Hang In There Joan-May '14 TR-video links 2/2

[Curiouser&curiouser!]

Bring on the 14 sparkly dresses!!!

 

[marDgreen88]

Joining in.

 

[shan23877]

Wow! I think I'm first to reply. That's a new one for me. Loved your last trip report and I look forward to reading about all your many character meets, meals and princess dresses!.

Thanks for being first!! So glad you're here!

Can't wait to read this one luved the last one.

Welcome! Thanks for joining in!

Wooo! I can't wait to read this one! I love your trip reports!

Awesome! I'm glad you're here!

Don't you know you can count me in!~

Another fabulous trip report... And, you know it can't be bad!

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

Karen

Yay! Karen is here! And with Beatles quotes!

Following along!

Thanks for joining in!

Well, you've got the regular update part right, but it definitely is well written.

Awe, you are too kind

Can't promise what will be good? The meals or the reviews?

You know your reviews are always very good. Maybe not always positive, but always good.

Well there was only one real dud, I hope I can live up to those expectations!

I hoped you'd appreciate what I did there

Believe it or not, my 4 year old knows just about all the lyrics to all of those songs... this one being his favorite. Yeah, I got your title.


I hate the idea of using FP for a character, but my hand might be forced on this one.

I think most parents of the under 10 set are in the same boat.

Well now that you can get a 4th it's not so bad. And it was WELL worth it IMO

Love this! Excited to follow along!

So glad to have you! Thanks for joining in!

I'm here and so excited to read about your adventures!!

So glad you're here!

You can count me in! I can't wait to read all about the latest adventures of Princess Maddie!

Bwahahaha! Loved your FAQs! I feel much more informed after reading them.

Hi Rachel! I'm excited to share! Thanks for joining in!

YAY SHANNON!!!!

OMG that title... AWESOME!!

OMG that first PP photo!!!!

O...M...G... AN FAQ!!!!!!

OH-EM-GEE I AM SO IN!!!

Yay! Rob is here! I'm so glad you liked the intro! I wanted something a little more lighthearted this year

Shannon, we just missed each other. Got back Sunday. Back on the Dis trying to write a trip report again. Hope you'll stop by.

Great start! I love the FAQ!

Laura! So glad you're back in the land of the DIS! I can't believe we just missed each other!

Yay!!!! Another fun trip report!! Can't wait to follow along!

And "hang in there, Joan" is a motto for our family too!!

So glad you're here! And that we aren't the only ones who can quote every single thing in that movie LOL

Love your FAQs! Very cute!
14 sparkly dresses? Very necessary!
We loved the DxDP! Sure it's lots of food, but the dining is a big part of our vacation. We like to try lots of things and the DxDP lets us do that with out worrying about the costs!

Can't wait for the report!

HI! Thanks for joining in! that's just if for us, we love the freedom to choose tons of things we normally wouldn't

 

[shan23877]

I'm here

I was really late following your last one, so excited to see this one right from the beginning.

Your intro is hilarious, and I think you're already off to a great start.

As always, Maddie looks adorable

WELCOME! Thanks for joining in! And thanks for reading the last one too!

Just wandering through.
Don't mind me.

Great first photo BTW.
Plus I liked the FAQ section.

I don't mind you a bit! Thanks for popping in Ponz, I think you're *somewhere in Canada that is not your home* with your DW right now. See what an awesome memory I have? I look forward to your heckling!

I like your style/sense of humor - following along!

Thanks! Glad to have you!

joining in

Welcome! thanks for joining in!

Subbing!

Hey! Glad you're here! I am subbed to your TR, but since i can't seem to stay caught up I"m a shameless lurker. I'll do better, I promise!

Oh yay! I was hoping we'd see a new TR from you! I love your FAQ. I also have an expensive camera that I only use on the AUTO settings.

And, uh, yes you're reports are well written AND entertaining. Can't wait to hear about your adventures. Especially FP+ and the Anna and Elsa Meet and Greet!

So glad that I'm not the only one who doesn't know how to use her camera! LOL

Ah thank you so much! YOU WIN- favorite post of the day!!!!

Subbing! Now to go back and read the first 2 pages...
Edited to add: Wow! That is a lot of table service meals. The most table service meals we ever went to in 1 trip was 3, but then again, we did not have DDP.

Also, 14 Princess outfits!!! Good thing you had that extra free luggage allowance.

My nieces are also big Frozen fans. My 10-year-old niece just won a talent contest at a slumber party at a friend's house last week, singing
"Do you want to build a snowman?" a capella. She sang it for me the next day, including all the gestures, and I have to admit, she was pretty good. (Of course, I may be biased!)

Haha! Yeah, we ate a lot Southwest's baggage policy is our friend.

Awesome! That's so cute! We love all of the music from that movie. Maddie plans to sing Let It Go when she auditions for the Voice-in ten years.

This looks like the beginning of a great TR! We were just at WDW May 14-21 and we did not have a DP. Considering where and how much we ate (!) I'm thinking next time we need to do the DxDP. Can't wait to read about your experience.

Welcome! Glad to have you! I'm always trying to convert people to DxDP so I hope to sell it well

What?! When were you there? Tell me we totally didn't just miss each other.

Other than that.....I'm in!

We just missed each other. Again. One of these days! Glad you're here Danielle!

Shannon! Love the photo! The zany fun that everyone is having!

Now, you know how slow I am about things, and yes, I did see Frozen... sat in the front row no less... and yes, I did youtube 'so you want to build a snowman' ... but, I just don't get it.... Does this mean I fail princess school?

UPDATE: Okay... I watched the video and even chuckled when Anna said 'Hang in there Joan' to the painting of Joan of Arc 'hanging' on the wall... DUH!!! I had to google the reference and presto..... there it was! Like I said, I'm slow sometimes

Glad you're back and can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Thanks! Karen

You are to funny. It's not something you catch until you've seen the movie several times I think. I just like the 'wink wink' nature of it

Hey Shannon!! Yay, another trip report! This time I'm going to keep up--I stopped visiting the dis last fall but I have some free tine again, and I'm so happy you're doing another trip report to follow along!

14 princess dresses she's a hoot!

So glad to see you back on the DIS! How have you been? Glad to have you here!

This is the first TR of yours I've found, looks like I'm joining in, while I go catch up on your past TRs!!

Welcome! Glad to have you! And thanks for reading!

Subscribing. Can't wait to hear all about your next trip.

Hi!!! Glad you're here!!

I'll be following along for all the food and costume changes!

We'll have plenty of both!!! Glad to have you!

Following along loved your last TR, can't wait to read this one!!

Hey! How's it going? I'm glad to have you back on board!

 

[shan23877]

can't wait to read all about your adventures this year.

Hi! welcome! Glad to have you aboard for this one!

Yay! Love your intro and can't wait to read more!

So glad you're here! Thanks for joining in!

Ah I'm so excited to hear all about your newest trip ! And all the character meets! Does this beat your old record?

Your FAQs were hilarious !

COURTNEY IS HERE! Yay! I'm actually not sure what our record is, I should look into that.

Just subscribed, and I'll try to keep up this time! Loved your past TRs (until I fell woefully behind, of course)!

HILARIOUS kick off! Can't wait to read more. Your TRs are some of my favorites (until I fall woefully behind, of course).

Hey glad to have you! And thanks for the high praise-your TRs are some of my favorites!

Hi Shannon

I'm here for another great TR and to hear all about Maddie's adventures!

Looking forward to seeing all the princess dresses and the food reviews as well.

Tenzeela

HI Tanz! So glad to see you back on the DIS! Thanks for joining in!

Can't wait to see the adventures of Princess Maddie!

Also, LOVE the title! It took me a few minutes but I get it now!

Welcome! So glad to have you here!

I can relate to the 7 years old obsession with Frozen. My daughter watches that movie everyday on her way to and from school since getting the movie (we even got it a week earlier since it was downloaded ). So even though I haven't watched the movie but a couple of times, I have heard it hundreds and possible know every word to the movie and that is not just the songs.

Look forward to reading your report. Your princess' personality is so similar to my daughters that I can relate to so many situations.

Yup, it's impossible not to know everything in it! It's just on all the time! Did you see Rapunzel and Flynn at the coronation? I love the 'easter eggs' they hide!

Also joining in. Your FAQ pulled me in and got me to sub

Can't wait to see how you managed to fit all of it in. But oh, my stomach hurts thinking about DxDP. I've done regular and it was so much food... I can't even imagine all the food for DxDP. Although, someday, I'll do it so I can get my fancy on at the Signature restaurants .

Welcome!

Haha! DxDP is a lot, but we do it for the signatures. We love them!

I'm SO IN!!
Have to be honest, totally noticed your TR earlier too, saw the title, thought "that's neat" and didn't actually click on it bahahaha ALL IS RIGHT WITH THE WORLD NOW THOUGH

I have enough time on my hands to catch up on all the tr's I've missed and read along with your adventures!! Can't wait!!

yay! Katt is here!!!! I knew you'd get it!

You had me at FAQ!

Haven't read any of your prior reports....will be checking those out to see what I have been missing.

Hey thanks! You tie for favorite post of the day! You are too kind! I"m glad to have you join in!

Bring on the 14 sparkly dresses!!!

We've got 'em and were covered in glitter!

Joining in.

Marissa!!! Glad you're here. Are you doing a tR for your solo trip? Weren't you there at the same time? I need to know where you stayed!

 

[shan23877]

The One With the Boring Details​

Our tale begins a day or two before we actually traveled to WDW. It’s boring, I know, but a few things that happened are actually worth sharing.


I was not prepared for this trip. Oh I’d made a dozen shirts, a few bags, taken on a ridiculous project for myself (more on that later), and made 2 or 3 trips to Target, but I wasn’t ready.


My lists were scribbled quickly and not nearly as comprehensive as I like them to be (it finally occurred to me to make my packing lists on the computer where I can SAVE them- I didn't do it, but it's a good idea) and aside from about a dozen princess dresses I had not packed for Maddie and I at all.


Finally 2 days before we were scheduled to leave I carved out a few hours in the afternoon to get our things packed. I was still working on that project so I didn’t get around to it until after I picked Maddie up from school, and didn’t actually finish until after she went to bed.


The next day I lugged the 4 suitcases (one stuffed full of princess dresses and accessories, one with mostly Maddie’s bathing suits and underwear, one with my clothes, and one mostly empty one for souvenirs—‘cause bags fly free with Southwest!) that Maddie and I were taking down the stairs. For once I knew right where I’d stashed my “Mickey Mail” envelope, and I ripped into it so that I could affix the yellow DME tags and check one thing off my list.


A tip for those of you that may not be light packers-- check your Mickey Mail when it arrives. Turns out they send one yellow tag per person.


I called MiL to see if she had any extra (she didn’t), and even though I knew they couldn’t do anything about it I called DME. The very nice gal who answered confirmed that it was too late for new tags, but told me that I could give them my claim tickets at the airport DME counter and they’d gather our bags and deliver them to our hotel room along with the tagged bags. I was dubious, but figured it was better than lugging 2 huge suitcases and a set of golf clubs through the airport and onto the bus.


Knowing that it was pointless less than 24 hours from departure, I took a few minutes to log onto the Disney Store’s website to see if they had the blasted Anna Coronation dress that Maddie had her heart set on getting from the BBB (note to self, work on child’s unreasonable expectations). I finished up the last of the prep work for the project (next update I promise), got our carry-on bags squared away, and ran down to the basement to put some fabric away. That’s when I realized that the basement floor was wet. Again.


Those of you who followed my last TR may remember that we became the proud owners of not one, but two new sump pumps last winter, so the water was a very unwelcome surprise. I dried it up as best I could, and called Bryan who in turn called our plumber.


Bry decided to come home early for our plumping appointment, so I carried on with my plans for the afternoon.


I picked Maddie up at school and from there we went for our traditional day-before-vacation pedicures.

Her toes, not mine

​

Bryan was texting me updates while we were there and said that he’d be able to go out to dinner with us as planned.


We met Bry at home where the plumber was just finishing up. He assured us that he’d taken care of the problem. Since I probably won’t remember to report this later, I’ll tell you now that he was wrong. We got home to find about 3 inches of water covering the entire basement. In the last week we’ve ripped up and reassembled our deck and spent several thousand dollars on new pipes for the septic lines that run beneath it. We also have a new water softener! The plumbers have been here so often that our beagle now considers them friends and gets very sad when they leave. Personally I hope to never see them again.


We did go out to dinner that night though, and it was quite good. When we got home Bryan took the dogs to my brother for a weeklong slumber party and I was tasked with trying to get a very excited princess to sleep.



We got up very early the next day because…

​

Our flight didn’t leave until 11:30 but since we had to pick MiL up on our way to the airport we still had to leave the house pretty early. Around 8 am MiL texted me to say that our flight was already delayed 30 minutes but we decided to leave as planned and use the extra time to eat some lunch.


Once we’d gotten ourselves together, picked up MiL, picked up Bryan from work (he'd gone golfing that morning and spent a few hours at the office after) and gotten to Midway it was about 10 am. We utilized curbside check in and then breezed through security because MiL had been pre-approved by TSA and they let us go with her. Now that is the way to travel! We didn’t have to take off our jackets, remove our laptops, or go through the full body scan. It was great!


We had no sooner gotten through security when we got another text that the flight was delayed again, this time for an additional 15 minutes. We ate lunch and wandered to our gate. Once at the gate, an announcement was made that our flight was delayed another 45 minutes (it was stuck in Kansas City). We found some seats together and Maddie worked on her homework packet while I charged my phone and read. MiL and Bryan decided to grab us some Garrett’s popcorn to snack on while we were in the air-if you ever find yourself in Chicago get some Garrett's popcorn, you'll thank me later.


And hour and a half after we were I scheduled to leave we boarded the plane. The flight was uneventful. Maddie watched Frozen, Bryan watched Sherlock, and I took a nap and read some more.


Upon arrival in Orlando we found our way easily to the DME desk, and it turns out the woman I’d spoken to was correct-they will pick up your bags and deliver them for you-even without the yellow tags! Score one for Bryan who would have been stuck lugging all that!


We used our Magic Bands for the first time at the DME lines, and found ourselves on a bus within 15 minutes, though we all agreed that no matter how long we wait there it seems like an eternity. Due to the multiple flight delays we were going to be late for our dinner ADR, but I couldn’t get the MDE app to load and let me change the time. I didn’t think it would be too big of a deal to get to the restaurant late, but it would have been nice to be able to just adjust the ADR time.


Once on our bus we enjoyed the new video and were pleased as punch to find that POR would be the first stop.

Grainy selfie featuring blinged out Magic Band and mom-made Anna and Elsa shirt

​

Up Next: We arrive!

 

[shan23877]

The One with the Project-A Real Life Update
​

As most of you know, Maddie is a serious character hunter. It’s a really big part of WDW for her, but I know that it won’t last forever. I wanted to make her a nice keepsake of all of her character hunting trips, and I got the bright idea of making her a quilt.


In classic Shannon fashion though, I couldn’t just make a simple quilt. Oh no! That would be too easy. What I decided to do was have each character sign a plain white square of fabric, and once we returned home I’d “frame” each signature with a specially designed border.


Before we left, I cut all the squares, ironed them onto freezer paper to give them some stability, bought a 6x6” clipboard to make them easier to sign, assembled many colors of Sharpie, and stuffed the whole mess into a gallon sized freezer bag that we (and by we I mean Bryan) carried in our park bag.


Once we got home I looked at all of the autographs that we’d gotten and with the help of Bry and Mads-they love "helping" me by making all of the designs nearly impossible to do- drew out all of my designs. I lost a little time relocating my sewing room upstairs after the Great Basement Flood of ’14, but I’m working on them in between Etsy orders



Here’s what I have done so far:

Alice




Elsa




Donald




Merida




Mickey




Minnie




Jasmine




Aurora




Jessie




Mulan




Queen of Hearts-stay tuned for the fun story how we met her (on day 8 )




Russel and Dug


​

I also made a few new Disney shirts for my niece and nephew who are going to WDW next week

Jake





Stitch





Sophia



​

Thanks for letting me share! I'll post more pics as I complete some more squares!

 

[laura74]

Great update Shannon!

That's awful about your plumbing problems. The joys of home ownership, right?

That quilt is going to be absolutely amazing! You're so talented.

 

[nilla]

LOVE the quilt idea! I'll show Kristin, since she's similarly into over-the-top keepsake creation

I must admit, I enjoyed reading about your basement's water problems. Is that a sign that you're a very entertaining writer who can make even a bad situation enjoyable to read about, or a sign that I'm completely heartless? I'm going with the former!

Loving this story so far, and you're not even there yet. Keep it up!

 

[jedimeg16]

The quilt idea is awesome! I love the squares you have finished so far!

Sorry about the water in the basement problems - when we were in Disney last year our basement partially flooded and just a few weeks ago water poured on around a poor seal on one of the basement windows. The downfalls of homeownership.

 

[katt789]

I would never miss a tr of yours!! They’re fantastic!! Sad that our trips didn’t end up overlapping, but next year!!

Man I WISH southwest flew to Canada! Those free bags would come in handy in Oct!!

OH NO! I hope the water was gone for good after this!

Welp, there’s my answer for that! Funny that the beagle thinks of the plumber as friends though, that’s adorable! Bahaha

Boo to the delayed flight!! That’s always such a bummer on the way IN to Orlando! Lol. Glad that the dme lady was right about the luggage!

Love love LOVE the idea of an autograph quilt!! I was looking into a custom made autograph book for jenna and I last month but I thought of it too close to leaving lol, your idea is far superior lol! Love the jake shirt too!

Excited to read more!

 

[familyabgar]

Glad you're getting started! Love your reports!

 

[rteetz]

Joining in can't wait to here about your trip!

 

[amberg93]

Ugh those flight delays though. I mean, it could have been worse, but I'm sure you still weren't thrilled.

Interesting that they can pick them up without the tags. I wonder how that works.

And I commend you for your project and the work you've done it so far. Seems like something my DW would do, but I would never have the skill or the patience for.

 

[jenninaustin]

Love, love, love, love, love the quilt squares. I will be showing them to my mom!!!

We leave for our trip TOMORROW but I will be subscribing - hope there are a few more updates for me to read in a week!

I love your writing, btw. You crack me up. I'm hoping to post a bit on my blog while I'm gone - hopefully I can do that a bit. http://www.jennstwosteps.blogspot.com/

 

[jenninaustin]

I totally got the reference for your TR title the second I saw it in the list.

I adore Frozen. My kids are 15 and 11 - they like it too but it's really me that's crazy about it. I bet I'll be saying "hang in there, Joan" a few times myself!

 

[mmeb144]

The plumbers have been here so often that our beagle now considers them friends and gets very sad when they leave. Personally I hope to never see them again.

Loved this line. Gotta love dogs who love humans.

 

[Clarf]

Ah thank you so much! YOU WIN- favorite post of the day!!!!

Aw, thanks! It's true, though. I've laughed at least 3 times at your new updates. My favorite being that your beagle is sad when the plumbers leave and you hope to never see them again.

That's terrible about your basement. I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine coming back from a vacation and finding that.

Yay for a quick trip through security!

That quilt will be amazing. You are a wonderful mom for doing that for Maddie. I can't wait to see it finished!

And Maddie looks so big now with her adult teeth in the front. That happened to my 7 year old this year too.

 

[Curiouser&curiouser!]

And we are on our way!!!

Sorry to hear about all the basement water issues. That is never fun to deal with.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Quilt idea! That is seriously something she can keep forever.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Shannon, just FYI, there is nothing boring about the days leading up to Disney, especially when you're writing them. They are a joyous and celebratory period and should be cherished.

"aside from about a dozen princess dresses I had not packed for Maddie and I at all." <------ This makes me giggle.

Awesome getting your first FP of the trip for the security line.

I know with all this it may seem strange that "Bryan watched Sherlock" caught my eye, but if this is the BBC Sherlock... OMG YES!!!!! BEST SHOW EVER!!!

OMG Shannon, I love that quilt idea. I can't wait to hear the stories of the individual acquisitions and of course to see the final product. EPIC!