"What will you celebrate?"... "That Chrismas is over" Feb PTR!!

[Microcell]

What is really sad is that the CM on the phone did not even seem surprised when we told her that.

Pertinent info:

Wilderness Lodge- Jan 31-Feb 7, 2010 We got the MYW park hoppers and QS Dining Plan booked just yesterday!!

Now take a look at my ticker.. it does not match the dates I just gave. That is by design. I have an 11 year old too smart for her own good and I must deceive her at all times.. mwuahaa haa! If you read this ticker after Christmas, you will say to yourself, "self, it looks like the right dates.." that is because I will change it when we tell the kids.. ON CHRISTMAS!

We are a family of four that dreams about being in Disney the entire time we are not in Disney, much like many of you reading! My DH works retail so really, the end of Christmas is when we finally get to see him for the first time in three months usually!

So when Christmas is over we will have our DH/dad back and the kids will know we are going back home! I love dual meaning thread titles, don't you?


Not so pertinent info:

More to come as I struggle with planning using previous park hours as a guide, strategize how do effectively do the parks along with 10,000 people there for UDA from Feb 5-7. Also as I decide how to tell the kids on Christmas and live, yes, I said LIVE play by play of two dreaded calls... On Oct 27 when I, along with the rest of the world try to make dining reservations and the day that currently only Disney knows the exact date of, where I *HOPEFULLY* get a code added to my reservation to save me thousands of dollars! Well maybe a thousand? A few hundred? Might I get a free Pixie stick?

Stay tuned for all this plus more...

 

[Microcell]

Just booked the 4/3 deal and got about $700 dollars taken off the bill!!! Woo hoo! I asked about pixie sticks and they are still available for a nominal charge.. in Disney speak I suppose that is $30.00 each.

We also decided to make t-shirts for the kids to open on Christmas.. they are going to be a picture montage of all their past visits (Ds's will be since he was a baby.. soooo looking forward to that one) and then we will photoshop them in Wilderness Lodge for this year! What should we put on the shirt so they understand? Any advice welcome! They are 7 and 11 so for the 7 year old it needs to be pretty easy words..

 

[Microcell]

Rethinking the T-shirts to just be the kids photoshopped in a generic 2010 Disney location that way we can be vague about what hotel we are staying at until we get there!!

The kids thought an Aloft Hotel we stayed at in Colorado was soooo cool that I would love for them to have that same surprise at Disney!

Anyone got ideas for the generic location we could photoshop them into?

Today is also the last day where both my DH and I are off and can think about dining reservations.. I think we are going to do the following:

Chef Mickeys for breakfast
LTT for dinner
Biergarten for late lunch
50's for dinner

The question will be when? We are going to look over all our different touring plans to decide that!

 

[Microcell]

Okayyy... over 70,000 people and no suggestions.. well I am too excited to take a hint!

We are at 108 days now and our friend leaves next Tuesday for WDW sooo he may be able to get us mickey ears to wrap.. well anything we we want him to get..

What should that be? If ears, what should they say?

Hellpppppp!!!!

 

[Microcell]

Well today was Doomsday (October 27 when the dining window increased from 90 to 180 days), and boy did it fail in spectacular fashion!

We got up about 4:55 Central and at 4:58 we had chosen the time we wanted for our first reservation, LTT breakfast.. got all the info inputed selected the time of 8:15 and clicked the add to cart button and CRASH! The entire system went! We broke Disney!

We proceeded to commiserate with EVERYONE who couldn't get through on this thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2317106

So both DH and I try from 15 minutes before they opened to call. Busy, busy busy.. DH and I debated who should throw which phone at which wall.. DH got through twice, answered the "Are you in Orlando" questions and click.. disconnected.

But then, at 6:22 Central... Speed Dial #6 on my phone, speed dial 6 from DH's phone.. we counted.. 1,2, 3....dial... and SUCCESS!!! Who's phone was it? Dum Dum Dum.. MINE! Woo Hoo! Good thing too, cause DH needed to go to work.

So I waited almost exactly 30 minutes on hold, they played the same two songs over and over again. Clang clang, clang with the trolley..

Spoke with a CM whose name I would have asked for had I known there would be a kudos thread later for..and I got all my reservations, the bummer being that I got LTT later than the beautiful 8:15 I had tried to choose when I broke Disney.

Here are my reservations (mostly so the kids can look back, cause lord knows no one is reading this):
2/1/2010 50's 12:50PM
2/1/2010 Garden Grill 6:00 PM
2/2/2010 LTT 8:35 AM
2/2/2010 Liberty Tree 6:00 PM
2/3/2010 Tusker House 2:00 PM
2/5/2010 Biergarten 12:55PM
2/6/2010 Liberty Tree 8:35 AM

We are on QS Dining plan so some of these might not get used..

Must think more about Christmas presents and how to surprise the kids.

 

[Jenvenza]

Congrats on all your ressies! I dont think we are doing the DDP this year so I didnt have to get up at the crazk of dawn like I did last year to ake those ressies!

 

[Microcell]

Thanks! Compared to some I really lucked out and was done pretty early in the day..

The scary thing is that we actually have the QSDP so now I have to debate paying for the regular Dining plan with this many reservations!

If we cut something it won't be LTT or Biergarten.. we love both far too much! I am wondering about Tusker House and Garden Grill. If I had to cut one I don't know which one to cut!

 

[jordanyosh]

I didn't even know you had a PTR...I'm here now! Today was just CRAZY.

 

[Microcell]

Well this cannot compare with yours Jordan.. you have it far more together!

 

[Microcell]

Well it is the 90 day mark! I coulda made reservations today under the old system, but instead I just get to celebrate!!!!

 

[Microcell]

Well here we are at day 79... we have hit the famous "Disney lull". ADR's made, packing list needs to be done, but eh.. don't feel like it. Been looking at trip reports literally all day.

We do have a pressing matter though:

DH has to ask his usually grumpy boss (the guy even looks like grumpy) if the trip will still be a go for Feb.. people getting moved around and DH may not be able to go if people get moved too close to the end of January. That means no trip and if I thought grumpy boss looked grumpy before he will look really grumpy after I egg his house or something..

I have to believe it will all work out.. so now I will work on adding some pictures to this thread to make it more interesting!

 

[jordanyosh]

Well here we are at day 79... we have hit the famous "Disney lull". ADR's made, packing list needs to be done, but eh.. don't feel like it. Been looking at trip reports literally all day.

We do have a pressing matter though:

DH has to ask his usually grumpy boss (the guy even looks like grumpy) if the trip will still be a go for Feb.. people getting moved around and DH may not be able to go if people get moved too close to the end of January. That means no trip and if I thought grumpy boss looked grumpy before he will look really grumpy after I egg his house or something..

I have to believe it will all work out.. so now I will work on adding some pictures to this thread to make it more interesting!

I hope you are able to go.

 

[Microcell]

Thanks Jordan!

As it turns out his boss was fine with it, and told him it would work out somehow!!!

He told DH that a "replacement" manager would have to be particularly bad to wreck his store in one week's time!


My work is more stringent and "needs of the business" oriented, but not as pivotal to keep (yes, my DH is sooo insistent we go to Disney he said the option of me quitting is not off the table...). I did submit my time off request at 6:00 AM December 1st! They are very orderly at my work and would not accept requests off for 2010 until then. They are even more orderly.. the woman in charge checks it every Friday and 3 people from our group are allowed off on any given day, so she will more than likely approve it on Friday unless I am #4! If i am, then the sweating will begin.. they will not approve time off until the day before if you are #4!

Ok how to surprise the kids.. Leaning toward something with Balloons coming out of a box possibly anchored with a designed shirt. We were going to do a "gift within a gift" idea but not sure if it would give it away too quickly if the 2nd present was, say a Disney Dollar or something. Only what, 24 days to figure that one out?

No matter what, it is time to dance!!! 60 days until we go!!!!

 

[Microcell]

Well shoot... We hope to still go as planned, the trip is paid for, but the money might be better allocated and based on how DH's job works out in the next month, and as a result we may not go.

So, for sure we are not planning to tell the kids on Christmas. We do have a target date for telling them.. about 10 days before our trip! January 19th is a big day for DH at work so based on that we will decide if we can go or not. Nothing like cutting things close!

So stay tuned.. and watch me run around like a chicken with her head cut off on the last 10 days before the trip if it is on!

 

[Microcell]

New plan! Lord we are fickle!

DH works for a miserable person.. really awful and hateful. As a result I don't feel safe at all telling the kids about the trip until....


We are at the airport!

DH and I will make up shirts that say "Disney surprise 2010" and wear them under our clothes to the airport! We will giftwrap shirts for the kids and present them at the airport at the gate for the Detroit flight departing the same time as the Orlando flight!

What, You may be asking yourself, will we be doing at the gate for a flight to Detroit? Well, it is my hometown and not a fun place to be in February! I honestly did walk to school, uphill both ways in a foot of snow, and have told the kids everytime school is cancelled due to a dusting!

We figure our cover will be this: DH has a conference in Detroit and I want to see my family so we are gonna go when it is cheaper to go (my kids will totally buy that, I am the queen of cheap). That way if we don't feel safe going we can say that it was cancelled, and it wouldn't be nearly as heartbreaking as telling them DH's boss (from now on referred to as THE DEVIL) is a jerk who took Disney away.

I wouldn't tell them anything if it weren't for the fact that DD is in 6th grade and has a large project due the week we get back, and it effectively has to be done before we leave, if we go.

So, though I will be a little sad on Christmas, unable to tell them so they can anticipate ahead of time the fun of Disney, I am excited about the new surprise plan that will avoid possible heartbreak.

 

[reyasmommy]

I really hope everything works out for you all. And sorry your husband works for such a scrooge. I'll think positive thoughts for ya.

 

[jordanyosh]

Hopefully the boss has a "Christmas Carol" type of Christmas..

 

[Microcell]

^^ Thanks! I think the best we can hope for is that he retires! Maybe, just maybe he will calm down in the next couple of weeks.


At least the first major hurdle is done, Christmas is over!

DS just said he doesn't have anything to do.. already. So the next hurdle is getting the kids back to school! We got probably 8 inches of snow, which in this neck of the woods seems like 3 feet! My guess is he will be going outside alot today! Unfortunately DD's feet grew quite a bit and we need to get out in the white stuff to get her new boots! She was a 4 (adult) last winter and now is at an 8!

About the trip: DH started planting the seeds for the cover story, talking about a conference in February he heard about yesterday. It was a little sad that we couldn't tell them on Christmas, but it is for the greater good I think.

Lots to do: Get the dog's accommodations worked out, get H1N1 vaccine if available to regular non sickly adults, buy lanyards (later in Jan for that one), buy shirts, make "Disney Surprise" design, get packing list together, go over reservations... all but the first two to be done late in January!

Next hurdle.. visit from DH's boss 12/29. He must be blown away, which will materialize as "You stink, but not as bad". Don't you just love the "Aim high and get smacked down no matter how well you do" mentality?

 

[Microcell]

Boss didn't make it to his store. Maybe we can avoid him for the next month.. Ah.. he is around alot because they are opening a new location, and that is slated for this Friday, so maybe after next week we can breathe a little bit easier.

Little bit of a funny.. last year they had meetings where the boss said (read with gruff tone) "Some of you will lose your jobs next year, you all need to get yourselves together.. or else!". So yesterday they have the same meeting and the boss says (in same gruff tone) "Last year was tough but things needed to be done, this year we are going to have fun." and DH thought to himself "Or else?"...

So we have been talking about going to "Detroit".. how DH is going and how I think it is unfair. Here in the next few days we are going to have to talk about making plans to go there so the kids teachers have a heads up that we will be going!

I really don't know if we should let the teachers in on the surprise or not?

If we do then I am hoping that they will let DD do her project early, because they will know she won't have time on the trip.

If we don't I fear they will think that we are just going to be in Detroit so she should have time to do her project. Of course the project is too big to take on a plane.. it is like a trifold thing with pictures etc..

Also, one teacher will keep the secret, but I am not sure about the other one.. DD's 6th grade teacher.. he is an odd duck, kinda socially different so I never know what to expect from him.

If anyone is reading, feel free to let me know what you think!

 

[Microcell]

We planted bigger seeds this evening!

We asked how the kids felt about going to Detroit in a month and DD11 faked and said "Oh sure!" but without too much excitement...

DS7 said "No" When asked if he would like to go to my hometown, where I was born and lived for the first half of my life. Am I hurt.. heck yeah I am!

Then I said "You get to miss school if we go."

You will never guess his response..actually, yes, if you try you could. Even without trying you could probably guess. If you ever crossed paths on the street with a seven year old boy you could guess his response:

"Oh, no school? Yes, yes I wanna go!"

Ok gonna look up a real flight so I can make the numbers seem authentic.