We had a Disney December, Bahamian Xmas, NYC NYE and then some!! COMPLETED!

[lffam]

Did you have an ADR for your lunch at Be Our Guest?

For our trip, since we won't have free dining like last time, we will need to be eating very frugally. So TS restaurants will be out this time except I've given each of our girls the chance to choose one TR restaurant for us to eat at (hence 3 x TS meals during our trip). DD18 has chosen BOG and, knowing I will have to book that ADR as soon as the booking window opens, I could not believe it when I calculated what date our booking window opens to find that we will be enroute to Malaysia on that day!

Yes we did have an ADR for BOG. I didn't book at 180 days. When I went to book, I could get most of the ones we wanted, though BOG I could not. I joined the thread for our month Cancelled Dining reservations over at the Dining reservations forums http://disboards.com/forums/disney-dining-reservations.180/

I kept an eye on that thread and was lucky enough that someone posted they were cancelling a BOG ADR. I contacted them and we were able to coordinate, that she cancelled and I went on to book at roughly the same time, so I scored it.

 

[Travel Mum]

Yes we did have an ADR for BOG. I didn't book at 180 days. When I went to book, I could get most of the ones we wanted, though BOG I could not. I joined the thread for our month Cancelled Dinning reservations over at the Dining reservations forums http://disboards.com/forums/disney-dining-reservations.180/

I kept an eye on that thread and was lucky enough that someone posted they were cancelling a BOG ADR. I contacted them and we were able to coordinate, that she cancelled and I went on to book at roughly the same time, so I scored it.

Oh wow how lucky!!

 

[lffam]

Oh wow how lucky!!

yep , the cancellation thread was great. I was able to get some others also for different days so if you don't get everything you want when you want then it can come in handy. The time zones difference can make it challenging, but it worked out for me.

 

[LivingforDisney]

We had lunch and dinner at BOG.
The dinner was very good, you also get to have your photo with thee Beast.
Bad luck you won't have the free dining, it makes a difference being able to have some great TS meals.
My favourites would have to be CRT, Raglan Road and BOG, though 50's Prime Time was great as well, and my kids love Sci Fi, also TRex, and Whispering Canyon.
Ok all my TS were great lol.
Iffam do the Hoop De Doo Ts if u ever go back, that was fun.

 

[lffam]

We had lunch and dinner at BOG.
The dinner was very good, you also get to have your photo with thee Beast.
Bad luck you won't have the free dining, it makes a difference being able to have some great TS meals.
My favourites would have to be CRT, Raglan Road and BOG, though 50's Prime Time was great as well, and my kids love Sci Fi, also TRex, and Whispering Canyon.
Ok all my TS were great lol.
Iffam do the Hoop De Doo Ts if u ever go back, that was fun.

We weren't real fans of Whispering Canyon. We have done Hoop De Doo on both trips and love it.

 

[Travel Mum]

We had lunch and dinner at BOG.
The dinner was very good, you also get to have your photo with thee Beast.
Bad luck you won't have the free dining, it makes a difference being able to have some great TS meals.
My favourites would have to be CRT, Raglan Road and BOG, though 50's Prime Time was great as well, and my kids love Sci Fi, also TRex, and Whispering Canyon.
Ok all my TS were great lol.
Iffam do the Hoop De Doo Ts if u ever go back, that was fun.

Yes it's challenging getting my head around not doing TS meals and having to watch every $ spent on F&B because having free dining last time spoilt us and this time, given how much the Disney meals cost and are even more eye-wateringly expensive when converted into NZ$, we are going to need to share meals when we do QS and also make meals in our villa. But I have to keep reminding myself (and will have to remind my family) that the most important thing is that we will be back at WDW.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I started reading your trip report yesterday and I'm just now all caught up. How wonderful it must be to be able to vacation for so long. I am thoroughly enjoying each part. Keep up the good work and I'm anxiously awaiting the next update.

 

[lffam]

I started reading your trip report yesterday and I'm just now all caught up. How wonderful it must be to be able to vacation for so long. I am thoroughly enjoying each part. Keep up the good work and I'm anxiously awaiting the next update.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read my report. I really enjoy sharing our experiences with others. It's been a while getting it to this point but I'm trying to keep going now. Hope you don't mind all the photos, I have so many of them so it's hard to choose which ones to share !

You're right we were lucky to have such a long holiday, which in hindsight was probably a week too long, but certainly a trip of a lifetime for us while DS still likes being around his parents lol

Look forward to you following along !

 

[lffam]

Yes it's challenging getting my head around not doing TS meals and having to watch every $ spent on F&B because having free dining last time spoilt us and this time, given how much the Disney meals cost and are even more eye-wateringly expensive when converted into NZ$, we are going to need to share meals when we do QS and also make meals in our villa. But I have to keep reminding myself (and will have to remind my family) that the most important thing is that we will be back at WDW.

Yep , remember where you are and the fun you are all having as a family together.

BTW I like your new avatar pic @Travel Mum !

 

[Travel Mum]

Thanks lffam. That's a photo that I took of snow falling over the Christmas market in Seefeld, Austria when we were there in December 2014. A totally magical moment and it's still the screen saver on my laptop

 

[lffam]

Thanks lffam. That's a photo that I took of snow falling over the Christmas market in Seefeld, Austria when we were there in December 2014. A totally magical moment and it's still the screen saver on my laptop

Oh I'm sure the full size picture looks amazing. A true white Christmas is still on our bucket list but will have to wait a few more years for now.

 

[lffam]

It’s a Small World

Next was It’s a small world. There was little to no wait, which is pretty unusual for this ride in our experience, so we jumped on line. Given that in Disneyland they re-themed the ride for Christmas, I was expect thing the same thing here. I’m sure @ColinA could advise if this is the case every year for IASW at WDW, but unfortunately it wasn’t for this year. Still it’s one of those quintessential Disney things to do, even more so than Jungle/Jingle cruise I think. YOU just have to be prepared for the tune to be stuck in your head for the rest of the day !!

 

[lffam]

Buzz Lightyear & Hoop Dee Doo

After we walked around for a little while, did a couple of ride, including Buzz Light Year. Some very serious concentrating pictures as you can see! We also went to Hoop Dee Doo for dinner. We love this show, so entertaining and this time was no different. Really recommend it for anyone who like a Dinner show and what a great table service meal also .

 

[lffam]

Illuminations Fireworks from our Boardwalk Villa

We had heard and seen some fireworks from the Villas before, but we weren't exactly sure which fireworks. We eventually worked out, or may have been told, that it was Illuminations that we could see. You can’t see the whole fireworks show and of course Illuminations is more than just fireworks and you should see it at a vantage point around the Lake at Epcot World showcase, but I was able to get some good photos from our Villa Balcony. I didn’t have a tripod so these are just hand held trying to keep as still as I could.

This is my fave shot of these

 

[Travel Mum]

Oh goodness, I did not think that having a standard villa with a view of the EPCOT fireworks was important to me but, after seeing your fantastic photos, that may have changed my mind.

 

[lffam]

Oh goodness, I did not think that having a standard villa with a view of the EPCOT fireworks was important to me but, after seeing your fantastic photos, that may have changed my mind.

I have cropped the photos, so effectively zoomed in, the normal view from the balcony is not that close.. I'll post an un-cropped to give you a better idea of what I am talking about

 

[Travel Mum]

Ok thanks. And, for your villa location, did you find that you used stairs to exit and enter the building or did you use the elevators. If elevators, how long did it take you to walk to them from your villa?

 

[heaven2dc]

I am having such a grand time reading your TR!! I love all of your pics - what type of camera do you use? (You may have answered this already so I apologize if I overlooked that!)

Such great shots of Illuminations without a tripod We have always stayed at the Boardwalk Villas renting DVC points and love it. The last two visits we had Boardwalk views overlooking Crescent Lake and enjoyed seeing the Magic Kingdom fireworks as well as Illuminations. Was pleasantly surprised that you got to see Illuminations from your room Can't wait to read more of your adventure!

 

[AussieNSW]

IASW is Christmas themed only at Disneyland not at WDW. That is the reason we stopped off there before coming home. Sydney to Dallas to Atlanta then Orlando then we went home from lax especially so I could see it. It was really busy as it was the marathon weekend in Jan but it was worth it.

 

[lffam]

I am having such a grand time reading your TR!! I love all of your pics - what type of camera do you use? (You may have answered this already so I apologize if I overlooked that!)

Such great shots of Illuminations without a tripod We have always stayed at the Boardwalk Villas renting DVC points and love it. The last two visits we had Boardwalk views overlooking Crescent Lake and enjoyed seeing the Magic Kingdom fireworks as well as Illuminations. Was pleasantly surprised that you got to see Illuminations from your room Can't wait to read more of your adventure!

Thanks a lot @heaven2dc . really appreciate your comments. I used a Nikon D5500 dSLR with two different Sigma lenses. I'm glad you like photos, I'm quite happy with how they have turned out. I have so many I'm still sorting through.

We have only been to WDW twice. First time we stayed at Wilderness Lodge (bought retail), this time we rented points from Aussie DVC member off these boards. Really happy with BWV, love the location in particular. I';d stay there again for sure. Thanks for following along.