We're Dreaming of a WL Christmas! DEC 2010 INTERACTIVE PTR NEW: 12/9 BYE-BYE!

[Peter Pan Fan 22]

All caught up! I loved your last TR!

Thanks for posting all the links to your creative friends. I'll for sure be checking them out!

That's so cool that you got to see the Imagination Movers in concert! My dad had gotten an e-mail about it and I wanted to take my niece, but we totally forgot about it and never followed through with trying to get tickets.

I'm interested to hear about your Pirates League experience when you go. I haven't heard much about it, but it sounds like a great alternative to BBB for little boys!

 

[exwdwcm]

Hi Katie! Just catching up. Great beach pics. So glad you were able to enjoy the beach with NO OIL!

Lots of good organizational ideas. I try to keep the hotel room very neat - but of course, its inevitable that every morning there will be something we need to take with us that day that we cant find. So my simple solution was to start bringing a collapsible mesh bin that we set on the table. Each day when we get back from the parks, the essentials go in there. Can't find you park pass? Its in the bin. Camera? in the bin. Ponchos? In the bin. Its helped a lot! I've always meant to try the shoe holder over the door thing for toiletries. Maybe I'll do that this year.

Love your mural! Just beautiful!

love the bin idea- great!!

 

[stacikristine]

Hey Katie!

I feel like the worse DIS friend ever... SOOOOOO sorry I've been away since before you started this PTR.

I went back and read all about Abby's AG party, and that is one of the absolute cutest parties I have EVER seen!! You did such an amazing job. I love that all of the "stations" went along with an AG doll, and that the girls had a craft, play time, wrote to the troops, and just had a great time. What a creative mommy!


AND...I got all caught up on your PTR!!! Your plans look amazing! I'm so excited to follow along! I went back and got my answers for all of your Qs...

1. No, we didn't do GAD since we knew we wouldn't be going to WDW anytime soon. But your family's experience sounds wonderful. It's great that you were all able to serve together. We want our kids to be involved in service projects (well....when we have kids!)

2. Kona Cafe is our favorite!! We LOVE the food, and the atmosphere is relaxing, yet fun at the same time. We loved eating at the Poly and then taking the boat over to the MK. Your ADRs sound great!!! Your trip will be full of yummy eating! Oh--and I was going to vote for Starring Rolls because we loved it SO much!

3. I went to DOI when I was little--I think it was the first Toy Story, but I can't remember much about it. And then Michael and I went last year for my birthday. It was really cute, but we're going to wait until we have kids to go again. We enjoy the Broadway musicals instead! (Just went to Beauty and the Beast on Friday and it was WONDERFUL!!) HOW AWESOME that your family got such great seats!! Your DOI experience sounds sooooo great! Your kids (especially Abby since she's older) will remember it forever! Great family memories....

Your binder is ADORABLE! I love all of the Christmas stuff. I can't wait until we can go for Christmas time someday. We've been talking about going to DLR in a few years, and then going back to WDW for Christmas the year after my dad retires (7 years). It's a long ways away, but at least it's on the radar! Anyway, I love your binder!

4. Nope, never met a celebrity. Your day sounds great though!!

5. YES! We saw TS3 (twice!) and absolutely loved it! TS is Michael's favorite, and we thought TS3 was every bit as good--if not better--than the others. I cried both times we saw it. It was SOOOOO good!

Your shopping update was wonderful! You have so many cute things already! I just read about the carriage chains a few days ago, and I really wish that I would have known about it before we went. I had my pick a pearl mounted on a charm thing for a necklace, but it was pretty expensive. I love having my pearl though. Oh--and you mentioned "Cinderella" by SCC. That was my Daddy-Daughter dance at my wedding. I bawled. And I still cry every time I hear it.

6. Favorite thing to buy: Clothes!! I think that's probably most people's answer...

7. Travel/organization... Your ideas are SOO great! I'll for sure be using those when we have kids/when we roadtrip. I understood what you were saying about the collapse-able tubs, and I think it's a great idea. And your kiddos will be well-entertained in the car! Do they do movies? My sister used to judge trips by how many movies they were. My brother and I (since we were deprived and grew up in the days way before movies in the car) had to entertain ourselves with books and stuff. But I think we had more fun than she did--we would play all kinds of games and sing songs and things. Car trips can be a lot of fun! I don't have any tips for you...you've already done a great job!

And the designs for shirts and the stickers and things are so cute! I'll have to check those places out!


GREAT PTR so far!!! I'm excited to read along. And hopefully life won't get CRAZY like it did earlier, and I'll be able to keep up.

 

[pooh'smate]

I just wanted to thank you for introducing us to Sophia Grace. I love her stuff. I ordered some of her customs that she was offering too. I just went out and bought the material for my first template.

 

[Believeinfairytales]

Still here! Just wanted to pop in and say Hello. Can't wait to hear more about your Disney planning!

 

[BippityBoo]

Hi friends!!! 1,000 apologies for being off of the DIS for the entire month of July. I simply can not believe that it has been that long! Like most of you, our summer has not stopped. School starts back this week here and we are all happy to get back in our routine. That means…back to the DIS!

I have put together a “schedule” of posts to make sure I can discuss all of our plans at WDW with you. Starting with this post, I will begin at “Day 1” and go from there until the end of the trip! I am so excited to get more incredible tips and tricks from you all!

DAY 1 DECEMBER 11, 2010

This day will start off bright and early! We will have a 5AM strict leaving time and we must stick to it! The kids will most likely sleep in the car until about 7:30 or so when we will probably stop and get something that looks like this:

Don’t you just love the festive cups?

I am sure we will get yummy muffins for the kids. I plan on packing a small ice chest with juice boxes for them to drink.

I can also guarantee that we will be playing Christmas music the entire way to Orlando. I just can’t get enough of it!!

For the next 6 hours, the kids will most likely entertain themselves with these favorite Christmas DVDs of ours:

Since we will be driving all the way to Orlando in one day (a 9 hour trip), my in-laws decided to go a day ahead of us and stay in Gainesville, FL where we stopped last year. We should arrive in Gainesville around 2PM to meet them.

At this point, I will fight the urge to stop at one of my favorite lunch spots (Olive Garden) and we will almost certainly go here instead:

Still a great option and healthy enough to save the calories for fatty Disney food

After our lunch, my in-laws will follow us for the next two hours until we see this wonderful entrance:

Driving up to the Wilderness Lodge will no doubt give me goosebumps! We will finally be HOME again

After tipping the valet and having the bellhop unload the car, we will finally get to see the giant Wilderness Lodge Christmas tree!!!!

There will be many pictures taken by this tree. I am so excited to finally see it!

Cont on next post...

 

[BippityBoo]

Hopefully our rooms will be ready (it will be after 4PM at this point). My sister and brother –in-law should be meeting up with us very soon. After we all unpack, we plan on exploring this amazing resort! Without a doubt, checking out these important details:

Throwing coins off the lobby bridge (my kids FAVORITE thing to do)

Rocking by the fireplace

Taking a walk to the pool, waterfalls and the geyser!

And last, shopping at the adorable WL store

After our relaxing tour of the Wilderness Lodge, we have a 7:30 ADR at Whispering Canyon café!

We had an incredible dinner last trip here. I can not wait to share it with my in-laws! We will without a doubt order the Canyon Skillet. Looks something like this:

After our fun family dinner, we will all retreat to our rooms to get a good nights sleep, anxious to see what our vacation has in store for us! We usually head right to the parks when we check in. I love the idea of just taking the night to relax and explore the Wilderness Lodge. I am interested to see how we like it and if we can resist the temptation to go to the parks!

WDW QUESTION OF THE DAY:​

“On your first day at WDW, can you resist heading to the parks?”​

**I will be sure to reply to all of your wonderful comments and posts from the past month later on tonight when I get some free time **

 

[MickeyisBeast]

Sounds like a fabulous first day!
I'd be okay with not going to the parks on our first day there, because after such a long time traveling and then not getting to WDW until half the day is over, I'dbe willing to relax

 

[disney<333]

I'm so glad to see you on the DIS again, Katie! Wow, going back to school already?! We still have two weeks left until school starts!!
No matter how old the girls get, they always laugh so hard during Mickey's Twice Apon A Christmas. It's a tradition to watch it the first weekend of December since we're in Disney Thanksgiving weekend.
Your first day sounds like a ton of fun! I usually like to hurry up and unpack so we can head to either DHS or MK but my kids are older and we don't have a very long drive. If everyone goes to a park after a long drive there will be meltdowns. Staying at a MK resort is great during the Christmas season. You can take the boat to FW and walk around their to see Christmas decorations! (really cool, by the way!) Also you can hop the monorail and stop at the resorts. The GF has an amazing gingerbread house. Oh, and the Epcot resorts are not to be missed during the Christmas season.

 

[Tinker_Tam]

Sounds like an awesome plan! I do wonder though, can anyone go see the geyser or is it one of those things like the pools where you must stay at that resort?

 

[klacey1]

Sounds like a wonderful first day!! I just love the WL-- so beautiful. So Christmasy-- I think it has the most gorgeous tree at WDW. The log cabin look compliments the tree/decor so nicely.
I think the exploring idea sounds really nice! After such a long day of traveling, I think relaxing and a fun family dinner will be perfect.
Honestly, no, we can't resist the parks on our first day! We usually go for a fairly short time (5-6 nights), so we want to maximize every second. Plus, we fly, so we only travel for about 3 hours (from NY). Not too tiring! We always start with Epcot-- it's hard to resist MK, but my first visit to the MK on a trip MUST be in the morning when we can watch the opening show and then see the castle emerge.

 

[onelilspark]

Haha...last year we were only going to do MNSSHP on our arrival day. We got in at noon. I drove my BF crazy until we left for the party!

 

[DrMomof3]

Love your update!!!
We're mixed on going to the parks on the first day. If we take the early morning flight from NY, we have gone to the parks the 1st day. Last time we did this we had a 3 hour flight delay and regretted having ADRs at Epcot! This trip we're arriving close to bedtime so no park the 1st day (although now that we have APs, it matters much less!).

Amanda

 

[Nermel9]

Sounds like a great first day! I love the WL, looking at your pictures made me a little sad that we are not staying there this year. But I'm excited for POR and I plan to visit WL while I'm there so it's ok!

In response to your question...NO, we can't resist going to the parks on the first day! It would be nice to fly down in the middle of the day, check in, get settled and everything, but I just can't do it! I like getting into Orlando early, going to the resort, hoping the room will be ready, and then going straight to a park! I don't get to go to WDW that much, I need to get in as much time as possible!

 

[Dancegrl624]

As a child, we never went to the parks on our arrival day. We'd either head over to shop at DTD or go to the Boardwalk and take in some of the entertainers. Back in Jan 09, we went to DTD our first day (after settling in to our hotel, off-property, and hitting up Public's for some groceries) but in June 09, we went straight to the parks!!!!

Since we're fortunate enough to get great flight times from Buffalo, we can fit in 1/2 a day on our arrival day. It's just too much fun!!!!

 

[HeatherBelle614]

Day 1 looks fantastic!!

Welcome back, BTW!!

I'm working in a lot more resort time this year, but we are going to MK our first day since that will be our only day there besides the MNSSHPs that we're going to!

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Hey Katie! Nice to see you back. I gave you a shoutout on my PTR for the carriage pearl cages I just bought off eBay. They're beautiful!

What we do on our first day totally depends on the time of day we arrive at. The last few trips we've arrived mid afternoon-ish so we've opted to completely relax on the first day and not go to the parks. Our first trip was super fun though too when we arrived very early and we hit MK right off the bat.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Oh, how I love Christmas music and Starbucks Peppermint Mochas during the holiday season!

The Wilderness Lodge is going to be so much fun to explore especially all decorated for Christmas.

As far as resisting heading to a park on the first day -- we have done it both ways and liked both ways, but it is pretty hard for me to resist heading straight out to a park.

 

[ChildAtHeart82]

Welcome back! Your first day plans sound great! I usually can't resist going to the parks on the first day. This trip we probably won't get to our hotel from the airport until almost 4 and we have an ADR at Downtown Disney at 7. I'm still scheming to try and come up with a way to get to the parks that day, but I don't think it will work out.

 

[mom2mek]

Yay!! Katie's back!! Summer is kind of crazy, huh? So much for the lazy days of summer, right? Ha!

The Wilderness Lodge is so gorgeous for the holidays! It's the top place I would want to stay if I were there for Christmas! We went over there for dinner at WCC when we were there for Thanksgiving and I could have walked around for hours!

I think it is a fabulous idea to not go to a park that day! A Disney trip is about more than just the parks - make it a true resort experience, the total package. You're staying at a gorgeous place - enjoy it!!

Sara