Surviving Deployment Pre-TR - part 5

We have decided what we will be for MNSSHP. Victoria will be Alice, and I'm going to be the Queen of Hearts. Now the fun part...I've decided to make our costumes. I don't sew. Thankfully, I have a friend who does. She is going to teach me what to do.

Victoria and I went to Hobby Lobby and bought patterns. I bought the fabric for her. I want to change up my pattern some. (A non-sewer wants to change the pattern. My poor friend.) But, I will buy fabric for myself when I talk to my friend and find out what I need. She is on vacation in Mexico right now, so I have to wait for her to return. I'm really excited! The only thing I've ever sewn was at a fun summer sewing class, and I made a couple of purses. (I love my purses! They are so cute!) Actually, I did add length to Victoria's Tinkerbell skirt three years ago with the help of another friend. I ordered this from the UK, but it was too short and was not a leotard so she'd have been showing everything she had if the wind blew just right. So, I bought some fabric and added an additional skirt that was longer and went underneath the original costume. I was proud of myself. I also made her hair decor. So, I guess I have sewed something.


Here you can see her hair "scrunchie." You can see the place where the original costume stops. It is that first layer. It is a mighty short skirt to not have a leotard with it.

And here is the full costume. I added the puffballs to her shoes, too. They were actually "snowball" Christmas ornaments that I agreed to part with for the sake of cute shoes.


I just like this picture of my sweet daughter.

Hopefully, we'll be able to get started with the costumes very soon.

Surviving Deployment Pre-TR - part 4

Ok. I know this planning stuff is probably boring to some of you (maybe all of you), but I love it and it helps me see the planning and the changes and such that I go through to make incredible trips possible. I promise, after the trip, there will be a TON of pictures from our vacation. With that said...

I can't believe that I have made a couple of ADR changes, but...I have. Michael doesn't like Chinese or Japanese food. So, Victoria and I were talking about Teppan Edo which is a hibachi-style Japanese restaurant in the Japan pavilion and decided to cancel our lunch ADR at Chefs de France. I figured Michael would probably like French food better than japanese food, so we can go to Chefs de France when we go back with Michael. I booked Teppan Edo in its place. I am so excited about it. I also moved our dinner at Tutto Italia to an earlier time. 8:45 was so late plus we'd be missing the EMH that night at Epcot.

In other news, my cousin, Jennifer, will be joining us for a couple of days. I have added Jennifer to my reservation. Yay! She will be coming for just one night. She lives in FL and will drive to Orlando after work and join us in DHS for the evening and then spend all of the next day with us at Epcot. I haven't gotten to see her in quite a while, so it will be nice hanging out with her.

I was able to add her to our Teppan Edo and Tutto Italia ADRs. However, there is no availability for three at 50s Prime Time. I will continue to try to get us bumped up to a table for three at Prime Time. Otherwise, I'll see if the restaurant can add her at the podium. How hard can it be to add a chair to a table? This should do it as far as our ADRs are concerned. No more changes!

Just about all of my planning is done. :( It's sad. We are enjoying watching all of our Disney movies, and it is really getting Victoria excited about our upcoming trip. It is hard to get excited so early because then the wait seems to take forever. However, when you are waiting for your spouse to come home, nothing seems very long. Have a blessed day!

Surviving Deployment Pre-TR - part 3

I finally booked a rental car for our day trip to Tampa to Busch Gardens. Geez! $45 for an economy car! I wonder if the prices will go down any? I plan on calling back every now and then to see if the rates have changed. I booked through Alamo at the Car Care Center. The Car Care Center is part of Disney, and they have a shuttle which will come to your resort, pick you up and take you to your rental. Very nice! When I return the car, the shuttle will take me anywhere on Disney property I wold like to go. I really like the convenience of having a shuttle pick us up from Pop to get the car.

Another thing I have to book is our room in San Antonio. We are actually going to stay at Lackland AFB at their lodging. It is quite inexpensive and about 15 minutes from the airport, but I can't book it until three days prior to our trip. So, I've marked my calendar as to when I can book our room. If, for some reason, they have no room, we'll be getting a hotel near the airport.

Other than those two things, I think my planning is about done. I can't believe it. I want to plan more. I guess I can start planning our trip for 2010.

Surviving Deployment Pre-Trip Report (TR) - part 2

I have made changes to our ADRs. This time, they are firm. I did some tweaking and moving around so hopefully it works with our days better. So, here are the updated ADRs.

Day 1 - Dinner at 1900 Park Fare (no change)

Day 2 - I had an ADR to Kona for dinner before we go to MNSSHP. I have canceled this ADR, and we'll get to the MK at 4 p.m., and eat CS in the park.

Day 3 - Previously: Chef Mickey's for dinner. I canceled this ADR to go to Kona instead. This gives us a little more time to drive back from Tampa.

Day 4 - I added another ADR for lunch at Sci Fi. We love Sci Fi, and I can't imagine not eating here at all. We are still going 50's Prime Time for dinner.

Day 5 - Chefs de France for lunch and Tutto Italia for dinner. I canceled the 5:30 p.m., ADR. I talked to Victoria, and she thought the later meal would be better.

Day 6 - Previously: Dinner at Coral Reef. I canceled CR and changed it to CRT. I'm pretty excited about closing out the MK and being one of the last in the park. :D

Day 7 - Dinner at Le Cellier (no change)

Day 8 - Breakfast at Crystal Palace, and I added lunch at Chef Mickey's. I previously had CRT for dinner but canceled that one. We'll eat CS for dinner.

Day 9 - Lunch at T-Rex (no change)

So, those are our new ADRs, and I feel really good about them now. I did all the changes online and got to search and search and pick and choose, and I LOVED being able to do this. Then, I called Disney Dining and canceled the ones I didn't want.

Hopefully, that's all the changes in our dining plans. :D

WDW Pre-Trip Report :o)

I love writing trip reports especially when they are Disney vacations. So, I am going to write a trip report on my blog, complete with pictures (when we take the trip). I am a HUGE planner and love every minute of it. I have even planned trips for a couple of friends before. Just give me a call if you need someone else to plan your trip. Hee hee! So here goes...

I haven't been to WDW in FOUR years! OH MY! It is about time I get back there. I could go multiple times a year, but Michael on the otherhand...

This trip came about for several reasons:
1. I NEED to visit my Happy Place again.
2. Victoria needs to visit, too.
3. Disney has a great military deal going on right now that simply can't be passed up.
4. Michael is deployed to Iraq. Now, we were actually hoping he would be able to join us, but alas, his R&R didn't work out, and he won't be able to go. So, it will be just Victoria and me.

So, the non-deployed people on this trip are:
Me (Laura) - 38. I've loved everything Disney my whole life.
Victoria - 14. Brought up on everything Disney.
My cousin, Jennifer - 26. More on her later! Hee hee!

WHEN: The middle of September during FREE DINING!

Victoria and I will be experiencing a lot of firsts on this trip:

1. We get free dining which we've never done before.
2. With that, we are eating at a lot of brand new restaurants for us.
3. We are also going to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (referred to as MNSSHP from now on) for the first time. We went to the one at Disneyland in California and loved it and know that WDW's will be even better.
4. We are also staying at Pop Century for the first time.
5. We have always driven to WDW, but it would be a two-day drive now that we've moved to Texas. So, we are flying for the first time.
6. Therefore, we are using Disney's Magical Express (DME from now on) for the first time.
7. The biggest new experience is this will be the first time going without Michael. It will be strange without him, but it will be a great opportunity to get away with Victoria during daddy's deployment. Hopefully it will break up these longs months without him, and we'll be able to share our vacation with him through our pictures and videos.

As for our plans:

Day 1 - Fly out of San Antonio and arrive in Orlando at 10:47 a.m. Take DME to Pop Century and see if our room is ready. I doubt it will be, but it will be worth a try. Today is going to be a day exploring resorts and Downtown Disney (DTD.) We'll have lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express and have Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs) at 1900 Park Fare at 5:55 p.m., for dinner. Both of these restaurants are new for us! At 1900 Park Fare, we get to have dinner with Cinderella, the Prince, Lady Tremaine, Anastasia and Drizella, and the Fairy Godmother. It should be fun!

Day 2 - Once again, we are going to enjoy resort hopping and DTD and probably some miniature golf. We'll have lunch at Earl of Sandwich and dessert at Beaches and Cream. We have ADRs for Kona at 5:10 p.m., for dinner before we go to MNSSHP. However, if they let us into the MK at 4 p.m., for MNSSHP, we will skip Kona and eat CS in the park. Here's crossing my fingers.

Day 3 - As part of the active military, we get to go to Busch Gardens or Sea World free once a year. Since we have never been to Busch Gardens in Tampa, we are going there. We'll get up and get our rental car and drive to Tampa to spend the day at Busch Gardens. Since I didn't have to buy tickets, I bought an All-Day Dining Deal. You get an armband and can grab an entree, side or dessert, and a drink each time you go through the line at a participating restaurant. I thought that was a really good deal, even if we just grab a drink when we go through the line. I think it will be well worth the money. We'll drive back from Tampa straight to the Contemporary where we have ADRs for Chef Mickey's at 7:50 p.m. Have I mentioned that this entire day will be a brand new experience for us...from Busch Gardens to Chef Mickey's. At Chef Mickey's, we get to eat dinner with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Donald.

Day 4 - Finally, we are spending time in the WDW parks! Today is our Disney's Hollywood Studios (DHS) day. We'll eat a counter service (CS) meal somewhere for lunch and then have an ADR for 50's Prime Time Cafe at 5:15 p.m., for dinner. 50's PT is one of the few places we have been to before. We didn't have a good experience the first time and are ready to give it another chance.

Day 5 - EPCOT day! We plan on getting chocolate from every country. We have a lunch ADR at 12 p.m., for Chefs de France in the France pavilion and dinner at 8:45 p.m., at Tutto Italia in the Italy pavilion. However, I also have an ADR for Tutto Italia at 5:30 p.m. I don't know if it's enough time between noon and 5:30 p.m., to eat again. I have to decide what to do.

Day 6 - This day is up in the air. DHS has Early Entry Hours (EEH) for resort guests at 8 a.m. It is really up to Victoria as to which park she'd like to do. We'll eat CS whichever park we're in. But, we have 4:10 p.m., ADRs at Coral Reef. We've never eaten here before.

Day 7 - Today is Animal Kingdom day! EEH is 8 a.m. Unfortunately, we'll be headed back to EPCOT for dinner since it was the only day we could get Le Cellier in the Canada pavilion. Our ADR is for 4:15 p.m. But, I am stoked about Le Cellier since we've never been, and I only here the best of reviews of this restaurant. This is THE MOST POPULAR restaurant in all of WDW.

Day 8 - Magic Kingdom day! I wanted to end our trip at MK. We have ADRs at 8:05 a.m., at the Crystal Palace (This will be out of pocket (OOP) unless we miss Kona on Day 2.) and dinner at 5:10 p.m., at Cinderella's Royal Table (CRT)! We have never been to CRT, and I am so looking forward to it. We really enjoy Crystal Palace (CP) as it is one place I can hang out with my beloved Eeyore. Also there is Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet. Spectromagic will be on this night, too, and we have never seen it.

Day 9 - We fly home today. We'll have breakfast at Everything Pop, and then we have lunch ADRs at T-Rex in DTD for 11:30 a.m. I have a gift card to use there. T-Rex is a brand new restaurant from the same people who created Rainforest Cafe. We are really looking forward to it. Our flight doesn't leave until 5:55 p.m., so we can enjoy DTD for just a little while longer.

So, those are our plans. Unfortunately, I couldn't get Boma during this stay. We've never been there either, and I was really looking forward to it. Oh well! It will have to be another time unless I can snag an ADR somehow.

It will be very weird traveling without my precious husband. We've only taken short trips without him, and he will be dearly missed. But, the place he said he wanted to go after he got home from his deployment is Disney! So, we are planning a trip for 2010!