Jen was on the high school cheer team all four years of high school. Becca was on the dance team freshman and sophomore years. and both teams competed in Central Florida.
Jen's sophomore year -- the team competed at the Hard Rock at Citiwalk, at Universal. Becca (who was in 8th grade) and I went with the team. We stayed on International Drive and spent our off time at Islands of Adventure. My girls and I took a taxi to Downtown Disney for awhile, because we couldn't be in Orlando and not visit the Mouse.
Jen's junior and senior years, the team competed at Disney's Wide World of Sports. Junior year we stayed at All Star sports. Senior year it was Caribbean Beach.
Becca's freshman and sophomore years the team competed at Wide World of Sports and stayed at All Star Music. Becca's trips were two weeks before Jen's trips, so I got to make two trips to WDW those years.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Spiderman!
what a disappointing experience.
we went to Universal and islands of Adventure in February 2001.
I'd heard that Spiderman was the best ride in IOA. but every time I asked the girls if they wanted to ride it, they told me "no".
when I finally convinced them to go on the ride...the ride was down. we never got the opportunity to ride spiderman that trip.
we went to Universal and islands of Adventure in February 2001.
I'd heard that Spiderman was the best ride in IOA. but every time I asked the girls if they wanted to ride it, they told me "no".
when I finally convinced them to go on the ride...the ride was down. we never got the opportunity to ride spiderman that trip.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
birthdays are special at WDW
My birthday is February 18. our February 2000 and 2001 trips were in honor of my birthday. a way for me to celebrate with just my children.
got to wear a birthday button in the magic Kingdom and have all the CM's wish me a happy birthday. got to eat a birthday dinner in the Crystal Palace, along with Winnie the Pooh and his friends.
and one year I planned a birthday scavenger hunt in the Magic Kingdom. a woman who advertised on the DIS would do all sorts of special events while you were on your trip. she hid little packages in the park and gave us clues to find them. the final surprise was a birthday cake.
got to wear a birthday button in the magic Kingdom and have all the CM's wish me a happy birthday. got to eat a birthday dinner in the Crystal Palace, along with Winnie the Pooh and his friends.
and one year I planned a birthday scavenger hunt in the Magic Kingdom. a woman who advertised on the DIS would do all sorts of special events while you were on your trip. she hid little packages in the park and gave us clues to find them. the final surprise was a birthday cake.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
the Millenium at WDW
we went twice in 2000 -- in February and in August -- so of course we saw the Millenium Pavillion in EPCOT. Favorite countries there? Israel (the Temple Wall replica was amazing), Saudi Arabia (had our names written in Arabic) and Brazil (great rainforest games). I'd love to see some of those countries become a permanent exhibit, but 10 years later there's no sign of any new countries showing up at EPCOT>
Monday, July 26, 2010
children are not allowed to be sad at WDW
summer 1998, we stayed at the Poly.
We bought lunch at ...what's the name of that place, Captain Hook? It's not a sit-down restaurant, it's more like a grab-n-go snack bar. And we found a table outside, on the patio.
and the birds wanted our lunch. One of the birds was very aggressive and frightend Jen. she ducked under the table and hit her head.
and a CM saw her crying and gave her a stuffed Minnie Mouse "because children shouldn't cry at WDW."
the door to each building at the Poly are automatic -- they slide open and closed. except that the door to our building malfunctioned one evening and hit Jen in the arm.
one of our fellow guests was a pediatrician. she happened to be walking by when the door closed on Jen. she took a look at Jen's arm and said "it might leave a bruise, but I think she's fine."
nevertheless, I filed a report with the manager -- because I wanted him to fix the door so no one else would be hurt.
the next day, we came back from the parks and found....to our surprise and delight ....that the manager gifted us all with t-shirts, hats and stuffed animals.
because no child should ever cry at WDW.
We bought lunch at ...what's the name of that place, Captain Hook? It's not a sit-down restaurant, it's more like a grab-n-go snack bar. And we found a table outside, on the patio.
and the birds wanted our lunch. One of the birds was very aggressive and frightend Jen. she ducked under the table and hit her head.
and a CM saw her crying and gave her a stuffed Minnie Mouse "because children shouldn't cry at WDW."
the door to each building at the Poly are automatic -- they slide open and closed. except that the door to our building malfunctioned one evening and hit Jen in the arm.
one of our fellow guests was a pediatrician. she happened to be walking by when the door closed on Jen. she took a look at Jen's arm and said "it might leave a bruise, but I think she's fine."
nevertheless, I filed a report with the manager -- because I wanted him to fix the door so no one else would be hurt.
the next day, we came back from the parks and found....to our surprise and delight ....that the manager gifted us all with t-shirts, hats and stuffed animals.
because no child should ever cry at WDW.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
the DIS -- the good, the bad and the ugly
My parents' friend's sister is a travel agent, and she planned our first WDW trip in 1998. I discovered the internet around the time of our first trip, and found a great little site called wdwinfo.com, with a message board at disboards.com. It was a nice little site run by a man named Pete werner. Disney was his hobby, and he loved to chat with other Disneyphiles. Eventually he started a Disney-only travel agency , Dreams Unlimited. Eventually his forum and his business grew to a point where he no longer had time to pursue his hobby of posting on his own message boards.
I was a DIS member in good standing from 1998 until 2001, and used Dreams Unlimited to plan four of my WDW vacations.
I got banned from the message boards by the great man himself, I'd said something sarcastic and he took offense.
You can read my posts about the DIS on my regular blog here and here and here and here.
but it wasn't all bad. I met lots of lovely people -- on one trip I met a fellow DISer on Maint Street in the MK, and she gave my girls pins. I went to DIS meets here in NYC and met people who are still my firends.
and I learned a lot about Disney planning and how to make the trip as enjoyable and magical as possible..
I was a DIS member in good standing from 1998 until 2001, and used Dreams Unlimited to plan four of my WDW vacations.
I got banned from the message boards by the great man himself, I'd said something sarcastic and he took offense.
You can read my posts about the DIS on my regular blog here and here and here and here.
but it wasn't all bad. I met lots of lovely people -- on one trip I met a fellow DISer on Maint Street in the MK, and she gave my girls pins. I went to DIS meets here in NYC and met people who are still my firends.
and I learned a lot about Disney planning and how to make the trip as enjoyable and magical as possible..
Saturday, July 24, 2010
magic and misery
Our worset Disney mistake was made on our very first trip.
We flew from New York to Orlando on a 6 AM flight, took Mears transportation to our hotel (awful ride -- after that we always got a town car) and checked into the hotel (the Poly), dropped our stuff in our rooms and headed to Magic Kingdom in the middle of the afternooon with two tired, cranky kids. Trust me, they were not feeling the magic ...After that experience, we learned ....we'd fly down at 6 AM, take the town car to the hotel and check in, enjoy the pool in the afternoon and then hit one of the parks in the evening.
Or at least, that's the way it was supposed to work.
Our second trip, summer 1999, we stayed at Dixie Lnadings. Our rooms wweren't ready, so we stored our bags and headed over to the pool.
A few days before our trip, Jen was diagnosed with strep throat, and was still on antibiotics when we flew to Florida. You know the deal -- when one child gets it, the other is likely to get it as well. As the afternoon wore on, Becca became tired and cranky, and soon we noticed she was feverish as well. As soon as we got to our rooms I started to make inquiries about medical attention. I found out that, for a fee, the "disney doctor" will make hotel calls. And pharmacies will deliver antibiotics to your hotel.My sisters took Jen out to dinner and I stayed in the hotel room and ordered room service for myself and my sick child. One dose of children's tylenol brought down her fever, and by the next day she was fine.
But we missed our breakfast in Cinderella's Castle. The girls were disappointed, they'd loved the breakfast with the princesses the year before. but our reservation was for 7 AM, and we thought Becca should sleep a little later to allow herself time to recover. Sigh.
but...
Later in the trip, we were in the Magic Kingdom and needed diner reservations. The CM suggested the Castle -- no characters in the evening, but lots of atmosphere. What he didn't tell us was that our table would be right under the window, and that we'd have a perfect view of the fireworks that night. We'd seen the Magic Kingdom fireworks from main Street, from the Beach at the Poly, from our balcony at the Poly and from the middle of Seven Seas Lagoon, but seeing the show from inside the Castle was absolutely magical.
We flew from New York to Orlando on a 6 AM flight, took Mears transportation to our hotel (awful ride -- after that we always got a town car) and checked into the hotel (the Poly), dropped our stuff in our rooms and headed to Magic Kingdom in the middle of the afternooon with two tired, cranky kids. Trust me, they were not feeling the magic ...After that experience, we learned ....we'd fly down at 6 AM, take the town car to the hotel and check in, enjoy the pool in the afternoon and then hit one of the parks in the evening.
Or at least, that's the way it was supposed to work.
Our second trip, summer 1999, we stayed at Dixie Lnadings. Our rooms wweren't ready, so we stored our bags and headed over to the pool.
A few days before our trip, Jen was diagnosed with strep throat, and was still on antibiotics when we flew to Florida. You know the deal -- when one child gets it, the other is likely to get it as well. As the afternoon wore on, Becca became tired and cranky, and soon we noticed she was feverish as well. As soon as we got to our rooms I started to make inquiries about medical attention. I found out that, for a fee, the "disney doctor" will make hotel calls. And pharmacies will deliver antibiotics to your hotel.My sisters took Jen out to dinner and I stayed in the hotel room and ordered room service for myself and my sick child. One dose of children's tylenol brought down her fever, and by the next day she was fine.
But we missed our breakfast in Cinderella's Castle. The girls were disappointed, they'd loved the breakfast with the princesses the year before. but our reservation was for 7 AM, and we thought Becca should sleep a little later to allow herself time to recover. Sigh.
but...
Later in the trip, we were in the Magic Kingdom and needed diner reservations. The CM suggested the Castle -- no characters in the evening, but lots of atmosphere. What he didn't tell us was that our table would be right under the window, and that we'd have a perfect view of the fireworks that night. We'd seen the Magic Kingdom fireworks from main Street, from the Beach at the Poly, from our balcony at the Poly and from the middle of Seven Seas Lagoon, but seeing the show from inside the Castle was absolutely magical.
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