The "I am way passed excited until my trip" Report - Day 7-our final day with final thoughts**Updated 1/27** About This Page:

[mcc0313]

Well I am sitting here....again (ok it is part of my daily routine - who deosn't love the Boards and to think I just found them recently) and my countdown is 5 months and counting .

I have booked my meals, my hotel is set - I even have started planning a basic touring schedule (I don't get to set for these) but I at least got the foundation going of where I would like to be at a given time.

I have made lists - double checked with my job to make sure my days are set....and I am so lost without something else to plan....(I mean how many times can I make a list of what we want to see at AK....lol)

I am one of those people that need something to keep me busy...something to take my mind off of the slow moving days until we find ourselves going to that magical place....(yes and for us that would be June 26th).

Now since my business law class is not keeping me excited enough (I am being good though - I have done my homework, read ahead five chapters and started my next paper) I needed another outlet.

So last night I was sitting in my kitchen reading the welcome aren't you excited section of my passporter for the 20th time and starting thinking about some of the suggestions....watching Disney movies (that is done on a regular basis in this house ), take out pictures and souviners from past trips (done that...the little one makes it a nightly jaunt that we must survey all the pictures and scrapbook from our last trip)....

Then it hit me...I would do a trip report of our last trip. It would help pass the time...and maybe bring back some of the wonderful memories so I can get new ideas for this trip...

So here begins the "I am way passed excited about my trip" report...which is basically an old trip report to help me pass my time (just hope it doesn't bore you too much )

So I will take you on my adventure...(yes I am an extensive note taker, while I don't have pictures I still can tell you everything we ate...lol) on what was like my first real adventure at a World that had been a part of my imagination for the longest...

Hope you all enjoy...

(The Origins of this trip continued in the next post.....)

[Colexis Mom]

What a great way to pass the time Can't wait to hear all about your adventures!!

[mcc0313]

The Origins of the Trip...October 2005

I would have to say that this trip was born on the "F" train going north one day as I was going to work and my cell phone rang...

You see a few months beforehand my grandfather had passed away - it had been a sad time for all of us but we were comforted in the fact that he lad a long life (he was 94) and after driving us all crazy for most of each of our lives (yes we still adored him) we knew that he was finally with my grandmother (who had died almost 20 years before after a terrible 10 years of suffering from Altimerzer's (sp?).

My mother had decided she wanted to use some of the money he left her to take a family trip with all the kids and grandchildren...problem was she was finding it hard to schedule a time for everyone to get there.

So this morning as I sat going to a job that was putting me in a terrible funk lately the cell phone rang and my mother said "me and your father have been talking and it seems really impossible for all of us to get away at the same time...so we are giving each of you a trip to WDW. Start planning....tell me how much and it is yours"...

Was I shocked...yes. There I sat on the "F" train with tears in my eyes, thinking about my grandparents, my parents, my kids....and the fact that I would finally get to take my girls to Disney.

It was not like this idea had not crossed my mind at least 5 times a day...it just was not feasible. I was stuck at a job that paid me crap. The bills were always looming over my head and after years in a terrible abusive relationship I was left broke, emotionally beaten and stuck with so many dreams that I had yet been able to attain...

I was going to Disney....I had plans in my head (and in my trustly journal) that I had started years ago (since my first little one looked up at me) and I knew I was ready.

So after for the first time being happy at work (knowing I was going to go home and start planning a trip I would actually go on) I got through the day and almost danced all the way home...

So what did I do....I called my sister. See I love my sister and unfortunetly we do not get to see each other much (she lives in MA)...so I thought that by this time my mother had probably called her and what would she think of planning our trip together.

She answered on the first ring...I almost scared her half to death as I excitely screamed out my plan...all I heard was her laughing. Yes she would love to go together she finally said when I shut up enough to hear her speak...her only problem was she was not sure when she could get vacation....well get too it I told her and I hung up and went straight to the WDW site...I needed prices, and ideas, and wait....where would we stay.

As you can tell I was bursting with excitment and except for a week long trip when I was 12 (which I do not remember much except that I met a boy who I ended up spending a lot fo time with who gave me a kiss after we got off SM....) and two day trips since then which really do not warrent remembering this was going to be a first for me...

It would be the first trip I planned (and remember) and what was best was I was going to share it with my girls (who so deserved this trip)...

And so that is how it started....on a "F" train one morning...and by the time you finish this report it will be how we had the most magical time at a place that is always a part of my dreams.....

[mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince]

Can't wait to read more!

[Ginns1]

What a great start! Tell me more!

[Jookiba]

Oooh I'm literally bouncing in my chair, waiting to hear the rest of your plans and how they came to fruition!!

What a lovely gift your mother was able to give you and your siblings-I've told my kids for graduation I would take them each (solo) on a land/sea and they would get to plan everything-so start thinking NOW! You shoulda seen their eyes light up.....truly magical what Disney will do to someone!!

It's just too bad not everyone shares the same magic (i.e. idiot abusive jerks). We have to believe in karma, baby.......and it will come around someday.

Please hurry back with more!!

[Colexis Mom]

How exciting More please

[mcc0313]

So I left off with so many questions about our plans and being the planner (my sister loves traveling but hates planning) I figured I better start reading...

I read books and different tour sites...for so long I had these perfect plans in my head but now that it was real I did not know what to do first...

I put together some dates that I thought would work for me and sent them to my sister - I also asked her to give me some favorite resorts that she might like.

Even though my mother did not give us a budget - I the forever "try to get the best bargain" wanted to shop around until I found something that I felt was a good buy.

Sister finally responded in the end of November...she could get off in May. So May it was...kids were doing great in school so I knew taking them out would not be a problem and since after 6 years of faithful service at a job that treated me like crap I had never taken more then 2 days in a row off...so my boss was going to give me my choice whether he liked it or not.

At first my sister wanted to AKL - it looked wonderful and we figured a 4 night / 5 day trip would be great. The I started playing around with prices and unless we took a suite we could not fit five in a room at AKL (and my sister wanted us all to stay together).

The suites were too high and I did not feel right booking at the Poly or Boardwalk...I just felt that we were spending too much money on a trip that was such a blessing.

So I did some more research and decided that we would stay at the POR - Alligator Bayou section, my nephew was so excited to get to sleep on the trundle....

With the great deal at the POR I added on an extra day - figuring I would let my mother see the cost of both and see what she thought was ok...

Well she was shocked when she saw what a great price I got for us all for 5 nights / 6 days with dining, Park hoppers and Water Parks....of course stay the extra day she told me.

So she booked the trip....we booked our airfare respectively though Jet Blue and Southwest, I even found flights that got us in to MCO like 10 minutes apart (we really wanted to get on the DME together - figuring worse case and one of our planes were delayed we would just meet at the resort).

Once we had the resort decided my sister smiled figuring we were done....

Done....we have only begun I told her laughing...this coming from a woman who had detailed plans for at least 10 trips etched in my brain for everything from where we would eat and what rides we would go on. There was still what parks we wanted to go too...where did we want to eat - what rides or shows were must sees....

So I spent the next few weeks designing our trip...the dear sister would nod her head or send back some e-mails but it was pretty fun having full rein of the trip planning....

Before we knew it our trip was here (ok I am lying...it felt like it took forever...that last day of work for me went so slow but boy was I smiling when I walked out)

I spent that two days making sure everything was packed, buying extra cameras - get the last minute details down, I have to say that the darling sister did her part here - since she is the one with the target and WalMart she picked up extra cameras and tolietrties, and made sure we had some ponchos....

We spent our last night just sitting around watching the Disney planning guide...I remember this becuase I kept calling my sister to tell her something else that we just had to do...

Before we knew it (and yes we actually did sleep a little bit) my father was downstairs waiting to take us to the airport. We boarded the plane and liek perfect clockwork we were in the air at 10:05....next stop Orlando...

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update! You're almost there

[disneydani]

Your off to a great start....sounds like a magical trip in the making!

danielle

[mcc0313]

Figured I would add on one more post for today...

We made it to Orlando....YEAH

I forgot to add in a part of our "getting to" section...

As I mentioned my dad drove us and as we were pulling towards our terminal there are all these cops directing traffic around the terminal...and it was empty (now my heart dropped at this point - wait do you mean we are not going). He had to let us off in the middle of the road and we had to cross with all our luggage and walk through the parking lot to the empty terminal...I watched as everyone was walking around to the back where I guess they were letting people go in. I must also mention that my oldest hates to fly...so I directed her attention to me and not the group of cops in Hazmat suits that were entering the terminal...yes a whole group of them - now me the total optimist figured well if they give us the thumbs up at least I knwo we are on a safe plane.

They did let us in to the airport but most of the Jet Blue terminal was closed...only two lines opened but they were getting everyone through and upstairs and once up there we (or I) tried to put the memory of those austronaut looking detectives downstairs out of my head.

Back to the present...

So we landed at good ole' MCO at 12:45, my sister was landing at 12:55 and from the looks of the monitors her plane was on time as well...

We found our way to the monorail to take us to the other side of the airport when I hear someone say "Megan"....

I turn around to see one of our largest clients at work with his family...(he just has the cutest twins")...guess it is a small world, after some introductions and best wishes me and the girls are on our way...

We make it down to the DME desk and there is hardly no line...after a minute or two waiting they call me up and the next thing we know we are on a line...a very long line so we jump on it figuring hopefully my sister will make it down soon.

Sure enough I hear my name once again and here comes my nephew running towards us....(you can tell someone is excited about being at Disney).

After about a 10 minute wait we are on the bus...kids are all laughing and we are on our way...I can't tell you the excitement that I felt as we passed through those arches. It was a dream come true...one that I had been holding onto for so long...and now it was finally here.

Driving into the Port Orleans resort I could not believe this was a moderate...it was beautiful. We pulled up to the French Quarters first (definetly going on my to get to list) it was so beautiful. I would see how much more over the coming week as we explored the grounds a lot.

Next up...our resort the Riverside. We jumped off the bus, grabbed our carry-ons (did I mention I DME, just the fact that I did not have to stand at the ariport searching for my bags and then trying to carry them truly made it so wonderful).

Walking in was magical...I mean we just walked in and I was ready to cry...this has been the moment I was waiting for and just seeing the kids smiling and running through the lobby made it even better.

There was a small line, nothing to crazy and we got all our stuff and surprise our room was ready...so after getting lost (yes guys we got lost, not once, not twice but three times - yet it was a great way to get to know our resort for the next 6 days) we found our room. Second floor in Alligator Bayou - Building 18 a nice walk to the pool and a five minute walk to the main building....I could not complain about the proximity (even more so once we walked around even more and realized how large this resort really is).

Now the plan was to get settled, change and head over to MGM (HS now). However, this is where my sister and I differ...I am on vacation and ready to run non-stop...my sister gets tired .

So I sat with the plans that I had created so well...and figured that since we had 9:00 reservations at Boatright's for dinner (I had planned the late meal so we could enjoy some park time, however, now I woudl see if I could change our reservation for earlier and we would make it a resort day)...

No such luck...no open reservations so we head over to the food court and order a pizza to split and buy some refillable mugs....the kids munch down on the pizza and then we head back to the room. Now by this time my sister is cranky...so I tell her to go to sleep I will take care of the kids who are just like their mom and aunt....they are ready to go.

So me and the girls and my nephew head out to the Old Man's Island and enjoy some pool time, we then took a long walk over to the French Quarter with a stop on the way back at the arcade...the kids were having a great time but I figured my sister would be up by now.

Still sleeping and it is only 6:30...so off to the shower for the kids, figured that would waste some time. My nephew is getting lazy now and my little one once out of the shower and dressed sits down to color....this however does not keep her attention as you can see

http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...1&d=1200276831

We let her sleep and around 8:45 I wake her and the other bored children and get them out of the room....a few minutes later my sister (with new boundless energy makes her way out)....now in my opinion we had the more fullfilling day but to each their own...lol

We take a leisurely walk to the main building, check in at Boatright's and get a beeper. We go and explore the lobby and a few minutes later we are called back to go to our table.

Now this is our first taste of Disney Dining....(except for our pizza) and I fell in love with this place. The atmosphere was beautiful and I guess eating at a late hour, as we were entering a lot of people were filing out (yet there was still a nice crowd eating).

Excitement as we are on the dining plan (the old wonderful dining plan where appitizers were included, so was the tip and the kid's meals were much more exciting - sorry for the small tantrum but I know that I am going to feel the difference once we go back in June)

Everything looked so good and I love Southern cooking....we all ordered a salad, well not the two little ones but the rest of us. The brought out a basket of wonderful corn muffins - they were scrumptous (see I remember that becuase that is exactly how I wrote it in my notes....lol)

The two little ones (mine little girl was 5 at the time, and my nephew was 7) ordered spaghetti and chicken strips respectably....I was shocked at the size of the plate of spaghetti that they put in front of my child...she did pretty good though. Guess she was hungry...my nephew on the other hand played with his food (he is not the best eater but there will be more about that later).

Now for the good stuff...my oldest daughter (13 at the time) ordered steak with breaded onions and these wonderful scalloped potatos, my sister had the roasted chicken with potatoes and I....the Southern Pot Roast with root vegatables and collard greens...

Now I will say that we had a lot of fabulous, wonderfully delicious meals and this one stood out as my favorite...not that the others were not great, but this Pot Roast was amazing (and I am so sorry that I just saw that it was no longer on the menu ).

We were stuffed and had no room for dessert ....however eating at the resort made it easy to pack up our desserts (they were great about it...they brought us the dessert tray - had us make our selections and then brought us a little package to go).

It was definetly enjoyed later in the week....

With a new day ahead of us we took the kids for a brief trip to the arcade and then back to the room...

Once the kids were all relaxed I grabbed my phone and headed for a peaceful walk to the food court with our refillable mugs. There after refilling the mugs I sat down on a bench and called my mother. Well as soon as I heard her voice I cried (ok this was the first of many tears but they were all good tears). I wanted to tell her thank you for such a wonderful gift and how happy I was to be here with my kids....it truly was the most wonderful gift I had every recieved (well after the kids of course ).

I got back to the room and suddenly realized that I could use some rest...I guess I fell asleep fast becuase before I knew it I heard the alarm....

Up Next: Would we make it to Rope Drop at the Magic Kingdom?????

[Jookiba]

You'd better be glad you're my friend or I would be slapping you for making me get all choked up and start crying again!!

I'm really loving this trip report from the past......I can live vicariously through everyone else now that I'm back to playing the waiting game.

Hope you hurry back soon with more!

[mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince]

I am so glad you're doing this report. We'll be at POR in April for the first time!

[Colexis Mom]

Sounds like a great first day! Glad you enjoyed your meal

[piratefreak]

What a wonderful gift for all of you. So great to hear how the magic of Disney could bring you together to share in. Can't wait to hear more.