Getting in the Christmas Mood at Disney: A Dec 2013 Pre-Trip Report

[thornton0511]

Decided to follow you along! We are arriving on Dec 6th for our first Disney Christmas trip (we usually go in May). Also I see that we are somewhat neighbors We drove last year and man that was a long drive.....tried to get it all in one day but ended up stopping in Osceola and called it quits for the day lol. Props to you guys for going that route! We decided if we can afford to fly that is the way to go for us. Driving is a last resort.....although if driving is the only way to get to Disney well then on the road we will go! Cannot wait to hear all about your planning

 

[DisMomJill]

Decided to follow you along! We are arriving on Dec 6th for our first Disney Christmas trip (we usually go in May). Also I see that we are somewhat neighbors We drove last year and man that was a long drive.....tried to get it all in one day but ended up stopping in Osceola and called it quits for the day lol. Props to you guys for going that route! We decided if we can afford to fly that is the way to go for us. Driving is a last resort.....although if driving is the only way to get to Disney well then on the road we will go! Cannot wait to hear all about your planning

If it was completely up to me, we would be flying. We don't save any money by driving due to the car rental and lodging on the trip. But DH is pretty adament about not flying. If I can ever convince DH to let us go on a girls only trip, DD and I will definitely fly so we can get maximum WDW time

 

[DisMomJill]

I added another reservation to our trip today. When I saw that they were offering a Sofia the First makeover at BBB, I was very disappointed that it wasn't going to be offered at the MK location. Well, this morning I started thinking about it... and decided that DD would get TWO makovers on this trip. She'll get one at the castle on Dec 1, and she'll get one at DTD on Dec 4. The reservation is at 2:30, so we'll head to DTD after we enjoy the Princess Tea Party at the GF. I didn't want to do an early ressie since we are doing MVMCP the night before. Now they just need to have a Sofia meet and greet at DHS, and it needs to be late enough that we can go. Here's hoping for a little pixiedust

 

[Bethislucy]

Hey I just saw in your sig from my pre trip report that you started yours so I thought I would come over and check it out.

Your DD is adorable it so much fun going with little ones the magic is so real to them.

Do you have to book your hotels in advance or on your 2nd day of driving can you just see how your DD is doing and book the hotel on the road?

 

[DisMomJill]

Hey I just saw in your sig from my pre trip report that you started yours so I thought I would come over and check it out.

Your DD is adorable it so much fun going with little ones the magic is so real to them.

Do you have to book your hotels in advance or on your 2nd day of driving can you just see how your DD is doing and book the hotel on the road?

Welcome! Making hotel reservations as we go might be an option, assuming I can convince DH. But that is a very big assumption since he doesn't like taking risks like that.

 

[tazdev3225]

Your DD is adorable. Your trip mirrors mine in many ways. I am driving because my DH isn't fond of planes if he can avoid them. Of course he is flying to Detroit as we speak for work.

I'm leaving on Saturday Nov 30th and driving straight through. Doing Harry Potter on sunday before we check in and Sunday night is still open.

Doing MK Tuesday and the party that night. Will be at DHS on wednesday and and am meeting friends for Dine with an Imagineer for lunch. I have AK and Tusker House but early on that Friday.

We may cross paths.

 

[Kaykool101]

Joining in!

Your daughter is so cute and I LOVE the outfits! Are you making more this trip? I always want to dress the kids up, but I have boys.

The Sophia thing is really neat. When I read about it the other day, it was another moment, because all we have in the family is boys. I cannot wait to see her pictures!!! Are you going to make her a Sophia dress?

 

[DisMomJill]

Your DD is adorable. Your trip mirrors mine in many ways. I am driving because my DH isn't fond of planes if he can avoid them. Of course he is flying to Detroit as we speak for work.

I'm leaving on Saturday Nov 30th and driving straight through. Doing Harry Potter on sunday before we check in and Sunday night is still open.

Doing MK Tuesday and the party that night. Will be at DHS on wednesday and and am meeting friends for Dine with an Imagineer for lunch. I have AK and Tusker House but early on that Friday.

We may cross paths.

I tried to get a ressie for Dine with an Imagineer for DH, but it was full. I may keep trying, or we may put that on our wish list for our next trip.

Joining in!

Your daughter is so cute and I LOVE the outfits! Are you making more this trip? I always want to dress the kids up, but I have boys.

The Sophia thing is really neat. When I read about it the other day, it was another moment, because all we have in the family is boys. I cannot wait to see her pictures!!! Are you going to make her a Sophia dress?

I only made two of the outfits she was wearing on our last trip. The others were purchased online. This time I am planning to make all of her outfits, and yes, a Sophia dress is in that plan. I have to admit, I am loving having a little girl so I can do all of this fun girly stuff (even though I have never really been a girly-girl).


I am hoping to do another update soon. Life has been crazy busy lately, and I feel like I'm neglecting my Disney planning.

 

[DisMomJill]

So I had originally made a reservation at LTT for dinner before MVMCP begins. But the more I thought about it, the more I didn't like that idea. I really want to have the Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake again, and it isn't available at dinner. So now I have an ADR for LTT on Thursday the 5th at 1:35. We'll just do CS before the party.

 

[DisMomJill]

My poor neglected PTR. I promise to update you soon

In a little bit of news, I placed a fabric order today. I should have the fabric for DD's Cindy dress next week

 

[Kaykool101]

Be sure to post pics when it is done.

How exciting!

 

[DisMomJill]

Some good news and bad news:

First the good. I got our reservation for the princess tea party.

Now the bad. I'm sure everyone has seen the leak about free dining. Well, our dates are not included... even though they have been for the last 4 years. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will change, but I'm definitely not counting on it. I knew it wouldn't save us any money since we would have to upgrade rooms. But I was looking forward to the possibility of having a tower room. Oh well. We are still going to Disney, and that is what matters!

I still haven't had a chance to do any sewing. I did buy a serger, and I have that on my sewing table now. I've only had a little time to play with it, so I think I'm going to try to do that some tonight. Then maybe I can get some sewing done later in the week.

 

[DisMomJill]

It seems like updating my PTR never bubbles up to the top of my to do list. I guess part of the reason is because there hasn't been much to report. I haven't done any more planning, and I haven't done any sewing for our trip.

Over the last month or so, we have had a few large, unexpected expenses. So on one of my disneyworld.com visits where I obsessively check the availability at CR, I decided to check on WL rooms. It has greater availability than CR, so it might be more likely to have a RO discount. And the rooms are less expensive, so we could save a little money. Last week, I sent an email to my TA to say we would be willing to spend more for a tower room at CR (a discount would be necessary to fit the budget I set). But today I sent another email asking for a price quote for WL. Hoping for some pixie dust for a good discount Hopefully I'll have some good news to share tomorrow

One more thing I am considering adding is a sleigh ride at FW. I know DH would really enjoy doing this, so I'm planning to try to surprise him with it. I am thinking about doing it on our arrival day, but I need to look to see if it would work any other nights, just in case. I need to try to call some time tomorrow to see if I can get that ressie.

So as I said, I haven't done any sewing for our trip. I have ordered fabric for some of the outfits though. I washed most of it tonight. Two pieces are going back to fabric.com because I didn't like the way it felt. I'm hoping to go through my stash tomorrow night to figure out what else I need to buy. I know I have some fabric I didn't use for our trip two years ago, one of which is a blue pooh toile that I love. I just need to find that "safe place" I put it.

Since I haven't started sewing for our trip, I will post a couple of pictures of things I've made recently. Both of these were done last minute, so I used my go-to quick sew pattern... the portrait peasant by Scientific Seamstress.

First, here is a top that DD wore to see "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" at our local children's theatre.

Second, here is a top she wore when the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus ambassadors were at our local library:

I am currently working on DD's back to school outfit, and I'm hoping to finsh that tomorrow night. Once that is done, I'm going to attempt to combine the perfectly preppy skort and the scallopini skirt patterns by Scientific Seamstress. If it works, then I'll make another one that will be used for DD's Sofia the First outfit.

Next post will probably be resort news. The one after that will be about the plans I have for our trip.

 

[DisMomJill]

I'm sure everyone already knows that there weren't any discounts available today. And since I'm still waiting for a price quote from my TA on the possible WL switch, there is no news to report on the resort front. So I'll go on to the outfits plans I have made so far. A common thread through this will be my use of patterns by Scientific Seamstress. I absolutely love her patterns Unless stated otherwise, assume that the pattern is by SS. Bathroom breaks are much easier with two piece outfits, so instead of dresses I'll mostly be doing tops and skirts or pants/capris.

Day 1: Arrival Day

• I actually don't have any plans made for our arrival day yet. I am going to start keeping my eyes open for some cute fabric that would be appropriate for WL. I also need to think about what DD will wear if we do the sleigh ride that night. I think I have some of this fabric, so I might make something with it.
• 

Day 2: MK Day 1

• I am pretty sure DD will start out in a Minnie inspired dress. It will be pretty similar to the one she wore two years ago. I will use the Precious and Easy Fit patterns, with red dot fabric for the dress and white fabric trimmed with eyelet lace for the shorts/bloomers. We will start out our day by meeting Mickey and Minney at Town Square Theatre. I'm hoping we'll get a little magic during this meet due to the dress like we got on our last trip.
  
  
• I will take a Cinderella inspired dress with us so DD can change into it for her BBB appointment. She will also wear this for our dinner at 1900 Park Fare. I will be making a Simply Sweet top with a Perfectly Preppy Skort.
  
  

Day 3: Epcot
I am debating what DD will wear for our day at Epcot. We do have a princess breakfast planned, so I will definitely focus on that. I have two options.

• I can make a Belle inspired outfit using the Simply Sweet and Skort patterns. If I do that, then I'll once again use fabric from Michael Miller's Fairy Frost collection.
• I can make a reversible A-Line top with Easy Fit pants. I would use two different princess fabrics for the top. I already have one the pastel fabric, and I have my eyes on the other one. If I make this, then I will let DD choose which one she side she wants to wear. And, if one side gets dirty, I can always turn it to the other side
  
  
  

Day 4: 1900PF Breakfast and MVMCP

• I will be making a Mary Poppins inspired dress for our breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. This will be made using the Simply Sweet pattern. Since DD won't be wearing it to a park, I will make a dress instead of a two piece outfit. I will be using a white eyelet for the dress. I need to get some red fabric for the waistband.
  
  
• For the Christmas party, I have what I call "children of the world Christmas" fabric. I will make a skort with that fabric. I am thinking I'll make a top with the portrait peasant pattern. I just need to find a coordinating fabric to use.
  
  

Day 5: Perfectly Princess Tea Party and BBB and DHS?

• I will make an Aurora inspired dress. And, surprise, surprise, I will use the Simply Sweet pattern. It will be made using two shades of pink Fairy Frost fabric. I have the lighter pink already. I did not like the darker pink I ordered, so I will be returning that and getting the "non-glitz" version.
  
  
  
• For DD's second BBB appointment, I will be making a Sofia the First inspired dress. I think I am going to use the precious pattern with a scalloped overskirt. That will possibly change to be a two piece outfit where I combine the scallopini pattern and skort pattern. I have a purple fabric with small white dots that I plan to use, although I may decide to use Fairy Frost again. It really is perfect for princess dresses DD will wear this to DHS for the evening.
  
  

Day 6: MK Day 2

• We will start our day with an early ADR at CP, so Pooh is on the agenda. I am planning to make a reversible A-Line top with Easy Fit pants. I think I have both of these fabrics, just need to figure out where I put them.
  
  
  

Day 7: Animal Kingdom

• I have an idea in my mind for this. I am planning to make a portrait peasant top and easy fit pants. The top will be made with the red dot fabric and animal print accents (sleeves and ruffle). No pics yet because it isn't fully flushed out yet.

Day 8: Departure Day

• We will be going to Chef Mickey's for our last breakfast before we head home. This outfit will be very similar to the one DD wears on our first MK day, except it will have an apron.

I think that covers everything. I may be editing this later, if for no other reason that proofreading

 

[DisMomJill]

We are officially staying at the WL now I am really happy with this move. By the time my TA was able to book it, there weren't any woods view rooms available so we'll be in a courtyard view. I know that is what most people prefer, but I am kind of hoping a woods view one will open up. I think I am going to put in my room preference as north side, high floor. If a woods view opens up, then I'll request otter pond view, high floor.

In addition to the resort change, I made a reservation for a holiday sleigh ride on our arrival night. It is set for 6pm - hopefully there will be lots of lights on at that time. I am not planning to tell DH about this. I think he'll like the surprise.

I was hoping to start working on my test scallopini skort tonight, but that won't happen. I ended up messing up on DD's back to school skirt last night, so I had to do a lot of seam ripping. Tonight will be spent redoing it, hopefully correctly this time.

 

[DisMomJill]

First, I may be firing my TA. I requested that our WL reservation be changed to a Woods View room if it became available. Well, I know it is available now, and it was available yesterday too. So if I don't get an email from her by the end of the day with that change, I'll take care of it myself and cancel the ressie we have with her. I haven't liked the lack of control, so I doubt that I'll use a TA again.

Now to the other changes. For some reason, I have completely missed that MK has morning EMH on 12/5. We have a "pre-park opening" ADR at CP for that day. Well, since MK opens at 8 for resort guests, that ADR is no longer before the park opens. We really wanted the "empty Main Street" pictures. If anyone is still reading this, is there a chance to get these if we are there when they open that day?

This is what I think we are going to do...

• We will eat at LTT for a late lunch on Sunday. I got a 1:45pm ADR to cover that.
• We will eat at CP for a late lunch on Thursday. I got a 2:20pm ADR to cover that. I am going to keep checking to see if we can get a dinner ADR isntead of lunch.

I think that covers everything. I am getting a little concerned about the crowd levels. The resorts and the restaurants seem to have low availabilty. Maybe there are a lot of people like me who have several ADRs that they are going to cancel. I'm holding on to them just in case, but more than likely they will be canceled before we go.

I'm really hoping to get some sewing done this weekend. Time is getting away from me, and I don't want to have to sew late at night to get things done. When I do that, I make a ton of mistakes and it takes 3 times as long to finish. I really want to get the princess dresses done before Halloween so DD can choose which one she wants to wear -- assuming I can get her away from the idea of dressing up as a dog

 

[vbeaudry]

Joining In!!

You're DD is so cute and I love the dresses you made for her. Can't wait to see pictures of the new outfits you're making, the fabrics are awesome.
I have 2 DD's and have always loved being able to dress them up in cute outfits. Not as easy as they are getting a bit older!!

 

[DisMomJill]

Joining In!!

You're DD is so cute and I love the dresses you made for her. Can't wait to see pictures of the new outfits you're making, the fabrics are awesome.
I have 2 DD's and have always loved being able to dress them up in cute outfits. Not as easy as they are getting a bit older!!

Welcome! DD is already starting to get opinionated about what she wears. I get a lot of "I don't like that". She used to love dresses. Then she decided she didn't like dresses, but she liked skirts. Now she doesn't like either, she wants to wear shorts. But she does like it when I make something for her, even if it is a dress or skirt. Hopefully that will continue for awhile.

 

[DisMomJill]

Since I can't get in the mood to sew after DD goes to bed, I have been doing a little bit of planning for our trip. I'll start off with our arrival day.

I think I have decided to go the conservative route for our second day of driving to WDW. That means we'll have about 6 hours of driving on our arrival day. I'll probably estimate 8 hours to allow for stops, just to be on the safe side. So if we get on the road by 7, we should be arriving at WL by 3.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I actually managed to score a RO discount for a CV BB room. The only problem with this is that I really don't want to have bunk beds. I called and added a "no bunk bed" request to my ressie, which probably sounds very weird since we are specifically booked in that room type. But it was the only thing available, and booking a lower room category at full prices is more expensive. So I'm hoping that our request is granted. If not, then I may have to deal with some anxiety from DH about DD getting on the top bunk (yes, she is 4 and fully-capable... but DH is on the over-protective side).

OK, back to the plans. We have a holiday sleigh ride booked at FW for 6:00. I figure we'll try to catch a boat NLT 5:15, just in case we have to wait for a boat and it is heading to the CR first. I think that will give us enough time to get there. I am going to tell DH we are going there for dinner so the light tour will be a surpirse. After that is over, we will head over to Trail's End for a 7:00 dinner ADR. I'm hoping we will be seated quickly, even if we check in early (since the sleigh ride will be over by 6:30).

My only concern about this day is that it will be long. If we are seated for dinner by 7 and take an hour to eat, it might be 8:30 by the time we get back in our room. DD needs lots of wind-down time before she falls asleep, so it might be 10:00 before she is finally out. That means we might be starting our vacation on not-enough-sleep, unless DD acutally naps on the drive down. I guess if she appears to be very tired after the sleigh ride, we can just skip eating at TE (although I know DH would really enjoy the ribs there). TE doesn't require a credit card guarantee, so we wouldn't be out any money. I guess we'll play that one by ear.

 

[Kaykool101]

Oh my, I have fallen behind. But I am all caught up now. Your fabrics look nice. I absolutely love the themed dresses you posted pics of.

I cannot wait to see the finished products!

I wish I was more crafty. But alas, I never seem to find the time. I bought a Disney Brother Embrodiery machine a few years back but I have never touched it. The best laid plans...