If it’s Crazy, I Don’t Wanna Be Sane: Just Me and My 2 to Disney-June 2012 PTR

[luvmy2babies]

Sorry I've been MIA for a while! It's been a crazy, busy week here. So glad your DS likes his Handy Manny! My DD still loves to sing the theme song, but she just wasn't giving Manny the love that your DS could give!

Your touring plans sound good for the first day. I'm a big planner, but I don't go as far as to plan the order of the rides each day. I mostly just plan which park, ADRs, and sometimes which "land" to head to first. I think having the GAC (due to my kids' special needs) makes the planning a little easier, because we don't have to race to get FPs for some of the hotter rides. (Actually, for our next trip, we'll miss out on some of those, since DS isn't going with us and DD probably won't be tall enough. DH and I don't have too many rides that are "must do"s enough that we'd ride alone.)

I've also decided to try for a mid-day flight. I'm kind of OCD about our first day at WDW. It must be at Magic Kingdom, and I like that first moment to be an early morning, walking into MK and seeing the castle. We've never gone to the parks on our arrival day. Maybe someday I'll get over my craziness with this so we can maximize our time on Disney property, but for now we're planning on spending arrival day at the pool and enjoying the resort.

I understand about things being crazy. We had a deadline at work that had me working 12 to 15 hours most days for a month.

I am still trying to recover and get caught up on all of the things I neglected during that time. I’d work my 8 hours in the office, then come home, feed the children, get them ready for bed, then pull the laptop out again and work some more. I’m really grateful for the holiday weekend coming up and for school ending.

Since we are getting in around 9:30 in the morning and should be at the resort by 11:00am, I don’t think we could stay away from the park that whole day. I told dd we’d be resting and go over after ds has his nap. She said, “But I thought we were just going to see the hotel then go straight to Magic Kingdom.” A girl after my own heart. I explained to her we should rest if we want to be able to stay at Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks. She said she was going to sleep on the plane and ds should too. I really doubt ds is going to nap at 8am, but stranger things have happened.

We do have a break day scheduled. It's day 6. We'll hang around the resort, do the pool, playground and I may let them play in the sand. It’s not in the middle where I wanted it, but we have some half days in our trip as well. I thought about doing DTD that morning, but I think we'll stay in until it's time for our dinner at Ohana that evening.

My fear is scheduling an ADR for arrival day. I have not the courage to do so. I fear something would go wrong. So all of ours are between day 2 and day 9. We’ll eat CS on days 1 and 10.

I think I planned our days more around meet and greets than anything else. But then we don’t do big rides. Ds isn’t tall enough and dd has no interest. She thought she might want to do Stitch’s Great Escape until I showed her the youtube video. Then it was “no thanks”. She also is refusing to do Peter Pan and Pooh due to darkness. I took one of our half days and made a reservation for her at the kids’ club at WL and have planned a date night for ds and me to fast pass and ride those two and have dinner in MK. So in MK the three of us only use fast pass for Buzz and Jungle Cruise and they are planned for different days. I can only hope we have good timing on the others and that the extra Dumbo helps.

Can’t believe we are at 30 days.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Can’t believe we are at 30 days.

Hopefully the time off this weekend will help me get my head together and finish up my projects. I’ve been working so much I haven’t finished my printing projects or even started on our shirts and my goal was to be done by now. The printed projects just need binding, but I still have to print all of the t-shirt designs. Thankfully once they are printed, things go pretty quickly. I have done 9 shirts in a couple of hours before.

Ds also came down with some kind of virus, but it ran its course. It was odd to say the least. He started running a fever on Saturday morning. First dose of Advil brought it down some and he slept while I kept a promise to dd to take her to a friend’s birthday party. He woke up happy and ate, but was quiet again soon after. I noticed his temp had gone back up but it wasn’t time for more medicine, but would be by the time we got home. I stopped at a gas station after the party and while I was pumping the gas, dd knocked on her window to get my attention. When I turned around, she pointed at ds. He was throwing up.

My poor baby. I took him out of his car seat, which was a mess. I had to strip him right there in the back of the van. Once I got him cleaned up, I removed the car seat. There was no cleaning it there. Fortunately I was still carting around the seat I had used on our vacation in October. It is a Sunshine Kids Radian 65SL. It was supposed to go in my mom’s car, but for once in my life, my habit of procrastinating was going to pay off for me. I got the seat out of the bag and installed it. I put ds in the seat, put my jacket around him up to his chin in case he threw up again. He didn’t, but his fever was definitely back. A second dose 7 hours after the first one brought it down immediately. He eventually ate again, but I just gave him dry snacks. His fever returned around 1am. I could only get half the dose in him, but it came down and finally stayed down. He was fine all day Sunday, but didn’t eat nearly as much.

Monday morning he was quiet and seemed tired, but was still fever free so off he went. Got a call at 9am, he’d tossed his cookies. They offered to keep him there but said I’d have to come if he did it again. I just went and got him. What a happy child he was when I got there. Isn’t that always what happens. He was cranky and clingy until his nap, but he has been fine since. All I could say after that was better now than this time next month. He gave us a stomach bug when we were at Disney the first time. I’m grateful though. My children are very rarely ill. Dd has had one cold in the last 3 years and while ds gets the occasional runny nose, he hasn’t been really ill in about a year. He had 2 hospitalizations in a month early last year and was diagnosed with reactive airway disease, but we have managed it well.

Then a horrifying moment. I’d forgotten to register my daughter for summer camp. In all that has been going on with her, I completely forgot. We’ve been going through psychological and education testing and the results showed both dyslexia and adhd. The appointment with the pediatrician is today. The meeting with her private school to see if they can accommodate her is tomorrow. My stress over getting her IEP done is…well, it’s there. But the struggles…it’s been frustrating and we are both tired. I told someone I feel like I have been treading water while she drowns three feet away. Tutoring didn’t work. A therapist I took her to had a program she thought would help, but had on availability during after school hours and neither did anyone else

My choices are very limited because of my needing care from the time she gets out of school, which is early around here as private schools are done May 24th. Thankfully her camp still had room left, so May, June, part of July and August are taken care of. A school I considered for the fall that has a program embedded for dyslexic students has a summer camp I want her to attend in July. Called today and the guy told me there were just 2 spots left. All 3 weeks have to be paid upfront and I had budgeted paying for this next month. I can only hope there is room by that time. If not, the back up plan is for her to stay at the one I mentioned first or to go to the one her school runs, which is what she wants anyway. I'm ordering a set to work with her at home, but she's been struggling for so long, I really want her to get trained help like now. So, I'm looking at alternatives.

Never a dull day. We'll have earned this vacation.

 

[dreamsofdisney]

Just a little note on shipping to your resort...

This link: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2437212 has a lot of information to help with the ins and outs of shipping to WDW. I was VERY nervous about trying this, but I did it for our last trip and things went perfectly smoothly!

I think I mentioned before that my DD is a former 1 lb 2 oz preemie and doesn't eat any solids by mouth (she's fed via g-tube). She "eats" 100% Pediasure, and goes through 5-6 cans/day. Our last trip to WDW was for 11 days and 10 nights so we needed A LOT of heavy cans to last through the trip. We receive the Pediasure through a prescription delivery company, so I didn't really want to pay out of pocket ($$$) to buy more at a grocery store once we arrived, so I knew I had to ship it. I packed enough cans for the travel day and one extra day in our carry on and then shipped the rest via UPS. The website gave me guidelines for delivery and I shipped Wednesday, 3/30/11 for an expected delivery of Monday, 4/4/11. We were due to arrive on 4/6 and the front desk said they would hold packages for our arrival. (The package was marked, as per the link above, "hold for guest arrival" with our reservation number and check-in date.

I also shipped DDs diapers from Amazon directly to the resort. I just added a shipping address in the format suggested at the link with the same "hold for" info on it. I had Prime (2 day) Shipping and planned it to arrive a day or two ahead so that I could track it and be sure it was there before we left.

I tracked both the Amazon and the UPS package and both arrived on schedule and were waiting for us when we arrived! I'll definitely be doing this again for our upcoming trip, as DD is still in diapers due to her cerebral palsy and Autism, and still eats via tube.

PM me if you want more details on how I filled out the "ship to" part on Amazon. Hope DS is feeling better and things go smoothly with DDs summer program plans!

 

[luvmy2babies]

Just a little note on shipping to your resort...

This link: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2437212 has a lot of information to help with the ins and outs of shipping to WDW. I was VERY nervous about trying this, but I did it for our last trip and things went perfectly smoothly!

I think I mentioned before that my DD is a former 1 lb 2 oz preemie and doesn't eat any solids by mouth (she's fed via g-tube). She "eats" 100% Pediasure, and goes through 5-6 cans/day. Our last trip to WDW was for 11 days and 10 nights so we needed A LOT of heavy cans to last through the trip. We receive the Pediasure through a prescription delivery company, so I didn't really want to pay out of pocket ($$$) to buy more at a grocery store once we arrived, so I knew I had to ship it. I packed enough cans for the travel day and one extra day in our carry on and then shipped the rest via UPS. The website gave me guidelines for delivery and I shipped Wednesday, 3/30/11 for an expected delivery of Monday, 4/4/11. We were due to arrive on 4/6 and the front desk said they would hold packages for our arrival. (The package was marked, as per the link above, "hold for guest arrival" with our reservation number and check-in date.

I also shipped DDs diapers from Amazon directly to the resort. I just added a shipping address in the format suggested at the link with the same "hold for" info on it. I had Prime (2 day) Shipping and planned it to arrive a day or two ahead so that I could track it and be sure it was there before we left.

I tracked both the Amazon and the UPS package and both arrived on schedule and were waiting for us when we arrived! I'll definitely be doing this again for our upcoming trip, as DD is still in diapers due to her cerebral palsy and Autism, and still eats via tube.

PM me if you want more details on how I filled out the "ship to" part on Amazon. Hope DS is feeling better and things go smoothly with DDs summer program plans!

Thanks for the information. I think I looked at that post during the planning stages of my first trip. I'm going to check the prices and shipping options on wal-mart.com and amazon and diapers.com and see which option is best for us.

Thanks

 

[luvmy2babies]

Okay, so strange. My last post had an angry icon in the title. I don't know how that got there. Hope no one saw it.

With the initial meeting with her school behind me and the ball rolling on getting dd what she needs and school ending today, my focus is returning to getting ready for this trip.

I got an email letting me know her Ariel skirt was on the way.

Hopefully this weekend I'll get all of my projects done.

 

[Alysa]

With the initial meeting with her school behind me and the ball rolling on getting dd what she needs and school ending today, my focus is returning to getting ready for this trip.

My 9 year old daughter has ADD and is also now labeled gifted LD. She is bright but flunks her tests in school and can't spell to save her life. It is probably the most frustrating thing I have ever encountered in my whole life. I totally get the treading water while she flounders beside you feeling. Hope the meeting with her school went well yesterday - we had one today and are now considering moving her to a private school. Our girl also figure skates competitively and it's hard to balance all the skating she has to do with the extra hours it takes her to complete her school work. On the other hand, I think all the exercise is really good for her ADD. I've been battling with this all year long so I completely understand where you are coming from.

 

[luvmy2babies]

My 9 year old daughter has ADD and is also now labeled gifted LD. She is bright but flunks her tests in school and can't spell to save her life. It is probably the most frustrating thing I have ever encountered in my whole life. I totally get the treading water while she flounders beside you feeling. Hope the meeting with her school went well yesterday - we had one today and are now considering moving her to a private school. Our girl also figure skates competitively and it's hard to balance all the skating she has to do with the extra hours it takes her to complete her school work. On the other hand, I think all the exercise is really good for her ADD. I've been battling with this all year long so I completely understand where you are coming from.

I know it has been a long road. This has been a long road for us and this year has been really challenging for sure. I ended up giving up extra activities because her homework was taking up so much time, but I really want her to have something to do with her body and her energy. She loves to dance and I feel it is a gift she has, but I think her self-esteem has been hit to much she doesn’t want to take lessons. But I watch her even choreographing her own routines to songs when they come on and think of how she might enjoy a chance to nurture that gift and make friends and such. I’m grateful school is finally over and we can do some other things.

The meeting did go well and everyone was receptive to my requests for accommodations for her. I want to keep her in private school because it is what she is used to and because of the smaller environment. They are willing to implement the same program the therapist recommended and the tutor will be using and have their staff train on it and other methods the therapist recommended. I’m grateful for everyone’s receptiveness so far. I came with a list of 12 accommodation/modification requests for her ranging from a seat the front of the class to lesson plans being sent home to a reduced/adjusted spelling list to the option of using voice recognition software and taking some tests orally and everyone was open. I’m hopeful. She’s been there a long time. She started in the daycare and went straight into the elementary school and is totally resistant to any change. Everyone agrees that especially after everything else she has been through we want to make every effort to accommodate her there.

I wish you the best as you move forward with your little girl.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Last day of school.

Got 3 weeks of summer camp paid.

Paid the bills.

Did some shopping for the trip. Socks and underwear for dd. Shorts for both children, swim diapers for ds. As usual, I'll be getting my stuff last. I just needs shorts, so hopefully I'll have them before it is time to pack. People on here say WDW will be surface of the sun hot, so my office pants will be likely slightly innappropriate. I know I did the same thing before our first summer vacation. Every time we'd leave the store dd would ask when I was going to get my clothes. She would say, "Mom, your work clothes are so not right for the beach (where we went that year)." This year she tends to say, "And again (looking at the cart) nothing for yourself...really?"

Came home before going to a graduation and what was in the mailbox?



Mickey Mail!

I was surprised because I have been reading about people not getting theirs until 14 days out. But there it was, vouchers, luggage tags, travel documents, all of it.

We're really going.

 

[luvmy2babies]

So, what's on tap for day 2?

Well, since we'll hopefully see Wishes on day 1, first thing is to sleep in. Not that I really know what that is, but my daughter does. She'll need a bit more rest, but not too much. She can sleep until 10am or later if you let her. I figure World Showcase is the perfect thing to schedule since it doesn't open until 11am.

I'll fix us a small breakfast in the room that morning. I hope to get over to Epcot around 10:00. Last trip after we saw Wishes, we ended up having to wait over 90 minutes to get on a bus back to All Star Movies. Ds fell asleep on the walk out to the bus. I let dd sit in the stroller while we waited (I was wearing ds) and she fell asleep too.

That's her autograph book I purchased in MK on our way out as I had managed to leave the one I ordered from the Disney Store at home. They weren't on the checklist for some reason. This time they are. I have handmade books this time. If I were to leave them

So, this time we're staying at Wilderness Lodge. We can either take the bus or the boat back after the fireworks, plus since the park isn't closing right after, I'm hoping that might help. Wildness Lodge also has significantly fewer rooms than ASMo, so I'm hoping we'll have less people to wait with even though the boat also goes to FW campground. They were also sending 2 buses for the other two All-Stars for every 1 they sent for ASMo. It got so bad that when yet another bus came for ASMu, people in the ASMo line started yelling so loud that they changed the destination of the bus.

I think it was 12:30 before we were in bed. Still the next day we were up and back in Magic Kingdom by 10am. She was bright-eyes and ready for the main thing she wanted to do that day.

So my plan is to get to Epcot by 10am. I'm hoping that after we take some pictures up front, we'll have time to do one thing before World Showcase opens. I want to visit the Character Spot and I know the line might take quite a while to get through, but we didn't get to do this the last time and I think it's a good way for me to get into some pictures. I've also prepaid for photopass and want as many pictures on there as possible. I found this in RustManFan's file and thought it would be perfect for our day in WS and look good in pictures throughout the day.

I imagine it will be 11:00 by the time we are done, and we'll head into World Showcase. I hope we can just take a few pictures and hit every Kidcot fun stop if we keep going while Elijah is asleep. That way it is not constant walking. But I do have certain things I want to do in other countries as well. I looked at KennythePirate's blog and decided we will start on the Canada side and work our way around.

World Showcase goals:

1. Canada
2. United Kingdom (Alice)
3. France (Marie)
4. Morocco (Aladdin and Jasmine)
5. Japan (Pick a Pearl)
6. United States
7. Italy
8. Germany (trains)
9. China (Mulan)
10. Norway
11. Mexico (Donald, 3 Calebros boat ride)

My plan was to have lunch in either China or Italy if we started in Mexico, but now I'm not sure. I want to start on the Canada side partly because we started on the Mexico side the last time and ended up rushing through the other end in the dark after waiting an hour to see Alladin and Jasmine. It was our last chance to see her. I have our passport that I bought the last time but didn't open. We'll go slow and take breaks to stay cool (as cool as possible) and if we don't get it all done, there's another Epcot day later. Around 5 though, we'll head over the baby care center (in the Test Track area) and get cooled off and change into different shirts. Then we'll head over to the Land Pavilion for dinner.

I heard the character interaction is really good here. And we've never been up close with "Dip and Da-o" as ds calls them. And food served family style is right up my alley.

We'll head back to the resort after that. It will have been a long day and we have to get up early the next day.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Hopefully we'll be able to settle in pretty quickly once we get back to the room after Garden Grill. I want to get the children down at a good time because we have to get up early the next day. I'll put this out before I got to bed, along with the shirts I'm making for that day.

I found a DISign of the four characters that I downloaded to iron on. We had matching t-shirts the first time we went to Crystal Palace as well, only they had the name of the restaurant on them. All of the staff kept stopping us to look at them. We had dinner here the first time, so it will be a new experience to try breakfast, and I can't wait to get into the park a little early.

Here's a few shots from our dinner there in 2010. My children have really grown.

And this is my favorite shot. This piglet was awesome. One of my biggest hopes for this trip is that ds is as warm with the characters as he was on the previous one.

After breakfast we'll tour the park for a while before a break. First thing will be to hit the baby care center for a diaper change, potty break and to change the children's shirts. Ds is a stain magnet and I'll be packing a special shirt for a meet and greet we'll be headed to afterwards.

Looking at her schedule, hopefully we can get in on the first set. If not, we'll probably try to take a ride on the Liberty Square River boat during her break.

The main goal for this morning is Tomorrow Land, but we'll stop at the Tea Cups first where I hope we'll run into Alice and the White Rabbit. When we were at MK in October, this was one of our last rides of the day. What a blast.

Dd driving (we were spinning fast) and Ds having fun (not worried about flying out of the thing)

Then we'll head over to Tomorrow Land

Tomorrow Land goals
Astro Orbitor
Shopping (Pins)
People Mover
Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin
Monsters, Inc
Carousel of Progress

Dd has said she wants to ride Buzz over and over and over, but towards midday, we'll get a snack or light lunch and leave the park for a break.

The plan is to get ds to sleep, then let dd play in the wading pool and participate in the activities while he naps depending on what they are that day, but we may just rest in the AC.

That afternoon though, dd has a reservation at Cub's Den, the Kid's Club at Wilderness Lodge. It's at 4:30 when they open. It's a 2 hour minimum at $11.50 per hour and it includes dinner. There was a coupon in my travel booklet for 15% off. I'm going to use this time to take ds back to Magic Kingdom to ride a couple of rides dd doesn't want to ride. So, we'll drop her off and catch the 5:00 boat back to MK. She's excited about going to the Kid's Club and fine with us going back to MK as long as we don't do anything she likes to do.

I've jokingly called it our date night.

The plan is to grab a fast pass for Peter Pan's Flight, then grab dinner at Columbia Harbor House. Since dd won't be with us and will have dinner where she is, she'll have a CS credit left over. I'll probably use it to get ds dinner that night.

Once we've ridden Peter Pan or the fast pass time open up, we'll grab one for Winnie the Pooh. Hopefully we can go ahead and ride Peter Pan then wait out our Winnie the Pooh time in the Play area there. Once we have ridden both rides, we'll head back to the resort. Hoping to be heading out by 8:30 so we don't get caught up in MSEP.

Once we pick up dd, I hope to get the children down quickly. Hoping to make rope drop the next morning.

 

[Alysa]

What cute pictures!
At Wilderness take the boat - the line looks long at the end of the day but they fit a surprising number of people on. I don't know what it is at the Crystal Palace but that Piglet must be the one we had too. So sweet and gentle. Your daughter will love the Cub Care. My girl made a best friend there she still talks about!

 

[luvmy2babies]

Thanks

She has all of a sudden changed her mind about going to the Cub's Den now. While I admit I kind of had a feeling I should go with the original plan of resting by the pool that evening, for my own sake, part of me didn't like her attitude. When I asked her if she'd changed her mind about the rides, she said "Oh No, I just want to stay with the family."

Granted she has had some separation anxiety crop up at times since her father's death. I'm not going to make a federal case of it as she has made her share of sacrifices for our family and it's just a couple of rides. Well, that and I get to keep the $50 it would have cost me if she'd stayed until 8:30. I'll have to figure out something to do for myself.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Part 1

This day will start early. The goal is to take the bus to Magic Kingdom and arrive 30 minutes prior to rope drop. I'm going to pack some morning snacks to keep us busy during the wait. This is our last MK day of the trip, so we'll try to go back to do our favorites. First on the agenda is a couple of meet and greets we haven't done before that dd wanted to do and that ds will hopefully enjoy. I want to meet Frontier Land Donald. His line is always super long so we're going to head there at rope drop. I've read he is out at 9:15. This is also the alternate day to meet Rapunzel so if we don't get to her on the first day, we may have to settle for all of the other Donalds we'll see on the trip.

Dd's attire for the morning will probably give you some idea of the other character we will make our way to during the rope drop power walk.

I'll actually be getting in on the act. I found this in Shadowryter's file blank and thought it was super cute, so I downloaded it and put the letters and numbers in. Ariel is one of dd's favorites and this will look adorable with the skirt she just got.

I've read it is best to get to her line by 9:30 though to make her 10am set, so hopefully we are near the front for Donald.

After that, the plan is to go around and do some of our favorite attractions again and just do some relaxed touring until midday. Then we'll head back to the resort to get ready for part 2. I'll send dd into the bathroom to wash up, while I put these out.

Part 2

I have not decided whether I want to put the dress on her in the room or not. I heard the boutique has been so busy in the afternoon there was no room for girls who brought dresses in the dressing room. I really would rather she change there though. I am going to wash up and put on my attire for the evening though.

I'm thinking we'll head back over in time to see the 3:00 parade. It's my favorite parade and this will be our last chance to see it. I'm hoping to get a spot near Adventure Land across the street from the castle, making it easy for us to get over there after it's over. It's near the spot where I took this last October.

Hopefully BBB isn't running behind, but I did leave 2.5 hours between dd's makeover and our reservation at CRT. I'm hoping though to have time to take the photos and get a picture of her on the carousel. I'm excited for this. It's right up her alley.

I haven't decided what I'm going to eat at CRT yet. Any recommendations?

After CRT, we're going to say our good-byes to MK and head back to the resort. Got more early morning princess time planned for the next day.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Hopefully we can get out of CRT and get back for some rest. We are getting up early the next day. I'll put this out before I go to bed.

I'm hoping the princess hair survives the night. That dress is another etsy.com purchase. I should join a support group. I think it's perfect for breakfast and some touring afterwards in the summer. I'll just let her wear a camisol and a pair of shorts underneath.

I'll dress ds in a regular outfit. As for me, I dowloaded a princess themed name fill that says "mama" I'll be ironing on to a t-shirt. I really liked the Princess interaction at Akershus the last time. We did lunch though and I didn't like my meal very much. It was all I could get though after I made all of my reservations for 2 people not knowing I had to count my ds who was an infant on baby food at the time. I didn't leave hungry as the appetizers on the buffet were really good. I did eat my chicken. The rice pilaf underneath...less than meh, but it was foreign food I wasn't used to. Still, we had fun and it was lunch when I don't eat much anyway. Here are some shots from then.

Waiting outside after checking in:

With Belle: She complimented dd on her dress and called ds her little teacup.

More Princess time:

Ds getting some princess time. In the 2nd shot, she's asking dd if she can have ds for her collection.

She wasn't the first one to ask dd for ds. Later she asked me why everyone wanted him. Anyway, she politely said no, so Ariel kissed him and left. He looks so proud of his lipstick mark.

After breakfast, we'll take some time to see part of Epcot we missed the first time. More on that in the next post.

 

[lbuzz52]

I have thought about doing this. What kept me from doing it on our first trip was a fear the hotel would do something nuts with the package or it not getting there on time or it getting their early. I figure at least they are expecting that Garden Grocer order, and I could put in the date I wanted it delivered. I have read of several people who did it, but I was nervous about ordering online something like I do when I shop online from here.

So, do you just give them the address of the hotel when you order? Do you put some type of special instructions at the time you place the order?

I was actually considering packing either his pull-ups or his swim diapers and night-time diapers. It comes out even on Garden Grocer whether I order the pull-ups and pack the swim diapers and night time diapers or whether I order the swim diapers and night-time diapers and pack the pull-ups.

Ordering from Wal-Mart is very tempting with their $0.97 shipping.

i see you got better information on this- but it did work well for me. i just timed it to get there i think 2 days ahead.

I know it has been a long road. This has been a long road for us and this year has been really challenging for sure. I ended up giving up extra activities because her homework was taking up so much time, but I really want her to have something to do with her body and her energy. She loves to dance and I feel it is a gift she has, but I think her self-esteem has been hit to much she doesn’t want to take lessons. But I watch her even choreographing her own routines to songs when they come on and think of how she might enjoy a chance to nurture that gift and make friends and such. I’m grateful school is finally over and we can do some other things.

The meeting did go well and everyone was receptive to my requests for accommodations for her. I want to keep her in private school because it is what she is used to and because of the smaller environment. They are willing to implement the same program the therapist recommended and the tutor will be using and have their staff train on it and other methods the therapist recommended. I’m grateful for everyone’s receptiveness so far. I came with a list of 12 accommodation/modification requests for her ranging from a seat the front of the class to lesson plans being sent home to a reduced/adjusted spelling list to the option of using voice recognition software and taking some tests orally and everyone was open. I’m hopeful. She’s been there a long time. She started in the daycare and went straight into the elementary school and is totally resistant to any change. Everyone agrees that especially after everything else she has been through we want to make every effort to accommodate her there.

I wish you the best as you move forward with your little girl.

I don't know much about your particular IEP elements, but i'm grateful that everyone is working with you!

Last day of school.

Got 3 weeks of summer camp paid.

Paid the bills.

Did some shopping for the trip. Socks and underwear for dd. Shorts for both children, swim diapers for ds. As usual, I'll be getting my stuff last. I just needs shorts, so hopefully I'll have them before it is time to pack. People on here say WDW will be surface of the sun hot, so my office pants will be likely slightly innappropriate. I know I did the same thing before our first summer vacation. Every time we'd leave the store dd would ask when I was going to get my clothes. She would say, "Mom, your work clothes are so not right for the beach (where we went that year)." This year she tends to say, "And again (looking at the cart) nothing for yourself...really?"

Came home before going to a graduation and what was in the mailbox?



Mickey Mail!

I was surprised because I have been reading about people not getting theirs until 14 days out. But there it was, vouchers, luggage tags, travel documents, all of it.

We're really going.

yeah for mickey mail! i'm the same way- i always buy more than enough clothing for my kids and never enough for me. its just so much cuter on them!

not too much to comment on for your park days. you now what you are doing i do love the princess dress though.

 

[luvmy2babies]

We're going to spend the morning after breakfast exploring parts of Epcot we missed the last time.

On our first trip, the plan was to hop over to Epcot after visiting Toontown and Tomorrow Land at MK on our 3rd day (2nd full day), but I had some stomach issues. Ds gave both dd and me a virus during the trip. He puked that Monday, I puked that Tuesday and dd puked Wednesday night/early Thursday morning. So after Toontown, we ended up back at the resort. We missed Tomorrow Land and what we planned to do at Epcot. So, the plan for after Akershus is to get to the part of Epcot we had planned for that day.

Land Pavilion and Innoventions West.

We have never done this part, but based on what I read, I felt these two areas would be the best to do. The East portion didn't appear to have the same draw.

Around noon, we'll head back to the resort for some rest. We'll have been up for quite a while and I imagine we'll all need the break. My goal is to get back to Epcot around 5 or 5:30, have dinner at the Electric Umbrella, then do some exploring.

The plan for the evening revolves around the Living Seas Pavilion.

We'll ride the Nemo ride, do Turtle Talk with Crush and wander around the exhibits, which my two could just stay in for a while, particularly dd.

These were taken inside the Nemo Ride

And a couple from the Living Seas Exhibit area

At around 8:00, we'll do a diaper change and potty break, then head into World Showcase. I want to grab a snack and find a spot to see Illuminations that night. I wanted to the last time, but we'd been there most of the day and dd was ready to pack it in around 7:30 after she'd met Jasmine and Alladin in Morocco. I guess she does look a little tired.

She'd decided to keep her dress on from Akershus, which really enhanced her character meet and greets afterwards. The Mexico Donald Duck went nuts over her. He was doing the "hand over the heart" thing and walking her around like she was a real princess.

I'm hoping the long break in the middle of the day will allow us to stick around. The next day is our resort day, so I'm not worried so much about being out a little late.

 

[luvmy2babies]

Well, I've been keeping something to myself for a couple of weeks. I had some unexpected expenses that put some pressure on me regarding our trip.

Now our reservation was paid in full at the 45 day mark, but our reservation did not originally include our tickets because I was using the Military Salute
Discount on the room. I was to buy the Military Salute tickets or get the tickets from another source, but I had to buy them separately.

It wasn't looking good. Without going into too many boring details, due to some unexpected stuff coming up, I was having a hard time seeing how I was going to get the tickets in time after I paid all of the bills. I don't have credit cards for various reasons, so that was out. I tried all kinds of ways of calculating it. I thought about buying one ticket now and one ticket right before we went, all different kinds of things. Every time I thought I had it figured out, something else would come up or I'd remember another expense when I looked at the household budget again.

Still, I thought, okay, I can still pull it off, but I'll have to get the base tickets through Disney, one now and the other next payday. Then yesterday, we found out about the price increase and I was back to the drawing board. The new price without tax was more than the old price with tax. The price goes into effect tomorrow for anyone reading who hasn't booked a trip but wants to go soon.

Anyway, I was sitting downstairs with the children thinking and I started having a conversation with myself in my head. I have to have money when I come home. I have some extra bills in the summer with dd in camp and getting a tutor and speech therapy. I can only move things around so much.

I pondered in my head what would happen if I switched to a cheaper resort. I wondered if I switched to a value resort, gave up the military discount and made the reservation a full package with tickets, would the amount I had already paid cover it.

I came upstairs, got on my lap top and priced the vacation, hoping first just to see availability at All-Star Movies. That is where we stayed the last time. It priced out lower than what I had paid with preferred room, 8 day tickets and the dining plan I already had. I began to feel the weight lift from my shoulders. I realized I was going to have to give up staying at Wilderness Lodge. Oddly enough, when I first showed dd the Lodge after I booked it, she asked, "where's all the characters?" I guess everywhere lacks characters compared to All-Star Movies except AofA, but it's just as much as the deluxe resorts. Granted the Ariel rooms are not available yet. I had my reasons for wanted to stay at WL, but at this point, all this stress wasn't worth it. And with the price increase going into effect tomorrow, and our trip getting closer and closer, I felt I had to do something today.

I got on the phone, waited what seemed like forever before a very nice lady answered. When all was said and done, I was due a refund. I thought sure there would be a penalty, but she said there wasn't and since I was going to a cheaper package I was done. I added on a fridge and that was it.

I just laid down on the bed for a few minutes and took some deep breaths. I have very little room for error here as the only adult. And sometimes it stinks not having a safety net when things happen, but I can appreciate being able to make the decision that was best for us. Last thing I needed was for the trip to get here and find I was short for the tickets or had no spending money.

Perhaps we can try Wilderness Lodge on another trip. I would really love to see it decorated at Christmas. I don't think I'll ever be leaving a big part of the trip undone so late in the game again. I had just put the money aside and let it sit. Life sure has a way of laughing at your plans, but it could have been worse.

Dd showed me that when I told her about the change. I told her and she said, "We're still going right?" I said yes. She said, "okay, can we watch TV now?" So that's what we did. After all she was right. We're still going.

 

[lbuzz52]

I think that was a very smart decision! Sorry you wont get wilderness lodge, but i agree, a safety net is the best idea. So glad that you still get to go and got in before the prices changed!

 

[luvmy2babies]

I think that was a very smart decision! Sorry you wont get wilderness lodge, but i agree, a safety net is the best idea. So glad that you still get to go and got in before the prices changed!

I have felt so much better since making it too. I think it was when I was considering switching to the QS dining plan therefore cancelling all of our TS meals and cancelling dd’s BBB appointment that it hit me we should just stay somewhere else. That is the option that basically changes nothing about the trip itself except the transportation options available to us.

Had I not made the decision when I did, it still might not have worked due to the ticket price increase. I was reading on here about people buying tickets for trips 6 months to over a year away to avoid the increase and here I was stressing over getting the tickets for our trip around the corner. Now I can just do our normal vacation preparation routine with the knowledge everything is taken care of on that end.

The CM even said it. I guess she could hear the stress in my voice when I called. She said, “Well, now everything is taken care of and you and your children can relax and enjoy your vacation.” And really that is one of the things I have come to love about prepaid vacations. I never do what you call “breaking the bank”. I don’t even crack it. I like to be able to pay everybody that needs to be paid before I leave and easily pay everybody that needs to be paid when I get home. I don’t like to go away unless I can leave my bill money alone and have a cushion. It was a bit sad for me as we have been planning and looking forward to this for so long to not have joy in the process at this point.

I was thinking back to those carefree shopping trips we have right before we go away (1 before every trip) where we are picking up little $1 odds and ends so we can finish packing and how exciting it is for dd and me. Dd likes to make a game to see if the travel toiletry section will have our brand of whatever we need, stuff like that. Preparation had lost its luster in the last 3 weeks. I was supposed to finish the printed projects and the shirts in May, but my printed projects were not done. I had not printed the MK section of my journal and the coloring sheets I downloaded for dd were still in the file. I had not even started on the shirts. Since Saturday, I finished printing the activity books and my journal. Only thing left is binding.

I also did most of our shirts. We have mostly white ones, but we have a few colored ones. On Saturday, I picked up the light transfer paper (cheaper than the dark, but you have to flip your designs on the computer before printing). On Sunday, I flipped and printed all of the images for the white shirts and last night I ironed on the transfers while we watched Beauty and the Beast, which was showing on Disney channel. Ds had fun looking at the pictures naming characters and dd had fun peeling off the transfer paper once the shirt cooled down. For the most part, they turned out great. I do need to redo one of dd’s where part of the picture peeled, but out of all of the ones I did, that’s really good. I’ll probably post the pictures tomorrow night.

I know now if I have it to do over, as in a longer trip to plan, I will choose either a moderate or a value resort from the beginning. I think I will only try to do a deluxe resort if the trip is less than 5 days. Truth be told, I had often even before I started having issues, wondered if I should have chosen your old stomping ground and booked CBR for this trip. It looked like so much fun in your report. We’ll have plenty of fun at All-Star Movies. I know the children will love the pool. Dd asked me to try to get us into the Toy Story section. I told her I would try, but if not, we could still go over and see it like the last time.

 

[luvmy2babies]

With new life after changing the reservation on Saturday, I went about making our t-shirts for the trip. I was supposed to have this done last month, but got behind. After all those weeks, I bought the transfer paper, flipped and printed the images, and got most of our shirts done between Saturday and last night.

Due to the heat and the designs themselves, we have a lot of white shirts, so I used "light" transfer paper. It is also cheaper than the "dark" transfer paper. Only thing to remember is to flip the image into a mirror image before printing. This is because it prints on one side and you have to flip it over onto the shirt to iron it on. I opened each image in Microsoft Paint, clicked on rotate horizontal to flip each one, renamed each one adding the word "flipped" to ensure I was opening the right copy and printed them Sunday evening.

I ironed them on last night while we were watching Beauty and the Beast on Disney Channel. Ds had fun pointing to and naming the characters on the designs. Dd got to peel off the transfer paper after the shirts cooled. I have to redo one, but I was happy with how they came out.

This one is for our World Showcase day. This is the front. The image is a quarter page in size and on the front left of the shirt.

I found this image in RustManFan’s file I think.

The back of this shirt has a Mickey and Friends themed Name fill done with each person’s name. Shadowryter did those for us.

This one is for our Garden Grill ADR. This picture was actually for a character meal autograph book, but I thought it would be cute on shirt. Dd really loves this one. It was in Chaos1cent’s file I think.

This one is for our Crystal Palace ADR. This was in Shadowryter’s file.

This one is for our evening touring the Living Seas Pavilion. The left shows the front, a quarter page size Mickey Head with Dory and Marlin. I added the 2012 to one of the ears. The other part of the image is the back, which is a Finding Nemo themed Name fill.

This one is for our Tusker House ADR and first day at Animal Kingdom. This was also in Shadowryter’s file. I put the words “Our Family Trip” at the bottom. I googled “Disney World Font” and found a site that allowed me to download it for free.

This one is for our travel day. I found this is Shadowryter’s file as well and added the words “Our Dream Come True Vacation”

A couple of shirts for ds that Shadowryter did for me.

Dd saw this one and really liked it, so I downloaded it for her.

I found the Mama name fill in Shadowryter’s file. When dd saw it, she loved it, so I requested one done with her name.

Another one of dd’s finds in Shadowryter’s file. She had a tendency to jump on the bed while I was looking through them. We’d decided to add an Ariel meet and greet. I love these.

Next weekend, I'll pick up a pack of dark fabric transfer paper for the rest of the shirts. I just have dd's Tiana shirt and shirts for ds and me to wear to Chef Mickey's. Dd has a Minnie Mouse dress.