We're ALMOST a Grand Gathering!

[Jennia]

I know December's ages away, but I can't wait any longer to start our pre trip report! This will be the first time we've taken a large extended family vacation to somewhere other than the beach, and I've been put in charge of planning it all (which is already pretty nerve wracking).
Here's some background info: Last November, I took dd and dh to WDW for their first trip (yep, somehow my dh survived childhood without ever going to Disney). Anyway, we were glad we went when we did, but we also wished that we could have seen all of the holiday stuff they do/put up. Also, we hadn't realized you need to have a plan for the Christmas party, and as a result, we missed quite a bit! After showing the photos to my parents from when we went, they decided that THEY wanted to do Christmas time at Disney. Soon my uncle and my brother were on board with that idea, too, and now they'll also be joining us.
And now for a more formal introduction to everyone:

Me, Jennia, wife and mother, just turned 26:

Photo from Nov with dd-

DH, Venny, 25:

DD, Violet, currently 23 months, will be almost 2 and a half when we go:

My brother, Jeff, age 21 (will be 22 on the trip), adores Violet and she is just as in love with him. He hasn't been to Disney World since he was 8 and doesn't really remember much about it, though he's taken a few trips to Disneyland since then (could only find a group photo, the brunette is our aunt Vicki):

My mother, Mary Ann, a cancer survivor (two years now!), not going to tell her age! The last time she went to WDW was during a mother/daughter trip with me when I was still in grad school:

My dad, Jim, 57 (also couldn't find a photo of just him, so here's another group photo!):

And Uncle Mike, 64, went to WDW once shortly after it opened and wasn't too impressed. I've tried telling him how much different/larger it is now. I don't seem to have a photo of him on my computer, so I'll have to add one later.

 

[twob4him]

Beautiful family and I just know you will all have such a magical time!!!

 

[Jennia]

Beautiful family and I just know you will all have such a magical time!!!

Thanks, Cathy!

Stuff I left out yesterday:
We'll be going December 5-December 11 and I booked the flights for everyone this week. I had to call in though since you can only book up to six people online, and I needed seven! We got a great fare with times that were agreeable to us. By the next day, the fares were up $60 a person! Plus I used my Disney Visa for the five times rewards offer, whoo hoo!
During this trip we'll be staying at the POLYNESIAN!!! DH was super impressed with All Star Music, so hopefully he'll REALLY be blown away this time lol! None of us has ever stayed at this resort, and I think I'm just as excited about the resort as the theme parks this time.
There will also be a Trip Report within a Trip Report since DD, DM and I will be going to Disneyland in October.

 

[Jennia]

The air fare for Disneyland has been booked! We're waiting until the October hours come out to determine how many days we want our tickets for, though-we get in around noon on October 8, so if the parks are open until say nine, that would be time for us to do quite a bit, eat dinner, etc. It wasn't until I joined the boards that I realized how few places we've actually eaten at! When I was younger, we always ate at the Hungry Bear by where Country Bear Jamboree was (sigh, one of my favorites, and it's not quite the same at WDW). Anyway, I'm guessing the hours should be released around July 1st, which isn't too much longer away! We also want to get tickets for the Halloween party, and I need to look more into that, too.

 

[Jennia]

We've decided to go ahead and get four day tickets to Disneyland. Even if we don't arrive/finish check in until one, that still gives us about six/seven hours before Violet's bedtime. Now we just need to find the cheapest place to buy them!

 

[Jennia]

I just purchased our tickets for Disneyland! After talking it over with my mother, we went with the five day park hoppers (it was only ten dollars more for each of us to add the extra day). Our flight out on our departure day isn't until five, so that will give us a good amount of time in the park. Now I need to figure out how/when to buy tickets for the Halloween party and finalize our dining plans (I can call to make Priority Seating arrangements in August, so I'd like to get it all written down before then!).
It's pretty exciting to see our tickers going down to two and four months, that's not far away at all! I've been keeping busy with planning dd's birthday party (having it on July 25th) and getting ready for the Goth Lolita ball jointed doll convention we're going to. My stuff is taking forever to arrive for that. I ordered things for dd AFTER mine, and all of her clothes are already here, go figure! Must be my stuff is so much bigger that it's taking longer to make.

 

[Jennia]

Our Disneyland tickets arrived Saturday, whoo hoo!

 

[grandmafluffy]

The grandma here!! We are all excited about our trips. The all girl trip to Disneyland will be fun. Grandpa insisted we stay on the Disney property since he felt it would be "safer" for all his ladies. It will be nice having Jennia and Violet to myself for that time.
We are super excited about the trip to DisneyWorld as a family. My brother and I, both cancer survivors, my husband, my son, and Jennia and her family (Violet and Venny). Jennia is working on getting us all clothing coordinated for each day, that way if one of us old people wanders off it will be easier to identify us (haha). She is busy making clothing for Violet so she will look great in the photopass pictures. We are checking into getting a "scooter" for my brother to use as he has some difficulty getting around. He can always "nap" in it I guess. (I may need to borrow his off and on and he can walk sometimes). We just can't get enough time with our precious grandbaby. We can't wait to experience her wonder and joy at Disney. There is nothing like seeing it again, but thru the eyes of a child.

 

[grandmafluffy]

Well, I must be boring since no one has replied. I do not work, but my husband still does. We are lucky to live in the house of our dreams on almost 3 acres of land. We love it here. Both of my kids are grown and out on their own. We have two large dogs and 3 cats. I just finished getting my college degree in education 2 years ago right before my cancer surgery. I was the only one of us 3 kids to get a degree. I know that would have made my mom and dad proud. I taught dance for 30 years, part of the time in Portland OR and part of the time in Roseburg, OR. I retired when we moved to Washington.
We took Jennia to disneyworld when she was not quite 3 for the first time. Back then disney did not have their own cruise line, but there was a deal to add a cruise to a disneyworld trip. We have never had such wonderful service as on the cruise line and they really pampered Jennia. We went again when Jeffrey was about 8. We did the cruise/disneyworld deal again. It was so much fun. And now we are lucky enough to go with Violet.

 

[lovesdumbo]

The grandma here!! We are all excited about our trips. The all girl trip to Disneyland will be fun. Grandpa insisted we stay on the Disney property since he felt it would be "safer" for all his ladies. It will be nice having Jennia and Violet to myself for that time.
We are super excited about the trip to DisneyWorld as a family. My brother and I, both cancer survivors, my husband, my son, and Jennia and her family (Violet and Venny). Jennia is working on getting us all clothing coordinated for each day, that way if one of us old people wanders off it will be easier to identify us (haha). She is busy making clothing for Violet so she will look great in the photopass pictures. We are checking into getting a "scooter" for my brother to use as he has some difficulty getting around. He can always "nap" in it I guess. (I may need to borrow his off and on and he can walk sometimes). We just can't get enough time with our precious grandbaby. We can't wait to experience her wonder and joy at Disney. There is nothing like seeing it again, but thru the eyes of a child.

Welcome to the Dis! Your trips sound so fun! How exciting to be going with your cute granddaughter!!!!

 

[grandmafluffy]

Thank you for the welcome. This board is a little overwhelming as it is so huge. Any recommendations on the easiest one to navigate to get to know some people better?

 

[dd50]

Thank you for the welcome. This board is a little overwhelming as it is so huge. Any recommendations on the easiest one to navigate to get to know some people better?

Sounds like you are going to have a wonderful time. I went with my mom years ago when my daughter was 5 or 6 and we had a great time.

As far as the board as there are so many places, after you visit for a while you find the ones you like best. The only problem is you can spend way to much time here and don't even realize it.

 

[teresajoy]

Thank you for the welcome. This board is a little overwhelming as it is so huge. Any recommendations on the easiest one to navigate to get to know some people better?

You should join us over on the Disboutiquers thread!!! It's on the Family board, and I'm sure your daughter can tell you how to get there! We are all very friendly there!

 

[grandmafluffy]

That sounds great.!! I will give it a try. Thanks for inviting me over there.

 

[Jennia]

Disneyland Planning and Customs Update​

I've been busy working out all of the kinks in our Disneyland dining plans and getting customs designed/sewn. I made her five different customs for our trip to WDW last year, but that was before I had my own machine. Let me just say that making five outfits completely by hand plus four adult sized shirts wasn't exactly thrilling or stress free (parts of her Christmas Party dress were still held together with safety pins ). Here are some photos of last year's customs:

Children of the World dress for Epcot (which, ummm, was covered in baby poop about twenty minutes after entering the park ):

Outfit for Magic Kingdom:

Muppet set for DHS (shirt was made on Zazzle):

I don't have any good photos of her other two outfits. =(

So far, I have all of her Disneyland customs planned and one is done. I'll take photos once I have new batteries in my camera. Venny and I will be going to the fabric store probably Thursday so I can pick up what I need for some of her other items. As my mother mentioned previously, I'm also making shirts for all of the adults to coordinate with Violet's outfit each day. Since there are so many of us, I've had to start a spreadsheet just to make sure I know who has what (wouldn't want someone going shirtless one day, trust me!).

 

[grandmafluffy]

So we had Violet's birthday party yesterday. It was a french themed 2nd birthday with pink poodles, eiffel towers, and lots of good food and fun. Now we can start focusing more on our upcoming trips. Violet's real birthday is on Monday. There were about 30 people at her party. I still am trying to figure out how to jump in to this board, I find it a little overwhelming though.
HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY VIOLET. GRANDMA LOVES YOU.

 

[Jennia]

Monday I get to make our Priority Seating arrangements for DLR, whoo hoo! I have the places picked, now need to narrow down time frames that will work best for us.

We've all been super busy lately, which certainly helps with passing the time. We had my mom's birthday, Violet's birthday, stuff with friends, and I've been really busy with work (working twelve to thirteen hours a day, ick). For my mom's birthday, we took a trip to our local zoo. This was Violet's second time going. Here are some photos:


Violet looking at an exhibit:

Moose?

Skink:

Violet going through a log!

Violet with Uncle Mike (finally a photo of him!) and Daddy:

Daddy helps Violet on the spider web (she was a little too small for this still):

Violet walking with Daddy, Mommy, Uncle Mike and Grandma:

Going down the slide with Daddy:

Looking at puffins with Grandpa:

Here she was pointing at Uncle Mike's french fries, insisting that they were HERS:

We're small compared to polar bears

 

[cindy_in_california]

You deserve it.

 

[Jennia]

You deserve it.

Thanks, I think we do too!

 

[Rebecuberduber]

Hi! Just wanted to say I'm reading along Looks like a fun trip to the zoo. What a precious daughter you have.