I Can Haz A Dizney Christmas? 12/15: Last Update Before the Trip

[creativeamanda]

Those of you who thought the Disney Box was on a permanent hiatus were wrong. It's coming back out. But we have a little problem. Does anyone remember what I did with the Disney Box after I had packed in June? I'll give you a hint:

Looks like I need another.

Now, I had originally planned on this being a surprise trip. But one of the kids overheard me on August 5th on the phone with dh and then Disney, so that's all over. At least that gave me a chance to be honest about everything we were doing with the kids. . .

So, for now, here are my updated (again) plans:


Resort: Port Orleans-French Quarter
Magic Your Way 8-day Park Hopper Tickets
Deluxe Disney Dining Plan

And here are our players:

ME: Amanda, 35. I love Disney and have loved Disney since my first sight of the castle on Jan 31, 2007.

The following people will not be there, now, but it seems weird not to mention them. . .

DH: Dan, was born the same year that Disney World opened (you do the subtraction). In June he did not go with us to Disney World. What was he doing? Well, he was in Pennsylvania smoking cigars. Here he is. . .

And I have the proof he was doing the cigar stuff right here. . .

He's on the left side with the ball cap on

Then there is Sweetie, who is a Disney adult at the tender age of 10.

Stinky, who is 8.

And Boo, with her crop of potatoes. She's 7.

And by the way, Boo loves Minnie. . .

And the kids and me in Disney World last month. . .

and us outside of Pirates of the Caribbean. . .

Dan with the kids in October 2008 at the Grand Floridian. . .

A rare smile from Dan--ironically while he's sitting with his bff's wife. . .

All of us in Epcot in October 2008:

DH and me at Liberty Tree Tavern in October 2008:

My kids love Legos--Oct 08

So, there you have it. Us in a nutshell. Join us in my journey.



Table of contents:

Can I Keep a Secret Until Christmas? A PTR for a Christmas Surprise (post 1)
Free Dining at Christmas? SHUT UP!
Santa Claus Comes When?
We Wanna PaRTaY!
How Much are You Eating and Planning Corner
Deluxe or Park Hoppers, that is the question
The Cat's Out of the Bag
New PTR Title and Mail Call!
Anyone For a Little Smackeral of Something?
To CP or Not To CP, That is the Question. . .
Which ADRs do I pay for?
Countdown Calendar
89 Days to Go. . .Did I get My ADRs?
Changes Already
Homesick
Life Rears Its Ugly Head
Uhm, Amanda, What Happened to Your Ticker?
Dining. . .
So I'm keeping the Park Hoppers. . .
French Quarter, You Say. . .
A Nice Dinner, BUT WHAT WILL I WEAR?
Hi Ho, Hi Ho, To Disney Store I Go!
ADR Update
Day 1 Planned Itinerary
More Shopping and the Binder
Day 2 Morning
LOL Cat of the week--Oct 25-31
POP! Goes Amanda?
Tie Dye Cheesecake, AH, Shirt
The Revision that is Day 1
Day 2
The Balloon POPs!
Next Month
In the 30s
ADR Final List? Or maybe not. . .
Nervousness Abounds
Everything's Better With a New Pair of Shoes
Oh, The Drama
I've got Mail!
More Mickey Mail
My Christmas Tree
Next Week!
SINGLE DIGIT DANCE!
List is Almost done. . .
All Packed!
Last Update Before the Trip

 

[raider97]

Hi!

We are keeping our December trip a surprise from our little ones too. We are staying at POR too. Alligator Bayou since we have three little ones. We are arriving on the 16th and departing on the 26th? And I see you all are going to MVMCP too. We are going on the 18th!!

Looking forward to hearing about your planning!

Stephanie

 

[creativeamanda]

Hi!

We are keeping our December trip a surprise from our little ones too. We are staying at POR too. Alligator Bayou since we have three little ones. We are arriving on the 16th and departing on the 26th? And I see you all are going to MVMCP too. We are going on the 18th!!

Looking forward to hearing about your planning!

Stephanie

We have not gotten the MVMCP tickets yet--I am waiting until I get my bonus from work for extra work to get them, but our plans are to go on the 18th. We are arriving offsite on the 17th, checking into POR on the 18th, and departing on the 25th. We also will be in AB at POR because we have 3 kiddos. Hope to see you there!

 

[annnewjerz]

Count me in---sounds like you guys are going to have a great trip, can't wait to hear more!

 

[deslynnpatterson]

wow what a nice christmas present for you and your family how nice-- its the most magically place in the world and will be more magically during the holidays!! count me in I enjoy what i am reading already Your Kids are ADORABLE!! good luck trying to keep the secret but I promise not to tell LOL

 

[tbtdawg]

That's a handsome fellow up there in the blue shirt in the cigar photos.

 

[creativeamanda]

Count me in---sounds like you guys are going to have a great trip, can't wait to hear more!

I think we are! I am soooo excited!

wow what a nice christmas present for you and your family how nice-- its the most magically place in the world and will be more magically during the holidays!! count me in I enjoy what i am reading already Your Kids are ADORABLE!! good luck trying to keep the secret but I promise not to tell LOL

Thanks for the compliments about my kids--they are a mess, especially the little curly headed one. . .But they are a good mess--extremely bright and little sweethearts. Thanks for joining in!

That's a handsome fellow up there in the blue shirt in the cigar photos.

You looked real intent on whatever it was ya'll were doing. . .And have you looked back at all of those pictures I've posted? I mean, the only one with Dan smiling is with YOUR WIFE!

 

[smiley1]

Hi! I'm reading! Sounds like you're going to have a great trip. Your kids are adorable, i'm sure they'll be very surprised! Happy planning!

 

[creativeamanda]

A Change that got changed back

 

[smiley1]

Wow, that's a change! A good one though! That makes for more time to make everything perfect! We've been to WDW in August, it's HOT! But you barely notice it when you're having fun! (exept of course, when you are waiting those grueling-ly long outdoor lines. But during the school year I'm sure you'll be okay!) So are your kids still coming with you? Can't wait to hear more plans!

 

[creativeamanda]

I have to ask my readers: any ideas for the resort, because I just don't know about AKV?

These are our choices:

Port Orleans-Riverside
Saratoga Springs (especially if we buy DVC)
Contemporary Resort
Beach Club Resort
Ft. Wilderness Cabins

What do ya'll think?

POR--Pros--We've been there before and know what we are getting. We love the lanscaping. Most efficient cost wise. Cons--We'd like to try something else.

SSR--Pros--Beautiful resort, close to Downtown Disney; Cons--Cost

CR--Pros--On Monorail line; close to MK; Cons--Cost; buses shared with GF and POLY for DTD I know of

BC--Pros--Very efficient cost wise as far as Deluxes go; Swimming pool; proximity to Epcot and therefore the monorail; Cons--Still quite pricey

FWC--Pros--Full kitchen for the family (ie more room), close to Magic Kingdom; kids love the animals in Fort Wilderness, we love Trail'
s End Buffet; Cons--Awkward placement; much travel needed for food court and pool; extremely large resort

And now, typing the pros and cons, I think we are left really with 2 choices:

Port Orleans-Riverside

Beach Club

So, the question is, are the amenities and location of Beach Club enough to outweigh the savings? What do ya'll think?

 

[smiley1]

Well, it seems you have quite the dilemma! I probably am not of much help, considering the fact we've never stayed on WDW property before! But from the research I've done, it seems to me that the BC would be worth it! With the pool to the ameneties, that would my choice! But that's just me. POR seems really nice too, but you said you wanted something different. Remember, you get what you pay for! Sorry if that wasn't any help. hopefully a more experienced DISer could offer some more help!

 

[creativeamanda]

Picture this: I'm at home, with a stack of names that need to be scheduled into classes by Monday morning. I'm tired. My eyes are tired. I need nothing more than rest. I'm enjoying my time with my new purchase--a new computer, which unfortunately put a hurting on my pocketbook. At the same time, I'm cursing the idea of Disney gods which have prevented me from going in December. You see, the computer purchase made my trip definitely impossible.

See, I had been secretly planning on buying the computer, so that hurt on the pocketbook was not unexpected. I'd been eyeing one since the beginning of the month. No big deal there.

No--the big deal was this: I, being tired of looking at GPAs, MAP Scores, and classes decided I'd head over to the DIS. I, being frustrated about not seeing Osborne lights, Christmas trees, and the castle all icecicled up, felt that the fuzzy Disney math had finally gitten the best of me. As I skim through the recent threads, one catches my eye on the podcast board. Surely, someone is joking about this promotion. But then, I read this from Webmaster Leah:

Here's our info about this promotion:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneypackages.htm#visa

I received an email about this b/c we have a Disney Visa and it said that this deal WILL be available to the general public on Monday, July 27th

Free dining for the general public in December? Surely Disney would have enough foreknowledge to knock my days out, though. After all, I wanted to go right on Christmas, one of the busiest times of the year. So Monday morning after I put work into the computer, I sit down and price free dining December 17-20. . .

Tinkerbell makes her appearance on the screen, stars appearing behind her. . .

SCORE!

I can hardly believe my eyes. Free dining for Christmas. For my family, that is a savings of a little over $1000. Really. Sweetie (a "Disney adult"), DH, and I are all adults, and my youngest two are children. Suddenly, the trip seems more an more affordable. But try as I might, I just could not believe this promotion could be applied through Christmas! I pick up the phone. I dial. For a few excruciating moments, I hear Corbin Bleu sing, "Celebrate You," and then one of my favorite phrases, "Thank you for calling the Walt Disney Travel Company, this is _____________ how may I help you with a resort reservation?"

Very clearly, I tell her I want December 17-24 for free dining at Disney's Port Orleans Riverside in a standard view room with 7 day base tickets. And somewhere in Neverland, Tinkerbell is spreading a little Pixie dust everywhere because,

She Shoots!

She Scores!!!!

"May I book the reservation for you?" she asks.

I reply, "Can you put a 7-day hold on that reservation for me?" (ahem, while I explain this to my dear husband who puts up with more of this Disney addiction than should be humanly necessary?)

"Certainly. Your confirmation number is ___________ and I am emailing your trip information to you. Your deposit is due August 3 and thank you for choosing the Walt Disney Travel Company."

Somewhere in the background, I hear, "We value your feedback. . ." but instead of taking the survey (which I normally do), I am scheming in my head how I am going to tell my husband.

Coming up. . .how he's just resigned to whatever I want and Santa Claus comes what day this year?

 

[creativeamanda]

Well, it seems you have quite the dilemma! I probably am not of much help, considering the fact we've never stayed on WDW property before! But from the research I've done, it seems to me that the BC would be worth it! With the pool to the ameneties, that would my choice! But that's just me. POR seems really nice too, but you said you wanted something different. Remember, you get what you pay for! Sorry if that wasn't any help. hopefully a more experienced DISer could offer some more help!

Well, I figured it out!

 

[creativeamanda]

December 16, 2009, my kids will go to sleep, unsuspecting of the magic that will appear that night. The lights will go out. The tree will be lit up. Down the chimney on December 16 he'll come. With three boxes wrapped up. Three Disney boxes wrapped up. Yes, you read correctly, in creativeamanda's house this year, Santa Claus is not coming on the eve of December 24. Santa Claus is coming on the eve of December 16.

On December 17, three small disney boxes will be unter the tree. The kids will open them. Each box will have an envelope of an unspecified amount of Disney Dollars, an outfit to change into for the ride, and


color copies of the travel paperwork including their Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Tickets and the creme de la creme--each will have a travel journal/notebook.

Yes, Santa Claus is taking the Celebration Vacation theme to heart. And bringing my kids their Christmas presents well before Christmas day. After all, what could be better than a Disney Vacation for Christmas?!?

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

Isn't it great that you were able to take advantage of such a great offer??!!!

 

[creativeamanda]

Isn't it great that you were able to take advantage of such a great offer??!!!

Oh, yes! My goal is to be at Disney for as many holidays as possible. I'm not so concerned about staying at every resort--some I'm not too fussed about. But every holiday--yes.

I've done: Halloween, July 4th Week, Valentine's

I still want to do: Thanksgiving, Easter, President's day

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

We've done X-mas before (beautiful), president's and v-day in one trip and July 4th. I like X-mas the best...but really want to try Halloween!!!

 

[smiley1]

Yayyyyyyyy! You worked it out! It's great that you got to take advantage of free dining AND go for Christmas! What an awesome present, your kids will be so surprised and happy!! And you get to dodge the blazing hot weather! What a great deal, can't wait to hear more!

 

[raider97]

December 16, 2009, my kids will go to sleep, unsuspecting of the magic that will appear that night. The lights will go out. The tree will be lit up. Down the chimney on December 16 he'll come. With three boxes wrapped up. Three Disney boxes wrapped up. Yes, you read correctly, in creativeamanda's house this year, Santa Claus is not coming on the eve of December 24. Santa Claus is coming on the eve of December 16.

On December 17, three small disney boxes will be unter the tree. The kids will open them. Each box will have an envelope of an unspecified amount of Disney Dollars, an outfit to change into for the ride, and


color copies of the travel paperwork including their Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party Tickets and the creme de la creme--each will have a travel journal/notebook.

Yes, Santa Claus is taking the Celebration Vacation theme to heart. And bringing my kids their Christmas presents well before Christmas day. After all, what could be better than a Disney Vacation for Christmas?!?

This is such a cute idea!! Congrats again on free dining! We will probably see you guys around... not only do we also have tickets for the same night to MVMCP, but we will be at the same resort at the same time. POR 16th - 26th.

Looking forward to hearing more about your planning!

Stephanie