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!