Mom's At It Again! ***Updated 4/30/2009~Trip Report Link**

[mommytothreeboys]

So, I celebrated my 39th on Sunday. (And yes, my REAL 39th!) I thought I'd share a little of the celebration with you.

On Saturday night, my DH took me out to a nice dinner at a restaurant my kids would have hated! It was SO delicious! I had sea scallops on a bed of pasta topped with scampi sauce.....YUMM!! DH had a haddock dish....fish, of course! LOL! (I hate fish and never cook it so he takes full advantage of eating it when we go out!) OOhh....forgot we started with an Artichoke French appetizer...I love artichokes! I didn't even take my camera so I have no food pics...sorry. It was a very nice dinner though and it was good to have some alone time with the hubby!

On Sunday, DH let me sleep in while he got up and got the kids ready for church. Isaiah, DS11, cooked me a yummmy breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, and coffee. At church, the whole congregation joined in singing Happy Birthday....they put a pic of Mickey Mouse on the big video screen with the words "Happy Birthday Missy." Slightly embarrassing, but I LOVED IT!!!

When we got home, DH cooked me a delicious dinner....ALL BY HIMSELF!! He made marinated sirloin steaks, twice baked potatoes and salad. The meal began with his famous French Onion Soup which I love! He makes it from scratch and it is so good! He also baked me a birthday cake. I must say I am very lucky and blessed to have him!

Ok...on to the presents. DH, as wonderful as he is, is not a planner! He waited too long to order one of my gifts, therefore, I did not have it on my birthday. However, I did get something that day.......see pic below!

LOL! Yes, he and the boys got me a new Guitar Hero game. Some background...we got Guitar Hero World Tour for the boys as a Christmas gift with money my grandmother sent. Much to my surprise.....I LOVE to play it! It's got some great 80s tunes that bring back great memories and, long story short, I have a Guitar Hero problem! Next to these boards, it's my next great addiction! So....they chose a new game for me so I can have some new songs to rock out to! So funny, I know, but it's fun! So sue me.

The other gift I didn't get on Sunday I did receive in the mail today. I picked the color, size, sent DH the link to the website to order them, and gave him the coupon code to save 15%....I told you he's not a planner! Here's the pic.....

YAY!! New Crocs for Disney! Before everyone gets worked up and ready to take their respective sides of the Croc argument, let me say I LOVE MY CROCS! I bought my first pair 2 years ago for our first Disney trip. Something you should know about me is that I am frugal...I try hard to save money where I can and to get good deals. So....having never had a pair of these shoes before I could not see spending $30-$40 on shoes I may or may not like. I bought a pair of Airwalks....the Payless version. I wore them every day of our trip and fell in love with them! I continued to wear them all summer long, all fall, into the winter and again all last spring and summer. I think I got my $15 worth don't you? They are still in fair shape, but I wanted a new pair for this upcoming trip....and this time I got the real deal! Croc Caymans in Celery.....not Lime...too bright for my taste! I can't wait to start breaking them in!

Just when I think my birthday is over, I get another SURPRISE on Monday morning! My mom and my grandma drove from Pennsylvania to spend the day with me! My DH did hint around that something might be going down, so it wasn't a COMPLETE surprise but it was awesome! They took me to lunch and we just spent the day talking and visiting.....I am very close to my family and especially my mom and gram, so it was a great day!

So that's it, my 39th birthday. I know it wasn't all that exciting, but it was very nice to have a day that was about other people taking care of me rather than the other way around!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

I need to get caught up; I have a writing deadline tonight, though.

I had to throw in that I love the throw back picture! The ninja turtles were some of my fav characters to meet back then!! (Mah; does that mean I'm getting old?? )

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

What a wonderful birthday for you.

Love the Crocs. I have my first pair now and am looking forward to trying them out at WDW this June.

You seem to have a great family.

Have a great week.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Awww, sounds like an EXCELLENT birthday! Glad you had a nice weekend.

I love the crocs, I am thinking about getting a pair for myself, I never had any. I get them for my kids every summer, but I think it's time for my own.

 

[Villainess]

Sounds like a wonderful birthday!!!! I have Crocs sandals - I prefer them to the clogs, but they are very comfy! I wear them instead of sneakers when I take my walks with the kids.

 

[dusty-the-disneydad]

We are going in April also. I really like your trip report and am subscribing. Keep up the good writing!!

 

[carissanboys]

It sounds like a wonderful birthday Missy!

I'm not as big of a fan of crocs as I use to be (although I wear my cleo crocs - sandals - all summer long), but the best thing about them is that they DON'T STINK!!! I can't wear leather shoes without socks or else they get really rank, but that's never a problem with crocs.

 

[trinaweena]

happy birthday!

you should really post pictures of your binder! It makes me sad I don't have one

 

[DisMomAmy]

Hello!! I don't remember which PTR or TR we "met" on, but I finally got over here to read your report. I'm enjoying it so far! I love how you had your boys add their comments.

That's funny about your DH's bonus... that's how we are paying for our trip and without realizing it, I planned our trip with a payment due date of March 13th - DH gets his bonus on March 12th!!

I've also enjoyed hearing about what you have in your Disney Box. I have yet to start my box but your ideas are great - I definitely need to get the over the door shoe hanger thingy and a pop up hamper! This is our first time staying on-site so we are used to the larger accommodations of our off-site timeshare condos. We need all the space saving tips we can get!!

We are doing the surprise thing this year - only because the kids were wound up about the trip way too far ahead of time before our last trip. We'll tell them a couple weeks ahead - probably around Easter. I wish I could tell them now, but it's a good exercise in self control... Last time we did the same thing you did as a count down - the garland of construction paper links! I'm sure we'll be doing the same thing once the kids find out. Oooo... there's an idea for my surprise - I'll have a garland all made up and ready to go!!

Looking forward to counting down the days to my trip along with you.

Oh.... and Happy First 39th Birthday!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

I need to get caught up; I have a writing deadline tonight, though.

I had to throw in that I love the throw back picture! The ninja turtles were some of my fav characters to meet back then!! (Mah; does that mean I'm getting old?? )

Thanks Heather! My little brother who was 9 at the time loved the TMNT and we did that whole meet and greet so we would have pics for him. He's 30 now with 3 boys of his own...YIKES!! Welcome to my PTR!! Glad to have you along for the ride!

What a wonderful birthday for you.

Love the Crocs. I have my first pair now and am looking forward to trying them out at WDW this June.

You seem to have a great family.

Have a great week.

Awww, sounds like an EXCELLENT birthday! Glad you had a nice weekend.

I love the crocs, I am thinking about getting a pair for myself, I never had any. I get them for my kids every summer, but I think it's time for my own.

Sounds like a wonderful birthday!!!! I have Crocs sandals - I prefer them to the clogs, but they are very comfy! I wear them instead of sneakers when I take my walks with the kids.

Thanks everyone! It really was a great birthday!

We are going in April also. I really like your trip report and am subscribing. Keep up the good writing!!

Hi there and welcome!

It sounds like a wonderful birthday Missy!

I'm not as big of a fan of crocs as I use to be (although I wear my cleo crocs - sandals - all summer long), but the best thing about them is that they DON'T STINK!!! I can't wear leather shoes without socks or else they get really rank, but that's never a problem with crocs.

Oh man..I have the stanky feet issue too! LOL! That is one of the things I love about the Crocs...Jeff doesn't want to throw my shoes out on the porch at the end of the day! LOL!

happy birthday!

you should really post pictures of your binder! It makes me sad I don't have one

Look for my next update...I took pics just for you!

Hello!! I don't remember which PTR or TR we "met" on, but I finally got over here to read your report. I'm enjoying it so far! I love how you had your boys add their comments.

That's funny about your DH's bonus... that's how we are paying for our trip and without realizing it, I planned our trip with a payment due date of March 13th - DH gets his bonus on March 12th!!

I've also enjoyed hearing about what you have in your Disney Box. I have yet to start my box but your ideas are great - I definitely need to get the over the door shoe hanger thingy and a pop up hamper! This is our first time staying on-site so we are used to the larger accommodations of our off-site timeshare condos. We need all the space saving tips we can get!!

We are doing the surprise thing this year - only because the kids were wound up about the trip way too far ahead of time before our last trip. We'll tell them a couple weeks ahead - probably around Easter. I wish I could tell them now, but it's a good exercise in self control... Last time we did the same thing you did as a count down - the garland of construction paper links! I'm sure we'll be doing the same thing once the kids find out. Oooo... there's an idea for my surprise - I'll have a garland all made up and ready to go!!

Looking forward to counting down the days to my trip along with you.

Oh.... and Happy First 39th Birthday!

Hi Amy! How fun to have you here! I've seen you on a couple other PTRs!
Looking forward to counting down together!

 

[mousescrapper]

I'll be back.

The 2yr old is in the garbage, laundry is to be done and I have an appt in 20 minutes....oh well another bit of Disney certiantly won't hurt!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

I finally got my own Mickey Mail! I've been reading about everyone else getting Disney mail and, I won't lie, I was JEALOUS! I want my own! Well, thanks to my wonderful DH, we got some! I did not order the planning DVD because I didn't think I really needed it, but DH went on and ordered one anyway! It's a good thing he DOESN'T listen to me sometimes! Here's a pic of my very own Mickey Mail!

Of course I watched the DVD right away! So fun! The Kim Possible Adventure caught my eye. I had heard about it on the boards, but it never really caught my attention because my boys don't watch KimPossible. But it looked really cool on the DVD so it may be something we check into. We LOVE World Showcase and it might be a cool and different way to experience it. Any thoughts on that from anyone out there??

I also received my MouseEars personalized family DISign this week. Here it is and it's awesome!

I am planning on making a T-shirt for myself and possibly a tote bag. I also used it for the first page of my binder.

Speaking of binder....Trinaweena, this is for you. I was asked to post pics of my binder. It's not that fancy, unlike mousescrapper's which is awesome, but it's functional and I totally rely on it! SO...here it is!

I don't remember where I found this binder, but I liked the stars on it. I used it in 2007 as well.

This is my DISign! I love it and it's perfect for the first page of my planning binder.

My To-Do list. An idea which I totally stole from mousescrapper!

I have the binder divided into sections using tab dividers. The sections are: Pre-Trip and Budget info which is for things like budget calculations, preliminary trip info, to-do list, etc. Airline Info which is for my flight information including confirmation numbers, flight times, reminders to call and check-in online, etc. Resort Info which is for maps from POR, room request info, any special events going on during our trip, etc. Dining with any ADRs and their numbers, a list of restaurant choices on the QSDP, snack ideas from the DIS, etc. Park Schedules and Touring Plans which contains an EMH schedule, a print-out of the UG crowd calendar, park hours and parade/fireworks times, our itinerary, and touring plans once I have them set!

The last section of my binder is for my Trip Journal. I print a page for each day of our vacation and we fill it out while we are there. When we come home, I re-copy the page and all the info onto a clean trip journal page and put them into my scrapbook. I love that we can write what we liked and didn't like, what we bought, what we ate, etc. It was fun to look over these when we got back from our last trip and re-live the memories!

So that's it, the Binder! It also has pockets on the front and back cover that I use to keep index cards, tipping envelopes, our personalized map, and any other loose planning materials.

Well, not feeling great today. I have a sore throat and an earache, odd. I think I'm going to go have some tea and take a little rest before the boys get home! Thanks for reading everyone!

 

[DisMomAmy]

GREAT UPDATE!!

I copied down some of this stuff - I know I've seen mousescrapper's stuff, but your post came at just the right time. Now that we're under three months I need to get moving on some of my "projects" - kids autograph books, special planning books for the kids, getting my daily plans and ADRs onto index cards, etc. I'm in need of a list - and the one you posted fits the bill! Thanks!! (Thanks mousescrapper too!!)

 

[HeatherBelle614]

I love getting Mouse Mail!

WHERE did you get that DISign? I'm still new to all of this, so I'm learning. That's precious!! I'd love to have one made!

And, you've inspired me to make a binder! I need a way to keep things secret from my mom, so the more distractions I have to work on, the better! (Of course, I guess studying for my LSAT is a good one, but I'd rather plan our trip!!)

 

[nu2wdisneyw]

Okay, I started reading to day and I am suscribing!! I am going to start one today. Our plans are still in the air, but what better way to plan than with my fellow DISers!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

GREAT UPDATE!!

I copied down some of this stuff - I know I've seen mousescrapper's stuff, but your post came at just the right time. Now that we're under three months I need to get moving on some of my "projects" - kids autograph books, special planning books for the kids, getting my daily plans and ADRs onto index cards, etc. I'm in need of a list - and the one you posted fits the bill! Thanks!! (Thanks mousescrapper too!!)

Yay...glad I could help! Don't you love being under 3 months???!!!!

I love getting Mouse Mail!

WHERE did you get that DISign? I'm still new to all of this, so I'm learning. That's precious!! I'd love to have one made!

And, you've inspired me to make a binder! I need a way to keep things secret from my mom, so the more distractions I have to work on, the better! (Of course, I guess studying for my LSAT is a good one, but I'd rather plan our trip!!)

Go to the DISign board in the Just For Fun forum....just scroll down past all the trip planning stuff and you'll come to it. Go to a post that says MouseEars personalized families...the person's name is Tracie. She's awesome! PM me if you need more info!

Okay, I started reading to day and I am suscribing!! I am going to start one today. Our plans are still in the air, but what better way to plan than with my fellow DISers!

Hi and Glad you're here!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

I'll be back.

The 2yr old is in the garbage, laundry is to be done and I have an appt in 20 minutes....oh well another bit of Disney certiantly won't hurt!

2 year olds in the garbage...GOOD TIMES!

Come back when you can...I'll be here!

 

[nu2wdisneyw]

I'm not sure anyone is reading this, but it's proven to be therapeutic for me so I'm gonna keep right on going! I'd love any feedback though if anyone is out there!!

So we knew that we were planning to go back to WDW in spring of 2009, but that was all we knew. In 2007, we took the kids out of school for a week. At the time they were in Kindergarten, 4th grade, and 6th grade. It worked out fine then, but as the time passed I realized that it was just not going to be a good idea to take them out of school this trip. My oldest, DS13, is in 8th grade and taking accelerated classes and for him to miss a week would be devastating. So.....we made the decision to go over our school's Spring Break....April 20-24. Now we have the time frame, let's make the reservation!

My mom called me in late November and told me about the 4/3 deal. I had heard about it, but thought it was just for Value resorts so really didn't think about it twice considering we are a family of 5. Then I decided to do some more research...good thing I did! I called Disney and found that we could indeed use the deal for a stay at POR and that the blackout dates for Spring Break ended the 18th......OK....book us for the 19th through the 27th! Now for details.....

Dining......we did the DDP on our 2007 trip and loved it. We are on a more limited budget this trip, so decided to look into our options. We found the new Counter Service Plan and that is PERFECT!! We like a sit-down meal now and then, but cost wise, it is less expensive to pay for one or two meals out of pocket than to pay for the DDP which now does not include tips. So...we added the Counter Service dining to our ressie and are very excited! I LOVE the snacks so getting two of them is a real treat! And we all get a mug.....BONUS!!

The one thing I have not done is make an airline reservation. I have been tracking the prices of flights out of both Buffalo and Rochester and they seem to be going down. I am very irritated at the new Airtran baggage fee, so am seriously considering flying Southwest. A family of 5 needs luggage and to add $15 per bag each way just seems ridiculous! I'm not worried about getting good tickets, just anxious to finally have all the plans made!

As much as I wanted to...I didn't let myself do any SERIOUS planning until after Christmas. I knew that I would get the New 2009 Unofficial Guide and then the real fun would begin!

I now have that little gem in my hot little hands and I'm so ready to start planning out our trip...day by day!

Side note: I got those cool little bottles of bubbles that go on the kids lanyards for them and they're in my "FOR DISNEY" box! I love collecting little things for the trip!

I am reading so keep writing!!! I see that you are looking for flights from the Rochester/Buffalo area...I AM FROM ROCHESTER!!! I live in Northern VA now though, but all of my family is in Rochester. It is definitely a small world!

 

[nu2wdisneyw]

LOL!!

We are not a "matchy-matchy" family. Let me start by making that clear. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.....! ) But my boys would probably laugh in my face if I got them anything that matched anything their brother might be wearing. Case in point, my oldest son (DS13) is smaller than my middle son (DS11) and it's definitely a sore point for him so we don't discuss it! Anyway...he gets the clothes that my middle son grows out of, but if it is something he finds to be too "uniquely Isaiah" he won't put it on his body. It doesn't help at all that DS13 has a very different sense of style from DS11. But I digress....the "matchy-matchy" thing just wouldn't fly in my family.

Or would it!!

I tried to skirt this issue this year by getting them "special" shirts for our Disney trip. They don't necessarily match, which is a definite plus, but they are very similar and different all at the same time. SO...we're all happy! I get my matched look and the boys get to be unique....WIN-WIN!!

Here's a picture of the shirts I surprised everyone with for Christmas.

I should say it's a miracle of sorts that I didn't give them the shirts before Christmas morning. I happen to be the worst secret gift giver on the planet. I get so excited I just want to give the gift right away. I could never pull off a "surprise" Disney trip as I've seen some do here on the DIS. I couldn't take it and would explode! But...I did it. I purchased the shirts online at Disney shopping and carefully picked out each character for each person. I made them all open them at the same time on Christmas morning...and I almost burst with excitement. Over shirts....I know....I'm easy to please! It doesn't take much to make me giddy! My plan is for all of us to wear them on our first MK day. And they'll all like it....if it kills them, or I do!

Next up......daily plans! To EMH or not to EMH, that is the question! I'll answer that and oh so much more....stay tuned!

We are not a matchy family either! I can get away with it a little with my boys, but DH is not buying it!! II like you idea though and I think that just might wokr for us as well.

 

[nu2wdisneyw]

So I've introduced our cast of characters (so appropriate in our case!) and given some history...I guess now it's time to start talking specifics! Here we go!!

Like I said before we are doing the Quick Service DDP, so we don't have a lot of ADR's to make. However, we do want one character/sit down meal so we will be paying out of pocket for that. I would prefer a character meal...we did 2 on our last trip and thoroughly enjoyed both. I was trying to decide between Chef Mickey's and Ohana because we did not do any resort restaurants on our last trip. My thought was that we would do it on Arrival day as it would be a nice way to "warm up" to being in Disney and would not require using a park admission day. DH wanted to do a meal with some different characters and since DS11 LOVES Stitch, we decided on Ohana. However, much to my disappointment, Ohana only has characters at Breakfast. So much for Arrival day! Ok....well now what??? Still set on Ohana, I think we are going to do it on our first MK day instead. I can't call and make an ADR until January 19th, but my dialing finger will be ready! WOO-HOO!! Our one and only ADR out of the way....moving on......

Daily Schedule: I printed out the parade and daily schedule from wdwinfo and got down to deciding which park on which day. We have added the water park option this time so that adds a little bit of a planning twist. Here's what I have so far....

Arrival Day (April 19th, Sunday)--because we don't have airline tickets as of yet, this day is up in the air....LOL, I made a joke!! I hope to arrive in Orlando by mid morning and take DME to POR, hopefully arriving just after lunch time-ish. We will probably spend that day enjoying the pool, maybe taking the boat to DTD or possible hitting a waterpark in the late afternoon.

Day 2 (April 20th, Monday)--Early EMH at Animal Kingdom. Here is my philosphy on EMH. I LOVE them! We did both early and late EMH on our last trip and I don't regret even one. This time we are going to switch it up and try to do the opposite EMH from last trip, for example, we did late EMH at AK on our last trip, so we will try early EMH this time. This will be good for our first full park day because AK closes at 6 and we can go back to the resort and hit the pool or do some exploring!

Day 3 (April 21st, Tuesday)--Early EMH at Disney Studios. We LOVE Fantasmic and there is a show at 8:30. Awesome!

Day 4 (April 22nd, Wednesday)--Breakfast at Ohana and MK. The park is open 9-9, with Wishes at 9:00.

Day 5 (April 23rd, Thursday)--Water Park and DTD. This is our non-park day, so we will do the waterparks and shopping, etc. We did not have a non-park day on our last trip and wanted to be sure to schedule one this trip.

Day 6 (April 24th, Friday)--Late EMH at Epcot. We totally love the World Showcase and want to devote more time to it this trip. Epcot is one of my boys' favorite parks so we have 2 full days planned here. Because we can stay late, we may end up heading back to POR at some point for some rest, pool, exploring, etc. We'll see!

Day 7 (April 25th, Saturday)--Epcot again and maybe water park.

Day 8 (April 26th, Sunday)--Late EMH at MK. We are SO excited about this because we did early EMH last time and are looking forward to being at MK late! Spectro is at 9 and we can skip Wishes since we saw it earlier in the week. I would skip Spectro as well because we saw it last trip...well, most of us. My DS (12 at the time), was not feeling well the night we had scheduled to see it and my DH took him back to the resort. Needless to say, the MOM who plans everything was devastated, but DH insisted that I "let it go".....go figure!! So....I guess we should plan to see it this trip. I have learned my lesson though and will not attempt to see it from Main Street. We had a terrible experience last time with very little space, etc. We'll definitely find a better viewing spot if we see it this time!

Day 9, Departure Day (April 27th, Monday)--again not sure about this day because we have no plane tickets yet. I'm hoping to depart Orlando around 7pm or so, so we should have most of the day to tour. Since we have 8 day park tickets we could do a park or maybe a water park....gonna play this one by ear for now.


That's what I have so far. Very tentative, but at least it's a start! Oh...and I may take our park days down from 8 to 7...won't save a ton of money, but every little bit helps!


My Disney Binder: Ok, I'll admit that I have a binder. It has dividers for Restaurant info, Resort info, Park Schedules and Touring Plans, Airline info, Budget info, and our Trip Journal. I love it!! I am a list-girl by nature and office supplies of all kinds make me giddy. Highlighters, post-its, pens, paper clips... you name it.. I love it! Go ahead, laugh! Most of my friends do, but I can take it! LOL!

So that's it for now....Let me know what you think...I'd love any suggestions!

Your plan sound good. Not too detailed, but you have a plan.