Taking Little Miss to Meet the Mouse! ~ A May 2015 PTR ~ Trip Report Link Posted!!

[Nermel9]

I'm FINALLY caught up with your PTR! I'm backing up my phone onto my computer, which I haven't done before (I just got a new phone, so it's backing EVERYTHING up and it's taking forever!) so I figured, since I'm stuck sitting here, why not get caught up?

I had to laugh when I was reading all of your resort updates, you change a lot like I do! So if I remember correctly, you went from POR to CBR back to POR in a royal room? Sounds awesome, I've stayed in the royal rooms and they are perfect!

You are so crafty! Your autograph book is amazing! And those bows!!! I wear Disney bows sometimes, and I order them from a girl on etsy, I'm just not crafty enough to make my own!

Your ADR's looked great, glad you got everything you wanted!

Your park plans look great, I can't believe you time everything out like that! I get stressed out even timing FP selections! And your FP's looked awesome too, I can't really remember them, since I read everything all at once, but I know they looked good!

I have a problem buying Disney clothes too, I'm obsessed!! I love that Tiana shirt you got from Torrid, I always see their cute Disney shirts online but I never buy one...I might have to rethink that before my trip!

Mmmm I loved your list of Disney snacks! I love the jalapeno pretzel, but I wasn't crazy about the cream cheese one, but everyone else loves it! I'm just weird I guess! And I need to try an American dream, they look so good, but whenever I'm in Epcot, I want to eat everything else, so that always gets pushed aside!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Boy, has this been a week!!! It started on Wednesday when my back tooth completely shattered!!Then to top it off DH came home from work early with a Sinus Infection. I got myself into the dentist on Thursday only to be told that I need 2 not 1 root canals and crowns! Then was handed an estimate for the crowns that was pretty much the same amount I just paid down on the balance for our trip. I could have swung for a deluxe for what this is estimated to cost me. I go to get the root canal done yesterday and it’s a good news bad news situation. Good news I only needed the one root canal and crown. Bad news, the shattered tooth is too far gone to save and will need to be removed. Thankfully because it’s not causing pain I can leave it for now with the knowledge that it’s a ticking time bomb that could go off and cause pain at any time. At the very least the bill for it all should be slightly less (for now).


If all this has done anything it has made me grateful that we still get to go on the trip, because if all this had gone down before the balance was due we may have seriously considered skipping the trip. It would have broken my heart to do it though. But I think at this point each moment will be that much sweeter due to the very real chance it almost didn’t happen.


But enough about such unpleasant things! Let’s move on to:





Thank You Notes!

So after seeing a few trip reports where families give out thank you notes to helpful/ wonderful cast members I have decided that not only is it a good tradition to start with Little Miss but it is a good life lesson in gratitude as well. In creating mine I took a page from @DisneyKid4Life ’s book and used (with permission) his design as a starting point and tweaked it a little for us. Feel free to steal away.




Hope everyone has a Happy Easter! ​

 

[Gracefulskinny]

I'm FINALLY caught up with your PTR! I'm backing up my phone onto my computer, which I haven't done before (I just got a new phone, so it's backing EVERYTHING up and it's taking forever!) so I figured, since I'm stuck sitting here, why not get caught up?

I had to laugh when I was reading all of your resort updates, you change a lot like I do! So if I remember correctly, you went from POR to CBR back to POR in a royal room? Sounds awesome, I've stayed in the royal rooms and they are perfect!

I just Love love love POR but the floating in unassured zone of maybe being stuck in the Alligator Bayou section had me second guessing. So when the renovations at CBR came out I got interested but every time I saw a TR with POR I would doubt myself. So yeah at least this time I was waffley. At least I had the Disboards to vent my waffling!

You are so crafty!

I come from an artsy family.

Your autograph book is amazing! And those bows!!!

They were really fun to make!

I wear Disney bows sometimes, and I order them from a girl on etsy, I'm just not crafty enough to make my own!

They really aren't that hard to make. It only takes like 20 minutes to make one.

Your ADR's looked great, glad you got everything you wanted!

I'm excited about them. We debated on trying Le Cellier (sp?) but decided to pass until Little Miss was a bit older.

Your park plans look great, I can't believe you time everything out like that! I get stressed out even timing FP selections! And your FP's looked awesome too, I can't really remember them, since I read everything all at once, but I know they looked good!

You know I used to stress about scheduling the FP times as well. The detailed timing has actually helped relieve stress a bit. We won't stick religiously to the schedule while we are down there it really is more of a guide.

I have a problem buying Disney clothes too, I'm obsessed!! I love that Tiana shirt you got from Torrid, I always see their cute Disney shirts online but I never buy one...I might have to rethink that before my trip!

YOu know I debated a bit on ordering them because I was unsure of their quality but once they arrived I found them of very nice quality. Not bad at all. I have even found some shorts from there as well.

Mmmm I loved your list of Disney snacks! I love the jalapeno pretzel, but I wasn't crazy about the cream cheese one, but everyone else loves it! I'm just weird I guess! And I need to try an American dream, they look so good, but whenever I'm in Epcot, I want to eat everything else, so that always gets pushed aside!

I haven't had a chance to try any of them except that strawberry tart in france.(Mmmmmm) Now I'm hungry! ( although I should thank you because you just reminded me I am now overdue on my Main meds and antibiotics for the tooth issue )

 

[KathyM2]

I'm so sorry about your teeth...I have had some brutal dental bills in the past and it can be just painful financially and otherwise! I'm so glad you still get to go on the trip though. Love the thank you note idea. My kids could certainly use a lesson in expressing thanks and what a sweet way to do it.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

I'm so sorry about your teeth...I have had some brutal dental bills in the past and it can be just painful financially and otherwise!

Thank you. Luckily thus far its just more financially painful than anything else. I'm lucky that I have an extremely high pain tolerance. I also haven't experienced much pain really. Though I am not looking forward to the oral surgery to get the bad tooth out and an implant in.

I'm so glad you still get to go on the trip though.

Me too!!!

Love the thank you note idea. My kids could certainly use a lesson in expressing thanks and what a sweet way to do it.

I loved the idea when I saw it. I think we could all be more mindful of being grateful every now and then.

 

[KatMark]

Again, so sorry about the dentist. I absolutely hate anything to do with teeth and the dentist.

Love your thank you notes. I too stole the idea from Rob and will be using them in October.

 

[Tracy161]

OMG, I'm SO sorry to hear about your tooth/teeth! YUCK!!! I'm glad that it ended up being just the one to deal with for now and I hope the other tooth will hold out for quite a while to buy you more time until that needs to get dealt with. But I'm SO glad that it didn't interfere with your trip... that would have been just terrible!

Awww, I absolutely LOVE the idea of thank you cards!!! I may grab onto this idea myself and do up some... Rob certainly has been a wonderful inspiration for these.

 

[AshBriSmi]

Taking Little Miss to Meet the Mouse!

Introduction:

Hi there and welcome to my PTR! While I have done a TR in the past {See my signature down below if you want to check it out} this is my first ever PTR. Let’s get started with the Who:

First there is me, the super planner of the family. I am a stay at home mom and spend my time “home schooling” (as much as you do home school a 2 year old) my 2 year old DD. I have always had a heart for Disney and do not know the full number of times I have been to Disney but this will be the second trip I have planned myself. My favorite princesses are Tiana, Belle and Ariel. And in my opinion the best ride in all of Disney world is the Peoplemover! Give me a Dole Whip Float and the Peoplemover and I am a happy girl!


Next is DH, also known as Pirate Fuzzball here on the Boards. He is in IT and is the one to bring home the bacon so that I can stay home with little miss. He went to Disney a few times as a kid but never really caught the Disney bug until I came along. I am proud to say that I have convinced this reluctant Disney fan to find a Love for Disney. He’s not at the willingly wearing mickey shirts stage (yet) but I’ll take it. His favorite characters are Stitch and all things Star Wars. His favorite Rides are Tower of Terror, Star Tours, and Mission Space: Orange.

Finally there is Little Miss. She will be just a month shy of 3 when we take our trip. {And yes that timing was strategic.} Right now she is truly in love with all things “Mouse!” She also loves all the songs from Frozen. This will be her first trip to Disney.
​

I'm not sure if it's my computer, but I'm not able to see your pictures

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Again, so sorry about the dentist. I absolutely hate anything to do with teeth and the dentist.

Thanks. I to pretty much hate the dentist. But I've let things go for too long apparently. And it looks like there is a lot more work yet to do. Ugh....

Love your thank you notes. I too stole the idea from Rob and will be using them in October.

They are fun I think. I printed them at a 2x3 size and my only concern is that they may be a little too small. But other than that I think they turned out great.

OMG, I'm SO sorry to hear about your tooth/teeth! YUCK!!! I'm glad that it ended up being just the one to deal with for now and I hope the other tooth will hold out for quite a while to buy you more time until that needs to get dealt with. But I'm SO glad that it didn't interfere with your trip... that would have been just terrible!

Thanks! Me too. I've been informed that the procedure for the tooth that needs to come out can be even more pricy than the Root Canal! Lets keep our fingers crossed that I can make it through the year to let Insurance rollover. (I'm told that may be pushing it a little far though.)

Awww, I absolutely LOVE the idea of thank you cards!!! I may grab onto this idea myself and do up some... Rob certainly has been a wonderful inspiration for these.

With all the talk of poor castmembers I just feel that showing gratitude when it's deserved could go a long way.

I'm not sure if it's my computer, but I'm not able to see your pictures

I noticed recently that the intro pictures disappeared. I'm not sure what happened, but I'll get new ones put into place soon. In the mean time the all the other posts seem to be fine.

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Sorry about your bad tooth luck! When I was pregnant with Charlotte I bit into a piece of licorice and I had an entire tooth shatter. It was a horrible experience! And a costly one at that!

I am at least happy things happened in the order they did and you did not have to cancel your trip!

 

[afwdwfan]

If all this has done anything it has made me grateful that we still get to go on the trip, because if all this had gone down before the balance was due we may have seriously considered skipping the trip. It would have broken my heart to do it though. But I think at this point each moment will be that much sweeter due to the very real chance it almost didn’t happen.

Oh wow!!! I'm sorry you're having to deal with all that. Sounds painful... both in the mouth and the wallet. But it really would have been a huge disappointment if it had affected the trip!!!

So after seeing a few trip reports where families give out thank you notes to helpful/ wonderful cast members I have decided that not only is it a good tradition to start with Little Miss but it is a good life lesson in gratitude as well.

Great idea! The cards look good and I think that's a great way to give Little Miss some life lessons!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Sorry about your bad tooth luck! When I was pregnant with Charlotte I bit into a piece of licorice and I had an entire tooth shatter. It was a horrible experience! And a costly one at that!

I am at least happy things happened in the order they did and you did not have to cancel your trip!

Thank you. Its never fun to deal with tooth issues but even worse when its right after you just spent a bunch of money on a trip. Knowing how long we saved for this trip and how much this tooth stuff is costing... ugh I think I have finally let it go for now though.

Oh wow!!! I'm sorry you're having to deal with all that. Sounds painful... both in the mouth and the wallet. But it really would have been a huge disappointment if it had affected the trip!!!

Thankfully it hasn't been that painful in my mouth. My jaw has just been sore after holding it open for so long. But the wallet isn't happy about it thats for sure. There are just so many other things I would rather spend that Kinda money on! Sometimes being an adult stinks!

Great idea! The cards look good and I think that's a great way to give Little Miss some life lessons!

Not sure how much she will absorb the life lesson in the moment but it's certainly one of those lead by example things.

 

[afwdwfan]

Sometimes being an adult stinks!

That's putting it mildly.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Getting Crafty- Stroller Location Device

So after much consideration and debate back and forth on the stroller issue (which by the way was made worse when instead of giving helpful input on either of the options we were initially considering threw out a third option of the umbrella stroller we keep at her house. ) we have decided that the points brought up about the sun shade and how a few of you would chose annoying on the buses but great maneuverability along with the fact that while we have seen on quite a few occasions people with our standard stroller we have yet to run into a duplicate of the jogger. So Jogging stroller it is!


With that decided, I knew I needed to do something to help our stroller stand out. Something that could help it stick out of the mass of strollers in stroller parking.


Whatever we ended up with had to meet a few criteria:


1) It has to catch the eye quickly without being over the top obnoxious.


2) It has to be able to quickly be put in place and removed as needed.


3) Once in place it needs to be secure.


I considered getting a balloon but beyond the fact that balloons are not allowed in Animal Kingdom I could see a balloon quickly getting really annoying for DH while on buses.


Both DH and I were quick to come to the idea of a flag of some sort, but how to execute it in a way that fit Criteria 2 and 3 stumped us for a long time.

It was last week that the design idea finally came to mind. It really is simple to put together. I got a 1/4" dowel and we cut it down so it fit nicely in the basket under the stroller. We then Spray Painted it a bright florescent Pink. I then got some glitter canvas sheets (found next to the felt at Hobby Lobby) and cut out a circle (I originally was shooting for a flag like shape but it had to be abandoned after it turned out weird.) and glued the pieces together around the dowel. I then used a gold ribbon to cover the edges and give it just that last pop of sparkle to catch the eye. I then used the acrylic paint left over from painting magic bands to paint the first letter of our last name. Once everything was dry I glued it to a large binder clip. Take note that I only glued it in one spot on the clip. The rubberized pinchers are just the right size to help grip the dowel that the glue is almost not needed.


I tried it out around our yard at it seems to hold well. It also doubles as a bit of a fan. The only thing left to do to it is spray some acrylic sealer over it to help cut down on the shedding of glitter.


I am still working out the details to attach a stroller tag with our full name on it.​

 

[afwdwfan]

Yep, that should stick out. Balloons, I've seen, but that is unique and should be easy to spot. It sticks up above the sea of strollers but isn't quite as high as the balloons... You've kind of got altitude to yourself.

Good idea, and I think you'll like going with the jogging stroller. Definitely a pain on the bus, but worth a few minutes of inconvenience for the benefits it gives you in the park.

 

[KathyM2]

What an amazing idea!! I love when crafty people explain how to do things and make it seem so easy lol It looks cute too and will be very helpful!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Yep, that should stick out. Balloons, I've seen, but that is unique and should be easy to spot. It sticks up above the sea of strollers but isn't quite as high as the balloons...

I hope so. So many people use balloons that I'm not sure it would be helpful anyways. And that is about the height we were shooting for. We may have done it a smidge taller but we didn't want it sticking out of the under basket too far.

You've kind of got altitude to yourself.

That we do!

Good idea, and I think you'll like going with the jogging stroller. Definitely a pain on the bus, but worth a few minutes of inconvenience for the benefits it gives you in the park.

I think your input is what sold us the most. It certainly sold it for DH. Having a Disdad who has been the one to deal the with annoyance on the buses but would still rather have that stroller anyways says a lot. My mom also pointed out that with how much DD walks beside the stroller these days when the seat isn't in use we can always just put the backpack there. The final nail was the duplicate stroller at the zoo.

What an amazing idea!! I love when crafty people explain how to do things and make it seem so easy lol It looks cute too and will be very helpful!

We will see how well it works soon I guess. It is totally doable to make. And really didn't cost much in materials. I just knew we needed something or else we were going to go nuts.

 

[jchurch0409]

Love the stroller id!! I may make something similar to that since I was just thinking about what I wanted to do for our stroller a few hours ago! Thanks for sharing such a great idea!!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Love the stroller id!! I may make something similar to that since I was just thinking about what I wanted to do for our stroller a few hours ago! Thanks for sharing such a great idea!!

Thank you! I'm pretty excited about it myself.

 

[Tracy161]

How clever and creative!!! You're getting all sorts of crafty on us lately!

HAPPY FOUR WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!