Shh! Super September Surprise **with Pics Update 11/18 Day 7 The End & Reflections

[pixe*dst]

Okay, so I’m going to throw my hat in the ring & try my hand at this trip report thing. I’ve spent many days this summer reading the trip reports of my fellow DISers to try to make it through until September, so it seemed like a fun thing to try. Join the group. You know, peer pressure.

So, we’ll start with the basics. Introductions.

Me —Mom, mostly stay-at-home, but I also work part time from home at a historic site. Lots of fun. If they ever decide to do that Disney US History park—I’m the imagineer for them! My first visit to Disney was 21 years ago with my family. Probably a little OCD when it comes to Disney. Read about it nearly every day somewhere. Always perfecting the plan & I love to call Disney Dining.

DH —takes a bit of convincing, but does genuinely enjoy visiting Disney. I think mostly to see the delight it brings me & the boys. He is our main thrill seeker.

DS8 —When did he get to be so old & so tall? He is a Disney freak too. Just like his mom—makes me so proud. Wants to be an imagineer. Very smart kid, pays some much attention to details, & very sweet. Figment.

DS4—Stitch . A bit more mischievous than his older brother. But whatever the older bro is doing, little Stitch is doing the exact same thing. The reverse, however is not true. Little Stitch is just like his dad in looks & personality—he’s a thrill seeker & will ride anything. Figment is getting better after some convincing.

Here we are on our last Magical Vacation this past January:

So why am I writing this report?

1) I want to have a great account of all of the details for later. A travelogue.
2) To encourage me to do the trip report when we get back.
3) Well, everyone else is doing it.
4) Mainly, like #1 I want to remember it all. See, this is a surprise trip for the boys. They have NO idea we’re going. If I can pull it off they will not know until we are on our way down. Just have to decide how I’m going to do it.

Up next . . . our Disney history with lots of fun pictures!

 

[pixe*dst]

My very first trip was with my family in 1987. On this trip we stayed in a dump off site. Our only onsite choices were the Poly & Contemporary & they were out of our price range at that point. Nobody realized it was a dump until we got there, everyone was disappointed, but hey—we were at Disney for the 1st time & we were psyched!! I am the older sister with the dark hair.

Nice Pose on that one

Check out the styling Swatch Watch

This was followed by another family trip about 3 years later. MGM had opened by this time. & so did a moderate resort. We stayed at CBR & never looked off site again.

DSis & I were chosen to be the pre-show at the then very fun Backlot tour. Obviously, the theme then was Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Which explains the HISTK playground near the backlot tour now. That was fun & my first touch of the “special” Disney Magic. They filmed us with the cool screen & then added in the movie. FUN!

So, obviously I’m hooked. More visits followed each year during high school when I went to the National Cheerleading Competition. {I promise I was a good cheerleader in the parks. I even convinced my friends to visit a different park each year & not just go to MK. We did Epcot one year, MGM one year, & 2 at MK. & we were polite—promise!!} These were a combination of staying off site during the competition & then staying extra days onsite with my family at CBR & Dixie Landings.

Then there was a dry spell called college. I did go to an interview my freshman year for the CP, & eventually received an acceptance letter, but I decided I just didn’t want to take the time off from school. Do I regret it, probably not, because then things wouldn’t be like they are now & I wouldn’t have my wonderful kids, DH, etc.

So, next trip—Disneymoon 1997. Dixie Landings.

Blessed with the birthday cake. Ha.
Great time. This was back when we could call in the morning from our room & get a “Priority Seating” for that night at a good place. Not much planning went into this trip.

Fast forward to 2 kids later. 2004 at POR, end of April. Heaven. Absolutely. We were going to wait longer, but Disney Visa had a great offer where DS4 was free (ticket & all) & they gave us $100 Disney $ on check-in (that we promptly spent on a Pal Mickey & refillable mugs )

DS {Figment} then 4 loved it. This is his very first ride—the RR. We had to go to MK first & it was late in the afternoon after we checked in (plus we didn’t have “plans” yet).

DS {Stitch} then 10 months. Slept. All the time. He did ride a few things, but he slept in the stroller. He stayed asleep when DH would pick him up to go on a ride. Basically, we never, not once, had to go back to the resort for him to nap. He slept through the entire Ellen’s Energy Adventure ride. & man is that a loud ride.

We skipped 2005 & decided to go January 2006 when we got a good Disney Visa deal. CBR. The, my parents & younger sister decided to go. This trip was great. But I had a panic attack on the first night—I think brought on by something at the CBR food court that didn’t agree with me. See, when I think I’m getting sick on my stomach I freak out. Especially at WDW. Basically I wasn’t able to make myself eat anything for the first 3 days. But we still had a good time. & we ate at the Castle, my first time ever!

Next trip January 2007. My first trip as a saavy DISer & TGMer. Again—heaven. We rented points to stay at the BCV. I convinced DH that I needed a Do-Over. & that I just needed Disney in my life at least once a year—like a sustaining life force. He agreed. That, & his boss gave him a bonus to pay for our digs at the BCV. LOVED the BCV. Loved walking to Epcot. It was awesome!! (pics in first post)

Here is the progression of Figment through our trips to WDW:
2004:

2006:

2007:

So, now we come to 2008. Will we go again?




Of course! I rented points & booked at BWV in February. No sense in waiting around & wasting time when I could be planning.

Then I got a bee in my bonnet. From here on the DIS. In September there would be free dining. Yeah, well, not such a big deal to us. We don’t eat all that much & had figured that actually buying the dining plan for our other trips would be more expensive than OOP. So, not that big of a draw. Then, the chatter began about MNSSHP. Well, we loved the P&P party & MNSSHP looked even better. What’s this? Little Ones Extra Magic Hours where my kids can play with Peter Pan & Pooh? Special concert at MGM?

Um, DH, dear, sweet DH, what do you think about September?
I don’t think we need to go so often.
Hmm.

Let the convincing begin!!

 

[Goofy_4_WDW]

Great Pictures

 

[AGPrincess]

I love your pre-trippie so far!! I love your old pics of Disney World (whoa! I had no idea Pluto ever wore a sombrero!) and the progression pics of your DS -- too cute!

And I can't WAIT to hear how your boys will react when you tell them they're going to Disney!

Can't wait for more!

 

[pixe*dst]

I love your pre-trippie so far!! I love your old pics of Disney World (whoa! I had no idea Pluto ever wore a sombrero!) and the progression pics of your DS -- too cute!

And I can't WAIT to hear how your boys will react when you tell them they're going to Disney!

Can't wait for more!

I have another one of Minnie in a parisian outfit. Pluto with the sombrero is also the souvenir my DSis got that year--she still has it in her room at home. I'll post it when i get home (at work right now). The funny thing is a guy that I work with here at this historic site used to be Pluto when Pluto dressed for France. He was also sometimes Eeyore, but just a little too short for Tigger. He's fun to talk to about his experiences. Thanks for joining my planning extravaganza!

 

[pixe*dst]

Great Pictures

Thanks! Stay tuned for more!

 

[crarmy]

OK, I am hooked!! Love all the old pics!! Really made me reminisce. I gotta dig for some old photos.

I am taking my dd for her sweet 16 in Sept, but there is nothing that I want more than to plan a surprise trip for my family, can’t wait to hear more

 

[pooksma]

I'm in. Great start

 

[pixe*dst]

OK, I am hooked!! Love all the old pics!! Really made me reminisce. I gotta dig for some old photos.

I am taking my dd for her sweet 16 in Sept, but there is nothing that I want more than to plan a surprise trip for my family, can’t wait to hear more

I'm in. Great start

Glad you guys could join me! I'm still not sure how to reveal the surprise, but I do know that I want it to be at the last moment possible.

 

[pixe*dst]

Character Bus at Epcot

Minnie 1987--nice closed eyes there

My DSis with Roger Rabbit area of MGM c. 1990

I'm going to try to scan in some from those high school trips over the weekend, just for fun. I have all kinds of things like napkins, bags, tickets that I saved.

 

[pixe*dst]

WARNING: This one is going to be a bit long & a bit short on photos—hang in there!

Okay, so as I mentioned DH likes Disney (maybe even secretly loves Disney), but he has this irrational philosophy that WDW need not be visited that frequently.

However, I was determined that I could convince him. So convinced in fact that I started making reservations. Now, before you go thinking I deceived my husband, it should be noted that these were dining reservations. I realized that if we were going it would be during free dining & if I wanted any chance of eating anywhere I needed to get on the phone. Since we were well within the 180 window it was no problem that I didn’t have a room or package reservation yet—just put in my phone #.

Anyway, I start looking at the best dates to go in September. After checking TGM, consulting with the Disney Schedules for LOEMH & Concert series & of course MNSSHIP I settled on Sept. 13-19.

So, I called & made ADRs. Then I called back & made a few more. It was exhilarating. I love talking to Disney. In fact, to this day I have one too many ADRs for our allotted TS meals. I have to make a decision & cancel that one. I cancelled 2 ADRs last week & the very nice CM said, “Are you sure you want to cancel Coral Reef, it is so hard to get?” I replied yes, because the time was not good (3:10) & we had other plans. He then thanked me for canceling the ADRs & freeing them up for others. That was nice.

But, back to the point. I wanted to go in September. When we go in January it is never warm enough to swim. (We like it to be HOT to get in the water). Plus, I really wanted to play with the characters in Fantasyland on LOEMH. I mean, I wanted my boys to play with the characters. Yeah that’s it. & they are having the new Playhouse Disney Live show with Handy Manny & My Friends Tigger & Pooh. & well Stitch Loves those guys. Not to mention MNSSHP. I’ve wanted to go for 3 years.

So, here’s my presentation to DH:
I outlined the above mentioned special things that are happening in September.
I included—there’s free dining—we can try out all sorts of new places.
Plus, I’ve earned & saved enough money to pay for the trip (room & dining) staying at POR (our moderate of choice). This money would be extra money—not my regular salary.
Not to mention, Stitch will start kindergarten after this year so it is our last chance to go in September. We can’t take him out of kindergarten just 3 weeks after he starts. & it will be harder & harder to take Figment out for vacations.

So, he was sold. Yeah!! I get to call Disney again & make my reservation POR here we come.

Then I started thinking again (always dangerous) & surfing around online to see what else might be available for our stay. The AKL was looking nice. Plus, the available room had bunkbeds. Stitch & Figment will LOVE that. Oh honey? How about an upgrade?

DH mentioned that his boss at work said he wanted to give him a bonus for some extra work & travel he had done. I said—Great! DH actually suggested that we could put it toward paying the difference & go for the upgrade. He just needed to find out how much said bonus would be.



Then . . . .

The bottom fell out. I had been riding high on my Disney reservation, my plans for the supreme surprise & I got hit with a ton of bricks. Turns out I was not going to have as much money available to me as I thought—for various reasons. That combined with a few other stressful events sent me into a tailspin of panic attacks. The month of June was not a good one for me.

But, this rainstorm has a silver (or maybe even gold lining). As I found out this news & began the panic attack DH called. He was calling to tell me to go for the upgrade. In tears I explained the other part of our financial situation. Turns out the bonus was way more than we expected, so he said go for it anyway. Then, I logged on to the computer to see about doing the upgrade. I had an email from work to do an outside job on a contract basis that would pay very well (especially for a non-profit). So, it turned out all was well.

It lead me to realize, however, that we are blessed. So blessed. And I am so thankful that everything worked out & it was really such a minor matter to begin with. So, that money that I saved up for the trip (that DH’s bonus is now covering) will be donated to Make A Wish Foundation. It is not as much as I would like (after I made up for said complications), but I hope it will help spread the pixie dust. So many reports, especially wendygrace’s, have inspired me. I know that I am truly blessed.

So, shortly after the 4th all was beginning to be well & Stitch & I walked down to the mailbox to send this check off in the mail:

A good day! AKL here we come!!

 

[mvazul]

Great start to your report!! Beautiful pictures and a beautiful family. I love your son's red hair!!

I look forward to reading more.

 

[crarmy]

Just have to decide how I’m going to do it.

I had mentioned that one day I want to surprise my family too. Well, while thinking and dreaming about it I came across this TR I though you might enjoy reading and maybe get an idea on how to surprise you kidos. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1234215

 

[pixe*dst]

I had mentioned that one day I want to surprise my family too. Well, while thinking and dreaming about it I came across this TR I though you might enjoy reading and maybe get an idea on how to surprise you kidos. http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1234215

That is a great report--I do like how they revealed their surprise. Now, I'm trying to read the whole thing. Thank you for sharing the link!

 

[pixe*dst]

I’m going to post a couple of quick updates then get into the nitty-gritty of planning like itinerary, ADR details, & of course pre trip shopping!

So, I haven’t been sleeping well for over a week. I don’t know what is going on, but I’m tossing & turning & having weird dreams.

Last night was the first dream I had about our trip. I’ve been keeping up with all of the threads about AKL here & there wondering if I’ll be called to move, hoping I won’t, hoping the animals will still be abundant & we’ll have an unforgettable experience.

In my dream we checked in & were assigned a room. It was on the floor I had requested & on the Zebra trail, but when we went in it had 1 double bed & 1 twin bed. Our reservation was for bunk beds. Then I look out the window & we are not overlooking the Arusha savanna—we are savanna view, but we can see like a construction fence, 1 animal, and then some other non-animal area that is fuzzy now that I’m awake. I called down to request a move (because we don’t have bunks). The funny thing is that along the fence there were gorillas walking & my DH somehow ended up down on the ground below our balcony giving said gorillas a high five. Ha!

The move us to the next room over (still not overlooking the Arusha savanna), but it has bunk beds & this larger bathroom type set up (almost like a DVC villa, but with 2 toilets). Our “view” was of what appeared to be a poolside bar (filled with people), and a few animals on the side. We didn’t have a balcony. When I called again to be moved the desk told me something like “It’s after 6pm & we can’t do any more room assignments until tomorrow.”

I was upset because we didn’t have the room we wanted & we’d spent all afternoon trying to get the right room & weren’t able to go to DTD to get our APs & shop. We had to have them for first thing the next morning & now we were late for our Boma ADR too!


Let’s just hope it all remains a strange, Alice-like dream . . . . . .

 

[pixe*dst]

Great start to your report!! Beautiful pictures and a beautiful family. I love your son's red hair!!

I look forward to reading more.

Thanks! His red hair gets a lot of attention & requires a lot of sunscreen to keep his complexion nice & pasty white

 

[PrincessFan0809]

Great report so far! Your kids are adorable. My family will be there from Sept. 13 through 25 at All Star Music. It's our first vacation to Disney as a family. I haven't been since approx. '95 or so, and I just can't wait. I'm so psyched for MNSSHP and the concert with Handy Manny and all the Playhouse Disney characters. My kids are so excited....and they have no idea what's in store for them!

 

[pooksma]

Yeah those AKL dreams can be scary. I had one once.

 

[pixe*dst]

Great report so far! Your kids are adorable. My family will be there from Sept. 13 through 25 at All Star Music. It's our first vacation to Disney as a family. I haven't been since approx. '95 or so, and I just can't wait. I'm so psyched for MNSSHP and the concert with Handy Manny and all the Playhouse Disney characters. My kids are so excited....and they have no idea what's in store for them!

Thanks!

I can't wait for the concert either--DS4 adores Handy Manny, & all of the PHD characters that are in it. Which day are you planning on the concert?

You guys are going to have such a magical time & sounds like you have a great amount of time to soak it all in!

 

[pixe*dst]

Yeah those AKL dreams can be scary. I had one once.

I think I was subconsciously substituting gorillas for construction workers DH now officially thinks I've gone over the deep end about Disney.

According to your ticker you have 2 weeks until your trip--hope you have a wonderful time!!