Thank the Mouse & your Fairy Godmother, we're going for 9 (10!) nights. A Dec PTR

[chrisw127]

This is my first pre-trip report. I've been a little shy about writing one, since I'm worried that I won't have much to say, but I wanted to keep my thoughts organized so here goes. We take an annual trip in early December. Sometimes it's just me and my oldest child, but mostly it's the whole bunch of us:

Chris. The mom. I'm a travel agent but I'm trained as a lawyer. I realized about a year ago that I'd rather be thrown off a cliff than practice law and at around the same time, I was offered a TA job. It turned out to be my dream job, is all I can say. I also write for a number of Disney blogs and enjoy annoying my next door neighbor by not mowing the lawn frequently enough.

Kevin, the dad. He's laid back and super smart. As a statistician, he likes numbers and has been known to utter the words "Am I only working to pay for Disney trips?" He lets me plan everything and just shows up, the way I like it.

Eric. He's 8-years old and my partner in crime as far as Disney trips go. We've been known to sneak down to Disney World without the rest of the family. He's turned into a hardcore fan who likes to discuss the theming of the various resorts and the history of certain attractions. We're anticipating a lot of wedgies in middle school.

Sofie, age 4. My little dragon lady. What can I say about this girl? She is incredibly bossy and cute and completely obsessed with the princesses. Hobbies include waking up her "little" brother at 4:30 in the morning, wearing mismatched clothing (but always pink or purple), and messing with her big brother's head.

Thomas, age 4. Sofie refers to Thomas as her "little brother" because she's two minutes older. He's the sweet one, the kid who is most like my husband. He loves animals and is the reason we're actually going to venture over to Animal Kingdom on this trip. Hobbies include letting his "older" sister speak for him and chocolate.

Back in a bit with the details so far.

 

[chrisw127]

This trip was originally supposed to happen the last week in September. We have year-round school here, which means that kids go for 9 weeks and then have 3 weeks off; it's perfect if you happen to be Disney-obsessed. When the "kids free" promo came out, I decided to book a suite at the All Stars since we haven't stayed there yet. There was this part of me, though, that couldn't get over missing December: I love all the Christmas decorations. Then I went down for Star Wars weekends with DS8 in May and it was so hot, I started re-thinking a September visit with the younger kids.

Around the same time, my friend mentioned that she had some points she needed to get rid of. We've rented DVC points from her several years in a row and it's provided us with some great savings, hence the name Fairy Godmother, so I asked her to look into a week in December and left it up to serendipity. She was able to get a two-bedroom at Boardwalk for December 11 - 18. As a favor to me for renting from her so often, she gave it to me for just a little over what it costs her in yearly maintenance fees. I can't thank her enough.

Then something great happened. I won a contest with Disney and got two nights free in a deluxe. My first thought was "girls weekend" during Food and Wine, but I felt like it would be a shame to waste a great resort on my girlfriends (sorry ladies) when we could easily stay at Pop (which I love). Anyway, I emailed the coordinator and asked if he could bookend the resort stay with my DVC stay. I also gave him four choices in order of prefernce (he asked for three, but I wanted to cover my bases):

1. The Contemporary.

2. Grand Floridian.

3. The Poly.

4. Wilderness Lodge.

Then I waited, imagining this great stay starting at the Contemporary, then Boardwalk Villas, and then ending at the Grand Floridian. I was going to be an expert at the split stay.

And what did I get? Boardwalk Inn. I was disappointed for about 10 seconds--I really want to stay at the Contemporary and it never seems to work out. And then I realized that this is a great opportunity to really get to know Boardwalk. He also couldn't split up the days so we'll be starting out our trip on December 9 at Boardwalk Inn and then switching over to BWV on December 11.

Up next: Dining

 

[chrisw127]

This is my rough plan for the trip:

Friday, December 9: Leave North Carolina. It's a 10 hour trip (less if everyone falls asleep and I ration bathroom breaks like it's butter in war torn England). I'm hoping to fly rather than drive, but that will depend entirely on prices. Depending on when we get in, we'll go to the parks. We don't have any ADRs for this day, but we may walk over to Epcot and see what we can find.

Saturday, December 10: Epcot in the morning, lunch at Via Napoli at 11:30. Probably head back to the resort for a rest and then dinner at Chef Mickey's at 5:30. Since the Magic Kingdom is open late, we'll go over there for a bit. The younger two have never been up late enough to see the castle lights, so I'm hoping they get to see them this night.

Sunday, December 11: This is a Hollywood Studios day. I mentioned my DS8 is a bit of a Disney nerd and this is his favorite park. I expect this day will be filled with a lot of "Hey, look at the bas relief on that wall, Mom." We'll be having dinner at 50s Primetime and then going to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. I can't stinking wait!

Sidenote: I have had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Jennings Osborne himself, who is not a small man, dance a jig. You honestly could not meet a nicer man.

Monday, December 12: This is looking like a Magic Kingdom day with an early dinner at Liberty Tree Taver at 4:00. We're going early so we can see the castle lighting ceremony.

Tuesday, December 13: Our first, but probably not last, Animal Kingdom day. We'll be having breakfast at 9:05 at Tusker House. As long as we can see the Festival of the Lion King, I'll consider this day a success. This will be a short day, probably leaving by 2:00 or so.

We're having a sitter come by at 4:00 so we can have a date night to celebrate our anniversary and my birthday. I find celebrating my youth fading away is so much tolerable when I'm spending the night running around the Magic Kingdom. We have a 5:30 ADR at California Grill and then we're heading over the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party for the rest of the night. Hopefully the sitter will have all the kids asleep by the time we get back.

Wednesday, December 14: We're going to Universal for Harry Potter this day. I bought my DS8 and I annual passes in May because they're so cheap (well, relatively). Probably going to eat at the Three Broomsticks (the food is really good), get a frozen butterbeer, and just hang out for a bit. We have a 7:00 ADR at Via Napoli (yes, this is the second one) and we're meeting friends there. We'll be a very large group, so we're hoping for the big table.

Sidenote: I'm slightly obsessed with the pizza at Via Napoli.

Thursday, December 15: I'm leaving this day open, but dinner will be at 5:50 at Chefs de France.

Friday, December 16: We have an 8:30 breakfast ADR at Akershus and then the rest of the day is open.

Saturday, December 17: Probably try to do EMH at DHS and then head over to Epcot for, shockingly, lunch at 11:30 at Via Napoli. We'll probably relax in the room until around 4:30 then head over to the Contemporary for dinner at the California Grill. After, we plan on heading over to the Magic Kingdom to enjoy the park and say bye to Mickey and Minney.

Sunday, December 18: The sad day. A quick ADR at Crystal Palace at 8:00, maybe a couple of attractions, and then it's driving back to NC. If we fly, we'll probably stay the whole day and fly out at night.

 

[chrisw127]

I'm a former Floridian and like most Floridians, we don't put much effort into planning a Disney trip. This is probably shocking to some of you, given that most Floridians you read about here on Disboards are planners, but the truth is, when I lived in Tallahassee, most of the people I knew didn't even go to Disney. In fact, my friends used to laugh at me for going so often. I didn't even take long trips, just short day trips or, if I was lucky, a weekend trip. My husband and I met in grad school at Floridia state and eventually moved to Washington, D.C. Before we left, I made sure we visited Disney one more time.

It took nearly a decade before we went back to Disney and during that time, I did a lot of traveling, finished law school, we had 3 kids, and moved down to North Carolina. And one day, when my oldest was four and the twins were a few months old, I decided to plan a December trip to Disney. I don't even remember what prompted me, although I'm sure it had something to do with sleep deprivation. Or maybe those great commercials. In any event, I started googling and found Disboards and was shocked discover that there was a whole community of people out there who loved Disney as much as I did and they did this odd thing: They stayed on site.

Now, when I lived in Florida it never even occured to me to stay on site. It seemed like something that people with tons of money did. I didn't even visit the resorts because I just assumed they were for guests only. But reading on the Dis, I could see that there were places to stay that were perfectly reasonable, so I made a reservation at the cabins. A few weeks later, my sister-in-law also decided to join us with her oldest child and my father-in-law. They flew in from the west coast and got a cabin right next to us.

This trip should have been a disaster, but it was filled with (forgive me) so much magic that it will always be one of my favorite. Even with my yoga-loving, hippy/doctor SIL cooking all the food and essentially freaking out at the mere thought of going to the parks and the possibility that her kid might eat a Mickey Bar (she was a trooper, looking back, but the parks are not her thing), coupled with the twins complete lack of sleep, it was wonderful. I'll never forget that first night, driving up to Cinderella Castle (we were lost so I figured what the heck, go toward the big sparkly thing). It was quite a sight.

I've been lucky enough to travel all over the world, but I feel especially glad that the first thing I saw when coming back to Disney after all those years was the castle dripping with the icicle lights the first year they put them up.

One happy memory from this trip. My SIL had been doing all the cooking and by day 4, I was hoping for something other than broccoli and steamed rice. It was the night of Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and we'd bought tickets for us and my nephew. My SIL generously offered to watch the twins (somehow, they were asleep when we got back!) but at the last minute, she decided to not let my nephew go (I shouldn't have teased her about giving him candy!). We were disappointed because the boys were having so much fun, but we headed over and had a great time. Right before the first parade, I decided to get something to eat. I was starving. I'd had enough broccoli for a lifetime and if I didn't have some meat, I was going to fall over and die or at the very least, throw myself on the Goofy candy float. So I went into Pecos Bills while they got a spot for the parade. As I headed out, shoving the pulled pork sandwich in my mouth in the most unattractive manner as I went, I noticed the ropes were up and I couldn't get past them. At first I was disappointed until I realized I could watch my son's reaction to the parade so much better from there. You know that moment that other parents talk about, the whole "seeing it through your kid's eyes"? That was it. It was, okay I'm going to say it again, magical.

And that pork sandwich has never been as good since.

Since then, we've been back many times and I started writing for some websites and then working as a TA. So now when I go, I tell people "It's a research trip." Because that sounds better than "I'm completely obsessed with The Mouse." I'm not sure people believe me though.

 

[poisonapple_PRINCESS]

Hi! Joining in! Cant wait to hear more about your research trip!

 

[chrisw127]

Well, knock me over with a feather! I've got a reader. I see we're going the same time. Welcome!

 

[poisonapple_PRINCESS]

Well, knock me over with a feather! I've got a reader. I see we're going the same time. Welcome!

Just thought I'd come over here and let you know how to add pics...
go to photobucket.com and make an account. Then when you upload your pics into your albums you can get an image code and then put that in your post. Hope that makes sense?

 

[teekathepony]

Jumping in too. Funny enough I followed poisonapple PRINCESS over! Sounds like a fantastic er... research trip so far. Love the story about the pork sandwich. <3

 

[chrisw127]

Just thought I'd come over here and let you know how to add pics...
go to photobucket.com and make an account. Then when you upload your pics into your albums you can get an image code and then put that in your post. Hope that makes sense?

Thank you. It does. Can I also use Flickr?

 

[chrisw127]

Jumping in too. Funny enough I followed poisonapple PRINCESS over! Sounds like a fantastic er... research trip so far. Love the story about the pork sandwich. <3

Thank you. Seriously, the broccoli was really getting to me. I needed some junk food.

 

[poisonapple_PRINCESS]

Thank you. It does. Can I also use Flickr?

Maybe? Probably? I dont know...I just have photobucket.

 

[teekathepony]

Thank you. It does. Can I also use Flickr?

Yes you can! I love Flickr When you click on your photo and go to "Actions" then "View all sizes", select your size, right click the picture and click "View image info". Copy the url next to "Location", click the picture button in your Dis thread, paste the url in the box and voila!

 

[chrisw127]

Thank you both for the photo advice. I'm going to load some when the little darlings are in preschool tomorrow. I have to warn you though, I'm a terrible photographer.

 

[chrisw127]

One way you can tell you've become a hardcore Disney nerd is that you start using Disney math. This usually involves rationalizing a longer stay or adding a more expensive dining plan or--the big one--buying an annual pass. The thing is, sometimes the Disney math is right. No, really.

We usually drive to Disney World for longer trips, but it's hard on the kids and they're at that age where they like to pick at each other, so I started thinking of saving my sanity and just flying--it takes just a little more than an hour. The problem is the cost, of course. I was seeing direct flights on Southwest for around $200 per person but in the last few days, the price jumped to around $100 more per ticket. However, when I checked leaving on the 19th instead of the 18th, it was still only around $200 per person. Hmmm.

At the same time, I got wind of a good deal at the Poly. It's not my favorite resort, but in the interest of research, I could add an extra day and, using Disney math, I could actually save money by staying in WDW until the 19th. So it looks like I'm adding an extra night and staying at the Poly--well, if I can convince my husband to miss one more day of work.

Back tomorrow with some pictures if I can figure out how to flickr to let me.

 

[teekathepony]

One way you can tell you've become a hardcore Disney nerd is that you start using Disney math. This usually involves rationalizing a longer stay or adding a more expensive dining plan or--the big one--buying an annual pass. The thing is, sometimes the Disney math is right. No, really.

We usually drive to Disney World for longer trips, but it's hard on the kids and they're at that age where they like to pick at each other, so I started thinking of saving my sanity and just flying--it takes just a little more than an hour. The problem is the cost, of course. I was seeing direct flights on Southwest for around $200 per person but in the last few days, the price jumped to around $100 more per ticket. However, when I checked leaving on the 19th instead of the 18th, it was still only around $200 per person. Hmmm.

At the same time, I got wind of a good deal at the Poly. It's not my favorite resort, but in the interest of research, I could add an extra day and, using Disney math, I could actually save money by staying in WDW until the 19th. So it looks like I'm adding an extra night and staying at the Poly--well, if I can convince my husband to miss one more day of work.

Back tomorrow with some pictures if I can figure out how to flickr to let me.

I love it! We use Disney Math all the time. In fact this year's 6 night stay has turned into an 8 night stay with lots of extras (Richard Petty, Medieval Times, Universal, maybe the NSSHP... hahaha)
I've always wanted to stay at Poly, wondering why it's not your favourite?

 

[chrisw127]

I love it! We use Disney Math all the time. In fact this year's 6 night stay has turned into an 8 night stay with lots of extras (Richard Petty, Medieval Times, Universal, maybe the NSSHP... hahaha)
I've always wanted to stay at Poly, wondering why it's not your favourite?

I don't know why I don't like the Poly. I think it always feels like the place where the Brady Bunch stays when they visit Hawaii. Also, the lobby is just so small, although it's very pretty. The thing is, I actually go there on almost every trip because my kids love the Neverland Club and when I'm there, I love the atmosphere and walking around. I'm actually starting to look forward to it. I love being on the monorail.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

You know, the BIG WDW purchase is DVC. The cost of APs, even for a family of 5, pale in comparison.

 

[teekathepony]

I don't know why I don't like the Poly. I think it always feels like the place where the Brady Bunch stays when they visit Hawaii. Also, the lobby is just so small, although it's very pretty. The thing is, I actually go there on almost every trip because my kids love the Neverland Club and when I'm there, I love the atmosphere and walking around. I'm actually starting to look forward to it. I love being on the monorail.

Noted!

 

[chrisw127]

You know, the BIG WDW purchase is DVC. The cost of APs, even for a family of 5, pale in comparison.

I wish, Elizabeth. Especially with the cost of points probably going up as more brokers get involved in the business and discounts decrease.

Noted!

Sorry. You know, I love the pool and all the little lights as you walk around. I'm going in with an open mind!!!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

DVC is handy. Even though DS likes to gripe about not being able to stay at the Poly on points. We stayed there ONCE. For 2 nights. We booked the cheapest possible room, on an AP discount, mainly because we had a fishing excursion and I wanted a hotel with a dock so we could just walk out and get on the boat. At check-in they upgraded us to club level, so he thinks the Poly is the BEST RESORT EVER!

He has NO concept of using points, and when I try to explain it to him he gets mad and stomps off.