Our Magical WDW Adventure -24 Days of Food and Fun-Updated 3/8 -Come Join Us

[winkers]

Wow! I thought I had alot of guide books! You are the Queen!

I'm planning a trip to England next spring. It was sopposed to be this May, but after some unfortunate events on my trip to disney last year, we decided to do it again this year.

Right now the plan is to fly into London and then spend 2 weeks driving around. I plan to visit Wales also, most of my ancestors came from there and I love doing geneology so I plan to visit the villages they were from.

 

[ariel2007]

Wow! I thought I had alot of guide books! You are the Queen!

I'm planning a trip to England next spring. It was sopposed to be this May, but after some unfortunate events on my trip to disney last year, we decided to do it again this year.

Right now the plan is to fly into London and then spend 2 weeks driving around. I plan to visit Wales also, most of my ancestors came from there and I love doing geneology so I plan to visit the villages they were from.

You should definitely spend some time in London, there is so much to see and do there, I could easily spend a week there and still not have done everything I wanted. I went to university in Wales, in the capital Cardiff which is great. There is loads of good shops, restaurants and quite often good concerts or sports matches. I didnt really see that much outside of Cardiff, apart from around the Swansea area which has some lovely beaches. I'm sure you will have a fab trip and if you need any help or ideas don't hesitate to ask

 

[AlohaAnnie]

I have really enjoyed reading your PTR. I have also enjoyed meeting your family.

I love the photos of your trip, beautiful sea photos.

I would love to visit London and many other places across the sea from America.

I am looking forward to more from you

 

[ariel2007]

I have really enjoyed reading your PTR. I have also enjoyed meeting your family.

I love the photos of your trip, beautiful sea photos.

I would love to visit London and many other places across the sea from America.

I am looking forward to more from you

Thanks, thats really kind. You should definitely visit London, I love it, there is so much to see and do. We love traveling and are forever planning where our next vacation will be, I couldn't get through the year without having a vacation or two planned. Luckily we will also be going to New York in August and were also planning on a holiday for Nick's birthday in January, although we havent decided where yet as there are a few good options

Should get some more up soon. Nick's going on a works trip for Sunday and Monday so I'm having a girly night with some friends tomorrow and then nothing planned for Monday so probably lots of posting

 

[ariel2007]

So I have been a bit naughty/lazy/boring recently and haven't updated you all on our holiday plans since our mini-trip to Cornwall so thought it was about time I got my backside into gear and added some more for my lovely readers. Now since we first booked our holiday - well actually before then, probably around the time we just got back from our last visit - I started thinking about all the things I wanted buy whilst we are in Florida. Last time we went we took 1 half full case out each, coming back we all had 2 rather stuffed-full cases full of all sorts of souvenirs, clothes and various other items. The problem is I love to shop at the best of times, and I can literally spend several hours in the Disney Store and would happily buy everything in there, so put me in Disney World for over 3 weeks and big things are gunna happen. I am, unfortunately for my bank balance, a collector. It began with one thing, and then another and another, and then I would go to Disney and buy say 4 beanies and suddenly that was it, I collected them too. Fortunately enough I don't really collect anything non-Disney-related (except one thing which connects back to Disney so its ok), so I can spend all my money, and use up all the space in my house on more Disney related items . So here they are, the collections I have and intend to add too, and some ideas for new ones maybe:

Shot Glasses
I started to collect shot glasses on Nick and my first holiday together to Fuerteventura. I brought a country one and then one for each major town or place we went to. It was then decided that this would become a collection and each country I went to I would get shot glasses for. Luckily we traveled a bit so my collection grew pretty quickly, that was until we went to Disney and my collection shot through the roof. My initial idea was to get one for each park we visited, one for any hotel we stayed in (and I am only allowed to get them for the resorts we stay in, not just the ones we visit, hence meaning I have to stay in every resort so I can complete my collection - do you like my thinking ), one with the year on, and one for any dinner shows or restaurants that have them. On my 2005 trip I brought a few, mainly one for each park, one for the resort and a few odd ones I liked. Then fast-forward to our 2006 trip and having already brought one from all the parks I thought it would just be a case of getting one for each hotel we stayed in and the dinner shows. The result however was 24 new shot glasses - all of which were individually wrapped and brought back in my hand luggage. Nick was not particularly impressed when he saw I had brought another one, then another one ... but hey, like I say, its not every day you get to go to WDW (my new excuse for everything ). So this time I shouldn't have that many to get - so far I can think of Coronado Springs, Polynesian, Yacht Club, Royal Pacific, Jimmy Buffets, Aquatica, Kennedy Space Centre, and a 2008 one. You'll just have to wait till I get back to see how many I actually get ...

Here is my collection:
My worldwide ones (a small collection compared to the Disney ones - hopefully one that will increase substantially over the next few years)

And my Disney collection

Some of my favourites

Pins
Obviously not an original collection, well far from it, but one that I love and cant wait to extend, drastically. During our 2005 trip we first saw the pins but only Sophie brought 2. However on our 2006 trip I did the unthinkable and on the first day brought my first pin, closely followed by Nick. The next day we went mad and brought quite a few and from there on our collection grew and grew. Luckily (or unluckily as some may see it), Nick shares in this passion and we loved collected them whilst we were out there - neither of us collected any particular range or theme, we got ones for any resorts we visited, ones for all the parks, ones with the year on and all the Mickey characters and then ones with our favorite characters and rides. When we got home one of our main priorities was to display the pins so we and everyone else could see them everyday. Here is the result:

Mickey and Friends

Parks and rides

We also brought some from Universal and then lots or DLP from our recent 2 visits - although these haven't yet been displayed.
During our upcoming visit we obviously plan to get lots more, see I have convinced myself they are perfect souvenirs due to there size and weight, money obviously never came into this equation. At the moment our plans are to get ones for the resorts, ones for all our favorite rides, I want princess ones and then there are quite a few I have seen on the net.

Fridge Magnets
This is another recent collection that started on our 2006 trip. My Mum has always collected magnets and after our 2005 visit I was constantly admiring her collection that brightened up her fridge, and infact kitchen. So I thought I would follow in her footsteps and I think our 2006 trip became a competition to see who could get the most, I think I won for that trip but she wins overall. Here is our fridge currently:

Our mini fridge:

Walt Disney Classic Collection
This is a fairly new collection, and unfortunately due to my liking of expensive holidays still a fairly small collection. I fell in love with the Classic collection whilst at DLP in 2006/2007 and fortunately having the amazing boyfriend I do, Nick signed me up to join the club soon after. He brought me a few and then for my birthday his Gran brought me 2, Nick brought me 2 (including the very expensive but amazing Ursula) and a further 1 from DLP on my birthday visit. At the moment I haven't got many of a particular film although I really want to collect The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Toy Story. I am hoping that we will be able to add to collection during our holiday but I know I cant go mad as I have to try and get them back safely (along with all the shot glasses and any other breakables). Heres my collection so far:

With my Little Mermaid jewelery boxes

Beanies and teddies
Being a big Winnie-the-Pooh fan I brought a few teddies and beanies from WDW, DLP and then the Disney Store. Then every time I went to the Disney Store I would get another beanie (quite often Tigger) and soon had more than I have room for (51 to be exact). Then in 2005 I brought a few Mickey Mouse and friends beanies which were topped up in 2006 and planned to be topped up again this time. I particularly want a safari Donald and Mickey (I have Minnie and Pluto), TOT and Star Wars Goofy, and a Donald and Minnie. As for teddies I have lots of Winnie-the-Pooh ones, all the Mickey characters (except Daisy), a Little Mermaid and Jungle Book collection and a few others. I really want a Daisy Duck, Pegasus, and I have seen a really cute Lady and Tramp in someones trip report I want. Unfortunately no pictures of these at the moment but should get some soon.

I also try to collect a shot glass, pin and fridge magnet from each Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood and Rainforest Cafe we visit (a great excuse to visit all of them). Here is some of my collection:

 

[ariel2007]

A couple of Las Vegas HR pins brought back from 2 very kind friends

In addition I have a collection of postcards, much like the shot glasses - one from every country and town we have been to, and one from every Disney Park and resort we have visited.
I also get as many souvenir glasses as I can bring home, so will probably be bringing back a few too.

So I think that is all the current collections we are planning on adding to, however I am (worryingly) sure that we will probably start another one, or two. And then there all the other souvenirs, clothes, shoes, jewelery, sunglasses etc we plan on buying ... I suppose with that in mind I should really spend a little less time on here and a little more time working to pay for all these goodies ... nah thats no fun is it?!?

Tigger hiding any evidence of further Disney shopping

 

[ariel2007]

I was tempted to post a picture of a giant apple and write about that but then realized that that just wasn't interesting . So instead I decided to enlighten you on our other vacation plans. Yes we are having two big vacations this year, its a great year for us .

Background to the trip
As you might remember our Disney holiday came out of plans for my Mum's 50th birthday. In August my lovely Mum is 50 and we all decided we wanted to do something extra special and having all wanted to visit New York for some time we decided this is what we would do. We started looking at Virgin Holidays and saw they did 2-center holidays with New York and the Caribbean so started looking into that. However when we saw the prices something hit me, it would be just as cheap to go to Orlando for a few weeks plus it would be in the free dining plan time, it seemed perfect . Mum, Dad and Soph were all as desperate (well nearly) as me to go back and loved the idea, especially the free dining. So we started planning and came up with some plans and ideas of what we wanted to do, where we wanted to stay, eat etc ... and then we hit a brick wall . My older sister Kate, who never wants to come on holiday with us but does this time, announced she didn't want to go to WDW and wouldn't come if we did. WHAT? , Who in their right mind doesn't want to go to WDW, sometimes I really don't think we are related . Well Mum wanted us all to be there as it was her birthday so WDW went out the window. So back to plan 1, New York. Now although we were all sad not to be going to WDW it worked out quite well for Nick and I cause now we get to go to WDW and New York .

So now you know the background to the trip let me introduce the cast:

Mum and Dad

I'll start with Mum as this trip is for her. She will be 50 is August and I think she looks damn good for her age - ever since she had Sophie she just seems to get younger and younger. She is an amazing Mum, she is so loving and caring and has always put us kids first but is also a great friend and great fun to hang out with. She loves Disney and has major Disney depression ever since our last trip, she also loves the US despite initially being skeptical about going there, so much so she wants to spend all our holidays there. She loves great food, going to see great shows and visiting great places. She likes to help plan our trips but leaves all the major decisions to me.

Dad - is 48, 49 in July (Mum has a toy-boy). He is actually only Sophie's real Dad but has been with Mum for 16 years and has been more than a dad to Kate and I and I absolutely love him to pieces. He is slightly crazy, but in a good way, and is so much fun to be around. He works every waking minute to be able to pay for our amazing trips and nothing is ever too much for him. He loves Disney and is always talking about moving to America, he loves every thing about the country and cant wait to go back. He is really laid back and leaves all the decisions to Mum and I - might be something to do with living in a house full of women for 15 years .

My 2 sisters:

Katie - my older sister, she is 25 and will be 26 when we go. Being only 3 years different in age we have always been really close, when we were younger we used to play together all the time and as we grew our friendship blossomed and she is now one of my best friends. We can talk about anything and often chat all night, she is my main party buddy and we have some of the best and most fun camping trips. She is the party girl of the family and although loves her family to bits prefers to spend her money on partying than joining us on our amazing holidays - which works out quite well as she doesn't do Disney , likes completely different things and can often cause arguments with Dad or Soph . She has recently become a vegetarian and is dreading missing out on New York steaks. She is quite disorganized and hates planning so leaves that to Mum and I.

Sophie - my baby sister, she is actually 11 (12 by the time we go) but will always be my baby. We are really close and I miss her so much when were not together. I love to spoil her and she is an angel child who deserves to be spoiled so it works out well. She is a lovely child, she is very well mannered
and polite, she is kind-hearted and has lots of friends as a result, she tries hard at everything she does although sometimes finds things hard and grows into a more beautiful young lady every day. She loves her family and is a Mummys girl, Daddys girl, Grandad's girl but most importantly My girl . She is quite young for her age and doesn't want to grow up, something not that common in children her age, meaning she still has that lovely innocence children have. Her main passion is animals, from the day she was born she has had an obsession with all animals, initially she wanted to be an animal when she grew up but after figuring it wasn't really possible she decided she wants to either be a killer-whale trainer or be like Rosie Trevanion in Wild at Heart. She loves our holidays especially Disney and is happy-go-lucky with any plans we make.

Nick and I - well you already know us and know we love to travel and love America and this trip is a long time waiting to happen. Just to remind you what we look like here we are:

And finally our little traveling friend who cant wait to climb the Empire State and eat New York Steaks

Like I said Mum, Dad, Sophie, Nick and I have been on holiday together quite a bit and work really well together as a group. We all love the same things (mainly Disney), and our personalities work really well together - Paul and Nick are really laid back and love to let us plan and Mum and I love to plan (and Sophie just sits there in dream world ). Nick gets on really well with them all - Paul loves to have another bloke around and someone to play golf with and Sophie just loves him to bits. This will be a bit of an experiment when it comes to adding Kate into the equation as she has quite different ideas on what she wants to do/see/visit/eat etc, so fingers crossed we will all come back alive .

Next up - How much can we fit into 6 days - The Planning

 

[ariel2007]

The Plans:

We haven't yet booked anything as we are still unsure on a few details but at the moment here are our plans:

Where: New York
Dates: August 23rd - 29th 2008 - 6 nights / 7 days

We haven't yet booked the hotel or flights although we are hoping on flying
with Virgin Atlantic again. As for a hotel we are looking for something located near Times Square / Broadway so we have the freedom to walk to some of the major sights.

Things to do / Places to visit:
- Bus tour

- Empire State Building

- Statue of Liberty
- Ellis Island
- Top of the Rock - the Rockefeller Centre - preferably at sunset

- New York harbor Cruise
- Helicopter trip
- Museum of Natural History

- Central Park - boating lake, Central Park Zoo, movie nights with picnic
- Sunday Brunch at the Rainbow Room
- Shopping at Fao Swartz, Macy's, Bloomingdale's and The Disney Store (got to get Disney in there somewhere)

- Mum, Dad, Soph, Nick and I will be watching The Lion King on Broadway (I got Mum a ticket for Mothers Day)

-Nick, Soph and I will be watching The Little Mermaid on Broadway, Mum and Kate will be watching Chicago and Dad has a choice

- Yankee's game

So thats the basic idea of what we want to do, I know it seems a lot in quite a short space of time but we want to do as much as possible as we don't know when we will be back. We have also had to incorporate things for 6 different people which is kind of hard. As for restaurants we have so far agreed on The Rainbow Room for Sunday Brunch, Hard Rock Cafe, a chinese in China Town, Italian in Little Italy, Planet Hollywood (probably just for a snack and cocktail) and Tavern on the Green - Kate is now a vegetarian and doesn't like chain restaurants like Hard Rock so we have had to compromise a little bit.

So thats all the plans we have made for now but I will update you along the way, hopefully we will get the flights and hotels booked soon so we can get on with booking show tickets and attraction tickets.

Any comments or idea's from those in the know would be very much appreciated

 

[ariel2007]

Morning guys, hope everyones good today? Ok now I need some help from you wonderfully creative and inspiring lot in regards to easter. As we are going to New York in August I thought I would get family things for that before we go. I got Mum a ticket for the Lion King for Mother's Day and will be doing the same for Dad for his Birthday in July. For easter I have decided to make Mum, Dad, Kate and Soph a New York inspired gift bag each as I'm sure they will get enough easter eggs and wanted to do something more original. My friend recently visited New York so I got her to pick me up some postcards, pens, keyrings and chocolate and I will be getting them each a ticket for a habour cruise. I want to get some nice gift bags and decorate them in a New York / American style but am not quite sure how to do this so would love some ideas

I also need some ideas of what to get Nick, I want it to be something that either relates to Disney or would be something for him to take with us, trouble is it was his birthday recently and I already got him most things he needs so its hard
We are also spending easter day just the two of us which will be the first time I wont be with Mum and Soph . Therefore I need some great ideas and inspiration of what Nick and I can do to make it a fun and memorable easter - I would love to hear what you guys do

Come on faithful readers, give me some ideas of what I can do.

 

[ariel2007]

So I have already enlightened you all with our holiday plans for New York and our Magical Vacation to Walt Disney World (which is the main reason I am writing this after all) but there is one more holiday we have planned for this year. I thought I would share it with you to try and help me pass these last 40 days, 7 hours and 33 minutes...
So where do you go when you live in Europe, have already been to WDW this year, NEED another Disney fix but don't quite have the time or funds for another Magical WDW Adventure... Disneyland Paris of course . Now I have already been to DLP 6 times, 2 of those times have been within the last 18months (and Nick's first visits). The first was for 4 nights over New Year's Eve 2006/07 with Mum, Dad and Soph in which we had a fantastic time at the parks, ice-skating in front of the New York, New York Hotel and watching the amzing Tinkerbell Dinner show. The most recent visit was for my birthday in July last year when Nick treated me to 2 nights at the lovely Newport Bay Hotel. It was our first Disney holiday just the 2 of us and we had a fantastic time touring the parks, eating in some wonderful restaurants, chilling by the pool and shopping in the Disney Village. It was this trip that really got my mind set that we just HAD to go back to WDW, and as you have it shortly after we returned (after a further 2 weeks with the rest of my family in Brittany, France, most of which was spent planning and contriving plans to convince Nick and Mum) we booked our WDW Adventure.
Since Mum, Dad and Soph weren't coming to WDW and were having MAJOR withdrawl symptoms from not visiting Disney in 12 months we all had a chat and came to the conclusion that we would add in a visit to Disneyland Paris in 2008 . We needed to pick a time of year to go, a time that Sophie wouldn't miss too much school, a time that wouldn't be too cold or wet (like New Year), a time that wasn't too close to our New York vacation in August or our WDW Adventure in May. Then we thought of the perfect time, in the last few years Nick and I had worked Halloween meaning it had been boring and I didn't get to have fun trick or treating and dressing up with Soph. I was always jealous of all the people who got to go to WDW and attend all the Halloween festivities so this seemed an ideal alternative. So we would get to spend Halloween in Disneyland Paris and the next day (1st November) would be Nick and my 5 year dating anniversary, even more ideal. So it was decided, Halloween 2008 would be spent at DLP .

After the dates were decided we wrote down some dieas of what we wanted to do whilst there. Obviously we would spend a day or so in the Disneyland Park itself and a half day or so in Disney Studio's (which is still relatively small and doesn't take much time). We also really wanted to see some of Paris itself. Now we had been 4 times as a family but had never actually seen or explored Paris itself, not even the Eiffel Tower. Nick and I decided we couldn't miss the opportunity to see the Eiffel Tower whilst we were in Paris for my birthday so spent a night at a hotel near the Eiffel Tower and took the lift to the top of the tower. It was great to have finally been up the Eiffel Tower after so many trips to France, and Paris itself, and the trip up and views at the top were amazing. However, we had still not seen even a small bit of Paris and saw in a Disney brochure that they did a tour of Paris from Disney itself. The tour visits all the main sites and includes a stop at the Eiffel Tower with the opportunity to go up it and a River Seine Boat trip which we had really wanted to do but couldn't fit in. We always like to do proper tours as they give you a real insight into the place and all the interesting facts and tales that you wouldn't get if you were by yourself. So that was decided we would do the Paris tour one day too. We also needed to fit in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in the Disney Village and a few nice restaurants Nick and I wanted Mum and Dad to try. Nothing is definite as of yet but here is our basic plan:

Thursday 30th Oct:
Ferry from Dover to Calais
Check in at Disney's Davy Crockett Ranch
Afternoon at swimming pool
Wild West Dinner Show

Friday 31st - Halloween:
Disneyland Park for the day
Dinner at Walt's American Diner or Lucky Nugget Saloon

Saturday 1st Nov - Nick and my 5 year anniversary:
Disneyland Park for the day
Lunch at Rainforest Cafe in the Disney Village
Tea at The Steakhouse, Disney Village

Sunday 2nd:
Paris Tour
Tea in the Disney Village

Monday 3rd:
Disney Studio's for the morning
Lunch ???
Late ferry home

So that is all we have got for now, hopefully soon we will get it booked and can book our ADR's (or DLP equivalent). But for now it is only 40 days, 6 hours and 52 minutes

 

[ariel2007]

Well I have just returned home from a looonnnnnggggg day of shopping. I am shattered now but managed to buy half of Lakeside Mall so am well stocked up for holiday clothes ....Nick wasn't so impressed however as he traipsed round after me carrying my bags and nodding in agreement at the 50th black dress I showed him ("they all look the same") . I was nice and let him buy me lunch though . Unfortunately (or fortunately, depends how you see it ) there are still a few holiday items I need to get which means I will have to go shopping again... never a good thing for my credit card . I also need to get Nicks easter pressie and some supplies to make Mum, Dad's, Kates and Sophie's, a task that is proving to be quite hard.

Anyway after my last post I thought I would post some pictures from when we went on the Eiffel Tower in August, hope you enjoy

The Workmanship of the tower

Going up the tower in the lift

View from the 2nd Floor

View from the top of the tower

The tower at night - the view from outside our hotel (I know its not great but the lights were flashing)

The view of the tower from our hotel

I cant remember what all the landmarks are called as there were so many, but the views were amazing and despite taking around 4 hours to get to the top and back down it was a great experience and would recommend it to anyone

 

[DisneyFan83]

I love your PTR- it's so much fun to read & creative! We'll be in Disney around the same time, so I'm definitely subscribing And I love how all of your titles are like the title of episodes of FRIENDS! Have fun!

 

[BrittBritt]

Beautiful pictures. I went to Paris in the eighth grade, and I loved every minute of it. We stayed near the Tower, but for some reason, never went to the top. I don't remember why not... The Disneyland Paris plans sound great. Make sure you post lots of details about that trip as well. It would be so neat to compare it to WDW here.

 

[ariel2007]

I love your PTR- it's so much fun to read & creative! We'll be in Disney around the same time, so I'm definitely subscribing And I love how all of your titles are like the title of episodes of FRIENDS! Have fun!

Yes I'm so glad to have another subscriber, I began to think people had stopped reading . Would be great if we bumped into you at WDW, hope you have a fab time too

I would love to say the Friends titles were original but I got the idea off another trippie. However I thought they would be fun and being a big friends fan thought it would be perfect

Thanks for reading, I love having some subscribers to chat too.

 

[ariel2007]

Beautiful pictures. I went to Paris in the eighth grade, and I loved every minute of it. We stayed near the Tower, but for some reason, never went to the top. I don't remember why not... The Disneyland Paris plans sound great. Make sure you post lots of details about that trip as well. It would be so neat to compare it to WDW here.

Thanks. Oh you are soooo lucky getting to go to Paris with your school, that is so cool . I know what you mean about the tower though, this was our 6th visit to Paris, about 15th to France but still our first time to see and go up it. Glad I did though, it was so cool.

I will keep you updated about DLP too, however there isn't really much comparison between that and WDW, they are so different in so many ways.

 

[ariel2007]

Oh no, I've got it already and I've got it bad... the dreaded shopping bug, and I'm not even on holiday yet . On Wednesday Nick and I decided to go to Lakeside shopping mall to do a bit of shopping for the holiday, to be fair I did need a few new things - a bikini, beach bag, a sundress, a few nice outfits for our nice meals, and a few new tops. Well the first shop I went in to I practically tried on everything but only brought 1 top so I thought it was going to be a slow day. Bypassing another shop I saw a nice dress in the window, so I went in and ended up coming out with 2 . After that I just couldn't stop - in the next shop I brought a top, then a bikini, jewelery and hair accessories, then a sun-dress, 2 tops and a necklas, then trousers a top and more jewelery , this really wasn't good for my credit card . I even fitted in a visit to The Disney Store, although I didn't buy anything for myself, only a few Easter gifts (now that is restraint ).

One of the tops I brought needed to be taken back so on Thursday we popped to a local town before work. Now this should have been a simple task of going in and swapping the top but half an hour later I emerged with 6 new tops, ekk . I also didn't manage to get the beach bag I wanted so went to Accessorize to get it, did they have the bag? No . Did I buy anything? Of course, £65 lighter and with another new sun-dress and some more jewelery I must be finished.

So today I go to another local Accessorize to get the bag, again they didn't have it but I did get a new jacket, did I need it? I don't know, but I liked it . So now I have given my credit card a real bashing and I still haven't got the beach bag, which means, yes more shopping

 

[TrueEeyore]

Hey!! Count me in! I'm laughing at you and your shopping! You sound like me!

Your mom doesn't look like she's going to be 50, she looks GREAT for her age!!

Your little sister is adorable! I've always wanted a little sister, but I'm the baby of the family....That has it's advantages too

My brother collects shot glasses like you. We usually bring him one back from wherever we go. You have ALOT of fridge magnets! Just the way I like it

I love all of your pictures, especially the ones from the Eiffel Tower! I don't know if I could go up there, I'm scared of heights

You and your boyfriend are adorable together. I can't wait to read about your trip!

 

[ariel2007]

Hey!! Count me in! I'm laughing at you and your shopping! You sound like me!

Your mom doesn't look like she's going to be 50, she looks GREAT for her age!!

Your little sister is adorable! I've always wanted a little sister, but I'm the baby of the family....That has it's advantages too

My brother collects shot glasses like you. We usually bring him one back from wherever we go. You have ALOT of fridge magnets! Just the way I like it

I love all of your pictures, especially the ones from the Eiffel Tower! I don't know if I could go up there, I'm scared of heights

You and your boyfriend are adorable together. I can't wait to read about your trip!

Yes, glad to see you over here

Thanks about my Mum, I think she looks great for her age and would love it if I looked like that when I was 50. Its funny as every year she gets older she actually seems to look and act younger. My grandparents are quite the smae, very active and young at heart so I'm hoping I get their good genes too

I was quite lucky growing up cause my little sister wasn't born till I was 11 so I was the baby till then so got spoilt. I am still my Dad's baby (Soph and I have different Dad's) so get spoilt there too and my older sister spoils me so I get it good from all sides . It was quite a surprise when Mum told us she was pregnant, I had prayed since I was about 3 for a little sister and just as I was giving up hope Mum surprise us all, it was the most magical moment of my life .

The Eiffel Tower is really cool and one of those things you just 'have' to do once. You dont have to go right to the top, there is a first floor, second floor and then the top which is really high. The views are so worth it though.

Hopefully I will be able to deliver a good trip report, although I may be a little depressed from having to leave Disney. I'm sure Nick will have to literally drag me onto the plane

 

[ariel2007]

Firstly HAPPY EASTER to everyone for yesterday, I hope everyone had a great day, I'll fill you in on what we did in a minute. Well I would have posted this installment earlier but we didn't get home from work until about 10.15pm, then Nick made some tea whilst I got sidetracked by America's Next Top Model and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. However I'm being a good girlfriend now and letting him watch the cricket (snooze) whilst I play on my lappie .

First up I thought I'd post a piccie of my shopping from the last few days just to prove I wasn't exaggerating about how serious my shopoholic ways have got in the last week.

Yes that is a Disney Shop bag you see in the corner

Now back to our Easter day. It was my first ever easter without being with all my family which I was quite sad about so Nick promised to try and make up for it. Our day started with waking up to snow outside, and not just a little bit of snow we usually see but a thick blanket of snow in our garden. It was a great start, I love snow .

Nick and I decided to get each other something for the holiday instead of chocolate eggs which I never eat (last year I still had mine in October ). So I brought him a pair of white and blue Hawaiian shorts for one of our tropical meals which was wrapped up with a flower lay and a leaflet I had made for Seaworld's Makahiki Dinner Show which we would be doing on our anniversary.

Nick brought me a brilliant suitcase which matched the one I had brought him for his birthday, and inside were some toiletries for our holiday and a easter Me-to-You bear and a couple of mini chicks (not real of course).

He also brought me a few other bits for our holiday. The best towel... its so bright we will never lose our place

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And a lovely Tinkerbell passport cover

I had hidden lots of eggs for Nick so we had an easter egg hunt and then it was time for a traditional easter breakfast of boiled egg and soilders. We had thought about going to play mini-golf for a few hours but due to the snow those plans were stopped. Instead we had a lovely lazy day, watching Disney films (Mulan and Hercules as Nick had never seen them ) and catching up with some of our favorite programmes. I think our kittens were glad to have us home for the day, Tigger even got to put his paws and nose in the snow . In the evening Nick cooked a lovely Easter roast and we continued with our Easter film and TV marathon. It was a very lazy day, but a great change of pace to the usual rushing of every other day. Unfortunately it was back to work today, but guess what....

ONLY 5 WEEKS TILL WE GO ON OUR MAGICAL WDW ADVENTURE

 

[ariel2007]

With all the planning, researching, Dis-ing and chatting we have done for this holiday we have come up with some idea’s of things to do when were in the parks, a list or rides/shows/attractions we cannot miss for anything and certain snacks or meal items we HAVE to try.

TOP RIDES
Top 3 rides for each park (under no circumstances can these be missed – even for an earthquake) – we are really lucky as Nick and I generally like all the same things, which makes life so much easier . We were talking about our top rides for each park and they were nearly all the same:

Magic Kingdom – there’s actually 7 for this as there are so many good rides
Splash Mountain
Space Mountain
Thunder Mountain
Mickey's PhilharMagic
Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin - I'm sure we will be going on this multiple times like we did in DLP. Of course I always get the best score ...

MGM: (I will always call it this):
Tower of Terror
Rock n' Rollercoaster
Nick: Muppets 3D ~ Me: Voyage of the Little Mermaid (Nick hasn't yet had the pleasure of going on this so cannot fairly choose, else of course he would choose it )

Epcot:
Test Track
Soarin
World Showcase in general

Animal Kingdom:
Expedition Everest
Kilimanjaro Safari
Festival of the Lion King
(although Dinosaur is a very close call too)

Universal Studio's:
Shrek 4D
The Mummy
Nick: The Blues Brothers show ~ Me: Men In Black (unfortunately Nick didn't get to ride this last time so is really looking forward to going on it, especially as we are big MIB fans and he love Buzz Lightyear)

Islands of Adventure:
Ripsaw Rapids
Bilge Rat Barges
Nick: Spiderman ~ Me: The Hulk

Seaworld:
Kraken
Journey to Atlantis
Sea Lions Tonight - now this is a sore subject for Nick, this was his absolute favorite attraction from our last visit and he always talks about it. He was really looking forward to seeing it and had planned to watch it a few times... until we found that it is only on in Peak season, which it isn't. Needless to say he was most disappointed and even muttered something about no point in going anymore . And despite not being in the top 3 we couldn't go to Seaworld and miss seeing the Killer Whale show - after all it is what you associate Seaworld with.

Busch Gardens:
My absolute favorite: Sheikra, Nick: Montu
Rhino Rally
Congo River Rapids


TRYING NEW THINGS
Snacks or meal items we HAVE to try - as mentioned by you wonderful lot:
- Cheddar Cheese Soup - Le Cellier
- Tonga Toast - Kona Cafe
- Mickey Ice-cream bar
- Ice-cream cookie sandwich - Main Street Bakery
- Norwegian School Bread - Norway, WS
- Pecanbon - from Cinnabon, Islands of Adventure
- Chocolate covered apple - Goofy's Candy Company
- Kungaloosh - Adventurers Club
- The Kitchen Sink - Beaches and Cream
- Key lime pie - anywhere

Some of the things we have tried last time due to recommendations:
- Strawberry Soup, 1900 Park Fayre - 7/10, very nice but still strange having cold soup
- Funnel Cake, Blizzard Beach - 9/10, delicious but very filling
- Dole Whip, Magic Kingdom - 6/10, very nice and refreshing
- Breakfast Pizza, Donald's Breakfastosaurus, AK - 5/10, mot very memorable

If anyone can think of any other delicious snacks that we MUST try then please tell me as I don't want to miss out on anything yummy


OUR DISNEY QUESTS
Nick and I had been discussing all our favorite things and things I had found out from all the books and forums I had been looking at and cam up with some things or 'Quests' as we have decided to call them to do.

- Drink Around the World at Epcot - now Nick and I aren't particularly big drinkers, we like the odd glass of wine, and on holidays Nick enjoys his beer and I love my cocktails (of which I hope there will be money on this trip), however, we heard about this little 'challenge' you may call it and it sounded great. Now we both love traveling, experiencing different cultures and their food and drink, and we both love the World Showcase, seeing all the different architechture, all the different shops and restaurants so this sounded perfect. I have already tried a margarita from Mexico (I love frozen margaritas, especially flavored ones) and can't wait to try lots of other yummy drinks . Nick isn't sure if he is going to do it as he normally drives but he has the option to leave the car at the Yacht Club and we will get the bus or a cab home and then collect the car after visited MGM the next day. If he does it we will mostly share one drink at each country as we might not make it to Le Cellier. I'm not entirely sure yet what the best options are, last time I only had the margarita. I have been trying to research what each country does but haven't got that far, heres my idea's so far:

Mexico: Fiesta margarita - what else?
Norway: ??
China: Plum Wine (me), Tsing Tao (Nick)
Germany: German White Wine sampler
Italy: Italian Margarita
USA: ??
Japan: Plum Wine
Morocco: Tangerine Daiquiri
France: ??
UK: Shandy
Canada: Blue Glow-tini (at Le Cellier)

So any idea's what to have in the other countries, what are the best drinks??

Our Second Quest is the Philharmagic Quest. Nick and I both love Philharmagic and have agreed we will going on it several times. Baring that in mind we decided that we would make it so we could only buy anything Donald related when we saw the show. We may make it Philharmagic themed merchandise instead, depending whether they have enough different things.

Our third quest is more of a tradition (something you will see I am quite big on). The first time I went with Mum, Dad and Sophie in January 2005 we ate at the San Angel Inn in the WS and I brought a Mexico shot glass and Mexican themed Donald. So I decided then every time we went to WDW we would eat in a different WS restaurant (and only 1 a trip) and I would get the co-ordinated shot glass and plush (this means we have to start going more frequently so I can get all 11 . So my mission is to get a Canadian shot glass and plush.


So all our plans have been laid... but will our plans be followed... we have less than 5 weeks to wait and then we will know...

Will we ride all our top rides?

Who will win Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin?

Will we try all our 'Must try' snacks and what will we think of them?

Will we complete Drink Around the World at Epcot? And will we both still be standing?

How much Donald merchandise will we end up with?

Will Nick ride the 'dreaded' Sheikra?

Will we have enough room in our suitcases to bring back everything we buy?

How many shot glasses will I return with?

Will we finish the legendary 'Kitchen Sink'?

Will this be the most Magical WDW Adventure EVER?