buzznwoodysmom
01-16-2012, 12:14 PM
I am finally getting around to doing our Christmas trip reports. I'm not even sure I remember what we did and when we did it, but I'm going to try! LOL.
Cast:
Me -Denise 34
DH -Kevin 38
DS -Collin 11
DS -Landon 9
We spent two nights at the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal before heading for WDW. I'll try to do a small trip report on our Universal part of the trip when I'm done with the Disney part of the trip.
Tuesday, December 20
Today we said goodbye to Universal and hello to WDW. Universal was fun, and I was surprised at how much we liked it there, but it felt oh so good to be driving through those WDW "gates". We did our traditional yelling like crazy when we drove through. We also played our traditional "what color monorail will we spot first" game. We each pick a color and the person whose color is spotted first wins. The person to spot the very first monorail, regardless of color, also wins. What we win? Nothing, but it’s still fun! We headed straight for WL and how lovely it was to be told "Welcome Home" at the guard shack. Ahhh, we are here!!!!!
As we got out of the car we were immediately greeted, by name, and escorted into the resort. This is a nice little touch that takes practically zero effort, yet makes the guest feel special. I have heard of other's being greeted, but it’s never happened to us before. I headed to the desk to check us in while Kevin and the boys hung behind. I had done online check in at exactly 10 days out and there was no line at all to check in. It was quick and easy! We were assigned a room in our requested location, but the room wasn't ready at the time. I was given the usual "we'll send a text message to your cell phone as soon as the room is ready", and we were on our way.
We drove to Shades of Green to get our military salute tickets. Anyone who knows the locations of WL and SOG knows that they are not very far apart. We actually got the text that our room was ready as we were turning into the SOG driveway. That was really quick, like maybe 5 minutes after I checked in. We hurried in to get our tickets and while there we ran into an old friend of ours from years ago. MY DH and this guy did a military training program together. We were in WDW right before Christmas 7 years ago at the same time as this family, and we haven't seen them since. It was amazing to run into them like that. We got to talking and that trip 7 years ago was at the same time of the year, they were staying at SOG on that trip, just like on this trip, and we were staying at WL on that trip, just like on this trip. Anyway, we got our tickets, chatted for a bit and then headed right back to WL to get settled into our room. I also wanted to note that for the first time ever there was no line at the ticket counter at SOG. It typically takes us almost an hour to get tickets here because of the line, today we were in and out of that ticket area in less than 10 minutes.
Back at WL we made our way up to the room, with the luggage following shortly. We started to do some unpacking then decided we were all getting a bit hungry. We headed to DTD. We decided to drive since it’s so much quicker than taking the bus. DTD was surprisingly not that packed. We did a bit of shopping. The boys headed to the sports shop, while I made my way to TrenD to look for the 40th anniversary Dooney purse. I found what I was looking for and my Christmas gift was the first purchase of the trip! After some browsing we headed for Earl of Sandwich. Even with DTD not very packed, there was a long, long line in Earl. But the line moved fast and we had our food, and a nice table outside, rather quickly. I got the holiday sandwich, which was amazing!!!! I don't really remember what everyone else got, but it was decided by all that mine was the best!!!
With lunch out of the way we continued shopping around DTD. The boys enjoyed the new Lego store. I know we made some purchases, but I really don't remember what those were. Today was such a beautiful day. The sun was bright and the air was warm and breezy. Perfect "Disney" weather, but not very Christmassy!
Back at the room I finished unpacking, while the boys watched TV and went back and forth between the room and "our living room". Our room was located on the 5th floor, just above the check in desk. We love this location because our favorite location in the lodge is the little sitting area on the fourth floor above the entrance. There are two leather chairs, a sofa, an ottoman, and a small fireplace that we consider "ours". Where our room was located we could take the stairs down one flight and enjoy our little living room. If the boys went on their own we could actually see them from our room door. While I unpacked the boys took books to our living room, and enjoyed being given the freedom to be on their own a bit. While at Universal Collin had taken Kevin's sunglasses into the pool and the nose guard had fallen off and we were never able to find it. Kevin called around and the Oakley store at the shopping outlet had the piece he needed. He headed there to purchase his replacement piece while the boys and I started decorating. Here is where all our good luck we'd had so far today ran out. Hahaha.
Cast:
Me -Denise 34
DH -Kevin 38
DS -Collin 11
DS -Landon 9
We spent two nights at the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal before heading for WDW. I'll try to do a small trip report on our Universal part of the trip when I'm done with the Disney part of the trip.
Tuesday, December 20
Today we said goodbye to Universal and hello to WDW. Universal was fun, and I was surprised at how much we liked it there, but it felt oh so good to be driving through those WDW "gates". We did our traditional yelling like crazy when we drove through. We also played our traditional "what color monorail will we spot first" game. We each pick a color and the person whose color is spotted first wins. The person to spot the very first monorail, regardless of color, also wins. What we win? Nothing, but it’s still fun! We headed straight for WL and how lovely it was to be told "Welcome Home" at the guard shack. Ahhh, we are here!!!!!
As we got out of the car we were immediately greeted, by name, and escorted into the resort. This is a nice little touch that takes practically zero effort, yet makes the guest feel special. I have heard of other's being greeted, but it’s never happened to us before. I headed to the desk to check us in while Kevin and the boys hung behind. I had done online check in at exactly 10 days out and there was no line at all to check in. It was quick and easy! We were assigned a room in our requested location, but the room wasn't ready at the time. I was given the usual "we'll send a text message to your cell phone as soon as the room is ready", and we were on our way.
We drove to Shades of Green to get our military salute tickets. Anyone who knows the locations of WL and SOG knows that they are not very far apart. We actually got the text that our room was ready as we were turning into the SOG driveway. That was really quick, like maybe 5 minutes after I checked in. We hurried in to get our tickets and while there we ran into an old friend of ours from years ago. MY DH and this guy did a military training program together. We were in WDW right before Christmas 7 years ago at the same time as this family, and we haven't seen them since. It was amazing to run into them like that. We got to talking and that trip 7 years ago was at the same time of the year, they were staying at SOG on that trip, just like on this trip, and we were staying at WL on that trip, just like on this trip. Anyway, we got our tickets, chatted for a bit and then headed right back to WL to get settled into our room. I also wanted to note that for the first time ever there was no line at the ticket counter at SOG. It typically takes us almost an hour to get tickets here because of the line, today we were in and out of that ticket area in less than 10 minutes.
Back at WL we made our way up to the room, with the luggage following shortly. We started to do some unpacking then decided we were all getting a bit hungry. We headed to DTD. We decided to drive since it’s so much quicker than taking the bus. DTD was surprisingly not that packed. We did a bit of shopping. The boys headed to the sports shop, while I made my way to TrenD to look for the 40th anniversary Dooney purse. I found what I was looking for and my Christmas gift was the first purchase of the trip! After some browsing we headed for Earl of Sandwich. Even with DTD not very packed, there was a long, long line in Earl. But the line moved fast and we had our food, and a nice table outside, rather quickly. I got the holiday sandwich, which was amazing!!!! I don't really remember what everyone else got, but it was decided by all that mine was the best!!!
With lunch out of the way we continued shopping around DTD. The boys enjoyed the new Lego store. I know we made some purchases, but I really don't remember what those were. Today was such a beautiful day. The sun was bright and the air was warm and breezy. Perfect "Disney" weather, but not very Christmassy!
Back at the room I finished unpacking, while the boys watched TV and went back and forth between the room and "our living room". Our room was located on the 5th floor, just above the check in desk. We love this location because our favorite location in the lodge is the little sitting area on the fourth floor above the entrance. There are two leather chairs, a sofa, an ottoman, and a small fireplace that we consider "ours". Where our room was located we could take the stairs down one flight and enjoy our little living room. If the boys went on their own we could actually see them from our room door. While I unpacked the boys took books to our living room, and enjoyed being given the freedom to be on their own a bit. While at Universal Collin had taken Kevin's sunglasses into the pool and the nose guard had fallen off and we were never able to find it. Kevin called around and the Oakley store at the shopping outlet had the piece he needed. He headed there to purchase his replacement piece while the boys and I started decorating. Here is where all our good luck we'd had so far today ran out. Hahaha.