Just Call Us the Griswold's - Our Magical Family Christmas PTR - December 2010!

[mom-n-michaela]

Hello there!! Welcome to my very first Pre-Trip Report! Sorry if it is a jumbled mess, I’m kind of new at journaling about my trips!

We haven’t been to Disney for almost 8 years (!!), and when we went last time we did NO planning whatsoever. We only went for 2 days while visiting family, and it was still a fun trip – but made me realize how important planning for a Disney trip could be! And I always knew I wanted to go back, it just has never worked out until now.

For quite a few months now (ok, fine, WELL over a year! LOL) my family (DH, myself and our 4 kids) and my SIL’s family (SIL, BIL and their 4 kids) have been talking about taking a combined family vacation to Disney World around Christmas. Plans were talked about, dates were picked and changed (a few times), and for a while we wondered if it would even happen due to finances, logistics, etc.

Well, it’s “officially official” - after talking, hoping and dreaming - we are making our dream trip a reality! Lodging has been secured and paid for, park & MVMCP tickets have been purchased and a 15 passenger van has been reserved. I can finally say for certain that we are going to Disney World for Christmas!!

Ok, well…not exactly “for Christmas”, that is the date that was changed actually. Originally we were going to be there Dec. 18-25th…but BIL works for a company in which your vacation time is largely determined by your seniority, as only 2 people are allowed to take the same week. When they got to him, our chosen week was already filled up, as was the week before that. The closest we could get was the first full week of December (6th - 10th), so we adjusted our plans a little and are now actually pretty happy that this is the plan since the crowds will probably be much lighter (and now we don’t have to deal with the comments being made about us “missing Christmas” or “messing up everyone’s Christmas plans”!). So there we have it…We’ll be celebrating our big fun/crazy family Christmas in The World Dec 5th – 11th!

TABLE OF CONTENTS​

Introductions
Transportation & Accommodations
Itinerary, and why we didn't make ADRs
T-shirts and other Disney Projects
Mini-update - T-shirt order has arrived!
Family drama...is our magical trip ruined??
More projects completed!
ADR Panic!
​

 

[mom-n-michaela]

So I guess first are introductions to the 12 of us, right? Unfortunately I can’t post pictures of some of our cast of crazy characters, because a few of them are in the process of adoption and until they are “officially official”, we can’t post pictures of them (face front anyway) in any public forums. SO for right now, I guess descriptions will have to do! I am also not going to use real names for the kids, for various issues I’m sure most people would understand…so I nicknamed them all Disney Characters that kind of match their personality.

First we’ll start with my family. The first time we all went to Disney was back when our daughter was 5 (almost 8 years ago)…unfortunately we haven’t been back since, but have always wanted to!

My husband and I​

DH, Jeff - he’s 34 (but he’ll be 35 by the time we go on our trip, and he will really love that I added that! Haha!). He doesn’t really understand all of the planning that goes into a trip to Disney…he’s more of a go with the flow vacationer, which is normally fine if we’re vacationing in the mountains or a beach somewhere…but not Disney! He just shakes his head and laughs at me as I scour the internet (and Disboards!) for information…but I keep telling him he will be thanking me when everything is said and done!

Me, Mariah - I’m 33. I am a little OCD when it comes to planning things like a Disney vacation (well maybe I’m a little OCD in general but…). I have been saving information, organizing information, making lists, making a planner, etc. for over a year for this vacation, even before it was a reality and was just a thought we were tossing around. Christmas is my absolute FAVORITE time of year…so where better to spend it than a place that does magic like no one else??

DD, 12 - we’ll call her Cinderella. She’ll be 13 when we go back, and this whole thing was actually her wish from a couple of years ago that she could give up Christmas and go to Disney instead. The trip has grown exponentially since then, considering taking another entire family of 6, and then the adoption of her 3 ‘new’ siblings! I’m guessing she’ll love DHS because she’s so into movies and acting, drama, etc. right now!

For the 3 that are being adopted, since I don't want to exclude them completely, I am posting a picture we took of all 4 of our kids with their backs toward us:

L-R: "Abu, Tink, Cinderella, Chicken Little"​

DS, 10 - Chicken Little. He went to Disney World for 2 days once with a previous foster family, but doesn’t remember a lot about it. He’s really excited to go again, and is especially looking forward to Epcot. He’s our science & math lover - and not the typical 10 year old, so Epcot is right up his alley!

DS, 8 - Abu, he’ll be 9 when we go. He’s excited to go and make new memories with our family, and also that he’s now tall enough to ride everything! I think his favorite park will be Animal Kingdom…because he’s such a monkey!

DD, 6 - Tink, she’ll be 7 when we go. She’s excited to be going, especially because we’re taking the cousins - she and her 2 young cousins are inseparable when we’re together. I am absolutely sure her favorite park will be Magic Kingdom, she loves the princesses and, of course, Tinker Bell!

Well that is our family in a nutshell…now onto to our other half of our trip!

SIL - April, she’ll be 29 (but ALMOST 30…) on our trip. The only one in her family who has been to Disney is her husband, when he was young, so they’re all excited. And she’s kept it a secret from the younger three so far. She is really excited to go too, and quite possibly the only one I can talk to in our group of 12 who MIGHT understand my obsession with the planning! The non-Disney part she is most looking forward to, though, is taking her kids to the ocean. None of them have ever seen it (neither have the 3 we’re adopting) so we decided that was a must-do excursion.

BIL - AJ, he’ll be 31 when we go to Disney. I’m anxious for him to go because he’s excited for the kids and is looking at this as specifically a “kids vacation”…I think he’ll realize once we go that Disney is as much fun (if not more!) for adults as it is for kids!

Their DS, 10 - Peter Pan. He’s the only one of his siblings that knows about the trip to Disney so far. He acts ‘too cool for school’ sometimes, but you can tell he’s excited about going to Disney World for the first time!

DS, 7 - Thumper. He can be a quiet one, but is usually super sweet and lovable, not to mention adorable! My husband also wanted to add puny but full of energy! LOL

L-R: "Ariel, Sleeping Beauty"​

DD, 5- Sleeping Beauty. She'll be 6 when we go, and she is one of the 2 sweetest nieces in the WORLD! She loves everyone and has the best laugh, and when she calls her younger sister "honey", it's quite possibly the sweetest thing you've ever heard. She is such a princess and I just know she is going to be so excited when we get there!

DD, 4 - Ariel. She'll be 5 when we go - she's the OTHER sweetest niece in the world! She's quiet and shy and is a total mama's girl! She loves Ariel, so I'm taking it as a personal challenge to figure out where we will be able to find Ariel on our trip, just for her!

Well, that's it - that's our wild & crazy cast in a nutshell. I will work on posting some of the plans we've made later!

 

[mom-n-michaela]

So, since I am starting my PTR so late in the game, we actually already have most of our basic plans made - some finalized and paid for even. They aren't the ideal traveling and hotel plans, but since we have so many people going on the trip and we all want to travel & stay together - we'll make the best of it!

As far as transportation to The World goes...we are driving (as 2 families of 6 it would cost us a small fortune to fly). We each have mini-vans of course, but my SIL's van has had quite a few issues over the past year, and she was worried about taking it on a 16 hour trip, so we decided we would rent a van for them. While looking into that, we discovered it would be cheaper to rent a 15-passenger van and drive together, even with extra drivers & insurance, than it would be to rent a mini-van and pay 2 times the fuel - so we went ahead and reserved the 15-passenger van! 4 adults and 8 kids in a van for 16 hours...I don't know about you, but it sounds like a fun start to the holidays to me...

As far as accommodations, well unfortunately we will be staying off-property I wish we could stay on-property, but for as large as our group is and wanting to stay together - it just wasn't happening. While looking into rentals in the area I found out that a friend of my mom had a 3 bedroom timeshare at Summer Bay Resort, just a few minutes from Disney, which she had offered my mom use of a few years earlier. My mom contacted her to see if we could rent it from her (because I'd much rather rent from someone I know and trust than a stranger), and she told us that she would be happy to let us use it, and refused any payment except for the transfer fees she would incur! Obviously this saved us a ton, and is money that will be MUCH better spent at the parks than on lodging!

The nice thing about the Condo, too, is that because Summer Bay doesn't have "true" 3 Bedroom Condos - it's a lock-out, which is basically a one bedroom and a two bedroom that share an entry way, so we will have 2 kitchen, dining & living areas for extra space - plus each couple will have our own Master Bedroom (the kids will share the 2nd bedroom and pull-out sofas in the living rooms). So while it won't have the extra magic I'd love to have by staying on-property, I think that *almost* makes up for it!

So there we have it - our transportation and accommodation plans! Hopefully I'll be able to post our Itinerary-in-Progress a little later this week!

 

[exwdwcm]

Hi mariah- count me in! love your plans so far and your family is too cute! so when do you get the final adoption settled? Congratulations- i think it is an amazing gift for those kids and you guys! We'd love to do it someday and just might if we have trouble trying to conceive again (DS is an IVF baby). anyhow- you will enjoy the big van- we rented one a few years ago for a big trip we did with all of the extended family, made things a lot easier! this past December, we also had a large group of 14 i think- we had 5 rooms at the WL and decided to rent individual smaller cars, so we could split up as we wanted and that worked really well for us. anyhow- you can read all about it if you want to know what it is like with such a large group- we just went this past Dec 10-20th. we are going again this Dec 4-11th!! so there at the same time as you guys.

can't wait to read up more about your trip and beautiful family!

 

[mom-n-michaela]

Hi mariah- count me in! love your plans so far and your family is too cute! so when do you get the final adoption settled? Congratulations- i think it is an amazing gift for those kids and you guys! We'd love to do it someday and just might if we have trouble trying to conceive again (DS is an IVF baby). anyhow- you will enjoy the big van- we rented one a few years ago for a big trip we did with all of the extended family, made things a lot easier! this past December, we also had a large group of 14 i think- we had 5 rooms at the WL and decided to rent individual smaller cars, so we could split up as we wanted and that worked really well for us. anyhow- you can read all about it if you want to know what it is like with such a large group- we just went this past Dec 10-20th. we are going again this Dec 4-11th!! so there at the same time as you guys.

can't wait to read up more about your trip and beautiful family!

Hi there! to my PTR! You're my first reader! Our adoption won't be finalized until after we go to Disney...we're hoping sometime around January or February. We were really hoping it would be before Christmas, but looks like that will not happen. That's ok though - we've waited this long to add to our family, so we can wait a little longer to make it 'legal', right?!

I was sorry to hear about your struggles with infertility...we had the same struggles trying for a baby after our DD was born (who we had no trouble conceiving, weirdly). I was diagnosed with PCOS, and we also went through the medications and tried IUI to no avail. It's a really tough, devastating journey...one most people can't even fathom. BUT, you have a beautiful little boy as a result of your struggles! I know that the 3 we're adopting have certainly helped to heal my heart! They had it pretty rough so it can be a struggle at times, but it's worth it.

I have started to read through your Dec 09 trip report - how wonderful that your parents could do that for all of you! It sounds like your trip was a lot of fun! I especially liked reading your MVMCP report, as that was the thing I was most unsure of doing. I had read good and bad things, but never a full report of a MVMCP night, and now I am even more excited that we chose to do it I subbed to your trip report and it looks like we'll be going the same night this December!

 

[mom-n-michaela]

We decided early on that we wouldn't do any 'sit-down' meals because, as much as it goes against my nature to plan everything out, we just don't want to be tied down to eating dinner at any certain time. Plus, as a group we decided we'd rather stick to quick meals while we are there so we can make the most of our 5 park days. We did make ADRs for one morning for Character breakfasts for the kids. DH and I have talked and would like to go back in a few years and do the full experience...stay on-property, do the dining plan, EMH, etc. But for now, we are settling for quick & easy as far as meals go!

At any rate...about our Itinerary. We haven't decided on our "must do" lists for each park yet. We are actually going to SIL's for the weekend, and I'm hoping we'll have time to at least start that list while we're there. We are planning based on the hopes that most days, our kids will not need breaks (the youngest will be 5 during the trip, so past the napping stage). However, it is a lot of over-stimulation, so if they do we will most likely take breaks around lunch or early afternoon. The exception to that are the Epcot and MVMCP days, those days we have breaks scheduled in as they are the longest days.

I realize that we are trying to pack a lot into 5 days at the park, which might seem funny when we have a 6 day pass, and are actually in Florida for 6 full days - and while it is a little painful to not spend that last day at the parks, spending one full day at the ocean is very important to us. All 4 adults have a huge love of the sea, and out of our combined 8 kids, only one of them has ever seen it - so it is just as important to us as spending time at WDW

Ok...finally (obviously by now you know I am a talker? )...our itinerary-in-progress:

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3 - Departure Day!
8 a.m. leave for Indy
10 a.m. Meet SIL & BIL in Indy to pick up the rental van
Go back to their house & pack the van, ready to leave -
want to leave sometime between 3-6 p.m. (want to hit Atlanta after midnight)

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4 - Arrival Day!
Arrive somewhere around Daytona Beach area, estimating between 10 a.m. - noon, depending on stops. Planning on stopping at the beach for a few hours to relax, stretch our legs and take in the view, and kill time until we can check in to our Condo (only about an hour drive from Daytona area to Orlando).
3 p.m. - Check in to Condo, unpack, grocery shopping
Evening - *possibly* go to MK for Spectramagic & Wishes Fireworks with our extra ticket (have 6 day passes, only using 5) OR relax by the pool (if it's warm enough). This will depend on whether we are completely exhausted, or too pumped just being there to even think about resting. Will be a last-minute decision.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5 - First park day! MK
9:55am: Breakfast ADRs - Girls @ Cinderella's Castle, Boys @ Chef Mickey's
-Meet up after Breakfast, location TBD
7pm park closes

MONDAY, DECEMBER 6 - DHS
7ish breakfast in Condo
8 - 8:30am leave for DHS
9am DHS opens
3pm Parade
6:30 pm Fantasmic!
8pm park closes

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7 - Epcot
7ish breakfast in Condo
8 - 8:30 leave for Epcot
9am Epcot opens
11:30am lunch
3pm head back to Condo for break
5pm dinner at Condo, then back to Epcot
8:15pm Candlelight Processional (this is a maybe, I really want to do it but not sure everyone in the group will want to sit through it - esp. the kids)
9:30 pm Illuminations, park closes

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8 - AK
7ish breakfast in Condo
8 - 8:30 leave for Animal Kingdom
9am AK opens
5pm AK closes

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9 - Last Day @ parks - MK, MVMCP
7ish breakfast in Condo
8 - 8:30 leave for Magic Kingdom
9am MK opens
1 or 2pm (depends on kids) head to Condo for break
5pm dinner at Condo, then head back to MK for MVMCP
7pm MVMCP starts
9:30pm Holiday Wishes Fireworks
10:30pm late parade
12am park closes

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10 - Beach Day
Sleep in a bit, breakfast in room
10am head out towards either Tampa/Clearwater beaches, or back to Atlantic (to be decided later)
4pm early dinner at the beach
Watch sunset, then head back to Condo to pack up for drive home

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11 to SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12 - DEPARTURE
7am up & pack van
Hope to head out by 8am, 9am at the latest
Arrive to SIL's sometime between 1am - 3am Sunday (hopefully), sleep & up to return rental van by 10am Sunday
Hope to arrive home by noon Sunday, unpack (clothes will mostly be clean thanks to 2 sets of washers and dryers in the Condo!)
REST/VEG rest of day!

Well there you have it...any ideas or thoughts on how to make the most of our days at the parks?

 

[exwdwcm]

your plans are looking good!i also want to do the CP and DH does too this year. but i fear my son, 3 at the time won't sit through it. i guess we will see.

Hi there! to my PTR! You're my first reader! Our adoption won't be finalized until after we go to Disney...we're hoping sometime around January or February. We were really hoping it would be before Christmas, but looks like that will not happen. That's ok though - we've waited this long to add to our family, so we can wait a little longer to make it 'legal', right?!

I was sorry to hear about your struggles with infertility...we had the same struggles trying for a baby after our DD was born (who we had no trouble conceiving, weirdly). I was diagnosed with PCOS, and we also went through the medications and tried IUI to no avail. It's a really tough, devastating journey...one most people can't even fathom. BUT, you have a beautiful little boy as a result of your struggles! I know that the 3 we're adopting have certainly helped to heal my heart! They had it pretty rough so it can be a struggle at times, but it's worth it.

I have started to read through your Dec 09 trip report - how wonderful that your parents could do that for all of you! It sounds like your trip was a lot of fun! I especially liked reading your MVMCP report, as that was the thing I was most unsure of doing. I had read good and bad things, but never a full report of a MVMCP night, and now I am even more excited that we chose to do it I subbed to your trip report and it looks like we'll be going the same night this December!

thank you! i know all about PCOS from my time visiting infertility message boards. we were 'unexplained', both checked out fine, which was even more frustrating, at least if we knew what the problem was, we could treat it.

adoption is such a gift! i know you all can't wait til it is official! early congrats! Yes, my parents have always been so generous, even when they couldn't afford to be, which was basically our whole life up until they came into that money. they sacrificed a lot for us, so it was no surprise when they did this for us- they are just so kind! we are a very close family.

we love MVMCP more for the extra time in the park and we skip all the shows other than christmas parade and holiday wishes. we spend all the other time riding rides while others are doing shows! it's great. it isn't dead usually, but manageable with crowds. love the snow on main st too and the free 'snacks'- ok, not free, we are paying for them, one way or another!

but you will have a ball- it is worth trying at least to see if you enjoy it. i say try everything once. it might not be for everyone, some love it and others don't. we enjoy the extra time, otherwise, our dec nights are limited at the MK with it closing early every other night at 7pm!

 

[mom-n-michaela]

I made some mock-ups of t-shirt designs we have been considering. We want matching t-shirts but I have come to the conclusion that I am not a very talented t-shirt designer! I used some designs from the Creative DISigners here on the DIS, but I'm still not sure if I like the ones we've picked. It's hard when you have to take into consideration t-shirt color, etc. Anyway I made the mock-ups because my SIL and I are planning all of this together and we live 3 hours away, so I did this as a way to show her what I've come up with so far. What do you think?

For the first Magic Kingdom day, these are the possibilities (except will definitely be grey as that's what we ordered). If we choose the Grand Gathering we'll all wear the same, otherwise the designs will be different for girls/boys:

For both the Epcot and DHS days we'll be wearing the same shirts (to save a little $$ where we can!). This is what we are thinking for those 2 parks:

For Animal Kingdom, we'll all be wearing the same design, I really do like this one:

For our last Magic Kingdom/MVMCP day, we'll all be wearing the same design again. They have to be blue, as that's what color shirt we ordered for that day. These are the 2 options we've found right now:

I've also been working on making Pressed Penny containers for the kids - both holders for the money before its pressed (M&M tubes) and the pennies after they are pressed (Mentos gum containers). I will post pictures after I have those finished, but here are the designs I've come up with (I'm only posting one design although the wording and sizing is different for the 2 containers...you get the idea ). I had to create my own designs because there aren't that many out there that worked for us, since all 8 kids in our group have very specific favorites...plus - it was fun!! I swirled out the kids names, incase you're wondering why that part looks so funny!

That's all the update I have for now...not much in the way of planning right now besides working on these little projects, as my daughter's 13th birthday is coming up in a few weeks and we're planning a big Twilight themed party for her - that has been taking a lot of my time...well you know along with having 4 kids, work, etc. etc... I am working on "Boredom Buster Boxes" for each of the kids for the car ride too, to help with the monotony of a 16 hour car ride. I haven't done a lot on those yet, but have accumulated some of the items for it...I ordered plain white pizza boxes for the actual boxes so they will fit flat under the kids seats (read that tip somewhere and it's a great one!). I have printed games to put inside, and I also bought Disney character pencils and crayons to add to it. I also found some Disney themed card games online that I'm going to order...who knows what else?!

I am going to try to update again soon with some pics of all these projects! In the meantime I'll just be sleuthing other December trippers' reports and the DISigns board for ideas and inspiration!

 

[mom-n-michaela]

Well, I went ahead and placed an order for the 48 t-shirts we will need for our matching shirts, and our transfers from Amy Mickey.

I ordered from Shirt Champ...literally only a few dollars more than Jiffy Shirts which most people use (would have been less except Shirt Champ charges shipping where Jiffy Shirts does now, however I also had a 30% off code which brought the total to within about 3 dollars of Jiffy Shirts). I went with Shirt Champ because they had all the colors and sizes we needed available right now, and Jiffy Shirts was out of some of the colors in one or two of the sizes we needed. SO if you are trying to order a large quantity like we were, and Jiffy Shirts does not have all the sizes/colors in stock - try Shirt Champ! It's a good second option

Our T-shirts have already arrived, along with one of our 3 packages of transfers - I'm hoping the rest will be in the mail when I check it today! Then I can get started printing and ironing-on designs to the 48 shirts Hopefully there are no mess-ups!!

Ok that's all for now...will post in a week or so with some pics of my daughter's Twilight themed 13th birthday party! I know it's not Disney related, but I think it's going to turn out really nice and I just like to share!

Talk soon!

 

[exwdwcm]

love all the shirt designs- especially the first one and the AK one! so darn cute, you guys will look great!

can't wait to see the twilight party pics too

 

[mom-n-michaela]

love all the shirt designs- especially the first one and the AK one! so darn cute, you guys will look great!

can't wait to see the twilight party pics too

Thanks! The AK one is probably my favorite! I think we did settle on the Lighted Castle shirt for our last Magic Kingdom day. I'm going to start working on them soon so I'll post pics of my progress hopefully in a week or so!

 

[mom-n-michaela]

Well, as promised, some photos of our daughter's 13th birthday - she wanted a Twilight theme, so a Twilight theme she got I wasn't feeling great the day of the party, so I let DH take pictures and unfortunately he missed some that I was hoping for, like our food layout with Lasagna of course (italian for Bella ) and the framed quote "We're making Italiano for you", and the display I made with band-aids that stated "For your own safety, please cover all paper-cuts and open sores.". If you're a fan of the Twilight books, you'll notice I tried to incorporate the theme of every cover into some element of the decor. It was a fun party to plan/shop for, let me tell you! One of my favorite elements is the framed movie quotes - they add a lot, I think! Downloaded those from a party blog.

This was a picture I took and a woman I found on Etsy "Cullenized" it for me. We blew this up into a poster print and posted it on the wall during the party with a "Happy 13th Birthday" sign. She *loved* it!

Refreshments for Vampires! I found the labels on the same party blog which had the printable quotes.

Apple centerpiece to represent the original Twilight cover. Also the red ribbon in the centerpiece is to represent the Eclipse cover.

Shelf decor with the NEW MOON cover flower. I couldn't find a flower like it (a red & white ruffled tulip), so I took a white tulip I already had in an arrangement and colored it with marker (lol) and chopped it up a bit to make it look a little 'ruffled'. Not a great replica, but not bad!

Finally the representation of the Breaking Dawn cover. I found chocolate molds in the shape of the chess board and chess pieces, and made the set out of melted candy wafers. Turned out ok, not the greatest but this was done towards the end and I was rushing a little. I would have loved to be able to clean it up a little but it still turned out pretty good I think.

Dessert! I made -what else- Red Velvet cupcakes, with cream cheese frosting. I swirled the frosting on and dusted with edible sparkle (of course!), and splattered a little cherry pie filling blood. Also made Red Velvet cake balls, served with red "Forks" (the name of the town Bella & Edward live in).

Snacks - Werewolf Kibble (puppy chow) and Vampire Bites (twizzler bites). We're Team Edward all the way!

The labels (Werewolf Kibble I found on a blog, Vampire bite labels I made):

Like I said it was definitely a fun party to plan!

 

[Tinker_Tam]

Joining in! Can't wait to hear all your plans!

DD's 13th birthday party looks fabulous! I am not a huge Twllight fan (afraid I would get to into the books and never have time for my other hobbies) but I can so see how awesome that is!

 

[disneydreamer1970]

I'm in!! We are going to be at Disney from Dec 4 - 11 and are planing the same AK day and the same MCMCP!

I love, love, love the AK shirt....definitely my favorite!

That looked like an awesome birthday party! Very clever. DD will be turning 10 a week before we leave and I need to figure out what I am going to do for her party this year. Of course...she has no idea that we are going to Disney. Last year she had a Tink party....I guess I need to ask her what she wants so I can start with the planning of that.

I can't wait to read more!

Trish

 

[mom-n-michaela]

Joining in! Can't wait to hear all your plans!

DD's 13th birthday party looks fabulous! I am not a huge Twllight fan (afraid I would get to into the books and never have time for my other hobbies) but I can so see how awesome that is!

to my PTR! Glad to have you!! You know, I wasn't a big fan of Twilight either in the beginning but it DOES tend to suck you in. My DD has loved it from day 1...and my SIL too, and she had been bugging me to read the books, said I would love them and all I could think was, really? Vampires? I'm in my 30's, you know that right?! LOL

But, thanks to DD I saw the first movie on DVD and thought it was ok, then when the second one came out I rented it on DVD as a surprise to her (because I wouldn't take her to the theater to see it - bad mama!) and I actually loved it (still no desire to read the books though). So when the 3rd movie came out, and we saw it at the theater...and then I was hooked. After that, I did decide to read the books, since DD and SIL both said they were so much better and now...yes, I am hooked. So when she wanted a Twilight party, I was more than happy to oblige and it was my favorite birthday theme yet!

Now, hopping over to read your PTR!

 

[mom-n-michaela]

I'm in!! We are going to be at Disney from Dec 4 - 11 and are planing the same AK day and the same MCMCP!

I love, love, love the AK shirt....definitely my favorite!

That looked like an awesome birthday party! Very clever. DD will be turning 10 a week before we leave and I need to figure out what I am going to do for her party this year. Of course...she has no idea that we are going to Disney. Last year she had a Tink party....I guess I need to ask her what she wants so I can start with the planning of that.

I can't wait to read more!

Trish

to my PTR! I had subbed in to your PTR a while back, although I've just been a lurker, and so it's awesome to have you over on mine! I love that you have been able to keep the trip as a surprise! I wish I would have done that, it would be so much more fun to have to be sneaky about the planning! I also can't wait to see pics of your clues!

It seems like we have a lot in common, through our kids! My DS's 9th birthday is the week before our trip too, and my youngest DD's 7th birthday is 2 weeks before his - and she had a Tink party last year too We thought this year to keep it simple since it's right before Disney and close to Thanksgiving (when we'll be going to Michigan to my Grandpa's), that we will do a party somewhere other than home - there is a place close called "Cinema Grille" where it's set up like a restaurant and theater mixed together, and you order off a menu and watch the movie from your table which has super comfy seats. It's pretty awesome and you can reserve it for b-day parties - and Harry Potter is coming out in November so we're thinking of doing that as a 'together' party for them. That way they get a cool experience, and I don't have to worry about a mess and clean-up at home when I'll be trying to get everything ready to go for our 2 trips that are so close together!

The AK shirt is definitely my favorite too! I just love the Creative DISigns board - they are awesome! In fact I keep looking just incase I find other designs we like as much for the other days, but I'm going to be starting on the shirts next weekend so I'll have to make a decision soon and stick with it!

Hey - maybe I'll see you at AK or the Christmas Party!

 

[mom-n-michaela]

Just had to do a little celebrating that I finally made it to page 2 of my PTR! AND I just realized our trip is down to 97 days! That is unbelievable!!

A year and a half ago it seemed like it would take FOREVER to get here, but now it seems like it snuck right up on us. I need to get busy and finish the projects and shopping I have on my "To Do" list!

 

[Tinker_Tam]

Just had to do a little celebrating that I finally made it to page 2 of my PTR! AND I just realized our trip is down to 97 days! That is unbelievable!!

A year and a half ago it seemed like it would take FOREVER to get here, but now it seems like it snuck right up on us. I need to get busy and finish the projects and shopping I have on my "To Do" list!

It will go so fast now....at least I hope so cause I am only a little ahead of you. I am anxious to see all your shirts!

 

[exwdwcm]

wow, what a gorgeous themed party! love it!! did she have a good time? the cupcakes and all the details are just fabulous!!!!!! you must have put a LOT of hard work into it!

 

[mrsksomeday]

Hi Mariah!!

We are going to be in WDW Dec. 1st - 13th, it is truly a magical time to go. What a great way to spend a vacation with your extended family.

My Bill laughs at me about planning too. They won't be laughing when we have a good trip though now well they?

Your families are so beautiful. The kids are going to love WDW, but you are so right WDW isn't just for kids, it is an amazing place for everyone.

Wow, how amazing that you get to use the timeshare for free, that is just wonderful. It is great about the 2 kitchens etc.

We are going to be in MK on the 5th, it is our MVMCP night. We are going to be in Epcot on the 7th, we are seeing the 6:45pm Candlelight Processional show.

You get to see MVMCP on my birthday!! Have a great time, it is truly magical, at least we think it is. We have done the Christmas party for the last 3 years.

Awesome t shirts and pressed penny designs, they are adorable!

The birthday party was so imaginative, really great.

Great PTR!!