Here's to a DRAMA-FREE vacation! A Sept. 2013 PTR, FINAL UPDATE, 9/1!!

[Dancegrl624]

Love all of the outfits!!! You're just like me...try to match the park/restaurant we're at that day. It doesn't always work, but it looks nice in pictures! I can really only do that for me, Madison and Cole. My DH just wears what he wants to wear...I do get him to wear a few Disney t-shirts on vacation only.

I just posted my own shopping update on my PTR!

 

[SnowMarie]

Well, Kylie, this may be bizarre I'm basically your Philadelphia copy so I'm joining in. I love Philadelphia sports (Flyers/Eagles/Phillies), HBO Sunday night shows (True Blood!!) and shopping. My boyfriend and I ALSO do weekly trivia at a local bar and nothing makes me happier than reading and craft beer.

Cannot wait to hear what you have planned!

 

[klacey1]

I love all your outfit choices

The anchor dress is totally adorable!!!!!

Thanks!! I thought it fit the Yachtsman to a T!

Your outfits are too cute! I love the bathing suit. I did like you did and picked out my outfits based on the park during the day and where we would be eating that night. I love being able to be a little dressy some of the evenings for the table service meals!

I love dressing up at night-- I could care less if we're the fanciest people in the restaurant, I just need to change my clothes midday!

Oooo I love your outfit choices. I want to find something nice for Be our guest as well but we will be in the park before hand.

It's hard when you don't/can't schedule a break to relax/change. It's a MUST for us!

yay! Clothes! Your outfits are all so cute - I really love your anchor dress! I remember seeing it at Target over the summer, but by the time I found it, they were out of my size. I'm a sucker for anything nautical!

Aww, that's too bad! I snapped that up as soon as I found it.

Such cute outfit choices! The bathing suit is adorable.

I love that you have separate outfits for the park/dinner. Can't wait to see all the pictures!

Thanks!! I'll definitely have lots of pics

I love all your clothes! You have some great dresses.

I sort of try to match a bit to the park too, but it doesn't always work out! I have star wars for DHS, and Nemo for... either Epcot or AK, I can't decide!

I will probably post a outfit post soon too.

I love that Nemo bow! So cute! Awesome-- I love looking at everyone's outfits!

Love all of the outfits!!! You're just like me...try to match the park/restaurant we're at that day. It doesn't always work, but it looks nice in pictures! I can really only do that for me, Madison and Cole. My DH just wears what he wants to wear...I do get him to wear a few Disney t-shirts on vacation only.

I just posted my own shopping update on my PTR!

That's what I try to do-- I like our pictures to look nice! Thanks for letting me know you have a PTR! I totally missed that!

Well, Kylie, this may be bizarre I'm basically your Philadelphia copy so I'm joining in. I love Philadelphia sports (Flyers/Eagles/Phillies), HBO Sunday night shows (True Blood!!) and shopping. My boyfriend and I ALSO do weekly trivia at a local bar and nothing makes me happier than reading and craft beer.

Cannot wait to hear what you have planned!

Welcome!! Besides your love of the Flyers, I think we could be best friends ;-) hahaha

 

[klacey1]

I cannot believe we are less than a week away from our trip!! I have one more project to get through at work and then I can move to the HOLY CRAP DISNEY SOON cloud nine where I don't focus on or care about anything!

Between now and next Monday, I have a decent, though not overwhelming amount of things to accomplish:
- Do one final load of laundry
- One final trip to Target for snacks/final travel sized toiletries (Sidenote- we always bring WAY too many snacks to Disney! Sometimes I will eat something on the plane, and we both will eat a granola bar or pack of mini muffins for breakfast each day, but we always bring enough snacks to feed a family! I'll try not to purchase too much on this Target trip!)
- Print out all of my confirmations (airline, ADRs, etc.)
- Print out all of my Disney "info" sheets (night show times, park hours, park plans, etc.)
- Go to Staples to get index cards/fun colored pens for writing out our park plans (this is what comes to the park with me each day. For each day, I write any ADRs & corresponding confirmation numbers, park hours for the planned parks of the day, and parade/firework hours)
- Pick up Mobile giftcards for Zach's parents and uncle, who have generously offered to drive us to and pick us up from the airport, respectively
- PACK!!!
- Charge all electronics (camera, phones, Kindle, etc.)

These things do not necessarily have to be done in this order, although any printing will be done before Friday, as we don't have a printer here and I'll be doing that at work. Target will be on Saturday. I will leave packing until Sunday morning. We have zero plans this day, so if we notice that we have forgotten anything, there's still time to run to the store.
6 DAYS LEFT!! What do you all do in your final days leading up to a Disney trip?

 

[SuperNEMOfan]

I cannot believe we are less than a week away from our trip!! I have one more project to get through at work and then I can move to the HOLY CRAP DISNEY SOON cloud nine where I don't focus on or care about anything!

I'm already in the holy crap Disney soon don't care about anything else and I have 12 days left


Between now and next Monday, I have a decent, though not overwhelming amount of things to accomplish:
- Do one final load of laundry
- One final trip to Target for snacks/final travel sized toiletries (Sidenote- we always bring WAY too many snacks to Disney! Sometimes I will eat something on the plane, and we both will eat a granola bar or pack of mini muffins for breakfast each day, but we always bring enough snacks to feed a family! I'll try not to purchase too much on this Target trip!)
- Print out all of my confirmations (airline, ADRs, etc.)
- Print out all of my Disney "info" sheets (night show times, park hours, park plans, etc.)
- Go to Staples to get index cards/fun colored pens for writing out our park plans (this is what comes to the park with me each day. For each day, I write any ADRs & corresponding confirmation numbers, park hours for the planned parks of the day, and parade/firework hours)
- Pick up Mobile giftcards for Zach's parents and uncle, who have generously offered to drive us to and pick us up from the airport, respectively
- PACK!!!
- Charge all electronics (camera, phones, Kindle, etc.)

These things do not necessarily have to be done in this order, although any printing will be done before Friday, as we don't have a printer here and I'll be doing that at work. Target will be on Saturday. I will leave packing until Sunday morning. We have zero plans this day, so if we notice that we have forgotten anything, there's still time to run to the store.
6 DAYS LEFT!! What do you all do in your final days leading up to a Disney trip?

This year will be different from last trip. The day before we left last year I tried to sleep in and ended up waking up at 6:30 am

This time around I'm working a half day on the sat before and then Sunday is the opening of football so that will consume my day as well as getting last minute things together.

Isn't it crazy how September kinda just snuck up? I'm in shock that I can say that ill be in Disney in 2 weeks.

 

[Dancegrl624]

In the days leading up to vacation, I do a lot of the same stuff you do. Last load of laundry, pack (the day before), pick up the last travel sized items, prepare my Mousekeeping envelopes, arrange our travel to and from the airport (it's only 15-20 minutes away)....the list goes on and on!

 

[Mrs T 2009]

Yay!!!!! Less than a week!!!!!!!

I like to be overly prepared and pack a week in advance. Ry doesn't know we're going to Disneyland until a few days before we leave! He just knows, kinda, that we're going to see aunt Lili and family in California!
I like to make a packing list to have on hand for packing everyone and this trip, carry ons!!! Been a while since I've flown!!!

 

[klacey1]

This year will be different from last trip. The day before we left last year I tried to sleep in and ended up waking up at 6:30 am

This time around I'm working a half day on the sat before and then Sunday is the opening of football so that will consume my day as well as getting last minute things together.

Isn't it crazy how September kinda just snuck up? I'm in shock that I can say that ill be in Disney in 2 weeks.

Yeah, it's pretty much impossible for me to sleep past 8:00 a.m. regardless, so I'm sure I'll be up early!
That's good though-- your Sunday will fly by!
Don't even tell me about it! I feel like August never happened!!

In the days leading up to vacation, I do a lot of the same stuff you do. Last load of laundry, pack (the day before), pick up the last travel sized items, prepare my Mousekeeping envelopes, arrange our travel to and from the airport (it's only 15-20 minutes away)....the list goes on and on!

Lucky about the airport! We do have a local airport that's only about a half hour away, but I just found such great deals out of JFK! (And, as I mentioned, leaving out of the city was never a big deal until my dad moved!)

Yay!!!!! Less than a week!!!!!!!

I like to be overly prepared and pack a week in advance. Ry doesn't know we're going to Disneyland until a few days before we leave! He just knows, kinda, that we're going to see aunt Lili and family in California!
I like to make a packing list to have on hand for packing everyone and this trip, carry ons!!! Been a while since I've flown!!!

Ahhh, yes!! Omg, that'll be such a surprise! Are you going to do a special reveal?? Definitely film/post it on Facebook if you do!

 

[klacey1]

Hiii everyone! 5 DAYS LEFT! So last night, I finally got to Facebook message back and forth with Zach's friend's girlfriend, who is really just so nice. I'm excited to hang out with them. HOWEVER. She said instead of dinner, they'd like to do Animal Kingdom and the Universal day with us. This is kind of problematic...

Current plan (when I thought just Zach & I were going to Universal): Check into RPR at Universal on Thursday, September 5th. Get to IOA for 8 am early hours at WWoHP the next day. Spend a few hours in IOA. Hop to US and hit some rides there. Return to IOA for a late lunch and more rides. We'd have the Express Pass all day since we'd be staying at RPR. We'll cab it back to WL sometime in the late afternoon/early evening.

Now that our friends are joining us, we have some issues:
1) They are NOT staying at a Universal hotel, so no express passes OR early entry
2) They are only planning on going to IOA (this is really less of an issue)

Plus, last trip, I didn't have as much of an issue paying for a room we weren't using at POR. However, the WL is obviously so much more expensive. Paying for a night we won't be there seems like such a waste. And as I noted in my TR last year, we really hardly needed the express pass. (We went on a Sunday in late August.)

Sooo, here's a proposed new plan. I mentioned it to Zach this morning as I was leaving for work, but it was 7:45 and he was barely awake, so we didn't really get to discuss it. (He works 10 a.m.-6 p.m. ten minutes away from our house, so he doesn't get up until around 9:30 a.m. Hmph!)

Possible new plan: Cancel RPR reservation. Share a cab with our friends to Universal, leaving at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, September 6th. Head to WWoHP & spend a few hours there and in the rest of IOA. Have lunch with our friends in the Three Broomsticks. Then, Zach and I will leave them by 1 p.m. and head to US for a few hours to hit our favorite/new attractions (Transformers, the Mummy, Men in Black, the Simpsons, Disaster, and Despicable Me). We'll check the wait time board before riding anything. If lines look a little long, we'll purchase express passes. After hitting everything we like, we'll head back to IOA to meet up with our friends and do a few rides again. When IOA closes (or whenever we're done), we can either head to City Walk for dinner or just go back to our resorts.

What does everyone think? I THINK the second plan is totally doable. It costs a lot less than our current plan and really just makes sense for touring with friends...

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Omg you guys are SO SO close!!

My last minute prep is pretty similar to yours! Last night I started gathering up the things I'm going to pack and making a list of the things I need to buy. I usually leave printing tickets/confirmations and such til the last day because I don't want them to get misplaced/mixed up/confused.

Glad you were able to get in touch with them. I think your second plan makes a lot of sense. Friday is still a weekday and it's in September so I don't think Universal will be very crowded. Plus, saving all that money will be awesome. More souvenirs (or money to put away towards the next trip ). I think you'll more than likely find that you don't even need the express pass but if you do, I think you save a few dollars by buying the one for only one park.

 

[Mrs T 2009]

We scheduled a character call for the Thursday before we leave. We leave on a Saturday.
I'll see if I can record it somehow

I think the new/second plan is totally suitable and seems better for accommodating your friends.

 

[klacey1]

Omg you guys are SO SO close!!

My last minute prep is pretty similar to yours! Last night I started gathering up the things I'm going to pack and making a list of the things I need to buy. I usually leave printing tickets/confirmations and such til the last day because I don't want them to get misplaced/mixed up/confused.

Glad you were able to get in touch with them. I think your second plan makes a lot of sense. Friday is still a weekday and it's in September so I don't think Universal will be very crowded. Plus, saving all that money will be awesome. More souvenirs (or money to put away towards the next trip ). I think you'll more than likely find that you don't even need the express pass but if you do, I think you save a few dollars by buying the one for only one park.

Good plan with printing stuff! I just did all of that a few minutes ago at work-- with all of the changes I made, it was definitely smart to wait!

We scheduled a character call for the Thursday before we leave. We leave on a Saturday.
I'll see if I can record it somehow

I think the new/second plan is totally suitable and seems better for accommodating your friends.

Aww, that's so exciting! I'm sure he'll be sooo surprised!

 

[klacey1]

Today when I woke up for work I realized-- this will be the last time I wake up via alarm clock until my 3:40 a.m. alarm for Disney on Monday!!! EEEEE!! (Not that I am at all looking forward to waking up at that hour. I am counting on Disney adrenaline to get me through!)

Soooo Zach and I chatted Wednesday night about the whole Universal thing. After drawing out of him what he REALLY wanted to do (instead of just agreeing with what he thought I wanted to do!), we have decided to keep the reservation at RPR. I think touring might still be a bit challenging, but Zach is of the mind of not altering our plans for other people. What if they don't get to the parks until 10 a.m. or later, he brought up. That's two hours we could have enjoyed our early entry/express passes! And no matter what, we were still going to go to US, so the passes will definitely come in handy there, just for efficiency's sake. The hotel was paid for a long time ago, so I am trying not to think about "wasting" money and just thinking about how we'll enjoy doing things the way we planned them!

Today is also my office's last summer Friday-- for July & August, we were all allowed to leave at 3:00 p.m. instead of 5:00, which has been AWESOME for getting errands done. After I leave today, I'm going to head over to the mall for some trip/non trip shopping/browsing. Friday night is date night in our house, so Zach and I will be heading to our favorite local restaurant for dinner. (They have the most delicious salad with fresh grilled flank steak-- so yummy and so summery!) Tomorrow will be all about hitting Target for those last-minute essentials. Sunday, the plan is to relax. That's what we do most Sundays and I think it'll be the perfect way to prepare for the crazy week ahead. I also have a mani-pedi appointment at 11:00 a.m. so my toes and fingers look pretty for the Mouse! Packing will also take place Sunday afternoon-- I LOVE packing for our vacations! THREE MORE SLEEPS UNTIL DISNEY!

 

[DisneyMakesMeHappy1]

I'm so excited for you, have a great trip!

 

[SuperNEMOfan]

Yipeeee!! You are so close!! Joe is like that too. If people want to join us they are more then welcome too but he refuses to change our plans for other people.

I hopefully made our last target trip Wednesday, but we will see

 

[klacey1]

I'm so excited for you, have a great trip!

Thank you!!!

Yipeeee!! You are so close!! Joe is like that too. If people want to join us they are more then welcome too but he refuses to change our plans for other people.

I hopefully made our last target trip Wednesday, but we will see

I'm definitely happy we're sticking with our plans! The pre-Disney euphoria has made me NOT stressed about anything. Whatever happens with our friends, happens-- if they meet up with us or not, we'll still have an amazing vacation!

 

[princess_momma]

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I still just can't believe how close you are!

I hope your plans with your friends go smoothly! It is so frustrating trying to coordinate everyone. But luckily, it's going to be wonderful no matter what.

Also...I love your House pride!! I'm in Gryffindor myself, as most of my family. Do you have any recommendations from Honeydukes for me? I've been eyeing the Pumpkin Pasties, they look quite good! I don't think we'll make it to Three Broomsticks, but I think I'll fancy something from the sweets shop!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Oh goodness you are BEYOND close! If I don't make it back before you leave, HAVE THE MOST AMAZING AWESOME TRIP! I can't wait to hear about it when you get back.

Isn't it frustrating when you have to drag opinions out of guys? Like I know you have them so why won't you say it instead of "Oh, whatever you want is fine!"

Your reasons to keep the plans as is are smart! Even if they do get to the park early, you could always continue to tour with your passes and agree to meet up at a certain time and place to do a part of the park together you haven't done yet. It'll be nice to have some time to tour alone and then all together too!

I want to do a lot of the last minute trip prep things already in hopes it'll make our trip come sooner but then I'll just go crazy the last few days

 

[Mrs T 2009]

Yay!!!!!

Zach makes sense. What if they decide not to go till later? I'd be upset of I had to wait for people. You'll have fun anyways!!!

SO EXCITED FOR YOUR TRIP!!!!

 

[blabbermouth]

Yah!!! So close now

Glad you made a decision about Universal, sticking with your plans is just fine. Try not to worry about the other couple too much, put yourselves first, ya know?

Sounds like you have a couple of relaxing days before you leave, us too! So nice that you get out at 3 on Fridays in the summer, must make your weekends feel extra long.

I can't remember if any of our days overlap, but I will definitely keep an eye out for you.