A Disney Christmas Fix - four days of fun! 1/28 Summer/Cruising PTR started!!

[Happydog]

Greetings everyone! Welcome to my short and sweet (and sweet in MANY ways) Trip Report for my Holiday fun with the Mouse! This holiday season I spent three nights and four days with my DH Nov 29th - Dec 1st. There was nothing better to get me in the Christmas Spirit

We didn't bring our children since we were attending training in Florida immediately following our days in Disney, so it was a nice little adult getaway! I am sure you want to know who I am and who my DH is, especially if you have not read any of my Happy Dog vacations before...

So here we are....

This is ME, HappyDog. Who believes she is probably her happiest, Dog Happy, when she is at Disney World... This photo was taken at the Winterland/Summerland minature golf course in Disneyworld during our vacation... I have always told DH that when we retire we should get an airstream and tour around, and I regularly declare that I will work for Disney when I retire... And that I want to spend Christmas in Disney at Fort Wilderness one year... So he told me I should get my photo next to "my" motorhome!!!

Here is a photo of DH on our summer trip to WDW this past June/July...

He is always finding the humor in things, and well this is one of those moments...

A photo from that same trip to introduce you to our children, two boys, 8 and 5...

And a little more recently, on our Disneyland Halloween trip, just this past October. Some clowning around in Toontown...

Lastly, here are two photos of all of us. I chose these because though taken last year, they were taken at the exact same time of year that I was very excited to revisit... Christmas in Disneyworld

This was us on Christmas morning a year ago, so I guess it is an appropriate beginning for this short TR, to begin it on Christmas day this year!!!! That and the fact that the Christmas Parade made me very nostalgic and inspired me ..

I hope you don't mind that little recap of my family and a few of our recent trips. We have had the fortune of going to Disney more often than I would have expected the past few years, and fortunately for me, when we are not planning Disney fun, someone else IS here on the DIS!!! Perhaps this is why I love being a part of the DIS community, as well as for all the great DISers I have met here! I can always count on some great memories to share from MeMom, WigD, CP, EandEsmom, 2excited2sleep, JenJolt, LL, and MANY others! Links to all my PTRs and TRs are below but in the meantime, I hope you will join me and DH for some Pre-Christmas fun!!!

Ho Ho HO!!!!!

 

[Native NYer]

Joining in for the fun!

 

[Happydog]

Joining in for the fun!

Hey! Welcome!!!! YOU are first!!! I have not advertised this on my Halloween TR yet, so I plan to do that tomorrow! I am just glad I was found

Hope you are having a merry christmas

 

[lovegrumpy]

Joining in for the fun.

 

[Missyrose]

Joining in, can't wait to hear all about your quick trip!

 

[IluvXU]

Merry Christmas! Great beginning too. I am jealous of a short holiday trip, you have done my two big wish trips: Disneyland and a couples trip lately!

 

[Native NYer]

Hey! Welcome!!!! YOU are first!!! I have not advertised this on my Halloween TR yet, so I plan to do that tomorrow! I am just glad I was found

Hope you are having a merry christmas

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas

 

[Happydog]

I hope you and your family had a wonderful Christmas

Thanks! We did! I am going to post some right now -- but YOU must be getting ready for a lot of snow!!!

 

[Native NYer]

Thanks! We did! I am going to post some right now -- but YOU must be getting ready for a lot of snow!!!

A lot has fallen already. It's a mess outside.
I drove right into it this morning on my way home from my brother's house in Maryland.

Did you get any snow?

 

[Happydog]

So before I start my TR photos from our short trip to WDW, I thought I would share our Disney Christmas tree with you and a few other festive photos!!! I have been buying Christmas ornaments each trip this year since last Christmas. I have collected all the Toy Story ornaments, and several Tink's, and some additional characters I am fond of... I have been posting them along the way, but I did buy a few more this quick trip. I was so excited to unwrap them all and hang them!!!

So I figured I had to find SOMETHING to do with these Mickey Ear hats that I bought last year!!!

I am also a big sugar cookie fan. Or at least I like making them!!! I have some "help".... This is DS5... DS8 said he was only the cookie taster.

WigD, notice the sillybands... he declared he wanted to wear all the Mr. Potato Heads....So...

Some of the finished products...

This trip I bought Mickey Holiday Sprinkles... and the previous trip I had grabbed a Mickey cookie cutter... so naturally...

Christmas Eve.. after Santa has come to drop off his goodies...

Christmas morning chaos ensues... with glazed popems' hot chocolate and lattes ... can't get much better than that! The boys are wearing their Mickey flannel PJ's which I bought them last year. They really were big... I think they'll even get one more wear out of them, if you can believe it! I am glad to hear it! They are very cute...

The demise of the chocolate Snowmen...

My other child...

Jim Shore Santas meet Harry Potter legos...

A little AT-AT fun and some new lightsabers... Notice the third big boy ALSO on the floor here... LOL!

More in the next post!!!!

 

[Happydog]

Joining in for the fun.

Hello! Welcome! Thanks for coming along! It will be a fun, and just the way to extend Christmas a little longer

Joining in, can't wait to hear all about your quick trip!

Oh thanks! I am glad! We had a great time and quick as it was, it made a great time for us.

Merry Christmas! Great beginning too. I am jealous of a short holiday trip, you have done my two big wish trips: Disneyland and a couples trip lately!

Well both were just by chance -- things worked out! Here I was thinking I wouldn't get to go anytime soon and it just turned out we had a little luck

A lot has fallen already. It's a mess outside.
I drove right into it this morning on my way home from my brother's house in Maryland.

Did you get any snow?

We didn't get any really, b/c we are too far north... there is snow falling all around us oh well, We need snow when school is in session Hope it isn't too bad for you. The boys would have loved playing in it, but we may go to a local ski resort here in PA not far from our home just to play and go sledding.

 

[MeMom]

This trip I bought Mickey Holiday Sprinkles... and the previous trip I had grabbed a Mickey cookie cutter... so naturally...

These look very familiar.
And they tasted very, well...tasty!

Your house is awesome.
Places like that is why I watch HGTV and dream.

Hope you all have a fabulous year ahead!

 

[Native NYer]

You are quite the baker! The only baking I ever do is take a trip to the local Italian pastry shop for assorted goodies and stop in Crumbs for some massive cupcakes.

Your Christmas trees are beautiful! Love the new light sabers.

We didn't get any really, b/c we are too far north... there is snow falling all around us oh well, We need snow when school is in session Hope it isn't too bad for you. The boys would have loved playing in it, but we may go to a local ski resort here in PA not far from our home just to play and go sledding.

You're very lucky. We're expected to get about 18''. I can't see the tires on the cars across the street. So, it's pretty bad. I just wished the storm would have waited until January 3rd

 

[luckylady]

Merry Christmas...a day late. So glad you got a quick trip in before business. Can't wait to hear all about it while I sit here with the snow outside in the south. NEed some Disney magic and warmth. Can't forget that all important TR

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hi, Happydog!!! You snuck in here and started your TR without warning us on your DL one. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

I am so excited to read about your Christmas trip! Love the picture with your motorhome! Charles is always joking about wanting to get an RV when we are older.

Your Disney Christmas tree looks awesome! I just love pulling out all our little touches of Disney around the holidays!

Your cookie helper is adorable, and I can attest to the fact that those cookies taste as good as they look! Which reminds me -- I think I need your recipe for the spice cookies. I commandeered that one for myself and loved it!

Christmas morning at your house bears a strong resemblance to Christmas morning at our house -- toys and wrapping paper.

 

[Happydog]

So shall we get this TR started??!!

This time last year, I was in the middle of my first ever DISNEY WORLD at Christmas vacation!!! My family spent Christmas week in Disneyworld and it was one of the most memorable Christmas Holiday vacations I have ever had.

So when my husband and I were scheduled for training in St. Pete’s, Florida, and had the idea to piggyback a few vacation days prior to the training, you know the first place I thought of, right??!! Now to be honest we had the intention of going to Universal -- rather that is the reason I suggested we go to Orlando. Knowing we could rent points from a great DVC owner we have had the opportunity to meet, I said we could stay at a Disney resort for less than a Universal property or any other for that matter. So, he agreed. But he said NO Disney parks. I said fine. I was thrilled, and made ADRs for all our favorite places… The places we love going with kids, but love going even more, with out them… I love my chickadees but you can’t go to the Bluezoo with children! And you cant completely savor your wine at Cali Grill with children (unless they fall asleep – which ours have been known to do!)

I was also excited to try something new – Kidani Village! We left the Sunday morning after Thanksgiving bright and early, and arrived in Orlando shortly after 9am. After collecting our luggage and our rental car, away we went! I guess I was too excited but I forgot to get a photo of the Disney entrance!!! , but I managed to get a picture of the Kidani entrance as we drove past! I got more resort pics through the trip, but I didn’t want to get out of the car and immediately start snapping away!!! The sun was out!

We arrived at the AK Lodge and Kidani Village around 10:30, and checked in – luck for us, our room was ready!!! So with a great parking spot near the elevator we grabbed our suitcases and headed to our room…

View out of the window… I was in DISNEY!!!!

The “pool view” courtesy of my zoom lens…

The weather was a far cry from the 50 degree weather in MD. We were very happy about that, and no sooner had we got comfortable and set up in our room, we headed to the pool. We actually went to the main pool at the Jambo house our first day. We were there at the pool, our first round of poolside drinks in hand just shy of 1pm! I did take a few photos on my telephone, so I will download them and share those in the next update… namely photos from my lounging vantage point …

Basically, our afternoon was pretty straight forward. We had drinks, napped and read poolside, had a flatbread at The Mara, and hung out enjoying the pleasant weather. I took pics at the resort, and enjoyed exploring a little more.
Though I had made reservations for our trip, we changed the plans a little, not a surprise for me and my trips as of late, but in the end we cancelled our dinner plans at Blue Zoo the final night of our trip (for reasons I will explain later) so instead we opted for drinks at the bar and an appetizer followed up with a walk around the boardwalk and then dinner at Cali Grill (where we had a late Fireworks-timed dinner reservation).

We visited the Boardwalk resort on our way over, and admired the decorations there -- Donald stuck in the chimney always makes me laugh!!! I loved the stroll over from the Boardwalk to the Dolphin… Christmas music piped in along the way, the weather pleasant and people having a good time. Nothing better, so festive…

More coming up NEXT!!!!

 

[Happydog]

So as I said, we walked over to the Dolphin, and headed to the Blue Zoo. We were there for a while, enough time for two cocktails and a half order of crab nachos -- we were very much in a cheery mood!!! Here is a rather blury photo of my second cocktail that evening... It was named after that Bazooka bubble gum, and came served with a wrapper on the top!

DH had two of the burnt orange margaritas…. WAY good. Very strong, we were really warm…

And, if you go to Blue Zoo, or want to one trip, and you have your children with you, apparently they have the free two hours day care at the Dolphin with a receipt from one of the Dolphin restaurants! SCORE. Of course we were kidless, but next time, totally taking advantage of this… AND, either way, try the bar/appetizer route... order a half order of the crab nachos at the bar if you want a quick bite and a drink. The nachos were $8.00. TOTAL deal, good sized portion! Plenty for two.

SO good, in fact, we pulled a typical HD and HD’s DH tradition… we went back to the Blue Zoo, AGAIN, the next evening… I know, I know.... once again (as I said it is almost a tradition, now) we returned to a restaurant at WDW more than once during a trip… Why, you ask? Because HD’s DH is a man who likes what he likes. And if that means returning to the restaurant or whatever he enjoyed the most on a particular trip to keep him happy while at WDW, then that is what we have to do… but who am I to complain!!?? It is a theme with us I know…

Sooooo, we walked sideways around the boardwalk for a bit, enjoyed the entertainers, and then back to the car. We then made our way over to the Contemporary, where we checked into Cali Grill and were sent upstairs. We got buzzed for our table but asked to postpone our seating until the fireworks were over. Everything timed out perfectly. The request was fine for our server, so we went outside to see the fireworks from the balcony at the Cali Grill. How beautiful!! Because I knew that we were going to the MVMCP in a couple days, I didn’t worry too much about taking pictures. I just enjoyed the prime view with the music, and the company!
Back inside, dinner was amazing to be sure, I was a little sad, however, because the Sushi Oscar was no longer on the menu!!! BOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! I had so enjoyed that this past summer and wanted to have it again!!!

Instead there was a spicy sushi dish. Which I got, and which was very good, but very spicy!!! We each got sushi and split a dessert ; their Valrhona, molten, chocolate cake. Very tasty! – that and latte’s completed our evening at the Cali.
We were back to the room about 11pm, and we were beat! Next up would be a tour of resorts, some shopping, and another afternoon by the pool!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I'm here! Thanks to CP for clueing us in over on your DL TR!

Looks like it was a fun Christmas at your house. As an aside I just love your house. It looks so cozy and inviting. Those cookies look yummy and that At At Walker the boys got is no joke! Super cool!!

Hurrah for arriving at WDW and for a relaxing afternoon at the pool. The perfect afternoon! That bazooka drink looks so cool at Bluezoo. I think we have plans to eat there in May... can't wait to try it.

Thanks for the shoutout in your first post. I loved meeting the Happydog family in WDW and following along on all of your TRs!

 

[Happydog]

These look very familiar.
And they tasted very, well...tasty!

Your house is awesome.
Places like that is why I watch HGTV and dream.

Hope you all have a fabulous year ahead!

Hiya MeMom! Thanks! I am so glad you enjoyed the cookies...

I love decorating. Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love HGTV, too... I get lots of fun ideas from there!

I hope you have a happy New Year, too! A trip to the World in February is a great way to start!

You are quite the baker! The only baking I ever do is take a trip to the local Italian pastry shop for assorted goodies and stop in Crumbs for some massive cupcakes.

Your Christmas trees are beautiful! Love the new light sabers.



You're very lucky. We're expected to get about 18''. I can't see the tires on the cars across the street. So, it's pretty bad. I just wished the storm would have waited until January 3rd

I like making cookies, that is as good as it gets! BUT I would love to go to the local Italian pastry shop, so I wish I had that!!!! The light sabers are more the "collectible" kind.... leave it to my DBIL, who is childless... they say COLLECTORS item on the label... WHAT was he thinking They will be put on a display in their rooms... NOT to be used for combat...

Merry Christmas...a day late. So glad you got a quick trip in before business. Can't wait to hear all about it while I sit here with the snow outside in the south. Need some Disney magic and warmth. Can't forget that all important TR

Oh merry Christmas to you, too! Welcome!!! You most certainly got lots of snow didn't you?! You know we drove through that amazing snow storm last year, before Christmas, so I remember VA and NC covered in snow VERY well!!! Enjoy!

Hi, Happydog!!! You snuck in here and started your TR without warning us on your DL one. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

I am so excited to read about your Christmas trip! Love the picture with your motorhome! Charles is always joking about wanting to get an RV when we are older.

Your Disney Christmas tree looks awesome! I just love pulling out all our little touches of Disney around the holidays!

Your cookie helper is adorable, and I can attest to the fact that those cookies taste as good as they look! Which reminds me -- I think I need your recipe for the spice cookies. I commandeered that one for myself and loved it!

Christmas morning at your house bears a strong resemblance to Christmas morning at our house -- toys and wrapping paper.

Oh, I know, I know! Sorry CP!!! I have to get that link set up over there, don't I!!!!

I loved setting up that Disney tree as well. That is in our downstairs rec room, and I will certainly be taking it down last... it has been a year in the making and scheming!!!! I tell you, DH may be willing to do a Disney Christmas again if we go the Fort Wilderness cabin route... just because it would be so different... I have to get creative! Though he did say he wouldn't want to be down there today... 31 degrees!!!! I say put on a sweater.... and no Splash mountain!!

 

[Happydog]

I'm here! Thanks to CP for clueing us in over on your DL TR!

Looks like it was a fun Christmas at your house. As an aside I just love your house. It looks so cozy and inviting. Those cookies look yummy and that At At Walker the boys got is no joke! Super cool!!

Hurrah for arriving at WDW and for a relaxing afternoon at the pool. The perfect afternoon! That bazooka drink looks so cool at Bluezoo. I think we have plans to eat there in May... can't wait to try it.

Thanks for the shoutout in your first post. I loved meeting the Happydog family in WDW and following along on all of your TRs!

Oh I knew you gals were thinking about Blue Zoo, so totally go! It is a PERFECT place for a ladies night out! AND thanks, on the house front -- I really just love decorating, It is so much fun. A little christmas in every room makes it so festive... I have collected a lot over the years! I have to get a note up there, Thanks to CP!!! She did it for me, I was waiting to get that dang tile picture!! Oh well, this one is more fun!

You and everyone else I have met on the DIS have made it all the more fun for me!