November 16-21, 2009 - TONS of pics of Christmas activities! - COMPLETED [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

themilesfamily

11-29-2009, 10:02 PM

QUICK GUIDE TO PHOTOS IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SPECIFIC (But I hope you'll read the whole report!)

:ewok: Animal Kingdom Villas - Savanna room & view from room: Post #2 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34509011&postcount=2)

:fish: Dinner at Coral Reef in Epcot: Post #3 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34509258&postcount=3)

:tink:Pixie Hollow: Post #10 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34519928&postcount=10)

:santa: Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party : Post #15 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34520898&postcount=15) and #16 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34521053&postcount=16)

:cold: ICE (at the Gaylord Palms): Post #21 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34538685&postcount=21) and #22 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=34540694&postcount=22)

pirate: Downtown Disney: Post #25 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35371276&postcount=25) and #26 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35385234&postcount=26)

:snail: Animal Kingdom Park: Post #28 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35385893&postcount=28)

pixiedust: Osborne Festival of Lights at Disney's Hollywood Studios: Post #29 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35385966&postcount=29)

It has always been a dream of mine to take my DD, age 5, on a mother/daughter trip. I picked the week before Thanksgiving because, according to the UG, there would be low crowds -- 4's and 6's -- and we'd get to see some of the Christmas decorations.

We stayed in a studio at Animal Kingdom Villas, Savanna View for 3 nights, Standard View for 2 nights.

Here is a pic of my sweet DD. :love::

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themilesfamily

11-29-2009, 10:55 PM

We had beautiful flying weather and a nonstop flight. Easy peasy.

We hopped off the plane and headed down to the Magical Express counter. There was NO ONE in line. I mean NO ONE. They didn't even make us go up to the desk. They just checked our vouchers and pointed the way to our bus.

People must not travel on Mondays. Anyway, it was a good omen for things to come.

Our Magical Express coach:

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We stopped at Pop Century, Coronado Springs and then Animal Kingdom Lodge. It took us about 45 minutes.

We checked in and LOVED our room. We were in a studio villa, Room 5413, right next to the Royal Kuba Suite. We were on the Zebra Trail overlooking the Arusha Savanna - GREAT animal viewing the whole time we were there. Morning, noon and night it was animals, animals, animals! LOVED it.

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The view - GREAT!:

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themilesfamily

11-29-2009, 11:40 PM

We went straight to the parks. I wanted to go to DHS and see Osborne Festival of Lights. DD wanted to go to Epcot -- her favorite park.

We decided whichever bus came first, that's where we'd go.

Waiting at the AKL bus stop...

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And we have a winner....

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Epcot was actually an excellent choice. That night there was Spectromagic and an evening EMH at MK, two showings of Fantasmic at DHS, and a morning EMH at AK. That left exactly NO ONE at Epcot. It was deader than a doornail and we loved it. Can you say 3 min. standby at Soarin'?

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We rode numerous rides and decided we were famished. I made no ADR's for this trip, (very unlike me!) So we waltzed over to Coral Reef at the Seas with Nemo and Friends Pavilion. They said they could seat us immediately -- with no reservations. Don't try this at home folks -- this is not a typical result.

Not only were we seated immediately, but we got a two-person table right next to the aquarium!!! It was awesome.

Here's my view when I turn to the left - the interior of the restaurant:

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And when I turn to the right, hello marine life:

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That's a shark, a turtle and a grouper!

We ordered our meals and I had a yummy drink to start things off. I am NOT a drinker AT ALL, but thought I'd give one of their specialty drinks a try.

From the menu...

Magical Star Cocktail:
Light up your celebration with X-Fusion Organic Mango and Passion Fruit Liqueur, Parrot Bay Coconut Rum, Pineapple Juice, and a souvenir Multicolored Glow Cube 10.25

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For some reason this is the one thing about our trip that my DD tells everyone. "My mom had a drink that changed colors, but I couldn't have a sip because it had ALCOHOL in it!" :eek: :)

DD got a soda with a souvenir Tinkerbell that glowed. Fun!

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For dinner I had: Seared Chicken Breast - served over spaetzle finished with Applewood smoked bacon. So good!!!! DD had pizza, apple slices and carrots.

For dessert we had The Chocolate Wave! So good!!!!:

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After that fabulous dinner, we took a few photos in the Seas pavilion.

DD is funny!

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Here is the Epcot Christmas tree, by the way:

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I don't remember where these are taken -- what has purple seats with metallic arm handles? Maybe Soarin'??

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Oh, one funny story about Soarin'. There was only a 3 minute wait, so I thought we'd try it out. Two problems: I am deathly afraid of heights. My DD is deathly afraid of fireworks. And I forgot there is a loud, over-the-top fireworks scene at the end of Soarin'. Ooooops.

When the ride stopped, my DD turned to me and said, "What kind of a mother are you?" We both had a big laugh and promised we wouldn't ride Soarin' again. :)

Well, I know where this one is taken!:

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Coming next: Day 2....Magic Kingdom and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party! :santa:

praisehisname

11-30-2009, 05:17 AM

Great start!

tiggerfan6

11-30-2009, 05:47 AM

Great 1st day. looking forward to reading more!

disney<333

11-30-2009, 06:14 AM

Im here, be back to catch up later. Have to go get ready for the day

themilesfamily

11-30-2009, 04:11 PM

Hey everyone, thanks for joining in!

We woke up Tuesday morning to find a whole herd of zebra outside our window. There were about 5 or 6.

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Today was our MK day. For breakfast we splurged on room service. DD had french toast, I had a Belgian waffle -- and we were off.

We immediately came upon the Mayor of the Magic Kingdom! I think he is so dapper. My daughter is learning about government in homeschool -- we JUST learned about what a mayor is, what a governor is, and what a president is -- so meeting the Mayor of the MK was very timely.

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Here is Cinderella's castle. Notice there are NO crowds! It was a great day to be at the MK.

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We went straight to Fantasyland, as we always do. First stop, Dumbo.:

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Some views from the air:

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We also did Snow White -- here are some pics as you head into the ride:

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And Dumbo waving goodbye:

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We met Peter Pan outside of Peter Pan's Flight.

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And Donald Duck by the Winnie the Pooh playground:

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We went on the teacups:

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And then onto Toon Town for my DD's first rollercoaster ride -- Goofy's Barnstormer. Here are a few pics of what we saw in line. My DD is now a HUGE rollercoaster fan. We rode this over and over. A CM gave her a little card as a memento of her first rollercoaster ride.:

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Next we went to Minnie's House -- so cute!:

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Pixie Hollow pics in the next post...

NeverBeen2DW

11-30-2009, 05:06 PM

themilesfamily

11-30-2009, 08:08 PM

Great pictures! What kind of camera are you using? I learned something new! I did not know MK had a Mayor! We have never seen him! Also how did you like the ICE? How did you get there? We are *thinking* about going there but being from cold Chicago not sure I want to go.

Thanks so much! I use a Kodak EasyShare C-813. I like it because it's easy to use -- easy to transfer photos. I've always been happy with my photos. :)

I hope you see the Mayor on your next visit! He's very personable. :)

We did love ICE. And we're from a cold climate, as well. I just found it to be very unique. I've never seen anything quite like it. My DD loved the ice slide. I tried it and apparently I'm not very aerodynamic -- I put-putted down the slide. But DD just flew down like crazy. I have several pics and will post them on Day 3.

We took a cab over to the Gaylord Palms -- it was around $15 to get there and $20 to get back, (they have fancy towncars at the Gaylord Palms that cost a bit more than your average taxi.) I'm glad we went, though!

themilesfamily

11-30-2009, 09:03 PM

While we were in Toontown, we decided to stop and see the fairies. This was our first visit to Pixie Hollow. We had about a 25 minute wait. A CM at the gift shop told us that waits are typically more like 45 minutes. Again, it was a very low-crowd day.

Here is the entrance to Pixie Hollow. It's around the corner and to the left.

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These are pics of the queue area. They told us we would shrink to be 5" tall so we could be the same height as the fairies.

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And the fairies themselves:

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The theming in Pixie Hollow is really beautiful and worth a visit.

After that we did a little shopping in the Toontown Hall of Fame gift shop. DD tried out some Mrs. Potato Head construction and then we headed back into the park.

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We walked over to the Hall of Presidents where we met the Town Crier.

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He was informing the "town" about the newly reopened Hall of Presidents. We went in to see the show and LOVED it. I really think this is a must-see experience at Disney.

DD and I talk a lot about the different U.S. Presidents in homeschool. It was INCREDIBLE for her to see each president in "real life." To see them nod when their name was called and to hear them speak. She was really wowed by this.

The lady introducing the show reminded DD of Betsy Ross, so we had to get a photo with her, as well.

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That was it for the rides that day. We headed back to the hotel to purchase our Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party tickets for that evening. There was still availability.

I have to mention one other thing. There are cartoons that run on Disney resort televison called "Disney Sing Along Songs." They are classic Disney cartoons and snippets of Disney movies. My DD adores these and was very disappointed to find they weren't running in the Animal Kingdom Lodge rooms. (They only run in some resorts -- not all.) But they were running them on the TV in the lobby. So, while I purchased MVMCP tickets, she watched cartoons.

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If anyone else's kids love these, they sell the VHS videos on Amazon. The clips on the Disney resort tv's are from "Disney Sing Along Songs: Heigh Ho" and "Disney Sing Along Songs: Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah." We got both for DD for Christmas and she is going to be thrilled! They have others in the series, in DVD format, but these first two installments are the ones they'll recognize from the Disney resorts.

Coming next...MVMCP!

MaryAz

11-30-2009, 09:13 PM

Yay, a momther/daughter trip. I am planning on taking one with my DD next spring. Looks like you guys are having lots of fun!

themilesfamily

11-30-2009, 09:32 PM

Yay, a momther/daughter trip. I am planning on taking one with my DD next spring. Looks like you guys are having lots of fun!

Good for you! They're young for such a short time. And the wonderful memories of a Disney trip last forever. :)

DD and I had SO much fun. Can't wait to share more... :)

amyren

11-30-2009, 09:44 PM

I enjoyed looking at your pics! It looks like you and DD had a wonderful time!

themilesfamily

11-30-2009, 09:52 PM

I enjoyed looking at your pics! It looks like you and DD had a wonderful time!

Thank you! We packed A LOT into 6 days/5 nights. Whew, I was beat. But we had the best time. :thumbsup2

themilesfamily

11-30-2009, 10:47 PM

We got back to the Magic Kingdom in time to get our MVMCP bracelets and get a seat for the Castle lighting ceremony. (The castle lighting was at 6:30 p.m.) We sat about 10 rows back from the stage. The one good thing about being in front of the castle is you can see the stage show and the Fairy Godmother perfectly. But, I have to say, it is VERY LOUD. The speakers were right in front of us.

When we did the Castle lighting later in the week, we chose to sit over by the Sleepy Hollow refreshment stand, (in Liberty Square.) It was a beautiful view and not so ear-piercingly loud.

My camera batteries died just as they were lighting the castle -- go figure! -- but here are some pics of the stage show and some iced-castle views from a following night.

Before the icing:

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The stage show: Cinderella and Prince Charming come out on stage to join Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. The Fairy Godmother appears in the castle under the clock.

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And the castle is lit!:

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On to the Christmas party!

Main Street was decorated -- and snowing:

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We began our evening by riding several rides in Fantasyland. We then rode Goofy's Barnstormer and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad over and over until I practically cried out for chiropractic intervention.

We took a break for hot cocoa and cookies at Columbia Harbor House. (They offered hot cocoa and cookies at numerous locations throughout the park.) Then we stopped back at Toontown, during the fireworks, to meet the Princesses and their Princes. This is a good time to go -- no lines because everyone is watching the fireworks!

Just a note that part of the MVMCP fireworks show, including the finale, is shot off from behind the Toontown Hall of Fame Tent. It's loud, but not too bad when you're in the tent. It sounds like someone is dropping large rocks on the roof.

Notice the Christmas holly in the princesses' hair.:

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At that point, we headed back to Main Street to get a spot for the second parade. (They do two identical parades at each party.) We sat at the very end of the parade route -- at the circle, right in front of the main entrance. (The parade comes down Main Street and around the circle to the left.) It was a great view!

I had never seen a Disney parade before. I thought I wasn't a parade-person. Well, not only am I a parade person. I'm a parade person who yells, "Oh my gosh, here comes (insert character name here)!!!!" every time a float comes down the street. About 5 minutes into the parade I realized I was making a fool of myself and stopped yelling. :lmao:

Pics, pics and more pics:

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More in the next post...

themilesfamily

11-30-2009, 11:15 PM

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Santa in his sleigh was the finale:

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After the parade, we said goodbye to Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore in Candy Cane Garden.

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And we called it a night. A wonderful night!! :santa:

ramsfootball92

12-01-2009, 01:57 PM

themilesfamily

12-01-2009, 05:36 PM

I am inspired by reading these various mother/daughter trip reports today to plan one of my own. The week prior to Thanksgiving seems perfect. I thought that they actually put the Christmas decorations up after Thanksgiving. Doh!

That's awesome. :)

Here's what was up and wasn't up the week before Thanksgiving:

UP:
MK was decorated
MVMCP was going on
They had the big themed Christmas trees up in all of the parks
Osborne Festival of Lights was going on
The Gingerbread Cottage was up at the Grand Floridian

NOT UP:
AKL Resort Christmas decs were not up (Not sure about other resorts)
Epcot was not doing Christmas around the World yet in all of the pavilions

There was still enough Christmasy stuff -- especially ICE and MVMCP -- to make it feel really festive.

praisehisname

12-02-2009, 07:09 AM

I loved looking at your MVMCP photos. We are going to the 12/13 party and I can hardly wait!!!

themilesfamily

12-02-2009, 01:44 PM

I loved looking at your MVMCP photos. We are going to the 12/13 party and I can hardly wait!!!

Thank you! We really loved MVMCP. It was the first hard-ticket party we'd ever been to and we were really impressed. We LOVED the snow on Main Street, the parade was incredible, and there were no lines for the rides or for the hot cocoa & cookies. Everything was a walk-on. My DD is scared of fireworks, so that was something we didn't experience -- but I've heard they're spectacular.

I hope you have a wonderful time. :)

themilesfamily

12-02-2009, 01:45 PM

Seeing as we closed MVMCP down the night before -- we stayed until nearly midnight -- we slept in the next morning. I think it's really important to have a break in your touring schedule and this was a nice break for us.

Eventually we got up, got dressed and went to down to Mara for lunch. Mara is the quick-service restaurant at AKL Jambo House.

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This is where they serve Zebra Domes by the six-pack-- a tasty dessert. DD loved them!

We grabbed a cab, (about $15), over to the Gaylord Palms Hotel to do ICE. We brought our own hats, gloves, scarves. ICE provides the parkas. We were warm and cozy the whole time we did the attraction, despite the fact they keep it at 9-degrees.

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The ice slide area:

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More in the next post...

themilesfamily

12-02-2009, 04:16 PM

More ICE/Gaylord Palms pics:

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After the tour, (which took us about 20-30 minutes), you could purchase a commemorative photo of yourself in your parka. (Which we did.) They also had a cute gift shop.

When you come out of the ICE area, there is a really fun winter-themed electric train set:

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Out in the lobby:

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In the hotel atrium, (which is beautiful), they had hot cocoa, a musical Christmas program and a gnome hunt.

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This display case is inside a revolving door:

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Gaylord Palms is a very beautiful hotel. I noticed they have a cool swimming pool, as well. It has a giant octopus in the middle with waterfalls and a slide. Fun!

After our visit to ICE, we headed back to our hotel to plan the remainder of our day. It was about $20 to get back. They have fancy towncars at the Gaylord Palms, instead of taxis. They charge a bit more, but they are very sharp and comfy.

praisehisname

12-02-2009, 07:35 PM

The ICE exhibit looks amazing!!! If we had a few more days on our trip, I'd want to go check it out!

themilesfamily

12-04-2009, 03:58 PM

Coming next....Downtown Disney photos...

themilesfamily

02-09-2010, 11:41 PM

After we returned from ICE and the Gaylord Palms we decided to bus it over to Downtown Disney and do some shopping.

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themilesfamily

02-10-2010, 10:01 PM

Downtown Disney continued...

The balloon ride:
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This is where you meet Santa. We chatted with Santa's cameraman.:
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themilesfamily

02-10-2010, 10:49 PM

After our shopping excursion at Downtown Disney, we took our plunder back to our room and headed off to Spectromagic at the Magic Kingdom.

We went over to Sleepy Hollow Refreshments in Liberty Square where we got a yummy-yummy funnel cake. (YUMMY!) We watched the castle lighting again from that location. Then we moved over a few yards for a front-row seat to the Spectromagic parade.

While we waited for the parade to start, they brought out hula hoops to keep the kids entertained. My DD is a hula-hoop expert.

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I didn't take any pics of Spectromagic. It was my first time seeing it and I just wanted to take it all in. AMAZING!!!! AMAZING!!!! I loved it.

After Spectro, I snapped some pics on our way out.

The castle in many colors:

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A few installations from the "Mickey's Christmas Carol" exhibit on Main Street:

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And a few posters of our favorite rides:

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Tonight was the last night in our Savanna view room. So we went home and got everything packed up for our move the next day to a Standard view room.

themilesfamily

02-10-2010, 11:48 PM

First thing in the morning, we checked out of our Savanna room, left our luggage with the bellhops, and headed over to the Animal Kingdom park.

This is where things got a little sticky. We had a lot of problems with our split-stay/room change on this trip. Starting here.

When we checked out of our room, they accidentally voided the remainder of the days on our park pass/room key. (Even though I asked the front desk person to make sure that didn't happen.) So when we got to the Animal Kingdom, our park pass showed that we had zero days left on our pass. We had to go over to Guest Services where they called the hotel to confirm we were just switching rooms. They straightened everything out AND gave us a FASTPASS and a certificate for a free ice cream. Hooray!

We had breakfast at Pizzafari.

Looks like French toast sticks:
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I like the little snails and turtles crawling on the ceiling.
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After breakfast we headed out into the park:

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We did the Festival of the Lion King:

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Then had our pic taken with Chip & Dale, holiday-style:
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We used our Fastpass on Expedition Everest. Fun, but no Yeti. (Only the Yeti shadow.)

We had our ice cream. And that's it. We left. I ALWAYS make the mistake of doing the Animal Kingdom late in our trip. There are so many trails I want to walk, so many things I want to explore. But I'm just pooped out by the time we hit AK. On our next trip, I vow to make Animal Kingdom my first park and do it up right.

On the way out, we stopped to look at the AK Christmas tree which was really neat. Here are a few of the cute things around the bottom of the tree.

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We went home to check into our new room, eat lunch and go for a swim. Trying to get into our new room was a MAJOR hassle. I don't want to dwell on the negative, but repeatedly the front desk assured us that our new room was ready and we'd haul all of our luggage upstairs to find the room they had assigned us wasn't ready, or was torn apart, or had the maid service cart in the room with the radio blaring. I was fine waiting for a room, (I hadn't anticipated checking in until 4 p.m. anyway), but I didn't appreciate being sent to numerous rooms with a five year old and all of our luggage, only to have to run right back down again to report the room was in fact NOT ready. The front desk person seemed very frustrated and implied that there was miscommunication between the front desk and housekeeping.

One thing I have to say about our new Standard room, which overlooked the pool -- it STUNK. It smelled really bad. Kind of like a musty, mildewy, chlorine-like smell. And after a Savanna room, the Standard room was a bit of a letdown. I know there are differing opinions on this, but I'm going to settle in the camp of "spend a little extra money and stay in a Savanna room -- it's worth it."

In any event, we had lunch down at Mara and once we finally got settled into a room, we went for a swim. I LOVE the Animal Kingdom Lodge swimming pool. The setup down there is perfect for families with little kids. You can see every part of the pool -- there is no way for your child to slip out of your eyesight. The slide into the pool is great. Just tame enough for a younger kid -- but exciting enough for an adult. The theming is beautiful -- the jungle look around the pool is very lush. There is plenty of seating. We also enjoyed the hot tub.

So a big :thumbsup2 for the Animal Kingdom Lodge swimming area.

Tonight would be our Disney Hollywood Studios night -- Osborne Festival of Lights and Fantasmic. We took a nap and prepared to head back out into the parks!

themilesfamily

02-11-2010, 12:14 AM

We got to Disney's Hollywood Studios and headed straight to the Osborne Festival of Lights.:

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It was spectacular -- not to be missed.

After Osborne, we did the Great Movie Ride. Then we headed over to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. We waited in line and ended up taking the chicken exit, as DD was scared. I can't blame her. When you chicken out, they take you on a separate elevator to get you out of the ride. As we were boarding, DD looked a little frightened and said, "Is this a REGULAR elevator?" :)

The cast member who walked us out looked exactly like someone I saw in a movie recently -- Shanna Collins from the Haunting of Molly Hartley. The resemblance was really uncanny.

At that point we headed over to the second showing of Fantasmic. We got great seats toward the back of the Mickey section. (Mickey is right in the middle.) As we walked in, I heard a lot of people yelling, "Get seats in the Scar section!" So that must be a popular place to sit.

This was my first time at Fantasmic and it is LOUD. I brought soundproof (or sound-canceling) headphones for DD to wear and I'm glad I did. She's only 5 and I really want to protect her hearing. I HIGHLY recommend these headphones for young kids at Disney. From rides to fireworks to shows -- things tend to be loud.

We both enjoyed the show.

I snapped a few photos around DHS before we left for the night.

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themilesfamily

02-11-2010, 12:53 PM

Coming up -- Epcot Center and Chefs de France, (with pics of the Ratatouille characters at the restaurant.) :thumbsup2

DisneyDaddio

02-11-2010, 01:14 PM

What a great report. Thanks for also including the ICE photos, looks very cool (no pun untended... OK, maybe a little).

themilesfamily

02-11-2010, 01:23 PM

Thank you so much!

I had never heard of ICE until this year -- I came across a blurb about it on the DIS. It was definitely worth visiting and we'll do it again!

themilesfamily

02-17-2010, 12:15 AM

Today was an Epcot day and our last day at the parks.

We got there bright and early, went straight to Test Track and rode that over and over.

I really like the display cars they have on show.

I wish cars still looked like this:
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We went over to the Land pavilion and had a snack in their food court.

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We rode The Land ride. This ride is so serene. It just makes me happy.:

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Baby alligators (or are they crocodiles?):

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After the ride, we picked up a Kim Possible Kimmunicator at Innoventions to do the Kim Possible game in the World Showcase. I just have to say, my DD LOVED IT. We did the adventures in Norway and Mexico.

Here's DD in Mexico with her Kimmunicator:

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I wish we'd had time to do more adventures.

We headed over to Chefs de France -- I'd made reservations for lunch the night before.

We ran into Belle in her blue dress...:

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Marie from the Aristocats...:

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and Princess Aurora...:

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At Chefs de France, we met Remy:

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Here's our wonderful waiter Stephane:

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After lunch we headed back to the MK for one last Magic Kingdom hurrah...

Final pics in the next installment.

themilesfamily

02-23-2010, 04:10 PM

Tonight was our last night and DD wanted to go back to the Magic Kingdom.

Here are a few more pics of the MK.

I love this one of the Liberty Belle coming around the bend.:

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Gravestone at the Haunted Mansion:

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Mickey's garden in Toontown:

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Mickey's garage:

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Toontown playground:

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I took several (non-flash) pics on It's a Small World.

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After we did the MK, we went back to the hotel and went to bed.

The next morning we had a VERY early morning wake-up call and a 6 a.m. flight.

We took Magical Express back to the airport.

These are at the Orlando Airport:

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http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2793/4145270309_3bb80db567_b.jpg

We had a quick, nonstop flight home and that was it.

We had a wonderful Mother/Daughter trip!!!

Thanks everyone for reading!

themilesfamily

02-23-2010, 04:55 PM

FAVORITES:

DD's favs - age 5
1) Kim Possible Adventures - Epcot World Showcase
2) Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - Magic Kingdom
3) Goofy's Barnstormer - Magic Kingdom
4) Having her pic taken in Spaceship Earth
5) Getting a HUGE hug from Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore at MVMCP

My favs - age 41
1) Animal viewing from the hotel room - Animal Kingdom Lodge
2) Spectromagic - Magic Kingdom
3) Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party - Magic Kingdom
4) The pool/hot tub setup at Animal Kingdom Lodge -- perfect for adults with kids
5) Our aquarium-side table at Coral Reef in Epcot

Things I did for the first time this trip -- there were a lot of firsts:
1) Spectromagic
2) A hard-ticket party (MVMCP)
3) Fantasmic
4) Stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge
5) ICE at the Gaylord Palms
6) Festival of the Lion King
7) Saw the castle lighting
8) Osborne Festival of Lights
9) Chefs de France
10) Coral Reef

Goals for my next trip:
1) Do Animal Kingdom first and really explore the park and all its trails.
2) Stay at Bay Lake Towers.
3) Do Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party.
4) Try out Universal Studios