WHAT A DIFFERENCE 6 MOS. MAKES (or how I learned to love MK) COMPLETE-WRAP-UP 12/29

[tinacaplan]

Ah...so we are back and now I can start my hotly-anticipated trip report! Welcome! I hope that I can keep you entertained and possibly share some of my insights with you along the way. And please...lurkers...please, please come out and say hi! I know how its sometimes easier to watch from the sidelines, but we love to meet you all!

Somehow, I feel the writing isn’t flowing quite as easily as it did on the days when I did it with the scent of the Beach Club in the air, but oh well. Despite Max and I really wanting to, we cannot, apparently, live at the Beach Club so we had to come back to Connecticut.

This is my second attempt at a TR, as well as our second attempt at an outstanding family trip, and I am hoping that I will be a much better trip reporter this time, as I have since upgraded my camera and brought the lap top to Disney...not to live report, but simply as a great place to take some notes, etc, while we were there so that I can more accurately recreate our trip for you over a period of..well, however long I feel I can reasonably drag this out for, as our next trip is really up in the air right now. February 2013 might be the next most likely possibility (eek!), unless I can track down some ridiculously low airfare for this February, which I’m doubting as its President’s Week and prices are way too high... Sigh... With Disney already releasing their 2012 prices, I just cannot wait for Southwest to release their information for February, too. But we can discuss all of that in post at a later date.

Oh, and I also think its fair to mention, that unlike some of my Disboard peers, I don’t take a trillion pictures and will often be recreating scenes for you with words. Its not easy to fearlessly lead my husband anywhere, whilst pushing a stroller...add in taking pictures and its often a disaster. I’m just not that coordinated, Mark doesn’t take pictures at all, and Max hates posing for them. He fails to understand why Mommy wants to stop every seven seconds to take pictures of him in all sorts of ridiculous poses, pointing out all manner of objects.

We were at Disney from July 14 to the July 21 and stayed at...how did you know? The Beach Club! But more on that later...

 

[tinacaplan]

CHAPTER ONE: Introductions
CHAPTER TWO: Where and Why
CHAPTER THREE: The Original Plan
CHAPTER FOUR: The Journey Begins
CHAPTER FIVE: We're Almost There!

CHAPTER SEVEN: How to get an upgrade...without really trying!
CHAPTER EIGHT: Making Our Way to Via Napoli!
CHAPTER NINE: I Knew I Should Have Taken French!
CHAPTER TEN: Waiting for the Rope to Drop
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Just Around the Corner is a Fantasyland!
CHAPTER TWELVE: Look! I Found My Camera!
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Cape May Dinner and a Lovely Stroll
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Morning at Animal Kingdom Part One
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Rafiki! Morning at Animal Kingdom, Part Two
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Getting Wet and Wild at the Boneyard...and What I Almost Did in the YC Lobby
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Nightmare at the Magic Kingdom
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Hollywood Studios!
CHAPTER TWENTY: Magical MK Morning
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: Magical MK Morning, Part Two
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Day Five -- The Shocking Conclusion

 

[tinacaplan]

Reserved for TOC, Part Two...yes, I am feeling ambitious tonight!

 

[dizneeat]

Welcome back, Tina!
This is the one trip report I definitely don't want to miss!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tinacaplan]

Welcome back, Tina!
This is the one trip report I definitely don't want to miss!!!!!!!!!!!

Awww...thanks, Karin! You don't have long now, do you? We had a wonderful time and it pains me not to just tell you all about it right now! Max mentioned you and Tom frequently and wondered when we'd see you.

 

[dizneeat]

Awww...thanks, Karin! You don't have long now, do you? We had a wonderful time and it pains me not to just tell you all about it right now! Max mentioned you and Tom frequently and wondered when we'd see you.

We're gonna miss you there too! And I so hope we can go in February 2013 too, as I really want to see all of you again!

BTW, in three weeks from now we will be on our way to the airport! I got the last set of documents yesterday! We are all set to go!

 

[annmarieda]

Welcome back!!! I am so glad you started your TR!!!! I can't wait to read all about your adventure.

 

[MEK]

Welcome Back! Looking forward to your TR, zillions of pictures or not! Funny your DH does not like pictures. The reason I started taking all the pictures was my DH would always take pictures with me in front of him. I got tired of looking at all my a$$ shots!

 

[glennbo123]

Subbing Tina!

 

[disneylovin24]

I love the Beachclub So im going to read along.

 

[Sherrkel]

Hi Tina,
I've been off the boards for a while, but would love to read you TR. I've been in my post-Disney trip depressed state since February, and with another trip not planned until Feb. 2013 - I really need some DW magic. Looking forward to your report.

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in

 

[BsAngel]

Cant wait to hear more

 

[bigal'sdaughter]

Totally in!
Cannot wait!

 

[KatMark]

Sorry I'm late, but didn't realize you had already started. But I am here now and ready to relive your trip with you.

 

[pinkxray]

I'm in

It sounds like you had a great time and enjoyed the BC. I can't wait to hear all about it.

You must be so happy you got back to CT to enjoy the record high heat wave.

 

[tinacaplan]

We're gonna miss you there too! And I so hope we can go in February 2013 too, as I really want to see all of you again!

BTW, in three weeks from now we will be on our way to the airport! I got the last set of documents yesterday! We are all set to go!

Yay! It won't be long now!

Welcome back!!! I am so glad you started your TR!!!! I can't wait to read all about your adventure.

Thanks, Ann. I'm thankful I have some extra time to get readjusted to life in the real world again before I have to go back to work.

Welcome Back! Looking forward to your TR, zillions of pictures or not! Funny your DH does not like pictures. The reason I started taking all the pictures was my DH would always take pictures with me in front of him. I got tired of looking at all my a$$ shots!

Thanks! I'd like to say its good to be be back, but we all know how that goes. Too funny about the pictures.

Subbing Tina!

Hi, Glenn!

I love the Beachclub So im going to read along.

Hope you enjoy my report!

Hi Tina,
I've been off the boards for a while, but would love to read you TR. I've been in my post-Disney trip depressed state since February, and with another trip not planned until Feb. 2013 - I really need some DW magic. Looking forward to your report.

Thanks...I hope I can bring some magic your way. We might be back until 2013, either.

joining in

Cant wait to hear more

Totally in!
Cannot wait!

Thanks!

Sorry I'm late, but didn't realize you had already started. But I am here now and ready to relive your trip with you.

You can't be late if you still made page one, Kathy!

I'm in

It sounds like you had a great time and enjoyed the BC. I can't wait to hear all about it.

You must be so happy you got back to CT to enjoy the record high heat wave.

Thanks, Diane. And call me crazy, but I still think Florida is hotter. The sun down there is BLAZING! Plus, we're out in the heat more down there than we are here. But yes, its been hot here, too.

 

[tinacaplan]

While many of you may beginning to tire of this information, allow me a few moments to dust it off again for those not so in the know. The travelling party for our trip consisted of me, my husband, and my beautiful (but at times exasperating) four year-old son, Max. Prior to experiencing this trip, I had written out some basic Disney facts on all of us, but this trip changed a lot in our minds (hence the title).

Mark -- Outstanding Husband/Father/ and Wearer of Charlie Sheen’s rejected shirts

Not any where near as emotionally invested in this as I am, but loves a lot of the movies and genuinely enjoys listening to Disney music when we’re out in the car as a family (and sometimes when he’s alone). Totally up for whatever I plan, with a minor modicum of complaining involved. This was his third trip with me. He went once with his family sometime in the primordial haze of the early 1980s and doesn’t remember much about that trip at all. Another fun fact: He’s the same age as Disneyworld, too, so I really liked scoping out all the fortieth anniversary stuff. And wow...it just dawned on me that his 50th birthday bash should be EPIC. Wonder if Disney’s planning something big for that one? He loves Star Wars and Beauty and the Beast might be his favorite Disney movie, ever.

Max -- Our four year old son

Lover all things Disney, yet did not quite seem to “get” the parks when we first visited in February. He adored Coronado Springs, though, and was distraught when he found out we would not be staying there again. Did a week at the Beach Club change his mind? Hmmm...
He, like so many other young boys of his generation, loves Cars, even though he probably won’t quite comprehend the entire plot of Cars 2 for years to come. He began watching Peter Pan with some frequency right before the trip, as well. He also loves the Toy Story movies, the Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. He really gets into Disney music, too.

And me...Tina!

I so wish I had a cute Disboard moniker, but when I first signed up, I thought, for some reason, oh...its like Facebook, you just use your real name! Ha. Thus, my entirely original and clever Disboard username, which is, my actual, you know...name. Um, and yes, I can often be sarcastic and a bit snarky. I’m thirty-five and a teacher/grade level team leader, am super passionate about teaching and education, in general, and will be starting a leadership fellows program in the fall. (Gosh, I am going to desperately need that February break). I did not know how much love I had for Disney until Mark and I went for our anniversary in 2010. I mean, sure...Disney had been a huge part of my childhood. We went as a family twice and they reallly are some of the greatest memories I have of my childhood. My dad had always taken me to theatrical runs of the movies back when Disney still did that. I loved the Pixar movies I’d seen. But we went on a truly disastrous, adults-only trip in 2010 and we’ve been back with Max twice now.

My favorite movies are the Lady and the Tramp, Bambi, the Lion King, and Finding Nemo.

Up next...a bit more background information that I’ve probably shared already in my PTR, but felt like writing about again anyway.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

subbing - Welcome back!

 

[MickeyNicki]

I'm here! Late but still made it to page 2...cannot wait to hear all about your trip

Say hi to Mark and Max for us!