Beast. The awesome PTR of awesomeness June 2012 last update: Universal Resort

[Toystoryfan32]

One of the nice things about planning this off site trip has been that there has been no discussion re: dining plan vs. not doing the dining plan. We can't do the dining plan. And I am OK with that.

The dining plan as it exists now is not a good deal for us. We don't eat dessert. All of our kids are Disney adults, and the price is outrageous for 5 adults for 11 days. We like to eat table service... but not every single day.

What Kiah and I ended up doing was reading a lot of dining reviews to suggest what our family might like. You should know that in my little family of 5:

Dan won't eat onions, peppers, or tomatoes. He'll eat salsa, or ketchup, he just won't eat any of those things in a recognizable form.

Me won't eat fish. Dan says I'm picky, but that's really my only line I won't cross.

Tater is a Vegetarian. Just a regular old "I don't eat meat" vegetarian. It's been a learning curve for me to figure out what to have in the house for him so that he could get enough protein. Going out to eat takes a little more thought because we have to make sure that the restaurant has a decent vegetarian option. We went to Applebee's once and he ended up eating onion rings. It was the only non-meat option that sounded good to him. We need to make sure he has some choices over those two weeks.

Kiah eats healthy. She likes fresh ingredients, non-processed food. She does not usually eat with the family if we eat fast food. She'd prefer to stay home and make a salad or peanut butter sandwich (on whole grain bread, of course). I don't know how she does it. I eat healthier now, but I get really cranky if I can't eat a cookie if I want.

Ches Girl is an All-American eater. She doesn't have to flip through a menu for a half hour to find something acceptable. Give her a burger and fries or some pizza and she's a happy girl.

Given all this, we tried to balance places Dan would like with some more adventurous choices for my teens. Our ADR list is a work in progress. What this means is that I've made all the ADRs with no input from Dan. And probably a week before we leave, Dan will actually become interested in where we're eating and go through and cut the ones he thinks are not worthy of our budget dollars. Therefore, I've made more ADRs than we'll probably use, but do plan to cancel them as appropriate.

Our current ADR list includes:

Crystal Palace for breakfast before the park opens. We really enjoyed getting into parks before opening last trip and our favorite was CP. I thought this was probably Dan would want to cancel (he feels our kids are too old for character meals), but I said something about it and he told me not to cancel it yet. That tells me he still likes the idea of getting into the parks early. We have this scheduled for our first morning. Hoping we decide to keep it.

Prime Time Cafe for Father's Day. This is Dan's favorite place to eat in the whole world, so why wouldn't we eat there for Father's Day? He loves home cooking.

That's my sister and her family, my group, and my mom at Prime Time in 2007. Everyone has aged a bit since then. Great meal, though. I had an adult beverage flowing through my system... can you tell?

Tusker House lunch. My teens really pushed for Boma for this one, but I really feel that is too far outside Dan's comfort zone. So Tusker House it is. Not sure how I feel about it being a character meal, but the teens are so excited about it that I now we won't cut this one.

Plaza at MK for dinner. If I can get us the Wishes dessert party, this one will get cut. I really want the dessert party. Kiah really doesn't. I'm going to win this one because I'm the mom. I have yet to actually be able to sit and see fireworks at Disney. We've watched them from behind the castle, from the bridge to Splash Mountain, from everywhere but the hub. And I like dessert. I have my heart set on the desssert party. And Dan the budget man said I could book it. Kiah really likes the menu at the Plaza, but I think we could probably get the same sandwiches, etc. at Panera. So it goes.

Sci Fi Dine In. This is Tater's favorite place and frankly, the CS options at Hollywood Studios are just not good. I went ahead and made this ADR, knowing we might need to drop some and thinking that this would be one that I wouldn't miss too much. So basically I knew Dan would want to cut 2 or 3, and I needed to give him 2 or 3 that wouldn't break my heart.

Ohana breakfast. Ches loves Lilo & Stitch and this was the last TS meal we did on our last trip. We went to MK, did rope drop and a few things we loved, went to Ohana for the last possible seating, had an excellent, relaxed brunch, then back over to MK to see Philharmagic... and then we said goodbye to Disney. We want that to become a tradition, so I've booked us the last seating for breakfast. We won't drop this one.

Ches loves her Stitch.

Mythos at Islands of Adventure. Mythos gets such rave reviews that I thought we should give it a try. I know Dan will be all over the fried chicken wrap with mashed potatoes inside. That is the stuff his dreams are made of.

So that's pretty much it. We're only doing one Epcot day and plan to snack our way through the day. All other meals will either be CS or off site. I did hear there's a Cantina Laredo in Orlando (not far from Universal) and that's my favorite place in the world so maybe we'll check it out. Maybe we'll spend an evening at Dave & Buster's. I'm fairly flexible. Seems strange not to have an ADR every day, but it's nice to be able to know we have some good ones and that the rest we can do what we want, when we want.

Your ADR's look great. We have ressies at Sci-Fi and Prime Time too. I agree that HS just does not have great cs restaurants and my kids love the atmosphere at 50's and Sci Fi. My 16 year old is also a vegetarian so we try to pick a few places that suit her. She loves Ches De France so made a ressie there for her. My youngest is a carnivore for sure. She is a healthy eater but she is more adventurous then our older daughter when it comes to food. That said we never buy the dining plan either, it is so expensive and we just dont eat that much. Plus I will have four adults by the time we travel to WDW again. I wish we had made a reservation for Ohana for breakfast, I love it there.

Love the hats!

 

[BrerMama]

Your ADR's look great. We have ressies at Sci-Fi and Prime Time too. I agree that HS just does not have great cs restaurants and my kids love the atmosphere at 50's and Sci Fi. My 16 year old is also a vegetarian so we try to pick a few places that suit her. She loves Ches De France so made a ressie there for her. My youngest is a carnivore for sure. She is a healthy eater but she is more adventurous then our older daughter when it comes to food. That said we never buy the dining plan either, it is so expensive and we just dont eat that much. Plus I will have four adults by the time we travel to WDW again. I wish we had made a reservation for Ohana for breakfast, I love it there.

Love the hats!

How fun that you have a vegetarian as well! It definitely requires a little planning when going out to eat.

I love eat around the world days!

I'm hoping we do, too. Dan the Budget Man is just not excited about World Showcase (and in fact will eat very little from the various countries) so I hope it's not a total disaster.

Off to visit my parents for the weekend. I may not get an update done this weekend, but will manage to do a pre-Spring Break update in the next week!

 

[momabaarjo]

Safe travels...we are on spring break this week and it could not come all too fast!

 

[BrerMama]

Safe travels...we are on spring break this week and it could not come all too fast!

Hope you had a good time with your family in Colorado!

 

[BrerMama]

Chapter 7: Our itinerary, a work in progress

I'm a bit embarrassed at the fact that this PTR has slipped to page 3. Obviously, I am not being entertaining enough to sustain my audience.

I'll work on that. Really, I will.

So it's been kind of crazy around here. We've been fairly focused on getting through the end of school so that we can enjoy our Spring Break. I've been waiting for this day for weeks... Dan's off to work a few hours, my job is to do laundry, pack and put gas in the pretty new Equinox.

Tomorrow we'll be off for a week in Branson. I can't wait to visit the Disney store outlet, and do some major shopping for shoes and supplies for our trip. Tater only wears Crocs slides as shoes. He has one pair and has had them for 2 years. We need to get him a couple more pair (let's not even mention the fact that he grew six inches since I bought those shoes). Dan needs some new shoes. Everyone but me needs shorts. I plan to hit the outlets to try to pick those things up at a reasonable price.

I also plan to see a lot of shows, have an adult beverage or two with my good friends who I only see a couple of times a year, read a book or two and enjoy my time with my family.

I even got a new hair cut. I was going to grow it out and instead Dan convinced me to go even shorter.

Anyway, I thought I'd share my work-in-progress spreadsheet for our trip. I had this thing all planned out... then Disney announced that Test Track would be closed all summer. Dan has little tolerance for Epcot as it is. Taking out Test Track definitely turned it into one day park for us. Maybe some day Dan will grow into an adult and appreciate Epcot, but this isn't that year. Instead, I'm hoping to make our Epcot day our only full day in a park. Open to close, staying through Illuminations.

It may be a pipe dream. I predict that we will not deal with the heat of late June very well. I predict that we will be at the parks at rope drop and will go full speed until lunch, then head back to our resort. I'm hoping that we'll find the energy to go back to the parks that evening. I'm not sure that we will, so I plan to pack those mornings fuller than full.

Here's what we've got so far:

I also rearranged things when we bought the Water Park add-on. We are huge water park fans and I know how we tour water parks. We'll be done by 2-3 pm those days. Evenings are for Downtown Disney or exploring Orlando... or we may add on a park day and go to Epcot for an evening. We've got options and I'm trying to keep them open. Rope drop is a non-negotiable for us and we're all early risers (except Ches... blah) so it shouldn't be a problem. What I'd like to do is push us out of our box and stay in the parks later. Not sure that is going to happen.

We're off to enjoy family time in a gorgeous place. Hope you have a wonderful week!

 

[cogero]

We love Epcot, it is actually our favorite park. We spend many an evening wandering world showcase.

 

[BrerMama]

Hello friends! We are home from a wonderful week long trip to Branson, MO for Spring Break. We so needed the time to rest and renew before this last 9 weeks push to the end of the school year... and then Florida another 3-4 weeks after that.

We had a timeshare condo with a gorgeous view of Branson.


bransonspringbreak038 by miss kim 09, on Flickr

I was anxious about the whole staying in a timeshare thing. We rented points from an owner and I was worried we'd get pressured to do a tour. I was worried that a timeshare wouldn't be a good fit for us. And that we've already reserved 11 nights in a timeshare (Sheraton Vistana) in Florida. If we didn't like it, it would call that decision into question.

No need to worry. We loved it. OK, the dog didn't love the tile floors. Apparently he's a carpet dog. (And how lucky was I to find an affordable time share that had pet friendly rooms? My dog hates the kennel and while he'll stay with my parents while we're in Florida, we'd rather take him with us if it's a driving trip.) We loved having the space to spread out, the amenities of being at a resort. We were not bothered at all. It was well located and we'll go back, without question.

We spent a lot of time buying things for our Florida trip. Branson has 3 different outlet malls, so we hit all 3 looking for shorts and shoes for the family. Appropriate shorts for my 5'6" 12 year old is a challenge. In fact, we had to break down and put her in adult sizes. That was fine at the Nike outlet, where we got 2 pairs of basketball shorts. It was not as fine at Old Navy, where most of the shorts were simply an unacceptable length for my 12 year old.

And yes, I bought the same ones for my 16 year old. I can't justify my reasoning. I just know that Ches is a tall girl and Mykiah is a short junior. Except Ches no longer fits in girl sizes.

Tater pretty much resisted every time I wanted to buy him anything. This is a boy who would gladly live in his existing wardrobe for the rest of his life. I got a little cranky and pointed out that his shorts are falling off him. So he tried on one pair of khaki shorts at Old Navy. Sure enough, he's a size smaller than he used to be. By the end of the week, he even allowed us to buy him 2 good pairs of basketball shorts at the Nike outlet. He wears basketball shorts here all the time but they are old and filled with snags and tears. It's shameful, really, but he insists he needs nothing else. I put away his new shorts until after the trip, but believe me when I say that after our trip, as those snaggle shorts come through the wash, they will disappear.

We also bought him a new pair of Crocs slides, but when we got home we discovered that although one tag did say size 11, they are actually size 13. So I have to buy another. That's OK because I need to buy Dan some Crocs flip flops direct from Crocs as well. We went to a store that has over 200 varieties of Crocs (or so the saleslady told us) but they only had the ones he wanted in light tan and Dan is more a dark brown or black person. So he tried them on for size and I'll order what he wants. We are Crocs flip flop/slide people. Brady has worn nothing but Crocs slides for the last year. Dan only wears Crocs flip flops in the summer when he's not working. So it's time to invest in some new pairs before our trip and all that walking.

Finally, I wanted to tell everyone about my favorite Branson show. For Kiah's birthday, we went to see Buckets N Boards. They had two weeks of shows in Branson, but in April they'll be doing shows on the Disney Fantasy. How cool is that? We've been going to see this show since they first started, and the first time we went we were in the 3rd row of seats and that was the back row. This trip they had their biggest crowd ever, and I have to say that they deserve it. I walked out of that first show saying "Now that's what I'm talking about!" It's a fun, comedy based show, and we all just love it (and the two guys in the group, Matt and Gareth). I didn't let the box office know it was Kiah's birthday, but I'm facebook friends with the guys and they had read that it was her birthday and we were coming to the show. They had the whole audience sing Happy Birthday to her, and then had her come on stage later in the show. It made her day so fun, and she is treasuring the broken drum stick they gave her.


bransonspringbreak047 by miss kim 09, on Flickr

If you're on any of the Disney cruises and get a chance to see these guys, definitely go. They're so much fun. You won't regret it.

 

[momabaarjo]

I so love Branson...we are looking at a small trip this summer with my mom, if we can fit it in between the kids activities (which is not looking very promising). Was there a lot of tornado damage to the strip area? I love the outlet malls there, this coming from someone who hates to shop. I found a great deal on crocs in December at Big Lots....I will have to find a picture and post...they worked great for the trip and I cant wait to break them out this summer...hmmm maybe today since it is jeans day at school for state testing and I can wear capris! I think my dd is like your son, she hates buying new clothes...so fustrating!

 

[cogero]

i went to Branson once it was fun. I was pg with my first and we did a day trip from my Aunts house in Arkansas.

LOL about the shorts I tell my daughter that shorts and skirts have to be long enough that she doesn't burn her but on the car seat in the summer if she does they are too short. Oh and she was 8 when I told her that. We shall see how long I can let that one ride.

 

[BrerMama]

I so love Branson...we are looking at a small trip this summer with my mom, if we can fit it in between the kids activities (which is not looking very promising). Was there a lot of tornado damage to the strip area? I love the outlet malls there, this coming from someone who hates to shop. I found a great deal on crocs in December at Big Lots....I will have to find a picture and post...they worked great for the trip and I cant wait to break them out this summer...hmmm maybe today since it is jeans day at school for state testing and I can wear capris! I think my dd is like your son, she hates buying new clothes...so fustrating!

There is quite a bit of tornado damage still evident. Actually, most of the chain places are deep in repairs (Taco Bell, for example) but the locally owned motels that were hit are still standing and look awful. Several places with the roof just gone, rooms open to the elements. I am guessing that they are waiting for an insurance payment and then they will be razed. We went to one theater where the places on both sides were just destroyed and the theater was just fine. Kind of crazy.

Best thing about teaching early childhood special ed -- I can wear jeans every day. I don't always, especially in the summer when khakis are cooler, but I can. There's a joy in knowing that. I am on the floor so often that jeans are just the most practical option.

i went to Branson once it was fun. I was pg with my first and we did a day trip from my Aunts house in Arkansas.

LOL about the shorts I tell my daughter that shorts and skirts have to be long enough that she doesn't burn her but on the car seat in the summer if she does they are too short. Oh and she was 8 when I told her that. We shall see how long I can let that one ride.

I bought Ches shorts that she's not going to be able to wear to school. They are shorter than her fingertips when her hands are at her side. She's tall, and the shorts are a decent length in my opinion. Now some of them that Mykiah bought.... she can wear them, but they make me cringe.

 

[BrerMama]

End of March Update

This morning I just happened to actually *read* the thread update I got in my email about the Wishes Dessert Party. I had just checked the thread at noon yesterday and they were predicting June would open up on 4/3, which would be next Tuesday. I was a bit surprised when I realized they opened yesterday evening!

Now here's the deal... I had talked to Dan about how I really wanted to do the dessert party. I have never ever actually watched the fireworks at Disney as they were intended. In 2004, we watched while we were on Splash Mountain. In 2007, we didn't watch them (I have no idea why... we did Illuminations instead, I think). In 2009, we had a great spot at Disneyland and then they kicked us out for VIPs. I was irritated, but hey, it's still Disney, so we went to watch by It's a Small World... which was also reserved for VIPs (it was the first night of Summer Nightastic and there were all kinds of celebrities around. My kids saw Mitchell Musso and Selena Gomez and I saw Slash from Guns N Roses, so I could not be too annoyed). We ended up watching from Fantasyland, in front of Dumbo. Got some great photos, but we weren't seeing them as they were intended with the perimeter fireworks surrounding the castle.

So I told Dan the Budget Man how I really wanted to see the fireworks. And that Disney has this great little dessert party that is about $30/person. Buffet of desserts and reserved seating for Wishes. I want. Dan said, "Book it." I said, "I can't yet."

And then all memory of this conversation promptly left his mind.

When I realize I can book, I get all giddy. I postpone my shower to book it. I throw everyone else's schedule off because when you have 4 people showering in the morning, you need to stay on schedule.

I just don't care. I get to see fireworks.

It's booked. Dan doesn't work today because the internet is down and he can't download what he needs to run his routes. I get home after school, and Kiah and I go out for our daily walk (I really resent the heck out of that walk). We start talking about the dessert party. Dan asks -- again -- how much it is. "I hope we can still cancel," he says.

I will not let him suck my joy out of the dessert party. I will shove little tarts and pastries down his gullet in order to get him to get his money's worth out of my fireworks party.

In other news... not much happening here Disney-wise. I did manage to order a new camera strap as I have decided that I will not be using the small point and shoot camera Dan bought me for Christmas. I plan to use my big point and shoot -- almost a dSLR -- camera. I'll wear it and carry a waterproof bag for it in my cross body park bag. That way if it rains, I can get it safe quickly, but most of the time I'll have it available for pictures. I did this with a slightly smaller camera at Disneyland (although I didn't have to worry about rain there) and my pictures were plentiful and amazing and it never bothered me to wear a camera constantly. Hoping the same proves true with this trip.

I'll post pictures when I get it. Otherwise, we keep saying we should start a grocery list for when we hit Walmart after checking into our timeshare. We ended up making 2 grocery trips in 2 days over Spring Break and Dan does not want that to happen again. We're also debating how much to take vs. how much to buy. Do we buy shampoo here and take it with us, or do we wait until we arrive and buy something cheap? Decisions, decisions. (For the record, we are staying one night at an airport hotel in Kansas City before we fly out, so we'll need some toiletries that morning.)

Thanks for reading everyone! It's like a little present every time I get a notification that someone has replied to my PTR!

 

[momabaarjo]

You are so going to love the dessert party! That is the one thing that Goo keeps talking about from our trip and wants to know if we can do it again...can you tell he has a sweet tooth. We made it our dinner that night...who says you can't eat dessert first...of course we did not have dinner afterwards!

What time did you get for seating? We were scheduled for 8:00 pm, but I found out from a CM that you can be admitted prior to that time. We got in line at 6:30 (of course we were first in line, but shortly the line got long) and seating started at 7:00 pm...we got in had our feel of desserts and enjoyed the time on the terrace without the crowds. We could see the electric light parade...

 

[MHTeacher]

We're doing the Dessert party too! First time for us---I'm trying to keep it a complete surprise from the family. So far, so good....I haven't told any of them!

 

[DMGeurts]

Awww... Kim - I am so sorry that I fell behind on your PTR while we were gone on our trip, you have done so many awesome updates!

Just a quickie because I have a whole project I want to share tomorrow, but I have to share... we bought a new vehicle! This is minimally Disney related because no, we aren't driving to Disney, but it's a pretty exciting life event.

We didn't really intend to buy a vehicle until after our trip, but our trusty 2006 Chevy Uplander was getting old and she just wasn't sure about driving long distances. I really wasn't feeling confident in her ability to take us to my parents, to Branson, to Kansas City to get on the plane for Disney. I had been poking at The Budget Man, telling him we should just buy now, before all those trips. Just get started making payments.

He finally saw the Equinox, and we were sold.

I drove her yesterday to work, but today I'm taking back my Uplander. That Uplander has seen me through some rough transitions, and she's always been my to/from work vehicle. I'm just not ready to let her go, or to learn a whole new vehicle. Besides, I'm sold on the new vehicle. Dan's having buyer's remorse. He needs a chance to fall in love with it.

And, you know, I can't go through the McD's drive through on the way to work with the Equinox. I feel all funky about eating a sausage biscuit in a vehicle with less than 100 miles on it.

So Uplander it is for now. Maybe that will change next school year.

Just wanted to share the big news. Tomorrow I'm going to share some crafty projects I've been doing!

Congratulations on the new vehicle!!! I know exactly how you felt... However, my big green machine (um - 1997 Dodge mini van) was much older than yours - but I loved having it paid off for so many years, and it was ultra loaded and very dependable. But alas, it was time. I had been pricing a Ford Edge for years, and finally broke down last year, and got one... I love driving it around - it's so sporty and awesome - I just love the metallic midnight blue color - and I love that I can still be "tall". But... I hate having payments - we've been making double payments on it, because I want it paid off asap!

So, anyways - I hope you are still loving your new vehicle!

Life's a Crafty Song...

A few months ago, I decided I'd make my own hat to wear at Disney.

I don't wear hats as a rule.... but I wear them every day when we're at Disney. I like having the shade for my light sensitive eyes. I like not having to worry about my hair. I like accessorizing and it's easier to wear a hat than take enough matching headbands.

I usually end up buying a baseball cap on one of our first days at the park. This time, I had a vision.

Except I didn't want to pay for it. I wanted to create it.

I ordered a black engineer's cap off Ebay for less than $10 delivered.

I went through my stash of flower headbands and found one that I haven't worn since we visited Disneyland (although I wear headbands every day during the school year, this one is rather large, and pretty much pukes Disney, so it had been retired). I also found a headband that I like, but had a surplus of yellow rolled flowers. I laid it all out. Got out needle and thread, and then just grabbed my trusty glue gun.

So that was back in September. And then last week I fell back in love with the yellow/gray color combination.

I was browsing etsy, looking at yellow and gray when I fell in love with some rolled flowers. I decided I needed them, without really having a project in mind for them.

One day I was in my room and saw my hat from Sept. looking back at me. It wanted a sibling. So I went with gray, and did this:

Seriously going to be the cutest person at Walt Disney World. Except for probably some 3 year old wearing a princess dress.

I was so thrilled with my project that I started thinking of all kinds of things that needed flowers. Bags. Lanyards.

I have 6 more blooms coming my way. Debating what to flowerify. And knowing that if the dog sleeps too long, he may end up with a bloom on his collar...

LOOK at how amazingly crafty you are!!!! I love the hat! You are going to be one spectactular fashionista at Disney - I am so jealous!!!

Your schedule for the parks looks awesome! One of these years, I really hope to squeeze in a water park - and IoA... but that's another story. And an extra 3 days added on to our next trip - I wish I could afford to buy into DVC - that would make all my dreams easier to fulfill!

And your trip to Branson over spring break looked amazing too - I have never been there before... We can add that to my places I intend to travel someday.

Anyways - so sorry I fell so far behind... I wish I had more time to Dis these days...

D~

 

[BrerMama]

You are so going to love the dessert party! That is the one thing that Goo keeps talking about from our trip and wants to know if we can do it again...can you tell he has a sweet tooth. We made it our dinner that night...who says you can't eat dessert first...of course we did not have dinner afterwards!

What time did you get for seating? We were scheduled for 8:00 pm, but I found out from a CM that you can be admitted prior to that time. We got in line at 6:30 (of course we were first in line, but shortly the line got long) and seating started at 7:00 pm...we got in had our feel of desserts and enjoyed the time on the terrace without the crowds. We could see the electric light parade...

The only thing that pulled up when I reserved was 9 pm, so we're at 9 pm. We'll be there early -- we always are -- so we should have plenty of time to enjoy. ELP would be a bonus but we saw it up close and personal in 2009 so not too concerned about it.

We're doing the Dessert party too! First time for us---I'm trying to keep it a complete surprise from the family. So far, so good....I haven't told any of them!

A surprise! I did manage to surprise my girls last Christmas, but I'm usually not a secret person. Keeping it a secret is a fun idea, though!

Awww... Kim - I am so sorry that I fell behind on your PTR while we were gone on our trip, you have done so many awesome updates!

LOOK at how amazingly crafty you are!!!! I love the hat! You are going to be one spectactular fashionista at Disney - I am so jealous!!!

Anyways - so sorry I fell so far behind... I wish I had more time to Dis these days...

D~

Don't ever apologize. I'd rather have you sewing next week, anyway. I am not crafty, I just know how to put things together. Other people do the real crafty part... I just design it so it flows. As Mykiah would say, "We plan to BEAST it" at Disney and look super cute... gives me an idea for my next update...

 

[BrerMama]

I apologize for the once weekly updates. Work is seriously crazy right now. I have more students than I've had all year, and the ones I had pretty smooth before Spring Break have gone all crazy on me again.

I'm losing my voice tonight. I'm hoping it's because I talked so much today.

My DIS friend (and future accessorizer) DMGuerts commented about how I was going to be a fashionista at Disney....

which got me thinking...

I haven't confessed my clothing strategy for our trip.

Yes, I said "clothing strategy."

I think I've mentioned I'm a scrapbooker and a hobbyist photographer. Which means that if someone asks me to take a portrait, I won't say no, but I also won't take money or advertise. What this means is that I pay attention to what my family is wearing. If we're going to be taking photos, I try to coordinate us a bit.

Here's a recent example:

I love how the kids' outfits are not matchy-matchy, but it all flows. I actually had that one blown up ginormous and we gave it to my parents for a Christmas gift. It's a statement.

Anyway, I was thinking about how I'm always frustrated with our Disney photos. And I thought about what I wanted them to be.

One thing I wanted was not to have photos like this:

It's just so *much.* Too much visual clutter.

And I thought one way I could cut down on that clutter is to dress everyone in coordinating colors and without a lot of pattern. Therefore, I have only purchased clothing for us in specific colors: yellow, gray, black and red... with a little bit of blue.

Here's a sample of how that could look:

Call me overly obsessed. Call me a little crazy. At least in the photos, it will flow. If I'm lucky, it will also flow with the background (notice that I chose Disney colors... plus blue). I did allow khaki-colored pants because I refuse to do denim in Florida in late June.

And yes, over two months before we leave, I do have all our clothing purchased. And shoes. I'm not packed, but it's purchased and sitting on a bookcase in my room.

OK. I'm crazy. I would never admit to my coworkers that I take this things this far when planning our trip.

I really think it's going to be awesome.

 

[DMGeurts]

Kim - I think that makes total sense!

I always try to coordinate our outfits - well, I used to - then my girls grew up and began on their own fashion journey - which doesn't include my opinion... Unfortunately. So, now it's each man/woman for themselves.

I was lucky to get them to wear the matching Alien tees for our DHS day - LOL. And that's probably too cluttered for you - but I totally understand what you are saying. I do agree that solids make for a better photo than patterns.

I love the above picture you took - I wish we lived closer, I'd totally have you take pictures of my girls - I really love that candid look that you were able to capture... Those are my favorite portraits!

I am super excited to see how your trip turns out - I'll be on pins n' needles the entire time, until you start your TR. LOL

D~

 

[BrerMama]

Just a quick pop in for today. Had an insanely crazy day at work. Six weeks. Six more weeks.

Anyway, last weekend we had extended family photos taken with my parents and my sister's family. Got the photos today. I won't share the big photos, but here's a couple I had her take quickly of just my family:

I thought they came out pretty good!

We're almost at 60 days for our countdown. I'm so ready. Time to start that checklist of things that need to be done before we leave...

 

[momabaarjo]

I nearly spit my water that I was drinking all over the screen when I just read your post...OMG I am the exact same way with clothes! Can't have colors or prints clashing with my scenery on my scrapbook pages.

 

[BrerMama]

I nearly spit my water that I was drinking all over the screen when I just read your post...OMG I am the exact same way with clothes! Can't have colors or prints clashing with my scenery on my scrapbook pages.

I know! I look at our Disneyland photos -- where we all separately dressed very cute, but didn't coordinate at all -- and cringe!

I *will* have photos that are the stuff of magic this trip.

Now if I could just get my son to cut his hair.... I'm sort of hoping that the heat and humidity of June will get to him and he'll walk into the barber shop on Main Street....