Now a Trip Report!!! Will We Stay or Will We Go? A Thanksgiving Pre-Trip/Trip Report

[jillyb]

Catching back up. Love the Halloween shirts, notebooks, pens and passport. Everything looks great.

You are almost at 30 days.

I know! I can hardly stand it!!!! I pulled the suitcases out tonight to air them out. I've got the girls bathing suits and flip flops in the room with the suitcases. Bought some more t-shirts today and will be working on those soon. Alison has picked out the autograph cards she wants. Tonight I've been working on Alison's clipboard for her autograph cards. It looks pretty good so far.

Just catching up...
Walgreen's is a treasure trove of Disney goodies. We have shopped to decorate our balcony for the Halloween trip and Christmas trip. So much good stuff!

Looks like your conference went just fine! It sounds like you are supportive of the teacher and that's all most of us ever want.
We have conferences in another week, then off to Disney!

I Walgreen's! Hope to see picturs of the decorated balcony for your trips.

I'm glad the conference went well. Clay and I both try to be supportive of Hannah's teachers, even if we don't always agree with them! LOL Good luck with your conferences.

 

[jillyb]

My ticker says one month but that's not right! This time next month will be the day before we leave and I'll be a ball of excitement, as will Hannah and Alison. Clay will probably be dreading the long drive and worrying about something going wrong with a project while he's gone. I'm sure my boss will have a million things for me to do that day.

We had a semi-sorta busy weekend. Saturday I did the grocery shopping and bought the final t-shirts (well, I still need one more), a pack of transfer paper and ink cartridges. MIL's church was having a Fall Festival and Bazaar so we hung out there for a while. Afterwards we went to Target to buy Alison a pair of decent shoes to wear on our trip. Last trip she ended up with blisters because 1) she had new sandals that didn't get broken in before the trip and 2) she didn't tell me before they got bad that she was getting blisters. I told everyone before and during the trip to let me know if they felt like they were getting blisters because I had band-aides and moleskin but did anybody listen to me? Nooooooooooooooo Clay says he doesn't want a repeat this trip. Hopefully she'll wear them like she's supposed to. I also bought her some bras (not only for the trip but for our house). I'm probably going to have to buy her some socks as well. I've had a pack of panties stashed back for a couple months now. I got travel toothbrushes for me and the girls as well.

I pulled the suitcases out this weekend and have them opened up and airing out. I've also started "the pile" of stuff that can be packed now.

Yesterday we went out to eat with Clay's family for his birthday, although it's not until Thursday.

I finished up our t-shirts yesterday. They all turned out really good. I haven't taken pictures yet and will try to do that tonight and get them posted. I re-made Alison and Hannah's "Getting Wild in the Animal Kingdom" t-shirts. The first ones just weren't popping! I put them on black t-shirts and they look much, much better. I still need to get a black t-shirt for me. I'm also thinking of re-doing Clay's "Drinking around the World" t-shirt for the same reason. Also, I noticed the transfer is peeling and he hasn't even worn it yet! I also did the clipboards for the autograph cards. They turned out really good! Well, Hannah's has a few spots because I dropped it in the grass after spraying it with acrylic spray. You ever tried to get grass and dirt off out of that stuff??!! It ain't easy! I'll try to post pictures of those tonight too.

Tomorrow will begin the 30 day countdown and I'll be doing "this time next month we'll be...." posts.

Until then...hope everyone has a good Monday!

 

[mousescrapper]

I'll be on the look out for your post of the autograph books. Have you been able to find an autograph card with Belle AND the Beast on it? I thought I'd seen one somewhere and now I can't find one to save my life. I can find plenty of separate autograph cards but not one of them together. From what I understand Belle signs for the Beast so it would make sense to have an autograph card with both of them on it. Guess I may need to put in a request. I was looking for a separate Pumba card too but all I could find was one of them together. Maybe Timon signs for Pumba? Or does Timon even sign?? This is all backwards! LOL

Yes that is right Beast doesn't sign...I looked at the saved autograph cards I have and I only have Belle and Beast seperate too...not sure on Timon, we have never seen him before (besides at FotLK show)

what Barbara is not going in Nov anymore??? what happend...have to check out her PTR next.

I know! I can hardly stand it!!!! I pulled the suitcases out tonight to air them out. I've got the girls bathing suits and flip flops in the room with the suitcases. Bought some more t-shirts today and will be working on those soon. Alison has picked out the autograph cards she wants. Tonight I've been working on Alison's clipboard for her autograph cards. It looks pretty good so far.

SUITCASES OUT love it...mine our coming out this weekend too...Matt and Nathan will be camping w/ Scouts so I'll be busy w/ that...I love pre-packing!

My ticker says one month but that's not right! This time next month will be the day before we leave

Wed is 30 days for us....can't believe it!

I finished up our t-shirts yesterday. They all turned out really good. I haven't taken pictures yet and will try to do that tonight and get them posted. I re-made Alison and Hannah's "Getting Wild in the Animal Kingdom" t-shirts. The first ones just weren't popping! I put them on black t-shirts and they look much, much better. I still need to get a black t-shirt for me. I'm also thinking of re-doing Clay's "Drinking around the World" t-shirt for the same reason. Also, I noticed the transfer is peeling and he hasn't even worn it yet! I also did the clipboards for the autograph cards. They turned out really good! Well, Hannah's has a few spots because I dropped it in the grass after spraying it with acrylic spray. You ever tried to get grass and dirt off out of that stuff??!! It ain't easy! I'll try to post pictures of those tonight too.

Oh boy I can't wait to see all the fun stuff!

 

[luvmy2babies]

Thursday is 30 days here and I can't believe how fast it is going even though I knew once school started, my perception of time moving would sky rocket.

There is a lot done, but so much left to do. I really think I need another day off from work.

 

[jillyb]

Thursday is 30 days here and I can't believe how fast it is going even though I knew once school started, my perception of time moving would sky rocket.

There is a lot done, but so much left to do. I really think I need another day off from work.

I'm with you on another day off from work!

 

[jillyb]

Here are the clipboards (Hannah's = Minnie Mouse and Alison's = Tinkerbell):

front:

back:

They both put the stickers on themselves. I didn't realize that the Minnie Mouse stickers weren't flat until they came out of the package and it was "fun" coating them with modge podge. Thanks again to laurabora for providing the instructions for this.

T-shirts:

Hannah's t-shirt (Alison has one too but only showing Hannah's):

Ugh! Is that thing crooked???!! Oh well...nothing I can do about it now! LOL I wish I didn't have the white in the middle like that but I wasn't about to try to trim around that! I was just glad I trimmed around the ears without too much damage! LOL

We'll wear these on one of our MK days:

Re-do of Animal Kingdom shirts (this is Alison's):

Doesn't this look so much better than the white t-shirt??

Here's the suitcases, travel pillows, "the pile"...and Hannah!:

I think she's ready to go!

I've made a list of the adult beverages Clay and I want to try. Here's Jill and Clay's Drink List:

Epcot

Rose & Crown – Welsh Dragon
Germany – beers (Clay - I'm not a big beer drinker)
France – Grey Goose slushie
Mexico – Margarita
Coral Reef – Magical Star Cocktail

Animal Kindgom

Yak & Yeti – Yak Attack
Dawa Bar – Lost on Safari

Polynesian
Ohana – Lapu lapu

If anybody has any to add let me know!

 

[jillyb]

30 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did a little dance and gave a little squeal this morning as Hannah pulled off the number "31" today. I figured she'd be excited too but all I got was "You're a freak Mama".

So.....this day next month we'll be heading to the World!!! Clay will probably sleep in while I get Hannah up and ready for school. (So unfair!) After Hannah is on the bus and on her way to school, I'll head back to the house and do the last minute packing so Clay can load everything up. Both girls have to be in school for half a day in order to be counted. Hannah's lunch is around 11:30 and then they go to recess after lunch. We'll pick her up at 12:30, which will be when they're coming back in for recess. This will work perfectly because she will have already been fed and had some time to burn off some energy. Alison can be picked up at 1:00, which again will work perfectly because by the time we sign Hannah out and drive to Alison's school it should be 1:00 or close to it. Then we'll be on our way!

I figure it will be close to 1:30 by the time we hit the road. The girls can watch movies, read or play on their DS. I want to have some snacks and drinks for everybody as well to cut down on stops. It should be 5:30 or 6:00 by the time we hit Georgia and we'll stop somewhere in Georgia for dinner and then back on the road. I'd like to get the girls in their pjs at some point...might have them do this after dinner. If not after dinner maybe at the Florida rest area. I'm hoping we'll arrive at Pop around 11:30...midnight at the latest. Of course if we can get there sooner that would be great! But, I'm planning on the drive taking at least 10 hours because I don't know how many times we'll have to stop. I think on our first trip we stopped 2 or 3 times and I'm hoping we can make it without so many stops this time around.

Tomorrow: Our first full day!!!!

 

[mousescrapper]

love the clipboards they are very cute! and the shirts are great especially the Coolest Stepmom one...


Happy 30 days.... we'll be celebrating our 30 days milestone tomorrow~

and I love the suitcases shot...now if I could go down w/ just two that would be amazing!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hurray for Thirty Days!!!

 

[Poolrat]

I've made a list of the adult beverages Clay and I want to try. Here's Jill and Clay's Drink List:

Epcot

Rose & Crown – Welsh Dragon
Germany – beers (Clay - I'm not a big beer drinker)
France – Grey Goose slushie
Mexico – Margarita
Coral Reef – Magical Star Cocktail

Animal Kindgom

Yak & Yeti – Yak Attack
Dawa Bar – Lost on Safari

Polynesian
Ohana – Lapu lapu

If anybody has any to add let me know!

I still have not been able to try the Welsh Dragon.
Don't forget the Tequila bar in Mexico.
DHS has drinks by the backlot express. This way you can get drinks in 3 out of 4 parks.

 

[jillyb]

I still have not been able to try the Welsh Dragon.
Don't forget the Tequila bar in Mexico.
DHS has drinks by the backlot express. This way you can get drinks in 3 out of 4 parks.

Yeah...as much as I'd love to hit the tequila bar in Mexico we may have to pass. Otherwise a picture of me either passed out or puking will show up on someone's trip report and I'll never be able to show my face again. Plus, that place is expensive!

I didn't know there were drinks by the Backlot express. Thanks for the tip! Now I just need to find the Backlot express!

 

[jillyb]

This day next month will be our first park day!!!!!! And we'll be spending it Epcot in the World Showcase. We loved Epcot on our first trip but didn't really get to explore the WS. When I started planning this trip that's one of the things Clay requested - time in the WS. I'm happy to oblige! LOL

Since we'll have a late arrival the night before we'll sleep in this morning. Breakfast will be in the Pop food court and then we'll head over to Epcot. We drove to all the parks on our first visit and plan to do the same this time. I'm hoping that even with sleeping in that we can be there before WS rope drop. If not, I'm sure we'll be there shortly after RD.

The plan for the day is to just walk around the WS and soak up the atmosphere. Lunch will probably be a snack somewhere. I'd like to try the Kringla Bakerie in Norway. We have a 5:40 dinner ADR at Rose & Crown (originally was for 5:30). We'll take our time eating dinner (ha!) and stroll around a bit more until it's time to find a spot for Illuminations. I'd like to do this tonight so we won't have to do it on our second Epcot day. But, if Clay and/or the girls want to call it a night we'll head back to Pop so we'll be well rested for the next day. Cause the next day we'll be rope dropping Animal Kingdom!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Your first day at Epcot sounds lovely! I want to eat at the Norway bakery some time, too. The pictures I have seen of the food there are fabulous! Have you eaten at Rose and Crown before? Don't forget the Welsh Dragon is a very refreshing drink!

 

[jillyb]

Your first day at Epcot sounds lovely! I want to eat at the Norway bakery some time, too. The pictures I have seen of the food there are fabulous! Have you eaten at Rose and Crown before? Don't forget the Welsh Dragon is a very refreshing drink!

Rose & Crown will be a first for us. This was one of the first places Clay picked out when we were deciding on dining. The Welsh Dragon will be consumed that evening!

 

[MeMom]

This day next month will be our first park day!!!!!! And we'll be spending it Epcot in the World Showcase. We loved Epcot on our first trip but didn't really get to explore the WS. When I started planning this trip that's one of the things Clay requested - time in the WS. I'm happy to oblige! LOL


We'll take our time eating dinner (ha!) and stroll around a bit more until it's time to find a spot for Illuminations. I'd like to do this tonight so we won't have to do it on our second Epcot day. But, if Clay and/or the girls want to call it a night we'll head back to Pop so we'll be well rested for the next day. Cause the next day we'll be rope dropping Animal Kingdom!!

We didn't get to spend nearly enough time in World Showcase this trip. We did a little shopping in Japan for a school activity and we ate a few F&W items, but then we had to leave to go meet our cousins over in Future World. I hope you get to spend a lot of time exploring all the nooks and crannies of several countries. There is so, so much to see.

Maybe if the others are ready to go back to the room and you aren't, you could just hang back and take pictures and go back a little later. It might be a nice few minutes for you alone.

I looked for the Thanksgiving Minnie and Mickey for this year, but they weren't out yet.

 

[jillyb]

This day next month will be our first day at AK. I can't wait!!

Originally, the park hours were 9-7 but there has been a recent change to the November park hours and AK is now open 8-7. My boss had a telephone hearing this afternoon and I was all caught up on my work so I spent my afternoon tweaking our plans based on the new hours.

I really want to be there for RD at 8:00 but, since I plan on staying the whole day, that might be too long of a day. I'm thinking of getting there around 9:00. I've even had it suggested to sleep in that day and arrive around 10:00. I can't wait that long! I guess I'll just play it by ear on whether we do RD or do a later arrival. If I go with the later arrival it will be more like between 8:45 and 9:00.

The plan for the day is:

Get GAD FP exchange cards at Will Call
Ride EE standby and get 4 GAD FPs for later use
Primeval Whirl
Triceratop Spin
DINOSAUR and get 4 GAD FPs for later use
EE w/GAD FPs
Grab GAD FPs for ITTBAB
Grab GAD FPs for KS
Tusker House breakfast @ 10:20 (this is why I want to do RD; we'd have at least 2 hours of park time before breakfast)
KS
Pangani Forest Trail
DINOSAUR w/GAD FPs
ITTBAB w/GAD FPs
Options before parade: 1) Hannah and I go see FotLK and Clay and Alison can do their own thing, 2) All go to Camp Minnie Mickey for the character meet and greet or 3) walk around the Tree of Life
(Now that I think about it the walk around the Tree of Life would fit perfectly here since we'll be coming out of ITTBAB)
Jammin' Jungle Parade
Maharajah Jungle Trek
Yak & Yeti dinner @ 5:30
leisurely walk out of what will hopefully be a practically empty park and see the closing show.
Back to Pop for an early night because our next day we'll be rope droping Epcot!

 

[Charleston Princess]

You know I love Animal Kingdom days!!! Will the parade be the Christmas one?

 

[luvmy2babies]

Wow, I can't believe we are into the "this time next month" entries. It is so exciting.

I have a few things I can pack now, but not a lot. I'm getting a new larger suitcase this weekend in hopes of just taking one or at least only needed an additional one small enough for dd to pull from the van to the check-in counter. We'll see how that goes.

I'm planning a full day for WS as well. Not like we've been, but dd did say she wanted to travel the world. WS is the only way that's happening right now. AK opens at 8am the day we're there too. So excited about that. We have a 9:40 ADR at Tusker House, but it's the one I can't seem to modify to include my son, so I hope we can get in, but I'll have a backup plan. An 8am opening should allow us to hit Camp Minnie Mickey straight away though.

TGIF!!! More freedom to plan.

 

[jillyb]

You know I love Animal Kingdom days!!! Will the parade be the Christmas one?

Yep...I know you love Animal Kingdom days too! Sadly the Christmas parade doesn't start until 11/26 so we'll miss it. Guess that means we'll just have to go a Christmas one year so we can see it!

Wow, I can't believe we are into the "this time next month" entries. It is so exciting.

I have a few things I can pack now, but not a lot. I'm getting a new larger suitcase this weekend in hopes of just taking one or at least only needed an additional one small enough for dd to pull from the van to the check-in counter. We'll see how that goes.

I'm planning a full day for WS as well. Not like we've been, but dd did say she wanted to travel the world. WS is the only way that's happening right now. AK opens at 8am the day we're there too. So excited about that. We have a 9:40 ADR at Tusker House, but it's the one I can't seem to modify to include my son, so I hope we can get in, but I'll have a backup plan. An 8am opening should allow us to hit Camp Minnie Mickey straight away though.

TGIF!!! More freedom to plan.

I can't believe we're into the "this time next month" either! November 19th needs to hurry up and get here!!!

Good luck with your suitcase shopping this weekend. I saw some really nice luggage at Target the other day but didn't look at the prices.

I bet it won't be a problem at Tusker House. You can probably just walk up and say you've got an extra person in your party and be fine. But it's always good to have a backup plan!

Woohoo for Friday and more freedom to plan!!!

 

[jillyb]

Here's the bag I got Alison at Target the other day:

front:

back:

Here's the bag Hannah will be using: