Third Time's the Charm! A June, Oct/Nov and Dec '19 PTR complete 12/22!

[lvcourtneyy]

New Trip Report Link

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Even though I'm still working on my June trip report (found here: Throw Up on the Lap Bars Please- A June 2019 TR), I have also started the trip report for our fall trip here:

On the Floor and Out the Door!: a 17 day HalloChristmas, RunDisney, MNSSHP, HHN, MVMCP adventure

I'm so excited to share all the fun we had- please join me there!​

 

[lvcourtneyy]

December 14 and 15 Plans

Saturday, December 14

The plans for this day are still up in the air. We have reservations for breakfast at Boma but since we have a late night on Friday at the meetup, we may not want to get up for that. So, we also have lunch reservations for Sanaa and Kim's never been to Sanaa so that may be the better option.

One plan is to do AK after hours.

Another option is to leave the day open as a resort/ Disney Springs day to see the resort gingerbread houses and trees.

Then we could go to Disney Springs and have a drink and appetizer crawl. Jock Lindsay's Hangar Bar has been announced to have a holiday theme which I really want to see! But it's also probably gonna be crazy crowded in DS on a Saturday so that may be a better plan for another day.

Sunday, December 15

Spoiler alert for the Fall TR but I ended up canceling our California Grill brunch reservation because Mike informed me dressing up and going to brunch was a woman thing??

I figured all hope was lost for this trip but I set a reservation finder for it and snagged one for 12:20 the other day! I grabbed the reservation and then texted my sister to ask if she wanted to do it and held my breath until she answered with an excited yess!

I love Mike but this is why I need sister trips too.

Then at night, we have MVMCP! We ordered matching pajamas for the party and are working on shirt designs so I'll share them when we figure it out!​

 

[TanzUnited99]

I love Sanaa and I don’t see brunch as a womanly thing but then you never know...

At least you’re going with your sister instead

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I agree that Sanaa may be your better plan... it's an excellent restaurant and you may appreciate a lazy morning after the US event the night before. You know you'll stay until the end and get every last experience you can out of the event - you'll be tired!

AK After Hours sounds like fun, but as the holiday décor is only out during the holidays perhaps that would be your best bet? Both options are great!

Dressing up and brunch is a woman's thing? Well, Mike's loss is your sister's gain! A sister brunch sounds awesome! (Great snag on the ADR!)

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I love Sanaa and I don’t see brunch as a womanly thing but then you never know...

At least you’re going with your sister instead

Me neither men are strange sometimes lol

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I agree that Sanaa may be your better plan... it's an excellent restaurant and you may appreciate a lazy morning after the US event the night before. You know you'll stay until the end and get every last experience you can out of the event - you'll be tired!

That's what I'm thinking too. I dream of that bread service!

AK After Hours sounds like fun, but as the holiday décor is only out during the holidays perhaps that would be your best bet? Both options are great!

It's a struggle! Ultimately, I'll do whichever my sister wants!

Dressing up and brunch is a woman's thing? Well, Mike's loss is your sister's gain! A sister brunch sounds awesome! (Great snag on the ADR!)

men are strange lol! Thanks! I didn't think I'd actually manage to grab it but I'm so excited!

 

[pkondz]

Well... sheesh... <hangs head in shame>

Just found this...

 

[missangelalexis]

It starts to get annoying every time you have to explain why you're going to Disney again so i totally get it!

Your arrival day plans sound great. The Orlando Informer events always sound so fun! And unlimited butterbeer? Amazing!

So exciting that you got a CG brunch reservation! That will be really fun for you to enjoy with your sis.

Can't wait to see your MVMCP outfits!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Well... sheesh... <hangs head in shame>

Just found this...

No worries! It happens to the best of us!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

It starts to get annoying every time you have to explain why you're going to Disney again so i totally get it!

It really does! I mean I get that it's not the most normal thing ever to go to Disney again a month after coming home but I also don't get what difference it makes to other people!

Your arrival day plans sound great. The Orlando Informer events always sound so fun! And unlimited butterbeer? Amazing!

Right! I'm hoping to drink my weight in butterbeer lol!

So exciting that you got a CG brunch reservation! That will be really fun for you to enjoy with your sis.

I was shocked to be able to get one so close but I can't wait!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Plan Changes and Dec 16/17 plans

We leave in 3 days!!!

Did anyone think we were gonna make it to this trip without any resort changes?

Not when I'm involved!

One of my travel agent perks was that I was able to get a free 3 day, 3 park Universal ticket for my sister. This means we can over to Universal whatever time we want on the 13th and can spend the first half of the 14th before DAK AH there also.

We're both excited about more Universal time but it meant that it made no sense to spend the night of the 13th on Disney property and uber back and forth a zillion times to Universal.

So now, we're going to spend the first night at the Rosen Inn near Universal. This is the same hotel Mike and I stayed at for the Universal portion of our Fall trip. It's nothing fancy but it's clean, the staff were nice and it's 5 minutes to Universal. And as a bonus, I got a priceline deal for it for $58 for the night!

Then the 14-17 we will spend on Disney property. While I was on priceline looking for a hotel near Universal, I found one of their express deals that I was 99% positive was a Disney hotel so I took the plunge.

It ended up being All-Star Movies! The exact same hotel we originally planned on but for $81 a night!

And when I linked the reservation to MDE it was a preferred room! This change saved us about $300!

Because of the savings, we decided to add a rental car into our plans.

And now back to our regularly scheduled plans!


December 16th is our Epcot day! I am so excited to finally see the official International Festival of the Holidays!

I've marked off so many things that I want to eat and drink in the festival app. It's going to be flat-out impossible to try them all without getting alcohol poisoning and gaining 30 pounds but we'll do our best!




We have FPs set:

9:45-10:45 Mission Space
10:45-11:45 Spaceship Earth
12:50-1:50 Frozen Ever After

We have an early dinner reservation with the Candlelight processional dining package for Biergarten! Biergarten is new for both of us and it will be our 2nd time seeing the Candlelight processional. Our reserved seating is for the last show at 8:15. Our other priorities for the day include seeing some of the Holiday Storytellers in the WS (are there any we should prioritize seeing over others?) and meeting Belle in her Christmas dress if we don't meet her at MVCMP!

I'm sure Kim will want to watch Epcot Forever so we will but I could take it or leave it.

December 17

Our last day

But our flight isn't until 9 pm so we can still have a day of fun!

We're starting the day with breakfast at Topolino's terrace!

I'm beyond excited for this meal! It will have just opened the day before (along with the whole resort!) so I can't wait to see the brand new resort also!

The character outfits look adorable and the menu looks delicious! Have I mentioned I'm excited?


(stolen from internet)

After breakfast, our day is open. I'm sure we'll spend some time exploring the resort. Afterwards, I think we'll spend some time at DS since I'm pretty sure Kim has never seen the Christmas tree trail and I read that Jock Lindsay's is getting a holiday theme. We'll probably make a stop at the outlets also and depending on time, we may squeeze in a few more hours at Universal!​

 

[TanzUnited99]

Haha glad I’m not alone in resort changes! Whoop on getting a preferred room at All Star Movies at a cheaper rate

Your plans look great...haha on the alcohol levels. It will be Christmas after all!

Yay on being one of the first to experience the character breakfast at Riviera resort

 

[amazingact21]

The resort changes seem to make a lot of sense. No point in driving back and forth from Disney when you can get an amazing deal at a hotel closer to Universal property!

 

[missangelalexis]

Smart move staying near Universal for your Universal time!

Wow, that's so great that you were able to get All Stars for so much cheaper!

Your Epcot plans sound great!

Omg I hadn't seen the outfits for Topolinos!! They are so cute!!!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

What great hotel deals! I'm sure you'll love staying closer to Universal (it really does make more sense) and whoo-hoo for the preferred room!

The International Festival of the Holidays should be great! The good news is with two of you you're able to split food and drinks so you're able to try more things.

 

[pkondz]

We leave in 3 days!!!

That's practically... now!

So now, we're going to spend the first night at the Rosen Inn near Universal. This is the same hotel Mike and I stayed at for the Universal portion of our Fall trip. It's nothing fancy but it's clean, the staff were nice and it's 5 minutes to Universal. And as a bonus, I got a priceline deal for it for $58 for the night!

Wow! Not bad at all!!

It ended up being All-Star Movies! The exact same hotel we originally planned on but for $81 a night!

And when I linked the reservation to MDE it was a preferred room! This change saved us about $300!

Sweet deal!!!

December 17

Our last day

​

 

[NJlauren]

Wow that’s some amazing savings on your hotels!!!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

PTR Complete!

Thanks everyone for all the comments, love and suggestions throughout this PTR! I never made it back before our trip last week but we had a fantastic time!

Unfortunately, I came home and got the flu so I'm stuck in bed feeling miserable but hoping to recover before Christmas!

With this trip done, it's time to declare this PTR complete! 2019 was a year that was only supposed to have one Disney trip but I ended up going 4 times

I will do a trip report for this most recent trip but I'm not crazy enough to attempt three trip reports at the same time so it will have to wait until I finish our June TR!

In the mean time, you can read about the June trip here and the Fall trip here.

I do plan to start a 2020 PTR once we have the plans more concrete. They definitely include a Disneyland trip and getting use out of our Universal APs but I'm still working out how to fit in more WDW trips! ​

 

[pkondz]

I never made it back before our trip last week but we had a fantastic time!

Great!

Unfortunately, I came home and got the flu so I'm stuck in bed feeling miserable but hoping to recover before Christmas!

Sorry to hear that. Get well soon!

 

[Noreen411]

Hi. I saw one of your earlier posts on this thread about probably taking a cruise in 2020.

Royal Caribbean has a lot of ships leaving out of Bayonne NJ in 2020. Some are older smaller ships, but some are newer big ships.

Oasis of the Seas is huge and has just gone through a refurbishment adding water slides and other fun things. The itinerary isn’t the most exciting but one stop is Port Canaveral and you can get a quick Disney fix for the day if you wanted.

Anthem of the Seas is also a large ship with tons of things to do including bumper cars, simulated sky diving, trapeze school, etc.

I’ve gone on a decent amount of Royal Caribbean cruises and really enjoy them. I have done 1 Celebrity cruise which we also really enjoyed but they only have 1 ship leaving out of Bayonne. We also love Disney.

A great website for cruising is cruisecritic dot com (normal web format). You can go to the boards section and choose different cruise lines to ask questions about, read reviews, etc. Sort of similar to the Disboards. I post reviews with pictures there too (right now in the middle of writing a combination trip including a short cruise on Mariner of the Seas and Disney World).

I’d be happy to answer any cruise questions I can.

Can I ask a quick question...how do you get your pictures into your reviews on the Disboards?

Noreen