The...I’m so Excited we’re going to Disney @ Christmastime PTR - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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The...I’m so Excited we’re going to Disney @ Christmastime PTR
Dates: December 2- 6, 2010
Cast: Me- Letitia- 28- “Planner”
DD- Alianna- 7- “Pluto’s Biggest Fan”
DM- Roxann- 57- “Laid Back”
Celebrations: My mom’s birthday, and Alianna’s birthday, and My MBA graduation
Resort: Disney’s Polynesian Resort- 1st time staying here and 1st time staying Deluxe
How it all came to be: Well as most of you know we came to WDW in April of this year. We always fly with SWA, so when I bought our tickets they were a little on the high side. Needless to say I kept watching our flight prices and every time they would drop I would rebook at a lower rate. I built up a total of $180 in flight credits that I knew I would have to use by January of 2011 or I would lose them. So I started contemplating about where else I could go this year. I was considering going to the Mall of America in Minneapolis, MN for a weekend, just my daughter and I, then I looked at going to Vegas with some friends, and finally one of the guys in my office said, “You should go back to Disney for a long weekend in December to see the decorations?” Mouth dropped, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t even considered that a possibility. So I started pondering if I could afford another Disney trip in the same year, and when I saw how cheap it would be to go during Value Season it was a done deal. So I told mom that I though Alianna and I were gonna go back in December, and she said, “Ok I don’t want to go this time.” So I told Alianna it would be a mother/daughter trip. I told her that I would let her pick the resort, as long as it was one that I liked.
So we sat down and started watching the Disney Planning DVD and going over resorts. Since we were going for value season I knew I could afford a Moderate Resort, and if I could snag a bounce back we would do a Deluxe. So I made her narrow down 2 different resorts she would like to stay at. We were booked for CBR for April so I excluded that one, and didn’t like the look of CSR, so that left POR and POFQ for Moderate. I also started looking at Deluxe Resorts and narrowed it down to GF, Poly, CR, and BC. We must have watched that DVD a dozen times and each time she changed her mind about the Deluxe. She did say that she wanted POFQ for her Moderate pick. For Deluxe we narrowed it down to my two favorites which were Poly and Beach Club. They are my two favorite resorts and I saw excellent reviews on each. I told her that if we went to Poly without Grandma, she would cry cause that was her favorite resort. So we ultimately picked the Beach Club. We were watching the DVD another day and happened to be watching the part about the Poly and my mom walked into the room. She sat down and watched the entire review and then the Beach Club. I hadn’t talked about it very much with her and she never dreamed that we were staying in a Deluxe Resort. She said, how much will it be with the BB? I crunched the figures and she said, “OMG I wanna go, what will the difference be?” I gave her the numbers and she decided that she wanted to go so I knew at that point we were staying at the Polynesian.
Fast forward to our April trip, I made our reservation thanks to a 40% off bounce back left in our room for Dec 2-6. At that point I booked a package MYW base tickets plus the regular dining plan, 2nd level, garden view room in Tokelau, with DME service from the airport. Fast forward again to after we make it home from WDW and I write an email letter to Disney Customer Service about our “not so good” stay at CBR. A lady calls me about a week later to discuss my email and apologizes for several issues and says she will be sending me something in the mail. A week later I receive (3) 3-day MYW+PH tickets to use sometime in the next 20 years. I was very happy and called her to thank her. So then I was faced with a dilemma. We always come for 7 or 8 days, but this trip is only going to be for 4. I could save several hundreds of dollars if I switch from a package to a room only reservation. That would mean I would lose the DP. I have been 2 times with it, and 2 times without it. I much prefer having it, but it wasn’t a cost savings to keep it since it would mean I would have to keep one day tickets. So I eventually crunch the number and I would come out ahead if I change to a room only, only use the 3 day tickets, and pay OOP for my dining. So I call and change from a package to a room only and now here we are.
I booked our airline tickets a week ago and used all $180 of my SWA credits on our flights. These were the cheapest tickets I have ever seen. We are flying out of Pittsburgh, PA at 6:15 am on Thursday, December 2, 2010 for $59 down Nonstop and flying back out of Orlando at 1:05pm for $59 nonstop as well. These tickets are awesome, and I can’t imagine them dropping. In fact, they were at 150 each way before they dropped and ever since they have been 125. So I got my flights down and back much cheaper than just one way. Alright well now you have all the background information, I will post our PTR outline next.
Day 1 PTR:
Since we are flying out at 6:15 am, and need to be to the airport at 4:15, which means we need to leave our house at 2:00 am and the fact that we have never traveled during winter months (please no snow, please no snow, please no snow) we are going to go up to Pittsburgh Wednesday evening and stay at the hotel beside the airport so we can actually get some sleep and not have to get up so darn early. Which also means we can take the lovely little airport shuttle instead of parking in BFE and walking forever in very cold temps. I will have already checked us in online the day before so we will have our boarding groups……. (Hopefully ‘A’). Our flight is scheduled to take off at 6:15 and arrive at 8:40, so hopefully this is correct and we should be on our way to the Polynesian on Disney’s Magical Express. If we make it to MCO on time and leave soon on the DME I’m hoping to be at the Poly by 10:00. It would be perfect if our room is ready. We have never arrived on a Thursday, so hopefully that isn’t a big checkout day, and our rooms will be available, but if not, no big deal. We will head straight to DHS for the day. Our must do’s for this park are: TSMM (if FP still available), RnRC, ToT, Beauty & the Beast, Fantasmic, and our first time seeing The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights to close out our first night in the World. I didn’t make an ADR’s for this day because it’s our only day in DHS and I don’t want to leave the park at all, and they are closing at 8:00p.m that night, so I’m thinking we will do a lunch at Toy Story Pizza Planet and then probably get something at the Poly that night. We will probably explore the Poly a little that night since we will be in so early and then head to bed. This will be our first experience where all 3 of us have our own bed, since we will have 2 beds, and the pull out futon. YAY!
Great start. We went in early December a couple of years ago. It is a great time to visit the world. The decorations make it even more fun and beautiful. Congrats on your MBA!
Great start, how great about recieving the tickets from Disney, it is nice to know that they actually read your letter about the issues that you had at the CBR. Your first day plans sound great, the Osborne Lights are amazing. We also did a 4 day trip for the holidays and it was so worth it, definitely a wonderful trip.
Day 2- Epcot
Ok so this morning we will wake up at the Poly and walk over to the TTC and catch the monorail to Epcot. We never spend an entire day at Epcot, usually we go there on our arrival day, because we can realistically get through that park in about ½ day because we don’t spend a ton of time in the countries. This year I did it a little different because I want to really explore the countries and let Alianna see the storytellers around the world. Epcot opens at 9:00 a.m. so we will be there prior to rope drop and head strait to Soarin’ to ride and then walk towards World Showcase. We have a 9:40 reservation for Akershus Princess Storybook Dining. We have dined here on 3 occasions and Alianna absolutely loves it. We always do BBB before, but this time we aren’t going to do it. I have watched them enough that I know how to do the fairytale princess bun, we still have the face jewels from April, so the only thing I need to get is glitter aka “pixie dust” to put on her hair. I am ordering the Proclaim her a Princess from the Disney Florist to have it delivered to our room on Thursday while we are at the park and that way she will have the special tiara to wear, and I am having it signed by Aurora, and Alianna has a deluxe Aurora costume that I just ordered for her. We can always count on Aurora being at Akershus, so that way Alianna can thank her in person when she comes around to the table. I’m saying we will walk around WS for a bit and really explore the countries and do some Christmas shopping. We will head back to the resort to relax a bit and then go back to Epcot late in the afternoon. I want to see the Candlelight Processional, so I am going to shoot for the 5:00p.m. Showing and then do our dinner reservation. Right now it is for Tutto Italia, but I am booking Via Napoli when the reservations open up on Friday. Keep your fingers crossed that I get it. We will try and eat around 7:00 or so, and make it out in time to get a good place for Illuminations. There are EMH that night so we might stick around for a bit, but probably not stay until 12:30. Catch the monorail back to the Poly and turn in.
Day 3- Magic Kingdom/Parade Taping
I know what all of you are thinking right now…..”Why in the world is she going to MK the day they are taping the parade?” Well I was beginning to think I was crazy myself for planning MK on that day. Since we are only going to be there 4 days I wanted to maximize my time in MK and Epcot. On Friday, Epcot had EMH until 12:30, so I knew I could spend a good amount of time in the park, and MK is open until 10:00 tonight so that was my reasoning. We are not going to stand on the street in hopes of being filmed, but if Alianna happens to see The Jonas Brothers or Justin Bieber, that will make her day. So today we will be conquering as much of MK as we possibly can. We will eat breakfast at the Poly and then hop on the monorail over to MK. We will explore the park for the entire morning and then head to the Grand Floridian for our 2:00 Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Lounge. My mother is really excited about this one, as is my daughter. Her birthday party is in 2 weeks and she is having an Alice in Wonderland Mad Hatter Tea Party. She went to the Wonderland Tea Party last March and had a ball, but she is getting older and likes the idea of having a “big girl tea party”. So we will use this as lunch/break, and explore the GF holiday decorations (tree, gingerbread house) We are heading back to the MK until dinner time which is at Ohana’s back at our resort and then go back for SpectroMagic/Electrical Parade (whichever is happening in December) and close the evening with Wishes. The park closes at 10:00 so we will head back to the Poly and hit the bed.
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I'd actually like to be there sometime for the Christmas parade.
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