The year of living Disney TR - Winter edition! Update! 11/27/17 mini November trip report

[cinderkelly]

Welcome everyone to our Year of Living Disney
Trip report series, Winter Edition!



This was our very first time visiting Disney World during the Christmas season and it was also the very best trip we have had this year so far.
​

Who went on this adventure:

I'm Kelly,
My DH, Bob
And our youngest Daughter, Kiya , she is 8 going on 16
Dates of the trip : December 3-8, 2016

We have such a great time together!​

This was our third trip this year, thanks to splurging on an Annual Pass. I went with my oldest son (23) at the beginning of June, and we stayed at the Contemporary. Bob and I went on a grown ups only trip for our 10th anniversary at the end of September ( see TR link below), we stayed at the Polynesian villas, and I'm also preparing to go again with my DD18 at the end of Feb. staying at the Beach Club Villas . I have officially turned into a Deluxe resort snob! I just love trying out the different resorts, they are all so different and fun. We've also become quite used to renting DVC points, which is a great way to save some moolah if you want to stay deluxe and not pay deluxe prices. Cha Ching!

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So where did we stay this time you ask? We ended up doing a triple split stay because we wanted to rent points at the Boardwalk Villas but when we checked with our agent they only had two nights available for our trip dates. Ok, no problemo, so we decided that our first two nights would be at Wilderness Lodge, then we would move over to the BWV. Then my DH decided we should add a night ( why not!) and we settled on staying at the Boardwalk Inn side, but got an awesome Annual Passholder rate on a Club Level room .

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We ended up doing the regular dining plan for our first two nights at WL, the DxDP for our two nights at the BWV, and paid out of pocket for meals on our last day since we had Club Level. Sound confusing? It really wasn't! Everything went very smoothly and I'd do it again that way in a heartbeat. We decided to also rent a car on this trip, which made resort hopping easier, and plus my DH got really tired of the busses last trip, so he was much happier having a car.

We also had a few other "firsts" on this vacation, not only our first time visiting in December, it was our first MVMCP, my first DISmeet, and our first time staying Club Level, and our first time renting a boat for a relaxing afternoon.

So I hope you'll join me as I write the next chapter in our year of Living Disney!

coming up next.....travel day and we check into the magic at Wilderness Lodge

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[Grumpy's Wife]

Joining in. I really enjoyed your last trip report. It's great to see you are really getting your moneys worth out of the annual pass. I look forward to hearing all about this one too.

 

[ariane37]

Here I am! Love reading holiday TR's and I always love hearing about stays at my (so far) favorite resort, WL

 

[cinderkelly]

Joining in. I really enjoyed your last trip report. It's great to see you are really getting your moneys worth out of the annual pass. I look forward to hearing all about this one too.

HI! Thank you so much! And thank you for joining in again! Looks like you'll be at DW just a couple of weeks after us!

Here I am! Love reading holiday TR's and I always love hearing about stays at my (so far) favorite resort, WL

Yea! I'm so glad you're here Ariane . We had a great stay at WL, they have the most comfy beds!

 

[MuppetFanJM]

Joining in!

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Joining in, and on the first page!

I'm looking forward to this since I desperately want to stay at Wilderness Lodge and see the World at Christmas time!

We've also become quite used to renting DVC points, which is a great way to save some moolah if you want to stay deluxe and not pay deluxe prices.

I've never looked into this. I guess the main reason I have never stayed deluxe is the prices. I was also never sure how to go about renting DVC points.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Joining! I'm so happy you started a TR so I can relive our holiday trip again! Hehehe.

 

[cinderkelly]

Joining in!

Hiya! And thanks so much for joining us!

Joining in, and on the first page!

HI Jeff! Look at you , first page, awesome!

I'm looking forward to this since I desperately want to stay at Wilderness Lodge and see the World at Christmas time!

It really is the most beautiful, plus the temps that time of the year were amazing, low 80's and low humidity, it was awesome

I've never looked into this. I guess the main reason I have never stayed deluxe is the prices. I was also never sure how to go about renting DVC points.

Renting DVC points kind of freaked me out at first also, but now we've done it 3x and I can't imagine paying full price for a deluxe resort. If you ever want more information, I'd be more than happy to pass along some info

Joining! I'm so happy you started a TR so I can relive our holiday trip again! Hehehe.

Hi Su-Lynn! So glad to have you here! Photos of us coming up soon! I've got to get this one going so I can talk about our next DISmeet coming up!

 

[kittylady1972]

GREAT start so far. I love the title...I'm thinking 2017 will be a big 'Disney' year for us thanks to APs also. With any luck, I'm hoping to plan at LEAST 3 trips in 2017 and maybe even FOUR if I can swing it!

 

[DVCKerry]

I love that you are doing the split of Wilderness Lodge & Boardwalk! Both of those resorts have such different theming and decor, it allows you to get the best of two different worlds. So excited to see what adventures are in store.

 

[Steppesister]

Hola, Chica!!

I'm here and ready to do my best (which sucks lately) of following along.

Back to read in a bit....

ETA: MORE DD? Foooooood...

Looking forward to the Christmas Decoration pix!

 

[cinderkelly]

GREAT start so far. I love the title...I'm thinking 2017 will be a big 'Disney' year for us thanks to APs also. With any luck, I'm hoping to plan at LEAST 3 trips in 2017 and maybe even FOUR if I can swing it!

Hi! Thanks so much! We didn't plan on doing so many trips this year originally but hey, have Annual Pass, will travel! It definitely helped with the budget that we went in smaller groups of 2 or 3, rather than all 5 of us at once. I would love to do at least 2 trips a year minimum though after this. Love having the AP!

I love that you are doing the split of Wilderness Lodge & Boardwalk! Both of those resorts have such different theming and decor, it allows you to get the best of two different worlds. So excited to see what adventures are in store.

It was really fun to do that split, I don't think I could ever go back to DW at Christmas time and not stay at WL for at least part of the trip, it's truly magical! Thanks for joining in!

Hola, Chica!!

Hola back at ya! So happy to have you here Liesa!

I'm here and ready to do my best (which sucks lately) of following along.

No judgement here, you know how I've been at keeping up with everyone else's TR's, which is no Bueno!

ETA: MORE DD? Foooooood...

Just a little bit of DD, enough to keep Mama and Kiya happy! I'm afraid I've created a signature restaurant connoisseur! Bob could eat corn dogs every day on vacation and be perfectly content.

 

[Steppesister]

Hola back at ya! So happy to have you here Liesa!

WOOT! Let your regularly scheduled partying continue.....

No judgement here, you know how I've been at keeping up with everyone else's TR's, which is no Bueno!

Well, now that you mention it....

Just a little bit of DD, enough to keep Mama and Kiya happy! I'm afraid I've created a signature restaurant connoisseur! Bob could dat corn dogs every day on vacation and be perfectly content.

I kinda get this...

I got myself a little spoiled over the last couple of trips... Eek!

 

[pepperandchips]

HERE and on time this time! I can't wait to see what fun you had on your split stay adventure!!!

 

[cinderkelly]

Well, now that you mention it....

I know, I've been terrible at keeping up lately

I kinda get this...

I got myself a little spoiled over the last couple of trips... Eek!

It's so easy to do with so many amazing food options there, and since we usually do the dining plan it makes it even easier to get spoiled!

HERE and on time this time! I can't wait to see what fun you had on your split stay adventure!!!

Hi Melinda! So glad to have you join us!

 

[cinderkelly]

Day 1
Travel and check into Wilderness Lodge
Part 1
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We had an 8:00 am flight the day we left, which meant spending the night by the airport the night before. Since we have to leave our house 3 hours before our flight to get to the airport it's just as easy to stay close. I love getting to do that because it feels like you're on vacation already!

We were still up at 6am the next morning, but fortunately only about 10 min. from the airport. We were taking Delta on the way to Orlando, which meant a stop in Atlanta on the way, but it was cool, we got a great airfare and neither of us had been to ATL airport before.

Ready to go!

We had a great flight to ATL and had about a 3 hour layover there, so we grabbed some lunch and wandered around the airport for a bit. I always love flying into new cities, the houses that you fly over to get to ATL airport are massive!

Pretty soon it was time for our next flight, which was really awesome because we each had our own tv, fancy! (we usually fly southwest so this was a nice treat!) Kiya and I played games and she watched part of a movie; but the really awesome part about this flight was that it was only an hour long!

Pretty soon we had grabbed our rental car and were on our way!


Kiya hung out in the kids movie area while we checked in. I love this kids area, it's so cozy!

I also love the little surprises you find at WL like these carvings found in the underside of the check in desk!

And of course the spectacular, massive tree!!

We were assigned room 6042 which was awesome! It's a standard view room but this is what was our view

Not too shabby, right?!

We got to see this below but it was ok because the aroma coming from the smokehouse was heavenly!



Here you can also see the progress of the new cabins they are building.

They look like they are going to be great, but if they are as pricey as the bungalows at the Poly this middle class girl is never going to be able to stay in one.

But, hey, the WL is great!
And here's a couple of obligatory room photos!

Bunny!



After getting settled in we hopped on the boat over to Magic Kingdom to see this!

Sorry this ones kind of out of focus, but trust me there are more castle photos coming up! It is absolutely stunning all lit up for the Holidays!

Continued on next post....more pictures!

 

[cinderkelly]

Day 1
Part 2
More photos

Since I got my max upload on the last post..
(@pkondz you should be proud of me)



We're here!



I love how the lights on the castle change colors!



We had a really, really good first night just wandering around looking at all the decorations and hopping on some rides. The weather was perfect, coming from Colorado it was so nice to be out on a December evening and not have to wear a heavy coat! We also discovered it was a huge perk to be able to take the WL boat back and forth to the MK, while there was a huge line for the monorail and busses at the end of the night, we just hopped on the boat and sailed away... bye bye suckers! ( just kidding, kinda, not really)


Coming up next, we visit MK again, and my first DIsmeet! ​

 

[Raeven]

Following along! Ooo I can't wait till we stay at WL and can just sail away at the end of the night

 

[cinderkelly]

Following along! Ooo I can't wait till we stay at WL and can just sail away at the end of the night

Hi Raeven! WL is pretty awesome!

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

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