"I'm going to make a spreadsheet of all the changes" a WDW and US December 2017 PTR

PixieT78

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 16, 2014
Hi everyone!! Welcome to my first pre-trip report! I haven't done a trip report ever either but I thought it would be fun to do one this time. And I need something to help the time go by faster!!

So first off, the who, what, where, when and why portion! I apologize for the lack of photos and will see if I can figure out how to add some in later.

Who: DH, 46 and myself, 39. We are big HP fans but also Disney fans (which is coming out in me more and more as time goes on!). This will be our third trip to the World together, though I also went once when I was 10. We've also did a trip to DLR last year.

What: 8 super fun and packed days at Universal Studios and Walt Disney World! We got a 2 day park to park pass for US which comes with an extra day free and a 6 day park hopper for WDW. In hindsight, we jumped a bit quick on the tickets and probably could have done 5 days and possibly even no park hoppers (or at least waited to see if we wanted it when we were there) but oh well.

Where: 2 nights at the Hard Rock Hotel and 5 nights at the Pop Century. Initially we weren't going to stay on Universal property again but we couldn't resist the express passes and the hotel within walking distance. Our preferred method of touring is rope drop, a nap/swimming/hotel break and then back at the parks for late afternoon to close so this allows for that while at Universal. I've wanted to stay at Pop Century for awhile and a value resort was exactly what we wanted financially for this trip.

When: Dec 9-16, 2017. Though technically we leave on Dec 8 and fly overnight to land in Orlando at 7am. I've been wanting to see WDW at Christmastime since the first time we went. For the longest time it wasn't possible with my job because of certain dates I need to do things on. But due to some changes, my travel possibilities have opened up! I'm so so excited about it.

Why: 10th Anniversary Celebration! Well, that's our excuse anyway :) We do celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary on Dec 29 but it was kind of a last minute realization, rather than the actual reason we are going. A trip wasn't even really on our radar but one day I decided to see if we had enough points to fly to Orlando. Turned out we did. And then it just kind of snowballed from there.

Next up: a look at our WDW and Universal trip history!
 
A perfect time to visit! And Universal/IOA is doing new things for Christmas in the HP areas this year too! Also be sure to see the Macy’s Holiday Parade at Universal and we like the live stage show "Grinchmas Wholiday Spectacular" at Islands of Adventure.
 
Our Previous Disney Trips:

Our first trip was in Sept 2010. When we heard about WWoHP opening up, we had joked around about how awesome it would be to go but didn't really take it that seriously. However after joking for awhile I decided to look into it and it seemed doable. September seemed like a perfect time to go as it gave us time to save some money and could celebrate our birthdays there! We had no idea what we were in for :) We pulled zero fast passes if I recall correctly and really had no idea that was even a thing. ADRs only happened 3 or so months out and we just went to the places that were available. We did all the night shows - Illuminations, fireworks a couple time and Fantasmic. I remember it was hot and we way overdid it the first day (12+ hours of park time). We stayed at the All-Star Music resort and had booked with the dining package freebie. Rented a car a couple of days into the trip and did a couple days of going back and forth to Universal throughout the 10 days we were there and spent 2 of our vacation days travelling.


Our second trip was in April 2015. Diagon Alley was opening at US so we figured why the heck not go again! This time I had discovered the DIS boards so extensive planning began...We booked in at CBR, purchased the dining plan and I was up in the middle of the night my time at 180 days to book our ADRs and got all of our top choices. And 60 days out I was up early again booking our FPs. Again we got everything we wanted, including SDMT! However in what has become a bit of a running joke, a couple of weeks before our trip I changed everything about our reservation - removed the dining plan, changed to room only and used a cheap tickets discount to book the last 3 nights of our trip at the Hard Rock Hotel! It was a crazy change but we ended up so happy with it. We really enjoyed CBR and used touring plans to get a renovated room with a view of the lake. We started doing rope drops in the morning then coming back to the hotel for a swim and a nap before heading back to a park or for dinner and really enjoyed that touring style. We splurged on a meal at the Yachtsman which was to die for and managed to get a table in the West Wing for BOG! Staying at the HRH for universal allowed us to continue doing our early mornings (Grad nights were on so the parks opened earlier and closed around 6) with a midday break. We were going to spend our last night at MK since US closed so early so we could enjoy the fireworks but we were DONE by then and ended up whipping back to the Hogs Head for one last adult beverage before crashing hard in our hotel room.


Our trip to DLR was in October 2016. We got a great seat sale and this was supposed to be a quick, cheap(ish) trip to see DLR and Universal Hollywood. We booked in offsite and then I started to look around. Aaaand we ended up staying at the Disneyland Hotel. Then shortly before we left I added a night to our trip which ended up at the Paradise Pier since the DLH was sold out for that night. We also spent one night at the Universal Hilton so we could spend a couple days at Universal Hollywood instead of trying to get through LA from the DLH. Fun fact: we (digitally) signed the paperwork on an offer to sell our house while it line in DLR and found out it all went through while waiting for WOC to start. It was a good trip and we had a good time but I think for both of us it solidified that our hearts are in Florida :)

Next up: tentative plans and the changes begin
 
Following along! :wave2: We had to delay our Sep trip during the hurricane so we'll be there the same time as you in December! Can't wait to see the new HP Christmas stuff.
 


Planning attempt #1!

We decided with this trip that we were going to try to keep it simple and (relatively) low cost. We were able to book our flights on points which is what started this whole thing so that has been fantastic with keeping the costs down. Our flight is booked to leave Vancouver at 10:30pm on Dec 8 and fly overnight directly to Orlando, arriving bright and early at 7:06am on the 9th. We haven't done a direct flight to Orlando before, though we have flown over night through Toronto once before so are quite happy this is an option. While we are definitely tired when we get there, it is really nice to not lose an entire day travelling. Hopefully we can get some decent sleep!

Initially when we started looking, we were considering going from Dec 9-18 or 19th but I ultimately decided I couldn't miss that much work at that time of year so we cut it back to the 16th. But oddly, our hotel of choice, Pop Century, only showed availability if we booked to the 18th. Very odd. I called to book, because I also had received a PIN code so wanted to do what was cheaper. The CM was great and the Holiday offer was the better one so I booked that to 18th, with assurances I could just cut the days back if I needed to.

We have also decided to rent a car, which again is something we've done the other two times we were there. The first time we didn't have a car the whole time, just got it to go to Universal a few days and ultimately decided this is what we prefer. I'm not the most patient person so waiting for a bus at the end of the night with the many many other people that stayed for the fireworks/Fantasmic/Illuminations etc with very sore feet is just not my thing.

So then all of a sudden on a lovely Monday in August, we were booked for a trip to Disney! Let the excitement begin!
 

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