Have A Banana! December 2013 PTR

Tinkerbell1989

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 17, 2010
Have A Banana! December 2013 PTR
I am so excited for this trip! We are very lucky to be going on this trip, as my Grandad is taking 12 of us to celebrate his 70th birthday! We are also celebrating the fact there will be some first-timers on the trip and so we want to make this trip awesome for them! And finally, we’ll be celebrating Christmas and New Year in Disney!

Cast:
Steffi (24): I am a Preschool supervisor at a nursery, which although requires me to be childish, also requires a huge amount of responsibility. Disney gives me that escapism!

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Tom (24, will be 25): Tom is, as most of you now know, my fiancé and he works for a major retail company as a Business Analyst. He loves technology, flying and behind-the-scenes stuff. Oh, and he loves Tower of Terror!

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Ryan (21): My brother works as an electrical engineer apprentice with my Dad. He is very independent, but is looking forward to having an excuse on riding some of the little rides!

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Melissa (17, will be 18): She is my baby sister, and has just finished her A levels. She is a bit of a daredevil and I know she is very excited to get on all the big rides again!

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Anj and Steve: My mum (a teaching assistant) loves the traditional rides and the magic, and my dad (electrical engineer) loves the food – there’s always a picture of him biting into a burger!!

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Diane and Alan: My Grandma and Grandad are the stars of the show this year as they are paying for the whole trip! Flights, villa, tickets, character meals...

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Here is the 8 of us on our last group trip in 2010...
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And finally, our 4 newbies on the 2013 Christmas trip!
Sharon, Russ, Kiera (7, will be 8) and Kyle (4): My mum’s sister and her family have never been to Disney before, and so this is our opportunity to show them how amazing it can be! From the conversations I’ve had with Sharon, I think she’s more excited than the children!

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Stay tuned for the itinerary!

Steffi xx
 
eeekk! Get to be your first comment YAY

Looking forward to hearing all about it! xxx
 
tinks_1989 said:
eeekk! Get to be your first comment YAY

Looking forward to hearing all about it! xxx

I wanted to get on and do one!

Chilly said:
Its great that your whole family loves Disney.

Well 8 of us do, lets hope we can convert the other 4!

Xx
 


So, our itinerary :)

As you may know, I have had nothing to do with the planning of this trip because it is Grandads trip. Let’s be fair, he has been planning since about 2009 (and we’ve had a trip in 2010... that’s how devoted he is!)

Thursday 19th December – Travel down/across to Gatwick and do the Twilight Check in, before heading to The Lawns B&B.

Friday 20th December – Get dropped off to Gatwick, do a bit of shopping, fly to MCO! Pick up the 2/3 hire cars and find the villa.

Saturday 21st December – Finish off Christmas shopping at Florida Mall, Walmart and visiting the 192. Old Town Car Cruise at 830pm.

Sunday 22nd December – Magic Kingdom all day!

Monday 23rd December – Downtown Disney in the morning (with added surprise!), Epcot mid afternoon.

Tuesday 24th December – Epcot. Chef Mickeys at 5pm. Possiblity for resort hopping/ cocktail tasting before Wishes at 10pm.

Wednesday 25th December – Day at the villa, Winter Summerland mini golf in the afternoon, out for dinner somewhere.

Thursday 26th December – SeaWorld all day.

Friday 27th December – Islands of Adventure all day. Celebration to see the snow in the evening.

Saturday 28th December – Hollywood Studios all day.

Sunday 29th December – Animal Kingdom, Tusker House at 840am for breakfast. Kouzzina for Steffi and Tom at 7pm for dinner.

Monday 30th December – Typhoon Lagoon all day. Magic Kingdom fireworks in the evening.

Tuesday 31st December – Epcot all day!

Wednesday 1st January – Universal Studios all day.

Thursday 2nd December – Catch up day (SeaWorld/ Disney/ staying at villa)

Friday 3rd December – Downtown Disney to drop off luggage, followed by DisneyQuest. Flight back to Gatwick at 730pm-ish.


When I first saw the itinerary, I freaked out a little because there was A LOT of pointless park hopping, early dinners and so much Epcot! (I mean, I :love: love Epcot, but not that much!!)

With a bit of gentle persuasion from my Mum, we managed to cut out some of the park hopping and plan a couple of surprises for Grandad... and a meal away from the masses! :goodvibes

Steffi xx
 
I wanted to quickly explain where the title for this PTR cane from...

When planning the itinerary with Grandad, my Mum raised a concern about 9am being a little late for breakfast for everyone when looking at times for Tusker House. I, for one, am somebody who likes to eat breakfast almost immediately after I've woken up! Grandads response was to just "have a banana!"

When the story was relayed back to me, we all had a giggle... and since then, we say it all the time with regards to food! I was discussing wedding stuff the other day ("will it be too long a wait between the photos and the food?") and the repsonse was to get some bananas! At Thorpe Park last week, everyone apart from my sisters boyfriend were in stitches when he won a 5ft cuddly toy banana!!

It seemed to stick!

Steffi xx
 


127 days to go! Haha, seeing as this trip has been planned from about 2009, the days are flying by (just not fast enough!) :rotfl2:

As a birthday present to Grandad, we decided as a family to treat him and Grandma to a meal out. They love the family, and so a romantic meal for two, or a meal for the adults wouldn't be their thing. Apart from anything, the majority like simple, uncomplicated food.

Tom and I (along with some help from my mum) booked for us to go to Garden Grill for lunch. But the food was *apparently* too fancy for the majority, who are all expecting burgers and chips!! popcorn::
So we decided T-REX on the 23rd December for lunch, as Grandma and Grandad both love Rainforest Cafe, and Kyle and Ryan both love/d dinosaurs, so I figured it was perfect! :thumbsup2 Grandma and Grandad don't know about it yet, but we're going to make them a little invitation!

Then we want to find a meet and greet with Chip and Dale so Grandad can have cuddles and pictures with them, as they are his favourite!! :yay: Oh, and of course, we'll be getting a Happy Birthday badge for him!;)



In other food news, Tom and I are going for a post-engagement date (7 months after we got engaged!) to Kouzzina. I love :love: Greek food, and I really like the idea of wandering the Boardwalk after dinner!

And, Tom wants to try and drop into 'Ohana one evening for dinner (probably after Universal or Islands), but we haven't booked so we're hoping if its just the 2 of us, they might have a spare table! popcorn::


Steffi xx
 
jen_uk said:
The trip sounds great, lots packed in :thumbsup2

wiigirl said:
Following along! :goodvibes

Thanks for joining in guys :)


Very excited to add that Tom and I have booked a last minute trip to Torremolinos in Spain for a week! Desparately needed at the moment!

99 days until Xmas with Mickey! Xx
 
I havent been on this holiday yet and i already have a bee in my bonnet about a Disney Christmas! Im going to read all this years TRs and use them to influence DH :)
 
westgrove said:
I havent been on this holiday yet and i already have a bee in my bonnet about a Disney Christmas! Im going to read all this years TRs and use them to influence DH :)

Haha! Christmas at Disney is awesome - its different though. We're not staying onsite, so theres a lot of queuing, Fastpassing and criss crossing the park... but its Xmas and its Disney, whats not to love?!
X
 
Its 90 days to go!

Grandad booked our seats this morning... I mentioned about upstairs in the bubble (I know some people don't love it, but I do!) and thats exactly what hes reserved!

Now I know nothing is guarenteed (we have a bad experience with BA under our belts from 2000, where all 7 of us were seperated, including my 4 year old sister who was supposed to sit in a cabin alone!), but assuming all goes well, I can't wait!!

X
 
Morning all!

Okay so there is only 7 weeks untik Disney today!! We are off to Florids NEXT MONTH!

49 days is still a long time, but after a hectic few weeks at work, it really is flying by!

Xx
 
Morning all! Okay so there is only 7 weeks untik Disney today!! We are off to Florids NEXT MONTH! 49 days is still a long time, but after a hectic few weeks at work, it really is flying by! Xx

49 days is nothing. It will go so quick. X
 
Just seen my parents and sister today, and had dinner... the whole day we just talked about this trip!

We watched old videos of previous trips, talked about new things we'll experience and we even discussed getting some "Glow with the Show Ears!"

We've even struck up a deal with mum and dad to do at least one new ride each!

Seriously cannot wait!!
Xx
 

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