It's A Small World ~ Pre Trip Report

[ariel2006]

... Or Our Year of A Million Dreams... and A Million Holidays

It All Started With A Dream... And Then A Holiday... And Then Another Dream... Or Two... Or Three...

Well after the conclusion of our Magical WDW Adventure which was yet another holiday of a lifetime, the post Disney blues set in again, Big time, and I mean Big time with a capital B. Every time I turned the TV on there was yet another advert for Disney World or Orlando and everywhere I looked in our house was yet another reminder of my favorite place on earth, and the place I knew I wouldn’t be back to for a while . After this years trip to Disney World we knew we wouldn’t be able to go back until at least 2010, but how on earth could we survive with no WDW adventure to plan and look forward to, and what holiday could possibly fill the huge void not going to Disney had left in both of us...

...Well our solution came in the form of not one holiday but 6, yes you read it right, 6 holidays to plan and enjoy over the next year. Now not all these holidays are definite, only two are actually booked at the moment, but we are pretty sure that soon enough they will all be booked and we can get on with the all important planning, so fingers crossed.
And I thought that since sharing my plans with everyone on my Magical WDW Adventure (my trip report which is in working progress is here if you want to read ... go on, you know you wanna) was both fun and helpful and that it really helped pass the time leading up to our great adventure that I would write a pre-trippie (or series of pre-trippies) to share with whoever wants to read .


Well before I tell you any more about our ideas and plans I will introduce the cast who will appear at various points throughout this pre-trippie.

The Cast:

First off there is Me and my boyfriend Nick, who will be planning and participating in all of the trips.
I am 23, a typical girly-girl who loves the usual girly related things – shopping, clothes, and jewellery, anything pink, sparkly and pretty.



And Nick is 24, loves typical boy things – cars, Top Gear, anything gadgetty, computer games and most sport – both playing and watching, especially Cricket, Rugby and golf.



Nick and I met on our first day at university nearly 5 years ago and have been together ever since and during that time have done some amazing things together. We have so much in common, we love the same things, share a lot of the same passions and have the same dreams and aspirations in life. From the moment we met we were completely comfortable with each other and have great fun planning our future.

Despite having a lot in common we have quite opposite personalities, I am a bit of a worrier, very particular and organised (Nick swears I have OCD but I find nothing wrong with colour-coding my wardrobe and having specific places for my DVD’s) as opposed to Nick who is so laid-back and takes everything as it comes…if it ever does. We therefore balance each other out perfectly which means we live, work and play together without killing each other in the process. It is also great because it means I get to make most of the decisions…like where we go on holiday !

Our two main passions are Disney and traveling. We absolutely love to travel and have visited some amazing places together including Thailand and Cuba and plan to visit many, many more. We love reading about the countries, planning the trips and experiencing the culture, the countryside and especially the food and drink. We both especially love the US and would love to travel all around and visit all the different States. Its just so diverse and everything seems so interesting, we LOVE it. And with Disney being our other main passion we have been to WDW and Disneyland Paris several times and plan to go many, many more times in the future.
Here is a few pictures of us:











And heres some from our recent Magical WDW Adventure:

[ariel2006]

Oh and we both love Starbucks too:



Next up is Mum, Dad and Sophie

I'll start with Mum as she is head of the household. She will be 50 is August and I think she looks damn good for her age - ever since she had Sophie she just seems to get younger and younger.
She is an amazing Mum, she is so loving and caring and has always puts us kids first, but she is also a great friend and great fun to hang out with.
She loves Disney and was the one who introduced me and my sisters to it. She has had major Disney depression ever since our last trip, she also loves the US despite initially being skeptical about going there, so much so she wants to spend all our holidays there. She loves great food, going to see great shows and visiting great places. She likes to help plan our trips but leaves all the major decisions to me.



Dad is 49, he will be 50 next July. He is actually only Sophie's real Dad but has been with Mum for 16 years and has been more than a dad to Kate (my older sister) and I and I absolutely love him to pieces. He is slightly crazy, but in a good way, and is so much fun to be around.
He works every waking minute to be able to pay for our amazing trips and nothing is ever too much for him. He loves Disney and is always talking about moving to America, he loves everything about the country and can’t wait to go back. He is really laid back and leaves all the decisions to Mum and I - might be something to do with living in a house full of women for 16 years.



Heres a few pictures of them:







Sophie - my baby sister, she is actually 12 (nearly) but will always be my baby. We are really close and I miss her so much when were not together. I love to spoil her and she is an angel child who deserves to be spoiled so it works out well. She is a lovely child, she is very well mannered and polite, she is kind-hearted and has lots of friends as a result, she tries hard at everything she does although sometimes finds things hard and grows into a more beautiful young lady every day.
She loves her family and is a Mummys girl, Daddys girl, Grandad's girl but most importantly My girl. She is quite young for her age and doesn't want to grow up, something not that common in children her age, meaning she still has that lovely innocence children have.
Her main passion is animals, from the day she was born she has had an obsession with all animals, initially she wanted to be an animal when she grew up but after figuring it wasn't really possible she decided she wants to either be a killer-whale trainer or be like Rosie Trevanion in Wild at Heart. She loves our holidays especially Disney and is happy-go-lucky with any plans we make, as long as it involves lots of pool time.

[ely3857]

OK, daft question but what's your name?! Please tell me it's Ariel 'cos that would be cool!

And six holidays, get in there!



Jodie

[ariel2006]

Mum, Dad, Sophie, Nick and I have spent several holidays together, including a whole month at WDW, and we all get along really well. We all love going on holiday, we all love Disney and the States and we all love being together. We like doing the same things which works really well, we like to pack a lot in and really make the most of all our time, we love to visit nice restaurants, see local sights, shows, theme parks, countryside and much more. We are all really looking forward to our upcoming trips, we are sure they will be a lot of fun.

Heres some photo's of our last holiday to WDW altogether in 2006:



















And finally Grandma and Grandad

All my Mum’s family are really close and this centers around having the loveliest, most loving and caring Grandparents ever. My grandparents have always played a major role in our lives, when I was younger we (my Mum, sisters and I) used to stay at their house every weekend, something Sophie and Mum still do and every holiday we had as children was spent with them. We are always at their house having one of my Grandma’s lovely meals, watching Sophie and Grandad put on another one of their dance shows, going for a nice family walk, picnic or visit to the beach, or having a lovely family holiday in France or Cornwall.
They are both pretty laid back, both quite with the times and a lot of fun. They like to travel too, my Grandad loves France and hopes to soon get a house there that he work on and can do up. I hope he does soon, it would be a lot of fun.

[ariel2006]

And this is all of us from France last year (minus Dad whose taking the picture):


Oh and there is one more member of the cast. He has a real sense of adventure, loves traveling the world and has come with us on all our trips...and of course will be joining us on the ones we are planning. It's the one and only traveling Pig... It's Piggles. Here he is on some of his worldly adventures:


Relaxing in the Bahama's


Playing Poker in France


Eating at Annettes Diner, Disneyland Paris


His favorite place...Ohana


Waiting to ride Splash Mountain


Holiday Planning... The What, When, Who, Why?

Now I have introduced the cast I will introduce our holiday plans as they are at the moment:

1.
WHEN: 23rd August – 2nd September 2008 – 9 nights
WHERE: The Smoky Mountains, Tennessee
WHO: Nick and Me; Mum, Dad and Sophie
WHY: To celebrate Mum’s 50th birthday
CURRENT STATUS: The holiday is booked and pretty much planned, attraction tickets yet to be booked

2.
WHEN: 31st October – 4th November 2008 – 4 nights
WHERE: Disneyland Paris
WHO: Nick and Me; Mum, Dad and Sophie
WHY: For Halloween and to celebrate Nick and My 5 year dating anniversary
CURRENT STATUS: The holiday is booked, some aspects yet to be booked and planned

3.
WHEN: Beginning of January 2009, dates to include 11th January – probably for 7 nights
WHERE: Las Vegas
WHO: Nick and Me
WHY: To celebrates Nick’s 25th birthday
CURRENT STATUS: In the mid planning stages


4.
WHEN: End of April, beginning of May 2009 – 2 weeks
WHERE: Mexico
WHO: Nick and Me
WHY: For a nice relaxing holiday with a bit of culture and a lot of pampering
CURRENT STATUS: In the late planning stages

5.
WHEN: July 21st – 27th 2009 (approximate dates) – 4 nights
WHERE: New York
WHO: Nick and Me; Mum, Dad and Sophie
WHY: To celebrate Dad’s 50th birthday
CURRENT STATUS: In the late planning stages

6.
WHEN: Late August 2009 – 2 weeks
WHERE: France and other European countries
WHO: Nick and Me; Mum, Dad and Sophie; Grandma and Grandad
WHY: For a family holiday
CURRENT STATUS: In the early planning stages




Plan, plan and plan some more... you can never plan too much, or can you?

As you can tell with all these amazing holiday ideas we have a lot of planning to do, which is another of my greatest passions (well as long as it involves something exciting like a brilliant holiday). I have already started a planning journal which will be used to document any hotels, attractions, restaurants we want to visit and also keep record of any confirmations. As you can see its got a slight Disney touch



I also plan to get lots of travel books to help with my planning, I love reading them they always give me new ideas and tips.



The trouble is I start to plan, get lots of good ideas, then find more good ideas, and then more and more and more. Our 2 week holiday soon becomes 3 weeks, then 23 nights, then 24 and our ‘value’ accommodation is no longer in the value range, nor the car or the flights or anything else for that matter. See thats the trouble with planning, there is always so much more to see and do and you have to stop somewhere, the trouble with me is working out just where !


So there we have it, the foundations for my pre-trippie are set and now it is time for the real fun and planning to begin... please come and join me

[ariel2006]

Originally Posted by ely3857

OK, daft question but what's your name?! Please tell me it's Ariel 'cos that would be cool!

And six holidays, get in there!



Jodie

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I wish it was Ariel, that would be really cool. I used to tell people I was called Ariel when they asked my name but my sister always spoilt it and told them the truth :angry:. My real name is Sammie

[ely3857]

Looking forward to your first reports on this calendar of trips!

Sammie is a lovely name, but i'll call you Ariel!



Jodie

[ariel2006]

Originally Posted by ely3857

Looking forward to your first reports on this calendar of trips!

Sammie is a lovely name, but i'll call you Ariel!



Jodie

See more...

Thanks, Its better for me being a big Disney fan. I am trying to persuade someone to call their baby Ariel at the moment... trouble is it might be a boy

[ely3857]

Originally Posted by ariel2006

Thanks, Its better for me being a big Disney fan. I am trying to persuade someone to call their baby Ariel at the moment... trouble is it might be a boy

See more...

[Guest]

Ohhhhhhh my gosh! I'm soooo excited - I don't care where you go, who you go with, what you do - I'd read about it anyway! Trip to Asda - I want photos! LOL!

I LOVE your trip reports YAY!

Keep up the planning & posting!