Stormtroopers Stole My Christmas--*UPDATED 07/02/17!*--Pg. 10

Britbrie

In love with Stitch!
Joined
Nov 11, 2007
Hello everyone!! My name is Brittney, and this is my third TR on the Dis!

So first things first, let's talk about meeee!

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I am 27 years old, and I am in my first year of Law School! I have been going to WDW since I was 5 years old, and don't plan on stopping anytime soon. I have a Bachelor's degree in History, and work in a frame shop when I'm not crazy busy studying or reading cases.

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Up next is my mom, Michele. She is a teacher, and can notoriously be seen around WDW making teacher faces at misbehaving kids... kidding. She does make teacher faces at my dad and I though. :p She loves Stitch, and her favorite ride is Pirates of Caribbean.

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My dad, Billy, has been working for a major oil company for over 20 years. He loves Disney history, and classic Disney rides. He loves the Liberty Belle Steamboat, and the Magic Kingdom train. He's up for a Disney trip anytime I can convince my mom to go!

This trip, like my most recent others in 2013 and 2014, was not easy to make happen for several reasons. First of all, Law School is expensive. With tuition, books, and other miscellaneous expenses I accrue throughout the semester, there isn't too much left over for me to convince my parents to pay for a trip to Disney. However, there is no doubt in my mind that I am meant to be an attorney... as you will see in a minute. Another reason Disney trips are hard for us to take is everyone's schedules don't always mesh up.

However we were all due for a vacation, as 2016 was not the greatest. In August, there was some pretty bad flooding that took place in Louisiana. Many of my friends lost everything they owned, and had to evacuate their homes rapidly. It was a scary few days, and my family even had a close encounter as we thought we were next to be evacuated. We were so lucky, as our home was spared, but unfortunately we lost my grandma a few days after the flooding. August was an awful month, so we all decided we needed a vacation.

These pictures are from a quick trip for supplies mom and I took right before the flooding got bad.

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After Halloween, I was determined to convince my mom and dad to take a trip to WDW. They were reluctant and gave a few no's before I worked my magic.

One night, we are eating dinner... and I get on the My Disney Experience App just to play around with dining reservations, when I stumble across a Be Our Guest Dinner reservation. I quickly booked it, and announced "heyyyy I just got a BOG dinner reservation, those are hard to get!"

Mom responds, "omg, what else do they have that week."

See what I did here people? I sparked up the interest...

To be continued.
 
Following along! Can't wait to read more :cool1:

What a great way to convince your parents to want to go to WDW! I may have to try this in the near future :laughing::laughing:
 
love that you book BOG to get it all rolling, I just booked V&A and have not told DH yet, I like keeping a little surprise, he does know about out trip.
 


Hi there! I'm in Louisiana, just outside of BR in Port Allen! We didn't flood but also had many friends and family who did. It's been tough for them. So sorry about the loss of your grandmother as well:-(

Looking forward to more!
 


Following along! Can't wait to read more :cool1:

What a great way to convince your parents to want to go to WDW! I may have to try this in the near future :laughing::laughing:

Thanks for joining! Yes, it was clever and successful! We had been trying to get BOG reservations for a long time... it was pure luck! lol.

Coming in!

:welcome:

love that you book BOG to get it all rolling, I just booked V&A and have not told DH yet, I like keeping a little surprise, he does know about out trip.

Ohhhhh V&A will be so nice!! That will be a great surprise!

Hmmmm... I have been trying to find an excuse to "squeeze" in an extra trip this year. Wonder if that would work....

Haha, it's worth a shot!! Thanks for reading!

Following x

Yay, thank you for reading!

Hi there! I'm in Louisiana, just outside of BR in Port Allen! We didn't flood but also had many friends and family who did. It's been tough for them. So sorry about the loss of your grandmother as well:-(

Looking forward to more!

Oh gosh, I'm glad y'all were okay. Sorry to hear about your friends and family's homes. Thank you, she was an amazing woman. Thanks for joining in, I'm happy to have a fellow LA resident read my TR!
 
With the excitement of BOG reservations, I knew I couldn't lose momentum! I quickly made a few other ADRs, and then began to price up hotels and tickets.

Mom agreed, and Dad was on board (well, he wasn't really given a choice... haha).

I WAS GOING BACK TO DISNEY!!!!!!

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Mom handed me her credit card (dangeroussss), and I booked us a 5 day Christmas extravaganza at the Pop Century.

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We had stayed at Pop for our 2014 Christmas trip, and while it wasn't my first choice it would suffice. A few days passed, and I began to come up with a few more prices of other hotels.

I compiled my research and quotes, and hit my mom with the proposition while on our way to dinner one night. It went something like this...

Me: "Hey mom, did you know that Port Orleans isn't THAT much more a night..."
Mom: "How much more?"
Me: "Well, its a little bit more but it's worth it."
Mom: "Nice try."

So, that was a no go. Luckily, I don't settle! (Attorney humor... hahaha. I'm a nerd).

A few more days passed when I received a letter in the mail from the Mouse! I was so excited, only to see it was notification of Pop's impending refurbishment during our stay. Sure, I already knew about this and of course it was only on the 80's pool while we were there, but there was my selling point!

Me: "Hey, did ya'll know that they are doing a refurb on Pop while we are there?"
Mom: "Oh really? Well it will be okay, we don't spend much time at the hotel anyhow."
Dad: "I'm on vacation, I've spent enough time looking at construction of all of these flooded houses."
Mom: "Okay, let's change it then."

My persuasion skills are good. :p

After the approval to change hotels, I called Disney and boy was it a struggle to change the reservations! The poor guy on the phone had no idea what I was trying to switch to, and simply kept telling me there were no rooms available during that time. Finally, we were booked in a Standard view Port Orleans Riverside room.

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With that all settled, I finished making my dining reservations and fast pass picks! Unfortunately, my celebration was short lived as finals were approaching. I then realized that my vacation was so short, and it would be nice to add a couple more days... so I went to work.

Me: "Heyyyy mom, you know its going to be so fast paced to do Disney in 4 days..."
Mom: "No."

She was on to my game. I moved on to Dad.

Me: "Dad, let me tell you about our fast pass and ADRs I have so far."
After telling him...
Dad: "We are only going for 5 days???"
Me: "Yes, I think we should add two more so that we have a week. It's not much more."
Dad: "Well, talk to your mom."

I told mom. She still wasn't budging. Dad got involved, and I was on the phone with Disney. However, there were no openings at POR. No problem... Caribbean Beach it is!

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See why I chose the right career path?!

Finally, the trip plans were set!

WHEN: December 22-29, 2016
WHERE: Caribbean Beach Resort
WHY: We needed a vacation!
HOW: Brittney's awesome persuasion skills!

Up Next: Travel Day/EPCOT/Sweating Issues
 
Following along! You are my type of girl with all these negotiations, lol. Sorry to hear about all the bad 2016 experiences! Hopefully pixie dust in 2017 will change things
 
Following along! You are my type of girl with all these negotiations, lol. Sorry to hear about all the bad 2016 experiences! Hopefully pixie dust in 2017 will change things

Thank you for reading so far! I hope you have a fantastic 2017 as well!!! :)
 
Love the report so far! I love how the trip has already evolved. I'm in my third year of law school and planning a WDW trip for the day after graduation before Bar Prep starts. It is partly for me, and partly a gift to my kids and husband for tolerating my crazy life the last 2.5 years.

I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!
 
Love the report so far! I love how the trip has already evolved. I'm in my third year of law school and planning a WDW trip for the day after graduation before Bar Prep starts. It is partly for me, and partly a gift to my kids and husband for tolerating my crazy life the last 2.5 years.

I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

That is so awesome!! Congratulations on how far you have come!! You will most definitely need a vacation after your last semester, law school is no joke!
Thank you for reading so far :)
 
Joining in. Your title caught my interest and I am enjoying all your negotiating with your parents. :)
 
In the days leading up to the trip, I kept myself busy working and crafting.

First I made door identifiers with our names on them. I cut the card stock on my cricut, laminated them, and then glued magnets.

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Next, I made a few t-shirts. One for our Be Our Guest Dinner, and the other for Christmas Day!

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Finally, I decorated my magic band with cute vinyl snowflakes and rhinestones.

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After all of my crafting and working the week leading up to the trip, I found myself rushing to pack the night before... Shocker.
I went to bed around midnight, and struggled to fall asleep. Around 5 am I was abruptly awoken by my dad to hurry up and get ready so we didn't miss our flight. What can I say, Princesses require beauty sleep. :p

We packed our bags in the car, and drove an hour to the New Orleans International Airport.
Meanwhile, I took a car selfie.

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It was still ridiculously early, and we had a lot of time to kill so we took our time making our way to security.
 
By the time we made it through security I was starving. Mom and I realized we had about three hours before our plane left, so we went to grab some breakfast.

The NO airport isn't that large and the Southwest terminal has limited options breakfast wise. We stopped at our old standby Zatarain's Kitchen, which serves cajun style food and po-boys.

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I decided to get the biscuits and gravy, which weren't the best. The gravy had some weird shaped meat, and a weird taste. I ended up scraping most of the gravy off in order to just eat the biscuits.

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Mom got the breakfast platter, which she enjoyed.

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After our breakfast we walked around the shops for a little bit, and then it was time to board the plane!
Midway through we were served our in-flight snacks and beverages.

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Helloooooo Florida!!!

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It took forever to get off of the plane due to all of the carry-ons, and I was ready to get to WDW!!! I rushed my parents off of the plane and to Disney's Magical Express!!! Not before a quick airport lobby pic

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Joining in! We were there Nov 30th - Dec 8th and I still haven't even started a TR yet...not sure if I'll get there :P

Wasn't WDW amazing during the holidays? Looking forward to reading about ya'lls trip!
 

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