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*Teresa & Greg-7/1/12*Swan/Fultons/GF Marina-Epcot Character Fun-Updated*2/22*

Hey Teresa!

Just read your whole PJ!! I can't believe I never commented on it before! :)
I love your story, and I saw your video on Facebook!

I LOVE Trans-Siberian!! They are so awesome! They aren't coming this way this year, so I hope to see them next year! Our favorite song is Christmas Cannon. :lovestruc

I hope you have an awesome time in Disney!!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! I got your Christmas card too! :goodvibes
 


Merry Christmas to you and Greg and I hope you have the most magical time in the world. Take lots of photos to share with us, happy holidays! xxx
 


Teresa! Your photos came out so lovely; you are quite the photographer. Love the pruple tree! So bright and cheery. The Tigger and Pooh ornament and Lady and the Tramp ornament are my fave I think. Also, the Christmas wrapping mayhem is actually kind of pretty in an artsy, disheveled way. Thanks for sharing! xoxo.
 
Yay for going to Disney! Especially for your first Christmas together! And let me just say, I love the way you ended your last post...I've always loved Star Wars! :goodvibes
 
First of all thank you to everyone that has wished us a merry christmas. Thank you to everyone who complimented the pictures that I put up on our last post. I did not want to comment back to everyone individually because it would be too much but please know that I love all of you.

We had a great christmas and the trip report is coming in a few minutes.

I hope you all had a wonderful christmas and I hope you have an amazing 2012!

May the force be with you

Teresa
 
Day 1: December 22nd, 2011
To begin this we really have to discuss the night before. We were given tickets to trans siberian orchestra by my mom as our christmas present and this was the day before we left for disney. The show was at 8:00pm which was good and bad. It was good because we were able to get some last minute stuff done before we left but it was bad because that meant that we would be up late.

And we most definitely were up late. I had to pack all my stuff and get everything ready because our flight was really early in the morning. By really early I mean at 7:00am. My mom did us the honor of picking us up from our apartment and taking us to the airport. I think she wanted to see us off since we were not going to be home for christmas.

We slept a lot on the planes…or at least I did :) Once we got into Orlando however I was up and ready to go! It was time to get on the Magical Express and get to Disney World. We were on our way to the Wilderness Lodge which was the hotel I most wanted to stay in on Disney property and after this trip it is my favorite hotel.

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Our room was great for those of you that have never been there you want to get a woods view room that looks near the water in my opinion. We were in 3004 and we were all the way at the end of the hall and on the outside of the building looking into the trees. We would have liked to have been on the 5th or 6th floor but with the same placement because then we would have been able to see the Castle and the fireworks.

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So I personally think that wilderness lodge takes the cake on the best christmas decor on property. Now I know that it does not have a gingerbread building like the contemporary, grand flo, beach club, or the boardwalk but the tree and the feel of the lodge with the fire, the garlands and the christmas lights made it feel like christmas.

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One of the things I found the most interesting was that people really do come prepared to spend christmas at disney. They bring lights to decorate their balconies and they bring inflatable disney characters like you would have at home in your yard. I actually loved this because It brought home to disney!

Once we got checked in our room was actually ready! We went to the room and checked it all out and got our selves situated to head to Hollywood Studios. Since our bags were hanging out with magical express we had to use the camera bag as the bag for the day. When we were out waiting for the bus I went hiking through the wilderness of the bushes! During this hike I found a lizard and a pinecone. This pinecone was not just any pinecone it was a perfect pinecone big and not missing any pieces. It was laying in a bush which caught it's fall from the tree.

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I collected this pinecone and put it in my camera bag where a lens would go if there was one and it fit perfectly. The bus then arrived for Hollywood Studios (HS) and we were off.

Once we got to HS we had to actually go to the ticket window which neither one of us are used to doing. We had to do this for one reason though. WE BOUGHT ANNUAL PASSES! We had to go get our annual passes. As we were doing this I found a hidden mickey ( I did a lot of this on the trip).

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After we got our annual passes mine is pluto and greg's is donald (his favorite) we went in to guest relations and picked up Tables In Wonderland. Greg is going to post about our savings using it but I think it really helped out. From here we went straight to star tours and we got the stormtrooper opening sequence followed by Kashyyyk then Admiral Ackbar and finally the Naboo ending sequence. This was time number 14 for me I am keeping track of every time I ride it.

Now it was time for food so we went into Mama Melrose's to get checked in for our ADR. We were seated within about 5 min. and we got there about 15 min. early to the reservation. This is always our first restaurant that we go to. I happen to love the rolls there I do not care much for the oil mixture I think that Carino's has better but it is ok. They seemed really under staffed this time around as service was not fantastic but it was not bad. I had a caesar salad and greg had caprese salad. We then ordered the carne d' italia flatbread. We definitely enjoyed the meal I really love the caesar salad there.

After we ate we decided to visit the Osborne lights as they were starting up right as we finished our meal. This was an amazing time for us because as we walked into the Osborne lights we both were overcome with emotions. This was our first Christmas together and it really was an amazing Christmas. I realized as we stood there in the middle of snow falling on our heads, christmas music playing in the air and millions of christmas lights flashing to music that I was standing next to the most important, amazing and remarkable person. Sharing in the experience with him was something that I will never forget.

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Once we left HS we caught a bus and went back to the wilderness lodge. We wanted to see if our bags were there so that we could switch out some stuff and maybe change clothes. When we got back we were pleasantly surprised to see that our bags were in our room. We then made our way over to the Contemporary Resort. We were a little early so we went through the shops and looked at the amazing gingerbread tree that is in the contemporary resort.

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We got up to the California Grill and got seated at our table. Holiday Wishes was going to start very soon after we got seated. We ordered our appetizer which was the lump crab meat and then we headed out to the viewing balcony at the California Grill to watch Holiday Wishes. The show was brilliant and of course the fireworks were large and beautiful but I can say that after getting to see all 3 types of wishes this year. Hallowishes takes the cake.

Our food was really good I love the bread that they have at the California grill. After we were done with our wonderful meal we went back to the room it had been a really long day with all of the traveling and it was just time to get some rest. The beds at the wilderness lodge are super duper comfy in my opinion I just wish all hotels had better blankets. I am a fluffy blanket person and I need my fluffy blankets! That is one more thing to put on the list of stuff that I am going to need to ship down prior to staying at Disney for the wedding and the Honeymoon.

After a very long day we say goodnight on Day 1

Preview: Day 2 meeting with wedding planner/site visits/ lots of disney magic

Teresa
 
I'm so glad you got some sleep on the plane!

The decorations at the at WL are ALWAYS stunning. I think they are probably my favorite resort decorations too. I just love the feel of the wL at Christmas!

Ya know, not only would you and I be friends but I know Greg and I would be friends too-- we both love Donald Duck! :laughing:

I'm so glad you had an awesome time at the Osborne lights.. it is so magical to be there.

Hallowishes is my favorite too. Although I love Disney at Christmas I REALLY love Disney at Halloween!

Sounds like an AWESOME first day!!
 
-I never sleep the night before a WDW vacation anyway! I’m always too excited to sleep. I also can’t sleep on planes, which is rather annoying.
-Oohhh those decorations ARE gorgeous!
-Woohoo! Annual Passes!
-Ooohhh I can’t wait to see the lights again. And it’s so cute that you both became so overwhelmed.
-Awwww. Wishes will always be my favorite.

Looking forward to reading more!
 
Just got caught up on your pj. Everything is sounding great! I am so excited to hear all about your Christmas trip. December is my favorite time of the year in Disney, hence the reason for our December wedding lol. Glad to hear you got to stay at the hotel you have always wanted to go to. We stayed there in August for our planning session and it was so much fun. Looks like you had a great first day and got a lot in. Dinner at California's sounds like a great start to an awesome trip :) Can't wait to read more!!!
 
Just got myself all caught up. You take some lovely pictures!
-The only time I've been down to WDW at Christmas time was before they started doing the OFL at HS, and if the pictures start making me feel all ferklempt, I'm gonna be a mess next year in person :rotfl:
-Fluffy blankets are so for the win.
-Yay for Star Tours. I'm so excited to go on it again since I've FINALLY seen the movies this year. (I know, I know. But I loved them! And I want more!) Doug's never been since his only visits have been when it was closed. I feel we'll be on there multiple times ;)
-I can't wait to read about the PS!

:goodvibes
 
Looks like a great start to your Disney trip! I adore Wilderness Lodge...It's my favorite. :love::love::love: And, mmmm, California Grill, you're making me hungry!!! :laughing: I'm excited to read about your wedding stuff!!!
 
I'm so glad yall had such a great time!!! We did too... even though the crowds were super insane from Christmas on..!

-Your pics are beautiful!! Now I def want to stay at the WL!
-The holiday decor was gorgeous everywhere we went. You just can't stop taking pics of everything.
-Aren't the Osbourne Lights AMAAAAZZZINNGGG?!?! I didn't know where to look. I was just spinning in circles!! :laughing:
-I agree that Hallowishes are the best!! They were just unbelievable to me.
-Can't wait to read all about the wedding details of your trip.. and just the rest in general! :goodvibes
 
Yay! I found you!

Everything looks fabulous. One year I want to go to Disney for Christmas. Hopefully if we ever get a DVC membership I can talk my parents into joining as well! haha.

Wilderness Lodge looks gorgeous. That's one resort I have NEVER been in. =[ Next trip I want to leave a day open JUST for resort hopping. lol.

Can't wait to hear about your planning session!
 
WL looks so beautiful at Christmas time!! next time I am coming in your suitcase!:rotfl: I love the look of the actual room, its very nice!

I LOVE the lights picture...so beautiful!! YAY for annual passes :thumbsup2
I LOVED the new star tours ride...and I don't know what most of the stuff is in the actual ride, but the effects were awesome :goodvibes

I really want to try Cali grill some time...maybe on the honeymoon trip!!
 

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