The Mouse-KIDS are in charge...a Jan '12 PTR NEW 2/5 TR link & new tickers

[jillyb]

That is an awesome countdown calendar!

 

[mousescrapper]

That is really cool. I don't think I even have access to anything that could create something like that.

Feel better soon!

Okay, that is seriously the coolest countdown calendar ever!! What a fun activity and keepsake idea!

Wow, wow, wow!

Julie -- I am in awe of you and Matt and the kids! That calendar is just a treasure to behold.

If you want, can you post a closer photo of the pics? I want to see how you chose pics for the sky, vs the castle. I love it!!

Awesome!!

That is an awesome countdown calendar!

thank you all! now that several photos have been added it is coming into shape and yes marsha I will post more pixs and close ups too so you can see it better


not a funny story but a story of how disney always shows up in unexpecteted places


most of you follow my Oct. PTR and may have read by now that my husband Matt is having surgery again in 2 weeks for spinal deteriation of the spine, soon after we returned from our Anni trip the pain he'd been having for months got worse, way worse and he needed emergency help. He told me on the ride over to the ER, the EMT (we called 911) said he loved our Disney countdown and was a DVC member at SSR

 

[mousescrapper]

Yesterday fellow Diser irish dancer (Anne Marie) came out for a visit and brought us (plus Matt) lunch THANK YOU! and we talked over the possibilities of my Jan trip...Matt and I w/ my Mom have discussed this a bit already...w/ Matt's upcoming surgery and long recovery ahead...the unknown of how he'll be etc...it weighs heavy on the trip...go, not, go... but w/ some perspective from AM and looking at my numbers of lost airfare $$ losing points, and of course a just renewed AP for two 2012 trips that would be additional wasted funds it doesn't make sense to postpone we couldn't fly w/in time frame needed or have the points avail...so as Mr. Disney would...we are moving forward and remaining hopeful

so let's look at this to-do list...


January Trip To-Do List:

End of October: less than 3 months

* create to-do list DONE!

* print itinerary pages

* create must do lists for MK, EP, AK

* Plan and have 80 days till Disney night/dinner having TONIGHT!


November: 2 months

* Adjust food budget to reflect increase in kid meal pricing

* order trading pins from Ebay

* Plan MK park days

* Plan EP park day

* Plan AK park day

* Plan and have 70, 60 and 50 days till Disney nights

* make itinerary cards

* Create door sign and window decoration

December: 1 month to go

* decide if Matt can’t go and to what extent…

* decide on clothes and pull items

* purchase Disney gift cards

* Plan and have 40, 30, 20 days till Disney nights

* pull suitcases, start packing

* make final trip shopping list

* Make mousekeeping and O’Hana tip envelopes

* create trip journals for kids

* create new general Dis tag for myself



January: weeks to go

* make Garden grocer order

* Call/email schools (and NR bus) to inform of missed days (2)

* arrange dog and fish care

* assess $ needs and organize

* put together souvie list

* Plan and have 10 and 5 days till Disney nights

* final trip packing (check weather)

* Decide on KIDS park bags and carry-on’s for plane –pack

* arrange ride for airport

* Online check-in (10 days)

* last minute planning, print itinerary cards, prepare travel binder, etc….


Stay tuned for updates and more....

 

[DisMomAmy]

I'm glad you had a nice lunch with Anne Marie yesterday!

Your plans are coming together nicely for January. I know it's hard to think about it with so much going on but you'll make it through & have a great trip!

 

[MRYPPNS]

Good to hear that you have some direction for the January trip! Have you given any thought to simplifying the trip in some ways? Like the mini golf and other extras? Just to keep your stress level down about money and transportation.

 

[Marshay]

Oh, I'm sorry to hear about Matt's pain and upcoming surgery. Your trip won't be the same but you'll still have fun!

 

[mousescrapper]

Good to hear that you have some direction for the January trip! Have you given any thought to simplifying the trip in some ways? Like the mini golf and other extras? Just to keep your stress level down about money and transportation.

Yes Heidi I asm thinking on those same lines going to probably mid vamp the whole middle 3 days...how to do it thinking of cutting the mini golf and replace w/ extra time at Community hall area, maybe if weather nice can play outside games at BLT like shuffle board or tennis (FREE!), add extra shopping say at Mouse Gear instead of DTD...going to run some thoughts by kids!

 

[irish dancer]

My pleasure on lunch, it was fun to see your trip pics and hash through planning future trips. Did NR make it through the day at school?

I'm sure the kids will be understanding of the need to re-arrange the trip, good thing is you know it's not your last/only trip so anything you have to bump can always be added to a future trip.

Can't wait to read about last night's celebration.

 

[MRYPPNS]

Yes Heidi I asm thinking on those same lines going to probably mid vamp the whole middle 3 days...how to do it thinking of cutting the mini golf and replace w/ extra time at Community hall area, maybe if weather nice can play outside games at BLT like shuffle board or tennis (FREE!), add extra shopping say at Mouse Gear instead of DTD...going to run some thoughts by kids!

Those sound like great replacement ideas. They would probably love more "play" time at the resort.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Yes Heidi I asm thinking on those same lines going to probably mid vamp the whole middle 3 days...how to do it thinking of cutting the mini golf and replace w/ extra time at Community hall area, maybe if weather nice can play outside games at BLT like shuffle board or tennis (FREE!), add extra shopping say at Mouse Gear instead of DTD...going to run some thoughts by kids!

Great ideas!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

It sounds like a good idea to simplify your trip a bit. Your ideas sound great!

 

[mousescrapper]

I'm glad you had a nice lunch with Anne Marie yesterday!

me too

Your plans are coming together nicely for January. I know it's hard to think about it with so much going on but you'll make it through & have a great trip!

it should offer a nice distraction

Oh, I'm sorry to hear about Matt's pain and upcoming surgery. Your trip won't be the same but you'll still have fun!

thanks Marsha we'll remain hopeful he'll be w/ us for this trip...he says if he'd good enough to fly then he'd going...yes won't quite be the same...but it's ok!

My pleasure on lunch, it was fun to see your trip pics and hash through planning future trips. Did NR make it through the day at school?

yes thanks again! and thanks for your help...yes she did, silly kid

I'm sure the kids will be understanding of the need to re-arrange the trip, good thing is you know it's not your last/only trip so anything you have to bump can always be added to a future trip.

I hope so haven't had a moment to talk to them about everything so going to sit down w/ them today

Can't wait to read about last night's celebration.

coming up soon

Those sound like great replacement ideas. They would probably love more "play" time at the resort.

thanks...going to run it by them today! and get some feedback for tour ideas/changes

Great ideas!

It sounds like a good idea to simplify your trip a bit. Your ideas sound great!

thanks Amy and Sara...I agree will post some itinerary changes soon!

 

[mousescrapper]

80 days till Disney…

So for our spur of the moment family night/themed dinner I did a Disney’s Hollywood Studios Night!

On the menu we visited two of the eating establishes there in the park:

Pizza Planet

Rachel thought the veggies needed a name…

And Staring Rolls café

Here’s a closer look at the table décor and attractions (I don’t have them all) See what you can figure out!

Here’s Matt working on one of our missing attractions (any idea?)

I’ll post a pix of the finished attraction later…


The girls danced to some of the “playhouse” Disney music…

Enjoying the night and treats…

Our countdown board:

Here’s a close up of the board coming together where you can see the shape of SSE forming w/ the pictures:

Well I hope you enjoyed this latest Mouse Scrapper Disney night! Stay tuned for more nights and planning changes…. ​

 

[MRYPPNS]

Good for you for having the Disney dinner with everything going on!

 

[Charleston Princess]

I spy several of our DHS faves on the table!!!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

The countdown calendar looks great as it's coming along! Your DHS night looks like it was a lot of fun, I'm sure that was a bit of a welcome distraction for you guys!

 

[DisMomAmy]

What a fun Disney night!! I love the DHS themed table deocrations!
Was Matt buiding a certain tower?

 

[jillyb]

Sorry to hear about Matt's surgery. Hope he is doing well and that he'll be able to go on the upcoming trip. Very fun Disney night!

BTW: Clay is going to be in the Chicago area November 15-17 visiting a customer. Not sure what his schedule is going to be.

 

[mousescrapper]

Good for you for having the Disney dinner with everything going on!

yes it was a throw it together one...but still that has probably been are only family meal sitting together in almost 3 weeks we have 70 days coming up this weekend, so hopefully we can make that some very needed family time

I spy several of our DHS faves on the table!!!

The countdown calendar looks great as it's coming along! Your DHS night looks like it was a lot of fun, I'm sure that was a bit of a welcome distraction for you guys!

thanks...can't wait to see the 2nd row wind it's way around and it was

What a fun Disney night!! I love the DHS themed table deocrations!
Was Matt buiding a certain tower?

thanks Amy and yes you are correct, he goes from the couch to the rocker during the day....it's his busy project ...he's on step 68 of 143 he's got easier paper projects for EP day sometime in the near future

Sorry to hear about Matt's surgery. Hope he is doing well and that he'll be able to go on the upcoming trip. Very fun Disney night!

thanks, he's hanging in there the best he can...1 more week till surgery.

BTW: Clay is going to be in the Chicago area November 15-17 visiting a customer. Not sure what his schedule is going to be.

cool hope we have some nice weather for him...today was lousy. hope he see's some sights

 

[mousescrapper]

A new plan…

So with the news I broke a week ago w/ matt’s spinal surgery coming up our plans have changed a bit for Disney to reflect that. Yes we are still going…hopefully all 6 of us! But either way some things needed to be adjusted, for ease of mobility, transportation and finances, because w/ Matt out of work for 6 weeks, the extras' budget is gone…

This is what our 5 days looked like before:

Sun: arrival, MK-emh
Mon: O’Hana, break, mini golf, DHS-emh
Tues: AK half day, break, DTD evening
Wed: EP all day
Thurs: departure, MK​

This is how our 5 days look now:

Sun: arrival, MK-emh

Mon: O’Hana, EP

Tues: MK all day w/ resort break

Wed: DHS ½-3/4 day and resort evening

Thurs: departure, MK​

So basically we eliminated our two outings of mini golf and DTD shopping plus took out a ½ day at AK and added another MK day. We added extra resort play time to make up for no mini golf and will make shopping at Mouse Gear in EP a priority (asking for gift cards for Christmas). We opted to not go to AK, since if Matt is on Disney restricted, there is not much he/we can do, and it’s not the most assessable friendly park. With going w/ non hoppers, we figured we get more out of a 3rd MK outing.

What do you think?

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This plan also re-structured our dining, which is good I need to be more financially astute this trip too!

I eliminated several in park meals in favor of more villa meals. I need to re-total our OOP budget still, but here is a basic idea of where we’ll be eating:

Sun: B-airport, L-QS @ MK either Pecos Bill or CHH, D-villa (during break)

Mon: B-O’Hana, L-snacks brought in from villa, D-QS @ EP TBD

Tues: B-villa, L-QS @ MK CHH or Pecos Bill, D- villa (during break)

Wed: B-villa, L- QS@ DHS Sunset market area, D- villa

Thurs: B-villa, L-QS @ MK PVH, D- airport​

Be back w/ a new budget breakdown for food, another Disney “night”, and hopefully some new park tour plans!

Thanks for reading, J~​