PTR/TR - An Aussie tribe’s American Adventure Dec 9 2010 – Jan 23 2011

[shushh]

I received a most wonderful parcel today!

I picked up this hunk of a box and lugged it home to find...

My babushka samsonite B-lite cases!

I bought a set designed to fit inside each other so that I can take empty suitcases to the states to bring home my goodies. We loved our 4 wheeler suitcases from our trip to Europe so much that we bought Samsonite's newest soft-sided suitcases. The 4 wheels really help with manoeuvrability. And the suitcases are light. The largest 77cm case weighs 3.9kg, the 67cm weighs 3.3kg and the carry on 55cm only 2.6kg. Ok so its no where near as light as the cosmolite but I can't afford $500 per suitcase!

I was going to buy these in the states but was surprised that 1) they were hard to find and 2) the ones that I did find were more expensive. So we'll now be taking 5 suitcases with us with the aim of 3 of them being empty. If we buy more than we have space for, well...the shops are there for a reason!

Well, the shopping bug has indeed bitten early. The suitcases are in addition to our first online American purchase over the weekend! Land's End had a 30% off and free shipping offer, along with an additional $10 off down jackets. So we stocked up for Malcolm, Jonah and myself. With a 650 fill jacket only costing $60, how could one go wrong?!?! If we are still cold in New York, we can always buy some more! Besides, I haven't been able to find any for Jonah and I managed to get one for him for only $28. Bargain!

We arranged to have the parcel shipped to Port Orleans Riverside. It will arrive about 2.5 weeks before we check in. I hope that this will be ok with the hotel as there will be many more parcels coming their way shortly! I think DH is starting to get really nervous about how much I am intending to buy.

Oh, and I do not work for Samsonite...

Next...Stateroom Surprise!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Those Babushka's look fantastic. I note the shipment is from Melbourne, Australia! Where did you get them and how much were they? Please PM me if you don't want to share too much info.

Jade, if you're a chocolate fan, its definitely worth trying Max brenner's! I personally prefer it to the Lindt cafe.

And Jade - if you're ever in Melbourne, you should also try Koko Black.

 

[shushh]

Those Babushka's look fantastic. I note the shipment is from Melbourne, Australia! Where did you get them and how much were they? Please PM me if you don't want to share too much info.

Thanks Princess! I'm glad you like them. The carton is from Melbourne... but the suitcases came from Perth! I don't mind sharing info. I bought them from bagworld. Bagworld pricematched Peter's of kensington online, took off an additional 5% of the difference and provided free delivery. The final prices were $154.92, $212.89 and $231.19 respectively from smallest to largest. I think luggageworld and many similar online shops also stock them and price match as well.

 

[JenKatt]

If you need clothes when you get to NYC, I would go to H&M, Century 21 or Loehmans for you and any other adult. It's REALLY easy to overpay in NYC. The taxes alone on stuff is brutal. You might do better getting to the outlets outside of WDW.

 

[shushh]

If you need clothes when you get to NYC, I would go to H&M, Century 21 or Loehmans for you and any other adult. It's REALLY easy to overpay in NYC. The taxes alone on stuff is brutal. You might do better getting to the outlets outside of WDW.

Thanks for the tip! I was going to ask if you know about carseat laws with regard to 14 PAX vans? I tried to look it up but haven't been very successful. I don't know if the rules for cars applies or the rules for buses...

 

[JenKatt]

Thanks for the tip! I was going to ask if you know about carseat laws with regard to 14 PAX vans? I tried to look it up but haven't been very successful. I don't know if the rules for cars applies or the rules for buses...

In Florida if it's public transport, then no, but private hire vans do need car seats. It's the same in NYC. You'll need car seats for a private hire.

 

[shushh]

We have our stateroom allocations! We have been upgraded to Cat5A cabins and we are all in a row. Well...MY cabin is still yet undisclosed as I can't see my reservation online but I know where the rest of the group are! Presumably, we'll also be next or close to the others. Patiently awaiting news from DCL or our TA.

The uncanny thing is that one of the group of staterooms allocated to us is 7088 and 7090, the cabins we were in on the Magic last April! For some reason, this makes me even happier...

Next...Conference calls

 

[PrincessInOz]

Always love early Disney magic!

 

[Jade+3]

What a lovely surprise. We were also on Deck 7. Fabulous location.

 

[shushh]

We are officially going to Hong Kong Disney! DH has a 4 day conference there in May next year and he has finally given me dates! We booked our airfares today with the Qantas special...I checked our plane, boeing 747 Even better still, my parents are coming along too. Babysitters AND tour guides all in one.

Yeehaw! This will help with the big post holiday blues come January.

Tonight will be a busy night of preparation for our last Disney Meeting before we leave. Family Y will be dialling in on skype from Canada. Everyone is busy updating their relevant spreadsheets, including myself. I also have to study my allocated topics for the trivia night of champions tomorrow afternoon. Yes, our team is representing our local trivia haunt competing with other trivia nerds for the crown of trivia champion. That's right, this is serious business. We are dropping off our children so we can concentrate on Disney talk as well as focus on trivial matters so to speak! Let's see...by tomorrow, I will need to have covered Bond films and the states of the USA. DH has committed to memory the books of the bible and flags of countries beginning with the letter T. He needs to move on to flags of countries beginning with other letters...

Wish us luck!

Next...Thanksgiving

 

[shushh]

Always love early Disney magic!

What a lovely surprise. We were also on Deck 7. Fabulous location.

I am very happy! It has been confirmed. We are in 7088, the exact cabin of the Wonder equivalent, interconnecting with our friends. Hurray for Disney magic!

 

[shushh]

Today, we celebrated Thanksgiving for the first time. Lanella, our au pair, is from Texas and she generously offered to cook us a Thanksgiving meal. She spent the whole afternoon in the kitchen and prepared us a beautiful meal made with love! It was tough going for Lanella and we had difficulty sourcing the necessary ingredients but the end result was scrumptious!

Our special treat!

Turkey

Sweet potato casserole

Pumpkin pie

Now you see it...

...soon you won't!

Lanella with the children

Next...5 Days To Go!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Shushh....That pumpkin pie and the sweet potato casserole looks smashing! Did Lanella make them from scratch?

 

[shushh]

Mostly...she had to use the ready made shortcrust for the pumpkin pie because she ran out of time! She did all this while looking after Jonah. I was so impressed!

 

[Mum from oz]

Yum! That Thanksgiving meal looks delicious, although I've never tried pumpkin pie or sweet potato casserole before it still looks yummy! We're hoping to be in the US again in End of October - Early Dec in 2012 so we may get to experience it first hand!

How long to go before you leave now?

 

[shushh]

5 days to go!!!

 

[shushh]

Chaos has descended upon our household and our humble abode resembles the crash site of a plane wreck. I am attempting to pack in preparation of our trip. Husbands on call and meddling children have not contributed to my efforts.

As I write on my rest break, I am most disappointed to announce that I have failed in my attempt to contain our belongings within 3 suitcases. There goes my plan of 2 suitcases within 2 others babushka doll-esque style. I was going well until I had to try squeeze in a certain someone's footwear. I have grossly underestimated the combined volume of Malcolm's shoes. Who has such mammoth feet? And what male needs to bring five pairs of shoes?!?! Thus, a babushka suitcase had to be brought out of its comfortable bigger brother's cocoon just to accommodate his shoes.

The clothes were relatively easy to pack. It was the Disney paraphernalia which kept me on my toes. Autograph books, big permanent pens, lanyards, fish extenders, door magnets, the list continues. WDW has been occupying our minds of late. Whilst awaiting our detailed park plan from our theme park strategist, Malcolm has worked out his casual walking speed to be 6.2km/hour with an 8kg daypack assuming no wind and level ground. Others have been working on pelvic floor exercises to minimize the need for toilet stops and chances of unfortunate accidents on scary rides. I have been refining my "scoop and sprint" technique to be able to gather (belongings and children) and run quickly to an attraction if need be should any overtaking of other Disney wannabe fans are required.

I was delighted when our 2 page Animal Kingdom touring plan was distributed, complete with map, contingencies, and an accompanying 30 page supporting document. I am wondering how our theme park strategist has time to do this being a surgeon with an active 18 month old child. Now awaiting the same for the other 11 days!

The last few weeks seemed to have passed by in a flash. I was most excited to discover that Malcolm is now staff at Macquarie University. He very flippantly mentioned this AFTER listening to me lament for days about how expensive photoshop is and how I wished we were eligible for the student/teacher version which was so much cheaper. So we now have in our possession a copy of Lightroom 3 and Adobe CS5!

Our most recent "stress" is what the front desk at Port Orleans Riverside will think of us. We have been madly purchasing things online with the fantastic post-Thanksgiving sales. Disney T-shirts, Disney pyjamas and a Disney Christmas tree-skirt amongst other things. The tree-skirt survived a close call being nearly embroidered with "Lara" upon Malcolm's instruction until the Disney customer service officer kindly intervened:

"Sir, how about The Albany Family?"
"Oh, ok"
"I think that would work much better Sir'

Malcolm had thought that it was a skirt for Lara!!! I had to be grateful though that he was willing to spend time on the phone "fixing" our order so as to be able to ship it free to our hotel. Somehow, in the process, he managed to get an extra $12 off! Woohoo!

We've now had our Christmas "parties" with both sets of parents as well as Malcolm's grandfather. The children have been delighted to get all their Christmas presents early. They have also received generous donations for shopping in the US. They are very lucky children indeed!

There is good news on the home front. Our plans were finalized on late Thursday night. We are now awaiting landscape designs and finalizing other external elements such as roof lines, colours and windows and doors. This will hopefully be done by Monday leaving 2 days for final preparations with submission to council slated for Wednesday.

On Sunday afternoon, I will be leaving for the Hunter Valley for an off-site work meeting. I think of this as a child-free treat to relax and prepare myself for the long journey on Thursday. Upon my return on Tuesday evening, there will be a ream of things to do including buying that bottle of phenergan...

Next...Happy In The Hunter

 

[PrincessInOz]

I have a headache just from reading your activities!! But it does sound like it's chaos under control....you just need to get it done.

Just one question...is the phenergan for you or you???

for 5 days! Or is it 4 days; given that it's after midnight.

 

[Jade+3]

My head is spinning just reading that!

 

[shushh]

I have a headache just from reading your activities!! But it does sound like it's chaos under control....you just need to get it done.

Just one question...is the phenergan for you or you???

for 5 days! Or is it 4 days; given that it's after midnight.

My head is spinning just reading that!

Well, my head has been spinning for a while now! Glad to be able to share that sensation with all. I'm a caring sharing kinda gal!

Princess, if that phenergan doesn't work with the kids, I might just have to glug it down myself.