I finally had a few minutes to sit down and think about our trip last week. In short, we loved it and I would absolutely go back this week more often if my husband was willing (he missed family). 7 nights was just perfect for two days in each park so we didn't have to rush anything, but we were also ready to go home. Wilderness Lodge was just stunning and while we got to see a lot of the other resorts and they looked great too, it never gets old coming back to it's sights and smells after a long day. Felt like home.
Things we did right: we slowed down on this trip to take in more of the sights and try some fun things. Caring for Giants Elephants was a huge highlight but hands down the best moment of our trip was the boat ride from MK to WL after
MVMCP. Our boat sang Christmas carols and O Holy Night over the dark water just gave me chills! We also got a bit of pixie dust with front row seats to Lion King. Cast members were all really great too. On Thanksgiving day I could tell some were a little tired, and a few admitted to missing their families when we talked, but they smiled all the same and gave us a great trip.
Our only regrets were MVMCP and EPCOT on Friday for the first day of Festival of the holidays. Lesson learned on both counts. My kids just aren't old enough to hang with us long enough to make the extra cost of MVMCP worth it and we left right after the first parade with both kids in tears. We'll try again in a few years. Friday at EPCOT was insanely busy. I'd really looked forward to the Christmas Cookie Stroll as a fun family activity but what we got were lines lines lines and places that were constantly out of cookies. At the last stop I finally just told the cast member to give my cookie to someone else, as I'd been waiting for 20 minutes after paying and we had another reservation to get to.
I'm kind of sad to see this thread pass now, it was such a fun way to plan our trip and get some new ideas. We'll be taking next year off from the parks to go to Aulani, then back for the 50th.