"I bet they get Charmin" A May 2014 Girls Trip **04/03 THE END**

[amberg93]

Real Life Update 4: Holiday Wishes and Apologies

First and foremost, happy holidays to all you lovely Disers! I hope you're all having an amazing holiday season and that you all get to spend loads of time with those you care about

Secondly, I'd like to apologize for not updating, keeping up with anyone else's TR or just anything Dis related recently. I haven't even answered comments back and I'm sorry for that.

For personal reasons I just haven't been feeling my best lately and I haven't been able to bring myself to do any updating or reading of the reports of others where everyone is feeling the magic. To top it off last week I was in Michigan visiting my family and I got sick. So overall, just things haven't been great. (Marie also has been sick and pretty busy at work, so that's why she hasn't been doing updates either)

I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things after the holidays are finished. For now though, I'm just taking a break.

You're all amazing and we just wanted to thank you again for following along with us on our journeys.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanzaa, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays in general.

Lots of love and pixie dust.

- Amber

P.S. this exact message is in both TRs so you don't have to read it twice if you're following along with both ​

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[coloredimage]

Feel better and happy holidays! Recoup and relax!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Hope both you and Marie are doing better Amber and had a wonderful holida

 

[courtneybelle]

Hey Amber, sorry to hear you haven't been feeling your best I totally understand not wanting to be on the DIS when you're feeling down. Hope you and Marie are doing better and had a nice holiday!! We'll be around whenever you're ready to come back!

 

[amberg93]

Feel better and happy holidays! Recoup and relax!

Thank you! Oh my goodness, how did I just find your August TR? I'll have to set aside time to catch up from the start. Looks like it'll be good reading material for relaxing

Hope both you and Marie are doing better Amber and had a wonderful holiday

Thanks Phil! We did

Hey Amber, sorry to hear you haven't been feeling your best I totally understand not wanting to be on the DIS when you're feeling down. Hope you and Marie are doing better and had a nice holiday!! We'll be around whenever you're ready to come back!

Thank you. We're both better and had an awesome Christmas and New Years.

 

[amberg93]

I'm back and feeling much better so thank you everyone. Of course, this chapter was pretty emotionally draining to write because it brought back lots of feelings. So that's why there's only one for now.

Warning: more drama ahead. If drama is not your cup of tea here's a brief summary of the chapter: we can't decide what to do, we play a game, there is drama, we watch fireworks, we go back to the resort.

Everyone else, read on.

Day 6, Part 6: "I'm done."

Once we got done with our meal, we decided to use the MDE app to check what the wait times looked like for some rides to figure out what to do. According to the app there was a 30 minute wait time for Tower of Terror and although that was not my favorite ride it had a the popular vote, so we started that way.

Along the way I just snapped pictures, so for those of you who like random crowd pictures, you'll enjoy this.

Hat. I love you Hat.

Crowd. Sup crowd.

More crowd. But partly just because I like that building over there.

Hello random crowd people.

So we get to Tower of Terror and the wait time is actually 60 minutes and no one wants to wait that.

Instead we decide to check out the RnR wait time.

Also 60 minutes.

At that point we decided to give Star Tours a try as the wait time looked a lot less.

First we passed the DJ though.

Traci's face probably sums up what happened when we got there. Also like a 45 minute wait and we were just not feeling that.

So people did some browsing over at this store stand.

We also saw some young padawans passing by.

I snapped a picture of a flower while people were browsing because... why not?

At that point we decided just to take a seat at one of the shaded tables and hang out until fireworks. We could keep the spot for fireworks and sit down. What else could a person want?

There was a squirrel that we saw who was pretty cool.

And some ducks behind us.

After that we got out some cards and decided to play a game and this is where it all went down hill. The game we were playing is not that important, but what is important to know about it is that I knew how to play before that moment and Eli did not.

Also it's important to know that Eli and I are both fairly competitive people who can get into our competitive spirits pretty hardcore. So what happens is we play for a while without any issues and then Eli does something that I'm calling out as against the rules. Eli argues that it's totally not against the rules.

This rubs me the wrong way for several reasons:
1) What she did was totally against the rules.
2) I've known how to play this game for years.
3) In my perception this is another case of Eli having a tiny bit of experience in something and then suddenly becoming an expert on it (this also happened at Ohana and there was a minor incident with Traci but it didn't escalate and Marie sort of skated over it but it was still pretty fresh in my mind)
4) I perceived her tone as very condescending.

We had to ask the rest of the group as to who is right. Traci sided with me. Marie decided to stay out of it. So it comes down to Veronica and Merranda who talk it out and ultimately decide that I was in the right.

Now here's where I'm a bit of a jerk because I'm so fed up with Eli's attitude at this point (she doesn't want to keep schedule with us, she doesn't show interest in the Star Wars things which we've never gotten to do before, she's been snarky with me before and I'll admit that I'm still a little ticked with her from the last Hollywood Studios day) so I have some snark when I thank Merranda and Veronica and then turn to Eli and go: "Take the penalty."

Looking back, I don't blame Eli that much for getting snarky with me back. In the moment, that was not the case and so when she went, "Fine, but there's a better way to say that."

And that was it.

I was done, guys. I was done with the attitude. I was done with being told there was a better way to say things when it only seemed to apply to me and Traci. I was just done. I stood up, I was shaking and on the verge of tears and I announced to our friends that I was finished. I left my cards and I went to leave but Marie grabbed my arm and told me to stay.

I told her that I couldn't, shook her hand off and then left. Originally I planned to go to the bathroom and just cry out my tears and move on. However, that is not what I ended up doing because I didn't want to give the satisfaction of having me cry at Disney. Instead, I powerwalked around the entire park. I allowed myself to calm down and take in what I loved so much about being there. I stopped and asked couples if they needed me to take their picture and did so, I hummed along to Phineas and Ferb songs. I got all my feelings out.

Unfortunately, at this time while I was getting better, Marie was getting worse. She had grabbed my things and tried to follow me, first heading to the bathroom but then when I wasn't there she tried to look around for me. Unfortunately, with so many people she couldn't catch sight of me. Remembering that I'd earlier joked about ditching everyone to go to Epcot for IllumiNations, she left the park and went to the boat dock to see if I was there. A boat had just left and I wasn't in line. It's worth noting that I didn't have a cell phone so Marie went back to the table, sat down and cried.

At this point Veronica and Merranda went to search for food, hoping to avoid the awkward. Traci stayed with Marie and Eli sat silently.

When I finally got back to the table, I was decidedly cool. Completely unbothered and deciding that I was just going to pretty much ignore Eli for the rest of the trip. I felt terrible though when I got there and Marie was crying. So I apologized to her, held her and tried to get her to stop crying. Traci went to buy a stormtrooper lemonade and Eli got up, set the bow down and left. This made Marie cry more and worry about how the rest of the trip was going to go. I assured her that I was just going to ignore her because I was so finished that I didn't care anymore.

Eventually Merranda and Veronica returned briefly to check if all was well and then went to dance. Traci shared her frozen lemonade and I ended up talking with a little girl at the table behind us who just wanted to show off her lightsaber and chat. Really, she made me feel much better.

And then we watched the fireworks. I took a video and tried to put it up on Youtube but copyright of sound means no music and the music makes it. We really enjoyed the fireworks though and Merranda and Veronica consider them their favorites of the whole trip.

Once they were finished, we joined the other bijillion people leaving and went to go and get in line for the bus.

This was the bus line. Unsurprisingly, we waited for a little while before we were back to the resort. When we got there Eli was asleep in bed with her headphones on and I posted a few things online before I went to bed. Hollywood Studios simply wasn't my park for this trip.

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[Newsies]

Oh my goodness. I didn't really read the drama because I feel icky from personal drama atm so I'm just going to say I'm so sorry to hear that your evening at HS was much less than the magical evening you deserved. I hope the rest of the trip treated you well

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

YAY Amber!!! So glad you're back!!! Haha, well done on the chapter summary, but yeah, I'm reading on...

I for one love random pictures.

Ugh, those are some rough wait times. It really highlights the lack of stuff in DHS.

Uh huh. Amber, I don't think there is anybody that hasn't hit the wall at some point at Disney. I've done it, everybody's done it. If there's one big benefit of solo trips, it's avoiding that. But trust me, we have ALL been there.

I really do feel bad for Marie. I also understand being in the middle and just wanting to keep the peace. It's a rough spot.

 

[courtneybelle]

So glad to see you back, Amber!!

Very frustrating about all the long lines

Ugh I'm so sorry about all the drama. I know how horrible it is when you're in the happiest place on earth yet you get so upset. Everyone's bound to reach a breaking point sooner or later where you just have to get away, so I'm glad you were able to walk away and cool off.

On a side note Hollywood Studios was where I had my meltdown so it was not my park in July either. No bueno. Keep me in MK!!!

I've heard amazing things about those fireworks, so I'm glad you got to see them!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

On a side note Hollywood Studios was where I had my meltdown so it was not my park in July either. No bueno. Keep me in MK!!!

Wow, come to think of it... ME TOO!!!! This must be the meltdown park. Blew a gasket, took a walk, drank a beer, somehow felt better.

 

[courtneybelle]

Wow, come to think of it... ME TOO!!!! This must be the meltdown park. Blew a gasket, took a walk, drank a beer, somehow felt better.

HAAA this is why we all need to vacation at the same time!! We can meet up and cry and drink!

 

[amberg93]

HAAA this is why we all need to vacation at the same time!! We can meet up and cry and drink!

But if we were all vacationing at the same time, why would we need to cry?

I am all for the idea of vacationing at the same time and meeting up though. Even though I recently re-read my medication label and it says I'm not supposed to drink. So you guys could drink and I could sip something virgin

 

[amberg93]

Oh my goodness. I didn't really read the drama because I feel icky from personal drama atm so I'm just going to say I'm so sorry to hear that your evening at HS was much less than the magical evening you deserved. I hope the rest of the trip treated you well

That's perfectly fine I hope that you get to feeling better though Kaitlyn.

YAY Amber!!! So glad you're back!!! Haha, well done on the chapter summary, but yeah, I'm reading on...

I for one love random pictures.

Ugh, those are some rough wait times. It really highlights the lack of stuff in DHS.

Uh huh. Amber, I don't think there is anybody that hasn't hit the wall at some point at Disney. I've done it, everybody's done it. If there's one big benefit of solo trips, it's avoiding that. But trust me, we have ALL been there.

I really do feel bad for Marie. I also understand being in the middle and just wanting to keep the peace. It's a rough spot.

I'm glad I'm back too.

I love taking random pictures. SO we all win.

Yeah, not what we were really looking for. I can't even imagine how bad it's going to be this year at DHS.

Disney does not stop all reality, unfortunately. Though it really could have been avoided if we'd all handled things better. But we live and we learn.

She's an angel. I feel terrible about how terrible she felt. It was just not fair to her in the slightest. She's the real hero of the trip.

So glad to see you back, Amber!!

Very frustrating about all the long lines

Ugh I'm so sorry about all the drama. I know how horrible it is when you're in the happiest place on earth yet you get so upset. Everyone's bound to reach a breaking point sooner or later where you just have to get away, so I'm glad you were able to walk away and cool off.

On a side note Hollywood Studios was where I had my meltdown so it was not my park in July either. No bueno. Keep me in MK!!!

I've heard amazing things about those fireworks, so I'm glad you got to see them!!

Thank you, Courtney!

Long lines are the worst. Especially when you have so many new comers with you.

Drama is what it is. People can't stop being people. However, it did help me feel a bit more sympathy for people who just don't look like they're having a good time at Disney. Maybe they've hit their wall too.

That HS drama. Maybe it's the lack of magic there? There's something to the fact that we all had drama there for sure...

The fireworks were really amazing. Honestly, they are some of the best. I'm glad we stayed to watch them because I did think about just leaving after the drama.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Yeah Amber's back! Glad to hear you are doing better as well.

Man, DHS really can show it's lack of options at times ... really need to expand that park - hopefully some news comes out this year (theories out there announcements will be made during Star Wars weekends)

Definitely sounds like a situations where emotions were still raw among two strong willed people - but for her to basically throw your words back at you and think they apply to you but not to her is not cool. I think walking away to cool down was the best move - but obviously stunk that more communication with Marie wasn't made about where you were going and you didn't have your cell phone.

Very glad that you got a bit of Disney feels why you were away - though feel very bad for Marie and I am sure you felt really bad when you came back and saw her. Hopefully that kinda settled things and you were able to ignore Eli and have a good rest of the trip

At least it seems like things worked out with getting to see the Fireworks

 

[DisDance]

I've been so out of the loop! Glad you're feeling better, hope you and Marie had a lovely holiday season.

Sorry about the drama, as much as I'm loving this TR I'm loving your new one even more because it's just the two of you!

 

[amberg93]

Yeah Amber's back! Glad to hear you are doing better as well.

Man, DHS really can show it's lack of options at times ... really need to expand that park - hopefully some news comes out this year (theories out there announcements will be made during Star Wars weekends)

Definitely sounds like a situations where emotions were still raw among two strong willed people - but for her to basically throw your words back at you and think they apply to you but not to her is not cool. I think walking away to cool down was the best move - but obviously stunk that more communication with Marie wasn't made about where you were going and you didn't have your cell phone.

Very glad that you got a bit of Disney feels why you were away - though feel very bad for Marie and I am sure you felt really bad when you came back and saw her. Hopefully that kinda settled things and you were able to ignore Eli and have a good rest of the trip

At least it seems like things worked out with getting to see the Fireworks

Yay, Phil's commenting!

I'd be very excited for any announcements that were to come out, but yeah, the lack of options has us only planning one day with the family at DHS. There's no need for more.

It was just a tough situation. I'm glad it happened so late in the trip though because it really did change the atmosphere. Plus, with more time the memory stings less, but like when we got home I was still upset about it.

There's always a silver lining somewhere and in this case it was the fireworks

I've been so out of the loop! Glad you're feeling better, hope you and Marie had a lovely holiday season.

Sorry about the drama, as much as I'm loving this TR I'm loving your new one even more because it's just the two of you!

Thank you, we did.

Aww, thank you again. It was definitely a different trip, that was for sure. Thus far half our trips have been with others and half by ourselves. Our next one will have even more people, but hopefully less drama.

 

[amberg93]

Day 7, Part 1: "I forgot my band."​

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We had an early wake up call the next day because we had to be out waiting for our ride by 8 am. Naturally this meant I woke up at 6:50 despite going to bed fairly late in my anger.

Things were pretty tense that morning too and we were unsure if Eli was even going to go with us. However, when Marie asked her to get up she did and got ready. Of course, she got up later than everyone else and took longer to get ready, so it didn't help the general mood any either. To try and disperse the tension, I took a few pictures.

Merranda in her new dress looking fab with Veronica.

Marie giving me a look.

We did manage to get out of the room shortly after we'd wished though, so that was good.

A beautiful day.

So we were waiting for our ride which was a DVC van because we'd decided to do the tour and the girls agreed to go along for the promise of free ice cream and some fastpasses. Unfortunately though there was some miscommunication as to where we were supposed to meet said ride.

Hence why we were waiting over here.

Until everyone got tired of standing and went to sit and wait.

An Epcot bus! We were going there later so I took a picture.

In case you haven't noticed, I take pictures when I'm bored. Also sometimes videos of random conversation.

Eventually, we had the idea to check out front instead and saw the DVC van waiting for us. We apologized to the driver who explained that it was actually a pretty common mistake and then we got going about ten minutes late.

We learned more about the club and guys we almost bought in then and there. Marie just didn't know her Social Insurance Number, so we decided to call back later.

Let me tell you what happened with this, so we call the guy back, he runs our credit, we get a letter saying that we've got excellent credit and then he doesn't contact us again until December and says he's been trying to contact us this whole time???

Yeah, that sounds likely. Anyway, it's for the best that we didn't end up buying in because things happen and we don't really have the money for it after all. If we ever end up doing so, we'd end up buying resale anyway. It was good to get the information though and the girls did appreciate the free ice cream, served to us by an older gentlemen who offered us seconds.

We also have this lovely photo that commemorates the occasion.

We were originally going to go straight to Epcot but then Merranda realized that she forgot her band and while she said that she could go back to the resort by herself to get it, we all decided to go along with her.

Also, side note, but we were talking about the benefits of bands like this on cruises (The Quantum of the Seas uses them) to Marie's godmom last night and she was like, "Oh, I always give the cards to [my husband] who has pockets."

It was then that Marie and I realized the true pitfalls of being two girls in a relationship, there is no guarantee that someone will have pockets.

Moving on. So on our trip back to the All Star Sports, we had the sweetest driver ever named Harry. Oh my goodness, he was just the cutest old man who told us all these facts and stories about Disney. He also had a package to drop off at Kidani that he was supposed to do after dropping us off, but he got so caught up in telling the story of how he got his job (telling the story of the first time he visited Disneyland on opening day by jumping the fence) that he went there first.

We assured him that it was okay and to apologize to us he gave us all extra Mickey stickers.

We took a picture with him because he was that much of a sweetheart.

Merranda got her magic band and then Veronica decided that she wanted to take a picture in the giant whistle. Now, I know that this is technically against the rules and I told them this, but I have to admit that the picture is pretty awesome.

Ta-da. But don't do it kids. It's bad.

All Star Sports, why is it so long before I'll see you again?

Of course, now that we were waiting for an Epcot bus none came by. We just decided at that point to hop the Hollywood Studios bus instead and take a Friendship boat over to Epcot. Our lunch reservation was in the World Showcase anyway.

These three cuties on the bus.

I do like those little broom figures.

Nice clear day and a line waiting for the boat.

I know the boat is one of the slowest forms of transportation, but you know what? I enjoy it. Plus, it was way too hot to walk.

We saw this turtle with a broken shell while waiting for the boat to get there. Poor thing.

The boat is coming for us!

Swolphin!

I really want to stay at an Epcot resort. I mean, honestly, it has to be so nice. Someday.

Our friends were pretty amazed that there was another entrance to Epcot that they hadn't even noticed.

On our way in, I also made sure to pick up one of these:

As the Flower and Garden festival was still going on for one more day and we knew we'd want to hit stuff up.

At that point though, once more, we found ourselves having to rush over for our reservation.

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[DisneyKid4Life]

Sooooo, just noticed a lovely looking banner. Yay for another trip in the works. That'll help with the Disney blues.

An Epcot bus. Totally appropriate foreshadowing.

Wow, I didn't even know you had considered DVC. That's pretty exciting even if you did pass for now. And free ice cream is always appreciated.

While it may be true that you might not have pockets, it's also true that more often than not, you'll probably have a bag.

Aww, I love that your driver was so sweet. Plus opening day at Disneyland (even if illegally) is a pretty cool story.

I like the Friendship Boats too. Really REALLY slow, but such a nice jounney. And also, THEY'RE FRIENDSHIP BOATS!

 

[courtneybelle]

Free ice cream and Fastpasses?! I should do a tour. I agree that resale is the way to go, though. My mom and I ran the numbers for the new Poly DVC and it was scary expensive.

my sister just started dating her first girlfriend so I'll have to mention the pockets thing to her and make sure one of them always has a bag or something…

Harry sounds fabulous! I love cast members so much.

Fun fact, when I was six years old we stayed at All-Star Movies and I broke that rule to get a picture with the Toy Story RC car…and I got poked with some pine needles on the way out. That was the last time I was ever a rule breaker. The whistle picture is great, though!

Yeah, in May, you don't want to be walking far. The boat was definitely the way to go.

I reallllly want to stay at an Epcot resort for Food & Wine. One of my Disney bucket list goals. Casually roll out of bed and mosey over to Epcot for some feasting.

Ahhhh big family trip coming up!!! I just did one of those so I know how fun they can be (but also a bit stressful ). And you'll be back at Sports!! That's awesome!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Free ice cream is definitely a good motivator

I get torn on DVC and can totally understand why you considered it/were close, but definitely probably one of those things that if you are all hesitant about to wait - and looks like that worked out for the best

Hmmm, I wonder if the reverse is true and when there are two guys in a relationship they find themselves thinking "What the heck are we going to do with all these pockets?!?!?!?!?"

Gotta love the super secret entrance to EPCOT - hope you got to see what you wanted of the Flower and Garden Festival