"The Rescuers do Disney" - The Rescuers load up the car!

[BiancaBernard&Penny]

PT ICU RN gets CX, you get a PTR. AKA "The Rescuers do Disney"

Given my choice of SN I wanted a "Rescuers" theme title but I just had to poke fun at all the abbreviations used around here. I'm still sorting them all out. It's as bad as the healthcare field! So I'm a part-time Registered Nurse in ICU. Things are slow at work lately (great for the patients!) so I wasn't needed last night- got my shift canceled, YAY!! More time for Disney Daydreaming! So why not start a PTR? I, "Bianca" love WDW and am looking forward to returning and seeing my friend Eeyore after several years. We thought it would be 2 more years before we go but couldn't pass up buy 4 get 3.

DH "Bernard" enjoys Disney but doesn't get into the nitty gritty planning. Disney was his idea, he booked the trip and flight, so as far as I'm concerned he's done enough! He's hoping he can get a new Pooh and the tiger tee shirt in AK? Yesterday he made me sad by wearing an Adventurer's Club shirt.

Daughter is "Penny" She'll be 3 in 2 months. She loves "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and his friends (I think she thinks "Clubhouse" is Mickey's surname) Cinderella and Mary Poppins are OK, Nemo was the favorite for a while, then Bambi. Now she loves Monsters Inc and Incredibles. Yesterday she watched Snow White for the first time and really got into it. Her other classic favorites are Peter Pan and Pinnochio. We're looking forward to meeting all these friends! We have a big story book that we read at bedtime and we'll be having it autographed.

The Trip starts next Wed, to the local airport early in the AM and hopefully be in the parks by late afternoon. We'll be kicking things off with dinner at Chef Mickey's Aid Society HQ will be The Coronado Springs Resort. "Penny" loves the pictures of the pool with it's "pywamid! A grass pyramid!" Me too

We've also got two dogs, shall we call the "Nero" and "Brutus"? LOL Each will be vacationing at a neighbor's home. I'm most worries about "Nero" as she won't have her couch privileges where she's going. It will be our first vacation since we've had her. "Brutus" will be going where he always does and will be fine. That family already owns a young hyper dog that our elderly, sedate "Nero" does not care for.

 

[BiancaBernard&Penny]

It will be day 2 of our vacation! Can't believe it's so soon! (already? at last?)
We have ADRs for breakfast at Crystal Palace then dinner at Coral Reef. Eeyore, here I come! I hear mixed reviews about all the restaurants these days but CR in particular so I hope we're not making a mistake. We enjoyed it when we were there last time, so we're hoping for the best

So it looks like we'll be hopping between MK and Epcot for the day... braving those 9 crowds, I hear. Ah well. If all else, there is always that Dig Site pool! We're ready for that! "Penny" had a bathing suit fashion show, we got rid a couple little 2Ts, kept the 3Ts, and tried on a hand-me down 4T. Yippee! It fit- it's a cute skirted bikini, never worn, from the Disney Store with the Little Mermaid. "Penny" is excited about that one!

At any rate, I'm looking forward to my first glimpse of the F&G Show! Especially with all the rain we have lately, I can't seem to enjoy my own flower beds!

 

[BiancaBernard&Penny]

"Penny" and I put together our family activity book together last night. She loves GLUE TIME!

It's part planner, part coloring book. We'll be able to put it in my little Vera Bradley Mini Hipster for her to doodle during lines, waiting for dinner, or on the airplane. Meanwhile it holds ADR and other info and I can do a little journaling. I won't be inspired to write more than a few snippets anyway.

The purple ribbon tabs are one for each day, think I'll add some different colors and scatter some park tips throughout.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Signing on until I can go back and read it all! I often say that the disboards, trip reports and pictures are what keep me sane until our next WDW vacation!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Okay, all caught up. Yeah for the slow time at the ICU! That's always good to hear. My Dad spent a whole lot of time in ICU (13 times in just a 4 month time period) so I have a lot of respect for ICU teams.

When we were at Hollywood Studios in August, we were able to see the Incredibles and Sulley from Monsters Inc. Sulley was over by ABC Commissary and the Incredibles were in the Animation Building.

As far as Crystal Palace and Coral Reef go, we love 'em both! We haven't had breakfast at Crystal Palace, only dinner, but it was really good. I loved the atomosphere at Coral Reef and our food was well seasoned and prepared.

Hope you'll be posting more.

 

[BiancaBernard&Penny]

Thanks for joining! We'll be heading to HS and seeking our Pixar friends.

Glad to hear you've had good experiences at both restaurants! We tend to get a lot of breakfast since I'm an vegetarian but I do eat eggs and cheese. Breakfast gets me off to a hot filling start then I can wing it later. I remember having a yummy Pina Colada type drink with (I think) raspberry in it last time at CR. Hope it's still there! I won't even need a meal!

 

[lizet313]

Im in I love your Planner/ Coloring Book what a great idea.

 

[ljcrochet]

I love you planning book. I might make one for my girls. Care to share some more close ups?

 

[BiancaBernard&Penny]

Well! I'm happy to have guests. Tea anyone? It's a rainy week.
But now I feel a little pressured to do well here!

I worked a bit more on the book and took some more pictures! Not much left to do now. I used mostly the park info from IMwink's Best Guide threads- http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2158273 They are terrific! A little back story- We booked this trip just before Christmas. I immediately signed onto Dis and began compiling lists of useful info and tips. I had them organized into three beautiful word docs and an excel spreadsheet. Last month my computer crashed. This makes the pretty book seem so much more worth it and makes IMwink my new hero!

I put the info into word and formatted it into two columns and cut or folded as needed. For the pictures, I used Google Image and just typed in "coloring" and the character I wanted. I cut and pasted them into word, too (I'm not a computer guru, I depend heavily on word since I kinda know how to use it) Then I dragged them down in size so 4 fit on a page. That's about the size of the book. There are 16 pictures scattered throughout the book as well as blank pages left over. Yes, I'm sure she'll draw on my notes, too!

"Penny" says: "I think Mickey will LOOOVE it"

It's gotten big enough that I needed to tie it. I tied the ribbon onto a mini spring ring- it's a jewelry section notion like a teeny tiny key ring- and slipped it onto the wire binding. That way the ribbon slips around and doesn't interfere with opening the book-

A page of park info showing how I sometimes overlapped and folded to make it all fit!

Another page of park info. Each park has it's own colour tab to find it. Since the book wasn't "planned" the parks fit where-ever they fit.... even if Penny already glued a picture there!

A day page. You can kind of make out the Goofy hats I stamped on the right (along with the images manufactured into the book) On the left is hours info- colour coded to match the tabs

 

[BiancaBernard&Penny]

I'm not much into shopping but if it makes the wait go by to feel like I'm getting ready and my trip is coming then I'm all for it! So I've been shopping since the year started!

I started with "stroller planning" We have a Maclaren Volo that we'll be taking. A no frills but light and good pushing stroller. I know weather isn't always perfect so I bought a rain cover. Penny decorated it with foam Little Mermaid stickers. I also bought a pair of insulated cup holders for her to velcro on the sides. They seem to need some altering as they don't lie straight up and down, though. Oh, and I got a stroller duffle bag to gate check it in.

Autograph book- I bought a big book on eBay full of Disney stories. I plan to have characters sign near their story or picture. It will double as a counterweight to keep the top-heavy stroller from falling backwards when Penny gets up!

Clothing- Of course I needed a couple new summery tops anyway and Bernard's tee shirts were embarrassing! I found two light simple dresses yesterday at Kmart that should be good in the heat. Penny got a cute skort and top off the clearance rack at Target with Classic Pooh- for CP breakfast? The really fun shopping- a trip to the Disney store where she didn't care for any princess dress but did pick out a Minnie Mouse outfit. She's playing in it now. Since we went on Earth Day and took some empty bottles, we got a free Nalgene type water bottle, too. We also picked out a little portable (but IMHO ugly, LOL) Belle doll and an insulated Tinker Belle tumbler. She's getting into Tink. Over the weekend I bought a pretty, classy rain jacket. It will be light and small enough to pack. I'm just not a poncho person. Not sure why?

I really started to feel like our trip is around the corner when I bought snacks the other day. Granola bars, drink packets, fruit cups, goldfish crackers and pretzles. I had to hide them all so they don't get eaten!

Shopping in Lilliputian Land. I love shopping in Lilliputian Land- you know, that part of a drugstore where they sell teeny-tiny bottles of everything? It fascinates me. I'm too much of a tree hugger to do it often but we need to try to cut down on volume and weight. It was a bust anyway. Kmart didn't have much (the real reason I went to Kmart anyway) I really wanted little empty squirt bottles (I'm gonna put a little conditioner in one, add water when we get there and voila - detangler spray. A little softener and vodka in the other, add water there and voila (I hope!)- wrinkle release spray) They had none. So I'll try Rite-aide when I get my prescriptions filled.

Other STUFF- I stocked up on blister products. Not sure what will work for us but I have a little variety. I got glo-bracelets at the Dollar Tree for night time. I got a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse inner tube for the pool there, too. Nice and flat to pack. Oh, and the other dollar store had packets of terry pony tail holders with Minnie Mouse charms sewn on them. Very cute! I got myself two big but pretty barrettes at Kmart to hold my hair back if it gets too hot. Usually I'm a headband girl though. I look too frumpy and stern in an updo, LOL

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

Just read your PTR and everything sounds wonderful! How exciting that you'll be there so soon! And I love your planning binder! I totally plan on doing something like that for our trip this August. Hope you have fun getting ready for your trip! It's a good sign when you're already buying food for the trip!

 

[BiancaBernard&Penny]

I just thought I'd share my ADR info-

Wed evening (time? Uh-oh, I don't know. I'll find out at check-in) Chef Mickey's. I hope this is a good way to start vacation. Guarantees that Penny sees Mickey and friends on day 1.

Thursday- Breakfast at Crystal Palace- 8:30
Dinner at Coral Reef-7

Friday- No plans at all, we'll see where we end up and grab some CS

Saturday- Boma- 8:40 Yum! Frunch!
We'll wing the rest of the day

Sunday- No BF or lunch ADRs. Early dinner at Hoop-dee-doo!

Monday- BF at Akershus 10. This will be our first time dining with royalty!
No evening ADR

Tuesday- 10:00 BF at Crystal Palace (again?!)
Dinner at 1900 Park Fare. I'm hoping this is as fun as I've heard!

Wednesday- we leave in the evening so our day is still Disney Time but no plans. We'll see what inspires us.

 

[BiancaBernard&Penny]

We're excited!

In less than 12 hours we'll be on our plane!



OK, G'nug already. Ooops, just one more

I wasn't too excited about anything earlier today. Woke up with a migraine that got worse as the day went on. Just what I want when I have a waxing appointment. Yup, a little too close to vacay for "comfort" (and I use the word "comfort" very loosely!) The reason for my meshuga timing? Bernard got me 20% off by buying me a gift card for Mother's Day and it had to be used after Mother's Day. Even worse than a waxing the day before vacation with a migraine? A history final the day before vacation with a migraine. Blech. But it's all done now. I stopped at the grocery store right after my final and bought some extra Excedrin (apparently in my packing/ preparing my go-bottle had moved from my purse to my carry-on. Note to planners: Don't do that! Meshugana. ) My migraine was bad enough at that time that I also bought a coke (not a big soda fan) and a bag of frozen peas. I drove home with them tied to my head. Remember- the word of the day is "meshuga"!

So after the cold pack and a nap at home, I'm feeling well enough to function. Maybe a bit giddy with excitement, wooziness, and meds. You can be the judge. If you're still reading.

The point is... we're all set! Bags all packed. I finally snuck in the last of the things Penny doesn't need but suddenly takes an extreme interest in just because I'm trying to put it in a suitcase. Time to go to bed. Need to leave home in 7 1/2 hours.

See ya when I get back! Happy trip planning and Sweet Disney Dreaming everyone!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Have Fun! Come back with lots of pictures to share!

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

YEA!!! Have a wonderful time!