[Disney_Scarlett]

Just as many, many trips before ours, the idea for this one was born during our last trip, which was in September 2006, during the free-dining promotion. We were having the time of our lives, stuffing our faces silly and enjoying the Halloween festivities, when Krista started comparing Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. I suddenly felt inferior – I could not participate in this conversation, as I had never attended MVMCP. I have been to Disney during the holidays – when I was in elementary/middle school, we traveled to WDW most every year, and would go either early to mid November or early December. However, either MVMCP didn’t exist then, or we just didn’t go…either way, it had still been years since I had so much as seen a Christmas tree at the World. Boo.

Of course, this is easily fixed. Let’s just plan a trip to Disney during the Holidays! Everyone present thought this was a fantastic idea, and we almost couldn’t wait to get home and tell the rest of the fam-damily about our grand idea. I say “almost” because we were still in WDW, so you know, no one was wanting to go home.

Back in NC, I think it was around the holidays of ’06 when plans really started being formed. First, it was just Krista and I brainstorming about dates, resorts and prices. Once we had come up with a tentative plan with a few possible time frames that would work, we spread the message to the rest of the family about our ideas.

Of course, Mama and Dad were immediately on board, but it wasn’t too much longer until Donna got her offer to present in California, so she and her family backed out. Not much time had passed after that did Mary Clayton’s logistics also not work out…so we were down to our same “cast” from the first trip, plus Dad. We penciled in the dates of December 8 through December 15 as our next jaunt to WDW.

I have to thank my lucky, lucky stars that Krista was signed up for this trip, as nothing would have gotten done without her. Early 2007, when I should have been starting all the initial plans for WDW, I found myself stuck with being the Chief Planner for my girls-only Las Vegas trip for June. Usually, my BFF Allison is our yearly-vacay planner and organizer, which works out really well, as she’s the type of girl who folds and categorizes her underwear and I am not. However, now that she’s a CPA, she basically only communicates to me via text-messages between January 1 and April 15, so I was faced with the stress of being the sole executioner for four other people’s happiness, budgets and sanity in Las Vegas (this includes finding a list of affordable lawyers in the area, “just in case”). That, along with working really long hours at work, I was a bit overwhelmed. Therefore, I basically chunked all my WDW planning responsibilities in Krista’s lap.

Krista’s a born planner/leader, so she was more than happy to take on this task. First came resort selection. We had previously settled on Port Orleans Riverside as the place to lay our pretty little heads, as this is our most-frequented resort. We just love the atmosphere there, and it had been a while since any of us had been back to POR. I was already hearing banjos and crickets in my head, when Krista came up with another idea – she had just made a new friend who has DVC points at several resorts and rents his points out pretty often. Why not check into this possibility and see where it leads us?

It ended up leading us straight to Old Key West. Krista’s new best-friend-forever-and-ever gave us a heck-of-a-steal on his points at OKW. I honestly don’t know what the final price worked out to be as far as per-point, but I know that my share (one-third) of the studio room that Mama, Dad and I will be sharing is less than $300. I am nothing if not cheap, so learning that I would get to stay deee-luuuxe at a moderate price prompted a reaction equivalent to screaming “Deal, you sucker!” and slamming my hand down on the red button (for those not familiar with the game show Deal or No Deal – first, I don’t know if we can be friends, and second, ignore that whole last sentence, except the cheap part).

I am sooo excited about Old Key West. It worked out really well that Krista’s friend had points there, as I understand that the studios at OKW are the only ones with two queen beds, instead of the standard one king – so more than one couple can share a room (or one couple and their daughter who is too cheap to spring for her own room ). Krista and Jeff also have reserved their own studio and we hope to have adjoining rooms. Krista requested one of the recommended rooms/areas, but again – I know very little about that whole process.

Planning a trip to the World during the holidays can be kind of precarious. There are so many special events going on, and the policies and time frames for reserving said events all seem to be different, that one really needs a Ph.D. in Mickeynomics to figure it all out (I suppose travel agents would fall under that category). Thinking back, I believe the first big reservation made after our resort was for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, and the corresponding Advance Dining Reservation. Actually, I’m ashamed to say that both Krista and I let several days pass by without knowing that if you pre-ordered your MVMCP tickets, you could make an ADR for that same night in the MK before the 180-day mark. We had just been waiting around, thinking we would order them later. Once we realized this, we hurriedly picked out Tuesday, December 11, for our party night, and Liberty Tree Tavern, with Crystal Palace as a second choice for dinner that evening.

For some reason or another, I was the one to call and make this ressie, and I had the pleasure of listening to several happy tunes while waiting for a CM to help me. After a few minutes, I was disappointed to learn that LTT was booked solid that night – probably having a party of seven didn’t help matters. However, we were able to get a Crystal Palace ADR for 5:30 easily. While I really wanted to try LTT, Crystal Palace is a new one for me, too, and I’m sure I’ll just love it!

I also let Krista be the one to take a crash course in DVC policies and procedures, so she could figure out how to add the Dining Plan, what the best/cheapest way to get our tickets would be, etc. All you DVC members out there are certainly sitting back, chuckling at our ignorance of all things DVC, but this is our first DVC experience, so we definitely had to enlist the help of Krista’s friend as well as Internet resources to make sure all our bases were covered. Soon enough, the DDP was added to our reservation, and we decided to order our 8-day MYW Park Hoppers from Undercovertourist before the price increases back in the summer. I am still on the fence about whether or not to upgrade my ticket to an AP once I’m in The World (‘cause dontcha know I have some possible ’08 irons in the fire ), but it will probably be one of those last minute decisions.

I realized that our 180-day mark was going to fall right in the middle of my Vegas vacation, so I had to once again throw the responsibility of making the ADRs to Krista. Krista tried to argue that I would need to be up at 3:55 am to start calling Florida at 6:55 am EST, and really, with me being in Vegas, wouldn’t I still be wide awake at 4:00 am? Well, perhaps, but do you really want to entrust such an important task to someone who may or may not be intoxicated and may or may not be dancing on a table, or may or may not be swimming in imaginary piles of money on the nearest empty craps table?

Point well taken, Krista and I had an extended conference call the night before my departure. I used the speaker phone feature on my cell phone and inserted phrases such as “on task,” “data-based decision making,” and “dropping the ball” into our conversation so it would feel even more official. We reviewed last year’s TGM advice for least-crowded park days, as well as the list of preferences from each party. I had asked Mama and Dad to each pick at least one restaurant that they really, really wanted to eat at, and myself, Krista and Jeff did the same thing. We also had to work around MVMCP and the Candlelight Processional, two must-do’s for this trip. Finally, after about an hour of negotiating, we got everything down, checked it twice and I signed off, once again feeling relieved that Krista was taking on so much of the planning responsibilities for this trip!

The day of making the ADR’s, Krista managed to refrain from calling me until about 9:00 am my time, which really exhibited extreme restraint. We had been a little nervous about getting all the times and places we wanted, just because for most of our meals, we were in our large fam-damily group, and there are only so many big tables. However, luck would have it, we got everything we wanted, at the approximate times we wanted. Yay!

Our ADRs are as follows:

Meals that the Entire Fam-Damily Have Together:

Le Cellier (Dinner), O’Hana (Breakfast), Crystal Palace (Dinner/MVMCP night), Boma (Dinner), Mama Melrose’s (Dinner [Fantasmic Dinner Package]), Coral Reef (Dinner)

Meals with just Mama, Dad and myself:

San Angel Inn (Lunch)

Meals with just Krista, Jeff and the girlies:

Akershus Royal Banquet Hall, Princess Storybook Lunch

The only ADR Krista didn’t make was the San Angel Inn one, which I called back a few weeks later and reserved with no problem.

O’Hana, Crystal Palace and Boma will be new restaurants for Mama and I, while everything BUT San Angel Inn is new for Dad! For the Millers, Boma and Akershus Royal Banquet Hall are their two new tries.

To be perfectly honest with you, we have one too-many repeats for me. I could have done without Mama Melrose’s, but everyone really wanted to do the Fantasmic Dinner Package, and we aren’t keen on Hollywood and Vine, and don’t want to shell out 2 TS credits for Brown Derby (I was willing to pay OOP for BD, because I drool massive amounts when I look at BD’s menu, or go non-FDP and revisit Sci-Fi Drive In or 50’s Prime Time, but I think I was the only one). Also, could have done without San Angel, as we’ve gone there so many times before and I realized on our last trip that the atmosphere kind of outweighs the draw of the food. However, San Angel Inn was Dad’s choice, so I couldn’t veto it. [Acutally, he had two requests – Coral Reef was the other, because we raved about it so last time – but I don’t mind repeating it, with the hope that I won’t jinx it and get a bad experience the second time around]. All that being said, I’m really excited about the old favorites of Le Cellier/Coral Reef and our new dining adventures, so there is absolutely no room to complain (at least not loudly).

We’re also doing more big-group meals than our last trip. I think last time, Mama and I had three meals that were just us two, plus one meal with us and the girlies. It just worked out this trip that when Krista and I were comparing must-do eating experiences, we had a lot of the same choices. Since we won’t be spending every minute of every day in the parks together, I don’t see this extra togetherness being a problem – but just in case, cross your fingers that we don’t get blood on the white tablecloths of Le Cellier if we end of killing one another over pretzel bread.

I mentioned it before, but we are on the Dining Plan again this trip. For all you people who say it is entirely too much food – AMATEURS. Part of being on vacation is being miserably stuffed and gaining ten pounds, so SUCK IT UP and eat that extra appetizer and that counter-service chocolate cake that you never knew you wanted! Ha! Seriously? It is too much food, but we really like to eat, so that’s okay by us. I’m not a fan of dessert in general, so that course always goes to the waste for me, but I still come out ahead money-wise. Also, I think my Dad is more excited about the dining plan than anything else, and I’m glad he’ll get to experience it in all its unaltered glory before the new rules go into effect.

When the ADRs were made, we weren’t sure how the Candlelight Processional Dining Package was going to work, and only had tentative dates to work off of. We went ahead and booked Le Cellier for the night we hoped to see CP, and at the time recommended by TGM. When the official CP policies and procedures were released, I can’t remember what Krista was doing that morning, but I had the responsibility of calling and reserving the package, which was nerve wracking to say the least! The fact that the computers went down just as I got on the phone with the CM made it even more nail-biting, but luckily, I got the time and location (Le Cellier!) for the CP. Whew! Since you can’t apply the CP package to an existing reservation, we needed to cancel our previous reservation for Le Cellier. Krista called later to do that, and said the CM assisting her was hilarious – “Are you SURE you want to cancel Le Cellier? You’re sure-sure? Sure-sure-sure with sugar on top?” When Krista finally got the message through that yes, she was in her right mind, the CM said, “Oh, you’re going to make some people very, very happy!” I like to smile to myself thinking of those unsuspecting folks calling, sure to find Le Cellier booked solid, only to find a table open.

Let’s see, what else? Oh, right, how are we getting down to WDW in the first place? We have driven and we have flown, and we definitely prefer flying to driving. As soon as the Southwest fares were released, I was happy to see an Internet special for $84/each way. I stalked their website and DINGS for a while, but didn’t see anything lower, so went ahead and booked our flights. I’m glad I did, as I have yet to see a cheaper fare, and it was nice having it booked so early. We toyed with the idea of doing the towncar thing after our return-to-airport DME experience last trip – but ultimately decided that we just had a little bad luck last time, and with a new resort, hopefully this time would be better. The difference in cost also helped this decision.

As far as Krista’s travel plans go. Wow, don’t even get me started on the complications. They were able to find some reasonable fares, and booked their flights pretty far out (I don’t remember what airline they are flying). Things seemed simple enough.

Then, something great happened. Jeff had taken the promotion in Illinois with the promise of being able to move back to NC in two years or so at an even higher level. Well, this all came to realization much quicker than we all could have hoped, and in the fall, Jeff discovered that he had been rewarded his promotion back to North Carolina. Krista and her fam-damily will be moving back to NC! YAY! They’ll be moving to the coastal area, which is about two hours from the rest of the fam-damily, but still, that’s much better than the 11 hours that separate us now. Terrific! Jeff and Krista decided that it would be best for Jeff to move to NC whenever he had to start his job, which they hoped, just to minimize the hassle of switching travel plans, would be after their Disney trip, and Krista and the girls will move as soon as school is over for the summer.

Of course, things didn’t work out quite like that, and Jeff had to start his new job here in NC the week after Thanksgiving. I’m not even going to try to pretend all the reasoning or logistics behind their travel plans between now and New Years, but basically, Jeff is leaving NC on Friday to fly to Illinois, and then they’ll all fly down to Florida together on Saturday, fly back to Illinois together the next Saturday, and he will fly back to NC on that Sunday, and then Krista and the girls are driving to NC the NEXT Friday (21st) to start their Christmas Vacation with us in NC, and Jeff will be driving from Eastern NC that same day to spend Christmas vacay with the entire fam-damily as well. Whew! I’m exhausted just typing it all, but it does go to prove the lengths that Jeff will go to make sure the ladies in his life are happy.

Oh, and this is also why we have an extra dog in the house – Jeff spent the night with us last week on his way from Illinois to Eastern NC, and he brought their miniature daschund puppy, Daisy (yes, named after the Duck), with him. Daisy is staying with us from now until Christmas. This way, Krista doesn’t have to board her in Illinois, she can just stay with my grandma while we’re all at Disney, and she’ll go back to Illinois with Krista when they leave after the holidays. So we have an extra little four-legged friend to look out after and to piddle on the floor for the next couple of weeks.

On our last trip, Mama and I had surprised the girlies with appointments at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, and I briefly researched another special-somethin’ for them this trip. The Grand Adventures in Cooking sounded like the perfect thing – it’s reasonably priced, and the girls LOVE to cook! The Pirate Adventure also sounded like something they would both enjoy. I kept debating back and forth about booking them for something, but ultimately decided not to. We already have a lot of special events and meals planned, and I just didn’t want anyone to feel over-scheduled. Ultimately, this turned out to be a good thing, because Krista booked our family for a Photopass Photo Shoot at the Grand Floridian on the morning I was thinking of doing the Grand Adventures in Cooking for the girls. I don't really know anything about this either, except that it sounds like a steal - $25 for thirty minutes - and I'm supposed to wear something "nice."

P.S. The Photo Shoot, I have mixed feelings about. I think it’ll be adorable to get some cute pictures of the little girls. However, I don’t know how I feel about having to get all gussied up and suck it in while I’m on vacation, even just for a half hour.

Last, but not certainly not least, plans for Passporter Meets have been falling into place. From the very get-go, I had wanted to make sure that I would get to have a run-in with the Crazy Lady Trio (trademark), and after lots of high-lar-i-ous PMs, it looks like that will be happening. I cannot wait to participate in any wacky hijinks that may ensue, and I have running shoes, an adult diaper and bail money secured. Also, I have plans to meet up with Amy (akelos) for something or ‘nother during the week. Our itineraries are very similar up to the point when she departs, so we should have the chance to get into our own hootenannies at some point. Lastly, I hopehopehope that I’ll be able to make the Adventurer’s Club meet. I stupidly scheduled our Candlelight Processional the same evening, but as soon as it’s over, I’m going to race over to PI, so if you see a really short chick running in the door yelling, “WAIT! I’M HERE! I’M HERE! KUNGALOOSH! KUNGALOOSH?” that would be me.

Oh, and my title! I have both Amy and Mary Clayton to thank for it. Amy and I had decided weeks ago to incorporate the word “hootenanny” into our daily vocabulary, and then Mary Clayton sent out an e-Vite with the phrase “Holiday Hootenanny” in it. I totally stole it, which is how we non-creative people do things.

Up next: Our itinerary and last-minute ramblings!