The Year that I Brainwashed my Family

[Davidsmommy]

Well, I have to admit, the title is a tad misleading. DH is not fully indoctrinated yet. I will know my work is done when some incarnation of this conversation ceases to exist in my house:

Me: "Hon, the dissers (pronounced 'diz-ers' by me) say that we should try and ***insert any smart tip I have gleaned from my incessant reading of these boards here***."

DH: "Oh, really? The losers really say that?"

He smirks and laughs at his silly little joke. He has been saying this for, oh, 6 months now? His little play on words was funny the first time, now I just throw something at him and glare when he says it. I usually yell, "They are NOT losers! They are smart! They plan! And, I am one of them. I am NOT a loser!"

He smiles again and says, "I know. I just like teasing you."

Grrr.

Anyway, I did realize tonight that I have completely brainwashed my 2 year old daughter. Score one for the mama!

I have been talking about Mickey Mouse and the Princesses for several months to her. Showing her pictures online, watching Cinderella, buying out the Disney Store, you know the drill.

Tonight, as her daddy was getting her ready for bed, I heard a shrill scream from her room that only a 2 year old diva can manage. I tore myself away from the Dis long enough to go investigate.

As I walked into her room, I saw my husband pulling jammies out of the top drawer and flinging them over his shoulder hopelessly. I casually asked what the problem was, and he muttered something about a "freaking cult."

Since I would not get a proper answer from him, I asked Becca, "What is wrong sweetie?"

"I Want PRINCESS Jammies!" Inwardly, I smiled. I couldn't help it. Is that wrong?

"Becca, all your princess jammies are all in the wash. Let's wear the strawberry ones."

"PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS!" She started crying. Real tears.

And, I did what any disser would. I laughed. And laughed. And laughed. Dh looked at me like I lost my mind.

I managed to coax her into the strawberry ones, of course, and the crisis was averted. But, as I sat in the middle of her room laughing, I thought, "She is just like her mother! She LOVES all things Disney!"

 

[Davidsmommy]

So, this trip was born a few months ago.

I have been to the World several times. My parents took me a bunch growing up. My dad has a timeshare and we were always DIYers - staying at the timeshare, renting a car, eating outside the world, etc. We liked it. We also stayed onsite a couple times.

DH and I were married 10 years ago this October (and I am planning a 10 year anniversary trip for the two of us). David was born in 2000 and Becca in 2004. David took his first trip to the World when he was 2 - with me and my parents (the timeshare thing again). DH couldn't get off work.

The following year, DH and I took David back (again, the timeshare). This was DH's first trip to the world, and he enjoyed it. He loves AK.

I hadn't really thought much about it again until 2006. I was itching to go back.

So, I planned this trip - January 10 - 17th 2007 - staying at Pop, with the DDP, 7 day park hoppers and more. I got a good price with the Jan codes (it was about $1800), and with dh's union travel agency, we get 5% back as a rebate. Our airfare was about $600 total, so I was thinking I got a great deal! A frugal trip!

Well, not so much.

I have purchased, thus far:

-4 pairs of Disney Crocs
-2 Campmor Travel Bags (as DH puts it, "My Man Bag" - he is such a good sport)
-A Maclaren Quest Stroller
-2 Disney Princess dresses, plus shoes, tiaras, and wands
-2 Disney sweatshirts each
-Tons of Disney T-shirts/polo shirts
-A new digi cam and memory (the old one was deemed too bulky)
-Pal Mickey, plus clothes for him
-$75 worth of trader pins (I don't even like to trade my pins. I get one and hold on for dear life. So, I asked an eBay seller I know from the powerseller board to sell me some "traders" that I won't get attached to. He set me up with a mess of them for $2.50 each. I actually like them all and want to keep them. Sigh).
-Several guides, books, the passporter

I can't even remember what else. Needless to say, this became an expensive trip. But, as dh says, we have everything now. Sure, honey.

So, here is our cast:

Me: Kristen, 33, Loves Disney
DH: EL, 35, Slowly growing to love Disney
DS6: David
DD2: Becca

Everyone is raring to go and counting the days. I have started packing, but will do most of it Monday and Tuesday of next week while the kids are at school/daycare and dh is at work. I can get more done then.

 

[KangaFan]

Your poor hubby. My DH comes from a family of boys and is always asking me, "Why do girls (fill in the blank)?" Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[disneyfreak74]

Sounds sooooo much like my house. . .I have DS (7) running around telling everyone "____ days til Momma's birthday and we are taking her to Disney!!!" DD(3) walks around with her "WDW for Kids BY kids" book that SHE picked out at BAM!!! They are ruined!!!!!!!

 

[Buzzfan2Mom]

I'm as bad as you! My husband and daughter pick on me every day for looking through my books and surfing the Dis boards. Its my favorite passtime when I can steal a few minutes for myself.
I have a 3 yr old son and an 12 yr old daughter. The 3 yr old loves all my talk of WDW and can always be counted on to request a favorite Disney movie. My daughter likes to act all pre-teen cool about the whole upcoming trip (POFQ in April) but will catch something I say like "There is going to be a new Nemo show in AK" and her excitement shows through- "Can we make sure we go, how long is it, what is it near???"
We had our first onsight family trip last year (CSR). They were all happy I had done so much research and did think it was great that we experienced perks like riding in the front of the monorail, having PS for our meals, saving with the dining plan, getting our room request... you get the picture.
Last year I bought 4 books in my planning frenzie, the challenge this year is keeping myself to only purchasing one updated version.
Have fune and enjoy your trip!

 

[mouseketeer_mom]

Oh it's soon! only two more days to go! How exciting for you. Hope your trip is absolutely magical!

 

[Davidsmommy]

Hi guys! So glad you are reading!

KangaFan - Thanks! My dh does look awful confused a lot.

disneyfreak74 - It is the best way to be ruined, right?

Buzzfan2Mom - I love planning. It is my hobby. We sound alike!

mouseketeer_mom - Thanks! You don't have too long either! Enjoy!

 

[Davidsmommy]

And, right about.....NOW.....is when I get a little crazy with the whole planning stuff. I am beginning to feel like I am going to forget something, that I don't have enough time to do everything I need to, that there will be a big snowstorm and we can't fly out, that someone is going to come down with the asian flu, you get the point.

I have continued to work on packing. Look how good I am doing:

In those small suitcases we have NOTHING of major importance of course. Nothing we even really need. The little black one has a mess of snacks, diapers, swim diapers, and wipes. It will be checked. It will hopefully be nearly empty on the return voyage, so we can pack it with souvenirs.

The blue one has, basically, toys. Man, I am so bad. There are some presents for the kids (to put on their beds each night, From Mickey and Cinderella), those light up spinners (Cindy for the girl and Nemo for the boy), batteries for said spinners, a Cinderella princess dress/tiara/shoes, a huge pack of glow sticks/bracelets/necklaces (to give out to others around us as well), my pin collection, 3 trading lanyards with trader pins affixed, some Minnie ears, 3 pairs of Crocs (dh will pack his own - he wears them around the house), and I don't even know what else.....

Now, here is the mess that used to be my bed:

See those clothes balled up in the left hand corner? Those are shorts that don't fit me anymore.

Sigh.

Believe it or not, I actually gained a little ground with packing today. I will do the rest tomorrow. Tonight the plan is to eat leftovers from the fridge and throw away anything that is left. Tomorrow, dh will bring the dog to the boarders after work and pick up pizza on the way home.

I made our ressie for Park and Fly today, and also told the UPS guy (we have daily pickup for my business) that he didn't have to come Thursday - Wednesday. My neighbor's daughter (she babysits for us sometimes too) will have my garage door opener and will bring in the mail for me. She likes Tink, so I will find her a special Tink treat!

We got David's homework today for the week, so that was good!

I'll try and post later with our ADRs/plan. I need to go over it again anyway.

 

[Davidsmommy]

Oh, and dh is laminating our LGMH's as we speak. He's a keeper!!!

 

[Davidsmommy]

THE PLAN:

Tuesday - 11:20 Eastern Time - dash to the computer no matter what else is going on, and that will be hard, as right after I get the kids off to school/daycare, I am heading to Saratoga Springs (25 minutes away - I used to work there), to look for shorts for my ever expanding bottom. Hopefully, I can find something by 10:45, so I can get home in time to log into Southwest Airlines website to get our much coveted A boarding passes. Mind you, we can probably pre-board anyway, since we have a 2 year old, but merely mentioning Southwest makes me break out in hives, so I will want to get A boarding passes anyway.

On my way home from Saratoga, I will stop at my warehouse in South Glens Falls to pick up the last of stuff I have to ship for work. I will ship those last packages when I get home. I will put an auto responder on my email. Then, I will continue to pack. And pack. And pack.

I will promise our dog (who frets about being apart from us) that all will be good and I will look for a special Disney collar for her while we are at the world.

I will make sure all garbage is outside. I will give Kelsey (our neighbor) my garage door opener and explain what I need her to do.

Go to banks, and deposit cash saved for trip, and then make a pre-payment (online) to the credit card we will use for the trip. We have $300 in Disney Dollars, plus about $700 in cash. I will probably deposit $500 and make sure dh and I both have $100 - $150 in cash, plus $150 in DD. Most everything is already paid for, so this is spending money and extra food money, even though we have the dining plan (which my ever growing bottom doesn't need truly).

I will call my parents and my MIL to say goodbye. Affix all ME tags, luggage tags, change purse over to my travel bag, affix LGMHs to everything.

I will call and confirm all my ADRS. Speaking of ADRS, here they are, along with a loose plan:

Wednesday AM:

Pack car and leave for Albany International Airport at 8 AM. Arrive about 9:30 (after dropping off car and taking shuttle to our gate.). Get rid of the 6 checked bags we will have, and then, with everyone holding their own backpack (yeah, right), we will hang out by our gate.

Hopefully, we will fly out at 11:20 and be at MCO by 2:30. Hopefully, we will find ME ok and be at Pop to check in by 5 ish???

We plan to then check out the food court and buy our refillable mugs. Then, head to DTD. We have a 7:30 ADR at Cap'n Jacks. We will shop a bit, get Autograph Books, and maybe hook up with Alejandro and his family (Alejandro is one of David's school friends. His dad was supposed to run the marathon, but hurt himself so he couldn't. They still were going to the World though. They leave to go home the day after we arrive, so we are hoping if the moons align, we can meet for a drink or romp at LegoLand. The kids would get a kick out of it).

After dinner, go back to the room and crash. I hope to get the 2 year old to sleep, and hope to unpack a little if our luggage arrives.

Gotta nurse Becca and get her to sleep - be back with the rest of our plans soon!

 

[tink's girls]

Have a great time! I can't wait to hear your post trip report!

 

[Davidsmommy]

Not sure how long I can post - whatever I don't finish tonight will go onto tomorrow's list of things to do.

See, DH, myself, and David (the 6 year old), have had a VERY heated battle going on for "Champion of the world of Disney DVD Scene It" for the last few weeks. Every night, after the 2 year old goes to bed, it is ON. And, last night, I kicked bootie. I actually embarrassed them. So, they are out for blood tonight, and David demands the computer be shut when we play. He wants my full attention.

Surprisingly, even though DH isn't as Disney obsessed as I am, he is very good at Disney DVD Scene it. He usually wins, except when we let David win. When we let David win, there is a scene where it is CLEARLY Toy Story (which he only watched like 1000 times when he was younger) and we are casually like, "Hmmm. What could that be? Looks a bit like Buzz Lightyear. But, I am just not sure...." David squints at the screen, and then is like, "HEY! It is TOY STORY! I WIN!!!!" Sure, son, you win.

I'll be back - now we are playing.....

 

[Davidsmommy]

Dh won. He actually just did the cabbage patch dance while saying "Bow to my Disney Prowness." Yeah, he is a geek. Although, he did win with a very obscure question about The Rescuers Down Under. Not sure how he KNEW it, since no-one in the family has ever seen that movie....but I digress.

Anyhoo, day 2 of our trip plan. It is EMH at MK. I am actually planning on avoiding EMH for most of our trip, but I do want to MK first, and if we can all get up and out, I would like to do opening at MK one day. So, the "plan" is get to MK asap. Try to be at rope drop. If not, oh well. We have snacks (go tarts, nutri grain bars), plus will stop at the Pop food court for provisions for breakfast. I hate breakfast, rarely eat anything. Kids eat a bit, dh will eat whatever.

Do Fantasyland, and then whatever tickles our fancy for a bit. Have an early CS lunch at Cosmic Rays or Pecos B's, or CHH maybe......and then go back to Pop to chill. If Becca needs a nap, she will nap. If dh needs a nap, he will nap (dh has narcolepsy, so he may need a nap). If David and I are not into napping (the last time I napped, I was deathly ill. I could be exhausted and just can't "nap" - David seems to share that little trait of mine), we will swim, or go to DTD to Disneyquest, or just chill and explore).

We have an early ADR at Alfredo's in Epcot at 4:30, so we will see how it goes and get to Epcot at some point. Eat dinner. If everyone is cool, we will do Epcot a bit. If not, we will go back and sleep.

Day 2:

AK day! This is Dh's favorite park. Me, not so much, but I deal for him. We will do as much as we can (with Tusker house for CS lunch - our favorite). We will do Pop Food Court/snacks from room for breakfast beforehand. We will do as much as we can before getting tired and going back to Pop to rest. Again, if David and I are raring to go, we will do something else in the afternoon. We have 6:20 ADRs for CRT for dinner (paid OOP). So, we will get to MK at some point. Becca has a special Cindy ensemble to wear. She will be so excited!

Day 3 - Saturday

David is doing the Pirate Experience at the GF at 9:30 AM. We will drop him and then DH, Becca, and I are going to 1900 Park Faire for the character breakfast. We will pick up David after and head to Epcot. Hopefully, no-one will need a nap today, because I would like to do Epcot for a few hours, and then we have a 6:30 ADR at Coral Reef for dinner. If everyone is wiped after dinner (likely), we will go back and sleep.

Day 4: Sunday

We have a 9:20 ADR at Chef Mickey's for breakfast. Not sure what we are doing after. We will see what we feel like. AK? MGM? More Epcot?

We are going to the Cape May Cafe Clam Bake for dinner at 6:10.


Day 5: Monday

MGM (my favorite park) day

ADRs at Prime Time Cafe for lunch, and O'hana for dinner (at 6:25).

Day 6: Tuesday

Up for grabs - can go/do wherever.

LTT for dinner at 5:05.

We opted for 7 day park hoppers with extras (which we won't use, except Disney Quest for David) - but the hoppers and extras were free with the January codes promotion. So, we feel ok with just seeing what we feel like doing some days.

So, our ADRS are:

Captn Jacks Dinner (DDP)
Alfredo's Dinner (DDP)
CRT Dinner (OOP)
1900 Park Faire Breakfast (OOP)
Coral Reef Dinner (DDP)
Chef Mickey's Breakfast (OOP)
Cape May Cafe Clam Bake Dinner (DDP)
Prime Time Cafe Lunch (DDP)
O'Hana Dinner (DDP)
LTT Dinner (DDP)

We have a mess of CS's to figure out, but we figure we will see where we are and try to grab some of the reccomendations from Dissers. If not, we can always use them for breakfasts for the kids at Pop food court.

 

[Becky521]

Great report. Sounds just like us before we leave for any vacation. Hope you have a great time and find all the pixie dust we missed. If you see Tigger give him a hug for me.

 

[OhMari]

Have fun, and I hope you have great weather.

Change your title, and I'll move you down to the regular TR boards, so when you get back we can hear how everything went.

 

[Davidsmommy]

Thanks for moving me Mari! I am kind-of in disbelief that the trip is actually almost here!

Welcome Tink's Girls! Glad you checked in - I feel like I "know" you from Harry's/Becky 521's report!

Hey there Becky521! Great last installment.

So, today. Ah, today. It started out ok.

I dropped the kids off and headed to Saratoga. Does anyone else know how HARD it is to buy shorts in upstate NY in January? Walmart has bathing suits out, yet no shorts. Explain THAT one to me.

I did, however get 3 pairs of those capri things that look like cargo shorts but are REALLY lightweight. That is probably better anyway, to be honest.

So, I came home in time to ship my last 15 items, fully intending to log onto Southwest airlines website and check in at 11:20 (24 hours before our flight). I even thought of it when I pulled in the driveway at 11:15. And, then I promptly forgot when I started working, eating lunch, and balancing my checkbook. What the heck is wrong with me?

At 12:20, I frantically realized I hadn't checked in! So, I quickly tried. And, got 3/4 of us checked in (my full saga is posted on the transportation board) - but David, the 6 year old, was not able to check in online. I only got B boarding passes for the rest of us. I called, and was told they couldn't tell me why Davie boy isn't allowed to check in online.

I forgot about it for awhile (still figuring we can pre-board anyway, with a 2 year old, so the passes aren't so important). But, it was nagging at me in that little part of my brain - so I posted on the Dis, and was told my son's name probably matches someone on the do not fly list. My first thought was, "Great, I will be joining Harry/Becky 521 in FAA jail....."

So, I called again, and was told that we would all be able to pre-board together since we have Becca (aka "the golden ticket"). Don't know if we will or not, but I told David if he has to sit next to someone he doesn't know, to just look at them and say "My mommy once tried to give me advil on a flight so I would be calm. It had the opposite effect. I got sick all over her. Plus, I cried for the whole time." Then, he is to pause for 5 seconds, and say, "I wonder what that grape stuff she just gave me was. Do you know what m-o-t-r-i-n spells? "

If that doesn't work, he should look at his other neighbor and start chanting "red rum, red rum, red rum..."

Just kidding, of course. But, I will do everything I can for him to be able to sit with either me or dh. I don't care if our family of 4 is split up and at opposite ends of the plane...but I want each kid to have a parent with them.

So, I continued to pack and do laundry for the rest of the day. I also dropped off the dog myself, did one last run to Target, and confirmed my ADRS.

DH is packing up the last of his stuff, and folding the rest of the laundry. Then he will do the garbages and affix luggage tags/ME tags. Then, we sleep. And, off to the world tomorrow!

I will not have a computer there, because I am too cheap to pay $10 a day for access, plus, we have no more room to pack anything more.

So, I'll catch you guys next week!

 

[DebIreland]

I love your pre-trip report and all your plans! Can't wait to read all about it when you get back. Just one more sleep and you're there.

Have a wonderful time!!

 

[Along4theRide]

Great pre-trippie!! I can't wait to hear how wonderful your trip was!!

 

[Tinkerbell's Mom]

I want to get in on this report so I don't miss a day when you return!!!!!!

 

[Davidsmommy]

Hi! We are back, and I did NOT want to leave. But, in between the tons of laundry, trying to get my work caught up, and dealing with a VERY ill 2 year old, I have been thinking about how much I wanted to start my trip report. So, here I sit, with a beer, while the kids play gamecube downstairs (well, David is playing, Becca is pretending to play). Dh is on his way home with Chinese food and a few groceries, and I have a moment to start writing.

My goal is to try and update every other day or so. Mainly so the trip stays fresh in my mind. I did take some notes, but I have a lot swimming around in my head as well that I want to share.

Ok, without any further ado, Day 1 - Wednesday 1/10/07:

We woke up at around 6 AM and showered and got ready. We got the kids dressed and fed them some breakfast, and packed the last of our toiletries. We ended up with 6 checked bags and a backpack each for carry-ons, plus my travel bag and dh’s C-Pap machine as a carry-on. We had a lot of stuff. Dh was annoyed at the copious amounts of “junk” I had packed. (From here on out, dh will also be known as EL – those are his initials and how most of our friends and family refer to him – his real first name is Elisha and his middle name is Leslie. Seriously. It was a family name. Stop laughing.) Anyway, he is known as EL (I usually just call him L, as in, “Hey L, can you grab me a diaper for Becca?”)

EL packed the car with all our stuff, including our new Maclaren Quest stroller (wow – LOVED the Dis tips on that one – EL said more than once how awesome our new stroller was!). We were on the road headed towards Albany International Airport at 8:20 AM for our 11:20 flight. We arrived in good time at around 9:05 AM. EL mentioned more than once how slow traffic was on the northway (he travels to Albany every day for work – about a 45 minute drive without traffic, maybe 1 hour plus with traffic. He has some weird obsession now with how quickly he can get to his exit. The hazards of being a commuter I guess…..). We dropped our car at the Park and Fly (prepaid online ahead of time), and grabbed a little bus to the airport. With all our stuff (or “crap” as dh started calling it about 1 hour into our trip).

We got to the Southwest curbside check-in and checked our luggage (Phew! 6 less bags to deal with!). We also checked in David, aka, “the unibomber.” Luckily, even though his name likely matched someone on the do not fly list so we couldn’t check him in online, the nice curbside employee took one look at him, asked me his age, and issued a boarding pass. It was a C boarding pass, but I was still banking on the whole pre-boarding thing…..

We got through security without a hitch, and headed to our gate. It was now about 9:35. We had 2 hours to kill. I stopped at the customer service desk and got a tag to gate check our stroller. I was told that they did not cover damage, but would cover it if it was lost. I felt like saying, “That is a $160 stroller. That stroller cost more than my first car. Please don’t break it.” I didn’t though. That would have been tacky. So, I simply said, “Ok. Sounds good.”

I also asked her about pre-boarding, and I was assured we could pre-board. Cool beans! We all sat in the little pre-boarding area, and David started in on his homework. He got about ¾ through the packet his teacher compiled for him. EL took Becca to get some more breakfast – they got McDonalds and brought us some back.

When the time came, we boarded the plane – somehow, I ended up with both kids in my row of 3, and Dh sat behind us. Hmm. I will remember this for the return flight. All is fair in love and war, or parenting. All in all, they were both good on the flight. A few little snags, but no major meltdowns. We colored, David played his gameboy micro, and I played peek-a-boo with Becca over and over.

Here are a couple of pictures of the kids on the plane:

We arrived at MCO 20 minutes early. Great!!! Our flight was scheduled to be in at 2:25 PM. We found our way to ME, and jumped on a bus quickly – we were de-planed and sitting on the ME bus at 2:30. Wow, that was impressive. We got to Pop and were checked in and in our room by 3:30. I was amazed. This was all going so smoothly!

I’ll be back after our Chinese food dinner with more details!