Long time planner, first time visitor!

[Denovagirl]

Wow, I was too busy too get on the comp yesterday and look at all I've missed! I love everything, of course. Definitely gonna have to check out Old Navy....after I catch up on everything here

Olivia will be just adorable, and wow 40 days...I'm so jealous!!!!

Thanks! Yea I thought I had the fever before, now that we're 39 days out I am like nuts! All day long reading TRs and all night dreaming about Disney!

 

[Denovagirl]

Holy Update!!!

I LOVE the seat!!! I have to have one!!!!!
Ther is NOTHING cuter then the kids with their own bags:
http://s1180.photobucket.com/user/mbonadurer/media/013.jpg.html

I WISH i had the seat thing!!! MUST get one for Duffy and next years trip!!!

I will be going CRAZY shopping hopefully soon!!!

Omg! How cute are the kiddos?!?!! I can not wait! I am looking forward to every second of this trip!!!

 

[Denovagirl]

Love, LOVE the report so far..

The girls are sooooo cute... I hope and pray I can have my own little princess one day...

You will love AOA- If they would offer the free dining there, that is where we would stay for our October trip. It really is a beautiful resort.

I love the shirts you made, I am not crafty but I wish I was.

Thanks for sharing the Mickey tees! I am going to check out now. It's hard to find cute Disney stuff that doesn't cost an arm and a leg!

Glad to hear it, I really do think I will like AoA at this stage in our lives more than any other resort, even the pricey ones, it's just so us! My only only only thing is I wish there was a hot tub

But that's ok- ill just have to take a real bath in my awesome AoA bath!

 

[Denovagirl]

Olivia's travel gear is too cute!! I love the Minnie bag! When we went last November I made matching Mickey dresses for the girls and skirt for me. When we were going through the airport people kept saying how cute they were and asking the girls where they were going. It just added to the excitement for the girls to be able to tell everyone "we're going to Disney!" Olivia will love it!

I am literally giggling reading this! Teehee! I can already picture it! I can not wait!

 

[Chicago Mo]

Are you bringing an extra suitcase for the souvenirs??? I did that...

 

[Saralew]

Another thing off my list- just cleaned our pennies for our trip. Made it into an experiment for the kids- they loved it.

 

[solana131]

Another thing off my list- just cleaned our pennies for our trip. Made it into an experiment for the kids- they loved it.

Oh yeah....I have to do this too. My little guy just loves the pennies. I hope the Polynesian Lilo & Stitch one is working this trip....I don't believe we will ever stay there again after it becomes DVC, so I want to add it to our collection now . Thanks for the reminder for this!

 

[Chicago Mo]

How do you guys clean them?

 

[Saralew]

How do you guys clean them?

I used 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of salt - let them sit for 3-5 minutes then rinse them off with water.

 

[Chicago Mo]

I used 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of salt - let them sit for 3-5 minutes then rinse them off with water.

Thanks!

 

[solana131]

How do you guys clean them?

I used 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of salt - let them sit for 3-5 minutes then rinse them off with water.

Thanks!

Yep...What she said

PS...I'm stalking you Mo

 

[Denovagirl]

I. AM. SO. EXCITED.



We're in the 30's y'all!!!!!


Can we all just take a moment to scream into our pillows.
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Eeeep! Today was an extra special exciting day for a few reasons... #1 I ordered our tickets here today-

*Image from google search*
I love those Minions....but anyway. We are only tearing ourselves away from Disney for 1 day to enjoy UO and IOA. Mainly because I CAN NOT be that close to Harry Potter and not go. And if I am gonna be that close to UO I really wanted to check that out as well.

So we ended up ordering the tickets through Destinations in Florida, I had read about them in other reports and all seemed legit so I did it today. It was a whopping $148.04 per adult, and $141.65 per child. However, we did make the decision not to take the kids this time, more on that in a sec... anyhow, the price is pretty high for 1 day, but that includes the 2 park pass, so we can hop between them if we choose, and our roundtrip transportation from our Disney hotel to Universal.

I did price it out a million different ways, such as ordering the tickets from Undercover Tourist, and then buying the $18 shuttle trip separate, using the Universal site, etc. and this was the cheapest option.

We also thought about taking a cab for flexibility, and I was ready to do that when everyone was coming with us, but last week we spoke to the others coming and they decided they didn't want to spend the extra chunk of change to do that, so they are going to use that day to resort hop, maybe visit DTD and just chill out at the pool (sounds nice) and they were happy to keep the girls. We figured this is best, because Olivia really was just as happy at the idea of staying with her Mimi and going swimming all day. And obviously cut the cost down quite a bit and now Chris and I won't be slowed down at all. I am pretty confidant we can get in everything we want to see by ourselves.

So the shuttle times start running about 6:25am and you can schedule your pick up anytime on the hour after that. Then the drop off shuttle will pick you up at a specified time in the evening on the hour until 2:15am, or you can call 90 minutes prior to when you want to be picked up. It actually does sound pretty flexible. And cheaper than the cab with just the two of us. So I am pretty happy with the decision.

Our plan is to use our touring plan app to make our way around. We are going to start at IOA and go to HP first. Then we will check out the rest of that park until lunch and go back to HP for lunch at The Three Broomsticks. Crowd levels for both parks are predicted to be around a 5, so not too bad. Our other must do's, besides HP area are: Jurrasic Park River Adventure, Spiderman, & The Hulk Coaster. I am sure we will do more, but those are the MUST MUST MUST dos. We more than likely will not see any shows here.

Then we will head to UO and follow our lines app again. Must do's are: Rip Ride Rockit Coaster, The Mummy, Transformers, Simpsons area, Despicable Me, and Terminator.

Dinner plan is to go to Margaritaville for dinner on the CityWalk and then come back home to AoA!

Has anyone else ever done a 1 day at Universal on their trip? If so I would love to hear about it and get any advice!!

Okay, so #2 thing that made today exciting...

*Image from google search*

I ordered my Photopass+ today!!!! Awesomeeeeee!

So excited for this baby! I plan to have the PP people take tons of pics of us at every opportunity. I really want to focus more on catching some videos with this trip so I can catch the conversations with Olivia and the characters, and not have to just have pics. I think this will work out perfect!

Also today I took care of our grocery order through Strollers and Groceries!



I didn't order a whole lot, mainly I just wanted breakfast items. I also am going to bring my own peanut butter, crackers, pop tarts and mini muffins. I had them on the order too, but it was getting so pricey for so little! So I just ordered stuff that would be hard to fit in the suitcase or would be cold, and figured I will grab these few items at home and throw them in the carry-on bag. Minimum order was $40, and I got delivery free because I had ordered my stroller through them, otherwise it is $14 delivery fee. Also left a few bucks tip.

So there ya have it! My many many reasons to be super excited today! I have had a very Disney morning of planning and purchasing. I can now confidently say that EVERYTHING we can pre pay is paid!!! Yay! It's amazing to feel like literally everything that can be paid is paid off!! I don't need to stress anymore about paying this with the next check and blah blah blah.....it's so freeing and my smile will not leave my face today!

All that's left is like the best part. Getting all the little things together to travel, start packing up the bags, and getting all our documents together!! Whoo-hoo! It's like the final countdown has begun with us hitting 39 days! (Did any one else sing 'The Final Countdown' in their head when they read that? No? Just me?!)

 

[Chicago Mo]

Yep...What she said

PS...I'm stalking you Mo

TAG YOUR IT!​

Where shall i go Now..............

 

[solana131]

I. AM. SO. EXCITED.

As well you should be! Yay! I can't comment too much on the US/IOA stuff as I just can't leave the Disney bubble when I am there. Someday, when my little guy is bigger maybe. But it looks uber cool and I am so jealous of everyone that goes! I just hope they still have the HP world when I finally get there.

Yay for PP+ too....can't wait to get my use out of mine!

TAG YOUR IT!​

Where shall i go Now..............

You went to oopsi's

 

[Denovagirl]

Are you bringing an extra suitcase for the souvenirs??? I did that...

Yup! That's the plan, to check and empty one! Glad I'm not the only one!

 

[Denovagirl]

Another thing off my list- just cleaned our pennies for our trip. Made it into an experiment for the kids- they loved it.

That's an awesome idea! I think I will end up doing this. It was in my head as a maybe...ill have to start saving some quarters and hope my hubby lets me. We're going to Vegas in December and already decided we should start saving all our quarters for Slots-o-Fun! Haha..

 

[Denovagirl]

Oh yeah....I have to do this too. My little guy just loves the pennies. I hope the Polynesian Lilo & Stitch one is working this trip....I don't believe we will ever stay there again after it becomes DVC, so I want to add it to our collection now . Thanks for the reminder for this!

They're 50cents plus the penny, right?

 

[Chicago Mo]

Yup! That's the plan, to check and empty one! Glad I'm not the only one!

No it's a great idea. make sure you put SOMETHING in the empty luggage...

you WILL go nuts with ALL the store they have.. are you planning to go back again? remember they have items they ONLY sell in Disney v/s the local Stores and the web. So if you see something you love and want.. Get it. I made the mistake of seeing something.. I said na.. i will let the kids get something. I thought about it for so long. we were lucky enough to go back and i DID buy it...

I am such a pusher..

 

[Denovagirl]

No it's a great idea. make sure you put SOMETHING in the empty luggage...

you WILL go nuts with ALL the store they have.. are you planning to go back again? remember they have items they ONLY sell in Disney v/s the local Stores and the web. So if you see something you love and want.. Get it. I made the mistake of seeing something.. I said na.. i will let the kids get something. I thought about it for so long. we were lucky enough to go back and i DID buy it...

I am such a pusher..

Oh we will def go back. But maybe not quite as all in as this trip. Or possibly a Dis Cruise next time. We will see how the hubs reacts to this vacay first. I know he is underestimating how amazing it is going to be!!

I did have the chance to go to DTD on a trip, and you should have seen how much I bought then! Haha, so I am gonna be so much worse this time!!

I will put something in the suitcase. Probably my clothes even though all of our clothes will fit into our big one if we wanted.

 

[Chicago Mo]

They're 50cents plus the penny, right?

Yup! there are LOTS of machines..