They're opening FLE just for us! UPDATE: My 2010 Disney Book(11/17)

Still over 450 days for me... sigh.

If we end up with the 1BR at GF you will HAVE to tag along!

Until then I will live vicariously through you and your much more current trip plans.

Yes, but how many days since your last trip? Less than me, for sure.

And don't worry brother, if there's any way I can tag along to the new GF expansion, I will be SO THERE!! pixiedust:

Living vicariously is exactly what trip reports are all about.
 
I love the pics on your gift cards

Thank you!

Having the gift cards in my drawer with those fun pictures makes me so much more excited than just having some cash in an envelope! I'm thinking about buying a couple more before our trip.

75 days!!
 
Going to Disney involves so much more fun than the trip itself! There's the dreaming and the planning, the buying stuff to prepare for the trip, and then when you get back there are all the photos and trip reports and memory books! If you do it right, I think you can always be in some phase of Disney happiness.

Lately, I've been in the buying stuff phase. That part is tricky, because if you don't have lots of money you have to consider how buying stuff now gives you less disposable cash to use while you're actually on your vacation. But some things must be purchased! It's a balancing act.

The first thing I want to tell you about isn't really just for Disney at all, although it will make the trip so much more fun, and so much more fun to remember.

I have loved taking photos since I was in grade school. My parents gave me an old 110 and told me to go to town, which I'm sure they regretted later when I kept giving them exposed rolls to develop and begged for another blank roll. They must not have minded too much though because for my 16th birthday they gave me a Nikon EM with an extra zoom lens and a nifty bag to keep it in. I used the heck out of that thing. I wanted to look at everything through the view finder. All the time.

That was my main camera for a really long time. When digital cameras starting showing up, I knew I wanted one of those! In 1996, I bought my first - a Casio QV-11. I loved it and took a trillion photos. I've had several point and shoot digital cameras since then, but could never come up with the cash to buy a real digital slr camera.

Until this summer.

Around my birthday, I wrote a couple articles for an online magazine and with the money I made I decided to finally splurge and buy myself a long longed for dSLR. I did tons of researched but in the end, chose a Nikon. Of course. I am a Nikon girl.

Here it is, my much loved and much treasured Nikon d5100.



It is a fantastic camera. I still have lots to learn about it, but it is a great camera and I'd recommend it to anyone.

I have the kit lens that came with it. It's 18-55m and it works great. But I often find myself wanting to zoom in a little closer. Luckily my olden days zoom will work on it - I just have to set everything manually. Not too big of a drag, but I still think about buying a bigger zoom for our trip. Or just for life in general. We'll see what happens in the next 7 weeks.

Of course having the camera, I had to buy some things to go with it!

Some books to help me figure it out.



An incredible camera bag to hold the camera, one lens, and my little wristlet so I can wander the parks (and other places) with just one bag.



This one is from a company called Crumpler, and they call it their 5 million dollar home bag. I don't know why, but they do.



If I had another lens and didn't need to put my wallet in there, I could easily fit the lens on one side. There are plenty of other slots for things like extra sd cards and the battery charger. My one complaint is there's no outside pocket that's easy to get in and out of. If I could I'd add a pocket on the back for things like my keys or phone. Sadly, you can't have everything.



A wrist strap.



I don't like to wear the camera around my neck, and just wrapping the neck strap around my wrist several times didn't seem very secure. I found this cute one at phat straps - and nicely enough, the disboard and phat straps added a 15% off coupon at the bottom of a forum page. Thanks internet! I really dig the fabric on the outside, and inside it's lined with a soft, thick brown material that's comfy on my wrist. It seems very secure and I'm never worried I'm going to drop it or let it fall.

And then of course boring things I won't show you, like an extra battery and a couple 32g sd cards. And a new sd card reader. And a remote shutter release. And a lens cleaning cloth.

So there's my big pre-Disney purchase. I'm seriously in LOVE with it. I can't wait to take tons of pictures of the happiest place on earth with it - and then share them all with you!

48 days!!!
http://www.casio.com/products/archive/Digital_Cameras/QV_Series/QV-11/
http://www.casio.com/products/archive/Digital_Cameras/QV_Series/QV-11/
 


It is 22 days til our trip. 22 days! I can barely believe it.

I have our Magical Express package, but I need to call and give them our return info and ask for one more luggage tag. We're flying Southwest so for 3 people we can take 6 bags for free. Luxurious! We're only going to take 4 though, but we only have 3 tags.

I have our Photopass+ package. When I read on these boards that the price had dropped to $149 I went ahead and ordered it. I am super excited to have it, even though I read the thread today about people being unhappy with their photos. I'm planning to stop for a LOT of pictures, and asking for magic ones. We're only doing one meal that includes photos (Tusker House breakfast), but we will get plenty of ride photos. I haven't opened the case up to check out the inside yet, but I have a feeling I will before we leave.

Yesterday I got our Undercover Tourist park passes in the mail and couldn't believe how close and how real this trip is getting!

Several weeks ago I reserved an EVC for the DX. He has Ankylosing spondylitis (which means the discs in his back have fused together) and isn't able to stand or walk for more than a few minutes. Even that he needs a cane for. Thank goodness for Disney and scooters - there really aren't that many vacations he can still manage with his disability otherwise.

Earlier this week I placed our order with wegoshop. I'm not sure if I picked the right delivery time to meet with them and I'm not sure if they'll drop it off with with bell services but I am sure I can figure that out before we go. We're not getting much (water, sodas, some breakfast and snacks), but I'm really grateful that that's an option.

My list of things we need to buy before we go has shrunk down to just a handful of things. I have Disney shirts for me for almost every day, and and some Eeyore pj pants for sleeping. DX and DD have a couple Disney shirts which is all they want. I still need to tie dye matching shirts for the 3 of us, iron on a WallE for a DX shirt and I'm waiting on my Graphic Design student DD to make me a "Strange but Special" iron on.

I'm making myself some Shrinky Dink ear rings (remember those?). Two pair are colored and cut out and waiting to be shrunk. I'm not sure if I'll make more than those. I've thought about shrinking some Mickey heads to glue to a big barrette but with 22 days left who knows if that will happen.

I bought a zoom lens for my (kinda) new camera. I think it should come today (it better come today) and then I'll try to use the heck out of it so I'm comfortable with it by the time we leave. Of course I'm still learning some of the magic of the camera so that might be wishful thinking. I guess I need to finish reading the book I bought about the camera, too.

The dog/house sitter is all lined up.

I am almost ready. I even have our 4th bag sitting in a corner so I can toss things specific to the trip into it as I get them.

Here's some other stuff I still need to do:

Hem some pants! (why does that seem like such a giant chore?)
Find a jacket for DX.
Break in my shoes some more.
Keep practice walking.
If I can lose 3 more pounds that will make 40 total.
Decide which pants to take.
Get a glucagon kit for the DD.
Refill other emergency Rx.

Tomorrow morning I can say it's three weeks til we're there.
Sorry there's no photos in this post. I'm a believer that every post is better with photos! But don't worry, I'll show you some of our Disney clothes asap.
 
I am not really a scrapbooker, but I am an art girl. I couldn't live without my art journal. I like to cut things out and paste them down. I like to make lines on paper. I'm also big on documenting life (and a serious Project Life fan), so as I've been preparing for this trip, I've been thinking about how to document it when we get back.

For my last trip in 2010, I made a unique little mini book. I loved making it, and I love looking at it. I was checking it out for ideas and decided to photograph it and share it here on the disboards. There are a lot of pages, so I am making it its own thread in the creative section of the boards, but I wanted to show you a little of it here and link to the thread in case you're interested! I hope you'll check it out if you're into that kind of thing.

Here are some sample pages:

_DSC0231.jpg


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And here's the link:
My 2010 Disney Book
 


Your 2010 disney book is so creative!! That must have taken forever to put together.
 
Thank you Deesknee!!

That must have taken forever to put together.

It did take a while, but I put a lot of it together before we went, which helped. And then when we got home, it was a great way to help sweep away the post Disney blues!

This time I haven't really put anything together. Looking back I think I was limited by some of what I had already prepared so I'm wanting more freedom this time to put what I want where I want it. I've gathered stuff, and cut some images out, but that's about all.

Our trip is SO CLOSE right now! I have given myself permission to be ALL ABOUT Disney until we leave. Today I did online check in and confirmed all our other reservations. Tomorrow I will finish packing all the things I can and Wednesday will be super last minute shopping, last minute cleaning and doing my nails with the Mickey heads I got online.

:dance3:
 
Thank you Deesknee!!



It did take a while, but I put a lot of it together before we went, which helped. And then when we got home, it was a great way to help sweep away the post Disney blues!

This time I haven't really put anything together. Looking back I think I was limited by some of what I had already prepared so I'm wanting more freedom this time to put what I want where I want it. I've gathered stuff, and cut some images out, but that's about all.

Our trip is SO CLOSE right now! I have given myself permission to be ALL ABOUT Disney until we leave. Today I did online check in and confirmed all our other reservations. Tomorrow I will finish packing all the things I can and Wednesday will be super last minute shopping, last minute cleaning and doing my nails with the Mickey heads I got online.

:dance3:

YAY to be all about disney!!! Even cleaning can be fun when it means it will be clean when you get home!
 
I know you are still at Disney having a blast, but I am ready for the trip report now! :rotfl2:
 
Just jumping in now! I love your 2010 book! I also love documenting life, but I do it via scrapbook. It is so nice to look back on your trips, and that is much easier when you have it all in one place! You did an amazing job!
 
Ok big sister... You have been back a while and you have all your photopass+ stuff ready to go...

WHERE IS THE TRIP REPORT! lol
 

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