Well this is very exciting for me to be putting together...a pre-trip report for our first park visit as official DVC members! My wife Kelly was adamant about returning to the World in December to experience Christmas in Disney World so we started looking into what our trip might look like back in January.
The last couple of visits we've made WDW, including the most recent in August '16, we rented DVC points to stay in DVC accommodations. We started looking at what that would run us for a trip in December and ended up stumbling across a few resale sites. Well after a few inquires and a lot of research we ended up putting in a bid on a membership at Saratoga Springs to get our foot in the door.
Almost 10 long weeks later we finally received our official membership information from Disney yesterday and here we are...proud DVC members but still kicking ourselves that we didn't seriously look into doing this years ago!
Nonetheless, we are super excited and as new members we quickly started getting into the nitty-gritty of planning our Christmas vacation.
WHO
The usual suspects. Me (Matt), my wife (Kelly) and our two daughters (Ella and Lennon). It's early enough that maybe the grandparents might sneak their way onto the trip but at this point it's just the four of us. We had such a blast last year and we are very much looking forward to getting back again this year.
WHEN
This much we have planned. We will be making our journey from the snow and cold of Edmonton, AB down to what we hope will be far warmer weather in WDW from December 6-16, 2017. I am very much looking forward to wearing shorts for 10 straight days in the month of December which is definitely not going to happen here at home!
WHERE
We jumped online last night once we had everything confirmed and set up with the membership and quickly secured a studio at our home resort, Saratoga Springs. While we'd have no issues with staying here for our upcoming adventure, the idea at this point in time is to look for accommodation elsewhere once the 7 month booking window for non-home resort stays opens up.
We have been floating around a ton of options to this point and ideally our top choices would be (in no order whatsoever) Boardwalk, Beach Club, Wilderness or if we get really lucky, Grand Floridian. It's more than likely we will have to jump on some wait lists for our requests and maybe even split resorts for our trip but that wouldn't be an issue at all. At least we know we have a place to stay and we can start looking into the rest of the trip details from here to December.
*EDIT* - Since first posting we've switched resorts. First night will be spent at AKL and the rest of the trip will be enjoyed in a one-bedroom villa at the Beach Club. Very much looking forward to experiencing two resorts we have yet to stay at.
We have put our name on the wait list for that first night so hopefully the entire stay will be at Beach Club but if not we will definitely make due.
WHAT'S NEXT
We've got a pretty long countdown before we finally step foot back at WDW and from now until then we can concentrate on all the other particulars. As Canadian residents we will be taking advantage of the 25% off theme park tickets, we'll have to secure flights and of course we will be on top of potentially changing resorts, booking our ADR's and scheduling our FP+ once those windows open up.
There will be many updates made to this report in the coming months but I couldn't wait to get back on here and share our news!
Pumped to be DVC, very excited about seeing WDW all dressed up for the holidays and I really can't wait to experience Pandora for the first time!
Looking forward to posting more details as the planning unfolds and I hope that you'll continue to read along and provide your suggestions for restaurants or other fun experiences we should try when we make our way back.
The last couple of visits we've made WDW, including the most recent in August '16, we rented DVC points to stay in DVC accommodations. We started looking at what that would run us for a trip in December and ended up stumbling across a few resale sites. Well after a few inquires and a lot of research we ended up putting in a bid on a membership at Saratoga Springs to get our foot in the door.
Almost 10 long weeks later we finally received our official membership information from Disney yesterday and here we are...proud DVC members but still kicking ourselves that we didn't seriously look into doing this years ago!
Nonetheless, we are super excited and as new members we quickly started getting into the nitty-gritty of planning our Christmas vacation.
WHO
The usual suspects. Me (Matt), my wife (Kelly) and our two daughters (Ella and Lennon). It's early enough that maybe the grandparents might sneak their way onto the trip but at this point it's just the four of us. We had such a blast last year and we are very much looking forward to getting back again this year.
WHEN
This much we have planned. We will be making our journey from the snow and cold of Edmonton, AB down to what we hope will be far warmer weather in WDW from December 6-16, 2017. I am very much looking forward to wearing shorts for 10 straight days in the month of December which is definitely not going to happen here at home!
WHERE
We jumped online last night once we had everything confirmed and set up with the membership and quickly secured a studio at our home resort, Saratoga Springs. While we'd have no issues with staying here for our upcoming adventure, the idea at this point in time is to look for accommodation elsewhere once the 7 month booking window for non-home resort stays opens up.
We have been floating around a ton of options to this point and ideally our top choices would be (in no order whatsoever) Boardwalk, Beach Club, Wilderness or if we get really lucky, Grand Floridian. It's more than likely we will have to jump on some wait lists for our requests and maybe even split resorts for our trip but that wouldn't be an issue at all. At least we know we have a place to stay and we can start looking into the rest of the trip details from here to December.
*EDIT* - Since first posting we've switched resorts. First night will be spent at AKL and the rest of the trip will be enjoyed in a one-bedroom villa at the Beach Club. Very much looking forward to experiencing two resorts we have yet to stay at.
We have put our name on the wait list for that first night so hopefully the entire stay will be at Beach Club but if not we will definitely make due.
WHAT'S NEXT
We've got a pretty long countdown before we finally step foot back at WDW and from now until then we can concentrate on all the other particulars. As Canadian residents we will be taking advantage of the 25% off theme park tickets, we'll have to secure flights and of course we will be on top of potentially changing resorts, booking our ADR's and scheduling our FP+ once those windows open up.
There will be many updates made to this report in the coming months but I couldn't wait to get back on here and share our news!
Pumped to be DVC, very excited about seeing WDW all dressed up for the holidays and I really can't wait to experience Pandora for the first time!
Looking forward to posting more details as the planning unfolds and I hope that you'll continue to read along and provide your suggestions for restaurants or other fun experiences we should try when we make our way back.
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). I always feel such a sense of relief when my flights are booked...it's just a confirmation that we are ACTUALLY going because we can get there. Too bad about the loss on the red eye suggestion, but 5 pm isn't bad and your room will be ready which is always welcoming and comforting!
