Shamelessly stealing from the Best Writers Ever Trip Report NEW 4/7/07 PHOTOS ADDED!

[Libade]

We’ll call this Day 1. The day of travel. The day that should be 5 days before our trip begins. But, when I am put in charge of planning, our 7 day trip is extended just a smidge. To 12 days. Shhhhhhhh. Don’t tell DH. He hasn’t noticed. Yet. He doesn’t even realize that we were there last year. 2005. If we went in 2005, we would NEVER be planning to go back in August of 2006. Of course not. We were not there in 2005. I’m making it all up. Just to write a trip report.
The girls woke up knowing that ‘today is the day’. Otherwise they would still be asleep. They only wake up early on weekends.

DD6 woke up singing, ‘zippity doo da”. What? “Who are you? What did you do with my real daughter? I like you, imposter, but I want my daughter back.” She just giggled. She ‘gets’ me.

The girls knew they had to go to school today. Our flight isn’t until tonight. I don’t like to waste my first day of vacation traveling, so I push it back to the night before. Wait, if we are going to leave on Friday night, we might as well leave early Friday morning. But I hate to waste the day traveling. Lets leave Thursday night. See? That’s how a Saturday departure turns into a Tuesday night departure. It actually makes sense. To me.

The girls are at school. I do all that last minute stuff that has to be done at the last minute. Like buy stamps. For postcards. That never get mailed. Those things cannot be done ahead of time.

DH gets home early because I told him our flight was at 3pm. I lied.

We pick the girls up at school, and head to the airport. We stand in line for security and read the pictures. “No Knives” check – we have no knives. “No Guns” check – we’re all set there - we have no guns. “No Bowling Balls” Okey Dokey – glad we left that behind. Since they apparently are not allowed. On airplanes. I love when my kids interpret picture signs!

Reminds me of when DD8 was finally tall enough to ride a ‘big’ coaster. She must have been 6ish. Starting to read, but not quite on her own. We stood in line, and she ‘read’ the picture signs. We talked about what the signs meant. People with heart problems should not ride. Check. People with back problems should not ride. Check. People who are pregnant should not ride. Check. We ride the coaster. We love it. When the ride is done, she exclaims, “Phew, I’m glad I’m not PREGNANT.” Um. Me. Too. Honey. Am glad you are not pregnant. Since you are SIX!

Got to Orlando, sans bowling ball, and got our car from National. I made sure to get a car from a place onsite. No extra bus trip for us. This time. We’ve done that. Too many times.

Now, we are off. To Pop Century. To our first stay ON DISNEY PROPERTY! We had the $5gamillion condo for a week – we chose Pop for the add on day(s), so we didn’t have to waste our first day of vacation traveling.

We checked into Pop Century and found our room. I didn’t request a specific building because I didn’t know what would be better – close to the Main Hall – close to the pool – further away from the crowds and noise???? So, when in doubt, I let them decide for me. They decided. The 70’s building. (is that right? The one with the giant Mickey on the phone? Why don’t I know this? How old am I?) At first I was disappointed that our building didn’t have any cool icons like the bowling pins and the cell phones. Finally, I realized that those ‘walls’ were 8 track tapes! Doy!

Everyone was sleeping by 1am except me. I needed to make a plan for our first day. Yes, I already had a plan. Yes, I already scrapped that plan. I’m working on a new and improved plan. The original plan was to visit Epcot. It was the best day for Epcot. The unofficial guide guy told me. But I wanted everyone to sleep late. C’mon, you can see it coming a mile a way. You know. Why didn’t I know it? Let’s review. The girls sleep late on weekdays. It is a weekday. They will sleep late. Let’s do Vettechick math (I’ll have to add another ‘steal’ – I just remembered this math of hers)

Weekday = Girls Sleep Late

Weekend = Girls CAN Sleep Late, but they chose to get up earlier than any human being in the world should.

So, we’re good….
1. It’s a weekday
2. They will sleep late.
3. They will be happy.
4. There will be no meltdowns.

Up next... Do they sleep late? Do they get up early? Are they happy? Is there a meltdown? Is it a weekday?

 

[7beasley]

Loving your report!! Nothing wrong with flattering the best trip writers on this board by "borrowing" some of their fabulous trip writing skills...enjoying your report very much and looking forward to more.

However, I must say I feel out of the loop (and not just because my post is not going to contain a cute little "editted to add reason message") but because I read your first 2 posts on page 1 and I knew I liked them and they were funny but I have absolutely no idea why the moderator scolded you...for the life of me I cannot recall what non-disney trip digression you took at the beginning of your report (which has now been editted out).

Frankly it is going to drive me nuts until I remember it but I don't want to get you in any further dis board hot water by asking you to give me a clue...so I will just try to move on from that nagging question and remember to take notes regarding my favorite trip reports from here on it. So I have them. The notes that is. And all my shoes and all my glasses. A Jerky Boys joke reference. That probably no one on earth would get except me and my husband. For some reason it makes me laugh. But I am weird that way. Which is why I frequent the dis and laugh at everyone else's weird things. Since I have weird things too. And you are right. Mel Happyhaunts period writing is the best way to go. The best Jerry. The Best. That was a Seinfeld reference. I am sure someone else got that...probably ZZUB.

Thanks again for the great read. I will now add you to my list of favorites which includes Mel Happyhaunt, ZZUB, Patrokls and of course Vettechick, although she appears to have decided not to write anymore about Grubbin' and Boozin 2005! Oh well...

Happy trip writing.

 

[jamal]

Libade, Clearly imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! I, too, adore Melhappyhaunt's use (over or simply frequent) use of the period. I must ask, pray tell, if you have issues, deep or simply nagging, about my favorite overused punctuation marks, the hyphen and the comma. Do not underestimate the oh-so-handy use of a well-placed hyphen. Invent adjectives! Dig for deeper meaning! Empower descriptions!
Keep it up.
Jami

 

[NAB]

Enjoying your report, now keep going....

 

[patrokls]

Age 22 – Now I’m traveling with people who actually might like to keep me around. My best friend. And her sister. Their family has turned into the family that I always wanted. But never had. My biggest memory of this trip, is just not understanding EPCOT. I think it was called EPCOT Center. Back then. It was pretty new. Everyone was saying how big it was. The golf ball. I couldn’t understand how all those countries could fit. In the golf ball. People tried to explain. I couldn’t understand. I tried. Finally, I get to EPCOT Center. I see. I understand. The golf ball. Is a ride. EPCOT Center is not in the golf ball.

So I'm not the only one who thought all of Epcot was in that giant ball.

 

[sheridac]

The girls knew they had to go to school today. Our flight isn’t until tonight. I don’t like to waste my first day of vacation traveling, so I push it back to the night before. Wait, if we are going to leave on Friday night, we might as well leave early Friday morning. But I hate to waste the day traveling. Lets leave Thursday night. See? That’s how a Saturday departure turns into a Tuesday night departure. It actually makes sense. To me.

This makes absolute, utter, perfect sense to me too!!!!!!!
Because I do it. too!!

 

[Libade]

DAY 2 – Wednesday 4/13

The girls woke up EARLY. 6:30 am. What? It’s a weekday. They always sleep late on weekdays. When they have school. Ohhhhhhh. They are learning new math.

Original math:
Weekday = Sleep Late

New Math
Disney Weekday = Do NOT Sleep Late

Just like algebra, a positive (Disney) when put on the other side of the equation, turns into a negative (DO NOT).

At least I think that’s how it works.

We know that statement #1. “It’s a weekday” is TRUE. I believe I mentioned it a few times in the last installment. And in the clever title of this one.

We now know that #2. “They will sleep late” is FALSE. It’s in the first sentence of this installment.

#3. Is TRUE. They are in Disney. It has to be true. It’s the LAW. (Ask Hucifer. Well, her version of the law is, NO CRYING IN WDW or something like that) My version is, “This vacation was too expensive for you to ruin it by not being happy. You better start being happy right now, or I’ll give you something to not be happy about” See? Kind of the same.

#4. TRUE. For today.

So after planning, and replanning, and planning again. I woke up without a plan. I feel a digression coming. Don’t worry. It’s short. The simple words “WOKE UP” suddenly made me remember something. Last Night. I woke up in the middle of the night with the realization that ZZUB is BUZZ spelled backwards. That’s it. And I went back to sleep. Should I mention that to my therapist? Horsegirl? What do you think it means?

So, it’s Wednesday, a weekday, girls did not sleep late, nobody slept late, and we have no plan.

We went to Everything Pop to have breakfast and ponder our fate. We have 12 days ahead of us. You know that feeling of having all the time in the world? We had it. The feeling. Not the time. :

We, meaning me, were leaning toward a water park. The rest of the gang doesn’t usually have a say in these matters. They just obediently follow my instructions. But, once we, meaning the girls, saw the pool, and the Goofy Pop Jet Playground, they took over all decision making. There were too many different ways to get soaked. They could swim. They could run around the Goofy Pop Jet Playground. They could go to the kiddie pool, They could spill their milk all over themselves. So many possibilities.

Since they are spoiled brats, we went back to the room, got our suits on and went to the pool, the Goofy Pop Jet Playground, the kiddie pool, and TWISTER. You are correct. You cannot get drenched at twister. Unless you still have your milk from this morning. BUT, I’m in a bathing suit. I don’t want to be seen playing twister in clothes. Even in lots of clothes. Remember me? Blend into the background girl? Sadly, there will be no blending into the background. When Mom is playing Twister. In her bathing suit. It’s just wrong. Wrong. Wrong. They begged. They pleaded. They even went on to say, “ What better way for you to make up for everything you’ve ever done wrong to us in our short lives? We’ll start over. We’ll be even. We promise.” So, I wrote it all down. Had it notorized. They are not allowed to discuss any of the events leading up to this point in their short lives. With anyone. Including their therapist-to-be. I have it in writing. But first. I must play twister. While wearing my. bathing. suit.

Once the fun of torturing me wore off, we changed our clothes and headed out of the resort. We had lunch at Blackwater BBQ – it was delicious, but I cannot remember where it was. I’m sure it was far away. We never eat anywhere convenient. Our vacation rule is, “Wait until you are too hungry to make a rational decision, THEN decide on a place to eat that is
A) 50 miles away

or

B) In a park that we are not. in.

That’s it for Day 2. We got back to Pop and got the girls ready for bed. They were asleep by 8:30.

I’ve heard from many many people that it’s unheard of to NOT go to a park on your first day. But, since our first day is TECHNICALLY on Saturday, I think we’re OK

Up Next… Magic Kingdom, and a tiny reference to ZZUB’ing.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your report ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[princesslibby]

I like it.So far.I think.No.I really do!

 

[OhMari]

Good cliff hanger, so what are you not-technically going to do Thursday & Friday yet?

 

[hucifer]

I love your dry sense of humor. And I totally get your rationale for leaving Thursday night!

 

[AshClan]

Well, lady, I am IN!

Great, great job with the plagarizing and style copying. And some of your own stuff is really good too

Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[NAB]

Love your sense of humor. Keep writing.

 

[Libade]

We will call today DAY 3. Or DAY 1, since we finally get to an actual park. Or DAY -2, since we weren’t supposed to arrive for 2 more days.

We tried to get to the Magic Kingdom for the opening ceremony. We failed. Again. In my many many attempts to get there early, we’ve succeeded. ONCE. I would like to blame it on the girls. The curly girls. DD8 has curly hair. Extremely curly hair. Beautiful curly curly hair. Extremely beautiful curly hair that is hard to comb. Especially after swimming. In chlorine. And sleeping on it, without combing. It. DD6 has curly hair. Beautiful curly hair. Long, beautiful curly hair. She is not as curly as DD8, but her hair is extra long. And also extremely hard to comb. Combing her hair has the added benefit of the shrill, “YOU’RE HURTIN ME” every few seconds. I would love to make her cut it off. As a punishment. But she is on a mission. She is planning to donate it to Locks of Love. And even I, cannot take that away from her. As a punishment.

So, my theory is, only people with little to no hair can get to the parks before opening. Look around next time you are there. I bet I am right.

I need to travel back in time. A little bit. To help you understand. DD8. We will go back to 2004. We’re at Magic Kingdom. We walk down Main Street. We are almost at the castle. DD8 (who is DD7 at that time) tells us that she can’t walk. She needs a stroller. I think she is too old. DH thinks it’s not worth an argument. Just get a stroller. We’re in Disney. She wins. She gets her stroller. I think the issue is, she does not like change. We got a stroller for her first trip to Disney. In her mind, the math goes like this:

Disney Park = Park my butt in a stroller

After the 2004 trip, I have done my homework. I have coached her. FOR A YEAR. I told her we would not go back to Disney until she could walk. We trained. We went for walks. We talked about it. I even talked to her pediatrician about it. He suggested we let her set the pace. If she wants to rest, we rest. If she wants to go back to the pool, we go back to the pool. If she wants a stroller, we get her….NOOOOOOOOO. Anything but that. We will not be tied down to a stroller. We can do this. We have trained. I will not lose. Or will I?

And we’re back. To 2005. Which is still in the past. But it’s current for this trip report.

We are walking from the bus stop to the front gate. It must have been, what, 50 feet? DD8 tells us that her friend at school said she should get a stroller. Here we go. Again. I kneel down in front of her. And I scream, “IF WE GET A STROLLER, IT WILL BE FOR ME. AND YOU WILL PUSH IT. ALL DAY”. No, I jest. What I actually said, was something like, “Remember how we talked about you can tell us whenever you need to rest? We can sit on a bench. We can go back to the hotel to swim. We can go into a sit down show or ride. We’ll work with you.” Then, an idea came to me. A moment of genius maybe? I don’t know. I said, “Ya know how when we go to Six Flags, we never get a stroller?” She nods. “Well walking around Disney all day is the same as walking around Six Flags all day” (except for the filth, and the rude people, but that has nothing to do with walking/strollering). She contemplates this, and a big smile spreads across her face. I did it! I actually reasoned with my daughter. And she understood. And she is happy! And I am happy! We must be at Disney!

We get into the park, and I want to check out the Barber Shop. Silly me, I could have saved us an hour and had THEM comb the curly girls. They’re the experts aren’t they? The girls want no part of getting their hair cut. This is what they were thinking. I think.

“There are places to go, rides to ride, characters to meet., food to eat, and you want US to get our hair cut? Oh Good God, please say there is no dentist on Main Street.”

What it sounded like, was, “Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo.” I thought, OK, no biggie. I don’t need to win all the time. And, I just saved myself, what, $30? Very cool.

So, we are off. Down Main Street. And then….I heard the music!!! The trolley came down Main St and the performers were dancing and singing and there it was…DISNEY MAGIC!!!! Well, look at that! Disney Magic is being delivered. Right to me. On Main Street! USA! We watched the show for a little bit and continued our stroll. Down Main Street. We were strolling. Without a STROLLER!!! So far so good, but last time we didn’t make it past the castle……

We mosey into Tomorrowland, and we see Stitch. I’ve never seen AE. I’ve heard about Stitch. I’ve heard all the good, the bad, the ugly. Except there was NO good. Just bad and ugly. But, we need to make our own decision about this ride. Maybe we will be the first four people, who actually like this attraction. We weren’t. Even though burping is always good for a laugh when you are 8 or 6. Being burped ON. Not so funny. At any age.

Next stop, COP. It’s open. It’s open. It’s OPEN!!!!!! I haven’t been on this ride in ages – it’s always closed. I think they opened it in honor of DD8. So she could rest. After walking for 10 minutes. Thank You Carousel Of Progress!!! What do I owe you? As always, I loved it. The girls both love to hear about what we didn’t have when we were kids (in the stone age before remote controls and home computers), so they enjoyed it too.

Then we went to Buzz. Last year, we could not convince DD6 (who was 5 at the time) to ride it. We even took her to the exit, so she could take a peek. The CM was even going to let us load in there. Nothing doing. She was not going on that scary scary ride. No reasoning with that one. Even though there is a very similar ride in Santa’s Village in NH, that we went on a million times. In NH, we shot bugs. HumBugs to be exact. Nope. Not gonna happen. So DH and DD8 rode it last year. I sat out with DD and sulked.

This year, she is riding. She is not a chicken. We all rode. YAY!!!! This was definitely a winner! DD8 gets to sit. DH gets to shoot stuff. Me and DD6 get to conquer her fear. Together. It’s a win win win win. What is better than that?

To be continued….

Coming up….Our first character meal EVER. And, will DD8 walk? Will she collapse in exhaustion? Will she ride the Wedway People Mover all day, while the rest of us tour the park? Stay tuned to find out!

 

[HaleyB]

staying tuned

 

[kpk89]

Sooooo, what's the scoop? We're waiting for another installment!!

 

[UtahMama]

Ohhh, I get it . I jump on board and everyone leaves.
Love your report! Love.It. Hope to see more soon.

 

[cjhinch]

Your trip report it so much fun to read!! I am LOVING the reasoning behind leaving for a Saturday vacation all the way back on Tuesday night.......might have to use that one myself!! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[lonegirl]

You're a funny one.

 

[Libade]

I'm sorry - I'll try to write some more soon. I've been procrastinating. And reading other trip reports. And being lazy.

Soon. promise.