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

[cybrkitn]

Things have been busy around here these past few days. First off, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone! Our Christmas was the best one so far.

Last Sunday I got a call from my BIL in Virginia. Turns out he was visiting NY and was in the next town over with his girlfriend. BIL is 62 and had lost his wife to cancer 7 years ago (he is 20 years older than DH, who'se the youngest). We haven't seen him since our SIL passed away when DS was 3. So I immediately invited them over for Christmas dinner if they didn't have any plans. They accepted with two conditions. The first being not to put it up on FB (ok, DISboards is not FB and he's not on this site anyway). The second being not to tell his father that he is here . Ok, no problem. It was ok to tell DH, so I told him. Of course DH was shocked b/c his brother has not visited NY in over 15 years.

Christmas day comes and BIL arrived before his father did. When my FIL arrived, BIL opened the door for him. The site of the two of them was so heart warming watching them hug and smile. We had a wonderful Christmas dinner that night! BIL and his girlfriend went back to VA either late last night or early this morning, and yes, into the Nor'Easter that we got.

Normally, I don't like having guests over that I wasn't planning on. But this was different. It was family and one that we hadn't seen in a very long time. I couldn't say no to them, especially since they didn't have any plans for Christmas dinner. All in all, this was the best Christmas ever for us and especially for my FIL.

Now onto NYE! Anyone have any plans? We're doing our annual NYE bowling at the local bowling alley, which includes 4 hours of bowling and a hot and cold buffet. Also got the confirmation from DH that afterwards we are going over to a friend's house. I was asked to bring the bacon and pineapple again (bacon wrapped pinapple chunks). They were such a hit last year that all 3 pounds went before all of the guests arrived ! So I'm gonna have to make 4 lbs this year. Bacon and pinapple was a tradition that my father had every NYE and one that I have continued with my own family. The combination of the bacon with the pinapple is oh, so delicious!

[cybrkitn]

Originally Posted by Tinkerboy00

OK just got back.

Please remind me to NEVER go in December again.

We hit MK first and it was a zoo. We walked through NFL and it was painful. With continous construction the flow through it is difficult. They had CMs standing every few feet directing traffic and keeping people on one side etc.

All the new rides were almost 2 hour waits so we didnt get to ride any of them. Be Our Guest was a 90min wait so we skipped it.

We didnt really see much other than walking through and it was too insane to really stop and take picstures or look at anything. Gastons Tavern was the only thing we got to really see and that was a nightmare as well. We waited in line for ever to get some drinks/snacks and they kept us messing up orders and one lady in line in front of us threw a tantrum.

Then they opened a line up, and took people who just walked right in instead of taking the people like us that had already been in line for 20 minutes.

Le Frous Brew is really really good though.

Epcot wasnt as crowded so we got to see and do all or favorite stuff. We got a FP and Test Track and that was a HUGE disappointment (see my post in the TT thread)

The line for CP was too long so we skipped it.

I will never go back during the holidays, its way too crowded and people seem to lose their minds and manners when they are there. I'll stick to our usual April and November trips.

Sorry you had a rough time. Christmas week (including NYE) is the busiest time of the year for Disney. I've seen pictures from other DISers in the past showing MK guests packed in like sardines during this time, filled to capacity. On the brighter side, I agree with SAT887. Don't discount early December.

We went end of November into the first week of December this year and loved it! The crowd level for all the parks was nothing like you had experienced at MK. In fact, they were very manageable. While some of the rides did have some long wait times others did not. But for those that did have long wait times we either got a FP or waited until EMH when the wait time went down drastically. If we could do it again, I would definitely pick end of November, beginning of December again. You still have the holiday decorations out and festivities, but not the crowd you experienced.

[taaren]

Originally Posted by cybrkitn

Things have been busy around here these past few days. First off, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone! Our Christmas was the best one so far.

Last Sunday I got a call from my BIL in Virginia. Turns out he was visiting NY and was in the next town over with his girlfriend. BIL is 62 and had lost his wife to cancer 7 years ago (he is 20 years older than DH, who'se the youngest). We haven't seen him since our SIL passed away when DS was 3. So I immediately invited them over for Christmas dinner if they didn't have any plans. They accepted with two conditions. The first being not to put it up on FB (ok, DISboards is not FB and he's not on this site anyway). The second being not to tell his father that he is here . Ok, no problem. It was ok to tell DH, so I told him. Of course DH was shocked b/c his brother has not visited NY in over 15 years.

Christmas day comes and BIL arrived before his father did. When my FIL arrived, BIL opened the door for him. The site of the two of them was so heart warming watching them hug and smile. We had a wonderful Christmas dinner that night! BIL and his girlfriend went back to VA either late last night or early this morning, and yes, into the Nor'Easter that we got.

Normally, I don't like having guests over that I wasn't planning on. But this was different. It was family and one that we hadn't seen in a very long time. I couldn't say no to them, especially since they didn't have any plans for Christmas dinner. All in all, this was the best Christmas ever for us and especially for my FIL.

Now onto NYE! Anyone have any plans? We're doing our annual NYE bowling at the local bowling alley, which includes 4 hours of bowling and a hot and cold buffet. Also got the confirmation from DH that afterwards we are going over to a friend's house. I was asked to bring the bacon and pineapple again (bacon wrapped pinapple chunks). They were such a hit last year that all 3 pounds went before all of the guests arrived ! So I'm gonna have to make 4 lbs this year. Bacon and pinapple was a tradition that my father had every NYE and one that I have continued with my own family. The combination of the bacon with the pinapple is oh, so delicious!

Wow, what a great heartwarming story!

I'm super excited for New Years ... for me its always been the main event holiday, because I love parties and fireworks. This year it just got better since one of my college buddies who lives on the next island over informed me that since most fireworks are now banned on his island, he's going to have to join me here in order to get his explosion quota for the year!

And last night, after I've been leaving DH alone about any more Disney trips next year while planning a girl getaway to DLR with a friend (at the end of the trip he said he wanted to skip Disney and spend more time visiting his family), DH said "You know, if we went to see my family for Thanksgiving we could add on a DisneyWorld trip the week before or after and then it'd only be a little extra for airfare since our Annual Passes would still be good ...". (His parents live in Phoenix.) So now I get to plan a post-Thanksgiving trip! Now the discussion ensues whether we'll stay at BLT or AKV (my first choice) or BWV or BCV (his first choice) though it'll probably be decided by what's available at 7 months since we don't have time to trade home resorts this year already.

Originally Posted by Tinkerboy00

OK just got back.

Please remind me to NEVER go in December again.

We hit MK first and it was a zoo. We walked through NFL and it was painful. With continous construction the flow through it is difficult. They had CMs standing every few feet directing traffic and keeping people on one side etc.

All the new rides were almost 2 hour waits so we didnt get to ride any of them. Be Our Guest was a 90min wait so we skipped it.

We didnt really see much other than walking through and it was too insane to really stop and take picstures or look at anything. Gastons Tavern was the only thing we got to really see and that was a nightmare as well. We waited in line for ever to get some drinks/snacks and they kept us messing up orders and one lady in line in front of us threw a tantrum.

Then they opened a line up, and took people who just walked right in instead of taking the people like us that had already been in line for 20 minutes.

Le Frous Brew is really really good though.

Epcot wasnt as crowded so we got to see and do all or favorite stuff. We got a FP and Test Track and that was a HUGE disappointment (see my post in the TT thread)

The line for CP was too long so we skipped it.

I will never go back during the holidays, its way too crowded and people seem to lose their minds and manners when they are there. I'll stick to our usual April and November trips.

Sorry you had such a terribly crowded time. I'll echo what a PP said about considering the beginning of December, for most of our trip (first two weeks) it was walk on for most of the attractions and I took a ton of pictures with many of the walkways in MK just _empty_ because I was so stunned at all the space we had.

[1stvisit0909]

Originally Posted by Tinkerboy00

OK just got back.

Please remind me to NEVER go in December again.

We hit MK first and it was a zoo. We walked through NFL and it was painful. With continous construction the flow through it is difficult. They had CMs standing every few feet directing traffic and keeping people on one side etc.

All the new rides were almost 2 hour waits so we didnt get to ride any of them. Be Our Guest was a 90min wait so we skipped it.

We didnt really see much other than walking through and it was too insane to really stop and take picstures or look at anything. Gastons Tavern was the only thing we got to really see and that was a nightmare as well. We waited in line for ever to get some drinks/snacks and they kept us messing up orders and one lady in line in front of us threw a tantrum.

Then they opened a line up, and took people who just walked right in instead of taking the people like us that had already been in line for 20 minutes.

Le Frous Brew is really really good though.

Epcot wasnt as crowded so we got to see and do all or favorite stuff. We got a FP and Test Track and that was a HUGE disappointment (see my post in the TT thread)

The line for CP was too long so we skipped it.

I will never go back during the holidays, its way too crowded and people seem to lose their minds and manners when they are there. I'll stick to our usual April and November trips.

Interesting, we've had the opposite experience. Most everyone is happy and friendly. We are going early, that may be the difference.

[levenhopper]

Hey all. Sorry I haven't been posting a lot. I came home to a ton of shifts at work. I've been lurking, though

I'm glad a lot of people have had a great time. I'll echo what other PP'ers have said: early December was nice for us. But, our last few days were winding up in crowd level.

I'll have my TR up soon. I just need time to finish writing it, lol.

[patriciaofoz]

We were at AK today and that's the first time since the 21st that the crowds overwhelmed me. I'm not sure because I'm just plain exhausted and have lower tolerance now or because AK seems smaller compared to the other parks so crowds are more compacted in.

Now that we've experienced the "holiday Disney" we're glad we can strike that off the bucket list. I doubt it'd be our first choice for a date if given another option. But still having a blast though! (Our last day is tomorrow)

[1stvisit0909]

Originally Posted by patriciaofoz

We were at AK today and that's the first time since the 21st that the crowds overwhelmed me. I'm not sure because I'm just plain exhausted and have lower tolerance now or because AK seems smaller compared to the other parks so crowds are more compacted in.

Now that we've experienced the "holiday Disney" we're glad we can strike that off the bucket list. I doubt it'd be our first choice for a date if given another option. But still having a blast though! (Our last day is tomorrow)

We were at ak today too, but left after the 1230 lion king. It was fine before our Tusker house ressie at 1015, but after that, nuts. We have a day off tomorrow. Thankfully!

[SAT887]

Wow. No posts since yesterday. I miss my dec dis friends!

[Valgoof]

Originally Posted by SAT887

Wow. No posts since yesterday. I miss my dec dis friends!

Hi Sarah! I am still around. It is kinda crazy how talkative we all were and now.....nothing. Maybe once the holidays are over and kids are back in school, people will be back. Should we move over to the post-trip thread to chat now? . How was your Christmas?
I feel weird after this trip. Not really PDD, more like it doesnt seem like the trip really happened. We had fun, but it was definitely different for us. And I was in a cold medicine fog for most of it. I have been reading the resort threads ready to plan the next trip. It wont be until Feb 2015, but we are definitely staying deluxe. We spent a lot of time at the resort this time. We discovered that we liked that, but were wishing for more space and a balcony. I was going to make a ticker, but 2+ years seems a bit long. Although it would be exciting to see it go down to 1 year, 11 months.

[Valgoof]

Originally Posted by levenhopper

Hey all. Sorry I haven't been posting a lot. I came home to a ton of shifts at work. I've been lurking, though

I'm glad a lot of people have had a great time. I'll echo what other PP'ers have said: early December was nice for us. But, our last few days were winding up in crowd level.

I'll have my TR up soon. I just need time to finish writing it, lol.

You can always post it in installments. Leave us waiting for more.

[1stvisit0909]

Originally Posted by Valgoof

You can always post it in installments. Leave us waiting for more.

Hey! Down day for us today. Bbb for the girls, 1900 Park Fare for dinner. Then I took dd7 in o MK to meet the fairies. The interaction with all the characters tonight was awesome!

[SAT887]

Originally Posted by Valgoof

Hi Sarah! I am still around. It is kinda crazy how talkative we all were and now.....nothing. Maybe once the holidays are over and kids are back in school, people will be back. Should we move over to the post-trip thread to chat now? . How was your Christmas?
I feel weird after this trip. Not really PDD, more like it doesnt seem like the trip really happened. We had fun, but it was definitely different for us. And I was in a cold medicine fog for most of it. I have been reading the resort threads ready to plan the next trip. It wont be until Feb 2015, but we are definitely staying deluxe. We spent a lot of time at the resort this time. We discovered that we liked that, but were wishing for more space and a balcony. I was going to make a ticker, but 2+ years seems a bit long. Although it would be exciting to see it go down to 1 year, 11 months.

Yeah - I got so used to chatting with you guys I don't know when we should officially move. I am working on a photo book and then hopefully starting a TR.

Do you know where you will stay in 2015? I know you talked about WL and AKL. (Right?) I enjoy staying DVC, we relax a lot and love sitting on the balcony of OKW. This trip we had a great water feature/fairway view and saw a few golf balls get a little close. We had a parking lot view at AKL but it was one night and a value. I can totally relate to being sick and in a fog that was me too

How is the whole job thing going?

[Valgoof]

Originally Posted by SAT887

Yeah - I got so used to chatting with you guys I don't know when we should officially move. I am working on a photo book and then hopefully starting a TR.

Do you know where you will stay in 2015? I know you talked about WL and AKL. (Right?) I enjoy staying DVC, we relax a lot and love sitting on the balcony of OKW. This trip we had a great water feature/fairway view and saw a few golf balls get a little close. We had a parking lot view at AKL but it was one night and a value. I can totally relate to being sick and in a fog that was me too

How is the whole job thing going?

DH fell in love with the Contemporary when we were resort hopping, but if we stay there I want to be in the Tower with TPV and that is $$$$$. He didnt like AKL much for some reason. We both like WL and it is a contender. I like YC a lot, but we need a good CS for breakfast. Loved Pop's food court. I think the goal will be CR and we will see how the saving goes. We might do a split stay too.

I talked to my friend when we got back and she said they arent posting the job--it is mine. I will interview as a formality with the manager in mid January and start in early Feb. She was able to hire someone else from our old work too, so that was good news.

[Valgoof]

Originally Posted by 1stvisit0909

Hey! Down day for us today. Bbb for the girls, 1900 Park Fare for dinner. Then I took dd7 in o MK to meet the fairies. The interaction with all the characters tonight was awesome!

I am so glad you are having a great trip! You are proof that you CAN enjoy the busiest week of the year!

[patriciaofoz]

We spent our final day at DW today We board our flight unless than 7 hours. Will post my first timer thoughts once I settle back into reality and catch up on some much needed sleep!