Planning another magical 5th birthday

[annegirl]

Oh! I loved Maleficent! I thought it was much better than the cartoon version!

Your movie night looks awesome! I love breakfast for dinner and the cake is adorable!

Thanks. I love breakfast for dinner too. We do it about once a week anyway.
I actually liked Maleficent better than Sleeping Beauty too! Crazy because I always loved SB and now it just isn't the same.

 

[Denovagirl]

Thanks. I love breakfast for dinner too. We do it about once a week anyway. I actually liked Maleficent better than Sleeping Beauty too! Crazy because I always loved SB and now it just isn't the same.

Yea it kinda ruined SB for me! Lol...

 

[MidnightParade]

Blue and Pink cake!!!!!

Awesome! Nomnomnom!! lol

Breakfast for dinner is fun! And so clever with Sleeping Beauty!

loved your skirts as well, adorable!!

 

[annegirl]

Yea it kinda ruined SB for me! Lol...

I know. Me too.

Blue and Pink cake!!!!!

Awesome! Nomnomnom!! lol

Breakfast for dinner is fun! And so clever with Sleeping Beauty!

loved your skirts as well, adorable!!

Thanks! My family asked why are we having breakfast for dinner? I just said, "Sleeping Beauty." Then they repeated the question. I was like - come on! It makes sense to me!

 

[annegirl]

Our plans for day 2:
It may be a little hard to wake up this morning but we'll be in Disney so I'm sure it will be much easier than getting up after a late night at home.
Our plans for this day are to head to:

This will be our only Hollywood Studios Day. We each have a few "must do's" and the rest will be icing on the cake.
Doug's must do's are Fantasmic (which is why we picked this day. It is the only day during my parent's visit when the crowd level looked good and it had Fantasmic.), the Art of Disney Animation, Star Tours, and Toy Story Mania. He would also like to do Rock and roller Coaster and Tower of Terror if he can but he would be riding both of those alone again unless Abi decideds to do them too.

For me the must do's are Beauty and the Beast Live, The Little Mermaid show, Muppet Vision 3D, the Osborne lights, and One Man's Dream because we haven't seen it yet.

For Abi the must do #1 is to meet Sofia the First. She absolutely loves her and will be thrilled to find out she will get to meet her. After that I would imagine that she would really love to do the animation class again, the Little Mermaid, the Honey I shrunk the kids play area, meeting Vanellope, and Toy Story Mania.

For Maddy I think she will love the animation class since she loves to draw, the Little Mermaid show, Disney Jr live on stage, and the play area.

For my parents they really want to do the Lights, Motor, Action Show, the backlot tour, and the new Jack Sparrow thing (not even sure what this is really. I haven't seen much about it)

So, if we can at least do all (or most) of those things this day I will consider it a success. But we are going to try to work a lot more in.
This is my plan.
My dad has bad knees but can walk on them just fine... just not very fast. So, it is best if we kind of do things in the order we come to them rather than running from one side of the park to the other. Because of this we will kind of do a big circle and hope we get to things on time. We may have to tweak it a little once we are actually there.

We will get there by around 8:15am if possible so we will be ready at rope drop. I will try to get fastpass+ for Toy Story Mania, Star Tours, and The Little Mermaid.
Our first stop will be to get in line for

I want to try to get into the first Disney Jr show so I thought we should try to be very first in Sofia's line (or close to it) so we could quickly meet her and then go straight in for the show.
While we are waiting in line for it to be time for her to meet, Doug can choose to run over to ride Tot and RNR if he wants. If Abi wants to try it she can go with him. He will probably run straight to them and then meet us at our line afterward if he decides to do that. Abi really likes roller coasters and she is way braver than I am. Her favorite ride at Six Flags in Chicago was The Demon. And I hated that thing. So I think she would actually really like RNR- not sure about ToT though.
So, anyway, we will meet Sofia and then go in to watch Disney Jr.
After that I plan on heading straight to the Art of Animation and trying to get into a class before it gets too crowded. When we get out if Wreck it Ralph and Vanellope are meeting we will do that. We may meet Mr. Incredible and Frozone if they are out and we feel like it. If no one is out we will just move on.
I plan on trying to do Little Mermaid next.
Then we will cross the park and go to lunch. Probably at Backlot.

After lunch we will try to hit an Indiana Jones show before our (hopefully) FP+ for Star tours after which we will go to Muppet Vision 3D. After that we will try to meet Phineas and Ferb.

At this point it will depend on what time it is.
If we can we will do the Lights, Motor, Action show and then let the kids blow off some energy after so many shows at the Honey I shrunk the kids playset.

How long they play there will completely depend on what time it is and how well we have been doing on getting things done.
At this point we would like to do the Backlot Tour and then have our FP+ for Toy Story Mania.
After that we would hit the Jack Sparrow thing. Then One Man's Dream. Then up to Beauty and the Beast for the 4:15 show if everything has worked out.

After that show we would do a little backtracking to go to Starring Rolls and pick up some sandwiches. We will take those with us up to Fantasmic and sit down to eat our dinner and hopefully get good seats to wait out the 6:30 show.
I have some cool bubble guns I picked up at Cracker Barrel a few years ago because they loved the bubble guns we bought at DHS last time.

After Fantasmic we will take our time walking back over to the Osborne lights and walking through them.
So, I know this is a crazy busy day. But I am really hoping it will be low enough crowds and enough pixie dust to make it work out.
And just for fun here is a picture of our girls from our last time at DHS:

 

[missangelalexis]

What a fun movie night!

Sounds like a busy day at DHS! I think you will be able to get most of that done, and yes hopefully crowds will be manageable!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

HS is my second favorite park! I don't think you'll have trouble doing everything you want. Your plans sound great to me!

 

[Denovagirl]

Busy day! But that was my favorite thing about HS, I felt like we had just enough time to do everything we wanted in one day!

 

[annegirl]

What a fun movie night!

Sounds like a busy day at DHS! I think you will be able to get most of that done, and yes hopefully crowds will be manageable!

Thanks! It does sound really busy. But hopefully we will be able to fit it all in!

HS is my second favorite park! I don't think you'll have trouble doing everything you want. Your plans sound great to me!

Thanks! I think it will be a lot of fun.

Busy day! But that was my favorite thing about HS, I felt like we had just enough time to do everything we wanted in one day!

Yeah. I think so too. The hardest thing I think is being able to fit in fastpass+ times with show times.

 

[annegirl]

This day will be Maddy's birthday!
We will be headed straight for:

It is early morning hours so we will be getting there really early.
We will wake up Maddy by singing Happy birthday and probably let her open one gift before we head out.
We will grab a snack of some kind- probably granola bars to hold us over to our late breakfast.
On arrival we will grab a locker to stash the girls' BBB dresses for later that day.
If we don't get Anna and Elsa fastpass+ for the day I want (later in the trip) then we will take advantage of EMH by trying to see them this morning. If we are able to get the FP+ then this morning we will try to meet Merida.
We will pretty much stay in Fantasyland and follow Maddy's lead. Let her decide what she wants to ride and do.
I am going to try to get FP+ for Enchanted Tales with Belle, The Journey of the Little Mermaid, and Peter Pan.
Throughout the day we will try to also ride Small World, Winnie the Pooh, the Carousel, see Mickey's Philharmagic, Tea party, and Dumbo. We may try to do 7DMT without FP in the am if the line isn't crazy. We will try to meet the Fairy Godmother as well.

At 10:10 we will have our breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table. Unfortunately I couldn't get their BBB appointment before this but I think it will all work out great anyway. We will have fun meeting the princesses and dining.

After breakfast/ brunch we will explore FL some more. Just do whatever she wants to do on the above list that we haven't got to yet.

Then at 1pm we will pick up the dresses from the locker and head over to the BBB. Both girls will be getting the Crown package. I will be bringing along the Sofia dress Abi will wear for halloween and then a new blue Cinderella dress that I am going to make for Maddy. I am so excited for this part. It was one of our favorite experiences on our last trip.
Here is a picture of Abi on her 5th birthday at BBB:

We will head over to the do the photo shoot right afterward.

I imagine that by the time we are done with BBB and the photo shoot it will be close to 3pm.
We will probably browse some shops and maybe pick up a pretzel or something for a late lunch type snack.
Then I think we will probably go back to our room to rest and have a little birthday party for her just like we did with Abi.
She will get her gifts and I plan on buying her cake from the POP! food court.

We will hang out at the hotel until it is time to head to the Grand Floridian. (unless Maddy wants to stay in the park and have her bday party later. If that is what she wants and it isn't too crowded we will do that.)
We have dinner with Cinderella at 1900 Park Fare at 6:35pm.

So, there it is. It will be an early day so I am hoping we can have the girls in bed earlier tonight and well rested for the next day.

 

[STLMickeyMom]

That sounds like a really fun day! I'm sure you've probably already done this, but make sure you add to your reservations that you are celebrating Maddy's birthday. I told them I was celebrating mine when we went last January and at most of our ADRs I got a cupcake and they sang happy birthday. At crystal palace I got a card signed by pooh and pals and at BOG a card signed by belle and beast. They also gave me a birthday button and it was fun to have CMs and guests wish you happy birthday. I just thought they do an awesome job of helping you celebrate! So fun!

 

[MidnightParade]

Heehee, I think the only things not on the Day Two Must dos are Indiana Jones, Great Movie Ride and Star Tours, but your still planning on Indiana Jones and Star Tours! But sounds like you have it all planned out and if the crowds are low enough you should be fine!

Aww Day 3 will be so much fun for Maddy!! Spending birthday in WDW, can it get any better?!!

 

[annegirl]

That sounds like a really fun day! I'm sure you've probably already done this, but make sure you add to your reservations that you are celebrating Maddy's birthday. I told them I was celebrating mine when we went last January and at most of our ADRs I got a cupcake and they sang happy birthday. At crystal palace I got a card signed by pooh and pals and at BOG a card signed by belle and beast. They also gave me a birthday button and it was fun to have CMs and guests wish you happy birthday. I just thought they do an awesome job of helping you celebrate! So fun!

Thanks! I did mention it when we made our reservations but I think I will call to confirm just to make sure.

Heehee, I think the only things not on the Day Two Must dos are Indiana Jones, Great Movie Ride and Star Tours, but your still planning on Indiana Jones and Star Tours! But sounds like you have it all planned out and if the crowds are low enough you should be fine!

Aww Day 3 will be so much fun for Maddy!! Spending birthday in WDW, can it get any better?!!

I know. We all have different ones so it does pretty much cover the park! I think the only one I know for sure we won't ride is The Great Movie Ride. It scared Abi last time and I know it would scare Maddy... so since none of us adults absolutely loved it I think we will save it for later trips.

 

[annegirl]

I finished another thing on my to do list!
And they might end up being one of my favorite things ever.
I really went back and forth on making these because I knew they would be hard. And they were. But I think they are worth it now that I'm done with them!
My Beauty and the Beast shoes:

And another fun thing happened this weekend! I took Abi and Maddy over to the local kids' clothing discount store this morning to see all the Halloween costumes. They do an event every September.
It was sooo crazy there. Completely crowded. Hard to find anything. And yet I reached into one of the racks and pulled out this Minnie Mouse dress. Not even a costume. Just a cute outfit. It was just Maddy's size and amazing. $6 and the salesclerk told me that the woman that brought it in said she got it at Disneyland Paris.

I mean, look at that brooch! When she outgrows this I am taking that off and making something with it!

And close up of the shirt:

 

[MidnightParade]

Umm, I'm pretty what I want to is will be bleeped out. But HOLY BANANAS!!!! Those shoes look incredible! Seriously?! Did that take you months to do? They are fantastic! Are we able to get close up pics by chance please? You know if you wanna

Oooh! What a great find on the Minnie dress! Its so adorable!!

 

[Denovagirl]

IN LOVE with the shoes! They are AMAZING!!! Wow, what patience to do that! I reaaaaalllyyyy love them!

And the Minnie outfit is amazing!!! What a great find! Love it!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

holy cr@p, lady! those shoes are a-freakin-mazing!!! love them!

and the outfit is too cute! I was thinking the same thing about that brooch---oooo, keep that for something!

awesome update!

(p.s. I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, and i'm not positive about it, but I think they're closing the Indiana jones show but i'm not sure when. just a head's up)

 

[annegirl]

Umm, I'm pretty what I want to is will be bleeped out. But HOLY BANANAS!!!! Those shoes look incredible! Seriously?! Did that take you months to do? They are fantastic! Are we able to get close up pics by chance please? You know if you wanna

Oooh! What a great find on the Minnie dress! Its so adorable!!

Thanks! I really do love them! I started them on Friday afternoon. Drew them on in pencil and then black paint marker. Then I started painting them that evening and stayed up way too late doing that. I finished painting them Saturday morning by ignoring everything else and then spent almost all day Saturday outlining them in black again. They took a long time. Here are some close ups if this is what you meant.

IN LOVE with the shoes! They are AMAZING!!! Wow, what patience to do that! I reaaaaalllyyyy love them!

And the Minnie outfit is amazing!!! What a great find! Love it!

Thank you!! It did take a long time but wasn't as hard as it looks. The most time consuming part was going back over every line with the black paint again at the end.
Yeah. I can't believe I found that outfit before anyone else in there did. It is so cute.

holy cr@p, lady! those shoes are a-freakin-mazing!!! love them!

and the outfit is too cute! I was thinking the same thing about that brooch---oooo, keep that for something!

awesome update!

(p.s. I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, and i'm not positive about it, but I think they're closing the Indiana jones show but i'm not sure when. just a head's up)

Thanks!! I am so excited about them.
I have read that Indiana Jones is closing but I haven't seen anything about when it is closing. We plan on doing that show but if it's closed before we get there... we'll be okay with it. We have at least seen it once before.

 

[annegirl]

Our movie night this weekend was Toy Story.
We made homemade pizza. It was a pretty simple night.

They played with our potato head collection while watching.

 

[annegirl]

I have a planning question!
I was originally thinking of making a Garden Grocer order for milk, cereal, granola bars, etc. for the few breakfast meals that we won't have covered by our dining plan. But then when I started adding it up it was major sticker shock. So now I am re thinking the whole thing. I don't need yogurt and orange juice for example. So I am thinking of just taking some boxes of cereal and granola bars in my suitcase and then buying milk there in POP's food court. Do any of you know the price for milk there?
Also, I wanted to have some YOO Hoos and juice boxes but I'm not sure if I can take those on in my suitcases. Anyone know?
My last question is bottled water. I drink a TON of water and I'm worried about not drinking as much while we are there. Do any of you take/ ship/ buy bottled water while at Disney? Any thoughts/ suggestions?