The "This is the BEST VACTION EVER!" Trip Report

[mousescrapper]

Hey Scrappie! Just read your latest blog entry. I wanted to take the boys to Toy Story 1/2 , but I don't know if we're going to get there before it ends.

I got both of your emails too. I do want to respond. UGGG. Not enough time in the day. But I will get back to you and I appreciate you keeping me updated.

I am all caught up now...glad I have not missed to much!

The movies were great, I was sick when we went too (which I still am UGH!) but yes the 2 week only thing is rough...hope you get a chnace to go.

no worries on not replying...understand the busies...glad you are working!

We collected the boys and walked out of the lobby towards our car. Will hugs me and says, “I love this vacation! It’s so magical!”

Finally.

My thoughts exactly, buddy.

We walk a few more steps and he says, “This is the BEST vacation EVER!”

That would become he refrain throughout the week.

you are there!

had some excitement on the way huh?

love the sound of it...best trip ever...wonderful, can't wait to read about the surprise reveal!

J~

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Sounds like you're off to a great start! I think my older DS would get along very well with your two - he's almost 6 and into anything with the name "Star Wars" in it, especially the Legos! Can't wait to keep reading...

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Heather what a great reaction!!! I can't wait to hear how happy he is when your grandparents arrive! Great job on the surprise!!!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

YAY!! You made it!

I love that first time walking into the lobby at POR....makes you want to pinch yourself to make sure it's real!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

im sorry to hear about your dog. i will keep you guys in my prayers.

yaay you made it!!! always feels so good when you see the sign

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Heather I missed your update last night. We got in late from the gaame and i was too tired to check anything. I've had a busy day today. Just got back from Rib Crib with the family. Was very good and saved me cooking. Of course they made me pay.

This ssurprise was great. Almost spoiled cause they wouldn't look. Too funny. It sure is off to a good start tho.

Glad the boys won this morning. That makes for a good day for them.

Ginny

 

[KatMark]

I'm joining in for the remainder of the report. I can't believe the cost of the ticket--the last one my DH got last year in Freeport, IL, was $75.

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

Yay! The big reveal was a success!

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Hey Heather,

God bless tv......there really is a time and place for it...and I'm so glad you're reveal for the boys worked out the way you wanted...

I am sorry about next June...you never know something might work out...but Disney isn't going anywhere anytime soon...

I am keeping my fingers crossed for you...I know you've been looking for a teaching job...I think you'd be so good...Sending good wishes down South...

As far as Jordan is concerned-you have all of my wishes for health and recovery...

If and I'm not trying to be a bummer at all...but if Jordan is really sick and winds up having cancer (and hopefully your puppy is fine this time...but say 5 years from now or so...if it happens...

1. it's not your fault and 2. once a dog is in pain and doesn't enjoy life(they are all about the physical and day to day enjoyment) you are doing them a great kindness at that point by putting them to sleep...sigh...I had a beautiful little Scottish terrier that Eric and I had before Emily was even born...he was my baby...and even after Emily was born-he was such a great dog...When Angus was 7 1/2 he stopped eating and got a lump in his throat...(it was awful_I could still cry...)

WE have access to University of Pennsylvania Vetinary Hospital-WE took him and he turned out to have lymphomia -I was devistated...the vet who was Australian laid out the treatment options...which would have been 6 months of chemo and Angus would have felt sick during it plus there was no guarantee that it would work...

I was so torn and upset...this vet turned out to be a God-send however...he said that he had never seen so many invasive treatments used on animals in Australia or the UK...and while he wasn't against surgery in some cases...if it were his dog...he thought the more humane thing would be to put him to sleep...

NOW-I'm not saying this to be a downer...although I'm afraid it came out that way......

but I'm saying it so someday if the time ever comes...you don't drive yourself nuts with guilt...you're a good person and you'll know what the best thing to do is...

OK sorry about that downer moment-I just wished I had known some of that before it happened to me...

SO Ok on a happier note...

I agree I think Will and David would be great buds...

Oh btw...my baseball buddy-Phillies doing pretty good huh...

(Do you have any really basic (I know how into baseball you guys are so this might be tough for you-cause basic for me and basic for you are probably really different...lol) book ideas for baseball...

David hasn't played...(he's my karate/swimming guy-but I do have him signed up for winter basketball...) I'd love to be able to explain the game and maybe have him try it in the spring...I'm not expecting him to be awesome...but a basic understanding of the game and how to play it would be good for him...its "street cred" in guy world...plus baseball is a game we could follow as a family....I love all the history/culture surrounding it...

OK this turned out to be a much weirder post than I had intended...

I'm going now...

Looking forward to more...

 

[mickeystoontown]

Goshleeeee! I missed the reveal you posted a day or two ago. Bless Pokeman's heart.....he kept the boys busy while passing all those Disney World signs.

I am sitting here with tears in my eyes because I am so happy that you were able to keep the surprise. It also brings back memories of our surprise trip.

Now, I am hoping that all of you were placed in rooms near each other. Can't wait to read more!

 

[longing2Batdisney]

waiting patiently

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

waiting patiently

I'm NOT! Where's our update?????




(Love you, Heather)

 

[praisehisname]

My heart was pounding just reading, waiting to see if the boys would look up! So glad they finally got into the spirit!

Denise

 

[hhockman]

Another mini-report. I know you all must think I’ve fallen off the face of the earth. I’m not doing a good job keeping up with my TR, or anyone else’s. I worked 3 ½ days this week, and it just seems like it’s hard to get here on the days I work. Or Saturdays. Or most days anymore. Anyway, here’s something.

When I left off we were headed back to our car in the parking lot. Will had just declared this the “BEST vacation EVER!” and I was smiling with satisfaction when Christian agreed.

We drove all the way to the back of the resort. Our parking lot was just past the NORTH depot, which would have been a good thing to note at this time, but we didn’t.

We pulled the car into a parking space and grabbed a few things. It was getting close to 3:30, so we really just wanted to get anything that might melt out of the car before we headed over to DTD. Matt started grabbing bags and handing them to whoever was standing there, and if someone wasn’t he just put it on the ground.

We walked over to our room, which as I said, was overlooking a courtyard, but not a far walk from the parking lot. I took went to the bathroom and Matt took a few pictures and then I took a few pictures.

Out the window:

Just outside the door:

But we didn’t have long to hang around. We needed to get to our lunch ADR. We hurried out to the car, got the boys in, and Matt quickly backed out.

“CRUNCH”

What was that? Oh, it just happened to be our toiletries bag that Matt had left on the ground behind our car. He jumped out, grabbed it, ran it into the room, and then ran back out to the car (we would find when we returned that it was a mess. The bag-which was part of a set of Disney luggage we’d gotten for Christmas-was ruin. It had a big hole ripped in it and shampoo all over the place. Matt’s shampoo was half empty and all over EVERYTHING. Several other things were ruined. It was not a pretty sight, and it took us a while to get it all cleaned up when we got back that night).
So we were finally on our way to Downtown Disney and it didn’t take us long to get there. We pulled into a parking spot under a tree, right at the front. Awesome. Got out of the car, crossed the street, looked up, and saw this:

I took a couple of pictures of the boys in front of the restaurant and we went to check in.

It was about 3:24:

After all the trouble it took to find an ADR time, I expected there to be a huge line in front of the place. There was no line to speak of. We checked in and were seated right away (and for future reference, if you want to eat here and don’t have an ADR, just show up. The few times we were in the area, there was never much of a line).

We sat down and ordered drink and the boys got light up glasses. I ran back out to the car to get my purse because I hadn’t brought my Rainforest Café club card in (didn’t know they took it at TRex, but they do) and then I went to the gift shop to see if I could find a cheap pen so I could write stuff down for you guys (I’d left my pen in the car and wasn’t going back out AGAIN).

I found a pen in the giftshop that had just been marked to 50 cents (I watched them do it!) and then quickly went back to our table. Just then the waitress showed up and we ordered.

 

[hhockman]

We got a free appetizer with the club card (or you can get 10% off-that card is worth every penny of the $10 it costs. It never expires-I’ve had mine for about 10 years). Then I got a rotisserie chicken salad (it was huge, but I didn’t like it that much), Matt got the Stegasaurus Steak Sandwich, Christian got the kids’ Alfredo Pasta, and Will got the kids’ Corn Dog Nuggets (though, as usual, he complained about having to order off the kids’ menu). Here are some pictures:

We were not in the Ice Cave, but right next to it. While we were waiting for our food I walked around and took a few pictures. We ate our appetizer (dip and chips) and our food came just as we finished.

He's supposed to be looking mean:

Matt loved his sandwich, Will ate his corn dogs and some of Christian’s. Christian ate about half of his (which is normal), and I ate about half of my salad (which was all I could eat-it was huge). I took the rest back to the room. Then we ran into a problem. The meal came to just over $73. I had a $75 gift card. I originally gave her my check card to go with the gift card, but she couldn’t charge it because our meal was less than the amount of the gift card. I only had about $5 cash on me. So we gave her the cash, all the change I had, and the gift card, but she still only ended up with about a $7 tip, which I’m sure you can figure out is only 10%. There just wasn’t anything else we could figure out to do, so we finally just left, feeling bad.

We walked through the Lego Store and into World of Disney. We looked around for a few minutes, but it was getting late and we wanted to get to Disney Quest at some point, so I bought my backpack and we left.

In the Lego Store:

Outside WOD:

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Welcome back Heather. Good start to your afternoon. Looks like lots of fun all around. Well-deserved. Bummer about the toiletries bag. I've had shampoos leak out and it sucks to have to clean all that up. I must say I don't think Don has ever backed over one yet. Or if he did I was unaware.

On a side note, sounds like you are plenty busy for sure. I know the work is good but I hate it when it gets into Dis time. Hang in there.

Ginny

 

[hhockman]

We’d changed our plans a little and decided that Matt would just drive me by Boardwalk on the way back to the Resort to get the cakes. We stopped and I walked through Boardwalk and over to the bakery, taking a couple of pictures along the way.

Cakes purchased, I got back in the car, and we drove back to POR. When we got there Matt parked in the drop-off cul-de-sac type thingy and we spent a little while getting all of our stuff out of the car. It actually took longer than a “little” while. Then I unpacked while the kids chilled for a little while.

Finally I was ready to “decorate”, so Matt took the kids for a “walk”. It took me almost an hour to finish. Here’s a couple of pictures before the kids’ saw it:

I finished about 7:30 and headed out to find Matt and the boys so that we could head over to the Marketplace and Disney Quest. While they’d been gone Matt had pulled Will’s tooth. It had been pretty loose for a couple of days and he kept playing with it, so Matt finally just pulled it. I was secretly glad because it was his top tooth just to the right of his middle teeth and he’d lost the one to the left a while ago. Now his smile was balanced.

This one is kinda blurry:

We took the boat over to the Marketplace and arrived about 8:00. We were all tired, but we were hungry too, and we really wanted to take the kids to Disney Quest. We had to switch boats once we got to the Marketplace to get over to West Side, so we decided to just walk instead. We walked pretty quickly though.

Finally, FINALLY, there it was.

We walked through the turnstiles (first time using our KTTW cards!), got in the elevator, watched the neat Genie movie, rode up to the 4th floor, and walked out into a video game lovers dream world (we had all been there before, but the boys didn’t remember it).

No sooner had we entered the Central Hub area (it’s called something “Port” but I can’t remember it right this second), than my mom called. My cousin had tried to call and left a message (she and her husband and baby had just arrived) so my mom was calling to tell me to call her (and to check in, of course). My phone was about to die and when I tried to call she didn’t answer. After a bit of phone tag between the three of us, we finally agreed that they would head over and call Matt’s phone when they got here.

And I’m going to stop here. Once again, it’s not a long installment. It’s taking me forever to get through even Day 1, but at least it’s something right. Hang around to see the kids’ reaction to their “room” surprise. It’s worth waiting for.

 

[littlezar]

Pulled into your trip report by the title ~ fun stuff so far!!

 

[hhockman]

Heather I missed your update last night. We got in late from the gaame and i was too tired to check anything. I've had a busy day today. Just got back from Rib Crib with the family. Was very good and saved me cooking. Of course they made me pay.

This ssurprise was great. Almost spoiled cause they wouldn't look. Too funny. It sure is off to a good start tho.

Glad the boys won this morning. That makes for a good day for them.

Ginny

Man, it took me a week to respond to this! Thanks, though.

I'm joining in for the remainder of the report. I can't believe the cost of the ticket--the last one my DH got last year in Freeport, IL, was $75.

I wish! It's due on Monday. His mom is supposed to be sending him money to pay for half of it. I told him he wasn't getting a Christmas present. At least I know from now on he'll go slower...

oh, and

Yay! The big reveal was a success!

Can't wait to hear more!

Yes, it was. I was so thrilled. I'm not sure when we'll pull that off again. Maybe never.

Hey Heather,

God bless tv......there really is a time and place for it...and I'm so glad you're reveal for the boys worked out the way you wanted...

I am sorry about next June...you never know something might work out...but Disney isn't going anywhere anytime soon...

I am keeping my fingers crossed for you...I know you've been looking for a teaching job...I think you'd be so good...Sending good wishes down South...

As far as Jordan is concerned-you have all of my wishes for health and recovery...

If and I'm not trying to be a bummer at all...but if Jordan is really sick and winds up having cancer (and hopefully your puppy is fine this time...but say 5 years from now or so...if it happens...

1. it's not your fault and 2. once a dog is in pain and doesn't enjoy life(they are all about the physical and day to day enjoyment) you are doing them a great kindness at that point by putting them to sleep...sigh...I had a beautiful little Scottish terrier that Eric and I had before Emily was even born...he was my baby...and even after Emily was born-he was such a great dog...When Angus was 7 1/2 he stopped eating and got a lump in his throat...(it was awful_I could still cry...)

WE have access to University of Pennsylvania Vetinary Hospital-WE took him and he turned out to have lymphomia -I was devistated...the vet who was Australian laid out the treatment options...which would have been 6 months of chemo and Angus would have felt sick during it plus there was no guarantee that it would work...

I was so torn and upset...this vet turned out to be a God-send however...he said that he had never seen so many invasive treatments used on animals in Australia or the UK...and while he wasn't against surgery in some cases...if it were his dog...he thought the more humane thing would be to put him to sleep...

NOW-I'm not saying this to be a downer...although I'm afraid it came out that way......

but I'm saying it so someday if the time ever comes...you don't drive yourself nuts with guilt...you're a good person and you'll know what the best thing to do is...

OK sorry about that downer moment-I just wished I had known some of that before it happened to me...

SO Ok on a happier note...

I agree I think Will and David would be great buds...

Oh btw...my baseball buddy-Phillies doing pretty good huh...

(Do you have any really basic (I know how into baseball you guys are so this might be tough for you-cause basic for me and basic for you are probably really different...lol) book ideas for baseball...

David hasn't played...(he's my karate/swimming guy-but I do have him signed up for winter basketball...) I'd love to be able to explain the game and maybe have him try it in the spring...I'm not expecting him to be awesome...but a basic understanding of the game and how to play it would be good for him...its "street cred" in guy world...plus baseball is a game we could follow as a family....I love all the history/culture surrounding it...

OK this turned out to be a much weirder post than I had intended...

I'm going now...

Looking forward to more...

Thanks Patricia. I know Disney isn't going anywhere. I'm still desperately trying to figure a way to work something out, but it's not looking good right now. Matt's mom REALLY wants to go, so we might be able to manage a shorter trip or something. Not really sure right now, but I'm still hoping. All my pictures are making me want to go back even more.

The Internist is pretty sure that Jordan has cancer. We're going to do a biopsy to see how far along it is. If it's stage 1 or 2 we'll do surgery, 3 or 4 we'll just let her be and let her go when she starts to suffer. It's not an easy thing to watch, but I appreciate your comments. Especially about how dogs live day to day. I never really thought of it that way. I just want to do what's best for her.

Thanks for the teaching job wishes. I pray every day. I know that when I do finally get a job it will be the right one for me.

I don't have any baseball books to offer you off-hand, but I'll do some looking. You're right. It is hard for me because I've loved baseball my whole life. I collected baseball cards when I was 10. The basics are really pretty simple (really). I would love to see how David does. It's a sport that takes teamwork, but it also very individual (different from basketball, hockey, football, soccer, etc). You have to work together in the field (sometimes, and sometimes you don't), but hitting his very individual. Anyway, I'll see what I can find.

Will and Christian are getting Tykwondo (sp) from my parents for Christmas. I'm really excited about it (although it's another thing I have to take them to). I think it will be really great for both of them. It's really pretty much great for everybody. I've always wanted to do it myself actually (I did take a course for a semester in college...I got a B).

Maybe when we do the half-marathon our families could come and David and Will could meet. They seem like kindred spirits. Of course, I actually need to get myself back out on some kind of schedule if I'm going to manage a half marathon in 14 1/2 months.

Wow. See, I can be off-topic too!

Goshleeeee! I missed the reveal you posted a day or two ago. Bless Pokeman's heart.....he kept the boys busy while passing all those Disney World signs.

I am sitting here with tears in my eyes because I am so happy that you were able to keep the surprise. It also brings back memories of our surprise trip.

Now, I am hoping that all of you were placed in rooms near each other. Can't wait to read more!

Should I ruin the surprise for you? Naaaah. Yeah, I was pretty happy with Pokemon's help on this trip. Still getting a little tired of hearing about it...but not so much as before. They are both getting Pokemon games from my parents and us for Christmas, so apparently I like this kind of torture.

It was a very special experience that I'm not thinking we'll ever be able to repeat. Well, maybe somewhat, since you were able to fool Hunter!

waiting patiently

See below!

I'm NOT! Where's our update?????




(Love you, Heather)

Right here. Where are you?

My heart was pounding just reading, waiting to see if the boys would look up! So glad they finally got into the spirit!

Denise

Thanks! It was very cool. It gets better tomorrow. If I ever get to tomorrow.

Welcome back Heather. Good start to your afternoon. Looks like lots of fun all around. Well-deserved. Bummer about the toiletries bag. I've had shampoos leak out and it sucks to have to clean all that up. I must say I don't think Don has ever backed over one yet. Or if he did I was unaware.

On a side note, sounds like you are plenty busy for sure. I know the work is good but I hate it when it gets into Dis time. Hang in there.

Ginny

Thanks Ginny. I do prefer working to sitting at home, although I don't mind so much today. I'm hoping to work tomorrow though. I want to be off Friday so I can go help with the "centers" (which I assume will be Fall themed) at Will's school, but I really need to work at least a couple of days this week. Hope you have a good day at work today!

Pulled into your trip report by the title ~ fun stuff so far!!

I'm not the greatest at getting updates out, but I do get there eventually. At least this way I might drag this one out until my next trip...which is currently, who knows when.

It was a great trip, though. My son used that phrase a lot.

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

Hey, Heather! I've been off the boards for a few days (sick), but I'm all better now and back in the game! I'm loving the past few updates you've posted. Your room is beautiful, you got some great pictures of the boys in all of their excitement and those Mickey cakes are just too adorable. I love how you were able to pull off your plan and make mickey head trails to their "surprise". The banner was too cool!

You've really gone all out and I can't wait to hear how the boys react to it once they find it.