Confessions of an obsessive planner... Let the countdown begin!!

[DrMomof3]

Not to sound stupid... So the actual page that will be signed is a photo with a matte finish? Is that correct?
I love the autograph books! So cool!!!
I'd love to hear more about how you made the Passports. I have no talent with these things but I'd love to save a few bucks by making our own....

Amanda

 

[-Hope-]

Not to sound stupid... So the actual page that will be signed is a photo with a matte finish? Is that correct?
I love the autograph books! So cool!!!
I'd love to hear more about how you made the Passports. I have no talent with these things but I'd love to save a few bucks by making our own....

Amanda

Not stupid at all! There are so many ways to do these things it gets confusing! To answer your question, yes- the autograph pages that will be signed are photos with a matte finish. People from the DISign boards recommend a retractable Sharpie and say it works well on matte photos w/o smearing. I do have one extra card (we ordered two of each but only got one of this one so I just left it out of both books) so when I get my hands on a retractable Sharpie I'm going to try it out to be sure.

The passports were pretty simple. I downloaded the pages I wanted from Natalies stuff and then uploaded them to Snapfish. Snapfish has a 'mini book' on their photobooks page and I selected that and then followed the instructions. It was super easy, just selected the photos I wanted and then drag and drop to put them in order. One thing to note is that the mini book will only do a small image on the front cover, that's why I used the Mickey head and then the first page is actually one Natalie's covers.

None of the other photo sites have a book this small or this cheap so it's got to be Snapfish. If you go to their site and sign up for their emails you'll get coupon codes on a regular basis. I got free shipping on my stuff which just made it all even cheaper.

HTH!!

 

[DrMomof3]

Thank you for the info!!!

Amanda

 

[-Hope-]

Well folks, my camera is spending a few weeks with the good people at Canon. It just up and quit on me earlier this week. I was heartsick at first and then I decided it wasn't healthy to be so attached to a material possesion and I snapped out of it. I still miss having it but I know that I'll have it back soon and pouting won't make it come back any quicker.

Anyway, we had a lovely Mulan movie day today and I did snap a few pics w/ the point and shoot but not as many as I normally would. For more (and MUCH better) pics pop on over to Karen's PTR and read her post about our Mulan day.

We decided last week that we wanted to incorporate World Showcase into our Disney days so in addition Mulan today was also all about China.

Karen made some great Chinese lanterns to hang over the table.

I stopped by a local Chinese restaurant and got chopsticks, placemats and fortune cookies. The girls really enjoyed reading the placemats with the Chinese zodiac symbols- they especially got a big kick out of figuring out who they should avoid. Unfortunately none of our local places use the take-out boxes so I just improvised and made a few. I also made a 'table runner' with the Chinese symbols for courage, strength, brave, and hero in honor of Mulan.

Karen brought oriental ramen and veggie egg rolls. The girls ate their ramen with chopsticks- they both did a good job it was very impressive!

I also printed out some activities and gathered supplies for crafts but the girls really wanted to watch the movie for once!

Another great day!

 

[BabyEeyore]

I love your movie nights! I always get great ideas for our own movie nights.

 

[lexmas]

Mmm, that gives me a hankering for Chinese food. Great decorations, and surprising, but good that the movie got watched this time!

 

[-Hope-]

I love your movie nights! I always get great ideas for our own movie nights.

Mmm, that gives me a hankering for Chinese food. Great decorations, and surprising, but good that the movie got watched this time!

Thank you! We have a lot of fun in both the planning and execution- whether they watch the movie or not.

 

[R and C's momma]

My photo cards arrived from SnapFish today and I LOVE THEM!! Thank you so much, Hope, for the idea -- and to NATALIE for her fantastic designs!!

I did find the 'brag books' for 97 cents at WalMart, in the birthday supplies area. For a total of 4 books (each with 36 pages) I spent a whopping $20! I can't wait for the kids to see these.

Cheers!
Amy

 

[-Hope-]

Yay! Amy, I'm so glad you were able to make this idea work for you!

 

[-Hope-]

Oh Disney, why do you tease me so?? I got the 20/30/40 pin today (on dh's account). I hate to complain about a discount but really?? Where's my free dining!?!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

They'll send it or you'll get it when they release it, I'm sure of it! Hold out though, don't use the pin, maybe that will entice them to send the free dining pin!

 

[lexmas]

I feel your pain. I keep getting pins in the mail for free dining for the summer. Every single time I get excited, and every single time it's not for the right dates!

 

[-Hope-]

Today was Toy Story day! It was kind of a laid back day as far as Disney days go. We used to have a lot of things relating to this movie but when we cleaned out the toys last summer we got rid of ALL of them. No Woody, Buzz, Mr. Potato Head, army men- nothing. So we didn't have toys and my red sheet that makes such a great, colorful tablecloth was no where to be found. We improvised and it turned out okay. Please bear in mind that I still don't have my good camera so the pics aren't that great- but at least you get the idea of what we did.

Food was easy- pizza in honor of Pizza Planet. Then when we were at K-mart the other day we found a Toy Story sand bucket and since Kya wanted some new sand toys anyway so we picked it up.

Finally I found lots of stuff online since there's a new movie coming out soon. The activity books include a coloring page, some math questions relating to how long it took to make the movie, an activity book to make, and a cute little 3-D alien.

The girls did none of this. They ate the pizza but spent the rest of the time just playing. When it was almost time to go they got the sand toys to play with but when I went out to get Kya they weren't playing with them.

You just never know how it's going to go with these two and the activities we plan but we always know we'll have fun!

 

[lexmas]

Well, the set up for toy story day looks great, anyway! Glad everyone had a good time!

 

[-Hope-]

Okay folks, I have not been worried AT ALL up to this point about a fall promo. I'm still not uber worried but...

Yesterday they extended the current Visa card offer of free dining for KIDS ONLY to October 2!!

Both of my kids will be over 9 when we go so this offer does us NO good whatsoever. I'm trying not to panic and I hope by this time next week there may be a different Visa offer but I just don't know. Why would they extend an offer of free dining for kids only and then a week later offer it for everyone?

Okay, now I've talked myself into being uber worried. At least I have that pin- 20% off the room isn't much but it's better than nothing I suppose.

 

[DrMomof3]

Oh no! I hope you get your free dining soon!!!

Amanda

 

[-Hope-]

Thanks Amanda. It won't make or break our trip but I was really hoping for a great deal. I have even made peace with the idea that it may not be FD but that whatever they offer would be equally great. This offer is not equally great.

I thought about skipping MNSSHP and even had it worked out how I'd change some touring plans if we did. However, I spoke with a friend the other day who says her family is saving up to go to the new Harry Potter park when her youngest is a little older and she said something that has really stuck with me. She said this was probably going to be her family's only trip to Orlando so they were going to do it right- stay on property, eat the food, etc. Since this is probably going to be our only trip to WDW I have to say that I agree. So, I'm still hoping for a great fall promo but will try really hard not to panic (too much) if one doesn't come.

 

[DrMomof3]

I thought about skipping MNSSHP and even had it worked out how I'd change some touring plans if we did. However, I spoke with a friend the other day who says her family is saving up to go to the new Harry Potter park when her youngest is a little older and she said something that has really stuck with me. She said this was probably going to be her family's only trip to Orlando so they were going to do it right- stay on property, eat the food, etc. Since this is probably going to be our only trip to WDW I have to say that I agree. So, I'm still hoping for a great fall promo but will try really hard not to panic (too much) if one doesn't come.

It's harder knowing that this may be your only trip. I totally understand that!

Amanda

 

[tndislvr]

HI Hope! Just started reading your PTR and am LOVING it girl! Realized we are going to be there at the same time (Sept 24-Oct 1). Grandparents are coming with us, too!

 

[-Hope-]

HI Hope! Just started reading your PTR and am LOVING it girl! Realized we are going to be there at the same time (Sept 24-Oct 1). Grandparents are coming with us, too!

WELCOME!!!

Glad to have you along for the ride!