A Surprise (Road) Trip to Disney! Sept 2013

[CopperWife]

A Surprise (Road Trip) to Disney! September 2013

Hi, ya’ll! First of all, I have to start off by saying that my DH drove me to this. God bless him, he has listened to my Disney thoughts about the perfect resort, he let me go on and on about my concerns with whether or not Free Dining was going to happen, and he even let me talk his ear off about our dining options. But this trip has been in the works since February 2012, so the poor man has reached his limit.

“Honey,” he tells me, “I’m just as excited about the trip as you.” He pauses here, it might have something to do with the look of disbelief I give him. He tries again “but I don’t care what we do. You always do such a good job of planning the trip and I’ll eat wherever.” So fine. No help from him. Remember this.

Along the same lines, I guess this is more of a PTR-TR. Most people start PTRs at the beginning of planning. Since the hubby put up with me for so long, I never felt the need to make one. But since it’s so late in the game, I need to give you a bit of back story as to how this all came to be.

Wait…I’m getting ahead of myself. First, introductions!


I am Brandy. I am a mostly stay-at-home mom of 2 little girls. I work very part time at a pet store (which is where I met DH so very long ago). I grew up in Florida and was lucky enough to get to go to Disney with my grandparents when I was little. My earliest memory is staying at the Disney Village Resort (boom! Blast from the past!!) I even have horrible memories of the pink castle – they are foggy memories, as I feel I have tried to repress them.

Next up is Donnie. I will mostly refer to him as The Hub for this PTR (not to be confused with the location of Cinderella’s castle). He works very hard to take care of his family and enjoys Disney. He doesn’t LOVE it, but he likes it a whole lot!



Now up to the kiddos. First in line is our lovely DD9, Cadence. Our first born is definitely a mini-me, through-and-through. She loves animals, she loves to read, and she loves to make lists. She has never been a girly-girl (much like her Momma), but was sweet enough to put up with the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique twice!




Bringing up the rear, is our DD6, Clara. We’re not sure where she came from. She was quite a grump as a baby, it’s a good thing she was so cute. Sometime between 1 and 2, she grew out of her grumpiness and became the little person she is today. She is girly to the core – loves princesses, dolls, and anything with glitter. She is Hilarious (note the capital H) and commits to her antics – she won’t stop until she gets her laugh.



Just a little disclaimer....this is my first PTR and pretty much my first time posting pictures. I will try my best, so please be gentle if the pictures are huge or sideways

 

[CopperWife]

Alright, now youve met the fam, lets get into our familys history with Disney. The hub and I were married in July 2002 and we decided to spend our honeymoon in Orlando. Half of it would be spent at the Hard Rock Hotel and Universal/Islands of Adventure and the second half would be spent at Disney and the Animal Kingdom Lodge! I kid you not, we have exactly one picture of the both of us from our honeymoon and it was at the Hard Rock Hotel, so it has no place in the PTR. I blame the fact that we did not have a digital camera at this point. We joke about our old tyme-y camera that we had back then - hey, lets take this picture and hope it turns out!

Moving right along to May 2006, there was talk of a big family trip (my family of 3, plus my ILs, my BIL, and my DHs aunt and cousins with their families) a grand total of 13 going to Disney in May of 2007. I was a little concerned about the timing as I was about 3 months pregnant at the time and I thought Disney with a 7 mo old was a little more than I was up for. Thankfully, DHs female cousin ended up getting pregnant and was due in May of 2007, so the trip was postponed until May 2008. It ended up being my family of 4, my ILs (2), BiL (1), DHs cousins family (5), DHs Aunt (1), DHs male cousin (1) grand total of 14! Cadence was 4 and Clara was 19 months. We flew and stayed at POFQ. Here are some highlights from that trip...


First time meeting Mickey and Minnie.




Cadence right before her big reveal!




Clara, waiting for Dad and Big Sis to get off Primeval Whirl.

 

[CopperWife]

Fast forward to August 2010. We started planning another trip, only this time it was my little family (4) and my ILs and BiL. This time around, my little family decided to drive (19 hours, straight through!) and my ILs flew. We left on a Friday night around 5pm. We didn’t have a plan, other than to drive until we were tired – the next thing we knew, we were at the Florida Welcome Center! We got a burst of energy from our free orange juice and hopped back in car. We drove up to Pop, hoping to find a room for one night but ended up at AS Sports because Pop was booked solid. The remainder of our vacation was spent at POR. Cadence was 7 and Clara was 4.Here are some highlights from that trip…


Lilo had a crush on the Hub and wanted nothing to do with me.



I lucked out and got picked for Flights of Wonder.




Daddy and his princess.

 

[CopperWife]

The vacation came and went, like they always do. Life went on, like it always does. The hubs and I always had plans to get back to Disney, with just our little family. Our in-laws have taken us the past two times and while we’ve enjoyed it, we always wanted to be able to do exactly what we wanted to do, when we wanted to do it. Well, time flies when you’re having fun raising your two little babies and before I knew it, my oldest turned 8 in December 2011. Hubs and I started talking, as we were starting to run out of time – our oldest DD would soon be 10 - the age of the "Disney Adult" on the dining plan We knew we had to get our butts In Gear if we were going to get back there. So, the first week February 2012, I sat down and made The Plan. I priced out a couple of different weeks to go to Disney in September 2013 and then I made a budget. I had hoped for the best (free dining or, at the very least, a room only discount) but prepared for the worst (rack rates!) We decided to drive again as it was the most cost-effective plan. I made up a spreadsheet with how much we needed to put away each week and I was determined to stick to it! Disney, here we come!

Then it happens. Like it ALWAYS does. I have a Plan and it goes to heck.

We went to the Wisconsin Dells and spent a long weekend at an indoor waterpark, trying to break the cabin fever. Clara has a cold and the cold gets worse. Like really bad. Like 3-breaths-in-the-time-I-take-one, bad. Like her skin-is-on-fire, bad. We cut the trip short, go home and see the doc. The doc says Clara’s about a second away from needing to be admitted to the hospital for bacterial pneumonia! Yikes! She gets a shot and is sent home. That evening rolls around and she looks like death. It’s 8pm, the hub is at work and I’m home with both the kids and Mommy-Instinct tells me Clara needs to go to the ER now. She’s lethargic and still breathing fast, way too fast. I pack the kids up and head to the ER. BiL’s girlfriend comes and picks up my oldest while I spend the evening in the ER with the youngest. ER doc checks her out and orders a chest x-ray. Yes, pneumonia we know! She gets a breathing treatment and 2 bags of fluids and we are on our way at 1 in the morning, in what has now become a snowstorm. Fun fun.

This little ER trip was not in the budget, but when are they? Pneumonia gets better and then the flu rolls through the house. Clara gets it, Cadence gets it, Clara gets better, Cadence gets better, then I get it. Womp womp. Now, you all know, nothing good happens when the Momma gets sick. March 16 is an unseasonably warm day by us and the kids beg to go outside and play. “Please Momma, we want to ride our scooters, we know you’re sick, you can sit in a chair and relax.” The hub is at work, but I relent (like a good mom). We are outside no more than 5 minutes when Cadence falls off her electric scooter and says “Mom, I hurt my arm.” I’m reading and I say “you’re fine” as I look up from my book and see she is NOT FINE. Her normally straight arm now has a bend above her elbow. 911 is called, the ambulance comes and the EMT assures me that it’s just dislocated. We get to the hospital and the nurse tells me nope, it’s not dislocated, it’s broken. They take x-rays and the doc comes in and tells me that it’s not just broken, but Really Broken and they have to call in a specialist. If the specialist can’t come, then they have to load us up in an ambulance and transfer us to a hospital an hour away. Thank God, the specialist comes and informs us that she broke the end of her humerus off. She needs surgery and pins and if everything doesn’t go well, she could have nerve damage and might not be able to use her thumb again. Oh good times. Surgery gets done, we spend the night in the hospital and go home the next day. Once the shock wears off a week later, I am sure that this has broken our Disney budget. Her elbow heals as it should, but she still needs to do 6 weeks of PT twice a week to get her complete range of motion back.



Somehow, our Disney budget keeps on, keepin’ on.

 

[CopperWife]

Creeping right along, July 2012 comes along and the rates are released for 2013. Obviously, everything went up a bit, so I tweaked our budget as needed. My DH’s job requires him to pick his vacation time for the following year in October, so we gambled on when free dining might be and decided on Saturday, September 29, 2013 through Saturday, October 5. We’d be there for the start of Food and Wine and our youngest DDs birthday is October 3, so we’d be there for her actual birthday. Yay!

January 2013 rolls along and what do I find in my mailbox, but a Pin code! A glorious pin code. I ripped that bad boy open to find out that we could get free dining!! But it was for the beginning of the year. But wait, there’s more! A room only discount ending…..September 28. Womp womp. I call to price it out and I think it saved up $53, so we decided not to book. I was going to wait and hope for a pin for free dining, or for free dining for GP.

Life goes on and March 2013 rolls around. I am getting antsy about booking. For some reason, I have it in my head that I have to book our hotel so I can make our ADRs at 180 days which is just around the corner (I know, I know, so wrong). I talk with the hub about where we should stay. The resorts on my list are AKL (in my dreams!), POR, POFQ, Pop, and AoA. Obviously, AKL is scratched right away – free dining or not, it’s still not in the budget. We have budgeted for POR so POFQ is also in the budget. Along the same vein, Pop and AoA (LM rooms) are, too. So I ask the hub where he would like to stay and he replies “I don’t care, whatever’s cheapest.” Well, thank you, Mr. Grumpy Gills.

So the decision is up to me. Part of me wants to stay somewhere new, so I am thinking Pop or AoA LM. But I really liked to food court at POR (make your own pasta and salad bar – yum! ). Landscape of Flavors at AoA has that, so that’s an option. Pop gets cut. POFQ does too, for that matter. Now I’m down to AoA and POR. I’m concerned that AoA LM rooms won’t be included in the free dining discount, so I decided that since we’ve budgeted for POR, that’s where we will stay. If free dining comes along, then bonus! If it doesn’t come along, then maybe we will bump down to Pop to save some money and give us a bit of a cushion (we can always walk across the bridge to AoA to get my delicious make-your-own-pasta!). Just because I’ve budgeted for it, doesn’t mean I want to part with all our hard saved money.

On March 19, 2013, I call and booked our trip.

We are staying Saturday, September 28 – Saturday, October 5 at the Port Orleans Riverside (with a room request in Alligator Bayou because I love those rooms). We are doing a 6 day PH ticket with the Disney Dining Plan. CM on the phone informs me that 180 days out is April 1, 2013. Like I don’t already know that

 

[CopperWife]

Now starts the ADR saga. Where to eat?

Boma, for sure. On our honeymoon we ate there 3 times, that’s how much we love it.

Be Our Guest was on the list – it’s new and one of Clara’s nicknames is Belle. So there's that. Plus, there’s steak on the menu and that girls loves her some steak. Hoping to get that for her birthday.

We love Coral Reef and the girls have eaten there on every trip, so it’s tradition,right? Plus, we’ve got 4 fish tanks in our house, so we like fish. Both to watch and ingest.

I’ve always wants to do Sci Fi Dine In. Yes, yes, I know the reviews are horrible, but I’m not going there for their food, it’s more for the ambiance. Plus, the girls have just been exposed to the wonders of an real-life drive-in, so I thought they’d get a kick out of it.

On our past two trips, I’ve so desperately wanted to do Le Cellier, but it never happened. That’s on the list (even at two credits!) (see above comment regarding steak). I’m a sucker for crème brulee, too.

I was also hoping to catch an pre-park opening at Crystal Palace as well. Who doesn’t love an empty Main Street?

We’ve done CRT for breakfast the past two times, so maybe we’ll give Akershus a try for change of pace? Plus, we’re going to run out of credits…

Via Napoli sounds delish and the hub’s half Italian, so that sound good too.

Well, there’s only so much food we can eat (and credits on the DP), so it gets narrowed down to the following. Sci Fi, Boma, Le Cellier, Akershus, , Crystal Palace, Be our Guest.

One thorn in my side regarding planning was the park hours. I wanted to get a pre-park opening ADR for Crystal palace, so I had to make sure I was going on a non EMH morning. I was also considering MNSSHP, but wasn’t sure which night to go. I didn’t want to waste prime party time eating a TS credit. So I made the decision that we would go on Friday night – the last night of our vacation, we’d be going out with a bang!

On April 1, 2013, I woke up at 4:45 am CST to hop online and make my ADRs. Naturally, the website was being screwy, so I was having a mild heart attack. Is this some sort of sick April Fool’s joke?!!? Finally (at 5:02 CST ), everything started to work. I tried for BOG first since I knew that would be most difficult and we were able to score one on Clara’s birthday for dinner! Yay! Next was Le Cellier. Boom, got it! I jumped the gun on CP and selected “breakfast” instead of a specific time for CP and got 8:40. The other ones fell into place. I was so happy to get all my ADRs. I may or may not have done a little dance in my living room.

 

[CopperWife]

Yada, yada, yada, life goes on. May rolls around and Disboards is abuzz with talk of Free Dining dropping on May 9, 2013. Rumor is that it will be offered only September 2-September 25. I hope against hope that this is not true. We can’t change our dates (the hub’s been locked into this vacation time since October 2012) and it breaks my heart to think we will miss it by 3 days. Rumor also says that AoA LM room will be included. Very exciting. Sure enough, May 9 comes and the rumor about the free dining dates is True. I am heart broken. I try to figure out a way to make it work, but it’s just not happening. The rumor about AoA-LM rooms being included is Not True.

Then BOOM – someone on the Dis says they got a free dining pin code for the rest of the year! The dates go all include nearly all of September and go through October 2 – OUR DATES ARE INCLUDED!! This is what we need! I obsessively check my email and run out to greet my mail lady every day.

Finally the day came. I checked my mail one afternoon, flipping through it as I walked up my driveway. Then there IT was. My yellow envelope from Disney Destinations. I’m fairly certain I heard angels sing. I ran in the house and called my husband to tell him the news. Needless to say, Mr. Grumpy Gills (“let’s stay where ever’s cheapest”) was happy. Not only because we were saving a boatload of cash, but because I would stop talking to him about Free Dining (He called it “fretting.” Ta-ma-toes, ta-mah-toes! ) I was worried because the word on the Dis was the POR was filling up. I was concerned we’d have to switch resorts (or room views). What if we couldn’t stay at POR? Could we maybe afford AKL? Ohmygosh, I was getting ahead of myself. So I called and the lovely CM on the phone said we could apply it to our stay and we didn’t have to change from standard view! Yay yay yay! All that fretting for nothing!

 

[CopperWife]

Now we’re nearly caught up to the present day. Just last week, I decided to tweak ADRs of course. I was not 100% sure about Akershus for dinner. The cold buffet didn’t sound appealing to me, nor did any of the entrees, so I thought about cutting it. I ask the hub and he says “it’s up to you, babe. But do you think we can eat in Germany?” What?? Where was this “Germany” months ago when I asked your opinion? Ugh. I hated to be a baby since this was his only request, but we’ve eaten in Germany the past 2 times. I thought it was ok (the girls only ate apples and bread), but I wanted to try something new. I had been doing some research and the Cape May Clam Bake sounded like a winner. You can walk there from Epcot? All you can eat seafood? Seems like a no brainer. They even had food the kids would eat – and ribs, too! I ran it past the hub and he gave me the thumbs up.

But then I started doing some more research and it seems like the Disers feel that the quality has gone down, there’s not a big selection of desserts anymore and there’s no more ribs. Womp womp. What else can we do? So I check my short list and say “how about Via Napoli in Italy, babe? They’ve got great pizza.” I turned the laptop around and show him some of the pizza pictures from the food thread. Boom! He is sold! Now where to squeeze it in? This is where we are at now.

Saturday, 9/28

Sunday 9/29
5:55pm Sci Fi Dine in

Monday, 9/30
6:30pm Boma

Tuesday, 10/1
6:10pm Le Cellier

Wednesday, 10/2
8:50am Crystal Palace
5:25 Akershus

Thursday, 10/3
5:30pm Be Our Guest

Friday, 10/4

Saturday, 10/5

Like I mentioned previously, I wasn’t sure about Akershus dinner. I wanted to keep it in the mix because we didn’t have any character meals planned. So I had the grand idea to it as a breakfast instead of as a dinner. I moved it to Tuesday morning and then added Via Napoli for dinner one Wednesday night. I know I am one credit over our DP, so I think we are going to pay OOP for Sci Fi. Thoughts on that?

Saturday, 9/28

Sunday 9/29
5:55pm Sci Fi Dine in

Monday, 9/30
6:30pm Boma

Tuesday, 10/1
9:40am Akershus
6:10pm Le Cellier

Wednesday, 10/2
8:50am Crystal Palace
6:20pm Via Napoli

Thursday, 10/3
5:30pm Be Our Guest

Friday, 10/4

Saturday, 10/5

(on the days we don't have TS, we will be doing CS)

Okay, now all the ADRs are set. They are. Surely. I don’t think I will be tweaking anymore.

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[spiritsim]

Just to let you know I am following along we are going to stay at POR oct 2014 so interested on other trips there. Can't help with reservations though this is our first trip to the world. Disneyland was my life as a child...

 

[CopperWife]

Following along!

Thanks! Glad to know someone is reading along. I typed that all up last night and hope to add more. Still lots of things to be decided!

 

[CopperWife]

Just to let you know I am following along we are going to stay at POR oct 2014 so interested on other trips there. Can't help with reservations though this is our first trip to the world. Disneyland was my life as a child...

Have you found the POR thread? There is a ton of information there about the resort - and if the info isn't there, someone can find it for you. They are so helpful over there

We love POR. The grounds are so lush and even though it's a big resort, it's pretty quiet. We love the food court - I think it's the best of the moderates. I am sure you will love it

 

[spiritsim]

yes I have been there ty. Everyone is so helpful, I will be a POR expert before I even see the place I really wanted Poly but not the price ,my daughter wanted AoA but I need a queen bed. So we decided on POR after much debate. After ready about it and seeing all the great pics I am glad we will be there.....

 

[CopperWife]

What else is there to fret about? Oh, lots!

First of all MNSSHP! It is going on three nights when we are down there. Sunday, Thursday, and Friday. We decided against Sunday because it was our first full day in the parks and we knew we’d want to get any early start that day. That left Thursday and Friday. We were able to score BOG for Clara’s birthday on Thursday, and I wanted our last night in the park to be at the MK, so the Friday night MNSSHP seemed like a no brainer.

But, as it normally goes, once I had it set, I started thinking. It was always in the back of my mind that we wanted to have a good time at MNSSHP (duh) so we would go on the night that had the best weather (i.e. no rain!). I know that MNSSHP can sell out, but rainy weather is a deal breaker for me, so I am going to wait until we get down there to buy our tickets. If the weather is bad on Friday, we will go on Thursday night, even with our BOG ADR. Ideally though, Friday is the night we’d like to go. Then I was thinking (fretting)….would Thursday be the better night? I imagine it would be less crowded as I am guessing more locals are apt to come on a Friday night vs. a Thursday night? And there is that’s little itty-bitty price break on a Thursday night over a Friday night. Decisions, decisions! At this point, I am going with my gut. I will wait until we are there to buy the tickets, keeping my fingers crossed for nice weather on Friday night!

Which night we go to MNSSHP is the least of my concerns on the matter. The more pressing issue is what are we going to wear? It has to be weather-appropriate (Clara is prone to “over-heatin’” as she calls it) and I’d like it if we could all be “themed.” It’s hard though, with 1 boy costume and 3 girl costumes. Hmm. Clara told me she wants to be Alice for Halloween this year (again). I just don’t know. I’ve got plenty of time to think.

 

[CopperWife]

yes I have been there ty. Everyone is so helpful, I will be a POR expert before I even see the place I really wanted Poly but not the price ,my daughter wanted AoA but I need a queen bed. So we decided on POR after much debate. After ready about it and seeing all the great pics I am glad we will be there.....

You know, for the longest time, I never understood the appeal of the Poly, but as I get older, I see that it is classic Disney

My girls really wanted AoA, too. The Family suites just weren't in the budget and I would've been fine with just a Little Mermaid room (and the l-o-n-g walk), but free dining is a big savings for our family and we just couldn't pass it up. I am sure you will be pleased with your POR choice

 

[spiritsim]

The more I find out about it the better I like it

 

[CopperWife]

Prepping for the Road Trip



MapQuest tells me that it takes a little over 18 hours of travel time from door to door When we drove to Disney in May 2011, we took our 2004 Ford Escape and the drive went great. It ended up taking about 19 hours. Our initial plan was to drive as far as we could go and get a hotel for the night.

We left our house around 5pm on a Friday night. We stopped for some drive-thru for dinner and ate in the car. I started out driving initially, but once we hit Indiana, I let the hub take over. In my mind, the hub and I would switch off every 2-3 hours, but that didn’t happen. We hit Kentucky around 11pm and the kids had been out for about an hour at that point. Both the hub and I were feeling pretty good because we were making good time, so the hub kept driving. I closed my eyes and dozed off and on. The hub woke me up, just north of Atlanta; it was probably around between 4 and 5am. He said he was getting tired so we stopped for gas and switched off. The girls work up at this point, which was a bit earlier than I had hoped. I drove for a bit while he slept and the girls played quietly We stopped for breakfast at McDonalds – this time we ate in the restaurant so we could stretch our legs. We were pretty excited because we were getting close. I am not sure at what point we made the conscious decision to drive straight through, but we had gotten our second wind and we were so close! We stopped at the Florida Welcome Center for some free OJ and some pictures, and then hopped back in the car. We rolled into Pop around 12:30.

The girls were great in the car. Better than I expected, but it was not without a lot of planning. My kids are good, but 19 hours in a car is a lot for anyone, let alone a 4 and 7 year old So I was determined to make sure everything went smoothly. I wanted to make sure everyone had enough space to be comfortable and we had activities to keep the kiddos entertained

All of the luggage fit in the back of the Escape and was low enough that we had an unobstructed view out the back window. I packed a red duffle bag which I kept up on the floorboard of the passenger sent. This was the “Bag o’ Fun” and it held all the entertainment I had packed for the drive. I kept a small, soft-sided cooler on the floor of the backseat, in between the girls which had our drinks and some perishable snacks. This whole set up worked well for us.

Well, for this trip, I’ve decide I’m going to stick with what works. The only exception is this time, we will be driving our new Chevy Traverse! It’s a bit bigger than the Escape and even has a third row. We opted to get our vehicle with the 7 passenger seating, so it has two bucket seats in the second row, rather than a full bench seat. I am thinking this will be awesome for the trip. The girls will have their own space, so (hopefully) no whining!

I am still going with the same packing scenario for this trip. All of the luggage will go in the back. I am fairly certain it will all fit behind the third row. In all honesty, I haven’t quite yet decided if we will have the third row up or down for the trip. I like the idea of having it up because it gives the girls more seating options if they begin to annoy one another we shall see.

I’m going to do the soft sided cooler again this time. It was nice having cold drinks handy. It saved us some time, since we didn’t have to stop, and money, because we didn’t have to pay premium prices at the gas station. For this road trip, I am going to bring two of these coolers – one for cold things and another just to hold all the snacks. So far, this is what I am planning on bringing. I plan to pack little Ziploc snack sized bags to make things easier.

Bananas
Trail mix
Goldfish crackers
String cheese
Lunchable Snacks
Pretzels
A couple big lollypops/suckers
Small water bottles
Red Bull

Next, is my “Bag o’ Fun.” I’ve been picking up things here and there for the past year and a half, so I have a good number of activities. My one mistake from our first road trip to Disney was that I didn’t plan anything new for the ride back. Doh! So this time around, I will be prepared!

Disclaimer: I know this sounds like overkill, but in the case of a road trip, I would rather have too much and not need it, than need it and not have it. Plus, we go on 2 hour road trips 5-6 times a year, so the extra stuff will get used. Also, I will list where I purchased each item.


I have doubles (one for each of the girls) of the following

-Super Doodles books (They are books that have a part of a drawing and a word prompt. For example, one has a picture of a waiter holding a tray and it says “what is the waiter serving today?” I think my girls will love these.) (five below)
-Mickey Mouse Clubhouse notebooks (plain paper for doodling) (Party City)
-Generic Princess invisible ink books (five below)
-Highlight puzzle books and a word find book (Target in the dollar bins)
-Minnie Mouse Play Pack (stickers, little coloring pages, and crayons) (Target in the dollar bins)
-Alice in Wonder Land Play Pack (Target in the dollar bins)
-travel bingo cards – the “retro” kind (World Market)
-Wooly Willy (five below)
-dry erase bingo (five below)
-little Mickey themed sliding-tile puzzles (wal-mart)
-eye mask for sleeping (Target dollar bin)
-homemade I Spy (thanks, pinterest! I haven’t made them yet, but plan to. They are made with an old jar, rice, little trinkets, and a checklist of all the items inside. I plan to make two different ones).
-marshmallow construction kits (once again, thanks pinterest! Just a little container with toothpick – or pretzel rods – and marshmallows)
-pipe cleaners/chenille stems – the kids loved making all sorts of things on the last trip.


Now, I’m on to the things that they will have to share as I only have one of these.

-dry erase board set up to play hangman, tic tac toe, and the dot game (five below)
-license plate game – I found this on Pinterest and it was a printable with all the license plates on them. I printed it on cardstock and I think I will have the girls work together on this. For each plate they find, I will give them $1 for souvenirs. It will just be money I budgeted to spend on them anyway, but they don’t know that!
-travel connect 4 game (walmart)
-Mad libs (five below)


We also have 2 handheld travel DVD players with headphones. I have picked up some new DVDs for the trip as well. I bought the Disney ones when they first came out on dvd/blu ray and the other I got from the $5 bin at Walmart.

-Wayne’s World (yes, our 6 year old loves this movie. I don’t even know where she saw it initially, but she quotes the movie all the time and I know she will be thrilled)
-Sponge Bob – Lost at Sea
-Mulan 1
-Mulan 2
-Wreck it Ralph
-Brave

Both the girls have a Nintendo ds which they only get to play when we go on road trips or to visit family that lives far away. I have picked up a couple of (new-to-them) games that I got at a garage sale.

-Nintendogs – daschund
-Nintendogs – Chihuahua
-Viva Pinata
-Super Mario Brothers
-Mario Party

We also have mp3 players for both girls. And lastly, we have 2 Kindle Fires that I plan on bringing. I’m going to get two new books for each of the girls and download some new, free, educational apps before we go.


Now, on to the practical stuff. About a week or so before the trip, I plan to take the Traverse in for an oil change. Our car is still new-ish, so whenever we take it in to the dealer (for our free oil changes for life ) they wash it, top off all the fluids, and check the air pressure in the tires, too.

We are AAA members, so I plan to order our TripTik about 1-2 weeks before we go. I used to order them about a month in advance, but the AAA agent suggested I wait as long as possible so they are as up-to-date as they can be. I found the AAA TripTik to be really nice the first time we used them, way back in 2007.

But that was before we got our TomTom, which I love It made our last drive to Disney so very nice! I mean, I had no problem driving through Atlanta while my husband slept. It was a piece of cake.

Lastly, I will raid our change jar before we go so we have plenty of spare change for any tolls.

 

[spiritsim]

sounds like a plan don't forget spare batteries. I also take a few zip ties with me you never know when a strap or something breaks and you need one