Is LATE Really Better Than NEVER? A Late-breaking TR

[aspcamhreditor2]

#1 – The Goofy/Grumpy/Princess Family Trip … And So It Begins …

Wooop, wooop, wooop! Warning! Warning!!

This TR covers our trip in Dec. 2005. Yes, I know: I’m a little behind. However, I recently booked our next Disney adventure for October of this year. I realized, “oh, snap!” I haven’t even scrapbooked the last trip. So, this little TR is my way of organizing some thoughts for journaling the last trip. Plus, it a great way to review my thoughts & notes from the last trip (sad … yes … I do take notes at WDW in a little notebook I carry in my fanny pack … not that I’m obsessive or anything.)

Another reason for SUCH a LATE-breaking trip report: I’m currently really, really missing WDW. Right now, an October trip doesn’t seem soon enough so I’ve been enjoying many other TRs and I’m revisiting our trip as I get some scrapbooking done.

So … if you think long-overdue TRs are not worth your effort, don’t stop here.

Wooop, wooop, wooop! Warning! Warning!!!

Yes … another warning. This little TR will be loooooonnnnnnngggg. However, I’m going to **TRY** to get in posted in a fairly timely fashion over the next few weeks. Like many of you, I get confused on the particulars when there is a long break between posts.

So … if you think loooonngg TRs are not worth your effort … again, keep moving.

Finally …
Wooop, wooop, wooop! Warning! Warning!!

Yes … one last warning. It’s gonna be several posts before I get the “trip.” If I’m really going do this, then I feel compelled to share all pre-trip details.

So … if you think … Never mind. You know the drill by now.

If you are still reading, stay tuned … “real” trip report starts soon.

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

#2 – The Goofy/Grumpy/Princess Family Trip …. Pre-trip Report, part 1


Cast:
Me (PrincessMom) vascillated between obsessively planning & deciding to fly by the seat of our pants. I’m not fooling anyone: I could tell you that we took this trip because I love to see my girls at WDW (very true), but this trip was for me, me, me.

DH (JC, the Big Guy or Grumpy/Goof) -- patiently indulges lunatic wife’s (that’s me) Disney obsession although he secretly likes WDW more than he lets on.

DD#1 (Doodle) 6 & 1/2 yrs old & on her 3rd trip to WDW. Bright, cute, sensitive. Was princess obsessed for many of her formative years. Loves rides.

DD#2 (Moo Moo) 3 & 1/2 yrs. old & on her 2nd trip, but this will be the first one she can remember. Adorable but with a temper that could make a Disney Villian blush. Also a princess fan. Also loves rides.

Aunt E – DH’s only sister and was friends with PrincessMom in college. No kids of her own yet so she loves to do things with her various nieces. The 2 days she spends w/ us will be her first experience vacationing w/ the lunatics … I mean our family. She will only join us for a couple of days, but they end up being GREAT days!


Long-term Background …
When I was growing up, my family didn’t vacation. We showed ponies, and that little hobby took every cent of extra money my family scraped together. A family trip was one day to a covered bridge festival or the zoo or the local fair. Going some place as “fancy” and as far away as WDW simply wasn’t done … not just not by my family, but not by many families in the rural southern (ie read “fairly poor”) part of our state. Luckily, I did have a chance to travel to both Disneyland and WDW as part of high school band trips. Both trips left me with some deeply buried longing that began to germinate once I had my own children.

DH (ie, Grumpy/Goofy) was somewhat luckier. Before all of his brothers and sisters were born, his family was able to do the low-rent version of a WDW world vacation with the older kids. However, some WDW is better than none to my mind. I still love hearing stories of DH’s youthful excursion to WDW… of those 4 kids traveling there crammed in the back seat … of driving all night.

In the mid-90s, when some friends took their 2 yr. old son to WDW, I thought they were silly, silly, silly. At that time … prior to having my own kids, to vacationing at WDW and, most importantly, before joining The Dis …. I thought WDW was a do-it-one-time kind of trip. Therefore, I formerly (and mistakenly) thought you should wait until your kids are older. You know … the kids should be old enough to 1) appreciate it and 2) remember it. Then, we had DD#1. Doodle became obsessed with Snow White when she was about 2 & 1/2. Coincidentally, we just happened to sell our house to a decent profit at about the same time. So … WDW trip on! It was on that trip in Feb. 2002 that I discovered the magic of WDW for little kids …. 2 yr olds appreciate WDW just as much as anyone else, they just appreciate it differently and can’t talk about it as much. As for remembering it, that’s for the parents. It’s also what scrapbooks are for.

It was also on this first family trip that I then learned that it’s okay to want to do WDW more than once! So, long-story short … now I’m WDW obsessed and hoping we manage a few more trips with our girls.

Why?

Well, if you are asking that, you are most likely brand spanking new to The Dis. However, if your are sitting at your computer with your hand in the air like that annoying character from “Welcome Back Kotter”, then you are a true Dis-er and you undoubtedly have many of your own reasons for wanting to spend as much of the rest of your life as possible at WDW.

For me, the “why” I want to go back multiple times is a mixture of reasons and emotions. Partly, I have some ridiculously romanticized idea of what a good family trip is. Partly, it's about some warped sense of parenting I have. Partly, it's the age of my kids and the enjoyment THEY get out of this kind of trip. And, for me, it's a lot about escaping my waaaayyyy over-extended and over-committed life. WDW is about the only place I can truly relax and forget about the billions of other things I have going on. Plus, I like my vacations to be one part relaxation, one part fun & one part “doing” something. I love the beach and I love places like Washington DC, but, for me, Disney is the perfect blend of stuff "to do" AND "fun" AND places to relax.

So … now on to the trip report. This trip in Dec. 2005 was our 3rd family vacation to WDW, but I had only found The Dis a few months before this particular trip. I’ve never done a trip report for our WDW vacations … and, obviously, given how incredibly late this TR is, this write-up almost didn’t happen either. Although I like to write and used to do more of it, my job now is mostly the mechanics of putting together a magazine. My writing is probably too rusty to do justice to our trip and NOT have you die-hard Dis’ers either skipping this report or being bored to tears. There are soooo many wonderful trip reports out there so I will apologize in advance of not being able to live up to the great ones.

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

Pre Trip Planning … What the Heck was I THINKING?

Cast Review …
Me (PrincessMom)
DH (Grumpy/Goofy)
DD#1 (Doodle) 6 & 1/2 yrs old
DD#2 (Moo Moo) 3 & 1/2 yrs. old


Background….
What the heck was I thinking? I put together a magazine for a small horse breed registry and our December book is traditionally one of our largest issues of the year. It rarely goes to print on time. Did I REALLY think we could make a 12/5 departure? Well, no, but heck, I need a vacation and my kids love all things Disney. I’ll find a way to get the magazine done … after all, sleep is for wusses, right?

Months in advance …
We booked through Dreams Unlmited. We have never used a Disney-specialist travel agency before, but I wanted to give it a try this time simply for help in obtaining the-difficult-to-book breakfast at Cinderella’s castle for Doodle & Moo Moo.

Once booked, I obsessed about ADRs although I still had no idea what the park schedules would be yet. Of course, that was before I found The Dis. (How could I possibly plan which parks for which days and which restaurants if the “official” park hours for December weren’t posted at the time frame to make ADRs?) Thankfully, I found The Dis and was perfectly prepared and able to book this time around for our upcoming Oct. ’07 ADRs.

Back for our 2005 trip, I was he only one obsessing this early. Of course, I’m the only one thinking about our Oct. trip now. DH says, “whatever you think. You’re the Disney expert.” And, THAT was BEFORE I found The Dis.

For our 2005 trip, one goal is to convince DH that EPCOT is a suitable park for younger children and it isn’t boring. I try to use this early-planning time to convince DH he is simply out-of-date when it comes to EPCOT. DH Grumpy/Goofy has made sure we avoided this park on our last two trips as he had a horrible experience at EPCOT when he was in high school and has steadfastly refused to budge on ever going back. I’m determined that this will be the trip that changes his mind!

Will we do EPCOT this year? Stay tuned to find out.

Late summer …
I obsessively looked for a small ringed notebook/binder that would fit into my hip pouch and carry the master plan. Like everything else, it had to be perfect and needed to match the object I had made up in my mind. Sometimes being a perfectionist takes waaaayyyyy tooooo much time and effort! Finally, I did find a nice little notebook that I could add pages so I could print out small layouts of our notes & reservations. It also gave me a place to make trip notes during the trip.

Next … my DH who likes to PRETEND he’s not THAT into WDW and that he just is humoring me slips up. He gets me (his 37 yr. old wife) Disney Dollars for my birthday. I have to say, this little card with such a well-thoughout-out gift really touched me. But, I don’t think he realized his mistake. It’s about 4 months before our trip and he’s trying to pretend he’s not already thinking about and looking forward to WDW???? BUSTED!

Fall …
I began paging out our trip’s master plan on a design program. Wow, that magazine thing sure comes in handy! Perhaps I should have actually been working on the very magazine issue that could prevent me from going on this trip rather than actually worrying about the trip itself. But …. How fun would that be? Zip, of course!

I have been asking general questions to Doodle, MooMoo and DH to get basic ideas of what they might want to do. I also bought Doodle one of the kids’ guide books. She and I take great delight in pouring over a few pages each night as part of our ritual before bed read-a-thon. There several months in a row that more than one chapter of that guidebook appeared on Doodle’s reading list for first grade “Book It” program. And, to think … she got credit for her free “reading” pizza that month just by being in training to become a future WDW-a-holic!

At this point, I also made arrangements for someone to do chores. We have Modern American Shetland Ponies & a Miniature Horse, all of which are show animals with national titles to their credit. The upshot …. I’m terribly picky about chores. We’ll be gone too long to ask the neighbors to feed, water & hay, but pet services are soooo expensive & most don’t really “get” this kind of animal. I finally settle on having a pet sitting service come out in the morning and I find a college-age girl from a local riding stable who agrees to come out in the evening … or at least I THINK she’s coming out. But, more on that later. My sister will be coming up for two days in the middle of our trip to check on everything, clean stalls, etc., because I really only trust my family.

So … WILL I get that issue done and will we make it to our early December adventure in WDW?

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

#4th Installment – Free Pizza for Reading WDW Books

Cast Review …
Me (PrincessMom)
DH (Grumpy/Goofy)
DD#1 (Doodle) 6 & 1/2 yrs old
DD#2 (Moo Moo) 3 & 1/2 yrs. old

It’s fall 2005 and I can’t stop thinking about our early Dec. trip at this point. It was a struggle NOT to spend every second I could manage hashing, re-hashing, planning, reading other people’s trip reports … then changing trip plans based on those TRs!

October & November …
I started sorting through clothes & picking up items I think we’ll need. While I didn’t actually start packing, I did start putting clothes & other items for the trip into a large clothes basket. Of course, I didn’t tell DH and hid the early packing in my closet. While he was more excited than he let on, he just wouldn’t understand.

Doodle did more reading in her guidebook and got more credit toward her pizza reward that month. Tee hee! This is too easy!

Now, MooMoo wanted in on the book action. She loved hearing what there is to do and looking at the pics. Both girls are busy trying to decide what we will do FIRST. So far, the are leaning toward Tower of Terror. Eeek! Is that a good idea for a 6 & 1/2 and 3 & 1/2 year old? You’ll just have to keep reading to find out!

The Weekend Before ….
Thanksgiving weekend. Pack DH, Doodle & MooMoo off to DH’s family for the four-day Thanksgiving weekend. I need to work, work, work. The magazine isn’t even CLOSE to being finished. It would be wonderful if I could work the ENTIRE weekend, but I’m heading to the St. Louis area as well for Saturday as we have tickets to see the musical “Wicked” on Saturday. Of course, that was BEFORE we finalized our WDW plans for the beginning of December AND before the magazine issue got soooo far behind. Grumpy/Goofy and I ended up going shopping for better suitcases for our trip after the going to the theater so the day wasn’t totally wasted.

Would we get those suitcases all packed around finishing the magazine???

Would the girls really go with Tower of Terror as their first mission???

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

Installment #5 – What do you mean the airline quit flying?

Installment #5 of Grumpy/Goofy Princess Family

Cast Review …
Me (PrincessMom)
DH (Grumpy/Goofy)
DD#1 (Doodle) 6 & 1/2 yrs old
DD#2 (Moo Moo) 3 & 1/2 yrs. old


Trip Day # 1… 12/4/2005

Okay, originally, this was NOT supposed to be day 1. We were originally supposed to fly out early Mon., 12/5. In mid-November, when I open my credit card statement I noticed a large credit from our originally-scheduled-airline that looked remotely similar … ie – an exact match …. to the price I paid for tickets. I think, “hmmm, they must have overcharged us, glad they took care of the refund without a big fight.” Well, that’s what I thought for about 1/2 of a nanosecond before panic set in. I raced to the computer & cursed the entire time it took to access the company’s website, which, of course doesn’t come up. So, I check the airport’s website. Sure enough, the crappy airline stopped flying September 30th! I guess that’s what we get for never watching the local newscast; we had no idea the company wasn’t flying out of our little local airport any more. Well, pooh (and I don’t meant the WDW big fuzzy & honey-luvin’ type!) We leave in about 3 weeks and we have no plane tickets!!!

Will our trip be abandoned due to lack of travel arrangements?

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

Installment #6 – Airline Lessons


The One Where We Learn the Importance of booking on “real” airlines through major airports

Cast Review …
Me (PrincessMom)
DH (Grumpy/Goofy)
DD#1 (Doodle) 6 & 1/2 yrs old
DD#2 (Moo Moo) 3 & 1/2 yrs. old


As you may remember, at three weeks before our departure the Goofy/Grumpy Princess family was in danger of not making it to WDW afterall because the we didn’t learn our booked airline had stopped flying.

Trip insurance? We don’t need no stinkin’ trip insurance!

Or a back up plan!

Or … heck, to even obsessively check about our flight arrangements.

Upon learning the fate of our flight thanks to a credit to my credit card statement and a non-appearing airline website, I immediately e-mail a few friends in a panic and then start looking on some travel sites myself. Luckily, a pal of mine was a little more clear-headed than I was about this and went right to Southwest’s website. Meanwhile, using one of those on-line travel shoppers, I tried to give myself at heart attack over prices since I could find no flights that A) we could afford AND that B) fit into my already crafted schedule.

Finally, after only about an hour & a 1/2 of e-mails, website searches, frantic phone calls to my husband and my pal, we re-book on Southwest. But, darn, we now have to leave Sunday evening instead of Monday morning. Yippee, maybe we can expand our Monday plan for WDW a little.

Oh, and did I mention this near calamity actually ended up SAVING us a little money? I was able to get the four airline tickets both to & from Orlando AND the rental car through SWA’s website for $20 LESS than our original plane tickets cost! Of course, now we would be flying out of one of Chicago’s two big & busy airports, which was not nearly so convenient. Plus, we would have to pay for long-term parking. But, at least we weren’t going to have to pay $400+ per ticket. And, darn, we would have to go to WDW early … oh, the humanity.

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

Installment #7 – Can I Drive & Sleep At The Same Time?


Cast Review …
Me (PrincessMom)
DH (Grumpy/Goofy)
DD#1 (Doodle) 6 & 1/2 yrs old
DD#2 (Moo Moo) 3 & 1/2 yrs. old


Can I catch a few zzz's in the truck on my race to drop of the last of the magazine and get back to leave on time? Oh, wait, I'm driving!

Really, What Was I Thinking?

PrincessMom is now officially running on empty. I’ve been working around the clock to get that 250-page magazine out with only periodic breaks to do laundry, finish packing or curse myself for even thinking this was do-able. In the past couple of days I have even considered sending my family ahead and trying to schedule myself a later flight… like a couple of days later … but I push through. We are supposed to leave for the airport at 4 p.m.

Somewhere between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. on the NEW day one, I find a way to transfer some of the last pre-press checks to my assistant by simply deciding the world would not end if I didn’t over see ever single word on 250+ pages. Mistakes happen sometimes. That’s why publications have “Corrections” columns, right?

8 a.m. … realize I have to cancel my previously scheduled late-morning haircut and pedicure. I am bummed about not having pretty feet but I ask you … would brightly painted toenails really matter if I got fired for not getting this magazine out? Hmmm, tough choice, but my commitment to my job won out. No pretty pink toenails!

Blessed DH really stepped up to the plate the last couple of days …picking up horse feed, loading hay and a million other little last minute things. (You should know … the barn full of equine are ALL mine. He’s not involved. But, he’s great at stacking hay or building fence when called upon). At noon I am desperate to burn the last signatures of the magazine issue to CD and get on the road to meet my pre-press rep at the printer. Did I mention it’s an hour & a half trip one way? When I get to the drop (thinking I am going to throw the stuff out the window and just keep going), there area actually sections for me to proof! GRRR! That’s a blessing as I get to sign off on a little more myself, but it’s also a curse as I’ve had no sleep for several days and I have to be home by 4 p.m.

Will I make it? Will the Grumpy/Goofy Princess family make it to WDW?

 

[praisehisname]

Oh my gosh, you've got my heart pounding and I wasn't even there! Can't wait to read more!

Denise

 

[DebIreland]

I found your TR and wow!!!! Excellent beginnings!

Oh you're right.... we are twins.... I can't begin to tell you the extent to which I can relate to the all-nighter you pulled before your trip and the designating of chores to DH and..... all the rest.

You lay out a 250 page mag? Wow! That's big. I do a number of smaller mags - usually 32 page ones but there's always some deadline or other to be met.

Can't wait to read more.

By the way, I notice Installment 5 and 6 have two line spaces after the heading, whereas the others have one line space there. You might want to go back and correct that.

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

DebIreland...

Welcome & thanks for reading.

By the way, I notice Installment 5 and 6 have two line spaces after the heading, whereas the others have one line space there. You might want to go back and correct that.

You are frickin' hilarious my Irish Friend!

Try not to be too critical. If you saw MY "plan" layout for our last trip, you'd know you are better at it than I am.

You lay out a 250 page mag? Wow! That's big. I do a number of smaller mags - usually 32 page ones but there's always some deadline or other to be met.

Well, not exactly. Our issues vary from about 140 to 260 pp, depending on issue/topic. I'm not the design maven you are. While I do a lot of the pagination, I farm out some of the design work ... especially on ads. You see, my title is actually editor. However, my duties include writing, coordination, some event coverage, some ad sales, editing, pagination and only about 1/2 of the actual layout. I have a part-time assistant who helps get all the incoming items coordinated, handles much of the administrative baby-sitting, deals w/ the mailing list and does the final billing.

Mostly, my job is just being tired!

Take today for example. As I was importing finished ads and trying to stay awake, I was scrolling through the TRs. It had been a while since I'd read any and I was having a hankering ... you know how it goes. Then, I found your TR ... looking forward to reading more of it later tonight!

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

Oh my gosh, you've got my heart pounding and I wasn't even there! Can't wait to read more!

Denise ...

Thanks for reading. I hope to post the next installment tonight. My goal is not to get too much further behind. Afterall, it's already been a year & a half and I have a trip coming up this fall!

Amy

 

[lorimc]

Doodle became obsessed with Snow White when she was about 2 & 1/2. .QUOTE]

What is it about 2yr old girls and Snow White?
My 2.5 yr old is obsessed with her too!

Just had to comment on this comment...I'll get back to reading now!

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

Installment #8 – Finishing magazines & driving while asleep ... All to make the evening flight and get the heck to Florida

Cast Review …
Me (PrincessMom)
DH (Grumpy/Goofy)
DD#1 (Doodle) 6 & 1/2 yrs old
DD#2 (Moo Moo) 3 & 1/2 yrs. old


Finally, the last of the magazine is done enough to turn over. I drop off the remainder in the early afternoon but find some items I need to proof when I reach the drop. ACK! We need to leave home by 4 p.m.; I’m still over an hour away with work to do. Of course, in hindsight, I don’t know why I bothered. I can’t see straight when I’m this tired … that makes proofreading & checking placement more than a little difficult.

Somehow I manage to finish. By this time adrenaline is kicking in and I make the trip home … although, with no more sleep than I’ve had for several days, I remember NONE of the drive. I pull into the drive about 3:45. My wonderful DH has everything lined up and ready to toss into my truck. He even has Doodle & MooMoo well under control, mostly ready and fairly calm. This man deserves a reward!

Somehow, we are on the road by 4:05. Finally … a little early pixie dust! Getting out anywhere close to on time is challenge for us in “normal” circumstances but the departure for this adventure was so far beyond normal as not to be believed. I needed a vacation and our family needed, well, family time. This break from reality courtesy of WDW was just what I needed after the near meltdown of magazine production. And, I was hoping it would be a WONDERFUL chance for our family to re-group and actually spend some time together rather than waving as we go by each other.

Trip to airport ….
Quicker than we expected … guess there was a little leftover Pixie dust. Ever-observant 3 & 1/2 yr. old MooMoo was concerned because she didn’t see any planes at the park & fly. This was dear MooMoo’s first plane trip and she took the concept of park & fly pretty darned literally. Getting from the p&f to Midway was snap, and we were soon in line for security. Then, I realized I had nail clippers so I just tossed them in the trash. Tossing the offending objects doesn’t save me from getting pulled aside, however. My carry on bag is a ridiculous jumble of stuff … books, Doodle’s homework, tickets, IDs, meds, snacks, lanyards with pins, stuff for making specially decorated envelopes for Mousekeeping ... ie, misc. craft supplies including a hole punch. Yes, you read that correctly. A Hole Punch. What was I thinking? (Couldn’t THAT part of my daughter’s trip journal wait until we got home? ) The hole punch & the lanyards got all jumbled, and security couldn’t tell what I had in my bag so they got to look through everything. Those TSA folks are probably still wondering what kind of a nut job packs a hole punch.

MooMoo’s first take-off was a hoot. The sheer enjoyment and bliss that a 3 yr. old can muster from new experiences like first plane ride are contagious. Moo's joie de vivre soon catches on and the frenetic pace of the last few days melt away as we ascend. On take-off, Moo treated us to that laugh scream that kpk89 so eloquently described in her TR. Wow … the excitement … and we weren’t even officially off the ground in Illinois! MooMoo described our take off as “blasting off”. She also had some cute questions about “blasting off” and “would we be close to heaven?” Unfortunately, I don’t remember the exact details well enough to include them. It was both sweet and funny.

(Editor's Note: After initially posting this installment, I was looking through my trip notebook and found MooMoo's comments. As we first began to lift off, she was scream/laughing "Get Up! Get Up! Get up!". In her excitement she said "We're goin' to sky heaven!". She also commented, "I can see the WHOLE world from here!)

Although many hate the "cattle call" of boarding on SWA, we had a good experience. Of course, DD#2's tender age meant some of us got to board early and snag some decent seats. Thanks to the flight attendant who scored the little "treat" bag for the girls with the activity book and stick-on wings.

The flight went smoothly and we arrived pretty much on time. Although our normal arrival time was fairly late, the girls were still managing to hang in there. Afterall, they had gotten much more sleep on recent nights than I had. There late-night good humor in and of itself is somewhat of a miracle considering that Moo … while sometimes the most charming child in the universe … can morph into a mouthy & stubborn opinionated teenager when she’s tired despite her tender age. As I described in my initial introduction of DD#2, the behavior of this beautiful little girl can periodically make a Disney Villain blush. We experience some minor waits at the rental care place but soon we were on our way.

Didn’t stay on site the first night. Remember, our reservations & trip were planned prior to the whole last minute plane ticket crisis. However, we had traveled to Orlando for a work meeting in the fall of ’03 and decided the easiest course of action would be to revisit THAT hotel since we knew where it was; it was in our price range; and we knew how to get from there to WDW. It would be … if not perfect …then certainly acceptable.

Or ... so we thought ......

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

Doodle became obsessed with Snow White when she was about 2 & 1/2. .QUOTE]

What is it about 2yr old girls and Snow White?
My 2.5 yr old is obsessed with her too!

Welcome lorimc. Thanks for stopping by.

Our DD#1's Snow White kicked in with release of the movie on DVD. We, of course, purchased it the day it came out .... and then proceeded to watch it 40 bazillion times.

Unforunately, that made for some tense moments on our first WDW trip back in 2002. Meeting Snow White was a must, but we didn't manage to accomplish it until the last day ... with just hours to spare.

By that time, DD#1 met Cinderella ... who made over her and planted a big-old red-lipstick kiss on Doodle's cheek.

Soon after that trip, Doodle's allegiance firmly moved to the Cinderella camp ... where it stayed until the princess phase began to wane in the last year or so. She even used to tell people her name was "Doodle"Cinderella.

I miss the Snow White days .... sigh....

 

[blue_river]

First, I'd like to say that, YES, late is better than never

Loving what you've written so far and can't believe how much you've already posted


BTW - I still haven't started my scrapbook yet

 

[lorimc]

Welcome lorimc. Thanks for stopping by.

Our DD#1's Snow White kicked in with release of the movie on DVD. We, of course, purchased it the day it came out .... and then proceeded to watch it 40 bazillion times.

Unforunately, that made for some tense moments on our first WDW trip back in 2002. Meeting Snow White was a must, but we didn't manage to accomplish it until the last day ... with just hours to spare.

By that time, DD#1 met Cinderella ... who made over her and planted a big-old red-lipstick kiss on Doodle's cheek.

Soon after that trip, Doodle's allegiance firmly moved to the Cinderella camp ... where it stayed until the princess phase began to wane in the last year or so. She even used to tell people her name was "Doodle"Cinderella.

I miss the Snow White days .... sigh....

We do not own the movie. She has only seen it when the babysitter has brought her copy over which happened exactly once. She hooked. We have a couple Snow White books and it is just who she loves. We have been unable to find Snow White on DVD under $40 and they are re-releasing it in Oct 2008. She'll be to old to care by then!

I too am impressed by the rate in which you are turning out the TR!! Awesome! I love reading it, especially since my daughter is not too much younger than your youngest

Go forth...and write!

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

First, I'd like to say that, YES, late is better than never

Loving what you've written so far and can't believe how much you've already posted

Hello Blue ... I must say, your arrival is giving me a slight case of nerves. I LOVE your TR. While I started it some time ago, I've not quite caught up. But, it's one of my faves!

And now ... a CONFESSION
I toyed with doing a TR once before and lost my nerve. However, I didn't delete some of my original notes & installments. Rather, I've just been updating, editing & formatting. It's part of my plan not to get tooooo behind.

And about that scrapbook...
Don't fret. It's a great way to relive the trip whenever you get around to doing it. I jump around from trip to trip. However, I've sworn to myself that I will get the '05 trip done before we go again.

Amy

 

[travelgirl06]

This is a great TR so far! Keep it coming, I love hearing about your adventures and I can't wait to hear about what happens when you get to the parks.

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

Hi travelgirl06. Thanks for reading. Am about to finish my next post and will send ASAP.

 

[aspcamhreditor2]

Installment #9 - Who Booked the Non-Disney Version of ToT?

Cast Review …
Me (PrincessMom)
DH (Grumpy/Goofy)
DD#1 (Doodle) 6 & 1/2 yrs old
DD#2 (Moo Moo) 3 & 1/2 yrs. old

As I said, we booked a last-minute room off site for our “new” first night when the airline snafu had us leaving a day earlier that our reservations at POFQ. We opted for an off-site hotel where we had stayed before.

It’s amazing what a couple of years can do to a memory! Hotel wasn’t that nice. Elevator still had a noticeable funk about it … even Doodle remembered that from 2 years before.

Since we were on vacation, DH booked the special kids’ room …whatever that was. Only … silly hotel staff … FORGOT that the only kids’ special rooms they had were in the tower that was closed for renovation. But, did that stop them from putting us there anyway? Oh no, it did not. Guess we used up our quotient of Pixie Dust for the day simply by my getting the magazine done & our getting on the road on time.

We get up to our floor and it’s a sauna … afterall, why would the air conditioning be on in a tower where no one is supposed to be staying? Then, lucky us … the door to our assigned room is ajar. At this point, I’m simply too tired to move any further. I plop down on the floor with the girls and pull out my cell phone & pre-dial 911 just in case. DH heads back to front desk to get us a new room. Finally straighten out the room thing …only we are still in the non-Disney version of the Tower of Terror. At that time, we weren’t aware that this section of the hotel was actually closed. We don’t discover that charming piece of news until the next morning. Get in. Cranked the air. Got the girls settled. Everyone crashes in preparation for our first Disney day … or what can also be thought of as the original Day 1.