Jumping, Dancing & Jamming Our Way Through Walt Disney World! I'm With the Band Now!

Overweight or not, it's always a good idea to eat healthier! Good for you! I made a lot of changes in my family's diet just over a year ago when I wanted to lose weight. Fat free milk, sugar free drinks (not soda), ground turkey instead of ground beef, reduced fat cheeses....easy stuff. :goodvibes
 
Glad to hear John's med weaning is going well so far. Luckily Dh is down to just one med now but he is on a decent sized dose of it, in fact they just slightly increased the dose the last time he was at the Doc. His seizures (he has absence/petit-mal ones) are at their best control he has ever had, though, so that is good.

Great Star Wars pics! Can't wait to hear about your TR title story!
 
Just wanted to stop by and say Hey, and thank you again for being such a wonderful friend :goodvibes:hug:.

That's so sweet! I miss talking with you but hate to send texts when I know you are busy with the wedding preparations. Just over a week to go!

Glad to hear John's med weaning is going well so far. Luckily Dh is down to just one med now but he is on a decent sized dose of it, in fact they just slightly increased the dose the last time he was at the Doc. His seizures (he has absence/petit-mal ones) are at their best control he has ever had, though, so that is good.

Great Star Wars pics! Can't wait to hear about your TR title story!

What a wonderful blessing knowing that your husband is doing so well. I am so thankful for the doctors that know how to treat our loved ones.

Overweight or not, it's always a good idea to eat healthier! Good for you! I made a lot of changes in my family's diet just over a year ago when I wanted to lose weight. Fat free milk, sugar free drinks (not soda), ground turkey instead of ground beef, reduced fat cheeses....easy stuff. :goodvibes

And you are one svelte woman now! I've started making the changes to all of our diets but if I think it's going to be hard for me....just wait until John has to start cutting back. That man has a sweet tooth as long as a sabertooth tiger!

Good luck with the diet. I know what you mean about putting on weight I think I gained maybe 15 pounds in the last few years and the older I get the harder it is to get off. Its good that you start now.

Did you hear they are rereleasing one of the Star Wars movies in 3d? I think its supposed to come out in Feb. River is very excited.

I've noticed that as I get older...you know 28 and 29 :lmao:...that it's much easier to gain weight. I've grown tired of the tummy and it's going to go away!

Hunter said something about the Star Wars movies in 3d the other day but I must admit that I didn't listen too well. I'll have to make a point to ask him about it.

Hello Friends - Enjoyed the trip report and pictures. After my DD and I finished viewing the pictures we looked at each other and both of us said WE MISS DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We recognize some of the sites in your pictures when we use to drive from DFW Texas to Orlando.

Howdy! I miss Disney too and would love to be there right now instead of sitting behind this darn desk.

It's been a long time since I've been in the DFW area but have driven that route many times.
 
Sorry for the lack of the promised update. We have had a bit of medical drama going on around our house for the past two weeks or so that I haven't mentioned.

In addition to John still going through the transition period of medication change/decrease, Mama has had to have some tests run. As some of you may remember from previous reports and pre-trip reports, Mama had surgery about 1 1/2 years ago for a clogged artery in her neck. During the surgery, they pressed down on a nerve and it left her with a drooping face and lip for a while but she eventually recovered.

In recent months, Mama has suffered from dizziness and a few other symptoms which prompted her to seek medical treatment. They ruled out a few things and then decided to do a stress test, an ultrasound on her neck was scheduled for today as was a visit with her cardiologist.

Mama went to the hospital yesterday morning about 2:30 a.m. with chest pains. My older sister took her and they waited for a while for them to run blood tests to see if she had a heart attack. My middle sister took over for my older sister around 8:00 a.m. or so and was able to talk to the hospital doctor who said that he didn't believe it had anything to do with her heart and thought that the problems were caused by reflux.

As a safety measure, they called in her cardiologist who then turned around and called his office to get the results of her stress test. He said that everything looked fine with the hospital blood work and the results of the stress test were great. He told her that she was discharged but to come in today for the ultrasound and they would go from there. He also told her to schedule an appointment with her gastro doctor that she's been seeing for over 20 years.

So, she has the ultrasound on her neck done today. She has an appointment scheduled for the 23rd to see her gastro doctor. She has a history of Chrone's disease, stomach ulcers, a hietal (spelling?) hernia, and has to have her esophagus dilated every two or three years. Yeah, stomach problems run amuck for the woman.

Needless to say, I can't quite keep my mind focused for long on anything lately. I really should write an installment just so I can think of something else for a while. I am hoping...but not promising...an update this afternoon.

 
Sorry your Mama is having these problems, but I'm glad it seems to just be reflux instead of a heart attack! Hopefully the ultrasound looks good too. I understand it being hard to concentrate on writing an update when you are worrying about your Mama! :hug:
 



Last night, while folding clothes, matching up socks (why is it that there's always at least three random socks in the load that don't have a match?) and watching Survivor, I threw out an idea to John. Why don't we go on a Disney cruise for a couple of days before we go to Walt Disney World? John's always said he wouldn't want to go on a cruise but he was actually getting pretty pumped up when I told him about Disney's private island, the beautiful water, the things to do, etc. He told me to look into it a bit more because it sounds like fun.

My Mama didn't raise no fool and I know an opportunity when I see one. :thumbsup2 So, I've already started doing more research on a cruise that leaves Port Canaveral on May 24th which is a Thursday. It's a 4 day/3 night cruise which would mean we'd be back on land on a Sunday and we'd drive to WDW that same day. The way I have our vacation booked now, we'd arrive at WDW on Wednesday, May 23rd, and we would leave on June 2nd. If we did the cruise, we'd arrive at WDW on the 27th and would leave on June 2nd. That'd only give us 5 days in the parks and I don't know if that is enough time for us. It'd definitely be a commando type WDW trip. I wish there was a cruise that left a day earlier.

Anyway, I'm going to keep looking into it. It may or may not happen but I know that I'm keeping our existing WDW vacation until we make a decision.

I guess I need to get a bit of work done before my boss comes in. For some odd reason, he feels like I should work for my paycheck. What's up with that? :confused3



I am so so so so far behind that you've probably already made your decision and told everyone here on your TR, but I have just now read this and don't know how much further I can go without replying how excited I am that you are considering a cruise! We are going on our 1st cruise this year! It would be so much fun to be planning for the same thing at the same time!

And now, back to reading...
 
Sorry to hear about the medical drama! I know how it is too not be able to focus due to so much going on! Hopefully all of the tests will come back A-OK!!
 
Sorry for the lack of the promised update. We have had a bit of medical drama going on around our house for the past two weeks or so that I haven't mentioned.

Hi Lisa,
I'm sorry to hear about the medical problems your family has run into. Take as much time as you need to in order to take care of the important things in life. I'm sure all of your readers will wait for your life to settle down before you post another update.
 
Lisa, I am so sorry to hear about the medical stuff with mama. I hope she gets some answers, and some relief, soon. Keep us posted...here or on FB.
 
Sooo sorry to hear about the issues Mama has been having lately, hopefully they can get her fixed right up soon.
 
I'll be keeping you guys in my prayers!

I'm all caught up! (for now) :lmao: How exciting that Hunter has moved up the NYC list...is he still #10?
 
Hi Lisa! So sorry to hear about the issues your mama is going through! :hug: I will be keeping her in my thoughts and prayers! :angel:
 
Sorry to hear about the medical drama. Hoping your Mama's feeling better soon. I'm glad the dr said that her stress test results were good, and they do not think her problems are heart-related.
 
Thank you all so much for your kind words, thoughts and prayers. Mama is at the doctor now having the ultrasound done and I'm not sure if they will give her the results right then or if she'll have to wait. It's being done in the doctor's office not a separate facility so maybe the doctor can have the results right away.

A couple of you know that John wrote a letter to Disney two weeks ago Friday expressing his concern over the ever rising cost of the Disney vacation packages and how he felt that Disney should have some sort of loyalty to the customers who have been loyal to them over the years. Here's a copy of what he wrote.


My wife and I have taken our family to WDW every year since our children were just 1 and 11. They are now 14 and 24 and have been 16 times. Our daughter recently married and she has begun to share her love for Disney with her new husband. I had anxiously awaited the day when I could take my grandchildren to WDW.

Whenever anyone would ask us why we kept going back to Walt Disney World, we would tell them that there was no better place to vacation. We sang the praises of Disney over and over and over again. My wife has even helped at least a dozen family members and friends plan and actually book their Disney vacations. We've convinced family members to travel the 16 hours to Walt Disney World with us.

I felt that I needed to take a moment and share with you a few of my thoughts. Although my wife is the one who initially prices out the vacations, it is the two of us who sits down and discusses our resort, ticket and dining options. I have to say, that over the last few years, the prices of our vacations have risen drastically. Much more drastically than any pay raise has been for both my wife and myself. If (and right now that's a big old whopping IF) we go to Disney in 2012, our vacation will be, for 3 people, more than it was for 4 people in 2011.

Does Disney not realize that our country is still struggling? I know that Disney is a business and they have to make a profit but it would seem that they would realize that people are just not spending as much as they used to on "luxury" items such as vacations. Does Disney not know that, if people do intend to go on vacations, there is a lot of planning that must be done far ahead of time and not last minute? I know that our family has cut back on a lot of things in the past two or three years and there have been no last minute vacations. We must scrimp and save to go anywhere now-a-days. It now seems as if we may have to cut out our trips to WDW and that saddens me since we have made so many magical memories there and had hoped to make many more by continuing to bring our son and, hopefully, in the future, our grandchildren.

My wife is constantly watching the WDW special offers page to see if anything has been released for our potential travel dates of the last week of May through the first week of June, 2012. She also checks our emails to see if we have gotten one of those ever elusive "pin codes" that everyone else seems to get (even those who have never even been to WDW). In all of our trips to Disney World, we haven't gotten a gosh darn pin code...ever. It was only in the last two years or so that we've been able to take advantage of any discount.

One would think that Disney would recognize those who travel so far and spend their hard earned dollars on a WDW vacation each and every year. It seems that loyalty to the Disney name has done us no good and that upsets me to no end given that I have campaigned for you guys for over a dozen years now.

I shudder to think of how much money I have spent at Walt Disney World over the years. Not only on the vacation packages themselves but on park merchandise, food, snacks and the sort. Oh and one can't forget all of those spinners and glow things that I have bought from the carts during the parades and fireworks. I can certainly attest that it would be at least more than I make in several years' time. In addition to our vacations, lots of our dollars have been spent on non-park, but still Disney, items. We all have Disney garments hanging in our closets and in our dresser drawers. My son has more Disney toys and video games than I care to count. Heck, I have Disney items all over my house including a Disney vacation travel planning book on the back of my toilet.

Yet, here I am, finding myself struggling to convince myself that spending our hard earned dollars at WDW next year is something I am willing to do. As I said earlier, that saddens me and I never, ever, thought that I would get to this point. I guess we'll continue to discuss it and see what happens but the outcome, right now, doesn't look good for Disney.

I know, by now, you are ready for me to conclude my ranting and raving. However, I did feel the need to let you all know how this loyal Walt Disney World, or simply a Disney fan, feels. I am sure that I will get a generic "thank you for your thoughts" response but I would greatly appreciate it if you would forward this to some of the "higher ups" so they will know how/what I am thinking.

Thank you for your time,

John McBride
***address
***phone number
My email: Muppetvision3d@***
My wife's email: Planning4disney@***
P.S. See, even our email addresses are Disney related.


**********************************************************

We were sure that we would receive some sort of generic "thank you" letter from them but we received a phone call yesterday afternoon.

I returned the call and received a call from a nice castmember today. She had received the email and asked if she could help me book a vacation. I told her what we were looking for, what kind of dining plan, etc. She looked all around and said there were no special offers out there that we could take advantage of. Well, duh....I knew that....what did we just say in our letter? :sad2: She looked to see if we had any pin codes under our names. We did not. I already knew this too because I have called and asked if we did. Anyway, the conversation went on for a while with her checking rates which all turned out to be the same as those I had looked at myself. During our chat, she said that the public often knows about special offers before the castmembers themselves do and to keep checking the special offers page. Hello? Can we say Disboards Discount Codes & Rates forum? :rolleyes:

After we were done talking about the fact that there were no pin codes associated with our household and there were no special offers during our travel dates, I mentioned that Mama had received a pin code flyer in the mail but that it was sent in error and was in someone else's name. I told her that I was told to call back this week because there was a valid pin attached to Mama's name but that they couldn't see what it was at the time.

She looked under Mama's name and found the pin code and gave me price quotes. She couldn't give me percentages off though, just the total price. I am trying to figure out what percentage off we are getting if we decide to book.

From what I understood, the percentage off pertained ONLY to the room portion of the packages but the numbers aren't adding up at all. If this was a room only pin, then it looks like it's 20% off. That would work with the figures on our package. But, it doesn't work at all on Mama's. I thought they may have left off the tickets or the dining on Mama's but the numbers are still off. :teacher:

Here's the breakdown of each package.

Mama's package without discounts:

Room only: $2,098.00
Tickets: $292.88
Dining: $515.40
Total: $2,907.56


Our package without discounts:

Room only: $2,098.00
Tickets: $980.23
Dining: $1,546.20
Total: $4,526.43


Mama's total price with the discount is:
$1,908.05


Because Mama would be traveling with us, they can apply the discount to our vacation as well.

Our price with the discount is:
$4,107.01


I had my sister who has done accounting for years and years look at the numbers and she can't figure out what is going on either other than the 20% off on our room. I guess I will call back and see if they can give me an explanation. I'm thinking they left something off when they gave me Mama's quote.

Long story short, Disney ended up giving John's letter just what we expected....a generic thanks for your letter response. As far as using Mama's pin goes, someone's got to give me more details before we book.

Moving on, my boss is about to leave the office and I am determined to get an update posted, even if it's a short one. I've got to get to more jumping and dancing!

 

Lacey, Hunter and I were still doing a bit of wandering around Hollywood Studios. Just aimless wandering.......with no real destination in mind. Ya'll know that we have to have some jumping pictures or it wouldn't be a McBride trip report (and my trip report title would be dumb if we didn't). First attempt:

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That wasn't so great. One more try:

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My children are oh so shy and never make a spectacle of themselves. :rotfl2: They get that from their mother. ;)

What next? Hey.....is that music I hear? Oh my gosh! It's 80's music! I have died and gone to Disney Heaven! We followed the sound of guitars, keyboards and drums to find.....Mulch, Sweat & Shears! We love these guys! (Can you tell I was excited by how many !!!!! I just used? :laughing:) If you are a fan of the 80s music, then you have to stop and listen to Mulch, Sweat and Shears. They are absolutely fantastic.

We found an open spot and were singing and clapping along when I feel a tap on my shoulder and it's the lead singer who asked my name and then pulled me onto their makeshift stage (insert....street but still their stage) I had to introduce myself to the crowd and then pointed out my kids. They gave me a cowbell and a drumstick and I proceeded to make a complete and utter fool of myself in front of a whole buttload of people and, more importantly, my kids. :lmao:

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Honey, let me tell you I was bustin' out some moves like you've never seen before. I was doing The Running Man :dancer: and Stir the Soup :woohoo:. I dropped it like it was hot and everything! Of course, I knew I looked like a complete fool but it was so much fun embarassing my kids who I made a special effort of pointing to every chance I got. :rotfl: Seriously, the kids weren't embarassed, they were laughing so hard they nearly did my "signature" move and pee'd themselves.

When I was done, I gave a very big bow to the audience who were all :jumping1: for me. The lead singer said that was one of the best performances they had ever had (I bet they say that to all the groupie girls :love:) and one of the loudest audience responses ever. I was given a set of Mulch, Sweat & Shears drumsticks and rejoined my kids in the crowd. They were still laughing when I got to them. There's more photographic and video evidence of my nuttiness somewhere but I swear I can't find it right now.

We stuck around and listened to more of the concert and I took more pictures while they performed:

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The lead singer:

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After the concert was over, the lead singer came over to me and told me how much fun I was and that he was glad I had hammed it up so much. I told him he was making me blush:cutie:. He told the kids to keep me in check and he went back to help pick up their equipment.

So, there you have it.....this is how my trip report title came to be. Jumping, Dancing & Jamming Our Way Around the World! I'm With the Band Now! :rockband:

 
I hope all the news about mama comes back good!! Keep us updated please. I know the issue with John's meds is nerve racking too; hopefully everybody will be mended before the rush of the holidays.

Don't you just love how Disney treats their loyal customers? When I sent them the later in August I got the same generic response. I think they are more interested in getting new blood in because they know we have figured out how to do Disney without spending a large fortune, but new blood will break their bank.

I love your new update!! I can see you now, just dancing and singing away....:lmao:.
 
Sorry to hear about Mama's health problems, and that you received such a generic answer to your letter.

Love the jumping picture! How fun is it that you not only got chosen to be in the band, but you really enjoyed it to the fullest!
 

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