The dream my heart wished coming true Oct 2013

[Skycat]

As for introductions. My name is Danielle, and I teach high school English. Yes I am sure to have a few typos - don’t judge me and I promise not to grade you. It is social media after all. When I am not planning lessons or grading papers...wait I am almost always doing that...I enjoy reading and writing - I know quite the shocker for an English teacher. I need to take up a more exotic and unexpected hobby. I enjoy camping and taking road trips with my small, somewhat newly formed “family”. I am very recently engaged to my wonderful fiance. I have a 13-year-old son from my first marriage. That’s right - three people in the house with three different last names - although it will be just two names soon.



My fiance drives and delivers fuel. In Phoenix, in the summer, this is a miserable job as he stands in an asphalt parking lot in 115 degree heat beside a giant mirrored surface (the trucks are those shiny metal tankers) for 25 minutes or more at a time. I met him through an online dating site. You can find anything online - a new purse, new earrings, a husband, fellow Disneyophiles. He asked me to marry him at the Grand Canyon. It was an amazing proposal. He thought about doing it in Disney World, but he figured that we were more likely to return to the Grand Canyon for anniversaries. If there is interest, I can share more...

My son, Andrew, is smart, loves books, reading and writing. I swear it’s genetic and not environmental - my students disagree. He plays percussion in the school band, sings in the school choir, starred in the school musical last year. His forte is the performing arts and not sports. I tried to involve him in sports since that in what kids especially boys seem to do. He hated football and baseball. He liked soccer briefly - as long as he was goalie so he didn’t have to run too much. He was actually not too awful - of course that might just be because he was so much taller than kids his age, so he took up more of the goal. He like tennis or at least he liked the idea of tennis but never pursued it after one season of lessons. He prides himself on being nerdy and liking all things nerdy - video games, Harry Potter, science, etc.



We have two dogs. A one and a half year old German Shepard who is oh-so-much-still-a-puppy. She is smart - too smart. She is energetic - too energetic. Her name is Kona. Sheba is a three year old German Shepard mix - she kind of looks like a beagle. She could use to be a little more energetic as she is a tad portly.


In all of my obsessive research I kept returning to the Dis Forum as there was such a wealth of information and tips. I truly thought I was the only one this crazy - I mean crazy in the nicest of ways of course.

I have been planning (and saving) for the last year and a half for our October 2013 trip. Now it is just under a month away and I decided to join in the pre-trip fun - for no other reason than I NEED to share this excitement and ... ummmm ... I am starting to recognize a certain glazed over look in the eyes of the person I am talking to. Perhaps with a subtle eye roll, but I am sure that is simply my imagination. Just because I manage to work it into most conversations as it draws near...I can’t imagine why anyone would not want to hear every minute detail.

 

[Skycat]

Deciding when to go
The Logistics
Travel Day
Epcot Day
Hollywood Studios Day

 

[Surfinpiratee]

Beautiful pictures!!

 

[DMGeurts]

I am soooo here!!! I just love your writing style - maybe there is a reason you are an English teacher?

I loved meeting you and your family. COngratulations on your engagement. The proposal looks like it was incredibly romantic and beautiful.

Your son sounds like he is a marvelous individual - he likes what he likes, and that is good. It's no fun to be forced to be someone you're not. :thumbsup:

And I ROFLed at the glazed eyes/possible eye rolling... I can totally relate - I get that a lot too... From my girls, from Josh... From pretty much everyone in my life. It's OK though - I just continue talking about it, because I know in their hearts - they WANT to know. Hahaha...

I can't wait to hear more about your trip!

D~

 

[STLMickeyMom]

I'm in for your TR! I started my PTR for the same reason--I had to talk about stuff and my husband, who really does love Disney, just couldn't listen to it all. He may have had the same glazed eyes. Maybe something is going around?
Anyway, can't wait to hear more!

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

I'm here too!!! Yay, can't wait to hear all about it!!

We are planning and saving for a loooooooong time too, we aren't going until NEXT oct....so I can relate. My hubs already rolls his eyes at me and we have 13 months to go!!!

I LOVE that pic at the Grand Canyon...do you have it framed?

 

[Denovagirl]

I'm here!!! Great start!!!! Wow you're so close to your trip!! I know how you're feeling right now!

Love your pics, what a beautiful place!

I can't wait for more!

 

[Skycat]

Beautiful pictures!!

Thank you so much. I will check out your trip report too.

COngratulations on your engagement. The proposal looks like it was incredibly romantic and beautiful.
D~

Thank you - it was beautiful and romantic. He isn't usually very mushy - but they can surprise you sometimes.

I'm in for your TR! I started my PTR for the same reason--I had to talk about stuff and my husband, who really does love Disney, just couldn't listen to it all. He may have had the same glazed eyes. Maybe something is going around?
Anyway, can't wait to hear more!

Ahhhh yes! That's what it is something is wrong with them - yeah that's it!

I'm here too!!! Yay, can't wait to hear all about it!!

We are planning and saving for a loooooooong time too, we aren't going until NEXT oct....so I can relate. My hubs already rolls his eyes at me and we have 13 months to go!!!

I LOVE that pic at the Grand Canyon...do you have it framed?

Welcome! I have been saving for a long time too - taking extra classes to pay for it, etc. I do plan on framing the picture - haven't done it yet. I should have before school started since now things are busy, but I will find a moment to get it done.

I'm here!!! Great start!!!! Wow you're so close to your trip!! I know how you're feeling right now!

Love your pics, what a beautiful place!

I can't wait for more!

Thanks - I saw some Grand Canyon pics on your PTR, didn't I?

 

[Skycat]

Being a teacher, it is hard to go during the school year - I can justify a few days off since I never take time off - it is easier to be there with a fever than have a guest teacher most of the time. One of my friends taught with pneumonia until my principal literally drove her to the urgent care.

So that means there is summer...too hot! I am suffering along with D in her trip report just thinking of that heat. Perhaps you find this ironic - yes I live in Phoenix (just off the surface of the sun), yes it is routinely over 100 degrees for at least six months of the year, yes 115 is not uncommon. However, it is a dry heat. I am used to being broiled - I am not sure I can handle being steamed - a little humidly (all of you mid-westerners and east coast folk would scoff and say what I consider humidity is nothing at all) makes me feel like I am melting. I am even worried about the heat and humidity in October. I went to Disneyland in August several years ago - never again. I saw my life flash before my eyes in Toon Town as I was sure I was going to die right there on the spot. So no to summer.

Spring Break - heard it is very crowded - it's a possibility, but not the first choice.

Winter Break - I had been to Disneyland at Christmas - it was beautiful, it was festive, it was CROWDED, it was terrifying. I think it was also the 50th anniversary of the park. Never again. This reminds me - I wrote a piece for a creative writing class at it - I will post it next (after I edit it - it has a bad word - gotta make it PG for the site.)

Fall Break - October - maybe....
Less crowded...not the least but better since not all schools have a Fall Break. Heat...better...but still worried. Hurricanes...yikes...cross our fingers? Halloween...my son loves Halloween...so YES October it is. It means three days of missed school, but I can rationalize why this is more important.

 

[Skycat]

Warning - I took out the curse word and put in stars, but skip this post if you would prefer.

Pressed into a sea of humanity, we inched from the Christmas parade route in front of Its a Small World to hurry to stand in one last line for one last ride. Apparently one woman on her motorized scooter was more desperate than the rest of us to get through this crowd. She aimed her scooter into the crowd and throttled ahead from the right flank. Unfortunately, I was the one who was directly in front of her. (Perhaps this should not be too shocking to me. After all, bad luck seems to find me all too easily. If I stand in a line at the grocery store, it is a guarantee that the person in front of me will have some crisis, which will entail the blinking light being flicked on above the checker and the interminable wait for a manager who may or may not actually exist. Or if I only have one pair of clean underwear left before laundry day, it is inevitable that the dog will sneak into the bathroom and devour them while I am in the shower.) At any rate, this woman's scooter hurled toward me even though there were thousands of other possible victims. Her scooter pinned my right ankle to my left leg. Since it was so crowded, there was no room to try to extract myself from this situation. No room to even stumble or bend my knees. Pressed from behind, I found myself hurtling toward the ground. I was like a tree which had just been chopped still vertical and erect, but falling. I am not sure if a tree falling in a forest makes a sound, but I do know that a young mom falling in Fantasyland yells, F ********!

The teacups stopped spinning, the children of the world stopped mid chorus, the carousel horses stopped their circular gallop, Dumbo lost his magic feather. Well at least it felt like that as angry parents snapped their heads in my direction and glared and gasped as this was certainly not Snow White approved language. I had cursed - not just in Disneyland the magical kingdom, but in Fantasyland no less, the mecca of childhood innocence.

Of course, my own child was unfazed by my exclamation. Unfortunately, I must admit that this was nothing new to him, but he was very concerned about my well-being as he repeatedly asked, Are you okay, Mom? Are you okay?

I managed to get my hands out in front of me just before my nose met the ground, which given the size of my nose could have been quite ghastly if it had met the pavement in this manner. Luckily I was wearing gloves, so while my hands stung they were not scraped up. My knee hit the ground. My jeans ripped. I popped up afraid of being trampled by the crowd behind me. I made it to the fringe of the crowd to evaluate my wounds. Luckily I was relatively unharmed, but now wary of motorized scooters and their reckless operators. *

*Not that all operators are reckless - just this one - I swear she had a maniacal smile as she ran me over.

 

[babynala]

Followed you over from Terri's TR. I am glad you are not grading this because I am sure my grammar is lacking!

I love that picture from the Grand Canyon. Such a romantic place to get engaged.

My DS (almost 9) sounds like your son since he is not a sports kid and loves science. So cool that he enjoys theater and is obviously good at it.

OUCH on your Fantasyland incident. (thanks for the warning, by the way )That must have been very scary and painful for you.

Looking forward to hearing all about your plans for WDW. I think we will be there the same time as you. We arrive on Oct 12, staying at the Pop Century.

 

[Chicago Mo]

I am IN i don't remember which report i followed you.. Yes i am the resident stalker. Nice to meet you..

I loved meeting you and your family.D~

When did this happen?!?

 

[STLMickeyMom]

So since you're a teacher, can I get your professional opinion? How mad is my daughter's kindergarten teacher going to be when I tell her that we are going to be gone to Disney the week the kids come back from holiday break? I hope not very, since we can't change the date now. I have a very convincing speech about how educational Epcot is and also, since it's a Lutheran school, how important it is to spend time together as a family, etc. I wasn't even gonna mention how excited I am to meet Mickey or ride the tea cups!
We've never gone in October but I've heard it's a good time to go. I dont think you'll melt too much!
And I love your paper! Your writing is great and the story was so funny. Besides I could totally relate to your son not being shocked at the language. Our youngest just said "oh, s***!" the other day. I'm sure I don't know where she heard it!

 

[Skycat]

I think we will be there the same time as you. We arrive on Oct 12, staying at the Pop Century.

We will be there at the same time. I will be there the 9-15. We are staying off-site.

I am IN i don't remember which report i followed you.. Yes i am the resident stalker. Nice to meet you..



When did this happen?!?

I have been reading your PTR - okay I skipped around a bit in the 90 some pages, but I have been reading faithfully since I discovered it. It is so fun getting to know you. We haven't met in person...maybe someday since Dis Meets seem to be the thing to do.

So since you're a teacher, can I get your professional opinion? How mad is my daughter's kindergarten teacher going to be when I tell her that we are going to be gone to Disney the week the kids come back from holiday break? I hope not very, since we can't change the date now. I have a very convincing speech about how educational Epcot is and also, since it's a Lutheran school, how important it is to spend time together as a family, etc. I wasn't even gonna mention how excited I am to meet Mickey or ride the tea cups!
We've never gone in October but I've heard it's a good time to go. I dont think you'll melt too much!
And I love your paper! Your writing is great and the story was so funny. Besides I could totally relate to your son not being shocked at the language. Our youngest just said "oh, s***!" the other day. I'm sure I don't know where she heard it!

Well! It all depends on the teacher - some do get irritated and take everything too seriously. Things happen. I just had a girl miss several days one week and then the following week. Her brother was graduating from boot camp one week and another sibling was getting married the following. Family comes first. Another student will be gone two and a half weeks for a trip to Europe. I am sure the trip will be educational and amazing. It's hard on the students to miss in high school, but they catch up - I try to pare it down to only the essential things. IMO kindergarten should be relatively easy to catch up on. I love your convincing reasons - I am convinced. My son went to a Lutheran pre-school for two years. They were lovely people. He had his tonsils out and broke his arm two weeks later. They sent him a "Prayer Frog" - a stuffed animal with a journal to write down his prayers.

 

[Skycat]

I think we will be there the same time as you. We arrive on Oct 12, staying at the Pop Century.

We will be there at the same time. I will be there the 9-15. We are staying off-site.

I am IN i don't remember which report i followed you.. Yes i am the resident stalker. Nice to meet you..



When did this happen?!?

I have been reading your PTR - okay I skipped around a bit in the 90 some pages, but I have been reading faithfully since I discovered it. It is so fun getting to know you. We haven't met in person...maybe someday since Dis Meets seem to be the thing to do.

So since you're a teacher, can I get your professional opinion? How mad is my daughter's kindergarten teacher going to be when I tell her that we are going to be gone to Disney the week the kids come back from holiday break? I hope not very, since we can't change the date now. I have a very convincing speech about how educational Epcot is and also, since it's a Lutheran school, how important it is to spend time together as a family, etc. I wasn't even gonna mention how excited I am to meet Mickey or ride the tea cups!
We've never gone in October but I've heard it's a good time to go. I dont think you'll melt too much!
And I love your paper! Your writing is great and the story was so funny. Besides I could totally relate to your son not being shocked at the language. Our youngest just said "oh, s***!" the other day. I'm sure I don't know where she heard it!

Well! It all depends on the teacher - some do get irritated and take everything too seriously. Things happen. I just had a girl miss several days one week and then the following week. Her brother was graduating from boot camp one week and another sibling was getting married the following. Family comes first. Another student will be gone two and a half weeks for a trip to Europe. I am sure the trip will be educational and amazing. It's hard on the students to miss in high school, but they catch up - I try to pare it down to only the essential things. IMO kindergarten should be relatively easy to catch up on. I love your convincing reasons - I am convinced. My son went to a Lutheran pre-school for two years. They were lovely people. He had his tonsils out and broke his arm two weeks later. They sent him a "Prayer Frog" - a stuffed animal with a journal to write down his prayers.

At any rate - good luck. The teacher will be supportive or she will get over it. I face the same thing when I take Andrew out for three days. I know his social studies teacher is supportive. Andrew and he talk Disney a lot and the teacher sports a Disney World lanyard for his badge. The other three...we'll see.

 

[Skycat]

Living in Arizona, we have gone to Disneyland several times. I have gone quite a lot with high school groups and for other trips. I have never been to Florida or the east coast. My son has wanted to go to Disney World for a very long time. Originally, it was because of Animal Kingdom - he LOVES zoos and Disney and the two combined was just too enticing for him. After teaching extra classes at the community college, I saved enough to get serious about planning this trip about a year and a half ago. At first I thought it would be pretty similar to Disneyland - I know how to do Disneyland. However, the more I read, the more it seemed like there was...more involved with a trip to Disney World.

We have to coordinate the days my son and I get off for Fall Break with my fiance’s crazy work schedule, so he can limit the number of unpaid days off he will have per pay period. So, we are leaving Oct. 9 and returning Oct 18.

I scoured the airline prices for weeks. Eventually Southwest posted their schedule. It was about the same as the other airlines, but two FREE bags each would add up to quite a savings. We are flying Southwest despite my neurotic son’s concerns that we will not sit together. Mind you, we have flown Southwest before and never had a problem.

Shhhhh....I am committing what appears to be a sin....I am staying off-site.The money I am saving on the hotel has allowed for other extras and splurges. We don’t spend a lot of time in the room or at the hotel, so I am willing to compromise a bit. Maybe someday because some of the resorts do look amazing. I am sure the extra theming and Disney Magic are wonderful, but I think we will still enjoy ourselves.

One of the reasons that an off-site hotel was a consideration is because we are renting a car anyway because the later part of the week will be spent in other parts of Florida...more on that later. It was cheaper to rent a car for the entire time rather than a few days.

5 day tickets - no hopping, no water parks. Actually, we will probably only use four days, but the 5th was literally a couple dollars more and there is a very slight, remote chance we could use it the day we arrive or leave or the day we go to that other park.

So those are the basic logistics.

 

[sweetpeaandevie]

Warning - I took out the curse word and put in stars, but skip this post if you would prefer.

Pressed into a sea of humanity, we inched from the Christmas parade route in front of Its a Small World to hurry to stand in one last line for one last ride. Apparently one woman on her motorized scooter was more desperate than the rest of us to get through this crowd. She aimed her scooter into the crowd and throttled ahead from the right flank. Unfortunately, I was the one who was directly in front of her. (Perhaps this should not be too shocking to me. After all, bad luck seems to find me all too easily. If I stand in a line at the grocery store, it is a guarantee that the person in front of me will have some crisis, which will entail the blinking light being flicked on above the checker and the interminable wait for a manager who may or may not actually exist. Or if I only have one pair of clean underwear left before laundry day, it is inevitable that the dog will sneak into the bathroom and devour them while I am in the shower.) At any rate, this woman's scooter hurled toward me even though there were thousands of other possible victims. Her scooter pinned my right ankle to my left leg. Since it was so crowded, there was no room to try to extract myself from this situation. No room to even stumble or bend my knees. Pressed from behind, I found myself hurtling toward the ground. I was like a tree which had just been chopped still vertical and erect, but falling. I am not sure if a tree falling in a forest makes a sound, but I do know that a young mom falling in Fantasyland yells, F ********!

The teacups stopped spinning, the children of the world stopped mid chorus, the carousel horses stopped their circular gallop, Dumbo lost his magic feather. Well at least it felt like that as angry parents snapped their heads in my direction and glared and gasped as this was certainly not Snow White approved language. I had cursed - not just in Disneyland the magical kingdom, but in Fantasyland no less, the mecca of childhood innocence.

Of course, my own child was unfazed by my exclamation. Unfortunately, I must admit that this was nothing new to him, but he was very concerned about my well-being as he repeatedly asked, Are you okay, Mom? Are you okay?

I managed to get my hands out in front of me just before my nose met the ground, which given the size of my nose could have been quite ghastly if it had met the pavement in this manner. Luckily I was wearing gloves, so while my hands stung they were not scraped up. My knee hit the ground. My jeans ripped. I popped up afraid of being trampled by the crowd behind me. I made it to the fringe of the crowd to evaluate my wounds. Luckily I was relatively unharmed, but now wary of motorized scooters and their reckless operators. *

*Not that all operators are reckless - just this one - I swear she had a maniacal smile as she ran me over.

Oh my!!!!! I am laughing so hard I can hardly type.....I can totally see myself letting one ...slip when we go....must practice better language!!! my 7 y/o just kept asking what I was laughing at....nothing, honey

 

[Skycat]

Oh my!!!!! I am laughing so hard I can hardly type.....I can totally see myself letting one ...slip when we go....must practice better language!!! my 7 y/o just kept asking what I was laughing at....nothing, honey

I am glad you enjoyed it. We have to laugh at our embarrassing moments, right? I did feel really awful; I certainly would never offend people on purpose.

 

[Skycat]

The SuperShuttle will be picking us up at 7:30 a.m. We leave at 10:15 and arrive at 5:15. It is a non-stop four hour flight - darn time zones. Hopefully, we won’t be too messed up. I think once we get out of the airport, check into the hotel, grab something to eat, pick up a few groceries, get ready for the next day, that will be about it.

I am REALLY, REALLY tempted to duck into a park because I am so excited, but I think the wiser course will be to rest and be ready for the next day.

Attire - I am going to try to convince everyone to wear one of our Grand Canyon shirts - we are from the Grand Canyon state after all.

 

[Skycat]

Our first park will be Epcot on Thursday. With the Food and Wine Festival, I did not want to be there on the weekend as apparently it is more crowded from what I have read. My son is SUPER excited about the Food and WIne Festival - (well the food part )13-year-old boy - need I say more. He has grand plans of eating his way around the world. No ADRs as I think we will enjoy the Food and Wine instead.

Breakfast - Hotels continental breakfast, or stuff we buy at grocery store, and mid-morning snack in Future World?
Lunch and Dinner - Food and Wine Festival

Must Dos
Exchange PhotoPass+ voucher for card
Soaring
Shopping in Canada for my moms souvenir
French boulangerie (my sons request, but French pastries - Yes, yes of course)
Illuminations

I doubt we will leave the park; we are not really nap people.

Attire - We are wearing our shirts that display the country we align most with. My sons shirt is Italy as his father is Italian. My shirt is Canada as my mother and all of my family on her side is from Quebec. I am the first one to be born in the States. My fiance is true-blue 100% American.



A note on matching shirts - my son was all for it and helped me scour sites for ideas. He is not a normal 13-year-old boy, but who is normal? You may be surprised to learn that my fiance did not jump for joy and scream like a little girl at the thought of wearing matching shirts. I told him that he did not have to - Andrew and I were going to, but he did not have to. Right before I started making shirts I gave him the option of joining in, not joining in, doing something kind of in the idea of it, etc. He told me he would do whatever in a rather skeptical tone, but he acquiesced nonetheless. So that is why I went with the different countries in different colors. That way we have a theme but are not matchy matchy. I would be fine with this, but...trying to not make him go too crazy either.