Whitewater and Fish's WDW Honeymoon Planning Journal

[Whitewater]

Greetings, everybody.

Before I get down to it, I wanted to say a quick word. I have a neurological deficit as well as (undiagnosed, but it's only a matter of time and money before I get the official nod) Asperger's, and therefore it's a lot easier for me to make sense of my world through the written word. Therefore this journal is mostly going to read as me thinking out loud to myself! I am not trying to exclude anybody, but I'm also not writing this so I can entertain the masses It's just a way for me to get my thoughts clear and make the planning process that much easier on myself. To bring order out of chaos, as it were.

Feel free to comment, but know that I may miss a post here and there.

That said . . .

This first journal entry is mostly about the fact that there are a lot of firsts in this honeymoon at WDW. It's the first time I'll have traveled with somebody else since I was a teenager. It's the first vacation I've had as an adult. It's the first trip involving an airplane that Fish (my DH) and I have gone on together, it's the first time I've been back to WDW since I was 8 years old, and finally, it's the first trip that Fish and I have taken together that's been longer than a weekend.

I have realized, now that we have just under a month to go, that I don't know how to travel with an adult companion, as adults. I don't know what to bring on the airplane (what does he like to do in a tin can? He suggested cribbage . . . on an airplane . . .), nor how to assuage the inevitable grumpies and irritations that will bug Fish (he's not exactly the most patient guy in the world and he also lets little things bug him, I have learned to let it roll or express my emotions and go on with life, but he's still figuring that one out), and I don't know how to travel with somebody else. I know *my* routine for airports, but I don't know his.

I suppose this is one of the reasons people go on honeymoons, to learn things about their partners, but I could easily forgo this lesson!

Since he's working two jobs (my various disabilities make me pretty much unhireable in conventional positions) at a rate of 65-70 hours a week, the planning is falling on my shoulders, which I don't mind, I enjoy it and I'm good at it. But it's the same as with our wedding -- he trusts my judgement and trusts that I'll make good decisions, and I can't help but worry. Not that he'll blame me if he doesn't like anything, because he won't, but *I* will blame *myself*, quite fiercely. This goes right back to the current and past pattern between myself and my parents. They expected and demanded perfection of me (and still do) and if they don't enjoy something, it's always my fault. No matter what it is.

So now I need this vacation to be perfect because I don't want to get blamed. Which is ridiculous, I know, intellectually I totally understand all of it, but my emotions are still struggling. I *know*, through and through that my DH won't blame me at all (because he knows, most of the time, what's up and how to put things on their correct shoulders in order to resolve the issue) but I will take over from him, because that's what I've been used to with my parents all these years.

I think that this convoluted perfection/blame thing is at the root of my failure phobia.

So that's what I'm currently struggling with, surprisingly! I fixed the ADR mess, got a king-bed room in the resort (it's not preferred, but heck, we can walk) -- and I know this because it's on the resort res, I suspect our travel agent had a wee word with Disney's agents about the fact that we're on our honeymoon -- and have fixed the AirTran clusterf*** (pardon the language, but holy dang, that was so bad . . . all I hope is that they don't change our flight from Orlando a FIFTH time between now and then . . . anyway . . .) and now the worst problem I have is the fact that I can't find my brand-new-bought-specifically-for-Disney bathing suit.

It's in the house somewhere, I just don't know where!

The other looming issue is the flying difficulties that my narrow Eustacian tubes (in my ears) and naturally plugged sinus cavities cause, which are REALLY bad. The last time I flew, I passed out from the pain, and I was certain (with no exaggeration) that I was going to die because the pressure in my head was so bad. I was worried that either my brain or my eye or both would explode, right there in the airplane.

Oh well. I guess I get to be firm but polite this time and insist on my hot-cloth-in-cup-over-the-ear thing, which tends to mitigate the issue somewhat, enough that I don't pass out or lose control over one half of my body (both of which happened before).

I worry because the first, last and only time I went to WDW in Florida, I had a bad . . .episode, I guess you'd call it, and I don't really want to repeat that as an adult. All I remember is being semi-conscious in the limo as my father told the driver in no uncertain terms to get us to the Contemporary as fast as possible, because there was a doctor there waiting. I remember pulling up to the hotel and sure enough, there was a man in a white coat who examined me right there in the limo. Somebody carried me up to our room and put me in bed. I then missed the entire first day of our vacation because I was too weak to do anything except lie in bed and watch cartoons. The hotel sent up pizza and hamburgers free, though, which was cool because we didn't get pizza at home (Mom was, and is still, fanatic about healthy food!). Going home was uneventful, except that again, as we descended into O'Hare, I started to puke and couldn't stop.

Somehow I don't think there will be pizza or an on-call physician this time, if worst comes to worst. On the other hand, I am now an adult and can handle whatever happens.

Crossing my fingers that everything is ok. Fish freaks out and panics when something happens to me, however minor, and I don't want him worried.

Part 2 is coming up!

 

[Whitewater]

My packing list:

For both of us:

Underwear for 7 days plus 2 extra
socks the same
tylenol, latex-free bandaids, Rolaids, moleskin, immodium, dramamine, pepto, etc., benedryl and prescriptions (have discovered that all this kind of stuff fits nicely into the luggage in a shoe box!)
sneakers (1p each)
lanyards for emh
plastic ponchos
extra batteries
sd cards (1 2g and 1 1g, ought to be enough for a week, that's approximately 1200 pictures!)
extra mini-dvd's
cell phones (in case of emergency)
chargers (for phones, Ipod, camcorder)
extra duffel bag for trip home, just in case
bathing suits
tee shirts
jeans (1 pair to wear on flight)
toothbrushes
sunscreen
Ipod Touch
1 or 2 16-20oz nalgene bottles, for water
carabiner clips for bag
Swiss Army Tardis Bag for visiting the parks

For him specifically:
second pair of eyeglasses, just in case
2nd pair of shoes (to wear on flight)
button down shirt (for Citricos -- little does he know I'm going to get him a couple Jamaica Jack silk shirts for his birthday!)

For me specifically:
water-proof mascara, tinted SPF lip balm, under-eye concealer (you can't see them in real life but I have dark under-eye circles as big as hubcaps in photos. So I'm going to try to not have as many this time!) and 2 lipsticks (they're small). Normally don't wear makeup, but . . . honeymoon, at least one nice restaurant, and lots of pictures, so, makeup!

leave in hair conditioner (helps control frizz/curls) and regular conditioner
comb
3 bras (to clean at the laundry)
sunglasses
2 neutral colored necklaces (one to be worn on plane), 3p earrings
2nd pair jeans -- new dressy pair
dressy shirt (to go with jeans, we are going to Citricos, after all!)

And of course, the folder with all our paperwork in it, confirmations, boarding passes, flight itinerary from Expedia, etc. Oh, and it goes without saying, ID and wallet, blah blah.


Whitewater (will probably add on, but I can't think what right now. Except for the nuts and the beef jerky, which we'll bring from home)

 

[Whitewater]

28 days! (I know it says 29 on my ticker, but apparently we haven't hit the time yet when I *made* the ticker in the first place . . . I suppose I could adjust that!)

I have found myself trying to dredge up memories from my childhood, and to my dismay the little that I do recall is quite fuzzy!!

My Aspergers is helping me feel even more overwhelmed and worried, so that's not helping. I'm finding myself worrying about the silliest, stupid stuff, like being able to find our room and OMG what if they don't have our reservation? (They do, I have the confirmation # and everything in an email . . . ) silly little irrational stuff.

It's because I am massively stepping out of my comfort zone, I think. First vacation ever. Yikes! I am really intimidated by the amount of planning I have to do, even with a travel agent helping! She's really been a huge help, I would have been a whimpering, rocking puddle by now if it weren't for her.

I mean, it seems so easy. You go to the airport, get on the plane, your luggage is marked so that the Disney people can find it, you get off the plane in Orlando, head for the Magic Express bus stand, get on the bus, go to the resort and check in, and then, you're done. Only happy for the next few days.

Right?

But I am really worried that something will go wrong. Traveling for pleasure is nothing like going to a seminar, or for work. In those cases, they tell you where to go to stay, when to travel, where to eat, what to pack, and sometimes even which airline to fly on. They give you everything you need.

But for a vacation, you have to figure out all of that yourself. It's exhausting, at least, I find it so. Trying to make a decision out of the hundreds of choices makes me feel like going up to my bedroom and pulling the covers over my head and holding out a sign -- "Let somebody else do it!"

I think we've got all the big necessary stuff, finally, taken care of. All the ADR's are done (FINALLY), the airline has gotten it's head out of its butt (FINALLY) and we have a resort reservation that includes a king bed. I have confirmation #'s for all of this.

Now, I just have to get the small stuff in order and we'll be good. This includes cleaning the house for the dog-sitter when she comes over, finding my bathing suit, getting my prescriptions ready (along with their paperwork), and arranging rides to and from the airport.

I just have to keep telling myself, I can do this. Planning a vacation (even if it is my very first one ever) is easy, people do it all the time.


Whitewater

 

[Whitewater]

Ok, I had travel nightmares all night. So not cool! I know I don't enjoy air travel, and I'm not particularly looking forward to flying in a few weeks, but this is just ridiculous, really. Talk about an over-reaction!

Anyway, I woke up not very well rested (and that, my friends, is the understatement of the week!) and have determined that instead of doing ALL the errands today that I have to do, I will instead do only one of them and take a much needed nap instead.

I've been reading the food porn threads (well, thread, I'm still only less than halfway through the first one I chose!) and they reassure me that I have chosen well for our sit-down ADR's. Sometimes my DH is all about trying new food, and sometimes he's a picky meat-and-potatoes (and nothing else) eater. Personally I'm willing to try anything once so long as it's not packed with chilies, I'm really not into spicy stuff. The places we chose seem to dovetail nicely -- they have the basics, but they also have new and exciting options that we can't get at home.

Still haven't found my bathing suit, argh. On the other hand, I *have* learned that I have enough income this month to go buy some new clothes for the trip, yay! Well. I have plenty of income, but after paying bills and getting prescription refills and so on (you all know the drill), *then* I have enough $$ left over for some fun. It's that whole being responsible thing.

LOL -- people are going to love this. Apparently whenever I say 'Disneyworld' in response to the question 'where are you going for your honeymoon' I get this look on my face that is both sappy and excited, and it makes people smile. Well, I can't help it, I *am* excited! The Disney properties (in CA and FL both) are in the top 5 of my happy childhood memories list. I only hope that WDW is just as good as an adult.

I am so glad somebody mentioned on here the Pick A Pearl place in Japan in Epcot. It sounds very fun and the price is within our budget, and it sounds like a great uniquely Disney thing to do. Besides, I'll get to come home with a pearl (and hopefully have it set in a pendant!), always a good thing, since I like pearls a lot. Getting my own pearl is now on my list of must-do activities, along with the Pirates ride (despite the drop, did I mention my falling/heights phobia?), the Tiki room, the electric water pageant and at least one MK parade. DH's list includes the Haunted Mansion and It's a Small World, which I will go on with him to make him happy. IASW is not one of my favorite rides.

We're going to have so much fun. I can't wait!

Heh, one of the things I'm going to like best is taking pictures of other people. Because I work in the entertainment industry myself in my home town, I am in photo albums the world over (Norway, England, Japan, Mexico, Germany, Canada and Spain are the countries I remember for sure), because I work at one of our tourist attractions. I am always getting photographed. It will be nice to turn the tables, so to speak, and be the tourist instead of the cast member!

I am also looking forward to a week -- a whole week -- where I do NOT have to cook. Yay! I love cooking, but day in and day out gets to be a bit much. DH is always appreciative, but I need a break, you know?

And a week where we don't have to be on our dog's schedule will also be nice. We won't have to worry about being gone from home for more than 6 hours, or have to wake up at 6:30 am every day because the dogs don't realize it's the weekend, or let them out whenever they need to go potty, or whatever. Don't get me wrong, I love my dogs fiercely, but . . . sometimes I wish they didn't need such a strong routine. It will be nice to have a break.


Whitewater (who will hopefully find her bathing suit soon!)

 

[Whitewater]

Oh -- forgot to mention, DH agreed last night to go back again about 5 years from now! And we haven't even gotten there the first time yet! LOL!

I thought it might be nice to take the whole immediate family -- his mom, his bro and sis-in-law, and their two boys along with the two of us. The reason I said '5 years from now' is that by then the kids will be 8 and 5, the perfect ages if you ask me!

My parents will more than likely really not want to come along (they're not Disney types, they prefer a European river cruise or an all-inclusive deluxe Mexican Rivera stay, or something like that), so it will just be the 7 of us.

I figure, we can do some things all together (I might even be willing to deal with my character phobia so that the kids could have a character dining experience), and some things separately, and have a nice time introducing the kids to Disney.

And it will be nice to go back to Disney again. But, in the meantime, DH and I will be honeymooning in just under 4 weeks! Yay!


Whitewater (the elusive bathing suit still hasn't made an appearance, lol!)

 

[Whitewater]

Well. This was going to be a cheery post about how I found my bathing suit and how our plans (with one exception) were coming along nicely and how now that we're only 3 weeks away my excitement level is getting really high, but . . .

One of the stuntmen in the Indiana Jones Stunt spectacular was killed in rehearsal doing a roll, probably a forward roll, and he probably hit his head pretty bad because he had a bad roll. This has really upset me and it's basically the icing on the cake because tonight it seems, it all came down on top of me. I had a great day today, got the garage door fixed so that we can have somewhere safe and indoors for our cars at home, cooked a good dinner but . . .I don't know. DH is cranky and won't tell me what's wrong, our two dogs -- who normally sleep within inches of each other and love each other to death and have been this way for almost a year -- started fighting tonight, really fighting, the scary kind of fighting when they don't give a damn about their civilized veneer and really want to rip each other to shreds, and I don't know why. That almost made me cry, then I heard about the stunt guy's death and I *did* start crying.

*sniffle*

And now I have discovered that when we're there Disney will probably be decorated in some obvious ways for Halloween, and I don't know how I feel about that. Halloween is my other top favorite holiday (besides Christmas), and it's not about Halloween, it's about the fact that I was hoping to have at least some of Disney just like how I remember it when I was a kid. Halloween decorations everywhere just don't make me feel as excited. Maybe when we get there I'll change my mind, after all, the other side of the coin is that it *will* be decorated for a holiday and how many people, relatively, get to see that? So maybe it will be cool. But somehow I feel cheated. I don't know whether this is irrational or what.

Right now, the only stuff I have to do is email my travel agent and get her to book us for the Behind the Seeds tour on the 11th. And remind her that we STILL haven't gotten our Disney 'packet' or our Magic Express luggage tags or anything like that.

Oh, and I have to go grab some lime green Mickey Head paint chips from my local Home Depot. There don't seem to be many people here on this board from my specific location, so perhaps I'll be able to get all that I need in one fell swoop. I only need about a dozen Then, the plastic name tags. Oh, and get ponchos from somewhere. All I have is wool cloaks (see below)!

And of course I have to pack, but that can wait. I travel so much that it's almost instinctive by now. Heh, I might not fly, or go on vacation, but I do a lot of weekend camping with my historic re-enactor hobby and I pack a LOT. Particularly during the summer (like right now, as a matter of fact!) my duffel-on-wheels never really gets completely empty, the stock just rotates. Dirty stuff leaves, clean stuff goes in. Different jewelry, different accessories, et voila! It won't take more than a couple hours to pack for Disney so we can do that on Labor Day, because we leave the day afterward.

Still have a couple extra ADR's if anybody wants them for approximately 7pm on 9/13, for 2 adults. One is for Jiko and the other is for Tutto Italia. PM if you want them.



Whitewater

 

[Whitewater]

Since the last update I am pleased to say that things have taken an upturn and I'm not upset anymore.

In case anybody is wondering where my darling new husband is when it comes to all this planning, he is working 75 hour weeks right now and has left the planning to me entirely, because my job got eaten in the recession, so I have more time than he does to plan -- well, after taking care of the three pets and the house and the garden! LOL! We've been together 3.5 years now, and I involve him in the process, get his opinions, listen to his needs and wants, but I'm the one arguing with the airline and emailing back and forth with our travel agent, etc.

So that's why my husband is the silent partner It's not that he's not excited or anything -- because believe me, he is! -- it's just that he hasn't got the time to do the nitty gritty and I do.

Went to the store yesterday and re-provisioned all my air-travel stuff, keeping in mind the regulations about bottles and so on (which have tightened significantly since the last time I flew 4 years ago). I also got new travel sized things (also because of air-travel and luggage weight restrictions -- most of the time I drive), like toothpaste and soap (I have sensitive skin -- I know the resort will provide! Sometimes I can't use what they give you), and I hope they will be enough for a week for the both of us. The only stuff I got 1 for each of us was the deodorant!

I bought a small travel bag for the few cosmetics I'll bring along, and everything fits with room to spare, which is nice (I chose small cosmetics! LOL!) and I am very happily convinced that both of our clothes and so on will all fit in our biggest bag (not that big) with room and weight to spare.

We have received our luggage tags and booklet of 'vouchers' (really, they look like confirmation receipts or something to me!) and our gifts from our travel agent, also our La Nouba tickets so we're all set.

And the airline hasn't called and told us that our flights have changed -- good -- in the last 30 days so I hope that this means that it is what it is, finally, and that they *won't* change again in the next 10 days or so.

I am crossing things off my list left and right

10 days! Can't wait! I haven't seen palm trees since I was a teenager in San Diego. It's going to be so fun.

 

[Whitewater]

Well, we leave a week from today (Tuesday!). Can't quite believe it's coming up so soon, when we've been talking about our honeymoon for two years, and put the deposit down last Christmas!

Today I went and bought some old-school style decongestant and the generic version of Earplanes for the flights there and back, I hope it helps, I don't want to pass out from the pain again. If I can only make it to Orlando without falling apart, i'll be good.

I spent the money that would have bought a new camera on a birthday blowout for myself last weekend I have a decent 5mp point and shoot from Polaroid and we just bought a recent mini-DVD camcorder (I think this model came out in 2007), so between the camera and the camcorder, we ought to have some nice recordings of our trip.

I've been on a buying spree, getting ready for the trip! Got a hair cut, bought a pair of brown Bermuda shorts (on sale at Target for $7.50), bought a new pair of shoes (granted, those aren't just for the trip, but the timing is superb), and a new pair of jeans. This is in addition to the Swiss Army Tardis that I purchased about a month ago and all the travel supplies.

I'm very happy that I bought ponchos (they're blue, not see through, but oh well . . .they were $1.14 at Target and are reusable) -- the weather report according to weather.com says that right now and for the 1st 3 days of our trip at least there's going to be scattered thunder showers over Lake Buena Vista. Great. Well, I'll bring my swim suit anyway! Hope springs eternal, right?

Well, let's see. I've got all my meds and all the refills I need, I've planned my outfits and gotten all the personal supplies, I'm in the middle of printing out what needs to be printed (and am going to organize it all into a binder tomorrow), I've got all the reservations that I need to make in advance, and Disney has confirmed our hotel room, and we've got the Magic Express stuff, so I think we're good to go. I've also arranged pet and house care and the only stuff left to do is clean the house (I hate coming back from a trip to a dirty house), do the laundry, and pack!

I'm excited, but I think I'm more in awe. Going back to Walt Disney World was on my 'bucket list' and has been for forever, but I never thought in a million years that I'd actually be able to get back there. Much less with the man of my dreams -- my husband! That's just overwhelmingly cool. AND I get to see La Nouba (another bucket list item) LIVE . . . like I said, I'm really overwhelmed and awed right now, more than excited. I can't believe it's really happening.

The only fly in the ointment is the fact that I have to take a plane to get there. I'm really nervous about that -- not about flying, but what will happen with my ears. With the unsettled weather pattern, I'm really expecting to have some issues, I just hope it's not too rough on me. Hopefully the Earplane things will help. I didn't have them last time. Anyway, I'm getting my ears cleaned out a few days before we go, so between that and the decongestants and the Earplanes (and lots of happy thoughts!), I ought to be ok. I've done all that I can do, anyhow.

(and I also can't quite keep myself from hoping that we get upgraded -- it is our honeymoon, after all!)


Whitewater

 

[Whitewater]

Seriously, when did I turn into Mrs Spendy???

All of a sudden there are things we really need and that I totally forgot about. Like, getting more mini-dvds for our camcorder. Yikes. Those little recordable mini-dvds are expensive!!! I think the first batch I bought are hour long dvds but the ones I just bought tonight are only 30 minutes. Luckily I have amateur dvd/movie editing software on my computer, so I can edit all the camcorder footage into something resembling an orderly record

I'm trying to be organized but I have somehow lost the air travel stuff I bought at Walgreens not two days ago. I have no idea where I put it, probably someplace 'safe'. You ever done that? 5 years later, you still have no idea where you put the stupid thing.

Finally got the pair of black jeans that I needed, after driving to 3 stores. I put 100 miles on the car today!

And my Lime Green Mickey Heads project requires glue, which I bought today (5 glue sticks for twenty cents, couldn't pass that deal up!) and big safety pins, which I couldn't find anywhere for love or money. I will hit up the craft store tomorrow or the fabric store, they'll have them!

I picked up 15 LGMH at Home Despot the other night and wrote on them everything we need to stick them up on our resort door. If you're going to be at CBR 9/8 - 9/15, look us up!

My lovely DH told me yesterday that he's planning some kind of a birthday surprise for me at Disney, though my birthday was on August 29th. He knows I hate surprises, so I'm very intrigued as to what this one could be. It *must* be pretty darn special for him to break the husband-and-wife 'rules' (all you long term relationship people know what I'm talking about!) and get me a surprise! I hope I like it.

I'm really starting to worry that our luggage will be too heavy. Hope not! The only time I have encountered that was when I had to pack practically my entire wardrobe plus medications for 3 months, because I was traveling literally across the country to work for the summer. I was ok going out, but coming back . . . lol. The very last Harry Potter book, in hard cover, put me over by 5 pounds! Gee, I wonder why!

It will help that I'm putting the camcorder and our trip binder in our carryon stuff. No way am I letting that almost new camcorder out of my sight! Same with the Itouch and the digital camera and the cell phone. Luckily, we have a carryon that's big enough to handle all of the above.

Got my ears looked at today in preparation for flying and I got the all-clear, so my eardrums are in good shape and there aren't any obstructions like a load of wax or anything (eww) to make things worse by plugging everything up. Still nervous though. I am not afraid of flying or planes in the least. All my nerves come from the unpleasant effects of my ears and their apparent inability to deal with the pressure shifts. I don't like pain! Or puking, either, come to think of it. Or people looking at me wierd, like it's really not ok with them that I'm having issues. Every time I think about the whole flying business the day after labor day I get butterflies in my stomach -- what will happen with my ears? I don't know, and that scares me.

(I will come back here and post when we get to Orlando, as soon as I can, letting you know whether I made it ok!)


Weather report is clearing up a bit (from 70% chance of scattered t-storms to only 40% chance, which is good . . .), so perhaps I'll have a chance to wear that new swimsuit yet!


Whitewater (still having Disney dreams, wierd ones too, but at least they're no longer nightmares!)

 

[Whitewater]

Ok, Expedia had the reservation but couldn't get a hold of Air Tran. I called Air Tran and everything is copasetic (sp?), thank goodness. They confirmed all the flights and the times and told me (again, yes, but I'm paranoid!) that I'll just need my ID and marriage cert. to prove that the ticket name and me are actually the same person, 'cause I bought our airfare with my maiden name, because the price was really good!

A few tense moments today, but everything is A-OK. Which is good. Call me a freak, but I always make sure a few days ahead that everything is still good to go, just because I really dislike unpleasant surprises, particularly when it comes to vacations -- what a way to start out, you know, if something bad happens?

Just this weekend to go! Fish is happy today because today is his last day of work for a while at Job #1. Though he still has to work Job #2 both days this weekend, he gets Labor Day off entirely, so it will be nice for him to have a true day off before we start our honeymoon. He's so excited about all of this, I really enjoy watching him Just a big kid!

I'm excited too, and happy that he is willing to come to the DISmeet with me, sometimes he's a little wary about meeting total strangers.

And I can't wait for his reaction when I tell him that the Luau is not only completely paid for, but that we get all-you-can-eat food and drinks! He's not a greedy gut, but he IS frugal, and it will be so nice for him to be able to have 2 beers instead of one, because he won't have to worry about what they cost. As for me, I don't drink a whole lot, maybe they'll have wine or what Fish calls 'froofy' drinks, or maybe I can have a drink and then switch to soda or fruit juice. I'm sure there's a way.

That frugality, by the way, is the main reason I got the DDP. It's not like we couldn't have figured out somehow how to pay for all our meals, but Fish is a penny pincher and spending money worries him. He also doesn't like to pay super-ultra premium prices for food, that also bugs him because his instinct tells him that 'OMG!!! $150 for 2 people, we'll lose everything we have and have to beg on the street!'. It's an irrational thing. It was worth it to me to give Fish a week of really good food that he didn't have to worry about paying for -- because that meant that we wouldn't always be fighting about the prices of food at WDW. Not having to worry about 'OMG, the entrees here are $30 each!' is priceless to me. Fish starts worrying if an entree is more than $10 . . . I love him, but his irrational money fears do make it interesting sometimes! With the DDP, neither of us will have to worry, it's the single best thing I could have done to ensure our trip's stress level remains low.

Then, of course, our wonderful travel agent got us into the Free Dining promotion (we had no clue that existed when we decided on the dates for our honeymoon, we were interested in lower crowds and less expensive hotel rooms!), and for *us*, in our particular situation, it worked out REALLY well and we're saving a TON of money, which allowed us to get tickets for La Nouba and do some of the stuff that we wouldn't have been able to do, like Pick-A-Pearl and buying presents for all our kith and kin. Free dining puts cash back in our pockets, never a bad thing.

I am so excited right now it's hard to focus on the stuff that has to get done over the weekend before we leave.

Yay!


Whitewater

 

[Whitewater]

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

Ok, breathe. And remember your Douglas Adams -- DON'T PANIC!!!

My purse got pickpocketed!!!

And they took my marriage license! My certified copy! The only one I had! The only thing that's going to let me get my boarding pass IN 48 HOURS so that I can get on the plane to Florida for our honeymoon at Walt Disney Word . . . and the only thing that will verify to Disney (as relayed to me by the CM's via my travel agent) that I am indeed me, because some of the reservations were made in my maiden name! You know. Like our hotel room.

*sigh*

I have already worked with the bank regarding my money (the idiot thieves didn't get to use my card, I canceled it and got a new one through some miracle, it only took 24 hours . . . and on a weekend too!) but getting another certified copy of my marriage license is going to be tougher.

We're going to have to go on Tuesday morning (yes, the morning of my flight) and get to the county office when they open and hopefully the county office will be able to get us one while we're there. Our flight leaves at 11:15 am, we have to be there at 10am or earlier (I'd like to get there at 9:30, just to be safe). Luckily the county office is only about 20 minutes away from the airport, with rush-hour traffic!

I am hoping that we can get there at 8:00am, and be out of there by 8:15am with a certified copy of our marriage license and have time to take our wonderful friend (who is getting up at 6am to drive us, just like we have to get up early to make sure we've got last things done) out for breakfast, and hopefully to get something ourselves, before we go to the airport, because we're not flying out of the main terminal, we're flying out in the little one, the afterthought, the add-on . . . the one that (previous experience has taught me) has NOTHING after the security checkpoint beyond a small stand that sells magazines and has a cooler filled with water and soda in their little shop. We'll get some water for the flight, probably, but there won't be anything to eat, so we can't just go directly to the airport and have breakfast there.

Of course, I had originally planned the 11:15 flight so that we didn't have to wake up unbearably early and so that we could eat at home before our friend came to pick up us, but apparently Fate has a different story planned.

Ah well, I keep telling myself that we're lucky our flight doesn't leave until late, because otherwise we'd never have a chance to get another certified copy of our marriage licence otherwise and we'd have to totally change our plans all around and it would be a cascade of badness. At least this way, though it means us starting our day A TON earlier than we'd expected, we won't have to change anything, whew!

In other news (which seems like such small potatoes now!) . . . all of our stuff (for two older adults, one of whom has significant medical issues) fits in ONE bag, so we'll only have to pay $15 for the outbound flight. Thanks to DIS advice, I am bringing a small but roomy duffel bag for our souveniers to bring on the way home, but in theory, (it's only a 20" duffel) Fish can use that as his carryon on the way home, so we'll only have to pay $15 on the way back too, even though we'll actually have 2 bags. What can I say, we're on a budget, and I don't want to pay gigantic bag handling fees.

So that was good news. I was afraid that we'd be stuck with two bags just for our stuff and that we'd have to buy or borrow a third bag for our stuff, which would cost beaucoup bucks, but no. And the bag only weighs 34 pounds! Maybe 40 by the time it's really fully loaded (how much *do* 18 pairs of socks and 20 pairs of underwear weigh?).

We're not stinting either, we both have extra everything (not just socks and underwear but teeshirts too, you never know) and something nice to wear for our nice evening out *and* even with the camcorder and the Itouch and the digital camera (and the new TSA rule that says all electrical peripherals have to be with their device, in the same bag) and our trip binder in our carry-on, we still have room for a pair of socks and underwear each, in a gallon sized Ziplock, along with deodorant and some little psuedo-toothbrush (one time use) thingies that I found in my camping stuff. So even if we don't get our luggage for a bit, we'll be good.

First time I've ever actually packed undies etc in a carryon, but this is also the first time using the Magical Express, and since they haven't got our flight information (apparently) and since one of the luggage tags hasn't got my name on it at all (just his) and since the other tag has my *maiden name* on it, well, let's just say a lot could go wrong in the chain of events from the airplane to our hotel room!

I am prepared.

And hey, next time this week we'll be in (hopefully) sunny FL, in Walt Disney World -- I think Sunday is our Animal Kingdom day, with Le Cellier for a very early dinner and then MK or Epcot in the evening. Can't wait!


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[Whitewater]

Exactly 24 hours from now we'll be on the Boardwalk having dinner (and a microbeer flight for the hubby) at Big River Grille!

So excited. And I am in SUCH a good mood right now because we are WAY ahead of schedule when it came to packing and cleaning today (I hate coming home to a dirty house!). We might actually be able to get a full 8 hours of sleep tonight

And the best thing of all . . . I found our marriage license!! It hadn't been stolen at all! The credit card really was stolen, but the ML apparently had fallen out of my purse when I was at home, and I didn't realize it. I found it lying under a bunch of receipts and junk on the kitchen table today. Whew!

Yay, we don't have to get up at 6am and yay we don't have to rush to get to the airport and yay I don't have to pay for another copy . . .though I may anyway, when we get back just to be on the safe side.



God definitely looks after fools, haha.


Now if God could extend that pre-Disney magic a little more and help me have a totally boring, completely uneventful, pain-free flight . . .


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