We Spent Halloween with the Mouse (and Donald too!!!)

[AshleyMWC]

I felt that I needed to rescue my Pre Trippie from the 3rd page- and I wanted to let everyone know that I have purchased 2 more shirts for my trip! That means I only need one more- the most difficult one to find- a DONALD shirt for Chef Mickey's I ordered the shirts on ebay, so they are not in my hot little hands yet, but perhaps a description will suffice

1. A gray Minnie shirt to wear probably the first day. It has a colored drawing of minnie in the middle, and then some other Minnies in the background that look like they are from a sketch book
2. A Tinkerbell Halloween shirt! It is so cute, I hope it fits ok.

I am always worried when I buy stuff online- not because I don't trust people, but because I never know if it will fit or not. Keep fingers crossed that there are ok, because I am running out of shopping days

I think I covered up day # 44 on the countdown this morning- it was early, but I think that is right

 

[wdwgirl03]

Love all the shirts, especially that Cinderella one. So cute!

 

[IrishFinneganFan]

Nice PTR! From my post count you can probably tell I'm not much of a poster, but more of a reader, so I'll be reading, but probably not talking too much!

 

[heatherlizz602]

Ashley I LOVE the countdown calendar thats so cute. I can't wait until my "50" day mark....ahem...obviously quite a while from now...but that's what keeps me sane.

The donald shirt cracks me up I have to get me one of those.

Good luck in finding the shirt you are looking for and keep the updates coming ...I'm getting anxious for the costumes. HAHA.

 

[kathleen27]

All your shirts look great! You'll have so much fun wearing them!

 

[AshleyMWC]

Love all the shirts, especially that Cinderella one. So cute!

Thanks! The Cinderella one is one of my faorites also. I haven't seen too many people wearing it, so I am excited

Nice PTR! From my post count you can probably tell I'm not much of a poster, but more of a reader, so I'll be reading, but probably not talking too much!

Thanks for saying hello, and welcome aboard my journey.

Ashley I LOVE the countdown calendar thats so cute. I can't wait until my "50" day mark....ahem...obviously quite a while from now...but that's what keeps me sane.

The donald shirt cracks me up I have to get me one of those.

Good luck in finding the shirt you are looking for and keep the updates coming ...I'm getting anxious for the costumes. HAHA.

Thanks, we both LOVE the countdown calendar also. This may have to become an every year thing for us. It's great that in our late 20's we are so excited when it is our day to put the sticker on! As for the Donald shirt, I got mine in the Philharmagic gift shop- you should definitley pick one up!

All your shirts look great! You'll have so much fun wearing them!

I am so excited to wear them all. Hopefully the two I ordered from eBay will come in this week so I can post pictures of them also.


Well everyone, thanks again to all my readers and lurkers out there. I don't have much to update today because Sam and I just spent a nice long weekend at the beach- Nags Head, NC for anyone interested The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we had a truly wonderful time. It was only 2 nights, but it was like a nice mini-vacation for us. On Friday night it was a gorgeous night, and we spent, I kid you not, almost 5 hours (and a couple few frosty beverages ) sitting on the porch just talking- mostly about Disney We even talked about when we have kids one day, how old they will be when we first take them to the World. Incidently, I think we decided on age 3 Yeah, it's a ways in the future, but still, it was fun to think about. Seriously, we probbaly spent 70% of this past weekend talking about Disney, it was the perfect weekend in my opinion! I will post some pics from this weekend tonight, as soon as I have a chance to download them.

I guess my only real update is that I have made a new decision as far as my Disney shirts. I have decided, after much internal debate, to just wear the Donald shirt I have to Chef Mickey's rather than trying to find a new one. I have looked everywhere I can think of for a different one, and I have come up totally empty handed- and time is kind of running out

Oh, we did also make then decision to take Magical Express to the Pop for the first night, but NOT tag our bags. We will be luggin those suckers on the bus with us. Since we are only going to be at the Pop for about 9 hours (about 8 which we will be sleeping), I don't feel like dealing with transfering luggage and tracking it down int he morning when we wake up. Our plan is to check-in, sleep, wake up, shower, and check-out. We have also decided to take a cap from Pop to the Poly that morning so we can have our luggage with us. I have heard about some people's luggage taking a long time to make the resort to resort transfer, so we are making our own transfer. I have no idea how much a cab will be, but I figure in the grand scheme of vacation, it can't be THAT much...right?!

Yeah, sorry, that's the only update I have for today- I know it's nothing major, but I didn't want to abandon my TR for too long

Be on the lookout for some beach pics tonight!!

 

[Villainess]

Signing on to your PTR!!!!!

Maybe you could bring your Donald shirt as a reserve but be on the lookout for a new one to wear to Chef Mickey while you are there?

 

[Hibernians]

hey Ashley,

Could you tag your luggage and have DME send it directly from the airport to the Poly ? It would save you from having to carry it around the airport and to the hotel. I would think they could hold it at the Poly until you check in.

I'm moving really slow on writing my own pre-trip, but I did make it to Home Depot and got about 15 Mickey paint sample things. I have to get about 10 more and get my calendar up. 26 days to go

 

[kaysmommie]

Cute shirts especially the Cinderella one. Your trip will be here before you know it. Glad you had a good time at Nags head. I think 2 is a good age for first Disney trip because it's sooner and my kids enjoyed it exactly the same at 2 as they did at age 3.

 

[AshleyMWC]

Signing on to your PTR!!!!!

Maybe you could bring your Donald shirt as a reserve but be on the lookout for a new one to wear to Chef Mickey while you are there?

That is certainly an idea for me to keep in mind for the Donald shirt! I will probably do just that

hey Ashley,

Could you tag your luggage and have DME send it directly from the airport to the Poly ? It would save you from having to carry it around the airport and to the hotel. I would think they could hold it at the Poly until you check in.

I'm moving really slow on writing my own pre-trip, but I did make it to Home Depot and got about 15 Mickey paint sample things. I have to get about 10 more and get my calendar up. 26 days to go

I THINK, and I could be wrong, that your luggage has to go where you check in, so that would be Pop for us. I mean it's really not a huge deal, it's not like we have strollers and kiddies in tow. We should each have a checked bag and a carry on, so I'm not too worried. I usually check an empty small suitcase for souvies and such, but I am still on the fence on that one since the airline have so kindly decided to start charging for that Eh, we shall see- I'm sure we will work it out in the next 37 days Plus, at midnight, we shouldn't have as many people to dodge in the airport as mid-day...I hope! I hope you are able to get a PTR started soon, I will be reading along!

Cute shirts especially the Cinderella one. Your trip will be here before you know it. Glad you had a good time at Nags head. I think 2 is a good age for first Disney trip because it's sooner and my kids enjoyed it exactly the same at 2 as they did at age 3.

Thanks, that is one of my favorite shirts also! I'm SURE that I could be convinced to take my currently un-born children to Disney at age 2 as opposed to age 3. There would likely be very little arm twisting required

 

[AshleyMWC]

Well I know that I promised some beach pictures last night, but time just seemed to slip away from me. However, when I went home for lunch today I uploaded a couple for you guys. There is one really good picture of me and Sam with a sunset in the background, but that one is on Sam's camera so I will have to wait until tonight to upload that one. In the meantime, here are a couple of Sam- acting like Sam. I am so proud.

When he clmibed on the dolphin he noticed that the price had increased over the years from $.25 to $.50 and he was appalled that inflation had now taken grips on the electronic childhood rides. He stated, in a dead straight faced tone, "Times are tough, people can't afford to ride the electronic dolphin anymore." I darn near laughed my butt off Ok, I know it's not that funny just to read, but at the time we were both All weekend, whenevr we saw an opportunity, we started a sentence with "Times are tough..." Yeah, I guess inside jokes are funnier when you're on the inside, sorry guys

These next ones are from the top of an observation tower that we climbed. We had an awesome view of the ocean and the sand dunes. We tried to take a self-portrait, but I of course forgot my sunnies and I was kind of blinded by the sun, so they didn't come out very good. Oh well, we tried- and at least we have proof that we climbed up there! It really was a pretty view.

(Trust me when I say that you don't want to see that picture in a larger format!)

Nwo this next one we thought was just funny. It was at the pizza place we ate at the last night. The big question is, DID the server get the lasagna?.

So, now for a quick Disney update! Get excited folks, our shirts came in for our MNSSHP costumes!!! Mine fits perfectly and I am totally satisfied with it. Sam's looks a little big to me- both in terms of shirt size and image size, but he hasn't tried it on yet. On my Zazzle recepit it says that they honor returns if not completely satisfied, so if it doesn't look good I need to send it back ASAP to get a new one made! But, here is a picture of mine- front and back. Now all I need is a black skirt and red ribbons for my pig-tails. (We decided to wait until we got down there to pick up the Mickey ears- Sam said that it just seems more genuine that way.) Man, have I trained that boy right!

Last night I finally called and reserved my Magical Express pick-ups, so that is one less thing I have to get done. I also canceled my Tusker House breakfast on the 31st. I was kind of bummed to cancel it, but since we have Lunch with am Imagineer that afternoon at 11:30, there was just no need to keep it. Oh well- next time!!

Well, I think that's about all I have for today. Hopefully my eBay shirts will be in soon so I can try them on and post pics of them.

Thanks for reading along with me!!

 

[awaldo]

Cool shirt...what did you have put on the back of Sam's? I may have to mooch that idea for when we go NEXT JULY!?! for our matching shirt day!

 

[AshleyMWC]

Cool shirt...what did you have put on the back of Sam's? I may have to mooch that idea for when we go NEXT JULY!?! for our matching shirt day!

Both of our shirts say the same thing on the back. I was going to do different parts of the Mickey Mouse Club March song, but I decided to keep it simple. Thanks for reading along!

 

[dawnbu40]

Hi! I just discovered your PTR today and I'm all caught up and enjoying it!

The Halloween costumes are adorable and I am looking forward to seeing the party pics!

 

[AshleyMWC]

Hello faithful readers! I am sorry that I have been neglecting my PTR lately, but honestly, I haven't had much to add recently. I surprisingly haven't had to make any major changes in hotel, airlines, meals...nothing. Am I the only one who gets bored when there's nothing new to change?? Well, I did cancel one breakfast ADR, but I think I mentioned that earlier, so its nothing new or exciting. The only thing I am regretting schedule-wise is not having a character breakfast the first morning. I have been doing Chef Mickey's the first morning of vacation for as long as I can remember and I am sad to not be seeing the characters first thing- especially since we are going to MGM that first day and I don't consider it a real "character intensive park." So, I am still toying with the idea of calling to see if O'Hana by some miracle has a late breakfast around 10 available that first day- we could always cancel if we don't want it. I kind of like the idea of taking a cab over to the Poly that morning (from POP) and having a good breakfast and exploring the resort before tearing into the parks. Any thoughts on my "maybe" new plan? I think I just talked myself into trying to make the ADR. It's unlikely that I will be able to get it I know, but I think I have convinced myself to try . If we could eat at 10, we could explore a bit, and try to catch a bus to MGM by 11:30 or 12. That would give us 4 or 5 hours at the park before our dinner ADR at Kona. Was that enough rambling for everyone? How many people have I lost?

Ok, how about some pictures?!?!

The first one is of my latest t-shirt purchase.

This is the one I will be wearing for Halloween day- not MNSSHP, just Halloween the day. I LOVE it, it is exactly what I was looking for! I really didn't think I would find one, but when I found this one on eBay I was so pumped that a) I won it and b) that it actually fit!! I can not even add up how much time I have spent on eBay looking for shirts. I actually just bought another one yesterday and it should be here soon. Assuming this one fits, I will only need one more to have one for every day! (And I have 2 that I am "watching" to buy) Yes, I know that I sound like a totally compulsive eBay stalker- but I just can't help myself. Shopping on eBay is like shopping and treasure hunting all in one- you cannot imagine how excited I am when I get a good find. It might be borderline sad, really Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, I refuse to pay more than $10 a shirt, so I'm not spending hundreds of dollars on shirts- no worries there!

Moving on.....

Here are a few little goodies I have picked up recently.

Up first, the big folder. I heart the big folder. I even made one up for Sam to take on his guys trip last year, and he also now hearts the big folder. I have it organized inside into the following categories: 1. Travel documents 2. Tour Guide Mike printouts 3. Tickets and confirmation numbers 4. Daily schedule spreadsheet

Pictured next are just some plain 'ol Balance Bars. Yeah, I love them- I truly do, and not just because they are "healthy." I really do like the taste of them I like to always have a hearty snack with me in the parks because when I get hungry, I get hungry fast and with very little warning. I am also a nervous traveler away from home- I love being on vacation, but I think being the nervous traveler that I am makes me burn calories off faster and I feel that I need food literally all the time it seems. Ok, not ALL the time, but suffice it to say, I need a good solid snack on hand when the hunger calls to me waiting in lines.

Finally- yes, those are hair ribbons! I know that I am 27 and 27 year olds shouldn't be wearing hair ribbons, but who cares?! I love ribbons and Disney makes me feel like a kid and a princess, so gosh darn it I want to wear them! I am actually getting them to match all my shirts. Who knows how many I will end up wearing, but I like having the options. The pink ribbons is for the pink Minnie shirt, blue is for the Donald shirt, orange is for the Halloween shirt, and the red is for my pig-tales for the Mousketeer MNSSHP costume.

Now on to the last picture of this installment. I have gotten these little goodies in the mail recently, and everyone knows that Disney mail is the bestest mail ever!!! Mickey mail rocks

When I first opened the Magical Express envelope today I thought they had messed up and sent me tags for the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I mean when you see AK don't you think AKL? Well, apparently Disney doesn't Apparently AK = Pop Century, who knew?! It actually doesn't really matter anyway though because we're not tagging our bags. And the most important picture of all is of course those MNSSHP tickets!! AHHHH, they are beyond adorable- here's a close-up shot because I love them so much!!

Well, i guess that's my update for now. Thanks for reading along and I;ll let you guys know if I get O'Hana breakfast for the first morning. Now that I have thought more about it I wish I had tried to book it earlier! Fingers crossed please......

Oh, and p.s. WE LEAVE A MONTH FROM TOMORROW!!!!!!

 

[kaysmommie]

Love when the documents arrive . i have a print out of the Mickey Mouse club to make our own Tshirts with transfer paper. I kept it as a back up in case we decide not to dress up. I guess it's not too orginal since you thought of it too . Loved the beach pics, it's very pretty there. Your trip is getting close.

 

[kathleen27]

Sounds like a fun time at the beach!!!

I too have been spending a "bit" of time on ebay.
I have been looking at costumes and pins.
Before this I had not bought anything on there in over a year.
Amazing how much shopping is involved before a trip.

The tink shirt is cute!
Perfect Halloween color.

The AK confused me too.
That doesn't make sense to me.
But they say Pop underneath.
Not sure we will use ours either.

Yay!!! For the MNSSHP tickets!!!

And Yay!!! For ONE MONTH!!!

 

[awaldo]

I wondered what the ticket things were...until I read further. Those are soo cool. FYI - pure speculation, but I think maybe the AK thing does mean Animal Kingdom, or something like that. Our tags for Coronado had "AK" on them, so I think maybe they pick up all the luggage from the airport, and go to some central sort facility - AK helps get it going towards the Animal Kingdom area resorts. Just my guess.

 

[The Marsons]

I want that Tink shirt!!

Its awesome!!

Glad you are ok!

 

[AshleyMWC]

Love when the documents arrive . i have a print out of the Mickey Mouse club to make our own Tshirts with transfer paper. I kept it as a back up in case we decide not to dress up. I guess it's not too orginal since you thought of it too . Loved the beach pics, it's very pretty there. Your trip is getting close.

You can't ever go wrong with a Mickey Mouse Club shirt! I can't wait to wear our Mouseketeer costumes. Yes, Nags Head is a very laid back beach, adn that's why we love it. It's not really commercial like Myrtle Beach, but it has the perfect balance of enough to do and enough not to do

I too have been spending a "bit" of time on ebay.
I have been looking at costumes and pins.
Before this I had not bought anything on there in over a year.
Amazing how much shopping is involved before a trip.

It is crazy how eBay can consume your life so quickly . I guess it's the thrill of the hunt!

I wondered what the ticket things were...until I read further. Those are soo cool. FYI - pure speculation, but I think maybe the AK thing does mean Animal Kingdom, or something like that. Our tags for Coronado had "AK" on them, so I think maybe they pick up all the luggage from the airport, and go to some central sort facility - AK helps get it going towards the Animal Kingdom area resorts. Just my guess.

I think that you may have hit the nail on the head! That sounds perfectly logical- way to go, you win a gold star. Except that I couldn't find one, so you win a yo-yo instead

I want that Tink shirt!!

Its awesome!!

Thanks, it is turning out to be one of my favorite ones and I can't wait to wear it. Oh wait, yes I can, because when I wear it, it will be the last full day of our trip

********************************************************

Ok, quick update. I called today to try and book the O'Hana breakfast on our first day, but of course nothing was available- I didn't expect it would be. The lady was so nice and she said, "Currently, and I stress currently, we have nothing available on that day." I was able to book Kona for breakfast that day though- for any time I wanted, mind you- so I went ahead and booked that for 10AM. I am going to keep calling and hope that something opens up. I am tempted to call back this evening and check, but I guess that would be too soon to call back Worst case scenario- when we check in we will see if we can walk up to O'Hana, and if not, we have the awesome Kona as a fall back.