Scavenger hunt to WDW!!

[dmbdisneymom]

Hello everyone! I'm so very new to the PTR thing, but here I go. This PTR is more for me to keep track of my ramblings and scattered thoughts than anything else (trying to preserve my sanity ), but maybe something in my thoughts can help someone else.

Intros:
Me (Laura) 24, DH (Kevin) 40. Yes, there is a bit of an age difference but we are well aware of it
My girls: DD (Kayleigh) 6, DD (Lillian) 4
Kev's son: DS (Bennett) 7
My brother: DBRO (Matthew) 13

(Lilly does have both eyes, we have to patch the right one )

Hmm...I might need new pics of DH...this is from our wedding a year ago!

 

[dmbdisneymom]

Oh my! That's a whole lot of me! Thought I shrank that pic... Sorry!

So anyway....

Our Trip:
We leave Friday, August 1 to visit Kevin's sis Carrie, BIL Clint, and their oh-so-adorable son Caleb (1.5). We will be leaving around 4pm for a blissful 17 hour drive to Clearwater, FL. We will spend all day Saturday with the fam, then on Sunday (3rd) Kevin and I will go to DisneyQuest for some much needed "adult time" And wonderful Clint and Carrie will keep our crew.
Mon Aug 4th: Check in to ASMovies, MGM/DHS
Tues Aug 5th: Epcot, first ever ADR at Akershus 9:50am!!
Wed Aug 6th: Magic Kingdom
Thurs Aug 7th: Animal Kingdom
Fri Aug 8th: Magic Kingdom, back to good ol' Indiana at 8pm

Itinerary subject to change

 

[dmbdisneymom]

Our trip started out with just us and the kids...then we decided to take my little brother. My parents may not ever be able to take him due to finances, so DH decided we should do it. He's so sweet!

My dad has serious heart problems and has not been allowed by his docs to work for 3 years. He has been fighting for his disability benefits (which he paid into his entire career), and has just now gotten a court date (after 3 years...ridiculous! ). Needless to say, my mom's single income isn't enough for much after bills and neccessities.

Since we will be letting my parents give the kids their park tickets after our scavenger hunt, (more on that later), I didn't want my brother to feel left out. I mentioned that to DH while we were working on said scavenger hunt and he thought for all of 20 minutes. Dbro's 13th birthday is the day before our hunt, so DH took this as a sign that we are supposed to take him with us. And that is how my bro came to be a member of our travel crew. Everything but souveniers is on us!

 

[dmbdisneymom]

Where do I start?? Thanks to the amazing group on the Creative Disigns board, I now have new obsession!! I have started so many projects for this trip it's crazy!

The first one I have fully completed are the Epcot Passports designed by patnl1. Unfortunately, patnl1 is no longer designing (not sure why), but another disser was kind enough to email me the passport project. I will do the same for anyone who wants it. I think it's ok since it was sent to me. If not, please correct me!

I may add a different color ribbon to each of the girls's books, and I am definately adding names to them all so there is no fighting (HA! ) I absolutely love this project!

 

[dmbdisneymom]

I never thought I would be one to wear matching shirts (or make my kids do it), but I better do it before they start to care I was completely inspired by other disigners, and here are my finished projects...

Buzz for Bennett, Snow White for Kayleigh, Jasmine for Lilly. Kevin will have Jiminy Cricket, I will have Peter and Wendy, and Matt will have Captain Jack Sparrow. Gotta get on this! I feel like I have so much to do and so little time. 2 months should be plenty though, right?

 

[Diamondintheruff]

What's in the passports?

 

[dmbdisneymom]

What's in the passports?

Each page looks like a postcard from each of the 11 countries of Epcot, the background is the flag for that country.

Here is one of the pages:

The pages have to be printed front and back, so it takes a while to get it right, but I think they're cute!

 

[devonsmommy]

Hi~
Your pictures aren't showing up for me!

Can't wait to read more.

 

[Princesskeyblade]

I am in for the ride!

The scavenger hunt is an awesome idea. And I ADORE the passports, they are awesome.

I can't wait to read more.

 

[dmbdisneymom]

Hi~
Your pictures aren't showing up for me!

Can't wait to read more.

I'm sorry! My pics can be testy sometimes. I use Photobucket, so I'm not sure what the deal is I hope they work eventually!

 

[dmbdisneymom]

I am in for the ride!

The scavenger hunt is an awesome idea. And I ADORE the passports, they are awesome.

I can't wait to read more.

Just you wait till you read about the actual hunt plans! They are pretty elaborate for some kids, but DH is having a blast planning it! Thanks for reading...I've started on yours as well!

 

[dmbdisneymom]

Not the greatest adventure, but it's always fun at WDW!

September 2005
It was a complete last minute thing.

DH found a hotel for 3 days, 4 nights for $200, (I think it was Best Western??) and 2 free adult tix to any park, plus we got $100 back at the end of our stay. It was one of those things where we had to sit through a timeshare presentation, but it was a huge bargain and great since we hadn't been saving for long. We sat through 3 hours of the timeshare , then went to MK with my girls. We weren't able to take DS due to lack of planning, so this next trip is a huge deal for DH. And it's our first true family vacation.

Needless to say, we will never do the timeshare thing again! All future vacations will be planned waaaay in advance!

 

[dmbdisneymom]

1) Starting with a letter from secret "MM" (we will write it and put it in the mailbox or use fairy godmailer) kids will get the letter and there will be a treasure map and eye patches with it leading them to the next clue that they have to dig out of the backyard (pirates from peter pan or POTC)...

2) That clue will take us to the car rental place to pick up the car we will be renting for the trip. Gotta try it out! (Cars)...

3) From there we will take them to follow the Indian trails at our local state park (Pocahontas)

4) Then they will find a field of Bambi animals with Thumper and Flower in a patch of flowers...

5) That will then take them to our local farmer's market to find Pooh's Useful Pot with the Hunny they sell with the next clue attached to a popped ballon...

That's as far as we've gotten with the order, but we will also be using Nemo at the pet store, Cinderella's slipper at a shoe store, Snow White's apple, and somehow, Under the Sea but we live in Indiana, so not sure about that one yet! We want a total of 12 clues, all of them ending at my mom's house and the last clue being Nana from Peter Pan because that's what they call my mom. She will have a final letter from "MM" and the tickets and bags of goodies. When they figure it out, my parents will have my huge Mickey themed dinner set up and we'll have a big party and play Disney Bingo and Scene It.

With the scavenger hunt being the day after DBRO's birthday, we are going to "forget" to get him a gift, but he will be going along for the hunt and helping the kids with the clues. At the end, we will give him the books we bought with his tickets inside, all wrapped in bday paper. We bought the Imagineer's guides to AK, MK, and Epcot. If anyone knows of one for MGM that would be great! Not sure if he's ever had a surprise before, so I don't know how he'll react. Hopefully it will be as great as it is in my head!

 

[Princesskeyblade]

You are the coolest parents ever!!!!

 

[cheriei]

Can I get a copy of your instructions for the Epcot Passport book? These are adorable and would be perfect for DD when we go to WDW in July. Well the board isn't letting me post my e-mail address so I hope you can get it by clicking on my name. Thanks a bunch!
Cherie

 

[dmbdisneymom]

Can I get a copy of your instructions for the Epcot Passport book? These are adorable and would be perfect for DD when we go to WDW in July. Well the board isn't letting me post my e-mail address so I hope you can get it by clicking on my name. Thanks a bunch!
Cherie

Since it won't let you post your's I'll post mine and you can email me. Put EPCOT in the subject so I don't delete it! llines1984@yahoo.com

 

[dmbdisneymom]

WOW! I feel like I have no time to get my stuff done for the trip!

In order to preserve the sanity I have left I'm going to post my to do list in no particular order:

1) Make Matt and Kevin's MK shirts
2) Make all MGM shirts (6)
3) Make Matt, Kevin, Bennett's Epcot shirts
4) Finish Epcot Passports (ribbon on girls' and names on all)
5) Make Disney mixed CDs for car rides
6) Make 5 more pressed penny containers
7) Finish first aid box8) Find more comfy shorts for kids
9) Make countdown calendar
10) Stock up on snacks
11) Buy tickets!
12) Buy 2 more memory cards for camera
13) Make Mickey heads for hotel windows
14) Start packing shirts already made
15) Finalize itinerary
16) Make itinerary book
17) Make trip books for kids to do on the way home
18) Finalize scavenger hunt ideas/order
19) Make scavenger hunt cards
20) Make invite to Akershus brunch
21) Make letter from Mickey for beginning/end of scavenger hunt

I'm sure I'll be adding to this later! This is all I can think of right now, but now I am off to work on this list Now...where to start...

I hope I'm giving some newbies some ideas! I love the planning phase!

 

[dmbdisneymom]

I desperately need to keep track of how much this trip is costing us!

Tickets: 1261.86
Hotel: 555.96
Car: 475.97
Food: 1000.00
Character Meal: 140.94
Souveneirs: 500.00
Gas: 500.00

Total- 4434.73

That looks much better written down than in my head. It's always scarier in my head for some reason. It's all money well spent, though!

 

[dmbdisneymom]

Well, I've started my mixed CDs for the car rides!

I got all my songs from Amazon MP3 downloads...free! I collect the Pepsi caps at work from everyone and they add up quick! I didn't have to buy 1 pop.

Disney Mix #1
1) Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride
2) Whoop de Doo
3) Belle
4) Belle (Reprise)
5) The Bare Neccessities
6) Colors of the Wind
7) Whistle While You Work
8) You've Got a Friend (Wheezy's version)
9) Chim Chim Chere
10) Can't Help Falling in Love
11) Cruella DeVille
12) Poor Unfortunate Souls
13) That's How You Know
14) A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes
15) Be Our Guest
16) You've Got a Friend
17) When She Loved Me
18) Heigh-Ho
19) Why Should I Worry
20) I Wanna Be Like You

 

[hlrababy]

Hi!! I am in for this report! Sounds like its gonna be great!