I'm Not Riding THAT! A Trip With Character! Piper's Wish Trip 3/2-8 - Upd-4/20

[PrincessCaitlin]

Love the pixie dust package update!

It's amazing how generous and thoughtful DISers are

Hmm where is this next trip update

 

[pipersmom]

I finally realized that you started a separate trip report from your PTR! I love the pictures of Piper with the limo driver. The airport ordeal would have worn me out! I am glad that you ended with making it to Orlando. I can't wait to read more!

We loved Jesse (the driver)! It was a very long travel day! Next time I would def try to make it shorter...:

AWWW you tricked me!! When I saw the title I thought it was a trip update!! BUT the smile and excitement on Piper's face more than made up for it!

She was loving that package! New update tonight!

Hurray for a boring flight! And how cute was Piper's reaction to the Captain's seat?!?
I asked DH tonight if he's going to quit again before we leave. He has a scrip but stopped taking it and started smoking again. I don't want him grumpy on our trip, but the kids are not allowed to see him smoke and he's not leaving me alone with them, so....

What a fun welcome home package! I'd love to see the two girls matching.

You'll hear about that reaction again..guaranteed! I'll get a pic of Piper posted in the shirt tonight, then we just need to see Aleks!

I am loving the updates so far! I have a family function to attend all day long today so as soon as I get home I will be checking for an update!! Hope you and Piper have a wonderful Sunday!

I'll try to get the update up by 8! It's going to be a loooong one though!

Love the pixie dust package update!

It's amazing how generous and thoughtful DISers are

Hmm where is this next trip update

Tonight tonight! The package was awesome!

 

[xanphylus]

You'll hear about that reaction again..guaranteed! I'll get a pic of Piper posted in the shirt tonight, then we just need to see Aleks!

That means little miss Aleks has to clean her bathroom, find the shirt and put it on. I will try tomorrow. At her pokey rate, it will take til next week just to sort her laundry so I can wash the stuff- much less find the right shirt and get it on! Hopefully soon though. She wants to see Piper in hers too, so maybe that will light a fire under her booty!

 

[englishrose47]

I have to go to work soon soooo will check in after midnight !!!!

 

[pipersmom]

That means little miss Aleks has to clean her bathroom, find the shirt and put it on. I will try tomorrow. At her pokey rate, it will take til next week just to sort her laundry so I can wash the stuff- much less find the right shirt and get it on! Hopefully soon though. She wants to see Piper in hers too, so maybe that will light a fire under her booty!

LOL Jenn..no pressure, I didn't get the piccie of Piper today either..definitely tomorrow!

I have to go to work soon soooo will check in after midnight !!!!

I am writing and adding the piccies for the new update right now...I think I'm going to have to split it into two parts though..either I'm too wordy, or too much happened!

 

[xanphylus]

I am writing and adding the piccies for the new update right now...I think I'm going to have to split it into two parts though..either I'm too wordy, or too much happened!

Its most likely too much happened- which is an excellent thing!!!! I am the one that is too wordy and can go of forever about absolutely nothing for days and days and days- Just ask my DH! And look- here I go again!! Lalalalala...... And anyway- we all like 2 part updates! The more info- the better! At least IMHO!!

 

[pipersmom]

Photobucket has apparently decided to be temperamental today! I'm having to re-upload two pics because it wouldn't let me edit them in photobucket, so I had to do it in microsoft and re-upload them! Grrrr

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

Photobucket has apparently decided to be temperamental today! I'm having to re-upload two pics because it wouldn't let me edit them in photobucket, so I had to do it in microsoft and re-upload them! Grrrr

We are having the exact same problem! Photobucket uploaded all of our pictures and sized them as "tiny"

 

[xanphylus]

Photobucket has apparently decided to be temperamental today! I'm having to re-upload two pics because it wouldn't let me edit them in photobucket, so I had to do it in microsoft and re-upload them! Grrrr

Glad my update didn't have any pics for now... but later if I do another it will... bleh! And I am soooo patiently waiting for your update. Behaving and everything! As Aleks would say, "I'm not whining, huh Jenn?"

 

[xanphylus]

We are having the exact same problem! Photobucket uploaded all of our pictures and sized them as "tiny"

On a side note- I saw you were going to MNSSHP! Its a blast!!! We just went and it will be in my TR coming up.

Amanda- your next trip needs to be during MNSSHP!! And we should so meet you there!! It rocked our world and was so worth the extra cash. Trick or Treating in the MK? Oh yeah!!!

Sorry...... I had to get that out.....
(so much for behaving- huh?)

 

[pipersmom]

I'm glad it's not just me having photobucket issues..I was so good too, all the pics were uploaded, then I realized you could see our last name in two of them! Sheesh! I'm trying..the update is all written..just waiting on one more photo!

 

[pipersmom]

When last we left you, we had finally landed in Orlando and were headed for the monorail. What was supposed to be a 4:15 arrival happened closer to 5:00, but at this point we were all just glad to finally be there! Piper was quite excited when I told her it was time for her first ride.. She was quite entranced with the airport monorail, but I think what she saw when we got to the baggage claim was even more magical:

Our greeter's name was Virginia, and Piper was quite enthralled that her name was the same as our home state..lol. She took us to the Avis counter, and here is where the mysterious "downgrade" comes into play. I had noticed in our MAW paperwork that they had reserved a full size car for us. Being the intrepid driver that I am, quite frankly, I had no interest in driving a "land boat", especially when I had basically no idea of where I was going or how to get anywhere, and there were only the three of us. You would think that driving a jeep cherokee, a large car size wouldn't bother me, but it did. So I very sweetly asked the rental agent if I could downgrade the size of the car. Can I just say the look on her face was classic? Her mouth kind of opened and shut for a few seconds as if she were either a fish on land, or really didn't know how to respond. I would guess it was the latter, but she finally spit it out that it would be fine for us to downgrade and assigned us to a Chevy Cobalt. Apparently, I did fluster her, because the next thing you know, a businessman came strolling up, looked at us quizzically, looked at the slip in his hand, and said.."I guess they assigned too many people for this car..." he looked it over closely, kind of let out an exasperated sigh and stated "I expressly told them I wanted a Ford, you can just take this one." Now, considering our luggage was in the trunk, and the keys were in my hand, I believe that would have been the outcome anyway, but there you go!

A few days before we left, Gram had bought a GPS..being a rationalizer just like yours truly, I think the trip was the perfect excuse for her to break down and buy a new toy. She asked if I wanted it out, but we had directions on the back of the welcome poster to the village, so I told her we would set it up in the morning. We were on our way and about 30 minutes later saw this:

This is the sign on the road that the village is on, pointing you in the right direction. I have to give Gram props here..she was a very good sport when in the midst of driving I would whip out my camera, hand it to her, and say.. "Quick! Get a picture of that sign!" Here's the sign that greets you once you turn into the village:

You go through a manned security booth/gate when you enter the village, once the nice gentleman established who we were, he sent us to the House of Hearts. The HoH serves as the office, media center, and general front desk area of the Village. Once we were inside, we sat down with a volunteer who explained how everything worked, gave Piper a stuffed Mickey, and then had us follow her golf cart to our villa! I have to admit, I am a bad Dis'er..the only photo I have of the villa is the one you're about to see. I'm thinking about hitting up Melissa for a better one when they go on their trip next month. It was just one of those things I kept meaning to do, and didn't. I'm posting a pic off the stock CD the Village sends of a villa veeeeeery similar to ours, as well as the "you're here, let's take a photo of you with the sign" picture.
The House of Hearts:

Very similar to our villa:

Arriving at our villa:

There was a huge bag of goodies waiting for Piper, and the fridge was stocked with sodas, bottled water, and a small box of donuts. There was also coffee (hallelujah!). Gram and I are both huge coffee drinkers, and had already planned on my getting a bag when I made a wal-mart run later that night.
The contents of the goody bag:

There were more stuffed animals, snacks, pencils, coloring books, crayons, Valentine's Day goodies, Easter goodies..it was just a huge bag chock full of stuff!

By this point it was about 7:00, and I had orientation at 7:45. We dialed Katie's Kitchen..it's a carry-out/delivery place at the Village that serves Boston Market donated food. You can choose between rotisserie chicken and meatloaf or a combination (which we chose), and a ton of sides including mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, string beans, corn, cinnamon apples, fresh fruit, and cornbread. Our meal was there within 15 minutes, and it was yummy! I finished eating and had to bolt to get to the orientation, back at the House of Hearts. The Village asks that you leave your car parked and take the shuttle or train to the places you need to go. It was so cold this night that the shuttle bus was running..I only had to wait a few moments, and there it was. I got to see quite a bit more of the Village and ended up just in time for Orientation. I have to say, I was a bit surprised to see how many families came in totally clueless. I am not judging at all, please don't get me wrong, but there were questions about whether all four parks were part of Magic Kingdom..if Universal was a part of Disney, etc. I consider myself a fairly laid back person, but I would have been batty walking in totally blind. They gave us our park tickets and explained how everything worked as far as meals and entertainment at the village, and let us loose about 40 minutes later. While I was in orientation, Gram and Piper were going to come and explore the Avenue of Angels. Pretty much everything in the Village is on the Avenue, with a couple of exceptions. In the next post I'm going to give you a "tour" of the village, and you'll see more. When I came out, Gram and Piper had just finished riding the carousel..Piper would only ride the snail, which is totally stationary aside from the round and round of the carousel.. and then had gone to Ice Cream Parlor!! After making a quick stop so I could get an ice cream of my own..a shake, actually..and it was yummy.. we went to the Amberville Train Station. In addition the model train set I'll show you in the tour, there are video games, a pool table, a video watching area, a train ride, and even a miniature golf course! We did the remote control boats for a bit, and then headed back to the villa for the night. Our villa was only about 1/8 of a mile from the Avenue, which would turn out to be a very good thing! Piper did her meds and pretty much fell straight asleep afterwards..here's a piccie especially for Caitlin, Dawn, and Shannon:

Once Piper was asleep, I headed for Wal-Mart..I had already made a run for coffee filters from the House of Hearts, but we needed milk, bagels, good coffee, creamer, some fruit..things of that nature! I also picked up another lanyard for Piper..she had decided to make a traders lanyard, and a keeper's lanyard..lol. It also had a HUGE Disney section, which we would be re-visiting later in the week. : By the time I got back to the villa at 12:30 or so, I had a pretty good idea we would not be making rope drop at MK, but that's a story for another chapter!

Next Time..A Tour of the Village and Interesting Tidbits!

 

[PirateFairy8]

I'm way too tired and having a very awful fibro flare, so I will possibly respond with comments that will possibly make sense later, but I'm still reading and so looking forward to more!

 

[mebbradley]

Oh what a great update! I can't wait to hear about your first day!

 

[Disneylover79]

I haven't even started reading yet just got the first post done and I just wanted to say how beautiful your little girl is...ok now back to reading I go

 

[xanphylus]

Great post! More pics! I demand more!!! Still having issues with photobucket I take it? I just used it and it worked fine for mine. Hence my really full of pics update I just did- hint, hint! Took forever to write, so I now know what you're talking about when you say the next update will be in a day or two. Geez- no wonder I waited 6 months to do my TR!!

 

[pipersmom]

I'm way too tired and having a very awful fibro flare, so I will possibly respond with comments that will possibly make sense later, but I'm still reading and so looking forward to more!

I understand, and I hope you feel better soon!

Oh what a great update! I can't wait to hear about your first day!

Thank you! I'm getting to the first park day slowly but surely..LOL.

I haven't even started reading yet just got the first post done and I just wanted to say how beautiful your little girl is...ok now back to reading I go

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy sharing the journey :

 

[leamom2princesses]

Loving your updates Amanda! So glad you aren't making us wait for one a week. So far everything sounds great. Can't wait to hear more about the Village.

 

[pipersmom]

Great post! More pics! I demand more!!! Still having issues with photobucket I take it? I just used it and it worked fine for mine. Hence my really full of pics update I just did- hint, hint! Took forever to write, so I now know what you're talking about when you say the next update will be in a day or two. Geez- no wonder I waited 6 months to do my TR!!

Hmm..I'm glad it worked fine for yours! *clueless look* Let me know when you do another update! I think I almost have it straight, and will have the mystery pic up here in a bit. I actually get mine written fairly quickly..I'm forcing myself to space them out so it will last longer! LOL..I'm enjoying looking back on it and figure this way I can look back for at least a month or so!

 

[pipersmom]

Loving your updates Amanda! So glad you aren't making us wait for one a week. So far everything sounds great. Can't wait to hear more about the Village.

Thanks, Leanne! I'm looking forward to doing the village tour update..it's just such a neat place, and the work that goes into it is amazing!