10 Days in Disney to Celebrate the Big 1-0! Aug 2012 PTR

[1Princess1Prince2006]

WHO We Are…

I love reading PTR and TR so I wanted to give a hand at trying this. I’ve started ones in the past but never managed to finish them. I’m sticking to my guns this time and finishing it!

I’ll start off with our introductions and then go from there and see where this PTR takes us.

First, there’s me, your Disney planner extroidonare! I’m Lori, a 30 something, single mama to two really great kids. I graduated in March with my associate’s degree in medical assisting. I’m currently a full-time stay at home mom (which means I'm hardly home) and work very part-time (i.e. – on an as needed basis and I’m very happy with that) as a medical assistant in an OB/GYN’s office. I love Disney and I love planning for our trips. We haven’t been since September 2007, but are so excited to finally be heading back. I love the Magic Kingdom (I could spend all my time there!) and the Fab 5. I really can’t wait to turn this dream into a reality and be driving under that WDW sign…soon!

Up next is my beautiful DD, Lindsey. She is the reason I’m planning this trip…her 10th birthday! She is currently in the 3rd grade and she loves to dance. She has the biggest heart I know and is such a smart little girl. She does get a diva attitude going from time to time, but she’s almost 9 and is hitting that tween stage of life, what do you expect? She absolutely adores Lady and the Tramp and The Lion King is becoming a fast favorite as well. The last time she went to Disney was when she was 5 and while she remembers some things, this will be like a new experience for her.

And last, we have my DS, DR. (Yes, DR. Not Doctor. It’s Capital D period Capital R period. DR. And no, DR is not his real name.) He’s in 1st grade and loves, loves, LOVES sports. He switches between baseball and football. Currently we are in football season so he loves, loves, LOVES the Steelers and football. He carries a football around where ever we go and even sleeps with it. (I think it’s to keep the puppy from chewing on it to tell you the truth). Come spring it will change to baseball and he’ll be carrying a baseball and his mitt around where ever we go. Hmmmm…I would have to say that he has a very strong liking to any sport Buddies movies that Disney has ever made and has watched them all a million times. (We watched the soccer one last night LOL). He was 3 the last time we were in Disney and remembers nothing, so this will ALL be new to him and I am so happy to be able to enjoy this through my children’s eyes.

I’m going to leave y’all here for now. I need to get dinner started and my kids in from the outside to get some homework done before soccer practice and Girl Scouts. I’ll be back soon with another update on the When and Where.

 

[1Princess1Prince2006]

So, we are going to Disney to celebrate my DD’s 10th birthday.

She doesn’t officially turn 10 until New Year’s Eve. Yep, she’s a New Year’s Eve baby (I think for the first five years of her life we were in bed snoozing away by midnight)! I don’t really feel like being anywhere near Disney for the New Year or even for Christmas. We like spending holidays with our family members.

So, I started thinking on when would be a good time to go…

The beginning of June would be a good time to go. Warm weather would be nice. Not having to take the kids out of school sounds even better. But oh wait, summer crowds are kind of a bummer (I tend to get panicky in a crowd) and then by the time we get back I’ll be unpacking and having to re-pack for them to go with their dad. OK, scratch that, but wait…

What about August?! Still warm weather and I won’t have to take the kids out of school. The kids will just be getting back from their dad’s so I’ll have lots of time to plan and get things organized. I’ll still have to unpack and re-pack though. And well, crowds still kind of scare me at that time. Let’s see, what else…

September?! Warm weather so we can swim. Crowds are lower. Possible free dining. I’d have to take the kids out of school for a week, but we can deal with it. MNSSHP would be going on and we could do that one night. But, it doesn’t really feel like a birthday trip…

Well, why not December?! Who knows what the weather will be like but we’ll at least get to see the Christmas lights and Christmas trees and Christmas decorations. I could wait until the kids get out of school for break before we go, but the month of December is just nuts for us!

Hmmmmmmmmm…

Think, Lori, think…

I research and debate some more. I finally thought I had come up with something and chose the middle of September as our dates.

Then, school starts...

DD is currently in the 3rd grade and will go to the middle school (which is more like an intermediate school) next year and I begin hearing all the horror stories that will happen next year in the 4th grade…tons of homework, tons of reading and a ton of work.

Not good.

I argue with DD now about homework I really don’t want to even think about homework and the arguing that would take place while on vacation.

So, back to the drawing board…

I then start thinking about August again. Since my kids are with their dad for the summer (he lives in LA) I could easily fly (or drive) down to Orlando to meet with him to pick the kids up and we could then start our vacation.

Sounds like a good plan to me! And I'm sticking with it until something has to change.

Picking a resort should be a little bit easier, right?!

Yeah, that was almost like picking our dates. I went back and forth between a value resort and a moderate resort. Then I went back and forth between a moderate resort and a deluxe resort. (Yeah, that was wishful thinking!)

When we went in 2007, we went in March and also in September. In March we stayed offsite at a suite type hotel (I don’t remember the name) and while we did Disney we also did other things around the Orlando area. (Shocking, right?!) In September we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge on the concierge floor. Yea, that was NICE and I was completely spoiled! Plus, it was so easy and convenient to take the boat to the Magic Kingdom. Well, my budget doesn’t allow for a deluxe resort, along with concierge lounges, these days. LOL

I let DD go through websites to choose some of her favorites and she had settled on Pop, POFQ or POR. She fell in love with the Princess Rooms at POR. She really liked the looks of POFQ and of course the serpent slide. And I guess who couldn’t love POP for their larger than life iconic symbols?!

She asked to be surprised on which one I ended up booking…

So, we are booked for 8/6 to 8/15 at Port Orleans-French Quarter (Garden View Room) with 10-day base tickets and the regular Disney Dining Plan. I am sooooo excited!

I know things are bound to change over the next 327 days. I really have no idea where to go from here? Maybe pics from past trips? Maybe a Disney movie night? Maybe our very tentative plans for now? We’ll see where this all takes us!

 

[1Princess1Prince2006]

There is a great thread here on The Dis about family movie nights. Themed dinners and craft ideas to go along with the movie you decide to watch for the night.

Disney Movie Nights

Sounds like a great idea and a fun time so sign us up!

We’re not really crafty people, though.

Strike that, I’m not really a crafty person…

So I kind of skipped over that part.

But, we all have to eat dinner. I can definitely make a theme dinner to go with the movie we are watching.

First up…

A Bug’s Life

On the menu: Hot dogs on the grill, pasta salad, green beans and ants on a log. To drink we had bug juice. And for dessert we had dirt cups.

We have tried for so many days now to have this dinner but nothing ever seemed to work out for us schedule wise. This seemed to be our last ‘nice’ day we would have in a while so even though we had soccer game right in the middle of it all, we went for it.

I laid out a blanket on the family room floor for us to have a picnic style dinner, but quickly changed my mind thanks to one curious puppy.

Here's the culprit now with my DS.

I then moved everything outside so we could have dinner on our outside patio. Those plans changed when we had a huge down pour and wind. So, we happily ate inside and then headed off to soccer.

Once home the kids hit the showers, got into PJ's and we were all snuggly on the couch watching the movie in no time before bed.


The kids enjoy this movie every time they watch and I love Dennis Leary as Francis the ladybug.