But I Don’t Want To Be Patient!!!!!! ----An Early PTR

The title really says it all. I’ll spare you all of the doom and gloom, but the last 12 or so months have been abnormally difficult in so many unbelievably uncommon ways. The stress is overwhelming at times and we go through stretches where so many crazy things happen that I'm scared to think "what next???" I wouldn’t normally do a pre-trip report this early, but I’ve found that all things Disney seem to give me a temporary relief from the chaos… so I’ve decided to start my PTR as a form of WDW therapy.

For those that are new to my reports- I’m Sandy. We live in the Houston area, but I grew up in NJ and was a Florida resident for 7 years as well. I've been to WDW MANY times, but took a long hiatus after moving to TX. Yeah- this picture is from last year, but I figure DH and I really haven’t changed that much.


Speaking of DH (and he chooses to remain DH- although I’m looking for fun *yet tasteful* potential nicknames for this trip--SUGGESTIONS????)...


We also have two little girls….Kendall- who just turned 6 and Sammie who will be turning 4 right before this trip.



(taken at Johnson Space Center a couple of weeks ago)
In fact, this trip is all about Sammie. Last trip was a surprise trip for Kendall’s 5th bday and now it’s Miss Sams’ turn! With Kendall, you may recall that we were able to maintain the surprise until we were driving through the Maingate. We had to come up with an equally fabulous surprise for Sammie that was also totally unique. Initially I was going to have the Disney Store do it. I popped into the Houston Galleria location back in June and was informed with just 10 min notice, they could shift the store over to celebration mode…which sounded pretty darn fantastic. Then it occurred to me that Sammie’s bday is a weekday and the Galleria is about 40 min from my house = not going to happen. And while the personalized Disney Junior character greetings are cool- they just can’t be customized enough to make this work.

Someone gave me the great idea of putting helium filled mouse ear balloons in a large wrapped box and screaming “Surprise!!! We’re going to Disney World!!!” as the balloons sprung up from the box. I liked the idea, but it was just not enough. And then it hit me…the balloons would be at the end of a trail of gifts/clues. I mean- I was going to buy these little gifts anyway so, why not let them enhance the surprise? The girls are still a little young for a traditional scavenger hunt, so I decided on a yarn trail…but not just ANY yarn trail.

We are surprising the girls with a pre-park opening visit to BBB on this trip. I had racked up enough rewards points on my Disney Visa to buy costumes. So, I fibbed to the girls and told them IN JUNE that I needed to use my points right then for the costumes or else I’d lose them- so they needed to pick their Halloween costumes now. I really just wanted to be prepared. What I neglected to do was turn on the gender filter when I approached them to pick their costumes. Sammie is a bit of a tomboy and naturally, the two costumes below were the first things she asked for.

http://www.disneystore.com/costume-collections-the-avengers-deluxe-hulk-costume-for-boys/mp/1306154/1007603/
http://www.disneystore.com/costume-collections-the-avengers-deluxe-captain-america-costume-for-boys/mp/1306152/1007603/

I felt bad having to clarify that it needed to be a girl costume. Of course DH pointed out that I might be able to get a princess dress over top of the Hulk and get a tiara comb and extensions into his Hulk hair. UH-NOOOOO! So, the moral of this part of the story…always remember to turn on the gender filter if you need your kids’ Halloween costumes to double as surprise BBB attire. Eventually the girls settled on costumes and Kendall is going to be Merida in the light blue formal gown..and Sammie is going to be Rapunzel in her wedding gown. I was going to add pics of the dresses at this point to the PTR, but after “taking pictures” I got downstairs and realized I never put my memory card in my camera. Way to go Sandy! So, I’ll add those later.
The costumes are relevant b/c they correspond to the yarn on the surprise trail. Kendall will be following orange yarn to symbolize Merida’s hair and Sammie will be following yellow yarn to symbolize Rapunzel’s hair. They probably won’t pick up on this- so I’ll clue them in after we reveal the surprise.
So, the plan is to start the yarn trail at the bottom left hand side of our stairs. Gift 1 will be up on the landing on the far side so that downstairs is out of sight at this point. DH will follow the girls and video while I set up the rest of the surprise downstairs.
***Up Next - Details I have now of the gift trail***

 

[skeletor1990]

I just read through all of your planning...and I have to say I SO wish my mom had planned such a great surprise for one of my birthdays. Seriously coolest mom ever award. I am sure it makes it plenty easy to plan this trip when your girls are so adorable. The reaction video for your last surprise trip is just too cute. Also, I am really interested in seeing how the cake turns out. I never realized you could have such detailed, custom cakes made. Definitely looking forward to reading about the trip!

P.S. I LOVE your Lesportsac bag! Perfect for the parks.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I just read through all of your planning...and I have to say I SO wish my mom had planned such a great surprise for one of my birthdays. Seriously coolest mom ever award. I am sure it makes it plenty easy to plan this trip when your girls are so adorable. The reaction video for your last surprise trip is just too cute. Also, I am really interested in seeing how the cake turns out. I never realized you could have such detailed, custom cakes made. Definitely looking forward to reading about the trip!

P.S. I LOVE your Lesportsac bag! Perfect for the parks.

Awwwww- thanks!!! Hopefully they'll really love it. And by this time next week- the surprise will have been revealed and I can be a little more sane. The cake is coming together...in fact, that's what I should be working on right now. It's really amazing what some people can do with cakes. There is this guy up in Washington State who seriously can sculpt a cake into just about anything.

Cant Wait to use my new bag!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

OK- really just posting now in hopes that it cheers me up. Yes, I live in Texas, but I grew up in NJ and the destruction from Sandy has me beyond sad right now. Not that anyone likes seeing death and destruction, but I feel like a chunk of my childhood died in this storm. I won't go on about it, but I'm from NJ, spent a chunk of my life at the NJ Bayshore and down the shore in some of the hardest hit areas, and still have a ton of family and friends in the area. I'm so lucky that friends and family are OK, I know my feelings are nothing compared to everyone in the middle of it all, but I'm so shell shocked by the destruction of so many places I loved...so many places that helped me with my grief over 9/11...to the point where my excitement about this trip has taken a back seat to all of this. I'm hoping by posting a minor update that I can rekindle some of that excitement.

So, I wanted to share some of the shirts I got for the trip at the Disney Store Outlet last week...


The girls also wore their princess dresses tonight. I had a few minor heart attacks each time their feet caught in the hems and prayed they'd return from trick or treating w/o any real damage. Kendall's dress has a few minor issues if you look closely, but it's not bad. Of course she's sitting there saying she doesn't care, but she has no clue why I'm so freaked out about this.

So, here are a couple of pics of the girls in the dresses. The only wearings pre-BBB...












I had to pin them a bit b/c they're a tad too long, but it will be fine for BBB. Seriously, by that morning I just won't care. Poor Sammie's toes didn't like the Tom's too much, so we might have to opt for tights.

So, just left to tackling the Dora cake. It's coming along, but Dora's big head is making problems. Beyond that, I'm getting really ticked b/c the Contemporary has yet to respond about my cake. I sent a follow up email yesterday. I think Chef Brian will be back tomorrow and hopefully he'll reply, but I'm going to have to call if I hear nothing by Friday. Just not happy about that! EDIT...had to call today and found out that Chef Brian has been on vacay for some time. Might have been nice if the guy on the phone on Friday bothered to tell me this and maybe directed me to someone else. Oh well- the ball is rolling now and Chef is going to work up a quote with one of the other decorators over the weekend. Hope it's not sky high.

OK- hope all is well with everyone! Happy Halloween!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

First off- woohoo!!! Got my cake quote today! It's $137, which is pretty awesome IMO. Considering the sand castle topper I was looking at for an Ariel cake would have been $165 - and that's w/o any cake...$137 for the whole Celestial Mickey design is music to my ears.

Now to keep working on cake and cleaning on the house. All of the big decorations are done, but today I'm baking. I asked Sams last night about flavor and she said the flavor should be PINK Pink could be several things, but this time it was strawberry. So, it's going to be a strawberry poundcake, strawberry cheesecake filling, and creamcheese buttercream.

Like I said- PINK



I should be able to post a pic of the finished cake tomorrow night if there are no baking or decorating disasters. I'd post a pic of Dora, but I've become superstitious with cakes. Whenever I post before the cake is completed- I usually have cake wreck issues. Don't want to tempt fate.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Alrighty...here we are birthday eve and I'm so ready to do this and so nervous all at the same time. It's been a productive day though...did online check in earlier today ... put in my cake order today ...and the cake - my cake- is finished.


Dora Cake by HouCuseChickie, on Flickr

She's now occupying a huge chunk of our fridge since she and her trees and so darn huge.

I might post one more time with pics of the house all set up for the gift trail, but if there's no time...the next time I post... the surprise will have been revealed!!! WOOHOO cannot wait!

 

[jlsHouston]

I totally love your cake, I love Dora and get really annoyed at the grandkids when I put her show on and they tell me its for babies.. the cake is beautiful

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I totally love your cake, I love Dora and get really annoyed at the grandkids when I put her show on and they tell me its for babies.. the cake is beautiful

Thank you! It's so funny...I like the show and thankfully both of our girls like Dora, but something about her in toy form drives me bonkers. Still, I love the challenge of trying to make these things.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

No More Surprises
So, the big reveal was tonight. To say it wasn't the wonderful surprise I was hoping for would be putting it mildly.

The girls loved the surprise trail...in fact, Kendall now wants a whole bday party around a treasure hunt, but it all lost it's steam when we got to the big gift. It didn't help that nobody else yelled "surprise we're going to Disney World" with me. Well, DH said Disney World just after I did. DH said he was confused and figured I would have turned on the video sooner. I told him I'd play it as soon as the balloons popped out of the box. Still, the girls just kind of stood there...very little excitement over the news. DH even tried to confirm that they understood and it was one flat "yeah- we know." Kendall asked about when, thinking this meant we were leaving tomorrow, but finding out it's next week didn't help.

It just got worse from there. Kendall threw a fit b/c she felt she should have gotten more gifts even though it's not her bday and she got mostly the same things as Sammie. Sammie opened the gifts from my MIL and of course she much preferred those. There were more fits as we went into the cake, Kendall threw another fit, and I got a lecture about how I spoil the girls and that this is my doing.

I tried to talk to the girls about the trip once things calmed down a bit, but as soon as I started saying anything they'd get distracted and ignore me. At some point, Kendall seemed a little more interested while Sammie said she's rather just wait until we're there than find out about anything. I tried to tell Kendall about BBB and FLE, but there was so little excitement that I just stopped. By bed time I think they were both a bit more interested, but I think it's also because they could tell I was very sad.

After they went to bed, DH said he thought it went well and I disagreed. He said that he's sure they're excited to go and will have fun, but maybe they didn't get overly excited b/c it's not that exciting to them anymore to go to WDW i.e. by going once a year, even though they'd begged and it's been over a year, it's not really special anymore. Maybe he's right.

So, I won't be posting the video...it's pretty awful. Now I'm just trying to get excited again about the trip...b/c right now I'm not in a good place with this. We arrive in 9 days, and all I am is sad. I'm sure it will get better once we're there, but for now- not feeling good about this. Definitely- no - more - surprises.

 

[LeafsFanNL]

Wow,

I am glad to be able to comment on this PTR. In December of 2010 DW and I managed to get down to the World on a four night Adults only trip. the boys who are now 11 still don't know. We stayed at BC, but upon reflection would have rather been at YC. We had one of the rooms with no balconies, but there were a couple of other things you might not have thought of. All the dining is more accessable from YC. You have Yachtsman (My favourite in all of the World). Captains Grill, which we both like, and Beaches and Cream, which is in the middle. YC has two bars, and the BC bar is just as close to YC as BC. Also, the decor of the YC is more to our tastes. BC seems a little more worn, and I really didn't care for the artificial scent permeating BC. Looking forward to the TR

 

[jlsHouston]

well... regardless of the response this evening you did a great job putting this surprise together. The cake is(was) still awesome, all the little goodies you got really neat and your planning will result in a wonderful family vacation at the happiest place on earth...I think everything is going to be fine as the days run out to the last sleep before the world and the girls are going to get past the who got more or better presents...2 of the 3 of my kids did that stuff back in the 80's when they were little and the grandkids have done it too at bdays and Christmas..I think it is rather normal..and I am sure they are excited about WDW, it's just for whatever reasons tonite they had alot of excitement at once so they had issues differentiating the BIG SURPRISE from the teasers but come tomorrow and the days after they are going to be thrilled and you are too.

 

[Englebabies]

I am sorry about your disapponitment but I beleive like others that you will still have a wonderful vacation and the girls will get more excited as the time to leave gets closer.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Wow,

I am glad to be able to comment on this PTR. In December of 2010 DW and I managed to get down to the World on a four night Adults only trip. the boys who are now 11 still don't know. We stayed at BC, but upon reflection would have rather been at YC. We had one of the rooms with no balconies, but there were a couple of other things you might not have thought of. All the dining is more accessable from YC. You have Yachtsman (My favourite in all of the World). Captains Grill, which we both like, and Beaches and Cream, which is in the middle. YC has two bars, and the BC bar is just as close to YC as BC. Also, the decor of the YC is more to our tastes. BC seems a little more worn, and I really didn't care for the artificial scent permeating BC. Looking forward to the TR

This is good to hear. I see so many people singing the praises of BC, and while I'm sure it's nice I kept thinking "this is so not me." Definitely sounds like YC has its perks as well.

well... regardless of the response this evening you did a great job putting this surprise together. The cake is(was) still awesome, all the little goodies you got really neat and your planning will result in a wonderful family vacation at the happiest place on earth...I think everything is going to be fine as the days run out to the last sleep before the world and the girls are going to get past the who got more or better presents...2 of the 3 of my kids did that stuff back in the 80's when they were little and the grandkids have done it too at bdays and Christmas..I think it is rather normal..and I am sure they are excited about WDW, it's just for whatever reasons tonite they had alot of excitement at once so they had issues differentiating the BIG SURPRISE from the teasers but come tomorrow and the days after they are going to be thrilled and you are too.

I think we should be good by this time next week. I also put some of the blame on the rest of the adults. It's kind of hard to get excited, when only one of the 4 adults in the room is in crazy cheerleader mode. Some of the rest is normal sibling rivalry. Hopefully the excitement will start to build as we start drawing up our must do lists.

I am sorry about your disapponitment but I beleive like others that you will still have a wonderful vacation and the girls will get more excited as the time to leave gets closer.

Yeah, I think we're starting to hit a bit of an upswing...so hopefully all will be good by this time next week.

 

[Allygator]

No More Surprises
So, the big reveal was tonight. To say it wasn't the wonderful surprise I was hoping for would be putting it mildly.

The girls loved the surprise trail...in fact, Kendall now wants a whole bday party around a treasure hunt, but it all lost it's steam when we got to the big gift. It didn't help that nobody else yelled "surprise we're going to Disney World" with me. Well, DH said Disney World just after I did. DH said he was confused and figured I would have turned on the video sooner. I told him I'd play it as soon as the balloons popped out of the box. Still, the girls just kind of stood there...very little excitement over the news. DH even tried to confirm that they understood and it was one flat "yeah- we know." Kendall asked about when, thinking this meant we were leaving tomorrow, but finding out it's next week didn't help.

It just got worse from there. Kendall threw a fit b/c she felt she should have gotten more gifts even though it's not her bday and she got mostly the same things as Sammie. Sammie opened the gifts from my MIL and of course she much preferred those. There were more fits as we went into the cake, Kendall threw another fit, and I got a lecture about how I spoil the girls and that this is my doing.

I tried to talk to the girls about the trip once things calmed down a bit, but as soon as I started saying anything they'd get distracted and ignore me. At some point, Kendall seemed a little more interested while Sammie said she's rather just wait until we're there than find out about anything. I tried to tell Kendall about BBB and FLE, but there was so little excitement that I just stopped. By bed time I think they were both a bit more interested, but I think it's also because they could tell I was very sad.

After they went to bed, DH said he thought it went well and I disagreed. He said that he's sure they're excited to go and will have fun, but maybe they didn't get overly excited b/c it's not that exciting to them anymore to go to WDW i.e. by going once a year, even though they'd begged and it's been over a year, it's not really special anymore. Maybe he's right.

So, I won't be posting the video...it's pretty awful. Now I'm just trying to get excited again about the trip...b/c right now I'm not in a good place with this. We arrive in 9 days, and all I am is sad. I'm sure it will get better once we're there, but for now- not feeling good about this. Definitely- no - more - surprises.

Aaah I feel bad for you. Sometimes kids can be so unpredictable! I feel your pain after your last surprise was so wonderful. We went to Disney in 2010 ( I went with my daughter, a friend of mine and her kids). My daughter had a great time. Perfectly behaved, at the parks from opening to close no complaining. I went back again with my friend and her sister (who's an adult) bragging about how great my daughter did and here almost 2 years older and she was horrible. Didn't help with the the delay waiting on the plane for hours to take off. By the time we got there we were over 5 hours late and she was up for 15 hours at that point. I think it also didn't help not having someone else around her age with us since she enjoyed the last trip. I think I got boring to her after awhile. lol I'm sure as the week goes on the girls will start to get excited. I hope you have a wonderful trip!!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Aaah I feel bad for you. Sometimes kids can be so unpredictable! I feel your pain after your last surprise was so wonderful. We went to Disney in 2010 ( I went with my daughter, a friend of mine and her kids). My daughter had a great time. Perfectly behaved, at the parks from opening to close no complaining. I went back again with my friend and her sister (who's an adult) bragging about how great my daughter did and here almost 2 years older and she was horrible. Didn't help with the the delay waiting on the plane for hours to take off. By the time we got there we were over 5 hours late and she was up for 15 hours at that point. I think it also didn't help not having someone else around her age with us since she enjoyed the last trip. I think I got boring to her after awhile. lol I'm sure as the week goes on the girls will start to get excited. I hope you have a wonderful trip!!

That is so true. They are really starting to get super excited, so I think all is good. I think my friends at work were on to something with me having the wrong cheerleaders on reveal night. We skyped w/my parents (live in FL) tonight and they had a solid 15 min talk about all stuff Disney...so, just going to have to remember this pearl of wisdom should I ever try another surprise. I totally understand though about kids totally changing from trip to trip or even setting to setting. Kendall is total drama at home...quite the challenge, but at WDW she's always been really easygoing. Sammie on the other hand goes from being easygoing to a terror. I'm kind of bracing myself for what we're going to see from both of them this trip as it surely won't be the same. Thanks!

 

[Englebabies]

Glad to hear that the girls are getting excited. Have lots of fun and take lots of pictures.

 

[Allygator]

That's GREAT to hear!!! Glad they are getting excited!!! Have fun!!!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Ok...so now that we're days past the surprise and all is good (girls are even upstairs "playing Disney" and Sammie's wearing her lanyard/pins- she sounds like defective jingle bells )...I thought I'd share the pics I took of the surprise trail before the girls got home. I mean, even if the surprise fell flat at first, the trail was a huge hit to the point where Kendall wants a pirate bday party with a big treasure hunt.

So, let's head upstairs...

Stop 1 (before I extended the beginning of the trail downstairs- kept hidden until the girls were ready)

And now up the next set of stairs...

...for stop 2

down the hall...

...and into Sammie's room (she doesn't currently use the room since she prefers to be in with Kendall) for stop 3.

(yes, that's an air mattress. While we normally just use it for camping, if either girl is being really bad at bed time we'll separate them and someone ends up in "the bad girl bed.")

Now off into the play room for stop 4


Back down the hall...


...and into the guest room for stop 5


...and then Kendall's room for stop 6


Then we headed back downstairs past Dora


And it was time for the big box with the balloons, etc.

Speaking of the balloons...I was in a bit of a panic b/c I was afraid they might pop during inflation, but they worked out pretty well.

Also, I've always been skeptical of that HiFloat stuff that PartyCity pushes, but let me tell you- it REALLY works! These balloons floated for 3 days...which is unheard of with standard latex balloons.

So, now just getting that last minute stuff together...new sneakers for DH, a few articles of clothing for me and the girls, batteries for the leapster, and food/drinks for the road trip. I've never watched any of these shows, but my friend recommended Honey Boo Boo's GoGo Juice to keep me awake on the road...so, I'll be drinking Diet Mountain Dew and Diet Red Bull. Nice.

Today I have to wash/rainx my vehicle, start putting together outfits for the girls, start packing, and a few other little things. I have to get an oil change on Wednesday, but that's pretty much it minus 2 more days of work.

The big thing...I can say "I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD - THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

[Allygator]

Yeah it's finally here!!! Have a wonderful trip!

 

[TheMouseFan]

I'm glad the girls are more excited now! I am so worried that the same thing is going to happen to me. I haven't told my 4 year old that he gets to go in December with me and my mom. I am planning on setting up a treasure hunt for him Thanksgiving weekend to tell him, and I can just see the same reaction from him. I hope not, since just the other day he asked when we were going back to Disney, but you never know when they are that age! Hopefully it will help that his brother and sister will help me tell him and they make great cheerleaders!! Have a great trip!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I'm glad the girls are more excited now! I am so worried that the same thing is going to happen to me. I haven't told my 4 year old that he gets to go in December with me and my mom. I am planning on setting up a treasure hunt for him Thanksgiving weekend to tell him, and I can just see the same reaction from him. I hope not, since just the other day he asked when we were going back to Disney, but you never know when they are that age! Hopefully it will help that his brother and sister will help me tell him and they make great cheerleaders!! Have a great trip!

As am I! I came home from some morning errands and after taking a moment to rest DH turned to me and said "By the way, the girls are now SUPER excited for the trip."

As for your son's surprise, as I learned from this experience so much of this comes down to the cheerleading. My inlaws are great people, but they are not the right personalities to get the kids super excited for a surprise. So, just make sure you and everyone involved is super pumped for it. The fact that you can involve siblings should be a huge help. I think I may have also had too much going on at the big surprise moment. I loved the idea of the balloons popping out of the box and it was nice to have a way for them to "open" the gift, but I also think it would have clicked immediately if I just had the video and nothing else. My girls have been begging to go back, so if he's asked- I'd take it to mean he truly wants to return to WDW. I guess at least my girls didn't cry. You'll have to post how it all went. Good luck with everything!!!