"We'll need a suitcase just for your ears!" - A July 2015 PTR *Complete*

[xlsm]

FIVE DAYSSSSS!!!!!!!!!



That's where I am in life.

Chapter 19...in which the panic sets in

Last night was exciting. Sort of. Almost. Also it made me sick to my stomach so...

We got an email offer for Disney Visa cardholders, 35% off Poly deluxe studios.
(I mentioned this on the July thread if any of you are over there)

We called 3 times.

1) we were told we'd have to cancel everything and rebook, they accidentally hung up on us before we did anything.

2) guy said, no, all I have to do is change your hotel, you'll lose nothing (i was skeptical...I don't think it works like that anymore.) We decided to talk about it and call back. The guy said, Wow, you guys get a lot of discounts. Which is true! We get pins and UOCs all the time!! I don't want that luck to run out. Last year AND this year we booked with a UOC for 30% off our room and free hoppers.

3)decided to book if nothing had to be cancelled, NOT book if everything had to be redone. Sat on hold forever. Told DH to request Moorea third floor. Felt sick and panicky. Still on hold. Told DH to hang up, we'll stay where we are.

I gave up two bathrooms in newly renovated rooms. At the Poly. I may be insane.

BUT

we love the Wilderness Lodge! I've never stayed anywhere else and it's going to be awhile before we book there again because we don't want to deal with the DVC construction starting this fall.

So this is like a goodbye visit.



Oh, and the nightmares have started.

Anyone else experience this? The stressmares before vacation? Last night DH told me he upgraded the two of us to Delta comfort, but not the kids. They'll be sitting together directly behind us. For some reason I freaked out about this, because they'd be separated from us, and not one adult with one kid per row. The rows are only two seats, it's a small plane on the way to Atlanta, but I was horrified. I told him to enjoy his legroom, but i wasn't going to let the kids sit alone.

I asked L this morning if he was ok sitting with his brother and he was like, "yeah." said in that tone. You know what tone I mean, I"m sure. It's one I use myself quite frequently. The "are you kidding me?" tone.

Then last night I dreamed something had gone wrong with our tickets, we were late, just general airport craziness.
And I woke up and all United flights are grounded because of a computer issue?? Am I psychic??

(we're not flying United, but STILL!!)

Another thing on the to do list this week is to update my driver's license with our new address. By new I mean the address we've had for a year now. I just haven't updated it yet because I REALLLY hate going to the license office. And my face is broken out, so I don't want a new picture taken with a weird random adult acne breakout on the right side of my face.

I think I need to calm down.

My emotions are just roiling around like a ball of snakes. The weather is still gross and rainy and will be for at least another day. It's getting to me.

I'll be back again soon!!

 

[xlsm]

Joining in (just in time)!

I'm also completely addicted to the Etsy ears & pins... it's terrible...

The few days before you leave always pass more slowly than the previous few MONTHS. I hope your trip gets off to a smooth start.

I love knowing I'm not alone in my addictions!!!

Thanks for the well wishes and to my crazy report, lol!!

My emotions are off the wall right now!!

 

[LizardQueen8]

I'm CST too. You'll be fine in DL .

 

[ariane37]

I hope our adventures will help carry you over til your Disney trip gets here!! I binge read trip reports and waffle between extreme excitement and extreme jealousy, lol!!

Hooray for a no kids trip!! DH and I would love a trip alone together during food and wine, but I figure that trip's a long way off until the kids are a little older. I can't imagine my MIL or my own mother managing the kids' schedules for any length of time. I'm positive it would be a nightmare!

The plans we're making for DL and Christmas...my fingers crossed that everything works out for both! They don't feel real yet with nothing booked. Christmas 2016 is still 534 days away, so I have awhile before booking will open up. *sigh* Don't they know I'm anxious??

And I don't know how ANYONE can resist those Peter Pan sunglasses. They're just too cute!

Juggling who would stay with our kids when was definitely a challenge for our kid-less trip this past March Luckily I have 2 older stepsons (24 and 26) so they helped out when my mom couldn't, and older DS spent some time with his good friend (whose parents are good friends of ours) taking the bus to and from school with him a couple times. So they got to their games and practices And we only went for 4 nights, but we're trying for 5 nights next time!

Oh man, we've never stayed at a monorail resort and the Poly is my #1 choice of those 3! But I totally understand why you didn't switch. We rented points for our upcoming trip and we had the choice of doing a 3 way split between Poly-BLT-BWV, but we really didn't want to move twice. Then we were going to try just the Poly but DH is very reluctant to forego his beloved BWV (which the boys and I love, too) There's always next time-for both of us!

 

[DisFam95]

Oh you're so close!! I just hit 30 days today and feel the panic! I haven't even printed out a list yet!!!! That's on my list to do tomorrow - print disney to do list and post it in the bathroom (where I do all my best thinking).

Yay you!

 

[stitchfan75]

We are already considering a Christmas 2016 visit! While we are there HS will almost be shut down with all the construction so I want to go back for Osbourne Lights and to see all the new stuff!

 

[xlsm]

We are already considering a Christmas 2016 visit! While we are there HS will almost be shut down with all the construction so I want to go back for Osbourne Lights and to see all the new stuff!

The Osborne Lights are a priority for us, too!! The pictures are amazing, and pictures are never as good as the real thing, so I imagine they are truly spectacular!

 

[xlsm]

Hiii!!!

Happy Friday!! We are now 3 DAYS away from Walt Disney World.

Chapter 20...in which we're down to the wire

Don't you just love surprises??

No?

Me either.



Wednesday evening around 6:30, my phone rang. It was the kids' great grandmother (my ex husband's grandma). It was a little odd for her to call at that time of day (if she calls it's in the morning), and I was a little worried that something had happened to my exMIL (who I adore, and am very close to) because exMIL and her husband were on their way back from vacation (they rode their motorcycle out west). I was a little nervous when I answered the phone.

Everything was fine.

Except...

they were in the area after returning from a visit to Texas, and could they stop by the next day?
Umm...sure??

It was actually very inconvenient timing, because I'd had plans for the day, but they live way on the other side of our state, and the boys don't get to see them very often, so there was no way I could say no.

I love them in small doses. They mean well, but visits longer than an hour can become quite tedious.
Anyway, she said they'd leave where they were in Oklahoma Thursday morning and be here around lunch, and she'd call when she got to town.

So when I got up yesterday, I did some dusting and vacuuming and ran the mop over the floors, ran to the grocery store to get something to make for all of us for dinner, and came home to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.



At 1:30 she called and said they got a late start and were just now on their way, two hours til arrival.

At 3:30 she calls and says, "We're at Sonic, can you come get us?"

Which Sonic?? We have a lot of Sonics around here, it's a big place.

I figured out where they were, which was about 10 minutes away, and went to get them. When I pull up, I see they have a dog with them.

They didn't tell me they had a dog now.

So, I'm just really hoping this dog gets along with MY three dogs. (luckily, it was fine)

They were following me, and they drove SO SLOOOOOWWWLY. I purposely took them on side roads, and the speed limit was 35, and even sticking to the speed limit they were so far behind me I almost stopped in the middle of the road to wait for them to catch up. Luckily there was very little traffic on that particular road at that particular time.

*I will refer to them as N and J. N is the great grandma, J is her husband*

We get to the house, introduce the dogs, everything's going ok and my dogs are being unusually calm about the whole situation, which is good! I show them around our house, and J immediately begins talking about how great the house was where his family lives, going on and on about what was better about it than ours, etc...His grandkids had a stairway that curves, his grandkids had a pool table, his grandkids were on a corner lot with a stone wall fencing part of their yard, their tv was bigger than ours...

We do not live in a gold plated palace, but we have a very nice house in a nice neighborhood. I just looked at him, laughed and said, "Sorry to make you slum it in the ghetto, J. Hope you can make it through the evening without your grandson's 6 ft television."

He shut up.

The kids came down to say hello, and then they escaped upstairs. I was like, Hello!! They are here to see you! Get down here and entertain these people!!

They wandered down, then managed to sneak away and escape again.

I got stuck with them.

Last night was very, very long. My DH is such a good sport, sitting and listening to J talk on and on about his granddaughter's wedding and how it was better than ours, and about a very graphic dental appointment he had when he was 19, etc...

When they left, DH says, "We need a vacation."

Amen.

Lucky for us, we're getting one!

We just have to get through the weekend, and it's HERE!!


Today I dragged the kids out of the house because I really needed at least one more pair of shorts, preferably non-gym shorts, and at least one nicer top (because my clothes for disney are workout tanks and solid color tanks, and a couple of tshirts.)

The kids got a new shirt each (Ant Man for L, and a kitten shirt that says Don't Kill my Vibe for X - lol!) and I treated them to lunch.
Sometimes they can be quite pleasant to be around.

Then we went to Target, and the pleasantness began to fade. The grandparents had given them some cash and they wanted to spend it, but I told them they had to save it for next week, and then they whined...

And my brother asked me this morning if we were going to try for one more.
I said, "No times 1000."

What are we going to do to keep ourselves busy this weekend?? A little bit of last minute laundry and packing, of course. Probably at least one more trip to the store for something we haven't realized we've forgotten yet.

But the sun is finally out after 5 days of rain, so tomorrow for me might just include a bathing suit, a lounge chair, and an adult beverage


One week from today is L's 10th bday, so right now, in one week we'll be in Universal or Islands of Adventure. It seems so surreal!!

Can't wait to walk through Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley and be like



I'll have at least one more update before we leave...I'm too antsy!!

 

[coloredimage]

Ah you're so close!!!!!

That visit sounds like a nightmare. We all have those people....

It's probably too late now, but if you have a AAA membership you could probably do the address change (or anything else) there; it's so much less stressful than an RMV/DMV any day!

 

[xlsm]

Ah you're so close!!!!!

That visit sounds like a nightmare. We all have those people....

It's probably too late now, but if you have a AAA membership you could probably do the address change (or anything else) there; it's so much less stressful than an RMV/DMV any day!

I'm so glad they didn't ask to stay the night!

I went and changed everything on my license Wednesday. In our state, a new photo is required with an address change. It was raining, and my new photo is terrible (the lady took it three times, and even went, "oh dear", so that should say something, lol). Luckily it went much more quickly than I had anticipated, I was in and out in 30 minutes, which is a record I think!

 

[ariane37]

In case I don't get back here before you leave, safe travels and have a wonderful trip!! I'll be looking out for your TR

 

[xlsm]

Guess what??



!!!!We're going to Disney World tomorrow!!!!

I have almost everything packed, except for a few things that are in the laundry right now. I guess we're taking everything we own, because DH had to go buy a 3rd suitcase. Last year we managed with two. Oops. They won't be stuffed full, so lots of room for souvenirs.

When we get up in the morning we'll (by "we'll" I mean, "I'll") wash the bedding so the inlaws have clean sheets, dust, and pack our last minute toiletries.

Inlaws get here around noon and we leave the house at 12:45 or 1:00 to get to the airport. We take off at 3:30, then have a layover in Atlanta before arriving at MCO.

I'm unreasonably terrified that our luggage will be lost. We each have two outfits, pjs, and swimwear in our carry ons just in case. I've never been to the airport in Atlanta, so I am nervous.

L came down this morning and asked, "Mom, does your stomach feel weird?"
I said, "What do you mean? Do you feel excited and anxious about tomorrow?"
He answered, "Yes! I wish it was time to go to bed already!" (this was at about 10am)
I said, "Not me! I have too much to do!!"

I just laid out my plan for tonight and tomorrow to DH:

1) Put the kids to bed
2) take a bath and paint my nails
3) go to bed
4) stay awake all night
5) wake up unnecessarily stressed and cranky
6) worry about our flight being late
7) worry about our connection
8) worry about losing our luggage
9) worry about having to wait forever for Magical Express
10) worry about getting a crappy room
11) be too excited to sleep
12) fall asleep 5 minutes before the alarm goes off
13) wake up full of Disney magic

I sure hope Hollywood Studios is ready for us on Tuesday morning!!
(I can't even think about Animation Academy being closed )

So...that's it. That's the end.

I am so happy that you have followed along with my crazy ramblings. It's so much fun to share my love of Disney with people who understand the excitement! You all are really and truly the best!!




I'll have a trip report when I get back!!

Thanks again, everyone! I'll see you real soon!!

 

[pigletgirl]

Have a phenomenal time! The last few days leading up to the trip is so very exciting!!

 

[stitchfan75]

Have fun!!!

 

[coloredimage]

Safe travels! Have fun! I expect a nice dose of Disney on instagram this week!

 

[missangelalexis]

Have a great time!!!

 

[xlsm]

Safe travels! Have fun! I expect a nice dose of Disney on instagram this week!

I plan to blow up the instagram feed with my Disney photos!!

 

[meejay]

Hope the trip is going well! Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[xlsm]

We are BACK!!

Our trip was amazing!! We had so much fun.

We got back around 11ish CST last night. I need to go through all of our pictures and then it will be TRIP REPORT TIME!!

 

[misscmac]

Subscribing! Glad you had a great trip, can't wait to hear about it. SUPER impressed with your magic bands - they came out awesome!