I've gone back and forth with myself over the last few months if I'd do a trip report at all since this wasn't the trip I envisioned, but I keep coming back to all of the photos I took and how it would be nice to share some of them. So, I guess I'm doing this. Still, I'm going to put this out there right now...there were a number of things that bothered me during our trip. Nothing was ruined or anything like that, but I am going to share both the good and the bad and it won't be sugar coated or pixie dusted. Still, it's been about 2.5 months since the trip, so some of my negativity has mellowed a bit too, so that'll help.
It's been a couple of years since I posted a trip report on here, so I'm a bit rusty with all of this. I didn't do one for our 2016 trip since it involved another Disney forum group and then we had a longer than average break from vacations because we went through a move. Yup, all that vacation money went into fun things like paint, carpet, etc.
First off...we moved out of our old house in late June, lived in a hotel (family of 4 plus a dog) for about a week and a half, and then moved into our new home in early July. About a month before the closing on our old house, my husband suggested we go to Disney for Christmas. We're not rookies and know this is not the ideal time for crowds and pricing, but it's what worked with everything else. Of course, this also meant I was dealing with 180 dining booking right as all of this moving stuff was hitting peak stress levels. Oh, and since my hubby didn't want me putting any $ into vacation stuff until we were in our new home, I didn't have the +10 luxury when booking dining. Nothing like being up at 4:45am CT for 8 days in a row as you're about a week out from a closing. We are also Houston area and live in part of town that was badly flooded by Hurricane Harvey, so there were a handful of days where I had to sit there wondering if we'd be dealing with more home things for our $ vs. vacation. We were very lucky and did not flood, but a week later, my family went through Hurricane Irma, so that was also super nerve wracking as well. Thankfully, everyone came out of that OK too, and it was pretty much smooth sailing until trip time.
So here are the details...
WHO: Me (Sandy), my husband David, my girls Samantha and Kendall...and for a portion of the trip, my brother, SIL, their kids and my parents.
Yup, this is all of us just before being seated at 'Ohana.
WHEN: December 15th-24th (16th-23rd at WDW)
WHERE: The Swan...We knew we'd be between peak and holiday pricing for our trip, but after staying at POR in 2016, we decided we only want to stay Epcot area or monorail loop for future trips. I didn't feel like scaling back on our dining plans (a decision I'd regret), so I chose the Swan over a Disney resort. Even with all of the fees, the Swan's overall price per night was on par with the mods, but we got the great location, beds, and bigger rooms for the price.
WHAT: I bought 6 day single park tickets. While I do enjoy the flexibility with hoppers, I feel like we waste so much time hopping to justify the cost. So, we skipped them. We're also not DDP people, so it was OOP for us. My parents and brother are now APs, but decided TiW wasn't worth it to them after having it for a year, so we rely on passholder discounts and Disney Visa discounts for food.
HOW: Driving...it's a cost saver, but I've been asked that we fly for any future trips. I think everyone is kind of over the road trip.
So, if you've ever seen my past reports, you know I like a surprise. It's gotten to the point that the kids asked to be surprised. I knew they wouldn't be completely blindsided because I asked them for a bunch of feedback. So, this became more of a...you know it's coming, but you won't know when. At least planning things around the holidays makes it easier to have trip goodies delivered to your home without tipping them off.
I was excited for this one because I was finally going to get to do the surprise pick up at school. The kids go to different schools now, so it was a bit more challenging, but I was ready. It also helps that we celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah and with Hanukkah starting a few days before our trip, I had a few days where I could work in trip goodies into their gifts without making them suspicious. Honestly, the biggest challenge was packing. I had to take some time off from work, add things to suitcases that are in the closets in increments that wouldn't raise any eyebrows and then pull it all together in the few hours of school on the last day before Christmas break. Easy..right? Oh, and the last Hanukkah gift before the trip was Disney gift cards, and as far as the kids knew, we'd be heading to go shopping after school let out for break so they could spend them. I just never said where we'd be spending them. LOL
Samantha was the first to get picked up, but they were having a holiday party and I had to get the car ready. So, David went into the party while I prepped the vehicle. It looked better in my mind that it came out, but it still worked. I had light up mouse ears on the head rests, light necklaces draped around them, Disney plush, and obviously all of the luggage in the back.
Unfortunately, I completely screwed up the filming of the surprise reveal for Samantha. That being said, it was great! We totally got her and she was so giddy. I did get Kendall's surprise, but she's not as much fun because she claims she had it all figured out.
I did still have one surprise still up my sleeve that would totally get her- more on that a bit later.
We hit really bad traffic getting out of our town since all of the schools were letting out for the holidays, but once we were out, it was a pretty easy drive. Unfortunately, with the later start, there was no way we were going to make our goal of getting to Tallahassee. We couldn't leave any earlier because Kendall had exams, so we'd have to settle for spending the night in Pensacola. We woke up bright and early the next day and started heading towards Orlando. I absolutely hate the drive through the FL panhandle, but it is what it is. We also hit really bad traffic on I-75 due to an accident right before the FL Turnpike, but we made it to WDW by just after 3pm.
This one's a bit better...
*********************************************************
So, that's it for now. I normally speed through my TRs, but I have so much going on with work, house stuff, kid stuff, etc. that this might actually take me a while...especially once I get into the bulk of the pictures. All of this so far was done on my phone, which is just ok, but I finally got a new camera and lens. So, I took A LOT of pictures. Are they all amazing? No, but they're much better.
I also accidentally picked Large sizing for the photos on this first post. I promise to pick a more normal size for subsequent posts.
Coming up...More of Dec 16th- check in drama and excitement, a room with a view, parking, and dinner/fireworks plans.
It's been a couple of years since I posted a trip report on here, so I'm a bit rusty with all of this. I didn't do one for our 2016 trip since it involved another Disney forum group and then we had a longer than average break from vacations because we went through a move. Yup, all that vacation money went into fun things like paint, carpet, etc.
First off...we moved out of our old house in late June, lived in a hotel (family of 4 plus a dog) for about a week and a half, and then moved into our new home in early July. About a month before the closing on our old house, my husband suggested we go to Disney for Christmas. We're not rookies and know this is not the ideal time for crowds and pricing, but it's what worked with everything else. Of course, this also meant I was dealing with 180 dining booking right as all of this moving stuff was hitting peak stress levels. Oh, and since my hubby didn't want me putting any $ into vacation stuff until we were in our new home, I didn't have the +10 luxury when booking dining. Nothing like being up at 4:45am CT for 8 days in a row as you're about a week out from a closing. We are also Houston area and live in part of town that was badly flooded by Hurricane Harvey, so there were a handful of days where I had to sit there wondering if we'd be dealing with more home things for our $ vs. vacation. We were very lucky and did not flood, but a week later, my family went through Hurricane Irma, so that was also super nerve wracking as well. Thankfully, everyone came out of that OK too, and it was pretty much smooth sailing until trip time.
So here are the details...
WHO: Me (Sandy), my husband David, my girls Samantha and Kendall...and for a portion of the trip, my brother, SIL, their kids and my parents.
Yup, this is all of us just before being seated at 'Ohana.
WHEN: December 15th-24th (16th-23rd at WDW)
WHERE: The Swan...We knew we'd be between peak and holiday pricing for our trip, but after staying at POR in 2016, we decided we only want to stay Epcot area or monorail loop for future trips. I didn't feel like scaling back on our dining plans (a decision I'd regret), so I chose the Swan over a Disney resort. Even with all of the fees, the Swan's overall price per night was on par with the mods, but we got the great location, beds, and bigger rooms for the price.
WHAT: I bought 6 day single park tickets. While I do enjoy the flexibility with hoppers, I feel like we waste so much time hopping to justify the cost. So, we skipped them. We're also not DDP people, so it was OOP for us. My parents and brother are now APs, but decided TiW wasn't worth it to them after having it for a year, so we rely on passholder discounts and Disney Visa discounts for food.
HOW: Driving...it's a cost saver, but I've been asked that we fly for any future trips. I think everyone is kind of over the road trip.
So, if you've ever seen my past reports, you know I like a surprise. It's gotten to the point that the kids asked to be surprised. I knew they wouldn't be completely blindsided because I asked them for a bunch of feedback. So, this became more of a...you know it's coming, but you won't know when. At least planning things around the holidays makes it easier to have trip goodies delivered to your home without tipping them off.
I was excited for this one because I was finally going to get to do the surprise pick up at school. The kids go to different schools now, so it was a bit more challenging, but I was ready. It also helps that we celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah and with Hanukkah starting a few days before our trip, I had a few days where I could work in trip goodies into their gifts without making them suspicious. Honestly, the biggest challenge was packing. I had to take some time off from work, add things to suitcases that are in the closets in increments that wouldn't raise any eyebrows and then pull it all together in the few hours of school on the last day before Christmas break. Easy..right? Oh, and the last Hanukkah gift before the trip was Disney gift cards, and as far as the kids knew, we'd be heading to go shopping after school let out for break so they could spend them. I just never said where we'd be spending them. LOL
Samantha was the first to get picked up, but they were having a holiday party and I had to get the car ready. So, David went into the party while I prepped the vehicle. It looked better in my mind that it came out, but it still worked. I had light up mouse ears on the head rests, light necklaces draped around them, Disney plush, and obviously all of the luggage in the back.
Unfortunately, I completely screwed up the filming of the surprise reveal for Samantha. That being said, it was great! We totally got her and she was so giddy. I did get Kendall's surprise, but she's not as much fun because she claims she had it all figured out.
I did still have one surprise still up my sleeve that would totally get her- more on that a bit later.
We hit really bad traffic getting out of our town since all of the schools were letting out for the holidays, but once we were out, it was a pretty easy drive. Unfortunately, with the later start, there was no way we were going to make our goal of getting to Tallahassee. We couldn't leave any earlier because Kendall had exams, so we'd have to settle for spending the night in Pensacola. We woke up bright and early the next day and started heading towards Orlando. I absolutely hate the drive through the FL panhandle, but it is what it is. We also hit really bad traffic on I-75 due to an accident right before the FL Turnpike, but we made it to WDW by just after 3pm.
This one's a bit better...
*********************************************************
So, that's it for now. I normally speed through my TRs, but I have so much going on with work, house stuff, kid stuff, etc. that this might actually take me a while...especially once I get into the bulk of the pictures. All of this so far was done on my phone, which is just ok, but I finally got a new camera and lens. So, I took A LOT of pictures. Are they all amazing? No, but they're much better.
I also accidentally picked Large sizing for the photos on this first post. I promise to pick a more normal size for subsequent posts.
Coming up...More of Dec 16th- check in drama and excitement, a room with a view, parking, and dinner/fireworks plans.
