Boo! Happy Halloween! October 5-11, 2008 *updated 2.10.09*

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

OK, I'll join in the fun, and start in on a pre-trip report. We're planning our second family trip for October 2008. We'll be staying at the Contemporary (YES! ) and we plan to attend MNSSHP. I am so excited, as I love the planning process, AND we are keeping the trip a surprise for the girls. They will be so excited!

Here are the pertinent details for anyone who is interested.

Cast:
Mom, Colleen (me) age 30-something, former librarian, current SAHM, and Disney planning fanatic
Dad, Michael - exactly 9 months younger than me (which he never fails to remind me!) Could care less about planning, but (wisely) says that he trusts my judgment. Oh, and he's a pirate. ARRRR!
Princess #1, Julia- currently age 6.25, my little Broadway star
Princess #2, Emma - currently age 2.75, little miss independent

Our last trip was about 1.5 years ago in January, 2007. (See my signature for that trip report.) Julia turned 5 on that trip, and it was an amazing time for all of us. She had the perfect princess birthday and was totally in her element. I don't think we can ever top that birthday! Emma was just 1.5, and she had a great time, though we think she was more excited about chasing ducks than meeting Mickey. This time around, she knows all of the characters and talks about one day meeting Minnie and "my Einsteins." We have made vague comments about maybe going back to WDW "some day," but we do plan to surprise the girls with the trip again. It is just so much more fun to keep it a secret til the last minute!

We decided to book the trip just a few weeks ago in mid-March when DH took a new job that would include some nice bonus money. The first thought we both had was, "We can go back to Disney!" I looked at the school calendar, and realized that our district will have several days off from school near Columbus Day. We decided on Sun Oct 5-Sat Oct 11, and DD 6 will only miss 3 days of school. Not too bad. Plus, that still have me a few weeks to figure out our schedule and ADRs before the 180 day mark. I joined a trip planning site and began working on my itinerary. I think I planned my days well. Initially, we thought we'd stay 8 days, 7 nights at the POFQ. We loved it last time, and it was very manageable with our little girls. Then DH suggested I price a monorail resort. The Contemporary is the cheapest, so we went with that. We dropped a day and the Park Hoppers, and the cost was within a few hundred of the original idea. We decided not to get Park Hoppers since we didn't use them at all the last time. I figure with 2 young kids and a lot of early planning, there is no need for the extra expense. So long as we don't hit terrible weather, I think the gamble will pay off! So we decided to go for it. Being on the monorail will be so much easier with our little ones, and will make it much easier to faciliate napping, breaks, etc. I am just hoping for a nice code soon!

So far so good... The magic is beginning!

Next report. ADRs, how did we do?!

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

So, I made my itinerary and checked it twice. I was so nervous and kept second guessing myself! Plus it took forEVER for Disney to release the full EMH schedule for October. How can I make my ADRs without knowing the full EMH picture?! I made educated guesses, and came up with a plan.

Oh, and then I started planning the girls' wardrobes....

I took a deep breath, called the ADR line, and hoped for the best. I was able to get through pretty easily, right at 7am. And 45 minutes later, I had everything I wanted!

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Well, then the EMH schedule finally got published, and I made just a few changes....! Here are the current ADRs, subject to change, but I feel pretty good with these choices so far. My biggest issue is that there are so many MNSSHP dates scheduled during this week. It makes it hard to plan when to be in MK, and it looks like we're going to miss Spectro/Wishes this time. But we did see them last time, and we can see them again another time.

Sun
arrival day
Dinner Chef Mickey's
(girls in Minnie dresses)

Mon
Epcot Future World Day
Dinner Coral Reef
maybe stay for fireworks
(we need some customs!! Nemo, maybe?)

Tues
break all day to prepare for....
MNSSHP
(costume discussion to come. LOL)

Wed
WS day
This will allow us to sleep in and arrive at WS for its 11am opening without feeling like we've wasted a day
Storybook Princess lunch in Norway (join me in a silent prayer that my crew will tolerate the Norwegian fare!)
F&W booths for dinner
Leave early for quiet evening
(Princess customs, I think, for trhe girls. J in Ariel, E in Cindy or Aurora)

Thurs
DHS
Play and Dine lunch "My Einsteins!!"
break
DTD evening
(E in Annie (Little Einsteins) dress made by Grammy; J in Giselle custom)

Fri
MK day
BBB 8:05, baby!!
Fantasyland
CRT earliest lunch
break
back to MK
dinner 1900 Park Faire
(bring Princess dress up from home)

Sat
Last day!
We'll go back to MK, and concentrate on Toon Town at opening and then anything else that we must do again!
Crystal Palace lunch
leave @ 2:30 for Magical Express
(do we need another custom for today? Still working on this....)

OK, now I'm happier. I don't think I'll make any major changes to this itinerary. I'm really, really happy with this plan.

So now, I'm working on figuring out the customs, bows, and thinking of Tinker Bell Treats for the girls.

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

OK, so now that you know our plan, I'll tell you a bit more about us.

I am a SAHM to my girls. I love being home with them, but I do miss my job as a school librarian. We make up for that by going to the library and reading all the time! I am obsessed with children's clothes, and I love to dress up the girls. It's my hobby! Some of you will recognize me from some of the Gymbo boards. I still like Gymbo, but I'm more interested in Naartjie and Hanna now for the girls. I also love Lands End on them. You will notice my comments on their outfits for each day. Oh yes, that is an important part of this trip! I've already been talking to people about custom ideas. I also love to research (the librarian in me) and plan, so planning this trip is a natural for me.

DH works as a project manager/consultant. His new job keeps him on the road a fair bit of the time. But he does work from home one day a week and is always here on the weekends. He is so good to us, and he has totally embraced the idea of having 2 princess loving girly girls. If I let him, he'd spoil the girls rotten! But we must draw the line somewhere! He is really excited about this trip. I have a feeling that he will blow it and spoil the surprise with his enthusiasm. Oh, and he is a rabid fan of the Red Sox and Patriots. (We don't speak of the Pats now though. Hush. )

DD 6 is in kindergarten. She is smart, inquisitive, and thoughtful. She loves to sing and dance, and she is a natural on the stage. She has a huge imagination, and she spends lots of time writing and illustrating "books." She adores princesses, fairies, and "old fashioned girls," esp Samantha and Felicity from the American Girls. She has recently learned how to read quite well, and I am just so proud of her. I now have to go into her room at night to tell her to put the book away and go to sleep! She will be over the moon to learn that we are going back to WDW. She talks about our last trip all the time, and says that she wants to go back at least once a day. I can't wait to see her face when we tell her! Oh, I should also mention that she has some food allergies - peanut, tree nut, sesame. We found WDW to be very accomodating to her needs on our last trip, but I must always remain vigilant.

DD 2 is my feisty one. She is a total doll, but quite a handful. She is quintessential 2, and her favorite thing to say is "I do SELF!" She loves to sing and dance and play, and is generally very happy and easy-going. She is very verbal and expressive for her age. My baby loves her Princesses, "Mickey Clubhouse," and "My Einsteins." I think she will have a total blast meeting the characters when we go to WDW. Oh, and she has already decided that she wants to be Annie from Little Einsteins for Halloween (and thus MNSSHP.) She even looks like Annie with her blonde piggies, so it will be adorable. We are trying to work on potty training, and I suspect that she totally knows what to do, but she is just not ready yet. Part of me wants to wait til after the WDW trip to really pursue this aggressively, but we'll see. We still have over 4 months before the trip, and summer would be a good time to train if she shows enough interest. We'll see. BTW, has anyone seen Little Einsteins undies anywhere? I see them (for a very high price) on Ebay but I have not seen them in any stores.

So, that's plenty by way of introduction for now. I'll add more info to this as things begin to happen. I hope some of my custom ideas start to pan out soon. Yes, it's 4 months away, but it's never too soon to plan these things!

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Well, huh. I just noticed that my ticker doesn't work. Will have to look into that!

We just picked up the long Giselle nightgown at the Disney Store for Julia. It was massively marked down from $35 to, like, $10. How could I say no?! She is so excited! Tomorrow is pajama day at school. I'm not sure if she should wear this frothy concoction or not - it's a bit, um, to use her word "romantic" to wear to school! I felt bad that I didn't get anything for Emma, but she isn't ready for nightgowns yet. We'll find her something I'm sure...!

The girls are watching Pocohantas right now. It was on the Disney Channel (Movietime Monday) this week and I remembered to DVR it. I really like that movie.

OK, that's it for now. I added a link to this page in my siggy, so hopefully someone will find this interesting and read this!

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Wanna see picts?

This is me -

This is the only picture I could find with DH, who will have my head if he sees this...!

We don't get too many picts of us; it's all about the princesses here!

Here is Julia at her dance recital last weekend. Sorry it's so big!

And here is Emma in some new Naartjie. I always do her hair in 2 piggies.

This is from St Patick's Day. My mom made the girls' outfits!

Meeting the Easter Bunny

And 4th of July last year. One of my all time favorite pictures! Emma was almost 2 here.

That's plenty!

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Here are a few from our Jan 07 trip to WDW. Julia was newly 5 and Emma was just 1.5.

Epcot

MK

Julia the Birthday BBB Princess

Julia meeting characters

Minnie must have told a really good joke!

My little baby - she LOVED Belle

And my favorite picture from the whole trip! Sadly, we won't be replicating this scene again due to the RIDICULOUS new stroller rental prices.

 

[Scully23]

I just had to reply b/c of some striking similarities between us!


[*]I am a high school librarian and I LOVE my job

[*]I am a mother of two (DD10, DS7)

[*]Our first family trip was in 2006

[*]We are going back in September for MNSSHP

[*]I am obsessed with planning and my husband, although excited about the trip, is not at all interested in the planning process!


I am enjoying your report; you've inspired me to start one soon.

Love the clothes!

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Thanks, Scully! I'm glad someone is reading this! I have been a librarian for all grades from K-12, but I much prefer 4-6 or even 6-8 to HS! The one time I was in a HS was at a prestigious girls' boarding school here in MA during my internship, and I can't say that I ever had any discipline issues there. I could never do HS!

So, today I asked a friend nearby who is an avid sewer (SO-er, not SOOO-er! That word always makes me laugh!) if she would make some customs/costumes for the girls! She said YES!! I have talked to a few of the DisBoutiquers already, who gave me ideas and offered their services. But being able to have my own local seamstress makes the most sense, as she can measure the girls herself and have them come in for fittings. YAY. (I may still be calling on some of you 'Boutiquers though! )

And my mom has agreed to make a simple pink jumper for Emma's Annie costume. I just need to find a light blue s/s top and some light blue Keds for her, so she'll look authentic.

Julia has decided that she wants to be Giselle from "Enchanted" for Halloween/MNSSHP. My sewing friend is going to help me try to construct a dress like the turquoise one that Giselle makes from the curtains in the movie. We'll make it be mid calf length so it's not to the floor. I'm giddy with excitement! I can't wait to see what she comes up with! This will be a much better option than Julia's first idea (Ariel with fins! ) to wear for Trick or Treating here and walking around WDW.

We have a few other ideas too. I want to have about 3 different "boutique custom" WDW outfits (plus the costumes) for the girls to wear while we are there. (Princess, Minnie, Giselle/Einsteins.) If I only put this much thought into my own wardrobe....!

So, that's my big news for the day. I'm pretty stoked.

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Oh, so I should also throw out that I'm looking for costume ideas for DH and me to wear to MNSSHP.

DH wants to be a pirate, natch. I'll have to figure out how to bring that to frutition. I have a theatre director friend who did "Peter Pan" recently. Maybe we can raid the wardrobe department!

I thinking Wendy for me. Or Alice. Not sure yet...

 

[Scully23]

Your clothes obsession is cracking me up. The costumes are going to be amazing (especially Giselle). You'll have to post pix when they're finished. I think you're smart planning their outfits. In 06, we had a magical moment when my kids were chosen to hold the rope at the end of the parade at DHS. It was one of the best moments of the trip. All I can think of when I look at the pic of them with Pluto after the parade is, "Why didn't I dress them in cute Disney clothes?!" I'm going to take your advice for our 9/08 trip!

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

I just ordered Giselle sheets from The Disney Store, so we can use the fabric for Julia's Giselle custom. I'm so excited! I also found a code for 20% off the entire order! The sheet set was marked down to $20, and then 20% off of that. I also bought a Tink shirt for me and a Pirate tee for DH.

We have another cold, rainy day here in MA. I'm getting sick of this weather! Emma's dance class was cancelled, so we're stuck at home this morning, and we can't even get outside. DH was away for work all week; I got behind on the household chores, and now I'm looking at several loads of laundry for today. Julia is in afternoon kindergarten, and I have to admit that I am counting down the minutes til the bus arrives. I can't wait to get Emma down for a nap so I can have a few minutes to myself!

 

[julezdisney]

I'm here! Hi Colleen!

Thought I'd return the favor of you visiting my PTR by visiting yours! Great so far!

I like that you gave plans first and THEN introduced yourself! I went the other way around but oh well.... I just added new pix today as well.

So.. I'm NOT a school librarian. I'm an MA (medical assistant). However, I did do para-work some years back and did quite a few days as a school librarian sub and those were always my favorite gigs!

I have always loved to read and used to get grounded away from my books and have them taken away because I used to read rather than do my chores, homework, or come to dinner! Sounds like YOUR Julia is well on her way to becoming like this one!! I even used to roll up a towel and put it on the bottem edge of my door so my Dad didn't know my light was on past my bedtime because I was reading!!

Your plans are great and give me good ideas on how to plan an itinerary for us. When we went in 06 w/the in-laws there was NO itinerary and that was something I VOWED never to repeat. I really feel like I missed a lot.

For example, I never even knew there was a Partners statue. Can you believe that? That's how haphazardly we were wandering around and I was staring at a map and following them blindly. Never again!

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

With some encouragement, I have decided to try to make some customs on my own (with the help of my mom and my local sewing friend!) for our October trip to WDW. I went to JoAnn's today, and even found some princess fabric.

Here is what I got - I'll update as we make some progress.

I picked up this pattern for my soon to be 3 year old. I want to make a princess swing/aline top and skirt for her.

Here is her fabric. Love the pink Princess cameo fabric. I like the contrast of the dark pink for trim/ruffles.

I also plan to make a similar set for my older DD using Ariel fabric, but I am still ISO that. I think my mom's Walmart has it.

I can also use the same pattern to make a pink jumper for her Halloween/MNSSHP costume. She wants to be Annie from Little Einsteins!

This pattern is for my 6 year old. I want to make a swing top with fancy pants using fabric from the Giselle sheet set at the Disney Store online. I posted that I bought this yesterday.

Here is the Disney Store link to the sheet set.

Oh, and then I picked up these "Make your own soft book" kits. There are some great Princess images that I think I can use for appliques.

So I feel pretty good with my purchases. Now I just need to get these things to see the light of day! With my mom's help, I think I can do it!!

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

No real Disney news today.

But we are finally enjoying a beautiful spring weekend here in MA. It's been in the low 70s, and it's just lovely. Julia and I have been making a fairy house to leave in the garden. We use twigs, leaves, grass, moss, rocks, flowers, etc. We are going to leave it out today for the fairies to enjoy. Iwill have to go out later tonight and sprinkle some pixie dust near the house; I may also make a fairy ring out of rocks so Julia thinks that the fairies were there and had little ball. My sweetie has such a great imagination!

 

[Princesskeyblade]

Subbing

YAY!!! Another MA Pre Trippie!!

You're husband is a Red Sox fan and you are going to Disney durring the playoffs... You brave woman... Just kidding. We are there a couple of weeks after you.

Your girls are adorable!

Are you going out of Logan or TF Greene?

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

Subbing

YAY!!! Another MA Pre Trippie!!

You're husband is a Red Sox fan and you are going to Disney durring the playoffs... You brave woman... Just kidding. We are there a couple of weeks after you.

Your girls are adorable!

Are you going out of Logan or TF Greene?

Thanks for stopping by! We'll be flying out of Logan.

You know, I forgot about the sports issue. I did think that he'd be annoyed about missing a Pats game, but I totally wasn't thinking about the Sox. Ooops. He'll have his "Crack"berry. I'm sure he'll be checking it every 5 minutes! Last year we went to see "Wicked" at the Opera House in Boston during one of the World Series games! I think it was game 2 of the series, and it was AT Fenway. DH was not too happy! Oh well!

 

[Princesskeyblade]

You know, I forgot about the sports issue. I did think that he'd be annoyed about missing a Pats game, but I totally wasn't thinking about the Sox. Ooops. He'll have his "Crack"berry. I'm sure he'll be checking it every 5 minutes! Last year we went to see "Wicked" at the Opera House in Boston during one of the World Series games! I think it was game 2 of the series, and it was AT Fenway. DH was not too happy! Oh well!

Well if he wants some "Daddy time", he could always go to ESPN club and you and the girls could go to Illuminations.

We have a gameplan if the Sox make the World Series... so DBF is feeling better about going in October.

 

[pikafreaks]

~I'm really enjoying your pre-trip report~

Were going the same exact days too so maybe we will cross paths along the way~


A suggestion for your and your DH's costums...... were trying to come up with some cute adult costumes and I'll be going as DARBY and I'm trying to talk my DS 15 into being Handy Mandy~ I'm not too crafty but these seems like easy costumes.

Anyways, my name Athena and I'm really glad to meet you and follow along on your pre-trippie~

 

[MamaOfTwoPrincesses]

~I'm really enjoying your pre-trip report~

Were going the same exact days too so maybe we will cross paths along the way~


A suggestion for your and your DH's costums...... were trying to come up with some cute adult costumes and I'll be going as DARBY and I'm trying to talk my DS 15 into being Handy Mandy~ I'm not too crafty but these seems like easy costumes.

Anyways, my name Athena and I'm really glad to meet you and follow along on your pre-trippie~

Thanks for visiting, Athena. CUTE costume idea! I love Darby!! How cool that we will be there at the same time. Where are you staying?