***Official December 2017 thread!

[tarahill]

Do they have Star Wars show at DHS? I thought it is temporarily replaced with Jingle Bells Jingle Bam

It is nightly at 9pm starting 12/15. We are doing the Star Wars Galactic Party which is a closed event on the 16th.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

22 days until I check in to art of animation for a 9 day Christmas vacation with my 2 kids!

 

[hsmamainva]

We leave in 30 days!!!

 

[dnllmz]

I must be losing my mind 3 weeks out. The selling/buying camera has been nuts. Most of it should be fine. I did order the wrong lens the other day. I was hoping it was the vendors fault but alas it was mine. No big deal because they will ship the right one while I ship the wrong one back. From all the other Amazon shopping I have done, the backpack is the best purchase. I am about to buy another when the lightning deal comes back. Even at $20 it is excellent. I also purchased a 5-pack of water proof bags for $10. They fold up very small, fit easily in the backpack pouch, and I can protect the camera and other things with them if we encounter rain/water.

I finally decided that we are not going to use DME on arrival day. $25 Uber ride is not worth the hassle and getting out super early on a Saturday morning.We would have to leave the hotel by 5:45AM for DME to get to OKW at the same time. We will just hit up Uber at 6:30AM. My next biggest debacle is a grocery run. I know everyone may say to have it delivered. For me, the prices are insane for the items and they charge a delivery fee. On top of that, adult beverages cannot be delivered...at least none that I found. Still working this one out. We may, may, head to AoA after lunch at AK. Explore there for a little bit and then Uber to a grocery store, get what we need, and then Uber to OKW. After settling in and checking out the resort, head back to AK for the night.

What bag did you get? My bag needs to be replaced.

 

[nancy155]

I must be losing my mind 3 weeks out. The selling/buying camera has been nuts. Most of it should be fine. I did order the wrong lens the other day. I was hoping it was the vendors fault but alas it was mine. No big deal because they will ship the right one while I ship the wrong one back. From all the other Amazon shopping I have done, the backpack is the best purchase. I am about to buy another when the lightning deal comes back. Even at $20 it is excellent. I also purchased a 5-pack of water proof bags for $10. They fold up very small, fit easily in the backpack pouch, and I can protect the camera and other things with them if we encounter rain/water.

I finally decided that we are not going to use DME on arrival day. $25 Uber ride is not worth the hassle and getting out super early on a Saturday morning.We would have to leave the hotel by 5:45AM for DME to get to OKW at the same time. We will just hit up Uber at 6:30AM. My next biggest debacle is a grocery run. I know everyone may say to have it delivered. For me, the prices are insane for the items and they charge a delivery fee. On top of that, adult beverages cannot be delivered...at least none that I found. Still working this one out. We may, may, head to AoA after lunch at AK. Explore there for a little bit and then Uber to a grocery store, get what we need, and then Uber to OKW. After settling in and checking out the resort, head back to AK for the night.

I don't know if "We go shop" is still in business, but when I used them in 2014 they delivered the adult beverages I ordered with them. I just had to be there to receive it and sign for it.

Yes they are I just looked it up. https://www.wegoshop.com/location15-1-6.html

 

[BigredNole]

What bag did you get? My bag needs to be replaced.

Not sure if I can place a link. A mod can delete if it is not permitted. I was skeptical, but it got here and was as all of the video reviews I saw. It is simply to fold again. It holds everything they say.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MS64YUC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[dnllmz]

Not sure if I can place a link. A mod can delete if it is not permitted. I was skeptical, but it got here and was as all of the video reviews I saw. It is simply to fold again. It holds everything they say.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MS64YUC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thank you!

 

[BigredNole]

I don't know if "We go shop" is still in business,

Thank you. The issue I have is they all charge a big fee and the prices are higher than the in-store prices. I will just use Uber. We won't lose much time by using Uber.

 

[BigredNole]

3 weeks from right now, we will be Ubering to OKW resort. Pretty much everything is done except for packing at this point. We probably won't pack until the day we head to the airport. We have all day before our flights, so need something to occupy the time.

 

[monica9]

23 days till our FIRST trip. What are some must pack items that I’m probably not going to think of? Our family is 2 adults, almost 5yr old son, and 2.5 year old girl.

The weather is all over the place at this time. Some people say to pack mittens and scarves but to me that’s excessive but depends on where you live. Make sure you have a sweatshirt and pants in the stroller for your kids for morning and nights. We went one December and it was hot and sunny and the following year it rained almost every day and was cold.
The Florida water is disgusting so pack water bottles or you can ask for a cup of water from the fountain at any quick service and I believe it’s filtered since it doesn’t have that gross taste that the water fountains have. Bring individual snacks for the kids unless you don’t mind spending a ton every time they get hungry especially for your 2 year old. Might think about a couple hand held games or toys for them while waiting in line (think if you look online people have some great ideas). A lot of the rides have interactive wait lines but they still get long and boring for the kids. Don’t forget autograph books and thicker pens that are easier for the characters with gloves and costumes on to hold.

Have fun!

 

[monica9]

I must be losing my mind 3 weeks out. The selling/buying camera has been nuts. Most of it should be fine. I did order the wrong lens the other day. I was hoping it was the vendors fault but alas it was mine. No big deal because they will ship the right one while I ship the wrong one back. From all the other Amazon shopping I have done, the backpack is the best purchase. I am about to buy another when the lightning deal comes back. Even at $20 it is excellent. I also purchased a 5-pack of water proof bags for $10. They fold up very small, fit easily in the backpack pouch, and I can protect the camera and other things with them if we encounter rain/water.

I finally decided that we are not going to use DME on arrival day. $25 Uber ride is not worth the hassle and getting out super early on a Saturday morning.We would have to leave the hotel by 5:45AM for DME to get to OKW at the same time. We will just hit up Uber at 6:30AM. My next biggest debacle is a grocery run. I know everyone may say to have it delivered. For me, the prices are insane for the items and they charge a delivery fee. On top of that, adult beverages cannot be delivered...at least none that I found. Still working this one out. We may, may, head to AoA after lunch at AK. Explore there for a little bit and then Uber to a grocery store, get what we need, and then Uber to OKW. After settling in and checking out the resort, head back to AK for the night.

Are you an amazon prime member? They have amazon now which delivers in 2 hours and for prime members they are delivering in 1 hour. I don’t think there’s an extra fee (except tipping) but it’s whatever the price would be if you were to get it from regular amazon I believe.
We will be using that.
As far as transportation, we need to figure out how to get from all star sports to animal kingdom lodge. One cast member told me they will transfer our luggage and another told us we will need to bring it onto the bus. I’ve never seen anyone bring luggage onto the regular Disney busses to the parks. I don’t think she knows what she’s talking about!

 

[monica9]

17 more days until our vacation starts and 15 or 16 more days until we tell our daughter we are going!!!
I really want to tell her the night before but not sure she will be able to sleep and will want to tell her friends at school. Or we tell her two nights before so she gets the excitement out of her system but then again “ we are going in two days!” Is not as exciting as “ we are going tomorrow morning!” We originally we’re going to get in the car and act like we were driving her to school but with a 1 year old to get ready and to hide all the luggage from my 9 year old seems too impossible and I don’t want her finding out by seeing luggage. I have this huge scavenger hunt planned out and so excited to finally tell her after 6 months!

 

[dnllmz]

Are you an amazon prime member? They have amazon now which delivers in 2 hours and for prime members they are delivering in 1 hour. I don’t think there’s an extra fee (except tipping) but it’s whatever the price would be if you were to get it from regular amazon I believe.
We will be using that.
As far as transportation, we need to figure out how to get from all star sports to animal kingdom lodge. One cast member told me they will transfer our luggage and another told us we will need to bring it onto the bus. I’ve never seen anyone bring luggage onto the regular Disney busses to the parks. I don’t think she knows what she’s talking about!

There’s a good thread on split stays on here. There’s a lot of info about best way to get luggage over to next resort. You can go to the bell hop services at Sports & they will transfer your luggage to AKL.

 

[monica9]

There’s a good thread on split stays on here. There’s a lot of info about best way to get luggage over to next resort. You can go to the bell hop services at Sports & they will transfer your luggage to AKL.

Thank you. I figured they could do that. Going to check the split stay thread now. Thanks

 

[monica9]

There’s a good thread on split stays on here. There’s a lot of info about best way to get luggage over to next resort. You can go to the bell hop services at Sports & they will transfer your luggage to AKL.

I am never able to search for threads. When I go to the magnifying glass and type in “split stay thread” it just brings me to a thousand forums that have the words split stay in them. Is there an official split stay forum and how do I get to it?

 

[dnllmz]

I am never able to search for threads. When I go to the magnifying glass and type in “split stay thread” it just brings me to a thousand forums that have the words split stay in them. Is there an official split stay forum and how do I get to it?

Here’s the link. Sorry, I should have posted the link originally. https://www.disboards.com/threads/the-ultimate-split-stay-thread.3322505/

 

[monica9]

Here’s the link. Sorry, I should have posted the link originally. https://www.disboards.com/threads/the-ultimate-split-stay-thread.3322505/

Thank you!!

 

[Meeko5]

17 more days until our vacation starts and 15 or 16 more days until we tell our daughter we are going!!!
I really want to tell her the night before but not sure she will be able to sleep and will want to tell her friends at school. Or we tell her two nights before so she gets the excitement out of her system but then again “ we are going in two days!” Is not as exciting as “ we are going tomorrow morning!” We originally we’re going to get in the car and act like we were driving her to school but with a 1 year old to get ready and to hide all the luggage from my 9 year old seems too impossible and I don’t want her finding out by seeing luggage. I have this huge scavenger hunt planned out and so excited to finally tell her after 6 months!

We surprised our 2 last year by wrapping the magic bands and letting them open them an hour before we left for the airport. I filmed it all, and it was SO anticlimactic. By 8yo was very matter of fact like "oh so we get to use these next time we go? Cool" he didn't get that we were leaving right away. Then I turned the camera off and he started jumping and squealing of course haha.

This year I'm telling them the day before we leave - so they can get excited and I don't have to hear "is it today yet" a million times. 27 days!!

 

[monica9]

We surprised our 2 last year by wrapping the magic bands and letting them open them an hour before we left for the airport. I filmed it all, and it was SO anticlimactic. By 8yo was very matter of fact like "oh so we get to use these next time we go? Cool" he didn't get that we were leaving right away. Then I turned the camera off and he started jumping and squealing of course haha.

This year I'm telling them the day before we leave - so they can get excited and I don't have to hear "is it today yet" a million times. 27 days!!

Haha. I watch videos and some kids react by crying, some get frustrated, some just stare because they don’t understand and some go crazy and do flips around the house.
Knowing my daughter she’s going to scream and freak out. I can’t wait to get it in camera. It will be so funny though if she just stands there and doesn’t scream!

 

[LindyWebb]

We did a surprise Christmas gift for a Disney cruise last year and we left two days after Christmas. The best part of the video is how excited the kids are and how they jump up and hug me and thank me but not their dad! Lol. They know full well who planned everything! But he was a little hurt they did even acknowledge he had something to do with it!