I finally saw the lights! Our super special anniversary trip! NEW 2/2 pg.18

[DisMomAmy]

Wow, you got some great souvenirs. Love the last Mickey representing the four parks, very cool

what are the nemo fish? are they gems, soap, etc?

We searched high & low for something representing all four parks! That Mickey sits on Alex's shelf now.

Those are little hard plastic fish - Nemo, Dorie & Crush

Fun souvenirs! I love the beach towel and the jingle bell mickey.

We LOVE the new beach towels. Alex uses them for swim team practice & it's nice to have two so there is always one clean. This way he always knows which towel he brought to the pool.

Love all the souvies.

I have the Epcot magnet. Those Mickey towels are so cute!!

My fridge is pretty much all Disney magnets.

Great souvies! Love the last one that represents all 4 parks. Also like the jingle Mickey ornament and picture frame. I wanted to do the Mickey family decals for my car but my teen vetoed that idea. Guess she didn't want me at the high school with them.

I have yet to fill the frame... I had to get some pictures printed for Zach to take to school & I got doubles so I at least have a few to start with.

So far the kids haven't objected to the Mickey decals. I'm waiting until spring to put them on the new van though.

We got some of these this time, too. The girls loved sorting through all of the colorful jewels and choosing the ones they wanted.

We also got the Prep and Landing pins.

It's always fun to bring a new little dose of Disney home to carry you through from trip to trip.

Zach is drawn to anything that you can fill for one price - I think he enjoys the challenge to see how many he can shove in there!

I love the Prep & Landing pins! Zach really enjoys the Christmas specials!

Looked at all your souvie pictures this morning before I left for work and I'm finally getting here to comment with a big..... You got some cute/fun stuff.

Isn't it great how the kids enjoy the "free" pins as much as they enjoy the real ones. I know my nephew collected quite an assortment a few years ago.

We did get a lot of stuff on this trip! I'll have to scale things back a bit in April!

Alex isn't so into pin trading (not like Zach is) but he just couldn't stop talking about those celebration pins! He's going to be excited when he gets one recognizing his 5th grade graduation in April! Even though he doesn't graduate until June...

 

[skier_pete]

I got behind somehow, but just caught up with your last day. Sounds like a great day. I know the weather was great because we were about 5 miles away at AK! You took some great pictures of the O-Lights that last night..very sharp. So glad you finally got to see the lights!

I'll be hopping over to your PTR, but might not post too much...just want to follow through to the TR.

SP

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Love that towel! Looks like you got some great souvenirs!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I got behind somehow, but just caught up with your last day. Sounds like a great day. I know the weather was great because we were about 5 miles away at AK! You took some great pictures of the O-Lights that last night..very sharp. So glad you finally got to see the lights!

I'll be hopping over to your PTR, but might not post too much...just want to follow through to the TR.

SP

Caught up just in time!

It was a beautiful day & I could have spent all night staring at those O-Lights!

Love that towel! Looks like you got some great souvenirs!

We brought home a ton of loot!

 

[DisMomAmy]

This was a wonderful trip in so many ways! I was much more relaxed & I think Tim was too. I think part of it had to do with staying onsite! We'll see what happens on our next trip that has a combination of onsite & offsite.

Surprising the boys was so exciting! And I think the fact that it was all planned out for them, eliminated some stress for them. They knew exactly what we were doing every day & I don’t remember them asking for any changes. We were firm with our rules & that eliminated most of the behavior challenges. There were a few times (like at Prime Time), that we had to deal with a crisis with Alex, but that wasn’t him misbehaving, that was truly a stress situation for him. He had a couple “consequences” where he didn’t earn his souvenir certificate & had to sit out a ride, but overall the kids both did an amazing job.

We haven't told the boys about our April trip yet but I'm not sure that we'll do another last minute surprise. I think we'll either tell them over February school vacation (when they are complaining that we aren't going anywhere) or, if we can hold out long enough, a week before we leave when Alex gets home from environmental camp. We'll see... I'd like to do another surprise reveal whenever it is we do it.

Highlights – For sure the Osborne Lights! The holiday decorations & MVMCP were amazing as well! We had some great moments at every park! Staying at the Boardwalk was also wonderful!

Lows - There really weren't many! Tim's feet took a bit of a beating so that's something we'll be looking to improve upon next time. We're going to slow things down, spread out our park days & have time off. Other than that, the worst things I can think of are that we couldn't figure out how to make the dryer dry & couldn't get the ironing board to close! If that's as bad as it gets, I think we did really well!

Thank you all for reading along!! I love sharing our trips because it gives me a chance to relive the fun! Having readers to share it with makes it more enjoyable than just writing it for myself! As far as our next trip, jump over to my PTR & see what we have planned!

Link to PTR: It wouldn't be spring without an Epcot F&G Festival!

 

[KatMark]

Amy, I'm finally all caught up. I love all the souvenirs...great buys!

And what a great wrap-up.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your TR and getting to know your family. I'm looking forward to the next adventure.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Amy, I'm finally all caught up. I love all the souvenirs...great buys!

And what a great wrap-up.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your TR and getting to know your family. I'm looking forward to the next adventure.

Thanks for reading Kathy!!

I'm looking forward to our next adventure too!

 

[mousescrapper]

Hey Amy caught up...

I always love the souvies you come home w/ some fun finds I love that frame too and great Mickey souvie w/ all 4 parks on it, very cool

Some great final thoughts...so glad this trip was everything you hoped for and the boys did really well

Looking forward to following along w/ the plans for April and of course for our trip too

J

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Great report Amy!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Hey Amy caught up...

I always love the souvies you come home w/ some fun finds I love that frame too and great Mickey souvie w/ all 4 parks on it, very cool

Some great final thoughts...so glad this trip was everything you hoped for and the boys did really well

Looking forward to following along w/ the plans for April and of course for our trip too

J

Thanks Julie!! I can't wait to do more October planning with you & Heidi!

Great report Amy!

Thanks for reading Missy!