We're off to see the wizards! We leave tomorrow!!

[Tinker326]

Gotta love Blues Brothers!!!

Especially since I'm a Chicagoean-

 

[-Hope-]

Gotta love Blues Brothers!!!

Especially since I'm a Chicagoean-

 

[natebenma]

Awesome Shirts!!!

I also did not know about the Doctor Who shop. My son would have loved it!!!

What great last minute plans. The withdrawal slips and money bands are super clever!

 

[Alysa]

I can't tell you how good it is that the is not an actual shop with Doctor Who stuff. My husband and our bank account are very grateful.

Ah, you've got a little shop. I like a little shop!

 

[-Hope-]

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond. I haven't been incredibly busy but also haven't been in the mood to DIS. I think I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop and something else to go wrong so part of me is having a hard time getting excited for the trip. However, now that we're so close I am hopeful that this is really going to happen. And we are CLOSE!

10 DAYS!!!!! ​

We got Back to the Future in the mail a couple of days ago and haven't had the chance to watch it so that's our plan for our 10 day mark. Even though the ride is gone I thought it would be more fun for the kiddos to meet Doc Brown and see the Delorean if they'd actually seen the movie. Plus it's a fun, nostalgic movie anyways so this is a good excuse. I don't have any special treats or anything to go with it. Maybe Saturday for our one week countdown I can come up with something.

Oh, and we watched some old Transformers cartoons on Netflix. I wanted to the kids to know who Optimus Prime is for character greets but none of us wanted to watch the Micheal Bay movie. The cartoons were fun and reminded me of my little brother and Saturday mornings.

Awesome Shirts!!!

I also did not know about the Doctor Who shop. My son would have loved it!!!

What great last minute plans. The withdrawal slips and money bands are super clever!

Thanks!

I can't tell you how good it is that the is not an actual shop with Doctor Who stuff. My husband and our bank account are very grateful.

Ah, you've got a little shop. I like a little shop!

I don't know if the entire shop is Doctor Who but they have plenty of stuff for sale. I read about it and saw pics in another trip report. Shirts, toys, keychains... lots of good stuff to blow my $$ on!

 

[Alysa]

You're kidding!!! I thought you were just making a joke about how 10 loves a little shop! Where, where, where?? Now I HAVE to go!

 

[-Hope-]

Lol, I do love a good Doctor reference but this shop is real! From my understanding it's near T2 at the studios. I'll be able to tell you more VERY soon! I'm doing my single digit dance today!

 

[Pixiedust530]

9 Days til you Leave!!!

 

[vleeth]

You have given me some awesome ideas. Themed movie night...now to plan.

My dd is named Hope and she is homeschooled.

Can't wait to read your trip report!

 

[-Hope-]

9 Days til you Leave!!!

Thanks for celebrating with me!

You have given me some awesome ideas. Themed movie night...now to plan.

My dd is named Hope and she is homeschooled.

Can't wait to read your trip report!

Glad you got some ideas, I hope you have as much fun with them as we did.

A dd who shares my name and a fellow homeschooling mama, so cool!

I'll definitely share a TR- gotta extend the fun for as long as possible. The only problem with waiting for a TR is that it means our trip is over.

 

[-Hope-]

Just popping in from my phone (so no pretty formatting, sorry). We are one week out (less by the time most if you read this since I'm laying in bed). We watched the last movie I really wanted the kids to see tonight, Twister. It was a bit more fun and also more sad than I remember but everyone enjoyed it, especially Kya.

We started packing today and realized that Kya has outgrown some of her shorts so we need to get a couple more pair before we go. At least summer clothes are on sale!

I'd been a little worried about fitting everything in carryon but it seems like its going to work pretty well. We're each bringing three changes of clothes and will do laundry one night about half way through the 5 night trip. I've also got a collapsible duffle bag packed so if we need to check a bag ($25 for the first bag with Delta) coming home (since we'll prob be loaded down with souvenirs) we have the option.

I'm (not so) patiently waiting for show times during our trip but don't think those will come out until Friday since they currently have times listed through Thursday. They did post that the Sinbad stunt show will be closed during our trip for routine maintenance but since it gets mixed reviews I'm not terribly disappointed.

I gave my mom a color coded itinerary with all the rides she can ride, meals, etc. a few weeks ago. Today she asked if I was making an itinerary.

Kya is starting to get nervous about the flight. She panicked a bit when we flew to WDW three years ago and I think she's more nervous about the panic than the flight if that makes sense. She's been reading about ways to keep calm but unfortunately the most appealing option, music, isn't allowed during take off which is when she's the most scared. I think she'll be fine but it's definitely on her mind. She's just trying to focus on butterbeer, hippogriffs and Hogwarts for now.

That's about it. We're down to the wire with not much to do except WAAAAIIIIIT!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I don't even know if I want to respond without the pretty formatting!

The good news is that if she stresses about it now, it probably will NOT be as bad as she remembers/imagines when you actually fly! 6 days!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Pixiedust530]

I'm kind of with karen...totally need pretty formatting!
Actually...I have a confession...when I am perusing the boards looking for new PTR/TR's to read...if they don't use pretty formatting I sometimes won't stick around to read!

Back on topic....OMG I can't believe you leave in a week! That is so EXCITING! Cracking up about your mom and the itinerary. Back over the summer, Wayne probably asked me 4 or 5 times: "When are we going to Disney again?"

Hopefully Kya will be fine once she gets in flight. Wasn't Savannah (Karen's daughter) nervous about flying too. And if I remember correctly, she did okay. maybe Kya could talk to her and that would help!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I'm kind of with karen...totally need pretty formatting!
Actually...I have a confession...when I am perusing the boards looking for new PTR/TR's to read...if they don't use pretty formatting I sometimes won't stick around to read!

Don't let her fool you, she has actually told me the EXACT same thing! She won't even read a TR if it's not formatted pretty! That's why I am giving her so much trouble about it!

Back on topic....OMG I can't believe you leave in a week! That is so EXCITING! Cracking up about your mom and the itinerary. Back over the summer, Wayne probably asked me 4 or 5 times: "When are we going to Disney again?"

Hopefully Kya will be fine once she gets in flight. Wasn't Savannah (Karen's daughter) nervous about flying too. And if I remember correctly, she did okay. maybe Kya could talk to her and that would help!

Yes, Savannah had (ugh, still has! LOL) some fears with flying, so I'm unsure if she will reassure Kya or make it worse!

OH LOOK...I wrote in PURPLE. Well, at least SOMEONE on this PTR is taking the time to format!

 

[-Hope-]

Love me! Like me! Don't leave! I promise I'll keep using pretty formats!

​

Honestly, I am the same way when I'm reading on my laptop but on my phone it all looks the same size anyway so it matters less. Now, if I'm jumping in an already finished or several pages long TR/PTR I might overlook formatting if I'm reading on my phone but I NEED a ToC so I can skip the chit chat that I'm not really part of anyway.

I know Kya will be okay and she was the one who made the decision to fly- I left it up to her and she decided a little panic attack was better than 17 hours in the backseat with her brother.

As for my mom and the itinerary, I'm sure this is only the beginning of me having to repeat myself but I'm determined to be zen about it.

 

[-Hope-]

We are really getting down to the wire now, folks! The next few days are EXTREMELY busy with work and kid activities so I guess it's a good thing I am such a planner and have everything finished.

Some last minute prep over the last few days-

• We're pretty much packed. The only things left are the things we can't pack until the morning of, like toothbrushes, phone chargers, etc.
• I've frozen several meals for DH to heat up while we're gone. A little June Cleaver, I know. But if I don't leave him food he'll blow our grocery budget- especially since he usually takes leftovers for lunch and he'd eat out all week without decent leftovers.
• Had to buy Kya some new shorts. JC Penney had their summer stuff on clearance for $1.97. Seriously.
• Double checked all of our reservations to be sure I have everything I need in my travel folder. I did. I have for months.
• Got addresses from all of the people we want to send postcards to with the owlery postmark.

I'm still waiting for Universal to update showtimes so I can finalize our itinerary but, like I said before, I don't really think that will happen until Friday. I also need to make a basic itinerary with our flight info and where we'll be each day for my dad and Robbie. Dad requested it because he says he likes to know where my mom is. :

Oh, and remember when I said we heat with wood (and the motor on our wood splitter had to be replaced). Well we started cutting wood last weekend. And the expensive tire on our wood truck went flat. With a literal ton of wood already loaded on the truck. And it can't be fixed, must be replaced. And Jace and I brought home the extra special treat of poison ivy.

I really need this vacation.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I think it's pre-vacation-karma or something, the way EVERYTHING goes to *hit right before a vacation, so you feel like you need it even more! I'm so excited for you!!!!!!!! Do you know that I STILL, to this day, think of the phone call you made to me when waiting at Park Fare EVERY time I drive by the spot I was at when you called? Part of that is b/c I had to pull over b/c I was on the top of the hill and knew I would lose my signal! It's ok, you don't have to CALL, but I expect a few text message updates.

 

[-Hope-]

I think it's pre-vacation-karma or something, the way EVERYTHING goes to *hit right before a vacation, so you feel like you need it even more! I'm so excited for you!!!!!!!! Do you know that I STILL, to this day, think of the phone call you made to me when waiting at Park Fare EVERY time I drive by the spot I was at when you called? Part of that is b/c I had to pull over b/c I was on the top of the hill and knew I would lose my signal! It's ok, you don't have to CALL, but I expect a few text message updates.

We waited for nearly an hour at Park Fare!! Hopefully I won't need to fill that kind of time!

I'm hoping that SO MUCH has gone wrong pre-trip that our actual trip will be smooth sailing.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

We waited for nearly an hour at Park Fare!! Hopefully I won't need to fill that kind of time!

I'm hoping that SO MUCH has gone wrong pre-trip that our actual trip will be smooth sailing.

If I don't get at least one text complaining about how your mom is driving you up the wall at the moment...I'll think something has gone wrong or your plane went down! As long as you go into it realizing it happens at least once on the trip, you won't be so annoyed when it happens, right???

 

[-Hope-]

Lol, I know my mom will drive me nuts at some point!! If that's all that happens we'll be in good shape. But yeah, better to be pleasantly surprised than have my hopes dashed by my obligatory vacation meltdown.