Our Disney Trip

We just got back from the best vacation ever to Disney World! I'm planning on doing a separate post for each day and then a big one at the end with all my tips and planning advice. We {ok I} have been planning this trip since July, so to say I was excited was an understatement. We didn't tell the girls until the night before we left, so it was tough keeping it a secret for so long, but it also gave me time to introduce some Disney things to them to make sure they knew what Disney World was when the big secret was revealed. 

I can't find the actual photo of this so I took a screen shot from my IG account. :)

I started getting us ready by making them some clothes, getting Tinkerbell gifts ready {little happies for the hotel room each morning}, and getting their travel buckets ready. 

We originally planned on driving, so I wanted to make sure I had enough activities to keep them busy on the long car ride. The dollar store and the Target dollar bin were the perfect places to look for Disney-themed goodies. I got the black buckets from the dollar bin at Target and used my Cricut to cut out their names and the Mickey heads in Vinyl. I couldn't find a true red so that rosy-red had to work. I put in sunglasses, card games, coloring pads, sticker books, curly straws, ring pops, activity books, Kleenex and wet wipe packages {Mickey and Disney princess themed ones found at the Dollar Tree}, water bottles {that I got from Target and personalized with Vinyl}, and some little plush Disney dolls that I got at the Disney Store at the beach {Curran got Cinderella and Sallie Cate got Ariel}.

In December, we realized we could get enough Southwest points to fly for free {and a 1.5 hr direct flight? No brainer!}. I was sad we couldn't use the actual buckets, but we just packed all their goodies in their little wheeled carry on bags. And I really had bought more activities than they would need in 1.5 hrs, so I saved some things for their Easter baskets or to give them at another time.

For Tinkerbell gifts {or in our case Minnie Mouse gifts}, I tried to think of things that went along with each day, but some were just fun things:

Epcot Day: Autograph books since it was our first day in the parks.
Magic Kingdom Day: princess crowns from Target and glow sticks/bracelets from the Dollar Tree to be used during the Electrical Parade that night. {You can find SO many Disney-themed things at the Dollar Tree, and they have Mickey and Minnie glow wands}
Animal Kingdom Day was Valentine's, so I wanted to get them a little something special: plush Anna and Elsa dolls that I got at the Disney Store a while back.
Hollywood Studios Day: new Disney pajamas
Last Day: They got to each pick one souvenir.

A lot of people do Tinkerbell gifts at night, but I didn't think I would be able to surprise them at night, and I also figured they would be to worn out to be excited about much {and it turns out they were asleep before we got back to the room most nights}.

I got the red bags at the Dollar Tree and used the vinyl to personalize them. So easy!

I ordered the autograph books, bag tags, and activity books from here, and they came with a piece of card stock that I copied in order to have one each day to use for our hotel room gifts.

Activity book, bag tag, and autograph book.

Another fun thing I ordered was this first aid kit to keep in my park bag so I could easily find hand sanitizer, band aids, etc. I got a lot of ideas from this blog, including this one.- she is a Disney planner.

The pic loaded upside down, but I'm too lazy to fix it.

I also appliqued some fleece blankets for the to use in the car {originally} and also in the parks because I knew it would be cold in the morning and at night. I got them for $3.99 at IKEA, and I was so glad I had them! Both of the girls loved using them and they were huge and warm. They were definitely needed at night, and SC loved curling up with hers for her stroller naps.

Finally the night arrived when we got to tell the girls we were going to Disney! John picked both girls up that evening, so I could get some balloons after work and then head straight home to set out their goodies.

Curran had to read the sign that said, "Curran and Sallie Cate, We are going to Disney World!" But the Disney font gave her a bit of trouble and she couldn't read her own name! :) But she quickly figured it out and, and after she read it, she looked at me and said, "For real? We are really going to Disney World?"

Up next...our trip, day 1!