Our Very Magical Christmas Grand Gathering!!!!! Shhhhhhh its a SURPRISE!

[emmakatbaby]

Hi and welcome to my first ever pre-trip report. We are going to WDW in December 2011. This will be a surprise trip for the kids as it will be their Christmas present this year. I can’t wait to share all of my plans and to get some advice from the Disney experts-----all of you!!!! Let me introduce the cast of this story.
This is my family on our last trip in November 2011 on the Winnie the Pooh ride. It is the only photo I could find of me as I am the one who is always taking the pictures!!

I am a 39 year old mother of 3 and yes I will admit it---I am a Disney addict!!! I have been 13 times and I can’t wait to go back! I recently completed my masters degree in nursing and I have just passed national boards to become an Adult Health Nurse Practitioner. My 40th birthday is also in December so this trip is my graduation/birthday/Christmas present!!

DH

This is him with one of his favorite drinks in the World!! He “likes” Disney, but does not “Love” it like I do. He tolerates all of the trips for me and our kids--- he is such a great guy.


DS13

He is in 8th grade this school year--I just don't know where the time has gone. Next year he will be in high school. That is so hard to believe. He is a straight A student, a black belt in karate and LOVES all sports. He plays football, basketball and runs track. He is also very active in Jr. Beta and 4-H. He is also a Disney addict!! He loves all of the rides-- calm ones or thrill ones!! He has been to WDW 6 times and talks about “our next trip” all of the time!!

And just so you know that he is not always a sweaty mess--here he is again!

DS9

He is in 4th grade this school year. He is also a straight A student. He is a red belt in karate and plays football. He will begin 4-H this school year and is so excited about that. He is also a Disney addict!! He loves all of the rides too except to for the “dark, scary ones”!! He has been to WDW 5 times and asks me DAILY when we are going back!!!

DD6

She is in 1st grade this school year. She loves school and is so excited to have a real desk, real tests and homework this school year. I can’t wait to see how she feels in a few months about all of that!! She is in dancing with this being her 5th year. She loves it especially since now she can take hip-hop!! She is also our little princess. She celebrated her 6th birthday last November during our trip with a visit to BBB and CRT!
She loves all of the rides too especially Expedition Everest and Splash Mountain. She has not tried Space Mountain or Tower of Terror yet but plans to on our next trip. We will see how that goes since she is not a fan of the dark either. She has been to WDW 4 times and also asks me daily when we are going back!!!

My parents

Mom and Dad aka Nana and Pawpaw. They are both retired and as addicted to Disney as I am. I guess that is where I got it from. All I have to say is “Do you guys want to go Disney with us” and their bags are packed!! They are so much fun to plan the trips with and to travel with. This is their 13th trip to WDW but the first ever at Christmas so they are super excited to see all of the decorations that I have told them so much about!

This is them being asked to stand up and "kiss" at Whispering Canyon Cafe in 2009 to celebrate their anniversary.

My sister

She does not like to be in picutres so I had to use one from Easter of this year when we took family pictures. She is in the red shirt. She is a elementary school teacher and the mother of 3. She loves Disney too but is not quite as addicted as I am. This will be her 10th trip.

DNi19

She is a college sophomore majoring in nursing. She is doing very well in school and also has a part time job. She is also an awesome softball player. This summer, her all star team won 1st place in the local and regional tournaments and 2nd in the state tournament !! She loves all of the rides at Disney. She loves to travel and this will be her 7th trip to WDW.

DNi14

This is her for her 8th grade social in May 2011. She is in the pink. She is a high school freshman this school year. She decided to join the high school band and will be traveling to New York City to be in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and to Hawaii. She loves to travel also, but LOVES her "texting" more . A true teenager!! This will be her 6th trip to WDW and she also loves all of the rides.

DNep11

This is a picture of he and my DS9 in 2009 right before they went on their pirate cruise. He is in middle school (6th grade) this school year. He plays basketball, baseball and is in football for the first time this school year. This is his 4th trip to WDW and he also loves all of the rides.


Up next I am going to share pics of our last trip which is why I really wanted to go back during Christmas. Everything was so beautiful!

 

[emmakatbaby]

In November 2011, my family was fortunate enough to be invited to go to WDW with some friends to stay in their DVC resort-Bay Lake Towers. We had a Bay Lake View 2BR villa. This was our first time going at any time of the year other than the summer. We had an absolute fabulous time and were in awe of the beautiful Christmas decorations.

Magic Kingdom

Epcot

Animal Kingdom

Hollywood Studios

Downtown Disney

Continued in next post

 

[emmakatbaby]

Grand Floridian

Polynesian

Contemporary

Fort Wilderness

Taken on the Carriage Ride through the fort to see the Christmas decorations


"ICE!" at Gaylord Palms

After this trip, I knew that I wanted my parents and sister and her children to experience Disney this way-----some day. We all went to Disney as a family in June of 2010 so I didn’t “push” us into going in 2011.

One day in March 2011, my parents were visiting at my house and I was showing them my photo pass CD of our November trip. Both of them made comments like “I would love to go at Christmas one of these years”. I shyly said “How about this Christmas?” “It can be everyone’s Christmas present.” After some more conversation, they were all excited about going!!! I was beyond thrilled but I still had to convince DH that we “needed” to go back again. My parents just love Pop Century Resort. So I got on the phone and made 3 room only reservations just to insure that we would have a resort reservation, I still needed to convince DH to go back. I very slowly brought up the idea to him over a couple of days and he finally agreed to it! Yipee!!!! We are going to Disney for Christmas!
My next challenge was my sister. She is a single mom of 3, with a daughter in college. I was not sure she would be able to afford to go. I began talking with her about it, and she was beyond excited to go back to Disney and especially at Christmas!!
So now you have it--our Very Magical Grand Gathering Christmas Vacation was born!

Up next, our trip details!

 

[emmakatbaby]

Our children have school this year until December 20th ( a Tuesday) this year before they get out for the Christmas holiday. We planned on leaving after school on the 20th and driving as far as we could (until around midnight), sleeping for a few hours in a hotel and finishing our journey the next day. We were staying until the 28th which is 7 nights/8 days. Then the free dining came out in August. My brain was doing a lot of Disney “thinking” because I really wanted to take advantage of the free dining, but to do that, we had to check in by the 17th. I pulled out the laptop and began plugging in the 17th to the Disney website. I soon realized that with free dining, we would SAVE $600 per family . I called Disney to verify that my findings were correct then I called my parents screaming with excitement. We could actually extend our stay to 11 nights, have free dining and save money!! We had to change our room only reservations to a package anyway so we called that day and booked it. We are going December 17th - December 28th ---11 nights, 10 days in the parks and free quick service dining for our entire stay!! Woohoo!! The only down side is that we have to take our kids out of school for 1 and ½ days but to get free dining-- I am going to do it!! Their teachers have already said it is ok---did I mention how awesome they are?

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

We are going over Thanksgiving this year. Also a surprise for our kids-and we want to see all the beautiful things you pictured!!!

Will it be a surprise for both families? Very fun!

 

[emmakatbaby]

We are going to have our “family Christmas” on Dec. 10 and 11. My aunts from Texas will meet us at my parent’s house that weekend and we will spend the weekend together, shopping, cooking, sharing stories and exchanging gifts. When they leave on Sunday, my sister and I will stay a little longer so we can make the “Big Reveal”. We are doing this a week early so we have time to pack. She has 2 teenagers and they are very picky about their clothes so she really wants them to pack for themselves. We wrote a 6 stanza poem. Each stanza will be wrapped in a box labeled 1 to 6. They will open from oldest to youngest. Here are the stanzas.

#1
This is a gift that is made of 6 parts
Yours is the first, it comes from our hearts

#2
Yours is the second,
It is more than one day
This is something you’ve done before
But not in this way


#3
This gift will be loads and loads of fun
You will be so glad you got it when everything is done

#4
When you grow up and become a big kid
You’ll remember this gift and all that we did

#5
This is a Christmas gift you will never forget
Nor Kristen, nor Katelyn, nor Cameron nor Emma nor Rhett

#6
You’re number 6 so now the rhyme ends
We’ll spend Christmas with Mickey and all of his friends!!!

Then they will each be handed one of these:

That afternoon, after they open their gift, they will each receive more presents to open.

From Nana and Pawpaw
1. A shirt with this picture:

2. A ticket for a “Horseback ride” at Fort Wilderness
(This is something they have done before and always ask to do again. They will be super excited about this.)

3. A invitation to eat at Chef Mickey’s on our last day before we leave.
(This is also something they have also done before and ask to do again. My DS9 and DD6 have never done this so they will surprised to see what it is all about).

From Mom and Dad (DH and I):

1. Autograph books (DS9 DD6 and DNep11)
2. Picture mattes to go in a picture frame ( DS13, DNi19 and DNi14)
3. Pick a pearl coupons ( DD6, DNi19 and DNi14)

4. Lego Land coupons (DS9 and Dnep11)

5. Hot Air Balloon ride (DS13)

6. A new Movie (1 for each family for the ride to Orlando)
7. Santa Around the World Books-- (I made these from a creative Dis-sign thread)

(This is only the front cover, I made one for each country for them to get the country's stamp in, and place a picture of them with the storyteller)

We will then celebrate our trip with a WDW themed ice cream cake from Dairy Queen!!

What do you think?


Pics from our last Horseback Riding adventure at Fort Wilderness

 

[emmakatbaby]

Thursday December 15th

We are going to have a Mickey Meal and a Mickey Meeting at my house (this is the night before we leave).

Our meal:

Mickey shaped chicken nuggets (for the kids)
Baked chicken (for the adults)
Mickey shaped Mac & Cheese
Salad

Cup Cakes with Mickey Sprinkles or
Mickey Ice Cream (a scoop of vanilla ice cream and oreos for the ears)


Our Meeting:

We will discuss the rules of the road, cell phone use, what we are taking and not taking into the parks, getting along and make them understand that there of 6 kids and 5 adults---we will all get to do the things we want to just not at the moment we want to do them. Everyone will have to sign a contract stating they understand the rules (adults and children).

(We have traveled together before and found this meeting to be quite helpful)

 

[emmakatbaby]

We are going over Thanksgiving this year. Also a surprise for our kids-and we want to see all the beautiful things you pictured!!!

Will it be a surprise for both families? Very fun!

Hi,

Yes, it will be a surprise for all of the kids. We just don't know what to buy anymore so we thought " hey, why not buy a vacation" !! My parents, sister and I are have a ball planning everything. The kids think we are going next summer so when we talk about the trip, we make sure to say "when we go to Disney next summer, do you want to....". They are actually helping to plan the trip and don't even know it!!

 

[emmakatbaby]

Friday Dec. 16th

Leave right after school (around 4pm)
Drive to Pensacola Florida---arrive around 11pm (hopefully)

Saturday Dec. 17th

Leave Pensacola around 6am so we can get to WDW by lunch time.
Check into Pop, eat lunch at the resort, explore the resort, unpack and get settled and decorate our rooms for Christmas
(we are bringing small trees, lights for the windows and Christmas Disney window clings)
Mom and Dad will go to church

The rest of us will go to Celebration, Florida
(Has anyone ever been here? Just wondering what there is to do. The website makes it sound like so much fun we thought we would check it out). Eat Dinner back at Pop!
Rest up for our first park day!

Sunday Dec. 18th

Santa will visit and leave a note telling the children that since we are in WDW for Christmas this year, he is leaving some of their presents early!

Presents are

Coupon for Wagon Ride at Fort Wilderness (this will be our Christmas Eve activity)

Coupon for Chip and Dale Campfire Singalong (this will be after their Horseback ride day)

Boys will receive their invitations for the “Pirate Cruise” (this is leaving from the Grand Floridian on Wednesday Dec. 21)

(this is not made yet, but is requested)

Girls will receive their invitations for Breakfast at Akerhaus (this is for Thursday Dec. 22)

Disney gift card so they can buy souvies

 

[poisonapple_PRINCESS]

Hi! Love all your photo's! Makes me very excited for my own trip this Dec! Love all the things you've made also! Very creative!

 

[emmakatbaby]

Sunday Dec. 18

Park: Hollywood Studios

B- Cereal in the room
L- Backlot Express
D- ABC Commissionary
Snacks-Starring Rolls--Butterfinger cupcake
Chocolate crossaint

Night Activity: Osbourne Lights

Other Activity:


Monday Dec. 19

Park: Magic Kingdom

B-Main Street Bakery (using snack credits)
L-Pecos Bill
D-Cosmic Rays
Snacks- Dole Whip
Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich

Night Activity: 5:20--MK tree lighting ceremony
6:15--Castle Lighting ceremony
Electrical Parade
Holiday Wishes

Other Activity: See Santa and Mrs. Claus near City Hall
11:00am Twas the Night before Christmas show in
Tomorrowland


Tues. Dec. 20

Park: Epcot (Spend day in Future World)

B- 2 CS credits from Pop
L- Electric Umbrella
D- Sunshine Seasons
Snacks- Germany
France
Mickey Bars

Night Activity: 6pm--Mickey’s Tree Lighting Treat
Illuminations or
Boardwalk to see Christmas Decorations

Other Activity:


Wed. Dec. 21

Park: Downtown Disney Day

B- Room--2 CS credits from Pop
L- Earl of Sandwich
D-Contempo Cafe

Plan for this day:

10am--DS13 Character in Flight
Shop until lunch time
12pm--Lunch at Earl’s
1pm--Leave for Fort Wilderness
2:30--Horseback Rides at the Fort

After horseback rides, boat over to contemporary to get on monorail to see resort Christmas decorations--Poly and Grand Floridian

Back to Contemporary to eat at Contempo Café

Boat over to Fort Wilderness for Campfire Singalong and smores

Thursday Dec. 22

Park: Epcot (Spend day in World Showcase)
Storytellers--fill out Santa Around the World books
Girls--Pick A Pearl

B-Akerhaus ( Me, DD6, DH, DNi19, Dni 14)
L-2:25--Candlelight Processional Lunch Package--Beirgarten
(Me, Nana and Dsis)
L- CS in Mexico (DH, Dad, all 6 kids if they are hungry)
D- CS- whoever is hungry

Snacks-Grey Goose Slush

Night Activity:5pm--Candlelight Processional
9:30--Illuminations

Other Activity: Dad and DH take Kids to explore Innovention Buildings
While we at CP


Friday Dec. 23

Park: Animal Kingdom

B- Cereal in Room
L- Yak & Yeti
D- Flame Tree
Snacks- Fried Rice
Pineapple Bars

Night Activity: Boardwalk for Christmas Decorations if we have not seen them yet

Other Activity: 3:45--Mickey Jingle Jungle Parade
At Rope Drop--to see all characters in their holiday outfits




Saturday, Dec. 24

Park: Hollywood Studios

B- Cereal in Room
L-Pizza Planet
D-Pop
Snacks-

Night Activity: 6pm--Christmas Mass
9:30--wagon ride at Fort Wilderness (if we have already done this- we can go to Celebration Florida).

Other Activity:

Sunday, December 25


Park: Magic Kingdom
(Park will be packed--we will fast pass rides and just take in what we
can)
Santa visits again

Presents will be----

All kids--Invites to eat at Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch
Stockings-- Candy from Goofy’s, Cookies from Minnie’s Bake
Shop, Goofy Pretzels and Mickey Suckers
DD6-- Invite to BBB
Baby Tangled
Belle tea set
DD9 and DNep11- Invite to Pirates League
Wii Draw Tablet
Magic Beans
DNi19 and DNi14-- Carriage for pearl and silver chain
Money
DS13--Something for Ipad
Money

Nana and Pawpaw--- Behind the Seeds Tour
(from me and Dsis)
B- Main Street Bakery or room
L-Liberty Tree Tavern
D- Tomorrowland Terrace
Snacks-

Night Activity: Holiday Wishes

Other Activity: Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Parade


Monday Dec. 26

Park: Hollywood Studios

B- Room--cereal
L- ABC or Backlot
D- in Fantasmic
Snacks-

Night Activity: Fantasmic 6:30 and 8:00
Osbourne Lights
Other Activity:


Tuesday, Dec. 27

Park: Magic Kingdom

B- Room--Cereal
L-Pinochio Haus
D- CS
Snacks-

Night Activity:

Other Activity: 8am-- DD6 BBB
9am-- DS9 and Dnep11--Pirates League
4pm--Parade for our Pirates in Adventureland

Wed. Dec. 28th

Park: Park of choice

B- Chef Mickey’s
L- Rest snack credits


Other Activity: Begin Drive home at least by 1:00pm

Thursday Dec. 29th--

arrive home

 

[momabaarjo]

I am joining along with you...my children are just about the same age as yours, we are headed down for Christmas and it is a surprise too! Can't wait to hear more.

I love your reveal. I am planning an advent countdown since we are not leaving until Christmas morning!

 

[momabaarjo]

Hi,

Yes, it will be a surprise for all of the kids. We just don't know what to buy anymore so we thought " hey, why not buy a vacation" !! My parents, sister and I are have a ball planning everything. The kids think we are going next summer so when we talk about the trip, we make sure to say "when we go to Disney next summer, do you want to....". They are actually helping to plan the trip and don't even know it!!

Funny, mine think the same thing!

 

[dismagiclover]

Wow! This sounds like a fabulous trip!! And I don't think you need any help planning. Your plans look incredible!! I can't wait to read the trip report!

 

[Dream426]

Love Disney trip surprises for Christmas. We did that a couple years ago for our parents. Love your pictures also. Our goal is to go one year at Christmas time. Can't wait to read more updates.

 

[amytheobald]

I m joining in , I m guessing we live close to each other by all of the LSU shirts I see in your pics ... also we had planned to like you date wise, and that all changed with free dining ... Now we are booked for 10 days at POR and upgraded to Deluxe Dining. We will be there Dec 17th-26th!I have 3 kiddos 11,10,and 8! We are not doing a surprise this time because we did that once before, and it turned out .... eh.

 

[ph-mtl]

We will be heading down Dec 9th from Montreal, Quebec for a week for our 28th wedding
annv which will be on the 10th of Dec. What is the weather usally like at this time of year?

 

[emmakatbaby]

I have never been to Orlando in December but I did research their average temperatures for December. Their average high is in the low to mid 70's and their average low is the upper 50's. For thanksgiving last year , my kids wore shorts during the day and a fleece hoodie in the evening. In 2010 Orlando did have record cold temps in December such as 30's to 40's. So I guess I will watch the weather reports the week before we leave. Right now my plan is to pack us each 2 light wind suits, a pair of jeans, 2 pairs of shorts, a couple of Disney t-shirts, a pair of long johns, gloves and a fleece hoodie. I may have to change this a little but we can layer this attire as needed and peel it off if it warms up . I may even bring swim suits.... My kids will probably beeeeeg to swim !!!

 

[dismagiclover]

I've never been in December, but I've been several times in January and it can definitely get cold. In fact I don't wear shorts in January. There are only a few hours of the day that would even be comfortable. It sounds like you're being smart with the layering possibility.

 

[Dream426]

I plan to go in December at least once. I want to see it all decorated for Christmas.