Holidays & Hammocks - Dec. 10-19 - Poly Club!!! ~ Updated 1/10: TR Started!

[Dugette]

Less than 3 weeks until we leave to experience all of WDW's holiday magic!

The details:

We'll be flying out after work on Thursday, Dec. 9th and staying at Pop Century for that first night. The rest of our trip will be spent at the Polynesian! We are scheduled to fly out the afternoon of Tuesday, Dec. 14th, although we're considering trying to extend the trip, due to Delta changing our evening flight to an afternoon flight. We'll see about that...

The cast:

Me ("Dugette") and DH ("Dug")

If you're just joining me, you should know that we just returned from our Food & Wine trip last weekend, so I'm currently working on the TR for that. So, this probably won't be the world's most phenomenal PTR, but there is definitely some planning that still needs to be done. So, here I am! Enjoy!


Table of Contents:
The Agenda
Some Modifications to the Plan
Single Digits!
We Need Some Pixie Dust!
Small Update
A Whole Different Trip
Revisions
We're Packed!
Day 1 Itinerary
Day 2 Itinerary
Day 3 Itinerary
Day 4 Itinerary
Day 5 Itinerary
Day 6 Itinerary
Day 7 Itinerary
Day 8 Itinerary
Day 9 Itinerary
A Really Unusual Travel Day
From the Air
Did We Hallucinate the Last Day
Brrrrrrrrr.........
Sad
A Very Disney Christmas
Trip Report Trailer
Trip Report Started!

 

[Dugette]

Here's what our spreadsheet is currently showing:

Friday 12/10:
Magic Kingdom in the morning
Late morning: go check out holiday decorations at the monorail resorts
Lunch: Captain Cook's at the Poly/check into the Poly
Enjoy the Poly/Nap in a hammock on the beach
Late afternoon: Go to DHS for the Osborne Lights
Hop over to Epcot (it's EMH until 12:30am that night)
Figure out dinner; we have an ADR for San Angel Inn, but not sure on that yet
Check out the Epcot holiday storytellers

Saturday 12/11:
DHS for 8am EMH
Take some sort of "break" between DHS and the Epcot resorts
Have lunch somewhere
Check out holiday decorations at the Epcot resorts
4:15pm ADR at Garden Grill (for Candlelight Processional package)
6:45pm Candlelight Processional (Whoopi Goldberg narrator)
9:30pm Preferred viewing area for Illuminations

Sunday, 12/12
8:25am ADR at Kona (Tonga Toast!)
Downtown Disney morning
Free time
5pm ADR at Kona (yummy bread, etc!)
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Monday, 12/13
AK for 8am EMH
Go to AKL
10:55am ADR at Boma
Check out the AKL holiday decorations
Back to AK
Try to watch parade from Yak & Yeti / early dinner
Go to Wilderness Lodge and check out holiday decorations
Go to Ft. Wilderness
8:30pm Sleigh ride through Ft. Wilderness
Go to MK for EMH until 11pm

Tuesday, 12/14
Epcot or MK?
Leave around 12:30pm

These plans are a start, but they seem much sketchier than we usually like. For instance, when are we going to see the castle lighting ceremony? I understand that it happens before MVMCP, but when are we able to be in the MK during it? And where are we eating? Not a lot of ADRs planned.

Oh, well, we've still got nearly 3 whole weeks to work it out!

 

[TheThomsLuvDisney]

Subbing in, coming from your current TR! Sounds like some fun plans, not typical. I love that you are going to look at the lights/decorations at the different resorts and the sleigh ride sounds fabulous!

 

[Dugette]

Subbing in, coming from your current TR! Sounds like some fun plans, not typical. I love that you are going to look at the lights/decorations at the different resorts and the sleigh ride sounds fabulous!

Thanks for stopping over here! I think this trip will be a lot of fun. I'm kind-of hoping it will be a bit more relaxing than our past few trips, though. I can't wait to see all of the holiday stuff and I've heard the sleigh ride is awesome!

 

[gellybean]

Extra Day Extra Day Extra Day!!!!

We are arriving around 6pm the 14th! We're planning on hanging at the WL all night. So if you guys end up extending, we'll have to try to figure out something! Otherwise, like ships in the night AGAIN!

Our trip is SOOOOOOOOO Stinking close but not close enough! KWIM!?

UGH!


Can't wait til I can check the 15 day forecast and get a feel for what I need to pack!

Ready to plan along with you!!

 

[jerseygirl16]

How lucky are you that less than a week after your trip for food and wine, you're planning another trip in 2 weeks for christmas.

I would think the lack ADRs shouldn't be a problem based on all the food I've just seen in your current trip report. You guys should be full until new years.

 

[A&Bmama]

I vote for extending the trip too. That could help give you extra time to take in the castle lighting.

I so want to go to Disney for a xmas visit. I think we might do it in a couple of years but we will have to see.

Looking forward to hearing more.

 

[Dugette]

Extra Day Extra Day Extra Day!!!!

We are arriving around 6pm the 14th! We're planning on hanging at the WL all night. So if you guys end up extending, we'll have to try to figure out something! Otherwise, like ships in the night AGAIN!

Our trip is SOOOOOOOOO Stinking close but not close enough! KWIM!?

UGH!


Can't wait til I can check the 15 day forecast and get a feel for what I need to pack!

Ready to plan along with you!!

Funny how we plan our trips so close! We haven't decided yet about the extra day. We set a deadline of the beginning of next week to figure things out.

In a way, this trip seems TOO close for me. Partially because we haven't been back from our last trip very long. But mostly because it is likely to be our last trip for quite awhile. That's scary! I wish I could just freeze time for awhile and savor looking forward to this trip.

I look forward to getting the full forecast too. No matter what, it's better than the frigid temps and snow we have here!

How lucky are you that less than a week after your trip for food and wine, you're planning another trip in 2 weeks for christmas.

I would think the lack ADRs shouldn't be a problem based on all the food I've just seen in your current trip report. You guys should be full until new years.

It's amazing we're still eating, huh?

I vote for extending the trip too. That could help give you extra time to take in the castle lighting.

I so want to go to Disney for a xmas visit. I think we might do it in a couple of years but we will have to see.

Looking forward to hearing more.

The extra day is very tempting. I'll post about it next.

I can't wait to see everything! From all I've heard and seen, a (pre) Christmas visit to WDW is amazing!

 

[Dugette]

I have a little time here on Thanksgiving while I wait for my mom and grandma to come over, so I thought I'd post a quick update. A couple of potentially big changes in the agenda:

*There is a thread over on the Theme Park boards that says that WDW is going to extend some of the hours during our trip. It's not officially on the WDW site yet, but the info comes from the travel agent site and is supposed to be very accurate. If so, the MK will be opening earlier and closing later some days. May have to revise some plans. I'm waiting to see it show up on the WDW site first, though.

*After asking on the Dis , I found out that the Epcot storytellers do NOT extend their hours on EMH evenings. I was worried about this, as that's the time we had set aside to see them. So, we need to cram them into the afternoons of our schedule instead. (More argument for an extra day!)

Here is the agenda as it currently stands:

Friday 12/10:
Magic Kingdom in the morning (9am opening)
Around 11am, check out the decorations at the Contemporary resort
Lunch: Captain Cook's at the Poly/check into the Poly
Relax and enjoy the Poly/nap in a hammock on the beach
Go see the decorations at the Grand Floridian
Around 5:30pm, head to DHS to see the Osborne Lights
Hop over to Epcot (it's EMH until 12:30am that night)
Figure out dinner; we have an ADR for San Angel Inn at 8:45pm, but not sure on that yet (we could also go to Via Napoli at 9:30pm)
Enjoy a late night at Epcot

Saturday 12/11:
DHS for 8am EMH
Around 11am, check out the decorations at the Swan & Dolphin
Around noon, check out the decorations at the Boardwalk
Have lunch somewhere
Check out a few hours of the storytellers at Epcot
4:15pm ADR at Garden Grill (for Candlelight Processional package)
Catch another storyteller
6:45pm Candlelight Processional (Whoopi Goldberg narrator)
Catch another storyteller
9:30pm Preferred viewing area for Illuminations OR 8:30pm ADR for La Hacienda...anyone have any thoughts on this? We don't know how the experience of Illuminations is from the preferred viewing area that we get with our Candlelight Processional Package. Our understanding is that it's a roped off area at the front of the lagoon, between the gift shops, and is standing room only. Is that better than watching through the windows of La Hacienda again, enjoying yummy food (cheese!) during the show? We definitely loved La Hacienda last time, but if the preferred viewing area is anything special, we wouldn't want to miss our chance. We just don't know.
There is also a chance, if the schedule updates are accurate, that the MK will now be open to 1am this night. If so, we'll probably hop over for awhile before retiring to the Poly.

Sunday, 12/12
8:25am ADR at Kona (Tonga Toast!)
Downtown Disney morning
Go to Portofino and enjoy the Meatball Bar
After lunch, check out the decorations at the Yacht & Beach Clubs
Go to Epcot and catch a few more storytellers
Back to Poly, with maybe a brief break
5pm ADR at Kona (yummy bread, etc!)
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party 7pm-Midnight

Monday, 12/13
AK for 8am EMH
Go to AKL
10:55am ADR at Boma
Check out the AKL holiday decorations
Back to AK
Try to watch parade from Yak & Yeti / early dinner (3pm ADR)
Go to MK for the castle lighting (6:15pm)
Go to Wilderness Lodge and check out holiday decorations
Go to Ft. Wilderness
8:30pm Sleigh ride through Ft. Wilderness
Go to MK for EMH until 11pm (or 1am, if the schedule changes happen)

Tuesday, 12/14
Epcot or MK?
Leave around 12:30pm

You may notice that a lot of the "free"/Poly time was eaten up with Storytellers. And we still wouldn't be able to see them all, most likely. We did manage to cram in the castle lighting. This trip isn't looking as relaxing as we'd hoped.

So, we're still deciding on the extra day. One issue would be where to stay. When I go on the website to try to get an AP rate on the extra night at the Poly, all that comes up is Theme Park View Club Level. Which, while nice, and a fitting way to end our Year of Disney, is $411 AFTER the discount of 42%. It also tells me that we could stay at the Grand Floridian for $300, Wilderness Lodge for $192, or Pop Century for $65...talk about variety! As much as we like Pop, though, it doesn't seem like the way to close out our Year of Disney. If we call, maybe they can extend our Poly ressie?

It would definitely be nice to have that extra time to see the storytellers and go on any rides we missed, etc.

We'll decide what to do by early next week!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

 

[TheThomsLuvDisney]

If you can't extend at Poly, I vote Grand Floridian (I've always wanted to stay there)!!!

 

[Dugette]

If you can't extend at Poly, I vote Grand Floridian (I've always wanted to stay there)!!!

Thanks. Although it would be cool, we went another direction...

Stay tuned!

 

[Dugette]

Can you believe that we leave in 9 days?! I can't believe it's so soon!

So, big news!

We got our Extra Day!

And we will be staying at.............






................








................







................






Bay Lake Tower - Theme Park View Studio!!!!


Just a quick recap of the situation:

Dug called up Delta today and had no trouble changing our flight for free (although we ended up with some of the last few seats...exit row ones). It helped that the Delta rep had a WDW AP this year himself. Originally, when we first booked, we had a Tuesday evening flight home. After we booked, Delta got rid of that flight and put us on an afternoon flight instead, about 3 hours or so earlier. So, today, we switched it to the latest Wednesday flight home, 3-something pm. This will give us all of Tuesday afternoon, evening, and Wednesday morning at WDW! Overall, it will make our trip significantly more relaxed!

Resort wise, we had hoped to extend our Poly ressie by one day. That turned out to be unavailable, except for Club Level, at over $400 (after the AP discount). Shortly before Dug called Disney, I had looked at what was available online with an AP discount for that night (as I'd been checking for the last week, a few times/day). Something came up that had not come up before: Bay Lake Tower Studio Theme Park View! It was $294, according to the WDW website. For perspective, about $50 more than what the Poly would have been, a few dollars less than the Grand Floridian, $100 more than Wilderness Lodge, $100 less than Poly Club Level. Since they told us that we could change our resort with no fee (like if the Poly became available), we decided that this was a good second choice. After we booked it, we got the email receipt and it was only $278, so really only about $30 more than the Poly! So, we're pretty excited about it now...

Sitting on the balcony two weeks from tonight watching the Holiday Wishes fireworks!!!

So, here's yet another revision of our agenda:

Friday 12/10:
Magic Kingdom in the morning (9am opening)
Around 11am, check out the decorations at the Grand Floridian
Lunch: Captain Cook's at the Poly/check into the Poly
Relax and enjoy the Poly/nap in a hammock on the beach
Around 5:30pm, head to DHS to see the Osborne Lights
Hop over to Epcot (it's EMH until 12:30am that night)
ADR for San Angel Inn at 9:00pm
Enjoy a late night at Epcot

Saturday 12/11:
DHS for 8am EMH
Around 11am, check out the decorations at the Swan & Dolphin
Around noon, check out the decorations at the Boardwalk
Have light lunch somewhere
After lunch, check out the decorations at the Beach/Yacht Clubs
Walk to Epcot and see some of the storytellers
4:15pm ADR at Garden Grill (for Candlelight Processional package)
Catch another storyteller
6:45pm Candlelight Processional (Whoopi Goldberg narrator)
Catch another storyteller
8:30pm ADR for La Hacienda. Illuminations at 9:30pm. Since we'll already have eaten at GG, we'll probably just have appetizers and margaritas. If we're not happy with our view from the restaurant, for some reason, we do have standing room in the "preferred viewing area" for Illuminations with our Candlelight Processional Package, if needed.
There is also a chance, if the schedule updates are accurate, that the MK will now be open to 1am this night. If so, we'll probably hop over for awhile before retiring to the Poly.

Sunday, 12/12
8:25am ADR at Kona (Tonga Toast!)
Downtown Disney morning
Go to Portofino and enjoy the Meatball Bar
Maybe more Downtown Disney or maybe mini-golf
Back to Poly, some break time
5pm ADR at Kona (yummy bread, etc!)
Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party 7pm-Midnight

Monday, 12/13
AK for 8am EMH
Go to AKL
10:55am ADR at Boma for brunch
Check out the AKL holiday decorations
Back to AK
Try to watch parade from Yak & Yeti / early dinner (3pm ADR)
Break time at the Poly
Go to Ft. Wilderness
8:30pm Sleigh ride through Ft. Wilderness
Go to MK for EMH until 11pm (or 1am, if the schedule changes happen)
Munch on something in the MK if we get hungry (Lunching Pad specialty hot dogs, Columbia Harbor House tuna sandwich?)

Tuesday, 12/14
Free morning at Poly (possibly rent a boat?)
11:30am ADR at Via Napoli
Epcot storytellers
Hop to MK for castle lighting ceremony (get snacks)
Go check in at Bay Lake Tower
Check out the Contemporary's holiday decorations
Boat to Wilderness Lodge to check out the decorations and possible DIS-meet with Gellybean and family
7:45pm ADR at Artist Point - not sure if we'll keep this, but thinking about having a light meal there
9:30pm - watch Holiday Wishes from our balcony at BLT!
If we're not sleepy, maybe Downtown Disney for awhile?

Wednesday, 12/15
See if we can get a Chef Mickey's or early Crystal Palace ADR for breakfast?
Walk to the MK
Go back to BLT
Eat some lunch somewhere
Catch ME bus around 12:30pm


Doesn't this agenda sound a million times more relaxed than the first draft?! So much better! Can't wait!

 

[TheThomsLuvDisney]

Great choice!!!

 

[gellybean]

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!


What an awesome way to end your year of Disney magic!! A theme park view at BLT! Totally fitting!


And yes we definitely have to meet up at WL on the evening of the 14th if you guys end up with time!

We're planning on staying in the whole night, soaking up the lodge and maybe taking in the water pageant at 9:30pm if it's not too cold out!

I'll pm you my cell phone and email addy.


So excited!!

 

[jc040404]

This looks soo exciting! A theme park view at BLT is perfect! Your plans sound great, but I'm sure you'll change a few things as it gets closer.

Big chance we might be at Epcot at the same time! We're planning to possibly do another day trip on the 11th for the storytellers at Epcot, too.

 

[Dugette]

Great choice!!!

Thanks! We're pretty excited!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!


What an awesome way to end your year of Disney magic!! A theme park view at BLT! Totally fitting!

Exactly my thought! Part of me was really hoping to find a fitting "last night". I think this will work!

And yes we definitely have to meet up at WL on the evening of the 14th if you guys end up with time!

We're planning on staying in the whole night, soaking up the lodge and maybe taking in the water pageant at 9:30pm if it's not too cold out!

I'll pm you my cell phone and email addy.


So excited!!

Absolutely! We'll make the time to meet up! Looking forward to seeing the WL decked out too!

When you pm, I'll get our info back to you too.

This looks soo exciting! A theme park view at BLT is perfect! Your plans sound great, but I'm sure you'll change a few things as it gets closer.

I'm sure we'll find something to change! But, let's face it, the agenda we started this PTR with two weeks ago really needed some tweaking! I had been almost at the point of starting over from scratch. Things are looking much better now, but there are still a few adjustments that could be made...

Big chance we might be at Epcot at the same time! We're planning to possibly do another day trip on the 11th for the storytellers at Epcot, too.

If you go to Epcot that day, we should try to meet up sometime...I won't even make you be in a picture! That would be awesome to see you guys! After all, I think I will be living vicariously through your Year of Disney once ours is done!

 

[magichusky]

What an exciting trip you have planned! I'm heading to WDW for the first time w/ my family Dec 17th and we're also doing the CP Dinner Package and Holiday sleigh ride in FW! (I was on hold for an hour to get the CP package- wasn't that crazy??) I'll have to check out your other TRs from this year; I read "The Magic and the Misery" recently and it was a lot of fun! (except for the misery part- ) I'm still in awe over the video montage you did depicting your 4 parks in 1 day excursion!

 

[Dugette]

What an exciting trip you have planned! I'm heading to WDW for the first time w/ my family Dec 17th and we're also doing the CP Dinner Package and Holiday sleigh ride in FW! (I was on hold for an hour to get the CP package- wasn't that crazy??) I'll have to check out your other TRs from this year; I read "The Magic and the Misery" recently and it was a lot of fun! (except for the misery part- ) I'm still in awe over the video montage you did depicting your 4 parks in 1 day excursion!

Sounds like you've got some good plans too! (I peeked at your PTR...cute pup...glad you finally get to make it out to WDW...happy birthday...I think the 12/19 MVMCP might be sold out...but you'll see all the special stuff anyway w/your dates...I wish they had the DL holiday stuff at the WDW IASW and HM). We had a ridiculous time booking CP! Called the second it opened and, just before Dug gave them the credit card info, the call disconnected! Had to keep calling back while driving to work (both of us!) and Dug was first to get through (after my hold was dropped!) and finally got us the ressie. It was kind-of a nightmare. But hopefully worthwhile!

That's so funny that you were reading "The Magic and the Misery" recently, as I was just re-reading parts of it myself the other day! Yeah, that trip was great except for the misery part! And we had all these trips ahead of us. (I'm kinda bummed now that our year is almost over! ) That 4 parks day still is one of my favorite WDW memories...so much fun! Glad you enjoyed it!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday trip too!

 

[jc040404]

If you go to Epcot that day, we should try to meet up sometime...I won't even make you be in a picture! That would be awesome to see you guys! After all, I think I will be living vicariously through your Year of Disney once ours is done!

Glad you won't make me be in a picture! We're going to be doing all of our WDW Christmas shopping next week, so it's definitely the 9th and the 11th will depend on whether or not dh works. He's been doing tons of OT this month. I'll know for certain in a couple of days and get back to you. I've loved following along on all your trips! It would be nifty to meet up while you're there. We have early Sundays, so we don't stay super late on Saturday visits though. When do you think you'll hit Epcot?

 

[Dugette]

Glad you won't make me be in a picture! We're going to be doing all of our WDW Christmas shopping next week, so it's definitely the 9th and the 11th will depend on whether or not dh works. He's been doing tons of OT this month. I'll know for certain in a couple of days and get back to you. I've loved following along on all your trips! It would be nifty to meet up while you're there. We have early Sundays, so we don't stay super late on Saturday visits though. When do you think you'll hit Epcot?

I think we'll be in Epcot by early afternoon. And we'll be there the rest of the day. Let us know if you'll be there!

cannt imagine how cool it is

It is pretty cool!