Silly, the Forgotten Dwarf

[Silly Words Wanted]

Greetings and salutations all DVCers and lurkers alike. I am a recent DVC member, and I stumbled upon this board while preparing for the imminent fun-making that I was promised would occur shortly after joining up. This is my first “informative” post, but I’ve lurked for a bit (or rather, my wife has), so I’m a little familiar with the landscape here, but only slightly. Already I can tell there are a lot of folks here that clearly know what they are talking about with insightful tips on how to avoid looking like an alien from Obirx while staying at “The World”. Now that I am officially a member, I’ve decided to chime in with my own experiences as a green-horned noobie. (Sounds like a bird variety you’d find in the Tiki Room)

This may seem like a great plan; however, I am a really boring subject to write about. About the most exciting thing that thrills me is whether or not I’ll get a free DVC cap to save my poor sun-burnt scalp while performing my “feats of strength” during “Ridiculous DVC member game-show Wednesday” (or so I’m told that these things may exist). It really isn’t hard to impress me. . . do you really want to hear how “magical” I thought the folded-up towel elephant left on the back of the toilet in Animal Kingdom Lodge on the third night of my stay was while I provide a detailed four-page step-by-step analysis as I painstakingly reverse-engineered every fold and twist of the silly thing?

Certainly not.

Even the most steadfast Mouselovers and ultra-Mickey-nerds who thrive on trip reports and actually have all the math degrees required to fully understand “DVC point-lore” would wish that I fashion some sort of terry-cloth origami noose and use it on myself, thus saving humanity from chronic boredom. :Paranoid:

Alas, I’ve already divulged too much of myself. :zipit:

As a favor to you and all I’ve decided to forego the normal methodology of trip reports and have instead chosen a much more interesting set of people to analyze as they experience their magical moments at WDW and other places while they unsuspectingly drag me along with them, recording their every move. :reporter: I am merely reporting as an observer the experience and in no way will I attempt to participate or intervene (yeah, right). Even if a hungry savannah predator :bounsimba were to suddenly attempt to capture and eat one of the slower members of this small herd of vacationers, I will maintain my aloofness as I attempt to outrun the smaller/weaker children in the group. Therefore, you are guaranteed a subjective analysis as I will only relay the facts and direct quotes of the members of this ill-fated family unit. You can expect wonderful levels of insight as I report such things as:

“The youngest of the group, a young girl-child I have affectionately named ‘Princess Fearless’ (or PF3 for shorthand’s sake) has decided to confide to me that she is ‘Poopy’.” :eek:

Oh yes. Literary GOLD here, folks. Prepare for the worst. (Insert Evil Laughter smiley here)

Please hold your applause and/or disdain until the ride has fully stopped. I’m assuming the crash position as we speak. :innocent:

[greenban]

Greetings and salutations all DVCers and lurkers alike. I am a recent DVC member, and I stumbled upon this board while preparing for the imminent fun-making that I was promised would occur shortly after joining up. This is my first “informative” post, but I’ve lurked for a bit (or rather, my wife has), so I’m a little familiar with the landscape here, but only slightly. Already I can tell there are a lot of folks here that clearly know what they are talking about with insightful tips on how to avoid looking like an alien from Obirx while staying at “The World”. Now that I am officially a member, I’ve decided to chime in with my own experiences as a green-horned noobie. (Sounds like a bird variety you’d find in the Tiki Room)

This may seem like a great plan; however, I am a really boring subject to write about. About the most exciting thing that thrills me is whether or not I’ll get a free DVC cap to save my poor sun-burnt scalp while performing my “feats of strength” during “Ridiculous DVC member game-show Wednesday” (or so I’m told that these things may exist). It really isn’t hard to impress me. . . do you really want to hear how “magical” I thought the folded-up towel elephant left on the back of the toilet in Animal Kingdom Lodge on the third night of my stay was while I provide a detailed four-page step-by-step analysis as I painstakingly reverse-engineered every fold and twist of the silly thing?

Certainly not.

Even the most steadfast Mouselovers and ultra-Mickey-nerds who thrive on trip reports and actually have all the math degrees required to fully understand “DVC point-lore” would wish that I fashion some sort of terry-cloth origami noose and use it on myself, thus saving humanity from chronic boredom. :Paranoid:

Alas, I’ve already divulged too much of myself. :zipit:

As a favor to you and all I’ve decided to forego the normal methodology of trip reports and have instead chosen a much more interesting set of people to analyze as they experience their magical moments at WDW and other places while they unsuspectingly drag me along with them, recording their every move. :reporter: I am merely reporting as an observer the experience and in no way will I attempt to participate or intervene (yeah, right). Even if a hungry savannah predator :bounsimba were to suddenly attempt to capture and eat one of the slower members of this small herd of vacationers, I will maintain my aloofness as I attempt to outrun the smaller/weaker children in the group. Therefore, you are guaranteed a subjective analysis as I will only relay the facts and direct quotes of the members of this ill-fated family unit. You can expect wonderful levels of insight as I report such things as:

“The youngest of the group, a young girl-child I have affectionately named ‘Princess Fearless’ (or PF3 for shorthand’s sake) has decided to confide to me that she is ‘Poopy’.” :eek:

Oh yes. Literary GOLD here, folks. Prepare for the worst. (Insert Evil Laughter smiley here)

Please hold your applause and/or disdain until the ride has fully stopped. I’m assuming the crash position as we speak. :innocent:

Oh My!

I get it, and I like it.

You will fit in here. Well or not, well therein lies the rub. Butfore time and hencewith more posting, the questions posed shall be answered with both verocity and alacrity. Towit: "Neither a DVC borrower or lender be" MacMickey Mouse!

-Tony

Oh and welcome, most welcome good sir, consider the MODs.

[djgrab]

too many big words and colorful adjectives. not used to it here. but interesting. please continue.

[Grandbuddy]

The situation must be addressed forthwith by the smiley authorities. (How does one contact the smiley authorities? I'd also like to report that my smileys keep shifting from place to place, and are therefore hard to find. Am I the only one with shifty smileys? By the way, I typed "shifty" very very carefully!)

[AFMom]

Actually, sadly - I would happily have you show me how to make that towell animal. We recieved a towell sting ray on our first night at Vero Beach - I wouldn't let anyone touch him! He was mine! He stayed on our table all week......
Can't wait to read the reports!

[carolina_yankee]

We reverse engineered an AKL elephant once, too. I remember the legs, but I'm not sure I'd get the trunk and head right. It takes two towels.

See, a lot of us would be interested in such wisdom!

:welcome:

Dirk

[Colorado Belle]

AHA! I video'd my cabin steward making a towel swinging monkey (not swinging ala the 70's sexual connotation,but more as from a tree). It was my favorite towel animal of a 19 day cruise. Of course I saved all my menagerie up until the last day, when they had decidedly run out of towels on my deck level.

Welcome to MO...you'll find bantering humor, or not, on the testosterone MOD thread, and talk about nothing on the Nothing Thread.

[JimP]

Welcome to MO...you'll find bantering humor, or not, on the testosterone MOD thread, and talk about nothing on the Nothing Thread.

Actually... I feel that the MOD thread helps balance out the nothing thread... which seems to have an excess level of estrogen. For some reason, I seem to get abdominal cramps every time I visit that thread.

/Jim

[administrator]

Actually... I feel that the MOD thread helps balance out the nothing thread... which seems to have an excess level of estrogen. For some reason, I seem to get abdominal cramps every time I visit that thread.

/Jim

Do your breasts also swell? And do you get a headache? Oh, and how about chocolate cravings?

[JimP]

Do your breasts also swell? And do you get a headache? Oh, and how about chocolate cravings?

How did you know? I also continually perform involuntary searches for sanitary products... only to find that I am without a handbag.

/Jim

[Silly Words Wanted]

That's hilarious!! I checked out the nothing thread and I didn't notice any ill effects, but it was only a brief visit, so I'm sure no permanent damage was inflicted.

I did, however, request a MOD number. I'm not sure what one of those gets you other than pride and a sense of manly non-conformity. Wait. . . getting assigned a number as a sign of non-conformity? I must re-route my logic circuits on that one and just be happy to be here. :hammer:

[administrator]

How did you know? I also continually perform involuntary searches for sanitary products... only to find that I am without a handbag.

/Jim


Jim -- that's what girlfriends are for. It also explains why we go to the bathroom in groups.

Okay, I'd better stop before I reveal all our secrets....

[bavaria]

Uh oh... I realize now why Jim was confused about my gender... :Paranoid:

I once posted on the MOD thread and was apparently dusted with some of that excess testosterone floating around there :scary:

[AZDVC]

Even the most steadfast Mouselovers and ultra-Mickey-nerds who thrive on trip reports and actually have all the math degrees required to fully understand “DVC point-lore” would wish that I fashion some sort of terry-cloth origami noose and use it on myself, thus saving humanity from chronic boredom. :Paranoid:

Alas, I’ve already divulged too much of myself. :zipit:
:

NO,NO,NO! No nooses! I would have to involuntarily send you for evaluation!
Way too much like my day job.
Welcome Silly Words Wanted, you fit in with us dwarves :jester:.
Patsy

[Silly Words Wanted]

Thank you for all of your kind comments. I really do feel welcome here. I am somewhat amazed to hear of the mutual fascination with terry-cloth origami, so I'll reconsider my position on posting my fold and twist analysis if one ever comes available. If you don’t mind; however, I’ll continue my new DVC owner family here for the time being. . . I’ll provide a little more background information before I start diving into the actual events surrounding this family. . .

Background:

Observing this family of hominid primates in the wild for the past several years, I’ve grown fond of them and have decided to give them each a fitting name. In honor of the Disney dogma, I’ve decided to randomly assign titles of royalty to this otherwise mundane group of hapless individuals. I’ve also decided to assign a useful attribute that sums their personalities up in a single word, thus honoring similar timeless Disney names such as “Goofy”, “Dopey”, “Grumpy”, “Pain” and “Panic”. Perhaps I, too, can trademark a common character flaw like “Bashful” or “Tramp” and make it into a merchandising juggernaut. Alas, I am once again making my aspirations painfully obvious. . .

First, I will attempt to name the father-figure of the group. He seems to have intentions in the right place and seems to mean well, but he all too often blunders unknowingly into situations that are foreign to him and almost always comes out of them knowing less than he did going in. A true specimen of why one should never experiment with drugs and alcohol as a toddler, I name this poor, unfortunate soul: King Silly :bouncehat or KS35 in shorthand to further denote his physical age, despite the fact that psychologically, this individual’s growth has been severely stunted to more resemble that of a common preschooler.

That brings us to the REAL leader of this clan, a very classy, yet formidable woman I shall simply name “The Queen” :maleficen or Q37 for short. Make no mistake, she is the leader and as such, is the most outspoken member of this seemingly mismatched melting pot of personality. Why she hangs around KS35 is beyond this observer’s understanding.

Next in line to the throne is a young, yet depressing lad showing apparent signs of possible brain damage due to his emerging adolescence and undeniable lineage to KS35. I’ve affectionately named him Prince Mopey :eeyore: or PM14. He is a delightful person, but only when he is in direct contact with his girlfriend. All other times for him are spent in utter agony as he awaits the next contact be it the next phone call, text message, email, or smoke signal.

Then there is Princess Clumsy :bouncings or PC13, who would be able to injure herself in a padded room while sleeping. This poor child once attempted to eat a stationary barbecue grill while at a summer daycamp. She’s learned that dropping a bowling ball on her foot is painful. Her statements most often end with “. . .and it hurt really bad.” In order to cure her of this complete lack of coordination, KS35 and Q37 had the bright idea of enrolling her in competitive gymnastics. Three seasons, five broken bones, and many frazzled nerves later, the parents wisely chose to pull her out of competition when the team’s before-meet pep-chant changed from “Go Team” to “Don’t Die, PC13!”

Princess Piglet :eareek: or PP5, on the other hand, is precisely the opposite. She has the grace of a gazelle and the balance of a flock of Spider-monkeys. This is all excellent; however, she is tragically afraid of her own shadow and just about everything else animate or otherwise. She can be seen standing tiptoe on a rocking horse, but after shortly getting off you will see her cowering in fear of said horse because “It looks mad at me.”

Finally, we come to the youngest of the crew, who seems to have decided that all the others in the group have all behavioral deficiencies covered, so she has nothing to worry about. She has decided to be the intrepid one of the gang, venturing to where even Q37 refuses to set out, aptly gaining her the moniker “Princess Fearless” :bouncstit or PF3. She doesn’t have the grace of her older sister, but to make up for it, she has the ability to scream in the exact resonating frequency to shatter diamonds.

There is the family of six in a nutshell, which is an apt metaphor for this group.

As always, thanks again for reading.

[tammymacb]

Joining in and waiting for the next installment..:jumpingbe

[MadHatter's House]

:hahahaha:

[Silly Words Wanted]

First of all, a note of apology for two reasons: First, I apologize for the long delay between posts, but other endeavors have stepped in my way and I'm terrible at prioritizing things. Second, I apologize for the length of this installment. When asked to describe myself in three words, I simply say "Need more words". I cannot and will not ever be able to consisely say anything, so there you go. . . (as testament to this, the original post for this was longer than the 10,000 character limit and had to be broken up) :faint:

On with the show, apologies notwithstanding. . .

CHAPTER ONE: IT BEGINS!

The drive to Schaumburg was a little over two hours away. :coolcar: It was clear to KS35 that this destination, strategically located in the largest Mall in the Chicagoland area, was pre-determined as was the outcome, but the Queen allowed him the guidance to think that it was all his idea. The house that they were leaving was adorned with just about everything Mickey-shaped to a point somewhere between casual idolatry and abject unhealthy cult worship. :earboywav In truth, if the Disney Icons and Mickey scalps strewn about the household were replaced with religious symbols, you would be certain that this family was extremely devout and indeed bound for heaven in the afterlife. :ang2: As the case may be, this family’s destination is clearly more immediate and tangible, and sadly, less permanent.

The drive proved uneventful in the summer afternoon, which is just as well because getting to the Woodfield mall took about as much time as it took to find a parking spot. But find one they did, and despite settling to park on the apparently less-desirable upper deck of the parking garage, it turned out to be exactly what the Queen had anticipated: a front-door entrance to the Doorway to Dreams.

By this time, PP5 and PF3 were anxious to get the heck out of the Family Transport Unit (i.e. minivan), and didn’t seem to care where they were going anymore. The other two were completely unaware of their parent’s motives until they saw the life-sized plaster Goofy frozen in place with an obviously hastily packed suitcase and a golf bag with three clubs in it, one of which donning a mickey-shaped protective cover. PM14 amusingly suggested this cover looked like Goofy had enough of this whole ordeal and cooked Mickey to a crispy charred shell and stuck him in the bag to make a quick getaway. :eareek:

KS stifled a chuckle, despite himself, and instead ushered his miscreant son away from the display admonishing him for his blatant disrespect of Mickey in his own backyard. :tsktsk: Granted, this store is more akin to a colonial outpost or possibly an embassy for a foreign government, but regardless, expansion is inevitable, and the laws of the land cease to exist when another power is clearly in effect. I’m certain that there is a Book of Disney Law somewhere, and in that ledger, Rule Number 2 most likely reads: “Thou shalt not disrespect the Mouse while in the midst of his kingdom and ever-expanding empire.” Of course, Rule number 1 is “All the following rules are subject to change without applied logic, reason, or anything resembling advanced notice.” :Paranoid:

Oh there I go again. Forgive me, I believe I just violated Rule #3. “No Whining.” Again, I stray from the topic at hand. . .

By now, savvy to the plans of the parents, the older two kids give in with surprisingly little grumbling as the younger two exclaim their excitement at seeing Goofy with his char-grilled golf-mate. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist) :duck: No time for pictures or cute “Disney Magical Moments” now, the Queen was on a mission and the family was soon swept into the model “living room” set in the décor of African Safari Village, complete with a backdrop of Savannah creatures (sans the predatorial types), and with the added ambiance of a large lcd flat screen high-definition television playing incessant and seemingly random snippets of strange people telling whoever will listen to them that making the decision to buy into DVC was the best decision they ever made and every time someone refuses to join, some small child in some remote foreign place kicks a puppy. . . :headscrat

OK, so the part about the kid kicking a puppy is totally made up, but the repeated onslaught of “Drink the Kool-Aid” chatter was a bit overbearing. Thankfully, the guide caught the gist that plenty of the Kool-aid had already been consumed prior to arriving and this party of revelers was already well-enough inebriated to begin the tour without too much of a delay. The family was offered beverages (not Kool-aid, thankfully), which everyone selected something, save the Queen, who was mentally calculating her next move while the others in the clan remained painfully oblivious.

The offer was made to separate the kids and let them play in a room filled with toys and games (and a Nintendo Wii) that quickly had them out of the collective hair of the “decision-makers”. Clearly this was a divide-and-conquer maneuver, but what the heck, when a Wii is in play, being conquered rocks. :dancingba

[Silly Words Wanted]

The first room on the tour was the room the family had just left, the “living room with the kitchen attached. Very nice. The fridge and full stove rivaled what the clan had at home, albeit the fridge is clearly smaller.

The next room was the first bedroom, which was officially known as the “Master bedroom”. The pair looked at the décor appreciately and KS made the off-color suggestion that the room clearly was the one “where the REALMagic happened”. KS was answered with a cold, disapproving look and a nudge in the midsection from Q37.

Yes, the décor was clearly themed with African-safari in mind, but it was very nice and a mosquito net would have looked quite out of place, even with the mock-patio door opened to a view of giraffes nibbling on a tree in the background. The bed was king-sized with a striped-patterned bed spread with all sorts of details in it that also clearly had an African feel to it. The bed was facing an armoire with a very large flat-screen television. The two nightstands had lamps on them with the curious addition of what appeared to be ostrich eggs in them. I can only assume no actual ostriches were harmed in the making of this replica-villa, but we all know how Disney clings to its “authenticity” so all thoughts of these poor ostrich eggs being tragically separated from their homes kept resurfacing. :tearsaref

Then there was the bathroom.

Oh yes. The bathroom. :toiletcla

If the family household had a similar bathroom, there would be no need for a vacation. The shower was impressive, large enough to sleep all seven dwarves, with the possible exception of Bashful who doesn’t handle cuddle-parties so well. There were animals frolicking in the classic “Lion King sunset” in the tile border at around eye-level. The double vanity and strategic placement of random towel-origami animals were also welcome surprises. I was totally engrossed (oh how they taunted me) and almost forgot myself as the family began to move onto other rooms. . . (I mean, honestly, these animals even had little plastic “cartoon eyes” attached to them in the appropriate places! I longed to move them to inappropriate places, but I was on a mission!)

We once again were ushered past the poor estranged ostrich progeny. . .

Back to the main room again where a washer and dryer were tucked away across from the kitchen. KS seemed somewhat astonished; however, the Queen was not at all surprised, but still appreciative and interested to note that there was a high chair stowed away in the closet. PF3 had long declared a personal war on such devices that determined that she was still a “baby”, so this was a nice touch, but clearly would be staying in the closet. PF3 is “not a baby” and will accost anyone or anything who suggests otherwise. Regardless, the presence of these unmentionable items indicated an attention to detail that was not lost on the party at hand.

Then came the second bedroom, with a kitchenette adorned with a microwave which is perfect for teenagers who are adept at such devices, but not so much with more conventional means. (PC13 once set the kitchen on fire in a proud display that even water can somehow become flammable!) :scary: The Queen glibly noted this room was a “lockoff room” in case anyone needed “locking off”. This was followed with a few chuckles and uncomfortable silence from the guide, who suddenly began pointing out the hidden mickeys in the carpeting and bedspreads of the two queen-size beds in the room.

Actual guide quote: “And in the corners of the armoire (with this huge frickin' TV in it) there is a design (three unconnected swirlies) that I’m told is also a Hidden Mickey!” (Uhhh. Yeah. If that's the case you should see all the hidden Micks in my morning Cheerios!)

You have to admire the art of distraction at Disney.

Onto the real business end as conversations began to go back and forth between the Queen and the guide in a rapid fire pace that I was barely able to comprehend. KS spent the time examining the swirlies in the armoire. The fuzzy logic of “point values” and “use-years” hovered around the room like a dense fog :smoke2:, which had a sedative effect on me as I longed to leave this party and begin my report on the happenings of the Wii Tennis tournament happening a room over.

This was all brief musing; however, as we quickly found ourselves leaving this fog-laden, Mickey-infested room, heading towards the business conference room. On the way, Q37 inquired about “the worst-kept secret” that was soon to be divulged, at which the guide was not-surprisingly knowledgeable, although reluctant to mention anything by name in apparent fear that giant cartoon anvils would immediately befall her. Alas, some suspicions were apparently confirmed, but they still seemed to be speaking in a foreign language that would seem more at home in the long moving walkway while exiting Space Mountain. :idontgeti

The two were ushered into a room in which I, as a casual recorder of truth, was not allowed to pry inside, despite my best tantrums. :grrrrr: The room wasn’t totally sealed off as the walls didn’t quite reach all the way to the ceiling. I pondered about this as I was able to overhear discussions in other rooms not associated with this family. Perhaps this is also a technique to allow people a chance to eavesdrop while forgetting to discuss their own issues at hand. Regardless, the technique must have worked as the decision going in was to “just see about signing up for the initial 100 points to get started” and the decision after leaving the room was to go ahead and get the 160 points to get the developer points, with KS smiling inwardly as if it was his idea the whole time.

A plethora of “goodies” was brought in to help affirm that they did-in fact buy “something” and soften the blow that they were perhaps making a silly financial decision. The goodies included six mouse scalps (the home needed more of these, don’t you know!) with the “Doorway to Dreams” logo on them, a large totebag with the DVC logo, two dufflebags, several luggage tags of different types, two travel mugs with the D2D logo (Did I just make up an acronym?), coloring books and stickers for the small kids, a DVC Christmas ornament from the previous year, and a line of applauding DVC guides exclaiming “Welcome Home” as the whole clan left the store after retrieving the children who were engaged in an apparently important Wii Tennis death match with PC13 emerging as the last one standing.

The family then proceeded to the Rainforest Café, which is yet another story altogether. . .

Alas, I will enjoy following this hapless crew for years to come. If not educational, at least this should prove entertaining.

Join me next time, when we see the family of “Sillies” attempt at making their first reservations!

[Grandbuddy]

The day may come when her highness will not appreciate your broadcasting her age (or at least that is my assumption, based on the other family members' appellations). Perhaps you could simply bestow an unchanging honorific number - for the queen, I recommend #1 - as we do in the MODs.

[Plutofan2]

Welcome and we look forward to the next installment... Can't wait for the actual trip chapter...

[MadHatter's House]

The day may come when her highness will not appreciate your broadcasting her age (or at least that is my assumption, based on the other family members' appellations). Perhaps you could simply bestow an unchanging honorific number - for the queen, I recommend #1 - as we do in the MODs.

Her age may not be as much a bone of contention as using :maleficen unless she is the type that would find that a compliment. But still GB is right, approaching 40 she probably is getting a bit self-conscious about age. (With a DH like you acknowledging her as a queen, she has it made though ;) )

Sitting back, waiting for the next installment...:corn:

[Silly Words Wanted]

I see your point and I might tweak the nomenclature as my reporting gets more refined.

The Queen is aware of these reports, however, and even self-assigned :maleficen as her iconic representative, largely because she thinks that the whole "Sleeping Beauty" thing was mostly a big misunderstanding. Her "birthday gift" was a calculated ploy to have the king outlaw all the spinning wheels in town to launch her empire in synthetic fabrics. I mean, do we REALLY know what was in her bubbling cauldron? :scratchch

[Silly Words Wanted]

I noticed that my little thread was almost off the reservation, so I figured that I'd give it a bit of a bump here.

I have been a bit busy lately having joined the MOD squad and doing MODly things over there that my hap-hazard reports on my family have gone untended.

I apologize for this.

However, I will provide an update on the Silly family. . .

We'll have to call it: Chapter 1.5 - Now what?

After leaving D2D and feasting at the Woodfield Mall's Rainforest Cafe (where PP5 was terrified of the animatronic faux leopard despite KS's best efforts to show that it was harmless by attempting to stick his head in its mouth and almost getting tossed out) :eek: Our heroes lumbered their way around about 1/4 of the mall (It's a big mall) and decided to head home.

In the family transport vehicle, the REAL fun began. :drive:

This is how the conversation went. . . (more or less)

Q- So when are we going?
KS - I dunno, I really liked going in October last year.
Q - yeah but we have to see how many points we'd need and. . .
KS - *Snore*
Q - Wake up!!
KS- Sorry, you started to talk about numbers and figures and I lost it.
Q - You want me to drive?
KS- No, I got it.
Q- OK so we would have to get a 2 bedroom. . .
KS - No we don't.
Q- What do you mean?
KS - Leave the kids here. They can fend for themselves.
Q - Tempting, but no.
KS - Oh well, I still wanna go in October.
Q - But we can't take PM14 and PC13 out of school again.
KS - *Expletive deleted*
Q - There's Spring Break, I suppose.
KS - You really wanna wait that long?
Q - No. Then again, I would love to go in June, too, but we have to use our developer points in a year so. . .
KS - Sooo sleepy. . .
Q - Cut that out! How about this? We split up the kids!! Yes that might work!

At that moment, Q37, in a blinding flurry of mind-boggling calculation and deft points-wrangling, somehow derives a rudimentary method of possibly getting THREE trips to Disney inside 1 year!! KS, meanwhile, just drove and grunted with approval.

Upon getting home, the family returned to their normal mundane activities while KS and Q sat down to discuss the plan further. . .

The decision was made to have three totally separate trips! The problem of course is that when you get a family of 6 together, it is hard to accomodate them in nothing less than a 2 bedroom, which eats up points and is generally less available. Also factoring into this decision was that the last time they all went together to WDW, the two toddlers slowed everyone down and could not (or would not in PP5's case) enjoy the same attractions, so the family had to split up at times. Also factored in was the fact that taking the kids out of school was something generally not good to do so early in the year, and voila. . . One trip in October with just the two toddlers. (KS literally jumped for joy) One trip at Spring break for the teens. (The teens jumped for joy) and a third trip where everyone is together again at the beginning of Summer (maybe the last week of May). The points all seemed to work out when you combined the SSR developer points and points that would be attained in December 2008 that could be used anywhere.

By Jove we had a plan. . . And then it came time to implement. . . Which is another story. . .

[Grandbuddy]

By the way, when do you sleep? 3:03 a.m.!?!?!?

[glypnirsgirl]

I am so glad that I found this thread! I am eagerly awaiting the "trying to get the reservations" installment.

And WELCOME!!!

Elaine

[kellybus]

This is like reading a long book and putting it down and having to pick it up where you left off. Sometimes you have to reread areas to remember what had just happened. It's great maybe we could get someone to publish it??? NAAAA!!!! I don't think so.
Can't wait for the next chapter!!:cowboy::cowboy:

[Silly Words Wanted]

Thanks for the kinds words, folks! I work a second shift job, so I'm often returning home at around 1:00 AM, so you will see odd times coming from me.

I promise another "installment" soon, but we lost a computer at the house :computers, down to only one "working" computer and two teenagers in the house addicted to youtube. And life just keeps rolling along. . .:violinist

Anyway, I'll whine in some other thread. Actually, I really don't have that much to complain about. :thumbsup:

[Silly Words Wanted]

I know it has been a long time since my last update, please forgive me.

I will now attempt to describe the Silly Family's success and failure rate of implementing their plan.

We last left our family of vacationers pondering over their options over how to spend their first rounds of points and how to best abuse (er use) their developer points.

It was decided that since the family had gone in October the year prior, that it would "be nice" to see what was available for a trip at that time. Target: first week of October.

The Queen made the first calls to MS and was somewhat discouraged. No two-bedrooms available at SSR for that week (this killed any hope of taking the entire clan) and one bedrooms were not available for all the days. King Silly was consulted and after a minor panic-fest and much paper-sack breathing, KS had an actual good idea for a change. (This fact resulted in Q37 losing consciousness :faint:)

After Q37 was revived from being stupefied, she was excited about this wonderful idea: Since they were taking separate trips with the toddlers anyway, why not just settle on a studio for the days that they have to and then move to a 1BR at the end of the stay to give the family a feel for the differences of the two rooms during the same trip? The catch was, though, that for the first day of the planned trip, nothing was available, but the family was encouraged to keep trying. (which they did for almost two months to no avail.)

Well, now that the first trip was planned, another decision needed to be made. To DDP or not to DDP? With toddlers, there is a fine line. The last trip DDP was used and it ws enjoyed by all! This year with the subtraction of tips and appetizers, it became a bit harder to do. So, KS decided to see what reservations he could get before they decided to do anything. Dining services was called, and KS had a few things on his list that were requested, but not exactly expected to be available:

1) Chef Mickey's
2) Cindy's Table (Notes added in margins next to this by Q37 - "Yeah, right")
3) Akershus Princess Breakfast - (the Pint-size Princesses love mingling with Disney's Princesses)
4) Crystal Palace - Breakfast with Pooh has been a life goal for KS.
5) Hoop de Doo Revue

The end result of the call left KS stunned with excitement. He went 5 for 5 and considered taking a side trip to Vegas.

Yes, Cindy's Table was the dinner-version without the personal visit by Cindy to the table, but the idea of dining inside the castle was too much to pass up. Yes, the Hoop de Doo seats were in the balcony area, but this is the first time for the family, so any seats will be just fine and KS was also surprised to hear that DDP covers all you can drink beer for this. :ale:

Things were shaping up nicely!

The Pint-size Princesses were going to be bombarded with characters! And Q37 and KS actually had a night planned where they could let their hair down a bit and imbibe a little (in moderation of course, to avoid being this guy -> :toiletcla)

With this information, Q37 went into turbo-geek mode and produced 13 spreadsheets determining the comparative costs of using the DDP versus paying for it all with help from DDE, concepts that KS was painfully unedcated in. Everything was considered to calculate the costs: Most of the meals that we chose were buffets, so the loss of the appetizer was not a concern. The Snack credits, the counter credits, the average mass of a turkey leg, the volume of each participant's digestive tract, and how much it would cost if one of the party really did "lose their lunch" whilst riding the teacups. . . everything was there.

Upon the presentation of this rather remarkable feat of anal-retention, KS's eyes glazed over and began to drool, leaving it fully up to Q37 to conclude that the DDP option was actually the way to go. Furthermore, the DDDP was discovered to be even more useful (Anytime you add Deluxe to something, it makes it sound much cooler) and another lunch at the Coral Reef was added.

After eventually giving up on getting a studio for the first day of the trip a pretty good deal was found to stay at the POP Century for the first night for much less than anticipated.

Add to all this one night of MNSSHP, it looks like I'm going to be typing a ton in a future trip report for a trip that is now scheduled to begin in less than 2 weeks!!!

:jumpingbe

:bunny: :dancingba :goob:

[Silly Words Wanted]

The Silly Family is heading home for the first time this weekend, but I have a general question about where and how to post the trip reports. . .

Should I continue posting them all in this thread and get it moved to the trip reports section or should I start a new thread and let this thread fall away and eventually get deleted?

Not sure. I know you can change the thread title by changing the title of the first post, so I could do that with every trip I take, making this thread a long family chronicle, but I'm not sure if that is the spirit of these things.

At any rate, I plan on recording everything I can for this first trip with the Silly Family :reporter: and will hopefully come back recharged and ready to roll out some more chapters for life at Disney!

[Silly Words Wanted]

Lucky me, I made it under the bell!

Well, I do plan on providing a trip report for the Silly Family, but I wanted to make sure that this thread didn't "bite the virtual dust".

I put a miniature TR in haiku form in a haiku thread, but that really doesn't count, although it is a good start.

I've decided to start a new thread in the actual trip report section with a reference to this thread for family history if anyone feels inclined to decipher the family acronyms.

At any rate, I just wanted to check in after my miniature hiatus. I'm such a terrible reporter.

One thing of note: I sadly had no real towel animal creatures to reverse engineer this time around. I was shocked! There was this little washcloth bunny thing in the window at the Pop where we stayed for one night, but I left him alone and unmolested.

Maybe next time.

[Grandbuddy]

But I'm relieved you left him unmolested.

[Silly Words Wanted]

Well, PF3 did manage to pull his eyes off once or twice, but for the most part, no bunnies were harmed in the making of the vacation.