Another Christmas Season at Disney!! Our December 2010 PTR

[ThereYouSeeHer]

So excited!!

After waiting for free dining to be extended into December, our wish finally came true! I wasted no time plotting and planning and working the numbers. Now we are officially confirmed for the following:

December 9th-10th: Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, Deluxe Studio
December 10th-13th: All-Star Sports Resort, Standard Room

For Saratoga Springs, we used a 40% off pin, which was wonderful! And for All-Star Sports, we used the free dining promotion. Since free dining included the Quick Service plan, we upgraded for a small cost to the regular Disney Dining Plan. Can't be without those character dining meals!!

Saratoga and All-Star Sports are both new resorts for us. We love to sample resorts and are so thrilled with both of these selections. Saratoga will be our first villa experience and All-Star Sports will be the only value resort we haven't tried yet.

Whew! So glad this portion of our booking extravaganza is out of the way! So much more to do, and so looking forward to all of it!

 

[creativeamanda]

I've never done the all star resorts or SSR, but I would love to own DVC at SSR. I think dd and I will do a spa day there in Dec.

Joining in!

 

[exwdwcm]

woo hoo! can't wait to hear all the plans. Sounds like great resort choices and really good deals. We really love free dining. We used it last early December and ate way too much (i still can't lose the weight I gained!). You'll enjoy it! So you have two little ones?

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Just purchased our tickets for MVMCP on December 9th!

My credit card is getting quite a workout today! Within the span of a few hours, it got loaded with our deposit on the MYW + DDP package, the PIF room-only portion of our trip, and then tickets for MVMCP.

Plus, I couldn't help but pay an extra $5 to get the MVMCP tickets shipped directly to me. How can you pass up on getting those cute cards in the mail?!?

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

I've never done the all star resorts or SSR, but I would love to own DVC at SSR. I think dd and I will do a spa day there in Dec.

Joining in!

I know, I was thinking the same thing about the spa! We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge last year and I was sooo tempted to go to the spa there. It's just hard to fit everything in time-wise. Ok, and money-wise, too!

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

woo hoo! can't wait to hear all the plans. Sounds like great resort choices and really good deals. We really love free dining. We used it last early December and ate way too much (i still can't lose the weight I gained!). You'll enjoy it! So you have two little ones?

We used free dining last December as well. It's such a great value! This year, it helped us splurge a little on Saratoga Springs.

Yes, we have two little girls. One will be entering kindergarten in the Fall and the other will be turning 2 in the Fall. We love that children at WDW are free before they're 3!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

I look forward to reading your report. I gotta start one myself sometime.

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

I look forward to reading your report. I gotta start one myself sometime.

I see you are a fellow parent of two girls. Welcome aboard!

 

[creativeamanda]

Just purchased our tickets for MVMCP on December 9th!

My credit card is getting quite a workout today! Within the span of a few hours, it got loaded with our deposit on the MYW + DDP package, the PIF room-only portion of our trip, and then tickets for MVMCP.

Plus, I couldn't help but pay an extra $5 to get the MVMCP tickets shipped directly to me. How can you pass up on getting those cute cards in the mail?!?

I still am torn on MVMCP. I think maybe closer to the trip I will decide how soon we'll get there. It just seems like it's a waste for my daughter and me, since we'll be there Christmas week and they start doing the parade and fireworks daily after the last party.

 

[stephielela]

Just purchased our tickets for MVMCP on December 9th!

My credit card is getting quite a workout today! Within the span of a few hours, it got loaded with our deposit on the MYW + DDP package, the PIF room-only portion of our trip, and then tickets for MVMCP.

Plus, I couldn't help but pay an extra $5 to get the MVMCP tickets shipped directly to me. How can you pass up on getting those cute cards in the mail?!?

Subbing! I totally agree with you on paying the extra $5. I just wanted to have the hard cards in hand. We are staying on a room only reservation using my 40% discount for our first night at Contemporary, and then switching to CBR for our last 5 nights and added free dining as well! I can't wait to hear more about your plans!

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

I still am torn on MVMCP. I think maybe closer to the trip I will decide how soon we'll get there. It just seems like it's a waste for my daughter and me, since we'll be there Christmas week and they start doing the parade and fireworks daily after the last party.

Yeah, I can understand that. I would imagine being there Christmas week is magical enough!

Looking at your PTR, it looks like you have 7 days of Park Hopper tickets? If you wanted, you could possibly change your reservation to remove one of those days of tickets. Then, take the money you save and spend it on one night at MVMCP. For us, on the day we do MVMCP, we don't do the parks. We either explore the resort or Downtown Disney and then head to the party. It's cheaper than buying park tickets for the day and we still get so many rides done because of the short lines!

Either way, I know you'll have a great time with or without MVMCP!

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Subbing! I totally agree with you on paying the extra $5. I just wanted to have the hard cards in hand. We are staying on a room only reservation using my 40% discount for our first night at Contemporary, and then switching to CBR for our last 5 nights and added free dining as well! I can't wait to hear more about your plans!

Cards and codes--great minds think alike!

I like switching resorts and we can't wait to try them all. We wish we had started sampling resorts earlier. Our budget level is usually value, but it's nice to see how the other half lives for a night or two!

 

[creativeamanda]

Yeah, I can understand that. I would imagine being there Christmas week is magical enough!

Looking at your PTR, it looks like you have 7 days of Park Hopper tickets? If you wanted, you could possibly change your reservation to remove one of those days of tickets. Then, take the money you save and spend it on one night at MVMCP. For us, on the day we do MVMCP, we don't do the parks. We either explore the resort or Downtown Disney and then head to the party. It's cheaper than buying park tickets for the day and we still get so many rides done because of the short lines!

Either way, I know you'll have a great time with or without MVMCP!

I know--but I did the MVMCP last December and when everything changed over the next week, I wondered why I spent that money. TBH, when you've done MNSSHP, MVMCP is kind of a let down. But that's just me, I guess.

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

I know--but I did the MVMCP last December and when everything changed over the next week, I wondered why I spent that money. TBH, when you've done MNSSHP, MVMCP is kind of a let down. But that's just me, I guess.

If you've already done MVMCP, then I totally think you're fine if you don't do it again this year. I think it's one of those things that people should experience at least once and then take it or leave it. For us, we do it every year because it's become more of a tradition and it also saves us from having to buy park tickets!

 

[creativeamanda]

If you've already done MVMCP, then I totally think you're fine if you don't do it again this year. I think it's one of those things that people should experience at least once and then take it or leave it. For us, we do it every year because it's become more of a tradition and it also saves us from having to buy park tickets!

I think it also depends on when you are going, too. If I wasn't getting the parade and the fireworks every day for the next week (ie--going earlier in the month), then I would gladly drop the $$ for the tickets.

 

[exwdwcm]

Just purchased our tickets for MVMCP on December 9th!

My credit card is getting quite a workout today! Within the span of a few hours, it got loaded with our deposit on the MYW + DDP package, the PIF room-only portion of our trip, and then tickets for MVMCP.

Plus, I couldn't help but pay an extra $5 to get the MVMCP tickets shipped directly to me. How can you pass up on getting those cute cards in the mail?!?

we are planning on MVMCP for December 9th too- so are some ladies from a dis moms of toddlers thread i've been posting on for like 4 years! finally will get to meet those ladies and their families in person!! so exciting! Yes, i love getting the actual cards too! I've done MVMCP like 3x now and DH has done it once. But since we are taking my MIL, my DH requested we do it again so she can experience it!

We used free dining last December as well. It's such a great value! This year, it helped us splurge a little on Saratoga Springs.

Yes, we have two little girls. One will be entering kindergarten in the Fall and the other will be turning 2 in the Fall. We love that children at WDW are free before they're 3!

oh, so sweet! Our little boy is 2.5 and is turning 3 the day before halloween. he will be just over 3 (a month over) when we go. I've debated the 'issue' on the age. But i think we are just going to buy us all APs, since we plan to go back next October.

 

[amandatym]

We'll be there in December too, also with a 1 year old. Well, my son will be 22 months by the time we're there. This is actually his second trip to Disney. Yes, we are "those" people who take their infant to Disney.
We're trying to decide if doing MVMCP with him will be worth it or if he'll be too tired by that time of night to appreciate it...
Looking forward to reading more of your plans.

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

We'll be there in December too, also with a 1 year old. Well, my son will be 22 months by the time we're there. This is actually his second trip to Disney. Yes, we are "those" people who take their infant to Disney.
We're trying to decide if doing MVMCP with him will be worth it or if he'll be too tired by that time of night to appreciate it...
Looking forward to reading more of your plans.

Welcome! We took our youngest daughter to Disney for the first time when she was 2 months old. Although we had some nay-sayers, she slept most of the time and it was great! The nursing and care centers for children at Disney were also a huge help.

About MVMCP, little ones are generally tired by that time of night. However, for us, we try to get them a good nap beforehand and take breaks at the party when needed. We go every year and usually stay still it ends at midnight. As such, we have many pictures of our girls passed out in the strollers! But it's a good time and we enjoy it.

 

[mom-n-michaela]

Just purchased our tickets for MVMCP on December 9th!

My credit card is getting quite a workout today! Within the span of a few hours, it got loaded with our deposit on the MYW + DDP package, the PIF room-only portion of our trip, and then tickets for MVMCP.

Plus, I couldn't help but pay an extra $5 to get the MVMCP tickets shipped directly to me. How can you pass up on getting those cute cards in the mail?!?

Subbing in! Can't wait to read more about your plans I am so jealous - I wish we could take advantage of Free Dining...heck I wish we could even stay on-site, unfortunately that was not possible this trip with as many people as we'll have - but I'm hoping to start going to Disney at least every other year for vacation from now on...so we'll eventually get to stay on-site!

But anyway, I also just wanted to pop on and say that we're doing MVMCP the same night as you! That will actually be our last night at the parks. I have to say though (I also had the passes shipped to me!), I was suprised the passes they sent to us were not any different looking than our park passes, I thought they would be cute & Christmassy. Oh well - doesn't really matter I guess, I'm just so excited to experience Disney with the Christmas atmosphere in full swing!!

 

[eecteacher82]

Joining in! We are another December family here! Myself, DH and DD (3 at the time of the trip) will be at POP from Dec 5-10. Can't wait to read more!