A Link To My Christmas Trip Report

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I would love to have you join me over on the Orlando Hotels & Attractions board to share in my trip report . You can hop directly over by clicking here:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3041415

I have a couple of posts up so far, with much more to come in the next while.

So hard to believe its over .

 

[Disney Addicted]

I'm in! As soon as I can get some uninterrupted me time that is. Kids here are driving me nuts right now.

Thanks for the posting the link.

 

[5mouseketeersforus]

Loved it so far!!

Hurry and post the rest!!!

 

[tgropp]

I love Christmas trip reports. brings back so many memories when our children were smallerduring our Christmas visits.

 

[papertraveller]

I'm in! We were in Orlando for roughly the same time as you -- but I surely couldn't keep up with your pace! We had great ambition to get to the OuttaControl magic show, based on your stellar recommendation, but just couldn't seem to get our act together. The crowds at the outlet mall really did me in, not to mention the traffic on Sand Lake

Can't wait to hear more of your adventures!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I'm in! As soon as I can get some uninterrupted me time that is. Kids here are driving me nuts right now.

Thanks for the posting the link.

Awesome! Glad to have you along!

Loved it so far!!

Hurry and post the rest!!!

Thanks . Another update was posted this evening. More to come!

I love Christmas trip reports. brings back so many memories when our children were smallerduring our Christmas visits.

I salute you . I don't know if I would be brave enough to return during Christmas again, and I can see you have visited during the holiday season MANY times. While we had an AWESOME vacation, the crowds and traffic were really something else. Holy mackerel!

 

[pigletto]

Yay!!! This is exactly what I came in here looking for!
Off to follow the link!

 

[Disney Addicted]

Kids are in bed and I have a large mug (and a green tinkerbell at that) of hot chai tea beside me.

It's quiet, I'm relaxed and ready to read your trip report!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Yay!!! This is exactly what I came in here looking for!
Off to follow the link!

PIGLETTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have missed you! How've ya been?

Did you book those Delta flights? (I read your other post on the Transportation board)

Kids are in bed and I have a large mug (and a green tinkerbell at that) of hot chai tea beside me.

I am sooooo jealous!

 

[pigletto]

Nothing booked yet. I have a Jetblue credit and we're waiting until Tuesday of next week to pull the plug. We'd much rather use Jetblue but its quite a bit more than Delta or United. Still deciding

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I'm in! We were in Orlando for roughly the same time as you -- but I surely couldn't keep up with your pace! We had great ambition to get to the OuttaControl magic show, based on your stellar recommendation, but just couldn't seem to get our act together. The crowds at the outlet mall really did me in, not to mention the traffic on Sand Lake

Can't wait to hear more of your adventures!

Whoops, papertraveller.....how did I miss your comment earlier? (so sorry!)

lol, our hectice pace caught up with us in early in the trip, unfortunately. We actually had a "hit the wall" night which I will share more about in the trip report. Luckily, we were able to cancel our plans with no repercussions and carry on for the remainder of the trip as scheduled.

And wasn't that traffic RIDICULOUS? Geez Louise, we ended up parking at the Festival Bay Mall one day and walking to the Premium Outlets, because there was no way we were going to get a parking space any closer (it would have taken an hour in the stop and go traffic to get from Festival Bay to the Premium Outlets....and it took us less than 10 minutes to walk it, and that included waiting at the crosswalks).

Sorry you didn't get to the Outta Control Dinner Show. Definitely bookmark that one for the NEXT trip!

Nothing booked yet. I have a Jetblue credit and we're waiting until Tuesday of next week to pull the plug. We'd much rather use Jetblue but its quite a bit more than Delta or United. Still deciding

Ah, go ahead and spoil yourselves. You deserve it . After our Airtran flight, we have vowed to be willing to spend a little more on airfare to go with our preferred airline. But I do understand the the budget is the budget, and you have to stick within that, too. Fingers crossed that Jetblue will come down a bit over the weekend and you can get those flights you want!

 

[susanv]

Hi, have been a "lurker" (dislike that term, it's so negative) on DisBoards for a while now and am starting to post a lot recently and still not quite sure how to do it properly. How do you do a quote on just a small part of someones post?
Also my main question is about Air Tran. Are they really small seats? We are debating between driving and flying for our upcoming May trip. My husband is large - 6'6" 310 lbs, is he going to be very uncomfortable the whole trip? Is there anything else wrong with Air Tran? They were the only airline I could find with really decent prices for a family of six.
Do not know how to do PM properly. Tried to PM someone to get on a Canadian coupon train and did not receive any response that I know of, but again definitely still learning.
Thank You, Susan

 

[susanv]

This may or may not have posted already. Kids on lap. You mentioned the shopping outlets. Are they worth it? I love to shop, but rarely get to when at Disney (not even DTD much). Thanks again, Susan

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Hi, have been a "lurker" (dislike that term, it's so negative) on DisBoards for a while now and am starting to post a lot recently and still not quite sure how to do it properly. How do you do a quote on just a small part of someones post?
Also my main question is about Air Tran. Are they really small seats? We are debating between driving and flying for our upcoming May trip. My husband is large - 6'6" 310 lbs, is he going to be very uncomfortable the whole trip? Is there anything else wrong with Air Tran? They were the only airline I could find with really decent prices for a family of six.
Do not know how to do PM properly. Tried to PM someone to get on a Canadian coupon train and did not receive any response that I know of, but again definitely still learning.
Thank You, Susan

Hi ya Susan,

We flew business class on our Airtran flight, which meant our seats were 2 x 2 rather than 3 x 3. So we had lots of space (my DH is 6' 4" and at least 295 pounds, so I can relate with having a big fella to make comfy in the seats).

The regular seats did look squished together, but we didn't actually sit in them so I hope someone else can offer you up more information. Jetblue is very comfortable for larger folks, so if the budget will allow, it would be my best recommendation. And legroom is just one of the many things I love about Jetblue.......the individual TV's on every seat being another. I do understand, though, that they can often be the pricier option. That's why we chose Airtran for one way of our flights......they were simply the cheapest. But they also felt cheap. We got there safely, and that's the most important thing, but the plane was old, the flight attendants weren't as nice, and it just wasn't the quality of Jetblue.

This may or may not have posted already. Kids on lap. You mentioned the shopping outlets. Are they worth it? I love to shop, but rarely get to when at Disney (not even DTD much). Thanks again, Susan

We love the Premium Outlets (both of them......the International Drive location has an Under Armour outlet, while the Vineland location has an Aeropostale outlet......otherwise, they have many of the same stores). We also love the Nike Clearance Outlet store in Kissimmee. The Florida Mall also has good shopping. We always load up on clothing and shoes while we are there at a fraction of what we pay here (DH got a size 15 mens pair of Nike Airs for $16.99....and remember there is only 6.5% tax in Orlando). We managed to fill three empty carry-ons this trip alone!! DH always jokes that we save enough on the clothes we buy to pay for the rest of the trip .

 

[susanv]

Thanks Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina, you have made a very good case for driving! Now how do I slip away from DH and kids to go shopping, ? Will be haunting the JetBlue website just in case.
Happy New Year!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Now how do I slip away from DH and kids to go shopping, ?

Aw, take 'em with you! They might enjoy hunting for deals, too!

Good luck on finding some affordable airfare. I know we always find that the most stressful and difficult part of the trip planning. Not sure I could stand such a long drive . We drove to Wisconsin Dells from southeastern Ontario in 2010, and if I *ever* see another Trivial Pursuit question IN MY LIFE, it will be too soon .

 

[papertraveller]

I'm going to have to check my map to see about the Festival Bay location. I thought the traffic was unbelievable around the outlet mall -- couldn't believe where people were parking.

The problem for us now, of course, is that north outlet mall has an UGG outlet with some pretty decent prices. We got a great pair for DD that were $100 cheaper than at home. The store was also a madhouse, but the staff were amazing.

We were staying at the Marriott Grande Vista on I-Drive just south of SeaWorld, and found generally that anything south of Sand Lake seemed to be relatively sane traffic-wise. And that's saying something, since we live in the GTA!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We were staying at the Marriott Grande Vista on I-Drive just south of SeaWorld, and found generally that anything south of Sand Lake seemed to be relatively sane traffic-wise. And that's saying something, since we live in the GTA!

I totally agree. Sand Lake and north was ridiculous. I would not have wanted to be spending the holidays at one of the I-Drive hotels in the thick of the madness, like Coco Key. Can you imagine trying to get in and out of their parking lot?!?

We live in a small city, where it takes me about 8 minutes to drive the 4 km to work (and that includes stopping for all the traffic lights and whipping through the Timmies drive through for my morning java ). That kind of traffic drives me bonkers! I didn't even bother to add myself as an extra driver on our rental vehicle (which I could have done for free, as a spouse, with Budget). If I was in charge of getting the family anywhere, it would have been a taxi, the trolley, the hotel shuttlem or bust!

 

[chrisula]

What a fantastic Trip Report Gina, my dream is to go to Florida over the holidays and your trip report and the photos made me feel like I was along for the ride. Thanks so much for sharing

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

What a fantastic Trip Report Gina, my dream is to go to Florida over the holidays and your trip report and the photos made me feel like I was along for the ride. Thanks so much for sharing

Thank YOU for reading along! (and the wonderfully kind comments )

I love doing trip reports when we return home from vacation. Reliving the memories is the best cure for post-holiday blues.

I hope you get to realize your dream someday, and visit Orlando at Christmas time. It really is so beautiful!