Our First Very Disney December--with the IL's and a 2YO

[WTP]

Introduction

I'm Susan, age 29. Married for 5 years to my wonderful DH. We have 1 son, who will be 2 years and 3 months old at our trip in December. I have fond memories of visiting WDW as a child, especially of EPCOT Center in the 80's when all of the characters wore the silver space costumes with rainbows on the chest. (If you were there, you certainly know what I mean!).

My last trip to the world was in 2005 when DH and I took a 7-night getaway to Pop Century. We had a blast. And, we had unknowingly scheduled our vacation to overlap with his parents' trip (to Yacht Club). We met up with them several times and visited their resort. It was probably the best time we have ever spent with them. Not surprising, since we were on the happiest place on earth! So this time we are just planning on traveling with them.

Meet The Players
Me (Susan) This trip will be my 6th trip to the world, but only my 2nd as a paying adult. I'm a cross between a planner and a winger. I love the planning process almost as much as the vacation. But I'm happy to go with the flow once we get to the world, providing a framework and information for my family so we can make informed decisions about how we wing it.

DH We just celebrated our 5th anniversary. DH has probably been to the world about a dozen times with his family, but like me, only once before as a paying adult. DH thinks I have absolutely lost my mind with all of my obsessing and planning here on the Dis.

DS My sweet boy turns 2 on 9/11 of this year. This trip will be his first time at Disney, hopefully the first of many! When we first talked about this trip almost a year ago, we thought that Dec of this year might even be pushing it for him. But now that I see what a 2-year-old is really like, I'm wishing we would have bumped the trip up a little. DS is obsessed with Winnie the Pooh. I mean, we have all of the videos, he has a stuffed Pooh that he carries around the house, he begs to listen to the Heffalump soundtrack in the car, and his favorite show is...you guessed it...My Friends Tigger and Pooh. We are thinking that seeing him meet Pooh at the Crystal Palace will be worth the cost of the trip.

FIL The timing of this trip is mostly for FIL. He is only in his early 60's, but we are counting ourselves lucky to still have him with us. He is hospitalized an average of every 9 months or so with heart-attack like sympoms. He's had several bypasses and stents put in. Even with modifications to his diet and his incredible shape, the cholesterol is just attacking his heart. We are hoping his health will improve now that he has retired and is under less stress. FIL is a Disney fanatic and has always dreamed of taking a grandchild to WDW. Our DS is his first and only grandchild for now so we are happy to make his dreams come true.

MIL MIL is also a huge Disney fan and she is excited to watch DS enjoy the world for the first time. She has already volunteered to take DS back to the hotel in the evenings so she can put him to bed each night. She is a huge softie and has a hard time not buying every single stuffed animal she sees for her grandson. It was a bit of a struggle for her to get time off from her job in the middle of December, and we are all glad that she could make it happen! She and FIL have been to Disney about 20 times but this is their first time not going in the summer.
The Booking Process

We started talking about this trip in March. DH and I are not fans of the florida summer and have always dreamed of going in December to see the holiday decorations. And now that we are not a couple but a family of 3, we were hoping to either wait until we were a family of 4 (but who wants to wait that long??) go with some extended family so that we wouldn't have to ride the thrill rides via child swap all day. DH's parents were a natural first choice since they go to WDW almost every summer. When FIL announced his retirement from teaching this Spring, we knew it was meant to be! We priced out some vacations and gave them a call. I don't think they spent any time thinking about it before they were shouting "yes yes yes!!!" Actally they were quite surprised and honored.

So I began to book...fasten your seatbelt as I'm a crazy resort switcher... (and as I type, still not done switching)

At first, we thought we wanted a DVC 2-Bedroom property. Privacy is important to me, as I want to keep all of the fluffy-happy Disney feelings at the max, and my in-laws, though wonderful, are still my in-laws.

Not knowing much about how big the DVc empire had gotten, first I did a search for Saratoga Springs. I priced that and presented it to everyone and they agreed it was reasonable. I was about to book when...

...I discovered the Beach Club Villas. The Yacht Club is FIL and MIL's preferred resort, and 6 nights at BCV was only $500 more. For the walkability to Epcot and DHS, that seemed like a bargain. So I booked that instead. But then...

...I remembered about the AAA discount when reading the disbaords, so I called to apply that to the room. But there was no AAA discount for the BCV 2BR available, nor the BWI, but they offered me Bay Lake Tower, 2BR, Bay Lake View, for $700 less than the rack rate at BCV. So I called FIL and MIL to confirm that it would be oK, then switched.

It was around this time that I discussed with DH the possibility of adding a few days on the beginning of the trip just for the 3 of us. Six nights, I argued was a fine vacation, but since DH is able to get more time off from work, could we try to get a mod for a few days? Since DS is rather untested on planes, maybe a day or two to settle in wouldn't be so bad, either. He agreed. I tried to get us 2 nights at CSR, but the standard views were booked, and with the BLT cost being so high we wanted to go standard. So I booked us 2 nights at POFQ standard view.

The reservations sat here for a while, but just yesterday, as I type this, we decided to give up the DVC/BLT altogether. For one, DH and I still own the house we used to live in--at the time of the original booking, we thought that for sure it would be sold by December. It's not looking like that will be the case. Yes we could still swing the BLT (splitting the cost with FIL and MIL), but money isn't growing on trees these days and it just doesn't seem prudent. Secondly, Disney's discounts on the mods just got way too steep for us to pass up. When the BLT was only $200 more per night ($100 for each family more) than a mod, it seemed reasonable to pay more for the space, proximity to the monorail, amenities, and views. But when the steep discount kicked in, it became more than twice the price of 2 rooms at the mods. It was over $2,400 more for 6 nights in the 2br. $1,200 per family. That is almost a whole vacation! We just couldn't justify that expense. I called FIL and MIL with the options and the wholeheartedly agreed that the mods were great and that the savings were worth switching. It's only $648 per family for all 6 nights! (room only) Not a bad deal at all!

I tried to talk them into CSR, my favorite mod. However even though they have never been there, they are convinced CSR is "out of the way" and "in the middle of nowhere". I don't want to put my needs before theirs so I asked what they wanted. They said any other mod but that. I've been to CBR twice, and really want to try something else, even though I found it to be a nice place. POFQ was booked when I called, so I booked POR. I have to admit I'm still wishing I could get CSR, but I know POR will be lovely. (Ironically CSR is now completely booked for our 2 night pre-trip, but at least 2 rooms were available for the 6 nights I wasn't supposed to book! )

So, for right now we are scheduled for

12/8-12/10 POFQ--Me, DH, DS
12/10-12/16 POR --Me, DH, DS, FIL, MIL

I'm going to wait and see if something will open up at CSR for our 2-night stay. If not we are considering a standard view at AKL. It seems silly to do a split stay between the two Port Orleans resorts, but I know POFQ has a lot of charm so we will stay there if all else fails. I was really looking forward to POFQ until we were also staying at POR!

 

[WTP]

Our Tentative plan and ADR's
Since I'm still waiting on our ADR date, here's our tentative plan:

Tuesday 12/8 DH, DS, and I arrive at our resorts by noon

Wednesday 12/9 DS gets his first haircut at Barbershop on Main St.

Thursday 12/10 IL's arrive at POR by noon.
Catch a late lunch ADR (maybe 2pm?) at Crystal palace

Friday 12/11 We will probably split up in the evening and IL's will take DS to one of the parks, and put him to bed, so DH and I can have an evening out. plans TBD! I have a feeling we'll end up at Epcot.

Saturday 12/12
Dinner: Candlelight processional package, Garden Grill dinner? Hoping to get the 6:45 seating. We may have to change to another restaurant if we can't get the 4:30 seating. We'll see when the packages are released

Sunday 12/13 Our alternate night for CP package, if we can't get something we want on Saturday.

Monday 12/14 Dinner at Ohana. 7pm? Watch MVMCP fireworks from the Poly beach at 9pm.

Tuesday 12/15 DH and I might try to get away for a second time to have tea at the GF.

Wednesday 12/16
Our flights depart around 7pm, so I guess we'll leave on DME around 4-5?

What We're Not Doing
Fantasmic! All of the adults have seen this, and while we think it's a great show, the crowd reports scare us. The dinner package has lost its luster because of the lack of the private entrance. Plus, we think that 2yo DS maybe frightened by it, especially later at night when he may be too tired for even child-friendly activities

MVMCP This party sounds fun, but because of the late hours (7pm-midnight) we think it won't be a good choice for DS. We'd rather spend the $200+ on something else for this trip.

Yuletide Fantasy Tour I wanted to treat the IL's to this since they love tours, but since the minimum age is 16, they are not interested in doing it w/o DS. I tried to tell them as much as they love their grandchild, they might want a break, but they're adamant!

 

[shellywalker]

You're plans sound amazing! I can't wait to read more! We are going in December also and our DS will be almost 2!!!

 

[WTP]

The Great Free Dining or Room-Only Discount Debate

Really, for us, this is a "to DDP or pay out of pocket" question, since really free dining is a glorified room discount.

Pros of the DDP for us:

• Picking anything on the menu without regard to cost
• Having very little out of pocket cost while vacationing
• a great excuse to try TS restaurants we might not otherwise try

Cons of the DDP for us:

• We don't usually desire to eat at a sit down meal every day
• Having to pay out of pocket for tips
• DS, at 2yo is not included, so we'd have to pay out of pocket for him at non-buffets
• We don't eat dessert with every meal
• We don't drink soda at every meal, or when we do, we share
• We might order more food than we are hungry for in an attempt to "make the most" of our vacation
• My IL's feel the DDP is too much sit-down for them, saying it takes away from their time in the parks
• With a 2yo in tow, we might need more flexibility than ADR's can provide
• We already have our tickets, purchased before the price increase, from undercover tourist. 4 1-day base tickets come in at over $300, and we don't know when they will be used next.
• The candlelight processional package is rumored to use 2TS credits this year. Prices haven't been released, but we can probably get a better deal paying out of pocket for this. If we choose a tier 1 restaurant (and Garden Grill is our first choice) based on last year's prices, it will come to less than $40 per person for the package this year. And FIL has already said he wants to treat us all to it. Yay!

The room-only rate for each room for 6 nights at POR is $648 with taxes.
Free dining with a 1-day base ticket for the same room is $1,168.
That's a $520 difference per room.

Can we feed 4 adults and 1 20 in Disney for around $1040? I think so. I don't think we could dine 1TS per day for that--but neither do we really want to.

I think our dining style--all of us disney veterans, except for my 2yo --is just better suited to paying out of pocket. We can order those appetizers, forget dessert, drink tap water, possibly save money--but getting exactly what we want when we want, priceless.

 

[WTP]

On "Preparing" A 2-year-old for Disney

One would think that a toddler needs to be prepared for Disney, right? But I think mine needed it. Still needs it. Will we have a good time if I don't do this? Of course! But I think he (and us all) will have a better time if he is excited about the characters he is meeting and has some experience in a theme park setting.

Characters and movies when we first planned this trip, DS had no idea who mickey mouse was! Nor had he ever seen a feature-length Disney film! After all, he was barely 1 then and just starting to watch TV.

To remedy this, I headed straight to my local thrift store and bought some Disney VHS tapes. They're less than $1 each on the sale days. I also got some old free VHS tapes from my IL's attic! We're fortunate enough to have a combo DVD/VHS tape player, so the VHS tapes still have value to us. It is kind of a pain to fast forward through previews, but I figure I can ask for replacement DVD's of his favorites for Christmas.

So far, I've collected:

• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Pooh's Grand Adventure
• The Tigger Movie
• Springtime with Roo
• The Heffalump Movie (he LOVES the Pooh movies so I buy whenever I can)
• Snow White
• Aladdin (this is a huge favorite!)
• Cinderella (This is mine from when I was a kid)
• Lady and the Tramp
• The Little Mermaid

I'd love to get my hands on:

• Toy Story 1 and 2
• Peter Pan

What am I forgetting on this list?

We own Season 1 and 2 of the Muppet show, which is one of his favorites, so we're good to go on that front!

I've also made more of an effort to get him watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It took him a while to warm up to this one but it seems to be a hit now. It pales in comparison to My Friends Tigger and Pooh though! My kids is a Pooh nut! DS has the Handy Manny tools playset and loves it but would rather play with than instead of watch Manny on TV. He will watch it once in a while though.

Theme Park Practice
Last week the three of us went to HersheyPark, which is near my mom's house in Lancaster, PA. It was good practice for us to see what it was like to push a stroller around in the heat all day. (Although, we don't expect too much heat in December--crossing fingers!) It was also a good experience for DS to wait in a line.

One interesting thing to note--at HersheyPark, which I tend to think of as "family friendly" there seem to be 3 distinct categories:

1. Thrill rides, which children under ~42 inches may not ride
2. Family rides, which everyone can ride together
3. Kiddie rides, in which 1 parent or tall child may ride with a child under a certain height
4. Kiddie rides, which the child has to ride alone

Now of course any theme park is going to have category 1, thrill rides! In Disney this would be space mountain and TOT. Fine. That's what child swap and fastpass are for. There are plenty of these at HersheyPark.

But there were precious few Family Rides--a train, a monorail, a speedway, and a few shows. There was very little for the 3 of us to do together.

It was the kiddie rides, with and without adults that kind of put us off. For the rides where 1 of could accompany DS, it was only one of us. The other person had to stand aside, wave, or take a picture. (Or, as it turned out, take turns riding the coasters while the other rode on the kiddie rides) This was kind of sad for a family of 3, as there was so little we could all do together. In families of 4 or more, the second child is the other adult's "ticket" to ride.

DS refused to go on any rides by himself. He really wanted to ride on a mini wave-swinger. He stood in line with DH, saying "just me. ride. swing" but then when it was time to go he cried when DH started to walk away. So of course we took him right out. If he's not happy, it's just not fun!

What DH and I realized during the day is that Disney has no kiddie rides. Everything that our son can ride, both of us can ride with him! Hooray! Disney is awesome. Of course there are several rides that DS can't ride with us, but with 4 adults, we'll have plenty of opportunity to do anything that is on our plan.

All in all, the 1-day theme park excursion was a good practice. I was relieved to see than DS didn't cower from the candy bay characters in costume. He had no desire to stand with one, but he did wave. I'm not too worried about that, since he really wasn't sure what they were supposed to be.

Disney's Rides

Youtube is my friend. So far we've watched IASW, POTC,and HM on Youtube and he thinks they're great. Especially IASW.

We watched Goofy's Barnstormer, too. Being a train fanatic, he wanted to watch again and again, until I realized that the age requirement for the Barnstormer is 3. So we haven't returned to that one. Oops!

I also dug out an old cassette of Disney songs, and we were singing Yo Ho, A pirates life for me! and It's a Small World in the bathroom (where our only cassette player is) until the cassette finally gave up the ghost. I found a Disney CD at the local library and we listened to that for a few weeks, too. Good times.