Christmas Trip Review 11/22-12-9

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

Hey All………..

Just wanted to finally put my thoughts in order from our last trip. Sorry this has taken so long, but while we were in Orlando, I got a really bad cold, then had thyroid problems (long story, but it was my fault, I ran out of medication and never got more for a long while). I felt terrible while we were down there. And then when we came home, I got more medication, started to feel better and then, POW!! I got mono! Oh my heart, I’ve never felt so exhausted in my life and I’ve had three babies and nursed them all. I bet I was sleeping 16 hours a day. My muscles ached and they were so weak. But I’m better now so I thought I would catch up with everyone.

Our first three nights were at Radisson Resort Pky on the special. It was Wed.- Fri. of Thanksgiving week. This is terrible but I can’t remember how much we paid……..was it $59 or $49? Anyway, it was a steal. It was a little hard for the five of us in one hotel room. We had a cot. The room was very nice, super clean. The bathroom was a little small but we managed. The beds were super comfy. I think they had feather duvets, I’m not sure. Anyway, they felt wonderful. My nephew (my sis was there with her family also) got pizza one night at the Pizza Hut in the lobby. Overall, I was very happy with this place…….I didn’t like the location as much as the Lake Buena Vista location but it was still close to everything Disney.
I give it a B+.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Dolphin, Fresh Marketplace. It was very nice. The hotel looked fantastic, all decked out for Christmas. It was just beautiful. I had never been there before. It didn’t feel very Disney to me, just like a really nice convention hotel, which, I guess it is (haha). But it was pretty.

Our meal was great but the service was even better. If we needed anything, she was right on it. She even folded my BIL’s napkin again after he went up to the buffet to get some food. Not sure why, but I had never had that at a restaurant before.

The only thing that bothered us was that I thought I was told that a beverage was included. Then when we ordered some ice tea and water and such, they came in individual bottles (very large). We found out when the bill came that the beverages we ordered cost more than $40 for all of us. This was for NO ALCOHOL! Just orange juice and iced tea,etc. She could have at least told us that beverages weren’t included…….we were already paying $36 a person for dinner.

My kids are really good eaters so we had no problem. My DSister’s teens on the other hand, didn’t really eat a lot. They eat nothing but fast food and junk so if you have a child that eats only Mac and Cheese and Chicken Nuggets(not that that is junk), you will have a problem. They did have Chicken Nuggets but I’m sure my BIL didn’t feel great about paying $36 for nuggets!

The next night it was time for “ICE” at Gaylord Palms. First, the hotel… WOW!!... Incredibly awesome hotel. It looked magical, even on the outside with all of the white lights. It was like walking into a fantasy land. This was my sister’s treat. We had a lot of fun. The sculptures were incredible! They even had two slides made out of ice that you could slide down on. They give you parkas that go down to your knees, so there is no problem going down the ice. We got some great pictures of my BIL and the kids sliding down. You know, you go REALLY fast on an ice slide! You get a free cup of hot chocolate with your ticket also. We all had a good time but my Sis and I didn’t think it was worth $18 a piece. And then they charged us $7 for parking and we were only there two hours. I think at $18 a piece, they could give you free parking, JMO.

But, the best thing of the night happened after ICE. We went into the “center” of the hotel where there were some shops and a fantastic theater front(they do a show a few times a night I think). And there were huge strands of lights hanging from the ceiling……..there are not words to describe it. I have never seen a hotel more Christmas-y looking. The ceiling is really high in that area and you can see the balconies from the atrium rooms all around. I would have loved a room with that view.

PIXIE DUST ALERT!
Anyway, we walk up to where the show is going to be and find out that a show is going to start in 5 minutes. What good timing!! Then, this guy comes up to us and asks my kids and my niece if they can sing and want to be in the show. They have all done a lot of singing and solos in church and plays so we said, Yes! The guy said that there would probably be a bunch of kids along with them so they didn’t have to be nervous. Only my two girls and my niece wanted to do it so they went off with this guy backstage.

Well, you wouldn’t believe it. The show starts and it’s these people in someone’s living room having a Christmas party. A few minutes into the show, they bring the kids out from in back of the audience and walk them up to the stage. ONLY OUR KIDS ARE IN THE SHOW!! I guess no one else wanted to do it. They are cast as carolers and they go up and knock on the door and are invited to join this “Christmas party”. My Sis and I are practically on the floor laughing seeing that it is only our three girls! Fortunately, we have the cameras rolling and pictures flashing. They are each passed the microphone to sing along with the group (which breaks out in a lot of dancing every few minutes). The one guy kind of leads them around stage to tell them what they are to be doing at any particular moment. At one time, they were all in the front of the stage sitting down singing with our girls in the middle of all this. We couldn’t believe this was happening. All the girls were naturals, but especially my oldest(12). I was surprised. My Sis and Bil kept commenting that if they didn’t know any better, they would swear she was part of the group. What a memory for all of us!! We got a picture of the girls with the one couple from the show afterwards. They were so nice.

So, even though ICE was expensive, we are glad we did it just for the chance for our kids to be in this show.

More on the following pages...............................hope you are enjoying this.

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

On Saturday we said goodbye to my Sister’s family. We had such a good time together even though it was short. I was thankful for the time we had anyway.

Then it was time to switch to Vistana Resort (2 bedroom condo) and my mom was coming to stay with us for this week. We have stayed here once before thru Skyauction and this week was thru them again. Last time we got Lakes section and I wanted that section again except overlooking the pool. We had signed up for Diamond Lane check in again and when we walked in, only one person was in line. We waited for 5 minutes. Awesome! We had my mother along, and I didn’t want a building without an elevator. No problem. She put us in the very building that I had wanted out of more than 100 buildings at Vistana. I couldn’t believe it! I can’t find my map right now, but I think it was #18_ _, in the Lakes section, second floor, overlooking the Lakes pool. I couldn’t believe our luck!

Everything was in working order and the condo was beautiful. It was good to have so much room to spread out. The kids really need there own TV so I don't think we can do hotel rooms very often. AND I LOVE HAVING MY OWN BATHROOM! I cooked about every other night (really easy stuff, crockpot) and we did some leftovers. We saved some major money by having a kitchen. I'm sure breakfast alone helped. And I loved having a washer/dryer. Our washer could get pretty loud at times though. The second bedroom had two double beds so my mom was in one, the girls in the other, and my DS6 was in our room. We had a king. Can I also say here that I like having a king bed on vacation.

Guest services called and called about doing the timeshare tour, but I never answered the phone. They would leave messages and I just ignored them. They were pretty persistent though.

The kids went swimming a few times that week, even sometimes at night. It was pretty warm that week…….a few days hit 80 degrees.

Again, I just love this location. So close to DTD, which we went to a couple times that week. And WDW is close also. Didn’t have any traffic problems that week either. Very easy to get around.

We didn’t try any of the other pools at Vistana. Not enough time that week. We had a lot going on.

CANDLELIGHT PROCESSIONAL: my mom loved this, as I knew she would. This was DH and my second time. Yes, I cried again. Rita Moreno was narrator. She was fantastic! She really got into it. We had great seats because we did the package. We ate at Biergarten. WOW! We had never eaten there before. I’ve never seen so much meat on a buffet. I was in heaven. Everything was great! Desserts……..wonderful but I could hardly get down the two I picked out, I was so full. We met a nice family from Pittsburgh (and we’re from Harrisburg) and had a nice time. I didn’t mind being with someone else at the table as much as I thought I would. Our server was very attentive and friendly. I can’t say anything bad about this place. We will definitely go again. A++

WISHES CRUISE: I surprised my family with this. Boy, did I have my DH guessing. I told him that he didn’t even know that Disney offered what I was planning so don’t bother guessing, but he kept trying. It was rather funny. But then, I started to worry. I thought, what if I have talked this up too much? What if they think, a boat ride? Gee, that’s all? Well, the night came. We drove to WL and sat in the lobby and took pictures of the tree and stuff. My mom loved it and thought is was beautiful. Then, with 10 minutes to go before we had to be at the marina, I sat them all down and told them about the surprise. My kids flipped!! Everyone was like, cooooooooooool! They were totally shocked! Dh said I was right………he never would have guessed that!

We went out to the dock and met our captain. I had ordered hot chocolate and he had blankets. It was freezing that night so I’m glad we had all that stuff. He also had cold drinks and snacks like chips, Doritos, pretzels, etc. It was a night for the MVMCP so the fireworks were a little different. They were wonderful and the music was piped right into the boat. We had a great time. DEFINITELY worth the price if you want something special and out of the ordinary. My family was floored and we created a memory that will last forever. A+

I’ll have more later. I’m keeping it in this same thread, that way it’s all in one place. Thanks for reading.

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

My mom went back to Jacksonville on Sat. to be with her sister and her family. We had a great week together (we had major fun in the shops at Epcot). I think she was beginning to see why we go so often…….every trip can be filled with different things to do. It seems like everytime we go to WDW we do something we never did before. That’s the beauty of it……..of course, you all understand this.

The next week we were at Cypress Pointe Grand Villas. Also thru Skyauction. Much smaller resort than Vistana and just down the street, but in a busier section……more traffic and traffic lights….probably due to the entrance/exit ramps there for I-4 and the entrance to DTD. It surprised me what a difference it made in traffic compared to Vistana. CPGV is only about a half mile down the road. Still, it was easy to get places and to WDW. You are right around the corner to DTD. These must be some of the closest condos to DTD.

Master Bedroom has a king and the second bedroom has twins. Wish they were doubles like at Vistana……..then my son could have been in there too. The condo was in very good condition, almost like new, but I know they aren’t. Oh, the second bedroom doesn’t have a TV either (bummer) so my kids would use our bedroom while we were in the living room. The TV in the living room was a big screen TV…very sweet!! The kitchen had everything we needed and there was a washer/dryer in a closet. Again, nice to have so we don’t go home with tons of laundry.

We never used the pool because this week it was colder and by the time we got home from the parks we were exhausted (this week was when I was really not feeling well). I still managed to cook a few meals, so that was good.

I actually like the décor much better at CPGV than at Vistana. Much more up to date, not that yucky “Florida-flamingo” look. But I like Vistana more overall because of the location, double beds and TV in the second bedroom and lots of pools, which are very nice. Of course, I’ve never stayed in one of the older condos at Vistana, so maybe that would change my mind, I don’t know.

I’ll talk about the restaurants we visited next.

 

[sskem96]

Great report! Looking forward to more! We're considering going during the same time frame in 2007, so I love hearing about what it's like at that time!

 

[TLinden16]

Wow. What a thrill for your girls to be in that show! And for the rest of you to watch it! Sounds like you had nice stays--what a long trip!