SWW 2013:One tiny goal: A picture with every character!-New 6/11 - Link to TR

[lsenquiz]

Ahh..the last day. **sigh** I try to end our trip in the most magical way possible, which usually means the Magic Kingdom and Wishes.

Hope Chicago is going well!

Chicago was very cold but we had some fun anyway. It was nice to see people face to face for the first time that I have been working with for years

 

[lsenquiz]

Have a safe trip!

Home safe and sound

 

[lsenquiz]

It’s been awhile since I have updated. Life has been busy with work and DS’s school. In fact, it has been so busy that I missed my 30 day mark. So today we are at:


28 days by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr



I had to spend three days in Chicago this week for business so I was excited to get back home Wednesday night. We will be celebrating 30 days this weekend. Not sure what all we will do but one thing I am determined to get done is creating our countdown chain. I wanted to have it done in time to start at day 30 but it looks like we will be starting with 25 instead. My plan is to do this one as it seems pretty popular on pinterest:


count down chain by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Photo borrowed from the internet

I have also made a couple of purchases today that I am super excited about. This was my first one:


Annual Pass by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Photo borrowed from the internet

For the first time ever I am an annual pass holder I am super excited. We ordered them through AAA which saved us $70. I could have saved an additional $40 dollars if I had followed advice from the DIS to buy our annual passes through UT and then use one day and price bridge but I made the decision that the $40 was just not worth the effort.

My other purchase was this:


Disneys-PhotoPass-CD by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Photo borrowed from the internet

We have always preordered photopass and we preordered photopass+ for the first time last year. I really struggled with which one to order this year. I was just not sure we would get our money’s worth for Photopass+ with just the three of us. However, after pondering on it for about a month I decided the extra $30 dollars was worth it.

I will post pictures of our countdown chain this weekend.

 

[danicaca]

The countdown chain is super easy to make! We start ours on Saturday!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Annual Pass Holder! Yee-Ha!!

 

[indimom]

Good Luck What is your drive? We are so blessed that we can get there in 7 hours.

I just noticed I never answered your actual question.
Our drive is 16 hours door to door.

Home safe and sound

Glad to hear it!

It’s been awhile since I have updated. Life has been busy with work and DS’s school. In fact, it has been so busy that I missed my 30 day mark. So today we are at:


28 days by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr



I had to spend three days in Chicago this week for business so I was excited to get back home Wednesday night. We will be celebrating 30 days this weekend. Not sure what all we will do but one thing I am determined to get done is creating our countdown chain. I wanted to have it done in time to start at day 30 but it looks like we will be starting with 25 instead. My plan is to do this one as it seems pretty popular on pinterest:


count down chain by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Photo borrowed from the internet

I have also made a couple of purchases today that I am super excited about. This was my first one:


Annual Pass by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Photo borrowed from the internet

For the first time ever I am an annual pass holder I am super excited. We ordered them through AAA which saved us $70. I could have saved an additional $40 dollars if I had followed advice from the DIS to buy our annual passes through UT and then use one day and price bridge but I made the decision that the $40 was just not worth the effort.

My other purchase was this:


Disneys-PhotoPass-CD by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr
Photo borrowed from the internet

We have always preordered photopass and we preordered photopass+ for the first time last year. I really struggled with which one to order this year. I was just not sure we would get our money’s worth for Photopass+ with just the three of us. However, after pondering on it for about a month I decided the extra $30 dollars was worth it.

I will post pictures of our countdown chain this weekend.

Woo Hoo! 28 Days! And ANNUAL PASS!
I'm sooo jealous! (That's my attempt at being green with envy... lol.)

 

[lsenquiz]

Woo Hoo! 28 Days! And ANNUAL PASS!
I'm sooo jealous! (That's my attempt at being green with envy... lol.)

I am really excited about it. I am hoping that now that we have it we can renew it year after year

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Hi Lisa. I am subbing. This is Tammy from our June group.

 

[lsenquiz]

Hi Lisa. I am subbing. This is Tammy from our June group.

Glad to have you along. I should be posting a new update tonight.

 

[indimom]

Glad to have you along. I should be posting a new update tonight.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

I'm caught up now! Congratulations on becoming a WDW passholder!!!! Feels good, doesn't it? The only "bad" thing is now you will want to go ALL THE TIME! Ya'll live in GA so you might end up like us last year...6 weeks total, and you know what? It's all good. Your friends, neighbors, and family will wonder why the heck you wanna be at Disney all the time but who cares!

Those long two week trips are my favorite. I feel like gas is 2 million $ per gallon now so if we're there, stay a while! Our longest trip to date is 17 nights. This next one is 10, and most of our dates cross. I'd love to say hi to you guys! We will swap #'s before we go if you're cool with that.

We were there for SWW last year and those switching lines about drove me crazy. We stood in line for over an hour to meet Princess Leia with R2D2 and she left right before we go to her. The guys in front of us got a picture with her, R2, AND Luke! It was a pair of grown men who were acting like 6 year old kids. Totally living out some weird fantasy with the SW characters and must have spent 15 minutes cutting up with them. Yeah, yeah...it's fun or whatever but to do this for that long when the line is out the door? It's just inconsiderate. The CM's should have moved them along. Instead they played along too. After this we didn't bother meeting anyone else. It was pointless. We went outside, did the magic shot with Darth Vader and rode the rides. There were clouds, no rain at all and there never was, but they canceled the end of the day party. I hope this year is better.

I love the way you work things @ not having to use a bus. I don't care for them either. We usually drive to the parks. I have a permanent handicapped tag on my truck so I get to park pretty close, when the spots aren't filled with people using grandma's hang tags. I don't think I could deal with buses for an entire trip, especially at night. What a nightmare closing time can be.

BTW I need to lose quite a few pounds before this trip myself. After two cruises and a free dining trip my pants are way too tight. I'm not buying new clothes so I have to make it work, or go bottomless. Yeah, I'm gonna go do some some squats right now!

 

[lsenquiz]

I'm caught up now! Congratulations on becoming a WDW passholder!!!! Feels good, doesn't it? The only "bad" thing is now you will want to go ALL THE TIME! Ya'll live in GA so you might end up like us last year...6 weeks total, and you know what? It's all good. Your friends, neighbors, and family will wonder why the heck you wanna be at Disney all the time but who cares!

We have another 2 week trip planned for September and I am already secretly planning a November trip.

Those long two week trips are my favorite. I feel like gas is 2 million $ per gallon now so if we're there, stay a while! Our longest trip to date is 17 nights. This next one is 10, and most of our dates cross. I'd love to say hi to you guys! We will swap #'s before we go if you're cool with that.

This is our longest trip to date. I can not wait. I am totally on board with swapping numbers before the trip for a meet.

We were there for SWW last year and those switching lines about drove me crazy. We stood in line for over an hour to meet Princess Leia with R2D2 and she left right before we go to her. The guys in front of us got a picture with her, R2, AND Luke! It was a pair of grown men who were acting like 6 year old kids. Totally living out some weird fantasy with the SW characters and must have spent 15 minutes cutting up with them. Yeah, yeah...it's fun or whatever but to do this for that long when the line is out the door? It's just inconsiderate. The CM's should have moved them along. Instead they played along too. After this we didn't bother meeting anyone else. It was pointless. We went outside, did the magic shot with Darth Vader and rode the rides. There were clouds, no rain at all and there never was, but they canceled the end of the day party. I hope this year is better.

People like that totally frustrate me. I would have probably said something (which would have stressed my DH out). However, the characters are out on average for 20 minutes a piece so when one person takes 15minutes they are taking 75% of that characters M&G time! I agree totally inconsiderate! However, I am determined not to get stressed this year. Humm.... Alchohol may have to be involved

I love the way you work things @ not having to use a bus. I don't care for them either. We usually drive to the parks. I have a permanent handicapped tag on my truck so I get to park pretty close, when the spots aren't filled with people using grandma's hang tags. I don't think I could deal with buses for an entire trip, especially at night. What a nightmare closing time can be.

One of my favorite things about Disney is parking my car and not seeing it again until we leave. I prefer to walk but will take the occasional cab if it looks like a long wait.

I know what you mean about the handicap spaces. My Mom lived in Florida and was in a wheel chair. She was paralysed from the waist down and could not transfer out of her wheelchair. It was always very difficult to find a handicap spot. Especially one that allowed her to use the wheelchair ramp in her van.

BTW I need to lose quite a few pounds before this trip myself. After two cruises and a free dining trip my pants are way too tight. I'm not buying new clothes so I have to make it work, or go bottomless. Yeah, I'm gonna go do some some squats right now!

I have actually lost 12 pounds in the last 5 weeks. I hope to lose 5-8 more before we leave. I will still not be at my goal weight but better than where I was .

 

[Corrine 1973]

I am new to your PTR but I am very excited to be reading it. I am also excited that we are going at about the same time. We are going May 26-June 1st. It also looks like a few of our days will be at the same park. We are going to be at DAK on Tues May 28th, DTD on evening of May30, and DHS for SWW on May 31st. Hope to see you around and look forward to reading more of your PTR. We are getting so close.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

We have another 2 week trip planned for September and I am already secretly planning a November trip.

My FD trip was in Sept but we moved it back to August because of school.


This is our longest trip to date. I can not wait. I am totally on board with swapping numbers before the trip for a meet.

I sent you a FR on FB!

People like that totally frustrate me. I would have probably said something (which would have stressed my DH out). However, the characters are out on average for 20 minutes a piece so when one person takes 15minutes they are taking 75% of that characters M&G time! I agree totally inconsiderate! However, I am determined not to get stressed this year. Humm.... Alchohol may have to be involved


That sounds like a plan! I won't let it stress me out...I just say forget it and do something else. That whole scene was ridiculous.

One of my favorite things about Disney is parking my car and not seeing it again until we leave. I prefer to walk but will take the occasional cab if it looks like a long wait.

I know what you mean about the handicap spaces. My Mom lived in Florida and was in a wheel chair. She was paralysed from the waist down and could not transfer out of her wheelchair. It was always very difficult to find a handicap spot. Especially one that allowed her to use the wheelchair ramp in her van.


If someone needs a spot they will have a permanent tag! I wish hang tags would go away period! People abuse them and people the spots are meant for don't get them half the time! I have only seen cops checking for tag matches one time in my entire life. It was at Toys R Us during Christmas one year.

I have actually lost 12 pounds in the last 5 weeks. I hope to lose 5-8 more before we leave. I will still not be at my goal weight but better than where I was .

That's pretty good! I have a LONG way to go before hitting my goal weight, I just want to get back into my recently purchased bottoms. lol

 

[lsenquiz]

We are now at​

20 days by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


As is typical for our Disney vacations, the months leading up to it seem to drag and then the last 30 days fly by so fast I find myself scrambling at the last minute to get everything together.

I did finally put my countdown chain together.


Countdown Chain by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

I am not sure I did it right as it is only for 20 days but it is really long? I assumed that a whole mickey represented 1 day. If I was wrong oh well we will use it like that anyway.

I also got my season pass vouchers and my photopass+ in the mail on Tuesday. It took 6 days (including weekends) for Photopass+ to arrive after I placed the order. Much quicker than the 2 weeks they say.

Other good news is I have managed to lose 12 pounds in the last 5 weeks. I still hope to lose 5 to 8 more before we leave. That will not put me back at my goal weight but will be better than where I was.


weight by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


We also have big plans to celebrate 20 days. Today we are going to see Disney on Ice – Worlds of Fantasy!!!! My DS does not know but we have front row seats. I will try to do a post on that on Sunday.

I am also planning to get our Disney tub out this weekend. I love looking through there at everything I put in it after our last trip. We did not have to buy any souvenirs on our last trip because there was nothing our DS wanted once I handed back out all the stuff we brought back from previous trips.

20 days and counting

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Love the chain! I made the same one and used each link as one day...but either way works! We had the boys take turns and they liked to see who got to take off the black Mickey ring. FUN!

Congrats on the weight loss! You can do it! I have yet to get back on track since my vacation and I believe my scale may very well be going in the wrong direction...

 

[lsenquiz]

Love the chain! I made the same one and used each link as one day...but either way works!

As I was finally putting the chain together I started to think that was what I was supposed to do. Good info for our next trip!

I have yet to get back on track since my vacation and I believe my scale may very well be going in the wrong direction...

I am very worried about that myself. We have another Disney trip in September and I really really really want to be at my goal weight by then but vacations seem to knock my off the wagon and it can be really hard to get back on. . Best of luck to you on getting back on track. Hopefully the nice weather(if it ever arrives) will help.

 

[lsenquiz]

That's pretty good! I have a LONG way to go before hitting my goal weight, I just want to get back into my recently purchased bottoms. lol

I do better when I take weight loss in small chucks so I think your goal is awesome

 

[lsenquiz]

We went to see Disney on Ice World of Fantasy yesterday to celebrate 20 days until Disney

We had an awesome view(front row). We did not have awesome seats. I say this because they created 2 additional rows in front of the normal front row by putting folding chairs out. So we sat on folding chairs for 2 hours while we enjoyed the show.


DSC02883 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Gabriel and I in our folding chairs!

Regardless of our seats, we still had a good time. The show started with 4 of the Fab 5:


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

I have not mastered the art of taking pictures of moving objects with my camera yet but did manage to get a close up of this fellow:


DSC02977 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Next out where these favorites:


DSC02896 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC02902 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

The Star of this part came out last:


DSC02899 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

They also had Flo and Ramone but they never stayed still long enough for me to get a picture

Then it was Ariels turn. I only got one good picture of this (I really need to read my camera manual):


DSC02923 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

After Ariel came the fairies. Sadly I was unable to get any good pictures of them.

The grand finale was Toy Story. I did manage to get some pictures of these guys.


DSC02945 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Love those green army men:


DSC02935 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC02967 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

This puts into perspective how close we were to the ice. This fellow graciously moved back a little so I could get a picture because he was so close that even with the camera completely unzoomed I could not get his whole body in the picture.


DSC02973 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Mr. Potato Head will always be my favorite:


DSC02957 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Trying to protect the wife from mean old Lotso:


DSC02949 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Some of the rest of the gang:


DSC02938 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC02940 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC02954 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr


DSC02963 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Not a big fan of this Buzz:


DSC02942 by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

Their mortal enemy:


. by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

My review: Although we enjoyed the show it really made me realize that the work Disney puts into making sure that the characters they choose look as much like the real character as possible is critical to the experience. I guess with the ice shows it is more important to find someone that can skate rather than someone who really looks like the character? Because of this I had a hard time relating to the characters with faces. I wish I could have gotten better pictures of the fairies because honestly not one of them looked anything like the real thing. The same was true with Ariel, Buzz and Jessie.

My DS also had a little melt down at the end of the show. This was a huge shock because he absolutely never does that. However, I made the mistake of thinking that the Lion King was going to be part of this show. I did that because when I googled the show this was the first picture that came up:


disney-on-ice-worlds-of-fantasy by Disneyalwaysn4ever, on Flickr

The Lion King is my DSs absolute favorite. So when the show came to an end and he realized that the Lion King was not going to be part of it. He lost it.

All in all I think next time I will just put the money I spent on this adventure towards doing something extra on our next Disney trip!

 

[indimom]

I love that countdown chain! Too cute!
And all the pictures from Disney on Ice are awesome. We've never gone to one of those shows. Maybe I can take my grands someday?
Sorry the end of the show was a little dashed for your son. I would have thought the same thing if I had seen that advertisement.