We weren't SUPPOSED to plan a Disney trip this year!! Oct 23-30 *TR to come soon!*

Kate. NOt only would I keep checking for a different resort but I'd also just look for a general room reservation at CBR. The Pirate rooms are a ways from everything. In fact the only rooms I would try and stay away from, and this is just from the bus ride. They seem quite a ways out there! Hopefully something will come up for you!

Actually, we already do have a standard room at CBR, we don't have a Pirate room. I agree, I think we wouldn't be happy with those either (I do see why some families with kids would think they're cool, but as 2 adults, the theming isn't important). So I'm glad we just have a standard room, and I have a few building locations I'd like to request.

But yup, I'll keep checking every day for CSR! We'll see what happens... pixiedust:
 
It's awesome you got your F&W event :thumbsup2 :cool1:

I hope you can get a room at the CSR too! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that you get a little pixiedust: If you are able to get a room there, we'd be at the same resort for all of 1 night :laughing: It would still be kinda neat though
 
Oh Good! I don't know why I thought you were in a Pirate Room!

What locations are you thinking? We were in Jamaica and really liked it there. WE just had to cross the bridge to get to Ol Port Royale (I think that is what the main area is called?) and we had really great bus service!
 
It's awesome you got your F&W event :thumbsup2 :cool1:

I hope you can get a room at the CSR too! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that you get a little pixiedust: If you are able to get a room there, we'd be at the same resort for all of 1 night :laughing: It would still be kinda neat though

Thanks! That'd be fun :thumbsup2 I really kinda doubt that we will be able to switch, but it'll be awesome if we can. But even if we don't, I'm still quite happy with CBR.

Oh Good! I don't know why I thought you were in a Pirate Room!

What locations are you thinking? We were in Jamaica and really liked it there. WE just had to cross the bridge to get to Ol Port Royale (I think that is what the main area is called?) and we had really great bus service!

I read some suggestions of Jamaica 45 or Aruba 51, they are close to the bridge over to the main building. However, I'm really not THAT concerned about the walking. The fact that there are bus stops at each village is very convenient. We don't plan on eating at CBR, the only thing we'd want in the main building would be to refill our mugs.
 


[64 days to go!] :woohoo:

Ready for an exciting post? I'm here to finally talk about...Halloween!

I didn't want to post anything about our costumes until we had decided for sure! From the very beginning, my hubby knew almost instantly what he wanted to wear, but I wasn't so sure.

We first decided that we didn't need to coordinate costumes. That was an easy decision, since he knew what he wanted to be, and I knew there wasn't anything that really matched up with his costume.

My next thought was, since I am red-headed, that I should do one of Disney's red-headed characters. Now, there are a number of them, but I kept running into issues with each of them: Ariel (difficult to pull off "mermaid", I kept saying I'd prefer a character with 2 legs!), Merida from Brave (her outfits seem like huge, heavy dresses, not good for Florida heat), Jessica Rabbit (a bit too inappropriate, plus I don't have her figure!)...

Finally, I realized I probably wanted to be a Disney princess, so I thought about which one I liked, and then the answer was simple. So here it is:

Aaron is going as:
Swedish-chef.jpg

The Swedish Chef from the Muppets! Perfect for many reasons, since he loves to cook, loves the Muppets, and he can do a great impersonation!

And I am going as:
Belle-full-length.jpg

Belle! Beauty & the Beast was always my favorite, and I always related to Belle, I was also more reserved, always had my head in a book, etc.

For costumes, the Swedish Chef is pretty straightforward - he always wears the same basic thing. And there is a little bit of leeway because you mostly just see his upper half, so deciding what to wear for pants/shoes is basically up to us.

With Belle, I knew that I didn't want to do her fancy yellow ball dress, I am instead going to wear her blue/white casual outfit. And in an interesting turn of events (at least to me!), I think I am going to try to make the dress myself! I can sew a little - my grandmother taught me, and we made a few quilts and other sewing projects together - but I've NEVER sewn any item of clothes.

However - I think I can follow a pattern. And I've borrowed an idea that seems to be pretty straightforward.
il_570xN.360352140_2w57.jpg

Image credit: SplediferousShanty on Etsy

This is just a really simple blue halter dress. This individual appears to have sewn the "apron" into the dress, but I think to keep it even simpler I am going to make an all blue dress and just add a separate apron. I know that Belle's dress isn't exactly this style, but 1) I think it's more about the color of the dress, and 2) I think this style dress will be much better for the weather. Also, I plan to do a blue hair bow, and potentially carry a basket and/or book.

So that's my plan! I'll keep you updated. I hope to check out a fabric store sometime this week. Wish me luck!
 
Great PTR! Sounds like you guys have a great trip planned. And I love the costumes! Looks like you are going to have a great time!

I'm interested to hear your reviews on the three signature restaurants you are trying. We never get to go for "free dining", so I'm not sure if it would be worth it to pay OOP? Can't wait to hear what you think!
 
Good luck on sewing your costume! I think we will go sans costumes... I actually think getting hubby to go to the party at all will be interesting!! I just really want to see Hallowishes, and the Parade!!
 


Great PTR! Sounds like you guys have a great trip planned. And I love the costumes! Looks like you are going to have a great time!

I'm interested to hear your reviews on the three signature restaurants you are trying. We never get to go for "free dining", so I'm not sure if it would be worth it to pay OOP? Can't wait to hear what you think!

Thank you very much, and welcome to my PTR! I'll definitely be doing a trip report, and that always has a heavy focus on the food, so I'll definitely let you know what we think of these signature restaurants. As I said in my PTR, DH and I both really love food; and my personal opinion is that the signatures are a huge step up from most of Disney's other restaurants. They definitely are a higher quality in terms of food and service, at least in our opinion.

Good luck on sewing your costume! I think we will go sans costumes... I actually think getting hubby to go to the party at all will be interesting!! I just really want to see Hallowishes, and the Parade!!

Thanks! I think it's funny that my hubby knew his costume idea looooong before I did. I don't think he's quite as excited about MNSSHP as I am (he can't stop thinking about F&W), but he's still looking forward do it.

HalloWishes and the Parade are what I'm so excited about as well :thumbsup2 (And why I'm so scared of a rain-out! Aaaah...must stop thinking about that!)

Awesome costume ideas! :thumbsup2

Thanks so much! :hug: At this point they "sound" great, but it'll be interesting to see how they finally "look", lol. I'm going to the fabric store on Thursday, I'll report back what I find!
 
Just squealed out loud at the Swedish Chef! My DH LOVES him! Those costumes are going to be so cool. I can't wait to see them all done!
 
Hi!! Following along. We are going end of sept and staying at cbr. We are also attending MNSSHP on sept 30th. Cant wait to read more of your plans!!

Hello and welcome to another CBR guest! How exciting that you're doing deluxe dining! I'd definitely enjoy doing that sometime.

I love the Swedish Chef!

:love: Thanks! Hubby is very excited about it too!

Just squealed out loud at the Swedish Chef! My DH LOVES him! Those costumes are going to be so cool. I can't wait to see them all done!

:thumbsup2 My DH got a kick out of your comment. Thanks! I guess we really need to start working on getting the costumes together. I can't wait to see how it all turns out myself...
 
Just checking in quickly to say a few things...

First of all --- we're at 60 days! Can't believe that tomorrow we'll be in the 50s. :thumbsup2

Secondly --- my trip to the fabric store yesterday was completely unfruitful. In terms of fabric, they definitely had what I needed, there were a few options actually that would work well. However, I got stumped when it came to picking out the dress pattern. I found a few that I liked the looks of, however when I looked at the pattern instructions, it made my head spin. I thought I'd be able to follow the instructions, but it's like reading another language! :scared1: Half the time I have no idea what it's trying to say. I even found an "easy" level pattern, which didn't really look any different than the normal patterns.

So now I'm stumped. It'd be a whole lot easier if I could find a pre-made dress, but I think the chances of that are really slim (a simple style dress in the exact right solid color?). I've also been trying to search for some easy dress patterns online, but can't find as many as I thought I might be able to. I need to keep looking.

Anyway, I still have some time to figure this out, but I'm a little discouraged after that trip. Wish me more luck!! :wizard:
 
Sorry the costume is sounding more complicated than you thought! I haven't sewn since HS! And I don't have a sewing machine so now its not even an option!!
 
Yeah, fabric patterns look like some kind of strange map. :confused3 I remember having to use them in junior high school, and I could probably flub my way through one now, but who knows how the end result would turn out :laughing:

I'd say try and look everywhere you can think of for a dress, and see if maybe you can make the just apron? I'd look in second hand clothes shops and J.C Penny (I think that's the store that's pretty much equivalent to Winners here in Canada) for the dress. As awesome a home-made one would be, it might be easier on you to make part of it and buy the other.
 
Sorry the costume is sounding more complicated than you thought! I haven't sewn since HS! And I don't have a sewing machine so now its not even an option!!

Yeah, fabric patterns look like some kind of strange map. :confused3 I remember having to use them in junior high school, and I could probably flub my way through one now, but who knows how the end result would turn out :laughing:

I'd say try and look everywhere you can think of for a dress, and see if maybe you can make the just apron? I'd look in second hand clothes shops and J.C Penny (I think that's the store that's pretty much equivalent to Winners here in Canada) for the dress. As awesome a home-made one would be, it might be easier on you to make part of it and buy the other.

Thanks to you both! I really didn't know what to expect, I guess.

However, on the positive side - my mother stopped into a different fabric store a few days ago, and mentioned to me that she saw some "easy" level patterns that actually looked simple. I'm hoping to stop in soon to take a look myself. If these patterns look easier, maybe I'll still be able to give it a try.

If that fails, then yeah, I definitely will start browsing around thrift stores and things like that. I'll keep you posted!
 
Love the costume ideas! Sending lots of pixie dust that you have lots of luck with making them!
 
Love the costume ideas! Sending lots of pixie dust that you have lots of luck with making them!

Thank you so much!!


I don't have anything significant to update at this point, except to say we're at 55 days! :banana:

I'm hoping to have a costume update soon, I just haven't found time to get to the store yet. Hopefully today or tomorrow.

I've been working on my planning document these last few days. I haven't really made any major tweaks to our schedule/plans, the only thing I just did was slightly change the time of our Narcoossee's reservation, which was at 5:55, to 5:35. That night will be our only chance at MK to see MSEP and Wishes (our other night there will be the Halloween party), so I wanted to make sure we didn't cut it too close and end up not making it back to the MK in time for the parade.

Other than that, we've still be watching TONS of Disney movies. Movies we've watched since my last movie post include:
Nightmare Before Christmas (which included a cool bonus feature on how they set up the Haunted Mansion overlay at Disneyland)
The Parent Trap (the new one with Lindsay Lohan, back when she was cute :lmao:)
Peter Pan
Summer Magic (a more obscure live-action movie, but the cool thing is a lot of the music in this movie is used on Main Street)
Pocahontas
Waking Sleeping Beauty (a really fun documentary of the Disney studios in the 70s/80s)

We have a lot more coming up as well, both via Netflix and being borrowed from my dad's collection.

Hope you all are having a great week, and that your trips are getting closer and closer! :woohoo:
 
Finally, the update you all have been waiting for!

photo.jpg


It's not much to look at yet...but last night I got the supplies for my Belle dress! This pattern looked much easier than some of the others I found, I think it's only 7 pieces total. It'll look like the dress on the left - with blue fabric for most of it, but I'm going to do the trim around the waist and at the bottom of the dress in the white fabric. I'll be adding a white half-apron over the dress as well, but I'll figure that out later. I also hope to make a blue hair bow with some of the leftover fabric.

It's pretty hard to visualize right now, but I'm really excited to see how it turns out. Now, to borrow my mom's sewing machine, and start working on it!

:wizard: I'll need lots of luck and pixie dust on this one! :wizard:
 

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