The life of a planner is full of tough choices, isn't it? A February 2017 PTR

[MamaMeggie]

Very nice! Yours are the first new style MB's I've seen decorated. I'm still not sold on the new style, I'm going to get them for our next trip even though we don't need them just to see what they're like

I think there are pros and cons. Pro: I think they are more flexible than the old ones and maybe feel a bit softer. Con: the face pretty much covers my entire wrist. I'll take a pic with it on later.
Neither kid complained at all when they tried the band on, though.

 

[castoral]

Hello from a fellow Feb tripper. We'll just be crossing paths though as we are staying at Poly (rented DVC) Feb 6th-11th. I think your plans all look great, but from one planner to another, I promise, once you get there, just sit back and relax. After 3 trips since 2013 (Feb 2013 was our one and only trip too lol), that's what my kids remember most, when mom just sat back, relaxed and had fun. Its like having a baby....you can plan and plan all you want, but sometimes life just happens differently. Go with it and have fun!

That being said, I'm a wreck BEFORE we leave. We pick up the kids next Thursday at school right after lunch and will stay halfway in Chatanooga, TN. We're staying off property and doing LEGOLAND and such from the 3th-6th with mimi and papa. I have the kids packed, but I still feel like I have so much to do.....tomorrow I'm putting together travel binders for each kid, I packed snacks for the car last week, created my grocery list for breakfast and our off site part of the trip, still freaking out though...

 

[MamaMeggie]

Hello from a fellow Feb tripper. We'll just be crossing paths though as we are staying at Poly (rented DVC) Feb 6th-11th. I think your plans all look great, but from one planner to another, I promise, once you get there, just sit back and relax. After 3 trips since 2013 (Feb 2013 was our one and only trip too lol), that's what my kids remember most, when mom just sat back, relaxed and had fun. Its like having a baby....you can plan and plan all you want, but sometimes life just happens differently. Go with it and have fun!

That being said, I'm a wreck BEFORE we leave. We pick up the kids next Thursday at school right after lunch and will stay halfway in Chatanooga, TN. We're staying off property and doing LEGOLAND and such from the 3th-6th with mimi and papa. I have the kids packed, but I still feel like I have so much to do.....tomorrow I'm putting together travel binders for each kid, I packed snacks for the car last week, created my grocery list for breakfast and our off site part of the trip, still freaking out though...

The baby is such a good analogy!! You are exactly right.
I hope y'all have an amazing time! I'd love to hear about Legoland. My son adores Legos and keeps mentioning it, but we just don't have time to fit it in.
What are you putting in the kids' travel binders?

 

[castoral]

The baby is such a good analogy!! You are exactly right.
I hope y'all have an amazing time! I'd love to hear about Legoland. My son adores Legos and keeps mentioning it, but we just don't have time to fit it in.
What are you putting in the kids' travel binders?

LEGOLAND really wasn't on my mind at all or in the plans. We were originally going to Universal for 5 nights then Disney for 5 nights, but low and behold, life happened and Labor Day weekend our offer was accepted on our dream home in our dream town......so since DVC points were paid for, we cancelled the Universal portion. Wanted to do *something* special though and found coupons for kids go free to LEGOLAND so what the heck. We're also visiting Old Town Kissimmee and taking my dad to a car show there, picking oranges, going on a monster truck ride through an orchard, finally playing mini golf at WinterSummer land, eating breakfast at Universal for my minion obsessed 3 yr old, and just doing a down day at Polynesian the day we arrive. I'm actually really looking forward to going to Orlando and not doing Disney 100% of the trip.

As for the travel binders, I got the idea of course from Pinterest. Typically we do a big tote in the middle of the car but theres fighting and no one puts their stuff back and by the time we pull up to Disney it looks like we lived in a car for a year, lol. Plus, they'll have school work to complete (missing 6.5 days of school), AND I don't want to play DVD after DVD. SOOOO.....I got them each a binder, each with their own pencil pouch. Each pencil pouch so far has a few pencils, a few twisty crayons and a few colored pencils. I stopped at Dollar Tree and actually found some really good work books and sticks and such. I'm going to tear out a few pages from each, mix in whatever homework they bring home, print out some travel bingo, tic tac tow pages, hang man, hidden pictures pages. See what I can use from magazines we have (American girl doll, ranger rick, hidden pictures, etc). I then have a list of fun word games to pull out. I reserved some books on tape from the library. As a last resort I found a few DVDs they've never seen.

 

[MamaMeggie]

As for the travel binders, I got the idea of course from Pinterest. Typically we do a big tote in the middle of the car but theres fighting and no one puts their stuff back and by the time we pull up to Disney it looks like we lived in a car for a year, lol. Plus, they'll have school work to complete (missing 6.5 days of school), AND I don't want to play DVD after DVD. SOOOO.....I got them each a binder, each with their own pencil pouch. Each pencil pouch so far has a few pencils, a few twisty crayons and a few colored pencils. I stopped at Dollar Tree and actually found some really good work books and sticks and such. I'm going to tear out a few pages from each, mix in whatever homework they bring home, print out some travel bingo, tic tac tow pages, hang man, hidden pictures pages. See what I can use from magazines we have (American girl doll, ranger rick, hidden pictures, etc). I then have a list of fun word games to pull out. I reserved some books on tape from the library. As a last resort I found a few DVDs they've never seen.

Genius! I've ordered a lot of travel activities, but this is great. Our teachers won't give out work in advance (not really sure why) but otherwise in copying you!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Hello!!!! I don't know how I missed your comments. I was probably too preoccupied with our last minute items before our trip!ubt we are back, and I totally wish I had commented on some of these items before you left! Regardless, I can't wait to hear how the trip went!

Another highlight was Crystal Palace. We had a PPO reservation, and this *may* have been when my freak out happened. [which was really not my fault, I just wanted the perfect picture in front of the castle without crowds. That's all.

I feel like every trip needs to have at least on "freak" out moment. It's reality. It happens to the best of us!

On Caroline's birthday we went to dinner in the castle. Definitely the perfect setting for a 5th birthday, and the princesses were lovely, but this was my least favorite service-wise of the trip.

She is the adorable! We did Cinderella's Castle for dinner our first trip, our girls were 5 & 3 and thought they were meeting the REAL princesses. Totally worth it! Food just ok, which is why we haven't been back since.

See the confused look still remaining outside?

After changing into comfy clothes, the excitement began to set in:

Seriously, this is almost exactly what happened to us. We got the girls out of school early and they were so worried that they were in trouble that it took awhile for it all to sink in.

They figured it out pretty quickly and were excited - altogether it was a better surprise than last time, plus they've enjoyed talking about it since then.

I want to do this at some point, but not sure if the timing will ever work out. Also, I know me, I would end up getting too many other gifts... I am terrible like that! But I love the big boxes!

We are planning on ordering Ohana room service for dinner back at the Poly that night and then watching fireworks from the beach.. . . BUT I realized I don't have a night planned in MK at all, so I may make everyone hop on the monorail after dinner so we can see the castle projection show. We'll see how tired everyone is.

I almost want to stay at Ohana just to do this! This sounds amazing to me and DH.

We have a 10:45 reservation at Tusker House, and I

Can't wait to hear how you liked this. This is on my must do for our next trip.

And I definitely need an avocado margarita after reading so much about them from @ariane37 !

Did you try it? I was tempted by @ariane37's posts as well. But didn't have time to grab one this trip. There is always next time!

We have a PPO breakfast at BOG at 8am. I've been reading a lot about the new opening procedures and people cancelling PPO reservations, but it's our only meal in the Beast's castle this trip so I'm keeping it. The only thing that irritates me is that they are letting everyone in at the same time with reservations before 9, but they may always have done that

I will love to hear about your expierence as a early morning guest. It is the first thing that I thought of when they announced this. I kind of like being able to get a photo and a starbucks drink before park opens as a regular guest. But I can see how that covered empty pic seems like a thing of the past!

Ok, what is left to do?
Luckily I read @StarWarsMomofGirls! report yesterday and remembered about Tinkerbell gifts. I won't do this every day, but it will be fun a few nights. And I discovered that the Disney Store is having a sale for 40% off some toys for a couple of days!

I TOTALLY missed this!!! I don't know how! I can't wait to see what you ended up doing.

Magic Band decals arrived yesterday!! They turned out really well. DH declined any decoration (party pooper).

Where did you get your decals from? I mentioned the idea to my DH's and they were ALL over this idea!