Disney Like it Used to be...And Like it's Never Been Before! Feb. '12 PTR! TR LINK!

[Jennifer48]

$22 for a bag is way too much. Hopefully you can recreate something like that yourself or with the help of your fellow DISers!

As for trivia books, two that I really enjoy are the PassPorters book

And the books by Lou Mongello

Both have lots of fun trivia and really make you stop and look around!

 

[mickey2minnie1]

Love the bags! Great ideas. I love the coordinating shirts idea.

 

[dtr_angel]

I just found your PTR and read through it. I am looking forward to reading your TR when you come back, it sounds amazing!!! I'm getting my Disney fix through others since we can't go this year. My husband and I have been to Disney 4 times since we've been married. We are planning a trip with my parents & 2 brothers for next January (that I have been planning in my head for YEARS!) and I can't wait. Definitely looking forward to getting some insight about traveling with the family from your TR. I hope you have an amazing trip!

 

[BMC423]

Those bags are sooo cute! I love the idea of Disney music down to Orlando, that is on my bucket list!

Thanks to whomever posted the treasure hunt book, I was wondering about something like that.

 

[Mrs T 2009]

such a fun idea! I bet everyone would love that!

You could totally make those bags yourself using cardstock! The only hard part would be Minnies shoes/bow, but I am sure you could find a stencil-type thing to trace onto cardstock google that you could print.

I made a mix disney cd to play in the car for rylan whenever he needs to calm down His favorite songs are Hakuna Matata and The Ooggie Boogie Song from Nightmare Before Christmas

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Those bags were made with the Cricut machine. I'd actually be more than happy to help you out (perhaps in trade for a little souvenir on your trip?) ) I can use my machine to cut out the shapes that you'd like and send them to you. I can try to find the images from the Disney cartridges I have for you. Other than that you just need a bit of cardstock for the background. Very simple (and SO NOT worth $22!)

Aww, you are so sweet! After my last post I actually did some more browsing and found an almost identical style on Etsy for MUCH cheaper, so I decided to go with those. I appreciate the offer, though!

The bags are such a cute idea. I am not sure if this would be too much to do or would fit in the bags but what about making individual disney shirts for everyone? You can put their name on with the dates of the trip and a disney character or just Mickey's head.

The shirts are a great idea! I feel like I'm running out of time for all of these little projects that I want to do, but I will definitely keep those in mind if I have the time.

Those bags are cute but could easily be recreated just like Disney Crafter said.

I love the idea of the bag and I might have to borrow that and create ones for my kids for each day of our trip.

Oh by the way I started a PTR if you want to join along. The link is below.

Thanks for letting me know about your PTR! I will head over now to check it out!

I thought the bags were so cute! I actually found a very similar style on Etsy for only $12 for 8 bags! I will post a "bag update" later - they might be great for you, too!

$22 for the bags?! How many do you get?! That's crazy! They look very simple-- as a PP said, a Cricut machine is the easiest way, but you could even print pictures offline and trace them. Don't worry about not being crafty! What sorts of goodies were you planning on stuffing in them? The Disney store has some great things-- and I'm incredibly partial to the Disney Princess/Pixar fruit snacks at Target! I don't care how old you are-- gummies are always a good snack! Even something like dried pinneapple rings-- to get them excited for Dole Whips! This is a fun idea-- I'm stealing it for our next trip, even though it'll only be the two of us.

I know! Isn't that a little ridiculous? I think 2? I could be wrong though. Once I saw $22 I just moved on. That is an excellent tip about tracing the pictures! And I will have to looks for some fruit snacks! LOVE the pineapple ring idea, too!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Hi Courtney - great idea on the gift bags!
I did something similar for DH's family when we went with them in 2009 (and I might do it again when we go to Orlando with them this summer ... I think they might almost be expecting it from me! )

Things I put in them were... Disney beach towels, Hidden Mickeys book, Disney-themed Kleenex tissues & band-aids, pins..
Something fun for the ladies in your group could be a pearl-cage for a necklace (I found a really good seller on ebay who does these!) and then you could do pick-a-pearl at Epcot or Downtown Disney

Last time I bought gift boxes from the Disney Store to use.. this year I might get gift bags, the greeting card shops here nearly always have Disney princess, Pirates and Pixar ones!


Hope you're having a good week... so close to your next trip now!



Emma x

Your Disney bags sound amazing! I love the pearl cage idea! I never ended up doing anything with my pearl from the honeymoon since I couldn't find a cage for it, so I think I will look into getting one for myself and my grandmother before our trip.

Aww, those Disney gift bags are such a cute idea! I love everything you are going to put in there! And although I'm not crafty either, they look simple enough to make, for someone who knows what they are doing!

Thank you! I thought they looked pretty simple, too, but I just wonder how long they would take?

I'm all caught up and loving your TR!

Last February we also did an extended family trip to WDW and then cruised on the Dream! We had 14 total in our party, it was a fabulous trip, especially for my daughters who had two full weeks with 3 of their grandparents!

We also did gift bags which included:
Cruise T-Shirts (designs that were created here on the boards)
Magnets for our doors (again designs from the boards)
Luggage Tags
Laminated Cards (park hours, schedule etc. - okay, like you, I'm bit of a planner!!!!)

I felt like there was more but I'm drawing a blank!

All your the plans sound awesome, I can't wait to read more!!

Wow! 14 people! That trip sounds like so much fun, and your gift bags sound like they were amazing! I am definitely doing the laminated scheduling cards, but I think I'm just going to do them for myself.

If you have a cricut or know someone with one, the bags will be easy. Otherwise, I bet you can find a template to trace and cut out by hand (more time consuming..but you are only making a few). The Mickey bags actually look really simple to cut by hand.

Also I love this idea and might just steal it..I was already planning to do a little toiletry kit for both of our moms, but maybe i'll just do one for everyone and make it more dis-themed

These circut machines sound really neat! I LOVE the toiletry kit idea! I bet the ladies would absolutely love that. I know I would!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

$22 for a bag is way too much. Hopefully you can recreate something like that yourself or with the help of your fellow DISers!

As for trivia books, two that I really enjoy are the PassPorters book

And the books by Lou Mongello

Both have lots of fun trivia and really make you stop and look around!

Thank you SO much for the book ideas! That is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for!

Love the bags! Great ideas. I love the coordinating shirts idea.

Thank you so much!

I just found your PTR and read through it. I am looking forward to reading your TR when you come back, it sounds amazing!!! I'm getting my Disney fix through others since we can't go this year. My husband and I have been to Disney 4 times since we've been married. We are planning a trip with my parents & 2 brothers for next January (that I have been planning in my head for YEARS!) and I can't wait. Definitely looking forward to getting some insight about traveling with the family from your TR. I hope you have an amazing trip!

So glad to have you joining in! Your upcoming trip sounds like so much fun!

Those bags are sooo cute! I love the idea of Disney music down to Orlando, that is on my bucket list!

Thanks to whomever posted the treasure hunt book, I was wondering about something like that.

I think the Disney music will make the ride very festive.

such a fun idea! I bet everyone would love that!

You could totally make those bags yourself using cardstock! The only hard part would be Minnies shoes/bow, but I am sure you could find a stencil-type thing to trace onto cardstock google that you could print.

I made a mix disney cd to play in the car for rylan whenever he needs to calm down His favorite songs are Hakuna Matata and The Ooggie Boogie Song from Nightmare Before Christmas

I love that Rylan has a Disney music CD to clam down to! And thank you for mentioning Hakuna Matata! I am so adding that to the CD!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

PLANNING A FAMILY VACATION STEP 6: DEVISE A TOURING PLAN

As I mentioned, we are going to be following more of a touring plan than Miguel and I normally do when we go to Disney. My family loves to follow a plan, so I don’t think anyone will object to this. If we happen to spot something that really catches our eye, then of course we will stop, but I have a feeling that we will all be pretty good about sticking to this.

I would greatly appreciate any input that you can give me, since we are going to be touring in a much different way than we normally do. Miguel and I always focus on the big ticket-attractions and getting plenty of FPs, so we find ourselves criss-crossing the parks quite a bit. I am going to try to keep this to a minimum, and focus on one area at a time. We’ll of course have a FP runner, though!

I made plans for each park which show the activities that we want to accomplish while in the park, along with the time for each attraction/activity, and a rough estimate of when we'll complete each of those activities. I know I can't make a really accurate prediction, but I figured this will help me stay on track somewhat. I am going to print each of these out on cardstock and laminate them so I can take them to the parks with me each day. On the back, I am going to print any notes for the day, such as extra attraction ideas if we have more time than expected, or attractions to skip if we have less time than expected. I'll also include that day's ADR confirmation # and time, any important times that can't be changed (show times, etc.), approx. travel times and when we need to be ready to go to the parks and go to dinner. I haven't done those yet, but I will post them when I do!

Today marks 19 days until our trip! We've made it to the teens! I am getting so excited I can hardly stand it! I found a great recording of the Illuminations music on YouTube and I think I listen to it about 10 times a day. I have it playing as I type this update, actually! It's really getting me even more excited for our first night, since we'll be in Epcot! I also have so much that I want to get done in the 19 days until we leave. I think my next post will have to be a to-do list!

I am off now to pick up a few things we need for the trip, and then I'll be back later to get caught up on your reports!

 

[disneybarbie]

Hi Courtney, I can't believe you are at 19 days now.. so jealous, my countdown is.. 207 today!


Those touring cards look like a good idea - just wondered if you had a 'Touring Plans' subscription? It's about $10 for a year.. they have a website and a free iphone app - you can enter in all the attractions you want to visit in a park, and it will put them in an order for you to optimize your time ... I just got the app a few weeks ago and have been playing around with it!

Btw I really like those newsletters you've been sending to your family for the trip! I'd quite like to do something similar for DH's family for our summer trip



Hope you've had a great weekend,

Emma x

 

[merbobear]

I had all intentions of following a touring plan last year, but we ended up winging it a lot. I had a subscription to touring plans, and I think I will actually renew it even though we didn't follow them exactly - I think having a plan made me more aware of what attractions get the longest lines, what to FP, what to race to at RD, etc. I love your little cards though, and hopefully you will be able to stay on track. Even if you aren't, I think the cards will be beneficial!

 

[klacey1]

Wow-- those are some very detailed plans!! I think it was smart to plan to stay in one area for a chunk of time with so many people.

 

[ditsypixie]

Love the bags for each person! I bet they will love them!!!

What great touring plans you have! I like how you left a space for notes and ADR's and such! It looks great. I can't believe how quickly your trip is coming up!!! Yay!!

 

[oboedm]

Just finished your disneymoon report that I started months ago, and I was pleased to see that you had another PTR! I love the newsletter idea... I will have to remember that when I start planning my trip in Oct 2013!

 

[Nermel9]

Your plans for each day look great! I've never followed such a detailed touring plan, but I think it makes sense with such a big group!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Your organizational skills for Disney planning get me every time! One word: AMAZING.

I'm so glad that you share my affinity for organizing.

Can we please have a DIS meet someday. Like soon. Go to Disney World this fall!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Hi Courtney, I can't believe you are at 19 days now.. so jealous, my countdown is.. 207 today!


Those touring cards look like a good idea - just wondered if you had a 'Touring Plans' subscription? It's about $10 for a year.. they have a website and a free iphone app - you can enter in all the attractions you want to visit in a park, and it will put them in an order for you to optimize your time ... I just got the app a few weeks ago and have been playing around with it!

Btw I really like those newsletters you've been sending to your family for the trip! I'd quite like to do something similar for DH's family for our summer trip



Hope you've had a great weekend,

Emma x

I have thought about the TP subscription but I've never done it. Don't know why - I would probably love it! I will have to look into that some more!

I had all intentions of following a touring plan last year, but we ended up winging it a lot. I had a subscription to touring plans, and I think I will actually renew it even though we didn't follow them exactly - I think having a plan made me more aware of what attractions get the longest lines, what to FP, what to race to at RD, etc. I love your little cards though, and hopefully you will be able to stay on track. Even if you aren't, I think the cards will be beneficial!

We typically don't follow too much of a plan either, but we have kind of fallen into our typical "strategy" as I call it. I agree that the subscription would be helpful just for the extra knowledge.

Wow-- those are some very detailed plans!! I think it was smart to plan to stay in one area for a chunk of time with so many people.

It was so hard to make those plans and not have us going back and forth across the parks to knock out our favorites first, but I think my family will thank me! They are all fairly active, but I don't think they realize just how much walking Disney is!

Love the bags for each person! I bet they will love them!!!

What great touring plans you have! I like how you left a space for notes and ADR's and such! It looks great. I can't believe how quickly your trip is coming up!!! Yay!!

Thank you! I'm excited about my little cards!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Just finished your disneymoon report that I started months ago, and I was pleased to see that you had another PTR! I love the newsletter idea... I will have to remember that when I start planning my trip in Oct 2013!

Thank you so much for coming over to the PTR! The newsletters have really been a lot of fun!

Your plans for each day look great! I've never followed such a detailed touring plan, but I think it makes sense with such a big group!

That was my thought, too. I wouldn't do all of that if it was just Miguel and I, but I am so worried about getting there and us wondering what to do next. I want to make sure we have the lowest possible wait times, and minimal park crossing. Basically, I want it to be perfect.

Your organizational skills for Disney planning get me every time! One word: AMAZING.

I'm so glad that you share my affinity for organizing.

Can we please have a DIS meet someday. Like soon. Go to Disney World this fall!

Oh, how I love to organize. I have actually deemed 2012 my year of organizing. I assigned myself various different organizational projects each month - January is the freezer/fridge and laundry room. Disney trip organizing is so much more fun though!

We are planning on a fall trip! I'm thinking about the first of October, maybe. I must do F&W this year, and with that being 8 months after the upcoming trip, I figure I'll be itching to go back! I've already told Miguel that if there is a bounceback offer for October I'm booking it! That would be so much fun if we could have a DISmeet!

 

[oboedm]

I love the idea to set a certain organizational goal each month. I really need to get on top of that. =) We moved into our current home 3 months ago now, and I still haven't unpacked my sewing and scrapbook stuff. Eek!

 

[CandleontheWater]

Wow, you are super organized, I am way impressed!

Those cards are a great idea and will certainly help during those "what do we do next" moments!

Your trip is getting so close and that means mine is to, but unlike you, I don't have anything ready! Guess I better start moving!