How'd I get so lucky?? My AP Year * Updated 8/22 Our Next Trip!

[dawnmichele]

This is my new suitcase.

It is so giant I can’t believe they’re going to let me on the plane. It's 28". You might not be able to tell from this photo since I didn't include anything for scale, but that table is a high, stand up art table.

I am usually a pack light kind of girl. By which I mean I spent 4 weeks in Europe with two carry on bags. I take it seriously. But I’ve come to understand that Disney is not really a pack light kind of vacation. Especially with SouthWest’s 2 bags free policy, and DME that will deal with your luggage for you.

Last year we checked 4 bags. One for each of us, and one I call the “family bag” with all the stuff we use in common, like Clif bars and the extension cord and clothes pins and stuff like that. There was some drama at the last minute last year when H realized her suitcase had an unpleasant smell we couldn’t get rid of. We had to go buy her a bag last minute and she ended up getting a giant hard sided bag that I ended up in love with.

So of course I needed one this year, right? For a while I enteretained dreams of driving too far to an outlet store and finding some Disney luggage on sale. Eventually I gave up on that and started looking around for some regular luggage.

Kohl’s had a half off sale, so I went. There were a few bags I liked, but I settled on this one, by Samsonite. Kohl’s sale put it half off. There was a card holder sale that got me another 30% off. Plus I got 20 bucks of Kohl’s cash. I got a deal. I’m not usually that great of a shopper but it felt good.

It’s setting on a dresser now. Like this. It has a few things in it. Over the next week or so I’ll add a few things I won’t need until then, and the week after that it will be time to fill it up!

It’s two weeks tomorrow! And I still have a lot of things to tell you about, so look for more frequent posts here, and also on my trip report. I am determined to finish that thing before I leave for this trip so I’ll be updating there as well.

 

[dawnmichele]

Ok, I know this pre-trip report is for our trip in two weeks (exactly, from today!!), but this morning I did something I had to tell you guys about!!

So you know we're getting APs for this trip, right? D&H are staying 11 days, and of course I'm staying 16 (!!) so it made sense (especially for me). And when we were planning this trip, we decided since we've never gone when it wasn't decorated for Christmas, we figured it would be a brilliant idea to buy the APs for this trip and then go again next October for all the amazing Disney in October things (food and wine, fall decorations, halloween party, wearing costumes!).

I started talking with my awesome brother about DVC points and costs to rent and realized that we could actually get certain DVC rooms for LESS than staying at AoA. I talked it over with the family and started researching buying/renting points. (which is it anyway?) I was a little nervous about doing it through a stranger, one on one, especially the first time, so I decided to go with David's DVC rental.

I spent lots of time researching resorts, thinking about timing (crowds and weather especially), lots of time trying to decided how long to stay (I even made a post in the Attractions and Strategies board about how long people's ideal stay was for) and then some extra time fussing because the dates we picked start on a Monday and shouldn't we really include that weekend before just because what else are we going to do all weekend?

And then this morning I did it. I went to David's site and made our request. October 20 - 30. Boardwalk Villas for first choice (to be nice and close for the Food and Wine!), Animal Kingdom Villas as a back up.



Woohoo!
Yeah, I'm excited.
Disney in 2 weeks, and then again 10 months later.
Let me repeat - How did I get so lucky??

Anyway. I just wanted to share with some people (besides my family) who might understand my excitement about that.

Maybe I should make another ticker?

Now I'm off for a busy day of doctor appointments and a pre trip hair cut.
Hope all your Disney wishes come true today, friends!

 

[gracer9977]

Wow I can't believe you are only 14 days away!!!!! How exciting!!!!!

What a great deal you got on that new suitcase.

You are lucky to get to go to Disney for 16 days and then go back in October. That is wonderful news and so happy it is working out for you.

Love the MB's. I just got to customize mine last weekend and I can't wait to have them ship to me. It is weird that you have to have 4 bands especially since it sounds like each one will probably work the whole time that you are there. Awesome though that you can try out 4 different colors.

Looking forward to all your last minute updates until you leave.

 

[dawnmichele]

What a great deal you got on that new suitcase.

You are lucky to get to go to Disney for 16 days and then go back in October. That is wonderful news and so happy it is working out for you.

Yeah, I'm just feeling super lucky about this trip all around. I hope I can remember this when I'm tired and hungry and too hot/cold on the actual trip. That's a huge key to a happy vacation I think.

Love the MB's. I just got to customize mine last weekend and I can't wait to have them ship to me. It is weird that you have to have 4 bands especially since it sounds like each one will probably work the whole time that you are there. Awesome though that you can try out 4 different colors.

It IS weird but you're exactly right. Now, if they really do all work, I can choose which color to wear which day. They do look really cool (imho) and I love my colors. Sometimes I hate having something on my wrist though. It feels "trappy" to me. So I hope I'll just get used to it and not notice.

Also, I have this great Mickey watch I like to wear at the park, even though I don't usually wear a watch. I check the time more at Disney than when I'm home. Can I wear the both on the same wrist? I don't know yet. I need to try it.

(Especially weird - back in the day I used to wear a wrist full of bracelets on each arm like I was Modonna. Apparently they didn't bother me then.)

Looking forward to all your last minute updates until you leave.

Thanks! It's so close it's almost freak out time!

 

[dawnmichele]

I have a weakness for Doctor Who/Disney crossover tshirts.

And I made the unwise decision one day to always get updates from the day of the tshirt website (it lets you know where all the tshirt sales are for the day). There are a lot of good shirts that show up on there, and there were two I couldn't resist!

The Doctor and Mary Poppins.

The Doctor and Ariel

I'm not in love with the color of either of them, but at least they're not black. So many great tshirts only come on black and I never wear black. But that's another subject.

I'm done though. No more shirts until Disney!

 

[Suziannie]

Love the new suitcase! I've been thinking about getting a new one myself and this has inspired me to start shopping!

 

[dawnmichele]

Love the new suitcase! I've been thinking about getting a new one myself and this has inspired me to start shopping!

Well I love to be an inspiration! Hah.
I don't think I mentioned one of the best things about that suitcase is how easy it is to move! With 4 wheels it scoots along like a dream. I pushed it around the store with just a couple fingers - of course it wasn't packed full of clothes then, but still.

Go shop! And good luck!

 

[wiigirl]

Awesome suitcase!

 

[dawnmichele]

Oh you guys I'm having such a hard time not being depressed about this trip! I've held out strong and not let the whole FP+ mess get me down, determined to reserve judgement until I actually try it out.

But yesterday I had lunch with my Disney travel agent and she said the paper Fast Passes will be gone asap. Like don't count on them when I'm there in a week and a half.

!!!

Man. I just can't even imagine.

And all over, it just seems like this whole FastPass+ thing is such a giant messy mess. I feel like I've picked the very worst possible time to have my once in a lifetime super long trip. I look at all the money we're spending on this trip and wonder why now? What bad timing for this to be the one year we get APs.

And I noticed last night that on one of our Epcot days, I picked the lamest FP+s possible. It's too late to change now because of the tiered system that's in place now. I have Soarin' for one of our picks, but the other two I picked lame things thinking we could change them to what we wanted at any time and of course that didn't turn out to be true. So we only have one FP+ to Test Track in our ten days we've been able to make them, and of course now there won't be a chance to get a paper one later.

I believe that eventually they will make this whole My Magic Mess work out. They've spent so much money on it, they'll do whatever it takes to make it work. But I can't help feeling I've made a horrible mistake by planning our Disney Year to be the one where all this mess happens!

Oh and here's another crap thing about the whole set up - we have 10 day park hoppers that we will upgrade to APs once we get there - so even though I'm staying for 16 days, I could only get FPs for ten of them. The rest will all be limited by the tiers and what's still left by the time I make them only a week in advance.

Man you guys, it's just so hard to stay positive about this! Will we still be able to have a good time? Will I just be thinking about how good it used to be when we could use paper FPs all day long? Will our resort make us one of the very very few people who can't use paper passes at all?

I don't like the mystery.
If I would have known this a year ago when we made our plans, I would have definitely put whole mega vacation off until another time.

Ugh!
Sorry to vent all over you, but you know, that's what's on my mind.
I'll be keeping my fingers crossed, but guys, I am worried.

 

[mchelle77]

We all have our worries. Mine is that one of us (or all, one right after the other) will get sick. We have the drive to do, too, which would be awful while sick. Try to let it go and just have a good time.

Pinterest had a good quote that I try to remember when worrying starts to overwhelm me - it's something like "Worrying doesn't take away tomorrow's trouble, it takes away today's peace" Relax and enjoy!

 

[dawnmichele]

Thank you Michelle!
You're totally right and I am feeling better about the whole thing. At least enough to remember what I always tell my kid - Don't get upset until you know there's a reason!

You're quote reminded me of this brilliant one from Walt himself:

Thanks again!

 

[sue_88]

Hi Shelly!
I came over from your report to join in on the excitement of your approaching magical trip!
I can't wait until you get back and share all of the new photos that you will acquire!
I did the Tusker breakfast on my trip and had lunch at BOG so I have been to two on your list for this trip. BOG was a lot of fun for lunch and I would jump on trying if for dinner!
Sorry to hear the fastpass+ situation is stressing you out. I did like the bands for using as a key for the resort doors but I wasn't that impressed with the fastpass+ for rides. We did have trouble getting all of my family on the same fastpass times and did need to get cast member assistance. But it didn't ruin my trip at all. And I did get a fastpass for the BOG lunch that ended up being quite magical as we walked right past a very long line of people waiting to get in!

 

[dawnmichele]

Hi Shelly!
I came over from your report to join in on the excitement of your approaching magical trip!
I can't wait until you get back and share all of the new photos that you will acquire!

Hello Sue! Thanks for coming over and the nice words!
I am so looking forward all the photos I'm going to take on this trip! All that extra time there means I might actually get to slow down and wander around just looking for good photos. That's a super exciting thought to me!

Sorry to hear the fastpass+ situation is stressing you out. I did like the bands for using as a key for the resort doors but I wasn't that impressed with the fastpass+ for rides. We did have trouble getting all of my family on the same fastpass times and did need to get cast member assistance. But it didn't ruin my trip at all. And I did get a fastpass for the BOG lunch that ended up being quite magical as we walked right past a very long line of people waiting to get in!

Thanks. I kind of got my attitude together later in the day.

I'm so excited to go inside the Beast's castle! I've got 2 dinner ADRs there, but is it crazy that I can't find one lunch slot at the MK when I'm not having a giant buffet breakfast that same morning? I really want to eat lunch there, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen this trip. I'm fine with that since I have *2* dinner reservations, but I won't mind if things shift around and I get a lunch there at some point. If not this trip, next trip, right?

 

[dawnmichele]

I've made countdowns to our trips in the past, but this time we've just been writing the number on our white board. I see how many days on my phone, and my ticker here, and when I log in to MDE, and nobody else cares that much until we start getting really close.

But this morning, when I changed the number, even the white board number seemed pretty exciting.

We're in the double digits. It's at the point where a good chunk of every day's chores and must do's are about our vacation.

I love that.

My schedule until we leave is getting busy! There's only one day between now and then that I don't have a meeting of some sort going on. Some of them are lame, but some are exciting. This weekend my sister and my baby niece are coming from out of town. Sunday is the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who special and Monday H and I are going to see at a theatre in KC. Wednesday (a week from today) is finish your packing day and of course Thursday is Thanksgiving (plus I'm doing a photo shoot for my cousin and her new baby). That night it's early to bed so we can all rise early on Friday morning and catch a plane.

When I put it that way there's really no time left until I am at Disney World. For a really long time.

Awesome.

 

[dawnmichele]

What? I am leaving in 5 days? I’ll be there Friday?
That sounds crazy.

I always get wonky before any kind of trip. I have heard that the excited part of your brain is right next to the nervous/anxious part of your brain, and sometimes I get confused about which emotion I’m full of.

Also, it starts to seem a little unreal and like it can’t possibly be as good as I’ve been imagining as a trip gets closer. This is exactly opposite of my daughter’s reaction. She is completely uninterested in a trip until a few days before it happens. It doesn’t seem real to her until it’s time to pull out her suitcase (which she did this weekend).

I’m still worrying about too many things, but I seriously plan to stop worrying and just starting to be excited any day now. Maybe even tomorrow.

Tonight I put some Disney movies on my laptop and my phone. I got an email from Southwest the other day letting me know they now offer gate to gate WiFi (for 8 bucks a day) and that I can use my phone in airplane mode for the whole flight! I can dig that. So I loaded The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Toy Story, Tangled, Up and (non Disney movie) Holiday Inn to my phone.

That fact has also made me rethink my book issue. I had planned to take a real paper book for the parts of the plane when I couldn’t read a book on my phone. Those are usually the parts I most want a book to distract me. But if I can actually have my phone on maybe I won’t need it. I guess I’d be able to do that on my laptop, too. If you can use phones in airplane mode, you can use a laptop, I’m thinking.

The electronic book I’m planning to read is the first of the Kingdom Keeper books. Seems fitting.

Of course I’ve done lots of other trip related things today. At this point my to do list is about half regular life and half Disney. It’s really trippy to think this trip is almost here. I’m going to be there forever. I can’t even imagine.

 

[dawnmichele]

A really long time ago I mentioned making an accessory post.
Here it is, better late than never.

Nail Decals.
Last year I used the plain Mickey heads and I loved them. This year I wanted to get a few extra since I’ll be there so long and sometimes they come off. I also got the Christmas ones because they’re so cute! And because I’m going to 2 Christmas parties. I’m not how I’m going to work it - I don’t really want to waste time changing them while I’m there.
I did have a manicure scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving, but I cancelled it. I can’t really justify (to myself) spending money on a manicure when there are such better things to spend it on at Disney. I’ll have to decide pretty soon though! Wednesday’s the day my DIY mani/pedi is scheduled.

This is my Mickey watch. I don’t usually wear a watch, but I love this one. I don’t usually go to garage sales, but last summer I was staying with my mom and sister and tagged along with them one morning. I found this!!

Brand new beautiful Mickey watch, still in it’s lovely box. It was 2 bucks, and then however much I spent to have the battery replaced. I loved having it on our whole trip last time, and even made a point to show it to Mickey when we met!

I bought these fantastic earrings on our last trip. I love them because they’re just kind of shiny circles if you don’t look closely - but they’re really Mickey heads.

I bought these at the airport as we were headed back home after our last Disney trip. I have never worn them! I don’t know why, but I am for sure going to wear them this trip.

Last year, I had this fantastic idea to make a bunch of shrinky dink earrings. I gave it a few tries before I gave up. These are the only ones I kept. They’re a little wonky, but I still like them ok.

My sparkly Minnie ears! I didn’t take a picture of them by themself, but here I am in them last December with the Mouse, himself.

Somewhere I have a pack of Disney temporary tattoos, but I can’t find them! Worse, I can’t remember where I bought them. They still might show up. I hope. I had a great time wearing one every day last trip. Who says they’re only for kids! I say, Never Grow Up! Especially not while you’re in Disney World.

 

[mchelle77]

What? I am

I always get wonky before any kind of trip. I have heard that the excited part of your brain is right next to the nervous/anxious part of your brain, and sometimes I get confused about which emotion I’m full of.

I’m still worrying about too many things, but I seriously plan to stop worrying and just starting to be excited any day now. Maybe even tomorrow.

The electronic book I’m planning to read is the first of the Kingdom Keeper books. Seems fitting.

I'm a worrier. And I completely get what you mean about getting a little cuckoo right before a trip. For me, it's like my mind has been constantly going for months/weeks ... then the first day of the trip BAM, my mind has to readjust to not having to think about everything and I have a mini anxiety attack LOL My husband depends on that little attack now as a sign of the planning being over. It's always Day 1 (or when planning his surprise 40th, I woke at 545am and it happened then!)

I bought Kingdom Keepers for my daughter to read on the way down. I may borrow it when she's done

 

[dawnmichele]

I'm a worrier. And I completely get what you mean about getting a little cuckoo right before a trip. For me, it's like my mind has been constantly going for months/weeks ... then the first day of the trip BAM, my mind has to readjust to not having to think about everything and I have a mini anxiety attack LOL My husband depends on that little attack now as a sign of the planning being over. It's always Day 1 (or when planning his surprise 40th, I woke at 545am and it happened then!)

I bought Kingdom Keepers for my daughter to read on the way down. I may borrow it when she's done

I think you are actually driving to Florida today! I know you'll have a wonderful time and can't wait to hear about it!

This morning I was up at 5:30 (I usually get up around an hour later). I laid there for just a few minutes before I realized trying to fall back to sleep was pointless. We leave in 3 days and there's too much excitement and way too many things to do to try to sleep! I'll sleep next month .

The fact that Kingdom Keepers is a "kids" book was why I picked it! I knew I needed a book that didn't take too much attention because my mind will be super distracted. I just need it to keep my mind off the take off and landings for the most part. I've heard such good things about that series and I'm excited to see if I enjoy it as much as others have.

Have fun!

 

[dawnmichele]

Three days.
And one of them is Thanksgiving so it hardly counts.

Usually we go out of town a few hours away to my mom’s house for Thanksgiving, and spend a few days. This year we’re going to my Auntie’s house. Today I kind of feel like blowing it off, but I promised my cousin I’d take a family photo of them with their brand new baby so we’ll go. But hopefully not for too long. I just feel like I need more time to be ready!

I did what I hope is my very last shopping trip until I get back home in December. A grocery shop for just a few things, plus food for our house/dog sitter to eat while he’s here. Ok wait, I do have to go to Walgreens later tonight, or I certainly hope I will. Hannah has epilepsy and she needs a certain pill to stop an oncoming seizure. She didn’t think to call in a refill until this weekend. What she has on hand would normally be enough for a couple weeks but a) she has more seizure activity on vacation and b) she’s going to be gone for almost a couple weeks. Her neurologist still hasn’t called in the Rx, so we called her primary care doc. It’s a controlled substance kind of drug though, and the primary care doc thinks only one doctor should be giving it to her, so she said she’d call the neurologist and call me back. I haven’t heard back from her and they’re out of the office tomorrow. The next day is Thanksgiving and the next day we’re leaving before sunrise. So I’m hoping I’ll be headed to Walgreens before long to take care of that.

Hannah’s at school all day today - from 10am to 10pm. It will be her last day of classes before we leave. She has to work tomorrow at some point but they haven’t given her the hours yet. I don’t think she’s gotten very far on packing, so hopefully I can help/encourage/force her tomorrow. She’ll have the evening, and then I guess maybe a tiny bit after we get home from Thanksgiving dinner.

I want us all to go to bed unreasonably early Thursday night. We’ll be up too early Friday morning, and we want to stay out til after midnight at the MK that night since they’re open til 1am. I honestly don’t know how reasonable that is, but I at least want to raise the odds.

In order to have time to help her and do all the crazy last minute things that will inevitably come up, I’m hoping to finish my packing tonight, or at least all of it that I can. And by “my” packing I mean both my personal suitcase and the family bag where all the weird stuff goes.

I’m still not 100% sure what I’m packing though! I thought the weather was going to be on the cooler side, but now the weather is looking nice and sunny and warm. On the other hand, I’m going to be there long enough that the weather could do everything. Layering, I know. But how many warm things do I need to take? It’s a mystery.

And there are so many things I want to clean and tidy before I leave! I don’t know about you guys, but I hate to come home from a long trip to find a big mess! I want it to be as clean as when company is coming when I walk back through the door. My whole house won’t be because H is coming back before me, but maybe my bedroom could be? Here’s hoping I can do that today, too.

I’ll stop there and not tell you about my whole long to do list. That would just be long and boring for everyone involved. There are a lot of things on it, but I'm looking to cross a lot of them off today!

 

[dawnmichele]

A couple days ago I gathered up all the ones I've been saving, the box of markers, and the box of envelopes. I've never been all about decorating tip envelopes for housekeeping because I think they are probably totally sick of looking at Disney stuff. The money is the good part, right? (Not that it's a lot but hopefully it adds up.)

I wrote "housekeeping" in big fat colorful letters on the envelopes, and then wrote a big fat M over the H's. While I was doing that, I decided it might be fun to take my Mickey head punch and punch out a part of the envelopes.

It was fun, but they're still kind of boring to look at.

Plus I ended up with a bunch of these patterned Mickey heads.

I'm about to add them to suitcase.