Family Vacation: We Must Be Crazy - A November PTR **11/06 - Conclusion!**

[Li Li]

Hope moving went well!

 

[Steppesister]

Just checking in! Hope everything is going swimmingly!

 

[MarieLightning]

Hope moving went well!

Just checking in! Hope everything is going swimmingly!

Thanks to you both!

It's been a crazy week for sure, but now we're pretty much all settled! Just got a few more things to square away, but it already looks like home

We didn't get internet until this past Friday, and then we had our first visitors this weekend (which made it a good thing in hindsight not to have internet til Friday since we had nothing to do but clean and unpack!). They just left this morning, so I just haven't had much of an opportunity to check the Dis out and keep up with this PTR! But now we're less than a month out, and I'll definitely have a few more updates coming up soon!

 

[MarieLightning]

Getting Back In The Game!

Sheesh, what a crazy past couple of weeks!

Sorry I've been AWOL, I had planned my PTR updates so carefully, but obviously things got a bit in the way!

On Friday the 2nd of October, we finished up pretty much every last bit of packing. My cousin was a great help to us, helping with everything but especially by allowing us to use his work truck. Because he and my dad had to travel pretty much 2 hours north and then 2 hours back to get some stuff from my Aunt and Uncle's house, they didn't get back to my parents' house until about 11:30 pm, at which time we started loading everything in. The next morning, we were up bright and early, finished up with a few last minutes things, and then we were ready to go.

This is what the truck looked like.

We're pretty much all the way moved in by now - have been since Saturday the 10th, actually. I mean, there's still a couple of things to do - we do have a lot of freed up space now since my parents came by yesterday to collect a few last boxes and bins we had our stuff in, and my dad helped with the curtain rods and stabilizing our DVD shelves (they're tall and narrow so they need to be drilled into the wall, otherwise they're too shaky). We haven't gotten around to really putting up any frames or anything though, and we still have one shelf to put up, but that should be done by next week!

It definitely helped that we had no internet from the Saturday we moved (the 3rd) until the following Friday (the 9th), because really, we didn't have much else to do but to unpack and clean. Also, we had a friend (Veronica) visiting us for Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, so that also motivated us to make sure the place wouldn't be a mess once she got here!

We had a great weekend of it too. It was our first time meeting her boyfriend, Joshua, and I'm happy to report he received the seal of approval

We greeted them with some cupcakes, as it was Veronica's birthday just a couple of days before, and just spent the first evening relaxing and catching up.

The next day, we took them to the Botanical Garden, which was very nice in spite of the cooler weather. It's located right next to the Olympic Stadium, which may actually be taken down pretty soon.

(Amber follows the mandatory fountain pictures law even when we're not at Disney..)

The greenhouse was obviously still very full of all kinds of plants, and they had some decorated pumpkins on display, from several age groups, entered for a contest. A lot of them were really cute, some were really amazing looking, and there were even a few Disney themed ones!

We stayed the whole afternoon and early evening, also visiting the Insectarium (which Joshua was very happy about), and in the evening they had the Gardens of Light, which is a yearly event they have in the Fall. The Japan pavillion is all lit up, and the Chinese Gardens have tons of really cool decorations and beautiful lanterns.

It was really great to see, and we were especially glad to have done it when we did (as in, getting into the Gardens itself mid afternoon, and checking out the lanterns just as it got dark) because by the time we left, the line to even just get into the Botanical Garden had to easily be an hour wait.

The next day we went apple picking, because that's the perfect fall activity to do!

If you'll notice Joshua looking at the ground rather than where he was going - he was hunting for bugs. His current school project involves collecting various types of bugs, so he saved us from an earwig and a couple more little guys while he was visiting.

Amber had the perfect apple picking shirt on

We stopped briefly by my parents' house as the orchard was close by, and we had to get a few things anyway. Veronica and Joshua got to meet the best cat in the world (according to my wife), Charlot. She misses him a lot.

Then we headed home, had dinner, and spent the rest of the evening playing Cards Against Humanity. They left the next morning, and we were definitely glad to have them over as our first guests!

So that's basically one of the reasons I've been pretty bad at keeping up with this, but no worries, now I'm catching up!​

 

[MarieLightning]

Since I've missed up on a few updates that I'd planned on doing, I decided to combine a few days into one post, so that I can properly get back into my planned amount of updates a week! As it is, now that I'm back to working from the office, I don't really have the same ability to post during quiet times, so if I start falling behind even more, I definitely won't get everything done in time for our departure day! (Which, btw, is only 16 days away! Well, only if I don't count today, or the day we're leaving, but who ever does )

Note that, although we did see the report that the Christmas parade taping will happen right within the dates that we are there, we decided to leave our plans as is. I'm not sure it would be of interest for the family, and we want to maximize our time there. Plus, we'd rather avoid the crowd factor! The only day that may get impacted is the 12th, if people who come around for the parade taping decide to stick around for the party at night as well.

That aside, get ready for some reading, because here comes three days' worth of scheduling!

Making A Schedule: Day 5, 6 and 7!

Next day on the list is our one and only Hollywood Studios day! It turned out a lot trickier to schedule than anticipated, because although it is quite lacking in attractions, and half of it will be out of commission by the time we're there (okay, I'm exaggerating, but it feels that way), there are just so many shows! Normally I'd skip some, but Amber really wants to try and be an audience participant in the Indiana Jones show, and we know the family with love Lights, Motor, Action! Besides, although it hasn't been officially said yet, I'm sure most everyone expects that both of those shows are on their last stretch.

Anyway, I managed to hopefully put something together that'll make it a bit easier to fit as much as we can!

Day 5 (November 10th)
Hollywood Studios

Wake up early, as always! Set alarm for 7:30. Be in bus line by 8.

Direction, Hollywood Studios!

Leisurely stroll toward Pixar Place. Not.

Go meet Buzz and Woody!

Use FastPass+ for Toy Story Midway Mania, scheduled from 9:15 - 10:15.

Leave Pixar Place. Take the daring down Sunset Blvd. Direct rest of family to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

Standby for Tower of Terror.

Possibly single rider line for Rock n Roller Coaster. It will depend on wait time, how late it is getting and how much time we have before our next FastPass+, and the main thing, if everyone who rode Tower of Terror is willing to single rider line for RnRC (we are expecting Boston to possibly be up for both, but we're not sure if he'll be willing to ride RnRC alone).

Head back to front of park, meet up with rest of group. (How sad is it that we can no longer use the Sorcerer's Hat as a meeting point reference *will not use Chinese Theater*).

FastPass+ For The First Time In Forever - A Frozen Singalong between 10:35 - 10:50, for the 11:00 show. Sing along a lot.

Make way to Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano for ADR, with the Fantasmic Package! We have a reservation for 9 at 11:45, and one for 2 at 11:35. (I'm planning on calling the day before or so, to try and ask if there's any possibility to have two tables side by side)

Let Amber be joyfully reunited with her steak.

Hopefully be out in time to catch 2:00 showing of Indiana Jones.

FastPass+ Star Tours, between 2:15 - 3:15. After this, we'll try to see if it's possible at all to get a FastPass+ for Rock n Roller Coaster some time in the evening before Fantasmic.

Meet Phineas & Ferb. Meet Lightning McQueen & Mater.

Go watch Muppets Vision 3D, if there is time.

Catch 4:00 showing of Lights, Motor, Action.

Suggest dinner. If people are not hungry yet, go ride Great Movie Ride.

Hopefully have a FastPass+ for Rock n Roller Coaster between 5:30 - 6:30. Ride it if so. Let people not riding relax at Fairfax Fare area.

Head to Fantasmic. Get in with tickets from Fantasmic Dining Package. Enjoy the pre-show, and finally know the lyrics to Sweet Caroline (past "Sweeeeet Caroliiiiine, BAM BAM BAM", because you know how the following bit usually sounds. It's all mumbles guys. BUT NOW WE KNOW IT).

Watch Fantasmic. Tear up and feel full of childhood wonder.

Head out with mob crowd. Make way toward the Streets of America.

Watch the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights! Dance in the snoap. Say goodbye to the wondrous magic of thousands of sparkling and dancing little light bulbs.

Make way out of park and head back to resort. Go to bed - earlier than normal wake up call tomorrow!


Day 6 (November 11th)
Animal Kingdom

Wake up by 6:45 (eeesshh).

We'll suggest not using the bus this day for purposes of later in the day. Use cars instead if people willing. Otherwise, we'll figure stuff out later on.

It's Animal Kingdom time! Extra Magic Hours edition.

Split up as we enter the park. Send the whole group to Africa, so that they may ride Kilimanjaro Safari.

Run over to Asia. Ride Expedition Everest.

Then ride Expedition Everest.

Again, ride Expedition Everest.

Basically, from 8 to 9, ride Expedition Everest.

Meet up with family. Head over to Dinoland.

Ride Dinosaur. Cry.

Ride Triceratops Spin.

Let kids play around in the Boneyard for a while. Let everyone else chill.

Head to theater for Finding Nemo: The Musical, with FastPass+ from 10:30 - 10:50 for 11 o'clock show.

Grab lunch at Flame Tree BBQ! Amber may trek over to Asia and get something at Yak & Yeti before rejoining us, we'll see.

Try to catch 1:45 show of Flights of Wonder (FOR THE FIRST TIME WHAT).

FastPass+ for Expedition Everest, between 2:30 and 3:30. We may try and split this one later in the trip, and try to get a FastPass+ for meeting Mickey and Minnie for those not riding. Or we may suggest they go meet Dug and Russell, or catch It's Tough to Be a Bug.

FastPass+ for Festival of the Lion King, from 3:30 - 3:50 for 4 o'clock show.

Rest of evening is free, until closing at 6. We'll give suggestion to family depending on what they feel like doing. Probably in the same vein

Amber will go ride Dinosaur again.

I will stay and watch Festival of the Lion King a second time in a row, because it is wonderful and I could spend a whole day watching it over and over and over again.

Once closing time comes around, head out of Animal Kingdom. Make way to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner. (This is where cars come in!)

Eat at Mara - just because we've got the QS Dining Plan, doesn't mean we can't experience other resorts dining!

Head back to resort. If we didn't take the cars, we'll take the first bus that comes along between Hollywood Studios and Epcot, and then switch to the All-Star bus from there. Relax for the rest of the evening.


Day 7 (November 12th)
No Park Day (MVMCP)

Sleep in! This will definitely feel good. Although, we don't want to off set sleeping schedule by too much, so we'll probably try to be up at 9 at the latest.

This day is a little more free in the beginning, as we will see what the family wants to do. They have the Water Parks & More tickets, and with our TA package, we get the same benefits as a standard Magic Your Way package - the mini golf and Disney Quest vouchers, etc.

We will probably suggest mini golf at Winter Summerland! If everyone is in, head by opening, at 10. Have fun mini golfing with the family!

Once done with the mini golfing fun, head to Disney Springs!

Have lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express in the Marketplace. Cue Amber tears of joy over BBQ Chicken Pizza.

Spend a few hours exploring! Split up at will. We will for sure hit World of Disney and the Pin store, and possibly the Christmas Store.

Officially split from family at 3 - they may spend the rest of the day at Disney Springs, or relax at resort.

Take bus to the first Magic Kingdom monorail resort that comes around - Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Polynesian. Wait a little if still quite a bit of time before 4, walk around resort, do whatever. Or just head over to the park and wait it out there, whatever floats our boat.

Take monorail from resort to the Magic Kingdom.

Enter with party tickets!

Head to Frontierland - ride Big Thunder Mountain with FastPass+ from 3:30 - 4:30.

Make way to Liberty Square. Standby for the Haunted Mansion if wait is decent. Otherwise we'll come back to it later in the evening (Amber prefers riding it at night anyway).

Go to Fantasyland. FastPass+ for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, from 4:30 - 5:30.

Eat dinner at Pinocchio's Village Haus (I don't know why we keep going back, but we do.)

Depending on time, do whatever around in Fantasyland.

Head to Princess Fairytale Hall around 6. FastPass+ for Anna & Elsa, from 5:30 - 6:30.

Stay by Fairytale Hall once meet is over. Wait until they open up party line on Cinderella and Rapunzel's side, and get in line to meet the princesses with their prince! (Hopefully).

Grab a hot cocoa and a cookie.

Head toward Main Street and snatch a seat for the parade.

Once the parade is done, move into the street and try to get a good spot for fireworks (hopefully, not behind a parent that decides to put their kid up on their shoulder, because I'm not that tall at all).

Finally watch the Christmas Wishes fireworks! Three years in the making, people! (If you don't know what I mean here, I'll have to point you back to my very first TR).

Move closer to castle once fireworks are over and catch the holiday stage show.

Free time! Get more cookies and cocoa, ride some rides, look around stores, roam at will. Amber's ride priority is Haunted Mansion, mine is Big Thunder Mountain.

Head back to front of park around 11:20. Get in line to meet Mickey (who will hopefully be meeting with Minnie, reports have been conflicting on this).

Relax for the rest of the evening. Hit more rides if there's time.

Exit park at closing. Head back to resort, and go straight to bed!​

 

[Li Li]

Plans look great! Another day when we match up as we'll be at the MVMCP on the 12th too. I'll keep an eye out for ya.

 

[Steppesister]

You have mad planning skilz! Go Girl, Go! It sure will be nice sleep a little extra on your party morning for sure. I love how you will ride Everest. Like all morning... LOVE IT!

 

[MarieLightning]

Plans look great! Another day when we match up as we'll be at the MVMCP on the 12th too. I'll keep an eye out for ya.

Thanks! And that's awesome, we'll definitely keep an eye out for you guys as well!

You have mad planning skilz! Go Girl, Go! It sure will be nice sleep a little extra on your party morning for sure. I love how you will ride Everest. Like all morning... LOVE IT!

I try Or I overdo, but you know, it's the thought that matters! And yeah, that extra sleep will definitely feel very nice. I'm glad you approve of our Everest plans! We hope to be able to ride it many times, so we'll see what number we get to in an hour!

 

[MarieLightning]

Disney Movie Countdown - Part 4

Alright, so here comes another few updates!

Today, you get three(ish) because still this week I've been terrible with updating this PTR. I forgot how bad I was with updating things when I didn't use to work from home (I mean, even then I was pretty bad, but even worse from the office). I definitely will need to kick myself in the behind to get the actual TR of this trip finished before too long!

The first couple updates are pretty basic, just getting back into the groove of things still As such, you may feel free to skip ahead, or you can just skim through as it's really mostly images.

So of course, through all the catching up we've been doing, movie has been something we've had to get back on track with!

We did have to cheat a little with the days, but for the purpose of my countdown in itself, I stuck with the original dates.

Here's all the Disney goodness we've been watching lately!

Continued in next post​

 

[MarieLightning]

Disney Movie Countdown - Part 4(ish)

Continued from last post

Somewhere along the line of all these movies, Amber posted this to our Facebook group

And now, there's less than two weeks to go! I can't believe how close we are, we're both just about ready to start bouncing off walls. The worst part about it is work - not counting today, or the day we're leaving, there's only just eleven days left, and out of those eleven, I have three days off.

I'll definitely need some great planning for the stuff we have left to do before we leave! At least I'm mostly doing day shifts, so I can get some stuff done in the evening. And work means those days should go by a bit faster, as it's been picking up a bit at work these past couple of weeks!

Only two more days until we can do our single digits dance! And we still have so much to look forward to!

​

 

[MarieLightning]

Making A Schedule: Day 8!

Only a few more days to get planned out!

The best part about it is that by the time I post our last day's schedule, it'll only been a few precious days left until we're set to go! Aaaahh I just can't wait!

Here comes what we have planned for our eighth day of the trip!

Day 8 (November 13th)
Epcot

Set alarm for 8. Be in line for buses by 8:30.

Back Epcot way for the day!

Head straight toward the Land.

FastPass+ for Soarin', from 9:05 - 10:05.

Ride Living with the Land (because you can never ride it too many times).

Make way toward Imagination.

FastPass+ for Journey into Imagination with Figment, from 10:05 - 11:05.

Once done with ride, let kids (who am I kidding, and everyone else) play around in the playing area.

When done playing at will, head back toward center of park.

Standby ride Spaceship Earth. (Which, I'm just realizing now does not figure at all into our first Epcot day plans. We will definitely need to fix that).

Head toward the other side. FastPass+ Mission: SPACE, from 11:15 - 12:15. Maybe.

Try to make another FastPass+ for later in the afternoon - maybe try to get Test Track, for whoever wants it.

Make way into World Showcase. Split from group around 12.

Have lunch at Teppan Edo! ADR for 12:20, for myself, Amber, Kameron and Curtis. Such delicious chicken and noodles. Yum!

Possibly meet up with rest of the family after food. Again, this is more of an 'at will' afternoon. Epcot is really hard to plan when it comes to WS, a lot of it is walking around, enjoying the sights, catching shows and character meets. People may want to try some of the Food & Wine offerings, especially if they have some snack credits left.

If anything, this may be a perfect day for a break back at the resort for most of the group after lunch.

Most important to do/see for this day:​

• Any of the big things we didn't do last time! Grand Fiesta Tour, Acrobats in China, etc.
• Festival Center! Definitely wanting some merchandise, and I will so get another one of those chocolate tin boxes from Ghiradelli's because... well, I mean, does this really need a reason?
• O Canada again, because we can.

Hopefully, have a FastPass+ to use for Test Track at some point in the afternoon!

Have dinner at Liberty Inn. Quick Service steak meal for the win.

Tentative surprise plans for the evening - again, will reveal if it works out in TR! (Epcot are big surprise days, apparently! )

Head out of park after closing time. Sleep!​

 

[MarieLightning]

Trip Essentials: Pins!

Yes, we are those people.

The people who lurk around Cast Members to catch a glimpse of an elusive pin they've been after. The people who ask to see the pin boards at the resorts and stores where they can be find.

We're those girls.

So of course, we always have our collection to pick from as to what we want to bring for display, and our goals as to what we're looking for at the time being.

We've even bought boards to display them, because we figured there was no point in having them just hidden away in a bag at all times.

So here is my collection:

There's a few things I'm typically on the look out for, and then always a few specifics. I usually love any and all Princesses pins, but really it's anything that strikes my fancy. I'd love to find more of the Fab 5 silhouettes, and I'm missing the Snow White heart to go with the rest of the set. The license plates are also a big one to complete, plus I'm missing a couple of character cupcakes and the Disneyland B ticket! Obviously, whenever I see a country flag Mickey head, I absolutely want it. One of my most exciting finds was the US Mickey head, because I'd only ever seen it being worn by Cast Members, not for trade, so when I saw it on a CM's lanyard, I actually had to ask him if it was actually for trade.


And here is Amber's collection.

Although it looks like I have a lot more than her, we're actually pretty close in numbers. Hers are just smaller on average - and I am a bit more prone to splurging on purchases rather than trades. She goes for anything Winnie the Pooh, although at this point she doesn't spot very many anymore that she doesn't have! She's only just missing the Woodchuck from the Toy Story Midway Mania prizes pins, so we'll be searching that one. Usually she'll also go for anything Cars, and she's been on the hunt for the Mickey that completes the set along with the kissing Minnie she has on her board. She actually found it once, but it turned out to be a scraper - usually we don't really care so much if they still look nice, but when it's part of a set and the colors are mismatched, it makes it a bit more obvious that it's not the right one, so she decided to keep searching.


We have plans to introduce the family to the wonders of pin trading, so I guess we'll see how it goes for them!​

 

[MarieLightning]

Making A Schedule: Day 9!

Gasp! We're already onto the second to last day of schedule planning!

Which is good, because as it turns out, these next couples of weeks just got a tiny bit of a crazier element added to it. Every year, my job has a 'blitz' event where people are invited to help out the Support department with all the files that have been affected by airline schedule changes.

Usually, it's a full evening, but this year they split it in two evenings, four hour each. It's overtime, and working both meant being paid double overtime, so it seemed like a good opportunity to make some extra cash.

However, it falls on Thursday, which means next week will put me in the office from 8:30 am to 9 pm the day before our departure date. Thankfully, we have an early evening flight, and I have this coming Saturday and next Wednesday off, so I'll make use of that time for packing and last minute details for sure.

Now, let's see where our last family day is putting us at!

Day 9 (November 14th)
Magic Kingdom

Set alarm for 7:30. Rise and shine!

Be in line for bus by 8. Off to the Magic Kingdom for a last day of family magic!

Follow mob of people into the park. Take left at Casey's and leave the mob. Direction, Frontierland!

Standby for Big Thunder Mountain / Splash Mountain. If all goes well, both should have a relatively short wait first thing in the morning.

Check out Country Bear Jamboree.

Make way to New Fantasyland. Explore! Do whatever we have time to do before 11:30 - Under The Sea Journey of the Little Mermaid, Dumbo. Let kids play in tent playground area.

At 11:30, start making way toward Be Our Guest.

Lunch ADRs at 11:55 for Curtis / 12:10 for the rest of the group. Hopefully, we can all go in at once!

Stay in Fantasyland some more after lunch. Ride classic rides - It's A Small World, Mad Tea Party, Carrousel.

FastPass+ for Peter Pan's Flight, between 1:30 - 2:30. Hit at start of window.

Make way around Castle. Wait for Dream Along with Mickey (if schedule is as usual, there should be a show at 2:05).

Relax while waiting for Parade FastPass+ - grab waters somewhere.

Make way into FastPass+ area as soon as it opens up (should be between 2:45 - 3:05, but they have been known to open those sections early).

Watch parade. Be amazed.

Rest of afternoon / early evening at will. People may want to take a resort break. Heck, I may want to take a resort break.

Otherwise, nothing specific planned. Walk around, explore, re-do favorites, have fun.

Dinner at Columbia Harbor House, whenever we get hungry.

For people who chose to take a break, ask to be back in park by 8 if possible.

Make way back onto Main Street fairly early to get a good spot for Main Street Electrical Parade at 9.

Head into FastPass+ area for fireworks as soon as it opens up (scheduled between 9:35 - 9:55, but as is with the parade, they sometimes open it up early).

Cry because Wishes is beautiful and magical and this is our last night.

**Be super excited because for the longest time, the park was scheduled to close at 10, meaning exit after the fireworks, but now the hours have been extended until 12!**

Evening at will. Try to hit favorites again. Enjoy our last night in the Magic Kingdom. Walk around, do whatever. Stay past closing. Wait until Kiss Goodnight.

Bid goodbye to the Happiest Place on Earth. Head back to resort. Sleep!​

 

[deedee2177]

Boo! We have reached your last day of the trip. On this same evening DH and I will be leaving North Carolina and getting our head start on our trip! We will be arriving on Disney Property as you leave...literally crossing paths! I think all your plans look great and I think you will experience some extra special moments witnessing the children's reactions to the magic! You are right it is definitely a different trip with kids, but I think you have worked in some good balance so you can spend the time with the family but also have 1:1 time with your Sweetie!

Hate you have to work some long hours right before your trip, but like you said you will appreciate the extra $ when you get it.

I do hope you are planning on doing a TR I would love to read how everything ends up working out on your trip!

 

[MarieLightning]

Boo! We have reached your last day of the trip. On this same evening DH and I will be leaving North Carolina and getting our head start on our trip! We will be arriving on Disney Property as you leave...literally crossing paths! I think all your plans look great and I think you will experience some extra special moments witnessing the children's reactions to the magic! You are right it is definitely a different trip with kids, but I think you have worked in some good balance so you can spend the time with the family but also have 1:1 time with your Sweetie!

Hate you have to work some long hours right before your trip, but like you said you will appreciate the extra $ when you get it.

I do hope you are planning on doing a TR I would love to read how everything ends up working out on your trip!

We do have one more park visit planned for the 15th, but it'll only be til some time mid afternoon so we can return to our resort in time for the Tragical Express pick up. I don't even want to think about that ride, even now!

I am really excited to watch the kids take it all in! I know the boys are really excited about it. Grandma has been talking to them about it a lot, and showing them pictures of the resort online and such. They also received a Vacation Planning DVD (although nobody knows how, they thought we had it sent to them but we didn't. We think maybe Grandma ordered it but doesn't remember, or maybe because I had some merchandise sent to their address from the Disney Store. Who knows!) and they watched it all - both boys are now claiming they want to ride Tower of Terror! Elsye is still a bit young to realize it all just yet, and they haven't really managed to keep her attention on things long enough to get her excited (she wouldn't stay put to watch the planning DVD). However, she does love her characters, so she does get very happy whenever we mention meeting Mickey Mouse and TinkerBell and Merida!

But I am glad that we have for sure three days with park time that'll be just the two of us

Yeah, the extra money is definitely the perk here! I debated doing it because both days are just gonna be such long days (9 to 9 and 8:30 to 9), but since it's paid double time, that's like two extra work days, so it'll be nice when we get home to have that money to count on. And it's especially good that it's before our trip and not after - I couldn't handle that much OT on top of Post Disney Depression!

I am definitely looking to do a TR! Maybe a trip video as well, we'll see how everything goes! Working from the office makes it a bit harder to work on updates, as I would sometimes work on them during quiet times at work, but I'll hopefully be able to get it done!

 

[MarieLightning]

Trip Essentials: Bows!

Anyone that's followed any of our previous trip reports will have surely noticed something - we love our Disney bows, a lot!

Back in 2012, we found a girl on Tumblr who was handmaking Disney themed bows. Her shop was called Magical Ribbons, and she made such cute and pretty bows we couldn't resist. We decided to send in an order for our first trip, and that was the beginning of what could now very well be qualified as an obsession!

Three years later, her shop has grown, although she still mostly works on her own, making every bow by hand.

And our collection has grown, as well - a lot.

We always bring our bows with us, sometimes all of them - but this time, we may have to plan things accordingly to the clothes we're bringing rather than just waiting until we get there to make our pick each morning, because I don't think we'll have room for them all!

Here is our current collection.

The first two pictures are larger sized bows - they vary in size, but they can range from 4 to 6 inches (give or take) in width.

From top to bottom, left to right:
Winnie the Pooh, Honey Lemon, Aladdin, Duchess, Princess Charlotte, Ever After Rapunzel, Drizella, Tiana's Crown, Belle, Enchanted Belle, Esmeralda, Briar Rose, Fix It Felix, Anastasia, Shipwreck Ariel, Under the Sea Ariel, Maleficent, Mulan (two in a row), Mike Wazowski (on a headband), Monster Boo, Wall-E, Anna (childhood version, Coronation dress version, and Travel outfit version), Giselle, Up, Merida, Elsa (childhood version, Coronation dress version, and snow queen version)

From top to bottom, left to right (includes a few non-Disney bows):
2014 Holiday Collection (first five), Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff (from Harry Potter), The Silence and Dalek (from Doctor Who), Storybook Circus, Mickey's PhilharMagic, Haunted Halls (it got squished unfortunately ), Mansion Maid, Liberty Bell, It's A Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, Carousel of Progress, Fantasmic (it lights up!), Steamboat Willie, Haunted Halls (older version), Rock n Roller Coaster, Spaceship Earth (also got squished ), World Showcase, Dinoland, Art of Animation, Mouseketeer, World of Color, Disney Cruise Line, and Park Map Bows (made from actual park maps) - Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot, and Magic Kingdom.


Then, we have our minis! Those are smaller in size, as the name indicates. They're usually 2 to 3 inches wide.

Also shown on the picture are our headbands. The first one is one she actually made for Amber for free when she was doing her chemo treatments, as we were getting ready to head to Disney World in October 2013, but she would have no ways of wearing bows. She looped a small stripe of fabric on a plain headband so she'd be able to wear them still

Then there's our Minnie Ears, which I wear a lot! She gives three options for those - either she gets them for you and fix them up, so you pay her for the ears themselves and the shipping. Second option is, if you have a pair of your own, you can ship it to her and simply include the money for shipping back. Or, she has a tutorial video to do your own! It's pretty simple, she basically takes off the original bow (on which she attaches a french barrette so it may still be worn), and then she puts a loop of fabric to clip any given bow you want to wear on them. Those are definitely my go to on most park days!

From top to bottom, left to right:
First six are non Disney themed - a surprise bow (she always carries a bag of cute patterned minis in the parks to give to people she meets, or kids), and bows from the 2012 Holiday collection. Then, we have 101 Dalmatians, Fawn, Periwinkle, TinkerBell, Wendy, Fireside Girls, Candace, Perry, Phineas, Ferb, Sully, Daisy, Goofy, Pluto, Minnie, Mickey, Drizella, Anastasia, Mulan, Pocahontas, Snow White, Merida, Pascal, Rapunzel, Park Ariel, Kingdom Ariel, Flounder, Kiss The Girl Ariel, Mary Poppins, Jasmine (red and purple outfits based), Magic Carpet, Rajah, Genie, Chip, Enchanted Belle, Something There Belle, Little Town Belle, Ballroom Belle and Library Bell.


So that's our bows collection! As is stands, it is already inaccurate as we ordered a few more for this upcoming trip! However, I don't have them yet as we had them shipped to Amber's Grandma's, but we're definitely looking forward to getting our hands on them once we get to Orlando!​

 

[MarieLightning]

Disney Movie Countdown - Part 5

Two days.

Two.

Days.

What?

WHAT?

We're so close and I'm having an inner freak out right now because TWO DAYS! Those are gonna be the longest two days in existence (until our next trip, of course), and then we'll finally be back home!

Of course, we did some more movie watching this past week! And now we have so few left to watch!

Amber also got so excited that once we got to 10 days out, she just had to keep posting something every day for the family to look forward to!

(We just realized putting these up that she switched from 'things to look forward to' to 'things to be excited for' for a lone image. Apparently, it doesn't just do to look forward to BTMR, you have to be excited for it! )

Tomorrow is packing day, which I've been excited for for a long time now as I love trip packing! It'll make the day go by faster too, and then Thursday is a looong work day, but at least it'll also take up a lot of my free time away, and hopefully it won't drag by too much!​

 

[MarieLightning]

Making A Schedule: Day 10!

So we've made. Last day planning!

Normally, the last day doesn't require a whole lot of planning for us, because it's just a sad, short day (especially last September, with our obnoxiously early wake up call).

Which is one reason why I was so happy to see there was a late evening flight headed home on our departure date!

As such, here is some of our extra park time for our very last day!

Day 10 (November 15th)
Epcot / Departure Day

Be up early to see family off. They have a long drive ahead! Guestimating they'll want to leave somewhere around 8.

Try for a late check out, otherwise, leave bags with front desk.

Late flight return for us = more park play time!

Get into bus line for Epcot!

Make way straight toward Test Track. Ride standby if reasonable wait, otherwise do single rider line.

Head over to Spaceship Earth. FastPass+ from 9:00 - 10:00. Play around a bit.

FastPass+ for the Character Spot is next, between 10:00 - 11:00. Meet the gang!

Head into the Land. Ride Living with the Land.

FastPass+ for Soarin', from 11:00 - 12:00.

Head toward World Showcase.

Have lunch at Via Napoli, at 12! May try to check in early if possible.

Rest of afternoon at will. See if we're able to snatch any kind of FastPass in early afternoon. Roam around, enjoy the feel of Epcot. Hit any favorite that we're able to hit.

Be out of park by 3:30.

Guestimating our Tragical Express pick up to be around 5:30. Make sure to be back in time!

Head to airport. Be sad. Cry a little.

Depart Orlando at 9:30 PM
Arrive Montreal at 00:38 AM

Get through customs, catch a cab home - officially concluding our Disney vacation.​

 

[Steppesister]

Those bows are absolutely adorable! So, so cute! Can you link me the url? I just love your planning, but all that will come to REALITY in just 4 days!! WOOT! Make sure to take a ton of photos, k? If I don't get back here before you leave, have a wonderful, completely MAGICAL trip!

 

[MarieLightning]

Those bows are absolutely adorable! So, so cute! Can you link me the url? I just love your planning, but all that will come to REALITY in just 4 days!! WOOT! Make sure to take a ton of photos, k? If I don't get back here before you leave, have a wonderful, completely MAGICAL trip!

I love them so much! They're addictive, and she just keeps coming out with more new, wonderful designs! She just came out with a collection for Holiday Princesses, and they're sooo pretty! The url is http://www.magicalribbons.com

It's so crazy, I can't believe we're there! I'm already kind of mourning my plans because I know not everything will go by them, but that's okay!

We will definitely take a bunch of pictures, and probably quite a few videos as well! Thank you, and I'm so glad you followed along! I'll catch up on your own preparations when we return