How much Christmas can we squeeze into 3 days? Nov/Dec 2015 TR *NEW TR Link 5/18!*

[hokieinpa]

Once upon a Christmastime at Christmas,​

candy canes and chocolate fill the air.​

Once upon a Christmastime at Christmas,​

sleigh bells sing it's time to prepare!​

It's that very special time,​

and the magic that you'll find​

on that once upon a Christmastime!



​

Welcome to my second TR! You can find all the planning details in my PTR - "If we can keep this trip a secret, it will be a Disney miracle!"

This was a quick trip filled to the brim with Disney Christmas magic! We had a great trip and experienced many firsts and revisited some favorites from our first trip.


Table of Contents

Introductions and Details

Friday, November 27
Day 0 - The Travel Day before The Travel Day


Saturday, November 28
Day 1 - "I'm so excited that I punched my eye out by accident!"
Day 1 - To the Airport!
Day 1 - Magical Express and POP!
Day 1 - "Is that a giant can of Play Doh?"
Day 1 - Downtown Disney..I mean Disney Springs
Day 1 - It's Santa!
Day 1 - "Not another meteor shower!"
Day 1 - Dinos and Dance Parties

Sunday, November 29
Day 2 - "Hold on, I'm stretching my shooting muscles!"
Day 2 - Mickey...and Buzz and Woody!
Day 2 - One Man's Dream
Day 2 - Random Hollywood Studios Fun
Day 2 - Lunch and Hollywood Studios Hits Part 1 and Part 2
Day 2 - Hello and Goodbye to the Osborne Lights
Day 2 - It's Minnie's Dinner but Daisy steals the show!

Monday, November 30
Day 3 - Let's ride it AGAIN!
Day 3 - "Mom, what's that smell?"
Day 3 - Hidden Mickey's Everywhere!
Day 3 - It's Biergarten!
Day 3 - Caballeros, Acrobats, and Kaki Gori Part 1 and Part 2

Tuesday, December 1
Day 4 - Ohana means family!
Day 4 - "It smells so good in here!"
Day 4 - Christmas on Main Street
Day 4 - Fantasyland Favorites Part 1 and Part 2
Day 4 - Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade
Day 4 - Holiday Wishes
Day 4 - It's a Totally Tomorrowland Christmas!

Wednesday, December 2
Day 5 - Heading Home and Conclusions

 

[hokieinpa]

Introductions and Details

Our cheerful Christmas party included our family of 5:


Me (Jamie)


The Husband (Jim)


Nate (5)


Colin (3)


Jake (2)


My parents, Jim and Diana, also joined us again for this trip.

It was so nice having them along to help wrangle the boys...ahem, I mean to make wonderful family memories.



My sister-in-law and her husband also met up with us a few times. They live in Cocoa and decided to join us for part of the trip at the last minute. If you remember events from previous vacations with my in-laws, last minute plans and changes don't exactly thrill me...so more on this later.


This trip was somewhat "last minute" in that I only planned it 6.5 months in advance. I typically book over a year in advance but this trip felt a little more rushed. It was meant to be a quick, Christmas-centered trip. I planned in for the week after Thanksgiving, knowing that Nate (who is now in Kindergarten) had some days off from school. We managed to have him only miss one day of school for the trip!

So the details of the trip:

When - Saturday November 28, 2015-Wednesday December 2, 2015
Where - POP
What - 2 day base tickets and MVMCP

Here we go!

 

[tabrizia]

Yay! Waiting to hear how the surprise went.

 

[NJlauren]

Joining in! We were there at the same time so interested to here your experiences!

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Joining in! Can't wait to hear how things went.

 

[KathyM2]

Looking forward to hearing all about it!!

 

[Dugette]

I'm here and can't wait to watch it all unfold!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Joining in!

 

[frassieshines]

Can't wait to see more!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Joining in and can't wait to read about the surprise and all the Christmas fun!

 

[khertz]

Yay I made it in at the beginning!! Too bad we didn't overlap, I would have loved to meet y'all. Can't wait to see how the surprise & the trip went!

 

[hokieinpa]

Yay! Waiting to hear how the surprise went.

Thanks for joining in! The surprise was AWESOME!!

Joining in! We were there at the same time so interested to here your experiences!

Glad you're following along! Are you doing a TR?

Joining in! Can't wait to hear how things went.

Welcome! Thanks for following along!

Looking forward to hearing all about it!!

Thanks for joining in! I'm excited to get started!

I'm here and can't wait to watch it all unfold!

Yay! Glad you're here!

Joining in!

Thanks for following along! I see you are a solo traveler from your signature. I'm planning my first solo trip this October so I'm going to check out your TRs!

Can't wait to see more!

Glad you're following along!

Joining in and can't wait to read about the surprise and all the Christmas fun!

Yay! I'm happy you're here! Are you going to do a TR?

Yay I made it in at the beginning!! Too bad we didn't overlap, I would have loved to meet y'all. Can't wait to see how the surprise & the trip went!

I'm happy you're joining in! I was sorry we didn't get a chance to meet up! Excited to get started on this TR!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Yay! I'm happy you're here! Are you going to do a TR?

I am. I posted the intro a few hours ago.

It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Needs An Eyepatch - A Dec 2015 TR

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Thanks for following along! I see you are a solo traveler from your signature. I'm planning my first solo trip this October so I'm going to check out your TRs!

When in October are you planning on going? I'm going back in the last week of October.

 

[hokieinpa]

Day 0 - The Travel Day before The Travel Day

Aren't travel days just the most exciting part of any TR? That's why I have 2!

Our trip actually started the day before our flight. We live in Central Pennsylvania and there are no major airports close to our town. It's much cheaper for us to drive the 2.5 hours to Pittsburgh and fly from there. Since our flight was at 11:25 am (and we had to be at the airport at 9:25) we decided to spend the night at a hotel near the airport.

So at this point, the trip is still a total surprise for the boys. A stuffed Mickey and a letter were tucked away in a bag, ready for the big reveal!

But what to tell the boys? Would they be suspicious?

So I came up with a story - we were taking a 1-night mini vacation! We would sleep in a hotel, swim in the pool, and have a fun dinner. Lucky for me, they totally bought it!

We set off on Black Friday after lunch. I snapped this picture. At this point they are still totally clueless!



The trip was easy and uneventful. Nate and Colin watched movies and looked at some books. Jake decided he needed some peace and quiet for a nap.



Our hotel for the night was a Fairfield Inn & Suites about 10 minutes from the airport. I'm a Hilton Honors Rewards member and had checked in on the app the day before. All I had to do was pick up our keys at the front desk and we were all set!

We had a 1-bedroom suite, which was very nice. I remembered to snap a few pictures of the room before the boys took over.









It took a total of 5 minutes for the boys to claim their beds and start watching Tarzan on ABC Family.



We got changed and headed down to the pool right away. We swam for about an hour - which was perfect for tiring the boys out and ensuring an early bedtime!

While I got the boys bathed and changed into their pajamas, Jim ran to Chick Fil A and picked up dinner. We had a picnic in the living room and watched Planes (Colin's all time favorite movie).



That's chocolate milk in those disposable coffee ups. I was worried about spills with open bottles (thus the towel) and I didn't have cups in our overnight bag so this is what it was!

After dinner, the boys played with some toys I had packed. Jake found a comfortable spot, obviously.



The boys enjoyed the view from our room.



We were all in bed by 8, which was perfect since we had an early morning AND a big surprise to reveal!!!


Up next -

"I'm so excited that I punched my eye out by accident!"

 

[hokieinpa]

I am. I posted the intro a few hours ago.

It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Needs An Eyepatch - A Dec 2015 TR

Found you and following along!

When in October are you planning on going? I'm going back in the last week of October.

I haven't decided on my solid dates yet - sometime during the last 2 weeks in October. My mom is coming to take care of the boys so it all depends on when she can get off. Hopefully I can book before Christmas! I'm 99% sure I'm going to stay at POFQ!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

After dinner, the boys played with some toys I had packed. Jake found a comfortable spot, obviously.

That picture is just adorable!

I haven't decided on my solid dates yet - sometime during the last 2 weeks in October. My mom is coming to take care of the boys so it all depends on when she can get off. Hopefully I can book before Christmas! I'm 99% sure I'm going to stay at POFQ!

Fingers crossed you get to book it this year. A solo trip to POFQ sounds like great fun

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Driving to the airport the night before is smart. My family is terrible and we never plan our travel day(s) that well.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

That's chocolate milk in those disposable coffee ups. I was worried about spills with open bottles (thus the towel) and I didn't have cups in our overnight bag so this is what it was!

Smart thinking on the fly!

 

[missangelalexis]

I'm here!!!

Part 1 of travelling seemed to go very smoothly! I love all the pics of the boys in the hotel, they seemed to be having such fun. Little did they know what was to come!