"This Isn't Disneyworld. . .It's Rainworld!!" our trip to WDW May 16-23, 2009

[PrincessCaitlin]

Hi!
I am loving you tr your daughters are adorable!
Also you take amazing pictures!
About when you should go next year me and my family always go in April or May the flower and garden festival is just beautiful! Plus tons of picture taking opportunities!

 

[*Seanaci*]

Yay for the hubby saying he wants to go again next year.

Personally, I would go over Christmas Break...weather is nice and mild, christmas decorations are up...just gorgeous! Sure, a bit crowded, but when you're at Disney who cares, ya know?

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Hi girlfriend! Just got caught up again. It's been super crazy.

We went this year on those dates (although ours was the week of Mem. Day--super crowded --at least we felt like it was--compared to our trips in the past)

We've already decided to go back the week before Memorial Day next year which is the 22nd-29th since that will be after school gets out and before the big crowds. We were thinking of checking out free dining but both girls will be in school in 2010 so that wouldn't be near as easy to work out. As Lindsey gets older it is getting more difficult to plan during school - seems like they are testing for something all the time. Maybe we'll see ya again next year!!!

GREAT NEWS!!! seems this year was a winner for return trips for all!!!

the poly looked great; but, I'm into this new thought I want to try them all what other resort do you think ya'll may like. The Grand Floridian looks like a great place to take little girls--it looks so victorian.
Good Luck! with your search and decision

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Ok, officially signing in now.
Can't wait to read more.
I don't know that spring break is more or less crowded, but we are planning the beginning of March as my husband has a winter break on top of the spring break, so we are going that week. I heard March weather is very nice.

 

[ladybugmom]

Ok, officially signing in now.
Can't wait to read more.
I don't know that spring break is more or less crowded, but we are planning the beginning of March as my husband has a winter break on top of the spring break, so we are going that week. I heard March weather is very nice.

Hi Jessica!!! Thanks for joining in! I'm so glad that you found my TR--especially since you live sooo close!


Ladies--be patient with me! This has been a BUSY week and I'm frantically trying to put together my Photopass photobook before my pictures expire! Hang in there--I will be updating soon! I promise!

 

[mousescrapper]

Hi Becky...

Take your time getting back to us and your TR...we'll be here!

I know the feeling, my TR is dragging out...w/ my busy schedule...I'm about to start Day 5) of 8 and we went the end of March...

Can't wait to see your photo book....please post pic's after you get it!

Wonderful news about the pre-planning of another trip next yr!

I wouldn't over worry the school thing too much either...K is easy to pull from, it get's harder as they get older.

I like the advice of planning around school vacations and such and maybe just pulling for a day or two. That is what we plan for our trip next year November. but when my twins (now incoming 5th) were in K, we pulled them out for a week to spend their 6th b-day there in May.

I loved the Poly too...but I also think it is fun to experience other resorts too.

Can't wait to see what you decide and plan, plus the end of this trip.

PS just a TR tip....in your title (from your original post) when you post new posts to the TR...if you add New and the date....it can help us know when you've updated better....JAT.

J-

 

[BrickyPool]

sounds awesome .. have fun next year !

 

[DWGal210]

No worries, Becky....we'll be here when you get back!

Hope this week is a better one for ya!

Katie

 

[thmar]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I purchased some of the bows that ladybugmom makes...they are even cuter than the pictures!! You have to check them out!! Thanks, ladybugmom!!

 

[tmkinney]

Subscribing...
You have a beautiful family!

 

[ladybugmom]

Hi everybody!! Sooo sorry I haven't posted in awhile! I hope I haven't lost all of you! Thanks for hanging in there! We've had a super-busy couple of weeks. Ally had swimming lessons the last 2 weeks and loved every minute of it!!

I had been frantically working on my Photopass Photobook until it stopped me at 60 pages!!!! I triple-checked the info on the website in the photobook description--it said I could do up to 80 pages and I had 2 more days of vacation to go. I had planned accordingly and weeded down my 3,000 pics (planned 10 pages per day we were there-and that was even difficult). It had taken me DAYS to work on this book! Uggh! So Photobook got a LONG e-mail from me and I got a form letter type e-mail back. Double Uggh! So I called them and ended up talking to the lady who had e-mailed me--she was not so nice and talked down to me. I insisted that it said 80 pages and she had me walk her through where to find it (she did NOT believe me and it was very obvious). So once that info did indeed pop up for her she was not at all apologetic! She said, "Oh yeah--it does say that--doesn't it?!" Ummm--yeah! I told her I wasn't crazy! And she said, "I'll have to let my IT team know but there is nothing I can do for you." No sorry--nothing! By that point I was so angry I was shaking! All of this hard work for nothing! But I get really quiet when I get angry and usually don't know what to say. I did ask her about my pics that were expiring on June 27th--that there was no way now that I could complete my book in time--she said she could extend my pic deadline by 10 days. And that was it! What horrible customer service--make the customer feel stupid and low-life! Ugggh!! So after I calmed down, I researched other options and decided to just cancel my Photobook that I had pre-ordered and go with Shutterfly. I want to create a book that I'm happy with--you know?! With Shutterfly I won't get the cute Disney backgrounds but I can have up to 100 pages with as many pics on a page as I want! Oh--and so I e-mailed Photopass to let them know I wanted a refund and I am getting one (not sure how that works--haven't seen a refund to my bank account yet and I got the e-mail from them on the 25th). I did order my Photocd though and I'm looking forward to receiving it! I ended up with 1,008 pics!!

Last night we just got back from celebrating our 10th anniversary! Brent took me to Nashville and we dropped the girls off with my parents on the way on Friday. Brent told me nothing about what he had planned--he wanted everything to be a surprise!! We got to the Hutton Hotel and checked in! I was BLOWN away at how nice this place was! I had never stayed anywhere this nice before! I felt like I didn't belong but got used to it pretty quickly. We had dinner reservations for Ruth's Chris and it was FABULOUS (we eat here every year on our anniversary). The next day we got up and had lunch at the hotel and then went to see Legally Blonde The Musical!!! The show was hilarious and we enjoyed it very much! That night we had dinner at Amerigo's--yummy italian food!! The next morning we checked out and went shopping for most of the day and then headed home to pick up the girls. The weekend was absolutely WONDERFUL!!

I promise I'll be having a TR update as soon as I can get it done! Claire is waking up from her nap. . . Coming up--Day 3--first day at Magic Kingdom, BBB, and CRT, etc!!

 

[kaysmommie]

Hi Becky,
Glad you had a great Anniversary weekend. Don't worry about being busy well wait for your updates. I haven't updated in a while either. Seems like there is still no spare time even though it's summer.

 

[pmama]

Shutterfly looks like a good option. I may have to look into that.

 

[JPFamilyMom]

Glad you had fun on your anniversary, that stinks about the photobook, good to know it advance, since I frequently use shutterfly already.
Can't wait to see the update

 

[leamom2princesses]

Hi Becky! Don't worry too much. My updates have been very slow. Happy Anniverary!!! We love Ruth Chris Steakhouse. It's one of your favorites also. Our 10 year anniversary is next weekend and we are heading down to Nashville also. Joe mentioned maybe trying the Stockyard this year. We'll see. Glad you had a nice weekend. Can't wait for the next update.

 

[shannon47142]

hi--I'm late to the party but am very impressed so far with your family and all that you guys have gotten done so far, even with the rain
your anniversary weekend sounded wonderful

 

[ThePin Princess]

i cant wait to hear about day 3!!!

 

[scrdofbugs]

I am loving your trip report and your girls are adorable. BTW, I live in the Memphis area too (Millington). Small world!!

 

[ladybugmom]

Today we woke up super-early in order to make it to MK for an 8:00 a.m. BBB appointment. Ally's invite to the BBB:

And the girl's invite to CRT

We were so excited about our first day at MK that we ended up getting to the gates by 7:15 a.m.!!

Ally got a kick out of having her very own ticket and being able to put it in the turnstile to enter the parks

As we waited to enter MK the girls were given some Mickey confetti

A little after 7:30 a.m. the CMs did a special countdown for those of us entering the park early. Everyone threw their confetti in the air as they dropped the rope for us to enter. (the girls LOVED this)

It was such a magical and overwhelming experience walking down Main Street and the park being pretty much empty! We took it all in and made sure to get lots of pics while no one was around. We had some Photopass pics made and I took some as well.

We explored some of the castle before we made our way to the BBB.

The girls enjoyed seeing all of the "pictures" on the wall inside the castle

Then we headed into the BBB and were some of the first to arrive.

It was absolutely BREATHTAKING inside of the castle!

Then Princess Ally was called back and welcomed by her Fairy Godmother-in-training, Moncy. Ally chose her hairstyle, tiara, and nail polish and the magic began!!

Brent & Claire watching

continued in next post . . .

 

[ladybugmom]

Claire & me (can you spot the "hidden" Mickeys?)

Ally enjoying her BBB experience

Claire cheesin' for the camera

Moncy spraying the "plaster" on Ally's hair

Ally showing off her nails

Moncy was WONDERFUL!! She took sooo much time with Ally making sure her hair was centered and sitting on her head just right.

pixie dust (I'm STILL finding this is the girl's hair)

And the reveal!

my beautiful princess

Claire was not left out--pixie dust for Claire!!

checking out the dresses while Daddy pays

The experience at the BBB was excellent and we will definitely be doing it again!! Plus it was VERY worth the $ (Ally received the middle package that included hair, make-up, and nails). Since it rained everyday, I ended up keeping Ally's hair like this for the rest of our trip. And I'm telling you IT DID NOT MOVE!! I'm not sure what they put on Ally's hair but it was super stiff. It worked very well b/c Ally has super curly hair which would have been a frizzy mess in all of the rain!

After we left the BBB we headed back out to the front of the castle for more photopass photo ops. (I will share these when I get my cd) Here is one pic I took:

Then we headed to the Exposition Hall and had a photo shoot with the Photopass photograper in the BBB studio. The pictures turned out BEAUTIFULLY! I will share those when I get them. He even took some of Ally & Claire together--so sweet!! I was very pleased with the pics!

After the photo shoot we headed back out to Main Street and we could hear the opening show--the park was about to open so I quickly took some pics of Ally.

Our plan was to head to Fantasyland and ride Dumbo first thing before it got crowded. But who will we end up running into before we get to Dumbo?!?!?! Will we get to ride Dumbo?!?!