"Mom, come smell Mickey!!" 3 generations celebrate the holidays at WDW

[MelissaBee]

Hello all and welcome to my first trip report! This particular trip had been in the works for some time as my family had long wanted to visit WDW during the holiday season. In this first post, I’ll introduce our cast of characters and give a little background on how the trip came to be. Then I’ll get started on the actual vacation play-by-play. Thanks for reading! I hope our experiences will be as helpful and entertaining to you as all of your trip reports have been to me.

So who are we? First up, my little family: me, DH, and DD7.

I’m Melissa.

I'm the Disney trip planner extraordinaire. I’ve been to DL once in 2014 and WDW many times, mostly as a tween, teen, and adult. My parents did take me twice as a young child (age 3 and 4), but my memories of those trips are hazy. I remember riding and loving Space Mountain (ahh, how the height requirement times have changed). And I remember freaking out in the stretching room of HM and my mom having to take me outside. I regretted that my whole childhood. Like literally, I’d lay awake at night thinking about how I’d missed out on seeing the hitchhiking ghosts and wishing I’d ridden the ride. It didn’t help that we didn’t return to WDW until I was 13, so for all of my elementary-aged years, my friends would go to WDW and come back talking about the HM and I’d regret all over again that I’d chickened out. Anyway, once I was 13 my family started going to Orlando almost every summer. We had a timeshare and Orlando was consistently the best destination choice. We could drive and there was lots to do. We did everything at WDW, Universal, Sea World, even Kennedy Space Center. But we never stayed on property. And we never ate in the parks. I would ride the monorail over Chef Mickey’s and see the happy children eating Mickey waffles at their character breakfast and dream of being among them. So while we went to Disney many times, I never had the full bubble experience until I was old enough to provide it for myself.

But even on those trips, I was the planner. I read all the books, knew all the tricks, and did my best to force my family to follow my touring plans and be at rope drop every morning. I may have been a teensy bit bossy. I prefer to think of it as having strong leadership and organizational skills. They didn’t appreciate my skills then. I like to think they do now, especially since WDW has really come to require a fair amount of pre-planning. I might be a bit type A about it, but it is fun for me and hey, we didn’t wait in more than a 20 minute line the whole trip and got all the ADRs we were after!

My Disney dossier: Favorite Ride: ToT; Favorite TS: Boma; Favorite Show: FotLK; Dream Resort: AKL; Favorite QS: BOG; Favorite Snack: Mickey bar and dole whip; Favorite Character: Belle

DH was also with us. He had never been on a ride more thrilling than a merry-go-round before he met me (he went on his first ever water slide at age 26) and had never been to Disney until our first trip together with friends in 2005. He has come to appreciate Disney parks, though he will never match me for fandom. He doesn’t like spinning, drops, or big hills, but will inexplicably ride Space Mountain, and he is really great at holding stuff and/or babies while other people ride rides. And as long as it makes his ladies happy, he is game for a meet and greet and the occasional Disneybound.

DH’s Disney dossier: Favorite Ride: People Mover; Favorite TS: Boma; Favorite Show: Muppet Vision 3D; Dream Resort: AKL; Favorite QS: BOG; Favorite Snack: dole whip; Favorite Character: Donald

DD7, or E as we call her on the internet, is a Disney freak like her mom and a huge geek, also like her mom. This was E’s fourth trip to WDW and her fifth trip to a Disney park. She still loves a meet and greet and is finally tall enough and willing to ride most of the attractions. Star Wars is her craze right now, an obsession she comes by very honestly, and she also loves Hamilton (the musical) and by extension all things Lin Miranda, including the Moana soundtrack.

E’s Disney dossier: Favorite Ride: “I can’t pick one. All of them, except ToT. OK, maybe Test Track or Mission Space or Thunder Mountain”; Favorite TS: “They are all gross. But I like Ohana because you can walk and shake maracas”; Favorite Show: Carousel of Progress; Dream Resort: Polynesian; Favorite QS: “Any of the ones with a power pack for the kid’s meal”; Favorite Snack: dole whip; Favorite Character: Donald

On this trip we were accompanied by my mom and dad and brother and SIL and their baby.

My mom, Grandma for the purposes of this report, is a Disney Parks super fan, but she does not like to plan at all. She is also not a morning person, so this trip was pretty exhausting for her. She loves thrill rides and is a picky eater.

Grandma’s Disney dossier: Favorite Ride: ToT and Soarin’; Favorite TS: Ohana dinner; Favorite Show: Carousel of Progress and Beauty and the Beast; Dream Resort: Grand Floridian; Favorite QS: BOG; Favorite Snack: caramel popcorn and funnel cake; Favorite Character: Mickey and Minnie

My dad, Papa in this report, is not a Disney Parks super fan. He is a barely willing participant who loves his family and goes to Disney because they want to go to Disney. He does love thrill rides, but he can’t really handle the drops or spins anymore. This trip he was also having terrible back problems and spent most of the trip in pain. Papa has a high tolerance for pain, so for him to even mention it, much less be in visible distress, was unusual. He said that walking was better than laying down, though, so he persevered through the parks with us. Still, I know the trip was no fun for him.

Papa’s Disney dossier: Favorite Ride: People Mover; Favorite TS: Ohana; Favorite Show: Muppet Vision 3D; Dream Resort: Polynesian; Favorite QS: BOG; Favorite Snack: ice cream sundaes; Favorite Character: Goofy

My brother, hence forth known as B, loves Disney and is interested in Disney parks rumors, news, and history. He is a fan and probably would plan if I wasn’t around to do it. He will ride anything, the wilder the better, but this adventurousness does not extend to his dining preferences. Uncle B is E’s buddy and has long been her required partner for roller coaster riding. Uncle B is also Daddy now to his own baby girl, and I have to admit I enjoyed watching my little brother baby-wearing his little princess around WDW.

B’s Disney dossier: Favorite Ride: Everest; Favorite TS: Ohana; Favorite Show: FotLK; Dream Resort: AKL; Favorite QS: BOG; Favorite Snack: dole whips and ice cream sundaes; Favorite Character: Buzz and Woody

My SIL, who will be referred to as such since a) that’s already an easy acronym and b) her initial is shared with her daughter and so that would just get confusing to have two “N”s in one trip report, has not been to Disney as often as the rest of us, but did go a couple of times in the 90s, and she and B visited DL for two days in December 2014. She had to miss the last family WDW trip in 2013 due to work obligations and so was eager to be a part of this one. She enjoys all thrill rides and is a more adventurous eater than Grandma or B, but not as much as DH or I.

SIL’s Disney dossier: Favorite Ride: Soarin’; Favorite TS: Crystal Palace breakfast; Favorite Show: Muppet Vision 3DFotLK; Dream Resort: Polynesian; Favorite QS: BOG; Favorite Snack: dole whip; Favorite Character: Pooh

The baby, my niece, subsequently christened N, was nine months old for this, her first trip to Disney. She enjoys sipping bottles of milk, sucking her thumb, gumming/licking Mickey waffles, pulling E’s hair, and caressing characters’ noses. She does not enjoy being passed from one adult to the next over the course of a week while her parents ride rides, having her sleep schedule disrupted, or being in high chairs/pack-n-plays/strollers/baby carriers/anyone other than SIL’s arms. I was a stressful week for N and SIL.

N’s Disney dossier: Favorite Ride: SIL’s arms; Favorite TS: any breakfast with a Mickey waffle; Favorite Show: Grandma in “Peek-a-boo”; Dream Resort: SIL’s chest; Favorite QS: SIL’s boobs; Favorite Snack: milky; Favorite Character: if it has a nose, she’s in

Our Disney freak friends Bri and T also met up with us while we were there, having planned an overlapping trip with their newly acquired DVC points. They love pin trading, character meets, and generally soaking up the Disney ambiance.

 

[MelissaBee]

Now that you know who we are, here's some background on this trip.

After our last trip all together in October 2013, we finally decided to commit to Disney Christmas vacation and set our sights on December 2016, after Pop Warner and before the crazy Christmas crowds. On that 2013 trip, we had a "free" dining promo and enjoyed getting to experience all the table service places that we would never bring ourselves to pay for OOP. My SIL missed that 2013 trip and was really hoping we’d land “free” dining again for 2016, so when my brother and I got wind of a “free” dining promo for December that happened to also thread our preferred timing needle, we pounced—December 10-18, 2016 would be our Disney Christmas vacation!


We booked two rooms at All-Star Music, one for my family and one for Grandma, Papa, B, SIL, and N. To book the free dining, we also had to book park hoppers, which hasn’t been our norm in recent times, but we really enjoyed having the option again. We also paid up for the standard DDP from the QS “free” version because we wanted to give my SIL the chance to experience the table service offerings we’d had so much fun with last time. I don’t think we will do the standard DDP again in the future, not because it isn’t fun or good quality, but because we can all be content with the varied and tasty QS offerings around WDW and would rather spend more time on attractions than table service dining.

With our packages purchased, we had some ADR choices to make. I won’t rehash the decision-making process since this is not a pre-trip report, but suffice it to say that it isn’t easy to appease six adults and one child all with very different palates. Plus, at that point in time, my friend and her DH and baby were also going to come with us, and I had to account for their preferences, as well. Eventually we selected the following ADRs: 50s Prime Time lunch, Whispering Canyon lunch (for them), Ohana breakfast (for my family), Ohana dinner, Crystal Palace breakfast , Tusker House breakfast , San Angel Inn dinner, Biergarten dinner, Garden Grill dinner , BOG lunch, and Cape May Café dinner. I was on a road trip when our 180 day mark hit, but I got up and used my phone to book all of our ADRs as soon as the window opened. Even though I was booking for 11 people (because my friend’s family was supposed to come), I was able to get everything we wanted at the times we needed. The main point of compromise was with 50s Prime Time and San Angel Inn. We’d settled on SAI, but my mom had always wanted to eat at 50s, and as kids, we’d walk into that restaurant at least once every trip only to have to walk back out again after my thrifty parents decided it was too expensive and we’d have to eat elsewhere (usually off-premises). SAI had the same nostalgic pull—we’d always see that restaurant and beg to eat there, but we never did. So we decided to book both and split meals at each one so that we could all get both experiences together.

Then after all the choices were made and ADRs booked, Disney released magic hours and party dates. My PPO breakfasts at Tusker and Crystal Palace were now on top of EMHs . And there would be a MVMCP on our MK day. We made the decision to book a back-up reservation at Kona Café on that MK night so that if we felt we couldn’t sacrifice the park time to Crystal Palace, we’d still have a plan. We weren’t worried about the Tusker House being atop EMH since we always have enough time at AK.

ADRs done, I contented myself for the summer planning our FPs and daily schedules. We had the baby to consider (two babies at that point), and I created an elaborate plan to maximize our FPs using the baby swap tickets and “confiscating” FP selections from those in the group who don’t like thrill rides. There were spreadsheets. And a color code. And then my friend decided not to come on the trip. So there were new spreadsheets and color codes. But my organization paid off—I got all our FPs at exactly the times I wanted at the 60 day mark. And for the most part, my slightly confusing, only understandable by me plan went off without a hitch. Well, there was one hitch thumbsup2 thanks, DH!), but we will get to that later in the trip report.

Enough background info...let’s get to the vacation!