Disney or Bust- A Celebration of Life- October 5th-12th 2012.... - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Disney or Bust- A Celebration of Life- October 5th-12th 2012....
Warning, I've never done one of these before. So, I'm sure that I will tend to ramble on and probably complain about some things in great detail.
First, the cast of characters-
Me-Michelle aka- Over-planner extraordinaire. According to DH I shouldn't be so obsessed with making plans for our upcoming trip. More on that later. Loves Eeyore and my favorite ride is Test Track.
DH Mike- He is notorious for not wanting to make any kind of plans. At least where Disney is concerned. He doesn't want me to make any ADR's. He would rather eat whenever he is hungry and could honestly care less about me stressing out over every little thing. He enjoys Disney, just not all of the planning beforehand. He leaves all of that stress to me. (Thank you so much honey.) He loves Mission Space and would ride it all day if possible.
And last but not least, my DS Chris- At almost 15, he's been going to Disney since he was 3 and a half. So, he is a virtual Disney pro. His favorite park is and always has been EPCOT. People are always surprised whenever I tell them that. Even when he was 4 or 5, he always wanted to go to EPCOT first. He humors his mom and all of her planning. He even agreed to wear matching t-shirts this trip. Even though I got an eye roll from him when I asked. His favorite ride is a toss up between Rock N Roller coaster and Test Track.
Now for a bit of a history of the start of our planning.
This will be our first trip back home in nearly six years. We formerly lived in Florida, about 2 hours away from Disney. So, we were fairly frequent visitors. We had seasonal passes and went there on spur of the moment trips quite frequently. Now however, living in Alabama, we haven't had a chance to get back for some time. All of us were homesick for our favorite place in the world.
We had been planning to go back in June of 2011. However, my husband's father had been diagnosed with colon cancer in August of 2010. Dear FIL started going downhill around March of 2011. So, we had to postpone our trip. We were all a bit disappointed, but family always comes first. So, we put our trip plans on hold.
The day that we were originally supposed to leave for Disney, was kind of a downer. I knew that we would be going back, but just didn't know when. I'd been saving for quite awhile and well, it was just disappointing and I wished that FIL would get better.
Well, between the time that we had to take off to help take care of Dear FIL, our savings for the trip was quickly depleted. So, I found myself getting more and more depressed. Our time was soon spent between helping FIL and trying to work. Trying to keep the family together and still maintain some kind of sanity for everyone.
We lost him on Halloween of 2011. He was a wonderful man and loving father and an even better Grandfather. Before he passed away he told us that he wanted us to take our trip to Disney. That he wanted us to be happy after he was gone. I hated that. Hated that he was worrying more about us than he was about himself. I lost my dad after DS was born so he has always been like a father to me. I was in tears when I left the room that night.
So, fast forward to January of this year. DH decided that we were going to go to Disney this year. He told me that he wanted to plan it. He didn't care where we stayed, but he wanted to fly. He's the driver in our family and he doesn't want to be exhausted after driving all day.
So, after hemming and hawwing (yes, I live in Alabama. LOL!!) about if, I went ahead and planned our trip for October of this year. DS has fall break every year and I talked to my boss about taking that week off and she was okay with it. Cool. First major hurdle cleared.
I changed hotels after deciding that I HAD to stay at POR. We are doing the Dining Plan for the first time. Deluxe, because my guys are big eaters and very fussy eaters. We'd stayed there in October 2006. Well, the more I read about FQ, the more I wanted to stay there. So, after having the entire trip paid for, I changed hotels. We are staying at FQ. LOL!! DH had no idea.
There is a story behind that one though. I think I'm a little Disney obsessed. There's really no doubt about that one. But, DH finally told me that he doesn't care what I plan or where we are going to eat. He just wants to know when we are going and when we leave. I was a bit upset at him because of this. He knows how much I love Disney and I love planning my trips. Even when we lived in Florida I would plan for months in advance. I'm a bit obsessed.
So, everything is paid off and I'm just patiently waiting for the time when I can make my ADR's.
Well, that's enough for this chapter. More to come later.
Up Next: My Sister Wants To Join Us: AKA, Why Did I Ever Think That This Was Going To Be A Good Idea.
__________________
Me- Self proclaimed Disney nut. Love everything and anything to do with Disney.
DH- Not as obsessed as me, but still rather obsessed. Can talk like Goofy, but only does it to annoy his son
Chris 5 years old MNSSHP...2002
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
My Sister Wants To Join Us: AKA, Why Did I Ever Think That This Was Going To Be A Good Idea.
Okay, for the latest installment of my seemingly never ending drama on the trip to our family vacation.
*rant follows*
So, when we last left off, I had changed our ressies from Riverside to French Quarter. I told hubby about it that night. He just shrugged and said, that he figures I'll change it a few more times before October gets here. LOL!! I think I'm good with where we are staying now. I've heard a lot of good things about the resort so I'm happy now.
Okay, so the reason for the title of this chapter is coming up now. My sister, AKA Dear Sis AKA DQ or Drama Queen. Let me just start by saying that I love my sister. I really do, but she has a way of making things much, much harder than they have to be. She is the baby of the family and I'm the oldest of 5. We have a few brothers in between us. Well, everyone in the family pretty much catered to her her whole life.
And now for the reason why I don't let DH plan any part of the trips that we take. He wanted to go down to South Florida to visit with her and my niece. Which I was all for. Well, then he got the brilliant idea of inviting Becky (niece) and DQ to come with us. Well, he decided to buy her Florida resident seasonal passes. Well, she didn't think that she would use them more than once. Okay, so DH says we can give her a birthday and early Christmas present. She's a single mom so it's hard for her to do stuff like this for her daughter. DH and I both have well paying jobs and can afford to treat her to a short 2 day vacation.
Well, I checked into Pop Century and added tickets and the basic dining plan. It was a little under $900. It made me gulp, but it's still doable. I can make a deposit and pay it off before we get there.
So, all DQ has to do is rent a car and pay for gas. Since we have over 7 months before vacation it should be a piece of cake to save for both. Right? Wrong. Not for DQ. She decides that she doesn't want to rent a car. Too expensive. So, she's going to take Amtrak. Okay, while it's a bit cheaper, she doesn't know how she's going to get from the train station to the resort. She starts hinting to the fact that she needs a ride.
I told her that DH and I aren't planning on renting a car. We are flying and then taking ME to our resort. So, she keeps hinting and hinting that she needs a ride. I finally got upset enough at her that I told her that I'm doing what I can do. I'm practically paying for her whole trip and if she can't pay for the rental car and the rest of the stuff, then I don't think she needs to go.
I wasn't proud of myself afterwards, but you have to understand, she has always been like this. If you give her an inch, she wants a yard. I told DH last night that he needs to stay out of our planning now. Planning for our family is stressful, but add in my sister and her drama is making it impossible to enjoy any of the planning. Not that I enjoy it, but I find that it is fun planning a trip to Disney. Even more so since we haven't been in such a long time. So much has changed since the last time we were there.
I've come to the conclusion that if she isn't happy with what we are willing to give her, well she can just forget about it. I'm not a flowing fountain of money and refuse to be pressured into doing even more for her.
*rant over*
Okay, so for some fun stuff. I went onto the Disney Store website last night and ordered matching shirts for us. I figure that I will only get one day of matching shirts out of DS. So, I let him pick the design that he liked best. Well, he likes red, so I got his in red and DH and I got gray. I also got an Eeyore shirt for me.
DH humors me when it comes to this stuff. So, I saw that they had the 2 shirts for $28. Hmmmmm... So, my brain starts going in overdrive then. Hehehehehe.... So, I found matching shirts for me and DH. I got him a 25th Anniversary of Mickey Mouse and a matching Minnie Mouse t-shirt for me. LOL!!
Well, with the 25% off sale that they have going on right now I thought it was a pretty good deal. Well, then I saw another coupon when I was checking out for free shipping. Yeah!!!
So, between the 25% off and the free shipping I saved over $50!! Yeah baby!
I went back and did some more shopping this morning. I got some more shirts for us, a Grumpy jacket for me and flips flops for the plane for all of us. Oh and some Eeyore slippers. I love Eeyore. LOL!! I saved a ton more money! I love shopping and especially when stuff is on sale and free shipping!!
That's all for now. I'm sorry for rambling and ranting. LOL!!
__________________
Me- Self proclaimed Disney nut. Love everything and anything to do with Disney.
DH- Not as obsessed as me, but still rather obsessed. Can talk like Goofy, but only does it to annoy his son
Chris 5 years old MNSSHP...2002
**I just had written this all down and then the website decided it didn't like me...so let me try again lol**
I am just starting to follow and I'm loving your PTR so far and can't wait to read more...I am so sorry about DFiL...he sounded like a very nice man... and I COMPLETELY understand about DQ for a sister...I have one too...
Now, I hope I don't freak you out but there are SO MANY similarities between us its scary...here, let me show you....
Your Name: Michelle
My Name: Michele
Your DH's Name: Michael
My DH's Name: Michael
your # of sons: 1
my # of sons: 1
Your siblings and You: Oldest of 5
My siblings and myself: Oldest of 5
You lived in Florida
I LIVE in Florida
You have a DQ for a sister
I have a DQ for a sister
You LOVE Disney and all things about it
I LOVE Disney and all things about it
You just made two purchases on the disneystore.com website for shirts and things, taking advantage of the 2 for $28 and 25% off and free shipping
Well, You get the idea....
**I just had written this all down and then the website decided it didn't like me...so let me try again lol**
I am just starting to follow and I'm loving your PTR so far and can't wait to read more...I am so sorry about DFiL...he sounded like a very nice man... and I COMPLETELY understand about DQ for a sister...I have one too...
Now, I hope I don't freak you out but there are SO MANY similarities between us its scary...here, let me show you....
Your Name: Michelle
My Name: Michele
Your DH's Name: Michael
My DH's Name: Michael
your # of sons: 1
my # of sons: 1
Your siblings and You: Oldest of 5
My siblings and myself: Oldest of 5
You lived in Florida
I LIVE in Florida
You have a DQ for a sister
I have a DQ for a sister
You LOVE Disney and all things about it
I LOVE Disney and all things about it
You just made two purchases on the disneystore.com website for shirts and things, taking advantage of the 2 for $28 and 25% off and free shipping
Well, You get the idea....
hope I didn't freak you out at all LOL
Wow!! That's some coincidences there!! Especially our husband's names. LOL!! You didn't freak me out at all. It's weird how things work sometimes.
I'll post more as time goes on. Thanks for following me on my insane journey back home!! LOL!!
__________________
Me- Self proclaimed Disney nut. Love everything and anything to do with Disney.
DH- Not as obsessed as me, but still rather obsessed. Can talk like Goofy, but only does it to annoy his son
Chris 5 years old MNSSHP...2002
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__________________
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This chapter could be titled: How much money can we spend before we even go on vacation? Or maybe, Eek! There's a spider in the garage that's chasing me and going to eat me. I know it's true because it was on Harry Potter.
LOL!!
Found about 4 black widow spiders on my side of the garage. That simply will not do. If there's one thing in life that terrifies me, it's spiders. I can deal with snakes and pretty much every other creepy crawly, but spiders terrify me to no end. So, I called a pest control guy and they can't come out until Wednesday. Seriously? What if the spiders try to eat me? They might be like the spiders from HP and run after me. I hated that movie simply because of that scene. LOL!!
Seriously though, last night we went to Target. I live and breathe at that store sometimes. DH works there and well, lets just say that sometimes I spend more $$ there than I should.
Last nights trip started off innocently enough. We went because my boss's son had a gift card that he wanted to use. He spent the night and since his mom hardly ever shops at Target, I volunteered to take him.
Well, the boys went to check out the toy department and DH and I were in electronics. Well, he motioned for me to check out the cameras. I looked around and didn't really see any that I liked. Mostly because of a bad experience a few years ago. I fell in love with a camera and bought it. Well, when I got home and started playing with it, I hated it. It had way too many features and was overkill for me. Too many settings and it did nothing but confuse me. I spent our whole trip to DC trying to figure out how to take pictures with this stupid camera that I paid $$ for and seemed like a waste of money afterwards.
Well, I found a camera that was on clearance for $99.99. Not a bad deal. Didn't have too many features, and it was easy to hold. It felt like one of the old 35mm cameras. I loved it. Well, I should have known that it was too good to be true. They were sold out.
So, I looked again and they had a similar model that was more $$, but an upgrade from this one. Great. Upgrade usually means harder to use. So, I was looking and looking at this one. Trying to decide if I wanted to waste more money on a camera that I won't be able to use. Well, I'm standing there trying it out in the store and after a little while, I decide that this is the camera for me. Just enough functions to be useful, but not too many that it's going to be overwhelming. It's just that $$ part of it that's getting me. I'm cheap. Extremely cheap. I love saving $$ and hate spending any more than I have to.
Well, DH looks at me and tells me that if I want it, we should get it. So, lots of chewing my lip and considering it, I finally decided to just go ahead and do it. Well, it needed a memory card, so I got on of those on sale. And a case. Can't forget a case.
Well, by the time we were done. After DH's discount, plus a 5% discount that he gets for using Target's red card and a 5% discount from filling our prescriptions there, I ended up pretty much getting the case and memory card for free.
You'd think that was the end of my spending for the trip. Nope. Wait, there's more.
We need luggage. I mean like big time. The last time we bought luggage was when my DS was like 4 or 5. So we've pretty much outgrown everything that we have. DH & DS usually share, but since DS has gotten bigger, (wearing mens clothing sizes now. Thank you very much!) He needs his own suitcase now.
So, I go onto Amazon this morning, just to check out the prices. I love Amazon and everything to do with them. Don't get me wrong, I love Target, but there's just something about Amazon that gets me to spend $$ everytime I log onto the site.
Okay, so I'm browing their web site and I see the perfect luggage. It's just the right size for the plane. All the specs are correct and it's blue. So neither of my guys will freak out because mom picked out some nasty color like pink or purple. Heaven forbid.
Well, I ordered a luggage scale also. In total it came to just over $100. I get free shipping because of the whole Prime membership. (Thank you very much Kindle Fire.)
So, it's supposed to be delivered on Wednesday. Hubby has no idea I ordered it, but he did tell me it was okay to order some luggage. LOL!
DS who shall henceforth be known as, I'm a stick in the mud Chris, decided to question me about why he has to wear matching t-shirts with us. I told him that it's a tradition. He looked at me and asked since when. I laughed and told him since now. He came back with, i still think it's a stupid idea. DH, who has learned to humor me, told him to be quiet and just don't argue with me. Because he's never going to win.
So, I got to deal with an almost 15 year boy's attitude. Although it's nothing like dealing with a girl. I'm sooooo glad I had a boy. LOL!!
So, that's all for this edition of my wonderful journey back to WDW. Thank you for sticking with me and my rambling ways. Til next time.....
__________________
Me- Self proclaimed Disney nut. Love everything and anything to do with Disney.
DH- Not as obsessed as me, but still rather obsessed. Can talk like Goofy, but only does it to annoy his son
Chris 5 years old MNSSHP...2002
Well, I got my first order the The Disney Store. Well, I'm checking it in and see that there are two 25th anniversary Mickey shirts. Well, I'm worrying that they sent me two of them instead of one Mickey and one Minnie. Well, Minnie was all the way on the bottom.
Whew. I was worried there for a moment.
So, I emailed them and told them what happened. Because I wouldn't want to keep something that I didn't pay for. I don't know if they are going to want me to send it back or not, but I made the attempt.
I'm thinking about offering it to someone here. See, DH has one and DS can't wear the size that they sent me. DS wears medium/large mens shirts. This one is a small. Not sure if anyone would want it, but if never hurts to offer right??
So, with all of my planning and obsessing, I forgot one thing. What's that you might ask? Luggage locks. Well, not just any luggage locks, they have to be TSA approved luggage locks. Because the luggage that I bought come with them, but they aren't TSA approved.
Okay, fine. I saw a pack of 4 on Amazon. Well, DH tells me that he doesn't want any that need a key. Really? After all this time and planning you decide to start interjecting plans now? LOL!! Spent the last 45 minutes going through Amazon to see if there are any that I like. Haven't found anything yet. I still have plenty of time to get them though. So, I'm not going to stress out over it.
Very short one today. Thanks for reading.....
__________________
Me- Self proclaimed Disney nut. Love everything and anything to do with Disney.
DH- Not as obsessed as me, but still rather obsessed. Can talk like Goofy, but only does it to annoy his son
Chris 5 years old MNSSHP...2002
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
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Disney or Bust- A Celebration of Life- October 5th-12th 2012....
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