A trip 3 years in the making PTR

[leshunlenese]

Joining in! Glad that school testing is worked out!!!

 

[JoanneDisFan]

Back from Montreal. Loved the city, but I think I'll never vacation with my Father again.

Anyway we came home with $600 leftover and that will get put into the Disney fund. So it now looks like we can afford to fly. Bing Travel still says to wait as prices will drop. So I'm waiting and checking various sites trying to find a good flight and price. I'd love to fly from our local airport, but will drive to other airports if needed. Even considered Allegiant, but would rather fly into MCO and let Disney do the driving.

So I'm recovering from vacation and switching to Disney mode. Only 76 days till we go. I have the money to pay off our trip set aside and will probably pay it off in full in the next week. YAY!

 

[JoanneDisFan]

We are PAID IN FULL!!!!!

Still waiting on flights then we will be all set. DH's work does bonuses based on EPS so we should have a bonus in July and then no matter what we should be able to fly to Disney. Might even be able to convince DH to fly out of our local airport even though it's a lot more expensive.

Once I have flights all I have left to buy are MNSSHP, Photopass+, and Desert Party Tickets. Though I'll buy the Desert Party Tickets as soon as they are released. Stalking the thread waiting for the release.

Feeling better and better about Disney and can't wait to be in my happy place.

 

[klacey1]

Woo hoo!! Paid in full is a great feeling!

Ooo, September dessert party reservations still haven't been released yet?! We did it in 2011 and didn't love the desserts, but having a guaranteed table to watch Wishes from was great!

 

[JoanneDisFan]

Payday and the way paydays fall we end up with 3 pay periods in a month, not 2. So that means we have extra $. Yay! So Today I bought our plane tickets. Ended up choosing to drive 4 hours to fly out of Kansas City with a direct flight. But we arrive in at Disney at 10:30 am and don't fly out till 4:30pm to come home. All the more time at Disney. Tomorrow I'll but my photopass + and MNSSHP tickets. I'll book a hotel in Kansas City the night before with parking while we are gone as well. It's all coming together. 59 days and I put in my room requests and checked in at Disney.

 

[Katmat75]

Yay! So glad you were able to get plane tickets! It's getting closer! Cannot wait! I had to change my resort from CBR to ASMu due to not being able to come up with the $600.00 difference but at least we are going to DIsney!!

Come on September!

 

[JoanneDisFan]

Yay! So glad you were able to get plane tickets! It's getting closer! Cannot wait! I had to change my resort from CBR to ASMu due to not being able to come up with the $600.00 difference but at least we are going to DIsney!!

Come on September!

Too bad you had to downgrade, but at least you will still be at Disney.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

Great news my MNSSHP tickets arrived, as well as my Photopass+ cd. I've downloaded the pictures and using a bunch of them as my background on my computer. Getting my Disney fix.

I also did my tie dye mickey head shirts, and finalized my other 3 sets of matching shirts. In honor of talk like a pirate day while we are there I went with a mickey pirate themed one, and then I have a mickey head with the writing "Where's Daniel/" in them and "I'm Daniel!" for the littlest one. Last set of shirts is What happens in Disney stays in Disney with 3 mickeys covering his ears, eyes, and mouth. All are printed and ready to be ironed on.

We are still changing out minds as to Halloween costumes. DS talks about Mickey, Jake and Stitch as possibilities. I also really like the idea of the whole family doing 1 theme. DD wants to be Meridia and we have thought about doing the whole Brave family. Other thoughts were the kids are favorite characters and DH and I as cast members escorting the characters. Also considering DD as Lilo, DS as Stitch and DH and I as sister ad and boyfriend.

Only 50 days till we arrive at Disney.

 

[Magic2000]

Sounds like a great trip!!!

We'll be in Disney the same week! DH & I are flying in on Sept 13. We'll bring our DGD (2) with us. DD & DSIL are driving in on Sept 14. We're staying til Sept 21. We'll be at All Star Movies because DGD loves 101 Dalmatians!

We're undecided about MNSSHP. It would be a late night for the baby. Although I'm sure she'd probably do just fine staying up late!

Have a great trip - maybe we'll see you around!

 

[JoanneDisFan]

Sounds like a great trip!!!

We'll be in Disney the same week! DH & I are flying in on Sept 13. We'll bring our DGD (2) with us. DD & DSIL are driving in on Sept 14. We're staying til Sept 21. We'll be at All Star Movies because DGD loves 101 Dalmatians!

We're undecided about MNSSHP. It would be a late night for the baby. Although I'm sure she'd probably do just fine staying up late!

Have a great trip - maybe we'll see you around!

DS was 13 months old our last trip and we did mnsshp. He had fun but crashed in the stroller about 10pm. DH left with him about 11pm. DD and I stayed till the end and had a blast. I think with young kids, being flexible is the key.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

Mickey Mail has arrived!!!!!

It's getting so close. 35 days till Disney. 34 till we leave.

Shirts have been made, mickey mail has arrived. Only a few things left to do. I need to do the costumes for MNSSHP. And of course I'm eagerly waiting to see if we get picked to have magic bands.

 

[sunfun94]

Joining in! Can't wait to hear more! Esp. with how DS does now with the characters!

 

[JoanneDisFan]

Joining in! Can't wait to hear more! Esp. with how DS does now with the characters!

Well the other week DS was at McDonalds and a couple of the characters came out. At first he didn't want to go any where near them. But after a bit he warmed up and was giving them high 5's. So I think he will love the Characters. I'm especially looking forward to Chef Mickey's on DS's Birthday.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

Only 30 days till Disney!!!! YAY!!!!!!!

For anyone not following the drama on the Magic bands Disney is offering them at 8 of the 16 resorts in Sept. And of course no one knew till this morning exactly which resorts they were. Lots of speculation and guessing. And of course we ended up not in the pick.

At first I was trying to think of how I could make it happen. I admit I think the Magic bands look cool and who doesn't want to try the newest things. I even called and priced out the cost of switching to POR (which is doing Magic Bands) and it would only be $80 more to do this. But honestly we picked CBR for the pool. And we plan to spend some time at the pool. So I pulled up my big girl pants and stuck with our plans. DD didn't want to switch and DH didn't want to spend more $. It just means we wont get Magic bands till our next trip, which will probably be 2-3 years down the road. I'm trying to convince DH we need to do an adult only trip in 2 years for our anniversary as we never do anything to celebrate. Maybe even do the Everest Challenge 5k since it's also in early May.

But back to Disney plans. I did manage to make the BOG FP lunch reservation. We have that for the 20th, our last day in the parks. We also finalized our costume choices for MNSSHP. DD- Meridia, DS- Mickey, DH and I- CM's. So I'm going to be busy sewing once DD is back in school next week. DS's is mostly together and I just need to find some yellow socks and white gloves, and make the yellow buttons. For DH and I, we just need matching polo shirts and I'll make some extra big Cast Member name tags. So it's coming together.

Hard to believe summer is almost over and kids head back to school next week. If you remember the drama at the beginning of summer over the whole math situation, DD never did finish Algebra 1 over the summer. She did get about 1/3 done. I'm proud of her for even doing that little bit.

So only 29 days till we leave and 30 till we arrive back home at Disney. I'm so ready for this vacation and it will be much needed.

 

[sunfun94]

YEAH!! Only 30 days!!

There's been so much lately about the magic bands and fp+ its a bit difficult to keep up! Because a change with our plans we had to move to CBR! It will be a first for us.. We were going to stay at POFQ where we have stayed before, but DH wanted to do something new and our girls would like the subtle Finding Nemo decor and the pool there a bit better... We aren't headin out till Oct, so I'm still wondering if we will have bands or not.

Super excited for you!!

 

[JoanneDisFan]

YEAH!! Only 30 days!!

There's been so much lately about the magic bands and fp+ its a bit difficult to keep up! Because a change with our plans we had to move to CBR! It will be a first for us.. We were going to stay at POFQ where we have stayed before, but DH wanted to do something new and our girls would like the subtle Finding Nemo decor and the pool there a bit better... We aren't headin out till Oct, so I'm still wondering if we will have bands or not.

Super excited for you!!

I imagine you'll get the magic bands. First month they did 2 resorts, 2nd month 4 resorts, 3rd month 8 resorts. If they follow this pattern next month all 16 resorts will have them.

 

[JoanneDisFan]

It's only 2 WEEKS til Disney!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Things are coming together. I finished up Dh and my MNSSHP costumes. We are going as CM"s so I bought polo shirts and put an oversized name tag on them. I'll post pictures once everyone's costumes are done. DS's is done except I have not been able to find white gloves in toddler size. So we will probably just skip the gloves. He's going as Mickey mouse. His was very easy. DD is going as Merida and since she's actually taller than me I opted to sew her the dress. So I found a pattern similar to the dress, but had to put in the parts where the underdress shows through. Of course she wouldn't let me just make an underdress, she just wanted inserts where needed. So I've got most of it done. I still have the neckline insert and shoulder inserts to go. I will be very happy when I get it done. My goal is done by next Saturday.

I've also started putting together the scavenger hunt's for each of the kids. DS's will just be pictures of where he needs to go next. His will take place on his actual birthday. So his first clue will be a bus. Second clue will be Epcot. Third clue bus again. Fourth clue Pool at CBR. Fifth Clue bus again. Sixth clue is Chef Mickey's. After Dinner at Chef Mickey's we will let DS choose what to do. DD's is a lot more complicated. It will be our arrival day and I will probably give her the first clue on the plane to keep her busy. First is a word search using Disney words and she has to use the remaining letters to unscramble the location we are going. AKL. Second clue she has to unscramble words to find out the code to decode the message at the bottom which is what time she needs to be there, 4pm. Third clue is the exact location, Boma Podium. This one I got tricky. I used simple Algebra equations with the letter being solved for the letters in the answer. Fourth clue I'm still working on, but it will end up telling her to go to DTD and DQ. We always do some sort of scavenger hunt/ clues for some part of our trip. Excited that DS will get to enjoy this as well.

: So ready to go to Disney. Are we there yet?
:

 

[sunfun94]

You are a busy bee! But I can only imagine it helps to whittle the time down till DISNEY!!! On a side note, for a final decision (for bed size) we went with POR... and yes we got the bands!! Hee hee...

 

[JoanneDisFan]

Finally finished sewing DD's costume. Thought I would post pictures of us. I think I need to make the name badges bigger for DH and me as I wouldn't want to be mistaken for the real thing. Also DS needs to tuck in his shirt so you really see the white buttons on his shorts. DD Merida, DS Mickey Mouse, DH and me CM's.




What does everyone think?

 

[JoanneDisFan]

Just when I thought we had everything under control life threw us a curve ball. My MIL passed away earlier today. She had fallen off a ladder and hadn't been found for several days. She was very weak and had also suffered a stroke.

So today we scrambled and booked flights, hotel and a car up in Calgary, arranged pet sitter, put mail on hold, dug out passports and all other travel stuff. Then tonight after teaching karate (yeah I probably should have canceled class) we packed both for Disney and Canada. I've got 1 large suitcase just for Disney and another large suitcase for stuff we will need just in Canada or in both locations.

Our plans are tomorrow morning we drive up to Kansas City where we will fly up to Calgary, AB. Then on the 13th we will fly back to Kansas City where I already have a hotel booked with parking. Then early on the 14th we fly to Disney for a much needed week of vacation. Fly home on the 21st and then drive home. It's going to be crazy.

Pray for my husband and his siblings as this has been very hard on them.