ashleymrush
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2013
Hi everyone! I'm very excited to get my second trip report started! This trip has been a long time coming and while I am sad that it is over, I am so happy to get to share it with anyone that joins along on this journey!
I've had my pictures ready to go for a few days now and have been stewing about what to name this trip report until I saw this meme
And then I knew exactly what to name it! As you can tell from the title this was my 20th trip to the world's best "people trap." (Seriously, if someone could just permanently trap me in here and never let me out, I'd be ok with it.)
Table of Contents
Entry 1 - So Much Pre-Trip Pixie Dust!
Entry 2 - The Big Adventure FINALLY Begins!
Entry 3 Part 1 - Will Jackson be tall enough for Soarin'?!
Entry 3 Part 2 - Will Jackson be tall enough for Soarin'?!
Entry 4 - A "what are the odds" kind of surprise!
Entry 5 - Time for a Special Expedition
Entry 6 - Oops...shouldn't have done that!
Entry 7 - That time that Daisy cheated on Donald...TWICE!
Entry 8 - That time we finally got our Bloody Mary's!
Entry 9 - We have a VERY important flight to catch!!
Entry 10 - Let's FINALLY see what this Rivers of Light thing is all about!
Entry 11 - A Very Merry Birthday for Brody!
Entry 12 - A Very Merry Birthday continues
Entry 13 - Did someone say Star Wars?!
Entry 14 - A Perfect End to a Birthday
Entry 15 - Keys to the Kingdom Tour!
Entry 16 - Let's See a Parade!
Before we get into the details of what is the best vacation of my life (I think I say that every time but they just keep getting better) let me do some introductions. For this trip we have a large crew, 7 of us total. To give respect to my elders, and to make me feel younger, I will introduce everyone from oldest to youngest.
We will first start off with my amazingly sweet stepdad, John. John and my mom have been married since I was in middle school so he's been a big part of my life. Here is John and a little info about him (hint, he's the older gentlemen, not the ridiculously cute little boy ):
John is a young 63 and even though the heat and walking can be a bit brutal at times for him, he will power through any Disney trip without a single complaint. He has been to Disney World approximately 12 times. His favorite Disney movie is Alice in Wonderland and his favorite character is the Mad Hatter. He enjoys air conditioning and a good beer or two or three.
Next up is the source of my Disney obsession, my mom, Lisa to most, grandma to my boys. My love for all things Disney stems directly from her. Without further or due, here she is, the best mom in the world (sorry to all you other moms reading this...I'm sure you're great too.)
My mom is 53 years young (I hope she doesn't mind me sharing that...doesn't she look great)! She has now been to Disney 24 times and will hit her 25th this October when she takes my grandmother...without me . Her favorite Disney movie is Cinderella and her favorite character is Pluto as seen above!
Next up is the love of my life, don't worry I won't refer to him as that throughout the trip report, you can simply know of my DH as Lucas. He's been a little slow to come around to the Disney obsession but I'm confident that he's finally hooked! We've been married for 10 years this October! (No Disney anniversary trip, he won't go for it, but we are going to New Orleans!)
Lucas is 37 years OLD (it's always nice to call him old...makes me feel better). This was his 5th trip to WDW and with each trip he falls more and more in love. My master plan is working!!! Because I suppose it falls under the realm of Disney now, his favorite Disney movies are the Star Wars movies and his favorite character is Chewbacca. (Spoiler alert - they meet later and it is AMAZING!)
Next up is yours truly...that's me...Ashley! Or Ashleymrush here on the boards. My screen name is so originall Lol! So here I am in my most basic form:
I am 33 years old and have been a Disney fan my whole life. I went for the first time when I was 4 and I only remember being scared to death of Tigger but I must not have been too scared because I keep coming back. As you can tell by my TR title, this is my 20th trip. It was supposed to be my 19th but I'll explain later how it became the 20th. I am a high school history and government teacher of 11 years now. My favorite Disney movie is The Little Mermaid and my favorite character is the main man (or mouse) himself, Mickey! My classroom is decked out in all things Mickey. My students buy me little Mickey's to put in my room. Last I counted I had over 25 and it's growing every year. This year I had the students in the National Art Honors Society paint a giant mural of Mickey saluting the American flag in my classroom and I am in LOVE with it! (Don't tell Disney...I don't want to get sued...it'll be our little secret). That's enough about me, let's finish up these intros.
Next up is my little brother, Dawson.
He's the one in the front next to John. He's almost 16 years old and will be a junior in high school this year. This means I could be his teacher! This was his 10th trip to Disney. He loves it as much as the rest of us. His favorite Disney movie is Up and his favorite character is Dug. It's cute because he is still a Boy Scout (going for his Eagle soon) so Up seems to be the most appropriate movie for him.
Now it's time to give the intros to the my boys! First up is my first born, Brody.
Brody turned 8 on this trip and is entering the 2nd grade this year! This is his 2nd trip to WDW and he's already got the bug. I'm definitely creating two little Disney monsters. Brody is an incredibly sweet, shy and sensitive boy but when he's at Disney he comes out of his shell a bit and it makes me so happy. His favorite Disney movie (this week) is Moana and his favorite character is Baymax. We do lots of fist bumps in our house!
Last but not least, is my youngest son, Jackson (remember...the cute one from the picture above) Here he is cheesin' as usual.
Jackson will be 5 in July so we can basically say he's there already. This is also his 2nd trip. Last time we went he was almost 2 (hints the name of my first TR) and even though everyone said that he'd never remember that trip, it was amazing how much he did remember. To those people though, I always say those memories were for me, not for him. Jackson is the opposite of Brody. He's energetic, crazy, and loves attention. He'll likely be my trouble maker. His favorite Disney movie is also Moana and his favorite character is Goofy.
So, I know that was a long-winded introduction but now you know the whole troop! I hope you are as excited as I am to follow along on our magical adventures. I'll try to get the first official post up this weekend or Monday at the latest.
Please join and enjoy.
I've had my pictures ready to go for a few days now and have been stewing about what to name this trip report until I saw this meme
And then I knew exactly what to name it! As you can tell from the title this was my 20th trip to the world's best "people trap." (Seriously, if someone could just permanently trap me in here and never let me out, I'd be ok with it.)
Table of Contents
Entry 1 - So Much Pre-Trip Pixie Dust!
Entry 2 - The Big Adventure FINALLY Begins!
Entry 3 Part 1 - Will Jackson be tall enough for Soarin'?!
Entry 3 Part 2 - Will Jackson be tall enough for Soarin'?!
Entry 4 - A "what are the odds" kind of surprise!
Entry 5 - Time for a Special Expedition
Entry 6 - Oops...shouldn't have done that!
Entry 7 - That time that Daisy cheated on Donald...TWICE!
Entry 8 - That time we finally got our Bloody Mary's!
Entry 9 - We have a VERY important flight to catch!!
Entry 10 - Let's FINALLY see what this Rivers of Light thing is all about!
Entry 11 - A Very Merry Birthday for Brody!
Entry 12 - A Very Merry Birthday continues
Entry 13 - Did someone say Star Wars?!
Entry 14 - A Perfect End to a Birthday
Entry 15 - Keys to the Kingdom Tour!
Entry 16 - Let's See a Parade!
Before we get into the details of what is the best vacation of my life (I think I say that every time but they just keep getting better) let me do some introductions. For this trip we have a large crew, 7 of us total. To give respect to my elders, and to make me feel younger, I will introduce everyone from oldest to youngest.
We will first start off with my amazingly sweet stepdad, John. John and my mom have been married since I was in middle school so he's been a big part of my life. Here is John and a little info about him (hint, he's the older gentlemen, not the ridiculously cute little boy ):
John is a young 63 and even though the heat and walking can be a bit brutal at times for him, he will power through any Disney trip without a single complaint. He has been to Disney World approximately 12 times. His favorite Disney movie is Alice in Wonderland and his favorite character is the Mad Hatter. He enjoys air conditioning and a good beer or two or three.
Next up is the source of my Disney obsession, my mom, Lisa to most, grandma to my boys. My love for all things Disney stems directly from her. Without further or due, here she is, the best mom in the world (sorry to all you other moms reading this...I'm sure you're great too.)
My mom is 53 years young (I hope she doesn't mind me sharing that...doesn't she look great)! She has now been to Disney 24 times and will hit her 25th this October when she takes my grandmother...without me . Her favorite Disney movie is Cinderella and her favorite character is Pluto as seen above!
Next up is the love of my life, don't worry I won't refer to him as that throughout the trip report, you can simply know of my DH as Lucas. He's been a little slow to come around to the Disney obsession but I'm confident that he's finally hooked! We've been married for 10 years this October! (No Disney anniversary trip, he won't go for it, but we are going to New Orleans!)
Lucas is 37 years OLD (it's always nice to call him old...makes me feel better). This was his 5th trip to WDW and with each trip he falls more and more in love. My master plan is working!!! Because I suppose it falls under the realm of Disney now, his favorite Disney movies are the Star Wars movies and his favorite character is Chewbacca. (Spoiler alert - they meet later and it is AMAZING!)
Next up is yours truly...that's me...Ashley! Or Ashleymrush here on the boards. My screen name is so originall Lol! So here I am in my most basic form:
I am 33 years old and have been a Disney fan my whole life. I went for the first time when I was 4 and I only remember being scared to death of Tigger but I must not have been too scared because I keep coming back. As you can tell by my TR title, this is my 20th trip. It was supposed to be my 19th but I'll explain later how it became the 20th. I am a high school history and government teacher of 11 years now. My favorite Disney movie is The Little Mermaid and my favorite character is the main man (or mouse) himself, Mickey! My classroom is decked out in all things Mickey. My students buy me little Mickey's to put in my room. Last I counted I had over 25 and it's growing every year. This year I had the students in the National Art Honors Society paint a giant mural of Mickey saluting the American flag in my classroom and I am in LOVE with it! (Don't tell Disney...I don't want to get sued...it'll be our little secret). That's enough about me, let's finish up these intros.
Next up is my little brother, Dawson.
He's the one in the front next to John. He's almost 16 years old and will be a junior in high school this year. This means I could be his teacher! This was his 10th trip to Disney. He loves it as much as the rest of us. His favorite Disney movie is Up and his favorite character is Dug. It's cute because he is still a Boy Scout (going for his Eagle soon) so Up seems to be the most appropriate movie for him.
Now it's time to give the intros to the my boys! First up is my first born, Brody.
Brody turned 8 on this trip and is entering the 2nd grade this year! This is his 2nd trip to WDW and he's already got the bug. I'm definitely creating two little Disney monsters. Brody is an incredibly sweet, shy and sensitive boy but when he's at Disney he comes out of his shell a bit and it makes me so happy. His favorite Disney movie (this week) is Moana and his favorite character is Baymax. We do lots of fist bumps in our house!
Last but not least, is my youngest son, Jackson (remember...the cute one from the picture above) Here he is cheesin' as usual.
Jackson will be 5 in July so we can basically say he's there already. This is also his 2nd trip. Last time we went he was almost 2 (hints the name of my first TR) and even though everyone said that he'd never remember that trip, it was amazing how much he did remember. To those people though, I always say those memories were for me, not for him. Jackson is the opposite of Brody. He's energetic, crazy, and loves attention. He'll likely be my trouble maker. His favorite Disney movie is also Moana and his favorite character is Goofy.
So, I know that was a long-winded introduction but now you know the whole troop! I hope you are as excited as I am to follow along on our magical adventures. I'll try to get the first official post up this weekend or Monday at the latest.
Please join and enjoy.
Last edited: