Surprising the Kids with a NYE Trip! Jan '16 PTR (Update 12/29 We're off! See ya in 10 days!)

I think I will start a PTR. I'm still a little new to the whole Disboadrs thing:P

Do it! I'd follow! ::yes:: Plus I don't know about you but I feel like I need a Disney World Surprise Accountability Sponsor... I've *almost* told the kids about a dozen times! Lol! I love surprises but I hate keeping them.... hence the PTR. I need a place to get it off my chest! :laughing:
 
Do you guys do Disney Movie Nights? We love doing them. Sometimes I go all out and do a whole themed night with a special menu, decorations and crafts but most often we just take our dinner to the family room, snuggle in and pop in the film.

I thought I'd keep a running list here of all the movies we want to see before our trip. Some we've seen over and over and over and over... (I'm lookin' at YOU Frozen!) some the kids havn't seen yet (oh Aladdin, hurry up and come out of the Vault!) And some they haven't even heard of (so THAT'S where the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House came from!)

A :thumbsup2 will mean that we've featured it in a DMN.
I'll also include new movies we see in the theater in RED. So here it goes!

A Bugs Life :thumbsup2
Aladdin
Aristocrats :thumbsup2

Avengers: Age of Ultron :thumbsup2
Beauty and the Beast :thumbsup2
Big Hero 6 :thumbsup2
Brave :thumbsup2
Cars
Cinderella

Cinderella (Live action) :thumbsup2
Dumbo :thumbsup2
Fantasia
Finding Nemo
Frozen
Incredibles

Inside Out
Jungle Book
Jungle Book (Live action) :thumbsup2
Lady & the Tramp
Lion King
Little Mermaid
Mary Poppins
Monsters Inc.
Monsters University
Mulan
Peter Pan :thumbsup2
Pocahontas
Pinoccio
Princess & the Frog
Ratatouille
Robin Hood
Sleeping Beauty
Snow White
Star Wars: A New Hope :thumbsup2

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Swiss Family Robinson
Tangled
Tarzan

Tomorrowland
Tom & Huck
Toy Story Trilogy
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Winnie the Pooh


So what do you think of the list? Did I leave anything out? Which movies do you watch to prep/get excited for your trips?
 
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Do you guys do Disney Movie Nights? We love doing them. Sometimes I go all out and do a whole themed night with a special menu, decorations and crafts but most often we just take our dinner to the family room, snuggle in and pop in the film.

I thought I'd keep a running list here of all the movies we want to see before our trip. Some we've seen over and over and over and over... (I'm lookin' at YOU Frozen!) some the kids havn't seen yet (oh Aladdin, hurry up and come out of the Vault!) And some they haven't even heard of (so THAT'S where the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House came from!)

A :thumbsup2 will mean that we've featured it in a DMN.
I'll also include new movies we see in the theater in RED. So here it goes!

A Bugs Life :thumbsup2
Aladdin
Aristocrats :thumbsup2

Avengers: Age of Ultron :thumbsup2
Beauty and the Beast :thumbsup2
Big Hero 6 :thumbsup2
Brave :thumbsup2
Cars
Cinderella

Cinderella (Live action) :thumbsup2
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Dumbo :thumbsup2
Fantasia
Finding Nemo
Frozen
Incredibles

Inside Out
Jungle Book
Jungle Book (Live action) :thumbsup2
Lady & the Tramp
Monsters Inc.
Monsters University
Mulan
Peter Pan :thumbsup2
Pocahontas
Pinoccio
Princess & the Frog
Ratatouille
Robin Hood
Sleeping Beauty
Snow White
Star Wars: A New Hope :thumbsup2

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Swiss Family Robinson
Tangled
Tarzan

Tomorrowland
Tom & Huck
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Winnie the Pooh


So what do you think of the list? Did I leave anything out? Which movies do you watch to prep/get excited for your trips?

I can't wait till DD is a little older and I can start adding some movie nights into our routine. Don't get me wrong I would love to keep her little but hings like this make me excited for her to be a little older.

What about Toy story? Or are we not doing Pixar?

Monstersn inc is one of my favs, but I really love them all!
 
I can't wait till DD is a little older and I can start adding some movie nights into our routine. Don't get me wrong I would love to keep her little but hings like this make me excited for her to be a little older.

What about Toy story? Or are we not doing Pixar?

Monstersn inc is one of my favs, but I really love them all!

There are definitely times my husband & I have wished for time to speed up a little so we can share our most charished childhood experiences with them.... one particular story comes to mind :rolleyes:

...Eric is really into model rockets and was super excited when our son was born to someday share this activity with him. Fast forward to Christmas that year, we're out gift shopping and he wants to get Josh his first model rocket!! :eek: Josh was born in OCTOBER! He was only 2 months old!!:rotfl2:

Anyhow, I assure you that there will be plenty of Disney movies in your future, probably to the point of "if you ask for "Nemo" one more time I'm gonna pull my brains out through my ears!" :thumbsup2

TOY STORY!!! How could I forget the Toy Story Trilogy? And The Little Mermaid too! See, this is why I need you guys!! :goodvibes
 

No Mary Poppins? No Lion King? If your kids are old enough for Avengers, what about Pirates of the Carribean (the first one)?

Also, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is not a Disney movie.
 
Yours is the second PTR I'm reading in which the family is doing Disney movie nights. I love the idea and can't wait until my boys (ok, mainly the baby) is old enough to enjoy those!

You have a great list going there, but I'll see if I can come up with something... ;)
 
No Mary Poppins? No Lion King? If your kids are old enough for Avengers, what about Pirates of the Carribean (the first one)?

Also, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is not a Disney movie.

OMG! You're right! I guess I lumped it in with the likes of Flubber & That Darn Cat in my mind... I think I was actually thinking of Herbie. Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! Lol!

Time to revise the list again...
 
Yours is the second PTR I'm reading in which the family is doing Disney movie nights. I love the idea and can't wait until my boys (ok, mainly the baby) is old enough to enjoy those!

You have a great list going there, but I'll see if I can come up with something... ;)

They're fun! One thing my son always liked when Ev was little was we would put her to bed a little early and Josh got to stay up for "date night" with mom & dad. If your older son is old enough to watch movies maybe this is one way to incorporate DMN! :)
 
:wave2: Hi and welcome back! I hope you all had a great weekend. Ours was busy as usual and now its Monday again... :crazy2: We had a nice Mother's Day brunch with my in-laws and ate entirely too much but it was really, really good food. Drooool....

I know we are all mega-planners here so you'll totally understand when I say that I equate planing a Disney trip to planning a wedding. Before quitting my full time job to stay home with my babies, I was in wedding sales & events for a local venue. I've gotta say, the most dreaded words I could possibly hear was "Don't worry! I'm SUCH a laid back bride!" :sad2: As soon as I heard those words, I knew I was in for trouble... They wouldn't return phone calls or firm up plans. They refused to pick out table linens or tell me what time the bridal party would show up. "I don't care where the cake table goes! Just put it where ever!" would turn into stressful sobs the day of because the bride had envisioned cutting the cake with the sunset in the background yet failed to see the logistics of buttercream frosting in direct sunlight for 5 hours. :scared:

Whenever a bride would waltz in with her 3" D-Ring binder and say "I promise I'm not crazy, I'm just super organized and want everything to go perfectly! I hope you don't think I'm a Bridezilla!" THAT's when I could breathe a sigh of relief and assure her that we were going to get along just fine! :thumbsup2

Its kind of like Disney, right? When our friends heard that I'm already planning for a trip thats 7 months away, they think I'm nuts! I guess to them, it looks like with so many plans laid out in advance that we're inflexible but in reality, when plan A doesn't work out I've got plan B and C in my back pocket! PLUS a rain plan just incase!
Anyhow, I love how we all understand each other in this way and none of you think its odd that I'm already preparing the "little things" for a Christmas trip.

So a couple weeks ago the Disney Store was having a sale on T-shirts and I found some that I really liked! They came last week and they're a little more matchy-matchy than I thought they would be. When I ordered them, the picture of Evelyn's shirt looked like a deep purple and the picture of Eric's shirt looked like a very light blue. It ended up that they boys' shirts are both the same color and the girls' shirts are the same color but I still like them! I'm happy with these! Maybe we'll wear them on New Year's Eve??


Mickey Shirts
by Lauren Parker, on Flickr

Also, last week I renewed our subscription for Touring Plans! I really love that site. I have sort of outlined our first three days but there will still be major tweaking between now and then.


Touring Plans 233 Days
by Lauren Parker, on Flickr

My little collection of apps on my phone really makes me happy! :cutie:


Disney Apps
by Lauren Parker, on Flickr

Also last week, we got our free Vacation Planning DVD in the mail! We've already watched it three times! :rotfl2:Don't worry, I didn't ruin the surprise, I just told the kids that Disney mails these out every year to try and get people to come back. lol!


Planing DVD
by Lauren Parker, on Flickr

Last but certainly not least... Southwest is finally releasing December flights this week!! Oh my... I am so nervous. I have been praying and praying for a good rate! This is really going to be the clincher as to whether or not we can afford certain "extras" so I've been crossing all my fingers and toes that they have a Wanna Get Away rate for our dates. I'll probably just stay up until midnight - not like I'd be able to sleep anyway. So anyway, any good vibes :goodvibes or pixie dust :tink:you want to send our way would be appreciated!! LOL!
 
We did Disney movie nights one year. It was so much fun. One night was the first Pirates movie. We served Pirates booty and the kids got to dress up as pirates. Another night, we watched the Little Mermaid and went "fishing" in the backyard.
 
Booking flights is def stressful! Perfect time, and price it can really add to a trip Good luck! Keep us posted!

I love the shirts, i know they look a little matchy but it think they are really cute and not OVERLY matchy!
 
Happy belated Mother's Day to you, too! :flower3:

Those shirts are awesome! I love the idea of matching T-shirts but can't get my DH on board. (How do you do it?! LOL.) I missed that sale, but I've been eyeing the new Minnie collection at Kohl's...

Hooray for resubscribing to Touring Plans! Seeing my Disney apps makes me super happy, too. I have a countdown app (I think it's called Days to Go), and I love seeing how many days we've got until our trip. I'm also going to bookmark a couple of wait times apps and webpages I've read about here on the DIS so I have those handy. WDW seems to inflate theirs so much!
 
I LOVE the sunshine and heat. We live in the Northwest so I am really hoping to escape the winter! I know FL can be a bit chilly in January, however FL chilly and Eastern WA chilly are two TOTALLY different things. :rotfl:
We're in Washington as well, about a half hour from Portland. :wave2:
I suppose its time to meet my crazy family! We're a family of 4 and like all young families busy all the time, it seems. Here's us this last Christmas. We're not very diligent about getting family portraits done, unless we're at Disney, so this is the only one I have since Ev was 2!!

Beautiful family!
Most excited to see New Fantasyland and meet Gaston
We are as well! Beast's Castle was being built when we were last at WDW and all of Fantasyland was behind construction walls!
He is passionate about football, especially the Seahawks (his poor Blue & Green heart is still broken about this year's Superbowl loss!)
SEAHAWKS!!! Things will be better this coming season *fingers crossed* 12 pride!
Here we are at the Backlot Tour - my brother and I were selected to "ride" the bee from Honey I Shrunk the Kids.
This looks like a blast! :D
A while ago I posted these notes on our growth chart because I got tired of the kids asking if they were tall enough to ride X yet.

That chart and your additions seriously rocks!
Here's Ev's progress!! (Don't mind her... she's crazy! :crazy:)
Aww, she'll still have fun!
On the other end of the spectrum, my 8 year old son grows like a weed...
Your son is taller (by far) than my 9 year old. Love his 'hawk logo shirt.
I've eaten at one Ethiopian restaurant before and that was fantastic but it will be completely new to Eric.
Pete (my husband) and I had Ethiopian food in Portland once and to this day remember it as one of our favorite meals! Our family absolutely adored Sanaa last time, and we're going back there this trip, hope you guys like it! :D
I want nothing more than to sit on that balcony in the morning, coffee in hand, watching giraffes stroll by my room. FREAKING GIRAFFES!
Awesome! Hope your wish comes true! :tink:
The obvious down side is that AKL and especially Kidani, is far away. From EVERYTHING. No ferry. No Monorail. Just Disney busses. But you know, I'm okay with that. Because giraffes. :banana:
I have a terrible fear of busses at Disney. :blush: Only because of dealing with the wheelchair, but if I did not fear them, we would so be trying Jiko and Boma as well as our AK and Sanaa day!
The other thing is that the bus service really isn't so bad. The nice part of it is that the buses only make two stops, and they are never really crowded. The ride to AK is SOOO short, but the ride to most other locations really aren't that bad. The only BAD ride is to MK, which is actually probably the one people go to the most, but still only 30 minutes.
This is good information! :thumbsup2
and they both picked a Stitch.
because Stitch is the best! :stitch2:
Do you guys do Disney Movie Nights?
Yes! We're doing all the Marvel movies again- tonight is captain America 3- after those we're going to do early Disney animated films as in order as I can get them starting with Snow White. After awhile we'll do all Star Wars, then back to Pixar and Disney.
in reality, when plan A doesn't work out I've got plan B and C in my back pocket! PLUS a rain plan just incase!
Exactly!
My little collection of apps on my phone really makes me happy! :cutie:

Those look like handy apps!
Also last week, we got our free Vacation Planning DVD in the mail! We've already watched it three times! :rotfl2:Don't worry, I didn't ruin the surprise, I just told the kids that Disney mails these out every year to try and get people to come back. lol!
It is so very cool that you're surprising your kids this way! Are you getting a direct flight, or will you have layovers? Do you fly out of Seattle? We're flying out of Portland and try and will try and get a redeye flight.
We're usually only in Seattle for Emerald City Comic Con and or umm an Art Festival, but we always love it when we get up there! Happy planning to you! :-)
 
Yes! We're doing all the Marvel movies again- tonight is captain America 3- after those we're going to do early Disney animated films as in order as I can get them starting with Snow White. After awhile we'll do all Star Wars, then back to Pixar and Disney.

OMG, Eric & Josh watched ALLLLLL the Marvel movies in 2.5 days in preparation for Age of Ultron. I just don't have the attention span for that so I joined in for the Avengers 1 and Thor 1. We've gotten into Agents of SHIELD and I'm a big geek so I've been looking up the Wikkis about all the characters and various teams... oh wow, I don't think the US Government is even as complicated as Marvel Universe! Holy cow!

It is so very cool that you're surprising your kids this way! Are you getting a direct flight, or will you have layovers? Do you fly out of Seattle? We're flying out of Portland and try and will try and get a redeye flight.
We're usually only in Seattle for Emerald City Comic Con and or umm an Art Festival, but we always love it when we get up there! Happy planning to you! :-)

We actually fly out of Spokane so yes, there are layovers & connecting flights. That's whatcha get when you leave from a small airport! :rolleyes:
 
Happy belated Mother's Day to you, too! :flower3:

Those shirts are awesome! I love the idea of matching T-shirts but can't get my DH on board. (How do you do it?! LOL.) I missed that sale, but I've been eyeing the new Minnie collection at Kohl's...

Hooray for resubscribing to Touring Plans! Seeing my Disney apps makes me super happy, too. I have a countdown app (I think it's called Days to Go), and I love seeing how many days we've got until our trip. I'm also going to bookmark a couple of wait times apps and webpages I've read about here on the DIS so I have those handy. WDW seems to inflate theirs so much!

Aww Thank you!! Eric is so used to wearing matching shirts for his job (HS Band teacher) that I don't think he even thinks twice about it! He actually bought us all matching Captain America shirts for the Marvel Live show that's coming to town. (But not totally match-matchy... he knows how I feel about that! :rotfl2:)

That new Minnie line is adorable! As I recall, we used a different wait times app the last time we were in WDW because Disney's app was super "off". Maybe its improved since then but I'm with ya, we'll probably use more than one!
 
Booking flights is def stressful! Perfect time, and price it can really add to a trip Good luck! Keep us posted!

I love the shirts, i know they look a little matchy but it think they are really cute and not OVERLY matchy!

Thank you! I'm pretty excited about them :) I just booked our flights today!! I've been floating all day, I'm so happy!
 
We did Disney movie nights one year. It was so much fun. One night was the first Pirates movie. We served Pirates booty and the kids got to dress up as pirates. Another night, we watched the Little Mermaid and went "fishing" in the backyard.

Oh my goodness, that is adorable! I might have to steal some of your ideas ;)
 





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