Xmas at WDW Live Report

[Deleted]

I'm at the Delta Sky Club drinking a free Bloody Mary. We've had insane good luck this morning. Send vibes for more. Plane leaves in a little over an hour.

[curbsideprophet]

Have fun!

[Deleted]

Landed! And walked straight onto a DME buss. My real on is ready too. Uneventful flight.

[Deleted]

Oh man I can see the appeal of a monorail or walkable resort. We Ubered to Wilderness Lodge for dinner but the baby was so squirmy and then we took two busses to get back to CBR and he was inconsolable. We are sitting in the room now (7 pm) and he's sleeping in the PNP in the bathroom. At least he's going to bed at his usual bedtime so maybe he will be chipper tomorrow.

Dinner was good. We got to Wilderness early and I wanted to look around and take pictures but DH was starving so we showed up to Whispering Canyon Cafe early and they sat us. Food was really good! Service was awful. We didn't see our waitress for 40 minutes. The boys both did the wooden pony ride around the restaurant and loved it. Our waitress comped us an ice cream for ditching us so that was nice.

Gonna go pick up our refillable mugs and buy some swim diapers in a bit. Our room is not one of the renovated ones so no Murphy bed. Ben will just take one of the queen beds.

We swam in our quiet pool as soon as we got to CBR earlier today and had it all to ourselves. I like the life jackets.

Pretty successful first day. I cancelled our dinner ADR for tomorrow because I can't see us doing two TS in one day.

[Deleted]

Keep the report coming! I have been so excited to hear about your trip!

[lala]

Good move on the table service, I think that would be too much.

Wilderness lodge is so pretty!

[Deleted]

Live from Hollywood Studios! It is not really crowded at all. Did TSMM and Great Movie Ride. Just finishing up breakfast at H&V. We liked it! The baby is falling asleep. Gonna try for a stroller nap. Our magic bands are screwy so we will head to CS.

[beantrees]

Dec 24, 2016 10:53:40 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

Live from Hollywood Studios! It is not really crowded at all. Did TSMM and Great Movie Ride. Just finishing up breakfast at H&V. We liked it! The baby is falling asleep. Gonna try for a stroller nap. Our magic bands are screwy so we will head to CS.

Out of curiosity I checked the wait times about an hour ago on the app and they didn't seem too bad. Hopefully the crowds stay manageable for you!

[ilikedonuts]

App says the dhs wait times are crazy low right now! Awesome!!

[Deleted]

Just woke up from a nap. I needed that. Baby still sleeping. We came back to the room because we were hot and cranky. Didn't have to wait for a bus. I took Ben on Star Tours with FP and then my husband tried to take him right afterwards and they said he was too short. He cried. I had to break out some candy to cheer him up, DH rode Star Tours solo but we were all done at that point.

We left at 1:50 so exactly 5 hours after getting there (we were a little late for the 8:30 rope drop). Ben wanted to swim instead of nap so they are at the pool with our family (who did MK today),

I switched our last FP to Winnie the Pooh for later tonight in case we make it out again.

[Deleted]

Merry Christmas!

Woke up today and did presents in the room. Ate breakfast at the cafeteria (pretty bad). Let the kids play at the playground before we all got dressed and headed to Animal Kingdom.

Arrived at 10:30. Traded pins. Signed up for the Explorer'd Club. Played in the Boneyard. Boys would have stayed there all day. DH and Ben rode Triceratops Swirl (?) while I walked Ethan around Dinoland for a stroller nap. They also went to Its Tough to Be a Bug.

Get to the Safari for our noon FP but Standby was only gen mi utes so I switched it to later. Safari was great. Saw two lions. We had some time to kill before our Tusker House ADR and I remembered having to wait a long time to get seated last time so we all had Dole Whips (ours with rum). Ate at Tusker (no wait, great food, characters).

Rode the train. We were about to go to the 4 pm Lion King show but Ben said he wanted a nap. Made it back to the room pretty quickly.

Our family is also relaxing and there's talk of doing Epcot tonight but I hope we just make it to the hot tub and pool bar.

[Deleted]

Sounds like you picked the right parks!!

[daisyfay25]

So everything saying WDW at xmas is a crowded nightmare is wrong? Good to know! Sounds like yall are having fun!

[nsl]

Christmas at Disney has always sounded hellacious to me, but it sounds like you're really doing it right! Hope your trip continues to be enjoyable and low-stress.

[Deleted]

Yesterday we napped from 4:30-7:30 and then headed out to Epcot. That's where the crowds were! We took some pictures but booked out of there fast to grab dinner in Mexico. The quick service was packed and there was only one high chair. We finally nabbed it and we're able to scarf down our food. DH's cousin and his family joined us and it was tough navigating crowds with two double strollers.

Three out of the four kids fell asleep so we sat around in America until Illuminations. Ethan was the only one awake for it but he loved it! Clapping the whole time. It was a great show. Made our way to the buses and got on the second one. Got back at 11:30.

Slept til 8:30. I made DH sleep with Ben so I could starfish the bed. We are hanging at the pool now. Doing HDFR tonight.

[was5]

Sounds like your trip is going really well. I have also been checking wait times at MDE and MK and Epcot seem to be crazy while AK and HS seem pretty reasonable. I wonder if that will change throughout the week. Good luck for the rest of your trip!

[Deleted]

Zomg MK is a zoo and it's hot. I'm sitting in front of the castle with a napping baby watching the Move it Shake it parade. More later. We loved BOG lunch.

[Deleted]

I snaked out a spot 90 minutes before the parade on top of the train station. Ethan woke up and is happy in the stroller (for now). Let's hope he stays that way until DH and Ben show up. Parade in 22 minutes.

[Deleted]

Sitting in bed drinking a beer. Kids are sleeping and DH is talking to his cousins in the courtyard at CBR. We had an epic 12hour day at MK and it was really fun.

Started out awful because we slept super late and then just missed an MK bus. The next one didn't come for almost an hour. We get there finally and DH sees the bag line and freaks out. By the time we got in there was some Main Street show going on and major traffic. We missed our FP window for SDMT by 25 minutes. I took Ben to it anyway and they let us on AND gave us a rider switch pass that's good all week.

Next we did Enchanted Tales with Belle. I'd never find it before. It was cute. Then we had lunch at BOG. So good! I got the braised pork and French onion soup. DH got the Croque Monsuier and Ben got grilled cheese. We were really full.

Afterwards DH took Ben on Peter Pan (FP) and Philharmagic while I lined up super early for the 3:30 parade. I definitely didn't need to line up that early as I saw spots filling up at the last minute but I loved watching the parade from the train station. The parade was awesome.

Then we took the train back to Fantasyland, then let the kids play in the spray area for a while. Then got snacks. Did Barnstormer (FP) twice with Ben plus got a rider switch pass to use later.

Finally Dumbo. Both boys loved the play area.the standby said 60 minutes but it was barely 30.

Then dinner at BOG. They let us take our stroller in and both boys fell asleep. Dinner was good but I liked lunch better. I think I was still full. I got steak. Watched fireworks. DH and I got FP for Winnie the Pooh and took turns riding it. Ethan woke up so we headed for the bus.

I moved our first FP til later tomorrow and cancelled our lunch ADR so we aren't rushed. It's midnight now so time to sleep!

[Deleted]

Live from Epcot. Just rode Mission Space and DH is riding now. Ben is playing in the play area. Ethan is in the stroller not screaming. He's a fussy guy today. Rode Frozen Ever After with FP this morning. Had duck confit and fondue for lunch. Headed back to hotel soon because our babysitter arrives at 6.

[Deleted]

Live from Magic Kingdom!

So far we've done Peter Pan, It's a Small World, splash, Jungle Cruise, Flying Carpets, Pirates, harmony barber shop, Crystal Palace lunch, A Pirate's League makeover and Big Thunder Mountain. Awesome day!

[Deleted]

Dec 28, 2016 15:52:28 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

Live from Epcot. Just rode Mission Space and DH is riding now. Ben is playing in the play area. Ethan is in the stroller not screaming. He's a fussy guy today. Rode Frozen Ever After with FP this morning. Had duck confit and fondue for lunch. Headed back to hotel soon because our babysitter arrives at 6.

Where did you have the duck & fondue? How was your date night?

[Deleted]

Dec 29, 2016 15:27:23 GMT -5 @savestheday said:

Dec 28, 2016 15:52:28 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

Live from Epcot. Just rode Mission Space and DH is riding now. Ben is playing in the play area. Ethan is in the stroller not screaming. He's a fussy guy today. Rode Frozen Ever After with FP this morning. Had duck confit and fondue for lunch. Headed back to hotel soon because our babysitter arrives at 6.

Where did you have the duck & fondue? How was your date night?

It was a seasonal German food stand but way past Germany towards America.

Date night was good but our bodies were sore so we mostly sat in the bar in Mexico until dinner at Spice Road Table. Watched Illuminatiins from our table then went back to the hotel. The skids Nite Out babysitter was great.

[Deleted]

Back in the room and my husband is dying to go back to MK. He became a Disney diehard this week. Ethan is already asleep. We aren't flying until 5 pm tomorrow and a cold front is coming through so I think we will go check our Deluxe decorations.

I'll write a full report soon! Great trip.

[beantrees]

I'm so glad you had a great trip! Esp with all the in-law drama and during the busiest week of the year! Awesome!

[Deleted]

I'm finally back home and alone.  We all caught colds/coughs the last day so we are done but DH went out to a concert tonight and I'm home with the kids sleeping.  It's nice to get some alone time after a week of sharing a single room.

Quick thoughts:

Dining plan: this was our first time doing it and I liked the convenience of having everything pre-paid so it felt all-inclusive but we still managed to spend a boatload out of pocket and that many table service meals were unnecessary.  The kids both love character dining and I know these days are limited but we definitely didn't need to do Hollywood and Vine, Tusker House AND Crystal Palace.  If I had to do it again I would only keep H&V and Tusker House.  Crystal Palace we loved the ambiance and the character interaction but no one ate much and there's so much to do at MK so it felt like too much. We were rushing out of there to get to Ben's Pirate League appointment.  We did HDDR because that was the only big group event our family was doing but for the cost and logistics of getting there I would have rather done Medieval Times.  I also cancelled a bunch of ADRs so I was glad I had them as a backup because I heard so many horror stories about Christmas crowds but quick service would have been fine.

Staying on site: mixed thoughts.  I liked feeling Disney all the time.  Caribbean Beach's pool was AWESOME and Ben would have swam there day and night for seven days without missing a beat.  The busses were theoretically convenient but Ethan (18 months) hated them.  He did not like being held and it was an awful time for all involved.  One time I wore him successfully in a toddler Tula but the rest of the times he fought it or it was just too hot to try it.  We only had to wait more than 20 minutes one time.  We only did EMH 1.5 times (arrived at MK at 7 one day and arrived at HS one day at 8:30) and the MK day was awesome.  We got SO many rides done and took a couple of great photos in front of the castle.  That's definitely an advantage of staying on site, especially during such a busy time.  Overall I liked it and DH wants to stay on site again but I also remember how much more relaxing our off-site stay was in 2014 - maybe because we only had one non-mobile child.  It was nice to relax after the baby went to bed and not be in the same room.

Fastpass: Loved.  I can't believe more people don't use it.  We pretty much walked right onto Frozen Ever After in spite of the 90 minute standby line (in the sun!).  And rider switch was very helpful too.

Budget: Not including flights because we had a ton of points we spent $4200 on the 7 nights at CBR plus 5 day park hoppers and the dining plan for two adults and one child.  Then we racked up $1300 in room charges.  So next Christmas we are going back to Aruba where we can stay for two weeks for less than one week in Disney but we still had an amazing time and look forward to another Disney trip...maybe in 2018.

I'll write more later but here are some of my favorite photos.  Ben after Pirate's League and Ethan before/after his first hair cut.

[Deleted]

Oh and I forgot that we did lunch AND dinner at Be Our Guest.  We loved lunch.  Dinner was good but both kids passed out.  Luckily Ben met the Beast before he fell asleep but we only have a group photo of the stroller and two sleeping kids.  Lunch was a much better value.  I thought they would have moved a lot of the tables out for dinner and made the dining room more intimate but it was pretty much the exact same thing.  I would definitely do BOG again for lunch.

[wineandcheese]

How did you do it! Holy crowds. We did 1 night, last night. I'm glad we didn't do the parks. I should add that H and I stayed with our boss since he had lots of room where he was staying so we just paid for dinner at Ohana.

[curbsideprophet]

So would you go over Christmas again?

[Deleted]

Dec 31, 2016 21:57:41 GMT -5 curbsideprophet said:

So would you go over Christmas again?

Yes!  I would.  It was really special and just felt like the perfect place to be on Christmas.  But I'd probably wait until the kids were a bit older and more flexible.  Neither napped in the stroller at all and the height limits meant we had to split up a few times.  The parade was awesome and we saw Illuminations twice with the Peace on Earth ending which was cool.  I'd probably plan another rest day as once was not enough and do rope drop more often.