sydprincess
Crazy about Mickey and my girls!
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2004
- Messages
- 620
We love us some Mickey, yes we do!
Pre-Trip Details
Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy reading about our magical trip to WDW. This is my first ever trip report, and I have lots to tell!
This trip was about 2 years in the making. The final details of everything didnt fall into place until the 4 for 3 deal came out, but I had most of the planning done prior to then. Our stay was from May 21-31, and we booked at both the Wilderness Lodge and the Polynesian. We were on the Dining Plan, which was a first for us. We celebrated our DD6s 7th birthday while visiting, and originally decided on our dates based on the fact that we wanted to be there over her birthday. I desperately wanted to do something different for this birthday. For the last three years, she has had huge, all-out parties, and I needed a break from that this year. I told her we would gladly bypass a big bash at home and take her to Disney instead if that was okay with her. It was!
So, here is my Disney family:
DH- 34 year old workin man of the family; has come a long way with his opinion/knowledge of Disney; LOVES Gaston; his fourth trip
Me- 31 year old stay at home mom; would move to Lake Buena Vista in a heartbeat!; my 12th trip
DD7- going on 16; way too smart for her own good; loves Disney as much as I do; her third trip
DD4- incredibly lovable; highly energetic; cant wait to return to Disney; her 2nd trip
DDbaby (8 months)- smiley, happy and the light of our familys life; will definitely be excited to see the characters; her 1st trip!
In preparation for our trip, we started a 100 day countdown board. The girls loved this! DD7 was especially impressed with the fact that I went to Home Depot and helped myself to 100 of their paint samples. She was very proud that I saved a few bucks that way. Im not super creative, so go easy on my simple design. Here is what I came up with:
It was amazing to observe how quickly those numbers got crossed off!
We also had a 100 day celebration. Nothing fancy, just a few things to get the kids in the mood. They really enjoyed it:
In addition, I started a Disney Movie Night board. I listed about 40 of our favorite Disney movies, and assigned every Friday and Sunday night as Disney Movie Night. The girls really got a kick out of this. They loved checking the board to see what movie was next, and often reminded me that tonight is Disney Movie Night!. It was especially helpful for DD4 to get a refresher of the characters before leaving, and helped make the time go by faster for all of us.
I began packing about 6 weeks prior to the trip. I knew I would need the time to assemble the outfits and purchase most of it. Here in cold Milwaukee, we dont see a whole lot of summer items on the shelves until late April or so, which wasnt helpful in planning the outfits, but I did manage to get it done. I organized myself with a spreadsheet detailing the outfits for each day, down to how the girls would have their hair done. DH did not understand this one bit, but on the nights we got back to the room at 11:30 and had to prep everything for the next day, he saw how convenient it was to not have to worry about coordinating outfits and figuring out what needed to be ironed. His lovely, organized wife had it all taken care of
Anyway, packing seriously took me 6 weeks. I was losing my mind by the end. Because we had to deal with baby items, we had a separate box that we were going to be shipping down with all of the disposable things that we werent going to have to bring back. Things I didnt think of at first, like table covers for DDbaby when eating, disposable spoons, the containers needed to carry some puff food around for her- you get the idea. It was very nice to be able to send the diaps and formula ahead. I tracked the box to make sure it arrived at the Lodge and knew ahead of time that it had gotten there. Packing for the rest of the family was a bit more challenging. I didnt want to have to take more than 4 suitcases. DH would be doing laundry one night, but not enough to be able to repeat a whole lot of clothes. I also had to pack 2 Minnie, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty dresses, along with the ears/hats they purchased on the last trip. Throw in a few light spinners and some stuffed animals, and I had a lot of stuff to get into those 4 suitcases. DH and I finished up our packing around midnight the night before we left and were able to weigh the suitcases at home to make sure we were under the 50 pounds. We werent on two of them, so we had to rearrange them before going to bed. So glad I worked those 6 weeks packing to avoid being up at midnight the night before the trip
Once that was done, we were good to go. The dog was prepped to go to my parents, the house was cleaned from top to bottom and DD7 had her schoolwork to work on while gone. Now all we needed to do was leave!!!
Up next, our arrival!
Pre-Trip Details
Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy reading about our magical trip to WDW. This is my first ever trip report, and I have lots to tell!
This trip was about 2 years in the making. The final details of everything didnt fall into place until the 4 for 3 deal came out, but I had most of the planning done prior to then. Our stay was from May 21-31, and we booked at both the Wilderness Lodge and the Polynesian. We were on the Dining Plan, which was a first for us. We celebrated our DD6s 7th birthday while visiting, and originally decided on our dates based on the fact that we wanted to be there over her birthday. I desperately wanted to do something different for this birthday. For the last three years, she has had huge, all-out parties, and I needed a break from that this year. I told her we would gladly bypass a big bash at home and take her to Disney instead if that was okay with her. It was!
So, here is my Disney family:
DH- 34 year old workin man of the family; has come a long way with his opinion/knowledge of Disney; LOVES Gaston; his fourth trip
Me- 31 year old stay at home mom; would move to Lake Buena Vista in a heartbeat!; my 12th trip
DD7- going on 16; way too smart for her own good; loves Disney as much as I do; her third trip
DD4- incredibly lovable; highly energetic; cant wait to return to Disney; her 2nd trip
DDbaby (8 months)- smiley, happy and the light of our familys life; will definitely be excited to see the characters; her 1st trip!
In preparation for our trip, we started a 100 day countdown board. The girls loved this! DD7 was especially impressed with the fact that I went to Home Depot and helped myself to 100 of their paint samples. She was very proud that I saved a few bucks that way. Im not super creative, so go easy on my simple design. Here is what I came up with:
It was amazing to observe how quickly those numbers got crossed off!
We also had a 100 day celebration. Nothing fancy, just a few things to get the kids in the mood. They really enjoyed it:
In addition, I started a Disney Movie Night board. I listed about 40 of our favorite Disney movies, and assigned every Friday and Sunday night as Disney Movie Night. The girls really got a kick out of this. They loved checking the board to see what movie was next, and often reminded me that tonight is Disney Movie Night!. It was especially helpful for DD4 to get a refresher of the characters before leaving, and helped make the time go by faster for all of us.
I began packing about 6 weeks prior to the trip. I knew I would need the time to assemble the outfits and purchase most of it. Here in cold Milwaukee, we dont see a whole lot of summer items on the shelves until late April or so, which wasnt helpful in planning the outfits, but I did manage to get it done. I organized myself with a spreadsheet detailing the outfits for each day, down to how the girls would have their hair done. DH did not understand this one bit, but on the nights we got back to the room at 11:30 and had to prep everything for the next day, he saw how convenient it was to not have to worry about coordinating outfits and figuring out what needed to be ironed. His lovely, organized wife had it all taken care of
Anyway, packing seriously took me 6 weeks. I was losing my mind by the end. Because we had to deal with baby items, we had a separate box that we were going to be shipping down with all of the disposable things that we werent going to have to bring back. Things I didnt think of at first, like table covers for DDbaby when eating, disposable spoons, the containers needed to carry some puff food around for her- you get the idea. It was very nice to be able to send the diaps and formula ahead. I tracked the box to make sure it arrived at the Lodge and knew ahead of time that it had gotten there. Packing for the rest of the family was a bit more challenging. I didnt want to have to take more than 4 suitcases. DH would be doing laundry one night, but not enough to be able to repeat a whole lot of clothes. I also had to pack 2 Minnie, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty dresses, along with the ears/hats they purchased on the last trip. Throw in a few light spinners and some stuffed animals, and I had a lot of stuff to get into those 4 suitcases. DH and I finished up our packing around midnight the night before we left and were able to weigh the suitcases at home to make sure we were under the 50 pounds. We werent on two of them, so we had to rearrange them before going to bed. So glad I worked those 6 weeks packing to avoid being up at midnight the night before the trip
Once that was done, we were good to go. The dog was prepped to go to my parents, the house was cleaned from top to bottom and DD7 had her schoolwork to work on while gone. Now all we needed to do was leave!!! Up next, our arrival!
