The Silly and Mischievous Canucks do Christmas - Dec 2015 PTR - Update 12/13

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Following



And that's how it all started for me too, haha!



Love it! You can enjoy all of the potentials AND the final trip!

Thanks for following along on this topsy turvy trip planning journey.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Last week before I went crazy with all my resort switching and day adding we received a little booklet in the mail, "The "Dreamer" Family's Incredible Vacation". According to that little booklet my original ADR day was June 10th but with the extra day added now at the beginning of the trip my ADR day is June 9th, next Tuesday! That is a lucky break because I would have been sewered if I had to make ADR's on the 10th as I am scheduled to work at 7am that morning. So what that is telling me is that I was MEANT to add that extra day so I could more easily make my ADR's.

So let's talk food! I annoyed the heck out of my family yesterday, mostly my brothers, trying to get their dining preferences so I could start making a plan. Getting Alek and Erich to contribute to the planning process is like pulling teeth. They are very "go with the flow" type people. They refuse to watch planning videos, look at menus, youtube videos etc. They just want to discover it all and figure it out when we get there. I am the exact opposite. I have to have a plan. I have to know what a restaurant offers, I need to know what park I am going to each day, I want to know what each resort looks like ahead of time. You are probably thinking that I am in the perfect situation where I can just make all the plans with no interference since they don't care to plan. Well yes and no. For the most part it works out great but I do recognize this is their vacation too and I want to include things they want to do. So two days ago I asked the family "Are there any table service restaurants that you really want to go to on the trip as the reservation window opens next week and I need to make a plan?" There was radio silence. So I bugged them again yesterday afternoon and finally in the evening I got some responses.

Alek: food is food. Unless there is something you're not sure if I would like then I'm probably fine with whatever.

Erich:
Yak and Yeti!!

Mexico Restaurant!

Sci-fi Dine-In Theatre Restaurant!

Going to any one of these would be nice.

Erich's exclamation marks were in response to my facebook message to them "Answer my email!!"

Mom (gave me more info than I wanted at this time - snacks and counter service):

Magic Kingdom

• Aloha Isle
• Be our Guest?
• Main St Bakery
• Pinocchio Village
• Friar's Nook
• The Plaza Restaurant
• Tony's Town Square

Epcot

• Kringla Bakery
• La Cantina de San Angel
• Via Napoli
• frozen Margarita
• American Adventure - Frozen slushie
• France - Grand Marnier, Rum and Grey Goose Orange Slush
• Frozen Cappuccino

Hollywood Studios

• ABC Commissary
• Backlot express
• Mama Melrose
• Hollywood Brown Derby
• Sci Fi Diner

Animal Kingdom

• Yaki and Yeti Food Cafe or restaurant

Beachclub

• Beaches and Cream
• Cape May character breakfast
• Any of the food at hotel

Boardwalk

• Big River Grille
• Boardwalk Bakery
• Trattoria al forno

Downtown Disney

• Earl of Sandwich

So that is what I have to work with from the family. No requests from Alek, three from Erich and a few table service requests from mom once I cut out all the snacks and counter service stuff. Now I get to examine menus, make my own choices and prioritize restaurants and make a plan, hurray!

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[DonnaBeeGood]

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[DisneyJo]

So will you be horrified when I tell you our 10 day trip to Turkey was spent in our all inclusive hotel?

Yay on starting your ADR choices

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I love Disney reasoning, it's the best! I think if you can accommodate 1 special request from each person it would be something special to them without too much scrambling from you. I look foward to seeing what you choose!

Yep! So far I'm thinking we can do Sci-Fi and Yak and Yeti from Mom and Erich's list. The Mexico restaurants are a no-go. I have already decided I want to eat at Via Napoli.

So will you be horrified when I tell you our 10 day trip to Turkey was spent in our all inclusive hotel?

Oh dear To each their own! I assume you guys were on a beach vacation? What area of Turkey were you in? Bodrum? Turquoise Coast?

 

[DisneyJo]

Oh dear To each their own! I assume you guys were on a beach vacation? What area of Turkey were you in? Bodrum? Turquoise Coast?

Yep a beach holiday We were quite near to Antalya. The girls weren't interested in exploring at all and the excursions were stupidly priced!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Yep a beach holiday We were quite near to Antalya. The girls weren't interested in exploring at all and the excursions were stupidly priced!

Lovely area! I would love to go to the Turquoise Coast and walk some of the Lycian Way, just not sure if we will have the time. I would also love to have a day on a beautiful beach but there is no way my dad or Alek would go for that.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Arrival Day Plans

I've been having a difficult time making an itinerary and it is all the Magic Kingdom's fault! So far the only day I have been able to easily plan is our arrival day!

We will be catching an early morning flight, either from Toronto or Syracuse, NY. I haven't decided yet on which flight to take. The Toronto flight is slightly more expensive and we have to pay for our bags but it is a direct flight and would get us into Orlando at 930 in the morning. The Syracuse flight means driving across the border which is not usually a problem and requires a layover getting us in closer to noon. I am leaning towards the Toronto flight for a few reasons despite it being more expensive. 1. Direct flight 2. Potential waits at the border 3. Syracuse is in a heavy snow belt and the highway to get to the airport is often shutdown due to lake effect snow. This has to be a consideration for a winter trip. Toronto obviously gets snow too but not the crazy lake effect snow that the southern end of Lake Ontario tends to receive each winter. The disadvantage to the Toronto flight other than the price is the potential for long lines at customs and immigration at the airport.

No matter what city we depart from we will probably drive up the night before and stay in a hotel for the night so we don't have to leave our house at midnight in order to get to the airport in time. That would make for a loooooong day!

After arriving in Orlando we will pick-up our rental car and be on our way! I was briefly considering not getting a car this trip but we like the freedom a car allows.

If we take the Toronto flight I hope to arrive at The Beach Club by 11am. The room probably won't be ready but that is okay!



At check-in I intend to ask for a full balcony room. Apparently only about 50% of the rooms have full balconies. The others have standing only Juliet balconies.

Magic Bands in place we will go to our first ADR of the trip (should I be lucky enough to get it). Here's some hints:









This is the place where I got to meet DisneyJo. It was a random but happy meeting since I had not made it to the big planned meet earlier in that trip that we were part of.




If the room is ready after filling our bellies we will head on up and get settled but if not then perhaps we will hit the pool, relax on the beach or go into Epcot! Alternatively the boys may head off to DisneyQuest since that is one of their requests for the trip while Mom and I do our own thing.





In the evening we will head off property to hit up the grocery store/Target for breakfast food etc. and probably eat dinner off-site as well.

I suspect we will head to bed early this night due to our long travel day but if I have trouble sleeping as I often do on arrival day I will head back to Epcot for Illuminations.

So as you can see, after lunch it will be a pretty easy going, go with the flow kind of day.

 

[KatMark]

I hate to say it, but my husband is usually the same way. He knows that I know what he likes and doesn't like (and that he will NOT dress up on vacation). His only request EVERY trip is Kona Cafe for breakfast.

 

[KatMark]

I like the idea of the direct flight...even if a bit more expensive. It gets you there earlier.

I must have missed a post. When did you switch to the Beach Club. I thought the choices were GF or WL???? I'm so

I hope you get Beaches & Cream...we love that place.

And I think the boys going to Disney Quest and you girls doing your thing is a perfect solution for Day 1.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I hate to say it, but my husband is usually the same way. He knows that I know what he likes and doesn't like (and that he will NOT dress up on vacation). His only request EVERY trip is Kona Cafe for breakfast.

You know how it is then. It is wonderful and annoying at the same time. At least we have the disboards where people actually want to help you by giving opinions and suggestions and talk about trip plans!

I like the idea of the direct flight...even if a bit more expensive. It gets you there earlier.

Yep, that is very tempting!

[/quote]I must have missed a post. When did you switch to the Beach Club. I thought the choices were GF or WL???? I'm so [/quote]

You did miss some posts but not the part about Beach Club. Last week on Friday, I believe it was, I posted that I switched from WL to GF. Then 12 hours later I decided to save some money because of my trip to Turkey in the spring and switched to the Boardwalk. That was the last I had posted here about my crazy resort switching. Then two days ago I decided to switch to the Beach Club since I read that the Boardwalk has self-parking issues at the moment and we always said we would stay Beach Club so why not now?! This post today was my first post about switching to Beach Club. I wanted to make sure this change stuck for longer than 12 hours before I posted about it. That being said, I may go crazy again and switch back to the GF! It all depends on what our final estimated budget turns out to be for Turkey.

I hope you get Beaches & Cream...we love that place.

I hope so too! It has become a tradition for us and I will try and fit it in somewhere if I can't get it for arrival day.

And I think the boys going to Disney Quest and you girls doing your thing is a perfect solution for Day 1.

Yep! There is one other day where I think I can fit in DisneyQuest if not on this day but I am still trying to figure out the rest of my days so time will tell!

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

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[Leleluvsdis]

You are not alone with the planning part. My parents are planners at the time, but not ahead of time, and DH could careless your first day looks like a great one!!! Ours are typically the same and we really enjoy starting them that way.
I think I would pay a little more for the flight to have the convenience and peace of mind. There is nothing worse than being in fear of missing your flight or having to run through an airport.

 

[ddstratton]

Joining in! I'm loving the planning so far - even all of the resort switching.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Toronto obviously gets snow too but not the crazy lake effect snow that the southern end of Lake Ontario tends to receive each winter. The disadvantage to the Toronto flight other than the price is the potential for long lines at customs and immigration at the airport.

couple of things about flying out of Toronto early in the morning customs and security are usually pretty quick especially with us customs. I've never had a problem with either of them its usually Canadian customs on the way back that can be a problem they like to play games sometimes when multiple flights arrive at once and not staff all the counters.

Also as far as snow goes most of the time if there is delay at the airport her it's because of planes getting her from other locations Persons runways rarely get shut down for snow, it does happen but they can clear them pretty fast, plus we also have one of the biggest deicing facilities for planes in north america.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Jealous! No direct flights from Alberta; I usually arrive by 1 am...

Yucko. I'm actually surprised there are no direct flights from Calgary or Edmonton. Goes to show what I know!

I love days that have some relaxation time, it's nice to have some options open and see how you're feeling after travelling.

Yep, I try to not have a plan heavy day when we arrive. Arrival day is really the only day Disney allows spontaneity now that we have this FP+ system and have to make ADR's 180 days out.

You are not alone with the planning part. My parents are planners at the time, but not ahead of time, and DH could careless your first day looks like a great one!!! Ours are typically the same and we really enjoy starting them that way.
I think I would pay a little more for the flight to have the convenience and peace of mind. There is nothing worse than being in fear of missing your flight or having to run through an airport.

I have had all those flight nightmares. I think the worst was this spring coming back from Italy. I had a connecting flight in London but our plane leaving Rome was delayed because a passenger "elected" not to fly but their bag was already on the plane so we had to wait forever for them to get it off. That resulted in our missing our take off time. We then had to wait almost another hour to take off. On top of that we had to reroute around France because the air traffic controllers were on strike. I was POSITIVE I was going to miss my connecting flight and was stressed out the whole way to London. Luckily, our pilot flew extra fast and got us to London with enough time that I was able to clear through Security and shop a little before boarding my plane. It was awful though for those few hours sitting on the tarmac in Rome wondering what would happen if I missed my connection. This is the reason I always try to fly direct but sometimes it is just not possible.

Joining in! I'm loving the planning so far - even all of the resort switching.

Hi Darla! Thanks for reading!

couple of things about flying out of Toronto early in the morning customs and security are usually pretty quick especially with us customs. I've never had a problem with either of them its usually Canadian customs on the way back that can be a problem they like to play games sometimes when multiple flights arrive at once and not staff all the counters.

Also as far as snow goes most of the time if there is delay at the airport her it's because of planes getting her from other locations Persons runways rarely get shut down for snow, it does happen but they can clear them pretty fast, plus we also have one of the biggest deicing facilities for planes in north america.

So we would clear US customs in Toronto rather than Orlando? That would be convenient!

Yeah, I experienced Canadian customs in Toronto in April when I came back from Italy. Huge lines but it actually moved fairly quickly with the kiosks they had set up.

Thanks for the tips! I am definitely learning towards flying from Toronto which is odd for a girl that swear by flying from the States to save money.

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

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[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hahaha, I had the reverse bad luck regarding Italy. Last spring we flew from Edmonton to Calgary, Calgary to Heathrow, Heathrow to Rome. While in the air from Calgary to Heathrow (about an 8 hour flight), Heathrow cancelled our connection to Rome. Because it was foggy. And rainy. But British Airways did nothing to rebook us while we were flying. Instead, all the people who were not currently flying booked up all of the flights, so we had to stay overnight in London and miss the first 2 days of our guided tour. No poor me, I still enjoyed the trip, but I thought that perhaps the airline should have taken care of the people who were already en route... Or at least provided Magical Express powers to us when we landed!

That is so surprising! I was actually really impressed with British Airways. There were many people on my flight who did end up missing their connections and BA took care of them. They actively worked on getting them onto other flights and informed them of those arrangements while we were still in the air.

That is terrible luck for you though! I would have been really upset but you got to stay the night in London. Hopefully your night was paid for and you got to see some of the city?

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

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[Lifelong_Dreamer]

After many rough itineraries destroyed with scratches and scribbles and then crumpled up into balls and expletives uttered I have finally come up with an itinerary for the rest of our vacation! I have never had such a hard time making an itinerary but MVMCP, fitting in all the Christmas events and the various EMH were working against me. My trip planning philosophy is to avoid EMH parks at all costs. I know many people enjoy them but I enjoy lighter crowds so what I try and do is plan park days opposite EMH. For example, if DHS has PM EMH on a Saturday then I plan to go on the Sunday. My theory being that more people will have gone on the Saturday for the EMH the night before and will therefore plan for a different park the next day. I also had to choose a night for MVMCP and ideally have no park plans for earlier that same day. I also didn't want to tire us out by having too many late nights in a row. All this made it a rough go in making the itinerary. I did consult the recommended parks/crowd calendar and it mostly agreed with the plan that I came up with.

So without further ado, here are my plans for our first park day - December 7th!

The park I chose for this day is



We all love Animal Kingdom, especially Erich. When Erich did his "DCP" he worked here for the first half and says it was also the park he visited the most in his off time.

The park hours for this day are 9-5.

I strongly believe in arriving for rope drop so we will be there bright and early and hopefully well rested after our first night at the Beach Club.

Hopefully we will get some nice photopass pictures and magic shots while here as I intend on buying the Memory Maker.



While we go on the rides our main focus is usually the animals. So we will probably head to the safari right at rope drop and get in the standby line.



I'm hoping we get to see the new baby Rhino while on the safari, she just made her debut this week and is adorable!

I will probably also try and get a FP+ for the safari for later in the afternoon.

That leaves Expedition Everest and Dinosaur for our other likely FP+ selections. I haven't thought too much about FP+ as of yet so that may change.

We'll also probably take part in some character meets.



Can anybody tell me where they have relocated the character greets now that Camp Minnie-Mickey is no more?

One of the things that I love about Animal Kingdom is how lush and green everything is. I just love walking around and taking everything in.



I wonder if Alek and Erich will decide to be Conservation Heroes again?



Erich has said that he would like to eat at Yak and Yeti so we will probably eat at the counter service location. I am a picky eater and not too keen on this choice but looking at the menu there are a few options I can probably tolerate. If not I will just have to hunt down a Jalapeno and Cheese Stuffed pretzel, yum!

Since AK closes so early (5pm) this might be a good night to check out the Christmas decorations at some of the other hotels. However, if it is warm out I think we will probably head back to the Beach Club and enjoy some pool time.

I have no plans for dinner at this point. We might go off property again or maybe Chef Mickey's if I decided to make this a night to explore the other hotels.