[Jillybean]

A couple of days into our trip, the first of my CLQ buddies, Karen, arrives with the teen of honor, Zack. We saw them less than 2 months ago, but we have all missed them so much (I guess you could say that they’re our little crack addiction ). I really hope that Zack has been resting up because there are two little blonde girls who are ready to do the World with him. Actually I hope that Karen has rested up too because those girls love to crawl all over Ms. Karen. I can still hear Maddie’s words from Spring Break “I love my Ms. Karen” as she was held upside down by her play pretty.

In NYC with Zack, Karen and Sharon.



At the halfway point of our trip, Eileen finally gets there . . . and believe me, her arrival will be something to behold! Some members of royalty don’t have this type of reception! My girls actually had to pull out their “puppy dog” faces during Spring Break to make sure that their beloved Ms. Eileen came on this trip - - between Karen telling her that she WAS coming and those girls, she didn’t stand a chance. I cannot wait to see her!!!

The final toast of Springbreak '09.



And the final member of the CLQ managed to squeeze in one more trip in between her other numerous trips just for US! Seeing Sharon just for a couple of hours over Spring Break was definitely not enough (dang stomach bug! ), so my family is needing a little Sharon fix (there’s that crack addiction again ).

Last, but definitely least, is my little buddy, Heather and her friend, Brandon. I met Heather for the first time at Mousefest 08, but felt like I had always known her. I can’t wait for her to meet my family and I can’t wait to meet her Brandon. We also have a killer dining experience planned together that has had me daydreaming more than once over the past few months.

Heather experiencing her first Osborne Family Lights!




After our one night stay at BCV in November, we realized how much we had missed staying there and decided to book a few nights there at the beginning of our June trip (plus I knew that Monica and Macy would be staying there ). After a few nights there in a studio, we planned to move to VWL where Karen and Zack would be staying. Well . . . enter the 4/3 promotion and Karen was soon informing us the she and Zack were staying club level at WL. Now there was no way they were doing that without us, so one quick phone call and the Koenigs family was booked there too! Since we wouldn’t be using points for that portion of our stay, I called DVC member services and upgraded us from a studio to a 1-bedroom villa for our 4 nights at BCV.

With our accommodations set, next up was our travel. Horror of horrors , I actually had us drive our last two trips to the World so I knew I had to keep an eye out for Amtrak rates this time around. A couple of months ago, I finally gave Train Boy (a.k.a. Thom) the go ahead to call and book a sleeper car for us. Done!

Between the club level Itinerary Planning Office and Karen, the spreadsheet goddess, the only other thing I had to book myself was a town car to pick us up at the Amtrak station. One quick visit to the Happy Limo website and that too was complete!

For once, I will not bore you with the details of our park plans and ADR’s since we’re talking 12 days here! Instead, I’ll share the new experiences for our family:

Grand Floridian Café with Monica and Macy
Flying Fish (finally!!!)
Spoodles breakfast
Hoop Dee Doo with Karen and Zack
Citricos Chef’s Domain with Heather, Brandon, Karen and Eileen
Family Photopass Session at the Beach Club

We also are sharing some wonderful old favorites with friends, so I’m looking forward to many meals filled with talking and laughter (for as long as Karen will let us sit ).

Finally, I’ll explain the title of my trip report. “Smokin’ hot” is probably a bit evident since we’ll be in Florida during June, but it is also a reference to a question that Mary Devall asked Karen during Spring Break.

Mary Devall: “Is California hot?”

Karen: “Well, yes.”

Mary Devall: “Is it smokin’ hot?”

Karen and I both looked at each other and busted out laughing. Where this little girl gets these things I have no idea!

As to the latter half of my trip report title, the “CLQ” portion needs little explanation. I officially met these ladies last June and my life hasn’t been the same since. Their hearts are as big as their smiles and they are all intelligent, witty and extremely talented. Really . . . what’s not to love? I love their families and my family definitely loves them, so it’s pretty much a match made in heaven.

It's time to get this group back together!



And last but not least, how about this “Louisiana Crew?” When I was thinking about the PP’s with whom we would be spending time on this trip, it suddenly came to me that they were all from Louisiana! What’s up with that? Apparently I have a very strong attraction to people from that state . . . but then again, these just aren’t any regular people . . . they’re Passporters!

So . . . with three days left (and I know that for sure because there are 3 links left on our Disney chain ), the clothes are all laid out on the guest room bed waiting to be packed . . . well, except for Thom’s clothes since he’s in Canada right now and he never does anything until the last minute anyway. Mary Devall is finished with school and my brother is married, so all we have to do now is make it through 2 and ½ more days of work without killing anyone.

The girls and I watched “Toy Story 2” last night again to see if we couldn’t whip ourselves up into an even bigger frenzy before our trip. At the end, I announced that I was buying myself a Jessie doll at Disney. Mary Devall immediately hopped on the band wagon and said that she was getting a Bullseye. Before Maddie could add in her selection, Mary Devall continued with “And Maddie’s getting Stinky Pete!”

We all had a good laugh about that and then teased each other for the next few minutes about who was really getting Stinky Pete. We were on such a “Toy Story 2” high that we then found a Pixar movies soundtrack on iTunes and proceeded to sing and dance to some of their favorites. You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen both girls jammin’ to “Life is a Highway” on their Hannah Montana guitars. We hadn’t even stepped into a park yet, but Disney had us already.

See ya later!

Jill