Crazy planners join in! The Unofficial January 2012 Thread!

[dizneechic]

In for January 2012! 1/14-1/21, have been planning this trip since August 2010 with in-laws! All-Star Sports and will probably do dxl dining so we can do a couple 2 credit meals and have dinner on arrival night and breakfast on departure day. Tentatively made schedule and possible ADR's....was so fun planning. Now just waiting for January hours and 180 day mark for ressies...getting so excited! 209 days to go!!

We just booked for the 14th-21st as well. Going to try a 3BR presidential at Bonnet Creek and see how we like it. As a family of 5 and trying to gain a little space it seems like it should fit the bill. Last year we had a 10 day trip in Feb in a house off site, 6 days end of Aug, and 5 days in Jan. The last 2 were Poly Club Level which we adored, but need better sleeping arrangements.

My friends and I will be going Jan 4th-Jan 11th. We will be staying at Boardwalk!!! I'm super excited to be able to walk to EPCOT!

I'm a bit nervous about crowds as this is over marathon weekend and I've been getting mixed messages about whether crowds are bad or not. Also trying to figure out how I will pack. I know a bit early but I'm hoping it's not too cold. Then again, I live in WI so as long as the weather is not too much in the negatives I think I'll be ok.

What I recall from this Jan was the parks weren't THAT bad from the marathoners BUT resort transportation was a nightmare. Mostly speaking from the Poly and the throngs of people on the monorail early in the day, if there is a way to avoid that you should be free and clear of too much chaos.

As for weather, when we were there in Feb 2010 it was freezing! We wore our 4 in 1 jackets down and zipped them apart and wore the heavier insides almost every day. We also did lots of layers, planned to wear short sleeve shirts and brought a long sleeve one for under neath to wear if needed (and we used it 9 of our 10 days that trip!). When we went this Jan the weather was a lot nicer (although we were in between blizzards back home! ). Never nice enough for us to need shorts (although many guests wore them) but almost every day we could wear short sleeves and be very comfortable. We had one day of bad rain and it was cold rain vs the tropical FL rain so we were caught off guard and a bit chilled even in rain gear. Anyhow point being that time of year, prepare for everything and work it in layers. This way you can go lighter if its nice but have something that works if its cooler as well.

The one thing I am disappointed in though for this trip is that Fantasmic will be being refurbed the entire time were there. It looks like its down from Jan 5th-25th. We didn't take the kids to it at all last year because they needed to stick to their schedules and the timing wouldn't have worked, and our Jan trip this year got moved a few days (damn blizzards!!) so we lost the chance. That time of year the shows are early (6:30) so it would have been perfect, but alas, it doesn't seem it's meant to be yet again.

 

[Cee]

Yay! Jan. 2012! We have a 1BR at OKW for the week of Jan. 20-27! We've only stayed in studios at OKW so I cannot WAIT to enjoy all that wonderful square footage!

 

[Terapin]

Well, we got most of our ADRs for 13 people! I'm sure in some places we won't all be seated together, but that's ok.

Got:

CRT dinner (3 parties)
Le Cellier lunch (3 parties)
Coral Reef for 13
Chef Mickey's for 13
'Ohana for 13
Teppan Edo for 13
Tutto Italia (2 parties)
Hollywood and Vine for 13
1900 Park Fare for 13
Sci-Fi Diner for 13
Yak & Yeti (3 parties)
Crystal Palace dinner for 13

Awaiting:
Fantasmic Dinner packages to be released
Crystal Palace breakfast to be released
Akershus breakfast to be released
V and A 180 day
BBB reservations to be released

Now back to bed for a little nap - I got up at 6am for this!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

180 days from today and we will be in WDW!! I just got home from work (midnights ) and while I was there I made my ADRS!!! I love my bosses!!

Here is the line up:

Jan 6th: Chef Mickeys at 5:40 PM
Jan 7th: Via Napoli at 5:45 PM
Jan 8th: O'hana at 7:45 AM
The Plaza at 4:50 PM
Jan 9th: Le Cellier at 1:00 PM
Jan 10th: Sci-Fi at 1:10 PM

We are staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and will be having our other meals there in our condo. DD 11 loves Stitch so breakfast at O'hana is a surprise for her! I'm not too sure about Chef Mickey's we will be meeting them at O'hana so we won't need to eat there....maybe we will do lunch in the park at counter service and dinner back in the room....something to think about!
Good luck to everyone making their ADR's in the coming weeks!!

 

[dizneechic]

180 days from today and we will be in WDW!! I just got home from work (midnights ) and while I was there I made my ADRS!!! I love my bosses!!

Here is the line up:

Jan 6th: Chef Mickeys at 5:40 PM
Jan 7th: Via Napoli at 5:45 PM
Jan 8th: O'hana at 7:45 AM
The Plaza at 4:50 PM
Jan 9th: Le Cellier at 1:00 PM
Jan 10th: Sci-Fi at 1:10 PM

We are staying at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and will be having our other meals there in our condo. DD 11 loves Stitch so breakfast at O'hana is a surprise for her! I'm not too sure about Chef Mickey's we will be meeting them at O'hana so we won't need to eat there....maybe we will do lunch in the park at counter service and dinner back in the room....something to think about!
Good luck to everyone making their ADR's in the coming weeks!!

Looks great!!!

I'm still waiting for TGM to finish up the least crowded parks charts for the time were there so we can officially lock in on our ADR's. Not thinking we'll do too many this trip, posb CRT early one day so we can do castle pics sans crowds and def an Ohana visit since we adore the Poly. We'll have to do something soon though even if we end up changing them because our window opens in a few days!

 

[Ginger Renae]

I have y ADRs all planned out. It's just a matter of getting them when my dates are released. I'm afraid of not getting what I want or having to do some massive re-planning of our days.

My plan:

1/7 - Counter service dinner at either OKW or DTD because we arrive late in the day.
1/8 - early lunch at LeCellier and later dinner at Akershus
1/9 - Counter service lunch in AK and dinner at Biergarten
1/10 - Counter service lunch at HS and dinner at 'Ohana
1/11 - Counter service lunch at MK and dinner at 1900 Park Fare
1/12 - Counter service breakfast and then we leave for the cruise!

So far I have been playing with days that are newly available and I haven't been able to find ANYTHING for the Akershus dinner. That makes me very nervous we will not get the princess dinner for DD.

 

[Ginger Renae]

I just made my dining reservations. I'm in California so it's only 3am here. Yawn! I got everything I wanted EXCEPT for Akershus. For some reason, they haven't opened up any reservations for 2012. I am going to be stressed until I get that reservation made...get with it Disney! DD needs her princess dinner!

 

[princess&her4princes]

Just booked today to surprise my boys! We're staying at All Star Music trying out the family suites. The last couple of trips we've stayed at PORS, looking forward to the bigger rooms. We'll be there 1/15-1/21, ADR's in the morning!! YAY!

 

[dizneechic]

Just finished up our ADRs for our trip. Below are the ADRs and planned park in ()

1/15 - The Crystal Palace - 8:05 (MK)
1/15 - Chef Mickey's - 5:15 (MK)
1/16 - The Garden Grill Restaurant - 6:30 (EP)
1/17 - 'Ohana - 5:20 (HS, EP)
1/18 - Posb LegoLand or Harry Potter Day Trip (alt MK HS EP)
1/19 - Tusker House Restaurant - 8:30 (AK, DTD, Quest)
1/20 - The Crystal Palace - 8:25 (MK, HS)
1/20 - 1900 Park Fare - 5:35 (MK, HS)
1/21 - Akershus Royal Banquet Hall - 10:35 (EP)

We went this same week this year (Jan 2011) so are planning same days in the same parks - similar touring plan. We want to participate in the YES program so that may throw one of our days off, we won't know until that info is released, and we only want to keep one of the CP ressies (early park entry, empty main street pics - not fond of pooh ) so will cancel one as we get closer and officially nail down plans.

Weds were leaving up in the air, so if weather isn't our friend we can flex our time in WDW or if LegoLand wises up and opens on Tues/Weds we'll day trip there. Otherwise we may hit Universal for a day and check out HP.

We have to check out by 10 on the 21st so were going to do a late breakfast/brunch with the princesses for my dd before heading back home.

 

[Terapin]

Finally got all our reservations, including a Safari GG dinner. Yay!

Not much to do now but make the dough to pay for our trip! (Paid for dining already - had to because of DVC).

 

[Ginger Renae]

We reserved and paid for our flights a couple of weeks ago. Now all we have to purchase are our park tickets. I was trying to talk DH into premier passes so we could use them for Disneyland the rest of the year, but at $749 a piece, it's going to be a tough sell.

 

[mindy5648]

called and changed to the free dining plan today! Going 1/22-29 with my husband and another couple. It will be our first time staying at Coronado Springs!!! All of our ADRs have been made for a week or so now

1/22 - ESPN Club (no ADR)
1/23 - 'Ohaha for the fireworks show
1/24 - 50;s prime time for lunch
1/25 - San Angel Inn
1/26 - Chef Mickeys
- Maya Grill
1/27 - Via Napoli
1/28 - going to wing it

The free dining dropped our package price by over $750!!!

 

[PolkaDotLuggage]

Y'all make me feel so unorganized and unplanned! My MIL is insisting we stay at a timeshare! but i want free dining so i'm going to have to somehow convince her it'll be cheaper to stay on property!! I guess I shouldn't be picky; I'm just excited to be going back and taking my hubby and step-daughters for the first time!

 

[PolkaDotLuggage]

Just finished up our ADRs for our trip. Below are the ADRs and planned park in ()

1/15 - The Crystal Palace - 8:05 (MK)
1/15 - Chef Mickey's - 5:15 (MK)
1/16 - The Garden Grill Restaurant - 6:30 (EP)
1/17 - 'Ohana - 5:20 (HS, EP)
1/18 - Posb LegoLand or Harry Potter Day Trip (alt MK HS EP)
1/19 - Tusker House Restaurant - 8:30 (AK, DTD, Quest)
1/20 - The Crystal Palace - 8:25 (MK, HS)
1/20 - 1900 Park Fare - 5:35 (MK, HS)
1/21 - Akershus Royal Banquet Hall - 10:35 (EP)

We went this same week this year (Jan 2011) so are planning same days in the same parks - similar touring plan. We want to participate in the YES program so that may throw one of our days off, we won't know until that info is released, and we only want to keep one of the CP ressies (early park entry, empty main street pics - not fond of pooh ) so will cancel one as we get closer and officially nail down plans.

Weds were leaving up in the air, so if weather isn't our friend we can flex our time in WDW or if LegoLand wises up and opens on Tues/Weds we'll day trip there. Otherwise we may hit Universal for a day and check out HP.

We have to check out by 10 on the 21st so were going to do a late breakfast/brunch with the princesses for my dd before heading back home.

How were the crowds last year bc of MLK? My hubby is not a fan of lines and is insisting he'll just go fishing instead of fighting off people

 

[LoriJune]

Finally finished tweaking! Except for maybe adding one...

1/22 Nothing - maybe dinner at the Dolphin somewhere
1/23 Lunch at Le Chefs
1/24 Lunch at Prime Time, Dinner at Wolfgang
1/25 KTTK Tour, Dinner at the Plaza
1/26 Breakfast at Tusker House, Dinner at 'Ohana
1/27 Epcot UnDISCOVERed Futureworld tour
1/28 Nothing!
1/29 Breakfast at Kouzzina

We'll be with DH's brother and wife, except for the 27th on our Epcot tour day. I hear that we'll probably be given priority seating for Illuminations at the end of our tour - even though the tour ends early in the afternoon. So, any suggestions for dinner for just DH and I? Problem is, he's pretty picky...

 

[Kazooie01]

Almost forgot about the January threads! We’ll be at Bay Lake Tower January 22-29th (we may add 1/21, still not sure if I want to use the points for a 9th day). We can’t wait, this will be our 6th January in a row, and it’s absolutely a great time to visit!

 

[dizneechic]

Y'all make me feel so unorganized and unplanned! My MIL is insisting we stay at a timeshare! but i want free dining so i'm going to have to somehow convince her it'll be cheaper to stay on property!! I guess I shouldn't be picky; I'm just excited to be going back and taking my hubby and step-daughters for the first time!

If your going the 15th-21st there is no free dining *yet*... they left MLK week as the black out time frame. For us though its way cheaper to stay off site even with free dining, as a fam of 5 we need the suite at a value or have POR/Deluxe and the room discounts work out better than FD in most cases. We usually do Poly CL but this time will be at Bonnet Creek in a 3BR - having the extra space w/ 3 kids will be SOOO nice!!

How were the crowds last year bc of MLK? My hubby is not a fan of lines and is insisting he'll just go fishing instead of fighting off people

Crowds for Jan '11 MLK were fine! We've gone at every time of the year and while it's not the slowest I've seen it, it's FAR from the busiest. We follow TGM for recommended parks and our waits with using FP's never are over 10 minutes. We can get through every ride in the MK at least once between rope drop and 3:00. The downside to that time of year is weather. Mornings and evenings you need jackets (heck even afternoons most days ) but occasionally you'll get a spectacular day or a down right cold spell. We've had it all. Also when it rains in Jan/Feb it SUCKS because its cold rain and not usually a pop up shower like it is other times of the year, so dress warm under the rain gear or you'll be buying sweatshirts. Anywho, my advice w/ the lines for MLK would be to avoid MK that Mon, locals will be out and about so will be busier than norm, the rest of the parks should be decent. I would typically say avoid HS that day too, but since F! will be in rehab a big draw will be eliminated so it shouldn't be too bad. The rest of the week if you go against EMH hours (no worries if your off site!) you'll avoid the heavier crowds - odd strategy but works great!! Another bonus for Jan, earlier fireworks and ELP at MK so if the kids are younger they don't have to stay up that late to enjoy them!

 

[SueRS]

Ok, so free dining was annouced yesterday and didn't really include our dates (we are there 12/31-1/11 and free dining starts 1/8). So today, went to look again and now found Magic your way starting 1/2 but not free dining??



Thanks for listening.

 

[Cin]

Hurry up January! I booked for the last week of Jan 2012 and have already finished all my planning for that. But sigh... with ADR's set and nothing to do but change them and revise plans, (again) and still 5 months to go, I had to come up with a new plan. Sooo, now I am looking at booking another trip this time just for the hubs and I to celebrate Christmas at WDW a little early. Nov 2012...so I have 2 packages on hold and debating on dates so I don't know which one to book yet. See you all in January 2012 though!

 

[goofybabe]

Hey,count us in we'll be there the 8th thru 14th at the Polynesian.Lets pray for warm days and no rain!