Our Free Trip to WDW, What went right and what went wrong!! A Big Thank You!

[ClaraBug]

What second honeymoon, to Disney, for free?! Explain yourself!

The Cast

DH - The love of my life! Or at least I keep telling myself that! An employee of Home Depot and a Disney Virgin.

Me - Disney Dork, at the time of this trip, a full-time mom, but I currently work full-time outside the home as well!

We have two daughters and I am bringing them up by the Code of Disney!

The History
Dh came home from work one day and announced that the Home Depot, he works at was pulled from a drawing to have a drawing.

Blank stare! I just nod my head and pretend that I understand.

Dh continues and explains that because of something good that happened his store was entered into a drawing. His store won the drawing.

Okay, simple so far, kept nodding.

The store manager gets a brand new vehicle.

"That's nice, hon." Sorry could not get very excited over someone else winning a brand new vehicle.

DH - "There will be a storewide drawing,too."
Me - "Mmhm, for what?" again lack of enthusiasm
DH- "Five associates win a FREE trip to Disney or a Disney Cruise"
Me - "What!?!" Got my attention then. How great is that!!
He proceeded to tell me the rest of the details. The drawing was to be the following month when corporate would come and deliver the store manager's new car.

What, me lucky, forget it! The changes of winning that trip was 1 in a million, no, no, 1 in a billion. Actually it was 1 in 20, those are not bad odds.

Jump Ahead a month,

It was a brisk Sunday in October, DH went to work per usual and I went through my normal Sunday routine; church, lunch, nap, etc......
This was just not any ordinary Sunday, this was THE Sunday. After the store closed that night, corporate was having a shindig for the employees and to present the Store Manager with his new car. But the most exciting part was the Disney Drawing. I waited at home as patiently as I could. Knowing my DH, he would call when he was on his way home to let me what happened.
I waited....

and waited....

and waited...

and...

waited....

Well, it must not have been good news b/c I knew he would have called if his name was pulled.

Finally, I heard his car pull in the driveway. He was home.



My Dear Husband's Cruel Joke.....

 

[sweetpea29488]

Lucky You!!! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[serendipity]

I CAN'T wait to hear more....love it

 

[Disney owl]

waiting for more!

 

[Motherofboys]

Great start!! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[ClaraBug]

I love my husband, I love my husband, I love...

So, in walks my husband, with a HUGE Pooh Bear balloon in hand. I just look at him...waiting for him to drop the bad news....

Me - "nice balloon, did ya snitch it for the girls?"
DH - "Nope, it a consolation prize"

My heart sunk, I knew we didn't win.

Me - "oh" and I go back to watch TV.
DH -"Its a consolation prize for the girls."

Huh?! What?!

DH - "Babe, we are going to Disney!"

Here is the weird part, when he tells me this, I burst into tears and yell at him that this is not funny and don't lie to me like that! Meanwhile, the balloon is forgotten and he rushes over to me and consoles me as I sob. I am still hysterical when I call my mom. In fact, I had to hand the phone to him b/c I still had not calmed down.

What can I say, I get emotional!


Up next, Getting Ready!!

 

[Motherofboys]

Who can blame you?? I'd be crying too, and screaming and jumping around like a dork Can't wait to hear more!

 

[dizzienoodle]

Thats awesome. Im an emotional person too... I cry all the time when I get excited, nothing to be ashamed of.

 

[ClaraBug]

Sorry to back track......

DH and I were only 21 yr old when we got married. So there was not a whole lot in the money department. We both wanted a Disneymoon but it was just not feasible. So we opted for a small cottage in the mountains, it was very romantic.

The "package" my husband won was only for two people, if we wanted to take the girls we would have to pay for them. Well, with me staying home with the girls again the budget was tight.

After some serious soul search, we both decided to take this trip without the girls. Em was only 4 and MJ was only 18 mos, so I didn't feel that bad. They were excited about staying a Nanny's for a week.

Now the big question was the Disney Cruise or WDW. Believe it or not, we actually argued about this! DH wanted cruise and I wanted WDW. I was able to persuade him to come to the DIS side.

Okay when to go? Well, we wanted Jan or Feb but it was not to be. It was the dreaded INVENTORY. For anyone who has never worked retail, consider yourself blessed you have not had to deal with inventory.

Okay in March? Sure sounds go to me! So DH calls to set up our 2nd FREE honeymoon to Disney.

What was that? We are staying where??? The Beach Club!!!!!
Airfare is included!!!!

 

[TLC371]

Hi! Thought I would jump in and read along about your trip!

How awesome that he won the free trip! I can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[Cory's Gal]

ClaraBug, awesome start on your TR!! How exciting to win a trip to Disney, my dream as well!!! Who wouldn't love it???? Especially being able to stay at the Beach Club and have it INCLUDE airfare!!! TOTALLY AWESOME!!! Can't wait to read more!!!!

 

[JJClemson]

How exciting I could not imagine winning a Disney trip! And you get to stay at the BC! That's my favorite resort

 

[princessjv]

LUCKY!

Wow, just the 2 of you...no baby swaps, no NEED to nap everyday, no interuptions at meals... WOW!

Can't wait to hear all about the BC. It's the resort I want to stay at next!

 

[amy2girls]

Awesome for you and your husband!!!

 

[mas6010]

That is wonderful, can't wait to read more. keep us updated

 

[DisneyMama629]

I also can't wait to read more! Sounds awesome!

 

[ClaraBug]

About a month before our trip, we start shopping. Just FYI, I was unaware of the DIS , Shocking I know! But my parents are big Disney Fans and go about every other year, whilst I had not seen Disney since 1993 , I know, I know even more shocking!

After some excellent advice from the parental units, we shop for the usual goodies. Next step, get the summer clothes out of the garage.

Basically, we were packed to go a month ahead!

Oh, wait, the wills were not complete yet! Well, now thats a morbid thought.

I was a little nervous about the two of us flying and if something should happen what would happen to the girls. So off I went to call my lawyer!!

Let's jump ahead--

A week before we are scheduled to leave, the 'packet' finally arrives. We attach the luggage tags to the suitcases (don't forget, we've been packed for a month.) and read all the information provide. At this point, the excitement is tangible! The rest of the week I do a mad dash cleaning the house....why is it whenever you go away you HAVE to leave a clean house.
I also pack the girls suitcases for their week stay at Nanny's house (who, btw, only lives across the street, its a real life 'everyone loves raymond').

We live about 2 1/2 to 3 hours away from Dulles Airport and we were taking the first flight out in the morning. We decided to stay the night at one of the hotels near the airport. We also did the 'Park and Fly', this is where you leave your car there and the hotel shuttles you to and from the airport. It was only $20 extra to our bill and I knew that long-term parking was $9 a day. Made sense to me!!

The morning that we were to leave for Dulles, the baby wakes for sick!! Oh, CR@P, so I bundle her up and run down to the doctor's office.

It's only an ear infection. So we get the antibiotic and head home. My DMIL made a big 'send-off' lunch and my DBIL and his wife came up. The girls played and we all had a very nice visit. I was so excited that I could not eat. Swallowing just was not possible at this point.

Well, its finally time to head out. Oh, no!!! I actually don't want to leave my babies. I sit and hug them as long as I can and try very hard not to cry!

Wait a second, at this time tomorrow I will be in WDW.

So in the car DH and I go. I still feel bad about leaving the girls behind.

The car ride was uneventful and we got lost looking for the hotel. (DUMB MAPQUEST)
We finally found the hotel checked in and parked the car.

Hmm, there is no specific lot to park the car, just park anyway. Not to thrilled on this...strike one.

Get into the room...its okay, clean. The bathroom, rust stains where the water drips and the toilet flushes slow. Hmm.....

There is hair in the tub! and it sure as heck ain't mine!!!

All together....EWWWWWWWW!

STRIKE TWO!!

I finally am hungry and DH wants a beer...he wants to start his vacation off right!!

So we go down to the lounge and sit at the bar. I order the chicken strips and he orders his Yeungling! We snacked on the chicken and headed back to the room.
I notice there are a lot of preteens running around (remember this), DH watched TV and I had this GREAT idea to Nair my legs so I would not have to worry about shaving all week.

So, how did that go?

Dear God in Heaven, my legs burned all night!! NEVER AGAIN.

Its about 11pm and we crawl into bed and actually doze off to sleep.
The fire alarm goes off!!! Some dumb punk preteen kid pulled the stinkin' fire alarm!!!!

STRIKE THREE!!! I was so angry at this point I was about to pack up my stuff and find a HOJO's somewhere!!

Needsless to say, DH and I were wide awake at this point and knew we had to get up in a couple of hours!

 

[Motherofboys]

Ouch, sounds like a rocky start Hope things got better soon! P.S. You have to clean the house b/c who wants to come home to a dirty house? (That's the explanation my Mom always gave us)

 

[ClaraBug]

We take a two hour cat nap and the alarm goes off. I jump in the shower and DH stays in bed watching TV, it takes him somewhere around two seconds to get dressed and ready. We are packed up and ready to go. We head to the main lobby and check-out.

It cost how much?! $220 for this dump! I was not too happy about this...It was such a bad experience that I blocked out the name of the hotel. (This summer we are staying at the Holiday In Express, I did research this time!!) The shuttle arrives and another couple joins us. It was freezing and here I am in capris, a short sleeve shirt and a Disney sweatshirt.

You remember the hair I burned off my legs the night before, well with all the goosebumps, the hair grew back.

We were dropped off and checked our bags. We had no problem with security and got on the little trams that take you out to the terminals. Pretty uneventful. I brought a book to read and DH paced around. This was his first time flying. We were both very anxious. I peed I don't know how many times! Finally time to board, b/c we did not have any kids, they seated us by one of the emergency exits. It was great b/c DH is 6'3 and 100 lbs soaking wet. So the leg room was very nice. We are buckled in and I start to have an anxiety attack. I go through my motions to try to calm my self down. DH holds my hand and reassures me that everything with be okay. I still fell like I need to ralph up my toenails!! The plane gets into position to take-off. I forgot the thrill you feel when you take-off. When we level out I am fine! We watch TV and with TED on Channel nine in the earphone, you can actually listen to the communications between the captains and air control. DH loved this and listen both down and home!

We are getting ready to land in MCO and the plane went from 33,000 feet to 12,000 feet in a matter of seconds. I am white as a sheet and have a death grip on the armrests. DH puts his arm around me and does his wonderful make his wife feel better thing!!

I finally breath went the plane's wheels touch down! I almost sing Handel's Halluleia Chorus!!

Off the plane we go, hurry to find our suitcases!!

Next, WDW Check-in!!

 

[Sweedee]

looking forward to reading more!!