheck. So I was pulled to the facility that Tracy is now the Administrator of, to help out, due to them losing their Medical Records Coordinator. Well I ended up moving facilities to be with Tracy.

My first official day is next Monday. I have been covering over there 2-3 days a week so far, for the last 3 weeks. I am so excited, however nervous. I work on a strict budget, and now my payday's will be flip flopping. At one point I will recieve a half check (i'm salary) and wait almost 3 weeks for another, so that I can be caught up. I don't live paycheck to paycheck, however I am super nervous about this. Especially because I have a feeling I will be purchasing a new car here soon. Not by choice.


DBF starts a new job Monday also! All of these changes. He used to be a Maintenance Asst at a local furniture store, but when he met me 3 years ago, I got him a job at my nursing home. He is moving to our Nurse Aide department, and will now be working 40 hours a week! (Thank God) and will get a 3,000 raise this year! YAYAY!


Big Big changes for Grashley!

 

[DisneyMomFanatic]

Hi Ashley ,

So excited to finally be able to get 10 mins to read your report and "meet" you. I have a little in common with you other than our similar touring days on our upcoming vacations. (which I am SUPER excited about!!!!!) I grew up in a family that over the years took 4 trips to disney world. It may not be alot to some families, but of all our family vacations, those I remember the most and best. When I meet my husband, he had never been (DL 3 times) to Disney World. I gave him his first introduction to my happy place. While I wouldn't call him a disney-obsessed person, he loves to go and happy when he is there. I can't wait to meet you in person! Happy planning to both of us!