The Disney Finale: WE'RE CANCELLING CHRISTMAS! (Dec. 2-10, 2009)

[pixleyyy]

Stayed tuned for some final thoughts. And feel free to ask any questions you may have too. I'm not quite ready to let it all go...

 

[pixleyyy]

As I was scrapbooking photos I came back to my blog to read our trip report for this particular moment. That's when I realized that I'd missed writing about it. So here's a little addition to our trip report...

We were walking towards Splash Mountain to use our fastpasses and on the way we saw Goofy walking our way. As soon as Carissa saw Goofy coming she took off running as fast as she could, opening her arms to run right to him for a hug. Goofy opened his arms and took off running too... right past Carissa and straight to Tristan who was 10 feet behind her!

In the end he made it up to her with a kiss! The look on her face means she didn't mind a bit.

 

[pixleyyy]

Things we learned from this trip:
• Because of how fast our kids are growing and our incomes we thought this would be our last Disney trip. I don’t really think that’s the case. While we were there Brian said "We're going to have to go back to Disneyland" and I agree... we realized this trip how much we really miss Disneyland! We’ve only been there once as a family and somehow we’re going to have to figure out how to sneak another trip in there. There’s just a different feel to Disneyland and we really want to experience it again, hopefully soon. So even though this trip report was called "The Disney Finale", I think we're going to have one last encore as a family of 5.
• Staying onsite is pretty darned nice. Now, if we’d ended up in our one tiny room in the deep dark corner of the Port Orleans Riverside like we’d started with I might not feel so great about staying onsite. But having the 2 rooms at Coronado Springs has been fabulous! We loved the rooms, we loved the dining plan, we loved seeing the fireworks and the tops of the parks at night, we loved the ambience, we loved not having to drive and we really loved the EMH. I really can’t think of any negatives about staying onsite other than the extra price. But, in my opinion, it was well worth it.
• Going commando the first few days and then slowing it down the rest of the trip worked really well for us. That way we got things done but still had time to enjoy it all. Made both Brian and myself happy.
• Extra Magic Hours rock! The parks were EMPTY. I wish we’d done EMH at Epcot because that park was the most crowded of all the parks we visited and, even though it's our least favorite, we still end up taking tons of time there.
• How am I ever going to go to Disney again without the dining plan? I just don’t think it’s possible! The dining plan was FABULOUS! We got to eat at places we would never have gone to if we had to pay out of pocket. We got yummy desserts, which we usually passed on, and got to eat steak and ribs and things we wouldn’t normally order because of the bottom line. We didn’t once say “I can’t have that because it’s so expensive!” It was AWESOME!
• Christmas at Disney was nice. Festive decorations, lively holiday tunes everywhere, trees and ornaments and just an overall holiday happiness. It did make it difficult when we got home though. We got our tree late, shopped late (thank goodness for cybershopping!) and felt like we were just so far behind this Christmas. Small price to pay though. I'd do it all over again...

 

[pixleyyy]

Stay tuned for one list thing ... a list of our favorites. I polled every family member and will list our favorite rides, attractions, parks, food, moments and memories from this trip. Even polled them a second time a month after we returned to see what really stuck out in their mind from this trip. That will end up being my list official post on my trip report.

 

[serrotak]

I am so sad it is just about over.

I don't think I will ever be able to see WDW at Christmas time. I am a retail manager and for me to get off between Nov and Jan is unprecedented (meaning it will never happen). I guess it'll have to wait until I retire.

And I completely agree about the dining plan. This is my 4th trip and 1st with the DP. Previously, I had only eaten at QS restaurants or Rainforest Cafe. This trip I planned my park days around the restaurants...can't wait.

 

[pixleyyy]

I am so sad it is just about over.

I don't think I will ever be able to see WDW at Christmas time. I am a retail manager and for me to get off between Nov and Jan is unprecedented (meaning it will never happen). I guess it'll have to wait until I retire.

And I completely agree about the dining plan. This is my 4th trip and 1st with the DP. Previously, I had only eaten at QS restaurants or Rainforest Cafe. This trip I planned my park days around the restaurants...can't wait.

I appreciate you sticking through it all with me. Thanks.

 

[pixleyyy]

*sigh* Guess it's time for the favorites list...
Ch: stands for Chase (13yo ds)
T: stands for Tristan (11yo ds)
Ca: stands for Carissa (8yo dd)
B: stand for DH, Brian
A: stands for me, Annette

Ride:
Ch: Space
T: Figment
Ca: Space
B&A: RnR

Show:
Ch: Monsters, Inc.
T: Stitch
Ca: Castle Lighting
B: PhilHarMagic
A: Wishes

Food:
Ch: Plaza Brownie Sundae
T: Chicken at Planet Hollywood or Plaza Brownie Sundae
Ca: Cinnamon Roll @ Princess Breakfast
B: Steak & potatoes @ LeCellier
A: Plaza Brownie Sundae & LeCellier steak & potatoes

Fave Park:
Ch: MK
T: Epcot
Ca: HS
B: HS
A: MK

Fave Moment:
Ch: After going on Splash drying off on BTMRR
T: videotaping Wishes
Ca: Seeing us on TV in Monsters, Inc.
B: Kali w/Tristan in the rain
A: Family hug after Illuminations

Least Fave Thing:
Ch: Primeval Whirl in the rain
T: It’s Tough to be a Bug
Ca: Stitch
B: Figment
A: Being soaked at Animal Kingdom in the pouring rain

Most Memorable Moment (asked 1 month after trip):
Ch: All of us just sitting there happily during Spectromagic and Wishes. We sat together eating dinner, watching the fireworks and parades.
T: Happily sitting together and meeting the characters at Chef Mickey’s.
Ca: Wishes and the rides and sitting together at The Plaza.
B: Riding in the rain with Tristan on Kali River Rapids. Hugging when we were watching the fireworks. Huddling to get warm at Animal Kingdom.
A: Hugging (and crying) outside the Magic Kingdom our final night there. Chase, Carissa and I soaked and huddling together to keep warm in the little lean-to store while we were waiting for Tristan and Brian to finish riding Kali.

 

[pixleyyy]

*sigh* Missing WDW today. Trying to plan a girls weekend to DL though... that might help me feel better.

 

[lynn46356]

I've just come across your trip report! I was wondering what you thought about the crowds as I'm thinking this was Pop Warner week. I have just booked a trip back to WDW for 12-5 -- 12-10. Our oldest son will be attending the winter meetings at Disney (swan & dolphin) this year and what better place to stay than at Pop Century (we're cheap haha). We went this past year the week after Thanksgiving and really enjoyed ourselves as it was a 25th anniversary trip w/o the kids! We thought crowds were very tolerable. Although we did do MCMCP on a Tuesday evening and it seemed packed as far as parades and fireworks were concerned. Just was wondering what your opinion of the week of Pop Warner was. Thanks for any information you can give me. Hope you can get that Disneyland trip planned . We're still going back to Disney after 7 previous trips. Thanks Again, Lynn

 

[pixleyyy]

I've just come across your trip report! I was wondering what you thought about the crowds as I'm thinking this was Pop Warner week. I have just booked a trip back to WDW for 12-5 -- 12-10. Our oldest son will be attending the winter meetings at Disney (swan & dolphin) this year and what better place to stay than at Pop Century (we're cheap haha). We went this past year the week after Thanksgiving and really enjoyed ourselves as it was a 25th anniversary trip w/o the kids! We thought crowds were very tolerable. Although we did do MCMCP on a Tuesday evening and it seemed packed as far as parades and fireworks were concerned. Just was wondering what your opinion of the week of Pop Warner was. Thanks for any information you can give me. Hope you can get that Disneyland trip planned . We're still going back to Disney after 7 previous trips. Thanks Again, Lynn

Lynn-
I found crowds were very tolerable, better than I hoped actually. We really didn't even see the Pop Warner groups other than a few times around the parks, but it wasn't overwhelming. I think it might have been a different story had we stayed at a resort where the Pop Warner groups were staying, but they weren't at CSR this trip. We finally saw a few of the groups at the parks towards the end of our stay but had no problems with them. There were quite a few South American tourist groups that were at MK one day and they were more of a hassle than any of the Pop Warner groups. So despite what you sometimes read on the boards, I think Pop Warner is a great time to go! Crowds are low and Christmas spirit is high.