Madest Thou Look!: Ye Coolest Olde PTR This Side of Thee Renaissance (December 2014)

[BellesLibrary]

Howdy, and welcome to my first ever Pre-Trip Report!

I'm Natalie, and I'll be your fantastic, awesomely fabulous, and slightly geeky tour guide of our upcoming trip.

So, here are some basic deets:

My trip will be early December 2014. I've visited WDW a few times during this part of December, and it is AWESOME. There are very few crowds, the weather is perfect, and all of the Christmas decorations are sparkling and twinkling everywhere.

But this trip will be different than all the others: I'm taking my baby! Well, she won't be a baby when we go--more like a toddler--but right now, she's still sweet (always) and cuddly (when she's tired). And more than that: my husband, daughter, and I be traveling en masse with my parents and my sister. Six adults and one 18-month-old: sounds like a crazy ride to me!

I'll introduce the cast of characters in a later post, so you'll want to stick around. Plus, I'm the world's craziest planner and DIY-er, so you can look forward to lots of details on our upcoming trip, cute baby costumes, and MUCH MORE!

Oh, yeah--about that title. It's a reference from that Geico commercial about the world's first joke. My husband and I love telling each other "madest thou look!" about the most random things, so I decided to just go with it for the PTR. We're odd like that (as you'll see!). Plus, spelling things in fake Old (Olde) English just makes everything cooler. Bam.

I hope you'll join up! I can't wait to meet other DIS-ers!

 

[BellesLibrary]

DECEMBER 2014 PTR
Cast of Characters
Ye Olde Accommodations

And now, with bonus PTR!
JUNE 2014 PTR (Sisters' Trip 2014!!)
Intro to Unexpected Awesomeness
So, What Sorority Are You In?​

 

[BellesLibrary]

So, you made it to the second post--sweet! That means that 1) you're awesome (congrats), and 2) I have successfully figured out how to post stuff on the DISboards (which means I'm awesome).

Before we go any further down this rabbit hole that is my PTR, let's figure out who's going to be starring in it. Without further ado--

My Cast of Characters!​

Let's start with me...because I'm totally vain like that.

I'm Natalie.
29 (ack! I'll be 30 by the time we're at WDW!). Native of South Carolina. Lover of all things Disney. Reader, writer, and all around book geek. Anglophile.

A few Disney fun facts about me:

• I went to WDW at least once a year from the time I was born to the time I was in college. It was a huge part of my childhood.
• Call me weird, but I don't feel like I'm in Disney until I smell the bus exhaust!
• My favorite rides: ToT and RnR. The faster, higher, and crazier the ride, the more likely I'm on it!
• My favorite Disney food: a chocolate and candy covered Mickey Rice Krispie from Goofy's Candy Company. Can you say, "Sugar OVERLOOOOAD"?!?!

Landon:

That there's my hupsband. We've done been hitched for four years. (Okay, enough with the ridiculous words and grammar. I should probably mention that I have both a B.A. and an M.A. in English, and that, everyone you use poor grammar, you kill an English major somewhere. Okay, I totally made that last part up.)

ANYWAY!

Landon's also a native of South Carolina. He's a banker and loves nothing more than messing with an Excel spreadsheet. (Gag me, says the English major.)

Landon's only been to WDW twice. Poor, poor soul. He went once when he was two (in 1986, when there were only TWO PARKS), and once for our (surprise!) bachelor/ bachelorette party. Though, we were only at Magic Kingdom--none of the other parks--and we were only there for a day. So, he's really been to Disney like 1.25 times. He totally doesn't get my Disney obsession, but he's a good husband, so he's going along with this trip for my sake.

My goal: to make a Disney lover out of him in the end.

And, the reason for this entire trip:
The tiniest love of my life, my daughter, Britton!

She's our only child (and the only grandkid on my side), so she is totally spoiled. It's so easy to spoil her because she's only the sweet baby that ever existed.

She'll be 18 months old when we go on the trip, and I am so excited to see her running around as she soaks up all the magic that is Disney. It will be her first trip to Disney, so we're EXTRA excited!

We're traveling en masse because that's what my fam does, so along for the ride are my parents:

They are the reason why I grew up loving Disney World. They happily hauled my sister and I down the long road that is I-95 each year so that we could live inside the wonder for a week or so. I think they might be as excited as I am about the trip and they're always asking me about what I've planned.

My mom isn't a huge fan of fast rides (and nearly got us kicked out of the park when she and my dad jumped off of Splash Mountain because my mom was spazzing!) so she mostly goes for the parades and to see us have fun. She's totally okay with hanging out with the baby this trip!

My dad pretends to be so totally over Disney World, but somehow, he keeps joining up on the trips. Me thinks he's hiding his true love of WDW! He's my fellow turkey leg eater and all around good sport when it comes to riding any and every ride.

And, finally, my partner-in-crime, my (not-so) little sister, Amber!

(That's us on our first ever sisters-only trip to Disney a couple years back. Amber's the one on the left, and yours truly is on the right).

I can always count on her to get excited about a trip trip...or even the prospect of one. Even though we're both in our late 20s, we love nothing more than going to watch the latest Disney movie sans kids. She's the best auntie to Britton! Amber's also a HUGE Cinderella fan.

So, there you go. We're a fun bunch, and we've got a lot of cool stuff up our sleeves for our December trip!

 

[MidnightParade]

You're hilarious! I love it! I'm in!

Your daughter is adorable! I love that you have her dressed up as Minnie! I have a Minnie dress on my must buy list for my niece now for sure.

I'm also working on making my DBF a Disney lover! So I wish you the bestest of luck!

 

[BellesLibrary]

You're hilarious! I love it! I'm in!

Your daughter is adorable! I love that you have her dressed up as Minnie! I have a Minnie dress on my must buy list for my niece now for sure.

I'm also working on making my DBF a Disney lover! So I wish you the bestest of luck!

Hi, Midnight Parade! I'm so glad that you're joining up. Yay!

My daughter has so shortage of Disney costumes that I dress her up in all the time. Oh, it's a random Tuesday? Must be time for the Cinderella dress! Ha! My sister is an awesome aunt like you and buys so much Disney stuff for Britton--we've got several fun costumes planned for the trip. I'd highly recommend a Minnie dress for your niece: it's basically a cuteness overload.

Good luck on the conversion of your DBF! It's a tough road to bring a non-Disneyite into the fold, but it's so worth it in the end. Right?! At least my DH is willing to go along with us, so I'm counting that as a win.

 

[martinmont]

Joining! DH and i are going in our first trip in dec as well! Where are u guys staying? So fun to be able to read your plans since im clueless as to what to wear in dec, if it was up to me it would be sundresses and denim shorts all the time! But i heard we might need to keep a cardigan with us as well lol.

 

[BellesLibrary]

Joining! DH and i are going in our first trip in dec as well! Where are u guys staying? So fun to be able to read your plans since im clueless as to what to wear in dec, if it was up to me it would be sundresses and denim shorts all the time! But i heard we might need to keep a cardigan with us as well lol.

Hi, Martinmont--thanks for joining up!

Yay for a fellow December traveler! The weather in FL is crazy unpredictable that time of year. I've been twice in December. Once (in 2007), I only brought jeans and short sleeved shirts, and I FROZE, especially at night. I don't think it ever got above 50, and at night, the temps dropped near to freezing. On the flip side of the coin, when I went in Dec. 2010, my sister and I packed mostly long sleeved shirts and long pants...and we both ended up wearing the same two short sleeved shirts the entire time because it was regularly in the 70s! Basically: pack your entire wardrobe!

We're still deciding on where to stay, but it will definitely be in one of the value resorts. We're cheap like that! What about you?

 

[martinmont]

Hi, Martinmont--thanks for joining up!

Yay for a fellow December traveler! The weather in FL is crazy unpredictable that time of year. I've been twice in December. Once (in 2007), I only brought jeans and short sleeved shirts, and I FROZE, especially at night. I don't think it ever got above 50, and at night, the temps dropped near to freezing. On the flip side of the coin, when I went in Dec. 2010, my sister and I packed mostly long sleeved shirts and long pants...and we both ended up wearing the same two short sleeved shirts the entire time because it was regularly in the 70s! Basically: pack your entire wardrobe!

We're still deciding on where to stay, but it will definitely be in one of the value resorts. We're cheap like that! What about you?

Ah, maybe I should go shopping for the disney trip! No, I do not need an excuse to go shopping lol.

We'll probably staying at WL but only because this is sorta our delayed honeymoon. We did not have much money when we got married two years ago being just out of college and all, so we took a minimoon instead lol, just a short weekend trip to a cabin/resort. I doubt we will splurge on every single trip if we're to go back more often in the future. How many days are u guys planning? Our current plan is 9 days including travel days, I hope it's enough for newbies

 

[shannn]

I'm so in!

I was just coming over here to start a pre-trip report for our October trip, but when I saw the Tiger paw on the car, I had to join in!! I'm a SC native too (from Lexington originally) although we've been living in TN since 1996. But at heart, I'll always be a palmetto tree & moon lovin' girl!

My husband and I went to Clemson, and I have a degree in English too(although my master's is in Education). And we always travel with an entourage -- gotta love taking the grandma for a built in baby sitter!

Anyway, that's my long winded way of saying that I'm ALL IN!

 

[BellesLibrary]

Ah, maybe I should go shopping for the disney trip! No, I do not need an excuse to go shopping lol.

We'll probably staying at WL but only because this is sorta our delayed honeymoon. We did not have much money when we got married two years ago being just out of college and all, so we took a minimoon instead lol, just a short weekend trip to a cabin/resort. I doubt we will splurge on every single trip if we're to go back more often in the future. How many days are u guys planning? Our current plan is 9 days including travel days, I hope it's enough for newbies

OF COURSE you should use the trip as a shopping excuse! Hahaha! I'm the world's WORST at doing that. My husband rolls his eyes every time that I tell him that I NEED a new outfit for an upcoming vacation. The way I see it, vacations = pictures and pictures = an everlasting memory of what I was wearing...so I better like what I'm wearing in all of the pictures!

I've heard WL is super beautiful. Way back when, my family used to have a motor home and we'd stay in FW campgrounds (this was before there even was a WL!!), and we LOVED it. The atmosphere is so much fun: it's like you're at summer camp permanently! I can't wait to hear how you like it.

And I hear you on the delayed honeymoon. We got married 8 days after I graduated from my masters program: neither of us had jobs since we were relocating to Charleston, and we were homeless and had to live with my parents for 6 months while we got jobs. Those first few years of marriage are tough! Anyway, belated congrats!! And if you had to wait for a honeymoon, that sounds like it might be worth the wait!! Are you doing a PTR? If you are, let me know so I can follow along!

 

[BellesLibrary]

I'm so in!

I was just coming over here to start a pre-trip report for our October trip, but when I saw the Tiger paw on the car, I had to join in!! I'm a SC native too (from Lexington originally) although we've been living in TN since 1996. But at heart, I'll always be a palmetto tree & moon lovin' girl!

My husband and I went to Clemson, and I have a degree in English too(although my master's is in Education). And we always travel with an entourage -- gotta love taking the grandma for a built in baby sitter!

Anyway, that's my long winded way of saying that I'm ALL IN!

Shannn--LOVE THE TIGER ENTHUSIASM!!!

Any Clemson Tiger (and a fellow Disney fan!) is automatically a friend for life, so welcome! That is awesome that you're from SC, too! I lived in Lexington while I was getting my M.A. at USC (I know, I know--how could a CU grad ever go to USC!?!?!), and it was a fun little town to spend two years of my life. Once an SC girl, always an SC girl!

So glad to have you along for the ride. It's always awesome to have a little extra Tiger pride!!

 

[martinmont]

OF COURSE you should use the trip as a shopping excuse! Hahaha! I'm the world's WORST at doing that. My husband rolls his eyes every time that I tell him that I NEED a new outfit for an upcoming vacation. The way I see it, vacations = pictures and pictures = an everlasting memory of what I was wearing...so I better like what I'm wearing in all of the pictures!

I've heard WL is super beautiful. Way back when, my family used to have a motor home and we'd stay in FW campgrounds (this was before there even was a WL!!), and we LOVED it. The atmosphere is so much fun: it's like you're at summer camp permanently! I can't wait to hear how you like it.

And I hear you on the delayed honeymoon. We got married 8 days after I graduated from my masters program: neither of us had jobs since we were relocating to Charleston, and we were homeless and had to live with my parents for 6 months while we got jobs. Those first few years of marriage are tough! Anyway, belated congrats!! And if you had to wait for a honeymoon, that sounds like it might be worth the wait!! Are you doing a PTR? If you are, let me know so I can follow along!

I'm sure we would both have tons of new outfits by December! I soooo agree about wanting to look good for photos. I meant the camera already add an extra 10lbs automatically, so we need need to do anything to avoid looking even more frumpy
Thanks!! I actually did start writing a PTR a couple days ago but i did not linked it on my signature for some reason. I just linked it! It's nothing fancy like yours, I just treat it as an outlet to tell the world about my planning. (DH doesn't want to hear about it 24/7 )

 

[AAshleySEG]

I wanted to join in on the fun too! Go Carolinas....LOL We are from NC you guys are from SC! I saw that you were a DIY-er and wanted to let you in on something I did when we took my nephew to Disney! Don't know if you are planning on using a stroller or not but if you are I wanted to share! There are so many strollers everywhere so if you do the stroller parking they get so crazy and look alike! I made a different sign for each park that we went to and attached them to our stroller, we got so many compliments on them that I wanted to share!

I am not gonna plaster your PTR with photos, but I did think I would link them in case you were interested! I just designed them in Photoshop for each park, Had them printed and laminated at and Office Supply Store punched holes in the corners and zip-tied them to the stroller!

Animal Kingdom Stroller Sign
Buzz Lightyear Stroller Sign
Pirate Stroller Sign

Excited to hear all about your trip! I know you guys will have a great time!

 

[BellesLibrary]

I made a different sign for each park that we went to and attached them to our stroller, we got so many compliments on them that I wanted to share!

Animal Kingdom Stroller Sign
Buzz Lightyear Stroller Sign
Pirate Stroller Sign

Excited to hear all about your trip! I know you guys will have a great time!

Hi, Ashley! I'm so glad you're along for the ride!

Yay for Carolina (N and S!) Dis-ers! I might be a little biased, but I think that combos is super awesome.

When I saw the signs that you sent over, my crafty DIY-loving heart skipped a beat or two. I WILL BE MAKING THESE FOR EVERY SINGLE PARK! (Like my DIY list needed to get longer! Ha! There's always more time for another craft.) I'm all about coordinating stuff, so each day, baby's stroller will have a themed stroller tag. Oh, the possibilities...

P.S. I love that the AK sign had Swahili (??) on it. So cute and definitely a Disney detail!

 

[BellesLibrary]

Is it bad that I'm already counting down the days until our trip?! We've got well over 200, but I am so excited that I feel like I need to start doing things to prepare. (Please note: my husband thinks I'm crazy insane for planning this early...but he will glad when we have the world's most awesome trip!)

So, let's chat about accommodations.

We're cheap (some might even say miserly...) and I'm all about stretching my dollar as far as it will go. Maybe it's because my parents work as a banker and an accountant; I can remember them giving me a fake checkbook when I was in the fourth grade and helping me learn how to balance it!

We honestly don't spend much time in the room other than sleeping and bathing, and I'm just as happy in a clean, comfortable basic room as in something super fancy.

Other than that, our one requirement for our accommodations is that we HAVE to stay on property. We love popping down to the buses each morning. We love not having to worry about parking. We love that we'll be able to haul Britton around WDW without having to put her in her car seat.

It should not be surprising then that we pretty much only stay at the value resorts. Back in the day (waaaaaaaay back when), we would stay at Port Orleans, but then that got all fancy and re-done, so we started checking out the values.

My favorite has been Pop Century, since it has it's own bus (and doesn't have to share like the Music/Movies/Sports trio)...but that might have changed since the addition of Art of Animation. (DISers? Is that true?)

I'm really interested in AoA, too, but I'm not sure that I want to pay extra just for the different theming. Maybe when Britton's older, but she seriously won't care this go-round!

Basically, we've narrowed it down to PC or AoA, and it will all come down to whichever's cheaper. We've budgeted about $800 for 6 nights at one of these (which breaks down to about $130 a night). I already know it's going to be cheaper than this since I did a practice booking when I was figuring out a basic budget...and I'm hoping that WDW will release a room discount and bring the price down even further. Cheaper rooms mean extra money to use elsewhere in the budget--more Mickey ice cream popsicles all around!!

Have you ever stayed in AoA? Do you know if PC and AoA share a bus?

 

[MidnightParade]

Ugh, I want to say that AoA and PC have separate buses but I'm not 100%.

Woohoo for countdown! I got an app for that. Its nice, in the middle of a busy day to just stop and check how many days left!

PC is nice, I want to try this tiedye cheesecake I have heard so much about! But AoA might be nice just to try something new and I read good things about their food court. I will admit I see pics of the rooms sometimes and I feel overwhelmed by the theme as well. Although I haven't seen every themed room either.

Your parents are awesome! A checkbook in 4th grade?! Kinda wish my parents had done that, might have inspired better spending habits!

How exciting is it to be picking out the resort though? I think that may be my favorite part of planning(and most stressfull too, lol). Will your family all be staying at the same resort? Or are they choosing their preference?

 

[martinmont]

Is it bad that I'm already counting down the days until our trip?! We've got well over 200, but I am so excited that I feel like I need to start doing things to prepare. (Please note: my husband thinks I'm crazy insane for planning this early...but he will glad when we have the world's most awesome trip!)

So, let's chat about accommodations.

We're cheap (some might even say miserly...) and I'm all about stretching my dollar as far as it will go. Maybe it's because my parents work as a banker and an accountant; I can remember them giving me a fake checkbook when I was in the fourth grade and helping me learn how to balance it!

We honestly don't spend much time in the room other than sleeping and bathing, and I'm just as happy in a clean, comfortable basic room as in something super fancy.

Other than that, our one requirement for our accommodations is that we HAVE to stay on property. We love popping down to the buses each morning. We love not having to worry about parking. We love that we'll be able to haul Britton around WDW without having to put her in her car seat.

It should not be surprising then that we pretty much only stay at the value resorts. Back in the day (waaaaaaaay back when), we would stay at Port Orleans, but then that got all fancy and re-done, so we started checking out the values.

My favorite has been Pop Century, since it has it's own bus (and doesn't have to share like the Music/Movies/Sports trio)...but that might have changed since the addition of Art of Animation. (DISers? Is that true?)

I'm really interested in AoA, too, but I'm not sure that I want to pay extra just for the different theming. Maybe when Britton's older, but she seriously won't care this go-round!

Basically, we've narrowed it down to PC or AoA, and it will all come down to whichever's cheaper. We've budgeted about $800 for 6 nights at one of these (which breaks down to about $130 a night). I already know it's going to be cheaper than this since I did a practice booking when I was figuring out a basic budget...and I'm hoping that WDW will release a room discount and bring the price down even further. Cheaper rooms mean extra money to use elsewhere in the budget--more Mickey ice cream popsicles all around!!

Have you ever stayed in AoA? Do you know if PC and AoA share a bus?

I think my husband is sick of hearing me talk about the plans! I think I read somewhere that pop and AoA have direct buses to the parks, but don't quote me lol. I need some kind of discount too! I can't balance a checkbook

 

[BellesLibrary]

Ugh, I want to say that AoA and PC have separate buses but I'm not 100%.

Woohoo for countdown! I got an app for that. Its nice, in the middle of a busy day to just stop and check how many days left!

PC is nice, I want to try this tiedye cheesecake I have heard so much about! But AoA might be nice just to try something new and I read good things about their food court. I will admit I see pics of the rooms sometimes and I feel overwhelmed by the theme as well. Although I haven't seen every themed room either.

Your parents are awesome! A checkbook in 4th grade?! Kinda wish my parents had done that, might have inspired better spending habits!

How exciting is it to be picking out the resort though? I think that may be my favorite part of planning(and most stressfull too, lol). Will your family all be staying at the same resort? Or are they choosing their preference?

My parents were BIG on the budgeting thing--I guess seeing so many people in their lines of work being affected by money issues made them extra vigilant about teaching us about good spending habits. For what it's worth, I LOVED carrying that checkbook around and logging my "purchases" (i.e. whatever random trinket or book that I HAD to have at that moment). They even had a little checking account set up for us (not attached to the checkbook), but my sister and I had to log the money coming and out of the accounts.

On a Disney note, I LOVE picking out the resorts, too, MidnightParade!! There's something so concrete about knowing where you're going to stay. Historically, Disney has released reduced room rates for December in August or September, so we won't be booking for a few months...but that doesn't stop me from planning!

We will all be staying at the same resort, hopefully. My parents and my sister love being involved with DD as much as they can, and I think they'd stay in our room if I'd let them (NO WAY ). Perhaps adjoining rooms, or at least rooms in the same building?

I think my husband is sick of hearing me talk about the plans! I think I read somewhere that pop and AoA have direct buses to the parks, but don't quote me lol. I need some kind of discount too! I can't balance a checkbook

Martinmont, there should be a DIS-er support group called "Poor Neglected Wives Whose Husbands Ignore Them When They Start Talking About Disney." We could be the charter members!!

I'm definitely going to have to do more research on this bus situation, as reason we loved staying at PC was because it had its own bus--not as much waiting around as Music/Movies/Sports! Another thing to put on my to-do list!

Haha, you aren't the only one who can't balance a checkbook--I'm going to have to get you the kids' fake checkbook to whip you into shape!!

 

[martinmont]

My parents were BIG on the budgeting thing--I guess seeing so many people in their lines of work being affected by money issues made them extra vigilant about teaching us about good spending habits. For what it's worth, I LOVED carrying that checkbook around and logging my "purchases" (i.e. whatever random trinket or book that I HAD to have at that moment). They even had a little checking account set up for us (not attached to the checkbook), but my sister and I had to log the money coming and out of the accounts.

On a Disney note, I LOVE picking out the resorts, too, MidnightParade!! There's something so concrete about knowing where you're going to stay. Historically, Disney has released reduced room rates for December in August or September, so we won't be booking for a few months...but that doesn't stop me from planning!

We will all be staying at the same resort, hopefully. My parents and my sister love being involved with DD as much as they can, and I think they'd stay in our room if I'd let them (NO WAY ). Perhaps adjoining rooms, or at least rooms in the same building?


Martinmont, there should be a DIS-er support group called "Poor Neglected Wives Whose Husbands Ignore Them When They Start Talking About Disney." We could be the charter members!!

I'm definitely going to have to do more research on this bus situation, as reason we loved staying at PC was because it had its own bus--not as much waiting around as Music/Movies/Sports! Another thing to put on my to-do list!

Haha, you aren't the only one who can't balance a checkbook--I'm going to have to get you the kids' fake checkbook to whip you into shape!!

a support group is exactly what I need! I can talk about disney planning all day and still be super excited.

I would hate to waste vacation time waiting for buses! The cone every 20mins or so right?

I was just talking about my budget in my PTR, won't if be fun to have no budget?lol a girl can dream

 

[BellesLibrary]

a support group is exactly what I need! I can talk about disney planning all day and still be super excited.

I would hate to waste vacation time waiting for buses! The cone every 20mins or so right?

I was just talking about my budget in my PTR, won't if be fun to have no budget?lol a girl can dream

The buses at Pop have been pretty reliable when we've stayed there in the past. They come about every 20 minutes, but sometimes at busier times (like at opening and closing), I've seen them lined up behind one another to make sure guests are quickly taken to and from their destinations. At Music/Movies/Sports, we've had to wait a little longer since all three of those resorts use one bus (like you have to pick up more people at each resort), which unnecessarily delays things. Because of this, I want to stay at Pop, but I'm open to AoA if it gets its own bus, too!

And budgets--the bane of my existence. Why oh why can't I have an unlimited budget!?!?!