Jan 2010-Terrible 2 in DW-29 HOURS LEFT!!!

[BriesMomma]

Well hello there, people! I'm going to use this as a way to get my Disney obsessing out and hopefully stop getting on my friend's and family's nerves - as much.

Allow me to introduce me and my "crew."

Me- 27 Jackie, Trip Planner, Mom, and Shopper! My family used to take atleast one trip to the World a year up until I was 15 and my parents split-up. After 8 years I couldn't take it anymore and drug my BF down for Spring Break in 2006 (CBR). And we've just recently gotten back from a quick trip October 2009 (ASMo).

DBF- 25, Brandon, Not "in love" with Disney per se, and Dad. This will be his third trip thanks to me. I hate describing him as my BF because he is much more than that to me. We've been together for 6 years and we have a beautiful baby girl. "So why aren't you fools married then!?!" I wish there was a simple answer to this, but there isn't. But when it does happen- and it will- it will more than likely be a Disney Wedding, so you guys will have that to look forward to!

DD- 21.5 months right now, Brielle. Future Disney Fanatic!! (I just hope I can afford it!) This trip is for her second birthday. She is a wild one! My mom said when she was 10 months it reminded her of how my brother and I were at 2- and she's only gotten wilder since then!

DSS- 6, Little Brandon. He's a funny little guy. He will probably be homesick for his X-Box, but I'm hoping he will get over that when we pass through that Magical Archway!! He lives with his mother, who is being less than cooperative about this trip- Heck, who am I kidding?? She is never cooperative when it comes to us!! But we're not going to let it bother us. Brandon has no clue what Disney World is- and I'm trying to decide whether to keep it that way or show him some stuff to get him excited.

Wanna see us?

 

[BriesMomma]

Here's Me, Brie, and Daddy at RC in DTD October '09:

Here's Brie being Grumpy:

Here we are waiting for Pirates- Brie's first-ever Disney ride:

Here's a not so good picture- over a year old at that- of Little Brandon and Brie:

I'll have to get a better picture of him. He's such a sweetie.

 

[BriesMomma]

THE PLAN!! (so far)

January 9th-

Leave home as early as we possibly can.
Get to Valdosta, GA late as heck- 15 hours driving!

January 10th-

Get up aroung 8 and drive the remaining 3 hours to Port Orleans Riverside!
Hopefully they have our room ready, but if not- no worries. We're off to DHS!
3:35 PM Dinner @ Hollywood & Vine Fantasmic Package. We've never seen F! and are totally psyched about this. I'm also hoping we'll be able to squeeze my Step Son onto TSM to feed his video game addiction.

January 11th-

Nothing concrete. I'm thinking AK or Epcot. Maybe back to DHS?? We're saving MK for Brie's B-day which is:

January 12th- Brielle's Second Birthday!!! "YAAAAAY"

Magic Kingdom at rope drop. Atleast Brie and I will be there at Rope Drop. Daddy believes in sleeping in on vacation- even in DW. Crazy, I know! We will tour our little hearts out and hit all of the major rides for her. Then back to the hotel for a good birthday nap and time to get all spiffy for Dinner at Cali Grill at 7:15. Wishes is at 8 that night so I'm hoping we can catch that from the beautiful view I've heard so much about. I've been looking at cakes and trying to figure out what I'm going to do. It drives me nuts that it's too far out to make any concrete cake plans!! But I like things over-the-top so I'm hoping I am able to get something a little better than Sara Lee.

January 13th-

Mommy and Brie have breakfast with the Princesses in Norway! So excited about this! I just got Brie a Snow White dress off the Disney site for 50% off to wear to this. We did CRT for dinner on our last trip. It was a terrrrrrrrible experience. That's the closest I've come to Princess Dining, so I'm hoping this leaves a better taste in my mouth. No plans yet where we are going to go. On my last trips I have planned which park we would go to each day and we never end up following those plans. I think I'll just go with the flow. We have 7 full days so there will be no rushing.

January 14th-

I originally had ressies for Mickey's Backyard BBQ for dinner this day but after reading some bad reviews and seeing that this could possibly take 6.5 hours to take in- I switched to Chef Mickey's dinner. You gotta do it, right? Plus I think Lil B will like the interaction and Brie absolutely loved Tusker House on our last trip. I figure this will be a MK day, but like I said who knows?

January 15th-

No plans. I'm sure even I will sleep in at this point.

January 16th-

Last full day. 3 PM ressies at T-Rex. I figure the SS will LOVE this. If he hasn't fallen in love with Disney by that point I'm hoping this will change that!! Plus I joined that Rainforest Cafe club so I get a free appetizer or 20% off! Cool! I figure we will shop DTD after that and I wanna do the hot air balloon thingy!!!

January 17th-

We have an 8 hour drive to Chattanooga, TN so we will more than likely not do any parks- but we will take our time to leave.

January 18th-

Drive the rest of the way home. No rush again.

 

[BriesMomma]

Some Details

I am trying to get us matching shirts for Brie's birthday- but haven't been able to come up with anything. I originally thought on the front would be something like "What in the World is Mickey gonna do?" Back: Brielle is turning terrible 2!! But nobody else likes it. My mother said it was innappropriate. So I need to think about that one.

For our first day I think we'll all wear shirts that say "I'm with the new kid." And then have Little Brandon's shirt say "The new kid." With some sort of Disney graphic. I'm saving up a bit of money before I go to the shirt place.

Then I found these Incredibles T-shirts that just have the I logo on the front. I'm going to take them and have names put on the back.

I'm all about dressing the kids in cute clothes and have found some great deals on Disneyoutlet.com lately. Atleast I like to tell myself they're good deals. LOL.

Christmas this year is all about the Disney trip. Clothes for the trip, a Nintendo DS for Little B for the car ride, Disney movies for the portable DVD... etc.

Oh I almost forgot the cutest things I've gotten us to go!! It gets chilly in January so I knew we would all need hooded sweatshirts. Well I found ones that even Big Brandon agreed to wear!!
Little Brandon got Goofy! Lucky little guy! That's all I could find in his size. Goofy is my favorite Character so I'm a little jelly:

I got Donald. These things were running out quick and even after one day I was unable to get the size I wanted and I was stuck with Donald! And he's Big Brandon's favorite!! Oh well, I do love it anyway and I have some super secret stretching techniques I'll be using on it in the next few months.
He just looks so mean!

And then my other lucky boy, got the Mickey one.

Unfortunately, I didn't find the same brand of Hoodie for Brie- but I did get her a cute Minnie Mouse one from Walmart. I can't find a pic but it's pink and when you pull the hood up it has Minnie's eyes and ears that stick up. It's pretty cool- and only 10 bucks!

So those are my plans for some of the cutesy stuff. Hopefully it all comes together.

Oh, by the way 10 weeks from right now I'll be enjoying Fantasmic! with the man I love, my wonderful beautiful crazy daughter, and my favorite little dude!!

 

[BriesMomma]

I'm gonna post some more pics from my last trip, because I never did a real TR. Hope ya don't mind. Plus I wanna show off my cutie-booty some more!

I love that castle pic for some reason! I think it's because there's nobody in it! I took it during a parade but I unfortunately missed when Mr. Incredible himself came and shook my Brie-Brie's hand. Dang it!

 

[BriesMomma]

Cake ideas:

I got all of these pictures from the cake threads here so I know it can be done. I just will have to work out if I have to pick it up from somewhere myself or if the Contemporary does it themselves.

This is for Brie's Birthday Dinner at Cali Grill.

I love this Figment cake. If they could make this one I'd be one happy mommy.

I also love this cake. I think this one and Figment are a tie for me. I do want this in different- more girly- colors though.

I also like this one:

So there ya have it. I'm hoping when I finally do get to order my cakes I can email these pictures to them so they know what I'm talking about. I've heard them described as Mad Hatter Cakes. We'll see. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Anyway, all this cake talk has made me hungry!!!

 

[gillep]

I love your PTR the kids are sooo cute, my DH and I will be at POR at the same time you will be and we can't wait. I hope all your planning continues to go well keep us updated (I understand that it is necessary to retain any sanity) Can't wait to see pictures of Brie with the princesses.

 

[BriesMomma]

I love your PTR the kids are sooo cute, my DH and I will be at POR at the same time you will be and we can't wait. I hope all your planning continues to go well keep us updated (I understand that it is necessary to retain any sanity) Can't wait to see pictures of Brie with the princesses.

Thank you for being a witness to my insanity!! It's cool you'll be there when we are. Maybe you'll see us. I'll be the one chasing the 2 year old!

 

[BriesMomma]

Just had to share:

I put my Christmas Decorations up today. I know it's early. LOL. Brandon thinks I'm crazy- But Brie was into decorating the tree.

My mother says that I want X-mas to hurry up and come so it will be almost time for me to go to Disney! And you know what- I THINK SHE'S RIGHT!! We'll see if it works

In shopping news...

I went to Dollar Tree this morning, where every single thing is a dollar flat- not like most of the dollar stores. If I haven't told you- I love shopping! But saving for a Disney trip and shopping don't really go... so I figured I could go and get my shopping fix and still not spend too much money. My goal was to spend 10 bucks. And then I saw the toy section... They had so much Disney stuff!!! A Cars chalkboard, Princess colored pencils, coloring books, Princess and Mickey's Clubhouse figurines, stickers... Just a ton of cute like stocking stuffers- or for those of you that do the Tink gifts. Then I walked by the frozen food section and noticed they had Mickey head oven pizzas! How cool!! Well needless to say I spent more than 10 bucks. But I also got most of my stocking toys done! See now if Christmas would just come I'd be good to go!!

I also received the Snow White dress I ordered from Disney Store this week. It's so cute! Daddy wants it to be from him. So cute.

 

[BriesMomma]

YaY! Exciting Update: I found Brie a Birthday Dress!

So check out the dress and hat that I got for my Brie to wear to her B-Day dinner at Cali Grill:

It will of course say Brie and have a 2!

And then I found these 2 things for her to wear during the day on her Birthday:

This is the shirt.

And the skirt:

She may actually wear the skirt & shirt to her "home" birthday party. I'm so excited! I'm absolutely in love with the dress- its exactly what I was looking for! Last year I got her a beautiful dress for her b-day but it was not nearly as exciting as this dress is- and cost me twice as much!

I'm a happy mommy!!

 

[BriesMomma]

After having such a productive Brie dress shopping day, I felt bad for Little Brandon. So I went and ordered him some stuff off the disney store site and found him a handmade shirt with his name on it. "Don't want to leave him out"- that's the excuse I used!

So after spending too much money- AGAIN, I'm scrapping the matching shirts idea. I know, I know... it would have been good old fashioned cheesy fun. But I guess we do need to eat while we're there!

I'm still going to get the Incredibles shirts, though. So not all is lost.

 

[BriesMomma]

Yay! Six and a half weeks out. I must admit the last few weeks have flown by and I couldn't be more happy about it.

I haven't been doing much updating as I'm trying to get the house together- I'm hosting my very first Thanksgiving dinner. (And we're expecting more than 15 people!!) So, needless to say I've been busy finding recipes and coupons. My mother and stepfather decided to head out of town without us and so Brandon called all of his family and volunteered ME to do the cooking! I haooen to love cooking and entertaining so my complaining is only half serious.

I will post pictures of my very first Turkey if I remember to take the time to take one!

Things have been going very smoothly. We've decided that we will keep Little Brandon in the dark as to what DW is all about. He can discover the magic on his own. I was going to show him the planning DVD's or video from our last trip- but really there are no words to describe the place... and so he will just have to see for himself!

Brie has recently fallen in love with Pooh and so I'm trying to find out where in the World we can have a character breakfast with the guy that won't cost me an arm and a leg. If we are forced to go to 1900 PF than I will more than likely cancel with the Princesses in Norway. The princesses were more for the Queen anyway. (Me.)

I just wish it was stinkin' January already!

 

[Charlefours]

Hello!

I stumbled upon your PTR tonight. Your DD is adorable!! DH and I are taking our DD down for her 4th birthday--it will be her first trip!! We are so excited.

Have you found the DISigns board? You can find some really cute shirt designs you can print and iron onto shirts yourself. Just a thought if you had not.

Crystal Palace is the Pooh character dining experience but it will be closed for rehab when you are there I believe. Liberty Tree Tavern is going to host character meals during CP's rehab but I am not sure if it will feature Pooh or not.

We are driving too! From Michigan to southern Indiana to pick up my dad and then onto Valdosta, GA our first "real" driving day. We will be staying at POR too. So many similarities. I hope you are considering writing a TR too. I would love to hear about your trip.

 

[BriesMomma]

Charlefours- YAAY you're with us!

Thanks for the compliment about the DD. I think we'll keep her! Or as she would say "TAAAANK EWWW!"

We're actually 3 miles from the Michigan line here... (It is somewhat convenient considering Indiana doesn't sell beer on Sundays, but MI does!!)

I guess Valdosta is a popular place to stop. We figured we'd get up early and only have a few hours to drive before we hit the parks!! It will just make for a long first day of driving.

Oh yes, I will be making a TR. I figure it will help me with vacation letdown. But planning our November 2010 trip will help too!

 

[BriesMomma]

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

And Lord knows I have sooo much to be thankful for. My Brie is the best blessing I could have ever asked for- and I really mean that. Oh and I'm certainly thankful for my Disney Vacations!!

I told you guys I'd take a picture of my first bird and here he/she is:

Sorry its a poopy cell phone picture. Wish I could show ya my whole spread because I'm quite proud of it- but my mother has borrowed the connecting cord for the camera. It was yummmmmy!

Happy Thanksgiving Dissers!!

 

[BriesMomma]

The Good, The Bad, and The "Baby Momma"

Let me start with the good news:

I ordered Brie's cake! I ordered an 8" custom cake in the Mad Hatter style with fondant. (I had that memorized as someone on the boards advised me exactly how to say it. LOL) I told her I had pictures of the cake I wanted and that I would be happy to email them. She told me she was sitting next to a cake right then that was the Mad Hatter style with handmade roses on the top- does that sound like something I'd like? Yeah, sounds cool to me!! So we'll hopefully have a cool cake in pastel colors. This cake is for Brie's B-day dinner at California Grill. I got us ADR's for 45 minutes before wishes- so hopefully we will be there right during Wishes!! I need to find out how to score a window seat!

The cake is costing me $100. I'm not rolling in the dough here, folks, and that amount is not lost on me. On a side note, I went to a local bakery yesterday to order my Step-dad a cake for his 62nd birthday- its a quarter sheet cake, with custom artwork and writing for $26.50. Their cake is also to die for! So I'm hoping my Disney cake will be worth it- visually stunning and tasty.

So- for the bad:

Brandon called his son's mother yesterday to tell her that we were getting ready to send a letter to Little Brandon's school to let them know about the upcoming trip. At which point crazy lady starts screaming and tells Brandon that she's not going to let Brandon go with us to DW.

Huh? What do you mean that you aren't going to let your six year old son go to DISNEY WORLD with his father and little sister?? What do you mean? I'm not comprehending what you are saying? Me no speaka psycho.

So it looks like we might have to go to court to get this straightened out. We have been having other problems with her lately- no shows on Halloween and Turkey Day. It actually began when we first told her that we were going to be bringing him with us in January. Our problem is finances: Its enough with Christmas and Disney coming up- and now we have to hire a lawyer just so he can take his son to DW? I just started crying when he called me. I wanted to call that so bad and just say do you realize how much effort we have put in to making sure this will be a special magical memory for your son?? Do you realize that he could possibly remember this trip for the rest of his life? That it might bring him out of his shell more- or make him more confident, like he is a part of something bigger?? Maybe I have delusions of Disney grandeur, but I still feel like Disney is mine, that I'm part of a special club- that can dream and pretend and still be a kid if I want to. I don't know. And I really don't know how I could ever explain that to someone so hateful that she would put herself before her son and try to ruin a great life experience for him.

I wish I could explain how peeeeeeeeeeved I am. I don't even know where to begin- who to call- what to say. All I know is that he's GOT TO GO. On our trip in October I literally was thinking how much Little Brandon would love this and that. Especially Test Track. He is gonna freakin' love Test Track! So we'll do whatever we have to do. Cross your fingers!

 

[BriesMomma]

Well no new updates on the Little Brandon situation- we're just going to see if she comes around by the middle of December. But...

Brie's Birthday dress is here! I was pulling out of my driveway earlier this evening when I saw a box on my porch. Is it?? Could it be?!

It sure was. And it's everything I wanted and then some. I cried! The zebra print skirt also came but blahh- not what I was expecting. Oh well!

I'm glad the birthday dress came, I needed a good pick-up. I will post some pictures when I can. YaaaaaY! She's gonna love it!

 

[BriesMomma]

So here I am, 34 days out from what I was dreaming would be the most magical trip to Disney I could have ever imagined... and I've been crying all day.

Little Brandon will more than likely not being going. We won't be able to get into court in time, and we really can't afford the legal expense it would take even if we could get in.

So now Big Brandon tells me he doesn't want to go. He doesn't want to save anymore money for this... we just went... I'm not a kid, why would I go to DW 3 months after I just went... A BUNCH OF BS LINES THAT HE IS FEEDING ME!!!

I don't know what's up with him. I don't know if he's serious. Of course I got P'd when he said it- "Fine, I don't need you." And in reality, I could just as easily go with just Brie and I and prolly have a great time- but I don't want to! I want to spend this time as a family. This is basically all I have been living for for months. I know it might sound sad- but IT REALLY IS A HUGE DEAL FOR ME. So for him to come to me and basically say I don't care about how bad you want this or how excited you are- it really hurts me.

I don't know if I should still even be excited- should I stop planning?? I feel like our trip is falling apart right before my very eyes. And it's a horrible empty feeling there where excitement and tingles used to be...

 

[BriesMomma]

...5 Minutes after I posted that he walks in and says:

"She might let Brandon go!"

Ahhh, that Magical Pixie Dust!!! (Or the power of prayer.)

Thanks for listening to me earlier, though.

 

[BriesMomma]

Well... Wonder Upon Wonders. A few weeks ago I realized that the gas light on my car was staying on even when my car obviously had gas in it and that the hand was "floating." So I take my car in for an oil change today and ask the guy to "just change the fuse or whatever so my gas hand works again."

He calls me and says:
"Uhh, those gauges are electrical now and down in the fuel pump. To fix it's going to be $669.00"

HUUUH?! Um no thanks. So the first thing that pops into my head of course is the trip. How are we going to know when to fill up, or how much gas mileage..etc. What a pain!!

Irk! It's bad news week over here, eh? But in Little Brandon news- things are still looking up! Brandon has talked to his and she is warming up. Atleast she's not saying he "can't" go anymore. I'm going to send her some pixie dust (you have no idea how hard that is for me) and hope she catches the holiday spirit or something

One month from today we hit the road!! Things are back on track to be the most magical trip ever!!