dr&momto2boys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2006
- Messages
- 3,831
I'm just winding down my trip report from our May 2010 WDW vacation: 2400 pictures! Beach Club, Universal, and Bay Lake Tower Grand Villa. I thought it was time to get committed to another project to obsess about here!
This is a pre-trip report for our December 1st through 13th trip!
There's a lot of back story here, so let's get going...
This trip all started because I agreed to go to Branson last year!
We had a free RCI week to use thanks to adding on DVC points. My DH convinced me to use it in Branson MO. (The choices turned out to be extremely limited or we would have gone to Hawaii or something!) I can't recall the details, but part of my expert negotiating won me a WDW Christmas trip this year! Sweet!
You see, this trip was supposed to be on the cheap
since we already went to WDW in May and it didn't cost much more to upgrade our passes to APs! Also we have a timeshare week (non DVC) that we must use. We can just exchange it and use that to stay in Orlando, so how could we NOT go?! At least that's how I convinced DH last year. But then the ball started rolling...
Originally, we set the date for December 3rd through 10th and made our timeshare exchange. We got a 2 bedroom at Sheraton Vistana Resort. It looks nice enough, although we've been spoiled by staying on property with DVC now, so it will be weird to be off property. I'll let you know how it is when we get back.
When I was roughing out park day plans for this trip a couple months ago, DH came up with the crazy idea to go on a three night Disney cruise! He should know better than to suggest something like that to me, because I just picked it up and ran with it! Before long, we were booked on the Disney Wonder for Dec 2nd. December 2nd is my son's 6th birthday. It will be an awesome surprise for him--the kids won't know about it until we pull up to the cruise terminal! So then our trip changed to leaving on December 1st and staying at AKV for one night before the cruise.
And finally (I think!
), we extended our stay at the end because we're hoping to get tickets to a special D23 event. The Magic and Merriment event is scheduled for the day after we originally planned to leave. Last year's event sounded so cool, that it's our dream to go this year. The tickets probably won't go on sale until October and they sell out within minutes. So we'll need a lot of luck to actually get in! Regardless we booked three nights at BWV at the end of our stay. Now our original 1 week trip to WDW has turned into 12 nights just like that! Our longest trip ever!
Well, if you've managed to follow me so far, then I guess it's time to introduce you to the family...
Me (37) The OCD planner and obvious Disney fanatic. Didn't get to go to WDW as a kid. My first trip to WDW was with my DH before we were married. Such novices then! We even spent part of our honeymoon at Disneyland but didn't appreciate it the way we would now!
DH (40) My husband of 15+ years. Subscriber to all things Disney/theme park related. Stay-at-home-Dad. Enabler of my OCD planning.
Jacob (Celebrating his 6th birthday on this trip!)--This is his 5th trip to WDW and his 2nd Disney Cruise. He's also been to DL once. All of our children our seasoned travelers, since they go with me on business trips. He and his brother have been to 16 different states and a few other countries. He loves planning and doing projects for Disney trips almost as much as I do. I'm so proud! He is willing to go on almost any ride (at least once!) His favorite princess is Snow White (You should see the way he looks at her! ) He's also a Nightmare Before Christmas fan. He'll start pin collecting/trading on this trip.
Max (4)--This is his 4rd trip to WDW and 2nd Disney Cruise. He's also been to DL once. His favorite princess is Ariel. He won't even get his picture with any others. Recently he's too afraid to go on many rides.
Ella (15mos in the pic, will be 22 months at the time of this trip)--My beautiful princess--what else can I say? She's a very independent soul. She's learned a lot fast, watching her two older brothers. Watch out world! This is her 3rd trip to WDW and her 2nd Disney Cruise as well.
This is a pre-trip report for our December 1st through 13th trip!
There's a lot of back story here, so let's get going...
This trip all started because I agreed to go to Branson last year!
We had a free RCI week to use thanks to adding on DVC points. My DH convinced me to use it in Branson MO. (The choices turned out to be extremely limited or we would have gone to Hawaii or something!) I can't recall the details, but part of my expert negotiating won me a WDW Christmas trip this year! Sweet!You see, this trip was supposed to be on the cheap
since we already went to WDW in May and it didn't cost much more to upgrade our passes to APs! Also we have a timeshare week (non DVC) that we must use. We can just exchange it and use that to stay in Orlando, so how could we NOT go?! At least that's how I convinced DH last year. But then the ball started rolling...Originally, we set the date for December 3rd through 10th and made our timeshare exchange. We got a 2 bedroom at Sheraton Vistana Resort. It looks nice enough, although we've been spoiled by staying on property with DVC now, so it will be weird to be off property. I'll let you know how it is when we get back.
When I was roughing out park day plans for this trip a couple months ago, DH came up with the crazy idea to go on a three night Disney cruise! He should know better than to suggest something like that to me, because I just picked it up and ran with it! Before long, we were booked on the Disney Wonder for Dec 2nd. December 2nd is my son's 6th birthday. It will be an awesome surprise for him--the kids won't know about it until we pull up to the cruise terminal! So then our trip changed to leaving on December 1st and staying at AKV for one night before the cruise.
And finally (I think!
), we extended our stay at the end because we're hoping to get tickets to a special D23 event. The Magic and Merriment event is scheduled for the day after we originally planned to leave. Last year's event sounded so cool, that it's our dream to go this year. The tickets probably won't go on sale until October and they sell out within minutes. So we'll need a lot of luck to actually get in! Regardless we booked three nights at BWV at the end of our stay. Now our original 1 week trip to WDW has turned into 12 nights just like that! Our longest trip ever!Well, if you've managed to follow me so far, then I guess it's time to introduce you to the family...
Me (37) The OCD planner and obvious Disney fanatic. Didn't get to go to WDW as a kid. My first trip to WDW was with my DH before we were married. Such novices then! We even spent part of our honeymoon at Disneyland but didn't appreciate it the way we would now!
DH (40) My husband of 15+ years. Subscriber to all things Disney/theme park related. Stay-at-home-Dad. Enabler of my OCD planning.
Jacob (Celebrating his 6th birthday on this trip!)--This is his 5th trip to WDW and his 2nd Disney Cruise. He's also been to DL once. All of our children our seasoned travelers, since they go with me on business trips. He and his brother have been to 16 different states and a few other countries. He loves planning and doing projects for Disney trips almost as much as I do. I'm so proud! He is willing to go on almost any ride (at least once!) His favorite princess is Snow White (You should see the way he looks at her! ) He's also a Nightmare Before Christmas fan. He'll start pin collecting/trading on this trip.
Max (4)--This is his 4rd trip to WDW and 2nd Disney Cruise. He's also been to DL once. His favorite princess is Ariel. He won't even get his picture with any others. Recently he's too afraid to go on many rides.
Ella (15mos in the pic, will be 22 months at the time of this trip)--My beautiful princess--what else can I say? She's a very independent soul. She's learned a lot fast, watching her two older brothers. Watch out world! This is her 3rd trip to WDW and her 2nd Disney Cruise as well.
Yay! Thanks for joining me! I see you have a PTR too. I'll have to check in and get some ideas for our trip. Is this your first Christmastime trip too?
I'm wondering if you got all the ADRs you wanted? I'll be heading down December 12-18 and I cannot wait either!
Jacob's Birthday
I read through most of it. I love your purse! I've never owned a purse over $40, so I can appreciate what a big leap that was for you. I've been thinking about it myself, although I think I'd buy a designer everyday purse first. As much as I love Disney, I think I'd be shy to carry it around anywhere else. Maybe not. I like the new princess ones! 
Not like me! I'll let you know how it turns out tomorrow! 
We got a Savanna view studio at Animal Kingdom Villas for the first 3 nights and a studio at Wilderness Lodge for 6 more nights. We're on the wait list for club level at AKV. I would love to try that once and this would be a great trip for it! Plus there's a special Safari you can go on if you're club level. *fingers crossed*
