I've Fallen on the darkside and I can't get up (8/18 We're back)

ep4244

I'll get you my pretty and your little tag fairy t
Joined
Feb 1, 2005
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277
A pre-trip for upcoming August 4-15th Trip

Me – Single mom of 2 great girls, lover of the mouse, dole whips, and roller coasters
Miss Mel – 12y/o (will hit 13 right after this trip) – bossy britches –it’s her way or the highway – shall we say we hit the interstate a lot leaving her on the access road
Miss Shel – 11y/o – just wants love and attention and a trip to Florida


It started innocently enough. I got my girls hooked on going to WDW back in 2004, they were just 6 and 8yrs. We were happy Disers not a care in the world. We made one trip each year sometimes two when I could manage the money.

Then it happened, my little girls started growing up and they had inherited the awful coaster gene from me. At first it was ok, Space Mountain and Big Thunder mountain could satisfy their want of coasters, then Expedition Everest did it for them, but after becoming tall enough to ride the big coasters at our local Six Flags the little WDW coasters just wouldn’t satisfy them. Then it happened (dun dun dun) that fateful day we strayed from Disney property over to :darth: THE DARKSIDE of Orlando. I took them to IOA/US. Was I a bad mom, would I lose custody of the kids over this. I was ashamed, I didn’t tell my friends or family were would be visiting this place. And I never posted about it on the DIS for fear of Disboard backlash.

Our first trip to the darkside started off badly. Miss Mel wasn’t quite tall enough to ride Hulk (mere millimeters below the requirement) and she was not happy about that (there was lots of pouting, stomping feet, and even tears – she can turn ‘em on and off like a Delta faucet). Unbeknownst to me some teenage girls waiting for friends to get off the ride told her how to circumvent the system, I didn’t know this until after we got off Hulk. As we grabbed her from the kiddie swap/chicken waiting area she was suddenly all smiles and asked to go to the restroom, I could tell some plot was hatching inside that head of hers. When he exited from the restroom she wanted us to get back in line and try to ride Hulk again. Sure enough she was tall enough. As we left the ride she started laughing maniacally :lmao: and I asked her why. She sat on a bench and pulled her shoes off and told me what the teens had told her to do. Go to the restroom and put toilet paper in the heel of her shoes to make her taller.

It was starting already, the darkside was turning my children into sneaks and cheaters and fibbers – oh my. The shame of it.

We only went for 1 day that trip in 2006, but it changed us all….forever.

2007 comes around and I have a one day meeting at the Hard Rock Hotel in Orlando, with a great rate that I could book for up to 3 before/days after the meeting so I added some days and I decided we’d add a week at WDW after the week at the HRH. What would it hurt to give IOA/US another shot. HRH would change our lives in unimaginable ways. We are merely weak humans with little self control. The lure of dive in movies, pool parties featuring the Fast Food Song ,and the clincher Front of the Line Access!!

Oh yes, we spent a decadent week at HRH walking to the parks, sticking our tongues out at the fools waiting forever in line without front of the line access, and singing Kentucky Fried Chicken in a pizza hut (see again Fast Food Song). My children and I had fallen in with a really bad crowd. We were turning into IOA/US fanatics and I was unable to stop it and was even enabling it. It had sucked me in also but for other reasons. The cute valet who knew my name whenever he saw me (I’m divorced not dead), treats delivered to our room (I had signed up for Loew’s club knowing I would be staying their), Flat screen TV’s in the rooms, big comfy sink into it mattress toppers, and of course fast looping roller coasters, my personal weakness.

After that week at HRH we moved over the Coronado Springs for a week, but the magic just wasn’t the same. Our evil deeds at the darkside had stolen the Disney magic from us. Oh, we still had fun, but the girls constantly asked if we could go back to Universal and they started comparing the parks. I really tried to stop it, but it was out of my control. We finished up our week at WDW, still having fun, but it just wasn’t the same as before.

So back in February when I went to book our August 2008 trip (yes, I’m an obsessive planner and I booked our air/hotel in February and darn glad I did now), I asked the girls what hotel we should pick this year. We have tried to stay at different resorts each year at Disney. I had suggested POFQ or Caribbean Beach. What they responded with floored me. Do we have to stay at a WDW hotel this year, can’t we go back to HRH. My jaw hit the floor, several teeth came flying out, luckily no one lost an eye from those flying bicuspids. What had I done to my little children? I had to dash to the fridge and chug a cold one (Dr. Pepper that is) to wash away the ugly reality that my little girls had changed into Mickey bashing, roller coaster riding, Jonas brother groupie tweens.

Tune in for our next exciting chapter and maybe you’ll get the answer to these heart stopping questions:
Will we still be happy after an exclusive stay at HRH?
Will the darkside cause more bad habits?
How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?
Is Butter grilled cake so good it’ll make you wanna slap your mama?
Will anyone read my trip report?
Will I become just another Diser that never finishes a trip report?

See ya on the darkside.
 
:rotfl:

I love your pre-trippie! You are hysterical. I can't wait to read about the actual trip! :thumbsup2


Now I can't get that song outta my head.
A pizza hut a pizza hut
Kentucky fried chicken and a pizza hut
A pizza hut a pizza hut
Kentucky fried chicken and a pizza hut
McDonalds McDonalds
Kentucky fried chicken and a pizza hut
McDonalds McDonalds
Kentucky fried chicken and a pizza hut


:rolleyes1
 
Love your pre-trippie too! I am poking around the "dark side" threads myself, wondering if a US/IOA vacation would work for us! My kiddies are not "coaster freaks" (DS 11 and DD 8) so I'm a bit nervous that we'd miss out on a lot! However, the onsite hotels sound simply amazing. And the parks seem to offer quite a bit more than just thrill rides....

I'm thinking maybe RPR in Nov '09! Sounds like a long time from now doesn't it! But - then I get to PLAN for the next year! WOO HOO :cool1:

Anyhoo - looking forward to hearing about your trip! :hippie:
 
lollyowlcomputer.gif


you got me!!! popcorn::









...(she better tell us):rolleyes1
 

I'm on board for the trip report!!

I, too, innocently created a roller-coaster-riding, USO loving, 9 year old monster!!:scared1: I never realized what I was doing at the time.:confused3 :rotfl:
 
our cookies are great over here on the darkside, huh?

looking very much forward to you trip - and dang it all I want the answers to the questions :worship: :worship:
 
Wow - people are reading my trippie - I'm so excited. Just to give you a show of what happens to innocent WDW loving folks when they stray - picture proof of the change in my kids and myself

Look at how innocent my children were before we visited the darkside

Before - so sweet so innocent
Castle1.jpg


After - rubbing in their front of the line access

IMG_0696.jpg


And all of us - who could resist such a nice A$$ (hehe)

Donkey2.jpg
 
Count me in, just returned from my mini trip to the dark side- DS is 8 1/2 and rode his 1st real coasters at IOA - he absolutely loved Hulk and Ice- though I need to make sure he goes to the bathroom b4 the rollercoasters- he had to go so bad that 2 min on a G force coaster nearly killed him:lmao: - plan to write my own trip report in the next few days.
 
Official Tootsie Pop

Just to keep you with me. Above is the link to the official Tootsie pop how many licks.

I think I'm going to use the tootsie pops how many licks as a fun contest on the plane - give tootsie pops to the girls and have them see how many licks it takes them. Get em nice and sugared up on the 6am flight.

The Fast Food Song, it is a song that "Tim" the party guy sings during his parties at the Hard Rock Pool. As soon as we got home the girls were frantic to find it online and of course they did.

We're 10 days from take-off :woohoo: and the suitcases are out. We're headed to Six Flags tonight to get in some roller coaster rides.:banana:
 
Just need to let you know.. Not only do I have the fast food song in my head "KFC and a Pizza Hut"... But, I think I'm really gonna need one of those vinyl outfits. Gotta love the sleeves!!

Just borrowed 3 travel books with Universal info. Can't wait to read 'em all!!

:goodvibes
 
WELCOME TO THE DARKSIDE. BWAAAAAA-HA-HA-HA-Ha-ha-haaaaaaaa....

Love your pretrip report. We were die-hard Disney fans, never wanted to set foot in another theme park. Then we tried UO and IoA in January. We are SOOOOOOO hooked! Now we never want to stay anywhere but HRH, and UO/IoA is our big, fun, most anticipated trip of the year. We love the Darkside!

Though I think that's a bit of a misnomer. It sure made us bright and happy!

Tamie
 
DH hates waiting in lines. (Who doesn't?) And now I'm not sure he'll ever set eyes on the mouse again.

:rotfl:

Your husband sounds like mine! And my DH hates crowds, too.
I suggested we spend one day of our next trip at AK,
and he immediately responded, "NO!!!!!"
 
SNIP

And all of us - who could resist such a nice A$$ (hehe)

Donkey2.jpg

Anyone ever tell you that you look a bit like Uma Thurman? Maybe it's just the one pic, I dunno...but your smile...it reminds me of her!
 
Anyone ever tell you that you look a bit like Uma Thurman? Maybe it's just the one pic, I dunno...but your smile...it reminds me of her!

That is so sweet, no I've never been told that but thank you.

Well we're at less than 48hrs until we take off. Luckily it's the girls weekend with their dad (and he actually showed up to get them). So I'm able to get all the last minute stuff done - packing, house cleaning, preparing meals to leave for my mom (she lives with us now).

We're spending Sunday night at the Grand Hyatt at DFW. It's great as they will give you an escort into the airport to eat dinner (the new international terminal has some really wonderful restaurants), and the girls love the roof-top pool for watching planes take off while they swim.

I'll try and post some live from HRH as I know I'll have to boot up the old laptop for work a few times while we're vacationing.
 
Just a quick overview of our trip. I'll post more details later.

We have a great time. It was very hot, but we would venture out early and hit the hotel/pool in the main heat, then go back to the parks in the evenings.

It was also very crowded, but with FOTL we never waited more then 5-10 minutes for any ride.

HRH was fantastic as usual. I'll be back later to post more and hopefully have pictures loaded up also.
 
popcorn:: My son sings that song all the time. I never knew the name of it, his pre-k teacher taught it to him!
 














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