Top Ten reasons you know you have a Disney Obsession:

estherhead

DIS Veteran
Joined
Dec 28, 2004
10) You clicked on this TR just to make sure you don't. Knowing full well you do.
9) You actually know what Disboards and MiceChat are and the difference.
8) Your iphone ring tone is the Fantasmic song.
7) You refer to all employees at all companies as Cast Members.
6) When you're feeling a little sad, you put on one of your many Mickey t-shirts (or earrings or scarf) to feel better.
5) You correct people when they call Disneyland Disney World & vice versa.
4) Your children have fought about who gets to write a report on Walt Disney. The teacher finally caves and lets them both do it.
3) Your friends and family text "Have a Magical day" as a standard greeting.
2) You are currently and regularly listening to Mouse World Radio on your iphone.
1) Despite having a perfectly good Disney close on your coast, you are more than willing to spend the money to take your family to the other Disney just to compare.

Guilty!


Hi! :wave2:

My name is Perla. I'm part of a 2 woman Disney obsessed team. My other half is named Suzy and we write TR's all about the ins and outs on the Disney World thread.

Suzy visited Disneyland several years ago with her family.

My family was understandably jealous. And we made it our mission to get there ourselves.

While awaiting our turn, Donald (my sweet dh) and I were shooting a wedding in Malibu for a friend and decided to just check it out a year and a half ago. From that point on, it wasn't just a dream. It was an official plan.

Which brings us to today. Well, brings us to 13 days from now when we fly out of this state into the Eureka state. But I'm gonna just give you a bit of a pre-trip and intros, for now.

As stated, my name is Perla. I'm 38 and the mom of 3 girls. I'm the vice president and general manager of a small heating and cooling company. I'm pretty well traveled. Italy, Russia, Spain, Yellowstone, etc. etc. I've even visited the exotic destination of California a couple of times. But I've spent just one, soaking wet day at Disneyland. I love the mouse. And want to share his home with my girls.

Here I am in Disneyland with my sweetie:
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Donald is his name. He is almost 38 (in less than a week) and works with me. Many of his childhood vacation memories are at Ft. Wilderness at WDW so though originally not as into WDW as I was, he was quite easy to convert. And it is him 100% that has driven this family pilgrimage to Walt's park.

Here he is soaking wet at Disneyland:
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We have three girls, as I already mentioned, and the five of us are quite the little team.

Mulan is the eldest. She's a mature 11 year old & will start 8th grade next year. I'll stereotype here and have you imagine exactly what an elder sister should be and act like. Boom. You've got it. Smart, sarcastic, bossy, fiercely loyal to her family, born to caregive, willing and capable. She's slowly becoming an adult and I'm not one bit sentimental about that. She'll make a great adult.

Here she is at BBB at WDW.
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Ariel is the middle child. She's ten. I'd love to say that you can just stereotype her as well. But that simply doesn't work. As the only typical thing about Ariel and that there isn't much typical about her. And she LOVES that about herself. Despite feeling often like no one understands her, she wouldn't have it any other way. Being a one of a kind is very important to her. And sometimes that can be a little lonely. But what's the alternative? Being typical. And that, my friends, would be beyond unacceptable. She starts 6th grade next year. And she LOVES Disney. You want the honest truth? She loves it more than the rest of us. And we love it a lot.

Here she is on Maelstrom in Epcot:
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The youngest is Boo. She's 5. If Ariel is quirky, Boo is just weird. And sadly in this narrative I must admit she's the one that's like me. Good thing cause I LOVE weird. Love it. She's funny, happy, fearless, and overall a kid. A full out dirty, barefoot, frog catching (and sometimes kissing), swimming, giggling, enthusiastic, Disney loving kid. You want easy going? You want funny things said that make you laugh right out loud? You want honesty? Then Boo is your girl.

Here she is at the Magic Kingdom WDW Barber shop:
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And here we all are at the WDW Teacups:
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So. Disneyland. I know what you're thinking. We WDW vets need to change our strategy when we head on over to the west coast. But don't you worry. My little one day pouring down the rain preview, has prepared me. Well, that and Suzy's trip and report, reading Hydroguy's stuff, and all kinds of other things and research. And I got Ridemax.

I'm ready to mix my Disney knowledge and my fastpass skills with my chill attitude.

I do hereby promise and solemnly swear to use the two parks as one park. I promise to avoid DL on weekends (though I'm going on Memorial day :worried:) and get to the park 30 minutes early. I will dash at 10:00 (9:45) to DCA and get our FPs to WoC. I promise to get to WoC 60 minutes early and follow the handydandy map on this site. And I got a room at HoJo and will eat at Mimi's.

I promise.

Here's the actual plan:

Fly in and stay at airport. Drive to Sequoia and Yosemite. Then visit our friends in Malibu (they actually live in Thousand Oaks but you know, of course, we'll be popping over those mountains and watching the surfers.) And then 6 nights at the HoJo with LA & Anaheim highlights. We arrive at the HoJo the Sunday night of Memorial Day weekend. And are planning right now on Monday and Tuesday putting in long, killer days running wild with the happy crowds. Then the next three days we'll just casually do Hollywood and DL however we feel like doing it. But my casual isn't exactly the same as everyone else's casual.

That's my intro. More to come in the following days as the mayhem begins!!!!!!!!! I've not even BEGUN on my packing and true plans/itinerary. Prepare yourselves for a bit of panic as we get closer.
 


I'm in!!!!

Jill in CO

I'm here too and super excited!


Welcome one, welcome all. You all may be excited, but not as excited as MEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! :banana::banana::banana:

Last night we watched Modern Family's Disneyland show. It was so fun. I really liked that they did not just the typical "woohoo we're at Disney" but also backstory of what a trip really is like. And just little funny things that people who go often would know.

One character struggles with cell phone signal.
One character wears the wrong shoes.
One character puts his kid on a leash & endures the glares of everyone.

And behind it all is this story about a dad being at the breaking point of his marriage and taking his kids to Disney and trying to hide his inner emotions and deciding at the end of the day to keep his family together.

I'm not saying it was deep in general, I don't think Modern Family tries to be deep, it's just that they got it. The writers understood pretty much everything about Disney without being obvious about it.

Plus, of course, there were the Dapper Dans and characters and the castle, Dumbo, Big Thunder Mt. Railroad, Main St. USA, etc. etc.

I know they filmed this in February so, perhaps this was just me, but it seemed soooo obvious that Matterhorn was not it any shots. I think they were very careful. The castle shot was at a certain angle I think to make sure there's no Matterhorn in it. They just talk briefly about the ride but never see it.

If you didn't watch it, you should.

Boo and I literally jumped up and down in excitement once it was over. Best Disney promo ever. ;)

I didn't feel well yesterday, actually I'm not 100% today. And as I lay down to fall asleep, I couldn't. All the stress of all the things I need to do just overwhelmed me and I decided that today I would write a list. Print off a packing list and write a list of all the stuff I must accomplish before we fly out of here.

I know we don't leave for 12 more days, 10 hours, 21 minutes, and 12 seconds, but between now and when we leave I have to:

1) Film and edit a commercial
2) Go to a 2 day seminar
3) Train the guy I just hired

That kind of puts the 12 days into perspective, eh? And I was trying to catch up on laundry and had to do THREE loads over. I got so frustrated that Donald took over briefly last night. Donald has also been running around like a chicken with his head cut off. And his list is just as long as mine. In addition to the seminar he has to drive 2 hours away THIS Saturday to another meeting.

Yeah, I'm gonna need some lists.

The thing is, May is actually kind of a bad time for us to take vacation as it's when our business goes WILD. But my kids are in school so I have to follow the breaks and I like to escape in the middle of the mayhem. It makes it feel less oppressive.

Does anyone else feel like I'm procrastinating all the things I need to get done by whining about all the things I need to get done? I'm sitting at my office at work playing on Disboards & drinking my coffee instead of working on my pile. Shhhhhh..... don't let my guys know. :surfweb:
 
SO glad you've started :banana: (though I'm sorry things have/will continue to be stressful until you leave)! I can't wait to read about what the girls think of DL. I hope the next week goes well!
 


I'm in! I followed you over here from your year of Disney. So excited to read about your plans and your trip. Going to Disneyland is a dream of mine!

Keep your head down, plug away at your list, and you'll get everything done and be on your way! :banana:
 
I'm in! I hope you are feeling better. You have so much to do, you are really going to deserve this trip more than you already do!
 
Welcome all!

Thanks for coming & for the kindness and good words.

I accomplished some huge things this weekend. And felt like a truck ran over me with only 5 real days to prepare. So after freaking out for a bit, complaining to Suzy, Donald and I sat down and got a bit better organized, made a Disneyland TripIt trip, booked the rest of our stuff, and got down to the nitty gritty. Donald then said that he would take over the packing of himself & the big girls. They sat down in the kitchen and he actually taught them how to make a packing list. It was adorable.

They then went down and pulled out 2 suitcases each, one for the three days we'll be away this weekend and one for California. As the clothes are cleaned from this week, they'll toss them in one of the suitcases.

We then went to Walmart and bought food for the next four days as I will not be cooking any meals. I also don't intend on making snacks. So Caprisuns, goldfish, cheese sticks, and bananas were acquired. As well as frozen pizza, fish sticks ( none for Mulan, I promise), and ham and cheese sandwich fixings.

I'm definitely feeling better now. Now I just have to finish my tasks, pack me & Boo, buy our actual Dl tickets, well, lots of other things. But I feel better just the same.
 
I'm jumping right in!

Welcome!

I woke up this morning and my brain had switched overnight from overwhelmed and stressed to just flat out excited. Last night I spent an hour looking at pictures of Yosemite. On tripadvisor forums a guy said the snowfall this year was down over 40%! I've only been to Yosemite once and it was in the fall and the water was mostly all dried up. So I was really worried that there wouldn't be powerful waterfalls this year in the spring. But not to worry. The waterfalls and lakes are all full. It's those travellers at the end of June that might be a little disappointed. We end of May-ers will still feel the power.

I LOVE waterfalls. Love, love, love them. We aren't going off the beaten path at all. Boo is 5 and my rule for 5 year olds and over 65-ers is not more than a 1/4 mile hike from the parking lot. Sometimes I break it and will do 1/2-3/4. But I try to keep it at 1/4. I just don't like whining people on vacation. And I know that soon the kids will be big and I'll be the one whining as they drag me on 6 mile walks! But even without venturing into the wilderness at all I think we should be able to see lots and lots of waterfalls and mountains which is what I really care about. It's ok if I don't peace and serenity. I have 3 kids. Where ever we go the chaos comes, so peace and serenity isn't currently on my to-do list.

Right now it's 6:45 am in Yosemite and 45 degrees. When we were in Yellowstone several years ago we would get up at 5 am and go on a 2 hour drive to see wildlife. Because of the time difference (3 hours in Cali from Ohio) I'm thinking this should be no big deal at all. We just roll out of bed in our pj's and go. Then come back and get coffee & go back to the tent to chill out before packing up and heading out for real. It's also nice to see things without all the crowds.

But 45 is a little colder than I was expecting! So I'm thinking of adding gloves to our list. We already were going to do scarves and sweatshirts. But last time I was in Cali in October I was absolutely freezing the entire trip. And it was never 45.

The 10 day forecast says 46-48 degree lows on the days we're in the mountains. Brrrrr....

I've also been working on being a little cuter. There's nothing I can do about the 15 lbs I have to lose. So instead I colored my hair last night and am 3 days into sunless tanning. I still intend on highlighting my hair, but I'll give it a few days for the color to set before stressing my hair by bleaching parts of it. I used a new type of foaming hair color. It was Horrible to work with. And I was really hoping I didn't look ridiculous with half my colored and half not. But it actually looks way better than normal. It's a bit reddish with all kinds of highlights and lowlights. I think once I actually highlight it, it will look almost like a natural color, only cooler. My normal hair color is pretty all by itself but I started going gray a few years ago and it isn't graying in an orderly fashion. So I've had to color it now. Otherwise it looks really dumb.

As for the sunless tanner, I'm also using a new type of that. I do like it. It's not blotchy and it doesn't make my hands orange. But anything new, well, it's not perfect. So I'm glad I started early. I don't need to be tan. I'm just shooting for one shade darker than neon white. Those Cali sunshine people don't even know what white is till they see an Ohio girl's legs in May.

I also went and got everyone haircuts last night. Mostly we all got trims. But Ariel has been growing out her hair the last 2 years. And really, she should just accept that she's a short hair gal. We told the stylist Ginnifer Goodwin. And here is what we got:

Before:
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After:
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Look at that smile!

And I deliberately asked the stylist how often she should wash it as Ariel still thinks of herself as a kid (she's 10) and has to be reminded to shower. When in reality her hair can get greasy and look nasty after just one day. So the girl in great detail explained exactly how to care for her hair this summer. And Ariel was committed to it and actually did her hair this am. Adorable!

Finally, I'll add a picture tonight, but we have a countdown chain for this trip and it's getting really , really tiny!

OK. I'm off to continue plugging away at my job.
 
That stylist nailed Ginnifer Goodwin's hair - adorable!

Now we need to see a pic of your new hair!
 
You actually want a little cooler weather in Yosemite right now. This time of year when it's warmer there are thunderstorms.
 
Ariel's hair is so cute! And I want to see some pics of your hair, too. I've noticed a few grays in my hair lately. I wanted to just jerk them out, but I've always heard that 3 will grow back in it's place. So instead, I have cut them as close to my scalp as I can. I figure I'll have to start dying my hair in a year or two, but this works for now.
 
Love Ariel's haircut! The stylist nailed it! :thumbsup2 How cool that Donald and the older girls are taking care of their own packing, so it's one less thing for you to worry about!

I'm so glad you're in "excited" mode! You definitely should be - this is going to be an awesome trip!!!
 
You actually want a little cooler weather in Yosemite right now. This time of year when it's warmer there are thunderstorms.

This is good to know. Today is the day!!! We are all packed and we have one suitcase for actual coats and scarves and gloves. It's going to be odd to dress for 45 degrees in the morning and 87 by 3:00! Quite the temperature swing. But if it means no rain, I'll take it. We'll just leave that suitcase in the rental car once we get to the HoJo.

Thanks for all the wonderful comments on Ariel's hair. I high,ighted it just a tiny bit when I did my hair last night. So I will post a picture of my now completed hair and hers later today. She is giving the speech at her honors ceremony (one of two students to get all A's all year) so I'll have someone take a picture of the two of us together.

I handed my job off yesterday morning. It took longer than I was planning and I got less done at my house than I was anticipating. But Donald was in GO mode last night and so he filled in all the blanks and once I change the sheets, the house will be clean.

We got a nice surprise this weekend when Donald's parents gave us $1000 for our trip! And they gave each of the girls money too. Definitely makes it feel easier and we can just get and do whatever we want. Mostly it's paid for anyway, but now it's even nicer. I went and got another $100 in gift cards at Kroger. So we'll get $1.00 off per gallon on our tank of gas and we have $350.00 in gift cards to spend there. With our Minnie breakfast we'll easily be able to spend that.

We leave for the airport in 9 hours. :woohoo:

See ya there...
 

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