Jingle Bells Jingle Bells WDW Christmas 2010 Planning Details

[momof2buzzboys]

I sincerely hope you will enjoy this PTR. This is a first for me and I hope that I can be of some help to others as so many have helped me plan our last trip and now the beginnings of this one. My goal with this PTR is to hopefully give some advice and get some from those more experienced than me. Hope you Enjoy...

Now to introduce our Cast Members... We are from North Carolina... My name is Kristina and I am in Insurance. My husband is Jeff and we have 2 sons. Last May and this December we will be joined in Disney by my parents also from North Carolina. I will not be posting photos of my kids or us for privacy reasons, but I will post some of our favorite photos from past trips.

Our Christmas Trip is planned for December 1-12... we will be staying the first and last night in Savannah as we enjoy the drive to FL and 10 days 9 nights at POP CENTURY... This is our first time at Pop (last time we stayed at Movies). This will be my parent's 5th trip, my 4th trip, and my hubby and buzz boys 2nd trip. After our first trip my Hubby caught the bug and was planning a Christmastime Trip on the way home... Then we got Free Dining, so WHY NOT?

We are pin traders and personally my favorite part of Disney is the FOOD! We have 10 reservations for dining (including the Candlelight Processional package).

I am a huge planner so we have a color coded spreadsheet of our schedule and the packing lists have already started.... Who said you can't have fun on a schedule??? I have a few more "projects" to do in the next few weeks to finalize a few things.... Those details to come....

Stay tuned to for our food plans coming up next....

 

[hollybearsmom]

Subbing!

 

[momof2buzzboys]

Subbing!

Welcome Hollybearsmom! Glad to have you! Maybe we will get some more followers soon!

 

[momof2buzzboys]

Ok... so hopefully we will get some more subscribers soon... but here we go....


Originally we were heading to Disney Pop Century for a Saturday to Saturday trip, but then the Free Dining was released with our dates originally blacked out so we did what any normal family would do... We extended our trip to 10 days 9 nights at Pop! Amazing how this actually made our trip less expensive and gave us a day to rest mid week! WOO HOO!!!! So we head to WDW on Dec 1 and return Dec 12. We are driving, because in our family that is half the fun of the trip... We watch Disney movies all the way down and sing along with them. We will stop half way coming and going because driving may be half the fun but we are not crazy enough to be in a car for 9+ hrs straight.

We are now 59 days until we leave we are doing a countdown chain... this is the first time we have done this but I think the kids will really like it. I found it on the net so I can't take full credit but I did change a few of the days information since our boys are a little smaller (ages 3 & 5).

As I mentioned I am a serious, almost compulsive, planner so we have a spreadsheet for Disney. So I will go day by day on our plans while we are at the world....

So when we arrive on Thurs Dec 2nd we will have dinner with Cinderella at 1900 Park Fare... this is the first time we have done this dinner but we had breakfast there last time (Supercalifragilistic Breakfast) and love it....

This Dinner is solely for me. Having 2 boys, I dont get to do all the princess stuff but this time I put my foot down! ok actually I begged and pleaded until they agreed to go eat with Cinderella. I have heard some awesome things about the dinner and hope it is going to be a great way to start out our trip.

We do not have a ticket for that first night to go to the park as far as right now so the thought is to buy another day of tickets and go in for a bit or go to the various hotels and see the decorations such as the gingerbread houses and such. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY MUST SEE DECORATIONS IDEAS???

On Friday our plan is to go to Epcot....

We will start our day with Supercalifragilistic Breakfast at the 1900 Park Fare... We plan to spend the day enjoying Epcot rides as well as the storytelling at each country. ANY SUGGESTED MUST DO'S AT EPCOT???

Candlelight Processional was something we are debating to do or not do. We have Lunch reservations at Biergarten with the Processional package, but not sure we are going to keep the Reservation. ARE OUR KIDS TOO YOUNG?? We will be seeing Frank Langella if we do the Processional that day.

The package also gets us a reserved place to watch the Illuminations Display. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE THIS PLACE IS? Illuminations is a family favorite so we want to make sure we have a great spot to watch...

On Saturday we plan to go to Magic Kingdom....
We hope to get there in time for the Rope Drop Performance. This will be another first for us. We have no agenda for this day except for dinner that night at Chef Mickey's. Chef Mickey's is our ABSOLUTE Favorite Place to eat. We are actually eating there twice this trip because we love it so much!!!

Sunday we will be at Hollywood Studios....
We have lunch reservations at 50's Cafe and hope to eat at Toy Story Pizza for Dinner, but are open for suggestions to other quick service locations...

We are looking forward to Osborne's Spectacle of Lights... We have MH's that night from 8-11p so this will probably be a late night for us. We missed Beauty and the Beast show last time we were there and there are a few others we missed so we hope to catch those this time. ANY MUST DO SUGGESTIONS AT HS during Christmas time or otherwise???

ok.... well that is all for now... I will Start with Monday's schedule tomorrow and then it is to the actually preparations we have already done....

Thanks for reading.... now the housework must be done!

 

[hollybearsmom]

keep writing they will come!

wahoo for free dining and 10 days.
How 'bout a picture of your countdown chain?
You can resort hop the first night and not need a ticket for sure, the AKL, WL, and Beach and Yacht Club resorts all had beautiful decs and photo ops. Plus you can shop too and check out the souvies everyone has. Just riding the monorail gives our kids a good feeling too.
We loved the Candlelight Processional and our youngest was just turning 3, he sat through it, with a snack, and did great.
At DHS be sure to go to Playhouse Disney, the kids love the show! They encourage them to get up and dance too.

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[momof2buzzboys]

So I have not forgotten about my thread, but I am having trouble getting Photos to post... Any help would be great! I wanted to post a photo of my countdown chain and our Pin Board... HELP! I uploaded photos to my DIS photos but they dont seem to be working right...

I am going to try again and see if I can get it to work so I can show you some of our favorite photos....

 

[momof2buzzboys]

WOO HOO! I did it! I finally figured out what I was doing wrong with the pictures... so now I can share my photos with you.... So here is a picture of our countdown Chain... one is over the mirror in our dining room and then a ring and the interior of the rings...

I found the idea at http://www.plan-a-magical-vacation.com/vacation-countdown-chain.html

I downloaded the fronts and backs then edited the info to work for my family. Some things that I edited are... changed the hotel information... with my kids being younger, I added some character information such as "when you see Cinderella, ask to see her slippers" or "Do you think Pooh is ticklish?"... we also added some info about the cool dinner reservations we have during out trip... This is probably more for me to get excited than the kids! Oh how I love my Disney Food!

So Now that I have gotten a little side tracked, I will get back to our trip plans.... then I can get back to some more cool pics and ideas we are trying for this trip....

So where was I .... Oh thats right...Monday....

Monday we plan to be in Magic Kingdom. Hopefully we will be there in time to see the Rope Drop Ceremony. This will be a first for us too. I hope to catch it as many times as we can during the week but we definately want to see the one at MK...

We would like to try Cosmic Ray's for our Quick Service meal that day.. Has anyone had it before? We have heard great things but have never tried it. We have dinner reservations at Crystal Palace. We at here last May and really enjoyed it. It was not our favorite but it was a great time. We are excited to go there again! Even though my kids are not really THAT into Pooh & friends, they still love this meal! Last time we were there we missed the Dream Along with Mickey show and hope to see that in full this time... We also have the Pirate's League Scheduled for both boys that day. I am not sure they are going to get them to do it but we will see what happens... if one decides not to I guess I will Sacrifice and let my inner pirate show through.


So now to my favorite day we have scheduled so far...Tuesday

we have NOTHING planned for the morning but our secret plan is to do nothing! If it is warm enough maybe we will go for a swim or if it is too cool maybe go to downtown disney or go see some of the decorations at other hotels.... Any suggestions???

That night we have tickets to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party... So the earliest we will go to the park is 4pm... Do you have any MUST DO's for the party? we are spending 2 other days in Magic, so during the party we plan to ONLY do Party only stuff...


So that is alot for one night sooo.... I am going to head to bed... This is my promise to you... now that I know how to post pictures... and I have a variety saved to show to you on my DIS photo album... take a peak if you like... it is under my board name... momof2buzzboys....

Excited to write more and hear your comments..... So leave them! PLEASE!!!

 

[Wolfpacklegion]

cant wait to hear more

 

[momof2buzzboys]

Wow! What a crazy day... I am ready to sit down, relax and think about Disney... Day Dreaming of our trip....

ok.. I am back.... So we are at Wednesday of our trip...
We plan to be at Animal Kingdom this day. During our last trip we really enjoyed the late hours at Animal Kingdom and look forward to spending the extra time in the park... The one thing I hope is different this time is that I lost our kids autograph books in AK last year... Have you ever lost anything at Disney? If not let me tell you know that it was the best experience of losing something I cared so much about! We lost our books on Wednesday in AK... they didn't have our kids names in them but we knew what they looked like and most of the first few autographs that we had gotten. Luckily I had bought their Autograph books on Ebay so they didn't look like the ones in the park. (I did the same thing for this trip). When we went to the lost and found in AK they told us to call the main lost and found hub and they could help us since it at that time had not been turned in at AK yet. So we called the next morning but nothing had been turned in at the overnight drop off. I cried and was so mad at myself but I was not going to let it ruin our last 2 days in the park. So I decided to wait until the late afternoon on Friday to call again. When I called they had them!!! I was so excited and happy that I could not stop crying and smiling! Disney mailed them to us at home so just a few short days after we arrived home they were there too! Just amazing that so many things get lost and they have such a great system to return them to their rightful owners... I am amazed every time I think about it.

Ok off my tangent and back to the schedule.... While at AK we would like to try Flame Tree BBQ. My husband is excited about the rib lunch! no other plans that day but to enjoy my favorite park. Our boys are really into animals and love the safari and of course Dinosaur. I hope to get to Everest this year that will be a first for me, with the whole lost autograph books fiasco last year I didn't get to ride it.

Now to Thursday...

We are headed back to Hollywood Studios on Thursday for our second day there. We have lunch reservations for Play & Dine at Hollywood and Vine. This was a favorite with us the last time we were there. The rumors around DIS and a few other places is that Handy Manny may be coming in place of JoJo & Goliath... we are keeping our fingers, toes and anything else we have crossed that if this happens it happens before we get there... Osborne Festival of Dancing lights is a must for us this time too. Because we have never been during Christmas before we are so excited about this. My husband, myself, the kids and my parents all LOVE Christmas lights. We drive around our hometown all the time and look for lights so to have such an awesome display!

Another must do for our family is Fantasmic Show. If you have not been be sure to add it to your list of MUST DO's!!!! We also have a late dinner scheduled at Chef Mickey's. As of now we are not using our dining plan for this one as it is an extra casual dining reservation for us. We are actually eating here twice during our trip because we ALL just LOVE IT so much!!!

Now on to our last day in the parks... Friday

Epcot here we come again! Today we have breakfast at the Polynesian with Lilo & Stich. Our boys are SO excited. They are HUGE Stitch fans! I have heard mixed reviews about the Sunshine Seasons. Anyone ever been? From my understanding it is like a food court with a variety of food (ex: burgers, chinese, etc... ) Is this right? What did you think of it?

I would love to catch the Dragon Legend Acrobats show sometime during the 2 days we are in Epcot. We also have dinner reservations at Coral Reef Restaurant. When I was a kid (1988) we ate here and I thought it was the coolest place ever. It really stuck out in my parents minds too so We will be taking my husband and kids there for the first time. I am sure they are going to love it and I hope we are not disappointed. Tonight may be a light night for us as Epcot has magic hours until 12:30am.

We will be heading back to Savannah on Saturday However if we don't have time earlier in the week we may make a stop at Downtown Disney to do a bit of shopping... I mean Christmas will only be 2 weeks away at this point!

You may be asking... how in the world are you keeping up with all of this? Well I cant do it on my own nor can I take credit for something I didn't do, so I found an awesome spreadsheet that has really been of great help and has been so helpful with very little work on my end. This is the first time we have used it and it has made life so much easier. I have been able to adjust, print, keep up with reservation numbers, parade times and so much more! It is awesome. I found the spreadsheet at http://www.plan-a-magical-vacation.com/disney-vacation-planning-spreadsheet.html Hopefully this will help you in your planning as well!

So stay tuned for pin trading plans, packing lists, and so much more!

until then.... Have a magical time!

 

[momof2buzzboys]

So here I am back again.... Hope you are enjoying my little PTR...

As I mentioned earlier, we are pin traders and love it! Our boys think it is something you have to do when you go to Disney. Last year we had the lanyards you where around your neck and dont get me wrong those are great, but halfway through the day we were all tired of wearing them and had traded all the pins we had brought for the day. So this time I have purchased some little pin bags that I can keep in our bag or we can wear on our belts, so we can wear a few on our lanyards with our tickets/room key cards and of course the Photo Pass Card (but we will talk about that later). Pins are fun in that each child/Adult in our cast will pick pins on their personal taste, personality, and as a description of their favorite things on that WDW trip. We made sure to keep our pins seperate and so after each trip when we return home we put our pins on a board in each childs room. My husband and I keep ours tucked away for when we have a place to do a Disney Shadow Box to keep some of our favs. Below is a picture of our Boards in the Kids rooms. After we get back I will add white ribbon between the red and black one for the pins from this trip!

As to where we buy our pins... most we got from EBAY but you have to be careful because I hear there are alot on ebay that are fakes. We had a great experience in that all the ones we bought last time were completely tradable with Cast members (that is the only people we tried to trade with, but my parents did trade with some other guests that were there and didnt have a problem). We also got our before mentioned Lanyards and Autograph books ebay and it worked out great because they were different than most other people and therefore if you lose them you have a better chance (in my opinion and from my experience) of having them found.

So this year the boys have Buzz & Woody autograph books. Here is a picture of the autograph books and the pin bags. The one is the exterior and the second is the first page of several pages that are for holding your pins. It has a carrying strap and a place to put on your belt or just slip into your bookbag or purse.

Autograph Books

Now about the Photo Pass.... If you haven't purchased this before I think it is worth it. We have always seemed to catch it when they are running a special online before we go and buy the CD for $99. If you buy it, take advantage of it. We always seem to get some great Family Photos as well as great Photos with the Characters. Photo Pass Cast Members are all over the place and can do some really cool pics. For example you can hold Simba in your arms like a baby in AK or Tinkerbell in your hand at MK or hold the Epcot ball in your hands. They know just the right spots and get some great shots! Plus what I love about it is I am always the one taking pictures and this gives me a chance to be in them too without handing my camera to a stranger!

What else have I purchased for our trip.... Several months ago I started purchasing matching Disney Shirts for my boys. Everyday they will match with a variety of shirts (like Mickey, Buzz, and Donald shirts). By no means do I do this in our everyday life, but I have this fear of one seeing something cool and to no fault of anyone, wandering off so if that were to happen I know that I will completely freak out and forget what he was wearing. So with matching outfits, I can say "HE LOOKS LIKE THIS, JUST SMALLER/LARGER!" I pray I never have to use that line, but better safe than sorry. I find this much harder now that my oldest is in "boys" clothes and my youngest in "toddler" clothes. Alot of their things dont match so I have made lots of trips to the Disney Store, Walmart, & Kohls to try and catch them when they come in to get the sizes I need...

Well I am putting some final touches on my shopping list and packing list so in a day or so I will be back with some notes on those...

Until then I wish you a Magical Planning time for your next Disney Trip! ​

 

[disneydreamer1970]

I'm on board! My parents and I are suprising my two youngest with a trip December 4 - 13! (DH is "Disneyed out" and isn't going this time) Your plans sound great, and we are going to be at MK, AK and Epcot at the same time. I too have purchased some pins from ebay and your autograph books look great.

Oh boy...looks like I need to go back on ebay again today.

I am looking forward to reading more of your plans.

Trish

 

[momof2buzzboys]

I'm on board! My parents and I are suprising my two youngest with a trip December 4 - 13! (DH is "Disneyed out" and isn't going this time) Your plans sound great, and we are going to be at MK, AK and Epcot at the same time. I too have purchased some pins from ebay and your autograph books look great.

Oh boy...looks like I need to go back on ebay again today.

I am looking forward to reading more of your plans.

Trish

WELCOME

So excited to have you here! I just found your PTR too and subbed in! One thing about the pin trading that I forgot to mention earlier is to BUY TONS! We thought we had plenty but when we got there the boys didnt want to trade the ones we had already traded so we kept them and ran out pretty quickly. So whatever you think is enough... double it!

Again thanks for being here and stay tuned there is more to come!

Kristina

 

[hollybearsmom]

I love how you display your favorite pins!

 

[momof2buzzboys]

I love how you display your favorite pins!

Thank you! It is so simple and so cheap! I got all the supplies at our local Hobby Lobby and made it myself. I wanted something different than the normal Cork Board idea... The ribbons are just on there with Tacks so that if need me I can replace with longer ones! The Disney Stickers are leftover from my scrapbooking from our last trip.

I will send another update tomorrow night.... Until then....