What are we celebrating? Everything! A December, 2016 PTR

[Ruthie5671]

We are at that portion of the trip planning where there is really nothing going on. It is too early to book our fast passes (early October for that), too early to book lodging for the road (although I can, I just haven't) and too early to pack (although I really probably could).

I was completely bummed to hear that the Main Street Electrical Light Parade will be gone before we get there. I have such strong memories from that parade when I was younger and hubby had never seen it. I am eager to hear what it will be replaced with. I am also not so patiently waiting for the Candlelight Processional narrator to be announced as we are still "TBA". Not that it matters since we are all reserved and ready to go for our day in Epcot. I just want to know!

One thing I am trying to do is plan a special date night for hubby and I. I am doing this for our Animal Kingdom day. My plan is to get mom settled back at the resort early and have an evening for just hubby and I. I have looked at the recreation options at WDW and want to surprise hubby with something. My first thought - thanks to @Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina - was the "Holiday Sleigh Ride" at Fort Wilderness.

Holiday Sleigh Rides
Take in the magic of the holidays with a cozy "sleigh" ride through secluded woodland beauty. Read More
Take in the magic of the holidays with a cozy "sleigh" ride through secluded woodland beauty. Decorated with lights and garlands, these "sleighs" are available during the month of December.


Holiday Sleigh Rides depart from the main entrance of Crockett's Tavern at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and fit up to 4 adults (or 2 adults and 3 small children).

Each horse-drawn holiday sleigh ride costs $79 and trots along for 25 minutes. Reservations are highly recommended and can be made up to 180 days in advance by calling (407) WDW-PLAY, or (407) 939-7529. Guests under 18 years of age must have parent of guardian permission to call.

Hubby would really like this and at $79, it seems like a reasonable enough expenditure. My only worry is the weather. It doesn't say anywhere about refunds for inclement weather. That will be something I need to inquire about.

I had also thought about a specialty fireworks cruise, but holy high prices Batman, those are just crazy. Another option would be hopping on a monorail and seeing all the deluxe resorts in their finest holiday décor and maybe stopping somewhere for a drink. The most cost effective option. I clearly need to do some more thinking and if I am going to reserve something, just go on ahead and do it.

Current countdown: 108 days - I can feel the double digits coming along soon!!!

 

[pattyw]

Hi Ruthie! I met you on Gina's trip reports and always like your posts. I saw the link to your PTR and had to come by and read it. Congrats on your first PTR- I admire all of you that write the TR's. I really want to do one sometime!

I haven't been to WDW at holiday time in years- we've done Halloween lately and will be there late September this year.
Can't wait to read more of your plans!

 

[Ruthie5671]

Hi Ruthie! I met you on Gina's trip reports and always like your posts. I saw the link to your PTR and had to come by and read it. Congrats on your first PTR- I admire all of you that write the TR's. I really want to do one sometime!

I haven't been to WDW at holiday time in years- we've done Halloween lately and will be there late September this year.
Can't wait to read more of your plans!

Hi Patty and

Aren't Gina's trip reports great? She inspired me to write a PTR. It is surprisingly not that hard, but just time consuming. And I love getting input from other travelers to do new and exiting things. You should write one! Especially since you're at a month away from leaving - I won't be able to contain my excitement once I get that close to departure!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Well shucks Ruthie, you are making me blush over here . You girls sure know how to brighten a girl's day.

I am so excited that you are going to book the Holiday Sleigh Ride (or are at least thinking of doing so......I say take the plunge! As my Nike-loving boys would say, Just Do It!). Doesn't it just scream out Christmas?? I wouldn't worry too much about cancellations in the event of inclement weather: I am virtually certain you would get your money refunded if Mother Nature decides to be foul. But that's not going to happen anyway, right? Nothing but sun, fun and warmth for you . Remember the power of positive thinking!

Not much going on for me right now, either.....and its making me rather antsy! October is all booked, paid, and organized. December is rapidly becoming the same. I may have to start planning a spring 2017 vacation just for something to do .

 

[Ruthie5671]

I may have to start planning a spring 2017 vacation just for something to do .

Tell nobody - top secret - hubby and I have put a down payment on a 2017 cruise. We're going in September, 2017 out of Port Canaveral, so if money allows, we will spend some time in Orlando after the cruise. He and I have not been on a "just the two of us" vacation since our honeymoon. Which is just sad and pitiful. But we will make up for it next year. I cannot wait! There is no planning for cruises. I just get on board and let the relaxation just take over. Ahhhhh.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming! We have officially hit double digits!!!



Yes folks, we are at 97 days until departure. Which means less than six weeks before we can schedule our fast passes. I know that there are some out there who hate fast pass scheduling but I think that I will be of the majority who enjoys it. I have printed out maps of the four parks so that when scheduling our FP's I will not have us zipping around each park and not making best use of our time. And since hubby is the only one of us who will ride a roller coaster, I want to make sure that we have allowed for him to jump into a single rider line as often as possible. Mom and I will be in a store browsing, so it's all good. There is really nothing else much going on for planning. I am still debating the holiday sleigh ride, but the more I think about it, the more I want to do it. Our CP narrator has still not been announced. Everything else is just kind of status quo. I hope this doesn't turn into one of those oh so boring trip reports that gets lost in the millions of other ones that have gone before me. I could tell you about my crazy Monday morning that had me an hour late for work . . . . but nobody wants to hear about that!

 

[pattyw]

Yay on the cruise! As much as we love traveling, we haven't felt the urge to cruise yet- but maybe sometime soon. Somehow we can't drag ourselves away from the Orlando parks long enough!

and go ahead- tell us the story of being an hour late for work!

 

[Ruthie5671]

and go ahead- tell us the story of being an hour late for work!

Ugh - just another manic Monday in our house!!! Hubby works a double second/third shift Sunday afternoon until Monday morning at 7:00 AM. He comes home, a quick "hi honey" and then I'm off to work (we only have one vehicle). The person who is supposed to relieve hubby this morning knew she would be late, so we made arrangements for someone else to drive him home so I would have the vehicle and not be late myself (see, I planned). I get a call from hubby at about 8:15 this morning saying that the person who was supposed to pick him up is not, another person is coming in to relieve him and could I pick him up from work and take him home. Okay, text my boss, tell her I am going to be late. Drive across town to pick up hubby and take him home. I start to head to work and hubby calls me. I forgot my work laptop at home. Yeah, I might need that. Turn around, get the computer. Get to work an hour late.

Aren't you glad you asked?????

 

[Gondingl]

Hi Ruthie! I stumbled upon your PT and had to say Hi once I saw you're from Kentucky! I am also a fellow Kentuckian - from up north though, right across the river from Cincinnati!

I was glad to see the good news about your mom's tumor and how exciting are your cruise plans! Can't wait to hear more about your December trip and your cruise!!

 

[fallonkendra]

Joining in!

You three certainly do have things to celebrate! That's great about your mom's tumor shrinking!

My boyfriend and I actually stayed at All Star Music this past January. I can't really answer any questions about handicap-accesible rooms or connected rooms, but we were on the third floor of the Broadway building (#7). I was worried about how far it looked from the main building and the bus stop, but it really wasn't that bad at all - like 5-10 minutes depending on how slowly we were walking haha. I did enjoy the room, it had more than enough space for the two of us!

I actually haven't ate at any of the restaurants you've made ADR's for, so I look forward to hopefully reading a trip report to see your reviews!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

What a rotten start to your Monday morning!! Definitely not how you want to kick off the work week, BUT......at least you both made it to your destinations safe and sound. Hopefully your boss wasn't too fussed up with the unexpected delay.

Congratulations on booking the cruise! How awesome that you have a special "couples trip" to look forward to . Even nicer that you might be able to squeeze in a few days in Orlando before or after: if you time it right, maybe you guys could take in a Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party or Halloween Horror Nights at Universal!

Now stop reading and go book that sleigh ride . DO IT!

 

[Ruthie5671]

Hi Ruthie! I stumbled upon your PT and had to say Hi once I saw you're from Kentucky! I am also a fellow Kentuckian - from up north though, right across the river from Cincinnati!

I was glad to see the good news about your mom's tumor and how exciting are your cruise plans! Can't wait to hear more about your December trip and your cruise!!

Hello to another KY gal and . I love to hear from people reading this and I am not just typing for my own entertainment! We were over the moon excited that mom's tumor shrunk so significantly. She's a hot mess.

You three certainly do have things to celebrate! That's great about your mom's tumor shrinking!

My boyfriend and I actually stayed at All Star Music this past January. I can't really answer any questions about handicap-accesible rooms or connected rooms, but we were on the third floor of the Broadway building (#7). I was worried about how far it looked from the main building and the bus stop, but it really wasn't that bad at all - like 5-10 minutes depending on how slowly we were walking haha. I did enjoy the room, it had more than enough space for the two of us!

I actually haven't ate at any of the restaurants you've made ADR's for, so I look forward to hopefully reading a trip report to see your reviews!

Another reader! to the party!!! Thanks for your thoughts about ASMu. I really need to call and find out exactly where the handicapped rooms are in each building. I've tried to search on-line, but just had any luck. The challenging aspect is that we aren't requesting a certain room so that I have a view of something pretty, but we need the fully handicapped room out of necessity. I just like to know in advance where we are and what we're getting. Crap, my OCD is showing!!

Congratulations on booking the cruise! How awesome that you have a special "couples trip" to look forward to . Even nicer that you might be able to squeeze in a few days in Orlando before or after: if you time it right, maybe you guys could take in a Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party or Halloween Horror Nights at Universal!

Now stop reading and go book that sleigh ride . DO IT!

You my friend are a bad influence.

The sleigh ride is booked for December 11th at 8:00 PM. I can cancel without penalty up to one day in advance and they cancel with a full refund for inclement weather. This is officially hubby's birthday present. Now I need to come up with a creative way to surprise him with it. I need to put my thinking cap on for this one.

I have thought about the Halloween Party for post-cruise next year. I may or may not have created a Pinterest page with couples costume ideas.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

You my friend are a bad influence.

LOL, I am sure you won't be surprised to learn that you are not the first person who has said that .

The sleigh ride is booked for December 11th at 8:00 PM. I can cancel without penalty up to one day in advance and they cancel with a full refund for inclement weather. This is officially hubby's birthday present. Now I need to come up with a creative way to surprise him with it. I need to put my thinking cap on for this one.

I have thought about the Halloween Party for post-cruise next year. I may or may not have created a Pinterest page with couples costume ideas.

Hmmm......creative is always so much harder when there is a guy involved. It's so much easier to get fun and imaginative for women. Remind me again, what are the plans for that day up to the point of the sleigh ride?

I also hope you will share your Pinterest page so I can take a peek at your costume ideas. I am always on the look out for Halloween inspiration, especially when we have grown to love our autumn visits to Orlando.

 

[Ruthie5671]

Hmmm......creative is always so much harder when there is a guy involved. It's so much easier to get fun and imaginative for women. Remind me again, what are the plans for that day up to the point of the sleigh ride?

I also hope you will share your Pinterest page so I can take a peek at your costume ideas. I am always on the look out for Halloween inspiration, especially when we have grown to love our autumn visits to Orlando.

Sleigh ride day is our Animal Kingdom day. We have a 2:00 late lunch reservation at Yak and Yeti. I would say that by 5:00 we will be dropping mom off at the hotel and getting her settled in for the evening and then going back out for our "date night". Hubby's birthday is about a month before we go, so my plan is to give him the sleigh ride as a birthday present.

My Pinterest page is open for anyone to see. I think you just have to start following me. Go on ahead - feel free to stalk away.

 

[pattyw]

Ugh - just another manic Monday in our house!!!

Love the story- and I can hear the old song "Just another Manic Monday" playing!

Can't wait to hear about the sleigh ride. We've never done it and we're due to go back to WDW during the holidays soon. Sounds like a wonderful evening!

 

[Ruthie5671]

Love the story- and I can hear the old song "Just another Manic Monday" playing!

I am an 80's girl way down deep in my heart.

Happy Labor Day everyone! I hope that the long weekend has been treating you well. I am enjoying some peace and quiet at the office today to get through paperwork that has been piling up. I can get so much more done without people in the building than I can on any given day. So here I sit typing away! As far as the trip goes, there's nothing new to report. Seriously nothing has been done since I last posted. We're down to 90 days - leaving exactly three months from today!!! That's just hard to believe. I told hubby that I had ordered his birthday gift. He is one to want clues so that nothing is ever a surprise. So I gave him the confirmation number. Let's just say that he wasn't too receptive to that clue. I however thought it was pretty funny.

 

[Ruthie5671]

We've moved into a new decade of counting down . . . .



Only 86 more days until we leave. I cannot believe that time is clicking away like it is. While some days seem to drag on forever, if I go a bit and not check my countdown clock, it seems to pass quicker. Or my mind is weird. Which is the more likely option.

Still not much to report in the planning process. We are closing in on fast pass reservation time. So I have printed out nice color copies of maps for each of the parks and tomorrow when I see mom, we will plan out which rides she wants to get on/can get on. She is also all about the character interactions, so I want to ensure that we can hit as many of those as possible. I plan to purchase picture frame mats so that we can get character signatures. There is always a coupon for Michael's or JoAnn's Fabrics in the mail each week, so I can get a few relatively inexpensively. I just need to find the time to do it. Oh and the restraint to go into those stores and not drop $100 on scrap book supplies or cute little dust collectors that I absolutely must have. I have no restraint or self control.

 

[Ruthie5671]

Oh the plans, they are a'changin'!!!

We're still going to WDW - that has not changed. The same arrival and departure dates and the same resort. However, due to some unexpected money issues we have had to completely cancel all of our pre-Disney plans. No condo, no visiting with friends and family and no Orlando Eye/wax museum. I'm a little bummed because I was looking forward to having a relaxing couple of days before attacking Disney. But in looking at the budget and realizing that by just omitting those things and leaving on Wednesday to start Disney Thursday, we can save quite a bit of money. So I sadly e-mailed the VBRO lady this morning and released the pre-hold we had on the condo. I had not purchased anything yet for those days. It must have been fates way of saying that my continual stalking of Groupon and not seeing what I wanted was just as it should be. Surprisingly mom and hubby were fine with the "new and improved" plans. For mom, she just really wants to be at Disney. Hubby just wants to be on vacation. The other good thing about the change is that hubby's work schedule will be less impacted. It is not always easy to get his nasty third shift covered, so this little change helps.

So this little change has altered my countdown a bit. Our current count is 78 days!



I have also managed to convince hubby that we did not need to eat at Tony's Town Square for our last day at Magic Kingdom. Now I get to change the reservation. It's not a holiday party night, so my plan is to arrive mid-morning and stay thru Wishes (never seen it - so excited). I'm going to have to get on-line and find out what is available. I am thinking Liberty Tree Tavern. I will have to ponder a bit. And fast pass reservations can be made in less than three weeks. Things are moving right along.

 

[pattyw]

Don't worry about the cutbacks! We've done the same in the name of saving $$ and less hassles at work. You'll be able to enjoy the days you have even more!! We also have cut back on TS dining and found that dining at our favorite CS restaurants is just as satisfying to our stomachs and definitely better on the wallet!

 

[Ruthie5671]

Don't worry about the cutbacks! We've done the same in the name of saving $$ and less hassles at work. You'll be able to enjoy the days you have even more!! We also have cut back on TS dining and found that dining at our favorite CS restaurants is just as satisfying to our stomachs and definitely better on the wallet!

I had given some thought to not use the dining plan and just do out of pocket counter service. But for us, part of the enjoyment of a Disney vacation is the dining opportunities. So for now, unless we have another set back, I think I've done all the trimming and cutbacks I will have to do. Fingers crossed!!

We are officially at 69 days!!! I am getting excited to make our fast pass reservations in less than two weeks. I have some loose plans in my head of which rides I want to grab the FP's for. I did end up convincing hubby to forgo his pick of Tony's Town Square and I made a reservation for Liberty Tree Tavern. I got a 3:30 dinner time, which I think is good. The Festival of Fantasy parade starts at 3:00, so we can watch the parade and then go eat. I hope it works out as well in real life as it does in my head.

 

[Ruthie5671]

Hello my fellow Disney lovers. I wanted to let everyone (or the five readers I know I have) know that this pre-trip report has come to an abrupt and early end. Unfortunately, due to a snowball effect of circumstances, our trip has been cancelled. Mom's health is not the reason (thank goodness), but unfortunately we are not able to go. I feel like a complete failure, as I wanted this trip to celebrate all of the struggles and triumphs of the past years and I simply could not make it happen. Calling Disney and cancelling was about the most depressing call I have made in quite some time. It is much easier to cancel a reservation than to make one. I have no idea when - or if - this trip will be back on again. In the meantime, I'll continue to read everyone else's trip reports and live thru them. I appreciate everyone who took the time to read and comment. Have a magical day.