It's Our First Thanksgiving Trip (And I'll Start My PTR A Year Early if I Want To!)- COMPLETE 11/16

[Newsies]

Following you back!
And, to answer your last question up there: I start my countdown for the day we leave. Travelling is half the fun imo

Welcome aboard!

Solid answer! We love the drive down, too! It's the drive back home that kills us.

 

[DaddysPrincess]

Welcome aboard!

Solid answer! We love the drive down, too! It's the drive back home that kills us.

omg I know, it's so sad .. we're already thinking of ways to prolong our trip lol 3 day cruise anyone?

 

[Newsies]

omg I know, it's so sad .. we're already thinking of ways to prolong our trip lol 3 day cruise anyone?

I wish!! We almost added two days onto our itinerary this year, but it wasn't the best idea for us since I'd have to miss four more classes if we did that A three-day cruise to prolong the drive home isn't a bad idea... we'll keep that in our back pocket for the next trip

 

[Newsies]

Preliminary Plans: Pre-Travel Day and Travel Day
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Hey guys! I hope your weekends went well. On Friday, we toured a college with Grace (I can't believe she's touring colleges. I can't believe she's going to be a senior in a few weeks), and today we went to the Jersey Shore Premium Outlets. If any of you live in the Tri-State Area-- you have to visit the Outlets off of exit 100. A lot of outlet malls boast about having great deals, but the steals here are incredible. Today we got so much stuff for cheap! First, I got a new Vera Bradley ID pouch and lanyard (the one I got in Disney last year has been worn and loved so much that it's started to show some wear-and-tear).

Then the family got Crocs. You heard me correctly, Crocs. Like... I bought millennial pink Crocs clogs today. We decided that we they would be good to keep in our Disney park bags in case it started to rain like crazy and we didn't want to get our sneakers ruined. I think my biggest steal today was at the Columbia factory store. I bought these activewear leggings that are normally between $65-80 a pair for $29 each! They're definitely going to be coming to Disney with me this year, they're so comfy and they'd be awesome for the parks.

Rant over, sorry, I know I promised trip-related stuff here



So now onto the next thing I want to jump into, as summer comes to a close and I have to start thinking about FP+ plans (have I mentioned how much I hate FP+ planning? I know I did last year. I don't think I did this year. That's a rant for another time). It's time to start thinking about our day-to-day plans! Doing these helps me keep my FP+ plans in order. Some people use spreadsheets, and I've just never enjoyed them. Mine never come out pretty, try as I might. Writing things down like a journal gets me to visualize things, which helps me to sort everything out and make plans.

Do you guys use spreadsheets? Let me know. Especially if you have tips for making spreadsheets.

Without further ado, onto our pre-travel/travel plans!

Pre-Travel Day: Friday, November 16
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Normally, I wouldn't include the full events of the day before we leave. But normally... I don't have to travel the day before we travel!

I have a class on Friday this semester, and I won't be able to miss it. So I'll be in Manhattan that day until my class ends at noon.

The weekend prior, I'll have gone home to pack the rest of my bags up, so I'll only have my backpack and a small toiletry bag with me when I get on the subway to Penn Station after class.

At Penn Station, I'll be able to transfer to a New Jersey Transit train that takes me to my local station. The train times were just posted for Friday the 16! It's a weird thing to get excited about. But I'm buzzing.

I have a few options for travel. I don't think, realistically, I'll be able to make the 12:45 train after class. I think I'm going to wind up heading back to my dorm, finishing up anything that needs to be finished up, grabbing my stuff, heading on the subway and making it to Penn Station with time to spare (i.e. grab coffee) before the 1:50 train.

I'll be home just before 3:00, where mom will be waiting to pick me up from the train station!

At 4:00, Grace, mom, and I are going to be getting mani-pedis. That's the one thing we do before every trip! We have a brand new nail salon in the town next door to us that we absolutely adore. We just got manicures there this weekend! They have Disney-inspired nail art available, and mom and Grace really want them.

We'll probably get something quick like pizza or chinese for dinner around 5:30, then load the car up, and by 7:00, dad will be asleep.

He says he'll sleep until 1:00 in the morning, but realistically... it'll be around 11:00 when he finally gets up and tells us he can't get to sleep, and that we're off to Florida!

We'll get in the car late at night, say "Good Trip," and then it's a quick pit stop at Dunkin' Donuts before we start our drive to Florida.

Travel Day: Saturday, November 17
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We'll be on the I-95 until we stop for breakfast in Virginia. For those of you who have only joined me for this PTR: We drive from NJ to Florida with a stop overnight in Kingsland, which is off of the last exit in Georgia. From Kingsland, it's a 5 minute drive until we reach Florida and then three hours from Florida to the gates of WDW (in good traffic).

We'll continue to drive, making continuous pit stops (and a stop for lunch at Zaxbys!) until we arrive at Kingsland at around 6:00/7:00 in the evening. We normally make a reservation at Fairfield Inn & Suites Kingsland for the night. We really recommend the Fairfield Inn & Suites here if you're looking for a place to stop overnight on your drive to WDW. There are some v. sketchy motels along the I-95, but the Fairfield Inn & Suites always impresses us. It's priced modestly, and it was renovated nicely at some point between our 2015 trip and our 2017 trip. It's always kept clean, it's quiet, and it's 5 minutes away from the Florida state line/welcome center, so just shy of three hours away from WDW. It's perfect for people who live in the tri-state area who can't quite make the drive down in just one day.

We'll grab a quick dinner and then go to sleep, ready to hit the road again the next morning!

 

[DaddysPrincess]

Eeeee your plans have me excited! Lol
We also stop in Georgia, as well! Valdosta I think is our usual. And we always get Zaxbys too hahaa it's so good omg I wish they had them in MI; however it is kinda fun only getting it on vacation, ya know?!
I'm also not a spreadsheet person. I like the journal method, too. Have you heard of Bullet Journals? I'm assuming you have since you're into writing but here's a link if you're interested

 

[missangelalexis]

Love those outlets! Especially the cosmetics company store!

I am sure both the 16th and 17th will be full of lots of anticipation!!

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

Do you guys use spreadsheets? Let me know. Especially if you have tips for making spreadsheets.

Disney spreadsheets are my fave. Mine always end up just over the line of excessive. My advice would be pick a color-coding system and stick to it! Having the cells on the spreadsheet be different colors for different things (i.e. ADR, FP+, EMH, etc.) really helps me visualize everything!

But normally... I don't have to travel the day before we travel!

I feel your pain! This will be me in December!

It's always kept clean, it's quiet, and it's 5 minutes away from the Florida state line/welcome center, so just shy of three hours away from WDW.

It's got to be so nice to wake up and know you're that close!

 

[Newsies]

Eeeee your plans have me excited! Lol
We also stop in Georgia, as well! Valdosta I think is our usual. And we always get Zaxbys too hahaa it's so good omg I wish they had them in MI; however it is kinda fun only getting it on vacation, ya know?!
I'm also not a spreadsheet person. I like the journal method, too. Have you heard of Bullet Journals? I'm assuming you have since you're into writing but here's a link if you're interested

Now I'm excited that you're excited!!

I completely agree. Zaxby's, In-N-Out, and Dutch Bros. are three regional chains that I find myself always craving when I'm back home, but I know that they're special foods and it's nice to keep them special. I know with certain cases like In-N-Out, the reason we don't find them out east is because all the patties are made out west and they don't want to ship them to the east coast because they'd go bad. So I guess it's really good that we don't have some of our favorite vacation chains up here!

I was hyped to try Bullet Journaling about a year and a half ago. I found out about Bullet Journaling last January. I tried to do it during the semester, and it didn't work because I didn't have the time/resources to make it all pretty, and the system I tried to use was too hard to get the hang of. Also-- every Bullet Journal user I've ever met adds in these adorable pages where it's like "list of books to read" "list of my dreams" "pie chart of how much I spent on coffee this much" and I'm just not creative or artistic enough to do that

I tried it again for my August 2017 vacation and it was just "meh." I figured it would be easier because I wouldn't be writing down important dates to remember, I planned out a cute little key, and even drew out an elaborate cover page. I ended up doing pretty much what I do every time- the key had been forgotten about, and I was writing regular ol' bullet points by the second day of the vacation TL;DR-- I admire anyone who can bullet journal successfully!

Love those outlets! Especially the cosmetics company store!

I am sure both the 16th and 17th will be full of lots of anticipation!!

Ooh, we didn't stop into the cosmetics company store this trip! But we did see that a Bath and Body Works was getting ready to debut-- I can't wait to visit them when it's finally open!

I'm already anticipating the anticipation of the 16. That's gonna be a really slow morning in class.

Disney spreadsheets are my fave. Mine always end up just over the line of excessive. My advice would be pick a color-coding system and stick to it! Having the cells on the spreadsheet be different colors for different things (i.e. ADR, FP+, EMH, etc.) really helps me visualize everything!



I feel your pain! This will be me in December!



It's got to be so nice to wake up and know you're that close!

You always have the nicest spreads!! I had one of your PTRs opened when I first tried to make a spreadsheet of this trip so that I could copy your key I was really excited to color code but I have such a poor eye for choosing colors. I also think part of it for me is that I love having things I can hold in my hand, like planners, and spread sheets just don't do that for me? My family wouldn't pay attention to spreadsheets, so they'd just be for me anyway. I'll just live vicariously through your spreads, since they always turn out nice and I like to go "ooh" and "ahh" at them

YEP. Like... it's fine. Everyone else will be getting ready for the trip and we'll just be sitting in class, struggling to stay awake through a cup of Starbucks that'll make us even more stir-crazy. We're fine. It's fine. This is fine.

I remember from one of your PTR updates that you were waiting on the Dec 2018 Exam schedule. I'm assuming that since you're all moved into your dorm now (with a tres chic castle mural!), you have it now-- how is it looking? Are you going to be taking an exam the morning you go home? Or are you going to move out the day after your last exam?

 

[DaddysPrincess]

Lol yes, I had also attempted Bullet Journaling, too; had about the same outcome as you. Kudos to anyone who has a pretty one

Also, I'm now craving In-N-Out omgoodness

 

[Newsies]

Lol yes, I had also attempted Bullet Journaling, too; had about the same outcome as you. Kudos to anyone who has a pretty one

Also, I'm now craving In-N-Out omgoodness

As soon as I finished typing out my response to you, I bought an Erin Condren planner for the semester! I liked the Lily one I was using decently enough, but my mom offered to pay for one of her academic planners. I have more success with regular planners, I can't wait to start using this one!

SAME lol. I want In-N-Out so bad!

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

You always have the nicest spreads!! I had one of your PTRs opened when I first tried to make a spreadsheet of this trip so that I could copy your key I was really excited to color code but I have such a poor eye for choosing colors. I also think part of it for me is that I love having things I can hold in my hand, like planners, and spread sheets just don't do that for me? My family wouldn't pay attention to spreadsheets, so they'd just be for me anyway. I'll just live vicariously through your spreads, since they always turn out nice and I like to go "ooh" and "ahh" at them

Aww you're too sweet! Hey, you've got to use the system that works for you and admire everyone else's!

YEP. Like... it's fine. Everyone else will be getting ready for the trip and we'll just be sitting in class, struggling to stay awake through a cup of Starbucks that'll make us even more stir-crazy. We're fine. It's fine. This is fine.

Everything's fine. It's not frustrating at all.

I remember from one of your PTR updates that you were waiting on the Dec 2018 Exam schedule. I'm assuming that since you're all moved into your dorm now (with a tres chic castle mural!), you have it now-- how is it looking? Are you going to be taking an exam the morning you go home? Or are you going to move out the day after your last exam?

It's...not great. I'm supposed to have an exam the day we're leaving for Disney....so let's just say I'm hoping my professor will work with me and let me take it early.

 

[Newsies]

It's...not great. I'm supposed to have an exam the day we're leaving for Disney....so let's just say I'm hoping my professor will work with me and let me take it early.

LINDSEY NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OMG! That's my worst nightmare Fingers crossed for you! Keep me updated!

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

LINDSEY NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OMG! That's my worst nightmare Fingers crossed for you! Keep me updated!

It's fine, it's fine. Everything's fine. Thanks! I definitely will

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

We'll be on the I-95 until we stop for breakfast in Virginia.

I'll wave at you from the SW side of Virginia!

Do you guys use spreadsheets? Let me know. Especially if you have tips for making spreadsheets.

No spreadsheets here. Too complicated for my taste I usually just write out our proposed plans in a list form on Word with all our ADRs and Res #'s. SUPER boring!

 

[Newsies]

It's fine, it's fine. Everything's fine. Thanks! I definitely will

I'll be praying things work out for you, girl!

I'll wave at you from the SW side of Virginia!


No spreadsheets here. Too complicated for my taste I usually just write out our proposed plans in a list form on Word with all our ADRs and Res #'s. SUPER boring!

Spreadsheets are so complicated! I do the same thing for my family... everything gets typed out onto a Word document, then printed out and distributed to my family.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Hello my darling dear precious CP bestie, Kaitlyn! I have returned from the dead to catch up on this TR so here we go!

Think of that gif but opposite.

Omg SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED SINCE I LAST CHECKED IN. Your jury duty was not jury duty. You managed to finagle your way around a sketch Etsy seller and got a beautiful Starbucks MB bow (MagicBands tho... I'm emo). AND NOW YOU ARE ANNUAL PASSHOLDERS!!! WOW!!!! (Too bad you didn't get one that includes Disneyland because SOMEONE STILL NEEDS TO VISIT DISNEYLAND A S A P)

I was LIVING looking through your drinks list. Grand Marnier Orange Slush has been a number one adult beverage at Disney for me since I first saw Samantha Brown clumsily trying to order one at the France pavilion in French. We'll have to get that together one day to have that and the Millennial Pink champagne because HOW MORE TIMMY & KAITLYN CAN YOU GET?????

Also, I totally passed by the flavored popcorn cart and always considered it but never bought it. I look forward to your review of that!

Oh I'm sending all the pixie dust in the world to you so you can go to MVMCP with your family! Y'all would have so much fun!

Yay, I'm caught up! So excited to hear about all the cute stuff you continue to do until your trip and more Tinkerkait posts (yes... I follow quietly hehe) LOVE YOUUUUU

 

[Newsies]

Hello my darling dear precious CP bestie, Kaitlyn! I have returned from the dead to catch up on this TR so here we go!

Think of that gif but opposite.

Omg SO MUCH HAS HAPPENED SINCE I LAST CHECKED IN. Your jury duty was not jury duty. You managed to finagle your way around a sketch Etsy seller and got a beautiful Starbucks MB bow (MagicBands tho... I'm emo). AND NOW YOU ARE ANNUAL PASSHOLDERS!!! WOW!!!! (Too bad you didn't get one that includes Disneyland because SOMEONE STILL NEEDS TO VISIT DISNEYLAND A S A P)

I was LIVING looking through your drinks list. Grand Marnier Orange Slush has been a number one adult beverage at Disney for me since I first saw Samantha Brown clumsily trying to order one at the France pavilion in French. We'll have to get that together one day to have that and the Millennial Pink champagne because HOW MORE TIMMY & KAITLYN CAN YOU GET?????

Also, I totally passed by the flavored popcorn cart and always considered it but never bought it. I look forward to your review of that!

Oh I'm sending all the pixie dust in the world to you so you can go to MVMCP with your family! Y'all would have so much fun!

Yay, I'm caught up! So excited to hear about all the cute stuff you continue to do until your trip and more Tinkerkait posts (yes... I follow quietly hehe) LOVE YOUUUUU

YOU ARE THEEEEE CUTEST THING!!!! I MISS YOU

A lot has happened but it's okay because it happened while you were in DLR living your BEST LIFE and not being #BOTHERED by DIS happenings so I forgive you

Honestly? We need the Millennial Pink Champagne Toast as soon as we reunite in WDW. It'll be the first thing we do.

We're not going to MVMCP anymore lol there is absolutely no way I can swing it with my Wed/Fri professor but it was a GOOD sporting chance!

I love you. Thank you for checking in, hun! Time to check on your highlights thread

 

[Newsies]

And Now For Something Completely Expected

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Long time, no talk!

This post is going to be long time, long talk, so feel free to grab a PSL and come back. I'll be waiting!

...

Back so soon? Let's get to it!

Let me start where I left off. This summer definitely did not end how I wanted it to end. I found out that I needed two root canals, and I got one done exactly one week before I was set to move back into school. My endodontist wanted me to get the second one done the Monday before I moved in ( ), but when I visited him to get it worked on, we agreed that we should probably wait a little bit and make sure the first one was healed entirely. I'd like to get it done before we go away in November. It's nothing major-- I really didn't mind having the actual work done, but the swelling afterwards hurt for almost a week!

So now, of course I'm back in my dorm. I've been back in my dorm for a few days shy of two weeks now. Here are my obligatory dorm pics...

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I'm taking 6 classes this semester. That rounds out to 18 credits, which is the maximum amount of credits that my university allows a student to take a semester. All of the courses I'm taking are writing based, not exam based-- so I won't have to stay up late studying this semester, but I'll be up pretty late writing papers most weeks. My classes seem pretty interesting though! I'm filling an open elective with a genre study class on Horror films, so we're going to be filling this semester with some great, spooky movies

I also just got the most coveted on-campus job at my school! I was recently hired as an usher for my school's theatre, which is a big deal on my campus. Our school theatre is where the show "Inside the Actor's Studio" is taped, and we usually have celebrities come and talk here. We just had an actor from the Netflix show Queer Eye come and answer a few questions at our theatre! I'm still active in my sorority, and we have a bunch of really great philanthropy events coming up this semester.

My professors, for the most part, are very chill. I've only seen one of the two professors for classes I'll be missing due to the trip, and when I told him my situation, he said: "Sounds fun! Just email me to remind me a few weeks before."


With all that being said, you might be able to guess what I'm about to say next.

I'm going to have a lot of trouble updating this PTR going forward. Syllabus week just ended and my planner is already filled to the brim with papers, projects, presentations, sorority events, job training, job shifts, and I am desperate to stick to my weekly tinkerkait schedule. I can promise you that I am definitely going to update here on the big things:

• FP+ selections (I get to make them a week from Wednesday!)
• Magicbands photos
• My packing pics/look book (I can't wait to show you all the great things I bought for this trip!)

But realistically, I'm not going to be motivated enough to do much else this semester. Sorry!

Going forward, I doubt I'll be writing such involved PTRs anymore. Here's my take: I feel like I enjoy having another link in my signature and another notch in my PTR belt more than I enjoy actually writing PTRs. I don't know if that makes sense. As a writer, I love starting and finishing as many projects as possible. But I don't want to start and finish something for the sake of having another thread completed if I'm neglecting my project and I'm not interested in what I'm writing. I don't think it's conducive to me becoming a better writer or to me planning better trips, which is really what PTRs are supposed to be about. And I don't want to bore you guys with long updates like this that really don't have much to do with the trip, which I always feel like I have too many of. Does that make sense?

On a brighter note, I love my TRs. They're like my children to me. I really love getting to tell a story, especially one about going to Disney World! I can't imagine my life without writing TRs, and I'm looking forward to this long Winter break where I'll get to write about this vacation

With all that being said... tomorrow morning I get to book our August 2019 trip. I'm not saying I won't write a PTR for it, because old habits die hard and I like having a thread where all of my trip info is organized. But going forward, I'm going to try to dial back my involvements on PTRs as a whole and only stick to topical, trip related posts. Does that mean there are some very dry PTRs in my future? Yes. But it also means that hopefully I'll have better, clearer content to share and I won't end up writing hours upon hours of posts that go on long tangents... like this one.

​

If you read all of this, thank you for sticking it out! You deserve a cookie.

-Kaitlyn

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

Here are my obligatory dorm pics...

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Your dorm is the cutest! And the Pop's canvas is goals

That rounds out to 18 credits, which is the maximum amount of credits that my university allows a student to take a semester. All of the courses I'm taking are writing based, not exam based-- so I won't have to stay up late studying this semester, but I'll be up pretty late writing papers most weeks.

OOOO GIRL PREACH IT! This is literally me this semester. I have 3 papers due this week (and one of them has to be in Spanish), so I am right there with ya.

As a writer, I love starting and finishing as many projects as possible. But I don't want to start and finish something for the sake of having another thread completed if I'm neglecting my project and I'm not interested in what I'm writing. I don't think it's conducive to me becoming a better writer or to me planning better trips, which is really what PTRs are supposed to be about. And I don't want to bore you guys with long updates like this that really don't have much to do with the trip, which I always feel like I have too many of. Does that make sense?

All the things!!! I've been struggling with this with my own PTR this time around, mostly because I feel like I don't ever have anything new or interesting to say!


I hope your semester is the best!

 

[missangelalexis]

Your room looks so cute! Love seeing the unicorn pinata back

Totally understandable that you won't be able to keep up with this PTR as much. Have a great semester! And I look forward to hearing the key updates to your upcoming trip!