divanicki75
07-24-2009, 11:30 PM
I’ve had so much fun reading everyone else’s PRTs (and spending wayyyy too much time doing it-lol), that I’ve decided to attempt to write my own.
First the Castmembers:
Me: I’m Nicki. I’ll be turning 34 in Disney this year YAY! I’m the Disney-aholic in our family. I didn’t know I was until I started coming here- hee hee. I just wanted to bring our kids to Disney. It took me 4 ½ years of marriage to finally convince my husband to bring us for the first time. I’ve now been to Disney 3 times. Once with my parents & younger sister in Feb. 1990, then in college on Spring Break in 1995, with 3 of my friends and this last Christmas with DH & our 2 kiddos. I’ve only ever been to MK, only for one day and I’ve never stayed onsite.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d8/divanicki75/photo-9.jpg
Hubby: Chad, will be 35- 3 weeks after we get back from Disney. He went to MK & Epcot when he earned a trip selling newspapers in Jr. High and once when his family came down for his boot camp graduation. They only went to MK that time, because he is anti-Epcot. He is a big grump: doesn’t like crowds, doesn’t believe in the whole magic of Disney, but as long as the kids & I behave (no tantrums from any of us (i.e. me being Commando/Militant Park Goer)), then he just goes along with it (he even got his haircut in MK last year complete with Pixie Dust. He doesn’t know that I have pictures- hee hee… he also told me that he’d like to be the Veteran of the Day ‘someday’ which has turned into when we go this year on my bday. Crossing my fingers that it works that we can do it!)
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d8/divanicki75/photo-7.jpg
(DH with DD)
DS: Mikey, will be 5- 2 weeks before we go to Disney (see a pattern here?) Mikey’s very first trip (which I’ve been trying to take him on since he was 6 months old, but hubby was deployed) was the day after Christmas last year. He is our difficult child. He is most likely ADHD, has been unofficially diagnosed, but they won’t officially test him until he’s about 6. My point in mentioning this is that he was a perfect angel when we were there last year (so was his sister), so I don’t know if it’s the magic of Disney or something they pump into the air, but wow!
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d8/divanicki75/DSC06807.jpg
DD: Amelia… Princess Mia, as we call her (okay I call her- we call her Mia Noelle, she calls herself Mi-oelle) will be 3- 5 days after we leave Disney, which means that this, her second trip to The World will be her last free one.
Here are two pictures of her... I had a hard time picking. The 1st one is at DS's Graduation Party and the 2nd one is her playing dress-up as the Pirate Empress/Princess and saying "Arrrrrrrrgh!"
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d8/divanicki75/DSC06727-1.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d8/divanicki75/photo-8.jpg
Background:
We are currently stationed in SC (DH is in the Navy) and couldn’t go home to where either of us are from (Me- CT, DH- MN) last Christmas, so we spur of the moment decided to bring the kids to Disney, which put me back in the Christmas mood:) . I planned the majority of our trip by using DISBoards. When I heard about the ‘get in for free on your birthday’ deal for this year, I decided that we HAD to go again! It was the cheapest trip we’d ever take: It’s a week before DD turns 3, so we’d only have to pay for hubby & DS (5). Then I lost my job, so I didn’t think we’d be able to go :( DH’s cousin sent me the notice about the Stars & Stripes deal, so that would mean that it would REALLY be the cheapest we’d ever go (only having to pay for DS). I was determined to figure out a way to make it work. I started homeschooling the kids (yes, you can homeschool toddlers/preschoolers) and we put aside money each week for Mikey’s tuition for the fall (private school- public schools here leave something to be desired), some in savings, some to make an extra Credit Card payment and some for the kids & my ‘play’ money… I was taking them on outings each week. I started conserving what I could of our play money and each week, I’d put the leftover money aside in my Disney fund (envelope-lol). Fast forward 6 weeks and I get a job (yay!) making more than I’ve ever made before- woo hoo. New plan. Live on what we were before I lost my job, sock the extra into Disney fund (now a new bank account with Direct Deposit- $20/week) Trip is back on. I’m a Government Contractor and over the next several weeks, I find out that I’m working with a bunch of Disney-aholics, one of which has his own Disney Blog. He’s so hard-core that he even dials in to the quarterly conference call. He tells me to read the fine print on the Stars & Stripes deal. The service-member gets in for free PLUS gets up to (5) 5-day passes for $99/each- Cha-ching! I go into full planning mode, tell hubby that the trip is SOOOO back on, get his grumpy buy-in and book our room.
Everyone at work RAVED about Shades of Green and I had been checking it out since before our last trip, so that is naturally where I was going to book us, then I looked at the site. It was wide open the night before, then the night I tried to book it, there was limited availability for our last night (no doubt due either to the Parade taping or Pop Warner-ers coming in). Before I booked our stay, I just for kicks and giggles decided to check the Swan & Dolphin and the All Star Resorts. Pop Century was wayyy cheaper (I think by like $50, but I can’t remember exactly now), so I booked it! I told a co-worker the next day and she asked me if I booked it with the military discount, which I wasn’t even thinking of, so that night, I called in to ask them if they could add the discount or if it was too late (I also was having a hard time adding in our birthday celebration details). The CM told me that there were no more rooms at Pop at the military rate, but that they could put me in Movies or Sports. I chose Movies. Now, I’m at a stand-still for reservations. Our official dates are 2-6 December. We will drive down on the 2nd, do MK on my bday, the 3rd, do Epcot on the 4th, DHS on the 5th and I just decided to add a ½ day at AK on the 6th before we drive home (more on that later.)
I’ve read a few PTRs and someone (I wish I remember who) had done a PowerPoint Slide for her trip: one slide per day. On the slide, it would have their itinerary, all confirmation numbers, all park hours (including EMH) and the times of all parades & fireworks. Then she took a picture of each slide on her phone and had all of her information at her fingertips… GENIOUS! So, I started doing one, only mine has gotten so big… I’ll pare it down eventually, but in addition to my daily slides, I have a list of the Top 10 things I’d like to do at each park, one for all the holiday stuff I want to see/do and one to use on my Ressie booking day, detailing out everything I have to book (all ADR’s, BBB & PL dates etc.). As of this writing, I have 31 days until I can make ADRs. So, for the last week or so, I’ve been obsessing about my birthday cake to keep me busy.
My kids & I went to RC in Minneapolis in April and literally every 15 minutes during our meal, it was someone’s bday and my son decided that he REALLY wanted one of those Volcano desserts that they bring you with a sparkler, so I decided that day that for my birthday dinner, we’d go to RC (in DTD) so we could get one :) Oh yeah, I’ve been trying to figure out where to put what meal, etc which of course have to be figured out by 24 August. This all hinges on my birthday cake. After looking at all the gorgeous cakes on the cake thread, I decided that I HAVE TO have one. I found an inside that I want: Vanilla (or yellow, whatever) with strawberries & Bavarian Cream. It’s been an ordeal trying to figure out WHERE I can get this. I thought I could just go anywhere in The World and whoever makes it, would just deliver it. Not so much. Thanks to lurkyloo, I think I’ve got it down pat. She gave me 3 possibilities, one of which was GF, which is where I’ve pretty much decided to go. It sounds like we’re going to have to give up Crystal Palace for 1900 Park Fare. Oh, I should mention 2 things. 1) I have ADD, so I tend to jump around (not physically- in my story, silly!) and 2) we’re not doing Park Hopper, which I know a lot of people are huge fans of. Since the kiddos are still little, I’m trying to keep the seated meals to a minimum, so my original intention was to do 3 character meals (one each day- 1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner) and my Birthday dinner.
Here’s what we’re up to now:
Wednesday, December 2nd: Drive from Charleston to ASMo. Settle in, then head over to Poly to watch EWP & Fireworks @ 9pm. (We won’t be able to see Tink fly at the castle, but hey, I’m just excited to be staying onsite and doing more than 1 park & more than 1 day, remember?)
Thursday, December 3rd: My Birthday- Magic Kingdom. Breakfast either at the hotel or at Main St. Bakery. Then hopefully we’ll have reservations either for both kids at PL or DS at PL and DD at BBB. I want to get in as many character pics & rides as we can. We’ll do a late lunch at 1900 PF where I’ll have my custom bday cake (still have to figure out my design), then head back to the hotel for naps and/or pool/playground time. After that, we’ll head to DTD for my b-day dinner at RC!
Friday, December 4th: Epcot. Breakfast at Akershus for Princess Storybook. This was a MUST DO for me . After that, we’d spend the morning doing Future World, then back to the hotel for a heavy snack/light lunch/early nap for the kids, so when they’re back up, we can head back to Epcot and eat our way thru the Showcase… I want to do the craft thing & passport in each country and I hear that there is a Christmas storyteller & a Santa in each country, too! I think we’re going to have to skip the CP, but I’d like to see the tree lighting, which I hear is at 6pm. We’ll last as long as the kids can, then call it a day.
Saturday, December 5th: DHS. I’m thinking Character Breakfast at Hwd & Vine, but I have to check some reviews. I’m also open to going to Cape May Café or Garden Grove at the Swan. Okay, here’s where y’all get to laugh at me. I am a HUGE New Kids on the Block fan. I have been since- well, forever! I’ve met the guys, planned the fan convention twice, you get the picture… speaking of getting the picture. When they were HUGE back in the early 90’s, they had an ABC special called “Wildest Dreams” in which they each did a skit at what was then MGM Studios. My goal for the morning is to find each of those areas. Apparently 2 were just generic places that weren’t actually at MGM/DHS, so I have 3 to get. Indiana Jones, Singin’ in the Rain & this 50’s gas station place. I’m going to have to pick the brains of my friends (and hopefully people will subscribe, so I can get input from y’all on this, too) who have been to DHS to help me figure out where this stuff is, so I can work it into my day. Oh yeah, back to this family trip… I also want the kids to meet the Little Einsteins and see the Osborne Family Christmas Lights. I think we’ll do our typical back to the hotel in the afternoon so the kids can re-charge, then grab dinner somewhere, so we can peruse the hotel decorations. I think DH will be over this whole Disney thing by then, so my hopping all over the place, ought to make it a fun day- lol
Sunday, December 6th: Morning at AK. I want to see the Tree of Life and EVERYONE has said that we’ve GOT TO DO the Safari… Plan is to leave the park by noon, so we can leave The World by 1pm. We should arrive home in Charleston by the kids’ bedtime.
Wow, just by typing this all, I’ve changed stuff in the itinerary and I’m starting to think I’m over planning this and something’s gotta give. I think I’m going to have to change my birthday, because we won’t have enough time in MK. I just realized that I forgot about DH doing the Flag Ceremony in MK… Arrrgh, my disorganization ought to get a lot of subscribers- lol
Well, that’s where I am now. I have to straighten out my itinerary, figure out my cake, then finish finalizing our ADRs.
I just found a pamphlet thing that we got from Disney earlier this year. I had meant to hang it in DD’s room, but it never made it out of my office. It says “Please mention the code included in the yellow box on this mailier”. Would that be considered a pin? If so, they probably won’t take it, if it’s after the expiration date, right? Not that it matters, I think it’s for the same prices at the hotel that we’re already paying.
:confused3 :scared1: :confused: :eek: :scared:
First the Castmembers:
Me: I’m Nicki. I’ll be turning 34 in Disney this year YAY! I’m the Disney-aholic in our family. I didn’t know I was until I started coming here- hee hee. I just wanted to bring our kids to Disney. It took me 4 ½ years of marriage to finally convince my husband to bring us for the first time. I’ve now been to Disney 3 times. Once with my parents & younger sister in Feb. 1990, then in college on Spring Break in 1995, with 3 of my friends and this last Christmas with DH & our 2 kiddos. I’ve only ever been to MK, only for one day and I’ve never stayed onsite.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d8/divanicki75/photo-9.jpg
Hubby: Chad, will be 35- 3 weeks after we get back from Disney. He went to MK & Epcot when he earned a trip selling newspapers in Jr. High and once when his family came down for his boot camp graduation. They only went to MK that time, because he is anti-Epcot. He is a big grump: doesn’t like crowds, doesn’t believe in the whole magic of Disney, but as long as the kids & I behave (no tantrums from any of us (i.e. me being Commando/Militant Park Goer)), then he just goes along with it (he even got his haircut in MK last year complete with Pixie Dust. He doesn’t know that I have pictures- hee hee… he also told me that he’d like to be the Veteran of the Day ‘someday’ which has turned into when we go this year on my bday. Crossing my fingers that it works that we can do it!)
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d8/divanicki75/photo-7.jpg
(DH with DD)
DS: Mikey, will be 5- 2 weeks before we go to Disney (see a pattern here?) Mikey’s very first trip (which I’ve been trying to take him on since he was 6 months old, but hubby was deployed) was the day after Christmas last year. He is our difficult child. He is most likely ADHD, has been unofficially diagnosed, but they won’t officially test him until he’s about 6. My point in mentioning this is that he was a perfect angel when we were there last year (so was his sister), so I don’t know if it’s the magic of Disney or something they pump into the air, but wow!
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d8/divanicki75/DSC06807.jpg
DD: Amelia… Princess Mia, as we call her (okay I call her- we call her Mia Noelle, she calls herself Mi-oelle) will be 3- 5 days after we leave Disney, which means that this, her second trip to The World will be her last free one.
Here are two pictures of her... I had a hard time picking. The 1st one is at DS's Graduation Party and the 2nd one is her playing dress-up as the Pirate Empress/Princess and saying "Arrrrrrrrgh!"
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d8/divanicki75/DSC06727-1.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d8/divanicki75/photo-8.jpg
Background:
We are currently stationed in SC (DH is in the Navy) and couldn’t go home to where either of us are from (Me- CT, DH- MN) last Christmas, so we spur of the moment decided to bring the kids to Disney, which put me back in the Christmas mood:) . I planned the majority of our trip by using DISBoards. When I heard about the ‘get in for free on your birthday’ deal for this year, I decided that we HAD to go again! It was the cheapest trip we’d ever take: It’s a week before DD turns 3, so we’d only have to pay for hubby & DS (5). Then I lost my job, so I didn’t think we’d be able to go :( DH’s cousin sent me the notice about the Stars & Stripes deal, so that would mean that it would REALLY be the cheapest we’d ever go (only having to pay for DS). I was determined to figure out a way to make it work. I started homeschooling the kids (yes, you can homeschool toddlers/preschoolers) and we put aside money each week for Mikey’s tuition for the fall (private school- public schools here leave something to be desired), some in savings, some to make an extra Credit Card payment and some for the kids & my ‘play’ money… I was taking them on outings each week. I started conserving what I could of our play money and each week, I’d put the leftover money aside in my Disney fund (envelope-lol). Fast forward 6 weeks and I get a job (yay!) making more than I’ve ever made before- woo hoo. New plan. Live on what we were before I lost my job, sock the extra into Disney fund (now a new bank account with Direct Deposit- $20/week) Trip is back on. I’m a Government Contractor and over the next several weeks, I find out that I’m working with a bunch of Disney-aholics, one of which has his own Disney Blog. He’s so hard-core that he even dials in to the quarterly conference call. He tells me to read the fine print on the Stars & Stripes deal. The service-member gets in for free PLUS gets up to (5) 5-day passes for $99/each- Cha-ching! I go into full planning mode, tell hubby that the trip is SOOOO back on, get his grumpy buy-in and book our room.
Everyone at work RAVED about Shades of Green and I had been checking it out since before our last trip, so that is naturally where I was going to book us, then I looked at the site. It was wide open the night before, then the night I tried to book it, there was limited availability for our last night (no doubt due either to the Parade taping or Pop Warner-ers coming in). Before I booked our stay, I just for kicks and giggles decided to check the Swan & Dolphin and the All Star Resorts. Pop Century was wayyy cheaper (I think by like $50, but I can’t remember exactly now), so I booked it! I told a co-worker the next day and she asked me if I booked it with the military discount, which I wasn’t even thinking of, so that night, I called in to ask them if they could add the discount or if it was too late (I also was having a hard time adding in our birthday celebration details). The CM told me that there were no more rooms at Pop at the military rate, but that they could put me in Movies or Sports. I chose Movies. Now, I’m at a stand-still for reservations. Our official dates are 2-6 December. We will drive down on the 2nd, do MK on my bday, the 3rd, do Epcot on the 4th, DHS on the 5th and I just decided to add a ½ day at AK on the 6th before we drive home (more on that later.)
I’ve read a few PTRs and someone (I wish I remember who) had done a PowerPoint Slide for her trip: one slide per day. On the slide, it would have their itinerary, all confirmation numbers, all park hours (including EMH) and the times of all parades & fireworks. Then she took a picture of each slide on her phone and had all of her information at her fingertips… GENIOUS! So, I started doing one, only mine has gotten so big… I’ll pare it down eventually, but in addition to my daily slides, I have a list of the Top 10 things I’d like to do at each park, one for all the holiday stuff I want to see/do and one to use on my Ressie booking day, detailing out everything I have to book (all ADR’s, BBB & PL dates etc.). As of this writing, I have 31 days until I can make ADRs. So, for the last week or so, I’ve been obsessing about my birthday cake to keep me busy.
My kids & I went to RC in Minneapolis in April and literally every 15 minutes during our meal, it was someone’s bday and my son decided that he REALLY wanted one of those Volcano desserts that they bring you with a sparkler, so I decided that day that for my birthday dinner, we’d go to RC (in DTD) so we could get one :) Oh yeah, I’ve been trying to figure out where to put what meal, etc which of course have to be figured out by 24 August. This all hinges on my birthday cake. After looking at all the gorgeous cakes on the cake thread, I decided that I HAVE TO have one. I found an inside that I want: Vanilla (or yellow, whatever) with strawberries & Bavarian Cream. It’s been an ordeal trying to figure out WHERE I can get this. I thought I could just go anywhere in The World and whoever makes it, would just deliver it. Not so much. Thanks to lurkyloo, I think I’ve got it down pat. She gave me 3 possibilities, one of which was GF, which is where I’ve pretty much decided to go. It sounds like we’re going to have to give up Crystal Palace for 1900 Park Fare. Oh, I should mention 2 things. 1) I have ADD, so I tend to jump around (not physically- in my story, silly!) and 2) we’re not doing Park Hopper, which I know a lot of people are huge fans of. Since the kiddos are still little, I’m trying to keep the seated meals to a minimum, so my original intention was to do 3 character meals (one each day- 1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner) and my Birthday dinner.
Here’s what we’re up to now:
Wednesday, December 2nd: Drive from Charleston to ASMo. Settle in, then head over to Poly to watch EWP & Fireworks @ 9pm. (We won’t be able to see Tink fly at the castle, but hey, I’m just excited to be staying onsite and doing more than 1 park & more than 1 day, remember?)
Thursday, December 3rd: My Birthday- Magic Kingdom. Breakfast either at the hotel or at Main St. Bakery. Then hopefully we’ll have reservations either for both kids at PL or DS at PL and DD at BBB. I want to get in as many character pics & rides as we can. We’ll do a late lunch at 1900 PF where I’ll have my custom bday cake (still have to figure out my design), then head back to the hotel for naps and/or pool/playground time. After that, we’ll head to DTD for my b-day dinner at RC!
Friday, December 4th: Epcot. Breakfast at Akershus for Princess Storybook. This was a MUST DO for me . After that, we’d spend the morning doing Future World, then back to the hotel for a heavy snack/light lunch/early nap for the kids, so when they’re back up, we can head back to Epcot and eat our way thru the Showcase… I want to do the craft thing & passport in each country and I hear that there is a Christmas storyteller & a Santa in each country, too! I think we’re going to have to skip the CP, but I’d like to see the tree lighting, which I hear is at 6pm. We’ll last as long as the kids can, then call it a day.
Saturday, December 5th: DHS. I’m thinking Character Breakfast at Hwd & Vine, but I have to check some reviews. I’m also open to going to Cape May Café or Garden Grove at the Swan. Okay, here’s where y’all get to laugh at me. I am a HUGE New Kids on the Block fan. I have been since- well, forever! I’ve met the guys, planned the fan convention twice, you get the picture… speaking of getting the picture. When they were HUGE back in the early 90’s, they had an ABC special called “Wildest Dreams” in which they each did a skit at what was then MGM Studios. My goal for the morning is to find each of those areas. Apparently 2 were just generic places that weren’t actually at MGM/DHS, so I have 3 to get. Indiana Jones, Singin’ in the Rain & this 50’s gas station place. I’m going to have to pick the brains of my friends (and hopefully people will subscribe, so I can get input from y’all on this, too) who have been to DHS to help me figure out where this stuff is, so I can work it into my day. Oh yeah, back to this family trip… I also want the kids to meet the Little Einsteins and see the Osborne Family Christmas Lights. I think we’ll do our typical back to the hotel in the afternoon so the kids can re-charge, then grab dinner somewhere, so we can peruse the hotel decorations. I think DH will be over this whole Disney thing by then, so my hopping all over the place, ought to make it a fun day- lol
Sunday, December 6th: Morning at AK. I want to see the Tree of Life and EVERYONE has said that we’ve GOT TO DO the Safari… Plan is to leave the park by noon, so we can leave The World by 1pm. We should arrive home in Charleston by the kids’ bedtime.
Wow, just by typing this all, I’ve changed stuff in the itinerary and I’m starting to think I’m over planning this and something’s gotta give. I think I’m going to have to change my birthday, because we won’t have enough time in MK. I just realized that I forgot about DH doing the Flag Ceremony in MK… Arrrgh, my disorganization ought to get a lot of subscribers- lol
Well, that’s where I am now. I have to straighten out my itinerary, figure out my cake, then finish finalizing our ADRs.
I just found a pamphlet thing that we got from Disney earlier this year. I had meant to hang it in DD’s room, but it never made it out of my office. It says “Please mention the code included in the yellow box on this mailier”. Would that be considered a pin? If so, they probably won’t take it, if it’s after the expiration date, right? Not that it matters, I think it’s for the same prices at the hotel that we’re already paying.
:confused3 :scared1: :confused: :eek: :scared: