I have only ......... days/months till I go again.

[cy1229]

Magic Bands have arrived! Can't wait to see them in person when I get home next week!

Nice ~ Mickey Mouse colors!

That's what I was thinking! LOL

[Amy]

Magic Bands have arrived! Can't wait to see them in person when I get home next week!

Nice ~ Mickey Mouse colors!

That's what I was thinking! LOL

Great minds It doesn't bother me nearly as much when my thoughts line up with yours as it does when I'm thinking along the same lines as Wizz

[theBIGyowski]

DW and I will be getting off our plane at MCO in exactly 4 weeks.

[Amy]

DW and I will be getting off our plane at MCO in exactly 4 weeks.

That is so exciting! I am interested in seeing some pictures of the Kidani Village where y'all are staying!

[theBIGyowski]

DW and I will be getting off our plane at MCO in exactly 4 weeks.

That is so exciting! I am interested in seeing some pictures of the Kidani Village where y'all are staying!

We will certainly be taking lots of pictures...along with a TR and hopefully an update to our blog that hasn't seen the light of day in almost a year.

[Amy]

DW and I will be getting off our plane at MCO in exactly 4 weeks.

That is so exciting! I am interested in seeing some pictures of the Kidani Village where y'all are staying!

We will certainly be taking lots of pictures...along with a TR and hopefully an update to our blog that hasn't seen the light of day in almost a year.

I wondered about your blog. I believe it was mentioned here not too long ago, or maybe something jogged my memory of it on FB, either way, I went to check it out and it had been quite awhile since your last post. No judgement here, everything happens in it's own time...and I can only imagine how difficult it is to juggle work and family life and have to travel and, and, and...

[theBIGyowski]

Yeah...Christmas of last year was the last thing we put in there. Maybe we'll get caught up on 2013 before the end of the year.

Let's see...1:00 PM...we will more than likely be getting counter service somewhere in EPCOT 4 weeks from now. Maybe it will be Sunshine Seasons. Maybe we'll just get pretzels and beer in Germany. Of course we could just go with a liquid diet...made up of jalapeno margaritas. We won't want to eat too heavy as we'll be dining at Via Napoli that evening.

[theBIGyowski]

I have a question for those in the know...

My birthday is in just over a week...so our WDW trip will be less than 3 weeks after my birthday. Because of that, I plan on getting a birthday button/pin when I get there. (Note: I went on my birthday...12/27...back in 2001 and that was my first and last time ever going to WDW between Christmas and New Years)

So my question is...can I get the button when I check-in at the resort or do I need to get it from Guest Relations at our first park...EPCOT?

[cy1229]

I have a question for those in the know...

My birthday is in just over a week...so our WDW trip will be less than 3 weeks after my birthday. Because of that, I plan on getting a birthday button/pin when I get there. (Note: I went on my birthday...12/27...back in 2001 and that was my first and last time ever going to WDW between Christmas and New Years)

So my question is...can I get the button when I check-in at the resort or do I need to get it from Guest Relations at our first park...EPCOT?

My daughter's birthday is 12/22 and mine is 12/29, and we've always thought it would be fun to be in the parks for our birthdays (hers, or mine, probably not both!) but being there at the holidays puts a fear in my heart like few other things. I HATE crowds and she becomes anxious in them. Do they "let" people celebrate birthdays outside of their actual birthdates? If so, how far off is a reasonable time? Am I making sense? Are these enough questions?

[theBIGyowski]

your question totally makes sense...and I would think they would let you celebrate your birthday on a day that is not your actual birthday because of multiple reasons. One could be that your birthday is on the last day of school...and you aren't heading to WDW until the next day. Another could be that your birthday present was a surprise trip to WDW...so you are going a week or two later.

I don't HAVE to get a birthday button...but it sure would be nice if I could get one. And I can tell you that I will NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER go to WDW again between Christmas and New Years. Even the attractions with almost no one in line will be maxed out and you will wait forever for those. Restaurants are much more of a hassle as well because even though you have an ADR you will end up waiting a while for a table to free up....especially if you have a party larger than 2. Was it fun going there with all of the Holiday decorations and getting to experience Midnight on New Years? Heck yeah it was awesome...especially since I was not yet 21 years old. But it wasn't worth the long, long, long lines and the massive crowds. As awesome as RnR is...it's not worth waiting in line for 2 hours.

[theBIGyowski]

Oh...and feel your pain....both you and your daughter...on the proximity of your birthdays to Christmas Day. DW's birthday is 11/26...so she's always had to put up with Thanksgiving.

[Amy]

Yeah...Christmas of last year was the last thing we put in there. Maybe we'll get caught up on 2013 before the end of the year.

Let's see...1:00 PM...we will more than likely be getting counter service somewhere in EPCOT 4 weeks from now. Maybe it will be Sunshine Seasons. Maybe we'll just get pretzels and beer in Germany. Of course we could just go with a liquid diet...made up of jalapeno margaritas. We won't want to eat too heavy as we'll be dining at Via Napoli that evening.

Have you dined at Via Napoli before? I highly recommend the Zeppole di Caterina for dessert! They seem a bit pricey for a dessert ~ around $10, but you get several donut hole sized and shaped fritters and a huge side of warm chocolate-fudge sauce and a huge heaping portion of sweet whipped cream and they are just like little pieces of heaven that almost melt in your mouth. I would get two portions of these for a meal if I thought I wouldn't keel over from the sugar levels and fried food backlash later...darn it, now I want to go to EPCOT!

I have a question for those in the know...
My birthday is in just over a week...so our WDW trip will be less than 3 weeks after my birthday. Because of that, I plan on getting a birthday button/pin when I get there. (Note: I went on my birthday...12/27...back in 2001 and that was my first and last time ever going to WDW between Christmas and New Years)
So my question is...can I get the button when I check-in at the resort or do I need to get it from Guest Relations at our first park...EPCOT?

My daughter's birthday is 12/22 and mine is 12/29, and we've always thought it would be fun to be in the parks for our birthdays (hers, or mine, probably not both!) but being there at the holidays puts a fear in my heart like few other things. I HATE crowds and she becomes anxious in them. Do they "let" people celebrate birthdays outside of their actual birthdates? If so, how far off is a reasonable time? Am I making sense? Are these enough questions?

You should be able to get a birthday button when you check in BIG. If not, you certainly can get one at Guest Relations once you get to the parks. They don't care if your birthday has come and gone within several months. If you are there celebrating it, that is good enough for a button! Figment actually got one from the tram driver in DL. She had been chatting with the CM while we were waiting and the CM asked if we were celebrating anything while we were there. Mom told her it was a mini family reunion (they don't have those buttons at DL anymore sadly) and also she was celebrating her 75th birthday which had been in August. The CM told her she would have a button for her once we arrived at DTD where the tram drops off. And sure enough, she popped out of her little driver's hatch and made sure Mom had a button
As for your crowds cy1229, I completely understand the reluctance to get into the holiday crowd. We have been there when it is relatively crowded and you can still find spots that are fairly unpacked. You just can't expect to visit anything in Fantasyland without a crush of people unless you go super early or really late, like during EMH. I think you would be fine, and over the holidays has to be one of our favorite times to visit given the decorations and especially the Osborne Family Lights!
We utilize the FP system to help get around the super huge wait times...and we plan extra days so we aren't freaked out if the lines are really long during the day.

[theBIGyowski]

Yeah...Christmas of last year was the last thing we put in there. Maybe we'll get caught up on 2013 before the end of the year.

Let's see...1:00 PM...we will more than likely be getting counter service somewhere in EPCOT 4 weeks from now. Maybe it will be Sunshine Seasons. Maybe we'll just get pretzels and beer in Germany. Of course we could just go with a liquid diet...made up of jalapeno margaritas. We won't want to eat too heavy as we'll be dining at Via Napoli that evening.

Have you dined at Via Napoli before? I highly recommend the Zeppole di Caterina for dessert! They seem a bit pricey for a dessert ~ around $10, but you get several donut hole sized and shaped fritters and a huge side of warm chocolate-fudge sauce and a huge heaping portion of sweet whipped cream and they are just like little pieces of heaven that almost melt in your mouth. I would get two portions of these for a meal if I thought I wouldn't keel over from the sugar levels and fried food backlash later...darn it, now I want to go to EPCOT!

Yes...we LOVE Via Napoli! We went on our honeymoon back when it was relatively new and then again TWICE in the same trip just a year later. It is our favorite TS restaurant in EPCOT because we both love pizza and sangria...the two things they excel at. We also love the zeppole and will probably split a pizza and that...and a pitcher of sangria of course.

Sangria!


Piccante Pizza!


Zeppole di Caterina!

[Amy]

Ah yeah, the zeppoli!
What is on the pizza? It looks tasty! We usually split a pepperoni pizza and the zeppoli. Keeps the price down to a modest level and is plenty of food for two people

[duggett]

I have a question for those in the know...

My birthday is in just over a week...so our WDW trip will be less than 3 weeks after my birthday. Because of that, I plan on getting a birthday button/pin when I get there. (Note: I went on my birthday...12/27...back in 2001 and that was my first and last time ever going to WDW between Christmas and New Years)

So my question is...can I get the button when I check-in at the resort or do I need to get it from Guest Relations at our first park...EPCOT?

You can get the button at the resort. If you tell them in advance, they might have it pre-made. If not, you can ask when you arrive. They are not sticklers for dates. On our last trip in May, we had two for our anniversary, two for graduates (one HS and one college), and one for a first-timer. They made the buutins up on the spot as we checked in.