The Silly and Mischievous Canucks do Christmas - Dec 2015 PTR - Update 12/13

[vleeth]

That double decker bus was awesome!

 

[englishrose47]

Yes I was spoiled at Belle by Pat's Knight in shining armourWe had a very good view with Marv and Pat, not so good with the group!!, but it was great as several of our guys were picked for parts . I have to call about cancelling one of my guys at the house from a trip as he can't afford it and I am going to drop some hints about the December trip

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

Candlelight Processional details have finally been released! I was a little sad to see that we will be missing Whoppi by one day. Our narrator will be Joe Morton. I am not familiar with him but I have been told that he is a good narrator and is known for being on the tv show Scandal. I booked our "dinner" package for lunch at Via Napoli. It is actually not that crazy of a price. $41 for app, entree, dessert and beverage. Looking at the posted menu prices I think we will break even.

I also purchased our MVMCP tickets the other day so all we have left to purchase are our park tickets.

He should be a GREAT narrator! We love Scandal! Which park tickets are you getting?

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

if you made a very late breakfast reservation like this, then when they transitioned over to lunch food you would be able to take advantage of that too, since you are already there. No mention of a change in price.

Glad to hear this! If we keep the reservation I am hoping this is what happens.

Still no rope drop at DHS.

I wonder why they got rid of rope drop at DHS? I suppose if they wait until opening to let people in the turnstiles slow the crowd down enough?

Agree with Rosie on the Frozen Sing-a-long.......definitely get the FP+ and worth it.

I may have to drag the brothers to this.

but one thing NOT to miss in Epcot World Showcase...........the StoryTellers that explain the Christmas traditions in each of the countries

Yes, I definitely plan on checking out the storytellers. Alex was just asking about this the other day so I know something he is interested in as well.

Which park tickets are you getting?

We are getting 7-day base tickets. We are not really park hoppers and it is cheaper to pay for a one day entry to a water park if we decide to do that.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Sorry things have been a bit slow around here. Work has been keeping me really busy, lots of overtime, and we just got back from a short trip to Ohio to visit family.

The Canadian dollar is doing really poorly right now when compared to the US dollar. It is making me rethink our hotel choice... I might downgrade to a moderate to make up for the extra we will have to shell out due to this exchange rate. I'm hoping it starts to tick back up by December but it is not looking good. The original plan was that I was going to pay for the hotel on my own as a gift to the family but my mom offered to pay some of the cost due to the dollar situation.

I went ahead and bought our park tickets today, 7 day base tickets. $1387 American = $1807 Canadian. Ouch! Didn't want to wait longer as the dollar just keeps dropping. Wish I had bought them weeks ago! Oh well, nothing I can do about that!

If the dollar continues to do poorly we may rethink some of our ADR's as well. Might go for more off-site dinner options rather than paying the marked up on property prices. For example, dinner at 1900 Park Fare while fun would cost our family approximately $150 American ($195 Canadian). We could eat at a place like Olive Garden for $50 American ($65 Canadian). That makes a big difference when multiplied by 7 days.

Are any of my fellow Canadians thinking of adjusting their vacation plans because of the dollar situation? While I am keeping it in mind I don't want to compromise too much on the vacation! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for things to improve over the next few months!

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

We do base tickets also for the same reason.

Have thought about looking into renting DVC points? No taxes when you do this either.

The dinners can get really spendy. We love Boma but don't eat that much so the $250 bill isn't really worth it. We can eat first class at Charley's steakhouse offsite for half that amount. There a bunch of restaurants around the Crossroads area. Also, we love Giordano's pizza (two locations near the park).

If you decide to eat more offsite, consider what we do... eat at places you can't eat at home

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Have thought about looking into renting DVC points? No taxes when you do this either.

I've never really considered renting points. I have trust issues and just feel "safer" booking directly with Disney. I just hope the exchange rate improves before we pay our hotel bill in December.

If you decide to eat more offsite, consider what we do... eat at places you can't eat at home

Yep, that is what we try and do as well. It is fairly easy for us because even most of your chains such as TGIF, Applebee's, Olive Garden, etc are not in Canada. Definitely not fine dining but "different".

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

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[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Sheesh, I know, it's a daunting exchange rate. Just returned from a trip to Ireland, where it was about $1.50 Canadian to get $1 Euro. To make it even more painful, prices were even inflated in comparison - a $20 shirt here cost $25 Euro -- $37.50 for the same thing! I'm hoping that we see a decent rebound by this fall, I hope that it works out for all of us! I won't likely be booking until after Christmas, so I'll be keeping an eye on things.

I'm glad that I still have several hundred euro left over from my Italy trip this Spring, back when the dollar was a bit stronger. Luckily for me my next overseas trip is to Turkey and the exchange rate from Canadian to Turkish Lira is great! I'll use my euro in Istanbul and liras elsewhere in Turkey.

I am torn about what to do for our hotel in December. I don't want to downgrade but the poor exchange rate adds 30% onto the final price. That means we are looking at an extra $600-700. What to do what to do.

 

[KathyM2]

I guess the choice of changing hotels or not really depends on you. How much will spending that extra $600-700 affect you overall? I think over the course of your whole trip....it might be worth it to keep it if it won't totally break the bank for you. But if you will be worried the whole time about how much you're spending because you went with the more expensive hotel...then don't do it. I think you go to Disney kind of expecting to spend a lot...it's not cheap pretty much no matter how you do it. It does suck that the dollar is doing so poorly though, you're right.

 

[englishrose47]

Lessa I had not really paid attention to the Canadian dollar being low !! Being a border city I should have noticed . The low Canadian $ affects our stores as they are not shopping as much as the bargains aren't as good to them, which in turn hurts our economy . But in turn in=t should improve Canadian business so maybe the $ will go up!! How's that for Fuzzy Math Disney or not I also think the Bros will enjoy Frozen as it is amusing , lots of laughter in it !!!

 

[Elevationist]

I swear to god, woman. If you make me change your resort on the December 2015 thread's Roll Call even ONE MORE TIME........

...I'm totally just kidding.

Seriously though, girl! Do what will make you most happy, honey! It's just money! You can always make more of it! (I'm such an enabler.)

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

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[emmaca]

Lessa I had not really paid attention to the Canadian dollar being low !! Being a border city I should have noticed . The low Canadian $ affects our stores as they are not shopping as much as the bargains aren't as good to them, which in turn hurts our economy . But in turn in=t should improve Canadian business so maybe the $ will go up!! How's that for Fuzzy Math Disney or not I also think the Bros will enjoy Frozen as it is amusing , lots of laughter in it !!!

I hope that the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration will still be on in December.

 

[englishrose47]

Just keeping up, I have a few free minutes !!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I guess the choice of changing hotels or not really depends on you. How much will spending that extra $600-700 affect you overall? I think over the course of your whole trip....it might be worth it to keep it if it won't totally break the bank for you. But if you will be worried the whole time about how much you're spending because you went with the more expensive hotel...then don't do it. I think you go to Disney kind of expecting to spend a lot...it's not cheap pretty much no matter how you do it. It does suck that the dollar is doing so poorly though, you're right.

No, won't break the bank, just something extra I hadn't planned on. I think what I will do is start paying the hotel off now in small installments so I don't notice the extra due to the exchange rate as much as I would if I paid for it all on arrival day. Try and "trick the mind".

Lessa I had not really paid attention to the Canadian dollar being low !! Being a border city I should have noticed . The low Canadian $ affects our stores as they are not shopping as much as the bargains aren't as good to them, which in turn hurts our economy . But in turn in=t should improve Canadian business so maybe the $ will go up!! How's that for Fuzzy Math Disney or not I also think the Bros will enjoy Frozen as it is amusing , lots of laughter in it !!!

If only that were true! Sadly it is mostly our oil prices that are making the loonie dive. At least we got most of our other Disney trips in while the loonie was pretty much at par!

I swear to god, woman. If you make me change your resort on the December 2015 thread's Roll Call even ONE MORE TIME........

...I'm totally just kidding.

Seriously though, girl! Do what will make you most happy, honey! It's just money! You can always make more of it! (I'm such an enabler.)

Good thing I didn't post on here the several times I switched back and forth from Beach Club to Grand Floridian.

On your comment about it just being money and I can always earn more. Well, just picked up an overtime shift on my birthday, Happy Birthday to me!, so that is an extra $500 smackers in my bank account. I usually make it a rule not to work on my birthday if I can avoid but I just can't say no to overtime!

Not that in any way would I not support your final choice, but have you checked out the Sell Off Vacations website for their package deals? The downside is that you are only booking a few months or weeks in advance, and I'm sure that selection is limited as far as dates and resort availability. I'd be curious to see how good their "deals" really are - maybe you have just as good pricing already arranged. I am of the mindset that experiences and time with family are worth the money. It depends how much time you plan to stay at the resort that would decide for me the worth of the stay.

No, never thought of Sell Off Vacations. Probably too late for that anyways as we already have tickets purchased etc.

I'm pretty sure I have decided to suck it up and just stay where we are and pay the awful exchange rate difference. I am terrible but "I want what I want" and I don't like to compromise. I'm spoiled that way.

 

[Elevationist]

On your comment about it just being money and I can always earn more. Well, just picked up an overtime shift on my birthday, Happy Birthday to me!, so that is an extra $500 smackers in my bank account. I usually make it a rule not to work on my birthday if I can avoid but I just can't say no to overtime!

MONEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

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[KatMark]

I'm glad I didn't miss much (so far behind everywhere).

I'm sorry to hear about the dollar and hope that improves for you. I can't even remember where you are staying now. It's not WL, is it? There is a LOT of stuff happening there with renovations and people are NOT happy.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I'm glad I didn't miss much (so far behind everywhere).

I'm sorry to hear about the dollar and hope that improves for you. I can't even remember where you are staying now. It's not WL, is it? There is a LOT of stuff happening there with renovations and people are NOT happy.

Nope, we were originally booked there but I switched us out as soon as rumours started circulating about the renovations. We are now staying at the Beach Club.