We Can Fly, We Can Fly, We Can Fly PTR - Page 9 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Okay here is your reply.... I am eager to see what your trip report will be... and I am sure I will learn something valuable too!
Darlene: Will you post anything while you in Disney? If not I guess you will jotting notes down for each day.... I wrote in a journal last trip! I will be doing that again for this trip!
Thanks for explaining what a PTR is.... : )
__________________
Kate in PA All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them- Walt Disney
Okay here is your reply.... I am eager to see what your trip report will be... and I am sure I will learn something valuable too!
Darlene: Will you post anything while you in Disney? If not I guess you will jotting notes down for each day.... I wrote in a journal last trip! I will be doing that again for this trip!
Thanks for explaining what a PTR is.... : )
I always write my TR's with the hope that something in it will help somone else out - so I hope there's something useful in it for you. As for posting while in Disney, we go unplugged. Abby's DS will go with us for the airport but once in Disney, that gets locked in the safe and we take no other electronics with us. I will do hand written notes and I'll probably start writing the actual TR up on the mornings that I do laundry so I can start soon after we get home. And no worries - there are some acronyms that I still don't know so I know how much I appreciate it when someone will help me out with them.
I"m subscribed and all caught up! How exciting for you all to be so close now, finally!! Sorry about your ADR woes.....I've never booked my own (always use a TA) but I can appreciate the computer issues.
As I mentioned, I called Disney back Monday to change my ADR and since I had been doing all these "little" details, I also gave Disney my information for DME. Even though we had no intention of riding it back to the airport, the CM I had originally talked to when I added DME in the first place said it was better to give both sets of flight information, not just one so that’s what I did. I then continued to look at all my spreadsheets to see if there was anything to tweak. There really wasn’t but I still looked at them - I couldn’t seem to stop myself from doing it. And in between doing that, I kept checking out Passporter for the Mystery Photos. I was having fun finding the photos. It helped me to put aside my planning for a while and it helped me look forward to our trip.
A few days after I got our ADR’s, Lenny and I were talking about our itinerary and while I don’t remember the details of the conversation, I remember at the end of it, I went back to look at our itinerary. The past few years, we’ve been go, go, go on our arrival day with not so good results . For this trip, I wanted to avoid that so I put my foot down and said no ADR and no theme park time. Well I did well and stuck to that but instead I put down that we would play a round of mini golf and then hit the water park. The more I looked at it and thought about it, the more I realized I was doing the same exact thing I had in the past - I planned for us to do far too much on our arrival day. The morning I can’t (okay, I won’t) change anything - we’ll still have our 8 am flight and after we arrive and check in, we’ll still get the rental and hit Walgreens for water and stuff. After we hit Walgreens though, it’s all up in the air. By the time that’s done, we will have all been up for almost 12 hours and I know we’ll be tired so if we feel up to mini golf, we’ll go play. If not, we’ll do it another day but no matter how we feel, we will not be going to a water park . After Walgreens (or mini golf) we’ll go back to the hotel to stay for the night. If Lenny and Abby feel like swimming, they can do it in the hotel pool (I’ll have our swimsuits in a carry on) and if we’re lucky, our bags will be in the room and I’ll unpack. If they don’t feel like swimming, we might have an early dinner from the food court and then we’ll wait for the scooter to be delivered. Once we get that (between 6 and 7), I truthfully plan on all of us going to bed for the night . I don’t care that it will only be 7 pm - it’s what I’m planning on and an early bed time won’t hurt any of us at all. If anything, I’m hoping it will finally start off our vacation on a good note .
Now that I’ve mentioned all the planning I’ve made, there’s one thing I noticed I haven’t mentioned - my aunt whom I invited to go to Disney with us. As much as she said she’d like to go to Disney, it became pretty evident to me over time that it wasn’t going to happen . From a few conversations I had with her here and there, I could tell that at this point in her life, a trip to Disney isn’t really what she wants - although she would never admit it to me. She still lives in Maine and she has a dog to think about and to her, those are hurdles to going away. Even though I gave her opportunities to tell me if she didn’t want to go, she never did, she just gave me different reasons why she might not go. When I did eventually start making plans, I made them all for 3, not 4. If my aunt changed her mind and wanted to go, I could work around that but I knew it wasn’t going to happen. Part of me was bummed about it because I think she’d enjoy seeing Abby have fun at Disney but the other part was fine with it. I understand that what someone liked 20+ years ago (the last time she went) may not hold the same appeal now. 20 years ago I liked cruises (well I liked Disney then too and I still do), but now I have Abby, I enjoy going to Disney more than cruising. Back then, my aunt enjoyed Disney but now she enjoys going on a cruise with my mother more than the crowds and heat of Disney.
So anyway, our trip is just going to be the 3 of us. I had all our dining pretty much how I wanted it, our itinerary looked good, and I was buying one or two things a week so I wouldn’t be overwhelmed at the last minute. Things were really set and planning this year didn’t "demand" my time as much as it has in the past. Once again, it was kind of a good thing because after February vacation, things were very stressful around the house. First of all, Lenny received a call from his sister to let him know that his mother had cancer. How it was found is another story but the days that followed weren’t easy. Trying to get information was the toughest part as none of his family seems to want to call the house. They prefer cell phones and emails - which would be fine if we were on the receiving end of those. Then less than a week after we learned of the cancer, Lenny’s mother died. And of course during all of this, I had my mother making comments to me about Lenny, about his family, about our decision to go and buy Lenny a suit when we did (which ended up being literally just hours before his mom went). Pretty much all of it was uncalled for and it was just added stress I didn’t need .
On top of all that, I had stress from work. 2 days after we learned about Lenny’s mother, I learned that one of the elementary school kitchen managers decided to quit after 25 years (quit, not retire). It was an opening I had been waiting for and the very day the posting came out, I put in a letter for the position. Considering it hadn’t been an easy almost 2 years spent in the school I was at, just applying was a double edged sword as I didn’t know "what" manager I would end up with afterwards . The kitchen manager at my school isn’t the easiest person to deal with. One day she’ll be fine, talkative, nice, etc but the next day she could be the biggest witch going - and she can hold a grudge. A lot of things had been going on with my other coworker so at the time of the posting, things had been going really well between me and the manager (the other coworker was on the hit list instead). The manager and I weren’t buddy-buddy but she wasn’t on my case either and if she asked me questions, she actually took what I said into account (in the past she’d do the complete opposite of things I suggested). I didn’t want my applying for a manager job to bring out the nasty manager but I couldn’t afford to let the opportunity pass me by. The manager did ask me if I was going to apply for it and I did tell her up-front that I was going to try but I didn’t expect to get it as I didn’t know who else might go for it (seniority rules with our union).
Things actually didn’t change at work, which surprised me, but not knowing when and if they would was stressful, plus the thought of leaving the school was stressful too believe it or not. Even though it wasn’t easy working there, I got along well with the other coworker and the custodian and the thought of moving and leaving them was actually depressing . Then I thought of what it would be like to be the one in charge every day instead of just once in a while and it was very intimidating for me. I was very comfortable with my second in charge position at the school. I didn’t really need to answer to anyone because I knew my job and the manager hardly questioned things I did. I had my own little corner of the kitchen and I basically did my own thing everyday. Was I in a rut? Most definitely but I did come out every once in a while when the manager didn’t come into work. The thought of coming out of that rut permanently though? I was going in circles - I wanted to leave and become a manager, I didn’t want to leave the coworkers I got along really well with, becoming a manager was more money and better for my family, becoming a manager meant working with new (although not unknown) people who might not like the fact I’m 20 plus years younger than them. Needless to say, I was questioning my decision to apply for the job . In the end, what was done was done and there was no going back - unless I didn’t get the job of course - but just waiting to hear what would happen wasn’t easy. As I said, it was just stress on top of the stress I had at home with Lenny’s mom dying and the things that go with that (getting Lenny a much needed suit, getting myself something since what I had didn’t fit, just getting details of when and where, etc) plus the everyday stress of Abby/her schoolwork/her chores/her bedtime. I once again pretty much ignored Disney and my planning.
Darlene, so sorry to hear about Lenny's mother and all of the stress you have been under. So sorry your Mom felt the need to put in her two cents worth, I'm sure she was worried about all of you. We Mom's can sometime add stress to our children & their families when only worried about what is going on and feeling like our hands are tied, BUT that DOES NOT EXCUSE meddling behavior.
I know you, Lenny & Abby are getting more and more excited. I would be too. You all have saved for this trip and waited two long years to go so go and enjoy yourselves. I cannot wait for your TR when yall return.
Planning to go Disney for vacation is Great, unfortunately reality of Everyday Life can throws us into a stressful loop. But once you and your family get through this tough time- there is a "Magical Light" at the end! A Wonderful, Magical, Fabulous, and Incredible Vacation just ticking away each day!.... Even though you may not be thinking about it every hour every day...it still is approaching!
Take care what you need to do now.... but when something bad happens I always think that there will be something Positive that comes from it! : )
I think you did the right thing about applying to the new job! It is normal to feel fear about taking on a new position.... but it also takes Courage too! Keep your chin up! : )
__________________
Kate in PA All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them- Walt Disney
Darlene, so sorry to hear about Lenny's mother and all of the stress you have been under. So sorry your Mom felt the need to put in her two cents worth, I'm sure she was worried about all of you. We Mom's can sometime add stress to our children & their families when only worried about what is going on and feeling like our hands are tied, BUT that DOES NOT EXCUSE meddling behavior.
I know you, Lenny & Abby are getting more and more excited. I would be too. You all have saved for this trip and waited two long years to go so go and enjoy yourselves. I cannot wait for your TR when yall return.
Thanks. As for my mom, I don't know if it's worry for me or if she was insulted that I act like a responsible adult (meaning I handle things without her help but she wants to help - IDK though).
Vacation - oh yes, it's been 2 long years and we can't wait. Under 4 weeks now. I'm glad that you enjoy my TR's enough to keep coming back to read them and want new ones too.
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Lenny and Darlene- So sorry for your loss! Planning to go Disney for vacation is Great, unfortunately reality of Everyday Life can throws us into a stressful loop. But once you and your family get through this tough time- there is a "Magical Light" at the end! A Wonderful, Magical, Fabulous, and Incredible Vacation just ticking away each day!....
Thank you Kate. Things do happen and you're right - there is light at the end.
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Even though you may not be thinking about it every hour every day...it still is approaching
Ummm......speak for yourself . I AM thinking about it alot - and looking forward to it more and more each day
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I think you did the right thing about applying to the new job! It is normal to feel fear about taking on a new position.... but it also takes Courage too! Keep your chin up! : )
Thanks for the encouragement with the new job. Luckily I'm on summer vacation so school is really the last thing on my mind. Actually I take that back, it's not the last thing because it's not on my mind to begin with. I'm out and I won't start thinking about it until we get home from vacation as I will go back just a few days later.
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Great plans for your first day!
So sorry again for the loss of Lennie's mom! : pixie:
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Holly: 
. For this trip, I wanted to avoid that so I put my foot down and said no ADR and no theme park time. Well I did well and stuck to that but instead I put down that we would play a round of mini golf and then hit the water park. The more I looked at it and thought about it, the more I realized I was doing the same exact thing I had in the past - I planned for us to do far too much on our arrival day. The morning I can’t (okay, I won’t) change anything - we’ll still have our 8 am flight and after we arrive and check in, we’ll still get the rental and hit Walgreens for water and stuff. After we hit Walgreens though, it’s all up in the air. By the time that’s done, we will have all been up for almost 12 hours and I know we’ll be tired 
. After Walgreens (or mini golf) we’ll go back to the hotel to stay for the night. If Lenny and Abby feel like swimming, they can do it in the hotel pool (I’ll have our swimsuits in a carry on) and if we’re lucky, our bags will be in the room and I’ll unpack. If they don’t feel like swimming, we might have an early dinner from the food court and then we’ll wait for the scooter to be delivered. Once we get that (between 6 and 7), I truthfully plan on all of us going to bed for the night 
. I don’t care that it will only be 7 pm - it’s what I’m planning on and an early bed time won’t hurt any of us at all. If anything, I’m hoping it will finally start off our vacation on a good note 
about it because I think she’d enjoy seeing Abby have fun at Disney but the other part was fine with it. I understand that what someone liked 20+ years ago (the last time she went) may not hold the same appeal now. 20 years ago I liked cruises (well I liked Disney then too and I still do), but now I have Abby, I enjoy going to Disney more than cruising. Back then, my aunt enjoyed Disney but now she enjoys going on a cruise with my mother more than the crowds and heat of Disney.
- which would be fine if we were on the receiving end of those. Then less than a week after we learned of the cancer, Lenny’s mother died. And of course during all of this, I had my mother making comments to me about Lenny, about his family, about our decision to go and buy Lenny a suit when we did (which ended up being literally just hours before his mom went). Pretty much all of it was uncalled for and it was just added stress I didn’t need 
but I did come out every once in a while when the manager didn’t come into work. The thought of coming out of that rut permanently though? I was going in circles - I wanted to leave and become a manager, I didn’t want to leave the coworkers I got along really well with, becoming a manager was more money and better for my family, becoming a manager meant working with new (although not unknown) people who might not like the fact I’m 20 plus years younger than them. Needless to say, I was questioning my decision to apply for the job 
. In the end, what was done was done and there was no going back - unless I didn’t get the job of course - but just waiting to hear what would happen wasn’t easy. As I said, it was just stress on top of the stress I had at home with Lenny’s mom dying and the things that go with that (getting Lenny a much needed suit, getting myself something since what I had didn’t fit, just getting details of when and where, etc) plus the everyday stress of Abby/her schoolwork/her chores/her bedtime. I once again pretty much ignored Disney and my planning.
DisneyNina
: pixie: 
. I AM thinking about it alot - and looking forward to it more and more each day
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