MISSION: Disneyfy the in-laws . . . can it be done? DAY 4!!! added 3/30!!! About This Page:

[DopeyGirl]

PRE-TRIP!!!!

<font color="blue">YOO-HOO!!! HELLOOOOOO . . . .

What’s that you say? Writing ANOTHER trip report already?

Why . . . YES! Yes, I am! Now, don’t let’s be silly! It’s time to share the Disney love with my DH’s parents . . . and attempt to bring DH over from the “Dark Side”!</font>

<font color="purple">Date:</font> March 12-20, 2005

<font color="purple">Adventurers:</font>
me, Sarah (28)
DH, Mike (29)
DD, Emilie (4)
DMIL, Jean (58)
DFIL, Jack (61)

<font color="purple">Resort:</font> <font color="green">2 rooms at Shades of Green</font>

<font color="purple">Celebration:</font> Visiting for a combination of the following things . . .
DH's birthday - February 18 (very belated)
Our 6th anniversary - February 22 (really belated)
DFIL's 61st birthday - March 4 (a little bit belated)
DD's 4th birthday - March 9 (not too belated)
DMIL's 59th birthday - March 26 (a little bit early!)
MIL's Spring Break (she works in a school)
Oh, and it's all expense paid by MIL and FIL, so LIKE WE'RE GOING TO PASS THAT UP!!!


<u>THE BACKGROUND</u>
<font color="blue">This trip actually came about well over a year ago . . . in January 2004!!! We were fresh back from our first Christmas trip with my parents (December ’03) and had just made reservations for a trip in October ’04, when my mother-in-law called and said that she and FIL were thinking that they might like to go to WDW with us sometime! “HUH?!” We had been there with them for one day in 1999 but that was it . . . I think they have been about 5 times total (and that’s including a trip in like, 1982 or ‘83) but they have never really taken advantage of much of what WDW has to offer.

Jean (MIL) and I talked about dates and she said she was thinking Spring Break ’05 since they had already made plans for Spring Break ’04 . . . we knew that would be fine for us so we just had to wait until the school calendar came out for 2005 for MIL’s school where she works so that we could pin down a date.

In the meantime, they went ahead and made reservations for a trip to California . . . they went to both DL and DCA and spent a couple of days in San Diego after visiting a family member in the Bay Area. They said that they were not impressed by ANYTHING in So. Cal. I was pretty hurt . . . most of my childhood was spent in San Diego with trips to Anaheim. I told them that the reason they didn’t like it is because they didn’t have me as their guide ---- from that moment, I made it my goals to; 1) eventually make a trip to CA with them and MAKE them like it . . . and 2) to instill a bit of D-Magic in them!

The school where Jean works released the 2005 school year calendar on April 1st, so we pinned down our dates that night and called Shades of Green the next morning, armed with their credit card number! They had invited their best friends (a couple they have never really vacationed WITHOUT for YEARS!) and their 3 year old granddaughter, so I made a reservation of our maximum, 3 rooms, at SOG for 8 nights!!!

It was official . . . we’re going BACK to Disney World!!!</font>

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[DopeyGirl]

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<u>THE PLANS</u>

<font color="blue">Aye-Yi-Yi . . . my phone got a good workout from all the planning and changes in the plans . . . And as anyone might know . . . I really hate my phone!!! Thank goodness for unlimited long distance calling!!!

Once our ressies at SOG were made, I wanted to get to planning meals and such but the in-laws weren’t too keen on doing that right away. “Seems a little too far out to be talking about any of that business.” I just don’t understand WHY no one ever sees it like I do!!! I sat patient though, taking notes as I came up with ideas . . .UNTIL JULY!!! Three months of NO mention of the trip . . . UGH!!! Just about KILLED me!!!

Jack (FIL) and Jean drove down from St. Louis in July for the Pensacola Beach airshow . . . and THAT, my friends, is when I introduced my DMIL to PassPorter!!! They stayed at a hotel on the beach and the night before the show we stayed out there with them. I brought my PP with me thinking “I’ll read it on the beach while everyone just ignores me and my Disney excitement.” Well, it was not to be as I thought! We sat on the beach for 8 hours, lounging, watching airplanes fly and do tricks over our heads . . . and talked Disney!!! The only thing that was decided out of all the talk was that “Hoop-Dee-Doo sounds good.” So, armed with Jean’s credit card again, I called Group Dining and got 8 tickets for Hoop! At first I was confused as to why I had to go through Group Dining, but they explained that it was because we had too large a party to go through regular dining. Good to know!

After that, I started going into commando, super-planning mode for our October trip so the planning for the March trip had to sort of go on hold for a bit. We went from Oct. 11-17, did MNSSHP, celebrated my birthday and had a great time . . . got back and immediately made reservations for a trip in January . . . Ah, you guys already know all about that though! December finally rolled around and that meant it was finally time to start making PS’s!!! (Hooray!) I had some ideas for dining options, and none were urgent “HAVE to call AT 90 days out” places, so we held off a couple of weeks until our Christmas trip to St. Louis. Once there, I called a family conference, told everyone my ideas and got a resounding “Whatever.” all the way around. Alright . . . so . . . good talk . . . I hopped on the phone two days before Christmas and made 3 PS’s for different days of our trip . . . a breakfast at Ohana, a lunch at the Plaza and a dinner at Le Cellier ---- then I ordered my 2005 Deluxe PP!!!

Jean never seemed to be too “in” on the planning. Jack did all of the plane ticket purchasing, car renting and all that online . . . and Jean is computer illiterate. So, for Christmas, I got her a 2004 spiral PP, Hidden Mickeys, WDW Trivia, a PassHolder pouch and a Mickey Mouse tote bag to lug in around in . . . we got Jack a Goofy golf club head cover to sport (no pun intended) whenever the boys go golfing!!! Jean was VERY excited with her gift!!!

“Muwahahaha . . . my evil plan is working!!!”

Emilie and I attacked the World girly-commando style in January . . . had a pretty fun time . . . anyways, you know about that too!!!

Things were pretty well settled . . . well all but them purchasing airfare and renting a car, which they didn't even do until a little over 3 weeks ago . . . until mid-January when they called to tell us that their friends would not be coming along with them . . .

OY!!! This means I have to get on the phone, doesn’t it?</font>

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[DopeyGirl]

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<font color="blue">SO . . . on January 20th, I ended up calling Disney Group Dining to cancel 2 adults and 1 child from our HDD reservation . . . can’t be THAT hard, can it? OH, BUT IT CAN!!! Since we <u>were</u> 8, and considered a “group” and we were reducing to 5 (considered a “party”), they’d have to COMPLETELY cancel out the <u>OLD</u> reservation and refund it, then make a brand NEW one and charge for that! ARGH!!! And I would have to do that by calling Group Dining, doing the cancel with them then they would transfer me to regular Dining so I could make the new reservation through them!!! So, I had to call Jean to get her trusty credit card number, just in case, then called back, canceled the one, made the other . . . WHAT A PAIN!!! Took me about 2 hours to do all of that!!! A few days later, I called SOG and canceled our third room . . . THAT took all of 5 minutes! SO . . . we’re down to 5 people, have dining set and have only 2 resort rooms now . . . I think we’re good to go!

“But . . . what about Chef Mickey’s, mommy?!”

Emilie asked if we were going to “eat with our friends” so I told her we’d see Mickey at Ohana . . . NOT good enough! She said she LOVES Chef Mickey’s . . . “Can we go there?” So . . . on the phone I went again . . . changed Ohana to another morning and added Chef Mickey’s to our second morning there . . . just for her. It IS sort of her birthday trip, after all!

OK . . . so, now we’re all set, right . . . You should know better than to even think that!!!

We had been toying with what to do on our last full day at WDW, since that is the first day of the blackout on our seasonal passes . . . and up to about 3 weeks ago, we had NO ideas that any of us could even come CLOSE to agreeing on! DH was checking his e-mail at work one day and received one from his Command Master Chief saying that Anheuser-Busch was starting another “Hero Salute” which means free admission to any A-B theme park for active-duty service members and up to 3 dependents! I made the executive decision then . . . we’re going to Sea World. We printed the voucher for our free tickets and told DMIL and DFIL that we’d just have to buy their tickets at the gate!!! I have been to Sea World San Diego many times growing up but have never been to Sea World Orlando. It was something new, seemed a great decision and I got NO arguments!!!

DH and I started discussing maybe adding a sit-down breakfast on our final morning and I had it narrowed down to the Grand Floridian Café, Boma, and Whispering Canyon Café. No one seemed interested in Boma but me, however, everyone seemed interested in WCC . . . so I called and made a PS for that!

FYI . . . try not to call in around dinner hours!!! I called at 5:15pm central time and was finally talking to someone at 5:58pm!!!

After I made the PS for WCC, I declared everything planned, taken care of and set . . . and then Mike pointed out something that I never really would have noticed! “March 18th is a Friday.” Now, for me, this isn’t an issue . . . <u>but</u> for Mike, Jack and Jean it is. March 18th is the day I had made the PS at Le Cellier for . . . and Mike and his parents are Catholic and abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent!!! According to Mike, “I am NOT going to have dinner at a STEAKhouse if I can’t have STEAK!”

ARE YOU KIDDING?!

SO . . . I was on hold with dining yet again, this time for 45 minutes. When they picked up I asked to change that PS to another day . . . and they had NOTHING available all week!!! The lady got snippy with me and said “Well, it is a little over a week away and nearing Spring Break time.” Well, yeah . . . but it can’t hurt to try!!! I kept the PS that we had JUST IN CASE we decide to go anyways . . . and I have my fingers crossed that we do!!! Our backup plan is Mangino’s at SOG.

Never did I think that the biggest pain of all of my planning was going to because of FOOD . . . You know what . . . that food better be better than good, too!!!

A good point in all the planning was when I got an e-mail from a very good friend . . . she and I were so close when we lived in Maine that I was in the delivery room when she had her son and, three weeks later, she was in the delivery room with me when Emilie was born!!! They moved to Jacksonville while we got sent to Pensacola . . . we haven't seen any of them since Nov. 2002!!! Her e-mail said that they will be arriving at WDW tonight (Mar. 11) and staying at SOG until Monday morning!!! Sing it with me now . . . "It's a Small World after all . . . It's a Small World after all . . . " Hopefully we can coordinate our schedules for at least a few minutes so we can see each other!!! We haven't seen each other's kids since they were a year and a half old . . . they're both 4 now!!!

So, here were are . . . mere hours from our departure . . . the car is full of gas, the oil is changed, the backseat is even cleaned off . . . we still have to put the suitcases in there and hook up the DVD player for Emilie, but that’s easy stuff!!! I KNOW that the in-laws have their plane tickets purchased but they have made no mention of having reserved a car yet . . . come to think of it, they haven't mentioned much of ANYTHING!!! They WON'T make a plan . . . which makes it real hard to make plans with our friends throughout the week!!!

In summation: We have 5 of us headed to WDW in the morning, staying at Shades of Green for 8 nights! We're hopefully going to meet up with friends . . . and we're having a birthday party in our room tomorrow night. We're going to Hoop-Dee-Doo next Wednesday and will be going to Chef Mickey's, the Plaza and Ohana at some point during the week and I am still holding out hope that we WILL go to Le Cellier for dinner next Friday . . . if not, we'll probably go to Mangino's at SOG. The car's ready to go and so am I!!!

And, now . . . I have just one thing left to do . . .

Disneyfy my DH, DMIL and DFIL . . . can it be done?

You shall find out . . . after March 20th!!! Stay tuned!!!</font>

[LizardCop]

Great Start Sarah!!!!! Have a wonderful and fun trip!!!!!

[BritDisFan]

Yay Sarah!!!! I love your trip reports. Have a wonderful time and the best of luck with Disneyfying the inlaws .

Karen

[Coinbeach]

Have a WONDERFUL time!!!! Can't wait to read all about it and see all of your wonderful pictures!!!!!!!

[katspjs]

Have a great trip Sarah! Looking forward to your trip report!

[Annabel]

Wahoooo you're on your way soon And I'll get to find out all about it after my birthday - why Sarah, what a lovely present Have a wonderful time and I have absolute faith in you that you will Disneyfy the inlaws

Annabel

[Jennifer2003]

Another Sarah report!!!

Good luck! Can't wait to hear about it when you get back!!!

Jennifer

[mrskpete]

Sounds like a wonderful trip Sarah! Let me know what you think of Shades of Green becuase we will probably stay there for any future trips we make. We too are using the Salute to Heros and hitting Sea World as well. Anyway hope you have a great trip and safe travels. Good luck with all your Disneyfying!!!

Oh and the 26th of March is a wonderful day for your dmil to have a birthday as it's mine too!! So Happy Birthday to both of us. LOL!

<font color="red"> Have Fun </font>

[MegglesMom]

Have a terrific time Sarah! Can't wait to hear all about it when you get back!!

[Jillybean]

Sarah,

Have an absolutely fantastic time!!! I can't wait to hear all about it!

And if anyone can Disney-fy IL's, I know you can!

Jill

[Tara O'Hara]

Sarah, have terrific time and if anyone can accomplish that task, it's definitely you!!

[KimandMark]

AAAARRRGHHHH!!!!!

I can't wait 10 days!! Hurry up!!

I hope the in-laws get on board, I know I'd rather put a sharp stick in my eye then travel with mine.

[buzzspal2]

[ QUOTE ]
Another Sarah report!!!

Good luck! Can't wait to hear about it when you get back!!!



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