Trip Report Barely Squeaking By - A Family & Fun Filled September Trip Report

Well, y'all. It's 9 days to go time and this morning I'm thinking there is no way I'm going to get it all done, so what do I do? Post a Trip Report of course! :D (I'm thinking this is kind of like having tons of work to do and then getting on Twitter or FB, etc. - Let's just delay a little longer!)

I am a long time WDWmagic lurker and somewhat poster. I love this site, love the regulars, and of course - love Disney! Earlier this year we decided to once again become WDW AP holder's following our February Trip:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...now-get-in-the-car-tr-a-one-day-bonus.861819/

and knowing we'd be returning this September with my most of my family. We took most of the summer 'off' from WDW aside from one fabulous trip at the beginning of June where we were able to stay in one of the Coronado Springs business class rooms. Wish I'd written a TR on *that* trip. It was awesome! If you ever get a chance to stay at Coronado Springs, upgrade to business class. It's totally worth it.

Well. Thinking we'd avoid all the heat and crowds of the dead middle of summer in south Florida, we journeyed far and wide this summer:


And while I wouldn't change one thing - we saw some of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen - it turned out the joke was on us,


because there were some decidedly un- summery days at WDW this summer! Not sure about Orlando, but here at home, we had the coolest summer on record in 135 years!!! Wowzers! That's pretty amazing for the deep South.

Of course, now that we're headed down in September, the summer temps have arrived. Ha! :D:rolleyes::confused: This trip will be my entire family, minus my brother and his girlfriend this time. We will miss them. :( It's been 3 years since we were in WDW together. Here we are in 2010:

Photo0051FourBySix.jpg


Yes. We're a little nutty. ;) But that just makes it more fun!
So much more to come. There will be food and fun. Rides and fireworks and of course.......

Lots of matching outfits!
Thanks for reading!
 

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
And now for a little explanation of the thread title - we have a few heath issues going on in my family right now. I won't go into the crazy details right now, some may come up as we go along, but for right now let me just say - I am thankful every day for my health and the healthy days that my extended family experiences!

So many things have changed since our 2010 trip:

but we are still just as excited!

My poor dad will be having knee surgery just after we return home from this trip. He had a hip replacement several years ago and we spent most of Thanksgiving vacation 2012 in the hospital with him while he was battling a terrible staph infection in that hip. Because of those problems he'll be using a "Jazzy Scooter" this trip! Ha! :D He is NOT excited. :grumpy:;):oops: He really doesn't want to use one, but he really has not choice at this point. My sister and I rented it for him and we told him if he won't use it, WE will. :D:cautious:

So with 2 strollers and one scooter - 10 people in all - we're going to be one 'wide load' walking through the parks! LOL So most of the time, I figure we will 'barely squeak by' other park goers. (Which may make no sense at all to anyone but me, but let's just go with it okay? Just humor the crazy lady. :D)

Before we get into park plans, etc. Some other things that only Disney fanatics find exciting........
A few weeks ago I went to the mailbox to discover these:


Woo Hoo! Happy dance, happy dance, happy, happy, happy dance!

Love, love, love the Kingdom Konsultants. I don't even bother to 'explain' Disney to anyone anymore - I just send them to KK and let them work their magic! 6 months or so later I hear back from people who tell me things like, "Those Kingdom Konsultants are amazing! It was the best trip of our lives." No joke. I once had one friend call me on the way home from her WDW trip and rave for an HOUR about how great it was and all the tips the KK sent her just made her trip, etc.

We worked with the always amazing Marie. And by amazing I mean, patient, kind, helpful Marie! :) Thank you Marie! And look at all those awesome extras Marie sent us! My kids LOVE their autograph books. They have repeatedly reminded me that I *have* to pack them.

And then this came:


But that was only exciting to me. :)
But still, it means we're one step closer to the Happy Place!
More to come! Thanks for reading!
 
I love your South Dakota pics! I know for most people in the US, SD is a real pain to get to, but what a great place to visit. Mt. Rushmore is really a place that all Americans should have the opportunity to experience and the Badlands are just cool to see. I see your daughter is wearing a bonnet. Did you get to the Laura Ingalls Wilder sites in De Smet? Anyway, South Dakota is highly recommended for any Disney fans on their "off" year! Looking forward to your trip report. Loved the last one!
 

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I cannot wait to read about your trip!!!

Yay! Thank you! I am so excited to write about it. I know everyone who writes a TR says it, but it's so fun to write TR's because it really is like living it all over again. So fun! :)

Looking forward to this!
Yay! Thank you for reading! :)

I love your South Dakota pics! I know for most people in the US, SD is a real pain to get to, but what a great place to visit. Mt. Rushmore is really a place that all Americans should have the opportunity to experience and the Badlands are just cool to see. I see your daughter is wearing a bonnet. Did you get to the Laura Ingalls Wilder sites in De Smet? Anyway, South Dakota is highly recommended for any Disney fans on their "off" year! Looking forward to your trip report. Loved the last one!

It is roughly 22 hours from the 'main' entrance of Badlands National Park to my front door. But if I could have known how unbelievable it would be to see the Badlands, I would have hopped in my car and driven straight there years ago. It's that awesome. ;) All of South Dakota was worth it actually. I now know what people mean when they say a landscape is 'hauntingly beautiful.' (They weren't talking about the Haunted Mansion! ha!) But it sounds like you've been there so you know! :D My daughter actually got her bonnet at the Brown Homestead/ Sod House - it's a State Historic Landmark right outside of the main entrance to the Badlands National Park. But I DID stop because of Laura Ingalls Wilder - I *had* to see what a 'dugout' might have looked like 'on the banks of Plum Creek.' :D It wasn't certain that we'd get there, but we did actually get to visit DeSmet on our way home! (turns out we had to drive aaaaallll the way back east across SD to get home and DeSmet was -sort of- on the way!) So we did visit the homestead and I was literally over the moon with excitement. Totally geeked out. And then we got to 'actual' DeSmet and I saw the Surveyors House, etc. I called my sister and said, "GUESS WHERE I"M STANDING??? ON THE SHORES OF SILVER LAKE!!!" :confused::eek::D:happy: Luckily, she was just as excited for me. Ha!
Thanks for reading! So much more to come! Just trying to get it all done. Luckily I got a big chunk done today, hopeful I can knock out another big chunk of prep work tomorrow and actually post something worth reading here by Friday! :D
Thanks for reading!
 

6laurac

Well-Known Member
As a Little House on the Prairie namesake, (Laura) that is cool that you made the trek there. My Mother would have been more excited about going there than to go to Disney if we went there ;).

Keep up the report-very excited to read the new one. Thanks
 

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
As a Little House on the Prairie namesake, (Laura) that is cool that you made the trek there. My Mother would have been more excited about going there than to go to Disney if we went there ;).

Keep up the report-very excited to read the new one. Thanks

That is neat about your name! It was equally exciting, but in very different from Disney excitement, if that makes sense? :)
I'm excited to have an update. Now if I can just finish all of my to do list (waiting right now for someone else & killing time on WDWmagic - thanks for the app guys! :) and get home to my computer to post!
 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
I'm so sorry you guys are dealing with health issues. Prayers that things improve. Also love the pics from SD. :) DH and I went to Wyoming and Montana back in 2005 and had hoped we'd have time to make it over to SD, but we never made it. Someday!

We'll be at WDW next week...I think it was our respective 2010 trips that had some overlap. Can't wait to follow along on your report for this upcoming trip :happy:
 

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Love your enthusiasm! Can't wait to hear more!

Thank you! Thanks for reading!

Looking forward to your report! :)

Thank you!

I'm so sorry you guys are dealing with health issues. Prayers that things improve. Also love the pics from SD. :) DH and I went to Wyoming and Montana back in 2005 and had hoped we'd have time to make it over to SD, but we never made it. Someday!

We'll be at WDW next week...I think it was our respective 2010 trips that had some overlap. Can't wait to follow along on your report for this upcoming trip :happy:

It's really worth the trip! So beautiful!

That is so cool! If you see us say hello! I think you are right, because I remember at least one trip I was supposed to look for your daughter's hairbow flowers. I never did see them. :( Please say hello if you see us! :)
 

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Okay y'all. Not as exciting as I'd had hoped, but here's a little update! :)

Family travel down to SoFla is totally different this time around. Last time we all caravanned like gypsies from my kid's school straight to our resort at WDW. This time we're all over the place! My parents left for Orlando on Wednesday. They've been living it up at some resort near Universal and having a grand time. My sister is leaving within the hour - they'll drive halfway tonight and be there by lunch tomorrow.

And the kids and I will hopefully be somewhere between here and Orlando at 'cruising altitude' at this exact time tomorrow! ***Happy dance, Happy dance, happy dance*****:D

Other than normal life things, I've been packing, packing, packing. The decision to fly was very last minute due to some kids sports commitments and our EXTREMELY patient KK travel agent, Marie, was able to secure us seats on the Magical Express tomorrow afternoon. Thanks again Marie! :happy:

This change from driving to flying at the last minute meant I wasn't sure if I'd get my 'luggage stickers' in time for our trip. So I had to think ahead and pack a box of things I couldn't carry on the plane for my parents to carry down to Orlando for me:


Not too exciting, but it's great for this mom whose lovely little angels always wake up oh so hungry and cranky and need to eat right. away. :angelic:
Plus sunscreen is good. :cool::D

I am crossing my fingers that if we touch down in MCO right at 4 and everything works perfectly, we might (might!) be able to join my family for their 6:45 ADR's at the Crystal Palace tomorrow night. If not, we'll meet up after dinner and we plan to spend tomorrow night in the MK staying to watch Wishes, which - depsite our TEN day trip in 2010- my nieces have never seen! :eek: I plan to wear waterproof mascara because watching Wishes with someone for the first time always makes me boo hoo. :cry: :happy:
Then it's Epcot, Epcot, MK (&MNSSHP!), DHS, AK and ???? on Friday and Saturday! Our ADR's are Chefs de France, Garden Grill, Kona, Sci Fi and Chef Mickey's in that order. We're hoping to snag a walk up at Yak and Yeti on our AK day.

This trip is planned to be rather leisurely, with both Epcot days being afternoon to evening only, so we'll see how that goes. Our last trip together was total park commando, so I'm not sure my family will know what to do with free time! :geek: LOL

Headed to ask some questions in the other forum and then to finish some errands! :brb::D Thanks for reading!
 

PolynesianPrincess

Well-Known Member
Can't wait to read all about it! And especially can't wait to see your daughters outfits! They're always so super cute!! :)

Looks like you posted that pic on DME on the 14, so our trips overlapped by 1 day! We left on the 15th.
 

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