Is There A Prize For Most Indecisive DISer? Updated 1/9

[Colleen27]

So to pass the time between now and January, I've compiled a list of outfits to make my girls, along with a few other projects to get started on. This is one of those lists that tends to grow rather than shrink even as I cross things off, so I'm going to start it here as an easily edited checklist, bolding projects as I complete them and adding new ones as I come up with more ideas.

CRT day:

• 
  [*]Belle tutu for DD1
• Matching headband for DD1
• Aurora tutu for DD8
• Princess tees for both girls

Pixie Hollow day:

• Tink tutu for DD1
• Headband & socks for DD1
• Tink tutu for DD8
• 'I Believe in Fairies' tees for both girls

Chef Mickey's day:

• Pink & green Mickey swirl jumpers

Christmas pics/WL dinner:

• 
  [*]Christmas dresses
• Hair bows

Change of plans - we're hitting the MK after our arrival night dinner, so the Christmas dresses are staying home. Instead we have:

• Red & denim Mickey jumpers for both girls

Pirate League day:

• Pink & black tutu
• Skull & crossbones tee

DHS day (if I have time). Out of time and couldn't find the right ribbon, so these are out. Maybe next trip...:

• Mickey clapboard 'bling' tees for both girls
• Film ribbon embellished capris for both girls

New plan - prep fabric squares for autograph quilt for DD1
Hannah Montana autograph book for DD8

Epcot passports for the big kids

LGMH tags for stroller, camera bag, and backpack

Stroller "boot" blanket

Mickey swirl camera strap

 

[Colleen27]

The first project complete, Katie's Belle tutu:



Detail of the rose:



Matching bow, which will go on a headband as soon as I find/make one the right color.

 

[nettii]

Hi Colleen I havnt posted on your PTR in a while (have been getting ready for my own trip-we leave on thursday)
Congrats on staying at the Poly!That is def a dream of mine! Maybe some day! I think youll Love gonig in the middle of winter instead of this fall-its always so much better to leave 2 foot of snow to head to warm sunny FL!
How ar you adjusting to MC? Hope you like it here. Im wondering if our kids are in the same class. It will be funny when we finally meet face to face. Im sure one day at a school function it will click omg that must be the lady from the dis. As I right this Im remembering being in CVS this past summer and commenting to a lady with a little girl about her Mickey purse, she had on a Disney t and so did the little girl. It was one of the only days i too was not wearing a Disney item and I thought OMG another Disney person! That wast you was it?!?
Well anyway your pre trip stuff looks great! LOVE the tutus! I am on my way to Micheals as soon as I drop T off at school to get my transfer sheets so I can finish my shirts then Im done with all my extras. Id love to post pics but I cant figure out how to do it.My oldest DS will have to help me someday.
TTFN Nettii

 

[Colleen27]

Hi Colleen I havnt posted on your PTR in a while (have been getting ready for my own trip-we leave on thursday)
Congrats on staying at the Poly!That is def a dream of mine! Maybe some day! I think youll Love gonig in the middle of winter instead of this fall-its always so much better to leave 2 foot of snow to head to warm sunny FL!
How ar you adjusting to MC? Hope you like it here. Im wondering if our kids are in the same class. It will be funny when we finally meet face to face. Im sure one day at a school function it will click omg that must be the lady from the dis. As I right this Im remembering being in CVS this past summer and commenting to a lady with a little girl about her Mickey purse, she had on a Disney t and so did the little girl. It was one of the only days i too was not wearing a Disney item and I thought OMG another Disney person! That wast you was it?!?
Well anyway your pre trip stuff looks great! LOVE the tutus! I am on my way to Micheals as soon as I drop T off at school to get my transfer sheets so I can finish my shirts then Im done with all my extras. Id love to post pics but I cant figure out how to do it.My oldest DS will have to help me someday.
TTFN Nettii

We're adjusting pretty well so far. DS is having a bit of a hard time, but his best friend from the old house just moved to Tennessee, so he'd be having a hard time even if we'd stayed put.

I don't actually wear much Disney stuff myself. My girls are the ones who get decked out. I'm sure I'll run into you eventually at school, though, or at some activity or another. DD8 seems determined to join everything! And everyone notices Katie, everywhere we go. If you see a woman chasing after a red-headed, curly-haired toddler, that would be me!

Have a great time on your trip! I'm jealous - we should have been leaving Saturday! But we're going to the Renaissance Festival this weekend and apple picking on our half day next week, and I'm kind of glad we're going in the winter. This is my favorite time of year here, and I'll be glad we postponed when we're leaving January weather behind.

Where do you fly from? I hate making the drive down to Metro from here, so I think we're going to try flying out of Bishop in Jan. It can't be any worse a drive, Airtran has a non-stop, and the park-sleep-fly package up there is a lot cheaper. Have you ever tried Bishop? I'm wondering if I'm going to regret flying out of a itty-bitty airport or if it'll work out to be easier.

 

[Colleen27]

Is there an award for most indecisive DISer? Because if there is, I think I win!

With the 4/3 not yet announced but unofficially open for booking, guess what I did?

That's right, I changed our final, unchanging, carved-in-stone dates.

At least this time it is in the right direction...

We are now booked at the Poly, garden view, deluxe dining, for DECEMBER 12-20! Yes, that's right, after adding months to my countdown not once but twice, I've now managed to shave a month and a half off of it!

I wasn't sure about booking on "short notice" in terms of ADRs, but when I hopped online and got a wonderful, amazing schedule's worth of reservations, I jumped at the chance to do Disney at Christmas!

 

[Colleen27]

A quickie itinerary, thrown together to get the ADRs made. I know the experts say to avoid the EMH days, but we're night owls and love the extra time so I'm willing to take the chance of running into a little more crowded conditions, especially since this is our first trip where midday breaks might be a necessity!

Dec 12:
Arrival, no park.

Dec 13:
DHS, evening EMH
Park hours - 9 to 11
Early start (with DD1, sleeping in isn't an option), break after lunch if needed, back for night

Dec 14:
MK, evening EMH
Park hours - 9 to 11
Early start, break after lunch if needed, back for the evening

Dec 15:
free
Waterpark/golf/DTD depending on weather
Haven't decided about MVMCP yet

Dec 16:
Epcot
Park hours - 9 to 9:30
Early start, hopefully no break because not an EMH day

Dec 17:
AK
Park hours - 9 to 5
Early start, no break, resort dinner after park close
Maybe DisneyQuest evening if the big kids want

Dec 18:
free
Waterpark/golf/DTD depending on weather
Maybe Epcot evening EMH if we feel like we want more time there

Dec 19:
MK
Park hours - 9 to 11
First day holiday shows are going on during reg park hours
Early start, break, back for evening

Dec 20:
Departure, no park

 

[Colleen27]

The ADRs, v. 1.0

I'm sure some of these are going to change, but they look pretty darned good for not doing the crack-of-dawn, 90-out routine.

12/12:
Artist Point, 6:30 - Since we're not doing a park on arrival day, I figured it was perfect for a dinner that will take a little travel time, and WL is at the top of my list of resorts I want to visit just to see the holiday decorations

12/13:
Brown Derby, 11:55
Kouzzina, 6:50 -This one is our excuse to check out the Boardwalk decorations. If we don't feel like going back to DHS for evening EMH, we'll play a round of mini golf before heading back to the Poly.

12/14:
Liberty Tree Tavern, 11:50
Kona, 7:00 - I'm hoping to make this one either a lot earlier or a little later, so we can catch Spectro at 7.

12/15:
Haven't booked breakfast or lunch, but will probably go with Kona for breakfast
California Grill, 5:55 - I made this one thinking we won't spend the money on MVMCP since we'll be there to see Holiday Wishes and the Christmas parade on the last full day of our trip. If we decide to do MVMCP it will have to change

12/16:
Akershus, 8:10
Teppan Edo, 4:50

12/17:
Yak & Yeti, 12:30
Jiko, 6:10 - Had hoped for a little earlier, but this isn't far enough off that I'll bother looking for a better time.

12/18:
Haven't booked breakfast, but I'm thinking Grand Floridian Cafe. DH loves eggs benedict, and the pics of the lobster eggs benedict there look amazing!
Captain's Grill, 6:05 - Not sure about this one. On one hand, it gives us a chance to check out the Y&BC holiday decor and puts us in the right place for if we want to head to Epcot for evening EMH, but on the other hand, if we don't go over to Epcot it is a lot of travel just for dinner.

12/19:
Crystal Palace, 8:20 - Couldn't believe I got this one! It came up when I searched for CRT, which I couldn't get, but since I have Akershus I was more concerned with a pre-opening breakfast time than with getting one specific restaurant. It is all about getting the pic of my girls on an empty Main Street in their matching outfits
Narcoosees, 5:40

12/20:
Chef Mickey, 11:05 - Another one I couldn't believe I got at less than 90 out! A perfect way to end the trip.

 

[nettii]

sounds great I love the parks at Christmas! We ate at Coral reef this time (first time in several years) and it was our BEST meal! I was very skeptical but we all had a great meal and great service! Just one thing I thought Id share from this week.
I will share more later just trying to ge caught up on things.
nettii

 

[Colleen27]

I just realized something sort of funny as I'm updating the ToC... After all of this planning and canceling and changing and replanning, we ended up with the exact same plan we had in mind 18 months ago when we got home from out last trip - a Holiday Lights trip in 2009. Seems like I could have saved a bit of time by just sticking with the original idea, huh?

 

[Colleen27]

sounds great I love the parks at Christmas! We ate at Coral reef this time (first time in several years) and it was our BEST meal! I was very skeptical but we all had a great meal and great service! Just one thing I thought Id share from this week.
I will share more later just trying to ge caught up on things.
nettii

Are you doing a trip report? If so, be sure to link it so I can find it!

We really liked Coral Reef on our last trip, back when they had crab legs on the menu. It always gets shuffled down to the bottom of our list because there are so many good choices in Epcot, but I really don't think it deserves the iffy reputation it has here on the DIS.

 

[Colleen27]

More tutus, one Disney, one not:

DD1's Halloween costume-in-progress, still need to make the wings:

Forgive the blurry pic, DH didn't take the time to check the camera settings

And Tinkerbell:

I'm not quite happy with the lack of contrast between the petals (glitter tulle) and the body of the skirt, but I haven't decided what if anything to do about it. You can see them better here:

And the bow on the back:

 

[disneyaddicted]

Wow! if they did give out prizes for indecisivness you would win. That's alot of changes, but you handled it with ease. At least it seemed that way to me.
I loved Disney in December, went in 2007 and going again this year. It's kind of extra magical.

Congratulations on finally getting your house. I love old house with history, researching them is fun. Fixing them up, although expensive, is also fun.

Glad to see everything is working out now plans and date wise. I am subbing, I really am enjoying this PTR.

Ty

 

[Colleen27]

Another small project:

The headband bow to match Tink

DD1 helping with groceries in her Tink set

DD8's Sleeping Beauty tutu is almost done too, but I can't finish until tomorrow. Since she'll be wearing hers over leggings rather than a onesie, I had to handle the sparkle tulle a little differently so it wouldn't be scratchy on the waistband, and I need some trim to finish it off. Now I need to figure out how to tweak the Tink design for her...

 

[Colleen27]

Another tutu - Aurora for DD8:

Just one more to go now, a copy of my little Tink for my older DD. Then it is on to the real sewing, assuming I can figure out where my machine is hiding! I haven't quite gotten around to unpacking everything, and the sewing machine is somewhere among the mystery boxes in the attic.

 

[Colleen27]

Wow! if they did give out prizes for indecisivness you would win. That's alot of changes, but you handled it with ease. At least it seemed that way to me.
I loved Disney in December, went in 2007 and going again this year. It's kind of extra magical.

Congratulations on finally getting your house. I love old house with history, researching them is fun. Fixing them up, although expensive, is also fun.

Glad to see everything is working out now plans and date wise. I am subbing, I really am enjoying this PTR.

Ty

I probably wouldn't have rolled with the changes so well if it wasn't for such a good reason... Getting the house was such a huge accomplishment that I just couldn't be upset over it changing other, less important plans. And I've always wanted to see Disney at Christmastime.

I really haven't done much looking into the history of this house, but as it turns out one of our neighbors knew the original owners! The house actually remained in the family that built it until 2001. So in 130 years, we're only the 3rd owners of this property! Now that I have the original owner's name and a little history, I've got a good starting point for further research, so I'm sure I'll be spending more than a few cold winter days at the library hunting for more information.

 

[Colleen27]

Now our dates are well and truly carved in stone - We have plane tickets! So December it is, no more changes or delays.

68 days and counting...

 

[Colleen27]

With airfare booked, ADRs made and the dates absolutely, irrevocably set, it is time to move on to the day by day plans!

One of my challenges in planning this trip is that my mother may or may not be joining us, and at the moment it is leaning more towards not. We've never needed to use child swap before, so this is new territory and I'm not sure how to work touring plans around riding so many things twice. It doesn't help that both big planning sites separate age groups in their sample plans - either you pull up a plan for little kids or one for older kids, or you get the whole family plan that has one parent skipping all the thrills to be with the little one. None of those choices work for us!

So I'm working from the Unofficial Guide cheat sheets to create my very own personalized touring plans, hitting a long list of must dos and baby swapping at the thrills DH & I both want to ride. Thankfully, there aren't that many rides she can't go on, and I'm willing to sit a few of them out.

Magic Kingdom

Big Thunder Mountain
Splash Mountain
Space Mountain
Stitch - I will gladly skip it!
Barnstormer - I don't think anyone will want to do this one
Tomorrowland Speedway - Ill skip it.

Epcot

Maelstrom - I'll skip it
Mission Space
Soarin'
Test Track

Animal Kingdom

Dinosaur
Expedition Everest
Kali River Rapids
Primeval Whirl - I'll skip it

Hollywood Studios
Rock N Roller Coaster
Star Tours - I'll skip it
Tower of Terror

So that's 2 or 3 baby swaps at each park. Not too bad at all.

 

[jwhtewolfd]

Just finished catching up. Yay for final dates - and the tutus -too cute, and all by hand?!

 

[Colleen27]

Just finished catching up. Yay for final dates - and the tutus -too cute, and all by hand?!

Thank you. There's not a ton of sewing involved in the tutus, so doing it by hand isn't as bad as it sounds. Just the top skirts are sewn; the body of the tutu is no-sew except the waistband. But I've always been more comfortable hand sewing than using my machine anyway. I started out embroidering and doing cross stitch as a kid, and that sort of stuck with me. I didn't learn to use a sewing machine until high school!

I'm finishing up my stroller blanket/nursing cover and the overskirt & trim on DD8's Tink tutu tomorrow, but after that I do think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and find my machine. I can put the girls' twirl skirts together by hand, but I'm not precise enough to do the topstitching without a machine!

 

[disneyaddicted]

I forgot to mention in my last post that I love the tutu's. I am going to use your idea for when I take my nieces. My sister and I wanted to dress them up as princesses as much as possible, this is such a fast and yet adorable way to do it.

If you haven't gotten your tickets for MVMCP, I would suggest maybe not doing that, since they are going to be opening the Christmas shows during regular hours, why pay for something you can get for free, all you would really miss out on would be the free cookies and hot chocolate. Just a suggestion. Maybe you want the Christmas party atmosphere.