Thanks @Mal6586! I love hearing "success stories!" haha Gives me hope!Isn't it such a thrill to secure something you've been trying so hard to get? Such a great feeling!
I just have the MK and Epcot mugs. I had the purple monorail epcot mug when it first came out and before they pulled it off the shelves and I sold it on ebay for $275 when people were going nuts for it (yeah I am not going to drink out of a $275 mug) and replaced it when they came out with the new batch that had the silver monorail stripe. I also have one of disneyland (with the castle) and one from NYC. I decided not to get a full set, it's just too much, so I just got my two favorite parks. Though kind of want the HS one now since the earful tower is gone and the park will change so much. If I get that one I will for sure get AK because why not.Ohh! I have not thought about this too much yet but I do want to do the silhouette for my son. Was considering the starbucks mugs too (collecting mugs is bad... very heavy) Maybe some clothing but not sure what else...
I'm with all of you ladies. I'll be looking at the boards and randomly say something about Disney to DH, as if he was reading along with me, which drives him nuts!
I plan everything for all of our vacations, but Disney is when I go into hyper planning mode. DH pretty much just shows up (in the clothes I pack for him!), and does whatever I plan. I do ask his input for big things, but he just doesn't research like I do, so to him, he doesn't understand why I obsess over ADR's or our plans. Luckily he does love Disney and has a blast when we get there, he's just not into the planning stage like I am.
I have a bunch of disney dollars ($100 worth) and now I can't spend them because they have gone away. BUT I have them and my kiddo earns them for his spending money. I found in 2014 that it stemmed a lot of the "I wants" that go along with disney. I want that fan with the spray bottle. I want that spinny thing. I want that balloon (that mom will have to keep track of). I'd always say "do you want it badly enough to spend YOUR money on it?" and it was always "no, not really." I did buy him a hat and a t-shirt out of "my money" but for everything else he had to use his money that he "earned." I have not been so good at paying him this year because a lot of the things I established for chores have stuck and he just does them and I don't need to be so specific about rewarding him. But I will give him a $100 disney gift card as "his" money that he can spend how he wants for this trip too.Oh....oh...oh... souvenirs!!!
I have no idea. I plan on giving each child a $100 Disney gift card. Ill let them make their own choices. My DD lifeguards so she'll have some of her own funds. I'll probably give DS the opportunity to do extra chores to earn some spending money. I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa will slip the kids some spending money before we go.
My souvenirs will be the everlasting smiles and memories.
LOL, I know what you mean by hyper planning mode. DH always tells me I'll have nothing to do after the trip is over since this is what preoccupies me the most! (I normally say plan the next trip and he'd get madI'm with all of you ladies. I'll be looking at the boards and randomly say something about Disney to DH, as if he was reading along with me, which drives him nuts!
) I've gotten up all hours to make restaurant reservations but nothing else makes me do it 6 months ahead!
I want to get all 4 but I'm going to be carrying a lot of fragile stuff with a toddler seems very difficult... Love the disney princess ones too... I got a set of villains at home and love those.
That's a great idea!! I'm going to decorate the mousekeeping envelopes but did not think of this! Thank you!
Oh....oh...oh... souvenirs!!!
I have no idea. I plan on giving each child a $100 Disney gift card. Ill let them make their own choices. My DD lifeguards so she'll have some of her own funds. I'll probably give DS the opportunity to do extra chores to earn some spending money. I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa will slip the kids some spending money before we go.
My souvenirs will be the everlasting smiles and memories.
I especially like the Star Wars one but seems like it sells out very quickly. Did you use window clings?
We live close to Midway so flying on SWA is relatively cheap for us, usually. But I can't blame you for wanting to avoid driving to Chicago in December. Anytime you get near Lake Michigan in SW Michigan or northern Indiana can be a nightmare. And then there is Chicago traffic.Our R/T flights for 3 are $1200. Eek!I could reduce that significantly if I was willing to drive to Chicago or Detroit. Here in Kalamazoo, we're roughly half-way between the two and it would be about a 2-1/2-hour drive to either. I'm not willing to do that by myself with the kids in Michigan December weather though. Nope, NOT happening! lol So we're flying to Chicago first which is seriously only like 20 minutes, it's so quick, then direct to Orlando from there. Arrival day has us landing in Orlando by noon and our flight home takes off at 2ish, so I'm super happy with flight times.
I love Port Orleans Riverside. It is such a nice resort. I always feel relaxed there.
We want to go to Yak and Yeti for dinner one of our nights but I haven't found a good ADR time yet. I think I need to check out the list of speakers for Candlelight Processional before I plan dinner.
This will take at least a half hour boat ride once the boat shows up, or a 25 minute or longer walk from DHS to Epcot along the walkway past BWI, or a bus ride from DHS to the front of Epcot, to go to Garden Grill. I would stay at DHS.
I think that this must be true because I was looking for a cheap fare all weekend and didn't find it until I went to work on Monday and logged in using my work computer and a browser that did not have any cookies for SWA.
I don't usually buy any souvenirs but we might buy some Christmas presents while we are there. We did this back in Dec 2013 and we brought an extra bag just for the gifts we purchased.
I am a sucker for ears! I'll have to check out the light up ones though. I have to be super careful with Etsy. I could blow my entire souvenir budget buying stuff from that site before I even get to Disney!!Speaking of souvenirs, anyone thinking of the light up ears?? They look so cute...
the pop warner thing should not affect you. You are not staying at any of the resorts that they are staying at and they have a private party on Wednesday typically at HS so that shouldn't affect you either. With kids your age a day a park and a second day for the MK is perfection! what ADRs do you have? And yes of course,
Yep! I found a lot of small Disney-themed things at Walgreens, of all places. We did window clings, a string of purple and orange lights, tiny Mickey head pumpkins, and some little Mickey head cutouts I had made with construction paper in Halloween colors.I've been thinking about decorating lately! On another thread I learned about a $400 Disney-themed Christmas tree option through Disney Floral and Gift. Sounds so adorable but not even close to being in our budget. But I really like the window decorating idea! That would be so fun to add that festive touch to the room!
Great plans. I do think 2x at Chef Mickeys might be too much and an earlier ADR on your departure day would work better for you. I hope you do find Ohana on that day!
If ever, maybe you could look at 1900 Park Fare as well. It gets pretty good reviews for breakfast. I think all of us (I've tweaked mine a hundred times now!) would like to perfect our ADRs Loving the Mousekeeping idea too @Mal6586! Thanks all around for the great ideas!! 
