Three Caballeros

Well, here we are, 3 days until "The Day". The first thing that came to mind was "Three Caballeros" and now I can't get that out of my mind. What a great little Disney movie from way back in 1944.

Anyway, I've gone way off on a tangent... back to day 3.  We are mostly packed with the exception of the things we can't do without until Friday morning. It's late in the evening, and I should probably be getting some sleep.... but I'm so excited about surprising my daughter, that I just can't wait myself.

So tonight just a short & simple blog about packing. Make sure you pack at the very least 3 days out from your trip. This will save you a lot of headache of looking for things at the last minute. We spent about 2  hours packing clothes tonight... just clothes mainly. I can't believe we spent almost 2 hours on clothes.... but we did. We are going on a 9-day trip, and washing 1 load. So not alot to pack, but trying to find my daughter's shoes, and a missing Mickey Tie Dye cost us some time. So just to reiterate, you don't want to be scrambling on the last evening, start several days out.

Tonight is also a great night to charge up all those cameras. If you are taking any cameras or electronic devices. Get them charged now instead of later. If you charge them overnight, you can slip them into some luggage in the morning, and check them off the list.

So here's my question for anyone reading this. Excluding any clothing, what are the 3 most important things you must pack for your Disney Trip?

A Not So Scary Halloween!!

OH NO!!!

So we are just about ready to head off to the Mouse's house, when I suddenly realized, WE HAVE NO COSTUMES!!!! That's right, I bought Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Tickets, and I forgot about costumes. Now I know many of you are questioning why we would need costumes, but from everything I'm told from those wonderful folks that frequent the place of dreams, if you are without some sort of costume or theme for your group, then you will be in the minority.

Then I got to thinking that costumes are going to be awfully hot for September, and came upon a numbe of people mentioning Disney Halloween Shirts. This sounds like an awesome plan to me. Its just too hot in September in Orlando to be suiting up into a costume.

Diva Deb's Boutique

I found a wonderful Designer on Etsy, Debbie, of Diva Deb's Boutique, who managed to help me out at the last minute. She has a plethora of designs to choose from. I highly recommend her and going this route rather than trying to put up with hot costumes.

For those of you travelling in October, a costume may work well. Just remember, this is Florida we are talking about, and I can tell you I was sweating in November last year while I was fishing in the gulf, just be fore lunch.

It's gonna be a hot one this year. So get some custom Halloween shirts made, and have a cool and safe Not So Scary Halloween

Second Star to the Right, and Straight on till Morning...

Peter Pan

Wow, everything seems to be creeping up on us as our time to head off to Neverland is soon approaching. It's been 10 years since I was last there, but all of the familiar sights, sounds, and smells are coming back to me as the day fast approaches. I don't know who will be more excited on the day we depart for this magical place, the girls, or myself. I've been waiting to take my daughter to DisneyWorld for ages it seems, and soon that will come to a close as well, and hopefully, a little Pixie dust will come our way, and it will a magical trip that she will remember for years to come.

What's a trip to that magical place though without some pre-planned touring. This will be my first time using a Touring Plan, and I am using Tour Guide Mike. I've looked at a number of them available, and this one has become my favorite. Not only does Mike Hewell provide some great sample tours, updated park information, and just all-around great touring advice, but the most important thing I think he brings to the table is the TGM family. The folks I've met on the TGM forums have been an absolute treasure during this entire process. They've provided countless answers to a number of things that I am trying to plan for our trip. I could probably spend a day blogging about their input about touring plans.

Dana's TGM Itinerary & Monica's Cards

One of my new TGM friend, Dana, was nice enough to provide us with a photo of her touring plans that I've posted here in the blog. She managed to get her Monica's cards (we'll get to that in a minute), aTGM  itinerary all printed up and laminated. No need to worry about paperwork getting torn up on the trip with laminated info. This a great trick if you haven't done some formal touring before. I highly recommend it. Dana's done a wonderful job with her paperwork here, and I hope to have mine looking at least half as good as hers before the trip. She also managed to take the cards, and update them with the latest information based on Mike's recommendations.

Tour Guide Mike

One of the things she has in the picture is her Monica's cards on rings. Monica's cards are lists of attractions and rides in the parks, with information about the ride, and when the best time is to actually go to the ride. Again, this is one of the things I like about Tour Guide Mike. He doesn't just believe in sending you on a trek by doing ride A, then B, then C, etc. There are a innumerable ways to tour, and if something comes up when you are touring, its nice to know you have the equipment to make a change in the park quickly. After reading so many of the post on TGM, you should have a good idea of what to do as well. It's just a really great site. I highly recommend you pay out the $18.00 for his touring advice, and most importantly for access to the TGM family.... after all he's providing a money back guarantee, and I am already happy to say that unfortunately, he won't be giving me my money back.