2 vs 1: Mom's first trip outnumbered

[crocko]

Am interested to see what happens with your stroller situation.

We've decided to take with us our two individual strollers. They are fold-up strollers, but a little bit bigger than a normal umbrella stroller. Hopefully it won't be a problem.

 

[cheap traveler]

Ok, so I think we have determined I tend to go MIA once in a while. It's only been 6 days this time

So I am trying my best to straighten out our stroller issue. I have sort of Hijacked the thread. Hmm, bossy much

But everyone seems to be taking it well. I have been in contact with a lot of my fellow swappers, and they seem grateful that someone is running the show. I have filled a few gaps, and updated our list. There is a link in my Sig. if anyone wants to check it out.

As for trip planning, I really don't have anything left
If I plan any more, I will make myself crazy. So now, I'm on to making my parents crazy

They decided to take a trip down in October, starting on the last day of free dining. So yesterday was their 90 day mark, and I made their dining reservations. I have to trickle the info to them, so as not to overwhelm them

The last time they went to the world was 21 years ago on their honeymoon. They have NO idea about the place these days. That was a time when you could just walk up to a restaurant and get a table. They almost didn't even make reservations, because "How do I know what I will want to eat 3 months from now?"

This is why I had to take over.

My mother has wanted to come with me and the kids a few times, but she really just can't handle the summer heat, so I keep saying no. Plus, my kids tend to drive her nuts, which results in her driving me nuts. Not a good time.

Hope everyone had a great 4th. I will try to update more regularly, but you have seen how that is working for me so far

 

[crocko]

Planning vicariously through your mom.

LOL! Very good.

So, sounds like stroller situation is looking better. What's the current status on how you will get it when you arrive?

 

[cheap traveler]

I have not been able to contact the swapper before me. I have PM'd, but with no response. The "plan" is for the stroller to be waiting for me at POP, but I would really like to hear from her to be sure. Today was my second PM.

At the worst, if nobody hears from her, the last swapper before her has the stroller through Aug 3rd. If she leaves it for me, It isn't that big of a gap where the stroller would get lost (I hope). I have been in touch with that swapper.

Man, who would have figured this could be so hard? I think it would be easier if I had started the swap, instead of coming in 4 months late.

 

[cheap traveler]

5 Weeks to go today!!

Can I do a little happy dance?









35 days seems a bit far off to start packing, but that is exactly what I am doing. Making more of my many lists, wasting paper. I know exactly which of my clothes I am bringing, and once I get the last load of laundry out tonight, I will go through the kids clothes and figure out what they are bringing.

We placed a grocery order throught Garden Grocer. I spoke with the lady, and she seems very nice. I have delivery scheduled for 5 pm on our arrival day. This will give us time to get our room, and let the fridge cool down. She even brings the order straight to our room! I ordered water, juice, milk, bagels, cream cheese, and some other stuff. I figure the order should be about $50 with the service fee. Not bad, should save us money. We will be able to eat breakfast in our room almost every morning. That saves us a lot of time.

The girls are crazy excited. They ask a few times a week to see where the trip is on the calendar. We covered our arrival day in stickers, so it is easy to pick out.

 

[crocko]

Yay for 5 more weeks. Getting so close.......for me, since the 10-week mark, time has gone to stand-still mode. LOL -- feel like it has taken 3 weeks just to get 6 days knocked out.

Glad you got food supplies figured out!

 

[cheap traveler]

Oh, I almost forgot. I have been looking in every store I go into for sunscreen wipes. I have read great reviews of them, even in parenting magazines, so I would love to try them out.

I finally found them, thanks to a tip from someone here on the DIS!
Amazon.com has them! I paid almost $19 for a box of 25 wipes, so they cost about $.75 each application. I figure that the aresol sprays I like so much have 6 ounces in the bottle, and they cost at least $6. So that is $1 each application, if you use the full ounce recommended.

Even if it didn't save money, the convience on vacation will be great! I always spray us all down in the morning when we get dressed, and now I can just throw 3 wipes in our bag to re-apply after lunch! Much smaller and lighter, and they are individually wrapped.

Ok, thats it for today.

 

[crocko]

Great tip!

Would you be able to provide a link for the ones that you purchased?

 

[cheap traveler]

http://www.amazon.com/SPF30-SCREEN-INDIVIDUAL-WRAPPED-TOWELETTES/dp/B0006GBEYE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1247685792&sr=8-1

These are what I bought. Look really good

 

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

Hello!! I am coming in a little late!!! I followed your link on your siggie after I saw your update on the stroller swap. Your vacation is getting so close!!!! I think you will do a great job with just you and the girls.

Right now dinner involves a bus ride to Epcot, a monorail ride to the TTC(? correct me if I'm wrong), and another monorail to the Grand Floridian. With any luck this will change to a short walk to the food court. Crazy, I know, but I am not concerned with getting the best bang for our DDP buck. It is free, so I don't really lose anything by eating cheaper food. All I lose is the stress of years past of trying to hurry to our ADR. Dont get me wrong, I do have meals planned, I am just going to try not to sweat the small stuff this trip.

If you are staying at POP, you can ride the bus to Magic Kingdom then get on the monorail there and ride the resort loop. I think that would save you some time!! Have you tried calling and switch your ressies to the ones you want? I know if you keep calling a spot may open up on the original ressie that you wanted. Even better, you could try the new online ressie system for dining and see if there is anything open.

Today is on to Hollywood Studios. We skipped this park last year. We only had 4 park days, so 2 days in MK was better for us. We are looking forward to the new Toy Story ride, and that will be the first order of the day. If the wait is over 30 minutes, we will fastpass. The kids really have never been big fans of most of the shows, but with them getting older we will try again. I have never seen the Beauty and the Beast show, so we are trying to see that this year. Again, Hailey is too small for the bigger rides, so today is no-stress. They do like the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, so I will let them run off some steam before lunch.
The day will probably end early, so it will be another good pool and hotel dinner night. We really don’t like many of the CS places at HS anyway, so no big loss here.

I kow your kids don't watch much tv, but I think they may enjoy Playhouse Disney at DHS....we are going to do that this year with my little ones!

The park opens at 9am this day. We will plan to be there before rope drop, because our breakfast in Norway is at 9:35. I don’t know if they will let us through early, but I will certainly try. It is great to have a quiet moment in the park, almost completely alone. We will miss the opening show that way, but no big deal.

My guess is they will not let you in early because 35 minutes is plenty of time to get to Norway......but I could be wrong. I totally understand the wanting to get in before the park opens...i am trying to figure out how to do that this year!!

Happy packing!!!! Can't wait to read more!

 

[cheap traveler]

Welcome to my pre-trip report Iluvmickeymouse!

My magical express packet came yesterday!! We got very excited at the mail box last night. With the Mickey mail came the letter from school detailing Kindergarten orientation and DD's teacher's name.

We got 3 ME tags, one for each of us. As of right now, I only plan to check one bag. I will (mostly) finish my packing this weekend, so I will know for sure if I need another bag. I really hope not to, because the less I have to drag into the airport the better.

The last time I used ME was in 2005. I can't remember what time we landed, but I know it was about 4-5 hours after we got to the hotel when we finally went down to luggage services to pick up our bags. I wasn't smart enough to pack pajamas in our carry-ons, so we needed the bags.

This year we *should* arrive at the hotel by 12:30pm. I have groceries being delivered at 4pm, I am meeting a fellow DISer at 5 to pick up the stroller, and dinner is at 5:30 at the Grand Floridian. I only hope that when we return from dinner (7pm?) our bags will be there. Either way, I am packing everything we need for our first AND second days in a carry-on.

Bella is finally super-excited about the countdown. She can count backwards from 20, so now she can participate in the count. Hailey has no concept of time, so it is all the same to her. She feeds off of our excitement.

Now, back in the beginning I talked about all the worrying I was doing. Add one more to the list. I mentioned Hailey has asthma, and we finally found a medicine that works really well for her. Well, since April she has lost over 2 lbs. She just turned 3 last month, and this is not an age where she should lose any weight. She has gotten taller by a little bit, but I am worried. We don't go back to the Pulmonologist until September 10th, so I won't have answers until then.

I have looked up the side effects of her medicine (advair), and weight GAIN is a noted side effect, never weight loss.
Her doctor has mentioned maybe she feels better so she is moving more, but I don't know... She has always been a very active girl.

But on the Disney front, this will not affect us much. We have the stroller, so she can rest as much as she wants. Since her first trip (where she ate nothing but red grapes), she hasn't been a big vacation eater. I will have to push more food on her, all high in protien as per Dr's orders. No big deal, Mickey Ice Cream bars must have a bunch of protien. We will always have her inhaler. Am I forgetting anything? This is our first vacation since her diagnosis, I am not used taking care of all the details away from home.

Well, 14 days to go. This time two weeks from now we will be in Orlando International Airport. If you see this in the airport: , its just us. Say hi!

I hope to get back for at least one more per-trip update, but in case I don't - you've seen my track record - I will def be back after the 25th!

 

[cheap traveler]

So we are down to 9 days! I am almost all packed, all but those last minute items.

I had planned to check one bag, have 2 carry-ons, plus my personal item of my backpack. After getting everything packed, I was able to cut out one of the carry-ons!! This makes me VERY happy. It frees up a hand to hold on to the kids. Bella should be able to pull the carry-on herself, leaving both of my hands free to hold both of them.

Now you may wonder what I have cut out to be able to do this?

NOTHING!

Ok, well snacks have been eliminated. I usually pack a lot of snacks, but I have finally talked myself out of it this year. I am also getting groceries delivered this year - Thank you Wegoshop! This is mostly drinks and breakfast foods to save time.

The kids are super excited now. Back in April when I booked the trip, Hailey would ask where we were going every time we got in the car. When my answer was not "Disney World" she would start crying.
Well, she has started this again. Mostly just whining when I say "the grocery store" or "school" but still not happy.

I am thinking about getting Bella her own camera for the trip. My hold ups: she will probably lose it, she would use it up in one day, or I would end up carrying it around all the time. I think I will ask her about it this week, and we can pick one up at walmart if need be.

So basically, we are ready to go. All I have to do now is clean the house right before we go, and relax a little. I am not a very happy flyer, so a bit of pre-trip relaxation is in order. Maybe I should learn to meditate?

 

[crocko]

Yay!!!

You're in single digits. Me = jealous.
Hope this last week goes great for you...... (fingers crossed) for no last-minute hiccups.

 

[cheap traveler]

So I just re-read my whole pre-trip report, for the first time.

Wow, I am too excited to work now!

We have one - yes only one - new dissapointment. Bella has been in "summer camp" this year, still at the same daycare she has gone to for 3 years. Their last official week of camp is next week, while we are away. I had planned to send her somewhere else Monday and Tuesday, so I don't have to pay for a full week of camp, but I have nowhere to send her.

This is really only bad because the theme next week is their play - The Lion King. She is SO upset that she can't participate. But I keep telling her, we get to see the REAL lion king show in AK!

This does not make her feel any better

I think my era of magical fixes (ex: kissing boo-boos) is coming to an end. This is sad

Why do they have to grow up?


But, on with the good. I have decided we are keeping our reservation at the Grand Floridian Cafe on our arrival day. It is the easiest way for me to get the stroller. I am meeting the swapper before me at the hotel at 5pm.

Then I will leave the stroller for the next swapper on the afternoon of our last park day, and we will go without it the rest of the day.

All in all the stroller swap has been operating smoothly lately. Dates are filling up, and our big gaps are much smaller now.

As for the fridge, it should be waiting in luggage services for me when I arrive! Everything is falling into place on these last days!

Left to do: re-fill Hailey's prescription, clean the house, teach someone how to do my job , and pack the last-minute things

Easy-peasy.

Everyone have a great week, and thanks for sticking with me. I will try for a day-before update, and I will be back online around the 26th.

 

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

only 1 more week to go....woohoo!!!! I am sooooo jealous!! But, I know I will get there eventually! Have fun on your trip!!!

 

[cheap traveler]

Yes, I know, we have been back for 20 days already. Life is crazy at this time of year. Busy at work, and Bella started kindergarten on the 8th. Smooth transition there.

I am working on my trip report. When I post the first installment, I will post a link. I like to write it in word, then cut and paste it over here. Works better on my computer.

Here is a quick preview of our departure day - our plane was scheduled to land in Orlando at 11:16am, and we finally landed at 5:55pm!! Luckily, that is the worst part of the whole trip.

More soon.

 

[crocko]

Welcome back!!

Look forward to hearing your trip report!