Disney Like it Used to be...And Like it's Never Been Before! Feb. '12 PTR! TR LINK!

[merbobear]

I am SO glad that you mentioned brunch at Crystal Palace. For some reason I had it stuck in my head that we should do our couple of breakfast ADR's super early - I had us at Chef Mickey's at 7:30 am on our last day! After I saw the magic word, brunch, I rethought my plan and was able to snag an 11:20 am ressie for CM, which is much more reasonable (considering it would be our check out day, there is just too much to do in the morning to add an ADR into the mix at the crack of dawn)! So..thank you for planning a brunch for your family and inadvertently saving the last day of my vacation! lol

Anyway, I love your plans..detailed enough to keep everyone on track, but loose enough that you don't have every second of every day planned - gives your family more time to stop and smell the roses, people watch, etc I also lovelovelove the walking over to Epcot. I am dying to stay at an Epcot area resort at some point, just for that very reason! Seems so easy to just stroll over vs wait on buses (we fly and don't rent a car) or in your case drive and deal with parking..it just starts your entire day off with a more relaxed and less rushed feeling!

 

[ronnmel]

Joyeux Noel to the both of you!!


Your plans sound great! I'm still amazed at how good you guys are at going back to the resort and rest. We can never do that.

 

[TinkerbellinNY6]

Your plans sound great so far! You are doing a really great job of making sure everyone is included in the decision making. I enjoyed traveling with a larger group!

 

[Mrs T 2009]

We love out TIW card and so glad your dad can get one too! We love the dining plan, but TIW is awesome too, especially if you aren't hungry for all the food!

Your plans are sounding great so far
Illuminations cruise sounds wonderful After hearing about the Wishes cruise I want to try one of them someday

We've never done a tour, but I think if you brought up the dilemma to everyone and asked their opinion, they might be fine with switching lunch spots for the sake of the tour!

Hope you and Miguel are having a wonderful Holiday season

 

[Jennifer48]

Great plans!

Swolphin is probably a 10/15 min walk from BC, as long as you have walking shoes on, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

It would take away from the experience if you left to lunch somewhere else.

You really won't have time to leave for lunch at another location. That also takes away from the tour. During lunch you can chat with the other tour members.

Thank you for the advice! We have decided to do the tour after all!

Your plans sound great-- definitely sounds like it'll be on the relaxing side. Lots of ADRs and break time! I can't wait to see the pictures of your Illuminations cruise! I'm sure it'll be amazing!

Thank you! I know we'll need plenty of rest time for all of my family. We are so excited about the cruise!

Hi Courtney!

The plans sounds great - I like that you've built in an afternoon break each day, spend some time at the Beach Club

For Shula's - it's about 5/10 minute walk to the Swan and Dolphin resorts from the BC so should be fine

And about the KTTK tour lunch, it is in the middle of the tour so I think it would be difficult to break away from the group to go to the Plaza.. lunch is part of the tour price at Columbia Harbor House & you get to sit upstairs in a VIP section - and like someone's already said it is nice to be able to chat to other people on the tour & your tourguide; pretty much everyone on the tour will be Huge Disney fans
If you can do the tour I highly recommend it, I'd love to do it again but DH says he won't go backstage in case it 'ruins' the magic for him! Whereas for me and my sister we found it enhanced our appreciation of everything the Imagineers and Cast Members do at the Magic Kingdom.



Happy Christmas Eve!



Emma x

Thank you for the advice about the tour! I thought that the lunch was just at the end of the tour, and then after lunch it is over, so that definitely helps me make up my mind. We have decided to do the tour!

I am SO glad that you mentioned brunch at Crystal Palace. For some reason I had it stuck in my head that we should do our couple of breakfast ADR's super early - I had us at Chef Mickey's at 7:30 am on our last day! After I saw the magic word, brunch, I rethought my plan and was able to snag an 11:20 am ressie for CM, which is much more reasonable (considering it would be our check out day, there is just too much to do in the morning to add an ADR into the mix at the crack of dawn)! So..thank you for planning a brunch for your family and inadvertently saving the last day of my vacation! lol

Anyway, I love your plans..detailed enough to keep everyone on track, but loose enough that you don't have every second of every day planned - gives your family more time to stop and smell the roses, people watch, etc I also lovelovelove the walking over to Epcot. I am dying to stay at an Epcot area resort at some point, just for that very reason! Seems so easy to just stroll over vs wait on buses (we fly and don't rent a car) or in your case drive and deal with parking..it just starts your entire day off with a more relaxed and less rushed feeling!

We've never done a "brunch" time ADR, but I think it will work really well for us.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Joyeux Noel to the both of you!!


Your plans sound great! I'm still amazed at how good you guys are at going back to the resort and rest. We can never do that.

Thank you, Mel! We love going back to the hotel for an afternoon rest. I think my family will as well!

Your plans sound great so far! You are doing a really great job of making sure everyone is included in the decision making. I enjoyed traveling with a larger group!

Thank you! Even though it's going to be different, I think we will enjoy the larger group, too.

We love out TIW card and so glad your dad can get one too! We love the dining plan, but TIW is awesome too, especially if you aren't hungry for all the food!

Your plans are sounding great so far
Illuminations cruise sounds wonderful After hearing about the Wishes cruise I want to try one of them someday

We've never done a tour, but I think if you brought up the dilemma to everyone and asked their opinion, they might be fine with switching lunch spots for the sake of the tour!

Hope you and Miguel are having a wonderful Holiday season

I did end up asking everyone about the tour, and we agreed to do it! I'm very excited!

Our holidays have been wonderful! Thank you!

Great plans!

Swolphin is probably a 10/15 min walk from BC, as long as you have walking shoes on, it shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for the travel time! I need to get a list of how far the BC is from various different points.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

CHRISTMAS RECAP!

Hi everyone! I hope that you all had a very merry Christmas! This was our fifth Christmas together, but our first married, so it was extra special. We had an absolutely wonderful time. It was also fun to have our whole Disney travel group together (Mike celebrated Christmas with us as well), so we did lots of talking about the trip! It's hard to believe that it is only a little over a month away! Between being occupied with finishing school and the holidays, the waiting period between the honeymoon and this trip has flown by! I am actually already starting to get my clothes organized and plan my outfits - that's how I know a vacation is just around the corner! In exciting trip news, we have decided to do the Keys to the Kingdom tour! I explained the lunch situation with everyone, and they were all perfectly fine with a CS lunch so that we could do the tour. I am going to call and book it this weekend!

Ok, so back to Christmas...since I haven't done any "life" updates, here is a quick recap of our holiday!

I actually scaled down my Christmas decorating this year. I normally do two trees and fully decorate my living/dining room and family room. With the last semester of school, I just didn't have the time or the energy, though, so I only did the family room. Everything still turned out very pretty, though!

Mantle

Entertainment Center

Tree

Close up of the presents

A couple weekends ago, my grandmother and I had our third annual cookie exchange. I made three treats this year - cake batter sandwich cookies, chocolate covered cake balls and white chocolate cherry almond shortbread cookies. They all turned out great and were a hit!

On Christmas Eve, we always celebrate over at my dad's parents house. We all go to the Christmas Eve service at church, and then we come home and load up our presents to carry them next door.

And then we have our traditional dinner of lasagna and garlic bread. My grandmother makes the best lasagna! It's a meal I look forward to all year!

After our meal, we opened presents for hours! We were so spoiled this year. My grandparents got me a new Tiffany necklace, another pair of Ecco shoes (my favorite!), a set of 12 Waterford crystal water glasses, a Le Crusset dutch oven, and much more! My dad got me a lot of new clothes, some decorative items for my house, a new purse and scarf, and he handmade a quilt for me out of my baby clothes!

Christmas morning Miguel and I woke up to do our Christmas together. I put our breakfast in the oven and we opened presents while it was cooking. I gave Miguel a lot of new shirts, a new camera, a set of weights, some cologne and a few other stocking stuffer type-things.

He gave me a lot of pretty jewlery, some cooking items, a pair of nude heels (which I have been wanting forever!), clothes and a new Vera Bradley hipster!

After our presents, we went back over to my grandparents for our Santa gifts. I got some more cooking items and some more of my China. Miguel got a new laptop! He was so excited!

Finally, we made it back home to eat our breakfast and watch the Disney parade!

We had lunch over at my mother's parents' house, and then dinner with my whole family back at my dad's parents' house. It was a full day to say the least! We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas. We all kept saying that this was the best one yet. The fact that it was our first married Christmas just made it that much better! I hope you all had a wonderful time as well, and that you have a happy New Year! In just two days I can say I'm going to Disney this month!

 

[danimaroo]

Soooo, I'm finally popping in to say hi, even though I lurked through your entire honeymoon TR and never said anything! I think it was because I started reading halfway through it! But anyway, I saw that you have a PTR and HAD to say something! We had our honeymoon at Disney World last January and we are heading back to Disney World in 20 days (from January 19th-29th!)... AND we are staying at Beach Club Villas!

Sounds like you guys are going to have an absolute blast on your trip though, and your Christmas looks wonderful! I can't believe how perfect the presents are wrapped, totally love it! I also laughed because we made the same exact cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas Day!

Anyway, I'm finally popping in to say hi and that I'm following along!

 

[Mrs T 2009]

Glad you and Miguel had a wonderful Christmas
Your tree is gorgeous as always
LOVE the new hipster! Those colors are so vibrant and beautiful! And that watch is gorgeous!

We had a busy, but great Christmas here as well
Santa was too good and spoiled Rylan rotten this year! He spoiled Mike and I as well

I am so excited for your upcoming trip! It is sounding like an awesome family trip!

 

[Zarabear]

I am always such a lurker, but I love what I've read so far and subscribed. I'm posting though, to say that your tree and your presents were SO pretty!! I am in awe. xD

I also wanted to ask if you'd be willing to share your cake batter sandwich cookie recipe? I think my boys would go bannanas over them!


~Zara

 

[WDWCP96]

I am glad that you decided to do the KTTK tour, because I want to hear all about it.

Your Christmas looks wonderful. I love all your beautiful wrapping and your tree.

Love the new Hipster. Those are beautiful colors.

 

[Jennifer48]

DH & I did the KTTK tour on our 1st anniversary trip and it was amazing! I hope you all enjoy it just as much as we did!

What a wonderful Christmas you had!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Okay, Courtney. I just have to say I am a *little* jealous of all of the amazing things you got for Christmas! Wow! & I thought I was a good girl this year!!!

Happy New Year to you and Miguel.

 

[ronnmel]

Wow! So many presents! You guys are spoiled rotten. But seriously, it looked like a beautiful and wonderful Christmas for you two.

 

[klacey1]

Ahh, girl I was so looking forward to seeing your tree/decor and it did not disappoint! The way you wrap presents is just gorgeous-- do you use a bow maker?! I love how they all coordinate!
That watch is beautiful! And yay for cooking things-- one of my favorite gifts last year was my crockpot
Glad you had a wonderful day! We actually said the same-- this was the best Christmas we had (this was mine and Zach's fourth). It was just a holiday full of love and fun! Can't beat that!

 

[Nermel9]

Your Christmas looks like it was great! Your presents are so pretty! I would love to coordinate everything like you do, with the wrapping paper and everything, but no one would notice, so I don't bother! Your new Vera is so pretty! I need a new one for my next trip (my cat peed on mine. I've read that you can wash it in the washing machine, but I'm afraid to try it! So far I've just been scrubbing it! ) but I'm waiting for new patterns to come out!

Oh and you decided to do the KTTK tour? I can't wait to hear how you guys like it! I want to do a tour on our next trip and I either want to try that one, the Wild Africa Trek, or the Epcot Segway tour!

 

[ditsypixie]

Hi Courtney! I have enjoyed reading your other TR and was excited to start reading this PTR. I LOVE all the planning and newsletters that you have put into this trip with your family. My brother and his family might join us this fall on our annual trip so I feel a lot of pressure to make it all special because it will be their first trip

You have done such a great job with all of it! It really inspires me

 

[BMC423]

Hello... I've been keeping but not posting due to all the running around that comes with the holidays.

You have inspired me... I want to plan a big trip! (Be careful what you wish for right?) We already booked our next trip so maybe the one after will be a big one!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE your Christmas tree and all the decorations. Everything looks so pretty and elegant. Your gift wrapping skills are amazing! It sounds like you guys had a wonderful first Christmas together!

Happy New Year!

 

[merbobear]

Your Christmas gifts were so beautifully wrapped, I might hire you next year!