"Pop-pop how does Mickey go potty?" and other life questions trip report - UPDATED 8/30 About This Page:

[redkatrampant]

Warning! I tend to overdo things as well as over explain. My apologies in advance. I just wanted to share my excitement and my plans!

The Trip:
The first one in 12 years!
My Grandaughter ( 4 yr) ,My Grandson (2 yr) and My dear Son In Law’s First Trip EVER!
The week of my Mother’s Birthday.
The longest one we have ever take to WDW!!
The Cast:
Myself
Dear Husband
My 13 year old daughter – she is homeschooled and travels a lot with us so she does not have a lot of that “ I don’t wanna be with ya’ll” attitude. She has her moments but she is really a joy to travel with!
My 19 Year old Son.
My first born – my oldest daughter
Her husband
The best 4 year old in the world –Maddie! My granddaughter.
The cutest 2 year old boy in the world – Logan.
My mother
My father
My son’s girlfriend is still unsure of whether she will be able to spend any time with us.
The Dates:
March 1-March 11 2012 ( March 6th is my mother’s birthday)
A little Background:
Even though we have not been in an – ahem – few years, we are lifelong Disney lovers. Because my dad spent time in CA while in the service, he had fallen in love with Disneyland ( he won’t admit the love part though) and when he became aware of WDW he of course had to be there. So I was there on OPENING DAY! I was all of 2 years old so I remember nothing. After that we went just about every year. My first memories of Disney are of Thanksgiving 1975 and the summer of 1976. In fact the camera strap on my favorite 35 mm was purchased by my dad in Disney the summer of 1976. That visit is when I rode Space Mountain for the first time!
I am going to sit down soon with mom and try to list all of the trips. I know I was there in 1984 at least once . I marched with my high school band in Donald Duck’s Birthday Parade. And Grad night in 1987. By the time I was in high school we averaged at least twice a year. There were many a Friday I got home from school and my father called me and said “Start packing for you and your sisters, we are going to Disney! (We are all 7 years apart so by HS I was really good at packing a younger child).
So one of the reasons I liked my husband ( ok love him) is his shared love of Disney. We honeymooned there! My youngest child took her first steps when she saw her daddy getting off Space Mountain during a kid swap! It was the summer the Disney TV commercials featured a young child telling their infant sibling that “Mom said we can’t go to Disney until you learn to walk” but they go anyway and the child takes her first steps at Disney. That was our last visit.
We wanted to expose our children to experiences other than Disney, I went back to school, I have had some health issues and a myriad of other reasons we did not go back. I have kept up with news and changes and planned to one day go back. So here we are. My parents have Florida Resident APs.

Where we are staying:
Off Property! We have rented a Vacation Home with Private Pool in Emerald Island.
I am really looking forward to the down time as much as the Disney time. My parents are staying at Fort Wilderness in their RV. I wanted to do a cabin there at first but once a friend recommended a Vacation Villa and I started researching this just seemed the way to go. Plus with the savings we can stay longer and do more things. Also, we can put the little ones to bed and still be able to spend time together.

Grandma’s Extra Magic…
I have been collecting stuff here and there so I can make welcome baskets for everyone. The little ones will have a note from Mickey to welcome them to his home. I will detail those later. I also have ordered Mickey themed paper plates,napkins,etc for use at the Villa because,well I tend to overdo everything.


If it were up to me I would plan every last minute, but my husband wisely curtails my planning. We all know the meltdowns and disappointments that can occur with overplanning. Especially with a large group that includes small children and first timers. I am so glad to have found the Passporter! I used it to plan ( of course) and also as a guide to discuss what the others wanted to do during our monthly Disney Meetings. Yes, we had them. I will give a brief overview of those later.
For now I need to get back to work,gotta pay for those Vinylmations!

[redkatrampant]

We arrived safely at Mom's in White Springs,FL. I will update with pics tomorrow night when we get to the villa but let me outline the trip thus far.

-Rain
-We had to stop 4 times in the first 15 minutes of the trip.
-Hubby's water pill kicked in.
- 4 month old puppy kept trying to drive so we put her in my DD's SUV
-she got carsick all over SUV
-switched my grandson for the dog.
- my cell phone dropped UNDER the seat.

We have a tiny Volvo. We are not SUV or minivan people. When I purchased it I was NOT planning on Grandkids. Or traveling much for a while. HAH.

Anyhoo, I am tired and need to get back over to bed. My parents place is hard to explain without seeing it so I am going to do a blog post but for now just think of each normal room in your house in a separate building - spread out over 3 acres. In the swamp. Babies are asleep - we watched Toy Story and went over the attractions list. Then I went and took a nice long soak in my mom;s huge bathtub. I have a big one but I think you could keep a sea lion in there. There was an ugly incident with bubbles.
I promise to update tomorrow with some neat pics!

Sweet Dreams. I'll see you tomorrow Mickey!

[Coop]

So you traded the kid for the dog. At least it was AFTER the dog got car sick! LOL. Sounds like great plans and you are headed for a magical trip! Enjoy. Looking forward to hearing more.

[chezp]

Oh my goodness, that sounds like quite the journey down! Glad you made it!

[Tabitha34]

That was one drive down to remember for a long time to come! Glad you made it safely. Looking forward to more!

I homeschool my DS and we loved that we did not have to get our recent trip approved by the school before we could take him. Just makes things so much easier.

[Cam22]

Sounds like a fairly eventful ride down! Hope you in the bubble now!

[sc507]

Sounds like an interesting trip there! Yikes Have fun!

[jlhill4444]

Let the adventure begin!!!

[ilovedisney247]

What a crazy trip down! Can't wait to hear more!

[redkatrampant]

Thanks all! I do not know what I was thinking when I thought I cwas going to post the updates every night.
I am exhausted.
I can that BBB was worth it.

My son has FP down to a science!

[MayraLR]

That was quite a journey! Hope you have a great time!

[Cam22]

Glad you all enjoyed BBB!

[redkatrampant]

We are home and I think we have decided on another home. Before we do DVC hubby wants to look into a Villa purchase in one of the neighborhoods. Yeah. The same guy that moaned about having to drive 3 minutes to Disney.
I am working on a trip report really,I am.
We decided not to do the DVC spiel this trip as we are going back in September - I'll get to the story about AP later. I always get the new people.
And we are pretty sure we will be back with just DD 13 March 10-16 next year.
But I have to show you this pic. It pretty much sums up the trip.

[redkatrampant]

Ok I lied one more. Maddie as she saw herself in her dress for the first time.
And my DD her mom. And my fat behind ...

[redkatrampant]

One more, and I did NOT steal this, it just dled funny