Nov 2010 -- Even our Stroller has Christmas Lights! New 12/22 Lessons Learned #222

[cherbear]

men!!

 

[Marshay]

The girls wake us up at 7am so we head down to breakfast. It was nice with waffles, hard-boiled eggs, toast, muffins and cereal. Then we shower and get gas -- right on time at 9:30am. I knew with getting in late the night before, we wouldn't be up early today.

Traffic is very light. We stop in Jacksonville for food, but of course we pick a VERY bad section of town. We try to leave as soon as possible but there is only one bathroom and it's dirty and unfortunately, it's not a quick stop.

Rachel watched the Great Fairy Rescue on her portable DVD player, Jerry and Elie sleep.

Then we were going to stop for lunch but we still had leftover sandwiches from yesterday, so I suggest we skip lunch, skip Walmart and just get to Saratoga Springs as soon as possible!! It's about 2:30pm.

We check-in at SSR and can take a room immediately available in the boondocks or wait for a room closer. Of course, I say we'll wait. While waiting we checked out the pool area and went in the community hall to play ping pong (I won!), foosball (Jerry won!) and the gift shop. Elie decides that she wants a Winnie the Pooh plush and won't let go.

Finally, we get voicemail that the room is ready at 4pm and are very happy to hear it's in the Springs section, which is the closest to the main pool, building, etc. It's perfect, even with a lake view!

We unpack and it's nice that Rachel is old enough now to help unload. Our truck is parked about 15 steps away from our corner room. Woo Hoo!!! This is so nice compared to our room at BWV where we literally had to walk for 8-10 minutes to get from our room to the truck each time.

Here are photos of our room. The layout is similar to all the other DVCs ... just a little smaller.

We are the 1st floor corner unit. Our SUV is the 2nd grey one on the left.

Hi!! I see you!

 

[Marshay]

We were only going to be at WDW for 4 nights and I had 4 things I wanted to do at night. So, I was really pushing to go to the park tonight. We chose Osborne lights to start our merriment.

Here is our family photo

Jerry thought the weather was great in shorts. I preferred a jacket. but definitely not complaining.

Here are some various photos of OL. All I can say is that I love OL. It is so much fun, so much to see and definitely gets you in the Christmas mood.

When we first got there it was very crowded.

Then we ate dinner at the ABC Commissary (fried fish, french fries and fruit) and went back to the OL. By this time, the people started to clear out and by the end of the night, we were like the only ones there.

the soldiers

Jerry and the girls

Anyone see anything special here??? Ok, so it's really hard to see but this is where the black cat is hidden. For those of you who don't know, when the original Osbourne lights were sent to Disney, a black light up cat got mixed up in the Xmas decorations from Halloween. And now every year, Disney will hide a black cat for folks to find.

Like I said, it's hard to see but it is in the "basement" against the wall and is in pink lights

Jerry took some great photos

As you can see, it definitely cleared out after we ate dinner. We decided to stay until they kicked us out. So glad we did, b/c Rachel and Elie could just run around in the street. The lights stopped at 9:30pm.

Jerry and Rachel

Elizabeth is enjoying the Mickey Train. Now what is also cool about this pic, is that you can see how we decorated our stroller for Christmas! yes, we had a set of battery-operated LED lights to go on both strollers! We got tons of compliments on that ... and were the only ones to have it!

Someone had purchased a bubble blaster gun and Elizabeth had so much fun chasing the bubbles. I'll post video once I get that uploaded.

We decided to walk to the truck instead of taking the tram. Oh! Some of the Disney trams now have locking doors on them! This was new since we visited in July.

 

[kaoden39]

Those lights are something else. I can only imagine how long it takes to put them all up.

Your room looks so homey to me, and just adorable.

 

[shinysparklybubbles]

I'm excited to start reading! We are taking the autotrain in May with a toddler!

 

[cherbear]

Wow, what a great location! "You done good" LOL

Those lights are sooooo beautiful and I have YET to see them in person. Someday I will get to Disney at Christmastime!

 

[Marshay]

men!!

I know! It's not like I didn't warn him 3 weeks in advance and he only had to pack his clothes - I did everything for me, Rachel and Elizabeth ... oh , and I packed his shirts, too (so they would match!)

Those lights are something else. I can only imagine how long it takes to put them all up.

Your room looks so homey to me, and just adorable.

I was pleasantly surprised by SSR. I came in not wanting to like it and found that it was nice. It's still not my first choice, but as you'll hear in the report, there are some nice things. The parking, when you have young ones, is definitely nice!

I'm excited to start reading! We are taking the autotrain in May with a toddler!

Yes, I saw your post on the AT thread. Please go back and read my July TR (link is in the siggie). There is a table of contents in the 2nd post I believe that will take you directly to my Autotrain pictures from July. We got coach seats then.

This trip was a Family Room and I have more pics of the lounge, dining car, hallways, etc, too. But they won't be posted until the end of the trip report.

Oh, and Welcome!!

Wow, what a great location! "You done good" LOL

Those lights are sooooo beautiful and I have YET to see them in person. Someday I will get to Disney at Christmastime!

Oh, you just have to take the time to go ... maybe for just a short weekend. Disney at Christmas is really a whole different theme park. It changes everything and you do more looking around.

 

[Mindy5767]

So in order to get ready for our next Disney trip, I'm borrowing an idea from another Disser and doing "Disney Days or Nights". We'll each pick a day and try to come up with ideas and meals for that theme.

Rachel already picked her day -- "Splash Mountain Day". So hers will come first in August.

Last year we got a water slide mat for like $0.99 at Walgreens...one of those that's like 20 feet and has water that comes up on one side. We'll take plastic boats and have them go down the mat (along with us). We have 2 smaller sliding boards in our yard (Elie's) and one large one, so the large one becomes the "laughing place" hole -- Rachel suggest that we make a sign for it.

Then I need to see if our Library has a copy of Song of the South. I've actually never seen this movie and know nothing about it except that Splash Mountain is loosely based on it and it's both live action and animation. We can play Laughing Place and Zippety Do Dah on the CD.

I'm thinking I can make a chow mein snack look like a Briar Patch and add a Gummy Bunny and Gummy Bear (not sure about the fox).

We made these chow mein bird nests for Easter but I think they can easily be made into a Briar Patch

DD5 (Rachel) is going to make Fast Pass Tickets so we can go on the ride and of course we have to take a picture at the top of the big drop!

subbbing .... why is the post button not there? just the quote button appears?

 

[Marshay]

subbbing .... why is the post button not there? just the quote button appears?

Hmm, not sure. I see the "Post Reply" button now, so maybe DIS was having issues.

Anyway, welcome Mindy!!

 

[Trentmom]

YAY you started

I agree with Cheri, Men

Your room at Saratoga looks so nice

When we were upgraded there, I didnt think I like it either. But was pleasantly surprised

Osborne lights are my favorite

We did the same thing, went back there towards end of the night and we had place almost to ourselves . Was so awesome

I can't believe how big girls are getting.. Growing up so fast

 

[Marshay]

YAY you started

I agree with Cheri, Men

Your room at Saratoga looks so nice

When we were upgraded there, I didnt think I like it either. But was pleasantly surprised

Osborne lights are my favorite

We did the same thing, went back there towards end of the night and we had place almost to ourselves . Was so awesome

I can't believe how big girls are getting.. Growing up so fast

I remember you said you enjoyed SSR and I know folks (like Mindy who posted earlier) just love it!

I think I will always love BLT and BCV the best for their location, location, location and AKV for the Savannah rooms. But if/when we get SSR again, I won't be disappointed...and I will definitely plan more DTD nights!

Yeah, you guys have practically watched Rachel grow up and totally have watched Elizabeth grow up. It's neat to see how everyone is growing!

 

[Native NYer]

Your villa at SSR is so nice!
I didn't realize the villas at SSR are smaller. So far, we've only stayed at BLT.

OL are the best. They were my favorite part of the holiday decorations.

 

[betsywdw]

LOVE the lights on the stroller!

I am another who has never thought much of SSR. It's even my home resort for DVC but I have never stayed there! I do plan on adding it to our list of things to do after hearing how nice it is from you and Kelly!

The lights look amazing. I too hope to make it down for Christmas at some point and enjoy the experience!

Looking forward to more of your report!

 

[kaoden39]

I can hardly wait to hear how popular Duffy is there as compared to what I am hearing about DCA. I want a Duffy. I think he is so darn cute.

 

[Harters2WDW]

We plan to go in March with our DD5 and DD1. So any advice you can offer on traveling with those ages, is definitely welcomed! Were wondering if we'll have to do naps with DD1 or not. Right now she's not great at sleeping in the stroller.

Oh, and we're traveling from Richmond, Va. We just do the drive.

Looking forward to reading more on the report!

 

[Marshay]

Your villa at SSR is so nice!
I didn't realize the villas at SSR are smaller. So far, we've only stayed at BLT.

OL are the best. They were my favorite part of the holiday decorations.

Well, BLT is really the best, IMHO. I'm not sure of the actual square footage but the layouts were the same and it just felt smaller to us.

OL were great and if we do them again we will definitely stay until closing again.

LOVE the lights on the stroller!

I am another who has never thought much of SSR. It's even my home resort for DVC but I have never stayed there! I do plan on adding it to our list of things to do after hearing how nice it is from you and Kelly!

The lights look amazing. I too hope to make it down for Christmas at some point and enjoy the experience!

Looking forward to more of your report!

Thanks! I wish I had a better picture but it was cool to see the lights -- and we never lost our stroller at night!

Yep, we own at SSR for most of our points but never stayed there before. Now, I really don't think we will 'request' SSR but if we end up there again, we will be pleased. Or if we are doing a lot of things at DTD, then SSR is key.

I can hardly wait to hear how popular Duffy is there as compared to what I am hearing about DCA. I want a Duffy. I think he is so darn cute.

We met Duffy!! And I was so tempted to buy him at Epcot ... and all those cute clothes (they have clothes for each Epcot country and other additional clothes, too) ... plus backpacks, key chains, etc. I'll tell more on our Epcot day...

 

[Marshay]

We plan to go in March with our DD5 and DD1. So any advice you can offer on traveling with those ages, is definitely welcomed! Were wondering if we'll have to do naps with DD1 or not. Right now she's not great at sleeping in the stroller.

Oh, and we're traveling from Richmond, Va. We just do the drive.

Looking forward to reading more on the report!

Welcome!! Sounds like you have kids my kids' ages, too.

I think driving from Richmond sounds pretty good. We encountered the most traffic around the "Mixing Bowl" and Richmond. Everything else was pretty much smooth sailing.

I had 5yo's leapster (and handed out 2 new cartridges on the trip), DVD player, coloring books, stickers, books, etc. For the 1yo, she got coloring pages, stickers, little stuffed animals (like the kind you get in McDs happy meals) and other little toys.

They both had slap bracelets and some other small toys. I handed them out about every 20-40 minutes along the way as surprises. This seemed to keep them occupied. When the 1yo napped or was getting sleepy, I let the 5yo watch the DVD (we have a portable one).

We took 2 breaks each day so traveled from Northern VA to Ridgeland, SC in 10 hours 20 minutes (including breaks one was maybe 30 minutes and the other was 15 minutes or so and traffic jams). Then we went 5 hours (including a 20 minute or so break) from SC to WDW.

It's always a dilemma between taking breaks and getting there as soon as possible. We decided that as long as the youngest was sleeping, we would drive, even if it was lunch time. So having snacks in the car is a must.

Also, when you do take a break -- do not let the kids eat at the restaurant (assuming you do fast food type place). Let them run around and order the food to go and eat in the car. You spend more time doing something than just sitting in thecar and time seems to go faster.

If you have other ?, let me know. Traveling worked better for us if I was prepared with lots of new toys and things to do.

Oh, and naps -- my 1yr old would just sleep in the stroller or in her car seats. We never really planned nap time for her. We did go back to the room each day for a rest, but generally, that was NOT the youngest nap time.

 

[sjs314]

The villa at SSR looked charming, I like the decor. Love the lights on the stroller, what a novel idea

I think it was a wise choice staying late at OL until most of the people cleared out for the night seems your trip got off to a good start

 

[swwake]

Yeah, I think the stroller lights is a great idea!

I'm VERY impressed with the SSR pics. I never would have thought of staying there, but with a car, it seems like a super nice place, still on-property - kinda like a rental home.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Trentmom]

I remember you said you enjoyed SSR and I know folks (like Mindy who posted earlier) just love it!

I think I will always love BLT and BCV the best for their location, location, location and AKV for the Savannah rooms. But if/when we get SSR again, I won't be disappointed...and I will definitely plan more DTD nights!

Yeah, you guys have practically watched Rachel grow up and totally have watched Elizabeth grow up. It's neat to see how everyone is growing!

I would love to try Beach Club. It would be so cool to be able to walk epcot

Yeah, it really is neat seeing everyone grow up