Hi All-

I took my kids for their first WDW trip in 2009 and we just booked a trip yesterday to go over Christmas. My husband has never been so we are really excited. I know Christmas is the busiest time of year to be at Disney, but between our work schedules, we just couldn't find another time to go.

We decided to stay off-property (last time I was at POFQ) in Orlando. We managed to book a 4 star resort for seven nights for less than $550 which is what swayed us to go in the first place. I realize that staying off property will make this an entirely different trip for us, but again, it was that or not going at all.

Our kids are 11 (girl) and 5 (boy) and our 11 year old has cerebral palsy. I'm very familiar with the GAC, but I'm wondering if you have any advice for us on how to plan our time given that we'll be there at a time of year when the parks are so incredibly crowded? Our dates in Orlando will be 12/22-12/29. We plan on purchasing five days worth of park tickets (just the base, not the hoppers--I bought hoppers last time and we never went to more than one resort per day so I'm choosing the base ticket this time around).

Last time we also did the dining plan which we won't be able to do this time around since we're off property. We plan to do breakfast in our hotel, but any ideas for lunch and dinners at the parks?

Finally, is it worth it to purchase tickets for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party? What's so special about it?

This board was tremendously helpful when I planned my 2009 trip as a newbie so I'm hoping the same will be true now.

TIA,
Marieke