It's My Birthday & I'll Disney if I Wanna! ~ A Dec 2015 PTR - COMPLETE!

[Wood Nymph]

we all ordered matching blue ponchos...

Those look like really good ponchos. I had every intention of buying Disney ponchos when we went to Disney during the hurricane Erika warnings last month. But then it hardly rained at all and Iws glad I hadn't bought ponchos. Now I am afraid to buy ponchos just in case I jinx myself.

I also have a December birthday, the 25.

My birthday is the 25th, too.

 

[Chicago Mo]

Not soda. Or POP! Silly Northerner!!

I dunno, girl... FREE makes everything taste better to me!!!

I did buy the brita water bottle i hope it works!

 

[deedee2177]

Just stopping by to say Hi!

 

[KathyM2]

So I mean, I get it, and I honestly don't think it was done just to try and force people into buying that Park-to-Park ticket. (Though I'm sure they're not sad about that, either!)

That does actually make sense. But it's just too bad it's so expensive to get a one day park to park ticket. I know that both sides (Disney and the evil competition..) want you to spend ALL your money in ONE or the OTHER and neither want to make it easy for you to do both on one trip unless you have unlimited time and funding....it's just too bad.

Most regular people (who am I kidding...even a lot of regular people) just can't get to Disney every year for whatever reason (mostly lack of time and/or money) - and even if they can - they can't always stay long enough to do multi day tickets at both Disney and US....they are forcing you really to choose...and that is just annoying. There are SO many fun things to do in and around Orlando that it is so hard to decide how to spend your hard earned dollars and vacation time...sigh...

 

[Elevationist]

Those look like really good ponchos. I had every intention of buying Disney ponchos when we went to Disney during the hurricane Erika warnings last month. But then it hardly rained at all and Iws glad I hadn't bought ponchos. Now I am afraid to buy ponchos just in case I jinx myself.

That's so funny, because most people I know seem to have the opposite experience... Murphy's Law... If you bring ponchos, it won't rain at all. But if you forget them, it'll pour all week.

My birthday is the 25th, too.

Yay for December babies! And you're a Christmas baby, no less!

I did buy the brita water bottle i hope it works!

And you get to find out how it works out for you in just a couple days!!!

Just stopping by to say Hi!

Hi, honey! Thanks for remembering me! I need to do an update here! I have more shopping stuff to talk about! AND FASTPASS+ STUFF! My FP+ time is this coming SUNDAY NIGHT!

That does actually make sense. But it's just too bad it's so expensive to get a one day park to park ticket. I know that both sides (Disney and the evil competition..) want you to spend ALL your money in ONE or the OTHER and neither want to make it easy for you to do both on one trip unless you have unlimited time and funding....it's just too bad.

I guess I get off pretty lucky, since the only thing at Universal that even interests me in the HP stuff, which can easily be done in one day. I also don't really ride things there, because their rides aren't as fat-people friendly, and it's just not worth the embarrassment if I can't fit into something. So when I go, it's just to have a Butterbeer and shop and hang out.

Most regular people (who am I kidding...even a lot of regular people) just can't get to Disney every year for whatever reason (mostly lack of time and/or money) - and even if they can - they can't always stay long enough to do multi day tickets at both Disney and US....they are forcing you really to choose...and that is just annoying. There are SO many fun things to do in and around Orlando that it is so hard to decide how to spend your hard earned dollars and vacation time...sigh...

I figure I won't really get to experience everything that the Orlando area has to offer until the day come when I'm able to move there... Which WILL happen eventually!

 

[bruinsfan88]

Whew! I was gone for a few months there, but I am all caught up and back! Life went a little loopy there, with the trip in the middle, but things have calm down and I have caught up with your trip all over again! Things seem to be shaping up nicely ^_^ I'm going to bounce over to your October PTR and read up on that as well!

 

[Elevationist]

Whew! I was gone for a few months there, but I am all caught up and back! Life went a little loopy there, with the trip in the middle, but things have calm down and I have caught up with your trip all over again! Things seem to be shaping up nicely ^_^ I'm going to bounce over to your October PTR and read up on that as well!

Yay! Welcome back, Krissy! Thanks for re-joining me here!

 

[Elevationist]

4 days until FP+!
65 days until WDW!
************************************

Hey, ya'll!

So it's almost time for FP+, and naturally I'm FREAKING OUT. My time is this Sunday night. Yes, I'm counting it as Sunday night, not Monday morning, therefore it's 4 days from now! Not 5!

I think I have all my ducks in a row. At least I hope that I do. One problem: I have the very lofty goal of getting 7DMT on our first day at a very specific time... It's dawning on me that I need to have a Plan B in place, on the very likely chance that I can't get it! And I don't have a Plan B! Here's what I DO have, though... My desired FP+ choices are denoted in RED...

Thoughts? Concerns? Problems? Seeing anything that I'm not, ya'll? HALP!

As for that Plan B that was previous mentioned, I'm thinking maybe grab a FP+ for Haunted Mansion instead of 7DMT at 5:30pm. Then right after Wishes ends, beeline it to over to 7DMT and see how the stand-by line looks. Do ya'll think this could work out for me? This method is how I got an entire Splash Mountain boat all to myself last year during MNSSHP, because there was NOBODY back in the line yet...

I also did a little more shopping. WHERE IS ALL MY MONEY?! No seriously, I still have enough for the trip, but I need to STOP. I'm officially DONE.

So I bought a second pearl cage pendant, because I found it after I bought the Cinderella carriage one. This one is a rose that the pearl sits in the center of, which makes me think of Beauty and the Beast. I love them both! I figure I'll tuck both into my park bag, and then once I'm at Epcot and have my pearl, I'll slip it into each and see which one it will fit/look better in. (Or if I listen to @Chicago Mo , I'll end up buying two pearls... BAD INFLUENCE. )

Also, I recall that when I first posted about the carriage pendant, @cajunfan asked me about how big it was and if it would work on a Pandora bracelet, and I promised to post a photo for a better idea of how big they are. I decided to do it with each pendant, using a US nickel for comparison. So here you go!:

I think I also mentioned previously that I ordered some MagicBand skins too, for myself as well as Uncle Mark and Aunt Debby. (They went to MagicYourBand.com and picked out one each to go with their yellow and green bands.) They also arrive last week, I LOVE them!!!

I couldn't do anything with 3 out of 4 of them yet, since those are intended for the bands we'll each be receiving in November. But the silver sparkly one (and it's soooooooooooooo sparkly!) was intended for a grey one that I got in April. And I absolutely love how it turned out (the photos really don't do it justice)...

I actually decided I like them so much, I already ordered another one for my own yellow band (also from April) and it should be here this week. Sorry, @NJlauren !!! I just really do like these MagicYourBand ones much better because of the way they go all the way to the edges of the colored part. I'll post a photo of the new one once it comes in and I have it applied!

So back last year, just before my September trip, I discovered wireless portable chargers. I'm a power-user on my phone, especially on a Disney vacation. Between using it as my camera, then uploading those pics to Facebook all day long, as well as the whole MDE thing, my battery goes pretty quickly during a day at the parks. So I decided to order one of those chargers. My friend somehow found me an amazing discount code, and I got one for super-cheap! And let me tell you, that thing was a LIFESAVER during my September 2014 trip.

So I took it again with me for my April 2015 weekend trip, and it started acting really funky. The battery itself wasn't lasting as long, and I noticed that when I had my phone plugged up to it, my phone would get very HOT. So I said okay, done with this thing. Last week, with this upcoming trip in mind, I bought a new (and not cheap) one: The Anker PowerCore 15600 - Super High Capacity 15600mAh Portable Power Bank with 4.8A Output.

I read all the specs and reviews on it before deciding to buy it. I could tell from the above picture that it was a bit sizey, but figured that's fine, I'm going to have more than enough room in my new park bag since it's bigger than what I usually carry. But there was one spec I somehow managed to overlook... the weight of it. This thing is just over 13 ounces... DUDE, THAT'S 3/4 OF A POUND!!!!

But I'm still going to attempt to carry it with me like I have the last couple trips, and give it a chance. If it makes my bag just too heavy, I'll try to think of an inventive place to stash it in my ECV where it's unlikely to be noticed or stolen. (It has a non-descript black carry-bag of it's own, so it's not like it'll stand out as an electronic worth stealing.) So we'll see how it goes, I guess!!!

Okay, so confession time: For my last few trips, I did something pretty embarrassing. I ended up just putting all of my toiletries into a plastic Walmart bag, and shoving them in my suitcase. But then dealing with them in the room, as well as packing them up, was a huge pain in my butt. So for this trip, I decided to look for some sort of organizer or at least a carry case to put them in. I stumbled across a style of product that you are all probably already familiar with, but it's the first time I've seen them, and I think they are just brilliant! So the final semi-exciting purchase I made for the trip is this super cute toiletries bag:

I just love it! AND IT'S PINK!!! It folds down all nice and compact for my suitcase, but then when I get there, I can unfold it and hang it in the bathroom, and keep all my stuff organized and easy to find. I imagine this will save me a ton of time and trouble, which I'm really looking forward to!

Okay, that's it for today. Have an AWESOME week, ya'll!!!

 

[NJlauren]

Shopping I love shopping!

That magic band looks amazing! I want sparkles! Also I love the cages for the pearls! I did a similar thing with the first portable charger I got it was so heavy! I had to return it and get a different one! Wh oh I should probably find before my trip.

This is very important you do not need to apologize ever for something like that your being silly!

Also I am zero help on FP+!

 

[deedee2177]

YAY! For almost Fast Pass Times. I agree with using the Haunted Mansion as a back up in case you can't get 7DMT. I tried to get one for our 1st day and wasn't successful (I was able to get one later in the week), but hopefully it works out for you!

I really need to look into a charger like that for my phone. However, we are trying to go bagless into the parks this time (I know!! can you imagine?). Keith loves the idea of skipping the bag line and heading right into the park. I however get a little nervous not having my bag...it's like a security blanket! Then again it will be nice not to have to carry anything around. I think I might try the whole bagless thing on our arrival night activities and see how it goes, then decide from there...lol.

I love the organizer...I usually stuff all of ours in a big gallon ziplock bag and move on. However, my Mom did leave her organizer at my house during her last visit...I might just have to borrow that for the November Trip.

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Wow--look at you all organized with your toiletries. Do you mean to tell me that shoving them all in a ziplock bag and hoping it stays closed isn't the way to go?

I love the new pearl cage. Can't wait to see them both with a pearl! (Just assuming you'll take Mo's advice)

LOVE the sparkly magic band!!! Perfect for wearing with a tiara!

Oh, fast pass.....my only advice would be to just sit tight with the plans, wait to see what you can get, then tweak accordingly. I always get to a place where I can't plan any more and just have to wait (impatiently) to see what's available. Can't wait to hear how it goes!

 

[squeegee]

Where did you find that organizer? It's awesome! I have something in a similar vein that we used on the last trip, but I've used it a lot since then and it's getting a little ratty.

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Nothing embarrassing about your previous way of packing toiletries, that is what I tend to do!

 

[SwimminAtAKL]

I love that your list includes...A tiara!, a pink hair flower, Minnie Ears, and a pink shower cap! You are so awesome. : ) This gave me such a smile!!

 

[Pally]

Hope you are able to get your fast passess. Are you a night owl. I have trouble staying up late and don't look forward to trying to get mine in a few weeks at 1:30 in the morning. If we were not going the week of Christmas I would have waited until the early morning. What plan do you have that night. Strong coffee, snacks, etc.

 

[SarahDisney]

As for that Plan B that was previous mentioned, I'm thinking maybe grab a FP+ for Haunted Mansion instead of 7DMT at 5:30pm. Then right after Wishes ends, beeline it to over to 7DMT and see how the stand-by line looks. Do ya'll think this could work out for me?

Maybe, if you time it right. But remember that the posted time may not be accurate because you're not going to be the only one running over there after Wishes.
But ... don't give up hope on getting 7DMT. Even if you don't get it at 60 days, keep checking - I've gotten it closer to the trip. People drop their FP+, cancel, etc, and sometimes they open more spots, so you still have a chance, even if you don't get it at midnight.

I also did a little more shopping. WHERE IS ALL MY MONEY?! No seriously, I still have enough for the trip, but I need to STOP. I'm officially DONE.

Yeah, I know the feeling...
(I mean, it's not like I haven't even paid of my package yet but I still just spent $60 on cute running stuff ... oh wait, I did)

The decals look great! I love how sparkly the silver one is!!!

I read all the specs and reviews on it before deciding to buy it. I could tell from the above picture that it was a bit sizey, but figured that's fine, I'm going to have more than enough room in my new park bag since it's bigger than what I usually carry. But there was one spec I somehow managed to overlook... the weight of it. This thing is just over 13 ounces... DUDE, THAT'S 3/4 OF A POUND!!!!

I'm actually in the market for a new portable charger (mine is misbehaving), and you had me until this. No way I'm carrying around something that big and heavy in my bag. But if you're willing to do it ... go for it.

I ended up just putting all of my toiletries into a plastic Walmart bag, and shoving them in my suitcase. But then dealing with them in the room, as well as packing them up, was a huge pain in my butt.

Is this not a normal thing to do? Don't get me wrong, I have one of those fancy organizers (I got it for free when I was in college because of a program I did), and I actually usually use Clinique makeup bags for my toiletries (I have some pretty big ones from various bonus times), but I really thought most people did the random shopping or ziploc bag thing.
The new organizer is super cute, though.
And now you're making me feel like I have to dig up my fancy organizer for my trip!

 

[cinderkelly]

OH I love the decals, especially the silver sparkly one!! I love it! I may have to copy you and get one myself.

I've never used a portable phone charger, but I think they are brilliant, those phone batteries seem to run out soooo fast on vacation!

I'm probably zero help on the FP+ advice, but knowing you and your stealthy Yoda ways you will get everything exactly how you want it! Good she is! Yes mmmmmmm

You had your very own boat on Splash????? Awesome! Totally awesome!!!!

 

[hokieinpa]

So it's almost time for FP+, and naturally I'm FREAKING OUT. My time is this Sunday night. Yes, I'm counting it as Sunday night, not Monday morning, therefore it's 4 days from now! Not 5!

Well, I'm assuming you won't go to sleep so it does count as Sunday night. That's how Disney time works.

As for that Plan B that was previous mentioned, I'm thinking maybe grab a FP+ for Haunted Mansion instead of 7DMT at 5:30pm. Then right after Wishes ends, beeline it to over to 7DMT and see how the stand-by line looks. Do ya'll think this could work out for me? This method is how I got an entire Splash Mountain boat all to myself last year during MNSSHP, because there was NOBODY back in the line yet...

I think that if you can position yourself to be as close to Fantasyland as possible it could work! Another option - if you're willing to see the second parade on your MVMCP night, I think wait times will be pretty low during the first parade. You could try 7DMT then?

I also did a little more shopping. WHERE IS ALL MY MONEY?! No seriously, I still have enough for the trip, but I need to STOP. I'm officially DONE.

This is me ALL. THE. TIME.

But I've been really good since my last shopping spree. The only thing on my list are Christmas shirts and maybe Santa hats or reindeer headbands or something for the boys.

I just love it! AND IT'S PINK!!! It folds down all nice and compact for my suitcase, but then when I get there, I can unfold it and hang it in the bathroom, and keep all my stuff organized and easy to find. I imagine this will save me a ton of time and trouble, which I'm really looking forward to!

I love this! My toiletries are in a big Vera Bradley thing but this is much more organized!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I love the silver Magic Band cover. It looks very elegant. It will be perfect for Christmas.

We have a hanging toiletries bag that is very convenient. And having it hanging out of the way helps to keep the sink clear of clutter. I don't like to have all my stuff out for housekeeping to see.