September TR... UPDATED on July 11th, 2009--FINAL DAY POSTED.

[njdisneyfreak]

The pillow cases are so nice. Are you sure it was your first time making them? I would love to make my own stuff, but I'm so clumsy when it comes to sewing.

I have had those edible arrangements once. The secretary at the school where I work got one recently and was having everyone try it. Yummy!

I can't believe you are just a few days from going. I can't believe how excited I am to hear all about all the fun you're going to have.

 

[Disneylove1228]

I just read all your post! AWW!! Just a few more days left! Can you believe it!? I'm so excited for you, I can almost taste it! It's getting a little cooler here so the florida heat won't be so deadful.. none the less, it's still warm outside! I live in south florida... and we've been looking forward to a little change! Wow all your stuff you bought is so cute!! It sounds like yall are going to have a fabulous time! <3!

 

[Raecheal]

4 More Days !!!

The pillows look great!!!I love the patterns/colors. I have heard of edible arrangements and it looks/sounds great. I wish someone would send me one.

2 MORE DAYS!! Thanks, I am so proud of those darn pillows. Ohhh i guess i forgot to post.. I received a special Disney surprise at work the other day from my Dbf.

I do hope you get to start a PJ on the wedding boards soon It'll be another oh...eighty years before I get to start one of my own

MAC makes my bank account cry. I'm so horrible about wanting everything in that store. Their last collection (Cult of Cherry) was to die for, I wanted it all.

Yay 4 more days!

eighty years... when i speak with dbf.. i feel the same way. I just checked out the Cult of Cherry collection.. its nice. Generally, about like once every two months i go in and get my face done. Then I purchase what they used on me. I like it when they do your make-up, i usually pay the 50.00 for
an hour long. I like to see what colors they pick, why, how they put it on. It's def a good thing.. for someone who is learning. I just LOVE them.

The pillow cases are so nice. Are you sure it was your first time making them? I would love to make my own stuff, but I'm so clumsy when it comes to sewing. I have had those edible arrangements once. The secretary at the school where I work got one recently and was having everyone try it. Yummy! I can't believe you are just a few days from going. I can't believe how excited I am to hear all about all the fun you're going to have.

Hey you.. haven't seen you around.. School started, I'm sure your busy? Hows your classroom?

Soon enough, we'll be reading my TR and you'll be headed off on yours. I am so looking forward to your trip report...I'm going to take tons of pictures.. i'm really excited that dbf is helping me do the TR too.

Yep, first time making the pillows on my very own machine. I was so nervous that i was ruin the silk material but it turned our great.

I just read all your post! AWW!! Just a few more days left! Can you believe it!? I'm so excited for you, I can almost taste it! It's getting a little cooler here so the florida heat won't be so deadful.. none the less, it's still warm outside! I live in south florida... and we've been looking forward to a little change! Wow all your stuff you bought is so cute!! It sounds like yall are going to have a fabulous time! <3!

I really can't believe it... Thanks for the weather report... i've been started to look at the weather network this week.. it calls for rain most of the week (unless it has changed) I"m absolutely hella jealous (in a good way) that you live int he south of florida.. lucky you. hehe Thanks for reading my ptr... your sweet. I love you signature. That photo is adorable.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Hey you.. haven't seen you around.. School started, I'm sure your busy? Hows your classroom?

Soon enough, we'll be reading my TR and you'll be headed off on yours. I am so looking forward to your trip report...I'm going to take tons of pictures.. i'm really excited that dbf is helping me do the TR too.

Yep, first time making the pillows on my very own machine. I was so nervous that i was ruin the silk material but it turned our great.

I've been around a bit, but mostly on my PTR, whenever I get a free moment. Like you said, I'm back to teaching, so I've been trying to get my groove back and I think I'm just starting to get into a routine again. My classroom is great. On my PTR, I posted some pics of my room (the Disney parts of it). I like my students a lot.

Enjoy your trip!!! Remember to tell us all the great details.

BTW, what Disney surprise did your Dbf send you at work?

 

[ArelysAdriana]

eighty years... when i speak with dbf.. i feel the same way. I just checked out the Cult of Cherry collection.. its nice. Generally, about like once every two months i go in and get my face done. Then I purchase what they used on me. I like it when they do your make-up, i usually pay the 50.00 for
an hour long. I like to see what colors they pick, why, how they put it on. It's def a good thing.. for someone who is learning. I just LOVE them.

Boys are pretty clueless huh?

I do that all the time at MAC. So worth the $50 in product to get a free make over. I actually think I might do that for my birthday

Since I don't know if I'll be on much today or tomorrow and just in case I don't catch you before you leave, have a wonderful time with your DBF at Disney and take tons and tons of pictures because we expect a full report when you get back

 

[kathleen27]

Have a Great Trip!!!

 

[Raecheal]

The time has finally come...we are leaving real soon... Last week at work, Dbf surprised me with this:

It was delicious! I was so shocked. It was a really nice gesture, i was having a tuff week and it just made my day. Thanks sweets.

My parents will be staying at our house while were gone.....I've spent most of my weekend cleaning the house, preparing the spare bedroom, cleaning out the fridge, doing laundry and getting ready for their arrival. After all this cleaning, i'm exhausted.

I'm all done my packing just waiting on dbf to get his half done..... Im going to be completely honest, I HATE PACKING. It's def. alot of work. I had written up a word document called the "Packing List" two months ago, I printed it on friday evening and just basically followed that list. It helped keep me organized, managed my time but its still alot of work....(I can't even imagine packing for more than just me)

We still have a couple of errands to run, some last minute things to purchase and then were headed off. OH we found out were not sitting together on the way down... so were hoping we can have that changed.

Anyhoo.. I"M off. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. See you in a week..

 

[Raecheal]

I've been around a bit, but mostly on my PTR, whenever I get a free moment. Like you said, I'm back to teaching, so I've been trying to get my groove back and I think I'm just starting to get into a routine again. My classroom is great. On my PTR, I posted some pics of my room (the Disney parts of it). I like my students a lot.

Enjoy your trip!!! Remember to tell us all the great details.

BTW, what Disney surprise did your Dbf send you at work?

Thanks... i posted what dbf sent me at work. It was delicious.. fruit is my abs. fav.

Boys are pretty clueless huh?

I do that all the time at MAC. So worth the $50 in product to get a free make over. I actually think I might do that for my birthday

Since I don't know if I'll be on much today or tomorrow and just in case I don't catch you before you leave, have a wonderful time with your DBF at Disney and take tons and tons of pictures because we expect a full report when you get back

Dont' worry.. I love pictures.. they'll be tons.. food porn too

Have a Great Trip!!!

THANK YOU!!!

 

[Disneylove1228]

YAY!!!!!! =]

Don't be jealous girl... it isn't all it's cracked up to be down here! LOL I'd rather live up in north FL at least... but I won't be down here for long.. I'm movin up to Atlanta! =] So excited about that. Disney will only be 8 hrs away so it won't be that bad!

Awww all your packing stuff, that's sooo cute!! It hasn't been raining where we are... if it does, it doesn't last but maybe 30 min and clears right up! Woohoo! It rained on my way to the gym earlier this morning but after an hour it was soo sunny!

I subscribed to you and I expect a thorough trip report and a lot of pics, missy! HA! =]

Hope you have the time of your lives! Be safe and take care! <33

 

[njdisneyfreak]

I can't believe you're off to WDW today! I know you won't see this till you get back, but have a blast and I can't wait to read all about everything!

 

[Raecheal]

Were Back.... and were ready to start our TRIP REPORT...

 

[ArelysAdriana]

Yay, you're back!
I hope you and your boyfriend had a fantastic trip

 

[Raecheal]

Yay, you're back!
I hope you and your boyfriend had a fantastic trip

Thanks hun. As soon as i get a chance.. dbf and i will start with our surprises/disappointments and a dining review. I see that the thread over in the wedding section was shut down...

 

[Disneychix]

Welcome back! Can't wait to read all about it!!

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Welcome back! I can't wait to hear all the details. Please try to not keep us in suspense for long.

 

[Raecheal]

hey everyone..I"m not too sure if anyones even still reading my blog... but I have to admit that I"ve been feeling really frustrated since we got back from WDW...Yes.. i possibly have a case of post vacation blues... . BUT its taking some time to adjust back to my daily routine. I really truly do miss being in Disney. I miss everything about Disney, the people, the atmosphere, the weather, the magic and just the general warm feeling of being at home that i get when i'm there.

I do have some good news to report, I booked us (with LOTS of hesistation from Dbf) a bounceback deal, for September 2009, 7 nights at Pop Century, Free Dining.... AND 3 nights at the Poly with free dining Knowning that we will be returning in exactly one year's time (yah: i dont have to change my aviator/countdown) I still have this incredible, sincerely feeling, NEED to be back in Disney sooner... So i'm trying to convince DBF to take a short weekend trip in Nov. for our Birthdays... ... ...its not working... but i'm def. thinking of making my very first SOLO trip.


I'm def. going to start to write aour trip report.. i'm just not to sure if I have to get my thread changed to a different location?

I promise to start this weekend... Work has been busy but dead. (Our computer system, the life of our work has been down for the past 3 days).

 

[kathleen27]

I know how you're feeling. Its really hard to readjust to real life. I'm missing Disney, too.

I can't wait to hear about your trip. It will be interesting to see if we did end up in some of the same places.

 

[ArelysAdriana]

I'm still here
I know exactly how you feel about missing Disney. It is always such a let-down to go from being in Disney to being in the "real world." I'm glad you guys have booked for next September, I'm sure working on planning that will help with the post Disney blues.

Good luck convincing him to make a quick trip in November! November in Disney is fantastic. Nice weather, hardly any crowds and the Christmas party (which is amazing) If not, I'm sure a solo trip would be awesome. Hey, if I could acquire funds that would allow me to buy a season pass again I'd totally join you at a park one day I'm sure someone on the black market needs my kidneys more then I do

Ask one of the mods if maybe they will move this thread to the trip reports section. I've seen them do it before, plus it would be good for any new, curious readers to have all your planning info with your PJ.

 

[Disneylove1228]

Hey I'm still heeeeeere! So glad to see you're back... and I HATE coming back home, it's soo ... ugh! lol I feel that way every single time. I've often thought about doing a solo trip as well but at least you have something to look forward to in a year which is AMAZING! I'd start counting down!! I love going in November... I'll be there!!! For our honeymoon!!

Don't keep us waiting too long

 

[Raecheal]

Official Trip Report Start: DAY 1

Info: Dbf and I have agreed to write this together, I Guess it’s a way to relive our Walt Disney World experience and to share different points of view. My writing Racheal, will be in bold and Dbf’s writing will be in italic…

Recap:

As Cinderella once said, “A dream is a wish your heart makes” and “Dreams do come true”…and no matter how big or how small a persons dreams may be…I have absolutely fallen in love with Walt Disney World…. Our recent trip most definitely made my September dream come true. It was filled with Magic, "magic that is as wide as a smile and as narrow as a wink, loud as laughter and quiet as a tear, tall as a tale and deep as emotion. So strong, it can lift the spirit. So gentle, it can touch the heart. It is the magic that begins the happily ever after."

This trip was my way of thanking Dbf for all of the things he had done for me since January 2008… and ever since I chickened out on my job interview for the International Program… Disney has been on my mind. So the cast includes, me: 22 years old, turning 23 in a little over two months. I have just graduated from 5 years of post-secondary schooling and I’m thrilled to start living my life. I love to read, scrapbook, road trips, shopping (for everything and anything: the home, myself, family, the holidays, make up). I’m stubborn, a hard worker, loving and Dbf says I’m so emotional... That brings me to Dbf: 26 years old, turning 27 in a little over two months. He’s the complete opposite of me…. I don’t think he knows what the emotions are. He loves to spend his time in the gym; he’s dedicated to his career, can be the most romantic man I’ve ever met (when he wants to be), he reads and handsome.


Monday Morning… our flight was scheduled to depart at 4:00pm and to arrive at MCO at 9:45pm. I was originally scheduled to work from 6-11am while dbf packed his things, then off to the salon to get my hair done, home to grad a quick lunch (mmMMm possibly Subway), check off our to do lists/packing list and were off… but as everyone knows it didn’t go according to the scheduled. Let me explain:

The previous day, I was booked in for pedicure and a wax. I booked the first appointment for the day 11am (At my hair salon/spa that I’ve been attending for 3 years) and was excited to have a little bit of ‘me’ time after a long month of extra hours at work. I arrived early… only to wait until 11:23 to get in. My pedicure was done in roughly 30 minutes (it should have lasted 50-75 minutes) and those 30 minutes were constantly interrupted with coughing, sneezing…and other employees. At this point, I’m def. neither impressed nor angry because the polish job was beautiful….just a tab bit annoyed until the estheticians turns to me as she is walking out of our room and says okay you can leave now. I was shocked for a couple of reasons 1. My pedi. only lasted 30 minutes 2. NO leg massage and 3. I was still booked for a wax with her. After waiting politely for 10 minutes until she returned to the room, I informed her I still needed to get my arms waxed. After another 20-25 minutes of waiting for another estheticians to come wax my arms (while my original estheticians waxed someone else), confirming that I actually had made the appointment for both services with same estheticians to avoid complications.. I was frustrated, paid and left. I was disappointed with the service I did receive and mostly disappointed because this was ‘me’ time. I called bf in tears. He suggested I book my wax at Holtz Spa (were I usually get my massages done) and at the same time book my hair there (which I’ve never done) for Monday morning and it would be his treat. He quickly came to pick me up… and I started to feel much better after speaking with him. This explains how I didn’t end up at work that morning until 1130am, instead at the Holtz spa (who were great and professional). I am so thankful I decided to not go into work; it turned out we had much more things to do that morning than planned.

Now… I love dbf, I love him dearly… but he stresses me out. For about 1-2 weeks before we were set to take off I had been reminding that he may want to go shopping for a couple of new clothing items for our trip, as it would be hot, he’s gotten bigger in size (with going to the gym everyday) but NOOOO. He didn’t need to do THAT much that morning just:
1.gym
2. Pack (he hadn’t even started yet)
3. Purchase a camera, memory cards, carrying case, etc
4. Purchase backpack
5. Dishes
6. Haircut/shave
7. Drop/Pick me up from the spa
8. SLEEP

AHH…and to top it all off… he worked until 2am on Monday morning and he had decided last minute he needed some new clothes for our trip…oh and he needed to sleep at some point on Monday too!!

On Monday while I was at the spa until 1130am, Dbf had to complete as many things as humanly possibly from the list above before he had to come and pick me up. I have to give him some HUGE credit; he managed to get everything done in RUSH HOUR traffic except for the dishes and the gym. My hair turned out beautiful, loved my newly naked arms and we were all packed. I wanted to arrive at the airport between 115pm-130pm because Dbf and I were NOT seated together on both flights to Orlando. At first I didn’t think this would bother me until a little bit of anxiety start boiling inside of me regarding the initial take off… and this needed to be changed.

So I’m sitting the car, in the glebe, its quarter after 1pm, and I’m waiting on Dbf to get his haircut/shave…. I wasn’t angry….just a tab bit annoyed that he had decided to leave everything last minute AND that we weren’t currently at the airport getting our seats together. A few minutes later, Dbf gets into the car without getting his haircut or his shave at the barbers. He said the wait was too long… my heart was broken for him. I could see the disappointment in his face. At that point I had accepted the fact we were going to be late and I truly wanted him to have ‘his’ time at the barbers….

We arrived at the airport, checked in and enjoyed some Booster Juice before we went through Airport security. Good news, we got seats beside each other on both flights!!The first flight to Detroit was uneventful. The take off wasn’t as bad as I thought and the hour flew by.

Unfortunately, from the moment we landed things didn’t go so smoothly… Dbf here; Who of course has to get his two cents in (since I did ride shotgun on the adventure). Anyone who has traveled through Detroit can vouch for this – it’s huge, humongous, heck, there were planes taxiing over the interstate to get from one section of the airport to another. Of course, our luck, to get from one gate to the other we had to go down four floors (by escalator and stairs) across a glow-in-the-dark people mover (which would have been really cool if we’d had time to stop and appreciate it), back up those four floors and to the exact opposite end of the terminal. Of course, we also waited to get food till we were near our gate, which left us with two choices – martinis or fatten-me-up brand sandwiches… at least the sandwich was filling. And then, much to our fear, they began announcing that they had oversold our flight and were looking for two people to give up their seats (I think Dgf was worried they’d then begin forcibly removing couples).

Good news – we got on the plane AND had leg room courtesy of early booking of the emergency exit row. Bad news – I was the middle seat between my beloved and Goliath the wonder snorer. Snoring alone would have been fine, Dgf proved me with my airline grab bag (fitness magazine, sudoku book and scratch ticket) to keep me entertained, however my sudoku book looked like it’d been filled in by a six year old since I kept getting elbowed by my neighbour who was apparently having a very engaging dream.

Then to MCO – Orlando International Airport – gateway to Disney. It wasn’t the newest airport in the world (my advice, hold your bladder till first floor – washrooms near the gates are a nightmare from the 80s), but the Magical Express staff who greeted us made up for everything with cheeriness and smiles. It was 11 o’clock at night and the young guy who directed us to our Magical Express bus (a fellow Canadian, might I add) was all smiles and cheer (three cheers for Mickey, and caffeine!). I might add that they was absolutely NO wait or line for the Magical Express bus!! The ride to POP was smooth and relaxing – complete with Disney intro video and a bus full of tuckered out (and very quiet) kids. And then… check-in…

Here is our only photo for the entire day one Its not even a great one. We were just so preoccupied with getting to the airport, getting seats together, finding food, keeping our seats on the second flight and then finally sleeping

I will add tho, we took a total of 1000 photos!! SO starting day 2, I promise tons of photos

…Unfortunately, not so smooth. The girl who checked us in wasn’t, how do you say, competent. She took forever to get our information and make heads or tails of our reservation and then debated whether or not she could give us the envelope I had had left for us at front desk (I ordered our park passes from a local authorized retailer and had them delivered – saved a bundle). Finally, two supervisors later (and peeking inside) she decided it was ok to give it to me. Check in was absolutely horrible; I have no patience for receiving a horrible front desk clerk. I, myself, used to work front desk at a pretty post hotel in town and it’s the simplest job. I also don’t appreciate being told BS when I know otherwise.

Also, a note to future POP guests, if your booked in Building 10, make SURE your room is facing INTO the resort and not outward, otherwise you may get our LUXURIOUS view of employee parking (blocked by trees of course) and the dumpters (whose scent could NOT be blocked by trees). Thankfully, the interior of the room was full of Disney kitsch and wonderfully air-conditioned. But, despite little Mickey embossed soaps and 24hr Disney channel, the room just didn’t have the Disney magic…He’s right!! This room in the 70’s section just did not feel like we were at Disney… possibly because we were used to the 50’s section or possibly because it felt like we were in some broken down, sandwiched, run down motel on the side of the highway. Harsh, yes, because the actual room itself was clean and new it’s mostly the exterior that felt wrong. However, if it wasn’t for this room..I would have never seen or received the bounce back flyer for free dinning for Sept. 2009….. thankfully eight hours of sleep and one room change later our Disney accommodations were much more magical (oh yes, that IS the teaser for Day 2).