The Dream Grand Floridian Christmas stay updated 11-26

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Welcome to my pretrip report for December 2017

Hi I'm Glenda and when hubster and I visited Disney in 2010 and stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge we got to fulfill many long time Disney Dreams.


Our usual afternoon visitors at AKL.

Who would have know that would only breed more Disney Dreams.

After that trip we started dreaming about visiting Disney at Christmas time and staying at the Grand Floridian. After several years of spending on the Chase Disney Visa card we finally have the points to afford this dream.

So I was super stoked last week when I finally got to make those long desired reservations. Unfortunately we can't afford 6 nt's at the GF, but hey that allows us to try other resorts. So another split stay it will be. We have stayed at AKL twice and POR, so what other resort should we try? I really wanted to stay at the Beach Club with it's close proximity to Epcot but this was also a little too pricey for 3 nt's. So hubster asks what other resort I wanted to try....well there are several but since this was a Christmas visit the only other resort that I could think of that would be extra Christmasy (I know not a word) was The Wilderness Lodge. So with that decided it was time to cash in some of those points for a rewards card to use for the deposit from my Disney Chase Visa. If you don't have a Disney Chase Visa I highly recommend it. We couldn't afford these resorts w/o it.

So our reservations will be arrival at WL On Sat Dec 2'nd 2017 for 3 nt's and then on to the GF for 3 more nt's. I am so excited to be staying close to the theme parks and especially at Christmas time our favorite time of year.

So until I get back here to add more to this thread tell me about your experiences tips and hints for these 2 resorts.

Scroll down to post #6 to find out who we are.

 

[MrsIncredibleNY]

I've never stayed in either but that's so amazing! I should get a Disney Visa.

 

[thumper*]

Thanks for joining in

It is worth it for us and I highly recommend it. I can't remember how many reward $'s we had the last time we went to Disney but I'm thinking it was over $400. Allows us to do things we wouldn't be able to afford otherwise.
You can receive extra points when you sign up, and even more if you sign up for the double points card. The extra points I received just for signing up paid the first yr's $50 fee. The single point card has no fee, I used this for several years until I did the math and figured out I would make a lot more reward $'s then I was paying for the card. Also when you use the card to buy Disney gift cards at Kroger you not only get the reward $'s you also get points on your Kroger card that we use for gas discounts. A lot of people do this with their Red cards from Target.

 

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So I originally made our reservations on Nov 7'th and have already changed the plans. LOL.

First believe it or not I really just couldn't get excited for the trip. Just too busy with a new real estate career while still keeping 12 hr nt shifts at work. So busy that when the confirmations arrived in the mail I placed them off to the side and didn't even tell DH. I just opened one of them yesterday to look up the confirmation # to change our reservations. When I called up I asked the gal if I had a pin # associated with my name, since I forgot to ask when I first made the reservations. As luck would have it I did. Everyone of our trips I've had that allusive pin #. Never have used it because we ended up getting free dining instead. This time around I think we're doing room only so this pin # would be great. Then she says that it is only good for travel prior to July. So here's hoping that we'll either get another pin # or they will have a decent room only offer.

Since last Fri I've been here on the boards a lot and that's all it takes to get back in the spirit of Disney. I spent most of Fri researching the GF thread and falling in love with it all over again. Then Sat nt I started researching Wilderness Lodge, somehow WL just wasn't doing it for me. Went back again on Sun to study WL and again I just couldn't feel it. So I tell DH that I crunched some #'s and that we could change things around to get more time at GF. Instead of staying 3 nt's at WL & 3 at GF. We could add on a nt at GF and cancel WL and stay 2 nts at POFQ and it would be cheaper. DH was all in for anything that would get us another nt at GF and be cheaper to boot. I can't tell you how much that just feels right.

On our last trip we stayed POR and DH loved it. So this time we get to try the French Quarter and some beinets. We enjoy the ease of the boat to Disney Springs. We've only been to Disney Springs once and half of it was closed for construction. We love Christmas and all of it's glorious decorations so when I told DH about the Christmas Tree's there and the Drone light show he was excited to go again. So it makes sense to stay our first nt or two near DS.

We will be arriving on a Saturday and probably won't do a park. That would be a great day to go resort hopping and finishing off our night at DS. We want to drive through Fort Wilderness to check out everybody's Christmas Decorations at their campsites....hear that's quit a sight.

So we have an idea what we're doing on Sat but the rest is still up in the air. We plan to do MVMCP but haven't decided yet if we want to go Sun or Tues nt. I'm thinking a Tues nt would be slower. Has anyone had experiance with this?

Must stop for now but I will be back.

 

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So when I saw this Starbright Show posted here on the Dis I got so excited for all those folks that are getting to experience this in 2016. It looks amazing.

 

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So who are we I’m Glenda the trip planner, the organizer, the one who obsesses way too much about getting everything planned out just right. I save life’s at night as a CT/Xray tech and sell houses by day. Love that double life. These pics are from our 2010 trip.

The grumpy one here is my husband Mark. He works at a local grocery store and sells many things on Ebay. He isn’t happy in this pic because he didn’t like having to use a finger print (it’s not like he’s a criminal) to get into MK or having to take extra transportation from TTC to MK. I guess he doesn’t remember that from previous trips.

This picture was taken the same day it’s amazing what walking into MK will do for one’s spirit. He looks like a totally different person. LOL

So let me tell you a little bit about us. Don’t worry I’m not gonna tell ya our favorite characters because how can you really just choose one. Now of course we do have our favorite parks. Epcot is our favorite park with MK a close second. Our least favorite park is DHS and then second to last would be AK. I’m hoping that after Pandora’s opening and ROL show I will enjoy AK more this trip.

We both love Epcot why…..because of the BOOZE. Yes we love our booze. Whether it is red wine, margaritas, Bloody Mary’s or beer we love it and at Epcot there are so many options. We could spend a whole afternoon in the Tequila bar at Epcot. Our ideal evening at Epcot would find us drinking several biers and staking out a spot for Illuminations at the German pavilion. After Illuminations we head over to Via Napoli for wine and pizza. Walking out of a dark and almost deserted Epcot around 11ish is so beautiful I highly recommend it. So now that you know we are both lushes some of our upcoming decisions may make more sense to you.

On the past few trips I always got so excited reading the boards and got sucked up into the park commando mentality. So easy to do when you want to do it all in one trip. Well I’m the thrill seeker and DH not so much. He has inner ear issues so limits his rides. After crisscrossing the VERY HOT parks on our last visit to make FP+ times I realize this is not ideal for him and he turns into the grumpy dwarf. So this trip I’m planning a lot more down time at the resort or out of park activities. Plus planning FP’s in nearby locations vs across the park to save so much back tracking.

On our last trip (2014) I waited too long to add on park tickets and then the prices went up. This year I was prepared for it and ordered our tix through UCT at the end of January and a week later the prices went up. Yay for me because I was able to score a 4 day park hopper with a bonus 3 extra days. So now that we have 7 days of tix I’m hoping to get down to Disney a few days earlier so that we can enjoy all of the nt shows at each park without sacrificing quality down time at a very expensive resort. We plan to do MVMCP while at the world, so that would be a day that we don’t need to have a park tix. So we could feasibly squeeze in 8 nt’s into the parks.

If we do arrive a few days early do any of you have recommendations for a hotel near Disney Springs?


Edited to say that I wrote this post 4-4-17 but copy and pasted it over an empty post from Jan 8th

 

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So excited today I upgraded our Grand Floridian reservation up to concierge level. So now we will be staying in Sugar Loaf for 4 wonderful nt’s. That is unless I get an awesome pin# or winter discount then I’ll change our POFQ to GF. For our 2009 trip I had a 35% off pin number, but that was right after the 2008 stock market crash. Don’t think Disney is hurting for visitors now so doubt I’ll see that high of a discount again, but here’s to hoping.

I have to tell you all that the reservationist Darius today was a real whoot, almost annoyingly so (who am I kidding it was very annoying). I think if DH was on the phone with him he would have hung up. His computer was obviously slow so he would take up the time humming big band music because of the GF orchestra. I can’t remember all of the little cute things he said but he was overly aggressive with the Disney touch. I’m sure that many have got to experience his exuberance and didn’t soon forget it. But I can’t fault him he was doing his job and very well I might add. Needless to say I had to stay on the line for the survey just to give him the highest ratings.

So I have 2 Dissers that I have to thank for my interest in CL. Trishadono and her great photo’s and write up and Ewoks WDWfor2.com. blog. I highly recommend this blog for adult Disney travelers and anyone interested in CL reviews.

So now I'll be dreaming about this.

Yes I so swiped those alcohol photo's from @trishadono's posts. Thanks Trish

 

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Wow lot's has happened since I've last posted and so much real life crap that has distracted me from the excitement of this trip. I've look forward to be able to escape life and disappear into the world of the DISboards. So I've finally pulled myself away from reading everybody else's reports to work on this PTR.

Took awhile of playing around to get back into my photobucket account. Guess that will happen when you don't visit the sight for a few years. But I'm looking forward to making my graphics a little more exciting, plus pulling old photos from previous trips.

When I last left off I had just upgrade to CL and was considering adding more nt's on to out trip. Well after discussing possible plans with a TA on here @ariane37 ( I highly recommend her expertise she is so helpful and friendly). We had made a few decisions and one of them was to add more nt's to our trip. Jeez that's not a surprise now is it.

So now we will be arriving on Thursday Nov 30'th and staying for 2 nt's at on offsite condo. At only $75 a nt for a 1 br condo I couldn't say no to adding the extra nt's to get the most out of extra park tix.

I've been showing menus to Mark to help decide where to eat this trip. So many place we want to try and many old favorites we would love to go back to, but not enough meals in the day. Another thing is that since we will be staying GF CL, to save money I want to make most TS ressy's for the nights we're not at GF.

So we have decided on several restaurants and a Holiday sleigh ride. I'm going to do a daily break down of plans to help me keep this organized.

 

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These are the plans until the official DW calender comes out for our dates. I've done some research for past dates and am hoping that Dis sticks close to their old schedule. That said I'm sure that the opening of Panadora may change the projected best park for the day. Plus ROL is a must do so if they won't be showing that on Thursdays in early December these plans will change slightly. I have planned what we want to do in any given park so all we have to do is switch up what days we'll be in any given park.

We will be driving

down to Disney from Indianapolis and will stay the night somewhere north of the FL. border. It seems hotel prices and of courses taxes go up the second you cross that border. Lesson learned on our last trip to the World.

Usually on day #2 we wake early and finish the 3-4 hr down so that we can get a full day in. So we hope to be arriving in Orlando on Thursday Nov 30. After checking in at our condo, this will be an AK day if ROL is still playing on Thursdays.

My main goal is to take this day at a relaxing pace as Mark got over heated the last time and our stay in the park wasn't more than 3 hours I think. My plan is to make FP for Navi River & ROL for us both. Then I'll make a FP for myself for Flight of Passage and EE. I was so bummed the last and only time at AK EE was down when we were heading over to that part of the park. Hope to make up for it this time. I'd like to see it's Tough to be a bug, ride the safari if it's early enough in the morning. IMO it's not worth the time in the middle of the day when many of the animals aren't around. Plus We did the Wanyanama safari in 2010 and also having a savanna view room on our last 2 trips it really spoiled us for the regular safari. I really enjoyed walking in the quite peaceful area of Discovery Island trails and I think Mark might enjoy the bird show.

I'll make some ressy's at Yak and Yeti for lunch. Almost all of our dining ressy's will be at new to us restaurants and this is one of them. I forsee a possible Emperor Margarita or 2 in our future as well as Ahi Tune nachos and Firecracker Shrimp. Oh yum my mouth is watering thinking about it. I would like to take a cocktail break at Nomads Lounge and also try Pongu Pongu. I think if Mark has enough alcohol I can keep him at peace and we can actually enjoy the park this time. I'm sure ROL will be more interesting after several cocktails. We'll probably just snack the remainder of the day or get an appy at one of the lounges for our dinner.

I have been reading about making a second set of FP's with old cards or MB that aren't linked to a MDE account. I have to go find my Cards to the World from 2010 and see if I can't get a second set of FP using them. Bonus if that works out.

Stay tuned for day #2 plans. I'd give bonus points for anyone that can guess which park we'll attempt on day 2 but since I don't have anyone really following me that would be useless. Now to get off this post as the Dis is acting glitchy.

 

[ariane37]

When I last left off I had just upgrade to CL and was considering adding more nt's on to out trip. Well after discussing possible plans with a TA on here @ariane37 ( I highly recommend her expertise she is so helpful and friendly). We had made a few decisions and one of them was to add more nt's to our trip. Jeez that's not a surprise now is it.

Aw, thank you for the shout out

ride the safari if it's early enough in the morning.

That's our favorite time to ride, we find the animals much more active. Although we did do it around dusk last Nov. and they were moving around quite a bit - well, the ones we saw. We'll definitely stick to earlier!

I'll make some ressy's at Yak and Yeti for lunch. Almost all of our dining ressy's will be at new to us restaurants and this is one of them.

We ate there years ago and then went back in Nov. and really enjoyed it

I think if Mark has enough alcohol I can keep him at peace and we can actually enjoy the park this time.

Stay tuned for day #2 plans. I'd give bonus points for anyone that can guess which park we'll attempt on day 2

OK......well, so many people start off with MK and you're not, so probably the logical answer is MK. But I will go against logic and stay...............Epcot

 

[chunkymonkey]

Hi there! I followed you over from my PTR. We went that same weekend in December last year and loved it. It wasn't as crowded as I expected, it was actually before the holiday rush and the weather was beautiful.

After that trip we started dreaming about visiting Disney at Christmas time and staying at the Grand Floridian. After several years of spending on the Chase Disney Visa card we finally have the points to afford this dream.

Wow that is amazing! I only just get enough to buy myself...a sweatshirt at Disney, LOL. But it's not my primary credit card, but I do love using it as I always get comments from sales people ringing me up as I have Darth Vader on my card and they think it's so cool.

So our reservations will be arrival at WL On Sat Dec 2'nd 2017 for 3 nt's and then on to the GF for 3 more nt's. I am so excited to be staying close to the theme parks and especially at Christmas time our favorite time of year.

Yay! Sounds like a wonderful trip!

So this time we get to try the French Quarter and some beinets.

They are delicious! I love POFQ!

We want to drive through Fort Wilderness to check out everybody's Christmas Decorations at their campsites....hear that's quit a sight.

That's really cool! I had no idea they did that!

So we have an idea what we're doing on Sat but the rest is still up in the air. We plan to do MVMCP but haven't decided yet if we want to go Sun or Tues nt. I'm thinking a Tues nt would be slower. Has anyone had experiance with this?

We did Sunday that same weekend last year. It wasn't that bad at all. The ride lines were very short but the character lines were loooong for the rare characters...I waited an hour for the Seven Dwarfs...but I really wanted to see them! The rest of the time we saw the fireworks, Elsa froze the castle, got lots and lots of cookies and hot chocolate etc. from the kiosks!

This picture was taken the same day it’s amazing what walking into MK will do for one’s spirit. He looks like a totally different person. LOL

Aww how cute! He's experiencing Disney magic!

After Illuminations we head over to Via Napoli for wine and pizza. Walking out of a dark and almost deserted Epcot around 11ish is so beautiful I highly recommend it.

I love Epcot at night...especially EMH!

Yay for me because I was able to score a 4 day park hopper with a bonus 3 extra days.

Yay!!

So excited today I upgraded our Grand Floridian reservation up to concierge level. So now we will be staying in Sugar Loaf for 4 wonderful nt’s.

WOW!! Amazing! We rented DVC points so I don't think there is even a concierge level for us...I'm just so happy to be staying there in Oct/Nov!

Well after discussing possible plans with a TA on here @ariane37 ( I highly recommend her expertise she is so helpful and friendly). We had made a few decisions and one of them was to add more nt's to our trip. Jeez that's not a surprise now is it.

Yay for Ariane! And no that's not a hard decision at all to make...more nights always wins.

I'll make some ressy's at Yak and Yeti for lunch. Almost all of our dining ressy's will be at new to us restaurants and this is one of them. I forsee a possible Emperor Margarita or 2 in our future as well as Ahi Tune nachos and Firecracker Shrimp.

Yum. I went there once, it was yummy. I feel like I need to go back there...so many meals, so little time!

I'm sure ROL will be more interesting after several cocktails.

YES, do the cocktails, before ROL, trust me.

Stay tuned for day #2 plans. I'd give bonus points for anyone that can guess which park we'll attempt on day 2 but since I don't have anyone really following me that would be useless.

EPCOT!

 

[thumper*]

Aw, thank you for the shout out

Your welcome I really appreciate your time.

OK......well, so many people start off with MK and you're not, so probably the logical answer is MK. But I will go against logic and stay...............Epcot

Well we aren't normal folks.

 

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Su-Lynn thanks for following me over here.

Wow that is amazing! I only just get enough to buy myself...a sweatshirt at Disney, LOL. But it's not my primary credit card, but I do love using it as I always get comments from sales people ringing me up as I have Darth Vader on my card and they think it's so cool.

I get comments from everybody even 20'sh salesmen.

We did Sunday that same weekend last year. It wasn't that bad at all. The ride lines were very short but the character lines were loooong for the rare characters...I waited an hour for the Seven Dwarfs...but I really wanted to see them! The rest of the time we saw the fireworks, Elsa froze the castle, got lots and lots of cookies and hot chocolate etc. from the kiosks!

I would love to do 7 Dwarfs M&G but I don't have the patience to wait that long. Too many things to do and see.

WOW!! Amazing! We rented DVC points so I don't think there is even a concierge level for us...I'm just so happy to be staying there in Oct/Nov!

Renting DVC points is definitely cheaper than paying rack rate for a room but I can't use Disney gift cards to pay for those points.

Yay for Ariane! And no that's not a hard decision at all to make...more nights always wins.

Yes Ariane is great.

I feel like I need to go back there...so many meals, so little time!

I know right.

Enjoy your trip your leaving on today.

 

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Day #2 Fri Dec 1 We will be going to……………......................................................................................................…….wait for it………………………….........................................................................................DHS.

We won’t be doing Epcot today. Sorry gals. This will be a Candlelight Processional nt at Epcot and is highly discouraged by UCT. Though I’m eager to get my tequila flight and Habanero Margarita on at La Cava Del tequila.

Also very tough not to hit MK but you never know with park hoppers we may end up at MK. This will be the first night for MVMCP so I am thinking it may have a lower crowd during the day.

I’m trying to plan with 2 things in mind transportation and UCT crowd calendars. This park is closer to our condo and we’ll be driving ourselves. Also once we check into the GF we will only be using the monorail and boat transportation for simplicity reasons. So those will be our MK & Epcot days.

I’m undecided about going to MK, or going to the Character Warehouse, or weather permitting we could spend some time poolside at the condo for the first part of day then head over to DHS..

On the UCT site DHS isn’t listed as a recommended day but it’s also not a high crowd day so if we get there near park opening we should be good to go.

DHS is one of those ½ day parks for us. There really isn’t anything here that interests Mark even though I love RR and TOT. He is such a trooper (pun intended get that reference at DHS) for just standing around ppl watching while I ride the rides.

I hope to get FP’s for TOT, RR, and 2 rides I don’t ever remember riding before Star Tours and Toy Story Mania. I think Mark would like the Great Movie Ride but it sounds like it will be going down before our arrival. So we’ll see.

I would also like to make ressy’s at 50’s PTD. We’ve never eaten here but after reading some reviews (I think @ariane37) I have been craving fried Chicken for months now. I’m also thinking that we might even try a PBJ milk shake. We’re not usually shake drinkers as we usually go for the alcoholic drinks.

That evening I would like to see Jingle Bell Jingle Jam if they are still showing this again this year, if not then we’ll go to whatever nighttime show they’ll have with the exception of Fantasmic. Mark didn’t really like it the last time and has requested not to be dragged to it this time. I know crazy man right.

So those are our preliminary plans for day 2. I’m sure they’ll change several time in the next 7 months. Again it will all depend on WDW schedule. Now that I have this written out and I have been thinking about it, I’m now considering starting at MK w/o FP in the AM and then heading over to DHS. Must discuss with Mark. I really didn’t want a crazy running everywhere trip this time but that commando spirit takes over way to easy.

Stay tuned in for the next post it will include us becoming official WDW guest as we will be checking into POFQ.

 

[thumper*]

WOOT WOOT very busy medical day for my mother yesterday (well working nights and it is now two days ago, man working nt's throws a persons daily calendar wonkers. ) I had to take a time out when I saw the Disney Blog announce ticket sales for MVMCP. So I jumped online and ordered our party tix. Thought about using the option to print our own tix but decided to have the hard tix mailed to us. I LOVE MICKEY MAIL. Can't wait.

 

[thumper*]

Real Life update. WOOT WOOT MICKEY MAIL came and we received our MVMCP tix last week. Now waiting for the details to be released. Finally got around to adding our 7 day park tix to MDE. So easy to do not sure why I was so intimidated to do this, I really thought it would be very time consuming as many things on the computer are to me. Insert emoji of smiley taking a hammer to a computer. LOL


Day #3 we check into POFQ today.

Yay finally staying back on Disney property.

So today I'm not sure which park we may go to. I'm considering opening MK or possibly heading back to AK for more of Avatar in the morning. We're not morning peeps so not sure how early we'll get around, but it would be nice to catch the MK opening show for once.. The afternoon may be spent hanging out at the pool at POFQ if weather is warm enough. We are big water peeps and like to spend time at our resorts pools. Here in the summer time we spend any available time on our pontoon boat.

This night we'll take the boat to Disney Springs and check it out. I'll make no ADR's this night as we just plan to hit up several places for cocktails and appy's. A few places I would like to check out are the top floor of Paddlefish for the view with a drink, the Filet Sliders at Boathouse per @ariane37 recommendations, and Jock Lindseys. Maybe Edison and Wine Bar George will be open by then to try.

We are looking forward to checking out the Christmas trees even though the display did get poor reviews in 2016 and of course I'm really excited for the drone show even if it isn't very long.

 

[thumper*]

Sunday Day #4


I’m sure we’ll start out with our much anticipated Beignets.

I think today we’ll head out to Epcot. If I’m able I would like to get ADR’s for Beaches and Cream for lunch and then walk through IG to Epcot. I know Mark would love the No Way Jose and I the Brownie Sunday.

We’ve tried to drink around the world in the past but usually get stuck w/ bier in Germany

or wine in Italy

since those are our preferred drinks, but this time you never know we may get stuck at La Cava Tequila.

It’s one of our faves. I really like the 3 Cabalero’s ride but is much more fun after a visit to La Cava. Hum wonder why.

I can’t decide between Chefs de France or Via Napoli for dinner tonight. We’ve never tried Chefs but have had Via Napoli twice, so leaning towards Chefs. We’ll stick around for the Christmas version of Illuminations. Of course we’ll find a few of the Christmas story tellers. I’m also sure I have to buy some snacks to go from Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie. Don’t know if we’ll find any space in our bellies for them but we must try.


Monday Day #5

Today we’ll transfer to Grand Floridian Sugar Loaf Concierge so excited for this part of our stay. If we get a 30%-35% discount then I may actually change POFQ to GF. Too me this is the quintessential resort for Christmas spirit. I would like to arrive early to get the most out of concierge lounge and the resort itself. We may head over to MK for a few hours after my morning mimosa at GF. Can’t think of a better way to start a MK visit. After coming back to GF to freshen up we’ll head over to Wilderness Lodge to visit Geyser Point for a few cocktails and then over to Fort Wilderness for a sunset Sleigh ride to view everyone’s Christmas Lights at their camp sites. We’ll boat back to the Contempory and possibly go up to the Cali Grill lounge for a glass of wine. Back at the GF we’ll enjoy a glass of wine while watching MK fireworks. That sounds like a nice romantic Christmassy night.


Tuesday Day #6

YIPPEE tonight will be our MVCP night.

A late breakfast (breky) might be over at the Poly for Tonga Toast at Captains Grill or Kona Grill.

We have a couple of options if we have gone to a park every day up to this point then we will just hang at GF poolside. Looking forward to trying the Pool bars Lobster sliders and Crab Cake Sandwiches for lunch. Followed by a few cocktails at Traders Sams Grog House or Lapu Lapu’s at Tambu Lounge at the Poly then to MK for the party.

If we skipped a park on any day then we’ll have enough days left on our tix and we’ll spend the early part of the day at MK. If we decide to hit up MK early we’ll skip breky at a resort and have a cinnamon roll and Nutella waffle at Gastons. I tell you all of your food reports are adding inches to my waist. So many things to try and not enough time.

Either way we go we’ll freshen up at the GF then head over to MK for the night.

Mark want’s to try Skippers Canteen after I read him @Kastoneys review of it. So I’ll attempt ADR’s for an early dinner before the party starts.

The last time we were at MK we closed it down at midnight, boy were we exhausted after temps in the high 90’s that day. Looking forward to milder temps in December. Very excited for the Christmas party.

Wednesday Day #7

After a late night we’ll get up at our leisure and have breky at GF Café for Lobster Eggs Benedict, if we can drag ourselves there or it just may be nibbles at the concierge lounge. Once we get ourselves around we’ll head over to Epcot for the afternoon and we may park hop over to MK.

Then back to GF for a relaxing evening. I’m hoping that they will bring back the Gone Mad Party at GF and we can enjoy some libations, we bring with us from the concierge lounge and enjoy the 10pm fireworks. I think the props at the party are cute and would be great for some photo op’s.

Thursday Day #8

Today we might start out at MK and go to Gaston’s for breky if we didn’t already do it on Tues.

Today we may park hop from MK to Epcot. So many choices and so much time to decide. He He like it matters what we decide we always end up changing our plans. Kinda makes taking all the time to decide which FP’s to make a joke. But as we all know Dis wants to know your plans months in advance.

Our final farewell dinner to cap off our awesome vacay will be at Narcoossees’ followed by a last viewing of the fireworks from the GF.

Wow this will be the longest Disney vacation we’ve ever had and glad that it might be a little more laid back than our previous ones. Again I get the commando spirit so who knows how slow our touring style will be.

OK really tired of a glitchy Disboards and PhotoBucket..........forgetta about it. No pics or emoji's. Even difficult to edit. So off to read some TR's and maybe come back another day to add some spice to this post.

Edited this post to add photo's and gifs.

 

[ariane37]

it would be nice to catch the MK opening show for once.

I have yet to see the new opening show at the castle, not making it a priority since I know I'll be disappointed. I loved the train station opening show and even though some people think the new show is cute, nobody has said they like it better than the old one. I still may try seeing it in August, just so I can say I have!

. A few places I would like to check out are the top floor of Paddlefish for the view with a drink, the Filet Sliders at Boathouse per @ariane37 recommendations, and Jock Lindseys. Maybe Edison and Wine Bar George will be open by then to try.

Oh man, those sliders at Boathouse I wanted them so bad last month but the one night we were in DS we tried Homecomin' instead. I haven't gotten that far in my dining report so I won't give much away except to say..................we should've gone to Boathouse!

We are looking forward to checking out the Christmas trees even though the display did get poor reviews in 2016 and of course I'm really excited for the drone show even if it isn't very long.

I wanted to see the trees last Nov. despite the reviews but we just never made it that far since they're on the opposite end of DS from where the buses drop you off. Also missed the drone show which I wanted to see, but more for us to check out next time we're down there that time of year. I hope you get to see both so I can see what you think!

Of course we’ll find a few of the Christmas story tellers.

I LOVE the storytellers, especially Helga in Germany and the Norway one.

Lapu Lapu’s at Tambu Lounge

 

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I have yet to see the new opening show at the castle, not making it a priority since I know I'll be disappointed. I loved the train station opening show and even though some people think the new show is cute, nobody has said they like it better than the old one. I still may try seeing it in August, just so I can say I have!

I'll be interested in your opinion.

Oh man, those sliders at Boathouse

My mouth is watering.

I LOVE the storytellers, especially Helga in Germany and the Norway one.

I didn't know anything about these until I read your TR from last Thanksgiving. So now looking forward to them.

 

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So my 180 days came up and I was late in booking our first few days of ADR's, but I had no trouble booking Yak & Yeti for a Thursday 1:15 lunch or 50's Prime Time at 7:05pm. Now that the Nov. hours have been released and I found out that the Studios close at 8pm I'm thinking that this ressy will be too late for us to be out in time to watch Jingle Bell Jingle Jam, so I just went in and made a lunch time ressy at 1:15pm.

I called Signature Services (conceriege) to book the remaining ADR's and we got them all at the time I requested. Of course none are really high priority dining so probably not much competition. We'll be doing our Sleigh Ride at 6:30 Dec 1'st at Fort Wilderness. We got 4:40pm Dinner ressy at Skipper Canteen on Tues before the Christmas party, which I'm really glad since Mark wants to dine here. He doesn't make much in the way of request when I'm doing the planning so love it when he has something he want's to do. Our last ressy will be on our last night and it's Narcoossee's. A nice relaxing final evening in our home resort to end the trip.

So unbelievably the only ressy I wanted that we couldn't get was a Sunday afternoon Beaches & Cream. I'll keep trying as I'm sure there will be cancellations come up.

All of these reservations will be new to us so I'm excited to try them.