We're going back!
Let me first explain my title. We honeymooned at CBR and have spent the majority of our milestone anniversaries at WDW (plus a lot of trips with the kids in between!) and we had planned to return last December to celebrate my 50th birthday which is in November, our 25th anniversary which is Dec. 19, and Brian's 50th birthday which is in January. With our anniversary falling so close to the anniversary of Lily's death, we were just not emotionally ready to return, nor to leave the boys by themselves that close to the anniversary and Christmas, so we are returning this year to celebrate instead!
Here we are on our honeymoon way back in 1998 (sorry about the pictures of pictures, I'm being lazy today!):
Our anniversary is in December, but we took our honeymoon in Aug/September due to my school schedule!
We did not celebrate our 5th anniversary at WDW because Logan's first birthday was 10 days after our anniversary and we didn't want to leave him that close to Christmas and his birthday.
10th anniversary:
15th anniversary:
Bonus 16th anniversary celebration for a single day after a cruise:
20th anniversary (we were there on our actual anniversary this year):
Now for this trip! We were very limited on when and how long this trip could be. Brian works as a paraprofessional at the high school and only has 3 personal days to use and he wanted to save his sick days in case he actually gets sick between now and then or later in the year, as he used all of his accumulated sick days plus some that other staff and teachers donated the semester after Lily's death. So we had to include a weekend in our park days and leave on an evening flight which I absolutely hate to do! I called to schedule this trip right after returning from our June trip to use the bounceback discount. The original dates I wanted were not available at CBR or any other hotel I was interested in, so we shifted the dates a little and will now be there Dec. 6-11. They also didn't have a king bed room available, so we will be in a water view 5th sleeper.
Our flight leaves from Columbus at 5:45pm on Friday the 6th. That allows Brian to get off at his normal time and still make it to the airport in time for the flight. I took Thursday and Friday off to prepare and pack.
We don't have tickets yet because there were no ticket deals going on at the time I booked. I was hoping they would extend the 4 park magic tickets that we used in June, but no such luck. Instead, they offered free park hopper upgrade when you book the holiday discounted rooms. Therefore, we are not eligible for that deal. Not sure if we will park hop or stick to the one park per day yet. We are not attending MVMCP or Jollywood Nights, so that limits what days we can attend MK and DHS if we choose to not get hoppers.
I am also undecided on whether we will purchase LLMP and what LLSP we will purchase. Rides are definitely not our focus this trip and there are only a couple that I want to be sure to ride. My initial thought was to buy LLMP for MK so I could get Tiana and DHS so I could be sure to get ToT and RnRC and a LLSP for Guardians, but with a short trip, I'm afraid I won't be able to get Tiana, which will negate the need to purchase for MK. Good thing I have awhile to decide what to do on that front!
I am contemplating purchasing a dessert party for our MK day because I definitely want to see the fireworks and Brian really despises the crowds for them. We've done the garden view before and enjoyed it, but now they have the garden area shared between before and after parties, so not sure it wouldn't be crowded as well, so thinking about the sit down one. We'll see. I am also thinking about a Candlelight Processional dining package, as that is a must see for me since we've never seen it.
I also have to find time to visit the Christmas Tree Trail at DS. This will probably have to be after our AK day.
Our return flight is at 3:50pm on the 11th. This leaves a little time for us in the morning, but not a whole lot to do much, so we'll probably do a sit down breakfast somewhere and resort hop a little bit before leaving for the airport.
Let me first explain my title. We honeymooned at CBR and have spent the majority of our milestone anniversaries at WDW (plus a lot of trips with the kids in between!) and we had planned to return last December to celebrate my 50th birthday which is in November, our 25th anniversary which is Dec. 19, and Brian's 50th birthday which is in January. With our anniversary falling so close to the anniversary of Lily's death, we were just not emotionally ready to return, nor to leave the boys by themselves that close to the anniversary and Christmas, so we are returning this year to celebrate instead!
Here we are on our honeymoon way back in 1998 (sorry about the pictures of pictures, I'm being lazy today!):
Our anniversary is in December, but we took our honeymoon in Aug/September due to my school schedule!
We did not celebrate our 5th anniversary at WDW because Logan's first birthday was 10 days after our anniversary and we didn't want to leave him that close to Christmas and his birthday.
10th anniversary:
15th anniversary:
Bonus 16th anniversary celebration for a single day after a cruise:
20th anniversary (we were there on our actual anniversary this year):
Now for this trip! We were very limited on when and how long this trip could be. Brian works as a paraprofessional at the high school and only has 3 personal days to use and he wanted to save his sick days in case he actually gets sick between now and then or later in the year, as he used all of his accumulated sick days plus some that other staff and teachers donated the semester after Lily's death. So we had to include a weekend in our park days and leave on an evening flight which I absolutely hate to do! I called to schedule this trip right after returning from our June trip to use the bounceback discount. The original dates I wanted were not available at CBR or any other hotel I was interested in, so we shifted the dates a little and will now be there Dec. 6-11. They also didn't have a king bed room available, so we will be in a water view 5th sleeper.
Our flight leaves from Columbus at 5:45pm on Friday the 6th. That allows Brian to get off at his normal time and still make it to the airport in time for the flight. I took Thursday and Friday off to prepare and pack.
We don't have tickets yet because there were no ticket deals going on at the time I booked. I was hoping they would extend the 4 park magic tickets that we used in June, but no such luck. Instead, they offered free park hopper upgrade when you book the holiday discounted rooms. Therefore, we are not eligible for that deal. Not sure if we will park hop or stick to the one park per day yet. We are not attending MVMCP or Jollywood Nights, so that limits what days we can attend MK and DHS if we choose to not get hoppers.
I am also undecided on whether we will purchase LLMP and what LLSP we will purchase. Rides are definitely not our focus this trip and there are only a couple that I want to be sure to ride. My initial thought was to buy LLMP for MK so I could get Tiana and DHS so I could be sure to get ToT and RnRC and a LLSP for Guardians, but with a short trip, I'm afraid I won't be able to get Tiana, which will negate the need to purchase for MK. Good thing I have awhile to decide what to do on that front!
I am contemplating purchasing a dessert party for our MK day because I definitely want to see the fireworks and Brian really despises the crowds for them. We've done the garden view before and enjoyed it, but now they have the garden area shared between before and after parties, so not sure it wouldn't be crowded as well, so thinking about the sit down one. We'll see. I am also thinking about a Candlelight Processional dining package, as that is a must see for me since we've never seen it.
I also have to find time to visit the Christmas Tree Trail at DS. This will probably have to be after our AK day.
Our return flight is at 3:50pm on the 11th. This leaves a little time for us in the morning, but not a whole lot to do much, so we'll probably do a sit down breakfast somewhere and resort hop a little bit before leaving for the airport.
)