Shake and Bake! TR link up FINALLY!!!!

[AZMickeyfans]

Told ya I was coming. I likie so far! You guys are all so cute too! I love the pics! I wanna see more pics of your yard! I have a Polynesian yard too. Unfortunately the grass here grows...too fast! Sometimes I wish we had the AZ "grass".

So what did you do at Epcot? Tell us some funny stories. I bet it's a blast working in the parks. You probably saw some hilarious stuff go on. Did you go through a training session on how to treat the um...how do I put this nicely....crazy insane Disney "fans".

My DH is sick of my "planning" too. He's ready to go go go. He likes it even better than me but he hates the planning part of it. The man would live right there in the castle if he were allowed. Is this going to be the kids first time to WDW? What's your plans???

Yeah, you are here! Thanks!

Ok some yard pictures.

His grapes he is working on right now.

We dont have that large of a lot but we have about 50 trees on it. Many are small citrus tress right now. Sometimes it feels like the space is closing in on me but most of the time it feels like our own little oasis in the desert. Florida without the humidity!

Yes, I have a ton of stories. I'll have to knock my brain and find some good ones. I was in a merchandise shop in EPCOT my first time down. IT was so fun.

The kids are so excited. Yes it will be their first visit. We are staying at POP. It just looks like so much fun.

Plans? Ack! I'll have to work through that as this thing gets going!!

 

[AZMickeyfans]

I’ll come back to present day (sort of) for a minute and give an overview of how our upcoming trip came to be.

I remember thinking how awesome it would be to take the kids to WDW. Sure we go to DL, a lot. They know that place like they know all the hiding places for pretzels in our couch. We loved going to DL so Jeff about had a heart attack when I suggested we not renew our passes as we were exiting one year. I recall the conversation something like this:

Jeff: Next trip we need to renew these bad boys don’t we and grab one for Jake. (he would be turning 3)
Me: Well…..
Jeff: What? What is wrong?
Me: What if we don’t renew them and we save that money and we take the kids to WDW instead this year for a week?
Jeff: Uh, No. I like coming over whenever I want to and to give up a whole year just to have a weeks vacation seems like a dumb thing to do.



I have to add here that when we first started going to DL he did not like it as much as WDW. He kept saying how small it was and how much he missed the openness of the Florida’s version. After a several years of going he flip flopped and now DL is his favorite park. That might change again in Oct. Thank goodness he is not running for election. You cannot count on him to stand by a theme park!
Back to conversation

Me: Wouldn’t it be neat to go back there and show the kids where we met. They don’t believe we worked at a Disney park and this would be fun to show them where. Plus we could see our old friends again.
Jeff: I don’t know, I still don’t like the idea of giving all of this up for just a week of vacation. What would we do the rest of the year?
Me: Maybe act like a normal family for once and not spend all of our extra time driving to California.
Jeff: I’ll have to think this over

Remember I said I’m spontaneous? Jeff is the opposite of spontaneous. He hates surprises and has to let things settle inside of him for awhile and “think them over” before he can accept them. Usually I ignore this and go ahead with plans and he adapts reluctantly but this was pretty big so I waited til he gave me the ok.

4 weeks later we took the last DL vacation on those AP’s. We did not renew. Jeff held out til the last minute to make that decision. I talked about it the whole time. “Remember the Poly, how you loved it?” “Remember the Festival of the Lion King at AK?” “We haven’t been on Rock n Roller Coaster yet, wouldn’t that be cool?” It was constant. He gave into my annoyance.


Pay attention ladies. These are my tactic skills with him. Let him sit over an idea and then bombard him with so much irritating excitement when its decision time he gets all flustered and says yes just to get me to stop. It works every time.

While the kids were in the back of the Caravan on the way home our trip was born with my constant talking. Dec 2007 was our 10 year anniversary. He cannot get off work in between Thanksgiving and New Years so we could not go for that but we wanted this to be our celebration trip. We decided fall break in Oct 2007.

Did you notice that? This is not one of those times where I am delusional. I said 2007. We were in planning stages in winter of 2007 and I was really excited. Our trip was only 8 months away. Things were great. Life happened and as usual it was good to us. In June with only 4 months left to go on our awesomely planned out vacation Jeff got a promotion to open a new restaurant. He was told he could not take vacation for at least 6 months after it opened. That 6 months turned into a year after he got into the store. So here we are. Oct 2008. Don’t worry, we didn’t have to wait that long. Morgan has danced at Disneyland a couple times in the past year and a half and we snuck in another day trip all without annual passes so we still somehow managed to get our Disney fixes.

Here are some pictures of her dancing. The first one was with her old studio and we didnt like it at all but the 2nd one was great!

Cat in the Hat dance. It was cute but she called it a baby dance.

I tried to crop her fellow dancemates out of the pics that is why they are strange lookin'


After much deliberation between going just before Thanksgiving for Christmas decorations and during fall break for Halloween decorations , school won. We decided to take the longer vacation and go during fall break. Twelve nights and the kids only miss 2 half days of school before their fall break starts and 1 full day after Columbus day when we come back. Can’t beat that!

Up next: The Plan

 

[kathleen27]

Great start on your pre trip!
I laughed several times, so I guess I appreciate your sense of humor!

It will be so exciting to take the kids for the first time!!!

Your yard looks amazing!!! And your lawn looks so green!!!
Not what I would picture for the desert, but looks great!

Love all the old pictures!!!
I still remember the first time I rode 10,000 Leagues under the Sea!

We will just miss you by two days.

 

[mrsksomeday]

I love this PTR!! How wonderful you met your Prince Charming working at Disney. That is fantastic. Your writing style is great , I love your sense of humor . I can't wait to read more .

 

[Alysa]

I LOVE the 80's photos! Your trip report is marvelous. I may have to go rent Talladega Nights now. I am sad to say I have never seen it. And your garden is gorgeous! Can't wait to hear more. Seems like you guys really deserve a holiday!

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi there!
Popped over from my PTR! Just subbing now, have just skimmed, but will go back and read through.
Love yours!
Its like destiny - you met at WDW - you HAVE to love it! All the photos are great, and your kids are so cute!
I'm sure you'll all have a great time at WDW - what's not to love!

Will be back!

Diane x

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

You are so right. That yard does not look like it's in Arizona. Jessica has PLASTIC flowers out front in her pots! I LOVE it!!! It looks good!!! I tried the citrus trees....they didn't like me much. The grapes and blueberries do good but that's it. My weakness is PALM TREES! I have over 200 Palms in my yard. People think I'm insane. Sad part is....I'd happily add more!

Your DD's costumes are so freakin' adorable! Mine wants to go back into dance this year. She took a year off. The last show they did the first half was all Disney. It was so cute.

So how excited are the kids about going to WDW!?

 

[AZMickeyfans]

Great start on your pre trip!
I laughed several times, so I guess I appreciate your sense of humor!

It will be so exciting to take the kids for the first time!!!

Your yard looks amazing!!! And your lawn looks so green!!!
Not what I would picture for the desert, but looks great!

Love all the old pictures!!!
I still remember the first time I rode 10,000 Leagues under the Sea!

We will just miss you by two days.

Hey! Thanks for appreciating the sense of humor. Jeff was not feeling well today so he didn't appreciate it at all.

They really did the Nemo Subs nice at DL. I wonder if they regret paving over that area at WDW now that DL's is such a huge hit.

I know when I saw your time frame in your PTR that was sad. I was hoping to meet you and Jacob. Sounds like you two will have a fun trip!

I love this PTR!! How wonderful you met your Prince Charming working at Disney. That is fantastic. Your writing style is great , I love your sense of humor . I can't wait to read more .

He really is my Prince Charming. I'm so happy to have met someone who loves Disney as much as I do. Just today he snuck some Mickey Head paint samples from Home Depot so I can make a count down calendar. Now that is LOVE.

I LOVE the 80's photos! Your trip report is marvelous. I may have to go rent Talladega Nights now. I am sad to say I have never seen it. And your garden is gorgeous! Can't wait to hear more. Seems like you guys really deserve a holiday!

Thank you!

You really must see Talladega Nights if you like Will Farrell at all. Its one of his best movies. Mindless humor always gets me! Some of the scenes are so ridiculous you wonder if a 2 year old wrote them and that is what makes it so funny.

I can't wait for our trip!

Hi there!
Popped over from my PTR! Just subbing now, have just skimmed, but will go back and read through.
Love yours!
Its like destiny - you met at WDW - you HAVE to love it! All the photos are great, and your kids are so cute!
I'm sure you'll all have a great time at WDW - what's not to love!

Will be back!

Diane x

Yeah, I just jumped on your pre trippie too! Nice to meet you! Thanks for coming on over! I'll catch up over there tonight when everyone is asleep! They are about to walk in the door with Jeff from school any minute. Then the chaos breaks out!

You are so right. That yard does not look like it's in Arizona. Jessica has PLASTIC flowers out front in her pots! I LOVE it!!! It looks good!!! I tried the citrus trees....they didn't like me much. The grapes and blueberries do good but that's it. My weakness is PALM TREES! I have over 200 Palms in my yard. People think I'm insane. Sad part is....I'd happily add more!

Your DD's costumes are so freakin' adorable! Mine wants to go back into dance this year. She took a year off. The last show they did the first half was all Disney. It was so cute.

So how excited are the kids about going to WDW!?

OMG! Did you really just say 200 palm trees. Now THAT deserves a picture. Post girl! I know you have one! I wont show Jeff though because he will immediately leave me for you whether you want him or not. He will be like the pet sleeping underneath the palm tree canopy in the back yard that you cannot get rid of. What kind are they? I'll ask Jeff what all we have. I think we have 5 different kinds.

200 WOW.

Isnt dance so cute. We switched to a competition studio midseason this year and the thing that got me to lose the costume money at the old place and move instead of wait til the end of the year was they did an all Disney recital. That orange/peach costume above was a lyrical song to "you'll be in my heart" She had a tap number to Jonas Bros "Wanna Be Like You" Ballet to "April Showers" Another Ballet to " A New Deal" from Ratatouille, Musical Theater to "Be Our Guest", Jazz to "Fabulous" and a production number from Newsies "kings of New York" How could I not switch!!!

If you have any pics of your daughter dancing you should post. I love seeing dance pictures.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Yep over 200! I'll have to take some pics and show ya! We have a couple of Queens like I saw in your pic. We have Pindos (Palm Jelly's). Chinese Fan Palms. I have a ton of Washingtonia's (Mexican Fan Palms) that's the ones I bought over 200 of last year. I sold enough to pay for all of my palms but I kept most of them! We have date palms, sagos...I have about 10-12 different kinds. I'm addicted to 'em....but hey, it's better than being a crackhead. I have one pic I took today. I'll try and get it on later. I am uploading all of today's junk to My Space right now. I realized I had not taken new pics in like 20 years so I took some this afternoon.

 

[hlrababy]

Hey Shawna!! I made it over!!!!! I love, love, love wedding crashers and talladega nights! So, I am looking forward to the quotes!!

 

[AZMickeyfans]

Yep over 200! I'll have to take some pics and show ya! We have a couple of Queens like I saw in your pic. We have Pindos (Palm Jelly's). Chinese Fan Palms. I have a ton of Washingtonia's (Mexican Fan Palms) that's the ones I bought over 200 of last year. I sold enough to pay for all of my palms but I kept most of them! We have date palms, sagos...I have about 10-12 different kinds. I'm addicted to 'em....but hey, it's better than being a crackhead. I have one pic I took today. I'll try and get it on later. I am uploading all of today's junk to My Space right now. I realized I had not taken new pics in like 20 years so I took some this afternoon.

Holy Cow. Those pics are MUST SEE status! How awesome. I had to ask Jeff what kind we had. I only knew 3 varieties.

He has one he doesnt know the name of and it cost him over $200. I say if you spend that much on a tree you should know what kind it is! He forgot!

So here is his list for me to give to you. I think he wants to meet in person with you and discuss notes. I'm tellin' you. Watch out the man loves his trees. Areca Palm, Lady, Sago, Pineapple, Queen, Mexican Fan, Pygmy Date and Mediterranean. He really wants the Bizmark and Sable. I feel like I'm talking about cars!



There are a lot of things better than being a crackhead so you do make a valid point here.

Hey Shawna!! I made it over!!!!! I love, love, love wedding crashers and talladega nights! So, I am looking forward to the quotes!!

Hey Heather! I'm so excited I have a Talladega Nights and Wedding Crashers Fan. You should see the looks on the parents faces when Jake gives a fist bump with Jeff at school drop off and they both shout Shake and Bake! We just had to teach the kids that! I'll use a lot of quotes as soon as I get my plans going.

 

[mrsksomeday]

Hey Heather! I'm so excited I have a Talladega Nights and Wedding Crashers Fan. You should see the looks on the parents faces when Jake gives a fist bump with Jeff at school drop off and they both shout Shake and Bake! We just had to teach the kids that! I'll use a lot of quotes as soon as I get my plans going.

I love Talladega Nights and Wedding Crashers too!! I was seriously laughing out loud reading about the fist bump. My b/f was looking at me like I was nuts .

 

[AZMickeyfans]

“Dear Lord Baby Jesus, I want to thank you for this wonderful meal, my two beautiful son's, Walker and Texas Ranger, and my Red-Hot Smokin' Wife, Carley” Ricky Bobby

Now that I’ve introduced ourselves I’ll lay out what is goin’ down in October

Time allowed in Neverland: October 2-14. 12 Nights, 13 days baby. Each time I called Disney it got longer. Wonder how that happened. Picture me with the Austin Powers evil pinky finger in my mouth look. Again I’m an

Racecar: I don’t think so! We are flyin’ on a jet plane. I moved back and forth so many times to FL I will NEVER drive there again. I LOATHE Texas because of those moves. Sorry to any Texans, I really have heard it is lovely, just not I-10. Stopping in El Paso for one night and then so tired we should have stopped in Beaumont the next night but I refused to stop in Texas 2 nights in a row. I would have felt I made no progress. We stopped about a mile outside of Texas but at least I felt better! Southwest Airlines here we come. The kids are about as excited about this as they are the whole trip. They don’t remember the last time they flew. We flock to California multiple times a year like every good Arizonan should.

“Hey. I lost my license. That's why I'm on the bus... I'm delivering pizzas.” Ricky Bobby

BUS: Magical Express, we will have no other transportation on property. I survived 2 CP’s without a car, hopefully I can do 13 days!

The Pad: POP Century, We’ve never stayed here. My dreams of Wilderness Lodge were dashed by my checkbook. Actually we chose for a longer 12 night stay so we ditched the High dollar digs and are headed to funky town. It looks like so much fun. My kids actually loved the pictures here as opposed to any other hotel and that is what this trip is about isn’t it? I’m tellin’ you though if the pirate rooms were done at the CBR we would rock that place! Jeff saw the pictures and suggested we change the master exactly into that room. When I said “would we have 2 beds then” he said “YEAH, I want to be my own captain of my own ship. Hello!” Oh boy.

Keys to the World: 10 day Magic your way park hopper with water parks and more option. I also had to get an extra 1 day base ticket to get a great deal on the resort so technically we have 11 days. I can't wait to eat those days up!

VIP Parties we are invited to: Oct 7 MNSSHP! Ok so I know half the DIS is going on that night and we were not invited, we purchased our tickets but a girl can dream can’t she? I am so hoping to see all of my new DIS friends there that night! Its going to be so much fun. I’ve never been to one of the parties and I have such high expectations for this one. I LOVE me some Halloween!

Yachts I have procured for the children: Again, delusional, I did book the kids the Pirate Cruise from the Grand Floridian. This looks so cute. Jeff was upset when he found out he couldn’t go. I kid you not. He heard Pirate cruise and he wanted to go. I said it was just for kids and he got all pouty. I might have to bury some treasure in the sand for him to look for while they are out. We had tossed around the idea of renting the Sea Racers and following their boat around the Seven Seas Lagoon. Can you imagine how embarrassing that would be for them? I haven’t ruled it out yet.

“Lets go and get thrown out of an Applebees” Ricky Bobby

ADR’s: Here is where most people stop and stare at us with mouths open, chin hitting the pavement. We really don’t have much planned. CRT breakfast, Chef Mickey’s dinner, WCC dinner and Sci-Fi lunch. That’s it. See Jake is not a great eater. He literally survives on a bite of food a day. After school today I checked his lunch and I asked him what he had eaten because it seemed as if nothing was touched. He said 5 bites of macaroni and cheese. I think it was more like 5 macaronis total. So when we go to sit down restaurants he can behave and sit but its so boring to him. We just decided we would rather do a few fun ones for both. One special one for Morgan and then just eat CS the rest of the time or snack when we are hungry.

I did not do the dining plan because 12 TS meals seems like torture to our family. Maybe when he is a little older and has more of an appetite. I was thinking of adding another character meal in there because I know he might enjoy that but I don’t know which one. I heard Tusker House was really good but aren’t the characters the same as Chef Mickey’s? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We can work through this later too. Discuss.

Royal Treatment: We’ve got BBB booked just before MNSSHP starts with both the Cool Dude for Jake and the Crown Package for Morgan This is a surprise.

Must do adventures: Sea Racers (is that what they are called these days?) Parasailing, I’ve always wanted to try this but never have had the chance. I’m so doing it. Morgan wants to do it with me too. I love that girl! There is more but I cannot think of them at the moment. Throw some fun different stuff on Disney property out there.

Those are the rough plans. I’ll break it down day by day soon. I have lots of ideas that need some input too! I’m countin’ on your help!

Thanks to everyone for reading along!

 

[AZMickeyfans]

I love Talladega Nights and Wedding Crashers too!! I was seriously laughing out loud reading about the fist bump. My b/f was looking at me like I was nuts .

Yeah! Aren't those movies hysterical? Jeff and I could have whole conversations from those one liners alone.

Zoolander is another classic love of mine.

 

[jwhtewolfd]

subscribed and ready for more. Love all your pics and EASY TO READ FONT!

 

[Philadisney]

I LOATHE Texas because of those moves. Sorry to any Texans, I really have heard it is lovely, just not I-10. Stopping in El Paso for one night and then so tired we should have stopped in Beaumont the next night but I refused to stop in Texas 2 nights in a row. I would have felt I made no progress. We
topped about a mile outside of Texas but at least I felt better!

That's totally crazy! It boggles my mind how big Texas is. I'm from Connecticut, where you drive 2 hours in any direction and you're in another state (or the ocean...depending on what direction you went in!)

BUS: Magical Express, we will have no other transportation on property. I survived 2 CP’s without a car, hopefully I can do 13 days!

I didn't have a car when I was a CP either! I just made sure to make friends with people who did How else would I have gotten to Cici's Pizza? I swear if I ever rent a car at WDW, it will be so I can drive off property to Cici's. I still have dreams about their pasta sauce.

I was thinking of adding another character meal in there because I know he might enjoy that but I don’t know which one. I heard Tusker House was really good but aren’t the characters the same as Chef Mickey’s? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We can work through this later too. Discuss.

What about Crystal Palace? I'm not big into character meals myself but everyone seems to love that place. Different characters than Chef Mickey's too.

Royal Treatment: We’ve got BBB booked just before MNSSHP starts with both the Cool Dude for Jake and the Crown Package for Morgan This is a surprise.

OK I have to ask....WHAT is the Cool Dude?? Is there an age limit? I would love to make my boyfriend do this

Must do adventures: Sea Racers (is that what they are called these days?) Parasailing, I’ve always wanted to try this but never have had the chance. I’m so doing it. Morgan wants to do it with me too. I love that girl! There is more but I cannot think of them at the moment. Throw some fun different stuff on Disney property out there.

My cousin and I went parasailing on our Disney cruise! It was awesome. Definitely do it! I didn't even know you could do this at WDW.

 

[Spartangirl]

Subbing in! This sounds like a fun TR!

I love that you met your husband in the WDW College Program!

The old pics are great and your kids are adorable! Can't wait for more!

 

[Mkgaapril]

ok S. keep the story and pic's going...I am taking a small break from homework...loving it...

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Whew! I finally made it to the end!

This is a pre-trip report? Holy cannoli, these WDW TRs are loooooong!

Seeing as how I dread flying with DS4 (especially since the "Mayday! Mayday! We're going down!" incident of Feb. 2008), I think it will be at least a few more years before my family braves a 6-hour flight... or is it even longer to Orlando?

I appreciate your willingness to "take one for the team" so that my family can live vicariously through yours. Thanks, Shawna.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Yachts I have procured for the children: Again, delusional, I did book the kids the Pirate Cruise from the Grand Floridian. This looks so cute. Jeff was upset when he found out he couldn’t go. I kid you not. He heard Pirate cruise and he wanted to go. I said it was just for kids and he got all pouty. I might have to bury some treasure in the sand for him to look for while they are out. We had tossed around the idea of renting the Sea Racers and following their boat around the Seven Seas Lagoon. Can you imagine how embarrassing that would be for them? I haven’t ruled it out yet.

Hey isn't that part of the joy of having children...that you get to embarrass them? It's my main parenting game plan.

I did not do the dining plan because 12 TS meals seems like torture to our family. Maybe when he is a little older and has more of an appetite. I was thinking of adding another character meal in there because I know he might enjoy that but I don’t know which one. I heard Tusker House was really good but aren’t the characters the same as Chef Mickey’s? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We can work through this later too. Discuss.

The Cape May Cafe for breakfast is a good character meal - the tablecloths are paper so the kids can draw on them. When we went it was Goofy, Minnie, Chip'n'Dale. We also really like Garden Grill, it seemed a bit less hectic than other character meals - Mickey, Pluto and Chip'n'Dale when we were there. Don't know how often they rotate the characters.

Hope this helps.

Keep posting!

Di x