Help....Official December 2015??

[RVinMomma]

Do we have an official December 2015 thread going yet? If so can someone send me a link? I have searched and cannot find anything

 

[RVinMomma]

Anybody out there?

 

[squeegee]

I was wondering the same thing, myself. We're planning on taking our (will-be-then) 4-1/2 year old daughter mid-December 2015. It's always nice to commiserate with folks who have an equally long wait.

 

[Jenn55]

Hey.. Everyone? Or at least the 2 people to have previously posted, lol... I'm hoping we can make this the official December 2015 thread. When are you guys looking at going in December, any ideas where you gonna stay?

 

[squeegee]

We're thinking either a royal room or wilderness lodge. Dates are tentatively the 13th-23rd. DD is a princess freak, but WL is so beautiful at Christmas.

 

[olwyngdh]

Pop century, arriving either the 4th or 5th. I can book a military package at 499 days, and I am counting down!!! I am so excited about going in December!! It is a bit early for my birthday, but I do not want to deal with the crowds Christmas week!!

 

[Jenn55]

Lol I totally understand the countdown, I have one on my phone.. And it saddens me to see it say 1 year and 147 days! We were just there, my son and I january 2014. It was his first time and he's asked to go back. I told him this year wasn't an option to go again. I'm not looking at telling him probably until November 2015. I'm looking at December 1st-9th, at either all star sports or pop century. We did a split stay back in January with AOA and all star movies. Go cheap on the hotel cause on the 9th were heading over to universal till the 13th. Knowing more what kind of rides he likes (we have Canada's wonderland 20 min away from us so he's done rides before), and what he doesn't should make planning this time easier then in January. I'm thinking, 2 days at magic kingdom, plus the mickeys after hours Xmas party, 2 at Epcot, 2 at animal kingdom and 1 at Hollywood studios. That leaves us a day to chill out, or do another park if we decide. Then were in universal for 3 days of park venturing and 1 chill day. Plus our arrival and departure days! These dates also allow us to hopefully miss some of the mad crowds at Xmas time and allows him to still have a week of school before Xmas vacation

 

[squeegee]

What do you use for a countdown on your phone?
DH and I went with our best friends over New Year's 2008/2009, for what was to be a "once in a lifetime" trip, and I've been "planning" a return ever since. We stayed at the WL for 10 days and had a great time.
DD was born in 2011 and I had thought I'd wait until she was seven or eight to take her, but then I realized I don't want to wait quite that long.

 

[annabug]

Hey guys! I am starting to plan my December 2015 trip too!

We are looking at WL or GF. This is a splurge for us, as it is our first time going for the holidays.

I have to see what the cost is first!

We are thinking December 5-12

I am excited to be able to see the christmas decorations!

And we are considering doing the MVMCP!

Has anyone done that yet?

annabug

 

[Jenn55]

What do you use for a countdown on your phone? DH and I went with our best friends over New Year's 2008/2009, for what was to be a "once in a lifetime" trip, and I've been "planning" a return ever since. We stayed at the WL for 10 days and had a great time. DD was born in 2011 and I had thought I'd wait until she was seven or eight to take her, but then I realized I don't want to wait quite that long. dde1c I'm an obsessive planner and maintain a "dreaded spreadsheet." I've got no park for the arrival day, four (3+ departure day) MK days, three Epcot days, two AK days, and one DHS day. I even thought I had planned all of our ADR's until just yesterday, when DH said he'd like to maybe upgrade to the deluxe DDP and do signatures.

I used a disney on the first time around, just to get into the spirit of things, it's called days to go wdw II by now fratianni it was like 1.99 or .99cents.. But I've decided to consolidate and I'm now using the same app as my upcoming August trip to Italy, it's called t-zero countdown timer. Our trip back in January, was also supposed to be a 'once in a lifetime trip'. We did universal then as well, but stayed the entire time on disney property and taxi'd over for 2 days which was kind of pain in the *** and expensive. This time around I shouldn't have to hide anything. We went January 2-10th and it was my sons Xmas present that only a few ppl knew about so I was hiding all the planning until he opened it as his present Xmas day. It was really stressful! I waited until my son was almost 8 (turned 8 in march), so I know he'd get a lot more out of the rides and was hoping to be able to get him on more of the roller coasters. We did downtown disney the day we landed last time so I'm thinking the same thing, this time. The difference is last time we had like a 2pm departure when returning home so this time I might see about a later return time to give us more of a stress free morning with re packing and such. It's nice to see I'm not the on,h one giving AK 2 days! We didn't get all the stuff done when we went and were there for a day so I'm extending it to another day. When we went last we didn't do the dinning plan, my sons really picky and we only did 3 character meals. We basically took an entire suitcase full of food with us and I made him sandwhich a and such to have in the park. This time I'm hoping for free dinning and want to go with that, if not I'll put out the expense for the dinning plan. I've already got it budgeted!

 

[Jenn55]

Hey guys! I am starting to plan my December 2015 trip too! We are looking at WL or GF. This is a splurge for us, as it is our first time going for the holidays. I have to see what the cost is first! We are thinking December 5-12 I am excited to be able to see the christmas decorations! And we are considering doing the MVMCP! Has anyone done that yet? annabug

Congrats in the planning! This will be our first time over the holidays as well. When we went in January we made it just in time for the Osbourne family lights and it was by far one of my fav parts. So I'm looking forward to being able to do more of the holiday stuff this time around. We got to see all the decorations and were in AK the last day of the holiday parade but had no time to see it. I'm also looking forward to spending time at the different resorts to see the decorations, which we didn't have time for last time either. I haven't done the MVMCP, but I am looking at doing it this time. Personally I rather do the halloween one more, cause for me halloween is my fav holiday, but of course with kids Xmas is the yearly highlight, which is why I'm picking December over October for this trip.

 

[squeegee]

We've already spilled the beans to DD, so that we can prepare her for the characters, fireworks, walking, rides, etc... I would like to have kept it secret, kinda, but I talk about it so much that it was impossible. LOL.
I'm thinking we'll spend most of our first day at DTD, too. DH would like to do disney quest. I want to eat at raglan road again.
We had the regular dining plan last time, and it was nice to do the TS and not worry about OOP. DH refuses to ever return without the dining plan, regardless of cost-vs-OOP. He can't bring himself to order an expensive meal OOP even if it's overall cheaper to go that route. He would always order the cheapest thing and be miffed. So, dining plan it is. I'm budgeting enough to pay for the regular DDP, but if there's free dining or I get a pin code (got three already for THIS year, when I can't go!), then I'll use that money to upgrade to the DxDP, to make DH very happy.

 

[Jenn55]

We've already spilled the beans to DD, so that we can prepare her for the characters, fireworks, walking, rides, etc... I would like to have kept it secret, kinda, but I talk about it so much that it was impossible. LOL. I'm thinking we'll spend most of our first day at DTD, too. DH would like to do disney quest. I want to eat at raglan road again. We had the regular dining plan last time, and it was nice to do the TS and not worry about OOP. DH refuses to ever return without the dining plan, regardless of cost-vs-OOP. He can't bring himself to order an expensive meal OOP even if it's overall cheaper to go that route. He would always order the cheapest thing and be miffed. So, dining plan it is. I'm budgeting enough to pay for the regular DDP, but if there's free dining or I get a pin code (got three already for THIS year, when I can't go!), then I'll use that money to upgrade to the DxDP, to make DH very happy.

I luckys never had any issues with the characters and fireworks, as I said we go to Canada's wonderland every year so there are a few characters their he's familiar with and he's used to fireworks. The walking was the one big issue we had as he wasn't used to doing so much day after day. Especially with early mornings and late late nights. I have to fight at home with him to sleep in past 7am.. When we were there cause we were out till like 10/11 every night I got a grumpy "can't we sleep in" from him.. I guess it's my insight to the teen years! We did Disneyquest that first day and he loved it, I had to drag him out of it to see the rest of DTD, so well probably do it again. We ate at the T-Rex cafe that first night and he enjoyed it. I got so many pins the few months right after we got back and I was nooo I can't do it just yet, send me them when I can afford to go again. I'm hoping for free dinning but I am budgeting for paying for it. I won't do the deluxe plan cause I know for sure I won't eat that much in 1 day so I know he won't either. Where r u looking at making ADR's? I'm looking mostly at breakfast cause I know he'll eat pancakes, waffles, and fruit no matter what. But with dinner it's kind of a toss up. I'm looking at menus with either buffet or at least pizza or pasta or rice cause I know those are fall backs for him and no matter what he'll eat those!

 

[Jenn55]

Does anyone know how I can go about changing a reservation? I'm planning on booking and making the downpayment by April.. I should have 3/4 of the entire vacation saved by then. I'm looking at booking with the dinning plan, paying for it, but if free dinning comes out closer to December do I have to call disney and have it applied to my reservation, or can I do it online? Do they have to refund the entire amounts of what I've paid or just move it over to the new reservation? I just don't want any issues with this. And yes I know I have a long way to wait, I just like to be over prepared!

 

[squeegee]

We're planning on every character meal we can fit in, mostly breakfast buffets. DH simply must have his full breakfast. I'm more of a lunch person. DD will at least try almost anything, but usually ends up just wanting fruit or plain pasta - any "meal" we buy for her is often an exercise in futility. I'm tickled silly when I can get her to request something that's not French fries.

I hope for:

Travel day late brunch at sassagoula float works and dinner at raglan road
Day 1 MK, breakfast at resort food court and BOG dinner
Day 2 EP Akershus breakfast and liberty tree dinner
Day 3 DHS mama melrose fantasmic pkg lunch and toy story pizza planet dinner
Day 4 AK Tusker house breakfast and flame tree dinner
Day 5 MK crystal palace breakfast and chef mickeys dinner
Day 6 EP sunshine seasons breakfast and tangerine cafe dinner
Day 7 MK CRT breakfast and 'Ohana dinner
Day 8 EP Katsura grill lunch and garden grill dinner
Day 9 AK yak & yeti lunch and Sanaa dinner
Day 10 MK resort food court breakfast before heading out.

Of course, if we end up upgrading to DxDP, a lot of that will change. It just comes down to the budget. We've been actively saving for almost two years now, since I was dx with thyroid cancer, and are about 1/3 of the way there. I've since had a couple if promotions, so the saving up is really accelerating now.

And somewhere in there, I've got to fit the character meets she'll want, BBB, and playground time. I'm having to wrap my brain around the fact that this trip will be completely different from our last one, where we were rather commando and paid zip attention to the characters. We were all about the bigger rides and the food back then. DD is an early to bed, early to rise (6am!) kind of girl, so I think late late nights are out of the question, but I'm hoping she'll nap mid-day so we can all enjoy some of the fireworks and maybe a wishes dessert party if they're happening then.

 

[squeegee]

If we do the deluxe dining package, most of our QS plans will be changed to signatures, so it's not too many more meals or too much food, necessarily. We're not necessarily a "clean your plate" household, either, so that helps.

Until just recently, we had been hoping to do this trip for just the two of us, and do nothing but signatures and food n wine fest, and let DD stay with grandma for a couple of weeks. The more we thought about it, though, the more we realized we'd miss her, and there's something special about the way she sees the world right now - I want to see something I love reflected in her little eyes.

 

[Jenn55]

We're planning on every character meal we can fit in, mostly breakfast buffets. DH simply must have his full breakfast. I'm more of a lunch person. DD will at least try almost anything, but usually ends up just wanting fruit or plain pasta - any "meal" we buy for her is often an exercise in futility. I'm tickled silly when I can get her to request something that's not French fries. I hope for: Travel day late brunch at sassagoula float works and dinner at raglan road Day 1 MK, breakfast at resort food court and BOG dinner Day 2 EP Akershus breakfast and liberty tree dinner Day 3 DHS mama melrose fantasmic pkg lunch and toy story pizza planet dinner Day 4 AK Tusker house breakfast and flame tree dinner Day 5 MK crystal palace breakfast and chef mickeys dinner Day 6 EP sunshine seasons breakfast and tangerine cafe dinner Day 7 MK CRT breakfast and 'Ohana dinner Day 8 EP Katsura grill lunch and garden grill dinner Day 9 AK yak & yeti lunch and Sanaa dinner Day 10 MK resort food court breakfast before heading out. Of course, if we end up upgrading to DxDP, a lot of that will change. It just comes down to the budget. We've been actively saving for almost two years now, since I was dx with thyroid cancer, and are about 1/3 of the way there. I've since had a couple if promotions, so the saving up is really accelerating now. And somewhere in there, I've got to fit the character meets she'll want, BBB, and playground time. I'm having to wrap my brain around the fact that this trip will be completely different from our last one, where we were rather commando and paid zip attention to the characters. We were all about the bigger rides and the food back then. DD is an early to bed, early to rise (6am!) kind of girl, so I think late late nights are out of the question, but I'm hoping she'll nap mid-day so we can all enjoy some of the fireworks and maybe a wishes dessert party if they're happening then.

I totally understand the early to rise aspect! A part of me can't wait till my sin, whose 8, is a teenager so I don't have to hear him up at 6/7am trying to play! We have a rule in our house and it's only come into effect since he's been older, since he was probably 6.. And that's he's not allowed out of bed to play until 7.30am on school days and breakfast at 8, and on non school dates he has to wait till 8am to get up and play. I can guarentee he'll eat more at breakfast then dinner or lunch as far as selection goes which makes most of our meals breakfast ones when planning. I'm hoping to do character meals the most. I also wanna try and do BOG for 1 meal if possible. For the quick service meals it's easier to pick and choose when we get there just cause he's big into pizza and fries. We did pizza planet last time and we both loved it. So that will probably be our QS for Hollywood studios.

I'm looking, and praying, and crossing fingers and toes for these:
Arrival day: probably a resort table service meal for dinner, still need to pick
Day 2: were at Hollywood studios, haven't picked table service yet
Day 3: Epcot I'm hoping for akershus for dinner
Day 4: animal kingdom - breakfast at 1900 park fare
Day 5: our rest day, probably breakfast at O'hana and dinner at the resort
Day 6: animal kingdom - not sure yet
Day 7: magic kingdom - not sure yet, that's the day well have our MVMCP tickets
Day 8: magic kingdom - chef mickeys for breakfast - sons #1 request for a meal when we return
Day 9: Epcot - not sure yet

I'm relying on disney transport while were there and I'm not one to leave a park partway through the day for a meal or a break. So I rather do breakfast and then move into the park or have breakfast/lunch and dinner at that specific park.

 

[Jenn55]

If we do the deluxe dining package, most of our QS plans will be changed to signatures, so it's not too many more meals or too much food, necessarily. We're not necessarily a "clean your plate" household, either, so that helps. Until just recently, we had been hoping to do this trip for just the two of us, and do nothing but signatures and food n wine fest, and let DD stay with grandma for a couple of weeks. The more we thought about it, though, the more we realized we'd miss her, and there's something special about the way she sees the world right now - I want to see something I love reflected in her little eyes.

I would think about the delux dinning, if it were free, but otherwise it's not worth it for him and I. And he has this issue, where he gets very upset if u give him anything else for lunch then a sandwhich and fruit. He's very insistent on his sandwhich at lunch and if he misses it, he wants it for dinner! Lol so I'll probably still pack some bread and get some jam and bring sandwhichs in the park for him to snack on, and some applesauce and fruit cups as well, as it's only 1 snack credit.

 

[squeegee]

Sounds like your boy knows what he likes.

 

[Jenn55]

He does, and that's not always a good thing because he rarely tries anything new!