50 Movie Theme Nights To Countdown To A Glass Slipper Challenge *3/2 Snow White Theme Night*

[JessicaKnits]

50 Movie Theme Nights To Countdown To The Trip of a Lifetime!​

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my trip report! I'm so glad that you joined me for my rambling journey as I plan our next trip to the Happiest Place on Earth!

I'm Jessica and I will be your tour guide on this wonderful journey.

I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive about starting a trip report SO far in advance of our trip! I have a ton of things I want to do before this trip and also happen to have a week off of work recuperating from a procedure I had to treat acne scarring on my face (ahhh....those teenage years!) So, I figured there would be no time like the present to get started. Excessive boredom does tend to lead to hours upon hours scouring The Dis, no?

As the title suggests, this will be a PTR with LOTS of theme nights! I just absolutely love theme nights! They are such a great way to build up excitement for a trip and reacquaint yourself with your favorite classics! I love cooking and trying new recipes and there is no better way to do it! I can't wait to share with you all! I have FIFTY theme nights planned. That's one per week until we go!

This will be my forth trip to the World and I think each time, I always try to top the last trip. It gets more and more challenging each time, but I think we've got some good things in the works!

Up Next: Introductions

 

[JessicaKnits]

Chapter Links

The Who
The What/The When
The Where (AKA The Great Resort Debate)
Movie Night #1 ~ Snow White ~ Menu & Plans
Movie Night #1 ~ Snow White ~ Apple Candles (With pictures)
Movie Night #1 ~ Snow White ~ Recipes
Movie Night #1 ~ Snow White ~ Pictures

 

[jchurch0409]

I can't wait to follow along! We are leaving in 63 days and are only doing a few movie nights starting next week! I can't wait to read what all you come up with!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

joining in! Its always fun to see the creativity of others!

 

[JessicaKnits]

I can't wait to follow along! We are leaving in 63 days and are only doing a few movie nights starting next week! I can't wait to read what all you come up with!

That's awesome! What movies are you planning on? I'm so jealous you are going in two months! I hope you enjoy your trip!

joining in! Its always fun to see the creativity of others!

Welcome! Thanks for joining along!

 

[jchurch0409]

That's awesome! What movies are you planning on? I'm so jealous you are going in two months! I hope you enjoy your trip!

Right now we are doing weekly themed nights with a meal with my mom, step-dad, sister and brother. We are planning on doing Peter Pan, Brave, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Fantasia, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, and Winnie the Pooh. Then we are just watching some separately, without a meal or craft or anything. Those are Toy Story, Lion King, Finding Nemo, Mary Poppins, Princess and the Frog, Jungle Book, Dumbo, Swiss Family Robinson, The Little Mermaid, Monsters Inc, Lilo and Stitch, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Adventures of Brer Rabbit, Mulan, Pocahontas, The Three Caballeros, Snow White, Rapunzel, Frozen, and Tarzan.

 

[JessicaKnits]

Right now we are doing weekly themed nights with a meal with my mom, step-dad, sister and brother. We are planning on doing Peter Pan, Brave, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Fantasia, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, and Winnie the Pooh. Then we are just watching some separately, without a meal or craft or anything. Those are Toy Story, Lion King, Finding Nemo, Mary Poppins, Princess and the Frog, Jungle Book, Dumbo, Swiss Family Robinson, The Little Mermaid, Monsters Inc, Lilo and Stitch, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Adventures of Brer Rabbit, Mulan, Pocahontas, The Three Caballeros, Snow White, Rapunzel, Frozen, and Tarzan.

Your list is very similar to mine! I'm really struggling with what to make for Tarzan and Cinderella though!

 

[jchurch0409]

We had a snow day today and DS4 begged to watch "Targen" lol, so we watched it today with no special snack or anything lol.

 

[JessicaKnits]

The Who
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Well, here's a little bit about ourselves to get things started.

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That's me on the right, and my best friend Megan who will be joining me for this trip. We went to Disney in February of 2014 and that trip is what inspired me to take this trip!

I am a North Carolina native that transplanted to Wisconsin with my family when I was six. For the last three years I have divided my time 50/50 between my home in Wisconsin and Charlotte, NC for work. When I'm not planning trips to Disney I enjoy getting to travel and experience as many new things as possible.

This will be my fourth trip to Disney World, having gone in August 2010 (Pop Century), August 2012 (Coronado Springs) and most recently, February 2014 (Art of Animation). As I've already mentioned, I love having theme nights (they can be for adults too!!) and I get just as excited about planning a trip as I do actually going on the trip itself! Since I am starting this PTR so early, we literally have nothing planned!

Megan lives about 30-40 minutes away from me. We've been friends now for going on 10 years. This will be our second major trip together!

Up Next: The What

 

[sahm2two]

Following along! I'm thinking about doing some theme nights with my kids after we tell them about our trip. We have a long time to go, so we aren't telling them yet. I did just watch Swiss Family Robinson with them though since it's on Netflix! They liked it more than they thought they would. I'm glad because it's one of the movies I watched a lot when I was a kid... it was recorded onto a VHS tape

 

[RunnerMommyof4]

Very interested! Following along...love movie nights!

 

[JessicaKnits]

Following along! I'm thinking about doing some theme nights with my kids after we tell them about our trip. We have a long time to go, so we aren't telling them yet. I did just watch Swiss Family Robinson with them though since it's on Netflix! They liked it more than they thought they would. I'm glad because it's one of the movies I watched a lot when I was a kid... it was recorded onto a VHS tape

Thanks for stopping by. I had NO idea that movie was on Netflix! Oh no! Now I might have to add another theme night to our list!

Very interested! Following along...love movie nights!

Welcome! Thanks for joining along.

 

[JessicaKnits]

The What/The When
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On our trip to Disney last February, we were headed to breakfast at The Crystal Palace at 8 AM on the first morning of our trip. Seriously, every single trip I've taken, The Magic Kingdom is my first park of the trip and I must have a pre-park opening ADR at The Crystal Palace.

We ran into an unexpected detour which for the first time in the history of my time in Disney I was LATE for an ADR. Because there was a MARATHON happening. More specifically, a half marathon. I felt a great deal of DIS Boards shame because not only did I not know that the Princess Half Marathon was happening that morning, I had no idea what it even was.

We had a rental car last trip which meant we were in charge of navigating ourselves to the Magic Kingdom through the "back roads." Our GPS was FURIOUS at us because we were absolutely not following her directions because we didn't want to you know, run over people running on the way to breakfast.

That whole week it was really amazing to see how many people had run! They were EVERYWHERE with their medals of honor. They looked adorable the morning of the race in their tiaras, tutus and sparkly running shoes!

So it dawned on me that I wanted to be one of those people. Originally I had wanted to run the half marathon this year, but work had other plans for me. I decided 2016 would be the year for me. I had a whole sales pitch prepared for Megan about why this was a GREAT idea for us. About two seconds into it she gave me the "absolutely not. I don't do running." response. She did agree to go as my cheerleader though. And so, this trip was born.

I haven't run a half marathon since my freshman year of college, which sadly was almost TEN years ago! For me, my goal is going to simply be to finish the race. But, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to go all out. So I will be doing the whole she-bang and running the...

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For those not familiar, that means running a 10K on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday. That's a lot of running! And if I'm going to run, something good should come out of it, right? I have decided I would not only like to run, but I would like to partner with one of the charity sponsors as well. I haven't decided which one yet, but have narrowed it down to two choices: TAPS, which provides grief counseling and assistance to the families of our fallen military heroes or Autism Speaks. I have a deep personal connection to both of those charities, so choosing will be very difficult. To run as a partner of one of those charities, you need to raise about $1500, so that's a pretty tall order. Once I have decided, I plan to set up a GoFundMe page so that family and friends can contribute.

Of course, the trip isn't just about the marathon. We plan to have some fun too!

Right now, the plan is to leave on the Thursday prior to the race, so that I can go to the expo and we can settle in without having to stress out over delayed or cancelled flights, etc.

We haven't decided exactly how long we plan to stay just yet, but it sounds like we will stay through the following Sunday, so 10 total nights. We are considering possibly spending a day at Universal as well, just to be able to see The Harry Potter park. And so far, that's really all we have planned.

Has anyone done any of the RunDisney races before? What has your experience been like?

Up Next: The Where

 

[sahm2two]

I know a girl (fb friend... don't know her that well IRL) who just did the glass slipper challenge! Doesn't sound like fun to me but good for you!! And awesome that you're doing it for charity!

 

[JessicaKnits]

I know a girl (fb friend... don't know her that well IRL) who just did the glass slipper challenge! Doesn't sound like fun to me but good for you!! And awesome that you're doing it for charity!

Haha, I'm still not sure about the fun part just yet. But I'm always up for a new challenge!

 

[JessicaKnits]

The Where (AKA The Great Resort Debate)
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So, the only thing that we seem to be at odds at for this trip seems to be where to say. I have never stayed at the same place at Disney, and this will now be my fourth trip. Its not to say that I didn't love he resorts, because believe me I did. I just like a little variety in my life. Previously, I've stayed at Pop Century, Coronado Springs and Art of Animation. Last trip, we paid full rack rate for a room at Art of Animation just so we could stay in the Little Mermaid rooms. We absolutely didn't expect to love the resort so much, but paying full price when there were so many great deals going on during our stay left a knot in my stomach the whole time. So, in short, where end up staying will likely depend on what discounts are available. We have at least agreed on a preliminary ranking.

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#1 ~ Port Orleans Riverside - Royal Room

This resort ranks number one for a few reasons. First of all, ROYAL ROOMS! Nothing is more fitting for two grown up princesses that a royal room, right? I also haven't had the opportunity to stay here before so I would jump at the opportunity!

Unfortunately, this resort has often been left out of discounts offered. If that happens to be the case, we would need to cross this one off our list.

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#2 ~ Coronado Springs

Because margariiiiiiiiiiitas! It would be a bit disappointing to stay somewhere I've already been, but it was a great resort and it would be a good alternative if we can't snag a discount at POR. We both love Mexican food and margaritas, so it can't be that bad.

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#3 ~ Polynesian Village

I don’t have any concerns about the construction going on here, as that should be long over by the time we would be arriving. Having close access to the Kona Café and the new Trader Sam’s, plus being on the monorail line would be HUGE plusses for us. With planning to do so much running, we will likely have quite a bit more downtime than we have in the past, so being in more luxe accommodations would be worth it for this trip.

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#4 ~ Pop Century

This was the first Disney resort I ever stayed at, so it will always hold a soft spot in my heart. It was completely adequate for our stay, and is almost always including in the discount packages that are offered. This is my last choice even though it’s the least expensive because I have stayed there before, and we do plan to spend more time relaxing at the resort on this trip, so it would be nice to have a table service restaurant and a nicer pool area on site.

So tell me, what's your favorite resort to stay at?

 

[Gracefulskinny]

My favorite resort hands down would be POR! I'll be able to report back in May whether the Royal Rooms are worth it or not.

 

[wellesleyprincess]

Pop as become my default resort and if you liked AoA it's close enough that you can use their food court and walk around the resort.
Poly would be nice for the race as it's a monorail resort.

When running I would prefer a smaller resort or pay extra for preferred. Having done several RunDisney races the last thing I wanted to do was hike across a resort after the run. Therefore I'd be hesitant with Coronado and POR.

I'd also suggest you consider POFQ (smallest mod, cute theme, relatively convenient for the race) and the EPCOT area resorts.

 

[JessicaKnits]

My favorite resort hands down would be POR! I'll be able to report back in May whether the Royal Rooms are worth it or not.

That's great to hear! I love the overall look of that resort with the Antebellum mansions.

Pop as become my default resort and if you liked AoA it's close enough that you can use their food court and walk around the resort.
Poly would be nice for the race as it's a monorail resort.

When running I would prefer a smaller resort or pay extra for preferred. Having done several RunDisney races the last thing I wanted to do was hike across a resort after the run. Therefore I'd be hesitant with Coronado and POR.

I'd also suggest you consider POFQ (smallest mod, cute theme, relatively convenient for the race) and the EPCOT area resorts.

This is great advice! We will have a rental car while we are on site, even if we stay at the Poly (free with my National points) so that might help with some of the long distances at the larger resorts. But that is something I hadn't considered before!

 

[JessicaKnits]

Movie Night #1 ~ Snow White ~ Menu & Plans​

Originally, I had planned for our first movie night to coincide with Fat Tuesday and to have a theme night for The Princess and the Frog. However, crazy winter weather elsewhere in the country (for once, Wisconsin was spared) created complete and utter chaos at work, so we had to scrap those plans.

What better way to start off our theme nights than with Walt's first animated classic: Snow White?

I don't have anything fancy planned for decorations, other than these super cute apple candles that I found on Pinterest.

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Now I'm not one for arts and crafts, but these seem REALLY simple, so I'm going to give them a shot. If you're interested, the instructions can be found here.

For the menu, we're sticking with classic German fare. German potato salad, brats and kraut (on pretzel rolls of course) and my famous Cider Apple pie (which we have re-named Candied Apple Pie) for this theme night.

Check the menu I made here...

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Up Next: The recipes