We are finally going back, and no, we are NOT driving! A May/June 2013 PTR

[danicaca]

I'm still here and very excited for you and me!!!

Love the countdown! It's super cute! Your necklaces are amazing!!

What a score on the ponchos! Those are very durable! Your 31 bags look great!

So are you ready to leave tomorrow?!??!?

Yay! Someone is here! thanks for all of the compliments! I sure hope I have room for all of my stuff... And yes, I want to go NOW!

 

[danicaca]

That chain is adorable!

Thanks! Can't wait to take the first link off tonight!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Subbing real quick...

 

[disneylvr4vr]

Subbed!
I just went through your links, and read all of your posts! I love POR! It is my favorite resort! Love how you made all of those hair bows, they are really cute! How do you make them?

 

[lsenquiz]

We have the same countdown chain. I love the necklesses. I wish I was that creative. WhooHoo on the Mickey mail. We always drive and stay on a room only reservation or rent DVC points so we never get Mickey Mail(although I did get my preordered Photopass+ this past week

 

[danicaca]

Subbing real quick...

Glad to see you here!

Subbed!
I just went through your links, and read all of your posts! I love POR! It is my favorite resort! Love how you made all of those hair bows, they are really cute! How do you make them?

Glad to hear you like POR, we are super excited to stay there! The hairbows I have been making since I was in highschool, so that is a bit tricky. I did google how to make hairbows, and found some good tutorials on YouTube. I would start there. You basically need ribbon, thread, clips, and a hot glue gun!

We have the same countdown chain. I love the necklesses. I wish I was that creative. WhooHoo on the Mickey mail. We always drive and stay on a room only reservation or rent DVC points so we never get Mickey Mail(although I did get my preordered Photopass+ this past week

I loved that countdown when I saw it on Pinterest! I think we are going to rent points next time, or maybe even buy into the DVC, so no more Mickey Mail! I love having things to look forward to in the mail!

 

[danicaca]

Alrighty folks, things are getting real around here! We are at 20 days! Lots of activity, but not necessarily all Disney related. May just seems to be a busy month, doesn’t it? The girls started swim lessons last week, and are excited to go back today, and of course, I have been busy crafting away – again! Didn’t I say I was done with all of that? Oh well!

We have been having fun with our countdown. It is no longer touching the floor!



We have been doing a little activity with our chain, on the white links, we say something we are excited to do or see, and the Mickey heads we say a character we are excited to meet. Here is what we have so far:

29 days: Me – Space Mountain – I did not get to ride it last time! DH – RNR – he did not get to ride it last time! Funny how we both did that! E- Soarin’, O- Teacups.

27 days: Me – Minnie Mouse, DH- SW characters, and both girls chose Ariel with her tail – her grotto was closed for construction on their first trip, and they really wanted to meet her with her tail. Funny story, after they said that, DH said he wanted to change his answer. He said he would like to meet Ariel with her shells. Ugh. I told him I was not putting that on our official list!

25 days: Me- Animal Kingdom! Actually, we all chose this as we have never been there. I decided that I was not going to listen to the people who have told me it is a glorified zoo, and just go! We are all looking forward to it!

23 days: Me – Merida, DH- Merida, E- Beast, O- Cinderella.

21 days: Me- I am looking forward to the surprises we have planned for the girls. LaNouba, the Dessert Party, and their gifts! DH- He is looking forward to not going to work! E- Splash Mountain, O- Expedition Everest – she if officially tall enough! Unfortunately, she decided to practically ruin the shoes I got her – she decided to use the toes to stop her bike instead of the brakes, grr.


We will continue this activity tomorrow, so I will share our responses in an upcoming post. I might try to post here each time with a mini update.
I found this book at our book fair, so I was thinking maybe the princesses could sign their respective pages?



DH was feeling left out of all of the new shoes/clothes goodness, so we went shopping and found him some shoes.



They are the Keens Newport H2’s – so far he really likes them. He has been wearing them every day when he gets home from work. It has been rainy here, so hopefully we will be able to go on some walks soon so he can really test them out!

I came up with another project! I know you are all shocked, right? It started because I printed off a bunch of activity sheets from Disney Movie Rewards for the girls to do on the plane, at the airport, etc., and I did not know how I was going to organize them. I really did not want to just throw them in their bags, and I thought about hole punching them and putting them in a binder, but that would take up a lot of room in their bags. Sooo, introducing, the Disney clipboard!



Of course, after I took this pic I realized the Fab 5 ribbon was upside down, so I fixed it, but did not retake the pic! I just cut scrapbook paper out to fit and mod podged it on, then added some ribbon and a Mickey head. The girls were excited about them, but honestly I think they were more excited about the activity pages! The only thing I have to finish are our mousekeeping envelopes, and I SWEAR I am DONE! Just one more project now – PACKING! This is what I am scared of right now:



I already brought the suitcases up to the living room, and slowly but surely I will bring all of this stuff in there to organize. I still need to get the big Ziplocs to put the girls’ outfits in, and I can start! Yikes!

 

[Kitkat6595]

Oh, I love your clipboards! We made clipboards last summer for a long car trip to TN. My boys decorated them and I put their names on the back with big scrapbook stickers. We still use them all the time. Every car trip longer than 90 minutes, we have those clipboards with activity sheets and coloring pages. They love them!!

And you said the "P" word...I think I may need to buy a suitcase, but I've been putting off figuring out how much I need to bring. At 24 days, I can't really do that anymore. Can't we just fast forward and get to Disney!?!?

 

[hodgesda1]

I have enjoyed reading all about your upcoming trip. We live close enough (6 hours) to Orlando that we go to Disney once or twice a year, but we still get as excited as you. Last week we decided to take another week vacation to Disney at the end of May (20-26). Not much for planning time, but I did start a PTR today looking for advice on what we should do. This trip will be planned by DISBoard readers (if anyone reads my posts) since we tend to do the same stuff every time we go. I truly enjoy reading other peoples plans and taking good ideas from them.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3109947

Thanks for keep all of us Mickey fanatics entertained.

 

[danicaca]

Thought I had better update since we are officially in the single digits! Woo hoo! Just a few new things to report. DD8 decided it would be a good idea to break her arm:

Ugh. DD5 pulled her off of a scooter. That’s right, a 38 pound 5 year old pulled a 75 pound 8 year old off of a scooter and broke her arm. “Judge me by my size, do you?” I think not. She is a strong little gal! I think I need to get her that quote on a t-shirt! Well, it seems there is nothing that ice cream will not fix:

And she gets the cast off the night before we leave – can I get another woo hoo? She will have to wear a brace while we are there, but that is so much better than having a cast!

I started packing, and I think we are going to need to have two checked bags. I was really hoping for just one, but we just have too much stuff. 11 days is a long time, and it requires more stuff than I thought! And this does not even include all of our clothes!


I have been checking things off my list:


And I have been putting together the girls’ outfits. The only one I don’t have is their Star Wars outfits. I have the shirts, but the gal making their skirts is behind on orders, and won’t have them done until next Wednesday. I will post a pic when I get them! I also don't have the skirts my MIL is making. We will get them next weekend. So here are the outfits:
Arrival Day:

Day 2:

Day 3:

Day 4:

Day 5:

Day 6:
(Star Wars t and skirt)
Day 7: (these also have a skirt to match that my MIL is making)

Day 8:

Day 9:

Day 10:

Day 11:


I finished my mousekeeping envelopes, so that is all for the crafty projects.


I am officially DONE making stuff for our trip! Another woo hoo!

We have been busy with our countdown, so I will update you on what we have been talking about:
19 days: Me- Visa Meet and Greet, DH- Stepsisters, E- Rapunzel, O- Tiana
17 days: Me- Hoop Dee Doo, DH- Splash Mountain, E- Hoop Dee Doo, O- Tower of Terror (yup, she is crazy)
15 days: Me- Jasmine/Aladdin, DH- Yoda (I don’t think that will happen, but he insisted he will meet Yoda), E- Merida, O- Minnie
13 days: Me- Not having to drive for 11 days, DH- Indiana Jones show, E- the plane ride, O- Splash Mountain
11 days: Me- Star Wars characters, DH- Gaston, E- Cinderella, O- Belle
I think that is it for now! I see a lot of laundry and packing in my future! The girls are excited for the last four days of school this week, and I am just ready to BE AT DISNEY WORLD!

 

[nan1217]

So much awesome stuff! I love your creativity.

I hate to jump ahead too far, but I wonder what you'll be spending time on after your trip? Just want to make sure you have something new to focus on because adjusting from planning a trip to not planning one is a *****. My cure is to start planning another one but that is kind of an expensive habit to keep up.

 

[danicaca]

Oh I know what I will be doing! I will actually clean and organize my house and keep up with the laundry and dishes! Ha! For reall though, I want to run the princess half in 2015 for my 40th birthday, so I will probably need to start running again on a regular basis! I also have my 20 year class reunion at the end of July, so lots to look forward to!

 

[nan1217]

Oh I know what I will be doing! I will actually clean and organize my house and keep up with the laundry and dishes! Ha! For reall though, I want to run the princess half in 2015 for my 40th birthday, so I will probably need to start running again on a regular basis! I also have my 20 year class reunion at the end of July, so lots to look forward to!

Hmmm, interesting. I also have my 20th at the end of July w/a goal of running a marathon on my 40th.

 

[danicaca]

So we really are living parallel lives!

 

[danicaca]

Well, I told y'all I would come back and post the Star Wars outfits, so here I am! We are 3 days out, so I probably won't post anything else until I am ready to do my trip report! We are packed and ready to go, just waiting now!

Here are the Star Wars outfits:

I am very happy with how they turned out! I plan on doing DD8's hair Princess Leia style!

Our countdown is getting smaller:

We will take the final Mickey head off tonight!

I sent my room request fax to POR:


I called POR operations yesterday to make sure they received it, and the gal I talked to, Patricia, was super helpful! When I asked if they received my fax, she asked me what my room requests were. She told me telling her directly was better than any fax! We chatted for a bit, and I feel confident that we will get what we are looking for! We booked Garden View Royal Room, and we want Oak manor, the river side of the building. Patricia said - "That's it?" She said most people ask for a lot more, as in "Please upgrade me for free!" That is totally not what I am looking for. Anyway, the last thing I had to check off my list was to get my nails done, and I did that this morning. I am super happy with how they turned out!



I did something a little different for my toes. The gal suggested yellow for the polka dots, and I really like it!


Here is our countdown since last time:
9days: Me- pin trading, DH- our surprises we have planned, E- Enchanted Tales With Belle, O- ETWB - they are both super excited for this one!
7 days: Me- Stepsisters, DH- Terrence, E- Jasmine, O- Jasmine
5days: Me- Fantasmic, DH- Jedi Training Academy, E- she is excited for all of the fun stuff I have planned for them to do on the plane, O- riding in the plane
3 days: Me- Dug and Russell, DH- Stitch, E- Wreck-It-Ralph and Venelope, O- the same as E!
The night before we leave, we will have one last thing to tell each other that we are excited to do/see, and then it will be time to go to sleep - if we can sleep! We have to get up at 3am, so hopefully we can sleep a little bit!
Well, that is it for now! We head to Omaha tomorrow to spend some time with our families for Memorial Day, then fly out from there Tuesday morning! Wish us much pixie dust on our flights - we only have a 50 minute layover in Atlanta, so if our first flight is delayed at all, things could get a bit stressful for us! I guess if that is all I am worried about, we are good to go! So excited that 3 days from today we will be riding the ME to POR and getting ready to head over to Epcot!

 

[Mickeyfan333]

Star Wars outfits and your nails look great, have a wonderful trip! Hopefully I will be able to follow your trip report before I leave for WDW. I know it will only get me more excited for our trip!!

Adrienne

 

[danicaca]

On our way to the airport! The kids are so wound up, even at 4:00 am! I am sure they will crash on the plane!