I'm A Planning Machine....What Else Can I Make w/PICS & VIDEO

[iluv2go2disney]

OK! I am excited to say I have finally gotten over my fears and decided to start my PTR. It's a little scary to think I may write this and no one will care or they will just "lurk around" and not post anything. But I'm here now so here it goes.

THE CAST
Me- I am a stay at home mom. Like everyone else here, I'm a DISNEY FREAK. I haven't always been though. This is a newly formed disease. I caught the bug during our last trip to the world (July 2007). I had been a few times before but something in me just snapped this time. So, let me tell you a little more about me. I like...no, I LOVE the color PINK. I like sparkle. I'm a dance mom and I'm used to rhinestoning (is that even a word?) everything. And I like things to match. You'll find out more about that later.

DH - He is very easy going. His biggest love...other than me and the kids is Univeristy of Kentucky basketball. GO BIG BLUE. He isn't a Disney freak, but would never deny me the opportunity to go either. He enjoys all of my "over-planning" because it just makes the trip so much more enjoyable when we get there. Once he gets there he has a great time.

DD- She is 9 and we will be celebrating her birthday while we are there. She has become recently obsessed with Tinkerbell.And I mean obsessed. She wants it all and she wants it to match, too. ( Just like MOM). She is a dancer and loves every minute of it. We'll call her Tink.

DS- He is 8. He likes Stitch, Test Track and Goofy's Candy Company. On our last trip he would save his snack credits to use there on the "Make your own treat" section. He isn't a daredevil. Test Track is about as wild as he gets when it comes to riding. He loves football...GO STEELERS. We'll call him Stitch.

My mom and dad - Mom went with us last July, but dad could'nt get off work. He is so excited that he gets to join in the fun this year. They love Disney, just not as much as me. They let me plan it all and say "Just tell us where we're going today and where we're eating". They enjoy going, just not the planning. The planning is the FUN part of it. I LOVE IT. We'll call them Donald & Daisy.

THE PLANS
We are going July 19-26 and staying at POP Century. This is where we stayed last year and we loved it. The kids loved the pool and the food court. My son kept calling it "the mall". We are on the DDP and have already made all our ADR's. We're eating at :
1. Chef Mickey's
2. Le Cellier
3. Crystal Palace
4. O'hana's
5. Sci-Fi Drive Inn
6. 50's Prime Time
7. 1900 Park Fare
These are all the ones I wanted. So, I was very excited. We are also doing the water parks this year. The kids are real excited about that. I think we've decided on Blizzard Beach.

NEXT UPDATE: THE OBSESSION BEGINS!
I'll Make it easy to keep up with udates with this "cheat sheet".:
1. We're having a Disney Christmas ~pg.1
2. Pics from our last trip ~pg.1
3. NEW VIDEO!!! ~pg. 3

 

[winkers]

Hi! So do you own a bedazzler?? I have a dd who dances so I know all about glittery stuff!

 

[iluv2go2disney]

I do have a bedazzler... but I don't think it works very well at all. You have to push way too hard. I have a little hand held "thingy" that heats up. You have to use rhinestones with glue already on them. It is sooo easy to use.
I'm glad to see you've joined my report. I have enjoyed reading yours. I have been trying to make a link in my signature for my PTR. Do you know how?

 

[iluv2go2disney]

OK I'm already off track. I hope the whole thing doesn't go like this. I planned on telling you about how my obsession began on our last trip, but instead I thought I'd shares some pics from Christmas. You'll see why.
This picture thing may take me a few tries. Here it goes:
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd267/iluv2go2disney/DSCI0033.jpg

http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd267/iluv2go2disney/?action=view&current=DSCI0033.jpg

 

[iluv2go2disney]

Let's try it again <a href="http://s226.photobucket.com/albums/dd267/iluv2go2disney/?action=view&current=DSCI0033.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd267/iluv2go2disney/DSCI0033.jpg" border="0" alt="Mickey tree_1"></a>

 

[iluv2go2disney]

AAARRRGGGHHH
Try # 3:

 

[iluv2go2disney]

I DID IT !! I DID IT !!
Now here are the others.

This was this years tree. I was fully under Disney's spell by this point. I got the idea for the ornaments from a fellow DIS'er. I took a regular Santa hat and made ears for it. Then i just added gloves out the sides of the tree. Back to my "like things to match problem", I wrapped all the gifts in red, black or silver paper, and used ribbon in those colors also. Some of the paper was solid, some stripe , and some dots (like ) It was so cute.

 

[winkers]

Your tree is adorable! I think you do have a matching disease!!

 

[iluv2go2disney]

UPDATE TIME
SO like I said before...we went to WDW last year. DD had a dance compettion the week before in Florida so we had to drive down. Ugh! That was a long drive. We promised the kids we would fly this year. My mom and dad both came down to watch her dance. Mom decided to head on down to Disney with us but Dad couldn't take any more time off from work. So we said good-bye in the hotel parking lot. He headed back to KY and we headed for WDW. When we started planning this trip, DD informed me that she wasn't a baby (she's 9, remember), she wasn't into all this princess stuff and she really didn't want to go. WHAT??? So I made it my mission to educate DD on just how much stuff WDW had for "non-babies". She soon became excited, as did the rest of us.
We hadn't been for so long and so many things had changed. We didn't know anything about the DDP, except we had signed up for it. After a few days...we had it all figured out. It was on this trip that I became the "Official Disney Planner" of the family. This is the trip that I caught the Disney-itis. Something came over me and I just felt all warm and fuzzy inside. AAWWW!! I think it had something to with the fact that we had never stayed on Disney property and we had never eaten at any Disney restaurants...NONE...EVER!! This was just a whole different trip and I loved it. Here are some pics from our last trip.

Here is a picture of the whole gang, minus my mom. DS in on the far right. He really did have a great time on this trip. He just HATES to have his picture made. I had to bribe him a few times. (I know BAD mommy)

My mom with Donald.

SEE! He really doesn't like to be in pictures!

But he did smile in some of them. I had probably just bribed him, though.

 

[winkers]

Your son looks so thrilled!

 

[becca011906]

great start to the pre trip!!! your family is lovely! Can't wait to read more!

 

[iluv2go2disney]

Thanks. Glad to have you.

 

[red1der1]

Love the tree!!! TFS!!

 

[iluv2go2disney]

Love the tree!!! TFS!!

Thanks. I had such a good time making it all. I think it also made Christmas more fun this year.

 

[iluv2go2disney]

OT Just thought I give you an update on what happened yesterday. My DD had an academic meet at a local school. She answered alot of questions correctly. She also tested in 2 areas and she placed 2nd and 4th out of everyone. I was sooo proud of her. Just thought I'd share this with you. I'll have an update in a day or so.

 

[carissanboys]

That tree is really cool

You're going to a lot of the same restaurants we did on our trip.

And my oldest doesn't like his picture taken either. Drives me nuts.

 

[iluv2go2disney]

That tree is really cool

You're going to a lot of the same restaurants we did on our trip.

And my oldest doesn't like his picture taken either. Drives me nuts.

Welcome. Glad to have you with us. I'm glad to see someone else has a son with a phobia of cameras. I notice our sons are about the same age. MAybe that has something to do with. At least that's what I'll tell myself.

We ate at some of the same restaurants last time that we are this time, but some are new. We've never been to O'Hana's, 1900 Park Fare, Crystal Palace or Le Cellier. What is everyones experience with these?

 

[carissanboys]

Last trip we went to 'Ohana and Crystal Palace for lunch. Loved them both. There were some things at 'Ohana I wasn't crazy about (I mainly liked the skewered beef, but wasn't crazy about the other meats, but the sides were all awesome), but overall I enjoyed it. I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been feeling sick. It's a fun atmosphere for the kids.

We've now done two character meals (CP and Chef Mickeys) and I much preferred CP. The food was better (although we ate breakfast at CM and lunch at CP) and the characters didn't seem so rushed. Mickey practically flew by us at CM. And I thought it was way overpriced at CM.

We were suppose to eat at Le Cellier this time around, but our plans changed (shhhhh...don't tell my readers as I haven't gotten to that part in my TR yet ). I've heard great things about it though.

 

[iluv2go2disney]

I'm heading to your TR now.

 

[becca011906]

We ate at some of the same restaurants last time that we are this time, but some are new. We've never been to O'Hana's, 1900 Park Fare, Crystal Palace or Le Cellier. What is everyones experience with these?

We are eating at all of them except for O'Hana's on our trip and it's sooner then yours so i can give you my opinions when we get back, we're doing 1900 dinner, C.P. for b'fast, Le Cellier for lunch.

Can't wait to read more!