3 Caballeros, 11 nights, 4 parks, 1 world & lots of PICS!!!!

[seobaina]

Hi all

Ok, this is my new pre-trip to trip reports.

I've previously done a complete trip rep for a 2008 trip to WDW here;
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2121204
This is my first proper pre-trip rep though so please bear with me.

I'm adding in a contents here:

1) Introductions - this post
2) ADRs
3) EPCOT Passports
4) Printable Passport Pages
5) Activity Books
6) Welcomes & Mousekeeping
7) ADR Invites & Driving Licenses
8) Tom Sawyers Island Scavenger Hunt
9) Finished Autograph Books
10) Luggage Tags & Tickets
11) Holiday Countdown Chart
12) Pocket Secrets Guide
13) Pick a Pearl
14) 8 Week Checklist
15) Proposed Schedule
16) Candy Tubes, Disney Dollars & Packs
17) Travel Money & Airplane Weight Allowance
18) Updated Checklist


************

I would like to say up front that I am a photoaholic, so if you like pics this will be the report for you. As you can see on the last one I take a lot of photos and will be uploading loads as I go. You have been warned

Well, this trip was literally thought about last week, organised and booked all within the last four days. It's a bit of a whirlwind, we can't really afford it but oh well...WE'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!

We (the three caballeros) are due to fly from Manchester, England to Orlando with Virgin on 18th April 2010. We then have a late flight home on the 29th, which means we should have ten full days and two half days. We're going to be sharing a room at POP Century and at the moment we have no plans to do anything non-disney but that depends a little on Harry Potter land. If it opens, we'll go.

Ok, let's get this trip rolling. Introduction time (CAST):

I'm Helen (yes I love Captain Jack). I'm 33, English and have three jobs - I teach (part-time) audio postproduction at a University, I have my own small film production company (which we're still building) and I work for the mouse. I've been working part-time for Disney (in stores) for about fifteen years. Does this give me a unique view? Yeah probably in a way. I think it makes me much more critical of the 'show' but at the same time it means I'm a HUGE fan!!!

The other two caballeros are:

Andy (30) who currently works selling solar panels. I've known Andy for about 7/8 years and we first met when he was my assistant manager. Andy left Disney about five years ago but he is still a Disney nut (much to his partner's annoyance ). Andy and I share two big things in common - we are birthday twins (same day not year) and we both adore Pochahontas! I worked on the USA promotion for the movie and Andy's mum worked on the UK one Andy is also a Daisy Duck fan and if he doesn't actually explode with excitement in the next 90 days I will be really surprised!

Rounding off the gang is Jenni (pronounced 'Jen-eye')

Jenni (26) is actually called Jennifer but when she started working with us we had another Jennie already. So I called her JennI and it kinda stuck Jenni works with me for Disney (so yep, it's a cast member trip) and has been there about six years I think. She really wants to become a visual merchandiser and her windows are really pretty

Jen loves Kronk, Lilo and Stich...in fact she'd marry Kronk if she could! And while she may look more like Lilo she's definately more like Stitch in personality.


So, that's the gang - the three caballeros. Oh, I forgot to say, Jenni and Andy have NEVER been to WDW before I still find that hard to believe but needless to say it's gonna be very exciting!

Ok, that's the intros. I hope you'll join me for the ride. Pre-trip rep starts now...

 

[seobaina]

The holiday was kinda a 'we should go' type situation that became 'lets book' so we've not really had long to think about it. We do now have 90 days though. I phoned Disney last thursday and managed to book a room at POP for the dates we wanted. We got a great deal because I got a CM discount. Annoyingly we could have stayed for 3 more nights for only £40 ($60) more each but we couldn't get any more time off. We'd also already booked to go to mousemeets in Manchester on 1st & 2nd May, so we had to get home on the 30th. Oh well, I'm not complaining cause we still have lots of time

We had to wait til Monday to check Andy could get the time off, which meant a nervous weekend, but we still managed to get flights for £429 each, direct from manchester to orlando.

Because I'm the only one who has been before most of the organising has fallen to me. I've also decided that I'm going to do everything I can to make this trip as magical as possible for them. I want them to love WDW as much as I do and thanks to all my dis friends I'm getting some great things done.

First thing I did was book a few meals. I figured we could cancel them if necessary but I wanted to get certain ones sorted while we could. CRT only had two morning slots left for our whole trip so I'm glad I did it when I did. So far our bookings are:

1) Akershus Princess Breakfast - 8:05am, 19th April. I've done this before and I just figured it was a nice way for them to meet the princesses. I've currently nominated this as Jenni's day.

2) Donald's Safari Breakfast - 9:25am, 21st April. This was recommended by Disers as a great breakfast and a good place to see Daisy. Which will make Andy very happy. I've nominated this as Andy's day.

3) Cinderella's Royal Table - 8:25am, 22nd April. It's the castle...do I need say any more? It's actually not my favourite but then, to be fair, the one time I ate here I was really tired and ill so I'm glad I get to give it another try. I know they'll both love just being inside the castle.

4) Chef Mickey's - 7:25pm. This is my fave character meal. We're going here for dinner because this is Andy and my birthday . I spent my 32nd birthday here and Donald blew out a candle with me

5) California Grill - 9:25pm, 25th April. It's kinda late for a meal but Wishes is supposed to be on at 10pm this night so I'm hoping I got the right time booking for it. I just thought it would be an extra special thing for them


I've sent the others a whole host of info on meals etc and we're currently considering Sci-Fi Diner, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Ohana Breakfast, T-Rex and 50s Prime Time Cafe. I'm also doing the big 'Fantasmic' debate. In the past I've always booked the fantasmic meal package with Hollywood and Vine. I'm trying to decide though if the 'WE MUST NOT MISS FANTASMIC' weighs heavily enough for booking to balance the 'we're kinda broke' thing

Anyway, that's the meals so far!

Note to self while I think about it - book magical express!

 

[seobaina]

With the help of disers I'm going to put together a bunch of little surprise things for them too! Just some silly fun.

The first thing I've done - which was a great idea I found on here - is to create an EPCOT passport each. I posted a thread about doing it for adults and got some great feedback (thank you) so I went ahead.

On the design threads I came across Natalie's work (http://www.4shared.com/dir/5978989/a06aa930/Natalies_DISigns.html) which are amazing. So I borrowed some of her stunning designs and then reworked them for what I needed.

Here's what I came up with:

Cover

(This is Natalie's design exactly)

Belongs to:


Mexico


Norway


China


Germany


Italy


American Adventure


Japan


Morocco


France


United Kingdom


Canada



I'll take a photo of the finished product tomorrow!

 

[lovealldisney]

Great start so far! Sounds like you're going to have a great time! Can't wait for the trip! Oh and I LOVE pictures!

 

[seobaina]

Thank you And good cause I will be taking LOADS LOL

 

[seobaina]

Ok, here's a shot of the finished passports. I've still got to put a plastic cover on them but I'm pleased so far. They're printed on cardstock and are about normal passport size.

 

[therealleigh]

The passports look great. But I have a question. When you put them together you can not fold and stack as the opposite pages will be different. So how did you assemble them if you dont mind me asking.

Thanks
Suzanne

 

[jenseib]

I love those passports! If/when we ever go again, I may have to borrow your idea (and ask for help) and make one for DD. I bet you guys will have a blast!
Sadly DH has said no to a trip this year. I am so dissappointed. I wish I could find a way to make a couple 1000 quick. LOL!

I just had to post this, talking about broke...in 1997 I took my 2 children who were almost 5 and 9 at the time (now almost 21 and 17, wow I feel old). We stayed off site, and had 5 day park hoppers. Our hotel and tickets were $500 total (may slight more, but around that range). We drove done, my mom ended up coming so we added her and she paid the difference, and we had a blast. I think I only spent about 3-400 more for food and gas and souveigners, though we didn't buy alot. Can you imagine if it only cost that much now! It was really alot for me to spend, but it was so worht it.

 

[seobaina]

The passports look great. But I have a question. When you put them together you can not fold and stack as the opposite pages will be different. So how did you assemble them if you dont mind me asking.

Thanks
Suzanne

I redid the pages as opposing pages (ie as if stacked) and put 4 on a page then printed them. Then I put their backs onto a page in same place and printed them onto the back. I'll upload them in a minute!

I love those passports! If/when we ever go again, I may have to borrow your idea (and ask for help) and make one for DD. I bet you guys will have a blast!
Sadly DH has said no to a trip this year. I am so dissappointed. I wish I could find a way to make a couple 1000 quick. LOL!

I just had to post this, talking about broke...in 1997 I took my 2 children who were almost 5 and 9 at the time (now almost 21 and 17, wow I feel old). We stayed off site, and had 5 day park hoppers. Our hotel and tickets were $500 total (may slight more, but around that range). We drove done, my mom ended up coming so we added her and she paid the difference, and we had a blast. I think I only spent about 3-400 more for food and gas and souveigners, though we didn't buy alot. Can you imagine if it only cost that much now! It was really alot for me to spend, but it was so worht it.

LOL a LOT more now, would be nice if it wasn't. To be fair our hotel is really good (about $264 each). That sucks about your DH :-( I love reading your trip reps too. I know what you mean though, really wasn't expecting to be going this year either. Can't really afford it but I've been working really hard and not going anywhere or doing anything so I need a break If you win the lottery I'll help you make the passports

 

[seobaina]

Here are the passport pages ready to be printed:

Page One & Backing


Page Two & Backing


Page Three & Backing


Page Four & Backing


Page Five & Backing


Page Six & Backing



Just centre the image on the page when printing. I just cut all the inside pages to just around the edge of the print (leaving the white bit that's between them there to fold obviously) and then I cut the cover with a small boarder of white top and bottom and large boarder of white on the left and right.

Hope that helps!

 

[Shir Kahn]

Great start! I look forward to tagging along on your trip!
I'm also a photo nut, I love TRs with tons of pictures!

 

[seobaina]

Thank you Welcome aboard!

 

[therealleigh]

Thanks for the info. I like another passport set of Natalies and was wondering how to make that work. Now I am set to change them around. Thanks.

Suzanne

 

[seobaina]

Yep, took me a while to work it out. I had to tear a piece of paper up and make a 'book' then right what was to go on each page. Then I seperated them out so I could see what I needed to print on each side LOL. I liked Natalie's designs very much, I just wanted to add some more characters and change the long design to a passport size one.

 

[elizablake]

Great start to your pre-trip report. I can't wait to read more. The passports look great. Did you staple it to hold it together?

We are eating at CRT, Akershus and Donald's Safari Breakfast in June. Great choices

 

[seobaina]

Great start to your pre-trip report. I can't wait to read more. The passports look great. Did you staple it to hold it together?

We are eating at CRT, Akershus and Donald's Safari Breakfast in June. Great choices

Thank you oooh you'll have fun. I've eaten at two of them before and everyone raves about Donalds. Promise I'll take pics and give a review for you!

 

[elizablake]

Thank you oooh you'll have fun. I've eaten at two of them before and everyone raves about Donalds. Promise I'll take pics and give a review for you!

A review when you get back would be great! I've never eaten at any of them. CRT is really for the eating in the castle experience so I can't see how we could go wrong there. I've heard great things about Donald's Safari Breakfast too.

I have another question about your passports. Do you know where you can get them stamped in each country? I was thinking about making one for DD. She's in kindergarten so she won't be able to write much and I'm wondering if she is too young for one.

Happy planning.

 

[seobaina]

No I don't think she'd be too young at all. I've not actually done it but I adapted these to be quick but of interest to adults. Sure you could do something that would be of interest to her. Something like 'how do you say the name of Dopey in this country' or something. I forgot to answer your earlier question. I've not stapled them yet but I plan too yep! As for the stamp locations...you go to the kidcot station in each country and they stamp them there. You can ask CM if you need too but they are marked on the map too http://www.orlandowelcomecenter.com/espanol/images/EPCOT-Map.jpg

 

[seobaina]

Andy has never been on a flight this long before - never been to the USA! He made the mistake of asking me if they'd feed him, have movies etc and that got me thinking So, I've created activity books for all of us.

The covers were adapted from a design I found on Dis. I'm really sorry but I can't remember who it was made by because I've been on loads of sites . If anyone knows please post here.

Anyway, I borrowed a couple of their pages too and then went routing around the net. Thanks to some searches and some links on Dis I found a puzzle-maker, some dot-to-dots and colouring pages. So I've put them all together. I think I'll need to laminate the cover so they're not stuck together yet but if anyone is interested here's what they look like:

And if anyone wants the contents, etc, it's here:

 

[seobaina]

Ok, the addiction has really struck . I've kinda got carried away over the last few days and have lots of things There are just too many inspiring ideas on here. Anyway, this is what I've been working on:


I started off with creating a 'welcome' letter. I'm going to put this in the package I give them before we go I THINK! I'm gonna give them all the info soon, then all the goodies when we're there...except the activity book for the plane.

This design was online - a dis designer (think Natalie). I apologise now if I credit people incorrectly. I've been on ALL the design threads I think and I'm confused where things came from cause I downloaded as I went.

Then I thought I'd do a welcome note for when we actually arrive - to go with all the other goodies (passport, etc) that I'm working on.

I printed both on cardstock and cut them out around the print edge exactly. They look cute - particularly the little message.

The next essential was, of course, the mousekeeping envelopes. We have 11 nights accomodation so I wanted 11 diff designs. Most were found on dis, along with the template, and a couple were my own old dISigns from 2006/8.