Punkin's Dad
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2006
- Messages
- 22
We just returned from our second annual WDW new-year's trip. We were there from 1/1 - 1/6 staying at the Wilderness Lodge. It's going to take me awhile to share with everyone the details of our stay, but for now let me just say that it was without question the most magical vacation our little family has ever had!
Ive really enjoyed reading so many od the wonderful Trip Reports here and have learned so much from them. I hope I can do this one justice. Im not much of a writer, but Ill give it my very best shot!!
Cast of Characters:
DH, Mike (Me) 38, employed as an IT manager with a computer software company. Yes I'm a geek and proud of it!! I've picked up the Disney bug from my DW and now I'm almost as big a fan as she is.
DW Christine (Cris), Younger than I......(but not much!!). A Registered Nurse, wonderful mom, great wife and friend and just a totally beautiful person inside and out. She loves Disney and her research and planning are mostly responsible for all the great Disney experiences that we have had. I make fun of her for her obsessive planning, but without all her hard work, we wouldn't have nearly as much fun!!
DS 12, Jonah . All around good kid. Sometimes I think we are too hard on him (teenage years just around the corner) but whenever we go someplace like Disney, and I see how some other kids his age behave in public it always reminds me what a sweet, well-mannered, polite young man he truly is.
DD 7, Olivia to the rest of the world, but to me shell always be Punkin. Shes everyones friend, never met a stranger. Quite possible the sweetest little girl who ever lived. If you look up Extrovert in the dictionary, you see a picture of Olivia. Shes our Disney secret weapon, an absolute PixieDust magnet!
We came to WDW at the same time last year (Stayed at POR and really enjoyed it) but we made the mistake of eating at the Whispering Canyon Café in the lobby of the WL and as soon as we walked into that lobby we KNEW that we had to stay there on our next trip. I just about died when I saw how much it was going to cost but it was worth every penny.
2006 was a tough year for our family, we lost my dad, probably the kindest and sweetest man ever, to cancer in May and that was very hard on all of us, particularly on my DD. She and my dad were very close and she still cries about it sometimes. So we really needed some Disney Magic this year, and we were not disappointed.
We drove down from Spanish Fort, AL (right outside Mobile) on 12/31 arriving in Orlando ~9:00pm. We had reservations for one night at the Ramada Inn on 192 right outside the park. Drive was uneventful and we were all very tired. We had a little trouble there, not with the hotel but with getting something to eat. The hotel restaurant was closed by the time we got checked in and unloaded, no one wanted to get back into the car so we ordered pizza to be delivered to the room. 3 hours later, with several calls to the pizza place, it finally arrives, we eat and collapse into bed hoping that this is not indicative of how the rest of the trip is going to go. In hindsight, ordering pizza delivery on New Years Eve probably wasnt the best idea. We should have sucked it up and gone somewhere to eat. Live and learn.
On 1/1 we are up HIDEOUSLY early. Remember, we live in the Central time zone. 6:00am at Disney is 5:00am for us! We checked into the WL and got our park tickets and caught the first bus to Epcot. TGM had told us that this would be a great day for Epcot and hes never led us astray.
Stay tuned for part 2 .The magic begins!!!!!!!
Ive really enjoyed reading so many od the wonderful Trip Reports here and have learned so much from them. I hope I can do this one justice. Im not much of a writer, but Ill give it my very best shot!!
Cast of Characters:
DH, Mike (Me) 38, employed as an IT manager with a computer software company. Yes I'm a geek and proud of it!! I've picked up the Disney bug from my DW and now I'm almost as big a fan as she is.
DW Christine (Cris), Younger than I......(but not much!!). A Registered Nurse, wonderful mom, great wife and friend and just a totally beautiful person inside and out. She loves Disney and her research and planning are mostly responsible for all the great Disney experiences that we have had. I make fun of her for her obsessive planning, but without all her hard work, we wouldn't have nearly as much fun!!
DS 12, Jonah . All around good kid. Sometimes I think we are too hard on him (teenage years just around the corner) but whenever we go someplace like Disney, and I see how some other kids his age behave in public it always reminds me what a sweet, well-mannered, polite young man he truly is.
DD 7, Olivia to the rest of the world, but to me shell always be Punkin. Shes everyones friend, never met a stranger. Quite possible the sweetest little girl who ever lived. If you look up Extrovert in the dictionary, you see a picture of Olivia. Shes our Disney secret weapon, an absolute PixieDust magnet!
We came to WDW at the same time last year (Stayed at POR and really enjoyed it) but we made the mistake of eating at the Whispering Canyon Café in the lobby of the WL and as soon as we walked into that lobby we KNEW that we had to stay there on our next trip. I just about died when I saw how much it was going to cost but it was worth every penny.
2006 was a tough year for our family, we lost my dad, probably the kindest and sweetest man ever, to cancer in May and that was very hard on all of us, particularly on my DD. She and my dad were very close and she still cries about it sometimes. So we really needed some Disney Magic this year, and we were not disappointed.
We drove down from Spanish Fort, AL (right outside Mobile) on 12/31 arriving in Orlando ~9:00pm. We had reservations for one night at the Ramada Inn on 192 right outside the park. Drive was uneventful and we were all very tired. We had a little trouble there, not with the hotel but with getting something to eat. The hotel restaurant was closed by the time we got checked in and unloaded, no one wanted to get back into the car so we ordered pizza to be delivered to the room. 3 hours later, with several calls to the pizza place, it finally arrives, we eat and collapse into bed hoping that this is not indicative of how the rest of the trip is going to go. In hindsight, ordering pizza delivery on New Years Eve probably wasnt the best idea. We should have sucked it up and gone somewhere to eat. Live and learn.
On 1/1 we are up HIDEOUSLY early. Remember, we live in the Central time zone. 6:00am at Disney is 5:00am for us! We checked into the WL and got our park tickets and caught the first bus to Epcot. TGM had told us that this would be a great day for Epcot and hes never led us astray.
Stay tuned for part 2 .The magic begins!!!!!!!
