How long since we were at Disney World?! - An Oct/Nov 16 PTR - Updated 10/26 Heading to WDW Now!

[LadyD]

20 Weeks to Go!!!

We are at the 20 weeks mark to WDW!! AHHHH!!!!

Now that the ADRs are more or less set (at least until they release the F&W events), we're starting to focus on figuring out our FP+. Last time we went to WDW, they did not have FP+ (RIP paper system), so we're not quite sure how to set up our park touring schedules. I need to research this more. Any hints/tips/tricks/sanity saving information would greatly be appreciated. We read that they recently changed the booking time to 7AM from midnight EST, which means a few more really early mornings for us since we're on PST . Thankfully, I still have a few more months to prepare for that.

In addition to the FP+/overall park touring strategies, we've also been working on figuring out what we're going to wear at the parks. As I previously mentioned, my wife and I LOVE Disneybounding. We're trying to pull off a different Disneybound every day (other than water park days) on this trip. That means we have 11 different outfits to prepare and coordinate! So far, we've made progress on three.

Donald and Daisy



Diana is going to bound as Donald while I go as Daisy. Right now we have the shorts and top for Donald and the shorts for Daisy. I'm hunting for a loose fitting non-button up lilac top for Daisy still. Diana is going to get a red bowtie for Donald, and we're still working on the rest of the accessories.



Daisy shorts Donald top and shorts

Jack and Sally



For this Disneybound, I'm bounding as Jack while my wife is bounding as Sally. Right now we have the bottoms. I want to get a loose fitting white top for Jack and we're trying to figure out the best top for my wife for Sally. I think we're going to have a lot of fun accessorizing for these two.



Belle and Beast



Belle is my favorite Disney princess, so I'm going to be bounding as her while my wife bounds as the Beast. She already has some dark shorts she is going to wear for this outfit and we're working on finding her a brownish tank top and purplish top to wear over. I have a white cardigan I'll be wearing with my dress.


Belle dress

For MNSSHP, we are recycling our costumes from last year that we wore to Disneyland: Christopher Robin and Eeyore. We have a Duffy bear and a Winnie the Pooh outfit for it, and I think we're going to get a Shellie May to dress as Piglet.

Other Disneybounds we are considering for the trip include: Lilo and Stitch, Alice and Mad Hatter, Ariel and Eric, Woody and Buzz, and Pongo and Perdita. We still need three more in addition to these. We will see if we can make it happen!

Is anyone else getting really antsy to hear what they're planning for F&W this year??

 

[peypeysmommy]

20 Weeks to Go!!!

We are at the 20 weeks mark to WDW!! AHHHH!!!!

Now that the ADRs are more or less set (at least until they release the F&W events), we're starting to focus on figuring out our FP+. Last time we went to WDW, they did not have FP+ (RIP paper system), so we're not quite sure how to set up our park touring schedules. I need to research this more. Any hints/tips/tricks/sanity saving information would greatly be appreciated. We read that they recently changed the booking time to 7AM from midnight EST, which means a few more really early mornings for us since we're on PST . Thankfully, I still have a few more months to prepare for that.

In addition to the FP+/overall park touring strategies, we've also been working on figuring out what we're going to wear at the parks. As I previously mentioned, my wife and I LOVE Disneybounding. We're trying to pull off a different Disneybound every day (other than water park days) on this trip. That means we have 11 different outfits to prepare and coordinate! So far, we've made progress on three.

Donald and Daisy

View attachment 173904

Diana is going to bound as Donald while I go as Daisy. Right now we have the shorts and top for Donald and the shorts for Daisy. I'm hunting for a loose fitting non-button up lilac top for Daisy still. Diana is going to get a red bowtie for Donald, and we're still working on the rest of the accessories.


View attachment 173907 View attachment 173905
Daisy shorts Donald top and shorts

Jack and Sally

View attachment 173908

For this Disneybound, I'm bounding as Jack while my wife is bounding as Sally. Right now we have the bottoms. I want to get a loose fitting white top for Jack and we're trying to figure out the best top for my wife for Sally. I think we're going to have a lot of fun accessorizing for these two.

View attachment 173909 View attachment 173910

Belle and Beast

View attachment 173915

Belle is my favorite Disney princess, so I'm going to be bounding as her while my wife bounds as the Beast. She already has some dark shorts she is going to wear for this outfit and we're working on finding her a brownish tank top and purplish top to wear over. I have a white cardigan I'll be wearing with my dress.

View attachment 173917
Belle dress

For MNSSHP, we are recycling our costumes from last year that we wore to Disneyland: Christopher Robin and Eeyore. We have a Duffy bear and a Winnie the Pooh outfit for it, and I think we're going to get a Shellie May to dress as Piglet.

Other Disneybounds we are considering for the trip include: Lilo and Stitch, Alice and Mad Hatter, Ariel and Eric, Woody and Buzz, and Pongo and Perdita. We still need three more in addition to these. We will see if we can make it happen!

Is anyone else getting really antsy to hear what they're planning for F&W this year??

Hi I am joining in on your PTR and love this idea! I'm totally going tomtr'yna fast one on DH for our next trip lol. I love your planning so far.

 

[ariane37]

I envy your disneybounding! I do Disney tops/sweatshirts all the time (even when not in Disney because I'm an old lady dork) but don't have the confidence or talent to disneybound. Love what you have so far and definitely do Eric/Ariel! I like Pongo/Perdita, too What about a villain disneybound? No idea who but I just love villains lol.

As for FP+ strategy........ well, we've done 5 trips with it and I still don't really like it. I don't HATE it like some, but I miss legacy FP. My only suggestion is to book them for the early afternoon because you really don't need them early in the morning on days you plan on being in the parks early. At least don't book any before 11 at the earliest. And yes they did change the booking time to 7am which I'm also not a fan of, even though I'm on the East coast. Much rather wait up until midnight than have to get up early!

 

[LadyD]

Hi I am joining in on your PTR and love this idea! I'm totally going tomtr'yna fast one on DH for our next trip lol. I love your planning so far.

Thank you! We absolutely love Disneybounding. It definitely makes planning and packing for a trip a lot more fun. We've also had some great interactions with CMs and fellow park guests while bounding too.

I envy your disneybounding! I do Disney tops/sweatshirts all the time (even when not in Disney because I'm an old lady dork) but don't have the confidence or talent to disneybound. Love what you have so far and definitely do Eric/Ariel! I like Pongo/Perdita, too What about a villain disneybound? No idea who but I just love villains lol.

As for FP+ strategy........ well, we've done 5 trips with it and I still don't really like it. I don't HATE it like some, but I miss legacy FP. My only suggestion is to book them for the early afternoon because you really don't need them early in the morning on days you plan on being in the parks early. At least don't book any before 11 at the earliest. And yes they did change the booking time to 7am which I'm also not a fan of, even though I'm on the East coast. Much rather wait up until midnight than have to get up early!

We wear Disney tops all the time too while not in Disney!! Haha. Glad to know we're not the only ones. I may or may not even occasionally wear a pair of ears around the house when I need a little pick me up... You should definitely try bounding sometime! I remember we were quite intimidated and nervous the first time we tried it, but we ended up having a great time. These are a few of the bounds we've done (and I realize after trying to find pictures, we really need to take better ones when we bound).



We definitely need to do a villains bound!! Captain Hook and Smee might be really fun to do.

That is an excellent tip for FP+. We will definitely aim for later FP+ times. Thank you!

 

[AnnaGiselle]

I loved reading your wedding PJ and I'm so excited to follow along on your WDW PTR! Can I just say that I am having some serious ADR jealousy? DH and I decided on California Grill for our first wedding anniversary trip next year, but I can't wait to convince him to do V&A at some point! I'm seriously looking forward to your full trip report.

I wouldn't worry too much about the lines for the value resorts. We usually stay value (it's how I convince my DH to do more trips!) and I don't recall it being a problem. Sure, you might have to stand on the bus, but we are always able to get on.

DH and I are usually WDW visitors since we live near DC, but we're venturing to Disneyland next year for an epic national parks and Disney parks trip. I haven't been to DL since I was five aka around 1991, so I'm already researching to learn how to tackle it! So I understand having to learn about the new systems. Let me know if you have any favorite tips! Napa Rose is my only required restaurant visit so far.

I hope you get to do your park shoot!!!

 

[Legendofthehawk]

Excited to following along!

also going back after a 5 year break and for close to your same dates! (We arrive the 26th and leave the first.. *cries*

Looking forward to seeing your PTR!

 

[LadyD]

I loved reading your wedding PJ and I'm so excited to follow along on your WDW PTR!

Welcome aboard! Thank you! I hope to do a better job at finishing this PTR and then TR than I did at my wedding PJ haha.

Can I just say that I am having some serious ADR jealousy? DH and I decided on California Grill for our first wedding anniversary trip next year, but I can't wait to convince him to do V&A at some point! I'm seriously looking forward to your full trip report.

We love food. So much. I plan on sharing lots of pictures and some serious reviews of all the vegetarian delights we encounter.

I wouldn't worry too much about the lines for the value resorts. We usually stay value (it's how I convince my DH to do more trips!) and I don't recall it being a problem. Sure, you might have to stand on the bus, but we are always able to get on.

I just keep telling myself hakuna matata. Everything will be fine and awesome at Pop because I will be at WDW. I have nothing to worry about.

DH and I are usually WDW visitors since we live near DC, but we're venturing to Disneyland next year for an epic national parks and Disney parks trip. I haven't been to DL since I was five aka around 1991, so I'm already researching to learn how to tackle it! So I understand having to learn about the new systems. Let me know if you have any favorite tips! Napa Rose is my only required restaurant visit so far.

How fun!!! When next year are you going?? I have lots of tips!! A lot of them involve food... I absolutely love the food at Carthay Circle in DCA. It's so good and the atmosphere is just amazing. If you're a fan of cheese, I highly recommend checking out the Monte Cristo sandwich at Café Orleans in DL. Right now DL still exists on the paper fastpass system like WDW used to, so that is part of why I'm having such a hard time getting onboard with this FP+. Can't I just efficiently tour the parks and collect all the fastpasses??

I hope you get to do your park shoot!!!

Thank you I'm really hoping I do too! I've hit a bit of a plateau, so I really need to put in some more effort if I'm going to get this shoot!

Excited to following along!

also going back after a 5 year break and for close to your same dates! (We arrive the 26th and leave the first.. *cries*

Looking forward to seeing your PTR!

Hello, and welcome! 5 years away from WDW is really too much imo. Are you staying at AKL too during your trip?! I still cannot believe I convinced my wife so easily to stay for another few nights. That was some serious Disney magic happening in my house!

 

[Legendofthehawk]

Hello, and welcome! 5 years away from WDW is really too much imo. Are you staying at AKL too during your trip?! I still cannot believe I convinced my wife so easily to stay for another few nights. That was some serious Disney magic happening in my house!

Yes! We're doing a split stay at AKL Jambo lodge. So from the 29th-1st, we'll be there! Have you been there before?

Yay for extra days!


Also, your costuming style is off the hook. For serious. Please share your tips

 

[LadyD]

Yes! We're doing a split stay at AKL Jambo lodge. So from the 29th-1st, we'll be there! Have you been there before?

Yay for extra days!

We went to AKL on our last trip to eat at Boma and Jiko, but we haven't actually stayed there. We're super excited to be staying there this trip!! We're over at Kidani from the 26-31 for the first part of our stay.

Also, your costuming style is off the hook. For serious. Please share your tips

Thank you!! It really is a team effort with my wife. We each do our own research, bounce ideas off each other, and then I obsessively scour the internet for possible options. If we're going to look in person for clothes for the bound, we always go with several ideas and an open mind so we don't end up stuck trying to find a single item. We've been really lucky and things have just come together.

 

[MagicSoup]

We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge for our honeymoon 7 years ago, it was amazing! You'll love it! We've also stayed at Pop and didn't have any problems; we're staying there again on our trip in the fall.

Love your Disney bounding!

 

[LadyD]

We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge for our honeymoon 7 years ago, it was amazing! You'll love it! We've also stayed at Pop and didn't have any problems; we're staying there again on our trip in the fall.

Love your Disney bounding!

Thank you! It's encouraging to hear all these positive experiences I'm so excited for AKL!!

 

[LadyD]

FP+, Clothes, and More - Less than 100 days to go!

Well life took a turn for the exceedingly busy and I have neglected this PTR as a result. I *think* things are finally calming down (or I am crossing my fingers and hoping they are), so it is time for an update on the planning progress for this trip in LESS THAN 100 DAYS!!! So please keep your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the vehicle. This is going to be a long-winded entry.

In less than 3 weeks we make our FP+ reservations! We've started to figure out what FP+ we would like on each day. Now we're just trying to figure out when we would like them. Below is what we have picked so far.



Can anyone guess what I really like to ride at Epcot?? LOL. We love to take advantage of single rider options where we can since we don't mind riding separately, so that opens up some of our choices across the trip. I'm still bitter about the appearance of Frozen Ever After, but my wife wants to ride it, so on the FP+ list it goes.

We have four days with no FP+ booked.

1. On October 26th, we arrive at 5:55 AM. Since we're taking the red eye out, I think we're going to end up spending this day at the water park and lounging by the hotel pool. We do have our California Grill reservation that night, and there is no MNSSHP, so we might make a few FP+ for after our dinner.
2. November 4th is our water park day and we're going to see La Nouba that night, so no FP+ this day (unless the weather is a complete bust and kills our water park day).
3. November 8th is the day we leave womp womp. The worst part of any Disney World vacation! Our flight doesn't leave until sometime after 6 PM, so we might enjoy the parks a little more that morning. I'm not 100% sure yet.

You may have noticed there is one day missing. October 30th. It is missing because...

We're doing the photoshoot!!!!!

My amazing wife saw how hard I was working at getting back into an exercise routine after struggling for so long with my injury and said it didn't matter if I won the bet or not and that we could do the photoshoot because she was so proud of me for trying so hard and sticking with it. I immediately contacted Disney's Fine Art Photography and got to booking this shoot. It was a very tense 24 hours as I waited to hear back from them and whether or not they had the availability to accommodate our shoot. I was basically glued to my phone. Staring at it. Waiting. Despite my best efforts to answer as soon as they called, I missed their call!!! Apparently, I was too busy working and making money to fund my Disney habit. Thankfully, DFAP left me a voicemail with information to return their call, but they informed me that October availability was extremely limited for in park shoots. I was super nervous when I called them back, and I had every finger and toe crossed on my body that the date I wanted was available. And guess what?!?!? October 30th was one of the few days they still had availability!!!! I'm so excited!!!

So we will be doing an in park shoot on Sunday, October 30th at Animal Kingdom and Epcot. The photoshoot in Animal Kingdom is 7:30 to 8:30 and the shoot in Epcot immediately follows for an hour after in the World Showcase of Epcot. Now we're trying to decide which countries we want to shoot in. We're in the process of selecting a hair and makeup artist for the shoot and getting our outfits put together.

I'm wearing this jumpsuit



My wife is wearing a grey three piece suit that we're currently getting tailored for her. We're still deciding on the color suit and tie she is going to wear. I'm thinking a white shirt might work best to contrast against my black jumpsuit??



We're going to do a more retro hair and makeup look for this shoot. I'm super excited to have these pictures done. We don't really get many pictures taken of us together, so it will be nice to have some fun photos to put around the house.

We're still working on our Disneybounding outfits. We haven't made a tremendous amount of progress on those since we've been so focused on getting everything set up for the photoshoot and making sure we're good to go with those items.

They finally opened up the Epcot Food & Wine festival events a couple of weeks back, and we booked our Parisian breakfast on Saturday, November 5th at 9 AM, which is exactly when I was hoping we could book it. That was another very stressful booking.

Flashback to the morning that the event booking opened up in July. There I was bleary eyed, barely awake at 3:58 AM my time, phone in one hand and credit card in the other. My eyes were glued to the clock. I started calling as soon as 3:59 AM hit. 4:00 AM hits and the line rings through! I make my way through the all the menus and get to the part where I want to talk to someone. And then the nice little voice on the line chirps that the wait time for the next available cast member was going to be approximately 20 minutes. GAAAH!! Since the Parisian breakfast is a select days only event, and in our two weeks at Disney, there was only one day we could do it, I was SO STRESSED during those 20 minutes waiting. And waiting. And getting more and more despondent that there was no possible way we would get so lucky to get to book the event. Finally the woman came on the line! I don't know how she understood what I was looking to book and when I was looking to book it, because it burst out of my mouth so fast, but she told me that we could book at 9 AM on November 5th. YAAAAY!!!!! We're so pumped for that event. It is the only Food & Wine event we booked. There were other events that looked interesting to us, but I have such a hard time sitting down and listening to people talk that a lot of the seminars didn't seem worth it for their price point and my short attention span. Also, being vegetarian, that limited our food event options quite a bit too.

We now have all of our ADRs booked, our photoshoot booked, and our FP+ selected and ready to get booking when that opens up for us in less than 3 weeks. I'm getting so antsy for this trip to just be here already!

 

[ariane37]

I LOVE your jumpsuit. LOVE it! May I say I would have looked fabulous in that about 20 years ago Now I'm not quite sure what my boobs would do in it, but I cannot wait to see your pictures from the shoot! Really it's absolutely gorgeous and I think stylish enough without going over the top.

Is that the actual color of the suit your wife is wearing? Because I really like that color, too! Probably a white shirt is best.......I'm far from a fashion guru but I was thinking maybe a light purple?? The tie made me think that. Peach? But I guess it depends on the vibe you want in the pics and if you go with a color like that you'd probably want something on you to match. So yeah, a white shirt may be the way to go

I have to work on our FP's for our Nov. trip soon! I'll probably do that when DH and I get back from our adults only trip in 18 days because our FP day for Nov. is 9/20. Plus I'm starting to 2nd guess ADR's so I know that will be on my mind........it's great when all plans are in place until you start thinking about them too much!

 

[LadyD]

I LOVE your jumpsuit. LOVE it! May I say I would have looked fabulous in that about 20 years ago Now I'm not quite sure what my boobs would do in it, but I cannot wait to see your pictures from the shoot! Really it's absolutely gorgeous and I think stylish enough without going over the top.

Is that the actual color of the suit your wife is wearing? Because I really like that color, too! Probably a white shirt is best.......I'm far from a fashion guru but I was thinking maybe a light purple?? The tie made me think that. Peach? But I guess it depends on the vibe you want in the pics and if you go with a color like that you'd probably want something on you to match. So yeah, a white shirt may be the way to go

I have to work on our FP's for our Nov. trip soon! I'll probably do that when DH and I get back from our adults only trip in 18 days because our FP day for Nov. is 9/20. Plus I'm starting to 2nd guess ADR's so I know that will be on my mind........it's great when all plans are in place until you start thinking about them too much!

Thank you! I agonized and sat on the fence for a long time before buying that jumpsuit, and I am quite pleased with how well it fits and looks, and it will look even better once tailored. I figure I should take advantage of such a daring neckline while I can before gravity catches up

That suit is actually the exact suit my wife purchased. I am thinking a white or ivory shirt to contrast against my black if she takes her jacket off. The tie is going to be the hard part and probably something I will agonize over, so hopefully my wife has a strong opinion!

This waiting game is hard! I'm purposefully ignoring my ADRs so I don't over think them at this point and try to re-arrange things. I can only imagine how much worse it will be once we book our FP+ and we're really just waiting for the trip to arrive.

I hope your FP+ planning goes well! I need to catch up on your PTR. Stupid work.

 

[LadyD]

More Trip Preparations!

The 60 day mark is rapidly approaching for us, so that means FP+ time!! We spent this past weekend reviewing out park days, picking out our ideal FP+ times, and getting a rough idea of what we're hoping to accomplish each day in the parks. Naturally, this lead to some slight tweaking of our schedule and ADRs

I was wondering, do they offer FP+ during the holiday parties?? I never really thought about this until last night. Is it worth setting up a few FP+ during MNSSHP or MVMCP if you can??

Below are our ideal ballpark FP+ times:




A lot of our afternoons are currently scheduled to either be back at the resort or watching shows so we can take it easier. We're hoping to use FP+ a little earlier in the day so we can maybe luck into some additional FP+ later in the day at the parks. All of our Epcot days ideally have early FP+ so we can enjoy the rest of our day in the World Showcase.

Did I mention we looked at the menus for the booths??? It's a good thing we're vegetarian, or I think our entire dining experience would be the Food & Wine food booths. This trip is going to test our food limits for sure. As it is, there is a drink at just about every booth we would love to try, which basically means we will be stumbling around the World Showcase





We decided what to do after our photoshoot and before V&A on October 30th! We're doing a monorail bar crawl! To make sure we can fully enjoy this experience, we've added a lunch ADR for Sanaa! That menu looks so YUMMY. Now once we get back from our photo session, we're going to tidy up the room for our resort transfer the next day, have a delicious lunch at Sanaa, and then onto visiting the various bars around the monorail for the afternoon/early evening! It will definitely be a nice, relaxing day

We've also moved some of our ADRs times just a smidge. It looks like they changed the AK park times on November 3rd when we have our Tiffins ADR, so we pushed it back to 5:40 PM. Now we get more park time yay!!! Since the Main Street Electrical Parade is ending (SO MAD! Even though it is coming out here...) our Be Our Guest ADR being so late is less of an issue now, but I still want to move it earlier so we can get back to AKL and go to bed, because we have to be up at 5 AM for hair and makeup the following morning At least it isn't 4 AM like our DL castle shoot.

To help fund this grand eating adventure (and help me have a little less sticker shock), we've been earning some gift cards/cash back on the side through Swagbucks, Shopkick, and Ebates. I do most of our shopping online, so it has been a great way to put a little money back in our pockets and let me live this trip large. However, this past week Target officially stopped allowing Target GCs for the purchase of Disney GCs online, which made me really sad. Now I have to go a mile up the street to my local Target and buy them in person. The horror. I'm really hoping they don't stop allowing in store purchases of Target GC to Disney GC any time soon though. That would put a major wrench in my personal satisfaction of collecting enough gift cards to just about pay for our dining adventure.

We were going to do more trip planning this weekend (we still need to actually stick to Disneybound ideas and buy a few outfits), but I got side tracked with a re-upholstery project I've been working on for a couple of months. I bought two wingback chairs back in May for only $50. They're in great condition and just need to be re-upholstered, so my mom and I thought it would be a fun project to work on together.......

.......

..............

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.........................................



I do not know what we were thinking. This is the first time I've re-upholstered anything, and I took on two wingback chairs with piping on everything. We've already conceded that the current chair is the 2016 project, and the second chair will be tackled and completed at some point in 2017.

Here is a picture of the chair before (minus the seat cushion) and one in it's approximate current state:



This is when I still had high hopes and dreams that had not been pierced by the thousands of staples I had to pull out and then put back into the chair (pretty sure I've misfired more staples than actually successfully stapled the fabric to the frame at this point).



The current state of the chair. I hope I love it when I'm done because I am never doing this again. Except for the second chair.

Well this weekend I talked myself into tackling more of this project. After many hours of frustration, we threw the towel in for the weekend because we need new flexible metal tack strips for the curve of the outer wings to get it nice and crisp, and none of our local craft or upholstery stores carry them. So I have to order them. To make myself feel better, we went on a hike.



Staring at this view and looking out over the ocean made me feel a lot better. Plus I got some exercise in to keep building up my stamina for this Disney trip!

Tomorrow marks 9 weeks until our trip. I'm starting to get super, super excited!

 

[ToyStory90]

Dropping by to say Hi! Wow, what a wonderful trip! Im in the same boat as you, several resorts so several ADR days and several FP days..good luck because your 60 days are almost here!!

Cant wait to see what else you plan since i'll be there the same time (which is why we extended-to get both MNSSHP and MVMCP in one trip!!)

 

[fallonkendra]

Following along!

I love that jumpsuit you're going to wear for your Photoshoot! I've tried on so many jumpsuits, and none of them look right on me . I also love all of your ideas for Disneybounding! That's not something I've ever really tried before, I tend to just wear Disney-patterned dresses and tops when I go to the parks.

I really hope you do a trip report once you're back! I have a 5 night stay booked for Old Key West in January, and have ADR's for Olivia's for breakfast and dinner, so I'd love to see some reviews!

That chair you are re-upholstering is looking great! When we moved, I kept these hideous old chairs that belonged to my boyfriend with the intention of re-upholstering them... and they have just been sitting in our basement for a year and a half now...

 

[LadyD]

Dropping by to say Hi! Wow, what a wonderful trip! Im in the same boat as you, several resorts so several ADR days and several FP days..good luck because your 60 days are almost here!!

Cant wait to see what else you plan since i'll be there the same time (which is why we extended-to get both MNSSHP and MVMCP in one trip!!)

Hello and thank you! I'm a mix of excited and dread for this round of bookings. Getting up in the middle of the night several days apart for ADRs was rough. It is ultimately worth it, but probably my least favorite part of planning at this point haha.

I definitely think extending the trip to see both parties is a brilliant move to maximize Disney experiences where you can is a brilliant move

Following along!

I love that jumpsuit you're going to wear for your Photoshoot! I've tried on so many jumpsuits, and none of them look right on me . I also love all of your ideas for Disneybounding! That's not something I've ever really tried before, I tend to just wear Disney-patterned dresses and tops when I go to the parks.

I really hope you do a trip report once you're back! I have a 5 night stay booked for Old Key West in January, and have ADR's for Olivia's for breakfast and dinner, so I'd love to see some reviews!

That chair you are re-upholstering is looking great! When we moved, I kept these hideous old chairs that belonged to my boyfriend with the intention of re-upholstering them... and they have just been sitting in our basement for a year and a half now...

Thank you!! I have a shorter torso, so I have an easier time finding jumpsuits that fit. I just have to make sure I go for a style like the one above where it is fitted through the waist and not like a drop drawstring waist since those don't hit right on me due to the short torso.

Disneybounding is tons of fun! I highly recommend it It is a fun way to bring some Disney flare into your wardrobe without having Mickey plastered all over your shirt (I have a ton of those too though haha).

It might take me a while, but I'm really hoping to do a trip report when I get back with a full account of our dining (and probably lots of pictures). I must warn you ahead of time, we will only be able to speak to the tastiness of the vegetarian options. I'll also be immediately planning our May 2017 trip for my 30th when we get back, so it would be a good exercise to do the TR to help me figure out what I want to do for my birthday trip.

You are wise to let the chairs sit in your basement, out of sight where they cannot lure you into a massive, time consuming project. I would be paying someone to do my second chair, but then I'd have the awesome looking professional chair and the sad, cast-off, DIY immitation shaming me every time I came down the stairs in our house. It is worth saving up the money and saving your sanity/fingers/back, unless you're really talented at that kind of thing, or you have endless patience.

 

[absolutmey]

Just found your PTR. Your trip sounds awesome! We'll be there during part of that week as well.

I have a red wingback chair JUST LIKE YOURS sitting in my bedroom. I saw it and had to get it, though. It was $30! Do you accept FedEx First Overnight deliveries for your upholstery services? I'm such a procrastinator and totally not crafty. I got a quote from an upholstery guy here ... $275 plus fabric. Eek. Yours is looking great.

I'm subbing to follow your PTR and progress of your chair!

 

[ToyStory90]

Hello and thank you! I'm a mix of excited and dread for this round of bookings. Getting up in the middle of the night several days apart for ADRs was rough. It is ultimately worth it, but probably my least favorite part of planning at this point haha.

I definitely think extending the trip to see both parties is a brilliant move to maximize Disney experiences where you can is a brilliant move

Yes my ADR days were terrible. BUT my FP days wont be so bad. I will be in Disneyland those days so at least I wont mind getting up at 4am to do them!