Mother & Daughter Dreams DO come true pre-trip report

[ShhhQ]

I was reading some other pre-trip reports and thought it was cool, but didn't think I would have enough to say and I definately don't have any pictures on this computer to display... however, a fellow Disser said she would be interested in reading it so I know at least one person will read this, so giving it my best shot.

To begin with a little background on me... I am 35, single and no children, but I more than make up for that because I am just a big kid at heart! This may sound sad to some people, but it isn't to me..... My best friend, my room mate, and my travel companion to Disney is all wrapped up in one person... My Mother! She moved in with me last year so we wouldn't have to worry about each other being alone (she worried about me being able to pay my bills, and I worried about her health issues). Last summer, I went to a small amusement park in Southern Indiana known as Holiday World... but as I am a larger woman, I found that most of their rides were not easily accessible to me and it kinda ruined my time... so I got to planning a slightly bigger trip. I was gonna go with my Mother and maybe some friends to King's Island in Ohio and possibly get a hotel room for the night and go 2 days instead of just one. Well, at least that is what I had in mind.....

Then, I believe it was some time in November, my Mom comes into my room one night with a serious look on her face. She says, "what if we don't go to King's Island, next summer.." I want to know why... after all I had been planning this for a month or so..... she says, "maybe we can save up and go to Disney World instead" I am like... you got to be kidding me!!!!!! I have been wanting to go for YEARSSSSS and had all but given up the idea!

From that moment on, I have been DISNEY this and Disney THAT! I went to the Disney website immediately and ordered the planning DVD. I got books from the library on planning a DISNEY vacation. Talked to a co-worker that had gone down last year. Started trying to figure out how much the trip would cost and doing web searches for any information. I originally thought June would be a good time to go, but realized we may not have enough saved by then, so after talking it over with her, we decided that since this is something I have desperately wanted for a long time.... the best time to go would be for my Birthday at the end of August. We decided to drive down, because neither of us is too keen on flying nowadays and she felt it would be good to go at our own pace..... plus having our own vehicle while down there is a plus even if we do use the buses to go to the parks. So we now have where, when, how, and why (because we want to)!

This isn't my first trip, but in a lot of ways it is a first..... Stay tuned... Next up: My Real First Trip (at least the parts I can remember)

Michelle

 

[estherhead]

Hi! Kings Island is our "close to home Disney" park too. We're from southeastern Ohio. Are you in Ohio too?

 

[stepdisney]

Yay Michelle, Yay Michelle

I know you had some reservations so I'm cheerin' you on! We are all interested in everyone's ideas and plans so don't hesitate, just write. Having said that I must say that I am toying withi the idea of writing a pre trip report myself and I was thinking that I don't have pictures and that I wouldn't know how to post them if I did. . You are off to an very nice start. Keep going!

 

[jbmom]

Michelle, I'm so glad you started a pretrip report. I think it's great you are going with your mom. I wish I could still go with my mom (she passed away several years ago). I can't wait to read more!

 

[faindrops27]

Michelle!! Yipppeeee! I love your pre trippie so far. I am very happy you decided to write one!! Please keep it coming!! It is getting more than exciting, the closer we get!

 

[ShhhQ]

Hi! Kings Island is our "close to home Disney" park too. We're from southeastern Ohio. Are you in Ohio too?

We are actually in Northern Indiana, but only about 4 hours away from Kings Island...

Picture Summer of 1978.... Disney World....
There is no Epcot, MGM studios, or Animal Kingdom....

Magic Kingdom attractions: Jungle Cruise; Swiss Family Treehouse; Sunshine Pavilion (Tropical Serenade); Cinderella's Golden Carrousel; Dumbo, the Flying Elephant; Mad Tea Party; Mickey Mouse Revue; Mr. Toad's Wild Ride; It's a Small World; Snow White's Adventures; Diamond Horseshoe Revue; Frontier Shooting Gallery; Country Bear Jamboree; Mike Fink Keel Boats; Hall of Presidents; Haunted Mansion; Main Street horseless carriage, Jitney, fire truck, horse-drawn streetcar and omnibus; Main Street Cinema; Walt Disney World Railroad; Skyway and Tomorrowland Speedway; Pirates of the Caribbean; Walt Disney Story; Swan Boats; Tom Sawyer Island; Space Mountain; Carousel of Progress; WEDway PeopleMover; Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes

A young girl, her older brother, her mother and her aunt and uncle make up the party. This is her first time here and she is rather excited. She wants to do everything, but is also scared to..... First ride (at least first she can remember) Dumbo, the Flying Elephant...she is gonna FLY! Her brother is going with her.... he is 9 and she is 6 going on 7 at the end of summer... unfortunately he is also bossy and won't let his little sister touch the controls of the flying elephant... she is disappointed, but enjoys the ride anyway....29 years later she can only remember bits and pieces of her trip but this sticks out vividly in her mind. Other memories flash.... her first real boat ride... the only ways to enter the park were the Monorail and a boat ride. Almost everytime they went they took the monorail, but at least one time they took the boat.... she thinks her mom looks a little green.... more memories.... sitting on her Aunts lap riding through a haunted house (she was probably too scared to sit alone) she looks in a mirror and sees a ghost! IT IS SITTING IN HER SPOT!!! She LOVES IT! Memories are sometimes spotty, she can remember riding 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, but has trouble actually remembering the ride. Vivid in her memory is the fact that she was terrified to ride on the sky buckets! Her brother and the rest of the party wanted to ride it to the other side but she adamently refuses to get on.... so while everyone else rides, her Mom has to miss out and walk her from one side of the park to the other..... She also remembers her brother wanting to ride Space Mountain, but that the line was too long and no one else was brave enough to go with him so he had to miss out on that one. But her favorite ride of all time was one that she could not even remember the name of for many years after.... but knows it now..... MR. Toad's Wild Ride... she loved how the car wildly ran through a haystack and barely missed other items, only then to be sent to jail and escape and when a train came through the tunnel making her feel like she was going to be ran over and then it came to an abrupt end..... but she rode it several times... as I said this was her favorite...

Unfortunately, those rides that she most wanted to repeat are not going to be opened when she returns..... Mr. Toad's ride has finished, 20,000 leagues is no longer under the sea, the sky buckets are no longer in the sky, and even the Haunted mansion's doors are closed(at least during her visit).... she is disappointed, but knows that there are many, many rides that will be new to her and she just can't wait to ride them!

Thats it for now.... next up... how I found the DIS!

 

[disneyaddicted]

How exciting! I am looking forward to reading your plans. Do you know which resort you will be staying at?

 

[faindrops27]

I am still reading. Your report is wonderful!!
Mr Toad's Wild Ride. Has to be my favorite ride of all time, too. I was so sad, when it closed. But, I did get to ride it in DL, in April all 5 times!

 

[ShhhQ]

Continued planning.....

After searching the web and looking at what information I had available and knowing when we are going.... we had to choose where to stay. Last time we went we stayed with family that lived in Florida, not this time.... we were going to stay at a hotel and make this a true vacation! Of course, money was the issue, but we wanted to have fun too. We did like the idea of staying onsite, but researched the cost of staying offsite as well.... then I read about the disney dining plan and that the value resorts.... that cinched it.... we would be able to prepay for our food and stay on site! HURRAY!!!! We decided to stay at All-Stars Movie resort. Driving from home we would leave in the early morning hours of August 27 and arrive on August 28th.... spend 3 days at the parks (including my birthday on the 31st) and then heading home on Sept. 1..... I found a board dedicated to Disney World vacations and signed up. But I felt like an outsider on this board and didn't find a lot of info of use here, but didn't know there were others out there.. But I did read a post that was old, talking about free dining plans last year and also a statement that it was being offered to only the UK this coming year and not to the general public..... so I didn't give it too much thought.... except on how it would be great.....
I started trying to figure out how much money we would need to save up for our trip and found a site that would give me an estimate.... I filled out the information and waited for a return.... the estimated cost of the 2 of us going for 4 nights, 3 days, food, and hotel room would run $1100!
However, if we wanted to secure this estimate we would have to give a $200 deposit at the beginning of March. We went with it.....
A couple of weeks later, I was doing my normal search and thought of the free dining plan.... wanted to find more info, and my web search brought me to the DIS Boards where a rumor had just begun circulating that indeed the free dining plan would be returning in AUGUST! Well I about dirtied myself *to put it politely* upon seeing that.... the rumored dates were exactly in my time frame.... oh how I would love to save $300 off our trip!!!!!
After that, I was on the DIS daily! Waiting.... waiting.... and waiting.....

 

[ShhhQ]

I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read my pre-trip report... guess I had more to say then I first thought.....

Where was I? Oh, waiting for the announcement of Free Dining 2007... I was on the boards daily... so much so, that "The Official Free Dining Watch 2007 Thread" was used more than my home page. Finally, April 5th arrived and with it the confirmation that it would indeed be offered (for those that don't know what I am talking about, on the Disney site an ad with Goofy in a chefs hat appeared but the link was dead.... but the link said FreeDine2007 in it)... Now the waiting game begins anew..... now its not will it...it is WHEN!!!
Monday, April 9th.... I woke up and went straight to the DisBoard..... 15 pages of new posts!!!!!! I read them ALL! FREE DINING had been released to Disney Visa card holders..... would still be a few more days for the general public..I was more than a little anxious... I already had my reservations made through Disney Unlimited and was afraid that they wouldn't change it... I emailed my agent and told her that when it comes out, that I WANTED IT! But I was still leary... and getting more worried as I watched the boards... Everyone was talking about how rooms were gone... then what would I DO??? Someone gave us a glimmer of hope when they said that more rooms were being added for the general public realease day... here was my response "That does give some glimmer of hope..... that means they did set aside rooms for us non VD peeps!" Not realizing what I had actually said, someone commented.... "LOL does that make the others the VD people? I'm not sure how they'll take that" My face turned 3 shades of RED! Oh the anxiety was high! Then the moment we had been waiting for arrived... April 12th! I got up bright and early and watched the boards very intently.... I was also waiting to hear from my TA.... I sat watching and reading every post... rooms were booking up... anxiety grew.... ASMo sold out!!!! OH NO!!!!! but wait they may have had different dates then me....cross fingers, cross toes, can't cross eyes cause I wouldn't be able to read!!!!! Hours passed by, finally heard from my TA... the news wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear but it wasn't bad either..... She said that ASMo was booked up for the time that I had wanted but she was able to find a room at POP... did I want to change to that? ummmmm YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!! I had to reply, and wait again for confirmation!

So it was confirmed. We check into POP on August 28 with FREEEEEE DINING and we will be staying until the morning of Sept. 1st.

Next up... my Itenerary (sp?)

 

[ShhhQ]

Yay Michelle, Yay Michelle

I know you had some reservations so I'm cheerin' you on! We are all interested in everyone's ideas and plans so don't hesitate, just write. Having said that I must say that I am toying withi the idea of writing a pre trip report myself and I was thinking that I don't have pictures and that I wouldn't know how to post them if I did. . You are off to an very nice start. Keep going!

You should do it!!!! I didn't think I could without pics but its ok... I will definately be reading yours should you write one!

 

[faindrops27]

Following right along. You write so well. I love it!

 

[ShhhQ]

Since we are driving our trip will start before a couple days before our Disney Vacation starts.....

August 26th.... after staying awake all night, attending Church, and making sure all my stuff is packed and ready to go... I plan on sleeping the day away! So I will be good and rested.... meanwhile Mom will do anything she has left to do, including preparing the ice chest for our cold drinks and picking up some doughnuts (the local bakery stays open till midnight and makes fresh doughnuts around 10:30 at night).

August 27th.... MIDNIGHT or shortly after.... as soon as the car is completely packed and the cats have been sufficiently looked after... we will begin our long trek south... We will have to stop several times as both us will need to stretch or we will cramp up. If my calculations are correct.... we should arrive at a hotel south of Atlanta at approx. 4pm.... we will probably order a pizza and just relax.... and get plenty of rest!

August 28th.... As soon as we wake up get a little bite to eat, we will hit the road again... not sure exactly when we will arrive... been told its about 7 hours from where we stay to Disney... once we arrive, we will check into POP and possibly do a little exploring if we are up to it.... (we both are gonna use EVCs, she is trying to get one of her own but if that doesn't go through we will be renting and they wont arrive till the 29th)... We do have dinner reservations at Cap'n Jacks at 8pm.

August 29th.... OUR FIRST DAY!!! We will have to rise early and eat breakfas of more than likely doughnuts.... then go to the front desk to get our EVCs (or in case she has her own... mine)... I was willing to pay the extra amount to have the EVCs on the day we arrive, but Mom won't hear of it.... according to her we won't need it till we go to the parks.... gonna try to talk her into it though.... the rental company says they will deliver by 9am... so once we have our wheels, we will be heading off... First Stop... MGM (as we have only 3 days to be in the parks we had to split the first day between the two smallest of the 4 parks).. I don't know how much we will get done... but I must try the Tower of Terror.... also on my list of wants is Star Tours, Great Movie Ride and the Backlot Tour.... as soon as possible we will transfer to Animal Kingdom (not sure whether to eat lunch at MGM or AK... CS of course) At AK, we both love animals so we plan on seeing as much of them as we possibly can, we know however that it will be extremely hot that day and health issues may be a hindrance.... Many of the rides I will ride at all the parks, Mom will not be able to ride due to her health, but I will get her on the ones that she can....If I have time I will ride Expedition Everest, if not, I will live.... we both want to do the Kali River Rapids and I have been thinking about Dinosaur and of course Kilimanjaro Safari is a must and as many trails as we can get in.... we plan on staying until 8pm when the park closes and then going back to our room, getting cleaned up and then heading out to Maya Grill for our 9pm ADR..... Turn in early for the busy day to come....

August 30th.... Early morning EMH at MK!!!! Hopefully we will be able to get up in time cause I wanna get there early.....There is so much to do here.... some by myself... all 3 mountains...Pooh... Pirates... Buzz Lightyear... Jungle Cruise... those are my musts but there are many more things to see and do! We will have lunch at whatever cs restaurant looks good when we get hungry. Dinner will be at the Plaza at 6:10pm..... I personally am hoping to stay until closing, but not sure if Mom will have the get up and go to do that.

August 31st.... MY BIRTHDAY!!!! This day will be spent entirely at Epcot! I definately want to see Honey, I shrunk the Audience and Soarin'..... but other than that nothing specific... just gonna explore as much as we can! We will probably eat lunch at Sunshine Seasons (hoping for some good Chinese food)... For my Birthday dinner I chose to eat at Coral Reef.

Sept. 1st... SAD DAY!!! We will get up and pack all our stuff, return the ECV to the desk to be picked up, and then use our last CS for breakfast at Everything Pop..... when that ends so does our Disney Vacation! We will begin the long drive north... we don't know exactly where we will stop to stay that night, gonna play that one by ear.

Sept. 2nd... Gonna drive till we arrive home! Then Crash... as this will be the last day of my vacation and will probably be returning to work the following day!!!!

Next up.... overcoming obstacles for this trip!

 

[disneyaddicted]

So it's all set!! You have a planned vacation. I could feel your excitement as you wrote about waiting for Free dining to be anounced.

Pop is a fun resort, I have never stayed anywhere else and have nothing else to compare it to, but I think the place is great. I loved the big icons everywhere.

 

[mvazul]

Great report!

I am going with my mom, too. Plus my sister. We will also be at POP - even some of the same days as you.

Keep writing!!

 

[ShhhQ]

There have been many obstacles trying to stop us from taking this trip, but we are plunging right through and I AM DETERMINED NOT TO BE STOPPED!!!!!

I had an opportunity to go about 15 years ago, but circumstances got in the way and it never happened..... We lived in Illinois at the time, and my brother had up and went to Florida to work with our cousin... Mom and I decided to go down and visit our family and take his dog down to him as well.... I didn't have much money, but had saved up a little over $100 which I thought would be enough for 2 people to have ONE day at Disney World... I thought we would go see my brother, give him his dog.... then we could stop at Disney afterwards.... things didn't work out that way! We arrive where my brother is staying and he no longer wants to stay there.... he is going home with us! ARGGGGGGGGG!!!!!! I knew I didn't have enough for 3 people! But maybe, just maybe we would be able to work something out....... Next on our stop was visiting with my Aunt in Brandon, Fl.... I knew it wasn't a hop skip and a jump to Disney from there, but that is where I WANTED TO GO! However, my Aunt talked my Mom into going to Busch Gardens instead.... my brother was just happy to go somewhere for a free ride (although I do think he would rather have done Disney too) So I was outvoted... and we went to Busch Gardens.. I paid! It was ok.... but to this day I still regret it! I have now been to Busch Gardens twice and Disney once.... that SUX!
No other opportunities presented themselves between then and this time... I had talked to people who were going and begged them to take me with them, but they actually thought I was joking!
Back in the summer of 1998 we were hit by a drunk driver and Mom did say that when she got the settlement from that accident we would go to Disney.... 9 years later still waiting....
Like I said earlier, Mom brought up the trip this time and I had all but given up hope of going ever! But money was still a major issue..... and it got worse! We decided to put back money from each paycheck (I get paid weekly and she gets paid monthly), but we would have to wait till after Christmas.... Last year, for my birthday, the only thing I asked for was new feet! Or at least a pair of shoes that helped my feet instead of hurting them.... I work at a Grocery Store and am on my feet constantly and I was getting these extremely sharp pains (like I stepped on a nail).... they had been hurting me on and off for about 10 years anyway but they were the worse I ever felt then... The dr. took x-rays of my feet and pronounced that I had heel spurs (and pretty big ones at that, bout the size of my thumb) on both feet.... he said he would fix me right up! He started with medicine for the inflamation (as they were severely inflamed, that was causing all the pain) I also have a condition known as plantar fasciitis, a painful inflammatory condition caused by excessive wear to the plantar fascia (a muscle that runs along the arch of the foot)... the pills were mildly effective... he gave me a shot in both feet... they helped for 3 days!.... shots again.... a week this time... physical therapy.... mild to no results.... finally.... January, I was given an ultimatum! The heel spurs were causing the treatment of the plantar fasciitis to be ineffective and that was the cause of the pain! I had a choice.... live in pain or have the spurs surgically removed.... I had already been considering this option and it looked more favorable than pain.... however it would mean 3 months off work and a lot less money to put back... I will have to continue this later.... there is a major storm brewing outside and I am afraid the power may go out.....

 

[faindrops27]

Wow, this post touched me! I really am enjoying reading along!!

 

[ShhhQ]

Now that the weather has calmed down, I will pick up where I left off....

January of this year, I had the heel spur on my left foot removed... I was off work from the beginning of January to the end of March... during this time the money that Mom planned to put back was used to pay the bills that I usually pay (or at least supplement what I couldn't pay) I did recieve short term disability but it was only a fraction of my normal pay.... I did however, use my income tax refund to open an account for our vacation.... It was a great start.... but only a start.... once I got back to work, Mom started setting aside a couple hundred a month to go into the account, while I had a portion of my pay direct deposited into it.... As of now we have all but $400 of our trip paid for and we still need to have money for driving and odds and ends.... but our account is depleted!!!!!!

Everything is working to try and keep us from going!!!!!! My left foot still hasn't healed, and my right is getting worse... (won't have it done till next year if at all)... I love my Mom dearly, but she does not know how to manage money.... I keep a watch on her personal bank account and she gets her disability check the beginning of each month and it is gone before the month is half over.... several times I have had to transfer money from the vacation account to keep her account from acting like a rubber ball! Also the car needed work.... and it began to look like there would be no way for us to go... on top of that the gas prices soared and Mom's lawyers had her traveling back in forth (260 miles roundtrip) several times in the months of April and May to get ready for a deposition on that car accident that we had way back in 98'..... but after 9 years we really didn't expect it to get settled! Or if they did... she would get next to nothing....
WELL MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!! They finally settled on May 31st! AND for more than TWICE what she was willing to settle for! BUT!!! and ya know there always has to be a BUT.... WE ARE STILL WAITING ON THE CHECK! When we get it (and sometimes I still feel like IF WE GET IT), she plans on paying off the trip, paying back money she borrowed over the years from family members, some long overdue bills, and buying a minivan to drive down in..... and maybe, just maybe, a down payment on a new home..... I am more excited about the trip to DISNEY.... she is excited about the house!
Keeping fingers crossed cause it all comes down to getting that check now!

 

[faindrops27]

Michelle! I recieved the wonderful stickers you sent me! Thank you so much. You are sweeter than sweet!! Keep checking your box, next week. I'm going to go out to find something for you!! Thamks again!!

 

[faindrops27]

Now that the weather has calmed down, I will pick up where I left off....

January of this year, I had the heel spur on my left foot removed... I was off work from the beginning of January to the end of March... during this time the money that Mom planned to put back was used to pay the bills that I usually pay (or at least supplement what I couldn't pay) I did recieve short term disability but it was only a fraction of my normal pay.... I did however, use my income tax refund to open an account for our vacation.... It was a great start.... but only a start.... once I got back to work, Mom started setting aside a couple hundred a month to go into the account, while I had a portion of my pay direct deposited into it.... As of now we have all but $400 of our trip paid for and we still need to have money for driving and odds and ends.... but our account is depleted!!!!!!

Everything is working to try and keep us from going!!!!!! My left foot still hasn't healed, and my right is getting worse... (won't have it done till next year if at all)... I love my Mom dearly, but she does not know how to manage money.... I keep a watch on her personal bank account and she gets her disability check the beginning of each month and it is gone before the month is half over.... several times I have had to transfer money from the vacation account to keep her account from acting like a rubber ball! Also the car needed work.... and it began to look like there would be no way for us to go... on top of that the gas prices soared and Mom's lawyers had her traveling back in forth (260 miles roundtrip) several times in the months of April and May to get ready for a deposition on that car accident that we had way back in 98'..... but after 9 years we really didn't expect it to get settled! Or if they did... she would get next to nothing....
WELL MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!! They finally settled on May 31st! AND for more than TWICE what she was willing to settle for! BUT!!! and ya know there always has to be a BUT.... WE ARE STILL WAITING ON THE CHECK! When we get it (and sometimes I still feel like IF WE GET IT), she plans on paying off the trip, paying back money she borrowed over the years from family members, some long overdue bills, and buying a minivan to drive down in..... and maybe, just maybe, a down payment on a new home..... I am more excited about the trip to DISNEY.... she is excited about the house!
Keeping fingers crossed cause it all comes down to getting that check now!

Wow, I really don't know what to say other than I hope you, and your mom have the best trip anyone could ever have!!