Before the Shenanigans: A Christmas 2012 PTR (TR Link Posted 1/12/13!)

[SoNotAPrincess]

Ahhh I love it! Let me just tell you how much I already miss seeing those monorail resorts... it's a lot.

YUM such good food on Christmas! It might be the best choice though. I know I'd probably go crazy not going to a park but seriously, Christmas day at the parks doesn't sound like that great of a time! Just picture moving down Main Street inch by inch and everything having 60+ minute waits, then you may want to stick with this plan!

After seeing your BLT villa, I understand why you miss it so much! Seriously, you and a couple of your best friends could live there all year 'round! (If only!!)

I'm so torn about the Day 2 plan. On the one hand, the idea of the crowds is horrifying. On the other hand, the crowds are going to be like that the whole week, so why not dive in headfirst!?!?! Plus, I can just imagine my niece's face as we monorail past the MK and she realizes we're NOT GOING IN!?!?!?!?! I'll be marked as Scrooge for life!

 

[teekathepony]

Ohhhh how wonderful to be there on Christmas day!!
But yes... I think I would go crazy being so close to the parks and not going in! Good luck with that! Hahaha

 

[Aussiesalad]

Ahhhh I can't believe you're going at Christmas!!!!
That will be soooo amazing!

Going back to read the rest now

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

Ohhhh how wonderful to be there on Christmas day!!
But yes... I think I would go crazy being so close to the parks and not going in! Good luck with that! Hahaha

I'm VERY excited about waking up at Disney on Christmas morning!

Yeah, well the whole "no parks for two days" plan is currently being revamped, so it didn't last long!!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

Ahhhh I can't believe you're going at Christmas!!!!
That will be soooo amazing!

Going back to read the rest now

Thanks for joining the pre-trip mayhem!!!!

In all the times I've been to Disney at Christmas, I've never been there ON Christmas, so it's extra magical!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

OK, remember the "no parks for the first two days" plan? Well, it's kaput. I have recurring visions of a monorail meltdown ruining Christmas morning, so I'm revamping the plan to include an MK visit. The question is whether or not to do a massive redo and cancel Kona so that we can get there for rope drop.

Decisions, decisions.

Exciting ADR news is that Be Our Guest (or BOG, which I find hilarious because really who wants to eat in a swampy bog??) starts taking ADRs tomorrow. You can bet I'll be online bright and early trying to snag us a table! I know we can always do a CS meal there, but I'm really hoping for table service!

BTW, BOG is being touted as the only CS place on property that brings your food to the table after you order at the counter. Doesn't Puck's Express in DTD do that? I haven't been there in a while, but it used to!

It seems like forEVER since I've been to WDW, and I'm seriously in need of the magic, pixie dust, and general spectacle! I rarely go during the summer, but I'm thisclose to taking a mental health day off from work and braving the heat and crowds. I went to a work meeting in Orlando last week, and seeing all the Disney signs and knowing I was SO close was a form of torture!

Up Next: Click here for "My Very Disney Birthday Plans!"

 

[marDgreen88]

I just hope it isn't too crowded for you! I can see why you're changing things though.

I can't believe ADRs start tomorrow because I don't know if I'm actually going in December or not, and if I do, I want to go there! But I don't want to take someone's treasured ADR if I don't end up using it. SIGH. I don't like uncertainty!

Oh my gosh... that really would be awful! You take that mental health day!

 

[Aussiesalad]

Ahhh all the changing of plans is exciting but can do your head in a little.

I also vote for a mental health day- I don't know how you would be that close to the world without going there! That would be so hard!
Half of me feels like my body would go on autopilot and steer me there regardless

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

I just hope it isn't too crowded for you! I can see why you're changing things though.

I can't believe ADRs start tomorrow because I don't know if I'm actually going in December or not, and if I do, I want to go there! But I don't want to take someone's treasured ADR if I don't end up using it. SIGH. I don't like uncertainty!

Oh my gosh... that really would be awful! You take that mental health day!

If I can't handle the crowds, I have no problem dragging Gabriel out of MK and touring the monorail resorts without my brother and his family. But since it'll be Christmas Day, I'll try to stick it out. Time will tell.

I understand how you feel about making the ADR, but think how disappointed you'll be if you get to go and don't get to eat there.

I'm definitely taking the mental health day...next week, I hope!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

Ahhh all the changing of plans is exciting but can do your head in a little.

I also vote for a mental health day- I don't know how you would be that close to the world without going there! That would be so hard!
Half of me feels like my body would go on autopilot and steer me there regardless

I have to take a day or two off from changing plans because my head is starting to spin around like that chick in The Exorcist. Not a good look on me!

The mental health day is happening...I hope next week. Yay!! It was so hard not to veer off in the direction of WDW. I actually debated popping in to MK for "an hour". In my work clothes and heels. That, my friend, is Disney Desperation!

 

[Aussiesalad]

A spinning head is not really a good look on anyone... although Exorcist chick probably pulled it off the best...

Ahhh that is exciting!! Keep us posted on mental health day!

That 'Disney Desperation' is what draws us all together here

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

Once again real life has overtaken my Dis'n time, and my PTR has been woefully neglected. Not that very much has happened on the planning front! We're still far enough out from the December trip that what can be done has been done and what needs to be done has to wait to be done.

Try saying that three times!

Anywho, I haven't talked much about my birthday trip that's coming up in ONLY 26 DAYS, so here we go....everything you always wanted to know about My Very Disney Birthday plans.

Please, try to control your excitement.

To preface, my niece, Erica, with whom I enjoyed Three Divalicious Disney Days last December, is staying with me for an extended visit and will be joining us at Disney for my birthday! Since more is merrier (and also because an 18 year old won't want to hang with Gabriel and me the whole time), we're bringing along Erica's BFF, Bella, who also happens to be our cousin.

(BTW, if you've made it through this whole rambling PTR, you may remember the "Songbirds on the Loose" story that made my top five Disney memories. Well, Bella is Izzi from that story! Her full first name is Isabelle, and she used to be called Izzi. She changed it to Bella when she got to high school and remains Bella to this day. It suits her!)

Here are Erica and Bella (then Izzi) from our 2006 JAZZERLY Disney extravaganza!

And just for giggles (and because I can), here are JAZZERLY (JAckson, iZZi, ERica and liLY. This is one of my very favorite photos taken at Disney. Ever!

Confused yet? (I am, and I'm writing/planning this thing!)

So, birthday reservations were made for the Yacht Club then changed to the Beach Club. When Erica and Bella were added to the mix, we decided it was necessary to get them their own room, which meant a switch from BC to a moderate for budgetary purposes.

Another time, Beach Club!

But which moderate?

After much discussion, we decided on POFQ. It's small, has the boat to DTD (one of my favorite-favorite things), and easy access to Boatwright's, which makes my shortlist of favorite Disney restaurants.

Hooray for POFQ!

Next Time: Gettin' Our Grub On...where in the World will we eat?

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

A spinning head is not really a good look on anyone... although Exorcist chick probably pulled it off the best...

Ahhh that is exciting!! Keep us posted on mental health day!

That 'Disney Desperation' is what draws us all together here

Can you believe I just NOW saw your comment? Sometimes I could swear I was born blonde.

Wait.

I WAS born blonde and stayed blonde for the first five years of my life. Apparently, those roots are long and impact me to this day!

I should have said something about my mental health day in my update but didn't. D'oh! When Erica came to stay with me, that got pushed back by real life. We've been trying to pick a day to go to WDW together but haven't yet because of getting her enrolled in college, fixing her room up, and other more important stuff.

OMG!

Did I just say something was more important than Disney????

And they said it couldn't happen!

Up Next: Click here for Birthday Bash Plans!

 

[marDgreen88]

Hopefully someday you will get to stay at Beach (or Yacht) but POFQ is amazing as well! I mean, I've never stayed at any of the Mods, but it's my favorite nonetheless! Hahaha. So when is your actual birthday? (I only ask because my birthday is semi-soon-ish as well.) Hooray!!!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

Hopefully someday you will get to stay at Beach (or Yacht) but POFQ is amazing as well! I mean, I've never stayed at any of the Mods, but it's my favorite nonetheless! Hahaha. So when is your actual birthday? (I only ask because my birthday is semi-soon-ish as well.) Hooray!!!

I'm on a mission to stay at YC/BC, and I WILL SUCCEED (someday)!!

I'm pretty excited to stay at POFQ. It's small and cozy compared to the other mods, which will be nice for a morning stroll in search of beignets!

My actual birthday is October 8, so we'll be there on THE day, which is kinda cool.

Erica's birthday is October 19, so there "may" be a surprise or two coming her way. She's completely unsuspecting...bwahaha! I don't know if I can outdo the Spectacular Slipper Surprise of 2011, but I can try!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

I’ve been devoting all my Disney time to our Christmas trip, which is turning out to be a “minute-by-minute” planning effort.

Ugh.

I love to plan Disney trips but not usually in 15-minute time increments. It’s usually more of a general plan with park days, ADRs, and notes like “DHS-Rope Drop/TSMM FP Dash!”

I’m way nervous about doing Disney during Christmas week and spend way too much time analyzing, changing, rearranging, scheduling, and worrying. My logical side understands that I’m not solely responsible for every minute detail of the trip, but my emotional side is feeling overwhelmed.

What with December hanging over my head like a piano dangling from an unraveling rope, ready to come crashing down on me any second, I have neglected planning for my birthday bash.

Happily, somehow I did manage to choose/book/change/rebook the resort. Honestly, until yesterday when I posted my off-the-cuff PTR entry, I thought I’d made ADRs…that’s what planning a Christmas Disney trip will do to a girl.

This morning, which was somewhat relaxed as far as work goes, I spent some time online looking at menus and trying to decide where we should get our grub on in October.

Of course, it couldn’t be easy!

Initially, I wanted to eat at Citrico’s on my birthday and enjoy a slipper dessert of my own; but I had to decide between a divalicious dinner and MNSSHP.

Of course the party won because who wouldn’t want HalloWishes for their birthday (surrounded by a few thousand of their closest friends)!

And now that you know how we’ll end the day, let’s turn back time to the morning!

Monday, October 8
We’ll start the birthday bash on my actual birthday at AK. I really like AK, but it seems to fall off my radar; and I’ve wanted to go back for a while...a few nice, leisurely hours at AK sounds picture perfect to me.

We don’t have a lunch ADR but will grab CS lunch somewhere, and we’ll probably leave the park pretty early so we can go back to POFQ with plenty of time to get ready for MNSSHP and birthday dinner ADR at Boatwright’s (yummy!).

MNSSHP starts at 7 p.m. (I think), but the 4-1-1 is to get there early if you want a good spot in the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs photo opp line. We definitely don’t want to miss that!

Tuesday, October 9
This is Epcot day because I can’t go to Disney and not go to Epcot. Such is my great love for the slightly irregular geodesic sphere! Also, it’s Food & Wine, and Gabriel is all about the food.

Since the night before will have been a late one, I’d like to sleep in a little bit, but we have a 9 a.m. breakfast ADR at Kona because we all have a breakfast favorite there.

Once we get to Epcot, there’s no specific plan. I’m sure we’ll ride Soarin’ because no one wants to see me cry, and the thrill ride junkies will want to do MS and Sum of All Thrills.

We’ll hit WS for a while and grab lunch someplace (Gabriel wants to try Morocco) and then head back to the resort for a relaxing afternoon before returning to Epcot for more F&W for Gabriel, dinner at Via Napoli, and IllumiNations.

Wednesday, October 10
I’m hoping to start Wednesday off with beignets in bed (a girl can dream). After check out (sadness), we’ll make our way to DHS for a few hours. Must do’s are ToT, RnR, Beauty and the Beast, and the art class; but who knows what else we’ll do! Late lunch/early dinner is at 50’s, and I’m so hoping we get a great CM/server!

I’d like to be on the road for that long hour’s drive home (don’t hate me) by around 5 p.m. because I have to prepare for re-entry into the real world the next day, and Gabriel has to leave the next morning for a business trip.

As every Dis'r knows, re-entry is hard, y'all!


Up next: Click here for MNSSHP Plans!

 

[marDgreen88]

How I wish I could plan a trip for my birthday too! So excited for you!

I'm glad you're going to Epcot! I can't even imagine not visiting one of the parks on my trip. I HAVE TO go to ALL of them! I love them all too much hahah.

It's exciting that you get to go to MNSSHP! Have you been before? It looks like so much fun!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

How I wish I could plan a trip for my birthday too! So excited for you!

I'm glad you're going to Epcot! I can't even imagine not visiting one of the parks on my trip. I HAVE TO go to ALL of them! I love them all too much hahah.

It's exciting that you get to go to MNSSHP! Have you been before? It looks like so much fun!

Disney birthdays are the BEST birthdays! I hope you get to have one some year in the not to distant future!

I know what you mean about visiting all the parks. Sometimes we skip one or two if it's a short trip, but I feel shortchanged when that happens. So yay for four parks in three days!

I went to MNSSHP back in 2006, and it was a BLAST! I had a broken wrist but still had a great time. Every year since, I've said, "This year we'll do MNSSHP with no broken bones" but this year it's finally happening FO' REAL!

BTW, thank you for always posting comments...it's like pixie dust and means a lot to me!!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

See what happens when I post twice in two days? That’s right…it makes me post thrice in three days!

With the December trip in a planning lull (except for my eternal obsessing over making it perfect for everyone), it’s fun to be excited about the birthday bash (I have to come up with something better than the ubiquitous “birthday bash”).

And how much fun is it to use the word ubiquitous?

Hello, my name is Laura; and I’m a vocabularyoholic.

As usual, I digress.

It happens.

The birthday trip doesn’t require a whole lot of planning, but discussions regarding costumes for MNSSHP started yesterday. Erica and Bella are tossing around pirate wench and female police officer ideas. Both of which include tall boots with extreme heels.

Oh to be 18 again!

I think they’re crazy to wear high-heeled boots to WDW, but they don’t care what I think.

Fair enough.

Don’t come crying to me an hour after we get there because your feet hurt.

Which they will.

And I will probably cave and buy them some kind of less painful shoes. But not Crocs because they’re NOT CUTE!

I haven’t decided if I want to dress up or not. Gabriel is not excited about dressing up, but I have ways to change his mind if I so choose.

I’m working on a touring plan for the party and realize that we can’t do everything. Disney is way too smart to plan an event where you can do it all in one night! After all, they’ll make twice the money if we attend one night and do the rides, shows, and treat trails and attend another night to do the character meet and greets.

Not that I would ever consider going to MNSSHP twice in one year!

I would love it if the four of us could stay together and experience the party together, but I have to be realistic and understand that the girls will venture off on their own. That being said, we’ll have to do the things we want to do together at the beginning or the end of the night.

The girls and I agree that it will be lots of fun to pose with the princesses and their boys (Eugene Fitzherbert is not a prince and why does Disney insist on calling him Flynn?!?!?!?!?!?), so we’ll hit Main Street Theater first for Cindy/Charming, Snow White/Prince (does he have another name?) and Rapunzel/Eugene.

I highly doubt that we’ll get all of the remaining princesses, and we certainly won’t get them all before the girls go off on their own. From what I understand, Belle and Beast are not at the party (sadness), but Gaston is. He’s not a priority for any of us, but I won’t be surprised if the girls pose with him should the opportunity present itself.

We all want photos with Captain Jack Sparrow, so we’ll have to hit Adventureland before we part ways.

Also not to be missed are the HM photo ops: Carlotta(!!), the ghost horse, and hitchhiking ghosts (I think the last two are photopass extra magic shots).

Of course we want Mickey and Minnie in their Halloween-wear!

Oh, and Erica and Bella have stated they will be devastated and unable to proceed with life if they don’t get photos with the Hundred Acre Wood gang.

Dramatic much?

The parade and HalloWishes are not to be missed, and I would love love love love (is that too many loves?) to get a photo of/with Maleficent and/or Cruela, which can only be snagged after the Villains show; and the window of opportunity is extremely tight.

As far as rides go, POTC, HM and BTMRR are the only ones I really want to do. If we can squeeze in Buzz, I won’t be mad. I was bummed when I found out Jungle Cruise wasn’t running, but you can’t have everything in life.

It turns out that I was the only one excited about the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs photo op, and I was surprised to discover that there were other meets I wanted to do more. So, unless we pass by Snow and her pals with no line, it probably won’t happen.

Looking at everything above, I’m seeing WAY TOO MUCH MONEY being spent on photopass pictures! Rest assured I will justify the cost by playing the Birthday/Special Event card.

Gabriel asked me if I had to choose three photos, which ones would I choose.

I was aghast and appalled at the very idea of limiting myself.

But I chose the princesses, Captain Jack Sparrow, and the HM photos, with the understanding that Mickey and Minnie are a given and don’t count as one of my choices.

See what I did? I actually get seven photos (3 each at Main Street Theater and HM and one with Jack) plus a bonus Mickey/Minnie photo!

Yes, I'm that good!

I haven’t been to MNSSHP since 2006, so any and all tips and tricks for making the time count are encouraged and appreciated!!

Up Next: Sunset Over Port Canaveral, Florida

 

[marDgreen88]

BTW, thank you for always posting comments...it's like pixie dust and means a lot to me!!

Aww, you're very welcome! I'm happy to do it!

Oh my goodness, I can't even fathom going to Disney in uncomfortable shoes. I can barely walk 10 feet in uncomfortable shoes. Eek!

I would be 'devastated' to miss the 100 Acre gang photo op as well! I mean, they're all together, and they're wearing COSTUMES! It's basically the most adorable thing ever!

I always wonder why Disney insists on calling Eugene Flynn as well...