North and South take on Disney!!!

[brandand]

This is my first report of any kind...so please be kind. Our trip is in July and we are all getting excited. I thought I would do a pre-trip report as practice. Here it goes.

Who's Who? In total there will be 20 people on this trip. Roll Call:
Me-40 year old Disney Fan
DH-41 year old Disney Fan
DS-9 year old Brandon
DS-4 year old Andrew
MIL- 65 year old GiGi
BIL- Brother in law Donald
SIL- Sister in law Wendy(wife of Donald)
Nephew- Chase 11 years old
Niece-Lauren 6 years old
Nephew-Joseph 2 years old
BIL2- Brother in law Nick
SIL2- Sister in law Georja
Nephew- Andon aka BUTCH- 3 years old
Aunt in law- Gigi's Sister from New York aka RARA
Uncle in law - Husband of RARA aka Joey
Cousin in law- Tanya
Little Cousin in law- Julianna 9 years old
Little Cousin in law- Sam 6 years old
Cousin in law2- Mathew
Kara- Mat's girlfriend

Holy Crap that is alot of freakin people. I'll post more later. Thanks for reading.

 

[reyasmommy]

The more the merrier I guess. Hope you have fun!

 

[brandand]

As you can see we have a ton o' people going on this trip. The first time we all went was 10 years ago. Out of the 8 kids going now only 1 was on the first trip. I was pregnant with my son Brandon. For that first trip we stayed at the All Star Sports. We all had a great time. Fastforward 5 years and we all met in Disney again. This time instead of the 1 kid we had 5 kids an we rented a great house. We spent alot of time with the fam and loved having the house. So, when we started thinking about this trip we decided to go with a huge house. Of course it won't have the same Disney magic that staying at a resort does, but I think it was the best choice for us. With that said I do get a little sick when I think about all 20 of us in one house.

 

[brandand]

We then began looking for a house big enough for our group. Not an easy task. We finally chose a place that has 8 bedrooms and a huge pool. We made our reservation last June and now it was official.

Next was decided what parks did we want to go to? Hmmmm... Of course we are doing Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and the Studios. We decided not to go to Animal Kingdom. I like it but it is so freakin' hot and we just went last year.

We then added Sea World, Universal and IOA. It's been about 5 years since we've been to these parks. My wonderful mother in law Gigi, bought all of our tickets. The folks up north have their plane tickets. Unfortunately at this point it seems like it is going to be FOREVER before we go.

 

[brandand]

Once we had the parks all planned the next thing to decide on is where to get our grub on? It always seems like we have to plan our vacation around food. We new Friday, our last night, would be O'Hana. LUVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV It. We knew we had to have a character breakfast. Chef Mickey or O'Hana HUMMMMMMMM Can you guess? Huh? Huh? Okay I'll tell you, we chose O'hana. We thought it might be easier with all of the kids to have the food come to us instead of us going to the food. The last choice was pretty easy...Das Germany!!! My MIL's favorite. We don't go to EPCOT until mid week so I see a huge German Beer in my future.

So lets check the planning list:
Dates - check
Lodging- check
Parks- check
Tickets - check
Plane- check
Food- check

So far so good. More to come later. Please respond!!!

 

[brandand]

I guess I'll keep going even though nobody is replying to my report.
I would really like some feedback so please reply. Anyway. Now that we have things all lined up its just the waiting game. I hate waiting. It seems like it is going to be forever. My ds Andrew, was having a hard time knowing how many days, so my dh John, thought thought that a countdown chain would help. So I made a chain. I think it started with 40ish links. I had different colors of links and I wrote everybodys name on a link. This is really a good idea. I like seeing the chain get shorter. We are now down to 28 days. Almost time to pack!!!

 

[reyasmommy]

I guess I don't really have a lot of advice. Just wanted to encourage you and let you know that I'm still reading. I know it's discouraging when people don't respond, so I just think of my own PTR as a journal for myself and if other people read it, then that's just just a bonus.

Everything you've planned so far looks great. I'm jealous that you're leaving in less then a month. I have another 8 months to go, plus I get to push out a baby before then too.

I'm sure it will be interesting and hard to please 20 people at all times. Good luck with that.

 

[brandand]

Thanks reyasmommy for the support. I guess I will do just what you said and go with the journal approach. It has been fun writing it all down. I actually hated writing in school but now I kinda like it. Thanks again. I will keep posting until we go and then the real fun will be the trip report.

Update on the plans.
Everyone is gettin excited. I had a crafty spell recently and decided to make something for all of the kids going on the trip. Walmart had these realy cute medium sized bottles that look sorta like a jug with a sports bottle top. They come in red, blue and green and they were only $1.00. So I bought one for each of the kids. I know doesn't sound crafty does it. Okay here's the crafty part, I decided to get stickers for the names. But then found these really cute skull/guitar/rock-n-roll stickers, stick figure girl stickers and little Disney stickers. Each pack was only $1.00. I decorated each bottle with name stickers, Disney stickers and the cool ones. Each one looks great. I am sooooooo excited about them. If I knew how to post pictures I would post a picture of them. Total cost for 8 bottles $12.00. Not a bad souvenir to start the trip.

More to come later. Only 28 DAYS!!!

 

[brandand]

Thanks to everyone that is still reading this pre-trip report. I am beginning to see a big light at the end of the tunnel. Actually I think it's the EPCOT ball. Our countdown chain is now just one swag. It now seems like we are in the home stretch.
Great find: glow stick swords from the dollar tree. Pretty cool. Just not sure how they will hold up in a sword fight. But definitely worth the buck. The Dollar Tree has a ton of the glow stick kinda stuff that will be great in all the parks. They have a princess wand for the girls which is cute as well.

Just thought I'd pass along this fun find. More to come. Keep on reading!!!!

 

[brandand]

It's time for an update. We are now within the 2 week window.
Our countdown chain no longer makes a swag it is one line down. Only 13 more links to go. We did a check today to see about Brandon's and Andrew's clothes. Once we had them out we decided to go ahead and pack them. Once you start packing everything seems to get more exciting.

Once we hit the 2 week window we thought that it would be fun to watch a Disney movie each night until we leave. The boys seem into it. The first movie was Bedtime Stories and tonight we watched Harry Potter( I know NOT Disney, but it is Universal and we are going to that park as well). Tomorrow night is my night to pick a movie...I think I am going to pick Nemo. I love that movie.

I'll post more later this week as we go shopping and continue to pack and watch Disney movies.

 

[hhockman]

I'm here! It sounds like you are all ready to go. And now you just have to sit around and wait until it's time to go. That's the hardest part.

Here's a tip: Go read other people's PTRs and TRs (looks like you're doing that). When you post on other people's reports, they come read yours. I didn't have any readers at first either, but slowly but surely they are finding me. And it helps pass the time until it's your turn. I still have a LONG time left to wait.

See if you can add a link to your trip report in your signature. I had to search for you.

Looks good so far. I'm definitely going to check out Dollar Tree, thanks for the tip!

 

[brandand]

Thanks for reading. How do I put a link to my report on my signature? I should know, but I've never done a trip report. Thanks for the advice. I'll check out and respond to other people's report.

Only 11 more days.

 

[hhockman]

I see that you have a signature, so you know how to get there, right?

Go to the first page of your PTR and copy the web address from your browser.
Go to your signature and click the little yellow box at the top that has the picture of the earth with the little paper clip looking thing.
A box will open up.
Paste the web address into that box then click okay.

You will get something that looks like this (without the spaces-I had to put a bunch of spaces in there so that you could see what it looks like with the code. There shouldn't be ANY spaces):

[URL = "http://www.disboa rds.com/newreply.ph p?do=newreply&noq uote=1&p=32490831"]http: //www.disbo ards.com/newreply.php?do=new reply&no quote=1&p=324 90831 [/ URL]

Erase what is between the quotation marks are write the name of your PTR. Like this (remember it shouldn't have any spaces):

[URL = "My First PTR"]ht tp: //www.disboa rds.com/newreply.php?do =newreply&n oquote=1&p=3249 0831 [/U RL]

Click submit and you should have your PTR linked.

I hope that was somewhat clear, but feel free to ask if you have questions.

 

[brandand]

Thanks for the info. on adding my link to my signature. I still have a question... How do I get my link to only say My First Pre Trip Report? I noticed that your link is only the title of your signature. Thanks for your help.

 

[brandand]

I just clicked on the link and it doesn't go to the report. What did I do wrong?

 

[hhockman]

I clicked on your link and it took me right to your PTR.

Let me go look at my signature to answer your other question.

The link is working though.

Okay, I told you wrong. KEEP the link between the " " and erase where it says [http://blah blah blah] the second time.

Change THAT to what you want to call your report, and it should work. Just play with it and keep checking the preview until you get what you want. Hope that makes sense!

 

[brandand]

Thanks for checking the link and helping me with my signature. I learn something new all the time.


Well it is getting sooooooo close. Here's where we are... 9 days out from our trip. Movie nights are going well. So far we have watched Bedtime Stories, Harry Potter(universal but picked by a 4 year old), Finding Nemo(my pick) and National Treasure(hubby pick). It's fun seeing what everyone picks. Started packing, shopping for last minute things, and doctor visits. Yes doctor. Dentist on Monday, check up on Tuesday and sick visit for me. I've had a bad cough for almost 2 weeks. So I decided to get it checked out. $122.00 later I am hoping to feel much better by our trip. Cross your fingers that tomorrow is the last doctor visit...mammogram for me on Thursday.

My 2 year old nephew went to the doctor for an "ear infection". Good news is that he didn't have an ear infection. Bad news is that he has STREP THROAT!!!!! This wouldn't be that bad except that he came over this week and my kids went to his house to swim. In light of this situation we have put ALL kids on 9 day lock down. All kids must stay at home. No visitation. Phone calls only.

That's where we are right now. Only 9 days left. More to follow as the day gets closer!!!
Thanks for reading.

 

[hhockman]

Wow. That's a lot of doctor visits. My DS7 is at the dentist right now getting a cavity filled. His second one is a year. I didn't have my first filling until college. I've started brushing his teeth myself at night. And flossing. Cavities cost $108, so I feel you on the money.

I'm glad you're going to be better BEFORE your trip starts. Hope no one gets strep throat (and hope your nephew feels better)!

NINE days.

Wow.

Can't wait to read your TRIP report.

 

[brandand]

Well our countdown chain is getting sooooooo short. I have loved doing this chain. We originally did it for my 4 yr. old so he could see how many days left. I must say that I get excited with every link that comes off.

We are now at DEFCON 3...still a little more than a week. My husband cleaned off the dining room table and started putting suitcases and stuff that must go with us. Andrew, 4 yr. old, decided to put his things that he wanted to take...2 bed pillows(cuz they have Sponge Bob cases), Curious George, Sponge Bob, Woody, an elephant, Spiderman, and Yoda. It was sooooo stinking cute to see him bring what is important to him.

I am officially done with the doctors...cross your fingers, say a prayer, light a candle, knock on wood. Stating to feel better.

Tomorrow we will continue to "pack" on the dining room table, shop a little and go see fireworks. Not real sure why, the town close to us is do 4th of July fireworks on the 3rd but we're going. Can't wait to see Wishes at the Magic Kingdom. I find myself all mushy during that show. I look at my kids and get all misty eyed.

I had an realization today... waiting to go on vacation in July is just too long. I am a first grade teacher and I get finished within the first week of June. So we save money during June and basically stay home for the WHOLE month. Not to mention that now that we are almost a week out we are trying to do as little as possible to make sure that no one gets hurt, sick, tooth problems, etc... We waited for July so that the New Yorkers could go with us. My niece in law and nephew in law just finished school last week. It seems we are on a 5 year cycle with the New Yorkers. Soooooo, next year we will be vacationing within the first 2 weeks after I get out of school.

Well that's it for now. Not sure why I am up at 3:06. I guess I'll go to bed now. Hope everyone has a great 4th of July!!!!

 

[hhockman]

I was up that late too for some reason!

I'm glad you won't have to wait so long for vacation next year. July is not the month to do Disney in my opinion (though if it was the ONLY month I could do it, I'd be there!).

Do you enjoy teaching first grade? DS7 just finished first and is going into second. I am a teacher too, but I've been a sub for the last three years. Just can't seem to get a job in this county. I thought I had a good chance this year...until budget cuts. I'm really hoping for next year now, as DS4 starts Kindergarten next year.

I can't believe you only have EIGHT days left! Or is it 7? That's crazy (but awesome).

Have a great weekend. Enjoy your fireworks tonight!