Tinkerbellarella
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2008
- Messages
- 3,520
Long, long, ago in a galaxy far, far, away...
Or last April-ish. In Southeastern Massachusetts...whatever...
I'd just booked my trip of trips. The trip that would be the first trip to the Where Magic Lives with my boyfriend (BF), my Prince Charming...who is sometimes disturbingly reminiscent of Gaston, Hercules and Tarzan all in one muscle-y, gastronomically gifted package. And who might also have been known, at the time, as Prince DoWeHaveToGoToDisney? The trip was 12 years in the wishing, 12 years in the dreaming, and finally, 12 years in the making. It was THE TIME. We were going and we were doing it up right! 7 days, the deluxe dining plan (DxDP), Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) tickets, costumes - the whole kit and kaboodle. And to boot, Prince NotSoDisney had put in a name change application to become Prince MaybeSomedayWe'llBuyDVC.
I. Was. So. Excited.
See? The bananas get it.
Fast forward to August when BF found out that one of HIS lifelong dreams was being fulfilled - he'd been chosen to become a firefighter
for a nearby city. We were experiencing blessing after blessing in our life. Everything was falling into place with perfect timing.
That is up until August 30th when BF called me after one of his informational FD meetings and uttered the words that still make me throw up in my mouth a little:
"Baby, I can't go to Disney."
In a split second my Disney dream came crashing down. See, the final examination BF had to pass in order to be accepted into the academy was scheduled for 9/21, the third day of our trip. And it could not be rescheduled. I'm proud to say that I waited to pitch a hissy fit until after I hung up the phone with him. Instead I called my mom. Then one of my very BFF's, DISer TarzansKat (a.k.a. TK, a.k.a. KittyKat, a.k.a. Kat, a.k.a. Leia (NOParisandNicole)). And I sobbed to them. I got it ALL out. And bless them, they're still speaking to me today. All this so I could be fit and supportive of BF by the time I got home because by this point he was feeling a million emotions, most of which boiled him down to a big ball of nerves. And disappointment about the trip.
So, it was time to make a decison - what to do about the trip...scrap it altogether? try to move the dates? get someone to take BF's place? go to the World solo? And here's the thing. I'm a Libra and, as such, want EVERYONE to be happy. And the only option that would really make ME happy would be for BF to come on the trip.
Hissy fit #2, complete with stamping of feet, threatened.
Then we talked it through. Scrapping the trip altogether wasn't an option. We'd lose out on too much $$. And while I dont mind forking it over to the Mouse on a regular basis, it is based on the fact that Im getting something in return, namely, a vacation. Disney was happy to refund us with no penalties for BF's half of the trip, given the extraordinary situation, and the airline was willing to give us a credit for the full amount of his flight usable until May 2011, but not so much for my half of the trip. We couldn't move the dates because neither of us could move our vacation time with work. I couldn't find anyone to take BF's place in such short notice Hi. Its Tink. Do you have X amount of pennies and can you take a week off?...Where? Oh, to Disney When? In like two and a half weeks hello?
So that only left one option: a solo trip.
I've done solo Disney trips probably a half-dozen times now and LOVE my alone time in the World. It's always been a great way to reconnect with myself and with all of the wonderful memories Disney holds for me.
Also, there's this unmatched sense of freedom at being able to have dessert for breakfast with no one to say otherwise.
But that wasn't what this trip was supposed to be and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to come to terms with it being anything but OUR FIRST TRIP TOGETHER.
I hemmed and hawed and finally agreed that that was the final answer. This trip would be a solo trip and we'd cross our fingers that BF would join me on my Princess 1/2 marathon trip in Feb./Mar. (Pre-Trip Report (PTR) link in my signature). I just felt guilty about the whole thing. And at first, not at all excited. As the trip crept closer, though, I got that familiar Disney zing in my chestal area. You know, that buzz that you get near your heart whenever you think, "I'm going to Disney in x-many days!" BF was supportive and trying to keep me excited and just kept saying we were going to do everything in our power to make the Feb./Mar. trip OUR trip. And honestly, I think we both realized that the time apart would present a good opportunity to get our heads in the right place for all the changes we had coming to us in the very near future: new job, new schedules, moving. Oh, did I forget, in all of the hullabaloo, to mention the moving?
The FD requires that all first-year firefighters live inside the city limits for the first 12 months. Then theyre free to move within 15mi of the city. The best part? BF had to be moved in by October 12th, the day the academy starts.
Yeah, dont give us much notice or anything. SIGH.
So, continuing the tradition of coordinating a new home whilst in Disney (we last moved while I was on my Sept. 2008 trip), we worked to square everything away. And, Im happy to report, all of the major, and most of the minor details were set in place by the time September 19th arrived.
If youd like more info. about the trip planning and all of the drama that ensued, feel free to check out the PTR here. But, the important details are summed up below, so dont feel to go back and read.
You know, unless youre slightly obsessed with the PTR/TR board.
And its not like Id know what thats like or anything
Trip Details
Who: Me! Tinkerbellarella! (a.k.a. Tink, a.k.a. Nicole, a.k.a. Nikki, a.k.a. Nik, a.k.a. Boo a.k.a. Luke) Ill give you a short synopsis in the next chapter the one where I actually leave home and dont ramble for copious paragraphs about months and months of planning ahem.
What: A First Trip Together turned Solo Sanity Search Trip
When: 9/19/10-9/25/10
Where: Disneys POP Century Resort
Why: Oh, puhleese. Were DISers. Im not answering this. If you dont know why, turn in your laminated lime green Mickey head HD paint chip (R.I.P. Mickey Head Paint Chips) and be on your way.
ADRs:
50s Prime Time Café (Dinner)
Kona Café (Breakfast)
Gardenview Tea Lounge (Afternoon Tea)
Citricos (Dinner)
Restaurant Marrakesh (Lunch)
California Grill (Dinner)
Boma (Breakfast)
Yak & Yeti (Lunch)
Kona Café (Dinner)
Hollywood Brown Derby (Lunch)
Kona Café (Breakfast again)
San Angel Inn (Lunch)
Tutto Italia (Dinner)
So now that you have the details, the tale can begin. In a minute.
First, let me say I will do my best to update this happy tale ( ::coughcoughridiculousepicadventuresnifflecough:: ) at least once a week. I took copious notes and pictures and am excited to share them all. However, in the beginning, please be patient with me and keep in mind Im battling the busiest time of year at work, moving (and hopefully purging) a whole lot of carp from one house to another, and helping my BF contend with all this change in his life without needing to pad the walls of our spare bedroom. I thank you all SO MUCH for taking the time to read and remember this little journey with me.
We'll have fun. I promise.
~ Nik
UP NEXT: There's NO CRYING at the airport! She's crying, sir!
(Kudos to the person who knows what quote/movie that's adapted from.)
Or last April-ish. In Southeastern Massachusetts...whatever...
I'd just booked my trip of trips. The trip that would be the first trip to the Where Magic Lives with my boyfriend (BF), my Prince Charming...who is sometimes disturbingly reminiscent of Gaston, Hercules and Tarzan all in one muscle-y, gastronomically gifted package. And who might also have been known, at the time, as Prince DoWeHaveToGoToDisney? The trip was 12 years in the wishing, 12 years in the dreaming, and finally, 12 years in the making. It was THE TIME. We were going and we were doing it up right! 7 days, the deluxe dining plan (DxDP), Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) tickets, costumes - the whole kit and kaboodle. And to boot, Prince NotSoDisney had put in a name change application to become Prince MaybeSomedayWe'llBuyDVC.
I. Was. So. Excited.
See? The bananas get it.
Fast forward to August when BF found out that one of HIS lifelong dreams was being fulfilled - he'd been chosen to become a firefighter
for a nearby city. We were experiencing blessing after blessing in our life. Everything was falling into place with perfect timing.That is up until August 30th when BF called me after one of his informational FD meetings and uttered the words that still make me throw up in my mouth a little:
"Baby, I can't go to Disney."
In a split second my Disney dream came crashing down. See, the final examination BF had to pass in order to be accepted into the academy was scheduled for 9/21, the third day of our trip. And it could not be rescheduled. I'm proud to say that I waited to pitch a hissy fit until after I hung up the phone with him. Instead I called my mom. Then one of my very BFF's, DISer TarzansKat (a.k.a. TK, a.k.a. KittyKat, a.k.a. Kat, a.k.a. Leia (NOParisandNicole)). And I sobbed to them. I got it ALL out. And bless them, they're still speaking to me today. All this so I could be fit and supportive of BF by the time I got home because by this point he was feeling a million emotions, most of which boiled him down to a big ball of nerves. And disappointment about the trip.
So, it was time to make a decison - what to do about the trip...scrap it altogether? try to move the dates? get someone to take BF's place? go to the World solo? And here's the thing. I'm a Libra and, as such, want EVERYONE to be happy. And the only option that would really make ME happy would be for BF to come on the trip.
Hissy fit #2, complete with stamping of feet, threatened.
Then we talked it through. Scrapping the trip altogether wasn't an option. We'd lose out on too much $$. And while I dont mind forking it over to the Mouse on a regular basis, it is based on the fact that Im getting something in return, namely, a vacation. Disney was happy to refund us with no penalties for BF's half of the trip, given the extraordinary situation, and the airline was willing to give us a credit for the full amount of his flight usable until May 2011, but not so much for my half of the trip. We couldn't move the dates because neither of us could move our vacation time with work. I couldn't find anyone to take BF's place in such short notice Hi. Its Tink. Do you have X amount of pennies and can you take a week off?...Where? Oh, to Disney When? In like two and a half weeks hello?
So that only left one option: a solo trip.
I've done solo Disney trips probably a half-dozen times now and LOVE my alone time in the World. It's always been a great way to reconnect with myself and with all of the wonderful memories Disney holds for me.
Also, there's this unmatched sense of freedom at being able to have dessert for breakfast with no one to say otherwise.
But that wasn't what this trip was supposed to be and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to come to terms with it being anything but OUR FIRST TRIP TOGETHER.
I hemmed and hawed and finally agreed that that was the final answer. This trip would be a solo trip and we'd cross our fingers that BF would join me on my Princess 1/2 marathon trip in Feb./Mar. (Pre-Trip Report (PTR) link in my signature). I just felt guilty about the whole thing. And at first, not at all excited. As the trip crept closer, though, I got that familiar Disney zing in my chestal area. You know, that buzz that you get near your heart whenever you think, "I'm going to Disney in x-many days!" BF was supportive and trying to keep me excited and just kept saying we were going to do everything in our power to make the Feb./Mar. trip OUR trip. And honestly, I think we both realized that the time apart would present a good opportunity to get our heads in the right place for all the changes we had coming to us in the very near future: new job, new schedules, moving. Oh, did I forget, in all of the hullabaloo, to mention the moving?
The FD requires that all first-year firefighters live inside the city limits for the first 12 months. Then theyre free to move within 15mi of the city. The best part? BF had to be moved in by October 12th, the day the academy starts.
Yeah, dont give us much notice or anything. SIGH.
So, continuing the tradition of coordinating a new home whilst in Disney (we last moved while I was on my Sept. 2008 trip), we worked to square everything away. And, Im happy to report, all of the major, and most of the minor details were set in place by the time September 19th arrived.
If youd like more info. about the trip planning and all of the drama that ensued, feel free to check out the PTR here. But, the important details are summed up below, so dont feel to go back and read.
You know, unless youre slightly obsessed with the PTR/TR board.
And its not like Id know what thats like or anything
Trip Details
Who: Me! Tinkerbellarella! (a.k.a. Tink, a.k.a. Nicole, a.k.a. Nikki, a.k.a. Nik, a.k.a. Boo a.k.a. Luke) Ill give you a short synopsis in the next chapter the one where I actually leave home and dont ramble for copious paragraphs about months and months of planning ahem.
What: A First Trip Together turned Solo Sanity Search Trip
When: 9/19/10-9/25/10
Where: Disneys POP Century Resort
Why: Oh, puhleese. Were DISers. Im not answering this. If you dont know why, turn in your laminated lime green Mickey head HD paint chip (R.I.P. Mickey Head Paint Chips) and be on your way.
ADRs:
50s Prime Time Café (Dinner)
Kona Café (Breakfast)
Gardenview Tea Lounge (Afternoon Tea)
Citricos (Dinner)
Restaurant Marrakesh (Lunch)
California Grill (Dinner)
Boma (Breakfast)
Yak & Yeti (Lunch)
Kona Café (Dinner)
Hollywood Brown Derby (Lunch)
Kona Café (Breakfast again)
San Angel Inn (Lunch)
Tutto Italia (Dinner)
So now that you have the details, the tale can begin. In a minute.
First, let me say I will do my best to update this happy tale ( ::coughcoughridiculousepicadventuresnifflecough:: ) at least once a week. I took copious notes and pictures and am excited to share them all. However, in the beginning, please be patient with me and keep in mind Im battling the busiest time of year at work, moving (and hopefully purging) a whole lot of carp from one house to another, and helping my BF contend with all this change in his life without needing to pad the walls of our spare bedroom. I thank you all SO MUCH for taking the time to read and remember this little journey with me.
We'll have fun. I promise.
~ Nik
UP NEXT: There's NO CRYING at the airport! She's crying, sir!
(Kudos to the person who knows what quote/movie that's adapted from.)
)
Can't wait to hear how it went!
