The Crowe's are flying to Disney World! - Sept 4th -10th!!

disneydarling07

The answer to all worries-YOU'RE GOING TO DISNEY!
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
Hello there!! This is my first attempt at a Pre-trip report and I am so excited to have something to do to help pass the time!

My name is Wendy and I will be traveling with my dh Tom, my 15yo daughter - Jessica and my 10yo son -Jason.

This will be at least the 10th trip we have taken to Disney World. We have also been to Disneyland (once - dh didn't care for it) and we snuck in a side trip to Disneyland Paris when we were visiting family in Europe.

We were surprised with this trip this time. A family friend was generous enough to let us use his DVC points!
Total last minute trip! We were actually saving up to go next year. Not one to turn down an offer on a free Disney Resort stay, we gladly accepted and the planning began instantly.

We are leaving from Chicago on September 4th - heading for the Polynesian Resort.

Here is our plan for the week:

9/4 - leave for Disney World
Check into Polynesian Resort
Head to Blizzard Beach (for the first time ever!)
Then off to Hollywood Studios
FP - Star Tours
Rockin Rollercoaster
Tower of Terror
ADR - Sci- Fi Diner

9/5 - Epcot
FP - Test Track
Mission Space
Turtle Talk

9/6 - Typhoon Lagoon (first time ever!)
Head to Animal Kingdom
FP - Kali River Rapids
Flight of Passage
Expedition Everest

9/7 - Magic Kingdom
FP - Big Thunder Mountain
Haunted Mansion
Space Mountain

Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!!!

9/8 - Hollywood Studios
FP - Toy Story Mania
Tower of Terror
Star Tours

9/9 - Magic Kingdom
FP - Big Thunder Mountain
Pirates of the Caribbean
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

9/10 - Disney Springs
Head home for Chicago
 
FP's are all booked.

We opted to only do 1 ADR this time. We will make up for that on the next trip!

I've researched quite a few quick service restaurants so we are quite happy with the choices.

We are planning on doing a lot of fun stuff in between the rides.

Scavenger Hunts
Pin Trading
Hunting Pressed Pennies

I'm going to start working on a fun Mickey treat scavenger hunt this weekend.
and I also have a list of pressed pennies and their locations that we are going to hunt down.
 
In the meantime, we are at:

30 days!!!

Every day I will be surprising the family with a special Mickey related treat or a "not so hidden" Mickey will be incorporated into a meal.

Today's treat is:

Mickey brownies!!IMG_5004.JPG
 
29 DAYS!!!

Today's treat is some Mickey chocolates!!
I also recycled a few countdown tags I made for a previous trip and I'm using them for Mousekeeping tips!

I'm hoping to get some laundry down and then planning out our daily outfits so we know what to pack.
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Wow, free stay at the Poly? Yes, please! LOL.
Those tip tags are super cute!!
Good choices on the FPs!
We are at 98 days on our countdown, I'd be freaking out if I was under 30.
Question: Do your kids love these family trips? We went last September with a 13 member extended family group. My kids were 16, 13, 10 at the time. They loved it, especially because of the cousins. This year, DH and I are going alone. 11 year old is a little disappointed not to be going (not much). 17 and 15 years olds aren't interested in going as just a nuclear family. They would like to go with the cousins again, or with friends, but they are just not into Disney like their mom is.
 
28 days!!!
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Today's surprise are these adorable little Mickey party boxes. Each one is filled with mini (Minnie) M&M's. I need to get the M&M containers emptied so i can decorate them for pennies and quarters!

I forgot to post that the other day, our luggage tags arrived!! So excited! That just means it's time to start packing!

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For dinner last night, I played with some biscuit dough to make Mickey heads. I attempted to make Mickey shaped cookies by hand and it was an EPIC fail. I think I'll try it again tonight...and use an actual cookie cutter this time. LOL!

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And this morning I woke up to the email that our Magic Bands have shipped!! It's getting closer and closer....
 
Wow, free stay at the Poly? Yes, please! LOL.
Those tip tags are super cute!!
Good choices on the FPs!
We are at 98 days on our countdown, I'd be freaking out if I was under 30.
Question: Do your kids love these family trips? We went last September with a 13 member extended family group. My kids were 16, 13, 10 at the time. They loved it, especially because of the cousins. This year, DH and I are going alone. 11 year old is a little disappointed not to be going (not much). 17 and 15 years olds aren't interested in going as just a nuclear family. They would like to go with the cousins again, or with friends, but they are just not into Disney like their mom is.

Luckily, my kids are still over the moon excited about going to Disney. I have a 27yo daughter who is still thrilled to be going. She got married last October and they will be going on their own trip for their 1st anniversary. She is so excited and watches me closely to see how I plan. Of course, they are not going to be planning anywhere near as crazy as I am...lol. But just as excited.
My DH and I always talk about sneaking away for a weekend by ourselves and experiencing Disney without kids...and my kids get soooo mad! lol!
And I think the guilt would really bother me.

So you are down to double digits!!! fun!!!
 


Just found out that our Park Hopper Plus tickets gets us into both of the Mini Golf Ranges!!! :banana::banana:

Time to figure out how to squeeze those into the itinerary!!!

So excited to knock 2 more Disney experiences off the bucket list!!!
 
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One day closer, one more project done, one more Mickey treat!
I found these awesome crisps at the party store...they are sooooo good! And of course, a small quick puzzle will help pass a few minutes.

I decorated all of the mini M&M containers last night and the kids filled them up with pennies and quarters. Today I will finalizing our scavenger hunt list of all of the pennies we are going to try and collect.

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For last night's dinner, I made smoke sausage. I arranged them into Mickey heads. I know it's a stretch, but when the family saw it, they loved it! I know the goal and look for it every night. As long as the laughs keep coming, it's all good! I told the kids last night about being able to go to the mini golf range and they flipped out! They didn't realize Disney had mini golf! The excitement grows and grows every day!

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Have a magical day!!
 
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Waiting for our Magic Bands to ship!! I got the notification that they shipped but I am watching the delivery action and they haven't moved since Sunday!
Yesterday my son laughed out loud at the little puzzle I put out. He thought it was the CUTEST little thing he has ever seen...lol. He's so used to doing Legos or much larger puzzles.
Last night we had his favorite - tater tot casserole and brussel sprouts. So guess what i did with them...lol. Attempted to make Mickey heads of course!

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I am just about done with my penny scavenger hunt lists. I just have to figure out how to put them into a little notebook to carry around.
Glad it will be a slow day and work and the boss is out of town.
 
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No Mickey mail today, but i did received another notification that our Magic Bands have moved around a bit! They are in Glendale Heights which is about 45 minutes from us. I hope I have a nice surprise when I get home today!
Today's treat are Mickey gliders that I know my little guy will love much better than the puzzle...lol.

Last night's snack was put together really quick....really, really quick. Can you guess what I did? lol
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These are the Mickey inspired headbands that we found at our local Five Below store. They were only $3 each! My dd and I will be swapping colors each day.

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And yesterday's project was FINALLY finishing up our Pressed Penny scavenger hunt list and decorating the book! YAY! This felt like a HUGE undertaking! Of course, it didn't help that once I thought I had the list complete, they sent out an updated list and I had a lot of rearranging to do. One section is marked Mousellaneous. These are the pennies that are at different resorts and will take a little traveling to get to. But I think everyone is on board with a little resort hopping. We did this a few years ago and we had a blast. We traveling to many different resorts, went to the front desk and told them we were interested in looking into whether we wanted to stay there next time. We got the maps and a personal guide to give us a quick tour of the grounds. After the tour, we were given lots of Mickey stickers. It was so nice to take the time to relax and see all the other options. We did end up staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Polynesian due to these tours. Next years' trip will hopefully be the Contemporary.
So here is the scavenger hunt book:

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Big enough to write notes in, but still small enough to fit in a small purse.
Here is a peek at one page of the list:

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I feel so accomplished now that that project is off the list!!

Tonight - Epcot passports!!
 
You are so organized! I love the super cute tip envelopes and the containers for your change. Great idea! I hope you have an amazing trip, the Poly is one of my faves. :)
 
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And now the weekend is here!! Time to start actually putting outfits together and packing them!! I know it's way early, but I know I won
't be wearing my Mickey clothes before we leave.

My new find was the Remy's Hide and Squeak scavenger Hunt in Epcot. This is the cutest thing I have seen in a while! And my kids LOVE Remy! Add it to the list of all the other fun stuff we want to do. My DD suggested I make a separate check off list for each park to make sure we do everything we wanted in addition to the many other spreadsheets I have! Hmmm....okay!!!
So today I will be making lists for each park that include activities, food and shopping.

Last night's project was putting the finishing touches on our Epcot passports. The last time we did this, each Cast member stamped our passports, and signed it with a Hello in their own language. We chatted for a bit and then they signed it again with a goodbye. My kids learned so many new things.

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And we had a quick dinner last night so I put together Bagel Bites! In Mickey form!

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I received another notification that our Magic Bands have moved!! They are now at a facility in Bedford park...which is 10 minutes from my house. But the expected arrival date is Monday. lol! Gotta love USPS!!
 
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Today's surprise is a packet of Minnie stickers! I don't know if DD will like these, but I know at some point they will be going into the scrapbook!

Yesterday, I came home to this....finally!!!

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So excited!!! These are all different colors from what we chose last time. I think we are all starting our own little collections of each color. I hope we can each have a complete set soon!

The Mega Millions $393 million ticket was sold at a restaurant about a mile from my house! I wish I was that lucky! We know a lot of people in that town through school, so we are waiting to hear if it's someone we know.

Yesterday's treat was some fun stuff I found at Target...

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Mickey Veggie Chips!! And they are good for you!! Well...better than the bags of Cheetos I have stashed in my desk.

Have a great day!!!
 
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We are getting closer!!! Today's surprise are Mickey bubbles! I think I might use these to wake the kids up with...nothing like sticky bubbles all over your face early in the morning! lol

I had almost all of my clothes laid out yesterday, planning what to wear in each park each day..and then we stopped into the Disney store. Sigh...a couple more tops to wear. I have too many...or that means I just need to plan more days at Disney!

I also dug out the Mickey ponchos to make sure they were still okay. We need to buy a bigger one for DS. The child size just isn't cutting it anymore.

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And last night I made plain ole' sugar cookies....Mickey of course.

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We will see what happens tomorrow...the official 3 week mark!!
 
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Officially at the 3 week mark!!! I'm starting to get that anxious feeling!
I pulled out our park backpack and I'm going to start putting essentials in there tonight.

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I was lucky to remember where I put our hand held misting fans. I found these at Walmart a few years ago. Love that they are so light and everyone carries their own. It comes with its own carabiner to attach to anything. It takes 1 AA battery and lasts us the whole week.

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Last night I made chicken and noodles...had a hard time making Mickey's out of that, so I had to make a quick batch of brownies. DH insisted on powdered sugar this time.

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Still feels like so much to do! We talked a bit last night and I'm starting to get the feeling that DH wants to change up the itinerary a bit...NOOOO!!!! there go all of my well planned spreadsheets!!!!

We will see....
 
Less than 3 weeks!!!!

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It's really starting to set in now! We talked last night about packing up a separate suitcase filled with our snacks and nonperishables to take with us, instead of trying to cram everything into our suitcases. Something to work on today...

Yesterday our Visa Rewards cards finally came in! YAY! We managed to save quite a bit this way.

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I kinda like the old cards better...they had Mickey on them and were much more fun looking. Made you feel like you were using a Disney gift card and not a "credit card" looking thing.

Last night we made popcorn and i forgot to take a picture...but here is a pic of our favorite kitchen appliance...lol

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Have a magical day!!!
 
Following along! I love all the cute Mickey things you have been doing daily. My countdown is at 22 days today so I'm just behind you! Can't wait until single digit day and then of course Disney day!!
 
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Wow...so close, but yet so far! These are some little finger skateboards that are all the rage with my little guy and his friends. He is going to love these when he wakes up! School is starting for DD tomorrow and she is more focused on what she is going to pack for Disney than she is in getting new school supplies!

Speaking of school supplies, I dug up my vacation journal to make sure I document everything for the scrapbook. I have to do this with my Disney pens of course! And I'm going to keep this Minnie pad on my desk to write down last minutes things to pick up from the store.
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We have decided to pack up a box or plastic bin to transport all of our non-perishables. We are allowed 2 pieces of luggage thru Southwest. This will free up suitcase space. And with a box or a cheap plastic bin, we can leave it behind and not miss it. We thought about an extra suitcase, but that would just be too tempting to spend more money on souvenirs to bring back!

Now that school AND all sports activities are starting up, dinners are quicker, later and harder to figure out. Last night we just had pasta leftovers and this was the treat I put out.

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More Mickey chocolates!

Have a magical day!!
 
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Now we have the distraction of the First Day of School for DD and shopping for school supplies for DS!

Here are some books and crayons I bought to help pass the time in the airport, on the flight and on the bus ride to our resort.

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Yesterday we spent a little bit of time organizing our Sorcerer's of the Kingdom cards so we knew what we had and which ones we would like to collect. I'm hoping to spend a lot more time playing the game this trip.

No treat last night as it was late when we got home...meetings, and meetings....as much as I love the first days of school, it always seems like have so much more homework to do than the kids!

Have a magical day!!!
 

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