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

[bellaally]

Hey I have a question, I wanted to know how many people bring their cars or rent a car at the airport. I don't want to waste so much time waiting for Disney transportation. I wanted to tour the resorts and also visit DTD a couple times. But I also wanted the experience of the DME, I am stuck. Pricing is super cheap for rentals 125 with tax and all for our days there? .....anybody

 

[WedgieSock]

Step away from the kitchen counters!!! You need a less destructive project.

I know! But have you seen those concrete counter tops? You can dye them any colour and they look really cool. DIY.com shows you how to make them

 

[WedgieSock]

Hey I have a question, I wanted to know how many people bring their cars or rent a car at the airport. I don't want to waste so much time waiting for Disney transportation. I wanted to tour the resorts and also visit DTD a couple times. But I also wanted the experience of the DME, I am stuck. Pricing is super cheap for rentals 125 with tax and all for our days there? .....anybody

We take our own car. Its more a personal thing. Some people love the transport but I like to know I can just go when I want and that we all have a seat ... plus, we can listen to our Disney Theme Parks music cd

 

[ksromack]

http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=46101147&postcount=39 I have 91 days to go woohoo, three months from now I will be running around the house packing all the last minute things lol. I am in a great mood putting away all the things I got from Disney away can't wait. If you want to see my loot click on the link in my siggy. Hope these three months fly by.

First of all, let me say I am NOT a fanny-pack kind of gal.....but we are going to Universal/IOA for the first two days of our vacation and you HAVE to put your purse/bag in a locker before riding many of the rides......I've been told that most of those places DO allow fanny packs.

Okay, so I bought this combination fanny pack/cross-over bag. I originally bought a cute Vera Bradley mini hipster for the trip but I have to carry my iPhone and small camera everywhere I go and the thought of being without my camera on a ride just makes me sick to my stomach. lol! So I got this Kippling bag to serve my needs at both parks. I can use it as a cross-over bag most of the time then convert it to the fanny pack on those rides that will require it. It's water proof, too.

I got my Disney order in too....and we both bought that black MM shirt with the blue/purplish cascading stars. I love that shirt! I bought a couple of the thermal shirts too because I was concerned it might get chilly many of those evenings....cut I didn't like they way they looked on me so we returned those to the Disney Store last friday (and we bought 2 more cute Disney shirts)!

I'm still needing to buy a few more things for our trip....I read someone's trip report and they got one of those clear plastic gismos to wear on a lanyard. It's 3/4" thick, though....so it can hold your KTTW, photopass cards, Fast-pass cards as well as some cash/cc. It clicks shut, which I like the idea of because I've heard the plastic holders on some of the lanyards tear. I like the idea that they are a little more secure. I also want to purchase some coffee pods for our trip. We are coffee snobs! Our coffee maker at home has a single brew feature on one side that takes the pods and I have a favorite flavor that I will bring with me to POR. I'm getting dh some Wolfgang Puck coffee pods too. We needs some rain ponchos (which I'll get at the $ store or Walmart)...and of course I'll need to place our Walmart order of water, snacks, and some Christmas decorations!

I know the planning is the fun part but I'm about ready for the trip to be here already. We're 89 days out

 

[Nixie]

Hey I have a question, I wanted to know how many people bring their cars or rent a car at the airport. I don't want to waste so much time waiting for Disney transportation. I wanted to tour the resorts and also visit DTD a couple times. But I also wanted the experience of the DME, I am stuck. Pricing is super cheap for rentals 125 with tax and all for our days there? .....anybody

We are renting, but have drove down before. It gives alot more flexibility when dining at other resorts and such. Don't have to get a cab or take a bus to a park and then to the resort for dinner then back to a park and then back to your home resort.

 

[levenhopper]

My amazing boyfriend just gifted us with a trip to WDW for our anniversary!! Our anniversary was yesterday and I'm still in shock I think...

We just returned from WDW in June having taken our first semi-blended family trip with our kiddos (he has 2 and so do I) and now we're going back - JUST THE TWO OF US!! I can't tell you how excited I am, but also a little scared... the kids will not be happy LOL... oh well, I'm armed to deal with the pouts.

We're coming in Dec. 1 - Dec. 5, staying at the Hilton at DD.

This will be an incredible trip for sure - I've ALWAYS wanted to do WDW as a couple, I think it's a very romantic place and now we're going to do it!

Congrats

 

[ksromack]

Hey I have a question, I wanted to know how many people bring their cars or rent a car at the airport. I don't want to waste so much time waiting for Disney transportation. I wanted to tour the resorts and also visit DTD a couple times. But I also wanted the experience of the DME, I am stuck. Pricing is super cheap for rentals 125 with tax and all for our days there? .....anybody

That's pretty cheap. We were actually going to rent a car for only 2 days because we are going to US/IOA for the sat/sun beginning our trip.....but since I added on an extra day at POR at the beginning our our trip we only need transportation from MCO to Royal Pacific then from Royal Pacific to POR. It's cheaper to just take a shuttle/taxi for those 2 trips. Plus, part of the vacation is for dh to have a vacation from driving too. I think he'll enjoy that (he has to drive while in the car because he gets car sick otherwise).

 

[bellaally]

That's pretty cheap. We were actually going to rent a car for only 2 days because we are going to US/IOA for the sat/sun beginning our trip.....but since I added on an extra day at POR at the beginning our our trip we only need transportation from MCO to Royal Pacific then from Royal Pacific to POR. It's cheaper to just take a shuttle/taxi for those 2 trips. Plus, part of the vacation is for dh to have a vacation from driving too. I think he'll enjoy that (he has to drive while in the car because he gets car sick otherwise).

That is the same reason I don't want to rent the car, DH always drives everywhere and I want him to enjoy the vacation, I will probably end up asking him, if anything I can use the 125 for taxis in wdw. I just don't want to wait 45 minutes traveling to and from places.

 

[WedgieSock]

We are coffee snobs! Our coffee maker at home has a single brew feature on one side that takes the pods and I have a favorite flavor that I will bring with me to POR.

We are coffee snobs too - I bring my whole dang machine & everything

I haven't even started to think about packing and stuff. Although now I've seen bellaally's cross-over bag I want one! Last year I just had a small lightweight crossover bag - in one of the pockets I kept a little money and in the main compartment my point & shoot Nikon (its tiny) and a purse just bigger than credit card size and that kept all our KTTW & photopass cards. That was it.

 

[levenhopper]

Can I change my dates on the roll call? We're now arriving a day early (new dates: Dec 14-21), still at AoA.

United changed my flight times for the second time earlier today. The had us arriving in Orlando at 11:30AM, instead of 10AM. I started looking at options, and was able to confirm with all my professors that I'll be done with exams by the 13th (I wasn't sure of that when we originally booked airfare). And since United changed the flights due to scheduling, it means I could change the flights a day earlier without any extra fees

And who can turn down an extra day of magic?!?

 

[Sandie08]

Can I change my dates on the roll call? We're now arriving a day early (new dates: Dec 14-21), still at AoA.

United changed my flight times for the second time earlier today. The had us arriving in Orlando at 11:30AM, instead of 10AM. I started looking at options, and was able to confirm with all my professors that I'll be done with exams by the 13th (I wasn't sure of that when we originally booked airfare). And since United changed the flights due to scheduling, it means I could change the flights a day earlier without any extra fees

And who can turn down an extra day of magic?!?

That's awesome an extra day in the most magical place in the world!

 

[Tented1]

-Touringplans.com blog post regarding "What to expect in December" when it comes to park hours.

Whew! I kept thinking why are the park hours so short at the busiest time of the year?! I knew something had to give! THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR INFO & WORK! :curtsey's to the December WDW Princess:

 

[hollygolitely93]

You won't be disappointed. Sure, we mainly go just for the ho-cho and cookies (yeah, right ) . But seriously, the option of which parade you want to see, the non-existent lines, Holiday Wishes, the Tomorrow-land stage show is pretty cool and of course, the character meet n greets. But when you are on Main St., with the decorations and the snow(p), you forget that you paid for a hard ticket and are lost in the atmosphere.

I'm looking foward to the party as well...if only a fP existed for the parade that night...ha! Wanted to add that the Tomorrowland Christmas show was not a party exclusive last year...it played everyday...so we skipped it party night and caught it on our regularly scheduled MK day

 

[taaren]

That is the same reason I don't want to rent the car, DH always drives everywhere and I want him to enjoy the vacation, I will probably end up asking him, if anything I can use the 125 for taxis in wdw. I just don't want to wait 45 minutes traveling to and from places.

Yep, we're doing the same thing.
I have it mapped out so we're taking Disney transportation to the parks where its easy (eg, if there's a monorail or boat between our hotel and the park or resort we're going to), and all others I have cash budgeted for taxis instead and it came out to cheaper than any car rental I've managed to price out so far.

 

[taaren]

It is less crowded during the days of MVMCP. I would most definitely avoid MK on xmas taping day .... it will be crazy

It is much less crowded on a party day. So much so that you can generally fit far more in even with shortened hours. Of course, you miss MSEP and Wishes. But, if you're planning two days at MK you should definitely make at least one a party day.

Having said that, the parade taping can totally counteract that. I'm not entirely certain how it affects actual ride times, given that most people will be lining up to get on tv. But the park will definitely be busier.

Thanks so much. I will definitely stick with what I have, which is MK on the MVMCP day in the AM, then I have an MK evening planned the following evening when there's an EMH, so we'll watch the ELP that night. (Plus one more MK day and night the following week with a smaller party, and a ADR at Cali Grill to coincide with Wishes the following week.)

We just returned from WDW in June having taken our first semi-blended family trip with our kiddos (he has 2 and so do I) and now we're going back - JUST THE TWO OF US!! I can't tell you how excited I am, but also a little scared... the kids will not be happy LOL... oh well, I'm armed to deal with the pouts.
This will be an incredible trip for sure - I've ALWAYS wanted to do WDW as a couple, I think it's a very romantic place and now we're going to do it!

You're going to love couples Disney. That is my favorite way to do Disney, usually we love ditching the kids but we're too far from the grandparents to do it this year.

Thinking really hard about doing the Christmas party now. With us going down to a party of 4 instead of 6, it takes the price down over $100 to do it. Or, debating doing the Pirates & Pals fireworks cruise since that would be considerably cheaper now as well. So undecided, lol.

We decided to do a private pontoon cruise to watch IllumiNations instead of the MVMCP party since we could only afford one treat or the other. Still kind of lusting after the Wishes dessert party desserts, but that will have to be another trip ...

Apparently I was having a moment this morning I meant dec 6-9 at SSR.

This is just a sign that means you should add on the 5th ...

 

[Nixie]

I *think* I have almost everything I wanted to buy for our trip purchased. Bought myself some nice dressier (sp?) tops for our siggie restuarant dinners. Got hubby some nice polos. Bought some long sleeve white tee shirts to layer with our Disney tees for if/when it is cold. If it gets really cold, we will already have our coats and stuff with us since we are flying outta Chicago in the middle of Dec. I am sure there will be something I am forgetting and will have to get last minute, but for now I think we are set. Oh, I also bought myself a new pearl cage so I can pick out a new pearl for myself in Japan. It has a crown over the top of the cage I have been stalking the the Teva page for those cute Mush mary janes. I REALLY want them, but I don't NEED them. I am sitting on my fingers

 

[Mom2Cody06]

I *think* I have almost everything I wanted to buy for our trip purchased. Bought myself some nice dressier (sp?) tops for our siggie restuarant dinners. Got hubby some nice polos. Bought some long sleeve white tee shirts to layer with our Disney tees for if/when it is cold. If it gets really cold, we will already have our coats and stuff with us since we are flying outta Chicago in the middle of Dec. I am sure there will be something I am forgetting and will have to get last minute, but for now I think we are set. Oh, I also bought myself a new pearl cage so I can pick out a new pearl for myself in Japan. It has a crown over the top of the cage I have been stalking the the Teva page for those cute Mush mary janes. I REALLY want them, but I don't NEED them. I am sitting on my fingers

Skechers came out with really cute Mary Janes. They are satin they are "walking" shoes. I dust get to try them on but I'm considering them for our trip, depending on how comfy I find them.

 

[ericar]

Is the Desert Party available on Christmas party nights? Has anyone done this? If so, could you tell me about your experience? Dec DP nights are not
showing up yet.

Thanks
Eric

 

[pilferk]

Hey I have a question, I wanted to know how many people bring their cars or rent a car at the airport. I don't want to waste so much time waiting for Disney transportation. I wanted to tour the resorts and also visit DTD a couple times. But I also wanted the experience of the DME, I am stuck. Pricing is super cheap for rentals 125 with tax and all for our days there? .....anybody

We have driven down many times in the past (so have our car with us).

This time (for December) we're flying.

Having the car is a nice convenience, and it significantly speeds up transportation to EVERYPLACE except MK (because, warts and all, the buses to MK put you right outside the gates, with your own car puts you at the TTC).

But, for us, it's not a necessity. There are ways to go resort hopping using Disney's transportation (not always the most efficient, but they work). For example: Bus to DHS, boat to one of the Epcot Resorts, check out the decorations at those resorts, bus to MK, monorail for those resorts, rinse, repeat. The only real hard to get to resorts (because they're not clustered, really) are the mods and the values (I'd add AKL to that...but that's where we stay so it's not a factor).

Keep in mind, we're annual WDW visitors and DVC owners...so we don't mind a significantly slower pace, and we're not out to see everything on every trip.

 

[pilferk]

Okay experts, question.

I think I remember seeing it one way or the other on here, but if its a MVMCP night, is it more or less crowded at MK in the am? We won't be attending MVMCP, had MK planned for the morning of 12/2 then heading over to DHS in the evening to see the Osborne Lights and use the evening EMH there. But if MK is going to be more crowded on that day maybe I should switch that with my AK day, Dec 1 (which is also the Xmas taping)?

History says less crowded on MVMCP mornings.

The problem is this: FLE is likely going to increase crowds, in general, for early december (considering it looks like a bunch of stuff will be open on Nov 19th). That may (or may not) seriously change things.