4 days until we get to He-ea-ven! 4 days until we get to Dis-ney World! Sept'12 PTR

[glj104]

hard to believe we will finally be at the Poly on Friday. I started my count down at 386 days.

 

[nadira36]

hard to believe we will finally be at the Poly on Friday. I started my count down at 386 days.

Welcome - and hope you have so much fun on your vacation!

So exciting 4 days! Have to say I'm a little Jealous! :good vibes I can hardly what to go back.

 

[nadira36]

Ok, how did I miss you were staying at AOA too? Or did I know and my sad brain just didn't process this info? I would love to hear what you are going to think of it, it's on our list for next year....maybe...

Good luck with the Jiko reservation

Which halloween party are you going to?

Hahaha My sister is due to have a baby at the start of our trip, but we don't like taking time away from Disney to visit family (outside the parks). Soooo we decided to add a couple days onto our trip to stay at AoA - room-only. We'll take the time to explore the resort and just relax - plus my sister will be able to visit us, without spending really any money (they rarely go to the parks to meet us, so planned resort time will be perfect to accommodate a newborn).

We're going to the first party on the 11th - we considered the 14th, but originally our plan was to leave FL on the 15th and we didn't want to have a late night before a travel day - but then our plans changed - we considered the 14th, but we'll stillm be checking out on the 15th, and changing my ADRs didn't appeal to me so the 11th it is. PLus we're hoping, being a weeknight, that it'll be less crowded


Anxiously awaiting hearing back from Jiko - and the friends we're meeting up with for dinner - we tend to only ever see people while we're at Disney, but I'm loath to actually take time away from the parks.

 

[nadira36]

I've got Jiko!! We'll have an earlier ADR than we planned, so we aren't likely to do everything at HS we planned on, but we do have 2 extra days without parks planned, so we could hop over there to watch a show or ride a ride if need be.

This also changes when we're likely to do a DVC tour, since our plan had been before dinner. I'll have to see how everyone's feeling that day.

I also received an e-mail from special diets. It's the longest message we've ever received front hem, and the only personalized message, however we never really came away with any real info. Basically, use talk to the chef when we arrive, and read labels. I feel a tad disappointed because even if it wasn't Disney, I'd expect to do that. In the past we've received a list of all the prepackaged foods used and where to find the safe ones. This time we didn't get the same information.

The girls are getting very excited! We made our first ever Disney countdown calendar and they LOVE putting up their sticker each day. Aurora can now count to 40 with almost no help, and Lilo can coutn to 40 faster than I can! Tink likes to eat stickers so is rather upset that she doesn't get to add her own each day. Poor girl.

So we're debating taking Tink for her first haircut at the Main street barber shop - she's badly in need of clips and/or a haircut, but we're not sure which we want to do. Aurora still hasn't had her first real haircut (she did cut a curl off herself last year), and Ella was 3 before her first haircut, so being faced with a currently 16 mos old baby with hair going everywhere leaves me a little unsure. A haircut means baby's growing up

 

[jennyjinx3]

Yay! So glad you got Jiko! A DVC tour??? Interesting! Is this something your family is contemplating???

 

[nadira36]

Yay! So glad you got Jiko! A DVC tour??? Interesting! Is this something your family is contemplating???

Thanks - so excited about Jiko! We loved it last time (well, other than our children breaking all those wine glasses).

We've been contemplating it for close to 5 years we actually purchased 360 points three months ago - but the girls were SOOOOOOOOOOOO about not staying at the Poly anymore that we cancelled and decided we'd take a tour of DVC first. If our family stays the size it is, then DVC may or may not be worth it. We love the Poly!! However, there is talk about our family increasing in a size - and if it does, then DVC is the best route for us to enjoy Disney to the best of our abilities. Now that we're looking at GF pre-sales starting soon, and (possible) Poly ground breaking for DVC it's sounding even better.

 

[jennyjinx3]

Thanks - so excited about Jiko! We loved it last time (well, other than our children breaking all those wine glasses).

We've been contemplating it for close to 5 years we actually purchased 360 points three months ago - but the girls were SOOOOOOOOOOOO about not staying at the Poly anymore that we cancelled and decided we'd take a tour of DVC first. If our family stays the size it is, then DVC may or may not be worth it. We love the Poly!! However, there is talk about our family increasing in a size - and if it does, then DVC is the best route for us to enjoy Disney to the best of our abilities. Now that we're looking at GF pre-sales starting soon, and (possible) Poly ground breaking for DVC it's sounding even better.

Wow!!! Awesome!

 

[nadira36]

Getting closer!

I finally got Aurora's passport renewed - I didn't like the idea of waiting around Passport/Service Canada with 3 kids for an indeterminate amount of time, so I waited until DH was home so I could go on my own. Unfortunately Dh's been working so much that the first chance I got was last Monday. When I arrived at Service Canada, I was informed there wasn't enough time to get the passport before our trip - so I had to go downtown to Passport Canada. That meant at least 3 hours of my day. Yesterday I managed to get there, we should have her passport in the next 2 weeks. :good vibes

We pre-ordered photopass+ and received our voucher and CD of pictures in the mail. We've spent the last 2 days looking at the Disney photos and comparing them to the ones we already have from our previous trips - and trying to figure out how to get our camera to do a couple of the fun shots Disney has on the CD.

The girls are super excited, but I don't think they realize how CLOSE we are to going. Sure, we're counting down, but the concept of 39 more days really doesn't mean that much to them. 2 weeks is forever in their mind, over a full month? How dare we expect them to wait that long. Aurora keeps asking if we can go today instead.

 

[nadira36]

Do you have plans for Halloween costumes yet? Our girls will most likely be princesses (we have BBB ressies) or pirates (we also have PL ressies - we'll cancel one set of reservations closer to the date, once they decide what they want to be).

I've been having such a tough time thinking up costume ideas - everytime I think of a great idea I discover it'll take a lot of time or money (or both) to pull it off. I've been getting a bit bummed and worried that I'll have to be a pirate for the 3rd year in a row.

Then it hit me. We already have the perfect costumes - and I'll look gorgeous! (at least I better) It's not Disney, but we'll be going as Tristan and Yvaine from Neil Gaiman's Stardust! Dh has the perfect shirt and trousers - all we'll need is a brown vest for him. I have a lovely satin silver gown to wear. I'm so excited about it - this is one of DH and my favourite books. I may look into a wig though since my hair is not exactly 'star' like - in fact it's rather dark. All total, even with a wig it'd only cost us max $70 to complete our looks vs the $300 we were looking at for pretty much every other costume idea I had.

Of course the girls asked who our costumes were supposed to be - so next book we read to them will be stardust I can hardly wait to introduce them to it

 

[jennyjinx3]

Nice idea! Although I have to confess I may have to google "stardust" myself! Our girls also have a BBB appointment the day before the Halloween party right before our CRT dinner. So, they will be picking our their princess costumes (probably Merida ) and then wearing them to the Halloween party too. Hopefully the hair holds!! Not sure about our costumes yet....hmmm pirates maybe??

Glad to hear you got the passport straightened out. I think we are ok for those this trip, next time I will have to do some renewing.

 

[nadira36]

We've done BBB a few times and have had no problem with the hair holding. THough Aurora has very very fine hair and hers would need to be touched up to do it the next day. Though they send you home with everything, so I doubt you'll have any concerns - esp if you have hairspray with you.

I'm very excited we booked Little Tink in for her first haircut at the Harmony barbershop She's half the age the other two were before they got their first haircuts (and Aurora's ONLY haircut was a year ago when she cut 1 curl off, nothing else, just one curl). Poor Tink's needed a cut for a while - she can't see passed her bangs

I also booked DH for a haircut at the same time - his hair is currently longer than half the girls in the family - and so very thick he'd die int eh FL heat if he doesn't cut it. Though our appts will make it tight following our Ohana BFs - BF is at 9:30 and hair is at 11. We figure we'll walk to TTC and take the fairy since it'll the least likely to have time delays (squirrels aren't likely to run in front of that thing! ). If needed DH and Tink will go ahead and the big girls and I will follow after, but I really want to be there for her first haircut!

In other news - we may have sold our house!!! Today is the day conditions are to be removed - we're really hoping the buyer removes the conditions. This'll be a huge weight off our shoulders if the house is finally sold!

 

[jennyjinx3]

Oh the haircuts sound great! I loved the look of the Harmony Barber shop, so cute. So...how did the house business turn out? Hoping it all went smoothly!

 

[nadira36]

Oh the haircuts sound great! I loved the look of the Harmony Barber shop, so cute. So...how did the house business turn out? Hoping it all went smoothly!

I am so excited about the haircuts. Wanna know a secret? After visiting the MK somewhere close to 75 times (wow that was some fun math ) over the years (not counting work), I've NEVER been in the harmony barber shop. I am so giddy looking forward to this, first haircut, first visit to the harmony barbershop -

** a huge pile of nerves today, lets just say we didn't follow basic legal advice, we signed paperwork that wasn't filled in already . The buyer asked for an extension, we were told it was until Tuesday, but turns out it was Wednesday.

So today with 15 minutes until it was too late for them, they finally signed off the conditions! Poor Dh and I have been at each others throats the past 2 days due to stress. Luckily we were able to talk things through and apologize - and ask for a bit of forgiveness and tolerance until this is done. The problem id DH goes back to work on Firday and works for the next 10 days - so we basically have a 2 hour time period in which to sign the documents we're hoping he can manage to get a day off, but we won't know until Friday. **

BUT the good news is that our house sold!!


After over a full year of carrying 2 houses (you don't even want to know how much mortgage we had - this is Alberta after all!)

As soon as that's completely off the books, we'll be able to actually start living our life again.

I'd hoped we'd have a few months of our new budget before we went to Disney - it'd give us a better idea if we could afford DVC without putting us in the same position we'd been in with the other house. Now I'm pretty sure DVC will be out for the next few months. Of course I'm still not sure if DVC is actually right for us or not. Oh the debate!

 

[nadira36]

Oh boy has it been a crazy couple of days. The bank has been difficult, but we finally closed and the new owners are in our old house - we should have everything paid off tomorrow. It ended up costing us a bit more than planned/expected, but we'll figure it out. Of course, when it rains, it pours. While I was on my way to the lawyers today - our van went haywire There I was driving down the highway, when suddenly my traction control turned on (which made it feel like I was on ice), and suddenly I could excellerate. Not a problem, until I tried to change hiways, and couldn't excel to get back up to highway speed. I had 3 kids and no phone, and had a time limit to get to the lawyer (or the deal would fall through). So there I was, hazards flashing, driving 30 down the highway b/c that was as fast as my van would go. We made it to the lawyer with 5 min to spare. And now we're looking at a new transmission (luckily it's under warranty still).

So now I'm having nightmares that something like that happens while we're on the way to the airport - I can just picture DH grabbing the suitcases while we hike down hiway 2 with 3 kids, a buggy, and a train of suitcases.

 

[jennyjinx3]

Oh boy has it been a crazy couple of days. The bank has been difficult, but we finally closed and the new owners are in our old house - we should have everything paid off tomorrow. It ended up costing us a bit more than planned/expected, but we'll figure it out. Of course, when it rains, it pours. While I was on my way to the lawyers today - our van went haywire There I was driving down the highway, when suddenly my traction control turned on (which made it feel like I was on ice), and suddenly I could excellerate. Not a problem, until I tried to change hiways, and couldn't excel to get back up to highway speed. I had 3 kids and no phone, and had a time limit to get to the lawyer (or the deal would fall through). So there I was, hazards flashing, driving 30 down the highway b/c that was as fast as my van would go. We made it to the lawyer with 5 min to spare. And now we're looking at a new transmission (luckily it's under warranty still).

So now I'm having nightmares that something like that happens while we're on the way to the airport - I can just picture DH grabbing the suitcases while we hike down hiway 2 with 3 kids, a buggy, and a train of suitcases.

Oh my goodness! Take some deep breaths...it will all work out . I am glad that your house sold, and you made it to the lawyers on time! And so sorry about your van, we just traded our old one in for a 'new' used one because I was afraid of ours too. Hope it isn;t too expensive for you.

 

[nadira36]

Oh my goodness! Take some deep breaths...it will all work out . I am glad that your house sold, and you made it to the lawyers on time! And so sorry about your van, we just traded our old one in for a 'new' used one because I was afraid of ours too. Hope it isn;t too expensive for you.

Thanks our van is new lol only 3 years old and 45k on it - that's it. We lost both the transmission - and last night the radiator. Luckily it's all under warrenty - but they can't guarantee the parts will be in before our trip But I explained to the service dept guy why I need my van and he said he'll put a rush - if nothing else we could possibly squeeze into DHs car - it'd be tight, but it might be possible.

This has been a crazy summer, and now it's pretty much over. We've been just above freezing over night. If my furnace wasn't off, it'd have kicked in twice already. I can hardly wait to arrive at the Poly. The girls are already planning their days. First thing after the haircuts our first day, they want to check out the new Dumbo - they think the new line looks pretty awesome and can hardly wait - to wait

Lilo's tall enough for Space Mountain this year - and she wants to ride though I am a bit nervous. She loved BTMR, but not splash mountain, I'm worried SpM will be too fast, bumpy, too anything/everything. But there's no way I'm letting her realize that I'm nervous. I mean I was only about a year older when I rode for the first time, and I'd never been on anything even remotely like it before. Though Admittedly it did terrify me - I couldn't ride with my eyes open on SpM until I was almost 10.

Aurora's tall enough to ride BTMR, Splash Mountain, and Dinosaur. I can hardly wait - though I'm a bit nervous about her and dinosaur - she tends to be frightened easily. But she's also one of hte most strong willed, stubborn people Ive ever met - and she says she will love it. It's her favourite ride, dontcha know? There's no way she'll be scared. I hope she's right.

OUr little Miss - Tink - is almost tall enough for the Speedway. We think if we put her crocs on her, she can ride. Though with 20 whole days she just might grow the last 1/4 in on her own.

 

[jennyjinx3]

Oh Yeah baby we are so close now!!!

 

[nadira36]

I've determined PTRs are not my thing great intentions, but with so much going on, it seems just one more thing to do

I called today to try to order a cake for my birthday - waiting to hear back from Pat at the GF. I tried AKL first to have the cake for our big meal at Jiko - but they said noway could they accomodate our allergies. Last year we got an awesome cake for dinner at Citricos. The cake was amazing! lilo & stitch for my little Lilo when she turned 5 - she LOVED it. I know they can do gluten-free, it's the corn-free I doubt they can do - if we're okay with buttercream, no fondant (which I am) then we might be okay - all depends on if htey can get the right confectioners sugar - their cake recipe itself should be okay. It's teh frosting that'd be the problem. I want cake!!!

Actually I'd just love if DH did something for my birthday, but I know it isn't going to happen. If I don't arrange it myself, it won't happen. And I don't really like planning my own 'surprise'.

Our girls are getting so excited - and so are DH and I. Though more than anything we're just worn out. THis summer's been so stressful and it won't stop until we literally board the plane. We're both so happy we threw caution to the wind and booked the trip - and kept the trip even though finances were looking grim. Yes, the extra money would be nice, but nothing heals a stressed out soul faster than a trip to Disney.

Each day we do our countdown. okay we actually really only do the countdown stickers about once a week, I am not on top of things like that at all. The good news is that we've discovered Lilo can divide small numbers quickly. It's been six days since we last put a sticker up. We have three girls, how many stickers does each girl get to put up? She told me the answer before I even finished asking the question. I tried a few more quick questions with small numbers -a nd she got them too A million and one reasons why this trip is good for our family

12 days! Found the suitcases! Now gotta figure out what we're bringing!

 

[nadira36]

4 Days left! I can hardly wait!

On top of everything else happening my FIL ended up in the hospital and had emergency heart surgery. Good news is he got out of CCU yesterday and looks like he'll recover just fine. But very tough on everyone right now.

IN more important, Disney, news we're almost completely packed, passed off the house keys to my SIL/BIL to watch our puppy, printed our lists of dining options, and are busy charging our electronics.

I'm also very excited that we managed to order a gluten-free,corn-free cake for my birthday dinner. I can hardly wait to see it!

I don't think I'm going to sleep between here and the Polynesian - I'm too excited to sleep!

 

[jennyjinx3]

I hope we can meet up at the POLY!!! Safe travels and let's be on the look out for families with three girls!! We have dinner at 'Ohana on the 12th at around 5:30......take care!!