A very DISNEY Christmas!! 12/17-12/23 PTR

[cfw213]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum, excited to be here!!

I'm going to take a stab at my first PTR for our upcoming Christmas trip to Disney! I've been lurking on the forum for a while and I figured since I'm a super type-A obsessive planner (like many of you on the forum seem to be also ) it would be fun to put it in writing and get opinions/questions answered.

I've visited four times before - twice when I was little, once for my senior class trip (yes, all 300 seniors went to Disney together...) and the most recent trip was March 2010 with my sister, mom and grandmom.

The cast of our story:
Me! I'm 23, about to be married bride: <-- how appropriate!) and a CPA in Philadelphia. I live with my fiance, and our puppy Oscar!

Our engagement picture, hence the cheese factor.

And here's Oscar. Obviously he will not be meeting the Mouse, but he's too cute not to post!

Sister: 21, still in school, hence the crappy timing of our trip. I wanted to go a week earlier, but she will have finals until December 16th. Thanks, sister. She's a SUPER Disney lover and planned our last trip. Not that she didn't do a good job, but I'm way too controlling to follow anyone else's plans. She's agreed to let me plan this trip because she was tired of me constantly tearing the map out of her hands last time. Plus, she knows her college life is MUCH more exciting than my lame CPA/job/adult life, and I need a little spice. Thanks, sis!!

I'm on the left, she's on the right. People tell us we look alike but we don't see it...

Mom:...Don't think she would want me to post her age, but she's hovering right around that big 5-0 mark (shh! don't tell her I told you!!). She came on the last trip, and is a Rock 'n Rollercoaster junkie. She loves to travel anywhere, so I knew getting her to come wouldn't be a problem.

Mom is on the left, grandmom is on the right. This is from Rainforest last trip, but grandmom will not be with us this time as she has her own travelling to do!

Who's NOT coming: Unfortunately my DF will not be making the trip with us I get a ton more vacation days than him, and since we are getting married (and taking a week honeymoon), and we are taking a vacation in July, and we took a short vacation in May, he won't be able to take the time off. Oh well, just another reason to go back!

Dad - He was planning on coming, then decided a week in the happiest place on earth wasn't up his alley. He's very antsy and wouldn't wait in line for something for more than 5 minutes. Plus, he's just as controlling as I am and we would butt heads ALOT on this trip. He decided he'd rather spend a week skiing.

Sister's boyfriend: Is also still in school, and decided his money would be better spent elsewhere. He would be a fun addition so we'll miss him as well!

Next post: adding pictures, and basic trip details!

Hope you'll following my PTR and join in my excitement!

Table of contents:
- Intro
- Who/when/where/why/how
- Distractions...
- Rough draft of plans - need help!
- Decisions made!
- Rough draft of plans, part 2
- MIA, and FREE DINING!

 

[cfw213]

Anyone out there? Oh well, I'm posting anyway

Today's installment: Who, when, where, why, how!

Who: Already mentioned this in my first post, but my sister, grandmom and myself.

When: December 17th-December 23rd. Park days will be the 18th-22nd

Where: Pop Century! Excited to stay here. Last year we stayed at POFQ and it was wonderful (when my mom paid ) This year since I'm footing my own bill, we're going for a value resort. I stayed at all star sports in 2006 and we are in our room so little that it didn't seem to matter....but I'm hoping for my next trip to get a pin code for a nicer resort.

Why: Do I need a why? Of course not However, there are a couple of reasons we're picking this time of year. I work in public accounting so can't take any vacation time from January - April 15th (bummer, because I'd love to go for my birthday in February!). 2nd, my sister is still in college and other than her spring break (in March, see reason 1), this is about the only time. Her break is so crappy, she only has off from December 14th-Jan 3rd! We also considered early October when she has her fall break, but its only two weeks before my wedding so that's a skip!

How: Mom and I are flying down from Philadelphia, sister is flying from Pittsburgh and will beat us there by about two hours.

Today I've done alot of planning about what parks which days, and made some ADRs! But that's for another post

 

[cfw213]

Oops, double post!

 

[shelbys mommy]

I'm in! You make a beautiful couple & I can't wait to read all about your plans for a Disney Christmas! Disney is just so beautiful at that time of the year!

 

[blessedmom4]

I am in too, Thanks for stopping by our PTR and letting me know you were there. I understand about the college schedule, that is why we are going when we are...otherwise I would pick the week after Thanksgiving! Looking forward to reading more and I LOVE to read wedding plans too. I LOVE Philly, CHOP saved my daughter's life...

 

[poisonapple_PRINCESS]

Hi! We have almost the same trip dates and basically the same reason! My bf wont be done with his finals until around that time, either. We were going to go the week of Christmas to New Years....but I hear that time is crazy!

 

[cfw213]

Hi! We have almost the same trip dates and basically the same reason! My bf wont be done with his finals until around that time, either. We were going to go the week of Christmas to New Years....but I hear that time is crazy!

Thanks for following, I'm following your PTR too! Have you subscribed to touring plans? I've heard good things about it and I think it should make the experience of Christmas at Disney a bit less painful

 

[cfw213]

Hi everyone, hope you're having a good weekend so far

I must confess, Disney is not the only thing I'm looking forward to in the upcoming months. I have a lot going on!

June: Well, June is almost over, so I guess this doesn't count...not really anything I'm looking forward to in particular this week.

July: Thursday night I leave for the Adirondacks in upstate New York for the 4th of July weekend. My family has a house on a lake about an hour from Lake Placid and 15 minutes from the Vermont border. It is BEAUTIFUL and I love driving up there every chance I get. Unfortunately this is a short trip since I have to be back at work on Tuesday.

I'm also heading up for a week's vacation on the 23rd of July. Yippee! Here is my PTR for my Adirondacks vacation:

Day 1 - Read
Day 2 - Read
Day 3 - Read
Day 4 - Read
Day 5 - Read
Day 6 - Read
Day 7 - Read

Yeah...I pretty much just lay around the lake, and READ. So relaxing and I can completely unwind. So if anyone has any good book recommendations, I'm all ears! I just finished Room, and bought the Hunger Games because a coworker recommended it. I read ALOT because I commute to work on a train...

Sister and I at the Adirondacks last year.

August: No trips planned for August Pretty bummed about this, but my bridal shower is at the end of August so I will certainly look forward to that

September: Vegas for my mom's 50th birthday! We're going for 4 days (28th-1st) and staying at Monte Carlo. I'm REALLY looking forward to this trip. I've never been to Vegas and can't wait to check it out. The best part is that my dad is paying for my sister and I as a gift to my mom This will require some major planning. I may bore you all here with some details, but I will report more on my blog.

October: My wedding month! The official date is the 29th, but my bachelorette party in Atlantic City is October 8th. I've visited a few times (mostly shopping and dinner), but never spent the night. Really looking forward to spending some time with my friends!

The 29th is the wedding, and we leave the following day around 6am (eek!!) for the airport. We are taking a Carnival cruise to the Southern Caribbean (St. John, St. Thomas, etc...) from San Juan. Not TOO much planning here since we are mostly planning on laying around and enjoying the beaches, but I'll certainly have to check out the ship activity and plan a few leisurely daytime activities. I'm not into water sports and I'm afraid of snorkeling (fish, ahh don't like them), so anything I plan will mostly be low key.

November: Me and my future DH scared1 come back from our honeymoon on the 5th, and that's the only exciting thing happening in November, besides Thanksgiving break...

December: DISNEY MONTH! Woohoo, it's finally here Again, we're vising the 17th-23rd, then we'll be home for Christmas and Christmas Eve, and I'll take off the day after Christmas as well!

As I sort of mentioned in my first post, the place I work is VERY generous with vacation/personal days. I have a total of 24 days this year, and I've only worked there about 7 months. Half of those days I earned due to working overtime during busy season.

Ok, so that was sort of off topic. Don't worry, I'll mainly stick to Disney plans from now on.

On a Disney note, I bought another book today. . I definitely didn't need it, but I didn't care for my Frommers book. They have too much devoted to detailing every single hotel, restaurant, etc., and not enough opinions on rides, crowds and shows for my taste. I have previously purchased Frommers (I used it for a long trip to Europe) and found them helpful, but I like the Unofficial Guide to WDW better, so far!

Have a nice night everyone!

 

[cfw213]

Happy Sunday, DISers. I've hashed out a rough draft of the days in Disney...but I need help! Last time I went with my family we had a pretty unenjoyable day in Magic Kingdom, so we decided to devote less time there this time. Now that I'm looking at the plans though, I don't know if we'll have enough time there to do everything we want.... here is the rough plan:

Saturday - We arrive around 4:15. Get ME, check into hotel and hotel hop to see decorations. Definitely want to go to GF. ADR at 'Ohana for 8:15

Sunday - NEED HELP HERE!

Option 1- Animal Kingdom for RD. Priorities here are shows, EE, Safari, ITTBAB, and Dinosaur. Don't need to do the animal "walks", etc. I honestly think we can do this in 4 hours or so. Possibly see the parade if we have time.
Then hop to DHS (arrive by 5:30) to see Fantasmic!, Osbourne Lights and possibly RRC and ToT depending on the lines. This is an EMH day until 11:00. Touring plans does not recommend this park for today, but it's sort of our only option to see Fantasmic.

Option 2 - Head to MK for RD. See the morning welcome, ride Space, Splash and Thunder then hop to AK and do above plans. We will hopefully arrive to AK by 11:00. My worry is that EE lines will be too long by then and/or FP will be gone. THEN hop to DHS for the same as Option 1.

I'm aware that this is a lot in one day. However, we have 3 days to do 4 parks and I just don't know the best way to do it.

Monday - Hollywood Studios for RD, stay until about 5. Possibly a few shows we can skip if we need to...Would like to be out by 5 so we can have dinner and head over to MK for EMH until 1:00am.
We will not attend MSEP or Wishes this night, so we're thinking we can do the major attractions (Splash if its not too cold, Space and Big Thunder...) while most people are at the parade/wishes. Do you think 7:00-1:00 will be so crowded that we can do most of the attractions this night? Or should we do option 1 on Sunday and just worry about "smaller" attractions this night (ie: IASW/Pirates/Jungle Cruise, etc...)

Tuesday - IOA for the day until about 6, then Downtown Disney for the night. Wasn't planning on Disney parks this day but we can if we feel like it (we have 5 day hoppers)

Wednesday - Epcot all day, 9:00-9:30. Planning on a dinner ADR and Illuminations. Would like to do CP, but if it doesn't happen that's okay.

Thursday - USO, then back to MK by 8:00 to see MSEP and Wishes, probably won't do any attractions in MK.

Friday - 12:00 flight home, won't be visiting the parks this day.

Thanks for your opinions!

 

[cfw213]

Ok DISers, decision is made!

Sunday - Breakfast at Tusker House (more about this in ADR post), AK until 2:00 (plan on just doing EE, KS, ITTBAB, Dinosaur, Finding Nemo & FOTLK). Touring plans doesn't anticipate this park being crowded so we think we can do all of this in about 4 hours or so. Then we will head to MK until about 6:00, and hop to DHS for EMH where we'll see Fantasmic! and Osbourne lights.

Monday - DHS all day, MK for EMH at night.

That's all, just wanted to share this emergency update

 

[Merida]

Joining in too! My boyfriend and I are going down around the same time! My senior trip was to Disney as well (thinking about it, I've been to Disney more times with my high school than my actual family!) and it was certainly an experience.

 

[cfw213]

Joining in too! My boyfriend and I are going down around the same time! My senior trip was to Disney as well (thinking about it, I've been to Disney more times with my high school than my actual family!) and it was certainly an experience.

Thanks for following! I can't wait to go during Christmas, it's my favorite time of year!

 

[poisonapple_PRINCESS]

Thanks for following, I'm following your PTR too! Have you subscribed to touring plans? I've heard good things about it and I think it should make the experience of Christmas at Disney a bit less painful

I actually did subscribe to touring plans about two weeks ago...I used alot of the information for alot of my decision making for my trip.

 

[blessedmom4]

Christmas would be my choice of when to go as well! Loving reading along!

 

[cfw213]

Happy 4th of July everyone! I've been away since Thursday but I'm planning on posting tomorrow night, stick around until then

 

[cfw213]

As it stands now, here are the trip plans:

Saturday, December 17th - Land in Orlando at about 4:15pm, get shuttle to hotel (Pop Century), then leave to see the Grand Floridian, AK Lodge if possible, and the Poly.

Sunday, December 18th - Arrive at Magic Kingdom for the welcome parade (hopefully 9:00, possibly 8:00). Stay until about 6:00, then head over to Hollywood Studios for the later showing of Fantasmic! and to check out the Osbourne lights. We're hoping to jump between Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Roller Coaster these 2 nights, as the park isn't predicted to be that crowded.

Monday, December 19th - Universal Studios Islands of Adventure!! Will definitely be there about an hour before opening to check out The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! This night MK has extra magic hours until 1:00am, so we will go and check out Wishes (our favorite), and the late showing of the Main Street Electrical Parade (never done this before...)

Tuesday, December 20th - Epcot all day, Illuminations at night. Would like to check out the candlelight processional, if possible. However, I won't wait hours in line to see it.

Wednesday, December 21st - Animal Kingdom in the morning...we're hoping to just check out a few rides (Everest, Kilimanjaro Safari, Dinosaur, It's Tough to be a Bug, Finding Nemo & Festival of the Lion King), and be out around 1:00. Then hop to DHS for the rest of the day.

Thursday, December 22nd - Our last day We'll spend this day at Universal Studios Orlando, as the Disney parks are expected to be crowded this day...at night we'll have dinner and shop at Downtown Disney to avoid some of the park crowds.

Friday, December 23rd - Fly home around 12:00

 

[PixieMama]

Joining in!

I hope to someday visit WDW during Christmastime... I can only imagine how beautiful al the decorations are.

And yay for trips with your mom and sister! I'm going in September with my mom and sis... "adults only" and "girls only"! I can't wait!

 

[Merida]

Tuesday, December 20th - Epcot all day, Illuminations at night. Would like to check out the candlelight processional, if possible. However, I won't wait hours in line to see it.

Do you know who's doing the Candlelight Processional for your days (ours is still TBD I think, though I suppose I could look both of these up )? I was kind of disappointed to miss Neil Patrick Harris by a couple days, so for us, we're only going to go if it's someone I (or my boyfriend, I guess) really really likes.

 

[cfw213]

Wow, I haven't posted in a while!

Life has been so busy this summer! We were away for a week long vacation in the Adirondacks, and have been wedding planning like crazy! Last Saturday was my bridal shower and now the wedding is only 2 months away!!

Anywho, back to Disney! I saw someone's post on here that Disney had free dining if you checked in by December 17th...well we are going December 17th-23rd, so this was perfect for us.

I tried to book online first...I was under the impression that if I was staying in a value hotel I could only get the quick service dining plan so I priced it out staying at Port Orleans with the mid-level dining plan and it would end up costing us $170/pp more for the whole trip - almost $600! That seemed really high to me just to upgrade the hotel for "free" dining.

I then tried to price our hotel (Pop Century) with the QS dining plan. It end up cost about the same (<$10 more per person) that what we were already paying (we booked the hotel through Expedia), so obviously that was a good deal even if we didn't plan on using all the meals (we already had ADRs for Ohana and Teppan Ado).

I didn't think that the price should be so high for the moderate hotel so I called Disney, as I thought the price wasn't being calculated right. The rep informed me that usually as long as you check in by the last day of the dining plan, you get the entire stay free, but since it was Christmas week, for ANY dining plan, only the first night would be free. Hmm By then I was excited about the possibility of the DP and was thoroughly disappointed at this news!

As a last ditch effort, I went back online and priced the value hotel with the regular dining plan (apparently you can do this? I wasn't aware...), and it ended up only costing $50/pp total more than what we were paying with no dining plan! So I don't know how it ended up working that way, but I'll just say we got "$50 dining for a week!"

SO, now I am super excited and have been making whatever ADRs I could possibly get for the last few days! We are arriving late afternoon Saturday and leaving afternoon on Friday, so we have 6 TS and 6 QS dining credits per person. This works well because we will be at Universal for 2 days, and we usually bring bagels/cereal/poptarts to eat in the AM instead of buying an expensive breakfast.

Saturday - Dinner at 'Ohana
Sunday - Breakfast in our room, CS meal at MK, CS meal at DHS
Monday - Breakfast in the room, Islands of Adventure, CS meal at the hotel before heading to MK
Tuesday - Breakfast in the room, CS meal at Epcot, Teppan Ado ADR
Wednesday - Tusker House ADR for breakfast, CS meal at AK, ADR at Prime Time Cafe
Thursday - CS breakfast at hotel, Universal Studios, HOOP DEE DOO REVUE!
Friday - Breakfast in our room, Flight leaves at noon

I am super excited I was able to get level 1 seating using the dining plan for the 8:30pm show I had never heard of HDDR until I started cruising these boards a few months ago, and it just sounds so different from what we usually do, I just have to check it out! By Thursday the parks will be super crowded, so I think it will be a nice break from everyone to go out to the campground.

That's all for now I'm also wondering if anyone else had these weird pricing issues for the DDP!