Dsnygirl's Very Merry Christmas Trip - Final Thoughts :)

[Dsnygirl]

The cast on this trip:

Me - 41 year old kid at heart who loves all things Disney, and planner extraordinnaire for our trips...

DH - 42 year old adult at heart who loves Disney and enjoys our trips more & more each time!

DD10 - closely following in her mom's footsteps as a Disney lover & planner w/ lots of ideas for this trip...

DD7- future Disney lover who was all about the rides and the characters this trip

(and I bet you all thought I couldn't possibly have anything more to say about this trip....) :D

Well, we went into this trip terribly excited to be finally seeing Disney in "all it's glory" at the holidays, and I honestly expected to come home never wanting to visit any other time of the year! I really thought we'd fall in love with Disney in December, and that that'd be it for us.

Instead, what we found was that although the parks were beautiful, it wasn't any more beautiful than we found it during some of our other trips -- just different. There were a few spots that gave us "WOW!" moments -- Main St., the beautiful light canopy @ Epcot & it's tree... we loved the extras on the end of Illuminations and seeing the Christmas decorations on the parade. Christmas was definitely an experience we were glad we had -- but it wasn't something we felt we had to do again right away, and that surprised us.

The only negative thing we noticed was the mood in the parks quite a bit of the time -- not the CM's, but the guests around us. A lot of people seemed very tense, uptight & high-strung... we just attributed it to the amount of work involved in getting ready for a trip in December while you're also trying to get ready for your own Christmas at home... and maybe overly high expectations of a trip @ Christmas... we didn't know what the reason, but the vibrant happiness we'd felt at other times seemed few & far between.

So - bottom line? We had a great, wonderful, magical trip full of a lot of firsts, meetings with wonderful friends and we enjoyed the decorations and and the special things that go on for the holidays. We loved the Candlelight Processional and seeing the castle all lit up and hearing the Christmas stories in the countries... it was a trip we are all so glad we took.

But, we have also now realized that we still love the parks the best in the spring & fall, and that is actually good news to us, as I was afraid we'd never go back during those seasons if we loved December too much. Silly maybe, but there it is... the reasons had nothing to do with Disney, actually, but in the work it took to get ready for the trip... the variety of packing involved and layering/packing clothes for each day in the parks (our temps varied between 38 and 85)... the need to have a lot of our Christmas stuff done before we left, as we weren't going to be home 'til so close to Christmas... and then when you arrive home? You get thrown back into life in a jetstream, very unlike other times of year when you can sort-of "slide" back in to life. The "re-entry" seemed very chaotic to us, as opposed to other times.

So -- we totally loved our trip, and I'm sure we'll do December again -- but not for awhile, we want to enjoy our warmer, more peaceful trips for awhile first. (and we still love MNSSHP best, so that's a must again next!! :blush:) But, it WAS awesome, and I feel very blessed that we were able to go... and I highly recommend that everyone sees Disney at Christmastime, at least just once!! :santa3:

[mouseketeer mom]

Blythe,
I totally understand what you mean. Especially for families, Christmas trips are sooo much more work. Having to have all of the hectic Christmas stuff done before you leave, and then coming home to handle the holidays. I totally get it. We've been at Thanksgiving before and I thought that was hectic enough!!! You come home and jump right into the holidays..I didn't necessarily love that feeling. Your reports were fun! I enjoyed them alot.
Thanks for sharing your time with us!!
Lisa

[Jeff]

:thumbsup:Thanks for your reports!

[pogo]

Dearest Blythe........... :blush:

I agree with your feelings completely. It was beautiful to see WDW all decorated for Christmas. But we somehow expected it to be more elaborate than what it was.

The weather while we were there was OK...... but not at all as nice as when we usually go in late April. We've seen it once at Christmas.... that's enough for us.

That me say once again... we really enjoyed our time with you, Dan and the girls and wished we had more time to be together.

Thanks for all your reports... I loved reading them and I'm looking forward to your "girl trip" pre-trip report later in the month. :D

[TikiGoddess]

Thanks for posting your trip! I am so glad you, Dan, and the girls had an awesome time.

Thanks for letting me live vicariously through you as I sit here looking outside at the snow and 10 deg weather. :)

Kathy

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report! :smickey:

[KylesMom]

I've been reading your trip reports kind of like a favorite book - cover to cover without stopping to comment. From all of the people you were able to hook up with, to the new experiences you were able to share with the girls . . . what a wonderful family trip you had together! Thanks for sharing all of the magical details with us! :mickey:

[RedSoxFan]

Blythe: I enjoyed reading all your trip reports. Sounds like you all had a great time.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

Thanks for sharing with us. I know what you mean about being thrown back into life after a December trip. The year we went during Dec. I didn't even put up a Christmas tree when I got home. Everything was just so rushed. But it was still fantastic seeing the parks during the holidays and I would definitely go again.

[Marilyn Michetti]

Blythe,
I've spent the last 20 min. reading all your reports, and re-living the same eight days that we were in the parks. I'm so disappoint that you didn't make it to the CP for breakfast on Sat., because that's the only group event that we made. I actually didn't realize all the activities that the group was doing en mass.

Your reports were wonderful, (Almost like we were there). Thanks.:mickey:

[ElenitaB]

Blythe, we've been in late November/early December before and really enjoy the season... however, you're right. You need to pack for every season which tends to complicate matters. And honestly, this trip was the most crowded I've ever seen the parks in early December. Yikes! It was crazy! Parting the Red Sea must have been easier than trying to go down Main Street after Wishes Saturday night!

Glad to your clan got to see the parks all gussied up for Christmas though... the castle alone was worth the trip IMHO. But the best part of the trip was being able to spend time with friends! :cloud9:

[Bethis26fan]

Thanks for sharing your trip

[DizNee143]

sounds like a you and your family had a fun trip..and i agree..i would suggest trying to get to disney at least once during christmas!! thank you for sharing your trip with us..i really enjoyed reading all about it!! :mickey:

[Nascfan]

Blythe, thank you for your trip reports! :thumbsup: I felt like I was back at Disney, thanks for cyberly taking us along. :mickey:

[faline]

We love Disney at holiday time but also at other times as well. We do try to get to Disney around the holidays every three years or so. However, at this point, it's been four years since our last holiday visit and it doesn't seem to be in the works for this year either!

Thanks for your reports! I've enjoyed them!

[hoop de do]

Thanks for sharing your reports. They were great and I'm glad you had a great time.

[Kairi_7378]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us. It sounds like your family experienced each day with a lot of joy. You've really given some insight on how to do the world with children. I'm glad that you had such a wonderful time and were able to meet up with so many other Intercot friends.