Do As Dreamers Do PTR May 2018

[StarlitNight05]

I love to look nice when I go to the parks too. I wear skorts from White Sierra. They look like a skirt but have shorts ( loose fitting) underneath so getting in and out of ride vehicles or sitting on the ground for the parade I'm not flashing anyone. They are made of hiking pants material they are light for hot days and dry quick- which is great for getting drenched on the water rides. I wear them to work and get compliments all the time - people don't know they have shorts on underneath until I tell them. Bonus is they come in Plus sizes.

Just looked these up and I'm going to order one in black. Super cute! Have you found them to be true to size?

 

[Pamela M]

I find them true to size. I’m a size 20/ 2x and the 2x fits me well. I have a thick waist and no hips- so cant talk to how they fit through the hips if your hippy.

Columbia and REI I believe have similar skorts if these don’t work for you.

 

[BrerMama]

I’ve been following along on your PTR, and just wanted to mention that yes, you can sit up front while taking a Lyft. My husband just did that several times on our recent trip. We’ve used Lyft and
Uber in many cities. We have always felt safe with the drivers, and have had positive experiences.

Thank you. I haven't sat in a backseat in years and even then, it's just been a quick drive from work to lunch or something.

Love the shirt! Too cute.

I started using packing cubes a couple of years ago and love how much I can roll and fit into them. I do hate packing everything back up when it's time to go though.

Packing cubes are the most amazing invention I've discovered recently. Love them to death. Now I just need some padded one for my Mickey ears.

I know what you mean about taking comfort seriously at the parks. For my 30th birthday two years ago I wanted to be super cute and wear my disney dresses and "comfortable" flats. Everytime I went on an attraction I had to keep pulling my dress down to make sure I wasn't giving anyone a peep show.

By the first evening there my feet were on fire. I ended up changing into my jeggings, a t-shirt, and my broken in converse -- I was so much happier and more comfortable. So defintiely wear what makes you feel happy and comfortable! And you're right.. you can never go wrong with a super cute t-shirt!

I always see pictures of people dressed so cute in the parks and I was thinking "I can do that!" but I just don't think I *want* to do that. We don't go to the parks frequently -- it's been six years since our last trip -- and I want comfort that will last all day. Looking cute while doing it would also be nice.

I've been so quiet about how I feel about Uber. I've used it many times with groups of friends just to go out or get home or whatever, but I still feel very very weird about using it myself. I know most drivers are fabulous and super nice, but like... SOCIAL ANXIETY TRIGGGGERRRRREEEEEDDDDD.

Lol @ the "no padding needed" comment. I feel I have WAYYY too much influence on the vernacular of this PTR hahaha And that shirt is SOOOO CUTE! You're definitely gonna have to track down Belle wearing that, she'd freak.

So I'm like an introvert with infrequent extrovert tendencies. Maybe more frequent if you know me at work. My job requires me to meet with parents, team members, I've taught inservices, etc. so it's not like I can't be outgoing and start a conversation if needed, but my social anxiety does mean that I'm usually going to work myself into a wreck before, be fine when it happens, and then need to hibernate in a quiet room with a podcast playing to get myself back down to normal. I think I could handle Uber/Lyft better if it wasn't for the fact that I'll have been flying all day and that's a completely different set of triggers.

My daughter and I discovered Drag Race last summer and while it started as just something to occupy our time, it's become an *event.* It makes our lives richer and if that pours into trip reports, I'm in favor.

And yes to the tracking Belle down while wearing that shirt. I definitely will.

I love to look nice when I go to the parks too. I wear skorts from White Sierra. They look like a skirt but have shorts ( loose fitting) underneath so getting in and out of ride vehicles or sitting on the ground for the parade I'm not flashing anyone. They are made of hiking pants material they are light for hot days and dry quick- which is great for getting drenched on the water rides. I wear them to work and get compliments all the time - people don't know they have shorts on underneath until I tell them. Bonus is they come in Plus sizes.

Oh, those sound super cute. I'm not really a skirt/skort kind of person. Too much teaching 3 year olds for that. I don't mind a long tunic with leggings under it, but I don't think I could pull off the skort. It's looking like I'm going to be a jort (jean short) and t-shirt girl with adorable ears.

 

[BrerMama]

I'm working on a new chapter, but I have to share these custom ears I had made. I have a hard time picking a "favorite" Disney character because I usually like a story or a song or a feeling more than I like an actual character, but if I had to name one, I'd say Sully. I have a thing for big mythical animals (the Abominable Snowman from the Rudolph movies is another favorite) and Sully's love for Boo warms my heart. I hadn't bought any character specific ears because I more just like the feeling of Disney, but I had a rough day a few weeks ago and decided to treat myself. I went with The Champagne Mouse (on Insta and Etsy) because she did Chesney's Tiana ears and I wanted to see what she could do with Sully ears.

She killed it.

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I may wear these every day. I wish there were more cute Monsters Inc shirts available. Hoping that Pixar Fest might mean some super cute shirts...

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Those are adorable! I definitely need to check out The Champagne Mouse now because I really need one of those cute floral pairs and if she has Tiana ones I NEEEEEDDD those.

 

[BrerMama]

Chapter 15 Where You Think You're Going Baby?

Do you know we had snow here last weekend? In April?!? Isn’t that crazy?

Life here is in full on end of the year mode. I go to work; I think about the paperwork I have to get done before the end of the year. Our district generously has given students a half day on the last day of school so that teachers have the rest of the day to close up classrooms. Since I teach pre-K, they’ve cancelled our classes all day, so now my students get out a full day earlier and I should have at least 3 hours on the technical “last day” to get my room “ready for summer. I have it in quotes because I teach extended school year and don’t have to do much. I also get off a half day earlier. This gives me two full days between my last day of work and our plane taking off. Laundry and packing. That’s the plan.

This was earlier this week. I have a student teacher who is doing all my teaching and I really struggle with being useless (because she's great) so I wore my Mickey/Greatest Showman shirt to cheer myself up. Ironically, the only one who "got" it was my student teacher.​

At home, I’m designing and ordering graduation announcements. I probably broke every rule of etiquette, but I did a front of the card with only my high schooler and then a back with pictures of all 3 kids and their plans for the future. No dates or party information because that’s not how we’re doing this.

I think I ended up using a cropped version of this photo for the card. I love this photo. The play of gritty abandoned building with her soft yellow sweater gives me all the feels.
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Prom’s in two weeks and my daughter got nominated for prom queen. This is all brand new to me. My kids aren’t nominated for things like that. For heavens sake, we bought her Keds to wear with her prom dress. Because we might not be prom queen people, but we are definitely glitter Keds kinda people. So that’s a fun new thing for us. Bonus? She gets to wear a tiara. Unironically.

Little preview of the dress. Embroidery on velvet bodice, tulle peachy pink skirt. It's so her.​

Planning-wise, our dining reservations are all made. I decided to reserve a Paint the Night dining package lunch at Wine Country Trattoria. First, they have sangria. Second, it kind of ties us into going to the parade that night. I’m planning our days like we’re staying in the parks every night until close, but knowing that we’re much more likely to go back to the room and fall asleep before 8 pm California time. I like the idea of booking something that gives us an obligation to stay in the parks in the evenings and into the night.

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Oh, one fun thing. I have an internet friend I met via digital scrapbooking who took her daughter out to Disneyland last week. [I find that when you make an internet friend, you stay “friends” longer if you share more then one interest… so digital scrapbooking and Disney fans are my thing.] She and her daughter did a mom & me trip and they went to Surf’s Up one day, which is what we plan to do the morning of our non-park day. They had such a wonderful time she was sending me messages about it. They went at 10 am, which is when we have a reservation, and they had lots of character interaction and a magical experience. Hoping we get some pixie dust as well!

Me and Stitch at our last Surf's Up. I was a little happy.

PS -- I saw a video of Sully roaming the parks yesterday. (The video was focused on Mike, who I can't stand due to my own Billy Crystal issues.) I'm going to burst right into tears if I see Sully.

Chapter 16 A Random Jurassic Park Quote​

 

[BrerMama]

Chapter 16 If the Pirates of the Caribbean Breaks Down, The Pirates Don't Eat the Tourists

Each week when I make my Walmart grocery pick up order (because why would I shop when someone will do it for me for free?!?) I throw in a couple of things for our trip. I think I’m almost done collecting toiletry items from there and the only other thing I’d like to pick up is a power strip that has USB ports built in. I have been watching videos of our hotel and they do have a nice lamp with outlets built right in, but only two. There’s three of us. And let me tell you… I’m going to call it right now… I’ll be the one sleeping with my phone plugged in across the room. Dan and I have very specific sides of the bed where we’ve slept for almost 30 years now and the first thing we do when we walk in a new sleeping space is figure out what our side is.

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We also make the kids sleep in the bed closest to the door. Slows down the hypothetical intruders.

Other simple prep I’m doing includes breaking in walking shoes. Dan doesn’t have brand new shoes so he’s good. He’s not as hard on his shoes as I am because he has to wear work boots to work and so he really only wears personal stuff on weekends. This works for clothing as well. The man has so many clothes and much of it never sees the light of day.

Anyway, he’s good. I have a new pair of Ola Kai flip flops I need to break in and I’m also planning to take the pair that was new last year so I can alternate. I live in flip flops from the minute our temps get mild enough to wear them in the morning (like mid-50s). It’s a little dangerous in my job, but I just don’t care. My feet literally itch if it’s warm and I’m in shoes with laces.



I also bought 3 pair of glittery sneakers which were super cheap and sort of feel it, but they are freaking adorable. I plan to bring one pair of these and am alternating wearing them to work when it’s cold so I can get them broken in as well. I completely splurged and bought us all Bomba socks for the trip because I figured if I had to wear socks, I might as well wear really, really good ones.

Chesney does not have the need for good arch support I do -- being only 18, so she’s got a couple pair of Teva Mush flip flops to wear. And her rose gold glittery Keds from prom she can take. She also wears the same size as me and did I mention I bought 3 pairs of the glittery sneakers?

Seriously her prom shoes. I had serious issues with spending $100 on heels she'd never wear again. So I spent $100 on rose gold sparkly sequined Keds. Not sure about a potential prom queen wearing Keds, but why not?​

I’ve started my little trip journal. Mostly I’m writing down park hours and dining reservations and reminders to myself about what I want to accomplish each day. There’s so many things I think I want to do and in my head I’ll think “we should do that on the day we’re doing ____” so I’m trying to put that in a place where I’ll see it every morning. I’m using an adorable little journal I got from Limelife Planners with an equally adorable Disney/California themed fabric cover. I was a big “planner girl” for several years but have cut down on that activity to where I use a monthly planner and update it weekly. Still… I want to be able to have something where I can keep notes and receipts and other things that may help with my eventual trip report.

​

So that’s the state of planning from here in Kansas. Four weeks to go. Is that even possible?

Chapter 17 It Takes Ten Times As Long​

 

[ActionComics25]

I'm loving the trip journal! It's cute enough to remind you to use it. (I always start with the best of intentions, but I never remember to actually wright about the day!) Glitter shoes will defiantly stand out, I bet a couple of characters will point them out while you're there.

 

[BrerMama]

I'm loving the trip journal! It's cute enough to remind you to use it. (I always start with the best of intentions, but I never remember to actually wright about the day!) Glitter shoes will defiantly stand out, I bet a couple of characters will point them out while you're there.

I like the trip journal is organized. I think the list option may help me write in it. I was a long time Passporter user and kept notes on those envelopes and this doesn't have quite as many prompts to get me writing. My plan is to come home and spend the summer writing our trip report so I'm hoping to remember to take lots of pictures as we do things to jog my memory once we're back home.

We've got prom today and I'll be spending my day with Ches getting hair and makeup done, taking pictures, and then watching the red carpet so I'll update tomorrow!

 

[BrerMama]

Chapter 17 It Takes Ten Times As Long To Put Yourself Back Together As It Does To Fall Apart​

Excuse me while I indulge in a few prom pictures here…

Dress is from PromGirl.com. Tiara is because she was one of three nominees for prom queen.



I ordered her corsage from a seller on Etsy. It's silk flowers and vintage jewelry. It was really gorgeous.



She had a smile on her face the whole time. After pictures her group went to Freddy's Steakburgers and Frozen Custard, a kind of fun fast food place that started here in Wichita.



They do a prom red carpet every year and this was my last one. Ches attended pro with her three best friends, only one of whom goes to her school. I'm so proud of her and the friends she's got. During prom queen crowning (spoiler alert... she didn't win), they were so excited for her and screaming and calling out that they love her. It's just heart warming to know your child in high school has made true, deep friendships.
​

And now, back to our regularly scheduled trip report...

We are at three weeks until our trip and it’s time to get serious about planning. With WDW, I’ll plan down to the minute. I have spreadsheets going. I think there is just something about planning a WDW trip that appeals to the organized part of my mind. I mean… I spend most of my life teaching kids that need structure and routine and consistency. I have their days planned for them so much so that you can give me a time and I can tell you exactly what we’ll be doing in my classroom, probably even down to the song we’ll be singing. Planning a Type A commando trip completely appeals to that part of my personality.

However, the older I get, the more I like to go with the flow. For example, we go to Branson several times a year. In the past, I’d decide what shows we were seeing when and call months ahead to make reservations to assure we got the best seats to the show. The last few years? We wait until we get to town, buy tickets at the half price ticket outlet the morning we want to see a show, and then go to the theater and choose our seats. We’ve discovered that even doing this, we still usually get decent seats. The more we visit, the more flexible we become and the less we want to get locked into doing something weeks in advance.

I sort of feel like planning this trip to Disneyland is my bridge between the two. I have a beginning of structure to each day and I’m leaving most of the details on how we get there up to us to decide that day.

This is my little traveller's notebook. I've got all the park hours, entertainment hours, my plans, dining reservations for each day written in it. Hopefully I'll remember to check it each day to remind me what we're doing and what I have planned.​

As of today, our structure looks like this:

Sunday, May 20

Start at DCA, Radiator Springs main priority

Hop to Disneyland mid-day (possibly with a break at the hotel in there)

4:30 pm River Belle Terrace Fantasmic dinner

9 pm Fantasmic followed by Together Forever fireworks

Monday, May 21

Will likely start at Disneyland because it opens an hour before DCA

Try to see the Carsland lighting

Tuesday, May 22

Likely start at DCA to avoid Magic Morning crowds at DL

Grad Night, so need to be in Disneyland for the afternoon and evening

See fireworks from Main Street

Wednesday, May 23

Our “off” day

10 AM Surf’s Up breakfast at Paradise Pier

Will likely see a movie at the AMC theater

Thursday, May 24

Magic Morning at Disneyland

11:30 am Wine Country Trattoria Paint the Night package

*Note to self -- treat yourself to some sangria

Friday, May 25

Probably start at DL

5:30 dinner at Cafe Orleans (can’t decide if I should switch this to a lunch)

See either PTN or Together Forever Fireworks again before heading home

I’ll note that I originally planned for us to use our Magic Morning on Tuesday but after looking at the park hours and knowing we were taking Wednesday off from the parks, decided Thursday would be a better day for this. We’ll get in at 7 am, which hopefully will mean a less empty park due to the hour, then hop to DCA in time for our 11:30 lunch.

I thought this was adorable when I posted it on my Instagram on our 30 days to go day. It's a little notepad that we tear off a day each morning for our countdown. In the past, we did the paperchain ring thing but this seems a little more age appropriate this trip.​

Things we need to fit in somewhere: Pixar Play parade (may try to see it on that first day in the parks before our River Belle Terrace reservation), Mickey and the Magical Map and maybe the Frozen show. I’m not a huge fan of Frozen but I generally love Disney shows (and just watching a video of Festival of the Lion King at AK has me in tears) so it’s a possible if we have time.

Of course, there are rides we want to fit in. Like Haunted Mansion on the daily. Probably Radiator Springs as well. Ches and I have a list of characters we want to see. Sully. Tiana. Stitch. Belle. I’m pretty sure Ches and I could just spend a day doing character meet and greets. And just as sure Dan would disown us if we tried that. Anyone got a day off, an annual pass and like thrill rides? My husband needs a babysitter for a day.

 

[ActionComics25]

I think you have a great plan! I'm bad at character meet-ups, I always feel awkward and weird, but I love watching other people meet their favorite characters! My mother is really fun for that, she's the right blend of sincere and cheesy in all of her interactions with them.

Prom looked like fun. The red carpet is a really great idea, maybe lets a couple parents of reluctant teens get a few more photos.

 

[BrerMama]

I think you have a great plan! I'm bad at character meet-ups, I always feel awkward and weird, but I love watching other people meet their favorite characters! My mother is really fun for that, she's the right blend of sincere and cheesy in all of her interactions with them.

Prom looked like fun. The red carpet is a really great idea, maybe lets a couple parents of reluctant teens get a few more photos.

Awkward is my middle name. You should have seen me at prom. Awkward.

I do love the Red Carpet idea, but I should have taken a photo of all the parents crowding in. Some of the grandparents brought lawn chairs to sit and watch. It's really... well, awkward.

 

[BrerMama]

Hey everyone. I don't have a lot of update because life is crazy. It just is and I often find myself wondering why we're going on vacation only two days after I finish up the school year... and then I remember that I'm teaching Extended School Year and it was literally the only time we could go.

I have my handy dandy "to do" list going at work to make sure I get everything sent home with kids for the end of the year.

Chesney is even more busy than I am. Today she has some kind of drama awards (not for creating drama... she was stage manager for the school musical and the stage crew got nominated for a state award). She's got choir concerts, potlucks, senior recognition... it exhausts me and I only have to show up for half of it.

Yesterday was spent driving all over Kansas to visit my in-laws. My MIL has Alzheimer's and is in a nursing home and my FIL has terminal cancer although he's actually doing pretty good. Visiting them was definitely something we wanted to do before we went on vacation, however.

We didn't get home until after 5 pm and then we pretty much sat around eating nut rolls (a treat from my husband's hometown bakery) and watching TV. I did a little online scrapbook shopping...

I think I mentioned in my introduction that I've literally done every form of scrapbooking and memory keeping possible. For our last trip, which was 6 years ago, I did a physical Project Life album. Project Life is a brand of supplies but it started what is known as pocket scrapbooking. Basically you have a stitched page protector with pockets sewn into it and you slip your photos, special scrapbook cards, and memorabilia into the pockets and it makes the whole process much faster.

This is what that last album looked like...

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I decided for this trip, I want to do digital and then print my digital pages and put them into albums. It's just how I work right now. If I try to do physical, it's just not gonna happen. Digital I can do while sitting and watching a movie or TV or listening to a podcast and never have to leave my sofa.

Once upon a time, I was sort of well known in the digital scrapbooking world and I was on a lot of creative teams, which meant I got free product in exchange for creating sample layouts. One of my favorite designers had started a whole line of Disney inspired pocket scrapbooking products. At some point yesterday I put together that it was National Scrapbook Day and that if I wanted to pick up some of those supplies for my album, this would be the weekend.

And oh my gosh... she has a ton of products available now. I'm currently in the process of downloading and organizing everything I bought. I love organizing digital stuff. It's so much easier than my organizing my physical life.

Anyway, I'm using Project Mouse. It's a great line of digital products if you're at all interested in exploring digital memory keeping.

If you're interested in learning more, this blog post has more information: Welcome to Project Mouse

[Coming back to add: I haven't gotten any compensation for digital scrapbooking in years. I just love Krista's products for the purpose of memory keeping for Disney trips and thought I'd share.]​

 

[Frenchy0819]

Chapter 4: I’ve Got the Magic On Me

And what girl can't always use a pair of sparkly glitter athletic shoes?​

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PS Dan says he won't go to the parks with me if I wear these shoes (rose gold). He doesn't even know about the pair I bought Ches. And my spare.

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WHERE?!?! did you see those rose gold shoes?? I NEED them.

 

[BrerMama]

WHERE?!?! did you see those rose gold shoes?? I NEED them.

Ebay. I probably just searched for glitter shoes.

 

[BrerMama]

No update this weekend, because what a weekend...



And my middle...



My oldest also received his master's degree this weekend but he didn't walk (partially because that's not his thing but also because his sister had a ceremony at the exact same time). Anyway, it's been crazy. Two more days of school for me, a work day and then our plane leaves Saturday!!​

 

[fivehourdisney]

How fun! I'll be there at the same time

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

Was on here looking at WDW stuff and wondered if you were still on here and if you were doing a pre-trip report Heading off to read what I have missed!

 

[BrerMama]

How fun! I'll be there at the same time

Say hi if you see us. I'll be the 40-something woman with purple hair.

Was on here looking at WDW stuff and wondered if you were still on here and if you were doing a pre-trip report Heading off to read what I have missed!

I love my DISboards. I missed writing and have all summer to do a full trip report, and I'm so excited to write more!

Two full days out and I've got THE WORST allergies. I should not have stood in the sun and wind and pollen for hours last Friday during fun day. I'm trying to beat them, but it's a challenge... especially because I'm also not sleeping well. My coworkers were also shocked because I haven't even started packing. I'm the kind of person who is usually packed two weeks in advance and I got nothing. But I'm officially done with school and have the next two days to plow through my to do list. It's a little unreal to me right now that we're actually going on Saturday. I'm hoping reality hits soon so I quit playing and start getting stuff done.

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

Allergies are horrible now. We never noticed this back in Kansas but since we moved to Branson this time of year our white cars are now yellow covered in pollen. It is horrible.

You are not packed! I am shocked! DH is already asking when we can get the suitcases out for our August 2019 trip.

Glad to see your trip report and looking forward to reading all about it. Some day we will get back out there. Just don't want to give up a WDW trip to do it.