Trying this with half of my Fabulous Five!!!

dsnycrzy

W/4 kids who has time for anything else but planni
Joined
Apr 16, 2003
Messages
1,296
Hello All,
I've finally got my trip together as far as dates and places to stay.:love: The journey to get this all done was a bumpy one. First off, while at WDW last year I received confirmation of my new job.:cool1: I was super excited because I no longer had to request dates off for my WDW vacations (Teachers have the best schedules). :love::teacher:Since my dates are usually around 8/4-ish with a return date around 8/27th-ish, I had nothing to worry about...so I thought. I have a return date for work of 8/22 which is also my baby's 1st day of Kindergarten:earsboy: and my DD13 first day of high school:earsgirl:. My dates this year were going to have to be 8/3 to 8/18 so that I can get home and get everyone settle for a fresh new start. I have a vacation home that I love to stay at so I went right into planning mode once I had my dates in place.:surfweb: Well I looked up my usual vacation home and SOMEONE HAD BOOKED THAT HOUSE FOR THE LAST WEEK OF JULY THRU AUGUST!!!!!!!!! I was so upset:mad::mad:!!! I checked other vacation homes on eBay (which is where I booked that home) and no luck, my dates weren't available.:sad2::sad2: Finally I tried VRBO and found a great home for $89 per night. So for 15 nights my total with cleaning and 12%tax came to $1580.:cheer2: I paid the $1,500 up front which included the $250 security deposit which is returned after my trip and my balance is about $330. Since I usually spend some nights onsite, I was going nuts trying to talk myself out of booking any Disney Resort nights. Well we take the auto train when traveling and the date for 8/2 was crazy already so I started going backwards and by the time I got to 7/27 the rates were $190 for myself and my 2 munchkins and my car was $194 sssssooooo.....:cool2: We are going to the POP from 7/28 until the check-in at the vacation home. I will NOT tell the kids about this, it will be my secret for this year.:cool1:
Although I am excited to go to WDW as usual, per my title for the 1st time EVER, I will be going without my whole crew.
DS20 flat out said he is NOT going to WDW bc he hates it (who's child is he?) and although my DD22 wants to go, she now has a car payment due to bad judgements (she was in a car accident and they totaled her car out giving her a check for $12,000. She then decided to get a used Range Rover that was a headache. Finally we traded it in towards a new car and they only gave her $4,000 for it and now she's a proud owner of a PAYMENT which she has never had so...). So this trip will be different because I will be leaving half my family home. It was hectic last year anyway trying to boss a couple of "grown kids" around , their attitudes can get crazy and mean, like grumpy old people,LOL. So although I will miss them, I look forward to having a BALL with my 2 little ones.
I love doing these pre-trip report to keep track of my trip payments and all my disney parties. So far we have dome Lilo and Stitch:stitch2: and we just did Mickey Mouse Clubhouse:mickeyjum for our 100 day mark.
As for payments:
Train is completely done roundtrip
Vacation home has $420 (because I added the 2nd on now)
POP has $550
Park tix are Adult $350 Adult $350 Kid $320
Pay off goal is July 1st

HAPPY PLANNING!!!!!!
 
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Updating to keep myself on track:surfweb:. I decided against staying the extra night at the vacation home since it was only $25 difference so we are staying at the POP from 7/28- 8/3 then going to the vacation home. I also bought the kids ticket:dancer:so I have 2 more tickets to go. I haven't did another party yet because I've been spring cleaning and making donation bags.

As for payments:DONE in red
Train completely done round trip

Vacation Home has $330
POP has $680
Park Tix left $350 Adult and Adult $350 Kid $320
Pay off goal is still July 1st
 
Updating:
Ive been on a roll lately, another ticket purchased, started designing our sneakers for our trip (7 pair so far about 95% done). I have 6 more days left for work and then I can concentrate totally on my disney planning and designing.:surfweb::coffee::banana::cheer2:

As For Payments:
Train Done
Vacation Home $330
Pop $680
Park Tix left $350 Adult and
$350 adult, $320 kid
Payoff goal is still July 1st
 
My little crew...

My DD23 and I at BOMA last year

My 2 oldest DD23 and DS20 who will not be attending this years trip:guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty::guilty:

Me with my little munchkins DD13 and DS4 who will both be celebrating birthdays in WDW as usual.:cake:

They will have fun together without the big kids...I hope:ssst:
 

No one is responding to my pre-trip report but thats ok:love1: Anyway I finally finished painting the 1st set of sneakers. I have to find ribbon or/and shoe laces to match them all.

I found this ribbon but I have to burn the edges to keep them from freying.



DD13 and I have Buzz and Jessie Sneakers





DS4 has Buzz and Woody






That is our Monsters Inc sneakers

DS4 Mickey Mouse Clubhouse sneakers

That all for now to update!:wave2::wave2:
 
Just wanted to let you know your sneakers are adorable! I love that Mike and Sulley have different expressions on each pair.
 
Woke up bright and early this morning. Its the first day of my summer vacation. My classroom is all packed up and left looking empty. First thing I did today was pay off 2 more things, last park ticket and balance on vacation home. So I am almost done. :cool1::cool1::cool1::cool1::cool1::cool1:

As for payments:
Train:
DONE
Vacation Home:DONE
POP:$680
Park Tix:
ALL DONE
Payoff goal JULY 1ST
 
No financial update but my crafts are coming along.

Bought these shoes from walmart. I liked the memory foam supports they had. But of course with my creativity and love of all things Disney, they couldn't stay this way.



Taa Daa!!!! Minnie Mouse sneakers. I made these for my daughter. And her matching ears.



They are reversible, I have to go out and get some ribbon for her bow.
Then I re-did a pair of old Vans.




And matching ears.








I still have a few more to go plus some t-shirts.
 
With the Mickey Ears I made last year and the ones Im making, I needed a rack for them. I actually need another one now but I have to figure out if I want the same design or something different.





37 days!!!!!!:jumping3::jumping3::Pinkbounc:Pinkbounc
 
As far as Disney Planning:
I entered all of our park tickets into My Disney Experience and did my fast passes for 2 out of the 5 days. I can only ask so many question for suggestions from DD13 on this trip bc a lot is a secret. I did ask her what park she wanted to go to first and she said MK so that was the 1st FP's that I did. Then I seen someone posted a picture on FB of the line for Soarin and both of our faces were like :scared1::scared1: so the next part I did was Epcot and we did get FP's for soaring'. With 5 day tickets that means I still have 3 days to plan for.

I did a couple of disney parties to make the days go by. We did Zootopia yesterday and Toy Story, Princess and the frog, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Lilo and Stitch so far. Next on the list is Wreck-it-Ralph. Cars, Tangled and Finding Dory are all soon after.:jumping1:
 
Updating:
Ive been on a roll lately, another ticket purchased, started designing our sneakers for our trip (7 pair so far about 95% done). I have 6 more days left for work and then I can concentrate totally on my disney planning and designing.:surfweb::coffee::banana::cheer2:

As For Payments:
Train Done
Vacation Home $330
Pop $680
Park Tix left $350 Adult and
$350 adult, $320 kid
Payoff goal is still July 1st
I love the idea of group sneakers. Please take a pic!
 
So Ive been working on my itinerary and getting some of this Disney planning done. So far on our arrival date we are doing our normal.

7/28-Checking in, shower, lunch, nap and unpack. Then our trip to Walmart for snacks, dinner at the resort, maybe the pool then bed.

7/29- MK early to get DS4's DAS pass (I do not want to peel him off of other kids or calm down his "crazies" once they start, Nor do I want him medicated since we are working with him-more about his condition below)with FP+'s Buzz @1030, Speedway @1145, Pooh @1250. On my list of things to do are Fantasy and Electrical Parade, Philharmagic, Monsters Inc and Stitch attractions. My must eats are of course Dole Whip and Pot Roast mac and cheese from The Friar's Nook. I was considering leaving at about 3-330pm and going back for a nap then returning for the parade in the evening.

7/30- Relax and photo shoot day!!!! I love the POP resort and
haven't been here for years because my older kids would want to try other resorts and then we became a family of 5 so the last few years have been at ASMU. Breakfast and Lunch in the room or resort. Dinner at Kona Cafe @7 and then showers and bed.

7/31- Epcot with FP+'s Nemo @910, Soarin @1025, Disney/Pixar short films @1130 (I have no clue what this is by the way:rotfl2:). On my list of things to do are Seas with Nemo with the whole Seabase indoor thing bc my kids love this. Maybe Crush if its not too long and circle of life. Eating at the Sunshine Seasons. Ive heard there are some amazing "mommy" beverages that I'd like to try while walking around the world but I
don't have actually drinks and locations yet. Leave Epcot once drunk:rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl::rotfl:(not really since Im alone with my munchkins) and thats it for the night for us.

8/1- Sleep in, breakfast in the room, Lunch at AoA and then dinner ressies at Trails End @640. Swimming from 8-9 maybe and then showers and bed.

8/2- Ak with FP+'s for Kilimanjaro @10, FOLK @1130, Nemo musical @130. My list of things to do are Conservation Station, Affection Section
and thats really it for that. I heard there is a "mommy" Dole Whip here that Im going to try:thumbsup2. We have dining ressie at Rainforest at 330 then back to the room for a nap, packing and pool.

8/3- Breakfast in resort or room. Checkout at 11 and head to 192 for some shopping before check-in at the vacation home. Once I check in there. Unload the car, walmart for food for the next 15 days and some "mommy" drinks, bring in groceries and get the food and my clothes situated, dinner cooking and some clothes washed (Oh my, I sound like Im home right there) and put away then relax in the spa thingy.

I haven't done HS yet and I want to go there twice.

8/5 DS turns 5party: and 8/14 DD turns 14party: Not sure what we are doing yet.

Outside of the Disney bubble we want to dine at Olive Garden, CiCi's Pizza, Ponderosa or one of those buffets, Cracker Barrel and the Waffle House. Most of our time at the house will be school prepping... I know, I know, we are on vacation but hey I'd rather be doing school work near Disney then back at home right? My DD will be entering high school so I am going to start to go over some of her summer school assignments to get things flowing again. She was diagnosed with ADHD (non-hyper) so she NOW has an IEP although I have told her teachers that I had some concerns with her. After going to the district and higher officials and getting her tested at the hospital showing proof, she will receive the support she needs. So thats why she will get an hour a day of schooling during this time. DS will be going into Kindergarten and he has anxiety issues (I suspect something more but hey) so his therapist and I are working on his anger and outburst but he also just started pre-k in January (in my class) and although he is above level in all areas, he is below in things like writing. I didn't make him do it while he was home with myself or my older son and once he started school, asking him to do his name for example, would cause an outbreak so we didn't REALLY make him. I have started during the summer break with writing and I have a summer packet ready for him to work on in Fl. so that he is ready. This is why there is a lot of down time in my trip. I usually stay for 3 weeks but I fit in 3 days of UNI too. He has to have this iPad which calms him down and thats not something I want to drag to the park everyday. Enough about my minion:laughing:. Also in DE the school systems wear uniforms from K-8th grades so for the 1st time DD will need a whole wardrobe :scared1::scared1:.
So a lot of these days will be spent school shopping for her so she can be sort of unique. There are 2 malls here and besides that is Rainbows, Target, Walmart and Old Navy, the norm, so everyone looks the same here:rotfl2:. So with the Nike outlets and other stores further south, she can get some different things.


Enough of my rambling, I have crafting to do:wave:
 
I found these "Levi" brand sneakers, similar to Converse Chucks and made another pair of sneakers:love::love:









I like how they came out! I think I have 1 more pair of sneakers that I am going to do. The other ideas and sneakers, I will leave for next years trip. I've got about 10 mickey ears and some t-shirts to do so I need to focus on that stuff.:wave::wave::wave::wave::wave::wave:
 
So my goal was to pay everything off by the 1st of July. Calling Disney was my last call to make for the day and...their system was down:headache::headache::headache:. So the 1st it wasn't but then I called at around 9am today and...the system was down again:sad2::sad2::sad2:. The lady told me to call back in an hour or so and that was my plan. However I went into DD13's bedroom to clean, organize and trash some stuff and although its not done, I walked out of there at 2pm (her monster high collection is bonkers). So I called Disney and it was back to normal except it said my wait would be 25 minutes:scared::scared::scared:. So I waited and waited and waited a whole 43 minutes before someone answered and took my whole balance for my trip:yay::yay::yay:. Now I'm so excited!!!! My next 25 days will be spent picking up Disney gift cards to cover our dining ressies and we are set.

As for payments:
Train: DONE
Vacation Home: DONE
POP: DONE
Park Tix: ALL DONE


All the suitcases are in the living room and thats making me smile every time I look over at them:tongue::tongue::tongue:
 
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