Only 615 Days and Counting!!! UPDATE 6-21 complete! New PTR added

Jackiemarie21 · Nov 15, 2013

Hello and Welcome to my second PTR! :wave2:

I just finished my first TR This is Literally The Best Trip Ever, and I was feeling very sad that it was over! So, I decided that even though we were not heading to WDW for 615 days I would start my PTR, because the planning has already started. Lets be honest, it actually started on the plane ride home from our last trip :rotfl:

!
So, what can you expect from this PTR? The normal planning stuff, ADRs, resorts, dates, park plans, etc. But I will also be sharing the custom outfits I make for my DD to wear on our trip (last trip there was 14 outfits for 7 days :lmao:

), Disney Movie nights, and other fun activities that keep us in the Disney spirit between trips! You never know there may be some other fun surprises in there too!

So, who are we?

This is us:

My DH, Bob: He is a social studies teacher, STUCO sponsor, part time professor and much more! Outside of Disney he loves the St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Rams, he is a huge local sports fan!
A brief history of his Disney travel: This trip will be his 6th Disney trip. His first was when he was a kid (that is a specific as he can get :lmao:

, MK and EPCOT were the only parks at that time, though), they stayed off sight and Bob hated every minute of it. He thought it was hot, boring and too girly (he was there with his two sisters). Once we met we went on our first vacation together to Los Angles and I insisted we spend a day at DL. He did enjoy that trip but was still not a Disney geek like me. The following year Bob had a conference in Orlando at the Swan so I went along with him. We went to the parks in the evenings after his conference obligations were met. He enjoyed that trip, but was still not totally sold. The next year we got married and I always wanted a Disney honeymoon and Bob wanted to try a cruise, so we went on the Disney Cruise for three nights and spent four nights at POFQ. This trip was awesome. He loved the cruise and tolerated the parks for me! Then in June 2010 we decided to take another big vacation before starting a family, so I talked Bob into WDW! We stayed at ASMo. We had a very nice trip and DH enjoyed it, but still did not love it like me. Then, this past July 2013 when our DD was two we took another trip, and you can read all about it in my TR. But, that was the trip that turned DH from someone how tolerated Disney, to someone who LOVES Disney! :lovestruc

He is now as obsessed with getting back to WDW as I am. We talk about it at least once a day, and try to save money everywhere we can to add to the fund!

Some of his favorites:
Disney Movie:Lilo and Stitch
Character: Stitch
Park: EPCOT this guy loves drinking around the world!
Ride: Big Thunder Mountain Rail Road
Disney Restaurant:'Ohana

Me, Jackie: I am a stay at home mom, but before having DD I was a teacher too. I taught Family and Consumer Science (what used to be Home Ec.), mostly sewing. I love sewing almost as mush as I love Disney! In fact, I love combing my love of Disney and sewing into making clothing for my DD to wear on our trips!
My Disney past:
This will be my 7th trip. When I was in first grade my best friend and her family went to WDW and she brought the pictures into show and tell. That was the first I ever heard of this amazing land, I went straight home and begged my parents to take me. They said no, it was too expensive. But it was all I asked for the next two Christmases and Birthdays so, my dad decided to find a way to get me there. A friend of his from work had a daughter working at MGM and she could get us free tickets. So, my dad finally made my wish come true! We stayed off sight and never even ate a meal in the parks, but WDW was everything I ever hoped it would be! My parents managed to find a way to get me back again two years later. I never stopped asking about going back but my parents wanted my brother and I to see other parts of the country, :eek:

whatever. So, we didn't go back again as a family. Fast forward ten years, I met DH and we started going on Disney trips again. From here on our trip history is the same (well, expect I LOVED the other trips, a lot!), so there is no need to repeat it here.

Some of my favorites:
Disney Movie: I can't pick just one, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Tangled and Lilo and Stitch
Character: Minnie Mouse
Park: Magic Kingdom with MGM ( I hate calling it Hollywood Studios) a close second
Ride: Tower of Terror!
Disney Restaurant:'Ohana and Cinderella's Royal Table

DD Charlotte: She is two and a half, and full of life. She is sassy, sweet, silly, smart, and absolutely adorable (well, that is what we think anyway!). Our last trip was her first and she loved it! Of course we had moments were she was overstimulated and crabby but overall, it was an amazing trip! She really loved meeting the costumed characters, but hated meeting the face characters.

Some of her favorites:
Disney Movie:Lilo and Stitch and Beauty and the Beast, although she is really starting to love Toy Story (Yee-Haw as she calls it) a lot too!
Character: Stitch and the Beast
Park: Magic Kingdom
Ride: Goofy's Barnstormer
Disney Restaurant:'Ohana (breakfast)

So, why are we waiting until July 2015? Well, this June my brother is getting married in Denver. That trip will take a large portion of our vacation budget for 2014. We have to travel in the summer (I will go more into this later), so that led us to July 2015 as our next trip to Disney. We would also like the time to save up more funds for this trip. On our last trip we stayed at the Poly, and loved it! We would like to stay again at deluxe or maybe the Ft. Wilderness cabins, so we need all the funds we can get. :rotfl:

It makes me sad that our trip is so far away, but writing a PTR helps me with my Disney Blues. So, I hope you will follow along with me through the ups and downs, changes and decisions, and preparations.

And since this update was so much text and only one pic, here is a bonus for you, DH and I on our Honeymoon in June 2007:

STLMickeyMom · Nov 15, 2013

Am I the first one? Woohoo!! You know I'm following along! Love the title! :rotfl:

MeeskaMomma · Nov 15, 2013

Joining in! :wave2:

Jackiemarie21 · Nov 24, 2013

STLMickeyMom said:
Am I the first one? Woohoo!! You know I'm following along! Love the title!

I thought you might be the first one!

Thank you!

MeeskaMomma said:
Joining in!

Whoa I have been MIA for awhile! I am so glad to have you along!

Jackiemarie21 · Nov 24, 2013

Movie Nights!

Before our last trip we really enjoyed having monthly movie nights. We would have a dinner that went along with the movie and sometimes an activity as well. It was a good way to help get us all excited about our trip and help DD become familiar with the characters she would be meeting! We have kept the tradition of a monthly movie night since returning from our trip, it help us curb our Disney blues and is great family time!

We skipped August, it was very busy for us. We had Winnie the Pooh in Sept. the Muppets in Oct, and Robin Hood in Nov.

Our Winnie the Pooh Night:

I used old books and an old piglet stuffie for decorations. I also made little signs for the food out of Popsicle sticks, with "pooh style" writing on them. For dinner we had tigger tales (homemade corndogs), pooh's puffed tators (tator tots), rabbits garden harvest (mixed berries, carrots and celery) and Piglets pumpkin woopie pies. Charlotte loved Winnie the Pooh (she had never seen anything Pooh before), it was the first movie night where she watched the entire movie! It brought back lots of memories for me and DH as we both remembered watching this same movies as kids.

The Muppets Movie Night:

For this one I went simple with the decor again and just used Ms. Piggie, Kermit and Fozie stuffies we had at home already. For food we had The Swedish Chef's Swedish meatballs, its not easy being green peas, Animal's tye-dye bread, and Rainbow connection jello. We all LOVED the movie. It was cute and funny. DH was a huge muppets fan as a kid and DD is now loving them too!

For Robin hood, I ran out of time and did not make any decorations and did not take any pics, sorry! But for dinner we had little John's beef stew, Friar Tucks biscuits and Maid Marion's strawberry shortcakes. I had never seen this one before, but it was so good! Dh also remembered this one from his childhood, and he liked it. Charlotte was very entertained but she has not asked to watch it again so I don't think it was her favorite.

Our next movie night will probably be a Christmas movie, not sure which one yet.

I will be back soon with more! Hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving!

Jackiemarie21 · Dec 2, 2013

Happy Holidays Everyone! :santa:

Well, for us the Christmas season is upon us once again! We LOVE this time of year in our house we just have so much fun! I thought I would share a few of the highlights from our weekend, just for fun!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We went to my in-laws on Wednesday for our first Thanksgiving feast, Charlotte had a wonderful time! On Thursday we had my Dad's side of the family over. My cousin has a little girl the same age as Charlotte so she always enjoys time with her. However, this year my cousins DD had RSV so Charlotte was missing her buddy. Their two older children did come and Charlotte still had lots of fun with them. We had a great dinner. Here are some pics:

This box provided hours of entertainment for all the children!

Family pic!

I skipped Black Friday shopping this year for the first time ever! I really did not think that the deals were very good this year. Plus I don't want to go out on Thursday night after having people at my house all day, but this year everything was on Thursday night, not Friday morning.

I did however do some small business Saturday shopping with my sisters in law which was lots of fun! We have so many neat little shopping districts in this area that I always for get about!

Today was jam packed full of holiday fun! :santa:

We went to a local farm and had breakfast with Santa:

After breakfast, we saw Santa again:

Last year Charlotte screamed her head off, this year she was cautious, but cooperative.

We decorated cookies:

Then, we went out and found our Christmas tree! It was warm here today, so it was a nice day to look for a tree. This is my first time getting a real tree. DH has always wanted one and I have always resisted, but this year I tried to make DH happy.

Looking for a tree:

Cutting it down:

We got it home and started decorating:

Its all done!

We are looking forward to lots more fun Holiday fun coming up this month! I will be back with more updates, Disney and Holiday!

STLMickeyMom · Dec 2, 2013

I can't believe I didn't comment on your last post. Your movie nights look awesome! I love the rainbow jello you made. I've always wanted to do that but am not patient enough to make the layers.

It looks like you guys had such a nice day to go get your tree. Charlotte looks so cute (of course)! I love her pants! Did you make those? Have you heard of the website lolly wolly doodle? I liked them on Facebook and see their stuff all the time. It is way cute! And makes me want to make it all! (Cuz I need an excuse to buy more fabric?) I love the look Charlotte is giving Santa! We had breakfast there with the Easter bunny last spring and Madison wasn't having any of it. He came by our table and she about fell out of her chair trying to move away. Maybe we'll have to try again next spring.

Are you planning any more movie nights soon? Can't wait to see what else you come up with!

Jackiemarie21 · Dec 7, 2013

STLMickeyMom said:
I can't believe I didn't comment on your last post. Your movie nights look awesome! I love the rainbow jello you made. I've always wanted to do that but am not patient enough to make the layers.

It looks like you guys had such a nice day to go get your tree. Charlotte looks so cute (of course)! I love her pants! Did you make those? Have you heard of the website lolly wolly doodle? I liked them on Facebook and see their stuff all the time. It is way cute! And makes me want to make it all! (Cuz I need an excuse to buy more fabric?) I love the look Charlotte is giving Santa! We had breakfast there with the Easter bunny last spring and Madison wasn't having any of it. He came by our table and she about fell out of her chair trying to move away. Maybe we'll have to try again next spring.

Are you planning any more movie nights soon? Can't wait to see what else you come up with!

The jello was fun, but took forever! Not sure I would ever do it again!

I did make the pants! Thank you! I have seen the Lolly Wolly Doodle and that stuff is so cute! I wish I had time to make more of it! I didn't know Eckerts did an Easter thing too, we will have to check that out. I love going out to Eckerts, it is so much fun. I really enjoyed getting our tree there and we had the perfect day to do it! I think the Easter Bunny seems kind of creepy, I can see why Madison was a little leery, that is logical to me.

We will be doing a Christmas movie night next week. Not sure if we are going to do the Grinch or the Muppets Christmas carol, still thinking about this one!

MeeskaMomma · Dec 7, 2013

Love it! Charlotte looks very uncertain about Santa, but it s adorable!

Jackiemarie21 · Dec 11, 2013

MeeskaMomma said:
Love it! Charlotte looks very uncertain about Santa, but it s adorable!

Thank you! She was very uncertain, but not screaming like last year so that is good! I call it a success!

Jackiemarie21 · Dec 11, 2013

Alright so here I am with another update! We have had some crazy weeks here lately! First, my Aunt passed away the week before thanksgiving. The next week was Thanksgiving and the week after that DH's grandpa passed away! All these holidays and funerals have us going like crazy people! The weird thing was that my Aunt and Bob's grandpa had the exact same funeral exactly two weeks apart! The same wake, the same cemetery, the same restaurant reception after the funeral. And we live in a metropolitan area where there are tons of choices for these things! It made me feel kind of bad when Charlotte walked into the funeral parlor last week and she remembered the people working there and said Hi again! Luckily she didn't really realize what was going on. But we have been to too many funerals lately! Here's hoping we are done with that for a while!

So, this past weekend we tried to have a good time to keep our minds off of the craziness going on in the real world! On Friday we celebrated St. Nick's day. This was not something my family did as a child, but it was huge in Bob's family. His Grandpa was the official St. Nick at there church until 2 years ago (and he was fittingly buried on St. Nick's day!). So this year he came and gave Charlotte a gift.

She was very happy with St. Nick's gift:

On Saturday we went to a local Christmas festival. We have been going every year for the past three years and it is so much fun! We go to a great restaurant for dinner and do a cookie walk. The cookie walk is loads of fun you pay a donation to the town and then walk around to every store and they give you a homemade cookie and the recipe for that cookie! I also did some shopping while I was picking up my cookies.
Here is Charlotte at our dinner during the festival:

On Sunday we took Charlotte to her first ever movie theater movie, Frozen! I was so excited to take Charlotte to her first movie and a little nervous too. But she did great! We let her pick her own snack, she wanted pop corn and a blue icee. She was really excited to be there:

Before the movie

During the previews she talked the entire time. I was a little worried about how this was going to go. She got really excited when she saw the Muppets preview. I am sure we will need to see that one. Once the movie started she was totally still and quiet the movie kept her totally entertained! That is until she spilled some of her icee on herself. She wanted to cry but she quietly got my attention and altered me to the problem. After lots of napkins, Charlotte was cleaned up and ready to finish the movie. I really enjoyed it I thought it was very good. It was not as good as Tangled in my opinion, but defiantly worth seeing again!

Charlotte in her movie seat (after the movie was over):

She was having a good time, the flash just bothered her!

When we left the theater I asked her what she thought and she jump up and said "I liked I!" She said the snowman was her favorite character.

after the movie

Then she went home and bugged DH until he took her outside to make her own snowman. This is how the conversation went:
DD: Daddy let go make an Olaf
DH: Not right now
DD: Why?
DH: Its cold outside
DD: Daddy we have coats!
DH: But our hands will get cold
DD: Daddy we have mittens
DH: What about our feet?
DD: Daddy we have boats!
DH: I've got nothing else. Lets go build a snowman!
So they made an Olaf and I didn't get a picture! Momma fail. This week we have more Christmas fun coming up! I promise I will get to our Disney plans soon!

STLMickeyMom · Dec 12, 2013

I'm sorry to hear about your DHs grandpa. Thats not a fun way to spend the holidays. I'm glad you had St Nicks day fun to cheer you up. I'd never heard of that before but it sounds neat and charlotte looks like she really enjoyed her gift! And the cookie walk sounds great too!

Oh, we want to go see frozen! I had planned to take the girls over thanksgiving but we just never made it, and still haven't gotten to it. I've heard it's great though. Charlotte looks so little sitting in that movie seat! I like when they have the boosters but our girls will never stay in them. I always end up sitting all wonky to hold Madison's seat down. I'll be glad when she weighs enough that she doesn't get snapped up in the folding seat! I'm glad you all liked the movie and that charlottes first theater experience was so great!

Unrelated question----are we all still on for meeting up next week? I was wondering if you wanted to meet at the McDonalds by west county mall? They have a small play area that is usually empty. Just a thought. I couldn't really find anything Disney to do and it's tooooooo cold for anything outside! We could also go to chesterfield mall. They have a carousel that is fun, but I don't think they have any play area. I also thought we could do the carousel at Faust park, but again, the only playground there is outside, so that will probably have to wait for warmer weather. (We did say we'd try to meet on the 19th, right?) let me know what you think

Jackiemarie21 · Dec 14, 2013

STLMickeyMom said:
I'm sorry to hear about your DHs grandpa. Thats not a fun way to spend the holidays. I'm glad you had St Nicks day fun to cheer you up. I'd never heard of that before but it sounds neat and charlotte looks like she really enjoyed her gift! And the cookie walk sounds great too!

Oh, we want to go see frozen! I had planned to take the girls over thanksgiving but we just never made it, and still haven't gotten to it. I've heard it's great though. Charlotte looks so little sitting in that movie seat! I like when they have the boosters but our girls will never stay in them. I always end up sitting all wonky to hold Madison's seat down. I'll be glad when she weighs enough that she doesn't get snapped up in the folding seat! I'm glad you all liked the movie and that charlottes first theater experience was so great!

Unrelated question----are we all still on for meeting up next week? I was wondering if you wanted to meet at the McDonalds by west county mall? They have a small play area that is usually empty. Just a thought. I couldn't really find anything Disney to do and it's tooooooo cold for anything outside! We could also go to chesterfield mall. They have a carousel that is fun, but I don't think they have any play area. I also thought we could do the carousel at Faust park, but again, the only playground there is outside, so that will probably have to wait for warmer weather. (We did say we'd try to meet on the 19th, right?) let me know what you think

Yes! I am still planning on the 19th! McDonalds sounds like a great idea. We go there often for playdates. For two weeks Charlotte was begging me to get her a happymeal. I kept saying not today. Then last week we met up with some friends at a McDonals. Charlotte walked in a threw her arms in the air and say "Awe McDonalds" like she was worshiping the place. I think I have an addict on my hands. :scared:

Anyway that works for us. What time? I think everyone else is following the other thread so once we get a time I will message them too!

STLMickeyMom · Dec 15, 2013

anytime really works for us. i'm done dropping everyone at school by 8, so whatever works for everyone else is fine for us. did we do 10 last time? if that time works for everyone else, let's do that again. I was going to ask if you wanted to move the dismeet conversations over here so you don't have to worry about checking both?

Jackiemarie21 · Dec 17, 2013

STLMickeyMom said:
anytime really works for us. i'm done dropping everyone at school by 8, so whatever works for everyone else is fine for us. did we do 10 last time? if that time works for everyone else, let's do that again. I was going to ask if you wanted to move the dismeet conversations over here so you don't have to worry about checking both?

Yes moving the dismeet convo would be much easier! Okay let's plan for Thursday at 10! I am looking forward to seeing you again!

Jackiemarie21 · Dec 17, 2013

STLMickeyMom said:
anytime really works for us. i'm done dropping everyone at school by 8, so whatever works for everyone else is fine for us. did we do 10 last time? if that time works for everyone else, let's do that again. I was going to ask if you wanted to move the dismeet conversations over here so you don't have to worry about checking both?

That works for us! We will see you Thursday! Yes it would be much easier to move the Dismeet talk over here! We are looking forward to seeing you!

AprilRenee · Dec 17, 2013

I'm here!
What Christmas festival did you go to? I have (/had before we got sick for a week) a goal of hitting ALLTHECHRISTMASTHINGS in STL. Lol not gonna happen anymore but I can add it to my list for next year!

STLMickeyMom · Dec 17, 2013

AprilRenee said:
I'm here!
What Christmas festival did you go to? I have (/had before we got sick for a week) a goal of hitting ALLTHECHRISTMASTHINGS in STL. Lol not gonna happen anymore but I can add it to my list for next year!

oh my gosh--I want to know what all the Christmas things are!! :santa:

that sounds like an awesome thing to add to the bucket list. I just decided to add spending the night in Cinderella's castle. anyone know how to make that happen? :rotfl2:

Madison can't wait to get together again! she was telling Hannah all about getting to see Charlotte and play with Charlotte and Charlotte is her new friend and she was going to tell Charlotte merry Christmas.....I think she's obsessed with Charlotte! :rotfl:

clearly, we'll have to be there Thursday morning! do you know where the mcdonald's is that I mentioned? it's on the south side of the street, a little past the mall. you go straight through the lights at Manchester and ballas, then the turn into the parking lot is right after the next set of lights. I can't remember the name of the street, but you'll see it. see you then!

AprilRenee · Dec 17, 2013

STLMickeyMom said:
oh my gosh--I want to know what all the Christmas things are!! that sounds like an awesome thing to add to the bucket list. I just decided to add spending the night in Cinderella's castle. anyone know how to make that happen?

Are you reading along on the "boo to you and the castle suite too" trip report? Search it. Very cool! They won a trip and got to stay a night in the castle!

Ok. Christmas list...

AprilRenee · Dec 17, 2013

Ok most are self explanatory but
Dancing lights house is at 607 Calamar Ct (zip 63368) in St. Charles county. Their website is www.neverenoughlights.com

"Grace musical" was their Christmas musical at grace community chapel in St. Peter's. It was this weekend. I was sick. Didn't get that one done. They do have a dancing light display on the roof too that I'd like to still see.

Christmas traditions is a definite must see if you haven't yet. It's a Christmas festival on main st in st Charles. I used to run the festival for 3 yrs. this is my first yr not doing it. They have Santa's from around the world and Christmas characters from history. Very very cool! Go see it!!

Only 615 Days and Counting!!! ***UPDATE 6-21*** complete! New PTR added

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Only 615 Days and Counting!!! UPDATE 6-21 complete! New PTR added