An early pre-trippie Dec 2010- UPDATE POST34, SINGLE DIGIT DANCE!!

fizz13

<font color=33cc99>Dreams about being stuck on Spa
Joined
May 6, 2004
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Hi guys,
nice to back planning something again:woohoo: As i've started the booking process i wanted to start getting things written down, even if it is 10 months away! My dates are the 9th to the 23rd December, which allows us to see and do all the Xmas stuff while getting out of dodge before the true Xmas/ new years crush, and my kids made it quite clear that they have to be home for Xmas, which is fair enough, its not really Xmas anywhere else for us.

This trip came about for 2 reasons.
1) we have had a timeshare for a few years now at Mystic Dunes but our allocated weeks were the first 2 in january. once the children all started school it really wasn't practical to take them out for 2 weeks, and truth be told i discovered staying onsite, loved it and got out of the habit of going anywhere beyond property. We contacted them before to sell it back as it was just going unused and they made us an offer. We could have it any two weeks we liked to keep the contract:idea: Suddenly offsite became a lot more attractive!
2) Cara, my 10 year old, is sick to death of Disney World, is too cool for school, and despite being a Harry Potter fanatic and the promise of universal , seaworld and things beyond the disney boundries, has point blank refused to come. I know it sounds wrong to let a 10 year old dictate to me, but in this case i know she really wont enjoy it, she didn't the last trip we had, it would be a waste of time and money to make her go. She has had offers from her father and my grandparents to stay with them if we went away, so she is set. The upshot was one less person to pay for meant we could go a lot sooner. Please note she has started compiling her shopping list for me to bring back though:rotfl: And another reason to be back before Xmas, no way would I be without her for that.

So the cast list is going to be me and my boys, dean will turn 9 this summer and Charlie will be nearly 7 when we go.
I had hoped that Colin would be coming too, my other half, but he wont be able to get the time off work sadly. And just this week my friend has decided she would like to come along with her two, who will be 5 and nearly 3 when we go. i have the space as we have a 2 bed and 1 bed together in a 3 bedroom lock-off, nice as we wont be on top of each other, we can go to our own corners so to speak lol. So i have adult company and she has a disney expert so she says:cool1: the fun bit will be coming up with workable plans that cater to all the children.
have to come and write more later, off to the school run:goodvibes
 

Enjoy your planning Claire, I can't wait to hear what you're going to be up to :thumbsup2
 
Fantastic Claire to hear you are booked up. Lovely to have it to look forward to and to show your friend all the best things to do. Back in Dec 08 we went from 10th to 21st Dec and loved it. The decorations and atmosphere is magical. I don't think I have ever heard of a child not liking Disney but it shows confidence that Cara can voice her views and you take them seriously. No doubt Cara will enjoy being the centre of attention with her grandparents or Dad whilst you are away. So pleased you are going back again x
 
Ooooh great start! Now you have started you pre trip report I can start mine as were there the same time haha!:laughing:
 
What a great time to go. Will look forward to the report.:goodvibes
 
Aaww thank you everybody:hug: I do love the DIS boards so much, so many good vibes around this UK community

Ooooh great start! Now you have started you pre trip report I can start mine as were there the same time haha!
Yep, go for it:thumbsup2 I@ve only started mine so early so i dont forget anything i do, its so much fun to read them back even years later, i have reports on here back to 2005 lol

Sounds good Claire. When does the Pop part come into it?
All will be revealed in a minute, its only 2 nights but i am so happy to be able to get onsite just for a little bit, i was there in August and i cant wait to show it to the boys:goodvibes

Bev, thank you for understanding about my decision with cara, she has very strong opinions about things generally:lmao: but seriously, when it came to this i knew when we came back last time, she hadn't wanted to go then and i didnt listen, and its not fair for me to expect her to be grateful or happy all the time when it is very clearly not her thing and she has told me repeatedly, she is going to have a much better time being spoilt for 2 weeks and she does need a break from her brothers too, i was the oldest out of 3 and had 2 younger brothers, me and her are so alike its scary, maybe thats why i understand her...apart from the disney thing..that is most definitely her father:sad2:

Wooo! Another Fizz trippy, fabby!
oh wow, sounds like you have enjoyed my previous work then, hope i don't dissapoint you lol, thanks:hug:

Which while i am on the subject, i want to apologise for not actually writing a trippie from August, you were all so lovely following the pre-trippie and i guess if you aren't on my facebook you didnt get to see the piccies either...although i dont know whos left to add from here on my fb honestly, but very quickly, the trip was everything i wanted it to be for me and Colin, and while i havent converted him to a total disney lover, he definitely appreciated the detail and theming that is all around, he told me after the first hour how impressed he was by it all, he spoiled me all week with little gifts that he sneakily bought somehow, he was blown away by california grill, every ADR actually, think his fav was ohana and he still has dreams about beaches and cream burgers, Tokyo dining sushi and we are on the ultimate quest to replicate the mega berry smoothie to precision, this is no joke, we have been through every brand of raspberry coulis there is and more:rotfl:, he has sent me you tube videos of stacey and rides...he liked it way more than he thought he would. his only objection: he renames it the Claire boot camp to other people:rotfl2:yes i marched that man from morning to night for 7 days straight so that he didnt miss anything..he didnt and we were totally done in, nuff said, he has a point:cool1: But i think the piccies below show it best:
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5975_130043881057_661186057_2968844_637086_n.jpg
 
The first thing was to decide dates, and i had been scouting for flights from the first day december flights were available, our timeshare weeks run saturday to saturday but it became clear fast that to wait until the 11th would bump up the price significantly, even the friday wasn't great. Knowing i had to be back for xmas, which falls on the 2nd saturday and not wanting to take the boys out of school for another week i decided on the thursday, its actually a £100 difference per person for 2 days:scared1:so i would still get a full 2 weeks. so we have 2 nights where we have to stay somewhere else..and thats where Pop Century comes in. the boys are desperate to stay at the nick hotel, and i can understand why but i think £237 for 2 nights is money better spent elsewhere and when pop came up at £98 for the 2 nights it was a no-brainer, i showed them my photos from August and the Pop bit on the wdw planning dvd and they were happy to go with it. i got the confirmation emails from mystic dunes and all accomodations booked and paid up:woohoo:

Then i started the scouting around for park tickets. Originally i was just going to go for flextickets and disney ultimates but when I saw the prices on Travel republic I changed my mind. it was cheaper to get the 2 park universal tickets and then the seaworld/aquatica tickets seperately than buy flextickets, wet and wild i can live without as we want to go to aquatica more, and with the weather so variable in december how many waterparks are we really going to visit? So I have these plus my disney ultimates, all valid for 14 days, done!

despite me flight checking religiously i have opted to book a virgin flydrive for 2 reasons:
1) when i priced up what i would spend on flights and car hire, this is cheaper, i have even upgraded the car they allocated and gone for inclusive insurance, still a better deal
2) I only have to pay the deposit now and have until september to pay the balance. so i have secure the flights i want while only paying a bit

So as you can see, i am well and truly booked up with a big chunk of the cost paid. I am budgeting for £100 a day spending and food money, with breakfasts in the villa and eating offsite, and with me hardly buying any souvenirs these days this is a doable budget for us. the boys will be given spending money by family as they always are for their bits. I am waiting for them to release the MVMCP tickets, hopefully May time, and will get those.

As for other plans, well i have 10 months to think about it, yay!! some ideas i have are 1 night for fantasia mini-golf with beaches and cream, this worked so well for me and colin on our last night, the drive by at old town which I havent seen in years but the cars are awesome, 1 evening in celebration to see all their Xmas stuff, the candlelight Processional which i have never seen, my fav mall the Premium Outlets and all the other disney xmas festivities and decorations to show my friend
Trying to keep my ADRs to a minumum this time, a definite challenge for me:cool1: Chef mickeys is the boys must do, the fantasmic dinner package which i missed out on in August due to the weather ( i refuse to not see fantasmic 2 trips running:sad1:) a candlelight processional dinner package and the debate over countries has already started in this house:lmao: and ohana as they will love it. I count 4 there....hhmmmm i see that list extending quite a bit, oh dear! i have no self control when it comes to disney food, restaurants and ADRs..oh yes, nearly forgot, the boys want to go to T-Rex at downtown disney, make a dino here i come:headache:

Think thats it for now xx
 
could not resist so had to read at work. The trip sounds great. I am hoping to go around these dates for my 50th birthday in 2013 so will be very interested in the crowds and weather etc, in fact everything you do.

Looking forward to reading the up-dates.


Susan
 
could not resist so had to read at work. The trip sounds great. I am hoping to go around these dates for my 50th birthday in 2013 so will be very interested in the crowds and weather etc, in fact everything you do.

Looking forward to reading the up-dates.


Susan

Naughty naughty reading at work;)although flattered that you couldn't resist. i have done this time of year before and the crowds stay low till a few days before Xmas, weather went anything from jumpers and jeans chilly to swimming weather, its a pack for all seasons kind of trip, i remember the kids being in the pool all afternoon then us wrapping up to head to the xmas party. Its so pretty with all the decs and festivities though, which is why i am going back again this time of year. Think my fav time is October still, cant beat halloween and food and wine, and weather a perfect balance. But December is still awesome:goodvibes
 
I love your exictement in Pre Trip reports and I am happy to hear you have a a a trip planned to go back. I am sure you will have a great time planning & an amazing trip.
 
And so the planning begins.

Your DD is the first 10 year old I have ever heard of who has turned down a trip to WDW - but if it will only make her miserable then you are right to let her stay behind. Trying to satisfy one person on a holiday usually has the effect of making everyone else unhappy - so better you and your boys have the time of your lives (and get some nice pressies for DD for xmas of course :))

I would love to see the parks and hotels with all their xmas decs up - maybe one year.

Enjoy all your planning, and I for one will be popping back to see how you are getting on :thumbsup2
 
If you can start a pre trip report then i think im slacking :-)

Loving the plans so far !! Cant believe your dd said she didnt want to go but hey like you say even better for you guys as you can go sooner !!!

Cant wait to read more as time goes on x x x
 














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