A Magical Place at a Magical Time of Year

[swwake]

Hi everyone! Wow, I DISappeared from the DIS for awhile. My old thread has been locked, so I guess I couldn't finish my September 2010 trip report, even if I had the time to.

Just wanted to let y'all know that we've booked our next trip. We will be taking my niece to WDW near Christmas 2011. I want to invite Haley (my niece) to help me with the PTR.

So let me get her started, and we'll share some details very soon! So excited to be going back to the World!!

 

[swwake]

I want to introduce my niece. Here she is, Haley.

That's Haley with her brother Tyler on the left and his twin Hayden on the right.

But, alas, that was many years ago. Here's a current photo of our HaleyBug:

Haley is 16 years old now and a sophomore in High School. She was only 7 years old the last time (first and only time) she went to Disney World. She lives and breathes Disney, is a princess at heart, wants to work for Disney when she's older, and would give anything to go back.

Well, when you wish upon a star...

 

[brewzoo5]

I haven't gotten Haley on the boards yet, but she will join soon. I am sure.
Maybe we can figure out a way to show one of her princess videos on the boards.

 

[swwake]

I haven't gotten Haley on the boards yet, but she will join soon. I am sure.
Maybe we can figure out a way to show one of her princess videos on the boards.

Yay! We will get her on here. You need to fix your signature.

 

[haleyelise]

It's Haley, I made an account the other day but couldn't figure out the website, but I got the concept now.
Yey!

 

[swwake]

Haley's here!

Well, we should share our dates. We will be leaving Austin Friday, December 16th after Haley gets out of school. We'll fly to Orlando and take a town car to Hard Rock Hotel at Universal. We're planning on dinner at CityWalk that night (probably Margaritaville, but maybe Hard Rock Cafe). One night and one day at IOA/US, then it's off by cab to WDW!! We'll be staying at the Polynesian!

Next, one of us will share our cast - who is going on the trip with us?

 

[Native NYer]

Yay another PTR!
Definitely in for this one.

 

[swwake]

I got a wild hair and am now considering upgrading our room at the Poly from a garden view. For anyone who's stayed there before, let me know your opinions.

Options:
1 - Keep the garden view
2 - Upgrade to theme park view
3 - Upgrade to a garden view, Club Level

Thoughts?

 

[swwake]

Here's what's been going on. I have subscribed to the Poly thread and the Club Level thread (to try to decide whether CL would be worth it for us) and have completely studied Tikiman's site, gathering as much info as possible about our trip. I love seeing pics.

I have planned two surprises. One is for Haley (the rest of us already know) and the other is for everyone (only Chris and I know). Both surprises affect all of us. I'm so excited about them.

Also, Haley doesn't EVER check her email, so I communicate with her by Facebook. I have started posting a countdown and trivia question each day on her wall. I think I'll share them here with my readers (if there are any). Maybe you can guess the answers each day.

Here's todays:

241 days until Disney. In Animal Kingdom, Asia is represented by a fictitious village known as "Anandapur." What does this name mean?
A "Land of the Unknown"
B "Peace"
C "One People"
D "City of Delights"

I'll post the answer tomorrow!

 

[swwake]

Here's yesterday's answer:

D. Anandapur means "place of all delights" in Sanskrit. As with most things found in WDW, this fictional village has a "backstory," a made-up narrative used to guide and inspire the Imagineers (who drew their inspiration from many nations ...in creating the village rather than from any specific country). Anandapur was supposedly established in 1544 as a royal hunting reserve. In time, a village grew in the area. Although the royal hunting reserve has now been converted into a conservation area, the surrounding village still thrives to this day.

And today:
240 days until Disney. What can you find in the lobby of the Polynesian's Great Ceremonial House?
A a waterfall
B Mickey and Minnie statues
C a monorail station
D a pool

 

[swwake]

Trivia answer A: A large, soothing waterfall graces the lobby of the Polynesian's Great Ceremonial House, which includes the hotel's registration desk, shops, restaurants and more. The monorail station is right outside the House on the second floor.

 

[jenneth79]

I got a wild hair and am now considering upgrading our room at the Poly from a garden view. For anyone who's stayed there before, let me know your opinions.

Options:
1 - Keep the garden view
2 - Upgrade to theme park view
3 - Upgrade to a garden view, Club Level

Thoughts?

CL, hands down.

Sounds like you're going to have a wonderful time!

 

[swwake]

CL, hands down.

Sounds like you're going to have a wonderful time!

Thanks for the advice and thanks for following (at least once!). Now I've gotta go check out your PTR.

 

[jenneth79]

Thanks for the advice and thanks for following (at least once!). Now I've gotta go check out your PTR.

Oh, you'll probably regret it. I'm a bit all over the place.

 

[annmarieda]

Since you are going at Christmas, I HAVE to follow along. Do you mind if I join you? Can't wait to read all about your plans!

 

[swwake]

Since you are going at Christmas, I HAVE to follow along. Do you mind if I join you? Can't wait to read all about your plans!

So glad to have a couple of readers! I hope to add more exciting posts as my time frees up now (I am an accountant and should have more time now that 4/15 has passed.) I hope to get Haley and my sister to contribute too. My DH and DD are a hopeless cause. Far too busy to plan a Disney vacay.

 

[swwake]

I just took a look at the crowd calendar, and here is our temporary park schedule:

Dec 16 - CityWalk
Dec 17 - Islands of Adventure/Universal Studios/Check in Poly/Epcot
Dec 18 - Magic Kingdom/MVMCP
Dec 19 - Epcot
Dec 20 - Animal Kingdom
Dec 21 - Hollywood Studios
Dec 22 - Epcot (1/2 day)

These are based strictly on the crowd calendars, and will probably change. Also, we have park-hoppers, so it's highly likely that we will hit more than one park in one day. The last time we went, we hit 3 parks on one of the days! And that was at a pretty casual pace.

 

[Native NYer]

Hi Susan!

I the Poly. I've done garden view and theme park view club level.
I like CL at the Poly. The CMs are wonderful. Would I pick CL over a theme park view? Probably not. We enjoyed our tpv. It was so nice watching Wishes from our balcony.

Also, one thing to consider about CL is that the 2nd floor rooms in the Hawaii building do not have balconies. The newer buildings have balconies on the second and third floor. If a balcony or patio is important to you, make sure to request it.

I hope my late night ramblings make sense.

 

[swwake]

Hi Susan!

I the Poly. I've done garden view and theme park view club level.
I like CL at the Poly. The CMs are wonderful. Would I pick CL over a theme park view? Probably not. We enjoyed our tpv. It was so nice watching Wishes from our balcony.

Also, one thing to consider about CL is that the 2nd floor rooms in the Hawaii building do not have balconies. The newer buildings have balconies on the second and third floor. If a balcony or patio is important to you, make sure to request it.

I hope my late night ramblings make sense.

Hey Jen! You make plenty of sense. We decided we don't care much if we have a balcony since we're getting garden view.

 

[swwake]

239 days until Disney.

What name was originally planned for Walt Disney World?
A Florida Disney
B Disney America
C Disney World
D Discoveryland