MVMCV-Melanie's Very Merry Christmas Vacation - We're BACK!!!

[DisneyMom14]

I know that I am late in starting a PTR cuz we're only 65 days away but... some interesting things have happened on this journey to the world. I thought it would be fun to share them with whoever wants to read.

The cast:
Me (the DW): Total Disaholic, probably too obsessed with anything Disney, been to Disney World 7 times. I'm steering this ship. I plan to make this the best Christmas trip ever!

DH: Likes pretty much anything Disney and enjoys trips to the world but thinks I need professional help when it comes to my Disney obsession. He's been to the world 6 times.

DD: 8 years old and is too cool for a disney obsession, what happened to my little princess????? She's been to Disney 3x's.

DS: My four year old DisneyNut! He screams "DisneyWorld!" every time the castle shows up on a commercial or before a movie. Wants to go back soooo bad! He's only been to Disney World once.

The idea:
This December will be our 15th wedding anniversary. We honeymooned in Disney - stayed at Port Orleans - and because we took turns putting each other through college, we didn't go back until my husband brought his middle school band and my daughter and I tagged along. She was 3. We attempted to go back for our 5th and 10th anniversary but it didn't work out. I am committed to making this trip happen.

This would be our first Christmas in the world since we've had our children. I want us to experience that magical time in Disney before they are too old to "believe." My daughter is getting dangerously close to that point thanks to friends at school.

Next post: What instigated this whole trip in the first place...

Family Pic

 

[DisneyMom14]

When I'm not in Disney World, I'm always planning the next trip. Sometimes I don't even know when that next trip will be but always looking forward to "next time."
This next section will give you some background info that, I promise, will come in useful later. Last November, we broke ground on our new house. We had spent the last 15 years in our "starter" house in a not-so-great neighborhood, but it was comfortable (and cheap). Alas, the time had come to take that next step and move our family into something and somewhere that was better suited to us. Before we did this, however, we convinced DH's mother to build a house on the lot next to our soon-to-be-new-house. She originally lived next door to our starter home and after losing her husband (DH's father) the year before, we couldn't leave her by herself. DH is her only child and she is in her 70's. You get the picture.

So....we are a couple months into building our new house, still own the old house, economy starts falling...and we get a coveted pin code from Disney!!!! Evil Disney executives! I have NEVER gotten a pin code and always dreamed of it. Actually I didn't get it then either. It came under my DH's name. Anyway, I turned to my husband, gave him my biggest puppy dog eyes, and tried to justify booking a "tentative" vacation. I gave him all the reasons I listed in my first post, told him we had up until Nov. 2 to cancel if we needed to and because he loves me, he said ok.

Now I know that being able to build a house is a blessing unto itself, but the feeling of having a Disney trip booked, I went full speed ahead planning, subscribing to TGM, etc. By the way, building a house is stressful and Disney was my distraction.

We are getting really close to our trip now. We still have not sold our old house, but I'm confident in our jobs. We have moved into our beautiful, new house and are closing on it this month. This whole time I have managed to keep our Christmas trip a secret from the kids because I wouldn't be able to bare seeing the disappointment in my ds's face if he knew and we had to cancel. We went to the bank yesterday to start the closing process and I'm pretty confident that we can handle things as they are right now. Of course, it would have been better to have the other house sold but c'est la vie. So, it looks like we will be paying off our trip around Halloween. That's the plan at least!

Pic of new house:

 

[DisneyMom14]

The seed that planted this little trip was a pin code for 40% off a package. I don't know if you ever got one of these, but as great as this is, I was a little disappointed. In my mind, it was 40% off the package, but really, all you get is 40% off the room. I got over my disappointment - a discount is a discount right? It wasn't as great of a deal as I originally thought but still cheaper than rack rate. We were only going to go for 4 days until I realized the last MVMCP was the 18th. I was planning to arrive on the 20th but didn't want to miss the party. I know that the xmas stuff starts everyday on the 19th but I still wanted to attend a party. So to save money, I kept the package for the original four days and booked a connecting reservation for a room only from the 17th - 20th. I figured we could tour the resorts for xmas decorations, spend some time in Downtown Disney, etc. I would wait until closer (to make sure we were still going) and purchase tickets to the party on either the 17th or the 18th.

Then...dun, dun, dunnnn... FREE DINING!!!! Ok Disney - go throw a wrench in my plan. I first saw the Disney Visa offer. I stressed for about a day, calculating if I could save more money with my 40% off room or paying rack rate and getting free dining. Decisions, decisions...My final decision would be that with free dining, we could have a better vacation for right about the same amount of money I was already spending. Since we are staying at a value resort, I would have to pay to upgrade from the "free" quick service dining to the "not so free but discounted" regular dining plan. I contemplated if I wanted to do this but because this is Christmas and because of the crowds, I really wanted to do the Candlelight Processional package and the Fantasmic dinner package. We also planned to do one dinner show that we did on our honeymoon. It definitely worked out cheaper to upgrade than to pay for those out of pocket. So I called Disney and changed our reservations to 7 nights, 6 day park hoppers with the Dining Plan.

Since then, Disney is now offering the buy 4 get 3 at mods & deluxes and the buy 5 get 2 at the values. Definitely not a better deal for us so for now, plans stay the same.

Next post: ADRs at 90 days

 

[DisneyMom14]

Rollin' right along - trying not to think about going to work tomorrow.

September 18th was my 90 day mark. I woke up extra early to book my adr's before going to work for 6:50. I had heard that online was opening up earlier than the phone lines and while that might have been true, I had no luck. The online system would not pull up my +10. I could only get it to open my first day. Grrrr!
I was able to get an answer at 6:03 central time but had to hold until 6:17. By that time, I had only a little trouble getting my adrs.

Here's the list:

Saturday, Dec. 19th - Donald's Safari Breakfast @ 8:20 (our first time) and Hoop Dee Doo @ 7:15pm
Sunday, Dec. 20th - San Angel Inn @ 2:00pm for the 5:00pm Candlelight Procession Performance (another first for both the restaurant and the peformance)
Monday, Dec. 21st - Liberty Tree Tavern @ 5:35 (1st time too!)
Tuesday, Dec. 22nd - Mama Melrose @ 3:40 for Fantasmic Package (never done the package before)
Wednesday, Dec. 23rd - Sci-Fi @ 11:15 (another first)

As you can see, we are trying a few things we haven't done before. Last trip, we did almost every character meal possible and didn't want to repeat them even if they were GREAT.

A couple days after I made my adr's I realized that I probably could have made reservations for the Pirates League. For our last trip, my little girl dressed up as Tinkerbell and had an appointment at BBB. In June, when Pirates League opened, I was so excited that there was something my DS would love to do. I showed him and of course, he wanted to go immediately! My way too cool for BBB again 8 year old DD mentioned she would like to do this too. So I acted nonchalant at the time but secretly plotted to get her to dress up like Elizabeth Swan for Halloween. DS already had a Captain Jack costume from last Halloween. I was able to get both of them in at the Pirates League for 3:00 before we eat at Liberty Tree Tavern on Dec. 21st. I also managed to convince DD to get the girl buccaneer costume for Halloween so we're all ready!!!!

DS in Capt. Jack outfit last Halloween:

Here they are posing in each their pirate costumes - Can't wait for Pirates League!!! Can you tell my DS is a character??? DD is still thinking "This is so not cool."

 

[jordanyosh]

Why hello stranger!!!!!!

I'm at work so I don't have time to read, but I'll be back later...

so nice to "see" you again!!!!!

Stop by my PTR..the same old crazies are still around and some new ones too..

 

[DisneyMom14]

Jordan!!!!! Thank you for stopping by and I look forward to laughing at more of your antics! It's like bumping into an old friend.

 

[DisneyMom14]

Off topic - I hate when I type a whole bunch and then lose it and have to start over again! Back to the story...

Had to share two really good deals:

Disney Visa: Not only do you rack up points to spend in the happiest place on earth, you also get 10% off on purchases over $50 at Disney Stores - even online. I also like getting a heads up on offers that sometimes go out to the general public. As I mentioned earlier, we built a house this year and of course I used that to my advantage by putting as much as I could on my Disney Visa to rack up points. We also pay whatever bills we can with it. Paying it off every month is the best way to get free money! Since we went on our Feb 08 trip, we have been able to rack up over $500 in reward dollars! When I finally got scared enough that our MVMCP dates would sell out, I ordered the online for FREE!!!! Yes, you heard that right - F-R-E-E! I used some of our reward dollars to pay for our party! I also plan to pay for Pirates League with Reward Dollars as well and I should have some left for snacks and souveniers.

Here are our tickets: BTW I paid $5.00 to have them sent to me when I could have printed them for free but what fun is that? Who doesn't love getting Mickey Mail???

Related to the Disney Visa but a great deal on its own:
Disney Outlet online - I got an email featuring their deal of the week. It was kids varsity jackets that were normally $24.50 down to $9.99. If you pay with a Disney Visa, you get 10% off of that (if you spend more than $50). Can anyone say "Christmas presents?"

Here is a picture of my DD and DS's jackets:

My DH just came in from the bank and told me he just switched our Chase Visa debit cards to Disney debit cards. I knew I had a good one! LOL I guess he figures if he has to bring me to Disney, might as well have some help! BTW the debit card only collects at a half percent instead of a whole percent like the credit card and only works if you don't use your pin.

And while I'm on the subject of great deals, free is always great so I would like to give a shout out to some extremely talented "DISigners." Who have made and are making some really great disigns for our tshirts and room decorations for our trip. If you have time, you should check them out! We really appreciate their talent and willingness to spread pixie dust to us who lack the creative talent!
Shadowryter
Wendypooh
Jessica
Maize
Kellybell

 

[DisneyMom14]

Since I had to make my ADRs, I thought I would post my itinerary.

Wednesday, Dec. 16 - Our anniversary - pick up the kids from school a couple of hours early, give them their "surprise" and leave for DW - spend the night somewhere between here and there

Thursday, Dec. 17th - drive the rest of the way, check in at Pop and off to our very first MVMCP!

Friday, Dec. 18th - Spend the day in MK - no table services

Saturday, Dec. 19th - Animal Kingdom - Donald's Safari Breakfast - Hoop Dee Doo Review

Sunday, Dec. 20th - Epcot - Candlelight Processional package at San Angel Inn

Monday, Dec. 21st - Morning Epcot/Afternoon Magic Kingdom with Pirate's League and Liberty Tavern

Tuesday, Dec. 22nd - Visit resorts to look at xmas decorations/ DHS for Mama Melrose's/Fantasmic Dinner Package

Wednesday, Dec. 23rd - DHS, lunch at Sci-Fi MAYBE see wishes at MK as this is our last night

Thursday, Dec. 24th - drive 12 hours home

Next post: a new wrench in the plan

 

[jordanyosh]

Nice itinerary! Oh Oh..wrench in the plans?

 

[DisneyMom14]

A few days ago my DH and I took my M-inlaw to dinner for her bday. We're sitting at the table and he says "Mom, why don't you come with us to Disney World in December?"

To be fair...we had discussed previously and HYPOTHETICALLY that she could tag along to enjoy seeing the kids enjoy themselves. We even mentioned it to her before and she didn't really show a whole lot of interest. She's no disneynut and would be perfectly fine with never going back, but she does love the grandkids. I attempted to slightly discourage her by telling her how long the trip would be and that it would be crowded, cold, etc. I even mentioned that we were tentatively planning to go back for Fall break in 2011 if she wanted to go during the fall when it was warmer, less crowded, and a shorter trip.

Needless to say when we got home I was like "What were you thinking?" and he was all clueless like "What? I thought we talked about this?" It wasn't an argument or anything because we didn't even know if she wanted to come. But then the call came, . I was shell-shocked. All the planning and dreaming and not that vacation was ruined but now there was a 73 year old to consider and reservations to make and ADR's to change...get the picture?

My husband was about to tell her nevermind, but there was no way, I was going to be the bad guy. I spent the rest of the evening fixing everything I could to accomodate her. She now has a room, tickets, and the QSDP. I was able to get her into 3 of my 6 ADR's. I will attempt to get our rooms to be close when it gets closer. I've typed up a calendar for her with where we will be when and with all of our dining. I had to get her the Quick Service plan because I couldn't see trying to get 3 table service reservations for one (she doesn't like sit down restaurants) or her wasting 3 of them. I figured she wouldn't mind paying out of pocket for the few I could get her in with us and we'll probably end up treating her anyway. I tried to explain how easy Disney transportation was to use and that she wasn't tied to keeping up with us.

Anyway, I am getting use to the idea of her coming and trying to forget the last vacation I had with her when she didn't speak to me for 2 weeks after we returned . We've come a long way since then soooooo I'm looking at this trip from my husband and kids' perspective. They just lost their grandfather/father 2 years ago. She is getting up in age. She probably won't be able to do Disney next time we go. The kids will probably LOVE having her around. I will do this for them. Maybe we can sneek one night alone???

 

[DisneyMom14]

Nice itinerary! Oh Oh..wrench in the plans?

LOL Jordan you are my only reader! I should have started this PTR a long time ago but I just couldn't bring myself to write when I wasn't sure I was going. Now I feel like I'm playing catch up. Oh well. From now on it shouldn't be post after post like it was today. I did have fun writing it all down though!

I just finished with your PTR. Hilarious as usual! I will be keeping up with you (or attempting to) . Thanks for reading.

 

[MadilynnsMomma]

I have only read your first couple of posts, but I am dog tired! I am subbing and will be back tomorrow to finish up!

*Just wanted to add - every time my DD2 sees the castle... or ANY castle she says "Boom-boom Mickey's castle!" - Can you tell I've been brainwashing her about the fireworks

 

[DisneyMom14]

Welcome! I have TWO readers! I'm on a roll!
Thanks for reading! Lol - yeah, brainwashing...that's what THEY call it (my husband included). I just call it "Sharing my love for disney with my children." Too cute!

 

[DisneyMom14]

This is my plan but I'd like to hear anyone's suggestions.

I would LOVE to get a big box, inflate two mickey head shaped balloons, tie them to letters from Santa that say "come meet me in disney world", and have the kids open this "present" when we pick them up from school early on the day we leave. I got Wendypooh to come up with the letters and they are adorable! I don't know where to get the mickey head shaped balloons though. You know, the ones from the commercials??? If anyone out there knows where to get them, let me know. I also thought I could throw in some of the kids Disney tshirts but then they wouldn't be packed. Hmmm don't know yet.

I loved doing the countdown chain last trip. This secret stuff is killing me especially when I have DD aka Grumpy at home. We watched Snow White Monday and I used to think she reminded me of Tink (attitude) but now I think she is more like Grumpy. I should make her a Grumpy tshirt. The thing is, at times she looks like she is way into the movie then when asked about it, she says the equivalent to "bah humbug." How did I create such a little scrooge? Oh well, I'm not giving up on her because I know she secretly likes it. I just have to watch how much I push b/c the harder I push, the more she pulls away. She was even watching Snow White through her fingers, pouting at one point... but she was still watching. Hee,hee..

 

[DisneyMom14]

Sometimes you get pixie dust when you don't expect it. Today, I got a few more DISigns and seeing them made my day. I won't show you now cuz it'll ruin the surprise when I show you my tshirts.

Then I needed to go to the grocery store and just so happened to see Mickey Pizza. ???? Did you know there was Mickey Pizza??? I didn't. So of course I put 2 in the buggy. Then on my way to the register, I noticed Halloween Disney Candy! ???? I wanted to do the my disney jig . I bought those too. When I got home, I showed Grumpy (DD) and DS and of course, that's what they wanted for supper. Yes...even DD

Here's a picture of kids with supper:

 

[pmama]

Hi Melanie, I did a search on Disney rewards and MVMCP and it brought up your TR (which looks great by the way). I'll be subbing! Question, you said you paid from MVMCP with reward points online. So, were you able to enter your reward card just like a credit card. I'd like to pay for MVMCP with reward points but have not yet ordered the card. Curious as to how you did it. Thanks

 

[MadilynnsMomma]

Melanie - I give you MUCH kudos for not only having the MIL tag along, but also doing the legwork to get her hotel/tickets/meal plan in place!

Do I see Daughter-in-Law of the Year in your future!?

 

[DisneyMom14]

Hi Melanie, I did a search on Disney rewards and MVMCP and it brought up your TR (which looks great by the way). I'll be subbing! Question, you said you paid from MVMCP with reward points online. So, were you able to enter your reward card just like a credit card. I'd like to pay for MVMCP with reward points but have not yet ordered the card. Curious as to how you did it. Thanks

Hi! Thanks for stopping by. When you go to check out, you click on the dot next to Disney Reward Redemption card and enter the information like a credit card. I hadn't switched over enough points for tax and shipping so I ended up paying like $3 on my cc which I think you might have to put your cc info anyway in case you don't have enough credits on your reward card. It was easy and exciting!

Melanie - I give you MUCH kudos for not only having the MIL tag along, but also doing the legwork to get her hotel/tickets/meal plan in place!

Do I see Daughter-in-Law of the Year in your future!?

LOL!!! Not quite. I've learned to tolerate her in the last 18 years and I guess the other way around. She's so clueless. I couldn't leave her to her own resources. That would have been as bad as me saying NO WAY. Selfishly it also helped me stay in somewhat control of our vacation. I have a feeling this will end up being an interesting trip.

 

[MadilynnsMomma]

LOL!!! Not quite. I've learned to tolerate her in the last 18 years and I guess the other way around. She's so clueless. I couldn't leave her to her own resources. That would have been as bad as me saying NO WAY. Selfishly it also helped me stay in somewhat control of our vacation. I have a feeling this will end up being an interesting trip.

Maybe that is all I need, time! I have only know my MIL for 3 years, another 15 and we'll be semi-golden !

I am glad I found your report when I did, it will surely be a fun report to follow!!!

 

[jordanyosh]

LOL Jordan you are my only reader! I should have started this PTR a long time ago but I just couldn't bring myself to write when I wasn't sure I was going. Now I feel like I'm playing catch up. Oh well. From now on it shouldn't be post after post like it was today. I did have fun writing it all down though!

I just finished with your PTR. Hilarious as usual! I will be keeping up with you (or attempting to) . Thanks for reading.

I see you've got a few more readers!

What is it with DISers taking their InLaws.....? Shouldn't be too bad right?

It does change how you do the parks though....hmmm...is she independent?