It's gonna be legen-wait for it-dary! A November '11 PTR! 4/7/11-More Updates!

[dis75ney]

Hello everyone, and welcome to my hopefully-first-to-be-completed pre-trip report! There’s a lot of stuff happening on this particular trip, so I thought I’d start a PTR to try and keep everything straight. Let’s start taking bets to see if it works…

Ready for the insanity? Too bad...here we go!

CHAPTER 1: A brief cast introduction:

DH – Dean. Will henceforth be known as Goofy. If Jim Carrey and the guy from Dharma and Greg ever had a love child, Goofy would be it. Loves all things math and science related. So much, in fact, that he’s going back to school for his Master’s degree in education so he can impart his wisdom upon middle-schoolers. That, and he wants an excuse to wear his mad scientist’s wig in public and not be ridiculed. Huge flirt. Known as the "Actor That Plays Bert in Mary Poppins" (stoopid automatic editing) of our community theater group. Not a big Disney freak, but loves me enough to not groan every time I start in on my Disney obsession...

(This was taken a couple of years ago, but not much has changed. There are more teeth in his mouth nowadays...)
DS – Nathan. Will henceforth be known as Natepoo, a name I came up with when I found my then-two-year-old standing in a kitchen drawer, naked as the day he was born, with all of his dishware on the kitchen floor and a huge grin on his face. The name just came out of me and has stuck ever since. Natepoo is now ten years old (will be eleven on this trip…sniffle) and as mischievous as ever. This kid has an imagination that doesn’t stop. He also loves science, tolerates math, and is an amazing artist like his daddy. Natepoo loves to point out all things Disney in case there is a small chance I would miss it. He inherited his daddy’s tendency to flirt with all things female. He displays his flirtatiousness lately by hiding behind doors/pieces of furniture/other people and attempting to scare girls. The girls tend to react by screaming and then saying, “Oh, you’re SO cute!” I tend to react by rolling my eyes and telling Goofy, “He’s YOUR son!”

(FYI...I'm the one on the right...)
And then little old me…well, the little part is right. I will henceforth be known as “I,” “Honey Bunches,” or “Mom.” I believe that math is evil and science is the red-headed stepchild of the universe. My job is very stressful, but is tempered by the fact that I am allowed to work from home full time, so I tend to release stress by watching Jerry Springer and/or Cheaters and realizing that my life isn’t so bad after all. That, and my boss is very understanding about my Disney obsession and signs off on my vacation requests…even if it sends her and the rest of my team running into brick walls and sobbing their eyes out until I return. I tend to ramble and go off on tangents while writing these reports…have fun trying to figure out what I’m saying!

There is one more cast member to name, but I’ll introduce her later...

CHAPTER LIST:
Chapter 1 - Introductions
Chapter 2 - How The Hypothetical Trip Came About
Chapter 3.1 - Illness, Pants Dropping, and Road trip...Oh My!
Chapter 3.2 - Plans Out the Wa-Zoo!

 

[Disneyfreak616]

I'm here and I'm first!!!

Great start!!

 

[PixieMama]

(FYI...I'm the one on the right...)

LOL!

This sounds like it will be one funny PTR... can't wait to read more!

 

[dis75ney]

I'm here and I'm first!!!

Great start!!

Yes, you are! Welcome!

LOL!

This sounds like it will be one funny PTR... can't wait to read more!

You ain't heard nothin' yet!

 

[dis75ney]

Sorry for the delay on this update...Disboards wasn't liking me yesterday and kept giving me an error saying that my post was too short and I needed to enter at least one character. Stoopid technology...

Anywhos...

CHAPTER TWO: How the Hypothetical Trip Came About

We had just put Natepoo to bed (which meant that Natepoo was lying in bed and singing “Crazy Train” not-so-quietly to himself while Goofy and I alternately yelled “Quiet time, Natepoo!” until the melatonin kicked in). Goofy had pulled up to the computer and was busying himself by harvesting his crops on Farmville. I was reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (again) and was also watching Futurama on Comedy Central out of the corner of my eye. A commercial came on for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and I sighed rather loudly to let Goofy know that I wanted to go someday. Goofy whirled in his chair and watched the rest of the commercial with more interest than he shows for a Red Robin burger, which is saying a LOT.

*Red Robin is FINALLY coming to Gurnee! WOOT WOOT!*

Anywhos, Goofy looks over at me and sees me drooling over WWoHP. “Honey Bunches, do you want to go there someday?"

"Yes!” *I inserted the big green puppy dog eyes here, which Goofy cannot resist…tee hee*

Goofy turns back to the computer, shaking his head to clear it of the magic spell the Puppy-Dog Eyes put on him.

I press on. “So, if we were to plan a hypothetical trip to Florida…”

Goofy: “I DEMAND that we visit places we never have before. We’ve been to WDW so many times and haven’t left the property except to go to the airport!”

Me: “That’s because we haven’t had a rental car, but we could get one for this hypothetical trip…”

Goofy: “Can we use the car to get to the parks, too? Instead of waiting for the buses? That gets old after a while. I’d like to sit while riding…” blah blah blah. It was starting to sound like the teacher in the Charlie Brown cartoons. Mainly because I had already whipped out the smartphone and was researching prices online…

20 minutes later…

Me: “What do you think about going on this hypothetical trip during the holiday season?”

Goofy ponders this for a few minutes while whacking people in his Mafia…

“Well, we certainly haven’t done THAT before…”

I open my mouth to speak, but then Goofy whirls in his chair to face me...

“Does that mean we can see the massively huge and most likely yummy gingerbread house at…at…”

“The Grand Floridian?”

“Yes!”

“We can certainly see it, but you’re not allowed to eat it.”

Goofy: It's okay...he perked up when I mentioned that there are miniature gingerbread houses for sale. The boy loves him some gingerbread…

So I start planning a hypothetical trip. The subject is dropped for the time being while I research options and we open a production of The Full Monty with our theater troupe.

UP NEXT: Illness, Pants Dropping, and Road Trip...Oh My!

 

[Becc1]

I'm in, can't wait to read more!

 

[PixieMama]

I know you've only posted twice, but I am really enjoying the way you tell a story!

 

[Kari-B]

You sound so fun, I'm in!

 

[MARsMama]

Great start to what I am sure will be a funny and interesting PTR

 

[YukiPhnx]

LOVE YOUR TITLE!! I'm in!

 

[dis75ney]

I'm in, can't wait to read more!

Hi! Welcome!

I know you've only posted twice, but I am really enjoying the way you tell a story!

Thank you!

You sound so fun, I'm in!

Great start to what I am sure will be a funny and interesting PTR

Thanks! I'm sure it will get interesting...with my family, how could it not?

LOVE YOUR TITLE!! I'm in!

Thanks! Goofy and I just got hooked on "How I Met Your Mother" and we now own all five seasons on DVD. Now we just have to watch them all...

 

[dis75ney]

This installment will be split into at least two posts...depending on how smilie-happy I get...

CHAPTER 3.1: Illness, Pants Dropping, and Road Trip...Oh My!

So we fast forward to a couple of weeks later. I came down with a nasty case of strep right before our show was to open. Thank God I didn’t have to sing…I could just do my dances, let the chorus cover my lip-synching, and collapse in the lobby between scenes.

Sick. As. A. Dog. Was. I.

Goofy takes great delight in dropping trou for our audiences…

He’s second from the right…

And now that the show has opened, I FINALLY have some free time to work on our hypothetical trip. First thing I did was research airfare (yes, I know…extremely early). I wanted to know what we might be dealing with as far as prices go. I choked on numerous food items and Crystal Light when I saw the airfare prices. I have a sinking feeling that our days of $79 flights is over…which sucks massively since I have to go to L.A. in October…

But, we could DRIVE to Florida this time instead…

I mention the possibility of driving to Florida to Goofy. Goofy immediately freaks out about potentially driving in a snowstorm. “But what if there’s a MASSIVE snowstorm on our way down? Or back up?”

Snow-pocalypse 2011 has scared Goofy…

But not me! I am a Chicago girl, after all…I’m the one flying down the highway at 80 miles per hour during Snow-pocalypse…

I try to reassure Goofy that he’s being…goofy…about the potential for snowstorms. It’s rare that the Chicagoland area gets more than a dusting of snow in the month of November, and even if more than a dusting appears, the main roads we’d be taking would more than likely be driveable. Not necessarily pretty, but driveable. Provided there’s not a blizzard in the forecast, and we stay away from Lake Shore Drive, we’d be fine…

Lake Shore Drive before Snow-pocalype 2011:

Lake Shore Drive after Snow-pocalypse 2011:

Of course, now that I’ve mentioned Snow-pocalypse 2011, we will get a Part Deux in November…

NEW CAST MEMBER: DV – Jessie

Jessie is our 2004 Chrysler Town & Country minivan, named by Natepoo because the color reminded him of Jessie from the Toy Story movies.

Yes, we name our vehicles. Don’t judge.

Jessie, much like myself, is a walking advertisement for all things Chicago Bears and Disney related. Which means she’s the coolest car on the block.

I outlined the potential drive down to Goofy while we munched on lunch at McDonald’s on St. Patrick’s Day (I needed my Shamrock Shake!). Goofy stated that he wanted to hit at least some kitchsy tourist traps on this drive down…last time we drove down, we were on a rather nasty timetable and had to get to Miami in two days for a cruise. Hence, we had to bypass the world’s largest ball of twine.

Goofy’s face upon learning he would not see the world’s biggest ball of twine:

My reaction: “Suck it up and deal!”

“Suck it up and deal” is one of my most favorite, and thus way overused, phrases. I will occasionally shorten the phrase to “Suck it!” and may add a b**** at the end for dramatic effect. I usually get the opposite reaction and end up making people laugh. I don’t get it…

There was also a nasty accident that closed our main route from Orlando to Miami (seriously, how do you NOT see that you are headed straight for a barricade that would prevent your vehicle from plunging to I-4 below, and then how fast must you be going to plunge through said barricade to I-4 below? ). This necessitated a reroute to the Atlantic coast and an additional 23,987 hours on the road, which made for a VERY cranky me while trying to haul tuckus so we could get on the boat before it left without us…

I do believe some cursing was involved…

Damn it, where was I? Oh yeah…potential plans for the Great Road Trip of 2011…

So, after much research during working hours (not like I have much to do nowadays anyway) and banging of my head against several brick walls, I give to you, my dear readers…

 

[PixieMama]

Yes, we name our vehicles. Don’t judge.

No judging from me! I don't name my vehicles, but I do have a habit of naming my electronic devices.

I call my laptop Scarlett... because she can be feisty and temperamental.

I chose the name Eliza for my Kindle (after my favorite literary heroine, Elizabeth Bennet).

My GPS uses the "British male" voice, so naturally, I've named it Daniel. As in, my movie-boyfriend:

P.S. You're welcome for the eye candy.

 

[dis75ney]

Chapter 3.2: Plans Out The Wa-zoo!

THE GREAT HYPOTHETICAL TRIP OF 2011

11/18/11 (Friday): Natepoo’s last day of school before Thanksgiving break. My last day of work before I exile myself from all things electronic, rendering myself unable to answer any emergency call from work about where I saved a particular file (OK, I’ll probably just ignore the work calls…I like my GPS app too much). Goofy will pack up the last few bags/bins in the car, make sure the TV/DVD/Wii connections work for Natepoo’s entertainment, and try to study for a few hours before I demand that the school books be put away and that vacation fun will prevail.

11/19/11 (Saturday): We will pile into Jessie at the butt crack of dawn and head south, hopefully avoiding any traffic through the city of Chicago. I plan on bringing some light breakfast stuffs (mini bagels, boxes of cereal, Pop-Tarts) so anyone hungry can snack while we drive to Springfield.

Kitschy tourist spot #1: Charlie Parker’s Diner, Springfield IL. Food Network find. We love Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives! Breakfast/lunch time!

*Disclaimer: I have no idea who this lady is. If by some chance you happen to be a member of the Dis, I apologize in advance for using your image without permission.*

This pancake is bigger than Natepoo’s head! Natepoo would probably consume the whole thing. Bottomless pit is he…

After belly stuffage, we will continue southward to Carlyle, IL, to visit DMIL.

Our home for the next two nights…

Ah,Carlyle. Land of nothingness. Local hangout consists of WalMart. Biggest excitement in recent months was that the nursing facility where DMIL lives purchased a Wii. At least Natepoo will be happy trumping the elderly residents with his mad Wii skillz…

11/20/11 (Sunday): Full day in Carlyle/Sandoval, IL. Hopefully we will get a chance to visit Goofy’s childhood friend Kevin and perhaps some karaoke may be involved. We shall see…

I heart karaoke…

11/21/11 (Monday): Bid “adieu” to southern IL and head more south to…

Kitschy tourist spot #2: Lambert’s Café, Sikeston MO. Home of the throwed rolls!

See…I have proof!

Another Food Network find, although my parents have eaten there and then thrown rolls at me across the dinner table to pretend that we are visiting Lambert’s Café. I retaliated by shoving said dinner rolls up my parents’ noses. They learned their lesson…

After rolls have been thrown and food has been consumed, we will continue eastward to…

Kitschy tourist spot #3: Metropolis, IL – Home of Superman!

Here we plan on posing with the 20 foot Superman statue and potentially wandering around the Super Museum. Not really sure what else goes on here…

From Metropolis, we will head east-south-eastward-ish and stop for two nights in Chattanooga.

Our home for the next two nights...

11/22/11 (Tuesday): A day of fun and excitement! Woot woots all around!

Breakfast at the hotel (Free breakfast! Woot!), followed by…

Kitschy tourist spot #4: Ruby Falls, Chattanooga TN

OK, I’ll admit…not a “kitschy” tourist spot. But gosh darn it, look at that picture. Abso-freakin-lutely amazing!

After we have oooo’ed and ahhhhhhh’ed to our hearts’ content, we will stop for lunch/dinner at…

Kitschy tourist spot #5: Waffle House, numerous locations across the U.S.

But none near us.

We heart Waffle House and make a beeline for one every time we head south. Om nom nom!

We plan on making an early day of it on this day so we can hit the hay early and…

11/23/11 (Wednesday): Head out of Chattanooga at butt crack of dawn to drive to WDW! YAHOO!!!

Hopefully, we can time our drive right so we can stop for an early lunch at…

Kitchy tourist spot #6: The Varsity, Atlanta GA

Another Food Network find. Must study the menu to find out how to order food. Apparently, the Varsity has a language all its own and one may be yelled at for not knowing how to order.

Note to self: hide menu from Goofy so he gets yelled at…

Continue southwards to…

Happy place! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Our home for the next seven nights (if Goofy gets his way)…

Our home for the next seven nights (if I get my way)…

Goofy cannot understand why I want to stay at a moderate when “all we’ll be doing in the room is sleeping and showering!” This requires a bit of backstory…

On our last trip to WDW in June (staying at Pop), Goofy and I both got hit with some nasty food poisoning . We believe it was from bad milk, as Natepoo did not get sick at all and he prefers his cereal dry. I didn’t realize just how uncomfortable it would be to share a double bed with someone who was just as uncomfortable in the bed as I was. Lots of unintentional kicking and blanket hogging ensued until Natepoo offered to sleep on the floor so we could each get some rest without bruising each other.

Anywhos, on the off chance that this happens again, I want a bigger bed!

Goofy seemed to like the atmosphere of Coronado and was impressed by the main pool area, so I may get my way yet! Or, since I’m the one planning this thing, I’ll make the reservation for CSR without Goofy knowing…

I will most likely make an ADR for dinner, just so I have a set time that we need to be at WDW. I HATE being late for anything, and if I have an ADR set, by golly gosh darn it, we will be there! Just not sure yet where to go…I’m thinking either O’Hana or Chef Mickey’s…

11/24/11 (Thursday- Thanksgiving): No friggin’ clue. May make ADR for 50’s Prime Time Café. Reminds me of my family…hysterically dysfunctional. Or perhaps Whispering Canyon Café. May do resort tour to check out the holiday décor, since I’m sure the parks will be crowded…

11/25/11 through 11/30/11 (Friday through Wednesday): More WDW! Candlelight Processional will be seen. Osbourne Lights will be admired. MVMCP will be attended. I will audition for American Idol Experience (I’ve done it twice already…so much fun!). Food will be eaten. Rides will be ridden. Shows will be seen. Fun will be had by all.

Or else… The beatings will continue until morale improves!

11/30/11 (Wednesday): Leave WDW and head to Universal/IOA/WWoHP!

Our home for the next three nights...

Holy freakin’ crap, I am so excited about this stop! I found out that my company has a discount program where I can get four day park-to-park tickets for the same price as two day park-to-park tickets! Can I get a well-deserved woot-woot!

We had originally planned on doing only two days here, skipping Universal Studios and focusing on IOA and WWoHP until I found these tickets. So now we will hopefully see everything Universal has to offer. The front-of-the-line access for being on-site guests will help immensely with this, I’m sure…

12/2/11 (Friday): Start long, depressing ride home. Will most likely stop for the night at Chattanooga or Nashville. Waffle House will once again be visited sometime during drive home.

And that’s it for THE GREAT HYPOTHETICAL TRIP OF 2011! Questions, comments, concerns, possible interventions...

 

[dis75ney]

No judging from me! I don't name my vehicles, but I do have a habit of naming my electronic devices.

I call my laptop Scarlett... because she can be feisty and temperamental.

I chose the name Eliza for my Kindle (after my favorite literary heroine, Elizabeth Bennet).

My GPS uses the "British male" voice, so naturally, I've named it Daniel. As in, my movie-boyfriend:

P.S. You're welcome for the eye candy.

Ooooo...yummy! *Insert drooling smilie here*

My GPS app is usually called one of two things: "Sally" (for Sally the Satellite - Natepoo's idea) or "F#*)#&% piece of crap!" followed by a flying phone towards the back of Jessie, which Natepoo recovers at the first stop light and hands back to me.

My iPod is named Titanic, so that whenever I sync it to my laptop and the screen comes up "Synching Titanic," I can hit Cancel and feel like a hero.

 

[PixieMama]

*Disclaimer: I have no idea who this lady is. If by some chance you happen to be a member of the Dis, I apologize in advance for using your image without permission.*

Would that not be HYSTERICAL if she was a DISer?!

From Metropolis, we will head east-south-eastward-ish and stop for two nights in Chattanooga.

Our home for the next two nights...

Cool! That's where I live!

Chattanooga, that is. Not the Hampton Inn.

Technically, I live in a sleepy little "bedroom community" of Chattanooga. Where the Wal-Mart and Seed & Feed are popular hangouts. I'm trying to remember how many stop lights our little town has... I think just 3. Maybe 4.

Yeah, we live the high life.

After we have oooo’ed and ahhhhhhh’ed to our hearts’ content, we will stop for lunch/dinner at…

Kitschy tourist spot #5: Waffle House, numerous locations across the U.S. But none near us.
We heart Waffle House and make a beeline for one every time we head south. Om nom nom!

Ever been to Cracker Barrel? Sooooo much better than Waffle House, IMO.

Goofy cannot understand why I want to stay at a moderate when “all we’ll be doing in the room is sleeping and showering!”

This must be a "guy" thing, because my DH is of the same mindset. We've stayed at ASMovies twice. Thankfully on our last trip, he realized we can't stay at a value resort anymore (it wasn't so bad our first trip when our daughters were younger (and smaller) but last year, it seemed too cramped in the room).

I could be wrong, but I thought the Moderate Resorts had full-sized beds, too. I say this because for our trip last year, we were looking at POR, but the only difference between that and ASMovies (as far as the rooms go) was the room itself was just a tad but it still had full-sized beds. Oh, and POR has 2 sinks in the bathroom area while ASM only has 1. So DH was all, "Why pay more money for just a sink?"

We're hoping to have another family trip in 2013, and I'm pushing for AKL or WL! Deluxe all the way, baby!

11/30/11 (Wednesday): Leave WDW and head to Universal/IOA/WWoHP!

So jealous! I want to go to WWoHP so badly!!!

 

[PixieMama]

Ooooo...yummy! *Insert drooling smilie here*

My GPS app is usually called one of two things: "Sally" (for Sally the Satellite - Natepoo's idea) or "F#*)#&% piece of crap!" followed by a flying phone towards the back of Jessie, which Natepoo recovers at the first stop light and hands back to me.

My iPod is named Titanic, so that whenever I sync it to my laptop and the screen comes up "Synching Titanic," I can hit Cancel and feel like a hero.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

 

[PennyLane1084]

I love your PTR so far. I am also a HUGE Harry Potter nerd and I also hail from the chicagoland area. The How I Met Your Mother reference in the title is what reeled me in. Your plans sound good so far.

I agree that Waffle House is awesome! My family ALWAYS stops there on road trips to the south. I love that your going to be stopping at places that we're featured on Food Network! Two years ago my family did a Memphis Barbeque tour with the help of Guy Fieri and Adam Richmond from Man VS Food.

Also my mom has always wanted to stop at all the cheesy tourist spot in Chattanooga but we never did when I was a kid. I might have to do that when I have my own little humanoids.

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[YukiPhnx]

I name all my stuff too!! My Honda CR-V is Harvey. I like to let the guys that enter my car know that they are "riding Harvey". My current laptop's name is Larry, short for Lawrence. The one before that was Debbie, short for Debra, or otherwise known as the debster.

My dbf and I also LOVE HIMYM. We've seen it all and just....LOVE it.

Wow, what a hypothetical trip you've got planned! All those stops sound like so much fun! I also love that show so I would want to make those stops on a road trip too.

Daaaang, snowpocolypse hit you guys HARD. We were warned for it, but nothing showed up.

There's a Superman museum. Some how...not as surprising as I thought it would be.

Mmm, Wallfe House. I've heard many great things about the place.

Great deal on the Universal tickets!!!

 

[YukiPhnx]

I love your PTR so far. I am also a HUGE Harry Potter nerd and I also hail from the chicagoland area. The How I Met Your Mother reference in the title is what reeled me in. Your plans sound good so far.

I agree that Waffle House is awesome! My family ALWAYS stops there on road trips to the south. I love that your going to be stopping at places that we're featured on Food Network! Two years ago my family did a Memphis Barbeque tour with the help of Guy Fieri and Adam Richmond from Man VS Food.

Also my mom has always wanted to stop at all the cheesy tourist spot in Chattanooga but we never did when I was a kid. I might have to do that when I have my own little humanoids.

Can't wait to read more!!

Hey Kristin! Great minds think alike, eh?