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[pialykke]

So, today is exactly 4 weeks till we go - and 1 month exactly till my DS6's 7th birthday. What better day to start my pre-trip report...!? (Well, at least it was, when I started writing this - now it's past midnight.... So one day less in fact!) 
We weren't actually meant to be going again till the 25th in 2017 (and after this trip, we probably wont...) (So I say now... Wait till the post-Disney blues set in, I might tell you a different story)...

Anyway, in the summer holidays, after having been in March this year, we were chatting about how expensive it might be to go for the Christmas season, and I thought hell, let's have a look, just for fun.....
I looked around, different dates etc. and yeah, Christmas and New Years - forget it... Waaaaay out of our range... But then I started looking at the start of the Christmas season - and as our DS6's birthday is on the 16th November, I thought I'd have a look at that weekend. And I couldn't believe it - it worked out cheaper than what we had paid in March!!! And not just slightly - by about £100...!!
Well, after seeing that, there was no way really we could NOT book that...! So we did!
I still can't quite believe it... We get the Christmas decorations etc. and we get to celebrate DS6's birthday there!
Oh, and  by the way - the boys don't know yet...!!!!! DH has suggested just waking them up in the morning (we have  to get up about 4am) and saying "Let's go to Disneyland"..... But I'm really not sure if they would cope well with that... I don't know if it will be too much for them - DS8 is a bit sensitive, so it may be overload for him... I don't know.......

So, the plan is as follows:
Going are: Me (Danish), DH (English), DS8, DS6, my mum (2nd trip) and my sister (first trip!) - my sister is a massive Disney fan - so she'll love it!
Dates: Thursday 13th - Monday 17th of November.

Plan of attack:
*Thursday morning - get up around 4am, drive to the airport, flight 6.55am, VEA to Santa Fe. Check in - drop bags (in room if it's ready) and then lunch at Earl of Sandwich. Nipping in World of Disney for autograph book and pen. And then off to the park....!!! I can't wait to see all the decorations!
On this first day we'll just be going along Main Street, up to the castle, and then round Fantasyland, doing rides and any meet & greets we can - and seeing the Christmas tree lighting, and the Christmas parade.
Not sure where we'll eat in the evening - possibly Annettes, but maybe just Bella Notte or Hyperion, before getting a good place for Dreams of Christmas...!!!!! (Hanky at the ready!!  )

*Friday - breakfast at Santa Fe 7.00am before EMH at the Studios (YAY!!!) Naturally first port of call will be Ratatouille (possibly getting a FP for later too!) and Crush (we've never managed to go on Crush, so very excited to finally have a go!). We'll be hanging around the studios all day, catching all the shows and meet and greets. Still undecided on dinner - would love to try the Bistrot, but may have to keep it cheap and just go to Blockbuster Café. We'll see.... We'll head back into the main park for Dreams of Christmas again I suspect.

*Saturday - breakfast at Café Mickey booked for 8am. Don't mind missing out on EMH today, as it's back in the main park, and being Saturday, we're expecting it to be really busy, so we'll spend today in Adventureland and Frontierland, exploring Adventure Isle, the pirate ship etc. and just taking our time - hopefully going on BTM (grabbing a FP asap) and Phantom Manor (which we've also never managed to get on). Definitely seeing Jack (hopefully Sally too) who the boys love! And any other meet & greets we get a chance at. (We love meeting characters). Oh and Christmas tree lighting, parade and Dreams of Christmas of course.

*Sunday - it's DS6's 7th birthday!!! Breakfast at the hotel before EMH at the park - going straight to City Hall for a birthday badge first of all and a call from a certain mouse.
Then basically doing meet & greets and rides mostly in Fantasyland - as the favourite (Buzz) is closed for the duration of our stay. Dinner this day will be at the Auberge (DS6 being a boy who loves Cinderella, what else could we do...?!?! Last time we were there, we went to the PP once - and he begged us to go back through the entire week!!!) We've ordered a cake for him as well - hoping Cinders herself will be bringing it out. (I'll certainly ask the waiter when we get seated). Cameras at the ready - I want loads of photos and video of this!
As the park is open till 22, we'll hang around the Auberge for quite some time I think (dinner is booked for 6.00 pm). Then maybe try and do BTM in the dark before going back for a good spot for the last Dreams of Christmas. 

*Monday - our last day!    Breakfast at Santa Fe, check out, drop bags, and try and get to the park before the end of EMH. We may have to try and get in the PP for Anna and Elsa today, if we have failed on the previous days. Hopefully they are making good use of the ticketing system... We shall see........ Other than that, any meet & greets we can squeeze in, and any rides we have to do again. Might go back over to the Studios in the afternoon for more meet & greets, and maybe one final ride on Ratatouille with a FP if possible. We don't have to leave till about 5.00 pm or so, so hopefully we will be able to make the most of our last day.

Oh Christ..... I honestly can't wait much longer!!! I am so looking forward to reading trip reports over the next few weeks, esp, beginning of November, to get an idea of which characters are about where and when... As I said, we love meeting the characters. They make it really special for us. So of course, we're hoping for some "new" ones, we haven't met yet. This time, Jack, Sally, Merida, Anna and Elsa are the top 5 - and any other rare characters would be lovely!! (Saying that, we haven't even seen Peter Pan and Wendy yet - nor Timon, Rafiki, or even Jack Sparrow (the boys don't know him).... So there is still room for improving our "collection".

Anyway, any comments and advice will be much appreciated. (And to those who may worry that it's all gonna be about DS6 - we will make sure to make it just as special for DS8, even though it's not his birthday. Don't worry.   )

[RockNRoller]

Awesome idea and what a surprise for his birthday. Don't know if you have but when we went for my 40th we told the travel agent who told Disney and we then had our room upgraded free and a birthday message waiting for me in the room. I'm sure I also read somewhere about Birthday buttons you can get from City Hall, apparently when the cast members and characters see them they are extra attentive. That said I may have read that on an American Disney forum, can anyone who knows more confirm this?

[pialykke]

Awesome idea and what a surprise for his birthday. Don't know if you have but when we went for my 40th we told the travel agent who told Disney and we then had our room upgraded free and a birthday message waiting for me in the room. I'm sure I also read somewhere about Birthday buttons you can get from City Hall, apparently when the cast members and characters see them they are extra attentive. That said I may have read that on an American Disney forum, can anyone who knows more confirm this?

Hi RockNRoller.
Yeah, at City Hall you can get a birthday badge, and a birthday phonecall from Mickey! So we'll be doing that first thing on the Sunday.
I might just have to call the hotel and let them know it's his birthday (don't know if they'll do much though, it may be as you were 40, they made a fuss - good for you! )
It can't hurt to try though.

[twentythingamabobs]

Oooh sounds amazing!!! Your son will get so much extra special attention from all Cast Members and characters, they will all greet him  by name (you write your name on your sticker) it really is wonderful

We are hoping to go during the Christmas season for the first time this year so can't wait to read lots of trip reports. I really hope you all have a magical time and you get your wish of Cinders delivering the cake!!

Just a side note - We always wake up our little one (not so little anymore- he is 14 but severely disabled so he will always be around age 4/5 mentally) by playing the Animagique music! He is confused for a minute but then gets sooo happy and excited, one of my top 3 favourite things about a DL trip is his face when he realises what is happening!