A Busted Surprise That Sent Us To The World!! Page 6 for TRIP REPORT

[AshBriSmi]

Hello my good readers!!

This is my first PTR... well, my first anything! I am kind of nervous however, my excitement over rules and I can't wait to share all my packing, reservations, and anything planning and Disney!

So let's get started!!!

Before I get into how this trip came to be let’s do some intros

I’m Ashlee, 17, junior in high-school!
This is a picture of me and Becca, I am the red head on the left...



Favorite Park: Epcot

Favorite ride: Rockin’ Rollercoaster

Favorite character: Winnie the Pooh

Favorite movie: Oh man... I guess my favorites include Brave, Tarzan, Toy Story, and Tangled


Then is my middle sister Becca, she is 16, a sophomore


Favorite Park: Magic Kingdom

Favorite ride: Tower of Terror

Favorite character: Elsa

Favorite movie: Frozen


Up next is my mom, this is from the beach a couple of days ago, she is sitting on the right with Emilee...



Favorite Park: Magic kingdom

Favorite ride: RR

Favorite character: Princess Jasmine

Favorite movie: Toy Story

Then we have my Dad, this is from our last trip in Disney World back in 2009. Bad picture, just know if you ever see a bald man, its my amazing father



Favorite Park: Epcot

Favorite ride: Test Track

Favorite character: Yoda (since Disney just bought Stars Wars & all…)

Favorite movie: Monsters Inc.


Then is my youngest sister Emilee, 14 and in 8th grade



Favorite Park: Epcot

Favorite ride: Soarin

Favorite character: Princess Ariel

Favorite movie: Tangled


Then last but not least, we have Braeden, who is 4, autistic, and in Pre-K. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and my family



He doesn’t really know what’s going on, so I didn’t ask him what his favorites are and if I were to his answer would probably be “a train” or “a dinosaur”… he does really like Frozen though.

One of the whole crew…


From left to right, it's Emilee, Becca, my Mom, Braeden(I will probably refer him to bubs or bubba), my Dad, and I'm sitting on the bottom.

Now that that is all taken care of, let’s get into some story telling

As you now know, I'm 17 years old... And most teenagers like to do a little snooping in their household. Well, I came home from school one day, a couple months ago, and there was a calendar opened up to the month of June. I didn’t think anything of it until I saw the word “Disney!!” written across the day of June 4th. So as any crazy, obsessed Disney lover would, I freaked out! I was so happy that I am going back to literally the best place on earth. I was standing there trying to hold in my screams, I let out a few tears, and then I thought of ways to tell my mom, “Hey I found out about the surprise Disney trip you are planning, can I help plan now??”

I decided to keep my mouth shut and not ruin my sisters surprise, but I did hint to my mom by saying things like “Man I miss planning trips” or “I can’t wait till we go back to WDW” just things that would hopefully make her want to tell us, or at least me! (Especially me!!)

My patience obviously paid off.

Tonight at dinner we were talking about our days, just doing normal stuff and when we were done we all started to part our separate ways- my sisters to hide into their rooms & me to the office to continue reading here on the boards. However, before we could even get out of our dining room she asked us to go back in and wait a minute so she could talk to us. This was when my heart started to beat, as this is how she normally goes about telling us something HUGE. (AND A DISNEY TRIP IS VERY HUGE)

She started by telling us that on June 4th we weren't going to be going to school. She said it’s just a half day, we won’t be missing much anyways… of course I’m over here FREAKING OUT and Becca asks why… She responds “Oh, I thought we would go to Disney World instead…” AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Finally, the pain of keeping this a secret (I knew it had to be 10 times harder for her) was finally over!!! She continued by telling us the details, our resort info, our ADR’s… Please stay tuned to hear all about our reservations, dates, where we are staying, and all things that are getting ready for this amazing trip


1. Let's Meet the Gang!
2. Itinerary!!
3. The Pre-Trip Shopping!
4. The Pre-Trip Shopping! Part 2
4. My Fastpass Ressie's!!
5. The Most Magical Thing In The Discomfort Of Being Home & Not In WDW
6. The Gang Repeated
7. Some More Disney Shenanigans!
8. Movies & Fastpass's!!
9. More FP's & ADR Updates
10. MagicBands & I'm Grounded??? Oh no!!

 

[AshBriSmi]

Hello, everyone!!!

Now that you all know who everyone is, let’s get into some of our details, shall we?

We will be staying at All Star Music, which is where we stayed last time we went back in 2009. The time before that we stayed off-site but I don’t remember much of that trip except for the events we have pictures of as I was younger. We have a family suite which sleeps 6 with 1 queen size bed, 1 twin sleeper chair, 1 double sized sleeper sofa, and 1 twin size sleeper ottoman.
This is a picture I took in 2009.


We will be staying there from the 5th-12th.

Here is our itinerary:
Thursday, June 4th- Me and my sisters will have school that day (It’s the last day of school for us), but I am exempt from finals, and Becca is just not going to attend. Emilee is leaving middle school and attending high-school next year and she is going to an early-college HS so she won’t be with many of her friends and wants this day to say goodbye, however if she goes to school we won’t leave until after 1, probably closer to 2… If we can persuade her into staying home and just saying goodbye the day before then we can leave as early that morning as we want, which will be around 8 probably. Whenever the times are, we will pack up the car, say goodbye to our dog, lock up the house and begin our drive to Pensacola! We will stop and grab some food, probably fast food with a play place so Braeden can stretch out and let some energy escape his little body. We have a hotel reservation for the night and here we will stop and stay the night and rest up. We will probably order a pizza, shower, maybe swim… Staying the night in a hotel and splitting the trip into more than one day is new for us. We have typically in the past just driven straight through but with a 4 year old rambunctious little boy its better for everyone to stop!

Friday, June 5th- We will wake up bright and early around 6am, dress for Disney , and repack whatever has gotten unpacked. We will then reorganize the car-by now it looks like a tornado had been set loose in there. Once everything is set in the car and the room is emptied (hopefully 7am now) we will go have the complementary breakfast that our hotel provides. We hope to be on the roads by 7:30 and begin our drive to WDW. We’ll stop for lunch around 12 for which we allotted an hour for, which will then put us at ASM at 3pm. We will check in, unpack the luggage and the car, walk around, relax, maybe swim… Head offsite for dinner around 5 (which will happen most nights as it’s cheaper and we have late lunch ADR’s for some days). After dinner we will head to Magic Kingdom!!!! Finally!!!! We have chosen are FastPasses for SDMT, Little Mermaid, and Space Mountain. (Last time SM was closed and it broke our hearts) MK closes at midnight this night but I don’t think we will make it until then as we had a very long day that day and another long one the next day too.

Saturday, June 6th- We will wake up around 7am and dress in athletic wear and apply sunscreen onto Braeden, Emilee, and my dad’s bald head. At 8 we will ride the bus over to Animal Kingdom for the rope drop at 9. For this day we have FP’s for Kali River Rapids (reasoning behind the athletic wear and not jean shorts or something), the Safari, and The Festival of the Lion King. Right after rope drop we will ride Everest and then Safari. Throughout this trip you will notice that me and my sisters will be splitting up and so if that is the case for this day we are all to meet for lunch at whatever the designated lunch spot and time is for this day. We will leave AK at 4 for the resort. We will shower, freshen up, and maybe change before going back offsite for dinner. After dinner we will either head back to MK for the PM EMH’s while my dad goes back to the resort with my brother or we will all go to MK depending on how Braeden is doing. On this night Magic Kingdom closes at 2am and it will just be something we play by ear and see what we want to do and how late we want to stay up.

Sunday, June 7th- On this day my mom, Becca, Braeden, and I will all sleep in while my dad and Emilee will head to Hollywood Studios for rope drop to experience all the Star Wars stuff that will be going on that weekend there. Meanwhile back at the resort the rest of us will be swimming in the resort pool, maybe play on the resort playground, and visit Downtown Disney for the first time this trip. We will leave at 12 and head over to Epcot and meet my dad and Emilee for our lunch ADR at Via Napoli. After lunch we ill ride rides and us our three FP’s-TestTrack, Soarin’, and Nemo and Friends. We will walk through World Showcase, visit all the countries, let my brother get his passport stamped at all the countries too. For dinner we are getting a food from every country (excluding morocco) and we will all snack a little off each food. Epcot closes at 9 this night so my parents and my brother will probably go back to the resort while my sisters and I explore on our own.

Monday, June 8th- For this day we will be heading to Hollywood Studios! We will wake up at 7am, grab breakfast, and leave by 8am or HS! The rope will drop at 9am and we’ll head to Tower of Terror and Rock n Rollercoaster right away. We also have FP’s for RNR, TofT, and Toy Story Mania again later in the day. Around 4 we will meet back at the resort to swim/ret/shower before we travel back to Downtown Disney for dinner at 6. We’ll eat, walk around some more and at 8pm we will either split into our separate ways, return to the resort (my dad and bubs), or return to Hollywood Studios for PM EMH’s until Hollywood Studios closes at midnight.

Tuesday, June 9th- This day is a very relaxed, do as you please day. We will start by sleeping in, eating breakfast, and then heading to Magic Kingdom. We do have three FP’s for this day: Space Mountain, BTMR, and Seven Dwarves. Like I said, this will be a day to do whatever. We will most likely all split up and do our own things though. I’m not sure what my sisters will be doing or what they might have in mind. However, my parents are giving us all each a 100$ gift card for WDW so I imagine this will be my day that I spend most of that. I really want a pair of ears as I don’t have any yet!! We will meet back at the resort around 4 or 5 to make sure we are all dressed and back to looking decent and not like we spent our whole day in Florida’s hot summer sun! I believe this is the day we are dressing a little nicer for a dinner offsite or maybe DTD. After dinner we will most likely join up us kids and a parent (whichever one isn’t putting Braeden to sleep in the resort) and go back to Magic Kingdom that closes at midnight.

Wednesday, June 10th- For this day we will wake up earlier and go to the AM EMH’s at Animal Kingdom. I’m not sure if it’s me or if anyone else feels the same way but AK always feels so hot. Like hotter than the other parks… I don’t know. So with us going to the AM EMH’s I’m hoping it helps with the heat. Of course we will still put on a bunch of sun screen. Here we are using 2 FP’s at Everst and Safari. At around 1pm we will leave, stop by the resort, do what needs to be done, and then leave for our ADR at 2:30 att the Primetime Café. After lunch we will go to Hollywood Studios and use our 3 FP, Rock n Rollercoaster. Probably around 8 we will split back up and do what we please.

Thursday June 11th- Our last park day!! We will wake up, do breakfast in the resort, and then head over to Magic Kingdom for the AM EMH’s at 8am. We have Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, and Haunted Mansion as our FP’s this day. We will meet up at whatever the designated lunch spot is on this day at the said time and then after lunch we will stay together as it is the last day. The rest of this day is laid back and is just kind of a “Do what you need to do because it’s the last day” day. Then for inner I may offer to take my brother to the resort to allow my parent’s time alone to walk through the park together and they could do their own dinner. (That’s just the kind of daughter I am!!) Eventually we will all get back together and begin to pack up the resort room before turning out the lights.

Friday, June 12th- We will wake up, probably around 6, get into our comfy car ride clothes, finish packing our last couple of things, and send my mom to check us out. We will stop somewhere fast to grab breakfast to eat in the car, and then be on our way. We will stop in New Orleans, Louisiana and stay the night there. (Technically we’re onto Saturday now…) we’ll wake up, pack our stuff back up, clean out the car, grab breakfast somewhere quickly, then finish our last leg home!
Now you know as much as I do!

I may do a post and talk about my last trip a little and maybe put some more photos of us in there... Let me know!
Until next time, farewell!

 

[bbak30]

You are so adorable! What a beautiful family.
Looks like a wonderful trip.

Any chance you are planning to stop in Biloxi, Mississippi? Not sure where Biloxi, Louisiana is. Lol

 

[AshBriSmi]

You are so adorable! What a beautiful family.
Looks like a wonderful trip.

Any chance you are planning to stop in Biloxi, Mississippi? Not sure where Biloxi, Louisiana is. Lol

Why thank you! And I know it will be! I'm really excited as it is my brothers first trip to the World!
& Lol!! Thanks for catching that! I believe our original plans were to stay in Biloxi, Mississippi and then they got changed recently to New Orleans, Louisiana! Glad you caught that!! Thank you!!

 

[Newsies]

Following along!

Oh my goodness, you are GORGEOUS! And your whole family is, too!

It sounds like you've got a great week lined up already. Can't wait to hear more

 

[AshBriSmi]

Following along!

Oh my goodness, you are GORGEOUS! And your whole family is, too!

It sounds like you've got a great week lined up already. Can't wait to hear more

Bless your heart, thank you so much!!
I'm glad you're tagging along!!

 

[Tea4Alice]

I see that you plan to use 2 fastpass at Animal Kingdom and your 3 third at HS, I don't think that is allowed.

 

[AshBriSmi]

I see that you plan to use 2 fastpass at Animal Kingdom and your 3 third at HS, I don't think that is allowed.

My mom didn't know yet if thats what she is trying do but if it's not allowed will just use the third in AK. Thank you!

 

[Tea4Alice]

My mom didn't know yet if thats what she is trying do but if it's not allowed will just use the third in AK. Thank you!

BTW, our family will be there at the same time too. Your daily plans sound great.

 

[AshBriSmi]

BTW, our family will be there at the same time too. Your daily plans sound great.

Thats cool! You're the first person I have been in contact with that is going on those dates as well. Perhaps you'll see me walking around, don't be shy!!

 

[bbak30]

Why thank you! And I know it will be! I'm really excited as it is my brothers first trip to the World!
& Lol!! Thanks for catching that! I believe our original plans were to stay in Biloxi, Mississippi and then they got changed recently to New Orleans, Louisiana! Glad you caught that!! Thank you!!

That's even better! I live about 90 miles from New Orleans and I love that city. Biloxi is nice too--but New Orleans is better. Hope y'all get to do something fun while you are there!

 

[AshBriSmi]

That's even better! I live about 90 miles from New Orleans and I love that city. Biloxi is nice too--but New Orleans is better. Hope y'all get to do something fun while you are there!

It would be nice to do something but I believe we are going to just rest and whatnot the rest of that night! I plan on going there when I turn 21 to try out the casinos there before I go to Vegas!

 

[Overexcited]

Looks like a great plan!

 

[AshBriSmi]

Looks like a great plan!

Thank you! Glad you're joining along for the fun and all the chaotic stuff in between!

 

[AshBriSmi]

Hello you guys!!

In this post I'm going to let you guys see the stuff we have already bought for Disney and then also show you a few pictures from Easter today.

First up... EASTER!!
Normally for Easter, and most other family-gathering holidays, everyone comes to our home and my mom cooks a large meal. This year was no different. In attendance was everyone who actually lives here, plus my grandfather, his wife, my aunt, my cousin, my grandmother, her boyfriend(I know, how sad is it that she can get one and I can't), and my uncle and his girlfriend. My brother has recently been diagnosed with autism, which makes the gatherings like this a little bit more stressful on him than it would your average 4 year old.
After the large linner (lunch and dinner) my mom made for us while we were all at church, me and my uncle were the designated Easter Bunnies this year, the real Easter Bunny was home sick... and so we went around and hid these beauties around my front yard



Here is my brother finding them...



Here is Braeden's face he typically does after an hour of someone begging for him to say "cheese, just one more time!!"



This is my cousin, Allyana, shoving candy-I believe Smarties- into her mouth



And here is one final Easter picture of me and my mom






Now let's get into more Disney stuff, shall we??

As most of you know by now, my mom attempted to surprise us with a trip to WDW in June... buuuuuuut, that didn't work out very well as 3 of the 4 kids already knew about her attempted surprise, bless my mom's heart. (I still have to be nice because she stalks me on here) However, my mom still bought stuff and kept them hidden as she is also a compulsive Disney lover like myself...(I had to get it somewhere!!!!)

First things first, she got 2 planning books

I won't post the other picture because it came out very blurry but it is the "Birnbaum's 2015 Walt Disney World Official Guide" and it's a great book!!

The next thing we got is a butt-load of glowsticks

We use these for at night time to wrap around the stroller to spot it easier when we leave it to go ride rides and to keep my brothers and sisters (OK, me too) from wanting to buy those 12 dollar spinny-lighty toys at the carts that brake in 2 weeks.

Next are the bags.. This first one is one we just bought and I am excited to use it because everyone loves a bag with THIS many pockets!!!

And I'm throwing this in here but I have had it for a couple years now but it's new in the sense that it hasn't been beyond Disney gates yet.

It's small but it's what I intend to use in the parks to keep maps, my camera, snacks, etc.

Next are these lanyards... I believe my mom bought these when WDW still used cards to get into the gates at the parks but I will probably switch out my keys and put them onto mine, which is the one with Mickey's gang.

Becca wants the aliens from Toy Story and Emilee automatically gets anything that has Tinkerbell on it... it's kinda her thing.

Next is all the laundry stuff... we plan on doing laundry at the resort just to save room in packing.



Next is our hygiene-y stuff. Just the regular toothbrush holders, some toothpaste, mouth wash, and lotion. I also threw the hand-sani in this picture too.


Up next is the rest of the random stuff my mom picked up just because it was Disney I guess???? I don't know. Tissues and straws.


Continued in next post. (I reached the picture limit I think & if I didn't I'm sure I'm approaching it!!)

 

[AshBriSmi]

We left off with the random, but still cute, straws and tissues.

Next my mom bought PONCHOS & a stroller cover!!! In our 2009 trip, it rained, and rained, and rained, for what felt like the whole day on one of our Hollywood Studios days, so I'm extremely happy about these. However, knowing me and my family's luck, we'll lose or forget them, it's just how it works for us.


Then we have some Color Wonder... We will use these in the car on the way there and on the way home and most likely in the long rides. For anyone who hasn't used these before, I highly recommend them as the markers don't work on anything but the special paper it comes with. They are AWESOME!!


Then she also bought: some more random busy work. This will again be used in the car and in lines or even at restaurants when Braeden doesn't want to just sit and chill out for a little bit. The yellow books on the left are pretty cool, they each came with construction paper, tracing paper, and scribble paper. Then there is a word search which would be used for me and my sisters as Braeden wouldn't understand. And the vocab flash cards are for Bubs as well.


Up next is journals... I will probably be the one to use the most of these as I will be writing down how i feel about things I eat, and stuff like that so I can remember everything when it's time to write the Trip-Report!!!


My mom has been picking stuff up for awhile now, can't you tell?? Up next are these AWESOME play packs! I think she got these in the party section at Target or Walmart and were only a couple bucks but they come with crayons, a booklet, stickers... They will again be something we hand Braeden to calm him down or to get him to just be occupied!


Then is something for me and my sisters and its these quiz cards and book! These are cool and they allow us to also not be bored in the 14 hour car ride from Texas to Florida. My mom and dad also get a kick out of these.


Probably the most important thing my mom got are these safety "If lost call:" tattoos for my brother. I'm not sure how well they work, but if you have tried them, then let me know because me and my mom are curious to see how they hold out in sun and sweat and pool water and baths.... you get the picture. LET US KNOW


Up next are the writing utensils she picked up for the journals we got. The twistable crayons are what I'm most excited about


Almost done.... We also have these wipes. The Refresh ones are SAA-WEET! They have powder on them and they soak up the sweat and oil thats on your body and they also smell oh so amazing- all while cooling you off! And the baby wipes are just for Braedens face after he eats a Mickey Bar. (Also Becca)((That is a picture from 2009))



And finally, last but not least, my mom got stickers.... I'm not sure if her intentions are to one day scrapbook..?.. I've always wanted to but I just don't have the patience. If I could go into Michaels or another store similar and use anything I wanted and not pay for it and have it all sitting right in front of me, I so would. But, if not to scrapbook, then maybe to praise my brother or to let him decorate something... Who knws! If she makes a DIS account, I'll let you guys know what it is and ya'll can ask her



Okay, bye guys!! Remember, I love feedback so let me know if ya'll have any more ideas on stuff to get prior to the trip rather then waiting til last minute, and if you know anything on those safety tats, LET ME KNOW!!!

Until next time, farewell

 

[Tea4Alice]

We are driving down from Texas too. Staying up tonight for our fastpass picks.

 

[AshBriSmi]

We are driving down from Texas too. Staying up tonight for our fastpass picks.

That's awesome! As are we!!

 

[Tea4Alice]

My daughter is a huge Star War fan, so We're very nervous about our HS day. She will attend both days 6,7 while the rest of us will head else where on the 7th.

 

[Tea4Alice]

That's awesome! As are we!!

GOOD LUCK!! On your fastpass selections!