We're bringing them along again?!? May 2 - May 8

[honeymo78]

Ah, yes another attempt at a pre-trip report. Hopefully this one will last.

DH and I joined DVC almost 2 years ago. Before then we typically purchased the premium or platinum packages and sometimes traveled with my DMom or with her and DBro. DH swore we would never bring DMom along again. Since DVC we've brought them along on 2 trips, for everyone's first visit to Disneyland and DMom and DBro's first Christmastime visit. Guess what, they are joining us again in 3 short weeks and we all may be going back to Disneyland next May.

Cast of Characters:
Me (31) - I've been in love with Disney (particularly Winnie the Pooh) for as long as I can remember and have been going to Disneyworld for just as long.

DH (30) - I feel like I've converted him but he may just had a hidden love of Disney all along. And boy does he love me a lot to let me go to Disney this much.

DMom (59) - She started this life long love affair with Disney. I feel like we are paying her back for all the things she has done for us by sharing our trips with her, plus she takes care of us on trips.

DBro (25) - One of the only guys I know who still loves to go on vacation with his sister. He's a great guy and I'm so glad that we have such a good relationship.

Here are some pictures:

All of us at the Grand Californian last May

DMom and DBro on the Sailing Ship in DL

Me at MK last Dec


For this trip we are staying in a standard view 1 bedroom at BWV. We've never stayed here before - in Dec we were at OKW in a 2 bedroom, so hopefully we'll all survive in a 1 bedroom. We've done a regular hotel room together so I think we'll be okay.

We are all set with airfare on AirTran leaving bright and early on Sunday May 2 and then flying back home nice and late on Saturday May 8.

Next post will have the plans we've made.

 

[honeymo78]

Here are the plans we've made for the trip.

Sunday - DHS
Lunch at Sci-Fi
Fantasmic Dinner package at Mama Melrose - can you believe that we've never seen Fantasmic in all the times that we've gone?

Monday - MK
Chef Mickey - we've been having fun eating here for years
Dinner at Shulas - we're excited for the new TIW discount

Tuesday - Epcot
Dinner at Garden Grill - I love watching the scenes from the Land

Wednesday - AK
Dinner at Rainforest Cafe

Thursday - pool and drinking at Epcot
Wilderness Segway Tour
Dinner at Big River Grille

Friday - MK
Breakfast at Crystal Palace
Dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe

Saturday - DHS
Breakfast at Kona Cafe
Lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe

 

[honeymo78]

It looks like a few people have viewed the thread. I hope you all are enjoying the little I've written so far.

So, we have 2 dogs, Stitch who is 2 and Eva who is 5 months.

Normally when we vacation, my mom would watch Stitch. In Dec we boarded Stitch and really didn't like where we left him. A few months ago we had been trying to find a new boarder for the dogs but were discouraged with the pricing for what we wanted.

Then, DH's mom volunteered to watch them while we are away - more like begged us to let her watch the grandpuppies. We debated whether we thought his parents could handle both of them, they had watched Stitch once before when he was a puppy, and finally agreed that they would be fine there for the week and we would save tons of money. Did I mention they live 4.5 hours away? The original plan was to meet halfway and make the puppy swap.

We went to visit them over the weekend (DH's mom's hospital had a cake from Ace of Cakes delivered and DH went to the presentation) and introduce the dogs to the house and go over some ground rules for the dogs. DH's mom realized she would be a conference in Ohio until the evening of May 1. Oh, no! That's the day they were supposed to pick up the dogs! Well DH's dad volunteered to come and pick them up by himself. Not a good idea for a guy not in 100% health to deal with two doggies in the car alone for nearly 3 hours.

So, we had two options - try to find a boarder in less than 3 weeks and spend $ we hadn't budgeted for, or suck it up and drive all the way out there Sat morning and turn around and come right back. $500+ or 10 hours in the car? We are opting for the car ride. DH's dad will be okay with the dogs at the house until DH's mom comes home that night and we'll only end up spending $60 in gas and tolls to get all the way out there.

We're hoping we can be back home between 5 and 6 since DMom and DBro will be staying at our house before the flight since we live only 10 minutes from the airport. DH will likely sleep on the car ride home and maybe I'll end up tired enough to actually sleep the night before a Disney trip. I'm worse than a kid on Christmas eve.

 

[honeymo78]

I finally did some vacation related laundry for DH. He has some clothing that only gets worn on vacation and I realized it was wrinkly and stale since it hadn't been worn in 6 months. I then realized that the shirts I like to wear on vacation are some of the same ones I like to wear to work and my laundry basket is full. Hopefully I'll make some time this weekend to get it done and set it aside so I don't wear it before the trip.

I also got some cute babydoll cotton dresses that are super comfy. I wonder wearing one would work out on our non park day/epcot drinking. Would I look silly wearing a knee length dress on a segway? Maybe I'll see how they look if I put a little pair of shorts on underneath - just in case there's breeze or something. I know for drinking around World Showcase I'd feel super cute and it would also be fine for dinner. Maybe I could just change into it after some time at the pool. I'm trying to incorporate something other than just old navy colored tees and shorts into my vacation wear. DH always looks a little dressier/put together in his khaki shorts and disney camp shirts than I do.

 

[dellasgirl]

Hi
first off let me say i share your pain about finding dog sitters.
Boarding is out of the question(we have 5) so we are still searching for
alternatives. glad your DH's mom can do it for you
Your plans look fine to me and we have never seen fantasmic either-it doesn't work out in our plans--DD's love wishes and now that they are bringing back the main street electrical parade fantasmic is out of our touring plans
i do understand about vacation laundry/clothes we have the same issues
I know you are excited

 

[honeymo78]

Thanks for stopping by Ann

Good luck with finding your dog sitter. We also have 3 cats but no one ever seems to mind coming by to feed them and give them water.

DH really really wanted to see Fantasmic. I'm more of Wishes person, I could watch every night. But at least this fits into the "try something new every trip" category.