Phillies Fanatics are heading to disney 9/09 1st family trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[oregonmommyof2]

I am still here too!!!

Although I am leaving in 24 hours for the airport hotel!!!

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

Have a great trip. I hope you all have a magical time. Cant wait to hear all about it. Oh and thanks for still reading!

 

[pamjb]

You know what they say about the best laid plans.........

I stopped packing for DH awhile ago. He likes to pack an hour before we leave. Drives me absolutely crazy. Sadly, our children take after him. We took our oldest back to college the beginning of September. He arrived at school without....towels, soap, and toothbrush.... Told DH that was his son. My son would of had a list with the things he still had packed from the spring, what he needed, etc. Men......

I used to stress about forgetting stuff. The Girl Scout in me would be prepared for anything...first aid kit, six-outlet strip, OTC meds. Since we are DVC, and go more than once a year I got an Owners Locker. Has made my packing soooo much easier.

 

[jana616]

I'm here too, now that we're back!!! You've been busy! Your shirts look great. I am so glad you're doing a set of family shirts. We did one set for all 6 of us, and we got so much attention. Cast members, guests, everyone complimented them. DH and the grandmas wondered why we didn't have more sets-I was like, because no one really wanted them until you got here and saw how much everyone liked them, you attention hogs!! Ha, ha!
I tried to reply on my PTR about Airtran, but it ate the message. I would totally agree to do curbside check-in if you are worried about them measuring. They were really nice, and it's easier and faster. Make sure he sees you holding a $5 bill, and you'll be good to go! I do think the actual ticketing counter inside would be more strict. You can pay for your bag when you check-in online the day before, and then it will print a receipt that you show them (also I think it shows up in their computer too). Coming back, I don't think if you are off by an inch the Resort Airline Check-in desk would measure, they did weigh it though. We were over by .3 pounds, so we stuck something in my MIL's bag. Whew...

I will say that Airtran was total jerks coming home about carry-ons. We had one suitcase and one personal item per ticket. They actually made Cooper (2) carry his own bag onboard so we were following the rules, even though I was carrying him on to speed things up. Heaven help you if you had a handicapped child with no arms or something... Other than that, I loved Airtran. But those flight attendants were really rude. Just an FYI, because I had heard they were pretty laid-back, and that was not our case.

About the room preferences at AS-Sports...look on the resort board for the info thread about the All Stars. In there should be the hotel's fax number. Then, today or tomorrow, send them a fax (attn: room assigner) asking for your preferences. We did that and got everything we wanted, including connecting, quiet, top floor rooms ready at 10 am. It definitely worked for us.

Good luck getting ready...you're doing great!

Oh, I got the postcards to send the boys, but then I couldn't find your address while we were there (even though I know I packed it). I can send them today if you don't care that the postmark is Indy?

 

[Coconuts]

I probably won't be logged in much for the next few days(because I have NOTHING done for our trip) so have a great vaca.

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

You know what they say about the best laid plans.........

I stopped packing for DH awhile ago. He likes to pack an hour before we leave. Drives me absolutely crazy. Sadly, our children take after him. We took our oldest back to college the beginning of September. He arrived at school without....towels, soap, and toothbrush.... Told DH that was his son. My son would of had a list with the things he still had packed from the spring, what he needed, etc. Men......

I used to stress about forgetting stuff. The Girl Scout in me would be prepared for anything...first aid kit, six-outlet strip, OTC meds. Since we are DVC, and go more than once a year I got an Owners Locker. Has made my packing soooo much easier.

I know dont men just drive you insane. I am not going to stress over it. It will get done. Its the only thing I have left to do except the last few odds and ends.

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

I probably won't be logged in much for the next few days(because I have NOTHING done for our trip) so have a great vaca.

thank you. Have a great trip too. good luck getting stuff done.

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

I'm here too, now that we're back!!! You've been busy! Your shirts look great. I am so glad you're doing a set of family shirts. We did one set for all 6 of us, and we got so much attention. Cast members, guests, everyone complimented them. DH and the grandmas wondered why we didn't have more sets-I was like, because no one really wanted them until you got here and saw how much everyone liked them, you attention hogs!! Ha, ha!
I tried to reply on my PTR about Airtran, but it ate the message. I would totally agree to do curbside check-in if you are worried about them measuring. They were really nice, and it's easier and faster. Make sure he sees you holding a $5 bill, and you'll be good to go! I do think the actual ticketing counter inside would be more strict. You can pay for your bag when you check-in online the day before, and then it will print a receipt that you show them (also I think it shows up in their computer too). Coming back, I don't think if you are off by an inch the Resort Airline Check-in desk would measure, they did weigh it though. We were over by .3 pounds, so we stuck something in my MIL's bag. Whew...

I will say that Airtran was total jerks coming home about carry-ons. We had one suitcase and one personal item per ticket. They actually made Cooper (2) carry his own bag onboard so we were following the rules, even though I was carrying him on to speed things up. Heaven help you if you had a handicapped child with no arms or something... Other than that, I loved Airtran. But those flight attendants were really rude. Just an FYI, because I had heard they were pretty laid-back, and that was not our case.

About the room preferences at AS-Sports...look on the resort board for the info thread about the All Stars. In there should be the hotel's fax number. Then, today or tomorrow, send them a fax (attn: room assigner) asking for your preferences. We did that and got everything we wanted, including connecting, quiet, top floor rooms ready at 10 am. It definitely worked for us.

Good luck getting ready...you're doing great!

Oh, I got the postcards to send the boys, but then I couldn't find your address while we were there (even though I know I packed it). I can send them today if you don't care that the postmark is Indy?

thats great about the shirts. I knew they would appreciate your hard work when the time came. see I told ya and he just thought you were crazy.
I will definitely do curb side check in and pay for the bag ahead of time. Thanks for the tips. That is horrible about cooper having to carry the bag. What idiots! The boys carryons have the rollers and pullies so hopefully if they give us a hard time the boys will be ok pulling them along. Although I can see nicholas wanting to be held.

I will also fax our room assignment. Thanks for the info. That is so awesome that you had your room ready by 1030. Would you recommended the top floor to minimize noise? I initially was thinking bottom so we didnt have to use elevators or hike up the stairs. I dont know anymore what is the best. I also was told to request an outside room facing the parking lot which sounded like a great idea too. What would you say?

I am going to PM you my address if you get to mail it out tomorrow I think we will still get them by saturday but If you have too much going on dont worry about it. I appreciate you even thinking of doing such a nice thing.

 

[jana616]

I thought the top floor was awesome for minimizing noise. No one bouncing around above you (though we did plenty of our own bouncing around!!). I didn't find getting up to the 4th floor to be hard at all. The elevator always came super quickly, so we never used the stairs. We were on the back side of the building (opposite side from the pool), and we faced a bunch of trees. The parking lot was actually to our left, but aways down. From the map of the All Stars in my Passporter, it looks like ASSp has lots of buildings that back up to wooded areas too. It was really quiet, just noise from people opening/closing doors or running down the hallways. Keep your bathroom door closed at night to keep out other people's flushing toilets, that helped a lot. I also brought our small white noise machine, and that helped a ton.

I'm copying what I sent to the room assigner, just to give you an idea. Like I said, I 100% believe that they tried to give me everything I asked for, so I'd be as specific as possible and hope for the best.

"Dear Room Assigner,

Greetings from Indiana! We are very excited about our trip to Disney World next week (where we will be celebrating my 32nd birthday and my boys’ first ever trip!). I am writing to re-confirm our reservation, and see if you could possibly accommodate our room requests.

We have two rooms reserved, one under Jana/Chad H. (reservation #), along with our two children, Griffin and Cooper, and one under Sue H. (reservation #), along with Kathie S. We would very, very much like to have connecting rooms if at all possible. We are also looking for a quiet location, perhaps on the top floor, as we have several very light sleepers. We will be arriving early in the morning, with two kids who will desperately need a nap, so if there is any way our rooms were ready then, I would be extremely grateful. I realize all of these are merely preferences, but any help you could give us in fulfilling them would be very much appreciated.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me. My home phone number is (xxx) xxx-xxxx.

Thanks so much for your consideration and time. We can’t wait to be there!

Sincerely,"

I promise I'll get those cards in the mail tomorrow. I'm so sorry I couldn't do it there. I brought stamps and everything, but just could not find your address! Hopefully the boys won't wonder why Mickey sends his mail from Indy!!

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

I thought the top floor was awesome for minimizing noise. No one bouncing around above you (though we did plenty of our own bouncing around!!). I didn't find getting up to the 4th floor to be hard at all. The elevator always came super quickly, so we never used the stairs. We were on the back side of the building (opposite side from the pool), and we faced a bunch of trees. The parking lot was actually to our left, but aways down. From the map of the All Stars in my Passporter, it looks like ASSp has lots of buildings that back up to wooded areas too. It was really quiet, just noise from people opening/closing doors or running down the hallways. Keep your bathroom door closed at night to keep out other people's flushing toilets, that helped a lot. I also brought our small white noise machine, and that helped a ton.

I'm copying what I sent to the room assigner, just to give you an idea. Like I said, I 100% believe that they tried to give me everything I asked for, so I'd be as specific as possible and hope for the best.

"Dear Room Assigner,

Greetings from Indiana! We are very excited about our trip to Disney World next week (where we will be celebrating my 32nd birthday and my boys’ first ever trip!). I am writing to re-confirm our reservation, and see if you could possibly accommodate our room requests.

We have two rooms reserved, one under Jana/Chad H. (reservation #), along with our two children, Griffin and Cooper, and one under Sue H. (reservation #), along with Kathie S. We would very, very much like to have connecting rooms if at all possible. We are also looking for a quiet location, perhaps on the top floor, as we have several very light sleepers. We will be arriving early in the morning, with two kids who will desperately need a nap, so if there is any way our rooms were ready then, I would be extremely grateful. I realize all of these are merely preferences, but any help you could give us in fulfilling them would be very much appreciated.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me. My home phone number is (xxx) xxx-xxxx.

Thanks so much for your consideration and time. We can’t wait to be there!

Sincerely,"

I promise I'll get those cards in the mail tomorrow. I'm so sorry I couldn't do it there. I brought stamps and everything, but just could not find your address! Hopefully the boys won't wonder why Mickey sends his mail from Indy!!

you are so awesome. thanks for sharing the letter I will definitely use most of it and just add in what we need. Sending the post cards from indy is no problem since the boys cant read yet but I guess that will tip my dh off that it didnt "really" come from mickey Thanks again for doing that you are wonderful, I hope to receive them in enough time to post pics of the boys with their cards.

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

so today has been quite an interesting day.....

A little backround info on dh's family. Basically all there is left of them is nana, dh's mom lisa, and my husband. So when something happens with nana my dh usually has to help out.

Today he had to take off 1 hr from work this morning to take her for a ultrasound. She has an aortic aneurysm which shes had for years. The past few days she has had one sided leg swelling and pain. So he takes her this morning and they find 2 big blood clots in her legs The took her immediately over to the ER which is connected to the office. They are talking about putting a filter in to release the clots.

Hopefully this all works out for her. She is 88 and has had so many problems in the past few years.

Not to sound selfish but I am not sure why this has to be happening now.

So keep her in your prayers.

Hopefully our vacation will go on as planned. Its just making me a little nervous....

I did manage to fax over our room request to assports today. Hopefully we get what we ask for. Thanks for your help jana!

 

[jana616]

Oh no! I will keep you guys all in my prayers, esp. Nana. Hopefully this can be fixed, or at least stabilized, quickly so you don't have to worry about it anymore before the trip. It's not selfish at all to be bummed that this is happening now. You've planned for months, of course you don't it to be messed up at all. That's only human.

Glad you faxed your room requests, happy to help!!

Deep breaths!

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

thank you jana. We are crossing our fingers that nothing else comes out of this. It seems like the doctors have everything under control. They started her on comadin and heparin but are not sure if this is enough to break it up. Apparently the clot is the size of a fist and her leg is 2 times the size. Crazy huh? They said if that doesnt work they will go in and use some kind of ultrasonic tool to break it up. So it seems like she will be able to be fixed. Thank goodness. Not only for the trip sake but I dont think my MIL is ready to loose her mom. My dh's aunt just passed away suddenly at age 51 almost a year ago, and his uncle (49) passed away suddenly of throat cancer in july of 2004 dx one day and gone a few weeks later. So It has been a crazy couple of years for them.

Anyway hopefully it will all be ok.

Thank you so much for your thoughts. I hope to post more tomorrow. I still want to put pics up of the rest of my shirts.

I have a few more last minute questions. Do I need birth certificates for the kids to fly? How many pennies did you end up making per kid? and How many pages do you think is good for their age in the autograph books. I think I have 40 per book.

Thanks so much in advance for all your help.

 

[jana616]

Thank you so much for your thoughts. I hope to post more tomorrow. I still want to put pics up of the rest of my shirts.

I have a few more last minute questions. Do I need birth certificates for the kids to fly? How many pennies did you end up making per kid? and How many pages do you think is good for their age in the autograph books. I think I have 40 per book.

Thanks so much in advance for all your help.

I'm so glad to hear about your DH's grandma. Sounds like it will all work out, that's great! I'd love to see pics of your shirts!

We didn't need anything for the boys to fly. The TSA did ask who they were in relation to the boarding passes (like they would ask, "Who is Griffin?" and he'd say "me" and then they'd ask him how old he was), but we never had to show anything.

It's kind of embarassing about the pennies. All that work cleaning them, decorating tubes...I think we made 3-4 total. Usually we found them while I was busy trying to wrangle the kids, so they just didn't rank as a high priority. Cooper never had any interest, even when he saw Griffin make them. Griffin made quite a few with my mom (she brought her own too), and he really liked doing it. So if you think you'll actually take the time to stop and do them, I'd say 10+ for each kid.

I'd estimate high on the autograph pages. I did 50 in each book, and we probably used 30? But Griffin's book got wet the first night, so I had to pull pages out of his and take some from Cooper's. I forgot how many character meals you have. We had lots of repeat characters-we saw Mickey 3 times at meals plus once at Epcot, but we had him sign each time. If you think you'll just get one from each character, you'd use less. Also, even though Griffin told me beforehand that he didn't want to wait in line to meet characters, sometimes the lines were non-existent, and I didn't let him pass those up. So we did get some (maybe 10-12) in the parks as well. If you think your kids will really want to meet them in the parks, I'd add lots more pages. Sorry, that probably didn't help you much!

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

oh it helped me alot thanks. I think I will stick with 40 it sounds like that is an ok number. I have no idea what my kids are going to want and not want to do. Its funny that the things you think they are going to go crazy over liked the pennies didnt turn to be a huge deal. I definitely think I am going to only take enough for 10 per kid. That sounds good.

thanks again.

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

so I think mike is finally getting excited for our trip

Over the weekend he asked what time our flight leaves on sunday?
this is the first question he asked about the entire trip

Last night he asked if there is any kind of computer that is at the resort that you can get on the internet? He is concerned about setting up his fantasy football team for next weekend. Does anyone know the answer to his question?

and today when we left the house it was raining and he said "oh I hope it doesnt rain like this when we leave philly on sunday".

Ok this doesnt sound like much excitement to you but it is a huge improvement. At least I know he now has the vacation on his mind. He is the type that wont be excited until we actually get there. The total opposite of me!

Last night we also got his clothes organized. I had to bring all the choices downstairs for him and say this is what were doing this day and heres the type of clothes you need. Then he would say ok this shirt with those shorts.

Hes worse than my kids Anyway the moral of the story is we are just about all the way packed. Just a few more pieces and odds and ends to go.

Tonight my plans are to clean the house for the millionth time. Do the dishes left from last night in the sink. Clean up the basement since the oil company is coming tomorrow to inspect the oil burner. And then I plan to download the pics I have of the shirts I made.

Tomorrow the plan is: Take the kids to school, Dh is going for a haircut, I am planning to visit my coworker who is having a c-section with her first baby as I speak. We will clean out the trunk of the car to make room for our luggage, dh will mow the grass, have lunch together for the first time in ages. Visit mikes nana, pick up the kids. Pizza for dinner and incredibles movie night!

 

[jana616]

Yay, that's awesome that he's finally getting interested in the trip! Chad is the exact same way, he never gets excited beforehand, but he does while we are there. Sometimes it makes me mad, because it kind of takes away from my excitement when he doesn't seem that into it. That's one reason I was so glad to have the disboards and my PTR buddies (like you!) to be excited with me!

And I had to pack for Chad too. I had him tell me which shorts were comfy/cool, and then I picked 2-3 shirts that matched each pair and had him choose. Seriously, you are a professional, 32 year old man and your wife has to dress you? And you know what? He is the only one who ran out of something there, even though I thought I triple-checked amounts. He was short two pairs of boxers (sorry if TMI). Boy was he happy to change clothes when we got home!

Your plans for the next two days sound perfect! Glad you're fitting in some fun stuff along with all the prep work. Are you getting a pedi in there somewhere? You definitely have earned it!

 

[mommyof2Pirates]

well I decided not to get a pedi. The weekend I worked with my uncle..I dont know what happened but my left big toe was so sore at the end of the second night, it almost felt like someone stepped on it. So I figured it was from my shoe maybe pushing against it. Well a day or two later I have this bruise under my nail. Half of my toenail looks bruised underneath. Weirdest thing! So it still is sore and I figured I would just skip the pedi since there is so much else running around to do. I might change my mind at the last minute but for now thats the plan.

Yes it is ridiculous how these men are. He dresses himself and does his own laundry even every other day of the year but, somehow this vacation he has taken a vow to do absolutely nothing. This should make for an interesting Trip report.

And I know what you mean about his mood taking away from your own excitement. I feel the same way sometimes. But I have my kids to back me up. I think they finally realized we are actually going and not just making this up. Today was the last regular size sticker to put on the chart. The next 2 are big stickers one mickey and one minnie. So I said to ryan "this is the last small sticker and then we have 2 big ones and thats it, then its time to go" He started cheering and screaming and hugged me so tight and said I love you so much mommy. My heart melted. I hope I get as good of a reaction when we actually get there too.

My aunt mailed them cards. We got them yesterday. It was mickey on the front and she wrote inside something like I am so excited you are going to WDW. Here is some extra spending money. Have a great time and be good for mommy and daddy. She enclosed 25$ for each kid. In seperate cards
Now these are not mushy words or sayings but It made me cry. My mom was over and she was laughing so hard at me. I could barely read nick his card after I got through ryans. I am just so emotional over this trip. I am such a goof.

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Woo hoo!!! You are getting so close now!!! Sorry about Mike's Nana. I will keep her in my prayers! Seems like you are already to go!!! I bet you are thrilled with excitement!!! All I have to do is clean the house, do wash, iron and pack and I am ready to go! Saturday is going to be here before you know it Lindsey!!

 

[jana616]

That's so cute about your aunt sending them cards! How sweet! And I love what Ryan said to you. There will be many more times he'll say that there. Overall, Griffin thought we were the best parents in the world for bringing him there!

I don't think I really got teary-eyed on the trip, that I can think of, except once. We had our Ohana breakfast with Lilo and Stitch on Saturday. Griffin loves Stitch; he's his absolute favorite. Every morning and night when we do Cooper's asthma treatment, we bribe him with m&ms. So then we make Griffin write a word so he can have candy too (gotta make him earn it somehow, right?). Well, that morning, he told me he wanted his word to be "Stitch." So he wrote it, and then proceeded to fold it up, put it in my backpack, and tell me that he wanted to show it to Stitch at breakfast. The look of pride and excitement when he showed Stitch, and the huge hug Stitch gave him in return, it made me cry a little. Just to see the absolute joy and wonder he had-it was awesome. I wish for you guys to have tons of moments like that too. I know you will!

Sorry about your toe! That sounds painful. And I think "My DH vowed to do absolutely nothing on this trip" is a wonderful trip report title! I can't wait to read it! Chad and I had a couple of big fights there, which we don't usually have. And they all came about because I had planned for 10 months, begging him for input and opinions but getting NONE, and then out of nowhere he'd want to change things up when we were there, for no good reason. Like we agreed to come back to POP after our 5 pm Ohana dinner. It was close to 8 when we got back, and I'd promised the boys they'd get to swim. This was our second day, and I still wanted to unpack our stuff, so I figured Chad could take them while I did that. The boys were, of course, wired when we got back to the room. Chad decides that it's more logical to tell them we aren't going swimming and put them straight to bed since they were tired. You can imagine how well that went. Has he been a father almost 5 years? Honestly! Of course we ended up doing things my way, but not without a fight. Does your DH do stuff like that, or just mine?

Yay for just 2 big stickers!!! It's getting thisclose!!!