So, I've been reading your report for a while now. I figure it's about time I let you know how much I've enjoyed reading it. I found your report about a month ago when I signed up for the boards and read all of it. Then, I got busy with work and have finally caught up again. Now, to catch up on comments I kept meaning to write.
Thanks for your kind words. I'm glad you read my report!
I wish I loved the dole whips as much as everyone else but what can I say...
I think I would be happy just to sit on a bench in AK and watch the world go by. I just love the whole vibe.
I don't think you all getting into DHS early was cheating. It was well-deserved magic for your family, "extra magic" even..
Thanks, it was great to get that head start.
Sorry to keep you waiting.
"It all started with a whopping price error 10/24 The Perfect Storm of Opportunity
- Thread starter A&Bmama
- Start date
Sorry to keep you waiting. You know how it is when life just seems to get in the way. I have been working a lot and with the weather being nice I haven't felt like spending much time on the computer, you have to get out and enjoy the good weather while it lasts.
Okay, I know I have been absent for a long time. Life, work, and the wonderful weather we have been having have kept me from wrapping this report up.
I had intended to go into detail about what we did on our day off but to tell the truth I dont remember it in great detail
So here it is in a nutshell, I slept in till about 8:00. We got up, ate breakfast, did some shopping and spent some time by the pool. I think I cooked supper, but I dont remember what it was. Obviously it wasnt good enough to make much of an impression.
There, with that out of the way I wanted to tell everyone about a couple of highlights we had recently.
First one that is Disney related. A few months ago it was announced that Emily Osment was headlining some concerts in Canada for the Much Music soda pop tour. One of her stops was in Halifax and Sue and I were able to score some great seats for DD and BFF. Emily did a couple of concerts at a local university auditorium and did a wonderful show. Since the venue is smaller than the usual arena it gave the performance a much more intimate feel. It felt more like a party than a rock concert. It was a lot of fun even for me.
Emily and the other performers were also raising funds for Haiti so they sold backstage passes for a $15 charitable donations. Your backstage pass would allow you admittance after the show where you could briefly meet Emily and take your picture with her,
DD was vibrating with excitement while waiting her turn. Finally the big moment for DD to meet Emily arrived! DD walked right up to Emily smiling wide and said I have always wanted to meet someone famous, Im so glad that when I finally did it was you. Emily smiled widely and replied in the tone of voice that we get when we have just seen something utterly adorable Aww that is so sweet.
I have to say that it was a really memorable night for DD. Emily was genuinely sweet, kind and patient with all of her fans. If you ever get the opportunity to see Emily in concert I highly recommend it!
The next thing of interest that I have been up to is planning a vacation!
No.
Not a Disney vacation.
Not yet at least
We are going to the White mountains of New Hampshire! This is a road trip, the first of any significant length we have taken with the kids so it should prove interesting.
We spent our shoe string budget Honeymoon here over 21 years ago. The trip had quite a few hilarious missteps along the way (oh the TR I could write on that) and decided then that we would go back on our 10th anniversary for a do over. When our 10th rolled around I was 8 months pregnant with DD so the trip was shelved indefinitely.
We have been saving for a down payment to buy a cottage but havent been able to find anything what we want. After some soul searching we came to the conclusion that maybe it is better for us to travel more rather than buy a vacation property that we would have to maintain, pay taxes on etc.
Once we came to that conclusion DH suggested that I loosen the purse strings and start planning a vacation, or 2 Stay tuned, I smell a Disney do over in the "nearish" future!
Up Next: Our Final Disney Day
I had intended to go into detail about what we did on our day off but to tell the truth I dont remember it in great detail
So here it is in a nutshell, I slept in till about 8:00. We got up, ate breakfast, did some shopping and spent some time by the pool. I think I cooked supper, but I dont remember what it was. Obviously it wasnt good enough to make much of an impression.
There, with that out of the way I wanted to tell everyone about a couple of highlights we had recently.
First one that is Disney related. A few months ago it was announced that Emily Osment was headlining some concerts in Canada for the Much Music soda pop tour. One of her stops was in Halifax and Sue and I were able to score some great seats for DD and BFF. Emily did a couple of concerts at a local university auditorium and did a wonderful show. Since the venue is smaller than the usual arena it gave the performance a much more intimate feel. It felt more like a party than a rock concert. It was a lot of fun even for me.
Emily and the other performers were also raising funds for Haiti so they sold backstage passes for a $15 charitable donations. Your backstage pass would allow you admittance after the show where you could briefly meet Emily and take your picture with her,
DD was vibrating with excitement while waiting her turn. Finally the big moment for DD to meet Emily arrived! DD walked right up to Emily smiling wide and said I have always wanted to meet someone famous, Im so glad that when I finally did it was you. Emily smiled widely and replied in the tone of voice that we get when we have just seen something utterly adorable Aww that is so sweet.
I have to say that it was a really memorable night for DD. Emily was genuinely sweet, kind and patient with all of her fans. If you ever get the opportunity to see Emily in concert I highly recommend it!
The next thing of interest that I have been up to is planning a vacation!
No.
Not a Disney vacation.
Not yet at least
We are going to the White mountains of New Hampshire! This is a road trip, the first of any significant length we have taken with the kids so it should prove interesting.
We spent our shoe string budget Honeymoon here over 21 years ago. The trip had quite a few hilarious missteps along the way (oh the TR I could write on that) and decided then that we would go back on our 10th anniversary for a do over. When our 10th rolled around I was 8 months pregnant with DD so the trip was shelved indefinitely.
We have been saving for a down payment to buy a cottage but havent been able to find anything what we want. After some soul searching we came to the conclusion that maybe it is better for us to travel more rather than buy a vacation property that we would have to maintain, pay taxes on etc.
Once we came to that conclusion DH suggested that I loosen the purse strings and start planning a vacation, or 2 Stay tuned, I smell a Disney do over in the "nearish" future!
Up Next: Our Final Disney Day
Thanks!
I am going to try to finish this up before I go on vacation at the end of the month.
floydfamily4
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2009
- Messages
- 701
Welcome back
Looking forward to hearing the end of your WDW adventure.
Looking forward to hearing the end of your WDW adventure.
Where'sPiglet?
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2007
- Messages
- 6,683
Yay! You're back!
That sounds like a great experience your DD got to have. It's cool that the money for the backstage passes went to Haiti.
A vacation to New Hampshire sounds nice! I think I have to agree with you about the cottage concept. I feel the same way about DVC, with it's large initial cost and then the yearly maintenance fees. It's just not for me. I would like to travel to other places than Disney, and I feel like DVC would limit me. (That, and I can't afford it.
) I know for many people, DVC is the right decision, but I also know that it is not the right one for me.
I am looking forward to hearing about the rest of your WDW trip!
That sounds like a great experience your DD got to have. It's cool that the money for the backstage passes went to Haiti.
A vacation to New Hampshire sounds nice! I think I have to agree with you about the cottage concept. I feel the same way about DVC, with it's large initial cost and then the yearly maintenance fees. It's just not for me. I would like to travel to other places than Disney, and I feel like DVC would limit me. (That, and I can't afford it.
) I know for many people, DVC is the right decision, but I also know that it is not the right one for me. I am looking forward to hearing about the rest of your WDW trip!
Welcome back
Thanks! I'm so glad you are still willing to read this after I neglected it for so long.
Yay! You're back!
That sounds like a great experience your DD got to have. It's cool that the money for the backstage passes went to Haiti.
A vacation to New Hampshire sounds nice! I think I have to agree with you about the cottage concept. I feel the same way about DVC, with it's large initial cost and then the yearly maintenance fees. It's just not for me. I would like to travel to other places than Disney, and I feel like DVC would limit me. (That, and I can't afford it.
I am looking forward to hearing about the rest of your WDW trip!
Thanks for the welcome back.
We have been dreaming of a cottage for so long it has been a little hard to wrap our heads around the concept that it might not be in our best interest to own one.
First, since I work seasonally from mid April to mid November I have limited time off in the summer. Basically, I can take one full week off and then I have another weeks worth of vacation that I can pick away at a day at a time to make long weekends. For the most part, any cottage that we bought or built would be for weekend use so it would have to be in a convenient location to make travel feasible. Secondly, I started to calculate what it would cost us in taxes, maintenance, utilities and gas to travel there and back on a weekly basis and it became clear that we would get a lot more bang for our buck if we just spent that money on vacations. Lets face it, even if we did own a cottage that we absolutely loved spending time at we are still going to want to take the occasional trip somewhere else, like Disney for example.
Yeah an update!!!
We go to the White Mtns all the time. Are you going to N.Conway? My mom has a house in Maine, but we are closer to NH than anything in Maine so we spend alot of time there. Plus the shopping is great, no sales tax.
We will be spending 3 nights in Franconia, and then moving on to Bartlett for 3 more nights. I understand Bartlett and N. Conway are quite close together so I am planning to spend some time shopping while there.
We intend to take in quite a few of the local attractions while we are there. On our list is:
-Hike Flume gorge
-Cannon arial tramway
-swim at Echo Lake
-Clarke's trading post
-Attitash
-Whale's Tale Water Park
-Mount Washington Cog railway
-Ziplining at Wildcat Mountain (just DH and DS since DD doesn't meet the weight requirements)
If you have any tips on where to score some good deals or anything else about visiting the white mountains feel free to fire away.
miprender
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2008
- Messages
- 4,696
Those all sound like great ideas. Except I refuse to do anything with heights so you won't have to worry about me being on the Cog Railway. I won't even take those white vans that drive you up Mt.Washington.
But that is just me. I'm a wimp.
You all should have a great time. It is so beautiful up there (or down there from where you are coming
)Wow. I don't know what else to say. I found your TR today while perusing the boards and I've been mesmerized by your adventures for the last two hours while reading it. I've laughed, I've cried. You've touched my heart. You seem like such an amazing person. And what a fabulous writer!
So sorry about the loss of your dad. I remember the moment I heard the news about mine. I too felt a looming "danger" feeling that I couldn't put my finger on when the phone rang. Big hugs to you and your family.
Thank you so much for this inspiring TR and please don't leave me hanging!
Pink
So sorry about the loss of your dad. I remember the moment I heard the news about mine. I too felt a looming "danger" feeling that I couldn't put my finger on when the phone rang. Big hugs to you and your family.
Thank you so much for this inspiring TR and please don't leave me hanging!
Pink
Thanks for reading!
I think writing this has been really good therapy for me. When we first booked the trip and I found the Dis I read a few TRs and had fully intended to write one when we got home. When Dad died I really thought that it would be "too sad" to write about it, and a downer for others to read about. Let's face it, we come to the Dis to find our "happy place". As time passed and the wounds were not as fresh I decided that writing a TR might be just the thing I needed and I was right!
You can never forget the moment that you hear about the death of a loved one, but I still kind of wonder how I knew bad news was waiting for me as soon as I stepped foot in the room.
I'll try to write the next installment very soon!
My husband and I rode the Mount Washington Cog on our honeymoon eight years ago. We had a nice time. He is a big railroad fan so it was lots of fun for him. We are from Georgia, so the weather in July was pretty cold for me. His friends who are from New Hampshire laughed at us because we were wearing sweat shirts. We laughed at them because they appoligized for the heat and humidity. Anyway, it was beautiful. We stayed at the Mount Washington Hotel and that was really nice, too. I hope you have a great trip.
ellie0311
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2009
- Messages
- 151
Your TR has been fantastic! I just found it and am now all caught up. I am very sorry about the loss of your father but I truely believe the rainbow was a sign. You have had me laughing and crying. I'm so glad you went back and I hope you are able to plan your next Disney trip soon. In the meantime, PLEASE let us know how the last day went! 
Sorry I have neglected this TR for so long! I cant believe that when I started it back in January I thought I would have it done well before I started work in the spring! Anyway, I guess thats how it goes; I got busy with other things and the TR lost momentum.
I hope there is still a reader or two who would like to hear the end of the story. If so, you have been very, very patient. Thank you.
Lets wrap this puppy up!
As I sat drinking tea in our spacious as all get out condo, I pondered what the best use of our last day of never expire park tickets would be. Initially when we planned this trip it was simple; 4 days of tickets left, 4 parks, 1 full day at each park. Since we had decided to park hop to MK from Epcot on that first day we felt we really covered everything we wanted to for both of those parks.
In fact, right now I really feel that our trip is complete, mission accomplished, we have done Disney. Sure there are some things we have missed in each park. Most notably, we really havent seen much of anything in the World Showcase. Im just not feelin Epcot would be where we want to spend the day though. I know my kids are only going to be able to take the WS for so long and we have done the things we like in future world several times already. I want to save touring the WS for a future trip.
Should I just save the last days tickets for another trip? Then again, the next time I am here I am going to want a whole lot more than one days worth of tickets. Heres a thought, next time maybe I could skip the park hoppers and if there is a day that we want to hop we could use the old tickets. I run this scenario by DH. He doesnt care for the idea of saving the tickets to say the least. We settle on AK since we all enjoyed it so much and we have visited the other parks more than once.
Bright and early the next morning we find ourselves at AK. We make our way directly to EE, basically a walk on at this time of day so we ride three times in a row. We are about to hit it a forth time when DH says he doesnt think his stomach will handle another ride. We grab some FPs for later and make our way over to the Safari and hit the still short standby line. Once our bumpy but beautiful safari ride is over our FP window has opened so of course we grab FPs for a second Safari ride.
We head over to Rafikis plant watch and conservation station and tour around there for awhile. We visit the affection section and brush a goat. I dont know what it is about goats but I love them! DD feels the same way. If I were to ever move to the country I think I would keep goats. Dont ask me why, cause I am not really sure. In fact, I think I might be a little nutso
I want to do the Maharajah jungle trek. The rest of the crew is not nearly as enthusiastic. I drag them along anyway.
Once we exit the jungle trek the crowds are becoming rather heavy. The heaviest I have ever seen. Walking around the park is becoming difficult and they sky is starting to look rather ominous. We trade our EE FPs in for another ride. We agree that we will all raise our arms in the air and scream when the picture is being taken and then buy the photo. This makes DD happy. DDs happiness makes me happy.
As we exit the ride it begins to sprinkle out. Our safari FPs have ripped so we head over to redeem them. Once our safari is over the rain begins to come down for real. We duck into some shops and hope that it is just a passing shower. No luck, the rain continues.
Exhaustion has us in its grip, combined with the rain it is just too much. We agree that our day is done.
We return to the condo, relax for awhile and then head out to a restaurant for our last dinner in Orlando.
Up Next: Closing thoughts and future plans.
I hope there is still a reader or two who would like to hear the end of the story. If so, you have been very, very patient. Thank you.
Lets wrap this puppy up!
As I sat drinking tea in our spacious as all get out condo, I pondered what the best use of our last day of never expire park tickets would be. Initially when we planned this trip it was simple; 4 days of tickets left, 4 parks, 1 full day at each park. Since we had decided to park hop to MK from Epcot on that first day we felt we really covered everything we wanted to for both of those parks.
In fact, right now I really feel that our trip is complete, mission accomplished, we have done Disney. Sure there are some things we have missed in each park. Most notably, we really havent seen much of anything in the World Showcase. Im just not feelin Epcot would be where we want to spend the day though. I know my kids are only going to be able to take the WS for so long and we have done the things we like in future world several times already. I want to save touring the WS for a future trip.
Should I just save the last days tickets for another trip? Then again, the next time I am here I am going to want a whole lot more than one days worth of tickets. Heres a thought, next time maybe I could skip the park hoppers and if there is a day that we want to hop we could use the old tickets. I run this scenario by DH. He doesnt care for the idea of saving the tickets to say the least. We settle on AK since we all enjoyed it so much and we have visited the other parks more than once.
Bright and early the next morning we find ourselves at AK. We make our way directly to EE, basically a walk on at this time of day so we ride three times in a row. We are about to hit it a forth time when DH says he doesnt think his stomach will handle another ride. We grab some FPs for later and make our way over to the Safari and hit the still short standby line. Once our bumpy but beautiful safari ride is over our FP window has opened so of course we grab FPs for a second Safari ride.
We head over to Rafikis plant watch and conservation station and tour around there for awhile. We visit the affection section and brush a goat. I dont know what it is about goats but I love them! DD feels the same way. If I were to ever move to the country I think I would keep goats. Dont ask me why, cause I am not really sure. In fact, I think I might be a little nutso
I want to do the Maharajah jungle trek. The rest of the crew is not nearly as enthusiastic. I drag them along anyway.
Once we exit the jungle trek the crowds are becoming rather heavy. The heaviest I have ever seen. Walking around the park is becoming difficult and they sky is starting to look rather ominous. We trade our EE FPs in for another ride. We agree that we will all raise our arms in the air and scream when the picture is being taken and then buy the photo. This makes DD happy. DDs happiness makes me happy.
As we exit the ride it begins to sprinkle out. Our safari FPs have ripped so we head over to redeem them. Once our safari is over the rain begins to come down for real. We duck into some shops and hope that it is just a passing shower. No luck, the rain continues.
Exhaustion has us in its grip, combined with the rain it is just too much. We agree that our day is done.
We return to the condo, relax for awhile and then head out to a restaurant for our last dinner in Orlando.
Up Next: Closing thoughts and future plans.
Yay! Glad to see you finishing this up. Like you, I could ride EE over and over and over again. It's so exhilarating! I love that ride.
Your daughter in the previous update is adorable! I loved what she said to Emily.
Your daughter in the previous update is adorable! I loved what she said to Emily.
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