1 Child and 10 Adults--A GG to Celebrate DD's 4th Bday :) TR Link is Posted

[Charlefours]

3 weeks I too think it would be fun to take Lillian to a park and do all the 4 year old stuff. Meet the characters, ride the kiddie rides, play in the playgrounds. Eat ice cream. Just have fun!

Hmm...maybe if we do not have so much candy the night before, maybe we will dash to the Main Street Bakery for something sinful and outrageous for breakfast!!

 

[Charlefours]

responses are in purple below...

Wow I didnt realize I missed so many days of your report. I am all caught up!

I'm behind on all of the ones I am reading. I just am glad you have been reading along when you can. Your PTR and TR is one of the ones I learned so much from!

I cant believe its 3 weeks away. I also cant belive its been almost 1 year since our trip. Gosh reading your plans makes me think of how much I miss the feeling we had while we were there with the boys. You are going to have such an amazing time. This will be the trip you will remember forever

I cannot believe it has been that long already. I started reading your PTR last summer, so wow!! Time is flying by so quickly.

Here goes my comments, sorry if it gets lenghty: I'm glad to have people respond!!

I love how you are catching every detail right down to the popcorn. I love the idea of getting a popcorn set. Check out the store in DTD (i forget the name) but it has all kinds of disney kitchen items. We eat popcorn as a night time snack alot in our house too.

Thank you! I really want to take time to enjoy the little things, even if it is something as simple as sharing ice cream or popcorn with Lilian.

The guy/gal day sounds like a blast. I would give lillian the 3 options for your mommy and me time and let her pick.

I'll have to see what she wants to do.

I think you will have plenty of time to take the bus to AK for your am reservation. Going to the KS right after breakfast would be perfect especially because TH is right around the corner.

Thanks!! I have not looked to closely at the map, but I thought they were close together.

In MK we love cosmic rays!

Good to know!

A trip to disney would not be the same without watching wishes. It always brings tears to my eyes.

I am looking forward to seeing it again as I think it is going to mean even more now as a mother.

I loved the WS at night and illuminations was amazing and a great way to spend the last night of your trip together.

I think it will be one of the best possible ways to end the trip. Especially if we can sit out on the deck for dinner and have comfy seats during it.

If I had to pick one dessert to look forward to I would say the smores cheescake from WCC. yummy

Cheesecake and Tiramisu are my favorite desserts. I can take or leave most anything else but those two can be difficult to resist.

I cant wait to hear all the other things you are looking forward too. You are doing such a wonderful job with your PTR.

Thank you Lindsay! That means a lot!! It means a lot to me that you and others are reading my PTR, responding and helping me out!!

 

[Charlefours]

Almost 100 pages of your PTR! That's CRAZY awesome Stephanie!! I am LOVE LOVE LOVING your countdowns with the pictures and videos! How special it will be for you and Lilian! All four of your thoughts sound fun! It would be fun to hit up a park and not have the big group with you. You probably could get a lot of fun experiences. Fun to swim and REALLY fun to go shopping too!! It's so hard to choose! I PROMISE to stay all caught up now! I am so excited for you that it's only 20 days away!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Beth! I think it is crazy too, but I have been responding individually instead of multiple responses at a time. I think that is what has driven the page count up so high!

Thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying my countdown. It is fun for me to do!! It is also such a mix of things, but all things I want to experience, from the small to the big.

I like the idea of going to the park, just Mommy and Lily. I think it may come down to how late we are up the night before at MNSSHP.

Thanks Beth--I appreciate your willingness to hang in there with me!!

 

[Charlefours]

I love that you said 21 sleeps. That's how I explain things to the kids I babysit for when they ask how long until a certain day that we are doing something.

I agree with a PP in saying that I would want her to do all the 4 year old things. Go to MK and share icecream at the main street ice cream parlor. Meet the princesses. Ride her favorite ride so far together. Just soak up everything she loves about Disney already. I don't think you should feel selfish at all. Just go and do it! She's only young for a short amount of time.

Thanks Sara! It is the easiest way to explain it to Lilian. I will have to wait and see what presents itself for Wednesday morning.

 

[Charlefours]

Our last day in the 20s!

20. Gals’ Tea Party!!

Yesterday I posted the guys’ golfing plans (and possibly mommy daughter time) so today I thought I would discuss the Gals’ tea plans. If you remember way back at the beginning of the trip, I mentioned the My Disney Girl’s Perfectly Princess Tea Party. I started to get cold feet about it last March, right around our ADR-making time. So I did some research into all the options. My concerns with the MDGPPTP, is the food. The food is secondary to the experience the little girls would go through. I also do not think that Lilian would be willing to do everything at this point, so it would be a waste. So, I went back to the drawing board and decided on the Garden View Lounge’s Afternoon Tea at Grand Floridian. I think it will be really special for all us gals to have tea together. Lilian will have a good time too, I’m sure. The food is more to our tastes.

Here are some pictures (all from AllEars):

The Room

The china looks beautiful!

Strawberries and Cream!! Yummy!! Something I am sure Lilian would love to have (me too).

What do you all think about these plans? Anyone experience tea at the Grand Floridian?

The one thing that I would miss from the other tea party experience is Lilian getting the My Disney Girl Doll. They give the little girls one of the My Disney Girl doll with blonde hair wearing a Sleeping Beauty dress. When I decided to switch teas, I asked DH and he agreed we could order the doll ourselves to give to DD on her birthday. So Lilian will be getting this doll for her birthday:

I have it downstairs already, ready to be wrapped here in the next couple nights. We will let her pick out an outfit or two too as the week progresses. Does anyone have one of these dolls?

Today’s video is Tea Making Tips, from 1941. Enjoy!

 

[-Hope-]

The tea at GF looks lovely! You gals are going to have so much fun. The doll looks adorable. Is it about the size of an American Girl doll? Kya loves her American Girls and they have clothes and accessories (a different brand but the same size) at Target.

 

[DrMomof3]

I think you'll love the tea! I've never done it - more boys than girls so we haven't done a lot of girlie girl stuff yet.

Amanda

 

[Charlefours]

The tea at GF looks lovely! You gals are going to have so much fun. The doll looks adorable. Is it about the size of an American Girl doll? Kya loves her American Girls and they have clothes and accessories (a different brand but the same size) at Target.

Hey Hope! I think it is going to be a great time at the tea and I am betting the room looks lovelier in person!! It is an 18inch doll, so yup it is the same as the American Girl doll and My Generation doll. Makes it much easier to get clothes for her (that are not Disney Princess Gowns).

 

[Charlefours]

I think you'll love the tea! I've never done it - more boys than girls so we haven't done a lot of girlie girl stuff yet.

Amanda

Thanks Amanda! Well, it is a trade off. I cannot imagine doing any of the overly boy things right now at Disney. So we can share with each other about our experiences!!

 

[Charlefours]

I asked for the help from the talented WendyPooh over on the DISign tread to create invitations for our trip.

I am planning on setting out each ADR invite out the night before for DD to find in the morning. Here are a few of the ADRs:

I also had made a BBB invite:

I will put this next one in the mail tomorrow, so she should have it on Tuesday this next week:

DH’s birthday is tomorrow so I will be slipping this one into his birthday card:

Lastly, I have had tea invitations made as well for all the ladies on the trip. Here is mine and Lilian’s:

Here is my question for you: should I mail the tea invitations to the other ladies or give it to each of them at Disney?

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

I love the invitations. They are beautiful!

I can't wait to hear all about the tea.

 

[dismagiclover]

I've never been to the tea so I can't help you with that. I love the invitations! It will be so fun to give them to Lilian each morning! I would probably hand deliver the tea invitations. It would be more fun!

 

[-Hope-]

LOVE the invitations! I think having something to pop out of bed and see each morning will be so fun.

I'd probably hand deliver the invitations but I think either way would be very lovely.

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

LOVE the invitations! The tea sounds like so much fun! I love the My Disney Girl dolls. I can't wait until DD is a bit older and we can get her one.

 

[photographymom517]

Hey Stephanie! I've been trying to keep up with all my subscriptions but have gotten so far behind! I feel horrible!

I need to go back & read a few pages of yours, but first wanted to comment on your most recent posts! First of all, I love the invitations! They all look so pretty & will be great for your daughter! She will be so excited when she sees them! I wanted to make them for my son but decided to wait until next trip. This year, he just wouldn't have understood (although now I'm regretting it because he would've recognized his name and also the Disney characters so maybe he would've like to have them).

I can't wait to hear about the tea when you get back from your trip. I have never been to one myself but have seen photos on other trip reports. The dining rooms always look so pretty & it looks like so much fun for the little girls (and mommies too!) I was actually thinking about the Disney tea party the other day...I was watching "Reba" on tv and saw Brock take Kiera to a tea party (it was an old episode). I started laughing because EVERYTHING makes me think of Disney!!!

I thought it was a good idea to buy your daughter a doll for her birthday. If I had a little girl & changed tea parties, I would've felt the same exact way that you did...I would've been sad not to get the Disney doll! I've seen them before & they are too adorable! I also think its great to let her pick out a few outfits for her doll! She'll love that!

I was also just thinking about your trip isn't very far away now!!! How exciting!!! When I clicked on the link to your report, I went back to the first few pages & read them again, so I wanted to post this about the characters. I'm sure you already have a list made up, but I learned alot about the characters locations from our trip in June. Here are some of the ones you mentioned:
* Handy Manny & Little Einsteins -- Disney Hollywood Studios (to the right of Playhouse Disney Live)
* Toy Story characters -- Disney Hollywood Studios (Animation Studios -- not sure which ones are there)
* Pocahontas -- at Rafiki's Planet Watch @ Animal Kingdom (also Rafiki & Jiminy Cricket were there)
* Alice in Wonderland, Marie the cat, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine & Aladdin, Snow White, Pooh/Tigger/Eeyore -- Epcot's World Showcase (I can't remeber the countries for all but Marie & Sleeping Beauty were in France, Jasmine/Aladdin were in Morocco, Pooh/Tigger/Eeyore were inside the toy store in UK, not sure of the others)

We also always see Pooh/Tigger/Eeyore right outside one of the countries at Animal Kingdom. I wanted to say its right at the entrance before you go into Asia but I might be mistaken. I think its one of my favorite spots to see them. The background props are really cute & themed for Animal Kingdom (like wooden trunks, fancy painted vases, etc). There are certain times when they are there...we saw them this trip right before their last time (I think around 4:15 but I'm not sure) I will look back through my pictures from our AK day & let you know for sure on this.

I just wanted to write that because I always obsess over getting pictures with the characters! I think I drove DH crazy in June. There was a HUUUUGE line for Chip & Dale at DHS and I said to him..."you know if I were alone on this trip, I would be standing in that crazy long line for Chip & Dale." And he just said "yeah, I know" and kept walking! LOL I just figure that my son won't be little for very long & once boys get a certain age, they won't stand beside the characters or have their pictures taken by mom anymore! Girls don't outgrow it as fast as boys do. Probably in a few years, my DH and DS will be riding the roller coasters & Fast Pass rides while mommy's getting her picture taken with the Disney characters! lol I can see it now! Anyway, just wanted to mention where those characters were. If you have any other specific ones you're looking for, let me know & I'll tell you if we saw them!

Ok...back to catch up on your pre-trip report!!! Congrats for being under 20 days now!!!!

 

[onescgirl]

I love the doll, that is so adorable!!
The invitations look great too!

 

[seamama71]

Your invitations look so nice! I love the idea of "inviting" her to each event the morning-of; it will really give her something (else!) to look forward to.

Your gals tea reminds me of one of my favorite memories as a child. My mom, sister, and aunt went to tea at the Plaza in NYC. Granted, I was a bit older than your little one, but the experience of doing something so grown-up and girlie was priceless! It was really special getting to be with the most important women in my life. I think you all will love your tea, and it will create fabulous memories!! It also seems like it will be a wonderful respite from all the hustle and bustle of other Disney activity!

 

[lexmas]

Whew, thanks for the wolfes dance orlando reminder, I love that video! I also enjoyed the wolfes dance christmas. The branson one was not as fun.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

I love the invitations! I know it is something that when Lillian gets older and looks back and figures out that it was you who did all of that for you she will be touched to have such a great mom who wanted her to have the most magical trip ever!

Also, I love that video you posted! Did you watch their other family videos? What an amazing family!!! The kids I babysit for made me watch the video 3 times in a row, but I didn't care.

 

[Charlefours]

In honor of DH’s birthday, today’s countdown item relates to birthdays!! We are also in the teens!!! It does not seem possible that our trip is coming up so fast.

19. Birthday Cake!!!!

With celebrating Lilian’s birthday being the reason that this trip came about, I thought today would be the perfect day to discuss cake plans since it is DH’s birthday!! We had a blast celebrating yesterday, which is why I am a day behind on my countdown.

First, here are pictures of DH’s cake from yesterday:

This was probably the best cake we have had since we moved here and I have tried multiple bakeries. The cake was a chocolate cake, which chocolate mousse filling and white buttercream frosting. Yummy!! It was so moist and delicious.

So that is DH’s cake let’s discuss Lilian’s cake. I spoke with the amazing Pat at the GF Bakery. I have requested a “brownie cake” as Lilian calls it—chocolate cake with chocolate filling—which is pretty much the same as DH’s birthday cake. I struggled with what to order flavor wise because there are a few traveling with us who do not really eat chocolate. Well, I decided it is Lilian’s cake so I ordered what she would like best. I settled on an eight inch cake. Lilian wants an Ariel cake and I asked for girly girl if possible. The only thing I said I did not want was a flat, edible image. Hopefully it will turn out as good as DH’s cake did.

Anyone have experience with custom cakes at Disney? I know that people are really thrilled or unsatisfied.

Also, the morning of her birthday, I have a MP3 to play for her--Happy Birthday, Princess from the Disney Princess Tea Party. Click on the title to hear the song. I think it will be a great morning to start off dancing!!

**Sorry I am a day behind on the countdown. I hoped to get back on last night but I was not feeling so hot last night so I went to bed early.