"We'll need a suitcase just for your ears!" - A July 2015 PTR *Complete*

[xlsm]

Well, hello Friends!

If you followed my trip report from last August, welcome back! If you’ve never “met” me before, pull up a chair, I’m glad to have you! Would you like some tea? coffee? water? diet coke? (that’s all I have, if you want anything else you’ll have to get it yourself! We don’t serve LeFou’s Brew here, sorry.)

This time around we're heading back to the world for a week in July (we're gluttons for heat apparently!!)

Here’s me: The “S” in XLSM:






I’m a stay at home mom to two boys, X is my oldest and L is my youngest. A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away, I was a Disney Store CM, an experience I treasure and miss dearly.


I’m also a former cub scout den leader. I led my older son’s den, and he just completed Webelos II, earned his Arrow of Light, and started Boy Scouts a couple months ago. So technically I am finished with my leadership duties, but something tells me I’ll be helping with my younger son’s Webelos II den next year.


I also help coach our school’s Quiz Bowl and Odyssey of the Mind teams. My oldest does Quiz Bowl, and both boys compete with OM.


Next school year I will serve as PTA president.


I never dreamed I would take on these roles as an adult...in high school I was convinced I’d be in New York City wearing black everyday and doing PR for a major company, writing a novel on the side. Instead I am sitting here typing a Disney pre-trip report with my nails painted red with white polka dots a la Minnie Mouse. Life’s funny that way.


X is going to be 12 this summer and will be starting middle school in the fall. I am not ready for that! He’s involved in a lot of youth leadership programs and clubs. He is STUCO vice president this year and wants to join orchestra at school next year.





L is turning 10 on our trip in July. He loves to read and is very creative. He is more shy than his brother, and less of a “joiner”, but he’s also involved in scouts and is on the OM team at school. He really wants to be part of the broadcast team at school next year, and run the video camera, but I don’t think he’s told the teacher that, LOL, which limits the chances of this happening!




My husband, the “M” in our letter quartet, is a tech executive, and my Disney enabler. He’s also the best and smartest person I have ever known. I say that genuinely, and not in a weird mushy lovey dovey way. It’s just true.





That’s us, your cast and crew for this report. Put your feet up and stick around awhile.

 

[xlsm]

Chapter Links:

Chapter One - backstory, recap, compare/contrast
Chapter Two - what's up with the PTR title?
Chapter Three - ADRs
Chapter Four - art skillz, DHS plans
Chapter Five - the castle always makes me cry
Chapter Six - all around the (future) world (showcase)

**Interlude** Is this the real life? Dave Matthews Band Concert

Chapter Seven - we gonna party like it's ya birthday
Chapter Eight - If you've got (even more) ears, say cheers!
Chapter Nine - Welcome to the Jungle
Chapter Ten - You say it's your birthday, well happy birthday to ya

**Interlude** movies and shopping

Chapter Eleven - Speed bump
Chapter Twelve - Do you believe in Magic (bands)
Chapter Thirteen - Oh, oh, oh, it's (another) magic (band)
Chapter Fourteen - I get a strange magic (band)
Chapter Fifteen - It's a magic band, mama

**Interlude** Where my dogs at?
**Interlude** I lava you

Chapter Sixteen - Oh Mickey you're so fine
Chapter Seventeen - All 7 and we watch them fall
Chapter Eighteen - PTR extra - California Dreamin'
Chapter Nineteen - Goin' off the rails on a crazy train
Chapter Twenty - It's Friday, I'm in love
Chapter Twenty One - Bye, Bye, Bye

 

[xlsm]

Chapter One, in which I give you backstory and a recap-ish/compare and contrast thing.

We started planning this upcoming trip halfway through our first day at the Magic Kingdom last year.


I have been Disney obsessed since birth, and fell in love with Disney World many, many moons ago on my first trip. DH had been as a child and with his Odyssey of the Mind team in high school, but didn’t have the same love of the place as I did. So even though it was really only the kids’ first trip, DH considered himself a first timer last summer, too. My goal for last year’s trip was to get the three of them onboard my crazy train so we could make the trips more frequently, and ease my poor Dis-pression.


It worked.


I won’t bore you with a full rehash of last summer, (I do have the trip report in my signature if you’re interested in seeing how we totally rocked a crowd level 9 week with record high temps.) but just to give you some back story -


We bought and moved into a new house two weeks before leaving on our trip. It was a stressful time! The day before we left for vacation DH and I installed chair rail in our dining room. I shared this picture:




in case anyone is curious, here’s how it looks finished (well, at Christmas anyway...there’s no tree in there now!):







We left on a Monday to drive 5 hours to Memphis to get a direct flight to Orlando Tuesday morning. We are NOT doing that this year.

This year we’re flying out of our home airport about 15 minutes from the house. We leave in the afternoon, have a layover in Atlanta, and arrive at MCO late Monday night. We will grab our bags and hop on the Magical Express and head to our home away from home, our precious laughin’ place, the Wilderness Lodge.

Not-so-secret-secret -- I’ve never stayed anywhere else!! It’s my favorite resort, and my family fell in love with it too. Last year we booked a woods view, and this year we have a courtyard bunk bed room. I figure we’ll outgrow the Lodge soon enough as the boys get bigger, so before we start booking at CR or Boardwalk, we’re going to book the lodge while we can.


We officially booked for this July at the end of October for a Tuesday to Tuesday trip like last year, but after buying our plane tickets, we called and added the Monday night to our stay. We considered just doing one night at Pop, but we just didn’t want to mess with a split stay, even if it was just for one night. We’re lazy. We like to keep it simple.


Last year we had a flight pretty early in the day, had to be on the Unmagical Depress back to the airport at 10am-ish, and this year we don’t leave til later, so we’re going to try to get a little park time in on our departure day. At least a quick visit to Gracey Manor!



Last year, DH and both boys celebrated their birthdays on our vacation, with DH and L having bdays a couple weeks beforehand, and X celebrating his actual birthday during our trip. This year, DH and L are having their actual bdays on the trip, while X will celebrate his impending 12th birthday, which will be a couple weeks after we return home.


We have special plans for both L and DH's birthdays, but L’s bday is something totally new to us - We’re making a day trip over to Universal and Islands of Adventure so we can let our Harry Potter freak flags fly high and proud. We’ll have a room at Royal Pacific for one night, whether or not we actually stay there I don’t know, but we can use it as a mid-day break spot if we so choose. We’re all really looking forward to it!


So that’s your recap of last year as compared to our current plans!

Next up - I'll explain the title of the report, then fill you in on our ADRs

 

[coloredimage]

Following! xx

 

[xlsm]

Chapter Two, in which I explain the title of the PTR...

Good morning!!

I'm sitting here watching the season finale of Bates Motel on the DVR before starting my day, so I think balancing that heaviness with a little Disney writing will do nicely

So...why on earth would anyone need an entire suitcase for ears? Well, I don't. Not really anyway, but I have developed a bit of an obsession of sorts. I don't even know if that's the correct way of phrasing it, it's more like I unleashed the quiet (Pete's) dragon sleeping inside and let it on out to roar. I love Disney custom items. Love them. But I could never justify having anything like that. I mean, what do you DO with them when you're home? What's the POINT of it all?? I am not a frivolous person by nature. I'm a mega cheapskate. I hate spending money, it gives me anxiety.

I would see people on the Disboards or in my August Fbook group last year buying or making all of these awesome things, and I'd adore them, but didn't entertain the idea of having any of those things myself. We have some fun t-shirts, but that's about it, and they sure weren't custom, they were whatever was at Kohl's or Target.

When I got to WDW last summer though, the call of Minnie ear headbands was strong. On our AK day last year, I found a pair I really loved. Gold sequins with a little flower/feather applique thing on them. I picked them up. I held them. I turned them over and over in my hands, admiring the glitter of the sequins in the light. I put them on. I looked in the mirror. I showed my husband, and he said "get them if you like them!" I said, "but what will I DO with them??" I showed them to my kids. They said, "You should get those, Mom." I said, "But WHAT will I DO with them?!?!?"

I put them back.

And I was sad about it.

After that, I looked in every shop we went in looking to find them again, and couldn't find them. Fate was on our side, however, because the next day we found them in Epcot, and I bought them. And I've never looked back. In fact, I've just kept going.

Last night I bought my THIRD pair of custom ears for the trip (that makes a total of 4 pair, including my gold ones).
I have a pair of ears from BibbidiBobbidiBrooke (find her on instagram and etsy!) that are the portraits from the stretching room in the Haunted Mansion:



I have a pair of Snow White/Wicked Queen/Dwarf ears from EarBowtique (also on instagram and etsy):





And last night I bought another pair from EarBowtique that match my Disney Vera Bradley hipster bag, in the Midnight with Mickey pattern. What can I say? I'm obsessed, I told you. I am finished with ears now though, I think. If I were to get any more (and I will NOT get any more for this trip), they will be Haunted Mansion wallpaper print.

But ears aren't all...I also discovered Parkbound buttons (again, etsy and instagram) and we got a bunch of those, too:



So there you have it. Now you know my dirty little secret. I'm an Ear-o-holic. There are worse things in life to be, I guess.

Up next...that's cool about the ears and all, but where are you planning to eat? ADRs.

 

[xlsm]

Chapter Three...in which I tell you where we're eating!!


When January rolled around, it was time to make our dining reservations for July. We all agreed our only absolute must-do was ‘Ohana dinner. It’s our favorite. So that was a given, but what else to choose?


I really wanted to book Liberty Tree Tavern, but unfortunately it will be closed for refurb during our vacation. I was very sad about this, as the last time I ate at LTT, it was a character meal! I really feel like I need some of the gooey toffee cake, but looks like it’s just going to have to wait!


But I’m getting ahead of myself…


Before we made our final decisions on food (which, let’s face it, are never really FINAL decisions are they?? That’s why so many of us check reservations off and on between ADR day and trip day), we used our trusty resource of EasyWDW for crowd calendars and park hours.


If you recall, our original plan was to stay at Pop for one night, and make the transfer to Wilderness Lodge. When that was our plan, we decided to start with DHS instead of Magic Kingdom, because we wanted to look around Pop and cross the bridge to check out Art of Animation. We knew we didn’t *have* to rope drop DHS, whereas I ALWAYS rope drop MK. After we changed our plan to skip Pop and go straight to WL, we decided to keep DHS as our first park, so we could sleep a little longer after getting in so late the night before.


We also decided to take it easy this trip and to try new (or new to the majority of the group) places for our meals. There will be days where it looks like we have barely anything planned, and that is by design.


That being said, behold our daily park plan and ADRs!! (I will do more detailed day by day plans later on in the PTR)

--Day 1, Monday, arrival night! We get in pretty late, around 10:00pm I think? Our flight schedule has changed a couple of times, so I'm not sure on the exact time at the moment.

--Day 2, Tuesday, first park day at Disney's Hollywood Studios!! (Eh, it's always MGM to me though. So EXCITED to see my beautiful view of the Chinese Theater without the infamous hat!)

I struggled with not booking SciFi. I love SciFi, and my salmon BLT from last year was the stuff dreams are made of. But, we are mixing it up this year, and after I showed everyone the menu for 50s Prime Time, they decided we needed to have our lunch there. I've eaten there before, but it's been years, and I waffled between booking it or Hollywood Brown Derby, which is an old favorite of mine, but majority rules and we booked lunch at Prime Time for 12:30.
​

--Day 3, Wednesday, Magic Kingdom.

I am going against crowd calendars for this day, but I can't go that long without getting myself on Main Street USA. On our original ADR day, I just had us booked for an 11:00am lunch at The Plaza, but a couple weeks ago, when Be Our Guest breakfast reservations were released for part of July, I managed to get an 8:00am breakfast ADR, and I can't wait to try it! We are still having lunch at The Plaza, but I moved it back to 1:00. The Plaza is a new restaurant for all of us. We also have another "first" planned for this day, the Wishes Dessert Party. I booked this the morning it became available, and it was kind of a mess. The website kept throwing errors and saying "Please Try Again". Well, I "please try again"-ed 4 times apparently, and had 4 pending charges on our card but no actual reservations. A little time on the phone sorted it all out and we're good to go. We'll also have a DisMeet at this party, because one of my Facebook group members also booked for this night. I'm looking forward to it!!
​

--Day 4, Thursday, Epcot.

We only have one ADR this day, and it's for dinner. Breakfast will probably be at the resort or Sunshine Seasons, and I'd like to have Tangierine Cafe for lunch, but I'm not sure we can resist the pull of just snacking around the world.
Our dinner ADR is for Artist Point at 5:40pm, and it's just for me and DH. We're making this an early night because the next day is...
​

--Day 5, Friday, Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure, L's 10th birthday!!

We will be getting up very early this day and taking a cab (or maybe uber, depending on how brave we feel) around 6am over to the Royal Pacific Resort to check in and get our express passes. No ADRs for today, but we are considering The Three Broomsticks, The Leaky Cauldron, The Simpson's area, Universal Monster's Cafe (for me), or Mythos. Who knows where we'll end up??
​

--Day 6, Saturday, Animal Kingdom.

Another early day. We have an 8am breakfast ADR for Tusker House and I am THRILLED. Missing this restaurant was one of my biggest regrets last summer. I had booked here last year for a 10:30 am slot to try to get in on lunch and dinner, but it just didn't work with how we wanted to tour the park. I hated cancelling it, so this year it is a must do. We'll do snacky stuff for lunch, samosas at Mr. Kamal's (had an adult meltdown over these last year, which you may remember if you read last summer's trip report) and frozen chai from Anandapur Tea Co.
We also have our prized dinner ADR for 'Ohana on this night, before we plan to hit up Magic Kingdom for evening EMH.
​

--Day 7, Sunday, Epcot, DH's birthday!!

This day was planned around relaxation and whatever DH wanted to do. We have a 9:00am ADR for Kona Cafe, spending the morning at Downtown Disney, and heading to Epcot around 3:00, then having dinner at 5:30 at Biergarten.
​

--Day 8, Monday, Magic Kingdom, last full park day.

We have lunch AND dinner ADRs booked at Be Our Guest for this day, but we are planning to cancel our lunch reservation next week. DH and the boys agree that we all prefer dinner over lunch there, but we like both. Otherwise, this day is primed for winging it.
​

--Day 9, departure day, Resort hopping or Magic Kingdom morning.

Another day I made an ADR and then thought better of it. We have an 8:00am breakfast booked at Crystal Palace, but I'm cancelling it. We don't want to be up and rushing on our departure day. I want plenty of time to get up and around, last minute things packed, and bags to RAC before we head out somewhere. We might do a tour of the monorail resorts and have breakfast at the G.Flo Cafe, or go to Magic Kingdom for another ride on Buzz and the Haunted Mansion.​

(I should mention, we always pay OOP, as the dining plan does not work out to be a good value for us. )

There you go! Our ADRs:
-50's Prime Time lunch
-Be Our Guest breakfast
-The Plaza lunch
-Wishes Dessert Party
-Artist Point dinner
-Tusker House breakfast
-'Ohana dinner
-Kona Cafe breakfast
-Biergarten dinner
-Be Our Guest dinner

I'm looking forward to all of them, and now I have to go find something to munch on, because writing this made me hungry!!

Up next...detailed daily touring plans.

​

 

[kaylasmom07]

Hi! I came over from facebook and am following along!! Your dining plans look amazing! We are doing 'Ohana, the dessert party and Tusker house too. I'm in love with Tusker house, soo good! It's awesome you are staying at WL, it looks like such a fun resort. I've never stayed there but we did stay at Royal Pacific last year. I don't know if you have stayed there before but it was a really nice resort, and the unlimited express is my favorite thing at a theme park ever!
You have a beautiful family. Can't wait to read more!

 

[xlsm]

Hi @coloredimage and @kaylasmom07 !!!

Thanks for following along. I'm trying not to be boring, LOL!!!

 

[Cyrano]

Hi Samantha, great to meet you and your family on your PTR. Will try to check in frequently and see how how your plans are come along

 

[starousse]

Joining in. Just wondering, are you guys checking into the Royal Pacific for one night, spending the night and then going back to your Disney resort that you originally came from? How do you do that? because I was thinking about doing the same, just to get the express passes to Universal.

 

[ariane37]

Hello! I followed your Aug. 2014 TR and just noticed you started this PTR I was just about to get off the computer.....and I knew I should have......b/c now I must spend $$ and order some of those FABULOUS CUSTOM EARS!!!!! Those are awesome!! I too have seen other's custom shirts but either didn't want to pay the money or was afraid I wouldn't like the fit (I'm picky with my t-shirts). So those are perfect for me! So my wallet and DH probably won't like you much in a few weeks lol..........

Congrats on being elected PTA president! I served as secretary for a couple years and am still very very active in younger DS's elementary school PTA. I was actually asked to run for president last year but declined - LOTS of work, but you know that! I love being so involved though as I'm sure you do. Very rewarding
Going to Universal for a day should be a nice change. Older DS has been asking us to go there so we're going to Fla. in August for a Universal-only trip. Sounds good in theory but I'm not sure how I'll handle no Disney! Looking forward to reading along again

 

[xlsm]

Joining in. Just wondering, are you guys checking into the Royal Pacific for one night, spending the night and then going back to your Disney resort that you originally came from? How do you do that? because I was thinking about doing the same, just to get the express passes to Universal.

Yes, that's what we're doing! We're doing it for the express pass, and also to have a "home base" if we need a break during the day (it was also cheaper for us than just getting tickets and express passes on their own). We are getting up early the Friday we're going to Universal, leaving Wilderness Lodge by 6am. Google maps says it takes about half an hour to get to Royal Pacific, and we'll either take a cab or use Uber. Once we get there, we'll check in, get our express passes, and leave an overnight bag with bell services if our room isn't ready (which I doubt it will be since we'll be there so early in the morning.). By getting there so early, we hope to make it to early entry at 7am. We'll do the HP area in whatever park is open for early entry, take the Hogwarts Express to the second park, do that HP area, tour that park, hop back on the Hogwarts Express, tour the first park, and then go back to our resort at Disney. Unless we're too tired, then we'll just stay at RP and get up early in the morning. We didn't split up our Disney stay, we just booked the room at RP on top of it for one night.

We like midday breaks and swimming, so that's another reason we wanted to have a room onsite at Universal, even if we don't actually sleep there. We'll still use it in some capacity.

 

[xlsm]

Hello! I followed your Aug. 2014 TR and just noticed you started this PTR I was just about to get off the computer.....and I knew I should have......b/c now I must spend $$ and order some of those FABULOUS CUSTOM EARS!!!!! Those are awesome!! I too have seen other's custom shirts but either didn't want to pay the money or was afraid I wouldn't like the fit (I'm picky with my t-shirts). So those are perfect for me! So my wallet and DH probably won't like you much in a few weeks lol..........

Congrats on being elected PTA president! I served as secretary for a couple years and am still very very active in younger DS's elementary school PTA. I was actually asked to run for president last year but declined - LOTS of work, but you know that! I love being so involved though as I'm sure you do. Very rewarding
Going to Universal for a day should be a nice change. Older DS has been asking us to go there so we're going to Fla. in August for a Universal-only trip. Sounds good in theory but I'm not sure how I'll handle no Disney! Looking forward to reading along again

Welcome back!!

Yes, PTA is a lot of work!! I like being involved, but I am glad it will only be for one year (my youngest will be in 5th grade next year, his last year of elementary...I don't think I'd have ran for the position if there was a chance I'd have to do it longer, LOL!!)

Oh, you should definitely check out those ear shops! The two I posted about only have their shops open for short periods of time, but if you follow them on instagram they post when they plan to open up, or you can sign up for email alerts through etsy. They take awhile to ship, but they're worth it!!

I hope your Universal trip is awsome!! I totally understand about not knowing how to handle Florida without Disney involved...it seems unnatural somehow!!
Glad you're here with me again

 

[xlsm]

Good morning!!

I had a post started and well on its way to completion, when I was uploading a photo and Chrome crashed, taking my post with it. Ugh.

Chapter Four...in which I get artistic, make some FPs, and share our first park day plans

Today we are 60 days away from vacation!! Last night our fast pass window opened up at 11:00pm our time, so I decided to stay up and make our selections. We didn't want anything tough to get, so it was a quick and easy process!

All day yesterday I was keyed up and excited in anticipation of our impending FPs, so I decided to use that extra energy to make a trial run on decorating our magic bands. Last year, I decided I wanted to decorate mine at about 9:00pm on the night before we were leaving for vacation. Not the greatest timing! I painted it with nail polish, purple with purple glitter. It turned out well, and I got lots of compliments from other guests and CMs.

This year, my family has decided to challenge me, and they've requested character bands. I had already made some pencil sketches, so that part was done, I just needed to get my sketches onto the bands. I didn't have any tracing paper, so I had to eyeball it. It was not easy! Pencil does not write well on those bands!!

But, with the help of a brush from a nail art kit I'd bought specifically for this purpose ($5, walmart), and my vast collection of acrylic paints, I got to work.

They are not the best, it was MUCH harder than I thought it would be, but for a first try, it could be worse I guess!!

I made a practice Stitch band for X and a practice Jack Skellington band for L.



I hope it goes a little better next time. I plan to get some tracing paper to make getting the design onto the band a little easier. The kids were pleased, so that's all that really matters.


To get back to the planning aspect, our fast pass selection process was super easy, as I mentioned. We weren't out for any difficult ones, and I was finished within 20 minutes.

Our park order is as follows:

Monday - late arrival
Tuesday - DHS
Wednesday - MK
Thursday - Epcot
Friday - Universal/Islands of Adventure
Saturday - AK
Sunday - DTD/Epcot
Monday - MK
Tuesday - no set plans, departure day

Our plans seem ambitious on paper (or on screen in this case!) but we operate under no assumption that we will actually DO everything on our list. This is just an idealized daily plan.

I'll end this chapter with our plan for park day 1 at Hollywood Studios:


Tuesday, first park day!

DHS

Wake up, and head to Hollywood Studios.

Arrive at the park before opening, but not crazy early, head to ToT, maybe RnR for standby lines

Toy Story Standby (we want to see the whole queue), Toy Story FP+ (Fast Pass time of 9:35 - 10:35)

Meet Buzz and Woody

Meet Mike and Sulley

Star Tours FP/Standby (Fast Pass return time 10:40 - 11:40)

Muppet Vision


Lunch ADR 12:30 at Prime Time


Magic of Disney Animation

One Man’s Dream

Meet Sorcerer Mickey

Meet Baymax and Hiro

Tower of Terror (Fastpass return time 2:25 - 3:25)

(Maybe Great Movie Ride
Maybe meet Hollywood Chip and Dale, Daisy, etc… at some point during the day, if we're so inclined)

Back to Resort for a swim


Leave WL for DHS around 6 or 6:30


Grab some food and go and wait for the first showing of Fantasmic.

Home to bed


This schedule is pretty fluid. If the standby line for TSMM is longer than 45 minutes, we will forget about riding standby and just use our FP. In that case, we will go ahead with our character meets and whatever else we decide to do.


Lights, Motors, Action is also on the radar for this day, same with Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid. We’re really just hanging loose and going with the flow and planning to enjoy being in the park with no rushing. This is the “take it easy” trip, after all!


We like to take midday breaks (this is as much for me as it is the kids) and hit the pool, so we’ll head out of the park around 3 or 4, head back to the resort for a couple of hours, then make our way back for Fantasmic. They have two shows this night, but we are rope dropping MK the next day, so it’s the first show for us. We plan to get there early, grab some food,and just hang out and eat while waiting for the show. We’ve debated riding Star Tours beforehand and making a nighttime visit to Tower of Terror afterward...who knows what we’ll decide??

Even though this looks like a jam packed day, our main plan is to take things as they come and have a lot of fun!!


There you have it! Thanks for hanging out with me again, and I'll be back with more soon!!

 

[Batgirl67]

Following along.

 

[meejay]

So excited to follow along! We are thinking about a July 2016 trip so I'm anxious to see how it plays out for you all.

 

[Glittercat]

I made a practice Stitch band for X and a practice Jack Skellington band for L.

Very nice job on your bands! Will you seal them? In the Magic Band decorating thread they recommend a base coat, then painting, then more base coats to seal. Can't wait to see more!

To get back to the planning aspect, our fast pass selection process was super easy, as I mentioned. We weren't out for any difficult ones, and I was finished within 20 minutes.

Excellent!

We like to take midday breaks (this is as much for me as it is the kids) and hit the pool, so we’ll head out of the park around 3 or 4, head back to the resort for a couple of hours

We've never done this, but it does seem wise. A good way to keep from burning out probably.

Even though this looks like a jam packed day, our main plan is to take things as they come and have a lot of fun!!

Terrific attitude!

 

[Glittercat]

So excited to follow along! We are thinking about a July 2016 trip so I'm anxious to see how it plays out for you all.

We'll be there in July of 2016 as well!

 

[coloredimage]

Oh, you have some good restaurants in your ADR list! I've always wanted to eat at Biergarten, but the eating with other people things makes me a bit uncomfortable (obviously it's not like we're sharing food, I know that, but I'm a natural introvert so it makes my anxiety flair a little). The Wishes dessert party was fun when I did it two years ago! And I'm trying Artist Point for the first time this year as well! You'll have to let me know how it is before I go!

 

[xlsm]

@Glittercat - Yes, when I get our bands for this trip I'll seal them after painting. Last year, with nail polish, I didn't use a base coat OR a topcoat and it held up just fine. In fact, I could probably use it again this year if I wanted, but a few fine cracks have appeared since it's been sitting in my closet for a year! The acrylics will DEFINITELY need a seal, because the paint dries very flat, and it can easily scrape off. We only take off our bands to shower and sleep (we keep them on in the pool), so I want them to hold up to all we throw at them. The nail polish worked so well that i'm nervous using the acrylics, but I'm risking it anyway

@coloredimage I am REALLY EXCITED about Artist Point. It will just be me and DH, and I plan on stuffing my face! I will let you know how it goes before you leave for your trip! As for Biergarten, I feel a little funny about sharing a table with strangers, but mostly because I'm afraid they'll be like, weird or jerks or something. but if they're rude, I can out rude them if I need to, LOL!!