Let's Try This Again...

Please pretend like I am just starting this pre-trip report.  We've made some changes to our dates and with that, changes to our schedule.  

So here are some of the changes-

First, my sister isn't going to be able to come.  She has a lot on her plate right now and the new dates just aren't working out with her schedule.  

With that we've changed our route and decided to leave a day earlier.

A quick run-down of our travel days-

Day 1- Depart late afternoon, spend the night at my grandparent's house.

Day 2- Long drive to Tallahassee.

Day 3- Tallahassee to Orlando.

Once we arrive...

-We will arrive in Orlando around lunch time and head straight to Downtown Disney.

-Lunch will most likely be at Wolfgang Puck Express and then we will shop around for a bit.

-Check in to The Contemporary Resort at 3 pm.

-Flip out over the view of Magic Kingdom.

-Try and take a rest. (Haha!)

-Ride the monorail to The Polynesian for dinner at Captain Cooks.

-Watch Wishes and The Electrical Water Pageant from our balcony.

We've decided to do IOA at the end of our trip (and only if we really want to do it...)  

Changes of The Good Kind...

We had some surprising news today that interfered with our trip dates.

 Gregg came home for lunch today and we scrambled to make a decision... choosing between a great opportunity for him to play in a benefit show or to take a family vacation.  We both really wanted him to play in the show, so we looked in to changing our trip dates.

Favor was on our side, because we ended up saving quite a bit of money by changing dates.

We had to make some adjustments to the schedule...like adding a night.  Arriving a month earlier.  Booking a room only reservation at the Contemporary.  Adding a Chef Mickey reservation.  

We feel terrible about it.

Thankfully all of our ADR's transferred over.  

The only bad news is that we lost the Princess room and our BBB reservation.  (But remember, Belle doesn't even know we are going, so I haven't gotten her hopes up about it.)

You'll be hearing from me a lot more over here. 

Our trip is so close... I've got to get hopping!  

The Gift of Cuteness...

It's time to start gathering ye olde Disney wardrobe...

I have really cut down on my shopping as of lately. For real.  

Since Belle practically lives in costumes, I'm just going to let her spend most of the trip wearing them.

Evie is the hand-me-down queen, so it would be silly for me to buy a ton of new clothes for her.  (Babies grow so fast and it annoys me when she only get to wear something once.)

Call me a recovering Shopaholic...

However, that little bit of shopper still lingers and I've been eyeing a few items for a while...

And patience pays off, because the CoraLouise Boutique had a BIG black friday SALE!

Here are a few goodies I snatched up to give as Christmas gifts...

For our O'Hana breakfast...

 (Belle)

(Evie- and I'm going to have it made into a dress, as well.)

 (Belle)

I've also got my eye on these for Evangeline...

(To match sister's Little Mermaid costume)

(For an Epcot day)

I'm so excited about these!  

December is going to fly by and then we just have a few short months.

I'll update plans soon!  :)

A Bippidi Boppidi Boo Morning...

Our first morning in Disney!  Oh, the promises of what to come...

Or in our case, crossing our fingers really hard and hoping that Belle will actually enjoy the rides this time.


Last time I started us off on a really sour note by choosing The Jungle Cruise as our inaugural ride.

This time I'm trying a different approach and it's called-

THE BIPPIDI BOPPIDI BOUTIQUE.

This is pretty much what Belle is made of.

Last time we bought the Castle Package, but this time around we are just doing hair and makeup.

I'm going to surprise her at Christmas with a Tiana costume and that is what she will wear to the park that morning.

And what about baby Evie?

My best friend is going to make Evangeline a custom outfit with a star on it and I'm going to have her name monogrammed across the star.

So we will be spending our first Disney morning with Princess Tiana and Evangeline.

Off to Disney World...

Back to planning, friends...

I know that I'm going pretty slow, so here's a quick run-down of our plans thus far- 

Travel Day 1-Our house to my sister's house.

Travel Day 2- Sis's house to Universal Orlando

Day 1- IOA to ...

Port Orleans Riverside, of course.

As I've mentioned before, we will be staying in the new princess themed rooms.

They are located in Parterre Place and Magnolia Bend.  

(I happen to think that these are the two most beautiful area's of POR, so I am very excited.)

I'm still not sure how I will surprise Belle regarding this trip, but I know for sure that we will surprise her with the room when we arrive at the resort.  We will let her go in first and explore.

I'm really not sure what time we will arrive for check in.  Gregg is so excited to see IOA, so I'll just let him take the lead.  My only request is that we all get to bed very early that night.

 If we arrive with time to spare, we will probably try and get a table at Boatwright's, the only sit down restaurant at Port Orleans.  We very much enjoyed it on our last trip.  It tastes like home!

And unless it's raining cats and dogs, Belle will be making an appearance on the playground.  

She loves it!

And then we will lay down our heads on our pretty princess beds and dream Disney dreams...

Our Family Fountain

I'm a little behind on posting the next bit of our plans, but for now...

I just though I would post something fun.

We unknowingly started this tradition on our Honeymoon and it's a big reason that we will be staying at Port Orleans again.

We are pretty fond of this fountain...

We have fond memories of walking past it every day on our Honeymoon.  I can specifically remember standing in front of it and discussing future trips with the daughter I hoped to one day have...

Little did we know that a year later we would be staring into the face of our week old baby girl...

And three years later we would be sitting at that fountain with her.

When Gregg snapped that photo I told him that we would have to return as soon as we had another little girl.  I was half teasing and half not...

But here we go again...

In about 5 months we will once again sit at that fountain for a portrait with Gregg's three girls.

Let's get this Party Started...

The first official day will start bright and early.

We will eat a quick breakfast in the lounge and then head off to...

My sister is beyond excited about this part.  She is a HUGE Harry Potter fan.  Truth be known, this is probably the main reason she came along.  I can't wait to see this through her eyes.

Confession time...  Gregg and I have never watched a Harry Potter film... or read any of book series.

Don't throw darts at us!  Haha!  

We seriously need a Harryfest before we head out on vacation.  We are truly stoked about the WWOHP!  I know we would enjoy it so much more if we actually knew what we were looking at. 

Back to the plans...

I'm hoping to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey  and to take Belle on Flight of the Hippogriff.

Then I'm going to take the girls back to the resort to rest while Gregg and my sister go on 'scary' rides.

We are going to meet back for lunch and family time in Seuss Landing.

Call me crazy, but I'm really hoping to eat here...

Then we will explore the park together.  Belle says that she wants to ride Ripsaw Falls, but we will see if she changes her mind once she sees how tall the drop is.  :0)

 My sister will probably head back to Seuss Landing with the girl's while Gregg and I check out the coasters.  (My sis is not a fan of thrill rides.)

Late afternoon we will pile up in the minivan and make our way to...