Nineteen nights of MouseFest, Disney and Christmas - THREAD 1 - UPDATED 1/11 - Page 4 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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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.
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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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.... 19 days. Sigh! Sounds heavenly. I'm glad our trips are going to overlap a bit, Chez. We'll have to raise our glasses in a birthday toast at AC because (shhhhh! don't tell anyone) I'm celebrating my 45th.
I've been hoping our paths would cross for several years and WooHoo! they're going to cross next weekend.
__________________
ºOº ~*~
Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
I am so envious of your three months of magic coming up....but at least we will all live on the excitement of your reports as you return from each of your exciting trips.
19 days for Chirstmas...the ultimate I think. Your hotel choices sound perfect, each giving your trip a new adventure. When I think of 19 days I think of all the wonderful palces you will get to eat and already my mouth is watering as I read your selections....
So you will be converting Mark's family, visiting with so many friends, it will be such an amazing time....
Your niece sounds like my daughter, I asked Abby if she wanted to eat with Cinderella at the castle she said, "No, I want to eat with Eeyore and Pooh" I was sad, I don't know if we will ever eat at the castle(I love Sleeping Beauty) so we booked Crystal Palace instead and Abby has become a true Eeyore lover!! I know you like that! We are planning on AK on Christmas Day as well so we might just see you! Have a safe trip!
Your niece sounds like my daughter, I asked Abby if she wanted to eat with Cinderella at the castle she said, "No, I want to eat with Eeyore and Pooh" I was sad, I don't know if we will ever eat at the castle(I love Sleeping Beauty) so we booked Crystal Palace instead and Abby has become a true Eeyore lover!! I know you like that! We are planning on AK on Christmas Day as well so we might just see you! Have a safe trip!
Pre-trip report – part three: we are going to be moving around a lot!
The next challenge was to see if we could swap around our hotel reservations. I was on the phone to the DVC as soon as the seven month window opened up. The significance of that is it’s the time that you can make bookings at any other Disney resort, other than your “home” resort. As I expected, we struck gold with the Boardwalk on our first night there. As Friday and Saturday night stays cost more in DVC point terms, quite often these are quieter nights. However, we weren’t as lucky with the Sunday and Monday night and waitlisted for each night. At least we’d get to spend one night at the Boardwalk and we’d be able to sample another DVC resort. Maybe the waitlist would come through for us this time…
A few days later, I called to try and add a night to our stay at the Beach Club Villas (wouldn’t you know it, I was calling a day too early! :headsmack: ) and while on the phone, I got told that one of our waitlist nights had come through for us! Of course, it had to be the Monday night, didn’t it? Well, I took it in the hope the Sunday night would also come through for us – otherwise, our plans would be a night at the Boardwalk, followed by a night at Saratoga Springs, followed by a night at the Boardwalk and then back to Saratoga Springs. My goodness, this could get very complicated. Please let that Sunday night come through at the Boardwalk!
So we left on our inaugural cruise around the Mediterranean in May with a bit of a mess on our hands for our December Disney trip. The plan was currently looking like this:
Saturday 8 December
Boardwalk Villas Sunday 9 December
Saratoga Springs Monday 10 December
Boardwalk Villas Tuesday 11 December – Sunday 16 December
Saratoga Springs Sunday 16 December – Thursday 27 December
Beach Club Villas
Like I say, a bit of a mess… anyway, we all know that the best way to deal with the end of one Disney vacation is by starting work on the next one and that couldn’t have been truer this time around. We got back from our Med cruise on 6 June and coincidentally, that was also the date that bookings were opening for DVC Members who didn’t own points at Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas to book there, so guess what I did when we got home?!
First of all, after waiting about 20 minutes to get through to DVC Member Services, I was cut off by the woman on the other end, who kept saying she couldn’t hear me, even though I could hear her fine! Anyway, second time around was a lot better, even if I did have to wait 10 minutes this time, my persistence paid off in the end. By the end of the call, I had got my missing night at the Boardwalk, as the waitlist had come through for us and two nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas in a one bedroom villa standard view (she lost the savannah view she did have – it went just as she went to book it for us and there were no studios available) for Tuesday 11 for two nights and then we’d move to our beloved Beach Club Villas to spend two weeks there. Finally, I was done with all the changes and the plan looked like this:
Once that was set, the next thing to do when we reached the 180 day mark was to make all our dining reservations and I’m forever indebted to friends who made the vast majority of those for me, especially Wendy, who I think I forced into making hundreds of calls for me....!
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Wow - talk about resort planning stress - but it seems as though it all worked out for you!! Can't wait to read your reviews of BWV and ALK - since we will be at BWV before the cruise in May!
Congratulations on getting the days you wanted at the places you wanted! It would have been a major pain to pack up and move resorts that often. All those days with Epcot as your neighbor--sounds like heaven.
Ok all that resort switching made my stomach upset just thinking about it!! Glad it worked out in a much better way! How cool you'll be trying out the AKL DVC! I can't wait to hear all about it!
Glad you got all the rooms you wanted....I love the idea of staying a few days at one resort and then trying another...it makes it like seperate trips (three great adventures rolled up into one)...
Can't way to hear all about your 19 days of meals.....
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days. Sigh! Sounds heavenly. I'm glad our trips are going to overlap a bit, Chez. We'll have to raise our glasses in a birthday toast at AC because (shhhhh! don't tell anyone) I'm celebrating my 45th. 
ºOº ~*~ 
PassPorter Guide Author
Anyway, second time around was a lot better, even if I did have to wait 10 minutes this time, my persistence paid off in the end. By the end of the call, I had got my missing night at the Boardwalk, as the waitlist had come through for us and two nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas in a one bedroom villa standard view (she lost the savannah view she did have – it went just as she went to book it for us and there were no studios available) for Tuesday 11 for two nights and then we’d move to our beloved Beach Club Villas to spend two weeks there. 
Can't wait to hear about all the ADRs 
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