"You're Going Again?!"||Planning My Next Magical Adventure- JAN 2017 PTR

[jediprincess23]

IT ALL STARTS HERE​

HEY DISBOARDS!! Wow, it's been a hot minute since I've gotten to say that. Hello everyone, my name is Hollye and I thought I would give this whole PreTrip Reporting thing a go. If I'm honest I usually don't even read PTR's myself but I am just so ready to be writing a TR again that I thought a PTR may be something fun to try! I also think it's a great way to get to know your you all a little better before I actually embark on my magical adventure!
With all of that said, I guess I have a little explaining to do...

We will be headed for the Big D on January 26 and will be catching the Tragical Express back home on the 31, We're staying at All Star Sports and aren't doing the Dining Plan.

Like I already mentioned- I'm Hollye, I'm a Freshman in college and am an avid Disney goer! This will be my 6th visit to my favorite place on planet Earth (My 5th since 2014- hence the title ).

I've documented 3 of my trips but for some reason technology is against me and the pictures keep disappearing of two of them. However, one of them is still in perfectly good condition if you would like to read it click HERE.

Now, If I'm honest, planning the trip is almost as exciting as going on it so I'm super pumped to be in this phase! I'll definitely be sharing all of my plans and preparations I've made this far!

My favorite park is a continuous tie between Magic Kingdom and EPCOT- it's like picking a favorite child, it's just not possible! I have an obsession with Disney's moving sidewalks (pedways) and Dole Whips (Totally normal, amirite?). I'm just so excited to feel the magic and so excited that I get to bring you guys along with me!


But of course I couldn't be going on such an adventure by myself, could I?!
NEVERRR
So, my partner in crime is none other than Rachel!

It's quite fitting for us to go on a trip together because she is responsible for my Disney obsession. She was visiting the park with her family long before I had any idea that it was a thing. She also understands my obsession with planning trips and has and incredible knack for getting rides and attractions done in record time. We're also celebrating Rachel's birthday on this trip because it's just a couple days before we'll actually be there.
She has been to Disney quite a few times and just recently visited in October (isn't she a lucky duck?).
We're both SO excited to go and can't wait to see what magical adventures await us!
If you wan't to follow along with us LIVE in January- whata thrill- you can find my on Instagram and Youtube by searching SimplyeHollye. And you can find Rachel's Disney adventures by searching @disneyastoldbyrachel on Instagram!
Stay posted to see our plans and prep coming soon!

 

[jediprincess23]

27 Days To Go!

Let's Talk Prep!​

I feel like it's basically a given that if you're going on a Disney trip, you have not choice but to buy yourself goodies to prepare for your trip. I am no exception to the rule and have bought a fair few items. On top of that, Rachel and I went a little nuts this time and planned out/made some clothes to wear while we're there. First thing's first: Rachel has a Circuit- the world's most wonderful invention- and she is the master of making Disney shirts! The two we have made so far for me are these:

The one in the back is a matching shirt that Rachel and I will both be wearing when we try to attempt 4 Parks in One Day! I'm super happy with how both of these turned out, Rachel is the real MVP. I still have to make one more for me before we go, I won't tell you what it looks like but I'll give you a hint: It's a monogram!

However, shirts aren't all that we've especially gotten for this trip, oh no! We also needed to get something to make us feel like princesses!

I bought a pink tulle skirt to match my favorite Sleeping Beauty

And Rachel got purple to go with Rapunzel!
These skirts are actually really nice quality espcially for only being $18 and are qualified for Amazon prime (BONUS!!). HERE'S the link.

As far as pins go, I decided not to purchase any new ones this time but I have plenty in my collection to trade. This is always one of my favorite parts of my vacation!

And finally, the last thing I've accumulated this far is a backpack:

Isn't it so cute?! I found it at the Disney Store for $7, who can beat that? I've taken Disney Store backpacks to the parks previously and they haven't held up too well, so I'm hoping this one is better quality and will do it's job. We haven't gotten our MagicBands yet (bet they're on their way Yaaay!) or I would include those as well, I haven't decided if I'll decorate mine this time but I guess we'll see. There's a pretty big chance we'll be receiving the MagicBand 2.0 with the "puck" which will be interesting to try.

Do you think there's any important preparation we're forgetting? I'm always prone to forget something so any input/advice is welcome

Next up is our park day plans!

 

[thebyrdwoman]

Following along! (and just started following you on IG too )

So fun to do a trip with friends - you are going to have a great time!

Can't wait to see if you get the new style of Magic Band - we are going in February and am hoping that we get the "puck" - we will see!

 

[jediprincess23]

Following along! (and just started following you on IG too )

So fun to do a trip with friends - you are going to have a great time!

Can't wait to see if you get the new style of Magic Band - we are going in February and am hoping that we get the "puck" - we will see!

Thanks for following along an for the instagram follow!

 

[xlsm]

Hi!!

I followed the last couple of TRs you did, so I'll hop onboard for this PTR too

Love the shirts and skirts, those are so fun! I always have to get new goodies before my trips, too. Instagram and Etsy are dangerous, lol!!

I got my AP magic band in the mail Saturday and it's the new style one...not sure how I feel about it yet. On the plus side, if you end up with the new band and you decorate it (I like to paint ours...even though I get suuuper nervous about it beforehand), there's more space on the Mickey head part!

Looking forward to hearing about your park plans! We just got back on 12/23, so it'll help ease the dis-pression

 

[jediprincess23]

Hi!!

I followed the last couple of TRs you did, so I'll hop onboard for this PTR too

Love the shirts and skirts, those are so fun! I always have to get new goodies before my trips, too. Instagram and Etsy are dangerous, lol!!

I got my AP magic band in the mail Saturday and it's the new style one...not sure how I feel about it yet. On the plus side, if you end up with the new band and you decorate it (I like to paint ours...even though I get suuuper nervous about it beforehand), there's more space on the Mickey head part!

Looking forward to hearing about your park plans! We just got back on 12/23, so it'll help ease the dis-pression

Hi! Thanks for coming back and reading more with me!
That's good to hear about the new MB's, although it's looking more and more like we'll be getting the old style this last time. I'm kinda bummed now though because the more I hear about the new bands, the more I want to try them out.
I hope you have an awesome trip!

 

[jediprincess23]

24 days to go

Our Park Plans​

Soooo as I previously mentioned, I'm big on making park plans. It just so happens that Rachel loves her some strategic planning too so we are the perfect pair. About a month ago when our 60 day mark was upon us, we sat down to discuss and write down what we wanted to do so that we could just get a general idea. After a few trips, I've learned that if you're going to make a plan you can't plan it down to the minute because it's just not going to be possible. I'm not even kidding people, one trip I gave myself 5 minutes to get across MK... 5 MINUTES. Yeah, so it's no surprise that those plans fell apart. But alas, I have learned my lesson and now I just like to write down a general outline of things we want to achieve in a day and loosely plan them around our 3 fastpasses and the park hours.

Rachel had a dry erase 7-day calendar that worked perfectly for us writing out all of our plans at a glance. That way, we can just take a picture of the board and have it with us throughout the trip.

Now, I would share a photo of our board but something about publicly posting exactly where I'll be and what day and time I'll be there just seems slightly sketchy to me...
So instead, enjoy this picture of something we all know I'll be partaking in may times during my trip:

See? isn't that much better than a boring picture of my calendar?

However, I will tell you what our approximate plans and how much we're slotting per day. This way, when I actually go on my trip we can see how much we accomplished! I also want to add that these things that I've written down are the main attractions we want to hit but of course we will be doing more than what I've typed below

Okay, to save my fingers a little typing anything highlighted in green is what we've made a fastpass for.
(This won't include travel days because who wants to talk about that )
DAY ONE:
Morning
Magic Kingdom
Meet the princesses
Ride:
The Little Mermaid ride
Dumbo
Barnstormer
Visit Tom Sawyer Island
Late Morning/Afternoon
Animal Kingdom
Ride Everest
Watch Festival of the Lion King
Ride Dinosaur
Watch Finding Nemo the Musical
Afternoon/Evening
Meet characters
Ride:
Rockin' Roller Coaster
Tower of Terror

DAY TWO:
Morning & Afternoon
Watch MK rope drop (if this is still happening when we're there )
Hop on the monorail loop and visit: The Grand Floridian, Contemporary and Polynesian.
Take a boat to Wilderness Lodge
Uber to the Outlets (I'm so ready for some discounted merch)
Evening
Uber back to Boardwalk and watch Illuminations from the bridge

DAY THREE
Morning:
Animal Kingdom
Rope drop
Meet:
Doug & Russel
Mickey & Minnie
Misc. Characters
Hollywood Studios
Toy Story Mania
Muppet Vision 3D
Star Tours
Afternoon:
EPCOT
Do any attractions we want to in the front of the park.
Evening:
Magic Kingdom
Close it out! Rachel simply wrote "Everything!" in this slot... While I'm not sure that's exactly possible, we'll sure try!

DAY FOUR
We left this day open to do whatever we please, we know we'll be tired and so we don't want to make too many grand plans for this day.
Morning:
EPCOT
Eat breakfast with our favorite farmers at Garden Grill!
Soarin'
Character Spot
Seas With Nemo and Friends
Visit the World Showcase and finish up anything we've missed.
Afternoon/Evening:
Magic Kingdom
You know the drill! We're just supposed to finish off whatever we didn't get done.


Phew! If you're even still reading right now, you deserve a huge high-five! Make sure you stay tuned to see if we make actually follow through with everything! I'm very curious myself

Next up:
We'll finally solve the GREAT MYSTERY on what kind of Magic Bands we get...

 

[jediprincess23]

20 Days To Go!

A Day Late and a Dollar Short ​

So you know the saying that goes: "A day late and a dollar short?" well, Rachel and I had the opposite problem. We were a day early... but possibly still a dollar short-those Dole Whips really drain your bank account

What could we have been late on? Our MagicBands; that's what! These totally and completely normal MagicBand 1.0's arrived earlier this week.

In one of my previous posts I was speculating if we would get the OG MB's or the new MB 2.0. Honestly, I wasn't disappointed when these showed up I knew this could be our final farewell the these old babies. But this doesn't explain what we're late on, does it?

Weeeell, imagine my surprise when I got on the Disney January Facebook group and realized that people that were arriving exactly one day after us were getting the new bands. ONE. DAY.

While it does kinda stink to know that we were so close to the deadline to try out the new band's, the good news is that we can purchase skins for them! As part of my Christmas present Rachel ordered me a skin that matched the one she bought. I'm so in love!!

BB-8 and R2-D2 are ready for our adventure!

 

[jediprincess23]

0 DAYS !!!!

Let's Get This Show on the Road!!
Well... it's safe to say that I'm the WORST PRT writer EVER But hey, at least I tried! However TODAY IS DISNEY DAY! We don't leave until later on tonight so I thought I should document all of my preparations and possibly share some helpful tips!
First thing's first: PACKING. Honestly, this is always my least favorite part because I'm a horrible over-packer so trying to rearrange things over and over again to fit in my luggage is no fun. To add to the dilemma, we're flying with an airline that has fantastic prices on tickets but you have to pay for any luggage that isn't a personal item. Since we're trying to do this trip on the cheap, I want to avoid paying extra luggage fees so that means I have to fit my life for 5 days into ONE BAG. The struggle is real, people. So here I am trying to stuff all of this junk into this one Vera Bradley bag...

Sooo.. you can guess that a lot of things that I thought couldn't live without got chucked. I was ruthless. But even with sacrificing a bunch of things that I didn't really need, I couldn't get everything into my stupid bag. Okay, this is the part where I feel like a genius, and I'm not even sorry about it. I put all of my folded up in my Dory backpack and then put it in my Vera Bradley bag and THERE WAS SO MUCH MORE ROOM. Thank the Lord Florida only requires small and thin clothes or there's no way I would've got everything in my bag. After much rearranging, everything fits!!

Well, except for my crown but that's okay, I can just wear that on the plane
Wuhoo!
So now with the packing out of the way, there are just a few more details to think about. Another big one is the weather! For the most part it's going to be upper 60's and partly sunny. For Florida, that sounds pretty cold but considering it's about 30 degrees at home, I'll take the 60's any day. I'm excited that we won't be experiencing any withering heat draining the energy out of us.
Finally, if you've read any of my other TR's you'll know I always have to have my nails painted with something Disney related before I leave. To be honest, it's the only time I actually do anything with my nails. Usually I get really into it and have super cute little Disney scenes but ain't nobody got time for that! So this time around I just went with a pale pink and polka dots to kinda look like Minnie Mouse. Yeah, I know they look messy... I just couldn't be bothered to clean the edges up after all of those polka dots took forever

And now you're all caught up! Pretty boring, right? Don't worry though, the fun is about to start! Make sure you keep an eye out for my TR and I can already promise you that it'll be waaaay better than this PTR. Nevertheless, thanks for taking the time to read this. SEE YA AFTER DISNEY
Ps.(Don't forget to follow @simplyehollye and @disneyastoldbyrachel on Instagram to see what we're doing in real time!)
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