There was a dearth of Mickey Bars -a March 2015 PTR- update 4/1 - link to TR!

[ksl5f123]

Hello everyone!

I have been off of the TR boards for a few years, but we are planning to return to WDW for Spring Break. Why? Well, the title says it all. But I'll explain more about that later. First, let's get down to the cast:

Me: I'm Karen. This will be my 16th trip to WDW. Some things about me:
Favorite park: Epcot if alone, MK with the kids
Favorite attractions: Soarin', Peter Pan, Carousel of Progress, and FotLK
Favorite resorts: POR and AKL
Favorite restaurants: Crystal Palace and Tutto Italia
Favorite characters: Mickey, Rapunzel, and Tiana
In general, I describe my ride strategy as anything that moves slower than I can walk. : Yep, I'm a scaredy cat! At home, I am mostly a mommy, but also a part time physics professor, and the leader of both of my daughter's Girl Scout troops. This trip will be my reward for surviving cookie season.

DH: Gabe - He grew up in South Florida and has been to WDW more times than he can count.
Favorite park: Magic Kingdom
Favorite attractions: Animation Academy, Soarin', and BTMRR
Favorite resorts: Fort Wilderness campground
Favorite restaurants: Tutto Italia
Favorite characters: Sorcerer Mickey and Buzz Lightyear
DH is a thrill rider. He will try anything, except for the tea cups and Mission Space: orange. Oh, and the Disney buses – they give him motion sickness EVERY time!

DD1 – J – age 11 – This will be her 9th trip to WDW.
Favorite park: Animal Kingdom
Favorite attractions: Flights of Wonder, BTMRR, Kali River Rapids, and Aladdin! at DCA
Favorite resorts: AKL
Favorite restaurants: Chef Mickey's and Crystal Palace
Favorite characters: Stitch, Mickey Mouse, Aurora, Pluto, Goofy, Tigger, and many more!
J likes the mild roller coasters like BTMRR. At home, she plays flute in the school band and is on the chess and basketball teams. She is in 6th grade, she is still much more a kid than a tween and I am really happy about that!

DD2 – C – age 9 when we travel – This will be her 8th trip to WDW
Favorite park: Epcot
Favorite attractions: Carousel of Progress, Fantasmic!, Imagination, Animation Academy, and Soarin'
Favorite resorts: POR
Favorite restaurants: Be our Guest, Cinderalla's Royal Table, and Chef Mickey's
Favorite characters: Rapunzel, Mickey Mouse, and Snow White
C dislikes thrill rides like her mama. At home, she is art club, plays chess, and takes dance lessons (ballet, tap, and jazz). She is in 3rd grade and is happy at WDW in ways that she never is anywhere else.

DS1 – T – age 6 – This will be his 5th trip to WDW
Favorite park: Downtown Disney
Favorite attractions: BTMRR, Buzz Lightyear, and Star Tours
Favorite resorts: Contemporary
Favorite restaurants: Chef Mickey's and Cinderella's Royal Table
Favorite characters: Sorcerer Mickey
Like his sister, he likes the mild roller coasters. At home, he plays on the chess team and does gymnastics. He is in 1st grade and like most 6 year old boys seems to be a constant motion machine.

DS2 – D – age 2 – This will be his 2nd trip to WDW.
Favorite park: He will probably like MK and AK
Favorite attractions: Winnie the Pooh is a good guess here
Favorite resorts: anywhere he can climb into bed with mom and dad
Favorite restaurants: anywhere with noodles and cookies
Favorite characters: Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh
He is a sweet little fellow. Due to some medical issues, he is in physical and speech therapy. He only has two "words" right now - mama and uh-oh, but they pretty much cover everything he wants to say.

MIL and FIL will also be joining us on this trip. They have joined us on 8 of the 9 trips we have taken since J was born. They are great to have around and really help out when the kids want to split up. They aren't here right now for me to ask them their favorite things, but I will tell you they like at least one TS per day. MIL requested the Spirit of Aloha show for one evening and I know she really likes the food at Boma.

Now, what is a PTR without a few pictures?

Here is a picture of DH with the 3 big kids:


Here is the little Mouseketeer:


This one is 3 years old, but I am actually in one!


This one is also 3 years old, but it shows MIL and FIL. Of course, it is before D was born!


So, what can you expect in this PTR? Well, certainly dithering about ADRs and FP+. Some talk about resorts and touring plans. But, I will probably also meander down memory lane, show some sewing projects (lots of customs in the works!), and discuss a few family movie nights. If anyone is interested, I will probably go off topic and talk Girl Scout badges and meetings and projects too. It is a big part of our lives right now. Oh, and, of course I will explain the title.

 

[ksl5f123]

A great big "HI" to everyone who has read so far. Feel free to leave a comment to just say hi - no need for any deep discussions.

OK, so let's get on with it and discuss the title. There is a line from a poem by Caroline Norton that says, “A soldier of the Legion lay dying in Algiers, There was a lack of woman's nursing, there was dearth of woman's tears.” When I was a kid, there was some movie set in the late 19th century where a boy was learning to read using this quote. I remember it because I had never heard the word “dearth” before and it has stuck with me for decades.

Now you know the reference. But, how was there a dearth of Mickey bars? Well, it all started 4 years ago when my girls had their first Mickey bar. BTW, I assume you all know that Mickey bars are those amazing Mickey head shaped ice cream bars. They are Dove chocolate bars, but they taste much better when you eat one at WDW. Anyway, I digress. After their first Mickey bar, C became obsessed with them. A day at Disney cannot end unless a Mickey bar has been eaten. She loves them. In fact, she lost her first tooth at the Chip and Dale Campfire at Ft. Wilderness while eating a Mickey bar!

This year, we took a break from WDW and went to Disneyland for the very first time. Imagine a family on their first park day. It is now 9 AM. It is the middle of summer. The park opened at 7 AM. They ate breakfast at 6 AM. It may not be Florida hot, but it is pretty warm. The family has logged a couple hours of rides and are ready for a snack. Mickey bar to the rescue! We start looking..... and looking..... and looking. It is impossible to get a Mickey bar anywhere in DL or DCA before 11 AM! A dearth of Mickey bars!

One night, we were trying to get out of DL before the parade started. I told C we would get a Mickey bar in the last store or a cart by the entrance. No Mickey bars could be found. I asked a cast member, “Where can we get a Mickey bar?” She said, “A rice krispie treat?” I said, “No, the ice cream.” She said, “Back up Main Street, past the Hub, and down the road.” A dearth of Mickey bars!

Now, that isn't to say there aren't any Mickey bars in California. We found a cart at the entrance to Bug's Land that had them every day from 11 AM to 7 PM, but let's just say in comparison to WDW, there was a dearth of Mickey bars! And now you know the whole story!

 

[ksl5f123]

So, I mentioned that I might do a little walk down memory lane in this PTR. I didn't write a TR for our Disneyland trip, so I am going to do a mini one here. Here are some highlights from our first day!

Our first morning was spent doing a Magic Morning at DL. This is sort of like EMH, but off-site people get in too if they have more than 3 day tickets. This was a Saturday in July, so we expected BIG crowds and heat. The Magic Morning began at 7 AM and we arrived just as the gates opened. Here we are at our first Disneyland attraction – Peter Pan!

Peter Pan at DL does not have FP and the line builds, like...well...Peter Pan. So, it is essential that it is done at rope drop.

While DH and the big kids rode Star Tours, D and I rode Buzz. Afterward, we were hanging out in the shop and a CM presented him with a button making him an “Honorary Citizen of Disneyland”


We enjoyed visiting Mickey and Minnie's houses in Toontown and meeting the Mouse himself!




I love pictures on the Carousel




This was a great morning at DL. We did 13 rides and met Mickey and Minnie in 4 hours. We then went back to our hotel for lunch, swimming, and naps. I can't remember everything we did that morning, but I know we did Peter Pan, Space Mountain, Star Tours, Buzz (twice), Alice in Wonderland, it's a small world, Dumbo, Carousel, Mickey and Minnie's houses, Donald's Boat, Chip and Dale's treehouse, Gadget's go coaster, and the teacups.

 

[ksl5f123]

When I left off, we had enjoyed a wonderful morning at Disneyland. After our break, we decided to venture into Disney's California Adventure (DCA). We ate supper at Flo's V-8 cafe.
T waiting for our food – I have no idea who the kid with the bottle is


Our next park day would be Monday morning and we were planning to do rope drop. We knew that fastpasses for Radiator Springs Racers were a priority for that day. So, we spent some time on our first evening exploring Carsland. It really is the most amazingly themed area in any Disney park.


We didn't ride very much this evening, we mostly just wanted to get acquainted with DCA. We did ride the Luigi tire ride and the Mater's tractor ride. The Mater ride would become C's favorite ride in all of DLR! Sorry the picture is blurry!


Since I don't have much more to say about this evening, let me make some general comments about staying off site at DLR.

We have stayed both on property and off at WDW. Our last off property stay was at Windsor Hills. The drive from there to WDW is so short that I never lose that “on vacation” feel. That isn't true for the off property hotels in Anaheim. The minute you walk off of Disney property, you are in a large urban area. There is a ton of traffic and they do not care that you are on vacation. You need to hustle across that road. This is always a challenge when you have 4 kids.

While the area is relatively safe, you need to keep your guard up. The night of the Mickey bar incident, I was walking with just the girls back to our hotel. We stopped in a convenience store for an ice cream (no comparison to a Mickey bar) and there were some rowdy intoxicated people who may have started a brawl a couple minutes after I raced my girls out the door. In my mind, it isn't only the lack of a “Disney bubble” it is the loss of that feeling of being on vacation.

Now, we can't end an update on that kind of sour note, so how about a couple more cute kid pictures from the first day?!

 

[ksl5f123]

I'll get back to some more thoughts on Disneyland in a day or two, but I can't wait to share our resort reservations!!!

For our last two trips to WDW (in 2012 and 2013) we tent camped in Fort Wilderness.


Now, I love the Fort! I especially love the price! But, MIL is ready to have a real room again (they sleep in their car while we sleep in the tent). I suggested a return to POR where we stayed in 2010.


I LOVE POR. I think it is beautiful and I think the food court is one of the best on property. I would love to stay in one of the Royal Rooms while C is still young enough to go for it.

BUT, MIL had other ideas. We are staying someplace new - well, actually, we are staying someplaces new! We have a split stay for the very first time!

We will arrive on Saturday evening and check into:

Art of Animation! We have two rooms in the Little Mermaid section. I am very excited to walk around this resort. I think the kids will love the big pool and all of the characters.

We will be there for 3 nights before we move to:


The Contemporary!!!!!
We have 2 nights in a THEME PARK view room!!! MIL really wanted to stay here and it will be so easy to take D back to the room for his nap. I am super excited.

Finally, our last two nights will be spent in:


Animal Kingdom Lodge! We have a savanna view room for our last two nights. This is the only resort of the 3 that I have stayed in before. We stayed here in 2006 when J was 3 and C was an infant. It is one of my very favorite resorts.

So, that is the plan. We have never done a split stay before, so I am nervous about that part. If anyone wants to reassure me, it would be appreciated.

 

[ksl5f123]

Hi again! We are making a little progress in our trip planning.

Today, I redeemed some points from our Disney Visa and used them to buy our park tickets! The trip feels a little closer with the tickets ordered. We had enough points to get about 40% off our tickets.

We ordered 5 day regular park tickets for DH and I and 4 day for the kids. We had park hoppers once a few years ago and over the course of a 10 day trip, we only hopped once - not worth it for us. MIL and FIL will get the 4 day FL resident passes. DH and I are hoping to go into Epcot on one of our break days for the Flower and Garden Festival and maybe the Behind the Seeds tour for just the two of us. If we change our minds and want to bring the kids, adding a day is easy.

Now that she has worn it for Halloween, here is C's Alice in Wonderland dress:


Here she is wearing it with the apron:


And here she is with her brothers, the white ninja and Eeyore:


She wants to wear it to the parks one day. I am not sure yet which day will be best.

I have started thinking a lot about outfits I want to make for the trip. J wants a safari Minnie shirt for AK, a Toy Story dress for DHS, a Minnie shirt and shorts for MK, and an Elsa dress for CRT. We can't come up with anything for her yet for Epcot and I am really struggling with the Elsa Dress. I hate that it is pretty much sleeveless which simply won't work. I need to come up with a way for it to look like Elsa and still have some straps or sleeves or something.

I am also thinking a lot about surprises for the kids. In the past, when we have stayed in a Disney resort, "Mickey" always left the kids gift baskets. Here are some I made a few years ago:


Here is a close-up of the stuff that was in it:


Now that the girls are older, I need some new ideas. Anybody have any thoughts on what to put in a Disney welcome basket for a 9 and 11 year old? So far, I was thinking of making them some cross-body bags and some coupons (like for a Mickey bar ), but after that I am stuck.

 

[SarahDisney]

I just finished reading through and I wanted to say hi!

I can't beleive you couldn't find Mickey Bars in California! I know I remember having them there, but it may not have been on my most recent trip. I guess I must have been lucky when I found them exactly when I wanted them!

I agree about Cars Land being the most amazingly themed area - you walk in and it's like you're in Radiator Springs in the movie! When we were there it was decorated for Christmas, and it was really amazing.

The Anaheim problem you mentioned is really one of the big reasons why Walt Disney wanted to create Disney World - he didn't like the way Anaheim had developed around Disneyland, and he wanted to "start over" in a place where he could buy a lot of land and really control the environment around the parks.
I happen to really love the California parks, but I think Florida feels like more of a vacation because you don't really leave that Disney bubble, versus California where if you're staying offsite, as soon as you leave Disney property, you're back in the real world. So I definitely get what you're saying there.

We love AoA Little Mermaid! The rooms are pretty small, but the whole envrionment and theming is incredible. The kids will definitely enjoy walking around and seeing everything (we enjoy it, and we're adults!). I would love to do Contemporary one day (it's a bit out of my budget these days), so I'm interested to hear how you guys like it.

I love C's Alice in Wonderland outfit - it's cute and she's adorable in it!

In terms of baskets for the girls - would they be interested in something like a necklace or bracelet (nothing too fancy, just something cute that they can wear in the parks)? If they like to read, maybe you can get them books of Disney trivia? I don't really know many kids that age (all of my friends have younger kids), so I'm not really sure what they'll be into, but I'm sure you can find something!

I'm looking forward to reading along with your plans!

 

[ksl5f123]

I just finished reading through and I wanted to say hi!

Thanks for stopping by! It is great to have someone say "hello"!

I can't beleive you couldn't find Mickey Bars in California! I know I remember having them there, but it may not have been on my most recent trip. I guess I must have been lucky when I found them exactly when I wanted them!

I agree about Cars Land being the most amazingly themed area - you walk in and it's like you're in Radiator Springs in the movie! When we were there it was decorated for Christmas, and it was really amazing.

We could find the Mickey bars later in the day, but there was nothing in the morning. I would love to see Radiator Springs decorated for Christmas. I am sure it was beautiful.

We love AoA Little Mermaid! The rooms are pretty small, but the whole envrionment and theming is incredible. The kids will definitely enjoy walking around and seeing everything (we enjoy it, and we're adults!). I would love to do Contemporary one day (it's a bit out of my budget these days), so I'm interested to hear how you guys like it.

We have never stayed in a value resort before, but I think the theming is going to win us over. I have a whole day planned just to enjoy the resort.

I love C's Alice in Wonderland outfit - it's cute and she's adorable in it!

Thanks! She looks cute in just about anything, but I love making her clothes.

In terms of baskets for the girls - would they be interested in something like a necklace or bracelet (nothing too fancy, just something cute that they can wear in the parks)? If they like to read, maybe you can get them books of Disney trivia? I don't really know many kids that age (all of my friends have younger kids), so I'm not really sure what they'll be into, but I'm sure you can find something!

I'm looking forward to reading along with your plans!

The books are a great idea! I think I am going to do Birnbaum's WDW for Kids and a Hidden Mickey book.

 

[ksl5f123]

Hi everyone! It has been a few days since I posted, but a lot has happened - in Disney planning and in life in general.

Let's start with the Disney stuff (after all, that is why we're here!) We made a first cut at our ADRS! I say a first cut because it isn't a Disney trip unless your ADRs get overhauled at least once! Anyway, here is the current plan:

Saturday - arrival day - no ADR in case we get there later than planned.

Sunday - no park - church, lunch at someplace like Macaroni Grill, pool, DTD, supper at T-Rex. We have never been here before. It was a request by the 6yo boy. I am a little nervous about this one, so it may not make the final cut. C, D, and I are all VERY sensitive to loud noises. C and I wear earplugs in the parks. We haven't eaten here before, but I am concerned that the noise may overwhelm us and I am not sure that's how I want to start the trip.

Monday - AK! - Right now, we have a 2:15 pm ADR at Yak and Yeti. This is another new one for us. The menu looks pretty good, but this is a terrible time to eat. I am going to keep trying for a better time, but it is tough when you have a party of 8.

Tuesday - day off to swim for the kids and in-laws, while DH and I go to Epcot for the Flower and Garden Festival. The girls want to go to BBB in DTD this day - I don't have that reservation yet. Supper will be the Luau at the Poly! Another new one! This was MIL's request and I think it will be fun even if the reviews on the DIS have been meh.

Wednesday - MK! - We currently have 2 tables for 4 at 4:15 PM at CRT. Amusingly, this was another request of T (the 6yo boy) because the boys get swords when you eat there. Here he is as a 1yo with that sword.

I am hoping to luck into a table for 8.

Thursday - Epcot - We will be checking out of the Contemporary this day, so we will eat breakfast at Chef Mickey before we leave!
We have a 7:45 AM ADR which should put us in Epcot pretty early - probably not rope drop, but not late either. That evening we have a 6:30 PM ADR at Tutto Italia. It has been closed on our last couple of trips, so we have been eating at Via Napoli. I hope it is as good as we remember it from 4 years ago!




Friday - DHS - I enjoyed 50's Prime Time when we ate there 2 years ago, but the rest of my party decided to do quick service at the park and have supper at our resort (now AKL). So, we have a 5 PM ADR at Boma. We have eaten here several times before and everyone enjoys it.

In other news, I went Disney fabric shopping. Hancock fabrics had all of their cottons 1/2 off on Veterans day and I had a coupon for another 15% off on top of that. So, here are all my new fabrics!

Starting at the top left, there is a white and blue (think Donald inspired), red and black (Mickey inspired), pink polka dot (Minnie inspired), two turquoise fabrics - one plain and one sparkly (think Elsa inspired), a Hawaiian print (for the Luau), a giraffe print (for AK), then in the bottom row, blue and white zig-zags and Little Mermaid fabric (for our AoA LM room), Jungle Book fabric!! (I don't know what this is for, it was just too cool to pass up - I found it on the clearance rack), and Mickey fabric.

Finally, I have a couple of "life" things to share. I am almost finished (just needs buttons) with D's Thanksgiving outfit


This week at our school is Spirit week. The kids get to wear different outfits to school each day. Monday was favorite movie character. T chose Indiana Jones

One of my favorite memories of Disneyland this summer was that the Indiana Jones theme song seemed to be playing every time we entered or exited the park - such fun music!

That's all for now!

 

[ksl5f123]

It has been a few days since I posted and not much has happened to prep for WDW, so I thought I would do the next day of our DL trip. It was a Monday and we were planning to spend the day in Disney's California Adventure (DCA).

We made rope drop that morning and headed straight for TSMM. TSMM is NOT a FP attraction in CA so lines get really long. Even with going at rope drop, we still had about a 10 minute wait.

From there, we headed to King Triton's carousel.



My kids have a crazy love of sea creatures, so this was a HUGE hit. This little guy, in particular, enjoyed it and signed “fish” and “more” over and over. Let's just say we rode it more than once.


It was now time to use our Soarin' fastpasses, so DH took two of the big kids on that while I took the other two and went to get our Radiator Springs Racers and World of Color Fastpasses. This was awesome advice on the Disneyland part of the DIS. We didn't really care what time we rode RSR, so waiting an hour meant we still got FP and we didn't have to wait in the crazy morning lines. I walked up to get them with nobody in front of me! We returned to Soarin' as the others were exiting the ride and then I got to ride with the other big kid.

I don't really remember the order of the rides for the rest of the day. I know we did – Grizzly River Run (DH and big kids), Goofy's Sky School (DH and big kids), Francis' ladybug boogie (DH and big kids), Heimlich's chew-chew train (everyone), The Little Mermaid (everyone), Monsters Inc (everyone), and Tuck & Rolls Drive-'em buggies (girls only). As you can see, there was a lot that D and I sat out.

Bug's Land was generally pretty empty. It pretty much has the feel of a county fair. I think it is themed that way intentionally, but it makes it feel a little cheap to me. I really enjoyed the Monsters Inc ride. I love well themed dark rides. The only bad part about the Monster's ride was there was this incredibly LOUD band playing right outside of it. It was so loud that when DH accidentally went in the exit and two CMs and I were all yelling at him, he never heard us. It was brutal.

One of our main things to do at DCA was the Animation Academy. We love it at DHS too. The cool thing at DCA is they have a poster outside telling you which characters will be drawn at what times. I think we went at least 4 or 5 different times so we could draw all different characters.
D drawing is “Olaf”

One minor disadvantage here compared to DHS, there are no tables. Everyone holds their drawing board.

The person teaching the class told everyone to hold their drawing up at the end and then he/she chose someone to receive his/her drawing. At our Olaf class, C got the teacher's drawing!


We also did ride RSR with our fastpasses. DH and T went first and then I rode with the girls. The theming of this entire ride is amazing.


Now, I said in my introduction that my ride philosophy is “nothing faster than I can walk” and clearly this ride violated that rule. I REALLY wanted to see the ride, so I watched lots of youtube videos. I had timed exactly how long the fast part lasted and spent that part of the ride counting down the seconds until it would end. I am glad I did it, but I don't need to do it again.

We ended our day with World of Color. I have really mixed feelings about this show. I tried to follow all of the advice on the DIS and we ended up right at the fence. However, we were facing straight at the Mickey wheel and the show is to the right, so we still had people in front of us. J was able to see by squeezing against the rail. T couldn't really see, but didn't really care. D fell asleep and missed the whole show. The problem was that C couldn't see. So, I had to hold a 60 lb 8 year old for the whole show! It looks like the new show at AK is going to be similar to WOC so I really hope they improve on the viewing area design! The show itself was beautiful but seemed a little long (of course that might have been because I was holding a big kid!)

P.S. I am resizing my photos so my apologies if they are still turning out huge.

 

[SarahDisney]

I love King Triton's Carousel - I think the sea creature horses are super cute!

I haven't been to CA in a while - I'm impressed that you can now get RSR FP by waiting an hour (when I was there, about 6 months after Cars Land opened, they ran out within the first 15-20 minutes). It really is incredibly themed! I did it twice (no FP - well over an hour wait both times), but I can see why you wouldn't want to do it again because you don't like fast rides.

I think World of Color definitely could use some improvement with the viewing areas. I love the show, but the viewing area leaves a lot of not great views for the kids unless their parents are going to hold them the whole time (which is not so great for the parents).

Overall, sounds like a good day at DCA!

 

[ursalita]

Hi there!

I enjoyed reading through your plans. I'm really looking forward to doing Animation Station this coming trip. I can't draw to save my life but the boys in my family are pretty good artists. Thanks for sharing your experience, I can't wait to try it.

 

[ksl5f123]

I love King Triton's Carousel - I think the sea creature horses are super cute!

I agree. C found a purple sea lion and J found a blue dolphin and they were just so excited. It is a simple ride, but so cute.

I haven't been to CA in a while - I'm impressed that you can now get RSR FP by waiting an hour (when I was there, about 6 months after Cars Land opened, they ran out within the first 15-20 minutes). It really is incredibly themed! I did it twice (no FP - well over an hour wait both times), but I can see why you wouldn't want to do it again because you don't like fast rides.

I was reading the DL boards when CL first opened. It was crazy! We had wanted to go that summer, but now I am so happy we postponed. The crowds are still crazy for the first 15 minutes, but they no longer clear out the fastpasses. I pulled ours at 9:50 and I think they were for around 1 PM. Not bad!

I think World of Color definitely could use some improvement with the viewing areas. I love the show, but the viewing area leaves a lot of not great views for the kids unless their parents are going to hold them the whole time (which is not so great for the parents).

Exactly! I think even if everyone just continued to sit on the ground, the viewing would be better because the show goes up in the air. IDK, but it is a beautiful show!

 

[ksl5f123]

Hi there!

I enjoyed reading through your plans. I'm really looking forward to doing Animation Station this coming trip. I can't draw to save my life but the boys in my family are pretty good artists. Thanks for sharing your experience, I can't wait to try it.

Thanks for stopping by!

My kids love the Animation place (Is it Animation Station now? It used to be Animation Academy. Seems I am behind. ) You don't have to have any artistic talent to draw there. The instructors are so amazing that anybody can come out with a great picture.

Olaf was only once of the 6 times we visited on our DL trip. Did I mention my girls love it?

 

[ksl5f123]

MDE tells me we are 119 days away from our arrival at WDW.

In the past, we have always done Disney movie nights to prepare for our trip. I asked the girls to make a list of which 10 they wanted to do this time. We try to do one every 10 days starting when we are 100 days out. However, the girls couldn't narrow it from 12 down to 10 movies, so we did our first movie night tonight - Frozen!

Here is the menu:


What is that?
We finish each other's sandwiches - tuna melts
love experts - sauteed mushrooms
Sven's snacks - carrots
Do you want to build a snowman - Olaf ice cream sundaes
We also had hot chocolate to drink.

While I was cooking, the kids colored pictures and made some table decorations from the DMR site. C let us use her Elsa and Anna blanket as a tablecloth.


The sundaes didn't quite turn out like I envisioned but the kids still liked them.


While we were out shopping today, I noticed that Target had a special display set up that instructed parents to take pictures of their kids in front of a Frozen background. J was shopping with me, so she grabbed a plush Olaf and


Apparently, they were thinking 3 yo's, not 11 year olds, when they set that up, but whatever.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Hi! Joining in!

Good start to your plans.

As far as an Elsa Dress goes, most that I have seen have some form of simi-shear fabric up top to help it not be strapless.

Cute Frozen Night. Love the Idea of Olaf Sundaes

How magical to have a Theme Park View at the Contemporary! That is on my bucket list.

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Hi! I followed you over from my PTR!

Your family is too cute! I can not wait to see the customs you come up with!

Looks like you family had a nice DLR trip. I have been once and really enjoyed it. It's a totally different experience than a WDW,but fun.

I can't wait to hear what you all think of the contemporary. I think it will be really neat with a little one.

Cute movie night, we do them too, when things aren't so crazy around here.

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[ksl5f123]

Sorry that I went AWOL there for a while. It has been a crazy month. It started Thanksgiving week when the 2yo managed to get a virus and then a staph infection in his finger that landed him in the hospital for a couple of days. Baby in the hospital pretty much causes everything else to come to a screeching halt. That, of course, was followed by the 14 day course of antibiotics. 2yo+powerful antiboitics=no fun!

Just as he was getting over that, two of the other kids and DH got the flu - that lovely strain that isn't in this year's vaccine.

So, now here we are 9 days out from Christmas and I am about a month behind in everything!

A few Disney things have happened since my last update. We did our Christmas celebration with the in-laws on Sunday. Look at the cute stockings she got for the kids!



Each of the kids got a new Disney plush. Here is C with her new Minnie



J got Simba, T got Sorcerer Mickey, and D got Mickey. They also each got some new Disney shirts for the trip and $100 in Disney gift cards.

I posted about our Monsters University party over on the family board, but if you don't read there, here are the pictures



Our meal was monster sandwiches, stinging glow urchins (aka raspberries), and Mike & Sully inspired cupcakes





That is all for now. I have more to say, but it will have to wait for another post.

 

[ursalita]

So sorry to hear about hospitals and sickness. I'm happy to hear everyone's on the mend. Enjoy your holiday!

 

[SarahDisney]

Sounds like an insane month - I hope everyone's feeling all better!

I love those stockings! And that is one big Minnie - C looks very happy with her gift!

I love that monster party! You really have some of the most amazingly creative ideas - I'm very impressed.

Looking forward to reading more!