Trip Number 9 ~ It's the Most Wonderful Time of Year ~ Christmastime at the GF & Poly

[ddluvsdisney]

It is pouring rain here and a bit chilly 59 degrees. Considering last Friday it was 92 degrees. I'd say its cold today!!
I need me some FL sunshine.
I think I'm gonna get it a little early- a week early that is. The bank called and we are closing on the 21st. Can you believe I will still be in school for 3 more days so I am taking a sick day and flying down for the weekend.
Then we'll be driving down the following weekend. I know it sounds CRAZY!! But you gotta do what ya gotta do.

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[Momof2Disneyboys]

Loved the video again!!

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Thanks!

It is pouring rain here and a bit chilly 59 degrees. Considering last Friday it was 92 degrees. I'd say its cold today!!
I need me some FL sunshine.
I think I'm gonna get it a little early- a week early that is. The bank called and we are closing on the 21st. Can you believe I will still be in school for 3 more days so I am taking a sick day and flying down for the weekend.
Then we'll be driving down the following weekend. I know it sounds CRAZY!! But you gotta do what ya gotta do.

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It's been chilly here. Barely making it to 70 the past 3 days. Crazy after it was so hot here not that long ago. I'm hoping it warms up before we go to our nephew's graduation party tonight.

I still can't believe your school goes so late into June!! Is that normal around there?

Well that is good that the closing is going to be done early. And you get two trips to FL out of it!

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Thanks!

It's been chilly here. Barely making it to 70 the past 3 days. Crazy after it was so hot here not that long ago. I'm hoping it warms up before we go to our nephew's graduation party tonight.

I still can't believe your school goes so late into June!! Is that normal around there?

Well that is good that the closing is going to be done early. And you get two trips to FL out of it!

We do usually go to the 3rd week of June. Our last day was suppose to be June 19, but we had a ton of snow days this year.

I HATE snow!! We got back after Labor Day usually the Wed. Or Thurs. after.

We have my boys' family b-day party today. It finally stopped raining. I just hope the sun comes out soon. Have fun at the party tonight.

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[T*Bird]

I can't believe I missed your last day! What was I doing that distracted me?

Once again, it was a great TR! I always love your great pictures and stories. It's fun seeing how your boys have grown up so much! I'm glad this was a vacation that ranked up there near the top of your visits.

I watched your video again, and it was so fun to see it both at the beginning and end of your trip. Kinda puts an exclamation point on the whole thing! You did such a good job with the pics and music.

August will be here in a flash and we can look forward to another Mof2 TR!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Still haven't gotten to those 'final thoughts' just yet, but I did find some souvenir pics. Well, they are more of 'take home treat' pics!

Some treats we brought home ~

Treats inside the variety pack:

I guess we didn't buy too much in way of actual souvenirs. We had just been there in May and this was supposed to be a shorter/less expensive bounceback trip, plus it was a few weeks before Christmas!


For those of you who have read my previous TR's you know I keep a running tally of money we spent on food. So here you have it ~

Total Dining: $660.45
Meals $571.99 + Snacks $88.46

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We do usually go to the 3rd week of June. Our last day was suppose to be June 19, but we had a ton of snow days this year.

I HATE snow!! We got back after Labor Day usually the Wed. Or Thurs. after.

We have my boys' family b-day party today. It finally stopped raining. I just hope the sun comes out soon. Have fun at the party tonight.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I hear ya on the hating snow thing!!! Luckily our school almost never cancels. You would have to literally not be able to get out of your door due to snow for them to cancel!

Hope the sun comes out for your party today. It's warming up a bit here, but not enough. Tomorrow it's supposed to be sunny and 78. Perfect for DS's last soccer game of the season.

I can't believe I missed your last day! What was I doing that distracted me?

Once again, it was a great TR! I always love your great pictures and stories. It's fun seeing how your boys have grown up so much! I'm glad this was a vacation that ranked up there near the top of your visits.

I watched your video again, and it was so fun to see it both at the beginning and end of your trip. Kinda puts an exclamation point on the whole thing! You did such a good job with the pics and music.

August will be here in a flash and we can look forward to another Mof2 TR!

Hmm... IDK what could have had you so distracted...


So glad you enjoyed the TR and video! Hope you'll read along next time as well!

 

[JoBird]

Well I was distracted but I managed to make it onto here.
Neener neener neener!!!!





Shelly I can't believe you only spent that much on food! That was very very good! I think we spent that much by day three. They're eating me out of house and home.

When you spend $42 at the churro cart you know you are doing something way wrong. Yes I said $42. Churros for everyone!!!!!!!

You didn't buy much this trip for souvenirs. I think we flipped roles this time-- I bought much more than normal, for me I mean. Well you will have to make up for it in August!!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

I really enjoyed your TR. I had fun getting to know your family. The Poly was one of the resorts I really want try someday, so it was good to see it. On you report.

 

[danceintherain]

Ending this trip report is probably so much less painful, since you have another trip planned for so soon!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Well I was distracted but I managed to make it onto here.
Neener neener neener!!!!





Shelly I can't believe you only spent that much on food! That was very very good! I think we spent that much by day three. They're eating me out of house and home.

When you spend $42 at the churro cart you know you are doing something way wrong. Yes I said $42. Churros for everyone!!!!!!!

You didn't buy much this trip for souvenirs. I think we flipped roles this time-- I bought much more than normal, for me I mean. Well you will have to make up for it in August!!

I know!! We spent so little on food this time. Crazy! Especially after we spent more than expected/budgeted for last May.

$42 at a churro cart???

Yeah, I didn't get much in way of souvenirs this time. I hope you got some good stuff!!

Watch out August, here I come!!

I really enjoyed your TR. I had fun getting to know your family. The Poly was one of the resorts I really want try someday, so it was good to see it. On you report.

Thank you so much. I enjoyed having you read along!

I hope you get to stay at the Poly one day soon, it really is wonderful.

Ending this trip report is probably so much less painful, since you have another trip planned for so soon!

Yeah, only a few more months now!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Shelly, I really enjoyed your report and photos, I cannot believe how big your boys have gotten!

That video you took on the balcony the last night made me miss WDW, we are skipping WDW this year for the first time (our son is in San Diego now so going to see him is a big priority and the opposite direction of WDW lol) time in over 9 years and those sounds just make me miss my "home"!

Enjoy your trip in August, can't wait to read all about it! Thanks for sharing, Happy Summer!

 

[POLY1985]

Hi! Just popping on to tell you I enjoyed your TR very much. This is the 2nd of your TR's I've read. I am a mom of two boys too which is how I started reading them. My boys are a bit older. My baby just graduated high school last week and I'm still a bit sad. We celebrated his 17th birthday last June at Disney and it was fantastic.
Love your Poly stay - that will always be my favorite resort. We honeymooned there. The resorts and really everything look so beautiful at Christmas. I hope to see it like that sometime. DH and I are doing a 3 nighter in October for our anniversary so we will see it decorated for Halloween.
Yay for a DISmeet! Glad you had such a good time.
The archery class your son took was such a great idea. I had no idea that they offered something like that. Date night at 'Ohana sounds lovely. We used to do the same thing when they were younger. I remember having a data night at Artist Pointe when we stayed at Wilderness Lodge. Fun times!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Shelly, I love food souvenirs! I like that variety pack. So cute!

You didn't spend too much on food, did you? Do you find you spend less not using the dining plan?

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Shelly, I really enjoyed your report and photos, I cannot believe how big your boys have gotten!

That video you took on the balcony the last night made me miss WDW, we are skipping WDW this year for the first time (our son is in San Diego now so going to see him is a big priority and the opposite direction of WDW lol) time in over 9 years and those sounds just make me miss my "home"!

Enjoy your trip in August, can't wait to read all about it! Thanks for sharing, Happy Summer!

Hi Amy! Long time no 'see'. How have you been? I didn't even realize you were reading.

I'm sorry it will be awhile before you get back to WDW. But yes, it is way more important to go see your son in San Diego! Maybe you can get to DisneyLand when you are out there!!

Thanks for reading. Have a great summer!

Hi! Just popping on to tell you I enjoyed your TR very much. This is the 2nd of your TR's I've read. I am a mom of two boys too which is how I started reading them. My boys are a bit older. My baby just graduated high school last week and I'm still a bit sad. We celebrated his 17th birthday last June at Disney and it was fantastic.
Love your Poly stay - that will always be my favorite resort. We honeymooned there. The resorts and really everything look so beautiful at Christmas. I hope to see it like that sometime. DH and I are doing a 3 nighter in October for our anniversary so we will see it decorated for Halloween.
Yay for a DISmeet! Glad you had such a good time.
The archery class your son took was such a great idea. I had no idea that they offered something like that. Date night at 'Ohana sounds lovely. We used to do the same thing when they were younger. I remember having a data night at Artist Pointe when we stayed at Wilderness Lodge. Fun times!

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed.

It makes me sad too that my boys are getting older. Off to HS and MS in the fall. Where did the time go???

That is awesome that you got to honeymoon at the Poly. Congrats on your upcoming October trip!

It is fun to have a date night at WDW now that the boys are old enough to stay on their own for a little bit. And nice to know that we can be back to the room right away if needed.

Thanks for reading!

Shelly, I love food souvenirs! I like that variety pack. So cute!

You didn't spend too much on food, did you? Do you find you spend less not using the dining plan?

Thanks Kelli! The variety pack was so cute, I couldn't resist.

We find that we spend less by paying OOP than to get the DDP. I think it would have been well over $1000 for get the DDP, and we spent only $660. I do find that I am in the minority on this though, as most of my clients love to book the DDP!

I think when the boys get a little older and start to eat more we may have to revisit the DDP!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Enjoyed your TR,...now I am ready for August plans! The week y'all go,the boys start back to school...and then I will be around the 3 month mark... so keep my summer moving with an awesome PTR!

 

[disbelle]

Just joined in! A little late (I know). Christmas at Disney World! How amazing!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Enjoyed your TR,...now I am ready for August plans! The week y'all go,the boys start back to school...and then I will be around the 3 month mark... so keep my summer moving with an awesome PTR!

Thanks Shawna!

I'll see what I can do!!

Just joined in! A little late (I know). Christmas at Disney World! How amazing!

Hi! Welcome to the DIS and to my TR! Hope you enjoy!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Final Thoughts...


Well I guess I'll start with the same question I always start with in my final thoughts – Was this the best trip ever??? Well, no. But, it was very good! Probably ranked right up there in the top 5 trips.

FLIGHTS. We got a decent deal on our flights and a morning flight down, so overall I am much happier with my airfare than I was last May when I didn't but soon enough and paid a stupid amount and had to fly into Orlando at 8pm. So, all was well in the airfare world!

WEATHER. Can't really complain here either. I packed for all types of weather because the last time we went to WDW in the fall/winter months is was super cold and we didn't have enough pants/long sleeves/etc to keep us warm. This time was kind of the opposite. I WAY overpacked. We had one entire bag of coats, jackets, hats, gloves, etc that we never even got into. I guess I should have compiled my final thoughts a bit sooner, because I can't even remember what he average temperature was when we were there.... Maybe Jodi remembers... It wasn't cold by any means. And it wasn't hot either. It was humid, I remember that. We were comfortable in shorts most days. I'm thinking it was in the mid 70's some days, and cooler at night of course. And I know on our last day it was super sunny and 80, because we spent it at the Poly pool! The other days were warm enough for the kids to swim, but not for us old people! We did encounter some rain. Not a ton, but still a bit more than I would have liked.


CROWDS and PARKS. This one is kind of hard to explain. The parks were crowded. Plain and simple, people everywhere. But, the wait times were never too bad. It was weird. We pretty much got to do everything we wanted, with the exception of only being able to ride Soarin one time. That was disappointing. So our whole day at Epcot was kind of disappointing I guess. We only did Epcot once (because we had gone there 3X on the trip before) and it just wasn't enough. So we will be getting our fill of Epcot next time! AK was okay. We don't LOVE it by any means, but we had a decent time there. We have decided that it will probably be an every other trip park from now on. MK was awesome! The new Fantasyland had opened just before we arrived and it was really neat. Especially crowded in that area of the park, but we really enjoyed the new Little Mermaid ride. DHS was fun as always! Had planned to stay for Fantasmic (haven't seen it since Jan 2009), but once again it just didn't work out. Maybe next time!


RESORTS. We stayed at the GF for 2 nights and the Poly for 5 nights. Both were great, but the Poly is still by far our favorite resort!! We liked the GF, but didn't love it. Hard to say if it was just because of all of the construction going on there or if we just didn't 'love' it. There was lots of noise at the beach pool because of the construction at the DVC, the courtyard pool was closed for rehab, and there was no beach access. All that, plus noise from the CL lounge echoing up to our room, and the gazillion people always there to see the Christmas decorations, we just didn't fall in love with the place. The Poly was a nice, quiet, welcomed change when we checked in there. We were worried the Poly wouldn't live up to our last stay there. The last time we stayed there was August 2011 for 4 nights and we stayed CL. Everything was perfect. So we worried that staying there in the winter (instead of summer) and not staying CL, would be a real letdown. Thankfully, we were wrong!! I think a lot of it had to do with our room location. I had requested to have a top floor (so we could have a balcony) and be in either Samoa or Tokelau. As you know we got top floor Samoa, with an end room and a volcano pool view. Perfect. The CM's were the best and everything was just awesome. We never wanted to leave the resort.

TRANSPORTATION. Wasn't the best this time. The ME bus making 4 stops and ours being the last was frustrating. But more frustrating than that was the park buses when they shared with the CR. Every time we pulled into that resort there was a traffic jam of some sort. Wait to pull in, wait to pull up to the bus stop, wait to load, wait to pull out. Added an extra 10-15+ minutes each time. I personally think that there should be no more than 2 deluxe resorts sharing a bus. But hey, no one asked me!! Some buses had the GF, Poly, CR, and WL on them. Some were the GF, Poly, and CR. And others were just the GF and Poly – those were my favorite! The monorail to Epcot was great. The MK monorail however, was not so great. Long waits, break downs, and complete closures. I don't think we took any boats this time.

DINING. We went without the DDP again and loved it again!! I know, not a very good selling point now that I am a Travel Agent for Disney!! And I actually find that most of my clients LOVE the DDP. For us right now though, it's just not a good fit. Someday it may be a better fit, once the boys are a little older and start eating like teenage boys!! But anyway, we had some great TS meals, although we didn't try anything new this time. We went to: T-Rex, great as always! Sci-Fi Dine In, great as always! Kona Cafe, great as always! LeCellier, just okay. And Ohana, very good! For CS we went to: Captain Cook's a few times, very good. Pecos Bill's, okay to good. Sleepy Hollow, (this was new for us), very good! Wolfgang Puck Express, great as always! And Contempo Cafe, just okay. We had lots of great snacks at the parks & resorts, and good food from the Sugarloaf CL lounge at the GF.





Looking forward to our Disney future......


Well, as of right now I have 3 Disney trips planned. Two of them are only in my head. And the other one is well underway and will be here in just a few months

1)Clearwater Beach and WDW in Aug 2013 – Yacht Club
2)DisneyLand in Feb 2014 – Disneyland Hotel
3)WDW and Universal in Aug 2014 – Not sure which WDW resort.... And it will be Portofino Bay Resort Universal (I plan to start my Universal training after I have a year in as being a WDW TA, so that I can become authorized to sell Universal vacations as well)

So yes, this is mostly in my head, but it could all happen.....You never know!!

As for August – Plans are made, resorts are booked, flights are booked, rental car is booked, ADR's are made, etc. Now just 2 more months and it will be here!! I plan to start a PTR on that trip sometime after the 4th of July.


Guess that's it. I hope you have enjoyed!! Thanks for sharing in this journey with my family and I!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I'm sad this is over. I can't wait for the next report! Someday we may have to take a summer trip so am looking forward to reading about an August trip!

I've very much enjoyed this Shelly! You update often and are just one of my favorite TR writers.

 

[Dancegrl624]

Great wrap-up Shelly! I always love to hear your thoughts on resorts, food, etc.

I did the Universal TA training and it was pretty easy. In order to "officially" be a Universal Travel Specialist, you have to have an onsite stay. You then have to turn in receipts, proof of visit, etc so I won't be doing that part for awhile! I have booked a Universal trip for a client (planned their WDW trip 2 years ago), and it was actually before I did the training! I have been to Universal before, so I did have info to pass along to them.