Aussies take on DL, WDW & USO (then onto Iceland and Paris...)

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

As a Christmas obsessive I loved hearing about the Yule Lads, such a wonderful story. I love how some of the European countries Christmas traditions are just so unique.

I hope you get to see the northern lights too, imagine how stunning they are.

Keep the plans coming.

 

[backinoz]

I initially thought that this would be a very different trip to our last one, after all my DD's will be 13 & 15, as opposed to them being 9 & 11 last time. Here was I thinking that they'll be all about the big thrill rides this time, that they'd be less into the characters and want to skip the 'kiddie' rides, but boy was I wrong!! We've started talking about what they want to do while we're in WDW & DL (especially since we'll be doing DL without DH) and you know what?? The first things they mentioned (after NBC HMH) was meeting characters, getting autographs, and pressed pennies. It was one of those moments when a Mum gets a little warm and fuzzy, and you're so happy that your kids are still kids deep down inside. Shopping has moved up the list of priorities too - not surprising really, and it should mean I have company this time (last trip DH & DDs spent 3-4 hours in Disneyquest while I did most of the shopping at DTD). Plan is to get most of the shopping out of the way before DH arrives, so we'll be hitting DTD on our arrival night in WDW, although how long we'll need there will probably be very dependant on how much time we spent in the stores at DL.

Another revelation about this trip - Somewhere along the line with all this planning, I've realised that we don't 'have to' do everything, we can take our time, and enjoy all the little details and spontaneity that makes Disney, well, Disney. Like walking down Main St before the parade and the CM's started twirling one of the big golden ropes for our youngest DD to play jump-rope, or the girls doing push-ups and sit-ups with Buzz Lightyear at the Toy Story M&G (and I got to feel his muscles - jealous anyone?) Oh, and a word of warning - don't wear a t'shirt with Donald on the back towards the hem, or Donald will have you bent over wiggling you tail alongside him for the camera!!!! That's one photo that I should regret, but somehow don't because of all the laughter and happy memories that go along with it. Needless to say we love photopass, and given I've prepurchased photopass+ there'll be multiple silly ride photos if the lines aren't too long - I can just see the whole BTM series - the bewildered look on the first ride when we're not sure where the camera as, the terrified look for the next one, the hands in the air screaming shot, the crazy faces shot, and if we go again it'll be the "Muuuuum, do we have to" shot We've never bothered with the ride photos before as they seemed exhorbidantly expensive, but this time will be very different. Our Photopass+ CD's and vouchers arrived earlier this week and the stock photos on the CD are pretty cool too. They certainly make a great screensaver to get you in the mood for Disney It's just a pity that they don't offer a combined PhotoPass+ for WDW&DL, though I guess the number of ppl who do both within a 14day timeframe is pretty limited. I've heard that there's less PP photographers out and about in DL, so will definitely share my thoughts on this once we're there.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Love hearing about the Icelandic traditions-I just opened a parcel I mail ordered with Christmas A Very Peculiar History inside-beautiful little book on Xmas traditions around the world and why they came about-its destined for a Secret Santa gift for a group of friends annual Xmas afternoon tea...I'm beginning to wish I'd bought 2-1 to keep! Ms Shuttergirl I am sure you would like it.

Glad I don't have to come up with 13 little gifts though-I guess you would stockpile all year. New Years Eve sounds fun-I love fireworks and miss Guy Fawkes Night from my childhood-my DD doesn't quite understand what she missed out on.

 

[backinoz]

After our 5 day stint in DL, us girls head east to meet up with DH in Orlando, only we arrive into MCO at 4pm Thursday afternoon, and DH arrives in Sanford Airport around 8pm on Friday evening. So we have a bit over 24 hours to fill in - oh the things we could do! We're taking the DME from Orlando to POFQ, not sure if we will have to (or want to) collect our bags at this stage - I think it'll depend on how we're feeling as we won't have had much sleep the night before our flight, but may get a good nap on the plane. At least the time zone change isn't nearly as drastic as from home to DL this time around. The other reason why I'm thinking of collecting our bags ourselves and putting them under the DME bus is that I'm gonna have to do a fair bit of washing soon after arrival and, to be honest, the idea of arriving at POFQ, putting on some washing, and spending a bit of time getting our bearings and checking out the resort (and maybe POR too) isn't that unappealing. After all, doing the washing in WDW doesn't really count as housework does it? I figure we'll probably get to POFQ by about 5:30 or so, so hopefully should be in our room by 6pm, and since we should be operating on LAX time (3pm) means enough time to do some washing, have a look around, and probably hop on the boat to DTD for some shopping and to grab dinner - the menu at WPE looks far more appealing to me. Plus if we get the DTD shopping trip out of the way, then it leaves more free time on the Friday.

We'll be picking up a hire car Friday morning from the Car Care Centre at MK. We did this last time - all too easy, you just arrange pick-up the day before, so they come pick you up, then you take care of any paperwork and away you go from there. We've only got the car for the one day since we're fine with using Disney Transportation for getting in and around the parks, (we'll probably grab a taxi to/from one or two of our dinner reservations at the resorts but a car would be no use then anyway as DH & I plan on enjoying our holiday together and indulging in a drink, or two, or maybe even three, over dinner). Btw - for us, the best deal I could get on a one day hire was actually through Alamo.co.uk as their rate includes all the full insurance package and CDW, unlike rates quotes on the US website, and from what I've read, then they're around an extra $25-$30 a day. The one day rental came in at just under $40AUD, so I reckon that's pretty good. We only need a compact car as it's just for the girls and I to run around in a little, and to pick up DH from Sandford Airport. (He'll be doing his own packing, so will bring as few a clothes as possible - definitely only one bag). That's the main reason we've ended up with the hire car actually - to pick him up, as his plane gets in at 8pm, too late for any of the shuttles, and a taxi from Sanford to Disney runs at over $100.

Now back to our Friday plans... DD15 & I (& DD13 to a lesser extent) have a HUGE affinity to Africa, and are MASSIVE Lion King Musical Fans, (DH not so much) so guess what we're going to do on the Friday morning??? (Definitely a rhetorical question I know). Lion King show at AK here we come. I've seen the show both times we've been at WDW, and even really wanted to see it a second time last trip, but that just didn't work out. It's the one thing we really want to see in AK. Kilimanjaro Safari just depresses me - don't get me wrong here - Disney does a fantastic job of providing a very natural habitat and looks after the animals well, but once you've seen African Animals in their native habitat, then it just makes me a little sad to see them in a different environment. Plus Disney does a very sanitised version of the whole "Oh no, here come the poacher's thing", and I have an almost overwhelming urge to let people know what really goes on, and that it's not just a good story, and how unfair and unjust it all is. (In no way possible do I sanction the practise of poaching, but if your family had been stripped of your home, your job, your possessions and your dignity because you voiced an objection to the way the government was running things, then you may turn to poaching to feed your family and make ends meet. NOT a story - this is what has happened, and is still happening to the people & native wildlife in Zimbabwe in recent years). OK vent over, back to our Disney day - once again...

Friday - again - get up, beignets from food court for light breakfast, pick up hire car, go check out Art of Animation resort if too early to go to AK. Go to AK, see Lion King Show, maybe grab a few autographs & lunch. Back into the car & drive to BIG Outlet Mall (via USO to pick up tickets for later in the trip). I already have a map of the Outlets printed out and we've picked out our must do's - Disney Outlet, Victoria's Secret, the North Face (ski jackets for DDs ready for Iceland), Levi's shop etc. etc. Hopefully we'll be done in time to drop shopping off at POFQ and grab a quick CS dinner to takeaway before we go pick up DH. If not the the DDs will just have to squeeze in around shopping bags in the back seat. We should be back at POFQ by 9:30 at the latest, so not sure if the girls and I will be quite ready for bed yet. DH will be as that's around 2:30am Icelandic time, so if he needs sleep then the girls and I will probably head to the Scat Cat's Club & check out Elliot Dyson while they sip on a Hot Chocolate and I indulge in a night cap before bed. Not too late a night as we'll be up early the next morning ready to head to-oo...???

 

[backinoz]

As a Christmas obsessive I loved hearing about the Yule Lads, such a wonderful story. I love how some of the European countries Christmas traditions are just so unique...

I just love their names - Gully Gawk the Milk Stealer, the Sausage Swiper, the Skyr Gobbler - and it is great to see some Christmas traditions not so affected by the mass marketing machine.

Love hearing about the Icelandic traditions-I just opened a parcel I mail ordered with Christmas A Very Peculiar History inside-beautiful little book on Xmas traditions around the world and why they came about-its destined for a Secret Santa gift for a group of friends annual Xmas afternoon tea...I'm beginning to wish I'd bought 2-1 to keep! Ms Shuttergirl I am sure you would like it.

Glad I don't have to come up with 13 little gifts though-I guess you would stockpile all year. New Years Eve sounds fun-I love fireworks and miss Guy Fawkes Night from my childhood-my DD doesn't quite understand what she missed out on.

Thanks for that info, I think - I just had to check out that book so I downloaded the sample to my kindle, and then had to buy the book of course as I was so intrigued by it. Am determined not to read any more though as it'll be great for on the plane in a few weeks. Reading novels when flying is a bad idea as I very rarely am able to put it down before I finish the book. As for coming up with 13 little gifts - I've put that in DH's hands, although I am expecting that I'll need to keep my eyes open in DL/WDW for a few of them. Stockpiling would have been the smart thing to do - but I figured earlier in the year that I'm going to be much more able to find cool presents in the States.

 

[Toy Story]

Awesome! What time of the year is her birthday? I loved DLP, it was like being in a Disney themed country-side area, with so many surprises (and characters) around each corner on the winding paths - very different to WDW (not better or worse, just different) - it will be interesting to see what I think of it after I've been to the original DL.

Her birthday is in January - so I will be interested in your weather reports from this years trip.

 

[cola]

Kilimanjaro Safari ....... Plus Disney does a very sanitised version of the whole "Oh no, here come the poacher's thing", and I have an almost overwhelming urge to let people know what really goes on, and that it's not just a good story, and how unfair and unjust it all is.

They've recently removed the poaching story line, it's now just 'look at the animals'.

 

[backinoz]

They've recently removed the poaching story line, it's now just 'look at the animals'.

Thanks for letting me know - we may take a spin on the Safari after all, but I think DDs would rather go 'character hunting'

Her birthday is in January - so I will be interested in your weather reports from this years trip.

I'll make sure I fill you in - when we went in late Nov it was cold, not cold enough to snow, but it didn't get above 10C the whole week we were there - Brrrrrrr

 

[alicia1506]

wow this sounds amazing. would love to see how your spreadsheet works...i do most of my planning with notebooks, coloured biros and a dry erase board oh. and a calculator. and sticky notes. i am very tactile. but a spreadsheet..that sounds so much easier

 

[backinoz]

Only 12 days until we go - arggghhhh! for some reson I though I had two weekends left until we leave but NO, it's only one, and Sunday night is our local Carols by Candlelight that both DDs are performing in so Sunday afternoon/evening's a write-off. Good news is that my new passport arrived today - initially we were going to be back around the 7th Jan, and my old passport expired on the 10th July - so within the 'more than six months after you return' window. I didn't think any more of it until last weekend when I dug out passports to enter ESTA details into our travel bookings - passport expires 10 July, return to Aus 16 Jan... Oh dear. No need to worry, did the online renewal, booked an appointment at the post office for last Mon Morning, and my new passport's here 1 week later. i did pay the extra for the 'rush job', but well worth the $$ to ease the stress.

DH was busy over the weekend - I've intentionally left the Iceland planning and booking part of the holiday up to him, partially because it's easier given he' living there and had a local address & phone number, but also because I thought it would be good for him to have 'ownership' over part of this trip. It may also have something to do with I have more than enough to plan (especially as the compulsion to over-plan for DL & WDW is sooooo strong). So here's an outline of what we'll be up to:

Sun 23 Dec Arrive in Reykjavik around 6am after 8 hour direct flight form Orlando. Need to do grocery and Christmas food shopping but no going out for dinner this night as it's the day when most people eat the Icelandic Specialty Dish

Mon 24 Dec Last minute shopping (before lunch as everything closes early in the afternoon - it's a half day public holiday) Head out and take in the Christmas Lights if the weather's OK. Baking ready for Christmas Day

Christmas Day Eat, drink, & be Merry!!!!

Wed 26 Dec Do the 'Golden Circle Tour (self drive)' take in the geysers, glaciers and waterfalls all within an hour or so's drive from DH's place

Thurs 27 Dec Rest and relaxation at the Blue Lagoon - a huge geothermal public bathing complex. How wierd is it going to be soaking in a very warm pool of blue blue water, with snow on the ground all around you?

Fri 28 Dec- Sun 30 Dec Skiiing(DH & I)/Snowboarding(DDs) - we may do this earlier even, will just depend on weather and forecasts for the week between Christmas on NY. Sat 29 Dec, go see the Hallgrimskirkja Choir perform at the Opera House

Mon 31 Dec NYE - yayyyyy. More of the Eating, Drinking, and being Merry - they have a HUGE Bonfire on the Hill near DH's apartment, BYO fireworks.

Tues 1 Jan Rest Recover & pack for road trip

Wed 2 Jan Drive to Akureyri, check out the 'Christmas House' & take in the sights

Thurs 3 - Fri 4 Jan Skiing/Snowboarding and Sightseeing in Akureyri

Sat 5 Jan Drive to Hofn - go and see the Jokarlson glacial lagoon, check to see if there's any Icebergs on the Beach & Sightseeing

Sun 6 Jan Maybe back to the Iceberg Lagoon, then drive to Vik

Mon 7 Jan Exploring Vik - the 'Volcano Hotel' where we're staying does Super Jeep tours to Glaciers and Volcanos so plan is to make the most of the tours in a vehicle that can go places our 4WD can't

Tues 8 Jan Happy Anniversary to us!!! Drive back to Reykjavik via all the waterfalls along the way. Head out for dinner

Wed 9 - Thurs 10 Jan Get organised ready to leave, maybe go skiing, or to the lagoon again if we feel like it. Hopefully the weather's not too nasty so we can spend some time walking around the streets & taking in the sights.

Fri 11 Jan Up EARLY & off to airport ready for 8am flight to PARIS

DH also has a list of about 15 restaurants he'd like to take us to while we're there, but we're just not going to have time. Instinct says to go out for lunch and have dinner at home, but spending 2 of the precious 3-4 hours of daylight sitting in a restaurant does not make sense. We'll also be checking the sky regularly in the hope that the Northern Lights will put on a spectacular show for us at some stage of the trip. I do like DH's plan for us - not too hectic and thanks to Trip Advisor I've been able to refer him to a couple of nice places for us to stay at on our 'road trip'.

So I guess that just leaves the Paris part of the trip to plan out now, but apart from a few conversations with DH & DDs, and having booked the hotel, I've done no planning at all . Guess I know what I'm gonna be up too late in the evenings before I go to sleep this week

 

[backinoz]

wow this sounds amazing. would love to see how your spreadsheet works...i do most of my planning with notebooks, coloured biros and a dry erase board oh. and a calculator. and sticky notes. i am very tactile. but a spreadsheet..that sounds so much easier

I started out like that but couldn't keep track of what I'd written where - it's been great knowing that if someone has a question, or I need to look up what I have planned when, then it's all in one place. It's especially helpful with working out park plans, especially when dining ADR's open up, or when Disney changes their opening hours. I'll have to see if I can upload a screen shot. It's not perfect by any means but makes it much easier.

Loving the DISBoards App on my iPhone :-D

 

[areweindisneyyet]

Loving the planning. Iceland is so on my list of places to go. Northern Lights, Christmas. Just perfect. Please keep sharing along, and a trip report is a must.

 

[backinoz]

Loving the planning. Iceland is so on my list of places to go. Northern Lights, Christmas. Just perfect. Please keep sharing along, and a trip report is a must.

Will do my best with the TR - Santa's bringing me an iPad so should make updates on the run much easier (at least in Iceland where we'll have access to wireless). Have decided not to bother with mobile data access - have managed without it just fine in the past, and would rather spend $$ elsewhere.

 

[areweindisneyyet]

Will do my best with the TR - Santa's bringing me an iPad so should make updates on the run much easier (at least in Iceland where we'll have access to wireless). Have decided not to bother with mobile data access - have managed without it just fine in the past, and would rather spend $$ elsewhere.

We just got back from two weeks in Europe and had WIFI access in all our hotels and accommodation so didn't bother or need mobile data. Just got a travel sim for a mobile to phone in home. Used $50 of credit over the two weeks for work and personal calls. The last $15 we used up cause it was there not from need.

I have an original IPAD, maybe next year Santa will be nice. Kinda been spoilt already for this year. I took it on our previous trip to Europe for 4 weeks and the IPAD did everything I needed it too. Had to take laptop for work this time and it was so irksome. One of my main programs cant be used on IPAD but apparently they are working on it.

 

[backinoz]

DH is looking to adding another activity or two to our Iceland Itinerary - Dog Sledding - oh my goodness - I hope the wind is not around, but what an awesome experience, and a very unique way to see the glaciers. He's also booked tickets to see the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra on our last night in Iceland - mainly for DD13 as she hopes to pursue a career in music. Her first instrument is the flute, (she's working towards her AMEB 6th grade), but she knows it's ultra competitive to get in - so her other option is the Tuba - she's only been playing it a year and was accepted into to the State Honours Ensemble program at the Qld Conservatorium of music back in the Sep holidays, so that's looking promising. (She also plays the piccolo in the school marching band, and the trombone in the stage band - add that to DD15's Clarinet, Bass Clarinet & Drum Kit and you'll know why the guest room is called the music room). The Harpa Concert Hall is just an amazing building - you can check out more photos here if you're interested.

I've also realised that we'll be away during cyclone season here and that I need to secure or put away everything in the yard before we go - aaaarggghhhh! i think it'll be a 'put the car in the garage' and let's see what we can pack around it job.

I really want to have most of the bags packed by the end of this weekend. I'm pretty sure DD13's will be done as she has a sleepover at her BFF's place scheduled for Sat night, and I've told her she can only go if her room's tidy and her bag's packed (mean Mum aren't I?). It may be a bit more of a challenge to get DD15's bag packed as she arrived back from a week-long camp at UQ (Uni of Qld) last night with a bag full of washing & who know's what else. Today's her last day of year 11 though, so at least she'll be home next week to help clean, pack & organise everything, (I'll leave her a list when I go to work - gotta love having 'grown-up' kids who're OK with helping out - but then who wouldn't when a holiday like ours is in sight!)

As far as Disney planning goes, I'm pretty happy with things as they are - have decided to just get DL tickets when we arrive - no real savings by buying through Expedia, online or through a TA - and we'd still have to exchange voucher for actual tickets at the gate, so may as well just buy at the gate. (Please correct me if I'm wrong). Still haven't sorted out half day LAX tour, but figure that can wait until early next week. Will recheck/repost DISboards to see if anyone has first-hand experience of construction noise levels at Ramada Main Gate, so I can get it straight in my head if we should keep the booking there.

Also need to print out all our confirmations - Accom (Anaheim, POFQ, HRH & Paris), Transfers (LAX-Anaheim rtn), Car Hire (WDW), DIning reservations (WDW it's easy, just print out from "My reservations" - DL - not so much - have to print out emails), and must not forget all those things I bought during Black Friday Sales that I had shipped to POFQ - Am gonna have quite a stack waiting for me - especially since Amazon decided to break down my order into soooo many smaller shipments (don't know why, I ticked the 'wait and ship together' box on the website). I pity the poor person who'll be checking us in

Time for me to go work on my 'to do' list, rather than just talk about it. I'm oscillating from unbridled panic thinking of what I need to do, to almost shaking in my boots excitement that in 9 days, we'll be thinking about what else we can fit in before our dinner at Cafe Orleans, having had our first day in DL

 

[miss.potatohead]

As far as Disney planning goes, I'm pretty happy with things as they are - have decided to just get DL tickets when we arrive - no real savings by buying through Expedia, online or through a TA - and we'd still have to exchange voucher for actual tickets at the gate, so may as well just buy at the gate. (Please correct me if I'm wrong).

I'd buy them online. It's a few dollars cheaper and that could be an extra churro to snack on! Our experience with online (I think we went through the DLR website) you are emailed a PDF that you print off at home, then bring it along to the entry gates. They scan it, swap it for a cardboard ticket and away you go. If you purchase it at the gate, you actually have to line up at the ticket booths, which depending on the time you go may have a bit of a wait. THEN you have to go line up to enter the parks. Up to you though

 

[backinoz]

...line up at the ticket booths, which depending on the time you go may have a bit of a wait. THEN you have to go line up to enter the parks. Up to you though

Glad u told me this - thank you - Will definitely buy online b4 we go then, especially since, with a bit of luck, we'll be at the gates within an hour of opening on our arrival day.

Loving the DISBoards App on my iPhone :-D

 

[backinoz]

Oh my..... Yayyyyyyy

Finished my last day at work this afternoon, and am oscillating between doing the happy "I'm sooooo excited dance", and the "OMG We leave in less than 36 hours" panic dash. It's really freaking out my DDs.

DD13 is all packed (except for 2 pair of jeans I should be hemming instead of checking in on the DISboards), and she's very happy that her bag is only 3/4 full, so has space for shopping. Little does she know, but I plan on getting at least one (or two) extra cases on our travels 'just in case' - I just can't share that with her just yet, else she'd like to fill one case all by herself!! (Probably after the Outlet Mall in Orlando, and that's before Iceland and Paris!) DD15's clothes are all laid out ready to pack - my problem with her is getting her to take enough clothes, or at least something other than jeans and t-shirts. The funny thing is... when DD13 was packing she was having great difficulty in deciding which 'nice dress' to bring along for our dinner at V&A's, and our night at the symphony in Iceland. I told her she could take both, but then she wouldn't have so much space if she wanted to buy a dress on her travels, (needless to say only 1 dress is packed). Well, when I was going over DD15's clothes with her, I noted that she didn't have a Disney hoodie packed (she has 2 NBC ones, but only had a plain North Face Polar fleece out to take) - her response... "That's for the same reason that DD13's only taking one dress". I did have to - DD15 doesn't like shopping AT ALL, unless there's a Disney logo on the front of the shop that is

I'm off to do my packing now - shouldn't take long as I have it all planned out - 8 sets of clothes suitable for in the parks, 1 fancy outfit for V&A's, 1 nice (but comfy) outfit for dinner. Lots of layers, a couple of polar fleeces, my Disney Hoodie, pj's underwear and shoes. If DD13's bag is anything to go by, we'll probably have 3 bags around 18kg plus one small wheelaboard sized (with toiletries etc in it), that we'll check. I'll have 1 wheelaboard with a change of clothes each in it, plus my laptop & iPad, and then my Pacsafe handbag with wallet, phone & travel documents, and the girls are planning on taking their school backpacks with their onboard entertainment, and they have the small Pacsafe handbags for their wallet, phone & camera. That means we'll be using less than half our luggage allowance on the way over - BIG It's a far cry from the days when we were living in Southern Africa and I'd travel back to Australia by myself with the girls and have 1 wheel aboard, one gigantic Kapoochi backpack/Nappy Bag, and the girls two small wheelaboards to manipulate around the airport (plus wrangling a 3yo & 18mo). In those days I loved Singapore Airport's little luggage trolleys they had airside - perfect size for a bag and a toddler sitting on top!

Just one other thing I need to share with you (especially if your kids, or you, are into characters at WDW or USO), and this link especially if you're going to MVMCP - Kenny the Pirate's Blog Kenny has the scheduled character appearances for each WDW park up on his website - awesome if you're after a particular photo or autograph.

And thanks to miss.potatohead for your advice about the tickets - I bought them online through the DL website - even though they were slightly cheaper on the expedia site here in Aus, the idea that we can save quite a bit of time and just hand over our printed pdf's at the gate won us over Thanks also to areweindisneyyet for sharing your experiences with your phone and wifi in europe - we aren't even going to bother with the travelsim as my sister also has an iPad, so we'll just facetime with her to catch up with family. My DDs will stay in touch with friends via Facebook, and also with facetime through their iPod Touches.

That better do me for now - have got a suitcase to pack, then tomorrow is a clean the pool, tie down or put away everything in the yard, clean out the fridge etc. sort of day, but only until mid afternoon as friends are coming over to help DD13 have a mini-birthday party before we leave. After that is a Disney movie marathon to make sure we're nice and tired for a quick night's sleep before getting up at 4am to start our adventure to DL.

Hopefully then next time I post here I'll be sitting back in the Qantas International Lounge at Brisbane Airport waiting for our flight to LAX on Saturday morning - Wish me luck

 

[areweindisneyyet]

It is getting so close. Safe travels and I look forward to reading along.

Enjoy some very special family time. N

Mia

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Oh my..... Yayyyyyyy

Finished my last day at work this afternoon, and am oscillating between doing the happy "I'm sooooo excited dance", and the "OMG We leave in less than 36 hours" panic dash. It's really freaking out my DDs.

DD13 is all packed (except for 2 pair of jeans I should be hemming instead of checking in on the DISboards), and she's very happy that her bag is only 3/4 full, so has space for shopping. Little does she know, but I plan on getting at least one (or two) extra cases on our travels 'just in case' - I just can't share that with her just yet, else she'd like to fill one case all by herself!! (Probably after the Outlet Mall in Orlando, and that's before Iceland and Paris!) DD15's clothes are all laid out ready to pack - my problem with her is getting her to take enough clothes, or at least something other than jeans and t-shirts. The funny thing is... when DD13 was packing she was having great difficulty in deciding which 'nice dress' to bring along for our dinner at V&A's, and our night at the symphony in Iceland. I told her she could take both, but then she wouldn't have so much space if she wanted to buy a dress on her travels, (needless to say only 1 dress is packed). Well, when I was going over DD15's clothes with her, I noted that she didn't have a Disney hoodie packed (she has 2 NBC ones, but only had a plain North Face Polar fleece out to take) - her response... "That's for the same reason that DD13's only taking one dress". I did have to - DD15 doesn't like shopping AT ALL, unless there's a Disney logo on the front of the shop that is

I'm off to do my packing now - shouldn't take long as I have it all planned out - 8 sets of clothes suitable for in the parks, 1 fancy outfit for V&A's, 1 nice (but comfy) outfit for dinner. Lots of layers, a couple of polar fleeces, my Disney Hoodie, pj's underwear and shoes. If DD13's bag is anything to go by, we'll probably have 3 bags around 18kg plus one small wheelaboard sized (with toiletries etc in it), that we'll check. I'll have 1 wheelaboard with a change of clothes each in it, plus my laptop & iPad, and then my Pacsafe handbag with wallet, phone & travel documents, and the girls are planning on taking their school backpacks with their onboard entertainment, and they have the small Pacsafe handbags for their wallet, phone & camera. That means we'll be using less than half our luggage allowance on the way over - BIG It's a far cry from the days when we were living in Southern Africa and I'd travel back to Australia by myself with the girls and have 1 wheel aboard, one gigantic Kapoochi backpack/Nappy Bag, and the girls two small wheelaboards to manipulate around the airport (plus wrangling a 3yo & 18mo). In those days I loved Singapore Airport's little luggage trolleys they had airside - perfect size for a bag and a toddler sitting on top!

Just one other thing I need to share with you (especially if your kids, or you, are into characters at WDW or USO), and this link especially if you're going to MVMCP - Kenny the Pirate's Blog Kenny has the scheduled character appearances for each WDW park up on his website - awesome if you're after a particular photo or autograph.

And thanks to miss.potatohead for your advice about the tickets - I bought them online through the DL website - even though they were slightly cheaper on the expedia site here in Aus, the idea that we can save quite a bit of time and just hand over our printed pdf's at the gate won us over Thanks also to areweindisneyyet for sharing your experiences with your phone and wifi in europe - we aren't even going to bother with the travelsim as my sister also has an iPad, so we'll just facetime with her to catch up with family. My DDs will stay in touch with friends via Facebook, and also with facetime through their iPod Touches.

That better do me for now - have got a suitcase to pack, then tomorrow is a clean the pool, tie down or put away everything in the yard, clean out the fridge etc. sort of day, but only until mid afternoon as friends are coming over to help DD13 have a mini-birthday party before we leave. After that is a Disney movie marathon to make sure we're nice and tired for a quick night's sleep before getting up at 4am to start our adventure to DL.

Hopefully then next time I post here I'll be sitting back in the Qantas International Lounge at Brisbane Airport waiting for our flight to LAX on Saturday morning - Wish me luck

Sounds like you are very well organised for your packing. Do you have much winter stuff to pack for Iceland? Orlando weather is looking pretty warm for the next few weeks which has been kind of annoying for us because it meant we had to pack summer stuff and winter stuff.

Remind me what your POFQ dates are again? We are there 9-20 Dec. I'll keep an "ear" out for aussies.