Commencing Operation Christmas Miracle Trip 2010: PTR

[Katie & Glen]

I FINALLY got all caught up!! We will be in AK the same day!! Not to mention staying at the same resort!

The puzzle was awesome and the countdown calendars look great!

 

[PoppyGirl]

I FINALLY got all caught up!! We will be in AK the same day!! Not to mention staying at the same resort!

The puzzle was awesome and the countdown calendars look great!

Hi Katie (& Glen). That's so cool that we will be at AK & AKL at the same time! Aren't you eating at Boma on the 9th too? I thought I saw your name on the ADR list that disneybarbie has been doing. I am getting SO excited for our trip! I have to post some things this weekend that I've been doing....sneaky mommy has been shopping for fun little gifts for the kids! (and for daddy too!)

PoppyGirl

 

[jenseib]

OOOH! I love gifts!

 

[2kids2luv]

Great reveal for the kids and loved theri reaction. You're very creative. The count down calendar is awesome.

 

[PoppyGirl]

OOOH! I love gifts!

I can tell! I'm stealing your idea to post the pics of them here! It'll be in my next update.

Great reveal for the kids and loved theri reaction. You're very creative. The count down calendar is awesome.

Thanks very much! As of this moment: 81 Days, 15 hours and 12 minutes until we leave! WOOT!!! (Umm...that's according to my little desktop Disney thingy--not my countdown calendar! )

 

[jenseib]

 

[PoppyGirl]

Presents!!! Surprises!!! So much FUN!!

Yesterday I was off from work and decided to head to the outlet mall to see if I could score some gifts for the kids (and DH...and maybe even ME! ) for our trip. I had so much fun shopping!

I had a brilliant idea that since we are staying at AKL and taking the safari, the kids should have a little safari gift so I sneakily (is that a word?) found out DD's favorite wild animal: White Tigers (see...it's good I asked because last thing I knew, it was zebras! She assured me she still likes zebras (whew!) so we are ok with the cute outfit I got her earlier!)

DS's favorite wild animal is the moose. (Hmmm...that one surprised me!) Why? Well apparently, according to DS, they are "one of the most dangerous animals in the world." (Did you know that for 10 y.o. boys, danger is very, very cool?)

So, I found these: (you can click on the images to see them larger if you want)

And then I scored these at the Disney store outlet and DisneyStore online:
T-shirts for DH and DD:

A sleep shirt for ME!

Prince of Persia dagger for DS (he looked at them when they were full price but didn't want to spend that much for himself! And I got it on clearance!)

A totally cool MM bag for ME! (The mouse has been good to me!)

Zip-up hoodie sweatshirts for DD and DS (in case we get some of that crazy cold December weather)

And a variety of Club Penguin toys on clearance (both kids love Club Penguin so I'm not sure how I'll divide them up):

A cute Zebra necklace with DD's initial on it (from her favorite store--JUSTICE--with a 40% off coupon!) (yay me!)

Cool Lego Star Wars mini-figure key chains for DS:

Fun sparkly flip flops and socks for DD:

Christmas pins from e-bay (DD loves nutcrackers and DS likes Pluto and the Tink one is for me--DH could care less about the pins )


But the best one by far is that I decided to make them each an album for their pin collections. I'm so excited to do this! I did DS's first page in his just to see what it looked like. I took 8x8 Disney albums (purchased with coupons from the craft store), took out the paper page fillers and used stiffened felt cut to fit, put the pins in the felt and the felt inside the page protectors, added extender bars to the spine and here we are: (can't wait to give it to them! They will be getting these soon.)



So am I having fun or what? I LOVE buying gifts! I'm going to work on finishing the pin albums tonight while DD has her friend over for a sleepover. We are watching Lady and the Tramp but after they go to bed....I'm playing!

 

[Tinker_Tam]

Those are awesome finds!!! Good things you asked about DDs favorite animal! Isn't that like kids...always changing their minds. Don't you just wish they could be more like us adults? When we make up our mind we stick to it...well, maybe not, how many times have we all changed ADRs?!

 

[jenseib]

Great gifts~! I love finding great deals. Your pin albums look really nice. I bet they will be super excited to get it all.

 

[PoppyGirl]

Those are awesome finds!!! Good things you asked about DDs favorite animal! Isn't that like kids...always changing their minds. Don't you just wish they could be more like us adults? When we make up our mind we stick to it...well, maybe not, how many times have we all changed ADRs?!

What? That's not the same at ALL. Irony duly noted.

Great gifts~! I love finding great deals. Your pin albums look really nice. I bet they will be super excited to get it all.

Yeah, there's nothing more disappointing than when you are excited about a gift and the other person barely even takes note of it. Can you tell I have a bit of a tendency to over-do things?????

 

[moparop]

Great finds! I love those pin albums!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I'm trying to get caught up after being in Disney. Phew, it's hard work.

I'm from Maine and your son is right, Moose are very very dangerous. They attack and they are very strong. Also, if you hit one in your car, it's very bad news. Not a lot of people survive hitting moose with their cars. We even have Moose Crossing signs.

I love your purchases, I especially love the idea for pin albums. I'm going to have to mull around that one because it sounds like an awesome idea!

 

[PoppyGirl]

Great finds! I love those pin albums!

Thanks Mop! (do you mind that people call you Mop? I don't mind when people call me Poppy ) Anyway I've seen those albums 100 times but I usually only use CM albums so I've never bought them....and now I thought of a good use for them so I'm happy! Thinking I might have to get one for me too!

I'm trying to get caught up after being in Disney. Phew, it's hard work.

I'm from Maine and your son is right, Moose are very very dangerous. They attack and they are very strong. Also, if you hit one in your car, it's very bad news. Not a lot of people survive hitting moose with their cars. We even have Moose Crossing signs.

I love your purchases, I especially love the idea for pin albums. I'm going to have to mull around that one because it sounds like an awesome idea!

Yeah...... ....being in Disney is really hard work....or did you mean catching up with everyone's PTR's is hard work??

My BFF came back yesterday and all day I felt so depressed for her! It wasn't even my trip!

Thanks for "moose info." DS is always smarter than I give him credit for!

I got the idea for the pin albums from the creative disigns board....or somewhere like that. I can't remember exactly (swiss cheese brain, you know) but it wasn't my own brilliant idea.

 

[PoppyGirl]

Do-Over.....Re-thinking Day 1

I think I'm growing up....maturing....or something. I don't know what. But I've been re-thinking our day one of our trip. We will be staying CL at AKL for our first two days and being that it's been my DREAM to stay there, WHY are we rushing off to the parks and getting all tired out the first few days of our trip? DH works VERY hard every day, we are leaving at o-dark-thirty to catch our plane to get to WDW, and I think everyone will have a much better time if we spend some time relaxing and enjoying our beautiful accommodations. So....here's the "Do-Over" plan:

Our flight leaves BWI at 7:00am, putting us into MCO at 9:13am. (WOOT! LOVE getting there early and having the WHOLE day ahead of us! Although DH would say the day is half over by 9:30 given that HE was up at 4:00am to milk the cows!) By the time we check in with ME and arrive at AKL (here's hoping our room MIGHT even be ready??? ) and check in, it will be somewhere close to lunch time and we will all be hungry!

After we get checked in, we'll head over to Cosmic Ray's at MK for some yummy lunch. We've never eaten there before, but I'm really looking forward to it. Plus I think my whole family will enjoy it.

So far the plan is pretty much the same, but the big change is that after a few hours at MK, taking in some of our favorite rides
(Haunted Mansion,

Pirates,

IASW,

and any others the kids want to do), rather than staying for MSEP and Wishes, we will head back to AKL after the 3:00pm parade and spend the rest of the afternoon and evening enjoying the priveleges of Club Level and exploring the resort. I think I would really enjoy the Chai Tea that is offered in the afternoon (and if they still have the culinary tour of Africa I've ALWAYS wanted to do that!), the kids would enjoy the pool if it's warm enough and DH would love to check out the hot tub. We can get settled in our room and get a good night's rest for our Sunrise Safari on Day 2.

They offer wine and appetizers in the CL lounge at 5:00pm and Desserts at 8:00pm.....so I think we'll check those out and maybe grab something at Mara if we are still hungry. In fact, the more I think about it, the happier I am with this new plan.

I think that DH will it a lot! His idea of vaction involves a LOT more sleeping than mine does. So I feel really good that I'm taking care of my family and making sure that everyone will be able to have a good time.

We are discussing whether to sleep at home the night before our trip and get up REALLY early to catch our flight--in which case our friend Paul can drive us to the airport and keep our car while we are gone and then pick us up when we get back.....OR.....get a hotel at the airport, sleep in a little more and be able to park our car there for the week while we are away. So far we are leaning towards letting Paul drive us. Get that man a Starbucks card and he'll take us anywhere!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I really like your new and improved plans for Day 1! I think it's so important to spend time relaxing at Disney. Staying CL is an awesome reason to really enjoy AKL as well.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Yeah...... ....being in Disney is really hard work....or did you mean catching up with everyone's PTR's is hard work??

My BFF came back yesterday and all day I felt so depressed for her! It wasn't even my trip!

Thanks for "moose info." DS is always smarter than I give him credit for!

I got the idea for the pin albums from the creative disigns board....or somewhere like that. I can't remember exactly (swiss cheese brain, you know) but it wasn't my own brilliant idea.

I meant it was hard work getting caught up on the DIS.

 

[Mich123]

Love your updated "Day 1"! Since you're on CL, you should enjoy it! As a mom who loves to plan and exhaust her family at WDW (and recently, DL), I agree that it might be better to start slow. Of course, I haven't tried that! But, seriously, on our recent trips to WDW and DL, we found that the kids were absolutely exhausted by the end of the trip, so it does seem that it would be good to "invest" in a more relaxed pace. Plus, AKL is so beautiful, it would be great to just hang out.

 

[Tinkermom76]

good idea to spend some time enjoying the resort. I have tried to add in more resort time too, even got rid of the park hoppers

 

[jenseib]

I like your new improved plans...and if we go, it may give us a chance to meet up, since that is kind of what my day 1 plans are too. I keep thinking, how will I be able to go for 2 days before hitting the parks, but then I keep reminding myself that this is a whole new resort to explore, one that I'm not likely to go back to again, and has so many activities, that I'm sure we'll be fine. I wish we could get thre that early. The very earliest I think we could is around 10:30, well the flight lands then, so probably more like noon, but thats only flying out of Columbus. But those few extra hours could really serve us well. WE could hit DTD for a couple of hours and then come back and just take in the whole resort and swim. One of Claire's dreams is to go on waterslides, so I think that we should take advantage of that while we have the chance for 2 days.

 

[PoppyGirl]

I really like your new and improved plans for Day 1! I think it's so important to spend time relaxing at Disney. Staying CL is an awesome reason to really enjoy AKL as well.

Hmmmm....."relaxing" on vacation. What a novel concept! I think I like it!

Love your updated "Day 1"! Since you're on CL, you should enjoy it! As a mom who loves to plan and exhaust her family at WDW (and recently, DL), I agree that it might be better to start slow. Of course, I haven't tried that! But, seriously, on our recent trips to WDW and DL, we found that the kids were absolutely exhausted by the end of the trip, so it does seem that it would be good to "invest" in a more relaxed pace. Plus, AKL is so beautiful, it would be great to just hang out.

My BFF and another friend were both at Disney the same week. BFF and her family relaxed, took their time, spent a day at the resort (or more) and had a wonderful trip. My other friend went commando, came back completely exhausted and didn't have nearly as good of a time on their vacation. I believe there might be a lesson to be learned here! That's when I decided we really needed to change our plans.

good idea to spend some time enjoying the resort. I have tried to add in more resort time too, even got rid of the park hoppers

I am just not willing to spend the extra time and $$ to do park hopping. I might during a summer trip when it's even more crowded, but for me, it just doesn't seem worth it.

I like your new improved plans...and if we go, it may give us a chance to meet up, since that is kind of what my day 1 plans are too. I keep thinking, how will I be able to go for 2 days before hitting the parks, but then I keep reminding myself that this is a whole new resort to explore, one that I'm not likely to go back to again, and has so many activities, that I'm sure we'll be fine. I wish we could get thre that early. The very earliest I think we could is around 10:30, well the flight lands then, so probably more like noon, but thats only flying out of Columbus. But those few extra hours could really serve us well. WE could hit DTD for a couple of hours and then come back and just take in the whole resort and swim. One of Claire's dreams is to go on waterslides, so I think that we should take advantage of that while we have the chance for 2 days.

What's the latest on whether or not you're going to get to go? And when do you have to make a final decision, Jen? Are there waterslides at AKL? I haven't researched the pools much.