Unpack your Adjectives! Updated 6/2

[Briarmom]

Starting a Trip report has to be one of the hardest literary challenges of all time, no? I mean, you can’t just jump in and say ‘We went here’ because that’s insulting to your readers. They know you went there. They figured that out when they logged into the DISboards. Because they passed the 2nd grade. You need a lot of guts to bare your writing and your family to the Whole Wide DIS. The whole thing is a bit disconcerting. You need notes (I have none to speak of) and gumption (I'm a bit of a quitter) and, among other parts of speech, adjectives. Lots of them. Remember this little ditty?

Next time you go on a trip,
Remember this little tip:
The minute you get back,
They'll ask you this and that,
You can describe people, places and things...
Simply unpack your adjectives.
You can do it with adjectives.
Tell them 'bout it with adjectives.
You can shout it with adjectives.

That's not the whole song of course. But you knew that. You probably own the disc. I’ll introduce you to who went on this vacation. That we went on to DISNEY World. In case 2nd grade was a doozy for you.

Me: Briarmom. I’ve been in love with Disney since before I can remember. I don’t love planning as much as some, but I like it ok. I do the research and all the planning for our Disney trips. I also do the fretting and other wrinkle inducing things when things don’t go as smoothly as my dream thighs.

Dh: Briardad? Honestly, Briardad just goes along for the ride. He loves being with his family and since all the rest of us hold Disney in our hearts, he sucks it up. He gets the magic, don’t get me wrong, but he just doesn’t want to live inside the Epcot Ball or anything.

DS9: Loves Disney. Got it from his mom. That and his ‘grown up way too fastedness’, He over thinks things and always has. It makes me sad sometimes, because I was like that when I was a kid and it’s not as much fun as just jumping in to life with both feet.

DD4: Loves Disney. LOVES. Especially It’s a Small World and Princesses. I know, I know, IASW is not a favorite among the adult-ish like people here, but we love it because she loves it. And we know that time is fleeting. Soon she’ll not give two craps about Aurora (Briar Rose in our house) and Small World and she’ll be all about High School Musical 27.


A bit about our family:

We are Americans living in Belgium. Land of beer and chocolates. A lot of history lives here in Europe. And we live about 2.5 hours driving to Disneyland Paris. Which is not WDW, but we enjoy running off to DLP every other month or so. Dh is in the Air Force, and this is where they put us this time. We like it for the most part, but we could use some closets. And a cupboard or two in the bathroom (I'm just sayin! The Europeans use TP, too!)


Why we are going on this trip:
It’s our 10th anniversary! We made it! 10. Years. Woot.


This trip started out as something much grander, actually. We were dining at a restaurant in Garmisch, Germany (this was the week of my 30th birthday, back when we lived in Egypt) and dh and I were talking about our upcoming (15 months away) 10th Anniversary.

Since dh and I eloped, we were thinking about renewing our vows. I wanted to do it at Disney, and dh had agreed that that would be an incredible thing. I had gotten the pamphlet (book?) from the Disney Wedding Planning Place a year or so before this. Most girls fantasize about having a great wedding and their gown and bridesmaides...I dreamed of a vow renewal with a Mouse or two and some booze. Oh, and maybe some family members if they chose to join us since we did not invite them to share in our joy at the courthouse in North Dakota in 1998. Sorry Mom!

Anyhow, we talked about it at dinner. How I’d have to wear a dress (thanks for reminding me of my pudge, dh. Yes, it’s been 15 months since that convo and I still remember that comment. I always will. MEN, take note!) and that we’d like to stay at the Grand Floridian. We’ve (read: I’ve) always wanted to. Oh, and I needed fabulous shoes. I love shoes almost as much as I love Disney.

(actual picture taken from my Photobucket)

We went back home and I did a bit of reading on the Wedding Boards. I thought of all the planning. I thought of work. I thought of the exercise and dieting I’d have to do to get into a cute dress. I thought of my mother-in-law sucking the joy out of me at the Happiest Place on Earth....and changed my mind.

Right about the time I changed my mind, we learned we’d be moving to Belgium. The trip took a backseat to taking the kids home from Egypt to North Dakota for the summer. . Dh stayed in Egypt (sorry hon...) and the kids and I soaked up the sun and the Target and the Starbucks (just me). We went, just the 3 of us, to WDW for 4 nights and a 7 night Disney Cruise. Good times. A great summer.

Dh came back to the States for a month and soaked up the America. We visited my in-laws. I survived. We went on a Princess Cruise. Dh flew off to Belgium. A month later I took my car to St Louis to have it shipped to Belgium. Then I took the kids to Belgium. I survived.

Fast Forward a few months, and we’re finally (somewhat) settled and we re-visited our plan to visit WDW for our 10th. I played the ‘Pick your hotel’ part of the DVD (just the deluxes since this was a special trip) and the kids picked the Beach Club!!

After many emails to my Travel Agent, we were booked. Except for our first night was at the Pop. 1 night at Pop, 8 nights Beach Club Concierge.

Our fantastic voyage was beginning to take shape...

 

[Nooshkin]

Looking forward to reading more. I LOVE the Beach Club- I hope you guys did too! And how can I pass up a TR that quotes Schoolhose Rock?!
You're off to a great start!

 

[RachelNinja]

Your thread title definitely caught my eye! Last week, I just told my students to watch Schoolhouse Rock to remember what conjunctions are (and I watched all of them over again!). So that lured me in ... but your writing and humor got me to stay. Can't wait to read more!

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

Excellent start Briarmom!!

I too love Schoolhouse Rock!!

And this made me laugh out loud:

We went back home and I did a bit of reading on the Wedding Boards. I thought of all the planning. I thought of work. I thought of the exercise and dieting I’d have to do to get into a cute dress. I thought of my mother-in-law sucking the joy out of me at the Happiest Place on Earth....and changed my mind.

Looking forward to more!

 

[Gymfan15]

Ditto that last comment! This sounds like a fun TR! Can't wait to hear the rest!

 

[ProudMommyof2]

signing on- it sounds like it will be a fun ride!

 

[Briarmom]

Thanks for reading everyone! I am going to work on the next installment tonight and tomorrow night.

 

[Briarmom]

Part 2...The Preparation. H.

Why am I calling this installment The Preparation H? Well, as you are unfortunately about to find out (or already found out if you read the last installment), my mind tends to wander from one thought to another with no obvious reason as to why. I was thinking today; (is a semicolon appropriate here? V? I think a colon...)

‘What can I call this part? Getting ready...what word/phrase means getting ready?? Preparation!! Yes. Preparation. When you get your stuff together. Your poop in a group. Wait. Poop....poop. Why do they call it Preparation H? No one wants to prepare for hemis (that is my nickname for hemmorhoids...don’t ask why I have a nickname for them). They want to get RID of them. They should call it H-B-Gone, or Rage Against the Rhoids! Not Preparation H!’

Seriously folks. This is where my mind went off to when I was thinking about writing this trip report. What says Disney Trip more effectively than Pile cream?

Moving on.

All DISers are not cut from the same Lime-green Vodka-infused Jell-O mold. Some of us LOVE to plan. Some love to plan so much that they love it more than the actual trip. For some of us it’s a chore. For me, it’s somewhere in-between (only with all the vodka). I’d rather plan than scrub the toilets (or do any housework, really), but sometimes in doing the planning, it starts to look less like a vacation and more like a grey-hair inducing chore.

I hemmed and hawed over whether or not we’d chosen the right resort. I pondered trigonometric Park Plans (6 park days chosing 4 parks=I was a music major). I downright FRETTED about meals.

Small rant :This whole meal thing sucks! There I said it. 90 days (+ 10 (MUSIC MAJOR)!!!) was hard enough. 180 is downright impossible. Unpossible even. I wish Disney would put at least 20-25% of it’s tables aside for walk-ins. Most of you reading this can remember a not-so-long-ago time when you could go to WDW without any eating plans. And still eat something other than turkey legs and Figaro Fries (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

Oh, and we were not on the Dining Plan. A sentence I would utter repeatedly on the trip.

That said, let’s move on, shall we?

I emailed my Travel Agent my ADR requests and she had no problem making them. Now, many of you may be asking why I used a TA when I’m staying concierge. The simple answer is this: I live overseas. Time differences + phone bill = TA.

Here are the ADRs we ended up with. They start on Friday because we won’t arrive until the weeeee hours of Thursday.

Fri, 18 April~ Flying Fish
Sat, 19 April~ Spoodles
Sun, 20 April~ Marrakesh
Mon, 21 April~ CA Grill
Tues, 22 April~ Victoria & Albert’s
Wed, 23 April~ Kona for breakfast and Cinderella’s Royal Table for Lunch
Thurs, 24 April~ Raglan Road
Fri, 25 April~ Jiko

Good choices, no? Flying Fish, Marrakesh, CA Grill, Kona, and Jiko were all repeats for us. The rest were new. Victoria & Albert’s was booked in celebration of our Anniversary and we’d be eating there on dh’s 36th birthday.

In the months that followed, I read the Dining boards and worried about my choices. I thought about changing them. I wondered how long our jetlag would kick our cans. I tried to figure out sneaky ways to take food porn photos in the restaurants. Yeah. Didn’t happen.

But then I did something completely unheard of here on the DIS.

I didn’t change any of them. Not a one.

 

[NMAmy]

Oh, Briarmom, fantastic start! Seriously, did I really think I could just pass right by a trip report that started out with not just Schoolhouse Rock but also a hysterically funny Preparation H reference? No way! I totally think you need to email the suggestion of Ragin' Against the Rhoids to them--it's GENIUS advertising.

Can't wait to read more.

 

[FroggyinArk]

is rick coaching you through this?


somehow i may have to add this to the ricks unaurthorized auto biography file..lol.. g reat job so far

 

[lilpixiebabe101]

Great job so far. I'm definitely jumping on board for this one. English nuts have to stick together!

 

[<3WDW]

I pondered trigonometric Park Plans (6 park days chosing 4 parks=I was a music major).

Okay, here's my vote for adjective of the post! I think I'll try to find a way to sneak that one into a normal conversation tomorrow.

 

[Beana9802]

HI! I am in! Looks great!

 

[Briarmom]

Ragin' Against the Rhoids to them--it's GENIUS advertising.
.

Tell Prep H to call my people.

is rick coaching you through this?


somehow i may have to add this to the ricks unaurthorized auto biography file..lol.. g reat job so far

No. Rick has nothing to do with this. He will make an appearance in this report, however.

Great job so far. I'm definitely jumping on board for this one. English nuts have to stick together!

Welcome! Please remember I am working on 3 other languages at the same time as posting this. Horrid linguistical errors may occur.

Okay, here's my vote for adjective of the post! I think I'll try to find a way to sneak that one into a normal conversation tomorrow.

Yeah. I am pretty sure it's not the right mathematical term. But hooooocares?

HI! I am in! Looks great!

Welcome!

I am working on the next installment!

Today we visited a real castle in Gent, Belgium and it was very cool. We also ate at Pinocchio's. Weird.

 

[Rebecuberduber]

This is so fun. I agree with all the previous posters: very funny, and great writing! You should do this for a living. I'm in!

 

[Mysteria]

Great start Bomb! Can't wait to read more.

 

[Briarmom]

Part 3...I’m still getting ready

For most of you, getting ready for a trip to Disney involves shopping. You get in your SUV or minivan (come on. The vast majority of you are nodding) and drive off to the mall where you purchase new swimsuits and shorts for your children at Gymboree and for yourself at Old Navy and then on to Target (not Wal Mart because we’re in my world now) where you buy sunscreen and Purell and wipes. And all is well.

The same cannot be said for me. I don’t eagerly run off to We’re Teeny and You’re American Plus Your Dollar is Worth Crap and It Costs $9 a Gallon for You to Even Drive Here (not an actual store name...I don’t think) to purchase our accoutrements. I have to use the internet to buy everything. The military gives us a US address. And most places ship to it (those that don’t? Um, HELLO ALREADY!!!! It’s the ‘zact same thing as sending a package to Omaha!)

As I was saying, it’s easy to shop online. For the kids. Now, ladies, you know that in one store you can wear size X. In the next store you can wear size X+2, and in the next store you can wear size X-2. Why is that? No one will ever know. Let’s just say that store X-2 gets my bidness. ‘Kay? So, off to the Gymboree web site I go and YIPEE it’s Gymbucks time. I fill my basket (and, if I’m being honest, it’s a basket big enough for 3 other people) and hit send.

Wait.

The Gymbucks are going to start right before we’re there. Oh, and I have several hundred dollars in Gift Cards (from Christmas) to Lucky Brand Jeans and Anthropologie (which just recently started ‘realizing’ on their web site that I live overseas. There’s no way to log in as an American. For those of you with stock in it, yes I am responsible for the sudden drastic drop. But only because their web site designer is an idiot. )

The light bulb went off. You probably heard it.

We would SHOP our first day in Florida! WITH US DOLLARS! Squeeeee!

Let me just say, when you are getting paid in US dollars in a place where they don’t go far...it’s hard.

So I went off to google and discovered Mall at Millenia. Do you hear the Hallelujah Chorus when you read that? Non? Just me?

Oh, the stores we would go to! (Why didn’t Doc Seuss write that one?)

Here’s a link. Take a quick looksee and then come right back. I’ll stay here.

http://www.mallatmillenia.com/experience/experience.htm

Anthropologie. Lucky. Gymboree. Tiffany. Jimmy Choo! Victoria’s Secret. Coach. It’s really a veritable buffet for the shopaholic.

For those of you who aren’t shopaholics, I am sorry for your loss.

I bet you’re thinking; ‘Briarmom, since you are going to do so much shopping, you won’t need to pack so much when you go to Disney!’

And you’d be wrong.

I’m going to pat myself on the back for a moment here. During the planning of this trip, I took my kids (8 at the time, and 4) to Rome. Briardad was in Scotland at the time for work and the kiddos had a week of school off. This has become a regular occurrence here. Dh is working out of the country (or long hours here) and the kids are on vacation. The school system here allows for lots of vacation time (and it’s biting us in the backside right now as the weather is AWE-SOME and school doesn’t get out until JUNE 19! Grrrr.)

Oops. I ranted while I was back-patting. Sorry.

OK, so the first week in February, the kids and I went to Rome (which is fab, BTW). Since it was JUST me, and since our returning flight didn’t leave until about 9 pm, I didn’t want to pack a suitcase. I didn’t want to be tooling around the Colosseum with a Samsonite even if it was on wheels. So I did what anyone with any hostel (not hostile) experience does. I packed a backpack.

That’s right. ONE backpack for all 3 of us. I allowed for souvenirs by packing things that could be left behind. Like ripped jeans and near empty shampoos. Ds took his backpack as well, and that was a lifesaver after I found a great sale on jackets. They take up a lot of room in a backpack. You may want to file that tidbit away.

The same packing savvy was not used for my packing for Disney World on this trip. We were going to eat at Victoria & Albert’s, so I had to pack 2 dresses in case I didn’t find one at the Mall. CA Grill, Jiko, and Flying Fish also warranted outfits, but I didn't have those yet. But I did have shoes. And I wasn't afraid to pack them. We were staying at the Beach Club, so I’d left our sand toys in the suitcase from our trip to Mallorca a couple of weeks beforehand. *Tip: They have the beach toys in the sand at Stormalong Bay. You do not need to bring your own. *

Add in shorts (seriously, there isn't room enough on the DIS for me to rant about shorts to my heart's content, but WHY are there only 'mom shorts' and 'skank shorts' available?) and swimwear scared1: ) asthma medication (dd) and hair extensions (so super cute!) and you've got 5 bags.


Flying from overseas allowed us to bring 2 bags per person which is 8 bags (math in public!). We packed 5 bags with one packed inside another so we could bring home our shopping spoils. That plus 3 carry-ons=we’re driving the SUV to the airport. Really the only time it gets driven. Hey! We have a car that we use just to go to the airport. That is swank.


OK, so we’re packed. We’ve got tickets (ouch!). ADR’s and a hotel room. Magical Express is warned that we’ll be arriving. I've got park maps to look at and I've printed out a map of the mall for me to look at.

I had the Deluxe Passporter (really unwritten in, but oh so cute!), and this little guy

http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Magic-D...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210501409&sr=8-1

This is such a cute idea! I wish I’d used it better, but still. Filling it out on the plane ride home was fun, too!

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, we have to get there...

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Awesome update! I love your writing style and your attitude! I am jealous of all the travel you are able to do.



Happy Mother's Day!!!

 

[Beana9802]

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, we have to get there...

Hee Hee!

 

[Aimee K]

Part 3...I’m still getting ready



I had the Deluxe Passporter (really unwritten in, but oh so cute!), and this little guy

http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Magic-D...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210501409&sr=8-1

This is such a cute idea! I wish I’d used it better, but still. Filling it out on the plane ride home was fun, too!

...

You done made them sold out! They're 'temporarily unavailable'. Perhaps a career in advertising should be pondered. After you publish a novel, of course.