Planning? Oh I have planned. . .wait not enough!

[tink76]

We're going to Disney in 2 weeks!! I don't know if I am ready! I have always been a big planner but life has been crazy this year and I don't feel like I have planned enough! It will be fine, I know.
We are going to be in Disney from October 20th- 27th. However, we will be driving from Chicago so that adds a couple days on both ends. We are leaving the house the night of the 18th.

Let me introduce you to our group. . .

Me: I am the Disney lover. We went to Disney World every year when I was a child and I wish I could still do this now. But we try to make it every other year.

DH: Puts up with my Disney obsession and has fun but would prefer to go somewhere else.

DD(5): I have successfully turned my girls into Disney lovers! DD LOVES the princesses. Right now she like Ariel and Jasmine best. (She only likes Jasmine because you can see her tummy) However, when I asked her who she would want to see if she could only see one character she said Mickey and Minnie. (I know, more than one) This will be her 3rd trip.

DD(2): She LOVES Mickey! She loves Minnie too but her heart belongs to Mickey. This will be her first trip. She is so excited and talks about it everyday. She is is glad Pete won't be there and isn't too sure she wants to see Goofy.

My parents are coming too but they are flying and meeting us there on the
21st. My Mom is a Disney lover but my Dad just goes along for the ride. My Dad loves to see the girls the reactions and definately goes for them.

Here is a photo of us from a ranch this summer.
Not the best picture but it is the most recent with all of us in it.

 

[tink76]

Here is an brief overview of our plans.

18th-20th: Drive to Disney!
20th: One night at Art of Animation. We decided to add a night on to the beginning of our trip. As I mentioned earlier DD(5) loves Ariel right now, so we just had to stay in the Little Mermaid section.
21st -27th: Old Key West 2 bedroom suite. My parents will be joing us at this point.
27th-28th: Drive Home

Tickets: For the first time we have decided not to get park hoppers. We will see how that works out. We are going to MNSSHP on the 23rd, so that day we will be able to go to 2 parks. We also only have 6 day tickets, we will add onto this if we decide we want to.

Dining: We were able to get free dining, We decided to upgrade to Deluxe. A lot of food I know. However, my mom and dad both have knees that can use a rest. We will be able to see most characters at meals and the girls can use a some additional downtime too. We did choose a couple 2 cr meals so we aren't eating 3 sit down meals everyday day.

We are definately looking at this trip through non commando eyes this year.

Some extras:
MNSSHP
BBB DD(5)
First haircut at Barber shop for DD(2)

DD after BBB in 2010

DD at dinner before MNSSHP in 2010

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

I love the Drizella dress!! Where did you find it!

Have fun planning your trip - it will be fantastic, I am sure!

 

[tink76]

Thanks! I got her dress off etsy. Actually from another DiSer. It is really well made and my 2 year old DD is going to wear it this year and DD(5) is going as Anastasia.

 

[tink76]

The 19 Hour Drive

I haven't made the road trip to Florida since I was a kid. It has been a long time. However, between the high airfare and now needing tickets for 4 of us, this was the best option. I am kind of excited for the drive down but I am already dreading the drive back.

Our "plan" is to leave around 9/10:00 at night. After work DH is going to sleep for about 4/5 hours and then we will go. I am hoping the girls will sleep for a long time and we can knock out a lot of the drive over night.

I have bought some gifts for the girls that I will wrap up and give them as presents every couple of hours. I also have some travel friendly games, coloring, stickers and they love to play with DD(5) Leappad. I plan to make a stop at the library for books, books on CD, and movies before we go. I have bought trays with a ridge around them so that their snacks and crayons won't fall. Lastly, we have the DVD player. I plan to bring some toys for them to run around with at the rest stops.

If anyone has any other ideas to make our drive smoother please let me know.
Thanks!

 

[reyasmommy]

Hello

We'll be driving from Denver to Orlando next month. This isn't our 1st road trip, actually it's not even our 8th road trip.... We drive a LOT. We also have a 2 year old and a 6 year old, so driving can be challenging at times but it's not too bad if you keep them entertained. It sounds like you have a good plan though. What I normally do is buy a bunch of gifts from the dollar store or ((clearance items here and there)). I will wrap them up and use these as "prizes" for behaving in the car. DH and I don't want to listen to DvD's every second of the trip, so we trade off everytime we rest. DH and I get to listen to music and the kids get a prize, then after our next stop the kids get to watch a dvd. We also try to map out local parks rather then rest areas when we're driving so the kids can get out and burn off some energy and they normally have bathrooms that we can all use. This might prove to be difficult since we'll be traveling in the winter though. So we're prepared to make lots of stops at the indoor playplaces at McDonalds if we have too.

Your trip is approaching fast!! Have a fabulous time!