Seeing The World for the 1st Time (again)-1st time PTR w/pics INPUT WELCOME

[Leonsmom]

Hi all
Well I haven't abandoned my PTR or my planning, I have just had a string of bad luck. I was sick with some kind of flu-ish, virus-y, cold thing. I lost my voice for 3 whole weeks, and I was coughinh up a lung every night which made the day after a sleepless night very difficult for me to handle my biz-ness. Because of all that I was having a huge FMS flare-up that left me very lethargic (sp?), and in pain. Have you ever tried to make ADR's with NO VOICE? More about thatr later. Then last week I started feeling about 95% better, but I had another project to do. Which I am very proud of....
I made a really cool 20min DVD slideshow set to music with special effects and everything for Leon's Kindergarten teacher. It took me 3 full bays to make a 20 minute slideshow - go figure. I am the class mom, so as such I am lucky enough to get top go to all the class parties, where I took tons of pictures. I love the way it came out, I tried to post it on my photography website but I could not figure out how to convert it.
THEN....
Last Friday my computer went Kaplooey
We were able to get my computer back up and running, but my programs don't seem to be running correctly, and some of my files have gone missing.
I have been very frustrated over this mess. Designing is impossible right now. But I will get back to it as soon as this computer mess is figured out. In the meantime I'll be using my DH's work laptop to post. This weekend a friend of DH's is coming by to look at it. Cross your fingers for me .....

 

[stahshee]

Good to know you are doing better

 

[lmillercrew]

Dangit!!! You have had a rough go. Hopefully things will get better

 

[Leonsmom]

Good to know you are doing better

Thank you

Dangit!!! You have had a rough go. Hopefully things will get better

Yeah i think I have a black cloud following me around ....
.......better not stand so close

 

[Leonsmom]

Can you hear me now??​

So as I said in a previous post, I’ve been on my death bed.
Actually it hasn't been as bad as all that - I tend to be a bit of a drama queen .
But I had my cold forever … and ever ...and ever. I lost my voice for close to three weeks. I sounded like Froggy from the Little Rascals (for those of you old enough to know the Little Rascals). I did manage to make all my ADRs just before I lost it though. All but one, which was the Pirate Cruise at GF for our last day. Aparently you can’t make this one 180 days in advance of your trip arrival date. This has to be 180 days in advance of the day you want it for even if you are staying on property. I could not call that day though because I was too busy coughing my lungs out, and I had no voice anyway. I finally called the day my voice was audible. The CM was very nice although one of the first things she said was “Oh no, You sound terrible!!”. And dispite my worries I got the ressie.
Of all my ADRs, that will probably be the only one I don’t change, well not really….but maybe. The calendar for November and December FINALLY came out – two days AFTER I made my initial ADR’s. And while I did look at the UG before I made my ADR’s, I still wanted to consult the other crystal ball – TGM. And while Disney already put out the December calendar, TGM hadn’t updated his yet..I've been waiting very patiently, well at least I was trying to be patient.

Here are the ADRs I made so far:

Fri. Nov. 28 – (Arrival Day) Hoop Dee Doo Revue - 5pm (this will stay the same)
Sat. Nov. 29 – Chef Mickeys –11:20 am
Sun. Nov. 30 – Donald Breakfast at Tusker House 8:20am
Mon.Dec 1 – Fantasmic Pkg at Hollywood and Vine – 4:30pm
Tues. Dec 2 – No ADR
Wed, Dec 3 – WCC at 12:30pm
Thur. Dec 4 – Biergarten – 12:00pm
Fri. Dec 5 – Boma – 7:20pm ( I originally had it for an hour earlier but once I got the park hours, I changed it)
Sat, Dec 6 – (Departure Day) Pirate Cruise from GF for Leon – 9:15am (This will stay the same).

(guess what I just got an email alert that TGM has updated his least crowded park hours for Dec today....woo hoo ...unfortunately I have a very busy schedule today and won't get to work on my plans till tomorrow night
, but at least I have something to look forward to.)

 

[joelp]

Thanks for the TGM update ...

The predictions did change for some of our days - the only one that will affect us is for Monday, Dec 8 - Epcot is now listed as a "park to avoid" ... ... Just more incentive to get there early for Soarin' dance3

 

[Leonsmom]

Thanks for the TGM update ...

The predictions did change for some of our days - the only one that will affect us is for Monday, Dec 8 - Epcot is now listed as a "park to avoid" ... ... Just more incentive to get there early for Soarin' dance3

SHHHHH!! Haven't you seen those non-disclosure messages on every page of TGM???


I managed to get a bit of free time to look over our days and I even made some ADR changes... I will post them tonight or tomorrow

 

[DISNEYJAZZ]

hey,lovin' your pre-trip report! and your son is a cutey!! can't wait to read more of your plans...i love the basket idea,i did them for my grandkids for our april trip and they loved them! i used the same mickey 3d sticker you have with the stars for dgs and minnie for dgd.i also made invites for the special adrs we'd let them chose...cinderella's royal table for elli ,liberty tree w/goofy for blaze and hollywood & vine for both... i also made them 'disney or bust ' bags to keep them busy on the trip down { 7 hour drive from north ga] they had coloring books & colored pencils { no melting crayons left in the van all week..hehe} and stickers,a journal and lots of lil doller store stuff...their fav thing tthyegot to sahre for the road was a mickey & minnie & friends dvd with classic cartoons on it...they watched it 3 times.
can't wait to read more of your plans and btw i loved the b'day pix on smugmug....

 

[newtodis]

Hey you! Checking in on your PTR. You're doing so much better than I am!! I'm hoping to get caught up on mine with the laptop since the computer took a break on me.

Glad you're feeling better and you got your ADRs made!! Can't wait to see what else you've got planned!!

Hope all went well today and you're not too exhausted tonight.

 

[hollybearsmom]

I am love, love, loving your pre-trip report. Hope you are feeling 100% again and you have your computer back up to speed.

Can't wait for more!

 

[Leonsmom]

Hi. Hi, Hi...
I keep disappearing. I haven't had much time to DIS - I KNOW! the HORROR of it all!! I figured I'd jump in and write something quick to let y'all know I am still kickin' and to respond to a few posts:

hey,lovin' your pre-trip report! and your son is a cutey!! can't wait to read more of your plans...i love the basket idea,i did them for my grandkids for our april trip and they loved them! i used the same mickey 3d sticker you have with the stars for dgs and minnie for dgd.i also made invites for the special adrs we'd let them chose...cinderella's royal table for elli ,liberty tree w/goofy for blaze and hollywood & vine for both... i also made them 'disney or bust ' bags to keep them busy on the trip down { 7 hour drive from north ga] they had coloring books & colored pencils { no melting crayons left in the van all week..hehe} and stickers,a journal and lots of lil doller store stuff...their fav thing tthyegot to sahre for the road was a mickey & minnie & friends dvd with classic cartoons on it...they watched it 3 times.
can't wait to read more of your plans and btw i loved the b'day pix on smugmug....

Thanks for being here! I love the name Blaze. I once saw that name in the credits of a movie and I loved it. I told Ron that if we ever had a son, I would name him Blaze (this was obviously pre-Leon). He was apprehensive but not worried because he knew (within the first week of meeting me) that my first son would be named after my dad who died when I was two, and he was. Although Leon has announced that he is changing his name and that we should not call him Leon anymore. We are to call him STUD. He is very serious about this and insists we use his new name. When asked where he got that from he said that's what Mr. D (gym teacher) calls him. THANKS MR. D!! We have fun with it though. Ron wants me to design a Disney shirt for him that says Studd on it (with two d's) - NO WAY is my 5 year old runnin around with a Studd shirt
BTW - great tip with the colored pencils.

Hey you! Checking in on your PTR. You're doing so much better than I am!! I'm hoping to get caught up on mine with the laptop since the computer took a break on me.

Glad you're feeling better and you got your ADRs made!! Can't wait to see what else you've got planned!!

Hope all went well today and you're not too exhausted tonight.

Hey,
I've been meaning to check in on you. I see you've been busy DISigning. I love your stuff.
I hope all is well.

I am love, love, loving your pre-trip report. Hope you are feeling 100% again and you have your computer back up to speed.

Can't wait for more!

Thank You!! I recieved your PM, I'll write back later when I get a chance.
I got to read the first few posts of your PTR and I can see som simularities already!

 

[Leonsmom]

Okay, I really should not be doing this right now, I should be getting my home back in order for Ron's 20th Annual 4th of July Weekend Celebration. I've got to transform my apartment from makeshiff daycare back into a presentable living space. Ron has been hosting this BBQ for 20 years now, since he was 16 years old and his parents went away for the weekend and told him he could have a FEW friends over. We will probably have about 50 or so guests come and go during our two day BBQ. Just to clarify how we manage this in an apartment, we rent the bottom floor of an old farm house and the yard is included.
But instead of making lists, cleaning house and organizing, i am taking this moment of silence in the house (baby is napping and the other two are at camp) to post a new addition to my PTR.

I was able to take some time to really look into the TGM crystal ball, and make some decisions about our plans. I ended up changing only two of my ADRs.
So here are my final ADRs:
Fri November 28 - Hoop Dee Doo (5pm)
Sat November 29 - Chef Mickey (11:20am)
Sun November 30 - Tusker House (8:20am)
Mon December 1 - Whispering Canyon Cafe (11:55am)
Tues December 2 - no ADR
Wed December 3 - Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic (3:50pm)
Thur December 4 - Biergarten (12:00pm)
Fri December 5 - Boma (7:30pm)
Sat December 6 - Pirate Cruise (9:00am)

Now I know some of those times may look a little 'off', but don't worry they will work. Really, they will.

Here is how I see Day 1 playing out....
Wait, wait, wait, first let me warn you: I do tend to over-plan and my schedule may look jam packed because I do get a little over zealous, but I am also quite easy going and can adapt and go with the flow when I need to. I don't have to be in control of every little thing.
Ummm.... does anyone else hear laughing??
No really it's true! And to prove it let me tell you a little story about my wedding day.
I had it planned and mapped out to a tee. I hand painted wine glasses as favors for each guest, I made all the centerpieces, the wedding arch, I co-ordinate transportation for my entire wedding party and about 30 guests (friends and family who flew in from Germany) to go from their accommodations to a park for photos, then to the place where the ceremony would take place (a replica of a landmark church that can be rented out by the day), and then to the reception hall. It was all timed out so perfectly, it was like clockwork . I even built in time to actually get the family photos done with enough time to get to the reception and enjoy the cocktail hour without missing a moment of it.
Then it happened.... the big snafu. Three weeks before my wedding day, I get a call from the place were the ceremony is to be held and they inform me that they are so sorry but they booked two weddings for the same day. WHAT!!!!
How did they fix it????? They said here..., here is the other bride’s number; maybe the two of you can work something out. WHAT!!!
So I call this poor girl, who freaked!!! We came to realize that our ceremonies were scheduled to start 1 hour apart from one another. We agreed that I would move mine 1/2 an hour later and she would move hers1/2 hour earlier, giving us 2 hours in between our respective ceremonies. Whew crisis averted - wait no now we have to inform our guests of the time change.... Okay done, ...now crisis averted. Everything is back on track, schedules have been revised. We are a go, people!
The big day arrives, a Limo picks me and my bridesmaids up, a bus picks up Ron and his grooms men, and we all meet the photographer at the scenic park for a little photo shoot. Meanwhile two buses pick up the Germans and shuttle them to the ceremony location, where they will be met by our bridal party who has gone on ahead of Ron and I in the groomsmen bus while Ron and I take more photographs. The plan is to have everyone seated inside when we arrive so that Ron can slip in and wait for me to make my grand entrance without anyone else getting a glimpse of me before hand. So far the plan is working great, everything is running on time, we get done with the bridal party pics and send them on their way.... Ron and I take our photos and then hop in the limo to get to the church on time. And we did!! Only to find my entire bridal party and all my guests standing outside on the lawn. We pull in and my aunt walks up to the car and informs us that the previous wedding hasn't even started yet. HUH?? Yea, it seams that their priest is stuck in Memorial Day traffic and is already 2 hours late; apparently he was coming from New Jersey
The other bride was asking to borrow our priest when hers showed up just moments after we pulled in. .............
This was MY wedding day; NOTHING was going to spoil it or how I was feeling. So I just went with the flow and hung out in the limo drinking Champaign with Ron. Before long guests were knocking on our window to see if I was okay (.... and then there were the Germans who were just knocking to see inside a real live limousine). I realized that I would have no choice but to let everyone see me and forego my grand entrance down the aisle.
And since we were now worried about time (after all I did not want to miss my cocktail hour or pay extra for the limos - we were on a budget) I made the decision to have the family photos taken right then and there while we waited. Everyone was amazed at how easily I transitioned and managed the situation and myself. I was determined not to let this ruin my day. Only two things upset me that day. One was when the other bride's ceremony was over they wanted to take some pictures in front of the building - which was fine with me. However they took forever to do it with no regard to the 75 people standing around waiting for them to finish. I let 30 minutes go by when I finally told my aunt that I had had enough. We were going in no matter what, we still had to put my handmade wedding arch up - I had already given up on any of the other decorations I wanted to put up, but I was not giving up my arch. I worked too hard on it. Anyway my bridal party got in and put up my arch and we got back on track. The second thing that upset me that day was when the other couple decided to blast the limo’s wedding horn as they drove off, right in the middle of our vows. It's all on the video between I and do (we had to do a do-over).
So this proves that I can go with the flow when I need to. (There it is again...... laughter....Anyone else here that?) So don’t pay too much attention to the super packed, crazy, commando style itinerary. I wasn’t going to let anything ruin my wedding and I am definitely not letting anything ruin Disney, not even my own ambitious plans. I am fully aware that things may have to be (and probably will be) cut out along the way.
And now back to the plans….

So this is how I see Day 1 going..........

Oh poop!! The baby just woke up. Oh well, more later...

HAVE A GREAT 4th OF JULY EVERYONE

 

[Leonsmom]

My computer crashed again!! And this time for good!!

I am in DH's office now... He's letting me 'borrow' his work laptop temporarily (until I have to pick up the kids at camp or the baby starts crying - whichever comes first).
Apparently what happened to my computer before was just a warning that there was a bigger problem with my hard drive. My Hard Drive was pronounced dead at approximately 6:30pm on Saturday. I now need to by a brand new hard drive (which we can't afford right now) and HOPEFULLY (fingers crossed) we can have someone retrieve my files and programs from the dead one and put them on the new one.
If we can't then I have to re-install all my programs and say farewell to all my unsaved files. Unfortunately two of the programs I do designs with, I do not have discs for (My ex installed his program onto my computer, way back when. And when he left so did the discs).
One thing I was able to do when the computer started acting up a couple weeks ago was to start backing up my most important files - which were my photographs, however it was a loooong process and I didn't get to finish backing up everything. So everyone PRAY that I did not loose my important documents including my precious DISNEY FOLDER with all my graphics, designs, PLANNING pages, designs I requested from other DISigners I don't know what I was thinking by not backing that up first - it has all my reservations, ADRs, and plans in it. I did however print out quite a bit of the planning things a month back with the intention of putting them in a binder. I just have to find that pile of paper!!!
When cleaning up for the party, I kinda just shoved things in outta the way places..... I just don't remember where.

I don't know how long it will be before we get me a new hard drive, in the mean time I will have access to DH's computer for a while although I am limited to what I will be able to do with it but at least I can PTR on the DIS!!!

Gotta run......

 

[joelp]

So this is how I see Day 1 going..........

Oh poop!! The baby just woke up. Oh well, more later...

HAVE A GREAT 4th OF JULY EVERYONE

OK - Day 1 starts with the baby waking up from a nap ... ... [2 hours later than "planned" ... ] ... Nothing like a kid to destroy any kind of plans we can make ... or even the attempt to make a plan ...

(Personally - I would take that as a "planning omen" ... ... )

 

[joelp]

Good luck with the computer!!

Ours crashed about a year ago, too (actually, the DW "killed" it while trying to upgrade it ... but I didn't tell you that ... ... ) We lost a lot of photos, too - so now DW loads everyting onto Phanfare, Shutterfly, etc. as an off-site back-up ...

And coming from LI, I know you didn't actually say "Poop, poop, and more poop!"

 

[Leonsmom]

OK - Day 1 starts with the baby waking up from a nap ... ... [2 hours later than "planned" ... ] ... Nothing like a kid to destroy any kind of plans we can make ... or even the attempt to make a plan ...

That actually happened yesterday....
I convinced Leon to take a nap after staying up til midnight on Saturday.
He argued at first, but I told him it was practice for Disney and that he only had to take a 30 min nap ........3 hours later..... family is showing up for a birthday BBQ and wondering where he is.

Good luck with the computer!!



And coming from LI, I know you didn't actually say "Poop, poop, and more poop!"

Too bad they don't have a smiley spewing soda out it's nose from laughing so hard- because that's me right now!
And actually I did actually say Poop, poop, & more poop but that was because there were children present as the day progressed into night and the kiddies disappeared the language changed to something like F!, F!, Effiddy!, F! and some other choice words!!

 

[bentleygirl22]

i'm along for the ride!!

 

[Leonsmom]

i'm along for the ride!!

Great to have you along. Be sure to hold tight and keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, it gets a little bumpy!

 

[*LuckyMom*]

I'm in!!! -and from Long Island too!!

 

[Leonsmom]

I'm in!!! -and from Long Island too!!

Glad to have you along! Where in Long Island? I am in Hicksville.