Friends and Family Holiday trip to WDW Dec 9 - 16, 2011 Update Post #156

[mvf-m11c]

Hey there fellow DISers and readers. My name is Bret and I am a huge fan of Disneyland. I am mostly over on the Disneyland boards and have done a lot of different trip reports on the Disneyland Trip Report thread. I like to videotape the nighttime shows (fireworks, WoC, F! at DL & DHS, Illuminations, etc) and take pictures at the resorts. I have a nice trip with pics. We are only 43 days away till the Friends and Family Trip during the Holiday season at WDW.

I have just finished the One Day trip to DL during the Halloween Season (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=42759685#post42759685) and the D23 Expo back in August. You can check out My TRs plus Pics & Vids (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2537994) on the Disneyland Trip Reports. Before going to WDW in December, I got an upcoming trip to DL during the Holiday season next month with my DA. My DA always go to DL during the Holiday season while we did WDW during the Holiday season last year this year she will be going with me to DL during the Holiday season next month and skip the WDW trip.

Going to the DLR is one of the best times in my life since DL is the original park that Walt Disney created. After a fun and great trip to the DLR during the Halloween season last month and just finished my PTR for my annual Holiday trip to DL next month, it is now time to get my plans all set up for the Holiday season at WDW.

I just concluded my Unexpected Halloween Day Trip to DL. When I first heard that my dad offered me to go with him to LA for that Saturday, it was a great opportunity to go to the DLR during the Halloween season. I was originally of not going during the Halloween season since I just got back from the D23 Expo and have two more trips in November (DLR) & December (WDW). Since it was only a one day, I could do all the picture taking in one day. I got to take a lot of pictures at the DLR and go on my two favorite rides (MFW and Monorail). I was sad of not going on the DLRR, but it was just way too busy that afternoon. I didn’t have the chance to ride SMGG or HMH, but I will get the chance to ride HMH next month. The wait time for HMH was just way too long for me and I can ride it next month.

Now I am planning my pre-trip for December 9 - 16, 2011 during the Holiday season at WDW.

Cast: Me Bret, my DB Matt, my dad Dennis, my dad’s friend Eugene, his wife Phyllis and their two daughters.

This will be my 2nd time to WDW during the Holiday season which the last one was last year December 10 – 17, 2011 and this will be my 8th time coming back to WDW. This will be my DB 6th time back to WDW and my dad’s 7th time back to Florida. My dad friend family is back here for the first time since 1996.


Our trip is not until the 2nd week of December. This will be my 2nd time back to WDW during the Holiday season. For all the times I have gone to WDW, I have went during Spring Break season and Summer time. Mostly I go to DL during the Holiday season in December for my birthday, but my dad and his friend family wanted to go to WDW during the Holiday season after showing him all of those wonderful photos and experience at WDW and the Wizardy World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure. There were all excited about it and decided to have a family vacation together.

Last year trip to WDW during the Holiday season was great and exciting to do for the first time. I got to do MVMCP, EPCOT with all the Christmas decorations and how they celebrate the Holiday season, the Osborne Lights at DHS, and the Wizardy World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure. The only bad part of that trip last year was that Orlando had one of the coldest weathers in decades. At night, sometimes it was around high 30s and during the day in the 50s. Talk about cold weather in Orlando, but that didn’t stop the two of us to have a great time together. Very funny about that time is that when we got there, the bad weather was in affect. But when we left, it started to warm up. I am hoping that the weather at Orlando in December will be very nice. I don’t want to experience that kind of weather again. You can’t control the weather in Orlando, but just hope that it will be nice.

I don’t want to be rude to the people that like WDW during the Holiday season, but DL during the Holiday season is so magical than WDW. After experiencing the first time last year and it was great, but there is something different compare to the DLR and WDW. I will definitely enjoy another year back at WDW during the Holiday season and hope that everything goes well.

We will be flying from Sacramento to Los Angeles first thing in the morning around 6 am. It will be around one hour to get to LAX airport. When my dad, DB and I get to LAX, we will meet up with my dad’s friend family and head on over to Orlando International Airport. Than we will be leaving LAX airport around 10 am and head straight to Orlando. It will take around 5 hours to get to Orlando airport. We should get there around 6 pm eastern time. Then when we get to Orlando we will get our rental cars and head on over to our hotel during our stay. We should be at our hotel around 7-8pm and than get settled in.

We will be staying at Sheraton Vistana Resort just right across from the Highway 4 of the WDW property. I have stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Resort last year with my DA during our WDW trip. It was a nice timeshare with a master bedroom, two double beds, a livingroom, kitchen, washer & dryer, plus a patio. We did spend some time in the room during our trip, but we didn’t do any of the activities at the resort. But there was just way too much to do at Florida and had no time to do any of those things at the resort. We will be getting two rooms while my family will be in one of them while my dad friend family will be in the other. Here are some pics of the room from last year.

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We are planning on going to the parks for 4 days of our trip and will be doing a lot of different activities at WDW. We are also planning on going to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure to see the Wizardy World of Harry Potter. I will be using my Premier AP. I love this AP after getting it last year and used it for both the DLR and WDW. It did save me a lot of money on the parking and merchandise, so I am planning again on taking advantage of the Premier AP when I am at WDW. I plan on going to WDW all the days during our vacation from Saturday 10th to Thursday the 15th. I am hoping that I will be able to get one day on Friday the day we show up, but we will wait and see.

The whole goal for most of my group during our trip is the Wizardy World of Harry Potter. After seeing my pictures from last year trip, they are all excited to go to Florida during December. My goal for this trip is to do a lot of picture taking of any Christmas decoration at WDW. On the Disneyland at Christmas Time Superthread (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2612827), we all do a Tree & Wreath Quest that Sherry E had started and find as many Christmas decorations around the DLR. I plan on doing the same at WDW. This will be a tough order since WDW resort is 150 times the size of the DLR, but it is fun to look around the place for both the parks and hotels. Plus we got MVMCP on Wednesday the 14th. I am looking forward back to MVMCP after a disaster one last year. The bad part about last year was that it was so windy that I didn’t enjoy the party last year and didn’t get good spots for the fireworks and parades. This time, I will do my waiting game like I do at DL for any of the nighttime shows or parades and get a good spot for the videotaping. Do all the nighttime shows at WDW (Wishes fireworks, DEP, Illuminations, & F!). Not only that, but also do the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights at DHS. Plus I am looking forward to see Neil Patrick Harris during the CP at EPCOT on Monday night.

Here are some of my pics from WDW & the Wizardy World of Harry Potter at IoA last year during the Holiday season.

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Here is my plan for our trip in two months. I will update it later on.

Plan

Saturday 10th: Magic Kingdom

Sunday 11th: Island of Adventures

Monday 12th: EPCOT

Tuesday 13th: AK & DHS at night

Wednesday 14th: Island of Adventure & MK during MVMCP event night. I might go to DTD that morning and do some shopping before its time to go to the MK for MVMCP.

Thursday 15th: DHS & EPCOT


Dining at WDW property

Thursday: Dinner @ Bistro de Paris @ 6pm

I don’t have too many plan dining at WDW since I wanted to eat at Le Cellier at EPCOT, but there wasn’t anything available when it was time to make the reservations. But I am looking forward to eating at Bistro de Paris like the time I ate there last year. This might also be a good time to get the Tables in Wonderland card since I have an AP. I know that it doesn’t seem worth it if we are eating at WDW only once right now, but since Bistro de Paris is expensive and we have a large group which is 7 people, it might be a good idea to get it. I might make one more reservation before we leave on our trip. Mostly we will be eating at the quick service restaurants or the off site restaurants to save some money.


I will keep planning on my WDW trip while I am still planning out my Annual Holiday trip to DL in a few weeks. I am so excited to go back to the DLR during the Holiday season and I am looking forward again to WDW.

Please feel free to say something about my trip in less than six weeks.

Thank you

Bret

[skiingfast]

A TIW card should work well, also it may come with a AP discount to purchase, I just don't know if this is currently in effect. Also remember your AP gets discounts too but at mostly just Disney operated locations. It's a bit confusing since so many third parties opererate within the parks.

Make sure you don't get too close in the MK for fireworks of you won't get everythin in view over the tall castle. If the trees are away maybe inside the hub against a railing would be best. I wonder if the fireworks will be different since they have the projectors there for MMY.

Also this is tough to do being from the West Coaster. If you can get up early you can have a pre opening breakfast in the parks. Crystal Palace works well and at least get some empty park shots around the Hub.

It will take a lot of time to get to the resorts for photos. But you might do a mid day trip around the GF, Poly and CR on the monorail. Also it's about a 10 minute walk from the CR to the MK gates.

[mvf-m11c]

A TIW card should work well, also it may come with a AP discount to purchase, I just don't know if this is currently in effect. Also remember your AP gets discounts too but at mostly just Disney operated locations. It's a bit confusing since so many third parties opererate within the parks.

Make sure you don't get too close in the MK for fireworks of you won't get everythin in view over the tall castle. If the trees are away maybe inside the hub against a railing would be best. I wonder if the fireworks will be different since they have the projectors there for MMY.

Also this is tough to do being from the West Coaster. If you can get up early you can have a pre opening breakfast in the parks. Crystal Palace works well and at least get some empty park shots around the Hub.

It will take a lot of time to get to the resorts for photos. But you might do a mid day trip around the GF, Poly and CR on the monorail. Also it's about a 10 minute walk from the CR to the MK gates.

When I did my calculations at Bistro de Paris for 7 people, I would guess that the bill would be around $500-$700, so it does make sense to get the TiW card this time. I almost got the TiW card last year when I went to DL last year in December, but it wasn't worth the price of the restaurants that my DA and I ate. It will be a little pricey at $75, but if we get in one more restaurant during our trip it will be worth it. I might get it on Saturday when we are in the MK. There are just a few discounts at the quick service and sit down restaurants at WDW, but not the ones that I want. It was really confusing when I used my Premier AP last year in December at the stores.

Oh yeah no question. I am planning on getting a spot right around Casey's Area or the Plaza Area. I have checked out the MK Fireworks viewing chart and see that the best spot to see the fireworks. I did that last year during both MVMCP and a day at the MK at night. The only problem I have about seeing the fireworks around that area is that I have tall people in front of me and I don't have the extra height on the curb like I do at DL Hub when watching the fireworks. I have to plan really well for something like that. I am also wondering how the Magic, the Memories and You is played when the castle is decorated during the Holiday season. Just like Cinderella Castle, I am also wondering the same thing at IASWH at DL. During Wishes, Cinderella Castle at the end of the firework show is so great when it shows the icicles.

It was difficult at first when you have to add three more hours on the east coast then the west coast. But we should have no problem with it if we go to bed early that Friday and get up early. If we do a rope drop at the MK, I will try to get some empty park shots.

During my trip last year during the Holiday season at WDW, my DA and I only stopped at the Boardwalk Resort during our trip. I wanted to stop at more hotels, but we had a time schedule to keep. So maybe this time, I will stop at the Contemporary, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian during this trip.

Thank Matt for your input.

[WDWJonasGirl]

Subscribing Bret!!

[tksbaskets]

I'm in! We are busy planning our DL trip. Glad I'll be able to share with your WDW trip to see that at Christmas time too!

It's going to be a great December!

TK

[mvf-m11c]

Subscribing Bret!!

Thank you Kaitlin for coming along. :thumbsup2


I'm in! We are busy planning our DL trip. Glad I'll be able to share with your WDW trip to see that at Christmas time too!

It's going to be a great December!

TK

Thank you TK for following along. :thumbsup2 I hope that you have a great time at DL during New Years and I am very interested in hearing what it is like during New Years at DL. I'm hoping that I will be able to finish most of my TR before you go on your adventure to DL.

It's definitely going to be a great time in December.

[skiingfast]

Hopefully the rain ends as the day goes on and it's a dry evening and night.

[mvf-m11c]

Just one week away till my trip to WDW during the Holiday season. I am so looking forward to this trip.

[mvf-m11c]

Dear Moderators, can you please put my thread on the Disney Trip Report since I am now doing my live TR.

Thank you


Just got back from the MK this morning and it was really crowded later during that morning around 10am. But overall, it was so nice to see the MK decorated during the Holiday season. I am about to go back to the parks in just a few minutes and here are some pics from the MK this morning.

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[kaoden39]

Hi Bret!

I hope you have a wonderful trip!! It all looks so pretty.

[franandaj]

Looking forward to your reports from back east!

[tksbaskets]

Very nice pictures of the MK Bret. Hope you are having a fun trip.

TK

[mvf-m11c]

Hi Bret!

I hope you have a wonderful trip!! It all looks so pretty.

Hello Michele

Thank you and glad to see you here on my TR.


Looking forward to your reports from back east!

Thank you Allison. I have more pics down below.


Very nice pictures of the MK Bret. Hope you are having a fun trip.

TK

Thank you TK. I am about to head on over to AK today. Wait, the park is about to open so I better head on out. I will get back to the TR later today.

Here is an update of my TR. As I wrote at the beginning that I started the day at the MK since the park opened at 8am. It was fun to go through a part empty park that morning, but the park started to pick up around 10am with a lot of guests. The wait times for most of the rides started to pick up and MS was already packed with the guests coming in the park. I left the park around 11am since I was going to meet up with my group.

I didn't go back to the parks that afternoon since everyone wanted to go shopping at the outlet mall right by Highway 4 across the highway of WDW. Later that night, I went to DHS and see the Osborne Lights that night and it was amazing. I don't have pics of it yet, but I will upload them later today.

Here are some more pics of MK yesterday along with some pics of the New Fantasyland under construction.

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[Moodyzblu]

Joining in !! Love a live TR .. looks so pretty there right now. :thumbsup2

[tksbaskets]

What beautiful pictures. I'm very excited about the new Fantasyland as Beauty and the Beast is my all-time favorite Disney film.

The two black and white pics with colorized accents are great! How did you do them?

The Osborn Family Light Show is not to me missed. Just beautiful. Did you see the stunt car show while you were visiting?

TK

[mvf-m11c]

I just got back from the MK tonight after seeing DEP, Memories and Wishes. Everyone in my group were all amazed and glad to see the DEP again after not seeing it for years. They loved Memories as well as Wishes. We also went to Islands of Adventures today and I got to go in the Wand Shop and ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

I will have the pictures up later when I get back since i am having trouble uploading the pictures from the hotel. The internet over here really sucks so I won't load a lot of pictures as I usually do on my flickr account.


Joining in !! Love a live TR .. looks so pretty there right now. :thumbsup2

Thank you for coming along Michelle.


What beautiful pictures. I'm very excited about the new Fantasyland as Beauty and the Beast is my all-time favorite Disney film.

The two black and white pics with colorized accents are great! How did you do them?

The Osborn Family Light Show is not to me missed. Just beautiful. Did you see the stunt car show while you were visiting?

TK

Thank you TK. The new Fantasyland is very nice and it will be very nice to see in a few years.

I use my new Nikon DSLR camera for the two color pictures. It is a mode called color sketch. I select a color from my camera or get a color from an object. Then the camera only shows the color that I select or multiple colors. It was neat to get something like that on a picture. When I saw Deej picture with only the red and black and white, I want to get something like that and found out how to do it on my camera.

THe Osborne Family light show is a must see during the Holiday season at DHS. I just can't upload any pics so it might take awhile to show some of the pics from the Osborne ligts. I didn't see Lights Motor Action Extreme Stunt show on Saturday and I might not see it during this trip since everyone is not interested in that show.

[franandaj]

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So I'm guessing this is of the Beast's castle from F'land? Looks pretty cool so far!

[skiingfast]

From far away the FLE looks very distance with the castle up on the ridge.

[mvf-m11c]

Sorry for not responding since I was so tired from getting back late at the WDW and left early in the morning to go on the rides and shows. But overall it was an enjoyable vacation at WDW. I really like this trip a lot since i helped plan this trip with my dad's friends family. I will get to the TR another day, right now I have to answer some questions below and show some more pics from my TR.

So I'm guessing this is of the Beast's castle from F'land? Looks pretty cool so far!

You are right Allison. I had to use my long lens to get castle. It was so neat to see it in person after seeing it on these different websites.


From far away the FLE looks very distance with the castle up on the ridge.

It does look long when you look at it Matt.


Here are some pics from my trip. Most of these were the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. I'm just going to show a couple since I have to put them on my TR.

I can't believe the wait time for ST was only 20 minutes at DHS compare to about 30+ minute wait at DL. Why is it so short of a wait time at DHS while DL can be up to 50+ minute wait? We rode it a few times during the trip and we were all excited. The lowest I have seen was at 10 minutes.
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I will get back to the WDW TR after I finish my DL TR from last month.

[skiingfast]

Two TRs at once. Don't forget anything.

[rentayenta]

Glad I found this. Going to catch up. :thumbsup2

[franandaj]

With our current plans, it looks like we won't be back to WDW at Christmas until 2014, we were planning 2012, but with the postponement of our 2011 trip and the DIS gamers meet in 2013 during October, we'll have to look towards 2014 for a Christmas trip. The Osborne lights look so cool. I can't wait to see them in person!

[mvf-m11c]

Two TRs at once. Don't forget anything.

Yup two TR at once and it is crazy to try and remember everything. So I will do the DL first before I get more into the WDW TR.


Glad I found this. Going to catch up. :thumbsup2

Glad that you are here. I need to check your DL TR which is almost being done so I will stop by.


With our current plans, it looks like we won't be back to WDW at Christmas until 2014, we were planning 2012, but with the postponement of our 2011 trip and the DIS gamers meet in 2013 during October, we'll have to look towards 2014 for a Christmas trip. The Osborne lights look so cool. I can't wait to see them in person!

At least the new Fantasyland expansion should be done and I would guess that it will be decorated during the Holiday season which will be great. You got to see the Osborne Family lights in person and see how amazing it is. It is not the same when you see it on video and in person.

The first installment of my WDW TR is coming up shortly.

[mvf-m11c]

On that Friday morning the 9th, my dad, my DB and I left our house to Sacramento International Airport at 5am. I don’t like getting up really early in the morning, but this was a requirement so we can get to Orlando early that night. Our first flight is to LAX where we will meet up with my dads friend.

We left Sacramento around 7am and on our way to LAX.

We got to LAX around 8am and we met up with my dad’s friend family and we took the same flight together to Orlando. But first we had to go to Denver first and then to Orlando. It was a pain to fly three times that day, but it didn’t bother me at all.

The time we got to Orlando International Airport was around 6pm eastern time which was great from flying three times that day. The first thing we did was to get our luggage and get our cars. My dad accidentally got two cars instead on one because he forgot to cancel one of the dealerships when the trip was coming closer. So I was able to get a car for myself and it did made a big difference. But I will talk about that later on.

My family had two cars while my dad’s friend family had one car so in total we had three cars to use during this trip. We left the airport and we were on our way to the Sheraton Vistana Resort. I have stayed at the Sheraton Vistana Resort last year and it was great resort. I hope that my family and my dad’s friend family will like the place. But I can tell that they will like it a lot.

We got to the Sheraton Vistana Resort around 7pm and we got to check-in. This time we will be staying at the Cascade area while my DA and I stayed at the Spa area last year. I maybe need to get a map of where it was, but I will try to show it later on. The good thing is that my dad’s friend family was right next to us so we could walk on over to the room.

We head on over to the room and they were all impressed with the room. This time the room was completely different from the last one. It did have a master bedroom, two double bedroom, living room, a kitchen, washer & dryer, plus the two bathroom which was a master and standard bathroom. The design was way different from the one that I stayed last year. I am sorry that I didn’t have any pics until we left that day. So I might have to show them on the website.

When we got settled in, we need some supplies so we head on out of the resort and went to Wal Mart. It was nice to go to a store and get some supplies for our trip.

After getting our supplies at Wal Mart, we went to dinner and we decided to eat at Steak N’ Shake. It is a fast food restaurant that is only on the east side so I was happy to have lunch there as well as my dad. They really enjoyed the food at Steak N’ Shake and it was getting late so we head on back to the Sheraton Vistana Resort.

We got back to the resort and we decided to call it for the night. It was a long day of transferring flights and getting supplies that night. But it was good to have those products during the trip since we were hungry or thirsty while we were waiting at the room.


Day 1 – December 10, 2011 – Part 1

That Saturday morning everyone was still sleeping and I told my dad that I was going to the parks that morning. But my dad and my DB decided to go shopping that morning and my dad’s friend family was planning on going to Universal Orlando to see the Wizardy World of Harry Potter since they have a three day ticket. This is where the extra car comes into play since I can drive to the parks without using the other car.

So I head on out of the Sheraton Vistana Resort and I chose to go to the MK as the first park that day. I knew that going to the MK that day will be really busy when I first checked it out on Touring Plans and said to be a 9/10. So the first few hours will have to be really quick before the crowds come in.

I got to the Transportation and Ticket parking lot around 7:45am that morning and was close to ticket center. At least there weren’t too many people but I knew that I wouldn’t make the rope drop.
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I went on the express monorail since it goes straight towards the MK instead of the resort line which goes to the hotels. I always like going on the resort line since I like to stop and go in the Contemporary, Polynesian, and Grand Floridian.

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Monorail Teal on the Resort line
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It took awhile for the next monorail on the express line to show up so I waited until another monorail showed up on the resort line.
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This was not Monorail Orange since it doesn’t have the white deltas. It was actually Monorail Coral since I used the new one touch picture and you can see from the background that it was grey.

I got on the express monorail line which was Silver. Now I was back at the MK after a year long wait and was great to be outside the turnstiles.
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Now at the front of the MS station and finding all the Christmas decorations around MS. The front entrance of MS at the MK and DL are completely different and the MK station is more decorated then DL MS station.
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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6487574387_f94a839fc0_z.jpg

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I head on inside MS on the left hand side which is where City Hall is located.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7154/6487598085_2b063c1bc0_z.jpg

Inside the park, it was not that crowded that morning which is a good sign since I can get some pics of the Holiday decorations.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7014/6487601407_8c9dbb1654_z.jpg

The Chamber of Commerce building
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Now the wreaths on the building
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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6487614845_66e3e5f706_z.jpg

MS Town Square
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6487618549_76afc5ff40_z.jpg

Candy Cane Garden which is also a meet and greet area for Santa
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6487622061_ab128c386d_z.jpg

City Hall with its decorations
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6487624975_3b3e042f00_z.jpg

It was already 8:15am that morning
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6487627575_233f1cbfdd_z.jpg

The Christmas tree at Town Square
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7157/6487629821_06784830a6_z.jpg

Engine Co. 71 Firehouse with the decorations
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I just kept going around Town Square to get a lot of pics and I will head on over to the Hub.

That’s it for this post since I am out of posts. I will get back to the post until I finish my DL TR from last month.

[tksbaskets]

Great pictures Bret! The MK doesn't look too crowded this day. How was the temperature while you were there?

TK

[Sherry E]

I had to get myself subscribed here because these TR's are next to impossible to find on the WDW side of the board when there are so many of them happening at one time and moving down the forum page at lightning speed!

Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to move a thread from one forum to another on the WDW side of town but, if I am not mistaken, I think you have to send a PM to the moderator of this Pre-TR forum and ask him/her to move your thread or close a thread.

OR, since they have very specific forums for Pre-TR's, active TR's and completed TR's on this side, you could also just copy and paste all the actual TR stuff you have posted here into a new TR thread in the main TR section. In other words, ask them to close this Pre-TR thread out and then start the actual active TR in their designated TR section with the pictures, etc., you have already posted here.

I am always fascinated to see the WDW decorations since I am so familiar with DLR and its holiday celebration. I always come to the same conclusion - there are specific things or items at WDW that are better, and then there are certain things I like better at DLR. I like the wreaths on Main Street at the MK in WDW, for example. But some of the actual Christmas trees I prefer at DLR. I like the topiaries at WDW. I actually kind of like the look of our DLR Winter Castle at night better than the one at WDW (I just like the 'glow and sparkle' factor better on our Castle - don't kill me, WDW veterans!).

Anyway, thanks for putting in a plug for the Christmas Superthread, Bret, and for the Tree Quest and Wreath Quest. Between all of the hotels at WDW, as well as the 4 parks and the shops, restaurants, etc., a Tree Quest and Wreath Quest around WDW would be absolutely exhausting and daunting. It's tiring enough to take on at DLR! But if I ever get to go to WDW for the holidays, I will surely attempt the Quests even if I pass out in the process!:rotfl2:

[rentayenta]

Love your photos. They are making me very excited to return to WDW next October. :woohoo: We haven't been since May 2009. :faint: Keep them coming. :thumbsup2

[mvf-m11c]

Great pictures Bret! The MK doesn't look too crowded this day. How was the temperature while you were there?

TK

Thank you TK. The MK didn't look crowded that morning, but later on it was crazy. I will tell you about that later on during the TR. The weather was so great that morning. It was close to the mid 60s that morning. I wish I was still back in Florida since it is really cold here in Cal.


I had to get myself subscribed here because these TR's are next to impossible to find on the WDW side of the board when there are so many of them happening at one time and moving down the forum page at lightning speed!

Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to move a thread from one forum to another on the WDW side of town but, if I am not mistaken, I think you have to send a PM to the moderator of this Pre-TR forum and ask him/her to move your thread or close a thread.

OR, since they have very specific forums for Pre-TR's, active TR's and completed TR's on this side, you could also just copy and paste all the actual TR stuff you have posted here into a new TR thread in the main TR section. In other words, ask them to close this Pre-TR thread out and then start the actual active TR in their designated TR section with the pictures, etc., you have already posted here.

I am always fascinated to see the WDW decorations since I am so familiar with DLR and its holiday celebration. I always come to the same conclusion - there are specific things or items at WDW that are better, and then there are certain things I like better at DLR. I like the wreaths on Main Street at the MK in WDW, for example. But some of the actual Christmas trees I prefer at DLR. I like the topiaries at WDW. I actually kind of like the look of our DLR Winter Castle at night better than the one at WDW (I just like the 'glow and sparkle' factor better on our Castle - don't kill me, WDW veterans!).

Anyway, thanks for putting in a plug for the Christmas Superthread, Bret, and for the Tree Quest and Wreath Quest. Between all of the hotels at WDW, as well as the 4 parks and the shops, restaurants, etc., a Tree Quest and Wreath Quest around WDW would be absolutely exhausting and daunting. It's tiring enough to take on at DLR! But if I ever get to go to WDW for the holidays, I will surely attempt the Quests even if I pass out in the process!:rotfl2:

No kidding Sherry that these TRs on the WDW side are so hard to find if no one posts after a few days then the ones on the DL side. Luckily I have my WDW thread on my signature below so I could go to it and don't have to look for it.

I did send a pm to the moderators on the WDW side and ask them to move my pre-TR to the TR threads.

You are correct about that Sherry about the Holiday decorations at the DLR and WDW. There are a lot of different Holiday decorations that are different compare to DL and WDW. I compare DL and the MK at WDW is that the wreaths on the lamp posts at the MK are very nice compare to our DL which you can see a Mickey shape wreath. The trees are very nice at DL compare to WDW. The topiaries are so amazing. I will have topiaries up shortly on my TR. And for the castle which is the best is still SB Castle with all those different Holiday decorations then Cinderella Castle. Cinderella Castle is great with the icicles at night. SB Castle have the wreath, garlands and icicles of course. But I also like the snow on the turrets of the castle which is a great picture to take during the daytime.

You are welcome for putting a link to the DLR Christmas Superthread. The DLR is so amazing during the Holiday season as well as WDW. It would be almost impossible to get every tree and wreath at WDW. DL is a lot and it was fun to find as many trees and wreaths during my TR. So stay tune for more trees and wreaths at WDW.


Love your photos. They are making me very excited to return to WDW next October. :woohoo: We haven't been since May 2009. :faint: Keep them coming. :thumbsup2

Thank you. I hope that you and your family have a great trip to WDW next month at WDW during the Halloween season. That is the next time I want to go back to WDW and see the Halloween decorations.

I will have the next update up tonight before I head to bed.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – December 10, 2011 – Part 2

I left off at MS Town Square getting some pictures of the Christmas decorations and now I am about to head on over to the Hub. But before I do that I had to get the Holiday decorations on the MS buildings. Luckily, the park wasn’t that crowded that morning, but I knew that it will be really busy with all these people later that afternoon. So I had to go through the MK as fast as I can before more people come in the park.

Now let’s get back to the TR. While I was taking pictures of MS Town Square, the Emporium store which is the main store just like DL have some great window display of Scrooge. One of the window displays was blocked that day but I did get it later on during my trip which will be another time.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6487643067_faafbc1aaa_z.jpg

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After getting the window displays at the Emporium, now it was time to get all those buildings down on MS which are very nice to look. There were a lot of wreaths down MS.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6487648881_b170a8706d_z.jpg

The garlands on MS are very nice with the candle in the center of the wreath.
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The Mickey shape wreaths are very nice on the lamp posts
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7032/6487678101_7e8c3fbeca_z.jpg

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Plaza Ice Cream Parlor with a large wreath on the sign
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6487689249_23e1731582_z.jpg

There was a mini show going right by the horse drawn trolley
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6487691805_18b41c3462_z.jpg

Now was around the Hub. The Hub at the MK is way bigger then DL and doesn’t have too many trees which is a good thing to see Cinderella castle.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7034/6487694599_1c9cf6ecc4_z.jpg

Some plants and trees with nice Christmas red colors
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6487697149_e5a218bc3f_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/6487700045_c706d2ef42_z.jpg

Here is one of the new one touch color pictures that is feature on my Nikon camera which is amazing to get one color and the rest grey.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6487703235_ba690cc321_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7169/6487705883_241743ab4c_z.jpg

Partners statue is always something I like to look at every time I am at the MK
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6487710951_6e81aee6e4_z.jpg

Cinderella Castle
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7142/6487717599_23a24ab4b2_z.jpg

Cinderella Castle with only blue color
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6487761643_a83b8d1113_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7025/6487770567_e44f1c8417_z.jpg

After getting some pictures around the Hub, I went on over to Tomorrowland. On the way, there were a Mickey and Minnie topiary which is a great picture.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7022/6487773365_ebe4ebdfc5_z.jpg

That’s it for this post and I will get back to my adventures.

[Moodyzblu]

Wow .. loving all the great pics !! :love:

Love the fact that there was NO crowd at MK ! The Christmas decorations are amazing too .. just beautiful !

Thankyou so much for sharing your vacation with us ! :thumbsup2

[tksbaskets]

Hi Bret,
I'm glad you got pictures when it wasn't super crowded. LOVED the pictures of Mickey's Christmas Carol displays. I've never seen them.

Your camera color feature is really fun! WDW will keep you busy with your wreath and tree quest that's for sure!

TK

[mvf-m11c]

Wow .. loving all the great pics !! :love:

Love the fact that there was NO crowd at MK ! The Christmas decorations are amazing too .. just beautiful !

Thankyou so much for sharing your vacation with us ! :thumbsup2

Thank you Michelle.

It was nice to see the MK not that crowded that morning.

Your welcome. Glad that you are enjoying all the pictures.


Hi Bret,
I'm glad you got pictures when it wasn't super crowded. LOVED the pictures of Mickey's Christmas Carol displays. I've never seen them.

Your camera color feature is really fun! WDW will keep you busy with your wreath and tree quest that's for sure!

TK

It was nice to get some pictures when it wasn't crowded. The Mickey's Christmas Carol window displays were amazing. The characters in the display also moved a little bit. So it made it even more amazing.

WDW will definitely keep me busy all week for looking wreaths and trees during the trip.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – December 10, 2011 – Part 3

After taking a lot of pics around the Hub, it was time to head on over to TL and get some Christmas decorations. TL at the MK is so amazing with all that land where DL TL is so all packed in. I was really looking forward to riding the Peoplemover the most at TL.

On the way over to TL, I had to get another great pic of Cinderella Castle.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6487780215_8d4ce262e2_z.jpg

At least TL wasn’t that crowded that morning and was an easy walk
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7143/6487778283_7d371b1e24_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7003/6487782169_2f362bab81_z.jpg

I wish the Astro Orbiter at DL is back at the top where it used to be
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6487783869_bc132bd0a0_z.jpg

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I head on over to SM and see what the wait time was
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Space Mountain wait time was only 10 minutes which is short that morning. I didn’t go in since I was looking around the park.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7154/6487791487_f3ddd1d553_z.jpg

Here is another camera feature with green in the picture
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6487792889_7a99f4ec75_z.jpg

After looking at Space Mountain, I wanted to see the construction site of the new FL so I head on over there while I was on the back side of TL.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6487795123_deac58e0e8_z.jpg

TL stage with trees and wreaths. Do I see Stitch hugging Chip over there
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When I was about to pass Had Hatter Tea Cups, I saw that the old entrance to Mickey’s Toontown Fair was closed off for the FLE. It was weird to see it closed off. But I was really excited when the new land is completed in a few years.
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Now I was in FL and see that the construction was still going on that morning.
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Beast Castle looks very nice
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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7143/6487838055_37f8766f47_z.jpg

Eric’s castle is still under construction
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7150/6487839527_6ef30c1c5e_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7028/6487844593_d3f2cddb33_z.jpg

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7156/6487841063_623fd82e9d_z.jpg

Be Our Guests Restaurant sign talking about the restaurant.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7012/6487848577_9656d1b546_z.jpg

New FL Expansion billboard which we see a lot
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7160/6487860747_11f6bf0c59_z.jpg

That’s it for now and I will get back to more of my adventures on the first day at WDW.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – December 10, 2011 – Part 4

After getting pictures of the construction site at the new Fantasyland, I went around FL to find any Christmas decorations. At least the back side of FL was nice and quiet as well as short wait times for the rides.

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Right by Dumbo is the billboard for Belle’s house
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PP and IASW were short wait times
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When I left FL I saw that the old building for the former Skyway was gone. It was now just a stroller parking area right by PP and IASW. There were some Christmas wreaths around the area.

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Now in Liberty Square
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It was also quiet at LS
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HM at the MK
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The Liberty Tree Tavern restaurant
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Liberty Belle at the dock
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Now in Frontierland which was quiet that morning. Froniterland has a better theme then DL.

The Frontier Trading Post store is still open but the outside is under construction
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7151/6487907767_fcbb02c6ac_z.jpg

It was nice to see the Country Bear Jamboree at the MK. I didn’t go inside, but was planning on seeing it during my trip. I was not going to ride it that morning. I do miss the CBJ at DL which is the Winnie the Pooh ride at DL.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7160/6487909353_1668afb218_z.jpg

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I was now in the area by BTMRR, Frontierland RR station and Splash Mountain. BTMRR wait time was around 10 minutes which was short that morning and Splash was a walk on.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7021/6487918937_9c7b6b0f52_z.jpg

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I head on over to Adventureland but that will be another post. That’s it for tonight and will be back tomorrow.

[tksbaskets]

Hi Bret,
I still think your camera color feature ROCKS! :thumbsup2 Liberty Tree Tavern is one of our favorite places to dine at MK. We eat there each time we visit. It used to host a character meal with the characters dressed in colonial garb. They don't have that any more. Here is a flashback photo:

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z230/tksbaskets/IMG_7916.jpg

Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

TK

[mvf-m11c]

Hi Bret,
I still think your camera color feature ROCKS! :thumbsup2 Liberty Tree Tavern is one of our favorite places to dine at MK. We eat there each time we visit. It used to host a character meal with the characters dressed in colonial garb. They don't have that any more. Here is a flashback photo:

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z230/tksbaskets/IMG_7916.jpg

Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

TK

Thank you TK. I have never eaten at the Liberty Tree Tavern and have been interested over the years. But we just barely eat at any of the restaurants on the property.

That is a very nice photo at the LTT and thank you for telling me about your experience at the restaurant.


Day 1 – December 10, 2011 – Part 5

After getting some pics around Frontierland, I now on my way towards Adventureland. It was really quiet at Frontierland and it was nice to go on some rides without waiting in the long lines.

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POTC is a great ride, but it is no where near DL where you have the Blue Bayou restaurant. It was already 9am and I knew that the crowd level at the MK was starting to pick up.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7165/6487930949_f7b34dd605_z.jpg

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Swiss Family Treehouse. I miss the old Swiss Family Treehouse at DL which is Tarzan’s Treehouse
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Now leaving Adventureland and now back in Liberty Square and looking at the Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe which has a lot of great Christmas merchandise from ornaments, hats, etc. There were a lot of wreaths and garlands for the wreath quest.

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After getting pics around Liberty Square, I head on back to the Hub.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7152/6488796347_0168cfc9e8_z.jpg

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At least it wasn’t that crowded at the Hub around 9am.
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One touch with red color of the flowers at the Hub
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I head on back down to MS and get some more pictures of the Christmas decorations. But on the way back to Town Square, the park started to pick up with more and more people coming in the park. So that nice quiet morning is almost over.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6488829051_d725254e06_z.jpg

Another one touch with blue on MS
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One touch color with red right by the Plaza Ice Cream Parlor
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That’s it for tonight and I will be back tomorrow with more pics from MS.

[the_princess]

:surfweb:

[tksbaskets]

So fun!! Camera envy here.... ;)

[Moodyzblu]

More amazing photos ! :thumbsup2
The new castle looks so cool .. it's been fun watching it "grow" .. can't wait until it all finished ! :banana:

[mvf-m11c]

:surfweb:

Thank you Stephanie for coming along.


So fun!! Camera envy here.... ;)

Thanks TK


More amazing photos ! :thumbsup2
The new castle looks so cool .. it's been fun watching it "grow" .. can't wait until it all finished ! :banana:

Thank you Michelle.

The next installment should be up shortly. So stay tune.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – December 10, 2011 – Part 6

I left off around MS looking for any Christmas decorations. Now while I was walking down, I had to get the window displays which are great to find any Christmas decorations.

Some of the pics were bad since the glare from the sunlight really messed up the pictures.

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I didn’t get all of them since most of the window displays were glary that morning. So I walked back down towards MS Town Square.

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MS Town Square Theater
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MS RR Station
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After getting some pics around MS Town Square, I wanted to go on one of my favorite rides at the MK which is the Walt Disney World Railroad. I always have to ride the WDW RR since I am a big fan of trains. It was also going to be interesting to see what MTT Fair is like during the construction. So it was exciting to ride the train.

The train finally arrived at the station. The train was the Roy O. Disney #4 Steam engine along with Excursion Car set #3. I was surprise to see the Roy O. Disney with the yellow Excursion car set #3 which is actually the Roger E. Broggie #3 steam engine car set. The Roy O. Disney Excursion car set is #4 and blue. It didn’t matter since it was nice to see the Roy O. Disney.

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I like watching at the Turnstiles and the monorail at the front of MS.
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Now heading on over to Frontierland station.
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When we got to Frontierland, I decided to stay on board the WDW RR and go back to MS station. MTT Fair station was closed due to the FL expansion. So it will be interesting to see what MTT is like with all those walls covers.

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The train left the Frontierland station and on our way to MTT station
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BTMRR side track where the barn to house the trains is across from the WDW RR tracks.
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BTMRR
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That’s it for now since I am out of posts, but I will be back later tonight with more from the WDW RR.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – December 10, 2011 – Part 7

I left off riding the WDW RR and we just passed the Indian village and still continuing on our destination towards the MTT Fair RR station.

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You are wondering what this picture is, I was trying to get a picture of the backside of the new FL.
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The side track where they put the engines after the park is closed. For my old readers that followed my last year WDW TR, my DA and I got to do the Steam Engine Tour. I really wanted to do that Tour again. Here is the link when we did the Tour last year. Steam Engine Tour

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We arrived at MTT Fair Station and there were a lot of covers. I barely see any of the construction, but it was nice to see something different at the MK.
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We had to wait at the station since the Roy O. Disney was taking on water.

Here is another one touch color with only yellow
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We left the station and back towards MS station. The walkway that connects TL and MTT Fair is closed due to the construction site.
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Now back at MS station.
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I got off the Roy O. Disney and now back at MS TS and taking more pictures of the Christmas decorations.
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One touch color with red on the Toy Soldiers
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It started to get cloudy that day and I can tell it can rain that day.
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Window Displays of Mickey and Minnie by the Emporium store
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It was already 10:08am and the crowd level is getting busier
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Now here is a three touch picture with red, yellow and green
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Back at the Hub.
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That’s it for now and I will be back with more later.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – December 10, 2011 – Part 8

After passing the MS stores, I was back in the Hub. The park is getting busier that day with more people coming in. I was thinking of leaving the MK that morning since it was picking up with more people, but I decided to just go around the park a little bit more until it was really busy.

Red and yellow color
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Just color blue
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I head on back to TL, but on the way I had to get a picture of the topiaries of Mickey and Minnie.

Just green color
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It was getting busier at TL
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The wait time at BLSR was already at 20+ minute wait
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After going around TL, I head on over back to FL.
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Topiary of Alice, Mad Matter and March Hare
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Now back in FL and it is way busier then this morning.
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Dumbo is crowded like always
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PP was now at 30+ minute wait while IASW at 10 minute wait time
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Now going in Liberty Square
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Now I am on my way towards Frontierland
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Splash Mountain
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That’s it for now and I will be back with more on that Saturday morning.

[skiingfast]

That was a good shot to catch of the BTMRR maintanance line. I'm glad you got one ride in that morning.

[Moodyzblu]

Thanks for more great pictures !! I love seeing the World in all it's holiday splendor. :santa:

We'll actually be there for Easter weekend .. wonder if they do anything special as far as deco ? Guess we'll find out !

[mvf-m11c]

That was a good shot to catch of the BTMRR maintanance line. I'm glad you got one ride in that morning.

Thank you Matt. I could have easily used a lot of my time that morning to ride rides, but I wanted to get some pictures of each land without any people so it was nice to ride the WDW RR.


Thanks for more great pictures !! I love seeing the World in all it's holiday splendor. :santa:

We'll actually be there for Easter weekend .. wonder if they do anything special as far as deco ? Guess we'll find out !

Thank you Michelle and glad you enjoyed all the pictures from the MK that morning.

It will be nice to see some Easter decorations at WDW. I know that DL barely puts up some Easter decorations at the DLR. So I would assume that there will be some Easter decorations at WDW.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – December 10, 2011 – Part 9

It was almost time for me to head on out of the park since it was getting busy. So I went back down towards Adventureland. Some of the rides at Adventureland are getting longer. POTC had a line outside the building.

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While I was in Adventureland, I haven’t had any thing to eat so I head on over to the Aloha Isle to get a Dole Whip. I am so impressed of how many flavor choices they have here at the MK compared to DL Tiki Juice Bar stand where they only have pineapple. They had vanilla and orange flavors which is something I wanted to try. But I wanted to compare MK pineapple Dole whip to DL Tiki Juice Bar. It is just like the one back home at DL so good and glad I got one that Saturday afternoon.

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After that, I decided to leave the park since it started to pick up with more and more people coming in.

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When I was walking down MS by the stores, “Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party” parade was going on. I remember seeing this parade the last few years and it is just like the former DL “A Street Party” parade. But the floats are way better design then DL versions.
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After the mini parade was over, I head on over to the Emporium to look at the Holiday merchandise. Luckily it wasn’t that crowded that afternoon so I just peaked in and see what is there. Just like at DL, the merchandise is just like the same at DL. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t too many different Christmas merchandise at the MK. But I will do more shopping later on.

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I left the store and got a few more pics around TS until I left the park.
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One touch red color
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I went on top of MS station facing MS and get some nice pics from the top.
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There were long queues for the character meet and greets.
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Christmas trees right by the entrance to the WDW RR. There were two but I only got one of them.
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I’m out of pictures for this post so I will get back to the TR shortly.

[mvf-m11c]

Merry Christmas to everyone, now is time to get back to the TR.

Day 1 – December 10, 2011 – Part 10

After getting some pics of the Holiday decorations around MS, it was time to leave the park and head back to the Sheraton Vistana Resort. On the way out, it was getting busy so it was a perfect time to leave the MK.

On the way out of the MK, the turnstiles were picking up with more and more people so it was great to leave the park when it got worse.

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I went back on the Express Monorail track to head back to the Transportation and Ticket Center.

Monorail Gold approaching the station
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Monorail Teal approaching the station when I left
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After getting off monorail gold at the T&TC, I head on back to my car and went back to the Sheraton Vistana Resort.

I got back around 1pm and my dad and my DB were at the room. So we decided to head on out for lunch. We went to the Orlando outlet mall to do some shopping. My dad and my DB went there earlier during that morning and decided to go back to do some last minute shopping.

So we head on over to the Orlando Outlet Mall which is right by Highway 4 just about one mile from our hotel and did some shopping and dining at the food court. We bought a lot of different stuff at the stores. I bought a few shoes and shorts since I didn’t pack too many of them. So it was nice to go to the Outlet Mall and get some items during my trip.

We got back around 4pm and my DB and dad decided to wait for my dad’s friend family to go and do some shopping around Orlando. I decided to go back to the park since I have the Premier AP.

So I parted ways with my dad and my DB that Saturday night and head on over to DHS. I knew that the MK would be really busy since the crowd levels were very high that morning. I really wanted to see Wishes and DEP, but the crowds made my decision easy to avoid the MK. So I chose DHS that night.

When I got to DHS that night, the parking lot was full, but I got a spot close to the bus stop.

I was here to see the Osborne Family Lights. I was very exciting to see the Osborne lights and spend more time then last year when my DA and I seen the Osborne Lights.

DHS Christmas tree outside the turnstile
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When I went through DHS turnstile, it just looks like DCA new turnstile which opened this summer.
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I entered the park and the first thing I did was head on over to Streets of America to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. I had to get some trees and different decorations around the area.

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The park wasn’t that bad that night, but I knew at the Streets of America will be crowded
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The CMs were not letting any guests to enter SoA right by the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater restaurant area since that area is a exit area. So I had to walk all the way towards the Muppet theme land area.

When I passed Star Tours, I was completely surprised to see the stand-by wait time only 20 minutes. At DL the wait time is almost to 30-50 minute wait time at night. So I was wondering why the wait time at DHS ST is shorter then DL.
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More Christmas lights around Muppet theme area
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I was almost close to the SoA and see the Osborne Lights
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Now I can see the lights completely. They area so amazing just like last year, but this year was so special since I am paying more attention to them then last year. I couldn’t enter on this side since there was a rope off area and I had to go all the way towards the area of Light, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show area. It was so busy around the area and it was hard to walk through.

I was in this area for awhile since I was videotaping and taking pictures of the lights.

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After videotaping and taking pictures of the side of the Osborne lights, I head on over towards the area close the LMAESS area where the giant light up earth is located

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That’s it for this post and I will be back with more from DHS and the Osborne Family lights.

[Moodyzblu]

Wow .. the pics of Osborne lights came out fantastic ! It's been SO long since I've seen them .. I plan on getting there next Dec for sure !

Thanks for sharing ! :thumbsup2

[skiingfast]

I found a couple HMs in the lights. I wonder if I'll see more in the coming pictures.

[mvf-m11c]

Wow .. the pics of Osborne lights came out fantastic ! It's been SO long since I've seen them .. I plan on getting there next Dec for sure !

Thanks for sharing ! :thumbsup2

Thank you Michele. The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights is so amazing and the lights react to the music which makes it even more amazing. I hope that you have a great time at WDW next year during the Holiday season.


I found a couple HMs in the lights. I wonder if I'll see more in the coming pictures.

I heard that there were over 40 hidden Mickey's on the Osborne Lights. So keep your eye on the lights.

Thanks Matt.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 1 – December 10, 2011 – Part 11

Here are more pics from “The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights”. I will let the pics talk about my TR then my words on my TR.

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I took some pics and videotape right by the track of the Studio Backlot Tour
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After taking some picks at the end of the street, I went on inside through the menace crowds. Boy it was really crowded that night, but it was worth seeing it over and over during the Holiday season.

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A basketball hoop with lights in the alley
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Now I was on the other side of the Streets of America
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One touch colors of green and blue
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Blue only
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That’s it for now and I will have more up later.

[jc040404]

Gorgeous pictures!! We did MK that same morning, with DHS for the lights in the evening. I thought it was a great park day, despite how the crowds picked up at MK. Wasn't the morning heavenly? :)

Loving your TR and can't wait to see more of these beautiful pictures. :thumbsup2

[mvf-m11c]

Gorgeous pictures!! We did MK that same morning, with DHS for the lights in the evening. I thought it was a great park day, despite how the crowds picked up at MK. Wasn't the morning heavenly? :)

Loving your TR and can't wait to see more of these beautiful pictures. :thumbsup2

Thank you Jessica. I agree with you that going to the MK during that Saturday morning was a good idea of getting some good pics and getting on rides while the crowds were low that morning. It was so great to have the MK quiet that morning and leave when it started to pick up. I really wanted to stay longer at the MK that afternoon, but I knew the MK would be really like a zoo that day.

Your welcome and thank you for coming along. :)


Day 1 – December 10, 2011 – Part 12

Now back to more pics from the Osborne Family Lights. I must have taken about over 100 pics that night, but I only selected a few from my collection.

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On the banners tells how many hidden Mickeys are on the Osborne Family Lights.
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After getting some pics from the Osborne Lights I thought it was time to call it for the night since I must have spent almost 2 hours in the Streets of America. It was really fun to spend most of my time at the Streets of America during the Osborne Family Lights.

It was around the time when the park was about to close so I head on out of the park. On the way out of the park, I was still trying to find any trees or wreaths at DHS so I still have to get some. When the park was about to close around 10pm it was still busy that night and I was tired after a long day at the MK and DHS that night.

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I got some nice pics of the window displays with some Holiday decorations.
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When I was about to exit the park, it seemed like everyone is leaving the same time as me.
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I got out of the park around 9:50pm and head on back to my car which is right by the bus loading area. Glad that my car was close to the turnstiles so I didn’t have to ride the tram.

I got out of DHS and back to the Sheraton Vistana Resort. I got back around 10:10pm that night and called it for the night.

It was fun to do the MK that morning and got to do DHS that night. I was so amazed at the Osborne Family Lights and spent a lot of my time that night. I believed I only rode one ride that whole day which is the WDW RR. I was hoping that my group would go with me at the parks that night, but they had other things to do. Glad I have the Premier AP so I can enter the park anytime I want to.

Can’t wait to get started on the next post tomorrow so I will be back tomorrow.

[tksbaskets]

Bret you got some wonderful photos of the Osborn Family Lights. What an action packed day.

My family is looking forward to seeing the changes to Star Tours. Too bad the wait is long at DL. We'll have to do that first thing in the morning!

Looking forward to Day 2 of your trip report! popcorn::

TK

[Moodyzblu]

Really nice pics ! Love all the lights and music .. it really gets you in the spirit of the holidays. :santa:

[mvf-m11c]

Bret you got some wonderful photos of the Osborn Family Lights. What an action packed day.

My family is looking forward to seeing the changes to Star Tours. Too bad the wait is long at DL. We'll have to do that first thing in the morning!

Looking forward to Day 2 of your trip report! popcorn::

TK

Thank you TK. It was really busy that day. That was the busiest day out of all the days I been to WDW that week. I'm glad that I got to do a lot of picture taking that day.

I was really surprise to see ST wait time at DHS way shorter then DL. I just don't know why DHS wait time was shorter then DL wait time. You will love ST that day and hope you don't have to wait in those long lines. Remember to get a FP runner to get the FPs that morning and if the wait time is short, you should go on first thing. I will look forward to reading your TR when you get back. Hopefully you can do a update during your trip.

Day 2 will be up shortly.


Really nice pics ! Love all the lights and music .. it really gets you in the spirit of the holidays. :santa:

Thank you Michelle. The Christmas season is a very special Holiday and makes the parks even more excited to visit.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – December 11, 2011 – Part 1

Now it time to get to day three of our trip to WDW. I said that it is day 3 of being in Florida while being in day 2 at the parks. Not only this is going to be a fun day with everyone together, but it was my birthday. I have now turned 30 on December 11 and can’t wait to go to the parks and enjoy it with everyone. Let’s get started with the trip report on Sunday December 11, 2011.

We all got up around 9am since we were all tired from Saturday. I went to DHS that Saturday night while everyone went to dinner off-site. I told everyone that we should get to the park early since we can do a lot of rides and shows, but everyone was tired from the other night so we waited until 11am that Sunday morning. I didn’t like to leave that later in the morning, but I have to comply with everyone.

So we left around 11am and took our two rental cars to AK. I have chosen AK since my dad’s friend family have never been there and want to see what it is like. So we had on over to AK as our first day together.

We got at the AK parking lot around 11:15am and now on our way to the turnstiles. We took the tram to the front entrance since we were quite a long way to the turnstile.

We got to the front entrance and the first thing we saw was the big Christmas tree with all these different animals.
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So we head on in the park, before we did that I had to get a few more pics of the Holiday decorations around the turnstiles.
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Before we got inside the park, my dad’s friend wife and I had to go inside Guest Relations to get birthday pins. Here birthday was a few days ago while my birthday is today.

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We enter the turnstiles and now in AK Oasis. The first thing we did was that everyone wanted to ride Expedition Everest. So we walked on over. But I had to get a few pics of the animals around the area. When I looked at touring plans app on my Android phone and saw that it was only a 15 minute wait I just couldn’t believe what I have saw. I thought it would be at least 30 minute wait at this time.

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Now at Discovery Island and the first thing we saw was the Tree of Life. It is so amazing seeing the Tree of Life.
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We stayed at Discovery Island until everyone got good pics of the Tree of Life.
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After getting some pics we head on over towards the east side of AK that leads to DinoLand USA.
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Dug and Russell meet and greet area
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Instead of going towards DinoLand USA, we went the left side and towards Asia.
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We got to Expedition Everest and the first thing we saw that the wait time was at 15 minutes. It was really short, but I told them that we should get FP for EE and come back later. So we got our FPs and the next land we head to on the way was Africa so we can ride Kilimanjaro Safari. Good thing that is KS was only 10 minute wait time.
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Now on our way to Africa and KS
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Did you see something moving?
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That’s it for now and I will be back with more tomorrow from AK.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – December 11, 2011 – Part 2

Now we were entering Africa and on our way towards Kilimanjaro Safari. It was a little busy around Africa since it was close to lunch time.

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Over at KS, the ride wait time was only at 10 minutes so it was an easy walk on. It looks like that touring plans app was right again and glad that it wasn’t that bad that Sunday afternoon.
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We walked through the queue of KS and it did take about 10 minutes to get on the ride.
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My group talking about the ride that afternoon
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Here are some pics from KS that I have videotaped with my camera.
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After getting off KS, we head on back to Asia and towards Expedition Everest. But on the way back, I told them that I would go back towards DinoLand USA and get FPs for Dinosaur. I was volunteering to be the FP runner and get the FPs for Dinosaur since we could get new FPs that day. I got everyone FPs and walked all the way towards DinoLand USA while the others walked towards EE at Asia.

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The walkway towards Asia was crowded so I expected the park crowd level to pick up even more.
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Now I was in DinoLand USA heading towards Dinosaur. DinoLand USA had some nice Christmas decorations and I will show more later on.

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That’s it for now and I will be back with more.

[franandaj]

Nice pictures! I'm starting to get excited about my trip in May.

[mvf-m11c]

Nice pictures! I'm starting to get excited about my trip in May.

Thank you Allison. Glad that my TR is getting you and Fran excited for your WDW trip in May. Can't wait to read from your trip in May.


Day 2 – December 11, 2011 – Part 3

Now back to the TR. I left off heading on over to Dinosaur to get Fps for my group since they are at Expedition Everest. I had all of their tickets and used them all to get FPs for Dinosaur. When I saw the wait time, it was already at 15 minutes so this will be fast when we use the FPs.

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After getting all 7 FPs, I head on back to Asia with the rest of my group. On the way, I got some more pics around DinoLand USA.
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I got back to everyone waiting right by EE. I gave them all their tickets and FPs to them and we head on EE. But my dad didn’t wanted to go on so the six of us headed on over to EE. I was really excited to ride EE after when it first opened back in 2006. I rode it the first month of its operation and have been so fun to ride. I didn’t ride it last year since my DA didn’t like to ride fast roller coasters.

Here are some pics from my video camera that I have videotaped. Some are blurry from the video since we were moving fast.
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After we got off EE, we head on over to DinoLand USA to get on Dinosaur since we have the FPs to use. Some of my group wanted to get some pics of EE when we left. Everyone really enjoyed EE so much.

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Back at DinoLand USA
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We head on over to Dinosaur and use our FP. But when we got there, the wait time was now at 5 minutes. What good timing when it was 15 minutes ago when I got the FPs and now only a 5 minute wait. So we didn’t have to use our FPs to get in a fast line.

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Sorry no pictures from Dinosaur the ride since there was no videotaping.

After Dinosaur, our next activity was Finding Nemo The Musical but first we head on over to Primeval Whirl to get FPs.

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When we got the FPs, some of our group has to use the restroom and I just took some more random pics while I was waiting.
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When everyone have used the restroom, we all head on over to the Finding Nemo the Musical. We made it just in time for the 2pm show. We got some good seats
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Here are some pics from the Finding Nemo the Musical.
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After the Finding Nemo the Musical was over, we head on back to DinoLand USA. But that will be another post since I am out of pictures. I will be back tomorrow with more.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 2 – December 11, 2011 – Part 4

After we watch the Finding Nemo the Musical, we head on back to DinoLand USA to use our FPs for Preimeval Whirl. There were quite a lot of people that were exiting the Finding Nemo the Musical so it did take awhile for all of us to head on back to DinoLand USA.

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Now we were back in DinoLand USA and get on Primeval Whirl. I had to get some pics of the Christmas decorations.
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Now in the queue of PW. Trying out the one touch in the queue.
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The adults were together while the kids were all together that includes me, my DB and the girls.
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There was my dad, his friend and wife
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When we got of PW, some of our group wanted to ride TriceraTop Spin. I didn’t want to ride it so I waited on the side.
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After they got off TriceraTop Spin, we head on over to Camp Minnie-Mickey to see the Festival of the Lion King.
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Now at Camp Minnie-Mickey
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When we were in Camp Minnie-Mickey, there were a lot of Christmas trees that I had to get. Each of the Christmas trees around the area are based on a Disney movie from Finding Nemo, Lion King, etc.
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We head on over to the Festival of the Lion King, but that will be another post.

[tksbaskets]

Hi Bret. Your pics of Finding Nemo were top notch :thumbsup2 Expedition Everest is one of our favorite rides at AK. Were you able to see Flights of Wonder?

The pictures you got on Safari were great too. The giraffes were really close.

TK

[mvf-m11c]

Hi Bret. Your pics of Finding Nemo were top notch :thumbsup2 Expedition Everest is one of our favorite rides at AK. Were you able to see Flights of Wonder?

The pictures you got on Safari were great too. The giraffes were really close.

TK

Thank you TK. EE is an excellent ride and I like it how it goes forward, back and forward by switching tracks. I didn't see Flights of Wonder since we were short on time that day.

KS was nice.

[skiingfast]

After reviewing the first section of OSDL found another HM and then two more in the newer photo sections 5 total that I found in your photos so just over 10%, not bad.

[mvf-m11c]

After reviewing the first section of OSDL found another HM and then two more in the newer photo sections 5 total that I found in your photos so just over 10%, not bad.

Very nice Matt. I didn't post all my photos from the Osborne Light so I am very impress that you found 10% of the Hidden Mickey's from my pictures.


Day 2 – December 11, 2011 – Part 5

Now we were on our way towards the Festival of the Lion King which my dad likes the most at AK. It is a very nice show and everyone really enjoyed the show a lot.

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After the show was over, it was really busy leaving the FotLK, so we just waited awhile until it was easy to leave Camp Minnie-Mickey. Got some more pics of the Christmas trees around the area.

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We left Camp Minnie-Mickey and were on our way back to Africa so we can get on the Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. But on the way, Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade was going on so we had to wait around Discovery Island until the parade was over.

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The parade was over and we had to walk through all those people to the Wildlife Express Train station. The girls wanted to go to the Habitat Habit! Area so see the and pet the animals so that was our next stop. At that time, it started to get more and more cloudy so I knew that it was going to rain but when.
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It took us quite awhile to get to the Wildlife Express Train station and took it all the way towards Rafiki’s Planet Watch area. No picture of the train since we were at the back of the station.

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We got off and head on over to the Conversation Station
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When we got to the Conservation Station and towards the Habitat Habit!, it started to rain quite a bit and harder in a few minutes. I knew that it was coming but later that afternoon. Luckily for us we all brought ponchos in my dad friend back pack as well as mine. Mostly everyone didn’t bring a bag so it was a good thing that the two of us brought our bags just in case for something like this would happen.

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The girls went to the HH while the rest of us went inside the Conservation Station. After we all met up back in the building, we head on back to the station and get back to Africa.

When we got back to the station, it was pouring so we had to walk very fast to the store right by the station.
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After we were at the store in Africa, we were about to head on out of the park. But before we do that, we had to stop at the Island Mercantile Store on the way out since some of my group wanted to get some merchandise before we left.

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We got to the store and now looking at the merchandise. That’s it for now and I will be back with more.

[skiingfast]

Ah rain, nothing like rain to complete a trip to Florida.

[Moodyzblu]

Bummer about the rain ! I normally avoid the MJJP .. I can't stand trying to fight the crowds afterwards. :mad:

[mvf-m11c]

Ah rain, nothing like rain to complete a trip to Florida.

You are right about that Matt. The trip cannot be completed without a rainy day at WDW. I was first bummed about it but I this post will tell more about it. So stay tuned in just a awhile.


Bummer about the rain ! I normally avoid the MJJP .. I can't stand trying to fight the crowds afterwards. :mad:

It was a bummer that it was raining very hard at AK, but it was fine. MJJP is nice, but just like you said that i would try to avoid it. But it was bad timing when we were around the area after watching FotLK.


Here is the next update of my TR.

Day 2 – December 11, 2011 – Part 6

I left off at AK while it was pouring that afternoon and we had to run all the way towards the Island Mercantile store which my group wanted to do some shopping before we left. They did find a few items while I was taking some pics of the Christmas trees inside the store.

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I didn’t get much since I was also looking around the store for some merchandise. After they were done shopping, we head on out of the park and back to the cars.

But before we head on back to our cars, I had to stop at guest relations to pick up the Tables in Wonderland card. Since we are eating at Bistro de Paris on our last day of our trip, it would be a good idea to get it since we know that we will spend a lot of money at that restaurant. It cost $75 since I am an AP holder. It did seemed a lot at the beginning, but in the end of the trip it did saved us a lot of money.

After leaving guest relations, we head on over to the train station. But we had to wait awhile at the tram station to get on board.

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When we got back to the cars, we head on back to the Sheraton Vistana Resort. Since it was raining that Sunday night our plans of going to DHS that night was out of the question, we decided to have dinner at the Grand Floridian Café. This will be my first time eating at the Grand Floridian. I was really excited to be eating at the GF as well as my group.

It was around 8pm when our reservation was so we all head back to our cars and on our way to the GF for dinner.

When we got to the GF, the first thing we saw way the lobby so we had to get some pictures of the Christmas tree as well as the gingerbread house which is actually a coffee stand.

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After taking some pics of the lobby at the GF, we head on over to the GF Café and have dinner. It was exciting to eat at this restaurant and the food was really nice.

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Menu of the GF Cafe
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Everyone had something different at the GF Café, I had the Bone-in New York Strip Steak, my DB had the Shrimp and Orecchiette Pasta. I forgot what everyone else had but one of the girls had the Pan-Seared Mahi Mahi. We all got to take a part of their meal and see what it tastes likes.

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When we were done with dinner one of the CMs brought out a birthday cupcake for me and it was nice to have a cupcake to end a nice meal.
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When my dad paid the bill including the TiW card, we have saved around $40 that night which was a good start to use the TiW card.

After we finished eating, we used the restroom. Some of us wanted to browse around the GF and we did that. I got to go outside with my dad and my dad’s friend wife to see the pool.

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While we were outside, it was around 9:30pm and Wishes Holiday fireworks was going on at the MK. I remember that it was a MVMCP night so it was nice to see the fireworks at the GF.

When we all met back up inside the GF, we decided to ride on the monorail around the resort. So we head on back to the lobby and went upstairs to ride the monorail.

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We got on the monorail and rode it around the resort. But the only problem about riding the resort monorail line was that the express monorail line was not running that night, so the monorail was full when we left the MK station.

MK Monorail station
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Contemporary Resort
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We rode the monorail around back to the GF and it was late so we called it for the night. So we got back to the cars and head on back to the Sheraton Vistana Resort to call it for the night.

This was a nice birthday since we got to do most of the activities at AK and got to eat at the GF Café for my birthday which was really nice. I was a little bummed that we didn’t get to go DHS that night to see the Osborne Family lights, but I did get them to see it which they will be very impressed.

That concludes my birthday day at WDW and can’t wait to get to the next part of my TR.

[skiingfast]

Sounds like a good dinner, and nice you wandered around the GF as well.

[mvf-m11c]

Sounds like a good dinner, and nice you wandered around the GF as well.

The Grand Floridian Cafe was really nice and glad that we had dinner that night. Good thing I wandered outside the GF pool area to hear Holiday Wishes fireworks go on at the MK.

The only hotel that I have stayed at WDW after staying off-site the last 5 years was the Contemporary three times. I was considering staying at this hotel back in the 90s but I just love the monorail going through the hotel. If I ever have a honeymoon one day, this is where I would like to stay. But for now, I would prefer to stay off-site like the Sheraton Vistana Resort.


Day 3 – December 12, 2011 – Part 1

After a good birthday on Sunday which turned out to be a very nice dinner at the GF Café, it was time to enjoy another great day at Orlando. This time we will be going to Universal Orlando Island of Adventure to see the Wizardy World of Harry Potter. My dad and my DB are looking forward to WWoHP that day after my dad’s friend family enjoyed it on Saturday. I knew it was going to be a bad morning since we have seen on the TV that is was going to rain that morning. Just my dad, DB and I went to Universal Orlando since the others wanted to sleep in.

So it was just the three of us that headed on over to Universal Orlando. On the way over to Universal Orlando, it was just cloudy and didn’t rain yet. But when we parked our car, it was pouring outside. So on the way towards Island of Adventure, we had to walk through all that rain. Luckily, we brought our ponchos and umbrellas so it was easy to walk trough IoA.

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Now walking through Universal CityWalk. It was really wet that day while you barely see some people walked through the streets that morning.
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Now we are at IoA
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Before the three of us head on in, my dad had to go to guest relations to get the tickets since he ordered the phone. I told him that we should have done it online, but he wanted to do the old fashion way. While we wait, it was still raining while we wait for my dad.
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When we got our tickets we head on over to the turnstiles. When my DB got through the turnstile, I had trouble with the bio-metric scan of my finger. I almost had to wait around one minute until it finally accepted my finger. I was so frustrated that it took that long to go through the turnstile. WDW goes way faster then IoA.

So we head on in and the first thing we did was head on over to WWoHP, we started from Port of Entry where most of the stores are right by the entrance and exit. The park was not that crowded since it was raining that day and most of the people are at WWoHP then going on the other lands.

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We just left Port of Entry and turned right towards Seuss Landing. It was all decorated with a lot of Christmas decorations. Just like last year when it was all decked out with the Christmas decorations.

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Just left Seuss Landing and now in the Lost Continent land.
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We are almost towards WWoHP
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Still in the Lost Continent land and heading on over to WWoHP. But that will be another time.

[tksbaskets]

What a great place to spend your birthday! The dinner looked yummy. I remember the impressive gingerbread house from past years.

WOW did you have some rain on your trip! It was nice to see the IOA pictures. I have only been there once before the Harry Potter ride was built.

TK
(PS having fun at DL and thought of you when we rode Buzz!)

[mvf-m11c]

What a great place to spend your birthday! The dinner looked yummy. I remember the impressive gingerbread house from past years.

WOW did you have some rain on your trip! It was nice to see the IOA pictures. I have only been there once before the Harry Potter ride was built.

TK
(PS having fun at DL and thought of you when we rode Buzz!)

Thank you TK. I can't believe after all those years I have been to WDW, I have not eaten at the Grand Floridian. It was a nice last second dinner night and glad that my group spend it at the GF. The gingerbread house is so amazing in person then seeing it in pictures.

Just Sunday night, Monday morning, and part Tuesday night when it was raining like crazy. After that, it did sprinkle a few times during my visit, but not that bad. That is only the beginning and more pics from WWoHP will be up later tonight. when you and your family go back to Florida, you should go there for a day.

Thank You TK

Glad to hear that you are enjoying DL and have fun the rest of your days at DL. :thumbsup2

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – December 12, 2011 – Part 2

Just left off around the Lost Continent and heading on over to Wizardy World of Harry Potter. It was still raining that day which is a good thing because there wouldn’t be too many people that morning. We were hoping that Ollivanders Wand Shop was not that crowded that day because of the rain. For you people wondering why I took pictures while it was raining, but I used my umbrella to keep my camera and myself from getting wet.

The three of us walked on the way over to WWoHP while it was still raining and not stopping.

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Finally we got to WWoHP. It was not that crowded since it was raining that day so it will be easy to get on over to Ollivanders Wand Shop. I have been looking forward to the Ollivanders Wand Shop since last year.

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Hogwarts Express Steam Engine
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There were just a few people outside while most of them were under the buldings or in the shops.
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We got to the queue for Ollivanders Wand Shop and saw that it wasn’t long. We heard from the wizard by the queue that it was only a 10 minute wait. I was so glad to see that it wasn’t a long wait. I’m glad that it was raining so we can get in the shop faster then a nice sunny day. I wanted to do the Wand Shop last year, but the wait time was almost 2 hours when my DA and I were there. So this year, we only had to wait 10 minutes to get in.

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We entered the Wand Shop and so amazed by all the different wands. I knew that it only takes about 20 people for each show. My dad was not impressed with the shop and in his opinion it was not worth waiting for 2 hours last year.

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After the Wand Shop show was over, we head on over to the store and looked around. It mostly had wands and some HP merchandise. This store was nice and was not as busy at the store at Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride.

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We left the store and on our way to look around WWoHP. But that will be another time so I will be back with more tomorrow.

[Sherry E]

I'm still here, Bret! (Just wanted to make sure you knew I didn't abandon your TR!)

I just love any and all photos of the GF during the holidays. That enormous tree is just magnificent and I love the white and cream colors of the GF lobby. It looks so elegant.

Then, the gingerbread house/coffee bar thingy...I had seen it before in TV specials but had never actually seen any photos of it. I WISH we had one of those houses at DLR somewhere. I love it. Don't they also sell miniature versions of the gingerbread house there?

That steak looks delicious and that is exactly what I would have ordered! I only eat steak once every few years or so, but that one looks juicy and yummy!

I was thinking about how it's odd that no matter if you visit Orlando or Anaheim, you always seem to encounter rain on your holiday trips!:rotfl: Isn't that weird?

I hope Laurie/DizNee Luver spends a good chunk of time going through your WDW holiday trip reports (both this one and your last one) - you have shown us some wonderful pictures of holiday decorations and details that I think she will want to see if and when she makes the WDW holiday trip she is trying to arrange!

[mvf-m11c]

I'm still here, Bret! (Just wanted to make sure you knew I didn't abandon your TR!)

I just love any and all photos of the GF during the holidays. That enormous tree is just magnificent and I love the white and cream colors of the GF lobby. It looks so elegant.

Then, the gingerbread house/coffee bar thingy...I had seen it before in TV specials but had never actually seen any photos of it. I WISH we had one of those houses at DLR somewhere. I love it. Don't they also sell miniature versions of the gingerbread house there?

That steak looks delicious and that is exactly what I would have ordered! I only eat steak once every few years or so, but that one looks juicy and yummy!

I was thinking about how it's odd that no matter if you visit Orlando or Anaheim, you always seem to encounter rain on your holiday trips!:rotfl: Isn't that weird?

I hope Laurie/DizNee Luver spends a good chunk of time going through your WDW holiday trip reports (both this one and your last one) - you have shown us some wonderful pictures of holiday decorations and details that I think she will want to see if and when she makes the WDW holiday trip she is trying to arrange!

I knew that you were still here Sherry. Thank You.

The GF is so amazing during the Holiday season and the big Christmas tree is great just like the GCH.

It would be nice if we got a similar giant gingerbread house at the DLR. I didn't see the menu closely since we had reservation at the GF Cafe. It was really nice to see it. I was also bummed that I didn't see the gingerbread house at the Boardwalk resort. It is not as big as the GF, but it has a Disney character with it.

The steak was nice and it was great that we got to share with each other entrees so we can find out what it taste like.

You are exactly right Sherry that I do encounter rain at least once during my visits. The only times that I will not encounter rain at DL is during the summer. I have no problem with the rain since the parks will be less crowded and it is neat to get some pictures of the parks, rides and buildings while it was raining. It is part of nature and you can be unlucky when you go to the parks when it is raining. Some people like the rain and some don't

She will like to get a glimpse of WDW during the Holiday season. But no matter what, DLR will always be my favorite during the Holiday season. WDW has way more Christmas decorations then DL, but DL is so magical during the Holiday season.

Thanks Sherry. :thumbsup2

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – December 12, 2011 – Part 3

After we left the Wand store right by Ollivander's Wand Shop, we head on over to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride. My DB was looking forward to this ride since I told about it to him last year. He looked at Hogwarts castle and looks so amazing. It was still raining outside, but it wasn't that bad when we got in the park that morning. More and more people started to walk around the area.

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When we got to the line, I told my dad and my DB that we had to drop off my bag since there aren't any bag holders on the ride. So I had to put my bag in the locker. The area where you can put your lockers was so full that we couldn't get through to the lockers. I put my bag in, but I brought my video camera so we can get some pics of the queue before we got on the ride. I don't have the pics from the camera up yet, but I will upload them later on this weekend. My dad and my DB were so amazed on the littlest details of Hogwarts castle queue and the wait time was only 5 minutes. That was about the time that we walked from the entrance to the ride.

My DB loved the ride, but my dad was dizzy after the ride. I told him about the ride which has some video screens and some hidden surprises to the ride. We head on over to the gift shop after the ride and my brother just went crazy spending about over $100 worth of merchandise. I didn't spend any money at the gift shop since everything is almost exactly the same from last year. I was a little disappointed that Universal didn't add more new merchandise to the store.

We left the gift shop at Hogwarts castle and now just roamed around WWoHP so I can get some pics as well as my DB. It started to rain harder again and as you can tell that my picture was a little wet. I saw that Ollivanders Wand Shop wait time was long when we got closer to the shop.
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There were more people around WWoHP, but we got to do HPatFJ and Ollivanders Wand Shop that morning.
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I wanted to get a butterbeer that morning, but I forced myself to wait later that afternoon when we came back.
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Before we left WWoHP, my DB had to stop at the Honeydukes store which is a candy store. He bought Chocolate Frogs for his GF.
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We left the store and now it was time to leave the park and join up with the rest of our party. We could have stayed at Universal, but we were all soaked and had to change. WWoHP is getting more and more people in that area and while it was still raining, it wasn't that bad like that morning. On the way, I got more pics from the different lands that we past.

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Now back in Seuss Landing. Getting more pics of the Christmas decorations. Once again, it started to rain hard.
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We exited Seuss Landing and heading out of the park. I will be back with more from that Monday afternoon.

[jc040404]

Birthday dinner looks great! All the holiday pics are excellent. Loved that you saw the fireworks from the beach, too. Sounds like a perfect ending, even if it wasn't the lights. That tree is gorgeous.

Loved all the Seuss Landing pics, despite the icky weather you had, too. I forgot how cute everything is there, and wish I could get out of this Disney bubble to get back there again. Not being into Harry Potter, it's been tough to find enough desire for it.

[mvf-m11c]

Birthday dinner looks great! All the holiday pics are excellent. Loved that you saw the fireworks from the beach, too. Sounds like a perfect ending, even if it wasn't the lights. That tree is gorgeous.

Loved all the Seuss Landing pics, despite the icky weather you had, too. I forgot how cute everything is there, and wish I could get out of this Disney bubble to get back there again. Not being into Harry Potter, it's been tough to find enough desire for it.

Thank you Jessica. We got to watch the fireworks from the GF docks where they store the rental boats and it was nice to watch the fireworks from that spot. It was a perfect ending on a birthday night. It was disappointing that we didn't go to DHS to see the Osborne Family lights that night, but we did get to see it during the trip so stay tune for that part of the TR.

Seuss Landing had some great Christmas decorations. The weather does suck, but it also works really well with short wait times. I was glad that the wait time for Ollivanders Wand shop was only 10 minute wait instead of waiting in the queue for 2 hours. If you take WWoHP out of IoA, there isn't much for us to do. I don't want to be disrespectful to the people who like Universal Orlando, our group didn't want to do much at IoA instead of WWoHP.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – December 12, 2011 – Part 4

We left off with my dad, my DB and I leaving IoA and heading back to the Sheraton Vistana Resort to meet up with the rest of our party. On the way out of IoA, it was still raining that time and there were a few people around Seuss Landing.

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Now back at Port of Entry where we were leaving the park.
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The turnstile to enter IoA
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So we were out of the park and now walking back towards the parking lot. When we got out of the park, it started to only sprinkle which was good for all three of us.

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We head on back to the parking garage and got in our car. We went back to the hotel. We got back around 11am and met up with the rest of our group and head on back to Universal Orlando and IoA.

We took both cars since we can’t fit 7 people in one car. Got back to the parking structure around 11:45 and walking on back to IoA. When we got back to Universal Orlando City Walk, it was not raining and it already cleared up with barely few wet spots on the walkway.

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We got close to the entrance, but my dad headed on over to GR to get some discounts. I don’t know what he was talking about so we waited until he was finished.

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When I put my finger on the scanner, it wouldn’t let me in. I almost had to wait at the turnstile for about 2 minutes until they just let me in. I can’t believe it happened again with the bio-metric scan ticket. Now I know why I get so annoyed from bio-metric scan at Florida then DL where you just your ticket in and see your picture on the AP.

When we got back to Port of Entry, the walkway was still wet. At least it wasn’t raining that afternoon. The park was a little bit more crowded coming in from this morning.
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Instead of going through Seuss Landing, we went towards the long way to WWoHP. We head on over to Marvel Super Hero Island.
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Now passing Toon Lagoon Land
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That’s it for this post and I will be back with more.

[franandaj]

OK, all caught up! :thumbsup2 Thanks for covering IOA in depthly with photos. We were supposed to go last fall before our WDW trip, but everything got canceled due to severe illness. I've rebooked the trip for next October. All we really want to see is WWoHP as well, but we might do Poseidon's Fury. I'm really looking forward to a Butterbeer and lunch at the Three Broomsticks!

[kaoden39]

Wow what ugly weather. I love the all of the photos Bret and I enjoy your trip reports. I may not always comment but I am always here.

[mvf-m11c]

OK, all caught up! :thumbsup2 Thanks for covering IOA in depthly with photos. We were supposed to go last fall before our WDW trip, but everything got canceled due to severe illness. I've rebooked the trip for next October. All we really want to see is WWoHP as well, but we might do Poseidon's Fury. I'm really looking forward to a Butterbeer and lunch at the Three Broomsticks!

Thanks Allison. I'm sorry to hear that, but you will like WWoHP when you go in October. I have never done Poseidon's Fury during my visit this year or last year since our group was concentrating on WWoHP. But if I go back to IoA one day, maybe never until WWoHP is complete at Universal Hollywood. There isn't much to do at Universal. Maybe because I am a Disney guy and enjoyed all the landscape and decorated buildings at the Disney Resorts.

The next update will be up shortly.


Wow what ugly weather. I love the all of the photos Bret and I enjoy your trip reports. I may not always comment but I am always here.

It was ugly on Sunday and Monday morning. But it turned out well with a nice birthday dinner at the GF Cafe and getting in Ollivanders Wand shop in a short time instead of waiting in the queue for hours. Thank you Michele. I know that you will be checking out my TRs. I am looking forward to your TR to DL next month.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – December 12, 2011 – Part 5

Now all of us were heading on over to WWoHP through the long way. I have left off around Toon Lagoon Land. It wasn’t that bad that afternoon while it was raining that morning.

Now passing Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls
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Now we are heading on in Jurassic Park Land. Walking through Jurassic Park is a very long time.
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We finally back at the WWoHP from the west side instead of coming from the south side. There were quite a number of people around the area so it was going to be a busy time at WWoHP.
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After looking around the town, we head on back to Hogwarts castle to do some shopping again. But while the rest of them went back in the store, I got some more pics of the castle. HPatFJ wait time was only at 10 minutes which was way short during that afternoon.

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When everyone finished shopping at the Hogwarts store, we head on over to Three Broomsticks to have lunch. On the way over to the restaurant, I got more pics of the land.

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It started to get busy around WWoHP that afternoon. Before we went in, the rest of my group wanted to do some shopping at the stores. So we just waited around the area until it was time.
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While we were waiting, I had to get a butterbeer so badly. I just can’t wait after all day today to have one.
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Hogwarts Express Steam Engine
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That’s it for now and I will be back with more.

[kaoden39]

That's true rain shortens the lines. I figure that because it has been so dry that we are due rain when Scotty and I go next month. That's alright, we have rain gear.

[mvf-m11c]

That's true rain shortens the lines. I figure that because it has been so dry that we are due rain when Scotty and I go next month. That's alright, we have rain gear.

It has been dry here as well in Sacramento. There have been days when it was so cold and some warm days. But there hasn't been much raining lately. Its always a good idea to be prepare for anything when you go on a trip.

[kaoden39]

It has been dry here as well in Sacramento. There have been days when it was so cold and some warm days. But there hasn't been much raining lately. Its always a good idea to be prepare for anything when you go on a trip.


It really worries me that we are going to have a drought. The snow pack is non existent. We really need some wet weather.

[mvf-m11c]

It really worries me that we are going to have a drought. The snow pack is non existent. We really need some wet weather.

Hopefully in these next few weeks, we will have some days when it is raining.


Day 3 – December 12, 2011 – Part 6

While we were still in WWoHP, my group was going back to the shops to look for more merchandise. I was still outside taking more pics of the buildings. The park crowd level around WWoHP is getting more and more busy. We were lucky that we did HPatFJ plus Ollivanders Wand shop.

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We sat down right by wand shop store until we met up with each other.
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When we all met up with each other, we head on over to Three Broomsticks restaurant to have lunch. This was really exciting to eat at the restaurant. There was a lot of choices to eat at Three Broomsticks, but the main plate we got was “The Great Feast”. It was really expensive for the 7 of us, but it was great.

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On the Great Feast there was rotisserie chicken, corn, potatoes, vegetables and ribs which was amazing. We also had butterbeer, salads and Cornish pastries as our other choices to eat at the restaurant.
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After we left the restaurant, we head on back towards Hogwarts castle to do more shopping again since one of the girls wanted to get something. Also it was a great opportunity to get some more pics of the castle. They also asked me to take some pictures of them for their Christmas pictures.

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We got back to HPatFJ ride and everyone headed on over to the store, I waited outside to get some pics.
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When everyone was done shopping at Hogwarts castle store, we head on out of the park. On the way out, I had to get some last second pics of WWoHP before we left. It started to sprinkle just a little so we didn’t have to use our umbrellas or ponchos.

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Some of the girls had to go in the candy store and we waited again while they were shopping. So I took some more pics until they got out of the store.
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They finally got out of the store and we were on our way out of the park. I will be back with more from that Monday afternoon.

[skiingfast]

Seeing Hogsmead with snowy roofs is much more fitting when the sky is dark gray. It was really lucky to have that morning rain, and extra luck the FJ line was still tiny when you came back. That place looks unreconizeable in the early morning, not enough people.

Did you take a videoo of the queue?

[Moodyzblu]

I hope WWoHP isn't as crowded when we go .. but seeing it's in April, I won't be surprised. Oh well .. it still looks amazing and I can't wait to try a Butterbeer !

[mvf-m11c]

Seeing Hogsmead with snowy roofs is much more fitting when the sky is dark gray. It was really lucky to have that morning rain, and extra luck the FJ line was still tiny when you came back. That place looks unreconizeable in the early morning, not enough people.

Did you take a videoo of the queue?

It was nice that morning. Even though it was raining, it was great to have no one there and have to wait only 10 minutes to get in Ollivanders Wand shop.

I didn't upload the queue of HPatFJ, but I did tooks the video and made into pics of the queue. Since I was moving a lot in the queue and with barely any light, I only had to use these pics only.

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I hope WWoHP isn't as crowded when we go .. but seeing it's in April, I won't be surprised. Oh well .. it still looks amazing and I can't wait to try a Butterbeer !

It would be nice if WWoHP isn't crowded when you go in April. But don't be surprised if you go on a rainy day and there will be no one at the park.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – December 12, 2011 – Part 7

We were about to leave WWoHP after just a few hours in the park. It was a very interesting afternoon when it was raining that Monday morning and sprinkling. WWoHP crowd level was picking up when we left the land. It was a good thing that we left around that time since we did everything that day. Here are a few more pics of WWoHP until we left the land.

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We just left WWoHP and now back at the Lost Continent and heading out of the park.
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Now back at Seuss Landing. I had to get some pics of the Christmas decorations before we left.
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The High in the Sky Trolley Train Ride
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Now back at Port Entry and doing some last minute shopping. We stopped at the Port of Entry Christmas Shoppe.
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After looking around Port of Entry, we head on out of IoA. But at that time, it started to sprinkle again so we had to get out our ponchos and umbrellas. Talk about a good time to get out of IoA and head back to the hotel.
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Back at Universal City Walk and heading to the parking structure.
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We left Universal Orlando and head on back to the Sheraton Vistana Resort.It was a good day to go to Universal especially since it was raining that morning. But it turned out so well by doing HPatFJ and Ollivanders Wand shop.

But the day isn’t over just yet, we still have the nighttime and I thought it was a great idea to go to the MK that Monday night. I know that was one of the worst days to visit the park, but that is the only night that we can see Disney’s Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes fireworks during our visit. Tuesday and Wednesday was MVMCP and Thursday was EPCOT day and we have reservation at Bistro de Paris. But my group wanted to see the MSEP so badly after DCA had the DEP back in the summer of 2009. So we decided to go to the MK that night. Since it is a shorten day, so we had to leave the resort early so we can get good spots for the 7:00pm parade which is the only one running that night.

We left the resort around 5pm which was really late to get to the MK and get good spots for the parade.

Got at the MK parking lot and head on over to the tram so we can get to the Transportation and Ticket Center.

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When we got to the T&TC, we were deciding on what transportation we should take. But we found out when we got closer to the MK Express monorail line, it was down. I was wondering why it was down, but then we just head on over to the dock to ride the Ferry Boat. It is always fun to ride the ferry across Seven Seas Lagoon.

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We rode the Richard F Irvine all the way towards the MK. It was a nice night which wasn’t raining and glad that the rainy day was that morning instead of night when we were about to watch MSEP and Wishes fireworks.
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GF from the ferry
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Another ferry just left the MK dock and I believe that was the Admiral Joe Potter Ferry
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Now we are approaching the MK dock station and a nice night at the MK.
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We just got off the ferry and head on over to the main entrance of the MK. It was really busy at first with a lot of people, but I knew that it was going to be busy.

I am out of posts right now and I will try to comeback tonight with more.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – December 12, 2011 – Part 8

Now we are heading on in the MK after a long day at Universal Orlando Island of Adventure. Now it was time to go in the MK and see the Main Street Electrical Parade and Wishes fireworks that night.

When we got passed through the turnstile, we can tell that the park was really crowded right in front of the MS station. But it was a nice night to be at the park while it wasn’t raining.

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When we went through the tunnel over the MS station, there were a lot of people staking out spots around 5:55pm. But we did get a nice spot close to the Emporium store. It was perfect seeing the parade come from MS Town Square. I have told everyone that I would volunteer and stay at the spot with the blanket to save the spot. But my dad friend will stay with me. So my dad, DB, my dad friend family decided to go around the park until it was time for the MSEP. It is so magical when you see the MK at night with the Holiday decorations. While I was waiting, I had to get some pics of the Christmas decorations while I was waiting for the parade.

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Around 6:20pm, more and more spots around MS were being taken from the guests who are waiting for the parade. My dad and my DB came back from the stores and said that they might want something before we leave that night.

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When it was around 6:30pm, the girls came back and brought some food and treats back. They went to the Casey’s Corner and brought back Corn Dog Nuggets and French Fries. Not only that, they also went to Aloha Isle and brought back some Dole Whips. It was really nice that the girls brought back some food while we were waiting. When we were all back, we all waited until it was time for the 7:00pm MSEP. While we were waiting, we got some more pics of MS.

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The curb and sidewalk close to the stores are already filled up with about less then half an hour until the 7pm parade.
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One touch blue color of Cinderella Castle
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My group was very excited to see the MSEP again after all those years at DL. So it was almost time for the parade and part of the lights around MS Town Square are turning off. So the MSEP have already started right around City Hall MS TS so we had to wait awhile until it reached us. The parade circled around MS TS until it went up towards MS to the Hub.

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It already started and waiting until it come up.
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That’s it for this post, I will be back with more pics of the MSEP.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – December 12, 2011 – Part 9

Finally the MSEP have came our way and when the first float came by which is Tinkerbell. These are the same floats from the back in 2009 which is the same and as last year when my DA and I seen MSEP. Everyone in my group was very excited to see the MSEP again. I’ll let the pictures talk about my time watching the parade.

Tinkerbell float
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Casey Jr. Circus Train with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy
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Alice in Wonderland units

Turtle unit
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Mushroom with Butterfly and Ladybug
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Firefly unit
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Mushroom with Alice and Cheshire Cat
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Snail unit
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Mushroom with the Caterpillar with Frog
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Green Firefly unit
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That’s it for this post and I will have the next update up later.

[skiingfast]

That is great you are seeing MSEP. Did you take a movie of it?

[mvf-m11c]

That is great you are seeing MSEP. Did you take a movie of it?

Yes, I did videotape MSEP. I haven't upload it yet and I might not until later.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – December 12, 2011 – Part 10

More from MSEP on that Monday night.

Cinderella’s Ball units and characters
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Pumpkin Coach with Cinderella and Fairy god Mother
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Peter Pan units
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs units and characters
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That’s it for this post and I will be back with more.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 3 – December 12, 2011 – Part 11

More from MSEP on that Monday night.

Pinocchio units and characters
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Pete’s Dragon
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To Honor America Units
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After the parade past us around the Emporium, we head on over towards around Casey Corner area so we can watch Wishes fireworks that night. It was really hard to get through all those people when the parade was over. It was just a mess going forward towards the center of the MK. But first we were waiting for The Magic, The Memories, and You!. I was really looking forward to MMY ever since I have been seeing DL IASW MMY. I like to compare both MMY and which is better.

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We were around Casey Corner right next to the information board on the left hand side and we waited for the 8pm Wishes fireworks. It was so busy at MS that night and glad we got a nice spot to watch the fireworks.

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We waited until Magic Memories and you, but first we had to wait around 7:45pm until it started.

That’s it for now and I will be back with more another night.

[mvf-m11c]

I haven't been updating my TR lately since I been working at an Anime Convention this past weekend. So it's now time to get back to the TR.

Day 3 – December 12, 2011 – Part 12

I have left off waiting for the 7:45pm of “The Magic, The Memories, & You!”. It was very neat to watch this show at the MK. I like to compare both MMY shows at DL and WDW. I didn’t upload it or add any pictures to the 7:45pm show because there were a lot of people in my way so no pictures for the 7:45pm MMY.

We waited only 5 minutes until it was time for the 8pm Wishes firework show. I like to compare this firework show to RDCT at DL. Both fireworks use the same music at the beginning and ending, but with different voices. I like Wishes fireworks a lot but my favorite out of the two are RDCT over Wishes. I like RDCT with the ride soundtracks and I still like Wishes with all those different character voices. Now here is Wishes firework from that Monday night.

Here is my video that I took on that day: Wishes Fireworks at Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World 12/13/11 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCg8P-IWaVI)

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After Wishes was over, we head on over to the Hub and get closer for the 8:35pm MMY show. This time we would get a better spot to see it after waiting for the fireworks. It was hard at first to watch it when you are in front of a lot of people for the MMY show. So this time, we would get closer in front of Cinderella castle to watch it.

Here is my video of MMY on my youtube: "The Magic, The Memories, and You!" with the Holiday Segment 12/12/11 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXWo369IkSw)

Here are some pics that my DB took while I was videotaping with my video camera.
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After MMY was over, we decided it was time to head on out of the park after watching three nighttime shows that night. Everyone in my group enjoyed all the three nighttime shows at the MK and they were all glad that we spent it that night. Since that day was EMH that night, we had to leave the park. We waited around MS until the walkway was walk able.

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More pics around Town Square
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We exited the park after 8:50pm and we saw that the monorail stations were so long, we decided to ride the ferry back to the T&TC.
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Got back to the T&TC and took the tram back to the parking lot. When we got back in the cars and head on out of WDW. But before we went back to the hotel, we stopped at Steak ’N Shake. This time we stopped at the one right at the east exit of WDW.

We all had different choices after we ate at another Steak ‘N Shake on Friday night. It was late that night and we did had some food at the MK, but that was only snack foods so this time we had a real meal at Steak ‘N Shake.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel and called it for the night.

It was an interesting day for all of us, we got to do WWoHP and MK that night. It was bad that morning when it was raining, we got to do Ollivander’s Wand shop after I didn’t do it on my trip back in 2010. I was happy of going to the MK that night and get to see MSEP, Wishes fireworks and MMY. That is it for this post and that Monday night. I will be back later for more pics of MMY from my video camera. So stay tune for the pictures and the next update during my trip.

[mvf-m11c]

Here are the pictures of MMY from that Monday night. I like to compare both MMY at MK and IASW at DL. Both of them have very unique video images on each part of the building. MK is more spectacular and taller then DL. I like DL more because of the design of IASW that matches with MMY then MK. That is my opinion of both shows. Now let us get to the images of MMY at the MK.

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Holiday segment of MMY.
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Here are some pics of IASWH with the MMY Holiday segment. These were taken when I went to DL back in November.
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[tksbaskets]

Hi Bret! You get such nice nighttime pictures. We are usually so tired at night we don't make the evening shows.

It's nice to see your pictures of what we are missing. :goodvibes
TK

[mvf-m11c]

Hi Bret! You get such nice nighttime pictures. We are usually so tired at night we don't make the evening shows.

It's nice to see your pictures of what we are missing. :goodvibes
TK

Hey there TK and thank you for the comments on my pictures. I always want to enjoy the nighttime events at the Disney parks then the afternoon. As you know that I always like to be at the parks at night with the nighttime shows. You should try to take a break in the afternoon and then come back later during the nights to enjoy the parks. I am not like Deej who would stay at the park all the way until the park closes since I want to get to the park first thing in the morning.

Your welcome and I can't wait for you to start your DL TR.

I want to write up more of my TRs, but I am not home all the time since I have basketball season. But I will try to get it all done before my March trip to DL.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 4 – December 13, 2011 – Part 1

After a great day at IoA and MK that Monday, it was now time for another great day at the Disney parks. This time with everyone still sleeping at the resort, I took my car and head on over to DHS that Tuesday morning. The park opened at 9am so I head on out by myself. I was hoping that the girls wanted to go to the park that early morning, but they are late sleepers and I didn’t want to get them up early just to get on some rides.

I got to the park 20 minutes after DHS opened at 9am. The park didn’t seem that crowded that morning. It would always be nice if the park opened at 8am just like DL back home, but one hour difference is not that bad. When I was in the park, the only thing I did was just walked around the park and get some pictures of everything.

DHS turnstiles
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I head on over towards the ToT side.
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I am always so amazed at the first ToT ride at any Disney park. The DCA version and DHS are completely different on the outside, but I would always choose DHS version over DCA anytime when I compared both buildings. The wait time was around 20 minutes which is long. But I should know that DCA ToT doesn’t get a long wait time like DHS.
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F! billboard sign which is right by the entrance.
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Now heading on over to Rock “N” roller Coaster area
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I left the Sunset Blvd and head back towards Hollywood Blvd entrance. The park crowd level started to pick up.
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It was already 9:50am
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More wreaths for the Wreath quest
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One touch color with just red
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After getting some pics around Hollywood Blvd, I walked down towards Commissary Lane which is the right on the back side of The American Idol Experience.
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Now I was at the Streets of America which the Osborne Family Lights is located. You won’t see the SoA this empty until it is nighttime for the Osborne Lights.
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A Golden Christmas tree
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I walked on over towards TSMM. I would not be surprise to see the wait time at an hour that morning.
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It was only 50 minute wait time which was not bad for TSMM. Every time I see the FP on TSMM, I am so glad that we don’t have one at DCA TSMM. It just causes more wait time when you are in the standby queue. 50 minutes at DCA is a very short wait time when you compare both DHS and DCA.
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I left around Pixar Place area and now walking towards Mickey Ave. But I will get back to you later with more of my trip.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 4 – December 13, 2011 – Part 2

After walking around DHS that Tuesday morning and taking pictures at the buildings, I kept going around DHS and taking more pics.

I left off around TSMM which the queue was already at 50 minute wait. So I was still on the back side of DHS and looking around.

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Now right next to Walt Disney One Man’s Dream building
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Now approaching the Animation Courtyard
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I didn’t go inside the Animation Courtyard and just left the area and was about to head on out of the park.
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Now I am leaving DHS. But on the way out, I had to get some more pics for the Holiday quest.
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DHS Christmas tree outside the turnstile
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When I got outside the park, I decided to go to EPCOT that afternoon. Instead of taking my car out of DHS, I took the bus to EPCOT.
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It almost took 30 minutes when I waited at the DHS bus stop all the way towards EPCOT. It was a long wait and it would have been easier if I would drive my car to EPCOT then taking the bus.

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Out of all my days during my trip, I can’t believe I haven’t done EPCOT yet. But those other days it was for my group. So it was nice to go to EPCOT on a nice day.

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When I entered the turnstile to EPCOT, the first thing I did was head on over to the Leave a Legacy stone which my DB and I did back in 2001. It is so easy for me to look for it since it is under the monorail track on the right hand side when you enter the park. Ever since I have come to EPCOT, this is the first thing I see when I enter the park.

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Here is me and my DB on the Leave a Legacy
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When I left the Leave a Legacy stone, I took some pics of the character topiaries. They were all nice with their Christmas decorations. The topiaries are nice, but they are nothing compared to the Flower and Garden Festival topiaries.

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The park really was crowded that afternoon when there were a lot of people at the queue for Spaceship Earth. But that didn’t stop me for having a great time at the park.

Now just passing Spaceship Earth the wait time was already at 20 minutes.
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That is it for now at EPCOT and I will be back with more from that day.

[skiingfast]

So complete or thier will be more of Epcot?

[tksbaskets]

I didn't realize you were in the Leave a Legacy. So cool! I love Space Ship Earth. Did you go on the ride too?

We are trying to decide what our next Disney trip will be. We may wait until Summer 2013 and go to DL for a visit to Cars Land or WDW for Star Wars Weekend.

Good thing you'll be taking more trips so I will get to visit through your TRs! :goodvibes

[mvf-m11c]

So complete or thier will be more of Epcot?

Their will be more on that day. I still have Wednesday and Thursday to go along with Tuesday. I have just been so busy and tired these last few weeks that I haven't been doing much on my TR. I will try to get it done for all of you so be patient.


I didn't realize you were in the Leave a Legacy. So cool! I love Space Ship Earth. Did you go on the ride too?

We are trying to decide what our next Disney trip will be. We may wait until Summer 2013 and go to DL for a visit to Cars Land or WDW for Star Wars Weekend.

Good thing you'll be taking more trips so I will get to visit through your TRs! :goodvibes

I have never mentioned it during my last two WDW TRs. I thought this time it would be nice to show you my Leave a Legacy picture of the stone at EPCOT. I did ride Spaceship Earth during my trip. I will tell you later on during my TR.

I would go to DL during the Summer of 2013 to see Cars Land and Buena Vista Street. I have never been to WDW during Star Wars Weekend and would like to try that one day.

Thanks TK. I have some trips planned for this year and can't wait to get them all set up.

[skiingfast]

Their will be more on that day. I still have Wednesday and Thursday to go along with Tuesday. I have just been so busy and tired these last few weeks that I haven't been doing much on my TR. I will try to get it done for all of you so be patient.

Ok just wondered when I noticed in your signature that it says "complete"

[mvf-m11c]

Ok just wondered when I noticed in your signature that it says "complete"

I always put complete on my signature during each of my trips which means that the trip is over and now I'm going to write up my TR. I'm sorry that I confused you Matt.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 4 – December 13, 2011 – Part 3

Now back to the TR after a few days away from my CPU. I have left off around Future World around Spaceship Earth. The park was about above average for crowd level that Tuesday. It was a little bit busy around Spaceship Earth with about a 20 minute wait in the afternoon. My goal is to take pictures of the Holiday decorations at EPCOT.

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I only took a couple of pics around the center of Future World. Next I was on my way towards Test Track and see what the wait time was. Every time I looked at Test Track, it gets me all excited for Cars Land this summer.

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The wait time for the regular queue was 30 minutes while the single passenger queue was 10 minutes. I didn’t ride it that afternoon so I just got myself a FP for me to collect.
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After getting the Test Track FP, I now about to head on over to World Showcase and look for any Holiday decorations. But first, I went back to the middle of Future World to look for any Holiday decorations.

Monorail Yellow in the park
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Around Future World garden walk area look so weird without the Flower and Garden Festival plants which is right by these walkways.
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Now at the water fountain area which have the big stage. There were quite a number of trees in that area so it was a perfect area to get some pictures of the trees.
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Before I head on over to World Showcase, I had to get the topiaries of Mickey, Minnie and Pluto.
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At the center of World Showcase was the big Christmas tree with ornaments of the flags from each country.
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I head on the left had side of World Showcase lagoon towards the Mexico pavilion. On the way, I looked at the Disney Showcase store on the left hand side which has a lot of Christmas decorations and pictures.
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The boats were not running that morning since World Showcase doesn’t open until 11am.
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Mexico pavilion
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More pictures from World Showcase lagoon
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Now at the Norway pavilion
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It has a lot of Christmas decorations around the area
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Maelstrom ride just has opened since it was 11am
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The Puffin’s Roost store with a lot of Christmas decorations
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Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe with some Christmas decorations
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That’s it for this post and I will be back with more.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 4 – December 13, 2011 – Part 4

I have left off around Norway getting more pics of the Holiday decorations. As before I left Norway pavilion, I saw that they had the stage how Christmas is celebrated at Norway.

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Now I was in China
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World Showcase lagoon facing towards the American pavilion.
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I kept walking up towards the back side of World Showcase
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Now I was in Germany. I head on over to the small stage right by Germany which tells how Christmas is celebrated in Germany.
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Germany pavilion have a lot of different Christmas decorations around the area
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I head on out of Germany and going towards the next pavilion

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The Italy pavilion
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Ileft the Italy pavilion and now heading on over to the American pavilion
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The Candlelight Processional was running that night and the guest speaker was Lorraine Bracco
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The American Adventure show at the Liberty Theatre have a lot of wreaths and garlands in front of the building
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Around the American pavilion was really quiet that afternoon with most of the guest at the World Showcase.
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That is it for now on this post and I will be back with more from EPCOT.

[skiingfast]

What was the "Exclusive Showing" that America was having?

I can taste food as you circled the lagoon.

[tksbaskets]

What was the "Exclusive Showing" that America was having?

I can taste food as you circled the lagoon.

Me too. The restaurant in Italy was wonderful! It's fun to see the different ways Christmas is celebrated as you tour the world.

TK

[mvf-m11c]

What was the "Exclusive Showing" that America was having?

I can taste food as you circled the lagoon.

It was only the "American Adventure" show that is inside the American pavilion.

There was a lot of different places to eat around World Showcase, I was going crazy of where I should eat that day.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 4 – December 13, 2011 – Part 5

I left off around the American pavilion looking for any Christmas decorations. There were quite a lot of Christmas decorations around the area just as Norway and Germany. So it was easy to look for them.

Christmas tree at the American pavilion
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Shops that have a lot of Christmas merchandise
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I left the American pavilion and heading on over to the Japan pavilion
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Japan pavilion
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When I got to the Japan pavilion, it was really quiet.
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After getting some pics of the buildings at the Japan pavilion, I head on out and towards the next pavilion.
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Just passing Morocco
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Now entering the France pavilion
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Les Chefs de France restaurant
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When I got more inside France, Santa was already outside and entertaining the guest
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The France Santa just finished the entertainment
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Now I left the France pavilion, now heading on towards the United Kingdom pavilion
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World Showcase Lagoon
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I left United Kingdom and heading on over to the next pavilion which is the Canada. But that will be another post so I will be back with more.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 4 – December 13, 2011 – Part 6

After leaving the United Kingdom pavilion, I head on over to the next pavilion which was the Canada pavilion. The day was so great with just few clouds and around in the high 60s that afternoon. The park started to pick up around World Showcase, but earlier I was at the back and it was quiet. But when I got close back to the middle, the guests started to show up that afternoon.

The Canada pavilion
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Le Cellier Steakhouse sign
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I left the Canada pavilion and heading on back to the middle of World Showcase
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After walking closer to the Christmas tree right by the stores, I went through the walkway towards Imagination! So I can head on over to the Land and get a FP for Soarin.

On the way over there, it was getting quite busy around Future World
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Right by the Imagination! And Monorail Black is circling around Future World
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I head on over to the Land and it was quite busy outside and I would expect the same thing when I went inside the building.
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Inside the Land, it was already lunch and almost all the tables were filled
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When I got to the bottom, I head on over to Soarin and saw that the wait time was already at 60 minutes. I knew that Soarin was going to be a long wait during anytime during the day. When I compare both EPCOT Soarin and DCA Soarin, DCA has a way shorter wait time then EPCOT. So I didn’t plan on Soarin during the whole trip.

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The return time by getting the FP when I was there was till 7pm
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I thought about going on Living with the Land since it was only a 15 minute wait, but I wanted to go around the park and get more different pics. So I head on out of the park.

Another Christmas tree right by the Garden Grill restaurant
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After leaving the Land, I head on over to the Seas
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Spaceship Earth from the Seas
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I left the Seas and went back to the center of Future World to do some more photography. There was quite a number of people heading on over to the Land.
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I went back to the other side of Future World where it was quite busy as well as the other side.
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After looking around the other side of Future World, I head on back to the center.
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That’s it for now and I will be back with more.

[tksbaskets]

Hi Bret,
You got some beautiful pictures around EPCOT this day. The weather looks nice too. Yes, Soarin' at EPCOT is always crowded and the fastpass is the only way to go. Since it is the exact same ride as DL I would have taken advantage of the nice day and take pictures too :thumbsup2

Looking forward to more. :surfweb:
TK

[mvf-m11c]

Hi Bret,
You got some beautiful pictures around EPCOT this day. The weather looks nice too. Yes, Soarin' at EPCOT is always crowded and the fastpass is the only way to go. Since it is the exact same ride as DL I would have taken advantage of the nice day and take pictures too :thumbsup2

Looking forward to more. :surfweb:
TK

Thank you TK. It was a great day to go to the parks. It would be very nice if the weather was like that at DL during the winter season. I'm glad that DCA Soarin is not that crowded like at EPCOT. It does make sense of not waiting in that queue since the rides are the same unless EPCOT changes it to something else. I was also curious if you have ridden Soarin at DCA during your trip to DL earlier this month.

The next part of the TR will be up shortly.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 4 – December 13, 2011 – Part 7

After taking some more pics around Future World, I was getting hungry so I decided where to eat around Future World. I thought about eating at the Land but it was just really busy with all those guest waiting for Soarin. So that was out of the question, the other decision was to choose the different quick service restaurants at World Showcase. So I looked on my smart phone and looked at all the quick counter restaurants at World Showcase to eat at. I had three choices which was Katsura Grill at the Japan pavilion, Lotus Blossom Café at the China pavilion or Yorkshire County Fish Shop at the United Kingdom pavilion. I decided to choose when I got closer to World Showcase.

In the mean time, I head on out of Future World and over to World Showcase.

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Now I was right by the Christmas tree right in the middle of the stores at World Showcase lagoon and I have chosen to eat at Katsura Grill for lunch so I head on the right hand side towards the Japan pavilion.

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Now back at Canada
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Now United Kingdom
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World Showcase Lagoon still looks nice during the day
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Looking back towards United Kingdom from the bridge right by the France pavilion
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I’m back at France and once again, Santa was out there entertaining the guests
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I just now passed Morocco pavilion
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Now I am back at Japan and now to have lunch. It was quite busy around Japan.
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I head on over towards the Katsura Grill and have lunch. I had the Teriyaki Chicken bowl for lunch. I could have easily chosen the Shogun Combo, but I was planning getting back to the resort and meet up with my group for lunch around Orlando.

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After I finished lunch, I went on the other side of World Showcase to get any pics that I have missed.

American pavilion
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The America Garden Theatre all ready for the CP that night
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Now approaching the Italy pavilion
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When I was at the Italy pavilion, the storyteller for the Italy pavilion for Christmas was going on so I checked on over there and see it. It was really neat to hear about how Christmas is celebrated in Italy.
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After the storyteller at Italy, I head on out to do more picture taking. But the next part will be the next time.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 4 – December 13, 2011 – Part 8

After leaving the storyteller at the Italy pavilion, I head on out of Italy and now going around World Showcase all the way back towards Future World. I decided to head on out of the park and go to the Contemporary hotel since I like to stop at that hotel. The Contemporary hotel is the first hotel that I have stayed at when I was at WDW back in 1996. So I thought it would be a good idea to take the EPCOT monorail all the way back towards the T&TC to the Contemporary resort.

The LGB train layout right by the Germany pavilion which is something I always like to look at since I am a big train fan.
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Now passing by Germany
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I kept walking along the walkway around World Showcase lagoon all the way and the next land on the pictures is China.
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Now I passed Norway. It looked way busier then that morning.
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Now I was about back to the center of World Showcase and heading back to Future World.
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Duffy meet and greet area at EPCOT
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I head on out of the park and to the monorail station. The park started to pick up with more and more guests around the area so it was a good time to leave the park.
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Before I head on out of the park, I saw that Spaceship Earth had a short wait time and was a walk on. So I just went on it before I head on out of the park.
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I videotaped the ride so here are some pics from Spaceship Earth.
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After getting off Spaceship Earth, I head on out of the park and towards the monorail station.
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I passed through the Holiday topiaries right by the Leave a Legacy stones on the left and right hand side.
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One more close up pic of Goofy and Donald before I head on out of EPCOT.
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When I just exited the park, one of the monorails was at the station so I walked really fast to the station and I was the last person to enter the monorail. So I head on over to the Transportation & Ticket Center so I can change monorails.

At the Transportation and Ticket Center, I head on over to the Monorail Resort line so I can get to the Contemporary Resort. When I just got off the monorail and saw Monorail Gold on the resort line, it started to get really cloudy with dark clouds. So I knew that it will rain but when. So it didn’t stop me from taking the monorail to the Contemporary resort.

Some of you are still wondering why I didn’t take the bus to the Contemporary from EPCOT. For people that follow my previous WDW trips and my DL TRs, I like to ride the monorail at DL or WDW since it is my favorite ride or transportation. I like to be up off the ground and see a lot of great scenery.

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I didn’t take too many pics while I was on the monorail since I was holding on the bar and have taken pictures from the monorail. I was really disappointed when I got home and didn’t take too many pics from the monorail. I thought we would ride it more during the trip, but that wasn’t the case.

Just as I was about to enter the Resort Monorail line, my dad called me and it was time for lunch at an off site restaurant that my dad wanted to try since we got here to Orlando. I was really disappointed that I am not going to ride the monorail to the Contemporary, but I had to meet up with my group. So I went back over to the EPCOT line and tried to get back on Monorail Black, but it already left the station so I had to wait for the next one.

It was nice to see Monorail Coral back to its original colors after it was the TRONorail for a few years.
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When I was at the station, I asked one of the CMs about which monorails were on the EPCOT line. He said that only Black and Yellow were on the line. Only two monorails were on the line which it should be three on average. But during my whole trip, I saw that all the monorail lines had at least three or less. I didn’t see four monorails on the line which I usually see. Maybe it was due to a non-busy week and didn’t need to run all four monorails on one line. I knew that Monorail Peach made its debut this year and glad to see that the WDW Monorail system have its full fleet of trains which is 12.

Monorail Yellow approaching the station
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I rode Yellow all the way back to the EPCOT monorail station and the first thing I did was head on over to the EPCOT bus loading area so I can get back to DHS and get back to my car.

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At the bus loading area, I had to wait about 10 minutes for the next bus to get back to DHS. Got on the bus and it took about 10 minutes to get to DHS. I got off the bus and head back to my car. Luckily, there weren’t quite a lot of people at the parking lot since a lot of the earlier guests have left the park and all the guests that were coming in were parking on the other side.

So I left DHS around 2:30pm and head on back to the resort and met up with my group. So we went to a Chinese restaurant off of International Drive. We went to this Chinese restaurant back during the 2010 trip during Spring Break where my dad went fishing and actually cooked our fish. He did not go fishing this time, but it was a nice place to have some Chinese food.

When we finished lunch, my dad friend was about to visit a old friend from college on the east side of Orlando and took my dads car. So I had to drive my dad and my brother to our next destination while the girls took their car. They wanted to go to DHS that day and ride ST. But my dad and my DB didn’t want to go to DHS, they wanted to go to EPCOT so I drove with them to EPCOT while the girls went to DHS.

That will be another time so stay tuned for that night.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 4 – December 13, 2011 – Part 9

When we left the restaurant at International Drive on the other side of Highway 4, my dad, DB and I head on over to EPCOT while the girls went on over to DHS.

Over at EPCOT parking lot, there were quite a number of spots opened on the Journey parking area so I got a great spot to exit the park when we left. So my dad and my DB head on over to the park while I head on over to the bus area to get to DHS. It was also getting really cloudy that daytime and I was worried that it might rain. We will have to wait and see what it will be like.

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I head on over to the bus loading area at EPCOT and luckily the bus to get to DHS was already there so it was perfect timing.

I got to DHS around 4:40pm and I already knew that the girls were at the park. Before I got in the park, I called them and they were already on ST. So that is where I am about to head to.

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The park at first was about average crowds on Hollywood Blvd. It was still cloudy when I got to the park and hoped that it didn’t rain that night. We’ll just have to wait and see if it won’t rain.

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Some Holiday decorations on the lamp post. You can see the plant that is hanging looks like Christmas bells
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I continued all the way over to ST and meet up with my group.
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It was a little busy around the area of ST
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When I looked at the wait time for ST, it was only 20 minute wait. Once again, DHS ST has a shorter wait time then DL ST. I just don’t get it, why in the world DHS ST doesn’t have the wait time like DL ST?

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I waited for them at the exit of the Tatooine Traders store. It took about a few minutes and they wanted to go on again. I had a problem of riding ST since I have brought my tripod with me. I wasn’t planning on going any rides, but the girls got me to ride ST that night.

When I entered the ST building, it almost looked the same as DL version, but the only difference from both of them that when you look at wall behind the Starspeeder 1000 there wasn’t an opening at DHS while at DL which has an opening where the former Peoplemover/Rocket Rods

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We got station #4 and were in the third row. I asked where I could put my tripod, they said that I can just put it under with the rest of the bags. I was kind of surprise to hear that, but it did fit underneath the seat.

Now for our tour we start off with Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers at the Rebel ship, then we made a journey all the way towards icy planet of Hoth. We left and Yoda was relaying the message to all of us and bring the rebel spy safely to the Alliance. So our next destination was Geonosis while being followed by Boba Fett. Next we were going though a tour of the Death Star. After that, we got to the Rebel ship hanger and that ends our journey.

After getting off ST. The girls wanted to see F! show. This was for the 6:30pm show. They have seen the DL version and want to see the DHS version. I told them that the show was about the same except for the PP scene and dragon scene at DL. But I did tell them that they did have bleachers to sit instead of sitting down on the walkway of the ROA or standing.

So we head all the way down towards Sunset Blvd and get to the F! show.
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When we got to the bleachers around 5:25pm, the girls wanted to go around and get some food while we wait for the show. Luckily, we got middle section of the bleachers and was excited to see the show. While we were waiting, it was really cloudy and it almost felt that it was going to rain. It did sprinkle a little bit. Some of the people around us started to wear their ponchos or umbrellas to keep them from getting wet. I can tell that it was going to rain like crazy so we have to keep track of everything.

With about 15 minutes until the first show of F! started, it started to rain like crazy and they announced that the show might be cancel due to rain. Most of the people started to leave the area including us. Luckily I brought my umbrella and poncho just in case something like this would happen that day. The others forgot to bring their ponchos so I bought some for them. It took quite awhile since there were a lot of other people trying to buy the same thing.

When we left the F! area, we decided to go on the Great Movie Ride. I knew that they will like this classic ride at DHS. So we head on over to the Great Movie Ride.
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We only had to wait 5 minutes to get on the Great Movie Ride and everyone in my party likes the ride.

After the Great Movie ride, we head on over to the Streets of America to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. It wasn’t really that busy that night like the first night on Saturday. We just walked in the Streets of America instead of going around towards the Muppets area.

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When we got to the Streets of America, the girls were so amazed and got out their cameras immediately and taking a lot of pictures. I knew that this was a good idea to see the Osborne lights that night. So here are some more pics of the Osborne lights that Tuesday night.

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I will be back with more from that night. So stay tune for the next update.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 4 – December 13, 2011 – Part 10

Now back at the Streets of America to take more pics of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights that Tuesday night. It didn’t rain that night while it did rain when the first show of F! was about to start at 6:30pm.

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Do you see something in this picture?
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That is it for this post and I will get back with more from that night.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 4 – December 13, 2011 – Part 11

After we all met up at the end of the streets of America, we were about to head on out of the park but my group were feeling hungry and decided to have some dinner somewhere on site. The closest restaurant that was by the Streets of America was the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant. So we head on over to the Sci-Fi Dine-In Restaurant and see what was available.

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When we got in, they said that they can fit the four of us in the restaurant. So we head on in the restaurant and have dinner together. It was really neat to try the food at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater restaurant. When I first saw the restaurant it just looked like in the photos that I have seen in the books and online. I was surprise I have never eaten at the restaurant and glad it was that night after the Osborne Family lights. I believe we got in the restaurant when the park closed at 8pm. So it was neat to be in the park while it just closed. It was neat to see the old classic movies, the girls mom really enjoyed seeing classic shows on the big screen and it did felt like watching a drive-in movie just like the old days.

I had the Angus Chuck Burger while the others had the Grilled Chicken Sandwich, Vegetable Burgeer and the Smoked Turkey Sandwich. We also saved a little thanks to the Tables in Wonderland card. I am now glad that I got this card since we saved a few bucks that night.

We just finished and got some last second pictures of the restaurant.
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When we exited the restaurant it was almost 9pm and the park did look almost empty. When I looked at the direction towards the Streets of America, the Osborne Light was turned off so this is what the Streets of America is where the Osborne Family lights looked like after the park hours.

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So we head on out of the park and all the way towards Hollywood Blvd. There were some people still in the park doing last minute shopping on Hollywood Blvd.
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Before we head on out of the park, we stopped at some of the stores around Hollywood Blvd.

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While we were waiting for the girls, I took some pics of the window displays and went inside one of the stores.

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When we were about to exit the park, one of the CMs were doing drawings on the street.
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We exited the park together and went back to their car.

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I rode back with them all the way back to EPCOT so I can pick up the car. It was really nice of them to give me a ride all the way to EPCOT instead of taking the bus all the way back to EPCOT.

I got back to the parking lot around 9:45 and I knew that Illuminations was still going on since they called me and were planning on watching the show. So I just waited until the show was over and walked all the way over to the parking lot.

It was around 10:10pm when they finally reached the car and we head on back to the resort and called it for the night.

It was a nice day to go to DHS and EPCOT that day. Got to take a lot of great pics of both parks and got to eat at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater restaurant that night with the girls. It was disappointed at first that night when it rained and we had to missed F!. But I told them that it wasn’t as good as DL version. We got to do the Osborne Family lights which they were all amazed by all those lights.

Now that day is completed and with only two days left. The trip is almost done.

[tksbaskets]

Day 4 – December 13, 2011 – Part 9

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We got station #4 and were in the third row. I asked where I could put my tripod, they said that I can just put it under with the rest of the bags. I was kind of surprise to hear that, but it did fit underneath the seat.

Now for our tour we start off with Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers at the Rebel ship, then we made a journey all the way towards icy planet of Hoth. We left and Yoda was relaying the message to all of us and bring the rebel spy safely to the Alliance. So our next destination was Geonosis while being followed by Boba Fett. Next we were going though a tour of the Death Star. After that, we got to the Rebel ship hanger and that ends our journey.




Nice update Bret. Do you think the list of destinations on ST at DHS is shorter than at DL? I recall quite a few more listings.

On all our rides at DL I never got a ride where Yoda gives the message. It was always Leah or Admiral Akbar.

Too bad about your rain-out of F! Especially after getting good seats and waiting. Glad you were able to go see the Osborn Lights. They are truly spectacular!

TK

[mvf-m11c]

Nice update Bret. Do you think the list of destinations on ST at DHS is shorter than at DL? I recall quite a few more listings.

On all our rides at DL I never got a ride where Yoda gives the message. It was always Leah or Admiral Akbar.

Too bad about your rain-out of F! Especially after getting good seats and waiting. Glad you were able to go see the Osborn Lights. They are truly spectacular!

TK

A little late to the update since I have been busy the last few days. I thought the list of ST at DHS is the same at DL at 54 different destinations.

I see. When I did the ST sneak peak back in May, I didn't get Leia until the last few times I have been on ST.

It was a little disappointing that it rained before F! started, but we got to do some other things that night which made it up. The Osborne Family lights were amazing like always.

Thanks TK for following along. :thumbsup2

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 1
Now the next day after going to DHS and EPCOT it is time to go back to the MK and do some more pics of the Holiday decorations and go on a few rides. The rest of my group was planning on going to Universal Orlando and go back to IoA. I wasn't interested in going back to IoA since I only need one day at the park and I have done everything I wanted to do out there. We all plan on going to the MK that day because we have Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party tickets that day. I really didn't want to do MVMCP that late, but it was a good idea that I didn't do it early because of the weather on Sunday and Tuesday night when it was raining.

The MK is suppose to open at 9am that Wednesday morning so I took the car and drove to the park by myself. I left around 8:50am and on my way to the Transportation & Ticket Center.

When I got to the T&TC, it was really quiet that morning and got a decent spot in the Aladdin section. So i just walked all the way towards the T&TC since it is really close.
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I head on over to the Express Monorail station
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When I got to the MK Monorail station, it was already 9:20am and the park was opened.
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I went through the park and all of a sudden it was nice and quiet that morning. I thought there would be more people like the early days I have been at the park on Saturday. So it was going to be a great day to enjoy the park.

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There were quite a number of people around the Christmas tree at Town Square getting pictures with the characters and at the tree.
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I walked down MS and head on over to Cinderella castle to take some pics around the castle.
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The CM Christmas carolers were right by the horse drawn trolley.
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Now we were right by the Hub and there were a lot of people trying to get a picture of Cinderella castle.
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I head on over to FL from Cinderella castle since it will be closed later on due to the shows. So if you plan on going through the castle get their early in the morning before the shows.
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You can see the string of lights that are hanging on Cinderella castle.
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Now in Fantasyland and taking some more pics of the buildings. It was really quiet at the back side.
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The new FL Expansion constuction site right behind Dumbo
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I head on over to TL and get some more different pics.
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When I got closer to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, the wait time was only 5 minutes and I thought it would be a good idea to go on the ride while the wait time was only 5 minutes.
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Ever since BLSRS opened at MK before BLAB at DL, it became one of my favorite rides at the MK. The only difference between MK BLSRS and DL BLAB is that the guns are attached to the ride while the DL version have a cord so you can aim the gun anywhere you want not like the MK where it is stucked to the car. The point system is way different from both version where all the targets look the same at the MK while the DL version have five different targets to hit at.

When I got on the ride, I knew where the secret targets were located on the ride and when I finished, I got the max points at 999999. Just like DL which has the max at 999999 I couldn't see the final total of my score since the monitors were down that morning.
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After getting out of BLSRS I was close to the Peoplemover and decided to go on it. I am a big fan of the old Peoplemover at DL and was sad when DL took it out of service for the short lived Rocket Rods. I always go on this ride when I have the chance to go to the MK during my visits along with the WDWRR, BLSRS and the monorail.

But that will be told on the next post since I am out of pics for this post. So stay tune for the next update today on Super Bowl Sunday.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 2

After finishing BLSRS, I now head on over to the Peoplemover since I like to go on this ride every time at the MK. It is sad to see the Peoplemover at DL gone for so many years and not using those tracks around TL. It would be nice if DL would revive the old Peoplemover because I like to ride along TL and see all those different areas.

I head on the Peoplemover and plan on taking a lot of different pics on the way. It was a walk on since not too many people ride the Peoplemover and it is a fast loading ride.
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Here are some pics from the Peoplemover.
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You can see the construction area at the old Mickey's Toontown Fair
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You can also see the FL Expansion constuction area
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The WDWRR tracks and the walkway from TL to Mickey's Toontown Fair which I like to walk when I head on over to TL or TT.
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I got off the Peoplemover and now back at the Hub. But I head on over towards Adventureland. Down on MS, it started to get busier with more people coming in the park.
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When I was walking in Adventureland, I saw Peter Pan walking through. Adventureland was quite a little busy around the area but it wasn't that bad.
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POTC and it was already 10:35am
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That's it for this post and will be back with more.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 3

After walking around FL, I was now around Frontierland and taking more different pics around the area. So I head on over to BTMRR and Splash Mountain to see what the wait time was like.
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BTMRR was time was only 10 minutes so it was a great time to ride it, but I didn't feel like riding it that afternoon.
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So I walked around the ROA and towards over to the Liberty Belle dock. At least the park wasn't that crowded from the area around Frontierland and Liberty Square.
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When I got to the dock, the Liberty Belle was about to approach, but it would take awhile until it gets to the dock and leave the dock. So I just went around the back side of FL and see what the crowd level looked like.
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I didn't go to far, but I did see that IASW was around 10 minutes while PP was already at 30 minute wait time. So I head on back to the Liberty Belle dock and got on the Liberty Belle.
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It was nice to ride the Liberty Belle around the ROA. Both the Liberty Belle and the Mark Twain at DL are the same type river boats. But I still like the Mark Twain at DL way more then the Liberty Belle at WDW. Here are some pics from the Liberty Belle when I rode it that afternoon.
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There was quite a long line to go to Tom Sawyer Island.
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Over at BTMRR, there were no trains running so I knew that it was down when I was on the Liberty Belle.
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There were some CM right by BTMRR so I knew that the ride was down at that time.
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More pics of BTMRR
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That's it for this post and I will be back with more pics from the Liberty Belle at the MK.

[tksbaskets]

WOW you got some great pictures this day at MK. I'm looking forward to the FL expansion. I think it's great how Disney tried to keep everything fresh for frequent visitors.

Will be looking out for your pics from the Mark Twain, I've never been on the riverboat. popcorn::

[mvf-m11c]

WOW you got some great pictures this day at MK. I'm looking forward to the FL expansion. I think it's great how Disney tried to keep everything fresh for frequent visitors.

Will be looking out for your pics from the Mark Twain, I've never been on the riverboat. popcorn::

I did get a few good pictures on my solo day at the MK that morning. It will be neat to see the new FL expansion later on. Disney is always doing new fresh ideas in order to get the guests to come back to the resorts.

The next update will be up later today.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 4

I just have left off on the Liberty Belle taking some pics. It was a nice day with barely any clouds in the sky. It was nice to ride the Liberty Belle and get a feel what it is like to ride this steam boat just like at DL Mark Twain. Now back with more pics from the Liberty Belle.

More pics of BTMRR while it was closed
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You can see one of the BTMRR trains is stopped at the top
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An Indian Village
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Fort Longhorne
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Haunted Mansion
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After going around the ROA I got off and now to do something else at the park.
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I head on back to Adventureland to get another Dole Whip. I am just craved for another whip and try one of the different flavors. While I head on over to the Adventureland, the park started to pick up with more and more guests. But it wasn't that bad as I have anticipated just like on Saturday.

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So I got back to the Aloha Isle and got the Orange Dole Whip Soft serve. It was very nice, but I would still prefer the pineapple dole whip over the orange anytime. I didn't get a pic of the dole whip so I was a little disappointed about it.

After leaving Adventureland, I wanted to see Country Bear at Frontierland. So I head on over to Frontierland to see Country Bear.

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It was very nice to see Country Bear at the MK. When I went last year with my DA, I was hoping that CB would have the Holiday version of the show just like DL when it was still there before Winnie the Pooh took it over. It was sad of not seeing the Holiday version of it, but it was great to see the show at the MK.

After the show, I went around Frontierland stores to look around while I was in the area. After going through the stores like the Frontierland Mercantile and Prairie Outpost & Supply store, I head on over to the Frontierland station to ride the WDWRR all the way towards the MS station.

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There was a lot of work being done on the shops around Frontierland, but it wasn't a bad sighting to see.
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That is it for this post and I will be back with more.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 5

After walking around Frontierland for quite awhile, I decided to ride the WDWRR at the Frontierland station so I could get back to MS. I was really tired after walking all day around the park looking and comparing different rides and buildings at the MK. The park crowd level started to pick up with more and more guests coming in, but it wasn't that bad as I have expected.

When I got closer to the Frontierland station, BTMRR was still closed and you can see when I got at the Frontierland station that one of the trains was on the side track.

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I waited at the Frontierland station until the next train arrived at the station. The train that pulled up was the Walter E. Disney Engine #1. I believe the only engines that was running that day were the Walter E. Disney and the Roy O. Disney while I didn't see the Roger E. Broggie wasn't running during my visit. Since the TT RR station was closed due to the FL Expansion project, that was the reason why the MK only ran 2 steam engines instead of the usual three engines on the line.

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So I rode on the Walter E. Disney Engine #1 with it's excursion car set which is red. So I went around until it until it reached the MS station.
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BTMRR side track where the trains are put online or back at the round house which is on the other side of the WDWRR tracks.
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One of the BTMRR trains is finally moving so I believe the ride will be open shortly
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Liberty Belle down the ROA
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Once I arrived at the TT station, we had to stop at the station to take on water so the train was there for awhile.
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After waiting at the TT station for 5 minutes, the train started to move on to the next station was the MS station.

Nice view of the Contemporary hotel as well as Bay Lake Tower
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When I got off the train at MS station, the CM Christmas carolers that were right by the horse drawn trolley was right by the station at MS Town Square doing another performance.
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More pics of MS Town Square
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When I walked past the Emporium which had the Mickey's Christmas Carol window displays, one of the window displays was covered up during the first few days of my trip and all of a sudden this time they finally uncovered the one that i missed during my trip.

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Now going down MS doing some picture taking and doing some shopping.
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That's it for now and I will be back with more.

[tksbaskets]

What great pictures of mainstreet. The weather looks really nice this day. I especially like the ones that highlight the red. :thumbsup2

[mvf-m11c]

What great pictures of mainstreet. The weather looks really nice this day. I especially like the ones that highlight the red. :thumbsup2

Thank you TK. It was really nice that afternoon and the crowd level wasn't that bad as I have thought on that Wednesday afternoon.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 6

I left off around MS going inside all the different stores on MS USA. Since I have done almost all my activities at the park, I thought it would be nice to look at the Holiday merchandise at each store. I only got a picture of the Emporium store during that time.

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So I just kept going from store to store around MS.
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While I just passed one of the stores on MS, "Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It Street Party" parade was going on down MS.
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The parade past and now back around MS looking for any Holiday decorations.
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After looking around MS, I decided to go around the park again and take more different pictures.
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I head on over to TL and the TL Terrace Restaurant was closed. But it will be opened for MVMCP that night.
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Now back at TL.
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SM wait time was just 10 minutes and I was kind of surprise to see it that low.
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TL is not that crowded and the weather was still nice while it was started to get cloudy.
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Cinderella Castle from the TL side
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I was back at MS and I have decided to leave the park since it is getting busy.
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The parade was around the Hub.
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It was still early which it was even 1pm yet and I decided to leave the park.
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That is it for now and I will be back with more at the MK.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 7

I just walked around MS to get some last second pictures until I head on out of the park. I know that it was early to leave the park. The day was nice, but I chose to leave and go to DTD and check out the stores before I join up with my group. The park started to pick up with more and more guests at the MK, but it wasn't that bad.

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Now back at TS.
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Christmas wreath over the tunnel of the MS station
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Now I just left the MK and head on back to the T&TC. That was a very nice morning at the MK going on a few rides and taking a lot of different pictures. I went through the Resort line instead of going through the Express Monorail line.
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Monorail Teal was at the station so I walked really fast to make it and luckily I just got on Teal.
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I rode Teal all the way towards the T&TC.
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Teal just left the station and now I am heading back to my car.
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Monorail Gold on the Express line
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I got back to my car and head on over to DTD to do some shopping. The parking lot were not that busy and around DTD was not that busy. So I went to a lot of different stores like the World of Disney Store. I must have spent about 1 hour doing some shopping and got some nice merchandise from the WoD store. Here are some pics from DTD.

Lego Malificent
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WoD Store
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Disney Days of Christmas store window display
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Disney Days of Christmas store
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After finishing my shopping, I head on back to my car bnd back to the resort.
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I got back around 3pm and took a break until it was time to head on over to the MK for MVMCP.

That is it for now and will be back with more.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 8

I have left off getting back to the resort and met up with the rest of my party. We all left the resort and head on over to the MK for MVMCP that Wednesday night. It was a nice day and we were all excited to go to the MK.

We got to the T&TC and rode the Ferry instead of the monorail. The Express monorail was closed and it would take awhile for the Resort monorail since there were quite a lot of people in the queue at the sation. So we took the ferry to the MK.

It was around 5:15pm when we got to the turnstiles at the MK and went through the MVMCP turnstile and get our wristbands.

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When we got our wristbands, we head on in the park and towards MS USA. It was not that crowded that night and it was a good thing I have chosen Wednesday for MVMCP then Sunday when it was raining. It was cloudy that night and it always shows signs of concern for the weather, but it wasn't that bad that day.

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I wanted to get a spot around the Hub so we can see MOUACP that night, but it was way too early to get a spot and I didn't want to wait 4 hours for a spot so we all head on over to Adventureland so we can do some rides. It was also nice that night which wasn't windy just like last year which made my first time to MVMCP a disaster.

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One of the Christmas shows in front of Cinderella castle was going on.
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The first ride we did that night was POTC. The whole group was excited to see POTC at WDW.
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When we got off POTC, the whole group didn't like POTC since it completely different from the DL version. Both versions are about the same except that WDW doesn't have the Blue Bayou restaurant at DL which is a great place to eat at the park. Plus the WDW doesn't have too many drops like DL version.

I forgot to show a picture of my wristband during MVMCP.
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After we got off, we head on over to BTMRR. It was around 6pm and I thought it was a good idea to get my spot around the Hub to see MOUACP. I knew that there would be a lot of people staking out a spot around the Hub for the MOUACP, Wishes fireworks and Celebrate the Season show. My dads friend and I head on back to MS to get a spot while the rest decided to go on BTMRR.

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So the two of us head on to MS and get our spot for the parade. More pics before we got to MS Hub.
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While we were walking down Frontierland and Liberty Square, they had projections on the buildings and streets of Holiday snowflakes.
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When we got to MS Hub, there were a lot of people already staking out spots around the Hub so we were lucky to get a spot right by the Hub. It was around 6:15pm when we got the spot and it was going to be around 3 hours to hold onto this spot for all the different shows.

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One of the nighttime shows was going on while the regular guests are still in the park.
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Around 7:30pm when everyone got back doing all those different rides around the park. So we had some food together and waited until it was time for MOUACP. So we waited until it was time for the parade.

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That's it for now and I will be back with more.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 9

I just left off around MS Hub area while we all waited for the parade. While we were waiting, the girls went to Casey's Corner to get some dinner. They got some corn dog nuggets and french fries. I really like the corn dog nuggets. They also went around the park at the treat stations to get some hot chocolate and cookies.

The whole area around the Hub was already crowded while the other people started to wait for the parade. The CMs were checking everyone to see if they have their wristbands. It was just like the same front last year where a CM check each guest to see if they have their wristband.

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The first show of "Celebrate the Season" has started. I have just took pictures from our parade spot since it was crowded around the front of the Hub.
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When the first show of "Celebrate the Season" is over, we waited until it was time for MOUACP.
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The streets were cleared and it is almost time for MOUACP.
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Now it is time for MOUACP. I'll let the pictures talk instead of my words.
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A lot of Disney characters
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Mickey, Minnie and Duffy
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I will be back with more from MOUACP.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 10

Now back to MOUACP.

Donald and Daisy
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Chip and Dale
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Seven Dwarves
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Snow White and the Prince
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More Christmas trees on the float
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Cinderella Pumpkin carriage with 6 ponies
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Float with a lot of Disney Princesses and Princes
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Goofy float coming up next
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That's it for this post and I will be back with more.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 11

More pics from MOUACP.
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Toy Soldiers
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And of course at the end is Santa
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After the parade was over, we stayed in the same area until it was time for Holiday Wishes fireworks. The weather that night was just so amazing with no clouds in the sky and it wasn't windy. So it was going to be a nice night for fireworks.

We just waited until it was time for the fireworks, I took some pics of the castle while we waited.
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That's it for now and I will be back with more from MVMCP at the MK.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 12

After MOUACP was over, we waited for Holiday Wishes fireworks. But first while we were waiting at our same spot after watching the parade. It was a nice night and still no rain so it was going to be a nice night. I took some more pics while we were waiting.

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The Magic, the Memories, and You! started.

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When the MMY is over, we waited until it was time for Holiday Wishes fireworks.
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The next post will be up with pictures from Holiday Wishes fireworks.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 13

Now it is finally time for Holiday Wishes fireworks. I have been looking forward to Holiday Wishes since last year which it was a disaster because of the windy weather which made my first experience of MVMCP a disaster. This time it was so perfect and barely any clouds in the sky. I have videotaped the show which you can see on my youtube. Holiday Wishes: Celebrate The Spirit of the Season Fireworks 12/14/11 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huZl2DQA3gg) I also have used my camera to take some pics of Holiday Wishes fireworks. So enjoy the pictures from Holiday Wishes fireworks.

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That is it for this post and I will be back with more from Holiday Wishes fireworks.

[tksbaskets]

Great firework pictures!! :woohoo:

[mvf-m11c]

Great firework pictures!! :woohoo:

Thank you TK.


Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 14

More pics from Holiday Wishes fireworks during MVMCP.
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When Holiday Wishes fireworks ended, I headed on over to the front of Cinderella Castle so I can watch "Celebrate the Season" show. But my group did not want to see it since they have seen it when we were waiting for the parade. So they just went on over to TL to do some of the rides while the wait time is short.

So I head on over to the Hub and get a nice spot right across the street from Cinderella. Luckily it wasn't that crowded when I got around the area. Just when it was about to start, it was still not that busy so it was going to be very nice to watch "Celebrate the Season" during the 2nd show at MVMCP.

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But the pictures will be shown on the next post.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 15

Now it is time for "Celebrate the Season". So I will let the pics talk about it. I was the only one seeing the show since the rest of my party went to TL to go on some rides. I didn't videotape it well last year and this time I was determine to get better video.

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I will have more from "Celebrate the Season" shortly.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 16

Now back to Celebrate the Season
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When Celebrate the Season was over, I head on over to TL to meet up with the rest of my group. I would guess that they must be around by SM or BLSRS. On the way, TL was light up with the MVMCP logos on the buildings including snow flakes on the rocks.

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It wasn't that crowded at TL so going on any of the rides will be short.
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SM also had the snow flakes projeciton on the mountain.
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That's it for this post and will be back with more.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 17

When I got over to SM, part of my group was on the ride while my dad and his friend were waiting right by the entrance of SM. So we just waited for the girls and my DB to get off the ride and do some other rides.

After we all met up around SM, we head on over to FL. So on the way, I had to get some pics of the projections of MVMCP while we were walking and got some of them.
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On the way, we did stop at some of the treat stations to get some cookies and hot chocolate.
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We were now in FL and the projections of the snow flakes were pointing in the direction of the FL expansion walls which you can barley see in the background.
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The girls wanted to ride PP so that is our next ride.
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The wait time was only 5 minutes so we didn't have to wait that long.
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PP at WDW is almost exactly like the one back at DL, but I still prefer the DL version over WDW MK.
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When we got off PP, we head on over to Liberty Square.
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Over at the former Skyway station and where the stroller parking is where the character meet and greet area is at.
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Now at Liberty Square
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We head on over to the Christmas shops
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There was also projections on the shops.
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MVMCP logo on the street
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So we decided to head on out of the park after doing most of the rides that night, but first we had to get a nice picture of Cinderella Castle at the entrance of Liberty Square.
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We head on down MS and we had to stop at the shops to get some last minute items from MVMCP. It was really busy down MS while some of the guests are also planning on heading out of the park that night.
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It was already 11:10pm and I had to get the signs during MVMCP
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So we head on down MS and I had to get some pics of the window displays and the buildings during MVMCP.
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On the way out, we stopped at the Emporium to get some last second items before we head on out of the park.
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When we finished getting our merchandise at the Emporium, we were heading on out of the park. But that will be told on the next post.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 14, 2011 – Part 18

When we finished buying our merchandise at the Emporium, we decided it was time to leave the park and head back to the resort. On the way out, there were quite a lot of people leaving at the same time as us. The Hub was busy while people are leaving and people taking pictures at the Christmas tree.

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Snow flake projections on the street of MS TS.
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MS RR station
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Another MVMCP banner
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So we head on out of the park and we decided to ride the ferry since the monorail is only running the Resort line. The Express line was not running that night so that was an easy decision for us to ride the ferry since they are running two boats.

There were a lot of people waiting to get on the ferry after leaving the MK during MVMCP.
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We rode the Admiral Joe Fowler ferry
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When we got back to the T&TC, we head on over to the Villian Tram loading area since we have parked at that spot.

The Resort line is still running that night
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We really walked very fast in order to get on the tram. My DB was walking so fast and samething with my dad.
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We got on the tram and head on back to the car. We got back to the car and got back to the resort almost around midnight. So we called it for the night.

That day was quite exciting since I was at the MK during a regular day and during MVMCP. Luckily the MK was not that crowded that day. I got to see all three nighttime shows during MVMCP which was Holiday Wishes, Celebrate the Season and MOUACP. All the videos of the three shows were great and glad that it wasn't a windy day.

Now is the last full day at the resort and it is always sad to be on your last full day of your vacation.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 5 – December 15, 2011 – Part 1

After a great day at the MK during MVMCP on Wednesday now is the last full day at WDW which is the saddest part of the trip. It was going to be a day where everyone is looking forward to the most at EPCOT. But first we plan on going to DTD to do some shopping before we head on over to EPCOT.

We didn't leave early like the other days since we are all exhausted from MVMCP on Wednesday night. Yeah, especially me since I was exhausted from that night. It was fun and glad that I got to spend a lot of time at the MK. So we didn't leave to DTD around 11am that morning.

When we got to DTD, we all headed our seperate ways and I told everyone that if they needed to buy anything, I would help them buy using my Premier AP since I can save them some money on their purchases.

It was a nice afternoon at DTD with not too many people. We all first head on over to the WoD store and most of my group bought a lot of stuff at the store.
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My dad bought a lot of art at the Art of Disney store.
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When it was around noon, we head on over to EPCOT after doing all that shopping. It was nice to be at EPCOT after being there a few days ago. It was nice to be with the group and doing a lot of things together. The first thing we did when we got to EPCOT was head on over to my DB and I Leave a Legacy picture to show everyone.

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After seeing my picture, we head on over to Spaceship Earth and rode on it. That was the first ride we rode that day and everyone was excited to ride it.
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We finished riding Spaceship Earth, now our next destination was Test Track. But all of a sudden my dad told us just as we were heading on over to Test Track that we are eating at Le Cellier at the Canada pavilion. I was completely shocked to hear from him that he actually got a reservation at Le Cellier. He said that our reservation was around 2:30pm. So I told everyone that they could go to the restaurant while I go and get FP for TT.

So I split up with the rest of my group as I head on over to TT and get the FPs. I knew that the FPs would be around after Le Cellier. On the way, it was kind of busy around Future World.
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When I got to TT, the return time was around 3:30pm to 4:30pm which is what I have expected.
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After I got the FPs, I head on over to the Canada pavilion to meet up with my group.
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I got to Le Cellier and the rest of my group was waiting outside the restaurant. I will have the next update of my TR later on.

[tksbaskets]

The last day is always bitter sweet. I can't belive how empty DTD was this morning :thumbsup2 Nice for shopping.

Your afternoon at EPCOT is off to a great start! So nice that your dad was able to get reservations in Canada. We've never eaten there so I'm looking forward to hearing about your experience.

Thanks for sharing!

TK

[tksbaskets]

The last day is always bitter sweet. I can't belive how empty DTD was this morning :thumbsup2 Nice for shopping.

Your afternoon at EPCOT is off to a great start! So nice that your dad was able to get reservations in Canada. We've never eaten there so I'm looking forward to hearing about your experience.

Thanks for sharing!

TK

[mvf-m11c]

The last day is always bitter sweet. I can't belive how empty DTD was this morning :thumbsup2 Nice for shopping.

Your afternoon at EPCOT is off to a great start! So nice that your dad was able to get reservations in Canada. We've never eaten there so I'm looking forward to hearing about your experience.

Thanks for sharing!

TK

You are right about that the last day is bitter sweet, but I was really looking forward to getting back home and look at my videos and pictures from the trip. It was really nice that morning at DTD. We must have bought a ton of merchandise and the bringing the bags home was hard enough with all that weight.

It was a nice start to go to Spaceship Earth and get FP for TT. I was really excited that my dad was able to get us in at Le Cellier. I will tell you on the later TR what else we got when we ate at Le Cellier. I did upload the pics on flickr and I will tell about it on the next post.

Your welcome TK.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 6 – December 15, 2011 – Part 2

When I got to the Canada pavilion, my group was waiting outside so I just waited with them. I did ask my dad how he got the reservation at Le Cellier after I have been trying to get in since a half a year. He got the reservation by signing up for the Candlelight Processional dining package. I did read on the DIS boards that was another way to get a reservation at the restaurant, but it was really expensive and it doesn’t get a deal off with the TiW card. But he wanted to give me and the rest of the group a chance to eat at the popular restaurant. I was so stoked that he did that and I was looking forward to the restaurant the most since I have been trying for the last few years to get in this restaurant.

While we were waiting to get in the restaurant, I took some pics of the garden at the Canada Pavilion. We had to wait about 15 minutes until it was time for us to enter the restaurant.

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Le Cellier Steakhouse restaurant sigh
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Ducks diving in the pond
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Victoria Gardens plaque
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After we waited for 15 minutes the 7 of us finally headed on in the restaurant and finally got to eat. When I first entered the restaurant, it just looked like in the pictures that I have seen on previous TRs. When we ordered our food, we got an appetizer, entrée and desert which was a lot of food for a lunch. The restaurant was decorated with holiday decorations so at least the restaurant is in the holiday spirit.

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With all the food that we ordered, we all shared with each other and tasted each other plates. I forgot to take pictures of the food while we were at the restaurant. But I did get my plate as well as my brothers.

My DB got the Filet Mignon
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While I got the New York Strip Steak
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Everyone got something different and the food was amazing. We also had dessert which was too much for all of us but it was amazing. When the bill came, I saw that it was about $59 a person which was a lot. I thought about it more and more and can see that it was worth it for an appetizer, entrée, and dessert as well as preferred seating for the CP and Illuminations right by the International Christmas tree right by the two stores.

Our ticket to the CP at the 5pm
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We got our tickets to the CP, we head on out of the restaurant and on our way to TT. But first everyone needed to use the restroom so we head on over to United Kingdom since that was the closest restroom. While everyone used the restroom, I walked around Canada and United Kingdom until I met up with the others.

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I head on over to United Kingdom
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I met up with everyone around United Kingdom, we head on over to TT since our FPs are close to the end. So we walked really fast all the way back to Future World.

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When we got to TT, we just got there just in time when our FPs was going to lapse.
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We only had to wait about 15 minutes to get on the ride. After getting off the ride, everyone liked the ride. I told them that the newest ride at DCA Cars Land will have the same ride technology as TT. So everyone will know that Radiator Springs Racers will almost be the same as TT when it opens this summer. I can’t wait to see the newest land at DCA this summer and ride RSR.

When we got off the ride, it was almost time to do another ride. But I will get that on the next TR.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 6 – December 15, 2011 – Part 3

After we finished Test Track, we head on over to the American Pavilion and see the CP. We were a little late from Test Track, but it was going to be great to watch the CP. I have never seen the DL CP, but the one at EPCOT that I have seen last year was amazing. So I am looking forward to the CP. So we had to walk all the way around World Showcase lagoon to head on over to the American pavilion.

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United Kingdom
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LCD globe for Illuminations being in place
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Now back in France
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Tokyo
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We got to the CP a few minutes late and were escorted to our seats. It was exciting to see the CP at the American pavilion. The guest narrator during that night was Lorraine Bracco. I wished we did the CP earlier since Neil Patrick Harris was the guest narrator on the 10th to 12th. It was a nice experience during the CP.

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After the CP was over, we wanted to do some other rides at Future World. So we head on over back toFuture World. It was also a good time to go back to the car and get my video camera and tripod for Illuminations that night. So I walked with them all the way down to World Showcase to get the tripod. But on the way, we had to stop at Bistro de Paris to change our dinner reservation. Because my dad surprised us with Le Cellier for lunch for the CP package, we had to push it back since we were full that afternoon.

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Tokyo pavilion
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Back again at France pavilion
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We waited for my dad to change the reservation and gladly there wasn't anyone for the 7:50pm reservation.
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Christmas decorations window display at the France pavilion
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Now we were walking on out of World Showcase to Future World.
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They decided to head on over to Imagination building to see Captain EO while I head on out of the park and to the car to get my tripod.
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That's it for this post and I will be back with more from that Thursday night.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 6 – December 15, 2011 – Part 4

After I got my tripod and camera from the car, I head on over to Imagination becuase that is where the rest of my group is watching Captain EO. I didn't want to see Captain EO since I have seen it plenty of times at DL. So it was a short walk for me all the way towards Imagination. It wasn't a short walk but it did seemed like a short walk.

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The park wasn't that crowded around Future World so I would guess that most of the people were around World Showcase.
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I walked around the Seas since they were still in Captain EO.
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I got to Imagination and I just waited right by the fountains until they got out of the show.
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When I met up with everyone, we head on over to World Showcase to do one more ride until we head on over to Bistro de Paris. We head on over to the Mexico pavilion to ride Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros.

Around Future World was a little busy that night.
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A look back at Future World and Spaceship Earth
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Now back at the International Christmas tree
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We got to Mexico pavilion and head on over to the Gran Fiesta Tour.
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It took quite awhile to get on the Gran Fiesta, but everyone thinks that it is a Mexico version of IASW.
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After we left the Mexico pavilion, we rushed all the way towards the France pavilion for dinner so we head on over.
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Outside the Mexico pavilion
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Now passing Germany
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We passed through the CP standby queue and it was really long while guests are waiting to get in the theater.
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We got to the Bistro de Paris a little late, but we got to go in and be seated so this was my 2nd time as well as my dad eating at this restaurant while the others are here for the first time. They were really impressed with the restaurant and it is way smaller than Le Cellier.

A nice fold up napkin.
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Beignet and leak soup as our starters
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The Entrees
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Grilled Beef Tenderloin
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Seared Sea Scallops
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Maine Lobster cassolette
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Now Dessert
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Warm Lemon Soufflé
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After dinner at Bistro de Paris, we had to rush on over to the CP viewing area since we have participated at the CP and get preferred seating. While we checked around the viewing areas around the lagoon, they were all packed so we had to rush all the way towards the viewing area to see the show. Luckily, when we got there there were quite a lot of spaces around teh area so we waited for Illuminations.

That will be on another post so stay tuned for the next post.

[mvf-m11c]

Day 6 – December 15, 2011 – Part 5

When we got to the viewing area at Illuminations, we got a decent spot. It wasn't great since we were not in the back or front. But getting there very late at the last second is not that bad to watch the show. Here are some pics that I have taken during Illuminations.

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After the show was over, we head on over to Mouse Gear Store to do some last minute shopping before we head on out of the park. We went to the stores right by the International Christmas tree when the people are leaving the park that night.

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Then we head on over to Mouse Gear store.
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We did spend a quite a time at the store to buy a lot of merchandise. When we were done, we head on out of the park and back to the cars. Before we head on back to the cars, I had to get some last minute pictures of EPCOT before we left.

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I like to take close up pictures of Spaceship Earth and its panels
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You can see the Christmas flakes on the monorail
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We head on out of the park and saw more flakes on the monorail station
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We got back to the cars and head on back to the Sheraton Resort. When we got back, we had to pack most of our stuff since we have to leave to the airport around 5am in the morning. I really didn't like to leave that early just like we did on last Friday, but my dad wanted to get back home so we had to pack up that Thursday night.

The day was really great, we got to do a lot of shopping at DTD and got to do a lot at EPCOT. I was so excited to eat at Le Cellier during that day. We got to eat at Bistro de Paris which is always nice to eat at and got to do the CP that day was also exciting. It as a great trip and the last day during the trip is always the saddest.

On Friday morning, we left the Sheraton Vistana Resort around 5am and on our way to Orlando International airport. We didn't go with our other group since they have a flight later in the afternoon. It was nice for them to sleep in while we had to catch the first flight out of Orlando. But it was also good so we can get home early and upload my pictures from my trip. We left Orlando around 6am and our first stop was Denver International Airport. We stayed there for a few hours and catch a flight back home to Sacramento. We got back home around 1pm Pacific time and that concludes my trip during the Holiday season at WDW.

This trip was way better then the 2010 trip because the weather was so perfect unlike the other time when it was freezing. Got to do all four park during my visit including IoA to see WWoHP. MVMCP was great and not that windy, got to do Le Cellier and Bistro de Paris which were amazing restaurants, and get a TiW card. I know that it will be good until January 2013 so I hope that I might be able to do another trip later on this year, but it is highly unlikely since the DLR is having a lot of new attractions to do this year with Cars Land and Buena Vista Street at DCA. It was really fun to spend the Holiday season at WDW with my dad, DB and my dad friend family. It has been awhile since I have been with a big group and it was worth it.

Now that this trip is over, I'm only just a few days away till my relaxation trip to DL this Friday. I have been looking forward to this trip for quite some time since my basketball season a few weeks ago. The main goal of this trip is just to have a fun and relaxation time after so much work these last few months. It will be nice to be at a Disney park and what better place to be at is at DL.

This concludes my WDW TR. Thank you everyone for following along.

[tksbaskets]

WOW! I go away for the weekend and come back to such great posts :goodvibes

The meal in Canada sounded (and looked) wonderful. What a great day you had at EPCOT. I've never seen the CP but the lunch/CP package seemed to be well worth the price. CP is always crowded. I too would love to see Neil Patrick Harris be the narrator.

Dinner at the little Bistro looked wonderful too. Another place to put on our 'to do' list.

GREAT firework pictures.

Bret, you did a great job keeping two wonderful trip reports going. Thanks for sharing!

TK