CHRISTMAS VACATION (The Trip, Not the Movie): 12/19 - We're back, TR link on p. 25

[happenin2you]

i did the deluxe DDP for my honeymoon and it was great. it was just my DH and me, I've heard from many people that the DDP can bee too much for little kids. most days we just did an early lunch at a reg TS and a late dinner at a Signature TS for 2 credits. some days we did breakfast too or we were able to use snack credits for things like oj and bagels with cream cheese and fresh fruit. the TS restaurants are pretty expensive, so it was nice to be able to go mostly anywhere and pick an app, entree, and dessert, because we wouldn't have usually. it's really good way to try different foods you wouldn't usually eat because there is so much food, if you don't like something, or anything, you can always go get a reliable snack afterwards. i loved it and my Dh and i wouldn't do it any other way. unless of course we stayed club level... maybe things would change =)

 

[annnewjerz]

i did the deluxe DDP for my honeymoon and it was great. it was just my DH and me, I've heard from many people that the DDP can bee too much for little kids. most days we just did an early lunch at a reg TS and a late dinner at a Signature TS for 2 credits. some days we did breakfast too or we were able to use snack credits for things like oj and bagels with cream cheese and fresh fruit. the TS restaurants are pretty expensive, so it was nice to be able to go mostly anywhere and pick an app, entree, and dessert, because we wouldn't have usually. it's really good way to try different foods you wouldn't usually eat because there is so much food, if you don't like something, or anything, you can always go get a reliable snack afterwards. i loved it and my Dh and i wouldn't do it any other way. unless of course we stayed club level... maybe things would change =)

Thanks! I think I have settled on doing the DxDDP. We are three adults, so no kids to worry about and we're going to try to do a breakfast or early lunch and then a signature dinner each night. I'm hoping it'll be great and if not, that's okay---because it'll probably be the only trip we can afford to do it!!

 

[annnewjerz]

So this weekend I went to speak to my DM about all of our ADRs. I brought menus, the computer to show her pictures of each place and wonderful food porn from various dining reviews that I have enjoyed recently.

We got to talking about the trip and I was asking if there are any fireworks/parades/etc. that she would really like to make sure we took the time to see. As I sort of expected, she said she couldn't care less about the fireworks or parades---she wants to go for the rides

While this is fine with me (I've never been one shows, fireworks or parades), it did bring up the issue of whether we should go to MVMCP if none of us really cared about all of the extras. Yes, seeing the fireworks would be nice, but was it really worth the extra $180(ish) to go?

I'm SO CONFUSED. At first, I really wanted to go to MVMCP for the extra time in the parks since they closed early. The more I read, the more I wanted to go as something special to do during our trip (even though we have Cirque, Behind the Seeds, KTTK and Deluxe DDP all planned). Then my Mom drops that bombshell and now I'm reconsidering going at all.

What do you all think----go, don't go, go and just use it as an opportunity to do as many attractions as possible???

Ugh.

THANK GOODNESS I have to get all of this reasonably locked down within the next two months. What a headache!

 

[Villainess]

Joining in this PTR too! I'm sure you'll have fun with your DM there - I'm going at the end of Aug with my kids AND exDH - that should be interesting!


I would do MVMCP - I've never done it but it just seems so magical and Christmasy!

 

[annnewjerz]

Joining in this PTR too! I'm sure you'll have fun with your DM there - I'm going at the end of Aug with my kids AND exDH - that should be interesting!


I would do MVMCP - I've never done it but it just seems so magical and Christmasy!

Thanks for stopping by here as well---a fellow NJian is always welcome

I hope you do a photo TR of some sort when you get back from your trip. I really enjoy seeing everyone's stuff over on the photo board, but I'm starting to get to the point where I want to see as many WDW pics as possible to get me pumped for our trip.

Good luck with the kids and exDH, I'm sure you'll at least come back with some interesting stories

 

[Villainess]

I will definitely do a TR for the upcoming trip - I'm currently writing the one from our last trip.

And yes, I agree, I should have lots of interesting stories - we will be at OKW and BWV

 

[annnewjerz]

I will definitely do a TR for the upcoming trip - I'm currently writing the one from our last trip.

And yes, I agree, I should have lots of interesting stories - we will be at OKW and BWV

Oooooh BWV. Have you ever been before? We're staying there for the first time during our December trip and I cannot wait!

I just noticed you have a PTR, I'm going to pop over now and get caught up.

Edited to add: NEVERMIND! I see that your PTR is for your trip earlier in 2009. Oh well.

 

[raider97]

Anymore thoughts on MVMCP? I think it would be fun. You guys could compromise on it.... do some rides for your mom and then maybe see the Christmas parade. Just an idea. I loved it when I went in 1998.

I think your hitchhiking ghosts are just adorable. Did you buy them as a set? I just bought a set of the pirate cuties. I think they are adorable have you seen them?

Stephanie

 

[MyMuse]

I have the same quandry for my December trip.

Is it worth the extra money? If I do, should I get one less day on my pass and buy a MVMCP?

I think the early part of December there are distinct things/experiences that you get via MVMCP, but later on, it becomes free as part of the park itself.

I just don't know whether it's worth actually paying for "double admission" for that day.

Decisions! Decisions! I'm glad I'm not the only one struggling with it.

 

[divanicki75]

okay, I'm a fellow December trip-er ... I'm subscibing, yay!!

I was going back & forth about the MVMCP, too, but I have 2 LOs (will be 5 & 3- 1wk when we go), so I think it'll be a waste for us. HOWEVER, we're going using the Stars & Stripes promo, which is DH= free plus five 5-day passes. DS & I are using up 2, so we're trying to find someone(s) to come with us who will watch the kids at night(s), so we can do stuff... If that happens, DH & I may do the MVMCP.

This is fun, I think I may to a PTR, too... it's fun to obsess about our trip with people who care

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

We did MVMCP in 2007. I really enjoyed seeing the snow on Main Street and the holiday version of Wishes (very cool!!). I'm not a big parade type of gal, but it was alright. The highlight for me was stocking up on the MVMCP pins. You can get all the past party pins so of course, I loved it! I might be willing to do it again, but I'm not really sure. It was worth experiencing once. However, since you're not into shows and such you might not enjoy it as much. Also, it's nice to do the party if you don't have a park ticket to use that day. You can get in at 4pm and stay in the park until the end of the party. Btw, the rides were virtually empty. So that was definitely a plus. I don't know if it's worth the extra money though. The parks were pretty slow during our whole trip in December 07.

 

[annnewjerz]

Anymore thoughts on MVMCP? I think it would be fun. You guys could compromise on it.... do some rides for your mom and then maybe see the Christmas parade. Just an idea. I loved it when I went in 1998.

I do have more thoughts---they change daily. Today, I'm thinking we're going to go, tomorrow, maybe not.

I think your hitchhiking ghosts are just adorable. Did you buy them as a set? I just bought a set of the pirate cuties. I think they are adorable have you seen them?

I did end up buying them as a "set" from a reputable e-bay seller, although I don't know if they actually came out in a set or not. They are adorable, I LOVE the cutie pins. I am actually bidding on some chip & dales dressed like pirates right now, even though I'm expecting about 25 pins in the mail next week

I have the same quandry for my December trip.

Is it worth the extra money? If I do, should I get one less day on my pass and buy a MVMCP?

I think the early part of December there are distinct things/experiences that you get via MVMCP, but later on, it becomes free as part of the park itself.

I just don't know whether it's worth actually paying for "double admission" for that day.

Decisions! Decisions! I'm glad I'm not the only one struggling with it.

I agree that it's a hard decision. I'm definitely still buying as many days of park tickets as we will be visiting, for the simple fact that once you get to 6/7 day tickets, the price to add a day is something crazy like $5.

Depending on when in December you are going---it is special things like the parade. I don't think that changes over to the nightly parade until Christmas week IIRC. We'll only be there through the 18th and according to last year's calendar, on normal non-MVMCP nights, Spectro was showing. Maybe that'll help you make your decision.

HOWEVER, we're going using the Stars & Stripes promo, which is DH= free plus five 5-day passes. DS & I are using up 2, so we're trying to find someone(s) to come with us who will watch the kids at night(s), so we can do stuff... If that happens, DH & I may do the MVMCP.

This is fun, I think I may to a PTR, too... it's fun to obsess about our trip with people who care

Ah, the military salute tickets. We wanted to take advantage of that offer, but then I found out they weren't upgradable. So, to buy two extra days of park tickets it would have ended up being more expensive than skipping the salute tickets entirely. Go figure.

Obsessing about my trip(s) is becoming a full-time job. Needless to say DH had his fill of Disney talk, oh---I'd say 5 months ago when we booked!

We did MVMCP in 2007. I really enjoyed seeing the snow on Main Street and the holiday version of Wishes (very cool!!). I'm not a big parade type of gal, but it was alright. The highlight for me was stocking up on the MVMCP pins. You can get all the past party pins so of course, I loved it! I might be willing to do it again, but I'm not really sure. It was worth experiencing once. However, since you're not into shows and such you might not enjoy it as much. Also, it's nice to do the party if you don't have a park ticket to use that day. You can get in at 4pm and stay in the park until the end of the party. Btw, the rides were virtually empty. So that was definitely a plus. I don't know if it's worth the extra money though. The parks were pretty slow during our whole trip in December 07.

I think we're going to do it. At first, I wanted to do it since I haven't ever been to a party. Then, I added a MNSSHP trip in October and wanted to do MVMCP to compare. Then I heard everyone that had been to both saying how much better MNSSHP was than MVMCP and it wasn't worth the money so I decided maybe I'll skip it. Well---wouldn't you know, now I'm back to going.

I'm so glad to hear that you said the crowds were low in December. What dates did you go? We'll be there the 12-18 (Friday before Christmas) and while I can't divulge UG's numbers publicly---let's just say they're pretty low. I didn't want to get my hopes up too much, but it seems pretty safe to assume that we'll be heading out right before the Christmas crowds roll in.

Another question if you don't mind---how far in advance did you book your tickets? Based on my itinerary right now (which I made from last year's park hours) MVMCP on the 17th would be best. I would buy the tickets---but if the park hours and EMHs are completely different than in years past, I'll be locked into the 17th even though I may want the 15th instead.

Think it'll sell out prior to the hours being released 90 days before the trip?

 

[raider97]

Obsessing about my trip(s) is becoming a full-time job. Needless to say DH had his fill of Disney talk, oh---I'd say 5 months ago when we booked!

I can appreciate this one.... I booked ours last August and my dh has had his fill too.... I even think my mom has.

Can't wait to see your new pins. I have been scouting the hitchhiking ghosts. They are so cute. The pirate set I bought has chip and dale. I think it also has minnie, pluto, mickey, goofy, and donald. I will have to post them on my trip report. Maybe when we get back. We are headed to Houston to visit my parents for the weekend.

Look forward to reading more....

Stephanie

 

[annnewjerz]

For anyone that may have read this update in my October PTR already, I'm sorry for posting duplicative information, however:

1. I have pictures of the sweaters I wouldn't post over there and
2. "I have to do double the shopping because I have two PTRs!" wouldn't have been an acceptable excuse to DH for spending an insane amount of money.



So today I indulged in a little online pre-trip shopping

I was at work taking a break from the DIS and happened to stumble across Banana Republic's website. I saw the words "FINAL SALE" which for anyone who knows me (which would be none of you really ) means trouble!

I ended up finding a few long cardigan shawl neck belted sweater deals that were originally $80, marked down to $20. Now---I know what a lot of you are thinking.............

"Well Ann, if it was on final clearance, that's because no one liked it enough to buy it."

Hmmmm, even if you're right, for $20 when I wear a sweater every day to my freezer of an office building, how could I go wrong? One woman's trash is another woman's treasure, after all.

I bought one in black and one in white. For $20, even though they were final sale and non-returnable, it was too good a deal to pass up.

So, after adding these to my shopping bag, I saw that they were offering free shipping on orders of $100 or more.

What's this? That included purchases from BR, GAP and Old Navy!

Let me preface this by saying that I have found the clothes at Old Navy to be extremely poor quality. Usually within a couple of months, the hem will come out of my skirts, there will be a hole in the armpit of virtually ever sweater I purchased, etc. So why would I continue to shop there, you ask? Because it's CHEAP with a capital C-H-E-A-P!

I'm one of those that mixes and matches. A $15 dress with $100 sandals, a $5 pair of flip flops with a $25 dress from Target with a $135 Juicy cardigan. So there are certain parts of my wardrobe that are literally disposable---there are flip flops that I got on $2 clearance that I have been known to use super glue on because they're so comfy....but all of those sale items make room for lots of more expensive sale items to be mixed in.

But back to the good stuff.

So I went onto the Old Navy website and started looking at their sale section and found some very cute things that I can wear to WDW in October, wear on the weekends here during the summer and probably just barely suck the life out of for our trip in December as well.

$17.99 each---throw these on with some spandex shorts underneath for modesty, perfect lightweight dress for WDW.

$19.99---got this one in white, although I'm not really sold on it, looks like it may be a little short and I can't very well throw on black bike shorts underneath without it being too noticable. Had to get to my $100 total though.

$9.99---hopefully this will be a good cardigan. Usually I don't have good experiences with Old Navy sweaters in particular and I'm hoping this is the exception to that rule.

$2.99---these are the last thing I ordered. I'm sure they won't be extremely comfy for walking around WDW, but I got them for using around the hotel room (hotel carpets = GROSS) and by the pool if we use it in October.

I have two main goals when shopping for vacation clothes.

The first is to get things as cheaply as possible. I wouldn't take my favorite clothes from home, get them drenched on Kali River Rapids and sweat to death in them all day and expect them to be the same as I remembered upon returning from the trip.

The second (at least for this trip) is to get things I can wear to the park AND to Signature dinners. For example---the first blueish dress I might wear to the parks with a pair of flip flops. Then, for a nicer dinner I would throw on a cardigan and dressier sandals. Or for the striped dress, throw on a black blazer and nice black shoes and we're set! Even in my everyday life---my work clothes must be dual purpose. I refuse to buy a whole wardrobe for work and then have to buy a whole additional wardrobe for my regular life. I just don't have that kind of money!

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

We've done both MNSSHP and MVMCP (2007 & 2008). I think I liked MNSSHP better only b/c I was able to dress up and trick-or-treat at MK. Something about being able to do that, even though I'm 26 was really exciting for me! Other than the whole costume/candy thing, I'd chose MVMCP -- only b/c I love Christmas so much.

We went December 12-19. The parks were really empty throughout our trip. However, the crowds picked up on the 18th as the Christmas crowd was invading. But even then, the wait times were not too bad. The longest we had was for EE and that was about 20 min (if that!). It truly spoiled us.

My sister bought the tickets around October (I believe). I know the party did sellout, but it was something like the week of. You should be fine waiting for the 90 day mark. Btw, isn't that coming up soon??

And...I love your new purchases -- especially the dresses!! Very cute!

 

[annnewjerz]

We've done both MNSSHP and MVMCP (2007 & 2008). I think I liked MNSSHP better only b/c I was able to dress up and trick-or-treat at MK. Something about being able to do that, even though I'm 26 was really exciting for me! Other than the whole costume/candy thing, I'd chose MVMCP -- only b/c I love Christmas so much.

Alright alright, you've sold me. Christmas is my ALL TIME FAVORITE THING IN THE WHOLE WORLD (except DH, that is )

We went December 12-19. The parks were really empty throughout our trip. However, the crowds picked up on the 18th as the Christmas crowd was invading. But even then, the wait times were not too bad. The longest we had was for EE and that was about 20 min (if that!). It truly spoiled us.

20 minute wait for EE sounds pretty awesome to me. We'll be leaving the 18th (the Friday before Christmas-week weekend) so hopefully we'll miss any insanity. We were spoiled during our September 07 trip--we didn't wait more than 15-25 minutes for anything and it was AWESOME. I'm glad to hear it shouldn't be much worse. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!

I know the party did sellout, but it was something like the week of. You should be fine waiting for the 90 day mark. Btw, isn't that coming up soon??

Selling out is fine with me, as long as it's after I buy my tickets My 90 days for our trip in October is in 3 more days! I guess you could consider my 90 days for December coming up as well---in like 2 more months.

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

You know, I think I like Christmas just a bit more than DH. He's alright, too. But nothing compares to Christmas!

I'll cross my fingers for you for low crowds. It really makes things so much more enjoyable. But either way, at least you'll be at WDW during Christmas time. There is NOTHING like it. Swoon!

Ok, well at least I wasn't completely off base. I got your two PTR's confused. Whoops! Two more months isn't really THAT far away.

 

[annnewjerz]

So for a little while (mostly since becoming a regular lurker on the "Official Cake Chatter Thread"), I've been trying to come up with a reasonably inexpensive small surprise for my DH and DM since I've pretty much spoiled all of the others.

I told my DM about the KTTK tour for Mother's Day.
I told my DM about Cirque du Soleil for her birthday.
I told DH about the car service picking us up for---well---no good reason.

I got to thinking, since we have a kitchen in our room at the BWV, maybe a special "Welcome to Disney" cake would be a good idea. The cakes I have seen range from small simple 6 inchers to extravagently designed 10 inchers that cost as much as our tickets for MVMCP.

I'm obviously much too far away from our trip to call up the Boardwalk Bakery to discuss said cake, and whether or not they can customize a 6 inch for us since there will only be three of us and we will probably be on the Deluxe DDP, so the chances of eating more than a slice of the cake are slim to none.

After poking around a bit online, here are some designs I came up with that I thought would be cute with just a few tweaks. Here are my faves.

This one, I would change the green polka dots to green Mickey heads, if possible.

I like this one too.

This one is great, but might be a little "much" for what I am looking for.

Ooooh purdy.

I really like this one too. AHHHHHH decisions decisions.

Any thoughts??? Also, I would really like some alternate suggestions for a surprise that's around $150 or less. I think a pedicure or something at the spa would be really great---but I had thrown that idea out to my DM once before and she didn't sound interested, said if she wanted to get her nails done she would do it at home.

 

[raider97]

So for a little while (mostly since becoming a regular lurker on the "Official Cake Chatter Thread"), I've been trying to come up with a reasonably inexpensive small surprise for my DH and DM since I've pretty much spoiled all of the others.

I told my DM about the KTTK tour for Mother's Day.
I told my DM about Cirque du Soleil for her birthday.
I told DH about the car service picking us up for---well---no good reason.

I got to thinking, since we have a kitchen in our room at the BWV, maybe a special "Welcome to Disney" cake would be a good idea. The cakes I have seen range from small simple 6 inchers to extravagently designed 10 inchers that cost as much as our tickets for MVMCP.

I'm obviously much too far away from our trip to call up the Boardwalk Bakery to discuss said cake, and whether or not they can customize a 6 inch for us since there will only be three of us and we will probably be on the Deluxe DDP, so the chances of eating more than a slice of the cake are slim to none.

After poking around a bit online, here are some designs I came up with that I thought would be cute with just a few tweaks. Here are my faves.

This one, I would change the green polka dots to green Mickey heads, if possible.

I like this one too.

This one is great, but might be a little "much" for what I am looking for.

Ooooh purdy.

I really like this one too. AHHHHHH decisions decisions.

Any thoughts??? Also, I would really like some alternate suggestions for a surprise that's around $150 or less. I think a pedicure or something at the spa would be really great---but I had thrown that idea out to my DM once before and she didn't sound interested, said if she wanted to get her nails done she would do it at home.

I think my favorite is the first one especially if you can get those dots made into mickey heads.

I am pretty sure I am getting the mickey head cake for my son's 4th birthday while we are down there.

Stephanie

 

[MyMuse]

FYI...I ordered a birthday cake for my niece when I was down in May. I called 2 weeks before the day I wanted it.

I did not get a phone call until a week later and after 2 more messages.

My advice would not have any cake in the parks but at the deluxe resorts. The park cakes are extremely limited and the deluxe resorts have the bakeries on site, so you can really do it up.

Enjoying your TR!