The Return of the Son of the CLT - Pre-trip report complete 5/30 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We will be at Disney for a lovely, long stretch from May 31st through June 9th and have many fun meets, special events, and two lovely resorts to enjoy -- not to mention a plethora of Frozen Beverages to sample!
Resorts:
Animal Kingdom Lodge Concierge (first night)
Beach Club Villas (Sunday through Friday morning)
Animal Kingdom Lodge Concierge (Friday through Monday)
The Gang
The CLT®
Eileen (me) (a.k.a. Caldercup - a.k.a. EileeeeeeeenTM) Karen (a.k.a. zacksmom_1993 - a.k.a. The Spreadsheet Queen & She Who Must Not Be Second-guessed)
Sharon (a.k.a. PrincessSharon - a.k.a. P-Sha & She Who Must Not Be Believed)
The “+2’s”
Zack (Karen’s son) a.k.a. chickensrock
Michael (Zack’s buddy)
Our first night benefactors and travel buddies
Jill a.k.a. Jillybean
Thom (Jill’s husband)
Mary Devall and Maddie (Jill’s adorable daughters)
Jill’s parents (and other relatives?)
Our fellow PassPorters during the trip:
Tanya a.k.a. eeyoresmom, her daughter "Miss V" and her husband Scott (+ assorted inlaws)
Danielle a.k.a. disneydani, Paul (her DH), Andrew and Isabelle (Danielle’s kids)
Tina a.k.a. loobyoxlip and Kylor and Jalen (her boys)
Maureen a.k.a. statelady01 with her newborn boy, Connor!
Lynn a.k.a OffKilter_Lynn
Robin a.k.a. RobinKay6573
Carol a.k.a. ripkensnana
Claudine a.k.a. WDWJAMBA
And a host of other PassPorters who I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet! (If I missed anyone, please remember that I have a brain like a sieve and can’t be held responsible for forgetting if we talked about meeting up.)
The title:
Well, back in 2007, Karen, Sharon and I referred to ourselves as the Crazy Lady Trio – or CLT, for short. Somehow, to our great surprise, it stuck!
At Mousefest this past year, we found that we were being referring to us as the "CLT" by our fellow Festers and were even more shocked to find comments of “ran past the CLT” and “saw the CLT near BTMRR” and “the CLT is really, really nuts” popping up in people’s trip reports from Mousefest.
Feeling a bit as if we’d created a three-headed monster, I began to feel that this trip report should have a title that reflected the horror movie/sequel genre!
Revenge of the Son of the CLT - Episode III, Part Deux seemed apropros! And, no, it’s not a slam at Zack. I mean, he’s only Karen’s son, not Sharon’s and mine too. Yet, he IS a bit of a monster, but I would never rag on him to you all. Never! (Well, only if he deserved it …and Aunt Tardy was nearby.)
The reason for the trip:
Not that there has to be a reason to go to WDW again….. right, Sharon!
After our romp at Mousefest, I think we were ready to find any excuse to get the three of us together – and soon! So, when Karen let slip that she was hoping to get a few of Zack’s friends to join her in June and she was hoping for a little adult companionship, Sharon and I jumped at the chance.
It didn’t hurt that Karen also offered up the largesse of her DVC points for the next… oh… decade to rent a two-bedroom villa at the Beach Club and we were invited – no EXPECTED – to stay with her.
We’re with you, sistah. All the way. Couldn’t separate us if you tried.
Well… actually…Sharon’s mom and dad (those crazy ‘rents who sing the ride songs on a continual loop and eat their weight in candy daily) needed her to stay at their timeshare nearby and she had to help them out or risk her family harmony. No worries! (We plan on making a nightly stop in Epcot to ply her with Italian Margaritas so she can’t drive home and HAS to share the villa with us anyway. I expect that she’ll be wearing the same clothes for the whole week!) Now that I think about it, Sharon’s also not joining us the first night because she’s going to Universal. In fact, she’s not staying through Sunday night the second weekend at the AKL and is flying out a day earlier than Karen and me. (Hey… maybe we should be wondering if she really IS our friend, Karen.)
Anyway, we should have our usual fun together – talking, laughing, mocking each other (mostly me), and enjoying life, Florida, and the joy of being at Disney!
To make the trip even sweeter, I finally get to meet one of my favorite people on the boards – that fabu trip reporter, intrepid foodie, amazing frosty adult beverage consumer, and incredible wife and mother – Jill. I can’t tell you how excited I was when Karen sussed out that our planned June trips overlapped with Jill’s. A lot of PMs have flown across the country between the four of us and I’ve grown to adore Jill even more!
One of the most fun PMs was the one I got a couple of weeks ago, just after announcing to the boards that I’d snagged an AP rate at Port Orleans French Quarter for our first (pre-DVC) night. Jill’s parent’s had decided to come down a day later than originally planned and the extra bedroom at Jill’s AKL villa was going to be empty that night. She graciously offered it to me and Karen and we oh-so-be-yew-ti-fully accepted her kind offer. (There was much rejoicing and chair dancing, I can assure you!) We fear that our DME tags won’t have enough time to get resorted, even with the amazing help of Don at the AKL concierge, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. I’ll just bring what I need for that first night and hope DME can locate our bags with the airline claim tags.
Jill even graciously decided to switch around their night for the Pirate & Princess Party from the 31st to the 4th, when the "CLT+2" (this is how I'm going to refer to Sharon, Karen and I plus Zack and Michael) are going. That means that we can hang in the concierge lounge, swilling free African wines while I ply Maddie with sausages and teach Mary Devall my favorite card game. (It can get loud and a little violent, so I hope my “Hulk Smash” tendencies are kept in check. I wouldn’t want to alienate those adorable kids!)
I’m also hoping to see Tanya and Scott on the 31st or 1st, before the rest of her family arrives. I'm also looking forward to the second weekend when I’ll finally get to meet Danielle (and family) in person. Sharon and Tina are trying to work it out so we can hook up a bit and there may be a chance to see Robin when she dines with Carol at the Garden Grill. Everyone else, I should be seeing at the IllumiNations meet.
I do have a recent copy of the Big @$$ Spreadsheet.... Hmmmm. Wonder if the author would mind if I shared our ADRs.
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.
What a perfect thing to see after a crappy day of work and four hours at the DMV (standing up the whole time)....but the first of the CRT Pre-Trip Reports by none other than Eileen....
The sour slump that was across my face suddenly lifted into the hugest of smiles....
What a great start....(I am actually giddy). Can't wait to hear more about the trip, your meets and all the FB's + alochol that you plan to feed Sharon in order to keep her at the villa....
Glad you decided to 'one up' P-Sha and get started. Perhaps you two should have some sort of friendly wager on which one of you fab reporters finishes first...not that we readers would have any ulterior motives on that...
How very awesome of Jill and family to host you and Karen the first evening! Wow, there sure are going to be quite a few PPs during your stay and I am psyched to be one of them! Looking forward to finally meeting you and thanking ya in person.
Now that ya started....keep it coming!
danielle
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~Shoot for the moon, if you miss, you will land among the stars~
Finally! Sheesh! I knew finishing my TR would light a fire under you. I'm so excited for this trip I'm about to burst! I know we're going to have so much fun! And I promise I won't tell my parents your evil plan to try to get me drunk so I can sleep with you. Wait, that didn't come out right.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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.
Way to go, Eileen! I am so looking forward to hearing all about this trip.
I am also extremely jealous that you are getting to meet Jill and her family, not to mention all the other Passporters! I wonder if Huntsville still has the nonstop flights to Orlando? Darn that expired Annual Pass!
Anyway, you don't need ME to wish you and the other 2/3 of the CLT to have a good time... but I do!
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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Don 
I wouldn’t want to alienate those adorable kids!)
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Pixie Dust
It has begun!! Great start Eileen! What a load of PP'ers you're gonna be hanging with!!! Can't wait to hear more!!!!
Previous trips: POFQ 2005 & 2007, Boardwalk 2008, BCV & AKLV 2009 (our honeymoon) & 2012, BCV & BLT 2011, BCV 2013, AKLV 2014
After all that information, I'm dizzy!!
Aimee
I knew finishing my TR would light a fire under you. I'm so excited for this trip I'm about to burst! 
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