Not so much a savings, more like reallocating where the money goes (Part 20 pg14) NEW

[HaleyB]

Edit to add a real time updating table of contents.
Part 1 is this one.

Part 2 is on page 1.
Part 3 and 4 are somewhere between part 2 and part 5.
Part 5 is on page 2.
Part 6 is on page 4. Ok, I made the 'real time' part up. It sounded good at the time.
Part 7 is on page 5. Maybe someday I will make these all links. Don't hold your breath.
Part 8 is on page 6 now. And I added the date of the update too, cause someone else did that and I thought it was a good idea. So I stole it. So is anyone reading this part? I bet not. Unless you just found the thread. That is OK. I talk to myself all the time.
Pictures slowly being added and Part 9 is on page 6.
Part 10 was on page 7.
Part 11 you missed
Part 12 is on pg 8.
Part 13 is on page 9
Part 14 is on page 10 (6/30)
Part 15 is on page 10 posted 7-11-06
skip a few really they are not hard to find just look for scooter!
Part 20 is on page 14

“Free” Dining the trip report (a little late)
Not so much a savings, more like reallocating where the money goes.
​

This may turn into an epic. I have an outline written and it is long. I will post all of this report to this thread. I give credit to Zzub for that. I am not sure if it was his idea, but his trip report was the first one I read with everything on the same thread. His current report on his free dining trip is what made want to write this one. I am no where near as witty as he is, so don't get your hopes up.

I started a trip report on our prior trip to WDW, called "We Came, We saw, We conquered" I never finished it That is why I wrote an outline this time. Sorry about never finishing it, maybe I will do a wrap up after this is done (so sometime in 2007 at the rate I am going). I will finish this one. Pinky promise.

Here is a picture from that trip. This is reason enough to want to go back if you ask me.

I also wrote a short report on our trip to Disneyland last summer.

Part one

I think the Trip Report board has a tradition about starting out these things with a listing of the cast. Far be it for me to break with tradition.

The cast-

Me, Haley, 30 something- Disney addicted SAHM (mostly).
Steve, also 30 something- Really likes Disney as much as I do, almost.
Ryan, DS#1- 18- He is not going on this trip, but he has a cameo in the pretrip.
Max, DS#2-9 My middle child. Very sweet. Loves Disney and is a thrill ride kinda guy.
Sophia, DD#1 (and only)- She also inherited the Disney gene, she is a dare devil but not so sure about some thrill rides.

Other players- My Dad, from whom I got the Disney gene. My Mom, who is not so good with stress anymore. My sister Renee. Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Rita.

Pretrip, a plot is hatched. My father had a rough summer. He blew his Mitral Valve, went into major heart failure, and spent many weeks in ICU and CCU. He lives in California. I don’t. I flew there with less than 24 hours warning because of the way my mother said “He doesn’t look good.” I am not a ninny, my sister and brother both also got on a plane that day. Actually my sister and I were on the same plane, we both live in Austin. She had major surgery a few weeks prior to this, so I was in charge of all the carryon stuff. My sister carries more onto a plane for just herself than I do when I travel with kids. Maybe having kids teaches you to streamline things.

So I get off the phone with my Mom, look up flights online and make a few calls (no luck finding a cheaper fare) and then I called my husband at work and told him I was leaving, in about 20 minutes. Yikes. Ryan is home with the little kids, but you better not count on Ryan giving them anything to eat. Love ya, bye. And off I went to California.

Spring and early summer in California is a beautiful thing, and I think it was spring. Funny, I am not sure. Time blurs. It was sunny and green in California, I am almost sure of it. But I do not really remember noticing it. The plane ride was tense as my sister and I tried to comfort each other and quiet our fears. My father has been living on borrowed time for 20 years. He had Endocarditus (sp?) and it went undiagnosed for a long time. Then while under treatment for that and waiting to stabilize so he could have his Aortic Valve replaced he had a huge stroke. He was 100% aphasic. He underwent 3 open heart surgeries in a row and then had to work on recovering from the stroke. He was in the hospital for over 4 months. And don’t ever let anyone tell you you don’t need the best insurance money can buy. He recovered because he got to stay for so long. We watched a lot of people go home in pretty bad condition. His speech is good but not great. It is also not true that when you have a head injury all your recovery will be in the first six months. I think that was a myth started by insurance companies so they could stop paying for rehab after six months. However this is getting way off topic now. Sorry. So now you have some background. That was 20 years ago.

My father was in St. Jude's, in Fullerton, again. I could hear the Disney Fireworks from the parking lot. When a loved one is in ICU and they have a huge family you spend a whole lot of time doing nothing. Because my Dad could only have two people in his room at a time for 15 minutes every two hours. That adds up to a lot of sitting around. ICU waiting rooms are not a good place for small talk either. So instead I sat and thought about my poor kids, stuck home while my husband was stuck working from the house and trying to hold down the fort. There was a television in the waiting room, and it was always on. I think the commercial for Disneyland’s 50th annervirsary came on every 30 minutes. After two weeks I started to plot. We were going to need a trip to WDW, I just knew it. I might have actually called CRO from the parking lot of St. Jude's (no cell phones allowed inside). I don’t exactly remember. We were going to go for my birthday, Oct. 20th and for Mickey’s Not So Scary Hollowed Party (which my good friends on the DIS made me well aware of). I think I told my husband more than I asked him. My mind was made up.

If my Dad being so sick were not enough to drive me into the arms of my favorite mouse, then I had another excuse. My baby, my first born child, was going away to college. Far away to Western New York. I had to drop him off in August. I needed a trip to cheer me up. Really. And since we were going to be bleeding money for the next four years anyhow, what was a little trip going to hurt? It gave me something to look forward to.

I guess some people would find the fact that we already had a trip to Disney planned a deterrent. I am much more tenacious than that folks. Do you really think a little thing like a trip to Disneyland for the 50th anniversary celebration was going to get in my way. Ha, I think not. So I called CRO and booked a week in October, room only of course. This was an extra trip, we were on a budget

Well there you have it, that is the story behind our trip to WDW. We haven’t even come close to leaving yet but this has gotten long so I will break here.

Next up the real pretrip, a discount code and a couple of ladies named Katrina and Rita.

 

[HaleyB]

Okay. I left off about four months before the trip started. I can't live with that so here is part two. I hope to get us to Flordia in this one. We shall see.

“Free” Dining the trip report (a little late)
Not so much a savings, more like reallocating where the money goes.

Part two​

We arrive and the Magic begins.

Just kidding. First a little more pre-trip reporting. I return home from California, and five days later we turn around and drive out to California as a family. This was a planned trip and we decide to go ahead with it for a few reasons. My Dad is doing better and is home, but he is pretty down in the mouth. My Mother is afraid to leave him home for ten minutes and really has no back up in California, so they are in real need of help still. We stay at my in-laws, who are wonderful and gracious and everything you could ever want in in-laws. I spend a lot of time going grocery shopping for my Mom. But the kids really cheer everyone up so mission accomplished. My older brother brings his kids out too, so all the cousins get to play together. His wife took him to Disneyland for his 40th birthday. She is my kind of sister-in-law! We take all the kids to Knott’s Berry Farms and ride the log ride and the Jaguar (mellow coaster) about ten times each. Big fun is had by all.

Of course we go to Disneyland and DCA. We were going to do 3 days but cut it back to 2 partly out of guilt. Here is a link to my not very interesting Disneyland one day trip report. The trip was interesting and fun, the trip report is sort of boring. It stays on topic way too much. It is more of a plan of attack than a trip report. If you will be going to Disneyland there is some useful information in there. I quickly reread it and I think I somehow forgot to mention the fireworks, so I may need to edit it. The fireworks at Disneyland put the MK to shame. If you don’t believe me you will just have to go see them yourself. You can tell your SO/Accountant I said so, I don’t mind.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=879421&highlight=Disneyland

Let’s fast forward a little. We are back in Austin and my Dad is doing better everyday. I am spending way too much time on the DISboards. I have www.mousesavers.com as my home page. And then it happens. The code is released. THE CODE. Free dining. It takes me all of 2 minutes to decide to change our travel dates so that we can get in on this deal. They want to feed me. How cool is that? We have a long list of places we want to try eating at, now we get to check a bunch of them off the list. I start to compulsively plan out our vacation and quickly realize a week is not long enough. I just have too many places I want to eat at. So I add a day, and then I add another one. I renew my www.tourguidemike.com subscription and get out my spread sheets. I’m not kidding. Go ahead and make fun of me. Not only did I make a detailed itinerary with daily touring plans, I made a few back up plans in case of bad weather or changes to the EMH days.

What I don’t plan for is Katrina. Apparently not too many people did. I am suddenly very busy helping to settle in some displaced families. Mostly I work on creating a clothes closet in an empty room at our school and gathering basic school supplies for the kids. Not all by myself or anything, there was a group of us. I am more than a little proud of how well Texas pulled things together for our neighbors. I also started to panic. The hotel we stay at on the way to WDW, we always drive, is under water. Every room between here and there is occupied by displaced people. The roads are not passable. I try to figure an alternate route and it is going to add a day to our drive. I start looking for flights. Yikes, can’t afford those. Then I find a rate we can afford flying out of Houston. We debate the expense. I really want to fly and my husband really wants to try and control expenses. Still there is time, and after some wonderful friends on the transportation board let us know we can get through on our normal route all is well. We will just drive straight through and get there one day early. At this point I am still pulling for the flight out of Houston. The fare needed to be booked soon so we had to decide. I decide to over ride dear husband and book the flight. Then I hear another storm is coming, Rita has blown in. At first I am worried we will have to fly, that the roads will close again along the 10. Then I start reading the National Weather web site. The storm looks like it will make a direct hit on Houston and is heading for us! So I do not book the flight. At this point I am pretty sure we will have to postpone our trip and give up the free food.

I thought about ending here, but that will not do.

Rita is bad. Not as bad as it could have been, but don’t tell anyone in Port Charles I said that. The storm does not come into Austin at all. We don’t even get any wind. And we certainly do not get cooler weather. The Sunday that Rita would have hit us we have a Cub Scout hike planned. The forecast is for mild (for Austin in the Summer) weather. It is a four mile hike. We went on it, all four of us. It was 1200 degrees out, the hottest day of the year. Okay not 1200, but over 110. We lived, but we will turn back next time it feels like that. But we are ready for anything Florida has to offer. Bring it on.

I have never seen so many people in Austin before or since. The evacuation was awe inspiring. Rita hit in late September, we were leaving for WDW on Sept. 30th. We were more than a little worried about the drive. I was never really worried about the supple of gasoline, I live in Texas. Some things are just beyond my ability to comprehend. Plus I had DIS board reports that gas was available. The coast of Texas south of Houston and LA was ravaged. We were afraid it was not going to be passable. But the DOT web site said it was, and I found a few trucker web sites (mostly for people bringing supplies into LA and Mississippi) said it was clear. Then there was the moral dilemma. We are driving through some of the hardest hit areas. Shouldn’t we try to bring in supplies or something? Well, no. I was going to have my kids in the car. We did what we could for the relief effort from home. I made peace with myself. The trip was a go.

We had last minute car problems, not exciting but the effected our departure time. The plan was to leave around 3pm. We would arrive in WDW around 11 am. I tried to book a room for that night to guarantee a room to rest in as soon as we got there. Plus it would add a day of free dining. But the rooms were all booked solid. As it turned out we didn’t get the car back from the shop till 6pm. Then we took way too much time eating dinner. We hit the road around 7:22pm. Well at exactly 7:22 pm to be honest. I took notes. I am not going to give you a blow by blow of the drive. I know, you really wanted to know, but it is just taking way too long to get to WDW. So I’ll be sorta brief.

Highlights, low points, and gas prices summary. I am happy to say that we saw no price gouging for gasoline on this trip. Prices were high but nothing out of sight. The devastation was mind blowing. I have never seen anything like it. Heartbreaking and awe inspiring. The uprooted trees, piled and smashed boats were beyond anything I saw on TV. Completely flattened or roofless homes and churches and small businesses. I couldn’t bring myself to photograph any of it. It felt like an intrusion. I sort of regret that now. We pulled off the road in search of a bathroom and there was a tree on its side, roots and all, a mighty Oak. It had to have had roots that were three stories high, maybe four. Unbelievable. I’ll leave it at that. I really don’t have the words to paint the picture.

So we arrive at WDW around noon. Good thing we didn’t leave Austin when we planned to, we would have gotten there at 8am!

Next up, our first magical day. We are finaly there. Is anyone still with me?

 

[dismom9761]

I am with you and looking forward to more.

 

[Mr. Silly]

As an eyewitness to these events, I can attest to their general accuracy, but there are a few points I would like to make.

1) I think that most of that could have been summarized a little more effectively. I point to my own trip report as an example of economy and precision.
2) Jeez, that was a long drive. I am still tired out from that one.
3) "I think I told my husband more than I asked him." - That is rather inaccurate. You never told me. I figured it out when I noticed you kept calling and making meal reservations and you were printing out schedules.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying your reports ~ Can't wait for more

 

[HaleyB]

Part three- let the magic begin.​

Today is Oct. 1st, if anyone cares. Actually if you were at WDW on Oct. 1st you may be able to anticipate how this all ends...

The plan for today is to check-in, go to MGM and just look around or do whatever, see Fantasmic! and go to bed for a well deserved sleep. Let's see how my uberplanning works out.

Me, HaleyB - 30 something trip planner who has mastered the art of Disney Math.
DH (Dear Husband) Steve - Slightly younger 30 something who trusts my math because he loves me.
Ryan - 18 year old dear son who is not on this trip because he (for some strange reason) feels he should not miss a week of classes. He started at the University of Rochester this year, which costs more than a trip to WDW (cost per week is > $1000 by more than a little; cost per week per person to go to WDW < $1000, by more than a little). That is scary. I will not think about that anymore. Ever. Except for every time I reread this. :
Max , dear son 10. Allergic to dairy and tree nuts. Peanuts are not tree nuts. Try saying that three times fast every time you order anything in WDW.
Sophia , dear daughter 7. Sophia is the only girl and the youngest child. Need I say more?

We have just driven through the night from Austin to Florida. The kids were awesome and slept all night. I got enough sleep to be a little excited about the WDW approach. We decided we needed some coffee and food so we stop at the Waffle House in Gainesville (I think). We order way too much food and take forever to eat, this is the beginning of a food trend for us on this vacation. After we eat we hit the road again. I think I even take the wheel for a little while. We have done the drive before, but somehow I thought we were a little closer to WDW than we actually were at this point. The last few hours of the trip take forever.

So after an hour, ok several, of “are we there yet?”’s we are there! We only have a little trouble with the Disney signs and find Pop Century after only one U turn. There is a line for check in but it is not bad. I send the kids to watch cartoons and Steve (DH) and I wait to check in. Yippee it is our turn after only a minute and not only is our room ready... we are upgraded! We get a pool view and our choice of floors. We pick the fourth and it was a good thing, people were loud at the pool. Our first upgrade, I was feeling the magic! Plus I was fully expecting our room not to be ready as it was before noon. The CM that checked us in was rather bland. Hey lady, shouldn’t you be excited to see me? I am here! After months of planning and weeks of worry we made it to the most magical place on earth. Well, that is ok, sleepy CM lady. I guess maybe you don’t need to bounce with me.

This was the view from our "balcony"

My plan had been to take the kids to MGM while my husband took a nap. Meet up for dinner and see Fantasmic! My kids had another plan. That seems to happen a lot at my house, but we go to Disney for the kids (yeah right) so I go with the flow. All they wanted to do was get in the pool. You would think they lived in the north, the way they acted about a pool. But if it floats their boat, I’m game . So swim it is. Daddy still got his nap and we got to eat dinner at Everything Pop, which is one of my favorite counter service places. It is all about choices, I love choices.

The pool was less fun than they thought it might be. There was a little breeze that picked up the water from the flowers and sprayed us all the time. It felt kinda cold. Must have been below 85. I we have finally adapted to the weather in Texas. 70 is long pants and sweater weather now. Kind of scary how much the blood thins. I also could not figure out how to lay back on the step with my eyes closed and relax while at the same time watching and entertaining the kids. I need to work on this, I think it is a skill worth cultivation.

So we swim, Steve naps, then we wake him up and throw on some clothing. We have a quick dinner that takes forever (my kids are slow eaters) and head into MGM around 7pm. I can’t remember what we ate. Maybe we had the vegetable chow mien, yes I think that is when we had it. Well whatever we had, it was free because we were on the free dining plan .

We take a bus to MGM, it seemed to take awhile. When we get there we go straight for our Fantasmic seats because my youngest is not sure yet if she wants to ride Tower of Terror this trip. She also refused to ride it in Disneyland. Somehow the ride seems scarier in California, neither of my dare devils wanted to ride it at DCA. I was kinda bummed about that. She did last time we were at WDW when she was six, and she liked it, but memory is a strange thing and she thinks she was afraid on it. It could be my memory that is wrong here, maybe she was afraid of it that first trip. We learned this lesson with our son and the Roger Rabbit ride years ago, never try to convince a child a ride will not scare them. They are younger than you and have damaged less brain cells, so they may remember better than you. In case anyone needs to know, the Roger Rabbit ride in Disneyland does, in fact, have scary clowns. So not wanting to split up for our first ride in WDW we decide to go for great seats instead. We get them- front and center about 15 rows up. Exactly what I was looking for. The weather is perfect, not too hot or humid and the skies are blue.

Here we are waiting for the show to start. Mr. Silly is being silly with the kids. See the people standing up in the back ground? They are doing the wave, we all were, they must have been a little slow.

So, I guess, now is as good a time as any to mention that I tend to get long winded. Actually, you might have already noticed. Actually if you have not already noticed you must have skipped part one and part two, go back and read them, no skipping ahead allowed. Well ok, I guess I should know by now, having three kids and all, not to make rules I can not enforce. Go ahead and skip the boring pre-trip posts if you want. I am ok with it, if you are. Also I sometimes lapse into lengthy asides, or digressions if you prefer that term. And while I am at it I might as well admit that I sometimes am quite abusive of the parenthetical. And sometimes I start sentences with the word ‘and’. Last of all, I am a terrible speller and sometimes spell checking is not enough. Ok, let’s get back to our story... except that I think I am about to do a flashback... (oh, and I am extremely abusive of the ellipse, which I use to indicate a pause. I know that is technically wrong, but it is a common usage and I think most people understand it, I don’t like the dash as indication of pause or the asterisk, I do not find them aesthetically pleasing. Space works, but that means I have to pay attention when I cut and paste this into a post). One more thing, I am a big fan of authorial intrusion. I don’t actually think anyone cares anymore or even finds it odd to directly address the reader. There was a time when doing so was not so common. I picked up the habit reading The life and adventures of Tristam Shandy by Lawrence Sterne. Never heard of it? You are not alone. It was written rather a long time ago. I have never found anyone outside of an English Literature department that has ever read this book, so I think it is fair to call it obscure. Actually it is possible that aside from me, the professor, and maybe three of the other seventeen students in my Development of the Novel in English class are the only people who have read this in a hundred years. That is a shame, it is very funny. Hey, how did we get onto this topic? Never mind. Let’s get back to Disney for heaven’s sake. Did I mention I am a little ADD?

Flashback, we are getting ready to leave the room (remember, this is a Disney trip report and we are currently at the Pop Century, I kinda got off topic for a second there ) and thinking this is just a quick hop into MGM I decide we don’t really need the backpack. We are just going to watch the show and then leave. There is not a cloud in the sky. What could we need? I even say this out loud. Perhaps that was my mistake. So I grab some glow stick things from Target, and we head out the door. Was anyone else trying to see Fantasmic! on October 1st? My kids had those glow stick balls and no ponchos because Mom decided we didn’t need the backpack... we sat in our perfect seats and played with glow stick balls and watched them do all sorts of tests on things. The seats filled rapidly and we were glad we had gotten in early.

My husband is a very patient man. He looked like he could have slept standing up, but he didn’t complain. He drove much more than half the way from Texas, and he has a lot more trouble sleeping while I drive than I do. I mean I sleep just fine while he drives, not that I sleep while I drive. Anyhow, he drove about 13 of the 18 hours it took to get there.

Here is a sleepy Mr. Silly

But back to MGM and Fantasmic! Here is a picture of Max with his glow ball, from Target.

They kept saying over the load speaker that the show could be canceled for weather, but we were sure they must say that every night just to be safe. The sky was clear, except for one dark cloud way off... only it wasn’t way off at 7:58. It was right over us and it was dumping a huge amount of water on us.

This is all we saw of Fantasmic!

This was no summer shower, this was a downpour. Still they do not say the show is off, and it might stop soon... so we sit there, in the rain, with no ponchos. We are either way too optimistic or slightly brainless. No sleep can have that sort of effect on otherwise sane people, so you can imagine the effect no sleep has on us. I was in a very optimistic mood this trip (which is a bit strange for me), but I think this was more a case of brainlessness, to be honest. Finally we are soaked and cold and we decide to leave. So does everyone else. I guess they were all waiting for me to decide. Now we are caught in a mob moving at a snails pace in the pouring rain without our ponchos. I can feel the magic...

See how happy I look...

We decide to look around the stores instead of waiting in line for a bus and we manage to dry out a bit. By 9:30pm we are back at Pop Century and in dry PJ’s. We sleep well that night. Or I do at least. Turns out my son (food allergy boy) got sick in the middle of the night. Mommy slept right through it, Daddy fixed him up. No more blue slushie for that boy. Too bad, he loved it. I left the maid an extra large tip in the morning. I have a very dear husband. He is a keeper.

Someone forgot to tell Sophia what ‘sleep in’ means. She slept from Texas to Florida, Mom and Dad didn’t. 8 am seemed like sleeping in to her, I guess. I awaken to an adorable little face saying “I’m hungry” ”I’m starving” “When is breakfast?” every 20 seconds. I pull myself out of bed and get us dressed. No point waking up the boys. I didn’t know yet about what I slept through that night, good thing I didn’t decide it was Daddy’s turn to get up with princess. Sophia wakes us up this way every weekend. Her tummy is on a timer, I guess.

Okay, I’m gonna call it a day and break here.

Except for one thing. I was just reading a thread where someone said they found the roll eyes smile guy offensive. What the heck?

 

[Chapter 11]

I picked up the habit reading The life and adventures of Tristam Shandy by Lawrence Sterne. Never heard of it? You are not alone. It was written rather a long time ago. I have never found anyone outside of an English Literature department that has ever read this book, so I think it is fair to call it obscure.

Terrific book (once one gets used to the nonlinear storytelling). Read it in college -- I was not an English major, but my girlfriend was, so perhaps your supposition is correct. Are you looking forward to seeing the movie? The reviews seem pretty decent.

Very much enjoying your trip report -- feel free to digress away.

 

[HaleyB]

Terrific book (once one gets used to the nonlinear storytelling). Read it in college -- I was not an English major, but my girlfriend was, so perhaps your supposition is correct. Are you looking forward to seeing the movie? The reviews seem pretty decent.

Very much enjoying your trip report -- feel free to digress away.

Good God, another person who has read TS. The wonders of the DIS boards never cease to amaze me. I would love to see the movie but:

Sorry, this movie is not currently playing in or near the location you have selected.

Please enter a different location.

I wish I knew how to post a black page. Alas, poor Yorick.

The website is very well done. I like the voice mail.

 

[Chapter 11]

Good God, another person who has read TS. The wonders of the DIS boards never cease to amaze me. I would love to see the movie but

Well, I'm sure it will be out on DVD very soon -- doesn't seem like it's getting a very wide release (at least yet). BTW, your Sophia sounds much like my daughter (who is 6). Waking her up on a school morning is like pulling teeth, but on weekends and holidays (like today -- Spring Break), she's up even earlier than she would be on a school morning and bugging me to make her breakfast. Criminey -- let a guy get a cup of coffee, will you?

 

[fizz13]

great report and I feel, a very apt title. Now if it goes as long as 1000happyhaunts, I suggest we start reigning you all in

Just for the benefit of any sensitive readers out there:
have a nice day,

Claire xx

 

[ZZUB]

We arrive and the Magic begins.

I laughed out loud when I read this. It may well be the antithesis of your report.

I am REALLY enjoying this so far. As you know, I am a big fan of authorial intrusion. My whole trip report is a lenghty intrusion.

Looking forward to a lot more of your report.

This isn't offensive. This is: or this: I don't even know what this means: .

 

[Thumper's Tara]

Wow! Great report so far...I can't wait for more!

 

[tammyandtommy]

Im subscribing before i lose this one! LOL

 

[eeyore45]

I cant tell you how shocked I am - I have avoided this area of the DIs, knowing everyone that went in Oct had a much better time than I did - and now my 3rd report in... I'm shocked at the similiarities!!

You see we have in common the hospital thing. My mom and I had a tenacious relationship at best - then she goes and gets sick - seriously sick, hospitilized for 3 months. When she was released I suggested a WDW trip - a BIRTHDAY trip... because we all know October is a slow month for WDW - right?!!

I'm in good company!!

 

[javamom]

subbing

 

[HaleyB]

I am working on the next installment now. I am in a bit of a sappy mood so consider yourself warned. I really just wanted to point out my new tag to everyone

<-------------

I think the tag fairy is very insightful. That one really sums me up pretty well.

Back to work. TTYL.

 

[mittelst]

How is your son liking his first winter in WNY? He's lucked out - this is the most mild, snow-less winter I can remember. Not so great for those of us who pass the time between WDW trips by skiiing, but a nice break all the same .

 

[2infinity&B-ond]

Loving your report...don't keep us waiting for more!

 

[HaleyB]

How is your son liking his first winter in WNY? He's lucked out - this is the most mild, snow-less winter I can remember. Not so great for those of us who pass the time between WDW trips by skiiing, but a nice break all the same .

He loves it, but he is cold! I just call him wussie and tell him to wear two pairs of socks. I grew up outside of Buffalo (first 15 years) so I feel justified in the use of the term wussie. He really likes the people and finds he fits in really well. We always told him he would like the East Coast.

 

[HaleyB]

Part Four​

Hello, I’m back again. Let’s do a quick refresher on the cast. Not that anyone really needs it, just that I like to amuse myself by thinking up one line descriptions of my family members. This is our first full day in WDW. A quick hop into Epcot and then on to MNSSHP. But honestly, I doubt we will make it all the way through a whole day in one post.

The cast:

Me- Not really funny so much as odd. Also easily amused.

DH, Steve- Really a very funny person. Witty, dry, with great timing. He can always make me laugh. That is a good trait in a spouse. Also he is now reading these boards

Ryan, DS 18- Not with us on this trip because he is off getting an education in New York and can’t miss classes.

Max, DS 10- Max takes after both his parents so he is funny and quite odd. He has an incredible vocabulary and a knack for memorizing dialogue from bad cartoon shows.

Sophia, DD 7- A Disney girl. She is training both of her brothers to be very patient. They will make good husbands one day.

We left off with my lovely daughter waking me up because she was about to die from starvation. So Sophia and I quickly dressed and crept out of the room into the warm, moist Florida morning air. I hate humidity. If I could ask Walt one question it would be, “What were you thinking?” Why the heck did he pick here (there) of all places. It is a mystery to me. Sophia and I went down to Everything Pop and shared a cinnamon roll, and a Mickey waffle plate. I love the dining plan, you get desert with breakfast (or at least you used to). I had what passes for coffee at that place,and Sophia had blue slushie, I think.

We used one counter service credit on breakfast. I didn’t really keep track of things much, I am not the type. I know this is a shocking admission, coming from someone who has a three ring binder full of plans for her trip to WDW. I like to plan vacations, I can be highly organized for very short bursts of time. Just long enough to plan a vacation, it seems. So even though I think I did keep most of the receipts, and I possibly knew at one point exactly how much we would have spent if we had paid for the ridicules amount of food we ate, I have lost track of that information. I really am not that type. I like to imagine myself as that type, but to be honest I am not. I start a new ‘Day Timer’ about three times a year. My calendar over my phone has blank days for weeks on end sometimes. (That is a very awkward sentence and if I had an editor I am sure he would have fixed it, but I don’t so it will have to do.) And that is not because I didn’t have anything much to do on those weeks. When I was younger I liked to pretend that my inability to use any sort of time management device (even one as simple as a calendar) was due to my incredible memory. I just didn’t need one, so I never learned to use one. I am not that delusional any more. I routinely call my dog by my children’s names now.

So we were eating breakfast, right? Sitting there, just the two of us (great now that song is going to rattle around in my head for a few hours...just the two of us, we can make it if we try, just the two of us, you and I...) was one of those magical moments we are all chasing after. I was truly in the moment, enjoying this complex, amazing, beautiful child that looked so much like me. I really love one on one time with my kids. I get to relax and just enjoy them, instead of trying to mediate. They always tell me things they would not share if their brother or sister where around. One of the things I love about going to theme parks is that I get a lot of one on one time with my kids. Even if it is just waiting in line for a bathroom. Max likes rides Sophia will not go on, so we often split up. I the all of us together time too, but the one on one time is special.

After we eat we decide that it is still too early to wake the boys up, so we do the natural thing, we shop. Really that is funnier if you know me. I am not very girlish in some ways (in other ways I am). I don’t shop much, don’t get my nails done, don’t wear make-up, and really prefer to hang out with the guys. Not that I get much of a chance to any more. But I am not a tomboy either. I don’t play any sports, I am useless with most tools, I leave all the manual labor for my husband, I expect doors to be opened for me, and I watch girl movies. That is a bit of an over simplification. I guess I could have just left it at “I don’t like to shop.”, oh well. Anyhow, Sophia picks out one of the new larger Photo album autograph books (the gold one instead of the pink one, so Max can share it, she really is a sweet kid) and a charm for her charm bracelet. I started it for here when she was 3 and we have added a charm on every trip to either WDW or DL. It is getting pretty full. She picked out a purple heart with Figment on it. She has a thing for the purple guy. Too bad Dad considers him a waste of valuable Disney time.

Steve has informed me that he would hence forth prefer to be known as Steven.

By the way, today the plan is to go to Epcot and just enjoy being there. No big goals we have more Epcot time on other days. We just wanted to sleep in and relax during the day because we have tickets to go to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party tonight. I am really looking forward to that. Short lines and candy, sounds like a perfect mix to me.

I scope out the scrapbooking stuff and look for something to bring back for the teachers. We have four to buy for, two each. In addition to the regular teacher Sophia has a student teacher and Max has a resource teacher. Nothing jumps out at me. Their school is on a food Nazi binge so I don’t want to give anything edible. I will spare you from a long digression on how stupid it is to try to legislate how kids eat at school. Replacing all the regular milk with nonfat milk has gotten kids to change their eating habits. Now they don’t drink milk at all. Nice to see our tax dollars being put to such good use. Maybe next they could figure out a way to get kids to quit eating green beans. I’ll leave it at that. I could go on for an hour, but I have self control. Otherwise Mickey pretzels would make a great gift.

OK I need to break here, Steve just got home. I mean Steven. More soon. I swear we really did visit the parks on this trip.