PART FIVE!! *December 2012 Roll Call* Holidays, FLE & MVMCP!! A very, merry thread!

[taaren]

http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/travel/disney-2012-8646917?vk=BmA4W5Ubjh

Let me know if that works... It's a mix of 2 different cameras, cell phones, photopass and the stock gallery CD....

The link worked ... its a lovely book! I especially like the background pictures then having the pages with all the smaller pictures in front, like the ride ones ... I'm never quite sure how to display the ride pix. I may have to try out Mixbook now that KodakGallery is no more.

Heading back home now after a great Disney vacation!! DH and I are even talking about becoming DVC members! We got more done than I thought and the crowds did not seem that bad (thanks to early arrivals and good planning). Kids had a great time...each one of them, and it really helped to have a younger child. We were able to do rider swap so the bigger two kids got to ride each popular ride twice in a row. We did everything we wanted and never waited more than about 30-40 minutes per ride (and that was about one to two times only per day). We waited longest for the Harry Potter ride (an hour) at 7:55am! Lots of memories and pictures to scrapbook. Glad everyone else had such a great time.

Glad you guys were able to have a great time despite the potential for crowd craziness. Love those rider swaps, although I was more impressed by the ones at the newer rides in Universal, which was in an air conditioned room with entertainment right before the boarding ... Disney needs to take notes on those!

We our DVC, can't imagine doing Disney any other way now ... but it is a financial commitment, and I highly recommend at least considering resale, so if you're serious about it, spend some time with the threads on the DVC-Purchasing Board here on the DIS.

 

[taaren]

levenhopper, love your Photopass pics, especially the magic shots with Abby's wings and on the bench with Mickey and Minnie!

We also thought Photopass+ was well worth it, and I'm thinking I'm going to have to try somebody on the DIS to split it with for next year ...

 

[levenhopper]

Heading back home now after a great Disney vacation!! DH and I are even talking about becoming DVC members!

I think I asked Abby three or four times if I could join DVC! That's the first thing I'll be doing after I pay off my college loans.

levenhopper, love your Photopass pics, especially the magic shots with Abby's wings and on the bench with Mickey and Minnie!

We also thought Photopass+ was well worth it, and I'm thinking I'm going to have to try somebody on the DIS to split it with for next year ...

Thanks so much! We had a great time finding PP photographers and asking them to do magic shots!

 

[cybrkitn]

happy new year!!!!!

 

[tofubeast]

Happy New Year!! Our month is over (wah wah), but the spirit lives on!!

Hoping 2013 is magical, fun, healthy, and rewarding!

 

[SAT887]

Happy New Year everyone!!!

 

[cybrkitn]

Happy New Year!! Our month is over (wah wah), but the spirit lives on!!

Hoping 2013 is magical, fun, healthy, and rewarding!

Our month is over ?! Already?

We had a few friends over last night and ten minutes to midnight we turned the tv on to ABC and got to see the castle lit up. We saw a lot of people wearing light up Mickey Ears. Part of me wanted to be there but the more sensible side of me was saying "No Way!" I wouldn't want to be there packed in like sardines. But I miss the Florida weather and CBR

Tofu - Thanks for creating this thread (all 5 parts)! I've really enjoyed talking to everyone and meeting one DISer from this thread on our trip!

 

[1stvisit0909]

Our month is over ?! Already?

We had a few friends over last night and ten minutes to midnight we turned the tv on to ABC and got to see the castle lit up. We saw a lot of people wearing light up Mickey Ears. Part of me wanted to be there but the more sensible side of me was saying "No Way!" I wouldn't want to be there packed in like sardines. But I miss the Florida weather and CBR

Tofu - Thanks for creating this thread (all 5 parts)! I've really enjoyed talking to everyone and meeting one DISer from this thread on our trip!

Home! Working on our trip report, but we had a super great time!! 1500 photos between me and dd, and 400 photopass! I'd go back between Christmas and New Years, no doubt! Magical trip!

 

[SAT887]

Home! Working on our trip report, but we had a super great time!! 1500 photos between me and dd, and 400 photopass! I'd go back between Christmas and New Years, no doubt! Magical trip!

So glad you had such an awesome trip! Like others have said I couldn't do that week. My anxiety would take over big time! You posted the pic on FB with your daughter running to Minnie right? Love that even in the busiest of times you were able to get those magical moments!

 

[1stvisit0909]

So glad you had such an awesome trip! Like others have said I couldn't do that week. My anxiety would take over big time! You posted the pic on FB with your daughter running to Minnie right? Love that even in the busiest of times you were able to get those magical moments!

Yep! That was us. We had gallons of pixie dust poured on us! We stayed out of the crazy crowds mostly, and only a couple of times were we overwhelmed. Thanks to ride max, and a good plan, got almost everything we wanted done, and waited no more than 20 mins for most things. We did wait 50 for enchanted tales with belle, and dinosaur, and 40 to meet tink after bbb. The rest of the waits were non existent or 15 mins or so.

 

[organized mommy]

We were in Disney from December 22-29. I was dreading the crowds most of all. The only time we felt the pressure of the crowd was on December 27 at DHS. It was pretty crowded mid day. We had rider swap passes for RNRC and the line went past the fastpass entrance. We decided not to wait and eventually gave away our pass. We left the park for about 90 minutes to visit GF for the gingerbread house. We were able to get 2 sets of fastpasses for TSM, but we gave our 2nd set away to a wonderful family that we met at Osbourne Lights. They arrived too late to get passes because they had planned to go to MK that day but got turned away. We had already ridden it once...they deserved a turn as well
It seemed as if many people did not know about fastpasses at all...

We were there that day too! It was very crowded. And we didn't get there until lunchtime. So no TSM for us. I did get ran into by some lady on an EVC. She slammed right into me so I was done riding for the day. Didn't even stop to apologize. DH stopped her to point it out. I was stationary and when he told her she ran into me she said "Oh she must have backed up!" The nerve! I was sore for 2 days from the impact! But in that last hour DH and DD rode TOT 2 times and RNR 2 times with no waits! Just the time it took to walk through the lines. How I wish I could've rode but was hurting so badly. I didn't get to ride either of those when we went in Feb because I was pregnant with DS. Guess we have to go back soon ;-)

 

[1stvisit0909]

Started my trip report! You can find it here

Where is our group TR thread again?

 

[cybrkitn]

What did you do before the kids were born? Are you thinking about going back for more training/degrees?

Before DS10 was born and up until he was 7, I worked full time as a receptionist. Then I was laid off in 2009 and became a SAHM. Mostly b/c there were no jobs available in my field. The other reason is that DS was acting up a lot at the age of 7. When I became a SAHM, he made a complete 180. Turns out that he wasn't getting enough quality time with DH and I. By the time all of us got home, I'd make dinner than about an hour afterward eating, it would be time for DS to go to bed. There wasn't any time for us to be together except on weekends. Both DH and I were exhausted during the week and I was ready for bed at DS's bed time.

Things are getting a bit tight with one income (DH's) that I now need to find another job to give us that extra income. I'm not thinking of going back to school. I've already done that while I was working full time at one of my jobs (that company offered tuition reimbursement and I took advantage of it). The only problem with my area is that most of the jobs in my field are too far away that I would not be able to get back in time before after-care ends to pick up DS. DH and I don't have anyone that would be able to pick DS up 5 days a week.

I have been checking Indeed dot com's web site periodically and have applied for one job yesterday that is close by. It's been hard with the holidays, but I feel that the job market may change after today now that the holiday season is over.

 

[cybrkitn]

http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/travel/disney-2012-8646917?vk=BmA4W5Ubjh

Let me know if that works... It's a mix of 2 different cameras, cell phones, photopass and the stock gallery CD....

Nicely done! Beautiful job . I have to admit that I was looking at people in the background to see if we might have been in there . We weren't.

 

[cybrkitn]

Home! Working on our trip report, but we had a super great time!! 1500 photos between me and dd, and 400 photopass! I'd go back between Christmas and New Years, no doubt! Magical trip!

How were the crowds?

 

[cybrkitn]

Finally finished going through all of our photos (added borders to some) and have ordered our completed PhotoPass CD! It will arrive in 7-10 days

I received an email stating that it will expire on the 8th so we had to get our butts moving and edit them so we could order the CD. I can't wait to get it!

 

[SAT887]

Nicely done! Beautiful job . I have to admit that I was looking at people in the background to see if we might have been in there . We weren't.

Aww thanks!! It would be fun if you were like Hey I'm on page 8!!! Or if you were like hey I saw her wandering around AKs parking lot looking up at the sky like it was some sort of celestial GPS to her car.....

 

[SAT887]

Nicely done! Beautiful job . I have to admit that I was looking at people in the background to see if we might have been in there . We weren't.

Oh and I'm getting 3 copies, a 12x12 for me and two 8x8 for MIL and SIL - I'm not getting one for my mom because she barely left her room and not in many pictures.... I can't wait to give the one to MIL when we go to NJ in 2.5 weeks and I will send my SIL - figure they will be awesome belated Xmas presents!

 

[SAT887]

Before DS10 was born and up until he was 7, I worked full time as a receptionist. Then I was laid off in 2009 and became a SAHM. Mostly b/c there were no jobs available in my field. The other reason is that DS was acting up a lot at the age of 7. When I became a SAHM, he made a complete 180. Turns out that he wasn't getting enough quality time with DH and I. By the time all of us got home, I'd make dinner than about an hour afterward eating, it would be time for DS to go to bed. There wasn't any time for us to be together except on weekends. Both DH and I were exhausted during the week and I was ready for bed at DS's bed time.

Things are getting a bit tight with one income (DH's) that I now need to find another job to give us that extra income. I'm not thinking of going back to school. I've already done that while I was working full time at one of my jobs (that company offered tuition reimbursement and I took advantage of it). The only problem with my area is that most of the jobs in my field are too far away that I would not be able to get back in time before after-care ends to pick up DS. DH and I don't have anyone that would be able to pick DS up 5 days a week.

I have been checking Indeed dot com's web site periodically and have applied for one job yesterday that is close by. It's been hard with the holidays, but I feel that the job market may change after today now that the holiday season is over.

Good luck! I know that the job market in your area is tough. MIL has been unemployed for 8-10 months. :

 

[cybrkitn]

Oh and I'm getting 3 copies, a 12x12 for me and two 8x8 for MIL and SIL - I'm not getting one for my mom because she barely left her room and not in many pictures.... I can't wait to give the one to MIL when we go to NJ in 2.5 weeks and I will send my SIL - figure they will be awesome belated Xmas presents!

How much was it to make the photobook? I just showed DH and he liked the idea of doing it.