It'll Be All Right -A May 2012 TR Closing Thought and PTR Link 8/12*

[Shannon84]

I LOVE the hawaiian bbq sandwich...good choice!! EoS is amazing
I hate when there are no seats too, I need a table, Im a messy eater

Yay for getting checked in and meeting up with your mom

I am wondering how it will be traveling with family to Disney, its usually just Tim and I doing most things together

 

[wakica]

I'm so glad you had a better experience with Earl of Sandwich this time. We loooove their sammies!!! I was so surprised you had gotten a bad one!

That's a great idea to get your shopping out of the way first. I always wait bc i want to be sure I don't buy something and then see something i'd rather have (which actually works out well for us) but when it comes to souvies to brring back I'm always still stuck near the end of the trip not knowing what to get I hate souvie shopping!! So I just end up grabbing whatever anyway and if I would just get that out of the way at the begginning I could just enjoy shopping more for ourselves and not always thinking at EVERY store, what should I get here for someone??
I think I will change my technique and make souvies my top priority on day one and get it out of the way too. Thanks!!!

 

[amazingact21]

I am loving this trip report. BUT how can you not love a Disney cruise? It hurts my heart hearing that! LOL It is my all time favorite vacation. Only 136 days until the longest cruise I have even been on - 14 nights!

Please give it another try! LOL

Hi! Thanks for reading!
I think I was just a little overwhelmed with how crowded the ship was, and how there was something interesting going on at all times. Plus, there was a tropical storm in the Gulf that we had to hop around, so our cruise turned into a 7-day mystery cruise. That all being said, though, after seeing the Disney Dream in port and remembering all the positive aspects of the trip, I'd be more than willing to give cruising another shot.

Especially now that I know what to expect and have a better understanding of the schedule.
(trust me, I coudn't get Alex to stay away from cruises; he loves them too much!)

I LOVE the hawaiian bbq sandwich...good choice!! EoS is amazing
I hate when there are no seats too, I need a table, Im a messy eater

Yay for getting checked in and meeting up with your mom

I am wondering how it will be traveling with family to Disney, its usually just Tim and I doing most things together

I saw your update with EoS and the Hawaiian BBQ and laughed, glad to see I'm not the only one who loves that sandwich!

Traveling with family is different. It's not bad, you just have to be aware that it's not just "you and Tim" anymore. You went with your mom to the Disney Marathon this Janurary and had a great time, so I'm sure you will be okay this summer.
(Ps-How exciting is it that your wedding is coming up?! I won't lie, I saw the Swan and Dolphin while I was driving, and briefly thought, it's so cool that a DISboard member is getting married there. It's going to be gorgeous.)

I'm so glad you had a better experience with Earl of Sandwich this time. We loooove their sammies!!! I was so surprised you had gotten a bad one!

That's a great idea to get your shopping out of the way first. I always wait bc i want to be sure I don't buy something and then see something i'd rather have (which actually works out well for us) but when it comes to souvies to brring back I'm always still stuck near the end of the trip not knowing what to get I hate souvie shopping!! So I just end up grabbing whatever anyway and if I would just get that out of the way at the begginning I could just enjoy shopping more for ourselves and not always thinking at EVERY store, what should I get here for someone??
I think I will change my technique and make souvies my top priority on day one and get it out of the way too. Thanks!!!

I'm the same way when I'm on the Dining Plan and have snack credits. I never use them, and I always have to rush on the last day to get my money's worth. This trip, that was the case with Alex, and we were in MouseGears at 9:30pm looking for the boxed candies he could get to take home with him.

I just like not having to worry about buying anything while I'm in the parks. Not that I don't shop and make purchases, but those are extra/spur-of-the-moment buys.

 

[Merida]

I hate whole tomatoes/tomato slices but adore tomato salsa/sauce/etc. It's a texture thing, since I do like the taste of tomatoes! I totally get where your husband's coming from!

Yay for liking Earl! I really want to try their clubs (minus tomatoes ) - I always seem to try some of their specialty sandwiches instead of defaulting to my favorite. The clubs seem to get consistently good reviews.

I'm glad that your timing worked out! I'm so hesitant to add other people to our Disney travel group because I love our little twosome. And I read way too many TRs were the whole thing implodes and no one seems to have a good time. Having times for just you two or you and your mom seems like a really good way to organize your trip!

 

[amazingact21]

I hate whole tomatoes/tomato slices but adore tomato salsa/sauce/etc. It's a texture thing, since I do like the taste of tomatoes! I totally get where your husband's coming from!

Yay for liking Earl! I really want to try their clubs (minus tomatoes ) - I always seem to try some of their specialty sandwiches instead of defaulting to my favorite. The clubs seem to get consistently good reviews.

I'm glad that your timing worked out! I'm so hesitant to add other people to our Disney travel group because I love our little twosome. And I read way too many TRs were the whole thing implodes and no one seems to have a good time. Having times for just you two or you and your mom seems like a really good way to organize your trip!

Alex has said the same thing about the texture thing. In fact, that's what gets him on a lot of food (coconuts/beans/etc).


Alex has loved the club both times he's ordered it, so I'm guessing it tastes pretty good. Probably worth buying once and trying for yourself.


Adding members to WDW trips can be really stressful and nerve-racking, and my one piece of advice would be to throw out your normal planning routine and just resign to being really lenient. It's not going to be the same as when you're with just one other person, but in a way that can be better, because you are experiencing the world in a new way.

 

[amazingact21]

Hi everyone! If you happened to see my signature, then you probably saw my new ticker. I added it yesterday, and I couldn't be more excited. Alex got a 3 day weekend this month, so as of 12 o'clock today, we are going to Walt Disney World!

The tentative game plan is: Alex gets off at 3pm on Saturday, the 16th, and as soon as he gets home he'll hop in my car, we'll drop Buster off at my parent's, and get on the road. We're thinking we'll get into Orlando around midnight. We'll check in to our resort, head straight to bed, and spend the 17th and 18th in the parks. I know that Sunday is Father's Day and a weekend, so the parks are going to be super busy, but Magic Kingdom has evening EMH until 2am, and that's worth the hustle and bustle of crowds.
We're hoping to check out on the 19th, head into a park, and stay until about noon/1pm.

This whole mini-vacation was Alex's doing, and I am just grateful he wanted to return, even if it is only for a few days.


The biggest issue is we can't book a room until 11 o'clock on the 14th. Crazy, I know. But Alex is doing something at work that leaves a 1% chance that he could deploy. His rotation ends on the 14th, and just to be safe, we want to wait to reserve anything until then. It's absolutely insane to think that I won't have a room until 2 days before we arrive, but I'm rolling with it and keeping my fingers crossed for the best.

We have agreed on staying at All Star Movies, but Alex is sort of hoping all the military rooms will be booked, because if that's the case, I promised him I'd see if any of the moderates have military rooms available.

That's all on the weekend getaway plans, now on to the update.



May 4th Afternoon:

Alex, my mom, and I finished checking into All Star Sports, drove around to our building (5) and began unloading our haul. It only took 2 trips to get everything into the two rooms, which was pretty good, in my opinion. We had rooms on the first floor, the second and third room from the end of the hall nearest the parking lot.

Perfect.

I wish I had the exact room numbers, but trying to catch both my mom and Alex going into their rooms proved more difficult than I thought. I went with my mom, showed her how to use the KTTW card, stood aside as she took in the room, then left and joined Alex in our room.

Before I could get my camera out and take some photos of our temporary home, he had already dumped his clothes bag.



I hopped between the two places a few more times, sorting out which bags belonged in which room and established a meet-up time for later. I finally settled into my room, unpacked a few of my things, and began opening our DTD purchases.

Our loot:
f1 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr


This being our second stay at All Star Sports, I have to say, Building 5's rooms were in better condition than Building 8's. The carpet and beds seemed cleaner, the furniture and appliances looked to be in good condition, no signs of wear and tear. I was very pleased with the quality of everything, and I'd probably ask to stay in Building 5 again if I ever returned.


Not 10-15 minutes later, Alex and I went to my mom's room, and the 3 of us left to go to the Food Court and pick up our refillable mugs.


This was our view from the doorway:


f2 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

Donald Duck is a favorite of Alex's, so this was a cool sight to have. Plus, all of us took brief rest stops at the benches placed on the side of the lawn (usually to make phone calls). It was convenient having a place to sit down without worrying about disturbing the other person in your room and to take in the nice FL weather.


We hooked a right and walked towards the pool.

f3 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

There was a walkway to the right of the pool that led to the Food Court that I came to know really well that week. Because of the shrubs and how wide the path was, the noise from the pool wasn't terrible, and I actually came to enjoy my little walks here in the morning and late at night.



The three of us picked up our mugs, showed my mom the layout of the food ordering locations, and filled our cups up with...water.

Whoo! Money well spent so far.

I would've gone for a soft drink, but it was pretty warm out, and I was thirsty. In fact, all of us stood by the beverage station, drank a cup's worth of water, got refills, and left.


We made the trek back to our car, hopped in, and headed to:
f4 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr


It was extremely busy there that Friday afternoon. To the point where we had to park in the grass almost beside the entrance area. The walk to the complex had to be a good 5 minutes.
But we did it and came upon a sign pointing us in the right direction.



Packet Pickup for the Expedition Everest 5K was set up differently than last year, which threw Alex and I off a bit. We expected it to be near the ticket windows, but they moved it to an empty area past the baseball fields.


They had a huge cardboard sign in the middle of a walkway that had a sample clue on it.



I didn't understand it at all, and I still don't, so that made my mom and I worried. Would all the clues on the scavenger hunt be that confusing? Turns out we freaked out for nothing, which is great to know now, but at the time didn't know what to think. Alex asked a volunteer who was standing by, and he didn't even know the answer.

How can you be working a race event and not be able to answer a race question? Huh. oh well, it all worked out in the end, so no worries.



We got to see a team practicing on the field.
f5 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr


We walked past the seating area and came upon a bunch of tents that had signs telling everyone where to go to hand in their waivers.

Mom veered to the right for hers and Alex and I headed left.


We gave a volunteer our waivers, and they handed us an envelope with our bibs and such inside. I heard rumors that they ran out of the Commemorative Pins and the T-shirts that people purchased when they registered, and I was glad that that didn't happen to us. Our pins were with our final race instructions and some gummy treats.


Beyond the tents was a huge mural that participants could sign, as well as a base camp that was on display.



All of us signed the board. Alex's signature is right below Goofy's tooth (if you see what looks like scribble, then that's it). My mom's and I's are under each of his ears.




There was nobody taking pictures at the base camp:



Which meant we could walk right up and grab some for ourselves.





Once we did all that fun little extra stuff, all of us headed back the way we came to pick up our race shirts. For some reason, I was a little bugged and short on temper. I think it was because the layout of the whole packet pickup was confusing, and the setup seemed backwards to me. The shirts and the bibs weren't anywhere close to each other, and all the volunteers seemed put-off to be there.

I get that it was hot and they'd probably been there all day, but a few of them could have smiled occasionally and acted like we weren't putting them out when we asked a question.
The whole thing, from walking into the complex to leaving took less than half an hour, which made me shrug the ordeal off my shoulder.


It was only 5:20pm, and we were still ahead of schedule.


The only problem was...my nerves wouldn't settle. The packet pickup issue just set me on edge, and I began panicking.

What if this wasn't the arrival day my mom had planned? What if she was expecting more from the resort? Does Alex seem quieter than normal? He does. Maybe he's mad that we didn't make it to D-Street. Nobody else seems excited to be heading into the parks. Maybe they would rather chill out in the room.


"Mom, are you tired?"

"No, I'm fine."

"You seem tired."

"I'm fine, Alicia."

"Alex, are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Mom?"

"What?"

"Are you sure you're okay?"


They both assured me that they were fine, and that they were excited to begin our trip, but for some reason I didn't believe them. I'm the type of person who makes it known I'm excited. I talk and point and jump up and down in my seat, and neither of my companions were doing any of these things.

Clearly, that meant they didn't want to be there. That's what the voice in the back of my mind was telling me, anyways. I had this gut feeling that nobody else was as happy as I was, and it was starting to eat away at me.

I just hoped it would disappear when we got to our destination:
f6 by Alicia Wolchick, on Flickr

Epcot!



Up Next: There's So Many of Them!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Woooohoooo for the upcoming weekend getaway...that's so awesome, and I know you're so excited! MK until 2 am is going to be so stinkin cool!! Bless your heart for not being able to make your room ressie yet...I would be a little nervous too, but I know it will all work out!

Yay for making it to the resort!! I love the view of Donald's behind...too funny!



Packet pick-up didn't sound exciting...sorry that it put you on edge. I swear, you and I are a lot alike. I am the very same with with showing my emotions--I don't hold it in well, so you can usually tell if I'm happy, sad, or in between. Mike though, and the rest of our families are like Alex and your Mom and it sometimes drives me nutty!! So, I can definitely empathize with you on that one!

I love the Base Camp pics, by the way and can't wait to hear about your adventures in Epcot!!

 

[Nermel9]

Yay for your weekend trip to Disney, that will be fun!

Ugh, those clues for the challenge...what do they mean??? I'm glad I didn't do the challenge, I'm not good at riddles, or whatever those clues are supposed to be!

Aww, that's nice that you are concerned that everyone else is having a good time, but you're in Disney, I'm sure everyone was happy, even if they weren't jumping up and down!

 

[Joyciemc]

Hopefully everyone perked up at Epcot! Or you at least just let yourself have fun!

 

[Moodyzblu]

Good start !

Hope everyone perks up for Epcot !!

 

[Marsheliz]

I love how you write!! Please hurry and write more!!

 

[amazingact21]

Woooohoooo for the upcoming weekend getaway...that's so awesome, and I know you're so excited! MK until 2 am is going to be so stinkin cool!! Bless your heart for not being able to make your room ressie yet...I would be a little nervous too, but I know it will all work out!

Yay for making it to the resort!! I love the view of Donald's behind...too funny!


Packet pick-up didn't sound exciting...sorry that it put you on edge. I swear, you and I are a lot alike. I am the very same with with showing my emotions--I don't hold it in well, so you can usually tell if I'm happy, sad, or in between. Mike though, and the rest of our families are like Alex and your Mom and it sometimes drives me nutty!! So, I can definitely empathize with you on that one!

I love the Base Camp pics, by the way and can't wait to hear about your adventures in Epcot!!

Not knowing where I'm going to be staying for this trip has started to get to me a little, plus, I don't feel like the trip is a reality until I have that room confirmation. I know I just have to be patient, but when it comes to WDW that's not easy for me!

Haha, glad to see I'm not the only one who has a hard time with their family members not showing a lot of emotions. I don't think I could ever contain myself when it comes to Disney. I just wanna talk and point out interesting things and keep my excitement up.

Yay for your weekend trip to Disney, that will be fun!

Ugh, those clues for the challenge...what do they mean??? I'm glad I didn't do the challenge, I'm not good at riddles, or whatever those clues are supposed to be!

Aww, that's nice that you are concerned that everyone else is having a good time, but you're in Disney, I'm sure everyone was happy, even if they weren't jumping up and down!

That clue made no sense to me, but thankfully none of the actual clues were that hard. Alex and I figured out the answers as soon we read the riddle, and from what other DISboarders have said on the race thread, they all found it fairly easy as well. So that sample clue was completely off the charts.

Hopefully everyone perked up at Epcot! Or you at least just let yourself have fun!

We had a couple moments in Epcot that were the highlights of our trip, so I think I, at least, relaxed a bit and had some fun.

Good start !

Hope everyone perks up for Epcot !!

I know I perked up in Epcot, and I think the rest of my party did too.

I love how you write!! Please hurry and write more!!

Thank you! I tend to write like I think, which can be a bit scatterbrained at times.

I'm going to get an update posted soon! I am excited to actually begin writing about being in the parks!

 

[CandleontheWater]

I'm glad you get to take your weekend trip! I know you'll have a great time! If you can't get a military rate at one of the values, have you thought about Shades of Green? I think its a pretty nice resort, and if they are sold out, then they will make you a reservation at an alternate Disney resort, also for a reduced rate.

I'm sorry packet pick up was a hassle. I've heard that it is pretty unorganized, but at least you were in an out quickly and got some cute pictures at the base camp.

I also have no idea what the clue is referring too! Is it Kali River Rapids? That has water and wood and a part with fire- but it doesn't make any sense.

I hope things get better when you get to Epcot!

 

[cinderella crazy]

Finally joining in! Girl, I understand what you're saying about the heat! There were days we were miserable from it. It just wipes you out! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[pinkxray]

I finally joining in, only 5 pages late.

All Star Sports actually looks pretty cute Especially the surf area.

I still have not tried EOS. One of these days. Your sandwich sounds especially yummy.

I always feel like no one is as excited as I am about being in Disney(of course in my case, it's usually true) From now on I'm not going to worry about everyone else. I'll jump up and down enough for everyone else.

The people at WWOS don't sound at all helpful with the race information.

Congrats on a weekend trip. I tried to convince DH to fly down for a long weekend in July but he doesn't think anything involving a 3 hour flight is a quick getaway

 

[teekathepony]

HOORAY for a weekend getaway!!

I am not a person who shows excitement much. At Christmas my mom is always convinced that I don't like my gifts because I'm not acting happy. I guess we are opposite in that regard!

The base camp is so cool! I'd definitely want to get my picture there!

 

[MEK]

All Star Sports is so cute. I have always wanted to stay there.

I have heard that the pre race pick ups are a little confusing, but that picture spot sure is cute.

Congrats on the mini vacation. That is so awesome. It must be nice to be able to drive to WDW for the weekend. I hope Alex has zero chance of deploying by the 14th and you can book away.

 

[Shannon84]

Hooray for a weekend trip soon!! that is awesome!

I dont understand the sample clue either

But I love the area for pictures, that is so cool!! Trust me when I went for the marathon the set up was soooo confusing and there were soooo many people there for the different races I wanted to cry I was so frustrated...so I totally understand!!

And I am the same exact way,I show my excitement and theres no hiding whether I am extremley happy or mad or whatever emotion. Tim and I always have conversations where I think he isn't telling me how he really feels and my poor mom the whole trip I thought she was miserable but she was having a great time. I still ask her about it

 

[MHTeacher]

Finally joining in, and I'm caught up!

I ate at EoS for the first time last week, and I actually loved it--will definitely return.

I hear you about worrying about everyone else's feelings when you're the planner of the trip. It's hard not to over analyze every little thing and worry that someone's not having a good time. It's also super hard not to take every little thing personally.

Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[marDgreen88]

Ahh, cool that you were in building 5! We were in building 3, which was really close to the tennis section. I always thought it looked really cute! Awesome! Although, it's NOT awesome that I somehow completely missed seeing Donald and his nephews! I adore Donald.

We had a really nice room too. I'm fairly certain that the All Stars have been refurbished over the last year or so.

Aww, I completely understand how you were feeling! When you're the planner, it can be tough to try and please everyone! I hope yall ended up having a wonderful night!

Hooray for your upcoming weekend trip!