*~~Official December 2016 Thread~~*

[dinomama]

Add us to the list! I just got the ok from DH for our dates, Nov. 28- Dec. 10. We usually go every other March, so our next trip was planned for March 2017. But our schedules lined up and I've always wanted to go during Christmas!
Planning a split stay between WDW and universal.... Unless free dining falls during our dates. What do you guys think the chances of that are?
Anyway, I'm excited to get things finalized! I've got spreadsheets of "possible split stay" and "possible free dining" so I'm basically planning two trips! Lol sorry to ramble, just can't wait!!!

 

[Sdolores]

2nd visit w/ kids (12/7-11/16). Staying in GF and very excited. Struggling with planning my 5 day PH bc wanna see new AK show but not great park for my girls (8&6)

 

[kjblovesdisney]

I just booked a long weekend trip December 2-December 6. I may be going solo but hope that my daughter and her best friend join me. (It is my daughter's birthday on December 5. (That's my hook to have them join me) If they can't because of work (both are nurses at Duke University Hospital) then it will be a solo trip. I did a solo last March 2015, loved it and we just got back from a family trip (1/22-1/31). I haven't been during Christmas in a long time so I'm looking forward to being there. Now I just have to wait to do the fun stuff like Dining and FP+

 

[Hagrid xox 65]

Joining!! Planning a girls trip - me, daughter & granddaughter who will be turning 10 in December. It will be GDs first trip. We'll be calling it her birthday event even though we're planning early Dec, and her birthday isn't until the 21st. I've got a request in at Smallworld to sign us up for a moderate once the discounts or free dp is announced. This is my first ever experience working with a travel agent so I'm not sure if there is anything else I should do to try and get discounts. Has anyone ever rented DVC? It sounds like we could stay at one of the monorail resorts for not too much more $$ by renting points during a low season - which would be fantastic to be able to watch the fireworks each night from just outside our resort. We're super excited!

 

[xlsm]

to all our new thread members!!

I'll update the first page later tonight

 

[xlsm]

2nd visit w/ kids (12/7-11/16). Staying in GF and very excited. Struggling with planning my 5 day PH bc wanna see new AK show but not great park for my girls (8&6)

Oh, our kids love Animal Kingdom! Have your girls tried doing the Wilderness Explorers? My boys loved going around and collecting the badges, and they can't wait to get back and finish up the ones they haven't got yet That might be a good way to keep them going if they aren't fans of the park.

 

[xlsm]

The first page has been updated with our new travelers
If I missed anyone let me know and I'll fix it.

We've got a pretty big group started, guys!
And guess what?? We'll be in single digits soon!! (well, single digit MONTHS anyway, haha!)

Have a great Tuesday!!

 

[LadyRayado]

I added a day to our trip, we're now going Nov. 29 - Dec. 5. I just realized we'll be there during a bit of Pop Warner (Dec. 4-9) and am nervous about staying at POP now. Since we spend very little time in the room, I'm not sure its worth the money to upgrade to POR, but my 3 year old will definitely need his sleep (so, peace and quiet). Anyone have experience with this? Am I being too paranoid?

My current (and ever-changing) plans are:

Nov. 29 - Late arrival
Nov. 30 - sleep in, Disney Springs (shopping and lunch), tour holiday decorations at other resorts, and either a dinner character meal or the Pirates and Pals fireworks cruise with dinner at The Wave
Dec. 1 - MK and MVMCP (BOG breakfast, Pirates League)
Dec. 2 - EPCOT (with Candlelight and dinner at Garden Grill)
Dec. 3 - Split AK/DHS day (Tusker House breakfast, hoping for the holiday character dining at H&V)
Dec. 4 - Universal

Of course depending on park hours, crowd calendars, etc - any of the last three days could be shifted around!

My personal goal for this trip is not to eat a single french fry, chicken nugget, burger, or pizza. (Hoping to keep my kid from doing the same, but we'll see). So I'm trying lots of new restaurants. The only repeat I currently have planned is BOG - but I've never been for breakfast.

 

[ibelieveinmagic]

12/29/16-01/08/17, so excited!

 

[BDL]

I added a day to our trip, we're now going Nov. 29 - Dec. 5. I just realized we'll be there during a bit of Pop Warner (Dec. 4-9) and am nervous about staying at POP now. Since we spend very little time in the room, I'm not sure its worth the money to upgrade to POR, but my 3 year old will definitely need his sleep (so, peace and quiet). Anyone have experience with this? Am I being too paranoid?

I do have some experience with the Pop Warner days. We were staying at POR when it was still the overflow resort (hasn't been the overflow since the addition of Royal Guest Rooms). The boys you don't have to worry about. They all seem focused and respectful. The girls on the other hand... There was non-stop chanting, cheering and yelling (in lieu of talking at a normal tone). And this may have been just my experience, and it may have been a rarity, but the chaperons positioned themselves so that the girls were within eye sight, rather than accompanying them to be in a position of authority. These behaviors were mostly only prevalent at the resort food court and the buses.

I will give you a positive spin on my tale. When we arrived, we were there for the last 2 days of the tournaments. So that meant that a majority of the teams and squads were eliminated and had nothing but extra time to fill. Looks like you will be there at the beginning, so that means that the priorities of the kids and coaches will be the competitions.

I am THE 1st person to tell anyone that will listen that Port Orleans Riverside is an amazing resort. But if you are worried about money, I wouldn't upgrade. If you want a serene setting, then by all means upgrade.

 

[xlsm]

I added a day to our trip, we're now going Nov. 29 - Dec. 5. I just realized we'll be there during a bit of Pop Warner (Dec. 4-9) and am nervous about staying at POP now. Since we spend very little time in the room, I'm not sure its worth the money to upgrade to POR, but my 3 year old will definitely need his sleep (so, peace and quiet). Anyone have experience with this? Am I being too paranoid?

My current (and ever-changing) plans are:

Nov. 29 - Late arrival
Nov. 30 - sleep in, Disney Springs (shopping and lunch), tour holiday decorations at other resorts, and either a dinner character meal or the Pirates and Pals fireworks cruise with dinner at The Wave
Dec. 1 - MK and MVMCP (BOG breakfast, Pirates League)
Dec. 2 - EPCOT (with Candlelight and dinner at Garden Grill)
Dec. 3 - Split AK/DHS day (Tusker House breakfast, hoping for the holiday character dining at H&V)
Dec. 4 - Universal

Of course depending on park hours, crowd calendars, etc - any of the last three days could be shifted around!

My personal goal for this trip is not to eat a single french fry, chicken nugget, burger, or pizza. (Hoping to keep my kid from doing the same, but we'll see). So I'm trying lots of new restaurants. The only repeat I currently have planned is BOG - but I've never been for breakfast.

I added your extra day to the list

I'll bet you'll be ok with Pop Warner since you're just there for the beginning
I need to go find the spreadsheet I made months and months ago with the list of what we wanted to do, where we planned to eat, etc...
Life has been so busy lately that I haven't even done much planning for our DLR trip in June. That is VERY unlike me!! At least I know we'll have a hotel and a flight to get there, LOL!!
We had BOG breakfast in July and really liked it. It's the one meal we said we'd consider repeating on our December trip. (We've had our fill of lunch and dinner there)

12/29/16-01/08/17, so excited!

I added you to the December list!!
I don't want to rush the year, but it is REALLY exciting to see the countdown shrinking!!!

 

[constantstar]

We've moved our trip to avoid Pop Warner since we're flexible. We were just there with the cheerleaders earlier this month and I'm not going through that again. We're now going November 27-December 3rd. Probably staying Pop but if the right deal comes along, I'm going POR (fingers crossed).

We've never done Christmas in Disney. How do you guys plan MK days around the parties? We want to attend one party but have 2.5 or 3 MK days (5.5 park days total). That's looking tricky!

So far I'm thinking (no hoppers):
Sunday - arrive/Epcot for Soarin' and Illuminations
Monday - AK
Tuesday - MK until party then go do Chip & Dale's campfire
Wednesday - MK
Thursday - Epcot morning then MK for the party
Friday - Hollywood Studios
Saturday - leave

I would love to skip AK but I do want to see Rivers of Light.

 

[pigletgirl]

I don't want to rush the year, but it is REALLY exciting to see the countdown shrinking!!!

I know! However, we have a very busy 2016 (travelwise) so I'm excited for each and every vacation we have coming up. Christmas at Disney will be the icing on the cake.

 

[xlsm]

I know! However, we have a very busy 2016 (travelwise) so I'm excited for each and every vacation we have coming up. Christmas at Disney will be the icing on the cake.

We're the same this year with travel! The day we get back from California I make my ADRs for December...and the day AFTER we get back, my kids are driving to Florida with their grandparents. The kids were not too happy to hear about that!! Still not sure why their grandmother (ex-MIL) didn't call and make sure those dates were ok before booking...what would she have done if they overlapped?? Oh well!
I'll have a kid free week to recover from the west coast, I guess, and they'll probably sleep the whole drive down to Florida.

 

[1437disney]

How is everyone able to plan their days so far in advance? I feel like I am missing something. Are there park hours or mvmcp dates announced? We really want to do the mvmcp but it's just not in our budget. Should we avoid those dates?

 

[pigletgirl]

We're the same this year with travel! The day we get back from California I make my ADRs for December...and the day AFTER we get back, my kids are driving to Florida with their grandparents. The kids were not too happy to hear about that!! Still not sure why their grandmother (ex-MIL) didn't call and make sure those dates were ok before booking...what would she have done if they overlapped?? Oh well!
I'll have a kid free week to recover from the west coast, I guess, and they'll probably sleep the whole drive down to Florida.

We've got a wedding in June in AZ (outdoor one at that too...), which we'll be gone for a long weekend. Then in July, DH's side of the family is having a huge family reunion in Colorado (his father has 12 siblings) with all the families. That is 1 week. Then our two Florida vacations (April and December) to plan for. It's just a very busy year for our family.

How is everyone able to plan their days so far in advance? I feel like I am missing something. Are there park hours or mvmcp dates announced? We really want to do the mvmcp but it's just not in our budget. Should we avoid those dates?

Nope, nothing has been posted yet for Nov/Dec unfortunately. It may be counter-intuitive but touring the MK on party days is advised. Most people don't go because it closes early. You could potentially get a lot done that day.

 

[Scrooge's Accountant]

Add us to the list We'll be staying from 12/4 to 12/12 at the WL but thinking of switching reservation to Poly due to the construction at WL.

 

[hunterfaimly]

We are for sure going in December, that is about the only thing we have figured out. We are having Santa deliver gifts early and the last gift will be "surprise you are going to Disney world, now!" We did this for our older daughter when she was 7 and now we are doing it for the younger. I think Santa will be delivering on the 17th, unless we can figure out a good enough story to do it after school on the 16th. Depending on airfare prices if we fly or drive. If we drive we won't arrive from Indiana until the 18th if we fly we arrive the 17th. Departure will probably be the 25th either way. Both have advantages and disadvantages. We have always stayed at POR but after pricing it and the Pop being almost $2400 cheaper we were going to do that but I just found out renting DVC points would put us on the monorail line for almost the same price as the value. So we don't know exactly when we are leaving or returning, we don't know exactly our mode of transportation, or where we are staying. But we are going to Disney in December, that we know.

Noelle

 

[xlsm]

to our new December travelers!

I updated the first page with the new info

I worked a little on plans today, just a little park outline and some thoughts on restaurants. Love seeing the month is a single digit in my countdown!!
Hope everyone has had a great weekend (our weather has been so nice, 60s and 70s for temps, but here where we are we haven't had much of a winter this year anyway) and pixie dust for a wonderful week ahead

 

[princesskaycee]

HELLO EVERYONE! My family and I will be going to Disney World Dec 3rd-13th, 2016. Finally bringing my boyfriend along for the trip after trying so hard to get him to join us the last time. So yes, this will be his first time and I can't wait for him to (hopefully) "get it."

PS- how can I change my profile pic on here??? LOL