Three trip reports in one.

dislvr74

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Hi! I’ve never done a pre-trip or a trip report before, but I always enjoy reading them and I’m going to give it a try this time.

Our cast:

Me: loves planning, WDW, uses parenthesis far more than necessary, and managed to turn one trip into three (more on that later).

DH: loves his family, does not love WDW, hates travel, and is quite possibly the cheapest man alive. Don’t feel too sorry for him; this is only his second trip to WDW in 12 years.

DD9: actually 8 and 11/12 and turns 9 on Jan 1st (but that's too much to type out), has been to WDW about 15 times, but not in the last three years, very much “over” anything pink or otherwise girly.

DD3: all about princesses, has a “friend” named Alison who lives in the castle, made her first trip to WDW at 4 months.

Over a year ago, I started bugging DH about making a trip to WDW. I was able to do some work on the side and saved enough to pay for a stay at Poly with the help of a 40% off pin code. I’m normally a value resort kind of person, but the only way DH can tolerate WDW is if he gets to spend a lot of time swimming and hanging out at the resort. Poly should be fun and access to the monorail makes it easier for me to watch both kids if we split up for a few hours. DD9 conveniently has several days off of school during the first week of December (I have no idea why they get days off the week after Thanksgiving, but it works to our advantage this year) so we decided to stay Dec 1-6.

Sometime this summer, my Mom casually mentioned that she was interested in doing the Disney half marathon again (we did it in 2008) and I was able to talk my DH into playing the role of a single parent for a few days so that I could go too. That will be a very brief trip (Jan 8-11) and I am looking forward to a few days without the kids, even if it means that I have to run 13.1 miles to do it. Naturally, I decided that I would upgrade my ticket to an annual pass because it really is more cost effective. Really. Don’t check the math, just trust me on that one.

So now I’ll have an annual pass and a co-worker just happened to decide to do the princess half marathon in March. Airfare is pretty reasonable for that time of the year and I got another pin code. Coincidentally, my DH decided to return to night shift (he’s a police officer) which is not much fun for me and caused him to feel somewhat guilty about making that choice (it’s a long story and it really was for good reasons). Naturally I assured him that all would be well if I could just have a brief break from the kids to look forward to. So, another 13.1 mile run and I get my third trip March 6-10.

We are doing the dining plan because DH eats more than any other human and having all of our meals pre-paid saves him significant pain and angst. Our ADRs are for Tutto Italia (never been there before), Boma (never been there before either), Chef Mickey’s, the princess meal at Epcot, and Crystal Palace. I was really hoping to eat at Ohana since we are staying right there, but I haven’t been able to get an ADR. I’m going to try once we are there in case there are cancellations.

In preparation for our trip, I came up with some family rules. Hopefully you will understand the spirit that these were written in and realize that I have a fairly sarcastic personality!


Vacation Rules


1. War, famine, and homeless are real tragedies. Crowded airports, flight delays, waiting in line, walking, and taking turns are not.

2. Daddy is not allowed to say any of the following:
How much does that cost?
How are we paying for that?
Are we doing okay with our budget?
Are you keeping track of what we have spent?
Do we have any money left over to pay for parking at the airport?

3. Nobody is allowed to say any of the following:
When are we going to do something I want to do?
This isn’t fair.
Why do we have to do that?
I don’t want to do that. I want to do my favorite thing now.
This isn’t fun.

4. Every effort will be made to do everyone’s favorite things at least one time. This does not mean that you will get to do your favorites first.

5. During bathroom breaks, everyone will at least try to use the bathroom even if you think you don’t need to go.

6. Crying, pouting, whining, screaming, and arguing are not allowed.

7. Mommy will keep all KTTW cards at all times in order to avoid the Daddy-lost-his-key-incident of 2006.

8. The wearing of silly hats, funny t-shirts, and cute sunglasses is encouraged.

Thanks for reading!
 
I love all the rules! I think I will institute these when our son is older!!!

My parents came up with this one when we were on long car trips...They gave both me and my brother a role of quarters (that is $10-and as a kid this is a lot of money!) and we were allowed to keep it and spend it however we wanted---usually in the arcades of the hotels. ANYTIME we asked ANY variance of the question "Are we there yet" we had to hand over a quarter...after about .50 cents, we were silent the rest of the way :rotfl:!!!

I have always wanted to run a marathon---actually DH was making fun of me last night and told me if I EVER completed a 1/2 marathon he would give me $1,000. Maybe with that motivation and a Disney vacation, I can start my training tomorrow :rotfl2:
 
Vacation Rules

1. War, famine, and homeless are real tragedies. Crowded airports, flight delays, waiting in line, walking, and taking turns are not.

5. During bathroom breaks, everyone will at least try to use the bathroom even if you think you don’t need to go.

Yay for having so many trips to look forward to and plan! Your vacation rules are the best! I think #5 is something that my 11-year old brother needs to learn. Our house rule used to always be to go to the bathroom before you leave so that means we'd go before we left our house, a relative's house, or church. Never know when there's going to be traffic or something even when the ride's only 20 minutes! I think my mom got a little lax with this rule since my brother's the 3rd kid.

I also love #1. After having been in an accident and being the cause of traffic, if we end up in traffic because someone else got into a car accident, my mom and I always say, "I'd rather be the one in traffic than in the accident." The waiting time is the perfect time to pray that everyone's okay! We also don't mind delays at airports because if it means they're being safe by not flying or checking something, we'll wait! Really puts things into perspective.

Can't wait to read more ... even if it means parentheses!
 


I have always wanted to run a marathon---actually DH was making fun of me last night and told me if I EVER completed a 1/2 marathon he would give me $1,000. Maybe with that motivation and a Disney vacation, I can start my training tomorrow

That's exactly how I got started. Well, without the $1,000 offer. I was in WDW withdraw, I read some of the full/half marathon trip reports on the W.I.S.H. board, and next thing I knew I was signing up. I knew my DH would be supportive if I wanted to do it and I ended up having a blast. Now I've done 6 of them! I run/walk and my mom walks. It really isn't that bad.

Also, I love the quarter idea. I may have to add that.

Can't wait to read more ... even if it means parentheses!

Thanks for reading!

AH I love it!!! Looking forward to hearing more

Yeah! I have three readers. This is very exciting!
 
I love all the rules! I think I will institute these when our son is older!!!

My parents came up with this one when we were on long car trips...They gave both me and my brother a role of quarters (that is $10-and as a kid this is a lot of money!) and we were allowed to keep it and spend it however we wanted---usually in the arcades of the hotels. ANYTIME we asked ANY variance of the question "Are we there yet" we had to hand over a quarter...after about .50 cents, we were silent the rest of the way :rotfl:!!!

I have always wanted to run a marathon---actually DH was making fun of me last night and told me if I EVER completed a 1/2 marathon he would give me $1,000. Maybe with that motivation and a Disney vacation, I can start my training tomorrow :rotfl2:

Perfect Rule!! :rotfl2:

YOU WANTED TO RUN??? :faint: You have more fortitude in you than I do! Trust me - that is the BIGGEST hurdle!! Look into C25K program (couch to 5K) its more into "walk" run" - and then - go to the library and check out John Bingham - Marathoning for Mortals... and you'll get your Disney Vacation and $1,000 - but more importantly - you'll have the satisfaction of completing a goal!! (trust me, I'm old, fat and lazy - but I want to be healthy - and I want to be in Disney - so I'm doing my 3rd Half - hopefully THIS one I'll be ready for!!)


:wave: You did start a report!! :cool1: on taking the kids at Christmas time!!

Please take a few pictures of the resort at Christmas!! We got a fantastic deal and stayed at the Poly our first trip - DD was 8 I believe! Spoiled, yes, but because of the magic - we are still perfectly content to stay at Pop if it means another trip - and not have to wait 8 years!! (and DD was also outgrew pink and girly girl - talk about a "kiss of death" But, I'm grateful she still wants to eat with the Princesses in Norway - at 13! HER request - hey, I tried to talk her into CRT or 1900 - but nope, she wanted Norway!!)

I'm all over "if it takes running 13.1 miles to get there - I'm there" :cool1: Love that your mom is coming with - are you planning on joining us at Cape May Buffet Saturday night? I have a BIG reservation - and there's room for you two too!! :goodvibes

Hope you are planning on the Pop WISH Meet Friday night - its an amazing group of supportive people!! Plus at pop you can carbo load and just relax with a HUGE bunch of people in the same boat!!
 
i'm not sure how many, if any, meets I'll be able to do in January. Mom and I are arriving Friday afternoon and leaving on Monday. I am planning to do more W.I.S.H. stuff in March because my mom won't be there and I'm staying a couple of extra days.

My mom is amazing in my eyes. She was not at all athletic the entire time I was growing up. She went from zero exercise to walking half marathons in less than 3:30 with only 6 months of training. I've completed 6, but she has completed 8! Not bad for a 57 year old. She can't be there in March because my sister-in-law is due to have her first baby around that time. But, she is going with me for the two I'm doing in May. One of these days we are going to have to think about doing a full.

Don't worry, I'll be taking lots of pictures during all three trips. I know you are opposed to carrying a camera during the race, but I wouldn't do a race without one (especially at WDW). My mom didn't take any pictures in 2008 because she was so worried about being swept - and she finished in 3:28 so she would have been fine - but she thinks she has increased her pace enough to be able to take a few this time. She usually finishes around 3:20 these days. Anyway, she really regrets missing out on the pictures last time.
 


Well I'm going to run with a fanny pak Sat (to carry water and my blocks) and see how it goes - I'm not opposed to it - it just well distracted me!! and by the last 3 miles of it bopping up and down in the fanny pak - I wanted to fling it - but if I train better....

Ask your mom about Saturday Dinner I'll PM you the details - Dolce, and eeyor are coming... and I believe Maroo...
 
Sandy, you need to get a belt that's made for running to hold your stuff. It won't bounce around so much. Do you really need to carry your own water?

I bought some travel size space bags today and I'm looking forward to trying them out. We are trying to get by with fewer bags as long as we can stay under the weight limit. I'm going to start packing soon. :banana:

Also did the online check in today! :banana:
 
I love my job when the students are on fall break! It's a nice little break for us too. I'm still trying to book an ADR for O'hana and working on administrative stuff while listening to mouseplanet radio on live365.com. It would be really nice to leave for vacation feeling all caught up!

I'm starting to regret telling my parents I would drive to their house on Thanksgiving. I'm happy I don't have to cook, but I'm starting to realize that it isn't going to be fun to pack, unpack, and repack our stuff in less than one week. I know, this is a good problem to have!
 
I'm so excited to get out of here. We had a rough weekend that included some stomach flu, a dead fish, and a dead dryer. It's time to go on vacation!

I've tweaked my ADRs slightly and now we are eating at Tusker House and Coral Reef instead of Tutta Italia and Boma.

My training for the half marathons during trips 2 and 3 has not been good. I haven't run in over a week, which means I missed my long run this weekend. I'll have taken two weeks off by the time we get back from this trip. I'm trying not to panic. Maybe the break will actually be good for me.
 
I'm finally ready to start my trip report! Can I get this moved to the trip report board?

I was particularly dreading this day because DH hates the traveling part of travel the most. I was a little afraid that the airport could send him over the edge and I needed him to stay sober in order to assist me with the girls. Knowing that a layover with two young children and a cranky DH wouldn’t be fun, and given the cheaper airfare, I opted to get tickets for us out of Indianapolis. I usually prefer to fly out of Bloomington, IL because it is less than an hour from our house, is in our time zone (Indy is one hour ahead on ET), and has FREE (free!) parking. It also looks exactly the same as the Souix Falls, SD airport and that reminds DH of home. It reminds me of how happy I am that I no longer live in SD, but that’s a story for another time. So, Indy is about two hours away and I planned for us to leave around 12:30.

We all got up at our usual time in the morning and DD9 went to school so that I wouldn’t feel guilty about her missing 3 days of school (‘cause 2 ½ is much better than 3) and finished packing. I was sort of OCD about packing for this trip because I was responsible for so many people and had most of our stuff ready to go. But I threw in those last few items, weighed the suitcases (surprising tough to balance a huge suitcase on a tiny bathroom scale), and put those in the car. I packed two suitcases and remembered to put half of each of our clothes into each suitcase (rather than having an “adult” and “child” suitcase which seems more logical to me) in case one got lost. For some reason, I firmly believed that if we were going to lose luggage, it would only be one suitcase instead of both. I cannot explain this belief. I spent the rest of the morning cleaning so that I wouldn’t die of embarrassment when my co-worker/neighbor/friend came over to feed the fish and gather our mail while we were gone while ruminating over the pros and cons of claiming our ME-luggage-tag-lacking bags ourselves in MCO or hoping that they would find their way to our resort on their own. (Honestly, we booked our trip in November 2008-they really couldn’t send us our luggage tags in time?)

With boarding passes and a receipt for the baggage I had paid to check (so annoying) in hand, we loaded up and drove two blocks to DD9’s school. DH was inside for a LONG time and I was actually starting to get worried that we were going to have trouble taking her out of school for a few days. When they finally appeared, DH handed me a card from DD9’s teacher explaining that DD9 didn’t need to do any work on her vacation because she is such a hard worker at school. Apparently DH had been trying to convince the teacher that DD9 needed some homework for the trip. A quick stop to grab some lunch for DD9 (don’t elementary school kids generally eat lunch super early? I couldn’t believe she hadn’t eaten yet), we hit the road for the familiar drive to Indy.

I need to interrupt here to explain that I am a HUGE IndyCar fan (not NASCAR). We live exactly 1 hr and 45 min from the Indy speedway and I am usually there every weekend in May, which is when the series is there preparing for the Indy 500. I went to my first Indy 500, including camping in a tent the night before, when I was 7 months pregnant with DD3. It turned out to be the hottest race in history and I stayed for the whole race and then waddled almost a mile to the car afterwards. It wasn’t pretty, but it was one of the most amazing finishes in Indy 500 history (Hornish beat Marco Andretti just yards before the finish line.) The point of all this is that I know the route between our house and Indy very well and I get a such a warm feeling crossing the border into Indiana. Some of you talk about tearing up when you see the castle or first walk onto Main St. I tear up when can see the speedway grandstands. It’s a sickness.

That said, I have no idea how to get to the airport because I so rarely fly out of there now that Airtran flies out of BMI. Thank goodness for GPS devices because we almost missed the proper exit. We managed to find a parking spot with a minimal amount of drama and hopped on the shuttle. This is also when DH started looking like he was in physical pain. We get into the terminal (the new terminal and it’s very nice) and we are literally the ONLY people in the entire airline check-in area for ALL of the airlines in that terminal. You could have heard a pin drop in there. DH asked me if we were at the correct airport because it really looked like the terminal wasn’t even open. We headed over to Airtran and a very relaxed agent took our bags and sent us on our way. We walked over to security and there were only 5 or so people in line. They put us in the special family line and we were done in less than 5 minutes. So, the lesson here is that Tuesday afternoon is a really good time to travel! Also, the IND security line is very efficient. Why can’t it work that well at MCO? I hate the security line at MCO. I would rather deal with O’Hare.

The flight was on time and completely uneventful. I’m pretty sure I even saw a small smile on DH’s face. We landed and I still hadn’t decided what to do about our bags. We were all tired and hungry so I decided to gamble and went directly to ME check-in.

To be continued…
 

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