TR - Our first Holiday visit

MickeyEars · 12-31-2008

When:
December 7-13, 2008

Cast of Characters:
Me
DH
DD (6)
DS(8)
DMIL
DFIL
DM
DD

This was the first trip ever to WDW for my in-laws.

My parents were meeting us at WL to surprise the kids.

We had planned to leave the house on Dec 7th at 5:30am to pick up my DMIL and DFIL by 5:45am, be on the road by 6:00am and arrive at the airport in plenty of time for our 8:45am flight. But since were supposed to get five inches of snow overnight and it's about an hour drive to the airport, we decided to be at my in-laws house at 5:00 a.m. just in case the roads were bad.

We arrived at the airport in no time, even with all the extra snow. The snowplow crews did a good job of salting the roads overnight and being that it was so early in the morning, traffic was very low. We got to the airport in no time, went right through security and had about an hour wait prior to our flight. We were in the air on time and actually arrived 20 minutes early into Orlando.

MickeyEars · 12-31-2008

We went directly to the Magical Express check in area and this is what we saw - people, people and more people. These couldn't all be for the ME, but they were! I said to DH "This is going to take forever". I think we only waited 15-20 minutes to check in at the ME desk and it was only another 10 minutes after that before we were headed to WL.

Would this be a sign of how crowded the parks would be - YES it would! We booked during the Pop Warner week - which I would NOT recommend ever doing. But we couldn't change our dates because I already had our flights scheduled and paid for. We did manage to make the best of the trip, even with the HUGE crowds.

Here is a pic of the ME line, it went from one end of the airport to the other. This picture is only half the line:

MickeyEars · 12-31-2008

We finally arrived at WL and checked in but our room wasn't ready. DMIL and DFIL's room was ready, so we dropped our carryon luggage in their room. DM and DD were waiting in the lobby to surprise the kids, they're room wasn't ready either, so we did a little exploring, went over to check out the DVC lobby, the kids played chess and then we grabbed a snack. Our rooms were finally ready about 3:00pm, so went and took a rest until it was time to head to Kona Cafe for dinner.

MickeyEars · 12-31-2008

We took a boat ride to MK to grab the Monorail to the Polynesian for our dinner at Kona Cafe, I can't remember what everyone had but I do remember that we all enjoyed our dinners. After dinner we stopped at the GF to check out the Gingerbread House and buy a gingerbread shingle to snack on later, which we discovered would be the worst food during this trip, the shingles tasted like cardboard. Then we headed back to WL for some much needed rest.

Our first full day would be at AK - more on that tomorrow.

johnkimv · 12-31-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by MickeyEars

After dinner we stopped at the GF to check out the Gingerbread House and buy a gingerbread shingle to snack on later, which we discovered would be the worst food during this trip, the shingles tasted like cardboard.

I thought it was just me. Just think how many they sell. People probably buy it thinking it has to be the best gingerbread ever- IT IS SO GROSS (and expensive)!!

We were there 11th-14th and although we only went to the parks in the mornings, I never really noticed the crowds. Our waits were very short- I guessed we picked the right parks on the right days!

Great TR, Keep it coming.

2nd Star · 12-31-2008

Great start with your TR...can't wait to read more. WOW!!! I have never seen the ME line that long.

keljen · 12-31-2008

Great start to your TR and we were lucky when we went that the ME lines and all the lines in the Parks were short and that's why we try to go within the first two weeks of December. Can't wait for more TR

momofaprincess · 12-31-2008

Wow!! That was a LONG ME line!! I've never seen it that long either!! Can't wait to read more!!!

DayDreamer · 12-31-2008

What a line!! I think seeing that would have made me just drop my bags in the middle of the concourse. Glad the crowds didn't affect your trip.

mickeysgirlz · 12-31-2008

Too bad about the gingerbread!

My friend works with the Pop Warner something or other . . .

she was there too and said the crowds were CRAZY!

Still sounds like you had a nice trip! Can't wait to read more.

Cynsayshi · 12-31-2008

I am so glad you said that about the gingerbread. I thought it was terrible!

timkelmom · 12-31-2008

Great start. I, too, bought gingerbread from the GF house and did not enjoy it. It was not fresh and it was hard. This was last year and we bought gingerbread men, but they were not good.

Can't wait for the rest of the TR.

MickeyEars · 12-31-2008

Our first full day at the parks was AK. DM and DDad are veteran Disney visitors so they decided to sleep in and join us later in the day for lunch, the rest of us headed out early to get to AK and do the Safari before the big crowds hit. We arrived just as the park was opening, went straight to the safari, it was awesome as usual. DS was bummed because his camera stopped working, poor little guy. After the safari the kids wanted to ride Primevil Whirl so we headed in that deirection. This was one ride I wouldn't be riding (I don't do well with spinning things) and DFIL wasn't interested either (that would change later). So DH, DMIL, DD and DS got on and rode, they all loved it and rode again for a second time. Here are a few pics.

We're headed out to the movies and lunch so I'll get to more AK later.

iluvwdw · 01-14-2009

GREAT start to the trip. WL is gorgeous during the holidays! I was there Thanksgiving week and it was CROWDED!!!!! But even with the wall to wall people, it was still magical.

Can't wait to hear more!

dixie · 01-14-2009

A lovely TR and great photos too, I would love to hear more about this time of year at WDW so please if you have time do some more TR?

12-31-2008	#1 (permalink)
MickeyEars Big Cheese Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: In the Mitten Posts: 950	TR - Our first Holiday visit When: December 7-13, 2008 Cast of Characters: Me DH DD (6) DS(8) DMIL DFIL DM DD This was the first trip ever to WDW for my in-laws. My parents were meeting us at WL to surprise the kids. We had planned to leave the house on Dec 7th at 5:30am to pick up my DMIL and DFIL by 5:45am, be on the road by 6:00am and arrive at the airport in plenty of time for our 8:45am flight. But since were supposed to get five inches of snow overnight and it's about an hour drive to the airport, we decided to be at my in-laws house at 5:00 a.m. just in case the roads were bad. We arrived at the airport in no time, even with all the extra snow. The snowplow crews did a good job of salting the roads overnight and being that it was so early in the morning, traffic was very low. We got to the airport in no time, went right through security and had about an hour wait prior to our flight. We were in the air on time and actually arrived 20 minutes early into Orlando. __________________ Tiggerific is my DH 1994 October: Our Honeymoon: Beach Club Resort 1997 April: POFQ 2003 February: POFQ (first trip with the kids) / October: All Star Sports (our anniversary get-a-way) 2004 September: Coronado Springs (We survived Hurricane Jeanne) 2007 Jan: POFQ / Aug: Caribbean Beach 2008 August: All Star Sports (just me and DH ) December: Wilderness Lodge 2009 April: Pop Century (our surprise to the kids 1 day at the MK April 17th) August: Pop My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Next trip...when the Fantasyland refurb is finished.

12-31-2008	#2 (permalink)
MickeyEars Big Cheese Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: In the Mitten Posts: 950	Re: TR - Our first Holiday visit We went directly to the Magical Express check in area and this is what we saw - people, people and more people. These couldn't all be for the ME, but they were! I said to DH "This is going to take forever". I think we only waited 15-20 minutes to check in at the ME desk and it was only another 10 minutes after that before we were headed to WL. Would this be a sign of how crowded the parks would be - YES it would! We booked during the Pop Warner week - which I would NOT recommend ever doing. But we couldn't change our dates because I already had our flights scheduled and paid for. We did manage to make the best of the trip, even with the HUGE crowds. Here is a pic of the ME line, it went from one end of the airport to the other. This picture is only half the line: Attached Images __________________ Tiggerific is my DH 1994 October: Our Honeymoon: Beach Club Resort 1997 April: POFQ 2003 February: POFQ (first trip with the kids) / October: All Star Sports (our anniversary get-a-way) 2004 September: Coronado Springs (We survived Hurricane Jeanne) 2007 Jan: POFQ / Aug: Caribbean Beach 2008 August: All Star Sports (just me and DH ) December: Wilderness Lodge 2009 April: Pop Century (our surprise to the kids 1 day at the MK April 17th) August: Pop My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Next trip...when the Fantasyland refurb is finished.

12-31-2008	#3 (permalink)
MickeyEars Big Cheese Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: In the Mitten Posts: 950	Re: TR - Our first Holiday visit We finally arrived at WL and checked in but our room wasn't ready. DMIL and DFIL's room was ready, so we dropped our carryon luggage in their room. DM and DD were waiting in the lobby to surprise the kids, they're room wasn't ready either, so we did a little exploring, went over to check out the DVC lobby, the kids played chess and then we grabbed a snack. Our rooms were finally ready about 3:00pm, so went and took a rest until it was time to head to Kona Cafe for dinner. Attached Images __________________ Tiggerific is my DH 1994 October: Our Honeymoon: Beach Club Resort 1997 April: POFQ 2003 February: POFQ (first trip with the kids) / October: All Star Sports (our anniversary get-a-way) 2004 September: Coronado Springs (We survived Hurricane Jeanne) 2007 Jan: POFQ / Aug: Caribbean Beach 2008 August: All Star Sports (just me and DH ) December: Wilderness Lodge 2009 April: Pop Century (our surprise to the kids 1 day at the MK April 17th) August: Pop My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Next trip...when the Fantasyland refurb is finished.

12-31-2008	#4 (permalink)
MickeyEars Big Cheese Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: In the Mitten Posts: 950	Re: TR - Our first Holiday visit We took a boat ride to MK to grab the Monorail to the Polynesian for our dinner at Kona Cafe, I can't remember what everyone had but I do remember that we all enjoyed our dinners. After dinner we stopped at the GF to check out the Gingerbread House and buy a gingerbread shingle to snack on later, which we discovered would be the worst food during this trip, the shingles tasted like cardboard. Then we headed back to WL for some much needed rest. Our first full day would be at AK - more on that tomorrow. Attached Images __________________ Tiggerific is my DH 1994 October: Our Honeymoon: Beach Club Resort 1997 April: POFQ 2003 February: POFQ (first trip with the kids) / October: All Star Sports (our anniversary get-a-way) 2004 September: Coronado Springs (We survived Hurricane Jeanne) 2007 Jan: POFQ / Aug: Caribbean Beach 2008 August: All Star Sports (just me and DH ) December: Wilderness Lodge 2009 April: Pop Century (our surprise to the kids 1 day at the MK April 17th) August: Pop My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Next trip...when the Fantasyland refurb is finished.

12-31-2008	#6 (permalink)
2nd Star Big Cheese Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: NJ(Wishing it was Forks) Posts: 977	Re: TR - Our first Holiday visit Great start with your TR...can't wait to read more. WOW!!! I have never seen the ME line that long. __________________ SHANELL I love pirates AP holder DVC member since 9/07(SSR/BLT) WDW 8/80 10/86- Sheraton Vistana 8/92-GF 8/94- AS Sports 4/95- Hilton 7/99-Radisson 2/07-POP 5/07- AS Music 9/07- CSR 12/07-CBR 5/08-AKV 9/08-OKW1/09-VWL/OKW 5/09-AKV-Kidani 10/09-BLT/DCL/OKW Up Coming Trips-5/10-BLT 9/10-1st trip to DL Disney On Ice : Celebrations-11/26 My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Flower and Garden '10 167 days 20 hours 17 minutes

		MouseBuzz.com > Mouscellaneous > Trip Reports
TR - Our first Holiday visit

12-31-2008	#7 (permalink)
keljen Mouse Meister Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Too far from Disney Posts: 1,221	Re: TR - Our first Holiday visit Great start to your TR and we were lucky when we went that the ME lines and all the lines in the Parks were short and that's why we try to go within the first two weeks of December. Can't wait for more TR __________________ Walt Disney World - Always on my mind My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Cruise on new NCL ship 347 days 14 hours 17 minutes

12-31-2008	#8 (permalink)
momofaprincess and a prince too.... Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Northeast PA--pike county Posts: 1,845	Re: TR - Our first Holiday visit Wow!! That was a LONG ME line!! I've never seen it that long either!! Can't wait to read more!!! __________________ ~Melissa~ My Disney Countdown Counting down to: gotta get a lease!! 11 days 11 hours 17 minutes

12-31-2008	#9 (permalink)
DayDreamer The Executive Gentleman Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Maryland Posts: 2,246	Re: TR - Our first Holiday visit What a line!! I think seeing that would have made me just drop my bags in the middle of the concourse. Glad the crowds didn't affect your trip. __________________ Imaaaaaaginaaaation, imaaaaaginaaaation A dream can be a dream come true, With just that spark in me and you. 2008 - Polynesian & Vacation Village 2006 - Contemporary & Sheraton Vistana 2005 - Orange Lake 1996 - Offsite 1993 - Honeymoon Offsite 1986 - Offsite 1982 - Great Aunt's House 1980 - Great Aunt's House 1977 - Disneyland - Aunt's House

12-31-2008	#10 (permalink)
mickeysgirlz Substitute Birthday Fairy Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: 2.5 hours from the Magic! Posts: 6,292	Re: TR - Our first Holiday visit Too bad about the gingerbread! My friend works with the Pop Warner something or other . . . she was there too and said the crowds were CRAZY! Still sounds like you had a nice trip! Can't wait to read more. __________________ -JEN 31 trips to the Happiest Place on Earth! Dec 17-20 AKL (FIRST TIME @ AKL ) Christmas trip! Yippee I met some members: Wishy, Val, Princess Alyssa, ddoll, vlogilvie and Rowdy! I tweet! Facebook Linkedin My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Another CHRISTMAS TRIP! Shhhh surprise for the DDs! 23 days 15 hours 17 minutes

12-31-2008	#11 (permalink)
Cynsayshi Senior Mouseketeer Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: In the middle somewhere Posts: 334	Re: TR - Our first Holiday visit I am so glad you said that about the gingerbread. I thought it was terrible! __________________ Cyn Can't wait for my next trip! And the trip after that, and the trip after that.... 11/09 POFQ 5/08 Pop 12/07 ASMo 8/07 GF 2/07 SSR 11/05 AKL 9/05 DL off-site 12/04 CSR - first trip to Disneyworld! Another 2-time DL Cast Member My Disney Countdown Counting down to:** Change of plans - anniversary trip with the kids Enjoying our quick getaway!!!

12-31-2008	#12 (permalink)
timkelmom MB's Happy Camper Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: I am an Rver, home is where you park it. Posts: 3,707	Re: TR - Our first Holiday visit Great start. I, too, bought gingerbread from the GF house and did not enjoy it. It was not fresh and it was hard. This was last year and we bought gingerbread men, but they were not good. Can't wait for the rest of the TR. __________________ There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, Tomorrow is just a dream away. A Dream is A Wish Your Heart Makes Keep Moving Forward! Catch up on our travels @ www.timkelmom.blogspot.com MouseBuzzers I Have Met Chastmaster Quakercub DAC921 USASMIG789 LisaLovesMickey Angell1975 Bransworld WEDINDISNEY DZNYCROPPER My Disney Countdown Counting down to: NEW MOON!! LOVE IT!!

12-31-2008	#13 (permalink)
MickeyEars Big Cheese Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: In the Mitten Posts: 950	Re: TR - Our first Holiday visit Our first full day at the parks was AK. DM and DDad are veteran Disney visitors so they decided to sleep in and join us later in the day for lunch, the rest of us headed out early to get to AK and do the Safari before the big crowds hit. We arrived just as the park was opening, went straight to the safari, it was awesome as usual. DS was bummed because his camera stopped working, poor little guy. After the safari the kids wanted to ride Primevil Whirl so we headed in that deirection. This was one ride I wouldn't be riding (I don't do well with spinning things) and DFIL wasn't interested either (that would change later). So DH, DMIL, DD and DS got on and rode, they all loved it and rode again for a second time. Here are a few pics. We're headed out to the movies and lunch so I'll get to more AK later. Attached Images __________________ Tiggerific is my DH 1994 October: Our Honeymoon: Beach Club Resort 1997 April: POFQ 2003 February: POFQ (first trip with the kids) / October: All Star Sports (our anniversary get-a-way) 2004 September: Coronado Springs (We survived Hurricane Jeanne) 2007 Jan: POFQ / Aug: Caribbean Beach 2008 August: All Star Sports (just me and DH ) December: Wilderness Lodge 2009 April: Pop Century (our surprise to the kids 1 day at the MK April 17th) August: Pop My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Next trip...when the Fantasyland refurb is finished.

01-14-2009	#14 (permalink)
iluvwdw BLT for me! Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Floral Park Village (Long Island), NY Posts: 7,412	Re: TR - Our first Holiday visit GREAT start to the trip. WL is gorgeous during the holidays! I was there Thanksgiving week and it was CROWDED!!!!! But even with the wall to wall people, it was still magical. Can't wait to hear more! __________________ Kim LIFE IS JUST BETTER WHEN YOU HAVE A DISNEY TRIP PLANNED! 1997 Double Tree ~ 1998 Vistana ~ 1999 April Vistana ~ 1999 July Vistana ~ 1999 Sept All Star Movies ~ 2000 Vistana ~ 2001 Vistana ~ 2002 Vistana ~ 2003 Aug Vistana ~ 2003 Dec All Star Sports, Polynesian & OKW ~ 2004 Feb Vistana ~ 2004 Dec Vistana ~ 2005 Vistana/All Star Music 2006 SSR and Vistana Villages ~ 2007 Sheraton Safari, Vistana, POP Century ~ 2008 Vistana Villages, Animal Kingdom Villas My Disney Countdown Counting down to: Our First Stay at BLT as DVC Members - President's Week 2010! 81 days 14 hours 47 minutes

01-14-2009	#15 (permalink)
dixie MB'S BRITISH AMBASSADOR Join Date: May 2002 Location: England Posts: 2,272	Re: TR - Our first Holiday visit A lovely TR and great photos too, I would love to hear more about this time of year at WDW so please if you have time do some more TR? __________________ STRASBOURG- AUG/SEPT O9 MED CRUISE- NOV 09 NEXT DISNEY?? WHO KNOWS My Disney Countdown Counting down to: POR VACATION AT WDW GONE TO ENJOY THE MAGIC

User Name		Remember Me?
Password

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes	Rate This Thread
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode	Rate This Thread:

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Disney World pictures of Holiday Wishes at Cinderella Castle	WDWmemories	Trip Reports	5	12-26-2008 06:29 PM
Holiday Pricing Continues!	DisneyDad	WDW Restaurants	14	12-04-2007 09:35 PM
Holiday Time At The Resort!	DezineWiz	Disneyland Resorts	1	10-10-2004 07:46 PM
Disney Company Holiday D-Card	PVHNat	Disney Discussion	7	12-29-2003 07:58 AM
Disney announced 2002 Christmas schedule	mickey	Front Page News	2	07-09-2002 03:09 PM