From Alaska to the World - MAW trip Jan. 2008

[Momof2wCF]

Wow! You are an amazing mom, I'm so happy for the little girl that she has you! (Not to mention your three boys)

 

[Eeyore's Mom]

I decided to move ahead on my shirt making since I really am having a lot of fun with it. Here are pictures, modeled by Eeyore (Marek), most of them are his shirt but there is one that I didn't get done (need more shirts!) so he is holding up his big brothers. I also didn't make the same shirts for everyone since I don't think my oldest son would want some of the "cuter" designs but all in all there will be a theme for each day and most days we will each have a similiar shirt. I do have a few that I purchased as well, like the Hawaiian shirts from the disneyoutlet.com- the boys all love Hawaiian shirts so couldn't pass on that deal (those pictures will come later ) Hope you enjoy.

A huge Thank You to all of the designers on the DISsign section! There are actually about 5-7 other designs that I have done but too lazy to go upstairs and take pictures, download them and the upload them here BUT I will do it soon. Eeyore loved modeling and was being a little silly in some...

Front for AK

Back for AK

This is where he got a little silly

 

[klj27]

Cute shirts! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Wickedmom75]

Hi, I followed from Pat's thread , I love the video you did that is one of my all time favorite versions of that song. I can't wait to read more. Keep up the good work.

 

[Iluvmickeymouse!]

Love the shirts!! I did make shirts for my two DD's for one day, and that was a last minute deal! My DH would not have cared for matching shirts! I at least tried to dress the girls in matching colors every day. You are an awesome person for taking in that girl. Hope it all works out for you and your family.

 

[Winnielover]

What beautiful t-shirts you have made for your family. I'm sure they will definitely come in handy when you are trying to make sure you have everyone. The names on the shirts are just priceless as well. You must be pretty talented to make sure amazing looking shirts.

If only my children were not teens and didn't care about self image. Man would I have had a great time making shirts!!! I don't know if they would have been as good as yours, but they would have been something!! Sadly, they both would rather wear whatever they want. So I've accepted that, they are teens what can I say!! Plus I don't think I would have time to throw something together in 2 days!!! YUp thats right we are leaving in 2 days. We are all so excited and I promise to share many details and work on my TR when we return.

 

[Eeyore's Mom]

I can not take any credit for the t-shirts. The designs are all from the talented DISsigners, my role was just to print and iron I do think it is a lot easier getting my little kids to wear whatever I give them, although sometimes they protest , so I am sure by the time they are teens I will have no say in their wardrobe! My DH, well, he did mention this weekend to not get carried away with shirts for him because he was planning to wear his Harley T's.

Our planning continues to go really well. I did hear from our MAW coordinator this week and she said she was working on our plans and would share them soon!! Yae!! I am going to email tonight and request a van. I was trying to picture us all crammed into a rental car (we are not little people) and it is scaring me, so I am going to be bold and add my request for a van.

I received my first ebay purchase in years today and I am very pleased. I decided it would be fun for my DS (10) to do some pin trading so I ordered 10 pins for him to get started. After I placed the bid I was really worried I would be taken and end up with junk pins. I have been reading up on that here on the boards. To my pleasent surprise they look like all nice pins (well one junk but he put an extra one in so I'm good with it). I am going to give them to my DS for Christmas so it will be a little surprise.

Perhaps the best news is.... my DH is getting excited about the trip! He is finally talking about it and even said it is coming up fast. This is a big break through. Forever I have been hearing that I was over planning, talking about disney too much confused3 ) and it was so far away why I was I even thinking about it. Well, it isn't much fun to be excited when he hasn't been looking forward to it, but now... the fun begins

 

[Momof2wCF]

Perhaps the best news is.... my DH is getting excited about the trip!

I would definitely call that *the best news*!! DHs NEED to get on board to make these Wish Trips everything for our kids!! :

 

[IkeandMike]

Hi, just found your pre-trippie from your thread on Leah's trip report. I'm so glad I decided to read it!!! You have a wonderful family and are so blessed.

I love all the t-shirts too.

 

[Eeyore's Mom]

Thank you to all that have taken the time to read! I am a little slow in posting because I haven't had a lot to share. We are down to our 2 month count down!!

I did hear from our MAW coordinator a few times in the past week but no big detail news just yet. I do know we will be getting a mini van rental and that will be very helpful as we will have 2 car seats and DS 10 is a very big 10 year old! PLUS.... I plan to do just a little bit of shopping and I may need a mini van just to haul my stuff around

I have also been in touch with Brenda from the dietary area at WDW and she has sent me some very useful information that will make it easier to find safe food for Eeyore (not an easy thing to do!). She even sent me the copy of the note that went to the chef at CP. I am so impressed with how personal the attention is in a place that has millions of people pass through. I think it would be like telling the Mayor of NY that you were coming to visit and having him make you feel like you were the only visitor. Very cool!

Oh, I forgot to mention my new pin addiction. My oldest DS and I have been going online almost daily, OK not almost, more like 10 times a day to check out new ebay pins. We haven't bought a ton but having a lot of fun looking at them. I have been waiting for the 2008 Passporter to be released. I thought it was coming out in early Nov. but looks like I will have to wait a few more weeks. I'm now wondering if it is even worth getting ??? I would also love advice on weather I should get a Pal Mickey and if so which version? Should I wait and get it in FL. ? Do they have stores down there that sell it cheaper than onsite? I have been watching them on Ebay too but it looks like there are 2 or 3 different types and it's hard to tell how big they are. Please share if you have any advice!

Gotta get back to the big game! Michigan vs Ohio (actually don't care that much but I pretend I do for my DH .

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Just found this pre trip and I'm hooked now! You're amazing and have a beautiful family!

 

[Eeyore's Mom]

Just found this pre trip and I'm hooked now! You're amazing and have a beautiful family!

Thanks for joining! I haven't been writing much lately but will definately being adding more details as the trip progresses forward. It's funny that now that the trip is right around the corner I feel less like researching and planning, it's almost like I am numb and can't believe we are really going!

My new "daughter" has begun her stay with us and having an extra tween in the house is keeping me a little busier too. I encouraged her to get involved at school and she took me up on it, so now I am driving her for basketball practice/ games and tutoring , yikes ! I will be careful what I suggest in the future. Actually things are going really well and I am blessed to have her in our lives.

I think I will email our MAW coordinator and ask her for any updates on our planning. She mentioned several weeks ago she was working on our plans and would let me know soon but a little nudge might get me a little information. I am horrible about waiting. I was the kid that ALWAYS knew what I was getting for Christmas and even went as far as to unwrap my gifts and re-wrap after I peaked. I also knew the sex of my babies as soon as I could and of course I have been on here trying to find out ALL of the surprises that lie ahead for our trip. If you are thinking, man, that takes all the fun out of it, then I understand why you don't peak but if you are thinking, ya, I would be doing that (or have done that) then you understand how tough it is to not be the one planning!! In past trips I have often thought, I wish someone else could handle some of these details! But now I realize I get a huge charge out of doing that. Oh well, this is helping my inner being grow and mature and really I do appreciate that so much is being done for us!

Oh, this is kind of funny... so I don't need to (can't) plan the details of our trip, so what do I do? I start making the plans for my brother and his wife!! They haven't made their reservations yet and it drives me crazy how they wait until the last minute to plan things! So I went online and started getting all of the info for them. I called my SIL in MO with the details and she seemed pleased that I had done some checking on it. I was a little worried that she would be annoyed (she is a lot like Carrie in King of Queens- nice but can be pretty witchy too) Considering the fact that we have known each other for almost 20 years, my guess is, she wasn't even surprised. I do have a surprise for them though, my DH and I have decided to rent them a car for the week. My brother has done so much for us and they are trying to do this trip with out spending a lot, so they weren't going to rent a car. I think it will make it easier on us and their friends if I rent them one and they aren't that expensive. The only glitch is I can't make the reservation until they get their flight planned.

Is it wrong to be wishing the days away during this awesome time of year? After Thanksgiving I actually thought, OK, good, that is over, now we just have Christmas and News Year to get passed us.... I love this time of year and before anyone thinks ill of me (although I think most Diser's really do understand that feeling) I have not lost site of the reason we celebrate Christmas and we will be enjoying it as we do every year but this year I don't think the kids and I will have the "after Christmas let down", instead it will hit in the end of January with the "After Disney let down ".
By the way, we have been in the 30's and 40's for weeks with NO SNOW on the ground. Last year at this time we had a ton of snow and it was below zero for weeks. Crazy! I am not complaining though, I know we will still get hit with a real winter and when it comes I will be so glad we are heading south for a week

 

[LeeLee2U]

Thank you to all that have taken the time to read! I am a little slow in posting because I haven't had a lot to share. We are down to our 2 month count down!!

I did hear from our MAW coordinator a few times in the past week but no big detail news just yet. I do know we will be getting a mini van rental and that will be very helpful as we will have 2 car seats and DS 10 is a very big 10 year old! PLUS.... I plan to do just a little bit of shopping and I may need a mini van just to haul my stuff around

I have also been in touch with Brenda from the dietary area at WDW and she has sent me some very useful information that will make it easier to find safe food for Eeyore (not an easy thing to do!). She even sent me the copy of the note that went to the chef at CP. I am so impressed with how personal the attention is in a place that has millions of people pass through. I think it would be like telling the Mayor of NY that you were coming to visit and having him make you feel like you were the only visitor. Very cool!

Oh, I forgot to mention my new pin addiction. My oldest DS and I have been going online almost daily, OK not almost, more like 10 times a day to check out new ebay pins. We haven't bought a ton but having a lot of fun looking at them. I have been waiting for the 2008 Passporter to be released. I thought it was coming out in early Nov. but looks like I will have to wait a few more weeks. I'm now wondering if it is even worth getting ??? I would also love advice on weather I should get a Pal Mickey and if so which version? Should I wait and get it in FL. ? Do they have stores down there that sell it cheaper than onsite? I have been watching them on Ebay too but it looks like there are 2 or 3 different types and it's hard to tell how big they are. Please share if you have any advice!

Gotta get back to the big game! Michigan vs Ohio (actually don't care that much but I pretend I do for my DH .

It's my understanding that all Pal Mickeys are the same. They do have different outfits though. If you buy them new, they come in a sorcerors oufit and then if you want you can buy them different outfits to put on. Kind of Like Build a Bears animals do. We did. We loved ours although the kids did get tired of holding on to it. Our first one the clip broke, so we traded it. We acctually just asked for a new clip, but they traded the whole thing out. Anyway that one didn't work right. So we had to trade againa and that one was great. We ended up hanging it on a lanyard on the chair. The whole trick is to have it facing out into the park. There were lots of times it gave up some BIG hints and we saw characters we might have missed. It also gave little tidbits about the shows, which made it that much more interesting.

Thanks for joining! I haven't been writing much lately but will definately being adding more details as the trip progresses forward. It's funny that now that the trip is right around the corner I feel less like researching and planning, it's almost like I am numb and can't believe we are really going!

My new "daughter" has begun her stay with us and having an extra tween in the house is keeping me a little busier too. I encouraged her to get involved at school and she took me up on it, so now I am driving her for basketball practice/ games and tutoring , yikes ! I will be careful what I suggest in the future. Actually things are going really well and I am blessed to have her in our lives.

I think I will email our MAW coordinator and ask her for any updates on our planning. She mentioned several weeks ago she was working on our plans and would let me know soon but a little nudge might get me a little information. I am horrible about waiting. I was the kid that ALWAYS knew what I was getting for Christmas and even went as far as to unwrap my gifts and re-wrap after I peaked. I also knew the sex of my babies as soon as I could and of course I have been on here trying to find out ALL of the surprises that lie ahead for our trip. If you are thinking, man, that takes all the fun out of it, then I understand why you don't peak but if you are thinking, ya, I would be doing that (or have done that) then you understand how tough it is to not be the one planning!! In past trips I have often thought, I wish someone else could handle some of these details! But now I realize I get a huge charge out of doing that. Oh well, this is helping my inner being grow and mature and really I do appreciate that so much is being done for us!

Oh, this is kind of funny... so I don't need to (can't) plan the details of our trip, so what do I do? I start making the plans for my brother and his wife!! They haven't made their reservations yet and it drives me crazy how they wait until the last minute to plan things! So I went online and started getting all of the info for them. I called my SIL in MO with the details and she seemed pleased that I had done some checking on it. I was a little worried that she would be annoyed (she is a lot like Carrie in King of Queens- nice but can be pretty witchy too) Considering the fact that we have known each other for almost 20 years, my guess is, she wasn't even surprised. I do have a surprise for them though, my DH and I have decided to rent them a car for the week. My brother has done so much for us and they are trying to do this trip with out spending a lot, so they weren't going to rent a car. I think it will make it easier on us and their friends if I rent them one and they aren't that expensive. The only glitch is I can't make the reservation until they get their flight planned.

Is it wrong to be wishing the days away during this awesome time of year? After Thanksgiving I actually thought, OK, good, that is over, now we just have Christmas and News Year to get passed us.... I love this time of year and before anyone thinks ill of me (although I think most Diser's really do understand that feeling) I have not lost site of the reason we celebrate Christmas and we will be enjoying it as we do every year but this year I don't think the kids and I will have the "after Christmas let down", instead it will hit in the end of January with the "After Disney let down ".
By the way, we have been in the 30's and 40's for weeks with NO SNOW on the ground. Last year at this time we had a ton of snow and it was below zero for weeks. Crazy! I am not complaining though, I know we will still get hit with a real winter and when it comes I will be so glad we are heading south for a week

I always think I want to know, but I have found out when I know what the surprises are it kind of loses the punch for me. I snuck in my Christmas presents once and although my parents never found out until I told them, after I was grown of course! It ruined it for me and I've never looked again. I like to guess and the suspense almost kills me, but I've discovered I do like surprises. I guess that's why my life is like it is. God just wants to keep me in suspense!!!!!
Congratulations on the new daughter and I'm sorry I couldn't help but laugh when you told about the "encouragement" and then what she's into now. I did the same with Tyler and now feel like I'm permanantly attached into the car on some days!!!

 

[scrappin]

I just read through your trip report - It is wonderful - I love the shirts, etc. You are very creative. Congrats on your new daughter. You are very organized! I wish we were as far along as you!!! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Mickdeb]

Hey Jill,
I can't believe I stumbled upon your pre-trip report. I "know" you from Classkids and LF...Nic's Mom. I don't post often on LF but read everyday and noticed you had mentioned your MAW trip. Then I see your title for your report and thought....could it be the same Jill from Alaska...a very small world indeed....

We too are Disney fans...we are planning our 8th trip with Nicole, she is 8 years old! We were looking at Jan, DH has a business meeting but decided to wait and go for a longer trip over Nicole's April vacation. Imagine if we were both there at the same time, that would have been really cool. We have alot of similar issues, LRLT and food allergies. As you have heard WDW is fabulous with allergies and Brenda is great. Boy you have done your research! Our last trip was in August, we made the "stick figure family" t-shirts, as my parents joined us that trip. They were so cute, we wore them the night we went to Mickey's Back Yard BBQ.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread, but just had to say Hi. If I can help with your planning, thought you are doing awesome...just PM here or on LF. I am around everyday.

Happy planning, I will follow along
Debbie

 

[DisneyDaughter5589]

Wow! This is so great for you and your family.
When exactly are you going in January? We'll be there the 5ish-12. I hope its not too cold (I live in NC) not half as cold as where your from but I couldn't deal with too cold weather.
I'm looking at it like you are thanksgiving is over, Exams next, Christmas, New Years, than DISNEY!!! then School again....
Hope everything goes good!!!

 

[Eeyore's Mom]

I just read through your trip report - It is wonderful - I love the shirts, etc. You are very creative. Congrats on your new daughter. You are very organized! I wish we were as far along as you!!! Can't wait to hear more!

Thanks! I think I am too much of a control freak but I like the term organized better .

 

[Eeyore's Mom]

Hey Jill,
I can't believe I stumbled upon your pre-trip report. I "know" you from Classkids and LF...Nic's Mom. I don't post often on LF but read everyday and noticed you had mentioned your MAW trip. Then I see your title for your report and thought....could it be the same Jill from Alaska...a very small world indeed....

We too are Disney fans...we are planning our 8th trip with Nicole, she is 8 years old! We were looking at Jan, DH has a business meeting but decided to wait and go for a longer trip over Nicole's April vacation. Imagine if we were both there at the same time, that would have been really cool. We have alot of similar issues, LRLT and food allergies. As you have heard WDW is fabulous with allergies and Brenda is great. Boy you have done your research! Our last trip was in August, we made the "stick figure family" t-shirts, as my parents joined us that trip. They were so cute, we wore them the night we went to Mickey's Back Yard BBQ.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread, but just had to say Hi. If I can help with your planning, thought you are doing awesome...just PM here or on LF. I am around everyday.

Happy planning, I will follow along
Debbie

This is a SMALL WORLD!! I was just on the LF site and decided it was too depressing and this is WAY more fun Don't tell my Liverfamily though I am so glad you made the connection. It would have been really fun if we could have met- that would have been like a bonus meet- a dis meet and a LF meet

For any of you that are wondering what the heck we are talking about.... Liverfamilies is an awesome online support group that formed a few years ago for families with kids that have liver disease and most of them have either been transplanted or will be in the future. I really do love it and have made some great friends through it but it can get pretty depressing because everyone is there for the same reason and it's not fun like planning or talking about Disney.

 

[Eeyore's Mom]

Wow! This is so great for you and your family.
When exactly are you going in January? We'll be there the 5ish-12. I hope its not too cold (I live in NC) not half as cold as where your from but I couldn't deal with too cold weather.
I'm looking at it like you are thanksgiving is over, Exams next, Christmas, New Years, than DISNEY!!! then School again....
Hope everything goes good!!!

We will arrive on the 18th and will leave on the 25th- I can't wait!!! I hope you have an awesome trip with great weather! Anything over 32 and I will be thrilled . But really I would love to feel some 70's while we are there. It didn't even get into the 70's for more than a few days all summer, so it's been about 18 months since I have felt real warmth! Enjoy your trip, I am sure we will do the same

 

[Eeyore's Mom]

We have our flight itinerary!! It is the dream flights that we were hoping for and it will allow us to fly all night and arrive at 7:30 am on the 18th. The total flight time is 12+hours and then we have to add our check in time and luggage/rental car pickup, so I think we will be looking at about 16 hours from our house to our villa at Give Kids the World. It is SO worth it. We haven't been officialy confirmed to be staying at GKTW but our wish granter said they did have space and she was pretty certain that is where we will stay. ( I sure hope so!)
I am having a hard time staying off of Disneystore.com. I just bought several christmas gifts off of it and I want to get more!! I have to remind myself to save some money for the trip so I can have fun buying while I am an there...
I have redone our itinerary and once again it is just a very rough draft but it helps to get it on paper and then I can see where I need to make the changes. I am also coaching myself to be flexiable and may change things based on weather and temperments of the family. I started out with a lot of detail and fizzled out after the first two days I will build on this though.

Thurs Jan 17th - 1:00 pm leave Wasilla
4:20 pm Depart Anchorage
8:40 pm Arrive Seattle
11:16 pm Depart Seattle


Friday Jan 18th - 7:30am Arrive in Orlando
8:30am Head to GKTW with rental car
9:00am Check in @GKTW
9:00 am – Noon Sleep
Noon – Lunch at Ice Cream shop or out
Noon-5pm Get supplies and shop
5pm – Dinner @ Downtown disney
7:00pm – GKTW and early bed

Saturday Jan 19th –
AM Breakfast at GKTW
11 am Seaworld
6pm Dinner
GKTW and early bed

Sunday Jan 20th
AM Breakfast at GKTW
Epcot

Monday Jan 21st
Universal IOA

Tuesday Jan 22nd
8:25am Breakfast at Crystal Palace
Magic Kingdom

Wednesday Jan 23rd
Shopping/resting/GKTW day

Thursday Jan 24th
Animal Kingdom / MGM

Friday Jan 25th Barney meet and greet ( there are a few older members of the family that would just as soon skip this meet and greet but since it is Eeyore's trip I know he would love to see him )
10am -2pm Universal or MGM until
2pm – head for car return/airport


OT: Our new family member, we will call her Tinkerbell, is having a tough time. She has been here a lot the past two weeks and it has begun to sink in that her mom is really gone. My heart breaks for her but it has also been really stressful for the whole family. She had me waiting for 30 min with the van full of kids, christmas tree and Costco run because she decided to skip basketball practice tonight and she didn't call me on my cell phone to let me know. She called the home phone but we weren't home. I was getting really scared and by the time I "found" her I was mad. We had a pretty good talk and I think she understands why I was mad but then again, she is 11 and I'm not real sure what sinks in . Other than that... did I mention we are going to WDW in 6 weeks