Generic Orlando Theme Park Family Vacation Title Pre-Trip Report--4/27-5/4/2019

[Ticklefart]

Well, we're less than a month away, which I can hardly believe, after more than a year of planning. Sigh, I love to plan these things. Yesterday I made our appointments at Harmony Barbershop for Egg to get her first haircut, and possibly Sardines and Pancake to get cuts if they decide to. Sardines is all for it, Pancake took a pass. But we'll see how she feels once we get there. It's only $10 for a "no show" which I'm willing to sacrifice if she sticks to her guns. We'll be doing that on Thursday, which is the day that my dad is joining us, so it's nice that he'll get to be there for Egg's first haircut, since he rarely gets to see her.

I also ordered our matching family shirts, which I confess I am ALL ABOUT THIS TREND. Yes, it's cheesy and dorky, but I love it! My sister made us some for our last trip and I thought it was fun, but I saw so many cute ones while we were there! I post pics when they arrive, but we have two sets for all 5 of us, and then two more that are just for the kids. Ribs is being such a good sport, so I decided I wouldn't make him wear them every day. Thankfully the ones we got for him had the option of the athletic/dri-fit fabric, which is what he prefers to wear all the time.

 

[Ticklefart]

The girls have known about our trip pretty much since we booked it, and probably before, since Ribs and I were talking about when we could go back. I'm not big on the "Surprise! We're going to Disney World right now!" reveals anyway. It's so much fun to plan and anticipate the trip, and I know my kids enjoy that. Plus at their ages, it's so helpful to watch ride videos and get a sense of whether or not they want to try a more daring ride. Anyway, I was pinteresting for countdown ideas and not finding much of what I wanted, or anything that wasn't just way too involved. Separately, we also realized that while Sardines especially loves the princesses, she doesn't really know the stories that well... because she hasn't seen any of the movies that aren't regularly on TV. They just saw The Lion King for the first time, because it was on Disney channel. They've seen Frozen a million times, and the newer movies, like Brave and Tangled, but none of the classics. And Ariel is Sardines' favorite princess!

So, we decided that to countdown to our trip, we would have a family Disney movie night every Friday, beginning this past weekend. We started with Beauty and the Beast, and they loved it. It was so cute to hear Sardines's genuine "Wow...!" whisper when Belle comes out in her yellow dress. I think we'll do The Little Mermaid next weekend, and then we'll choose from Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, Aladdin, maybe some of the non-princess ones like Lady and the Tramp, 101 Dalmatians, Fox and the Hound, Robin Hood, etc. We might have to bump it up to Friday AND Saturday nights. Three weekends left before we go!

Also, Southwest changed our flight AGAIN. This is the third time! When we booked, we had a return flight leaving at 10:30pm, arriving after midnight. Then it was moved to I-forget-what-time, then leaving at 8:30pm, and now it's bumped up to 9:30pm. I'm glad because it's a little closer to our original plan, and we want as much time on Saturday in the parks as possible. But it makes me worried that it will get changed again, to a time earlier than we want to leave.

 

[Ticklefart]

Touring Plans keeps upping the crowd levels! Annoying, but I understand it's not a guarantee and nobody can help it if things change. Anyway, our crowd levels now look like this:
Day 1 (arrival): Epcot 8 (!!! It started off as 4 or 5, I think!)
Day 2: Hollywood Studios 5
Day 3: Magic Kingdom 5
Day 4: Epcot 4
Day 5: Animal Kingdom 3
Day 6: Magic Kingdom 4
Day 7: Epcot 6
Day 8 (departure): Hollywood Studios 7, everything else 6

We do have hoppers, but we're still planning one major park per day, and leaving the hoppers as an option for later at night, or if we just want to change plans. When I booked the trip, our crowd levels were in the 1-3 range, with one "busy" 4 at Epcot. Then they creeped up to more 4s and 5s. And now an 8! I was so looking forward to at least one CL 1 just to see what it's like.

Oh well. No more complaining. Our last trip was 6-8 and we still had a great time, even in August heat and humidity. I can do crowded, and I can do hot. I'd just prefer not to do both. We're less than a month away!

 

[Ticklefart]

More things to check off my to do list! Shirts have been ordered and have started to come in. I also sprung for personalized autograph books with a page for each character, plus some little activities. They haven't arrived yet, but I have high hopes. Some of the pages have questions and mad libs that I think will be really fun to go back to years from now and read their answers. I'll post pics when everything gets here.

We had a swimsuit fashion show over the weekend and I am happy to say that I do NOT need to buy any swimsuits for anyone for this trip! I bought some at the end of last season for Pancake (they do winter swim lessons), and thankfully, they still fit her. Sardines and Egg get hand-me-downs. We sorted through our big box o' swimwear and everyone has at least two good fitting suits that are in good shape. Of course, I still may treat myself to a new one.... we'll see!

They do, however, need sandals/pool shoes/whatever. We have a neighborhood pool very close to us, and we're there pretty much every day in the summer, so I know what I buy "for the trip" will be used all summer long. It's just earlier than I would normally be shopping for them. I ordered about a dozen pairs on Zappos (my favorite) and they are scheduled to be delivered today. We'll do another fashion show and see what fits, and then I'll see if I can get the older versions on 6pm.com for less. And we send back whatever we want to return. Love Zappos and their free shipping both ways. Highly recommend! All three girls recently got new sneakers, and I made sure to guide them towards lightweight, comfy-for-walking styles, so they'll have time to break them in before walking 1,000 miles a day for a week.

We're continuing with our family Disney movie night, which the girls have extended into pretty much a Disney movie (or 2!) every day of the weekend, with On Demand and DVR. Last weekend, we kicked it off with Beauty and the Beast, but they watched Tangled and Brave on Saturday and Sunday. This past weekend, we did The Little Mermaid on Friday, and then they watched Lady and the Tramp, Lilo and Stitch, and "Mulana" (which is what Sardines calls Moana. She seems to think it's the Polynesian version of Mulan.)

 

[Ticklefart]

Just checked in for our flight. In less than 24 hours, we will be on our way.

That is all.

 

[Ticklefart]

We’re here and it’s amazing.

Talking points:
1. Egg hates Santa, LOVES characters. Who knew?
2. Hotter than I hoped it would be, but not as crowded as I feared. So, win!
3. Finally got the family on the “up at insane o’clock and hit the parks when it’s cool” train, so plans were reworked quite a bit.
4. Open to close at Magic Kingdom = bonus level exhaustion

Bonus: 5. Aren’t those giant wagon strollers banned now? They’re everywhere, but usually right in front of me and/or against my calf. Seriously, tho, I’m just jealous of the kids getting a full lying down nap under shade inside.