TR...We are home

[cpdwiz]

We are in Congress Section....a 2br lockoff...Got in around 1pm, room was not ready until 3ish...Thats ok....Flatbreads at AP, AND WOOHOOO a TON of DVC merchandise. Got a nice pullover wind/rain member coat and jess got a nice blue SSR jacket...We were sitting in the rocking chairs at congress watching the boats and DD when the cellphone rang and our room was ready....Beautiful!! Only complaint, toothpaste on cabinet, and conditioner bottle half empty.....Luggage took until 5:15 which was not too good, as we needed cool weather stuff for our trek to the MK. ON our way there now!!!!

More to follow!!! ANyone else here?

[Muushka]

Sadly, we are not there.:sad2:

But it sounds like you are having a great time! Enjoy!:santa:

[LVSWL]

Have a great time! Hope the weather is wonderful for your trip!:)

[bama106]

Enjoy your stay. I see where the temps are going to be in the upper 60's and 70's most all week. You can't beat that for this time of the year. I hope we get the same type weather in alittle over a month when we are there. :goofy:

[cpdwiz]

Ok, so we leave Congress park, its nice we are right next to the stop, and head to the MK. Get our season passes, and for the life of me cannot figure out why Disney issues paper tickets for season pass holders? :confused3

We head into the MK, and are floored by the decorations. Beauftiful. We got there right at castle lighting time....WOW....You can watch videos, but you have to see it in person. Absoultely amazing!! Then off to the Haunted Mansion....Went to Cosmic Rays for some food, and then to the Laugh floor, where my daughters joke was used :)

Just walked around a little absorbing it all in, as we were exhausted...Today, Chef Mickeys and Hollywood Studios!!! More to come!!

Here are a couple castle pics:

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/cast1.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/cast2.JPG

[cpdwiz]

Here are the pics, not just links:

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/cast1.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/cast2.JPG

[jblrn2b]

Gorgeous pictures - keep 'em coming. Have a great trip!!!!

[sparkyboy]

thanks for the pics. have a great vacation.

[WilsonFlyer]

We are in Congress Section....a 2br lockoff...Got in around 1pm, room was not ready until 3ish...Thats ok....Flatbreads at AP, AND WOOHOOO a TON of DVC merchandise. Got a nice pullover wind/rain member coat and jess got a nice blue SSR jacket...We were sitting in the rocking chairs at congress watching the boats and DD when the cellphone rang and our room was ready....Beautiful!! Only complaint, toothpaste on cabinet, and conditioner bottle half empty.....Luggage took until 5:15 which was not too good, as we needed cool weather stuff for our trek to the MK. ON our way there now!!!!

More to follow!!! ANyone else here?

We're here too. We're in the Springs. So you're the ones who got our room in Congress!!!! :rotfl2:

It is beautiful here. SSR is much nicer than I expected though a little spread out as has been said a thousand times on this board.

Can't comment on the buses as we are driving everywhere which makes everything easier IMHO.

Koolish here today but hey; we're in FL and in WDW. Life is good.

[cpdwiz]

We woke up after a much needed night of sleep...Did I mention how comfy our beds are? And the tub after a long day WOW!!!

Off to Chef Mickeys.....Of course, we hit the gift shop at Contemp....OUCH...Why do they have so many cool pins?? LOL!!! Bought a jumbo 80th Mickey Pin....Outstanding...As usual, breakfast was great!!! From there we went to Hollywood Studios....Busy there today....We had a blast....Rock n Roller, Toy Store (179,500), Tower of Terror.....Lots of fun there....Then...OH MAN...The lights...Osborne lights....We were in shock...Amazing lights.....and SNOW on the Avenue of the Americas!!!! GREAT day!!!

Now we are waiting for our pizza and then relax...Tommorow morning, AK and EVEREST!!!!!

[cpdwiz]

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/eighty1.jpg

[Disneypirate85]

Couple weeks and we'll be there:thumbsup2

[podsnel]

LOVE the pin!!:love: Keep having a good time and keep telling us all about it!!:thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 Thanks!

And you're right about all those lights, on the castle and the Osbornes- just spectacular. We saw them all for the first time last year and were completely in awe...

[cpdwiz]

Off to Animal Kingdom. A couple pics from yesterday...OH, and to the folks who decorated their villa in Congress Park facing DD, very nice job.

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/now1.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/now2.JPG

[Muushka]

Ahhhhhh. I feel like I'm there.......:thumbsup2 :santa:

[bobbiwoz]

Great report and pictures!
Bobbi:goodvibes

[Chellymouse]

Great report and great pics! 9 days out and can't wait!!

[jblrn2b]

Keep those pictures coming!!!

[cpdwiz]

AK all day....Everest is amazing. Loved the parade too!!

Will post pics later, or tommorow...Its our "rest" day :goodvibes

[cpdwiz]

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/ak1.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/ak3.JPG

[drummer1616]

Off to Animal Kingdom. A couple pics from yesterday...OH, and to the folks who decorated their villa in Congress Park facing DD, very nice job.

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/now1.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/now2.JPG

MY GOSH MIKE!!!!!! The kids are huge,what are you feeding them?Randy

[Tara]

Ok, so we leave Congress park, its nice we are right next to the stop, and head to the MK. Get our season passes, and for the life of me cannot figure out why Disney issues paper tickets for season pass holders? :confused3



You'll be relieved to know they aren't actually paper - I don't know the material, but they're very sturdy and durable. :)

[cpdwiz]

MY GOSH MIKE!!!!!! The kids are huge,what are you feeding them?Randy

Chef Mickeys :rotfl2:

They are growing like weeds...Plus its been a few years....Its great down here....

[KeepSwimmingDory]

Awesome pictures and such vivid reporting--makes me feel like I am there. Hope you have a wonderful vacation! :)

Dory
:fish:

[cpdwiz]

Today, slept in....NICE....Its good to know you can actually sleep in a day and not worry about missing anything because you are a DVC member and can continue to come to Disney year after year......

All morning, Downtown Disney, hitting the shops....Made our own ears, bought some nice xmas ornaments, and PINS PINS PINS! Here are some pics of today...TONIGHT, Whispering Canyon!! Oh, and we swam today, how nice, swimming on December 4th!!!!!

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/08pinssofar.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/thurs1.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/thurs2.JPG

[KeepSwimmingDory]

Today, slept in....NICE....Its good to know you can actually sleep in a day and not worry about missing anything because you are a DVC member and can continue to come to Disney year after year......

I totally agree. We started enjoying WDW so much more when we decided we didn't have to do everything every trip because we knew we would be back.:thumbsup2

And yay for new pins!:)

Enjoyed your Osborne Lights picture too. :santa:

[uicbear]

Just a quick question, will be there on Sunday and wondering if the refillable mugs are still the YOMD design?

[alldiz]

OK....Thats it.....

I am booking my next WDW trip for the holidays.....I miss those decorations....I hope they do the castle like that again next year:headache:

Thanks for posting....Have a great trip:goodvibes
Kerri

[cpdwiz]

Just a quick question, will be there on Sunday and wondering if the refillable mugs are still the YOMD design?

We are using the 2007 mugs........

[cpdwiz]

We are off to Ohana and Epcot....Had whispering canyon last night, the WL was very nice...The tree was outstanding, and they had a Photopass guy in the lobby...Nice touch...Wonder why SSR does not do that??

The food was ehhh....We all had bellyaches afterwards....Our server was great, ambience was great.....

[marvali]

Loving the TR, and again CONGRATS on winning the DVC.

We had a great two day stay at SSR for our first DVC experience. Now we can't wait for our first trip "home" to AKV in 27 days. Keep us posted on the best sights so we can maximize our short trip. Can't wait to see the Osborne Family Lights. So glad they will still be going on while we are there. When do they start each night and how long does it run?

Look for AZDisneyDan and Perdie. They are doing a live report from Congress Park now also, after starting at AKV.

[PSC]

Thanks for the thread and especially the pictures! I'll be there myself soon enough!:cool1:

[dbprimeaux]

We were at SSR from Nov. 21- Dec 1st. We were also in Congress Park. We love being able to just walk to DTD. Great TR!!! See my TR (Live from SSR) I started it while there and just couldn't keep up...LOL!:santa:

[cpdwiz]

Loving the TR, and again CONGRATS on winning the DVC.

We had a great two day stay at SSR for our first DVC experience. Now we can't wait for our first trip "home" to AKV in 27 days. Keep us posted on the best sights so we can maximize our short trip. Can't wait to see the Osborne Family Lights. So glad they will still be going on while we are there. When do they start each night and how long does it run?

Look for AZDisneyDan and Perdie. They are doing a live report from Congress Park now also, after starting at AKV.

They start at dusk...Amazing lights.....I have not seen them, and we are near them :-)

[cpdwiz]

Ohana for breakfast....Good food, horrible server.....We will stick with Chef Mickeys for our Bfast.

Then off to Epcot....Monorail broke down in front of us, had to wait....Thats ok....Got to Epcot, nice decorations....We did Soarin, Test Track, and Whimpy Mission Space, which was great....Then off to the worlds. Got to the Merry mixer at 3, line wayyyy too long, maybe DVC should do them 2-3x a week, lessen the crowds?

Walked the worlds, a little advice, do it without 13 and 11yr old....Its more for us grownups.

ONe thing we are noticing about December....Getting darker early tires us out quicker. We liked our April and May trips better....Seems to us the parks are really busy, and more dirty than usual...We saw a ton of stuff floating in the waters at Epcot :confused:

BUT, all in all, we are having fun, and its STILL the Disney we love..

OH, I should have mentioned, TONS of DVC merchandise here....Hats, jackets, shirts.....Pretty much a good selection.

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/epc081.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/epc082.JPG

[Teachckg]

Thanks so much for the TR.... we were there last x-mas and it brings back great memories!

[cpdwiz]

Slept in again (LOVE our DVC) and then headed over to the Grand Floridian to check out the Gingerbread House. Very, very nice. Walked around then spent the day at MK. Took some nice photopass pics.....Stayed for the Castle lighting, then left, just before the rain.....Heading back for MVMCP tommorow night......

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/12608.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/12608a.JPG

[Alexander]

Ohhhh--you are following in our footsteps! We were in the Grandstand from 11/28 until 12/5! The Osborne lights were worth the entire trip! I have never seen anything so incredible in my life!

Yes, swimming on 12/4! We spent Thursday as a lazy day and hung at the pool, wandered around downtown, then went to Epcot for dinner and Illuminations. Thursday and Friday were the warmest days we had.

[plymouthmom]

Question for everybody who just got back. What was the weather like? I am heading to SSR in 40 days ( wow am i counting down or something....)

Anywho, I plan on doing the whole forecast/planning thing but looks like it was pretty warm for you all?

[cpdwiz]

Question for everybody who just got back. What was the weather like? I am heading to SSR in 40 days ( wow am i counting down or something....)

Anywho, I plan on doing the whole forecast/planning thing but looks like it was pretty warm for you all?

We have had coats on, and short sleeves.....We first got here, 60's...went up a little yesterday and day before it was high 70's..today 60...tommorow 70's when we leave tues 80's....

[TroyE]

With that kind of weather, you are going to get sick. Love the pictures, thanks for showing us your trip.

[cpdwiz]

Woke up late again, went and met with our guide....SURPRISE...Hats, playing cards and mugs for us from DVC....That was a nice treat...Toured BLT....WOW....MUCH better than the pictures....It was really nice...Talked about adding the 25 points, but the catch is you can only use those 25 points at the 11 month window, then use the rest at 7 months......Bummer.....Then back to downtown disney....swam a little then off to MVMCP...WOW...What a GREAT TIME that is.....the cocoa and cookies were awesome, the snow was great (it was cold enough for real snow) and the parade was awesome...Wishes was MAGICAL!!! No lines, rode Peter Pan in under 5 minutes!

Worth every penny for the MVMCP....Picked up some special pins and pin set....

My ONLY negatives about our whole trip.....
(1)RUDE people....Personally, I am against renting points to people, esp if you do not know them....SSR was dirty...And people were just RUDE...They dont care about the place....Even in the parks....Is it like this every December??
(2)Busses...How can Disney not be afraid of a lawsuit? Last night, our bus was so packed, it was horrible......This is just a liability waiting to happen....I realize times are tough, but run more busses....We will rent a car from now on....

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/12708.JPG

http://webpages.charter.net/dvcwinner/12708a.JPG

[marvali]

Wow, great picture with Santa and the castle in the background. I may have to add that one to my collection of favorites.

Glad you are having a good time except for the few glitches with some people and buses.

[cpdwiz]

Woke up this AM, after all night at the MK.....Brought breakfast back to the room, showered, and off to Everest!! Love that ride....Back to the room, to relax....DD had a migraine, so she slept while we swam....Worked out well.....Changed, then back for flatbreads (They are addicting) and a quick walk to the grandstands and off to HS for Fantasmic....WONDERFUL show with great weather......Then the Osborne lights....We could sit there all night watching and listening...Disney really did a superb job with that whole scene....

We ended up taking the Old Key West bus, because SSR busses were OVER CROWDED and the line was super long...Problem?? Downtown Disney people who park for free....DVC really has to look into this problem....No lie, 3 busses in a row were packed beyond capacity and the line was past the ropes into section 5...Old Key West was practically empty....We jumped on a boat, and met some nice people from NJ, and we talked about DVC and us winning...The boat captain could not believe we won, he said he never met anyone who won :confused3

On to DD for dinner...T Rex...Food was ok, ambience was amazing!!!!

Now its time to say goodbye to all at SSR....We are flying out at Noon tommorow.....This was a good trip.....Our only gripe....Rude people, packed parks, and bus problems.......Other than that, awesome again!!!

Next report comes in May, Boardwalk getaway!!!

[cpdwiz]

Well, we are back in Mass...Spent today around SSR, taking photos, and saying bye.....Flew SW into Hartford, nice flight....GOOD NEWS..

Just booked airfare for May!!! WOOO HOO!!!!!! :cool1:

[KeepSwimmingDory]

GOOD NEWS..

Just booked airfare for May!!! WOOO HOO!!!!!! :cool1:
Now that is the way to end a Disney trip! :cool1:

Glad you had a safe trip home and wonderful vacation! :santa:

[mecllap]

Wait a minute -- not so fast on planning the May trip:rotfl: -- I hope you come back here to post those photos you took around the resort. There are quite a few posted in other places, but maybe you took some different ones (?)

That castle and Santa photo is awesome, but I know better than to go at Christmas again (well, maybe I can do a single trip before school lets out next year!).

Have really enjoyed your reports -- major congrats on being the winner (you can bet there are gazillions of jealous people like me -- thanks for sharing it so well with us).:yay:

[cpdwiz]

Wait a minute -- not so fast on planning the May trip:rotfl: -- I hope you come back here to post those photos you took around the resort. There are quite a few posted in other places, but maybe you took some different ones (?)

That castle and Santa photo is awesome, but I know better than to go at Christmas again (well, maybe I can do a single trip before school lets out next year!).

Have really enjoyed your reports -- major congrats on being the winner (you can bet there are gazillions of jealous people like me -- thanks for sharing it so well with us).:yay:

Ill probably post the pics on my website when we are done editing...ill post it here...thanks!