We both got real jobs: now we can go to Disney! Sept 2013 PTR! TR link posted 9/29!

[lvcourtneyy]

Hello out there!

My name is Courtney. I'm not sure what the best way to start this shindig off is, so I'm gonna jumpstart it with a picture (they are worth 1000 words right? )


Photo0428FourBySix by RN Courtney, on Flickr

So as I said, I'm Courtney and the other person in that picture is my DBF Chris. I'll start with telling you about myself and then we'll get to him!

So I'm 23 although I'm not sure how I got here Wasn't I 18 yesterday?

I graduated from college in May 2012 with my Bachelor's in Nursing.


DSCN2034 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

That's me at graduation with my parents who I assume are proud even if they just look disgruntled at the picture taking

I had an incredibly difficult time finding a job after graduating because, for various reasons, there's an excess of nurses in NYC. We'll go back to that later.

Anyway, I'm a Registered Nurse and an advocate for natural birth/women being able to make informed decisions during labor and as such my long-term goal is to go to grad school and become a Certified Nurse Midwife.

My other passion is Disney (duh!). I grew up watching Disney movies and my favorite has been The Little Mermaid since I was 2. When I was little, in the videotape era, my parents actually had to record the movie multiple times on the same tape because I was so impatient while it was rewinding

I went to WDW once as a child. It was when I was 10 in the year 2000 and it was my older sister's wish trip. It was a great trip and I have some very fond memories of it but I'd been itching to go back since...well pretty much then!

Fast forward some time and now DBF is in the picture. He is 24.


IMG_0105 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

Here's a pretty recent picture of us!

He works at the YMCA as what they call a floor trainer/security. Basically, he's working on getting his personal training certification and when he does, they will hire him as a personal trainer for them gym. In the meanwhile, he works in the gym helping people use the machines, offering them advice or assistance and kicking people out if they break the rules. This happens way more often than you would think. I never quite knew there were so many ways to break the rules in a gym

He had also been to Disney once as a child and grew up loving Disney movies as I did. We've been together since 2008 and I was always talking about how I wanted to take a trip to Disney and one day get married there. He agreed that he would like to go back to Disney one day but we thought it'd be far in the future since we were broke college students.

Then, in 2011, on a whim, I decided to google about Disney on a budget and figured out that we could actually afford to do a budget trip over winter break. So over winter break, in January 2012, we went! We stayed offsite and had the most AMAZING trip. We never wanted to leave and wanted to go back immediately.

So, we had planned that to be our one trip in a long time until we could afford to go back. Buttttt neither of us could stop talking about going back! So, after I graduated from college, I went immediately into studying for my boards to get my nursing license so I really didn't take time to celebrate. Combine that with the depression I was falling into from not being able to find a job and we decided a Disney trip would be perfect to lift our spirits and so we went again in January 2013 and were joined by his sister, her husband and their 2 year old! It was another great trip but before we even came home, we were talking about going again!

P.S. You can read about our January trip in my first TR which is in progress: "Excuse me, your child can NOT go on stage with Mickey"

While we were on the bus home from the Magic Kingdom one night, Jen (Chris' sister) and I started talking about how we really wanted to go to Disney for Halloween. At that time, we were both thinking we couldn't swing Fall 2013 and were thinking we'd do Fall 2014.

And as all good plans do.... ours changed!

Sorry, I realize this is a lot of words and very few pictures, so probably pretty boring! I'll leave off here but as you can tell from the title, there is a September 2013 trip in the works!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Introduction!
A Stroll Down Memory Lane!
The Job Saga/Flights!
The "W"s! posted 6/19
The Shopping Update! posted 6/25!
Day 1 plans! posted 6/25!
Real Life Update! posted 7/10!
Day 2 plans! posted 7/10!
Day 3 plans! posted 7/28!
Trip Updates! posted 8/3!
Day 4 plans! posted 8/3!
News Update! posted 8/13!
Day 5 plans! posted 8/13!
Magicbands and FP+! posted 8/17!
Days 6 and 7 plans! posted 8/17!
Magicbands/Shopping Updates! posted 8/23!
Day 8 plans! posted 8/23!
Day 9 plans! posted 8/25!
Trip Preparations! posted 8/31!
Day 10 plans! posted 8/31!
Small update & day 11 plans! posted 9/2!
5 days away!!!! posted 9/5!
Day 12 plans! posted 9/5!
Final Update!! posted 9/8!

 

[shan23877]

I'm in!

 

[cfw213]

Hello, I'm here! Excited to hear about your plans.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I'm in!

Yay! Glad you're here!

Hello, I'm here! Excited to hear about your plans.

So happy you're here yay!

 

[redheadedmermaid73]

I'm in! We are also going in September!

 

[ILGoofy]

Yay for September trips! I'm in!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I'm in! We are also going in September!

Ah awesome! When in September are you going?

Yay for September trips! I'm in!

Yay I'm so excited!!

 

[missangelalexis]

Yay a PTR! I'm in! It seems we are very in sync with our disney planning, as I am now set to go in October!

Can't wait to see what you have planned for September

 

[katt789]

Clearly I'm in!!

Glad you guys managed to swing this year Sept!! It's bound to be an awesome trip that's for sure!

Again congrats on school and all that fun stuff and it seems like the two of you have some great goals set for future! Yay

Bahahah, that's too funny about the LM movie!

Excited to read more!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Yay a PTR! I'm in! It seems we are very in sync with our disney planning, as I am now set to go in October!

Can't wait to see what you have planned for September

Yay so glad to have you here!

How funny that we are both planning another trip back! Too bad they weren't at the same time now that we both know who the other is!

Clearly I'm in!!

Glad you guys managed to swing this year Sept!! It's bound to be an awesome trip that's for sure!

Again congrats on school and all that fun stuff and it seems like the two of you have some great goals set for future! Yay

Bahahah, that's too funny about the LM movie!

Excited to read more!

AH YAY you're here!

I'm so excited that we're making it happen and that we're going to be there at the same time as you and so many awesome Disers! I'm just as excited about meeting Disers as I am about the trip! Is that creepy? I hope not!

 

[redheadedmermaid73]

I just got caught up on your January TR and it looks like we will be there at the same time! We are taking my nephews (age 3 and 1) Sept 9, 10, 11, and 12.

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I just got caught up on your January TR and it looks like we will be there at the same time! We are taking my nephews (age 3 and 1) Sept 9, 10, 11, and 12.

Aw thank you for reading my TR!

AH That's so exciting! I love love finding out so many other people are gonna be there at the same time as us!

P.S. You are a braver woman than I to take 3 and 1 year old boys but I'm sure you're all gonna love it!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I want to start out by saying Thank you to every one who's reading! Every time I post something, I have this irrational fear that no one will read it and so I truly appreciate anyone who is reading and commenting along with me!

I'm so excited to share more of our plans with you guys because it's going to be the most magical trip yet! But before I do, I want to take you on a little stroll down memory lane with me.

Life has been incredibly stressful for me recently because I feel like I'm stuck in this awkward phase where I'm supposed to be an adult and know how to deal with life but every time something happens, it makes me want to revert more and more into childhood. Luckily my mother is the most amazing woman in the world and I truly don't know how I would get through a day without her.

So when we moved into our new house, it was during the snowstorm of October 2011 and most of the boxes of our memories from childhood just got shoved in the basement and weren't easily accessible. My mom came home from work yesterday and helped me find them

I was mostly on a quest for the scrapbooks my mom made us from our Disney trip but I stumbled across some other gems first:


IMG_0337 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

So when I was little, they used to always do "coloring contests" in the newspaper and those were two of mine that won! And the t-shirt (complete with stains and all) from my pre-school. I know the movie ticket didn't come out well in the picture but it's from Air Bud in 1998 and the matinee was a whooping $4.50!


IMG_0338 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_0340 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_0341 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

Yup those were notebooks from elementary school. And for those of you who may not have been OBSESSED those are the Spice Girl stickers from the lollipops. I think I was in 2nd grade at the time and EVERY GIRL in our class was collecting them and it was my proudest moment when I was the first girl in my class to have every single one of them.


IMG_0342 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

Anddd those are my high school cheerleading and lacrosse uniforms!

Now onto the real treasures. As I briefly mentioned before, we went to Disney once when I was a child. It was in July 2000 and it was for my older sister Lindsey's MAW trip. We are so blessed that she is still with us and relatively healthy but we are also so lucky we were able to take that trip when we did because her condition has deteriorated to the point where she wouldn't be able to handle a trip now, nor would she be able to go on most rides. So I am forever grateful for that trip and to the Marty Lyons Foundation and the GKTW village!

I am also so grateful to my parents because they do not share the love of Disney that I do but they still gave us an awesome trip and my mother preserved fantastic memories for us that I will treasure forever.

First I was BEYOND ECSTATIC to find our PINS! When we went we collected pins but I don't know how much trading we did. On mine and DBF's first two trips, we didn't do the pin trading because I knew I'd become obsessed and I was worried about the cost aspect. However, we are so excited to start in September and finding our old pins made it even more exciting!


IMG_0333 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

This was my (Spice World) lanyard!


IMG_0334 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

This one was my little sister Kimberly's. We both have non-Disney pins on them as well.


IMG_0335 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_0336 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

For Lindsey, they collected them in the book because she kept pulling the lanyard off. My mom also made an effort to collect the limited edition July 4, 2000 pins!


IMG_0343 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

These are the scrapbooks my mom made for each of us! Lindsey's is the Minnie Mouse, mine the Lisa Frank and Kimberly's the Barbie. The binders are a walk down memory lane themselves!


IMG_0344 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

I was overly excited to realize that they use the same float in the Celebrate a Dream parade that they did then! And according to the Magic Kingdom guidemap it was the Disney's Magical Moments parade!

I don't really remember it but I pulled up this youtube video of it for your viewing pleasure:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2PxBcwegjY


IMG_0345 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_0347 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

I'm not sure how much you can tell on the picture but this was the MGM map featuring the new Fantasmic and Rock'n' Rollercoaster! Also, um BEAR IN THE BIG BLUE HOUSE. So sad that he basically doesn't exist anymore. And DOUG! Also, there was a Mulan parade and Hunchback of Notre Dame show? Ah. This reminds me that I totally need to watch Hunchback of Notre Dame because I totally used to have an Esmerelda obsession.


IMG_0348 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

I mean, some things haven't changed that much!


IMG_0349 by RN Courtney, on Flickr


IMG_0350 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

This was taken at the GKTW village, and you get to see the facial expression my little sister Kimberly has in 90% of our childhood family photos.


IMG_0351 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

This one didn't come out so well as a picture of a picture but I just thought it was interesting at the chaos going on! One, we're taking a picture with a green army man and Rafiki? Two, clearly we're in the way of the park entrance. Three, there are just people everywhere!

Sorry for anyone this may have been boring too but it perked my day up and I wanted to share!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

So we came back from our January trip happy and depressed about being back in the real world.

ALL DBF and I could talk about was when we could go back next. We knew we wanted to go for Halloween so I told him that, to be responsible adults, we would have to wait until September 2014. #responsibleadultproblems.

However, he kept arguing with me that it was much too far away. Um duh don't you think I agree?

So finally we decided on a reasonable goal. If we both got ourselves real world, adult jobs that were working towards our long-term career path (and those said jobs would give us the vacation time), we could go to Disney for September 2013.

I guess that was the motivation we needed because we both interviewed for positions in the same week in February and we both got hired! I'm working as a visiting nurse for the elderly. It's not my ideal position because I want to be in women's health in the future. However, with the state of nursing jobs the way they are in NYC, it is a great position with a well-respected company and I can't complain.

As for Chris, he started at the YMCA doing maintenance because my dad knew they were looking for someone. However, while he was interviewing, they talked to him about his interest in bodybuilding/diet planning/personal training and the two people in charge of the gym and personal training departments immediately took a liking to him! So now he's working in the gym and as soon as he is a certified personal trainer, he will have his own clients!

While all of this is exciting and happy, the most important part was WE GET TO GO TO DISNEY!

Thus the planning began.

Obviously we had already decided the September part but we were trying to figure out the best days/length of time. I consulted easywdw for last years crowd calendars/MNSSHP dates. I knew we wanted to miss the Labor Day crowds and figured since we weren't planning on hitting Food and Wine that it would be best to miss those crowds too!

Since we really wanted to do a longer trip with some down time and Chris gets a ridiculous amount of vacation time already, we decided on doing 11 days, 10 nights. However, we didn't want to fly on September 11th for obvious reasons and when we priced flights, it saved us money to do 12 days, 11 nights so we ended up with September 10-21st!

I didn't want to lock us into airfare already so I didn't book it right away but I already knew what flights I wanted.

We will be flying out of JFK at 7:13 AM on 9/10 and landing in MCO at 9:59 I'm not sure why the times are so oddly precise...

And we will be flying back from MCO at 8 pm on 9/21 and getting into JFK at 10:26 PM!



Since then, I have already booked those flights so we're all set. I honestly love flying Jetblue. They always have extremely cheap flights from here to MCO. Plus, I like flying in early and flying out late because I feel like you really get to use your arrival and departure days and the flights at those times are always cheapest on Jetblue which makes it even better.

Plus, you get to fly one bag free and they have satellite TV. So, Jetblue makes me happy.


20130103_050735 by RN Courtney, on Flickr

Our total flight cost, with taxes and fees and all that fun nonsense was $193.80 per person which was under the $200 per person I budgeted so yay!

 

[katt789]

Ahhh we had such the same childhood!! Spice girls, lisa frank! Ah! Amaazing!!

Awesome the stuff you found! How great that you found old pins! Yay! Oh man, that DHS map, I was gonna say it looked kinda weird, the way they spacing around Fantasmic and stuff goes, shows its new! Lol. I would’ve loved the Hunchback show, I was downright obsessed with Esmerelda as a child, when we went to DLR I came home with her red sparkaly dress, no princess dresses! Lol, they had a hunchback show there too!

Love the old photos!

Ahahaha, we’re definitely flying on the 11th! However I’m sure that security won’t be quite as crazy in Calgary as it would be at JFK that day, just a good idea to steer clear of it!

Okay, first off, I wish I could fly Jetblue, they sound amazing. Secondly, damn you for those insanely cheap flights! Mine won’t drop below $500, suuuucks. Two years ago we got flights for 393, and it was amazing. Secondly, bags flying free and tv on the plane sounds awesome.

I have to agree about the flying in early and leaving late, you can accomplish so much more on those days! I refuse to get in after 8pm, and of course the one trip I’m not going to the parks I get in at like, 1:30 lol.

 

[cfw213]

Great deal on the flights!! JetBlue is finally coming to Philly, I can't wait to try them. I've heard great things!

 

[missangelalexis]

That is SO awesome that you found all that stuff! It's always nice to take a walk down memory lane. I was a Spice Girl fanatic as well and collected those stickers too!

That's exciting that you are going to start pin trading! It is VERY addicting I think my DBF thought I was a little crazy when I told him about it, but once he saw it in action he decided to try it out and became just as into it as I was!!

And it looks like you got a great deal on flights!!

 

[ILGoofy]

Yay for memories!

I bought pins for my 2011 trip but I liked them all too much and didn't end up wearing any because I didn't want people to ask to trade. Pin trading fail.

I agree with the real world being blah after a trip. Someone needs to create a Disboards town in Florida where nobody has to work and we can just go to Disney all the time.

Everyone always talks about Jet Blue but they don't fly direct from Chicago. I'd have to fly to NYC or somewhere else first, and then to Orlando. No thanks! I'm antsy enough to get there without connections. I'm highly jealous of your under $200 airfare.

 

[redheadedmermaid73]

Love Jetblue! We flew with them a few years from FL to NY.

Also, that time of Sept is pretty much perfect for touring WDW! Little to no crowds and the heat isn't as unbearable as July!