Santa Clause is coming...to Disney! Dec. at CBR! *8/4- pics of WWoHP!*

[nessz79]

I have to tread carefully, as DH isn't the Disney enthusiast I am (I know, right?)...but I have all these conflicting ideas. Our basic plan right now is something like this:

Thurs, 16th- drive up and stay at a really cheap Days Inn on International Drive. For $30/night I'm kind of scared, but DH thought it would be good not to have to drive up the morning of our vacation and who am I to argue about extra time on vacation?

Fri, 17th- get up early (6-7ish), have breakfast near the hotel, drive over to CBR and check in. I am debating whether or not to make today our MK day. The park is only open 9-7, but we rarely stay in the parks past the parade. DH hates crowds, and I'm not too fond of them either and we all know how MK gets before, during, and after Wishes! So we're thinking of doing MK today for the chance of smaller crowds (with smaller hours and being Friday instead of Saturday. I booked ADR's at Crystal Palace at 11:45 in case we do go this day. I also have ADR's at Raglan Road for 5:30 in case we DON'T.

Saturday- 18th- Our anniversary day! I think today would make a better DTD day, but just in case we have our double ADR's- Crystal Palace at 11:35 and Raglan Road at 5:30. Most likely it will be MK Fri and DTD/resort Sat. Anyway! If it's warm enough, we will swim during the afternoon. DTD in the evening for shopping and our ADR. Morning- who knows? Maybe the monorail to see some resorts?

Sunday- 19th. Epcot. EMH morning at 8, which is another reason I think Saturday would be better as a free day. Anyway, get to Epcot by 8, do Future World in the morning and ADR at Coral Reef at 11:30. However, with the 2 new restaurants opening in WS, I'm tempted to do a dinner ADR at one of those. PLUS, my sister might join us today, so I'd have to make ADR for 5 people. But since I don't know yet, we're stuck in limbo. We'll probably head back to the resort after lunch and relax some. Back to Epcot for QS dinner and walking around WS and enjoying the holiday storytellers, decorations, and maybe Candlelight Processional.

Monday- 20th. Free day. Some more resort exploring, maybe DTD again if we feel like it. Only set plans are ADR's at Cape May for their clambake buffet. We went here in May and loved it! Everything was fresh and good! Since we'll be in that Epcot resort area, we'll look at the Christmas decorations like the gingerbread carousel, etc. We'll use our free round of miniature golf, most likely at the nearby course. If it's cold, we'll go before our dinner. If not too bad, maybe after?

Tuesday- 21st. Our sad trek back. But it won't be so sad since Christmas will be just a few days away! We are definitely doing a small Christmas for the boys and we will tell them this in advance when we reveal the trip. I told DH a few inexpensive toys under the tree as a compromise for going on this trip.

I'm so glad I have somewhere to post all my Disney rants and ravings and obsessive planning and re-planning!

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Sounds like a great plan!!! Extra day in Orlando and a full day in Disney, sounds great to me!!! Can't wait to here more!

 

[*tinker*bell*]

Sounds awesome! I'm going around the same time, its good to know I'm not the only one planning everything this far in advance, my boyfriend thinks I'm nuts! Oh well! I too am excited for all the Christmas Decorations, I went for New Years a few years ago, but I was with another family and it was everyone's first time and we only had one day in each park, so there wasn't any time to stop and take in the decorations, although the warm weather made all the Christmas music seem very out of place to us Canadians who came from snow anyways hope your trip is AMAZING!

 

[nessz79]

Sounds awesome! I'm going around the same time, its good to know I'm not the only one planning everything this far in advance, my boyfriend thinks I'm nuts! Oh well! I too am excited for all the Christmas Decorations, I went for New Years a few years ago, but I was with another family and it was everyone's first time and we only had one day in each park, so there wasn't any time to stop and take in the decorations, although the warm weather made all the Christmas music seem very out of place to us Canadians who came from snow anyways hope your trip is AMAZING!

Thanks for reading!
That is funny- I have lived in Florida for 24 years and it's STILL weird wearing shorts on Christmas day! Our first Christmas in Florida, I was a little kid and we laughed and took pictures of me blowing bubbles outside in my shorts, barefoot.

 

[nessz79]

Ok, so has anyone seen Trace Adkins do the CP before? We will be at Epcot on the 20th and he'll be the narrator!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

OK, I am officially subscribing to your PTR. Looking forward to reading about your plans.

 

[MNTwinsMom]

I'm along for the ride. Great report so far. DH and I will be at WDW right before you, Dec 12-16. (Anniversary trip for us too, but we're leaving the kids home this year)

We're also huge fans of FW. I agree with your descirptions of how friendly and relaxing it is. One of our favorite things was touring the campsites to see the over-the-top Christmas decoration displays.

One note on your itinerary, last year we went to DTD on Saturday, December 12 and it was crazy busy! You could hardly move in World of Disney at 10am in the morning. It was busier than any day in any of the parks on our vacation. We talked to a few CMs who told us weekends in December at DTD are nuts because many locals come out to see the decorations and Christmas shop.

They were also giving away a 20% off coupon that was good at World of Disney until Noon, so that may have been a reason too.

So, just a suggestion, but if you have some flexibility you may want to stay away from DTD on the weekend.

Looking forward to reading more . . .

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Ok, so has anyone seen Trace Adkins do the CP before? We will be at Epcot on the 20th and he'll be the narrator!

They released the narrators for CP???? Where can I find them???

 

[DWisher]

We will be at POP 16-22. Just had a thought for you....we have our DD-7 booked for Pirate Cruise Ride GF at 915am. Since this is your anniversary...you may consider having your boys do this also and give you and DH a few hrs for some alone time. Just a thought.

 

[DWisher]

tinker belll~ I'm "nuts" right along with you...have pretty much planned every detail for Dec 16-22 trip

 

[nessz79]

OK, I am officially subscribing to your PTR. Looking forward to reading about your plans.

Welcome!! Glad you are here!

 

[nessz79]

I'm along for the ride. Great report so far. DH and I will be at WDW right before you, Dec 12-16. (Anniversary trip for us too, but we're leaving the kids home this year)

We're also huge fans of FW. I agree with your descirptions of how friendly and relaxing it is. One of our favorite things was touring the campsites to see the over-the-top Christmas decoration displays.

One note on your itinerary, last year we went to DTD on Saturday, December 12 and it was crazy busy! You could hardly move in World of Disney at 10am in the morning. It was busier than any day in any of the parks on our vacation. We talked to a few CMs who told us weekends in December at DTD are nuts because many locals come out to see the decorations and Christmas shop.

They were also giving away a 20% off coupon that was good at World of Disney until Noon, so that may have been a reason too.

So, just a suggestion, but if you have some flexibility you may want to stay away from DTD on the weekend.

Looking forward to reading more . . .

Welcome!!!

Hmm...good thoughts there! I hadn't even connected the Saturday to a really busy day at DTD, but that makes total sense now! Maybe we'll stick more to CBR and monorail resorts that day. Thank you for the heads up!

 

[nessz79]

They released the narrators for CP???? Where can I find them???

Yes! Well, not officially. I got the names from the thread on the Pre-Trip Report forums (this one!). Check it out!

 

[nessz79]

We will be at POP 16-22. Just had a thought for you....we have our DD-7 booked for Pirate Cruise Ride GF at 915am. Since this is your anniversary...you may consider having your boys do this also and give you and DH a few hrs for some alone time. Just a thought.

Great idea! The GF would be a lovely place to be on our anniversary, too! That fits in with the monorail resorts idea.

Thank you and welcome!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hey! I'm here! Now I gotta go back and read all the juicy details.

 

[nessz79]

Wow, I really had to dig around and blow the dust off my PTR! Now that I found it, I thought I'd do a little mini PTR on a "mini" trip to Islands of Adventure.

DH and I are both teachers and I happen to be co-sponsor of the senior class. DH came along as a chaperone when we did Grad Bash, which is a night trip for seniors and their eager chaperones to Universal and Islands of Adventure. They had done all this advertising for Harry Potter, but when we got there, they weren't finished . (Reflecting, no surprise- we were there in late April so they still had another 2 months to go).

The good news out of all this was that all seniors and all chaperones would receive a voucher for a free day to come back when WWOHP was complete. There was a blackout of the entire month of July so we knew we'd have to wait until August. So DH and I will be going for free and I knew I wanted to take our boys along this time. Tickets are expensive if you are going for just one day and that's all we want to go for. Money is tight and we're doing Disney in December and we just did a cruise a month and a half ago. So you get the point.

Anyway, so we're going to buy tickets from our local AAA office for 1 day, 1 park tickets for the boys. Of course, we'll do IOA since that's where WWHOP is.

We're staying at a Days' Inn on International Drive that's supposed to be very close. It's...get this....$30 a night. I'm scared! However, if that's what I have to endure for DH to want to go, then so be it!

So we're going up this Sunday, spending 2 nights there and going to IOA on Monday. It's going to be hotter than Hades, so I'm planning lots of opportunities to get wet.

I'm a little worried about the lines I've been hearing about at WWHOP. I just talked to a student today that said there are lines just to go into the shops. I don't love crowds. I have also heard about a lot of ride breakdowns. I don't like the thought of being stuck on a ride (I can get claustrophobic) so I don't even know if I'll try the rides. But we will go, we will look, and we will endure!!

I think we'll be eating at Margaritaville at least once. Other than that, we're not sure. It's driving me crazy as I can't uberplan like I do when we go to Disney, but maybe that's good. I need to just relax and see where the wind takes me sometimes.

I plan on taking pictures and doing a mini-trip report upon our return! We still have a few days before we leave, so feel free to ask questions or give me any advice!

 

[Chelley00]

Just an FYI, if you have AAA, you get a discount at Hard Rock Cafe. I think it's 15% off, but don't hold me to that!

 

[nessz79]

Just an FYI, if you have AAA, you get a discount at Hard Rock Cafe. I think it's 15% off, but don't hold me to that!

Thanks!

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Wow, I really had to dig around and blow the dust off my PTR! Now that I found it, I thought I'd do a little mini PTR on a "mini" trip to Islands of Adventure.

DH and I are both teachers and I happen to be co-sponsor of the senior class. DH came along as a chaperone when we did Grad Bash, which is a night trip for seniors and their eager chaperones to Universal and Islands of Adventure. They had done all this advertising for Harry Potter, but when we got there, they weren't finished . (Reflecting, no surprise- we were there in late April so they still had another 2 months to go).

The good news out of all this was that all seniors and all chaperones would receive a voucher for a free day to come back when WWOHP was complete. There was a blackout of the entire month of July so we knew we'd have to wait until August. So DH and I will be going for free and I knew I wanted to take our boys along this time. Tickets are expensive if you are going for just one day and that's all we want to go for. Money is tight and we're doing Disney in December and we just did a cruise a month and a half ago. So you get the point.

Anyway, so we're going to buy tickets from our local AAA office for 1 day, 1 park tickets for the boys. Of course, we'll do IOA since that's where WWHOP is.

We're staying at a Days' Inn on International Drive that's supposed to be very close. It's...get this....$30 a night. I'm scared! However, if that's what I have to endure for DH to want to go, then so be it!

So we're going up this Sunday, spending 2 nights there and going to IOA on Monday. It's going to be hotter than Hades, so I'm planning lots of opportunities to get wet.

I'm a little worried about the lines I've been hearing about at WWHOP. I just talked to a student today that said there are lines just to go into the shops. I don't love crowds. I have also heard about a lot of ride breakdowns. I don't like the thought of being stuck on a ride (I can get claustrophobic) so I don't even know if I'll try the rides. But we will go, we will look, and we will endure!!

I think we'll be eating at Margaritaville at least once. Other than that, we're not sure. It's driving me crazy as I can't uberplan like I do when we go to Disney, but maybe that's good. I need to just relax and see where the wind takes me sometimes.

I plan on taking pictures and doing a mini-trip report upon our return! We still have a few days before we leave, so feel free to ask questions or give me any advice!

Yeah for your mini trip! I leave on the 12th to go to WWOHP so I want to know everything!!! I did hear about the long lines for the rides and shops, but I wonder if that was b/c it just opened??? Either way let me know!

Don't worry, about the ride breaking down! I been stuck on quite a few rides in Disney and survived! Matter to fact I survived being stuck hanging upside down on a roller coaster at the Jersey Shore!

I'm excited, this will be our first time to universal. We are planning on eating somewhere on city walk too! Margaritaville is my first choice, but if you have any suggestions I'm all ears!!!

Have a wonderful time!!!

 

[onescgirl]

I can't wait to see the pics of WWOHP