The End of our Chunky Year of Disney! Dec 2017 TR - NEW 3/21 THE END of our YEAR OF DISNEY

[dgthree]

we are now the proud owners of a new ​

DVC contract at the Polynesian!!!!​

Steve turns to me and says “Merry Christmas.”

O.M.G. Best Present Ever!​

I have to tell you, I'm grinning from ear to ear for you. That's just awesome!
And... belated Happy Birthday to Steve. My birthday was the 17th. =)​

 

[Steppesister]

Been waiting for a new TR to jump into... not sure if I’ll be able to keep up, but I’ll sure try.

 

[Neverland_Girl]

At Fantasmic we went through the FP entrance and checked in to get our drinks and dessert box. We each got a light up lanyard and light up mug in which we got blue margaritas. You can also opt for a non alcoholic drink which looks like kool aid. The margaritas were a bright blue and weren’t as good as the one at dinner and were more like Blue Hawaiians. Still it was included so we drank them. The dessert box was fun. Lots of snacks: corn chips, cheese, chocolate covered strawberries, a cupcake, trail mix, some sort of other colorful desserts which I can’t really describe. They were all very sweet so I appreciated the cheese and chips as I’m much more of a salty food person lately.

Is it not a dessert party? Do they just give you a box of desserts as you enter the theater?

I love the lone carrot in there

By the time we ended the meeting 2 hours later we are now the proud owners of a new DVC contract at the Polynesian!!!!

Congratulations!!! I'm hoping to be able to buy into the new DVC resort when it opens since I'll finally be graduated by that time and then add on contracts through resales.

At 7pm we arrived at Morimoto, we were escorted upstairs to the sushi bar and we sat in front of Chef Alex who would be taking care of us that evening. Our dinner was delicious. It combined sushi with cooked dishes, a bit like kaiseki, and the cooked foods were warm and comforting for the slightly chilly evening. It was a great dinner, which lasted about 2 hours.

Your dinner looks amazing! Except the sushi. I just can't get into sushi.

 

[bcwife76]

Joining in, so happy for you guys!!! So exciting - not sure what took you *so* long lol Glad Steve saw the light ;-) While we won't ever be DVC owners I would like to learn more about renting points. We enjoyed our stay this Christmas at the Grand Californian but of course booking direct was a huge cost. So I need to learn more about renting points there and points at WDW resorts for upcoming Fantasy cruises We did just buy a small (5 year) contract with UVC (Unlimited Vacation Club, they own AMResorts which is Now/Dreams/Secrets/Breathless/Zoetry) and it came with a free 2 year RCI membership as well so much to learn. Sorry for the tangent Can't wait to read more about your final trip for 2017!

 

[DLo]

Congratulations! Does this make the DVC buying day the best day ever the prior best day ever ???

 

[disneyAndi14]

Loving the new report, awesome pictures and congratulations on DVC ownership, that is great!

 

[ilovecraigandcooper]

I just adore your reports! Y'all are the cutest couple ever!!!

 

[chunkymonkey]

I have to tell you, I'm grinning from ear to ear for you. That's just awesome!
And... belated Happy Birthday to Steve. My birthday was the 17th. =)​

Aww thank you! It's a dream come true!
and Happy Belated Birthday to you!!

Been waiting for a new TR to jump into... not sure if I’ll be able to keep up, but I’ll sure try.

Hi Liesa! Welcome to my TR! I'm so honored you're reading! Don't worry, this one won't be long and dragged out. I should hopefully finish it in about a week.
I've begun reading your latest TR - I think I am not too late to join that one - only 13 pages as of now

Is it not a dessert party? Do they just give you a box of desserts as you enter the theater?

It's a dessert and VIP seating. The light up lanyard which lets them know that you're part of the package and you basically sit where all the FP people sit. We got to sit right in the center and we showed up pretty late. The theater was pretty crowded. Before you enter the seating area you are directed to the set up with food trays and drinks. So you grab a gray and they were nice enough to put 2 trays in a bag for us so we freed up some hands to carry our drinks. It was actually nice to eat while watching the show. I would do this again as it's fun and not too expensive although I really have no use for more light up mugs!

I love the lone carrot in there

Haha yeah I guess they added that for some color!

Congratulations!!! I'm hoping to be able to buy into the new DVC resort when it opens since I'll finally be graduated by that time and then add on contracts through resales.

Thank you!! That new resort sounds wonderful! I can't wait to see what it actually looks like!

Your dinner looks amazing! Except the sushi. I just can't get into sushi.

It was really good! Sushi made up about 30% of the meal, LOL. But they might be able to accommodate you and exchange it for cooked sushi. not sure though.

Joining in, so happy for you guys!!! So exciting - not sure what took you *so* long lol Glad Steve saw the light ;-) While we won't ever be DVC owners I would like to learn more about renting points. We enjoyed our stay this Christmas at the Grand Californian but of course booking direct was a huge cost. So I need to learn more about renting points there and points at WDW resorts for upcoming Fantasy cruises We did just buy a small (5 year) contract with UVC (Unlimited Vacation Club, they own AMResorts which is Now/Dreams/Secrets/Breathless/Zoetry) and it came with a free 2 year RCI membership as well so much to learn. Sorry for the tangent Can't wait to read more about your final trip for 2017!

Thank you!!! I know, right? What took us so long!?! Everyone asked us if we owned, but Steve was not budging. I'm glad he saw the light too!
I rented points before through the DISBoards Rent/Trade boards. I basically find someone with a bunch of points at the home resort I want to stay at and then you communicate with them. Usually if you tell them way ahead of time they will be able to book the room for you. I've done it about 4 times now and they have all been very smooth transactions. Although I had one time where the owner didn't respond to my emails to set up Magical Express. Turns out he was out of the country. However I found out you can do it yourself online so from then on I just did the ME booking myself. If your looking for a trip within 6 months or less, the likelihood of getting the resort you want will be very slim. I realize DVC resorts fill up really quickly!!

Congratulations! Does this make the DVC buying day the best day ever the prior best day ever ???

Thank you!! It's so hard to choose! I think this is the best PRESENT ever, LOL. But that day in May was really just amazing. This one is a very close second!!

Loving the new report, awesome pictures and congratulations on DVC ownership, that is great!

Thank you so much!!! I can't believe I'm a DVC owner now!

I just adore your reports! Y'all are the cutest couple ever!!!

Aww thank you, that is really sweet of you to say!
Steve says it's because he's so good-looking...

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Congratulations on your new home Su-Lynn!!!! I am sooooo happy for you!

 

[amalone1013]

We saw Cruella de Ville upon entering from the World Showcase – she was awesome! I had on a striped shirt but said spots were the new “it” pattern.

How cool to see Cruella!

They were all very sweet so I appreciated the cheese and chips as I’m much more of a salty food person lately.

I did too, because I didn't eat most of the desserts in the box! I don't do fruit desserts So I just had the average cupcake lol. Those "margaritas" did look like kool-aid! We have a set of 5 mugs (or maybe 7) because Zack's mom saved them all for us. We didn't know until we got home

Steve promptly passed out once he hit the bed, but I had a Dismeet I was very excited about! At around 10:30pm I headed downstairs to Phins which is the new bar in the lobby of the Dolphin. There I met up with @Raeven and her bf Josh who were having dinner at Shula’s, as well as @amalone and her DH Zack who had just arrived for their weekend trip to WDW! It was so great seeing Raeven and Josh again and meeting Alyssa and her DH for the first time. I really enjoy meeting my DISBoard friends! We got a drink from the bar, and @amalone kindly offered us these drink vouchers that they got when they were here for their wedding! Thanks guys! We had a great time chatting, and I gave everyone some candy and a holiday card my sister had made. I was in a festive mood and wanted to share!

We had such a fun time! I took your sister's card to work to show it off I'm glad that we could use the drink coupons with you guys too! We would have had them forever - I seem to always get drinks at the parks or restaurants, so by the time we get back to the hotel we don't go to the bar there haha. It was absolutely mobbed in September because of a convention going on too. We almost avoided the whole inner circular area of the lobby the whole time we were there

(sorry I had to make Steve get off the bed for this picture so the pillows are not fluffed correctly haha)

You should see Zack's face when he comes back to the room from the vending machine and I'm moving the bags around...

By the time we ended the meeting 2 hours later we are now the proud owners of a new DVC contract at the Polynesian!!!!

Steve turns to me and says “Merry Christmas.”

O.M.G. Best Present Ever!

I’ve already purchased the discounted annual passes for us (Platinum Plus Aps for 25% off!) although we’re not sure when we will be using them in 2018 yet.

So it seems like our year of Disney has turned into almost 50 years of Disney
(although not quite as many trips per year!)

I thought about putting excited memes after each quote, but I thought that might be excessive... So exciting though! Congrats!

Oh did you know that at the end of the DVC meeting you are taken to their ice cream parlor? It’s so funny that they have their own ice cream parlor. We each got a scoop of ice cream while waiting for our ride. We also got new DVC owner buttons which we didn’t end up wearing.

Now I'm sold!

We also got to do something that we’ve never done before…go to the DVC Member Lounge in Epcot for the first time!!! We had to show them our membership number on our phones and we headed upstairs. It’s so interesting to be up here.

Is it bad that I'm super intrigued by the lounges? I think it's because that one is in an area that used to be part of the park, right?

At 7pm we arrived at Morimoto

Zack wants to eat here so bad and I'm afraid I won't like it. I should go look at the menu again. I mean, can I get a plate of those dumplings?

This bag is so cute!

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Yay!! I'm so excited for you and your new DVC contract!!

 

[amalone1013]

I forgot, I love your Pizza Planet shirts!

I’m so excited, I’m still pinching myself!! I never in a million years thought that Steve would agree to purchase DVC, I’ve often talked about it but he was always adamant that he didn’t want a timeshare, whether it is Disney or not, and that he’d rather spend the money on an actual vacation home (preferably in Hawaii, although that will be a long time from now). I don’t know what actually convinced him to pull the trigger but I’m thinking the 7 trips this year either scared him as to the amount we spent or he finally saw the light about going to Disney like, all the time, hahaha. You have to understand that Steve is pretty thrifty, and I’m the one that likes to spend (on Disney, haha). He also does not like things that are too complicated to plan so he was not too keen on the point system, but maybe Mark had explained it better than I ever did. Whatever the reason, I’ll take it!!

Zack just asked me the other night why we spend lots of money on Disney hotels and we can't spend any on a hotel back home this weekend for my cousin's wedding... I was like, because I know 8 billion people there and because that wasn't 'real' money for Disney... It was mostly credit card points... We only spent about $1000 OOP and $300 of that was supposed to be covered by points too but we never did, so now we have $300 in points to use somewhere else...

I'm definitely the thrifty one for us. Hence why I don't like to spend hotel money on traveling home... but I found a place for $55 a night so I can't argue against that! And don't worry, it's not scary, we've stayed there before - home is just cheap!

Zack's mom was kind of pushing us to do a DVC tour in September. I think she's worried we'll move. Zack's dream job would be something in ride design, and all the big players work down there or in California it seems. I don't think I could take Zack to a DVC tour because he's impulsive and I would have trouble talking him down! I don't think this is the time to buy DVC for us, when we don't have our own home or even apartment

I really dislike the Photopass online website! It's so annoying. I hope they are fixing it and making it easier for people to sort and download pictures!

Yes! Why can't I organize by date to download? I had to redownload all of our January pictures when I downloaded the September ones, because I wasn't going to select that many individually. And I haven't played with any of the frames and decorations.

 

[kde175]

Congratulations on DVC!!! We are members at Animal Kingdom, but rarely stay there.

 

[belle0517]

Following along

 

[Steppesister]

Hi Liesa! Welcome to my TR! I'm so honored you're reading! Don't worry, this one won't be long and dragged out. I should hopefully finish it in about a week.
I've begun reading your latest TR - I think I am not too late to join that one - only 13 pages as of now

The pleasure is all mine!

And I am honored as well. I've heard wonderful things about you from Kelly and thought I needed to "meet" you.

Mine do tend to move fast and get gargantuan, but this one will be slower simply because my free time is a lot less than it used to be with my working now. But, I will update as I can and am looking forward to us enjoying each other's reports.

 

[nenglim]

Congratulations and welcome home! We love our DVC home. Moonlight Magic is awesome. We did it after the 5K princess last year at the MK. We even had our own fireworks and it was awesome. It would also be a perfect set up for your sister for character meets, they have rare characters out. My sons 17 and 13 went nuts meeting the Bowler Hat guy.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Dec 16th - Epcot Morning and San Angel Inn Lunch

The past 2 days were packed full and we had been out pretty late each night so we decided to sleep in today. It was much needed! Still pinching myself to see if we were really still at Disney and were new DVC owners - seemed like a dream and still does!

We got ready and headed out to Epcot. I think we may have missed the boat so we just walked. I do not mind the walk to Epcot and it feels much shorter than the walk to DHS. At that point late in the morning we had already missed our first FP+ for Character Spot which I somehow had made for early in the morning but there were no other times to move it to. Instead we got one for Figment. I was a little bummed that we missed Character Spot because that was one of the few opportunities we had the entire trip to meet characters. But to my surprise and delight, when we walked pass UK that Character Training was out! It's like Epcot's version of Characterpalooza that happens at DHS (which I have yet to make it to). So we were able to get pictures with Donald and Minnie which is awesome as I rarely get to meet with classic Donald!!! We would have gotten in line for Mickey too but his was way too long and we had to make it to Figment so we headed down there before our FP window expired. Steve doesn't like this ride because of the skunk part. "It stinks!" He's such a child sometimes, haha.

We headed to our next FP, Soarin' but first I went to Sunshine Seasons to get something to eat. There were no breakfast options being offered as it switched over to lunch already and I kinda wanted something breakfast-y. I found an overnight oatmeal parfait in the cold section so I got that. It was actually really good and healthier than what I would usually eat (bounty platter or waffles with bacon ). I do like oatmeal so it was a nice twist and it had blueberries and other fruit in it too.

Then we went on Soarin'! Good thing we had an FP as wait times were getting really long for rides. Even LWTL had a 55 minute wait! Luckily our last FP+ was for that ride for that so we hopped on after Soarin'. We were a few minutes early but they let us on anyways. Sometimes CMs are nice enough and sometimes they make us wait. While waiting to get in our boat, I checked the app to see if we could get any other FP, and there wasn't anything we wanted to do at Epcot, so I checked DHS and there was a Toy Story one for later that evening so I grabbed that. It was a perfect time because we'd be there early for Galactic Nights anyways.

So since we had no more FP at Epcot we decided to use one of our 3 "anytime" FPs which we got from the DVC presentation and went on Test Track which had about a 75 minute wait at that point. Thankful for those FPs, although I think if you end up buying DVC you should be entitled to about 50 gazillion more, right? Haha or maybe just one for Flight of Passage...?!?

On TT I created this awful neon green roadster that was full of power. I liked it though! On our August trip we couldn't ride TT as it was always breaking down while we were in line and we were annoyed. At least it didn't break down this time, but I feel they need to work out the coordination because sometime you can see the cars you create on the results screens and sometimes you can't. Weird.

By now it was lunch time so we just walked the short distance to Mexico. We had ADRs for San Angel Inn which is a place I have not eaten at for maybe 3 years. Steve has never been since I went with my sister, Chunkysis. Steve enjoys Mexican food so I told him we could eat here on this trip. We checked in and were shown to our very dark table. Seriously, it's so hard to read the menu here! I was pretty bummed when they took the Pollo a las Rajas (sp) from the menu. It was probably my most favorite Mexican dish ever! But I thought I could find something else to eat that was similar. The only thing that came close was a Chicken and Rice dish with Mole sauce. I asked for the sauce on the side and our server said that can be done. Steve opted for a combination meal that had short rib, enchiladas verdes, and chile poblano.

Steve liked the food but I thought mine was just ok, I really missed the Pollo a las Rajas dish and the cilantro cream sauce they used to put on it. The chicken on the mole dish was a bit rubbery. The rice was decent but nothing special. The mole wasn't really my thing. I felt that this one was very sweet.

I was curious as to why they took my favorite dish off the menu so I asked our server. He told me that everyone asks about that dish. He said the reason is because the chef thinks it's too difficult to make. I personally don't believe that reason but I didn't tell him so. Just thought it was an odd reason. I don't know if such a sauce is difficult, since I am not a chef, but I know good mole takes a decent amount of ingredients in order to get right so I can't see it being more difficult than mole!

I did enjoy the chips and salsa (the salsa verde is my favorite) and the avocado margarita though.

After lunch we headed back to the Dolphin to just rest. We managed to use the hot tubs for a bit too! Coming up...Star Wars Galactic Nights!

Here are some pictures from Epcot

Arriving in Epcot:

Character Training location in between England and Canada: The doors will be open and people will be filing in. There's no photopass photographer so just have people take it for you if your group wants to be altogether.

It was great to have stumbled upon characters after missing Character Spot!

They weren't kidding that the wait times for Figment were close to 45 mintues!

Even when it's not Flower and Garden Festival, I never get tired of this view:

At Sunshine Seasons:

My overnight oatmeal/chia seed parfait:

Look at this crazy wait time for Living with the Land:

Steve is trying to think about his next hydroponics project.

Our ride on Test Track:

My little car:

Oh and you can create one of these in a photobooth in the dump shop for TT. You can add it to your memory maker and it's free! Just don't select the option to print as that costs money.:

We're so mature, hahaha

At San Angel Inn Lunch:

Chips 'n salsa plus a margarita...how can you go wrong?

Steve got the:

Combinación Mexicana
Braised short rib with a chile pasilla sauce over poblano-corn rajas | Enchiladas Verdes de Pollo with corn tortilla-stuffed with pulled chicken topped with melted Chihuahua cheese, queso fresco, and crema Mexicana | Chile Poblano stuffed with black beans and queso Chihuahua with chipotle-tomato sauce

I got the:

Mole Poblano
Grilled chicken breast served over parsley white rice, with a classic mole sauce made with nuts, spices, chiles and a hint of chocolate. Served with poblano rajas.

We headed back to the Dolphin to rest after lunch...

It was a busy day in Epcot even the new Cholas de Margarita bar had a huge line!

Stay tuned for STAR WARS Galactic Nights!
​

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Su-Lynn, I loooove your Minnie tee! Would you mind telling me where you got it???? Super cute!

 

[ariane37]

Joining in on another TR I can fall behind on I'll be back to catch up and in the meantime, Happy New Year to you and Steve!

 

[chunkymonkey]

Congratulations on your new home Su-Lynn!!!! I am sooooo happy for you!

Thank you Jenny!! I'm so excited!!

How cool to see Cruella!

I know! She was really funny. I have never met her before! The last time she was out (aside from during all the holiday parties), was Photopass Day. Her line was 3 hours long!

I did too, because I didn't eat most of the desserts in the box! I don't do fruit desserts So I just had the average cupcake lol. Those "margaritas" did look like kool-aid! We have a set of 5 mugs (or maybe 7) because Zack's mom saved them all for us. We didn't know until we got home

Yeah I did this more for the experience rather than the desserts. I knew they would be like the ones you get at most dessert parties, overly sweet iced creations, but I liked the cheese and chips!! That's cool you ended up with so many mugs! My nieces love them.

We had such a fun time! I took your sister's card to work to show it off I'm glad that we could use the drink coupons with you guys too! We would have had them forever - I seem to always get drinks at the parks or restaurants, so by the time we get back to the hotel we don't go to the bar there haha. It was absolutely mobbed in September because of a convention going on too. We almost avoided the whole inner circular area of the lobby the whole time we were there

Aww thanks, she'll appreciate that. My sister's website is http://www.thepapercrown.com/ in case you're interested.
Thanks again for the drink coupons! Yeah that day we arrived they had the MLB Winter Meetings going on. There was a lot of media mobbing the lobby. We didn't stay to see it though.
It was so great meeting you guys, I hope you had a great trip!!

You should see Zack's face when he comes back to the room from the vending machine and I'm moving the bags around...

Must. Get. The. Shot. For. The. TR.
Men just don't get it!!

I thought about putting excited memes after each quote, but I thought that might be excessive... So exciting though! Congrats!

Haha thank you!!! It's very exciting and I hope that means we can meet again in the future!

Now I'm sold!

Ice cream can do that to people!!

Is it bad that I'm super intrigued by the lounges? I think it's because that one is in an area that used to be part of the park, right?

It is at the top of the Imagination Pavilion. You enter at the exit of the Figment ride, where the dump shop is. There's a check-in desk and you walk up the stairs. The lounge itself is rather small and it really is just lounge seats, tables, some video games for the kids, but there's a k-cup machine, and 2 Freestyle Coke machines. They also come around with a snack cart. They have charging stations as well. It's nice to just get away especially on a busy hot day, but I wouldn't say it's anything fancy. There's also no bathrooms so you have to walk out to get to one.

Zack wants to eat here so bad and I'm afraid I won't like it. I should go look at the menu again. I mean, can I get a plate of those dumplings?

LOL We got the special omakase meal so that was more of the exotic foods, but yes you can get dumplings there, just probably not these wagyu ones which were insanely delicious they should totally have them on the menu but then they would cost $$$ and no one wants expensive dumplings! I heard their pork ribs are delicious though but I've yet to try them.

This bag is so cute!

It is the most expensive bag I've ever purchased! Hahaha.

Yay!! I'm so excited for you and your new DVC contract!!

Thank you Ann! I'm so excited! Love your new blog btw!

I forgot, I love your Pizza Planet shirts!

Thanks! I figure we had to have a picture with Buzz and Woody with them!!

Zack just asked me the other night why we spend lots of money on Disney hotels and we can't spend any on a hotel back home this weekend for my cousin's wedding... I was like, because I know 8 billion people there and because that wasn't 'real' money for Disney... It was mostly credit card points... We only spent about $1000 OOP and $300 of that was supposed to be covered by points too but we never did, so now we have $300 in points to use somewhere else...

I'm definitely the thrifty one for us. Hence why I don't like to spend hotel money on traveling home... but I found a place for $55 a night so I can't argue against that! And don't worry, it's not scary, we've stayed there before - home is just cheap!

Zack's mom was kind of pushing us to do a DVC tour in September. I think she's worried we'll move. Zack's dream job would be something in ride design, and all the big players work down there or in California it seems. I don't think I could take Zack to a DVC tour because he's impulsive and I would have trouble talking him down! I don't think this is the time to buy DVC for us, when we don't have our own home or even apartment

Haha it's very true, I save a lot on other travels only to spend it on Disney. That is the point, right? Hehehe.
Yeah you guys are young and have plenty of time to save and have a home and then eventually get down the road of buying DVC. We're a lot older than you, plus we have no kids so we don't have to save for anyone's college, hehe. ..although sometimes I kick myself for not buying a resale many years ago when it was cheaper and you could still get all the perks of buying direct from Disney.

Yes! Why can't I organize by date to download? I had to redownload all of our January pictures when I downloaded the September ones, because I wasn't going to select that many individually. And I haven't played with any of the frames and decorations.

I get SOOOOO annoyed by the Photopass site. Even when you download everything again you have to unzip all the files and reorganize again. Plus we have thousands of pictures from last December that it takes hours to download again. Right now all I do is just download on my phone the pictures that I like. I probably won't even download everything else!

Congratulations on DVC!!! We are members at Animal Kingdom, but rarely stay there.

Thank you!!! Where is your favorite place to stay?
We love the Poly but it's so many points per night...we may not end up staying there quite as often as I'd like to!

Following along

Thank you and welcome!!

The pleasure is all mine!

And I am honored as well. I've heard wonderful things about you from Kelly and thought I needed to "meet" you.

Aww thank you and and thanks to Cinderkelly!! I've been lurking around your TRs and they are amazing. Nice to officially "meet"

Mine do tend to move fast and get gargantuan, but this one will be slower simply because my free time is a lot less than it used to be with my working now. But, I will update as I can and am looking forward to us enjoying each other's reports.

Same here!! Looking forward to new DISBoard friendships!!

Congratulations and welcome home! We love our DVC home. Moonlight Magic is awesome. We did it after the 5K princess last year at the MK. We even had our own fireworks and it was awesome. It would also be a perfect set up for your sister for character meets, they have rare characters out. My sons 17 and 13 went nuts meeting the Bowler Hat guy.

Thank you!! What is your home resort?
I'd really love to do Moonlight Magic! I want to do the DHS ones so we can go to the new Toy Story Land!
Are you allowed to bring non DVC members to that event? My sister would love to go!