PTR-Does being there every day in my dreams count?

[eeyore04]

I'd like to point out a problem with your chapter title; "She doesn't help the situation!"

If by she you mean me
and by "the situation" you mean your Disney obsession
and your point essentially is that I provoked you to go to Disney
which is the thing you wanted above all else
how is that not helping?

I suggest a new title for this chapter;

"My awesome, younger and smarter cousin helps everything."

ummmmm.... nice suggestion but.... no. I like my title

 

[eeyore04]

I decided since it's been about a week... and a busy week for me... that I would continue on with my PTR.


Chapter 5-OK! That’s it! I’m going-with or without you!

I hoped and hoped and hoped for the best... and yes. Vacation approved. Ok. Time to break it to the family.... My family (parents and brother) thought I was nuts. "Alone, you want to travel to Florida, ALONE?" and "not on your life" were the most common phrases when I brought up my solo trip to WDW.

They claimed it was my safety they were looking out for. I kept telling them, I'm smart, and people do solo trips ALL THE TIME, that I would be fine. They were nervous of my safety, not of anyone kidnapping me. You see, when I went in 2009 I came home with a concussion, a story I will tell at a later time.

I kept pricing and looking it up online, throwing out information to my family to try to get my brother to hop on board with me... because you know, as much as I wanted to do a solo trip, it would be wonderful to go with someone.... and my brother and I-we would have a blast together.

My mom and brother told me that this year would be too tight money wise, and I'm not 'allowed' to go solo so therefore I'm not going.... ahahahahahahha... yeah your funny. I'm a big girl-I can do what I want.

I was confident that this was my year for a solo trip, and told them many times, I'm going... with OR without anyone! It was now up to them, my decision was made. September 2012-I'm going to Disney!

But... just a couple weeks before I was going to book my solo trip, something changed. My mother (who usually sits in the computer room next to my bedroom while I listen to Disney tunes, watch Disney videos, and say lots of Disney facts out loud) told me she's always wanted to go to Disney.

Since my dad and brother went to New York City without us a few years ago... we should do a girls trip! OH YEAH! WOOT WOOT! I was so pumped! We were going to do a girls trip! This was going to be the best vacation ever.

Than my brother comes out of his cave... aka his bedroom and gets in on the action... “hey you can't go to Disney again without me you know!” Well unless you say you are going, we're going without you...

We even passed it by dad, see if he wanted to go, and sure enough he expressed interest in going as well. Finally, the family Disney vacation-14 years after we chose the pool over Disney! What a fantastic idea!

My mother, brother and I went in to get some prices at the local travel agent. (cause free dining wasn't coming up online, plus we wanted to upgrade to regular dining) and the agent did 2 sets of prices for us... for 3 people and for 4 people because we weren't sure dad was 100% on it.

That night, a Tuesday, we come home and go over prices with him, and he decides that you know, if “the kids” were younger than yes he would go... but he would rather save his money and go back to NYC or back to Las Vegas-so we say “we're going-with or without you” and he told us to go ahead-and have fun.

It. was. settled. WE were going to Disney world!

Well I think I nearly jumped through the ceiling and the first person I told was, you guessed it, my cousin Wendy... my Disney cheerleader!

We would have gone back to the travel agent that night but it was already closed, so we decided to go back the next day after I got home from work and finally booked our amazing family vacation! (minus dad)

coming up next... THE CAST!

 

[teekathepony]

Too funny that you went from a solo trip to a trip with a brother, mother, cousin and cousin in law!

 

[eeyore04]

Ok so not my intro chapter (working on it, I just got back from camp on Sunday and I'm leaving for a training weekend on Friday and I'll be gone until Sunday again) so intros will be next week.... BUT... I have news!

La Nouba is booked!

I'm so excited because we are very big Cirque du Soliel fans at our house. 2 weeks from tomorrow we are going to see Dralion! EEK!

 

[teekathepony]

Woohoo! La Nouba is by far my favourite show. There's something really awesome about it and the fact that it's their permanent home makes it really great.
I can't wait until Dralion!

 

[eeyore04]

So here it is... the LOOONNNGGGG overdue introduction of our cast!

Chapter 6-Introoooducingggg: The Cast!

Me!

My 26th Birthday in October... and yes that's Princess Aurora on my cake!

Name: Amy

Age: 26

Favorite Disney movie: I don’t have just one, I’ll break them down into categories.
Classic Disney: Dumbo
Live-Action: Polly
Live-Action/Animation combo: Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Disney Renaissance: Beauty and the Beast
Disney/Pixar: Monsters, Inc.

Favorite park: I've been there once and spent a lot of time at HS but after thinking about it I'm kind of torn.... I think it may have to be Epcot, though.

Favorite ride/attraction: hmmmm…. Kali River Rapids!

Occupation(s): Full time: Financial Services; Part time: Sales associate/Scrapbooking Instructor for Michaels of Canada

Hometown: a small little town on the island of Cape Breton in province of Nova Scotia, Canada. I have lived here my whole life and although a lot of people from around here end up moving away, I would like to stay here for the rest of my life and would be very happy doing so. I enjoy my career in the financial industry and where I’m at now I have a very good chance at moving my way up the ladder and in the future having a very good position there. My job at Michaels isn’t permanent but it helps support my scrapbooking obsession and keeps me busy on what would otherwise be lonely weekends.

Hobbies: Besides Disney, and working 2 jobs, I’m a volunteer with Girl Guides of Canada as a Brownie Guider. I have 13 beautiful young girls (ages 7-8) that I adore. I also scrapbook, and have taught Scrapbooking classes at my local Michaels store for the past 9 months. I’m giving up the teaching side of it so I can focus on my Brownie unit (and pick up more hours in the store as teaching hasn't been very busy) and I’m now passing over my classes to a new instructor. I also enjoy spending countless hours on Facebook, and am attached to my iPhone. 'nuff said. As I have said in previous posts, I am single, and I don’t have one specific guy to spend my time with, but have been dating for the past few months, and am enjoying that.. I've never been happier as I have been for the past 6 months.


Brother

Name: David (though sometimes I call him Dave)

Age: 21

Favorite Disney movie: Mary Poppins, Dumbo, Lion King

Favorite Park: has never been there!

Favorite ride/attraction: has never been there!

Occupation: Full time student in Bachelor of Arts majoring in Theatre. He also works full time in the summer at a local historical site as a costumed animator.

Hobbies: Acting/singing. David has been acting in community theatre since the ripe old age of 6. He has been cast in numerous musicals, one act plays, full length plays, dinner theatres, etc. Most recently he has been a part of productions such as Fiddler on the Roof, Death of a Salesman, The Last Resort, and Oklahoma. For the past 3 years he has also played Bob Cratchit in a local community group’s telling of A Christmas Carol, and has a breathtaking solo performance of “O, Holy Night”. He has an amazing singing voice and hopes to one day be a star on Broadway. As part of his job at the historic site he acts in their Dinner Theatre, Murder Mystery Tour, and Ghost Walk. He was the one who started my love for Cirque du Soliel, and can even do some tricks on the*diabolo*himself. David also loves to paint and do abstract art, likes to read, and is obsessed with classic movies.


Mom!

Name: Rose

Age: if I told you I wouldn’t make it to Disney this year

Favorite Disney movie: Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, Snow White (and probably every other Disney movie she's seen LOL)

Favorite Park: has never been there!

Favorite ride/attraction: has never been there!

Occupation: Housewife/stay at home mom… My mother worked all her life but about 10 years ago it was discovered that the vertebrae in her neck were deteriorating and she had to undergo surgery to try and repair it. The surgery worked... temporarily, but the vertebrae are still deteriorating and it made the chronic pain worse, and now she’s on disability. She tries to keep herself as healthy as possible and is the greatest mom we could ever ask for.

Hobbies: Reading, going to the gym, playing Angry Birds (LOL) She loves to cook and bake. But if she’s not reading she's playing Angry Birds, and vice versa.


Name(s): Wendy and Johnny

Wendy and Johnny the night of their wedding... we have kind of a crazy family, we like silly hats!

AKA: teekathepony and her husband

Wendy and I are first cousins, and you will hear lots more about them on this PTR and subsequent TR... we grew up together and feed each other's Disney obsession. I consider her one of my best friends in the world and I am so glad that after 4 years we will finally be able to say that we'll be in Walt Disney World TOGETHER!

 

[teekathepony]

"... I've got bunny ears on."

- Johnny.

 

[eeyore04]

"... I've got bunny ears on."

- Johnny.

I needed a picture you wouldn't have put up on your PTR.... I thought this fit! All I really had of the two of you were of your wedding and I know you have a picture of that!

Tell Johnny I love him and you guys have LOOOTTTTSSS of incriminating pictures of me... worse than bunny ears

 

[teekathepony]

I needed a picture you wouldn't have put up on your PTR.... I thought this fit! All I really had of the two of you were of your wedding and I know you have a picture of that!

Tell Johnny I love him and you guys have LOOOTTTTSSS of incriminating pictures of me... worse than bunny ears

Hmm... incriminating photos of Mims....

 

[eeyore04]

Well hello everyone, it's been a LOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGG time since I've posted anything. I've been so incredibly busy lately, and then for a while I forgot out my PTR completely. I'm taking extra shifts at Michaels because we're short staffed... currently I'm on day 13 of at least 25 days straight. All I want to do when I come home is sleep.

I did purchase a new car a little over a month ago....

My new 2012 Dodge Avenger SE

The girl getting her first bath


I also sprained my ankle while out on a roadtrip with Wendy (teekathepony)

I've got another 2 doubles coming up this week so hopefully I can get to updating this again shortly with some more pre-trip stuff!

 

[eeyore04]

Chapter 7-The Concussion... a back story

I'll set the scene....

Where: Magic Kingdom

What: Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

When: September 22, 2009

Who: Myself and my boyfriend

MNSSHP was an absolute blast for me. We pretty much walked on any ride we wanted to, had great seats for Happy Hallow-Wishes and even better seats for the Boo to You Parade... Watched the second Villians Mix & Mingle and got to get pictures with 6 of the 7 villians in 25 minutes... BONUS!

It was very late, as the party was over at midnight, and we slowly made our way out of the Magic Kingdom and to the Pop Century bus stop. It was quite a long line, and we were tired (after pulling off two parks in one day (Epcot and Magic Kingdom) and so we were just ready to get back to our room and go to bed.

There was a couple in front of us who had their two adorable little boys with them (I would guess about 3 & 5 years old) Both the father and the mother had a half-asleep child in their arms, and one had a backpack on the ground beside them, and the other, the folded up stroller. The little boy who was in his dad's arms had one of those 8 inch light up light sabres in his hand, and as he was drifting in and out, it slipped out of his hand and onto the ground.

My boyfriend was in front of me, and closer to the family, and didn't see the toy fall, but I tapped him on the shoulder (my boyfriend) and said “how about grabbing that little boy's toy...” to which he replied some grunt or unpleasentry, so I pushed him out of the way and got it myself.

Little did I realize, that in picking up the child's toy took me under the metal pole that separated the queue, and when I went to stand up, the pole was kind of in my way. Needless to say, I got quite a crack on the head.

We finally made it on the bus, and on the way back to Pop Century I drifted in and out, woke up startled (and a bit confused) when the bus pulled into the resort, and could barely get my feet under me to get off the bus. I sat down on one of the couches in Classic Hall while my boyfriend went to the desk to see if he could get me some ice for my head, and one of the cast members came over to see if I was ok, and told me she was calling the paramedics, to hang on and someone would be right there to help me. I, being stubborn, told her not to bother, I wanted ice and my bed. She insisted and told me to wait where I was, they just wanted to make sure I was ok.

I was fairly upset, had a major headache, was sore as heck, completely exhausted, and the “I want my mom” sets in. Of course I'm crying, my mom isn't around and I didn't want to look at my boyfriend, let alone paramedics. A little while later, the paramedics arrive, check me out, and asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital, which I said no to, but they told me that ice should help, gave me some instructions on what to do for a concussion, and asked the Cast Member if she could get me some ice packs and extra towels. We had a bag full of ice packs and towels in seconds, and walked to our room with some people pointing at me and whispering.

Of course by this time it's too late to call home to talk to my brother, my parents were at the other end of the country in Las Vegas, I had no phone number for them..... and I just wanted to sleep... I woke up the next day with a major headache (suffered with bad headaches for the better part of a year after that) and went to a park. We came back to our room that evening to find a fridge.. which I called the front desk about to ask why we had a fridge. She said it “must have been ordered” and they told us to call Mousekeeping. I did, and she said “it was ordered” I told her if I was going to be charged for it-they better come and get it out of there. After they came and got it, I wondered if maybe they sent it due to the accident? I'll never know....

So that is the backstory on why my family doesn't want me to do Disney solo!

 

[Queenofallthings]

Ok, I'm here! I haven't read a word yet, but I'm here....going back to read now!!!

 

[teekathepony]

LOL Your mom. I can totally see what's in her head... Amy passed out in the MK parking lot, half concealed by a bush and with a huge lump on her head. Imagine waking up on a sidewalk and wondering where you were, only to discover that you're in a Disney park? Hahaha I guess people have woken up to worse!

 

[eeyore04]

Ok, I'm here! I haven't read a word yet, but I'm here....going back to read now!!!

YAY! Welcome!!! I can't wait to read yours too!

LOL Your mom. I can totally see what's in her head... Amy passed out in the MK parking lot, half concealed by a bush and with a huge lump on her head. Imagine waking up on a sidewalk and wondering where you were, only to discover that you're in a Disney park? Hahaha I guess people have woken up to worse!

It wasn't even that bad.... but I WILL get a solo trip in at some point!

 

[eeyore04]

Chapter 8-No, it’s 180 days. (Stupid Travel Agent)


So, after the decision was made, days chosen, and cast picked, we were off to the travel agent on March 13th to book our Disney vacation. As you read before, our days are September 13-22. But we booked 184 days out.

Our travel agent was really nice, shared some Disney experiences he has had, a bit of his travel experiences other than Disney and I think he was genuinely excited for us... especially once he found out it was mom and David’s first time!

The free dining was not coming up for him, so he called to book through the Disney Travel Company; and while he was on hold he said to us “you know you can start booking your dining reservations right away” and my reply was “yup, on Saturday” here’s the conversation:
TA: with Disney you can book your meals 6 months in advance
Me: no it’s 180 days, which is Saturday
TA: today is the 13th*and you guys are going on the 13th*so therefore you can do it now
Me: no it’s 180 days. Disney is very strict about that
TA: but it’s 180+10
Me: yes and that’s 10 days worth of dining after you hit your 180 day mark for your check in day, which is Saturday.
TA: just go home tonight and try it, because you will be able to start immediately
Me: (rolls eyes) ok I’ll check (knowing it won’t work)
…fast forward a few minutes after he’s been talking to Disney on the phone, booking us in, giving our information
TA: by the way when can they start booking their dining reservations… …ok…
Me: (sits there stone faced and probably raised an eyebrow in anticipation)
TA: you can start booking your dining reservations this Saturday!
Me: (mumbling to my brother) ‘no **** Sherlock’
Mom: AMY! behave!
*
Bahahahaha*exxxxcelllent.
*
I ended up booking them on Sunday, but because I worked all day Saturday... but they are booked and we got into every place we wanted!

 

[Queenofallthings]

Clearly he had no idea who he was dealing with....I love it!! glad you were able to get everything you wanted....can't wait to hear where!!!

 

[eeyore04]

Clearly he had no idea who he was dealing with....I love it!! glad you were able to get everything you wanted....can't wait to hear where!!!

It's true this is only my second trip coming up in September; however I do quite a bit of Disney research ALL THE TIME. I'm constantly reading blogs, official and unofficial sites, books, podcasts, I know that it's 180 days.

 

[teekathepony]

Yup, gotta love uninformed travel agents!

 

[eeyore04]

After watching our town's fireworks 'display' to end off this past week of our yearly summer festival it made me yearn to be at the Magic Kingdom watching Wishes. You see they set off enough fireworks in the span of about 10-15 minutes to make about a minute worth in Disney World (it's not the same watching fireworks not set to music)

I just felt like it was time for a real life, down to earth, "this is me" post-with a purpose.

As I have said in my intro and bio, I'm 26, single, work 2 jobs that I love, and try to keep myself pretty busy. I am a very loyal and passionate person.

I have worked very hard to get myself where I'm at, happy-go-lucky, optimist, that sort of thing. I think that's why I'm so obsessed with all things Disney. Perhaps it's the happy endings in movies, feel-good themes, maybe it's going back to my childhood when you don't have to deal with the things you deal with as an adult... I don't know what it is but it helps me forget for just a little while the harsh reality that can be life.

This makes me curious... what makes all of you love Disney so much and how did that become your reality?

I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say!

next up-ADR's

 

[MEK]

Subbing! I will have to read later, but at least I found you!