Shhh! Super Secret Winter Warm Up Girls Only February Get Away (from the snow)

[PoppyGirl]

I wasn't planning a Disney trip. Honestly. I was managing my addiction quite well. Really. And then....my Dis "friend" (oh yes, I use that term loosely as this is pretty much all her fault!) Natalie posted the pictures of her new Disney luggage tags on FB, and I was a goner. It was done. I HAD to go. Ridiculous, isn't it?

Last year DD and I, BFF and her DD went in February for a girls only trip. It was fantastic. DD and I had SO much fun. DH doesn't feel the need to feed my addiction as often as I feel the need to feed my addiction and DS would prefer taking a group of friends to Hershey Park next summer, so perhaps another girls only trip is the way to go...and February is good...low crowds...decent weather (especially compared to here--blech! )...still a few months away and time to convince DH that this is a GOOD idea.

So. I. Booked. A. Room. Yep, I booked a room only reservation for DD and myself at POFQ. I'm liking that idea of a smaller resort, taking the boat to DTD. And then I asked about the AAA discount and what do you know...I could get a river view room then for less than the price I would have paid for a regular boring room without the discount. Yay! (Still hoping for one of those 35% off room only PIN codes though!) This is still very "cancelable" though, right? No real loss if I change my mind.

As soon as the room was booked, I made about 45 ADR's. Well, more like 7. All our favorite places and a couple of new ones to try. I could have even booked CRT but DD thinks she's past the princess stage. (WHAT?!?) But it was available! Got everything I wanted for the times I wanted.

Still haven't asked DH about this mind you.

Labor Day weekend rolls around. I am super stressed and want to just get away for the weekend. DH calls me at work.

DH: What are you doing?
Me: Plotting my escape.
DH: OK. To where?
Me: Somewhere warm and sunny with a pool ("and some Disney shopping nearby" I thought to myself but didn't say)
DH: Oh.
Me: Aren't you going to try and stop me?
DH: As if I could.
Me: Well, you could tell me not to go.
DH: Ok. Don't go.
Me: Oh alright. Fine.

My new "boil the frog plan" (if you read my previous PTR you might remember this evil plan for getting DHs to agree to extended Disney trips) is a little different. I've come up with a new technique....see, I keep threatening to run away but not doing it....DH will be so grateful for all the times I DIDN'T go, that when it actually comes to the REAL trip, he'll gladly agree to the plan! Brilliant, isn't it??

A few days later I was surfing the web, checking out airfares....wow. Southwest had pretty good fares from BWI to MCO. Not so good coming back though. Well, hmmm...I could just book the flight down there and wait to book the return. Done. I. Booked. Air. Still, very "cancelable". The great thing about SWA is that you can change your flights as long as you use the credit within a year. Sweet! I know I'll fly SOMEWHERE in the next 12 months!

But then....oh yes there's a "but then"....I started looking at LaNouba. Have always wanted to see it. DD has a renewed interest in gymnastics. I think she would really enjoy it. Good grief! I need to get tickets soon or we'll be in the back row. So....I. Bought. LaNouba. Tickets. NOT "cancelable."

I called BFF.

Me: I bought LaNouba tickets.
BFF: You DID?!? That's awesome. You're really going! This is for real. You are going now. That's great! Good for you.
(sometimes she's no help at all)
Me: I guess I am. (secretly jumping up and down inside )

So, as of today I think we are at 154 days until our trip to Disney that DH doesn't even know about yet. I have 154 days to convince him. (**note: I bought my wedding dress 6 months before we were engaged and hid it at my friend Jane's house. I'm pretty sure he'll be ok with it....)

Introductions
Cast Photos (because life is more fun with pictures!)
Day 1 Preliminary Plans (that means before all the changes)
I Like to Eat...I Like to Eat...I Like to Eat Eight Apples and Bananas...or, ADRs
Never Let a Former Hippie Take Your Professional Work Photos
Circus Mail
She said "I Do." He said "Yes." No wait. He said, "Yes....but...."
Cha....Cha....Cha....Changes
Saving Money Makes Me Happy (and for some reason it sounds like a John Denver song playing in my head)
So I Did a Little Shopping
Double Digit Dance Day!
So, Where Was I? (Day 2)
Fun With Scissors....and Paper
Disney Planning Is Therapeutic

The TRIP Report:
Day 1....What REALLY Happened.....
Practically Perfect....Day 2 at the Most Magical Kingdom on Earth
An Internationally Spectacular Day (also known as Day 3--EPCOT day!)
What a WILD and WONDERFUL Day (Day 4 of our Winter Getaway)
Time for the SHOW! Day 5
Lights! Camera! Action! A Day at the Studios! Day 6
Making the Most of It: Day 7 and HOPPER PASS HEAVEN (part 1)
HOPPER PASS HEAVEN continued....

 

[PoppyGirl]

Whoops! Forgot to introduce us! (at least those of us going on the trip)

ME: PoppyGirl, Lenora. 47 years old. Full time Mom, part time dairy farmer (helping out DH), part time Psychologist (just opened my own private practice), part time office manager for my church, and part time scrapbooking consultant. (whew! I feel busier just writing it all out!) I love Disney. It's therapy for me.

DD: Princess Fickle Pickle, Anna. 8 years old. Full time 3rd grader. Lover of ALL animals (and I do mean ALL--except stink bugs. I have caught her scooping ants out of the pool to save them). Extremely creative. She sees it...she makes it. Full of drama. Great sense of humor. Someday will be queen of the world.

The rest of the family:
DH is a dairy farmer. Full time. Work work work work. Good husband, very supportive. Sweet and cheesy. Oh, and VERY handy. That man can fix anything! He enjoys Disney when we are there but films it all hoping he won't have to pay for another trip if we can just watch our DVD's. (silly, silly man!)

DSS #1--28 years old and a full time veterinarian in Texas.

DSS #2--24 years old and living in Southern CA.
(both GREAT big brothers to the younger ones)

DS is 11 y.o. 6th grader. First year of middle school. Suddenly very popular with the ladies. Loves legos and math. Future engineer.

 

[PoppyGirl]

Since life is always more fun with photos.....here are a few:

From our girls trip last February:

One of my favorite views at WDW:

Me:

The family:

And one of our lifestyle photos from AKL:

DH's b-day celebration with the boys at DL summer 2010:

 

[Tinkermom76]

um why is this trip my fault????

I only take the blame for trips I am actually going on

I remember when I booked this trip I kept saying to my mom when I go on a trip with Tracy, then eventually I started saying on my trip with Tracy, then i said on the trip.... eventually she figured out it was a real trip

 

[PoppyGirl]

um why is this trip my fault????

I only take the blame for trips I am actually going on

I remember when I booked this trip I kept saying to my mom when I go on a trip with Tracy, then eventually I started saying on my trip with Tracy, then i said on the trip.... eventually she figured out it was a real trip

So are you saying you want to come too? I like how you said your mom finally figured out it was a real trip!

It will be cold in Canada in February...you might need a little winter warm-up too.

 

[PoppyGirl]

Day One: Here We Come!
As I started doing a little dreaming and planning last night I realized that leaving here at noon puts us at the resort by around 3:30 ....that's way too late! Ok, so we'll get up a little earlier and leave here at 9:25, arriving at the resort then by around lunch time. (That's nice! A Disney lunch is always better than an airport lunch! ) So I changed our flights. (Gotta Southwest!)

The plan for Day 1 is either:
A. Hang out at the resort, swim, enjoy and then head to DTD for a little shopping and dinner at Wolfgang Puck (our FAVORITE meal from our last trip)
OR
B. Head to MK for the afternoon and then back for hot tub and early bedtime that evening.

My dilemma is this: If we DON'T go to MK that day, we may only do MK one day (because of planning to see other parks and because DD and I both MUST go to Epcot twice)...and that makes me a little bit . BUT, I really, really like the idea of plan A because it seems like such a relaxing way to start our trip.

So, your thoughts? (If anyone else is reading this....)

 

[Tinkermom76]

that is a relaxing way to start the trip and had you come in on the later flight you wouldn't have had time to go to the park anyway so relax and enjoy

 

[Tinkermom76]

what are the dates for this trip woman?

 

[PoppyGirl]

Good grief...I must be out of practice for writing a PTR!

Trip Dates: February 7 - 13, 2012. Or longer....

 

[PoppyGirl]

I love when there's open ADR's and I can play around and change them on a whim! So far I'm loving our trip dates because there is so much available. No one else must be eating then....

And perhaps I should say that I plan my vacations around where I want to eat...because vacation is largely about NOT having to cook or clean up! And I love eating out.

Here's what I have so far (and like Natalie, I'm just going to put the places and times but not the days so as not to spoil the day to day trip plans)

Wolfgang Puck 6:00pm (best meal last trip)
Crystal Palace 5:00pm (love their food!)
LeCellier 12:20pm (oh the soup...and the bread...and the soup)
Rose & Crown 7:50pm (so as to have viewing for Illuminations) (brand new--we've never eaten there before--any suggestions?)
Yak & Yeti 11:00am (had a great meal here last time)
Boma 5:20pm (my FAVORITE place ever!)
Wolfgang Puck 3:30pm (early dinner--may change this...it's our meal before LaNouba)
LaNouba 6:00pm show (so excited about this! )
Mama Melrose 1:15pm

I'm considering changing one of our Wolfgang Puck reservations to Raglan Road and also adding in Coral Reef. DD does not like seafood at all, but I think she would really enjoy the atmosphere.

We will also eat at Sunshine Seasons and snack around world showcase. I'm addicted to the caramel popcorn in Germany!

There are a few places I'd really like to try but there just isn't enough time! I seriously need a 3 week vacation!

Jiko
Tony's Town Square
Fultons
Beaches & Cream
LesChefs de France (pretty sure DD wouldn't like that one!)

Maybe next trip....

 

[20thingamabobs]

I'm here! I popped over from Natalie's PTR. I love girls only trips, my mom and I take one every spring and they get progressively longer and more elaborate each time

I like your Plan A. It does seem like a nice start to a trip but I can totally see why only visiting MK once during the trip is hard. That being said, I noticed you wrote "or longer" after your dates, so maybe you should just add a day so you can go to MK another day! That's what I did for my wine & Dine half marathon trip in a couple weeks. I figure since I spend so much time enabling myself I might as well try it on someone else, you were my first opportunity

 

[PoppyGirl]

I'm here! I popped over from Natalie's PTR. I love girls only trips, my mom and I take one every spring and they get progressively longer and more elaborate each time

I like your Plan A. It does seem like a nice start to a trip but I can totally see why only visiting MK once during the trip is hard. That being said, I noticed you wrote "or longer" after your dates, so maybe you should just add a day so you can go to MK another day! That's what I did for my wine & Dine half marathon trip in a couple weeks. I figure since I spend so much time enabling myself I might as well try it on someone else, you were my first opportunity

THANK YOU thank you thank you for reading my PTR! I was starting to get a little lonely over here!

And about enabling yourself--that is hilarious! I will have to use that from now on because I think I'm an expert at enabling myself too! I just never quite thought of it that way.

To be honest, I've considered adding on one more day at the end of the trip because as they have the schedule right now, Fantasmic is only being shown on the day we leave. I'm hoping they might add more shows but it isn't even listed the first 2 weeks of February! I'd really like to see it again. But...should I add another day just to see F!? Well, let's see...I booked a trip just to get luggage tags....I can guess I can see where this is going!

I have forgotten how to add a link to my PTR in my signature. Too much time away from the boards I guess. (just figured it out Woot! And that was sort of a random thought there I guess)

 

[Tinkermom76]

I love when there's open ADR's and I can play around and change them on a whim! So far I'm loving our trip dates because there is so much available. No one else must be eating then....

And perhaps I should say that I plan my vacations around where I want to eat...because vacation is largely about NOT having to cook or clean up! And I love eating out.

Here's what I have so far (and like Natalie, I'm just going to put the places and times but not the days so as not to spoil the day to day trip plans)

Wolfgang Puck 6:00pm (best meal last trip)
Crystal Palace 5:00pm (love their food!)
LeCellier 12:20pm (oh the soup...and the bread...and the soup)
Rose & Crown 7:50pm (so as to have viewing for Illuminations) (brand new--we've never eaten there before--any suggestions?)
Yak & Yeti 11:00am (had a great meal here last time)
Boma 5:20pm (my FAVORITE place ever!)
Wolfgang Puck 3:30pm (early dinner--may change this...it's our meal before LaNouba)
LaNouba 6:00pm show (so excited about this! )
Mama Melrose 1:15pm

I'm considering changing one of our Wolfgang Puck reservations to Raglan Road and also adding in Coral Reef. DD does not like seafood at all, but I think she would really enjoy the atmosphere.

We will also eat at Sunshine Seasons and snack around world showcase. I'm addicted to the caramel popcorn in Germany!

There are a few places I'd really like to try but there just isn't enough time! I seriously need a 3 week vacation!

Jiko
Tony's Town Square
Fultons
Beaches & Cream
LesChefs de France (pretty sure DD wouldn't like that one!)

Maybe next trip....

Good Reservations! I have not eaten at Rose and Crown... maybe next trip

Too bad you aren't going later in the month, then maybe I could Pop in for the weekend for Erykas birthday

I'm here! I popped over from Natalie's PTR. I love girls only trips, my mom and I take one every spring and they get progressively longer and more elaborate each time

I like your Plan A. It does seem like a nice start to a trip but I can totally see why only visiting MK once during the trip is hard. That being said, I noticed you wrote "or longer" after your dates, so maybe you should just add a day so you can go to MK another day! That's what I did for my wine & Dine half marathon trip in a couple weeks. I figure since I spend so much time enabling myself I might as well try it on someone else, you were my first opportunity

I completely agree she should add a day to the end... why not, I added to the beginning, then the end

 

[oceanwave]

I can totally understand why you want to go back!! My husband and I just got back and already want to book our next visit for next year. Thankfully while we were at Disney I unlocked his inner Disney Freak

Of the restaurants you listed I have only been to Crystal Palace. Disney just has too many restaurants to try out!

I like plan B, to me a trip starts with the Magic Kingdom

 

[jenseib]

Hey girl...It's been awhile. So glad to see you back and active!

um why is this trip my fault????

I only take the blame for trips I am actually going on

I remember when I booked this trip I kept saying to my mom when I go on a trip with Tracy, then eventually I started saying on my trip with Tracy, then i said on the trip.... eventually she figured out it was a real trip

I knew it had to be all your fault!

 

[Oliquig]

Hi! I love your Girls' Trip idea, I'm actually going on one too. Our last day is your arrival day. I wouldn't worry about seafood at the Coral Reef, I looked at the menu while planning and there is plenty of non-seafood stuff.

We ended up adding an extra day too, it was very tempting!

 

[PoppyGirl]

I can totally understand why you want to go back!! My husband and I just got back and already want to book our next visit for next year. Thankfully while we were at Disney I unlocked his inner Disney Freak

Of the restaurants you listed I have only been to Crystal Palace. Disney just has too many restaurants to try out!

I like plan B, to me a trip starts with the Magic Kingdom

Welcome! I know exactly what you mean about Disney having too many good ones. By the time you make it back to all your favorites, then there's no time left to try the new ones! We just need longer vacations, right?

Hey girl...It's been awhile. So glad to see you back and active!



I knew it had to be all your fault!

Hi Jen!!! How are you? I haven't found your TR yet...I'm just starting to get caught up! I love the pictures of Claire in your signature.

And yes....all Natalie's fault! If she just would not have posted those darn photos of the luggage tags! See, I've always booked my trips through AAA which has been great, but then you get AAA luggage tags. And I have enough of them. I need the pretty ones now! Plus, it's time for a new Disney mug. (and Natalie had pictures of those on her PTR. What can I say? )

 

[jenseib]

Welcome! I know exactly what you mean about Disney having too many good ones. By the time you make it back to all your favorites, then there's no time left to try the new ones! We just need longer vacations, right?



Hi Jen!!! How are you? I haven't found your TR yet...I'm just starting to get caught up! I love the pictures of Claire in your signature.

And yes....all Natalie's fault! If she just would not have posted those darn photos of the luggage tags! See, I've always booked my trips through AAA which has been great, but then you get AAA luggage tags. And I have enough of them. I need the pretty ones now! Plus, it's time for a new Disney mug. (and Natalie had pictures of those on her PTR. What can I say? )

You know...I am a travel agent now....just saying....

I have the worlds longest TR going right now from our Spring trip. (its the A hop no skip on in my signature.) I have since gone in August again for a Travel agent onsite education program which was great fun as well....and adult only for me. ...oops, how did that banana get in there. LOL!

 

[PoppyGirl]

Hi! I love your Girls' Trip idea, I'm actually going on one too. Our last day is your arrival day. I wouldn't worry about seafood at the Coral Reef, I looked at the menu while planning and there is plenty of non-seafood stuff.

We ended up adding an extra day too, it was very tempting!

Hi! And welcome to my PTR! I went on a girls only trip with my BFF a couple of years ago and it was the BEST trip I've ever had. Then another BFF took me to DL for both our b-days and we had an amazing time. It's totally different but so much fun! Then of course last year I went with BFF and both our DDs. Hmmm....I guess this is becoming a bit of a pattern here....

You know...I am a travel agent now....just saying....

I have the worlds longest TR going right now from our Spring trip. (its the A hop no skip on in my signature.) I have since gone in August again for a Travel agent onsite education program which was great fun as well....and adult only for me. ...oops, how did that banana get in there. LOL!

Yes, I just started reading it. I'm up to page 13! HOW did you become a TA??!!?!? I want to know that story!

 

[oceanwave]

Welcome! I know exactly what you mean about Disney having too many good ones. By the time you make it back to all your favorites, then there's no time left to try the new ones! We just need longer vacations, right?

I vote for longer vacations We went for 8 nights and that is not enough time to experience all the food available!!