teedee
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2005
- Messages
- 551
Hello All, and welcome to my very first pre-trip report. After avidly reading trip reports on the DIS boards for a while now, I decided to take a shot at writing my own.
The Cast: Me, Terri. Well that was easy wasn’t it! This will be my first solo, or actually partially solo trip to the world. My favorite cousin Deb will be joining me half way into this trip. So here’s a little bit about us:
Terri: A 52 year old retired project manager for a plastics company, living just south of Atlanta, GA. Retirement was forced upon me as my job was eliminated, but luckily I had 30 years in with the company, so I got to take early retirement instead of having to try and find another job. Ever since I was a little girl I loved watching the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights especially when they had episodes about Disneyland. I taped a bunch of the shows when the Disney Channel was showing them late at night, but lost them in my last move. I keep hoping they will start showing them again, but I haven’t found them so far. That show turned me into a total Disneyholic. I love everything Disney, and it’s definitely my favorite spot for vacations. Something most of my friends & family don’t really understand, I’ve been told at my age I should be over Disney, but I don’t have any plans to grow up or ever get over Disney!
My first trip to DW was when my DD was 6, she’s 33 now, I just don’t know how that happened
, seems like it was just yesterday when we were getting ready for our first trip. She’s now a mom of a beautiful 2 year old boy, Carter(my avatar), who is the light of my life and who we’ll be taking next June for his first trip. He already seems to have the Disney spirit, he loves all the Disney movies, just like his nana.
Deb: My cousin, who will be joining me mid-trip, she’s like me, a total Disneyholic and is lucky enough to live in Florida, so it’s a lot easier for her to make the trip. She worked in the Magic Kingdom for a few years while she was in college at the Sunshine Tree Terrace (I think that’s what it was called). She’s now in South Florida, so trips to Disney are a great way for us to spend some time together.
My last Disney vacation was back in March when they were having the $200 free gift card promotion. Deb was able to join me for that whole week, and we had a wonderful time. I’ve been many times, but never around Christmas, and always wanted to so I decided why not. Put in a call to Deb and she was all for it, but could only get half the week off from work.
So the planning began: first up, where to stay. This one was kind of easy. POFQ is my very, very favorite Disney resort. I think it’s beautiful, and I love the smaller size. At one point I was trying to stay in every Disney resort. So far I’ve stayed at Caribbean Beach, Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge, Coronado Springs, Pop Century, All Star Music, All Star Sports and Port Orleans French Quarter. My urge to stay at all the resorts was greatly reduced the first time I stayed at POFQ, I just fell in love with it and try to stay there every time. Sometimes budget restrictions have had me booking a value resort, and I’ve always enjoyed them too, but POFQ just seems like home to me.
Now that the resort was chosen we had to decide when to go. I wanted to be there when the parks were decorated for Christmas, but not too close to the actual holiday when the parks are so crowded. I decided on Dec 5 – 12. When I first booked they weren’t offering the free dining plan, but I decided to keep an eye out in case they extended it. Well, lucky for us they did extend it until Dec 17 so one call to Disney reservations and we now have free dining! Score!!!
I was a happy camper, the price was still the same and now our food is paid for. Now I just had to wait until I could start making ADR’s. Which happens………
Today!!
The Cast: Me, Terri. Well that was easy wasn’t it! This will be my first solo, or actually partially solo trip to the world. My favorite cousin Deb will be joining me half way into this trip. So here’s a little bit about us:
Terri: A 52 year old retired project manager for a plastics company, living just south of Atlanta, GA. Retirement was forced upon me as my job was eliminated, but luckily I had 30 years in with the company, so I got to take early retirement instead of having to try and find another job. Ever since I was a little girl I loved watching the Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights especially when they had episodes about Disneyland. I taped a bunch of the shows when the Disney Channel was showing them late at night, but lost them in my last move. I keep hoping they will start showing them again, but I haven’t found them so far. That show turned me into a total Disneyholic. I love everything Disney, and it’s definitely my favorite spot for vacations. Something most of my friends & family don’t really understand, I’ve been told at my age I should be over Disney, but I don’t have any plans to grow up or ever get over Disney!
My first trip to DW was when my DD was 6, she’s 33 now, I just don’t know how that happened
, seems like it was just yesterday when we were getting ready for our first trip. She’s now a mom of a beautiful 2 year old boy, Carter(my avatar), who is the light of my life and who we’ll be taking next June for his first trip. He already seems to have the Disney spirit, he loves all the Disney movies, just like his nana. Deb: My cousin, who will be joining me mid-trip, she’s like me, a total Disneyholic and is lucky enough to live in Florida, so it’s a lot easier for her to make the trip. She worked in the Magic Kingdom for a few years while she was in college at the Sunshine Tree Terrace (I think that’s what it was called). She’s now in South Florida, so trips to Disney are a great way for us to spend some time together.
My last Disney vacation was back in March when they were having the $200 free gift card promotion. Deb was able to join me for that whole week, and we had a wonderful time. I’ve been many times, but never around Christmas, and always wanted to so I decided why not. Put in a call to Deb and she was all for it, but could only get half the week off from work.
So the planning began: first up, where to stay. This one was kind of easy. POFQ is my very, very favorite Disney resort. I think it’s beautiful, and I love the smaller size. At one point I was trying to stay in every Disney resort. So far I’ve stayed at Caribbean Beach, Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge, Coronado Springs, Pop Century, All Star Music, All Star Sports and Port Orleans French Quarter. My urge to stay at all the resorts was greatly reduced the first time I stayed at POFQ, I just fell in love with it and try to stay there every time. Sometimes budget restrictions have had me booking a value resort, and I’ve always enjoyed them too, but POFQ just seems like home to me.
Now that the resort was chosen we had to decide when to go. I wanted to be there when the parks were decorated for Christmas, but not too close to the actual holiday when the parks are so crowded. I decided on Dec 5 – 12. When I first booked they weren’t offering the free dining plan, but I decided to keep an eye out in case they extended it. Well, lucky for us they did extend it until Dec 17 so one call to Disney reservations and we now have free dining! Score!!!
I was a happy camper, the price was still the same and now our food is paid for. Now I just had to wait until I could start making ADR’s. Which happens………Today!!
I thought the smell would start to wear off, but when we went to bed she was still smelling very bad! Duchess sleeps with me and has been for the 9 years we've been together so I wasn't going to throw her out of the bed. Finally around 1am I couldn't stand it anymore so I got up and gave her a bath in some better smelling shampoo. The yucky lime dip smell was still there a little, but not too bad. We finally got to sleep around 2:30am, so there was no getting up early for me this morning. 
This being obsessive thing is working so far. I know a lot of folks don't care for Sci Fi, but I thought it would be a good choice for someone going solo. I'll have something to look at during dinner. 
Count me in 
Instead it will be dinner at the Crystal Palace at the Magic Kingdom. With this reservation all our dining (and park) plans are complete. Here is what we've got:
