"Reach for the sky!" We're finally getting there in JAN 2012!!!TR LINK PG 69!

[Colleen27]

Ok, mini panic attack here. Now, this may not be a big deal to most people, and I admit it won't ruin my trip, but out of all the closures and rehabs, this is freaking me out the most:

go to this thread and check out the 2nd picture, it's of mainstreet: What is this monstrosity?!?!?

Ok, so for most people, it's an eye sore and they deal, but honestly, I can't believe I haven't heard that this thing was there on mainstreet previously. I'm a PHOTOGRAPHER. I'm spending the majority of money I have to souvenirs on renting a LENS b/c to me, the best souvies are PHOTOS. THIS mainstreet will not do! I can't take a picture of that!

If anyone knows how long it's been there, maybe I could convince myself that it will be gone in 3 weeks? It looks like it's been there the whole time the Christmas decorations have been up b/c the xmas decorations stop right at it like it's been there the whole time?

Sigh...I really wanted that mainstreet shot of my kids and the castle. *sniff*

(disclaimer, if you think I'm just a big complainer, I am, but it won't ruin our trip and I'll get over it long before we arrive. Thank goodness I saw this shot before going though, I would have been more bummed to just arrive and see it. Blech. )

OMG! That is hideous! I can't imagine they plan to have it up long, though, because if they did it would be better camouflaged. When we were there in March there were tarps up on a couple of Main Street buildings but they were printed to look like the buildings behind them so they weren't that obtrusive. (Like this: http://wdwnewstoday.com/archives/5950) Or maybe that's just the first step in putting up the "pretty" tarp?

 

[-Hope-]

OMG!!! What are they THINKING!! Surely that will be gone soon...

It's definitely a good thing you saw it here... You can still get shots of the kids with the castle. We have a great PP shot on the bridge coming from Tomorrowland. I know it's not the same but it's something. *sigh*

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

OMG! That is hideous! I can't imagine they plan to have it up long, though, because if they did it would be better camouflaged. When we were there in March there were tarps up on a couple of Main Street buildings but they were printed to look like the buildings behind them so they weren't that obtrusive. (Like this: http://wdwnewstoday.com/archives/5950) Or maybe that's just the first step in putting up the "pretty" tarp?

Completely hideous! I think the consensus is that this just went up and they will put up the plastic/camouflaged part next, but that won't help me with my photos, so I'm just going to have to deal.

OMG!!! What are they THINKING!! Surely that will be gone soon...

It's definitely a good thing you saw it here... You can still get shots of the kids with the castle. We have a great PP shot on the bridge coming from Tomorrowland. I know it's not the same but it's something. *sigh*

I think they are thinking that it's going to be SUCH a low crowd period that they can close everything and refurb the whole place! This could be a good thing, but I think I will have to be reminding myself that on our trip I will get more photo opportunities that I'm clearly going to miss this trip!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Uhhhh...I have 20 days?!?!?

Quick! Someone give me something to do so I can keep my mind busy and not freak out that we're leaving for Disney World in 20 days! I dont' even know what to do with myself! I guess I could pack, but I'm still procrastinating about that since I can't really pack any of our jeans/pants/socks/underwear b/c we are wearing them!

I should have waiting for the photo challenge, that would have kept me busy. Now I'm just posting daily about how unbelievable it is that we're going so soon!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

You could always tell us more of your plans for Pop Century Day!!!!

 

[-Hope-]

Uhhhh...I have 20 days?!?!?

Quick! Someone give me something to do so I can keep my mind busy and not freak out that we're leaving for Disney World in 20 days! I dont' even know what to do with myself! I guess I could pack, but I'm still procrastinating about that since I can't really pack any of our jeans/pants/socks/underwear b/c we are wearing them!

I should have waiting for the photo challenge, that would have kept me busy. Now I'm just posting daily about how unbelievable it is that we're going so soon!

Lists, you need lists. Do you have a list for packing? One for each suitcase? One for your park bag? One for what you need for the car trip? A list of what lists you need?

Okay, maybe that last one is a bit extreme.

You could always tell us more of your plans for Pop Century Day!!!!

That's top secret info Ann! You'll just have to wait for the pics.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

18 DAYS!!!!?!?!?!?!??!! Wow! I'm not ready!

So, this is just a teaser post. Today is our last big Disney Day bash! It's a POP Century theme and sure to please...but you'll just have to come back later this afternoon/evening to see how it went!

 

[exwdwcm]

18 days, no way!!!!!

So close.

Wow on that tarp, that's insane! It says later in that thread, they think the themed tarp will be up within a week, so at least part of that should be gone by the time you are there. Let's hope. That's awful!

The hats are so cute- did you order online or make them. LOVE your Minnie one. The girls autograph books are adorable too- love those little pouches for them. You are just adding to my spending online now when i go look for these.

I am sending happy, healthy vibes to the Durango, so that is stays in good repair for the trip!!!

 

[Colleen27]

Have you seen the EasyWDW update on the tarps? Both of them are huge and ugly, but Josh goes on to illustrate the timeline of tarp "installation" on a previous project and makes it very clear that they'll have the themed tarps up well before we arrive.

 

[Marshay]

Love the activity books -- great job on them. I need to start putting mine together too!

Oh, those hats are adorable! I love the Minnie one, too!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

POP CENTURY DISNEY DAY PARTY!!!

First, I wanted to share that this morning my Mickey Mail arrived! Nothing spectacular, just luggage tags (we're driving though) and our info packet. Exciting though since it makes it seem real! 18 DAYS to go!

So, our theme for our last blow-out-bash Disney Day was our hotel! PoP Century resort!

We had all kinds of decorations! Things that POP, things from POP, and tons of goodies! POPcorn, confetti/rainbow cake (this was our lazy way of recreating the tie dye cheesecake!), and POPtarts were eaten along with blowPOPS, tootsiePOPS, and POProcks!

Dallas even made us a homemade Mickeyhead pizza! It turned out great.

The girls being goofy

Then the girls headed outside to throw poppers and blow bubbles (that POP, get it?!?!) YET ANOTHER unseasonably warm January day for Missouri!

They were chasing each other around blowing bubbles at each other, I'm surprised no one got bubbles dumped on their head! They had a blast!

Hope & I got to spend the afternoon chatting, which is one of my favorite things to do! We also talked about having Universal Days after this trip and when she starts getting closer to her trip to Universal! She even brought me a suitcase, but I haven't put a thing in it still... I have no idea where to start when it comes to packing, everything seems like it needs to be packed last minute?

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Time for Touring Plans!

Since I'm 17 days out, I guess I can actually post out plans! I never did before because everytime in the past we would either have to postpone the trip or I would change them so many times that it seemed silly to post them! So, this time, I guess I can safely post, although I'm not promising I won't change something last minute!

Day 1 and 2!
(I'll do 1 a day from here on out but the first 2 days involve borning travel stuff so I'll do 2)
Friday, Jan. 27th
We are driving straight through, so Rey plans on staying up most of the night on the 26th and sleeping most of the day. I'll be packing like a madwoman and have one last petsit. I'm also going to pick up a dozen bagels from Panera to take in the car.

We'll be heading out in the afternoon, somewhere around 3-4pm to begin our 17-18 hour drive. Six of us packed into the Durango!

I have giftcards that I got through mypoints and we plan on using the Subway cards I have for dinner and then eating the bagels the next morning for breakfast.

Somewhere before noon (it's now Saturday, Jan. 28th), we will be seeing THIS!

and arriving at PoP Century Resort!!!
The plan is to check in and use our first CS meal at Pop for lunch, settle in, let the girls swim or explore the resort while Rey takes a nap, and then head to DTD in the evening!

For dinner there's no need for a TS credit b/c I have $125 in gift cards through Mypoints for Rainforest Cafe! (yep, I've been saving points for a couple years to get all these GCs!) so we have an ADR for dinner at RFC and plan to shop and enjoy before heading back to turn in for the night, we have early ADR's for breakfast the next morning!!!!!

 

[Marshay]

That party was awesome!! Great job.

The girls looked like they had so much fun.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

That party was awesome!! Great job.

The girls looked like they had so much fun.

Thanks! They really enjoyed the day yesterday, at one point they even told me to NOT stop taking pictures when I was headed inside...this is VERY RARE for these girls as they are all photo'd-out with Mom's that are photographers!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Sunday, January 29th. First park day!!

OF COURSE this would be a MK day! And, since we seem to have started some sort of tradition here, Rey INSISTED that we do Crystal Palace for breakfast before the park opened! Seriously, it was all him, I would have used the TS for a different meal, but he apparently loves CP, I guess I should have known:

After breakfast, I would normally have this huge touring list, FP's to collect and Dumbo Dash planned, but the refurbs at MK have me kind of thinking we're going to go with the flow. We have two full MK days and with Dumbo and Big Thunder down, I think we have plenty of time. We'll still head to Fantasyland first and Rey said he and the boys would go through tomorrowland and grab some SpaceMtn FPs for us, I have us eating lunch at CHH and that's about it! I'm not really worried about missing stuff, I think we'll have plenty of time and if anyone read my last TR, you know that Rey has a thing about being "leisurely" so we'll have time for that too.

Not sure if we will take an afternoon break to PoP or not, but we have dinner ADR's at BOMA at 6pm! YUM! I'm excited for Rey & the boys to see AKL and eat at Boma, Savannah & I are excited to be going back! Last time there were lots of vegan/veggie options, so I'm hoping there will be still.

We'll head back to the resort for the rest of the evening, most likely. Since we don't have hoppers, the only place we could go back to it MK and we will be saving that for our last night, I think.

 

[danimaroo]

Sounds like a great Day 1! We'll just be missing you as we'll be waking up bright and early at Beach Club to make our 8am flight back to Seattle. BUT I am excited for you guys!! I love the pre-park hours Crystal Palace breakfast! We are doing that like 6 days into our trip and I can't WAIT! I love their breakfast.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Sounds like a great Day 1! We'll just be missing you as we'll be waking up bright and early at Beach Club to make our 8am flight back to Seattle. BUT I am excited for you guys!! I love the pre-park hours Crystal Palace breakfast! We are doing that like 6 days into our trip and I can't WAIT! I love their breakfast.

Oh you'll have plenty of time to start on your TR if you are leaving when we arrive, that way when I get home it will already be started and I can read it!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

LOVE THAT PICTURE OF REY!!!! Now, you can't deny him his visit with Piglet! OMG....can you believe you are down to 16 days!!! That just doesn't seem possible. Wow....Finally!

Loved your Pop day! I really want to stay there next time! I just think the theming is awesome! Are you planning on taking the bus system at all? The one big complaint I keep reading is that the bus service is always crowded and slow at that resort. You'll have to let me know!

I spent yesterday morning looking at a coworker's Disney photos. She just came back in December and had a really good time. She stayed at POR and loved it, except for the distance between where they stayed and the food court. She couldn't remember which building they stayed at other than it was a mansion. (Can you imagine NOT knowing the building??? OMG!!!) She also said she wouldn't do the dining plan again as they had so many credits left over, including TS as they couldn't get in anywhere. Well, no, hun....if you don't make ADR's or even know what an ADR is, of course you are not going to be able to do TS. I just can't believe there are others out there who don't obsess like us.......I mean PLAN, yeah, that's it....PLAN!

I have a new Disney friend ---- she's actually the wife of one of my coworkers. Apparently she's ob...I mean a PLANNER such as we are! I now have her email and have friended her on Facebook. Wow!! Someone local who I can talk Disney with!!! Yeah!!! Their family is going in September and staying at POR. They stayed at CBR last year, so I'm anxious to get her take on it.

 

[-Hope-]

Early entry in the park will make it easier to try to find a good angle for a pic around that monstrosity on MS. A small consolation but at least it's something!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

LOVE THAT PICTURE OF REY!!!! Now, you can't deny him his visit with Piglet! OMG....can you believe you are down to 16 days!!! That just doesn't seem possible. Wow....Finally!

Loved your Pop day! I really want to stay there next time! I just think the theming is awesome! Are you planning on taking the bus system at all? The one big complaint I keep reading is that the bus service is always crowded and slow at that resort. You'll have to let me know!

I spent yesterday morning looking at a coworker's Disney photos. She just came back in December and had a really good time. She stayed at POR and loved it, except for the distance between where they stayed and the food court. She couldn't remember which building they stayed at other than it was a mansion. (Can you imagine NOT knowing the building??? OMG!!!) She also said she wouldn't do the dining plan again as they had so many credits left over, including TS as they couldn't get in anywhere. Well, no, hun....if you don't make ADR's or even know what an ADR is, of course you are not going to be able to do TS. I just can't believe there are others out there who don't obsess like us.......I mean PLAN, yeah, that's it....PLAN!

I have a new Disney friend ---- she's actually the wife of one of my coworkers. Apparently she's ob...I mean a PLANNER such as we are! I now have her email and have friended her on Facebook. Wow!! Someone local who I can talk Disney with!!! Yeah!!! Their family is going in September and staying at POR. They stayed at CBR last year, so I'm anxious to get her take on it.

Ooooh, Disney friends are the BEST! Thanks so much for following along Ann, I'm going to need you to amp up your PTR when I get home so I can throw myself into enjoying your planning to get over my Disneyblues!

Early entry in the park will make it easier to try to find a good angle for a pic around that monstrosity on MS. A small consolation but at least it's something!

Well, at least they put up a scrim on it! I'm so glad they didn't just keep that huge brown thing and I'm also glad that I found out about it on the DIS, now I'm over my annoyance and can not be surprised when we walk onto Mainstreet!