The "Hold On Harry; Hello Mickey!" PTR ~ Sept 10-17th - COMPLETE 9/4!! - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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The "Hold On Harry; Hello Mickey!" PTR ~ Sept 10-17th - COMPLETE 9/4!!
The Hold on Harry; Hello Mickey! PTR ~ Sept.10 17th
Since we are exactly (well, almost!) 60 days out from our third September adventure to the World, I thought it would be a good idea to begin our PTR, a trip that really was never in the cards and yet here we are, ready to say Third times a charm! And even though this trip was not on the slate to begin with, everything has worked out so that now I have three trips to look forward to instead of just one!!! But well get to that in a bit
Let me take a few moments to introduce you to our Cast of Characters and to reflect on how far Ive come in my Disney Dreams
The Mom[Me, Cathy, 48 Loves Disney and everything to do with it; obsessive planner and control freak when it comes to vacations; wishes she could travel for a living.]
The Dad[DH Kevin, 55 Just beginning to get Disney, just wants to relax and get away from work but occasionally surprises his family with uncharacteristic Disney sentimentalities.]
Weve been married for 14 years and have a combined total of 6 kids between us (yours, mine and ours.) Im not certain if Kevin ever wanted to take his first two kids to Disney when they were little, but I know I always dreamed of taking mine. Tylers favorite cartoons were Duck Tales and Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers. Alexas first love was The Little Mermaid and she adored everything to do with The Lion King.
Tyler holding up his Chip and Dale he got in his Easter basket.
Alexa said "Big Simba" was the best birthday present she ever got!
Although The Mom dreamed and wished upon many a star to take her son and daughter to Disney World, it was never to be (you can catch up on all of that in my first two TRs found here Hurts So Good TR Crash Course in Disney 101
Bound and determined that the next two children will not suffer the same fate, The Mom takes matters into her own hands and orchestrates a first trip to WDW for her family in 2007. Enter the next two important players in this production
The Big Sister[Kelley, 12 Sweet and quiet, yet very bright; tends to look a long time before she leaps; loves Disney World with all her heart.]
The Little Sister [Corinne Cory, 10 Vibrant and full of life, likes to be treated as the baby, yet wants her independence; shows signs of being a obsessive planner like her mom.]
My Disney Ballerinas in 2003.
Like most kids, Kelley and Corinne fell in love with Disney and its magic at a young age. Their first trip was a life-changing event, I believe. They like to read trip reports with me, pour over the PassPorter guides and shop at Disney.com whenever they can!
Since this script is still a work-in-progress, we have an additional character that may or may not be added to the final production
The Oldest Sister [Alexa, 20 Bright, blonde and beautiful; best barista at B&N Cafe; has been to WDW 3 times and wants to go whenever the opportunity presents itself.]
Alexa went with us on our very first trip in 2007 and I enjoyed having my oldest daughter with me. She and I can keep going non-stop day to night and we like to do most of the same things. This time, shes not certain if shell be accompanying us or not. Shes got a lot going on right now. Hopefully Ill have an answer before I make my final payment in case we need to change anything!
So, there we have the cast but how did this trip that was never planned come to be? Details, details and lots of explanations.
UP NEXT : How The Boy Who Lived Lost to The Sorcerers Apprentice
I'm so glad you are doing a TR. The girls are just adorable in their outfits. Maybe next May when you go for Star Wars, we can go when all of you are there. Think we would have a blast together!
Looks like we are going to hold off on Harry too I hate to, but like we talked about, we can wait for a while. Mickey is just more important!
I'm so glad you are doing a TR. The girls are just adorable in their outfits. Maybe next May when you go for Star Wars, we can go when all of you are there. Think we would have a blast together!
Looks like we are going to hold off on Harry too I hate to, but like we talked about, we can wait for a while. Mickey is just more important!
I know the girls would have a great time together - we'll have to make that happen in the future.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jessie092408
Great start...I, as an avid Harry Potter (Obsessive) Fan, am slightly worried by your teaser...but I will stick around to find out if I should be "offended" or not.
You won't be offended - I promise!
Quote:
Originally Posted by janicelovesmickey
Great start Cathy!
I will be there the same time!
I'm hoping we'll run into each other!! My girls really would like to meet you. (And me, too.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by islandgirl
Great start!!! Count me in...I'll be following along!! I also went to your previous TR Hurt So Good- I'm almost finished reading it.....great TR!!! I'll check out your other one as well. Great job!!!!
How The Boy Who Lived Lost to The Sorcerers Apprentice
For those of you who are not Potter-maniacs, please bear with me for a bit. (We thank you for your patience.) For those of you who ARE, youll understand where Im coming from
To say we are a family who is obsessed with the World of Harry Potter would be pretty accurate. We all love it, most especially the girls and I. To us, its a world just as real to us as the one we live in during our day-to-day lives. Weve attended every book release party and every movie premiere. Weve read the books over and over and listen to MuggleCast and watch our DVDs whenever we feel the need to visit Hogwarts. At times it feels like we eat, drink, sleep and breathe the wizarding world.
At the 2005 Book Release Party
And yes, we still love all things Disney with an equal passion. Case in point is Corys latest dream that Voldemort (excuse me; He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!) was attacking Mickey Mouse at Epcot, firing off spells at each other while her dad was running around taking videos of them and trying to get them to pose for a photo! Or the dream where Prof. Umbridge was issuing Educational Decrees for the Magic Kingdom with one that said, There Shall Be No Water on Splash Mountain.
So you can see why we were over-the-moon when we heard of Universal Studios plans for the creation of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Alexa and I vowed that no matter what, we would be there on opening day.
As soon as it was announced that WWoHP would be opening in 2010, we knew where we would be spending our vacation that year. It felt a bit sad on our last WDW stay, knowing it would be awhile before we would return, especially since that trip had turned out to be so fantastically full of fun and surprises.
Realistically, we knew getting there for Opening Day was not going to work with our busy schedules. So we sucked it up, and decided to go to US/IOA in September when we normally go on vacation. Even though we were all totally, 100% excited to see WWoHP, it would feel so strange to be in Orlando - that close and NOT go to WDW I didnt know if I could do it.
We had absolutely loved MNSSHP. And the girls and I had experienced an evening of fun on our own at Epcot when Kevin tired out and we convinced him to return to the resort without us. I kept thinking how neat it would be to have a Girls-Only trip with my daughters. (I did mention it to Kevin once, but he looked so hurt I didnt mention it again!)
However what if the girls and I could slip in an evening of MNSSHP while we were at US/IOA??? That seemed like a distinct possibility.
We kept an eye on the progress of WWoHP; watching the castle go up, seeing photographs, listening to all the rumors of what was going to be included and getting more and more thrilled by the day!!! It was just too good to be true, too fantastic to be missed! We just couldnt wait for the park to open!!!
But the more and more we read about how amazing WWoHP was going to be, the more and more all of us in the family began to realize that every other Potter-fiend in the country (and out of the country!) felt the same way. How crowded could it possibly be? How much were we actually going to be able to enjoy it if we were elbow to elbow with hundreds, possibly thousands, of other guests; how long were we going to have to wait in lines? Would I be able to stand in the middle of Hogsmeade and soak up the atmosphere and really be there?
We all sat down and talked it over (several times, in fact) and came to the very heartbreaking conclusion that we would enjoy ourselves much more if we waited for things to settle down and visit US/IOA in 2011.
Now I was really depressed. Not only would we miss going to WWoHP, but I would also miss an opportunity to have a Girls-Only time with Kelley and Corinne
Kevin didnt understand. Why dont we just go to Disney again?
I tried to explain that 2 days at US/IOA and a couple days at the beach would be a lot less expensive than a week at WDW. I didnt think we could do it this year as we had not planned for it.
But Kevin had a brilliant budgeting plan and by this spring I made reservations for another vacation at WDW!!! Although I wanted to see WWoHP with all my heart, I knew that sometimes in life, the best things are worth waiting until the time is right. If I couldnt be with Harry, at least I could be with my other most favoritest Sorcerers Apprentice.
So now I have two trips to plan; one to WDW this year and one to US/IOA the next!
UP NEXT : The Details of When and Where..and what about that third trip???
Great start...I, as an avid Harry Potter (Obsessive) Fan, am slightly worried by your teaser...but I will stick around to find out if I should be "offended" or not.
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