What do you all do the day before you leave for WDW?

[Tarheel Tink]

Pretty much all of the above plus I clean out the refrigerator and empty all the trash. Usually I've made double dinner portions once or twice a week for the month before and frozen them so I can delay having to cook again after vacation for as long as possible.

 

[gillis95]

I like the idea of the manicure/pedicure...great..something else to put on 'the list'!!!

This will be our first trip with baby -then 18mo- and I'm so stressed with that. Makeing sure everything is packed for him. Also my inlaws (which I love and get along GREAT with) are going. My mil does not really want to go..she does not get the Disney thing at all but my DH invited everyone and my fil wanted to go. She says she's just going for the baby but I think she'll have a good time.

I'll be taking the day off before work too and to me that is relaxing knowing I have that day to wrap up all the 'loose ends' instead of getting home from work and freaking out for the previously mentioned midnight Walgreens trip!!

oooh I can't wait!

 

[tymegjus3]

I know I have to work the day before and our plane doesn't leave until 11am, so we'll have that evening before to finish packing (and double checking everything!! ). The kids will probably be too excited to sleep (so hopefully they'll take a nap on the plane ) We also need to bring the dog to the kennel he'll be staying at. So just running around, pulling hair out, that kind of thing

 

[tymegjus3]

Originally posted by VickiVM
And then you realize that you're out of those bandaids that is on that "What To Pack" list that floats around on the DIS boards, so you have to make a trip to Walgreens at 11:30pm. And while you're at Walgreens you suddenly remember that they don't sell gum at WDW and you're out so I make an event out of buying gum and bandaids. And while you're standing in the check out lane you see the end cap of an aisle that has sun products. Hmmm, I say to myself. I have sunscreen, but I didn't get that after-sun balm that Coppertone makes and maybe I need that too, in case the SPF 325 dosn't work and we all fry at the pool. And since I'm already out of the checkout line, I may as well get another package of razors, kleenex, bag of jellybeans for the car trip, feminine stuff, a second box of wipes just to keep in the car, Dexatrim (like that will curb my appetite at WDW-HAH), and a package of Gardetto's for my husband since he is driving.

This sounds kind of like "if you give a mouse a cookie" LOL!

 

[P'colaFla]

Well....for starters we went to Wal-mart last night and bought our "travel" snacks, goodies and miscellaneous. (one of my most favorite things to do) We were gonna wait till Wed night but I was too excited. My bags are packed, my house is cleaned, mowing the grass tomorrow so we will be all ready to go. We are going out to eat the night before we leave and of course discuss our trip over dinner. Then we will go visit my parents for a little while then get to bed because we will be leaving at 5:00 a.m.! I am too excited! Can't wait Oh yeah and of course watch the weather channel "tropical update"

 

[puffkin]

I usually take the day off before we leave, my fiance usually takes a half day. We usually take a very early Saturday morning flight, so we drive down to Philadelphia and stay at a hotel the night before. This helps to curb the excessive checking and repacking. It also reduces the stress and allows us to get a decent nights sleep before our trip. Here is what we do:

1. I obsessively clean every nook and cranny of my house. I can not stand a dirty house to begin with, so I have to have a spotless house when I come home.
2. I do ALL the laundry, even the sheets and towels. Then I pack my suitcase and toiletries.
3. Check the DIS boards and the Weather Channel one last time.
4. If it is summer, Buzz mows the grass when he gets home, then goes to get a haircut.
5. I do the dishes.
6. We usually load up and head out around 7 pm for the 1 hour and 15 minute drive to the Philadelphia Airport.

 

[ILuvTinkerbelle]

Originally posted by sanilacjack
This year will be different as we are leaving the day after Thanksgiving....

....so I guess I will be EATING!!!....DRINKING!!....and...BE MERRY because...

1. I'm not cooking and doing dishes this year(how can I have a family dinner the day before our trip????)

2. I'm going to see the mouse. Look out!!!

-Kim

Hey we are doing the same thing! When are you going to be there? Our reservations are the 1st- 8th but I know we are going to arrive early.


The day before we go my DH takes off from work, which will not be a problem this year as it is Thanksgiving! LOL I usually do the first shift with the driving ( I refuse to fly ) so around noon I go to bed. Before that I re check all the things I have packed. Clean my house from top to bottom and make sure all the laundry is done, and I too make sure the sheets are clean I also have the boys pack their backpacks with things for the car. This year I am also making special bags for the car and a surprise Christmas present from Mickey for the hotel rooms. I sleep from noon until around 7pm, then I shower, check my lists one last time, and we are on the road!!!

 

[sanilacjack]

We will be at BWV from 11/28 to 12/6

I'm waitlisted the 1st night, so it might be BWI, which I have a ressie for, just in case.

Before summer, our trip seemed so far away, and now I'm sure time will fly.

I have this plan that all my Christmas Deco. will be up to come home to and I will have all the Christmas shopping done and wrapped except for last minute Disney purchases. All before we leave.

Have I lost my mind?????

Let's see how I do as Sept....slips into Oct....slips into Nov....

I'm so excited to be going this time of year. I just don't want to come home to a ton of tings that need to be done 3 weeks before Christmas.

Have a great trip.
-Kim

 

[Elysiannn]

Much like all of you - I'll double check my packing, I usually fly out of Detroit 7 a.m. so I'll put out what I'm going to wear and put everything by the door. Then double check my cat sitter with specs, make sure my house is clean. Then I'll reread my WDW travel journals (always fun at reliving the experience) and my guide books. I always set a second alarm (normally awaking before my one alarm) - just in case. Who would want to sleep through their alarm and miss their flight!!!

My hardest part is the 2 hour wait at the airport - "Come on, come on - I'm going to WDW!!!"

I find me daydreaming my favorite places helps me waiting for the day to come along with reading these wonderful bulletin boards and visiting Disney Stores and exchanging my green $$ for Disney dollars. Even just getting a few $1 Disney Dollars helps me keep the excitement up.

 

[walt's assistant]

1) Cut the grass.
2) Finish the last of the laundry.
3) Clean the house.
4) Finish up the last of the packing.
5) If driving, double check directions. If flying, double check reservations.
6) Draw cash (spending money only).
7) Go to bed early.






WA

 

[frannn]

I am such a consientious (sp) employee, I work the day we leave if our flight is not in the morning. I am almost packed now, but I will triple check the luggage, and the lists (although I do not have one yet for this trip). This year will be very different since I work from home now (NY), and will be visiting my company in FL for a few days before going to Orlando. DH will be off from work a few days before our trip starts, them a whole week after. He will help with the baby, etc, while I get as caught up with work as I can (and prepared for the work I will try to do in FL). This will be our first trip with DD, whose 1st Bday party we will have 1 week before the trip! DH has not packed yet, so he will probably do that the weekend prior (flying to FL early Tues). He does laundry & cooks also-what a guy! DD loves hearing Disney music, watching Playhouse Disney, and playing with her Mickey & Pooh toys, so we will probably watch the Disney World souvenier videos the night before and tell her "You are going there!" We have already told her that, and brought her to see Chucky Cheese to see how she would react to a human sized mouse/rat, and kiddie rides. She loved it! I will probably save some of her smaller Bday presents from our family & pack them last minute as well. I will be cleaning and running her bottles through the dishwasher, as well as mentally picturing us at DW, trying to figure out what we may have forgotten.

 

[aimb]

Originally posted by wdwnut2
The rest of the evening will be spent asking my husband (aka The Procrastinator) "Are you going to pack yet?" at 15 minute intervals. Finally I will go to bed, at which time DH will decide that he should pack! It happens every vacation, I've gotten very good at sleeping with the light on and a suitcase next to me on the bed!

LOL - this sounds exactly like what goes on in our house the night before any trip! I too have slept with the light on, beside a suitcase many times.

 

[Popovich]

Vicki

I laughed so hard I had tears coming out of my eyes! That sounds so familiar.

We leave for BCV on Oct 4th for 8 nights. I can't wait. This year I'm trying to be more organized. I'm going to wash the sheets (and every other thing in the house) 2 days before we leave. I've rearranged the cleaning person to come the day after we leave and I'm making my must have list of items now.

My new Passporter has already arrived and I'm confirming PSs.

How did you like BCVs?? Any suggestions on views or location? We've requested top floor, EPCOT view. What would be a good second choice for view/location?

Thanks. Christmas time sounds fun. We're thinking of that or the week of Thanksgiving for next year.

Gailyn

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I have a tradition of watching a Disney movie the night before we leave- its great for getting in the mood! I usually then stay up until all hours of the night with the trip planning video/dvd on repeat, browsing the DIS for last minute tips!

 

[Castillo Mom]

Originally posted by WDW Poly Princess
I have a tradition of watching a Disney movie the night before we leave- its great for getting in the mood! I usually then stay up until all hours of the night with the trip planning video/dvd on repeat, browsing the DIS for last minute tips!

I like your idea Crystal. I've decided to take the day off and hopefully have everything packed and ready to go so that the evening before our flight we can either go out for a pre-trip celebration dinner and come home and curl up to some Disney movies, or maybe not even go out and just order in. I doubt any of will get any sleep though!

 

[VickiVM]

How did you like BCVs?? Any suggestions on views or location? We've requested top floor, EPCOT view. What would be a good second choice for view/location?

We LOVED the BCV's. We had a 2 bedroom with a courtyard view. We didn't request any specific view knowing that the Epcot views were so few. I was actually quite happy with the courtyard view. We looked directly towards the BC gift shop. It was quiet and a great spot for people watching.

On a sad, side note. My husband found out that he may not be able to take Christmas week off I'm still keeping our Christmas ressie, because there's some hope. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Popovich...one of my favorite people (Coach Popovich of the SA Spurs!!)

 

[sunking]

generally, i sleep the day before we leave...we live in the philadelphia area and drive to the world when we go...i will usually stay up all night two nights before we go and then sleep the entire day prior to our departure...that way i can drive all night (we leave the house about 10pm) and we can make it to south carolina by sun up and arrive in the world in time for a ps reservation at chef mickeys for dinner...
our next trip will be a little more tricky because we are leaving 12/26/03 and i will not want to sleep christmas day away...
sunking

 

[Shelby007]

This will be our 1st trip to WDW (15 days to go!), so this is what I PLAN on doing...hopefully all will work out.

DS & DD will both be celebrating their b-days there so it will definitely be special. About a week before we go I'll send a few small gifts for them to be waiting at CBR.

The kids know we're going to DW but dont know when, so I have to do my packing and planning on the sly.
I'm taking the day before off from work. DH works out of garage in yard (but he's not much help with this stuff)
Pick-up my pay & go to bank
Pack and have all bags hidden in van before kids get home around 3:00
Clean, clean, clean the house (already started) because my neighbor will be watching the dog & cats. (She's only been in my house 3 times in 9 years - I've never been in hers - sounds strange huh?) But we talk for hours outside.
Hopefuly have neighbor in for a cup of coffee so I can relax a little and re- go over animal instructions.
When she leaves...clean more.
Night before we leave:
Make last minute phone calls, send last minute e-mails
Clean out refrig.
Give kids baths
Get kids cloths ready for morning (they think they have school)
Set alarm clock(s)
Re-set alarm clock(s)
Last - check this board to make sure I haven't missed anything!
Then lay in bed (won't be able to sleep!!) and get out of bed 3 minutes before the alarm is supposed to ring.

Hopefully all will work. Wake the kids up, as usual, for school and instead of stopping at their bus stop (thats when we'll tell them)
and be at the airport at 6:45 am.

Oops! Forgot to kiss the dog & cats!! Gonna miss them.

 

[TINK61]

I like to plan our leave on Sunday Morning, that way I have all day Saturday to pack and get things in order. I'm one of those pack-the-night-before-you-leave people, so I'm pretty busy. Then, of course, I get no sleep at all, then we leave at 2:00 a.m. for the 11 hr. drive, but I'm running on pure adrenalin and excitement. It doesn't seem to hit me until we're back home. Then I need another vacation to rest from this one.

 

[higgin704]

MJ, just wanted to let you know that I loved your post! Too funny.
angie

Originally posted by MJwritestuff
I do all the things I normally HATE doing. My reasoning is that I can't get any happier (I keep thinking "this time tomorrow...") so why not:

1. Dust underneath things, instead of just around them as usual as I tell myself no one looks anyway,
2. Clean the grout in the shower,
3. Count for real as I'm doing my exercises and not skip every fifth step,
4. Tuck in the sheets that face the wall, even though no one notices anyway,
5. Take those drawers out of the fridge and scrub them,
6. Organize my spices (just kidding - I've never done that in my life!)

and finally, just before I collapse and mentally repack everything, I clip my eight year old son's toenails, a job that needs military training and the olfactory senses of a dead person.

That's it! Then I tell myself I need to nap, and I grin the whole time in the dark as I count down the hours .....

We've got two months to go, think I'll make it?

MJ