"Bow to the all-powerful Birthday Button!"-Dec 12-20 TR (4/9 - FINAL POST MADE!)

[skier_pete]

OK, so much of this first post is reprinted from my Pre-Trip...but I wanted to get overview out of the way. This is me…skierpete. I am an avowed Disneyholic and planning junkie.

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My history with the mouse goes back to the first days of WDW….quite honestly my very earliest memory. My grandmother took me to Florida in 1972 to visit this place called “Disney World”. No-one called it Magic Kingdom back then. I was 2 and a ½ years old. I have very few concrete memories but this is what I am sure I remember (1) I could see the castle from the hotel pool area. (it was definitely not on site though), (2) I had a balloon that floated above my bed at night, (3) it was so hot that the pavement (tar) in the parking lot was partially melting and your shoes would stick to it when you walked, and (4) my grandmother did laundry at the hotel and turned all of my underwear pink. I don’t remember any specifics of any rides, or anything inside the park at all. But I guess I was hooked.

I went several more times as a child, and the not again until 1997. My girlfriend, now DW, had never been, and we just had to go. We went in '97 (for the castle-cake abomination) and 2000. We probably would have been ready to go back in 2003, but that was the year that DD was born. We are not ones to want to drag around an infant for a week at the world…I know many do and god bless you, but it’s not for me…so we waited…and waited. We considered going in 2005 – but after a trip to the local amusement park decided DD was just not ready. Finally, we could wait no longer, in 2006 we decided to go for it. We offered to bring DMIL along to help with child-duties, allowing us to have a few nights to ourselves, especially to return to our favorite spot – the Adventurer’s Club (Kungaloosh!)

During that trip, we sewed the seeds for this trip. DMIL wanted to come back, I suggested we return in 2009 for my 40th birthday. Who knew that WDW would throw a party just for me! We went twice in-between, but this trip was going to be extra special, with the Christmas lights and all.

So, here's the plan:
Dates: December 12-20, 2006.
Location: Pop Century - Preferred Room
Meals: Free DDP (third trip in a row it's been free)
Targets: All 4 parks as well as much Christmas as we can stomach.

The Cast of Characters:

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Me, SkierPete, 39: You already know a bit about me. I will say I am a planning nut. I have a 20 page spreadsheet with costs, park hours, ADRs, day plans, the whole shebang. I’m an engineer and do planning as part of my job, one of my favorite parts perhaps. I also love to ski (hence the name) and travel in general, as well as spend time with DW and DD whenever I can. Originally from Western Massachusetts, but have lived North of Buffalo, NY for 15+ years.

DW, age to remain secret, though she already celebrated her big 4-0. Originally from Rochester, NY. We met through a mutual friend 14 years ago (damn!). She is a good match to me in most things, and a perfect match in Disney trips.

DD now 6, the apple of my eye. I always wanted to have more than one child being an only child myself, but DW and I were blessed to have just this one. She is a good child, though she can be very stubborn and emotional. While she loves Disney in many ways, she is not much for trying new things while there. It all stems from Winnie-The-Pooh ride, her first when we went in 2006. Pooh’s nightmare scared the heck out of her, and since then she resists riding ANY new indoor ride. She STILL won’t ride PotC (“They have bad teeth” is her reason.) However, she LOVES Disney World, likes the characters though typically not real keen on waiting in lines to see them. She is definitely NOT a princess. (Quote of last trip “I am not a princess, I’m a girl!”) So, no BBB for her. She likes most of the shows, but not the nighttime ones. We got her to sit through Fantasmic last trip, she does NOT want to do that again. I have convinced her to give Test Track a try, as I believe she will love it.

DMIL, 63: (Not pictured) A wonderful lady who raised DW and DBIL on her own. Like most Mother’s, she can be a bit opinionated and want to do things her way. This will lead to some battles over the course of the trip...battles that cannot be won by yours truly. I took her to WDW last time because I thought she deserved a fun trip, plus she could watch DD at night, allowing us to go out. She loved it and wanted to go back. While we are not paying her way completely this time, we were able to get free park passes for her from a friend. We are paying for the hotel room and she is just paying the $15 adder per night, and then with the free dining, it will cost her barely $400 including the flight down. She does not have a lot of money, but I am suffering from temporary layoffs at work, so I can’t pay her way completely this time. She does not seem to mind at all.

First up next post - The Princess and the Frog!

[If U Had Wings]

Glad your back Pete! Hope your family had a wonderful time! Can't wait to hear all about it.

[stich626]

I'm all in!

[luckylady]

I'm in. Took MIL down one time and that was enough. Bless your heart for 2 times.

[skier_pete]

We were packed and ready to go on Friday as planned, so as a special treat we went (all 4 of us) to see the Princess and the Frog. The movie was a hit with the whole family. DD was a little scared by the parts with the Shadowman and the creatures from the other side...but really that part was toned down pretty well. Overall, it was pretty good. Not quite "The Little Mermaid", "Alladin" or "Beauty and the Beast" but a solid effort with good songs and an entertaining story. I would give it an 8 out of 10. It sucessfully put us in a Disney mood though.

[skier_pete]

We had a pretty early flight. Though our flight left at 7:15 AM, the nice thing about living in Buffalo is that the airport is small enough that we can leave the house at 6 AM and still make our flight. We cut it a bit closer than I would have liked, since as we were approaching the gate, the plane was already boarding (!!!!) so I had to run and get some breakfast at the shop in the airport. The flight was extremely uneventful, and we landed on time at 10 AM.

I'll skip the boring details of our travels, and just say we were on-site by 11:30 AM at POP century.

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DD playing with the blocks at the entrance.
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I had done on-line check-in, and so though there was a huge line for checking in, I skipped it and waited in the shorter line. We had paid for a preferred room. I had requested a room in the seventies, but they had put us in the fifties. In the end, this worked out fine.

In fact, I am going to give a quick review of the resort. We spent very little time at the resort, but what we saw we liked. The resort itself was very clean, and seemed surprisingly compact. DD and I went into the bowling pin pool a couple of times early in the trip before it turned colder, and found the pool to be very nice. The food court was often busy, but the choices were excellent. Our room was 1325, and was a mere 10 feet from the central elevator of building 1, about a 30 second walk from the bowling pin pool, a 2 minute walk from the food court, and about 4 minutes from the bus stops.

I was surprised at the size of the room in a good way...we had only stayed at POFQ before this, and I thought the smaller room size would be noticable with four people in it, but it was not enough of a difference. The biggest thing was the single sink, but we survived it OK. Because of all the Christmas stuff around, we knew we weren't going to spend a lot of time at the resort. Overall, we really liked it there, and would definitely go back again! (In fact, we will likely be back in April! Here's a few more pictures!

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Our room was ready so we dropped off our bags, and headed down for lunch. I didn't pay that close attention what everyone had, I had the Reuben Flatbread which was really good. Edit: DW had the Asian Chicken Salad, and DMIL had the Ciabatta Turkey Sandwhich. All were very tasty. DD had the pizza, which I didn't think much of, but since she ordered pizza about 12 times on the trip, it seems that she liked it. (Sorry, no pictures...I mostly focused my camera on the TS food.)

After eating, DD wanted to go for a swim. (It was a pretty warm day, probably high seventies.) So her and I got our suits and took a quick dip. It was a little cool in the water. It was funny that the only other people in the water were all northerners! (No surprise, though!)

Anyways, we swam for a bit, and by the time we got back to our room, the bags were there! It was about 1:30 PM, and it was time to head off to Epcot!

Next up...SSE, Nemo and Test Track, and our first good Karma of the trip!

[skier_pete]

All right, so it's now early afternoon, and we are ready to hit the parks...our first stop....EPCOT

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And our first ride:
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Where we got to say - "HELLO TO THE FUTURE!"

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Why is it these picture always end up with a point sticking out of my head. Is it the hat?

So..while the rest of the family enjoyed the games in SSE, I ran over to Test Track to get a FP, and then to Guest Services to upgrade our 1-day tickets to APs. We had decided to buy APs, because if you are taking two trips in one years time, and you will be hopping in either trip, the APs are a cheaper option. But really, they were better than that. They had a deal where it was 20 % off ALL merchanidise, at ALL WDW stores, so we basically got 20 % off all of our purchases the whole trip. We might have spent slightly more than planned, but a lot were purchases we would have made anyways, and the savings was probably over $200, so that's a major bonus.

Next up was The Seas...DD loves animals and marine animals especially, so we always head here very early in any trip, and this was no exception.

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We spent about an hour and a half at the seas, when our ADR was up at Coral Reef. We ate there last year, and enjoyed the meal very much. However, at the time I had asked for a seat "close to the tank" but after waiting about 45 minutes, changed to "seat us anywhere"...and we were stuck in the very back corner. This trip, said, "I don't need to be right on the tank...but just NOT in the back row" Well...wouldn't you know it...they put us.....

To Be Continued.

[luckylady]

Congrats on the Aps youu'll love having them. Eating at Coral Reef wonderful, sitting in the back tho stinks.

[skier_pete]

...so we had asked to NOT sit in the back row...and what did they do.

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They gave a us Table right on the glass! And I wasn't even wearing my all-powerful Birthday Button! It was really cool being right on the glass. About half-way through dinner, a group of divers swam through the tank. And then, just one window over, one diver PROPOSED to the another, with the help of the family in the restaurant. This was kinda cool, though I wonder what woman wants to accept a proposal by giving a "thumbs up" sign!

Anyways, on to the food porn:
I ordered the Mahi-Mahi with couscous, which was as delicious as I remembered

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DW had the grouper special with risotto, which she said was very good, but complained at the small portion of side. (Which I can't argue with!)
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DMIL had the Sterling Salmon served with Wild rice medley
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DD had Pizza ( Not pictured)
For desert, DW and DMIL had creme brulee
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And I had a Chocolate Wave, which was just plain yummy!
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DD made her own Sundae.
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Overall, I'd give the meal an 8 out of 10, great atmosphere, though always very noisy. The food was very good, but just short of excellent.

To wrap up the day, we headed over to Test Track. DD had never been on it, and several trips ago through a fit refusing to ride it. This time she was eager, and afterwards claimed "That was awesome!". DMIL on the other hand claimed she was terrified the whole time. (We didn't bother trying to get her on any other thrill rides the rest of the trip.)

Then, it was back to the hotel to get some sleep, because tomorrow would be another long day.

Up Next - AK and the power of the birthday button!

[Beana9802]

Hello from a fellow NYer! :) I'm excited for more...it would have been my birthday trip too...mine's 12/17...(although...I turned the dreaded 30 this year...) alas, no disney trip for me...even though I asked for a trip for my birthday...Damn being a teacher and not able to travel during the school year! :lmao:

[wannago2disney]

sounds like a great start to your trip. Can't wait to read more:thumbsup2:thumbsup2

[If U Had Wings]

It sounds like it was a wonderful first day. I'm so happy that you got a great seat at the Coral Reef. One of these days I'll make it there. The food looks really good.

[skier_pete]

Hello from a fellow NYer! :) I'm excited for more...it would have been my birthday trip too...mine's 12/17...(although...I turned the dreaded 30 this year...) alas, no disney trip for me...even though I asked for a trip for my birthday...Damn being a teacher and not able to travel during the school year! :lmao:

Welcome, downstater! Yes, I will admit it was a pleasure to celebrate at Disney...it makes it easy to defy any milestone age!

sounds like a great start to your trip. Can't wait to read more:thumbsup2:thumbsup2

Oh, I'm afraid I am going out of town for a few days, so the updates will be stopping for a bit...but I promise when I get back...I took about 500 pictures...so there's lots to show. (And gave DD the camera a few times, so there's some odd ones in there too!)

It sounds like it was a wonderful first day. I'm so happy that you got a great seat at the Coral Reef. One of these days I'll make it there. The food looks really good.

I've been to Coral Reef now three times in my life (once back in 2000), and each time the meal was quite good. (Though in 2000 DW wrote in our journal -which I just looked up - about the generous portions - I guess that's changed.) It seems to get trashed a lot here, but I think it's pretty good. The one negative is that if you looked at the restaurant empty, with the big fish tanks and dark decor, you would consider it to be a quiet restaurant with maybe a romantic ambience...when actually it - like most Disney restaurants - is full of screaming kids. But I would definitely recommend giving it a try!

Happy new Year Everyone - see you in a few days!

[wannago2disney]

We'll look forward to your return and all the photos! Have a safe trip!

[khertz]

I just found your TR! Loving it so far. :thumbsup2

[Nancy for Disney]

Trying to get motivated to do my own tr by reading others. I was at POP/Epcot on Dec 12 too. We left the 13th. Can't wait to read how your trip went. :goodvibes

[Dizneydaz]

Great start! I'm in.

[jennJK]

Hi from a newbie! :)
I loved your PTR and can't wait to read more of your TR. pirate:
thanks!

[buzz for boys]

Hi from the UK!!
Love the tripie so far cant wait to hear morex :love:

[skier_pete]

Hey everyone. Happy New Year! I'm excited to see so many people joining us on our Birthday adventure!

In the morning I went down to the lobby and got my Birthday Button. I don't care what anyone says, I was determined to celebrate my birthday ALL WEEK, so I wore it every day starting today. We ate breakfast in our room and headed to our 2nd favorite park...Animal Kingdom.

I don't know what it is about AK...when we go there, we don't care at all about rides. (We spent 1.5 days there and only did 1 ride as a family, while I did Dinosaur and EE by myself.) AK is about exploring...and that's what we do when we go there!

It was a beautiful sunny day, in fact, it rapidly approached being HOT. By the afternoon parade we were pretty much roasting. It was probably 85 degrees out, and as I sit here looking out the window, I can't believe it was only 3 weeks ago today that we were there!

I love the design of this park. As you approach the entrance, all you see are trees...there is no hint (or very little hint) that you are about to enter a theme park. However, right now the park Christmas tree was the first thing you see dominating the entrance. the presents around the bottom were themed to Pooh and Friends, but the tree itself is something out of the Lion King stage musical.
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We headed for the safari first thing. We were pretty far up in the front during the opening show, and we got right in line for the safari. As we made our way through the queue, they only had one side of the loading area open, but as we approached, a CM looking like they were removing the rope from the other side. I asked..."Are you opening the other side?", she said "I can't tell you that." However, I held our party back, and she removed the rope...so we were first in line for that loading area. We STILL got on the back on the caravan. (We are always in the back.) There's nothing worse than riding in the back for 2 straight weeks!

The Safari was excellent as usual...we saw all the usual animals. DW managed to get a few decent pictures.

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My very favorite "Hidden Mickey" in WDW - Flamingo Island!
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A Great shot of Nala:
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After the Safari, we went through the Pangori Forest Trail. I always try and stop and talk to the CM throughout the exhibits. This is one thing that AK has over a zoo. There are people there that will tell you all you need to know about the animals. We had the first conflict with DD during this time. She wanted to see the Lion King show "NOW". Well, we told her that it doesn't start until 11 AM, so until it starts, we are doing other things. Well, she didn't want to hear any of that, so she spent the hour until the Lion King show pouting.

Slowly, we made our way over to Camp Minnie-Mickey. We had a about 30 minutes before the Lion King started, so we wanted to get pictures with the characters. The lines were LONG...and DD was still having a temper tantrum...so DW and I went and saw Mickey Mouse. (I haven't gotten the Photopass pictures yet, so no picture, sorry.) We also saw Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Chip and Dale, and Thumper and his GF were all out.

Actually, one of the very coolest Christmas things at Disney, to me, are the character trees here at camp Minnie-Mickey. Each tree is "themed" to a specific character.

For instance, Chip and Dales tree:
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Pluto's Tree:
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And see if you can figure out this one:
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Take a guess...I will post the answer in a few days!

We finally went into FotLK. An awesome show, as usual. But, where were the stilt walkers??? We couldn't believe they weren't in the show. It was definitely a little something missing. (I have a theory which I will share on Day 3, though.) Otherwise, it was a great show. They tried to pull DD into the show, but she continued to be stubborn and wouldn't join in.

Next up...LUNCH. And...when will the power of the birthday button kick in? (To be Continued!)

[buzz for boys]

Fab update !! Got me stumped on the xmas tree though !!!

[If U Had Wings]

I didn't know that they had trees for the various characters in Camp Minnie Mickey. Probably because we really only saw the Lion King show there. I took a pic of that last tree and have no idea who it is themed to. Timon maybe?

[TinkerbellsMom0923]

Hi
Enjoying hearing about you trip so far. We are off to celebrate my 20 and 17 yr olds birthdays in 2 weeks and 5 days so I am interested in the birthday pin. By the way, I love Pop century, we stayed there last January but are staying at CBR this year. It was a great deal on the price...:hippie:

[skier_pete]

I didn't know that they had trees for the various characters in Camp Minnie Mickey. Probably because we really only saw the Lion King show there. I took a pic of that last tree and have no idea who it is themed to. Timon maybe?

Good try, Timon DID have a tree, but this isn't it. (His was covered with bugs.) This was the Lion King himselfs tree, Simba! (Notice the paw print ornaments, and the "Simba" figure faces low on the tree.)

Hi
Enjoying hearing about you trip so far. We are off to celebrate my 20 and 17 yr olds birthdays in 2 weeks and 5 days so I am interested in the birthday pin. By the way, I love Pop century, we stayed there last January but are staying at CBR this year. It was a great deal on the price...:hippie:

Hmm, stay tuned for the full power of the Birthday Button!

[wannago2disney]

I love the trees. so beautiful. We haven't seen FOTL yet but it is on the plan while we are there this time! looking forward to reading more...instruct me in the power of the birthday button:worship:

[EMom]

I started to call you more than once while we were at WDW, but every time I'd realize, "He'll never be able to hear me with all the noise," and put it off until later. Later would come and I'd be too exhausted. Eleven days of fun can nearly kill you. :lmao: We finally tried the daring side of Mission Space and were glad we did. Watched the parade at AK from inside Yak & Yeti while having lunch and killed two birds with one stone. Braved MK on Sat. 12/19 and survived. Barely. DD managed to be the second kid to meet Tinkerbell in the morning and was thrilled. :banana:

All in all, it was great to visit for Christmas ONCE, but once was enough. The crowds were low and lovely until 12/19, but after that it was hideous. We are not made for crowds. I hope your birthday was a great one! Sorry we missed you!

[skier_pete]

I started to call you more than once while we were at WDW, but every time I'd realize, "He'll never be able to hear me with all the noise," and put it off until later. Later would come and I'd be too exhausted. Eleven days of fun can nearly kill you. :lmao: We finally tried the daring side of Mission Space and were glad we did. Watched the parade at AK from inside Yak & Yeti while having lunch and killed two birds with one stone. Braved MK on Sat. 12/19 and survived. Barely. DD managed to be the second kid to meet Tinkerbell in the morning and was thrilled. :banana:

All in all, it was great to visit for Christmas ONCE, but once was enough. The crowds were low and lovely until 12/19, but after that it was hideous. We are not made for crowds. I hope your birthday was a great one! Sorry we missed you!

Hey Emom! I thought of you a few times...you should have tried my phone, I often had it where I could here it...as we sometimes separated and used it to get back together.

Oh, well. I agree on the crowds (mostly) though they were higher than late-August / September, they were pretty bearable, until Saturday at MK...just nuts...we came in at 2 PM for the parade and castle show, and left.

Also, the problem with going at Christmas is it is so disruptive at home, Christmas is a busy enough time without taking a week of it away.

Anyways, update coming tonight!

[skier_pete]

So, I haven't talked too much about the Birthday Button yet...let me say this. I really enjoyed wearing it for most of the week. The pre-dominant event that occurs when you wear the Birthday Button is this....everyone wishes you Happy Birthday. And I mean EVERYONE. Probably about 20 % of the CM you see will wish you Happy Birthday, as well as many of the Patrons. You also start to realize that about 1 out of every 20 people at WDW appears to be celebrating their birthday....so you find the YOU start wishing THEM "Happy Birthday"...it's contagious.

Now, I can understand that not everyone would like this...you are basically getting lots of attention that you don't normally get. But I thought it was cool. And every time someone said it, I responded with a loud "THANK YOU!". I also wore a 40th Birthday pin that flashed red LED lights when you pressed it. If anyone mentioned my age, I would flash that button at them.

I also had my DIS LGMH next to the two Birthday Buttons, that got the LEAST response...but one place I did meet a family of DISers was at lunch...so lets continue our TR!

So, we wrapped up FotLK (probably the only show at WDW that I will never get tired of - a trip without it would feel incomplete) we headed BACK to Africa for lunch at Tusker House.

DW and I LOVE the Tusker House lunch buffet. We consider ourselves foodies, but not "gourmet" foodies, we love variety...from a greasy burger to Filet Mignon, from bratwurst and sauerkraut to Falafel and Couscous, we love it all...and that we were LOVE it here. There is a wide variety of foods from both India and Africa.

One of our favorite Indian foods - Samosas - are available at TH. Samosas are a fried dough filled with potato, curry, peas and other veggies and spices. When made right they are incredibly delicious. Imagine our disappointment when our waiter tells us they changed them and they are not as good. :confused: After trying them, I agreed, sort of, they were still pretty good, but were somewhat inconsistent. Some of them seemed to have mashed potatoes and no peas or veggies, while others were quite tasty. The spice level was rather low.

The other food was all very good, and we overate immensely here. (I didn’t take any pictures – what an idiot!) After we ate lunch, we headed over to Asia to see the Maharajah Jungle Trek, one of our favorite parts of AK. While we were passing by the Tigers, they had given them an “Enrichment Toy”…basically a big plastic ball. When they threw it into the cage, the Tigers pounced on it like kittens. One of the Tigers brought it down into the water and was rolling around with it, while the other two paced, waiting for their turn. We got some great video, and a few good pictures:
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Over a little further we had a long conversation with a CM about the elk/deer-like animals (Can’t remember their names) and their behavior patterns.

We skipped Kali River Rapids, even though it was warm enough to do it, but I did not want to be wet the rest of the day. DD had decided she wanted to do the kid stamp stations, so we got her stamp in Asia, and then did the one at Discovery Island. The one near DI is right behind the tree of life, and while she was looking at the bugs, DMIL and I enjoyed looking over the Tree of Life seeing how many animals we could spot. People talk about “taking the path behind the ToL” to see lots of animals…there were not many animals there, but you do get to really see the ToL close-up.

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http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3086.jpg
We then headed over to the Boneyard in Dinoland. DD loves the play areas, and while DW and DMIL watched her, I went off to ride Everest. I hadn’t bothered with a FP because I went in the single rider line. The wait in that line was probably all of 5 minutes. (There were about 15 people in front of me.) I got lucky and was put in the very back car. (For those of you not into roller coasters, while the front car is frequently sought out for its views, the best “ride” on a roller coaster is often in the last car. The physics of coasters makes it so the back car often provides a wilder ride than the rest of the coaster.)

Well, we wanted to catch the 3:45 PM parade, but it was only 2:30 PM when I got back, so I said, if no one minds I'll go ride Dinosaur. The wait said 20 minutes, and I was concerned that I wouldn't have time. I talked to the CM at the entrance and said "Is it really 20 minutes? I have to meet my family in about 20 minutes." This is where the ALL-POWERFUL BIRTHDAY BUTTON really kicked in. He said to me, "Since it's your birthday, here, take this." and he handed me a FastPass (actually it was a child swap return pass, but the same thing, really) which I then used to ride the ride. Yeah, Happy Birthday to me! Actually, I am not a huge fan of Dinosaur...for all the tech involved in it...it's basically a pitch black ride where an occasional Dinosaur that you can't really see pops out at you. Not bad per se, but if I don't ride Dinosaur on a trip, I don't consider it any kind of loss.

It was only like 2:45 PM when I got back to the Boneyard, so we let DD play until about 3:15 PM, and then we headed over to where the Oasis bridge to Discover Island is. We wanted to book out of the park after the parade. The temperature had gotten quite warm and was approaching sweltering, especially for a group of people just the day before had seen 18 C. We got some cool drinks, and tried to stand in the shade until the parade started.

The Jingle Jangle Jungle parade was pretty good...and we had a front row spot. This is the first time I've seen it, and I would probably call it my favorite daytime parade...which isn't saying much, since I am not a parade guy. (Except Spectromagic I LOVE!) But, I guess the getups were designed by Julie Taymor, who did the Broadway Lion King show...and you could definitely tell.

A few snap-shots for those that have never seen it, or never seen the Christmas overlay...

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3088.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3090.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3092.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3094.jpg

I didn't get any pictures of them, but there were about 12 stilt-walkers in this parade. How can they have stilt walkers for JJJ and not for FotLK? What gives? Does anyone know?

Anyways, Once the parade was over...it was out of AK, and off to....
...well, you'll just have to wait on that one!

[skier_pete]

So, we are leaving AK around 4 PM and heading over to ...the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We used this oppurtunity to cool down and relax for a bit, as well as check out the decorations, which is basically the giant tree as well as take a look at the Savannah.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3097.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3099.jpg

This was our first time at AKL, and it certainly is beautiful, but a bit confusing in layout. We all had to use the bathroom, and when I was done, I took DD down to the see the Savannah overlook. DW and DMIL then tried to come down via the elevator (since they had the stroller) and ended up out by the pool instead. They never did get down to us. The Savannah was a pretty cool concept, there were a few animals out, Zebra and some other herd animal I can't think of right now.

Then, they were doing a craft project making Christmas ornaments by gluing Ostrich egg-shells onto an animal drawing. It was $5, but DD loves crafts, and we needed the rest so we let her do this. Overall, we spent about an hour here. Truth be told, while the decorations were nice, I found the side-trips to the resorts just to look at the decorations tough. While it gave us a break from the parks, it was a lot of traveling for very little return, so we ended up not doing as much of it as I originally planned.

At about 5:30 PM we went back out to the bus stop, next stop - DHS! We were primarily going over to see the Osborne Lights, but were hoping to hit a few rides/shows as well. When planning the trip, I had fretted over this pick, because it was an EMH night at DHS, but it was the best night to make it work. Boy, what a mistake! When we got into the park we had just missed them turning on the lights, and the crowds over by the Streets of NY were INCREDIBLE. To make matters worse, one of the wheels of DD stroller came loose, so it became very unwieldy. (Yes, she's 6 and we still use a stroller, wanna make something of it!)

Well, we were starting to get hungry and the crowds were so huge streaming into the Osborne lights area (they route you around to the back of the park to get into it, and then you come OUT in the front). We decided to ride Star Tours (our 2nd ride of the day! Yippee!) and then get something to eat.

Well, when we tried to eat, we first went to Backlot Express...right near Star Tours...but it was closed. So then we fought the crowds to get to the ABC Commisary, but the line was out the door (we are talking hundreds of people in line). We were so frustrated with the crowds we decided to just go see the lights, and then get the heck out of this madhouse!

So, we made our way to the Osborne Lights:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3101.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3109.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3110.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3111.jpg

Very, very, very cool. Several streets are lit up completely covered with lights. They have what is supposed to be a radio station blaring Christmas music. (I found the "DJs" a bit annoying.) and every 10 minutes or so the lights "Danced" to a Christmas song. We saw them do "Feliz Navidad" and a few others. This was really terrific. I am not a huge fan of Griswoldian levels of Christmas lights on personal houses - the environmental conservative in me feels it is just a massive waste of our resources for the simple purpose of "Showing off" a little bit of lights is fine, but massive home displays really turn me off. But this, this was different. Just really impressive, and the first time it REALLY felt like Christmas to me at WDW. (In general, there were only a few times that it felt like Christmas the whole trip - I promise I will point them out.)

So, we left the park it was probably 7:30 PM, and we made our way back to the hotel and ate dinner in the food court. (Again a pretty good meal, I had the Veggie Lasagna, DD had the pizza (again).DMIL got a salad, and DW didn't have anything.) DD wanted to go swimming, so I agreed to a short swim. I don't know if I said this before, but you can tell a Northerner at a disney resort in December, (s)he's the one who's family is in the pool. They say the pools are heated, but I thought they were a bit on the cool side. We swam for about 30 minutes, and then hit the sack...as we actually have a longer day ahead tomorrow!

Overall, a good day. Crowds were moderate at AK, heavy at DHS and wheather was nice (almost too warm).

Next up - my actual Birthday, and it's MK time!

[If U Had Wings]

I have to agree with you about the FOTLK show. Overall, I'm not a huge show person when I'm at the parks, but I won't miss the lion king show. It really has a little of everything. The tumblemonkeys are my favorites. Last year I was upset when the family voted and Nemo won. I so much prefer Lion King.

There were stilt walkers when we were there in December. There was actually one guy standing right in front of my section. Maybe they just weren't near you? The afternoon parade at the AK is really the only afternoon parade that I bother to watch. I enjoy the big puppet float things, and the normal song is very catchy. We caught the Christmas one this year and I enjoyed it as well.

I loved the Osborne lights too. We didn't end up making it there until later in the week, but by the time we went I was feeling cranky and deciededly non-Christmassy. Being there just changed that completely and I left feeling like a new person. Very festive!

[skier_pete]

I have to agree with you about the FOTLK show. Overall, I'm not a huge show person when I'm at the parks, but I won't miss the lion king show. It really has a little of everything. The tumblemonkeys are my favorites. Last year I was upset when the family voted and Nemo won. I so much prefer Lion King.

There were stilt walkers when we were there in December. There was actually one guy standing right in front of my section. Maybe they just weren't near you? The afternoon parade at the AK is really the only afternoon parade that I bother to watch. I enjoy the big puppet float things, and the normal song is very catchy. We caught the Christmas one this year and I enjoyed it as well.

I loved the Osborne lights too. We didn't end up making it there until later in the week, but by the time we went I was feeling cranky and deciededly non-Christmassy. Being there just changed that completely and I left feeling like a new person. Very festive!


That's interesting that the Stilt-walkers were there when you were there...I wonder if they just had the day off on Sunday? There were definitely no slilt walkers in the show, though. It was a missing piece, though I didn't notice at first until my DW pointed it out...but then it was like a big (tall) gaping hole. The rest of the show was exactly the same - just no guys on stilts. I hope they're back the next time we go!

Otherwise, so much agree with everything you said! It wouldn't be a Disney trip if someone didn't get cranky though, would it!

SkierPete

[If U Had Wings]

It wouldn't be a Disney trip if someone didn't get cranky though, would it!

SkierPete

Definitely not! With me, I usually start to get a bit weary of not being able to escape people at some point. I know that sounds strange, but I'm so used to living alone and having some quiet time at night. A week of no time to myself starts to wear on me after awhile.

[Flossbolna]

Hi! I just followed over from I You Had Wings TR and only have read your introduction so far. Need to go back and read the rest!! :banana:

I really like it that your daughter doesn't want to be a princess! She is very sensible stating that she is a girl not a princess!! :thumbsup2 While I think dressing up and such is fun and cute, there is quite a bit of princess overload going on at Disney for me! :goodvibes

[skier_pete]

I really like it that your daughter doesn't want to be a princess! She is very sensible stating that she is a girl not a princess!! :thumbsup2 While I think dressing up and such is fun and cute, there is quite a bit of princess overload going on at Disney for me! :goodvibes

I agree, there are little girls dressed up as Princesses everywhere. Realizing this is coming from a guy...but I think a lot of that might be driven by parents. When you see a 3-year old with a princess dress and the whole BBB deal, I think to myself...."That's Mom doing that!" And, if they are driven to do that at 3, of COURSE they'll want to keep doing it as they get older. Though, I am sure some little girls dream of being a princess at a

For me, she doesn't want to be a princess, she doesn't need to. (Walking into Carosel of Progress, she was called a Princess again, and said "They keep calling me Princess." in a slightly annoyed tone.) But, I have never really pushed BBB on her...I am sure she's seen the ads, but have never asked for it....I've always said to DW..."when she wants it, we can do it, but I'm not doing it just to do it".

She definitely is not the type to go with the trends, last year she was an Owl for Halloween last year, the year before that she was Lara Croft (From the Tomb Raider video games.) I asked her since we are going to Disney in 2010, does she want to go as a Disney character...she has said she either wants to be a Flamingo or Lara Croft again. I think Lara Croft would be a better choice in the October heat...though I doubt Disney would let her wear her "guns". (They are model guns, don't actually shoot anything.)

Someone reading this might get a kick out of this: DW wants us to dress up as Pamelia Perkins and Hathaway Brown for Halloween at Disney. I love the idea, as I love a costume that 80 % of the people won't have a clue who you are, and 20 % of the people (but probably most of the CM) will find absolutely brilliant. (When DD wanted to be Lara Croft, that's what I thought that costume would do, and it was exactly....as we were trick-or-treating everyone once in a while someone would say "OMG, She's Lara Croft!")

[jennJK]

I think a lot of parents push princess stuff, but for my dd- it was all her!:rotfl: She hasn't even watched Cinderella more than once but somehow Cindy is her fave. princess:

She is 3 and 2 weeks ago a woman asked her what her name was and she said, "princess." :laughing::rolleyes: um, no, it isn't! She's always talking about princess this, princess that, it is cute yet annoying. I'm much more the jack skellington kind of girl, so if you see someone dressed in black, carrying a skull covered purse, holding hands with a princess in pink head to toe, that's me. :rolleyes1 Believe me, she's had firm opinions on things like her clothing since she was 2. :sad2:

I don't feel like I should force my opinions on her if it's not endangering her, ykwim? She's in the princess danger zone!!! :laughing:

Great TR so far! Thanks, I love that all powerful bday button! woo hooo!!!

[skier_pete]

I'm much more the jack skellington kind of girl, so if you see someone dressed in black, carrying a skull covered purse, holding hands with a princess in pink head to toe, that's me. :rolleyes1 Believe me, she's had firm opinions on things like her clothing since she was 2. :sad2:


Thanks! That's a humorous mental picture for a cold snowy Saturday!

DD not anti-princess, she's just more interested in animals, and the Fab 5. She goes around saying "Mickey's my boy!" a la Stacy from Top 7 must sees. (Actually, she would love to meet Stacy, too.

[Nancy for Disney]

We finally went into FotLK. An awesome show, as usual. But, where were the stilt walkers??? We couldn't believe they weren't in the show. It was definitely a little something missing. (I have a theory which I will share on Day 3, though.) Otherwise, it was a great show. They tried to pull DD into the show, but she continued to be stubborn and wouldn't join in.
(To be Continued!)

I agree with you comments on FOTL. It is my favorite show and the only one I would be willing to do on every trip. As a matter of fact we saw the show the day before you and there were certainly stilt walkers. I don't think they were on stilts very long but I have a picture to prove it. Look to the left.

http://i474.photobucket.com/albums/rr109/npord/WDW%202009/AK%20and%20EPCOT/DSC02089.jpg

Does that tree have a Lion King theme? I didn't even notice the trees. It makes me very mad at myself. :sad2:

[Flossbolna]

I really love the character trees at AKL, what a cute idea! And of course I can't proof it, but my guess would have been Simba!

It's interesting to read about the birthday button. It will be my sister's birthday during our trip and I will try to convince her to wear it - but I am not sure how much she will like the attention. :confused3 But I guess she will at least try it! :goodvibes

I absolutely agree with your view on costumes! And going as someone from the AC sounds very clever, unfortunately I would never recognize you. I only managed to get to the AC once. :sad2:

Looking forward to the next days of your trip! :thumbsup2

[wannago2disney]

Great update. looking forward to more!!

[skier_pete]

Does that tree have a Lion King theme? I didn't even notice the trees. It makes me very mad at myself. :sad2:

I really love the character trees at AKL, what a cute idea! And of course I can't proof it, but my guess would have been Simba!

It's interesting to read about the birthday button. It will be my sister's birthday during our trip and I will try to convince her to wear it - but I am not sure how much she will like the attention. :confused3 But I guess she will at least try it! :goodvibes

I absolutely agree with your view on costumes! And going as someone from the AC sounds very clever, unfortunately I would never recognize you. I only managed to get to the AC once. :sad2:

Looking forward to the next days of your trip! :thumbsup2

Very Close Nancy...Flossbolna is right...it is the Simba Tree! There was also a Timon tree we saw. I wish I had had time to take them all.

The Birthday Button is quite fun I thought...you really don't get anything of "value" from it, but you get a lot of Birthday wishes, a few songs (as in, the staff at a QS restaurant), a couple of "free" cupcakes (like I need more food) and if you are very very lucky...as I was...oh, you'll just have to wait a bit for that...

[skier_pete]

Monday morning awoke to the start of a new decade. At least for me. I was 40, middle age. Was I sad, not at all. I was going to Magic Kingdom!

After I took a shower, my DW had put out a shirt for me to wear. In fact, she had made shirts for everyone. Now, normally I don't like matching shirts, but I was OK with these. We only got a good picture of us all with the shirts on Photopass, but I don't have those pictures yet, so here's a few shots:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3161.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3138.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3136.jpg

So, in essence, it's a picture of Mickey on the front, looking ready for a Birthday party.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3117.jpg

My shirt said on the front - "My Pal Pete is 40!" across the top, and "Birthday Bash 2009" across the bottom. On the back it read "Birthday Boy". The others said "Birthday Bash 2009" on the front, and read "Pete's DW", "Pete's DD" and "Pete's DMIL" on the back.

The only problem with this, is my DW wouldn't let me wear my backpack all day because she wanted everyone to be able to see my shirt. The problem - not only did she have to carry two bags all day, which made me feel very guilty (being a manly man and all - don't let my women do the heavy lifting) and also it meant she had my LGMH - so now I couldn't meet my fellow DIS'ers. Ak!

Oh well, eventually she let me wear it. We headed out early as usual to get to MK in time for rope drop. It was a fairly uncrowded morning, relative to what I've seen in the past. It was also a very foggy morning, which I can't see I've ever seen MK shrouded in fog:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3115.jpg

We watched the opening show:
"A Kingdom full of magic for every girl and boy!
Wonderous lands of make-believe that fill your heart with joy!"
and bolted for Fantasyland when the rope dropped....first stop. Dumbo! Rode with DD and we circled high above the fog:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3131.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3130.jpg

We head for Peter Pan's Flight - and I grad some FP for later in the day. Then, we hit It's a Small World, another classic.

Now, it's getting near 10 AM. So, I head us over to Ariel's grotto. Well, wouldn't you know it, they said it was supposed to open at 10 AM, but they opened it up at 9 AM...so the line was already 30 minutes long. Well, forget it, bub! That's too long for us. DD saw the splash area, and she wanted to get all wet. We said no, we have no change of clothes, and it was still a bit on the cool side. (Maybe 70 at this point in the day.) Well, she threw her first fit of the day...of course for my birthday she's going to be extra cranky...but we stuck to our guns, and headed over to Winnie the Pooh. Well, she didn't want to ride it...so DW and I went on it, while DMIL took her to Pooh's playful spot. (She'd actually never plated there - we had always managed to avoid her seeing it.)

After we came off the ride, I suggested we head over to the Jungle Cruise...but in the meantime, I was eligible for another FP - so I swung round Frontierland to grab a Splash Mountain FP...and met them at JC.

The skipper we had was *terrible*, so bad that DD noticed. "He's not very funny." He did the speil with no side jokes...there's been threads on the DIS here about this happening, and I was appalled. But fear not dear reader, we went again later in the trip, and we had a *Great* skipper - so it's really still all about who you get. (I apologize, this morning pictures are few and far between.)

What's next...will have to wait....I gotta go....more to follow!

[luckylady]

Great shirt. Belated happy birthday.

[If U Had Wings]

Love the shirts. Looks like you had a crazy foggy morning. I don't think I've ever seen it that foggy.

[skier_pete]

Love the shirts. Looks like you had a crazy foggy morning. I don't think I've ever seen it that foggy.

Yeah, as I said I normally don't like matching shirts, but each one was a different color, so I found that more than tolerable. It was very cute of my wife. But I told her when I got home...when am I ever going to wear that shirt again?

The foggy was very weird. I can't recall ever being there in fog. It burned off pretty quickly though, it was gone by 10 AM.

[praisehisname]

Joining in and loving it!

[wannago2disney]

Great Shirt!! I really like the foggy pictures...makes it mysterious....and I have never seen a foggy Mk either....usually it is all bright colours.

[Flossbolna]

Looks like a great start to your birthday, I love the shirts! They look very festive. :thumbsup2

I love early morning fog - I hope the sun was able to burn it away during the day?

[skier_pete]

Hey all,

Not so much a continuation of the trip report, but some updated pictures. I got my photopass CD in...I was in on a photopass share, set up through another site. A couple of shots from the first three days of the trip, as described so far.

Entering Epcot on Day 1:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image0508.jpg

Riding Test Track (I always have my videocamera out in ride pictures, and look rather bored. DD looks like she's loving it. DMIL look completely terrified. Both were true.):
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image0534.jpg

A little side note: Don't you think Disney would be smart to get more of the ride photos on Photopass? I bet they would sell a lot more CDs if you could get all your ride photos too. It looks to me like they have no plans for doing this, as the new Space Mountain photo doesn't allow it.

DW and I with Mickey at AK:
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image0579.jpg

I love the Christmas sweater Mickey. When we asked Mickey if he decorated his own tree in the AK character trees he signed that No, it was Minnie that did his tree. Too cute!

Me outside EE (Day 2):
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image0670.jpg

And a shot I love at MK (Day 3) that also shows our birthday shirt and the castle at twilight:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image0936.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image0939.jpg

More TR to come!

[khertz]

Great PhotoPass shots! Mine should be coming in the next couple of days. :goodvibes

[skier_pete]

Well, we had just gotten off the jungle cruise, and were heading over to Pirates...when it turned out the pirate ride was down temporarily. So, we headed over to Haunted Mansion. DD is not ready to ride HM yet, though she *loves* the song ("Grim Grinning ghost come out to socialize.") so DMIL and I rode it first, while DW kept DD occupied. Well, THIS ride had shut down too... they let us through the stretch room, but we got into the hall going to the doombuggies, and it was just wall-to-wall people. It started back up, but took us a good 10 minutes to get on, so by the time we got off it was 11:15. Our lunch ADR was at the WCC at 1 PM, but I knew we wanted to get on the train at Frontierland around noon and I was hoping to squeeze in Splash and Big Thunder Mountains before we were done. (Somewhere in the morning, I had gotten BTMRR fastpasses, too.) This led to our first little round of meltdowns of the trip:

First, DMIL had to go to the bathroom.
Then, while we were waiting, DW decided she wanted to go get a churro.
Then, DMIL came back, and we started walking towards where DW was, but DMIL wanted to stop and eat an orange. I asked if she could wait until we got to Splash Mountain, and then she would have plenty of time, but she wanted to do it NOW!
Then, DD wanted to stop and get a snack. Since DMIL wanted to stop too, I caved in. The DMIL got mad at me because I didn't want to stop for her, but I stopped for DD.
The DD wanted another snack...not to eat, but to feed the storks nearby. I said NO, and had to deal with another temper tantrum.
And all I wanted to do was get to my ride! Ugh!
Really no-ones fault, just a little spat that happens when you spend a week tromping around WDW.

Anyways, eventually everyone was satisfied, and we made it to Splash Mountain about 11:50, so I knew we wouldn't have time to ride both. We HAD to ride Splash, though...cause it's my favorite ride and it is MY birthday. (Sorry, no pictures here...I actually had very few pictures from the morning.)

We got off the ride, met up with DMIL, and hopped on the railroad to go around to the front of the park. I like riding the train at least once a trip, and it's a nice way to skip around the park if the lines aren't too bad.

In toontown, I hopped off to gather another set of FP, this time for Buzz Lightyear. (For those keeping track at home, we've used one set of FP, and I have 3 in my pocket, one for Peter Pan, one for BTMRR and one for Buzz.) and while I was at it, stop at guest services and pick up my "Free Birthday Fun Card"...a $79 value for my birthday!

I met up with them at the dock to Wilderness Lodge...I had *just* missed a boat. (Bummer!) It was a beautiful sunny day, but again it was getting HOT. We waited 15 minutes for the next ferry.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3134.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3135.jpg
On the boat, DD had gotten it in her head that we were supposed to eat at Crystal Palace, and because we weren't she started another pout fest. I think I would have enjoyed the ferry ride otherwise. We were all hot and ready for a break from a busy morning.

So, we got to the doc, and made our way to the WL. DW and I had been here before, but it is still very impressive. I love the gyser pool, and it was so hot, it would've been great had we been able to jump in the water. But, instead we went to the restaurant. The lobby had another massive christmas tree, which was as beautiful as you would expect:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3146.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3149.jpg
I had wanted to try Whispering Canyon Cafe for a while. The waiters are supposed to do all kinds of crazy stuff. (Bring you 20 bottles of ketchup when you ask for one....Giant glasses for refills.) Well, nothing like that occurred while we were there. The only exception was they kept throwing straws at us. We had so many straws, we didn't know what to do. DD was having fun at the Lincoln Logs building center, but when she came back she was pouting again, so I decided to have fun with her by sticking as many straws behind my ears as possible. Then, we all started sticking straws behind our ears:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3140.jpg

The food was very, very good. DMIL and I had pulled pork sandwhiches, which were great. DW had the ribs which she said were quite good. DD had chicken strips. (I forgot about pictures again, sorry!) And, dinner was on DIsney World...I used my gift card from today to pay for the meal OOP.

Meanwhile, DW had arranged to have a surprise birthday cake. Well, it was a surprise until we got to the restaurant...CM kept coming over and asking her about the cake with me right there! They even once asked me about it! Good job keeping that surprise, dum dums!

Anyways, we got the cake, and the whole restaurant sang Happy Birthday to Me! here's the cake before:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3142.jpg
And After:
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3144.jpg

We couldn't take it with us as we weren't going back to the hotel, and we didn't want to carry it and let it melt, so we ate as much as we could. (It was a pretty small birthday cake, but ugh...can't eat that much.)

We rolled out of WL with full bellies to our next stop....To Be Continued!

[wannago2disney]

Great update and pictures. I would love it if they added all the ride photos to the photopass. I think that more people would for sure buy the photopass then.

[Flossbolna]

Really no-ones fault, just a little spat that happens when you spend a week tromping around WDW.


Things like that just happen to everyone, I guess. But it would have been nicer if it happened on your actual birthday! :goodvibes

Great to hear that you liked WCC, we are going to eat there on our next trip. I had dinner there before and rather liked it, but here on the boards there is lot of negative reviews about it.

What a shame that they ruined the surprise for you... :rolleyes1 was the cake blue or purple? It looked very festive! :goodvibes

[Nancy for Disney]

Great update. I am glad you enjoyed you WCC meal. I haven't eaten there nor I have I been to WL. Someday......:cloud9:

Can't wait to read about the rest of your big day.

[skier_pete]

From WL we headed out to the bus stop. My hours of research on the DIS told me a bus from WL could take us to the Grand Floridian directly...saving us a boat / monorail transfer. We wanted to check out the Gingerbread house.

The Grand Floridian is seriously tres swanky. I noticed they had only one bus stop - perhaps people that stay at the Grand Floridian are above taking the bus? Walking into the lobby they had stations giving out free hot apple cider (it was 85 degrees out, no thanks) and roasted chestnuts. We took some roasted chestnuts...holy moley were they awful tasting! Bitter and kind of mushy...ugh! I'll put that on my list of "Christmas Treats I never want again" right next to Figgy Pudding.

In the lobby they had a pianist playing music and of course another giant tree. The decorations here were absolutely stunning. The gingerbread house was pretty nifty too...though as we were walking around it, a candy cane fell off a gingerbread wall with a huge "Crash". It amused me.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3155.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3158.jpg

I may have already said this...while it was nice to make these stops, I found myself looking at the decorations, going oooh for 30 seconds, and then thinking "OK, let's go do something else." In fact, the two stops we made today ended up having me cut any more hotel touring out of the rest of our trip...it was busy enough.

So, after a few more minutes and some potty breaks, we took the elevator up to the monorail station and headed back to MK. We then went up to the train station to head back to frontierland.

(It just occurred to me that where other than WDW would you ride the following transportation in a single day: Bus, Train, Boat, Bus, Monorail, Train, Bus.)

Anyways, it was time for a "swing around the park" using up our FPs. We hit BTMRR (a DD favorite), Peter Pan (a whole family favorite), Mickey's Philharmagic (my absolute favorite 3-D film, though DD wouldn't put on the glasses) and Buzz Lightyear (another DD favorite).

By now, it was 5:30 PM, and it was getting near twilight. That's when we headed towards the hub to see the Castle Lighting and got our cool pics with the castle behind.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image0936.jpg

We staked a spot right in the hub...no one was hungry, so we figure we would wait for all the shows. The Castle Lighting show was at 6:30 PM, Spectro at 7:00 PM (or about 7:10 by the time it gets to the hub) and Wishes at 8:00 PM. Little did we know that at 5:45 PM, they would bring out the "Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it" parade. This is a new parade that happens a few times a day which I compared to a cross between a dance party and a HSM show. (I guess the songs are all "Radio Disney" hits.) The show was actually pretty great. The dancers and some characters come off the floats, and get the crowd to come up and dance with them. (Sort of Block Party Bash style.) It was actually really fun. No pictures though, I mostly took video.

Then, it was time to light up the castle:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3168.jpg

Simply awesome! Love, love, love the castle lights. The ceremony was really cute, too. The fab 5 come out and discuss how they should decorate the castle. Donald suggests like a giant present. Then they ask the crowd, I shouted out "A giant pink cake!" but Disney goons came out and roughed me up. (Kidding!) But they let Cinderella pick, cause hey it's her castle. (Technically it isn't, though: The real name is Cinderella Castle...not Cinderella's Castle. Meaning that it is really a castle named after Cinderella, not her actual castle. But I digress.)

Anyways, next up was Spectromagic and Wishes...both great shows, especially when viewed from the hub. (I am a strong believer in "the closer to the fireworks the better".) At one point I had thought we would stay a while and hit some rides, but we were all hungry and tired...so we chose to instead get some food and head back to the hotel. We were going to try Columbia Harbour House, but it closed at 5 PM, so instead w went over to Cosmic Rays. Poor DD passed out in the stroller as we were getting the food.

But, The Power of the Birthday Button reared it's head. As I was picking up my food the entire staff of Cosmic Rays (Bay B) sang "Happy Birthday". You can't get embarassed easily wearing the birthday button, but since I don't, I thought it was great.

Back to the room after two LONG days of park touring. We were beat. It's a good thing we have tomorrow off!

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image1012.jpg

[If U Had Wings]

Woo Hoo for a day off. Those park days are so draining, especially when there are so many people around. I always hit the point where if one more person bumps into me I feel like I'm going to scream.

I'm always envious of the kids who get to crash in the strollers!

[skier_pete]

Tuesday morning (12/15) we did not set an alarm. A rarity at WDW, I know. But we had had three really busy days at a pace that was unsustainable. Though the rest of the trip would slow down (a bit) we had planned a day off here to recover. But, a day off isn't really a day, is it?

We took our sweet time getting up in the morning, lazing and watching a bit of TV. We did want to go to Downtown Disney (DTD) though, to do some Christmas shopping, and also to meet Santa. It was yet another warm and sunny day, a bit cooler than before but still got up to about 80 by mid-day.

Well, I had heard that Santa is out at 10 AM, so we headed out about ten in hopes of catching him early. Turns out he's at the north pole until noon, so we had a little time first. I wanted to buy some stuff for my parents and my wife, so DW took DD to "once upon a toy" while I hit World of Disney. There were a TON of people there....they had a sale going on where receipts at CS restaurants gave you 20 % off your purchases before noon. It didn't matter to us, because AP holders got 20 % off all day and all stores, a deal that was pretty awesome. I had about an hour to shop and check-out, including shipping stuff to Arizona. In the meantime, DW got in the line for Santa about 11:30 AM, and she was at the front of the line. I finished up just before noon, and went outside. There were about 10 families in line, but they let me hop the fence. (the BIRTHDAY BUTTON again) to join my family. So, DD was the first to see Santa that day.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image1151.jpg
Showing Santa her list:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image1152.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image1156.jpg

After Santa, DW and DMIL did a little more shopping, while DD and I headed over to the lego store, where she had some fun playing with the blocks, but wasn't interested in actually buying anything. We then all headed to Earl of Sandwhich, where the line was HUGE. So, DD and I went back to Pop Century, and ate in the food court instead.

After we ate, we went back to our room and changed into our bathing suits, and spent about two hours in the pool. The air was warm, but the pool still felt a bit cool to me, I was a bit chilled by the time we got out at 4 PM. We went back to the room. DW and DMIL got back from DTD shortly thereafter.

That night was going to be "date night": DW and I going out for a birthday dinner at the California Grill.

But first...have you ever gone spent a park day and only did one attraction? We did...find out which one in the next update.

[Flossbolna]

(It just occurred to me that where other than WDW would you ride the following transportation in a single day: Bus, Train, Boat, Bus, Monorail, Train, Bus.)


Here in Germany Berlin (then West-Berlin) used to have a monorail. It was even an experimental magnet engine that propelled it, I think similar to what the TTA uses. And Berlin actually has some regular ferries as part of its public transport system. So in the 80s in West-Berlin you could use bus, train, underground train, boat and bus! And if you would let it count that East-Berlin also still had trams, there is even one more! :rotfl: But since the monorail is no longer I guess you are right, there might not be another place like WDW with regard to transport! :goodvibes

[tinkerbells mum]

subbing to your TR, i'm going to be in Disney for my 40th next year so i'm really enjoying hearing all about the power of the birthday button!!!

[skier_pete]

Here in Germany Berlin (then West-Berlin) used to have a monorail. It was even an experimental magnet engine that propelled it, I think similar to what the TTA uses. And Berlin actually has some regular ferries as part of its public transport system. So in the 80s in West-Berlin you could use bus, train, underground train, boat and bus! And if you would let it count that East-Berlin also still had trams, there is even one more! :rotfl: But since the monorail is no longer I guess you are right, there might not be another place like WDW with regard to transport! :goodvibes

There are places in the US where you can take a boat, bus, and subway the same day...New York and Boston come to mind...but it is rare in much of the country. There are few monorails here, and train transport is rarely used anymore for passengers except on the east coast.

subbing to your TR, i'm going to be in Disney for my 40th next year so i'm really enjoying hearing all about the power of the birthday button!!!

Awesome! It's a great place to spend your birthday! It totally makes you forget about getting older. Definitely wear your birthday button proudly!

[khertz]

Love the photo of you & your wife in front of the castle. :thumbsup2

How cute that they sang happy birthday to you at Cosmic Ray's! I would love to go for my birthday, but since it's smack in the middle of June :scared1: I think I'll pass.

I'm interested to see what one ride you chose on your date night...I don't think I could ever ride JUST one!

[skier_pete]

I'm interested to see what one ride you chose on your date night...I don't think I could ever ride JUST one!

Well...in this case there was little choice involved...read on

So, we got dolled up for our night out, and we left the hotel rpom about 5:30 PM. Now, you must understand, we were limited in what we could do, because (1) we had a 7:20 reservation and (2) MK was closing at 7 PM for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Though tonight was really about dinner and the fireworks from the top of the Contemporary, we thought since we had an AP and it cost us nothing, we would head into MK for one ride...Space Mountain.

By the time we caught a bus (our longest wait of the trip at about 20 minutes) rode there, got in through the gate, and made our way to Tomorrowland, it was 6:30 PM. As we were walking there, they made an announcement saying MVMCP was starting in 30 minutes...all others get out! - or something to that affect.

We got in line, and the wait was close to 20 minutes. This was our first time on the "new" Space Mountain. The differences as I saw them:

1) Games in the queue. While we saw them there, they weren't operating, as the line wasn't long enough to go back that far, so I can't much judge this.
2) The main queue area is covered. You can no longer see the ride from the queue area. I think this is a minor downgrade, as I thought it was neat to hear the people screaming and seeing the "space" swirling.
3) The ride itself is much darker, and the star projections more encompassing. Definitely better.
4) There's a ride photo - yawn!

There's probably other differences, but not significant to the untrained eye. Overall, it seemed like a wash to me. It's pretty much the same ride...hard to beleive it took 9 months to give you back the same thing. (Whereas the Haunted Mansion refurb added some real improvements.)

Anyways, by the time we got off the ride, it was approaching 7 PM. As we headed out of the park, we were surprised to see that they were really chasing "non-wristband" people out. We saw a family yelling at a CM at the entrance to Space Mountain about why they couldn't ride the ride when the park was clearly open. I was really surprised that they wouldn't even let us walk through the shops on Main Street. We were essentially "forced' out of the park. This is fine, I didn't pay the hard ticket cost, but it surprised me they didn't even want me spending money in the shops.

So, we headed out to the monorail and over to the Contemporary. So get this, to check into the California Grill (I will call it CG from here on out), you have to go from the 4th floor, where you arrive, down to the 2nd floor to check in, and then up to the 14th floor to get your table. :confused3

Anyways, we checked in and sat in the lounge area, which overlooked the 7 seas lagoon and MK. Quite a view. After 10 minutes, our table was ready and we were seated on the far side of the restaurant...overlooking...well, nothing. Our waitress was from Ellicotville, NY (S. of Buffalo in "ski country") she was very nice and did an excellent job, but her name escapes me. A couple of shots from sitting down:

A Napkin:
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3183.jpg
The "open" kitchen:
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3184.jpg
Self-portrait:
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3182.jpg

We decided to forgo the $12 glasses of wine - I love wine, but I am not picky about it, and can't stand paying restaurant mark-up on wine, especially not here - even though DW was paying. Instead we went for a flatbread appetizer - Triple Cheese Flatbread - Made with Pecorino, Asiago, and Provolone with sun-dried tomato and basil pesto:
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3185.jpg
For 1st course, I had the mixed green salad with apples and goat cheese (not the actual name, but I couldn't look it up):
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3187.jpg
DW had the squash soup:
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3188.jpg
Both were delicious. We then got our entrees. DW ordered the Day Boat Scallops - with House-made Gnocchi, Sustainable Pears, Brown Butter and Bacon Emulsion
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3190.jpg

I am the more adventurous eater, who will try just about anything once. (I still get ragged on for trying Turtle Soup once.) So, I had to try the Seared Ostrich Filet - with Buttery Potato Puree, Wild Mushrooms, Globe Carrots, Fig and Honeyed Port Reduction
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3189.jpg

Both were excellent. Delicous and the portions were large enough to leave you full. The Ostrich was super-tender. Not like game meat (deer or elk) but more like actual steak. I would definitely try it again elsewhere.

We ordered our dessert, and it was now time to go out on the balcony to watch the Fireworks. Because it was a Christmas party night, it was not regular Wishes, but Christmas Wishes. They had a balcony that extended out on to the roof on the North side of the Contemporary. It was narrow, but it was on a broad section of roof, so it did not feel like you on a high area that might institute vertigo. (If you fell off the "balcony", you would fall about 6 feet and land on the flat roof of the hotel.) I have a bit of a fear of heights, but it didn't bother me at all. The view of the MK was amazing, pictures really don't do it justice, but I'll try:
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3194.jpg

As we were waiting for the show to start, we also got to see the Electric Water Pagent moving around on the 7 seas lagoon. When the show was about to start, they turned on the sound system so you could here the music from the show.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was a completely different show from Wishes, and in a good way. It was all Christmas themed, and the fireworks were set and timed very well to the music. They even had fireworks that appeared as wrapped christmas presents, and at one point, during a tribute to Christmas trees, they shot off fireworks along the sides of the castle to make it look like a giant green tree. Very neat.

It was also surprising that at the angle from the Contemporary, the main fireworks looked like they were coming from a completely different direction. When you stand in front of the castle at the hub or on Main Street, the fireworks appear directly behind the castle. But from the CG, the high fireworks appeared to shoot up beyond Space Mountain, so you had to look in two different places to see the show.

After it was over, we came back inside and our dessert came out. We ordered an Apple Cobbler to split, it was also scrumptous:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3195.jpg

After we finished dinner (which ran about $125 BTW), we went down to the ground floor and walked back to the MK bus stop. We were fortunate to quickly catch a bus. (A lot of people seemed to leave the party after the fireworks.) We got back to the room close about 10:30 PM, and called it a night.

Not bad for an off-day!

Up next - Day 5 - the rush to TSM and more Birthday Button surprises!

[If U Had Wings]

That apple cobbler looks phenomenal. I'm a sucker for anything apple for dessert. Glad you enjoyed CG. Last year when I went our meals were pretty great.

[skier_pete]

That apple cobbler looks phenomenal. I'm a sucker for anything apple for dessert. Glad you enjoyed CG. Last year when I went our meals were pretty great.

I am a big fan of the apple dessert too. Every fall as a kid my mom made homemade apple pie. I continue the tradition with DD. Very Tasty Apple Cobbler. (Actually, the Apple Cobbler at Columbia Harbor House was really good, too.)

All the food was good at CG - DW scallops were great, and I am picky as far as scallops go. My favorite scallop place is in your neck of the woods - Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale down on the CT shore. Only restaurant I'll drive 8 hours to eat at. Best fried scallops ever! If I lived in CT I'd weigh 10 lbs more than I do now from eating Lenny and Joe's!

Can ya tell I like food?

[skier_pete]

Well, after a day that one would be hard put to call relaxing but that was still slower paced than most, we had another pretty full day planned. We wanted to hit DHS in the morning, and hopefully head over to Epcot by about noon.

I might have said this before, but DHS the park that always ends up getting the short shrift in our weekly schedule. It certainly is our family's "least favorite" park, but that isn't to say we don't like it. It's really just a matter of when it comes to making a list of things we "must do", there is not a lot in this park that falls on any of our lists. It's ironic, since I am a *huge* movie geek, but to me while there is individually some good stuff in DHS, as a whole the park is a pale comparison to Universal Studios...though we never go over there with DD, as the stuff there is just "too old".

The main tree:
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3196.jpg

Anyways, since we'd already saw the main Christmas thing (the Osborne lights) we had a few goals for today. First off, we wanted to hit Toy Story Mania, which required an early rope drop. I cannot divulge my secret of how I do it, but I got us to the very front of the rope drop, even though we only go there at about 8:30 AM. We watched the pre-show, which involves "streetmosphere" characters using us in there movie. We then joined the slow-moving stampede to TSM. While we weren't the very first in line, we were probably about 50th in line (we had to park the stroller) and hopped on. This is definitely a fun ride - now my third time doing it, I found myself giddy by the end. We had decided against getting the FP, though, as we were limited in our time here.

Next up, the rest of the family took DD to the "ant playground":

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3197.jpg

while i headed for the other thrill rides. I hit Tower of Terror first, since RnRC had the single rider line. The wait for ToT was < 5 minutes. I totally love this ride, the themeing is brilliant, and its the only drop ride in existance that I don't find to be an obnoxious bore. I love the way you never know what you are going to get, and we got a pretty good one this time...six drops in total, though only 2 real big ones. The only reason ToT doesn't get my #1 ride is because it is too short. (Splash Mountain is my #1.)

So, I headed to Rock n Roster Coaster. I had never used the single rider line, simply because I didn't know it existed. The line iteself is shared with the Fast Pass line, but as it was before 10 AM, there were really no FP people in line - a few with Birthday FP - why would you use those at 10 AM, people? Our group of about 20 single riders were brought into the "pre-show" room on the upper level, with regular riders coming in on the lower level. The regular riders were being given ride tickets outside, I don't know what was going on there. But, our group of singles were allowed through, and a couple of "limos" were loaded. Some of the singles were put on those, and then the regular line ended-There was no-one in line-so they took all us singles and grouped us together. I had been talking to this little girl in line, she was probably about 10 years old. Apparently her parents don't ride thrill rides, so she was riding this and ToT a bunch of times by herself. Her and I got assigned the very front seat. (Wheeee - I'd never ridden in the front.) And off we went to "Dude looks like a Lady".

Ya know, I may be in the minority, but I don't find RnRC very thrilling. The launch is impressive, but I find the rest of the ride to be fairly tame and WAAAAAYYY too short. Every time I ride RnRC, I find it ending so quickly, even knowing it is short. While I like the ride, I would have no problem skipping it in future trips. (It was closed when we came in 2007, no skin off my nose.)

So, again sorry no pictures....so I made a stop at Villians in Vouge to get something I wanted for a few years....a Jack Skellington "Nightmares" baseball jersey. I can't say I'm a HUGE "Nightmare before Xmas" fan, though I was one of about 12 people that saw it first run in the theaters. But, I saw that Jersey a few years ago, and thought of buying it, but it was $48, a little too rich for me. Well, now I got a stack of gift cards from Christmas, and a 20% off with my AP - so I'm buying it. I don't know when I'll ever wear it, but I'm buying it.

I made my way back over to the playground, and I scooped up DD to take her to the 10:30 AM Playhouse Disney showing. We just barely made it. (DW and DMIL did a little shopping.) Honestly, I am sick of this show, and will be thrilled when she outgrows it, but for a few more years, I'll tolerate it.

Next up...the Indiana Jones stunt show...

[skier_pete]

So, for the last three trips I wanted to volunteer to be in this show. I am a HUGE HUGE Indiana Jones fan. The first 15 minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark is near perfection and the movie overall only misses my top all time because it sort of limps to a close. I saw Temple of Doom 13 times in the theater as a kid, and even loved Last Crusade. (Can't say I thought much of Crystal Skull, I've seen worse movies, but it was sort of uninspiring.) so, to be IN the show was a way cool idea. In 2006 and 2007, we got into the show too late to even try and volunteer, and in 2008 we skipped it completely. (DD does NOT like it...too loud and too much fire.)

Well, we got in line about 30 minutes before the show. There was already a big crowd for it, which surprised me a bit. When they started letting people in, by the time we got to the front of the line the theater was half full. When I got up to the CM at the entrance I said. "I really want to volunteer to be in the show as part of my birthday. Where is the best place to sit to get picked." She said, "Well,it's best to sit down front, but...." and then...the ALL-POWERFUL BIRTHDAY BUTTON took over.

"You know," she said,looking at her clipboard "We have room in our VIP section, would you like to sit there?" I said "SURE!" and we were whisked down front to the second row right next to the lighting/sound booth. This was pretty awesome, it reminded me of "The 2 Years of a Million Dreams!" when they would just do stuff for you...but instead, it was for my Birthday!I was not told "Oh, you will definitely get picked for the show." but I figured my chances were good.

So, the pre-show starts where they pick the volunteers, and first they pick from stage left crowd (the "fallers") then stage right (the "screamers") then four from the middle. Well, I wave my hand all around and they pick me. They also picked another guy from the VIP section, so maybe they always pick the VIPs...I don't know. Anyways, they call me up on stage. DW took some pictures, but didn't do a very good job, as most are blurry, but that's me in the green shirt:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3198.jpg

I get to introduce myself: "Peter from Buffalo". I get big applause, but that's because Buffalonians are everywhere. (Everyone here moves away because there are no jobs.) The casting director notices my BIRTHDAY BUTTON, and gets the audience to shout "Happy Birthday!" (Nothing better than 1500 people wishing you Happy Birthday, I tells ya!) We're in the last group that has to "act" so my task is to be a bodygaurd and "act menacing". Not my forte, but I do my best. Then they send us off stage before the show starts.

So,they take the volunteers up back, and get us into Wardrobe - basically a robe and hood or hat. Then we sit down and watch the show. Amusingly, the two people on either side of me had never seen the show. Why would someone volunteer if they've never seen the show? We're in the back right corner for the first sequence, and then when it's over they bring us down front.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3200.jpg

That's me in the red striped robe in the middle of the picture. The "director" then has us take cues from him. Act scared, act happy, etc:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3201.jpg
Do I look scared? Mostly blurry.
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3204.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3205.jpg

Then, they set up for the second sequence, the fight in the bazaar. We get introduced to Indy and Marion's stunt double. I will never forget the words Indiana Jones says to me while he's shaking my hand:
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3207.jpg

"You guys look absolutely ridiculous!"

Now it's time for our big scene. We are supposed to be "the people of Cairo" and browse through the shops. Then, when the "tumblers" come out, we are supposed to turn and watch the show, and then as Indiana and Marion are fighting the bad guys, we are supposed to cheer for them.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3210.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3211.jpg

This was really just so awesome. It was weird being in the middle of the show. You would think it would be a "great" view to see the stunts from, but you are trying to watch all the stuff going on, at the same time the casting director is giving you cues..."Yell, Cheer, move over here!" so you miss a lot of stuff, but I LOVED it. A great memory from the trip. Once they were done they gather us up for the last little bit with the volunteers. (I won't spoil it for those that haven't seen the show.) Suffice it to say that the volunteers who hadn't seen the show were a bit incredulous at what was happening. (Not shown in these pictures.)

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3212.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3213.jpg

After that, we are sent back to "wardrobe" where we return our robes and go back to our seat for the final sequence. Overall, an awesome experience. I recommend those that say they are "bored" with the Indiana Jones show try and volunteer. It's a lot of fun!

It was now just past noon, and we had accomplish all we wanted to at DHS...so now, it was off to the E-P-C-O-T!

[skier_pete]

So, it was just after noon and we decided rather than eat in DHS, we would grab the boat to Epcot and get something to eat there. We wanted to spend some major time this trip in World Showcase, and DD was looking forward to trying the Kim Possible Adventure. So, we headed to the boat dock and caught the boat heading for Epcot, but first stopped to watch some Streetmosphere performers and get a photopass taken:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image1406.jpg

We'd never ridden this boat before, but it was a nice trip, stopping a few times. It gave us a little relax time, as the weather was pleasant out but not overly hot. The breeze did kick up in World Showcase, and both DW and DMIL got chilly as the afternoon wore on.

So, our plan was to do the East side of World Showcase (Italy, Germany, China, Norway, Mexico) today, and the West side on Thursday. But first we wanted to get a bite to eat, so we stopped in Morocco at the Tangierine Cafe. The adults all had Sawarma Combo Platters (YUM!) with a Baklava (double YUM!) and Adriana had chicken fingers. This restuarant has great food, and is one of the best values on the DDP. ($14 for lunch + $2.50 for dessort + $2.50 for drink) I also had a yummy Moroccan Beer (Casa) before we launched into the afternoon of touring. We started in Italy...one thing my wife really wanted to do was see all the storytellers around WS. In Italy, it was La Bafana, a which who gave shelter to the Wise Men on their way to see the baby Jesus.

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I love looking at the architecture in World Showcase, the details of the buildings that make them so "of their country":

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DD was eager to do the Kim Possible thing, which they don't have in Italy yet, so we left DW and DMIL to shop in Italy, and we headed over to Germany. This was the first time doing KP, and I must admit, it was kind of cool. The bad thing about it is when you pick up your Kimmunicator, they assign you a country....if we are in Italy, you might get assigned UK or Mexico. This is really annoying when you are trying to tour in order. However, they were pretty good about changing our country for us...so we started with the one in Germany...something about a tainted pretzle factory. You run around the country looking for specific places as shown on the Kimmunicator, and then you set things off. For instance, there were a set up beer steins in one store that played musical notes. What I found amusing was that the other tourists would see these things happen, and not know that we were causing it, just think it was some cute "Disney" thing. "Oh look, the train is going by on the tracks!" We did Germany, China, then Mexico before turning in our Kimmunicator. DD would have done this all day, for sure. There are 7 in total, and over two days, we did 5. I would say they take about 30 minutes each.

Anyways, in Germany we also got a pretzel, hopefully not the tainted kind. I was sorely tempted to get another beer...but held off. (It seems like overseeing a 6-year old while drunk is not a preferable situation.)

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We then went over to watch the Holiday Storyteller, who told about German traditions, including the Christmas tree and the Nutcracker. Meanwhile, there was a short line waiting for Snow White, so we got in line. DD was playing by a bush near the front of the line when Snow White came out, and snuck up behind her. Snow surprised her and gave her a big hug. She tried taking her up to the front of the line, but I said we would have to wait our turn and pulled her back. Eventually we got up to the front:

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This was our very first autograph of the entire trip. DD was very odd when it came to autographs this trip. For the first 4 days, she wanted nothing to do with them. Then, suddenly she decided she wanted them for a few days, then wouldn't go near characters again. We decided this trip to do a T-shirt instead of the traditional book. This was sort of a pain, as even though I had brought a clipboard, you had stretch the shirt out for the character to sign it.

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Next up....off to the Far East!

[khertz]

How fun that you got picked for Indiana Jones! That B-day button is sure doing its work!! And your DD is precious in her pics with Snow White. Watching young kids interact with the characters is always so heartwarming! One of my pediatric cancer patients just came back from Disney, and when I saw the picture of him hugging Mickey it brought tears to my eyes! That is one thing I'm most excited about doing with our own kids when we take them. Hopefully they won't be too scared of them like I was when I was little! :rotfl:

[skier_pete]

How fun that you got picked for Indiana Jones! That B-day button is sure doing its work!! And your DD is precious in her pics with Snow White. Watching young kids interact with the characters is always so heartwarming! One of my pediatric cancer patients just came back from Disney, and when I saw the picture of him hugging Mickey it brought tears to my eyes! That is one thing I'm most excited about doing with our own kids when we take them. Hopefully they won't be too scared of them like I was when I was little! :rotfl:

When we brought DD as a tyke, we didn't bother waiting in line for Characters, instead we did a couple of character meals. This way, she saw all the other kids in the restaurants meeting the characters...it was just the way it was. I don't know if it stopped her from being afraid, but it did the trick.

I forgot to mention that Snow White saw my Birthday Button, and asked my DD if she had made me a Gooseberry pie for my birthday! Sadly, we had to answer no.

The Indiana Jones thing was just a lot of fun. I imagine it must be more fun for the family in the audience watching their loved-one act like an idiot, too.

[skier_pete]

So, we left Germany to head for China. Again, DD and I did the Kim Possible mission here. This was really cool, and involved the search for a jade monkey statue. We had to go around looking for clues. DW and DMIL did more browsing while we search. I took a few pictures of the arcitechture.

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The Terra Cotta warriors display:
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DW with the Holiday Storyteller: The Monkey King - He was interesting, though had nothing to do with the Holidays really, but knowing a bit about the Monkey King from Chinese martial arts cinema, it was a fascinating story.

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I always find the countries whose culture is furthest from our own the most interesting, and China is definitely one of those. We have seen the Acrobat show a few times, and it always seems a bit different. It's been a few years, but I don't remember the girl twirling the rings.

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It was starting to get dark and rather chilly, so we headed past Norway right into Mexico. Again, we did the Kim Possible mission (this one wasn't as good, or maybe I was just getting tired of doing it) and then we rode the Rio Del Tempo. (OK, that's the old name, it's the Gran Feista tour.) I see this new version get trashed on the DIS a lot, but let's face it, the old version sucked. The new version adds some humor and entertainment, and still there are some neat sections. (Sorry, no pictures.) Personally, I like this change a lot, and DD loves it. DD saw the wood carvers by the main entrance and wanted one. I agreed to buy her a small one - she chose a turtle. (She seems to have a bit of a thing for reptiles.) On our way out we saw the Mexican holiday storytellers - the Three Kings!

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Then, it was off to Norway. We had just enough time to see the Norway storyteller. This one was fun, with the main storyteller being a girl, Sigrid, who tells about Norwegian traditions, only to be pranked along the way be the Christmas Nome, Julenissen. They told how tradition is to give treats to neighbors and friends when they came to visit, so DW pulled out a couple of small chocolates, and handed it to them before taking the picture.

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It was time for dinner at Akerhuas. We first ate hear many years ago, before the Princesses had invaded, and enjoyed the meal there very much. We went two years ago with friends post-Princess, and also enjoyed our meal. This night was no exception. First up was Belle in the foyer. Belle was not super chatty, even though there was no line at all when we walked in. I also don't really care for the Belle Yellow Ball Gown. To me it is too cartoony looking to really be elegant. (I have the same problem with Aurora and her super wide collar.)

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So, our review: The princesses were nice, they kind of came through kind of all together within about a 5 minute stretch. First was Ariel. She also while quite friendly was not super chatty. She didn't even mention DDs Nemo shirt. (It had fish on it after all.)

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Next came snow white. We had already seen her earlier in the day, but she was very good about "remembering" that she had already signed our shirt. Snow White is always friendly and very chatty.

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Cinderella came through a little bit later. This was our best interaction of the week. We joked with her a bit, I told her we had seen her Step-mother and Step-sisters wandering around outside her castle the other day, and were wondering if the guards had let them in. She replied, "OH, I most certainly hope not!" We asked if they ever are allowed in the castle, she said, "Only when they are on their best behavior." I said, I suppose that doesn't happen very often. She said, "No, not really."

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Finally, Aurora came around. She was very friendly, one of the better Aurora's I've seen. They never seem to be able to get her just right, and as I mentioned before, I hate her dress. It just looks so bulky, and Aurora is all about sleek lines and angles:

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While waiting for dinner, we had the cold buffet. Lots of good foods on that, but I wasn't really hungry between the late lunch and the pretzle and beer, so I tried to stick to minimal portions. I love cheese, meat and pickles!

Meanwhile, DD took the camera and took pictures as only a six year old could:

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Ahhh, but then dinner arrived. I had the Grilled Pork Chop - with Potato Gratin, Apple-Raisin Chutney,

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DW had the Traditional Kjottkake - Ground Beef and Pork Dumplings served with Mashed Potatoes, seasonal Vegetables, and Lingonberry Sauce

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DMIL had Mustard-glazed Seared Salmon - with Roasted Carrots and Potatoes and Mustard-Shallot Drizzle
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All were quite delicious as was the dessert plate. Thanks to my Birthday Button and our lovely waitress (seen below) I got a cupcake and a birthday card signed by all the princesses. They all had wished me Happy Birthday as well!

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Overall, a great meal. By the time it was over, we were all full and tired and ready to head back to the hotel.

[If U Had Wings]

How great that you got to volunteer for the show! My younger niece wanted to take part in that one our last trip, and was quite put out when I told her they only wanted adults. :)

Your right about taking part though. In 2007 my BFF and I volunteered for the backlot tour. She had no clue what to expect. I did, but figured why not. I'm so glad that I did. They made us captain and first mate. (I was pretty glad we didn't get picked to have all that water dumped on us. We had a blast. The only bad thing was that since we weren't traveling with anyone else we have no pics to remember our acting debut.

Looks like your DD enjoyed her meal in Norway. You did get a better Aurora. I swear they need to come up with some new hair for her. It always looks so fake. Drives me crazy!

[khertz]

Definitely agree on Belle's gown...it seems like Disney could make that look more authentic! That yellow is just atrocious. Something gold would look SO much better! I think what bugs me about Aurora is that HAT! It's so silly looking.

That salmon is making my tummy rumble and I'm not even crazy about salmon! It looks so good though! Maybe we will schedule a meal there next time. It looks pretty good!

I love all the pics with the Holiday storytellers. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see as many of those as I would have liked.

[skier_pete]

Looks like your DD enjoyed her meal in Norway. You did get a better Aurora. I swear they need to come up with some new hair for her. It always looks so fake. Drives me crazy!

I agree 100 %. Bad hair, bad dress!


I love all the pics with the Holiday storytellers. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see as many of those as I would have liked.

Though not my favorite of the Christmas events, I thought the Holiday Storytellers were a neat way of tying the cultures of the country to the Christmas season. They were well done, too.

[skier_pete]

Hey, we are now up to Thursday, which turned out to be a pretty lousy weather day. It kept getting cooler as the week went on, and today dawned overcast and with an obvious threat of rain in the air. Today was sort of a "sleep-in" day, we essentially left the room about 9 AM instead of the usual 8 AM, and we decided to get breakfast at the park instead of the usual lunch, since we had such an early dinner ADR for the Candlelight Processional. We got to the park about 20 minutes after opening. We were going to head for the land first, but for the first time all trip, DD decided she wanted to see the characters at the Epcot Picture Spot. Well, the wait said 45 minutes :scared1:, but she insisted. So, while the rest of the family went to use the bathroom, I headed for Soarin' to pick up FP. The return time wasn't bad at all, only an hour later. I came back to the Character Spot, and they'd just gotten in line. In reality, the line was only about 20 minutes, and we made it through pretty quick. DD got her shirt autographed by the fab 5, who were all there. Poor Pluto didn't have a Photopass photog, but Donald was in attendance here for a change. Actually, I like it when they have some different characters, but the fab 5 are always great:

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DD had drawn pictures to give to Mickey and Minnie, that she very proudly gave to each of them.

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After that, we headed to "the land" to get some breakfast at Sunshine Seasonings. We rarely eat breakfast in the parks. With the two meals per day we get on the meal-plan, we tend to eat a quick breakfast in the room, bringing our own food. The food was OK, I had the egg & biscuit plate, while the others had the French Toast. It was all sort of mediocre, and not worth a photo. When we were done, we took a ride on "living with the land". I miss having the human guides on the ride, but otherwise, it's not a bad way to spend 10 minutes. There was surprisingly, a pretty sizable line...which amounted to a 10-minute wait. Then it was off to Soarin', the first time that DD really liked this ride.

Then, we HAD to go back to Nemo. It was at this point we started to split up...though DW and DMIL were going to head to WS for more shopping, I would follow behind with DD when she was done. But after about 20 minutes in the shark area...
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...she wanted to head to WS and do some more Kim Possible missions. (She really loved the Kim Possible stuff. Just this past week, she wanted to start watching the show, which is only on at 1:30 AM anymore.) So, we headed out towards WS, on the way, we ran into these guys:

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Next up - KONISHIWA!

[skier_pete]

So, we got our pass for the Kim Possible mission, but it wouldn't start for another hour, so we headed for Japan. The weather had been slowly getting worse, and we had to break out our raincoats on our way to the park. Japan is probably my favorite pavillion, as there are many fine cultural things to do.

Two items in particular very much interested DD. She had been fascinated by the "pick-a-pearl" last year, so I had promised her that she could get one this time. We paid and got our number...she picked out her Oyster, and they opened ii...
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...Sized it - it was a 7 (a medium size)...
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...and played the celebration drum before giving it to her.
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The other favorite of DD was Miyuki, the Candy Lady. For those that haven't seen her demonstration, take time to. She takes a glob of hot molten candy and shapes these beautiful animals. This time, my DD got picked, and Miyuki made her a Turtle.

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Note the little santa hat on the Turtle!

It was time for our Kim Possible mission, but I was getting a bit fed up with DD. She was being really rotten when she didn't get to do what she wanted "NOW!" and DW and DMIL were off shopping most of the time. (They were there for both the above-mentioned things.) So, while going to get the Kimmunicator, I swung by Germany for a beer. (Yeah, alcohol!) Came back, and we did the Mission, and then it REALLY started to rain pretty good. After the mission, we headed over to Morroco, where DW and DMIL already were. DD again wanted to go right to France, where our next "mission" was, but I wanted to get Jasmine to sign her shirt. Well, she was furious, and wouldn't leave her stroller, so while juggling my bag, the autograph stuff, and trying to push the stroller, I DROPPED her candy turtle, and it bloody shattered into about 10 pieces. I actually only dropped it from about 6 inches off the ground...but boy are those things fragile. I was so frustrated right then, but just shoved it in the stroller. Since DD wouldn't get her picture, I figured I would instead:
That's Jasmine in the back trying to coax DD out of the stroller.
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And that's me posing as Jasmine's bodyguard with Aladdin.
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Next up...Cats, Rats, and Abigail Breslin.

[If U Had Wings]

We had one of those days with my older niece on our first family trip back in 2006. She was happy as a clam, wanting to get out of her stroller until we got to the Main Street hub and my mother wanted a family photo of the entire family. She refused to get out of the stoller, saying she was tired, when only 2 minutes ago she wanted out. We finally got her out, but then she refused to smile in the pictures. It takes a lot of effort to look that unhappy at Disney.

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Loving the report Pete!!! We are heading to the World 12/3-12/11 and are staying at POP! So excited! Love Disney during the holidays. My fingers are crossed that they offer free dining during this time again this year!!!

[skier_pete]

Loving the report Pete!!! We are heading to the World 12/3-12/11 and are staying at POP! So excited! Love Disney during the holidays. My fingers are crossed that they offer free dining during this time again this year!!!

Thanks very much! I hope you have as good a time as we did! One thing to note - the "free dining" for the values that they offered in the later portion of the year was the QSDP - to upgrade to the standard DDP, it was $10 per "adult" (over 9) and $2 per child (3-9). We already had a 40 % off room code - so the "free dining" was not a huge additional savings. Keep an eye on the "Rates and Codes" boards for Public codes. The late-season free dining last year came out surprisingly early, I think it was still in August, and it nearly caught me by surprise. The year before (2008) the late season free dining came out ONLY for Disney Visa Card Holders, so you might want to get one just in case.

We had one of those days with my older niece on our first family trip back in 2006. She was happy as a clam, wanting to get out of her stroller until we got to the Main Street hub and my mother wanted a family photo of the entire family. She refused to get out of the stoller, saying she was tired, when only 2 minutes ago she wanted out. We finally got her out, but then she refused to smile in the pictures. It takes a lot of effort to look that unhappy at Disney.

Yes, I am just beginning to think that this "stubborn" phase is NOT in fact a phase, but a way of life. Perhaps we should have named her Mary (as in Mary, Mary, quite contrary!)

[skier_pete]

Well, we were off on a ski weekend, and we didn't really have computer access, so I'm back and ready to try and continue my TR.

So, where we last left off..it was raining...yet we were on the move from Morrocco to France. DD again wanted to do the Kim Possible mission. By the time we were done, it was REALLY starting to downpour. We spotted Belle and the Beast as well as Marie...but DD was still in a "No Characters" mood. But, DW is a huge Marie fan...so we got an autograph and a picture anyways:
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Our early-dinner time wasn't quite here yet, so we decided to see "Impressions De France". My favorite of the 3 WS movies - mostly because of the music. The movie itself could sort of use an update.

So, we got out and it was still pouring rain. We walked over to Chef De France for our 4:15 PM dinner ADRs with the Candlelight Processional package. We had eaten here in 2007 and enjoyed the meal, but I had specifically picked this restaurant for our early CP dinner because (1) the appetizer selection and (2) this guy:
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Yes, Remy from Ratatouille visited our table about 1/2 way through the meal. I hadn't told DD he would be there, and she was thrilled to see him, as she's a huge Ratatouille fan. (And I admit having seen the movie about 50 times that it is a pretty solid effort from Pixar.) The CM pushing Remy around on the cart asked DD if Remy could come and visit at her house, and she said yes. Then the CM asked if we had any pets, and we had to admit we had two cats. Remy did not like this (He shivered.) and we told him we would lock them in the basement if he came to visit, to which he nodded vigorously.

BTW, the CM handling the cart was the identical twin of Otis T Wren the last trip we took to the Adventure's Club. I wanted to ask how his AC brother was, but he was going through the restaurant too fast.

Chefs De France is one of those restaurants who has really had its atmosphere destroyed by the DDP. It is now a noisy restaurant with the tables packed together so close that you can hardly eat your food.

Fortunately, the service and food quality are still quite excellent. DW and I had Soupe a l'oignon gratinee (Onion Soup), while DMIL had the Salade de chevre chaud - Baked goat cheese with walnuts, fresh grapes, tomatoes, endives and arugula salad, both excellent. (No pictures.) DD had the Friand au Fromage - Cheese puff pastry with a salad...which was kind of blah...but she seemed OK with it:
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For dinner DD had Blanc de Poulet Aux Nouilles - Breaded chicken strip served with pasta, DW and I had Noix de Saint Jacques et gambas sautees Flan d'epinards, sauce a l'oseille (Sauteed scallops and black tiger shrimp served with spinach flan and sorrel sauce) which was absolutely fantastic. DMIL had the Lasagnes de legumes du soleil a l'huile d'olive au thym - Zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, onions and tomato baked into thin layers of pasta.

Again, I didn't get pictures (Not sure why this time) but I did take a picture of the chocolate mousse cake dessert:
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Overall, it was a great meal...the atmosphere isn't what you would call "quiet" or "romantic", but it was still good food, which is what really counts.

Next up - Candlelight Processional.

[If U Had Wings]

The meal looks great. I've never eaten there before, as I'm not really familiar with french food. The dessert looks fantastic!

[skier_pete]

So, it continued to rain into the evening. After we ate, we pretty much had to head over to the CP (which for this post means Candlelight Processional, NOT Crystal Palace). The rain tapered off a bit as we took our seats, and it mostly stayed away for the length of the performance. We had about a 30 minute wait after being seated, and it was time for the show.

I may or may not have said this before...but of all the Christmas stuff we did on the trip, my two favorites were The Osborne Lights and this. The show, for those that don't know, is the reading of the biblical Christmas story - i.e. Jesus Birth through the arrival of the Wise Men. In between readings, a mass choir and orchestra sing songs of the season. It is quite a wonderful performance, even though I am not a huge fan of choral performances. (DW performs in a choir, so this was really in her wheelhouse.)

Our celebrity narrator was Abagail Breslin, the young (15 or 16) movie actress, probably best known from "Little Miss Sunshine" (Not that great a movie, but her performance at the final compeition made the movie!) or maybe the "American Girl" movie. (Probably the last movie that I would ever see.) Anyways, she did a wonderful job, obviously taking the task very seriously. The thought occurred to me that it must be very awkward to have to stand in the middle of this crowd of people singing...read two lines of dialogue, and stand there while everyone around you is singing...and try to continue to look attentive while you just stand there. Anyways, I digress...
DD did a pretty good job of sitting through this, she certainly got bored with it after a while, but still behaved pretty well. Overall, one of my favorite events of the trip. Here's a few pics, but our little point and shoot isn't geared for these types of pics...again we tended to focus on video.

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Well, after that, it really wasn't that late - perhaps 7:30 PM, but we were beat. Even though we had reserved passes for Illuminations, we were tired of being wet and just plain tired. We headed back to POP to get some sleep. We had a MK rope drop ahead of us for Friday morning.

[khertz]

I wish we could have eaten at Chefs just to see Remy. He is so cute!

I loved the CP, but I know what you mean about an actress just standing there and waiting between singing. I bet that is pretty awkward! It was nice having a Christian singer (Steven Curtis Chapman) as our narrator, because he just sang right along with the choir. And he had a lot of passion when reading the words of the Nativity. I agree, the CP and Osborne lights were my two favorite Christmas things, and I didn't expect them to be!

[If U Had Wings]

CP sounds wonderful. We never made it to see it while I was there, but we listened for awhile while waiting to go in to see the American Experience attraction. Their voices were beautiful.

[skier_pete]

I wish we could have eaten at Chefs just to see Remy. He is so cute!

I loved the CP, but I know what you mean about an actress just standing there and waiting between singing. I bet that is pretty awkward! It was nice having a Christian singer (Steven Curtis Chapman) as our narrator, because he just sang right along with the choir. And he had a lot of passion when reading the words of the Nativity. I agree, the CP and Osborne lights were my two favorite Christmas things, and I didn't expect them to be!

Hmmm, never thought about singing along...guess that would be an option for some narrators, but not most of them!

CP sounds wonderful. We never made it to see it while I was there, but we listened for awhile while waiting to go in to see the American Experience attraction. Their voices were beautiful.

Definitely a must-do! It's odd that CP and Obsorne lights are my two favorite things, as they represent the polar opposites of the Christmas season - one gaudy and over-the-top, the other beautiful and spiritual. Not sure what that says about me, though! Normally I don't like Griswoldian christmas light displays...but sometimes you gotta love when something is so excessive it moves into the realm of the absurd.

[skier_pete]

I am having a harder and harder time remembering the details of the trip, the further I get away…so I think it’s time to really crunch down and finish it up. I am up to Friday, our 7th day, and our 2nd full MK day. The day dawned overcast and cool, and there was a forecast for some torrential downpours later in the day. My only hope was that it would lead to low crowds.

We got to MK plenty before rope drop. As a little background, we have friends who’s mother works for a (nameless) major Disney park sponsor, and she was able to get us enough passes for DMIL for the week…and actually got us three extra day passes. Well, since we were buying APs, and they wouldn’t let us convert “free” passes to APs, we had these three park passes extra all week. I was hesitant to sell them, since they were not really my passes, and even a little hesitant to give them away. So, I decided that one day (today) we would register the extra tickets in the park, and use them to accumulate extra FastPasses. So after we came in through the gates, DW and I went out…and came back in…and then I went out…and came back in…and like that we were a group of 7(!)

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It was a drizzly morning, and surprisingly, the opening show was cut really really short. I wondered if the trains weren’t running, but instead of “Casey Junior coming down the track”…they came out, welcomed everyone…introduced the family of the day, and had them count down the opening and that was it. We were off to the Dumbo Dash.

So, as per our usual routine, we hit Dumbo (DD still wanted to ride it) and then Peter Pan. DD wanted to do Small World, which I HATE doing this early. (The first two hours of park time is for rides that build lines later!) So, to be more efficient, I let DMIL and DW take DD on Small World, and I bolted and got FP for BTMRR and Splash Mountain (BOTH OF THEM – remember I had those extra tickets!) then came back, and came back. Well, they weren’t off small world yet, so when they got off, I grabbed DW and we went and did HM, which we had missed the previous day at MK. After that, it was 9:40 AM, so we headed over to Ariel’s Grotto, but the line was HUGE. Apperantly they had decided to open it at 9 AM, even though the Times Guide said 10 AM. Has anyone else seen this happen?

Well, so DW and DMIL wanted to look in a shop, so I said I would take DD on the tea-cups, and we would then head over to toon town for rope drop to see the fairies. Well, while we were on the Tea-cups, they opened Toon-town (DOH!) so DD and I headed there to get in line for the fairies. Though it was only about 10:05 when we got in line, they had JUST flipped the wait time from 20 minutes to 40 minutes. We told the CM that DW and DMIL were coming, and could they send them into line to meet us? They were OK with that, so we got in line.

Now, this was our first time seeing Tinkerbell and her friends, and I knew the wait would be long, but I thought DD would like it. It actually took about 25 minutes to get to the front of the line, but it was really worth it, the interactions with the characters were fantastic. They take you in, and first we met Fawn, who was very nice and took DD with her into the room, and chatted with her a bit.

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Next up was Tink…she was near perfect…a little flighty (pardon the pun) and really curious about the human world.

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Can you tell DD was enjoying the experience?
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Finally was Terrence (The Male Fairy…<snicker> - I felt like a twelve year old constantly finding that funny.) Terrence was great, he got all excited about something that DD told him (I can't remember exactly what now!) and kept yelling over to Tinkerbell to tell her about it. We had just seen the new movie that he i sin, so were able to reference it in our conversation. Great character!
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On the way out, DD saw a cup cake that she just HAD to have. We hadn't really been indulging her tooooo terribly (OK, we had.) so we let her get it. These cupcake makers at Disney know what kids want, basically an insane amount of frosting:

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Yes, that is all frosting above the cupcake wrapper! DD basically ate all the frosting off, and then handed it to us to eat the actual cupcake. She was now primed for the rest of the day.

We next headed towards Tommorowland, a section of the park that often gets the short end of the stick with our family. Not sure why, it just seems we never have enough time in MK. I got some FP for Buzz Lightyear (There was ZERO wait, but I grabbed them for later when it got busier.) After Buzz, we saw the laugh floor show..which I think is great..."I'm watching you Wyzowski!" Then it had cleared enough we hopped on the TTA for a quick ride around tomorrowland, and finally we checked out Carosel of Progress, which we had never been on since DD was born. This is a pleasant show, but I was surprised that DD totally loved it, she wanted to ride AGAIN! (We said no.)

Next up...lunch at Columbia Harbor House.

[If U Had Wings]

The look on your DD's face meeting the fairies is just priceless! Well worth the 25 minute wait. :)

[skier_pete]

So Crissy, any word on your little mini-trip? (Not to let you take over my TR...but in 100 words or less?)

[If U Had Wings]

So Crissy, any word on your little mini-trip? (Not to let you take over my TR...but in 100 words or less?)

:) It was fun. Colder than I would have liked, but better than the summer heat. Crowds were a mixed bag. Not as empty as I was expecting, but not packed and crowded either. Maybe a bit busier than the parks were the year I met you down there. It seemed like there were lots of people in the parks, but the lines weren't bad at all for the rides. It was a bit odd. Because of the snow before we left we lost 2 park days so things ended up being a bit rushed. Still it was a good trip. After the Dec. trip I was on a bit of Disney overload and wasn't looking to go back again, but this trip helped bring back the Disney "magic" for me.

[skier_pete]

Well, it was now time for lunch, and the weather was starting to improve. As I mentioned in a PP, the prediction was for really nasty weather, but fortunately, the nasty stuff stayed well south of Orlando. We headed across the park and we wanted to go to Columbia Harbor House for lunch. Well, on the way, we stumbled across Tiana's meet and greet, and we wanted to get in line for this...but it turned out they had cut it off...the Tiana M&G was really sporadic, as it depended on the schedule for the showboat review....more on this later.

We always seem to get to a breakdown day for DD, and apparently this was it....I can't remember the exact details now...but she did NOT want to go for much NO MATTER WHAT. Well, the rest of wanted to, so she spent the meal crying and pouting. Again, this is not normal, but seems to be each trip we get a breakdown like this...we've learned to live with it. The food at CHH was quite excellent. DMIL and I both had the fried shrimp platter...which came with FF and cole slaw and desert. I forget what DW had, DD had the chicken nuggets.

Again, the BIRTHDAY BUTTON struck again. All the CM behind the counter gave me a chorus of happy birthday. I don't consider myself having a big ego...but I rather enjoyed being sung to.

After lunch, we headed to fantasyland. First we did Jungle Cruise, and then decided we would try out PotC. DD still refused to try it. I had even offered her $5 earlier in the day to give it a whirl. Well, I had one last trick up my sleeve. I sent DW and DMIL to ride the ride, and I took DD to the exit store. I had heard the strategy of showing other kids coming off the ride, and I thought I'd try it. Well, at first I couldn't get her that far into the store, she was too interested in the selection of guns. (Yes, DD is not your typical girly-girl.) Well, she found one gun that made an electronic *bang* sound and actually shown a light (skull and crossbows) when you pulled the trigger. She REALLY wanted this, but I told her she didn't have enough money (which was true) but she could earn enough if she rode the pirate ride and I gave her $5. She STILL refused, but by then we'd moved further into the store. I said to her..."well, come here and look at all the kids coming off the ride and tell me if they look scared." Well,wouldn't you know it, but as we go over there a little kid no more than 2 years old came toddling out of the exit. DD turned to me and said, "OK I'll ride it."

So, DW and I took DD on the Pirate ride...and guess what, she LOVED it. She didn't want to do it again, but really enjoyed it.

Once that was done, we had time to see the tiki bird show.(DON"T GET ME STARTED ON THIS SHOW!) and then headed over to Frontierland to get a spot for the 3 O'clock parade.

Just before the parade started, DW and DMIL went and tried to do a little more shopping, so DD and I held the spot. She wanted some popcorn, which I got for her. The parade started with no sign of DMIL or DW.

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I have to point out here - the rain had disappeared just before the parade came through, and suddenly the sun came out...and there it was....a rainbow over Magic Kingdom, as can be seen clearly in the next three shots.

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This was EXTREMELY COOL, making the parade totally worth seeing.

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An interesting bit about the workings of WDW...right before the parade started, DD spill a bunch of her popcorn into the street where the parade was going to happen. Well, all the performers walked over the popcorn, crunching it into the ground. This was a pretty wide-spread mess, too. Well, after the parade was done, we stuck around the area waiting for DW and DMIL, along comes the clean-up crew behind the parade. And the guy sweeps up every last kernel of popcorn we spilled. In fact, the entire parade route was spotless.

Then, along came one of those survey people, and they asked me some questions about my stay. I didn't get anything out of it, but then just as she was wrapping up...out comes Tiana's Showboat Jubilee. She pulled one of the CM in the parade over, and gave DD a string of beads. Nice! The show headed for the boat while we headed for a good viewing spot.

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The show was great - we were very lucky to be there when it was running. Not the greatest pictures, but again I tend to videotape more than take snaps...so that's why they are limited. In fact, these were taken by DW, who finally reappeared while this show was going on.

After the show, DMIL had decided to head back to the hotel. We had decided we were going to go back and rest a bit before dinner. So, the rest of us hit Splash Mountain and BTRMM, as well as using our FP for Buzz Lightyear, before heading for the bus and back to POP. We only had time for about an hour's rest before we headed out for a 7:30 PM dinner at Le Cellier!

[skier_pete]

OK, I admit I was skeptical. You hear of the legend that is "Le Cellier" here on the boards, and you think..."it can't really be that good, right?" Let me say this, I love steak, but I find that those overpriced steakhouses aren't nearly that good. If I get a good cut of meat at home and slap it on the grille, I can beat the steakhouses...and as for going out, give me an Outback NY Strip over Ruth's Chris any day.

So, I went in to Le Cellier thinking I wasn't going to be that impressed. And the fact was, I didn't find the steak all that impressive. But what impressed me on the food was how everything...I mean everything we had was absolutely delicous.

So, let's get to it...we arrived at Le Cellier about on time, though had a little bus trouble getting there. Poor DD was just whipped, and didn't really want to go out to dinner. In fact, she passed out before her dinner came, and though she woke up to eat a few bites of her pizza, she slept right through the ice cream sundae.

While we didn't get appetizers per se, DD meal came with a bowl of the Cheese soup, which I was lucky enough to get. DW wanted to order the crab cakes - which were just awesome.
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The various breads were great, but the legendary pretzle bread was fantastic, we just HAD to ask for seconds.

I ordered the Kansas City Black and Blue Strip Steak. The steak was very good, not spectucular, but I substituted the yukon gold potatoes au grautin, which were plain awesome:

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DW got the filet mignon...which I admit was much better than my steak. It was melt-in-your-mouth good. Served over risotto.

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DMIL got the pan-seared scallops, which were also fantastic.

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And DD got the ubiquitous Cheese Pizza:

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We also got an order of Onion Rings to share:

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As if that wasn't enough, we had dessert coming to. DMIL got the maple creme brulle, which she said was wonderful:

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DW got the delicous Chocolate Mousse Moose:

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And I got the Smores sundae (or whatever it was called). Which had graham cracker crust, chocolate brownie, ice cream, more chocolate and graman cracker, topped with a marshmellow...and it was soooooo good.

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In addition, our waitress was very nice. She gave us several of the recipes, including the Potatoes Au Grautin and the cheese soup. We also had a long conversation about hockey. (If you are ever hanging with Canadians and aren't sure what to talk about, mention hockey. They can talk for hours.) She was from outside of Vancouver, so we chatted about the Canucks and also about the upcoming winter Olympics. (She was going to be in Florida for them.)

So, the verdict was that Le Cellier's reputation is well-deserved. And while I wouldn't necessarily eat there every trip, we will DEFINITELY be trying to go back some time.

Afterwards, we carried DD back to her stroller, and wheeled her home. We were all full and tired and ready for bed. We again missed Illuminations, but no longer cared. The pace was starting to take it's toll.

Next up, Day 8. The Christmas crowds arrive, and we get to check out the Christmas parade.

[khertz]

Oh my goodness, the food looks fantastic!! The crab cakes look delicious, and I don't think I would have ever thought to order them before seeing that picture! (If we ever eat at Le Cellier, that is. :laughing:)

The pics of your DD with the fairies are precious. I'm sad we missed out on meeting them, but next time we go to Disney, we may have our own little princess to take to meet the fairies in the new Pixie Hollow!

[skier_pete]

Oh my goodness, the food looks fantastic!! The crab cakes look delicious, and I don't think I would have ever thought to order them before seeing that picture! (If we ever eat at Le Cellier, that is. :laughing:)

Yup, I admit it, I am a Le Cellier convert. Now we gotta see if we can even GET ADRs.

The pics of your DD with the fairies are precious. I'm sad we missed out on meeting them, but next time we go to Disney, we may have our own little princess to take to meet the fairies in the new Pixie Hollow!

That's one thing that has me a little bummed about the FL expansion, by the time its done, DD will be 10, and may well be past princesses and fairies. (Heck, already the two characters she wants to meet next trip - Indiana Jones and Kim Possible. :rotfl:)

[If U Had Wings]

All of your food at Le Cellier looks great. I managed to get an ADR for my recent trip and enjoyed it quite a bit. My mother loved the filet there, and my father insists on going for the maple creme brulee alone. :)

[Believeinfairytales]

I have enjoyed your report. You had wonderful luck with your birthday button. My child didn't get a lot of attention wearing his, unfortunately for him. He got a lot of "happy birthdays" but no special attention or favors because of it. I'm glad to know that Disney IS doing that for others and perhaps we were just haing an "off" week. Great job on the report. Keep it coming! :thumbsup2

[skier_pete]

I have enjoyed your report. You had wonderful luck with your birthday button. My child didn't get a lot of attention wearing his, unfortunately for him. He got a lot of "happy birthdays" but no special attention or favors because of it. I'm glad to know that Disney IS doing that for others and perhaps we were just haing an "off" week. Great job on the report. Keep it coming! :thumbsup2

That IS disappointing to hear...for all the things that were done for me...I would have thought that they would do even more for kids! :confused:

[skier_pete]

OK, I have told myself I need to wrap this TR up before I leave for my NEXT trip, which is just a little over 3 weeks away. (Just too crazy...DW and I were discussing it, doing two trips (really three with October) in such short notice is really amazing to us, even though we are the ones doing it!)

Anyways, back to the Birthday trip. Saturday we arose to our last full day at WDW. :sad1: Actually, I always find that after a week, we really start to wear down, and the enthusiasm for doing stuff starts to wear off. However, we had some real specific targets for today. Namely, to see some of the Christmas stuff at MK. We could have done the Christmas party during the week, but DD is NOT a late night kid (and neither are we, normally in bed by 10:30 at home). So, by waiting until today, we can see most of those things for "free", except we did not stay for Christmas Wishes, since we already saw it from the California Grill.

We started the day at AK. We actually did not shoot for rope drop this morning...the stuff we had left at AK didn't really require it. In addition, there was this massive snowstorm plowing through the Northeast. It was missing Buffalo, but was targeting Baltimore, which we were flying through on the way home the next day. Myself, I could have cared less about worrying about this, especially as it is something we could do nothing about today. (They wouldn't let us change flights tomorrow, based on a storm today.) But DMIL is a major worrier, and we had to spend an hour watching weather updates in the morning before she would let us leave the room.

Finally we headed out. The rain had moved off, and it was a clear sunny day, but very very cold. Probably 35 degrees out when we left the room. And let me tell you, I discovered that 35 degrees and sunny in Florida *feels* colder than 35 degrees and cloudy in Buffalo. It felt colder on Saturday and Sunday in Florida than on Sunday when we got home...even though the temperature was identical. The humidity really makes the chill in the air worse. (I couldn't have imagined I would prefer the weather in Buffalo to the weather in Florida in December!)

However, the sun was out when we got to Animal Kingdom. Since our goals for the day were few, we stopped for some photopass shots:
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You can see we were well bundled. We got DD to do the "Simba" pose.

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We headed over to Rafiki's planet watch. Our goal was to get there for some of the surgery in the morning. They were supposed to have had two birds (can't remember the types) and a turtle come out. The bird apparently had an adverse reaction to the anesthetic, and they couldn't perform the exam. (We could see them frantically treating the bird in a room further back.) They then brought out the turtle, who had been hit by something and whose shell was damaged. They had used a polymer to "repair" the shell, and was examining the turtle. The poor thing. It was very interesting..though not as much as many years ago when we saw them examining a lion.

DD and I went out to the petting zoo for a while, we ended up spending over an hour there, and it sort of limited what else we had time to do. The other thing we wanted to catch was "Flights of Wonder", so we headed over to Asia. The show was entertaining as usual, but not one of my favorites. DD really liked it though.

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We finally went and had lunch at Flame Tree Barbeque. This is one of our favorites...but they have eliminated the corn muffin with the meals...bummer. We were also too full from a week of eating to order the ribs, which are great, but DW and I both got the pulled pork sandwhich. YUM!

It was now time to head over to MK. The crowds at AK were not bad at all, but as we arrived at the TTC on the bus, the number of people arriving at MK was HUGE. The line for the monorail was all the way down the ramp and looped around. WE decided instead to take the ferry, something we had never done before. There was a massive queue of people, but we all made it on the first ferry. It was a nice ride over, we got through security, and we actually were able to stake a spot for the parade right at the front of main street. I didn't realize it. (One of the few oops I've made.) but the parade started at the far side of the park, and ended at Main Street, so we were waiting there close to an hour, but DD spent the time hula-hooping and also playing with the digital camera. Boy did we get a lot of pictures of the Christmas tree:

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We also spent a lot of time talking to a young couple from Georgia. They were honeymooning at Disney, and this was their first trip. We gave them a little advice, and listen to their wedding stories. It's always a nice way to pass the time.

[skier_pete]

The parade finally started...DW took a TON of pictures:

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[skier_pete]

So, the parade as shown above...I really was impressed. I am not much of a daytime parade person, but this one was pretty good. Much longer than the regular daytime parade. (I guess if you are paying $55 for 5 hours in the park, they better give you something good.)

What I actually liked better than the parade was the castle stage show...but before I get there...we had about an hour after the parade before we needed to get a spot for the show. DW and DMIL wanted to do more shopping (AGAIN?) so I told DD we could do one ride. She picked Buzz Lightyear, I said the line might be too long...and it was - showing 55 minutes. Then she said TTA...and when we got there...there was a line for the TTA! (There were a LOT of people here!) Honestly, it wasn't a 10 minute wait, but she didn't want to do that either...so she changed her mind to...Carousel of Progress. Yes, she really likes this show!

So, we headed over to the castle show. There was already a big crowd (There were big crowds everywhere...face it it's christmas) but DD wormed her way to the very front. The rest of us hung back. I thought this show was great. The regular castle show always seems so sparse, with only 10-12 people on that giant stage. Well, the cast of this show had to be around 50. Another case of "for the Christmas party", but still I was very impressed.

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Next up, we headed to Chef Mickey's for an early dinner, before returning to our resort to pack.

[tinkerbells mum]

the photos of the parade are really good, are they the ones your DD took?

[skier_pete]

the photos of the parade are really good, are they the ones your DD took?

Nope---DD took about 20 pictures of the tree, but none of the parade. DW took over. She takes great pictures with the point and shoot. Mine tend to come out somewhat blurred. I am more the camcorder guy. We took lots of video, but our camcorder was failing, and most of the stuff in daylight came out really washed out. We just got a new one with an internal hard drive...so hopefully that will work out a lot better.

[khertz]

Nice that you got to see the Christmas parade without paying for a MVMCP ticket, but boo for the crowds!! :scared1: Your DW got some great pics!!

The castle stage show looks awesome. I'm disappointed that we missed that this year! Hopefully there will be other December trips in our future to see it. :thumbsup2

[If U Had Wings]

The pictures from the parade came out great. We never caught the Christmas castle show when we were at the party. Our time there was kind of a bust. :headache: It looks like you had a wonderful time.

[skier_pete]

Nice that you got to see the Christmas parade without paying for a MVMCP ticket, but boo for the crowds!! :scared1: Your DW got some great pics!!

The castle stage show looks awesome. I'm disappointed that we missed that this year! Hopefully there will be other December trips in our future to see it. :thumbsup2

The pictures from the parade came out great. We never caught the Christmas castle show when we were at the party. Our time there was kind of a bust. :headache: It looks like you had a wonderful time.

Thanks...I will pass the pro-parade pics comments onto my DW. She was sitting on the ground with DD in the front, so had a great view up around the traffic circle at the butt-end of main street...so it was perfect for pictures.

It's funny you both missed the castle show. I was quite surprised that I liked it better than the parade, and WAYYY better than the regular castle show. Definitely if you go back again some day, I would recommend it highly.

The crowds were bad...but only if you wanted to actually ride any rides...which we didn't...so it was fine. We saw the three things we wanted to see.

Heading into the home stretch...just gotta cover dinner at Chef Mickey's, and about two hours in the morning the next day for MK. Should be wrapped up by the weekend perhaps...

[skier_pete]

Well, after all the Christmas excitement, we were finally having dinner with the Fab 5. Now, I don't know if it's the influence of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, or just the fact that Mickey is the face of WDW, but DD loves the Fab 5, and especially Mickey and Minnie. So, she was very excited to hit Chef Mickey's. We had an early ADR (5:30 PM) so we headed over there after the castle show. People were still streaming into the park, I can't imagine how crowded MK would have been for Wishes.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3506.jpg

Don't cha just want this wreath at home in your kitchen:
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3505.jpg

DMIL had started getting into the idea of having her bag signed, and she was almost as into the characters as DD.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3507.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3508.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3509.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3512.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3513.jpg

Actually, we all got into the photo act! Why not, we're at Disney! The character interaction was great...again my Birthday Button took affect, and I was given a cupcake to celebrate my birthday and Donald came by the Table when it was time to do the 'celebration' dance that they did every once in a while.

The food...well...let's say I wouldn't recommend the food at Chef Mickey's. While some things were good (the prime rib comes to mind) a lot of it was low-grade food service quality. I remembered it maybe being slightly better 2 years ago, but food-wise, it is the least favorite of the buffets. (Well, HV Play&Dine ranks pretty low too.)

After the meal was done, we walked from the Contemporary back to the MK bus stop, and from there went back to the hotel. We had to pack up all of our stuff, and be ready the next day. We had a 2 PM flight, which meant a 11 AM ME bus, but we still had a little park time lined up for the AM!

Next up...last day...sniff...sniff :sad1:

[If U Had Wings]

Last day already? Sniff! Glad you enjoyed your time at Chef Mickey's. I've only done breakfast there, but wasn't terribly impressed either. It wasn't one of our favorities.

[skier_pete]

So, our last morning, it was COLD...like 35 degrees COLD. I guess that was Florida's way of telling us it was time to go home. I took our bags down to Luggage services a 6:30 AM. Since we were flying SWA, they had started doing the check baggage directly from POP, but I had seen the size of the lines there earlier in the trip during the day...I wanted to get the bags through check-in before the crowds. Well, there was no-one there..so we got out no problem. We finished packing up and got dressed, and headed out for our 8:05 AM ADR at Crystal Palace.

Our family as a whole are not big eat-out breakfast people...don't get me wrong, I believe in a good breakfast, but I find the meals that you cook for breakfast can mostly be done fast an easy at home. (I have an awesome Omelet technique!) I would much rather go out to lunch or dinner, especially now that most restaurants charge $8-$10 for a lot of breakfast selections.

For this reason, we almost never do the breakfast buffets at WDW. We find the food much less interesting...the value versus the dining plan low, and in generel we'd rather attack the parks first thing in the morning instead.

That said, we are all big fans of Crystal Palace - we generally love the decor of the place, and it is our favorite buffet food meal. DD loves meeting Pooh and the gang. It's probably the only meal that I would say has become a bit of a "tradition" with our family. We had eaten there at every single adult trip DW and I have been on...even back to 1997 before it was a buffet restaurant. However, I am big on being a non-traditionalist, and I was going to skip it this trip, but DD specifically asked to go. I couldn't really fit it in, but decided it would be perfect for our last morning when we had so little time.

So here we are, coming over to MK for 8 AM. The true pleasure of this experience to me was being able to walk down Main aStreet first thing without doing a Dumbo Dash. There were still actually quite a few people around...but we were able to pause for a few uncluttered photopass shots.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image1671.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image1673.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image1675.jpg

And a guest appearance from everyone's favorite fairy:
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image1677.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/Image1678.jpg

A few more shots from Main Street:
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3516.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3517.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3518.jpg

Coming up - breakfast and our trip wraps up.

[skier_pete]

So, we over to CP to check in. I was a bit surprised we had to wait about 5 minutes. I let DD have the camera and take a few shots:

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3519.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3520.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3524.jpg

We went into the restaurant about 8:10. The characters were already coming around. We weren't really super hungry, since we had buffeted the night before. (Is buffeted a proper verb? I think that's only buff-et-ted.) The food was really good though. I was surprised to like the breakfast lasagna, which sounded disgusting in theory (custard and fruit and eggs and pancakes or something like that) but was surprisingly tasty.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3526.jpg

The rest was pretty standard breakfast fare. We also had a decorated table (the last residuals of the All-Powerful Birthday Button) and I was brought a cupcake, which I let DD lick the frosting off of.

The character interaction was good...they had re-instituted the parade (They didn't do it the last time we were here.) and we had a good time with the characters. (My favorite: I asked Tigger "What is it that Tigger's do best? It's accounting, isn't it?" or something like that....turns out its bouncin'!)
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3530.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3527.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3528.jpg
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n147/skier_pete/DSCN3529.jpg

The only negative I would say is that it took a bit over an hour to get out of there, mostly waiting for the characters to come around. This would have been more annoying had it been our first day and we were trying to hit rope drop, but since we only planned on hitting 2 or 3 rides, it wasn't a real issue for us today.

So, we had about an hour until we had to catch a bus back to Pop Century. We let DD pick the rides. We started out heading for Tomorrowland, and hopped on Buzz Lightyear (no wait) and the TTA (of course no wait). Then, we figured we had time for one more, and she picked Pirates! Just two days ago, she wouldn't go on that ride ever ever! So, our last ride was with Jack Sparrow, and we headed out of the park.

We caught a bus pretty much right away, and made our way back to POP. We went and got our bags, and came down and checked in for the ME. Now here's a co-incidence. DD was playing with the hula-hoops, and so I went over to the ME bus stop to wait. There was another couple with a small DD, probably about 3 or 4. We were talking a bit and they mentioned they were flying into Boston. The conversation went like this:

Me: "Oh, I'm originally from Massachusetts, are you from Boston?"
Them: "We just tell people we're from Boston, we're really from western mass"
Me: "That's where I grew up, where are you from?"
Them: "We live in West Springfield."
Me: "Oh, I grew up in Agawam." (This is the next town over from West Springfield.)
Them: "Really!" The Man: "I went to High School in Agawam. When did you graduate?"
Me: "1987"
The man: "Me too...I'm *name not typed*."
Them: "Oh yeah, I remember!"

So, it turns out I went to high school with this guy, though I admit we were not hanging in the same circles.Still, a wild coincidence...not making THREE times at Disney I have crossed paths with people from my past. (Once it was my college roomates ex-girlfriend, another time my old hairdresser from back when I had bair.)

Well, that was the biggest event of the trip back. We had to fly back through Baltimore, which had gotten slammed by a blizzard just the day before. The result was a 2-hour delay in getting home, but it wasn't so bad, we were still back by 8:30 PM.

So, that's it for our wonderful Christmas trip. I got it all typed in under four months, and a mere 13 days before we are scheduled to leave on our next trip. I can't be bothered with a PTR, but anyone reading that is interested, I will post a new link to the new TR (assuming I write one) on this thread, so look for a future bump in the last-post date sometime at the end of April.

And finally, thank you to those of you that have stuck with reading this for the entire trip...and especially to those that post occasionally. It's nice to know that SOMEONE is reading this!

TTFN!

[tinkerbells mum]

really enjoyed reading your trip report thanks for sharing

[If U Had Wings]

It sounds like you had a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing all the details. :)

[skier_pete]

really enjoyed reading your trip report thanks for sharing

Thanks a lot! And thanks so much for reading...its knowing that people are actually looking at it that makes me keep writing.

Looks like you have a 40th birthday celebration coming up next year...and first trip to WDW too? Lucky you! If you ever have any questions, I'm pretty good at knowing my way around that place! (Of course, I'm one of many on the DIS, so posting a general question is probably even better.)

It sounds like you had a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing all the details. :)

We did, thanks! Again sorry we missed you by a week, and again this coming fall I think! One of these times we'll share a chat on a bus again.

[khertz]

I'm so glad you had such a great Christmas/Birthday trip! And how perfect that this TR took just long enough to tide you over till the next trip. :thumbsup2 I will definitely be hanging in for the next one!

[peterpanlover96]

Just finished reading your TR, what a trip! I get the birthday button everytime I go on my birthday, and although I dont get all the fun stuff you enjoyed I did get a few cupcakes here and there :laughing: Your DD is just adorable and looks like she enjoyed the parks even if a few fits erupted. Im looking forward to reading your next TR and i'll stay tuned in!:goodvibes

[skier_pete]

I'm so glad you had such a great Christmas/Birthday trip! And how perfect that this TR took just long enough to tide you over till the next trip. :thumbsup2 I will definitely be hanging in for the next one!

Thanks for the encouragement!

Just finished reading your TR, what a trip! I get the birthday button everytime I go on my birthday, and although I dont get all the fun stuff you enjoyed I did get a few cupcakes here and there :laughing: Your DD is just adorable and looks like she enjoyed the parks even if a few fits erupted. Im looking forward to reading your next TR and i'll stay tuned in!:goodvibes

All this interest, I guess I'll have to put out a TR for the next trip. Thanks for the compliments on DD. I can only take credit for 50 % of her adorableness.

And...welcome to the DIS! Looks like you are a Disney Park veteran, but new to the DIS. It's great to hang out here with the fellow obsessives. Sometimes makes me feel like I'm not even crazy.

[Believeinfairytales]

So sad the TR is over, but will stay subscribed here just in case you post a link to the new trip. (Lucky you getting to go again so soon)

[skier_pete]

So sad the TR is over, but will stay subscribed here just in case you post a link to the new trip. (Lucky you getting to go again so soon)

Thanks for the positive feedback. I will definitely post about my new TR (assuming I do one) right here on this thread. Look for it to pop up in your "recent posts" queue sometime near the end of April.


Edit: They locked my TR so I can't add a new post! Anyways, here's the location of the new TR:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=36495982#post36495982