PART FIVE!! *December 2012 Roll Call* Holidays, FLE & MVMCP!! A very, merry thread!

[patriciaofoz]

We fly out in a few hours! we hit Miami for a few days but we'll be hitting MK first thing Friday morning.

Let the fun begin!!!!

 

[phins_jazy]

3 days! still haven't packed....pulled suitcases from the garage....that counts right? lol. was able to get my hair colored last night. Started another set of christmas shirts cuz my middle daughter gave me puppy dog eyes and I caved. LOL Good thing I had a stash of mickey christmas fabric that I haven't had a chance to touch yet. Went to the pharmacy to get a refill but since it's technically not time I have to wait till wed in order for insurance to pick it up. Still have chex mix to make for christmas gifts.....Sigh.....need about 20 more hours in the day!

 

[cybrkitn]

I keep saying one time I'm going to make it to the end, wake her up and say "we're going to WDW today!"

Keeping the secret is hard, but the pay off is totally worth it!

I did that with DS when he was 4. Woke him up around 4:30 am and told him we were going to WDW. However, I didn't get the reaction I was hoping for. Instead, I got a very grumpy, tired pre-schooler who just wanted to go back to bed It didn't hit him until about 7 am when he got his Enchanted phone call from Mickey. Then once we got there (we stayed at Pop) all he wanted to do was stay in the arcade. He had no clue what was waiting for him with the parks. Neither did DH and all he knew was just Epcot.

The pay off happened for me when we went to our first park - Epcot.

 

[cybrkitn]

The CD they send with the code actually contains a ton of "stock" photos from the resorts and theme parks. Some pretty cool shots!

Then, when you get back, you'll order ANOTHER CD (or download) with all the pics they take of your and put on your photopass(es).

Ok, now I'm really . We got back on 12/8, so all of our photos are already up - all 156 plus the bonus pictures. Why would we need to order another CD?

 

[SAT887]

Ok, now I'm really . We got back on 12/8, so all of our photos are already up - all 156 plus the bonus pictures. Why would we need to order another CD?

Ok you are going to get the stock CD and the promo code to redeem a CD or download of your 156 pics. The stock CD is a gallery if WDW and has all sorts of shots from the parks.

Once you get your CD and promo code you will go online and order a CD (or download) of your PP photos. Once you enter the code in it will credit you the charge of the CD and shipping.

Does that make sense? It's an odd process and I was confused at first. I emailed them for help hehe...

 

[Wendimn]

REALLY hoping the weather for next week changes We had planned to be at Magic Kingdom on Dec 26th..the forecast calls for thunderstorms. Rain on Thursday too. Really bummed..

 

[RooRach0906]

We got home just before midnight Saturday/Sunday! We had a great time, we loved the weather and that it wasn't crowded. We did not get to do Enchanted Tales with Belle the shortest wait we saw was 50 minutes and that isn't happening with a 2 year old. I will be posting on the other thread soon.

All of you leaving soon I hope you have a safe and magical trip!!!!

 

[M&MGirl1]

I have exactly 10 minutes left of work until I'm off through January 3rd! Woo Hoo!!! Just have to double check that I have all our necessary travel documents when I get home, load the suitcases in the car and wait impatiently until sissy's school gets out at 3:00. Then we'll be off to St. Louis where we'll grab a few hours sleep at Mom & Dad's condo before heading off to the airport for our 6 am flight, and by this time tomorrow we'll be at DISNEY WORLD

And my boss got me a Disney Gift Card for Christmas, so now I have even more spending money than I thought

 

[Valgoof]

I am sick. Woke up with a sore throat on Sunday. I often get a scratchy throat in hotels, so didnt think much about it. But it just keeps getting worse and now my voice is almost totally gone. I feel okay as long as I dont swallow. Resting at resort now before the party tonight. It makes me mad because I am constantly washing my hands, using hand sanitizer and not touching any handrails. DH touches everything and refuses hand sanitizer, but I am the sick one. But besides that, trip is going well. We are touring way more like turtles than commando, but it is working for us.

 

[SAT887]

I am sick. Woke up with a sore throat on Sunday. I often get a scratchy throat in hotels, so didnt think much about it. But it just keeps getting worse and now my voice is almost totally gone. I feel okay as long as I dont swallow. Resting at resort now before the party tonight. It makes me mad because I am constantly washing my hands, using hand sanitizer and not touching any handrails. DH touches everything and refuses hand sanitizer, but I am the sick one. But besides that, trip is going well. We are touring way more like turtles than commando, but it is working for us.

I had the same problem, I ended up with lots of cough drops and took chestal honey (which was good because dd3 could take it) can you get to a wal greens?

 

[BDL]

I am sick. Woke up with a sore throat on Sunday. I often get a scratchy throat in hotels, so didnt think much about it. But it just keeps getting worse and now my voice is almost totally gone. I feel okay as long as I dont swallow. Resting at resort now before the party tonight. It makes me mad because I am constantly washing my hands, using hand sanitizer and not touching any handrails. DH touches everything and refuses hand sanitizer, but I am the sick one. But besides that, trip is going well. We are touring way more like turtles than commando, but it is working for us.

I hope you feel better.

BDLsgal was sick on 3 of our 1st 4 days. And just started to start feeling better on the last 2 days.

I'm glad that you are having fun though. Enjoy the party tonight.

 

[M&MGirl1]

I am sick. Woke up with a sore throat on Sunday. I often get a scratchy throat in hotels, so didnt think much about it. But it just keeps getting worse and now my voice is almost totally gone. I feel okay as long as I dont swallow. Resting at resort now before the party tonight. It makes me mad because I am constantly washing my hands, using hand sanitizer and not touching any handrails. DH touches everything and refuses hand sanitizer, but I am the sick one. But besides that, trip is going well. We are touring way more like turtles than commando, but it is working for us.

So sorry to hear you are under the weather! You could try "borrowing" some salt from the food court and gargling with warm salt water. That will help with the inflammation and make it easier to swallow.

 

[mommycal]

Got back from an AMAZING trip on Sunday. Depression has definetly set in. How do you take care of that besides booking another trip?!?!

Wishing I was partying w/the mouse right now

 

[taaren]

It sounds like a great trip! I can't wait to hear more We may try a split stay at BLT in a one bed next trip depending on our points situation and how well the to kids are traveling (they will be 2 & 4) We really enjoyed AKL however DH and I really love the laid back feel of OKW, being able to park our car by our room, and just not dealing with too many people. We are thinking of increasing our points so that we can do an Xmas trip in a GV every other year and then doing our family trips (just us 4) in the alt years....

Those premium APs were great! We are going back in October- can not wait! Coral Reef turned out to become of our fav ADRs, the food was really good (not like the reviews I read), server AWESOME, and we celebrates SIL birthday with a boardwalk bakery cake! We also had a front row seat to the tanks

I'm with your son on living closer to WDW We had a great trip as well and even DH seems to be in the Disney spirit from it - we saw an ad for a Disney cruise and he says "we should do that and go to WDW" This is semi shocking

Definitely take him up on the cruise ... they're magical, just go for more than 3 nights. After this cruise, DH said it was great for what we were trying to accomplish, but never again shorter than a 5 nighter. Now I'm kinda sad we missed Coral Reef since you liked it so much, but DH was starting to complain about all the money we were spending in restaurants and I don't like fish, plus we were super tired and ended up going to Universal for free the day of the ADR. In the end we came in almost exactly on budget for food and souvenirs, so it was probably for the best.

One thing I was disappointed in: It seems, to me, they've scaled back on the X-mas/holiday decorations this year..especially at the resorts (and even, I think, some in the parks). The resort decorations, except for the individual trees (and even a bit there), seemed generic and relatively sparse this year. The exception was the Grand Floridian (because the Gingerbread house is the showstopper).

It was also quite a bit busier than I remember it being during past December trips. I'm sure the opening of the FLE had a lot to do with that....but, for the first part of our trip, it seemed to effect the rest of the parks too (Dec 6th - Dec 10th-ish). Didn't slow us down, much...but thought it was worth mentioning.

We loved Fantasyland and BOG, too. I haven't been there in years past but the resorts we went to see just overwhelmed us with the classy Xmas decorations: GF, the Beach Club Carousel, and the WL decorations were all stunning. Loved the giant mickey head outline on the Contemporary, though the gingerbread there was meh.

It might have been busier than past years (I've seen this consensus on the DVC boards that early Dec isn't as dead as it used to be but I was still super happy that almost every attraction was walk on for our trip, outside of TSMM, EE, and Test Track.

Glad to hear how much you liked BLT. Sissy's been nagging me about us to buy a small contract there, and since a trip to the World is becoming an annual event, I agree DVC is the way to go, but I'd been trying to talk her into buying into a resort with cheaper resale points. Looks like sissy may end up winning this battle after all!

Totally agree it would be great to share the holidays with this group! This is why we SO need to plan a huge group trip for next year!

I like this idea! Perfect excuse for me to tell DH I need a solo trip!

I liked BLT for reasons not having to do with the MK even. (Other than the view.) Having the monorail was great, the parking was so easy, and the two bathrooms in a 1 bedroom I'm finding a necessity .... going to one in a BW 1 bdr was just painful, though we liked almost everything else about that resort. Loved the ease of using our refillable mugs at the Contemporary. After this trip I don't think I'd consider any of the not-new resorts (the ones w/o the extra baths), so it'd be between AK and BLT for me, and BLT dues are still much nicer and the location would tip the scales. Though we didn't get to see AKL and I'm hoping to stay there on the off chance I can talk DH into a shorter trip before our APs expire. I'm hoping once the GF is built, some people will start letting their BLT contracts go for a little less than right now ... $90/pt is too much, but once it gets down to the $60's or $70's and we have some cash lined up, I'll start thinking about it.

It went down near the end of our trip. The construction at GF accidentally cut a power line and apparently it took a while to figure out what happened. The whole system was down.

This explains a lot. There was one night we stayed for EMH and had to walk home and that was painful since it was close to 1a ...

So I learned how to multi quote on my phone today! Yay for me!

Yay! The phone app is great I just hate typing on my phone now that I don't have a qwerty anymore.

I am sick. Woke up with a sore throat on Sunday. I often get a scratchy throat in hotels, so didnt think much about it. But it just keeps getting worse and now my voice is almost totally gone. I feel okay as long as I dont swallow. Resting at resort now before the party tonight. It makes me mad because I am constantly washing my hands, using hand sanitizer and not touching any handrails. DH touches everything and refuses hand sanitizer, but I am the sick one. But besides that, trip is going well. We are touring way more like turtles than commando, but it is working for us.

Oh no! Get better!

 

[taaren]

Got back from an AMAZING trip on Sunday. Depression has definetly set in. How do you take care of that besides booking another trip?!?!

Wishing I was partying w/the mouse right now

I'm there now, too. Just trying to keep busy with the Photopass stuff, and dealing with preparing for more interviews, and paperwork for the new job, plus finishing holiday shopping to keep my mind off the fact that I'm no longer in Disney ...

 

[Maddie's Nana]

I am sick. Woke up with a sore throat on Sunday. I often get a scratchy throat in hotels, so didnt think much about it. But it just keeps getting worse and now my voice is almost totally gone. I feel okay as long as I dont swallow. Resting at resort now before the party tonight. It makes me mad because I am constantly washing my hands, using hand sanitizer and not touching any handrails. DH touches everything and refuses hand sanitizer, but I am the sick one. But besides that, trip is going well. We are touring way more like turtles than commando, but it is working for us.

No - You are not supposed to get sick at Disney. Sending Pixie dust for a quick recovery. Get better soon!!!!

 

[sokerfrog]

I am sick. Woke up with a sore throat on Sunday. I often get a scratchy throat in hotels, so didnt think much about it. But it just keeps getting worse and now my voice is almost totally gone. I feel okay as long as I dont swallow. Resting at resort now before the party tonight. It makes me mad because I am constantly washing my hands, using hand sanitizer and not touching any handrails. DH touches everything and refuses hand sanitizer, but I am the sick one. But besides that, trip is going well. We are touring way more like turtles than commando, but it is working for us.

Boo to this! Hope you feel better!

 

[phins_jazy]

REALLY hoping the weather for next week changes We had planned to be at Magic Kingdom on Dec 26th..the forecast calls for thunderstorms. Rain on Thursday too. Really bummed..

We will be there too..take a poncho and hit the parks. We did that in 09 on christmas day. Had the kiddos in a double stroller with a clear shower curtain so they stayed dry. We put on ponchos and had a grand time!

 

[phins_jazy]

I have exactly 10 minutes left of work until I'm off through January 3rd! Woo Hoo!!! Just have to double check that I have all our necessary travel documents when I get home, load the suitcases in the car and wait impatiently until sissy's school gets out at 3:00. Then we'll be off to St. Louis where we'll grab a few hours sleep at Mom & Dad's condo before heading off to the airport for our 6 am flight, and by this time tomorrow we'll be at DISNEY WORLD

And my boss got me a Disney Gift Card for Christmas, so now I have even more spending money than I thought

Yeah to unexpected spending money.

 

[Wendimn]

We will be there too..take a poncho and hit the parks. We did that in 09 on christmas day. Had the kiddos in a double stroller with a clear shower curtain so they stayed dry. We put on ponchos and had a grand time!

I need to buy some ponchos still..lol..thanks!!