WWYD? offered free upgrade

[lyzziesmom]

Woooohoooo, look you made the 1000th post!

How funny that so many of us picked the same parks on the same days. I didn't actually look at the UG crowd calendar until a couple weeks ago, and by that time my plans were already set. I hope AK isn't too busy on Labor Day - I think most people go to MK or Epcot. We are pretty flexible with our plans, even though it doesn't look like it. If it's really busy, we're open to trying another park. I do get up that early! We all wake up at 6am every day anyway, so getting on a bus at 7am is not that big of a deal. I don't pay that much money to sleep at WDW, it feels to me like a waste of time - I can sleep when I get back home! I have a very boring job so I can rest at work too (not quite sleep though, no matter what my DD3 thinks -- wouldn't that be nice!). I am not a morning person, but I just love early mornings at WDW, esp. EMH mornings. The parks are so empty and it feels like you own the place, my kids get lots of special attention and it's just so different to be able to wander around aimlessly and watch the place wake up.

Everyone's ADRs look so good! It's making me second-guess mine. I know we got a lot of good places, but we have so many favorites and like to try new places too, that there just isn't time to fit them all in and now I wish I hadn't skipped some, like WCC - it's just so much fun! We're trying 'Ohana instead this time and I'm sure we'll like that too. I wish we were leaving today!

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Calypso-before you leave I was going to ask you a few questions:
1.When should I order my water from costco?I would like it to be at OKW by next wendsay.
2.Are you still bringing your laptop?Can you let us know about the crowds and weather?If you have time.Plus will they fit in the safe?TIA

If I don't talk to you before you leave have a wonderful and safe trip.
Don't melt away in the heat in the humididty we need to hear about your trip when you get back.
Enjoy the upgrade and the pixie dust that got sprinkeld our way.
Hey its still the year of million dreams I hope you win something.
Will talk when I got back on the 12th
Laura

Just finished packing and had a few minutes before dinner is ready! I would order the water Thur. or Fri. -- it is shipped out of Georgia and only takes 2 business days.

We still plan on bringing the laptop so I'll try to log-on tomorrow evening or Thursday. We won't be using it everyday due to the internet access charge...but I'll try to check-in as often as I can.

Hopefully the crowds and the weather will be a bit better now that the local schools are back in session.

I would love to win something in the YOAMDs promo while we're visiting, but kind of feel like I already did: 40% discount on POFQ stay, Free DDP & Upgrade @ OKW, VIP Illuminations Viewing, plus I've won a lanyard and ears through the mail-in contest! This is going to be the best trip ever!!!

Good Luck to you and all our new friends that have been hanging with us on this thread.

 

[Ellasgirls]

Just finished packing and had a few minutes before dinner is ready! I would order the water Thur. or Fri. -- it is shipped out of Georgia and only takes 2 business days.

We still plan on bringing the laptop so I'll try to log-on tomorrow evening or Thursday. We won't be using it everyday due to the internet access charge...but I'll try to check-in as often as I can.

Hopefully the crowds and the weather will be a bit better now that the local schools are back in session.

I would love to win something in the YOAMDs promo while we're visiting, but kind of feel like I already did: 40% discount on POFQ stay, Free DDP & Upgrade @ OKW, VIP Illuminations Viewing, plus I've won a lanyard and ears through the mail-in contest! This is going to be the best trip ever!!!

Good Luck to you and all our new friends that have been hanging with us on this thread.

Only 2 days to get to OKW? UH OH...I ordered our water today (Tuesday) for us coming in on Sunday. What will they do with our water? This is my first time doing an online order to be shipped to our resort! Oh well, I will just have 1 more thing to figure out when we get there

 

[LauraAnn630]

WoW! Have a great time!!!

 

[tasha99]

Here's our itinerary. We're staying at OKW in a 1 BR :

8/28: Arrive. No plans, but a 9 pm dinner at Raglan Rd. We might go to Disney Quest before that if there's time, but we might just rest in the room.

8/29: MK (we're going to LOEMH even though we're all big--just to do the rides, not visit with the characters.) Dinner offisite at Texas de Brazil

8/30 Epcot. 11:30 lunch at Chefs de France

8/31 Blizzard Beach and Disney Quest. Sushi at Kimonos sometime in the evening (no reservation. Hoping that's okay on a Friday night).

9/1 Animal Kingdom. 5:40 reservation at Jiko.

9/2 MGM. 11:30 lunch at Scifi. 9 pm dinner at Narcoosees.

9/3 Either Epcot or Typhoon Lagoon in the a.m. Pirate and Princess Party in the pm. No ADR's--it's our counter service day.

9/4 Early flight back. School starts tomorrow!

Thanks for the H2O reminder.

 

[dramaticmissy]

look for us at SSR from 8/26-9/1 we may be wearing our matching airbrushed t-shirts that have lime green background and our names across the middle!!!!

 

[lyzziesmom]

Look for us at SSR too! 8/31 (well more like 9/01) through 9/09. We'll have our green Mickeys on, mostly be wearing matching shirts, and as I think I've said before, my dad will be one running around saying, "You can't do THIS at Pop Century!" and marveling at all the upgraded stuff.

Here's what we look like...

My girls:

Me - this picture was taken last weekend at our garage sale, I was having a bad hair day, very sweaty and no makeup. It's really a horrible picture, but I figure that's pretty much what I'll actually look like in the parks. Oh yeah, but I won't have a price tag on my forehead. That was DD3's brilliant idea.

So if you see us, come say hi!

 

[extremesoccermom]

Here is our most recent picture from my Nephew's wedding last Friday. I am in the purple and DD13 is in black. DS and Mom are also in the picture but will not be with us this time. (DS17 would rather go to school and Mom says it's to Hot - at home it is in the 100's right now so I am ready for 98 at WDW)

I was not ready for the picture and the flash didn't work but I think you can see what we look like anyway!

 

[M2DD's]

I have no idea on how to post my picture so you'll just have to imagin how I look
I know this probably sounds weird but for the last few days I haven't been that excited for our trip.We leave in one wk and I should be bouncing off the wall.Even my DH has noticed I haven been yaking his ear of about our trip. Anyone eles feel the same.Maybe its because all the planning is complete.I have purchased all the stuff we need so all that is left is to pack.I think half the thrill is planning.I went to walmart yesterday to get groceries and didn't buy a single item for mt trip Hopefully I'll perk up soon.We leave in 1 wk from today.
Laura

 

[clombardi]

I have no idea on how to post my picture so you'll just have to imagin how I look
I know this probably sounds weird but for the last few days I haven't been that excited for our trip.We leave in one wk and I should be bouncing off the wall.Even my DH has noticed I haven been yaking his ear of about our trip. Anyone eles feel the same.Maybe its because all the planning is complete.I have purchased all the stuff we need so all that is left is to pack.I think half the thrill is planning.I went to walmart yesterday to get groceries and didn't buy a single item for mt trip Hopefully I'll perk up soon.We leave in 1 wk from today.
Laura

This happens to me every single time I go to WDW. For me, I think it is because I realize that now that the trip is here, it also means it is almost over. My husband also commented yesterday about how little I have been talking about WDW. I know that once I get on the plane on Friday, my excitement will be back!

 

[lyzziesmom]

M2DDs: That's pretty common around here. I call it pre-trip depression. I know I will feel that way sometimes right before a trip, I try to fight it and just be excited anyway. Usually if I act excited, I catch on and then feel better soon. I think clombardi is right, it's like now that the trip is almost here, you know it's almost over. The planning is over, the shopping over, and soon the fun will be over. The anticipation turns into reality, and we are afraid it won't live up to all the hype. But don't worry, it always does!

Another funny thing that happens to me, is about 1/2 way through my trip I get sad because it's halfway over. My post-trip depression sets in while I'm still there! That's when I start thinking, this is the last time I'll ride/see/do ______. Last time wasn't so bad, because I knew I had this trip coming up in several months, so I could tell myself I'll be back soon. But now, my budget is tight and I don't know when we'll be able to go back, and as silly as it seems I'm already sad about coming back home!

But I'm still excited, and these last several days are just dragging by. Even my dad said this morning that there are only 9 days left and they are so slow... and up until our big trip last year, he was not a "Disney person." He was one of the ones who kept asking me why we keep going back... and this year he kept asking if they were having free dining again! (You put the word "free" in there and Dad is a big fan!) And then with the upgrade, my parents are almost as excited as the kids & I -- although they will never admit it.

 

[joyerbides]

Wow, I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling this way. I try not to say anything to anyone, because I don't want to bring anyone down. I thought I was just PMSing, but maybe not. I have been waking up in the middle of the night with anxiety about this trip. Then I get insomnia. For crying out loud, I NEED SLEEP Is this normal? This is our first family vacation, so I really want everything to go okay. Please tell me I'm not an obsessed lunatic No really, I'm glad you guys posted this, I was beginning to get worried.

I don't know how to post pictures on here, am I allowed yet? Otherwise I'd post so you could see who we are. I'll be looking out for you though.

 

[blessdmommy]

I know this probably sounds weird but for the last few days I haven't been that excited for our trip.We leave in one wk and I should be bouncing off the wall.Even my DH has noticed I haven been yaking his ear of about our trip. Anyone eles feel the same.Maybe its because all the planning is complete.I have purchased all the stuff we need so all that is left is to pack.I think half the thrill is planning.

I agree. Half the thrill is the preparation/anticipation!
I completely understand. Joyerbides, I thought it was PMS also. I'll be glad to have "that" over by the time we get there!

Someone must start a trip report thread for when we return, so we can all share our experiences. It is so nice to have something special (upgrade) in common to share our excitement/anxiety with each other.

 

[M2DD's]

thanks for all the support
I think part of my sadness is that I totally blocked out the my in-laws are comming with us.We don't get along and it creates stress on me and then I tend to take it out on my DH.He never said anything to his parents when they make comments that upset us.He just doesn't let it bother him but I just can't ingore them like with he does. They go with us every yr.Last yr wasn't to bad so hopefully it will be ok this yr. There not staying at OKW us(I didn't even attempt to get them upgraded,they booked with my SIL through a TA) and we don't have any of our TS together. SO there will be some break during the day from them. I keep telling myself that I will not let them ruin my trip.I may have to say that a few hundred more time. The most important thing is that my kids love there grandparents and have a great time with them and have memories to remember for a lifetime.
Laura

 

[tasha99]

This is so weird: I've been having insomnia too! And I should be packing, but instead, my house is a disaster (more so than normal, even ) I've been overplanning for months, and now I won't even do what I would consider normal preparations.

 

[lyzziesmom]

Oh I can totally relate on the inlaws! I went to WDW a couple of times with my DD's dad and his parents -- talk about awkward. We were never married and didn't end things all that great, although we get along ok now that we talk only once every few months and live 1500 miles apart. But they live in FL, so the second they get wind of us coming to WDW, they all invite themselves along -- one time they even brought some of my old friends. Surprise! A trip for 3 became a trip for 9. I have invited them before to come spend a day with us, next thing I know they've booked for the entire time we are there, requested connecting rooms, and made ADR's. It sounds nice, but in reality it's really not. The vacation that I wanted was gone, just like that. It was nice for my DD to see her dad & grandparents, but it was so awkward and stressful for me, I did not have a good time at all. And then they complained the entire time, I woke up too early, I walk too fast, I don't feed DD enough, I am too strict, they don't want to go here, I keep DD up too late, it's too expensive (as if I ASKED them to come for the whole week!)... ugh. Never again! Now I feel like I have to sneak around and not even mention that we are going on vacation.

My parents actually suggested this time around that I invite DD's family for a day or two, even knowing the history. I calmly explained how they have not been here to visit her in 3 years, and instead have hijacked MY vacations, and her dad cannot make it a priority to come see her and has one excuse after another, and yet he can buy himself expensive video game systems and all kinds of other stuff he "needs." Thank goodness my parents saw the light and backed off, because it's hard enough to travel with my OWN family!

Whoa sorry I went off on a rant there - it's a sore subject. I wish you the best on your trip. Just keep reminding yourself that this is YOUR vacation. It's good that you will be at different resorts and have seperate ADR's, I'm sure that will make it much more pleasant. The thing that helped keep me sane was just doing whatever I wanted to do. With that many people, it's easy to split up and if they want to do something else, just say "Ok I'll meet you after I'm done with ______." Try not to let them get to you too much, let them enjoy the kids and most of all HAVE A GREAT TIME!

 

[lyzziesmom]

This is so weird: I've been having insomnia too! And I should be packing, but instead, my house is a disaster (more so than normal, even ) I've been overplanning for months, and now I won't even do what I would consider normal preparations.

Oh yeah my house is a mess too. I don't even want to clean it, because I just want to get ready for WDW!!


For those of you wanting to know how to post pictures, it's pretty easy. First you have to upload your pictures to photobucket.com - it's a very user-friendly site. Once you've done that, in your photobucket album you click under the photo you want to post here. There will be three choices, click on the bottom one that starts and ends with URL in brackets. When you click on it, it will copy the code to put the picture here. Then come back here to your post, and just paste in the code. Voila! Your picture will show up here! When you are typing your post, it will just show the code but after you submit your post the photo should show up. You can always "go advanced" and preview your post if you want to check.

I hope I explained that well enough. It's really a lot easier than it sounds.

 

[clombardi]

This is so weird: I've been having insomnia too! And I should be packing, but instead, my house is a disaster (more so than normal, even ) I've been overplanning for months, and now I won't even do what I would consider normal preparations.

OMG! (I have never typed OMG before. I feel like a teenager.) I have been having horrible insomnia too! And all the sudden I feel like my house is so cluttered! What is wrong with us?

 

[lyzziesmom]

Dr. Lyzziesmom here. Right now we are suffering from a bad case of PDJ (Pre-Disney Jitters) which is only cured by a trip to WDW. Sadly, the cure is worse than the disease because the trip always causes an uncontrollable case of PDDSD (Post-Disney Depression Stress Disorder). Which of course can only be cured by booking and planning another trip to WDW.

And the vicious cycle continues.

 

[clombardi]

Lyzziesmom, Youa re right about having another trip planned. This is the second year in a row that I can thank my field hockey-playing daughter for getting me back to Disney in February for the Field Hockey Showcase. That will ease the pain of our return to NJ on Labor Day!

P.S. Thank you for the excellent diagnosis, doctor!