PART FIVE!! *December 2012 Roll Call* Holidays, FLE & MVMCP!! A very, merry thread!

[SAT887]

Originally Posted by taaren

Ooh, you could post a link if you can make it public ... is it on Shutterfly?

I haven't even started mine yet, since we haven't finished playing with and downloading the Photopass pictures.

http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/t...?vk=BmA4W5Ubjh

Let me know if that works... It's a mix of 2 different cameras, cell phones, photopass and the stock gallery CD....

[levenhopper]

I have the first three days of my trip report up! Come take a look!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3038743

[JVP1]

Originally Posted by mrstomrice

We were in Disney from December 22-29. I was dreading the crowds most of all. I was pleasantly surprised by how well we navigated everything! I would go here every week of Christmas, for sure! What helped us was getting up early and arriving within the first hour of rope drop. The only park we went to later was AK on our first day. We met up with long time friends. We took them to FOTLK and EE. We missed the safari since they already rode it once, but we have riden it many times, so we weren't disappointed. The only time we felt the pressure of the crowd was on December 27 at DHS. It was pretty crowded mid day. We had rider swap passes for RNRC and the line went past the fastpass entrance. We decided not to wait and eventually gave away our pass. We left the park for about 90 minutes to visit GF for the gingerbread house. We were able to get 2 sets of fastpasses for TSM, but we gave our 2nd set away to a wonderful family that we met at Osbourne Lights. They arrived too late to get passes because they had planned to go to MK that day but got turned away. We had already ridden it once...they deserved a turn as well
It seemed as if many people did not know about fastpasses at all...I will never understand not doing your homework when you spend good time and money on a trip like this.
Our only big disappointment was the luau at the Poly. We had category 3 seating and felt out of the loop. The food was also just okay.
The highlights were CP with Gary Sinese on Christmas Day, the Osbourne lights and the ice castle.

I agree! We were there 12/21 - 12/30 and only twice that entire time did we feel overwhelmed by the crowds. My one recommendation would be to avoid the MK on Christmas Day. We were heading over to Epcot around 10 am on the monorail when we saw cars backed up for a few miles to get into the MK.

Disney did an excellent job in keeping the lines moving. I was talking to someone who worked there and she said she works in the offices but was put in the parks to help facilitate keeping people moving.

I would definetely go again during Christmas. Just need to get to the parks within 1 hour of opening. We took a break every afternoon back at the hotel. Then would head into one of the parks at night for fireworks.

We saw Gary Sinese too! He was great

[jimjenkids]

Having a bit of Disney withdrawl right now. really wanting to plan another trip for next xmas, but we usually go everyother year., I think it was in part to a few issues we had at our resort(still waiting to find out how to get a hold of them to voice what went on)....First time on QS dining(or any dining for that matter)-felt like we waisted a lot of food, but was nice to not have a ton of OPP meals.

[IllinoisMommy]

Heading back home now after a great Disney vacation!! DH and I are even talking about becoming DVC members! We got more done than I thought and the crowds did not seem that bad (thanks to early arrivals and good planning). Kids had a great time...each one of them, and it really helped to have a younger child. We were able to do rider swap so the bigger two kids got to ride each popular ride twice in a row. We did everything we wanted and never waited more than about 30-40 minutes per ride (and that was about one to two times only per day). We waited longest for the Harry Potter ride (an hour) at 7:55am! Lots of memories and pictures to scrapbook. Glad everyone else had such a great time.

[taaren]

Originally Posted by SAT887

http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/t...?vk=BmA4W5Ubjh

Let me know if that works... It's a mix of 2 different cameras, cell phones, photopass and the stock gallery CD....

The link worked ... its a lovely book! I especially like the background pictures then having the pages with all the smaller pictures in front, like the ride ones ... I'm never quite sure how to display the ride pix. I may have to try out Mixbook now that KodakGallery is no more.

Originally Posted by IllinoisMommy

Heading back home now after a great Disney vacation!! DH and I are even talking about becoming DVC members! We got more done than I thought and the crowds did not seem that bad (thanks to early arrivals and good planning). Kids had a great time...each one of them, and it really helped to have a younger child. We were able to do rider swap so the bigger two kids got to ride each popular ride twice in a row. We did everything we wanted and never waited more than about 30-40 minutes per ride (and that was about one to two times only per day). We waited longest for the Harry Potter ride (an hour) at 7:55am! Lots of memories and pictures to scrapbook. Glad everyone else had such a great time.

Glad you guys were able to have a great time despite the potential for crowd craziness. Love those rider swaps, although I was more impressed by the ones at the newer rides in Universal, which was in an air conditioned room with entertainment right before the boarding ... Disney needs to take notes on those!

We our DVC, can't imagine doing Disney any other way now ... but it is a financial commitment, and I highly recommend at least considering resale, so if you're serious about it, spend some time with the threads on the DVC-Purchasing Board here on the DIS.

[taaren]

levenhopper, love your Photopass pics, especially the magic shots with Abby's wings and on the bench with Mickey and Minnie!

We also thought Photopass+ was well worth it, and I'm thinking I'm going to have to try somebody on the DIS to split it with for next year ...

[levenhopper]

Originally Posted by IllinoisMommy

Heading back home now after a great Disney vacation!! DH and I are even talking about becoming DVC members!

I think I asked Abby three or four times if I could join DVC! That's the first thing I'll be doing after I pay off my college loans.

Originally Posted by taaren

levenhopper, love your Photopass pics, especially the magic shots with Abby's wings and on the bench with Mickey and Minnie!

We also thought Photopass+ was well worth it, and I'm thinking I'm going to have to try somebody on the DIS to split it with for next year ...

Thanks so much! We had a great time finding PP photographers and asking them to do magic shots!

[cybrkitn]

happy new year!!!!!

[tofubeast]

Happy New Year!! Our month is over (wah wah), but the spirit lives on!!

Hoping 2013 is magical, fun, healthy, and rewarding!

[SAT887]

Happy New Year everyone!!!

[cybrkitn]

Originally Posted by tofubeast

Happy New Year!! Our month is over (wah wah), but the spirit lives on!!

Hoping 2013 is magical, fun, healthy, and rewarding!

Our month is over ?! Already?

We had a few friends over last night and ten minutes to midnight we turned the tv on to ABC and got to see the castle lit up. We saw a lot of people wearing light up Mickey Ears. Part of me wanted to be there but the more sensible side of me was saying "No Way!" I wouldn't want to be there packed in like sardines. But I miss the Florida weather and CBR

Tofu - Thanks for creating this thread (all 5 parts)! I've really enjoyed talking to everyone and meeting one DISer from this thread on our trip!

[1stvisit0909]

Originally Posted by cybrkitn

Our month is over ?! Already?

We had a few friends over last night and ten minutes to midnight we turned the tv on to ABC and got to see the castle lit up. We saw a lot of people wearing light up Mickey Ears. Part of me wanted to be there but the more sensible side of me was saying "No Way!" I wouldn't want to be there packed in like sardines. But I miss the Florida weather and CBR

Tofu - Thanks for creating this thread (all 5 parts)! I've really enjoyed talking to everyone and meeting one DISer from this thread on our trip!

Home! Working on our trip report, but we had a super great time!! 1500 photos between me and dd, and 400 photopass! I'd go back between Christmas and New Years, no doubt! Magical trip!

[SAT887]

Originally Posted by 1stvisit0909

Home! Working on our trip report, but we had a super great time!! 1500 photos between me and dd, and 400 photopass! I'd go back between Christmas and New Years, no doubt! Magical trip!

So glad you had such an awesome trip! Like others have said I couldn't do that week. My anxiety would take over big time! You posted the pic on FB with your daughter running to Minnie right? Love that even in the busiest of times you were able to get those magical moments!

[1stvisit0909]

Originally Posted by SAT887

So glad you had such an awesome trip! Like others have said I couldn't do that week. My anxiety would take over big time! You posted the pic on FB with your daughter running to Minnie right? Love that even in the busiest of times you were able to get those magical moments!

Yep! That was us. We had gallons of pixie dust poured on us! We stayed out of the crazy crowds mostly, and only a couple of times were we overwhelmed. Thanks to ride max, and a good plan, got almost everything we wanted done, and waited no more than 20 mins for most things. We did wait 50 for enchanted tales with belle, and dinosaur, and 40 to meet tink after bbb. The rest of the waits were non existent or 15 mins or so.