It's Five O'Clock Somewhere--Mother/Daughter Trip #3--UPDATED 5/14/09 About This Page:

[DawnDenise]

It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere: Mother/Daughter Extravaganza #3

Welcome one and all to the latest trip report featuring me and my FANTABULOUS mom. We’ve begun a tradition to go somewhere at least once a year and so far it’s been to Walt Disney World every time. Not that I am complaining at all. : The planning for this trip began one the DME bus back to the airport on February 15, 2008. We had just spent five days and four nights at the Wilderness Lodge, and we knew that we were coming back. On what would have been a depressing bus ride to the airport, we were giggling and planning our future escapade. The only thing we knew for sure was that we would be staying at the Polynesian or the Beach Club. The next twelve months would be filled with planning and decisions.

Sometime in May, I had a dream. It was a dream from the way back machine with my grandma when I was 6. In 1976, my grandma took all my cousins, my sister, my mom, and me to Walt Disney World and we stayed at the Poly. I took this as a sign and called my mom the next day. She agreed that we were meant to stay at the Poly and booked the trip. She wanted to go with the Deluxe Dining Plan as she wanted to eat at the signature restaurants. As it is with my mom, whatever she wants, she gets. I paid the deposit and the in depth planning began.

While we were waiting for park hours and the ADR window to open up, mom told me in one of our many conversations, that we needed a theme. I had been telling her about all the adult beverages that I had been introduced to and she could not wait to partake in some of these wonderful concoctions. As I was browsing the scrapbooking sites for ideas, I came across a scrapbook that seems to fit into the tropical aspect of the Poly and the drinking aspect. I shot an email to my mom with the link and I got a resounding YES! Two scrapbooks purchased within 30 minutes.



Now as the weeks went on, mom decided that our theme was going to be “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere”. She loves Jimmy Buffett and when she heard the song with him and Alan Jackson, she knew it was our song for the trip. I couldn’t help but agree and the theme was born. This also let my mom began to plan and scheme with ideas for clothing apparel for us. She told me I had to let her make us matching shirts for our arrival day to wear. Yes, there was a little grimace from yours truly because I’m not into glitter and jewels on my clothing but I agreed nonetheless. I bought the shirt she told me to buy and sent it off to her so she could work her magic. When I went to visit in August, she showed me her shirt and said mine would be similar but not as flashy. In truth, it wasn’t all that bad and I actually liked it. (Shhhh…don’t tell my mom!) But you will have to wait until the trip to see the shirts.

Now in October I got a very nice bonus from work that was completely unexpected. It was large enough for me to pay the trip in full and still have more than enough to put into savings. The thing was that I had to somehow figure out a way to pay the trip off without my mom knowing but still giving her credit. I called one of her co-workers while she was gone on a mini-trip to Gatlinburg and figured it out. Unfortunately, my mom found out because she found the paid in full fax from Disney. Darn it! So, I had to tell my mom what happened. She was beyond excited. I told her Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday, and Happy Mother’s Day.

The park hours and ADR window opened up so I called all of our meal choices in. We’ll be eating at Nine Dragons, Le Cellier (traditional first night for us), Chef Mickey’s (my mom has never been), Narcoossees, Cape May Café, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Donald’s Safari Breakfast, Artist Point (I am going this trip darn it!), Grand Floridian Café, California Grill, and Crystal Palace. The only places that mom has eaten at previously are Le Cellier, Cape May Café, and Crystal Palace, so she has a lot of new places to try. In November, the 4 for 3 deal came out and we were able to save about $100 plus get the $200 gift card.

Christmas day came around and I hated that I didn’t have anything to give to my mom besides a couple of little things I had picked up throughout the year. So Print Shop and I became friends and I made a certificate for her. Here’s a picture of the certificate and my mom with it after she opened it.



So now it’s a matter of waiting and luckily we don’t have that much time left. Mom is headed over tomorrow and we will drive up to Indy for our flights. Mom booked the park and fly option at the Courtyard by Marriott near the airport. Early Sunday morning, we’ll be headed to our happy place. I’ll try and send some updates but won’t make any promises. We’ll be meeting up with Amy (iamgrumpy) and her mom at Jellyrolls one night. We also have spa reservations on Thursday morning courtesy of my mom. So, I leave you for now and will see you again on our return. Cheers!