The Canterbury's do Christmas in WDW

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Thanks for bringing back those horrible memories. My snow blower got quite the work out this past winter. I had to buy a new chute for it. The original one broke.

 

[Tinker_Tam]

Just finding your PTR! I can't wait to read more!!

 

[Katie & Glen]

Ok. this is Glen (aka the boring DH in this saga)... with a preliminary hijack... harrr, harrr, harrrr

To clarify on the vacation thing... Its not so much lying around doing nothing (though I can often be found laying on the deck patio / by the pool reading a book)... When I travel on everything is hectic and often planned to the nth degree.. so when I vacation, I tend to prefer something that is completely different from real life where I can escape, recharge and not think about the real world for a little while... No cell, no laptop, etc ... (having said that, I admit that I checked e-mail daily on the aforementioned honeymoon in Jamaica - bad hubby, I know - but in my defense I usually did it in the morning while I let the wife sleep in ).. anywhooo.. that is where the diving trips come in... (a live aboard dive boat - aka a small cruise ship designed for up to 20 divers that goes to an exotic location not nromally accessible by land) - meals included.. all planned out ahead of time.. scheduled divining itinerary... I get to sit back and enjoy - biggest decisions are do I dive or not.. what to eat for dinner.. beautiful views.. you get the idea... is that really such a bad thing??

Back on topic.. I will pop in here from time to time to provide an alternate explanation and the normal person (read, non-disney-centric) point of view to the chaos that will be our trip.

I am not a disney hater.. just never had someone to go with - an inconceivable concept here, I know...

Oh.. and Wife is correct.. I have <takes shoes off to count better> been to the various hotels at WDW a total of 17+ times over the past 10 or so years (I average 1-2 trips per year) - I am there at a conference / on business, so I get to see the hotel and the conference center at the hotel and, if lucky - the castle in the distance.... and that is it.. after 16 - 18 hour days working, meeting with clients, writing up trip notes.. I am happy to lie down in bed and sleep for a few hours.. As for why I don't get to eat at the restaurants.. I never know if or what night or what time of night I will be taking a client to dinner or if I am eating alone... so there is no way I can make reservations the normal 6 mo in advance.. So it is catch as catch can.. which usually means quick service or off property.

Oh.. and she did not have to prod much at all to get me to do the zipline or make this trip - more of a "HER: I found this - looks cool.. wanna do it?? ME: YES!!!!.

I am very thankful that she is such a type A personality when it comes to planning a Disney vacation.. . and I do thank her for all her work on a regular basis... I know I have an awesome DW and she will, in all honesty, get her desired D & B purses for x-mas.. (SHHHHH don't tell her!!!)

I am looking forward to this expedition...

I now return you to the Wife and your regularly scheduled PTR.. more hijacks to come (and I will ID when I take over)

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Ok. this is Glen (aka the boring DH in this saga)... with a preliminary hijack... harrr, harrr, harrrr

To clarify on the vacation thing... Its not so much lying around doing nothing (though I can often be found laying on the deck patio / by the pool reading a book)... When I travel on everything is hectic and often planned to the nth degree.. so when I vacation, I tend to prefer something that is completely different from real life where I can escape, recharge and not think about the real world for a little while... No cell, no laptop, etc ... (having said that, I admit that I checked e-mail daily on the aforementioned honeymoon in Jamaica - bad hubby, I know - but in my defense I usually did it in the morning while I let the wife sleep in ).. anywhooo.. that is where the diving trips come in... (a live aboard dive boat - aka a small cruise ship designed for up to 20 divers that goes to an exotic location not nromally accessible by land) - meals included.. all planned out ahead of time.. scheduled divining itinerary... I get to sit back and enjoy - biggest decisions are do I dive or not.. what to eat for dinner.. beautiful views.. you get the idea... is that really such a bad thing??

Back on topic.. I will pop in here from time to time to provide an alternate explanation and the normal person (read, non-disney-centric) point of view to the chaos that will be our trip.

I am not a disney hater.. just never had someone to go with - an inconceivable concept here, I know...

Oh.. and Wife is correct.. I have <takes shoes off to count better> been to the various hotels at WDW a total of 17+ times over the past 10 or so years (I average 1-2 trips per year) - I am there at a conference / on business, so I get to see the hotel and the conference center at the hotel and, if lucky - the castle in the distance.... and that is it.. after 16 - 18 hour days working, meeting with clients, writing up trip notes.. I am happy to lie down in bed and sleep for a few hours.. As for why I don't get to eat at the restaurants.. I never know if or what night or what time of night I will be taking a client to dinner or if I am eating alone... so there is no way I can make reservations the normal 6 mo in advance.. So it is catch as catch can.. which usually means quick service or off property.

Oh.. and she did not have to prod much at all to get me to do the zipline or make this trip - more of a "HER: I found this - looks cool.. wanna do it?? ME: YES!!!!.

I am very thankful that she is such a type A personality when it comes to planning a Disney vacation.. . and I do thank her for all her work on a regular basis... I know I have an awesome DW and she will, in all honesty, get her desired D & B purses for x-mas.. (SHHHHH don't tell her!!!)

I am looking forward to this expedition...

I now return you to the Wife and your regularly scheduled PTR.. more hijacks to come (and I will ID when I take over)

Nice to meet you Glen, and I promise not to ruin the surprise.

 

[PoppyGirl]

Hi....just joining in.

Thos snow pics brought back too many memories! I had to dig a tunnel for my kitties to make it from the garage to the porch to eat! (We have farm kitties).

So sorry about your m/c. I missed that post my first time through reading.

 

[Katie & Glen]

Hi....just joining in.

Welcome aboard!! I hope to add another post today, but not too sure. I am super tired today and back at work after taking Friday off.

 

[exwdwcm]

loving the report so far Katie- and hi Glen!

so sorry to hear about your mom's medical issues. I'll keep her in my prayers. My mom had a benign brain tumor last year, just a few months before our trip, she had surgery and lost more of her sight (it was pressing on her optic nerve, so had to be removed). Post surgery her sight was worse. Now she can't even drive anymore. Very disappointing, so this trip was special to her too!

anyhow- i am totally type A, so i totally get ya! i am fortunate though that my DH is some sort of machine that doesn't require much sleep, so he is up early and stays up late, so we do get to the parks early at least! woo hoo!

OMG on those snow pics. i live in Dallas and even we had some crazy winter weather this year. I can't even imagine that! those are definitely the times you want to be thinking of bright sunny florida!

 

[Katie & Glen]

Well, I was hoping to have another entry done this week, but no such luck. My MIL had a procedure done and Monday and has had some serious complications so we have spent a lot of time at the hospital. We're hoping we have turned the corner and things will get back to as close to normal as we can get.

Hopefully, we can get an entry done this week.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Well, I was hoping to have another entry done this week, but no such luck. My MIL had a procedure done and Monday and has had some serious complications so we have spent a lot of time at the hospital. We're hoping we have turned the corner and things will get back to as close to normal as we can get.

Hopefully, we can get an entry done this week.

Family emergencies are much more important than PTR entries. I hope everything works out well.

 

[Katie & Glen]

Well, my MIL is doing much better. We're still keeping our fingers crossed.

I will be working on our next entry on my train ride home today and will hopefully have it up tonight.

 

[exwdwcm]

sending some prayers and pixie dust for your MIL- how is she?

 

[Katie & Glen]

sending some prayers and pixie dust for your MIL- how is she?

Sadly she passed away on Thursday. She was an amazing woman and we will miss her tons.

After this weekend we should be back on track with everything and will be more than happy to get back to that Disney feeling.

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Sadly she passed away on Thursday. She was an amazing woman and we will miss her tons.

After this weekend we should be back on track with everything and will be more than happy to get back to that Disney feeling.

Very sorry to hear the news. Whenever I hear of people losing loved ones, I am reminded of a saying I heard before, but I don't remember when or where.

perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy

I imagine your MIL is looking down, and hoping you guys will be happy.

 

[PoppyGirl]

Sadly she passed away on Thursday. She was an amazing woman and we will miss her tons.

After this weekend we should be back on track with everything and will be more than happy to get back to that Disney feeling.

I'm sorry. It sounded so unexpected.

 

[Tinker_Tam]

I am so sorry for your loss. You all will be in my thoughts.

 

[Katie & Glen]

Thank you all for your kind words. Her passing was very unexpected. We are very thankful for the wonderful memories we will always have of her and for the love she showed us.

 

[exwdwcm]

Sadly she passed away on Thursday. She was an amazing woman and we will miss her tons.

After this weekend we should be back on track with everything and will be more than happy to get back to that Disney feeling.

oh gosh Katie, i am so sorry. I am sending some hugs, prayers and pixie dust for you and Glen. My thoughts are with you during this difficult time.

 

[Katie & Glen]

Again, thank you to all for the warm wishes.

We've just been getting back into the swing of things (sort of). We're back at work and doing the normal stuff and I'm helping Glen get ready for his upcoming trip to Istanbul this weekend.

I promise I will work really had to get the next installment up soon.

Thanks again for sticking around!

 

[Katie & Glen]

Ok, we last left off a while ago with some worries about money and time off from work and all of that was resolved and ok.
So DMIL & DFIL said they were going to comer and join us Dec 12-16. Now we also have my mom’s friend who was determined to go to WDW no matter what so she will be joining us for the same time frame as DMIL & DFIL. Okay, we can do this. I only have to plan for 3 more people no problem right?

Okay, so with this new information in hand, I changed some of our ADR’s to add on the extras, I was able to get at least the same time or within 15 minutes of my original time, so no biggie. Ethan and I got to work on our planning folders so we could start putting everything down in one place. We will be bringing these folders with us.

We had already gone to Staples, Target & AC Moore to get supplies. I had also gone on the touringplans.com website and printed out some of the sheets they have for planning. My folder has the following tabs:
Planning – a pre-trip checklist, resort map & packing list. We will take out this info before we leave.

Confirmations – our resort confirmation, airline confirmation, trip insurance info, photopass pre-order confirmation & MVMCP confirmation

Quick Reference – here we have a quick notes on our airline and parking reservations, our lodging info, park hours & and EHM sheet with open attractions for each park. We also have a sheet in here for important phone numbers.

Dining – in this section we have a tracking sheet for how many meals & snacks we use each day on the dining plan to help make it easier to keep track. We also have all of our ADR confirmations in here as well as the DxDP pamphlet and where to find real coffee in the World. This can be found here coffee

Parks & Touring Plans – here we have listed out each day what park we are going to, which events are going on there, hours and ressies for the day.

Notes – pretty self explanatory. Here we write in any notes about special things we need to remember or do.

Now Ethans folder has the same tabs with one exception, his also has the best kept secrets of WDW found here: Best Kept Secrets . Now also different for Ethans folder is on the inside we have both mine and DH’s cell phone numbers written down and what to do if he gets lost. This is something we have gone over many times with him. He knows what the name tag looks like that CM’s wear and he know to go to the nearest CM and ask to be taken to Guest Services because we got separated. Now, I honestly don’t expect us to get separated, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Here is a picture of our folders.




That’s all for now. See you next time!

 

[PoppyGirl]

Hi Katie! Love your folders! I'm going to have to post some pics of my ginormous notebook!

Isn't it fun planning and planning? For me the anticipation of the Disney trip is just as fun as the actual trip. (Well, ALMOST as fun as the trip!)

PoppyGirl