I'm ready to go now!!! Is it vacation time yet?

[johnsonginad]

and hi there! Glad to have you tagging along!

 

[Lidian]

Yep. The experience is exactly why we decided to upgrade to the DxDP this time. We wanted to be able to try some of the signatures at least once. I think the one I am most excited about is California Grill. I've been wanting to go there FOREVER! I think it will be such a fun experience to get to dress up and have a really nice meal while in the Most Magical Place on Earth!

YES!!!! Kouzzina was our most favorite place that we ate at on our last trip. I can't wait to go back!

Cali Grill was YUM! We all enjoyed getting dressed up and having a fine dinner, and Cali was perfect for it! We had a nice server -- who made us feel "at home", even though we had never been in such a fine establishment before. It was also nice to see other kids around, too. We were second-guessing bringing the kids along, but there were plenty of kids there, so I didn't feel out of place. I'm anxious to hear how much you enjoy Cali Grill!

 

[johnsonginad]

Cali Grill was YUM! We all enjoyed getting dressed up and having a fine dinner, and Cali was perfect for it! We had a nice server -- who made us feel "at home", even though we had never been in such a fine establishment before. It was also nice to see other kids around, too. We were second-guessing bringing the kids along, but there were plenty of kids there, so I didn't feel out of place. I'm anxious to hear how much you enjoy Cali Grill!

This makes me even MORE excited!

I see that you live in TN. Wonder how close we are to each other? I live in Kentucky, right on the TN border.

 

[Lidian]

This makes me even MORE excited!

I see that you live in TN. Wonder how close we are to each other? I live in Kentucky, right on the TN border.

I'm just south of Knoxville. I mean literally, we're the next city south.

I have family in KY, but they're far north ... Sturgis area. (Hendersonville, too? Or is that in another state? I know it's practically on the border.)

I've had to travel to Middlesboro a few times with my last job. It's not a bad drive. There's also some other areas that I've had to go to, but the city names elude me.

 

[johnsonginad]

I'm just south of Knoxville. I mean literally, we're the next city south.

I have family in KY, but they're far north ... Sturgis area. (Hendersonville, too? Or is that in another state? I know it's practically on the border.)

I've had to travel to Middlesboro a few times with my last job. It's not a bad drive. There's also some other areas that I've had to go to, but the city names elude me.

LOL. We really aren't THAT far from each other. Just a mere 3 and a half hours or so. We are in Franklin, KY which is right on the border and only about 35-40 minutes from Nashville.

So, HELLO "ALMOST" NEIGHBOR!!

 

[Lidian]

LOL. We really aren't THAT far from each other. Just a mere 3 and a half hours or so. We are in Franklin, KY which is right on the border and only about 35-40 minutes from Nashville.

So, HELLO "ALMOST" NEIGHBOR!!

Hi "almost" neighbor! So if we look at it this way, we used to be pretty close neighbors. I spent some time in Murfreesboro and Smyrna before moving back home to the Knoxville area.

 

[johnsonginad]

Alright, so let's get down to some bidness here.

We will be flying out of Nashville, TN on March 30th. Our flight is at 6:05am and is scheduled to land in Orlando at 8:30 am. How exciting! We figure that by the time we gather our luggage, and get to the Magical Express, that we should be at our resort by about 11 or maybe even earlier.

Once we get all checked in, our plans are to change into some more Florida appropriate clothes, and head to DTD! This is somewhat of a tradition for us. We always head there first and get autograph books and pens for Wendy. After getting those must have items, Prince Charming, Wendy and I all usually stop at Earl of Sandwich for one of these:

Yep! The Original is for real, CALLING MY NAME! I want one right now! LOL We'll probably be doing some sharing there, because I want to make sure I'm good and hungry for our dinner that will follow pretty closely behind.

After we get finished up there, We are going to hop a boat back to our resort, and head to the bus stop. MAGIC KINGDOM HERE WE COME!!! We plan on doing some touring there before heading to our very first ADR of the trip, and our first Deluxe dining experience ever at none other than:

From there, we aren't sure what we're going to do next. We can either head to MK to have some more fun, and catch the MSEP and Wishes, or we can head to Epcot for EMH until 12am. Right now, that's up in the air. I guess we'll decide when we're finally there!

In a nutshell, that's arrival day. We'll have to head in at a semi-decent time, because the next morning we have big rope drop plans!

 

[Lidian]

I absolutely love EoS! I'm not sure if we'll eat lunch there on arrival day or not. It's between EoS and WGPXpress. Either way, I can't go wrong.

Shall I come back and post our Kouzzina pictures for you to drool over after our trip? Or shall I just whip out my 2010 ones?

Your plans look great for arrival day! I love to have lots of flexibility.

 

[johnsonginad]

I absolutely love EoS! I'm not sure if we'll eat lunch there on arrival day or not. It's between EoS and WGPXpress. Either way, I can't go wrong.

Shall I come back and post our Kouzzina pictures for you to drool over after our trip? Or shall I just whip out my 2010 ones?

Your plans look great for arrival day! I love to have lots of flexibility.

OOOOOOOHHHHH!!! I'm voting for posting the 2010 ones now AND posting the new ones after your trip too! I'm all for drooling a little! (or alot even!)

 

[Lidian]

OOOOOOOHHHHH!!! I'm voting for posting the 2010 ones now AND posting the new ones after your trip too! I'm all for drooling a little! (or alot even!)

Welcome to your first Lidian Threadjacking Experience. I recommend keeping all hands, arms, legs, and toes inside the thread, unless you are ready to part with them.

Pastitsio

Pastitsio stirred up so noodles are visible

Fisherman's Stew

DH really enjoyed it

Baklava

Loukoumades

Mmmmmmm! And I get to enjoy it all again in 11 days!

And because my DD cracked me up while dining at Kouzzina ... I'll share that photo as well:

 

[MelMel11]

Count me in!!

 

[johnsonginad]

Welcome to your first Lidian Threadjacking Experience. I recommend keeping all hands, arms, legs, and toes inside the thread, unless you are ready to part with them.

Pastitsio

Pastitsio stirred up so noodles are visible

Fisherman's Stew

DH really enjoyed it

Baklava

Loukoumades

Mmmmmmm! And I get to enjoy it all again in 11 days!

And because my DD cracked me up while dining at Kouzzina ... I'll share that photo as well:

Wow...I think I blacked out a little.

Now I'm hungry. And I haven't had breakfast yet either. Just sitting here at my desk drinking my coveted non-fat venti latte from starbucks.

 

[Lidian]

Wow...I think I blacked out a little.

Now I'm hungry. And I haven't had breakfast yet either. Just sitting here at my desk drinking my coveted non-fat venti latte from starbucks.

At least you have Starbucks...

 

[wakica]

wow, all that food looks so yummy!!! Anything specific you want to order?? and DTD on arrival day is PERFECT!!! A wonderful taste of Disney without getting worn out for your first park day although your there pretty early so you could fit lots in couldn't you??? lol

 

[johnsonginad]

At least you have Starbucks...

True...I did. And although it was really quite good, I only got it because I had to work today, and Starbucks is on the way.

On the bright side, I'm off and home now. That means I have more time to be on here! YAY!!!

 

[johnsonginad]

wow, all that food looks so yummy!!! Anything specific you want to order?? and DTD on arrival day is PERFECT!!! A wonderful taste of Disney without getting worn out for your first park day although your there pretty early so you could fit lots in couldn't you??? lol

Oh yes. I know exactly which entree I want to order at Kouzinna. I want the cinnamon-stewed chicken. I got the trio thingy last time, which was REALLY good, but the cinnamon-stewed chicken was my FAVORITE. I keep meaning to make it at home, but then I forget. I love love love to cook, but lately it's not been happening much. Work has me exhausted 90% of the time, and the other 10% we spend at dance practice. Most of our meals lately have been on the run at Subway or just a bowl of cereal at home.

We really could fit a lot in on arrival day. I'm so excited that we will be able to get there so early! It just means more time in our happy place! LOL

 

[johnsonginad]

So, I just had to tell you guys about my weekend, because it was just fabulous! Well, parts of it weren't, but that's just how it goes sometimes, right?

Most of you already know that I had to work on Saturday, right? Well, work was great! Seriously. We were pretty busy, which helps the day go by much faster. However, I went out to take a break about mid morning, and when I got to my truck I noticed that the keyless entry wasn't working. No big deal, right? So I just unlocked it with my key and got in. I went to turn my truck on to listen to the radio and all I heard was "click....click...click..click click click..." Yep...You've got it. My battery was dead! I had apparently left my interior light on when I got there, and evidently that will drain a battery when it's been sitting there on for like 3 hours. So, I start asking everybody if they have jumper cables. NO ONE HAD ANY. Luckily, my boss's wife was at home that day, and he had one of those plug in battery chargers. Here's where it gets pretty comical:

She brought the charger, and an extension cord because this thing had to be plugged in to work. My boss plugs it in and starts dragging it across the parking lot. Well, the extension cord wasn't quite long enough. We lacked about a foot and a half from reaching my truck with it. So we go back in and start digging around in closets to see if we can find another cord. We eventually found one and took it outside. FINALLY! We had one that was long enough!

Here we are, outside, trying to jump my truck with a plug in charger. Simple, right? Nope. He'd never used the contraption before, and had NO IDEA how to work it. 45 minutes later, we finally had it figured out, and the Gi-Ride was running again.

Everybody that pulled up in our parking lot just stared at us like we were a couple of idiots. I'm sure that we looked like rednecks out there too with our extension cord drug all the way across the parking lot, and this contraption sitting on top of my truck.

Yesterday I woke up with a terrible cold. A can't breathe, hurts when you cough, body aching cold. Seriously...it stinks. Because I was feeling so terrible, Wendy and I didn't go to church yesterday. (Prince Charming was at work, so he obviously didn't go either.) We spent our day watching Disney movies and surfing the internet together. After watching "Puppies" (101 Dalmations) for the second time, I decided to get on the Dis and do a little looking. I found a thread that I just knew Wendy would love. It was all pictures of meet and greets with characters, and some of them were of characters we've never gotten to see before. Wendy had a blast with it! She went to her room and came back in the living room with her two autograph books from last year. We sat and looked at them for a while, and she talked about what happened with every character she met last year. As she was getting up to take her books back to her room, she said, "Mommy? When we get to go back sometime, will you buy me a new autograph book? I want to meet a BUNCH of characters next time!" (keep in mind that we filled up TWO books last year! ) I told her that I would definitely buy her new ones, and that we would meet as many characters as we could. She started back to her room and said "I want to go back! Mommy? Do you think we can go back next year? I really really want to." I told her we would do our best to, because Mommy and Daddy want to go back too. As she walked back to her room, and was out of ear shot, I mumbled under my breath: "Don't worry baby, you're going back. 33 more days and you'll be there." She's going to be so happy!

Little things like that make it SO hard for me not to tell her! But I'm plugging along, and so is Prince Charming. It gets harder and harder every day, but we're still being strong!

How was everyone's weekend? I hope it was good!

 

[Lidian]

I'm so glad you had a great .. but peculiar weekend! And I'm super happy that your DD is excited over her unknown upcoming trip! She'll be so tickled!!! I can't wait to hear all about her reaction when you tell her!

 

[wakica]

OH MY GOODNESS!!! She is going to be SSOOOOO EXCITED!!!!! lol. i can't beleive how well you keep a secret!!!! lol

 

[Moodyzblu]

Awe I'm SO excited for your little one !!! She is going to be SO happy.
I don't know how you kept such a big secret but you rule !