The Smith's "yes, we are to Disney AGAIN" PreTrip Report!

[Tnkrbelle565]

Nice enabling some one else! Elver feel like a drug pusher(not that I REALLY) know what one is like!) when talking about the dis boutique thread?

In all seriousness it is an amazing thread with an amazing group of ladies that is VERY VERY addictive!

That's me...Social Worker by day/Fabric Pusher by night!!! The real sad part was that I was disappointed that I didn't get anything done this week. It's an illness!!!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Well Ladies (I think all my readers are Ladies!), I am sitting here with a badly sprained ankle (THANK GOD this happened now and not 8 weeks from now!) Did I mention that I'm a GIGANTIC klutz???? Always have been...always will be. So let's see so far you've found out a lot of my flaws: my procrastination problem, my klutziness, my medical issues (PCOS and Melanoma), AND I push the disboutique thread onto unsuspecting mommies.

So I figured that I would pass the time (and take my mind off of the throbbing) by passing on some of my Disney Tips (most of my readers are fellow experts but you never know when you are going to get a rogue reader ) These tips will also address some of my pet peeves.

1) Book early but always watch the boards for codes. If you don't get a code, call and annoy the CMs asking if you have one.

2) If you are planning a trip, shop year-round for clothing deals. Whenever tshirt go on sale for $3 at the Disney store, I pick them up for all of us to wear on vacation.

3) If you are going to make some custom outfits, plan out where your child/children is going to wear each outfit or you will have way to many. If you are nervous about your sewing abilities...beg a Disboutiquer to help

4) Along with shopping year round for clothes...check out the Target Dollar Spot weekly for Tinkerbell gifts. Last week the Target Dollar Spot had everything for $.25. Now that's a deal. This is a great place to pick up tubes of glowsticks for nighttime parades/fireworks.

5) If you work fulltime, shop online...Before you do any online shopping, google the website/store for any available codes. Here is a list of places that I frequently get deliveries from:

http://home.disney.go.com/shopping/?CMP=ILL- (for all things Disney...when the site is working...seems to have issues whenver there is good sale)

http://www.shoebuy.com/ (for crocs)

http://www.laughingplacestore.com/ OR http://www.disneysmilesstore.com/shop/
(two more great sites for Tinkerbell gifts)

http://www.disneyclips.com/ (clipart if you would like to make an autograph books)

http://www.ebags.com/ (everyone needs a new bag for Disney)

http://www.youcanmakethis.com/ (A Disboutiquer favorite)

6) Make your ADRs 180 days out...if you don't want to do this, please don't come on the Disboards and complain that your planned your trip in 2 days and can't get into CRT. Yes, I agree the 180 day thing is excessive...but hey, I set my alarm to get up and do it...you can do. If you plan your trip in less than 180 days, just be flexible when you try to get sittings. Oh and don't lie and say you need a table for 2 when you really need a table for 14.

7) If your child is afraid of the characters...PLEASE don't force them to go meet Mickey. Inevitable that you will see someone doing this on every Disney trip. If your child is afraid, embrace them! Comfort them! Don't the CM in the costume try to hold them.

8) Have water delivered to your hotel if you are staying on property. Water at Disney is highway robbery. For the same price as two in the parks, you can get a whole case delivered from Costo.com (and you don't need to be a member). If you chose not to get water delivered, bring flavor packets (we do Crystal Light) to flavor Florida water. Depending on where you are from, Florida water very well may taste really gross. If you plan to refill at the water fountains or drink tap at restaurants, you will need flavoring.

9) Bring comfy shoes. Seriously, there is a reason that you see so many Crocs at Disney and it's not because they are pretty. This is not the time for cute shoes. If you must do cute shoes, save them for a dinner ADR. Disney is a LOT of walking (I wear a pedometer and one day we seriously walked 16 miles)...cute shoes are not meant to handle 16 miles.

10) Bring a stroller from home. Disney strollers are super expensive to rent. You probably have a perfectly good stroller at home. Even if you think that your child is "too old"...bring it. DD certainly doesn't use a stroller at home but we definately bring it to Disney. It doesn't count toward your baggage number and you bring one you can use it OUTSIDE of the parks. It will not get stolen at Disney. Even if you have an expensive stroller...there will be THOUSANDS of the same stroller. My last thought on the stroller issue: If your child falls asleep on the bus home after the fireworks, you will not have to carry them to your room. Let this bit influence your decision.

11) Bring rain ponchos in your daily bag. You never know when a Florida shower is going to hit. Also, if your stroller has a cover, bring that too. It's good for keeping your stroller and belongings dry while you are riding rides. Disney is just as fun in the rain.

12) If you are taking ME: bring a change of clothes, bathing suits, sunscreen, pjs (if it's night) with you. Your bags might arrive in an hour, they might not arrive until the next morning. Plan for this.

13) Try to take some downtime. You will not do it all, with kids you can do even less but even mommy and daddy will probably need a nap in the afternoon!

14) Plan, make lists, consult other DISers...and then toss away the plan and enjoy the magic!

 

[Erin13178]

Sorry about your ankle. That stinks, but at least it's now and not right before your trip.

I guess I'm your rouge reader who's subscribed to your thread since you seem to know so much. Thanks for the tips.

 

[minnie2]

That's me...Social Worker by day/Fabric Pusher by night!!! The real sad part was that I was disappointed that I didn't get anything done this week. It's an illness!!!

Seriously it is! I have been waking up at night thinking about what fabric combos to do next!

Sorry about your ankle! How is it feeling today?

Great tips.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Seriously it is! I have been waking up at night thinking about what fabric combos to do next!

Sorry about your ankle! How is it feeling today?

Great tips.

Thanks for asking...still rediculously painful Hope it gets better soon. Oh and I can't sew...tried to sew with my left foot...doesn't work right!!! I was all screwed up!!!

 

[HeatherSue]

First of all, I'm sorry you hurt your ankle. Plus, it's your sewing foot- ugh!!

Second, I'm a lady, MOST of the time.

Third, how DARE you share 2 new websites to shop for Disney stuff! I was just telling Teresa today that disneyshopping.com has this crazy pull on me and I always end up spending way too much money on there. Then, you post 2 more stores. The first one, I go to and I see a cookie cutter that I really SHOULD have!!! So, thanks a lot!

I wanted to add that most places will give you ice water in a cup for free!! If they sell fountain drinks, they'll give you free water. That's what we did OFTEN on our trip! I thought it tasted fine.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

First of all, I'm sorry you hurt your ankle. Plus, it's your sewing foot- ugh!!

Second, I'm a lady, MOST of the time.

Third, how DARE you share 2 new websites to shop for Disney stuff! I was just telling Teresa today that disneyshopping.com has this crazy pull on me and I always end up spending way too much money on there. Then, you post 2 more stores. The first one, I go to and I see a cookie cutter that I really SHOULD have!!! So, thanks a lot!

I wanted to add that most places will give you ice water in a cup for free!! If they sell fountain drinks, they'll give you free water. That's what we did OFTEN on our trip! I thought it tasted fine.

Sorry for enabling you!!! I'm pretty bad with Disney Shopping too if it makes you feel better. I actually spend $75 everytime I shop just so I can get free shipping...now thats an illness! Oh I should also mention that I have a Disney Store within 10 minutes of my house.

I did know about the free ice water thing...should have mentioned it in my tips for the people who don't mind the tast of Florida water...to me it tastes like burnt coffee or something equally as gross! So I do the bottled water thing.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Myself and fellow DIS bargain hunter SarahlovesMickey went to the Disney Store yesterday for lunch and got some amazing deals. I ended up getting $137.50 worth of stuff for $36.59!!! That's right...$100 savings!!! I got me some nice new t's since DD will be wearing mostly customs at this point!!!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

So sorry about your ankle. Is this your opportunity to have some sort of disney inspired wrap made up especially for you by the disboutiquers?

Loved your tips. I felt like I was reading off my own checklist as I scanned through it. Check koolaid singles, check garden grocer (water) delivery, check pochos, check bringing stroller (even though we need to duct tape part of it), check $3.99 Disney t's (I guess they add the extra 99cents up here in Canada).

Speaking of check lists and trying to get ready I attempted to pre-purchase the photopass but ran into problems. Anyone able to do it?

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

So sorry about your ankle. Is this your opportunity to have some sort of disney inspired wrap made up especially for you by the disboutiquers?

Loved your tips. I felt like I was reading off my own checklist as I scanned through it. Check koolaid singles, check garden grocer (water) delivery, check pochos, check bringing stroller (even though we need to duct tape part of it), check $3.99 Disney t's (I guess they add the extra 99cents up here in Canada).

Speaking of check lists and trying to get ready I attempted to pre-purchase the photopass but ran into problems. Anyone able to do it?

NO I haven't. Oh i better go check that. i still haven't ordered mine...but I did pay off my trip yesterday

Oh and this would be a good excuse for a custom wrap...the regular one is pretty ugly!!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

I did pay off my trip yesterday

Here are some more smilies to celebrate with you

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Look how nicely they are jumping in unison!!!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

How's the ankle?

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Thanks for asking! Ankle is still wrapped up in a very ugly ace bandage...which sticks out nicely in shorts/sandals weather! But it's definately getting better, thank you. It's really sore by the end of the day but the swelling is going down AND I was able to sew last night!

Now here is my issue (ADVISE WELCOME PLEASE!) So every year at this time I start "training" for Disney walking. I had been really good about going to the gym for the past few weeks. Every night during the week I was at the gym OR at water aerobics. I did do water aerobics last week (with my brace on...it was quite a sight I'm sure!) BUT I skipped the gym. I really want to go back to the gym but DH says NO WAY! So, do I go to the gym and try to do SOMETHING or do I let it rest for another week and see how I feel next week??? I'm losing valuable training time here!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

What's your definition of something at the Gym? Is it upper body strength trainning? Or is it weight bearing exercises? Because you know you should NOT be doing weight bearing exercises. Can you double up on the water training instead?

You need to take care of the only body you've got properly. That includes rest and letting your body have an appropriate time to heal.

Of course this is just my opinion. But before I became a teacher I used to be a massage therapist, personal trainer, fitness Instructor, swim and Aquafit Instructor and managed YMCA gyms. So really what do I know?????

Take this time to get all your paper work and last minute chores ready for your trip.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

What's your definition of something at the Gym? Is it upper body strength trainning? Or is it weight bearing exercises? Because you know you should NOT be doing weight bearing exercises. Can you double up on the water training instead?

You need to take care of the only body you've got properly. That includes rest and letting your body have an appropriate time to heal.

Of course this is just my opinion. But before I became a teacher I used to be a massage therapist, personal trainer, fitness Instructor, swim and Aquafit Instructor and managed YMCA gyms. So really what do I know?????

Take this time to get all your paper work and last minute chores ready for your trip.

Last minute chores...Be still my heart...please don't tell me you mean cleaning the house???

Ok so you sound like you know what you are talking about. I could go to the gym and "upper body strength training" or as i call it...ARMS!!! But then I would feel like it was a complete waste of a trip to the gym. Since you do know what you are talking about...any thoughts on doing something lower impact like walking SLOWLY on the treadmill? (I normally walk a 16 minute mile on "random" so kinda quick). As you can see...I'm not a good sit around person. I begged my dr to let me drive a week after my c-section and didn't follow directions at all after I had my other surgery (Yes, my Dr hates me) Oh and water aerobics only happens twice a week so I can't step that up...that would be ideal at this point.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Well since there really isn't much for me to write about yet for my upcoming trip...i decided to give you another mini-trip report. We also went to DISNEYLAND last year.

The cast of characters included a few newcomers...My Dbro and his wife (DSIL) moved to LA for work a few years ago. So we decided to take a family trip out to see them. I could NOT go to LA without going to Disneyland (even though from Dbro and Dsil's house to Disneyland is like an hour w/o traffic!) SOOO, I convinced everyone to take a side trip to Disneyland too.

So back in March, myself, DH, DD, and Dmom flew from Boston to California. I can not live in California simply because of the traffic. It makes me crazy. I really don't understand how my Dbro and Dsil handle it. So we flew JetBlue into a smaller airport (not LAX) and I was immediately shocked the the baggage claim was OUTSIDE...you know you are in a place with nice weather when the baggage claim is outside. DD was excellent on the plane. Since she couldn't stand headphones at the time, she flew all the way to Cali watching the tv screen but not being able to hear the cartoons! Hey, as long as she is good right?!?!

You think the child would have napped at some point on a 6 hour flight but no. So when we arrived at 9pm local time (midnight our time!) she was a little cranky. She had a bit of a meltdown waiting for the rental car. She announced that she wanted to go to bed. Okay, we'll be at the hotel soon. Nope, she wanted to be in her OWN bed. Took some convincing that California beds would be just as comfy.

After that we headed to the Howard Johnson's (used mousesavers code!!!) at DLR for a two night stay. We did not tell DD about Disneyland. We thought that it would be a fun surprise when we got up in the morning. Well, we didn't make it that long. Kid doesn't miss a trick. While I unpacked, DH took her swimming (now, like 2am our time!). Down at the pool was all the Year of a Million Dreams banners. DD came running back to the room with HUGE eyes. She said "Did you know that Mickey and Minnie have a winter house in California?" Uh no, i didn't!!! DH whispered that it was the quickest thing he could think of. So we told her that if she went right to sleep, maybe we could go find the house of mouse in the morning.

Everyone finally settled down for the night and we headed to Disneyland. Dbro and DSil drove there and met us for the day. I should mention that DD ADORES her aunt and uncle. She finds them very thrilling and is very sad that they live so far away.

My extremely generous Dmom paid for the whole gang to get into Disney and we were on our way. We stop to take some photopass pictures but they were all pretty lousy so I didn't bother buying any.

Next stop was the Princess Faire. As opposed to the tent at MK, they have a path that you can walk along and meet the princesses. We saw them all but here are the favorites

Oddly, while we were meeting with Snow White there was a CM dressed in regular clothing who LOOKED like Snow White (w/o the costume). We assumed that she was training to be Snow White...and DH mentioned so to Dbro. The CM quickly responded that there is only one Snow White. DH, who is a smart you-know-what and clearly can't let things go said "oh ya, well we were just in Florida and saw Snow White there" CM responded that they have fast planes to get them back and forth! That shut DH up.

Next up was Cindy. After DD had her meet and greet with Cindy, Cindy was clearing coming off duty. So she grabbed DD's hand (w/o asking us...which was kinda weird) and took off with her

She taught DD to wave to the crowd with a princess wave and then walked her through the area to a "backstage area" that I'm sure was off limits for guests. The whole thing was odd but very thrilling to DD.

When then finished the activities in the Princess Faire area. Dbro was quite excited to decorate a crown cookie with DD

After that, we found Peter Pan hiding in the bushes by the teacups. He did come out to say hi to DD and Puppy

Speaking of teacups...thank God for Dbro and DSil. I can't ride the teacups. The very thought of them could cause me to vomit. So DH always takes her on. But he chose that moment to need the little boys room so luckily Dbro and Dsil don't have my vomit issue and took her on

Of course, we also got to meet Mickey Mouse

The rest of the day at Disneyland was pretty fun. It's definately the longest I've ever stayed in the parks (13 hours!) We managed to make it on most of the rides, DD got to ride the Matterhorn (which made mommy very nervous), and we only had one minor run in with a not-so-magical CM (he pushed DD through one of the turnstiles, which came around and hit her in the head). We also went to DTD and rode the monorail thru California Adventure (hope to make it there sometime) We stayed for the fireworks and then headed back to the hotel to get some rest.

Overall, DLR was nice for taste of Disney but I'm all about Florida. I couldn't quite put my finger on it but it just didn't seem as magical to me. I think it's because you walk outside of the park and you are on a strip of hotels and chain restaurants. I guess that's why I like staying onsite at WDW...you get totally immersed in all things Disney.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

After our staying in Anaheim, it was off to Santa Monica.

Along the way, we picked up some more travelers. First is my Dsis and her DD (so DNiece). They live in Utah and flew out to see us as well. (I should mention that my niece is 16 so she always has that "I hate the world look on her face" The other two "cast members" are two of my good childhood friends who now live in Cali (one in San Francisco and one in San Diego) who flew in for the occasion.

We spent the day at the Pier and letting DD play in Pacific Ocean sand!

We went to Bubba Gump Shrimp Co on the pier for lunch. If you haven't been there...it's kitchy but fun. If you want your waitress to serve you you put up a sign that says "run forrest run". If you want to eat in peace you put up "stop forrest stop" So we had some okay food and some yummy beverages and then headed to LA.

We stayed at the Marriot, which was a really nice hotel. My mom, Dsis, and Dniece babysat that night so that the younger adults could go out in LA. We had dinner at Hollywood & Highland (Koji's Sushi & Shabu Shabu Restaurant). It's really a neat thing that we don't have around here. There a pots of boiling water built into your table and you basically cook and spice your own food (poultry, beef, seafood, and veggies). Then we headed out to some local watering holes.

The next day we went to Mel's Drive In for breakfast

We spent the next couple of days doing "touristy" things in LA. I should mention that I travel to CA several times a year so this isn't a big deal to me but DH really enjoyed himself since he has never been to the west coast. Also DD had such a great time. She drank it all in and was so well behaved. Personally, I think she was just eating up all the adult attention. I turned around at one point and this is what I saw (my entire family catering to her)

So basically we did a driving tour of LA, some museums, the Kodak theatre, meeting Spiderman

, checking out things we can't afford on Rodeo drive

, etc. Here is a picture on the star walk that I just loved

We also found Mickey's star

Taking pictures of the stars was how my camera met it's demise on the trip and sent my into a little tantrum for the day. I was trying to take a picture of Elton John's star and DOWN my camera went, totally busting the lens Took me a little while to get over that one. Luckily I was able to get the pics off the memory card when I got home.

We did also stop for some yummy food during the trip. We ate lunch one day at the diner where they filmed part of Million Dollar Baby (Hilary Swank's character worked there)

We also went to PF Changs for my Dbro's birthday (and got Cheesecake Factory for dessert!)

Well, there you have it. My mini-tr to Cali. I figured I needed to do something to entertain my readers or I will lose you all before my actual trip!! Thanks for reading!

 

[Erin13178]

Wow your trips rock! Makes me wanna visit the west coast too.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Wow your trips rock! Makes me wanna visit the west coast too.

Oh you should...there is so much to see and do on the west coast. I'm lucky to have people to stay with in 3 major citys (LA, San Fran, and San Diego) so I get to go (sans hubby and DD) fairly frequently.

BTW, I think I'm going to take your advice and do the South Beach for at least two weeks (to shock my system so to speak). DH agreed to do it with me so hopefully that will make it easier!