The Greatest Hits: A Trip Like This Needs a Soundtrack!-A July 2012 TR Upd. 5/5!

[amandaw]

Joining in!

I love how you're building a soundtrack into your TR! So fun!

I also love your meal rating system & the one for cupcakes as well. I'm determined to devour some yummy cupcakes on our trip this fall.

 

[flounderfan12]

oh joni you are precious i am so excited for this trip report this is going to be epic

 

[MickeyisBeast]

Joining in
I'm also from NC and was in Disney some of the same days you were!

 

[209Disney]

Yay!! I am so excited to start reading your next trip! It sounds like it was awesome and I cant WAIT to hear about it!!

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I`m joining in on another one of your trip reports.

 

[SummerInDisney]

This has to be the best start to a trip report ever! Can't wait to read more

 

[Fantasia79]

Subscribed! I really want to stay at Beach Club (planning on booking it next time), so I'm really looking forward to what you have to say about it. Wonderful use of rap lyrics, way to rhyme.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[NMW]

Subscribing

 

[Jazzabelle508]

I'm in loved seeing how much you seemed to enjoy this trip and love the new creative aspects to this trip

 

[therussells08]

I'm in! It looks someone got VERY creative with this TR! I love the food rating system and I'm excited to see what tune-age (yes, I just did that) you have in store for us!

Haha I definitely took some creative liberties with this TR. I'm hoping you guys enjoy the tune-age!

woohoo -- so glad you started! can't wait to read about your awesome trip! hope you loved the beach club as much as i do <3

I'm so excited to share it with you guys! Oh my gosh, girl, the Beach Club was AMAZING!!

AHHHHHHHH JONI I'M SO EXCITED!!!

Okay first of all, you are just precious and I am LOVING all of these intense food rating scales. This TR will be epic. I can already tell.

I must say that even though we have SO much in common, I think the biggest one is that neither of us went to Disney during our childhood, and yet we are still MAJORLY obsessed with it! Whoever thinks Disney magic is reserved for children is sadly mistaken and I'm so glad you understand that!

Also, I think that I would be really good friends with your mom. I think we'd have a lot of fun going around meeting characters together.

I can't wait to hear all the songs and read all about this trip report! I know I'm just going to LOVE it.

I'm so glad you're here! TWIN.

Haha thank you! I was very intense about my food this trip. I was not even playing around with these reviews.

You're so right. Disney is NOT just for children- it's for us overgrown children too!

You would love my mom. She is so cool, and she's a lot like me, so she could be your other twin!

Thank you! I really hope you guys enjoy it!

Delighted you have begun your report! Sounds like it is going to be great
I love love love the rating system for dining and cupcakes!
We leave for the World a week from today and will be there for 10 days! I have never been for that long -- very excited! Can't wait to hear what you did while you were there

and thank you! I hope you enjoy it! I'm so glad you like my rating system!

YAY! That's so exciting that your trip is so close and you're staying for so long! I loved being there for a long time! I hope that you have an amazing trip; I'm sure you will!

Was there any doubt I would be here?!?! Looking forward to another great Joni TR!!

I'm so glad you're here! I always love your comments so much!

 

[therussells08]

My DD12 and I just love your reports! And I followed you on Twitter before your trip because I couldn't wait to know details! So excited for this report! And excited to see the Beach Club. We are staying in the Epcot resorts area for the first time in January (BoardWalk Villas) and I hope to visit the Beach Club and check it out!

Can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much for reading along! I'm so glad you and your DD enjoy my reports! That's so exciting that you are staying in the Boardwalk Villas! We walked over to the Boardwalk for a little while on our trip. It's absolutely gorgeous! You're going to have a great time!

This Trip Report is going to be AWESOME!

Thank you! I hope you enjoy it!!

Yay! Sounds like you had an awesome time with your husband and mom! Love your food ratings--I totally can't wait to eat some cupcakes when I am down there!

Can't wait to read (and laugh and see lots of pics!)

Thank you! We really did have an amazing time! I can't wait to share it with you all! The Disney World cupcakes are so amazing- I want to try them all!

I hope you enjoy! There will definitely be lots of pics- I took over 2,000!

I'm here! Can't wait to read all about your trip!!

Thanks for joining in! I hope you enjoy it!

Can't wait to read more. I love all your trip reports.

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy them! I hope you like this one!

Joining in on another one of your TR's. Sounds fun!

Thanks for joining in! I'm glad you're here!

 

[therussells08]

Im in. Share away

Thanks for reading!

Jumping in. Came across your other trip reports and can't wait to hear about your latest adventures

I'm so glad you're here! Thanks for joining in!

Joni I'M HERE!!!! It was absolutely FRUMPTABULOUS to meet you and I cannot WAIT to hear all about this trip!!!!

YAYYY! I'm so glad you're here! Meeting you was absolutely AMAZING! Thank you so much for making my trip even more wonderful!

OH BOY THIS IS EXCITING!

Oooh the soundtrack idea sounds so cute! I'm really excited! I can't WAIT to hear about this trip - it really sounds incredible!

I LOVE THE RATATOUILLE RATING SYSTEM OMG. THAT'S BRILLIANT!

Omg. PIECE. Seriously Joni, that is BRILLIANT. AGAIN! You're fantastic.

I CAN NOT WAIT TO READ THIS OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! This sounds like such an amazing time!!!!!!

I'm so glad you're here!

Thanks! I'm glad you like it! I'm still coming up with songs for certain portions of the trip- it's been really fun thinking of them!

Thank you so much! I'm glad you like all my silly ideas!

I hope you guys enjoy this TR! I definitely used your food rating ideas! I love reading all your dining reviews so I thought I'd give it a shot!

This is going to be so exciting! You are going to get me through to Sept. 28 when we leave! I love your trip reports but I just know this is going to be the best!

Thanks for reading! I hope I can help the time until your trip go by fast! September 28 is not too far away!

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy my TRs!

Love your creativity on the TR so far! Can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy it!

 

[therussells08]

Eeeeep!!!! I actually squealed with excitement when I saw this link in your last TR!

I'm so totally in for this one, and I love your idea of a soundtrack! I feel that way ALL THE TIME! Oh, and your food rating systems just made me laugh out loud! How cute!!!!

YAY! I'm so glad you're here!

Thank you! Seriously, that's how I feel too! I wish I had someone following me around playing music all the time!

Joining in!

I love how you're building a soundtrack into your TR! So fun!

I also love your meal rating system & the one for cupcakes as well. I'm determined to devour some yummy cupcakes on our trip this fall.

Thanks for reading!

I'm so glad you like all my ideas! I hope you enjoy reading everything!

Hopefully my cupcake reviews will give you ideas for some yummy cupcake choices! There are so many to choose from!

oh joni you are precious i am so excited for this trip report this is going to be epic

Haha thank you! I hope you enjoy it!

Joining in
I'm also from NC and was in Disney some of the same days you were!

That's so cool that you're from NC too! Where abouts are you from?

Wow that's neat that we were in Disney at the same time too! What days were you there? I'm going to go check out your TR!

Yay!! I am so excited to start reading your next trip! It sounds like it was awesome and I cant WAIT to hear about it!!

Thank you so much for reading along! I hope you enjoy it!

I`m joining in on another one of your trip reports.

Thanks so much for joining in!

This has to be the best start to a trip report ever! Can't wait to read more

Thank you so much- that's so nice! I hope you enjoy it!

Subscribed! I really want to stay at Beach Club (planning on booking it next time), so I'm really looking forward to what you have to say about it. Wonderful use of rap lyrics, way to rhyme.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I HIGHLY recommend the Beach Club- it's so beautiful! You would love it!

Hahaha thank you! I love that song!

Subscribing

I'm in loved seeing how much you seemed to enjoy this trip and love the new creative aspects to this trip

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the report! I'm glad you're here!

 

[therussells08]

"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"- The Proclaimers

July 7, 2012

But I would walk 500 miles,
and I would walk 500 more ​

The date was July 7, 2012, and I woke up to a exciting realization - WE WERE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD. Because the only two things that can get me out of bed early and with a smile on my face are a buffet breakfast or a trip to Disney World, I was out of the bed at 5:35am. John, on the other hand, stayed in bed until I got out of the shower. While he got up and started fumbling around the house like a zombie, I was able to pack up a few last minute necessities! In other words, I was able to rush through packing that I should have done days before. Let’s all cheer for procrastination....a little later.

First, I packed my trip journal! If you read my previous TR/PTR, you might remember the awesome princess notebooks John got me for my birthday! I am so obsessed with these things, and I agonized for way too long over which to bring on my trip as my trip journal. I finally decided on Jasmine. It seemed fitting, because she is my favorite princess, after all. However, Rapunzel is a close second, and I almost chose her. See? I put a lot of thought into these things.

Next, I figured it might be a good idea to pack shoes. You know, they’re kind of important.

As you can see, I enjoy a wide variety of flip flops. Dr. Oz would probably freak out if he saw my summer shoe selection, because I never wear anything other than flip flops. I know they have no arch support and basically turn me into a flat footed mess, but I can’t help it. They’re SO comfortable.

Next, I couldn’t forget my addiction that was begging to be fed- pin trading! I absolutely love pin trading. I’ve been collecting pins since my first trip in 2007, and I take it very seriously. As if this wasn’t obvious from my personalized pin bag.

If you can’t tell, my pin bag also has some of my old buttons from past trips on it, including my Disneymoon button and my “Having Him Home” button from last December when John got home from his deployment!

Next, I couldn’t leave home without some good reading material! I love smutty gossip magazines, and I was excited to have Emily Maynard’s romantic drama to keep me entertained on the drive. Plus, who wouldn’t want to read about Jessica Simpson’s weight battle? That’s some riveting stuff right there. A woman had a baby, and she gained some weight. GASP. Also, The Help was one of those books I had bought about two years ago and still hadn’t read, so I figured this trip was a perfect opportunity. Turns out, this was one of the best books I’ve ever read! The movie is awesome too, but the book is way better. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it!

While I was finishing packing up, my dogs were following me around the house moping. My dogs are my children, and they are seriously spoiled. Their names are Bella and Vida. Vida is super fast and doesn’t stand still long enough for me to take her picture, but Bella is very photogenic and just looooves to distract me when I’m trying to do something important.

“Um, hello? Don’t you know rubbing my belly is way more fun than going to Disney World?”

You know that term “puppy dog eyes”? Well, here’s where it originated.

LOOK AT THAT FACE. I was feeling extremely guilty at this point about leaving my dogs.

After I finished packing and playing with my silly dogs I headed downstairs for breakfast! I was already totally in the Disney spirit, so I took pictures, of course!

Trix cereal. The breakfast of champions.

I can’t stand to waste food, so I ate those blueberries too so they wouldn’t go bad while we were gone.

By the time I finished my breakfast John had made his way downstairs. He was awake enough at this point to operate my camera, so he took my picture!

Do you guys like my shirt? I got it at the Disney Outlet for $1.99 last year! I love it!

John started packing up the car while I packed our cooler for the road with sodas, water, and snacks. After we finished packing everything up it was time to hit the road and we left our house at 7:11! But first, we had to drop our dogs off at my mom’s house! She was going to watch them for us for the week, and then when she flew to Disney the following week my dad was going to watch them until John could get home. We got to my mom’s house, dropped off our pooches, picked up her suitcase so she wouldn’t have to check it on the plane, said our goodbyes, and hit the road at 7:53! The only thing between me and my big beautiful Disney World was about 500 miles of car time! (Hence the song for this portion of the soundtrack!)

We were taking my brand new Honda Civic on this trip (Civic Sally, as I like to call her) and I noted that the mileage when we left was at 570. This is completely pointless information, because I didn’t write down the mileage when we got back home. I still figured I’d share it.

Before 8:30 my mom had already called me twice. She was really nervous about her portion of the trip, so she kept calling me to ask me questions about flying and riding the Magical Express. She’s so precious!

John decided he needed some food energy, so he had a Nutrigrain bar!

He was pretty excited about it. I was just excited to be on the road!

Even though we had only been in the car for about ten minutes, I was instantly bored, so I took a picture of my cell phone cover.

I told you I love Jasmine!

It was about 8:30 when I realized I had yet to indulge in my morning ritual- a Diet Dr. Pepper! I am not a coffee drinker, so I get my caffeine fix from Diet Dr. Pepper. Once again, Dr. Oz would not be very happy with me. I know that drinking diet soda is apparently like drinking amoeba infested swamp water, but I can’t help it. I LOVE IT SO MUCH.

While I was drinking my Diet Dr. Pepper, John and I had the following conversation:

John: “How is it?”
Me: “It’s delicious! It’s ice cold!”
John: “If it was ice cold, wouldn’t that mean it was ice?”
Me: “Har har. Like you’ve never heard that expression before.”

He’s just SO funny. See what I did there? I countered his sarcasm with sarcasm of my own. Don’t try to use verbal irony on an English teacher. I WILL retaliate.

I was still very intrigued by all my Jasmine stuff, so I had to take another picture.

I guess that John just really felt like torturing me that morning, because next he decided to listen to Linkin Park. We’re not talking about new Linkin Park here, folks. We’re talking about Linkin Park circa 2000. (“You...try to take the best of me...GO AWAY.”) Nothing like a little Hybrid Theory to bring back dark middle school memories. Don’t you wish I had chosen that song for the trip soundtrack?

To distract myself from the assault on my ears, I took a picture of this random body of water.

Actually, it’s not random. It’s called Lake Norman, and when I see it, it means we’re almost to SC!

Sure enough, we passed the state line at 9:23am!

Up next: It’s my turn to drive...and it doesn’t go so well. Stay tuned!

 

[amandaw]

Your dogs are sooo cute!

I love your journal & cell phone case! I'm a Mickey girl so my journal has a classic Mickey on the front & my cell phone case has, yep you guessed it, Mickey on the back.

So exciting that y'all are on the road & into SC! Can't wait to hear about your driving experience.

 

[MarieTheCat24]

I'm here! I'm so excited to hear all about your trip! Also, A+ on the music selection thus far. It Takes Two AND I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)? Perfect. I'm gonna have the "Woooot Yeah Woooot Yeah" from It Takes Two cycling through my head all night.

I LOVE your Jasmine notebook and your dogs are absolutely adorable. Dogs with pink noses are the cutest little things.

Lake Norman! I love driving through there for some reason. I think it's because I've always wanted to live right on a lake. I grew up 10 minutes from Lake Erie, but that doesn't really count because it's polluted and gross and the beaches tend to be covered in dead fish. Lake Norman seems cleaner.

Can't wait for more!

 

[MissPrice]

I'm in!

 

[JoJo1980]

Oooo this sounds like its gonna be a great report!

 

[wen-tom]

ooh i'm in and YAY for me as I managed to catch the start (well almost) of a new TR rather than having to read the whole thing after

I have 39 days until I hit WDW so i can't wait to read your updates. We are staying at The Beach Club for our 1st 3 days so i'm excited to see what you thought

 

[msbiscuit]

Nothing brightens a dull evening at work like discovering a new trip report from The Russells!!!! Yay!
The Ratatouille rating system is nothing short of brilliant!

Barb