The Disney Grump & Family Take on the World-Our '09 Christmas w/ the Mouse, COMPLETE

[brookelizabeth]

I am drooling over your lens. Fannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnntastic pictures of the shows!!!

Must buy zoom lens!

Sounds like a lovely evening around the resort, I really like those lazy times. It feels good sometimes to do nothing...namely on vacation. Love your Christmas decorations!! I bet they made the room feel very festive and fun!

 

[floridascgirl]

Thanks for the great update and fantastic photos!

 

[Happydog]

Your photos are fabulous! I love all the close ups and the details! I never made it to Camp Mickey Minnie.... I really wanted to see the characters!!! Oh well next time I will get a chance to see what I missed! Your evening photos at POFQ were great!!! I thought the alligators looked cute in the evening all lit up! And your tree is adorable And the stockings too!!! We kepts our regular stockings here at home too. I was glad to find those Disney stockings -- gotta love Target!! You planned a wonderful trip I can tell, and I can't wait to read more!!!

 

[RachelNinja]

The stockings are great! I recently thought about getting a Cricut machine because I was thinking about how it would help in the classroom. Then I saw the price, eek! It's not something that I have money for in my budget now because the machine and the cartridges are so much!

I am curious, however, about how it works. I know that you put the cartridge in and the point is for the machine to do all the cutting. But - this might sound silly - how does that multi-colored character come out? Do you layer it?

 

[SoonerGirl]

The FOTLK and Nemo shows are so great!! Glad you got to do both!! And that AK tree is amazing!! LOVE the tree and stockings you brought!! I'm impressed with what you did with the stockings!! What a great way to make your room feel more Christmasy!!

I was happy with how the stockings turned out and I couldn't beat the price - $1 stockings and some cardstock. Don fussed at me a little about spending the money to ship decorations to the hotel, but I we had to have at least a small tree for Christmas!

I love that you decorated your room!

I can't wait to see FOTLK again and Nemo for the first time!

Oh, you're going to love Nemo - very cute, and a GREAT place to go get out of the heat for a little while, AK always seems to feel so hot (well, unless of course it's below 50 degrees outside, then it doesn't feel so hot....)

Your camera took some great closeups!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (OT, but I was never so disappointed with mine until this past trip. I really hope the new one I got for Christmas from the IL's is better then its predecessor!!)

I love the decs in the room too!!

More! More!

I've forgotten did you say what kind of camera they got you? Don bought me mine for Christmas last year (still haven't really learned how to use it ) and even though I only scratch the surface on what it can do, I love it!

Fun that you decorated your room! I can't imagine how exciting it would be to be at Disney at Christmas time.... I like the tree in AK too, very unique.
Hummm, the bats... well, we live on a golf course and the course has a few bat houses to help cut down on the insects here. So unfortunately all of us along this fairway have bat "visits" in the summer. They are sooo unnerving, especially at 2:00 am when you are sound asleep and it flies over your head! Talk about jolting awake! They are pretty easy to get back outside but I really don't like them! (sorry about the long story!!)

Well, I guess they serve a purpose, but I'd sure hate to be awoken by one!

I really, really liked the AK tree, lots of really cool ornaments.

I think you had a great ending to the day! You got to see two nice shows (I've missed Nemo everytime we have been there) and then had some nice downtime at the resort. I love the way you decorated the room. Very cute. The little baby tree that you got from Mousekeeping is adorable! How fun of them to leave that.

Wasn't that little tree cute! We had a great Mousekeeper, she left us a few surprises that week.

It was nice to just unwind a bit at the resort and take it easy that evening. I've ran Don ragged in the past so I really tried to slow things down a bit this time so he would enjoy himself a bit more.

Sounds like your day was great at AK! You got some nice shots from FOTLK........one of my favorites! It is so well done!

Your room decorations were too cute.........love the tree and stockings! I was always curious as to how well the cricut worked.....you did a wonderful job on the stockings!

I'm loving your resort pics! Chris and I are taking a road trip this summer and decided to book POFQ as our hotel in the Disney portion of our trip. It looks pretty nice from what I've seen in your pics!

I love my cricut - it works great! The cartridges are kinda pricey, but sometimes you can find them on sale. Michaels had them half off a few months ago and I grabbed the Disney one, so the stockings were super easy to make!

A road trip sounds like fun! Where all are you going to go?

I am drooling over your lens. Fannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnntastic pictures of the shows!!!

Must buy zoom lens!

Sounds like a lovely evening around the resort, I really like those lazy times. It feels good sometimes to do nothing...namely on vacation. Love your Christmas decorations!! I bet they made the room feel very festive and fun!

Don got me the lens when he bought me the camera. It's a pain in the butt to switch out lenses, but it came in very handy for the shows and for the safari!

Thanks for the great update and fantastic photos!

Glad you enjoyed them!!

Your photos are fabulous! I love all the close ups and the details! I never made it to Camp Mickey Minnie.... I really wanted to see the characters!!! Oh well next time I will get a chance to see what I missed! Your evening photos at POFQ were great!!! I thought the alligators looked cute in the evening all lit up! And your tree is adorable And the stockings too!!! We kepts our regular stockings here at home too. I was glad to find those Disney stockings -- gotta love Target!! You planned a wonderful trip I can tell, and I can't wait to read more!!!

I actually had those same stockings that you bought in my cart and then decided that since I was only going to use them once I'd go the super cheap route. I got the Disney window clings at Target (thanks to wigd!) they were so cute.

 

[Spartangirl]

A road trip sounds like fun! Where all are you going to go?

Tennessee (Smokey Mountains), WDW (Of course!), Myrtle Beach, & Gettysburg......very random, I know! But, it should be fun!

 

[SoonerGirl]

The stockings are great! I recently thought about getting a Cricut machine because I was thinking about how it would help in the classroom. Then I saw the price, eek! It's not something that I have money for in my budget now because the machine and the cartridges are so much!

I am curious, however, about how it works. I know that you put the cartridge in and the point is for the machine to do all the cutting. But - this might sound silly - how does that multi-colored character come out? Do you layer it?

I got the Cricut for Christmas a couple of years ago - I never would have bought it for myself. It came with 2 cartridges and those were the only two I had for a long time, I just couldn't bring myself to spend $80/cartridge But, Michaels puts them on sale every now & then, so I have gotten a few more - the Disney one being my favorite!

And, yep, you got it right - the characters are layered. There is a pattern that goes with each character, you just add the color paper you want and select the size, then press the button that goes with the piece you are cutting. After you've got them all cut, you just put the pieces together. Easy peasy!

Tennessee (Smokey Mountains), WDW (Of course!), Myrtle Beach, & Gettysburg......very random, I know! But, it should be fun!

That does sound like fun. Don & I have never taken a real road trip, and don't know that we will anytime soon - boys confined to a car for long periods of time = stress, not fun! I'd like to, though at some point. Maybe once the boys are older and we kick them out of the house, then just the two of us can go!

 

[pperfectmom]

Love the updates! POFQ looks so nice. I think I would like to stay there at some point. I like that it is smaller than the other mods. I'm not sure when we'll get back to WDW. You think the Grump is bad, you should listen to Charlie. We are going on a BIG road trip this summer to SD, WY and Yellowstone. That should be entertaining with a 7 and 5 year old. It's all Charlie's idea so we'll see how it goes. This is our 10 year anniversary this year and so I wanted to do something "special" and this was his answer. MEN! I brought up the idea of doing a 4 night DCL cruise maybe this morning and you would have thought I asked him to kill one of the kids. I told him there is no reason not to do it later in the year and still go to Yellowstone but he never warmed up to the idea.

 

[Charleston Princess]

Wow! I am impressed that you were able to see Lion King and Nemo back-to-back!

I love the Animal Kingdom tree -- the ornaments are so unique and exotic-looking! The POFQ trees are pretty, too!

I can't imagine having to be a lifeguard when no one is in the pool. What a drag!

Your tree is adorable and the stockings are cute! What a good idea to decorate them with cricut shapes.

 

[anbouk]

Hi! Found you from Jaycns trippie...(now if we can only find her ). Hoping all is well! We were at WDW same time, I think... (week before Xmas) and it was soooo C-O-L-D! I did see crazy people swimming and one nite an ambulance had to come and take someone as they had hypothermia. Scary!!! Your pics are Awesome! What camera do you own? We enjoyed our first ever Xmas there and are already planning for next year! Gotta love DVC! Can't wait to read more!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Love the updates! POFQ looks so nice. I think I would like to stay there at some point. I like that it is smaller than the other mods. I'm not sure when we'll get back to WDW. You think the Grump is bad, you should listen to Charlie. We are going on a BIG road trip this summer to SD, WY and Yellowstone. That should be entertaining with a 7 and 5 year old. It's all Charlie's idea so we'll see how it goes. This is our 10 year anniversary this year and so I wanted to do something "special" and this was his answer. MEN! I brought up the idea of doing a 4 night DCL cruise maybe this morning and you would have thought I asked him to kill one of the kids. I told him there is no reason not to do it later in the year and still go to Yellowstone but he never warmed up to the idea.

We really enjoyed the small size of POFQ. It was small enough that I felt comfortable letting the boys go on their own to refill their mugs or go to the arcade and I didn't have to worry about them getting lost!

Don really wants to go to WY & Yellowstone too - how 'bout this: We send Don & Charlie off to camp in Yellowstone and you and I take the kids on the cruise!

Wow! I am impressed that you were able to see Lion King and Nemo back-to-back!

I know! I looked at the times guide while we were waiting for FOTLK and told Don if we booked it right over there we just might be able to see both shows. Nemo was more than 3/4 of the way full when we got there, but we still got a seat and had a bit of time to spare

I love the Animal Kingdom tree -- the ornaments are so unique and exotic-looking! The POFQ trees are pretty, too!

The POFQ trees looked like little baby trees after seeing all those massive ones at the parks and some of the other resorts!

I can't imagine having to be a lifeguard when no one is in the pool. What a drag!

Wouldn't that make for a long dull day? They were all bundled up too, I felt sorry for them!

Your tree is adorable and the stockings are cute! What a good idea to decorate them with cricut shapes.

Thanks!

Hi! Found you from Jaycns trippie...(now if we can only find her ). Hoping all is well! We were at WDW same time, I think... (week before Xmas) and it was soooo C-O-L-D! I did see crazy people swimming and one nite an ambulance had to come and take someone as they had hypothermia. Scary!!! Your pics are Awesome! What camera do you own? We enjoyed our first ever Xmas there and are already planning for next year! Gotta love DVC! Can't wait to read more!

Hey there! Glad you came over! I'm a little worried about Jay, it's not like her to be gone so long - here's hoping that she's just busy with those cute boys of hers!

We were there from the 19th-27th, so before and through Christmas.

I can't believe someone had to be taken by ambulance from your resort after swimming in the cold! Aren't all the pools heated?? I mean, I know you'd be cold once you got out, but you'd think that the water would at least be warm enough to keep you from getting hypothermia. That is scary!

 

[LuvindisCruiser]

Love the updates! POFQ looks so nice. I think I would like to stay there at some point. I like that it is smaller than the other mods. I'm not sure when we'll get back to WDW. You think the Grump is bad, you should listen to Charlie. We are going on a BIG road trip this summer to SD, WY and Yellowstone. That should be entertaining with a 7 and 5 year old. It's all Charlie's idea so we'll see how it goes. This is our 10 year anniversary this year and so I wanted to do something "special" and this was his answer. MEN! I brought up the idea of doing a 4 night DCL cruise maybe this morning and you would have thought I asked him to kill one of the kids. I told him there is no reason not to do it later in the year and still go to Yellowstone but he never warmed up to the idea.

Sounds like my husband !
He says there are other places to vacation besides WDW !
So, we only get to WDW about every five years !
So, I have to sneak in a few Disneyland trips here and there !
But, last summer we did do Yellowstone (DH's idea)
And, we loved it !!! It is definately a trip we will always remember !
But, this year........ it's back to DISNEYWORLD !!!!

Soonergirl, I am loving your trip report. It helps to pass the time while I wait for our trip in March !

 

[brookelizabeth]

Don got me the lens when he bought me the camera. It's a pain in the butt to switch out lenses, but it came in very handy for the shows and for the safari!

Ya, when I had lenses to choose from with my old camera I didn't like dragging around the big bag and weight, or the switching - but the results were worth it!

 

[pperfectmom]

We really enjoyed the small size of POFQ. It was small enough that I felt comfortable letting the boys go on their own to refill their mugs or go to the arcade and I didn't have to worry about them getting lost!

Don really wants to go to WY & Yellowstone too - how 'bout this: We send Don & Charlie off to camp in Yellowstone and you and I take the kids on the cruise!

Hey! I like your thinking! Really I am looking forward to taking the kids out west. Charlie and I have both been all over the west and we love that sort of stuff. The more I plan, the more excited I get. And I think I found a way to get a cruise. I was looking at the prices for the Disney Dream for next year and they are actually cheaper than cruises on the Wonder this year. Charlie has this big ole conference he has to plan and coordinate next summer(2011) so we won't be able to take a summer trip at all. Sooooo....here's my plan(insert evil laugh here). We will take the kids out of school in September around Labor Day, do a 4 night cruise AND fit in a 5-6 night free dining trip at WDW. The kids would have to miss 7-8 days of school but I think I can get one of those "educational" waivers if I say we are going to Kennedy Space Center and to another country(Castaway Cay counts, doesn't it?). And, of course there is educational experience in watching Mommy and Daddy drink around the world.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I got Joe on the "zoom lens hunt" now, which he is a bit eager about... Do you know what lens you have? He is looking at the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Soonergirl, I am loving your trip report. It helps to pass the time while I wait for our trip in March !

Thanks!! I agree, there is no better way to pass the time between trips than to read trip reports - they give you that Disney fix and get you excited about your upcoming trip all at the same time!

Ya, when I had lenses to choose from with my old camera I didn't like dragging around the big bag and weight, or the switching - but the results were worth it!

I've just got the kit lens and the one zoom lens, but yeah it is alot more to carry than what I had before. The lack of ease of use has been the biggest thing for me to get used to going to a DSLR from a point & shoot, but the DSLR can do so much more - if I'd only learn how to use it! Even just using the most basic settings though, the pictures are so nice!

Hey! I like your thinking! Really I am looking forward to taking the kids out west. Charlie and I have both been all over the west and we love that sort of stuff. The more I plan, the more excited I get. And I think I found a way to get a cruise. I was looking at the prices for the Disney Dream for next year and they are actually cheaper than cruises on the Wonder this year. Charlie has this big ole conference he has to plan and coordinate next summer(2011) so we won't be able to take a summer trip at all. Sooooo....here's my plan(insert evil laugh here). We will take the kids out of school in September around Labor Day, do a 4 night cruise AND fit in a 5-6 night free dining trip at WDW. The kids would have to miss 7-8 days of school but I think I can get one of those "educational" waivers if I say we are going to Kennedy Space Center and to another country(Castaway Cay counts, doesn't it?). And, of course there is educational experience in watching Mommy and Daddy drink around the world.

I hope it all works out for you. I'd say your plans sound very educational, and you'd be teaching the kids a valuable lesson by letting them watch you drink around the world and then do the responsible thing by let Disney drive you back to the resort

I got Joe on the "zoom lens hunt" now, which he is a bit eager about... Do you know what lens you have? He is looking at the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens.

That's the one I have!

 

[SoonerGirl]

So, I still don't have my photopass CD, even though it supposedly shipped two weeks ago I do have an update ready though, so I'm going to continue without it & just post those pics when it gets here!

Monday December 21st

As we promised the boys, we got up this morning and set out for the Magic Kingdom. We arrived just in time to see the park opening.

Inside the park we went and were greeted by the super cute MK Christmas tree.

I love the popcorn garland.

And the Toy Soldiers are great too

A couple more pictures of the decorations

Then we walked with 83,786 people into Tomorrowland for Space Mountain. Obviously, I’m exaggerating, but it’s amazing what a refurbishment will do to a ride’s popularity – I think 80% of the people who entered that morning went towards SM! We decided not to ride standby and just got a FP for later.

Fastpasses secured we began our way towards Fantasyland. Donald was out tending to his Tree Farm, so we stopped to say hello.

Then we were sprinkled with pixie dust and were able to fly with Peter Pan! After Peter Pan we did one of our favorites, Mickey’s Philharmagic.

The boys trying to be 'cool' in their snazzy opera glasses

I could watch this show over & over & over again – I love it!

That was it for us in Fantasyland, the boys wouldn’t humor me with a ride on anything else, so we made our way over to the Haunted Mansion.

I tried to take some photos on the ride, but this is the only one that turned out very good

Up next was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. On our way to Frontierland we passed a popcorn cart and it smelled so good that we had to get some! What is it about WDW popcorn that makes it so irresistible?!

Popcorn in hand we started back towards BTMRR, but were distracted again by Frontier Goofy. His line was pretty short so we waited to see him. I took these while we waited.

When it was our turn, Goofy went straight for the popcorn, but he was intercepted by his handler who swiftly removed the temptation from his sight. I said that Goofy was just hungry and we didn’t mind sharing, this got me a great big hug! We took our pic and said our goodbyes and Goofy came after the popcorn again – who can blame him, he has to greet people all day next to that cart and smell the popcorn and he can’t have any! Poor fella!! I didn't have them take a picture with my camera, so I'll have to wait until the CD gets here to show you our pic with Goofy.

Now, it really was time for BTMRR. I don’t remember our wait time but it really wasn’t too bad. Then we headed over to one of my favorites – Pirates!

I still enjoyed my ride, but I must say that after going to DL summer before last and riding the original (which is waaaaay better), some of the shine was taken off the WDW version for me. That said; it’s still on my list of must do’s every trip!!

It was now time to use our SM FP, so to Tomorrowland we went. Don’t flog me, but I was rather disappointed in all the refurbishments; or lack of is probably a better description. From what I could tell there were some changes made to the queue and to the loading area, but everything seemed about the same on the ride itself. I was really hoping for a smoother ride, but didn’t really notice a difference at all. And, the new way of loading just seemed to complicate things and take longer rather than making it more efficient – but that’s just my opinion!

After SM we were all getting hungry for lunch, but decided to take a quick spin on the TTA before we ate. While we were about to go up the ramp the ride stopped and we had to wait a few minutes for it to get started again. This should have been our clue to step out of line and save the TTA for another time, but we didn’t heed the warning…..

We got on the ride all smiles

While riding though we stopped and restarted 3 times, and then the 4th time that we stopped – we didn’t restart! We had to wait, and wait, and wait to be evacuated. Finally after about 30 minutes or so we were released from our car and lead to the nearest staircase. It wasn’t all bad though because we were given a fastpass for any FP ride in the park. It didn’t expire until the 24th so we didn’t even have to use it today.

Now we were really hungry! I’m not a big fan of Cosmic Ray’s so we left Tomorrowland and went over to Liberty Square to eat at Columbia Harbour House. It was PACKED! I seriously couldn’t believe all the people crammed in there waiting to order, but we were there and hungry and figured all the CS places were probably like that, so we got in line.

Amazingly enough we were able to find a table upstairs to eat our lunch. Don & I both had the Anchors Away Sandwich & chips, it was really good. Justin had fish & chicken with fries, it looked very greasy, but he liked it. Jared had mac & cheese, fries & a cookie.

The Magic Kingdom was pretty crowded by this point and I wanted to go over to Epcot and see some of the Storytellers anyway, so we decided to hop over there. On the way out Jared said he was tired and didn’t want to go, so Don took him back to the room for a nap and Justin and I made our way over to Epcot.



Up Next: The Monorail Pee Pee Incident!

 

[RachelNinja]

I would love to just take a bite out of that popcorn garland. It looks like it would taste really good!

I'm excited to eventually go to DLR in hmm, let's say within the next 15 years! I know that people enjoy POTC there better, and I would also love to see "it's a small world" with all the Disney characters in the scenes! It's nice that both parks have different things to offer.

Wow, I can't imagine the TTA stopping! Did it come to a sudden stop or did it just slow down before stopping?

Oh no! Your next installment title doesn't sound good ...

 

[15isto2]

Great report so far

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Ugh.....
How does this happen?
I suddenly get unsubscribed!

I'm six pages behind and catching up.
Yes, the Liberty Minnies were the deal of the century! How could I not snatch them up?
I wish I had snatched them ALL up!
I left you off snoring away on your first night, going back to read.....