**The Official January 2012 WDW Thread**

[mousescrapper]

Where are all of YOU thinking about eating?

Since we'll only be there for 5 days and we have the kitchen in our villa (breakfasts and a few lunches can be easily done this way)...we are planning on going OOP for food this trip...I already did the fuzzy Disney Math and right now that seems to be the way to go...if we do a dining plan we'd probably just do QSDDP...

not planning any TS this time...but if we change our minds I may book a character breakfast at Chef Mickey's or O'Hana...since it is so close to BLT

Booked at OKW from Jan. 7-21
Going with BFF this trip to celebrate both of our birthdays. We did this in 2007.....her first trip !! Thought 5 years, it was time for her to go back

awesome...2 weeks sounds amazing!

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Mousescrapper- Dont think we will do the dining plan this time either. I loved having the kitchen in the villa. We are staying in a studio this time, so we will just have the kitchenette but really, that should be fine for breakfast. We ordered groceries from Garden Grocery before and loved it. We may splurge and have dinner at Jiko while the kids go to simba's clubhouse- but haven't decided on that. I am a bit nervous to leave them! Also thinking about trying Chefs de France, Sanaa, Tony's....I don't know, we want to try all new places this time- I am sure my mind will change 500 times before January

 

[Steph2527]

I'm hoping to be in the same boat as you all!! I'm trying to convince my other half to go back to WDW Jan '12. If we go,it'll be right after new years for 7 or 8 days. I'd prefer to go towards the end of January,but due to DP's college schedule,it has to be the beginning of the month instead. We were there in dec 2010,it was so cold,but we had a great time,and I was ready to go back....oh,the day after we got home in december! Fingers crossed!!

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Hoping you get to go Steph2527!

 

[mousescrapper]

We may splurge and have dinner at Jiko while the kids go to simba's clubhouse- but haven't decided on that. I am a bit nervous to leave them!

we have done the childrern's club one time before during our '08 trip. Just 3 of our 4 kids went they were then ages just 9 (twins) and 5 1/2. Our son has Autism too, but they did great. They went to the neverland club at POLy while we ate at Kona Cafe. it was fun for all of us and a nice memory for the kids.

Hoping you get to go Steph2527!

me too

 

[Meriweather]

Nancy- That's awesome that you are going with your BF for 2 weeks!! where are you planning on staying?

We'll be at OKW, studio.....last trip was POP Definitely a step up
Can't wait!!

She just injured herself a month ago, so was so glad to get a trip to dream about (we did the Disney transatlantic cruise in Sept too Very fun.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Mousescrapper- Thanks! I have um, never left them with anyone but family so to leave them in Simba's Clubhosue will be a huge step for me lol. We will see if I can go through with it

Nancy- we LOVE OKW! Its beautiful. My 2 and 5 yr old wanted to stay at the resort the entire time, instead of going to the parks.

 

[Meriweather]

Nancy- we LOVE OKW! Its beautiful. My 2 and 5 yr old wanted to stay at the resort the entire time, instead of going to the parks.

We do too. We've stayed there 3 times now. It is one of our home resorts.
We bought there because we love the peaceful setting.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

OKW is high on our list if and when we buy DVC!

I am hoping that we get at least one day in the 70s so my little ones can swim. Think its possible?

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Hi all, Just wanted to check in.

For those of you with kids, when do you plan on telling them about your next Disney vacation????

 

[sandym718]

Jumping in here because it looks like a POSSIBILITY that we could be there next January. We leave in just 3 days for our 3rd trip, what I thought might be our last for awhile. However, BIL and his family went in Feb for the first time and loved it!! DH and his brothers farm part-time (in addition to regular jobs) and they just this year have made it an actual company. It's a lot of "wear-and-tear" on the families, and SIL and I (other BIL is single) have to be "farm widows" a lot. And the kids sacrifice Daddy's at their games, etc. sometimes too. So.....the boys have been talking about possibly taking a "company trip" in the offseason!!!

So excited, it would be so much fun for the kids (my 2 and their cousin) to go together. Not sure on timing yet, but MIL will be headed to FL for 3 months after Christmas, so DH was thinking maybe around that time and one of us would drive her down. We want to avoid the major crowds, so at this point I'm just tentatively thinking of the following:

Leave OH on December 30th, arrive in Disney December 31st and stay until January 7th. The kids have Monday, Jan. 2 off of school, so they'd only miss 4 days. None of us have ever seen the Christmas decor, so thinking maybe the 31st and the 1st would be about seeing all the decor and lights, rather than rides. Maybe only do DHS to see the Osborne lights. Then when the crowds all leave on the 2nd, we'd hit the rides hard for 5 days!!

Not sure on where we'd stay yet, but BIL and SIL loved Bay Lake Towers. We're die-hard Poly fans, so if we all split up, I'm sure we'd be at the Poly. However, I've been looking at the 2 BR villas in BLT and they look fabulous!! 3 bathrooms which is awesome. The main group would be our family of 4 (one bedroom), BIl's family of 3 (other bedroom, their son sleeps with them anyways), and then single BIL, who could stay on the sleeper sofa. He'd have his own bathroom though. MIL might just stay one night or so before heading on down to Fort Myers and she could use the sleeper chair. I'd miss the Poly, but going in the winter, I think the 'attraction" of it would be a bit less, plus I'm fine as long as we've got the monorail!! Either would be great for viewing NYE fireworks and touring the monorail resorts to see the holiday decor.

So, fingers crossed!!! Our other possible travel dates would probably be right after Thanksgiving (doubtful) or early March (2nd choice).

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Sandy that sounds awesome! If you do decide to go, and want a 2 bedroom villa I highly recommend renting points from a DVC member!

 

[kksmom92]

Hi all, Just wanted to check in.

For those of you with kids, when do you plan on telling them about your next Disney vacation????

My kids already know. My 5 year old daughter over heard me talking to my DH what he thought about maybe going down in Jan and see if my parents would want to join us. Next time we saw my parents she asked them out of the blue if they would want to go to Disney World with us next year and they said YES! That day we figured out what week would be best and the rest is history. Now I'm just trying to find some fun things to do that we've never done before that will make it that more magical for my parents. I'm thinking of doing the wishes cruise. I said something to my Dad about it and he said sounds good.. and that he will pay for it since we are paying for the house! Works for me!

 

[sandym718]

Sandy that sounds awesome! If you do decide to go, and want a 2 bedroom villa I highly recommend renting points from a DVC member!

Thank you, I think we will look into doing that!! Do you know - can you still purchase the DDP when doing this? I'm guessing the owner would need to purchase it for us. Oh, and another silly question - would we have the pool-hopping rights or is that for owners only? Probably going to be too cold, but if we do this, I'd love to be able to go over to the Volcano pool if we get a nice day.

 

[Weluvdisny]

We are arriving on January 3rd for our trip and I just looked up my paid days off for next year and I have a long weekend before that! I might just have to call MS and see if we can go down either Jan. 1st or the 2nd. I'm thinking the 1st would be booked up or the flights are going to be rather expensive.

JetBlue is offering 10,000 reward points to get their credit card and then another 10,000 when you put $500.00 on it. I think that would get at least one round trip paid for and with the price of gas going up I'm thinking that would save us around $250 or more. Our credit is really good but I just hate the thought of using it just the one time and letting if affect our credit.

What do you guys think? Should I take advantage of the JetBlue offer? It's only good til April 1st. And I need to use the credit card and get the extra 10,000 points on there before the flights come out for January.

 

[Princess/es19]

We moved our trip from September '11 to January '12!
The Sept. trip was going to be a First Anniversary thing, even though we were married in mid June (but we didn't want to go to Orlando in the summer) but we moved it to January to celebrate both my 21st b-day and our anniversary ( just really, really late )

Anyway our tentative dates are the 18th to the 25th. So Please add us to the list!

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

Thank you, I think we will look into doing that!! Do you know - can you still purchase the DDP when doing this? I'm guessing the owner would need to purchase it for us. Oh, and another silly question - would we have the pool-hopping rights or is that for owners only? Probably going to be too cold, but if we do this, I'd love to be able to go over to the Volcano pool if we get a nice day.

You can get the DDP but you need to have the DVC member get it for you, and you have to pay for it the day you reserve it! I am pretty sure you can still pool hop, your KTTW card will more than likely say DVC on it, so you should be fine. I too am hoping for a nice day to swim!!!

Princess/cs19- You got it! And WAHOO for going in January

Weluvdisney- I would go for it- just pay it off as soon as you get the statement

 

[Princess/es19]

Is it bad that I already know when I can make ADRs?

Where are all of YOU thinking about eating?

I have a ticker so i know mine. I usually make reservations at Blue Bayou and Goofy's Kitchen when we go to DLR, so its considerably easier to make choices there. I have never been to WDW, let alone eat there, so all my choices are mainly influenced by reviewing menus and which ones have character dining. But since its only the two of us, it shouldn't be hard to get reservations even 3 months for January, right? The planner in me says to not take chances, though. My ADR's will be form this list:

Le Cellier, (D)
Teppan Edo (D)
Yak & Yeti (L/D) or Tusker House (B)
Liberty Tavern (L) or Crystal Palace (B)
50's Prime time Cafe (L/D)
Yachtman's Steak House (D)
Garden Grove (B/D)
Big River Grille (L/D)
Have you eaten at these? Liked it/ Disliked it?
We will be there 7 days, but spending one at Universal Orlando/Islands of Adventures, but plan on doing a disney resort dinner the night we go to Universal.

DH and I like going to places like Goofy's Kitchen because we get to see characters while having a relaxing meal/break from parks. Plus that kills two birds with one stone, we get a meal, and are not at the parks trying to get a picture with Tigger later.

Also, if our plane lands at MCO at 4:15, How long do you think it will take us to get our selves and luggage to our preferred room at CBR? . If I have the DDP, can I use it at a resort hotel dinner without having been to the parks? I am going to have tickets for the day we land until the day before we leave. Having dinner reservations after the 7+ hr plane trip sounds really awesome.

 

[janiejake]

Just having fun reading everyone else's plans at this point. We returned from WDW on the 22nd, and are anxious to go back next year and take advantage of my AP. No ressies yet, hoping for late January, to coincide with my birthday. DH is just as interested (and maybe even more so) on going back as I am. This will be an Adults only trip. POR has always been our favorite to return to, but toying with trying something else, or maybe even renting points to get the wonderful location near Epcot.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

I have a ticker so i know mine. I usually make reservations at Blue Bayou and Goofy's Kitchen when we go to DLR, so its considerably easier to make choices there. I have never been to WDW, let alone eat there, so all my choices are mainly influenced by reviewing menus and which ones have character dining. But since its only the two of us, it shouldn't be hard to get reservations even 3 months for January, right? The planner in me says to not take chances, though. My ADR's will be form this list:

Le Cellier, (D)
Teppan Edo (D)
Yak & Yeti (L/D) or Tusker House (B)
Liberty Tavern (L) or Crystal Palace (B)
50's Prime time Cafe (L/D)
Yachtman's Steak House (D)
Garden Grove (B/D)
Big River Grille (L/D)
Have you eaten at these? Liked it/ Disliked it?
We will be there 7 days, but spending one at Universal Orlando/Islands of Adventures, but plan on doing a disney resort dinner the night we go to Universal.

DH and I like going to places like Goofy's Kitchen because we get to see characters while having a relaxing meal/break from parks. Plus that kills two birds with one stone, we get a meal, and are not at the parks trying to get a picture with Tigger later.

Also, if our plane lands at MCO at 4:15, How long do you think it will take us to get our selves and luggage to our preferred room at CBR? . If I have the DDP, can I use it at a resort hotel dinner without having been to the parks? I am going to have tickets for the day we land until the day before we leave. Having dinner reservations after the 7+ hr plane trip sounds really awesome.

You shouldn't have a problem getting your ADRs- but I would still book them at 180 days so you get the times and everything you want!

Le Cellier: LOVE IT! Our favorite place. When we went in February I got a dinner ressie for my bday and DH suprised me with a cake there- so fun! Dinner is now 2 TS credits, and even pricier so if we go back this time it will be for lunch, which is still 1 TS

Teppan: Want to try it, our picky kids won't enjoy the food though

Yak: Want to try this time

Tusker Breakfast- We really liked it. The food was good, characters were fun. It was nice being inside AK before the park opened.

Haven't tried the others.

If you land at 4:15pm I would estimate being in your room 2 hours later (will more than likely be less but plan for two). As for your luggage- if you want, you can just let magical express pick it up from the airport and bring it to your room later (normally takes a few hours) so when you get off the plane all you have to do is walk to the ME bus and go, your luggage will magically show up in your room later that night. Or you can go to baggage claim yourself and get it so you can have it immediately. Absolutely can you use your dining plan at resort restaurants! Its good as soon as you check in- you don't have to go to the parks at all to use the plan- its actually tied to how many nights you are in the hotel, not how many days you have park tickets for. Check out Ohana at the Poly for dinner- Its one of the hardest ADR's to get, but so good! You can spend the day in MK then take the monorail over to the Poly for dinner.

Hi JanieJake! I'll add ya to the list. When you have your dates nailed down let me know and I will update