'Twas the Week Before Christmas... Done & where to find us next!

[PrincessV]

Chapter Links:
Who We Are and Where We Stayed
Day One: Epcot and Reunion
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Take One: Muggles Storm the Castle
[URL="http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=39419509&postcount=49"]Potter-Land Part Two: The $30 Stick[/URL]
Muggles Go Jurassic – Venturing Beyond Hogsmead
“Clark – Audrey’s frozen from the waist down.”
Our Fourth Night – Taking it to the Bank and Mexican Heaven
Is It Possible to Repeat the “Perfect Disney Day”?
Another Prefect Disney Day, Continued...
Well… hmph… this is odd… the Magic Kingdom is PACKED, and We LIKE it?!?!
"Captain - we have our heading!"


Hi again - it's me, V! With yet another tale to tell of our Disney World Adventures.

For those new to my trip reports, it's probably good to know that I live in Florida, about an hour and a half from WDW. Because of our proximity, coupled with Annual Passes and DVC membership, we visit The World quite a bit. Believe it or not, a WDW vacation winds up being MUCH cheaper than pretty much anything other than staying home for us! I know this because I'm in the middle of planning what's become known as our Big, Fat Southwest Road Trip and the costs are making me nauseous.

Anyway, we nearly always escape to Disney for a few days to a week during the holiday season and this year was no exception. But all similarities to previous holiday trips ends there; this trip was a departure from our norm in so many ways. Including...

We stayed off-site. Like, way off-site. Two exits of I-4, off-site.

We ditched The Mouse and tried Islands of Adventure for the first time ever.

We tried new restaurants, shops and attractions.

And, perhaps most, er... interesting... we went later in the season than ever before. The week before Christmas, to be exact. When the low crowds of Dec. suddenly morph into a beast with 90,000 heads. Give or take.


How did we survive so much change in our routine? Will we ever try something this crazy again? Did every member of our traveling party make it back home in their right mind?!

All this and more will I share here with you, dear reader. Though, I confess - I must make this report as concise as I'm capable of being; I've got two semesters left to finish my never-ending Art History degree and the first of those two is about to start. Which translates into zero free time for V.

However, what this may lack in tedious written detail, I promise it will make up in tedious pictorial detail...

That's right, I BROUGHT THE GOOD CAMERA!!! And, I actually used it. A lot.

So, please, read along and join in the conversation - I'm glad you're here

Next: a quick meeting of the family and last minute changes.

 

[Sooze]

The good camera? The GOOD CAMERA!!!

Let it begin! I'm ready!!

((And, shhhhhh.... don't tell my husband... but I can't WAIT to hear about WWoHP!!))

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Can't wait to read all about it!

Though, I must confess - I've been painfully jealous of you this week.

 

[PrincessV]

In case you’ve not journeyed with me before, please allow me to introduce the travelers on this trip: I brought along my mother, Gramma, and eight-year-old son, Leo. We all live together, mostly harmoniously. That’s because we all have lots of space to ourselves. Put us all together in a single, small hotel room for more than a night or two, and we’re at each others’ throats.

Maybe not quite that bad, but it’s not pretty.

My DVC points were already used for this year, and I was working a pretty limited budget, which is how we came to choose our off-off-site accommodations for most of the trip. A year ago, I had the pleasure of staying in a friend’s employer’s condo in the Reunion Resort, just west of WDW in I-4. I LOVED that condo! It was gorgeous, expansive and so very, very relaxing. So, knowing that individual rooms would be a major plus for my traveling group this time, I scouted out and found a Reunion owner renting his condo for a great rate. For $129 a night, we could have a three-bedroom, three-bath, luxurious condo on a golf course. With a full kitchen, so we could save some money on food, too. I booked it! And crossed my fingers that the picture online would be comparable to what we’d find in person. And that when we arrived, the key would actually work. It’s a leap of faith, renting from a private owner, but I’d done so before on several NC mountain trips and I had a good feeling about this one.

But, in addition to the condo, I also booked a night – very last-minute – at the Hilton Bonnet Creek. See, a few days before our vacation, I learned that I still had a personal day left to use in 2010 and it had to be used by the end of that week. My trip started a day early! It worked out perfectly; I needed that day to get things done anyway, and we decided to drive to WDW that evening, Dec. 17, to get an early start at the parks the next morning. I started with Disney, but their passholder rates at the moderate resorts couldn’t beat the Hilton’s Florida resident rate, and we’d been very pleased with the Hilton on a previous trip.

And so, on Friday, Dec. 17, we pointed the east and made our way to Downtown Disney for dinner, and later to the Hilton for sleeps.

Downtown Disney (DTD) was as crowded as I expected it to be, but we found parking and managed to avoid much of a wait to eat at Wolfgang Puck Express. That’s become a new favorite spot for us – consistently good food at a decent price, especially with a DVC or Tables in Wonderland discount! (Yeah, I’m all about the discounts – I just open my wallet each time I pay at WDW and ask if any of my umpteen cards will net me a savings, lol!)

Lots of good things to shoot at DTD, dressed as it was for the season…

After our meal, we hurried over to the Hilton to check in and get ready for bed. Hilton Bonnet Creek (HBC) delivered again – our room was beautiful, immaculate and perfect for a night. We watched Frosty the Snowman on TV and got to sleep early – we had an early start planned the next day!

Next: Lots and lots of Epcot

 

[PrincessV]

The good camera?

((And, shhhhhh.... don't tell my husband... but I can't WAIT to hear about WWoHP!!))

I'll say this now - it was WAY cool!

Though, I must confess - I've been painfully jealous of you this week.

Next year, T - I can't wait for you to experience the holidays in The World!

 

[glennbo123]

I'm here V! I'll have to come back to read more thoroughly later though.

 

[jcc0621]

Sorry I am late, but what a GREAT start!

On the extra day.

Love, love, love the pics. They made me think of mom as DTD was one of our favorite haunts!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[jess98ac]

Gorgeous pics so far, can't wait for the rest!! Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

 

[PrincessV]

I'm here V! I'll have to come back to read more thoroughly later though.

Yay, glad to see you glennbo!

Love, love, love the pics. They made me think of mom as DTD was one of our favorite haunts!

Gorgeous pics so far, can't wait for the rest!! Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Thanks, and you too! Glad to have you along for another tale.

 

[sharkB8HooHaHa]

Can't wait to read all about it!!

 

[PrincessV]

As I type, I’m huddled before my “fireplace”, trying to warm my fingers and toes.

Yes, this passes as a “fireplace” in West-Central Florida.

A lot of people are under the impression that it’s always warm and tropical in Florida. Not so. Especially not so as far north as I live. While we almost never have snow-like stuff, (last winter and its sleet excepted), we do have distinct seasons and it can become very, very chilly should a cold front make its way down here. There’s one blowing through right now, dropping us into the 20s tonight.

There was also a cold front going through on the first day of our Dec. 2010 WDW trip. Not a whopper – no freezing temps predicted – but a cold front nonetheless, and it was preceded by rain.

Now, we’re no strangers to Disney in the rain, but Disney in the rain coupled with cool temps is a whole other ball of wax. I tried my best to put together outfits for Leo and I that would keep us as warm and dry as possible, crossed my fingers that we’d be free of lightning, and steered us all out the Hilton room and into the lobby’s coffee bar for breakfast.

The Hilton Bonnet Creek has a nice little spot at which to grab a bagel, pastry, coffee, tea, etc. if you don’t want a full breakfast. We grabbed our eats quickly – no line! – and enjoyed the gorgeous and relaxing lobby while we ate. I was impressed to see a lot of elegant, yet folksy, holiday decorations there, too.

As we got into the car, I made sure we each had an umbrella in hand. And a good thing, too, as this was the scene of our departure…

… and of our arrival at Epcot…

Rain. Yep, lots of it. But, it remained falling straight down (as opposed to the horizontal rain of summer months), wasn’t torrential, and temps stayed in the 60s, so it was completely manageable. Hooray!


Know what else was completely manageable? The crowds! They were minimal that morning, no doubt due to the weather. Still, it was rated a “6” day, according to TouringPlans’ crowd level prediction, so I thought it best to stick to a plan, at least until we’d accomplished the things we most wanted to do that day. Within a few hours, we made it quickly and easily through our favorites – Mission: Space, Living with the Land, Nemo, Spaceship Earth, and Soarin’. Sadly, no Test Track due to the rain. Though we definitely saw crowd levels build through the morning, especially once the rain let up, we had no problem getting through all we’d hoped to and had a great morning!

Our afternoon plan was centered on lunch… at our then-favorite WDW eatery, Tutto Italia. We still had some time before our reservation, though, so we took our time strolling through World Showcase, going clockwise from Mexico.

We stopped in China, where Gramma bought Leo a little something that caught his eye…

And we had to stop and check out the new Werther’s caramel shop in the Germany pavilion!

Okay, seriously? YUM!!! We grabbed a few things from the shop – caramel and chocolate covered pretzel rods, a chocolate and caramel dipped strawberry, and a caramel apple. But saved the eating of those delicious treats for later; we had to save room for lunch!


On the way to Tutto, I snapped this picture of the new Via Napoli. They did a nice job, I think.

Okay, lunch. If you’ve read my past reports, you know I have something of a love affair with Tutto. Love the food. Love the ambiance. Love the service. Love it all. And yes, it delivered yet again. We all shared an antipasto platter as an appetizer and it was scrumptious; lovely meats and cheese; marinated mushrooms, red pepper, artichokes and olives; and roasted zucchini. Mmmmmm. Next up, I went with the salmon (yet again), Gramma had the penne caprese (yet again), and Leo had a grilled chicken with green beans (a first, and great choice.) All were as perfectly cooked and presented as ever. No meal at Tutto is complete without dessert, and Leo and I shared our favorite chocolate torte, while Gramma tried a sampler trio. Mmmmmmm. Again.

We left full, warm and happy and continued our walk around World Showcase. I played with the Good Camera a bit in Italy…

And we stopped to see the gingerbread house in the American pavilion…

And, here’s one to blow your minds… we stopped in Japan, but DID NOT BUY ANYTHING! No Transformers. No Bakkugan. No Pokeman. No nothing. It was like I had some other kid with me. He even let me shoot a few nice photos!

All around, we’d had a wonderful day at Epcot. But we were getting worn out and it was about time to head out and get settled into our rental condo. Would it be as fantastic as we’d hoped?

Continued in next post…

 

[PrincessV]

So, first off, the drive between Reunion and WDW couldn’t be much easier or faster. A straight shot west on I-4, exit 58, two left turns and we were there in 15 minutes! Our rental condo was but 2 buildings down from the one at which we’d stayed with friends last January, so I knew where to go, and the guard at the security station was expecting us. One hurdle down.

The condo owner gave me a combination to a lock box outside the condo… and it worked – I got the key, and it did, indeed, open the door. Two hurdles down!

We walked in and…

Aaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!

It was even better than expected. Truly, this place is flipping fantastic! I took a ton of pics, in case anyone else might consider Reunion for future trips. Please feel free to scroll past if they’re of no interest…


We each got a bedroom with bathroom to ourselves – hooray!

And we had a great kitchen, full dining room and super comfy living room.

It was a little chilly for hanging on the porch, but it was a nice, spacious area with a great view.

The Reunion condo was so nice, it was exceedingly hard to leave it to go grocery shopping. But we needed food so we shot over to the very near shopping plaza, grabbed some grub and returned to the condo to make dinner. I can’t express how wonderful it was to eat a real meal and then lounge in the living room at the end of the day. When it was Leo’s bedtime, he snuggled into his own bedroom and fell asleep easily, while Gramma and I watched a little TV before retiring to our own rooms.

Any hesitation or concern we’d had about renting at Reunion was gone, and we could not have been more comfortable and at ease. It was like being home, only minus all the responsibilities of home!


Next: The Muggles go to Potterland

 

[PrincessV]

Can't wait to read all about it!!

Just posted about the condo - I kept thinking of you guys the whole time we were there, thinking how PERFECT it would be for your family trips!

 

[jcc0621]

Know what else was completely manageable? The crowds!

And, here’s one to blow your minds… we stopped in Japan, but DID NOT BUY ANYTHING! No Transformers. No Bakkugan. No Pokeman. No nothing. It was like I had some other kid with me. He even let me shoot a few nice photos!

No! Was he feeling okay

Any hesitation or concern we’d had about renting at Reunion was gone, and we could not have been more comfortable and at ease. It was like being home, only minus all the responsibilities of home!

That's great!

Next: The Muggles go to Potterland

Can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[hucifer]

I'm here! I'm here!

I took a long hiatus away from the DISboards and dropped all the TRs I was reading like a bag of flies. (Did that metaphor work?) Anyway, I'm all over this one...can't wait to hear all about Potter.

The condo is gorgeous, baby. I love it!

Oh, and I'm a huge Wolfgang Puck Express fan myself. Their food is excellent.

 

[Stasieki]

I'm here and so happy you have another TR in the works.

The start looks good so far. The picture of your Mom and Leo is beautiful and you have great talent with your picture taking and story telling. It is fun seeing Leo grow through your trip reports.

Can't wait to see what these new adventures bring.

 

[Sooze]

I bow down to your ability to embrace the rain at Disney. I am one of those guests who will hang at the resort until it goes away.. so... You're welcome!

Love Leo's new necklace.. great purchase!

Glad you had a great meal at Tutto... you'll have to hear about ours... I was so disappointed...

The Condo?!?! HOLY COW!! It looks so beautiful, comfortable, homey.... it's tempting...

Ok.. I'm caught up. Carry on...

 

[GreatBiscuit]

V!

How goes it! I hope you and Leo had a fantastic Christmas. I can’t wait to hear how this trip turned out. And I’m full on stoked that you brought the big camera! ROCK ON V! Great photos so far!

The condo looked awesome! I can’t wait to see your review of Islands of Adventure.

Oh, and Hi Hucifer! Good to see you too!

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

DUDE. That condo looks BOMBDIGGITY!!! I smell a "Girls Only, it's T's 40th Birthday" trip in the coming future. Well, 2012 to be exact. Ahem.

Tutto? *big, heavy, lusting, sigh*

 

[sunnysideup3]

For $129/night, you can't go wrong with that place, it's great!!!