Christmas Decor Disney Style - We Must See It All! UPDATE 2/16

[FrozenOne16]

Christmas Decor Disney Style!
We Must See It All!
11/28/16 - 12/2/16​

Hey yall! My name is Brandi and I have somewhat of an obsession for Disney (spoiler alert, it’s a HUGE obsession). My family jokes that I am a 5 year old trapped in a 28 year old’s body.

I lurk on the Dis a lot, and I even tried to do a wedding planning report, but life got in the way and I didn’t finish it. I have been to Disney World more times than I can count! I also did the College Program, and worked in the Pop Century gift shop. I had a lot of fun, and I was so excited to get assigned to my favorite value resort! So, I was excited to finally book a vacation with my husband at this resort!

Also, this trip was in the middle of a longer vacation to Florida. My dad lives about an hour away from Disney, so we drove down early Saturday morning and stayed with him until Monday (and celebrated Thanksgiving with him and my step-family). At at the end of our Disney trip, we went back and stayed with my dad until Sunday when we headed home. I will probably talk about those days as well, because I do have some pictures.

Let’s get some introductions out of the way!

My name is Brandi, and my husband is Chase. He had never been to Disney World before he met me. During his first trip, he proposed to me in front of Cinderella’s Castle. It was a dream come true for me! My mom helped him plan the proposal, and I am glad she did, because she passed away less than a month later. We were married at her bedside. A year later we had a small wedding so more of our family could be included. It was Up themed!




One of the best days of my life...


...until this day!


and one more...


Ok I'm done..lol!

Our main objective this trip was to see as many Christmas decorations as possible. We had 2 day park tickets - as the only parks we wanted to visit were Epcot and Magic Kingdom. We weren't interested in Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios since there is so much construction happening at those parks right now. We also had the dining plan, which we absolutely love.

I'm a planner, but we went off the cuff a lot. I used to stick to my plan, but I have found that a strict plan can be very stressful. So I have started to loosen the reins and just go with the flow. But I do stick to my base plan most of the time!

 

[BippityBrittany]

Hey Hey! Can't wait to read more of this TR bc I could also be considered a 5 year old trapped in a 25 year olds body
and honestly, I am PERFECTLY okay with this

It's like as Walt said, "Growing Old Is Mandatory, But Growing Up Is Optional!"

Anywho, the story about your mother & your marriage is absolutely beautiful

Can't wait to see more of the Christmas decorations since I wasn't able to go this past holiday season!

 

[DVCPhilip]

This is going to be a good TR! Can't wait to read how it all unfolds!

 

[FrozenOne16]

Hey Hey! Can't wait to read more of this TR bc I could also be considered a 5 year old trapped in a 25 year olds body
and honestly, I am PERFECTLY okay with this

It's like as Walt said, "Growing Old Is Mandatory, But Growing Up Is Optional!"

Anywho, the story about your mother & your marriage is absolutely beautiful

Can't wait to see more of the Christmas decorations since I wasn't able to go this past holiday season!

Thanks! I love so many quotes from Walt! They all make me smile!

Aww! That's sweet. I find that talking about my mom helps with the heartache - I still miss her like crazy, but talking about her makes it feel like she's still here.

We loved all of the decorations! It's my favorite time of the year at Disney!

This is going to be a good TR! Can't wait to read how it all unfolds!

I hope I don't disappoint!

I am going to try to get an update done tonight. My internet at home is horrible, so I try to update on my lunches when I can.

 

[FrozenOne16]

November 26, 2016
Travel Day
​

We left our house at 12AM - we figured out that we like to drive in the middle of the night. We don't hit as much traffic that way. It's about a 10 hour drive for us, and we have a system where we switch every 2 hours. It works pretty well for us.

We were headed to my dad's house first. I believe we arrived around 10-11 AM. (I didn't take notes as I wasn't sure I was going to do a trip report or not.) Once we started to get close to my dads, I found out that my best friend was in town! We were texting and decided to meet up around lunch time and have lunch at a place in Tampa called Wow! That's fresh. They are owned by the same company as PDQ. Such good food! Its a must do when we are there!

Me and my bff! She lives about 10 hours away from me. Shes getting married this October and I cannot wait!



Anyway, after lunch we headed back to my dads. We may have done some shopping to pick up a few things before Disney, but I'm not 100% sure. I do know that we went to Walmart for our dinner ingredients.

That night, we had Thanksgiving dinner with my dad. He cooked the turkey (it was a small turkey breast) and I made all the sides, including my moms crock pot macaroni. It's seriously the best!

My stepmom took a selfie of us while we were cooking. (I was in my pjs lol)


Then a pic of my step-brother and me:


You can tell I was exhausted!

I am going to stop there for now. I'll continue with Sunday possibly tomorrow and then we will get to the good stuff - DISNEY!!!!

 

[FrozenOne16]

I'm sorry it has been a few days since my last update! I was busy this weekend studying for an assessment for a possible new job! It's in the same field I am in, but it is a different specialty, one I have been wanting to get in since my mom passed. I have to get an 85% on the assessment before I can advance to the interview, which is already scheduled for right after the assessment. My coworkers think I am overthinking it, but I want to be prepared! Its next Wednesday, coincidentally the 3 year anniversary from when my mom passed . I'm hoping she sends me some good luck!

*****************************************************************

Sunday, November 27
1 day before Disney!!!
​

On Sunday, we woke up early and went to Top Golf in Tampa. OMG! I cannot begin to tell you how much fun this is! Its set up like a driving range, and you compete with your friends in different games. It is pretty expensive during the day and night, but early morning is half price! So I drug everyone (except my dad) out of bed super early and we went to play some golf! I didn't get any pictures, except of the score of our last game. I was pretty proud of my husband for winning. He usually doesn't play sports, he just rides road and mountain bikes.



After Top Golf, we parted ways with my stepmom and stepbrother and headed to the movies! We were going to see Moana!!! We met my nieces there, who also live in Florida. They were so surprised to see us! Their mom didn't tell them where they were going or why. They ran across the parking lot (safely, I promise!) and gave hugs all around! It had been a few months since we had seen them, so it was very exciting!

They were super excited to see Moana, especially in reclining leather seats! On the way out, my youngest niece (she's 10), posed for me:



They were both excited for this movie to come out! So was I! (and it was really good!)

After we dropped the girls off, I think we went to Subway and split a sandwich. Then we went home to watch the Bucs game and have some ribs that my dad made. Fun fact: I used to hate ribs, but now I have to have my dad's when I visit! They are just soooo good! I'm trying to get my husband to learn the recipe!

After dinner, I decided to finally put our decals on our magic bands. My husband loves Halloween, so even though it was Christmas, he wanted Halloween decals. I went with UP because its the best movie ever!



I believe we went to bed early-ish again that night. We were both excited for Disney the next day!!!!

 

[BippityBrittany]

great update!

good luck with your interview! sending good vibes

 

[FrozenOne16]

Real Life Update!​

Omg! I am so sorry I have been away for so long! Life got in the way! I had my interview but I haven't heard anything back yet. I did apply for another job within my work yesterday, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that one as well! Since I have been away, some fun things happened.

My husband and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary! I planned a trip for us to Asheville, NC and it was a lot of fun! We went to the Biltmore House and did a brewery tour that my husband loved! We use AirBnB when we travel now, and it is soooo much better than hotels!!! Check it out! We also used uber for the first time. Not bad, and we both enjoyed being able to have an adult beverage and not worry about driving.





We also did a painting class for valentines day. I was supposed to go with a friend, but she had a family emergency and offered for my husband to go in her spot. It was a lot of fun!





Unfortunately, we had a bit of a family emergency. We had a scare with my grandpa, and had to go visit him. We weren't sure if he was going to be ok or not, but turns out, he is recovering now and may get to go home by the end of the week!

And for some big news, my husband and I are starting the home buying process to purchase our first home! We are so excited! We just got preapproved and are going to look at houses this weekend!!!!

So, it's been a busy few weeks, but I promise I will have a new update tomorrow!!!

 

[FrozenOne16]

November 28, 2016
Outlets & Checking into our Resort!
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Disney Day had finally arrived!!! We were up and ready to get going at 8 AM. We made a quick coffee/breakfast stop at a WAWA near my dads house and then hit the road. We wanted an early start in case we hit traffic.

Our first stop would be the outlets. We got there at about 9:45, and they didn't open until 10. So we waited, and noticed all of these people lining up at the door. We were just sitting on a bench waiting patiently, and it seemed as if these people knew each other. We would soon find out how.

10 AM came and went, and the staff were inside having a meeting. My DH and I were getting restless, because I still needed to go to 1 more store, that was completely unplanned (wardrobe malfunction). So they finally opened the doors at about 10:10, and everyone rushed in.

DH and I were there to look for Christmas and birthday gifts for our cousins and nieces/nephews. So we just wanted to browse. The people waiting at the door? It was like black Friday all over again! But, they knew the workers, and the workers had set stuff aside in the back for them. This totally irked my DH and I, because it wasn't fair to people who truly couldn't afford Disney merchandise at full price. I also wanted to check out the vera Bradley collection that I heard had made its way to the stores. I went straight to that, and its a good thing I did, because these people scooped it all up once I picked my 2 items out. I was so annoyed. They were re-selling the merchandise in their stores or on ebay. I didn't think that was fair at all. We finally got in line after browsing the entire store and wouldn't you know it, most of these people were in front of us. So we had to wait, and wait, and wait. And they had things that weren't on the shelves that I would've liked to have, especially as gifts for my cousins and whatnot. Then there was this family in front of us, and the little boy had one pluto stuffed animal. That's it. I heard the parents say that's the only reason they came, to get him a stuffed animal. And he got to witness greed. Ugh.

Sorry about my rant! I've been holding on to that for a while. LOL. But, I did get my back pack that I've wanted ever since Vera Bradley and Disney paired together!



After the outlets, we went to check into our resort! We were staying at Pop Century, my absolute favorite!!!! I did a DCP in 2007 and I worked in the gift shop at Pop Century! I would do anything to do another DCP or move down there and work. Retirement goals! LOL. There was a pretty tree in the lobby:



Oh! And we got our anniversary buttons for our 3 year anniversary! I thought I would try my hand at fancy shots some this trip...We will see how that turned out.

Anyway, our room was ready and we headed out. Just as I had hoped, we were in the 60s section in the jungle book building! I was so excited with this location as the Jungle Book is my husbands favorite Disney movie! We relaxed in the room a bit, while we decided what to do next