**The Official January 2012 WDW Thread**

[PrincessSuzanne]

Question for the day:

What do you do on your arrival day/night?

For us it depends on what time we arrive. This time, we may not arrive until late evening, but we have a late reservation at RFC and then will check into CSR or vice versa, depending on our arrival time.

 

[lledman]

Are you planning to decorate your room/window/door? If so how?

I'm looking for window clings for the window but everythign out now is just Christmas - what happened to generic winter scenes??? I was also thinking about hanging a sing and pen on my door - maybe the green tag that we use for our January group - figured that would make a nice scrapbook piece.

We may also pack this to bring along and stick in the window

 

[lledman]

Question for the day:

What do you do on your arrival day/night?

For this coming trip we are going to leave Friday night and drive through the night - switching off drivers as needed. We'll arrive on Saturday and stay just offiste at a hotel for the night to refresh and then check in early on Sudany to Pop before heading to the parks. Depending on the time we arrive Saturday and how tired we are, we may try to hit up DTD for a while but that will just be a play it by ear type thing.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Are you planning to decorate your room/window/door? If so how?

I guess we were posting about the same time...LOL

No, we don't decorate anything, we will be in 1 room for 1 night, the next room for 3 nights, and the last room for 4 nights.

 

[okw19]

Are you planning to decorate your room/window/door? If so how?

I don't think we will be this time. I love seeing when other people do though!

Question for the day:

What do you do on your arrival day/night?

We are driving from NC and won't arrive until after dinner. We are just going to stay at Pop! arrival night instead of off-site like usual. We will probably just explore Pop and then go to bed so we can get up early to check in at Old Key West the next morning.

 

[Colleen27]

question of the day (well night)

Where have you found the best character interaction????

The Animation building at Studios. Lots of different characters, little/no lines, and lots of very playful characters.

I would have to say the dance party at the Studios evening EMH - we just stumbled upon it b/c it was raining and we were looking for shelter - what a find

That looks like such fun! I planned to be at Studios on an EMH evening just to catch it this time.

Are you planning to decorate your room/window/door? If so how?

I'm looking for window clings for the window but everythign out now is just Christmas - what happened to generic winter scenes??? I was also thinking about hanging a sing and pen on my door - maybe the green tag that we use for our January group - figured that would make a nice scrapbook piece.

Probably. If our Jan dates hold I'll do some sort of birthday thing since both DS and DBrother have birthdays just a few days before the trip.

Question for the day:

What do you do on your arrival day/night?

For us it depends on what time we arrive. This time, we may not arrive until late evening, but we have a late reservation at RFC and then will check into CSR or vice versa, depending on our arrival time.

I try not to plan too much for our arrival day, especially on winter trips because the weather change is a migraine trigger for me. We usually just enjoy our resort during the day and have dinner at an MK area resort in the evening. This year we're going to head over to Ft Wilderness for the campfire with Chip & Dale if the weather is warm enough.

 

[Cin]

Question for the day:

What do you do on your arrival day/night?

For us it depends on what time we arrive. This time, we may not arrive until late evening, but we have a late reservation at RFC and then will check into CSR or vice versa, depending on our arrival time.

Depends on arrival time and other factors. Last trip we we were checked in by noon and headed over to EPCOT for the day. This trip I added a day to our original package only I had to pick a different resort for arrival day, but after I inquired about adding another park day to my ticket and picking it up on check in at our first hotel, I was told no. They call it "Magic Your Way", but it really isn't. Otherwise I could access my park tickets from my first check in on property. They said I could not use my park tix until I checked in at POFQ, so bummer.... so this time we will be checked in by 1 but no parks, so we'll be doing a walking photo tour of our resort as we will only be there for 1 night anyway, and then headed to Downtown Disney to shop and have dining reservations for Raglan Road which has entertainment (Riverdance type dancing and music which Mom loves) or we can take the boat over to Riverside resort and catch Yee Haw Bob's party.

 

[Colleen27]

Depends on arrival time and other factors. Last trip we we were checked in by noon and headed over to EPCOT for the day. This trip I added a day to our original package only I had to pick a different resort for arrival day, but after I inquired about adding another park day to my ticket and picking it up on check in at our first hotel, I was told no. They call it "Magic Your Way", but it really isn't. Otherwise I could access my park tickets from my first check in on property. They said I could not use my park tix until I checked in at POFQ, so bummer.... so this time we will be checked in by 1 but no parks, so we'll be doing a walking photo tour of our resort as we will only be there for 1 night anyway, and then headed to Downtown Disney to shop and have dining reservations for Raglan Road which has entertainment (Riverdance type dancing and music which Mom loves) or we can take the boat over to Riverside resort and catch Yee Haw Bob's party.

Never trust phone CMs. Go to the DIS for correct answers. You absolutely can pick up your package tickets early, and then just add a day at guest services at any time during your trip. It is best to deal with guest services at the parks, though, because the folks at the resorts aren't always up on all ticketing procedures.

From our own amazing Cheshire Figment, current cast member and DIS master of all things ticketing:

I. Picking up Package Tickets Prior To Start Of Package

In cases where Walt Disney World Resort Guests would like to begin using their Package Tickets prior to the day of check-in (up to three days in advance), the Guests will be directed to visit any Theme Park or DTD Guest Relations location and request Early Ticket Pick-Up. (Note this cannot be done at a water park.)

It is only valid for people with packages at a Walt Disney World owned and operated Resort. You can be staying off-property at the time you pick up the tickets. Note that if you have a package which includes Dining, although you can pick up your tickets early you cannot get access to the Dining until you have actually checked in to your Resort.

There is a possibility that if your package and the stay prior to the package are at the same Resort that you will be able to get the tickets at the Resort and not have to go to a Park Guest Relations Office.

And the tickets issued will be valid for the entire stay; they will not receive valid tickets when they actually check-in to their resort. There is a strong possibility that the tickets you have received prior to check-in cannot be added to your KTTW on or after check-in.

I would suggest you copy down the following information if you are planning to upgrade promotional tickets. If the person in the window is hesitant to upgrade these promotional tickets, ask them go go into The Hub >> WDW >> Work >> Ticketing >> Processes & Business Rules >> Early Ticket Pickup For Resort Packages where they will see the procedure.

 

[carebee21]

What's your strangest helpful Disney hint

Ok, I'm behind and trying to get caught up!

I don't know that it's really strange, but DH things I'm weird for doing it. I pack a couple of those flat, hanging sweater organizer/shelf things in my suitcase and hang them up in the closet when we get in the room. Disney rooms don't have much storage room for clothes at all, and seeing as how we need to pack a lot due to long vacations and the strange January weather, it helps to keep everything organized!

 

[carebee21]

Are you planning to decorate your room/window/door? If so how?

We decorated our window last trip. I tied ribbon onto small suction cup holder and then glued small mickey heads onto the ribbon. On the ends of the ribbon, there were large mickey heads that had each of our names on it. I don't know if I'll decorate this year; I'm feeling lazy. Maybe I'll see if I can find some window clings or something fairly easy

Question for the day:

What do you do on your arrival day/night?

Our flight doesn't get in until 8:25 pm, so by the time we get off the plane, get our luggage and get the rental car, there's not time to do much else. We'll probably stop and get fast food and depending on how we feel, stop at the grocery store and pick up a few items. After that, we'll check in, unpack, take showers and try to go to bed.

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Are you planning to decorate your room/window/door? If so how?

I'm looking for window clings for the window but everythign out now is just Christmas - what happened to generic winter scenes??? I was also thinking about hanging a sing and pen on my door - maybe the green tag that we use for our January group - figured that would make a nice scrapbook piece.

Alas..we are going to be staying off site and have no big window to decorate this time...we may bring clings just for the girls to "play" with, there is a big sliding door. We have done the wipe off board and got some great messages!

Question for the day:

What do you do on your arrival day/night?

For us it depends on what time we arrive. This time, we may not arrive until late evening, but we have a late reservation at RFC and then will check into CSR or vice versa, depending on our arrival time.

We are sticking with our tradition of DTD and dinner at Raglan Rd...it's fun to walk around and people watch, shop and the entertainment at Raglan Rd is great!

Depends on arrival time and other factors. Last trip we we were checked in by noon and headed over to EPCOT for the day. This trip I added a day to our original package only I had to pick a different resort for arrival day, but after I inquired about adding another park day to my ticket and picking it up on check in at our first hotel, I was told no. They call it "Magic Your Way", but it really isn't. Otherwise I could access my park tickets from my first check in on property. They said I could not use my park tix until I checked in at POFQ, so bummer.... so this time we will be checked in by 1 but no parks, so we'll be doing a walking photo tour of our resort as we will only be there for 1 night anyway, and then headed to Downtown Disney to shop and have dining reservations for Raglan Road which has entertainment (Riverdance type dancing and music which Mom loves) or we can take the boat over to Riverside resort and catch Yee Haw Bob's party.

LOVE Raglan Rd!! So much fun and the food is great!!

 

[Marshay]

Arrival/departure day

Currently we are planning to try Garden Grove over at the Swolphin. It's still a character meal and I heard it never gets really crowded. This way we see Mickey/Pluto/Goofy (or whomever is there that day) right away.

However, I'm trying to finagle another Disney trip in 365 days so we can purchase an AP. Then we can feel free to go into the park on arrival day if we want, w/o wasting a full's day ticket. I love the flexibility of an AP.

If we have an AP, then we head over to either Epcot or MK, go on one or two non-crowded rides but mostly just soak up the feel of the park and be happy that we are at Disney with our whole week ahead of us!

Departure day usually means going to DTD to do some last minute shopping before we head for the train.

 

[maman_et_fille]

I've called every day this month (but I haven't had time today), with still nothing open. It is so frustrating! I have been told anything from that it will be open 6 weeks out, to any day now, to not sure if it will be continued for January. One CM even told me whether or not they open it depends on how many requests they get over the phone. I have no idea what to believe, but I will keep calling until I get my ADR.

ETA: Just called and still nothing is loaded into the calender past NYE. She said to keep calling, bc they don't know when it will be loaded. She was surprised that it wasn't in there already.

I think it hasn't been offered in past Januaries. But I could be totally wrong.

 

[lledman]

The Animation building at Studios. Lots of different characters, little/no lines, and lots of very playful characters.

Does anyone know what time this building closes or the characters finish for the day? We stopped in here for the first time on our trip in May and loved seeing soo many of the characters in one spot but unfortunately it was close to the closing time (building/character not park) so we only got to see 1/2 of who was there before they all left for the day - but the kids were cool with it still. It never struck me to pay attention to the time for future visits

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Dh was able to change his dentist appointment to another day so we are going to be able to leave earlier than we expected, so we should arrive around 6pm, that changes everything. We will probably check in at CSR and spend some time there before going to DTD for dinner, somewhere, I haven't decided where, I have RFC booked, but am leaning more towards Raglan Rd, and will probably go ahead and activate our tickets at GR so we don't have to add that to the list the next morning when we move over to BWI.

 

[Meriweather]

Are you planning to decorate your room/window/door? If so how?

I'm looking for window clings for the window but everythign out now is just Christmas - what happened to generic winter scenes??? I was also thinking about hanging a sing and pen on my door - maybe the green tag that we use for our January group - figured that would make a nice scrapbook piece.

Yes......we will be celebrating 2 birthdays.
I have a lot of happy birthday things to hang.
And papers with our favorite characters on them to hang.
We did it 5 years ago.
We will also be wearing our Happy Birthday tiaras that we got on that trip at the tea we went to.

 

[Meriweather]

Question for the day:

What do you do on your arrival day/night?

For us it depends on what time we arrive. This time, we may not arrive until late evening, but we have a late reservation at RFC and then will check into CSR or vice versa, depending on our arrival time.

This trip we don't arrive until 6:30 pm, so we won't be doing much.
We have an ADR at T-Rex.
And then it will just be unpacking and ready for a full day the next day.

 

[sunnylyn39402]

@lledman

The light up Mickey head is really cute! I need one for my house. It would definitely cheer me up!

 

[OziJo]

What do you do on your arrival day/night?

AS our plane is due to arrive at 9pm after 21hrs of travel I'm thinking not much. The next day we will probably sleep in, though I'm planning on making sure we are up no later than 11am. Then we will take it easy check out the Fort, pick up our hire car and, depending on whether or not I decide to get our groceries delivered, either go grocery shopping or go Downtown.

 

[lledman]

@lledman

The light up Mickey head is really cute! I need one for my house. It would definitely cheer me up!

Thanks it was easy to make, rope lights, wire wreaths and zip ties. Hubby also made this lamp for when we camp - it's too big to carry to Disney - though Jess (one of my traveling companions) did comment how could it would be to take it with us when she came to our camper for breakfast this weekend.