Two posts in one day??  I know I know, but this one was a special request.  Plus, I love thinking about what all I'm going to bring with us on our trip, even if it is 3 months away.

I'll start with one of my go to websites for a great detailed image of packing items, courtesy of wdwprepschool.com.  Then I will follow with my must Bring and even a must do list for Walt Disney World.  Link to her blog
​http://wdwprepschool.com/the-ultimate-disney-world-packing-list/

Walt Disney World Must Dos and Must Brings:

• *I always pack my daughter's outfits all the way down to hair bows and underwear, in individual plastic gallon bags. That way I can get ready and tell her or husband to just grab a bag out of the suitcase. Bam! She's dressed. Plus, it's always good to have plastic baggies for misc. stuff you get at Disney, so you can reuse them. 
• *Rope Drop, Be There. We do it for all the parks, but if that is out of the question at least try to do it for Magic Kingdom.
• *Buy and bring cheap dollar store rain ponchos.
• *Bring band aids or something for blisters. Lots of walking. Lots and lots.
• *bring "mole skin" (small pieces of a felt-like material that you cover existing blisters with) See Above
• *Find the Gaston meet and greet in Fantasyland. You will not regret it. He is awesome.
• *Take a bathroom break in the restroom by Rapunzel's Tower in Magic Kingdom. It's fancy, that's why.
• *You can hoard your Disney shampoos and stuff. Tell a cast member you need more everyday and shove some in one of those gallon zippies I already told you to bring. Then when you get home and are missing disney, just lock yourself in the bathroom and use your disney bath products.
• *Want an inexpensive and super fun souvenir? Locate and collect pressed coins!! See link below.
• *Bring a larger than you need suitcase so you have room for all those Disney souvenirs on your return trip home. There are laundry rooms, dry cleaning, and valet laundry services at all Disney resorts. Save yourself some money by packing a little detergent. Lay by the pool and throw in a load so you can rewear those shorts, or shirts, or pjs.
• *Make special envelopes for Mousekeeping tips for each day! Perhaps leave $1 per person staying in your room and a little note of how you are spending your day! Something fun to do before you leave for that magical world!
• *Don't NOT buy a balloon in the park because you know you will not be able to take it on your plane trip home. Go ahead, then on your departure date, regift that balloon to a child arriving in the Orlando airport. You'll make their day.
• *Get some magnet "stickers" to decorate your hotel room door or vinyl ones for your window. Why? Because it's fun and you're at Disney, that's why.
• *A mini fan, preferably one that squirts water. It's dang hot, that's why.
• A squirt bottle (see above)  Enough for everyone in your party, because fighting, that's why.  
• *Reusable ice packs. Refreeze each night in your room fridge, to be used to keep water bottles and snacks cool and to cool you and yours off.
• *Sunscreen lots and lots of sunscreen. It's Florida and they don't call it the Sunshine State for nothing.
• *Sunglasses and sun visors, see above for the whys.
• *Extra Ziplock baggies, multiple sizes. For snacks and to keep things like iPads, iPods, iPhones, cameras, etc. DRY in the event of rain or Splash Mountain!
• **And last but not least, two words: DOLE WHIP. Do it. Trust me.

Feel free to add in the comments section what your family considers to be MUST DO or MUST BRING items for your Disney vacation.  Or if you are considering an item, but are not sure, just ask.  
 
http://www.themouseforless.com/.../pressed-coins-checklists/

What we consider when choosing a resort:

1. Believe it or not, Bed Size.  I'm not kidding.  Value resorts have mostly double beds.  My husband and I love each other, but you know what keeps our marriage strong, sleep.  He doesn't want me all up in his business and I don't want him all up in mine for an entire week on vacation after a full day in theme parks.  We have a king size bed at home and yeesh, the thought of a double bed for a week is not happening for us, if we can help it.  ALL moderate resorts have queen size beds and some rooms have a king size bed.  
2. Price.  Of all the moderate resorts, I have found that Port Orlean's Riverside tends to have the best prices.  The moderates generally cost about the same, but it must be an availability issue, because almost every quote I do, or every time we are shopping for ourselves, POR has the best prices.
3. Location.  What is close by?  Well, for PO-Riverside, it is closest to Epcot, but to be honest every value and moderate, and many deluxe resorts consists of a bus ride to and from theme parks and that is not necessarily the the happiest ride on earth.  BUT at POR, there is an added bonus of the boat rides through the canal system.  Just a 20 or so minute boat ride takes you to Disney Springs.  You make a stop or two on the way, but it is really a nice relaxing ride along a beautiful canal system that highlights DIsney's resort setting.  It has literally been the reason we've come back to POR.  

  

We (my family of 3) decided we were more than ready to head back to walt disney world towards the end of 2015.  After looking at dates and crowd counts, we decided to return to Disney in May of 2016.  

Whats important to us when planning?
1.  Where we stay
2. how crowded will it be

That's pretty much it.  We learned after our first trip that we need a full week in Florida.   That gives us 2 days for travel (coming from north of the mason-dixon) and 6 days worth of park action.  Normally we don't plan on visiting a park the day we arrive, but this year, we are splurging a bit by staying in a deluxe resort near epcot, and booking an early arriving flight.  (more on the resort choice in a later blog)

​Our Dining reservations were booked precisely on the 180 day mark.  I will discuss those choices in a later blog, as well.  I've already changed and rearranged them several times and will most-likely continue that pattern until we actually sit down to eat.  

So with nothing left to do but wait for my 60 day fastpass reservation window to open, what's a disney-crazed mom to do??  Well, this mom plans out our clothes.  Not kidding.  

Today I started working on the t-shirts we will all wear while we are there.  I either create or purchase digital images, then have a company put them on shirts for us all to wear.  My reluctant husband even plays along, which is honestly quite remarkable.  Ask anyone.

The first year I did this, I had so much fun looking for images and talking my husband into wearing themed shirts.  Here's our last collection.  Note the steelers shirts.  those sealed the deal.  we will get new ones for this trip

So this weekend, I started the 'what are we going to wear to disney ' campaign.  It always follows 'what are we going to eat at disney ' campaign, by about 1 month.  
Here's how it's going so far:

1. I want to do at least 1 Disney bound (google Disney bound, you'll see what i mean) outfit for myself and my daughter.  mine will be Minnie mouse themed (simply black shirt, red shorts, red shoes) and hers will be Mabel from gravity falls. I made her shirt design today and will have it put on a shirt with our others closer to trip time.
2. We are getting Star Wars themed Mouse Head shirts made.  Haven't decided on the characters just yet.
3. There is a new Dining experience at Hollywood Studios called Club Villain.  I'm all over that, so naturally, we need Disney Villain shirts.  I'm working on that too.
4. New Steeler's Mouse Head shirts for all 3 of us.  Daughter didn't get one last time.  She was not happy about that.  
5. We are also considering "Inside Out" character shirts.  If I can get my girl to make BingBong or Anger for my husband, it's a go.  

So that's it for now.  I guess it seems crazy to do all this, but it keeps me busy and it gets me excited about our upcoming trip. Plus, I get to look forward to the delivery from the shirt company, which is also fun!  

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