Best graduation present ever! July 2012 PTR

[solana131]

I don't blame you one bit!

Thanks Liddy Now I just have to listen to the blah blah blah blah from my mom who thinks I'm spending too much. I am, but I don't care and I'm an adult...leave me alone!

 

[MelMel11]

Joining in!!!

 

[solana131]

Joining in!!!

Welcome! I love getting new readers!

 

[solana131]

Okay, so now that I have made my peace and maxed out my credit cards for the Poly, I can continue with this thing.

Usually when I travel somewhere we don't try to do anything on travel day because my hubby just hates to fly and he is so cranky by the time we get there that all he wants to do is chill. But this time he isn't coming and my cousin is a teenager (so she will have loads of energy, right?) so I am booking an early flight. We should land at MCO at 10:30 and hopefully be at the Poly before noon.

I will do the online checkin so we have a better chance of our room being ready. If it is, we will drop our carryon bags and head to DTD for lunch. If the room is not ready, we will probably head right down to Captain Cooks for lunch and chill out a bit until the room opens up. Or I could just leave the carryon with bell services and head to DTD anyway. I guess it will depend on the weather.

I want to do DTD first thing because I am hoping to find a Disney sun hat there. I have looked and looked online and I can't find anything of the sort. I don't want a heavy baseball cap, I want a "bucket hat" type sun hat. I might try to buy a plain one and just put an iron-on Mickey head on it or something. But I also wanted to get Dani the graduation Mickey ears and I want her to try them on first.

So we will do some shopping that first afternoon and grab some Earl of Sandwich for lunch. I missed out on this treat the first trip and I don't plan to make that mistake again. We also missed out on Goofy's Candy Co and I want to grab a few snacks for later there before we head back to the Poly.

I have an ADR scheduled at Via Napoli for 7:45 that night. So around 4 we will head back to the Poly and get changed up for the evening. We will walk over to the TTC and hop on the Epcot monorail. I am thinking we will just head right over to the World Showcase that night since we will be at Future World for EMH one morning. But I want her first Disney experience to be a fun ride, so I will check the standby time for Soarin first. If thats too long, we can hit up Figment, then go tour the countries.

I kinda hurried through WS on our Feb trip, so I want to really take our time this trip. I want to look in all the shops and test out lots of treats. Then when its time for dinner we will head over to Italy. I am hoping we will be out in time to grab a spot for Illuminations that first night since I have never seen this show. But we have other nights I left open in case dinner takes too long.

It will be evening EMH at MK that night so if we aren't too tired I would like to take her over there to just do a "walk through" that first night. MK is so magical at night I think it would be a cool way to end our first day. We don't have to do any rides, just walk down Main Street and see the castle all lit up. We will see how we are feeling.

 

[solana131]

I went for a little "help me through the heat" shopping spree. This is what I picked up:

They come with a carabiner to attach anywhere

They are flat when empty and roll up real small

And these little beauties are sure to come in handy. One for mist and one for just air

And the handy dandy Frogg Togg Chill Pad. I plan to keep that at the rear of my backpack so it will be up against my back all day. My backpack is real thin, so I should be able to feel the coolness through it.

I also grabbed a few more cute tank tops and some new sort of cooling mist sunscreen I found at Walgreens. It comes in tiny little continuous spray cans, so they will be easy to carry around.

Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I joined Disney Movie Rewards a while ago and I had enough rewards this time around to get 3 $10 Disney giftcards. So that is an extra $30 for free

 

[Lidian]

Awesome purchases! And that's awesome you got some GCs, too!!!

 

[solana131]

Awesome purchases! And that's awesome you got some GCs, too!!!

Thanks. I think I am going a little overboard. I doubt I will use half the stuff I am buying, but I would rather be safe than sorry. I picked up another $20 GC today while I was at Walgreens. They are few and far between around here and I figure that if I can pick up a small one everytime I think of it, then I will have a pretty good store by the time July rolls around. Already have $70 and still have 87 days to go!

 

[DMGeurts]

Wow!!! You got a lot of awesome stuff! I really like the mini spray fans!

That's awesome about Disney Movie Rewards! I used to have like 3000 points, and then when they did one of their updates, I hadn't logged into my acct in the time alloted and I lost all my points. I missed it by a matter of days - I was so upset! I still am a bit. LOL

I can't believe you are down to 86 days now!!! WHOOT!!

D~

 

[solana131]

Wow!!! You got a lot of awesome stuff! I really like the mini spray fans!

That's awesome about Disney Movie Rewards! I used to have like 3000 points, and then when they did one of their updates, I hadn't logged into my acct in the time alloted and I lost all my points. I missed it by a matter of days - I was so upset! I still am a bit. LOL

I can't believe you are down to 86 days now!!! WHOOT!!

D~

Wow! I would be so upset if I lost all those points! I saw a one day sale on the GCs before our Feb trip, but I missed it and they didn't bring them back. I was so excited to see them on there this time and I had enough points. I have finished up my requirement with them, so I am not buying as many movies now, but I will have to check other family member's movie collections to see if I can get some more points

 

[solana131]

Okay, I'm looking for cute ideas of something I can give Dani at her graduation party. We will still have 39 days from graduation before we leave, so I want to give her something. Maybe a cute countdown calendar, or photo album to fill. Any ideas? I don't want to spend too much since I am already spending alot on the trip. Just want her to have something to open at her party.

 

[DMGeurts]

Put together a mini planner for her...

$1.99 clear photo book from Target (or the other store)
Then list out your plans by day... I did mine digitally and printed them out at Target in the photo lab (I waited for the $.10 sale, and the MP cost me less than $7 total)
Maybe a front cover/back cover

You can check out my MP in the ToC of my PTR for other ideas! I carried mine with me every single day - and it was a huge help!

D~

 

[solana131]

Put together a mini planner for her...

$1.99 clear photo book from Target (or the other store)
Then list out your plans by day... I did mine digitally and printed them out at Target in the photo lab (I waited for the $.10 sale, and the MP cost me less than $7 total)
Maybe a front cover/back cover

You can check out my MP in the ToC of my PTR for other ideas! I carried mine with me every single day - and it was a huge help!

D~

I know, I LOVE your MP. I tried, but I just can't do it like yours and everything else looks horrible. You have all the neat Disney fonts and backgrounds. I don't know how to do it like that

 

[jennyjinx3]

Okay..Phew! I am glad you decided to stick with the Poly! Us too, we are staying true to our Poly! I like all the little shopping doodads! July really is so close...so jealous!!

 

[DMGeurts]

I know, I LOVE your MP. I tried, but I just can't do it like yours and everything else looks horrible. You have all the neat Disney fonts and backgrounds. I don't know how to do it like that

I know that Chaira does hers using Word - and it looks really awesome! You just get all the graphics and stuff online. I am sure you could do it perfectly.

D~

 

[solana131]

I spent the better part of the afternoon yesterday changing all my spreadsheets and the slideshow over to POFQ. I was all determined to suck it up and make the call. It would save me over $800! And POFQ is a beautiful, fun and convenient resort. So I called them this morning.....

And the system is down. They can't make or change any reservations! Now, I am not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination....but doesn't that seem like a sign from above??

 

[solana131]

So moving right along...

We will hit the AM EMH at MK on our first full day. Captain Cooks is open 24 hours, but their grill opens up at 6:30. So I will probably set the alarm for 6:30, get up and showered, then head over to get our first Mickey Waffle of the trip and some of that yummy Poly sausage while Dani is showering.

Then we will be ready to climb aboard the monorail. I am hoping to hit up most of the headliners this morning, but we will see how busy it is.

We will see where we are around lunchtime. If MK gets too busy, we may head over to AK instead. Lunch will be just a quick service where ever we are at the time our bellies start to grumble. If its MK, I really want to try Columbia Harbor House this trip. We didn't eat in the MK at all last trip, so I want to try Pecos Bills, and Cosmic Rays too at some point.

We have dinner ADRs at Kona at 7:30, so if we are at AK we will need to leave there by 6:30ish. Yum! I can't wait for Kona! That coconut almond chicken was amazing in Feb

And maybe a Kona Kone for dessert (for Dani, too sweet for me)

No EMH that night and we will have another early morning tomorrow, so we will watch Wishes and the Water Parade from the beach then hop in bed. Really hope I can remember to watch the Water Parade this trip....completely forgot about it last time

So, I need some help on snacks to try. I want to make a list of "must eat snacks" in each of the parks. I tried the Schoolbread last time (yuck), so we have that one covered. What else do you all suggest I try? I've heard about the jalapeno pretzels....where are those? And I want a cupcake from Starring Rolls....anything else?

 

[Lidian]

Definitely a sign.

I'm not really one for snacks.... We usually stick with ice cream.

 

[solana131]

A quick question:

Are the shops open in Epcot after Illuminations? I want to hang out and let the crowds die down a bit before trying to get on the monorail. Can you shop around, or do we just have to sit and wait? Anything open in the countries? Keep in mind this is not an EMH night. It says the park closes at 9 and Illuminations is at 9. So I am assuming most everything will be closed up once the fireworks are over. Right?

 

[DMGeurts]

I agree, it is a sign. Honestly, I think you would enjoy either resort.

I had to laugh at the photo of the dessert from kona... I thought it looked like a snake... You know - the kind that they play the flute to call it up out of the basket - the name excapes me right now. LOL

I know the food places are closed after Illuminations... I am not sure about the gift shops... I would think they would be open - but I am not sure.

I love hearing about your frist day!

D~

 

[jennyjinx3]

Okay, I am so confused! Is it Poly or POFQ??