I'm not much for detailed day by day reports but I thought I give some thoughts on our recently completed trip. Some specifics first:
Who: 16 in all. My wife, son(15) and daughter(16). My parents, in-laws, wife's sister's family including my bother-in-law's parents.
When: 12/18 - 12/27
Where: BWV - 2 two bedroom units and a studio all with Boardwalk view.
Passes: 9-day Park Hopper
At little background. 2 years ago we went through a crappy Christmas season. Health and a few disappointments led to a less than festive Christmas in '05 My wife and I decided we needed to try something different to get the spirit back so we asked all those we spend Christmas Eve and Day with if they wanted to come with us to Disney. Everyone needed to say yes or we weren't going - there was no way we were going to leave someone behind at Christmas time You have to understand we are a very conservative New England family - snow on the ground and a fire roaring on Christmas Day type of family. I thought for sure someone would object to not being home for Christmas. I sent out an email at 11pm to all those involved and by 8am the next day I had a yes from each and everyone.
That started 680 days of planning - all of which was left to me. There was no problem with that as I like to plan things and no one else in my family likes to plan. I am blessed with a GREAT family who all tend to go with the flow. In fact, I don't think half of them would ever had gone to Disney (this is our 4th trip together) if I hadn't planned each trip for them. I always explain to everyone that the plan I put in place is for me, my wife and kids. They should never feel like I was forcing them to do anything they didn't want to do. On Thanksgiving day we all sat down together and I present each family with a 2" binder that represented the nearly 2 years of planning. Everything you could imagine - day by day itineraries, articles on special events we were doing, restaurants we were eating at, and an explanation as to why this trip would be different than any other trip because of the crowds. They were blown away. I have a great family and now they were really excited about this trip.
The Resort: It's our second time at BWV and I have to say that I like it the best of all the DVC resorts. The view is just fantastic and the location as far as I"m concerned can't be beat. Being able to walk to Epcot and MGM can't be underestimated. Avoiding the buses when at all possible just makes things easier. The lobby is just gorgeous at Christmas time and the staff were more than friendly. One complaint though. The TV's in the living rooms need to be replaced. I know you don't go on vacation to watch TV but when you do want to something bigger than a 19" would be nice. That being said BWV is #1 in our hearts. We had rooms on the 5th floor and had a good view of Illuminations from our balcony and I just love walking into our room at the end of a long day, stepping out on the balcony and taking in the view!
The Parks/Crowds: We prepared ourselves for the inevitable crush as the week went by. I have to say that by the 25th it had gotten crowded but nothing that we couldn't handle. We have taken 8 trips to WDW and consider ourselves knowledgeable of all things Disney. This was the first time however that we used TGM. I can't say enough about his advice. We only went to parks that were green, stayed away from EMH parks and used Fastpass more this trip than all other trips together. We got to the parks by opening each day and took a midday break back at BWV before heading back to the parks for the evening. The longest line we waited in our whole time there was about 10-15 minutes. This is not to say that there weren't 60-100 minute waits. By following TGM's advice we had already done the rides/attractions that now had long lines. We focused our efforts on doing as much as possible before the 25th as possible and then playing it by ear from that point forward.
The Events: We went to MVMCP, CP and Osborne lights.
MVMCP was on the 20th and we found the crowds to be heavy but manageable. We followed TGM's advice and arrived early, around 4pm. We did a few rides and then watched the 6pm Wishes from the bridge leading to Tomorrowland. A few times during the evening I felt like we were swimming upstream while all the fish were coming right at us. If you get that feeling your doing things right because your going somewhere that hordes of people are leaving. We got this feeling twice, once after the 6pm fireworks going to Tomorowland and then again coming over the same bridge after the first parade - people seemed to be pouring into areas we were leaving. During the first parade we spent most of our time on rides in the backside of the park. We then move to main street for the 9:30 Wishes and the parade. By the way, the parade was one of the nicest Disney parades I have ever seen and the Holiday Wishes was very nice. We used TGM touring advice all night and it worked to perfection.
CP - We had the dinner package at Le Celiere at 4pm on Christmas Eve and the went to the 6:45 show. I'll comment on the meal later. I was surprised by the length of the line for the dinner package guests but in the end we got great seats. This was a very emotional night as we would normally be together as a family at midnight mass back home so there was nothing better than to be at CP as a family on Christmas Eve.
Osborne Lights - As the week went by we didn't think we were going to be able to see Osborne Lights. On Christmas night on our way back from dinner we stopped at MGM just for the lights. We got there during the 2nd Fantasmic show and found the crowds at the lights to be light. Didn't know what to expect and were very pleased by how nice a display it was. A must see.
The Food: We had ADR's for each day of our trip and unlike trips in the past we made everyone one of them. Here's a list:
Coral Reef - we had a diver message and personalized menus. That was a nice touch. The food was very good. Grade:A-
Rainforest Cafe at AK - Food was ok and the atmosphere was nice for the kids. Grade:B
Hollywood and Vine w/ Fantasmic Dinner Package- average food. Grade:C+
California Grille - fantastic food and service. Top notch. We watched Wishes from the patio (although it was foggy) Grade:A
Cape May - good food bad waiter. Grade:B-
Le Celiere - great food, excellent service, nice atmosphere. Grade:A+
1900 Park Fare - food was just ok, characters were fun. Had to wait an hour. Grade:C+
Ohanas - food was very good, entertainment kept the kids busy. Grade:A-
Overall the buffets were not as good as the other meals. Next time I think I'll book less buffets. A word about service. We had a couple waiters who weren't the best. I try not to let that bother me too much since everyone is human and while you expect your waiters to be chipper and happy that isn't always going to happen. You don't know if they have a sick child at home or something that would tend to make any one of us less the happy. For those that weren't at their best we just didn't leave anything extra for the tip. For waiters like the ones at Cali Grille and Le Celiere we gave them a much bigger tip because the services was so good.
Photopass: We never used Photopass before but figued we'd give it a try. We prepurchased the CD and split the $99 cost between 5 familes. The first day there we got 5 Photopass cards and took advantage of every opportunity we haf to get our pictures taken. There were only a couple times where the line for the photographer was too long to wait - maybe twice. We ended up with about 300 pictures on the CD. On Christmas day we had reservations for 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian so I booked the 30 minute photo session there. Everyone was dressed for Christmas so it worked out perfectly. They took about 75 pictures. I would recommend Photopass to anyone.
Some ramdom thoughts:
Conclusion: Our best trip ever - just magical. Everyone enjoyed themselves so much. We returned tired but who hasn't returned from a Disney trip wiped out. Of the 16 people who went, young and old, they all told me that it will be a Christmas they will remember for a lifetime. There's no place like DIsney for family fun and memories.
Who: 16 in all. My wife, son(15) and daughter(16). My parents, in-laws, wife's sister's family including my bother-in-law's parents.
When: 12/18 - 12/27
Where: BWV - 2 two bedroom units and a studio all with Boardwalk view.
Passes: 9-day Park Hopper
At little background. 2 years ago we went through a crappy Christmas season. Health and a few disappointments led to a less than festive Christmas in '05 My wife and I decided we needed to try something different to get the spirit back so we asked all those we spend Christmas Eve and Day with if they wanted to come with us to Disney. Everyone needed to say yes or we weren't going - there was no way we were going to leave someone behind at Christmas time You have to understand we are a very conservative New England family - snow on the ground and a fire roaring on Christmas Day type of family. I thought for sure someone would object to not being home for Christmas. I sent out an email at 11pm to all those involved and by 8am the next day I had a yes from each and everyone.
That started 680 days of planning - all of which was left to me. There was no problem with that as I like to plan things and no one else in my family likes to plan. I am blessed with a GREAT family who all tend to go with the flow. In fact, I don't think half of them would ever had gone to Disney (this is our 4th trip together) if I hadn't planned each trip for them. I always explain to everyone that the plan I put in place is for me, my wife and kids. They should never feel like I was forcing them to do anything they didn't want to do. On Thanksgiving day we all sat down together and I present each family with a 2" binder that represented the nearly 2 years of planning. Everything you could imagine - day by day itineraries, articles on special events we were doing, restaurants we were eating at, and an explanation as to why this trip would be different than any other trip because of the crowds. They were blown away. I have a great family and now they were really excited about this trip.
The Resort: It's our second time at BWV and I have to say that I like it the best of all the DVC resorts. The view is just fantastic and the location as far as I"m concerned can't be beat. Being able to walk to Epcot and MGM can't be underestimated. Avoiding the buses when at all possible just makes things easier. The lobby is just gorgeous at Christmas time and the staff were more than friendly. One complaint though. The TV's in the living rooms need to be replaced. I know you don't go on vacation to watch TV but when you do want to something bigger than a 19" would be nice. That being said BWV is #1 in our hearts. We had rooms on the 5th floor and had a good view of Illuminations from our balcony and I just love walking into our room at the end of a long day, stepping out on the balcony and taking in the view!
The Parks/Crowds: We prepared ourselves for the inevitable crush as the week went by. I have to say that by the 25th it had gotten crowded but nothing that we couldn't handle. We have taken 8 trips to WDW and consider ourselves knowledgeable of all things Disney. This was the first time however that we used TGM. I can't say enough about his advice. We only went to parks that were green, stayed away from EMH parks and used Fastpass more this trip than all other trips together. We got to the parks by opening each day and took a midday break back at BWV before heading back to the parks for the evening. The longest line we waited in our whole time there was about 10-15 minutes. This is not to say that there weren't 60-100 minute waits. By following TGM's advice we had already done the rides/attractions that now had long lines. We focused our efforts on doing as much as possible before the 25th as possible and then playing it by ear from that point forward.
The Events: We went to MVMCP, CP and Osborne lights.
MVMCP was on the 20th and we found the crowds to be heavy but manageable. We followed TGM's advice and arrived early, around 4pm. We did a few rides and then watched the 6pm Wishes from the bridge leading to Tomorrowland. A few times during the evening I felt like we were swimming upstream while all the fish were coming right at us. If you get that feeling your doing things right because your going somewhere that hordes of people are leaving. We got this feeling twice, once after the 6pm fireworks going to Tomorowland and then again coming over the same bridge after the first parade - people seemed to be pouring into areas we were leaving. During the first parade we spent most of our time on rides in the backside of the park. We then move to main street for the 9:30 Wishes and the parade. By the way, the parade was one of the nicest Disney parades I have ever seen and the Holiday Wishes was very nice. We used TGM touring advice all night and it worked to perfection.
CP - We had the dinner package at Le Celiere at 4pm on Christmas Eve and the went to the 6:45 show. I'll comment on the meal later. I was surprised by the length of the line for the dinner package guests but in the end we got great seats. This was a very emotional night as we would normally be together as a family at midnight mass back home so there was nothing better than to be at CP as a family on Christmas Eve.
Osborne Lights - As the week went by we didn't think we were going to be able to see Osborne Lights. On Christmas night on our way back from dinner we stopped at MGM just for the lights. We got there during the 2nd Fantasmic show and found the crowds at the lights to be light. Didn't know what to expect and were very pleased by how nice a display it was. A must see.
The Food: We had ADR's for each day of our trip and unlike trips in the past we made everyone one of them. Here's a list:
Coral Reef - we had a diver message and personalized menus. That was a nice touch. The food was very good. Grade:A-
Rainforest Cafe at AK - Food was ok and the atmosphere was nice for the kids. Grade:B
Hollywood and Vine w/ Fantasmic Dinner Package- average food. Grade:C+
California Grille - fantastic food and service. Top notch. We watched Wishes from the patio (although it was foggy) Grade:A
Cape May - good food bad waiter. Grade:B-
Le Celiere - great food, excellent service, nice atmosphere. Grade:A+
1900 Park Fare - food was just ok, characters were fun. Had to wait an hour. Grade:C+
Ohanas - food was very good, entertainment kept the kids busy. Grade:A-
Overall the buffets were not as good as the other meals. Next time I think I'll book less buffets. A word about service. We had a couple waiters who weren't the best. I try not to let that bother me too much since everyone is human and while you expect your waiters to be chipper and happy that isn't always going to happen. You don't know if they have a sick child at home or something that would tend to make any one of us less the happy. For those that weren't at their best we just didn't leave anything extra for the tip. For waiters like the ones at Cali Grille and Le Celiere we gave them a much bigger tip because the services was so good.
Photopass: We never used Photopass before but figued we'd give it a try. We prepurchased the CD and split the $99 cost between 5 familes. The first day there we got 5 Photopass cards and took advantage of every opportunity we haf to get our pictures taken. There were only a couple times where the line for the photographer was too long to wait - maybe twice. We ended up with about 300 pictures on the CD. On Christmas day we had reservations for 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian so I booked the 30 minute photo session there. Everyone was dressed for Christmas so it worked out perfectly. They took about 75 pictures. I would recommend Photopass to anyone.
Some ramdom thoughts:
- This was the first time we got passes for the lenght of stay. That enabled us to have the flexibility to go whereever we wanted each day - like on Christmas night when we went to MGM just to see the lights. We wouldn't have wasted a day on a 4 or 5 day pass just for that.
- Crowds are a matter of expectation and common sense. We set our expectations that the parks were not going to look like they do in Oct. Common sense - if everyone goes to MK and Epcot every Christmas Day then STAY AWAY from those parks. It's not a secret that they are going to be crowded - resist the urge!
- People need to listen to their kids. When they are tired there's no ammount of yelling at them that will reverse the effect of being in a park all day running around.
- Not everyone that works for Disney can be happy and chipper every day. Don't be insulted if someone doens't act up to what you expect.
- The Kitchen Sink at Beaches and Creme is easily conquered by 6 people.
- Illuminations and Wishes are simply the best fireworks shows I have ever seen. The ceography with the music is incredible.
- TGM says to stay away from EMH - I concur. We did, however, go to the MK one night from 10pm-3am and had a ball.
- I thought I would come back and be depressed. I am not. We did so much that I feel that there wasn't anything left to accomplish.
Conclusion: Our best trip ever - just magical. Everyone enjoyed themselves so much. We returned tired but who hasn't returned from a Disney trip wiped out. Of the 16 people who went, young and old, they all told me that it will be a Christmas they will remember for a lifetime. There's no place like DIsney for family fun and memories.
just curious about the 30 minute photo session on christmas day? can you speak more about that? sounds great. would love to do that for my family this christmas when we are there.
