Two doctors and their less-educated friend PTR

[willwriteforears]

Hi everyone!

As you can see by my join date and low post count, I'm a DIS newbie. But I've been enjoying reading others' posts, and, since I like writing quite a bit, decided I'd start my own Pre-Trip Report.

Background info: I'm headed to the World on May 28th with two of my close friends from college. We went to school in Texas and graduated four years ago. I came back to my home state of Colorado, but the other two stayed in Texas, closer to family. One friend is about to finish med school, and the other is about to finish vet school, so both will get to append "Dr." to their names in a very short time. Me, I had a brief stint at an MFA in creative writing program in Chicago before I decided the cost wasn't worth it and I missed Colorado, so I came back to CO and got a job as an editor. So I've got the least edu-macation of us all, hence the title

I delved into it a bit with the preceding paragraph, but here's our dramatis personae:

me AKA Jiri (nick from another site). 26; the oldest of our crew by 2.5 months. Naturally curly hair. Fantasize about winning lottery and quitting the day job as an editor so I can pay off debt, buy a condo, and write. Fantasies not enough motivation to buy lottery ticket. Also fantasize about finishing novel, getting it published, and getting a large enough advance that I can quit the day job, and if not pay off debt, at least be sure that writing will cover my living expenses. *sigh* And in the last few weeks (every since I started reading the boards, actually) fantasies about honeymooning in the World, but you kinda need a fiance for that. Cough. Moving on. I'm also the trip instigator, having had the idea pop into my head during a long stint of light-boxing at work.

DF1 AKA Nevi (again, nick from another site). 26; middle oldest. Has the same real name as I do, with the result that she may also be referred to as "Straight hair." She's the one who's finishing vet school. Has a cat named Drake. *Huge* Batman fan. Has fantasies about marrying Bruce Wayne (hope she doesn't mind I mentioned that... ). Doesn't like to plan much herself (DF2 and I actually once figured out her class schedule for her because she loathed the idea of working out all the prerequisites) but incredibly affable and go-with-the-flow.

DF2 AKA Melneth. 25; won't be 26 until late July. She's finishing up medical school. Loves swing dance and was the president of the swing club at our college, though she hasn't had as much time for it recently (no surprise there...). Will start her residency in Oklahoma shortly after our trip; it was her number 1 pick, so I'm very happy for her, but saddened she won't be in New Mexico, since that would've been just 4 hours away from me. Also a planner, but has graciously let me wear the Trip Planner hat for the most part (she did get the rental car and will be ).

So that's us! Hopefully I'll be more regular with this than I am my blog. Cheers!

 

[willwriteforears]

Our vacation dates are May 28-June 4th. We have 7-day passes with Water Park Fun & More. Our basic itinerary:

May 28: All arrive at airport around 4:00pm. Collect baggage, pick up rental car, head to hotel (Royal Plaza), get groceries for breakfast, play card games (yes, we're very risque) or maybe head to Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island (Adventurer's Club! Comedy Warehouse!)

May 29: Animal Kingdom

May 30: Epcot Day 1; maybe Pleasure Island stuff that night

May 31: Magic Kingdom, dinner at Crystal Palace, and Mickey's Pirate and Princess Party*

June 1: Sleep in; maybe one of the Water Parks or a main park depending on energy level; DisneyQuest (we were very disappointed to discover that Cheesecake Factory will no longer be running FoodQuest when we get there)

June 2: Epcot Day 2 complete with Illuminations, hopefully we'll have patio seating at the Rose and Crown

June 3: Hollywood Studios with FDP at Hollywood and Vine

June 4: Maybe yet another morning at one of the parks; head to airport at 1-ish, weep copiously at our imminent departure, play card games at the gate until DF1 and DF2's flight leaves, leaving me to sulk another 45 minutes before mine leaves as well.

*The problem with me is that I troll the Internet looking for things to do, get all excited, and then send my friends e-mails that go something like this:

"Hey, guess what! We can go to House of Blues Gospel Brunch on June 1!" or "What do you think about the Arabian Horse dinner show?" and of course, "Ooh, how about Sleuths Mystery Dinner?"

DF2, AKA Melneth, is like me in that she generally checks e-mail once a day. So she often replies with something like "[House of Blues] sounds great! Let's order tickets!" DF1, Nevi, usually lags a little in her replies. "I don't have a strong preference. Really all I want to do is hang out with you two and have fun."

So then I set about getting said tickets, but something comes up to thwart the plan, which I convey via e-mail: "I tried to call HOB, got voicemail, which sent me to the automated TicketMaster thing to order tickets. System did not understand me when I said 'House of Blues Gospel Brunch' and thought just 'Gospel Brunch' was 'Chi Chi.' I said no, 'Chi Chi' is not correct. Lost call. Called HOB again to again be transferred to TicketMaster, which still didn't understand 'House of Blues Gospel Brunch' and finally connected me to a real person. The real person couldn't find any events for House of Blues Gospel Brunch on June 1 (as in not listed, not as in sold out). Helpfully offered alternative HOB events. 'No,' I said, 'I'm only interested in the Gospel Brunch.' Person (presumably) looked a bit more and then still said he couldn't find that event listed."

But nothing thwarted MPPP , so we're going even though Melneth feels sorta ambivalent about it. But I'm looking forward to Captain Jack's Pirate lessons, and one can always use an excuse to practice her "arrs."

 

[dizluvah]

I am newbie to the dis as well. Welcome!

Great pre-trippie - I can't wait to read about your trip.

DH and I are going May 16-24th. 10 more sleeps!!!!

Last year my sister and I did a "girls trip" and we are planning to make it an annual thing - we had so much fun leaving our husbands at home.

Your itinerary looks great.

Happy Planning

 

[NorweJenNY]

Looks like a fun trip! I'll be there around the same time as you. Hoping for nice weather and not too many crowds (though lots of resorts seem quite full!)

Glad to hear you're planning a sleep-in day. It makes a lot of sense. We'd like to plan one too except that's not as predictable with preschoolers around. They'll make sure we're up before park opening each morning.

 

[willwriteforears]

dizluvah and NorweJenNY, thanks for responding! Alas, this PTR may go the way of my blog after all. I blame my novel--I'm trying to get its first chapter and a synopsis (yet to be written ) ready for a contest sponsored by the writing organization I'm in. Due date is June 2, which of course won't work for me as I'll be at DHS.

But I'm hoping to write a real post this evening. Weather here in CO is dreary and wet, which at least makes for good writing time.

15 days and counting!

 

[willwriteforears]

Sheesh, forgot that I'd wanted to actually include more personalized replies to both of you.

dizluvah--yes, girls only trips are great! Last year DF1, DF2, and I all went to San Diego. I'll have to see if I can convince them WDW would be a great yearly thing--though I'm sure at some point one or all of us will find DHs of our own, which might put a damper on girls' trips, alas. And you're probably packing up for your own trip. Have fun and write a trip report!

NorweJen--Now every time I see a family with pre-schoolers, I'll wonder if it's you! But I'm an early riser myself, so I may be the one bugging my friends to get going and get to the parks. I agree though, a day for sleeping in is great. Hope you enjoy your trip as well!

 

[willwriteforears]

Confession the first: Today, my job essentially paid me to spend approximately half of my day on the Dis boards. No, they don't know about it. But as I was down to rereading an article for "training purposes," I don't feel *that* guilty.

Confession the second: It seems I am one of "those people" who makes/designs her own group T-shirts, because I spent an inordinate amount of time designing T-shirts for me and my two DFs. Theoretically they will arrive in a week; we'll see if the Web site's guesstimate is accurate. The shirts are surprise graduation gifts for my DFs, since we'd decided that the trip to WDW would be the gifts (which leads to confession the second-b: I hadn't initially planned on giving my DFs anything other than my heartfelt congratulations. Since that'd be, you know, free). My parents actually volunteered to pay for the shirts, though (and I mean "volunteered" in its truest sense; I'd been waffling about the shirts due to cost, and then theoffered to pay), so the shirts are gifts from all of us, with the 'rents footing the bill and me doing the grunt design work. And me getting a bonus shirt since I'm not graduating from anything. Cough.*

Confession the third, and the one that may result in a tarring and feathering or possible stoning: I am not a Disney fanatic. But wait! Hold off on the tar, feathers, and stones for just a moment. The potential is definitely there--I wouldn't be on these boards, obsessively reading trip reports and pre-trip reports and the Year of a Million Dreams threads if it weren't. And nor would I envision a Disneymoon with my as-yet nonexistent fiance (see first post). But if I'm honest with myself, I have to admit that there's a real possibility that after the vacation is over, I'll enter post-trip depression, stop visiting the boards, and shrivel up into a non-Disney fanatic whose workplace pays her to look up cookie recipes online. Until real work comes in, of course.

Or I could dive right in to planning the next trip and keep the magic going perpetually.

Though it's probably not a good idea to get a mail-ordered DH just so I could have a Disneymoon--OR IS IT?


*Unless I come up with something I could graduate from. For example, I've thought off and on of learning how to make Baked Alaska. So I find a recipe online, get myself a chef's hat, talk to myself, giving myself instructions, while I cook it, take a picture of myself with the finished product, design a little certificate on the computer, and presto: We have two doctors and their less educated friend who is a Graduate of the Self-Taught Baked Alaska Cooking Class.

...um, no.

 

[willwriteforears]

Remember how I designed trip shirts for DF1, DF2, and myself? (If you don't, I pity you because you have the short-term memory of a fruit fly with ADD. It was in the post right before this one.) Well, I put my t-shirt order in on May 2. I'm going through customizedgirl.com and have been checking my order status off-and-on since then. Every time the status was listed as "in progress," so I went on my merry way of finalizing trip plans, keeping up with work (not that it's hard to box up foul copy...), and also editing my novel on my own time.

But today I received an e-mail. "On your order the upload of the pencil will have white on the inside of it, it did not go through as transparent. Please let us know if this is ok."

Let me back up a bit and explain the pencil. As I mentioned, the shirts are graduation gifts for DFs 1 and 2, with my shirt being a bonus. Since my DFs can now append "Dr." to their names, I designed the shirts to read "Dr. Nevi" [DF1] and "Dr. Melneth" [DF2]. Nevi's shirt has a paw print on it, since she's a vet, and Melneth's has that staff with the snake around it that represents whatever medicine-oriented Greek or Roman deity, and ergo, modern medicine, since she's a medical doctor. Coolness! One problem: I am not a doctor, and the shirts are supposed to (somewhat match). So after much debate, I decided that my shirt would read "Editor Jiri" and I'd stick a pencil on it.

So, the e-mail from my friendly customizedgirl customer rep: is the white in the pencil okay?

NO, it is not okay! customizedgirl does not realize how much effort I put into that stupid pencil! Well, the t-shirts in general, but that pencil in particular!

Details:

While customizedgirl.com does include paw print and medical-symbol-thingy clip art, they do not have a pencil. They have a crayon, but I do not edit in crayon. No editor edits in crayon. (And I actually use pens most of the time, but pencils are more associated with editors. But I digress. Moving on.)

So then I look at a couple of other t-shirt design Web sites; more expensive, but maybe they have all the clip art I need. No dice. The others all have paw prints, but no snake-around-staff, or the same problem as customizedgirl, no pencil. So then I look for free clipart of either a pencil or the s-a-s. All of them have that white background, and I'm not tech/clipart savvy enough to figure out how to get rid of it (our shirts, when they finally are made, will be sky blue. A white box is not appropriate for my pencil). And the one Web site I find that removes the white background for you was way more expensive.

All right, think I, I'll just make my own pencil in a drawing program. So I download the free version of PhotoPlus and commence making my own pencil.

My problem, dear readers, is that I'm a creative wannabe. Every so often I become "crafty" or "DIY-y." As with my Halloween costume last year, when I went to work as Death's Door (lost the costume contest to a marionette, BTW. Still sorta bitter about that). I enlisted my mom's help to sew myself a basic grim reaper costume, then fashioned a door prop out of balsa wood attached to a cardboard backing, painted a skull's head knocker on it, the works. Here's the door:

So my pencil became my semi-creative project. I don't have a steady mouse-hand. I spent *ages* trying to get the lines of the pencil semi-straight. Then I thought I'd add "edited" text. Picked a script font, typed in "mose house or burst" with edit marks to make it read "Mouse House or bust," thought I'd put in a snazzy drop shadow, then used the smudge tool on the pencil since my pencil wasn't straight and I thought smudging would make the lack-of-straightness look more intentional.

Then I exported as a .gif file. Fuzzy anything, as I discovered, doesn't work in .gifs. And since unintelligent me hadn't saved various versions, I was reduced to using the eraser tool to clean up the smudges. Little specks of black got left in the image in places, but I cleaned them up a little, enough that that, too, would look "arty."

So I re-export as a .gif, upload to customizedgirl, aaannnd discover I have that cursed white background again. (As I said, I'm not photo/image editing savvy.) So after an hour or so spent using PhotoPlus's help tool, I figure out that there's something-or-other I need to click as I'm exporting as a .gif to make the background transparent. I do so, reupload to customizedgirl, and hallelujah, it looks good! It actually looks good!

And so then I placed my order and forgot about it, except to check on the status on occasion, as I mentioned.

And now THIS. The evil white background has returned. GAAAHHHH!

I explained that the file I exported should've had a transparent background, and asked if they could do anything to remove it on their end. They said they can give it a shot, but only if it's okay for the the little black specs to go bye-bye. So my pencil will be less arty. I told them I'd also try re-exporting the file, but that pencil send me into such throes of agony I may wind up slashing everything out with my unsteady mouse-hand.

Should I ever receive my trip shirts, I'll post pix of them. They are a surprise, but DFs aren't disers, so the only problem should be if I get the insatiable urge to set fire to the lot for all the frustration they've caused me.

Oh well. At least DMom and DDad paid for them. Can't beat that.

 

[willwriteforears]

My trip books arrived today from UPS! For some inexplicable reason, the UPS man (or woman; I don't actually know, but I can't recall the last time I saw a UPS woman) has a fondness for placing my packages under the welcome mat in front of my apartment. Because it's so subtle. "Hey, there's nothing hidden under the welcome mat here! Nothing at all. The concrete just grew a hideous tumor. Please don't offend it by asking questions or poking around. Move along. Because there is most certainly NOT a box under here. Hideous tumor. Remember: hideous tumor." Doesn't really matter to me, I guess, because no one's ever taken a package yet.

Anyway, the books I referred to as my trip books aren't technically "trip books" in that they have nothing to do with planning the trip. They're my cushion to ensure I have something to read during the trip, should I ever decide to read instead of talking with my DFs or touring the parks. (I'm a bibliophile; it could happen.)

Whenever I contemplate buying new books, particularly when I've had a lot of expenses, such as park tickets for a certain magical place, hotel for a certain magical place, plane tickets to get to a certain magical place, etc., my id, ego, and superego end up having a discussion. Only I was never all that fond of Freud, and so I can't recall which is responsible for what; only that one is the child, one is the adult, and the last "mediates" between the two. Since I can't remember which is which, we'll just use the names Igor, Achmed, and Flo.

Conversations usually go thusly:
Igor: Hey, look! Just two books left in the to-read pile! Must purchase more!

Achmed: Whoa there, Igor! Remember, we just bought plane tickets to get to a certain magical place.

Igor: Uh-huh. And we'll want books to read during the plane ride.
Achmed: But we still have two--

Igor: Which we can blow through in the next couple of weeks, easy. Amazon has that "buy three get one free deal," BTW.

Flo: If we must buy books, that'd be a good way to do it.

Achmed: Flo, how can you side with Igor? In addition to the plane tickets, we have the hotel room, and of course the park tickets, and what about food? We haven't even paid for food yet. Surely you don't want us to STARVE!

Flo: [exasperated] No, Achmed, I don't want us to starve. But Igor's just going to complain the entire time if we don't get some books--

Achmed: So what you're telling me is that if we end up having to scrape Dole Whip drippings off the ground in order to glean sustenance, that's preferable to not having books to read. During a trip when we won't have time to read them.

Igor: Yes! And we'll have the flight, remember? What if we get tired of the iPod? Must... have... books! Buy buy buy!

Achmed: [shouting over Igor] And don't forget about all the stupid things we need to get before the trip. We still don't have a proper pirate costume for the MPPP. Oh, and did you forget about the cost of that ticket? Another $46 including tax.

Flo: It's going to be all right, Achmed. We do have the economic stimulus payment money, after all.

Igor: Yeah!

Achmed: [glowering] That money should be put toward the rising cost of gas.

Igor: [throws self at Achmed in an attempt to strangle]

Flo: [sighs] Here we go again. [gets out riot gear to break things up]

Igor's pretty scrappy, and where books are concerned, Igor usually wins. Because I start to feel itchy if I don't know what I'm going to read next. There's a reason I was an English major, after all. And I'm sure some of the books will go in my carry-on for the trip, so yes, mods, this post is pertinent to the topic! Mostly.

Though what I read now was never part of my degree plan. I'm reading a lot of urban fantasy, 'cause that's what my novel I'm working on is. Gotta keep up with what will hopefully be my competition. But I enjoy the genre--wouldn't write it if I didn't.

And since I should keep this post at least somewhat-Disney oriented, I'll mention that when I think about it, I believe Enchanted is probably the closest thing to urban fantasy Disney's put out, although Monsters Inc. and The Incredibles may be contenders. When we get a non-Halloween-oriented movie about werewolves or vampires--REAL ones, then we'll be getting somewhere.

 

[willwriteforears]

Just a quickie since I'm at work and therefore ostensibly working (despite the fact that there's nothing to work *on*).

Last night I had a dream about purloining lime-green Mickey heads. From my workplace. Which had set up a "paint chip" room, for all our painting needs, I suppose. I kept trying to take the LGMHs, and getting angry comments from co-workers: "What are you doing?" "I'm, um, going to paint." "We're about to have a meeting! Set down the lime-green Mickey heads!"

And then we proceeded to have a meeting in the room full of Mickey head paint chips.

I'm not sure whether this means my trip planning is interfering with work, or work is interfering with my trip planning. Probably the latter.

 

[Tinkerbellarella]

Fantasize about winning lottery and quitting the day job as an editor so I can pay off debt, buy a condo, and write. Fantasies not enough motivation to buy lottery ticket.

Yeah. I talk about winning Powerball all the time. Apparently I'm going to win it with my mind. Because I can't tell you when the last time I bought a ticket was.

(Adventurer's Club! Comedy Warehouse!)

Rum!

Sorry.

It's Friday. This is where my head is at.

System did not understand me when I said 'House of Blues Gospel Brunch' and thought just 'Gospel Brunch' was 'Chi Chi.' I said no, 'Chi Chi' is not correct. Lost call.

This was I-have-that-laughing-stitch-in-my-side hysterical.

Confession the first: Today, my job essentially paid me to spend approximately half of my day on the Dis boards. No, they don't know about it.

You could work in the cube next to me, it seems.

Though it's probably not a good idea to get a mail-ordered DH just so I could have a Disneymoon--OR IS IT?

Depends - does Men's Fitness or Sport Illustrated have a mail order section? Because a Disneymoon AND a DH whose not bad on the eyes?! Sounds worth it to me!

"Hey, there's nothing hidden under the welcome mat here! Nothing at all. The concrete just grew a hideous tumor. Please don't offend it by asking questions or poking around. Move along. Because there is most certainly NOT a box under here. Hideous tumor. Remember: hideous tumor."

A Cape Codder smoothie (sans alcohol) feels quite interesting in one's nasal passages. Just sharing.

Whenever I contemplate buying new books, particularly when I've had a lot of expenses, such as park tickets for a certain magical place, hotel for a certain magical place, plane tickets to get to a certain magical place, etc., my id, ego, and superego end up having a discussion. Only I was never all that fond of Freud, and so I can't recall which is responsible for what; only that one is the child, one is the adult, and the last "mediates" between the two. Since I can't remember which is which, we'll just use the names Igor, Achmed, and Flo.

Ever heard of paperbackswap.com? PM me if you'd like details. All you pay is postage, books are essentially "free". Two catches - you must:

a.) be willing to get used books (though they're all in good shape)
b.) have books of your own to post (i.e. be willing to part with some books of your choosing)

This is how I keep my bookshelf stocked all the time.

Well, that and a ridiculous obsession with Borders.

I'm just sayin'.

Lovin' it so far. And your trip is so close! Looking forward to more.

 

[willwriteforears]

Ever heard of paperbackswap.com? PM me if you'd like details. All you pay is postage, books are essentially "free". Two catches - you must:

a.) be willing to get used books (though they're all in good shape)
b.) have books of your own to post (i.e. be willing to part with some books of your choosing)

This is how I keep my bookshelf stocked all the time.

Well, that and a ridiculous obsession with Borders.

I'm just sayin'.

Lovin' it so far. And your trip is so close! Looking forward to more.

Thanks for popping by! I think I've heard of paperbackswap.com, but have major issues parting with my beloved books. I get it from my dad; he has 6 (I think) 6-foot bookcases in their basement, each full of mass-market size pb's that he's collected ever since he moved out to CO for grad school in the '70s. As long as I don't inherit the tendency to save newspapers from two+ years ago (which I shouldn't since I don't subscribe) I can live with my genes.

Anyway, I'm going to have to make this day at work count, DIS-wise, because I'm going on a retreat this weekend and will be sans Internet. Back to trolling the boards!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I have been cracking up while reading your PTR so far. I can't wait to read more and I can't wait to see your tshirt. I have developed an obsession with personalized tshirts in the last few weeks. It will only be a matter of time until I order some of my very own.

 

[willwriteforears]

I have been cracking up while reading your PTR so far. I can't wait to read more and I can't wait to see your tshirt. I have developed an obsession with personalized tshirts in the last few weeks. It will only be a matter of time until I order some of my very own.

Hello! You're also on my to-read list from Tinkerbellarella's PTR. Thanks for the compliment! Yes, I'm not 100% sure my DFs will enjoy the wearing of personalized T-shirts, but I did have fun designing/ordering my own. When I didn't want to rip my hear out dealing with the stupid pencil. No update from customizedgirl on that, so fingers crossed that it's okay...

Popping over to your PTR now!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Hello! You're also on my to-read list from Tinkerbellarella's PTR. Thanks for the compliment! Yes, I'm not 100% sure my DFs will enjoy the wearing of personalized T-shirts, but I did have fun designing/ordering my own. When I didn't want to rip my hear out dealing with the stupid pencil. No update from customizedgirl on that, so fingers crossed that it's okay...

Popping over to your PTR now!

Wooooo! I am on a list!!

 

[willwriteforears]

I'm back after a weekend retreat with my small group from church. Nice bonding time, but no Internet access. Which could have interfered with the bonding, so I guess that makes sense.

Anyway, last week when I was still at work and therefore near my work computer and the job's always-on Internet connection, which meant that I could let work pay me to peruse the DIS boards, of course I kept reading about the Poly, the POP, AKL, and whatever other Disney resort DISers' happy little hearts cared to post about. And so the germ of this post was born.

Because DF1, DF2, and I are staying [lowering voice--er, typing fingers, if they can be lowered] off-site. Sort of. We're at the Royal Plaza, which of course is in DTD, but not a Disney resort.

Yes, I know. Staying at a non-Disney-resort is our (well my, at least) secret shame. Only not so secret anymore, since I'm posting about it for people to review and become horrified by. Parents, please cover the eyes of young children. Maybe fire up Radio Disney as well, and sing along with "The Circle of Life" very loudly to distract them.

And yes, there is a large part of me that regrets not staying at a Disney resort. No EMH for us. No free parking for the car we're renting. No Magical Express. No mousekeeping. Lots and lots of no's.

But cost is an issue. Our planning for the trip started pretty late for a WDW trip--just two months in advance, which meant very little time to save up. My portion of this trip is financed largely by my "extra" paycheck (I'm paid biweekly, so I get two "extra" paychecks each year) and my economic stimulus payment. My tax refund went toward purchasing a new TV after my old one, inherited from my parents and nearly 15 years old, lost sound. I don't think I'll go into credit card debt as long as I don't buy too many souvenirs--but unfortunately the trip will put me that much further away from paying of my car and the last bit of my student loans.

Will it be worth it? I imagine so. But when mousesavers.com offers up a good deal for a short-notice trip, my inclination--until I win the lottery or get a novel published that will warrant me a six-figure advance and earn me royalties out the wazoo, that is--is to take it. So we did. And then got a slightly even better deal when the hotel sent me an e-mail about another promo. We now have at least one extra meal each paid for by our savings.

So I'm left to sigh wistfully over other DISers' posts about the resorts, and also say to my self, over and over, "Well, if you can plan the next trip in advance, then you can do a resort."

And, of course, there's been the guilt issue the couple of times I've called to make our ADRs. Because of course the question "And which resort are you staying at?" comes up, and I have to answer, guiltily, that we're not doing a Disney resort. Twice may not be enough experiences to warrant an "always," but "always" I shall use nonetheless: After my confession, the Disney reservations rep always says "Oh" in what I interpret as a disappointed tone of voice, and that "Oh" really means, "My God, woman! What's wrong with you? You won't get Extra Magic Hours! You won't get Magical Express! Or free parking should you have your own car! And mousekeeping! Have you heard about mousekeeping? Because YOU WON'T HAVE THAT EITHER!"

And as I make my ADRs, one corner of my mind is yammering, "I know! I know we won't get that stuff, and I'm sorry for not further supporting Disney. I swear that we'd do a Disney resort if one of us wasn't an underpaid editor-peon and the other two didn't have loads of medical and vet school debt! Here, I'll prick my finger and sign in my own blood a statement to that effect. Please forgive us, and tell us we can still have a magical time!"

But really, I just get my ADRs set and that's that. But both times ('scuse me, always) after getting the ADRs down, I check the Disney site just in case--but no, still no Disney resort for us.

My all-encompassing guilt, however, tells me that it would be a Very Bad Idea for me to ever go to one of those non-Disney timeshare spiels that offer you free tickets for attending a "brief" presentation on why it's great to have an Orlando timeshare. A lot of them are designed to manipulate you out of your money, and even going in armed with that knowledge, I could still see myself succumbing. Hey, it happened to me with some guy selling magazines.* I have to face it, I'm just a sucka.

*Which you could read about, if you are so inclined, here.

 

[PinkPrincessZ]

Hi Jiri!

Great writing - really enjoying your pre-trippie!

Don't worry about staying off-site. You will still have an amazing time! There's alway next time - and believe me, my friend - there will be a next time!! Can you say "addiction"? As soon as I get home, the planning for the next trip commences. It's half the fun, right?

Looking forward to more!

 

[willwriteforears]

Originally posted by Lady Lallie

Wooooo! I am on a list!!

Yes, I'm takin' names.

Originally posted by PinkPrincessZ
Hi Jiri!

Great writing - really enjoying your pre-trippie!

Don't worry about staying off-site. You will still have an amazing time! There's alway next time - and believe me, my friend - there will be a next time!! Can you say "addiction"? As soon as I get home, the planning for the next trip commences. It's half the fun, right?

Looking forward to more!

Thank you, and hello! Yes, planning is great. Since the trip is so close now (!9 days! I only need two hands minus one finger to count down!) instead of thinking "In two weeks we'll be in X," I'm starting to think "In three weeks I'll be home again." So yes, I think I'll have to commence planning immediately after so I don't spiral down into a pit of depression that makes me turn my bedroom into a cave with print-outs of the pix taken during the trip stuck to my walls while I stroke a stuffed Mickey souvenir and whimper to myself.

But because I'm trying to avoid becoming depressed before I really have a reason for it, here it is again:

9 days!!!!

 

[willwriteforears]

Let us discuss food.

It having been 16 long years since I've been to the World and me being a person who likes food, I'm very much anticipating the eating that is to be had. Frankly, all I remember food-wise from my trip 16 years ago is the Sci-Fi Diner in what used to be MGM, and that our hotel offered a free breakfast, and I was sad that therefore my mom insisted eating breakfast at the world or getting any of those "breakfast pastries" was unnecessary. I'm not sure if they had Dole Whips back then, but if so, I don't think I had one. We probably did eat Mickey bars at some point, but the attractions stand out for me more than the food.

That, of course, was pre-digital cameras. This time out, I will not consider myself above taking pix of pretty dishes, or even not-so-pretty dishes, because they may turn out to be the taste sensation I'll sigh over fondly as I rub my stomach during post-trip reminiscing.

I posted our ADRs in our basic itinerary early on, but we've made a couple more since then, so here's our updated dining itinerary:

May 29: Yak and Yeti at AK, 2:30
May 30: Restaurant Marrakesh at Epcot, 2:30
May 31: Crystal Palace at MK, 4:50
June 1: -- [sleep in/DisneyQuest day]
June 2: Rose and Crown at Epcot (hopefully for Illuminations), 7:40
June 3: Hollywood and Vine at DHS, 4:30 (Fantasmic! dining package)

Honestly, YaY and RM may end up getting canceled if we're feeling cheap and energetic. But I'd convinced my DFs that it'd be good to have ADRs in place should we get tired out and want to sit for a while--my reasoning being that we can cancel if we want to, but if we were to go, get tired, and then decide we wanted a sit down meal, we'd probably end up wearing ourselves out even more looking for a sit-down place that has an opening. My DFs acquiesced to my unassailable logic.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk food choice. I like food, and I know this is a vacation, but I'm not planning on going all-out in terms of what I eat. I love my DFs; it's a cliche, but they really are the sisters I never had. But I think I'm the most "conscientious" eater of the three of us.

Case in point: During our trip to San Diego last fall, DFs kindly purchased some yogurt for me for breakfast while they awaited my arrival from the airport. It was very kind of them to provide breakfast stuff for me. But it was Yoplait yogurt. Flavored Yoplait. Flavored Yoplait uses high fructose corn syrup. Frankly, I would've preferred plain.

I do my best to limit carbs, particularly the refined stuff. I don't buy any white-flour products. I've baked my own bread and hamburger buns using spelt, whole wheat, rye, and other whole-grain flours. Likewise, I avoid refined sugar as much as I can. Instead I use sucanat, stevia, turbinado sugar, agave nectar, and raw honey--sweeteners that at least haven't had all the nutrition processed out of them. Trans fats do not have a home in my kitchen. All this is a change from the way DFs and I ate and shopped when we roomed together in college.

Part of it may be because Colorado is considered the leanest state in the country, and my friends out here are mostly all Stick-People from the Land of Thinville.

But it's also because my body doesn't like refined flours, or refined sugar in particular (the latter henceforth to be referred to as "that junk"). A couple years ago I had a nasty flare-up of atopic dermatitis that spread all over my chin, partially up my cheekbones, at the corners of and underneath my eyes, and to spots on my neck. The area around my mouth stayed cracked and bleeding for weeks on end. The rash would get better at times, then flare again. The outbreaks started in mid-October, and I kept having flares over various parts of my face until late March of the next year. Five months, I dealt with that. I finally connected it to eating that junk. If I stayed away from that junk, my skin cleared up more quickly. If I ate it again, I was a miserable, antisocial hermitess*, not wanting to go out at night or on the weekends. Only I couldn't miss work, so I had to endure the masked looks of horrification* and pity, and the pretending-to-ignore-the-massive-raw-rash bit. The latter of which was okay, because there were definitely days that if anyone had said anything, I would have burst out crying. Not good times.

Plus, I've noticed my nails get ridges in them and don't grow as strong if I eat that junk. I get lethargic and mentally sluggish, too. And even aside from the atopic dermatitis, I have increased breakouts of acne.

So: That junk = Jiri's Greatest Nemesis. I can take it in small amounts, but definitely get minor flaking and occasional redness if I over-ingest. And more frequent zits. All this means that when DFs get churros or other tasty vendor food, I'm left wishing I could make Disney see the light and start cookin' with agave. Or sucanat or any of the other sweeteners I mentioned. And to offer more whole wheat products. I mean, sure, it's great to have at 10% whole wheat in the hamburger buns, as I read recently they've done. And I am thrilled that trans fats have been eliminated from the parks. But even knowing what that junk and refined flours can do to me, I still get a little envious watching DFs eat pizza while I go for a salad. Because a part of me thinks, hey, it is a vacation, and with the loads of walking, it might be okay weight-wise. But I'm vain and self-conscious enough that I can't handle what it'd do to my skin.

So, my goal is going to be to seek out in advance at least relatively healthy food, and to get stoked about it, so maybe I won't end up shouting to my DFs, "Look! It's Jack Sparrow!" and then snatching their treat-of-choice away from their distracted hands for me to devour and then regret. Wish me luck!

And sorry for the length of this not-incredibly-entertaining post. Usually I try to keep the depressing ones short. But I think my trip T-shirts will arrive tomorrow, so with any luck I can take pix and post those. Yeah!

*Yes, I am aware these are not real words, and I don't care. Don't care with me!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Do you know if the tshirts have arrived yet?

I am currently battling a rash on my lower legs and ankles. They think it is stress eczema, but I don't have much faith in their diagnonsis. I get flare ups every few months, last time they diagnosed it as poison ivy. Ugh. They were so wrong. I really do think it is stress related. I am trying not to freak out because I have a tea length wedding dress and I hope hope hope that it will be cleared up before the wedding. Again, trying not to stress...

I am really enjoying your writing and can't wait to hear all about your trip. I can't remember if I read or not, but are you going to take food pics and do reviews?