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

[ksromack]

Ultimate Christmas Survival Guide

Oh boy.....turns out I'm already subscribed to her thread. I suppose I should start reading, huh?

 

[ksromack]

You all such enablers after reading all the posts about how much you will have without your children I started thinking maybe we should go without ours. DH said NO this is the holidays and we have had this planned for a while (yes it is still a secrect). But he suggested how about a long weekend in January. Of course I said YES made all the arrangements for my sister-in-law is going to watch our kids. So to make this long post short DH and I are getting a second honeymoon at the WDW.

WTG! How fun

 

[srauchbauer]

figured out my question.

 

[Valgoof]

You all such enablers after reading all the posts about how much you will have without your children I started thinking maybe we should go without ours. DH said NO this is the holidays and we have had this planned for a while (yes it is still a secrect). But he suggested how about a long weekend in January. Of course I said YES made all the arrangements for my sister-in-law is going to watch our kids. So to make this long post short DH and I are getting a second honeymoon at the WDW.

Yay!! That will be two awesome and very different trips.

 

[Valgoof]

Oh boy.....turns out I'm already subscribed to her thread. I suppose I should start reading, huh?

Lol. The good news is she does chapter links so you dont have to go through the whole thread.

 

[DisneyDreamerMN]

You all such enablers after reading all the posts about how much you will have without your children I started thinking maybe we should go without ours. DH said NO this is the holidays and we have had this planned for a while (yes it is still a secrect). But he suggested how about a long weekend in January. Of course I said YES made all the arrangements for my sister-in-law is going to watch our kids. So to make this long post short DH and I are getting a second honeymoon at the WDW.

Awesome! Nothing better than being able to plan a trip before your first trip even starts! I want to do the opposite. We do not have any kids and I am dying to bring my newphew and my husbands God daughter before she is "too old to go".

 

[WedgieSock]

Hey, we're going to be at Epcot the evening of the 10th too.....it's our Illuminations cruise and we may or not stay for PM EMH (ETA it's MK pm EMH,not Epcot), just depends on how we feel! We'll be hitting the Epcot resorts for their decorations that day before out Yachtsman dinner. The next day is our MK day too......are you planning on staying all day from RP to party time? I'm sure your LTT ADR is for earlier than ours. We're eating at 2:40 at LTT and plan on snacking all night long I love those fun things to do....you know, the stuff you never let your kids do when they were little? We have a Kona ADR for 7:50 am that morning and I've been dreaming about Tonga Toast

Yes, we'll be there all day I think our LTT is at around 12.15. I will be wearing a LGMH so look out for one!!

Looks like our itineraries are practically identical. Except our motel night before check-in will be in Orlando. We aren't doing La Nuba , we will be doing pp+. And we also have POR-RGR. Can't wait to see the decor and headboards.

Ooooh, we think alike then Look for my LGMH!!

it's a great bag plus it could be used as a hand warmer.

Ha! Another justification .... well, it has to be bought now

 

[Tltorrez]

Anyone have the burning desire to help me plan what days for what parks? I thought I had it done, then we added a day, then we changed hotels, then we changed hotels again

We all love to help. But seriously, I have all the hours and crowd numbers ( from different sources) for your dates, along with my own plan - in a spreadsheet. I'd be happy to share since -- we're going almost the same dates! We're at BWV from 3-11 then we switch to AKV until the 15th. PM me your email and I'd be happy to send you the spreadsheet.

I think we are set now. The hotels changed things since we are now walking distance to Epcot and HS which was a plus since we have a wheelchair along. We are fans of HS so like 2 days there. We have 10-day hoppers and are there the 3-13 with the 12th being my daughters 14th birthday. She has some delays so she is mor like taking a 4-5 year old to the parks so our focus is more like one with younger kids then teens. That said, last time we went she nearly killed me by riding RnRC 5x straight without getting off in the front seat! I had to sit the next hour trying to regain my bearings

Being able to walk to both parks is my favorite thing about BWV. And we have a wheelchair too; DSis has mobility issues.

And I like roller coasters but 5 times would have me hurling. I'm queasy just thinking about it.

I don't like going to the parks on the day we fly out, but plan to go the evening we arrive (we land at MCO at 1pm). I figure ME will pick us up at 1 on our final day so after packing, checking out, and grabbing lunch we won't have much time anyway. ADRs are few this trip. We have breakfast at H&V on the 12th for my daughters birthday and O'Hana at 6:45 on the 9th. We want to catch Wishes at least one evening along with the MSEP and Fantasmic, and illuminations. Am I asking too much? I keep trying to plan it out but with the opening of Fantasyland thrown in I can't figure best time to go to MK.

Thanks!

We arrive around the same time too. We might do Epcot our first night. But I'm waiting now to see if my in-laws can go before finalizing my plans.

I can tell you there is only one good day to see MSEP during your trip - Wed, Dec 12 (2.5 crowd). There is Wishes oin Wed the 5th but the park closes early and no MSEP. Your other MSEP options are Mon, Dec 3 (6 crowd), sat, Dec 8 (9 crowd) and Mon, Dec 10 (5 crowd). We may end up skipping MSEP this time.

 

[Tltorrez]

We gave up ADRs/"free dining" (not so free in our case) to stay at Boardwalk with a room-only discount. My daughter is also on TPN (IV nutrition) so paying adult prices for her to not eat is a lot of money wasted. I realize if we didn't do character meals or buffets maybe we would not get charged for her, but she would get antsy sitting there waiting for us to eat. I also get tired of all the looks from others when you appear to not be feeding your child I'm not thrilled with all counter service, but I think we can come up with enough variety (I hope).

Also, given your location you can eat TS on the Boardwalk and in a lot of Epcot restaurants without an ADR. We never planned a trip 6 months out before and never had a problem getting TS ressies at a lot of places. We tend not to do TS in the parks anyway.

 

[Tltorrez]

Thanks

Ok this is weird. I can quote a post and reply to it with no problem. But if I don't quote and just reply to the thread it won't let me. I also can't start a new thread I'm using the app.

I had to reload the app again last week. It's been really buggy.

 

[Tltorrez]

So I am really trying to justify a dinning plan. We had free dining once and it was wonderful never having to say, "I'll just get the cheaper item on the menu". We booked a room only discount, so no free dining. If I am reading the pricing right it would be about $721 for 2 adults for 7 days.

We currently only have 3 ts meals planned because we do not have a dinning plan and I was planning on doing cs for the rest. We also thought about just buying cereal and milk for breakfast every day and snacking for lunches.

If we did the dinning plan I could do more ADRs! Let's face it, I am restless not right now not stalking ADRs.

Any opinions for or against. It is a lot of money...I am so torn and DH is like NO.

Unofficial Guide has a big section on the Dining Plan. The gist is that you really have to use nearly every credit -TS, CS and Snack - or you're wasting money. If you're paying OOP you can also save by sharing, because most people just don't eat that much food. If you just want to add some ADRs, price it out. Look at the menus of your top choices and price out the cost of a meal. There's a reason Disney markets the dining plan so heavily; they're certainly not losing money on it. You could certainly add in a few fun meals without adding up to $700.

For us the Dining Plan doesn't fit how we eat. We order far more apps than desserts and we drink a lot of wine. So we'd be paying OOP anyway.

 

[Tltorrez]

YES! Since we're upgrading to deluxe dining I've limited our cs just because I wanted to get more bang for the buck......by doing this I've eliminated some good options for cs......what comes to mind immediately is AK's Flame Tree BBQ and Yak and Yeti counter service, and Earl of Sandwich and Wolfgang Puck Express at DTD....oh, and Starring Rolls at DHS. I WILL get me that hunk of pork at Gaston's Tavern, even if I have to pay oop for it (but I'm assuming that will be counter service as well).......and don't forget BOG lunchtime counter service!

I'm definitely doing the pork. Another favorite are the baked potatoes (regular and sweet) at Liberty Marketplace.

 

[DisneyGuess]

My grandma is not doing well. She's in the hospital right now in a lot of pain, her blood was so thick they can't draw it for blood work, she can't lay down because then she can't breathe, she can't get up because then, she can't breathe, they are trying to talk her into a nursing home, & she keeps having A-Fib episodes.

Now my problem is, we leave for FL in 8 weeks. I'm torn. I feel guilty thinking about going with her so sick, what if something happens while we're gone? I'm eating myself up over it & am really stressed over it.

 

[mom2travel]

You all such enablers after reading all the posts about how much you will have without your children I started thinking maybe we should go without ours. DH said NO this is the holidays and we have had this planned for a while (yes it is still a secrect). But he suggested how about a long weekend in January. Of course I said YES made all the arrangements for my sister-in-law is going to watch our kids. So to make this long post short DH and I are getting a second honeymoon at the WDW.

Yeah! Another trip! DH & I have done 2 no-kids WDW trips - fun!!

 

[WedgieSock]

My grandma is not doing well. She's in the hospital right now in a lot of pain, her blood was so thick they can't draw it for blood work, she can't lay down because then she can't breathe, she can't get up because then, she can't breathe, they are trying to talk her into a nursing home, & she keeps having A-Fib episodes.

Now my problem is, we leave for FL in 8 weeks. I'm torn. I feel guilty thinking about going with her so sick, what if something happens while we're gone? I'm eating myself up over it & am really stressed over it.

Tough situation and I'm sorry. You're speculating the "what if's". You really don't know what it is going to happen. A couple of questions: how many days out are you from your vacay; how long is your vacay; how near/far away are you from Grandma?

 

[cara76]

Girl....my daughter danced competition for 10 years. I'm pretty much guessing by saying "break me" you mean not only financially but mentally as well..... On the upside, it probably keeps her busy and these days, having busy children means keeping them our of trouble! So see, it works out for hubby too.....and it's saving you a couple night's stay......so that means more $$ for toys!

Yes both. She just started this year, she's only 4 but I see years of dance ahead of me. She's taking a combo class of ballet/tap/jazz and acro plus doing dance team through her dance school. I think it was paying over 300 this week for dance team, review costume deposit and tuition that got me down. That's MVMCP tickets. LOL

But yes moving things around saves us a night stay and works out of hubby, so that's good.

 

[Mom2Cody06]

I love trip reports and have read several written by the frumps. Kristen is on this thread, but her friend Jess went to Disney last December. I think someone posted the link to her report at some point. Anyway, I was reading it today and it is really good. She describes and takes pictures of so much of the Christmasy things. I highly recommend it if you want to see how it really is. She had a short trip early in December and then a long trip over Christmas and New Year's. I showed DH some of the pics and he was even getting excited about the trip. And we are now saving our pennies to stay at CR with TPV.

Link, please?

Edited to add - ooops, found the link a few posts later, thanks

 

[cara76]

So this cracked me up. I'm thinking about searching for hidden mickeys on our trip because my 3 year old spots them everywhere. We were at Home Depot and there was three rolls of Underlayment so it looked like a Mickey head. She starts yelling "it's Mickey it's Mickey!!!" Hehe

I find hidden Mickey's everywhere too. I think I may have a Disney problem.

 

[cara76]

Mine is sweets too.....more specifically, CUPCAKES.

Mine too. I've already warned the family that I will be taking their snack credits for Babycakes. They don't need them.

 

[cara76]

Yes, you can ship a box. That's how we shipped the wine boxes last year. If they open it, they'll tape it back up. They may ask you to sign a waiver, like when you pack your own box for UPS, that says you won't hold them liable if something breaks. You should be able to find the specific policies for your airline online.

I have Amazon Prime, so I'm going to have the tree shipped right to my resort. The ones available on Amazon keep changing, but I should be able to get one for $20-$30 pre-lit. I'm still debating whether to ship the tree home again. I'll also be shipping an air bed for DS which I will be shipping back home. But since we're going early in the month, I might just pass the tree along.

While the rest of the family was watching football, I spent a couple hours downloading Disney Christmas clipart. I now have about 100 images in Lightroom all ready to use.

You can ship from Amazon to the resort? This would save me a lot of time and energy with food especially.