Making Memories - A Christmas Trip

[MummyButterfly]

Soooo - once upon a time we (DH and I) were pricing out a Disney Cruise for our two graduating seniors (Class of 2017!). Logistically, a cruise just wasn't going to work for us (don't worry - they still get a nice trip).

BUT, I was super sad - no Disney Trip to plan! Then, in a serendipitous turn of events, my darling - DARLING - husband had to have surgery. After which, while hyped up on Valium, he sees our youngest son in his favorite Minnie Mouse shirt and begins (manly) weeping about how he wishes he could see the look on Coleman's face when he met Minnie Mouse in person.

Never one to let an opportunity pass, I had the Disney site open and the vacation package priced out, before the meds could wear off. Lucky for me - DH was as agreeable the next morning (when only under the influence of Tylenol) and I paid the deposit.

We are going to Disney for Christmas!

The Who:

Me and DH (Dave)


The Younger Four Kids
Carter, Grace Olivia (GO), Kensi Beth, and Coleman
(We have 8, the older four will be in College.)

We homeschool, so being down during early-mid December isn't a problem for us.

The When: December 8th-15th (will wiggle if Free Dining comes out)

The Where: Walt Disney World! Caribbean Beach Resort! It's our family favorite, and we drive - so it's perfect for a car family.

ADR: I already have our ADR plans, and we'll be ready to book at midnight on June 9th. We do Deluxe Dining, Free or Not, so I make plans as early as possible. This will be our first trip with Hopper Tickets, and that (pleasantly) has affected our ADR choices.

Itinerary:
December 7th - Drive down (stay outside WDW, visit Disney Springs)
December 8th - Check-In to CBR, Epcot
December 9th - Magic Kingdom
December 10th - Resort/Disney Springs
December 11th - Magic Kingdom (HOP: Epcot/Dinner)
December 12th - Hollywood Studios (HOP: Epcot/Dinner)
December 13th - Resort Day
December 14th - Epcot
December 15th - Animal Kingdom (Head Home)

Special Things Planned:
We are not doing the Very Merry Christmas Party, but we will hit lots of character meals (so we don't have to do as much standing in line to meet Characters in the park).

 

[MummyButterfly]

More about me:

I have OCD. Not the cute kind where people joke about being organized, the kind that actually is diagnosed. The kind that makes me do things like have a master spreadsheet with 5 sheets that already has all our ADR choices (along with suitable times to search for), a packing list, a shopping list, our FastPass hopes, and a Pixie Dust list. Within 24 hours of booking a vacation. I also tend to plan our days out to the 15 min mark - BUT - my family is super supportive and while I enjoy (and mentally HAVE to) plan, I can go with the swing of things if we need to change plans on the fly while at the park.

Here is our Wish List of ADRs:


I'm extremely lucky that Dave enjoys planning, and is always willing to bounce ideas around. So these were chosen while looking at menus online and lots (LOTS) of discussion. I have food allergies, while Dave and Carter (and GO/Coleman) have no allergies or restrictions and LOVE to eat. We have always see Disney as a great time to explore food, and one of the reasons that the Deluxe Dining works for our family is that I never have to look at prices.

We tend to focus on Character meals: Coleman is going to be five when we are in WDW. When I say Minnie Mouse is his favorite - I'm not joking even a little bit. He has the full pink Minnie Mouse Bowtique bedset, a Minnie Mouse camping set (sleeping bag, chair, etc), and he owns over 25 Minnie Mouse dolls. Don't even get me started on his clothes... My niece loves to give him her hand-me-down Minnie Mouse shirts to wear to sleep in. We will be going to see almost every Character Meal that Minnie is at. Goofy is our bonus (he's not as easy to find), as he is GO's favorite.

Has anyone been to Skipper Canteen in MK and have thoughts?

 

[MummyButterfly]

Today is GO's 8th birthday - and we took her for a special lunch as an only child (when you've got that many siblings, it's more fun to be alone than to party!). While at lunch Dave and I asked her some questions about her favorite WDW memories.

Unexpectedly, she said that Crystal Palace was her favorite meal. GRRRR.... That's the ONE character meal that Dave and I can't stand (mostly to do with the fact they have the second worst allergy accommodations for me at WDW). I had NO IDEA she liked that meal so much (she was terrified of the characters when she last went in 2014). We won't be adding it in, but now I feel like I have to make sure she meets Eeyore at some point.

I've always coordinated outfits every day (so we look like we match in our pictures), but Dave wants to try for more Disney Bounding/personalized shirts. So, we spent time today ask GO her favorites (most of these we already knew).
Her *absolute favorite* Disney Character EVER is Goofy. She adores him, and sleeps with a stuffed baby Goofy and the stuffed Darth Goofy (from DHS). For one of our Epcot days we'll do the Fab Five and the other we'll do Princesses/Sidekicks.

Epcot Day 1 (Princess/Sidekick):
Dave - Mushu
Me - Mulan
Carter - Beast (or Lumiere, or Cogsworth, or the Footstool...)
GO - Belle
Coleman - Pascal
KB - Rapunzel

Epcot Day 2 (Fab Five):
Dave - Scrooge McDuck (or Pluto)
Me - Mickey Mouse
Carter - Donald Duck
GO - Goofy
Coleman - Minnie Mouse
KB - Daisy Duck

Hollywood Studios (Star Wars):
Dave - Chirrut Imwe
Me - Chewbacca
Carter - BB8
GO - Rey or Darth Vader
Coleman - Han Solo
KB - Princess Leia (likely, more honeybun hair/ears, rather than General Leia)

I think, thus far, figuring out how to do a super-boy Minnie Mouse is going to be my hardest one! I'm thinking old school Minnie (red, not pink) shirt with white polka dots - big ones. But I'm open to suggestions!

My goal for the weekend is to get my Fastpass+ Wish List made! (My travel agent loves me.)

 

[Sarahh1027]

Fun trip plans so far!! Your family is adorable..8 kids, wow! Can't wait to read more!

 

[MummyButterfly]

Fun trip plans so far!! Your family is adorable..8 kids, wow! Can't wait to read more!

Hi Sarah! Thanks for following along! I saw that you (and James) were also going in 2017! My second son (Carter) was born in Germany when we were stationed over there with the Air Force (his dad, my ex, was in the USAF for 6 years)! I didn't take my first *real* trip to Disney until I was almost an adult - a school trip (Grad Night) when I was 18 and a field trip (legit, like we had CLASSES) when I was in 6th grade. I think it makes me love Disney even more! I still tear up when I meet some of the characters.

I think my favorite moment (that I totally cried at) was the last time when we went to Epcot with my kids (2014) and we got there right as they opened. We were walking towards The Land, and all the shop people were out with giant Mickey hands giving high-fives. And my kids are all dancing down the street and high-fiving and it was SO OVERWHELMINGLY PERFECT!

 

[MummyButterfly]

Basic happy things:

I'm ready with a Silhouette machine, and I'm getting ready to order a bunch of vinyl. I'm super blessed to have a friend with a heat-press who loves me enough to give me a key to her house for when she's out. I'm going to be starting to work on our shirts. Most will be single-colour (I'm not ready to try multiple colours/layering). I also want to start looking at cute Princess dresses for the girls. I want more of a "play" Princess look (especially since it's going to be winter and I want them to be able to feel comfortable all day). I've seen some cute ideas, so we'll figure it out as we go along.

For our first travel day, I'm planning on making fleece blankets w/satin backing for our drive down. And small pillows. Brand new ones (I can sew that much)! My goal is do the pillows in basic solid cotton, with each child's monogram vinyled on to them.

This is Kensi Beth's Fleece (with pink satin on the back):


This is Coleman's Fleece (with red satin on the back):


This is GO's Fleece (with purple satin on the back):


And finally, Carter's Fleece (with black satin or black cotton):


I have to choose these now, so I can space out the purchases to use 40-60% off coupons (the come out about once a month or so down here). I'll use blanket binding to attach the front and back. A long time ago (over 10 years) I made a Bob the Builder fleece blanket for Carter. He still curls up under it sometimes at night. So I know, even as a "big kid", he'll enjoy a new one. And I'm excited about getting (making) ones for the younger kids!

I want to do something special for my husband, but need more ideas. Crafting only works if you have PLENTY of time to do it! I am vowing (right here, right now) to NOT stress on this trip!

 

[CatNipRules]

Your family is absolutely adorable!! I too come from a big family. There are 7 or us and I'm the oldest. LOL!!

Following along. I love, love, love Eeyore. I even have 2 tattoos of him. Crystal Palace is my favorite simply because of that. LOL!!

I'm horribly allergic to shellfish. It's so bad I can't even be around it when it's cooked. Having food allergies is just awful, but at least Disney is good about trying to accommodate us.

For your husband, maybe you can do up some kind of basket with all his favorite things in it? Snacks and such. I'm not at all crafty. LOL!!

We love Garden Grill and Tusker House. My son declared that the Goofy that was there on our last trip was, the best one ever. LOL!! Those are two of our favorite restaurants.And my son has requested 'Ohana for breakfast since both the boys/young men, love Stitch.

Sorry for rambling. LOL!

 

[MummyButterfly]

Big News! JoAnn's had all their fleece 60% off this week! AND their cotton fabric was 25% off. A-N-D there was a "25% off your total fabric purchase including sale items" coupon! I was able to get all the fabric for KB, GO, and Carter! And their blanket binding! It was $250 worth of fabric for $130. I'm so excited!

I changed up Carter's fabric a little, because I found some adorable BB8 fleece. It's grey with orange and white. Then I found a soft grey satin for the back, with orange binding. He's going to love it - and it's super teen boy appropriate!

Bad news is that I didn't find Coleman's fabric. ONE store had 2 yards left, and it was almost two hours away. I've got time - and I REALLY want that fabric, so I'll just keep on looking.

 

[Whit64130]

Following along for the PTR! Sounds like you are off to a great start and have everything planned out perfectly!

 

[MummyButterfly]

Following along for the PTR! Sounds like you are off to a great start and have everything planned out perfectly!

Welcome! Thanks for following along!

 

[MummyButterfly]

So, y'all don't need to know all the icky medical stuff that went on this spring/summer - BUT we are still good to go on this trip (it was iffy for a while).

All ADRs are done - and I got everything I wanted (even if I had to switch a few days around!)



Our Master Plan is all set!


I'm going to post in a separate post on the AMAZING matching dresses I got for KB and GO. Different ones for every day! And Target had some great clearance shirts for the boys.

I'm about to start packing (literally, tonight!) while the Hubby and I watch football. I'm SO EXCITED! Fast passes are done and I'm trying to figure out what coffee pot is in the CBR room (so I can have stuff delivered to the resort).

 

[MummyButterfly]

So the one medical thing I will mention - because it has the most to alter about this trip - is that we finally have SOME sort of diagnosis from Coleman's Neurologist. He has had issues and been under Neuro care since early 2016. We FINALLY (after SO MANY TESTS) have an idea of what's going on. There's a lot of technical terms, but essentially he has an Underdeveloped Vestibular System (that's his inner ear). Imagine the kid who gets extreme motion sickness - can't even ride in a car. Now, imagine the opposite of that - my kid NEEDS that stimulus in order to have his brain calm down and function. It's often mistaken as ADD/ADHD, but it's not. It's been fascinating watching the Neurologist and Occupational Therapist work together to solve this mystery.

The GREAT news is that Coleman is now 41 inches tall. That means he can ride most of the roller coasters!!!! He is going to have so much fun! (This kid cannot get dizzy, physically - he can't do it - it so cool to see that part.) The roller coasters are going to be life-changing for him. He will be able to get that stimulus on an intense level, and DH and I are so excited that this has all worked out so perfectly.


Coleman - Age 5
Most recent photo of my little man (I realize I'm biased, but is he not ADORABLE?)

 

[MummyButterfly]

Last night I made one meal alteration - Hubby and I had talked back and forth and decided to cancel T-Rex and add Sanaa. Our kids will likely get a bigger kick out of live animals, rather than the T-Rex building. And if they really like the outside of it (we are at Disney Springs twice) we'll stop for dessert one day.

Today, I paid the final payment - and added Memory Maker! We are all done in that regard. That is a HUGE step!

Finally, one of my good friends came over and helped me make matching bows for KB and Grace Olivia. One for every day we are there! I'm so grateful for her help (she's amazing when it comes to crafting). I was sitting with my grandmother's mug (she passed away before my youngest three were born) and just thinking about HOW MUCH she would have loved them.



Well, today is almost the end of Mid-Term week, so I'm off to take a couple of exams and hopefully keep it all together. Doctor's appointment on Monday, then we finish packing! Only 48 days left!