Joy in the World, A Christmastime TR of sorts. Lots of pics. [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

morgtroy

11-03-2008, 09:27 AM

:santa:

Hi I really had no intentions of doing a pretrip report, and still don't know that I have the time, but I've got a fast approaching trip that came together quickly through receiving a wonderful blessing. I just can't comprehend how great my God is. All good things come from Him :)

So I've been to disney twice, first time in 2005. I fell completely, utterly, (some may even say, obsessively) in love with all things Disney.:thumbsup2 We did do the dining plan, maybe they sprinkle all the food with pixie dust there to get you hooked? :rotfl2:
I grew up in a family that was full of love, not full of money. Our vacations were typically a one day trip/picnic. They were great, but I always wanted to go on the beach trips my friends went on. So fast forward to my adult life with kids and know that my kids have been spoiled with yearly beach trips, and 2 disney trips. I've always tried to budget for vacations. My husband and I both have pretty stressful jobs and I sometimes act as if it's earned/deserved, but I know it is a luxury, and a great blessing from God.

My trips are usually months in the planning and every detail is in a spreadsheet. Ok, ok, I do have a spreadsheet. But I wanted to put this up to see what kind of tips all you Dis'ers could give me on things to do.
I've longed for the day I could go to the world during the holiday season. That's like triple the magic and pixie dust, right?:wizard:

We will be there in Dec.
Thanks in advance, you guys always have the best advice.:thumbsup2

Here's a pic of my family from Sept 07 trip.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image22.jpg

Roxychica7

11-03-2008, 08:20 PM

bellasmommy0

11-03-2008, 09:15 PM

I followed you over from your visit to my PTR. I am excited to start hearing your plans!! I have also never been in Dec. I am like you that I didnt get vacations growing up, so I am making up for it now. We have been to WDW 2times in Sept in 2005 and 2007. I can't wait for 4 more weeks and 4 days to go by!! So I can go and visit Mickey again!! My 6 yr old DD tells me I love Mickey more than daddy. Not true, but it is close...:lmao:

morgtroy

11-04-2008, 07:30 AM

Hi! Congrats on the PTR! If you're not doing the dining plan (we did it last year, but not doing it this year), you absolutely HAVE to visit the Grand Floridian. Just take the Monorail over the day that you do Magic Kingdom, they'll let you in and go to the main lobby. They have the absolutely most gorgeous and HUGE tree and full size gingerbread house that they construct every year. If you want me to post pics of it, I certainly can, but I don't want to spoil anything, so it's totally your call.
I've never stayed at SS before, but I do know that at either the Yacht Club or Boardwalk resort, they have a carousel made completely out of chocolate, that's what we're excited to see this year. But aside from that, just walking through the parks alone will take your breath away. It is amazing how beautiful they get the parks, with the themes down to a t, especially the christmas trees. Let me know if you have any questions before you leave, I'm more than willing to help! :thumbsup2

Thanks for posting. I can't wait to see the gingerbread house. We aren't doing the dining plan, but my DD's birthday is the next week so I told her to pick a restaurant she wanted to go to for her birthday and she picked 1900 park fare. So that and one other breakfast are the only TS meals we're doing. I want to order her a small birthday cake during our trip. So my plan is the night we have dinner there to allow time to take the monorail to Contempo, and Poly, then the GF to stop at each and take in the Christmas decorations at each. :banana: I can't wait.:yay:

I followed you over from your visit to my PTR. I am excited to start hearing your plans!! I have also never been in Dec. I am like you that I didnt get vacations growing up, so I am making up for it now. We have been to WDW 2times in Sept in 2005 and 2007. I can't wait for 4 more weeks and 4 days to go by!! So I can go and visit Mickey again!! My 6 yr old DD tells me I love Mickey more than daddy. Not true, but it is close...:lmao:

Wow, we've gone to WDW 2 times, Sept 2005 and Sept 2007.:rotfl: That's great. So you are hooked too, huh?
I would not be going now if I hadn't won the prize. My hubby and budget usually allows for every other year. :laughing: Plus we had taken advantage of the free dining in the past. This trip just happened really fast and I'm trying to keep expenses down. I know to get the ressies you want, you have to get on that phone really early, so no dining plan this time. I guess our kids are really benefitting from us missing out on vacations as children.:) Thanks for posting.

bellasmommy0

11-04-2008, 09:16 AM

Wow, we've gone to WDW 2 times, Sept 2005 and Sept 2007.:rotfl: That's great. So you are hooked too, huh?
I would not be going now if I hadn't won the prize. My hubby and budget usually allows for every other year. :laughing: Plus we had taken advantage of the free dining in the past. This trip just happened really fast and I'm trying to keep expenses down. I know to get the ressies you want, you have to get on that phone really early, so no dining plan this time. Hubby isn't getting to go with me this trip. It's harder for him to be gone from work several days. My MIL is going with me and the kids. I guess our kids are really benefitting from us missing out on vacations as children.:) Thanks for posting.[/QUOTE]

Yes I am HOOKED :lmao: :lmao: Actually I grew up absolutely LOVING disney. Always dreamed of WDW..so when we took DD when she was 3, I think I loved it as much if not more than she did. She and I are both HOOKED completely. DH likes it, but says our next vacation has to be somewhere else....:sad2: So I am making the most of this one.
What prize did you win?? I havent heard about this yet??

morgtroy

11-04-2008, 10:46 AM

I grew up loving disney too, had the big album (boy I'm old) of the Mickey Mouse Club, got a Minnie Mouse watch for my first watch in first grade, with the white leather strap. I still have the watch and remarkably, it still works. I'll have to take a pic and post it here. :rotfl2:
My DD is hooked too, maybe too hooked, she said the other day she wants to get married in DisneyWorld. :faint: As if college isn't going to break me up. :rotfl: I said I don't know if I could afford that, and she said well at least go on my honeymoon there. Poor guy, whoever he ends up being. Ok, erase those thoughts completely... she's 10 and mama is NOT ready for those thoughts.
The prize....:banana: I entered a contest, and they called and said I won, me???,:confused3 how crazy is that?? There was paperwork to fill out and it was emailed and ..... "What did I win??" the use of DVC points for 3 years. WOW!! I'm still pinching myself, in disbelief, but this trip is my first trip using some of those winning points. I kept saying I'm not letting myself get fully excited yet, you know, what's the catch? Can this be real? The sweet ladies that worked with me on it, said, "Honey, go ahead and get excited, you have a confirmation # now.":jumping1:
So I'm still in shock, it's just so unreal...but I'm passing any pixiedust: I can on to all you disers. I read someone's post yesterday that they got picked to stay in the castle suite, coming up in a few weeks. Isn't Disney amazing...:cloud9:

bellasmommy0

11-04-2008, 01:43 PM

morgtroy

11-05-2008, 10:40 AM

Our first trip, we had so, so much fun. Which is why I'm hooked...
Here's a pic of my sweeties as we drove thru the WDW arch for the first time.
Opened mouth with chewing gum and all.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_1966.jpg

I was excited as they were.
I'm going to post some of my favorite pics from our 2005 trip.

The castle was so gorgeous with all the gold trim for 2005.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_3554.jpg

morgtroy

11-05-2008, 10:51 AM

We stayed at All Star Movies, loved the scenery.
The kids loved this car from Toy Story
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/104_3169.jpg
While I'm on Toy Story, here's my DS with Woody. :goodvibes
Background...this boy got a Woody Hat at Disney on Ice when he was around 2, and that Woody hat was on his head every single day for at least a year. :rotfl2: I've got some cute pics of him and that Woody hat.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_3503.jpg

Another highlight of the trip the kids still talk about was our Donald's Dino Breakfast at AK. The Goofy here was hilarious, actually jumped on Donald and they were rolling on the floor. :rotfl: So later while we were eating, Goofy comes up behind my DH and actually put DH's head inside his mouth. My hubby was laughing, but me and the kids were rolling. Here's a shot seconds after that.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/104_2982.jpg

Kids loved the face painting in AK.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/104_3040.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/104_3039.jpg
They also loved the rides and insisted me and DH ride behind them on Aladdin.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_3563.jpg

Ok, now for the magic you can feel in photos..We did CRT breakfast, got in the part before opening. My DD dressed as Cinderella. I love these pics..
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_2604.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_2606.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_2607.jpg princess: :lovestruc

Ok, makes me want to go:cloud9:

bellasmommy0

11-05-2008, 05:22 PM

Great pics!! What dates of Sept were you there in in 2005. We were also at ASMo that trip. I think we were there Sept 6-12. DD turned 3 on the 13th, so we went before she turned 3 so we wouldnt have to pay for her:lmao: :lmao:

morgtroy

11-06-2008, 05:11 AM

We were there Sept 21-25. That's funny. My kids loved that resort, all the movie stuff. We also liked Pop, stayed in the 50's building last trip. They loved the Hippy Dippy Pool there.

bellasmommy0

11-06-2008, 10:14 AM

We were there Sept 21-25. That's funny. My kids loved that resort, all the movie stuff. We also liked Pop, stayed in the 50's building last trip. They loved the Hippy Dippy Pool there.

We stayed at Movies the first time and Music the 2nd time. We much preferred the Movies!

morgtroy

11-07-2008, 05:48 AM

I was going to post my itinerary but some things are changing, maybe even resort and dates...

I said I didn't intend this to be a PTR or TR because I didn't have time to keep it up.:surfweb: Oh well, thanks to those of you who posted and PM'd me with great tips for the holidays. I'll still be there in Dec. and I'll try to update later.

Thanks:)

deia

11-07-2008, 11:40 AM

morgtroy

11-07-2008, 11:52 AM

Ask the cast members what sorts of Christmas events are going on while you're staying in Disney. One year we stumbled upon this gorgeous Christmas choir concert in the foyer of the Grand Floridian. Didn't even know it was going on until we got there - I think we were just there for the Christmas tree. There's usually all sorts of events like that - it can't hurt to ask around and see if you can attend some.

Also, various Santa types from around the world show up periodically at the World Showcase in Epcot. Also in Epcot, Mickey has a tree-lighting ceremony every night (complete with live music, I think)

All the topiaries are decorated for Christmas, usually, so it may be worth a drive around the park if you're into that sort of thing.

As I understand, the Wishes fireworks display is changed to a Holiday fireworks display in the Magic Kingdom.

I went one year (long time ago) and there was a Mickey Christmas dinner-theater type event. I don't remember what it was called, but I'm trying to find out if they still do it...I'm afraid it's been replaced by the Very Merry Christmas Party - which looks fun, too, but it's not the same.

I currently have a Holiday Fireworks specialty cruise lined up for Dec 4. If you'll be in Disney that night, I have a few spots left open on the boat if you're interested.

Hope this helps! Have a great Christmas in Disney!

Deia

Thanks so much for the ideas, I'll have to ask when we checkin about any special events.
It all sounds so great. I can't wait to go:banana:
We are going to GF, I can see them having carolers in victorian style clothes there.
I want to get my daughter the glass slipper dessert there for her birthday.

I've got the Mickey Christmas spirit. I found a Mickey's Christmas CD I got after Christmas last year, we'll be singing all the way to Disney World. :cool1:

Thanks for the offer on the fireworks cruise, I would have been interested, but that's not in my dates. I hope you fill your slots and have a wonderful time. I've never done the fireworks cruise, sounds wonderful.:santa:

morgtroy

11-09-2008, 07:40 AM

I woke up this morning, and had Disney on my mind. I'm smiling because in 3 weeks, I'll be in the happiest place on earth...

Then my mind went to the 1001 things I need to do before I go:rotfl2:
Three weeks go by pretty fast at my house. My son has been on a fall baseball team, a travel baseball team and now he and my daughter have started basketball season. Needless to say 3 weeks will be a blink.

I normally put up Chirstmas decorations the Friday or Sat after Thanksgiving, but I'll be in the World, yippee. So I will HAVE :lmao: to put it up before Thanksgiving. I love, love, love Christmas and also can't go to all that work for just few weeks of enjoyment.

Well, just wanted to :cheer2 with all you December people that our time is getting near.:cool1:

ToddyLu

11-09-2008, 08:09 AM

:santa: This will be our 4th trip during the Holidays. Of course you will want to do the usual stuff light Osborne Lights and listening to the Storytellers in Epcot. Will you be able to do MVMCP. I think it is terrific. Last year my MIL and I went on a "Yuletide Tour". The guides were good but the tour was just so-so. You will also have to buy a shingle at the Gingerbread House in the GF. Like you, my parents could not afford trips to WDW when I was younger so I never went to Disney World as a child. We did spend one day at Disneyland in CA in 1978 but I don't think that counts. They went several years back with my Brother and his wife and grandchildren. So in 2002 my DH had promised he would take me (he went in 1976). I went for the first time on our 8th anniversary. I was the 34 year old screaming when I saw the castle for the first time. We have been back every year since--He loves it as much as I do. I go for the Magic and he goes for the food and photography.

Usually my MIL and BIL go but this year my parents are going with us. I am sooo excited--their first trip without the distraction of grandchildren. A full week of big kids stuff. They have not been back in 10 years. They actually were there the day AK opened. So we are doing MVMCP, CA Grill and Fulton's--Brown Derby Fatasmic Dinner Package and the list goes on ( we have DP). Congratulations on your win. Have a terrific time.:santa:

morgtroy

11-10-2008, 07:43 AM

morgtroy

11-10-2008, 07:45 AM

So I recently saw a clip about the build your own ears shop in MK. Apparently this is somewhat new?? Have any of you disers been there?

I want to get some Mickey holiday ears and I'm hoping they have them there.:santa:

morgtroy

11-13-2008, 12:11 PM

I forgot to mention I'm a scrapbooker. Yes addicted to it, although my busy life has put a big hold on my scrapbooking hobby. I'm super behind, but in the past, scrapbooking my disney trips has been my therapy to get over "post disney blues." Kind of like a vacation is great, but a disney vacation is super. Same thing with scrapbooking.:) Scrapbooking is great, but disney scrapbooking is SUPER. They have so many darn cute things for disney scrapping. I have to say of all my scrapbooks, the disney ones are the ones we look back at the most. The kids love looking at them .
Here's some pics of some of my disney scrapping.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0344.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0343.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0340.jpg

I'll have to get my thoughts and some pics together of my packing and planning. Only 15 days left. :cool1:

morgtroy

11-14-2008, 01:33 PM

This is the plan, the hope is to slow down and take it all in. We've done the comando style with dining plan, reservations to get to, tight schedule. This is to take in the holiday stuff, sure we'll ride the rides, but if we miss some, no biggie, we'll catch them next time. We'll eat when we get hungry. The only dining times to make are on our last day.
Again, if you know of any holiday thing, I'm leaving out, big or small, please let me know.

Day One
Arrival day
We won't get there until 4-ish.
So checkin and hit MK.
It will be packed, may catch some rides during first spectomagic,
then we'll catch the 2nd Spectro.
Maybe catch the judges tent to see Belle in her holiday dress.

Day Two
Epcot
Bright and early
Catch our favorite rides, & check out all the holiday decorations, and santas in WS.
Go back to room for a break
Come back to Epcot for earliest Candlelight Processional.
Catch the tree lighting ceremony

Day Three
AK
Go early.
Make sure to hit Camp Minnie Mickey to see characters in
their Christmas outfits, especially Santa Goofy. Love me some Goofy.:goofy:
Leave early to rest then get ready for MVMCP.:tinker:
But come back to catch AK parade then park hop over to MK
for the Christmas party.:santa:

Day Four
HS
Ride rides in the morning.
Parade
Then Osborne lights, possibly Fantasmic
May try to stay all day or if we rest, hit Downtown
Disney after Fantasmic.

Day Five
MK
Celebrating DD's Birthdayprincess:
Crystal Palace Breakfast
Hit all rides we can early.
Parade at 3:00, go back to room.
Go back to MK catch Monorail stop at each resort to
take in Christmas decorations.
Eat at Park Fare
Check out the gingerbread house (buy a shingle, Thanks ToddyLu, and decorations.
After dinner, go to wilderness lodge to check out decorations
and Fort Wilderness.

Get lots of pics for my photopass.

Am I missing something?

morgtroy

11-21-2008, 10:48 AM

I posted earlier that with my crazy life, 3 weeks would be a blink. Well here I am at 1 week and it was a blink. I've got a lot to do. I have these goals of things to get done before the trip. One of the goals was to get my Christmas tree up before the trip. I'm going to put our main tree up this weekend, but I had the idea last year to do a small disney tree. I had found some great deals on ornaments after Christmas. A friend of mine, who has a gift shop, sold me a "pencil" tree at a deal. He bought several new last year for his store and wasn't using this one. Pre-lite, snap together in 3 pieces. Gotta love that.:thumbsup2 I love my Disney tree. I put some red glitter sprigs at the top. You know fireworks..:rotfl: but our tree is in need of a topper, that's going to be my souvenir this trip, to buy a tree topper.
Here are some pics though.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0519.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0543.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0544.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0546.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0548.jpg

See the ribbons that I put our disney pins on. Having that tree up is putting me in the Disney Christmas mood.

I'm also starting to pull some things together for the trip. My new backpack... I watched this thing from the beginning of spring, thinking I'm not paying $25.00 for a backpack when I have a plain ole backpack that's fine. Then it went on sale for $12 something and with extra coupon, I had to have it. I love all the compartments, the fact that it's insulated..extra padding and keep my things dry.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0537.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0539.jpg

I also made us some Christmas shirts to wear to the MVMCP. I think they turned out cute. Thanks dis for my starting design...I edited it a little. I also added a little Mickey and Minnie on the sleeves.:santa:

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0560.jpg

When we did the tree, I went ahead and gave the kids some pins I got for them to trade. Gotta love ebay. They are like me..."I really don't want to trade that one." But we decided on a few to trade. Here are our lanyards we're taking. DD is not sure about the "Minnie Girl" pin, so she said, only if I find a Minnie I like better will I trade that one. DS is the same over the Jungle book one. I've always called him my "Man Cub" so Mowgli is special, he's only going to trade for a "better Mowgli". Ha! Ha!
Last year we were very lucky to win Fast Passes to MK and Epcot and the Dream lanyard pin sets. :banana: Gotta keep an eye out for the dream team this trip, since that is getting ready to end.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0540.jpg
I've also checked the forecast and it's looking super. Let's pray it stays great. Highs range from 66-78° and lows range from 47-55°. No rain in our days SO FAR.:wizard: pixiedust: pixiedust:

tmkinney

11-21-2008, 10:57 AM

Hey, I just found your report. Love the Christmas tree and the shirts you made, very cute. Did I mention I'm totally jealous you will be in Disney in a week?! :rotfl2:

I love the backpack too, just hope yours fairs better than mine did!!

morgtroy

11-21-2008, 11:03 AM

Thanks. I hope the backpack holds up too. After you told me about the straps I tried to tug on them to see if they seemed weak. I also thought about sewing them to reinforce them, but the insulated part would probably not fit in my machine. They didn't seem weak, but that doesn't mean they won't come apart later. I actually read someone else's TR and they had similar problems with their backpack. Oh well.

We are getting excited about the trip. :yay:

morgtroy

11-25-2008, 12:43 PM

Ok, in just a few days, we'll hear those special words..."Welcome Home"
First we'll see this wonderful sight (after several hours in the car):)
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_4453.jpg

We'll check in and check out our beautiful resort. Hoping with pixiedust: that we get our room request. I'll meet up with my DVC friend.

Then we'll head over to MK and see this for the first time this trip.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5814.jpg
We'll probably ride some rides and then catch this...
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101B6532.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101B6461.jpg
Then we'll catch wishes...
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101B6820.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101B6700.jpg
I'm like everyone else, :lovestruc by the castle.

But all these gorgeous sites will be decorated for the holidays, which I've never seen. Can't wait. :santa:

morgtroy

11-25-2008, 02:04 PM

Next day we'll hit Epcot. Love Epcot in the mornings..We love all the rides in FW and then there's nothing like having WS to yourself when it opens.
I may let the kids do the passports this time. I hope to spend more time in each country. We hit it all last time but I have to admit, the first half of WS we spent lots of time in each country, but the 2nd half we just went through kind of hurried.
But this will be a nice sight early in the morning.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_6299.jpg

We'll have to hit our favorite ride.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_4464.jpg

And then our others favorites.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100B4480.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_4562.jpg

And don't forget Soarin, sorry I don't really have a pic for that one.

We'll have to hit the:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_6304.jpg

And all the while, keep our eyes peeled for the Dream team. :rotfl: No really, who doesn't love winning something, but I'm not going expecting it. We were so very blessed with year of a million dreams last time, if we don't see them that's ok. Thanks Disney, that was a wonderful promotion, we have really enjoyed it.

We'll catch some lunch in WS, not sure where yet...and enjoy all this.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/HPIM1102-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/HPIM1114-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/HPIM1120.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/HPIM1157-2.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/HPIM1174-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/HPIM1177-1.jpg

Maybe we'll run into these:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/HPIM1151-1.jpg
Can't miss the school bread at the Kringla Bakery. Love that.

And later we'll catch the candlelight processional and the tree lighting ceremony. :love:

morgtroy

11-25-2008, 05:20 PM

Can't wait to see this...
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_6256.jpg
And catch some of our favorites here like the safari
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_4864.jpg

and hopefully this time we'll all ride..
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_4942.jpg

and then the rest of our favorites..
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_4929.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_4787.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_4806.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_4811.jpg
Maybe we'll see these...
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_4827.jpg

And we have to try to catch this, our favorite show. love the music...
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_5054.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_5058.jpg

We'll try to go back and rest and come back later for the parade and then park hop over to MVMCP..Yipppeeee:banana: party:
:mickeyjum

Firsts this trip for AK will be...
All the Christmas decorations..
Camp Minnie Mickey (we've been but now when they have all the themed trees or the characters dressed in Christmas attire)
All ride Expedition Everest (we'll see?)
The Christmas parade.

We've never done the train ride to rafitki's planet watch

morgtroy

11-27-2008, 05:48 AM

:rotfl: :rotfl: http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5525.jpg

Can't get used to this "Hollywood Studios" thing.:confused3
But like all the parks, I love this one early in the morning. We'll have to race to Toy Story mania, can't wait to try that, then it's off to RNRRC, we're all planning to ride that one this time.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5582-1.jpg

They're brave now, we'lll see when we get there. My DD, sometimes known as "chicken little" thinks she's up for everything, except maybe tower of terror. The height thing scares her. But we'll see.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5581-1.jpg

Which way will we go next? :rotfl2:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image11.jpg

Love the characters at HS...
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5542.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5550-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5574-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5645.jpg

Funny story here, last year while waiting for the parade, one of the street performers pointed my DD out and asked her to come out, he needed her to help him make a commercial about popcorn popcorn:: He told her to say "This is the best tasting popcorn I've ever had." He got this other lady to turn the camera. Then he told her take 2, add a laugh at the end, so she did. Of course she was giggling the whole time. He then gave my hubby a fake hundred to "pay her agent":rotfl: and gave her an academy award necklace with a little trophy on the end. It was very cute. Here's the guy, he was great.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5654-1.jpg

Love a parade, we'll have to catch it this time, they changed to the block party parade after our last trip.

Love the balloons before the parades.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5661-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5729.jpg

Firsts for this coming trip at HS:

All the holiday stuff, especially Osborne lights.
Toy Story Mania
We want to do the drawing class.
High School Musical, (they weren't performing last trip, they were changing over for High School Musical 2. Hope they aren't changing for 3 this time. :rotfl2: )
All of us ride RNRRC, and hopefully Tower of Terror.
See the Sorcerer Mickey, (he's so cute)

morgtroy

11-27-2008, 06:17 AM

I'm throwing all this at you, I've got to cook and pack today :yay:
Seeing these old pics gets me excited. I'll keep it going for all you lurkers. Thanks for checking this out...
[SIZE="5"]This day will be my DD's special day. We will celebrate her birthday this day. Her actual birthday will be the following week. This trip came together quick and there wasnt' any DVC availability on her birthday.

We'll start with a before park opening
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5814.jpg

With a trip to
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_6057.jpg

I started to cancel this a few times, since we have a dining for dinner this night, but decided to keep it. We'll finish up our last day with a bang.

Then we'll hit all our favs...
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_6959.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_6966.jpg

[SIZE="7"]Found the dream team here last trip and won FP for MK. :cool1:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_6015.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5924.jpg'
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5934.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_6033.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_6982.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_5369.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_5462-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_5380-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_5352.jpg

[SIZE="7"]Not my favorite, but the kids love it.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_5297.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_5426-1.jpg

[SIZE="7"]We'll have to get our jokes ready...
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_5297.jpg

[SIZE="7"]Maybe see the show..
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_6084.jpg

[SIZE="7"]Or run into some characters..
Maybe stop here for some figero fries. Yummy
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_6156.jpg

And of course all the while take tons of pics of the castle:lovestruc
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_5995.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/100_5293.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/101_6154.jpg :cloud9:

We'll catch the parade then go back and rest. Then we'll go back to MK to catch the monorail and do a resort tour stoppping at each to get some Christmas decoration pics. Until we get to GF, where we'll have dinner at 1900 park fare. And do a little shopping. I want to check out the spa shop with the bath balls and let DD make her own lipgloss.
Then we'll go back to MK catch the bus or boat to WL so I can see allt he decorations there. Love the WL, I hope to stay there on a future trip sometime.

Firsts this trip for MK...
Well, all the Christmas things.
Meet and greet with tinkerbell.
Hit the Make your own ears store.
Try a tinkerbell slushy..
Tom Sawyer Island

morgtroy

11-27-2008, 06:29 AM

That's it, I won't get a chance to post again before we leave.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
I hope you all have great time with your families for Thanksgiving.
I know we all have so much to be thankful for.
God is a great God and worthy to be praised.

Pray for our traveling safety and I'll post when we return.:)

bellasmommy0

11-27-2008, 06:49 AM

morgtroy

12-04-2008, 11:19 AM

We had a great time, I've started a TR in a new links see below in my signature. I hope I can do this and keep it updated...keep in mind I'm a newbie at this TR stuff...
Go to the new link, I already posted a couple pics.
Thanks for reading.

morgtroy

12-04-2008, 11:24 AM

Hi everyone, I'm back...and very tired I might add. We had a wonderful time. The "world" was so, so beautiful with all the decorations. :santa:
I'll have to gather myself and get my real life, back into swing.
But let me just start by saying OH MY GOSH, THE CASTLE WAS SO, SO GORGEOUS, and you'll be able to tell that by the thousands of pics I took of it.
And the characters in the holiday wear. So darn cute.:yay:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/Mickey.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/Minnie.jpg

As with any Disney trip, there's always one or two things you didn't fit in and that just keeps you coming back or saying, ok, we'll get it next time.:love:
I am a disney freak...

I took so, so many pictures of all the decorations. So hope you come on board for the ride.:cheer2:

bellasmommy0

12-04-2008, 11:28 AM

I am in! We leave on Saturday morning, and I am so excited I cant contain myself..so any pics I see of yours today and tommorow are going to make it worse!!! Glad you had a great trip!!

MiaBella05

12-05-2008, 07:25 AM

popcorn:: subscribing popcorn::

heaven2dc

12-05-2008, 01:24 PM

Count me in too!! I'll be there in 8 days and can hardly wait to see all the holiday decorations!

morgtroy

12-05-2008, 10:33 PM

Our trip started with a 9.5 hr drive. Not something I'd want to do every week or even every month, but now and then not too bad. Considering gas has come down so much, I think it only costed between $75.00 and $80.00 to get there and back. If were just 2 of us going, I'd fly, but more than 2 it's hard to justify the cost. That and you can take pretty much anything you want in the car.

We arrived around 3 something. As some of you know from following my pretrip, I won an amazing prize, use of DVC points for 3 years.:cloud9: And I have to admit I'm still so, so blown away by this. I feel very humbled. lucky and blessed by this. :) I have to say it again, God has blessed me over and above anything I could ever deserve and in so many ways outside of winning this prize.

So this was my first stay using the points. Really this trip came to be because of the points. I had booked a trip for March for my big birthday and a week or so after booking it, I got the call about the prize.
I've felt extremely lucky to just stay at a value resort inside disney world in the past, so this DVC stuff is just amazing...

The trip came together quickly, I've always wanted to go while the world was decorated for Christmas and I had heard the 1st or 2nd week in Dec was a good time to go. So I called and got a room at Saratoga Springs.
We got there with no trouble at all, great traffic and I love the GPS telling me to keep right or keep left as the road/lanes change and merge.:thumbsup2
So we see this first.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/HPIM1572.jpg

Then we see the resort and drive up to hear the sweetest words "Welcome home." Saratoga springs is a really pretty resort. It is a large resort and I wasn't sure what section we'd get. I entered the beautiful lobby to see the huge Christmas tree and decorations. I let the kids take some pictures while I checked in.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0641.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0627.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0618.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0642.jpg

It only took a few minutes, the CM was great and said "Congratulations, I see you're a winner." She also gave my DD a birthday pin since we were essentially celebrating her birthday this trip. Her actual birthday is this week.

Guess what section we got...."Congress Park". It ended up being a great section for us. We brought food and planned on eating in the room for breakfast and light suppers. The room was really nice and the view was terrific. I'll post some more pics of the Congress Park area later.
And you walked out of our patio doors
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0649.jpg

to this view....
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0645.jpg
Downtown disney across the lake.

I will have to say if you plan on using the food court any I don't think you'd want to be in the Congress park section. It's really too far to walk to the main building. But we didn't miss that at all. We also didn't even use the pool. We were busy on our warmer days and didn't have any desire to use the pool on the cooler days. But each section has it's own pool. I'll post some pics of the pools later.
The kids and I even walked to Downtown Disney one night. A really short walk from Congress Park. I have to say the main thing I noticed about Saratoga Springs is how quiet and peaceful it is there. As I've only stayed at Value resorts where everyone there is using the food court, lobby area and the same bus stop. All merging to the same spot. Saratoga springs was not this way. Only 6-10 other people at the bus stop with us and that's about all the people we saw in and around the hotel. Bus stop was right out front of our building. The bus system was not a problem for us during our stay, however I could see it being more of an issue in the peak of summer crowds. On the way to the parks, Congress parks was the 4th stop, and the bus only stopped once at Springs section before heading on to the parks. On the way back the bus stopped at Grandstand, then paddock then Carosel, then congress park and I asssume then springs. Wasn't a problem during our stay. And one super thing about Saratoga springs is the bus stops leaving the parks were all super close, 2nd 3rd or 4th stop. That was my main complaint about Pop Century, the bus stop at all the parks was pretty much the last shelter at the parks.
So enough about the resort...we jump the bus to Magic Kingdom. I knew it would be crowded Friday and Sat and hoped for lower crowds the rest of our stay. Tonight was a Spectromagic night, which was the real reason we were starting off in MK.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0655.jpg
Can't you just here the MK music kicking in on the bus?:cool1:
Here's a few pics of our first looks at MK...
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0660.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0663.jpg
And this guy was out front.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0667.jpg

Was it crowded? Did we get to see Spectromagic? Tune in next time when I say.."How long is the wait time?"

MAGICFOR2

12-05-2008, 11:38 PM

I'm subbing! Congratulations on your win - looks like it couldn't have happened for nicer people! Your trip looks beautiful so far! We are owners at SSR - love it!

MJAJmom

12-06-2008, 08:53 AM

I'm here for the show!!! I want to see all the christmas decorations. Did you go to MVMCP?? The entrance of MK is so pretty with all the wreaths and garland.

OhMari

12-06-2008, 10:05 AM

I see that they have added more flower decorations in front of the MK. The Mickey head made with poinsettia's were not there Nov. 12th yet.

I looked for your link to your pre-trip. How did you win the DVC for 3 years? Was it part of the YOAMD?

morgtroy

12-06-2008, 11:47 AM

I am in! We leave on Saturday morning, and I am so excited I cant contain myself..so any pics I see of yours today and tommorow are going to make it worse!!! Glad you had a great trip!!
Thanks for subbing, I already posted to your TR to have a magical time.:santa:

popcorn:: subscribing popcorn::
Thanks for subbing!:)
Count me in too!! I'll be there in 8 days and can hardly wait to see all the holiday decorations!
You will love the decorations, they do an amazing job.:santa:

I'm subbing! Congratulations on your win - looks like it couldn't have happened for nicer people! Your trip looks beautiful so far! We are owners at SSR - love it!
Thanks for your very sweet comments. :love: We had a wonderful time.:)

I'm here for the show!!! I want to see all the christmas decorations. Did you go to MVMCP?? The entrance of MK is so pretty with all the wreaths and garland.
It is so pretty at Christmas. Yes we did do MVMCP, I'll post about that later. Thanks for subbing.:)

I see that they have added more flower decorations in front of the MK. The Mickey head made with poinsettia's were not there Nov. 12th yet.

I looked for your link to your pre-trip. How did you win the DVC for 3 years? Was it part of the YOAMD?

The grounds crews are very talented. I noticed one morning that sometime during the night or very early morning they had changed all the flowers in the gardens right in front of our building. Part of the Magic.:wizard:
I entered a contest that was on the Disney email newsletter. I still can't believe I won. All the people with the contest were so very, very nice to speak with. It wasn't part of YOAMD, but it sure was a Dream to me.:cloud9: I look forward to the adventures over the next 3 years. My DH couldn't make this trip, it's harder for him to get off work, but we hope to go back next year, the whole family. As I said I'm still blown away and feel so very blessed.
Thanks for subbing.:)

bop28

12-06-2008, 12:19 PM

I'm in! But did I miss the dates of your trip? :)

caralyn817

12-06-2008, 12:59 PM

I'm hooked! Can't wait to hear more and see some more picture! I leave in a few days for a trip of my own and can't wait.

morgtroy

12-06-2008, 03:43 PM

I'm in! But did I miss the dates of your trip? :)
Thanks for subscribbing, the dates were Nov. 28 - Dec 3, we just got back.:sad2:

I'm hooked! Can't wait to hear more and see some more picture! I leave in a few days for a trip of my own and can't wait.

I hope you have a blast, I was just in awe of the decorations, so pretty. Thanks for subbing.:santa:

morgtroy

12-06-2008, 03:56 PM

:rotfl2: This was Friday after Thanksgiving in MK and a specto night, no less. Of course it was crowded.:rotfl2: But we're in Disney world so what.:love:
We walked in to these sights.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0674.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0675.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0679.jpg
The castle lights were not on yet, but I was loving all the decorations. I don't remember exactly what we did first but there were waits and crowds. I think we checked out the wait times at Buzz and Space Mt. Too long. We then went to toontown and checked out Mickey and Minnie's house. The wait times for the Fairies and princesses was too long. We took the train over to Frontierland. We did manage to ride Aladdin Carpet Rides and Big thunder Mt. Railroad.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0696.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0699.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0701.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0729.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0752.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0755.jpg
We did a glimpse of this from Frontierland.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0740.jpg
What's next?

autumnpalm

12-06-2008, 04:16 PM

Oh, it's so beautiful.:love:

Enjoying your TR so far!!:surfweb:

morgtroy

12-07-2008, 05:00 PM

Oh, it's so beautiful.:love:

Enjoying your TR so far!!:surfweb:

Thanks for subbing.:) You don't have long. Can't wait to hear about your trip. Staying at the poly would be a dream. That resort is so beautiful.

OneTreeHillAddict

12-07-2008, 10:33 PM

morgtroy

12-08-2008, 07:18 AM

How did I miss this? I glanced through the PTR...great pics btw! And so far this one is wonderful. I wish I could rush it so I could see everything before we go. You must live close to me??? It takes us about 9 hours too. Sometimes longer depending on when we leave. PM me your town if you prefer not to say on here. The holiday stuff is looking so pretty and you...OMG you won a DVC for 3 years! How lucky! What a wonderful prize. How many times a year can you go? I wish we could win a free trip...but man, three years worth! That's great! Okay girl...I am here for a couple of more days anyway. Show me as much as you can. :thumbsup2

Yes, I do live kind of close to you. I'll PM you. Yes OMG is right.:faint: Like I said, I still can't believe it. The points really vary by room style and times of the year. Kind of like the prices, value season uses less points, weekdays are less points than weekends. If you use them wisely you could get several trips in a year. I'm still in shock. I wouldn't even let myself get excited about it until I got everything. The prize even included cash to pay taxes on it. My tax guy wasn't thrilled until I told him that, then he was like OMG, go and have a blast. Along with the excitement, I have a great feeling of being humbled by it, thinking how blessed. I like the word blessed better than lucky, since I know all good things come from God. :love:
Thanks for joining, I posted to your report that I'll get the times guides to you tonight. I'll try to get more pics up for you and the others that are going soon.:)

tmkinney

12-08-2008, 07:22 AM

Great start, loving all the Christmas pics!

morgtroy

12-08-2008, 07:27 AM

We were in the masses and going to do the later, 2nd Spectro. But first Wishes. Love the music starting up. And we were standing on the bridge and had a great viewing area. Got a close up of tinkerbell, but unfortunately it's on my camcorder instead of photos. I'll try to get that uploaded later. But here are some pics. Dare I say it again, the castle was amazing. Ok it's a lot of pics of the castle, but you know they change the lights and it looks different and well you know I just :love: it.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0873.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0874.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0903.jpghttp://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0914.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0914.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0907.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0908.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0937.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0964.jpg

Then we made our way, wall to wall people to the bathrooms over near Crystal Palace. Luckily most people were leaving. Then we went down Main St. to the train station to watch Specto.
It was so beautiful, my pics do not do it justice.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0981.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0987.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0989.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_0990.jpg

morgtroy

12-08-2008, 08:00 AM

It did clear out some and we hung out around the train station and got some popcorn and had a great place to watch spectro. The closest I've ever been. We've watched it from near the castle and also in Frontierland before but this time right in front of the train station.
My DD took some pics in an area they have near the train station. (Sorry, didn't get rid of red eye on those.)
Here they are..
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1001.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1002.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/HPIM1692.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/HPIM1689.jpg

And Spectro:love:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1019.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1020.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1009.jpg
These guys have got to get dizzy.:rotfl2:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1011.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1026.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1029.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1033.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1035.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1037-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1042.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1045.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1092.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1060.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1094.jpg

I got a kick out of this one. The lights on the umbrella kind of look like lightning in my pic :rotfl:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1095.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1099.jpg

Well, that's it for our first few hours in the world...Am I posting too many pics?:rotfl: This is not every pic, I'm insane with photos. I told you guys I scrapbook.:laughing:

morgtroy

12-08-2008, 08:03 AM

Great start, loving all the Christmas pics!

Thanks, this will be mostly a photo report. :rotfl: I just left photobucket running at home one night this weekend to upload pics and I only uploaded part of them. You know how many pictures I take. Crazy I know.:)

heaven2dc

12-08-2008, 08:35 AM

morgtroy

12-08-2008, 08:50 AM

I was so excited when I heard you won the DVC contest and now you're on your first DVC trip! How blessed you truly are :cloud9: I can't even imagine!

I will be leaving this Saturday and staying at BWV with boardwalk view and will be taking hundreds of pics myself. My daughter, fiance & baby w/b joining me on the 17th and I can hardly stand it I'm so excited! :banana:

The Christmas decorations are so beautiful - your pics are great! Since you arrived on the Friday after Thanksgiving, how were the crowds compared to previous trips? (it looked a little packed but considering the holiday weekend, I guess you would expect that.) Our MK day is the day my DD arrives (we have base tickets) and we hope to see Wishes that night since I didn't buy MVMCP tickets. I plan to go to one park per day before she arrives to take all the pics I can so I can help her with DGS who is 14 mos old. That way she & her fiance can enjoy themselves while I enjoy my grandson!

You have a beautiful family and I hope you had a wonderfully magical vacation :love:

Thanks for your very sweet words about my family. :hug: We did miss my hubby not being with us this trip. Our past trips have been the most fun family thing and we are a tight little family so one of us not there was a little sad. I was glad my MIL got to go.
Yes it was crowded that night. I prepared everyone, well I tried to, that it would be crowded Fri and Sat. The crowds did ease a little on Sunday and a little more on Mon. and Tues. We did do MVMCP, I'll put more info on that later, but I called it Mickey's Very Crowded Christmas party:rotfl: . We've gone in Sept on both previous trips and the crowds are lighter then. But it was worth a little crowd to see the decorations. So, so pretty.
I hope you have the most magical trip, be sure to take your grandson to camp Minnie Mickey in AK to get his pictures with the characters.:)

OneTreeHillAddict

12-08-2008, 11:11 AM

luckylady

12-08-2008, 11:15 AM

Congrats on winning the DVC. That makes taking trips there so much eaiser. Looking at all those great pictures makes me want to go back there. Hmm thank you I think i may hvae to plan a couple only trip for next Dec. I miss being there at that time. Can't wait to read more.

morgtroy

12-08-2008, 11:45 AM

Candy Cane Garden...is that where Santa meets? Tell me about the meet and greets. Were they dressed up for the holidays yet? Were you able to meet Red Belle anywhere other than the party? Great Pics and thanks for sending the times over! :thumbsup2

I think Santa may be there at times, but he wasn't then. During MVMCP, they had him on a bench in the circle right in front of the train station. They took your picture with the castle and main st at your back. We unfortunately didn't want to wait in the long line for that. I also regret to say we did not see Belle in her red dress or the fairies. We stopped by twice and both times the wait was an hour. Most of the character meet and greets did have holiday outfits on. Too cute.
I will say if you are doing the photopass try to get a pic with the fairies and with Bolt at HS. I didn't know this before the trip but they have some really cute photopass borders for the fairies and for Bolt. I'll be posting some character pics soon.:)

Congrats on winning the DVC. That makes taking trips there so much eaiser. Looking at all those great pictures makes me want to go back there. Hmm thank you I think i may hvae to plan a couple only trip for next Dec. I miss being there at that time. Can't wait to read more.
Great, you should do a Christmas trip. I loved all the decorations. Thanks for following along.:)

OneTreeHillAddict

12-08-2008, 12:10 PM

I think Santa may be there at times, but he wasn't then. During MVMCP, they had him on a bench in the circle right in front of the train station. They took your picture with the castle and main st at your back. We unfortunately didn't want to wait in the long line for that. I also regret to say we did not see Belle in her red dress or the fairies. We stopped by twice and both times the wait was an hour. Most of the character meet and greets did have holiday outfits on. Too cute.
I will say if you are doing the photopass try to get a pic with the fairies and with Bolt at HS. I didn't know this before the trip but they have some really cute photopass borders for the fairies and for Bolt. I'll be posting some character pics soon.:)

Cool. DD is taking both Holiday Belle's in hopes of getting a picture with her dressed this way. I hate lines but I'm going to have to stand in one for Santa. Speaking of....I need to get the PP ordered. Like TODAY. Your pictures are making me want to go right now. :laughing: I can't wait to see these character pics. We're big time character nerds. :rotfl2:

luckylady

12-08-2008, 12:15 PM

Great, you should do a Christmas trip. I loved all the decorations. Thanks for following along.:)

We have gone there for Christmas..twice. Once in 2002 and after I said I'd never go at Christmas again found ourselves there again in 2004. I'm thinking first week in Dec should be no crowds.

morgtroy

12-08-2008, 01:53 PM

At the entrance
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1143.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1145.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1147.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1148.jpg

We make our way to one of our favorite rides
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1150.jpg

We had a very short wait, was more like just a slow down..
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1160.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1171.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1173.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1179.jpg
It was such a pretty day. I told them to go ahead and ride mission space and I'd run get soarin fast passes. Man there was a line and our return time was 12:30 I believe..
So we rode a few more rides and messed around in innoventions.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1187.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1196.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1243.jpg
We also did Honey I shrunk the audience, for the first time. It was closed for refurbishment before.

The kids love the dolphins and sea turtles.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1214.jpg
Love the "hidden mickey" in the tank
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1217.jpg
We did where's the fire and Troy played on some of the games. And we ran into these 2.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1194.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1191.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1192.jpg
We took a break and had some of the little PB and J sandwiches for lunch.

Then we went to do the The land ride and it would be time for Soarin.:cool1:
They even had a Christmas tree in the land.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1272.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1274.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1277.jpg

Now it was time for Soarin:cheer2:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1281.jpg
So we ride, get middle row. All morning my DD has said her stomach doesn't feel great. She doesn't handle greasy foods, but we were pretty sure she had not had anything greasy.
We were getting ready to head back to the room to rest and on the way out of the Land, my DD gets sick,:sick: Not a nice thing.. I told the CM so they could get a clean up crew and luckily she was able to wipe up with the wipes I had in the bag. She felt a little sluggish the rest of the day but other than that was fine. We headed out any way and she took a good nap in the room.
I have to say thank the good Lord that she did not get sick while we were on Soarin. That would have been so horrible:eek:

Continued in next post

morgtroy

12-08-2008, 02:00 PM

She felt better thank goodness, so we were hoping it was just something she ate.
I have to also add that first thing this morning we ran into the Dream Team member that gave us the Dream Lanyards last year. He is so super nice and remembered us and we talked for a while. He said they should be giving something away in the next hour, to keep our eyes open for him.
We saw very little of the dream team, or very little evidence of them. I only saw a few people with fast passes and one family with dream ears. I know it's winding down. But on our way out we ran into him and another CM again. My son was trading pins with the other cm and he traded for a Minnie 08 for his sister. She had gone to the bathroom with my MIL. When our guy heard he traded for his sister he gave him a tinkerbell pin for spreading the magic.
Here's a pic of it.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1295-1.jpg

On our way out the kids posed for another pic.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1284-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1289-1.jpg
So how did the rest of the day go? Will we be able to come back for Candlelight processional tonight?

morgtroy

12-08-2008, 02:03 PM

We have gone there for Christmas..twice. Once in 2002 and after I said I'd never go at Christmas again found ourselves there again in 2004. I'm thinking first week in Dec should be no crowds.

Yes, I do not think I'd want to be there Christmas week, I can't imagine how the crowds would be. I was a little surprised thinking the crowds would be lighter than they were on Mon. Tue. (first week of Dec.) but then again, I've only gone in Sept. I went with the mindset to just take in all the Christmas stuff I could and it was wonderful.:)

scottny

12-08-2008, 02:26 PM

morgtroy

12-08-2008, 07:26 PM

MJAJmom

12-08-2008, 07:56 PM

I love all the christmas decorations at MK and Epcot. This year we went to MNSSHP and I'm thinking about going to MVMCP next year to see all the holiday decorations. Everything looks so festive!

morgtroy

12-08-2008, 08:01 PM

I love all the christmas decorations at MK and Epcot. This year we went to MNSSHP and I'm thinking about going to MVMCP next year to see all the holiday decorations. Everything looks so festive!

I'll post more about the MVMCP later. We had done MNSSHP last fall. We had a lot of fun but it started raining and made for a wet time. But we still enjoyed it. Nothing like Trick or treating in the Magic Kingdom:banana: We still sing the "Boo to you and you and you and ... " music from the Halloween parade. I have some good and bad on MVMCP, stay tuned.:)

scottny

12-08-2008, 09:09 PM

Thanks, I know you can't wait to get there. I hope you have a magical trip.:)

Thank you.

OneTreeHillAddict

12-09-2008, 12:01 AM

Oh Epcot is gorgeous! I love the way it's decorated!!! Thanks for taking so many great pictures. I'm sorry to hear your DD got sick. Poor baby. That's not good. (At least it was after the ride) My baby is crazy over the Pluto decor. I have to agree, it's the cutest thing I've seen all day. :goodvibes

How'd you like HISTA? I can't stand it. :lmao: I wish they'd put something a little less dated in there. To think it offers a fast pass!? :confused3 That one and Drew Carey's thing can go away any time now and I wont shed a tear. :laughing:

heaven2dc

12-09-2008, 10:34 AM

Hi,
Just read your report and loving it. I will be there on Saturday (hoping crowds won;t be too bad) and loving the decorations and cannot wait to see them in person.

Thanks for sharing.

And you can never post too many pics.

I will be arriving on Saturday too! Altho no plans yet for which park since I will be by myself the first 4 days but Epcot is always my fav and first one I want to see. My DS15 was supposed to join me on this trip & we originally had plans to go to Epcot & eat lunch at Teppan Edo but now that he's not going, I have no plans :confused:

Hope you have a fun trip - 3 days, 19 hours and 28 mins to go!!

morgtroy

12-09-2008, 10:48 AM

I forgot to mention we rode spaceship earth. It was closed for refurb last time. We got a kick out of our futures at the end:rotfl2:
Here's a few pics.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1363-2.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1364-2.jpg

I had also grabbed FP for Test Track before we left to use that night when we came back.
So we go back to the room and rest a while. DD took a good long nap. No fever or anything so we assumed it was just something she ate. She said she felt better was ready to go. That's my disney girl :thumbsup2
We head to epcot.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1317-2.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1322-2.jpg

Go do TT at night.:love: this ride
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1383-1.jpg
The kids had to try out the cars. Notice the parade wave on DD.:rotfl:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1385-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1389-1.jpg
Then we head over to WS. Get first looks of the decorations and lighted arch and tree, wow!
:goodvibes so pretty.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1401-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1406-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1415.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1720.jpg
So very pretty:goodvibes

Continued next post

morgtroy

12-09-2008, 10:54 AM

We are trying to get to Candlelight proc. I had orginally hoped to go to the earliest show, but with DD nap and stuff we didn't get back as early as I hoped. So we eat at Catina CS in Mexico and race to the America Theatre. I stopped off at Kringla (sp?) bakery in Norway. I had to get some school bread. Ended up with school bread, sweet pretzel for kids, and a Creme horn to bring home for hubby.:love:
The Norway story tellers were out, so the kids and my MIL stayed out and listened to them. They took these pics.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1432-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1433.jpg
I had a really good one of the kids with them, but didn't get it uploaded.

Here are some pics from inside the bakery. Their decorations.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1439.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1442.jpg
I don't remember where these guys were at.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1430.jpg

We dash on over to the America Theatre and it's filling up. A CM asks us how many are in our party, we say 4, she says I think we'll get you in. :eek: I sure hope we get in. She proceeded to say, if we get everyone in, it will be the first time tonight. So the first 2 shows they turned away. Guess it worked out we didn't make it to the early show.
So we get in, but do have a seat in the back. That's fine, we have a seat. It was such a pretty, and moving show. I love that Disney reads the Christmas story and the choir was wonderful. :love: It was very moving. John O'Hurley was the narrator that night. Great voice for the job. Being the Seinfeld freak that I am, he will forever be Mr. Peterman. :rotfl:
I tried to get a few good pics.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1469.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1472.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1480.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1466.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1482.jpg

After the processional we head around WS to to pick a spot for Illuminations. Here are some sights along the way.
America
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1543.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1544.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1564.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1567.jpg

I'll post the illuminations pics after this post. But here are a few more pics of things as we left Epcot after Illuminations.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1696.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1707.jpg
Again, the tree up front.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1717.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1729.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1730.jpg

morgtroy

12-09-2008, 11:01 AM

:cool1: I have to say that both Wishes and Illuminations seemed to go on forever this time. I don't know if it's because it was still Thanksgiving week. I'm sure they do more during a holiday week, than my past trips in Sept. But it was so very pretty.
Who wants pictures and lots of them? :rotfl2:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1576.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1580.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1589.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1590.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1603.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1612.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1624.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1633.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1636.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1639.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1645.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1654.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1668.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1677.jpg

WOW, it was so wonderful. Just when I thought it was over they added a part about our upcoming year and played a peace on earth song and more fireworks. It was amazing. These are some of my favorite pics from this trip.:cloud9:

OneTreeHillAddict

12-09-2008, 12:11 PM

Epcot is so beautiful!!! I can not wait to see it myself. Seems like EVERYTHING is decorated over there!

disneydusted

12-10-2008, 09:02 AM

I just found your report. What an incredible gift you guys have been given... awesome! I've been enjoying your pictures, I didn't know that the castle changed colors when it has its "icing" on, very pretty!

morgtroy

12-10-2008, 02:11 PM

I left off we were leaving Epcot late. DD had done fine the rest of the day. :thumbsup2 We're on the bus headed back to Saratoga. Halfway thru the stops at Saratoga my DS says, "I don't feel so good." :eek: So I talk him out of it, wait a few minutes, we're almost there.... You know how we moms do.:rotfl:
We make it, get off the bus and head to the room. He gets sick on the way:sick: Then he says he feels fine. We get ready for bed. Then the next morning we get up. Everyone says they are fine ready to go. So I put a bag in my backpack just in case anyone gets sick again. We had one more small incident with my DS, but that was it. They were better and if it was a bug, my MIL and I didn't get it, even after sharing drinks with the kids before it all happened.:confused3

So we get to AK to see their tree. :)
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1785.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1787.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1791.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1792-1.jpg

I love the lions on this tree. We stopped for some photopass pics.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/AK1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/AK2.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1797-1.jpg
Then off to the safari.
This guy was following along playing jingle bells.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1810-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1814-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1841-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1858-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1853-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1861-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1890-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1899-1.jpg
Then we ran into this guy on the way out.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1938-1.jpg

morgtroy

12-10-2008, 02:28 PM

We then went to Camp Minnie Mickey
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1945-1.jpg

The themed trees were really cute. I don't know what they are, sorry I didn't take notes. But this was Minnie's tree, (limited view)
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1972-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1958-1.jpg
This was pluto's tree.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1961-1.jpg
This is goofy's
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1987-1.jpg
This was Lilo's tree. I got a real kick out of it. The Elvis 45, and the surfboards and Lilo's doll on top. Too cute:)
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1994-1.jpg

This was stitch's tree
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1997-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2003-1.jpg

I think this is Mulan's tree
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2004-1.jpg

This was Donald's tree
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2005-1.jpg

We had a lot of fun with the characters.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2002-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/AK4.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/AK5.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/AK6.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_1991-1.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2007-1.jpg

scottny

12-10-2008, 05:52 PM

great update and pics.

I am so excited to see the decorations, thanks for posting them.

OneTreeHillAddict

12-10-2008, 09:25 PM

Again EXCELLENT pictures! So many trees at the AK! Love it! I love how the characters are all dressed up too. I hate that the kids got sick but luckily it was over fast. Maybe it was something they ate?

morgtroy

12-11-2008, 08:45 AM

We ran into Pocahontas on our way out.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2014.jpg
And the kids did some more pin trading. They really enjoyed that this time.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2018.jpg
So we had hit camp Minnie Mickey so we go over to FP EE. We haven't ridden this before and were really looking forward to it.:cool1:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2028.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2023.jpg

Our return time was 1:30. So we went to Dino land, rode Triceratop Spin and the Dinosaur ride. The wait for Primeval Whirl was like 1 hr. (that's a slow mover.) It started to rain while we were on Triceratop Spin, but not bad.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2035-1.jpg

Then it was raining harder as we ducked into Dinosaur ride.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2045-1.jpg
Our ride photo is so funny. My DD had a death grip on my arm. I asked her to look for the finger marks on my arm when we got off.:rotfl2:

When we came out, sun was shining? So we were hungry, the kids wanted to play, so I let my MIL go with them in the boneyard. She sat at the entrance, one way in, one way out. I ran in restaurantsaurus to grab the kids happy meals and me and MIL were going to grab lunch at Flame tree.
I got the happy meals, come out to get them to go to flame tree. DD can't find DS and MIL hasn't seen him lately. What? I told DD to walk back through the playground and look again. MIL is looking around the ground level play area. No sign of him. :eek:
So I get MIL to come out and I start frantically looking for him. DD said she checked the dig part already. I asked a CM he said check the dig area, usually if they get missing that's where they're at. Ok but it's already been checked. I keep telling myselft there's one way in and one way out. He has to be in here. :scared: I was about to flip out. I got to the dig area and didn't see him, but I walked all the way down the steps and there he was. Thank goodness. I was fussing at him and he was like, I was just digging. :rolleyes1
So, if you ever loose your kid in the boneyard, go all the way down the steps in the dig zone. If they are playing near the wall part, you can't see them unless you go all the way down.
So we go on to flame tree and eat. I had a BBQ sandwich, MIL had a turkey sandwich. We both thought they were good. The kids were back to normal and ate all their food.:dance3:
We still had a little time before EE fastpass, so we went to bugs life.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2048-1-1.jpg
Love this show. MIL let out a few little screams. She had not done this one.;)

We came out of Bugs Life to a monsoon (sp?) rain storm. With some thunder and winds. :eek:
We poncho-ed up and headed out but it was aweful. So we ducked under a gift shop awning for a few minutes, then ducked in the gift shop later with everyone else. One guy asked me, "Where did you get that poncho?" As he was headed to buy the expensive ones in the gift shop. I said I brought it from home. He was like "smart". I didn't have the heart to tell him it was a 2 pk at the dollar store for $1.00. Someone in front of me bought a few ponchos and I heard the total. Sixty something. Ouuch!

The rain eased up a little and we weren't planning on staying much past lunch, we were going to MVMCP tonight. So we head for the buses,:sad2: that we weren't going to ride EE. (Missed it last time because of rain)
So as we're leaving the rain is hard again, wind is rough. There was a even a small tree down in the jungle area as we were leaving the park :eek:
So even with ponchos we were soaked. Shoes sloshing, capris wet. My DS says this stinks, meaning being soaked and not getting to ride EE. :rotfl:
I looked around at all the wet people at the bus stop, I told my MIL, "it could be worse, we could be like the lady behind us, have white tank top on and no poncho." :rotfl: :rotfl2: :lmao:

So we head back to the room. I'm getting worried about MVMCP. The weather was a little crazy, they even had tornado watches out. We got rained on at MNSSHP last time, we still had fun, but we were wet. So I make some calls to see if there's a way to change our tickets to the Tues night party since we'll still be here for that one. They told me I'd have to got to MK to guest services and see. So we decide, if they will change them we will. It would mean we'd have to cancel Park Fare on Tues night, but we'd try to get in somewhere tonight if we can?
So we go to MK. It had stopped raining for the moment but started sprinkling again. So Guest services changed the tickets, no problem. :banana:
Continued in next post.

morgtroy

12-11-2008, 09:04 AM

So we hop on the monorail, ride through CR and on to Poly then to GF. I checked at Park Fare, nothing available, it was crazy packed in there. No problem, we wanted to go here to check out the decorations anyway.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2052.jpg

The band was playing Christmas music
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We had some photopass pics made in front of the tree and checked out the gingerbread house, which had steam come out of the chimney every so often. For those of you like me, that have not been here. They actually have a store in the gingerbread house selling cookies and things. They have a pamphlet that tells you how many hours it took to make it and how much sugar, and ingredients were used.:santa:
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After soaking this up, we head back to the monorail, this in down, ground level at GF
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So we decide to try the Kona cafe, since we're pretty sure the bigger places are going to be packed. We get to ride up front on the monorail and ride back through the resorts. :thumbsup2

We had a 20 minute wait at Kona, not bad for a rainy night.
I even thought to take some food pics.
I had not tried this before. I have to say I expected more things to choose from on the menu. MIL and I decided to split a steak. The kids had chicken strips and pasta. They were not overly impressed with their meals, but my DS loved the sundae.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2089.jpg
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The meal was really good for the adults. The best part was the round bread and the macadamia butter they bring out before the meal. I could have made a meal on it.:thumbsup2

I took a few pics of the tree and small gingerbread houses in the poly.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2093.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2094.jpg

tmkinney

12-11-2008, 09:24 AM

All I can say is WOW to the GF Christmas Tree and Gingerbread House! :worship: Sorry you didn't get to ride EE, but you have plenty of chances coming up to ride it, so something to look forward to! :thumbsup2 Funny about Diane in A Bug's Life... :laughing:

morgtroy

12-11-2008, 10:43 AM

That tree was incredible. I think about the time it takes me to do my little decorating. Can you imagine the decorating they do. :eek:
It was very pretty.

Bugs life was funny..she mainly yelled when the bugs exited the theatre. :rotfl:

Yes, we'll have to try to get EE next time. Since DH is the only one that has got to ride it so far. We'll have to spend a little more time at AK next time since we got cut short there this trip.:)

scottny

12-11-2008, 05:28 PM

OneTreeHillAddict

12-11-2008, 07:10 PM

Love the new pics!

We've had Breakfast and Lunch at Kona....both were delicious, especially Breakfast!

disneydusted

12-12-2008, 09:52 AM

Wow! Who knew there were so many Christmas trees at AK?! They are all really fun! And the one in the lobby of the GF is just beautiful.
My ds had a fit in Bug's Life. We were right in front of the praying mantis and he flipped out! He was 9 at the time... then the "stinger" poked his back and he jumped up and yelled that he was outta there!!! I had to jump up and run after him... there was no stopping him!! :rotfl: Dh and dd wondered where we were going! :laughing:

borntoshop96

12-12-2008, 11:09 AM

great update and pics.

I am so excited to see the decorations, thanks for posting them.

piney

12-12-2008, 11:20 AM

Beautiful pictures!!! Looks like you had an awesome time!

May I ask what kind of camera you use? :flower3:

morgtroy

12-12-2008, 05:20 PM

great update and pics.

MMMM Kona. I will be eating there in 48 hours and I cannot wait and to also have a Lapu Lapu.

The Gingerbread house is amazing.

Glad you could change the ticket (hope it turned out for the better)

Thanks, we loved the bread, and just being at the poly.:thumbsup2

Love the new pics!

We've had Breakfast and Lunch at Kona....both were delicious, especially Breakfast!
We'll have to try breakfast there sometime. We did Ohana's breakfast last year and loved it. :)

Wow! Who knew there were so many Christmas trees at AK?! They are all really fun! And the one in the lobby of the GF is just beautiful.
My ds had a fit in Bug's Life. We were right in front of the praying mantis and he flipped out! He was 9 at the time... then the "stinger" poked his back and he jumped up and yelled that he was outta there!!! I had to jump up and run after him... there was no stopping him!! :rotfl: Dh and dd wondered where we were going! :laughing:
All those themed trees were in the camp Minnie Mickey area. They were really cute, to look at all the little details in the ornaments.
That's cute about your DS. That stinger can hurt if you're right against it.:eek: I'm sure there's been a lot of early exits at that show. My DD also know as chicken little will still duck or hide her head or pull her glasses off at times there or other scarey rides;)

great update and pics.

I am so excited to see the decorations, thanks for posting them.
You're very welcome, I've got a wealth of info from the Dis by other people sharing. I thought all the Christmas decorations were too gorgeous not to share. Thanks for subbing:santa:

Beautiful pictures!!! Looks like you had an awesome time!

May I ask what kind of camera you use? :flower3:
Thansk for the nice comments, we did have a great time. My camera is a canon G9. I haven't had it that long, but there's a lot I love about it. The bad thing is I still pretty much use the auto, or scene modes, the camera has a lot more features for manual controls that I could use if I knew how to use all the extras. Some day I'm really going to read the manual. :rolleyes1

I'll try to get some more pics up tonight or tomorrow... Up Next MGM, I mean Hollywood studios... 3 words...Toy Story Mania :cool1:

MJAJmom

12-13-2008, 04:04 PM

Love the huge tree at GF and the gingerbread house is enormous!!! Thanks for sharing your holiday trip pictures. They are amazing.

MAGICFOR2

12-14-2008, 12:36 AM

Just caught up! Your trip looks so awesome! I love the decorations - thanks for sharing the beautiful pics. I can see you were having so much fun together - I can't wait to see more!

morgtroy

12-15-2008, 10:58 AM

Love the huge tree at GF and the gingerbread house is enormous!!! Thanks for sharing your holiday trip pictures. They are amazing.

Thanks for subbing, we had a great time. I just looked at your TR, your boys are adorable, looks like you had a great trip and did very well on your own. :thumbsup2 When I looked through your TR, I saw your new puppy. I'm sure he's big now since that's been a few months. It was funny because we just got a yellow lab puppy last week. My kids are :lovestruc . Her name is Katie. I'll have to post some pics of her soon.

Just caught up! Your trip looks so awesome! I love the decorations - thanks for sharing the beautiful pics. I can see you were having so much fun together - I can't wait to see more!

Thanks, we had a great trip. More pics on the way.:)

morgtroy

12-15-2008, 11:06 AM

I said HS was up next, but I forgot me and the kids walked over to DTD when we got back to the room. We hit the World of Disney store, checked out the decorations and saw Santa.
I'll have to post some pics from the photopass with Santa, they are SUPER.
Here's the view from our room as we walk over.
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The tree in downtown disney.
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We went in a few more stores and had to get some treats at Goofy's Candy Co.
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We love the deal here. We all 3 got rice krispie mickey's with tons of toppings.

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Notice how wet the ground is there, and when we left the Kona and went to MK to catch our bus there were many wet people leaving MVMCP early. So I was thankful we were able to change dates.

Now up next HS.:thumbsup2

morgtroy

12-15-2008, 03:07 PM

So we get up try to make it to park opening. We do and go in with a crowd.
Here is the tree out front at HS. Huge...
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I love the decorations on the posts down the the streets and all the buildings.
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We head straight for Toy Story Mania. I've been looking forward to this ride. :cool1:
It showed a 20 minute wait and it only took 10 maybe 15 minutes. Wow, what a neat waiting line. I had many flashbacks from my childhood, games I played or my brother had. Mr. Potato head doing his standup routine was cute.
We loved, loved, loved this ride. Kids kept saying, wait til Daddy sees this when we come back, he's going to love it.
I had the high score, though I tried to hide it. :rotfl2: DD and DS really wanted to "win"
Another one of those Disney things you say, how did they do that?
The fast pass line getting FP was longer than our wait line going in. I FP it as we came out so we could ride again later.
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More of the street decorations:
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We then cut through and ran into these.
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We rode Star tours.
After we exited Star Tours, the Jedi training was still going on. We saw some people with Dream Fast passes. I asked them where they won them. They said when they came off star tours. :laughing: Well, we came close to the dream team. Like I said before, I think it was winding down, I really didn't see many people with prizes. I was happy for them, they acted like they really knew what they were. Last year when we won, some people acted like ok, I'll take this, whatever it is.:eek:

Up next...Rock N Roll Roller Coaster...

morgtroy

12-15-2008, 06:10 PM

Ok, I didn't make a journal while we were there, I'm just going on memory here, but we went to Rock N Roll roller coaster. This is something else that was too intense for kids our first trip and then was closed for refurb last year. So this was a first for us. We all rode, had about a 20 minute wait. Kids were getting a little nervous when we got up to ride, but both were brave. Our ride photo is hillarious. I did the redneck ride photo, it didnt' turn out great, but here it is.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2219.jpg
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We hooped and yelled thru the entire ride. LOVED IT. When the ride came to a stop. DD says out loud, "That was awesome, Mom, I lost my headband, oh wait, it's around my neck" :rotfl2: Everyone around us was laughing. We all loved this ride. Can't wait to do this one again.

I can't remember the order, but we did animation class. The kids LOVED this.:love: First time we did it we drew Mickey. We had to come back later in the day and do it again. That time we drew Stitch. Again, the kids loved this. Even picked out drawing books in the gift shop and they have enjoyed those both on the drive back and since we've been home. Kit was $12. something, had instruction book, set of colored pencils, a drawing pencil and a drawing pad. Now that was a deal:thumbsup2 DS got the kit that had classic characters, Mickey, Donald, etc. DD wanted the Fairy book. It didn't come in a kit, but was cheaper $5-6. They had other books, princesses, cars, I don't remember what others.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2226.jpg
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We also saw sorcerer Mickey in animation. This was for me a must. I :love: sorcerer Mickey
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2235.jpg

They also had Bolt characters in there. We did not do photopass with them, just took some pics from the side. BUT...if you are doing photopass, you may want to wait in line for this one. They have some cute borders for the Bolt characters you can add in photopass.
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We took a break for lunch at Pizza Planet. We really like this place and for theme park pizza, I think it's very good.
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Of course, DS had to play a couple games.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2240.jpg

We went back for toy story mania FP, it was just as much fun the 2nd time, maybe more. We also did the backlot tour.
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It was interesting. I liked seeing the jailbird plane they used in the movie ConAir. Also Walt's jet and all the people at work in the costume section.

I think this is when we went back to animation class, and I went to grab FP for Tower of Terror. We watched HSM 3 show. Very cute. DD also had her picture made with photopass with the HSM 3 props. I'll post those later.

We then went to get milkshakes and Min's dockside deli (I think that's correct name?) Super milkshakes...Oh yeah, speaking of milkshakes, we loved the one we got last trip at Sci Fi. Well, when we went by Sci Fi this trip, the convertible out front was gone. :confused3 No car? Maybe it's just a refurb? I really like that car.:)

Back on topic, we get our milkshakes and pick out a spot for Block Party Bash parade.... I'll post that next.:thumbsup2

MAGICFOR2

12-15-2008, 08:28 PM

Great update! I loved the look on your face in the RNR pic! :rotfl2:

disneydusted

12-16-2008, 08:17 AM

Wow! That tree at the entrance is HUGE!! I like all of the Christmas decorations they've put up. :thumbsup2
Didn't you just love RNR?? That first take off is amazing!! :scared1:
Good job to your kids on their animations pictures. Very cute! Did you save them?

MJAJmom

12-16-2008, 08:28 AM

Just love all the holiday decorations, the huge christmas trees at each park is simply amazing. Your day at HS sounded great. It's one of my boys favorite parks. Thanks for the pictures of Bolt, the movie wasn't out yet during our Oct trip.

morgtroy

12-16-2008, 08:52 AM

Great update! I loved the look on your face in the RNR pic! :rotfl2:
Yeah, it was a lot of fun, not a picture I'd put on my wall:rotfl: I laughed so hard when we saw it, my hair straight back, DD and DS with smiles but a hint of fear, and I was holding my DS's hand. And you can't see it well from the picture of the monitor, but my MIL has her eyes squeezed shut. :)

Wow! That tree at the entrance is HUGE!! I like all of the Christmas decorations they've put up. :thumbsup2
Didn't you just love RNR?? That first take off is amazing!! :scared1:
Good job to your kids on their animations pictures. Very cute! Did you save them?
That's why I have wanted to go near Christmas, just take in all the decorations, it was so beautiful, not a disappointment at all. It was over and above what I imagined.
The blast off on RNR is the best part :thumbsup2
The kids really loved the animation class, yes I kept them. I may take pictures of all the drawings and print out 4x6's and put them in a black and white frame.

Just love all the holiday decorations, the huge christmas trees at each park is simply amazing. Your day at HS sounded great. It's one of my boys favorite parks. Thanks for the pictures of Bolt, the movie wasn't out yet during our Oct trip.

We did have a blast at HS. And we made it long day stayed thru the parade and until the Osborne Family lights. Wait til you see that. OMG we were in awe... Bolt was cute, we just didn't want to do the wait.

morgtroy

12-16-2008, 09:32 AM

:cheer2: So we have our milkshakes and pic out a spot to watch the parade.
This parade changed since our last trip when it was still the stars and motor cars parade.
Unknowingly we had picked a great spot to watch the parade, (standing in front of the hat, we were on the left just before parade turns left.)
They put on one more show. Talk about HIGH ENERGY, it was more of a show than a parade. The kids loved it.
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They play all kinds of cool songs and at one point, get kids out on the street to dance with them. Both DD and DS were out there shaking their booty. :banana: :dance3: They had songs like Celebration, The twist, and wipe out I think? And of course Shout. They were showing them all these "moves" for the dances. The music was loud and all the grownups were singing and moving too. Lots of fun.:rotfl2: My DS had been video taping, but when it came time to get picked to dance, he handed me the camera, so I videoed, but don't have pics. The guys in the show put these spring things on their feet and bounce all over the place and they unfold a trampoline and do jumps on it as well. Like I said, High Energy.:thumbsup2

After the parade we did VOTLM. I love this cute little show and spent some time in One Man's Dream. We were tired, but wanted to just wait until the Osborne Lights started, walk through then head back to the room for rest.

So we picked a spot at the end of the street, it was starting to get cool and darker so we sat there, got us a hot chocolate from a street cart and waited. In just a few moments the music started and the lights came on. :cheer2:
I think we were speechless for a moment. It was amazing. The lights were dancing with all the music. We stayed right where we were for a few moments, then decided to work our way up the street to take it all in.
It was very :crowded: and of course everyone standing, looking up and taking pictures, me included. :) But it was so beautiful. I like my pictures, but it just doesn't do it justice. You can't see the snow blowing down from the tops of the buildings and of course the music. I do have some video I'll try to upload later.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2342.jpg

Love the Mickey at the top of the tower on this building.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2350.jpg

The nativity was just beautiful. I should have taken a picture of the kids in front of it, that would have been a perfect Christmas card.
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This was so pretty and I did take tons of pics, I did of the whole trip, I'm just putting a "sampling" on here. I did like that about my camera, it's a quick on , quick fire camera, and most of my pics were taken while walking. The daytime pics especially, I just kept it on sports mode to get the fast shutter. My son took several of the pics. He even said one time, "Mama, it's not on sports mode.":lmao: So he may pick up my hobby of taking pics, saving memories.

While I'm on him, let me add that for about 3 seconds in the crowd on the street, I lost him and was yelling his name. :eek: That's 2 times he's scared me to death this trip. At least this time it was quick.

So we still had the FP for Tower of Terror. My DD had said all along, she really wasn't planning on riding it. So what did we do?...

Villainess

12-16-2008, 10:41 AM

I'm joining in - I love all the Christmas decor!!!!!

morgtroy

12-16-2008, 10:53 AM

It's a good thing we're slow at work, I'm doing disk backups, so when I get them going, while they're running, I'm updating.

DD says no way to TOT, and MIL isn't interested either. We're tired, but DS and I go ride it for the first time, while they head back to the room.
We had stopped for a photopass pic earlier before the parade when we went to get the FP and the guy told us to act scared and said put your hands on your face like this.... Well, it looks more like we have a bad headache....:rotfl2:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image389.jpg

We had a little time to kill before the FP so we went in a few shops and goofed off.

He was being super brave, told me once we got to the boarding area with all the pipes, "I'm a little scared. :scared1: I said, Me too!

So we get in the row they tell us and the 2 girls next to us say, "On NO, front row." DS looks at me and I fake an "All Right, Front Row!:thumbsup2 "

We head up, doors open to the ghost, oh ok, this is not bad. Then the doors open again and as my son says it..."We were WAAAAYYYY above the hat." Then we fall, so fast that if you weren't screaming at the top, I don't think you could start midway...I could not breath. And even though you are falling so fast, it seemed to last forever...:rotfl2: So we do a little bounce kind of thing, and fall again a shorter distance, so I look over at DS and he takes a deep swallow, like ok. Then I lean over and say wow, we did it, it's ok, it's over. Just then, doors fly open again and we're at the top, for the long fall again...This is when the ride photo was taken. So my ride photo is of the back of my head because I'm telling DS it was over. :rotfl:
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2401.jpg
Also notice how everyone on the right side of our elevator looks into the ride, and everyone on the left side looks like they are surviving the ride. :rotfl2:

As soon as we got off, DS says "No way could DD ride that, NO WAY." He said, "that thing drops you like a sack of potatoes, but super fast." Then he said well, I'm riding it with Daddy when we come back, but no way will DD ever ride it.:rotfl:

I think the word was intense..I'd ride again, now that I know what to expect. But as my friend Michelle tells her kids, I'll ride one time each trip, but that's it. :)

We stopped for a few more photopass pics. I really enjoyed this one on one time with DS.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image391.jpg

Next up our last day..:sad:
Early Breakfast at Crystal Palace
MK morning
MVMCP, our last night. Was the switch from a rainy Sunday to Tues night a good switch or not? Stay tuned...

morgtroy

12-16-2008, 10:54 AM

I'm joining in - I love all the Christmas decor!!!!!

Thanks for joining in. :)

tmkinney

12-16-2008, 11:05 AM

morgtroy

12-16-2008, 02:49 PM

Great update, love all the Christmas lights at HS! Front row of ToT, the BEST!! :thumbsup2 It is so much more fun/intense than the 3rd row, which is where we were this past time. Really is a difference, I was a little disappointed with it so next time I'll have to remember to request the front row.:goodvibes

Thanks, I haven't looked back at the video yet on the camcorder, but I hope it captured more of the spirit of the lights, music and snow.
I'll remember that about the front row. We couldn't stop talking about the ride after we got off. We were so pumped.:)

disneydusted

12-17-2008, 10:14 AM

morgtroy

12-17-2008, 11:29 AM

Of all of the Osborne Light pictures I've seen, I like yours the best! You did a great job capturing the colors. Very pretty :thumbsup2
TOT!! Love that ride! You were a good mom going on it. My dd and I were screaming and holding onto eachother the whole time we were dropping! :rotfl: Intense is a good word for it!
I wanted to say that I was hugely impressed that your MIL rode RNR! Did she like it?

Thanks so much for the comments. I was very pleased with the pictures. I was almost in panic mode right before the lights. My battery light started flashing and I had already changed my other battery earlier in the day. I was terrified it would die and I wouldn't get any pics of the lights. :scared1:
But I took several before it died completely and then put the other battery in and took several more then it died. The lights with the music and the snow... just wonderful.:thumbsup2

The ride was fun, but yes, very intense the first time, not fully knowing what to expect.

I was very impressed with my MIL riding rides and just making it through long days in the parks and all the walking. I think TOT is the only one she wasn't sure about. She rode RNR and she said she liked it. She also rode Space Mountain, but said it was ok, it just jerks you too much. I agree, it's not as smooth as some roller coasters. And we were going to ride EE but the storm came.

morgtroy

12-17-2008, 05:44 PM

:) So after HS we got a good night's rest. This was our early morning breakfast at Crystal Palace. I love this restaurant. We've only done dinner here before, which we liked. But this time we were doing breakfast. I have to say I LOVE an early ressie inside MK. Nothing like walking down Main Street with very few people on it. Plus the chance to be in the park as soon as the rides open:thumbsup2. I almost cancelled this ressie a few times because we were supposed to do breakfast here this day and then have dinner at 1900 Park Fare, but when we had the rain for MVMCP and switched it to this night I had to cancel Park Fare. (We'll try to do it next time.) So I was thankful I had not cancelled this. So we get to MK early our ressie was 8:25, but we were there early like 8:10. They called us back by 8:15.:cool1:
Here are some pics of an uncrowded Main St.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2414.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2410.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2412.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2413.jpg

DS had to have his pic with Casey...

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2416.jpg

Of course I had to snap some more pics of the castle :lovestruc

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2417.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2431.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2484-1.jpg

Then check in to Crystal Palace..
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2476-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2432.jpg

We got our food, yummy. I guess since we don't get full service breakfast very often, it is just sooo good when you get your pic of everything breakfast.
It was all very good, but the Potato casserole. Wow:thumbsup2 I also liked the french toast. I think they called it French toast puffs. (Supposed to be part of the kids bar. :rolleyes1 ) I told our very nice waitress to bring the bill so I could settle it before the end of the meal. We wanted to hit as many rides as we could early.:)

The characters started coming quick...
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2435.jpg

Eeyore was great, he was gesturing that he liked my DS's spiked hair, he then rubbed his own hair to say he also had spiked hair. (DS goes thru spells with his hair, he likes it different ways, but he was on a spiking mood this week. He has to do it himself and sometimes goes a little overboard with the gel. :rotfl2: )
Here's Eeyore and the hair "conversation"
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2441.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2443.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2468.jpg

The kids did the parade. Oh yeah and DS tried Mam Maw's coffee. I have a picture I need to upload of him wiping his tongue with his napkin. :laughing:

I love the center of Crystal Palace, so pretty.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2471.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2474-1.jpg

We see Tigger from a distance but check the time and decide to bail out to hit those rides...
Are the crowds lower today?

MAGICFOR2

12-17-2008, 08:01 PM

morgtroy

12-18-2008, 07:26 AM

Your pics of Osborne lights are so beautiful! I didn't know they dance to music, too! I have got to get there at Christmas! My DDIL was saying last night that she doesn't want to break tradition and go there - oh, yes you will. I'm the mama. :rotfl2:

Front row of TOT! :scared1: I have been front row every time - I don't know why. Probably because they know how much I dread it every time!:lmao:

Your CP pics are great, too! I love the one of your DS looking at Eeyore!

Thanks, yes, the lights dance, change colors, and blink to the music, that and the "snow" falling, it was really magical:wizard: Have you been at Christmas before? I thought it was more crowded than I expected for first week of Dec. Well, it was better Sun. Mon and Tues, but compared to my previous trips in Sept. But I'm following some others TR and it seems to get worse closer to Christmas. They've been throwing out "deals" so I'm sure that has drummed up business.

I figured that's how we got front row on TOT, they probably saw the fear:scared1: in our faces and said "row 1." :rotfl2:

CP pictures, this is my first TR and I realize as I try to update..."dern, where's that pic of...." I tried to pick all the pics I wanted and uploaded all at once to photobucket, but I missed several I would have liked to add. Like DS trying coffee and I thought I had the pic of both of them with Pooh uploaded. Oh well, I'm a newbie.:)

MJAJmom

12-18-2008, 09:06 PM

morgtroy

12-19-2008, 11:43 AM

The pics of Osborne lights at DHS are so wonderful. Makes me excited about seeing all the xmas trees - I really want to go next holiday season. Thanks for the pictures of the block party parade. We've yet to make an afternoon parade at the parks since my 2 boys are napping then.

CP is a great place and the character interaction is so fun. We also get 8am breakfast ADRs before the parks open at 9am. I like how they decorated the center buffet area at CP with the xmas trees.

I understand what you mean about the parades. I wish they'd do parades around lunch time. When my kids were younger we had to take a break, and even now that they're older and can make it all day, a better time is had by all if we take a little break in the middle of the day.

joelp

12-20-2008, 04:49 AM

subbing ... but too much to read this early in the a.m. - with a chatty DD hanging on me ...:lmao:

Back later ...

morgtroy

12-26-2008, 07:47 PM

Sorry guys, it's been a while since I've posted. I'm sure you haven't missed me at all.:rotfl2: I know we all have been running in every direction fulfilling all our Christmas obligations. I hope you all had a super, great Christmas. My family did, and I am very blessed. It was a great Christmas. My DD had the lead and a solo in our church Christmas play and she did wonderful. I was so proud it made me cry :sad: It was a spiritual moment when in a few seconds all my hopes and dreams for her flashed before me, not careers, or successes, but the person she is becoming and the things that really matter.

Also at different times I heard both of my kids in their prayers or conversations mention how they were thankful for their gifts and things about being grateful. :cheer2: Maybe all my lectures are sinking in? Either that or they're playing me knowing I don't mind spoiling them as long as they act grateful and appreciative :rotfl: No really, these are my memories of this Christmas. :love:

We also have a new puppy in the house, part of our Christmas present. Katie, a yellow lab. Well, it's like having a baby in the house. We all are baby talking to her and holding her. And starting the training, We're all speaking a lot of short words..."sit, stay, come, potty" Too funny, I'll have to post a pic of the new family member later.:)

I am going to try to wrap up this TR. I've enjoyed sharing my pics, it was a great trip. (Seems like a long time ago already :rolleyes1)
So I left off we were leaving Crystal Palace to catch some rides. Well did we ever...I love MK early in the morning. We walked on so many rides. We went to PP first. (That ride is such a slow mover I like to catch it first and walk right on) Then my MIL and kids rode ISW, while I trotted over to get FPs for SM.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2491-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2494-1.jpg

I saw Donald as I ran for FP
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2586-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2512-2.jpg

We also hit Snow White's Scarey Adventure, the carousel, Haunted Mansion, Mickey's Philharmagic.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2525-2.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2531-1.jpg
DD got Cinderella's horse with the gold ribbon on the tail. Me and MIL were just hoping the horses stopped on the down instead of the up for us. It's rough being vertically challenged. :rotfl2:

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2532-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2566-1.jpg

We went to Toontown, rode Goofy's barnstormer. Then headed over to SM, to use the FP, the ride was temp down so we rode Buzz and did the laugh floor, then rode SM. We went back over to Adventureland, got a dole whip, took a short break to enjoy it. Then we went up the treehouse, which is no big deal, but for some reason, my kids just love it. We then did POTC, walked right on it too, I couldn't believe it.:banana: The Thanksgiving crowds were gone, so it seemed....

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2598-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2603-1.jpg

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http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2614-1.jpg

Continued next post

morgtroy

12-26-2008, 07:55 PM

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2615-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2646-2.jpg
We also stopped outside POTC to get the pic with Capt. Hook. Which my DS did right away, they took the pic, scanned my card. Then I asked my DD if she wanted to do it, she was hesitant, but said yeah, I guess, so they took her pic and scanned my card again.
When I put all my cards in Photopass, I didn't have the pics of my son with Capt. Hook, just my DD. I contacted photopass but they weren't able to locate them. :rolleyes: Oh well.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image393.jpg

After this we went to ride BTMR again. :yay: Then we were going to head back to the room. Tonight was the night we got MVMCP switched to and we knew we needed to rest some, it would be a late night. We didn't mind, we had gotten to ride so many rides this morning, felt like we got it all in.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2668-2.jpg

On the way out we caught the little main st trolley parade
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2685-2.jpg

We also dashed in the hat shop. We were going to build our own Christmas ears to wear to the party, but they didn't really have any Christmas styles in the kind you make, we had fun trying on some and DD decided to get some sequined Minnie ears she could wear anytime, not just Christmas.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2700-1.jpg

DD wasn’t tired and we really wanted to spend more time in the countries at Epcot. My MIL was going back to the room, I asked DS if he wanted to go with us to Epcot, but he wanted to go back to the room with Mam Maw. So we split, they went to the room and we were walking to the monorail to go to Epcot. DD saw the boats and asked if we could ride the boat to Epcot? I said no, not from MK. (at least I don’t think you can?) But I looked at the boat dock and it was to Wilderness lodge. So I said, hey, I haven’t gotten to see the decorations at WL yet, we can take the boat to WL and then catch the bus from there to Epcot. She was so excited about the the boat ride. It was a chilly day on the boat, but nice.

I took a few pics on the way, very nice. One of the reasons I hope to stay at WL one day. We came up by the pool and as I said it was a chilly day, the lifeguards had on wind suits but there were actually a few people in the pool . WOW… too cold for me. I know the pool is heated, but you do have to get out to go back to the room

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2705-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2728-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2732-1.jpg

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http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2741-1.jpg

Just too pretty.

Up next, more from World Showcase, then MVMCP...:)

ididitrn

12-27-2008, 03:35 PM

cheerky

12-28-2008, 08:23 AM

Morgtroy...thanks for the outstanding trip report. I read it quite a bit and loved looking at your pix before leaving for our trip 12/15- 22.
BTW- we have a golden retriever named Katie! Congratulations on the newest addition to your family. Happy New Year!

MAGICFOR2

12-28-2008, 02:18 PM

Morgtroy! I'm so glad you had a wonderful Christmas! It is rewarding to see your kids growing up in the right way.

I loved your update - lots of fun in MK, and beautiful pics of WL! I guess some of those folks swimming were probably coming from places in the "Arctic Tundra" like we have right now - it would feel warm to them! Ha!:goodvibes

scottny

12-28-2008, 08:06 PM

great update and pics

love the tree at WL, we never made it there.

morgtroy

12-29-2008, 08:16 AM

Your pictures are just beautiful. WDW at Christmas time is such a magical place, how wonderful that you got to bring your children, too bad your husband couldn't make it but that just gives you an excuse to go back at a later date!
Thanks. Yes, I'd love to go back at Christmas time, it was so pretty. My hubby would like the Christmas stuff, but not if it was really crowded.:rotfl:

Morgtroy...thanks for the outstanding trip report. I read it quite a bit and loved looking at your pix before leaving for our trip 12/15- 22.
BTW- we have a golden retriever named Katie! Congratulations on the newest addition to your family. Happy New Year!

I hope you had a great trip. How were the crowds when you were there?
Our Katie is a handful. She's already spoiled. We got her all off schedule being off for the holidays. We are all off schedule too. I'm trying to get back in the work mode...as you can see, I'm not doing so well.:rotfl2:
I'll post a pic of Katie below.

great update and pics

love the tree at WL, we never made it there.
WL is wonderful. I sure hope to stay there some day.

Morgtroy! I'm so glad you had a wonderful Christmas! It is rewarding to see your kids growing up in the right way.

I loved your update - lots of fun in MK, and beautiful pics of WL! I guess some of those folks swimming were probably coming from places in the "Arctic Tundra" like we have right now - it would feel warm to them! Ha!:goodvibes
Thanks, yes those swimming may have been from the North Pole. Cold is relevant. Ha! Ha! Bless you on living like that, my hubby and I used to joke about moving to Montana, but I decided it's too dang cold there.:rotfl:

morgtroy

12-29-2008, 09:02 AM

This is the picture we used for our Christmas card this year. Katie is really growing fast.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3423.jpg

cheerky

12-29-2008, 03:36 PM

I hope you had a great trip. How were the crowds when you were there?
Our Katie is a handful. She's already spoiled. We got her all off schedule being off for the holidays. We are all off schedule too. I'm trying to get back in the work mode...as you can see, I'm not doing so well.:rotfl2:
I'll post a pic of Katie below.

Awww....Katie is so adorable! Our Katie was a handful too. Retrievers are really smart. She'll learn quickly. Katie housebroke fast, never chewed anything and can go out off leash and come right back- so good and so sweet. I hope your Katie is just as good!
The crowds were light to moderate while we were there. They certainly picked up over the weekend (12/20-21) but never like spring break time. We stayed at the WL and loved it! Trust me, its worth every penny. We usually stay off-site to offset the expense of disney but I have a feeling we will be back at the Lodge. (Hopefully, next year same time!) The free dining promotion really helped us out.

morgtroy

12-29-2008, 04:29 PM

Awww....Katie is so adorable! Our Katie was a handful too. Retrievers are really smart. She'll learn quickly. Katie housebroke fast, never chewed anything and can go out off leash and come right back- so good and so sweet. I hope your Katie is just as good!
The crowds were light to moderate while we were there. They certainly picked up over the weekend (12/20-21) but never like spring break time. We stayed at the WL and loved it! Trust me, its worth every penny. We usually stay off-site to offset the expense of disney but I have a feeling we will be back at the Lodge. (Hopefully, next year same time!) The free dining promotion really helped us out.

I hope our Katie will do good training, she's impressed me already, but we got her messed up with our off schedule last week.

Now you're worrying me... we are supposed to go back in March..I've never been in the spring, and I was thinking it would be crowded, but hoping it would not be like it was the weekend after Thanksgiving. At least Easter is in April this year, not March. I was able to get my last meal reservations today and had my pick of times at all the places I wanted, even Le Cellier and Ohana's. I hope that's a good sign that crowds won't be as bad:) But the new dining system is all crazy, so that may be why I got the reservations easy, who knows. The weekends are always so much more crowded than weekdays.

OneTreeHillAddict

12-29-2008, 10:53 PM

Just stopping by to say Hi! I hope you and your family has a blessed Christmas! :goodvibes

morgtroy

12-30-2008, 10:18 AM

Just stopping by to say Hi! I hope you and your family has a blessed Christmas! :goodvibes

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you and your family had a great Christmas too and have lots of "magic" in the New Year. Welcome Back, I checked last week to see that you were back, I'll be waiting to hear how your trip was and see all your pics.:cool1: I'm sure you had a blast.

morgtroy

12-30-2008, 10:50 AM

So when I left off, me and DD had took the boat to wilderness lodge and were going to Epcot to catch a little more of WS, for a couple hours while my MIL and DS went back to the room to rest a little before MVMCP.

We waited about 10 minutes at WL for the Epcot bus. As soon as we got there we went to the right to go around WS. I was hoping to catch some more of the holiday storytellers in each country since we only saw a couple on Sunday night when we were here for the candlelight processional.

Here are a few of the sights we saw along the way.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2776-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2772-1.jpg

We even saw "The Beatles" for the first time. Loved it, they were really good.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2766-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2826.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2831.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2817.jpg

We knew we really only had a couple hours, we too wanted to rest a little.
So our goal was to go to the Liberty Pavillon and then go back.
When we got there we saw Mr and Mrs. Claus. How Sweet.:santa:
But they were closing the line soon and they had spent the time with Santa at Downtown Disney. I was happy just to get their picture.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2791-1.jpg

Then we caught the marching band..

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2795-1.jpg

We were starving at this point and I had read good things about the food here so we went inside to eat.

As we went in we saw this really cute, really large gingerbread house just inside. I would have never known it was there. And that's how I still feel about WS, that there's still so much there I haven't seen and don't know about, even after 3 trips:confused3

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2807.jpg

Me and DD split a hamburger and fries, we didn't want to eat too much since it wouldn't be too long til we ate again. The food was really good and a guy in front of me ordered a BBQ sandwich there that looked and smelled great. :thumbsup2 I'll have to try one of those next time.

Got a few more pics of the tree in the American area. It was so pretty.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2801.jpg

Then we started back around the lagoon. I would have taken the boat back across, but it was on the other side. I knew it would be quicker to walk.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2836.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2837.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2847.jpg

On the way out DD begged and pleaded to ride spaceship earth again. She just loved the little "us in the future" cartoons at the end. I finally agreed. She also wanted to ride TT, but I said, "No way, if your brother finds out that he'd be really mad at us." That's one reason he decided to go with my MIL to the room, we said we weren't riding rides we were going to WS.
So we just rode SE. Here are some more of our cartoons..

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2862.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2865.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2875.jpg

So back to the room to rest a little. Again, just as I enjoyed the time with my son on the night before when we stayed and rode TT, I had a great time with just me and my DD. We usually try to do this a little when we go as a family, have a little one on one time and it is great, makes each child feel special.:)

Up next, our last night, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!

cheerky

12-30-2008, 05:34 PM

I hope our Katie will do good training, she's impressed me already, but we got her messed up with our off schedule last week.

Now you're worrying me... we are supposed to go back in March..I've never been in the spring, and I was thinking it would be crowded, but hoping it would not be like it was the weekend after Thanksgiving. At least Easter is in April this year, not March. I was able to get my last meal reservations today and had my pick of times at all the places I wanted, even Le Cellier and Ohana's. I hope that's a good sign that crowds won't be as bad:) But the new dining system is all crazy, so that may be why I got the reservations easy, who knows. The weekends are always so much more crowded than weekdays.

I think you'll be fine in March. Your not first-timers so you know the in's and out's of the parks. We've been in the spring many times during Easter week and not during Easter week. Easter time is the time to avoid. Have a great trip...where will you be staying this time?

disneydusted

12-30-2008, 06:51 PM

The Epcot pictures were great! I like the rainbow in the fountain of nations. :) It's nice that you made fun memories with your daughter.

morgtroy

12-31-2008, 07:28 AM

I think you'll be fine in March. Your not first-timers so you know the in's and out's of the parks. We've been in the spring many times during Easter week and not during Easter week. Easter time is the time to avoid. Have a great trip...where will you be staying this time?
Ok, thanks for the info. I've never been in the spring months. We're going for my birthday. We had actually made a reservation before I won the prize, but I changed it to DVC after we won. Right now we're scheduled for half week at Animal Kingdom Lodge and half week at Old Key West. I keep saying it, but I am so, so aware of how blessed I am and am soooo grateful for winning the prize, that's the only way this is possible. :)

The Epcot pictures were great! I like the rainbow in the fountain of nations. :) It's nice that you made fun memories with your daughter.

Thanks for your sweet comments. The rainbow was an added bonus in that pic :thumbsup2 My DD keeps wanting a trip with just the 2 of us, which would be super, but the guilt I'd have over my DS would be hard. My DH and DS are big sportsmen, if they planned a fishing/hunting trip for the same time, we MAY be able to pull it off. :rotfl2:

scottny

01-01-2009, 07:39 AM

great update and pics.

that is great how you spent time with each individually.

I agree there is a lot to at WS. Just another reason to go back.

morgtroy

01-01-2009, 08:55 AM

Mickey's Very Merry, scratch that, very CROWDED Christmas party. :rotfl2: Ok, I admit, I have been spoiled going in September on my past trips and had no crowds and pretty much walk on rides except on the weekends, then there was a little wait. But I kind of thought the special events were something they sold smaller amounts of tickets to, so you had a "private party" experience. I can hear some of you :rotfl: as you read this...

We still had fun, but this was the most crowded time of the entire trip. We did the Halloween party last year and had a blast at it, even though it rained really hard during part of it. And we had a good time at the Christmas party too. In fact, my kids still talk about the Dance party. And now that it's been about a month, the good things about it are what stand out in my mind, more than the crowds. The other challenge of the night was that it was down right FREEZING cold. I had packed some long sleeve shirts and a sweatshirt for us, but only light jackets. Well this night, as you'll see in some of my pics of others in the background called for, heavy coats and hats. I did see a couple people in shorts and thought, ok Lord, thank you for my light jacket. :rotfl2:

We got there before the actual kickoff at 7:00, I think around 6:00. Here are some random shots early in the night.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2883.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2890.jpg

And they had this set up that later Stitch was there for photos, but a family was trying to take separate pics of themselves and I volunteered to take their pic for them and they did the same for us.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2895.jpg

We then tried to get in the Twas the night before Christmas first show and that wasn't going to happen. It was full, so we rode the transit authority train and we also did the Laugh Floor to be inside from the cold. Then we decided to get something to eat, but the line was already forming for the second show of Twas the Night before Christmas. So my MIL and DD waited in line there while me and DS hit Cosmic Rays for chicken nuggets and fries to bring back and eat while in line. When we got back the line was longer, they had ropes up, and I was worried we couldn't get to them, but they were standing beside a flower area so we walked down the curbing and got to them. They were worried we couldn't get to them or find them and the line had just started to move. I had stacked up the little cartons the food was in and had one drink, while DS carried 2 drinks. We managed pretty good. As soon as we got to them they started letting us in. We got pretty good seats, center section, a little over half way back. Everyone around us was loving our food.."wow, that smells good.." I felt a little guilty, but then again, it was great work to pull this off. :lmao:
Sitting next to us was a nice family and we had just seen the dad on screen in the Laugh Floor. He was one of the people picked on in the audience. We told him we just caught you at the Laugh Floor. He handled it well.
So we finish our food and only wait a few minutes before the show starts. All the while it's getting colder and colder. Even all snuggled up in the Galaxy Theatre. The show starts and it was really cute. :santa:
Loved Mickey and Minnie in their jammies and I sure do love Santa Goofy.
Here are a few pics.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2918.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2923.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2927.jpg

When we left there it was so cold, we ducked into Cosmic Rays because there was a dance party going on inside. My kids both LOVED this. The DJ here was wonderful. He showed them step by step in slow mo all the moves to the Thriller dance and Footloose, and Cupid Shuffle and many more. He'd show them the moves, then he'd start the music and do the dance. They had a blast here and it was inside and warm. Me and my MIL found a table and watched them dance for a while. My MIL was content to stay there because it was warm. It was nice, but I knew we were loosing precious time, so I asked her if she wanted to wait there and me and the kids would check the fairies line and Belle line and get us some cocoa and cookies. She said she would rather wait there. So we went to the Judges tent, the wait was like 60 minutes. I think everyone wanted to be inside.:) So we walked on through Fantasyland, picked up some cookies and cocoa, which was a pretty long line and took it back to Cosmic Rays. The kids danced some more. Here are some shots from the dance party.
The DJ
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2958.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2957.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2966.jpg

At one point he set up the soul train disco line and tried to explain it to the kids to go down in pairs dancing, then the next two would go down. They didn't fully understand this and there were some that just didn't want to dance down the line. :rotfl2: It was funny. So the DJ was like, ok you go, then you go picking them out. Some of these kids were really getting down. And Chip, got out there with the hand behind the head and other arm holding his other leg and was smoking up the dance floor. I was impressed that he could do that in his outfit. It was so cute. My DS got out and did the Robot. I didn't get a good pic, but this is it.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2970.jpg
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2966.jpg

They also did the Swing and DD and DS danced together, I had to get some pics of that. You know the brother sister relationship is on and off. :laughing:

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2974.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_2975.jpg

continued next post

morgtroy

01-01-2009, 08:56 AM

By this time it was getting close to fireworks time. So even though we dreaded the cold, I wanted to see this. So we walked out the side of Cosmic Rays and walked about 5 feet and it was wall to wall people. So this was the moment in the trip I got a little disgusted.:mad: We didn't have a good viewing spot, and I felt like we were missing out on some of this party stuff. Knowing we really haven't ridden any rides. Just the laugh floor and the train. I learned from the Halloween party to just go for the party stuff, we rode the rides at other times during our trip. But after the fireworks started everyone must have moved and tightened up. Probably to warm up with some body heat :hug: It was so cold. So we got a little better view without the trees. The fireworks were amazing and we weren't as close to Tinkerbell this time as we were the first night we saw wishes, but we were still on that side and saw her good. Here are a few shots of the castle/fireworks.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3022.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3032.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3042.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3050.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3053.jpg

And one of my favs of the castle

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3061.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3067.jpg

Up next the end of the party: Celebrate the Seasons and the Parade.:santa:

morgtroy

01-01-2009, 09:05 AM

Sorry for some double posts and a couple pics are in opposite order. Photobucket is not viewing correctly for me today.

Just wanted to add:

Happy New Year Everyone.
Hope you have a great 2009 full of all of God's blessings,
including health, happiness, prosperity and peace.:grouphug: :flower3:

Finishing projects is one of my resolutions, so I will wrap this TR up soon. I'm off to get down some decorations and get out house back in order.

Up next, as I said Celebrate the Seasons show, the parade and then I'll post our photopass pics and some final thoughts. Thanks for reading along. :surfweb:

wdwgirl03

01-01-2009, 09:13 AM

Just found your trip report...I'm going to join in! The holidays really are a magical time in Disney World. I have to agree with you, the castle is amazing with the dream lights. :goodvibes :goodvibes :goodvibes That is so cool you won DVC for 3 years! It's also cool you stayed at Saratoga Springs...that's our home resort and we've usually been in Congress Park too! Looking forward to more! popcorn::

morgtroy

01-01-2009, 09:27 AM

Thanks for joining in. We really loved Saratoga Springs, it was so quiet and relaxing there. Loved the view from Congress Park too.:love:
What is your favorite resort to stay at?

OneTreeHillAddict

01-01-2009, 02:56 PM

Another great update! :thumbsup2 WS has so much to do. I LOVE it. Unfortunately I did not get to enjoy it as much as I wanted to this past trip. My daddy hated that walk and refused to leave without us. More on that later. I started my new TR. Check it out when ya get a chance.

morgtroy

01-01-2009, 06:43 PM

Thanks for the link, I just checked it out and posted, can't wait to hear more.:)

morgtroy

01-03-2009, 12:48 PM

So I left off we were watching the fireworks, when they were over it was wall to wall people. So, so crowded, of course we were there at the castle and main street so the most crowded place to be. It was so cold, my MIL and DS decided to head on back to the room. We really were cold, but me and DD decided to tough it out and try to see the parade. We had about 45 minutes to kill so after walking with them to the gate we walked back down to the castle and watched some of the "Celebrate the Seasons" show in front of the castle. I didn't take a lot of pics of this, but here are a few.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3081.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3091.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3093.jpg

After that we went back to the entrance at the train station to watch the parade. We shivered and hugged and moved, whatever we could to stay warm. I never thought I'd say that from a trip to Florida. I have to say the rest of the trip was way better than puddles of sweat during the hot months, but the freezing cold that night was bad. The parade was really cute here are some random shots of it.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3111.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3115.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3125.jpg

Love Mickey and Minnie. Especially Mickey in his red coat. How cute.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3126.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3127.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3128-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3138.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3149-1.jpg

Way to go CM for getting into it.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3153-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3155-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3156.jpg

confinued next post

morgtroy

01-03-2009, 01:49 PM

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3160-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3166.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3167.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3168.jpg

Chip and Dale's float was a ski slope. They were so cute, they were having snowball fights.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3169-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3178-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3179.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3181.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3185-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3186.jpg

Loved the white horses pulling Cinderella and PC.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3191.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3193-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3195.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3205.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3207.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3208.jpg

The beast seemed to pose for this picture. I love it. Wished I could have gotten
one of Belle this good.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3209.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3210.jpg

morgtroy

01-03-2009, 01:53 PM

Sorry, me, my computer and photobucket are not seeing eye to eye right now.:mad: I'll fix the turned pics later, and add my comments back in. I've gotta run right now.:headache:

I'll continue the parade and wrap this baby up soon. Thanks for your patience.:surfweb:

disneydusted

01-04-2009, 05:36 PM

You've got some really clear parade pictures! I love the expression on the close up of the dancer in green! :goodvibes

morgtroy

01-05-2009, 08:52 AM

You've got some really clear parade pictures! I love the expression on the close up of the dancer in green! :goodvibes

Love that she was really into it.:thumbsup2

morgtroy

01-05-2009, 08:59 AM

Ok, I got my problems with the pics fixed. If I ever do another TR, I'll try to resize them as I upload them.

The rest of the parade.
I love the festive outfits:thumbsup2

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3215.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3217.jpg

Then, my man, Goofy and his candy float.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3220.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3224.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3225.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3226.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3229.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3230.jpg

And the gingerbread men, how cute are they?
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3231.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3232.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3234.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3236.jpg

This little guy was funny. They stopped to let more people exit the park and he slid the car in sideways and was like, "hurry up people, I got to go." It was funny.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3240.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3245.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3247.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3248.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3252.jpg

Continued next post.

scottny

01-05-2009, 09:20 AM

gorgeous pics.

Mine came out so dark.

morgtroy

01-05-2009, 09:27 AM

We also loved the toy soldiers, they were really neat. :)

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3256.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3258.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3261.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3263.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3265.jpg

These guys were cute, they did a dance with their banners.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3272.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3273.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3277.jpg

Then came the reindeer "pulling the sleigh", how cute?
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3279.jpg

Then, other than the big cheese, Mickey, I guess this guy is 2nd cheese in Disney World at Christmas. :rotfl:

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3283.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3285.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3286.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_3287.jpg

It was a SUPER parade, loved all the details. Look back at the candy in Goofy's coat pocket and all the details on Santa's float. Disney you Rock!
There was probably another 30-40 minutes of time left before the party ended, but we had done good to make it that long, it was so cold, so back to the room we went.
Our last night. :sad1:

Glad we did MVMCP, don't think I'll pay extra to do it again. (Also glad I used $ earned on credit card points to buy these tickets) I learned from the Halloween party to just go for the special things and don't try to ride the rides, unless you get there early and do that before the party officially begins. I left feeling the party was oversold and was just too crowded to enjoy, that and it was so cold that night. Was it better than it would have been on Sunday night in the rain. In my opinion yes, but I'm sure it wasn't as crowded on Sunday night, but I'm not sure if they got to do the fireworks because of the rain. (maybe that's why it was so crowded Tues night, people like me that switched, but I just assumed Disney would only let you switch if they still had tickets available? I don't know what the policy is?)
Note to anyone going in Dec...you may be in shorts one day and need a hat, mittens and heavy coat the next night. So pack accordingly.:rotfl2:
I still feel MVMCP was too crowded, but I was looking back at the map/events guide as I was doing this trip report, and of all the special things that night, the only thing we didn't do was "Belle's enchanted storytime." So I guess we did pretty well. Just know it won't be a leisurely event, unless you get lucky and it's a really low crowd night. The fireworks and parade were the highlights for sure.

Up next our photopass pics and my final thoughts.

wdwgirl03

01-05-2009, 09:50 AM

Great parade pictures! It is such a fun parade. I love the gingerbread men and the wooden soldiers too.

RinkyTinkyTinky

01-05-2009, 01:12 PM

Hi! I've been here a while but just haven't posted. I have really enjoyed your report. We went the week before Thanksgiving and did most of the Christmas stuff in your report. I've enjoyed reliving it!

I have to agree with you on MVMCP. We went on Nov. 16th (also a Sunday night) and it was VERY crowded. It wasn't crowded during our entire trip except that night. I asked a CM and they told me that no more than 20,000 something people are allowed in for parties. Well the problem is that ALL of those people are at the few party events. I was dissapointed at the crowd level. The shows were good and the parade was too, but for what we paid, I felt it was way too crowded. I would not go again either and we also went on cc points (but I still sort of felt like I wasted my money). We had several people that were very rude to us that night also and that NEVER happened a single other time during our 12 day trip. People seemed irritated that they had paid all that money and then had to deal with a mob. I think the people who only went for the rides probably had a lot more fun, but I wanted to go for the party. I have to say that MVMCP was my only dissapointment during our trip.:sad2:

I really think that Disney should include the Christmas events (parade, stage show, fireworks...) in their regular park admission during the holidays like they do in the other parks. We saw the Christmas parade at AK for free and we would have seen the OL at HS for free if they had started that early. All the Christmas events at Epcot are also free. The P&P party and the Fall party seem more reasonable to me but they should let Christmas be open to everyone. I just don't get it:confused: :confused: :confused:

Anyway, can't wait to read more!:surfweb:

disneydusted

01-05-2009, 06:34 PM

Once again, great pictures!! I can't believe how clear so many of them are! Good job! :thumbsup2

morgtroy

01-05-2009, 08:06 PM

gorgeous pics.

Mine came out so dark.

Thank you, I take tons of pics, I did have some blurry ones in the group that I didn't post. Shooting lighted, moving floats at night time with street lights around has got to be some of the hardest scenes to shoot.:rotfl: And I was shivering from the cold. :rotfl2: All in all, I was very pleased. I switched between a night snapshot setting and sports mode. Both of those have fast shutter speeds, but give a little different results.

Great parade pictures! It is such a fun parade. I love the gingerbread men and the wooden soldiers too.

Aren't they so stinking cute. :santa:

Hi! I've been here a while but just haven't posted. I have really enjoyed your report. We went the week before Thanksgiving and did most of the Christmas stuff in your report. I've enjoyed reliving it!

I have to agree with you on MVMCP. We went on Nov. 16th (also a Sunday night) and it was VERY crowded. It wasn't crowded during our entire trip except that night. I asked a CM and they told me that no more than 20,000 something people are allowed in for parties. Well the problem is that ALL of those people are at the few party events. I was dissapointed at the crowd level. The shows were good and the parade was too, but for what we paid, I felt it was way too crowded. I would not go again either and we also went on cc points (but I still sort of felt like I wasted my money). We had several people that were very rude to us that night also and that NEVER happened a single other time during our 12 day trip. People seemed irritated that they had paid all that money and then had to deal with a mob. I think the people who only went for the rides probably had a lot more fun, but I wanted to go for the party. I have to say that MVMCP was my only dissapointment during our trip.:sad2:

I really think that Disney should include the Christmas events (parade, stage show, fireworks...) in their regular park admission during the holidays like they do in the other parks. We saw the Christmas parade at AK for free and we would have seen the OL at HS for free if they had started that early. All the Christmas events at Epcot are also free. The P&P party and the Fall party seem more reasonable to me but they should let Christmas be open to everyone. I just don't get it:confused: :confused: :confused:

Anyway, can't wait to read more!:surfweb:

Hey, welcome out of lurkdom. I saw your post on TimandLesley's. I love their TR's, they are so fun to read. They are probably the reason I'm hooked on the Dis. :rotfl2: Nice family pic you posted there.:thumbsup2 Did you guys do the photoshoot, or did you have someone take the pic for you?

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that felt that way about MVMCP. Yes, there were some ill people there. I'm sure they were a little disappointed too and something about wall to wall people does make you a little ill. Or in my case a little scarey trying to hold on to my DS's hand. Could you imagine loosing your child in that:eek: Yes, spending the cc points for tickets helps some, but you still think I could have spent it on something else. You are right, it may be limited, but all those people are in 2 or 3 areas that are pretty close to each other instead of spread out in the park. I wonder what max attendance is for MK.
Again, we did most of the party stuff and we had some fun there, I'm glad we did it one time. I have some good memories of it. I just don't know that I'd do it again, only because of the crowds. All the events were nice, we enjoyed those, just so hard to get to them/in them.

Once again, great pictures!! I can't believe how clear so many of them are! Good job! :thumbsup2

Thank you for the sweet comments. I so enjoy taking pics (I took, 2,000 something on this 5 night trip) I take pics in stride while walking. I was a little worried about my canon camera. I've only had it since June and it's a little intimidating because it has a lot of features that I still don't know how to correctly use. You know you have to get to know your camera and I just didnt' feel like we were close friends yet. I've had kodaks the last couple of camera's and the menu system is all different :)
It's funny, I had read someone's TR before I went and they had a SLR that took some great pics. I told my hubby about it, in passing, how good their Christmas light pics were and that I hoped I got some good ones on our trip. I was testing taking pics of our Christmas tree before the trip. Then we went on our trip. Well a couple weeks before Christmas he said, "I want you to look at something, and showed me where he had looked up that SLR camera, I mentioned. He was actually going to get me that for Christmas, but said he wanted me to look at it and make sure it was the right model and included everything I needed. :confused3 I wouldn't let him spend that much on me, and I told him that after I saw the pics I took with the canon, I was very, very pleased with it, a SLR could wait.
But my hubby scored major points:cool1: for just the intention of getting the other camera, and majorly for actually hearing what I said, even the model. Can you beleive that...:rotfl: He doesn't have those moments often but I'm blown away when he does. :thumbsup2 He is a super dad and husband.:love:

scottny

01-06-2009, 12:21 AM

I used sports setting and can say my pics came out BAD. :rotfl2: But I had a good spot till some people pushed there way in front. So I blame them.

morgtroy

01-06-2009, 06:56 AM

Oh that's always bad to have a good spot for viewing and getting crowded out. :mad: You're right though, being close enough is important. I'd love to know much more about photography. We were lucky, it wasn't crowded watching the parades in front of the train station. Which, I've always thought that it would be there so people could make their dashes to the bus stops as soon as it's over.
On our first trip we got seats up top at the train station. It became more crowded as parade time neared, but this time we were down on the sidewalk and it wasn't crowded.
From the few times I've been, it's always most crowded in the hub area around the castle. We watched Specto last trip over in Frontierland around Country Bears and it was a good spot, but this spot/trip was much closer to the parade.

RinkyTinkyTinky

01-06-2009, 09:10 AM

My responses are in red:)

Hey, welcome out of lurkdom. I saw your post on TimandLesley's. I love their TR's, they are so fun to read. They are probably the reason I'm hooked on the Dis. I totally agree! I love reading their reports and they absolutely got me hooked on the DIS!

Nice family pic you posted there. Did you guys do the photoshoot, or did you have someone take the pic for you? We did the Grand Floridian photo session and we got it for only $25! That was my souviner to myself. I hate to have my picture made, but I am soooo glad that I got over it and did it anyway. I did a VERY mini trip report of sorts when we got back and there are more pictures from the photo session posted there if you would like to see what kind of shots are included (maybe for your next trip). We were VERY pleased and I wouldn't take a million dollars for those pictures. I would highly recommend it to everyone. Here's the link to my old thread if you're interested: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2015534&page=1&highlight=

Glad to hear I'm not the only one that felt that way about MVMCP. Yes, there were some ill people there. I'm sure they were a little disappointed too and something about wall to wall people does make you a little ill. Yeah, we had a guy turn around and bite my head off during the stage show and tell me not to park my stoller behind him because he could step back and fall over it????? Hello....... we were all packed in like sardines.......you can't claim the whole curb????? I just told the guy "Merry Christmas to you too!" and I DIDN'T move b/c there was nowhere to go!! There wasn't much Christmas cheer that night:confused3 . And there were others who were very rude, and like I said, that never happened at any other time.

Or in my case a little scarey trying to hold on to my DS's hand. Could you imagine loosing your child in that Yes, that was my fear while we were there too. That is why we chose to go to WDW during a slow time. I am frantic over my child and I cannot stand having her in a crowd. I actually made her stay in the stroller most of the night b/c it was just crazy! Not much fun for her, but my nerves could not handle it.

Yes, spending the cc points for tickets helps some, but you still think I could have spent it on something else. You are right, it may be limited, but all those people are in 2 or 3 areas that are pretty close to each other instead of spread out in the park. I wonder what max attendance is for MK.That same CM told me that max attendance is in the 80,000 range:scared1: :scared1: :scared1: I cannot imagine!!!! If that was 20,000 at the party (and ours wasn't even sold out) then 80,000 would be a nightmare!

Again, we did most of the party stuff and we had some fun there, I'm glad we did it one time. I have some good memories of it. I just don't know that I'd do it again, only because of the crowds. All the events were nice, we enjoyed those, just so hard to get to them/in them.
I agree. I am glad we did it once, even though it wasn't perfect, but I wouldn't go again. But my dissapointment over MVMCP is a minor memory and my trip overall was wonderful and such a blessing!:cloud9:

lyndrajo3

01-06-2009, 09:57 AM

Yes Morgtroy,

I took my middle DD age 8 to "make your own ears store." La Chapeaux it is just inside the gates at MK. across the street from Tony's Restaraunt. My DD spent $27 on her original ears. The hat part=$6, name=$3, 2 patches=$4 each, pink furry ears= $5 each. So much to choose from there. Many many many diff ears, patches etc to choose from. I think I'm gonna get me my own when I go down there in May this year.

lyndrajo3

01-06-2009, 10:06 AM

How can I post a pic from my computer to posts oon these treads? I can do it on the HGTV site but I am having difficulties with this site.

I right click and select 'go to my photos' and choose the one I want but it will not poat. What is the trick? I have HP with Vista and photomaker program.

Thanks ahead of time for the help.;)

morgtroy

01-06-2009, 10:13 AM

morgtroy

01-06-2009, 10:33 AM

I'm pretty new to all this, but the way I do it is with photobucket. You set up a free account with photobucket.com, then upload your pics. Once they're uploaded, go down to the image. Below each image a pop up will come up that will have the link in different computer codes. I just copy the IMG code, (the text that's in that block), to my copy when I'm posting on the DIS. You pretty much have to give the image a link on the web that it will go to each time. A place to "live" on the web, at least that's the way I understand it and I'm by far, no computer expert. :rotfl: I'm sure you could use other's services, instead of photobucket. I hope that's helpful?

Thanks for the comment on the ear's store. We found it on our Dec trip, but there were not any make your own in a Christmas style, so DD just bought a sequined Minnie headband there. Look at the link to my TR, I have some pics posted there. :)
Thanks for subbing.:) And have a great time on your May Trip.

RinkyTinkyTinky

01-06-2009, 12:42 PM

Hey! I replied to you in my old thread:)

I meant to tell you I really enjoyed your SIL's trip report also. You need to take her with you next time b/c she was GOOD at sniffing out the dream team. Oh darn..........they aren't doing that anymore. I hadn't thought about that with the new promo. :(

morgtroy

01-06-2009, 12:55 PM

Yes, my SIL's TR was very good. I told her what we should do is ditch the kids and have a girls only trip, but I think we'd both never get past the guilt of being in Disney without the kids. :rotfl2:
They did sniff out the dream team well last trip. There's a guy on the Dis that did a video of his family stalking the Dream Team. Called them code named "blueberries" and "blueberries with icing" when they had on their white vests. It is hilarious. If you haven't seen it, search for it. I don't have the link any more.
My SIL had a great trip and I love their pic with all the characters at Character connection.:love:
Yes, I hate the YOMD promotion is over. It was fun. I hope they will continue to do little surprises.

I have a new appreciation for all these DIS'ers that do the trip reports:thumbsup2 It does take some time and effort. I have enjoyed reading so many of them.

morgtroy

01-06-2009, 01:19 PM

So we rested well after MVMCP. Got up and packed up to head home.:sad2:
We made good time and our drive went really well.:drive: My kids had been practicing for our church Christmas program which had a lot of music in it. The last hour of the drive they serenaded us with all the songs. :rolleyes1
We had a great trip, and we were tired.

Here are some random photopass pics. If I've posted any of these earlier, forgive me. :hippie:

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image127.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image129-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image131-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image135.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image137-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image234.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image239.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image243.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image247-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image248.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image266-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image269.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image271-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image276-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image279-1.jpg

Ok, I know this has nothing to do with the fairies, but they have some really cute fairy borders on the photopass, and I liked them so I put this one on our AK pic
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image321-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image326-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image332.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image334-1.jpg

morgtroy

01-06-2009, 01:25 PM

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image335.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image337-1.jpg

This was the tree at GF. Horrible pic of me...
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image339.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image363-1.jpg

Love my MIL's expression on this one.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image365-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image368-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image371-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image373.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image376-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image382.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image387-1.jpg

This is one of my favorites
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image396-1.jpg

Here's my DD's Captain Hook pic, remember, my DS's pic was missing from my photopass
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image393.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image411-1.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image414.jpg

I'll post my final thoughts in next post, and I will be finished. :woohoo: One of my new year's resolutions done. Now if only the other resolutions were that easy.:laughing:

heaven2dc

01-06-2009, 02:02 PM

morgtroy

01-06-2009, 02:51 PM

Thank you SO much for all the hard work you put into this TR! We all appreciate it and love the pics :love:

I think it was fantastic your MIL got to come on this trip too (altho I know you missed your hubby :sad1: ) I would love to post a TR (I started a pre-trip for my 01/31/08 visit with DBFF but never finished - could never figure out how to get pics downloaded from camera and still can't :lmao: )

I am so hoping to buy into DVC in the next couple of months (love BWV's esp after our boardwalk view in December) and I still get goosebumps that you won DVC membership! We are planning a family vacation sometime the end of this year and hope to have a DVC "home" to come home to :lovestruc

Thanks, that's sweet of you to say. I've really enjoyed reading alot of Dis'ers TR's. There are some really creative writers on the Dis and fun to read.

It was very nice to have my MIL along. I hope we didn't wear her out too much. She really did some neat rides:thumbsup2 I was proud of her, that's how I hope to be when I get a little older, still go and do things. My mom has problems with her knee and she doesn't get excited about things like that. My MIL was a big help with the kids, I'm a paranoid parent and don't like them out of my sight. I was thrilled half to see the family restrooms so I could wait for my DS without sending him in the men's room alone.

Good luck on the DVC purchase. You'll have to let me know if you buy in and where your "home" is. I'm looking forward to seeing the AKL rooms. Believe me, I still have goosebumps too over the prize. Completely unbelievable.

RinkyTinkyTinky

01-06-2009, 03:13 PM

morgtroy

01-06-2009, 07:29 PM

So today when I looked back at the photopass pics I realized the really good ones with Santa at Downtown disney were not on there. So I checked and there were a few more that I felt were worth sharing. We were lucky and got a lot of photopass pics this trip.

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image251.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image289.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image295.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image297.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image301.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image304.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image308.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image310.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image314.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image317.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image344.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image345.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image348.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image352.jpg

http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/image357.jpg

luckylady

01-06-2009, 07:43 PM

Great pictures.

morgtroy

01-06-2009, 08:08 PM

Well, I guess this is it. The end of my TR. It's been fun re-living the trip. We had a great time. The trip was worth it just to see the castle in lights. :goodvibes All of us just kept saying, that is amazing, that's so gorgeous, and on and on.

Great things this trip:
1. The CASTLE:lovestruc
2. Staying DVC for the first time. Very nice.
3. All the beautiful Christmas decorations in all the parks and resorts. Amazing:thumbsup2
4. The looks on my kids faces during the fireworks, when they were talking with Mickey and Santa, and watching the Osborne Lights and singing along some with the choir for the candlelight processional. (Even though they are getting older. The magic is still there.:) )
5. The Osborne Lights. WOW!!! :worship: The music, lights and the snow. WOW!
6. The Candlelight processional.:love: So Spiritual and moving.
7. Our new favorite ride..Toy Story Mania. :cool1:
8. The parade, fireworks and shows at MVMCP. NOT the crowds:crowded:
10. The block party bash parade. Kids LOVED it. A realparty:
11. I almost forgot, the animation class. Big hit, we had to do it twice.
12. Getting to do it with MamMaw, some great memories for the kids and me.
13. The kids doing pin trading for the first time.
14. For me, all the things on this list and seeing Sorcerer Mickey and Santa Goofy. (really all characters in Christmas outfits.)
15. Riding RNRRC and what my daughter said at the end.
16. Riding TOT for the first time with my son. INTENSE. :scared1:
17. Again, the HUGE blessing of getting to go at all on this trip, thanks to the prize. I'm so thankful/grateful and undeserving. :confused3 I'm still on :cloud9:
18. All the pictures so I can remember them forever.
19. My new friend Michelle that's a DVC member and been so helpful to me
with tips and stuff. Thanks Michele, you Rock!

And of course all of you I've met on the Dis doing this TR.:yay: :wave:

Things we missed or will have to catch next time:

1. Meeting the Fairies, didn't want to bad enough for the wait, too long.
2. Seeing more of the decorations at some of the other resorts
3. Belle in her holiday dress. We missed getting the pic with her. Line too long.
4. A tinkerbell slushy. Something we wanted to try, but wasn't hot enough to remind us to get one. :rotfl2: Didn't get our usual ice cream on Main St. either.
5. Riding Expedition Everest. We had the Fastpasses, were heading that way and the monsoon came.:mad: So we missed it.

Since we didn't do the dining plan, we mainly had counter service meals, other than the Kona Cafe and Crystal Palace.
Of course both of those were good. The Kona didn't have as many selections as I expected, but food was good. The bread and macadamia butter were SUPER.
At Crystal Palace breakfast the potato casserole was my favorite.

Counter services we ate at were
Peco's Bills
Cosmic Rays
Flame Tree BBQ
Pizza Planet
La Catina in Mexico
All were good, no complaints.

I send you all loads of pixie dust and magic for all your upcoming Disney Trips, I for one, can't wait to read about them. :wizard: Be sure to send me links to any TR's you guys start.
I'll be here:surfweb:
:grouphug:

disneydusted

01-07-2009, 08:11 AM

tmkinney

01-07-2009, 08:23 AM

Great TR! :thumbsup2 I love all of the photopass Christmas borders, the pics were really good. Love all the characters in their different outfits, especially Minnie in the pj's and her Santa dress. :love: I see another scrapbook coming... :rotfl2: Speaking of, have you seen where Smuckers/Jif is giving a free Disney scrapbook with two proofs of purchase? Here is the link, it looks to be an 8x8 album, looks really cute though. I sent mine off yesterday. (Although I don't know why, I have 3 Disney scrapbooks at home I haven't even started!! :eek: )

http://www.smuckers.com/promotions/disney/default.aspx

I thought about entering the contest that goes with it, but by the time you pay taxes on a trip for 10 people, you could just pay for a trip yourself! :confused3

Anyway, didn't mean to get :offtopic:

It was nice seeing all the Christmas decorations/activities. Thanks for posting! :goodvibes

morgtroy

01-07-2009, 09:33 AM

I can't believe it's over!! :sad1: You guys looked like you had such a great time in all of your pictures. I am super impressed with your MIL! She must have tons of energy.
Your Photopass pcitures are wonderful! I loved all of the interaction that was captured with your kids and the different characters. The photo of you and your daughter wearing matching pink shirts (Donald in the background) in Epcot is sweet.... The DHS photo of your daughter with the HSM pompom near her face is sweet too!.... The first one of your son and Santa is cute.... the other one I like is of you three with a Goofy statue sitting on a bench. Where is that? Thanks for sharing your Christmas trip with all of us! :wizard: I hope you have a great year!!
Thanks, I love doing photopass, all the cute borders. I do like how the photopass people catch the expressions and when they first walk up and stuff. :love: The Goofy statue is on a bench in front of expo hall just as you enter in MK on the right. It talks too.:cool1: I haven't seen a photopass photographer there on other trips but we were leaving the park a little after lunch that day and there was one there. You may already know, but there are "sets/props" inside Expo hall to have your pics made with. That's where the white bench and background are that a lot of people have the BBB pics made at . We did that last year with my DD, It's cute.:cutie:
Thanks for following along. Best Wishes:)

Great TR! :thumbsup2 I love all of the photopass Christmas borders, the pics were really good. Love all the characters in their different outfits, especially Minnie in the pj's and her Santa dress. :love: I see another scrapbook coming... :rotfl2: Speaking of, have you seen where Smuckers/Jif is giving a free Disney scrapbook with two proofs of purchase? Here is the link, it looks to be an 8x8 album, looks really cute though. I sent mine off yesterday. (Although I don't know why, I have 3 Disney scrapbooks at home I haven't even started!! :eek: )

http://www.smuckers.com/promotions/disney/default.aspx

I thought about entering the contest that goes with it, but by the time you pay taxes on a trip for 10 people, you could just pay for a trip yourself! :confused3

Anyway, didn't mean to get :offtopic:

It was nice seeing all the Christmas decorations/activities. Thanks for posting! :goodvibes

Thanks for the link,:goodvibes I haven't heard about that, I'll get it in the mail. "While supplies last..." :eek: We have those mega jars of Jif at our house I get from Sam's. :rotfl:

Yes, I didn't know if I was up for another scrapbook, but I just love all the pics, I think I'll have to :laughing: These great pics can't just live on a disk somewhere, they have to be put in a book I can look through. :lmao: I haven't seen a lot of Disney Christmas stuff, but that's ok, I'll make the picture the main thing and not put a lot of extras on it. I need to catch up the kids school and sports books before I even start this. I actually did scrap a little over Christmas. You know I have that little album I put our Christmas card for each year in. I caught it up. It's so, so sweet. Remember the pic of DD for DS's first Christmas, her leaning down to him in the carrier in front of the tree. It has to be one of my all time favorite pics, almost made me cry at how big they are now.:sad: But that little album I really like, one pic a year, really shows how much they change. (Easy album to do, now that I have it up to date:rotfl2: )

I think I've already made this comment here, but I have a new admiration all the people on here that have done and keep doing TRs. :cheer2: They sure are fun to read.

tmkinney

01-07-2009, 09:51 AM

Thanks for the link,:goodvibes I haven't heard about that, I'll get it in the mail. "While supplies last..." :eek: We have those mega jars of Jif at our house I get from Sam's. :rotfl:

Yes, I didn't know if I was up for another scrapbook, but I just love all the pics, I think I'll have to :laughing: These great pics can't just live on a disk somewhere, they have to be put in a book I can look through. :lmao: I haven't seen a lot of Disney Christmas stuff, but that's ok, I'll make the picture the main thing and not put a lot of extras on it. I need to catch up the kids school and sports books before I even start this. I actually did scrap a little over Christmas. You know I have that little album I put our Christmas card for each year in. I caught it up. It's so, so sweet. Remember the pic of DD for DS's first Christmas, her leaning down to him in the carrier in front of the tree. It has to be one of my all time favorite pics, almost made me cry at how big they are now.:sad: But that little album I really like, one pic a year, really shows how much they change. (Easy album to do, now that I have it up to date:rotfl2: )

I think I've already made this comment here, but I have a new admiration all the people on here that have done and keep doing TRs. :cheer2: They sure are fun to read.

Yes, I love the pic of the kids that you are talking about, it is one of my favorite of them too. I bought one of those 8x8 Christmas scrapbooks from Hobby Lobby this year after Christmas for 70% off so I think I may do one of those with the cards too. It's funny, my favorite Christmas pic of Rachel and Hunter is her first Christmas too, the one I took over at your house. I figure pretty much all I have to do is stick the picture in and maybe add some stickers, I'm hoping starting that may get me back in mode to scrapbook, we'll see. :rolleyes1

wdwgirl03

01-07-2009, 11:32 AM

Ohh I love all your photopass pictures!!! And the borders are all adorable! That reminds me I need to order our photopass pictures before I forget and they expire...:laughing:

morgtroy

01-07-2009, 11:38 AM

Yes, I love the pic of the kids that you are talking about, it is one of my favorite of them too. I bought one of those 8x8 Christmas scrapbooks from Hobby Lobby this year after Christmas for 70% off so I think I may do one of those with the cards too. It's funny, my favorite Christmas pic of Rachel and Hunter is her first Christmas too, the one I took over at your house. I figure pretty much all I have to do is stick the picture in and maybe add some stickers, I'm hoping starting that may get me back in mode to scrapbook, we'll see. :rolleyes1

I got a 8x8 Christmas scrapbook there too. I thought I might use it for Disney, but I'm not sure yet. Don't know if I can fit all the pics in an 8 x 8. I have so much trouble narrowing down disney pics. :rotfl2: The one I got has this argile like pattern on the front. Red and green. That was the only style left when I got it, but I didn't get it until last Sat. Yes, a Christmas card book is great because it is easy.:thumbsup2 I love that pic of Rachel and Hunter too. It's sad...
I think that's one reason I like scrapping Disney trips, there is an end to it. The everyday events and stuff are never ending and I always feel so far behind on all that stuff. Because I am.:rotfl: I'll have plenty to do when the kids are grown and I'm not running to practices and ball games.:laughing:

morgtroy

01-07-2009, 11:39 AM

Ohh I love all your photopass pictures!!! And the borders are all adorable! That reminds me I need to order our photopass pictures before I forget and they expire...:laughing:

Thank you so much! You better run and get those ordered :) The borders are what makes photopass that much better.

morgtroy

01-07-2009, 12:31 PM

Those PP pics are WONDERFUL!!! I love the mother/daughter ones in the pink Minnie shirts! So cute. That is great that you have such a good relationship with your MIL to bring her along on vacation. That must be very nice. And your DD looks like she really was having fun in all your pictures. I hope my DD will still like Disney when she is 10. Some kids seem to think they are too cool for Disney when they get around that age.

So how many more times can you go back to WDW with the prize that you won?

I'm sorry, I realized I didn't answer you on this post...
Thanks so much for the sweet comments. Of course, I hate the pictures of me. :rotfl: But I love the ones of the kids. Yes, my DD was having a blast. She and I have always been joined at the hip. Now that she's getting older I think we're becoming more friends. Of course I still have to be the mama a lot of times and hand out the rules, but we have our close talks and times. It will kill me if she turns into the teenager that won't want me around at ALL. :scared1: And she's always been a princess..diva. Loved dressing up, was a lot of the disney characters for halloween through the years. One of my favorites was when she was Belle, and the year she was Jessie and my son was Woody. Too cute. She used to be obsessed with Belle. Had a disney princess room. Don't get me wrong, she wouldn't pick that Minnie shirt as the first thing she'd want to wear to school now that she's order:lmao: , but she's like me, doesn't matter how old you are, you can be a kid at Disney.:yay:

The prize is 225pts per year for 3 years. The Dec. trip was 88 pts. I didn't know a lot about DVC before this, but each room has a point value per night and weekday nights uses less points than weekend nights. Also, low travel times of year use less points than their busier times. So it really depends on how you choose to spend them. My DVC friend Michelle really knows how to spend them well and get the most bang for the buck. She goes several times a year and has been a DVC owner for many years. With normal DVC it's my understanding you can bank points for the next year or borrow points from the next year, but with my prize it's use or loose.
Again, there are no words for how blessed I feel by this, very humbled by it, just sheer shock. I'm telling you it took me months to actually believe it, convince myself it was real and let myself get excited about it. The people from the contest were so, so nice, wonderful to work with and helped me understand better. The prize is the room, we have to pay for park tickets and dining if we want to do the dining plan. So how many times you go also depends on how much you want to spend for park tickets and food. We didn't do the dining plan in Dec. because I was trying to go as cheap as possible. And we did it really cheap. You can also choose the kinds of rooms, a studio (lowest pts), one bedroom or 2 bedroom. So if you can't go several times a year you could splurge and get the nicer rooms to use up your points in one visit. Getting the time off work or getting the kids out of school is something to think about with trying to go several times, along with paying for tickets and food. Sorry to go on and on, but hard to explain in a short post.:)

Jenvenza

01-07-2009, 12:58 PM

I just read most of your TR and I am going to finish it up tomorrow!! Loving it so far though!!

RinkyTinkyTinky

01-07-2009, 06:35 PM

I'm sorry, I realized I didn't answer you on this post...
Thanks so much for the sweet comments. Of course, I hate the pictures of me. :rotfl: But I love the ones of the kids. Yes, my DD was having a blast. She and I have always been joined at the hip. Now that she's getting older I think we're becoming more friends. Of course I still have to be the mama a lot of times and hand out the rules, but we have our close talks and times. It will kill me if she turns into the teenager that won't want me around at ALL. :scared1: And she's always been a princess..diva. Loved dressing up, was a lot of the disney characters for halloween through the years. One of my favorites was when she was Belle, and the year she was Jessie and my son was Woody. Too cute. She used to be obsessed with Belle. Had a disney princess room. Don't get me wrong, she wouldn't pick that Minnie shirt as the first thing she'd want to wear to school now that she's order:lmao: , but she's like me, doesn't matter how old you are, you can be a kid at Disney.:yay:

The prize is 225pts per year for 3 years. The Dec. trip was 88 pts. I didn't know a lot about DVC before this, but each room has a point value per night and weekday nights uses less points than weekend nights. Also, low travel times of year use less points than their busier times. So it really depends on how you choose to spend them. My DVC friend Michelle really knows how to spend them well and get the most bang for the buck. She goes several times a year and has been a DVC owner for many years. With normal DVC it's my understanding you can bank points for the next year or borrow points from the next year, but with my prize it's use or loose.
Again, there are no words for how blessed I feel by this, very humbled by it, just sheer shock. I'm telling you it took me months to actually believe it, convince myself it was real and let myself get excited about it. The people from the contest were so, so nice, wonderful to work with and helped me understand better. The prize is the room, we have to pay for park tickets and dining if we want to do the dining plan. So how many times you go also depends on how much you want to spend for park tickets and food. We didn't do the dining plan in Dec. because I was trying to go as cheap as possible. And we did it really cheap. You can also choose the kinds of rooms, a studio (lowest pts), one bedroom or 2 bedroom. So if you can't go several times a year you could splurge and get the nicer rooms to use up your points in one visit. Getting the time off work or getting the kids out of school is something to think about with trying to go several times, along with paying for tickets and food. Sorry to go on and on, but hard to explain in a short post.:)

Well that all sounds wonderful! I have entered a few sweepstakes or contests here or there, but no luck. I know the chances are very slim. But I am glad you got to go b/c I really enjoyed reading all about it. Now we will all be expecting to hear from you after all your trips!:rolleyes1

I just finished reading a trip report by DisneyJo who also sort of won a trip by being chosen as a Disney Mom Panel member. Hers was fabulous too. Disney really is the place where dreams come truepixiedust:

OneTreeHillAddict

01-07-2009, 10:10 PM

I love the Photopass pictures! You did get a lot. So did you find your Santa pics or all some still missing? You were right...the Fairy borders were so cute! I used them around our Tink pics too that we did on Main Street. I love the holiday borders! The more the merrier! I enjoyed your TR. Pics were great and it was fun to read! Looking forward to the next one! :thumbsup2

morgtroy

01-08-2009, 08:12 AM

I just read most of your TR and I am going to finish it up tomorrow!! Loving it so far though!!
Thanks for reading and by the way you have an adorable little girl and you made a great Snow White...:)

Well that all sounds wonderful! I have entered a few sweepstakes or contests here or there, but no luck. I know the chances are very slim. But I am glad you got to go b/c I really enjoyed reading all about it. Now we will all be expecting to hear from you after all your trips!:rolleyes1

I just finished reading a trip report by DisneyJo who also sort of won a trip by being chosen as a Disney Mom Panel member. Hers was fabulous too. Disney really is the place where dreams come truepixiedust:

I rarely enter anything like that, I'm always afraid that will mean 5000 telemarketers will be calling my house or sending me emails. Only if I feel they are really reputable. You can always read the rules, if it includes $ for taxes on the prize, from what my tax guy said, you can feel better that you're dealing with an upscale contest.

I know mousesavers has a contests page they post any contests they know are going on and they say at the top they've known of x number of people winning certain prizes.
Thanks for following along and for sending me the link to you TR. :thumbsup2

I love the Photopass pictures! You did get a lot. So did you find your Santa pics or all some still missing? You were right...the Fairy borders were so cute! I used them around our Tink pics too that we did on Main Street. I love the holiday borders! The more the merrier! I enjoyed your TR. Pics were great and it was fun to read! Looking forward to the next one! :thumbsup2

Yes, the Santa pics I posted were the ones I was speaking of, that I originally didn't have. I love your Fairy pics.:love: Maybe we'll see them next time, the borders are too cute. Thanks for reading and I'm still onboard your TR. Good luck with your computer.

kimmylaj

01-08-2009, 12:20 PM

morgtroy

01-08-2009, 07:27 PM

well i am late, it seems to be a trend for me. anywho i loved your tr, great pics, we went in nov 07 we too found the mvmcp really overcrowded, and said we wouldnt pay again, yet after our trip this august and tropical storm fay we have decide to go in nov 09. and yes we are going to get party tickets anyway, we have decided to prioritize, we are going to skip the twas the night before christmas show, meeting any characters whose holiday clothing only consists of hats or scarves (i.e pooh, tigger, donald) we will get minnie and mickey in holiday garb, see the show in front of the castle and catch the second parade, the first was insanity. again thanks for sharing especially the hotel pics, because we didnt make the rounds on the last trip but want to try to get a few this time. beautiful trip. ps i have to leave my hubby home in nov too.

Thanks for reading. Yes, if you go into the party with a prioritized plan you will do better. I did, mine was that we'd concentrate on the Christmas party stuff and not the rides. I'd skip Twas the night before Christmas too, if you've seen it before. You do kill some time there, in line waiting for the theatre to open and then for the show. It is cute, but if you've seen it.

I hope you have a great trip in Nov. the decorations are so beautiful really puts you in the Christmas spirit.
I wonder if they're adding any special trim to the castle this year for the celebration promotion? We went in 2005 during the happiest celebration on earth and they had all the gold trim on the castle, it was so, so pretty.

morgtroy

02-09-2009, 08:29 AM

Hope everyone is doing well, we're starting to get really excited at our house for our upcoming trip in March. I have to say it again, I'm still pinching myself, this would not be happening if it wasn't for winning the DVC points. Still in shock over this...
So if any of you have been during March, please give me your tips. I'm hoping with Easter being in April, March will not be as crowded. :confused3 I've been to MVMCP, so I have some experience with crowds, :lmao: But I'm looking forward to the flower festival and hopefully some warm temps to get me fired up for spring and summer. I've never been to Disney in the spring.
We're also doing a split stay at AKL part of the week and OKW the other half of the week. So give me any tips about those resorts, never stayed at either of them. Thanks guys, you Rock!:surfweb:

OneTreeHillAddict

02-09-2009, 12:43 PM

morgtroy

02-09-2009, 01:19 PM

I checked your dates when you said you were going in March. We're a couple weeks after you. I thought if we were there, we'd have to do a dis meet, but we just missed each other. Happy March Bday to you. Mine is 22nd.
By the way, I second Rinky Tink, how do you keep your kids play room so neat? You have a gorgeous house, thanks for sharing.

morgtroy

02-09-2009, 01:43 PM

I just recently did a photo book of my Dec trip with a web site called
picaboo

First time I've tried them and I was very, very impressed. They have some cool disney backgrounds you can use.
The program was very easy to use and I ordered on a Sunday night and got the book on Tues. :cool1:

If you use it, you download their program then add your pics to the program and then it's pretty much drag and drop your pics into the layouts you choose.
There's also a tab to click to "get more backgrounds" it takes you online and you can search topics. Of course I searched Disney and they have several free backgrounds you can click then drag to your program and use.
It's so cool having a book and saying, those are my pics that I took.
You can also find some pretty good discount codes online. I found one for 50% off your first order.
I haven't used any of the photobook sites before, I know a lot of you may have, if you guys know of any other good ones, especially if they have discount codes. Let me know.

morgtroy

02-12-2009, 01:28 PM

Just thought I'd post this to see if I get any tips, or recommendations. Our late March trip is coming fast. We're doing a split stay, half the week at AKL and half the week at OKW. We've never stayed at either resort.
Please give me any advice you can. I'm really curious what section of OKW you guys would recommend. I need to call back and put in my room requests in the next week or so.
Both stays are DVC studios.
Any tips for the flower festival, or the resorts

Thanks for any info I can get.

joelp

02-16-2009, 06:55 AM

MAGICFOR2

02-16-2009, 07:34 AM

Hi! Sorry I missed the end of your trip! You got some great pics! I'm excited for you going in March already!:banana: We'll be there Mar 22 - 29 at SSR. I started my PTR - come on over and we can compare notes when we get back! We stayed at AKL on points for a couple of days - your kids are going to love it!:thumbsup2

morgtroy

02-16-2009, 08:08 AM

Well - if you're staying the first part of the week at AKL - you probably won't want to leave to go to OKW!! :lmao:
In addition to the animals and pool, there's some kind of activity going on just about every hour of the day - so I would plan on spending some time at the AKL ... Also, just hang out and relax, taking in the sights, sounds, and smells (stand in the lobby above Boma ... :cloud9: )

The bus service from AKL to MK was ... OK at best (and I'm being generous there ...) - so give yourselves extra time to get to the MK. The buses were very good/excellent to the other parks.

Boma! Boma! Boma! (that says it all ...) :banana:

BTW - loved your TR!!

Thanks so much! We'll be at AKL 4 nights then OKW 3 nights. I've heard great things about both resorts, can't wait to try them out. We originally were only staying half the week, that's how the split stay happened. We have a savannah view room at AKL, I can't wait. I think we're going to try to relax more this trip. We've been very blessed and know the things we love and the things that are ok. I think we'll just hit our favorites in the mornings and then relax more in the afternoons. Boma is on the list this trip. I need to start a PTR and post the dining reservations to get everyone's input.

Hi! Sorry I missed the end of your trip! You got some great pics! I'm excited for you going in March already!:banana: We'll be there Mar 22 - 29 at SSR. I started my PTR - come on over and we can compare notes when we get back! We stayed at AKL on points for a couple of days - your kids are going to love it!:thumbsup2

It's funny, we'd never be going again this soon. The prize is the only way. It's kind of sneaked up on us. But we're starting to get really excited now.:cool1: :banana: We're going to be there some the same days, I'll have to check your PTR and see if we'll be in the same parks on the same days. I just did a quick peak to see where you're staying. SSR, :) That is such a relaxing resort. Maybe all DVC's feel that way, I don't know, since we had only stayed value until then. I'll start a PTR soon to just lay out some of our plans. Thanks for posting, and saying we'll love AKL, can't wait to try it.:yay:

morgtroy

02-23-2009, 10:53 AM

Hi guys, I don't think I have time for a "true" pre trip report. But I wanted to post our dining plans so you guys could give me any recommendations.

We've never been in the spring, can't wait to see the flowers. This is my big four O birthday bash...can't be depressed in disney, right? This is the age we women learn to love ourselves right?

Hubby is along this trip so we are doing the dining plan. He truly loves the dining plan. It's even too much food for him and that's saying a lot. We're trying a few new places and also taking in some of our old favorites.

First night

Garden Grill (Never ate here, but have heard great things. I'm excited to see Mickey in the farmer overalls.)

Day 2 MY BIRTHDAY princess:
Chef Mickey's for Breakfast (have only had dinner here)
Ohanas for dinner (have only had breakfast here)

Day 3
CS Hollywood Studios
Boma for dinner (Can't wait to try this one, I've heard so many good things and since we're staying at AKL, I love the idea of just going down for dinnner)

Day 4
Tusker House Breakfast (we haven't been since they moved the restaurant)
CS at AK for dinner

Day 5
Crystal Palace Breakfast
1900 Park Fare for Dinner (never tried this)

Day 6
CS Epcot
Le Cellier for dinner (never tried this)

Day 7
CS for lunch
Whispering Canyon for dinner

Day 8
Breakfast at OKW
Drive home.

Sounds yummy doesn't it. Also sounds like a derail to spin classes my husband and I have been sweating through :rolleyes1 :laughing:

joelp

02-24-2009, 05:23 AM

On Day 3 at DHS, you may want to check out Catalina Eddie's and Rosie's on Sunset Blvd ... we were pleasantly surprised with the food - and there are nice, covered, outdoor tables if the weather is nice ...

Try not to eat tooooo much at Boma!! :lmao:

morgtroy

02-24-2009, 08:55 AM

:goodvibes
Thanks for the suggestions for our HS counter service. We haven't tried either of those. I love that potato salad is an option over fries, and the Italian sub sounds good.

We are soooo looking forward to Boma.:banana:

morgtroy

03-02-2009, 10:10 AM

I just thought I'd share with you guys... we got a snow day today..
The kids and our dog loved it. But my thoughts are to warmer days. I told the kids, "just think in a few weeks we'll be in our bathing suits at Disney World." Then I added "we'll be what's white as snow." :rotfl2: Meaning our normally tan summer bodies will be getting their first dose of sunshine.
Here's some pics of our fun morning.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_4378.jpg

Here's my son and our dog Katie, see how much she's grown. She loves the snow.
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_4390.jpg

My two sun bunnies :)
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_4454.jpg

And yes, I like the snow, but I am ready for spring...so were my daffodils..
http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee330/morgtroy/IMG_4419.jpg

The countdown is running...Disney World here we come...:banana:

joelp

03-04-2009, 05:32 AM

We got about a foot, plus drifts up to two feet!

... but the daffodils are still "sleeping" up here ...

morgtroy

03-04-2009, 07:57 AM

I don't know how you guys do it..survive the rough winters. My home office is in CT. Way too cold for me, I'm too whimpy. I'm a southern gal for sure.
Hope you guys get a break from the snow/cold soon. Think nice warm thoughts. :goodvibes Even better, think nice, warm, Disney thoughts.::MickeyMo

morgtroy

03-04-2009, 10:53 AM

Man, I guess I'm too lazy to start a new PTR.. just adding on to this one. Never in a million years would I have ever thought I'd be going back this close. Would have never happened withouth the prize. I guess that's why it's sneaking up on me so fast. But with this trip and my son's travel baseball, we haven't made our usual July 4th beach plans so this is our main vacation this year.

But in the planning dept, I have....
Restocked my disney backpack along the way. More disposable ponchos, hand sanitizer.
Got the kids some new pins to trade.
Have my lanyards all packed in.
Have registered my Bday so I can get the gift card.
Double checked all my dining res.
Preordered Photopass
Set up half day fishing trip for Hubby and DS (This is also for me and my DD :rotfl2: ) I think they'll love a break from the parks and do their "man" stuff. ;)

DD said last night, "Mama, we're going to have so much fun while Daddy and DS are on their fishing trip, we can ride RNRRC again and TSM, do the animation class again, and shop some without being in a hurry." :rotfl: That's my Disney girl! :love: She even has a countdown going on in her school planner...27 days til Disney World 26 days..princess:

We will have a blast as a family, don't take that wrong, but some "girl time" is always good.
The fishing trip was sort of my Valentine's surprise for hubby.:love: He's excited about it, I'll let you guys know how that goes after our trip. The guide is super nice and will pick them up at the resort. So hopefully they will catch alot of fish :thumbsup2

Now, what to pack for clothes?:confused3

Ok, I am really starting to get excited, turning that calendar to March was SUPER.

joelp

03-05-2009, 05:10 AM

Looks like I'm the first to respond to your "PTR"!!:woohoo:

I had fun with my DD at the Animation Academy, too - although all we did was meet Characters and play a few of the games ... I plan to spend more time there next trip ...

morgtroy

03-05-2009, 07:24 AM

We've had fun at the Animation on past trips meeting the characters too. But this last trip we did the drawing class and maybe it's my kids' ages, but they loved :love: it and had to go back and have talked about that several times for our upcoming trip. Us grown-ups liked it too. This last time I was so excited to try to get a pic with Sorcerer Mickey, my Fav!

You will probably be disappointed with my quote, unquote PTR... :rotfl2: I'll try to do better with an actual TR.
Thanks again for your tips. You sure have a disney princess:

morgtroy

03-10-2009, 08:13 AM

My disney buddy emails me late yesterday and said Disney emailed and upgraded our tix to included water parks and disney quest. :cool1:
We've never done either. I had to go online and research Disney Quest, since I had a false impression of what it is. We've wanted to try Typhoon Lagoon.:cool1:
Now the only problem, trying to find room to fit in all this fun. :confused3 Ha! Ha! Afternoon at a waterpark after AK day sounds nice.:thumbsup2
Can you guys tell I'm on :cloud9: The kids have the countdown really going, I have a countdown widget on my Mac, that's down to the seconds. :rotfl: Sure don't have my mind on work.:rolleyes1

luckylady

03-10-2009, 08:49 AM

DQ is so much fun. It's loud, but tons of fun. Haven't been to TL yet. DH took the kids one year while I soaked in the tub. It's great that they added this for free.

morgtroy

03-10-2009, 10:13 AM

Glad to hear you liked Disney Quest. Looks like a ton of fun. I may need to save it towards the end, or my son will want to stay there. :rotfl:
My friend is saying we have to do the Pirates of the Carribean, and Buzz rides there. I read the Carpet rides is fun there too. She warned me not to do the design your own roller coaster unless I design it. Her kids designed one and got her to do it and it made her very sick. :)
The upgrade they called a "magical offer" wasn't free, but just $20.00. Which is practically free for 4 days water park / disney quest. At least we could spend a few hours at those and not feel like we have to spend the whole day to get our money's worth.:banana:

luckylady

03-10-2009, 11:09 AM

OH ya PoC is great. Everyone gets to play and if no one wants to be the Capt(steer the boat) it will do it by it's self. They did't have Buzz yet so I"ll be looking forward to hearing about it. Smart move to save it to the end.

joelp

03-11-2009, 04:50 AM

If you plan on doing TL after AK - make sure the last thing you do at AK is Kali River Rapids - so you'll already be wet and ready for TL!!:lmao:

morgtroy

03-11-2009, 07:30 AM

Now that sounds like a plan. :rotfl2: I have pics from our trip in 2007 of me and my DD from behind and there's not a dry spot on us after Kali. :laughing:

For some reason it always seems our hottest day is at AK and the fact that it closes earlier than everything else, may be a good time to try TL for a few hours.

I'm soooooooo excited....:yay: :yay: :yay:

morgtroy

03-12-2009, 04:41 PM

WE'RE DOWN TO SINGLE DIGITS....
JUST WANTED TO DO A HAPPY DANCE..:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:
:dancer: :dancer: party: party: party: party:

luckylady

03-12-2009, 05:34 PM

WooHoo that' great.Have a magical time and don't forget the notes for a TR.
:banana: :dance3: :yay: :jumping1:

scottny

03-12-2009, 08:55 PM

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

joelp

03-13-2009, 04:42 AM

:cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:

morgtroy

03-14-2009, 07:09 PM

Ok Diser's the disney outlets had a pretty sweet deal today. May go on all weekend, I don't know, but I wanted to pass it along. They had this huge Disney reusable bag that if you buy it for $2.00 (sign said bag was $4.00, but a store worker was telling people it was $2.00) you fill it with any clearance items and you got an extra 50% off the clearance items. :cool1: :cool1:
That's my kind of bargain. I got 3 tshirts and the bag for $11.00.:lovestruc I think one of them I'll be wearing to MK on my birthday. :cheer2: They're all going in the suitcase that I haven't even started packing yet.:eek:
It's been a cool rainy couple days here. Those really warm sunny days we just had ruined me. :rotfl2: I'm ready for some sunny Florida and the forecast, SO FAR...:rolleyes1 , is 78 and sunny for our first few days. :banana:
Of course I'll be :surfweb: checking the weather over the next several days, praying for great weather.

morgtroy

03-17-2009, 11:34 AM

I've only been to disney 4 times, but I have noticed a trend.. there's always some kind of issues the week before you leave. Going in Sept in the past it's been hurricane watching. Our first trip we went the week after Katrina hit, in fact the next hurricane was passing over the Keys as we were driving down.:eek: And the gas prices were up there. The next trip, was more hurricane watching. My last trip, my husbands' aunt was at the point of death and had been for several weeks and we were not sure of what to do. We ended up with the day we came home being visitation. So it has all worked out before.
This trip, my FIL is taken by ambulance to the hospital late Sunday night, with chest/stomach pain. He has had prior heart problems so we were scared to death. He's still in the hospital undergoing tests, but they are suspecting possible gall stone. We're waiting on answers for that. Please send your prayers for him. We hope to get some news, any news soon.
Same night, my DS wakes up :sick: Stomach virus, so he was sick all day yesterday out of school yesterday and today. He has finally eaten, within the last hour:) First food since Sunday lunch. I was stressing over missing school and now he's missed more. I spoke with his principal and she was great. Now I'm just praying really hard that the rest of us do not get this. I cleaned EVERYTHING in my house yesterday.
So that's where we are now, living one minute at a time...on a brighter note... the weather forecast looks pretty good, I only see rain once for our trip and sounds like a quick event. And I have suitcases down and am packing.:yay:
Any pixie dust you can send us is very welcomed.:love: