10 Nights, 9 Days, 2 Birthdays and 1 Magical May 2014 Vacation! **Complete 6-10**

[anniebabymu]

updated plans! so exciting! we can't do those early mornings/rope drops because as excited as we are, we can't get our butts out of bed on time! let's blame it on DH since he's not here to defend himself.... but it all looks really good! I'm so excited for you all! you're gonna have so much fun!!

We can totally blame him... since he's not cool enough to be a Dis'er! I'm sure by the end of the 10 days we'll be dragging and *may* not get our booties out of bed! We'll see!

Cool cool! Sorry for so many questions! Just trying to kinda figure out how our touring may change with FP+.
Yeah I did notice that you were going back after dinner most nights. That'll probably help a lot.
We just are all sleepers! I can't image being AWAKE at 6:45, much less already at the bus stop!! haha Even Caden sleeps til 8 or 9 every morning. So I'm just hoping we can manage the semi-early mornings and make it to normal rope drop. Especially since FL is 1 hr later...so 8am in FL is 7am in our STL bodies. I've actually been a little nervous about Caden's crabbiness level cause he's not a happy child when he's tired!! I'm planning to do breaks at the hotel but I'm also KINDA hoping he'll just nap in his stroller. He's done it before so I'm pretty hopeful on that one. lol

I'm also planning to have a sleep in day in the middle of our trip. Probably our AK day. With FP+ we can do the things we want at AK without rope drop and that is never a full day park for us anyway. So I think that will be our lazy day. We might even show up to the park at 11 or 12! I know...it's blasphemy!



Have you found any trip reports from the Monster's Inc 24 hr party last year? I read one a while back...let me see if it's still in my SUB folder. He had a lot of info about crowd levels. I remember it was pretty crazy crowded cause they got separated but I think that was in the evening around firework or parade time. I'll see if I can link it in for you!
Found it: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3120355&highlight=monster+s+inc+24+hour and nope! Looks like morning was NO crowds like normal! Should be a great time!

Questions are totally okay! FP+ threw me for a loop when I first started thinking about it and I really thought I was going to hate it. I think I'm warming up to it though! Although, I would love more than 3 FP+ (really, just for MK... all the other parks are doable!) and to get rid of tiering, but it was nice to make FP+ selections for rides for times I knew would work into our daily plan! And I think another reason I'm planning on us hitting up rope drop is so we can make sure we get everything done we want! Going for 10 days, I'm hoping to not leave with as much "regret" and wishes that would would have done A and B, etc. They say that Rope Drop time is really valuable now thanks to the limit on FP+ numbers... just trying to get the most bang for our Disney dollar! Ha ha! We'll just hit Rope Drop and take advantage of the low(er) crowds and enjoy "rest time" then come back for a bit before/after dinner and call it a night!

And I have not seen anything about the 24 hour party! I scoured and scoured the internet looking for any "tips" for touring that day because I have NO idea what to expect! I'll most definitely be checking out that link you gave me!! So thanks a bunch!

 

[AprilRenee]

We'll just hit Rope Drop and take advantage of the low(er) crowds and enjoy "rest time" then come back for a bit before/after dinner and call it a night!

And I have not seen anything about the 24 hour party! I scoured and scoured the internet looking for any "tips" for touring that day because I have NO idea what to expect! I'll most definitely be checking out that link you gave me!! So thanks a bunch!

That's what I'm thinking for our trip too. We always do rope drop and love the low crowds and I'm thinking it might be nice to have the fp+ for after the break (now that I have a toddler and will need to get him naps). So I think it may work really well for us now. I think before Caden it would have been frustrating to us cause we did open til close every day and definitely used more than 3 FPs. But I think things will be different this trip.

and no problem! it was an interesting trip report cause it was so different than the normal ones.

 

[Jackiemarie21]

All your plans look great! Like many commenters before me, we are not morning people so we could not do that! But I it would be awesome if I could get my family on board with that!

I do think using FP+ in the evening looks like the way to go! You guys are getting so close, amazing!

 

[anniebabymu]

You guys are getting so close, amazing!

I can't believe how close it's getting! I've been starting to crack down and think of all the things we need to buy because it really did just dawn on me how close it really is! Addie told me yesterday that her class only has 42 more school days... which means that she only has 36!!! I'm in disbelief that Kindergarten is almost over... and we leave for Disney the next day! Crazy!

 

[anniebabymu]

Well, here it is! I finally decided to upload a bunch of pics to the computer... so here is our movie night #7!

March 14th, Finding Nemo

This is an all-time favorite in my house! Before Toy Story was Harper's obsession, it was Finding Nemo! We were all looking forward to this movie night, because yet again... this is a movie my husband hadn't really seen all the way through! Yes, I know, *gasp*!! I think these movie nights are more for his benefit than ours! Ha ha!

On the menu was Anemones with Marlin and Nemo, Pearl hot dogs, Aquarium Jello and Sea Water (juice). Yummy!





And onto the movie!!





What a fun night!

Now, I was going to post another update... but Photobucket is being sooooo slow! So looks like that will have to be done in a few days!

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[Jackiemarie21]

Cute! Charlotte has been on a Nemo kick here lately. She always wants to eat goldfish while she watches...not sure if that is cute or werid! Lol! Fun! Does your DH like the movie nights? Mine is always like I hate kiddie movie and then at the end is always like I actually liked that one. He says he is only participating in the movie nights because it's good for Charlotte, but so far the only movie he didn't like was Brother Bear. I was just wondering what your DH thought.

 

[anniebabymu]

Cute! Charlotte has been on a Nemo kick here lately. She always wants to eat goldfish while she watches...not sure if that is cute or werid! Lol! Fun! Does your DH like the movie nights? Mine is always like I hate kiddie movie and then at the end is always like I actually liked that one. He says he is only participating in the movie nights because it's good for Charlotte, but so far the only movie he didn't like was Brother Bear. I was just wondering what your DH thought.

At first I think he was pretty reluctant, but as we've started doing them he has gotten more into it! Even giving out dinner suggestions! Ha ha! I think he likes sitting down for 1 1/2 hours and not cleaning the house or working!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

fun movie night! i always think those octopus hot dogs are a great idea, but then they sort of gross me out a little, but i'm not sure why. i'm just strange! looks like you guys had a great night!

 

[anniebabymu]

fun movie night! i always think those octopus hot dogs are a great idea, but then they sort of gross me out a little, but i'm not sure why. i'm just strange! looks like you guys had a great night!

Ha ha!! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly grossed out by them too! Especially the the "tentacles" started curling... yuck!

 

[familyabgar]

What a cute dinner idea for Nemo!

 

[anniebabymu]

What a cute dinner idea for Nemo!

Thanks!

 

[anniebabymu]

Since I'm feeling like poop and had to call in sick to work tonight, I guess it only makes sense that I post our movie night we did last Friday!

March 28th... Tinker Bell

We watched Tinker Bell last Friday! It was just a girls night because daddy was in Dallas for work. He missed out!

The menu was a bit of a struggle for me because everything I saw online they did "Pixie Food" which was basically the "Dwarf Food" we did for Snow White. Just mini food. So I had to think a bit! Then I thought we'd think of food for the different Fairies, but I was stuck. Then the idea of having a "Changing of the Seasons" dinner! We pick one food that represents each "season" to us! Addie was all over it and she picked out all of the food for us! We started with winter and she immediately thought of Chili! Then we thought about Fall and she thought of Thanksgiving. So I asked her what Thanksgiving food she wanted and was torn between mashed potatoes and stuffing. Then we thought about summer and she wanted a "refreshing" fruit salad. Then while we were at the store we found some pre-made "Spring-time" Minnie cookies so that's what we had for dessert.

So here was our menu... Chili with the fixings (we like to eat rice, cheddar cheese and Fritos with our chili!), Mashed Potatoes, Fruit Salad with Strawberries, Watermelon, Blueberries and Grapes and Minnie cookies! Quite a combo, huh?!?







We love all of the Tinker Bell movies! I'm surprised Addie didn't get all dressed up in her Tink costume for the night... her Halloween costume last year. She sure loves her light up shoes and wings!

​

Now... just gotta figure out what our movie for this week is going to be! We've seem to misplace our little baggie with all the movies in it! Looks like I need to go back through the list and remake them!

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[STLMickeyMom]

Your chili is making me hungry on this rainy day---hhmmmm, dinner tonight?

Don't you think Addie looks a little like tink in those last 2 pictures?

I hope your feeling better soon!!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Love the seasons food idea! That was perfect! I agree with Lori, now I want chili with Fritos and cheese in it!

Cute movie night, Addie and Harper always look like they are having so much fun on their movie nights!

 

[anniebabymu]

So long to the 50's!! We're officially into the 40's now... 49 days to go!! Severe storms (that aren't blizzards) these next few days, Cardinal baseball on TV... ah yes, heaven's gates have opened and spring has sprung! The end of May just might get here after all!

I can't believe it's been 11 days since I made our FP+ and of course, on the heels of the news that was released today regarding FP+ I feel like I'm going to have to reevaluate our plan once again! I think Disney just wants to keep me on my toes this trip!! I don't think I'm going to adjust any of my FP+ until word comes out that they've "officially" changed up the FP+ process. Gotta admit, it's more than a bit frustrating not knowing exactly what's going to happen when our trip is so close!

I forget exactly what was on my to do list still... but here are a few things I've managed to accomplish the last week or so!

- More little things for the kiddos bought. So far we've got glow bracelets, glow necklaces, glow wands (for my girls and our friend's son), little Disney handheld fans, little Disney light up light spinners (for my girls and our friend's son), 4 activity packs (2 for each girl) with stickers, crayons and activity book in them, and 2 Frozen Dry Erase Boards for the airplane... I think that's it!
- Frozen downloaded on the iPad mini and Addie's iPod touch for the airplane.
- Most of the girls clothes packed! We use the Ziploc bag method for them, so I've got all of their shirts and bottoms packed away in Ziplocs that have the date to be worn on them. Some Ziplocs are missing either a top or bottom or all of one girl's outfit. Instead, they have a note card with the missing item written on it so I don't forget it! I have a few simple skirts to make on my to do list, so those shirts I've kept out to take with me to the store to find appropriate fabric. Once I've got all the pieces made, I'll stick them in the bag!
- I've got the girl's swimming suits laid out by the clothes baggies
- Bought the girls new pairs of silver sparkly Bobs (Skecher's version of Toms) and they should be delivered tomorrow! We had these our last trip and they were so cute with princess dresses and other outfits... and were pretty comfortable for them with all the walking in the parks! So I saw Famous Footwear was having a sale and got them for a decent price! I ended up getting Harper's for $16.99... pretty happy about that!



Harper's on left... Addie's on right.

- Charged my External Battery for our phones/iPad and put it away with the "Disney Stuff".
- I've bought a few odds and ends like travel laundry detergent, travel size kids 3 in 1 shampoo (in the Easter section, Walmart had these little travel size bottles for $1 each and they're Disney princesses and Doc McStuffins!) and a few other things.
- Bought Harper's last shirt (although... I'm going to need another one for both girls now! I have issues.) to iron on her Birthday Cupcake Vinyl! Once they're all done... I'll post them for you to see!

To do:
- Buy yet another shirt for both girls because today I got an e-mail from Miss Morgan's Designs informing me of a 25% off sale! The other day I found these super cute "Chef Mickey" vinyls and wanted them so bad, but didn't buy them. Well, now they're 25% off... so of course I have to buy them!



I already have 14 shirts packed for each of them, this makes 15... for a 10 day trip. I have a major problem.

- Make Chef Mickey shirts and "Grandma" and "Grandpa" shirts. I have shirts bought and washed for them, but I'd like them to try them on before I iron a permanent vinyl on them and then they don't fit!
- Buy fabric and make the girls some simple skirts to match a few of their shirts.
- Buy the rest of odds and ends off of our packing list!
- Exchange the new pair of Roxy's I bought when I bought the girls their shoes. I think I got them 1/2 size too big... so hopefully I can find them in the store! I wore a shoe very similar to these on our last trip and they were sooooo comfortable!
- And I'm still debating on whether or not we're bringing our own stroller vs. renting. I know my hubby would love to save the $130 and bring our own... but I'm just not sure Addie will fit in it. The weight limit per seat is 40lbs and Addie is around 44lbs now. But between the two of them, they are shy of 80 lbs total. I just don't know what to do. I think maybe I'll load up the two girls in the double and go for a walk around the neighborhood and see how it handles. Ughhh... I dislike ours, but we sure can do a lot with that extra $130 if we don't rent one!

And I'm sure there are much more things I need to accomplish! But I don't really feel like it's a horribly huge list or anything. Of course things will continue to pop up, but I think these "to do's" left are the biggest of them all!

Next up... our packing list!

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[anniebabymu]

So I'm basically using the same packing list that I did on our last trip. I use the list that I found on wdwprepschool.com. It's a huge list, but I think it's great! Then of course I've added just a few things that I've come across on here. When I look at it I think, "Holy Poop! That's a lot of stuff!" But you know what? We used everything and only thing I didn't have that I had to buy there was a stain stick! And let's be honest... I've never been known as one that has the ability to pack lightly!

We will be flying Southwest so that means we could potentially have 8 checked bags! Holy cow. That's a lot of bags! So I'm really not concerned about how many bags we're bringing. I know we're got to stash them somewhere in the room... but I'm confident it will be all good!

Here's how we've done it in the past...

Our biggest suitcase for Derek and I, The next biggest for the girls, a carry-on size for the "extras"/toiletries and then a collapsible duffel that we packed collapsed on the way there and used for extra space on the way back (for all the crud we buy down there!).

After our last trip we realized that we needed new luggage pretty badly. Just so happened that a new Outlet Mall opened in the area and we happened by the Samsonite store and found luggage I loved! So I hopped online at home and found an even better price for the SAME luggage! Derek took that print out in and they matched the price... PLUS the additional discount that was being offered in the store! We couldn't pass that up.

We kept our old luggage, so I'm thinking that we will do it now...

Use our new biggest bag for us, new next size for the girls and instead of a carry-on size for our "extras" we'll bump up to a larger size of our old luggage. I think that will work out pretty well, and if we still need some more room then we'll add on a carry-on size! Oh... and we'll still take the duffel, just in case!

Now... onto the list!

Clothing Items
- Clothes for Derek, the girls and myself.
- Running clothes for myself since I've gotta keep up the 1/2 marathon training and am going to HAVE to run down there.
- Shoes... park shoes, pool shoes
- Princess Dresses packed in Space Bags
- Extra ponytail holders
- Jewelry (I don't usually wear much, but we'll pack the Pick-a-Pearl necklaces)
- Sunglasses for all
- Swim Suits and cover-ups
- A couple beach towels (we like big towels... not the tiny Pop towels!) packed in Space Bags.

Laundry Items
- Travel Sized Tide
- Bounce packed in a ziploc
- Tide pen/stain stick
- Quarters for washer and dryer

Toiletries
- Usual shower stuff for us and kids
- Big cup to use to get soap out of kids hair
- Toothbrush stuff
- Contact Stuff and extra contacts
- Sunscreen
- Chapstick with sunscreen in it
- Lotion/After-Sun Lotion
- Deodorant
- Q-tips
- Liquid Hand Soap
- Tweezers/Nail clippers
- Brush
- Derek's hair gel
- Blow Dryer/Straightner
- Travel sized Kleenex
- Anti-Monkey Butt Powder (An anti-chaffing powder I brought last time, worked great!)
- Make-Up
- Nail Polish remover

Paperwork
- File Folder with all our Disney info (confirmations of everything that I'm sure our TA will give us, if she doesn't then I will print it all out.)
- Boarding Passes
- Small notebook
- Mouse-keeping envelopes
- Insurance Cards
- ID's

Food and Kitchen (will most likely order from Garden Grocer again)
- Milk
- Juice
- Granola Bars/Nutrigrain Bars
- Pretzels
- Fruit Snacks
- Small cereal boxes
- Pop-tarts
- Fruit
- Small travel sized dish soap (we will bring with us for mugs and sippy cups)
- Bag with numerous sizes of Ziploc bags in it (we will bring)
- Brita Water Bottles (we will bring)
- Cork Screw... yes, we will need wine. Ha ha! (we will bring)
- GUM!!! I can't live without my gum! (we will bring)

Airplane Items
- iPad mini/iPod touch
- Girls bags to put goodies in (they will each bring their travel bag)
- Snacks
- Activities

Medicines
- Moleskin (and little scissors to cut it)
- Travel First Aid Kit with band-aids and antibiotic ointment
- Blister Stick
- Tylenol/Children's Tylenol
- Adult/Children's Cold Medicine (we've had a bad experience with needing to hit up the Resort Store for cold medicine!)
- Tums/Pepcid
- Cough Drops
- Derek's Eye Drops
- Airborne

Harper Stuff
- Pull-ups
- Swim Diapers
- Baby Wipes
- Sippy Cups

Everything Else
- Travel sized Lysol
- Clorox Wipes
- Antibacterial Hand Gel
- Park Fan and extra batteries (and small screwdriver)
- Camera
- Extra Camera battery, memory card and charger
- Power Strip
- External Battery Charger
- Laptop and charger (need this to charge the external battery charger... annoying!)
- ear buds x 2 for iPad and iPod
- Beach Tote to take to pool (and Addie's goggles!)
- Clothespins
- Over-the-door shoe organizer (for all the extra stuff)
- Hanging Shelf organizer for bathroom
- Plug-In Night Light
- Collapsible Hamper?
- Ponchos

Park Bag
- Magic Bands
- $$ and ID's
- ADR Confirmation #'s
- Camera bag (with extra battery and memory card)
- Phones/iPad Mini for FP+
- Sunglasses
- Brita Water Bottles
- Snacks
- Autograph Book
- Chunky Pen
- Mini-first aid kit (because my kids ALWAYS need it!)
- Ponchos
- Mister Fan and batteries
- Moleskin
- Tylenol
- Sunscreen
- Chapstick
- Antibacterial Hand Gel
- Baby Wipes/Pull-ups
- Change of clothes in a ziploc
- Glow sticks/necklaces for the appropriate nights

Whew... I think that's it. I'm not sure I have enough stuff on my list! Kidding of course!

Anybody think of anything to add??

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[anniebabymu]

Your chili is making me hungry on this rainy day---hhmmmm, dinner tonight?

Don't you think Addie looks a little like tink in those last 2 pictures?

I hope your feeling better soon!!

Chili would have been perfect for tonight! It sure was a dreary day... not looking forward to these storms again tomorrow!

She totally does look like Tink in those pictures! Just because, I had to dig up a picture of her on Halloween! She does make a good tink! DCP in her future?? Ha ha!



Throat is still a bit scratchy, but overall I think I'm feeling a bit better. This no energy stuff is for the birds... and then not being able to actually sleep when I am tired is even worse!

Love the seasons food idea! That was perfect! I agree with Lori, now I want chili with Fritos and cheese in it!

Cute movie night, Addie and Harper always look like they are having so much fun on their movie nights!

I kind of want some more chili too! Ha ha! I think they do love it... we all have! We just picked out our last 7 movie nights! Only 7 more until our trip!! Now that is just crazy...

 

[STLMickeyMom]

So excited that you are getting so close!

Love the shoes for the girls. I was thinking about getting something like that for Hannah and Maddie too. And the chef Mickey iron on is so cute! She has the cutest stuff, doesn't she? I haven't even looked at her site since we'll only be there a few days and I already have too much stuff. When I start planning for the cruise, I'll be all over her site!

I think your packing list looks great. I know it's so much stuff but when you're there, I'd rather just have it then have to go search for it and pay so much for it. Of course, I also get to the point when I'm packing where I finally say "if we don't have it, we can live without it!"

Love Addie as tink! DCP for sure!

 

[anniebabymu]

So excited that you are getting so close!

Love the shoes for the girls. I was thinking about getting something like that for Hannah and Maddie too. And the chef Mickey iron on is so cute! She has the cutest stuff, doesn't she? I haven't even looked at her site since we'll only be there a few days and I already have too much stuff. When I start planning for the cruise, I'll be all over her site!

I think your packing list looks great. I know it's so much stuff but when you're there, I'd rather just have it then have to go search for it and pay so much for it. Of course, I also get to the point when I'm packing where I finally say "if we don't have it, we can live without it!"

Love Addie as tink! DCP for sure!

She has too much cute stuff! And they're so easy to make, which makes them even more appealing!

I'd definitely recommend those shoes! We never had any issues with blisters when they wore socks with them and they're still Addie's favorite shoes to wear! But her size 11's are getting VERY difficult to squeeze on her feet!

I'm like you... I'd rather pack too much and know I have it, then get there and think, "Crud, I really wish I had such-and-such" knowing I have it at home!! That's the boat I was in with the stain remover last year! Of course it was the one thing I didn't bring and the one thing I needed! And shoot... if you're flying Southwest with free checked bags, why not?!?

 

[melnbil]

It is funny you have the Monkey Butt Powder on your list, I put mine in my box the other day! It is awesome stuff!!