A Holly Jolly Holiday - A December Pre-Trip Report!

[BlondeAppetit]

Hi everybody!!! (insert Mickey-voice)

It's me...

Lisa. I am a busy working momma with two adorable little girls and a baby on the way!

And I also have a cute little sidekick named Chris.

Here is the whole gang:

I am planning on surprising my little family with a trip to WDW this December!

I had my hopes set on staying at the Wilderness Lodge during the holidays...

However, it remains on my bucket list for now and I was wooed by the ever affordable, yet extremely kid-friendly - POP CENTURY!

We decided to take advantage of FREE DINING and upgraded to the Deluxe Dining Plan!

This is our third trip to WDW in three years and I love trying new resorts and restaurants on each trip.

I have loved planning Disney vacations so much that I decided to say adios to my side gig at a local travel agency and open my own Disney travel agency with a partner that may just love Disney more than me! Enough about that...here on the Disboards, I am just a regular gal....well....a slightly obsessed gal... that loves reading restaurant reviews and staying up-to-date on the ins and outs of my home away from home!

Since we are expecting a new baby in early July, I had to get a little creative regarding my annual Disney vacation! I have been dying to treat my "big girls" to a little Disney magic in December and settled on the second weekend of December for a few reasons. #1 free dining, #2 lower crowds, #3 it worked well with the kid's school schedules, and #4 the baby would be about 6 months old! Four nights would be just long enough with a little one staying behind with the grands and I figured each grandma could spoil the baby for two nights each. We live in South Carolina, so it is an easy drive to Orlando!

I always think that narrowing down your dates and selecting your resort are the two hardest parts about planning. Everything else is FUN!!!!!

Without further ado - onto DINING!!! My favorite part!

Thanks for following along!


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[Raeven]

We'll also be there the second weekend/third week of December! The low crowds we're why we chose that too.

Congrats on your baby! Can't wait to read about the dining. We just did our ADRs yesterday.

 

[BlondeAppetit]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction​

ADRs​

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[BlondeAppetit]

ADRS

Well....hello!

I am such a planner and a foodie so DINING is one of my favorite parts of the trip!

I am soooooooo excited to be traveling during the holidays and there are a few Must-Dos on this trip!

I was fortunate to be able to score some great reservations for our trip but now I am struggling with the lack of information around evening activities like fireworks and true park times since little is confirmed for December. While I wish that I had a Magic 8 Ball, I made the best educated guesses that I could and I have a bit of a "Plan B" in case my predictions are wrong. Disney may surprise us all and announce a few new things for December too!

As a Disney Vacation Planner, I make it a necessity to try new things on each trip. I actually have trouble going back to old favorites because there are always so many new places to try!

I have never been to WDW during December so some of my MUST DOs are as follows:

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Hoop Dee Doo Revue
with time to enjoy Fort Wilderness - Chip and Dales Campfire Singalong, carriage ride, etc.

Explore the Deluxe Resorts on the monorail and see the decorations

Explore all of the great activities at Epcot - new Frozen attractions, storytellers, Candlelight Processional, Meet Santa and Mrs. Claus and more

Animal Kingdom - lots of new activities and tentative Rivers of Light, meet Mickey and Minnie in holiday clothing

Swing by Animal Kingdom Lodge to see the tree

Hollywood Studios - experience some of the Star Wars activities - Star Wars fireworks

Artist Point - I would love to end the trip with a special meal at Artist Point. Take in the sights and smells of the Wilderness Lodge, see the tree, etc.

I have a two day park hopper with the Free Dining Package and I upgraded to the Deluxe Dining Plan. It really is the most efficient option for us, especially with a two year old and Hoop Dee Doo, etc. It was about $174 extra and we got so much more bang for our buck than we would have spent on top of our initial out of pocket expenses.

So without further ado:

Friday

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party -
Arrive at park as close to 4pm and stay as late as possible

Saturday

Relax and Resort Tour Day

11am - Kona Breakfast - then explore the various resorts.

4pm - Hoop Dee Doo Revue

Sunday

Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios

Breakfast or Lunch at Boma

or

Lunch at Sanaa

I cannot decide!!!!! What are your thoughts? We could do the Boma breakfast and then head to AKL via bus. We are staying at Pop and could always Uber over to AKL or even drive??? I hate the thought of driving. I really want to give the kids time to explore the Lodge. Mmmmmm. Boma stops seating at 11am. Sanaa starts seating at 11:30am. I think that dinner at Boma would interfere with any chance of efficiently doing Rivers of Light, etc.

Head to Hollywood Studios via bus.

Hopefully, there will be the Star Wars fireworks and I am debating the Dessert Package as a means for getting a good spot to watch the show since we will be arriving later??? Mmmmmm.

Monday

Epcot and Magic Kingdom

Pre-Park Opening Akershus at 8:05am - after breakfast catch FEA and the new Elsa and Anna Meet and Greet

Then head to Future World for rides.

Late lunch at Garden Grill at 12:55pm

Then head to World Showcase and explore countries and storytellers.

Catch the beginning of the 5pm Candlelight Processional from outside of the theatre.

Around 6pm head to monorail.

Monorail to Magic Kingdom.

Take the boat to Wilderness Lodge.

Artist Point at 7pm.

Take the boat back to Magic Kingdom.

Find a spot on Main Street or in the train station area.

9pm - Main Street Electric Parade

10pm - Wishes

Tuesday

Relax, pack up car, check out.

Head to Disney Springs

T-Rex lunch at 11am

Drive home!!!!

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[BlondeAppetit]

We'll also be there the second weekend/third week of December! The low crowds we're why we chose that too.

Congrats on your baby! Can't wait to read about the dining. We just did our ADRs yesterday.

Tell me more about your ADRs!

 

[BlondeAppetit]

Whoop! Whoop!

As a little special surprise...I just booked a sleigh ride around Fort Wilderness following HDDR and Chip and Dale's Campfire Sing-A-Long!

 

[Raeven]

We're doing the sleigh ride too! We're also doing the Wild Africa Trek, and Dine with an Animal Specialist at Sanaa.

We have reservations at Trails End, Liberty Tree Tavern, Shulas, Boma, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Ohana, 1900 Park Fare, Skippers Canteen, Be Our Guest, Las Ventanas, San Angel Inn, and Beaches and Cream. (I think that's all my pre trip report is in the signature if I missed any).

We also decided to do the Holiday dessert party during MVMCP. But I mah cancel that if reviews aren't good.

The lack of actual hours is killing me too! We're doing a shorter trip in September and I still don't know how late Ak will be open or if Rivers of Light is opening.

We also can't wait to see the resorts and HDDR was awesome when we did it so you'll have fun.

Most our reservations are also new to us with a few favorites.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Congrats on your upcoming new addition to the family!

We will be there second week in Dec also.(10th-18th) It will be our first time visiting during the Christmas Holiday and we are so excited. Tried to find that sweet spot on the calender after Pop Warner/Thanksgiving crowds and before the crazy Christmas crowds start showing up. Like you, we also scored Free Dining and decided to upgrade to Deluxe Dining (great minds think alike. LOL.). I like your ADR choices. We have chosen many of the same. Have you researched brunch at California Grill? There's a great review on here with pics. and comments from someone who was recently there:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/brunch-at-the-top-cali-grill.3515731/

 

[BlondeAppetit]

Congrats on your upcoming new addition to the family!

We will be there second week in Dec also.(10th-18th) It will be our first time visiting during the Christmas Holiday and we are so excited. Tried to find that sweet spot on the calender after Pop Warner/Thanksgiving crowds and before the crazy Christmas crowds start showing up. Like you, we also scored Free Dining and decided to upgrade to Deluxe Dining (great minds think alike. LOL.). I like your ADR choices. We have chosen many of the same. Have you researched brunch at California Grill? There's a great review on here with pics. and comments from someone who was recently there:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/brunch-at-the-top-cali-grill.3515731/

Yes! I did!

You are correct.....great mind do think alike! It is only available on Sunday. I wish that I had given it a little more thought and scheduled our HDDR for Sunday and I would make it a part of our resort tour day. Now HDDR is sold out for Sunday so flipping our days is not possible.

I had considered this option for Sunday. Pre-park opening BOG. Head to California Grill for brunch at noonish. Then take the bus to Animal Kingdom from the Contemporary. Currently Animal Kingdom closes at 5pm but I feel confident that will change. Stay at Animal Kingdom through close.

Did you make the California Grill brunch part of your plan? How did you schedule it in?

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Yes! I did!

You are correct.....great mind do think alike! It is only available on Sunday. I wish that I had given it a little more thought and scheduled our HDDR for Sunday and I would make it a part of our resort tour day. Now HDDR is sold out for Sunday so flipping our days is not possible.

I had considered this option for Sunday. Pre-park opening BOG. Head to California Grill for brunch at noonish. Then take the bus to Animal Kingdom from the Contemporary. Currently Animal Kingdom closes at 5pm but I feel confident that will change. Stay at Animal Kingdom through close.

Did you make the California Grill brunch part of your plan? How did you schedule it in?

I hear ya. Theres soooo much to see/do that it's tough to fit everything in.
We're doing Cali Grill brunch on day 2. It will be Me, DW, DD(8),DS(almost2)
Here's our ADRs for the week:

Sat.
Arrive at MCO~12:30pm
Check-in at CSR, unpack/get settled in room
Head to Wilderness Lodge to check out decorations
Artist Point dinner

Sun.
Harmony Barber Shop (for DD&DS)
Cali Grill brunch
-monorail to Epcot
Le Cellier dinner
Beaches & Cream late dessert

Mon.
Tusker House PPO breakfast
Yak & Yeti dinner

Tues.
Hollywood & Vine PPO breakfast
Hollywood Brown Derby w/F! Dinner

Wed.
Crystal Palace PPO breakfast
Be Our Guest lunch
Cinderella's Royal Table dinner

Thurs.
"Rest Day"/resort-hop to check out decorations
Sleep late-ish then head to AKL for
Sanaa lunch
Check out monorail resorts decorations
HDDR dinner
MVMCP at night

Fri.
San Angel Inn lunch
Yachtsman Steakhouse dinner

Sat.
Chef Mickeys breakfast (have heard the food is not so great but DS is totally into the fab 5)
Tony's Town Square lunch (not crazy about this one either but DD requested it so it looks like we're going)
Be Our Guest dinner

Sun.
Breakfast at CSR, check-out, then ME to MCO for flight home.

 

[BlondeAppetit]

I hear ya. Theres soooo much to see/do that it's tough to fit everything in.
We're doing Cali Grill brunch on day 2. It will be Me, DW, DD(8),DS(almost2)
Here's our ADRs for the week:

Sat.
Arrive at MCO~12:30pm
Check-in at CSR, unpack/get settled in room
Head to Wilderness Lodge to check out decorations
Artist Point dinner

Sun.
Harmony Barber Shop (for DD&DS) at 9am then stroll Main St for a bit
Cali Grill brunch 10:55
-monorail to Epcot
Le Cellier dinner
Beaches & Cream late dessert

Mon.
Tusker House PPO breakfast
Yak & Yeti dinner

Tues.
Hollywood & Vine PPO breakfast
Hollywood Brown Derby w/F! Dinner

Wed.
Crystal Palace PPO breakfast
Be Our Guest lunch
Cinderella's Royal Table dinner

Thurs.
"Rest Day"/resort-hop to check out decorations
Sleep late-ish then head to AKL for
Sanaa lunch
Check out monorail resorts decorations
HDDR dinner
MVMCP at night

Fri.
San Angel Inn lunch
Yachtsman Steakhouse dinner

Sat.
Chef Mickeys breakfast (have heard the food is not so great but DS is totally into the fab 5)
Tony's Town Square (not crazy about this one either but DD requested it so it looks like we're going)
Be Our Guest dinner

Sun.
Breakfast at CSR, check-out, then ME to MCO for flight home.

Now that's a line up!!!!! You planned so well! And landed some really hard to get ADRs! We did Chef Mickey's brunch on our last trip and it was totally fine. You can't really mess up breakfast and my girls LOVED it! My youngest really enjoyed the character interaction and that was priceless. Crystal Palace breakfast PPO is awesome! That's going to be a magical day! Also, your signatures are fantastic! I am a huge advocate of upgrading to the deluxe plan during free dining. You get so much bang for your buck and it makes planning so much fun!!!!!!!

 

[ckelly14]

We're doing the sleigh ride too! We're also doing the Wild Africa Trek, and Dine with an Animal Specialist at Sanaa.

We have reservations at Trails End, Liberty Tree Tavern, Shulas, Boma, Whispering Canyon Cafe, Ohana, 1900 Park Fare, Skippers Canteen, Be Our Guest, Las Ventanas, San Angel Inn, and Beaches and Cream. (I think that's all my pre trip report is in the signature if I missed any).

We also decided to do the Holiday dessert party during MVMCP. But I mah cancel that if reviews aren't good.

The lack of actual hours is killing me too! We're doing a shorter trip in September and I still don't know how late Ak will be open or if Rivers of Light is opening.

We also can't wait to see the resorts and HDDR was awesome when we did it so you'll have fun.

Most our reservations are also new to us with a few favorites.

Were you able to get the Wild Africa Trek scheduled? I called and the CM said there was no schedule open for the week before Christmas. Looking online, I don't see a schedule in after Sept 30th...

 

[Raeven]

Were you able to get the Wild Africa Trek scheduled? I called and the CM said there was no schedule open for the week before Christmas. Looking online, I don't see a schedule in after Sept 30th...

Yes, I'm pretty sure all the tours open at 180 days along with ADRs. I didn't look at anything online just called, and booked it. We're doing it December 12th.

 

[BDL]

Following along. We'll be hitting WDW 12/8-12/16 this year. So far everything looks great

 

[kclark9830]

Sounds fun so far! We're also going to be there that weekend. Our stay is the 10-16, at All Star Sports. We upgraded to the standard dining package so we can do Cinderella's Royal Table (which we've never done). Also wanting to do MVMCP, but we haven't decided which day.

 

[BlondeAppetit]

Hi everyone! Baby #3 arrived in mid-July and she is a little sweetheart! We are super busy these days...it takes a village!

 

[BlondeAppetit]

I have trimmed the fat on my trip and I am very happy with our new budget and plan! Share with me your thoughts!

Saturday

Travel Day

4pm - Hoop Dee Doo Revue

7pm - Chip & Dales Campfire Singalong

Sleigh Ride around Ft. Wilderness

Sunday

Resort Day - visit all of the monorail resorts, as well as Wilderness Lodge

10:45am - Breakfast at Kona - OOP

Visit the other resorts and finish at Wilderness Lodge and eat at Territory Lounge - OOP

By 4pm - Head to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Monday

Epcot and Hollywood Studios

Future World for rides.

Lunch at Garden Grill at 12:15pm

Then head to World Showcase and explore countries and storytellers. Sample different counter service meals from Around the World.

Catch the beginning of the 5pm Candlelight Processional from outside of the theatre.

Around 5:30pm - Head to HS via boat

6:45pm - New Jingle Show at HS

Head back to Epcot for fireworks - pending moods!

9:30pm - Holiday Illuminations


Tuesday

Check out.

Animal Kingdom - Meet Santa Mickey and Minnie!

Lunch at Flame Tree BBQ

Head home!






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[BDL]

Your Sunday plan, is that Sunday Dec 11th? If so, we'll be at Kona for a 9:10am res and then riding the monorail after that. Also, we'll be attending the MVMCP that night too. It would be great to run into a fellow DISer.

 

[BlondeAppetit]

Your Sunday plan, is that Sunday Dec 11th? If so, we'll be at Kona for a 9:10am res and then riding the monorail after that. Also, we'll be attending the MVMCP that night too. It would be great to run into a fellow DISer.

YES! It is Sunday the 11th! We will have to touch base prior to the trip and look out for one another! Fun!