My Disney Vacation Suitcase

For Christmas I decided I wanted a new piece of luggage to take on our Disney World Vacation. Mike & I have always shared a suitcase which has really limited us on how much we could pack (and how many new purchases we could make while we were on vacation!). I found a really HUGE Liz Claiborne suitcase at our local Burke's Outlet that I love!! It's 29" with lot's of room for souvenirs, the color is a little off on the picture below, mine is dark and light gray with an extending handle and wheels. It would weigh a ton if you filled it to the max. It's going be great to have it all to myself. I can't wait until it's time to start packing!! I swear, if Lexi weren't going to be in Korea when we were going I could hide her in there and PawPaw Mike would never know until we got there. I guess I am just going to have to buy lots of princess stuff and send it to her ;). Now I am just going to have to go shopping to buy myself some new clothes to fill it up before we leave. A girl's gotta look good while she's on vacation, you never know when you're going to bump into Mickey or Prince Charming.

My Research for Fun Has Begun!!

So Ashley & I went to do a little shopping for winter clothes for Lexi (it gets cold in Korea) and while we were there I had to buy Disney Vacation books. I picked up "The Complete Disney World 2010" by Julie & Mike Neal which I LOVE. Here's a link from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Walt-Disney-World-2010/dp/0970959672) and a pic of the book I love it, it has tons of pictures (500+) and info on EVERYTHING there is to do at Disney including helpful tips and cost of a lot of the attractions. By far the most pictures of the resorts of any book I found. The authors have written several books about Disney World and this is the first one I have bought. It is so well thought out, they go over each attraction and rate it and put a check mark by their favorite. They do the same with each level of resort. I find myself looking at this book all the time. It's a favorite of Dakota's too.

I also got "Birnbaum's Walt Disney World 2011." It has lots of good information as well. Here is the link (http://www.amazon.com/Birnbaums-Walt-Disney-World-2011/dp/1423123786/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291831087&sr=1-1)

and a pic.

Birnbaum was the one book I knew I was going to get because it helped me make so many of my decisions from my 2003 trip and it is the "Official Guide." There are also coupons included in the back of this book which you may find useful. But I have to admit if I were going to recommend a book it would be "The Complete Disney World 2010."

My other research has lead me to the pages and pages of information on the internet. I am addicted to the Disboards!! I am now reading Trip Reports and Pre Trip Reports and reviews of restaurants and checking out menus so I can make my advance dinner reservations and OMG don't get me started on all of the acronyms that Disney people use (ADR, BCR, TOT, MK, AKL)!!! That will be a post all by itself!!

By the way, did I mention I called to pay for half of our vacation and found out that Whisper had not included Park Tickets for the Sunday we check out. Johnson was a sweetheart and took care of everything right away and I think it cost us and additional $15.

Twenty Facts About Me

So that you can get to know me a little better here are 20 facts that may help you understand how my brain works and make you feel like we are already friends.



1. I am married-Mike (December 1995).

2. I am a Mom-Ashley (June 1987) & Dakota (June 1997).

3. I am a Nana-Lexi was born June 2010.

4. I am 1 of 7 children -Sue, Ricky, Faye, Sandra, Lisa, Donna, Robbie.

5. My favorite Disney Princess is Aurora, aka Sleeping Beauty, aka Briar Rose.

6. My Christmas Tree is full of Disney Ornaments Ashley & I started collecting them when she was 4 and we were living in Pensacola, FL.

7. My first trip to Disney World was January, 2003-it was freezing!!

8. I am afraid of heights.

9. I love to bake-cheesecake, brownies, cookies, ect.

10. I watch Food Network all the time-Sandra Lee & Paula Deen are favs.

11. I change my hair style every few months-I can't stand to see a woman who hasn't changed her hair in 20 years!!

12. I try to dress trendy but not too young.

13. I am VERY nearsighted!! I can't see the "E" on the top of the eye chart without my contact lens.

14. Journey is my all time favorite band-Journey with Steve Perry.

15. I am addicted to Mt. Dew.

16. I have a mole to the left side of my nose my kids HATE.

17. The movie quote "If you have something bad to say about somebody come sit by me" applies to me. Ash & I are people watchers and are very guilty of -honey she shouldn't be wearing that "Bless her heart." Because in the south "Bless her heart" fixes everything.

18. I am a people pleaser. I don't really know how to tell someone No.

19. Hell hath no fury like me when I am defending my family. I am as nice as anyone you would ever want to meet, but mess with someone I love and watch out. A trait I inherited from my Mom & I have passed on to Ashley.

20. I cannot wait until July to go on my Disney Vacation!!!!

I Have Confirmed My Disney Reservation!!

Sunday night I spent exactly 43 minutes 35 seconds on the phone with Disney finalizing my July reservations at the The Most Magical Place on Earth. The first 15 minutes were with an annoying automated system, you know "Is this your first time calling Disney?", "Say and spell your last name." It about drove me crazy, if I weren't so excited about going to Disney World I swear I would have hung the phone up. I didn't think I was ever going to speak with a real human being!! Finally, I got to speak with Whisper -I am sure this was her real name ;-) since so many people from my generation are named Whisper. Her voice was kind of gravely like Roz from Monsters Inc., she was helpful but seemed somewhat uncomfortable when she said things about "pixie dust" or "magic"- I just assumed all Disney employees were trained to say these words until they rolled off their tongues like "Mornin' Y'all" does from a southern belle. Anyway, after many times of being put on hold while she checked on something we got a Club Level, Lagoon View room at the Yacht Club (which was exactly what I wanted). Here is a link in case you're interested (http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/resorts/yacht-club-resort/). We are staying on the Magic Your Way Premium Plan, which includes dining and recreation. Again, here's a link ( http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/vacation-packages/2011/premium/). I got my reservation confirmation email overnight and now everthing seems so much more REAL!! I am so excited!! It's almost time to start thinking about dinner reservations!!

A Little Background Info

A little background for you. Despite my love affair with Mickey Mouse, we have had a long distance relationship. I didn't actually meet him until I was 40, back in January 2003. Dakota was 5, Ashley was 15 we had a good time but it was a little overwhelming. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, which was beautiful and reminded me very much of my husband (he's an outdoorsy kinda guy). We didn't see any of Epcot at all, saw most of Animal Kingdom and hit the high spots of Magic Kingdom. It was also FREEZING, one of the coldest January's ever (and I am so not a cold weather kinda girl!).

We did go on the Disney Dining Plan (DDP) which has changed quite a bit since that time. I think our favorite meal was at the Rain Forest Cafe. I still have my lavendar sweatshirt we bought there and a souvenir glass we got with Mike's sundae. There was more food than we could ever imagine consuming! I think it will definitely be a must do for our return trip this year. When researching for this trip I did notice that the DDP has changed considerably since our last trip. I hope I can figure everything out. Right now I have us on the Premium Dining Plan, I am curious if the upgrade to Platinum is worth it. Please comment if you have experience with either, I would love to hear your experiences.

We are also going in July this time because I will not be wearing hats and scarves around Disney this time. I am also looking forward to to enjoying water recreation at Disney (Sea Racers, Blizzard Beach, Storm Along Bay). Before any Disney aficionados get mad at me-I know you have to stay at The Beach Club or Yacht Club to use Storm Along Bay. We are currently booked at The Beach Club Resort, but I am comtemplating changing to The Yacht Club. Again anyone with experience at either resort please chime in with your experiences.

Wow! That was a little longer first post than I had expected and you don't know much about me yet. I will give you a little more info next time.