Dreaming of APs - 2nd trip in 2022 | December 2022 PTR

EilonwyWanderer

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 12, 2017
In March we surprised our two girls with a birthday trip to Disney World and while I promise I'm not starting the thread just to show this video they ARE super cute:


And then because we had DVC points to burn thanks to the pandemic we booked a week at GFV in early December as well. Then I watched AP sales like a hawk because I planned on upgrading our tickets when we were there in March so that December wouldn't bankrupt us.

But they weren't on sale. And still aren't. Sigh.

So while trying not to think about the money I'll be spending on tickets...again...I've started planning our December trip! The March one as pretty whirlwind because it was the first time the girls were tall enough to ride nearly every ride at Disney World! We spent 13.5 hours at the Magic Kingdom the first day we were there and rode EVERYTHING. In fact the only thing I think we didn't manage to ride the whole time was Twilight Tower of Terror because the lines were insane the entire time we were there.

But that said, we now know what they liked and what they didn't and what we never need to wait in line for again (looking at you mine cars) so December can be a much more leisurely trip. At first I was like 'We don't even need that many dining reservations!' since we hit up our favorites in March and found some of them pretty lacking. Then of course when I started looking at the list of ones I still wanted to bring them to...well, you know where this is going:

1900 Park Fare* (not open yet but they'd love it and it's at our resort)
Akershus* (again not open but they'd love it)
Capt Cooks
Chef Mickey* <-- I went here as a kid I REALLY want to bring my kids.
Citricos*
La Creperie <-- can do quick service window I think?
Crystal Palace <-- characters!
Diamond Horseshoe <-- never done
Garden Grill <-- characters!
Garden View Tea Room* (not open yet but I REALLY want to take them!)
Grand Floridian Cafe
San Angel Inn* (my favorite)
Ohana <-- not sold on this
Marrakesh (not open yet)
Regal Eagle (mostly for my husband)
Artist Point Snow White <--maybe not, seems cool and I want a drink there but nothing for them to eat
Tiffins
Hoop de Doo* (MUST do if it's open!)
TRex
Tusker House
Victoria and Albert’s* (not open yet, would need a babysitter, we got engaged here so I DEFINITELY want to go again!)

* are places I would really like to take them.

Obviously I need to narrow this down. We'll have a kitchen we can actually cook in so I'm thinking that with the exception of Chef Mickey's we could just do breakfasts in the room. My kids are picky eaters so we need hot dogs or chicken nuggets everywhere we go, which helps narrow it down a bit. If character interactions come back I sort of want to do as many of those as possible. I guess we could skip San Angel Inn but I LOVE it and it's sort of a tradition to eat there the first day we're in Epcot.

And Citricos. Almost every time my husband and I have gone to Disney since before we were married we have made reservations at Citricos. And nearly always missed the reservation or cancelled it for some reason. It's like a running joke at this point "Should we book Citricos so we can cancel it?" but I DO really want to eat there!

Oh well, I've got months to figure it out, but any advice is appreciated!
 
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I had a whole plan for our last trip in March to make a bunch of dresses my kids could wear but...work being crazy and also being a grader for two classes this semester basically sidelined the whole thing. Also as usual I decided to overachieve and...bought some embroidery software. And designed my own embroidery. And do you know how long embroidery takes? It takes a LONG TIME! So with two days left before our last trip and 8 hours into ONE ribbon getting embroidered when I needed 2 and then 20 more little things done...I gave up to save myself the stress.

But now I have months and months to obsess over every little detail and hope they don't have growth spurts that makes these things not fit. Any guesses as to what dresses I'm trying to make?
 

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Because I'm terrible with money and dream too big, we just put down a place holder for a 3 day on the Wish at the start of this vacation. I'm not sure we'll keep it. It means we'd have to rent out the first reservation we have at the GFV for the first two days since those are borrowed points we'd otherwise lose and I've never done that before, which is scary and means I probably won't do it. Add on that since APs aren't around it's basically going to cost as much as park tickets at Disney World and...

Well, for now we can dream!
 
That dream didn't last long, after three days in bed with Covid I came to my senses that it would just be adding way more complication and expense to things so I moved it from December on the Wish to next February vacation on the Dream from San Diego! Tempted to try to add DisneyLand to that (we've never been) but as it's a 5 day cruise I don't think we'll have time.

But that at least means I can book the tickets and start setting the park days. And maybe narrow down our incredibly long list of restaurants we want to eat at. The girls are very adamant that they want to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table again so that's one!
 


In three days we leave for Bermuda, our first kid-free vacation and I am VERY anxious about it! Of course as I went to pull together my FEs I realized I was out of embroidery backing and had to RUN out to grab some last night. Realizing I also need to finish the embroidery on the Anna skirt the lady looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for 6 yards of it. "Do you know how long that is?" "Yes and trust me I'm tempted to just buy the whole board."

We've got all our ADRs for December, the only two I might still stalk are Space 220 and 50s Prime Time. I think my kids would really enjoy the latter and I sort of just want to do the former since it's new, but I won't be heartbroken if we don't land either. We got Hoop De Doo which will be the first time the kids see it, unfortunately at 8:30 so hopefully they'll not be too exhausted.

Someone tell me I don't need to make them yellow and purple dresses to match the people in the show.
 
Some updates! Made a thread about our Bermuda trip in DCL forum, which was lovely.

I got a Prime Time Cafe lunch, woohoo! Still nothing for Space 220. But the really sad thing is that on the cruise I saw a bunch of kids that went to the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique so I thought I'd like to do that for my two girls when we go but...they are totally booked! So I am just stalking the site to try to get an appointment.

In happier news our waitlist for AKL concierge came through! It's only for the 2-4th but woohoo! I cannot WAIT!

I really need to make those dresses.
 
Getting there...

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All of our ADRs are in place, the only bad thing is...my kids suddenly expressed interest in BBB and of course there are no appointments available! Currently stalking the site for 12/3-12/10, fingers crossed!
 


Getting there...

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All of our ADRs are in place, the only bad thing is...my kids suddenly expressed interest in BBB and of course there are no appointments available! Currently stalking the site for 12/3-12/10, fingers crossed!
Does it have to be BBB? Over on the Ear For Each Other FB group there are a lot of people who do Princess makeovers in your resort room. I haven’t used any of them but imagine that it is very convenient and probably less expensive.
 
Does it have to be BBB? Over on the Ear For Each Other FB group there are a lot of people who do Princess makeovers in your resort room. I haven’t used any of them but imagine that it is very convenient and probably less expensive.
Hm, I hadn't heard of that I'll check it out!
 
If I'm finishing these dresses it has to be today since my sewing room is the guest room! We're getting there...
 

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