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

[DisMomJill]

I've never done a trip report before. I enjoy reading others, so I decided to jump on that band wagon So here goes.

The Characters

First there is me. I'm Jill, and I just turned 40 Actually it isn't that bad, just kind of hard to believe. This will be my 4th trip. My favorite park is MK, and I can't really pick a favorite character. But I think if I had to choose, I think I'd go with the Pooh gang.

Next, we have DH who is 46. DH likes Disney, and he really enjoys seeing DD and I happy. One of his favorite attractions is the Hall of Presidents. On our last trip, he got to participate in the Jedi Training and the Indiana Jones show at DHS. Unfortunately there weren't any pics because I wasn't with him at the time. Anyway, DH doesn't really do rides. He does enjoy some of the shows. And he also loves Christmas, so he really enjoys seeing all of the decorations.

And finally, we have DD who is 4. This is her second trip. We went two years ago, and the trip was magical. She loved all of the characters that she met, even the ones she didn't "know". We are hoping for the same reaction this time. She is also a bit of a thrill seeker, so I'm hoping she is at least 44" by the time we go.

That pretty much sums up the "Who" part of things. I'll work on the other "W's" soon

 

[DisMomJill]

Table of Contents

Introduction
Dec 2011 Pictures
When and Where
Park Plans **UPDATED 7/2**
Driving...
More Dec 2011 pictures
Outfit Plans
More Changes
Arrival Day Plans
Day 1: Magic Kingdom
Day 2: Epcot
Wilderness Lodge Dress
First Day of Preschool
Minnie Dress
Cinderella Outfit
Sleeping Beauty Outfit
Day 3: MVMCP (A Very Basic Plan)
Day 4: Princess Tea Party, Sofia BBB Makeover, DHS
Day 1: Magic Kingdom Plan (Updated with FP+)
Day 2: Epcot Plan (Updated with FP+)
A Day at the Arboretum
Day 6: Animal Kingdom Plan

 

[DisMomJill]

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip in December 2011. As I mentioned, my DD loved meeting the characters... and there were some great interactions!

 

[DisMomJill]

DH and I went to WDW on our honeymoon in 2008, and we both had a great time. When our DD was born a year later, we decided we wanted to take her to WDW while the Christmas decorations were up. So we figured we'd go when DD was 4, that way we could go during a low crowd time without taking her out of school. Plus she'd be old enough to enjoy it and possibly have some memories from it.

Well, a couple of years ago, I discovered the disboards... and I got Disney fever again. I mentioned it to DH, and we decided to do a Christmas trip that year. My family thought we were kind of crazy taking a 2.5 year old, but it was great. DD really enjoyed it, and it was a magical trip. After that trip, we decided to also stick with our original plans of a Disney Christmas when DD was 4. So that is the plan. We will once again be going the week after Thanksgiving... and it can't get here soon enough! We will be driving, leaving late afternoon on 11/28. We will hopefully arrive early in the day on 11/30. We will be there until 12/7.

When we went on our honeymoon, we rented a house. We were going to be there almost 2 weeks, plus we were going all over Central Florida. So the house made sense. Last time we (well, really I) decided we would stay in a moderate resort. Originally we had ressies at POFQ. When the free dining offer came out about a month after we started planning, we had to switch to POR to get it. This time, I wanted to be close to MK since that is the park we spend the most time at. So I decided to splurge, and we'll be staying at WL {changed from CR}. We decided to do get the dining plan again, so we are really hoping the rumor of the free dining offer being extended is true. I'm not really expecting to save much, if any, money because I figure the less expensive rooms won't be available. But hopefully that means we can get a room with a view

So that pretty much covers the when and the where. Next up will be ADRs and other fun stuff. Eventually I'll get to the real reason for the trip report... planning my DD's outfits for each day.

 

[Jennifer84]

I'm here! Your DD is adorable! I look forward to reading more

 

[happybelle]

Joining in!

 

[DisMomJill]

I'm here! Your DD is adorable! I look forward to reading more

Joining in!

Welcome to my pre-trip report. I'm pretty excited that I have a couple of followers

 

[happybelle]

 

[::danielle::]

I'm joining in too! I can't wait to hear more about your plans!

 

[DisMomJill]

While I love planning WDW trips , I get a bit anxious when I have to map out my park days. We got park hoppers on our first trip, and we only used it once... and that was really just because we didn't want to completely waste them So I don't think we'll get park hoppers, which means park days needed to pretty much be mapped out when we made our ADRs. Our ADR date was June 3, and I was making changes right up until the last minute. But I think I finally have it all nailed down... that is, unless I decide to make more changes

So, here are the current plans:

Thu, Nov 28 - Sat, Nov 30 : drive, drive, drive Yes, we will be making the trip over three days. The first day will only be 3 or so hours. The second day will be 8 or 9 hours, leaving 5 or 6 hours for the third day.

Sat, Nov 30 : Arrival Day I am hoping that we will arrive early afternoon. If we have to drive 6 hours, we should be there by 3 even with a late start. We have a reservation to take a holiday sleigh ride at FW at 6:00.

Sun, Dec 1 : After church, we'll head to MK. We have a LTT ADR at 1:45. That is followed by BBB at 3:25, so I'm hoping we don't have to wait too long. Then we have an ADR for 1900 Park Fare at 6:45.

Mon, Dec 2 : Epcot. We have a 10:50 ADR at Akershus.

Tue, Dec 3 : We'll have the Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at 10:35. We'll go to MK at about 4 for the Christmas Party.

Wed, Dec 4 : I'm hoping to get a ressie for My Disney Girl's Perfectly Princess Tea Party. So far, you can only make a ressie through 11/23. I don't know why the later date haven't been opened up yet. When Disney announced the Sofia makeovers at DTD, I decided I just HAD to do that. DD and I will head to DTD after the tea part for a 2:30 BBB reservation. We are thinking about possibly doing Hollywood Studios during the afternoon/evening.

Thu, Dec 5 : Another day at MK. I just realized today (8/2) that this is a morning EMH day at MK. So I changed our CP ADR to 2:20. I don't want to be eating during that first hour at the park since rides will be open and crowds should be lower.

Fri, Dec 6 : Animal Kingdom. I decided to go with breakfast at Tusker House, so we'll be eating there at 10:20. I've heard so much about the juice that I wanted to try it! And with a late breakfast time, we might actually get in on some of the lunch options too

Sat, Dec 7 : Departure Day But before we leave, we have an 8:15 ADR at Chef Mickey's. I think that'll be a good note to end on

So that is the basic outline. More details to come ...

 

[DisMomJill]

I'm joining in too! I can't wait to hear more about your plans!

 

[DisMomJill]

DH does not want to fly. TSA horror stories make him anxious. So we will be renting a van, and making the long drive. We drove when we went in 2011, and it wasn't too bad. I'm sure it'll be fine. I just need to try to forget the bad parts from the last trip.

On our last trip, we left very early on Black Friday and planned a 10.5 hour day, with an overnight a little east of Pensacola. That was a very long day (more than 10.5 hours!!), and DD was like a wild child when we got there. She was crazily running around our room. Anyway, we originally planned to do the same this time. But then I decided to ask DH what he thought about leaving Thanksgiving day. We could load up the van on Wednesday night, spend Thankgiving day with my family, then leave at 4ish. That would allow us to get a few hours out of the way. He agreed, so that is what we are going with. Right now I'm debating between staying in Mansfield, LA which is about 3h15m or Natchitoches, LA which is 3h50m. There is a Best Western in Mansfield that has an indoor pool. That would be nice if DD is wild and needs to burn some energy. But it would also be nice to get another half hour out of the way.

We plan to get a very early start the next morning. If we are very lucky, DD will go back to sleep in the car. I doubt she will, but I'm hoping for the best. I'm thinking an indoor pool will be needed even more for this night, so that severely limits our stopping place. We can stop in Crestview, FL which would mean driving about 7h45m, a very manageable day. From there, we would be looking at 6 hours left to WDW CR. Or we can stop in Tallahassee, a 9h45m drive on Friday and 4 hours on Saturday.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. I think I'm leaning toward the more conservative plan... although only having a 4 hour drive on Saturday is very appealing. Anyone have any thoughts on the options?

Just to add some interest to this otherwise boring post, I'll add a picture of our route. And I think my next post will be more pics from out 2011 trip

 

[DisMomJill]

I have been looking at our Dec 2011 pictures again, and I'm getting even more excited about this trip.

Here is the Minnie dress I made for DD

This is what DD did while we were at DHS. The dress is inspired by Jesse.

We let a special needs lady go ahead of us in line (right before we saw Santa), so we just missed having the lighted castle in the background. So I'll show the castle next to the pic with Santa

And finally, DD holding Roy Disney's Hand

 

[Jennifer84]

The ADRs look great! I've never been, but for what it's worth, I have read more positives about the Tusker House breakfast than I have about the lunch. I'm sure you guys will love whichever one you decide on!

I have a pretty long drive, myself (15 hours) and I considered splitting it. I am the only driver and the longest my kids have spent in a car is 3 hours, but I just want to get there! I'm sure once it's all said and done, I will be regretting that decision.

LOVE the pictures!!!!! I think I already said this, but your DD is so adorable

 

[DisMomJill]

The ADRs look great! I've never been, but for what it's worth, I have read more positives about the Tusker House breakfast than I have about the lunch. I'm sure you guys will love whichever one you decide on!

I have a pretty long drive, myself (15 hours) and I considered splitting it. I am the only driver and the longest my kids have spent in a car is 3 hours, but I just want to get there! I'm sure once it's all said and done, I will be regretting that decision.

LOVE the pictures!!!!! I think I already said this, but your DD is so adorable

We ate at TH for dinner last time, and it was very good. I was surprised that DH liked it too because he is picky. We originally had an early brekfast ADR, but we decided it wasn't worth trying to get DD up so early. It was the end of the trip, and she was pretty tired. I think with the breakfast time, we would get the lunch items at the end... So it might be best of both worlds

If it was just me and DD, I'd drive straight through. I can deal with her meltdowns. But what I can't deal with is having both DD and DH having one... And he doesn't deal with hers well, so I end up having to deal with both of them. Not fun. So I'm doing what I can to try to avoid that situation.

I think DD is pretty adorable too... But I'm a bit biased

 

[DisMomJill]

I got very excited today when I saw that I could actually select Dec 4 for a My Disney Girl's Perfectly Princess Tea Party reservation. But when I tried, it just spun. So I decided to call, and you still can't book past 11/23. But, since the 4th can be selected online, it looks like it'll open up soon

 

[TXPyroMom]

Joining in!

Our upcoming trips have a lot in common. We'll be at CR dece 7-14 and I had/am still having the same issue with booking the Princess Tea Party...our dates just opened,but trying to book online, the page just kept trying to load. We did the tea party in Jan 2012 and it was amazing.

I am loving all of your daughters outfits, so cute... Makes me wish I could sew.

 

[snuggly duckling]

Joining in... We are doing a Christmas trip too

 

[DisMomJill]

Joining in!

Our upcoming trips have a lot in common. We'll be at CR dece 7-14 and I had/am still having the same issue with booking the Princess Tea Party...our dates just opened,but trying to book online, the page just kept trying to load. We did the tea party in Jan 2012 and it was amazing.

I am loving all of your daughters outfits, so cute... Makes me wish I could sew.

The cost of the tea party has me cringing a bit, but I don't know when we'll have another trip, so I'm going ahead with that plan... assuming I can ever get a reservation. I learned to sew in high school, but just started again a couple of years ago. I really enjoy it, plus there is the added benefit of lots of attention for my DD when she wears the clothes.

Joining in... We are doing a Christmas trip too

I'll check out your PTR too.

 

[DisMomJill]

I really need to do an update here, but we are having VBS this week... so there isn't time for anything else! Hopefully I'll be able to update by this weekend.