TheTXTaylors5
He's the Mickey to my Minnie
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2006
"We're going to Disney World for Christmas!", that is what we told our children four months ago.
Never in all my wildest dreams did I think I would be planning a trip to Walt Disney World for Christmas THIS year! We will be waking up Christmas morning at the place "Where Dreams Come True"!!!!! Can you tell I'm a wee bit excited about this?!?!?!?!
OUR WDW HISTORY
Bill and I never went to Walt Disney World as children. You could say, we didn't have "Disney Parents". Bill and I always thought Walt Disney World was for people with children. So, we never went before we had children. Our first visit was back in 2004. It was a quick trip. We were visiting my Dad at his winter home in Florida for Thanksgiving and thought since we were in the area, let's take the kids to Disney World. They were 4 and 2 at the time, Cole (DS5) wasn't even an idea at that time!
We went without any plans or any pre-trip research. We booked the hotel and just showed up. Our first WDW resort was the Caribbean Beach resort. It is cute and reminded us of our honeymoon in the Bahamas. We only made it to two parks that trip, The Magic Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios (MGM Studios back then). We had an amazing trip. I finally got to see Cinderella Castle in person. I think I was more excited than the kids though. But to be honest, the "magic" didn't hit us that trip. I wasn't online as soon as we got home planning a way to get back to WDW. The magic hit us on our second trip to WDW.
Every year, Bill and I take turns planning our Anniversary celebration. His turn always falls on the milestone Anniversaries. For our Tenth Anniversary, Bill surprised me and booked us on a Disney cruise and stay at the Beach Club resort. He knew whatever we did, I wanted to include the children because Cole was still so little. We had a great and romantic cruise taking full advantage of the kid clubs and Flounder's (babysitting for babies). Our stay at the Beach Club was nothing short of perfect. Being so close to Epcot, we finally experienced Epcot. To my surprise, the whole family enjoyed the park. I had always thought Epcot was just for adults. Well, we quickly found out that it's not just for adults. My kids love Epcot! During that trip, we saw our first IllumiNations and I was hooked. I looked over at my family ... no cell phones, no screaming kids ... just a family spending some quality time together. Thank you Walt! Since then, if we're not at WDW, just getting back from WDW, I am planning our next trip to WDW. I can't get enough. Each trip is a different experience. As the children get older, they want to do more attractions. There are many, many more magical years ahead at Walt Disney World for this family. I can't wait!
We've been to WDW numerous times (16 trips and counting). The past few years we have been at WDW for the week of Thanksgiving and the week after. So, returning for Christmas just didn't work out (money and vacation time for DH (Bill) ). Plus, we have been "obligated" to take part in the extended families' holiday festivities.
AN EPIPHANY
This past Christmas Eve, it started to snow lightly during the daytime. We live near Dallas, Texas. So, this was a BIG deal. As the day went on the snow kept falling and got heavier. We had plans to drive to Bill's sister's house which is about 40 minutes away for Christmas Eve dinner with his family. Bill is the "baby" of eight children. So, with children, grandchildren and great grandchildren there would be well over 50 people at the gathering. It was such a winter wonderland outside. We wanted to play. But, I had to make my annual Christmas Eve lasagna (they don't let us in the house Christmas Eve unless I bring my lasagna. ) and we had to get the kids bathed and ready. So, no time for a snowball fight just yet. However, it didn't stop Bill from pelting me with a snowball on my way to the minivan. He's a jokester! We hopped into the minivan on our way and the roads were icy and the snow was well over a foot by now. After sliding a few exits, Bill and I looked at each other and no words were needed, he got off at the next exit and headed back home. Bill made the call to let his sister know we tried but wouldn't be making it. We knew the roads would only get worse as the temperature dropped. So, back home we headed with dinner already made! With Bill driving home very slowly, we made it home safely. Once inside our warm and toasty house, we stripped off our "fancy" clothes and put on some snow playing clothes. Bill is from Texas and has never had a white Christmas Eve or Christmas. So, this was a big deal for him. I have lived in Texas for sixteen years, but I am originally from Massachusetts. I have seen plenty of snow in my past. 
It was fun to see my BIG kid get excited about the snow. After the first annual Taylor Christmas Eve snowball fight, we headed back inside to get into some dry clothes and to enjoy the lasagna.
It was such a nice laid-back evening with dinner and relaxing as opposed to the usual chaos of Christmas Eve at the in-laws. After dinner, as Bill and I were sitting on the couch watching the movie marathon of A Christmas Story (we love this movie!), we started to discuss going away for Christmas next year. We are always letting family dictate our holidays. For once, we were doing something for ourselves and going away for Christmas next year.
Now where ... we threw around the ideas of Colorado or New Mexico so we could have another White Christmas. So, those were the front runners.
Then, Bill and I went on an Adventures by Disney trip this past April with the DISUnplugged Podcast Crew and fellow DISers. Many of the DISers were booked on the Podcast Cruise 2.0 in December. Over the duration of the ABD Tour numerous people asked if we were going on the cruise too. At the time, we were not booked. After traveling with so many great people, we wanted to travel with them again. So once we got home after the ABD trip, Bill booked us on the Podcast Cruise. The dates for the cruise are December 12 - 16, 2010.
CHRISTMAS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
Looking at the calendar, disembarkation was a little more than a week from Christmas. We were already there, might as well stay for Christmas too. Bill loves Disney and Walt Disney World just as much as I do. So, it didn't take too much convincing to extend our stay. However, we were out of DVC points for the year after our pre and post cruise stays at WDW. We didn't have enough points to stay through Christmas. So, we were going to pay out-of-pocket to stay at the Dolphin for Chrismas Eve through Monday (December 27th). I love the location (easy access to Epcot and DHS) and we will be at the Boardwalk Villas the days leading up to Christmas Eve. A few weeks ago, Bill was talking with a co-worker that is also a DVC Member. His co-worker was planning on selling some points on the re-sale market because he didn't need them. He was at the point of use them or lose them. So, Bill surprised me and bought some points to keep us at the BWV through Christmas.
It was a nice surprise. Also, I am thankful I don't have to pack everything up on Christmas Eve and move hotels. Only downside is that is was expensive and we will be departing WDW on Sunday and not Monday. That was something I was willing to give up. Monday would have been a lost day anyways, because we are going to visit my Dad in Daytona Beach (winter home).
And that is how we have come to this point of planning a Christmas trip to Walt Disney World.
To me, planning is half the fun. I get excited when we get our desired ADRs and I have fun planning which park for which day. I don't use a touring plan site or a tour guide site, I use our past WDW trips as learning tools for upcoming trip. We have been known to go off the itinerary and go with the flow of the day too. But, a "guideline" is nice to have especially during peak times at WDW.
Let the planning begin ...
Jennifer
Never in all my wildest dreams did I think I would be planning a trip to Walt Disney World for Christmas THIS year! We will be waking up Christmas morning at the place "Where Dreams Come True"!!!!! Can you tell I'm a wee bit excited about this?!?!?!?!
OUR WDW HISTORY
Bill and I never went to Walt Disney World as children. You could say, we didn't have "Disney Parents". Bill and I always thought Walt Disney World was for people with children. So, we never went before we had children. Our first visit was back in 2004. It was a quick trip. We were visiting my Dad at his winter home in Florida for Thanksgiving and thought since we were in the area, let's take the kids to Disney World. They were 4 and 2 at the time, Cole (DS5) wasn't even an idea at that time!
We went without any plans or any pre-trip research. We booked the hotel and just showed up. Our first WDW resort was the Caribbean Beach resort. It is cute and reminded us of our honeymoon in the Bahamas. We only made it to two parks that trip, The Magic Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios (MGM Studios back then). We had an amazing trip. I finally got to see Cinderella Castle in person. I think I was more excited than the kids though. But to be honest, the "magic" didn't hit us that trip. I wasn't online as soon as we got home planning a way to get back to WDW. The magic hit us on our second trip to WDW. Every year, Bill and I take turns planning our Anniversary celebration. His turn always falls on the milestone Anniversaries. For our Tenth Anniversary, Bill surprised me and booked us on a Disney cruise and stay at the Beach Club resort. He knew whatever we did, I wanted to include the children because Cole was still so little. We had a great and romantic cruise taking full advantage of the kid clubs and Flounder's (babysitting for babies). Our stay at the Beach Club was nothing short of perfect. Being so close to Epcot, we finally experienced Epcot. To my surprise, the whole family enjoyed the park. I had always thought Epcot was just for adults. Well, we quickly found out that it's not just for adults. My kids love Epcot! During that trip, we saw our first IllumiNations and I was hooked. I looked over at my family ... no cell phones, no screaming kids ... just a family spending some quality time together. Thank you Walt! Since then, if we're not at WDW, just getting back from WDW, I am planning our next trip to WDW. I can't get enough. Each trip is a different experience. As the children get older, they want to do more attractions. There are many, many more magical years ahead at Walt Disney World for this family. I can't wait!
We've been to WDW numerous times (16 trips and counting). The past few years we have been at WDW for the week of Thanksgiving and the week after. So, returning for Christmas just didn't work out (money and vacation time for DH (Bill) ). Plus, we have been "obligated" to take part in the extended families' holiday festivities.
AN EPIPHANY
This past Christmas Eve, it started to snow lightly during the daytime. We live near Dallas, Texas. So, this was a BIG deal. As the day went on the snow kept falling and got heavier. We had plans to drive to Bill's sister's house which is about 40 minutes away for Christmas Eve dinner with his family. Bill is the "baby" of eight children. So, with children, grandchildren and great grandchildren there would be well over 50 people at the gathering. It was such a winter wonderland outside. We wanted to play. But, I had to make my annual Christmas Eve lasagna (they don't let us in the house Christmas Eve unless I bring my lasagna.
) and we had to get the kids bathed and ready. So, no time for a snowball fight just yet. However, it didn't stop Bill from pelting me with a snowball on my way to the minivan. He's a jokester! We hopped into the minivan on our way and the roads were icy and the snow was well over a foot by now. After sliding a few exits, Bill and I looked at each other and no words were needed, he got off at the next exit and headed back home. Bill made the call to let his sister know we tried but wouldn't be making it. We knew the roads would only get worse as the temperature dropped. So, back home we headed with dinner already made! With Bill driving home very slowly, we made it home safely. Once inside our warm and toasty house, we stripped off our "fancy" clothes and put on some snow playing clothes. Bill is from Texas and has never had a white Christmas Eve or Christmas. So, this was a big deal for him. I have lived in Texas for sixteen years, but I am originally from Massachusetts. I have seen plenty of snow in my past. It was fun to see my BIG kid get excited about the snow. After the first annual Taylor Christmas Eve snowball fight, we headed back inside to get into some dry clothes and to enjoy the lasagna. It was such a nice laid-back evening with dinner and relaxing as opposed to the usual chaos of Christmas Eve at the in-laws. After dinner, as Bill and I were sitting on the couch watching the movie marathon of A Christmas Story (we love this movie!), we started to discuss going away for Christmas next year. We are always letting family dictate our holidays. For once, we were doing something for ourselves and going away for Christmas next year.
Now where ... we threw around the ideas of Colorado or New Mexico so we could have another White Christmas. So, those were the front runners. Then, Bill and I went on an Adventures by Disney trip this past April with the DISUnplugged Podcast Crew and fellow DISers. Many of the DISers were booked on the Podcast Cruise 2.0 in December. Over the duration of the ABD Tour numerous people asked if we were going on the cruise too. At the time, we were not booked. After traveling with so many great people, we wanted to travel with them again. So once we got home after the ABD trip, Bill booked us on the Podcast Cruise. The dates for the cruise are December 12 - 16, 2010.
CHRISTMAS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
Looking at the calendar, disembarkation was a little more than a week from Christmas. We were already there, might as well stay for Christmas too. Bill loves Disney and Walt Disney World just as much as I do. So, it didn't take too much convincing to extend our stay. However, we were out of DVC points for the year after our pre and post cruise stays at WDW. We didn't have enough points to stay through Christmas. So, we were going to pay out-of-pocket to stay at the Dolphin for Chrismas Eve through Monday (December 27th). I love the location (easy access to Epcot and DHS) and we will be at the Boardwalk Villas the days leading up to Christmas Eve. A few weeks ago, Bill was talking with a co-worker that is also a DVC Member. His co-worker was planning on selling some points on the re-sale market because he didn't need them. He was at the point of use them or lose them. So, Bill surprised me and bought some points to keep us at the BWV through Christmas.
It was a nice surprise. Also, I am thankful I don't have to pack everything up on Christmas Eve and move hotels. Only downside is that is was expensive and we will be departing WDW on Sunday and not Monday. That was something I was willing to give up. Monday would have been a lost day anyways, because we are going to visit my Dad in Daytona Beach (winter home). And that is how we have come to this point of planning a Christmas trip to Walt Disney World.
To me, planning is half the fun. I get excited when we get our desired ADRs and I have fun planning which park for which day. I don't use a touring plan site or a tour guide site, I use our past WDW trips as learning tools for upcoming trip. We have been known to go off the itinerary and go with the flow of the day too. But, a "guideline" is nice to have especially during peak times at WDW.
Let the planning begin ...
Jennifer 
We've eaten at Yachtsman Steakhouse, The Hollywood Brown Derby and Sci-Fi Dine In Theatre in the past. 
It IS as good as all the hype!
Come on out and let me know you are there. I rarely do a Pre-Trip Report. But, I am so excited about this trip. I had to share our plans. 
Bill is great about letting me take the reins and plan our WDW trips. He does just ask that we don't get up every morning for rope drop. It's his vacation too. So, I have made sure to include some sleep in days and even some non-park days. I remember when I was planning our ten days at WDW trip. I planned a non-park day in the middle of the first week. It was such a well-needed break from the parks and people. 
I know, WDW is the wrong place to vacation then. 
One of my biggest WDW pet peeves is people who are on your heels when waiting in line for an attraction. People, we are all heading in the same direction. No one is going to cut in front of you between you and me, give me some space! Can you tell I am not a Black Friday shopper type of girl. 
It was the worst when we visited in June and not only did people hover, but they were sweaty too. Grosssssssss! 
From now on, we stick to the cooler months at WDW. 
