Absotively Posilutely....the final plan!

No one could have more information about the parks on the days we go than me! Here are our final plans!!!!

Friday: Head south. Staying overnight in Valdosta.

Saturday: After a quick free breakfast, drive the last 3 1/2 hours to Orlando. Head straight to Magic Kingdom for the Spectromagic Parade and Wishes fireworks.

Sunday: Epcot - After a potentially late night at the fireworks and getting groceries, etc, we don't have to be up super early for this park since it is open the latest and has the least amount WE want to do.

Monday: Hollywood Studios- Since we will be at Epcot late, we can take our time getting here since we are spending two days in this park. We will be staying for the evening show: Fantasmic.

Tuesday: Hollywood Studios-doing whatever else we want to do here. We don't have to stay late and Katie has early morning tomorrow!

Wednesday: Magic Kingdom- Katie has 8:40am reservation for the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.

Thursday: Animal Kingdom - 10:30am character breakfast at Tusker House.

Friday: Magic Kingdom-ending the trip with one more Wishes show!

There you have it. If I change them again I will eat my hat! ha ha! Just kidding! Now, the other members in our traveling party better get their tickets ordered!!!!
I know I don't have any "planned" rest days, but I really think we will be good. Since we plan to go back to our room for about a 3-4 hour nap/rest time each day, I think we will hold up just fine. None of the parks are open super late this time of year anyway.
Now, I will be more casually working on our daily plans. :)

Out the window...again

All the plans. New info....coming soon.

AH! We're Set!

After feverishly consulting the charts and hours, etc....We have a plan!

2/6 Friday: Leave for Orlando, stop halfway overnight.

2/7 Saturday: Arrive early afternoon, check-in, head to park (Magic Kingdom)

2/8 Sunday: Hollywood Studios

2/9 Monday: Magic Kingdom, Katie at BBB 3:30pm

2/10 Tuesday: Magic Kingdom

2/11 Wednesday: Epcot

2/12 Thursday: Animal Kingdom, Tusker House 10:30am

2/13 Friday: Hollywood Studios

2/14 Saturday: Head home!

Starting Over....

Well, I finally decided it was worth $7.95 to sign up with an expert touring guide website. You get a "year" of sign up time.

www.touringplans.com

It gets great reviews. The site provides a detailed description of different "touring guides" for each park. Just suggestions on the most efficient way to see the parks and characters. Different guides are available for families with young children, older children, just adults, etc. It's not like it is a written in stone kind of plan, but just a guide for using throughout the day and ways to avoid the more popular rides at the heaviest time of the day, etc. The website has some free samples if you would like to see one....

Another thing it has is a crowd calendar. The people at this website have people who visit the parks ALL the time, every day of the year. They then compare all the data they gather like people who are in the park (they count them, not sure how), estimated wait times, and actual wait times for all the rides. They also take into consideration holidays and other special events. Very long and complicated process later, they actually have a calendar that tells you which park to visit (less crowds, short wait times) and which park to avoid (larger crowds, long wait times). For EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR!

WELL...my beautiful little plan is being stepped all over now. I had some good "general" info about the best days to visit each park, but now their data does not totally coincide with what I had planned and the reservations I had made.

THEREFORE....ha ha ha.....I get to spend some more time.....PLANNING!

Detailed FINAL plans TBA!

Touring Plans

We have been so blessed this Christmas to receive some gift cards and money to use for our trip. Our food budget is pretty much ready and the kids have plenty of spending money for their extra little things. I have, though, again....changed the touring plans. This is to fit in some extra things we wanted to do on certain days and with the days that are best for each park. I got a travel book with my Barnes and Noble gift certificate I got for Christmas, so I have had fun transferring all my "digital" plans and reservation numbers to our paper and pencil book. Here are the modified plans....with 40 days and counting!


Friday 2/6: Depart at some point in the day. Drive to Valdosta, GA, to visit with friends overnight.

Saturday 2/7: Arrive in Orlando, pm, visit Magic Kingdom to see fireworks and ride a few rides, see characters maybe?

Sunday 2/8: Animal Kingdom! Character Breakfast at Tusker House, 10:30am

Monday 2/9: Epcot!

Tuesday 2/10: OFF day. Relax at Resort. Downtown Disney 4:40pm reservation at Boma for Corey and me. Perhaps visit park for a few hours that first thing in the morning.

Wednesday 2/11: Magic Kingdom, 8:40am reservation for Katie at BBB

Thursday 2/12: Magic Kingdom

Friday 2/13: Hollywood Studios

Saturday 2/14: Head home, maybe revisit a park in the morning because we can? ha.

WOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!

How awesome is it that in the "post-Christmas letdown" we will just be starting our final countdown for our trip?!

A gift update:

For Katie and Noah's "something they need" gift for Christmas, we got them big nice Disney storybook collections to use for autographs. We also have small autograph books in case the big books end up being too much of a hassle to carry around. I do hope to do the books though because it will be a nice collectible item they can keep for years that won't get messed up. We also got them each a t-shirt for the "something they need" box. Who doesn't need a new t-shirt when they go on a vacation?

HERE is the book we got for Katie, and HERE is the book we got for Noah. Pretty cool!

Tickets!!!!

Our tickets arrived in the mail today!

I am going to wrap them up and put them under the tree!

YAY!

We ordered from:

www.undercovertourist.com

Rental: PAID IN FULL!

Woo hoo!!!! We PAID the balance on the rental yesterday....so if nothing else we have a 3 bedroom/2 bath, full kitchen, with a private pool paid for 7 nights!!!!

Next: ordering tickets! 73 days, 22 hours to go!

On the same topic...we actually decided to skip getting park hoppers and just go for a longer, regular ticket. For the price of a 3 day park hopper we can get 7 day regular passes and save $200 by not getting the park hopper option! So, this means we can only visit one park per day, but the money we save can help us do more for the donations we wanted to do for Christmas gifts. If we happen to have an extra $200 after we get down there, we can add park hopper if we want (maybe even just for me and Corey so we can park hop some at night and do some things we wanted to do) or just take the chance to rest after seeing the stuff we want.

Anyway, because of this change in ticket plan, we are going to have to slightly alter the itenirary somewhat. Here's what I propose:

Saturday 2/7: Arrive in Orlando, pm, visit Magic Kingdom to see fireworks and ride a few rides, see characters maybe?

Sunday 2/8: Animal Kingdom! Character Breakfast at Tusker House, 10:30am

Monday 2/9: Hollywood Studios (hopefully adding an ADR for 50's Prime Time Cafe)

Tuesday 2/10: OFF day. Relax at Resort. Downtown Disney 4:40pm reservation at Boma for Corey and me. Perhaps visit park for a few hours?

Wednesday 2/11: Magic Kingdom, 8:40am reservation for Katie at BBB

Thursday 2/12: Epcot

Friday 2/13: Revisit a park?

Saturday 2/14: Head home, maybe revisit a park in the morning because we can? ha.

Double Digit Countdown!!!

We are now down to 100 days until our trip! Woo hoo!!!!

I made our dining reservations today....we only have 2, but maybe if it gets closer and we have done well on saving up money we can add another in...but I wanted to at least get these two in. I have also devised a tentative plan for what parks for which days. I also made a reservation for Katie's Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique Makeover. I chose the boutique located in Cinderella's castle!!! Won't that be awesome?! So, here is our plan so far:

Saturday 2/7: Arrive in Orlando, pm

Sunday 2/8: Animal Kingdom! Character Breakfast at Tusker House, 10:30am

Monday 2/9: Hollywood Studios (hopefully adding an ADR for 50's Prime Time Cafe)

Tuesday 2/10: OFF day. Relax at Resort. 4:40pm reservation at Boma for Corey and me.

Wednesday 2/11: Magic Kingdom, 8:40am reservation for Katie at BBB

Thursday 2/12: Epcot

Friday 2/13: Split up between anything we didn't get done that we want to do.

Saturday 2/14: Head home


I am so excited! If you haven't heard of the boutique for little girls you should click on that link and see the video. Katie is going to LOVE it!! I just wish there was something comparable for boys to do. I guess he can go build a lightsaber or two. ha ha. I am also VERY excited about eating at Boma. Click on the link to check it out, but the food is supposed to be awesome! Corey and I plan to do that just the two of us because I am not sure it would be worth paying for the kids for adventurous type food, plus my parents aren't the most adventurous when it comes to food either, plus, hey, date night on vacation! woo hoo! It is located at the Animal Kingdom Lodge which I would love to see also! We chose the Tusker House character meal because our friends just visited with free dining and did pretty much every character meal and said for the money this was one of the nicest and Animal Kingdom is a pretty low key park so we don't have to worry about using our time eating there. We got the latest breakfast time available so it can be brunch!

Even though I only listed one park each day, we will have park hoppers, so any given day we may end up at Magic Kingdom watching the fireworks! I have also planned around the fact that Sundays and Mondays are the worst days for visiting Magic Kingdom so that is why it iw Wednesday before we end up going there. I have also taken into account which parks have morning and evening extra magic hours, since resort guests will take advantage of that and it may be more crowded at a park at that time. So, we will see...it is fun to at least be planning a bit more.

Change of plans!

So, if you are reading this blog, you probably read my other blog where I posted our Superbowl interruption! BAH!
We had to postpone. But I am glad we are going to avoid the crowds!

Countdown...

I downloaded a countdown clock for my desktop. We currently have 309 days, 15 hours, and 30 minutes, 25, 24, 23, 22,...etc seconds until our next trip.

I can't decide whether the countdown clock is fun....or annoying!

By the way, this is where we are staying next time. Same owners, different townhouse. This one had a bigger dining table which will come in handy one way or another. Everything else is basically the same except the children's room is a little different decor.

Countdown to Disney 2009!

Well, we're booked for next year! YAY! Moving it a week earlier, now there are 339 days to go! I really won't be posting much till later, but check out these adorable shoes!!! I think I know what we're getting for Christmas! (It won't be much 'cause Disney is going to be our present too :)
Katie's, I like the pink!
Noah's, so cool!

and maybe even some for mommy! I love the pink and brown ones! Any testimonies about these? Are they REALLY as comfy as people say.....or is it just a trend?! My feet KILLED me this last trip, so I am willing to go along with the trend if it will really save my feet! I don't count on daddy getting any, but if he did I think these would be cool! oh, but I just noticed they don't come in his size! I know he will be SO dissapointed! ha ha!

I will probably be posting again in August when our 180 day date for making dining reservations hits! I am hoping maybe for a castle meal or something!

Jolly Holiday!

Let's see if I can sum it all up: Katie and Noah did NOT want to leave the Mickey Mouse house! I call that success! We had so much fun! We are already planning our trip same time of year, same place, MORE DAYS!

We spent our day of rest playing in the pool and at Downtown Disney. They had a really neat Lego display and we ate lunch at Rainforest Cafe. We hit up the $10 or less Disney souvenier store and the kids found some fun stuff. Meme and I found the Disney Memories scrapbooking store (fun!) and then Noah and Corey made custom lightsabers while Katie and I filled up a box with as much My Little Pony stuff as possible for a flat rate! Fun times!

The next day we were at Hollywood Studios bright and early before the park opened. We saw the Playhouse Disney Show...it was really cute. Then we saw the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, greeted LOTS of characters (which Noah loved!) and then headed over to Epcot. We had planned to spend the rest of the day there, but we got done finding princesses there pretty quickly. Noah was NOT interested in seeing a lot of the characters, so if you see a lack of him in the pics, just know that he just didn't want to see them! After we found all the people in Epcot we thought it would be a more fun idea to go back to Magic Kingdom for the evening. We were right! Katie got to meet CINDERELLA and BELLE (in her fancy yellow dress) and Noah got to ride the "pirate" (peter pan) ride again with Daddy. We were in a perfect spot to see the fireworks this time and I cannot even describe how amazing they were! I have never been so impressed with fireworks. This time we could hear the story and music that was playing and there is no other way to describe it than just "magical!"

We finished off the night with another visit to the honeypots (winnie the pooh ride) and Mickey's Philharmagic. On the way back to the parking lot we got to ride in front of the monorail with the driver! It was really cool! We had seen some people ask about it and when we saw them get to do it, we tried each time as well, but apparently everyone knows about that already so each time it was full (they can only allow 4 at a time). So we were so exicted when we were able to do it! After the ride was over the driver gave us "co-pilot" cards as a keepsake! FUN! What a great way to end the night!

Again, I want to say, as I look back over the slideshow, I realize that there isn't much proof that Noah was with us at all! I assure you he was! His favorite things were riding the Peter Pan and Buzz Lightyear rides....meeting HIS fav characters...etc. Katie was much more into seeing the characters. You can't take pictures on the rides really well, so therefore there are many more pictures of Katie on here!

We had a pretty good trip home, except for the last hour! We stopped at steak n shake for some fries and milkshakes and as we were leaving I closed my thumb in the car door. Yes, it completely closed on it, I had to open the door with my other hand to get it out. It hurt....VERY badly as you can imagine. A waiter from the place was outside and he went in to get some ice. By the time we got home it was feeling much better, though it is bruised pretty badly. It is healing very well though...only hurting when I touch it now :)

We are just hanging out and resting today. There are so many more fun things I could share, but I know it is long already. Enjoy the pics!

Also, I do realize that a couple of the pictures are sideways. I did all I could but I couldn't get them to load correctly but they were so good I wanted to include them, so just give your neck a stretch!

354 days to go till Disney '09! Ha ha!!!!!!!

(If you want to see the pictures bigger, then click on "view all images" below the slideshow.)

"This is what I dreamed about!"

exclaimed Katie. Yes, that is what Katie said as she watched the "Wishes" fireworks at Magic Kingdom last night. And Noah gave it a resounding, "This is incredible!" It was so awesome to see them enjoying everything so much!

We were refreshed when we went back to the park after our rest. We started out with the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, which Noah LOVED! Then we ended up watching the fireworks from a not so great view, but the kids 0bviously still loved it. Then we watched Mickey's Philharmagic again. It is a 3-D show with great effects and songs from some of the best movies. This is the first 3-D thing they have done before and it was so cute watching them "reach out" to try to touch the things coming at them from the screen. After that we ate at a place called Pinochio's Village Haus, which has a view of the boats leaving for "It's a small world" so Katie and Noah loved waving to all the boats while we ate. Then we rode that ride again, then we headed down to the Jungle Boat Cruise. It was okay....the kids liked it. Then Meme and Daddy rode the new Pirates of the Carribean while Mommy and the kids took a bathroom break. So, when they were done Meme and Katie went on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. It is an outdoor "flying in the air" round and round type thing. Katie LOVED it and they ended up riding three times! By then it was 11:00 and the park was getting ready to close, so we headed up to the front of the park where as we were walking by the castle there was a "Goodnight" annoucement over the loudspeakers with pretty music and special effects lights and sparkling lights over the castle. It was so sweet standing there with the kids watching the castle say good night! Perfect timing. So we picked up Mickey and Minnie balloons on our way out to top off the day. It was so much fun! I have to add that Katie and Noah were AWESOME during the day! They didn't complain except a couple of times about walking so much. I really think the break in the day helped! And they didn't have any breakdowns of crying! I was so proud of them for their first theme park experience!

So, by the time we got back to the resort, took baths, and had a snack, it was 1am before they got in the bed. They were out almost instantly and slept LATE this morning! We all did, so I am even happier that we decided to take a day in between park days to hang out and rest.

This morning we hit up the private pool! It is small, but perfect for a family our size with young children! It is only about 5 feet deep! We got the pool heat on for us so the water was PERFECT! Both Katie and Noah were paddling around and having a blast (with their arm floaties on) in no time. They didn't want to leave, but today was our designated "buying" day so we took the afternoon to go to Downtown Disney and spend our souvenier money and have lunch at Rainforest Cafe. Downtown Disney was a lot of fun and they both found PLENTY to spend their money on (and then some!). I think that setting a day aside for the shopping was a good idea too because we didn't waste any of our park time fiddling around in the gift shops....

On our way back from Downtown Disney we decided to look for the resort playground. It was so cool! It is a huge castle playset and they also had swings, a seesaw, a merry-go-round, bouncy ride on things, sand...it was so much fun!

Our day of rest didn't turn out to be exactly that, but we still got to sleep in and go to bed early, which is what you DON'T do on a day you go to a park!

We are already talking about reserving this townhouse for this time next year! ha ha. We are having a blast!

Tomorrow is Disney Hollywood Studios in the morning and Epcot for the evening! Another long day! The picture above is of the family watching the fireworks! FUN TIMES!

OH WHAT FUN!

We got in last night around 8:30pm. The townhouse is SO NICE! I would HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who is planning a trip!

I don't have long because we are about to head back out for part two of day one at Magic Kingdom, but I will give a brief summary.

When we were driving into town we got to see some fireworks from one of the parks! What a perfect welcome! That was so special to the kids...and mommy, daddy, and meme of course!

We were all pretty tired this morning, but we got on up and made it to the park by about 9:15-ish. Katie got sprinked with some "pixie dust" when I mentioned to the lady at the turnstiles that she was a "first-timer!" So cute! It was little Mickey shaped confetti!

Then, first thing in the door we saw two characters which Katie knew but we didn't: Clarabel the cow and Horace. The lady gave us stickers because Katie recognized them! lol.

So, we took the train to Fantasyland and saw them open that part of the park with Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, and Goofy! Then we went through Mickey and Minnie's house and took pictures! We saw Mickey and Minnie first thing of the day! We were so excited and we weren't rushed. It was great! Noah wouldn't hug, but he gave a high five! At least he didn't cry!

So we spent the rest of the morning riding the Winnie the Pooh, It's a Small World, Mickey's Philharmagic (AWESOME!), and TheFlight of Peter Pan. By then after the lack of sleep it was TIME to leave for lunch.

So, a meal, a nap, and a snack later we are about to head back out! Maybe I will have time to blog more tonight, but no guarantees! Here's a picture of everyone with Mickey.... I will make a slideshow at some point but we really need to head out!

Who was I kidding?

Of course I have time to post before we leave! I was awake at 4:45am! The fireplace is completely covered with "stuff" ready to go out the door.

I didn't mean to get up at 4:45. About that time my husband kicked something off the chest at the foot of our bed and it woke us both up. It was a stack of board games that I hadn't put back up in the closet. He immediately, amazingly almost instantly went back to sleep.

So...at that point I started thinking about all the stuff I had left to do. We were at church last night and I was tired, so I didn't get everything all ready to go last night. Therefore, finally at 5:15am I gave up trying to go back to sleep and got up to finish cleaning the bathrooms, kitchen, and finish packing.

We plan on putting the kids straight in the car....I dressed them in some sweat outfits that would be comfy in the car today. Then, maybe we will hit up Cracker Barrel on the way out. YUM!

See you in approximately 12-14 hours or maybe tomorrow night. It depends on how quickly and successfully our search for a Walmart goes this evening. Hopefully we will get there in time for a quick dip in the pool!

If you are reading this, please say a prayer for easy and safe travels for us today!

Status Update:

Just found out the resort offers FREE highspeed internet access, so YES I can update my blog while we are gone and post pictures!!!! So, check in daily for updates!

I doubt if I will have another chance to update before we leave, since we have church tonight and loads to do to get ready!

TOMORROW! TOMORROW!

I love ya! Tomorrow!

Tomorrow we hit the road! Today will be cleaning and packing day! I will be washing last minute things we want to take, making my list and checking it twice! Orlando, here we come!.....well...tomorrow.

I am one of those people who have to have the house all cleaned up before we leave on a trip. Some people, I have learned, are not like that. They just leave in a whirlwind ready to get out on their way. I couldn't do that. I have to have the house totally cleaned before we go. There is nothing better to completely ruin a trip than to know on your way home that you will be greeted by a cluttered, messy house. It would negate all the happy fun I had on whatever trip I was on. I don't want to be greeted by chores. I hope to even have all the kids bedtime stuff layed out before we leave so when we get home it will be all be ready for us!

Corey is gone now to get the oil changed and pick up a couple more things for the trip. I have also gotten supplies to make surprise bags for the kids for the car. It is the neatest idea, you can read about it on my regular blog.

We have church tonight. Then we hope to leave out by 8:00 in the morning. We talked about leaving earlier, but we would just hit traffic in Atlanta, so maybe leaving at 8 we will miss most of it. Surely most people arrive to work between 8-9?

Not much else to say. I may or may not have time to blog in the morning! If I can find free wireless while we are gone and have time I may have pictures up while we are gone, but I am not sure of that.

We're going to Disneyworld!

The final stretch!

GREAT NEWS! Corey is feeling much better today, so it looks like we are all coming out of the cold fog we had going on the past week and a half or so. We will, however, be taking our entire medicine tote with us! I am attempting to avoid having to visit a pharmacy while we are gone. It never fails that on every trip Corey and I go on we end up HAVING to find somewhere to buy: fill in the blank medicine product. I have always been tempted to just bring the whole medicine tote, so this time I AM!

We are now down to TWO days. I do optimistic counting by the way....I don't count the day we are in right now. So, two more days, then the next day we leave! yay! I started this with the kids because Daddy is usually home from a trip when they wake up. He actually comes home the night before, but we say two more days and when you wake up Daddy will be home! So, therefore, two more days to mark off, then when we wake up we will go to Disney!

Here's the final, set in sand final, intinerary: lol

Thursday: drive down, maybe stop for lunch with our Valdosta friends.

Friday: Magic Kingdom ALL DAY with a break for lunch and nap approx 2-5pm. (This park is open till 11, so we can take a longer break and not miss much.

Saturday: REST, swim, shop, hopefully eat at Rainforest Cafe.

Sunday: AM: Disney's Hollywood Studios, break for lunch and nap approx 1-3pm. PM at Epcot.

Monday: drive home

Tuesday: blog about trip and post pictures! lol!

Wednesday: still talk about it, maybe get postcards in the mail that I will mail to the kids while we are gone...postcards from the princesses and Mickey thanking them for coming! (I KNOW!)

Interesting tidbit: www.allears.net

A VITAL website for planning a Disney trip. They have all the restaurants in every park with a menu and ratings. So we also have tentative plans for where we will eat dinner in the parks each day. We are thinking Pinnochio Village Haus at Magic Kingdom (they have booths with views of It's a Small World) or Cosmic Rays. For Epcot we are going to do the San Angel Cantina which is Mexican food (Noah LOVES chips and cheese).

I will probably blog one more time before we leave. Maybe more. We'll see.

Maybe the support group isn't such a bad idea...

Seeing as I have already changed the itinerary I so well planned just yesterday! LOL!

I am now considering scrapping Animal Kingdom and doing Epcot instead. I have been thinking about Animal Kingdom, and the only "big and exciting" thing there for us to do with the kids at their age is the safari. There are some other time wasters there if you had unlimited time, but when you get right down to it, the safari is the main draw. They have a roller coaster (not for us) a petting zoo (done that) and some shows.

At Epcot, they have these new "Kidcot" stops in each country area. The kids get to make some sort of project or art thing and they get a "passport" stamped. Katie is really interested in other countries: believe it or not we went through a phase where when we were in the car and saw any kind of big hill or mountain she would ask if we were going to Canada. I have no idea where she would have gotten that thought, but that's Katie.

Another thing they have at Epcot is a really cool Nemo ride. Corey and I did the Nemo ride this past summer when we went to Orlando and we really enjoyed it, so I know the kids would.

Another plus to Epcot is that they have an awesome (from what I hear) night fireworks show.

Another plus to Epcot is that the grownups would get to ride Soarin', a really cool simulated hanglider ride. Breathtaking.

So, I think the decision is made. Though you know I have said that before! lol.

They have a sort-of safari ride at Magic Kingdom, it is a boat thing. That could suffice for this trip.

Now I have new planning to do! Our half-day at Epcot!!!

Thanks for reading!

Mu husband's rebellion...

So, my husband has decided that HE needs to start an online support group for husbands whose wives are driving them insane by their obsessive planning of a Disney trip.

Maybe he should then....

I had to start a blog to share my thoughts and planning because my husband doesn't care to discuss making plans AT ALL until we are already there! He simply does not realize the state of despair I would be in if we showed up at the park only to discover the very thing we had talked up to our kids (playhouse disney show) was CLOSED the day we decide to come! In fact, had I not reserached all disney websites, compared schedules, talked to a live chat representative from the Disney.com website...that VERY thing would have happened! The playhouse Disney show was "closed for refurbishment" through jan 28th, then it only is offered on Friday and Saturdays! We....well let me change that "I" had originally planned for us to visit Hollywood Studios (the new name for MGM) on Sunday, which means after preparing and getting our kids all excited to see a show with Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse clubhouse characters, etc, it would not have been on!
I say you MUST make your plans before you arrive....whereas he thinks you should just relax....decide what to do whenever after you get there, etc. I am not against relaxing and taking our time....I AM however against not doing any research and thus being disappointed that just a little bit of "looking into" would have saved the disappointment of his children (um...and his wife :)
I hope this doesn't sound mean. I know he is tired of hearing about my plans. I haven't gone overboard! I just visited the disney.com website and printed out custom maps that highlight all the attractions that WE want to see. It is simple prioritizing and maximizing of our time.
My friend from church has also been planning a trip online now for a couple of years now. She said they just haven't gone and her husband is also tired of hearing of all the "options" and "plans" and "possibilities." This is why Corey thinks there should be a support group.
So...in case any of you care at all or would like to put in your two cents about whether or not I have overplanned, here is the itinerary so far:

Day one: drive down

Day two: Magic Kingdom in the morning (take the train to fantasy land first thing and see characters, do kiddie rides, etc), go back to rest/lunch, go to Hollywood Studios in the evening.

Day three: Rest at resort/play in the pool/hit up downtown disney for shopping (they have a super cheap outlet store that is good I hear for souveniers)

Day four: Animal Kingdom in the morning, lunch and rest at room, back to Magic Kingdom for the evening (see the rest of the stuff we didn't see before) and see the night parades and fireworks.

Day five: drive home

Among these plans are specific things I have researched such as parade times, show times, etc. I think this will save us valuable time when we arrive a the parks. We won't have to stand there and make a decision about which show to do when or realize that we should have come the alternate day or something.

I know that Corey secretly appreciates the research I have done. I just had to share my plans with someone since he doesn't want to talk about it until we are in the car on the way. lol.

The only thing I haven't planned is our evening meals. We plan to eat in the park wherever we are in the evening, so that will be a "spur of the moment" thing...that's all I am comfortable with though! lol. :)

9 days and counting...

Another consideration and rejection: Disney's Pirate and Princess party.

A really cool event...but as in the Disney tradition: EXPENSIVE!

It would cost us $175 to go to the after hours pirate and princess party, and as much fun as it would be (special "princess and pirate" themed activities of course), they are already getting over $700 from us JUST for 2 day park hoppers! They must make a billion gazillion dollars a day at that place!

But, we are still excited...just looking forward to leaving sometime....we're in the single digits now! I couldn't be one of those people who planned a trip a year in advance...I would be crazy!

On another note, we have found out that the Buzz Lightyear ride IS going to be something that Noah can ride, so that will be fun! I haven't even done over half the stuff at Magic Kingdom before...I am looking foward to it as part of my first time as well!

Sad news: my dad probably will not get to go. He will be working. blah.

Good news: The temps are looking good so far: 70s!

Good news: The crowds shouldn't be bad, I found a really cool website through the yahoo group that predicts crowd conditions, and the outlook is good!

Yay!

*sigh*

Nothing new to report...except...I made reservations for a character breakfast at Disney's Hollywood Studios (MGM with a new name). I am thinking of cancelling it though...I haven't heard great stuff about it from the yahoo group. Several of them had a bad experience there, and really I am thinking that in February, surely it won't be THAT hard to get to see some characters! Another thing, the cost is pretty high and the characters are playhouse Disney...not Mickey or Minnie or princesses. Probably going to cancel it.

12 more days to go! Not sure how to pack...which is frustrating! It is crazy that Florida seems so close, but the weather is so drastically different than here! I don't know whether to pack capris, shorts, pants and t-shirts...or what...I guess we will just layer!

Countdown...

The countdown is 14 days to go.....
I have joined this group for people planning Disney trips on yahoo. Yeah, another yahoo group...I am crazy...
It is crazy that there is a yahoo group for EVERYTHING!
So, the group is actually pretty cool...people ask questions about the best way to plan seeing the parks, questions about current shows, how to get discounts, just all kinds of stuff. I even found someone who has stayed at the same place we are staying and she gave it VERY positive reviews, so that was good to hear!
Another thing they have is a countdown email that goes out everyday. People send in when they are going on their trip and they post it in a countdown with the person leaving first at the top of the list. For example, it would say "Kline family, 1 day", "Johnson family, 15 days," etc...
The funny thing, is that there are people on there with "360 days" and even some with more than one countdown!!! These people go to Disney A LOT! ha ha.
So...I enjoy and despise countdowns. On one hand, it is fun to do with the kids, on the other hand, it sort of makes it take longer to get here....
Noah is getting more and more excited. He is looking forward to seeing "the real lightening mcqueen" though they have always been wary of life size characters thus far.
Also, my parents are going to be going with us! We are excited about having them along, to take pictures for us and help us keep an eye out for the kids! ha ha. My mom is going for sure, and hopefully my dad will be able to work out going also.

We're going to Disney World!

So, it's final! We're going to Disney World!!!!

We told the kids this morning...it was fun and odd...

I gathered up some of their little Disney characters and put them in a Cars gift bag we had. Then we brought them in the living room and told them that in the bag there were clues about their "surprise." They each took turns taking out one of the characters...there was Snow White, Woody, Cinderella, Piglet, etc...
We asked "Do you know what your surprise might be?"
Blank looks....
"Well, where do you think we might go to see these characters?"
Katie's eyes got HUGE and she shouted "DISNEY! WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYWORLD!!!!!!"
She ran around and started jumping up and down! It was great!

Well...Noah...Noah is another story. He was sitting by me on the couch. He shrank down next to me....his eyes WELLED up with tears and he said very quietly "I don't want to go there."

HUGE letdown here!

"Noah....why don't you want to go?"

He said, "I just don't want to go."

Here is the difference....Katie went to three year old pre-k and has heard all the ins and outs of Disney World. On the other hand, I don't think Noah has ever heard of the place. We have avoided every talking about it really because we wanted to wait until we were actually GOING before bringing it up.

We told Noah about seeing Lightening McQueen, Woody, Captain Jack Sparrow.....he was softening a little. I said we will go on a safari, which he REALLY thought was cool. Then we told them that we were getting a place with a Mickey Mouse room for them to sleep in, and it has a BIG playground. Now THAT was what he wanted to hear: a big playground.

Here's the place we've reserved...it is so cool! And such a bargain!

http://www.themagicorlandorental.com/villa3.html

So, we're going to Disney, and Katie is thrilled. Noah wants to see the big playground. Maybe he will enjoy it after all :)

More updates to come. 15 days to go!