Our 2nd Anniversary Disneymoon - Aug. 30 to Sept. 6! *We're home! 9/7*

[DisneymoonJess07]

So, I guess it is unofficially official. :lol: Why is that? Well, because today I bought the UNofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2009, because my wonderful DH decided that he, too, would like a Disneymoon. Well, at least, he can't think of anything better and he knows how much this means to me. :lmao:

I have read many trip reports and pre-trip reports, and I have really enjoyed them, especially the ones that are for people going around the same time period as we are. So, I thought I would share our journey, and more importantly, get advice from the many, many, many DISers that are more experienced at this than I am! It will also give me an outlet aside from DH, who is still learning to be enthusiastic about WDW. More on that in a moment...

Anyway, this will be my fifth time at WDW, and second time staying on site. My very first trip was in 1991, when I was only six years old. We stayed at a Days Inn, and had one very memorable morning when I lost my second tooth while trying to chew our pancakes for breakfast. It was a memorable way to lose that tooth. It was especially memorable since my family didn't live in America at that point (my family is from South Africa). It was part of a longer trip to Florida to see my mom's sister who married an American, and who was very excited to have us stay for a long vacation.

A few years later we moved to Canada, and we went to Disney as part of another visit to my aunt in Florida. We had a great time, but it was seriously difficult to go back to cold Canada after our time in Florida!! My mom vowed not to do that to us anymore, but we only ended up in Canada for three years.

We went back to see my aunt and do Disney for Spring Break again in 1996, when we were now living in the US. Unfortunately, my parents had decided to take me out of school for a few days on either end of Spring Break, and my English teacher decided that this clearly meant that my parents cared nothing for my education and took it out on me. He and I never really liked each other (he was my teacher again in eighth grade for English AND social studies) but it didn't overshadow our trip. What I do remember, very plainly, was the PINK CASTLE!!! I remember not expecting it, and as much as it was kind of horrendous looking, I am glad I got to see that since it was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, and especially since it wasn't my only trip to Disney.

I went again in 1999 with my Show Choir group for a competition at Epcot. We stayed in All-Star Sports (not sure why it wasn't Music, but still) and that was a very interesting experience, especially since I knew a lot more about Disney than a lot of my friends. I loved seeing the new Animal Kingdom park, since I had lived in Africa until I was seven years old, but we were supposed to stay in groups of at least two or three, so I didn't get to stay as long as I would have liked. Plus, we did our performance, practicing, etc, which definitely took up some time. So that was a very interesting experience for me.

Unfortunately, that was my last Disney trip, and it will be over 10 years since my last visit and I am SO EXCITED. :dance3: Looking at the website and my brand new guidebook, there are so many things that are new, AND we are looking at staying at either a Moderate or Deluxe resort (more on that later, I promise).

Now, for the reason that my poor DH has been scarred about Disney? I really and truly love my in-laws. Really. But they have the AMAZING ability to make vacations work. DH hated going to Florida in general before we met because his parents had schlepped him and his brother around and around every time they went down to Florida. The only time DH went to Disney was when he was 15 (1998). They had been to visit the grandparents, and before the trip, the parents had promised that he would get back for New Year's Eve, since his friends were throwing a big bash. The plans were changed against his will at the last minute when they were already in Florida, and he was basically outvoted by his parents and brother. So to Epcot they went for the day.

I found out later from my DMIL, that they had stayed at a motel waaaaaaaay far away from WDW, driven in, eaten in the car (they keep kosher, but even then you could bring food into the park, or found a solution so you didn't have to eat in the car), only had snacks and drinks in the park all day, and then ate again in the car after the park. And then drove again to the motel something ridiculous like 100 miles away. Sounds like a delightful trip for a 16 year old, doesn't it? At this rate, I am kind of amazed that he agreed to it, but a lot of it has to do with how excited I am, and I'm hoping to get him excited as well.

We are almost at the 6 month mark!! To come...the cast of characters and details of our trip (so far)!

:wave: to any visitors who would like to join us on our adventure!

[DisneymoonJess07]

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Denver/IMG_0197-1.jpg
Me (Jessica) - 23/24 at the time of the trip - Four trips to WDW. My favorite Disney princess is probably Mulan. She kicks butt. I am excited by the prospect of maybe seeing her at Akershus (spelling? the place in Norway), but I am not counting on that one. Not sure if I have a favorite princess. I am definitely a planner. I planned our wedding (with a lot of input from DH) and I am actually a moderator on a Wedding Planning message board (PM me if you're interested in chatting weddings!). I also love scrapbooking and the Sims 2 and am active in our synagogue.

In my real life, I work in a non-profit as Assistant Office Manager, which has been interesting, especially on weeks like last week, in which my office mate (the other AOM) was on vacation for two days and then came back with stomach flu so was only in for one day before being out sick for two. I really enjoy the job though, and many of my coworkers make my job a true learning experience in a very good way.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Denver/IMG_0033-1.jpg
DH (Raif) - 26 - The picture above illustrates why I think he will love Disney done right. Anyway, I'd imagine that his favorite Disney thing would be Cars. Yup. Him and the 6 year old boys. :lol: But it's okay.

He also works at a non-profit, as their Operations Manager, which means programming logistics and building management. Our jobs actually overlap in terms of similar responsibilities in different organizations, but not entirely. His is much more hands on in terms of building organization and space usage, unlike mine.

We also have two little parakeets, Dahaba (Goldie in Aramaic) and Atara (Crown in Hebrew). Dahaba is yellow/green in color and Atara has a white spot on the crown of her head, so it made sense to us. Dahaba is 7 and Atara is 2 and they are our babies, although Dahaba was Raif's before we even knew each other. We got Atara together, since Parakeets are flock birds and the previous companion, Nekayva (Lady in Hebrew), had died at the ripe old age of 12.

And that's us! Next up, the details of our trip...to be added tomorrow afternoon on my day off, I think!

[DisneymoonJess07]

About 10 days ago, my parents were in a car accident while they were visiting us. Luckily, everyone was okay, but it meant that their plans for visiting were dramatically changed. The most severe injury was for my mom, who had two black eyes, so she didn't want to go out to dinner on Saturday night as originally planned. My husband and I went to the restaurant we were going to go to and brought the meal to the hotel. Since my parents had a suite, we ate at their dining table and it actually turned out to be a great evening. The quietness of the evening meant that there was a lot of time to talk, and my mom brought up the idea of our honeymoon again. Here my husband and I are, almost 18 months into our marriage and no honeymoon:scared1:

Why not? Well, we were college sweethearts :hug: and when we got married :bride: we had just moved, I had just started a job and Raif was about to start a job. So, we had no money and no vacation time :guilty: Now, it's more of a matter of needing to actually decide on where wanted to go and when and make it happen. :scared:

The biggest challenge is that we keep kosher and so there had to be food available where ever we went. Now, it's pretty easy to find a condo somewhere, buy enough kosher food at a local grocery store (maybe no meat, but pretty much everything else is easy) and make food for a week and stay somewhere very nice. Or there are some really incredibl(y expensive :scared1:) all in one resorts that are kosher and in exotic locations. Neither of these options sounded particularly wonderful.

So, I was doing some searching and found...a hotel nearby Disney that had kosher food. Interesting. But it was more a Universal hotel, and reviews were spotty to find. Not a great solution, but the idea of Disney honeymoon was really worming its way into my mind. So I decided to look up the options. Not only are there at least one counter service restaurant at each park that have kosher food, several of the resorts have kosher food available as well!:woohoo: Then, almost any of the Table Service restaurants can have kosher food at them if you order in advance. Which of course, got me thinking about the DDP, since we would have to have a REALLY set dining schedule for dinners. Which is great for the DDP.

I asked on the Disney website about the dining plan and we are 100% eligible for kosher food, but we have a no-show penalty so they have to take a credit card. Fine with us! DH was hard to convince, but he is slowly, slowly, slowly starting to become excited. :dance3:

Anyway, other details. We are planning, of course, to stay onsite:cheer2: Originally, I thought of AKL, but my friend Erin (whose mom owns DVC so she's been there 198,476,872 times)pointed out that AKL is at the back end of forever in terms of location, and we would only be able to afford a parking view room. Our second option is POR, since it's a beautiful resort and a moderate, and not CBR (TOO BIG) and Erin tells us it's quiet. I want to be able to promise DH some down time and have some relaxing time together as well. If this were any other vacation we would have done Pop Century, but not for our honeymoon! There is nothing wrong with the values, but this is special!

Anyway, aside from that? I'm still working on it!! Any suggestions on Resorts are appreciated!!! :surfweb:

[HeatherBelle614]

Hello! Just subbied!!

I'm glad your parents are OK after their accident!

May I make another suggestion for a resort? Have you checked out POFQ? That's where we stayed on our Disneymoon. It's very small and quiet. They gave us a room at the back (still less than a 5 minute back up-front) that had multiple windows facing the river that runs to DTD. It was never crowded anywhere we went (during June) and the grounds are BEAUTIFUL!! The food court was always quiet, and we always came back to our room to find some little treats from Mousekeeping. (They knew we were on our honeymoon.)

It was the perfect resort; I actually picked POFQ over all of the deluxes because we wanted something small and personal.

[DisneymoonJess07]

Hi Heather!! Lovely to see you!! Any lurkers out there want to say hello?

My mom still has two purple/green eyes but it's getting better she says. I felt so bad since they were visiting us, but it was not anyone's fault (someone pulled out in front of them) and no one was seriously hurt.

I will definitely look into POFQ. It's right next to POR, which is good since POR has the kosher options at the food court. That only matters if we eat lunch at the resort, since breakfast will most likely be in the room or using snack credits (a lot of the prepackaged stuff or fresh fruit is kosher anyway). I love the idea of getting stuff from Mousekeeping...:)

[Mom2Max]

Hi!

Congratulations on your trip!! I'd like to throw one more resort into the mix...CSR. It has newly renovated rooms, Queen beds, and looks very romantic in the pictures. Now that said, I have never stayed there! The resident expert on the boards is Buzz. If you search for CSR, you will find him and his link to his website. It is what convinced me to stay there in September! It's worth lookin' at anyway!! :goodvibes

I'm sure no matter where you stay at Disney, you'll have a amazing time!!!:banana: :banana:

[DisneymoonJess07]

The only problem with Coronado Springs is that there aren't the kosher options for lunch, but I will take a look...I'm always open to suggestions!

[Beka]

Can't wait for more! Great start!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Welcome Beka!!



I think it's interesting that no one is trying to convince me about AKL. Any takers?? ;)

[trinaweena]

I got the link to your PTR (obvisouly) haha

I wish I could give some advice about resorts but we always stay off property...the only Disney resort i've ever stayed at was All Star Music and I don't remember it very well.. In July i'll be staying at Wilderness lodge Villas which i'm super excited about!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Hi Trina! Welcome! :)

I hope you love the Wilderness Lodge Villa!

So, I guess my next question has to do with dining.

Which restaurants (Table Service) do you feel have the best atmosphere (excluding the food)??

[mommytothreeboys]

Hi Jess!!

I was just about ready to turn in for the night when I saw you started a PTR! :woohoo: :woohoo: Count me in!

First, glad to hear your family was not seriously injured. Yikes!

Second, I have a few funny parakeet stories! My DS11 had several..yes...several, cause we don't have very good luck with them. I happen to be terrified of birds...not in the cage, but when they get out and flap around like crazy!:scared1: Anyway...if you ever want a good laugh let me know! (beautiful names for the birds, by the way!)

Third, how cool that you are from South Africa! That must have been a real adventure....awesome life experience!

Ok...the resorts. I have to say I'm partial to POR, but only because it's the only on-site resort I've ever stayed in! :rotfl: The grounds are beautiful, the food court is great.....we LOVE it there. My DH especially liked that it is quiet and a nice "escape" from the overstimulation of the parks! That said....it's your honeymoon, a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Go big or go home! If I could stay in a deluxe I would choose AKL. Just my 2 cents!

Looking forward to being along for the ride. With my trip only 55 days away!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (sorry), it will be nice to have you and some other late summer PTR folks to come back to and share in your excitement!

Ok...really off to bed now....not sure where you are, but I think you're an hour behind me...it's 11:25 here. G'Nite!!:)

[bettyann29]

Hi Jessica.. Im in... I followed you over from my PTR..

First of all Im glad your family is ok.. sorry to hear about the black eyes.. but I guess the good way to think of it is that it could have been worse.. Just glad everyone is ok..

I agree.. there is definitely nothing wrong with the values (we've stayed at them many of times) but you need something special.. :goodvibes

We have only stayed at 2 of the moderates.. POFQ and CBR.. CBR was nice, but it just wasnt really anything special to me.. POFQ on the otherhand was great! I loved everything about it.. it has a small homey feel.. Definitely reminds me of New Orleans.. But I think wherever you go, you will have a great time!!

Cant wait to hear more..

[DisneymoonJess07]

Hi Jess!!

I was just about ready to turn in for the night when I saw you started a PTR! :woohoo: :woohoo: Count me in!

First, glad to hear your family was not seriously injured. Yikes!

Second, I have a few funny parakeet stories! My DS11 had several..yes...several, cause we don't have very good luck with them. I happen to be terrified of birds...not in the cage, but when they get out and flap around like crazy!:scared1: Anyway...if you ever want a good laugh let me know! (beautiful names for the birds, by the way!)

Third, how cool that you are from South Africa! That must have been a real adventure....awesome life experience!

Ok...the resorts. I have to say I'm partial to POR, but only because it's the only on-site resort I've ever stayed in! :rotfl: The grounds are beautiful, the food court is great.....we LOVE it there. My DH especially liked that it is quiet and a nice "escape" from the overstimulation of the parks! That said....it's your honeymoon, a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Go big or go home! If I could stay in a deluxe I would choose AKL. Just my 2 cents!

Looking forward to being along for the ride. With my trip only 55 days away!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (sorry), it will be nice to have you and some other late summer PTR folks to come back to and share in your excitement!

Ok...really off to bed now....not sure where you are, but I think you're an hour behind me...it's 11:25 here. G'Nite!!:)

We are in Central time, so yeah, I think an hour behind you.

It's funny, South Africa doesn't seem like an adventure until you move here and everyone is so in awe. :cool2: I would totally be up for any funny parakeet stories you have. We have many! :laughing:

I've been reading the Unofficial guide and they say that POR & POFQ are actually quieter than AKL...which makes us lean toward POR...but I haven't finished the accomodations section, so we'll see.

I am excited to have your excitement nearby, and then sharing my excitement with you when you get back! We both get to go, so I won't begrudge you getting to go earlier than me ;)

Hi Jessica.. Im in... I followed you over from my PTR..

First of all Im glad your family is ok.. sorry to hear about the black eyes.. but I guess the good way to think of it is that it could have been worse.. Just glad everyone is ok..

I agree.. there is definitely nothing wrong with the values (we've stayed at them many of times) but you need something special.. :goodvibes

We have only stayed at 2 of the moderates.. POFQ and CBR.. CBR was nice, but it just wasnt really anything special to me.. POFQ on the otherhand was great! I loved everything about it.. it has a small homey feel.. Definitely reminds me of New Orleans.. But I think wherever you go, you will have a great time!!

Cant wait to hear more..

We are definitely leaning towards the POR/POFQ option, just because it sonds like it will be quiet (for Disney). It'll depend. Maybe if they do free dining we'll get AKL, since that would basically make up the difference in price. We'll see.

Anyway, I hope you all like my new avatar. I saw another lady with a pixie one (I think the water one whose name I always forget) and I remembered a thing on Disney's pixie hollow website to create your own fairy. So I did that, printed it to PDF and edited the picture to create my avatar. I think she's pretty, and we both have a similar haircut. Time wasting at work, anyone? it didn't take me that long though.

DH and I spent a long time talking about the things I had read in the Unofficial, which was interesting. A lot of the behind the scenes stuff was really neat to DH (i.e. the different kinds of rides and how efficient they are). He does behind the scenes stuff for his organization so that appeals to him. I'm glad he is interested...he even prompted me to continue talking when I thought we were sort of "done" with the topic even though I had read more. It's been good because when do tell him things, I can get his opinion. I.E. in explaining the different ticket levels, I can make sure that we're on the same page about which kind of tickets (Base with Park Hopper) that we'll get. So that's good. I'm really enjoying the guide, partially because of all the background information. Oh, and I think the information about how many ticket days we get because of the meal plan will help convince DH to leave for Orlando early so we can use the ticket for that Sunday :)

[HeatherBelle614]

Just had to drop in to say..

POFQ! POFQ!

That is all.

:cool1:

[DisneymoonJess07]

You are so cute! :laughing:

[Angela0917]

Hi Jessica! DF and I are planning our Disney Honeymoon too!! We're leaving in 2 months! Can't wait to hear more of your plans!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Hi Angela, nice to see you! I am so excited for you for your wedding AND disneymoon!!!

Hopping over to see your plans!!

[WDWRocksMySocks]

I'm on board! We'll be leaving the day before you arrive. I'm excited for you -- first WDW trip in over ten years!! :banana: We've stayed at POR and loved it!!! It's such a nice, relaxing resort. I really like the location too. Either way, you guys will have a great time. :goodvibes

I also noticed you guys are both work in the non-profit sector, so do I! I really enjoy it, but I'm getting ready to go back to school.

Oh, and we were there to witness the Pepto cake castle! :lmao: It was a sight to behold. But, I agree w/ you...definitely worth the experience.

-Kirsten

[DisneymoonJess07]

I'm on board! We'll be leaving the day before you arrive. I'm excited for you -- first WDW trip in over ten years!! :banana: We've stayed at POR and loved it!!! It's such a nice, relaxing resort. I really like the location too. Either way, you guys will have a great time. :goodvibes

I also noticed you guys are both work in the non-profit sector, so do I! I really enjoy it, but I'm getting ready to go back to school.

Oh, and we were there to witness the Pepto cake castle! :lmao: It was a sight to behold. But, I agree w/ you...definitely worth the experience.

-Kirsten

Kirsten! Thanks for stopping by!

I think we are pretty decided on POR - mostly because I'm thinking it will give me room for a couple of extras I have been thinking about. I.E. a little package from memoriesbybetsy when we arrive...maybe with the minnie/mickey ornaments and the bride/groom ears in it, a spa treatment for two at the Seratoga Springs spa...that's a big if because the one they have listed on the website is $$$ and I have no idea what it includes yet (going to have to call and ask) and we are definitely going to try to do Keys to the Kingdom one of the days (I'm actually thinking maybe the last day in the morning, but not sure about that one).

So, the $600 we'd save on AKL would go to other goodies for us...if that makes sense...

[stacikristine]

I think it's interesting that no one is trying to convince me about AKL. Any takers?? ;)

DH and I are staying at AKV in September and are renting DVC points. Our Villa is only going to cost $560 for 6 nights!!! That's less than POP. The more I look at all of the AKL pictures, the more excited I am. And by staying in a value Studio Villa, we automatically have either a pool or savannah view. Can't beat it. I don't know if there's still availability, but it's worth looking into! I can help answer point renting qs if you have them. Oh--and you can get DME and DP by renting still.

But I would HIGHLY suggest you at least looking into it. I can't tell who we're renting from, but he's been great!

[DisneymoonJess07]

I'll definitely look into it.

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Ooh, a spa day at Saratoga Springs sounds very nice!! We're also considering doing the Keys to the Kingdom tour. I think you're making the right decision by saving the extra money to do all the extra fun stuff!

I would look into renting DVC points like PP just mentioned. I've always wanted to do that, but we always wind up staying at POP instead.:confused3 Check out the DVC Rent/Trade board (http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29). I used to lurk over there a lot. Renting seems like a great way to stay deluxe, but not have to pay the price tag. :goodvibes

[DisneymoonJess07]

Ooh, a spa day at Saratoga Springs sounds very nice!! We're also considering doing the Keys to the Kingdom tour. I think you're making the right decision by saving the extra money to do all the extra fun stuff!

I would look into renting DVC points like PP just mentioned. I've always wanted to do that, but we always wind up staying at POP instead.:confused3 Check out the DVC Rent/Trade board (http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29). I used to lurk over there a lot. Renting seems like a great way to stay deluxe, but not have to pay the price tag. :goodvibes

I am trying to decide if it is worth it to have another thing to figure out :headache: It also depends on if we decide we want AKL or not. I mean, the price may be worth it if we can get a deal like Staci's, but who knows. :)

[trinaweena]

My boyfriend's Aunt works for Disney so he's done the Keys to the Kingdom tour a few times...I've never done it, can't say I have much desire.

I'm thinking about places to suggest for dining and I have a few in mind! I have to run to a Dr's app right now, but I'll be back tonight with some suggestions...what are you guys looking for in terms of atmosphere of a place?

[DisneymoonJess07]

DH and I are the kind of nerd that would appreciate the Keys to the Kingdom type stuff, especially after hearing about the Utilidors on the History Channel thing on WDW. :lol:

Thanks for offering to help with the suggestions for ADRs!!

First, these will most likely be dinner ADRs, unless there is some amazingly fantastic place for breakfast or lunch...keeping in mind that we CAN'T eat the food so it has to be atmosphere/theming/characters/view. Most of the Japanese places can't accomodate us, which is fine. I have only been to one table service place, I think it was in the area by the Boardwalk in Epcot? It was 10 years ago and my parents made the reservation, so I have no idea.

We need a nice one for Thursday night for our actual anniversary.
At least one character one, maybe two (Princesses & Mickey). I would love Akershus for the princesses, but I can't tell if they have a character dinner or not. And then a Mickey one (maybe Chef Mickey's?)

We generally like things that are a little bit quieter, but library-like silence is not required (or desireable!). My DH doesn't hear well in very loud spaces due to some hearing loss when he was little, so that's always something to keep in mind.

Hopefully that's helpful! :) Thanks!

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Are you talking about the Modern Marvel special on the History Channel? Oh my gosh, I LOVED that!! Learning all about the utilidors was really exciting to me. :thumbsup2

You guys should do California Grill at the Contemporary for your anniversary. I haven't been, but have heard nothing but great things! Too, if you hit it just right you can watch Wishes there!! :goodvibes

[DisneymoonJess07]

The Modern Marvel thing was AWESOME! Some of the stuff I already knew, but I didn't know about the development of all the parks.

California Grill is on our list!! I would love to be able to see wishes...the only thing is I think it's two DDP credits...we'll have to figure that one out...but it would be awesome. I also would love to see Phantasmic through one of the packages, maybe the Mama Melrose one or something.

Choices, choices!

[trinaweena]

Ok I have my guide out in front of me and im looking at all the places that I want to eat sometime in my lifetime haha and here are some of my suggestions:

For your anniversary dinner:
California Grill especially during wishes if you can get it. This was my first choice for my boyfriend and I's anniversary dinner but he didn't want to go somewhere so fancy

We we're also looking at Artists Point and le Celliar Steakhouse which ive heard is very loud and not really too romantic but it's what we choose because i really wanted to try it and he likes it We also were looking at Citricos. Jiko is another one that we looked into because of the atmosphere but he didn't like the looks of the food.

As far as other places I would just suggest for looking into for some ADRs are Kona Cafe, Ohana i've heard is really good for breakfast, and i've heard good things about Spoodles as well. I also plan on trying Yak and Yeti in march so I'll let you know how those are

For fantasmic, I think your best choice is mama melrose....it ain't the best but it's better than Hollywood and Vine I've never eaten at the Studios so I don't really now.

Characters... My favorites are Chef Mickeys and Crystal Palace but i would also look into akershus for princess dining. But i LOVE chef mickeys

I hope that helps you, im a bit sleepy so it might not lol but just ask me if you have any questions

[stacikristine]

I am trying to decide if it is worth it to have another thing to figure out :headache: It also depends on if we decide we want AKL or not. I mean, the price may be worth it if we can get a deal like Staci's, but who knows. :)

I understand if you don't want the headache, but check out these point charts (it's not just AKL...it's ALL DVC Villas) http://www.dvcbyresale.com/chart.php/Animal%20Kingdom
Just click on the different resorts at the top of the page. Then you go to the rent/trade board and write what you want (I'd recommend reading the intro threads--very helpful) You can also look at what others are offering. Some go as low as $7 pp. The most you'll probably pay is $12 pp. They can get you the DDP and DME too. You just have to do everything through the owner.

[bettyann29]

Good evening Jess.. Just checking back in..

Me and DH are talking about Keys to the Kingdom also.. We just started doing some of the tours on the last few trips and have been trying to decide which one for this upcoming trip and I think its KTTK.. It looks interesting!

On the last trip we did the Segway tour in Epcot and that was alot of fun, but I ended up crashing and had small injuries :rotfl:

Cant wait to hear more of your plans..

[DWFan4Life]

Wow, this is interesting. How I wish that we could also go as early as anyone here. May all of you have a great time, fun and enjoy.

Have a nice day everyone. :)

[creativeamanda]

Hey, Jess! Followed you over here from my PTR! We're gonna get your husband either loving WDW or hating it, lol.

But ket me in on a secret (my dh likes Cars, too). Just don't tell him I told you.

[DisneymoonJess07]

Ok I have my guide out in front of me and im looking at all the places that I want to eat sometime in my lifetime haha and here are some of my suggestions:

For your anniversary dinner:
California Grill especially during wishes if you can get it. This was my first choice for my boyfriend and I's anniversary dinner but he didn't want to go somewhere so fancy

We we're also looking at Artists Point and le Celliar Steakhouse which ive heard is very loud and not really too romantic but it's what we choose because i really wanted to try it and he likes it We also were looking at Citricos. Jiko is another one that we looked into because of the atmosphere but he didn't like the looks of the food.

As far as other places I would just suggest for looking into for some ADRs are Kona Cafe, Ohana i've heard is really good for breakfast, and i've heard good things about Spoodles as well. I also plan on trying Yak and Yeti in march so I'll let you know how those are

For fantasmic, I think your best choice is mama melrose....it ain't the best but it's better than Hollywood and Vine I've never eaten at the Studios so I don't really now.

Characters... My favorites are Chef Mickeys and Crystal Palace but i would also look into akershus for princess dining. But i LOVE chef mickeys

I hope that helps you, im a bit sleepy so it might not lol but just ask me if you have any questions

Thank you for the suggestions...I think you and I have pretty similar ideas about dining. I think I might use that list as a starting point, actually :goodvibes:

I understand if you don't want the headache, but check out these point charts (it's not just AKL...it's ALL DVC Villas) http://www.dvcbyresale.com/chart.php/Animal%20Kingdom
Just click on the different resorts at the top of the page. Then you go to the rent/trade board and write what you want (I'd recommend reading the intro threads--very helpful) You can also look at what others are offering. Some go as low as $7 pp. The most you'll probably pay is $12 pp. They can get you the DDP and DME too. You just have to do everything through the owner.

We're still thinking about it, but I think we might just end up either at POR or at the hotel part of AKL. I'm not sure yet totally though!

Good evening Jess.. Just checking back in..

Me and DH are talking about Keys to the Kingdom also.. We just started doing some of the tours on the last few trips and have been trying to decide which one for this upcoming trip and I think its KTTK.. It looks interesting!

On the last trip we did the Segway tour in Epcot and that was alot of fun, but I ended up crashing and had small injuries :rotfl:

Cant wait to hear more of your plans..

I think DH would be crashing the Segway, but the Keys to the Kingdom tour sounds even more awesome now that I have read about it in the Unofficial Guide...I need to get DH to read it, so that we have something to compare notes on.

Wow, this is interesting. How I wish that we could also go as early as anyone here. May all of you have a great time, fun and enjoy.

Have a nice day everyone. :)

Hey, Jess! Followed you over here from my PTR! We're gonna get your husband either loving WDW or hating it, lol.

But ket me in on a secret (my dh likes Cars, too). Just don't tell him I told you.
I won't tell anyone your DH's secret! I also wonder if they'll have WALL-E around at all...that would be fun :)


So, our major excitement for this weekend? My Disney planning DVD arrived yesterday!! We watched it last night and DH enjoyed it and felt like he found out more about Disney, but it was not at all in depth, especially about the resorts. I think it was actually the resort bit that totally didn't help us out at all, which was sort of lame.

Aside from that, it's definitely getting more real. :dance3:

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekends!

[bettyann29]

I love watching those planning DVDs.. :banana: I was cleaning over the weekend and found one just recently that I must have recvd.. Im going to sit down next week when Im home and watch it.. cant wait..

It always makes everything so much more real..

Cant wait to hear more.. Im addicted!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Sorry I have been a little bit away, ladies and gents.

A little busy here, plus not too much going on planning wise at the moment. There was also a tragedy in one of the families that is in our synagogue, so I felt I needed a little Disney.

First, we have definitely decided on POR. I spent some time looking at videos and pictures of the resort, and I think it's a great one. I think although Animal Kingdom Lodge is cool, I think part of the reason I wanted to stay there would be to have part of South Africa with me, and I bet that would make me more homesick than anything, and if I'm going to do that, I might as well go for the real thing, at some point in the future. So that's where it stands.

At this point, I am planning on calling on my next weekday off to make the reservation, which will either be tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on when this funeral I have to go to is (part of the tragedy mentioned earlier). :(

Aside from that, not too much real planning. We talked about the need to have figured out our ADRs by June 1, and so we're starting to talk about that a little bit. It's still a little difficult because the park hours don't come out until right before, so there's no way to be like we want x on y day, but I think we can try to plan something like we want to go to x when we're in y park, and that might be a good plan. I also need to get DH to read the descriptions of some of the rides and decide what are his "must dos". That can happen a little later but might be useful for planning what days we want to do what since we should have about 5 full days and 2 half days in the park (depending on when our flights come in/leave) so we'll see how that goes.

Of course, we also just found out that a friend of ours is due to have her baby while we are away on our trip. We figure that meeting him/her a few days afterwards won't matter too much, especially if we bring them back a baby gift from Disney :laughing:

[HeatherBelle614]

I'm sorry to hear you've had a tough time lately. :hug:

I was too young to remember POR when we stayed there, but we did POFQ on our honeymoon and adored it! Our bus went through POR a couple times and it looked gorgeous! You should put a request in for a room in one of the mansions! They looked so pretty!

Oh oh oh! You should bring back a pair of baby Mickey (or Minnie) ears with the newborn's name embroidered on the back! That's how I want to tell my parents we're pregnant whenever we have kids - have Mickey ears with grandma and grandpa embroidered on the back! I think the ears are such a great and unique gift for anyone!

[DisneymoonJess07]

I really want to stay in the mansions! I think they are beautiful! And although I have heard good things about Aligator Bayou, I just think the Mansions serve as a better idea for a honeymoon.

I am definitely tihinking about the baby minnie/mickey ears. I don't know if we'll know the name soon enough to get it put on, but I bet the ears would be precious enough anyway! :)

[DisneymoonJess07]

Oh! So something else I have been thinking about is doing t-shirts. I'm trying to figure out what would be okay for two twenty-somethings on honeymoon to wear, since a lot of the designs are pretty kiddie, but I bet we could figure something else.

I definitely want to do Mousekeeping envelopes as well. So that's exciting too. Maybe I will post some of the ones that I like from the various DISigners. I should probably talk to my DH about how he feels about that kind of t-shirt as well...

[Beka]

Oh! So something else I have been thinking about is doing t-shirts. I'm trying to figure out what would be okay for two twenty-somethings on honeymoon to wear, since a lot of the designs are pretty kiddie, but I bet we could figure something else.

I definitely want to do Mousekeeping envelopes as well. So that's exciting too. Maybe I will post some of the ones that I like from the various DISigners. I should probably talk to my DH about how he feels about that kind of t-shirt as well...

Do you have a Disney store nearby? They have shirts 2/$20 right now, adult sizes, and there's one that I love that's gray, with Walt & a couple different kinds of Mickeys on it. It's a men's shirt. I wear a M or L (depends on how it's cut) and I think a men's S would fit ok. Or, they have a white tee with a classic Mickey in both men's & women's sizes.

I agree with you, there are too many "kiddie" type designs out there.

Where is the DISign thread? Or forum, whatever. I can't find it!

[Beka]

I really want to stay in the mansions! I think they are beautiful! And although I have heard good things about Aligator Bayou, I just think the Mansions serve as a better idea for a honeymoon.

I am definitely tihinking about the baby minnie/mickey ears. I don't know if we'll know the name soon enough to get it put on, but I bet the ears would be precious enough anyway! :)

:cutie: Yay! Babies!:cutie: Never was a fan till I had one myself!

OMG, I'm such an idiot. I *almost* suggested you get a "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament. I'm assuming your friend is Jewish as well. *DUH* :rolleyes:

I know they sell onesies, DH's college roomie (who now works for Swan/Dolphin :banana: ) got us one when he moved down to Orlando. I'm sure you'll find something!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Do you have a Disney store nearby? They have shirts 2/$20 right now, adult sizes, and there's one that I love that's gray, with Walt & a couple different kinds of Mickeys on it. It's a men's shirt. I wear a M or L (depends on how it's cut) and I think a men's S would fit ok. Or, they have a white tee with a classic Mickey in both men's & women's sizes.

I agree with you, there are too many "kiddie" type designs out there.

Where is the DISign thread? Or forum, whatever. I can't find it!

I found it by mistake...Here it is (http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=105)

:cutie: Yay! Babies!:cutie: Never was a fan till I had one myself!

OMG, I'm such an idiot. I *almost* suggested you get a "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament. I'm assuming your friend is Jewish as well. *DUH* :rolleyes:

I know they sell onesies, DH's college roomie (who now works for Swan/Dolphin :banana: ) got us one when he moved down to Orlando. I'm sure you'll find something!

They are Jewish ;) But the onesie sounds like a great idea. DH thinks it's a great idea too!:idea:

Funny story about ornaments: my friend Erin is also a Disney freak and she brings us back somthing each time she goes. Well, the last time she went to Disneyland she brought us back a very pretty sparkly star of david with a Mickey head hanging in the middle. Very nice. However, the tag did indicate that it was supposed to be an ornament for a tree :haha: so that was pretty amusing. It's hanging on our wall right now :)

[Tiger.Lily]

Hi! Had to hop over from my PTR to check yours out!

Sounds like you've got some fun stuff in the works!

I just thought I would throw my two cents in on the ADRs...

First, as far as atmosphere goes, I LOVE the Brown Derby in DHS. It's quiet and elegant and a nice break from a hectic day. I really want to try out the Yak and Yeti (again for atmosphere) since it looks like the theming and all that looks so great! And just FYI...most of my dining decisions are based on atmosphere. I've had a few REALLY GREAT meals at Disney but I used to work in fine dining and can be a bit of a food snob. :rotfl:

For instance...we'll be going to Raglan Road in DTD this April for the simple fact that both DF and I love Irish music. My only hope is that the food is at least slightly better than "just edible".

[DisneymoonJess07]

Thanks for the recommendations. I need to spend more time with the food stuff, but we just haven't had time lately. Too much going on!

As for the Disney shirts, I have photoshop so I did some searching around and found some amazingly cute Disney Fairy stuff. I still haven't seen the Tinkerbell movie, but it's on my Netflix. I love the idea of fairies, but no idea how to not make myself look like I want to be 11 again. :laughing:

Anyway, I still have to figure out when to make my reservations. There is just so much going on to potentially have to be on the phone with Disney for a while. At the same time I am nervous to put my reservations in the hand of someone not me!

[HeatherBelle614]

Just have to say that you HAVE to watch the Tinkerbell movie! It's beyond adorable!

I completely understand about making ADRs; DH has volunteered since he is off in the mornings, but I'm not sure I can hand over that responsibility just yet. :lmao:

[Angela0917]

Awww, I love babies! My brother has a baby who is almost 2 months old (my first nephew) and I can't wait to bring him a pair of cute little mickey ears!!

Oh, and if you're looking for a honeymoon shirt, I got one for DF and I on ebay! I guess it's kinda kiddish looking though!:rotfl:

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n217/akuzmirek/WEDDING/HoneymoonTeeshirt.jpg

And then my friend got me one for my bridal shower... I believe she got it from disneyshopping.com, but I'm not sure...

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n217/akuzmirek/Bridal%20Shower/IMG_2868_0042_042.jpg

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Sorry to hear things have been rough for you lately. :hug:

I completely understand about your fear of handing the ADRs over to someone else. I think I'm too big of a control freak to do that. :rolleyes1 I'm sure DH would forget to do it and then I'd have to harm him.

Btw, I love the idea of making shirts. My sister made some for us for her birthday tip in October. Sadly, this is the best picture we have of them:
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v349/244/48/6852884/n6852884_47092978_1963.jpg

[DisneymoonJess07]

So it's been ages, because we went on a trip to New York City!!!

It had been planned for ages but still kind of snuck up on us :laughing: Anyway, we went on Thursday the 19th and came back on Tuesday evening the 24th. The purpose of the trip was to look at grad schools, which was a big success. We both think that we have found programs that will work for us, although they are across Manhattan from one another, the fact that they are in the same city is a bonus! We also had a great time exploring NYC and seeing several sets of friends that we hadn't seen since we were in Israel almost 2 years ago. It was an intensely successful trip. And we got to eat cupcakes at Magnolia, which is of Sex and the City fame (apparently). It was very, very yummy and cool and deserving of any fame it has. Plus, the place smells FANTASTIC so everyone is instantly in a great mood the minute they step inside. It was a great experience too :)

Anyway, I've just started to get back into Disney planning mode. It's hard because we are also preparing for the Jewish holiday of Passover, which is on April 8 & 9 and we are holding two Seders (celebration meals) for 10 people each. YIKES! So there is a lot to plan for that, especially since the holiday requires getting rid of all of the leavened food in the house as well. Luckily, one of DH's good friends is a caterer and he is doing some of the food for us and DH's parents are helping pay, since they are attending the celebrations at our house this year instead of hosting.

However, I am really hoping I can book our trip this afternoon when we get home from work. I'd love to just get that taken care of since we know pretty much exactly the trip we want (I have it saved on the Disney site) and it's at $2500, with another $374 for plane tickets (through Airtran). Not sure if we'll do the plane tickets today, but if we do what I want we'd arrive at like 10:30 at Orlando, and leave from Orlando at like, 5:30 on the next Sunday. That would be the best, but it would require getting up REALLLLLY early that first Sunday. So we'll see about that one.

Anyway, hello everyone!! Nice to see you all! I need to make my rounds to people, but I wanted to say hello again!!

[mommytothreeboys]

Welcome back! I'm glad your trip was successful! Will you be moving to NYC then??

Looking forward to hearing about your booking details! YAY! :cool1::cool1:

[Angela0917]

I LOVE NYC! That's where DF and I got engaged!:lovestruc Magnolia Bakery is awesome! I went to NYC this past November with a friend of mine and we did the Sex and the City Tour and Magnolia Bakery was one of the stops!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Welcome back! I'm glad your trip was successful! Will you be moving to NYC then??

Looking forward to hearing about your booking details! YAY! :cool1::cool1:

We are looking at moving to NYC to start school in Fall 2010..hence wanting to take this trip this upcoming fall!!

We are doing some stuff and then hopefully I will be back with details!

I LOVE NYC! That's where DF and I got engaged!:lovestruc Magnolia Bakery is awesome! I went to NYC this past November with a friend of mine and we did the Sex and the City Tour and Magnolia Bakery was one of the stops!

Magnolia was great!!

:dance3:

[DisneymoonJess07]

We booked!!! :dance3: And paid $1000 for our deposit.

Here is our itinerary:

We arrive Sunday, August 30 (hopefully in the morning)
We leave Sunday, September 6 (hopefully in the afternoon/evening)
We'll have September 7 off for Labor Day to recover :yes:


We are staying at POR, with a King Bed. I will request Magnolia Bend, but I'm waiting a little while until we see if maybe they will be doing free dining and I have to call to make that arrangement. 8-day Magic Your Way with Park Hoppers and the regular dining plan. I'm also planning on getting a small order from Garden Grocers, just knowing us.

Next up will be the ADRs for us, but that doesn't happen until June 1. We will hopefully be booking our airline tickets soon as well, but one step at a time!!

:dance3: We're going to Disney World!!!

[Beka]

We booked!!! :dance3: And paid $1000 for our deposit.

Here is our itinerary:

We arrive Sunday, August 30 (hopefully in the morning)
We leave Sunday, September 6 (hopefully in the afternoon/evening)
We'll have September 7 off for Labor Day to recover :yes:


We are staying at POR, with a King Bed. I will request Magnolia Bend, but I'm waiting a little while until we see if maybe they will be doing free dining and I have to call to make that arrangement. 8-day Magic Your Way with Park Hoppers and the regular dining plan. I'm also planning on getting a small order from Garden Grocers, just knowing us.

Next up will be the ADRs for us, but that doesn't happen until June 1. We will hopefully be booking our airline tickets soon as well, but one step at a time!!

:dance3: We're going to Disney World!!!

Yay!! :banana:

Is it just me, or is it driving you nuts that you don't know park hours yet, and that you can't book your ADRs?! I guess this gives us plenty of time to decide where we wanna eat!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Yay!! :banana:

Is it just me, or is it driving you nuts that you don't know park hours yet, and that you can't book your ADRs?! I guess this gives us plenty of time to decide where we wanna eat!

It's not driving me nuts yet...right now I am too busy with other things to be driven nuts, but I am sure at about mid-April I will be nuts with not being able to plan more!!!

You are right...we'll DEFINITELY all know where we want to eat by the time we are actually able to schedule anything!!!

[trinaweena]

I just went to NYC in February for Comic Con, except we rode the train in from CT back and forth for three days...it was exhausting!!

Did you hear they announced the dates for free dining? I think it's the same time you are going

[DisneymoonJess07]

Have they opened the free dining to everyone or just to people with Disney Visa? Because we don't have the Disney visa...but they usually offer it to the non-Disney Visa people a few days later, right?

ETA: Did the math, that would save us $640 :dance3:

[mommytothreeboys]

Woo-Hoo for BOOKING!!! :woohoo::woohoo::woohoo:

POR is beautiful and I think you will like your choice. I have no idea about free dining, but if it would save me $640 I'd get a Disney Visa! LOL!

Can't wait to hear some more plans now that you have definite dates! :goodvibes

[DisneymoonJess07]

Free Dining for our dates!! Wahoo!!!

Now, lunch time needs to come so I can call them!!!!

[Beka]

I think POR looks like a fun resort. I'd like to stay there once, since it looks so romantic. Looks like it'd be a nice place to just walk around. Plus with the river there & the carriage rides... and tonga toast so close...

... can I come stay with you?:laughing:

[DisneymoonJess07]

Since you'll be back from Disney for a week, you'll be happy to come back when I go!! So sure, why not :laughing:

[mommytothreeboys]

Congrats on FREE DINING!!! So exciting! :dance3:

[DisneymoonJess07]

:banana: I got it!!! :banana:

Ten minutes on the phone saved us almost $600!!! WAHOO!!!

It was really easy, I just kept losing cell phone signal (our building is terrible, had to go into someone else's office to do it!) but then it was done so quickly! I was just settling in to go on hold and I got a person! It was great!

I think maybe because I asked for "other" reservations? She was really nice, and even told me when I could book ADRs (June 1, which I knew, but it was nice to hear from her). I wonder if doing it at lunch was key...everyone is working so the lines are freer?

[Angela0917]

Yay for free dining!!!! That's great!!:woohoo:

[DisneymoonJess07]

I am so much more excited about our Disney trip now. I think partially because I was thinking even after I booked the resort/tickets/meal plan that I would have to change it because of the free dining, but after the free dining came through...I know that things are set!!! It is so unbelievably exciting! :banana:

Anyway...although Passover is seriously coming right up (we have a big long list of things to do...) I am so excited that I wanted to start figuring out what I need to do next.

First, clearly, is book tickets to Orlando. I found flights from Chicago to Orlando for times we want pretty cheaply (one from Airtran and one from AA), but I'm not sure if I should wait until April 14 for Southwest's flights to come out. Anyone have any insight on flights from Chicago Midway to Orlando?

So...after that? I have to talk to DH about ADRs...where do we want to eat, and also, of course, the corresponding question about how much time in each park. I know it's probably one day each at DHS and AK, so that leaves three whole days and two half days (ish), since hopefully we'd arrive in the morning on Sunday and leave in the early evening on the next Sunday. And it is also attached to when we want to do the Keys to the Kingdom tour (which sounds amazing and I am very excited for!).

I also want to start getting a Disney binder together. I found a great list someone had posted yesterday, and I hope I bookmarked it. Otherwise, I will be spending some time just finding that list :laughing: I think that will help me think about things.

I also keep thinking about special "disney wear" but I think I'm going to have to keep thinking about that one! Trying to think how to make it look "grown up" is kind of hard!

Anyway, anyone else have suggestions for things I am missing in my planning?

[stacikristine]

Congrats on free dining!!!!! :woohoo: That is so awesome! I wish I qualified...but we don't since we're renting points. But YAYAYAYAYAYYY for you!! That is great! :)

[HeatherBelle614]

Congrats on free dining! We got that PIN a while ago and that's what we used to book our trip. YAY!! It's a great feeling to get to start planning out all of your ADRs!

Make sure you call bright and early on June 1, though. I've been told it can be a bit difficult to get your top ADRs (especially, character meals) during FD because of the 90+10 thing. Many people over on the restaurant boards are having problems getting their ADRs set for the summer months, already. I hope it all works out! I'm going to be so stressed on June 4 when we can call!!

[disneygirlinnj]

Whew! Just read through your trippie! It sounds awesome already.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Magnolias! I live right outside NYC so whenever we're in that area we try to stop by and get some.

Glad to see you picked POR too. We're staying at POFQ and I'd love to hear about it when you get back.

I'll try to dig into my brain and come up with some good suggestions for TS meals that have great atmosphere!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Congrats on free dining! We got that PIN a while ago and that's what we used to book our trip. YAY!! It's a great feeling to get to start planning out all of your ADRs!

Make sure you call bright and early on June 1, though. I've been told it can be a bit difficult to get your top ADRs (especially, character meals) during FD because of the 90+10 thing. Many people over on the restaurant boards are having problems getting their ADRs set for the summer months, already. I hope it all works out! I'm going to be so stressed on June 4 when we can call!!

:sigh: Yea, I have heard that too re: ADRs and Free Dining. We'll see what happens. We will have lots of backups, then! Maybe I will get DH to get up to do the bookings, since he so much more of a morning person than I am. Too bad it is a work day. I would get up early on a Sunday and book and then go back to sleep, you know? Oh well.

Whew! Just read through your trippie! It sounds awesome already.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Magnolias! I live right outside NYC so whenever we're in that area we try to stop by and get some.

Glad to see you picked POR too. We're staying at POFQ and I'd love to hear about it when you get back.

I'll try to dig into my brain and come up with some good suggestions for TS meals that have great atmosphere!

Magnolia's was awesome. I am also interested in trying Buttercup, since that is the "competition". I am so excited about POR. We talked about POFQ, but with the eating thing, POR made more sense for us. We will definitely tell all about it when we get back!

Thanks for the insights when you get them!

[Beka]

I found this website a while back on POR & liked it, maybe it'll be helpful
http://www.wdisneyw.co.uk/dxl.html

[DisneymoonJess07]

More planning updates...

So, I decided to wait to book the tickets with Southwest if I can. I will do it from work on the 14th, so that's 8:30 central time and hopefully early enough to get a good deal on my dates. I just haven't heard great things about Airtran being reliable with keeping the same times, and I have never had any trouble with Southwest. So that's settled until the 14th. I also need to talk to hubby about timing. I.E. does he mind getting up early to get a good start on our vacation? Like, the 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. flight?

The thing that might make it okay is that we are also going to spring for a car service to bring us to and from the airport. It will most likely cost us about the same as the parking would at either airport, and I'd love to start this vacation out in a little bit of style.

Before we go, I want Mousekeeping envelopes and hopefully a few Disney shirts. I have a great line drawing Mickey one that needs an undershirt (holy see-thru Batman!) but I'm hoping to make more. I saved a few of the DISign threads here to look through, and maybe I will make a request or futz around with Photoshop. I'm hoping to do as much of this online as possible, unless I get to visit my parents since shopping for stuff is annoying with our schedule. Then again, I'll have a lot of the summer to plan as well! My schedule is SO much better during the summmer. But we are hoping to go to the beach (Lake Michigan) a bunch, so we'll see...

We are also planning on pre-buying the Photopass CD and getting that for the trip. We will plan the locations to use as well, so we can get as many of those pictures as we can. Since it's just the two of us on our honeymoon, it'd be great to get a lot of pictures with both of us in them! Especially the required castle pics and things.

Trying to think of anything else of the little details that has been decided. We still haven't looked at dining yet. It's just too time consuming with all the stupid things that have been going on.

Yesterday was monumental for making plans and God laughing...my husband's computer got a virus (and I spent all night helping him with it, but it now seems okay...) his work credit card got deactivated because someone STOLE the number from the company :scared: and we had to help our friend who was in town but got stranded by her hosts (unintentionally) and got her to her rightful place. Oy. Today, so far, seems to be going better.

[HeatherBelle614]

Our photopass CD was one of the best purchases we made on our honeymoon. We have some amazing pictures that we wouldn't have gotten if we didn't buy it; we pre-purchased everything and saved a little bit too. I'm not sure if they're still doing that deal. But, either way, it's a great thing to get!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Thanks Heather :) I'm looking forward to it :)

Argh, minor family crisis going on here. No details, but just keep us in your thoughts!

[mommytothreeboys]

I hope things are okay....thinking of you! :goodvibes

[DisneymoonJess07]

We now have two family crises going on...one on my husband's side (his brother's girlfriend dumped him and he is taking it extremely badly and has a history) and today we got a call from my parents, and my dad has extremely early stage prostate cancer and he has to have surgery, but hopefully that will be all.

Thanks Missy for the thoughts!

I have been looking at menus for places, but there are just not enough hours in the day with everything that has been going on!

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

Hey I just read your PTR I found off of mine! Sounds like you have a lot of stuff going on now. I will def. be keeping you and your family in my thoughts and prayers. I hope everything turns out all right.

I've never stayed at POR but it looks nice so I hope you like it. As far as meals go, I'm not sure if California Grill has a kosher menu but if they do you absolutely have to go there. My family and I went there with for my mom's birthday last summer and it was by far the best meal we had. And seeing wishes was amazing!! I def. recommend it. Hope everything goes well with you and your family.

[stacikristine]

I'm sorry about your family crises going on. And I'll pray that everything goes well with your dad's surgery.

[WDWRocksMySocks]

I'm sorry to hear about the hard times your family is going through. You guys are definitely in my thoughts and prayers! :hug:

[DisneymoonJess07]

Hey I just read your PTR I found off of mine! Sounds like you have a lot of stuff going on now. I will def. be keeping you and your family in my thoughts and prayers. I hope everything turns out all right.

I've never stayed at POR but it looks nice so I hope you like it. As far as meals go, I'm not sure if California Grill has a kosher menu but if they do you absolutely have to go there. My family and I went there with for my mom's birthday last summer and it was by far the best meal we had. And seeing wishes was amazing!! I def. recommend it. Hope everything goes well with you and your family.

Thank you for the recommendation of California Grill! I think that will be a great option for us!

I'm sorry about your family crises going on. And I'll pray that everything goes well with your dad's surgery.

I'm sorry to hear about the hard times your family is going through. You guys are definitely in my thoughts and prayers! :hug:

Thank you to both of you! It's been a rough couple of days to say the least, but we are just sitting tight and hoping for the best!

[DisneymoonJess07]

He's had his CT scan to check for spread now...still waiting for the results.

Apparently, BIL took visitors today, which was better than Friday. Still not going to work, but it is a step in the right direction.

I also took advantage of the bagsbuy sale yesterday and ordered a brown baggalini. Cost me $30 and I figured it would be worth the investment. Otherwise, I can return it if need be. It felt nice to do a little bit of planning!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Duplicate post

[Beka]

I know it's scary, but it's GREAT NEWS that they found your dad's cancer early! As long as it didn't spread, they should be able to take care of it with surgery, I'm pretty sure! OH! And, I was listening to a radio show, and an oncologist was talking about prostate cancer, and said that with the advances in medicine, men were likely to live so long they would die of some other issue (I know that's worded wrong, but you know what I mean?) - like old age! I donno, I just have peace that your dad will be ok! Prayers going up right now for all of your family! I know it's not easy to see your dad sick!

:hug: :hug: :hug:

[DisneymoonJess07]

Thank you so much Beka! Another friend of mine mentioned that radio show and it really made me feel better about it. We should hear today about whether or not it has spread, although my dad's doctor said that it is 99% unlikely that it has. So we will see.

I really appreciate the support and your confidence! It is easier to feel more comfortable when I hear that!

[Angela0917]

Jessica, I'm so sorry to hear about your father's cancer. Many prayers for a speedy recovery.:goodvibes

[haleofafamily]

Just found your pre-trip report and I am hooked for several reasons. First of all want to say so sorry about your family crisis. I will be praying for your father. We have been going thru some difficult times as well. Second, I spent 3 months in Africa when I was 19. I was really hoping you would choose AKL, but I think POR looks wonderful. Third my DH and I took an anniv. trip to WDW last year and loved it.
We ate at Boma on our anniv. trip and fell in love with AKL. (So much so that we came home and bought DVC at AKV.) When I walked in the resort it took me back to Africa. So a suggestion for a meal would be Boma (if it is kosher). That way you could spend some time at AKL. We scheduled it for our AK day and it worked out perfectly.
Also, really take time to explore Africa at AK. I heard a story of a girl from Africa on the Disney internship program...she was very nervous about coming to America and being so far from home. When she walked into the Africa section she felt like she was home because it is so authentic and she was never homesick. I love that story and think of it every time I walk back there. Brings tears to my eyes.
Another suggestion is le Cellier at Canada and Flying Fish on the Boardwalk. We had a great experiences at both places. Make sure you wear your anniversary pins for the whole trip. Also we did the Akershus character b-fast with our kids and it was great. The princesses spent a lot of time with and my girls (and DH) loved it.
Looking forward to reading more!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Hi there, Hale of a Family!

The last time I went to AK, I was on a class trip and my parents were chaperones. I went to AK with a group of friends and they didn't want to do the safari, blah blah blah. So I didn't get to go, but my parents said that it was so authentic and they were so pleased about that. I think part of the reason I didn't choose AKL was that I wanted my honeymoon to be separate from Africa, since we couldn't afford to go there, KWIM? However, I think Boma is on the list of places (one or the other of them is) that you can get kosher food, so I will definitely think about that for our AK day! I can imagine that would be an easy transfer!

I love your story about the CM from Africa! So sweet!

Thanks for all of your suggestions and I appreciate your thoughts and prayers. So far, things are looking up, and everything I have read about prostate cancer is making me feel a little bit like, if you have to get cancer...this is probably the best way to do it as a man. So we will see. I am hopeful because he is just in such excellent health (he's in better shape than I am by far!) and becuase it was caught so early!

The CT scan results came back almost totally clear, but they are doing a follow up MRI on on spot that they think is just a blood vessel (like 99% sure) to check on, and then we go from there. Once they get all this preliminary testing done, we will know more about the course of treatment, and whether they will be able to come to Chicago for the surgery (they only live 3 hours away from here).

Anyway, Passover is almost here, so probably no updates until Sunday evening since my In Laws will be in town!! We are hosting Seders since my FIL had shoulder & back surgery late this winter and is still recovering. We have had a lot of health things going on!

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Yay, so happy to hear that you're Dad got such good news! Hope you have a great Easter weekend with your in-laws. :goodvibes

[mommytothreeboys]

It's good to hear that things for your dad look to be headed in a very positive direction. That's a scary thing to deal with and you seem to handling it all very well.

Enjoy the holiday with your family. That's a big undertaking, the Seders, from what I understand. Try to relax and enjoy the time with family! :goodvibes

[DisneymoonJess07]

Hey ladies & gents!

Well, we are back in action. The Seders went well, although it was crazy as might be expected.

My in laws are still in town, so we are about to have lunch with them and then go to zoo together (or something else, depending on the weather here) Other than that, things are running pretty well. I spent some of the downtime reading my Unofficial Guide and it was great :) I need to get my subscription for TouringPlans as well. Hopefully, when the inlaws leave tonight I'll have some time to do some serious planning. The Southwest ticket prices come out on Tuesday, so I'm hoping to get those ticket bought then!

[DisneymoonJess07]

So my computer ate my previous update but here goes:

My dad had a bone scan and an MRI yesterday. We are waiting for results. My DH and his brother (my BIL) have been tryig to work out some family issues but it has been really difficult on everyone. Not sure how this will work out.

I have been doing lots of Disney thinking since it is a great respite from this crazy stress. I :heart: my disney. Anyway, we managed to book our flights today! Southwest came out with our dates :banana: and then I looked at the times. Both times I wanted (earliest to Orlando, latest out of Orlando) were the cheapest price ($83) which was great. Exactly what I wanted to spend, maybe a little less, and no stupid baggage fees or whatever.

However, as some may have noticed, the late flights out of MCO to Chicago are not there anymore. So our itinerary is

Leave Chicago: 8:15 AM
Arrive Orlando: 11:50 AM

Leave Orlando: 3:50 PM
Arrive Chicago: 5:40 PM

I figure probably 2 hours to get to the hotel, and another hour to settle in. So that leaves us at about 3PM, and I'm not sure what I want to do then.

My first instinct is that I want to take DH to Disney for a glimpse and then a character dining experience like Chef Mickey's to really get us into the mood. I'm not sure if that makes sense if that makes sense though...do we want to do something more low key, like swimming or DTD and then go to dinner. That way, we can go to MK in the morning and have a whole day there. However, I'm not sure I like that plan, since the plan was to do a half day at MK on the first and last day, and I think we won't have time with the return flight being early...and that was going to, along with Monday, be our two days at MK. Hmmm. I need to think about this. Plus, I was also hoping to do KttK on the last day, but according to the DisUnplugged, that doesn't get done until like, 2PM which would be WAY late for our 4PM flight! :laughing:

So that is my current dilemma. Especially as I was hoping to do 2 days each at Epcot & MK and then 1 day each at AK & DHS...

BUT :banana: We're really going to Disney!!!

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Yay!! So glad you got a great deal on Southwest too. I swear, I was driving DH crazy while I waited for Southwest to release our dates. I'm so not a patient person. Don't you love that feeling after you book your airfare? To me it solidifies the fact that we're actually going to DISNEY!!! :dance3:

I kind of like the idea of doing MK on the first day. Although, normally we just relax and head to DTD on the first day. We typically do DHS and AK in half days. We just can't seem to find enough to do to spend a full day there. Although, we do go back though out the week to ride ToT, RnR and EE. As long as you stick to some type of touring plan and get to the parks early, I think you'll get to do everything you want to do at all the parks. :goodvibes

[DisneymoonJess07]

It's so funny looking around the board and seeing how many of us booked today! I am having a hard time believing how short they are doing their intervals...I mean, they only extended it until the end of October! Anyway, I'm sure they got a FLOOD of reservations today!

I'm assuming by first day at MK, you mean arrival day? I really like it too...I'm going to have to spend some time figuring this one out!! I thought I had a good basic plan yesterday and then the flight times sort of messed me up :laughing: Guess maybe I was counting chickens before they hatched!

[mommytothreeboys]

Nice job on the flights! I agree with WDWrocksmysocks about it feeling so REAL once you book the flights. I felt the same way!!

Maybe you could compromise and just do a character dinner at Chef Mickey or dinner at Ohana instead of actually going to MK. That way you can see the castle, even ride the monorail, and not use a park day. We usually like to stay pretty low-key on arrival day because traveling is exhausting! Enjoy the resort pool, maybe shop a bit at DTD then a late-ish ADR at one of the restaurants at an MK resort. Just a suggestion!

Woo-Hoo for booking flights...here's a dance for ya!!

:banana::banana::dance3::banana::banana:

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

So glad to hear that you got your flights!!! In my opinion and if you have the tickets to use that day then I would def. go to MK. I know I would!!! I need to see that castle the first day I'm there. I mean you prob. won't have a whole lot of time there but at least you'll be there and you might be able to do some of the small rides.

[DisneymoonJess07]

Nice job on the flights! I agree with WDWrocksmysocks about it feeling so REAL once you book the flights. I felt the same way!!

Maybe you could compromise and just do a character dinner at Chef Mickey or dinner at Ohana instead of actually going to MK. That way you can see the castle, even ride the monorail, and not use a park day. We usually like to stay pretty low-key on arrival day because traveling is exhausting! Enjoy the resort pool, maybe shop a bit at DTD then a late-ish ADR at one of the restaurants at an MK resort. Just a suggestion!

Woo-Hoo for booking flights...here's a dance for ya!!

:banana::banana::dance3::banana::banana:

Thank you for the banana dance. I think I'm going to have to talk to DH about it...depends on what he says, and also I think in part where we decide to eat, too. And I think honestly it depends on what time MK closes...

So glad to hear that you got your flights!!! In my opinion and if you have the tickets to use that day then I would def. go to MK. I know I would!!! I need to see that castle the first day I'm there. I mean you prob. won't have a whole lot of time there but at least you'll be there and you might be able to do some of the small rides.

We do have the ticket days, that's not a problem! :thumbsup2 So maybe that's a good idea. I want to go to Main Street Bakery. We ALWAYS went there when I was a kid, and it was great! And see the castle. And Tomorrowland. Cause that was always my favorite. That's going to be such a bit of nostalgia! :wizard:

Yeah.

Anyway! :dance3: for tickets!

[stacikristine]

Yay for getting your flights!!! :yay: That's so great. I'm sure you'll have a GREAT time with whichever way you decide to go for the first day. I'm trying to figure out the same thing. But I'm gonna wait til Tour Guide Mike releases his crowd levels before I decide for sure.

[haleofafamily]

We just bought our air tickets as well. We also decided to add-on 3 more night at the end of our stay. Now we have to decide where we want to stay!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Yay for getting your flights!!! :yay: That's so great. I'm sure you'll have a GREAT time with whichever way you decide to go for the first day. I'm trying to figure out the same thing. But I'm gonna wait til Tour Guide Mike releases his crowd levels before I decide for sure.

I am thinking MK and then Chef Mickey's, when I realized how close they are together! We can practically walk from MK to the Contemporary! So that's my tentative decision, I think.

We just bought our air tickets as well. We also decided to add-on 3 more night at the end of our stay. Now we have to decide where we want to stay!

That's awesome! I hope you guys figure out where you want to stay! I know it's a hard decision with so many great resorts!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Tentative Schedule (Dare I say it?)

Sunday: MK in the evening, with a stop at Chef Mickey's (hopefully Wishes & Spectro)
Monday: MK
Tuesday: Epcot in the morning, MK in the evening (assuming we want to)
Wednesday: Epcot (and our anniversary!)
Thursday: AK
Friday: DHS
Saturday: Day Off, Cirque de Soliel (9PM)?
Sunday: Character breakfast? Then leaving at 12:00 p.m. on ME for a 4PM flight

[Beka]

Looks like fun! You're further along than I am!

[DisneymoonJess07]

It's all tentative! Who knows what will actually happen :laughing:

[ScotsMinnie]

Subbing and loving your report so far! How exciting to be planning your honeymoon. Honeymoons are always so rushed - you two are going to have an amazing time.

Just wondered where in South Africa you are from. My Aunt moved out there and had her children there. They mostly have moved to New Zealand but my cousin is still in Johannesburg. My Aunt lived in Durban.

DHs Aunt lives in Cape Town so we have lots of family links to South Africa.

[DisneymoonJess07]

We are so excited for this honeymoon...so much easier to be planning one and not both the wedding and honeymoon together!

You have a ton of links to South Africa! :goodvibe

I was born and lived in Durban until I was 7. I have some aunts/uncles/cousins in Durban still. My mom was born in Johannesburg, and so I have some cousins there as well.

One of my cousins has also moved to New Zealand, and one of my dad's brothers was trying to move there but has not made it yet. I have only been to Cape Town once, when I was about 5, and we stayed in a hotel where the seagulls woke us up at 5 AM :laughing: That was also my first introduction to the idea that the ocean could be cold!!

::

On the planning front, I started working on a more formal planning document. So far, I have the index, a packing list, and a to do list. Oh, and I worked on travel arrangements too, which prompted me to both check that Magical Express had our flight information (which they do) and to book the car service that we are going to take the airport. It will cost nearly the same as parking at the airport, and not much more than taking a cab, so it seemed like a great option for our honeymoon! So I am on my way with planning.

I also do digital scrapbooking, and with this trip coming up, I am trying to catch up on my pictures before the trip. I don't think that will happen, but it's worth a shot. I did buy an external harddrive to alleviate the strain on my system from all the photos though...can't wait for it to arrive!

[ScotsMinnie]

We are so excited for this honeymoon...so much easier to be planning one and not both the wedding and honeymoon together!

You have a ton of links to South Africa! :goodvibe

I was born and lived in Durban until I was 7. I have some aunts/uncles/cousins in Durban still. My mom was born in Johannesburg, and so I have some cousins there as well.

One of my cousins has also moved to New Zealand, and one of my dad's brothers was trying to move there but has not made it yet. I have only been to Cape Town once, when I was about 5, and we stayed in a hotel where the seagulls woke us up at 5 AM :laughing: That was also my first introduction to the idea that the ocean could be cold!!

::

On the planning front, I started working on a more formal planning document. So far, I have the index, a packing list, and a to do list. Oh, and I worked on travel arrangements too, which prompted me to both check that Magical Express had our flight information (which they do) and to book the car service that we are going to take the airport. It will cost nearly the same as parking at the airport, and not much more than taking a cab, so it seemed like a great option for our honeymoon! So I am on my way with planning.

I also do digital scrapbooking, and with this trip coming up, I am trying to catch up on my pictures before the trip. I don't think that will happen, but it's worth a shot. I did buy an external harddrive to alleviate the strain on my system from all the photos though...can't wait for it to arrive!


My Aunt lived in Westville and I have a friend who lives near Pinetown - can't remember the name of it - its a strange name... Couts? Something like that!

[DisneymoonJess07]

I lived in Pinetown until I was two and then we moved to Westville right before my third birthday and we stayed there until right around my seventh birthday.

Do you mean Kloof? My grandmother used to live there...

[stacikristine]

Your plan looks SOO great! :thumbsup2 We're eating in the Contemporary on our MK day too--but we're going to try The Wave. YES--it says we can walk there in less than 15 minutes! :woohoo: I've never been in the Contemporary, but my DH stayed there with his family (but it was 12 years ago)... YAY for our trips getting closer and closer! :yay:

[DisneymoonJess07]

Thanks Staci! I think it will be so much fun! I can't wait! I've been doing little bits and pieces in the document that I am going to use when I make my Disney binder...I even downloaded some Disney fonts, which was great :) They are so cute!

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

Quick question, I've read about a few people who have dowloaded disney fonts, where do you get them from? I'd love to have them. Thanks!!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Quick question, I've read about a few people who have dowloaded disney fonts, where do you get them from? I'd love to have them. Thanks!!!

I just did a search but found this site: http://www.disneyexperience.com/customize/fonts.php They worked great!

[Beka]

Quick question, I've read about a few people who have dowloaded disney fonts, where do you get them from? I'd love to have them. Thanks!!!

I like dafont.com (www.dafont.com)for free fonts too.

[ScotsMinnie]

I lived in Pinetown until I was two and then we moved to Westville right before my third birthday and we stayed there until right around my seventh birthday.

Do you mean Kloof? My grandmother used to live there...

Thats funny isn't it? Its a small world!!!!:lmao:

She lived in Aberfoyle Road in Westville but now as I said she is now in New Zealand with her daughter and her family. Lots of good memories of holidaying there!

Kloof! Yes that is what I meant. He was over here for a couple of years working for the same company as me but is now back home.

[DisneymoonJess07]

Thats funny isn't it? Its a small world!!!!:lmao:

She lived in Aberfoyle Road in Westville but now as I said she is now in New Zealand with her daughter and her family. Lots of good memories of holidaying there!

Kloof! Yes that is what I meant. He was over here for a couple of years working for the same company as me but is now back home.

The world is unbelievably small!!

Guess what's playing on TV on ABC Family!!! ALADDIN!!!! WAHOO :)

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

I just did a search but found this site: http://www.disneyexperience.com/customize/fonts.php They worked great!

I like dafont.com (www.dafont.com)for free fonts too.


Thanks!!!! (Sorry to interupt your ptr)

[DisneymoonJess07]

So, slow moving here on the Disney planning. I am excited for tomorrow, they should release the August hours, which will help a lot with planning the first part of the trip. I might even just plan and assume that the hours won't change until after Labor Day. If they do, it'll require some rearrangement, but hopefully not too much. I'm also curious how the hours will change the "best days/worst days" calendar on touringplans. Will be interesting to see.

Anyway, two mini updates: first, I got my LGMH!!! (Lime Green Mickey Heads). On Monday we were going to Home Depot for a couple of odds and ends, and I made a bee-line for the paint department. Unfortunately, they didn't look like the Mickey Heads I've seen on here so much - it was attached to a backing! But I think it will work well enough! I am excited to have it!

The other update - I got my planning mailing thingy from Disney! It was a very cute little package, with this personalized thing about planning a trip for grown ups, which was nice. And the park maps made me excited! Raif liked looking at them as well, especially since he's been reading the Unofficial Guide, and it's been telling him a lot about the structure of the parks, so he was able to see them in the maps.

It was a very cute packet...not that I'm totally sure why Disney spent the money to send it, but it was very cute and I enjoyed receiving it!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Nobody loves me! :laughing: Oh well, sometime today they will post August hours. My plan at this point is that hopefully the hours will stay the same through Labor Day weekend, so I will plan like that, unless & until I hear otherwise!! Hopefully that will make sense!

[Beka]

My PTR is moving pretty slow too. I'd like the hours to be posted before Monday!

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

Yep me too, still waiting. My PTR is slow moving too, I kinda did all of my planning before I started it so now I'm just waiting for the August hours, which are still not out. Oh well I have until like the 11th before I can make my ADRs so i guess I have a few days.

[DisneymoonJess07]

I can't believe they are still not up!

I have to do ADRs June 1 (the first day September hours might even be up!) and that worries me! At least I will have hours for the first part of my trip the first time, so if I have to wait on a few ADRs I'm okay, but STILL!!! This is getting ridiculous!

[Beka]

Maybe they'll be up tomorrow?

[DisneymoonJess07]

So far nothing...I hope soon!!

[stacikristine]

Good luck with the hours! I know that sometimes they don't post them on time at all. :confused3 Some people that are going this month had to wait an extra couple of weeks back when they were waiting for times. :sad2: Hopefully they'll post today!!!

Oh--and I downloaded the fonts from the site you posted about. I LOVE THEM!! :love: I've started using them on Disney stuff. Yay! :cheer2:

[DisneymoonJess07]

GUESS WHAT!!

They posted the August hours! And better yet - EMH at MK on the 30th!! So my plan will 100 % work, I think - go to MK, leave for dinner at Chef Mickey's then come back, and then spend the next day at MK as well!

Anyone have any ideas for a good place to eat dinner on the second night of MK?

Later on, when I get home, I am going to plan out my days a little more carefully based on hours and stuff from July - we'll see how that goes, I suppose! Only a few more weeks until I can make ADRs!

ETA: Staci, don't Disney fonts make everything better!?

[stacikristine]

:cheer2: YAY!! :cheer2: I'm so glad they posted the hours and that EMH for MK is on your first night! That will be so great. We're going to The Wave in the Contemporary on our MK day. I don't know if you've thought about them. They're a very organic place--I don't know if they're kosher or not though. And yes--Disney fonts make everything better! :thumbsup2

[DisneymoonJess07]

:cheer2: YAY!! :cheer2: I'm so glad they posted the hours and that EMH for MK is on your first night! That will be so great. We're going to The Wave in the Contemporary on our MK day. I don't know if you've thought about them. They're a very organic place--I don't know if they're kosher or not though. And yes--Disney fonts make everything better! :thumbsup2


Does the name "The Wave" remind anyone else of that movie in high school of the teacher that gets everyone to be nazis? I think it was called that. Anyway, I will look into it! Even if they aren't kosher, most places at Disney can get kosher food for you, so I will look into that. I like the idea of doing monorail hotels so we can be nearby and it'd be easy to do!

[disneygirlinnj]

I really like Kona at the polynesian. I'm sure they'll have kosher food there as well! The Grand Floridian Cafe is also decent if you want one of the monorail restaurants. Then there's always Tony's at the MK. Decent. :)

[DisneymoonJess07]

So, I think I have a plan for how I am going to do my hours planning.

It looks like Disney starts a new schedule on August 24, and all the information I have says that it continues on Aug 30 & 31. In that case, then, it should continue for the rest of that week. And that's all I really need to know!

This is how it's looking:
Sunday: MK - afternoon/evening; eat at Chef Mickey's, go back for EMH! Watch Wishes?
Monday: MK - spectro and if needed, Wishes?
Tuesday: DHS, with Fantasmic! (9AM to 9PM)
Wednesday: Epcot (and our anniversary!) (9AM to 9PM)
Thursday: AK (9AM to 7PM)
Friday: Epcot (9AM to 9PM)
Saturday: Day off, Cirque de Soliel (9PM)
Sunday: Breakfast, something? leave with ME at 12:00PM

[stacikristine]

It sounds like you have great plans!!! :thumbsup2 Our trips will be here before we know it :)

[DisneymoonJess07]

I can't wait! I get to do ADRs on June 1!

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Your plans look great! Are you getting excited to finally be able to make ADRs? Our 90 day mark is a week before yours and I swear, it feels like it's taking F-O-R-E-V-E-R!!!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

It really does feel like it's taking a long time, but I'm also not totally ready to make the reservations yet, so it's okay! :laughing: I think if I were 100% ready, it would be a lot harder to wait!

[challer]

Tentative Schedule (Dare I say it?)
Saturday: Day Off, Cirque de Soliel (9PM)?


Cirque is great - taking the boat from POR to DTD should work. Shabbat ends at 8:26pm, so it may be tight. But great Sat night choice!

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

If you can do it I would def. recommend Cirque, my family and I went to see it last year and we were blown away.

[DisneymoonJess07]

Update on our itinerary - switched our second Epcot day with our AK day. So we're doing MK, MK, DHS, EP, EP, AK. Sweet. I am thinking of booking Cirque tonight. I just think that's the way to do it - makes a lot of sense!

Sunday: MK - afternoon/evening; eat at Chef Mickey's, go back for EMH! Watch Wishes?
Monday: MK - spectro and if needed, Wishes?
Tuesday: DHS, with Fantasmic! (9AM to 9PM)
Wednesday: Epcot (and our anniversary!) (9AM to 9PM)
Thursday: Epcot(9AM to 9PM)
Friday: AK (9AM to 7PM)
Saturday: Day off, Cirque de Soliel (9PM)
Sunday: Breakfast, Downtown Disney? leave with ME at 12:00PM

[challer]

Update on our itinerary - switched our second Epcot day with our AK day. So we're doing MK, MK, DHS, EP, EP, AK. Sweet. I am thinking of booking Cirque tonight. I just think that's the way to do it - makes a lot of sense!

Sunday: MK - afternoon/evening; eat at Chef Mickey's, go back for EMH! Watch Wishes?
Monday: MK - spectro and if needed, Wishes?
Tuesday: DHS, with Fantasmic! (9AM to 9PM)
Wednesday: Epcot (and our anniversary!) (9AM to 9PM)
Thursday: Epcot(9AM to 9PM)
Friday: AK (9AM to 7PM)
Saturday: Day off, Cirque de Soliel (9PM)
Sunday: Breakfast, Downtown Disney? leave with ME at 12:00PM

Agreed on Cirque. Go for it. I'm a big fan of this.

While I disagree that AK is a "half-day park," some feel that it is. If you make Friday a 1/2 to 2/3 day in AK, consider a couple of hours at a spa before evening sets in?

[DisneymoonJess07]

Agreed on Cirque. Go for it. I'm a big fan of this.

While I disagree that AK is a "half-day park," some feel that it is. If you make Friday a 1/2 to 2/3 day in AK, consider a couple of hours at a spa before evening sets in?

I've only spent a few hours there before and Raif's never been there, so I sort of imagine that we might want to spend the whole day. I like the fact that it closes early though so that we can be back in time for the evening at the hotel. The spa thing sounds nice though...have to talk to Raif about that one :)

[challer]

I've only spent a few hours there before and Raif's never been there, so I sort of imagine that we might want to spend the whole day. I like the fact that it closes early though so that we can be back in time for the evening at the hotel. The spa thing sounds nice though...have to talk to Raif about that one :)

I would spend the day, too. Just offering an enticing alternative.

[mommytothreeboys]

For us AK is definitely a full-day park. Your plans look good! ADR's are just around the corner! How EXCITING!! :banana:

[DisneymoonJess07]

For us AK is definitely a full-day park. Your plans look good! ADR's are just around the corner! How EXCITING!! :banana:


Ack! I need to figure out where we are eating!! :laughing:

So excited to make those reservations and figure things out!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Raif and I had a long discussion about Disney. Turns out he has not been as gung ho as I had hoped, and I'm not totally sure what to do about it. I think part of it is that he has so many negative memories from when he went with his parents, plus I don't think we have travelled enough together for him to be comfortable that it won't be like travelling with his parents (who take awful vacations, it sounds like). We are planning to talk more about it this afternoon, but we will see.

He says he thinks he will have fun, but he's just not excited to talk about it, which I guess I don't understand - we talk about it more so we can make sure that it's even more fun. So whatever... I worry that he won't be really excited until we actually arrive :(

[Beka]

Raif and I had a long discussion about Disney. Turns out he has not been as gung ho as I had hoped, and I'm not totally sure what to do about it. I think part of it is that he has so many negative memories from when he went with his parents, plus I don't think we have travelled enough together for him to be comfortable that it won't be like travelling with his parents (who take awful vacations, it sounds like). We are planning to talk more about it this afternoon, but we will see.

He says he thinks he will have fun, but he's just not excited to talk about it, which I guess I don't understand - we talk about it more so we can make sure that it's even more fun. So whatever... I worry that he won't be really excited until we actually arrive :(

:hug: Boys can be so stoopid. My DH isn't excited either. He only gets excited about 2 things: football & ;)

[haleofafamily]

Raif and I had a long discussion about Disney. Turns out he has not been as gung ho as I had hoped, and I'm not totally sure what to do about it. I think part of it is that he has so many negative memories from when he went with his parents, plus I don't think we have travelled enough together for him to be comfortable that it won't be like travelling with his parents (who take awful vacations, it sounds like). We are planning to talk more about it this afternoon, but we will see.

He says he thinks he will have fun, but he's just not excited to talk about it, which I guess I don't understand - we talk about it more so we can make sure that it's even more fun. So whatever... I worry that he won't be really excited until we actually arrive :(

My DH likes WDW and enjoys taking our kids there. He tolerates me talking about it, but it is not how he would prefer to spend time. I understand this and try not to talk too much about it. That's why I come on the Dis boards and share my love (and obsession) with people who understand. We're here for you!

[challer]

OK, let's stop the DH bashing right now. I'm a DH that likes football & ;) as much as the next guy, but I'm the Disney magic maker in my house, and my DW is along for the ride. The Disney gene is alive & well on the Y chromosome.

Fear not about your man. Push comes to shove - Disney vacations are about time and memories shared with loved ones. It'll be wonderful from check in on.

[haleofafamily]

OK, let's stop the DH bashing right now.

I was not in any way shape or form trying to bash my DH. He is an incredible man, husband, father. I hope you were kidding, but if I left that impression I'm very sorry. I just wanted the OP to realize that just because her DH wasn't excited to talk about WDW doesn't mean the trip planning was ruined.

Happy planning to everyone be they man or woman!

[challer]

I was not in any way shape or form trying to bash my DH. He is an incredible man, husband, father. I hope you were kidding, but if I left that impression I'm very sorry. I just wanted the OP to realize that just because her DH wasn't excited to talk about WDW doesn't mean the trip planning was ruined.

Happy planning to everyone be they man or woman!

Sorry - I was posting that with a smile. Wasn't meant to be harsh.

Hakuna matata!
:goodvibes

[stacikristine]

I'm sorry your DH doesn't seem to be super excited. Mine is very excited about our trip, but we don't talk about it a ton. One day I asked if he really was excited or not, and he said he's VERY excited, he just doesn't show it the same way I do. He told me that it's like him and the Spurs. I might like the Spurs, and I loved going to thier game with him, but I will never talk about it and be as excited as him. And you know what, I'm ok if he's not as excited during the planning. But I want to plan a ton so that we can have the best possible trip! :thumbsup2 I'm sure Raif will love it once you get there. You'll have a ton of great memories. And who knows, maybe next time, he'll even be a little more excited about the planning stage!

[DisneymoonJess07]

:hug: Boys can be so stoopid. My DH isn't excited either. He only gets excited about 2 things: football & ;)

My DH likes WDW and enjoys taking our kids there. He tolerates me talking about it, but it is not how he would prefer to spend time. I understand this and try not to talk too much about it. That's why I come on the Dis boards and share my love (and obsession) with people who understand. We're here for you!

OK, let's stop the DH bashing right now. I'm a DH that likes football & ;) as much as the next guy, but I'm the Disney magic maker in my house, and my DW is along for the ride. The Disney gene is alive & well on the Y chromosome.

Fear not about your man. Push comes to shove - Disney vacations are about time and memories shared with loved ones. It'll be wonderful from check in on.

It's funny - it's not that he's not interested in planning things (okay, that's part of it:laughing:) but I think he's genuinely worried about the trip - so it's more like planning with a cranky planner than an uninterested planner. However, that being said, he spent some time looking through the book to pick out things that he really wants to do at the parks which was great - he got through Magic Kingdom, Epcot & Animal Kingdom (I don't think he's gotten to DHS yet) which was cool. Some of the things on it surprised me (like the Enchanted Tiki Room or the Frontierland Arcade), but that's why I wanted him to make a list. So I'm going to work on that some tonight hopefully - I'm having dinner with my friend to celebrate our birthdays early (mine is the 20th and she is working, and hers is the 25th and I am out of town) so we decided to get together early to celebrate.

:dance3:

[challer]

My DW thinks I'm crazy because I'm always in planning mode, even though we have no planned trip in the near future.

Sometimes, she will ask me out of nowhere, "So, where are we staying in Disney World?"

I'll respond, "How long & what's our budget?"

"6 days, with kids, big budget."

"The Poly."
:goodvibes

[disneygirlinnj]

Have fun at dinner! :) I'd love to hear his reaction to the Tiki room... you might wanna play the song for him first so he doesn't lose his mind in there :)

[stacikristine]

Hey! I found this on AllEars and thought about you. I don't know if you've already seen it or not. But it looks like ALL ADR restaurants can accomodate your Kosher needs!!! You just have to tell them 72 hrs in advance. Anyway, here is the link:

http://allears.net/din/guestkosher.htm

[DisneymoonJess07]

Hey! I found this on AllEars and thought about you. I don't know if you've already seen it or not. But it looks like ALL ADR restaurants can accomodate your Kosher needs!!! You just have to tell them 72 hrs in advance. Anyway, here is the link:

http://allears.net/din/guestkosher.htm

Thank you so much for thinking about us!! We actually used that site to help us pick a resort, since it tells you which one has them always available.

Anyway, only about a week until ADRs and we still don't know what we are going to ask for aside from Chef Mickey's the first day!!! :scared:

[Belle2007]

Hi Jessica! I just found your pre-trip report. First I wanted to say that I'm sorry for what your family is going through...

We are also going to Walt Disney in August and will be POFQ during 8/30 - 9/2. We are taking a disney cruise from 8/27 - 8/30. We got the free dining too and I'm just waiting for June 1 to make ADRS!!!!

I look forward to hearing about your reports!

Peggy

[DisneymoonJess07]

Well, we have been sick! Ugh. I was out of work for almost a week, and DH has a sick day today.

I used the sick day to get him to do the Disney reservations, although he couldn't do it as early, which I understood. I couldn't take the time at work like I usually would, since I had been out. ANYWAY - we have ADRs. They were pretty close to what we want, so that was pretty good. Unfortunately, DH got disconnected once so had to basically start over at a certain point. All ordered, with kosher food at each place, even.

Okay, so - (these are all for dinner)

Sunday, August 30 - 5:30 p.m. The Wave (we'll be travelling, so earlier will be nice)

Monday, August 31 - 7:50 p.m. Chef Mickey's (the only time it was available)

Tuesday, September 1 - 6:35 p.m. Sci Fi Drive In (DH wanted this one, and I had no strong feelings about any of the places at DHS)

Wednesday, September 2 - 4:45 p.m. Akershus (our anniversary - DH seemed excited about how pretty the room is)

Thursday, September 3 - 7:35 p.m. Rose and Crown (hopefully we'll get to hang out for Illuminations there - or we'll just head out, if we saw it on Wednesday)

Friday, September 4 - 6:10 p.m. Boatwrights - we're sticking close to the resort because of the restrictions on modes of transport around Shabbat

We also have another credit to use - but we can only use it on Sunday, and DH is not particularly interested in a bigger breakfast if we're only staying until like noon anyway. Hmmm...but DH was a real trooper making the reservations!

[heathere3]

Yaaay for your ADR's! I just found your PTR, but I'm really enjoying it. It sounds like you'll have a fabulous time.

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

Yay for ADRs!!! That's good that you could get pretty much what you wanted. If you don't mind me asking, what are the restrictions about the modes of transportation? I hope you don't mind me asking (and if you do then just completely ignore this then). Thanks and yay for your ADRs!!!!

[nu2wdisneyw]

YAY! You got your ADR's done:thumbsup2...I am so scared to call and make mines next week. I think that everything that I want will be booked! :confused3 We will be there during the same time. Our dates are 8/29 - 9/5...however we are not able to book until next monday!

[mommytothreeboys]

Yay you got your ADRs!! Good for DH for being a good sport and making the call! :thumbsup2

Sorry to hear you are not feeling well. Get better soon! :goodvibes

[DisneymoonJess07]

Yaaay for your ADR's! I just found your PTR, but I'm really enjoying it. It sounds like you'll have a fabulous time.

Yay for ADRs!!! That's good that you could get pretty much what you wanted. If you don't mind me asking, what are the restrictions about the modes of transportation? I hope you don't mind me asking (and if you do then just completely ignore this then). Thanks and yay for your ADRs!!!!

We are Jewish, so on Shabbat we don't travel on buses or boats or cars or anything. Which means we'll hang out at the resort during the evening on Friday until Saturday nightfall. Great way to have an enforced rest day at Disney :rotfl:

YAY! You got your ADR's done:thumbsup2...I am so scared to call and make mines next week. I think that everything that I want will be booked! :confused3 We will be there during the same time. Our dates are 8/29 - 9/5...however we are not able to book until next monday!

Good luck with ADRs!!

Yay you got your ADRs!! Good for DH for being a good sport and making the call! :thumbsup2

Sorry to hear you are not feeling well. Get better soon! :goodvibes

We are starting to do better, but DH was SUCH a good sport - it took him like an hour and a half!!!

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

We are Jewish, so on Shabbat we don't travel on buses or boats or cars or anything. Which means we'll hang out at the resort during the evening on Friday until Saturday nightfall. Great way to have an enforced rest day at Disney :rotfl:

Thanks! I'm pretty sure I knew that, well I knew you were Jewish but I'm pretty sure I knew about the whole transportation thing, as I was reading it it seemed to be there somewhere way back in my memory, but thank you! That will be nice to just relax for the day, take your time and enjoy each other and the resort.

[stacikristine]

Your ADRs look great!!! YAY! :thumbsup2 I'm so glad you were able to order Kosher at all of the restaurants too. I'm sure you'll love it! :goodvibes

[challer]

Wow! You got it all planned out...

I noticed you planned all your ADRs for dinners. As a kosher WDW guy, all I have to say is be careful. These reheated meals can get tiring very quickly. Sometimes you can get different meals for breakfast & lunch. If dinners it is, try to mix it up as much as possible (dairy night vs meat night, etc.). Last time I did it, I got tired of the reheated meals after day 2, and split to the local kosher restaurant near Downtown Disney for dinner on night #3. If you need a freshly cooked meal midway, I'd recommend getting a buffet breakfast (you have the kosher meals & access to whatever you need in the buffet, like cereal or yogurt) and hit the restaurant for dinner.

Also, ask about policies about bringing your own wine to dinner, especially at the resorts. (Bringing wine into the park may be problematic.) That can be a nice touch. (Just in case you are strict about it: if they have to uncork the bottle for you, bring mevushal wine.)

What's the meal plan for shabbat/Saturday?

[DisneymoonJess07]

Wow! You got it all planned out...

I noticed you planned all your ADRs for dinners. As a kosher WDW guy, all I have to say is be careful. These reheated meals can get tiring very quickly. Sometimes you can get different meals for breakfast & lunch. If dinners it is, try to mix it up as much as possible (dairy night vs meat night, etc.). Last time I did it, I got tired of the reheated meals after day 2, and split to the local kosher restaurant near Downtown Disney for dinner on night #3. If you need a freshly cooked meal midway, I'd recommend getting a buffet breakfast (you have the kosher meals & access to whatever you need in the buffet, like cereal or yogurt) and hit the restaurant for dinner.

Also, ask about policies about bringing your own wine to dinner, especially at the resorts. (Bringing wine into the park may be problematic.) That can be a nice touch. (Just in case you are strict about it: if they have to uncork the bottle for you, bring mevushal wine.)

What's the meal plan for shabbat/Saturday?

I tried to get DH to look into lunches and breakfasts for the table service meals, but he was like totally against it. Ugh. So, I hope we don't get too sick of it. :confused3 I am a little more lenient than he is, so I will have more options for lunches and stuff, which will probably help.

That is a really good idea about wine. I know what you mean about the parks, but I will look into that as well. We would probably bring mevushal wine anyway, in case the suitcases got searched or something:headache:

The plan for Shabbat is like this: we have early reservations for Boatwright's, so that'll be before Shabbat at the resort and then we'll do bread, wine and maybe dessert for "Shabbat Dinner", then we have a tiny little hotpot for boiling eggs, so we'll do that before shabbat, with mayo and bagels for lunch and probably some fruits and drinks, and then I haven't made a plan yet for dinner. We are going to Cirque though! I booked those tickets on Wednesday!!! So it's a work in progress!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Not too much going on on the planning front.

I need to get back into this, since we are getting closer & closer!

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

Haha, gosh darn life getting in the way of disney planning!! :lmao:

[DisneymoonJess07]

Seriously, nothing should get in the way of Disney!!!

HOWEVER - some big news!


Can we do the Paid in Full dance!!!!!
:dance3::banana::dance3:

I also need to figure out our list of things I need to get done - hmmm.

[hhockman]

Hey Jessica,

I can't believe I didn't make it over here before now! I always read the PTRs?TRs of people that post on mine.

It looks like you've pretty much got it all under control. My lists are definitely a work in progress (and I need to do more work) but feel free to "share" all you want.

Cirque is awesome. Definitely worth it! I think everyone but us is actually going to see it on our trip (meaning my parents, my brother and SIL, and maybe her mom). We just can't afford the $$$ for 5 of us or we'd go too.

Looks like you have a great plan so far. Can't wait to see what you add to it. :)

[DisneymoonJess07]

HHockman,

Don't worry about not getting around to me until now - I haven't been around much lately due to not having enough brain power to think about it due to a lot of great and not-so-great things.

In great things - I was in a wedding on June 28 for one of my best friends and it was a great wedding. Plus, I had a great dress, she got a makeup artist and a hairdresser, so I looked fabulous. And another set of friends of ours got married on July 5. So that's been great. However, my dad also had his prostate surgery on June 22. It really went fabulously well, and he's working half days again, but it was pretty major surgery so that was stressful for the family. We went to visit them on two weekends, plus this wedding, it's been crazy. So we're glad to be staying home and feeling like life is a little more normal. I am really excited that my appetite for Disney planning has been whetted. Mostly lately, the most I can do is escape into my Sims 3 for a little while, rather than do anything productive. Too much going on, I think. I'm feeling a lot better today though.

Also, my mom keeps asking about how much our trip cost and what kind of deals we got and if that deal is still available. I would love for them to go. I think they would have a great time together! How cute would that be. Or, maybe we could all go together next year :goodvibes

Anyway, other than that - just wishing summer would actually start in Chicago. It is currently 63 degrees and drizzly. Oh well.

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

:cool1::banana::woohoo::dance3::cheer2: That's for being all paid!! Woohoo!! Oh and I'm glad to hear that your father's surgery went well and he's doing well! Oooo I play the Sims 3 too!! Such a fun game!! Haven't played in a while though, I think you've whetted my appetite for it!! Ugh I know what you mean about summer not coming. It's 64 here in PA too and I think today's the first day it hasn't rained in like a month and a half! Of course the days not done yet so rain could be on the way. :sad2:

[DisneymoonJess07]

I really love the Sims 3 - I even have a blog about my games. I'm a little nerd, but what is life if you can't be a little nerdy?

I'm sorry to hear the weather isn't great where you are too - bummer!!

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

Haha, being nerdy can be fun! I don't really care who thinks I'm a nerd or not, hey it makes me happy!! Yeah so far not rain and the sun's still out so perhaps we'll have a rain free day today!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

So, this evening, I registered for Garden Grocer and made a short list of favorites. We're hoping to do breakfast and snack stuff through them.

I'm also working on my Disney binder. Lots of fun stuff! We are also planning to go Disney shopping at the Dollar store on Sunday. We just have to figure out when since DH wants to go play with a friend who lives a little far away and so he'd have the car for a while on Sunday. So we'll see what happens with that scheduling wise. It's marginally possible to walk to the store, so maybe if the weather cooperates I could do that...the weather is supposed to be partly cloudy and seventies, so that might work. I have a friend that I'm trying to improve, so maybe she'd be interested in going with me, since I know she's a walker. Hmmm...I'll keep you guys posted.

ETA: Looks like it's about 1.5 miles from our house and just a touch farther for her. Hmmm.

[mommytothreeboys]

Hi Jess! Glad you're back in "planning mode". Good to hear that your Dad's surgery went well and things are starting to settle for you.

Yay for a Disney binder! Can't wait till I can use mine again! :goodvibes

Paid in Full!! :woohoo::woohoo::woohoo: That's the BEST feeling isn't it! Is Raif getting more excited?

I'm so busy here...leaving to go on a 10 day camping trip with the family. I'll check back in when I get back! Until then...Happy Planning and Happy Disney shopping!! :yay::yay:

[DisneymoonJess07]

Hi Jess! Glad you're back in "planning mode". Good to hear that your Dad's surgery went well and things are starting to settle for you.

Yay for a Disney binder! Can't wait till I can use mine again! :goodvibes

Paid in Full!! :woohoo::woohoo::woohoo: That's the BEST feeling isn't it! Is Raif getting more excited?

Raif seems a little more excited now - but it's been hard to focus on, since we've been so busy. I'm trying to get things together for him to look at for touring, but we'll see how it goes!

I'm so busy here...leaving to go on a 10 day camping trip with the family. I'll check back in when I get back! Until then...Happy Planning and Happy Disney shopping!! :yay::yay:

Enjoy your camping trip! I will for sure put up pictures when I get stuff and there'll be lots for you to read when you get back! I appreciate you stopping by with everything going on!!

[hhockman]

I'm glad you're back in planning mode Jess! I know you've had a lot on your plate. :) I can't believe you guys are fussing that it doesn't feel like summer. We had two weeks of temperatures over 100 degrees and are so very thankful for the high 80s we've had this week because it feels cooler! You'll get your share of warm weather at Disney. At the end of August it will be HOT!

It's good that you're working on your binder. I'm still trying to decide if I need one, or if my Passporter will be enough. I had one last time, but I'm haven't decided if I want to mess with it this time.

Somehow we are almost half way through July (and I thought June went by fast) so your trip will be here before you know it. Can't wait to hear what's going in your binder next!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Heather -

I've been working it on it this evening - I spent a bunch of time working on my touring plans at work - it's been hectic, but totally uneven so I had a dead hour and a half with NO ONE in the office, so I had some time to play with it. I'm still working on them though - it's making me more excited to go.

I also decided what to do about my binder - I was worried about finding something small enough to fit into my Bagallini or in the other cross the shoulder bag we have, and then only having one copy of things. The photocopier at work does booklets (it's a great feature!) and so I figure the Wednesday or Thursday before our trip, I will print out three copies of the trip stuff - one for me, one for hubby and one for the room so if it gets lost we have the stuff we need. The only thing is that I'm doing it as 8.5 by 5.5, so I have to reformat things from 8.5 by 11, but it's good to make sure I have what I need.

June went by incredibly fast, and July is wizzing by as well, so I am hoping to get everything done soon. I also need to start looking into the grad school stuff, but there are only so many hours in the day. I think with us having a proper weekend not going anywhere really, it will help with motivation to do things during the week, since neither of us will feel deprived of playtime.

So my booklet so far has 8 sections in the table of contents, but I'm sure I will add more. It looks really cute since it is all done in Disney fonts - Waltograph and Waltograph IU. Aside from that - so glad tomorrow is Friday!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

So, first off, the local Dollar Tree by us is very cute. It turned out that Raif and I went together, because he was actually very interested in going. So, we went in. I wish we had a some kids - there were some super cute Disney toys there! We got some great stuff though - and Raif found some good stuff for work.

We got (and I apologize for the lack of pictures - I'm lazy) two hand held fans (one purple and one green) that I tried at home - they work pretty well. Aside from making Raif feel better about the heat, they seem like a good investment for $1. We also the chapstick w/spf 15, triple antibiotic ointment and hand sanitizer.

We then stopped by Old Navy - and that was annoying. We had called earlier in the day to find out when they closed, and they said 9PM. We get there at 5:45, to find out that they close at 6PM. ARGH. Anyway, we still managed to find me two pairs of capris in record time. Actually, I think one pair was actually Bermuda shorts because I am SHORT and a lot of the longer cut capris were like floods. Anyway, we did it.

After that, we went to Target and got Raif some flip flops, me one more pair of "capris" (also Bermuda shorts) and a couple of other things we needed. Then we headed home...a good afternoon of shopping.

The only unfortunate thing was that the Dollar store did not have a stitch of clothing in it that wasn't for dolls, so I have to figure out what I'm going to do for my disigns. I think I'm just going to do Jiffyshirts for mine, but I'm not sure if Raif even wants any of them. So yeah.

Yay Disney! And I have been working diligently on our touring plans, and all that stuff going in what has been named our "Disney Booklet" It's looking pretty awesome so far, if I do say so myself ! :)

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

So, first off, the local Dollar Tree by us is very cute. It turned out that Raif and I went together, because he was actually very interested in going. So, we went in. I wish we had a some kids - there were some super cute Disney toys there! We got some great stuff though - and Raif found some good stuff for work.

We got (and I apologize for the lack of pictures - I'm lazy) two hand held fans (one purple and one green) that I tried at home - they work pretty well. Aside from making Raif feel better about the heat, they seem like a good investment for $1. We also the chapstick w/spf 15, triple antibiotic ointment and hand sanitizer.

We then stopped by Old Navy - and that was annoying. We had called earlier in the day to find out when they closed, and they said 9PM. We get there at 5:45, to find out that they close at 6PM. ARGH. Anyway, we still managed to find me two pairs of capris in record time. Actually, I think one pair was actually Bermuda shorts because I am SHORT and a lot of the longer cut capris were like floods. Anyway, we did it.

After that, we went to Target and got Raif some flip flops, me one more pair of "capris" (also Bermuda shorts) and a couple of other things we needed. Then we headed home...a good afternoon of shopping.

The only unfortunate thing was that the Dollar store did not have a stitch of clothing in it that wasn't for dolls, so I have to figure out what I'm going to do for my disigns. I think I'm just going to do Jiffyshirts for mine, but I'm not sure if Raif even wants any of them. So yeah.

Yay Disney! And I have been working diligently on our touring plans, and all that stuff going in what has been named our "Disney Booklet" It's looking pretty awesome so far, if I do say so myself ! :)


Well at least your day was somewhat productive!! I have the same problem with capris and bermudas, I am quite short as well. I am still searching for a pair of capris that actually fit me!! One day I'll find them!! Yay for the Disney Booklet and touring plans!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Well at least your day was somewhat productive!! I have the same problem with capris and bermudas, I am quite short as well. I am still searching for a pair of capris that actually fit me!! One day I'll find them!! Yay for the Disney Booklet and touring plans!!

I did quite well at Old Navy, considering I had 30 seconds to look for them. I still need more though...

Anyway, I think I'll post our touring plans now...wahoo!

[nu2wdisneyw]

HHockman,

Don't worry about not getting around to me until now - I haven't been around much lately due to not having enough brain power to think about it due to a lot of great and not-so-great things.

In great things - I was in a wedding on June 28 for one of my best friends and it was a great wedding. Plus, I had a great dress, she got a makeup artist and a hairdresser, so I looked fabulous. And another set of friends of ours got married on July 5. So that's been great. However, my dad also had his prostate surgery on June 22. It really went fabulously well, and he's working half days again, but it was pretty major surgery so that was stressful for the family. We went to visit them on two weekends, plus this wedding, it's been crazy. So we're glad to be staying home and feeling like life is a little more normal. I am really excited that my appetite for Disney planning has been whetted. Mostly lately, the most I can do is escape into my Sims 3 for a little while, rather than do anything productive. Too much going on, I think. I'm feeling a lot better today though.

Also, my mom keeps asking about how much our trip cost and what kind of deals we got and if that deal is still available. I would love for them to go. I think they would have a great time together! How cute would that be. Or, maybe we could all go together next year :goodvibes

Anyway, other than that - just wishing summer would actually start in Chicago. It is currently 63 degrees and drizzly. Oh well.

Hey Jess!
Welcome back...don't worry we were waiting for you. Glad life is starting to settle for you again!
:cool1::woohoo::cheer2::dance3::banana: For being paid in full!!! We just paid our trip off today!! Can't wait to read more. And we are glad you are back!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Making this booklet has been funny, because it's been using a lot of skills I've developed at work making brochures and guides for things. I suppose that's a good thing, right? Especially since I use at work so many of the fun computer and graphic design stuff I've learned on my own time. Anyway, the first page says

Raif and Jessica's 2nd Anniversary Disneymoon
August 30 to September 6

And then the table of contents. I like it like that. Yes, I'm strange. Hopefully, it'll make the booklet easier to use when we hit exhaustion on about day three.

Anyway, the first actual page of the booklet is the packing list. I figure that will help us bring back everything we brought with us, and also help us to remember everything we wanted in our parks bag.

Page 3 is a page with our detailed travel plans, including all our confirmation numbers for our transportation and flights. Page 4 is emergency information, including the information of the person who is parakeet sitting for us (still to be determined and filled in). Page 5 is the Resort information, including our reservation number, and then Page 6 is a map of the resort.

Page 7 has a short summary of our itinerary (and can be deleted if neccessary, but it's nice for now). And...Page 8 starts the touring plan.
Sunday, August 30
5:30 AM - Towncar pick up
6:15 AM - Arrive at Midway
8:15 AM - Depart Midway
12:00 PM - Arrive at MCO
2:00 PM - Approx. Arrival at POR
Begin touring plan when we get to Magic Kingdom (although the plan says to get there by 2PM, and we won't get through all this before our reservations)
Fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear
Jungle Cruise*
Enchanted Tiki Room
Hall of Presidents
Haunted Mansion*
Tomorrowland Transit Authority
Carousel of Progress
Use Buzz Lightyear FastPasses*
5:30 PM - Dinner at The Wave
After Dinner - Return to MK to finish the touring plan, see Wishes and stay as long through the EMH as we want (till midnight)
Page 9 - A list of the attractions that are open at EMH (and the ones that are open on EMH are starred on the touring plan)
Page 10 - Monday's Touring Plan - depending on where we end up on our list after EMH will determine how much of this we do on Monday.
7:15 AM - Wake Up, Breakfast (in the room)
8:00 AM - Leave POR
8:30 AM - Arrive MK
9:00 AM - Touring Plan
Ride Buzz Lightyear, if we haven’t
Winnie the Pooh
Snow White’s Adventure
Peter Pan’s Flight
Mickey’s Philharmagic
It’s a Small World
Get FP for Splash Mountain OR ride if wait is >20 min
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Pirates of The Caribbean
Ride Splash Mountain with Fast Pass
Eat Lunch at Ray’s Electric Umbrella
Tour Mickey’s Toontown Fair
Laugh Floor Comedy Club
Carousel of Progress

After that, we'll take our midday break poolside.
7:50 PM - Chef Mickey's - we're going to try to get there early, because Spectro is at 9PM. Sigh. It's tough to figure out what to do about this one - I'm almost considering changing this because of Spectro, but I also want to do Chef Mickey's because I don't want to spend a lot of time trying to get together with characters.

Page 11 - Magic Kingdom Map
Page 12 - Tuesday, September 1 - DHS
7:15 AM – Wake Up, Breakfast
8:00 AM – Leave POR
8:30 AM - Arrive Hollywood Studios
9:00 AM – Rope Drop, Begin Touring Plan
Toy Story Mania
Rock’n RollerCoaster
Tower of Terror, OR get FP is more than 30 min
Great Movie Ride
Get FP for Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Backlot Tour
Voyage of the Little Mermaid, or wait until later
Lunch or Lights, Camera, Action (schedule)
Streets of America to the Muppets!
Star Tours OR FP if more than 20 min
Indiana Jones
One Man’s Dream
Animation Tour
Beauty & the Beast

6:35 PM – Sci Fi Diner

Page 13 - DHS Map

Page 14 - September 2 - Epcot 1st day - Sunrise
7:15 AM - Wake Up, Breakfast
8:00 AM - Leave POR
8:30 AM – Arrive at Epcot
9:00 AM – Start Touring Plan
Soarin’
Test Track
Mission: Space
Living with the Land, get FP for Soarin’ if we want
Journey into Imagination
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
Soarin’ with FastPasses
Lunch
Walk to the World Showcase
Gran Fiesta in Mexico
Maelstrom in Norway, or FP if wait is over 20 min
See Reflections of China
Visit Germany
Visit Italy
See American Adventure
See Japan, Visit Pick-a-Pearl
Visit Morocco
4:45 PM – Akershus in Norway

We'll have an early evening at the hotel or DTD if we're feeling energetic (haha)

Page 15 - Epcot Map
Page 16 - Thursday, September 3 - start late
11:30 AM – Wake Up, Lunch
12:30 PM – Leave POR
1:00 PM – Arrive at EPCOT, begin Touring Plan
Ride Spaceship Earth
Tour Innoventions East
Universe of Energy
The Seas with Nemo
Circle of Life in the Land Pavillion
See O’Canada!
Visit United Kingdom
See Impressions of France
7:35 PM – Rose & Crown

9:00 PM – Illuminations from Rose & Crown

Page 17 - Friday, September 4

7:15 AM – Wake up, Breakfast
8:00 AM – Leave POR
8:30 AM – Arrive at Animal Kingdom
9:00 AM – Begin Touring Plan
Get FastPasses for Expedition Everest
Primeval Whirl
Dinosaur
Kali River Rapids (You WILL get wet)
See Flights of Wonder, if >20 min or walk Maharajah Jungle Trek first
Walk Maharajah Jungle Trek, if you haven’t already
Ride Expedition Everest
Get Fastpasses for Kilimanjaro Safari
Eat Lunch
Take the Train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch
Tour Conservation Station there
Walk Pangani Forest Exploration Trail
See Festival of the Lion King
See Tough to be a Bug, use FP if wait >30 min
Shop Snack etc

And then there's probably more going on than that, but that's all I have so far! More to come I'm sure...

[DisneymoonJess07]

Hey Jess!
Welcome back...don't worry we were waiting for you. Glad life is starting to settle for you again!
:cool1::woohoo::cheer2::dance3::banana: For being paid in full!!! We just paid our trip off today!! Can't wait to read more. And we are glad you are back!

You snuck in!! I am so glad to be back - I've gotten so much planning done in the past week or so since I've been back. So much more fun than being stressed out!

[nu2wdisneyw]

You snuck in!! I am so glad to be back - I've gotten so much planning done in the past week or so since I've been back. So much more fun than being stressed out!

Yep that me!! Up in the wee hours of the night on The DIS!! :surfweb: Great plans so far...you are VERY detailed. Hopefull we will run into each other one day in the parks!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

I like having plans. That way, I know exactly what I'm deviating from! :laughing:

Do you have your LGMH??

[nu2wdisneyw]

Yes I do...if you go back and view my PTR you will see that I raided the paint dept. at HD!! :rotfl:

[Mickey_Dust]

I love your Pre-Trip Report! I hope you post pictures of your book, it sounds like you have it all planned down to the minute. Looking forward for more.

[DisneymoonJess07]

Yes I do...if you go back and view my PTR you will see that I raided the paint dept. at HD!! :rotfl:

I went and looked - you're right! I felt bad yoinking just a couple, but I love what you did with them!!! :rotfl:

I love your Pre-Trip Report! I hope you post pictures of your book, it sounds like you have it all planned down to the minute. Looking forward for more.

As soon as I finish and maybe make it look a little more pretty (although, I'm using Walt Disney font so that part is actually quite cute!) I will print it here at work and post it. I've really enjoyed making it so far, so I'm excited to have it. It's also been a great project to help me think more concretely about the trip.

So, I asked this in a different thread, but I thought I would ask here as well... what are people's opinions about lanyards? I am thinking of getting cheap ones at our local Office Depot so that I won't feel too bad if we don't use them...or do I find ones that might be souvenirs from some place like eBay? Thoughts?

[DisneymoonJess07]

In other news - I decided that I can't deal with having to run from Chef Mickey's to Spectro - I'm having visions of having to run to Spectro and then missing it, or Chef Mickey's being slow since we have special meals.

Anyway. I got Chef Mickey's for lunch on the 3rd (our sleep in day) and then changed the Monday dinner to the Plaza for 6:30, I think. I need to run this by Raif but I think it makes total sense. I also need to call Disney Dining and get kosher meals added and cancel Chef Mickey's for Monday, but I will do that on lunch on Thursday, when my officemate is back so I can get her to answer phones while I'm playing with Dining. Fun stuff!

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

You're plans all sound good, seems like you have plenty of time to do everything you want with out getting overwhelmed or burnt out!

[challer]

In other news - I decided that I can't deal with having to run from Chef Mickey's to Spectro - I'm having visions of having to run to Spectro and then missing it, or Chef Mickey's being slow since we have special meals.

Anyway. I got Chef Mickey's for lunch on the 3rd (our sleep in day) and then changed the Monday dinner to the Plaza for 6:30, I think. I need to run this by Raif but I think it makes total sense. I also need to call Disney Dining and get kosher meals added and cancel Chef Mickey's for Monday, but I will do that on lunch on Thursday, when my officemate is back so I can get her to answer phones while I'm playing with Dining. Fun stuff!

Agreed - if you're at Chef Mickey's, don't ruin it by being stressed out by time constraints. IMHO, Spectromagic is worth skipping dinner altogether! ;)

Last time I caught Spectro, I had jellybeans for dinner on the parade route.

Aside: don't you just need to let Dining know 24 hours in advance for your kosher meals?

[DisneymoonJess07]

Agreed - if you're at Chef Mickey's, don't ruin it by being stressed out by time constraints. IMHO, Spectromagic is worth skipping dinner altogether! ;)

Last time I caught Spectro, I had jellybeans for dinner on the parade route.

It's the only parade that I'm really interested in seeing - and it's the one I'm going to be nostalgic about. I remember it vividly from our trips when I was little.

Aside: don't you just need to let Dining know 24 hours in advance for your kosher meals?

According to the Disney website, yes, 24 hours in advance is enough. I'm not sure I'd want to mess with that! I'm figuring I'll get on to cancel Chef Mickey's and get the kosher stuff all at once.

[hhockman]

Great update Jess! It sounds like you're doing a really good job with touring plans. You are SO far ahead of me (but then your trip is 3 weeks earlier, so I'm okay, right?). Once All-Stars is over I've got three weeks before fall ball starts to work on Disney stuff.

I wouldn't take the chance of missing Spectro either. You did the right thing.

Can't wait to see pictures of the, uh, "booklet" (or book, as the case may be)!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Heather, you are totally okay! As long as you take advantage of that break you have, I think you are fine!!

I can't believe how close it's getting!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Double Post and a little bump.

I've been thinking about doing a countdown calendar, but I'm trying to decide what interval to do. I suppose 30 days seems to be the most common one I see around here - and then I'd have to figure out what kind of chart I'd like to do. I'm thinking about getting more mickey paint swatches, but we'll have to see about that one. They were pretty darn cool though. Also, I want to plan some days of Disney as well. We have a bunch of Disney movies on their way through Netflix - we watched Transformers last night, which was the last of the non-Disney stuff before the Disney ones. I need to check the list to make sure it's ones I actually want to see again :laughing: I'm open to suggestions about other Disney-themed things we could do!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Just went to the touringplans website - and our week has suddenly jumped to 10s for the whole week. BLACH! It seems really random to me, especially looking around on Dis at the weekly thread an whatever - not that many people seem to be going for our week.

Or maybe the rest of the Disers are just smarter than us and not going that week - oy.

Thoughts?

[trinaweena]

Hey hun! Long time no talk, I haven't even had a chance to log back in since we got back from our trip a few weeks ago!

Looks like yours is getting close you must be excited! I wouldn't worry too much about it jumping up to a 10. It was supposed to be really busy when we were there but I have to say the crowds were not bad at all! Hopefully I'll be starting a trip report very soon!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Hi Trina! Thanks for coming by!!

Anyway, I checked again today, and it's back to 5 and 7, which is fine. We'll figure it out, etiher way!

In more exciting news, I got our luggage tags! YAY!!! We're really, really going!!! :dance3:

I've also bought our blank shirts, got the transfer paper, and know which Disigns I want to use - the shirts are going in the laundry this weekend so I can start working on them hopefully on Sunday. So that's exciting as well.

Other than that - same old same old! Thank goodness! I've had enough excitement for a while!!

[challer]

OK, now I'm jealous.

Get excited.

[hhockman]

Hey Jess, sorry I've been MIA. Just crazy busy. Now that all the summer stuff is over and school starts back next week we can get back into a routine and I think I'll have more time to DIS...which I NEED because we're down to like 54 days or something.

And YOU'RE down to 34 days!!! That's crazy. I'm so excited for you. The luggage tag package is the best.

I haven't even looked to see how busy it's supposed to be while we're there...mostly because I haven't bought the Unofficial Guide yet and I don't want to pay for a subscription when I know I will buy it.

Anyway, my :surfweb: isn't thrilled apparently that I'm up at 3:30am, so I guess I'd better get to sleep. Looking forward to your next installment.

[DisneymoonJess07]

Hi Heather! No worries about being MIA - I know how life gets in the way!

I can't believe how close we're getting. I need to decide how I want to do my 30 day countdown!

We washed the shirts for the transfers yesterday, so hopefully I can continue working on that one. The problem is that the yellow shirt, the one that was going to have tinkerbell on it, got some blue stuff from one of the stupid washer/dryers in our apartment building. It's happened before to some other thing we had in there once, and it is lame. I have to figure out how to get that out, although luckily it is on the back and not hugely noticeable. Any suggestions are welcome.

Otherwise, chugging along and dreaming of Disney!

[DisneymoonJess07]

I have transfers!!!

I printed them a few nights ago and they look awesome! The only problem is that I am missing the second disign that I was going to use for one of DHs shirts. Which is important when there are only two that he wanted to do anyway, but one of the ones he wanted wouldn't print correctly :confused3 So that's something I am still working on. But the rest of them look great. I am hoping to get that done maybe Saturday night or Sunday.

Other than that, there really hasn't been a lot of planning going on. In my office, I have a big boss and two intermediate people that I assist. One of the intermediate people is new and arrived at the beginning of July, and the new big boss is starting on Monday, so he has been here training all week, which has been crazy. I also just got word that there is a possibility that my other intermediate boss is leaving. She is burnt out and hates her bosses so I can understand why she would want to leave. It'll be tough, and I'm sure there'll be an extensive search committee to replace her. It's made for a stressful week though - I keep coming home and taking like a half hour nap before I'm even awake for dinner or anything. So, I am looking forward to the weekend, but I think this next week (big boss' first week) is going to be just as stressful.

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

Ooo I can't wait to see pics of your shirts!! I'm sorry about your stressful week, I hope it gets better for you!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Thanks!!!

It's exciting!!

I am at 30 days!!! I am going to put up a countdown for that hopefully on Saturday - too much going on right now! But we're getting so close!!!!!! Totally crazy.

Otherwise, I am really, really looking forward to having some down time!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

I am talking to myself, but I don't mind too much! :laughing:

Only 27 days until Disney!!

Tonight, I am hoping to finish up my shirts. We cut out a bunch of the transfers last night, and we're hoping to transfer them tonight. I am still down one transfer for Raif, since one of the transfers he wanted was a really bizarre size (tiny) and I couldn't get it to resize reasonably. Such is life getting images from the internet, I suppose!

I need to look through more Disigns to get one for him, but it's hard to find adult male appropriate ones that he'd like. Oh well, it's a good project.

Tonight we are going to dinner with one of DH's friends who is moving to Israel. He went to college with us and then was in Israel the same year we were there and really liked the community he came into, so has spent the past two years getting the money together to do it. He's going with a group that helps set you up and ease the transition, so that'll be good for him. He hasn't had an easy life, so I'm glad he has figured out what he wants to do.

Once we get back from dinner though, Raif told me he wanted to go through all of our Disney stuff and figure out where we are and what our next step needs to be and if he can help me with anything. I think with the way work has been going, I want him to go and cancel/get kosher food for our new reservations that I made like two weeks ago. Otherwise, it's just not going to get done. He might be working from home on Friday, which would be a perfect opportunity. That's the only thing I can think of that I really haven't done that needs to be, but I bet there is more.

Otherwise, I bet I will have more for you tonight! If I get a chance, I will post the pictures of the finished shirts as well!!

[hhockman]

Hey Jess,

Sorry you felt abandoned. I haven't been keeping up with the DISboards as much as I'd like the last couple of weeks. Too much going on. My boys started back to school today, so I should have a little free time in the day now until I start getting sub calls (hopefully sooner than later).

I can't wait to see your T-shirts. I was planning to make some for us too, but I ended up buying so many that it might not be necessary (might do it anyway. We'll see how time goes).

How exciting for your friend to see the result of something he's worked for for two years!

SOOO excited for you that you are under 30 days (I think we're at 45 using Lisa's system of not counting today or the day you're leaving). :cool1:

So I'll JUST have time to read the beginning of your TR before I leave. Hope Raif gets the meal ressies figured out!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Heather, don't worry about it. I don't mind talking to myself too much.

Last night, after a very nice dinner, we came home and talked about some Disney stuff. We were too lazy to actually do the transfers, but I did finish cutting them out, so hopefully tonight? How many times can I say that? :laughing:

I did send my husband a list of things for him to do on Friday since he'll be working from home. I have him doing the Disney dining stuff, double checking our reservaton for the limo company taking us to the airport, and talking to people about who will take the birds while we are in Florida - 8 days is a long time to bird-sit for us! They will definitely be on the souvenir list!

That's another thing I need to figure out - who is getting souvenirs. Both sets of parents, defintiely. The bird sitters. People from the office? Last time we went, I got my big boss and my office mate something, and brought home Florida candy for the rest of the office. Maybe something like that? Something to discuss!

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

Woohoo for Disney stuff!! You'll get those shirts done eventually!! You better get them done soon, I want to see them!! :) That's sweet bringing your fellow workers something back!! I'm getting my boss something too, she really has done so much for me. I think those souveniors are a wonderful idea! Couldn't help you with the specifics, I'm trying to figure out the same thing and I just gave up and hopefully I'll see something on the way!

[hhockman]

That's really sweet of you to get souveiners for everyone. Thankfully almost everyone I can think of the get something for will be there with me, so I don't really have to worry about it. ;)

Can't wait to see your shirts when you get around to it.

I still can't believe you're under 30 days! I will be too in a couple weeks.

Let us know how the dining stuff goes on Friday.

[DisneymoonJess07]

So, we started with a bunch of shirts, and a bunch of cut out transfers, and ended up with a bunch of great shirts!!

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Disney%20Shirts/IMG_0945.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Disney%20Shirts/IMG_0946.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Disney%20Shirts/IMG_0944.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Disney%20Shirts/IMG_0948.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Disney%20Shirts/IMG_0950.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Disney%20Shirts/IMG_0952.jpg
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Disney%20Shirts/IMG_0954.jpg

I thought I took pictures of the others - there are two more - but not yet! Raif wants another one that he saw here too - so that'll be his second one. And now we have Disney shirts!

[hhockman]

Very VERY cool!

I love the one with the two halves that make a whole. The one that has the balloons. It's so pretty. Congrats on the shirts.

Just a few more days!

[disneygirlinnj]

cute shirts! i like the one of the castle and mickey ears a lot! :)

[haleofafamily]

Love your shirts!! We are wanting to do something similar for our trip. Where did you find the designs? Do you mind walking me thru the process of getting the design from the computer to the printer? It's sad how computer challenged I am!

[hhockman]

Okay, I've decided I really want that balloon one for us. I just love it.

I'll put it on the boys' white muscle shirts and get shirts for me and Matt.

LOVE that one. Spill the beans! ;)

[nu2wdisneyw]

Hey Jess!
I really like your shirts...I requested the same AK design for our family. I plan to work on our shirts this weekend...I have to buy more ink, I ran out making the autograph cards.

:banana::banana::banana:25 Days!!! :banana::banana::banana:

[ScotsMinnie]

Love the tshirts. Especially the Tink one!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Love your shirts!! We are wanting to do something similar for our trip. Where did you find the designs? Do you mind walking me thru the process of getting the design from the computer to the printer? It's sad how computer challenged I am!

Okay, the first thing to do? Buy the transfers from AmyMickey (amymickey.com). They are GREAT! You need about one per design. Anyway, I got the designs from our very own creative board here: http://www.disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=105. I used mostly designs from Donatalie, Kellybell and Jessica. Go to their threads and look in their signatures for links to their photobucket or 4shared sites, so you can get the full size images. In photobucket or 4shared, they have places to download them. Try to download them to a folder, or if you can't do that, just to the Desktop. Somewhere you can find them.

Open them up in a graphics program. I have photoshop, but you don't need it to print them. You can even just insert them into a Word document. Open a new Word document, and go to page setup, landscape. Then insert your design (Insert picture - from file then find it and open). That way you know the proportions on a 8.5 x 11 piece. From there, you print as you normally would from a printer, but taking out the regular paper and feeding one sheet of the transfer paper in at a time. AmyMickey's transfers came with fantastic instructions that worked fabulously, so you don't need my help with that. Also, the great thing about those transfers is that the ironing not only made them stick very, very well but it made the colors brighter and more attractive. I was worried about some of the designs turning out nicely until we did the first one and I saw how much more vibrant they were after the ironing. The other great thing about AmyMickey's transfers is that you don't have to turn anything backwards to print (like traditional transfers).

If you have any more questions or run into problems, let me know. If you just want someone to help you find designs, also let me know.


Okay, I've decided I really want that balloon one for us. I just love it.

I'll put it on the boys' white muscle shirts and get shirts for me and Matt.

LOVE that one. Spill the beans! ;)

Okay, so it took a little searching. I didn't think it was a Donatalie design, so I had to hunt out who else I used. It's a Kellybell and here is the link, since it is sort of hidden and harder to find if I didn't remember what it was with:
http://www.4shared.com/file/103064213/71c278ac/celebrate.html

It really came out well - it was a pinch-hitter for something that wasn't printing well on regular paper and it turned out great!

Hey Jess!
I really like your shirts...I requested the same AK design for our family. I plan to work on our shirts this weekend...I have to buy more ink, I ran out making the autograph cards.

:banana::banana::banana:25 Days!!! :banana::banana::banana:

That design is great - I really love it!

Can't believe it's getting so close!!!

Love the tshirts. Especially the Tink one!

Thank you - I really wanted a tink one that looked grown-up enough, since a lot of them are aimed at the younger set. I had one that was a cute line-drawing, but I think I saved the preview and not the big image and I couldn't find it again :( so I had to find something else - and luckily I did!

~~~~

Well, after a long morning without a computer, we are back up here in the office. We are undergoing upgrades, but our usual IT guy is out with a very sad family emergency and the replacement guy is not nearly as good :( But we are making do, and it is slowly (very slowly) getting done.

I should be doing more work, but it was great to see everyone in here this morning! Much more exciting than work!

[hhockman]

:thanks: Jess!

That was really nice of you to look up the link for me! I've downloaded it and I'll play with it tonight after the kids are in bed. :)

[haleofafamily]

Thanks for the great instructions and the links. There are so many great designs to choose from I don't know what I will do. Gives me a new obsession for the next few days. Thanks again!

[DisneymoonJess07]

I am so glad it is useful for you!

ETA: For both of you!!

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

oh my god, I love all of them!! My favorites are the blue outline mickey one with the balloons, the tink one (absolute favorite), and the black mickey head with mickey one. They all came out so well!! I so should have done that for this trip. I was debating about it and never did it, oh well next trip it shall be!! Really cute, can't wait to see the other one you're making for Raif!

[DisneymoonJess07]

I had such a great time making them!

[Madisonsmom45]

THe shirts are way cool. I'd like to know where you got the transfers.We are going to do something similar, but yours are so much better.

Well, the last of the plans are coming together. The TA called and all our documents were in. So, we went and picked them up...This just makes it all that much closer. Have to finish a lot of last minute things yet. Not doing the full school shopping until we get back, since the kids will only go to school for one day. I was a little worried about having them out, but it will be fine. Both kids are keeping daily journals and I have already worked out a homefun (yep that's what our district calls it) plan.

Good luck and pixie dust to everyone embarking on their Mickey adventure:)

Bonnie 47 :cool1:
DH 52:happytv:
DD 7 :cheer2:
DS 7pirate:

[DisneymoonJess07]

I ordered the transfers from AmyMickey.com - very easy to do and they came quickly and were great quality!

Sounds like you are almost ready to go! We're all getting so close!

[hhockman]

It looks like I'm the last of all of you guys...but that's okay. When you get back I'll just be getting ready to leave and I can rub it in then! ;)

[DisneymoonJess07]

You and I will have to keep updated with scrapbooking - although I do digital stuff versus paper stuff. :)

Anyway, we did the other shirts tonight.

The blue one is for me (with a light blue shirt) and then the green one is for Raif. Love them a lot!

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Disney%20Shirts/IMG_0956.jpg

[hhockman]

Wow. Those two are really cool too! Did you design those?

I do digital scrapbooking too. In fact, these days I do more digital that paper. It's such a pain to haul all the paper stuff out. But I found these books one day and thought it would be fun. Part of the reason it's taking me so long to get the boys' done is that I'm on the computer a lot more often than I am doing paper stuff.

But I also just discovered my Cricut (bought it in March, just got it out of the box). LOVE this thing.

So lately I'm doing both. I really love digital though. Ever since I learned Elements (somewhat) I LOVE digital. :)

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Wow,. those shirts look so great. Good job on them!! Can't believe you're leaving in 24 days. It seems like we've all been waiting so long for our trips to be here. Now, it's so close!!! :woohoo:

[DisneymoonJess07]

Wow. Those two are really cool too! Did you design those?

I got the design from Donatalie - she had it in multiple colors, so DH was okay with them matching.


I do digital scrapbooking too. In fact, these days I do more digital that paper. It's such a pain to haul all the paper stuff out. But I found these books one day and thought it would be fun. Part of the reason it's taking me so long to get the boys' done is that I'm on the computer a lot more often than I am doing paper stuff.

But I also just discovered my Cricut (bought it in March, just got it out of the box). LOVE this thing.

So lately I'm doing both. I really love digital though. Ever since I learned Elements (somewhat) I LOVE digital. :)

I :love: digital scrapbooking. I did a very little bit of paper scrapping, but living in apartments there just isn't enough room - especially compared with just having it all on my laptop. So I do that all the time! Have you found a lot of Disney stuff to use for your trip?

Wow,. those shirts look so great. Good job on them!! Can't believe you're leaving in 24 days. It seems like we've all been waiting so long for our trips to be here. Now, it's so close!!! :woohoo:

I really love how our shirts turned out - but I can't believe how close we are - three and a half weeks! My officemate leaves for her vacation this afternoon, and then by thte time she gets back, I am less than two weeks away!!

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

Oh the shirts are so cute. Nice matching not matchy matchy. I like them a lot. Yeah Ian would not like to match match, but hey may go for the same design in different colors, I'm glad Raif did! I am definitely going to have to do them on our next trip!

[stacikristine]

All of your shirts are SOOO cute! :goodvibes And Raif's look manly--which is always a bonus! I can't believe your trip is coming up SOO soon! Can't wait to hear all about it!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Oh the shirts are so cute. Nice matching not matchy matchy. I like them a lot. Yeah Ian would not like to match match, but hey may go for the same design in different colors, I'm glad Raif did! I am definitely going to have to do them on our next trip!

All of your shirts are SOOO cute! :goodvibes And Raif's look manly--which is always a bonus! I can't believe your trip is coming up SOO soon! Can't wait to hear all about it!

We are so excited about our trip! The shirts are sitting in a little pile, waiting to be packed :goodvibes

Okay - bunches of updates here:

Friday, Raif made the necessary changes to our dining reservations - added kosher food to the two reservations I made online, and canceled our original Chef Mickey's one. Of course, the first time he called, he got one of those idiotic CMs that you hear about sometimes on the DIS - she told him that all she could do was add "kosher request" to our reservations and that we would have to call each individual restaurant otherwise. Nevermind that we did this a few weeks ago and the process was totally different. And she wouldn't cancel the stupid Chef Mickey's reservation either. It was bizarre. He hung up with her and called me and I told him to call again and hopefully he'd get someone with half a brain and they'd be able to work it out. It all worked out and we are set for everything in terms of the table service places. Fantastic.popcorn::

We also spent a bunch of time tonight working on everything we need to get/buy/do before we go. We have a whole list of things to get, but we did some of them tonight. First, I worked out how to get our reward money back from Chase. We had 690 points, and I used 600 of them to get a $750 check from them - we will deposit that money to our checking account and that's our budget for our extras at Disney. I'm not expecting to spend it all, but at least this gives us a really nice amount to play with - and because this is all rewards, it's like free money. Yay :) :woohoo:

Then, we bought hats to wear at Disney. Raif wanted a similar style to one that he has, but lighter weight, so he got this one (but on sale): Tilley Hat (http://www.tilley.com/detail.asp?catId=&gender=&extractBy=CategoryId&id=1&productNo=LT1B)

I decided I wanted a baseball cap and would put sunscreen on my ears, so I got one from the Disney store. Red, with a tricircle mickey in grey, and my name on the back in disney font. I figure I probably won't get a mickey ear hat, and this is much more practical for the rest of the world. I will post pictures of it when it gets here! :wizard:

We are planning on going tomorrow to get some more stuff for the trip - bits and pieces that we couldn't get other places. I also ordered our water bottles online at Klean Kanteen. I am hoping that they will also be useful at other times and places since they are high quality and very durable. So we'll see! I also need to order lanyards for us, since Raif is all for it, once I explained the whole KttW thing, and we'll mostly be wanting to use our debit card for everything else anyway. So that's a plus. Now, to just find the ones we want!

Oh! Raif also ordered the last few pairs of shorts he needs, so I think we might be okay on clothing. I need to check my stuff before I can say for sure, but I think we might be there. I'd love to also pack the day bags tomorrow evening, but we'll see how it goes. We need to run errands and do a walk, and it's going to be about 95 degrees. We went for a walk today as well, even though it was about that as well, since we are trying to get used to heat for Disney, since it has been so cool here this summer up until now.

That's all for now - three weeks!!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

20 Days!!! Only 20 days!!!

Today, while we were doing our 2 mile walk after work, my husband said - wait, was yesterday three weeks? At least he's somewhat paying attention, right?

Anyway - I got us lanyards! I don't think they were probably any cheaper than what I could get at Disney, but I wanted to have them beforehand - I got this one: Red Lanyard (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VISuperSize&item=170368229575)
And Raif got this one: Blue Lanyard (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?VISuperSize&item=170367471879)

And they shipped this morning!

Anyway, we also went to Target and bought about half the store. :laughing: Raif got a new swimsuit, we got sunscreen & bug spray, new sunglasses for me, and about 10 other things I am forgetting. I am hoping that we'll maybe get to start packing a little bit tomorrow, and I want to take all our stuff out and photograph it to show you guys. We'll see - there's a lot to do tomorrow already!

Anyway, I can't believe it's getting so close! The only hard part is - when the trip is done, I go back to my school schedule!! How horrible! Well, not really - but it's a much more annoying schedule than a regular work week!

[nu2wdisneyw]

Hey Jess!
I feel you...the time is coming so fast. We have so much to do to get ready. I made myself a check list though to keep me on task. I am going to check the websites this week to see if I can order me some more shorts. I am getting so excited! 19 days for me!!

[hhockman]

WOW! You've done a lot. I can't wait to see all of the pictures. :thumbsup2

We are only 19 days behind you and I haven't done nearly as much. I guess I'd better get busy. I'm still trying to decide what to do about lanyards and pins. And I have a few other "decisions" to make too.

But you sound like you're ready to go.

DON'T start worrying about what's going to happen when you get back. That will ruin your trip! Just enjoy planning and packing now. The "after" part will be here when you get back whether you think about it or not. ;)

[DisneymoonJess07]

Hey Jess!
I feel you...the time is coming so fast. We have so much to do to get ready. I made myself a check list though to keep me on task. I am going to check the websites this week to see if I can order me some more shorts. I am getting so excited! 19 days for me!!

I need a checklist, I think - but I'm pretty close to where I need to be, I think - or getting closer. Oh, I know what I wanted to get to today - mousekeeping envelopes!

WOW! You've done a lot. I can't wait to see all of the pictures. :thumbsup2

We are only 19 days behind you and I haven't done nearly as much. I guess I'd better get busy. I'm still trying to decide what to do about lanyards and pins. And I have a few other "decisions" to make too.

But you sound like you're ready to go.

DON'T start worrying about what's going to happen when you get back. That will ruin your trip! Just enjoy planning and packing now. The "after" part will be here when you get back whether you think about it or not. ;)

You'll do fine! I think I'm a little bit obsessed with getting ready, I think!

I'm trying not to think about afterwards! Not a good plan!!!

[DisneymoonJess07]

Our lanyards and my hat came!!!

OMG, I am IN LOVE with my hat!! It is totally perfect!!!

Unfortunately, since we were helping friends move last night, I didn't get pictures of the stuff - but hopefully either tonight or tomorrow night!

We also did a bunch of planning on Wednesday night - Raif should be confirming the car service to the airport today and then we'll do more discussing tomorrow night of where we are with planning. It's getting so close!!

ETA: I also made some cute mousekeeping envelopes. I made like four or five - I might make two copies of some, since I don't know if I want to bother making more!

[hhockman]

Okay, so where are those pictures? It's been two days already!!!

So exciting to get Disney mail. Just two weeks left. I'm so jealous. ;)

[DisneymoonJess07]

Heather, you motivated me to actually get up and take those pictures!! :laughing:

Anyway, Raif confirmed the car service so we are good to go there. One more thing off the list. We also did a practice pack of the parks bags - they look fine as well. Our water bottles should arrive tomorrow, if all goes as planned. Raif's park hat arrived as well - he really loves it, but mine is about 1200% cuter than his :laughing:

Anyway, here is the hat:
Front:
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Disney%20Shirts/IMG_0957.jpg
Back:
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Disney%20Shirts/IMG_0958.jpg

Aside from that - I am getting close also to being done with the booklet! Craziness!!!

[nu2wdisneyw]

Heather, you motivated me to actually get up and take those pictures!! :laughing:

Anyway, Raif confirmed the car service so we are good to go there. One more thing off the list. We also did a practice pack of the parks bags - they look fine as well. Our water bottles should arrive tomorrow, if all goes as planned. Raif's park hat arrived as well - he really loves it, but mine is about 1200% cuter than his :laughing:

Anyway, here is the hat:
Front:
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Disney%20Shirts/IMG_0957.jpg
Back:
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/MsJessica07/Disney%20Shirts/IMG_0958.jpg

Aside from that - I am getting close also to being done with the booklet! Craziness!!!

Cute hat!! :thumbsup2

[DisneymoonJess07]

THIRTEEN DAYS!!!!

I can't believe we are getting so close. I keep saying it, but it keeps being true!

The funny thing is, I have been motivated to do scrapbooking this past week because I am so sure we are going to get 10 million pictures at Disney for me to scrap!!!

OH! We are going to be in Epcot on our actual anniversary - so we are going to the Pick-a-Pearl in Japan as an actual anniversary thing. I am excited! I'm trying to decide if I want to buy a Disney thingy here or just wait until I get to Epcot to just get something less Disney. I feel like I'd get more use out of less Disney...

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Wow Jess, just read thru your report! Seems to be like you got yourself a pretty awesome trip planned. Oh, and the hat adorable!!!

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

Hi Jess!! Back from my trip and just catching up on your updates! Very cute hat! Your trip is almost here!!

[stacikristine]

What a cute hat!!! It looks great on you! :thumbsup2 And Raif's looks like it'll be perfect for him. I can't believe you're getting SOOOO close! You'll be there before you know it. Does it just seem crazy--you've waited so long and now it's finally here! :goodvibes

[DisneymoonJess07]

Wow Jess, just read thru your report! Seems to be like you got yourself a pretty awesome trip planned. Oh, and the hat adorable!!!

Thank you! Way to go for reading all of that too - wow!

Hi Jess!! Back from my trip and just catching up on your updates! Very cute hat! Your trip is almost here!!

What a cute hat!!! It looks great on you! :thumbsup2 And Raif's looks like it'll be perfect for him. I can't believe you're getting SOOOO close! You'll be there before you know it. Does it just seem crazy--you've waited so long and now it's finally here! :goodvibes

I can't believe how close it is! (And I'm actually kind of useless at work because of it!)

[hhockman]

That is an adorable hat! I'm jealous! I need a new Disney hat, but I'm NOT ordering off of the Disney Store online again. Not because I had a problem with them...I've just done it enough already and I'm not paying shipping again. I'll have to find something there.

12 days!!! HOLY MOLY!!! I'll just say it again 12 DAYS!!!

We're at 30 days today. So LESS than a month (I like saying that too). I can't believe you have LESS than two weeks. So cool! :cool1:

[DisneymoonJess07]

That is an adorable hat! I'm jealous! I need a new Disney hat, but I'm NOT ordering off of the Disney Store online again. Not because I had a problem with them...I've just done it enough already and I'm not paying shipping again. I'll have to find something there.

12 days!!! HOLY MOLY!!! I'll just say it again 12 DAYS!!!

We're at 30 days today. So LESS than a month (I like saying that too). I can't believe you have LESS than two weeks. So cool! :cool1:..

11 days!!! :banana::dance3:

Yeah :rolleyes1 I :love: my hat.

Also, I got an email about reduced rate on Disney personalization - so now would be the time if you want something special like my hat. Wish I had known about it before I ordered my hat - but it's okay.

Our water bottles came yesterday - they are just the right size and shape, but I think we should take them on a test run. Maybe over the weekend or something - wash them out and fill them up with stuff and drink it on a walk or something. See how it goes.

Also, tomorrow - I can do online check-in! How crazy is that??!? It doesn't feel like it should be that close already! But it really, really is!

Okay, I really, really should be working (haha.)

[DisneymoonJess07]

I am six days away! Holy cow!!

I did online check-in and it went perfectly, so that's exciting.

There are lots of little things that need to get done this week.

Monday:
Haircut (for Jess)
Finalize booklets
Do Garden Grocer Order
Empty Memory Card & collect other one

Tuesday:
Clean the apartment
Print mousekeeping envelopes
Fill with money $2 per day
Get quarters and pennies for penny press machines

Wednesday:
Do laundry
Print booklets at work (3 copies)

Thursday:
Start Packing
Tell building manager re: picking up mail
Pay rent for September
Buy milk and other stuff for when we return

Friday:
Dinner with friends :)

Saturday:
Finish packing
Online checkin with SWA
Clean out Fridge/take out trash
Make snacks for airport

Sunday:
Up at the crack of dawn to DISNEY!!!

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

I can't believe you're leaving in 6 days!! Woohoo!! :woohoo: Those days will go by so quickly!

[hhockman]

Wow. 6 days! That's just craziness. I think we're at 24. Still way too far away. It sounds like you have a lot to do this week to keep you busy. Sunday will be here before you know it!

[disneygirlinnj]

wow 6 days is exciting!! I'm at 33 :(

[DisneymoonJess07]

I can't believe you're leaving in 6 days!! Woohoo!! :woohoo: Those days will go by so quickly!

Wow. 6 days! That's just craziness. I think we're at 24. Still way too far away. It sounds like you have a lot to do this week to keep you busy. Sunday will be here before you know it!

wow 6 days is exciting!! I'm at 33 :(

Well, my haircut looks cute (I haven't washed it yet to try to style it myself, but she did a good job), and I did the Garden Grocer order. I also did a couple other things that I wanted to get done before we leave for Disney, but aren't really related to Disney - i.e. finish my scrapbook swap layout, finally figuring out where to put the journaling!

Anyway, it's great to be so close, but it totally feels unreal!!!

[stacikristine]

OH MY GOODNESS!!! I can't believe you are going to be in Disney World in 5 days!!!!!

That is so, so exciting!!! :yay: :dance3: :woohoo: :banana:

Great to-do list! I am so excited for you! :cheer2:

[DisneymoonJess07]

I am six days away! Holy cow!!

I did online check-in and it went perfectly, so that's exciting.

There are lots of little things that need to get done this week.

Monday:
Haircut (for Jess)
Finalize booklets
Do Garden Grocer Order
Empty Memory Card & collect other one

Tuesday:
Clean the apartment
Print mousekeeping envelopes
Fill with money $2 per day
Get quarters and pennies for penny press machines

Wednesday:
Do laundry
Print booklets at work (3 copies)

Thursday:
Start Packing
Tell building manager re: picking up mail
Pay rent for September
Buy milk and other stuff for when we return

Friday:
Dinner with friends :)

Saturday:
Finish packing
Online checkin with SWA
Clean out Fridge/take out trash
Make snacks for airport

Sunday:
Up at the crack of dawn to DISNEY!!!

Well, the blue stuff got done. Things got a little sidetracked by some computer trouble at home, but we seem to be on our way to a solution, I didn't lose any data and everything is working, so that's a plus. Just a lot of lost time.

Also, our building manager's last day is - get this - August 30. We found out yesterday. So that whole plan of her picking up our mail? Might fall through. I guess we can get the post office to hold it, but we were expecting this to be really easy! Oh well - you win some and lose some! It's also sad because she was really nice and we had just gotten to know her. We've had a good run with building managers though, so I'm not so worried about our new one. Just more worried that it will take them a while to get us one!

Aside from that, desperately trying to stay focused at work and failing MISERABLY! :laughing: