PTR: A LONG TIME COMING – WDW (PO-RS&CSR 18-24 Dec) & Disney Magic (24-30 Dec) - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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I am actually nervous about posting this trip report (how silly is that??)! But here we go:
First Stop WDW (18-23 Dec):
Getting there:
We technically started our trip on the night of 15 Dec. Our DS (Alec) had a Christmas program at school that didn’t end until almost 9pm. We hit the road to Chicago as soon as it ended. We spent the night in Chicago so that we could pick up our DD (Hannah) at O’Hare Friday afternoon. We failed to take into account Chicago traffic on a Friday afternoon. Our first leg should have been around 7 hours or so to get to Nashville (our stopping point for the night) however – it took over 3 hrs just to get through Chicago. So, we rolled into Nashville somewhere around 1:30 am…UGH! We managed to get on the road by 10:30 or so Saturday morning – ORLANDO OR BUST!!! We arrived at the Hilton Bonnet Creek around 9:30pm, got checked in and settled for a quick night.
18 Dec –
Hubby and I had to get our workout in first before we checked out of the Hilton so the kids got to sleep in and rest up for MVMCP. We checked out and headed over to Shades of Green to get our Military Park Hoppers and finally arrived at Port Orleans Riverside late in the afternoon, got checked in and settled in our room (not too much to do since we were only staying one night) around 3pm. No rest for the travel weary – we got out our tickets for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and went straight to the park at 4pm! We had a blast! We got to ride all the big rides, got our sugar high at the Confectionary, and we had GREAT seats for the parade/fireworks. (TIP: Go to Frontier Land – great seating for the parade and if you go to the bridge across from Splash Mountain – you have a PERFECT view of the fireworks!!!) We ABSOLUTELY LOVE Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party!!!
19 Dec –
The best laid plans of mice and men….I wanted to get up early and head over to Coronado Springs right away and then get a full day in at Hollywood Studios. Well, I was not feeling up to par that morning and caused us to barely check out of PORS at the appointed time! So, we had to make a pit stop at CVS pharmacy on our way to Coronado Springs for meds for me. We finally got checked in, had lunch, and to our room well after 2pm. We decided that the best thing to do was to just chill out and head down to Downtown Disney for a movie and dinner. We ended up seeing Sherlock Holmes and getting into T-Rex for dinner (we just walked right in - it was a little before 6pm - and got a table with no wait! Surprise!!)
20 Dec –
Animal Kingdom Day – quick day at the park! Kids rode Kali River Rapids, we all did Expedition Everest, saw It’s a Bug’s Life, hit Dino Land for Dinosaurs and roller coaster in the “carnival” area. After a couple of hours in the park, the kids decided they were done for the day and wanted to go back to the pool. So, we headed back to the resort! We spent the rest of the afternoon (a good 4 hours or so) at the pool and then after showers, etc - we headed to Boma for dinner! YUM!!! We love that place and I would pay to eat there just to have their curry pasta salad and fufu!!!
21 Dec –
EPCOT Day – we got to Epcot around 10:30 or so. We immediately got our Fast Passes for Test Track then went to the Universe of Energy (cute). After that we headed STRAIGHT TO FRANCE to get our fill of pastries – everyone thought I was crazy for running no less than 3 miles a day on vacation but I ran 6 miles this day! What a YUMMY breakfast ;-) We had a FULL day at EPCOT and finished up the evening with dinner at Les Chefs. It was good and very expensive. I’m not sure that I’ll do it again. There was nothing wrong with the restaurant at all – great service, great atmosphere, good food – just extremely pricey for a family of four!!
22 Dec –
Magic Kingdom day – we opted to spend the morning at the pool and then go to the MK later in the day – just in time for our dinner reservation at Tony’s. We had already done everything we really wanted to do so it was sort of a bonus night at the park. We rode a few of the bigger rides, caught the last Hall of Presidents show, got caught up in the MASS of humanity on Main Street trying to get out before the fireworks (we saw them during MVMCP) and called it a night!! (See below in my wrap-up to find out why fireworks are a little bit "intense" for my hubby and me.)
23 Dec –
Hollywood Studios day – another quick day! We spent about 2 hours in the park and then headed back to the pool and then to pack for the cruise! We ended up having dinner down at the pool – that was rather a fun way to the end the trip.
WRAP UP FOR DISNEY:
We had a great time at Disney for it to be the week prior to Christmas. Let me clarify that a little – we LOVE Christmas time at Disney but we always worry about the crowds. My DH and I don’t do crowds too well anymore (little bit of PTSD going on after 2 tours in Iraq). The crowds weren’t nearly as bad as we thought they would be. We were blessed with Military Park Hoppers which saved us TONS of money. We were at Disney for 2 weeks back in March and did almost everything there was to do so this was sort of a “bonus” trip before the cruise. ADR’s are a MUST this time of year if there is somewhere you really want to eat. Having booked dinner for most nights saved me a lot of stress!! I wasn’t overly impressed with Les Chefs or Tony’s either one. Don't get me wrong - the food was good, the atmosphere was fun but boy did those 2 meals put a hurting on the vacation budget - lol!! We really took advantage of the pool and the resort this time around – seems we spent more time in the pool than in the parks.
I’m not sure that I’ll ever stay anywhere other than Animal Kingdom Lodge again though. We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and Coronado Springs this go round. We were spoiled by AKL on our previous 2 trips! Again, don’t get me wrong, CSR was nice – the rooms were really nice, etc. It’s just that CSR is rather spread out – it’s a little bit of hike from Casitas 2 to the Dig Site Pool. It’s not THAT far – it’s just sort of inconvenient to have to walk across the resort to the pool and back! With AKL it’s just down the elevator and out the door! Plus we really, really, really LOVE the atmosphere at AKL! There is a quiet pool in the Casitas area but the kids wanted all the “party” activity that was going on at the Dig Site pool.
All-in-all - FABULOUS, ABSOLUTELY MAGICAL TIME HAD BY ALL (and with little to no stress!!)!!!
I am going to finish this post-trip report over on the Disney Cruise forum as the rest of this trip was on the Disney Magic.
(And I'll try to figure out how to get pictures in another reply post!)
Pictures attached/thumbnails - hopefully you can see them!
First one: Alec and I at the Lego Store
2nd: Alec and Hannah at Boma
3rd: Any wonder I had to run 6 miles??
4th: My hubby making fun of me and all my picture taking
5th: The kids enjoying the Dig Site Pool at CRS
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Sounds like a fun and relaxing time! We were there at the same time (our trip was Dec. 19-26), so I know how crowded it was, especially toward the latter part of your trip.
It is fun to try new resorts from time to time, but we have our favorite(s) too and it's hard to go with anything else!
Love your photos. Your kids are adorable. And Hook 'Em Horns!
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
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! So glad you all had a great time! 
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Pixie Dust
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)! But here we go:
Great pics! 
AKL! It's my favorite! 
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