Our Final Pre-Trip Walt Disney Wednesday

That's right, I can't believe it!  We're just under 60 hours until our plane takes off and we head for Disney World.  It's been a whirlwind planning for this trip since May, and now we're in the final hours.  We started the countdown at over 200 days, and it's practically here.  Bryan and I just have to get through this week, which easier said than done, especially for Bryan.  He has a lot to do for work this week, so it's been particularly stressful for him.  We spent some time together last night, but we didn't really have a chance to go over any last minute plans for the day of.  I've managed to get a ride to work and a ride to Bryan's work from two absolutely amazing coworkers, and then we're going to leave Bryan's car at his friends' house (they live near the airport) and Uber from there to the airport.  It sounds complicated, but it's actually way easier and cheaper than leaving his car there for ten days.

So, I've been driving Bryan a little bit crazy obsessing over our FastPasses.  I haven't cancelled anything, but we didn't use all our Hollywood Studios FastPasses.  Since I wrote my Hollywood Studios blog post, they did change up the FastPass tiers, which I was happy about, but we still didn't get any new ones that we really wanted.  Like I talked about in my FastPass blog post, once you use up all three of your FastPasses, you can get new ones, but you have to use up both Tier 2 ones, which is a little unfortunate (but it makes sense).  I added Muppet*Vision 3D to our Hollywood Studios day and the meet and greet with Mickey and Minnie in Animal Kingdom, but those were just so we had them, they can easily be changed later on if we need.  I don't want to change the Mickey and Minnie one, but we may change the Muppet*Vision one to another time if necessary.

In terms of packing, I have a pile of stuff that's been accumulating for a few weeks now.  Whenever I think of something I need to pack, I simply throw it into the pile.  I do have a list, so when I pack, I'll go through the list and make sure I have everything.  When it comes to clothes, it's actually been fairly easy because I made all our shirts for our trip.  In the short run, this was a pain because I had to cut all the vinyl, assemble everything and iron it on.  There were some stressful moments, and I did mess up a shirt or two, but not in a way that's overtly noticeable.  I'm purposefully not posting the final products because I want to keep it all under wraps until we get to the parks.  You'll just have to check back each day either on Facebook, Instagram or right here on my blog to see what we wore and what I made.  I will tell you that each shirt was carefully chosen, and they might not match, but they follow the same theme.  Also, Bryan had complete control over what shirts he will wear.  I've been asked how I got Bryan to wear shirts like this, and it was actually pretty easy since we picked them together.  We did this before at AwesomeCon, and then we did have matching shirts (pictured to the right).  Bryan was actually the one who said, "Let's do Star Trek shirts" and picked the design, while I'm the one who made them.  It's one of my favorite shirts that I've made, and we got some compliments on them, which is always reassuring.

Up until this week, I've been avoiding looking at the weather for two reasons: I know it's going to change, and I didn't want to jinx it.  With less than a week left, however, I figured the weather would pretty much be accurate (ish), and I had to know what to pack.  To be honest, I was expecting temperatures in the mid-70s, not in the low to mid-80s.  It's definitely a pleasant surprise, especially given the fact that it's been dreary and in the 40s or 50s here (it's apparently going to be freezing here in Maryland the day after we leave, but that's not our problem).  So, that's cause me to rethink my packing list.  Previously I planned on packing pants and short sleeve shirts.  With this shift in temperature, however, I'm opting more for capris and t-shirts.  I don't want to pack shorts because it's supposed to be in the mid-50s or 60s in the evening.  This also means I'll have to bring a few sweaters to carry around in the park for the evening.  I'm definitely excited about the warmer weather because that means I get to wear sandals, but that means I want to get a pedicure in addition to the manicure I'm getting after school today.  Oh well, I'll look cute.

Speaking of packing, there are a few things that I'm definitely going to make sure I pack.  First, an unhealthy number of external chargers.  I have two larger ones (including one affectionately called "the brick"), along with a few smaller ones that size of a tube of lipstick.  I doubt we'll need all of them, but it's better to be safe than sorry.  I just need to make sure to pack enough micro-USB cords to charge all of them at night.  I also bought a tube of Epsom salt gel.  Theoretically, you put it on your feet at night, and it helps with some of the pain and discomfort from walking all day.  I have no idea if it actually works, but some of the Disney Facebook groups I'm in highly recommended it, so I thought it was worth a shot; it's not like it was very expensive.  I also bought us ponchos.  I don't do rain, I hate being wet.  I know it rains often in Orlando, and I wanted to be prepared.  Hopefully we won't need them very much, but they're better to have and not need than need and not have.  Even though I'm excited to wear sandals all week, I'm also bringing some closed toe shoes to rotate through if my feet need a break.  This is another tip I learned from the Disney Facebook groups.  I'll probably wear my sandals two days in a row and then see if I need a break from them.  In all, I'm bringing a pair of sandals, a pair of sneakers and a pair of ballet flats that are super comfortable.  Finally, we're bringing our own water bottle.  Many years ago when we were in Dollywood in Tennessee, we learned if you bring your own water bottle into a park and ask for water, they'll fill it for free.  It's usually tap water, which may not be ideal, but it's way better than paying $4 for a bottle of water.

In terms of preparation for next week, I've asked my professor for the work for next week so I can do it this week and not have to worry about it on vacation.  Unfortunately, my professor is sick, so he hasn't given me the work yet.  I still have time before we leave (the assignments for this class don't take me nearly as long as previous classes), so I'm hoping he'll get back to me by Friday morning so I can crank it out before I leave.  Fingers crossed.

When I first outlined this blog post, one of my biggest concerns was getting a boarding group for Rise of the Resistance.  I've heard stories of people getting to Hollywood Studios at 6 AM so they could get a boarding group.  At the same time, I recently heard about people who got there at 6:45 and got a boarding group that rode the ride by 11:30 AM, so I'm torn about how early to get there.  Our travel agent and her husband just went this past week and rode it, so I'm going to ask her (or, Mrs. Bobby, if you're reading this, let me know).  It's definitely something we want to ride, and, like I said before, we have an entire day dedicated to Galaxy's Edge and Star Wars stuff because we're not entirely sure how long the lines are going to be.  There are now FastPasses for Smuggler's Run, but by the time we found out, they were all gone.  Unfortunately, this means a significant wait in line to get on, but we already know that that's going to happen, so it won't be as bad (in theory).

All in all, I can't believe our trip is practically here.  It's been a whirlwind of planning, which, strangely enough, I've absolutely loved (I love planning trips).  There have been some stressful moments, but we're finally (almost) there!  Even though we started planning this back in May, I spent almost 11 months before that begging and pleading to go to Disney World.  Now, we're almost there.  I wonder what I'll ask for next...

So, next time I post about Disney World, it'll be from our trip.  My goal is to post every day after we get back from the parks, but we'll see if I actually follow through on that.  It'll all depend on how exhausted I am.  It's going to be a long, exhausting and exciting trip.