"Look out the window, and enjoy life!" Another trip! Our PTR for April 2013! NEW 3/1

[rachelmarisa]

Hey DISfriends!!

This is my first PTR and will be followed by my first TR!! Basically this trip will be a road trip from Indianapolis to Orlando during our spring break this April! We will also be going on (as of now..) at least three college visits.

Quick intros:
My name is Rachel, (rachelmarisa) and I'm 17.

And joining me is my very best friend Emily! She's also 17 and does not (yet!) have a DIS account.

We still have no idea how/when/where we met, as we did not go to the same grade school, but still we are best friends to this day! More details on us to come! But for now, enjoy some more pictures of us

This is what we call the classic pose, and I don't really know why. We just always end up taking a piggyback picture!
I'm sure we'll have many photos like this.

Us just being adorable on a college visit

Country Club day at our high school.. Please notice my classy golfing Mickey polo!!

This picture was after our past fall musical. I was a lead, and dear Emily/Erika (explanation to come) was the stage manager.

And finally the most recent picture of us I have.

Anyway, we will be accompanied by our dads! And they are just awesome! Gotta love 'em

This is my dad Frank here, pondering life I'm sure. Frank's the best! Trust me! I'm pretty sure at least WEEKLY (exaggeration? psh, no!) Emily tells someone, "Rachel's dad is just awesome!"

And finally here is Joe! Joe is Emily's dad, Frank's friend, and my second dad!
Sorry Em.. I don't really keep pictures of your dad handy, so I creeped through your facebook to find this picture.


We are so psyched for this vacation! DUH IT'S DISNEY! Emily and I have already been on a few vacations and trips together, but we have about a gazillion and four more planned that TOTALLY WILL HAPPEN.. someday!

The quote in the title is something Emily yelled at my brother once when we were road tripping through New England this past summer XD Ever since we've used it to yell at anyone who is dramatic or stressed out, etc.

Whenever we hear of a place we haven't been and/or seems fun, we always look at each other and say, "Another trip!" (hence the name of this PTR) and "Add it to the list!" (of the million other places we have to go to together!)

Please comment and join in the fun! Be back soon with updates!

PS.. anyone find the hidden Mickey? It's not the one on my shirt!​

 

[rachelmarisa]

x

Table of Contents


Meet the Cast! (again!)

Day One Plans​

Real Life Update: Jersey Boys​

Day Two Plans​

Real Life Update 2: DC!​

Real Life Update 2: DC Part Two​

Days Three & Four Plans​

Park Days! (kind of)​

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Post Trip Meeting Finalized Plans!​

 

[LifeIsDis]

I am joining on in!

 

[rachelmarisa]

MEET THE CAST
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Yeah here's me with a Steak N Shake car on my head. I'm so attractive, I know.
So again, these will be the more detailed intros. Please forgive me; Im a very busy girl! Im 17 and a junior at school with Emily, and my thing is musical theatre. Im also a cheerleader but took a break this year. My music tastes include Britney Spears, show tunes, Weird Al, Culture Club, S Club 7, Hall and Oates, Terrance Zdunich, and obviously DISNEY MUSIC! Pretty random, Im aware. I really care nothing for sports, so I dont have favourites there. And because Im Emilys friend, it is obligatory that I enjoy cooking, baking, eating, judging restaurants, and writing tripadvisor reviews

I figured this will come up sooner or later: Im an ovu-vegetarian, which means I dont eat any animal or dairy product. Im transitioning to veganism within the next two years, and Im so excited to try all of Disneys special diet food! I looove vegan food and often choose to have vegan meals at restaurants because its much easier to say than ovu-vegetarian, hahaha. (Note: Im not claiming to be a vegan while still eating eggs and honey. And I dont demand to see kitchens food labels at restaurants. I usually tell them Im vegan to avoid dairy and meat and/or that Im allergic to dairy, which I am.)

On to the Disney faves!
Let me just say I hate picking favourites. (I add the u in some words cause it feels sophisticated and Canadian. And Canadians are ahmaazing.) For me its basically impossible to name one thing because I think almost everything Disney is perfect. Gahhh <3

Favorite movie(s): The Toy Story, HSM, and POTC trilogies, The Rescuers, the Aristocats, Princess and the Frog, Enchanted, and Mulan.
Favorite character(s): gosh& Charlotte from Princess and the Frog, Gus Gus from Cinderella, and Tink
Favorite princess : Ariel! and Cindy is a close second
Favorite villain: Captain Hook
Favorite WDW park: EPCOT
Favorite WDW ride(s): Jungle Cruise & Splash Mountain
Last trip to Disney was: D: too long! 2010
Most excited for: Everything! New Fantasyland, visiting SCAD and UCF, experiencing Disney food with a special diet, and being with my best friend and our dads!
Least excited for: Umm.. the waiting until April! Here is Emily!

(She will be gray.) Hello DIS world! This is my first time on this site all thanks to my friend Rach. My name is Emily! My hobbies are cooking, being in school plays/musicals, hanging out with friends, laughing, going out eat and babysitting. Like all of you I enjoy all things Disney! Currently my favorite TV show is One Tree Hill.
(I am rolling my eyes.)
I am junior in high school. This coming April I will be going on my 2nd long overdue trip to Disney World. I am really not a fan of sports at all. I also find all quotes very interesting. My favorite one at the moment is Do what you want, its your life, live it. That is an original quote from me! Haha!

Favorite movie: The Parent Trap
Favorite character: Pooh Bear
Favorite princess : Belle
Favorite villain: Ursula
Favorite WDW park: EPCOT
Favorite WDW ride: RRC
Last trip to Disney was: 2004?
Most excited for: spending spring break with my best friend
Least excited for: the long drive to Florida


Yes, the dads do not really have longer intros. Prepare to be offended DISers, our dads are at Disney for the rides. But its okay! They will join us for either Hollywood Studios (insert mini obligatory rant about how it will always be MGM in my heart or something.. whatever) or Epcot. Which means more park days for Emily and me and golfing for the men! Everyones happy!
I hope more of you can join in! Plans to come soon!

 

[rachelmarisa]

I am joining on in!

Yay!! We're glad you're here!!
I just love your TRs!! Your sassiness is so entertaining

 

[rachelmarisa]

DAY ONE
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Again Rachel is teal...

And Emily is gray.


So because Emily is pretty organized... at least compared to me... she has this nice Word document with our currently vague plans typed up. (We don’t have the kind of time to make our planning super cute and crafty and Disney themed sad, I know) So I figured I’d screen shot each day and explain the components below. Here’s what our first day says so far:

So this day is our last day of school, but we will get a prearranged absence since it’s a college visit! Yay!
Don’t forget to mention that we’re driving!
We’ll be looking at Bellarmine University in Louisville. Em is probably more interested in it than me . We have some friends that cheerlead there and love it! Hooray! I really have no idea why she wrote 70 minutes. Is that the length of the tour or something?
It is!
Okay so after that, we have no specific plans except that we have to get to Georgia. I believe we are staying in Savannah.. correct?
Yes mhm!

And then we’ll stay at some hotel there.
Probably a Hampton Inn or Hilton Garden Inn near a plantation and other fun stuff.
Woo! A full first day! Also, whatever we eat will definitely be food-pic’ed and rated for you.

HERE This is a great website we use to find non-Disney restaurants. We have found it successful in the past!
It seems we forgot to mention that Joe is a professional chef
Actually the proper term is corporate executive chef
Right-o, and so is Emily’s mom.

Who was the executive chef of her own restaurant!
So that’s basically how we are obsessed with all aspects of a dining experience, hahaha, so all you foodies please enjoy our food rants and raves.
Note: whatever direct quotes we get from Frank are probably gonna be pretty side-splittingly hilarious.
That's all we have for now, so how do we end a post? With an adorable picture of us! Duh!

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[tinkgurl]

I'm in. I remember how exciting it was to be finishing up high school and start college!

This will be a fun trip! Where will you be staying at WDW?

 

[rachelmarisa]

I'm in. I remember how exciting it was to be finishing up high school and start college!

This will be a fun trip! Where will you be staying at WDW?

Great!! We're glad you're here!
We are staying part of the time with Emily's relatives (as of now) and also offsite at Windsor Hills.
"Don't hate us 'cause we're offsite!"

 

[rachelmarisa]

REAL LIFE UPDATE: JERSEY BOYS

This will be pretty brief, but I just had to share. Guess what our dads got us for Christmas?????

Jersey Boys tickets!!! Hooray!!
So last Sunday (the 13th) we headed to downtown Indianapolis with our moms to see the show!! It was greaaaat!

Us in the car!

My favorite song was December 1963
And the voices were unreal!

And I loooooved our understudy for Gaudio. <3 <3 <3


After we went to a tapas restaurant  also fun and yummy in our tummies .

Weve all been to this restaurant before, and it was subpar. The other times Ive been there I thought it was much better.

Okay I disagree! I thought it was great this time, so whatever. Also the sweet tea DIDNT taste like corn syrup or raspberry flavouring, which is a rarity here.

At this restaurant, you just order food until youre full. Its great.

That was quote worthy right there babe.
Originally we wrote out all the tapas we ordered but then realized that no one wants to read through that hahaha. Sorry no food pics 'til Disney!!
Wow that was exhausting to write. Hope you stayed awake! Now its back to homework for Emily and me. Bye DIS!
Have a joyous life!

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[blessedmom4]

Room for one more?? I have children older than you so I hope that is okay...

for an awesome Christmas present!

 

[rachelmarisa]

Room for one more?? I have children older than you so I hope that is okay...

for an awesome Christmas present!

Haha if only you wouldn't mind being squished in the car with us!! But you're welcome of course to read along

I know! It was awesome, and they know us so well! Maybe the only possible better present could be Disney on Ice tickets!!

 

[rachelmarisa]

DAY TWO PLANS​

Well today I assume we’ll be having hotel breakfast if it’s offered. And when we had our planning meeting a few weeks ago, Joe suggested that we go on a plantation tour. The rest of us have never done that and hey… why not?
Got to love Joe Schmo!! Yay! 



Also it appears Em forgot to include the purpose of going through Savannah instead of Atlanta.. EMILY!


Sorry Rach! IT’S MY FAULT!! ☺ Hopefully we will able to go to some cool restaurants in Savannah and eat some yummy Southern comfort food! I am a huge FOODIE if you have not noticed. Yay food! I am not fat! I promise! ahahaha

The term here is "pooh sized" Em.. Also how would they know that yet?


In Savannah, we’ll be visiting one of my considerations for college: SCAD. I don’t know too much about it. Their performing arts major and themed entertainment design major seem really cool!

Looking forward to seeing this college as well! Hopefully the weather will be nice so that we can take some pretty pictures on campus.


Anyway THEN we will head south to beautiful, sunny Florida! I believe we could possibly show Emily and her dad a bit around St. Augustine (which is southeast of Jacksonville) and possibly New Smyrna Beach (which is south of Daytona). Our family has been to St. Augustine many times and NSB a few as well, including this past winter break! I have no clue how we’re gonna fit all this in but oh well! 


It will work out just fine! I am really looking forward to going to the beach! I have never been to a beach in Florida because my parents hate me!! Hahahah just kidding! I hope to relax on the beach. I can’t wait to take LOTS of picture with my best friend on the beach!



We will probably stay somewhere nearby because we have to be well rested for our journey to Orlando!
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[rachelmarisa]

REAL LIFE UPDATE 2
Hi friends!

This is gonna be a little update and a trip within a PTR about another trip – tripception?
Last weekend (MLK) Emily and I were allowed to embark on our very first mini road trip alone! We drove two hours to watch two of our friends compete in a pageant. I’ve competed in a couple myself, and Emily has never been to one!

(I am the odd man out here! Hahaha)

It’s a feeder pageant of the Miss America program, so it’s not what you’d see on Toddlers & Tiaras.
Sadly neither of them placed this time, but they both did so well! Yay friends!

(I was really surprised of all entertaining the pageant was, and also enjoyed the less than stellar talent hahah)

(Apologies… I wrote this next paragraph yesterday and couldn’t post it until today, so all of it applies to today hahaha.)
Also tomorrow morning early Emily, my mother, her friend, and I are driving to Washington DC to participate in the March for Life as well as exploring and experiencing DC! We went with our school to the march our freshman year (Catholic school!) but aren’t too keen about sleeping on a bus and a gym floor. It also doesn’t help that last year we learned that MULTIPLE people vomited on the bus ewwies. (not fun) So we may meet up with some friends from school while we’re there, but we’re happy to be going on our own. (Yay for a fun road trip!)

24 January update:
We have arrived at our hotel and are pumped to march in the freezing cold tomorrow (We are well prepared and will be wearing many layers)

Just kidding. It’ll be okay. Today the only thing exciting we did… besides the piles of homework we did in the car… … was stopping at a random restaurant we found through TripAdvisor. It was called Salsa Café, and it was in Wheeling, WV. (This was our main meal of the day, we consumed many car snacks, got to love snacking while doing homework)

Also this was really weird… on TripAdvisor it was called Salsa Café. Then on its own website it was called Salsa Garden. The sign outside the restaurant said Salsa Café. And the napkin holders said Salsa Garden. Oh confusion. (The restaurant likes to make Rach and me mad!)


Anyway, I got the Thai peanut tofu burrito without cream cheese. It was weird, but the tofu individually was good enough. Emily got white bean chicken chili, which she raved about, along with their delicious homemade hot sauce. Mmmm. (Honestly all food tastes better with hot sauce)

Nothing more exciting to report now. Pictures to come! See ya real soon!
(Thanks to all of our loyal readers! We love you guys!)
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[happybelle]

Hi, I am coming along too.

 

[rachelmarisa]

Hi, I am coming along too.

Glad to hear it! Please enjoy!!

 

[rachelmarisa]

REAL LIFE UPDATE: DC PART TWO

So after the Salsa Whatever, we drove on and eventually got to the hotel which was in Arlington, VA, just outside of DC.

#derpface in the car

Sleepy Rachel:

We went upstairs and got settled in our room. Emily and I got to share a pullout couch. Great! Hahaha. Then we went downstairs for the dinner provided by the hotel. We beelined for the coffee and tea of course first. Yum! Sadly all I could have there were raw vegetables and steamed vegetables…. Ehh. So to consume a bit more nutrition, I filled a bowl with sunflower seeds from the salad bar, which Em and I shared. I also ended up having more of our car snacks like wasabi and soy sauce almonds, Luna bars, and candy hahaha. It worked for this time okay?

(The hotel food was not great, but it was free, quick, and we were tired)

Ooh and I had herbal tea and decaf with sugar. Mmm.
Then my mom and her friend left to go buy gloves, and Emily and I went to the workout room. To get there, we had to sneak through the employees’ only area.. shh!! Then what did we do.. homework? I don’t remember!

(I forced Rach and I to go work out because we had been sitting in the car all day.. I had not worked out in a while because school and our winter play have currently consumed my life.) We had the hotel gym all to ourselves. After that we chilled in the hotel room and rested. Rachel watched different TV shows and fell asleep early after a long day of driving in the car.

The next day we got up early, ate breakfast in the lobby, and were off to the University of Maryland for the Youth Rally and mass at the Comcast center. The youth rally was packed with lots of people and was very fun. After mass we headed to the march out in the cold! The March was great and the representation was inspirational.

Cuties on the march:

After the March we walked a little while and got very cold and decided to get a taxi and got to a late lunch/early dinner (what we call “linner”) in China town in DC. We decided to eat at a great restaurant called Tony Cheng’s. It is an older restaurant at which many presidents and famous people have dined. The food was perfect, and the Chinese tea was addicting.

I think when we were there I looked at Emily and said, “Can we just live here?” The food was sooooooooooooooooooo delish. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Then we went back to the hotel and did… more homework! Woo! My mom’s friend’s son who was also at the march but went on the school trip texted his mom saying he felt sick. We went and picked him up and let him stay with us. His name is Zach, and he’s awesome! New best friend! We all went to sleep and “slept in” until 7ish. We had another hotel breakfast, meh, and packed up the van. Vans are cool.

And then we went downtown DC again and did an Old Towne Trolley ride. It was really cool and informative. We got to see monuments and learn trivia without excessive details and in the warm trolley! Our driver was Diamond Jim – love him! A lot of the ride we had the trolley to ourselves too. We passed by an anti-gun march, and we waved to all the people hahaha. They are also now our new friends.


On the trolley:

After the ride we did some quick shopping at a gift shop. Then we got in the car again and drove to Georgetown! We went to a restaurant called Clyde’s and …. Georgetown Cupcakes! (from the TLC show DC Cupcakes)

I got an apple cinnamon vegan cupcake, and Emily and I both agreed it was great! Though not the best vegan cupcake I’ve ever had. Emily got a salted caramel cupcake that she raved about too. We got a lot more, haha, but nothing really blew our minds. I have no idea how Emily got me to stand in the freeeeezing cold for forty-five minutes but whatever.

Nothing much to report about the way home. It was just long and boring, and we were sooo slap happy.

Our winter plays are closing tonight, but that means we’ll have more time for updates! See ya!
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[rachelmarisa]

DAYS THREE & FOUR
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So these days, like almost all of them, are going to be very unplanned and dependent on the weather.

The day before each day we will plan what we are going to do. We are not stressed to get a lot of things in, but I do like planning stuff.

(Whenever we get there) we will be staying at Emily’s Aunt Emily’s house. (For whom she was named, obviously!) She lives in the Orlando area on a lake. We reserved these days to do some lax stuff.

We will arrive to Auntie’s (that’s Aunt Emily’s nickname) [Good to know!!] house and eat lot of yummy Italian food, relax, play games and be lazy and do some much needed relaxing (we are very busy juniors in a rigorous high school, what can I say?) Auntie also loves Disney! Yay! She will probably be going to one of the parks with us one day.. not really sure yet. Auntie lives right on the lake so we plan on doing lots of fun lake stuff Yay!


If our plans are unchanged at this point, we will be checking into our Windsor Hills condo this weekend. Apologies that we are not on-site.


I personally have never been to Windsor Hills, but I am looking forward to it. Since we have four people and we are somewhat on a budget staying on site is not ideal! Sorry friends!



Plus we (hopefully!) won't be at the resort too much.But we love Windsor!


Hope everyone is having a great week! Hang in there! Tomorrow is Friday!


Yayayaya!


Be back soon!​

 

[rachelmarisa]

PARK DAYS! (kind of)

Happy Ash Wednesday/Valentine's Day Eve!!

This image isn't even really accurate hahaha.

Well plans have changed, and we will not be staying at Auntie's as of right now.

Anyway from Mon-Fri we will be staying in Windsor and attending the parks!! WOO!! We aren't planning specifically which ones to do because we'll be basing it off weather and Auntie's plans.

We are planning to do at least one character dining, (WOO!!) and I'd like to visit all the parks. Of course.

We are especially hoping to enjoy the Chinese food at Epcot!!


Emily wants to have one day to chill at her aunt's to shop, chill, and do some lake stuff.

If only we had more time!!

Our number one goal of this trip is to tan.

I almost agree.

Also it's a possibility we will meet up with some friends when we are in St. Augustine/New Smyrna beach.

I believe with my dad's work benefits, we will get multi day park hoppers, so that's not really an issue.

Sorry this isn't too exciting to report!
The official countdown is 50 days til Disney! WOOOOOOOO!!!


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[rachelmarisa]

FINALIZED PLANS (for now...)​

Sorry for the delay in posts…

Our school is on trimesters, so we are taking finals this week and have been so busy!!

Finals week is hell on earth…a bit of exaggeration. But it is pretty bad.


Okay so this past Friday night, we four had a trip meeting. It was super cute because we all had hot tea, and our dads were wearing matching shirts. (We had just come from volunteering, and they were wearing the committee polos.) We all were on our laptops and searching, mapping, scheduling, etc. It was very productive!

Super fun! Rach and I were super into the planning, and our dads were able to get some very good deals on hotel rooms for the trip! Oh yeah!

A quick rundown of the (currently) finalized plans:

Thurs: leave early – like 4am! (Bellarmine is now a no-go. It just won't work out.) We'll do a college visit at Belmont Abbey instead. Then we'll drive to Savannah and spend the night.


Belmont Abbey is in Charlotte, NC. It is a small school, and I am looking forward to seeing it! Rach and I don't mind waking up early as long as we are able to sleep in the car! Haha

Fri: College visit SCAD and possibly do a plantation tour. Drive to New Smyrna beach and spend the night.

We will do some quick exploring in Savannah and then head to the beach!! YAY!


Sat: Chill at the beach – hopefully get tan! Explore the city too. Spend the night here.

Getting a tan and relaxing is the main reason for going to the beach!

Sun: Drive to Auntie's and enjoy a lake day. Spend the night here.

Mon-Thurs: Stay at Windsor and attend the happiest place on earth! Emily and I will have 5 day park hoppers, and our dads will come to probably one park one day with us. We will definitely be visiting UCF one of these days too!! GO KNIGHTS!!

Fri: We’ll do a half day at a park, and then do the saddest thing ever … leave

Tragic. ):

Real life update coming up!


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[blessedmom4]

I hope finals went well. Plans are looking great!


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