Leaving DH @home. WDW Mommy Style! completed.

[addicted2dizney]

Hi All,
Well after having spent over a year on the boards I decided it's time for me to give a little back! I have enjoyed so many TR's I am going to give a shot at my own.
Here's a little history on me and the family.
Me, Dana the DW 39 years young and a total WDW freak as any good Jersey girl should be!

DD 14 Jenna- a typical annoying 14 year old! lol.. but really great kid just totally ready to start High School and of course the world does revolve around her, doesn't it????? Oh and she's a total lover of anything that is Stitch!
DS 12 Lucas- really great kid! what else can I say, he's a boy that's easy going and a pleasure to be around! Oh and he loves Disney so I taught him well and life is good!
My beloved DH: Tommy- A wonderful husband, friend, father and provider... just one major flaw... He strongly dislikes anything Disney! This is something I should have considered prior to marriage but we all are flawed aren't we? After 16 years of marriage I'm thinking I'll keep him in spite of his Disney dislike!

Now for the trip.... Well usually I am lucky enough to get to Disney about every year to 18 months or so. The kids have been there about 6 or 7 times and just love it. I still don't think they like it as much as I do but they are a close 2nd to how much I love it. We have been going the last few years due to DD's all star competitive cheer schedule. We travel the country for her competitions but luckily we have gone to National competitions in Orlando the past few years. This year we were going to go to The Cheerleading Worlds in Disney but DD caught a virus in the winter and could not train and cheer the rest of the season. We were so bummed not to be going to Disney and I have a few thousand dollars that I did not have to spend on DD's cheering so that's how this trip was born. DH wants me to be happy and knows how much we love it there. When I mentioned a trip there he told me to go, take the kids and stay as long as I like as long as he didn't have to go. Deal!
I am a budget traveler. I figure if I can stay at a value resort I can stay longer! With just me and the kids a value resort is fine. When DH does come we opt for a fancier room usually at the AKL.
We were booked at the ASmu. We had stayed there before and always loved it. I swear to you the days before the trip I watched the clock. I was on an hour by hour countdown. The time to leave could not come soon enough. Finally we were on our way! DH drove us to Newark Airport and lucky for us our plane was on time and we even got in a few minutes early!
The car rental went smoothly and before long we were on our way and passing through those gates! I had tears in my eyes. At this point the teenage hormones kicked in from DS and DD and they told me to stop being so " lame". Yes they were excited too but I was being a total loser and killing it for them! Oh well, I guess I have become my mother! lol.. We got right to the hotel and even though we arrived on the Sunday of one of the busiest weeks of the year at 2pm there was no wait and we went right to a CM to check in. We got a ground floor room in the preffered building as requested! (this was to be a God send and a curse all at once.. but I'll get to that part later!) By 2:30 we were in our room and Jenna and Lucas were in their suits and heading out to the pool. I was just sitting there taking it all in. It was a beautiful day. Hot but not too, too hot. I took my time in the room unpacking and decorating my window. I had to pinch myself that I was finally there! I had planned every little thing on this trip. Much of which did get changed around but that comes later too...

Oh my one problem of the day! I had just gotten a new phone.. my old one was defective and verizon shipped me a new one just days before my trip. I zipped down to my local verizon store and they converted my data etc.. When we landed at MCO I went to turn my new phone on and it was dead! Something went wrong with it and I had no cell phone! I don't know what I was more upset with... The fact that I had no phone or the fact that I was sooo upset I had no phone! Both DS and DD had phones with them. Anyone who needed me could reach me! It bugged me how dependent I have gotten on that thing! I reached a Verizon rep via DS's phone who may have been sprinkled with pixie dust! She was sooo nice and had a new phone fed exed to me and then forwarded my calls to DS's phone so I wouldn't miss anything! We were back on track and I headed out to the pool and did some swimming with the kids. We have a beautiful in ground pool in our yard. I never seem to have the time to get in it so it was nice to take the time and just goof around and swim with the kids. After about 2 hours we showered and then headed out to BC for our dinner at Cape May Cafe!
I'll post more later on! I also have to figure out how to post pics too!

 

[dddisrunner]

I'm here! GREAT start! It is so sad how dependant we are on our cell phones! I can't wait to read more! Oh Yeah, I guess I am "lame" too because I cry everytime we arrive on Disney property too!

 

[ChelleinNC]

I'm in I've got at DD14 & DS 11, only difference is DH loves Disney as much as I do (we met at Pleasure Island)

Can't wait to hear about your trip!

 

[addicted2dizney]

I'm here! GREAT start! It is so sad how dependant we are on our cell phones! I can't wait to read more! Oh Yeah, I guess I am "lame" too because I cry everytime we arrive on Disney property too!

Hi Diane! Glad you are going to be reading along. Your TR is one of my all time favorite so I hope you will like mine. I don't have as many great pictures as you did but hopefully DD will help me load some on as they are needed.

 

[addicted2dizney]

I'm in I've got at DD14 & DS 11, only difference is DH loves Disney as much as I do (we met at Pleasure Island)

Can't wait to hear about your trip!

Hi, Lucky you! The man of your dreams and you met him in Disney! That's perfect! Glad you will be reading along! Just remember I'm new at this!~

 

[addicted2dizney]

So I am still numb from arriving, I am living the dream! The one thing I really did this whole vacation was remember to take in every little detail. Every site, every flower, every smell. There are just some smells that are Disney to me! The smell of the monorail, The smell of the hotel rooms, the unique smell of Florida water that has been way over chlorinated by the pools and at some of the attractions, etc.. I was sure not to wish away any moment of the trip. It had been almost 10 years since I had been lucky enough to spend a full week there. I am an expert at whirlwind Disney trips! I can leave people in the dust gasping for breath as I plow through parks. My last trip we only had two free days in Disney.. I got into and saw all the major attractions in what I call the "2 Days 4 Parks" trip! My friends are still recovering!

While we were swimming the pool was rocking! They had CM's doing games, dancing and music by the pool. It was great, they had activities poolside from about noon until 9pm when they showed a movie on the giant movie screen. Being we were on the ground floor near the pool we were never far from the action. By about mid week this became a curse rather than a gift. My one downside to my "perfect" room was that it was sooooo noisy! I don't think I will request a pool view room again anytime soon!

So after swimming we showered, changed and jumped in the rental car and zipped off the the Beach Club. We got there about 1/2 hour early. The kids went to go do some pin trading with the CM's while I checked in. I told them we were early but would like to be seated if possible. No problem! Within 10 minutes we were at our table. I don't have photos but for any of you that have not been to CMC it's a seafood/shellfish buffet along with lots of other great food! Its Lucas' favorite and probably mine too. Jenna is not a fish fan but they have the best ribs and mashed potatoes. Jenna is a total carb girl so she was in heaven with the mashed potatoes, bread and macaroni and cheese. The ribs were falling off the bone they were so good. Lucas and I filled up on the clams, mussels, shrimp and their great salad bar. Both my kids have GREAT appetites! I NEVER loose money on them at an all you can eat place! We stuffed ourselves silly and then we jumped in the car and rode over to DTD. Jenna, as I mentioned is a total Stitch fan. She must have over 25 stuffed Stitches! We are also big pin collectors she has well over 100 pins. Of course she ONLY collects Stitch. It's so much fun for her to try find Stitch pins. Disney is just one big giant Pin hunt! We had a nice time walking around, Jenna bought anything else she could find Stitch! She made a few nice trades and picked up a few more pins for her collection and bought those giant Stitch hands! She wanted them for our Ohana breakfast later in the week. For her everything was about being ready for any photo opportunities where she could be photographed. (remember the part about her being 14.. it is all about her don't ya know??? ) Good thing I went in on a photopass share. She practically tackled every photopass person to have her picture taken!~

I was really happy to have the time to just shop, relax and hang out a bit in DTD. I must say the kids were in great moods as was I. It's rare to have two teens and have them both in good moods at the same time! I really enjoyed this time with them. Like I said, the last few trips have been chaotic at best so this time was a true luxury. We walked around for about two hours and then decided to head back to the hotel. The kids took their refillable mugs (and mine) down to the food court to get some Hot Chocolate. Yum! I know their Chocolate is just warm water and that syrup but it is sooo good! One of my favorites for sure. Lucas is a total Chocolate milk freak so he really looks forward to this every trip. We settled into the room, the kids got ready for bed laid down watching Disney Channel. Then, I started my preparation for the next day. I was like a ninja warrior preparing for battle! I got my Baggalini ready, my park tickets, water bottles.. ( yay for Costco!) camera, pins for trading, rain coats etc... Once I was ready I called for my 7am wake up call! The kids were not happy but they had no choice. Mommy is in CHARGE! I got into my fresh clean bed and was sooo happy. And then..... The noise!!! ugh!! Screaming kids in the pool! It was after midnight and these kids were yelling like it was noon! Luckily the kids fell asleep quickly and I finally did too. That 7am wake up was coming soon and we were attacking Epcot the next day....

 

[dddisrunner]

Sounds like a nice relaxing afternoon! Your daughter is a girl after my own heart, with the carbs! Cape May sounds wonderful! I'll have to keep that in mind!! When we stayed at Pop in 2007 we had a pool view and it was pretty loud there too! Glad you were able to finally fall asleep! Is your daughter back to cheerleading again? Looking forward to more!

 

[addicted2dizney]

Sounds like a nice relaxing afternoon! Your daughter is a girl after my own heart, with the carbs! Cape May sounds wonderful! I'll have to keep that in mind!! When we stayed at Pop in 2007 we had a pool view and it was pretty loud there too! Glad you were able to finally fall asleep! Is your daughter back to cheerleading again? Looking forward to more!

The answer to the cheer question is both "yes" and "no"! Stayed tuned to my TR to learn more!

 

[podsnel]

Hey neighbor!!! There is so much crying at Disney it is not even funny- when you get there, when you see a parade, when you see the fireworks, when you eat a Mickey bar, when your kids hug Mickey....and when you leave- but that's a different kind of crying!! And the relentless commercials when you get home...

Great start!! Sounds like it's going to be fun!

Ellen

 

[tmkinney]

Hey Dana,
I saw the link on the signature. Great so far! Can't wait for some pics. If you need help with that send me a PM, through photobucket.com it is soo easy!

Last year with my kids we did autograph books but that is so time consuming and since we just did it last year, we aren't going to do it again. I think I will take their books from last year and we can pick up any we missed. But since we aren't doing the autographs, I did buy my kids some starter lanyards on ebay to start the pin trading - sounds fun. My DS is really looking forward to that.

So my DH isn't the only one who doesn't love Disney, huh? When my kids get older, I may be doing some trips without my DH too!

Tammy

 

[disneyaddicted]

Hi there,my name is Ty and my DH hates Disney as well and I am forced to go without him, Last year was just me and my DD at Disney, even my DS 16 stayed home, he likes to think he doesn't care for Disney, but he does. Anyway your title caught my eye. I am really enjoying yout TR so far, I have already learned not to request a room by the pool, I was planning to do so for my next trip.

My DD Reese is 14 going into high school and up until this year was a competitive cheerleader, I have asked that she take this year off since she does so much already I wanted her to get a feel for high school and all (Truth is I need the break, you would understand that ) She still gets to cheer JV cheerleading for school so it's not a huge lost.

I can't imagine ever doing 4 parks in 2 days, you must have bionic legs and mad planning skills, KUDOS! I'm glad you finally get a chance to enjoy Disney in a more laid back fashion. I am looking forward to the next update.

 

[addicted2dizney]

Hey neighbor!!! There is so much crying at Disney it is not even funny- when you get there, when you see a parade, when you see the fireworks, when you eat a Mickey bar, when your kids hug Mickey....and when you leave- but that's a different kind of crying!! And the relentless commercials when you get home...

Great start!! Sounds like it's going to be fun!

Ellen

Hi Ellen! I'm glad you came on over to read my report! Yes too much crying on this trip! At least I didn't cry too, too much on the way out because I knew I'd be returning in Sept with my friend!

Hey Dana,
I saw the link on the signature. Great so far! Can't wait for some pics. If you need help with that send me a PM, through photobucket.com it is soo easy!

Last year with my kids we did autograph books but that is so time consuming and since we just did it last year, we aren't going to do it again. I think I will take their books from last year and we can pick up any we missed. But since we aren't doing the autographs, I did buy my kids some starter lanyards on ebay to start the pin trading - sounds fun. My DS is really looking forward to that.

So my DH isn't the only one who doesn't love Disney, huh? When my kids get older, I may be doing some trips without my DH too!

Tammy

Hi Tammy,
Ya gotta love the ebay trading pins! No, you are not alone with your DH. At least we are lucky enough that they let us go and enjoy it on our own!

Hi there,my name is Ty and my DH hates Disney as well and I am forced to go without him, Last year was just me and my DD at Disney, even my DS 16 stayed home, he likes to think he doesn't care for Disney, but he does. Anyway your title caught my eye. I am really enjoying yout TR so far, I have already learned not to request a room by the pool, I was planning to do so for my next trip.

My DD Reese is 14 going into high school and up until this year was a competitive cheerleader, I have asked that she take this year off since she does so much already I wanted her to get a feel for high school and all (Truth is I need the break, you would understand that ) She still gets to cheer JV cheerleading for school so it's not a huge lost.

I can't imagine ever doing 4 parks in 2 days, you must have bionic legs and mad planning skills, KUDOS! I'm glad you finally get a chance to enjoy Disney in a more laid back fashion. I am looking forward to the next update.

Hi Ty! I'm glad you are reading along! Not only do we have similar kids and DH's we even picked screen names that are similar!
I certainly understand about needing a break from cheer! It's been 5 straight years. I did get a few months off this year when Jenna was sick but she is raring to go again! Thanks again for reading!

 

[addicted2dizney]

Well before long our early morning wakeup call came! I put the phone on speaker so the kids could listen to Mickey and Stitch. This really works like a charm. Jenna loves Stitch sooo much that just the sound of his voice put her in a good mood! We have a bit of a dark sense of humor so the last sounds on the message where Stitch yells and Mickey kinda says.. "OHhhh!" just cracks me and the kids up! In no time we were up dressed and off the the food court. Because it was so early the food court was empty! Three orders of Mickey waffles with Strawberries and some bacon on the side and we were off to the bus! We stood for about 10 minutes for the bus. (Diane... I thought of your TR at this point... I remember you NEVER waited long for a bus... I was afraid that this long wait on my first bus would be a sign of things to come! ) Luckily it wasn't an it was probably the longest we waited all week!

We got to the turnstiles of Epcot at 8:40. We were maybe 15th in line to get in our turnstile. Now, all during the bus ride and while waiting in line I am doing my best "Park plan attack briefing" with the kids.... We were going to divide and conquer! I was to run off to the right and get the FP's for Soarin and they wanted to jump right into the Test Track line and do a quick ride before I got back. I must say it's nice to travel with the kids now that they are a little older and I can let them go like that. Plus they know the parks so well they couldn't get lost if they tried!

We got up to the main fountain and saw all the gang, Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, Chip and Dale.. etc... We did our second countdown to open the park and off I raced to Soarin. While standing inthe crowd I met a nice woman from Texas. Her kids were in their 20's but she was also the FP runner. She was unsure of exactly where to go so I told her to step lively and stick with me! lol.. We power walked on over and had a nice chat. We got our FP's and she was to meet her children at TT also. We walked on over to there. There is just something about Disney. You just find so many people at their best! If only the whole world was like it!

Well I arrive at TT and perfect timing. The kids are just walking off. We jump right in line again and within 2 minutes we are on the ride! Right after that we ran over to Mission Space. We took the "green side" and it was nice but a bit lackluster. The kids went on the "orange side" and I took a seat by the ride exit. There is the perfect spot for waiting there! Just to the right of the door is a concrete ledge... it's in the shade and as the doors of the exit/giftshop open you get blasted with the AC! It was a nice 25 minute break~! I also grabbed another set of FP's for TT while waiting. We then went to Ellen's Energy Adventure. This is a ride I do like every 2nd or 3rd trip but since we had a whole week we did it. Luckily it was starting right away and we got right on.
After Ellen we went to Lucas' favorite "club cool". We all love the German coke. I can't remember the name right now but it's just slightly less sweet than our coke. Jenna was eyeing up the make your own drink cups they have there. She saw big Stitch feet and a Stitch head. I just gave her a big "oh hell no!" lol..
We then took a tour of the countries.. I had not seen the Mexico boat ride since they added the three amigos. I am torn over this one. I loved to see the Characters but I love vintage Disney too. This boat ride used to remind me of the old Eastern Airlines "If you had wings" ride. It still does a bit but it is different now. The kids traded pins in just about every country. We went into Norway and rode the boat ride. At the end of the ride when the movie doors opened up I looked at the kids and said.. "Run across the theather as quickly as you can! If you don't we'll be stuck in that boring movie! " Well the kids don't like to listen to me but they sure did then! Oh Gosh! Nothing educational!! Let's go!!!
The kids saw them making the Germany pretzels on a Food Network show. We stopped in Germany and shared a counter service meal of Bratwurst and kraut with potatoes and two large Pretzels... It was a pretty place to sit and really reminded me of the real Germany! We continued around the countries and just really had a nice relaxed time. In England we wandered into a store and in the back they had Pooh and the Gang taking pictures. I had no idea and that was a bonus for Jenna! I promise to post the pictures I'm having Jenna load them onto our photobucket. Hopefully by tomorrow I'll have some up.

We circled back into World showcase, did spaceship earth.. I liked the new changes but I did miss the old ending. I loved all the little light up wires and the sounds were so soothing to me. This was cute but I will always love the old ending. We did the Living Seas.. Turtle talk with Crush was cute but I don't know if we would go again. I like Laugh Floor much more..
We did Journey to Imagination and then headed to the Land. This is my favorite and always has been. We used our FP on Soarin. We got the last row but it was still fun. I just wish they had a way to move the line faster! Even with the FP's I just don't have the patience to wait on this one.... I guess that's just the "jersey" in me!
We went to the Living with the Land boat ride and got right on. Lucas was really loving this one. We went on it 3 times last May. Lucas is the kind of kid that does not show a ton of interest in much unless it's a TV show or video games. I am forever looking for any glimpse or spark of interest in anything! Well, the kid loves plants! He really took it all in.
When we were done we were getting hungry and it was about 4:15. We had ADR's at 5:15 at Garden Grill. I went up to the podium and asked if we could be seated earlier. The resturant opened at 4:30 and they said they could seat us then! Great! We had a great server and an outside ring table. Going early is a great advantage, the restuarant is not full and the characters really spend a lot of time with you. Chip and Dale are a hoot! Chip was explaining in sign langugae to the kids how he is the "GOOD" chipmunk. Dale is the "BAD" one... When Dale came around he and his CM were telling us how he scared a little boy.. Dale then demonstrated the Zombie/Godzilla walk he did to scare the boy! My kids almost peed themselves they were laughing so hard.. (remember the "dark sense of humor"??? ) Dinner was yummy! Garden Grill is a must do for me each trip! I didn't care for the dessert too much this time around it was some type of strawberry pastry but with all the Mickey bars and frozen banannas I planned on eating this week I wasn't too worried about it!
After dinner we scooted on over to TT to use up those FP's
Well.. it was 5:45 and we were pretty much done with Epcot for the day... so of course I couldn't go back to the room.... what comes next?
"Por favor mantengse alehandras de las puertas" ......

 

[disneyaddicted]

Did you live in germany or visit at some point, you said that Germany in WS reminded you of the real thing? If you did, add that to our things in common, My dad was military and I grew up in Germany. I also thought WS was alot like the real thing, I like to think that the big wall there, (I guess it houses the Biergarten) is Rotenburg. And I love German coke too, do you eat Mayo on your fries?

I agree with you about Disney people, you meet a few rude ones but for the most part everyone there is on the same page and so friendly and eager to chat with you.

When was your trip?

That was a lovely update, I am looking forward to the pictures. It's always nice to have a picture to put with the author of the TR and all involved.

 

[addicted2dizney]

Did you live in germany or visit at some point, you said that Germany in WS reminded you of the real thing? If you did, add that to our things in common, My dad was military and I grew up in Germany. I also thought WS was alot like the real thing, I like to think that the big wall there, (I guess it houses the Biergarten) is Rotenburg. And I love German coke too, do you eat Mayo on your fries?

I agree with you about Disney people, you meet a few rude ones but for the most part everyone there is on the same page and so friendly and eager to chat with you.

When was your trip?

That was a lovely update, I am looking forward to the pictures. It's always nice to have a picture to put with the author of the TR and all involved.

Hi,
No, I didn't live there but my husband's cousin, (who is more like his brother..) is a Colnel in the Army. He was in charge of two small bases just outside of Frankfurt and we went about 7 years ago and did a tour of about 5 countries. The funny thing was that Germany was just a stop for me to see family. Well, I LOVED it there. It was just so beauitful. I think the bases were Babenhausen, (sp??) and Aushaffensburg, (sp?) Of course with DH not being a lover of Disney.. I have to bust him big time! We did some traveling and went to a town, Garmish, (sp) Well.. when we arrived I just had to say to him. "Oh honey look! They did such a good job with this town, it looks just like Epcot! " No mayo on my fries, but Jenna went for a trip also with just my husband and she picked up a bit on that habit! Pictures will be coming tonight for sure! Thanks for reading!

 

[klineyqueen]

I am enjoying your TR. I wanted you to know that 1 more person is reading!!!!

 

[addicted2dizney]

I am enjoying your TR. I wanted you to know that 1 more person is reading!!!!

Hi! Thanks for joining in!

 

[dddisrunner]

Great Update! That is so funny about waiting for the busses and thinking of me! That is GREAT that you could trust the kids to just meet back up with you, I can't wait for that! The Garden Grill sounds like it was alot of fun!

 

[ChelleinNC]

Hi, Lucky you! The man of your dreams and you met him in Disney! That's perfect! Glad you will be reading along! Just remember I'm new at this!~

It's worked out pretty good I was on the College Program and he was in the navy stationed in Orlando. We honeymooned on The Big Red Boat (before DCL) and at the Poly 17 years later, we go to Disney a couple of times a year, own DVC and have 2 kids that love it as much as we do

I must say it's nice to travel with the kids now that they are a little older and I can let them go like that. Plus they know the parks so well they couldn't get lost if they tried!

Isn't it great? This last trip they even went to Epcot on their own while DH & I were out golfing. We met them for dinner in Norway We've also found that they get along much much much better when it's just the 2 of them

Glad you had a good time at Cape May & GG. We've always had good experiences at both

 

[tmkinney]

Great Update! I think I'll follow your plan on our Epcot morning, FP Soarin and run and ride TT. We haven't done TT before so I can't wait to ride it!