No Plans and a Little Pixie Dust, updated 1/22 our trip is over

[tazdev3225]

I have read many trip reports but this will be the first one I am writing so have pity on me.
I will start off with the cast of characters:
Me, Lorrie aka Grumpy, a 52 y/o mom and grandmom who would rather have a bad day in Disney than a good day at home. My first trip to Disney was in 1988 with DH and our 3 kids, my parents and my baby brother. His school organized the trip. We stayed offsite and I fell in love.
We were there again about 4 years later with the kids and the babysitter. This was a trip from H***. If anybody wants details I will write about it. Just know that my DH and I were getting divorced and the babysitter almost got attacked with a fork.
We went again in 1997 with my mom. Another bad experience as my DS had panic attacks from the moment we hit the PA/Delaware border until we hit it again coming home. My DD's refer to this trip as the one where mom kept us from the Backstreet Boys. They were at Universal and I had no idea who they were. Why do I keep going back?
Then I had the trip of a lifetime. I went in Oct. 2001. Not the best time considering what had happened a month earlier, but I was in Disney. I went with my aunt and her DGF to celebrate my aunt's 50th birthday. I stayed onsite for the first time at the Grand Floridian and the whole 10 day trip cost me $400 including airfare. I was hooked.
The whole family went again in 2003 with the addition of my DGS who was 5. It was the first time onsite for the rest of the family and we stayed at what is now our hotel - All-Star Movies. Some issues but overall a good trip.
In 2006 DH and I took our DGS in December, for our 25th anniversary trip, and we fell in love with Disney at Christmas.
This brings me to our latest trip. October 9th to the 14th of 2008. I wanted DGS to see Disney at Halloween.

DH, Jim, just turned 50 and has been on all of the trips except the dream trip in 2001.
DGS, Jay, is 10 and this was his third trip to Disney in 5 years. Grandmom and Poppy like to spoil him.

We went from October 9th to the 14th, stayed at the All-Star Movies and did the MNSSHP. We were also on the Dining Plan.
I will be doing day by day installments and adding pics as soon as my quirky computer is up and running again and I figure out how to add them from photobucket. Up next will be Day 1.

 

[tazdev3225]

I realized before I do Day One I should probably explain my title. I am a list obsessed person. Every other trip to Disney, minus the first one, I have had lists. I plan where to eat, what to do, what pictures to take, you get the idea. I have a list of each ride in each park, whether we have been on it before, where it ranks in importance for each person to ride it, and how many times we should try and ride it, etc. If I don't stick to the list I become very anxious. I am obsessed with every one having the best time ever and forget to have any fun myself. My DD told me that if I made any lists for this trip she would never let me go with her when they take my precious little DGS down to see Mickey. This trip I had "1" list - where our reservations for dining were each day.
The Pixie Dust has to do with several little things that happened on the trip that made it a little more special.
Did I survive without a list and did the Pixie Dust help? Stay tuned.

 

[tazdev3225]

OK, people are reading and no responses. I'm a little disheartened. Let me know if I should continue. I don't want to waste space if no one is interested.

 

[MagicJunkie]

Please continue. I'm interested. I'm going to subscribe so I won't miss anything.

 

[tazdev3225]

Thank you for being the first. I will be updating with day one by tomorrow night. I want to be able to add pics.

 

[kimbo0569]

I'm in!

 

[luvmybts]

I'm in too!

 

[onebright1]

subscribing!
Oh and I take it u and DH decided against the divorce?

 

[tazdev3225]

Thank you all who are in. I will be starting Day 1 tomorrow. I am using DD's computer as I still can't get on line with mine.
DH and I did call off the divorce once we got back home and had time to cool off. The babysitter put so much stress on us that we snapped. I think the balloons popping in the overhead bins of the airplane helped. We bought the kids Mickey balloons as we left the park before heading to the airport. Balloons do not fly well and make a very loud noise when they pop. The babysitter thought the plane was exploding and jumped into the aisle with each pop. We all laughed so hard at her reaction that we decided to stay married and get rid of her.

 

[michellem1118]

I'm reading and replying... because I know how it feels to write & write a TR or pre-TR, and have lots of people viewing it but no one responding.

 

[VanniGirl]

I'm in - and I'd love to hear some of your non-divorce trip too

 

[tazdev3225]

I'm reading and replying... because I know how it feels to write & write a TR or pre-TR, and have lots of people viewing it but no one responding.

Thank you. I didn't realize as I lurked on other reports how nice it feels to have someone acknowledge your efforts. I will have an update soon. I do need to explain the pixie dust.

 

[the4princesses]

Nice stat on the trip report!!
Can't wait to read more!!
Keep it going!!

 

[splashgirl137]

please keep going i know how disenheartening it can be at the begining but there are those of us reading

 

[DebbieinWA]

I'm in. I laughed out loud about the babysitter's reaction to the balloons popping - oh my!

 

[onebright1]

That is hysterical about the sitter,
U will definitely have to do a side report on that trip as I am couriouser and couriouser about the fork

 

[luckylady]

I'm in.

 

[tazdev3225]

I was asked to do a report on the trip with the fork and the babysitter. Since I am still having trouble getting onto my computer, therefore no pictures yet, I will do a short report on the Trip from you know where. Parts of this may be a little out of sync as I am trying to remember details from 17 years ago.
The cast of characters on the were:
ME: a much younger and more frazzled mom
DH: usually a very easy-going (sometimes too much) guy
DS: he had just turned 10
DD1: She was 7 1/2 and usually very easy-going like her dad, she had one goal to see Pooh.
DD2: She was 5 1/2, and in a heavy plaster cast up to her shoulder. She had broken her wrist one week to the day before we left.
"The Babysitter": @ 19, aka Fatso (no offense to you Pooh sized Diser's), Whale and a few other choice words all chosen by my kids.

To this day DH and I don't know how the babysitter was invited to go with us on the trip. We had a rough year. DD1 was hit by a car the previous year and was pretty seriously injured and I was in a car accident. The babysitter was there to help us get through the times when I had to be away from the house.This trip was planned as a way for us all to get away and have a relaxing time. Then DD2 gets pushed off a sliding board and severly fractures her wrist literally one week to the day before we were due to get on a plane and see Mickey (and Pooh). I also found aout about the same time that "the babysitter" had not told her mother about the trip. I high-tailed it over there to talk to the mom who could have cared less.
I know we flew Delta and that we had a morning flight. Back then Delta was the official airline of Disney World so Mickey and Minnie were at the airport when we landed. We stayed off site back then and rented a car. It was a 1991 Ford Aerostar minivan and my kids were in love. They could control the radio and the air conditioning from the back. This also started some of the tension between DH and I. We had only been to Florida once before and he insisted we didn't need a map. I hate when he's right. My DH is not directionally challenged, I am. I took us to the hotel we had stayed at the first time. It was a lovely Ramada Inn with a beautiful fish pond and fabulous pool. We were at the Norman Bates Ramada Inn instead. The swimming pool was a lovely shade of pea soup green. No swimming that trip. The rooms were not the nicest and I truly was a little afraid of the bathroom. Oh well, the rooms were really cheap. Something like $30 a night.

Part 2 of the side report coming up.

 

[tazdev3225]

On to Part 2 of the side report.
We only spent 6 days in Florida on this trip. We did 2 days in the Magical Kingdom, one in Epcot and split one day with MGM and Epcot. We also did a day in Sea World and drove down to West Palm Beach to visit my aunt and her family.
The first day was spent in the Magic Kingdom and I know a highlight for the kids was seeing Minnie Moo. For those of you who don't remember her, before Toontown there was an attraction back in that area that had a cow named Minnie Moo. Minnie Moo was a white cow with black spots, three of these spots formed a hidden Mickey on her side. This was where the babysitter's demise began. DD2 is a climber, even with a full arm heavy plaster cast she was trying to climb in with Minnie Moo. The babysitter began to screech at her to get away from the cow. This didn't sit well with DD or me. Words were said and we moved on.
Later that night back at the hotel the 3 kids came into my room, DS and DD2 were ready to kill and DD1 was sobbing. As I mentioned before the kids loved the minivan. They loved changing the radio stations, repeatedly. DH and I thought it was funny and let them alone. The babysitter told them that she was sitting in that seat for the entire rest of the trip because she was NOT going to have them ruin her vacation playing with the radio. Being the level headed mom that I am we started the "rotation". DD2, DD1 and then DS in that order were to take turns in the radio seat. Crisis avoided we all went to bed to dream of Mickey (or Pooh). The next morning the babysitter tried to get in the seat. DD2 looked at her and told her to move, it wasn't her turn. I calmly explained the rotation and told her she could have a turn after DS. She hoisted herself into the last row and stayed there the rest of the trip. Oh well, her choice.
We had to rent a double stroller when we couldn't get a wheelchair for DD1 whose leg still wasn't strong enough to handle all the walking. DS thought it was great fun to race ahead of us pushing the stroller. As long as he stayed in eyesight and was mindful of the other people in the park it was cool. The babysitter began to scream at him over and over again. She didn't really like DS I was to find out many months later. I told her to knock it off and although I was getting really annoyed I tried to stay calm. Later that night I asked DH to have a talk with the babysitter. Of course being the easy-going blind to any problems guy that he is, HE DIDN'T. This was where our problems began to start. I mean I am his wife, he needs to make me happy. As the saying goes, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."
The 1st day we went to Epcot the babysitter lost her camera. It was a cheap Kodak instamatic but she had to find that camera. Never mind that I had 2 cameras and 15 rolls of film and would be taking plenty of pictures. After numerous trips back and forth in the World Showcase looking for it I told her to go it alone. The kids and I were not wasting any more time in that heat to find a really cheap $15 camera. She decides to buy a new one, in Epcot at the camera shop. She paid $50 for the same cheap little camera. Forget the fact that we had a car and could stop anywhere outside the park to get one way cheaper. I might have been able to understand the absurdity of this decision if she had enough money with her, BUT she only bought $150 with her for the entire trip. This included all meals and souvenirs. This was before there was an ATM machine everywhere you turned.
By Saturday I was seething. The only color I could see was red but I was trying to control myself for the sake of my kids. We went to Sea World that day and had planned to do their Polynesian Luau that evening. I know that as the day wore on I was really beginning to lose it. When we got in line for the Luau she calmly stated that she didn't want to go and would DH take her back to the hotel. The luau was paid for by me, remember she didn't have enough money. DH was going to take her back to the hotel. This was when I became one of those ranting lunatics you see on vacation. I told him if he was going to side with her I wanted a divorce. I had enough of him ignoring all the problems, yada yada yada. Then he decides he isn't going to the luau if I am going to be such a *itch. Well we did go to the luau but I was beyond angry. The kids had a good time so I did calm down a little but I was still really angry with DH.
The next morning when we went down to the restaurant for breakfast the babysitter tried to sit next to me at the table. Huge mistake. I was not quite as mad at DH, but she was a different story. As she went to sit down I picked up my fork, held it over my head and through clenched teeth told her to find another seat or better yet another table. We went to my aunt's house that day and she knew me well enough to know that I was beyond mad. Thankfully when we drove over to my cousin's house she had me go in her car with her, DS jumped in the front seat of the van so the babysitter was still in the back. She calmed me down and helped me get back in focus with the reason I was on this trip, for my kids.
We had 2 days left after the visit to my aunt's. I told the babysitter to leave my kids alone that as their parent I would discipline them if they needed it and she was only there to take the girls to the bathroom if it was needed. They are girls and they did love to visit bathrooms but that is another story. The last 2 days of the trip were a little calmer although I did warn her to stay away from me when I had sharp objects in my hands. DH and I did eventually make up, at least until the next vacation, and have now been married for 27 years. One other positive thing at the end of the trip she left her Queen's Greatest Hits tape in the van in Florida and of course we all had a great laugh at her expense when the balloons popped.
These were the highlights, or lowlights, as best as I remember them. The babysitter was gone by the next year. I found out that a lot of my suspicions from the trip were true as far as her behavior towards my kids. DH and I still had arguments but as I said we have been married for a long time now. His being easy-going is sometimes a good thing.
Well now I will try to get back to getting this trip report up and running if I can only get past my security codes.

 

[onebright1]

Sounds like a couple of the sitters I had as a kid.
But then again, My brother wasnt real nice to them either
Looking fwd to the rest of your recent good trip