A Pre-Trip Report for our First Family Visit to see Mickey. Am I really doing this?!

[piratehookspixiedust]

I cannot believe I am doing a pre-trip report. I have not been to Disney World since I was seven years old. My parents took me when I was three and then took me back when my sister was three and I was seven. I remember little things about going, but it has been twenty years and I have three children so my memories are foggy. I am very excited to be planning this SECRET trip for our family of five.

Well, here are the stars of this show:

Me, DH, two wild boys, and a baby girl.

First there is me- Nicole. I am a 26 year old stay at home mom to all three kiddos. I am a Disney FANatic and have been for my entire life. I watch Disney movies more than the average six year old I a more than certain. My iPod has a Disney playlist and I know every word to every song. There is just something about what Walt Disney has managed to create. I believe in the magic, as cheesy as it sounds! HA! I love reading and crafting also. I also love to blog but rarely find the time. Especially since school has been out for the summer. I love Jesus and living in the south. I am the planner of the family and slightly OCD. I keep us in check.

This is DH- Cag. He is an extremely hard working man and I am very thankful to have him. He busts his tail for us so that my kids can have their mom at home to raise them. He is a Disney World virgin. He honestly had no desire to ever visit. Says it is expensive and that we could go to Six Flags. He is so clueless... I am VERY certain that this trip is going to make him hooked and we WILL be back. He is a sucker for seeing his kids faces light up, hehe He is a football nut and loves to coach the boys baseball teams. Also plays golf in his down time.

This is DS (11)- Blake. Blake is my stepson but is my first baby! DH has always had full custody and he does not have contact with his mother anymore (her choice apparently) He is just as much mine as the children I gave birth to and I love him dearly. He is an exceptional baseball player. Kid has an arm. He also loves to hunt with my daddy. He loves his video games and has always been into Star Wars. He is starting middle school in about two weeks...

This is my baby boy DS (5)- Lucas. He is the light of my life. The most upbeat, happy, and sweet child ever. He is very easy going and just likes to giggle. He laughs at anything and everything. He is also a baseball player, he is in t-ball currently). He, along with his older brother, will be starting fall ball in a few weeks. He has the biggest imagination I have ever seen. He could play with a toilet paper roll for an entire day and not get bored. He loves Disney Channell and Disney Jr. His favorite Disney movie is the Toy Story trilogy (although Tangled may be a close second... don't tell his daddy- hehe). He was nuts for it until he discovered Monter trucks. Now he just loves all things Disney like his mama. He is starting kindergarten in about two weeks...

This is our sweet baby girl (11 months) Paisley- She is definitely just that- all GIRL. She is a princess and has been since the day she came into the world. She loves things her way and is not afraid to let you know it. She is a prissy little thing and loves to watch Disney movies in the car. This is manily due to the fact that I turn them on because she hates to be buckled in her seat. She hates to be contained period. She likes to roam free as much as possible, which is so funny because until she could crawl she wouldn't let me put her down. Not. At. All. She is trying so hard to walk. Her record is at seven straight steps now. We are in the process of planning her first birthday party which will be Alice in Wonderland themed.

On to the vacation. The first and major thing is that it is a total secret. The kids have no idea we are going. We fully intend on keeping it a secret until it is time to get into the car and head to Orlando. I still am completely unsure on how I am breaking the news. Suggestions??

I have been busy at night planning this trip. I am trying hard not to overplan things. It is our first trip and they are small so I want them to be able to go with the flow and enjoy of course. I have planned one ADR and that is for a character lunch at the Tusker House on our Animal Kingdom day. I tried to get Chef Mickeys but I am a rookie and didn't do it soon enough.

I also would really love for the boys to do the Pirates League since we will be attending MNSSHP! I am more excited for this night than anything else that trip. I love Halloween and to go to Disney with all the fall decor and Halloween festivities taking place makes my year!

We originally booked the Allstar Movie Resort, but changed as soon as we found out that Art of Animation would be opening the standard room section only a week before our trip. Little Mermaid room, here we come!

I am very into crafting and have several things planned to make for this trip. I have been clearance shopping Disney items to minimize on souveneir costs. I also plan on making some matching shirts for us and the kids autograph books. I will post these as soon as I begin. Right now I am in birthday party mode too so I have a million things going on!

I am so excited and cannot wait until fall break! Mickey better be ready come September!

 

[piratehookspixiedust]

I have to add that I have been begging my husband for YEARS to go to WDW. He finally caved when I got free dining.

This is something that the kids and I made. We throw in spare change, or five bucks here and there. We have sold some things and added money also. We call it the Disney Jar. It is one of DD's old formula cans that we made over. It is in my bedroom and the kids love it. They have no idea we are actually planning to go, just that it is a dream of ours.

 

[piratehookspixiedust]

I just had to update today and say that...

We leave in TWO months exactly!!

I can barely contain my excitement. The kids still have no idea at all. I am trying to think of the best way to surprise them. The way this is going dawn will be that the two boys will get home from school around 4 or so. DH will be leaving work early that day (hopefully) and will be arroiving around the same time or shortly after. My mom is excited and wants to be there to video when we tell the kids. I am thinking that while they are at school that day (it's a Friday and they will be on fall break once they get out that day), that I will have everything packed and ready to go in our room which will be locked. I plan to tell them that we have to leave to go somewhere but I am still trying to think of a really creative way to scream

"WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY!"

We will be leaving and driving most of the way that evening into the night. We live about 8 hours away.

I do have tags I plan on laminating to go on their suitcases and they say "Out of my way, I'm headed to Disney!" The only thing is I want them to get it together. Not for my oldest to freak out and poor Lucas to stand there clueless.

I am still brainstorming, but suggestions are welcome!

I am also going through my parents old pictures and trying to see if we can find some from our trips when I was little. I will be posting if I do!

 

[Nemo32]

Subbing! Your children are adorable. And I love reading about people's first visits, so your DH is in for a treat. Looking forward to all your crafts too! I have to put together my LGMH for our upcoming trip.

 

[piratehookspixiedust]

I am a little late in the game (hello, first time planner here...) but I managed to get two ADRs made. Here is our schedule as it looks now:

9/21: Surprise the kiddos after school and hit the road! Check into a hotel close to Orlando on the way.

9/22: Arrival day! Check in ASAP. Explore hotel of course. Have lunch and head out to the Magic Kingdom. I want this to be the first park my kids see! We will be checking out Main Street Electrical at 8 and Wishes at 9 and then heading to bed.

9/23: Animal Kingdom. Be there at opening hopefully. I havent planned a whole bunch but I know we want to see Festival of the Lion King as it is a favorite movie in our house. Also hoping to see the Jammin Jungle Parade at 3:45. We have an ADR at 11 am for Tusker house character meal.

9/24: Hollywood Studios! Not too worried about being there as soon as it opens. We are taking advantage of EMH that pm. The boys will love the Pixar parade and of course I cannot wait to see Fantasmic!

9/25: Magic Kingdom! EMH in the am this day so I am SO excited to take advantage of that! We will explore til lunch and then head in for a good long nap and head back right before dinner. We will most likely eat there and hang out for MNSSHP until twelve when it is over. I paid a pretty penny for those tickets and plan on using them to their full advantage!

9/26: Sleep in! Pool, lunch at hotel food court... not too busy. That evening we plan to explore Downtown Disney. We have an ADR for Rainforest Cafe at 6 pm. With a 13 month old I am not wanting to overdo it too badly. She needs a day in the middle of this for some down time. Especially after being at MNSSHP the night before so late.

9/27: EPCOT. I have yet to plan anything specific as this park seems to intimidate me when it comes to specifics. No clue why I am working on it...

9/28: Magic Kingdom. Can you tell that is my favorite? I say that and I have not been in twenty years. I am just basing this on my personality. I would love to be there for rope drop and the show. But I think we will see what the fam wants. I am fairly certain the kids will not mind going back there. Nobody hates Magic Kingdom, right?

9/29: Get up and check out. Head on home.

 

[Nemo32]

Plan looks great! Can't wait to hear about MNSSHP! Epcot can be intimidating...I'd break it up...go in morning and then back in evening for WS.

 

[reyasmommy]

I can't believe you live 8 hours away from Disney and haven't been back since you were a kid. I live 30hours away and we've driven about 6 times! Yep, we're crazy!

Your plans look great and your kids are absolutely adorable. Your DD has the prettiest blue eyes.

Is there anyway for you to keep it a complete surprise until the moment you arrive on Disney Property? Just tell them you're going on a short trip to somewhere in florida and don't mention Disney until you're getting ready to pass through the gates? I surprised my DD with a trip to Disneyland last year and it did NOT go as planned. I cried, because I didn't get the response I was hoping for. So this year NOOOO surprise. Well, she thinks we're going at Christmas and we're actually going for Thanksgiving so there will be a little bit of a surprise, but she's fully aware we're planning a trip to Disney World.


Anyway, looking forward to reading more.

 

[piratehookspixiedust]

Thank you both so much.

I know we are pretty darn close, we just haven't had the funds and my parents only took us those two times. Trust me, I would have been a ton. My family has not even been yet and I am already telling DH to be ready, because when we get back from this trip I want to plan a trip for Christmas time in 2013.

I really would love to tell the kids that we are just going to Florida and let them "get it" just as we come up on the Disney gates, but my oldest is 11 and tends to be a HUGE big mouth. I am so scared that he would see the signs that says "Disney World ___ miles" or something and blab and ruin it. He is extremely observant, I know for a fact he would not miss those signs! I am so unsure as of what to do. I saw in a magazine yesterday that I could get the youngest two some cute duffle bags for the trip and part of the surprise for 9.99 apiece! Here is the link to them:

http://www.lakeside.com/Purses-%2B-Travel-Bags/Travel%2BCollection/Licensed-Overnight-Bags/prod320058.jmp?sorted=Y&navAction=push&fm=topnav&categoryId=cat52191&navCount=0

I am thinking this bag for my oldest son. He is eleven and would not carry a bag with Lightening McQueen. He is into hunting and this is only four more dollars:

http://www.lakeside.com/Purses-%2B-Travel-Bags/Duffel%252C%2BSports%2BBags/Outdoorsman-Canvas-Duffels/prod321157.jmp?sorted=Y&navAction=push&fm=topnav&categoryId=cat52191&navCount=0

I pinned a website that I want to look at tonight too. It has ideas on planning kids and it has ideas for all different personalities.

BTW, here is my Disney pinboard:

http://pinterest.com/nchappell15/a-dream-is-a-wish-your-heart-makes/

Just sharing the love

 

[justakrazymom]

I'm in..our trips overlap!

 

[Nemo32]

Love the pinterest board!

 

[RooRach0906]

Joining In!!! I didnt finish reading your plans but will in a minute or two but I had a suggestion for telling them. Since you said you thought about the Pirates League for the boys I assumed they liked Pirates so I thought you could do a treasure map and at the end you could have a box of gold Mickey head coins (paper) and a sign in the lid that says "We're going to Disney World" just idea. Ok now I will finish reading.

 

[RooRach0906]

Your plans look great!!!! I should not have clicked on the link for the travel bags because now I want to buy it for DD!!! I love love your pinterest page and hope you don't mind but I had to follow!

Your kids are so adorable!!! Your DD eyes are beautiful!!!

 

[piratehookspixiedust]

Thank you so much! That is actually a great idea! They would love that and they could do it together! Poor DD isn't gonna remember any of this so I would like to focus a lot on the boys. Of course she gets some surprises too and her time will come

 

[piratehookspixiedust]

We have definitely been in the "Disney" spitit around here. I just scored two Cinderella dresses for my DD (size 2t and 4t, but we plan ahead when we get good deals) for ten bucks apiece! They are straight from the Disney store so they are of course beautiful and great quality! We got a 2t in the ball gown and a 4t in the wedding dress. Is it bad I wish I could secretly put on the wedding one?

I also scored this for DD. It is from the Disney Store too. Ten bucks:

It's the little things that make our days magical:

Little do they know, we visit the mouse in 59 days!

 

[Nemo32]

Great buys!

 

[jennyf2]

Your kids are ADORABLE! I can't wait to readt the rest of your TR What a GREAT surprise!

 

[piratehookspixiedust]

Well, it has been a little bit since I updated. It's not that I have had a lack of excitement, but rather the kids started school AND I am planning a first birthday for baby girl. Alice in Wonderland themed! Yay!

I have not added anymore ADRs to our trip. We have the character meal at the Tusker House on our first full day and then the Rainforest Cafe the day we do Downtown Disney. I have decided I didn't want too many reservations our first trip. I want the kids to lead us. Decide what excites them. I do plan on trying my absolute best to squeeze them in at The Pirates League (they are booked now ).

I have some tshirt crafts coming up! I cannot wait to share them with everyone. I am making Magic Kingdom shirts first and our Animal Kingdom ones second. I haven't decided if I will do more than the two sets, I guess it depends on how these go.

I also really want to get started on the kids autograph books, but I am having a hard time finding the index card books that are actually PLAIN cards. Every one I find has the blue lines??

The surprise is still undecided too... I know, I know...

 

[piratehookspixiedust]

I'm back! I know, I know, my PTR sucks. That's because we had a huge financial emergency and I wasn't sure if this trip was even going to happen anymore. It makes me sad to even type that. Good news is: WE LEAVE IN THREE WEEKS!

I just got word that all is ok from DH so the first thing I did was reserve our double stroller with Orlando Stroller Rentals. That's done at least!

Now I am SO excited again and I cannot believe that our first official family trip to see the mouse is happening! I have SO much to do in three weeks to prepare so be ready for updates galore... even though I have been pretty boring until this point!