A 40th celebration to end the world! PHOTOS ADDED 1/1 About This Page:

[dutchdisneyfamily]

Have a great weekend with your parents!

[Lumieregirl]

I'm finally all caught up again! Been reading all morning . I'm glad I'm not the only one who makes a plan and then tinkers with it over and over. Oh, and the spreadsheets, too . I'd be lost without them. I keep them on a flashdrive so I can update at work if needeed. Last weekend I washed it - it went thru both the washer and dryer - I was terrified ... but happy to announce it all survived!

Had dinner this past trip at Bistro de Paris, and so glad I did. I'm sure with the revamp, you're in for an even better experience there next trip. Something to look forward to.

I'm curious too how the chronic fatique affects your touring. I know you can't stand long - is it a problem being on the go all day? Looks like you've got quite a few days of that ...

[KMB733]

Hope you have a great weekend with your parents!!!

[2princessmom]

All caught up! Sounds like a wonderful trip! I so wish I had the ability to visit as often and for as long you get to. I am anxious to live through your report!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by lauriep

What an amazing dream! When they originally announced that the Wonder would be on the West Coast and would do Alaska in the summers I immediately thought they'd be doing at least one cruise to Japan with a hook-in to Tokyo Disney. Who knows, maybe your dream will be a premonition!

Let's hope so!

Can't wait to see the magnets Barb made for your cruise. I am so hoping that you get the wonderful weather we're having here right now.

Neither can I! I know they'll be amazing.

Hope you have a great weekend with your parents and a much less tiring one than the one to Mark's family--although that did sound like a nice day. Just too long and too much standing.

Full details on that coming soon....

[chezp]

Originally Posted by num1DVCfan

Have a great weekend! I hope your dream becomes a reality, I'd love to cruise to Japan

I think there'll be a lot of PassPorters wanting to do that!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by lindawdw

Your plans sound amazing Cheryl! Hope to see you in Epcot!!!

Hopefully we will - now at least we have each others' cell phone numbers to tie up.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by mommapants

Have a wonderful weekend and happy early Christmas.

I don't know much about chronic fatigue. Is this something you will have forever or will it eventually get better over time. I get fatigued at times but usually just need a really good night's sleep. I can't imagine how hard it is for you - like having that run downed feeling all the time.

As far as I know, it's something I'll have forever. I don't think in truth they know that much about what causes it or how to cure it. You just have to make the best of it and learn to live with it, and thankfully that's pretty much what I've managed to do. I know I'm very fortunate, compared to many other people with the same thing.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by pamcarey

Sounds like everything is coming along nicely. Have a great weekend celebrating Christmas.

BTW, I found the magnetic paper at Staples (an office supply store). Do you have those in the UK?

We do - I'll check that out in the new year and see whether they have it.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Lumieregirl

I'm finally all caught up again! Been reading all morning . I'm glad I'm not the only one who makes a plan and then tinkers with it over and over. Oh, and the spreadsheets, too . I'd be lost without them. I keep them on a flashdrive so I can update at work if needeed. Last weekend I washed it - it went thru both the washer and dryer - I was terrified ... but happy to announce it all survived!

Oh my goodness, I'd have been having palpitations if that was me!

Had dinner this past trip at Bistro de Paris, and so glad I did. I'm sure with the revamp, you're in for an even better experience there next trip. Something to look forward to.

I hope so.

I'm curious too how the chronic fatique affects your touring. I know you can't stand long - is it a problem being on the go all day? Looks like you've got quite a few days of that ...

The worst for me is the standing. I can walk fine and I've done running on the treadmill, but it's something about standing that really takes it out of me. You'll notice we always have sit down meals planned, which give me the chance to sit down and take a break, and although we seem to be on the go a lot, you'd be amazed how many times I don't mention it, but I find a seat to just take it easy for a few minutes... We also take a lot more breaks back in the room than we used to.

[chezp]

Pre-trip report – part twelve: will I get the Holiday Time at Disneyland tour for Christmas Day?

Sunday 25 November – t minus 11 days

Today was the day I needed to call up and see if I could book the Holiday Time at Disneyland tour for Christmas Day. I had come up with a cunning plan, after reading that this tour included reserved seating for the Christmas parade. I decided this would be, by far, the easiest way of seeing this parade, given that a) we were visiting at a very busy time of the year and b) I don’t do well standing for long periods of time waiting for things like parades…

I had the time scoped out and called promptly at 3:00pm our time, only to get a message that they don’t open until 8:00am PST on weekdays (it’s 7:00amPST on weekdays). An hour later, I called back and score! I had no problem getting us on the 3:15pm tour on Christmas Day. Even better, there’s a DVC discount for the tour, which saved us a nice amount as well…

The only problem I did have was paying for it. I read through the details of my card and she went away to get a manual authorisation, which they apparently have to do if it’s an international credit card. Fine – except she came back and said the card had been declined. I was starting to freak out a bit, thinking there’d been fraudulent use of the card, so I checked the details back with her and she assured me that she’d got everything down right. I used my American Express card and that went through with no problem whatsoever. Phew! However, I got straight on the phone to our credit card company to see if there was a problem with the card. The woman had put the wrong expiration date in! Thank goodness there was no major issue and at least now it was booked – one of the final pieces of the jigsaw is now in place!

Monday 26 November – t minus 10 days

The first thing I did this morning was have another look at the weather forecast, as I realised I hadn’t checked it for a couple of days. There haven’t been any drastic changes, still no really cold nights, which is a definite plus although there’s a bit more rain in the forecast for the first couple of days we’re there, but I can live with that.

By the time I got back from work in the evening, it was time to do online check-in for the Beach Club Villas portion of our stay. That was an adventure, as I really wasn’t thinking straight. First, I couldn’t find the Beach Club Villas (even though that’s what they were listed as ) and then I didn’t read the bit about putting in your last name – I kept putting in my first name as well. Oh well, got there in the end!

I had another look on the member site after that and saw that there’s one night opened up as well for a one-bedroom villa with a lake view, so I’ll keep an eye on that. Interestingly, one night’s also opened up for a three-bedroom villa. Less likely, but again, I’ll keep an eye out…

Tuesday 27 November – t minus 9 days

Anyone ready for the single digit dance, because I sure as heck am!

Unfortunately I couldn’t celebrate my single digitness with anyone on the boards, as they were down when I got up. Boo! Still, I wasn’t too unhappy, just having had another Disney dream – and again, this wasn’t a “crisis” one, it was a dream about being on the plane, which was just fun!

Finally, when the boards did come back up (not until after I’d gone to work), I could go double digit boogieing and checking on the DVC website. Still no joy with anything, but now there’s one night also showing up for a two-bedroom villa with a lake view. If only one of those would just open up two nights. Is that too much to ask? Sigh. It seems to be at the moment..

And, as of this evening, packing is officially underway! I packed half of the smallest suitcase with various bits and pieces and I have to say it felt good to know that was finally underway!

Wednesday 28 November – t minus 8 days

I had another look at the weather forecast this morning, and if anything, it just keeps getting better and better. I just can’t get over it, this is so not like the usual forecasts I’m used to for Florida in the winter. There are sunny days (and lots of them) with only the odd day of rain, and some days with temperatures in the low 80s! Wow, that’s going to be absolutely lovely! I can’t wait!

The DVC situation looks a lot less promising that last night. There’s still that one solitary night showing up for the one bedroom villa with a theme park view, but everything else is gone again. Sigh. I don’t think we’re going to get lucky with either waitlist or using those extra points. Still you can’t have everything…

Thursday 29 November – t minus 7 days

I love mornings like this. I was up early, as Mark needed to spend as much time at work as he could do to get things done and when I checked the boards, I found three private messages, all relating to our upcoming trip!

The first was from Sheri (skateycat) and it was titled “I will be seeing you Dec 9th”. We’d already been in touch about 9 December, because as you’ll remember we wouldn’t have Karen and Steve with us for lunch at Teppan Edo. Sheri made a comment on Dawn’s thread about the fact she might be there for her performance in the Candlelight Processional, so I private messaged her to say that we would be there and that it would be great to see her. Initially, she wasn’t 100% sure if she could get the day off from work, but this message basically confirmed she would and she would be coming over. I’m so glad we’ll get to see her again.

The second email was from Sharon (of the Princess variety! ) and just said “I'll be seeing you soon!” She would be, although she was emailing to say that she wouldn’t be able to make the Flying Fish Café dinner, which is a shame, but I’m just happy to be seeing her again.

The third email was from Sharon (this one of the Shazza variety! ), replying to my question about their December trip. I can’t believe I missed her pre-trip report and only found out by luck that she’d be there the same time as us!

Then just before I logged off for the morning to go to work, I heard from Jeannie. we were still trying to arrange when to meet up – life has been so mad for her, but I was determined not to miss her. She suggested getting together on the Wednesday or Thursday night we’re in Disneyland and I went for Thursday on the theory if it’s a late night for her, she’ll only have one more day of work that week and also we were eating at Catal, which I’d booked online through OpenTable, so it was easy enough to add her into our reservation. Sorted!

Now this is going to sound like serious déjà vu and it is… because this morning, I was driving down to our Brighton office with a colleague (a different person to last week) and again, as I passed Gatwick, I couldn’t help it – I had to do it! “I’ll be on one of those planes in a week’s time!”

And just in case I didn’t realise that, Virgin Atlantic were determined I wouldn’t forget that milestone. They sent me a text and an email about using twilight check-in, which we plan on doing anyway, where you can check-in the night before your flight and check in your luggage in. I also got another email from them about our flight. Ok, I honestly do know I’m going – no more reminders needed!

In the evening, I had a quick look on the DVC website and do you know what? There was availability at Bay Lake Tower for both nights of our stay! Except…..




…. It was for a three-bedroom grand villa. Tempted as I was, I worked out how many more points it would be and it would be a heck of a lot more (like about another 70 ) on top of the 33 points I was trying to use up. that’s not going to work for us… what a shame.

Friday 30 November – t minus 6 days

I checked the weather again this morning, as it had been a couple of days since I last looked at it. Oh my, that was a mistake! How can temperatures change so dramatically? A few degrees I can get, but on one day, it was showing in the low 80s, now it’s showing in the high 50s. That’s a bit of a major change. Even better, there are now a couple of nights, including the Christmas Party with overnight lows in the 30s. Oh goodie! It is what I’ve come to expect of Florida in December, but it’s still a shame, as the weather was looking so darned promising up until now. Oh well, that’ll serve me right for checking back all the time…

I also heard back from Mari, who I’d messaged on Facebook, as we hadn’t made any firm plans and I didn’t want to miss seeing her and Raleigh. For anyone who’s curious, we met them on the inaugural Med cruise through Deb Wills actually and we’ve been good friends ever since. Every time we’re in California, we always make plans to see them and hopefully this time will be no different. They’re hoping to come and see us on 26 December, so I wanted to know how that was panning out… she said that was still their plan and that if nothing else they’d come and join us for dinner, which that night is at Steakhouse 55, so I emailed Disneyland dining to try and expand our reservation to four people…

Then it was off to work – and I know I sound like a broken record, but guess where I drove past today? You got it – Gatwick again! I know it sounds like I go past there every day, but honestly I don’t. With my new job, I’m now based about a mile and a half from home, which is a dream, after doing an 85 mile round trip for 15 years ( I don’t know how I did that either for so long! ) but I do have to travel to other destinations as well, including Brighton, and it just so happens that I was there two days running this week. This time, at least I got to say “I’ll be on one of those planes in less than a week!”

That night we drove up to see my parents to have an early family Christmas as obviously we won’t be with them for Christmas. It’s fair to say it was a pretty bad drive, especially getting out of the south east, although fortunately it was better the later it got, although the downside to that was that was as Mark was getting more and more tired and then there was the fog to contend with as well. Let’s just say that we were both very glad to finally arrive….

Next: two for the price of you – a mini trip-report from Wales!

[Disneybine]

The Holiday Time at Disneyland Tour sounds interesting - can't wait to read about that!

[pamcarey]

I wasn't expecting an update today, so that was exciting to find! Congrats on hitting the single digits!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by pamcarey

I wasn't expecting an update today, so that was exciting to find! Congrats on hitting the single digits!

I had to add one in, as I have so much to post between now and going away....

[taylan1]

Wow! Not much longer now! So excited for you! Disney World, Disney Cruise, Disneyland all in one trip. Totally jealous! I was looking at the weather for Disney World, as I like to do occasionally , and if I have your dates correct the weather for Orlando is in the 70's during the day and lows in the 50's at night for your entire stay. and Disneyland is not that much different perhaps just a tad bit cooler. I think you will have some of Princess Sharon's weather mojo with you on this trip! LOL I certainly hope you have better weather than we did on our December trip in 2010, it was actually in the upper 80's and very very humid. Yuck! I could not believe it was December at all but then the next week it was down in the 50's and cold but we were not in the parks that week. Crazy Florida weather for you.