August 2012 and a Double Dose of Disney

[WileyCoyote]

With 366 days to go , I have finally conceded that I can wait no longer to start a pre trippie - having watched the countdown start at 527 days and pass the mental milestones of 500 and then 400 days, 365 marks the start of the real planning and so I thought I would start to get all my thoughts in one place and share some excitement with fellow trippers !

First , I need to work out how to upload photos
Second, I need to work out fancy fonts

Technology - its just not my thing, no matter how "easy" it may be

Once I have figured those things out , I can upload some pics of the cast in my next post

And why the title ? Well we are lucky enough to be visiting both DL in California and WDW in Orlando on the same trip

Phew , there, I have started , and in those immortal words , "so I'll finish" - but not just yet

Hope some of you fellow 2012ers will be chipping in along the way

[Flower2603]

Excellent idea! I have a rough plan for our 3 weeks in August 2012 already. I shall be following along closely and comparing notes

[Big Belle]

I'm an August 2012er too!

[Milner]

Hi Amanda

Look forward to reading more - we are there the same time as you flights not booked yet (just villa) but hoping to fly out 26 July for 2 weeks.

[emmabrown68]

Good for you! My count down is very close to yours and its nice to see other people busy planning as I am!

Happy planning

[WileyCoyote]

Hello fellow 2012ers - thank you for joining me
Well, we passed under the "year to go" mark last night - mainly as we added in another day to the holiday ! We decided that there was no point moping about the weekend before we are due to go and why not fly out on the Saturday instead of the Monday - assuming the weekend flight supplement isnt too hideous ( I think its just Virgin who make it really much more expensive - it doesnt seem quite so bad with the American carriers) . Anyway, thats the revised, revised plan at the moment

A few pics first though

Here's the cast who are NOT going

This is Minx , our 6 year old Boxer ( known as OB, or Old Bird)




I must get some more up to date pics of her as these arent quite current - and I still have no idea why there is a box of crockery in the garden in that last photo - we must have been having yet another clear out - and all the lawn is now gone and replaced by bark.

Here is Wiley, our 1 year old Boxer/German Shepherd Mix - otherwise known as DMD ( Dog of Mass Destruction)

Wiley , making himself at home in Jamie's room


As a young pup




And the two of them in a rare moment of peace


Alas , the rug is no more, its been well and truly "Wileyed"


I will upload this now to look at the pics and see if I have finally cracked it

[WileyCoyote]

It worked !
Go me - I got something technical to work by myself

So, the human cast who are going then ! I will start with the boys

JAMIE

You got a glimpse of him in a pic above. He is my youngest - about to be 11 in a couple of weeks and will turn 12 on our first( or second) day at OKW - he has asked for a day at Disney Quest and wants to eat at Planet Hollywood He just left primary school and starts at grammar school in September. Bit of a "character" ( for which read, can be quite challenging and talks non stop, ALL the time). Loves facebook, his laptop and his PS3. Plays the drums, plays football , thinks he would be quite good playing ice hockey but I have no idea why. Aspires to rule the world simply so he can make his older brother do what he wants . Recently become fascinated with skateboards and scooters so I am no doubt due to reserve a seat in the loca A&E department for the summer



I chose this pic as he is also a complete shopaholic and was so pleased when he bought those converse boots. He has started drawing up his holiday shopping list aready !

CONNOR

Long suffering older brother. Will be 14 at the beginning of September and will be 15 the day we fly home from America. Has also requested a day at DisneyQuest for his birthday ( bit of a theme here). Loves his sport and goes to a secondary school that specialises in sport. Recently discovered a talent for midde distance running and plays football at the weekend . Now taller than me ( which isnt terribly difficult ) and entering the twilight mid teen zone. Loves his Xbox and can be found attached to it most days by his Turtle Beach headphones - which allow him to hear people creeping up on him in his games but dont allow him to hear me creeping up behind him , or shouting up the stairs I picked this photo as he also loves fishing and will sit for hours on end with Andy patiently fishing - which always seems to me to be a bit at odds with his inner thrill junkie that fuels him to ride his motocross bike and be the first onto all the big scary coasters



NICK

Andy's son and the boys' stepbrother. Will be 13 in December and as he doesnt live with us we dont get to see him as much as the other two boys would like. We are blessed that they get along pretty well and have lots of common interests. Nick is into his gaming along with the other two, although perhaps not as much, but has really got into his bike in a big way and seems to get alot of pleasure from being out and about on his new acquisition. Also likes playing football and being outdoors . Very attached to his ipod and laptop - he and Jamie are often found sitting together listening to music and discussing the latest videos on MTV



Nick doesnt really like having his photo taken but I think thats a lovely pic - we were on the train round MK going from ToonTown to Splash Mountain when it was taken

Ok , so now I really have to get on with getting up and sorting these dogs out so I will add myself and Andy a bit later and then get onto the exciting stuff - i.e the incredible plan.

[Milner]

Great read Amanda and nice to see the photos.

[WileyCoyote]

Thank you Carole - I will get round to the exciting bits of the plan soon - Life just keeps getting in the way of Dibbing - very annoying !

So, to round off the cast who are going, we are left with

AMANDA



This is not the most flattering picture of me , but then, I always feel that none ever are and it helps remind me of why I joined the Bikini Babes group on here so I am now some 14lbs lighter than when this was taken and with a few more bits of "excess baggage" still to go. I like this one though as it pretty much sums up our time over there - its a bit chaotic and like a herd of cats,each child here is doing something quite unique - I have no idea what Connor was rummaging around for behind me . It had rained that morning and I can see I have the rain jackets in my bag , we laughed about the incredible bag - it was like Mary Poppins holdhall, you never quite knew what was in it .- It was our third trip to DHS and we had a blast whizzing round the best rides and then I think we then went shopping for the afternoon as we only had 1 day left after this. I'm a 40 something and my spare time is mainly taken up with sorting out social or sports arrangements relating to the boys or just doing "stuff" at home - but I do like Reading, and of course, Dibbing when have time

ANDY



Chief driver and man of much patience to put up with my "uber planning " style - does some rolling of eyes and occasionally puts foot down but generally really good at going with the flow. We toured with TGM park plans last Easter - and that was great, we got tons done, but I was quite fixated on the plan and it did create some hotspots - lesson learned there for us both ! I have hardly any pics of Andy - which is because he is generally behind the camera. Loves fishing, loved the ray pool at Discovery Cove and Kennedy Space Centre and is looking forward to a more "relaxing" style of holiday next time round. Partner in Crime with Connor regarding all things with 2 or 4 wheels but oddly enough doesnt share Connor's love of Coasters - but he still went on many more than I did !

[WileyCoyote]

Well, there we go - thats the cast - I thought about naming our trippie in the style of an Enid Blyton famous five book - like "5 Go Down to Disney" but there's nothing remotely Enid about us really - although we have been spotted some summers doing some crayfishing in the local river but no ginger beer.

Our last trip included Andy's daughter , Danielle, and his Mum. Neither are coming along this time though, Dan is nearly 17 and totally in "lurve" with her DBF so almost 5 weeks away will just be too much for her - we learned last time that even 3 weeks was too much in separation terms of the aparent need to be permanently attached to facebook so its really not fair on her, him or the rest of us - and so she is staying in the UK. Andy's mum enjoyed the last trip but this next one is just a bit more complicated with all the travelling and its also going to be so much , much hotter as we are going in August rather than April so not ideal for her.

Its taken us almost a year to print up our photos - we have done a collage of pics for everyone and put them up in their rooms ( and given one to Dan and Andy's Mum) and we have also done a collage of spare fastpasses/ park tickets etc to go alongside them - we love spotting new things each time we look at them and its certainly helping me get in the planning mood

Our first ( and only to date) trip was April 2010 ( 30 March to April 19)
It was ram packed as it co-incided with spring break but we did pretty much all the parks a couple of times and some other things like Kennedy and Discovery Cove. In hindsight, we did far too much, had too many early mornings not enough relaxing time at our villa and came home completely knackered and needing another holiday . This was mainly down to me attempting to ensure that our "holiday of a lifetime" covered absolutely everything and of course, you dont realise this just isnt possible until its too late and you are tired and crotchety at getting up for yet marshalling the troops for another Rope Drop. So , plenty to think about for the next plan ...

And that means lots of REST

A few ( ahem) of my fave pics from that holiday...














Actually ,I could just keep adding loads in so I will stop now. Having looked through our 89 pages of photos on photobucket to pick these , I have realised how many favourite I have !

So I have left it at the ones above to capture happy memories - mainly of the kids - us adults seem quite elusive when the camera is about - Andy is generally using it and I am usually caught looking somewhere else, squinting into the sunshine or looking at my watch in a " come on ,lots to see" type manner