Cast of Characters:
Me ~ Birthday Girl (35)
DH ~ Wonderful man who took me to Disney (40)
Preface: We left our 4 children at home to spend a weekend alone at Disney for my 35th birthday. But before you cry no fair! here are our supporting arguments:
a)We have only spent one night away from the children together ever that was 4 years ago and our oldest is now 10.
b)We are taking the children for another trip in December.
c)Our kids couldnt wait for us to leave, because their cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents were coming over on various days to watch them! I sense a no rules weekend coming
Day one, Friday, August 29:
I get so stressed when departing for a trip!!!! Now I remember why I hate traveling After dropping the older children off for school, I rushed to the store to buy some last minute groceries. You see, not only am I planning for a weekend trip with my husband, but Im also planning meals for all the people who are graciously coming to our house to watch the kiddos and animals! There will be 8 people at my house on Saturday alone! Finish shopping and unload everything at home.
My husband always waits to the LAST minute to do his packing and always comes up with all sorts of little jobs he MUST take care of right before we leave. This drives me NUTS!!! So we are already ½ an hour (by my schedule) late dropping my littlest off at a friends where he will stay the day. Its 10:30. Coordinating the childcare was the hardest part of this whole trip planning. My mother couldnt watch the kids for the entire weekend, so they ended up with 4 sets of different family and friend babysitters...which was quite a feat of logistical planning, if I do say so myself!
So Im already a little stressed about getting to the airport on time. Our flight isnt until 12:20, but we have to park in satellite parking, and catch the bus to the airport, which can sometimes take awhile. Were OK though, because its 10:40. But WHOH! - What is all this construction on I-635 ?!? A DETOUR?? Uh-oh, somehow weve lost our way and end up in downtown KC, MO. We have NO IDEA where we are (and my husband has lived in suburbs of KC all his life). We finally stop and ask for directions and eventually end up back on the Interstate. Note to self: check for any road construction before next trip to the airport.
Im really stressing now its 11:15 and were still not even to the airport! However, the happy ending is that we do, in fact, get to the airport on time, although we check in nearly dead last. With Southwest, that means we are also the last ones to get on the plane. But, at least, we DO get on the plane!! We settle into our seats: my husband by the window and me in the middle sitting next to a gentleman in the aisle seat.
OK, I can relax now and breathe deeply. The rest of this traveling should be a breeze. Right? We take off shortly and I begin to dream of the magic of Disney. But, what is that NOISE? The man next to me is SNORING LOUDLY! And he doesnt snore for a little 10 minute nap he snores the ENTIRE FLIGHT. After we reach cruising altitude, one of the stewardesses comes by to take our drink orders. Her eyes pop out of her head when she looks at the man next to me. I look over to see what she is looking at and, to my horror, I see the man next to me is DROOLING! UUGH! I am not feeling the magic yet.
However, once we land in MCO (after a turbulent flight) things take a turn for the much better. We stopped by the Disney Earport to buy our Annual Passes, which only takes about 10 minutes. Then we head to Alamo to get our car, which also takes only about 10 minutes, and were on our way to our Resort. Its 4:30, and were right on schedule. Magic working.
We check into All Stars Movies, and although we cant get a room in a Preferred Building (we got Mighty Ducks), we did get a king sized bed which we requested. Unfortunately, the room had a terrible musty order. Fortunately, we get a free fridge. And a roll-in shower (which I liked!) because it was a room for the disabled. Are all rooms at ASMo musty like ours, or is it just the first floor ones? Oh well, we wont be spending much time in there anyway .
We head off to Animal Kingdom Lodge where we have a PS at 6:30 for Bomas. Ive never been to this resort before and Im anxious to see what it looks like. The open lobby is beautiful and I love all the sitting areas! The lounge and restaurants are a little dark, but well themed, adding to the atmosphere. We had drinks in the lounge before being seated. The Victoria Falls Mist that I had was AWESOME! Dinner was delicious and you can read my restaurant report in the Restaurant Forum for more details. The best part of dinner was the special card signed by Boma CMs in addition to a birthday cupcake! OK, magic still working.
After dinner, I had planned to visit Epcot to view Illuminations. We missed it last year because the kids just couldnt stay up for it, but I was DETERMINED to experience it this trip! We arrived with enough time to stop by Guest Relations and get a birthday button (which I highly recommend!! I got so much attention from it!). We rode El Rio del Tiempo and got a boat all by ourselves because of my birthday button. More magic. We even had time to ride Maelstrom also before finding our spot for Illuminations.
All I can say about Illuminations is .wow. It was absolutely incredible and was probably the one thing that made the biggest impression on us the entire trip. VERY magical the first time you see it. Note to self: make children stay awake to experience this in December. They will LOVE it.
We attempted to drive back to ASMo to call it a night, but somehow get lost again (obviously, navigation is not our thing today). However, we make the best of it by going to Downtown Disney, because that is where we ended up. What a nice coincidence! We went into Once Upon a Toy Story and got a box full of Mr. Potatohead parts to divide among friends. Another note to self: buy the arms also at the store because Mr. Potatohead at home cannot hold anything. Therefore, he cannot hold the cute Mickey balloon, Mickey bar, WDW autograph book, or camera that we bought for him. Sad, but well get some NEW arms when we return in December. Gotta start a new list .
We also went to the Disney Christmas store where a very nice CM was more than happy to engrave 4 different Guest of Honor nametags for me, cause silly me did not consult with Disney before naming my children! Another thing checked off my To Do List!!
From there, we head to Goodings to purchase some essentials (champagne for my birthday and beer oh, also water) and head back home to our resort, not getting lost one time! But PEEYEW there is that stinky, musty odor again! We headed straight to the pool for a quick dip before calling it a night. Oops, and dont forget to request a wake up call for morning! Cant wait for the magic tomorrow . [/B]
Me ~ Birthday Girl (35)
DH ~ Wonderful man who took me to Disney (40)
Preface: We left our 4 children at home to spend a weekend alone at Disney for my 35th birthday. But before you cry no fair! here are our supporting arguments:
a)We have only spent one night away from the children together ever that was 4 years ago and our oldest is now 10.
b)We are taking the children for another trip in December.
c)Our kids couldnt wait for us to leave, because their cousins, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents were coming over on various days to watch them! I sense a no rules weekend coming
Day one, Friday, August 29:
I get so stressed when departing for a trip!!!! Now I remember why I hate traveling After dropping the older children off for school, I rushed to the store to buy some last minute groceries. You see, not only am I planning for a weekend trip with my husband, but Im also planning meals for all the people who are graciously coming to our house to watch the kiddos and animals! There will be 8 people at my house on Saturday alone! Finish shopping and unload everything at home.
My husband always waits to the LAST minute to do his packing and always comes up with all sorts of little jobs he MUST take care of right before we leave. This drives me NUTS!!! So we are already ½ an hour (by my schedule) late dropping my littlest off at a friends where he will stay the day. Its 10:30. Coordinating the childcare was the hardest part of this whole trip planning. My mother couldnt watch the kids for the entire weekend, so they ended up with 4 sets of different family and friend babysitters...which was quite a feat of logistical planning, if I do say so myself!
So Im already a little stressed about getting to the airport on time. Our flight isnt until 12:20, but we have to park in satellite parking, and catch the bus to the airport, which can sometimes take awhile. Were OK though, because its 10:40. But WHOH! - What is all this construction on I-635 ?!? A DETOUR?? Uh-oh, somehow weve lost our way and end up in downtown KC, MO. We have NO IDEA where we are (and my husband has lived in suburbs of KC all his life). We finally stop and ask for directions and eventually end up back on the Interstate. Note to self: check for any road construction before next trip to the airport.
Im really stressing now its 11:15 and were still not even to the airport! However, the happy ending is that we do, in fact, get to the airport on time, although we check in nearly dead last. With Southwest, that means we are also the last ones to get on the plane. But, at least, we DO get on the plane!! We settle into our seats: my husband by the window and me in the middle sitting next to a gentleman in the aisle seat.
OK, I can relax now and breathe deeply. The rest of this traveling should be a breeze. Right? We take off shortly and I begin to dream of the magic of Disney. But, what is that NOISE? The man next to me is SNORING LOUDLY! And he doesnt snore for a little 10 minute nap he snores the ENTIRE FLIGHT. After we reach cruising altitude, one of the stewardesses comes by to take our drink orders. Her eyes pop out of her head when she looks at the man next to me. I look over to see what she is looking at and, to my horror, I see the man next to me is DROOLING! UUGH! I am not feeling the magic yet.
However, once we land in MCO (after a turbulent flight) things take a turn for the much better. We stopped by the Disney Earport to buy our Annual Passes, which only takes about 10 minutes. Then we head to Alamo to get our car, which also takes only about 10 minutes, and were on our way to our Resort. Its 4:30, and were right on schedule. Magic working.
We check into All Stars Movies, and although we cant get a room in a Preferred Building (we got Mighty Ducks), we did get a king sized bed which we requested. Unfortunately, the room had a terrible musty order. Fortunately, we get a free fridge. And a roll-in shower (which I liked!) because it was a room for the disabled. Are all rooms at ASMo musty like ours, or is it just the first floor ones? Oh well, we wont be spending much time in there anyway .
We head off to Animal Kingdom Lodge where we have a PS at 6:30 for Bomas. Ive never been to this resort before and Im anxious to see what it looks like. The open lobby is beautiful and I love all the sitting areas! The lounge and restaurants are a little dark, but well themed, adding to the atmosphere. We had drinks in the lounge before being seated. The Victoria Falls Mist that I had was AWESOME! Dinner was delicious and you can read my restaurant report in the Restaurant Forum for more details. The best part of dinner was the special card signed by Boma CMs in addition to a birthday cupcake! OK, magic still working.
After dinner, I had planned to visit Epcot to view Illuminations. We missed it last year because the kids just couldnt stay up for it, but I was DETERMINED to experience it this trip! We arrived with enough time to stop by Guest Relations and get a birthday button (which I highly recommend!! I got so much attention from it!). We rode El Rio del Tiempo and got a boat all by ourselves because of my birthday button. More magic. We even had time to ride Maelstrom also before finding our spot for Illuminations.
All I can say about Illuminations is .wow. It was absolutely incredible and was probably the one thing that made the biggest impression on us the entire trip. VERY magical the first time you see it. Note to self: make children stay awake to experience this in December. They will LOVE it.
We attempted to drive back to ASMo to call it a night, but somehow get lost again (obviously, navigation is not our thing today). However, we make the best of it by going to Downtown Disney, because that is where we ended up. What a nice coincidence! We went into Once Upon a Toy Story and got a box full of Mr. Potatohead parts to divide among friends. Another note to self: buy the arms also at the store because Mr. Potatohead at home cannot hold anything. Therefore, he cannot hold the cute Mickey balloon, Mickey bar, WDW autograph book, or camera that we bought for him. Sad, but well get some NEW arms when we return in December. Gotta start a new list .
We also went to the Disney Christmas store where a very nice CM was more than happy to engrave 4 different Guest of Honor nametags for me, cause silly me did not consult with Disney before naming my children! Another thing checked off my To Do List!!
From there, we head to Goodings to purchase some essentials (champagne for my birthday and beer oh, also water) and head back home to our resort, not getting lost one time! But PEEYEW there is that stinky, musty odor again! We headed straight to the pool for a quick dip before calling it a night. Oops, and dont forget to request a wake up call for morning! Cant wait for the magic tomorrow . [/B]
