Christmas Scenery and Fort Finery, 12/3/11-12/14/11 *Update* 12/19

[Dan Murphy]

I get linked here now because subscribed on my other post. Nice video, makes me homesick, LOL. Cake sounds neat.

I'll be there in two weeks also, maybe I will see you guys. Did I meet you once in the Rose Garden in MK one year with a number of other dis people? Seems like I did. Maybe confused with somebody else, easy for me to do, LOL. In any case, have a great trip, Kimberly.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

Did I meet you once in the Rose Garden in MK one year with a number of other dis people? Seems like I did. Maybe confused with somebody else, easy for me to do, LOL. In any case, have a great trip, Kimberly.

Hmmmm... I don't believe so. I've actually never met anyone from the DIS! I saw one of the girls from the Weddings/Honeymoons board during my last trip, but she looked like she was in a deep discussion with her fiance and I didn't want to interrupt .

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I’m back! We had a wonderful, warm, sunny trip!

Ok, so one of my promises is already broken. I’m not very good at keeping promises, apparently. I didn’t take very many pictures. I have a few dozen or so I took with my camera (mainly on the last day) and I have some photos on the Discovery Cove photo CD I purchased and the Photopass CD I pre-ordered (but haven’t finished editing, yet, so I haven’t ordered it ). It was much easier to take pictures last year when I was by myself. This time I either never had my camera with me or no one wanted to stop for pictures. So if you want to stop reading because there will be a lack of pictures, I understand.

While this was a great trip, I learned a lot from this trip. It’s interesting to see how trips change as we get older and this trip was very apparent that some things need to change on future trips. I figured I’d make a list of things that I was glad I did and things I wish I had done differently.

Glad I Did:

• Camp at Ft. Wilderness. Although I will hopefully never do it again, I am glad that I gave it a shot and the camper was quiet and peaceful. However, our trip felt very rushed and that doesn’t really mesh well with Ft. Wilderness. I felt like every day was super busy because of having my dog with us. I got up early, took her for a long walk, rushed to get ready, got to the park, rode some things, ate lunch, rode a couple more things, rushed back to the camper, took her for a walk, took a quick nap, rushed back to the park, etc. It felt like we were constantly on the move. Not how I like to do a Disney vacation! The campground was nice and clean and would be great for a less park-focused trip.
  
• A day at Discovery Cove. It was probably one of the best days of our trip! It was raining the morning we went to go, but it turned out to be such a nice day. It was honestly worth every penny. I’ll talk more about that when we get to it .
  
• Around the World Segway Tour. Matt and I LOVED this! I think he loved the ‘tour’ more than the segway riding part. It was a beautiful day and we had a blast.
  
• Was flexible. There were a few days/afternoons I had planned to go one way, but for one reason or another plans changed. I’m glad I didn’t get Type-A (like I sometimes can do…) and just went with the flow.

Wish I Had Done Differently:

• The dining plan. I think it was great for Matt’s first trip, but in the future we will be paying for our meals out of pocket. So many times I wanted to get an appetizer and dessert for my meal or just a couple appetizers as my meal, but I either couldn’t or wouldn’t be a good value for the credits. Also, the desserts, while good, weren’t worth the calories or feeling so stuffed.
  
• Not spent so much time with my family. I know that sounds terrible, but it would have been nice to have more relaxing, slow time with Matt. We spent the majority of every day with my family, and while I love Matt, my parents can get testy with other people along. My Dad tends to believe I’m still 8 years old and is denial that my brother and I have grown up and our lives/behaviors are changing. Don’t get me wrong, we had a great time with them, but it would have been nice to have more of a break every few days.
  
• Not take such a long trip! I never thought I would say such a thing. I learned first-hand my biggest problem with a long trip. You spend the first 3-4 days thinking you have all the time in the world to do and see things and then *BAM* you’re on your last day, wondering where all the time went. At least when we went for a week we spent every day very productively.
  
• Go to two Christmas parties. We (or should I say my Mom) didn’t get her money’s worth out of this. We hardly ate any cookies or drank any hot chocolate, didn’t see any of the Christmas parade or any other Christmas-y things, and we left the second party by 10:30 p.m. We had fun, but it definitely wasn’t worth all that money. We’ll just be sticking to one in the future. The main reason we even do them at all is because Magic Kingdom is hardly open late at all in early December because of the Christmas parties and we like to be there at night.

I’ll be updating on our first day soon! Also, I’m in the planning stages of our trip next December (9th-16th) and hopefully will be renting points to stay at BWV. The 11 month booking window doesn’t open until January 9th. This trip will hopefully include our wedding too!

 

[RooRach0906]

Joining in, can't wait to hear details about your trip. Enjoyed your pics. We are going next year Dec 9-15.