Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs are Set Loose! ~ (NEW RING PICS & LINK TO TR!! 7/1!)

[Cinderella16]

Table of Contents (for your convenience)
Pre Trippie Chapters
Chapter 1: Welcome & The Cast (scroll down)
Chapter 2: A Confession & A History
Chapter 3: The DIS & Early Planning Stages
Chapter 4: Disney Dining Meets DBF
Chapter 5: The Obsessive Planning & Many Computer Nerd Moments
Chapter 6: A Quickie
Chapter 7: Paid in Full
Chapter 8: Suggestions, Please
Chapter 9 – Time to Start A’Packing
Chapter 10: A Real Update, Mounting Excitement
Chapter 11: In the 20's!
Chapter 12: The Sickness
Chapter 13: 24 Days to Go!
Chapter 14: We Will Call This Chapter Buttons
Chapter 15: 20 Days to Go!
Chapter 16: Help with Sentimental Gifts (short)
Chapter 17: Oh It Is Random!
Chapter 18: 6 or 5?
Chapter 19: Who Has More Clothes...Me or DBF?
Chapter 20: Vacation Eve!!
Chapter 21: We Are Home!!
Engagement Ring Pictures!!

Link to Trip Report
Our Magical Trip of a Million Dreams, Wishes, & Surprises ~ Engaged at Disney

Chapter #1 – Welcome & The Cast

Hello out there in The DIS land and welcome to my very first (pre) TRIP REPORT! I have been reading oodles and oodles of Pre Trip Reports, Trip Reports, Dining Reviews, and all things on the DIS. I have read so many great TR's that I felt inspired to write my own. The plan is that we are headed to Disney in June Woo Hoo!!! You will get to know who "we" are in this chapter, so sit tight! I just love trip reports because each one is so unique, and it is fun to see how others do Disney…I hope you enjoy my pre trippie, remember it is my first EVER, and I am so very excited about it! Okay it time to get this bad boy on the road!

My original plan was to wait to post my pre trippie, I began writing it in a word document, but I was just too excited and had to post it! So I apoligize if this seems too early, but I am just so impatient! Okay...on with the cast...

The (awesome super duper) Cast:

Me (22) – Happy – I have been to Disney 5 times in my life (more on that later). I am a soon-to-be college graduate and I am currently working on getting my Education degree. I have always dreamed of being a teacher since I was a wee little girl. (Come Dec. 2007, I will be certified if I pass my last exam eeks) I “work” for our family’s business as an office “manager” (notice the quotes in work and manager). Being in school full time and working for family has its ups and downs, but that is neither here nor there. I love, and am pretty much obsessed with Cinderella (incase you couldn’t tell from my username) and everything Disney. I collect anything Cinderella and I am actually running out of room in my bedroom for all my Cindy gear.

Just a few of my Cindy collectibles!

The number one love in my life is my DBF (see below) and my Chicago Bulls! I am a huge NBA nut and watch every Bulls game and that is when the evil villain side of me comes out and I scream very unchristian things at the television.

Me & DBF at the United Center to watch a Bulls game, I call the United Center my Illinois Magic Kingdom.

DBF believes that I am Happy the Dwarf because I get so Happy when it comes to anything Disney, otherwise I am more like Grumpy. I love scrapbooking and take way too many pictures when at Disney which probably angers the others in our group since I have to stop like every 10 feet to get a picture. Scrapbooking helps the healing process when I go into Post Disney Syndrome when I arrive home, it gives me something to look forward to and helps me relive the trip. Okay enough about me….

DBF (24) –Sneezy – Has been to Disney 4 times in his life. We have been dating over 4 years and we will be celebrating our 5th year anniversary in June AT DISNEY!! Yippie! He is a computer “nerd,” I mean programmer for Walgreens (which is way better than CVS or Osco or Eckerd). If you get prescription filled at any Walgreens he is behind the technology that they use to fill prescriptions, so thank DBF for that if you go to Walgreens! He is the most caring, sweet man I know, my true Prince Charming!! I love him because he puts up with me and all my quirkiness—he will listen to my endless Disney talk and watch each Bulls game with me, and sometimes be subject to my violent NBA villain side (needless to say he wants the Bulls to win for his own safety ). He loves Disney and collects M-I-C-K-E-Y snowglobes, it is very cute.(I mean rugged and MANLY) he would be very upset if he knew I was calling him cute in front of the internet community . His alias name is Sneezy because for some reason when he goes to Florida (Clearwater Beach is where we always go after all the Disney fun) he gets allergies or something and the uncontrollable sneezing and hacking in the middle of the night begins! (Doesn’t that sound lovely? Atleast you don’t share the room with him) Oh yeah, and he refuses to join the DIS, even though I tell him everyday it is the coolest thing since sliced bread! You know what? I bet he has a secret name that I don’t know about and probably has over 800,000 posts. If you do, Hi DBF!!!

**Funny Side Note: I had DBF read this pre trippie and when he got to the part about the number one love of my life he asked why he wasn’t mentioned. I had to go on to explain that HE is DBF. If he would join the DIS he would know these things!**

DBF’s family will be joining us on this trip and I will refer to them through out the trip report as…

Doc – DBF’s Mom – I love Doc; she is the best and LOVES Disney. She really just lets DBF and I do all the planning. Cuz if it’s Disney she is there!!

Sleepy – DBF’s Brother (21) – His name says it all, he is sleepy, finds the summer Florida sun too hot, but a very fun person to be around. He makes us all laugh. In the past we have spent his birthday at Disney, but this year is glad to have an Illinois Birthday (I cannot figure it out either)

Grumpy – DBF’s Sister (17) – DBF told me to give her the name Grumpy because she is a teenager. She is very sweet. Her laugh is contagious which makes for some very fun times.

Bashful – DBF’s Aunt – Never passes on an opportunity to pay a visit to the mouse. Like DBF’s mom, if it is Disney she will do it (except Animal Kingdom –more on that later)

Dopey – DBF’s Uncle – Married to Bashful, loves Disney, is so very tall (which comes in handy at the parks because he is easy to locate) and is a very funny guy.

Snow White – DBF’s Cousin (7) Bashful and Dopey’s Son….I know what you are thinking…. “But Cinderella16, Snow White is a GIRL!” Yes, but I figured this fit so well, besides, he is known to indulge in some Princess gear in the past! (I believe he made his parents purchase him a pink light up crown at Fantasmic and possibly a Beauty and the Beast light up rose at Spectromagic) Dopey made sure he countered his son’s pink princess purchases with a pirate sword, (try saying that 10 times fast) however Snow White wanted no part in it . He is very smart for his age and for Christmas all he wanted from Santa was a postcard from the North Pole from Santa to prove he exists. How is that for 7 years old? But thanks to DBF’s crazy, mad, nerd, computer skills…he made a nice little postcard for the little nonbeliever so the magic can be kept alive a little longer.

(clipart images are from www.disneyclips.com, the BEST collection of Disney clipart I have ever seen)

So this is our cast of characters,1 Child, and 7 adults. See it really is like Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs. I was very excited when I noticed this because I knew I had some kind of title for this work in progress that I call a Trip Report!

Well that is for this chapter...

Up Next…A Confession & Our Disney History!

Thanks for reading!!

 

[Blaynexox]

yay! I am so excited to be the first to post! Your pre trippie is AMAZING! I love every bit of it and cannot wait for more! Its so exciting that you are going with such a big group and DBF's family sounds wonderful (your VERY lucky!) I love all your clipart and thanks so much for the website! You will now being seeing an ARRAY of wonderful clipart in my pretrippie! THANKS A MILLION! I just cannot wait to hear more! Oh and I LOVE to scrapbook as well! Happy writing!

-Blayne

 

[Cinderella16]

yay! I am so excited to be the first to post! Your pre trippie is AMAZING! I love every bit of it and cannot wait for more! Its so exciting that you are going with such a big group and DBF's family sounds wonderful (your VERY lucky!) I love all your clipart and thanks so much for the website! You will now being seeing an ARRAY of wonderful clipart in my pretrippie! THANKS A MILLION! I just cannot wait to hear more! Oh and I LOVE to scrapbook as well! Happy writing!

-Blayne

Yippie I have a reader! I love that clipart website, it is seriously the best thing, I am glad I could share it with you Going with a big group has its ups and downs as you will come to find out, but you are right, they are wonderful people.

 

[Cinderella16]

I have a confession to make…hold your breaths…I have never really stayed on Disney property , okay now exhale. Wow that feels good to get off my chest. I have been to Disney World 5 times and each time we stay off property…it just always works out that way. Lemme explain….

When I was 4 years old my family, grandparents, cousins, and aunts took a trip to Florida. (we never travel alone, must be because we are Italian and must be with our extended family ALL THE TIME) It is the first trip I can remember. Now I think we stayed a short time camping at Fort Wilderness, but I was four years old and worse of all, my first trip to visit Mickey and I had the CHICKEN POX!! There is nothing worse than being at the most magical place in the world and not being able to participate. I remember very little of that trip, but we have some pictures to refresh my memory, apparently I met Smee, but I wasn’t entertained by him, however I am happy to report that I was ammused by Chip N Dale according to photos. I wish I had a scanner so I could scan some of these in, but I don’t. You would think nerdy DBF would have one? But no, I did the next best thing to a scanning…I took a picture of a picture (I apologize for the poor quality!)We went to Magic Kingdom and Epcot CENTER (remember when it was called that?) because that is all there was back then! Anyways we stayed at Fort Wilderness but it wasn’t very long and hardly remember it, so I do not consider this staying on property!

My older cousin, Smee, my dad, and little 4 year old me.

Me, my older sister, and Chip

Me and my cousin in front of Spaceship Earth, it looks so plain without the pretty EPCOT sign on it.

**Update: DBF has informed me that he has a full functioning scanner on his desk at work...funny thing is, I could’ve swore I asked him if he had a scanner at work, and he said “no” silly DBF!**

Continuing on with the story…When I was 10 years old we went back to the world as an extended family for my little cousin who was 3 at the time. If wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have gone. My family is not a theme park type of family, but I guess they believe that it is a right-of-passage that each child must visit Disney World sometime in their life. My mother is terrified of all rides (she will do Small World, but for her Peter Pan is too adventurous—she had some Ferris wheel scare when she came to America 30 years ago and ever since that it is NO THANK YOU when it comes to rides). For this trip we visited my relatives who had recently moved to the Tampa area, naturally they invited us to stay with them, off property of course. All I remember on this trip is we went to MGM and Magic Kingdom, but we didn’t ride the MUST RIDES, you know which ones I am talking about: Splash, Space, and Thunder Mountain! I don’t even think we did Haunted Mansion. What the heck did we do? To tell you the truth, am not even sure! I have a feeling it was lots of parades and live shows like Indiana Jones

My little cousin (the reason we went to Disney in the first place) and Me. The picture in the racecar is another right of passage in my family, everyone in my family has a picture in this car

Me in front of Daisy’s Café.

I love my family and all, but they are not a Disney-going family—they just don’t get it. To them Disney is a big waste of money and all you do is stand in line all day and it is too hot blah blah blah. (I have tried to explain the FastPass concept, but they do not get it, sometimes I swear I am not their child ) I have tried and tried to convert them by showing them my jam packed scrapbooks, showing them all the cool things Disney has to offer like “look you can eat in the castle!” and “there is a park you have never seen before, it is called Animal Kingdom and…” but it is no use. I wonder what they will say when they find out I want a Disney Wedding. Hmm they like cruises. Maybe I can lure and convert them with a Disney Cruise…okay enough of my plotting back to the History!

When I graduated 8th Grade, as a graduation present, my parents agreed to let me go to Disney with my best friend and her mother. Her grandmother had a cute house around the Kissimmee Area and we stayed there, once again off property. On this trip we once again did MGM and MK, thinking this time I would be able to ride some more attractions! And I did, we did the biggies, BUT (and to this day I will forever be annoyed) did not get to Rock N Roller Coaster, it had just opened (that day I think) and rumor had it that Aerosmith was actually there! (and not just in the preshow, which I think is awesome because it looks so real to me) Okay, I am not entirely sure if they were there at that time, but it would’ve been cool to find out. I couldn’t go because my friend’s mother said that they “don’t do upside down attractions” and she didnt want me going alone. BLAH! Anyways, bitterness put aside for now, on this trip we also did DisneyQuest and Cirque du Soleil, which was very cool. Overall it was a fun trip, and the first time I got to travel without my parents.

My Friend from JR. High and me at MGM. Notice there is no Big Blue Mickey Hat!

I was sick and tired of going on these Disney vacations with these party poopers! Then it was as if God himself answered my prayers, he brought DBF into my life! Yippie! DBF and I met while working at Tweeter (the TV and electronic store—I was an Customer Service Rep, otherwise known as an “office girl” He was a Stock Boy) and it was love at first sight (ok love at HIS first sight not mine, I am usually not so mean ) Oh what did I know I was only 16! “Oblivious” that he liked me we became best friends and started hanging out outside of work. On our first “FRIEND” date we went to TGIFridays and guess what was playing on the TV’s? CINDERELLA THE MOVIE! I find it kinda spooky that my favorite Disney movie was being played then and there. I still say it was a sign from the heavens trying to tell me that DREAMS WILL COME TRUE IF YOU DATE THIS MAN WHO IS THROWING HIMSELF AT YOU! Anyways to make a long story short, after much drama, denial, and being laid off from that lovely job I realized that I started to fall for him. In 2002, we began dating…(awwww) and have been ever since!

Skip ahead to 2003- DBF goes to Disney with his family but leaves me behind! It is not his fault though, I was invited, but my sister had just gotten married the day before they left, I had just graduated High School and was getting ready for college, so I didn’t have the funds, and seeing that I was 18 my parents said they were finished paying for luxuries such as vacations. So DBF left me but sent me pictures from Epcot from those little photo centers they have at some of the attrations (which I cannot find at the moment, but if I do I will post them). When they returned I was showered with many souvieners and looked over their vacation video and pictures...Oh how I wish I could go with a group of people that loved the mouse as much as me!!!

In 2004 I got my chance! DBF, his family, and I spent 5 days at Disney. Except we always have such a big group that we rent a house in Celebration, FL. To cut down on the cost…once again off property! (Which for your information Celebration is actually developed by Disney so TECHNICALLY we were staying on property ) This time around we did all four parks and Typhoon Lagoon! So it was my first time at Epcot since I was 4, and my first time at Animal Kingdom and Typhoon Lagoon. We did character meals, dinner shows, and ALL rides! (I was even brave and went on Mission Space, but won’t do that again, even if there is a green side!) This trip was one of the best I ever went on, but it lacked some planning and when you go with a large group, a plan is essential. There was a lot of standing around deciding what to do next, DBF and I made a note that we would have a definite plan next time around.

DBF and I in front of the castle (notice the better quality of the pictures now)

DBF and I after dinner at the Polynesian. I had never seen the Poly. Resort before and I fell in love with it, it is so gorgeous! I just love this picture of us!

In 2005 we repeated the 2004 trip except we spent 7 days at the World, once again a big group caused us to rent a house. This trip was great because it was a surprise for DBF’s family. As a Christmas present we planned out the entire trip and even made one heck of a powerpoint presentation to go with it (the computer nerd lives in us both). They were truly surprised. DBF even bought me my park hopper pass for Christmas as my gift. This time, DBF and I meticulously planned out each and every day of our vacation. We had itineraries telling us what attractions we were going FastPass, what attractions we definitely wanted to see, and what time our ADR’s (priority seating back then) were for with confirmation numbers galore. This trip turned out to be better than the 2004 trip simply because we had a plan. There was no standing around deciding what to do, there was no shuffling around for confirmation numbers. DBF and I proved to be the official vacation planners.

Me and DBF in front of MGM WITH the Big Blue Mickey Hat!

The first time I met Mickey!

In 2006, we skipped Disney. In an attempt to save money, DBF and his family (I tagged along too) spent a short weekend in St. Louis. We went to Six Flags in St Louis because we have Season passes for one here in IL. So admission cost us nada. We tried our best to make it feel magical, but that is only something Disney can do! We also visited the famous St. Louis Arc (and I will never go inside the death trap again…it was not what I was expecting). After realizing that St. Louis cannot be like Disney we decided it was time to start planning another Disney trip! So DBF and I started our planning for another Disney trip (which would be one year later) while we were on our St Louis “vacation”.

Doc, Grumpy, Tweety, Me, and DBF (sneezy) trying to make it feel like DISNEY…I was thinking, “You ARENT MICKEY!” Notice that I barely wanna touch the bird!

Once we got home from St. Louis, the real planning began...and that is when I found...The DIS!

Up Next: How I Found the DIS & The Early Planning Stages of our 2007 Trip

 

[Sooze]

You are doing great for your first report! Wow! And I just love the old pictures!! I need to try that "picture of a picture" thing.. the quality wasn't THAT bad!!

Looking forward to more...

 

[*MickeyFan*]

Hi, I Love the pre-trip report so far! Just jumping on, so I can keep up jen

 

[Blaynexox]

I LOVVVVVEEE this trip report! Great installment! You and DBF are ADORABLE! Eagerly awaiting morE!

 

[tubachick]

I AM LOVING IT!!!! you are doing an awesome job!!!

 

[Cinderella16]

Thank you so much for all your sweet comments! It makes me happy that people are reading this I will try and get another installment up tonight but now it is off to watch the Chicago Bears make the Superbowl (I am not usually a football fan, but this is BIG news here in Chi-town, and DBF is pretty much making me watch, its okay, there will be food )
Thanks again for reading!!

I AM LOVING IT!!!! you are doing an awesome job!!!

Thank you so much, I was sorta intimidated to do a TR because I have read so many that have kept utterly entertained for hours/days on end! I am glad you are enjoying it

I LOVVVVVEEE this trip report! Great installment! You and DBF are ADORABLE! Eagerly awaiting morE!

Aww thanks so much, you are a loyal reader I love your TR too, it is great!!!

Hi, I Love the pre-trip report so far! Just jumping on, so I can keep up jen

Thank you Jen! I am glad you are liking it.

You are doing great for your first report! Wow! And I just love the old pictures!! I need to try that "picture of a picture" thing.. the quality wasn't THAT bad!!
Looking forward to more...

Thank you so much for your sweet comments! You gotta admitt, the quality of the pictures is pretty bad BUT it is much cheaper than buying a scanner, which means more money for vacation

 

[sskem96]

Thank you so much for all your sweet comments! It makes me happy that people are reading this I will try and get another installment up tonight but now it is off to watch the Chicago Bears make the Superbowl (I am not usually a football fan, but this is BIG news here in Chi-town, and DBF is pretty much making me watch, its okay, there will be food )
Thanks again for reading!!


Great pre-trippie! I refuse to watch football, so I took the opportunity to go shopping for a new swimsuit for my trip in 2 weeks! DH said if the Bears lost, I better bring home a new TV because he would probably throw something through ours! Glad they won, I can't afford a new TV with our trip coming up! We leave 2 days after the Superbowl, so they better win, I don't want a depressed DH coming with me! He's planning on getting a new Superbowl Champions hat to wear for the trip.

 

[MA pigletfan]

Great Start!! When are you going in June..or do i have to wait for that info??? We are taking off for the world on June 12 --- 19th! wheeee!!! I have been holding off starting a pre-trippie but now i might have to do it!
OH we have something in common by the way..i ALSO had chicken pox on my first trip to see the Mouse..i was 7...it was very sad ...but i have made up for it since!
Can't wait for the next update!

 

[Linzybrooke]

Your pre-trippie is excellent. Very discriptive and full of information. I look forward to more!

 

[Cinderella16]

I am almost done with the next installment, but I just started a new semester on Monday and it is beating me up. It is so much work, and all I'd rather be doing is reading and writing trip reports! Thanks again for all the sweet comments, I will be sure to update soon! I promise!

Your pre-trippie is excellent. Very discriptive and full of information. I look forward to more!

Thanks for reading, sometimes I think I talk too much, I tend to be a blabber when I write

Great Start!! When are you going in June..or do i have to wait for that info??? We are taking off for the world on June 12 --- 19th! wheeee!!! I have been holding off starting a pre-trippie but now i might have to do it!
OH we have something in common by the way..i ALSO had chicken pox on my first trip to see the Mouse..i was 7...it was very sad ...but i have made up for it since!
Can't wait for the next update!

We will be there June 16 - June 23. You should start to write a pre trippie, they are fun and its amazing how much there actually is to talk about! I am sorry that you had the chicken pox in Disney, I agree that it is very very sad!! I think we should start a support group for others that have had chicken pox while Disney Thanks for reading!!

Great pre-trippie! I refuse to watch football, so I took the opportunity to go shopping for a new swimsuit for my trip in 2 weeks! DH said if the Bears lost, I better bring home a new TV because he would probably throw something through ours! Glad they won, I can't afford a new TV with our trip coming up! We leave 2 days after the Superbowl, so they better win, I don't want a depressed DH coming with me! He's planning on getting a new Superbowl Champions hat to wear for the trip.

Your DH sounds like quite the fan!! I actually sat through the entire game and I didnt complain once, I asked a lot of questions though, DBF was proud I hope they win the Superbowl for your sake, and I am glad you didnt have to buy a new TV!!

 

[Cinderella16]

I HATE READING TEXTBOOKS!! It is what my life consists of for the next 14 weeks!! Whenever I get discouraged I just keep telling myself that I will be visiting Mickey soon enough, that seems to calm me down!! Okay back to the pre-trippie.....

Well my last post was mainly my Disney history, and this post is gonna be about the planning of this upcoming June trip! Of course, DBF and I are the official vacation planners, and I thought our planning skills couldn’t top the 2005 trip, boy was I wrong. And I have the DIS to thank for that!

When we returned from that St. Louis “vacation” I was still on my much needed summer vacation. Being equipped with a new laptop, I had a lot of extra time on my hands (remember I work for my family’s business so I don’t really have a set schedule). On a random summer day I decided to research Disney Fairy Tale Weddings (DFTW), not that I am engaged or anything, I was just curious. I was familiar with the official DFTW website but I wanted to see what real Disney brides thought of their experience. I couldn’t find anything, I found some message boards for DFTW but in order to post you had to be a bride and answer like a gazillion questions about your wedding, which would prove to be difficult considering I wasn’t even engaged. Anyways, thanks to the brilliant minds at google, I found my favorite website EVER, the DIS! Not only did it have the most wonderful Disney Wedding and Honeymoon board, it, as all of you already know, had boards about anything and everything Disney. I was immediately hooked and I couldn’t believe how helpful everyone was in answering my questions! That is how the obsession began.

The obsession grew as I started reading trip reports, pre trippies, wedding trip reports, tips, hints, rumors, news, dining reviews, ride reviews…oh how my head was spinning with the amount of information. I had learned so much from reading all of these things, and I couldn’t believe how much I didn’t know about my favorite place in the world! There were so many new things I wanted to try, and almost immediately the real planning for Disney 2007 was underway thanks to the DIS. I am officially and certifiably obsessed.

The first part of the plan was figuring out what month we wanted to go. In the past we had always gone with July because it is in the middle of the summer. This time around we decided on June because Sleepy is sick and tired of having his birthday away from home, like I said earlier, I don’t get it either. June also worked better for Doc and her job situation. We had to make sure we didn’t overlap with Grumpy’s High School graduation. We considered August, but since I would be student teaching in August, I knew that I would be doing a lot of preparation and meeting with my mentor teacher, so August was out of the question (which turned out great because my sister is expecting her second child this August!) June seemed to work out great for everyone, except Grumpy. She begged and pleaded to go another time because she would be missing her best friend’s 18th birthday, DBF and Doc were not about to change the plans for that reason. We looked at the dates June 15 to June 28. It was wonderful! In all the excitement DBF and I almost forgot that our anniversary fell on June 19th. I quickly noticed and told DBF that we would be at Disney for our 5th anniversary, once I realized this I asked (more like demanded) that we go to Magic Kingdom that day and get ADR’s for Cinderella’s Royal Table! Which is my absolute favorite park and restaurant. Not only would we be celebrating our anniversary at Disney, but the next day, Bashful & Dopey (DBF’s aunt and uncle) would be celebrating their wedding anniversary. I thought I couldn’t be more excited for Disney 2007, but knowing that I we going to spend our 5th anniversary at the most magical place in the world put me over the top!!

Now that we had our dates, we had to figure out where to stay. Of course, it is like a mathematical equation: Big Group = Off Property. In the past we had gone with a company called Families First Vacation Homes, and they were pretty good, except for in 2005 when DBF jumped in the pool and got a huge piece of glass shoved up his foot (thank goodness he noticed it right away and it didn’t inhibit him from walking around the parks too badly). After the glass in foot incident we decided maybe it was time for a new vacation home company. After reading lots of great reviews on the internet (the DIS included) we decided to try All-Star Vacation Homes. With this company you get to pick the actual house you want to stay in. With other companies you just tell them how many bedrooms and bathrooms you want, and you don’t find out what it looks like until you arrive. With All Star Vacation Homes they have tons of pictures online and you can even view the floor-plan and see what size beds are in the bedrooms. It is much better than going into it blind, and this way we know what to expect upon arrival. We even already got to choose our rooms, since DBF and I plan everything, we are allowed the Master Bedroom! (this house has 3 masters though so it isn’t that big of a deal, but I will still brag about it ) Before we could make reservations we had to find out who all was going to be joining us on our upcoming Disney adventure! We had a lot of DBF’s other family telling us that they wanted to join us but we got a lot of “Count us in, but don’t make any reservations yet,” and “I cant let you know just yet.” I was getting mighty antsy because I am such a freak when it comes to planning, so DBF made a deadline of December 1st. This would be the day he was going to make reservations for the house and if you didn’t let him know if you were coming or not, then he would assume you are out. (gotta love the planner in him ) This worked wonderfully and we got out answer of who was joining us and who was not (see Cast in Post #1).

It was time for DBF to call the vacation home company, and it was here that we reached our first bump in the road. DBF called me and told me locate the house we wanted because he couldn’t find it and wanted to make sure it wasn’t booked for our dates. I quickly found the website and the house but noticed that the house was reserved for the dates we wanted. I immediately jumped to conclusions thinking: OH NO we gotta get a 5 bedroom, which has less bathrooms which means we will get to the parks later which means we wont get the FastPass for Soarin or Everst or Splash Mountain ahh (see how my head works?) I then sworesome profanities, and explained that it is all because we waited too long and no one could make up their mind. It is then that I stop to take a breath and I hear DBF laughing…at this point I am not amused…I kindly tell him through gritted teeth that now we must start back at square 1 to find the perfect house, it is then that he informs me that the house is booked because he booked it this morning and it is ours. Whew! What a relief, but I wanted to hit him, and had he not been on the phone, I probably would have. I guess evil villain side doesn’t just come out at Bulls games.

The pool at “our” house.

Knowing we had house reservations made me even more excited because now it seemed like we really going!! I couldn’t wait any longer so I went to the Disney Store and bought my Magic Your Way Ticket (5 days with park hopper and water park option) DBF came along to buy his, but when the Cast Member went to scan his ticket, it wouldn’t work and we had taken the last two tickets in the store. Poor DBF, I informed him that at least I would be going to celebrate our anniversary at Disney. He was not amused, because it was Christmas season and the malls were jam packed with people, DBF doesn’t like malls especially during Christmas time. The only reason we made the trek to the mall was for the Disney tickets. This was not any mall, if any of you have been to Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Illinois, you know how crowded it is on any old day…imagine Christmastime! We really wanted to be sure to get our tickets in 2006, before the prices went up again. Of course, being the impatient people that we are, we went back to the mall about a week later, and DBF got his ticket, I was happy that he would now actually be joining me for our 5th anniversary!

My ticket!

For Christmas I also got a pleasant surprise from Doc. She got me Disney Dollars! Woo hoo! Souvenir money! I have been known to over pack for Disney and then overbuy at Disney, not a good combination. Funny thing was I got Doc the exact same thing for Christmas! We were both very delighted!

SHOPPING MONEY!

The next thing on our agenda was to make ADR’s, DBF’s favorite part of planning (note sarcastic tone). Tune in next time…thanks for reading!!

 

[Blaynexox]

Haha! I think we can all relate to the DIS issue! Its just too addictive. I come home from school with a LIST of things that I have to do and it all goes out the window. Take today for instance it was - Go to school for two midterms, go tanning, go get some lunch, go to my work to pick up something important, study for my last big midterm tomorrow, shower, and Im sure there was more in there. Now that DIS has taken over my life this is what got done - went tanning - sat on DIS for really long time - picked up important letter - sat on DIS for another REALLY long time - ate a little something while STILL SITTING on DIS .. this is NOT A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE!

Anyways!

I cannot get over that house that you rented! Well the pool at least. That is an AWESOME pool. Gosh! Who needs a resort when you have THAT all to yourselves! I'd love to see more pictures of the house if you have them! Cant wait to read more and congrats on getting your tickets!!

 

[*MickeyFan*]

I am soo happy for you that you got the house you wanted!! How fun, Disney Dollars... I think I may have to look into that! Can't wait for more jen

 

[Cinderella16]

I AM SOOOOOO HAPPY!!! I just received my student teaching placement!!! I got placed in a Kindergarten at a school like 3 minutes from my house! Which is amazing because right now I commute 1 hour to my university! I requested 2nd or 3rd grade, but they offered me Kindergarten and I grabbed the opportunity!! I start my student teaching in August I am sooooo excited (but a little nervous too)

Haha! I think we can all relate to the DIS issue! Its just too addictive. I come home from school with a LIST of things that I have to do and it all goes out the window. Take today for instance it was - Go to school for two midterms, go tanning, go get some lunch, go to my work to pick up something important, study for my last big midterm tomorrow, shower, and Im sure there was more in there. Now that DIS has taken over my life this is what got done - went tanning - sat on DIS for really long time - picked up important letter - sat on DIS for another REALLY long time - ate a little something while STILL SITTING on DIS .. this is NOT A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE!

Anyways!

I cannot get over that house that you rented! Well the pool at least. That is an AWESOME pool. Gosh! Who needs a resort when you have THAT all to yourselves! I'd love to see more pictures of the house if you have them! Cant wait to read more and congrats on getting your tickets!!

I will for sure post more pictures once I upload them to photobucket...for some reason i only uploaded the pool one. I am so addicted to the DIS, you are right that it isnt a healthy obsession!!

I am soo happy for you that you got the house you wanted!! How fun, Disney Dollars... I think I may have to look into that! Can't wait for more jen

Yes Disney Dollars are wonderful because you cant spend them on anything except Disney products!! It is great for me because I have cash I usually spend it on unnecessary purchases

 

[*MickeyFan*]

I AM SOOOOOO HAPPY!!! I just received my student teaching placement!!! I got placed in a Kindergarten at a school like 3 minutes from my house! Which is amazing because right now I commute 1 hour to my university! I requested 2nd or 3rd grade, but they offered me Kindergarten and I grabbed the opportunity!! I start my student teaching in August I am sooooo excited (but a little nervous too)

WOO HOOO!! That is soo AWESOME!!! I am soo Happy for you!! Congrats!

 

[Marjol]

Congratulations on your placement
I'm a teacher myself, I currently teach 1st grade

I just started reading your pre trip report and I think it's great I like those old pictures! I'm going to Disneyworld for the first time in may and I'm really looking forward to that!

I'm also thinking of starting a pre trip report here (I already have one on a Dutch website), but I'm not sure about the quality of my English! Well, I have some time to think about it

 

[natale1980]

Where in Illinois do you live?? We must be some what close by... I am in Bensenville right now, I have also lived in Fox River Grove, Roselle, and St. Charles and should be moving to Bloomingdale in a month.
So we will be right next to Stratford Mall but are really close to Woodfield. Most of the time we avoid it because it's so crowded!! Going there during X-mas is crazy!!!

Can't wait for more!!

-nat