Mom/Daughter Christmas Disney Trip: A Procrastinator's Plans in Progress

[mousetravel]

Live update: Animal Kingdom and MVMCP today! After arriving yesterday i had a "not so pleasant" moment with lady at rental car place. But more on that later. Love ASM but still have a few "pros and cons" of staying here vs. Offsite. More on that later. Had a great time last night at DTD. Also went to see decorations at grand floridian and boardwalk. Looking forward to a busy day today!

 

[jenseib]

Loving the live updates! I hope the not so magical parts are not ruining the trip.

 

[mousetravel]

Live update! While waiting on parade. Crowds not bad a at all. Expedition everest twice in a row in less than 50 minutes without fast pass. Tusker house was great. Love the Lion king show as usual. Gonna try to get on over to MVMCP a little early.

 

[Pinkocto]

I'm so glad the crowds aren't bad, I hope that continues! Can't wait to hear about the party!

 

[mousetravel]

Live update! Yesterday MVMCP was VERY crowded. It was crazy. We watched the 1030 parade and the castle show and loved it. But didnt have time to do much else. Spent most of time getting through the crowds. Watched the tomorrow land christmas show and it was great. And only got chance for christmas pictures with mickey and minnie. Rode haunted mansion and TTA with no wait time. Was very disappointed because the only MVMCP merchandise they had was pins and t shirts. One design each. Probably would not do another party. Hoping the characters will be in holiday outfits monday so we can get more pictures. Today was HS. Had great time and great weather!

 

[mousetravel]

Yesterday we checked out of ASM then checked into AKL which is beyond gorgeous. Have lots of pictures to share. Went to Florida mall and made a Walgreens run. Went to boma last night. It was amazing! Going to MK today. We are hanging out enjoying AKL for a bit. MK has EMH till 3 am so we are not in a hurry to get there. Weather is very nice and warm.

 

[UGAFan0829]

So glad that check-in went smoothly for you!!! Glad to know you're loving the resort! I can't wait to hear what you think about staying on-site! Glad y'all are having good weather!

 

[Pinkocto]

3 am EMH! I wonder how many people stay until the end. That might be really cool! So glad you like AKL, can't wait to see pictures.

 

[LuvEeyore]

Cant wait to hear about your trip especially AKL. Looking forward to pictures!

 

[mousetravel]

We made it back! I will get a TR started soon. Everything's been hectic the last couple of days, with getting all our luggage & stuff situated and getting ready for Christmas. I'm glad you all followed along with me on my PTR! I'll post a TR link as soon as I get it started. Have LOTS of pics to get uploaded first!!!!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Glad you are both back safely. Sounds like you had fun!! Cant wait to hear more. Have fun in the next few days with family and friends. Merry Christmas!!

 

[Pinkocto]

Welcome back, can't wait to hear about the trip. Merry Christmas!!!

 

[TinkerbellinNY6]

We made it back! I will get a TR started soon. Everything's been hectic the last couple of days, with getting all our luggage & stuff situated and getting ready for Christmas. I'm glad you all followed along with me on my PTR! I'll post a TR link as soon as I get it started. Have LOTS of pics to get uploaded first!!!!

Welcome Back! I hope you had a great trip! I have to upload all of my photos still too!

 

[jenseib]

Welcome back!!!!!

 

[mousetravel]

Working on getting my TR started, but I wanted to respond to a few posts first:

Live update: Animal Kingdom and MVMCP today! After arriving yesterday i had a "not so pleasant" moment with lady at rental car place. But more on that later. Love ASM but still have a few "pros and cons" of staying here vs. Offsite. More on that later. Had a great time last night at DTD. Also went to see decorations at grand floridian and boardwalk. Looking forward to a busy day today!

Car rental:

So, the situation with the rental car lady was not the best way to start our trip. She seemed OK, until she started pushing the issue of the optional car rental insurance that they offer. I knew that my own car insurance would fully cover the rental so I continually told her no I didn't want it. I told her that I came prepared to pay a certain amount, and that's what I was going to pay. She pushed the issue more than just a "pushy salesman" type deal, to the point where it was kind of a "threatening" tactic. She told so many lies to try to get me to purchase that insurance, and I finally told her to forget it, that I would call another company to come get us, and we would go elsewhere. So she called my insurance office and they told her that I had full coverage, etc. So we finally got all the paperwork done, and I thanked her sarcastically, and told her what a great way to start out our vacation, dealing with her BS.


Pros and Cons of onsite vs. offsite:

We loved ASM, but it seemed like we walked FOREVER to get to our room/car/lobby, etc. When we stay offsite, it's always a "hop, skip, & jump" away to get to our car and back.

The room was very small. We usually stay at an offsite place that has micro/fridge, so we didn't have that this time, but we did figure we could live without that.

Loved the outdoor area & decor, we just didn't stay at the hotel much to walk around, except the first arrival day.


Other than that we loved it. There was a very nice CM that welcomed us soon as we walked in and was very helpful!

Live update! Yesterday MVMCP was VERY crowded. It was crazy. We watched the 1030 parade and the castle show and loved it. But didnt have time to do much else. Spent most of time getting through the crowds. Watched the tomorrow land christmas show and it was great. And only got chance for christmas pictures with mickey and minnie. Rode haunted mansion and TTA with no wait time. Was very disappointed because the only MVMCP merchandise they had was pins and t shirts. One design each. Probably would not do another party. Hoping the characters will be in holiday outfits monday so we can get more pictures. Today was HS. Had great time and great weather!

Again, I was very disappointed in the lack of MVMCP merchandise. I was hoping for some magnets, keychains, something. All they had (all stores), was the pins and T shirts. I did buy the pin. MVMCP was so crowded! We just didn't have time to do much. Well, we "wasted" about an hour waiting for the first parade because where we were sitting, the CM said we could not be, AFTER we had been sitting there for an hour! So by then, it was too packed to try to get a good spot. We didn't have time to get any other character pics, except with Mickey & Minnie. We got one round of hot chocolate & cookies, which were VERY good!!!!!!

Yesterday we checked out of ASM then checked into AKL which is beyond gorgeous. Have lots of pictures to share. Went to Florida mall and made a Walgreens run. Went to boma last night. It was amazing! Going to MK today. We are hanging out enjoying AKL for a bit. MK has EMH till 3 am so we are not in a hurry to get there. Weather is very nice and warm.

On this MK day,we actually only lasted until about midnight,even though MK had EMH till 3am!!

This was the day we checked into AKL and got a last minute reservation for Boma! AKL was definately the highlight of this trip!!! I loved it so much!! (and have tons of pics)

So glad that check-in went smoothly for you!!! Glad to know you're loving the resort! I can't wait to hear what you think about staying on-site! Glad y'all are having good weather!

Thanks for everything!!!!

3 am EMH! I wonder how many people stay until the end. That might be really cool! So glad you like AKL, can't wait to see pictures.

I know we couldn't "hang" till the end!

Cant wait to hear about your trip especially AKL. Looking forward to pictures!

Thanks!

Glad you are both back safely. Sounds like you had fun!! Cant wait to hear more. Have fun in the next few days with family and friends. Merry Christmas!!

We had a wonderful time!!!

Welcome back, can't wait to hear about the trip. Merry Christmas!!!

Thank you!

Welcome Back! I hope you had a great trip! I have to upload all of my photos still too!

Welcome back!!!!!

Thanks!!




Hope to see you all over on my TR!!!!!!

 

[mousetravel]

Link to my TR!!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=43560683#post43560683