Less than TEN days to go; I can do this! *Updated 12/2*

[squeegee]

All-in-all, I think it will be a busy, but thoroughly enjoyable, trip. There's still so much to do to prepare for it, but that's half the fun. I just realized the other day that the Christmas parade won't be available during the day until after the last Christmas party - so now I'm debating whether I'm going to try to fit in MVMCP, too. I've already added the tab to the spreadsheet. Will post it later. I don't think there's much other advance planning I can do without official park/parade hours, etc..., and then I'm also waiting on the free dining announcement (if there is one) to finalize my dates and days.

I've got the fabric gathered to make a couple of Little Monster's dresses - the Elsa and the Belle. I've purchased a Rapunzel and an Ariel. I've got patterns for the Snow White, Anna, Sophia, and Aurora. I'm debating just sewing "princess-influenced" dresses for the other three days instead of doing full-on costumes. I'm currently finishing up her winter jacket, and I've got a couple more hours' work on it to go, so I hope I have plenty of time to finish sewing for her. I had thought I would, but my health had other ideas, so I'm getting a little behind on that. The left neck dissection has left me with quite a bit of shoulder pain - I can sit and type on my laptop, but the tension I carry in my shoulders when I sew makes doing that excruciating after about 15 minutes.

We've got enough luggage, and I've been keeping a "Disney Box" for the past year or so. I currently have over 200 pre-1982 pennies saved for my pressed penny collection, and several mini M&M tubes. I've got Disney-themed pocket hand-warmers, and enough glow-sticks to stock my own little cart. I've got lanyards for both DH and I, and need to find a nice one for Little Monster. I've got DH and my autograph books from the last trip, but I'm not sure we're taking those with us. Will probably just buy one for DD once we get there. What other kinds of things should I be gathering for the Disney Box?

 

[elsbit]

Are pre-1982 pennies better for some reason?
Careful with the glow sticks. I have found that if I purchase them too far in advance I end up having a lot that do not work. :/
I like the little thermal hand warmers. Great idea.
Perhaps your box needs some small bottles of bubbles to keep the little monster busy while waiting in lines?
I have read about people packing a plug-in room scent specific to their vacation. They plug it into their hotel room and then when they leave they use the same scent at home to make the magic carry on a little bit longer and the smell will remind them of their trip. Cheesy, but I think that is going in my Disney bin.
Since you are going during the holiday season, maybe a little bit of room decor. You could even do window clings and let the little monster help decorate.
I find the whole BBB too expensive for my tastes, so I was thinking of packing some "tinkerbell" glitter and gel to use in my daughters' hair one of the days.

 

[squeegee]

Pre-1982 pennies are solid copper instead of a zinc core covered in copper - when they're squished, you won't get silver streaks. Most folks don't care, but I can't stand the streaks.

Bubbles would be a great way to entertain her, but I think it might annoy other folks in line, but I most definitely should be thinking of something to entertain her besides letting her play on my phone... Maybe a small coloring book or even just a notepad she can "write" in?

Something to decorate the room would be nice, too; I think window clings would be great, and help her spot our room from outside. Will have to keep my eyes peeled.

The Harmony Barber shop does a gel-and-glitter package for not very much, less than $10, I think - if BBB is out of range, then you might look at the Harmony Barber shop instead for something special for your DD's hair.

 

[squeegee]

Joining in! We will be there December 13 - 19!

Thanks for joining in! Sorry it took me so long to see your post. I'm a little blind sometimes.

 

[squeegee]

In other real-life news:

I saw my surgeon the other day, and he's sending me to PT for my shoulder. I have that appointment Monday. Hopefully this will help get rid of the shoulder pain. He also extended my leave until March 30th. Am anxious to get back to work, but not looking forward to putting DD back in daycare. She's really enjoyed staying home these past several weeks.

And, our tax return came. It's not huge - I adjust withholding annually so it's not - but it's going towards Disney. It means I'll have all the "cash" to pay for airfare when it's released (Southwest Airlines). I'm always so happy when I make progress on saving for the trip.

Now to wait until May when (hopefully) free dining is released, airfare is released, and park hours are released. I'll be going in for radiation treatments in May, so I'll be back out of work for about a month, and will have plenty of time to obsess over these details. LOL

 

[squeegee]

Well, I had to get out of the house today, drop off a birthday present for a friend's son, and happened to notice a dollar-store going out of business sale on the way home. I stopped in, and found a couple things for the disney box - some cute window clings, and Christmas-themed cards/envelopes for cash (tips for the mouse keepers).



Also got a few random things - cheap pastry brushes and a razor scraper thing for removing window stickers on the car, some "cut your own sticker" glitter sheets, and some ribbon. My daughter gravitated towards the "wood" rosebuds and grabbed six of those and a pack of hello kitty latex balloons. Also got a giant bow for my little brother's birthday gift. ALL for under $10. Gotta love sales.

 

[squeegee]

DH and I got to talking last night, because I made the mistake of crunching numbers and pondering possibilities. LOL.

Because FD was not offered for POR last year, it's not likely to be offered this year. I have zero interest in any of the other moderates, so that leaves the deluxes. We stayed at WL last time, and it was nice, so I figured maybe we'd just do that again. WL with free dining comes out cheaper than POR and paying for DDP (Rack rate).

Well, CR comes out to about $500 more than WL, and puts us on the monorail and within walking distance of the MK.
Since we're planning on 3.5 MK days, with mid-day naps, that makes the travel time savings significant. We went ahead and changed our booking this morning.

We also went ahead and decided to do MVMCP. If our dates stay the same, we will miss out on seeing the parade and fireworks for "free" during the day, and I can't have that. LOL. If we end up shifting dates to a week or so later, we can always cancel the plans to do the party. But for now, it's on the spreadsheet.

Adding the party required that I shift some days around and change some of our meal plans. I swapped our date night meal to Morimoto's, which is supposedly going to open this summer, but it's still really up in the air. I want something that will make DH really happy, and he loves sushi - the more bizarre, the better. We also both used to love watching Iron Chef together, so I think this will be fun.

As a result of shifting things around some, we will have one MK day where we'll have to leave before the party. I figure that will be ideal for more DTD time, and want to eat at Cookes of Dublin. I dropped the Liberty Tree meal at Epcot, which I wasn't that crazy about anyhow, and moved the Whispering canyon meal to that evening instead.

What do y'all think? Have I made any crazy mistakes here?

 

[squeegee]

Will upload a new spreadsheet image as soon as I stop getting "server error" and broken links....

 

[squeegee]

Finally got it to work!

 

[squeegee]

Little monster finally agreed to give me a little time to work on her costumes, so I got the Elsa dress all cut out. There was sooooo much glitter on the fabrics, and now it looks like a stripper exploded on my dining table, but the outfit is cut.


DD is obsessed with the "pointy things" on the end of the sleeves, so I modified that a little bit, and the pattern called for the sleeves/yoke to be the same as the cape, so I've changed that, too. The pattern also assumes you'll only find plain sheer fabric for he cape and includes instructions for appliqué-ing in a bunch if snowflakes. I've probably saved a good five or six hours of work by lucking into sheer fabric with glitter snowflakes.
The colors didn't photograph too well, though - they're more similar in tone in real life.

Now to start cutting Belle, then Cinderella.

Once I get a chance, I'll accumulate the fabrics for Anna and Merida, but it all depends on time now.

I'm cutting/sewing everything in a 4, because patterns always run a little larger than store bought clothes, it seems. She's got several dresses I've made her in a 3 right now, that are still a bit big, so hopefully it will work out.

 

[squeegee]

This morning, I finished cutting out Belle. This costume is FAR more complicated than I anticipated. I hope it goes together quickly, though. I hate yellow, but Belle is one of Little Monster's favorites, and she requested the dress specifically.



The only thing I'm still missing is the rose in the middle - I want a red one, of course.

Worse comes to worst, I can make one out of red satin, but buying one would be so much easier. LOL.

 

[squeegee]

And finally, this afternoon, I finished cutting out her Cinderella-inspired dress. I found the perfect pattern for a "not-a-costume" version of the famous blue dress.



I found light blue cotton sateen, and a pretty white glitter organza, and am using silver lamè for the shoulder bow. I am really excited about this one.

 

[SpacePod]

Joining in! I can't wait to see your DD's costumes!! Those patterns you found are fantastic. She's one lucky little princess!

 

[squeegee]

Joining in! I can't wait to see your DD's costumes!! Those patterns you found are fantastic. She's one lucky little princess!

Thanks! I've always loved sewing, and it's nice to have a little one that likes wearing what I make, at least for now.

Additionally, I am the reigning queen of unfinished sewing projects - so it's good to have my little taskmistress egging me on.

 

[squeegee]

Because life hasn't been interesting enough lately, I had to take Little Monster to the doctor this morning - she complained it was hurting to pee. We've been struggling to get her to potty train for #2 for a long time, but she's had #1 down pat, so I don't want anything to break that pattern. I made her an appointment as soon as the office opened. Doc ran a test on a sample, and confirmed a "likely" UTI, pending final culture. Began antibiotics based on the preliminary diagnosis.

While I was there, I had them get a "good" measurement on her height, because I'm obsessed with her being 40" by December. LOL. She's 39.5, on the dot, barefoot. I think we'll be good to go....?

 

[Elevationist]

I love your spreadsheets, lady! Excel files make my heart go pitter-patter!

The dresses look like they will be LOVELY! Such gorgeous fabrics. I can't wait to see the finished products!

Sorry your little one is sick! Here's hoping it clears up fast!

39.5" with 8 months to go? I'm sure you'll be fine! (Buy shoes with thick soles, just to be safe...)

 

[RunnerMommyof4]

Following another Dis member who's making me want to learn to sew. I got a machine as a present but I need to learn how to use it Those dresses will be gorgeous!

 

[squeegee]

I love your spreadsheets, lady! Excel files make my heart go pitter-patter!

The dresses look like they will be LOVELY! Such gorgeous fabrics. I can't wait to see the finished products!

Sorry your little one is sick! Here's hoping it clears up fast!

39.5" with 8 months to go? I'm sure you'll be fine! (Buy shoes with thick soles, just to be safe...)

My TA friend has looked at the spreadsheet recently, and suggested a couple of changes that I may or may not make. She thinks I'm being too aggressive with the early morning breakfasts - but we're early morning people, and rarely sleep in anyhow. So I'm on the fence about changing those.

Am anxious to get started actually sewing, but I've been a little too busy the past two days. Hopefully today....

DD is acting like her old self, so that's a relief, at least. If only she would happily take the medicine.

I'm hoping I can find her some nice princessy sneakers that will kindof go with the costumes, but be good for her feet at the same time. She wears light- up sketchers happily most of the time, so will probably go that route, unless new balance kids makes something sparkly?

 

[squeegee]

Following another Dis member who's making me want to learn to sew. I got a machine as a present but I need to learn how to use it Those dresses will be gorgeous!

It's really a lot easier than it looks. Just take your time, and invest in a good seam ripper. Start with something like curtains or throw pillows, in a plain cotton or cotton blend.

I've been sewing since I could be trusted with a needle, but I still screw up at least once on every project - it's not something to be scared of. It can all be ripped out and redone.

 

[tinkermom_of_two]

I'm a spreadsheet gal too, and use it to break down the per-credit values just to see if the two credit meals are worth the extra credits or not I did notice that you have a tip entered in for CRT, and didn't know if you were aware that this is one of the few places that tip is included in the cost of the meal