WHOPPEE!!! Jan 23-28,2008 - a Magical Escape from Reality

[snubie]

WHY:
We went to WDW in Sept 2007 and had a blast. It was our first real family vacation with DD, it was wonderful to just spend time with my DH and our DD in the most magical place on earth. When we got home, I immediately started scheming to take another trip sooner rather than later.

Conveniently, DH has a meeting in Orlando Jan 24-25. Well, why don't we all go, I say. DH's plane ticket will be paid, a few nights in the hotel will be paid. It was actually easier than I thought it would be to convince DH.
Whoppee!!! We're going again!

I was mentioning to my mother that we might be heading South again and she quietly offered that she would love to go with us, if it was OK with DH. DH agreed it might be a good idea to have an extra set of hands and a babysitter. He also thought to be fair that we should invite his parents, how can I argue with that? I never thought in a million years that they would go with us but I was proven wrong. They are going too.

WHO:
Me: Stacey, 33 yo mother of one beautiful daughter. I am mostly a stay at home mom but I do work part time as a librarian.
DH: Brock, 34 yo reluctant Disney "liker", he definitely does not LOVE Disney but he doesn't HATE it either.
DD: Lauren, 2.5 year old Princess She loved her first trip to WDW Sept 2007, still talking about Small World and the blue train in the sky (TTA)

Others joining us on this trip:
Nana: My mother and doting grandmother, we don't see her often enough as she lives a few hours away.
FIL: Pa, suffers from a debilitating disease and is wheelchair bound. Sadly this may be his last vacation.
MIL: Also a Nana, we don't see her often either but this is not such a bad thing.

I am disappointed but my father will not be able to attend, no time off from work. He will be missed. (FYI - my parents are still married.)

 

[snubie]

WHEN:
January 23-28, 2008

WHERE:
All-Star Music Family suites
We loved staying here in September. Lots of space and a kitchenette. My mother will be staying with us and in-laws will be staying in their own room at ASMU. Against my advice, the in-laws have reserved a standard room despite the fact that we will be in a preferred building due to the suite locations. Oh well.

HOW:
We are flying Southwest out of Hartford CT. My mother is flying Southwest out of Providence RI and the in-laws are flying Southwest out of Baltimore. Lets hope for good weather on the East Coast that day.

DH and I are renting a car since DH's meeting is off Disney property, so not Magical Express for us! My mother's flight arrives just an hour before ours so she will wait for us and hitch a ride. The in-laws flight is way before ours so they will take the ME, plus they have a scooter to transport and the ME will be easier for them to handle.

 

[snubie]

DD Lauren, I don't like posting pics of her online so this will have to do. This is her new Minnie Mouse dress. She loves Cinderella and Stitch.

DH and I on our wedding day - duh.

 

[snubie]

We are building a house. You might ask why this matters? Well we have been waiting for over a year for this house to be started. We were told it would be done by June 2007 the latest. The hole wasn't dug until Oct 1, 2007.

We sold our old house rather quickly and had to move into a small apartment. It has not been fun living in such a small place after having your own home with a large yard.

So this has been a stressful year. Mickey helps relieve my stress.

 

[Crazy4disknee]

We will be there at the same time, I am also hoping for a good New England weather day.

 

[pixe*dst]

We'll be there part of the same time (& we were there in Sept. too). Great start--can't wait to hear more!

 

[snubie]

Sitting down for meals is not an easy feat with a 2 year old. Especially in Disney. Lauren gets so excited and so distracted that she barely eats. It doesn't bother me too much since I don't have to pay for her to eat yet but counter service seems to work better for her. With that in mind, we HAVE to do at least a few table service meals to get some up-close time with the characters.

Advance Dining Reservations (as they stand today)

Thursday 1/24 1900 Park Faire 6:50 pm dinner
Sunday 1/27 Crystal Palace 11:40 am lunch
This way we get to see Cinderella (and her not so nice Step family) and have a nice lunch in the Magic Kingdom.

For all other meals we will just grab counter service. Although we will eat breakfast in the room (yea for the kitchenette!) and I am hoping to have a nana or two to babysit Saturday night so Dh and I can maybe eat alone (and without having to cut someone's food for them).

 

[snubie]

Dh's meeting is Thursday 1/24 all day and half day Friday 1/25. I am on a campaign to get him to play hookie from his meeting on Friday. Wish me luck.

Due to DH's meeting we will start the first full day at Disney at....

Downtown Disney! This works OK, we get shopping out of the way, daddy doesn't miss anything important and we all get good naps before our dinner with royalty (see above post).

We will also be planning naps each day for every member of the party. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT WITH A TWO YEAR OLD!

Wednesday 1/23 Depart Hartford CT for hopefully warmer weather.
Arrive at the resort after a stop at a grocery store

Thursday 1/24 Downtown Disney and dinner at GF
Probably do a few round trips on the monorail before dinner

Friday 1/25 Magic Kingdom

Saturday 1/26 EPCOT

Sunday 1/27 Magic Kingdom with lunch at Crystal Palace

Monday 1/28 Home

 

[GoofyaboutMickey]

Great start. How nice for the in laws to all have this time to spend with your daughter at Disney

 

[snubie]

Great start. How nice for the in laws to all have this time to spend with your daughter at Disney

It will be interesting. My mother will be fine, my in laws I am worried about.

FIL is disabled but is in denial (so is MIL). The last time we went with them (2004), he got stuck on the boat in Mexico (or was it Norway?) and needed a big lift up. They are not morning people (not that I am either); they stay up until well past midnight and sleep until very late morning. That type of schedule won't work for us at Disney so I have a feeling we may not actually spend so much time with them. I have already made it clear to DH and in laws that we will be up and out by 8:30 or 9:00 every morning, naps around 1 or 2, back to a park for 4 or 5 and home at the hotel after park closing (which is earlier this time of year). If they choose to join us, great; if they choose to not get up than we are not waiting for them. Harsh?

 

[snubie]

We will be there at the same time, I am also hoping for a good New England weather day.

We'll be there part of the same time (& we were there in Sept. too). Great start--can't wait to hear more!

Let's all hope for good (warm) weather. Anything over 60 will make me happy though.