How 1 trip, became 2! Trip Report-Updated 1/10

[caralyn817]

So, I decided to write a Pre-Trip Report, as we prepare for another trip to the world. Let me go back to a few weeks ago....

DH and I went on a short trip with 2 of our friends to Orlando. Our Seasonal Passes just ran out the month before and we weren't planning on renewing them right now, so if we decided to go to a park we were just going to buy a onde day ticket. During our short weekend getaway, we stayed at OKW with DVC points. One of our friends had never been to Epcot and the other hadn't been in 15 years, so we decided that we would go there. Well, the morning we go to Epcot to buy the tickets imagine my surprise when DH purchases the FL Resident 3-day ticket. Now, keep in mind he is the one who made the statement above. (We also found out 2 weeks before that trip that we are expecting so, he has been budgeting everything.) When, I asked him why he purchased them, he said it was a great deal and we could come back. I LOVE Disney, so I am always looking forward to going back.

So now, I am planning our next trip to Disney World. We are both teachers so, I picked a long weekend that we won't have to take any days off. We are going Jan. 15-18.

Jan. 15th is an early release day for us, so we can leave right after work. We will have a 3 hour drive.

Next up.....ADR's and which parks will we go to? Stay turned!

 

[caralyn817]

So, I'm sitting at home relaxing before I return to work tomorrow. I can't believe the weekend went by so fast. I get to see all my little rugrats for 3 weeks before the next break. Woohoo! So, back to the planning.

Which DVC hotel will be staying at?

So since I don't have a lot of followers yet, I decided to make this trip report a little fun. I'm going to give clues as to where we will be staying and for all the other things that I am planning. So here it goes:

This lakeside DVC hotel captures the essence of an area in one of the states. Many of the buildings are painted in pastel colors. If you want you can take a boat ride to DTD for an evening stoll.

Does anyone know?

 

[caralyn817]

Since no one guessed yet, let's try another clue.

You may be able to "Win, Place, or Show" at the Arcade.

 

[caralyn817]

We will be staying at Saratoga Springs. This will be our 2nd time staying there and this is our home resort.

Now since you know where we are staying for our Babymoon. I will introduce you to the cast:

Me- Cara- I am an elementary reading teacher and I love it. I am a Disney-aholic and proud of it.

DH- Brett- He is a math teacher and we both work at the same school. I know, I know, everyone always asks us how can you work at the same place as your better half, but honestly I hardly ever see him during the day. Before we met he had only been to Disney 2 times in his left. Now, he is addicted to Disney. Sometimes I think, he loves it more than me.

Bun in the oven- Yes, we are expecting and I will be about 19 or 20 weeks along on the trip.

Feel free to give us tips for our Babymoon! I would love to hear everyone's ideas. Up next will be ADRs, still trying to decide on some.

 

[caralyn817]

Quick update...so this morning during my break time my husband calls down to my classroom and tells me that he wants to go to Disney in December as well. He went on and looked at hotels and is trying to decide which one to stay at. So, with fingers crossed we may be going Dec. 21-23! Will anyone else be there at this time?

 

[AlternateEgo]

Hello! I think you need a little pre-trip report love

How exciting that you get to go twice in less than a month! We aren't planning to go until September, but I have already started my pre trip

 

[caralyn817]

Hello! I think you need a little pre-trip report love

How exciting that you get to go twice in less than a month! We aren't planning to go until September, but I have already started my pre trip

Thanks for joining. At least I'm getting some love.

 

[caralyn817]

Well, we are now offically going in 2 weeks, in addition to our January trip. DH is so excited. He is really looking forward to the Christmas decorations. We will be staying at All Star Sports. We were lucky to get a great rate at such a late date. I was also able to score a Candlelight Processional Dinner Package at the Biergarten.

We will be there Dec. 21-23. Here's the plan:

Dec. 21st- Leave earlier in the morning for a 3 hour drive. Check into All Star Sports and head to Epcot. Candlelight Processional and visit the Santa's.

Dec. 22nd- Magic Kingdom- Trying to figure out an ADR. Any suggestions? Watch the Holiday Parade and Holiday Wishes

Dec. 23rd- Check out and visit the Gingerbread Houses at the Resorts. Possibly a character breakfast, if I get lucky. Drive home

 

[caralyn817]

Man, time is passing so quickly and as of one week from tomorrow, we will be in WDW! Some things have changed since the last time I updated. We won't be staying at All Star Sports anymore, instead I was able to get us into our favorite Value Resort...POP CENTURY! I can't wait. I'm hoping this time to stay in either the 50s or 60s section since we have never stayed there. Also, for the Candlelight Processional, I was able to book Biergarten at 2pm and the Processional at 5pm. I was lucky because it was the last slot they had for Biergarten, especially only booking 2 weeks before the trip. Only Lucky Dragons is left now. I'll be back in a little while to pist some pictures.

 

[pipersmom]

How neat that you and dh work at the same school..at least you know he understands exactly what you go through! How awesome to take two trips so close together..I know you'll have a great time..and congratulations! I'd love to go right before Christmas!

 

[caralyn817]

How neat that you and dh work at the same school..at least you know he understands exactly what you go through! How awesome to take two trips so close together..I know you'll have a great time..and congratulations! I'd love to go right before Christmas!

Thanks for joining. Honestly, I love working at the same school as him. We don't see each other much during the day, but it is easy on the pocket when we can carpool to work. I can't wait to go next week. It is going to be a little hard on me since I can't go on certain rides. I keep telling DH that he can still go on the rides without me, but he is insisting that he isn't going. We'll see! Haha!

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These are some pics from our trip last year! Can't wait to see them again this year.
Monorail

The Ball with the Dove Lights, which I heard aren't up this year.

Pic of the que of one of my favorite rides

Pic of Dory

Tricked my DH into trying Beverly

France

Pere Noel

Father Christmas

Canada Santa Claus

We met Sig Hansen and Edgar Hansen (DH and my dad are big fans of the show)

DVC Member Merry Mixer

Candlelight Processional

 

[pipersmom]

Thank you for posting all the neat pics! I never realized that World Showcase had all the different Santas at the countries, that's so neat! And the ball looks like it would be so pretty at night with the doves and everything all lit up. We don't have cable anymore, but when we lived with my mom I was sooooo addicted to Deadliest Catch..so neat that your hub got to meet Sig and Edgar! I hadn't even thought about no being able to ride things when pregnant, but it makes sense. Maybe you can convince him to do the single rider lines while you shop...

 

[caralyn817]

Thank you for posting all the neat pics! I never realized that World Showcase had all the different Santas at the countries, that's so neat! And the ball looks like it would be so pretty at night with the doves and everything all lit up. We don't have cable anymore, but when we lived with my mom I was sooooo addicted to Deadliest Catch..so neat that your hub got to meet Sig and Edgar! I hadn't even thought about no being able to ride things when pregnant, but it makes sense. Maybe you can convince him to do the single rider lines while you shop...

There will be more pictures coming. Epcot has different storytellers for the holidays. Not all are Santas, but they do tell about each countries traditions. As for DH, I've tried convincing him to do the single rider lines, but he's just not budging. Haha! How is Piper doing? I'm praying for her. I can relate to her on some levels, as I have a rare seizure disorder, which limits some things that I can do. I have been racking my brain all day of what I can send to her from the world that would be a surprise to her after your Christmas reveal. Let me know if you can think of anything.


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So here is the plan for Day 1, Dec. 21st:
5am- Leave to house and head to the world (Eat before leaving)
8:30am-9ish- Check into POP-I know our room won't be ready, but maybe. (Depends on how many bathroom breaks along the way.)
9am-Snack?!? Head to Epcot
Rides/Attractions I plan on doing:
Soarin'
Living with the Land
Nemo
Turtle Talk (For as many times we have been, this will be a first.)
Spaceship Earth
Figment (possibly)
Innoventions

12ish- Snack and head to World Showcase
Check out storytellers and holiday decorations in each country.
2pm- Late Lunch at Biergarten
5pm- Candlelight Processional

Finish World Showcase and relax before Illuminations

*I plan on taking tons of pictures.

I've been working on a photo scavenger hunt for myself and DH to do. I would LOVE to have some help from all of you.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I saw your post on my TR and decided I better sign onto yours!!!!!!!!

We would have the 15-21 with our first plans but then when Dbro was able to do his finals/school work via internet at WL, we were able to go before it got super crazy!

Can't wait to see some packing pics and congrats with the baby!

 

[caralyn817]

I saw your post on my TR and decided I better sign onto yours!!!!!!!!

We would have the 15-21 with our first plans but then when Dbro was able to do his finals/school work via internet at WL, we were able to go before it got super crazy!

Can't wait to see some packing pics and congrats with the baby!

Welcome! There isn't a lot of packing pics, because I was so busy ending school and then finishing Christmas shopping. I will be updating the report today.

 

[caralyn817]

So life has been very busy around here. Sorry, I haven't had a chance to update sooner, but it has been a whirlwind around here.

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Day 1- Dec. 21

We woke up at 4am and started getting ready. Everything was packed the night before and ready for the morning. I got ready first while DH packed the car. After DH was finished getting ready and I double checked that we had everything, we were on our way at 5am. By leaving that early, we missed a lot of the morning traffic in our area. Around 6:30am, we stopped in St. Lucie at a rest stop. I had to go to the bathroom and DH got us hot chocolate and some donuts for breakfast. We were on the road again, which is very uneventful driving from South Florida. Pretty much nothing but trees is what you see. Around 8:45am, we saw this.

We were grinning from ear to ear, when we saw the sign. I was so happy to be back in the World. We pulled into POP shortly after that to check in. DH dropped me off at the front so that I could go check in. Check in went very smoothly and our room was ready. Score! We drove over to the 90s building and dropped off our stuff. We had a 1st floor corner room near the parking lot. Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the room. I just wanted to get to a park.

We took the short walk over to the bus area and I was in shock with how many people their were. We got in line for our bus and waited and waited and waited. We watched 3 buses leave before, we actually got onto a bus.

So, which park did we go to and what was is like once we got there? Stay tuned!

 

[pipersmom]

I'm glad you're back and hope you had a great trip! Somehow I missed your last post about sending something to Piper..she would have been happy with a postcard, to be honest. I wish I hadn't missed your update somehow! She's doing all right, I think we're prob going to be doing IVs after she sees her Dr on Wed, but at least it's after the holidays. Looking forward to seeing how your trip went!

 

[caralyn817]

I'm glad you're back and hope you had a great trip! Somehow I missed your last post about sending something to Piper..she would have been happy with a postcard, to be honest. I wish I hadn't missed your update somehow! She's doing all right, I think we're prob going to be doing IVs after she sees her Dr on Wed, but at least it's after the holidays. Looking forward to seeing how your trip went!

I hope Piper won't be on them to long. I can still send her something. I leave on the 15th with the family for a long weekend. I know she likes the Genie. Any other characters?

 

[caralyn817]

Day 1 cont’d

So after waiting for 3 buses to this park, we were finally on our way. Once we made it to the park we went through bag check. Well, DH went through bag check and I went through the bagless check. Before the trip, DH decided that he was going to carry the bag this time since he didn’t want my back to hurt. What a sweetie! We then made it through the turnstiles and we saw this…

Epcot!

We decided that we would head over to Soarin’ to get fast passes. On our way there, we passed Spaceship Earth and there was a 60 minute wait. 60 MINUTES! We have never seen the line that long before. It was literally wrapped around the building. DH and I looked at each other with “Oh boy” expressions. Was this what we were going to expect? I know that there are crowds at this time. We have been there before at this same time, but it was never like this.

We made our way over to Soarin’. I had to use the bathroom (1 of many stops. Haha!), while DH went to get us fast passes for Soarin’. When I came out, he was just walking out from getting them. DH said “There was a line just to get the fast passes. I had to stand in line just to be able to walk up to a machine.” Our return time was 2:30-3:30pm, which wouldn’t work for us since we had lunch at Biergarten scheduled. We’ll see if we can get on it later. As we were leaving the Soarin’ area, we looked at the standby line time and it was 155 minutes. No way! So we made our way over to Living with the Land. The line for the Land was 20 minutes, but moved a lot faster. Now, the next part was where the Disney Magic was lost for us. As we were in line getting ready to get on a boat, the CM asked for a party of 2, everyone else in front of us had bigger groups so the CM had us come forward. DH and I were getting ready to load the boat in a row with another couple, when the gentleman in that row said “I’m not (insert bad word here) moving over for them.” He refused to move. The woman he was with tried to make him move over. He said “NO!” The CM member heard everything and came over. He told the gentleman “That the language was not necessary and that if he didn’t move over, he would be removed from the boat.” So he moved over for us to fit. We got on and the boat started to move and we turned the bend. The guy spread out his legs and started pushing into me. He was literally almost on top of DH. I kindly asked him to move over and he proceeded to push into me more. Now, DH was starting to get red in the face. I calmed him down. I didn’t want this guy to ruin “our magic”. As we entered the greenhouses, I took out my camera. Well, our new friend made another comment, “Oh geez, she’s one of those camera people.” It took everything I had not to take his picture and post it on here. Trust me I really wanted to but decided against it. Well, I have very few pictures, because every time I would go to take a picture, he would bump me to make it come out bad. Here are a few:

Not a lot of pictures like I said. I couldn’t wait to get off the boat. Finally, we got off and allowed them to go ahead of us. We then made our way to the escalator and who did we see. You guessed it! This time they were ahead of us. I watched the man push a little girl out of his way so that he could get on the escalator first. The family was right behind her. After seeing that, I should have allowed DH to say something, but that wouldn’t have been Disney like. I was thankful just to be away from him.

 

[caralyn817]

After our ordeal, we decided to head over to World Showcase to experience the Storytellers. Before making our way over there, we stopped for a bathroom break and a snack. I got a water, soft pretzel, and cheese sauce, while DH got a iced tea and a soft pretzel. We then made our way to Canada and passed this on the way.

I looked at the times guide and noticed that the World Showcase Players would be performing soon, so we made our way over there. They were putting on “The Christmas Carol”. The guy they choose to play Scrooge reminded me of my dad.

Bob Scratchit

A little Bob Marley

A little High Musical reference

I highly recommend watching these performers. They were so much fun to watch. We then made our way over to Canada for the storyteller, Papa Noel.

I love this Christmas tree. Very rustic!

Some photos of World Showcase as we made our way to France.

France, storyteller, Pere Noel.

We then made our way to Japan.

Watched the koi fish, while we waited.

Japanese storyteller

So, we left Japan and headed over to Germany for a late lunch. Now I don’t have anymore pictures from this day, because my camera decided to act up. On our way, we stopped and listened to the “Voices of Liberty”. They are amazing. We then, made it to Biergarten and checked in. The food was great and the entertainment was awesome as usual. Before leaving we got our stickers for Candelight Processional. We then headed over to Mexico to ride the boat ride. We were amazed that there was a wait. The line for the ride was all the way out the front door. So, we headed over to World Showcase and rode Nemo, which was a 20 minute wait. Not bad! Afterwards, we headed to Spaceship Earth, still over an hour wait. We then decided to start walking back to get in line for the Candlelight Processional. The show was amazing as always. When then decided to call it a night since I was so tired, but tried Spaceship Earth one last time before leaving. Nope still an hour wait. Before leaving, we did give our Soarin’ fast passes to a couple, which were very grateful. We then loaded to bus back to POP and got dinner to take back to the room. DH got Chicken Alfredo and I got the Meatball sub. We ate back in our room and then were soundly asleep before 9pm. We were both extremely tired.