disneegrl4eva
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2004
- Messages
- 9,041
Whew! now that I finally got that out lol...my name is Lynn and I've been a disboard member for years..I live in CA so Ive pretty much always stayed on the DL side of the boards...Ive always wanted to go to wdw ever since I was a little girl and knew there was such a place but it just wasnt in the cards for me so when I moved to CA I was perfectly content to go to DL...however, every so often, I would get a longing to go to wdw and back in 2007 I saw this special on the travel channel that showed the parks in all their christmas glory and also showed behind the scenes and the resorts and I made a decision...I was GOING to go to wdw even if that meant I was going to go by myself...I have to tell you a little about my life and the people in it...I am a divorced mom of one daughter by the name of Tiffany...she is a 24 year old social work major and has just transferred to Cal State Long Beach to complete her program...she does not share the same sentiments in regards to disney as I do..in fact, she down right hates it...she says I am to blame for her churning stomach at the mere mention of the word DL due to the countless trips we took during her childhood/teenage/young adult life. My friends do not understand my passion for all things Mickey and how everytime I see a commercial for the parks I get teary eyed...they also do not understand why I have spent an unknown amount of hours talking on the dis with other people who share my passion...my friends do not understand why any time I plan a trip its ALWAYS to DL..therefore, I have had to keep my excitement at being at my most happiest place to myself and go alone a few times...I really didnt like the thought of doing wdw alone but at the time I made the decision to go I just didnt care anymore..I would do it with or without anyone...in the years that I have been on the dis I made a few friends whom I continue to keep in touch with outside of the boards..one of which has become a very dear friend to me and we have done numerous trips together because she, like me, has been in the same boat with friends and family. Her name is Andrea and she is known on here as Matterhorn and it was great when we finally came together because she lived in vegas which is 4 hours one way and I lived up in central cali which was about 4 1/2 to 5 hours another way and we would meet up in anaheim and it was all good...so in 2008 I talked to her about the possibility of combining our resources and having a HUGE blowout vacation to wdw and also doing my dream, the disney cruise...at first she was a little skeptical but because of her love for disney like myself, it didnt take me long to convince her
..so it was decided..november of 2009 was the vacation of a lifetime...for months we planned..where we would stay, resorts we would visit, what parks when, what day to do MVMCP, and countless changes to ADR's...we booked and paid for the cruise almost a year in advance..and I myself spent so many hours finding clipart and things to make art for our cabin doors and resort window...everything was going so well and I was so excited I thought I would bust...in mid 2008 I ended up having to go on permanent disability due to an injury sustained at work that never got better and kept me from being able to use my hands for long periods of time and I knew that even though in the future I would have to cut corners I wasnt going to let this hinder my chances of doing this once in a lifetime trip so I continued on as planned...I had figured out exactly where my money would go and how I could use what I had to live on and also go on this trip and I was fine but in Dec. of that year, on a random starbucks trip to get me chamomile tea because of me having pneumonia, my daughter was hit by a driver in my car because he was in a hurry and sped through a yellow light that had already turned red..and of course it totaled my car...I was completely without a car and I only had the legally required amount of ins. so I was completely screwed and of course devestated...I had to cancel my cruise and take that money and the money I had saved for my trip and buy another car...I really never got over that and since then my finances have only gotten worse...I have had to go on social security because of my disability and it really stinks...I pretty much accepted the fact that it wasnt ever meant to be for me...and it really didnt help that Andrea met mr. wonderful who also was a disney fanatic like us and moved her to Orlando and they bought a fabulous house barely 10 minutes from wdw and was always bragging about how he could hear the fireworks and always going to a park and yada yada yada till i was ready to barf
well...this past tuesday I celebrated my 46th birthday and as my luck has been going my daughter and I were driving to LA because we are moving her down there for school to start and right in the middle of the drive my daughter rolls up the windows in the bajillion degree heat and hands me an envelope and Andrea is on the phone...I open it up and there is a wdw autograph and picture book and Im thinking what the ????? ...how rude to give me this on my birthday of all days...in it are pics of me growing up and pics of my daughter and I and then pics of Andrea and her kids and I at the parks and just a bunch of really funny moments we have experienced together and the jist of if is the fact that I have always wanted to go to wdw and never got to and the very last page she left blank saying she hoped I would get my dream of being able to go back to DL because I havent been able to go in quite a while OR I could go to wdw for 2 weeks and stay with her!! I thought I was going to FREAK out!!!! I started crying when I saw the airline ticket had already been paid for and I just couldnt believe it was finally going to happen and she tells me that she and my daughter have been planning this for awhile and that every time I would whine and cry to them that I cant go to DL they were secretly laughing their butts off and she tells me all the ADRs have been booked as well...
..Im just so excited I still cant believe it and everytime I go to look at that book again I start to cry...this has actually been the best birthday I have ever had because a couple months ago my brother gave me an early bday present and I got to go see Stevie Nicks who is my IDOL and has been since I was 11 so Im like in shock right now
anyways I have no idea what the plans are of yet but Im sure once Andrea comes on boards we will get more details and I hope you guys will enjoy the plans right along with me and if theres anything that you just feel is uber important that I shouldnt miss being its my first time then PLEASE chime in...so come on everybody, here we gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!
..so it was decided..november of 2009 was the vacation of a lifetime...for months we planned..where we would stay, resorts we would visit, what parks when, what day to do MVMCP, and countless changes to ADR's...we booked and paid for the cruise almost a year in advance..and I myself spent so many hours finding clipart and things to make art for our cabin doors and resort window...everything was going so well and I was so excited I thought I would bust...in mid 2008 I ended up having to go on permanent disability due to an injury sustained at work that never got better and kept me from being able to use my hands for long periods of time and I knew that even though in the future I would have to cut corners I wasnt going to let this hinder my chances of doing this once in a lifetime trip so I continued on as planned...I had figured out exactly where my money would go and how I could use what I had to live on and also go on this trip and I was fine but in Dec. of that year, on a random starbucks trip to get me chamomile tea because of me having pneumonia, my daughter was hit by a driver in my car because he was in a hurry and sped through a yellow light that had already turned red..and of course it totaled my car...I was completely without a car and I only had the legally required amount of ins. so I was completely screwed and of course devestated...I had to cancel my cruise and take that money and the money I had saved for my trip and buy another car...I really never got over that and since then my finances have only gotten worse...I have had to go on social security because of my disability and it really stinks...I pretty much accepted the fact that it wasnt ever meant to be for me...and it really didnt help that Andrea met mr. wonderful who also was a disney fanatic like us and moved her to Orlando and they bought a fabulous house barely 10 minutes from wdw and was always bragging about how he could hear the fireworks and always going to a park and yada yada yada till i was ready to barf well...this past tuesday I celebrated my 46th birthday and as my luck has been going my daughter and I were driving to LA because we are moving her down there for school to start and right in the middle of the drive my daughter rolls up the windows in the bajillion degree heat and hands me an envelope and Andrea is on the phone...I open it up and there is a wdw autograph and picture book and Im thinking what the ????? ...how rude to give me this on my birthday of all days...in it are pics of me growing up and pics of my daughter and I and then pics of Andrea and her kids and I at the parks and just a bunch of really funny moments we have experienced together and the jist of if is the fact that I have always wanted to go to wdw and never got to and the very last page she left blank saying she hoped I would get my dream of being able to go back to DL because I havent been able to go in quite a while OR I could go to wdw for 2 weeks and stay with her!! I thought I was going to FREAK out!!!! I started crying when I saw the airline ticket had already been paid for and I just couldnt believe it was finally going to happen and she tells me that she and my daughter have been planning this for awhile and that every time I would whine and cry to them that I cant go to DL they were secretly laughing their butts off and she tells me all the ADRs have been booked as well.....Im just so excited I still cant believe it and everytime I go to look at that book again I start to cry...this has actually been the best birthday I have ever had because a couple months ago my brother gave me an early bday present and I got to go see Stevie Nicks who is my IDOL and has been since I was 11 so Im like in shock right nowanyways I have no idea what the plans are of yet but Im sure once Andrea comes on boards we will get more details and I hope you guys will enjoy the plans right along with me and if theres anything that you just feel is uber important that I shouldnt miss being its my first time then PLEASE chime in...so come on everybody, here we gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!
But this should give her something fun to do over the next couple of months, besides helping me plan the wedding!! She's always wanted to be here at Christmastime, so of course, I had to plan it for that time of year! It's going to be so much fun!! Two whole weeks of fun!
...so ok well you have to tell me what ADR's you have planned right????um please??? 
....i did manage to get Andrea to tell me what is actually happening, when and where...so as it stands I fly out of Los Angeles on Wed., Nov. 30 leaving at 7:50am PST and arriving in Denver around 11:05pm... change in Denver and flight leaves at 12:10pm which is good because I have really short legs and I walk like a turtle...SERIOUSLY!!! I should be getting into Orlando at 5:40pm...whew thats a long time on planes
then we have an ADR at Whispering Canyon that night which I am seriously looking forward to..ever since we first began to plan and I found out about WC I wanted to go...then all I will need to do is pop a volume or 3 and call it a night
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the wedding
so we will be all busy with that..I will have to have Andrea talk about the plans for that one... we don't know how things are going to go the day after so we are leaving that one open and possibly doing downtown disney
no way!! so my favorites are POR and POFQ, BWI, and GF...I know Im also going to see CR, WL, and the POLY...but the latter 3 will be seen when we do our ADR's...the WL reminds me of GC at DLR...although Im sure it will be on a much grander scale...and POLY will be nice to see because of its tropical ambiance but Im not too much into CR...the furniture is just not my style..however, I am looking forward to seeing the big mickey wreath adorning the outer windows
...I would be most appreciative if anyone who favors any of these above resorts tell me of anything I should definitely see while Im there...sometimes its better to talk to a pro because they have been to these locations many times and know what places have the best eye catching views for a newbie to see
i really wish I could afford to buy her ticket as well but my daughter is going to buy it and let me pay her little at a time for it so that I will be able to see the christmas parade and firework...and as I indicated in a previous post, I saw that Mickey has a different outfit on at MVMCP than he does at DL park so again I have to get one of him...not sure how Im feeling about doing MVMCP alone right now but its really important to me so I will make do...I also have to admit to something else...I am extremely overweight and cannot stand on my feet for very long periods of time...I dont mind waiting in lines, I just cant stand while doing it..I have to have an 
There are outside wings to the hotel, too, where the cheaper rooms are. My only stay there was when I was 5 and Mom was attending a convention. The main pool did not allow flotation devices and I was still an uncertain swimmer. For some strange reason, my dad refused to go in the water with me, so I was left to either hang on the edge of the main pool or splash in the little wading area for little kids. You can still see Discovery Island out in the middle of the lake behind the resort. It used to be a separate admission park, akin to Animal Kingdom, but it closed a long time ago. It's still used for private functions.
Pittypat and thanks for reading
as if you werent already,
