Pre-Trip Planning: Danielle's 2008 WDW Christmas Adventure

[joelp]

I stopped by AAA today with the DD - and my math was good - roughly $3,000 for the week (including $135 for travel insurance and $125 for MVMCP ...)

And fortunately the DD was too occupied with pulling the drawstring on my hooded sweatshirt to pay attention to what I was doing ... (this trip will be a birthday surprise for her, too ... and she wants to go back to WDW ... )

However, all the standard rooms at WL were ALREADY booked for the week we want to go in December (at least the AAA rooms were booked) - and Courtyard Views were another $250 ...

And at some point, you just have to say - "This is the budget - no more" and stick to it ... otherwise, when you keep adding a $100 here and a $100 there ... you end up a couple of trillion $$$ in debt ...

So -by "default" it looks like it will be AKL (which I think was DW's first choice anyway ...

Can't go wrong at either place ... but I think the DD would appreciate AKL more when she's a little older ... We'll just save WL for the next time ...

So I just gave AAA a call and told them (well - left a voice message ...) to "hold" a room for me at AKL - we can do that for 2 weeks without putting down a deposit. And I'll have the TA check every few days to see if something opens up at WL - i.e. if someone else put a "hold" on one of those AAA standard rooms and changes their mind ... ... maybe we can end up at WL after all ...

Or should I just go with the "flow" and stick with AKL (and make the DW even happier ... ? You know - go where karma leads you? (or have I been watching too much "My Name is Earl"? ...)

... and keep waiting for that 40% discount PIN to arrive ... :

 

[castmemberb4]

Good for you
I think you should just go with the flow, b/c you'll love AKL and you can stop stressing about it and get on with the planning
Lynn

 

[joelp]

I called the TA yesterday and had her put a "hold" on the Standard Room at AKL - WDW will hold it for 2 weeks without a deposit, but I'm probably going to swing by AAA Saturday and make the reservation "official" ...

[Besides, it's right next to Home Depot and I need to pick up a few things ...]

The TA is going to check every day or so and see if anything opens up at WL - but now I'm looking forward to AKL ... so I'll give karma a few days to reorder the universe if it wants ...

And if karma tosses one of those 40% off PIN discounts my way - Savannah View!!

( ... and I probably just dope-slapped myslef with karma ...)

Until next time ...

 

[joelp]

Way back in Post #1 -when I started this diatribe - I wrote the following:

This is my first post to disboards (though I've been lurking around a bit ...)

MY DW, DD, and I are planning a trip to WDW in December 2008 for the Christmas, Hannukah, and other Winter Solstice-type festivities, so I'd best start by introducing the Main Cast of Characters:

Me - Joel - age 48 (going on 12 ... especially when we're at WDW!) ... The picture is from our trip to WDW last May (well, I couldn't insert the picture - have to work on that ... and I can't wait to take Danielle on Soarin! now that she's tall enough!!) I'm a research scientist with the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, play drums and percussion in my FIL's Klezmer band (... we were up for a Grammy this year!! ... ... but didn't make the final five ... ), and am an avid every-other-day runner ... Also, "Chief WDW Planner" for this crew.

Vicki - my DW (whose age shall remain a secret ...) She loves WDW, too (especially Boma!!), and seems to get something stuck in both eyes everytime she tells someone about our May trip, resulting in blurred vision ... She's a Planner with the Ocean County Department of Planning, does some web site design on the side (see the Odessa Klezmer site above ... couldn't insert the web site URL either ... something else to work on), and will be amazed that I could somehow manage to insert pictures and Smilies into this post ... (she thinks I don't know how to use a computer too good - but I think I know more than she thinks I thinks she thinks I know ...

And last - but not least - (but the shortest, youngest, and best looking ) is

Danielle - our beautiful DD - who wants to be Princess, but knows she's not (though most times she really is!!) Last year she was crazy about Cinderella, and was so awestruck when we went to Cindy's Castle for lunch that she couldn't bring herself to meet her ... but eventually did after some wonderful words of encouragement from the Fairy Godmother
She'll be turn 5 in November - and our December trip will be a birthday surprise for her (and I guess that's a good enough reason to let her wear a WDW Birthday button ...)


I'll be back ... (there's still a bunch of Smilies I haven't used ...

And since it looks like I've reached the "Magic" # of 15 posts, here's the picture to go along with it ...

and here is the Odessa Klezmer web site: http://www.odessaklezmer.com/

In addition to the "Main Cast" of characters, I suspect (hope!) we will be joined by quite a few other family members during the week, including my "little" brother Jed and his daughter Nina who is 6 months younger than Danielle - and as you can tell, the two cousins look nothing like each other (but they are "best" cousins - even though they only see each other 3-4 times a year for short periods ... cause Nina lives in FLA - [and gets to go to WDW a lot!!]

And why is Nina blond and blue-eyed? Cause her Mommy - Mindi -is!!

The pictures are from our May 2007 Mother's Day trip - and Danielle's first - to WDW ...

Now that I can insert pictures, I'll have more of them - and tales and woes (not too many - it was MAGICAL!) - from the May trip ...

Until tonight, when I'll update the planning ... have a fun day!!

 

[bigbrian-nc.com]

Nice pictures Joel, I'm glad you got to the magic number of posts

It looks like you are the tallest in all the photos, How tall are you? (I'll make a guess at 6'2")

 

[castmemberb4]

The girls are Beautiful Joel !

And I'm guessing more than 6'2"
DH is 6'2" and you look taller to me
Lynn

 

[tmfranlk]

Yeah pictures! Can't wait to see more! I was blessed with a code yesterday, but unfortunately it wasn't the 40% one. It was 20% off a value, but only 12/7-12/13. So, we're still better off getting AAA and using that discount for the 5th through 14th or 15th. Now just hoping for something for the general public later in the year.

 

[castmemberb4]

Yeah pictures! Can't wait to see more! I was blessed with a code yesterday, but unfortunately it wasn't the 40% one. It was 20% off a value, but only 12/7-12/13. So, we're still better off getting AAA and using that discount for the 5th through 14th or 15th. Now just hoping for something for the general public later in the year.

Were you planning to stay in a value? Most of the codes are for 40% @ Deluxe 30% @ Mod. and 20% @ value. They unfortunately do have black out dates, I had to move my original dates. Stinks that there was only 1 week in Dec. But that's great that your AAA discount is better !

 

[joelp]

First off - when I got into work this morning and looked at my calendar I noticed that today is Mindi's Birthday!!! Yaaaaaay!!



Or rather - at Mindi's age: ... (only kidding ... )

Last May we met Jed, Mindi, and Nina our first night at WDW for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe at DTD ... followed by some shopping (we were celebrating Nina's birthday) ...

But they weren't the only family members to be part of Danielle's May 2007 WDW Adventure: Vicki's parents came down for the week for their first visit to WDW!!

GF-Ed and GM-Barbara had a great time (and more about them later ... but Ed was just like me by the end of our trip: when I said we were coming back, he looked at me and said "When!?!?!" ... ) So - although as of now they're not planning to join us in December - who knows???

Anyway - this trip we want to do the things that we loved last trip, suck up some WDW holiday spirit and try out some brand new things ...

So right off the bat: what to do that first night at WDW - Saturday December 6?

Since we will have been travelling all day, and getting up early to catch the "welcoming ceremony" at MK the next morning, we don't want to do anything too "strenuous" ...

Also, I found out that - if she wants to, and it's OK with Jed and Mindi - Nina can have a "sleepover" with Danielle at our resort and then we could all meet up the next morning at MK ...

So here are some options I've come up with - any other suggestions?

1 - just have dinner and hang out at the resort (we will be at AKL after all ... )
2 - DTD with dinner at the Rainforest Cafe or ... where? (+ shopping ...)
3 - Hit Disney Studios for the Osborne Lights if there are EMH that night (but this probably won't work because Jed & Co. willl probably not be staying on-site ...)
4 - Tour the monorail resorts, checking out the decorations, gift shops, and grazing at CS restaurants along the way ("Monorail chimes! Monorail chimes! Monorail chimes all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride in a ... )
5 - An abbreviated version of #4 (without the singing!), with dinner at either -
a) Chef Mickey's (Contemprary)
b) 1900 Park Fare (Grand Floridian) or
c) Ohana (Polynesian)

6 - Mickey's BBQ at the Ft. Wilderness Campground
7 - any other suggestions?

Right now I'm leaning towards #4 or #5 (with singing optional ... )

That's about all for now!

Until next time ...

P.S About 6-3, and Jed's about 6-2 (but my "little" brother has about 60 more lbs on him ...)

 

[bigbrian-nc.com]

I think you're on the right track with options 4-5 keeping in ming that the Grand Floridian also tends to have live music in the lobbys in the evenings, during most of the year from 4 pm to 10 pm the jazz orchestra alternates sets with the Grand pianist in the lobby during thier breaks, during the Holiday season other groups will often come in and cover some of those set periods (I've seen photos of various bell ringing musician groups over the years) even if they DONT have one of those outside groups in on that day, at that time of year I'm betting the Jazz orchestra, and the pianist at LEAST mix in some Christams tunes.

 

[tmfranlk]

Were you planning to stay in a value? Most of the codes are for 40% @ Deluxe 30% @ Mod. and 20% @ value. They unfortunately do have black out dates, I had to move my original dates. Stinks that there was only 1 week in Dec. But that's great that your AAA discount is better !

That's the code that I was really hoping for! Unfortunately, I got the one that was only 20% off of a value (we're staying at Pop). The good news is that my TA thinks that her pin code quote was good on the 5th and 6th as well. If so, then I'm going to book with the pin and not have to buy the AAA membership.

 

[tmfranlk]

Well, since Chef Mickey's on night one is kind of our tradition, I personally would have to lean to there! To me, a great trip begins with dinner with the Mouse. Depending on how much time you have, I would suggest the monorail resort tour beginning or ending with Chef Mickey's, then a nice nights sleep for the next morning.

 

[joelp]

We've never eaten at Chef Mickey's - since it's a tradition of yours - I assume it's good eatin' and good times ...

Can you see "Wishes" from there?

I haven't been on the Monorail in - a LOOOOONG time - so that's the way I'm leaning ... now I just have to get everyone else to go along (which shouldn't be too much of a problem!)

Headin' to AAA tomorrow to make the ressie "official" ...

 

[tmfranlk]

Definitely a good time, especially for your (and my) DD's age. The characters are a blast and there is a celebration complete with napkin swinging every hour. The food gets mixed reviews, but I really like it. The parmesan mashed potatoes are one of my favorite things on site and dinner has prime rib. The dessert bar has too many selections to choose just one.

You cannot see Wishes from the restaurant. However, there is an observation desk somewhere in the resort (4th floor maybe?) where you can watch.

It became a tradition on my DSis' (now 12) first trip. I took her when she turned 5yo and we ate here our first night as kind of an "introduction" to characters since she was not a fan of the Chuck E Cheese character. We had such a great time and did it our next few trips. When I took DD for her first trip, we just continued it.

 

[castmemberb4]

That's the code that I was really hoping for! Unfortunately, I got the one that was only 20% off of a value (we're staying at Pop). The good news is that my TA thinks that her pin code quote was good on the 5th and 6th as well. If so, then I'm going to book with the pin and not have to buy the AAA membership.

I know what you're talking about now I got that offer in the mail today.
Sounds like you're TA has it all under control for you
Joel - I hope you get a PIN soon, I've got my fingers crossed for you!
Lynn

 

[castmemberb4]

Joel
Love the pic of Danielle wth her grandparents, what a priceless picture! They obviously enjoy each other. Also gotta say I'm in love with Danielle's beautiful dark hair, bet it's really thick.
As for first night suggestions option #1 always sounds good on paper, you know relax a little, enjoy the resort. But honestly once I'm there I can't WAIT to get to a park or at least DTD. It's pretty though to relax with so much Disney out there waiting for you. However since you're staying at AKL it's so much like being in AK that you might be more inclined to stay there for the evening. AKL incidentally is one of our first night destinations, when we're not staying there, it's so relaxing and we often book Boma's for our first night.
But since you're leaning toward options 4 or 5, can't say I blame you, you could make an ADR for one of the places you mentioned (O'Hana is also a first night favorite) then just go with the flow for the rest of the day, let your, time of arrival and level of tiredness or excitement decide how much resort touring you do.
One other option, we do this if we don't know our time of arrival early enough to plan ADRs, we go to Wolfgang Puck's Express in West End get a pizza and sit in the outdoor seating area. It's fun to watch the people rushing to LaNouba and know we don't have anywhere to be but right here.
Lynn

 

[joelp]

I'm definitely leaning towards the Monorail Resorts Tour as opposed to DTD - and the more I find out about Chef Mickey's, the better it sounds as a first night in WDW destination. :

I'll look into where we might be able to watch "Wishes" at the Contemporary - what also might be cool would be circling the MK on the Monorail while the fireworks are going off ... Anyone ever done that? Can you see anything?

Mickey's BBQ seems a bit overpriced (probably because of the beer and wine), is a little too much out of the way, and probably won't work timing-wise (the reviews I've read said you need to get there by 5:30 to get good seats - even though the "show" doesn't start until 6:30 ... and that would be pushing it on our first night ...) I think we'll save it for a future trip when we're staying at WL ... :

1900 Park Fare sounds like fun - with Lady Tremaine, Drusila, Anastasia, Prince Charming, and Cinderella! ... But the "working plan" is to have lunch at Cindy's Castle the next day (Sunday ...), so that may be Cinderella overkill ...

So I will "pencil in" the Monorail Resort Tour with a Chef Mickey's option (1900 Park Fare as an alternate ...) - with DTD as a fall back ... (and being that it will be December, I would expect DTD to be VERY busy on a Saturday night ...)

Day 1 - Evening: Monorail Resort Tour
ADR Chef Mickey's 7:00 pm
alt - 1900 Park Fare
back-up: DTD with dinner at?

BTW - swung by AAA yesterday and put down the deposit ... we're set for Dec 6-13, AKL Pool View ...

Next up - Day 2 (but first I have to load up some pictures ...)

Have a "Super" day ...

 

[tmfranlk]

Just one bit of advice if you do end up falling back to DTD... You can make a reservation at Rainforest. You have to call them directly and I don't remember how far out, but I would highly recommend it! We ate there one year over Thanksgiving weekend on either Fri or Sat night. They were telling walk ups that the wait was 2+ hours. I walked up to the elephant with my reservation number and was in the next group of people called for seating. Definitely the way to go!

 

[joelp]

Before I move on to some pre-trip planning for Day 2, I thought I'd mention a few potential "complicating factors" that affect the planning for the whole week (and maybe a little on Day 2 ...)

First off is the MVMCP - to do it or not to do it? - that is one question ...

When we first decided to go to WDW in December, one of the reasons was for the MVMCP (so I've kinda answered my own question ...), but lately, I've been reading about how REALLY crowded it's become so I'm not sure if it will be worth the "effort" (or the $125 it will cost ...) Jed and Mindi were just there this past December, so they probably won't want to do it ... and I don't think Vicki's cousin Claire will want to go (but I could be wrong on both counts ...)

In any case, from past years the MVMCP is held on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday nights - and my guess would be that Tuesday night would be the least crowded ... anyone have an opinion?

The second complicating factor is "people" i.e. who we are and may be hooking up with at WDW.

You've already been introduced to Jed, Mindi, and Nina ...

Last time in WDW we also met up with the DW's cousin - Claire, her ex- Jim, and their daughter Grace at Epcot (Claire has a thing for the Beatles ...)

(if you've been spending a few minutes looking for Jim - he's hiding behind "Ringo" ... )

Grace has never been to Cindy's Castle to eat - so we promised her the next time we were at WDW - if at all possible - we would take her there ...
Right now, the plan for Day 2 is to hit the MK and have lunch at Cindy's Castle - so IDEALLY, Claire and Grace will be able to join us then If not, we may end up at Cindy's Castle twice - or see if Grace will "settle" for the princesses at Akershus at Epcot ...

The third complicating facor - and at this point a complete unknown - is whether or not some more of DW's cousins (and their kids) - and maybe her Aunt and Uncle (all of whom live in FLA) will be joining us at some point ...
But I'm not going to agonize over that one - and if they don't get back to us by the time we make ADRs, I'll just treat it like we did last May: "Here is the schedule of what we will be doing - you're welcome to join us -but eating with us could be a problem because we'll be making ADRs 6 months ahead of time."

So when planning for Day 2 (Sunday - and the rest of the week ..) I'll just assume (for now) that Claire, Grace, (and Jim?) will be joining us (also Jed, Mindi, and Nina ...) at the MK for lunch at Cindy's Castle arty: ... we will not be doing the MVMCP that night ... and if anyone else wants to show up, fine ... but that probably won't be chowing down with the princesses ...

And with that, as a "prelude" to the Day to planning yet to come - I'll end this post with a picture of Danielle, Minnie, and Roy ...

 

[joelp]

It's been about a week ... so time to move onto Day #2 ...

But first, I should finish up with Day #1 - because this is what's gonna happen after we get back to AKL from Chef Mickeys: my head will hit the pillow and I'll be out cold ... ... and 2 hours later I'll be wide awake and raring to go ... ... Of course, I won't have any place to go to - because it's, like, 1:23 in the a.m. ...

You've probably seen that commercial from a few months back where the "Mom" tucks the kids into bed but they're WAY to excited to go to sleep ... and then she walks into her bedroom and there's "Dad" wide awake, too - also WAY too excited to go to sleep cause "We're going to Disney World!!" ... Yea, that's me, too!!

Usually I will pull out a book and read/relax until I eventually fall back to "sleep" a couple hours later ... and end up having about 4 hours of shut-eye before hitting the MK ... But this next trip, I may just get out of bed and check out the savannah ... (without the sunglasses, of course ...)

I don't need too much help with planning Day 2 - cuz it's pretty much gonna be a repeat of what we did in May 2007 ("Tradition!!") ... [think "Fiddler on the Roof" ...]

Fortunately DD and I are on the same "time clock", so she'll wake up around 6:08 a.m. ... about 22 minutes after I've finally fallen back to sleep ... and she can get dressed and jump on Mommy ( ) while I take a shower ...

We'll hit Mara for a light breakfast (not only won't my sleep "machine" be functioning ... but the tummy will be on "spin cycle" ... so no Big Thunder RR today ... )

Then it's off to the MK for the Opening Ceremony!!! ("Tradition!!") ...

If you've never been to the MK for the Opening Ceremony - you gotta do it!! That's an order!!


OK - so we head into Main Street USA ... grab an events schedule ... and if we haven't done so already, meet up with Jed, Mindi, and Nina (and Grace and Claire, too ... I hope!! ) and then hit the Main Street Bakery for some cinnamon buns and chocolate chocolate chip muffins (the tummy may still be spinning - but I'll be in recovery mode and need something to eat ... ) ("Tradition!!") ...


Then - after hosing down Danielle and Nina (a 4- and a 5-year old with chocolate chocolate chip muffins and dripping, oozing, incredibly large cinnamon buns ... remember? ) ("Tradition!!") ...

we'll check out the show at Cindy's Castle ... ("Tradition!!") ...

and head back into Fantasyland ...

... where Danielle and her Daddy will ride Cinderella's Golden Carousel, with Danielle giving "Cinderella's Horse" (do you know which one it is?) a big hug and kiss ...

("Tradition!!") ...

So then we'll bop around Fantasyland and Mickey's Toontown Fair - hitting the rides and paying a visit to some of the Characters (Ariel!!! ) ...
Mickey's Philharmagic ... iasm ... and da stuff we didn't do last time ...

and if everything works out with Claire and Grace, we'll have a 1:00 pm ADR at Cindy's Castle (surprise Grace!!) ... (where my tummy will start to go into "spin cycle" mode again, because I will have a flashback to what happened there last May ... )

And with that bit of suspense, I'll stop for now ... because I have the urge to pop "Fiddler" into the VCR ...

("Tradition!!") ...

Shalom ...