Must See Attractions

While at the Mouse's house the next 9 days (only 7 full days though because of travel), we want to do as much as humanly possible. If we don't sleep, we don't care. We're paying to have fun, not sleep.

Here's a list of our must see attractions divided by theme park. Have any suggestions? Did we leave something out? Let us know by leaving us a comment!

Magic Kingdom

• Pirates of the Caribbean Ride
• Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor (Monsters Inc. is my fave Disney movie EVER!!)
• Mickey's Philharmagic Show
• Space Mountain
• Mickey's Haunted Mansion
• Aladdin's Magic Carpets (kiddie ride, Daniel's request, not mine)
• Jungle Cruise
• Splash Mountain
• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Hall of Presidents (Will they be adding Obama or McCain next...?)
• Liberty Square Railroad
• It's A Small World
• Cinderella's Carousel
• Dumbo
  
• Peter Pan's Flight
• Snow White's Scary Adventures
• Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Tea Party (teacups here we come!)
• Indy Speedway
• Stitch's Great Escape
• Dreams Come True Parade
• Spectromagic Parade

Epcot

• Soarin'
• The Sea with Nemo and Friends
• Mission Space
• Test Track
• Illuminations Show
• Honey, I Shrunk The Audience Show
• Spaceship Earth (the big golf ball, I believe)
• Universe of Energy
• Innoventions
• Turtle Talk with Crush
• Epcot Character Spot
• Travel around the World Showcase
• Coca-Cola Station Cool (beware of the Beverly flavor, I hear)

Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios)

• Toy Story Mania (newest attraction)
• Tower of Terror
• Block Party Bash (what is this again...?)
• Journey Into Narnia
• Aerosmith Rockin' Roller Coaster
• Lights, Motor, Action Stunt Show
• Fantasmic Show
• Muppet Vision 3D
• Movie Set Adventure
• Indiana Jones Show
• Studio Backlot Tour
• The Great Movie Ride
• Beauty & The Beast Show

Animal Kingdom

• Expedition Everest
• Kilimanjaro Safari
• Dinosaur
• Tough to be a Bug
  
• Kali River Rapids
• Jammin' Jungle Parade
• Forest Trail
• Conservation Station
• Affection Section (petting zoo)
• Jungle Trek
• Triceratop Spin
• Cretaceous Trail

As we go on/see the rides/shows we will strike them off the list in this post. Hopefully we can do everything during our 8 night/9 day vacation!

Almost done...yay!

Today I woke up early (8 a.m. is early on a weekend) to finish up some of my Etsy orders so that I wouldn't have upset customers. I got out ALL 9 of the orders I got this week. It was a crazy week, but I thank all of you who have purchased items from me. It helped my Disney fund.

Back to Disney stuff...then we went to eat breakfast. I had a plate from Elder's BBQ (yup, at 10 a.m.) and I didn't like it one bit. Bleh. That's what I get for eating BBQ at 10 a.m. After that we went to visit with Dad and Geno for a little bit, then went to Dollar Tree and Wal-Mart for some last minute items.

Finally, we're back home and I tackle the whole packing situation AGAIN. I think we're finally D-O-N-E. Thank you Jesus! I will go over my ultimate Disney packing list again tomorrow morning before driving out to San Antonio, but I think we're good to go.

My last project was to make envelopes for Mousekeeping. Now, some people will say to not bother tipping the house/mouse keeping, but I think they often have a thankless job. They clean up after people all day and don't get paid well. Okay, off my soapbox.

While the envelopes from the above link are cute, I didn't feel like wasting lots of color ink (sorry!), so I made cute versions utilizing the Waltograph font, some envelopes, some labels, Mickey stickers and good ol' Crayola markers. Here are some pics:







So, while they're not as fancy schmancy as they could be, I think our Mousekeeper will like them. I made 8 different envelopes/designs for each night of our stay. Hopefully they will like them so much they leave us cute towel animals:





Monday is almost here...yay!!

I feel so behind

Tonight I stayed home while Daniel went to the opening of the Beeville Trojan Football Season. No biggie, right?

Wrong. Very. Wrong.

We still have not finished packing, and I hate to leave a house dirty before a vacation. Who wants to come home from a vacation to clean? I sure as heck don't.

And where's Daniel? In Cuero. Don't know where that is? Neither do I. Oh, and I had cereal for dinner. Not even the good kind either...it's bland Cheerios.

But I got to spend time with my favorite little doggie Pee Wee. We had fun cleaning. By we I mean that he had fun watching me wash dishes, scrub the bathtub, bathroom sink, kitchen sink, floor, and make him dinner and take him to do his business 4 times. I didn't clean the toilet. That is Daniel's chore as illustrated by Mickey Mouse himself:





Hey it didn't come from me, it's the Mouse's orders. Take it up with him, Daniel.

So, while I have some parts of the house clean, my living room and dresser look like a tornado ran through the room. Here's the evidence:





Saturday's Goals:
1.) Finish packing.
2.) Make Daniel feel guilty.
3.) Apologize for making Daniel feel guilty.
4.) Clean kitchen table and dust all shelves, etc.
5.) Mail out all Etsy orders.
6.) Finish all other misc. house chores.
7.) Eat a non-cereal dinner.
8.) Relax.

Days 1-3

Day 1, September 1st, 2008

Our flight leaves San Antonio at 10:35 a.m., so I plan for us to be at the airport by 9:00 a.m. just to be safe.

Our flight lands in Orlando at 2:20 p.m., and at that time we will board the Disney Magical Express, which I think magically gets us to Disney in an express fashion for FREE! And by free I mean that Disney already snuck it in to the cost somewhere. Nonetheless, to not have to drive for 9 days is fine by me. I drive 65 miles daily, I need the break.

So, once we get to the ASMu (All Star Music) resort, we shall check in, freshen up, and head on over to Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM Studios) to have fun and eventually eat at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater for dinner.

I plan on having the baby back ribs because in "real" life, I wouldn't pay $19.00 for ribs, but at Disney I can since it's free. Thank you Mickey! Again, I know they will get their $19.00 because I am a sucker for souvenirs. Shoot.

DHS (Disney Hollywood Studios) is open late for Extra Magic Hours this evening, so we will be taking full advantage and staying until the park closes.

Day 2, September 2nd, 2008
-Get to Epcot by bus at 8 a.m. to take advantage of morning Extra Magic Hours
-Eat breakfast somewhere at World Showcase (France, perhaps?)

-Have lunch at Tutto Italia at 12:00 p.m.
-I think I will likely get the Lasagne "Al Forno"

-Hang out at Epcot

-Take bus back to our resort, take a nap, chill out.

-Catch a bus to the Magic Kingdom and have a counter service meal in the park. MK closes at 10 p.m. Possible counter service location to eat at: Pinocchio Village Haus

Day 3, September 3rd, 2008

-Get up at the crack of down to be in time for our breakfast date with Winnie the Pooh and friends at the Crystal Palace inside of the Magic Kingdom. It's a buffet, so I'll likely gorge myself and look like the female version of Pooh and feel like poo. All at the same time!

-Spend day inside Magic Kingdom. Take silly pictures with any and all Disney characters.

-In the late afternoon head on over to the Animal Kingdom and have a late lunch. Possibly have a counter service meal at Pizzafari where I will have the chicken parmesan sandwich.

-Hang out at the Animal Kingdom until the park closes at 8 p.m.

-Go to resort and chill out at the pool.

-Sleep.

At least it's not Christmas decorations

Having been to so many stores lately that have Christmas decorations up (yeah, I'm talking about you Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Dollar Tree, and Wal-Mart), it's rather refreshing to know that Disney at this point in time just put up some Halloween decorations. I can't wait to take pictures of all the cool pumpkins next week!

Counter service vs. Table Service vs. Snack

A bit of a background about the Disney Dining Plan:

A.) It's free for us.
B.) We get 1 table service meal, 1 counter service meal, and 1 snack per night of our stay. For us this means we get 8 of each.

So, if you see something about table service (TS), counter service (CS), or snack (S), this is my way of keeping track of our credits.

Table Service= Waiter/waitress served meal
Counter Service=Fast food
Snack= Anything under $4.00

Hanna...

Sadly I wish this post was about Hannah Montana since she is a Disney character. Character is probably an understatement. Hannah Montana is Disney.

But this post is about Tropical Storm Hanna (see, no "h"?) which is brewing in the Atlantic near where Gustav just left. I am worried that my dream vacation will be drowned out by Hanna and Gustav.

Go away!! Far away from Florida and Louisiana and Texas...so that

A.) My vacation won't be ruined
B.) So that gas prices won't go up

My co-worker Jessica probably seriously hates my obsession with weather.com as of late, but I firmly believe it is everyone's duty to make sure my vacation is fabulous or else they don't get a souvenir.

Coming up next...Disney Day 2 itinerary!!

Thanks a lot Michael Phelps...

For being at Disney today, August 29, 2008.


Why couldn't you wait until, let's say, next week...when I'm there, ya know?

Poor guy. I'm sure after being in China for 3 weeks he just wants to chill out, but the media frenzy continues as he is said to be on Oprah sometime soon with his other fellow Olympians. But, we all know that the show is going to revolve around Phelps because he is simply that good.

Read more about his appearance at Disney by clicking here.

M-I-C-K-E-Y!

Oh Mickey you're so fine you're so fine you've blown my wallet nearly empty. Hey Mickey!

Well, not as empty as it could be.

Welcome to my very first blog post as I gear up for My Disney Vacation. My name is Monica and I am going to Disney World in Orlando, FL for the very first time with my Prince Charming AKA-Daniel/fiance. Seeing as how this is a major vacation for us (the last time we went on a "major" vacation was to Vegas for 3 days in 2006...hey we're young!) I decided to chronicle our vacation via this blog.

Stuck at the office? Bored at home? Don't be! Come to Disney with me!

Hurricane Gustav has decided to form near Cuba and Haiti which is near Florida. Peachy.

Now, why am I going to Disney in the middle of hurricane season you might ask? Well, primarily because of the free food. To lure stupid thrifty people like us, they offer free dining if you stay at one of their lovely resorts. By lovely I mean that we picked the cheapest one on property, but I am sure it is still lovely. We are staying at the All Star Music resort, which is located near the Animal Kingdom.

Overall, having free food for 9 days saves us over $1,500. Our entire trip is costing less than $1,500 thanks to free food and a free flight from Southwest.

Coming up in the next post...our itinerary!