magichusky
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2010
Hey guys! Come get your yule on and celebrate the New Year w/ us as we regale you with cool tales from our Christmas adventure in the WORLD!! This was our first excursion to WDW and as Mickey Mouse would say, "Oh boy!". I slept around 3-4 hrs each night and we were hopping, skipping, and power walking commando style the entire time and still didn't see everything! We wound up with 2 Wishes cruises and a sleigh ride, breakfasted in the castle w/ Cinderella and Co., took a super duper extra special tour of the Kennedy Space Center and saw the space shuttle, I had a meltdown in Potter World, enjoyed a Le Cellier CP dinner package w/ Brad Garrett, got stranded on the Tower, braved Splash Mtn at 1:30am (twice, on 2 separate occasions), and who knows what else?? Plus I took 1000+ photos and filmed oodles of wonderful things in HD!
Before I go any further and totally lose control (b/c I really have amassed quite an assortment of ridiculous stories), let me do the great honor of introducing ourselves, just in case you missed our lovely PTR (which you probably did), "25 yrs and just a little bit longer!". Here's all of us on our holiday sleigh ride through Fort Wilderness:
That's me in the pink (Lauren, in grad school, CAUTION: cranky when hungry), my parents Maureen (3rd grade teacher, CAUTION: merciless power walker) and Joe (retired Marine Corps Colonel, CAUTION: usually grumpy), and my crazy sister Heather (she's a middle school counselor, CAUTION: can be pernicious) who was thankfully hubby-less for this trip (heheh). Note that the only kids in this sleigh are in our hearts which doesn't necessarily mean that this trip was devoid of meltdowns but it definitely means that we partied hard!
And don't let me forget to introduce our Christmas pooch, Loki, who is less like a pooch and more like a friendly behemoth:
As I just mentioned, this was our first adventure in the World! (Well, my parents visited the MK in 1972 but that doesn't really count in the grand scheme of things) I've desperately wanted to go for the whole of my life but since we live about an hour away from DL my parents didn't really see the point (plus they hate flying and Florida is rather far away!). This past June my brother's family moved away to Texas and we were so sad that we immediately made plans to visit them on Christmas. And well, Texas is totally on the way to Florida. So that's how it all started; the monstrosity that is this trip was born on a hot summer afternoon in July. And I turned into a planning monster. Ever met one of those? Queue itinerary:
In addition, I made my own park hours grid in order to (hopefully) strategically avoid the imminent holiday crowds:
Here's how it's organized: (think of the traffic light analogy)
bright green = least crowded (best option)
light green = not too crowded (ok option)
orange = pretty crowded (2nd to worst option)
hot pink = most crowded (worst option)
*gift boxes indicate which parks we'll most likely be visiting that day.
Before we left, I made these nifty little pocket itineraries and my Mom laminated them at school. One side has our master itinerary and the other has the park hours grid:
Even if you're not a planning monster like I am but maybe just a planning creature, I highly recommend pocket itineraries. The park hours grid w/ EMH was also a hit and was way more efficient than digging out the fifty million park brochures you acquire during the week.
So now that we're finally beyond all those TR formalities like the who and the when and the why (but you know we all love 'em here on the DIS) let's get started!
~TABLE OF CONTENTS~
Here's what we have so far:
DAY 1: Friday | 12/17/2010
DAY 1.0: Let's get the heck outta here, David Boreanaz!
DAY 1.1a: Florida for the 1st time! Shades of Green!
DAY 1.1b: Florida for the 1st time! Shades of Green!
DAY 1.2a: Falling over a bench. Trapped in Mouse Gear!
DAY 1.2b: Falling over a bench. Trapped in Mouse Gear!
DAY 1.3: Dinner at Coral Reef w/ Super-Waiter
DAY 1.4: Epcot EMH; There be a Maelstrom ahead!
DAY 2: Saturday | 12/18/2010
DAY 2.1: Singin' in the Rain in the Downtown Disney
DAY 2.2: The AK Lodge at Christmas: "Welcome home" / Destination: AK
DAY 2.3: Festival of the Lion King!
DAY 2.4: Camp Minnie Mickey
DAY 2.5a: Jingle Jungle Parade Part I
DAY 2.5b: Jingle Jungle Parade Part II
DAY 2.6: Expedition "What in the Disney World???"
DAY 2.7: WDW Meltdown #1- The Dinner that Wouldn't
DAY 2.8: A Wishes Cruise: "I wish, I wish I could see something!"
DAY 3: Sunday | 12/19/2010
DAY 3.1: The MK is OK
DAY 3.2: A Belle smackdown at CRT!
DAY 3.3: Welcum to Florida! Love, Tom & Huck
DAY 3.4: I insist! WDW vs. DL: TKO!
DAY 3.5: With liberty and shivering for all!
DAY 3.6: It's a good thing that tree is Swiss!
And here's what's coming right up:
DAY 3.7: Dreaming along w/ a jerk.
DAY 3.8: Beaches 'n' Cream 'n' 28 degree weather
DAY 3.9: Disney's Antarctic Studios
DAY 3.10: The Osborne Family Spectacle of Freezing Lights
DAY 4: Monday | 12/20/2010
DAY 5: Tuesday | 12/21/2010
DAY 6: Wednesday | 12/22/2010
DAY 7: Thursday | 12/23/2010
Don't forget to read my random tangents, hosted by Figment
TANGENT 1: "Swing Kids" | Disneyland | Saturday 1/22/2011
TANGENT 2: "Casey Jr and I" | Disneyland | Monday 5/9/2011
TANGENT 3: "Ariel's Revenge" | Disneyland | Thursday 5/26/2011
TANGENT 4: Party Like It's 1996! | Wednesday 8/24/2011
TANGENT 5: Back from my Labor Day trip! | WDW | 9/17/2011
TANGENT 6: Loki's religious experience and a new baby! | 10/20/2011
CONTINUED IN NEXT POST...
Before I go any further and totally lose control (b/c I really have amassed quite an assortment of ridiculous stories), let me do the great honor of introducing ourselves, just in case you missed our lovely PTR (which you probably did), "25 yrs and just a little bit longer!". Here's all of us on our holiday sleigh ride through Fort Wilderness:
That's me in the pink (Lauren, in grad school, CAUTION: cranky when hungry), my parents Maureen (3rd grade teacher, CAUTION: merciless power walker) and Joe (retired Marine Corps Colonel, CAUTION: usually grumpy), and my crazy sister Heather (she's a middle school counselor, CAUTION: can be pernicious) who was thankfully hubby-less for this trip (heheh). Note that the only kids in this sleigh are in our hearts which doesn't necessarily mean that this trip was devoid of meltdowns but it definitely means that we partied hard!
And don't let me forget to introduce our Christmas pooch, Loki, who is less like a pooch and more like a friendly behemoth:
As I just mentioned, this was our first adventure in the World! (Well, my parents visited the MK in 1972 but that doesn't really count in the grand scheme of things) I've desperately wanted to go for the whole of my life but since we live about an hour away from DL my parents didn't really see the point (plus they hate flying and Florida is rather far away!). This past June my brother's family moved away to Texas and we were so sad that we immediately made plans to visit them on Christmas. And well, Texas is totally on the way to Florida. So that's how it all started; the monstrosity that is this trip was born on a hot summer afternoon in July. And I turned into a planning monster. Ever met one of those? Queue itinerary:
In addition, I made my own park hours grid in order to (hopefully) strategically avoid the imminent holiday crowds:
Here's how it's organized: (think of the traffic light analogy)
bright green = least crowded (best option)
light green = not too crowded (ok option)
orange = pretty crowded (2nd to worst option)
hot pink = most crowded (worst option)
*gift boxes indicate which parks we'll most likely be visiting that day.
Before we left, I made these nifty little pocket itineraries and my Mom laminated them at school. One side has our master itinerary and the other has the park hours grid:
Even if you're not a planning monster like I am but maybe just a planning creature, I highly recommend pocket itineraries. The park hours grid w/ EMH was also a hit and was way more efficient than digging out the fifty million park brochures you acquire during the week.
So now that we're finally beyond all those TR formalities like the who and the when and the why (but you know we all love 'em here on the DIS) let's get started!
~TABLE OF CONTENTS~
Here's what we have so far:
DAY 1: Friday | 12/17/2010
DAY 1.0: Let's get the heck outta here, David Boreanaz!
DAY 1.1a: Florida for the 1st time! Shades of Green!
DAY 1.1b: Florida for the 1st time! Shades of Green!
DAY 1.2a: Falling over a bench. Trapped in Mouse Gear!
DAY 1.2b: Falling over a bench. Trapped in Mouse Gear!
DAY 1.3: Dinner at Coral Reef w/ Super-Waiter
DAY 1.4: Epcot EMH; There be a Maelstrom ahead!
DAY 2: Saturday | 12/18/2010
DAY 2.1: Singin' in the Rain in the Downtown Disney
DAY 2.2: The AK Lodge at Christmas: "Welcome home" / Destination: AK
DAY 2.3: Festival of the Lion King!
DAY 2.4: Camp Minnie Mickey
DAY 2.5a: Jingle Jungle Parade Part I
DAY 2.5b: Jingle Jungle Parade Part II
DAY 2.6: Expedition "What in the Disney World???"
DAY 2.7: WDW Meltdown #1- The Dinner that Wouldn't
DAY 2.8: A Wishes Cruise: "I wish, I wish I could see something!"
DAY 3: Sunday | 12/19/2010
DAY 3.1: The MK is OK
DAY 3.2: A Belle smackdown at CRT!
DAY 3.3: Welcum to Florida! Love, Tom & Huck
DAY 3.4: I insist! WDW vs. DL: TKO!
DAY 3.5: With liberty and shivering for all!
DAY 3.6: It's a good thing that tree is Swiss!
And here's what's coming right up:
DAY 3.7: Dreaming along w/ a jerk.
DAY 3.8: Beaches 'n' Cream 'n' 28 degree weather
DAY 3.9: Disney's Antarctic Studios
DAY 3.10: The Osborne Family Spectacle of Freezing Lights
DAY 4: Monday | 12/20/2010
DAY 5: Tuesday | 12/21/2010
DAY 6: Wednesday | 12/22/2010
DAY 7: Thursday | 12/23/2010
Don't forget to read my random tangents, hosted by Figment
TANGENT 1: "Swing Kids" | Disneyland | Saturday 1/22/2011
TANGENT 2: "Casey Jr and I" | Disneyland | Monday 5/9/2011
PART A: Wedding Bells with the Stars
PART B: Happy Mother's Day!
PART C I: Casey Jr. and I
PART C II: Casey Jr. and I
PART B: Happy Mother's Day!
PART C I: Casey Jr. and I
PART C II: Casey Jr. and I
TANGENT 3: "Ariel's Revenge" | Disneyland | Thursday 5/26/2011
TANGENT 4: Party Like It's 1996! | Wednesday 8/24/2011
TANGENT 5: Back from my Labor Day trip! | WDW | 9/17/2011
TANGENT 6: Loki's religious experience and a new baby! | 10/20/2011
CONTINUED IN NEXT POST...