Laura C. & Family - January 2006

Somehow.I'm not sure how, this has become less of a trip report and more of a trip blog. And in case you didn't know already, BLOG stands for Brave Laura Organizes Gatherers.

Yes, really.

Our story begins like this:

FEBRUARY 27, 2006
My birthday is in October, but I've already decided that I want to celebrate at WDW this year surrounded by my favorite people, and I want it to be a celebration to remember. In fact, since my niece's birthday is 11 days after mine, let's make it a double celebration. Two Disney birthdays for the price of one! That's not asking much, is it? So I asked the burning question:

Me:"Hey, who wants to go to Disney for mine and Erica's birthdays? Everyone Else:"I do! I do!"

That was easy. Sometimes you DO get what you want!

I officially christen the group The Grand Gatherers (because my nephew thought it was super cool that there's enough of us to qualify as a Grand Gathering) and go into in Planning Mode. I love Planning Mode. I'm a born planner. Just leave everything to me. Resort reservations, ADRs, who buys which silly hat, what days we'll go to what park, what character T-shirts to wear, etc. I have seven months. Planning Heaven!

Whaddaya mean I'm a Planning Nazi? That's so harsh!

Accurate, but harsh.

OK, this is me backing off. YOU choose the resort (and don't forget you have to please 10, count 'em 10, very different people). Do you want to have breakfast at the Castle? Don't forget you have to be on the phone 180 days in advance to get the ADR. Whaddaya mean what's an ADR? The Mad Hatter hat or the gold Mickey ears? Magic Kingdom on Monday? The Eeyore or Grumpy shirt on Epcot day? And you only have seven months to get it all together!

What's that? You want ME to do the planning? Well, if you insist! (Insert Maleficent laughter here.my evil plan worked!!)

Wait.

You don't know who the Grand Gatherers are, do you?

Well, without further ado, allow me to introduce the (fanfare) cast:

Initially, I thought it'd be really nifty to give everybody a Disney name based on his or her character traits. Cute idea, maybe, but I'd prolly lose my mind trying to remember who's who, so everyone will henceforth be called by his or her real name.

But just for giggles, here's how it could've been:

THE ADULTS (Oh, who am I kidding) THE OVER 18s

Trudy (a.k.a Mom, Nanny) Fairy Godmother (she makes dreams comes true!)
Laura (a.k.a Me, Lauri, Aunt Lauri, The Diva) Tink of course!
Billy (my cousin-in-law) Grumpy (he wanted to be Goofy, but.umm.no)
Troy (my BIL) Goofy (he wanted to be Captain Jack Sparrow, but Gawrsh!)
Dani (my cousin) Mickey (she personifies (mousifies?) all things Disney)
Lisa (my sister) The White Rabbit (She's late, she's late.ALWAYS late!)

THE KIDS
Izzi13 - Cheshire Cat (yep, she's a sneaky one) Erica13 - well, almost.this is her birthday trip)Stitch (mischievous!) Jackson11 - Dash Incredible (now you see him.hey, where is he??) Lilli9 - The Evil Queen (or so she says...I thinks she's really Nemo)

Now, back to planning.

Wait.

Again.

Ummm.. Let me 'splain something here. I can plan everything to my little heart's content, including what time we're going to be on Splash and how long it will take to walk from there to the Trading Post, where we'll spend exactly 21 minutes looking at pins. The reality is that there is NO WAY my family would tolerate it. There would be a mass revolt and a successful Coup to overthrow The Diva. They'd put my (gasp) BABY SISTER in charge and throw me in the (very clean and tastefully decorated) dungeon in Cinderella Castle, where I'd be tortured by a never ending loop of Minnie Mouse giggling (I'm sorry, but is that not the most annoying sound in the world?) and the lure of a Dole Whip sitting just out of reach of my tingling taste buds. Truthfully, we're the Mosey Your Way Around the World type.

But the planning is FUN!!

FIRST STEP
The Internet. I love the Internet. The Internet led me to my very own Fairy Godmother, a TMFL travel agent named Debbie. I adore Debbie. Debbie is patient. Debbie is kind. Debbie knows lotsnlots of things about planning a WDW vacation. I would vote for Debbie for President. Or Queen of Everything. Or Goddess. Debbie ROCKS! She's been absolutely wonderful, and I haven't even officially booked the trip yet. (I'm booking next week!!!!) She is officially dubbed Her Supreme Majesty President Goddess (HSPMPG) Debbie.

SECOND STEP

I've been fortunate enough to stay at the Contemporary, the Grand Floridian (SO chi-chi-poo-poo.definitely not the best choice for this gang of hooligans), and the Dolphin/Swan (not enough Mouse in that house for me!), but it's going to be a moderate for us, so I read, looked at pictures, and asked questions on the DIS. Lemme tell you, people are serious about which resort they think is best.

And I mean REALLY serious.

Anyhoo, I checked out all the moderates and got the scuttlebutt that CBR is the poor man's Poly, and POR is the poor man's GF. Only at WDW would $175 per night be a poor man's anything. Ya gotta love it. So, I narrowed it down to these two resorts.

Here's a secret: Deep in my heart, I'm Scarlet O'Hara. Only nicer. Truly. I'm a hoop wearin', mint julep drinkin', let's go to Twelve Oaks for a barbecue, eyelash flutterin' suthan belle. And I want to stay in a beautiful mansion on the Sassagoula River, call everybody honey and ya'll, take carriage rides at twilight and work my feminine wiles on all the bucks in the county.

In spite of my antebellum fantasy, or maybe because of it, I sat off for the Happiest Place on Earth in search of the ever-elusive Perfect Resort.

To be continued...
Next: Flamingos, The Safari Sprint and Muddy Elephant Butt

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