The OFFICIAL December 2014 - Christmas Magic

[letthewookiewin]

Be Gentle....

So this is my first post here and my first time ever going to any Disney anything. We're going to Disneyworld for 5 days in December (15-20). We're meeting MIL, SIL and BIL there (they are Americans - DH, DD(4) and I are Canadian) - we haven't seen them in 9 years.

MIL has booked us into SOG (FIL is retired Navy) and will be getting us the military discount park passes. That's all I know. None of them have been to Disneyworld in 20+ years and DH was last at Disneyland 10+ years ago so we know we're in for a huge change.

We're staying at SoG as well. I am going with a friend that has a military husband, and I can't wait to stay at SoG.

 

[monique5]

Hi there - wow what a great thread! We are planning our December trip and will be there from 12/17-12/23. We went week of Thanksgiving 2 years ago into first week of December- we had the best time and being there to celebrate the holidays was amazing!! This was kind of spur of moment decision but with FD it was so worth it- my girls are both disney crazy like their mother here, lol and they were beyond excited. My oldest lives in Pensacola and is currently doing her research for her master's degree. My youngest will be a senior in high school- we had planned to visit her anyway over Christmas but decided to surprise her- just hoping she can get coverage for the week she is away as her research requires 2 daily trips to lab- she feels confident though all will work out. Just bought our airfare yesterday on SW- prices were good and just didn't want to wait risking chance they will go up. So all is coming together. So excited to go back.

Exciting!!! This is our 1st trip during the holidays. Pensacola is close to us. I've been stalking SW for good prices, 12/18 & 12/27. Are you flying out of Pensacola? Under $500 ea? Thanks!

 

[mblc14]

Some not so magical news for us.....hope this doesn't effect many of you. HM is one of our faves and must do.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...ion-closing-for-refurbishment-in-december.htm

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

Some not so magical news for us.....hope this doesn't effect many of you. HM is one of our faves and must do.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...ion-closing-for-refurbishment-in-december.htm

I saw this! At first I was so bummed, then I remembered I changed one of my MK days to Nov 30th. (Changed our schedules too many times apparently)
Thank goodness, gotta take DS2 on it since he is obsessed with ghosts.

Stinks, tho, to have such a popular ride not running during a semi busy time...

 

[BDL]

Some not so magical news for us.....hope this doesn't effect many of you. HM is one of our faves and must do.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...ion-closing-for-refurbishment-in-december.htm

Wow!

That stinks. That covers the whole time that we are there. And I loved the new interactive waiting queue they got.

Oh well... more motivation to head back.

 

[Mydreams]

I hope they stay on schedule, we are scheduled to be at MK on 12/22 and The Haunted Mansion was on the top of our To Do List!

Cathy

 

[Suziannie]

This is the review/article that convinced me to book this for our arrival night of our upcoming trip:

http://kennythepirate.com/2013/01/29/pirates-and-pals-fireworks-voyage/

I'm going on this the last night of our trip! Can't wait. Last year we did the Wishes dessert party and we wanted to see what else there was!

 

[Suziannie]

So I had booked a Wishes dessert party for our 2nd night of our trip.....except I made a boo boo and did not check the dates for MVMCP and the night I booked is a party night, which means we cant use our wishes dessert party tickets becasue we do not have tickets for MVMCP until our last night of the trip (and I really want to go to MVMCP the last night of our trip so switfching party nights will not work). Every other night of our trip is sold out of Wishes dessert party tickets. The entire reason for the wishes tickets was to suprise my Mom and Sister as their Christmas gift. I now need a new idea for their gift instead of a Wishes dessert party. I really want to entire family to be able to participate (adults and we have a 4 year old). Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated!!!!!

I did this last year AND ended up with BOG for dinner that night too. I was crushed when I realized one of the two things I wanted most of all I needed extra tickets for. We had already bought tickets for the party on another night.

My husband and I went back and forth for a long long time (actually probably a week or so) and just decided to add another night at the party. It was an expensive mistake to make-BUT we skipped a few meals in restaurants before we left and the money worked itself out. It ended up being perfect. The night we had Wishes and BOG we focused on characters and the parades. The next party night we did more rides and just enjoyed the party atmosphere. It was actually a great night-both of them.

 

[Suziannie]

I'm finally "close" enough that I feel I can be on the boards and not make myself crazy with anticipation.

Last year when booking our trip I joked with my husband that we should make this a Christmas tradition. He laughed and said no way, too expensive and there was no way we could depend on Disney continuing the room and ticket discounts they do for the mlitary. Far enough. Then our trip came and it was a magical thing. And we are hooked on starting our Christmas season off with a week at WDW.

Last year we were going to drive because I couldn't find a good price on a flight-and we booked our vacation time at work accordingly.

Then...of course I found an excellent deal and jumped on it. But we'd be able to add a few days to our trip so of course, we did. But where to stay? We picked two because we weren't sure about 1 of them, Shades of Green.

OMG we are hooked now. We booked a mini trip for June at SOG because, it's just awesome. I joke that SOG and the Armed Forces Salute are my favorite things about my husband's military service, it's probably not really a joke though. I love that perk!

Anyways, I ended up having surgery this spring and we just couldn't stand the thought of heading to WDW in June as I was recovering from surgery so....we thought about what to do and my dear husband said "Why don't we go back 1st week of Dec again?"

SOLD! I called SOG and changed our dates and started booking ADRs.

We got most everything we wanted to and now we are just biding our time until we can leave.

Some things we have in store:
MVMCP
Pirates and Pals Fireworks Cruise
Keys to the Kingdom Tour
Harmony Barber Shop for my husband and a little style for my daughter since she's a bit too young to really appreciate the BBB.
Multiple character meals
Mini Golf

I'm so excited! Except for that pesky thing about my most favorite ride in the world going down the whole time we're there. I may have to adjust our travel dates just a little bit...

How many other SOG fans are going this Dec? I don't see a lot of specific SOG posts here on the Dis and am curious.

 

[Mydreams]

I'm finally "close" enough that I feel I can be on the boards and not make myself crazy with anticipation.

Last year when booking our trip I joked with my husband that we should make this a Christmas tradition. He laughed and said no way, too expensive and there was no way we could depend on Disney continuing the room and ticket discounts they do for the mlitary. Far enough. Then our trip came and it was a magical thing. And we are hooked on starting our Christmas season off with a week at WDW.

Last year we were going to drive because I couldn't find a good price on a flight-and we booked our vacation time at work accordingly.

Then...of course I found an excellent deal and jumped on it. But we'd be able to add a few days to our trip so of course, we did. But where to stay? We picked two because we weren't sure about 1 of them, Shades of Green.

OMG we are hooked now. We booked a mini trip for June at SOG because, it's just awesome. I joke that SOG and the Armed Forces Salute are my favorite things about my husband's military service, it's probably not really a joke though. I love that perk!

Anyways, I ended up having surgery this spring and we just couldn't stand the thought of heading to WDW in June as I was recovering from surgery so....we thought about what to do and my dear husband said "Why don't we go back 1st week of Dec again?"

SOLD! I called SOG and changed our dates and started booking ADRs.

We got most everything we wanted to and now we are just biding our time until we can leave.

Some things we have in store:
MVMCP
Pirates and Pals Fireworks Cruise
Keys to the Kingdom Tour
Harmony Barber Shop for my husband and a little style for my daughter since she's a bit too young to really appreciate the BBB.
Multiple character meals
Mini Golf

I'm so excited! Except for that pesky thing about my most favorite ride in the world going down the whole time we're there. I may have to adjust our travel dates just a little bit...

How many other SOG fans are going this Dec? I don't see a lot of specific SOG posts here on the Dis and am curious.

I wanted to do the Pirates and Pals Fireworks cruise, but when I read there was no restroom on the boat and it is a 2 hour tour, I decided that might not be a good thing to do with a 3 and a 4 year old, lol! It is sad though, because the 4 year old is a boy and he loves pirates! I hope you have a great time!

Cathy

 

[Suziannie]

I wanted to do the Pirates and Pals Fireworks cruise, but when I read there was no restroom on the boat and it is a 2 hour tour, I decided that might not be a good thing to do with a 3 and a 4 year old, lol! It is sad though, because the 4 year old is a boy and he loves pirates! I hope you have a great time!

Cathy

I have a 3 year old that's coming with us. My plan is to use the restroom right before we leave for the boat and right afterwards. I think she'll be fine though, she routinely makes it through movies and long car rides (3 hours and more), shopping trips etc with this strategy.

 

[Divaofdisney]

Exciting!!! This is our 1st trip during the holidays. Pensacola is close to us. I've been stalking SW for good prices, 12/18 & 12/27. Are you flying out of Pensacola? Under $500 ea? Thanks!

No we actually live in Maryland- my husband is flying down from BWI to PNS on 11th and will drive from Pensacola to Orlando and back- my youngest Rachel and I are flying back to Pensacola and meeting up with them later in day to stay over the holidays. Our flight from MCO to PNS I booked with United- only $152 one way.- We are flying SW home from PNS. You might want to check that out.

 

[BDL]

Some things we have in store:
MVMCP
Pirates and Pals Fireworks Cruise
Keys to the Kingdom Tour
Harmony Barber Shop for my husband and a little style for my daughter since she's a bit too young to really appreciate the BBB.
Multiple character meals
Mini Golf

I'm so excited! Except for that pesky thing about my most favorite ride in the world going down the whole time we're there. I may have to adjust our travel dates just a little bit...

Cool planning. The only thing I might add to it is, to do some resort hopping and taking in their decorations. Even if you just do the monorail resorts, it's still pretty amazing. And don't forget to see the gingerbread constructs at GF and Poly.

PS: Don't forget the Osbourne lights.

 

[monique5]

No we actually live in Maryland- my husband is flying down from BWI to PNS on 11th and will drive from Pensacola to Orlando and back- my youngest Rachel and I are flying back to Pensacola and meeting up with them later in day to stay over the holidays. Our flight from MCO to PNS I booked with United- only $152 one way.- We are flying SW home from PNS. You might want to check that out.

Gotcha! I will look into United. Thanks!

 

[Suziannie]

Cool planning. The only thing I might add to it is, to do some resort hopping and taking in their decorations. Even if you just do the monorail resorts, it's still pretty amazing. And don't forget to see the gingerbread constructs at GF and Poly.

PS: Don't forget the Osbourne lights.

We have meals planned at GF, Contemporary, Beach Club and the Poly (where we'll be catching the monorail on MK and EPCOT days) so we've got that covered!

And we've got a night planned for the lights too. I love Disney at Christmas!!!

 

[BDL]

I just got a little good news this morning.

I was IM'ing with my best friend and he told me that he and his son will be down at WDW for part of the time we will, and at the same resort. His wife still has to wait for vacation approval before she says yes or no.

Just made my day.

 

[tiggerjenn]

Has anyone found a good rental car deal yet? I need one 12/18-12/22 and am having NO luck

 

[PrincessSophiasMom]

Please tell me I am not the only one that is super upset about the HM being closed for 2 weeks.....it is seriously my favorite ride and I usually ride it 4 or 5 times each trip.......

 

[HollenAngi]

We arrive on 11/30 and I am reworking our itinerary to make it to MK to ride it.

 

[PrincessSophiasMom]

We will be ther the 13-19 so there is nothing I can do