"You invited the INLAWS on your 1st Anniversary trip!?" - Oct. 2010 PTR

[Tiger.Lily]

Yep. I did it. My husband decided he wanted to spend our first anniversary at WDW and I invited my parents. I've had a variety of "You did WHAT?!" and sarcastic "Oh that'll be fun." and even "You're crazy!". But hang in there with me and I'll explain it all.

First, a little back story.

My husband is a recent convert to all things Disney. Up until April 2009, he had never been to a Disney park. I grew up on the west coast and made numerous trips (family and school) to Disneyland and my parents also took us to WDW multiple times over the years. The older I get, the more addicted I am. Go figure.

So when my mom and step dad announced they would be going to WDW in April of 2009 for their 25th anniversary and they wanted us to join them, I made an executive decision. We were currently planning our wedding at that time but I had some tax money that would work perfectly for that trip...so we were going.

I worried like I've never worried about anything that my then fiance would hate it. I'm not going to give you an actual trip report here, but we'll go over a little bit of what I went through with him and what the turning point was. He's a total addict now!

So, before I get into our last trip and the plans for the upcoming one, a couple of photos would be nice.

Preston - my recently Disney addicted husband:

Tracie - that's me. Don't expect to see a lot of me here as I'm most often behind the camera.

I'll introduce the other members of our party when we get to them.

For now, I'll tell you that Preston and I are not a "normal" couple. We met at a renaissance faire and my parents love to tell people that he's my knight in shining armor. And technically, he is. Preston is a jouster.

My mom has always said that she wants one of her kids to do a Disney wedding but after checking out the prices (and nearly falling over) I decided it wasn't for me. We DID however decide on a Disneymoon. I'll likely share some of our trip to Disneyland at some point.

At this point, all you really need to know is that it was my husbands idea to spend both our honeymoon and 1st Anniversary with The Mouse. We both decided that it would be fun to invite any friends and family that wanted to join us. My dad and step mom are the only ones so far that have taken us up on this offer. And neither one of them has been to WDW...or even Florida!

UP NEXT: Some details about our upcoming trip...since this IS a PTR after all.

 

[2BusyPlanning]

For now, I'll tell you that Preston and I are not a "normal" couple. We met at a renaissance faire and my parents love to tell people that he's my knight in shining armor. And technically, he is. Preston is a jouster.

I guess jouster is better than a jester!
Can't wait to hear more!

 

[KatMark]

Okay...I'm here. But dinner is served, so I'm off to eat and then I'll be back to read. And I'm proud/happy that you decided to do a PTR.

 

[Tiger.Lily]

I guess jouster is better than a jester!
Can't wait to hear more!

Yes jouster is better than jester most of the time. But, as you'll soon see, he's a bit of a jester too. And since I love to laugh, it's a good combo!

Okay...I'm here. But dinner is served, so I'm off to eat and then I'll be back to read. And I'm proud/happy that you decided to do a PTR.

Hi! Glad you could join me! And thanks for the inspiration!

 

[KatMark]

Great start, Tracie. I love the pic of you and Preston at the renaissance faire. Looking forward to more.

 

[Tiger.Lily]

Before I detail our plans, I decided to introduce the other two that are definitely joining us...

Mom and Dad!

As I mentioned before, they've never been to WDW and after taking Preston last year I found out how fun it is to take newbies! We're super excited to show them one of our favorite places in the world!

They enjoy food and wine as much as we do (which is a LOT!) so I'm also super excited to be going to the F&W Festival. I've been wanting to do this for years!

To illustrate, here is a pic of Dad and Preston at a winery in Oregon. Whenever we go visit we end up vising a bunch of wineries!

So, as for this trip, we'll be staying at the Coronado Springs Resort. It took a little convincing (Mom was considering something more expensive) but when I told them they were welcome to stay at whatever resort they wanted to and we would be at CSR, suddenly CSR was perfect for them.

We're all arriving on Oct. 7th and they'll be staying until the 15th while we will stay a couple of extra days until the 17th. Preston insisted on us being in park for our anniversary.

Two of our friends might join us...we're not sure yet. Hopefully they'll decide soon! They're a couple of Disney nuts too so it would be fun. And so far I've been making ADRs for 6 just in case. Figure better safe than sorry!

UP NEXT: Park Plans!

 

[Tiger.Lily]

Great start, Tracie. I love the pic of you and Preston at the renaissance faire. Looking forward to more.

Yeah those are some of my favorites too! They're from the year we met. I'm not sure if he's going to continue jousting in the future, and I'm not longer heavily involved with running our local faire, but we still love faires and we love any chance to get dressed up!

I'll bet you can guess if we'll be attending MNSSHP and whether or not we'll be dressing up...

 

[HeatherBelle614]

I'm in!

I have to ask where you're located though; you know, in the real world (anything that isn't WDW is unfortunately the real world.)

Kind of wondering if those Ren Faire pics are from the one near DFW?

 

[KatMark]

See how easy it is to do a PTR? You're doing great. I didn't realize when you were going. We will miss you by 16 days. But you get to go for the F&W which we've never done...oneh of these years.

 

[Tiger.Lily]

I'm in!

I have to ask where you're located though; you know, in the real world (anything that isn't WDW is unfortunately the real world.)

Kind of wondering if those Ren Faire pics are from the one near DFW?

Welcome! Thanks for joining in!

No, unfortunately I've never been to the Scarborough Faire there in DFW. Though Preston is originally from that area so he has.

The photos are actually from the Kansas City Ren Faire about 5 or 6 years ago but we live in the St. Louis area. I keep meaning to update my profile...heh.

See how easy it is to do a PTR? You're doing great. I didn't realize when you were going. We will miss you by 16 days. But you get to go for the F&W which we've never done...oneh of these years.

Thanks for the encouragement!

Yeah it's too bad we'll miss you by such a short time! Maybe you guys should just come on back after your week on Marco Island. See? I'm full of solutions!

 

[Simba22]

I'm here! That is so cool that you met at a Renaissance Faire!

I also love to take newbies to WDW. We went as a family back in 2004 and my sister was miserable and "bored" the whole week. Now she can't stop talking about how badly she wants to go back with me and my boyfriend because we actually know what we're doing!

Ugh, I have to go make dinner now.

 

[Tiger.Lily]

I'm here! That is so cool that you met at a Renaissance Faire!

I also love to take newbies to WDW. We went as a family back in 2004 and my sister was miserable and "bored" the whole week. Now she can't stop talking about how badly she wants to go back with me and my boyfriend because we actually know what we're doing!

Ugh, I have to go make dinner now.

HI! Thanks for hoppin on over here!

That cracks me up about your sis. I know what that's like though, my dad and stepmom have been saying for several years now that if they go to WDW they wanted to go with me since I have "experience".

Hope you had a tasty dinner!

 

[Tiger.Lily]

As many others I've found here on these boards, I'm driving myself a little batty over the planning. Since my parents haven't ever been, it makes things a little easier because I can just tell them where they're going.

That being said, I still have a hard time deciding what to do and when to do it. There are a few things that we MUST do:

1) 50's Prime Time Cafe - This is the meal I thought Preston would hate and he ended up loving it!

I know. It's extraordinarily mean of me to post that photo without explanation. I promise, I'll tell the whole story. In a bit.

2) Raglan Road - Preston is an Irish music aficionado. So we always have to visit the local Irish/Celtic Pub when we go places. We had a blast here last time and my parents really want to check it out.

3) Of course all the in-park shows. Nemo show; Lion King show; Lights, Motors, Action; several of the Epcot shows, etc.

4) MNSSHP - We attended Disneyland's last year and had a blast. There was no question that we would be doing it at WDW. It might have even been a big part of the plan to visit for our anniversary. Mom and Dad will likely be joining us as well.

So, off the top of my head, those are the things we HAVE to do that need additional planning. (more than just "today we're going to {insert park name here}") We have a couple challenges. One is that Preston and I will be there two days longer than Mom and Dad. I have to remember this. I keep trying to plan things for the day or day after they're leaving. Oops.

The second is that I still don't know what days our friends are joining us. This means I might be adjusting ADRs among other things.

So, the following days are very tentative still. They'll likely change. More than once.

Day 1 - Arrival. We get in late morning and I wish I had thought this through a little better before buying the tickets. Mom and Dad don't get in until 9 p.m.-ish. I was hoping that we would get in around the same time so that we could all four hop on ME at the same time. I feel like the experience starts there and I wish I could be there for their first time. But we're not going to wait in the airport for 9 hours. Ah well. Preston and I will likely check in and go over to MK until 7. We'll then head back to CSR and take a swim while waiting for the parents to arrive.

Day 2 - I had a hard time with this day as well. I really like taking newbies to MK first. Heck, even I like going to MK on my first day even though it's not my favorite of the four. Here is Preston's first look at MK.

But, I think I'm going to aim for Epcot on this one. We'll probably grab breakfast at PM and then head over. There is no doubt that we'll sample F&W in the Showcase and then we'll head over to Raglan Road for an 8:15 ADR. I wanted to wait until later on RR, but this seems to be the day that it's fitting in the best.

Day 3 - Either HS or AK for the morning. This is dependent on whether I keep my ADR for Tusker House. It's at 8:05 a.m. I am not a morning person. But if everyone else wants to do it, we'll keep it. We also have Prime Time this evening at 6:45. So this will likely be a AK morning and HS evening.

Day 4 - We'll likely spend the entire day at MK. I don't think I've ever utilized morning EMHs, but I utilize almost all of the evening ones. Especially the ones that go super late. You bet your bottom dollar I'll be closing MK at 2 a.m. Remember how I said I'm not a morning person? It's cause I'm a night owl. I'm sure we'll take a mid-day break. And I might get us ADRs for dinner somewhere. But I'm not terribly worried about this day.

Day 5 - This is a HS day. And while I don't have one yet, I'll likely be getting an ADR for Sci-Fi. For lunch.

Day 6 - Back to Epcot for the morning. We'll either F&W it or maybe do Coral Reef for lunch. This is my current chosen day for MNSSHP.

Day 7 - This is an open morning. We might go grab breakfast at WPE at DDT and do some shopping. Unless someone wants to go in park. If I'm remembering correctly, this is Epcot's evening EMHs while we're there. So we'll probably take an afternoon swim, and then head over to Chef's de France. If I keep the reservation. Other options are Morocco and Germany. Oh the choices.

Day 8 - This day is still undecided. I'm currently leaning toward Epcot. Between F&W and the fact that it's my favorite park, I can never have enough days here. I had originally scheduled RR for this night, but then managed to snatch up a table for two at Le Cellier. I don't know what I'm going to do with this just yet.

Day 9 - I originally had planned Tusker House for this morning. Because I could get a 10ish ADR. Much better (for me) than 8. However, this is the day Mom and Dad leave. And I have no idea what time. Regardless, we'll spend the day at AK.

Day 10 - Currently Open. This will depend on what the remaining people want to do. Until the evening that is. This is our anniversary so we'll be having a nice dinner at Jiko at 8:30ish.

Day 11 - Home.

Up Next: Tales of past visits! After I get caught up with everyone else first.

 

[Simba22]

your plans look great! Every year I say I'm going to make our breakfast ADRs for later in the morning and every year I don't. All of them for this year are after 9am at least so I did get a little better. We are like you and like to stay out late...and when the alarm goes off at 7am we moan and groan about getting up. We often joke that we get up earlier on vacation than we do for work. Sad but true, but it's Disney!

 

[KatMark]

Tracie, your plans sound great. How set are you on Tusker House? The reason I ask is that i think the MK is a better park to get in for an early ADR. We always do Crystal Palace at 8:05 a.m. because it is great to have Main Street all to yourself for pictures. Just somethng to think about. But otherwise I think you've got a great start to your plans.

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Your plans look great so far!

I can't wait to hear the story behind that picture!

 

[Tiger.Lily]

your plans look great! Every year I say I'm going to make our breakfast ADRs for later in the morning and every year I don't. All of them for this year are after 9am at least so I did get a little better. We are like you and like to stay out late...and when the alarm goes off at 7am we moan and groan about getting up. We often joke that we get up earlier on vacation than we do for work. Sad but true, but it's Disney!

Heh, yeah I definitely moan about getting up. Preston is an early riser though and is always up before me. The sweetheart usually brings me coffee too.

That early morning ADR was actually nearly an argument because he's convinced I won't be able to get up for it. We'll see. Anyone care to place bets now?

Tracie, your plans sound great. How set are you on Tusker House? The reason I ask is that i think the MK is a better park to get in for an early ADR. We always do Crystal Palace at 8:05 a.m. because it is great to have Main Street all to yourself for pictures. Just somethng to think about. But otherwise I think you've got a great start to your plans.

You know, I've always wanted to do an early morning ADR at MK. The only reason I've leaned toward Tusker is because of the reviews on the breakfast foods. Everyone seems to rave about it. That...and I do love me some Donald Duck. I might have to look into Crystal Palace again though...

Your plans look great so far!

I can't wait to hear the story behind that picture!

I promise I'll have the story soon!!

In the meantime, GOOD NEWS! Our friends have booked! And they'll be joining us for the full 10 nights! We're super excited and got together with them late last week to go over a few things.

It was pretty funny, I was showing them all my tentative plans and they looked at me and said "Wow. You really ARE a veteran aren't you!?".

 

[KatMark]

That early morning ADR was actually nearly an argument because he's convinced I won't be able to get up for it. We'll see. Anyone care to place bets now?



You know, I've always wanted to do an early morning ADR at MK. The only reason I've leaned toward Tusker is because of the reviews on the breakfast foods. Everyone seems to rave about it. That...and I do love me some Donald Duck. I might have to look into Crystal Palace again though...

In the meantime, GOOD NEWS! Our friends have booked! And they'll be joining us for the full 10 nights! We're super excited and got together with them late last week to go over a few things.

It was pretty funny, I was showing them all my tentative plans and they looked at me and said "Wow. You really ARE a veteran aren't you!?".

I didn't forget you...had a very busy weekend with Mark's company party, recovering, etc.

Let us know what you decide about CP. My money is on you that you'll get up for the early ADR. And so glad that your friends are going with you for the full ten nights.

 

[Tiger.Lily]

I didn't forget you...had a very busy weekend with Mark's company party, recovering, etc.

Let us know what you decide about CP. My money is on you that you'll get up for the early ADR. And so glad that your friends are going with you for the full ten nights.

Oh man, I know what you mean about a busy week! I've had one of those...and it's only Tuesday!

I'll be sure to let you know what we decide about CP. We've had several people telling us we just need to do the Castle breakfast. I don't know how I'll decide! lol!

 

[Tiger.Lily]

I promise I'll get back to the plans soon...but there isn't a whole lot new on that front just yet. I'm still finalizing dining reservations and park plans. As soon as I have something more on that I'll post it!

In the meantime, I thought it would be fun to explain how my husband didn't become Disney-addicted until just last year. When I planned our trip for April '09, I couldn't have planned a more magical...and crazy...trip.

So, I've shown you this photo already, but what I didn't explain was that this photo was actually taken before Preston had decided what he thought of Disney.

Obviously he was excited. But in the months leading up to this trip I was increasingly worried that my husband was going to hate Disney. Preston had never visited a Disney park in his 30+ years and his favorite places up until this point included the Texas State Fair, Six Flags Over Texas, and Silver Dollar City. While there is nothing at all wrong with this, you all know that there is no way you can compare these places to Disney. He even made a comment that Disney was "just for kids".

So, I was sick with worry and on our first day there I decided I had to take him to Magic Kingdom. It's not my favorite (though it's like trying to choose between chocolate cake and brownies) but I knew he would feel the magic there if he was going to feel it anywhere. First up we headed to Pirates. See, the organization that puts on the local Renaissance Faire also puts on a Pirate Festival. We're a bit partial to Pirates.

I spent the ride pointing things out to him that had changed from the original and he had fun seeing what he could pick out from the movies. After finishing the ride we headed back out into the sun and look who we ran into!

Preston was fascinated with the pirate training. I had told him about the Jedi version of this and we had actually done something slightly similar on a couple of occasions at several Ren Faire/Pirate Fest events. We both watched in awe with how they managed to control the kids. Every time we've tried something like this it dissolves into a bunch of kids whacking us with foam swords!

After this we headed toward the castle. He had seen it when we came in, but I needed photos!

And a nice person offered to take a photo of the two of us together.

Of course, that's probably because he felt sorry for us as we were trying to do one of those hold-the-camera-at-arm's-length-and-smile shots...several times. They weren't turning out bad...but we couldn't manage to get the castle in the shot!

As the night wore on, we were in Fantasy Land and I saw that there was no wait for the Carousel. I couldn't help myself and convinced him to ride with me. Little did I know that he would find "his" horse there.

As you can see in the earlier photos, Preston is a jouster. Every jouster has two main colors from his coat of arms that he jousts in. Preston's are green and gold. Now, this gets humorous at times because he's constantly pointing out things that are painted green and gold/yellow. Obviously he's a fan of John Deere's color scheme. But he's been known to point out cars, billboards, and even fire hydrants!

So, as we're waiting for the Carousel to come to a stop so that we can ride...he sees it. His horse. The one in the fancy green and gold trappings. And of course, he has to ride it!

It took us a couple of rides (there were people that got to it before we could at least once) but we got his picture on his horse. And I'm happy that I'll never have to beg and plead to get him to ride the Carousel. All I have to say is "Hey sweetie, wanna go take a ride on your horse?".

After a long night (I'm pretty sure it was an EMH night) I dragged a happy husband back to the hotel. He was starting to see what I saw in Disney. The seed had been planted...what would it take to grow?

Up Next: The Addiction Explained - Part 2