Oh no, you are not going to steal my joy! Our WDW 12/05 to 12/12 2009 experience.

[mickeysaver]

So, it's down to the end of the planning and I have decided to lose three ADR's. Frankly, it's going to take some stress out of the plans. I feel that the last plan was just too rigid and we don't function well when it's that tightly planned. We need some freedom to just let the fun flow. So, here it is, the final, final, final, final, and finally really freakin' final itinerary.

12/05/09 Saturday
Drive to see Gabby's Mom
then onto WDW
Check into Yacht Club
Get some sleep

12/06/09 Sunday
Sleep Late
Bum around the YC/BC/BW area
Breakfast at Yacht Club Grille
Lunch at Beaches & Cream
MVMCP
Meet jackskellingtonsgirl
Dinner at Pecos Bill's
Ride BTMRR during Holiday Wishes

12/07/09 Monday
Breakfast at Concierge Lounge
Disney Hollywood Studios for rope drop
Lunch at Backlot Express
Dinner at Mama Melrose
Osborne Lights

12/08/09 Tuesday
Sleep Late
Breakfast at Kona Cafe
Shop at Downtown Disney
Lunch at Earl of Sandwich
MVMCP
Dinner at Pecos Bill's
Wishes Dessert Party
Holiday Wishes

12/09/09 Wednesday
Sleep Late
Breakfast at Concierge Lounge
Epcot
Lunch at Chefs de France to meet Remy
Meet Randy Noble @ Art of Disney 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Get "Very Merry Gingerbread" signed
Dinner at San Angel Inn
Drinks at La Cava de Tequila
IllumiNations!

12/10/09 Thursday
Breakfast at Concierge Lounge
Animal Kingdom for rope drop
Wildlife Discovery Excursion
CS Lunch
Dinner at Big River Grille
Check out the Boardwalk area

12/11/09 Friday
Breakfast at Concierge Lounge
Magic Kingdom
Lunch CS somewhere
Hop to Epcot
Meet Jim Shore (appearing 11:30 am to 3:30 pm)
Hop back to Magic Kingdom
MVMCP
Dinner at Pecos Bill's

12/12/09 Saturday
Breakfast at Concierge Lounge
Drive home
(Depending on the drive and the day, we might stop in my hometown to take my Dad & his wife to dinner.)

 

[mickeysaver]

We made it to a week to go! We got our haircuts done today, so that the photos without silly hats look good.

Today we got the additional cat litter boxes that we are going to need for the cats. Our friend comes by daily to check in on all three of them, but is allergic to the litter, so we always set out 3 additional boxes so that the litter is still absorbing odor when we come home.

The dog boarding facility has received copies of all 5 of our Chihuahua's shot records. We still need to complete their paperwork, so that the drop off process goes quickly and smoothly. I am so worried about leaving Gracie with them. I have no doubt that they will do their usual spectacular job of spoiling them all, but Gracie is sort of emotionally fragile. She has come a very long way in the past 11 months with us, but she still has a lot of issues with being severely introverted with strangers. I have just put that in God's hands. She will be with only two of our other babies, but she likes them both and that will help. We have two suites booked for them, which is costing us over $1200 for our trip. I love our babies, but they are expensive. On a side note, Deuce, our oldest, turned 9 today.

With Gabby's help, I was able to complete the snowflake sign for the front of the ECV. The snowflakes are set in a Mickey head pattern. They are mounted in a white craftfoam sheet with some tiny blue glittery snowflake adding a bit of snowy cheer to the basket of the scooter once they are attached. I had forgotten about the tray for the bottom of the basket, but Gabby found it in the Disney room this evening. All of that stuff along with a few other decorative items for the "snow mobile" are gathered in a bag. I just need to get the batteries for the strands of snowflake lights.

The Disney pins have finally been sorted. I am dumping some really nice pins onto lanyards during our stay. I decided that I was not going to stress about what I took with me this time. Either it's something that I like for the BBA kids or it's gone. The only exception is the Disney Auction pins.

The weather forecast looks like for most of the trip, I will be comfortable in shorts. I am going to pack like it's a shorts trip, but take a couple of pairs of jeans, just in case. There is also some rain in our forecast. We have got to find the 2 for $1 rain ponchos from Dollar Tree. I think we have plenty of them, but I am not sure.

I think that I have most of my ducks in a row at work. It's always stressful thing for me before and after I go away because no one does all of my job duties when I am gone, they do the phone stuff, but all of the paperwork & detail stuff just sits there. With my responsibilites in respect to tracking and reporting our H1N1 vaccine supply, this is just a really big thing to walk away from for a week. I also think that they are going to run out of H1N1 vaccine for the 3 and older crowd before my trip is done, which means that lots of people are going to get phonecalls that tell them the bad news. It's not going to be pretty.

I need to take the change jar to the bank and get it cashed in for "real money". I need to go through all of the trip documents and gift cards tomorrow after Gabby leaves for Virginia.

And finally, at some point, I will need to breathe. I can't wait!

 

[mickeysaver]

Well, I have lots to do when I come back from lunch today. Our office will be out of H1N1 vaccine for kids 3 and older by the end of the day. So, I will be making lots of phone calls to give people the bad news. The good news is that I had predicted that this was coming, so I only have to call the people that are coming before 12/14/09, because I had already called and cancelled all of those appointments. I am very surprised that we have gone through so many vaccines in such a short period of time. There are lots of kids that are not going to get a booster dose, but I am hopeful that people will get the vaccine boosters done at the Public Health Dept or somewhere else.

I thought that we had the dog vaccine confirmations all done, but they couldn't read the paperwork that proves that Toby got his rabies vaccine, so I have to call and get that straightened out tonight.

I received my new New Balance shoes yesterday, so that the time that I do have to stand in line, I will be in comfortable shoes. I am still waiting on my new jeans to arrive. I tried to check on their availability last night, but it was still showing as processing even thought the order was placed on Wednesday.

I ordered more doggie pee pads this morning, so we should be able to leave some with the dog boarding facility, so that if someone needs to go in their suite, they are not doing it on their blankets.

I have so many random things zipping through my head that need to be done. I am still not sure what to pack yet because the forecast keeps waffling from warm and sunny days to lows a bit too low for shorts and some rain. We will decided on Friday when we pack, I guess. I have to coordinate our outfits, so that the photos don't look any worse than necessary.

Back to work.

 

[mickeysaver]

FYI - head colds suck.

I have a ton of stuff to do after I clock back in from lunch. But, after having done it, I should be done with about 90% of the must do before I leave Friday at noon stuff. The doggie pee pads came today. I didn't hear the delivery guy and the girls put them up in the supply closet and proceeded to fill the boxes with crap that is to be donated to some medical missionary group. I was frustrated that I had not heard the delivery and then had to undo the work that had been done with packing up the stuff for donation, so that I could get my stuff boxed back up to take to the car. So, while I am already frustrated and having to deal with this during my lunch break, one of my coworkers decides to go off on me about it.
Just two short days to go and I will be on vacation.

I really need this time away from work. I need some time to be alone with my partner without the real world creeping in on us. I don't care if it rains every stinkin' day at least I won't be here.

 

[kittylady1972]

Just found your PTR and love your plans so far...plus you will be there at the same time as us! I love your idea with the rental scooter. IF (and that's a big IF) my in-laws join us as planned, MIL will be on one of those as well, though she's not happy about it. I am thinking I might have to bring some stuff with us to spruce it up for her too!

 

[mickeysaver]

Just found your PTR and love your plans so far...plus you will be there at the same time as us! I love your idea with the rental scooter. IF (and that's a big IF) my in-laws join us as planned, MIL will be on one of those as well, though she's not happy about it. I am thinking I might have to bring some stuff with us to spruce it up for her too!

Cool! If you see me, don't be afraid to stop and chat. Gabby's a bit shy, but I never met a stranger.

My Target has a great selection of battery powered lights and stuff. Last year, we used lights around the basket rim as well as some thin mini-tree metalic garland to jazz up my MIL's basket. There were other decorations, like signs largely inspired by the Creative DISigns Board that we tweaked/personalized and then had laminated and tied to the front of the basket and onto the back as a license plate. She even had an I love Tink "bumper sticker". Needless to say, she got noticed and even had a pixie dust moment or two. I think the CM's get a kick out of seeing people's creativity and holiday spirit.

C'ya round the parks!

 

[kittylady1972]

Cool! If you see me, don't be afraid to stop and chat. Gabby's a bit shy, but I never met a stranger.

My Target has a great selection of battery powered lights and stuff. Last year, we used lights around the basket rim as well as some thin mini-tree metalic garland to jazz up my MIL's basket. There were other decorations, like signs largely inspired by the Creative DISigns Board that we tweaked/personalized and then had laminated and tied to the front of the basket and onto the back as a license plate. She even had an I love Tink "bumper sticker". Needless to say, she got noticed and even had a pixie dust moment or two. I think the CM's get a kick out of seeing people's creativity and holiday spirit.

C'ya round the parks!

HA! My 9-year-old sounds just like you...he will talk to anybody about anything!

I just may have to check out Target today during my lunch break. Of course, still don't know if my MIL is going to be going...she will see her doctor today and may not make her final decision until tomorrow. It should be interesting. Maybe instead I'll decorate the kids' double stroller which we are seriously considering hauling down with us. We haven't used it in over a year (rented a double-stroller from offsite during our May 2009 trip) but it would be cool to dress it up a bit for fun!

 

[mickeysaver]

24 hours from now, I will be free of the world of work.

I looked at the forecast and it looks more like shorts weather to me. Gabby is very cold natured, so I am thinking that she's going to be in jeans for a good portion of the trip. It's going to make for some interesting photos with her all bundled up in a hoodie & wearing long pants with me standing there in shorts and a t-shirt.

I can't freakin' wait. The butterflies have entered my tummy, so I am a pretty happy camper right now, even though this head cold is attempting to make me miserable, but I am not going to let that steal my joy!

I am pretty sure that we are taking the mini-notebook, so I have intentions of posting from the hotel. I will make an attempt to do some Tweeting. I haven't fully committed to that idea yet. I really just want to have this be a relaxing experience and I am not sure that Tweeting throughout the parks is going to give me/us that.

I remembered to call the vet with the missing date for Toby's final round of vaccines. So, that is covered. I think I am actually going to miss the dogs more this time than usual. I am not sure why. I love all 5 of them, even with their quirks and challenges. No one else on the planet would appreciate our little herd the way that we do.

Ok, back to work. I have very little to do in the way of prepping for me being out next week. I pretty much have covered all of my bases. I just have to do the day to day stuff now.

I can't wait for Saturday morning!

 

[kittylady1972]

24 hours from now, I will be free of the world of work.

I looked at the forecast and it looks more like shorts weather to me. Gabby is very cold natured, so I am thinking that she's going to be in jeans for a good portion of the trip. It's going to make for some interesting photos with her all bundled up in a hoodie & wearing long pants with me standing there in shorts and a t-shirt.

I can't wait for Saturday morning!

YIPPEE and AMEN to that! I am also very excited about the forecast. It seems here in Maryland for the last two weeks it's just been overcast and rainy. This morning the sun peeked through for a VERY short period of time...and now it's overcast again! They are predicting possible snow here Saturday...and I'm not the least bit disappointed that we might miss the first snow of the season here! We packed last night and each kid is taking several pairs of shorts and at least two pairs of pants, mostly for the evening when I expect it to be a bit chillier!

 

[mickeysaver]

This trip is supposed to be just for Gabby and me. We have included family in our trips to WDW in the past and it just never turns out well. Well, now, Gabby's 21 year old nephew wants to come join us on our AK day. I am not sure how I feel about it. I love the AK park and if Mikey wants to behave, I am ok with him joining us, but I swear, most of the time he is like a 12 year old. I am pretty darn sure that even if I did want to add him to our AK Wildlife Discovery Excursion that we couldn't at this point. I have no idea if he will bring friends (shudders at the thought). I like Mikey, but I am not sure that I want to mess up my experience at my favorite park. Time will tell I guess.

I just checked my email and found a little pre-departure pixie dust.

We got upgraded to a Lagoon View room! ​

I really wanted to book a Lagoon View room, but I just couldn't justify the expense. Now, we will have a pretty view and it costs us nothing extra! I am so stinkin' happy.

 

[southern_belle21]

Sounds like you're almost ready to go! We'll be there the same week too! We're leaving tomorrow and driving down to Georgia to stay, then getting up and driving on in to check in at OKW! We'll be at the MVMCP and the Dessert party on the 8th as well! Hope to see you all there! Have a safe trip down!

 

[mickeysaver]

Sounds like you're almost ready to go! We'll be there the same week too! We're leaving tomorrow and driving down to Georgia to stay, then getting up and driving on in to check in at OKW! We'll be at the MVMCP and the Dessert party on the 8th as well! Hope to see you all there! Have a safe trip down!

While we are close to going, the reality of having nothing 100% packed and ready has me a bit nauseous at the moment. The reality of 24 hours from now being the time when we will be doing the packing of the rental, well, there is a whole lot of work between now and then and Gabby just arrived at the airport from her week onsite in Virginia. I will breathe again, but it won't be calmly done anytime soon.

It's very cool that you will be at MVMCP and the Dessert Party with us on the 8th. If you see us, and how could you not see us with the silly hats, please do say "Hello"! Like I said before, I never met a stranger, but Gabby is a bit shy. There is another DIS'er ead79, Elisabeth, that will be there at the party the same night. I am looking forward to meeting her too.

Have a safe drive down! If you see a big rental SUV loaded to the gills with a Mickey antenna topper and some Disney window decorations, that would be us. We have Disney and holiday tunes to help keep us jammin' down the road. See ya soon!

 

[mickeysaver]

For anyone that we might be meeting up with, I found a photo that I am willing to post on the internet. I am not one for doing this often because of the desire to keep my privacy, but what the heck.

This photo from a couple of years ago was of Phil Holmes, Vice President of the Magic Kingdom; Erin Wallace, who is now Senior Vice President of Operations; Me & Gabby; and Al Weiss, President of Worldwide Operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. We stumbled upon them inside Pecos Bill's and I was thrilled to meet them all.

 

[mickeysaver]

Ok, I am making yet another leap. Twitter, if you want to follow my tweets from the park, check me out at MickeySaver's Twitter page.

 

[kittylady1972]

How cool about your upgrade...that's awesome! We had a Poly Lagoon View in 2003 and my DH STILL talks about it being one of his favorite rooms...and we only stay in the DVC resorts now!

I saw your Twitter account and I guess I should follow yours as well as it would be cool to see how our vacations compare.

I was SO tempted to try the dessert party also...but just couldn't bring myself to spend the money for it. Maybe I'll see if any are available next week at the last minute but it's pretty unlikely. Man I do LOVE some dessert though!

 

[mickeysaver]

Gabby came home, but between her exhaustion from a day of work and an evening of travel and my nasty head cold, we got nothing done last night. It didn't help that she needed to be up at 5:30 am to do work either, so we just called it a night and went to bed.

I just paid our power bill online after calling for a balance because I was going over what was outstanding and found that it's time to pay the bill, but I have no bill in hand. So, the cats won't freeze while we are gone because Mama forgot to pay the power bill. In doing that, I also remembered that I forgot to put a hold on our mail. So, off I went to usps.com to set that up.

I have the change jar in hand and will stop off and get it turned into cash on my way home. Gabby won't be done as early as I had hoped, so it's not like I won't have the time to stop and get this converted to cash.

The weather forecast looks beautiful. I pray that it holds just as it is because it would be a blessing for sure. 3 days of jeans and 3 days of shorts. I can most definitely live with that.

Time to head off to work. Did I mention that I am free of all that at Noon?

 

[mickeysaver]

Work is done! I went to turn our change jar into cash and it was $92. I picked up sandwiches for us at My Friend's Place. Stopped at the bank and got $2 bills for tipping money. Gabby is finally done! Now it's time for the vacation packing to begin.

 

[mickeysaver]

Clothes are in bags. Both camera's and the video camera have been packed. All of the scooter decorations are gathered in a bag.

Our trip buddies are packed. I have a teddy bear that is holding a tiny green & red plaid teddy bear. The big bear is now wearing a Mickey ear hat. And Gabby has a little penguin buddy, who is wearing Santa Mickey ears. They are going to look adorable in the photos around the parks.

I still need to get my shoes packed. We need more of the ear drops that prevent swimmer's ear. We need to gather the cell phone chargers up. We need to get batteries for the snowflake light strands. We need to grab the silly Santa hats. We need sunglasses out of our cars. We need to get the Disney Dollars.

Not much left to do, but I think it's all waiting until we get the dogs boarded tomorrow. That means a later start than intended, but a good night's sleep sounds better. I will by hyper tomorrow and will handle it all better then anyway. Good night all.

 

[mickeysaver]

We are up! I just walked the dogs. We need to get their food, blankets, boarding documents, meds, pill treats, regular treats, and a couple of toys from home all gathered up to take with us.

Once they are boarded, we are coming back home to set up the multiple litter boxes and the big cat food dispenser along with refilling the 5 gallon water dispenser that the dogs use.

Once the pet issues have all been handled, we will take showers, dress, grab the last of the stuff that we need and head out! I will Tweet from the road once we are headed out.

It's finally here!

 

[mickeysaver]

12/05/09 Saturday
Drive to see Gabby's Mom
then onto WDW
Check into Yacht Club
Get some sleep

12/06/09 Sunday
Breakfast at the Captain's Grille
Shop at Downtown Disney
Lunch at Earl of Sandwich
MVMCP
Meet jackskellingtonsgirl
Dinner at Pecos Bill's
Ride BTMRR during Holiday Wishes

12/07/09 Monday
Breakfast at Concierge Lounge
Disney Hollywood Studios for rope drop
Lunch at Backlot Express
Dinner at Mama Melrose
Osborne Lights

12/08/09 Tuesday
Sleep Late
Breakfast at Kona Cafe
Bum around the YC/BC/BW area
Lunch at Beaches & Cream
MVMCP
Dinner at Pecos Bill's
Wishes Dessert Party
Holiday Wishes

12/09/09 Wednesday
Sleep Late
Breakfast at Concierge Lounge
Epcot
Lunch at Chefs de France to meet Remy
Meet Randy Noble @ Art of Disney 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Get "Very Merry Gingerbread" signed
Dinner at San Angel Inn
Drinks at La Cava de Tequila
IllumiNations!

12/10/09 Thursday
Breakfast at Concierge Lounge
Animal Kingdom for rope drop
Wildlife Discovery Excursion
CS Lunch
Dinner at Big River Grille
Check out the Boardwalk area

12/11/09 Friday
Breakfast at Concierge Lounge
Magic Kingdom
Lunch CS somewhere
Hop to Epcot
Meet Jim Shore (appearing 11:30 am to 3:30 pm)
Hop back to Magic Kingdom
MVMCP
Dinner at Pecos Bill's

12/12/09 Saturday
Breakfast at Concierge Lounge
Drive home
(Depending on the drive and the day, we might stop in my hometown to take my Dad & his wife to dinner.)