Disney Holiday Firsts At Last! - Final Thoughts Finally!

[mnmrmustard]

Originally Posted by Trentmom

Great update!!

I like pics around Seuss section. Looks fun.

Seeing the old photo of Pumpking girl on the egg and new one of Bean was neat. It was cool to see how the nest and a few other things are more detailed now

What is Dooms Fall? Is that like Free Fall ride?

How cool Pumpkin girl and Roxy got to see some of a pilot and do a survey on it.

The Minion dancers looked like lot of fun and enjoyed seeing all the interaction Bean had with them

The Suess section is just so well done, it is literally like being dropped into the books. Major kudos to their construction folks for being able to bring the stories to life.

PumpkinGirl was a little bummed that she didn't get to sit on it again and only found out about it while I was going through the pictures when we got back. But I'm happy that I got one of the girls sitting on it. Good eye in noticing how much more they've dressed up the scene, much better detail now.

Dr. Doom's Fear Fall is an expanded version of your standard carnival drop ride.



You get in, are pulled up the tower and then dropped multiple heights multiple times. Similar effect as ToT except you are hanging in the air.

Yes, it was pretty cool that the ladies got to be in that Pilot survey. We were actually approached several times for different survey's, some shorter and some longer. You can still occasionally get to be part of a live studio audience there. They filmed a season of Family Feud there with Steve Harvey.

The minion dancers were a lot of fun, very silly and full of energy - just like Bean herself

Thank you for wrangling Cheri to check out the TR

Originally Posted by cherbear

you always have the best pictures!! And Bean sure takes after you. You showed some things in the queue that I have never really taken a good look at. Granted...I've only been in the queue ONCE and that was just so we could see everything. Every time after that has been with FP. That line just gets way too long for my taste.

Sorry that you had sickies on your trip but glad you all seem to be having a great time despite it!

thanks Kelly for alerting me to this report!

Hey Cheri! Thank you for stopping by

Both girls have good picture taking chops, you'll see PumpkinGirl's stuff in my next mega-post of the Macy's Holiday Parade. I'm proud of my photobug girls

I can't blame you on not wanting to deal with the full queue at TSM, the line gets crazy-long quick! If we hadn't been there right at opening we wouldn't have chanced it. There are some really cool props in there though.

We tried not to let the sickies get us down, Roxy and PumpkinGirl (and even Bean when she had her bad tummy day) were all real troopers. Nothing stands in the way of Disney fun!

Yay Kelly for recruiting you. My TR got a little slow as far as responses go, I've really appreciated her continuing to comment. I had a big lull where I wasn't posting and now I'm doing non-Disney reporting, which can be a turn off to some viewers. But looking at the numbers I must have some silent viewers still enjoying what I'm posting

Originally Posted by cherbear

awesome Indy pics too! I remember when you were in the show! I was in it the last time we went too. (way back in 2009...yikes!) It was a ton of fun but I would like to go back and actually watch again too

fav pic:

Being in the show is such a kick, I'd love to do it again. I just looked back through my youtube posts that Roxy filmed of me in it - I'm such a ham

That is one of my favs too - you can really see the expressions on their faces!

Thanks again both of you for stopping by - I'm about to post a couple hundred Macy's pics so brace yourselves!!!!!

[mnmrmustard]

I gave the camera to PumpkinGirl and we settled back for the show. For anyone unfamiliar with it, they actually bring down multiple balloons from the Macys Thanksgiving Parade and do a pretty good version of the parade itself called the Macys Holiday Parade every day during the holidays.

First up were the police motorcycles





Then we had stilted dancers and the main parade banner





How often do you see an elf on rollerblades?





Nice bellbottoms







Santa is flying high!





What a nice doggy



This float also contained the days Grand Marshals



They even had a full High School Marching Band!













A Macys star



Look at all the Christmas paradey stuff!



Hey look, its Betty Boop!





These guys were interesting



If you hadnt noticed yet, it was a very good idea for me to hand the camera to PumpkinGirl. She had a LOT of the performers pose for her!




Next up we have more balloons and more colorful characters!


Click here for the next Chapter: Day 7 Part 12 - Macy's Holiday Parade Continues!

[mnmrmustard]

What Holiday Parade would complete without, uh, Bees?





Walking tall



Big toy soldier





Ive always loved the sound of marching band drums



..but this guy took drumming to a whole nother level!









Here come some well-dressed maids and dancing books







..which was a very good lead in for Mother Goose





Behind her was Shrek and Fiona





Cute cookie



And the baker who made her



Those clown dolls always gave me the willies



And coming down the road was Scooby Doo, Football, and the Simpsons  whats more American than that?







Yo Shaggy!






Who is after Scooby and Shaggy? Check the next post to see!



Click here for the next Chapter: Day 7 Part 13 - What, you want More Macy's???

[mnmrmustard]

Here comes the pep rally



Is he calling the end of a play or pretending to be an airplane, you be the judge





Here come the Simpsons!









More Macys Stars





What could this be?





Why, its Woody Woodpecker and Winnie Woodpecker (had to look up her name  thank you google)







Here comes a, well, a girl on a big carved moose!



..and her tall lumberjack friend







Shes flying on her moose apparently



..but stopped to say hi to PumpkinGirl





And who is this?



Thats right, Marilyn!



Those must have been fun to walk in






Next up, its Peanut Butter Jelly Time!


..just seeing if you were paying attention  more parade coming up!



Click here for the next Chapter: Day 7 Part 14 - More Parade for a Change of Pace

[mnmrmustard]

He has a big friend



They were overtaken by rollerblading Jack Frosts





Thats quite a float!



Purdy horses



Looks to be an ice queen





Those are some sizable Christmas balls





Oh Christmas Tree, tall Christmas tree



And a not so little drummer boy



The Macys Bears





An interesting take on marionettes







That does not look like a happy rat



A very tall parade of Christmas cheer





Band geek mouse?









More marionette antics




Next up more mouse antics and the Big Guy makes his appearance!



Click here for the next Chapter: Day 7 Part 15 - And Now a Word From our Sponsor - Macy's!

[mnmrmustard]

And the mouse is back he just cant get enough of hamming it up for PumpkinGirl!






The other marionette team circles around to us





The mouse didn't want to be upstaged and did a jump for PumpkinGirl



But it was hard to ignore the dancing spectacle of the marionette teams







Thats a big candy cane!



They were intermittently shooting colorful confetti from the rooftops during the parade



Here comes the candy cane with some candy cane girls





And then it was time for the big guy himself, here comes Santa Claus!





In the background you can just make out a group of Rockette-like dancers. They put on a show by the tree but apparently were separate from the parade and went right back inside



Back to Santa and Mrs. Claus and their elf helper











And that was it, there was another Macys balloon but it was apparently part of the Rockettes thing and was taken back stage



Again, HUGE kudos to PumpkinGirl for such good captures of all of that parade fun!



Next up we wrap up our last day at Universal



Click here for the next Chapter: Day 7 Part 16 - Wrapping Up our Last Universal Day

[mnmrmustard]

We walked back down to the tree to see it all lit up



Bean got a kick out of playing with the confetti





We started heading back to the front of the park from there, our day pretty much finished. Crowd levels were at their lowest I had seen which made it a nice leisurely stroll back towards the entrance.

The sun had gone down and the clouds were getting thicker



Roxy and the girls wanted to ride Minion Mayhem one more time so I told them to go ahead while I took a few more pictures.

They had some good cheesecake in here, I tried some samples. Very yummy stuff.



Lots of great sweets in here, we bought several things there the day before



I circled back to Minion Mayhem



Don’t you want to become a Minion?



The ladies came out and it had started to drizzle on us a bit. It was the first and only time we had rain the whole trip. By the time the ladies got out it was just after 6pm and we had a 6:15pm pick-up for MEARS. Bean and I ran ahead through the drizzle to make sure we didn’t miss our bus. It was funny because each of us kept jogging for a bit and passing the other, then running out of steam and the other would pass. Bean ended up down at the bus area first and flagged down our driver. There was no problem and soon enough Roxy and PumpkinGirl were there and we got ourselves loaded up.

We had to do that off-resort drop off so it was a little longer getting back. Still we were passing back into WDW before 7pm



It has been a fun three days at Universal Studios. Lots of big rides, silly fun, and great live shows and events. Lots of laughs and smiles and unique experiences.

I am often asked how it compares to the Disney experience. I can only say that it is different. It is fun and exciting and even magical, but not in the same way that you feel in Disney. The magic can be more literal, at least in reference to the whole Harry Potter experience. I really enjoyed the Christmas touches and can say that if you go, the Christmas holiday is a wonderful time. If you like a real scare I hear that Halloween is a must see and I hope to experience that at some point later in life – probably me and Bean and maybe PumpkinGirl on that one as Roxy doesn’t like being truly scared.

We got some snacks from the POP food court while Bean grabbed her lanyard and came back to pin trade. Then it was off to the room to load up lanyards, get the mad money for the next day, shower and PJs, and get our general plan together. Tomorrow was Thursday and was set aside as our Mommy/Daughter & Daddy/Daughter day.

Since PumpkinGirl had gotten about 2/3rds of a day with me at AK the day Bean had the bad tummy she was looking forward to reprising a full EPCOT day with Roxy. Bean meanwhile wanted to do some park hopping. She wanted to start early with AK to enjoy the day she missed the previous Sunday. Once she had her fill there her goal was to hit DHS and reprise our Daddy/Daughter day from 2008.

We were in bed pretty early and asleep very quickly – big day ahead for all of us!



Click here for the next Chapter: Day 8 Part 1 - Mommy and Daughter head to EPCOT

[Trentmom]

The parade looks so cool

Those people with ballon heads were kind of cool looking

That clown balloon was very creepy

There really are some interesting people and floats in their parade, not your usual traditional Christmas parade

I loved how they had a big Cat in the Hat "sitting" on an awning of a store.

The rat or mouse on wheels was kind of skeery looking

Love everyone on stilts

It was funny how the Mouse guy did that big jump

You and Pumpkin girl got some great shots!!


Can't wait to hear about your father/daughter and Mother/daughter days


Welcome to Cheri.. I knew she would love all your pics as usual

[FauntleroyFAN07]

first time i have seen or heard about that parade, thanks for the pictures.

[mnmrmustard]

Originally Posted by Trentmom

The parade looks so cool

Those people with ballon heads were kind of cool looking

That clown balloon was very creepy

There really are some interesting people and floats in their parade, not your usual traditional Christmas parade

I loved how they had a big Cat in the Hat "sitting" on an awning of a store.

The rat or mouse on wheels was kind of skeery looking

Love everyone on stilts

It was funny how the Mouse guy did that big jump

You and Pumpkin girl got some great shots!!


Can't wait to hear about your father/daughter and Mother/daughter days


Welcome to Cheri.. I knew she would love all your pics as usual

It was a great parade with a good Christmas feel with a twist of carnival thrown in.

The Cat in the Hat balloon was very cool, there's a pic of Bean standing in front of it the day before.

That mouse guy was quite the ham. It was so funny, I didn't see a lot of what she captured as far as the poses and such - she really had a good eye and also caught the eye of the performers well.

I am just starting to go through the Daddy/Daughter & Mommy/Daughter day pics. I should be able to start posting something this weekend on it

Originally Posted by FauntleroyFAN07

first time i have seen or heard about that parade, thanks for the pictures.

I had read about it but this was the first time experiencing it - it was pretty cool. You're very welcome Dan!

[cherbear]

I’m at the end of day 2, and more comments…


I love Roxy’s ToT heart!! Poor Bean…what bad luck having ridden twice and having her face covered in the ride photo both times! LOL

The ladies look as if they are feeling a bit better at this point! (late day 2)

I noticed in the the following picture that PumpkinGirl looks like Roxy & Bean looks like you!

I honestly hadn’t noticed before now because of the way y'all (yes, I'm a southerner) are standing!


And in this one, I love how the pink color of the cotton candy is also represented in the bottom of Roxy’s shirt along the same horizontal line of the frame. It’s a fun effect! Did you plan that, Mr. Creative??

WOW, I had absolutely NO IDEA about this new pirate attraction! I am excited to see it! Was it loud in there? Do you think it would be scary for my wee one? (Trying to pull a trip together for her 1st birthday month!)

Your Osborne lights pics are absolutely breathtaking! Thanks for sharing so many.

Yay for day 3's park....Epcot is MY favorite park too!! I love both Future World and World Showcase, and how they are so vastly different but can see both at the same park. The music in Future World just gives me a good feeling! On our last few trips, we went to Epcot first, so maybe, just maybe that has something to do with the music making me so happy. I hear it and know I’m in DisneyWorld!

I must compliment how efficient you are in the evening. The past 2 nights you seem to have gotten so much done in only an hour’s time. (I know men can shower much more quickly, but you still get props) I am like you in that I prefer to have things ready for the next morning too!

Wow what a great day that was!

[cherbear]

It's going to take me a while to catch up; I'm taking in all of your pictures trying to enjoy everything rather than rushing through.

Y'all had some beautiful princesses at the Akershus breakfast! I do believe Belle is the official greeter there, btw.


The girl in the role of Snow White was just perfect!

and I didn't quote the pic but Ariel was just gorgeous! And her hair color is almost the same as PumpkinGirl/Kyra.

My goal is to finish reading day 3 tomorrow I only got through part 1 (the breakfast)

[mnmrmustard]

Originally Posted by cherbear

I’m at the end of day 2, and more comments…


I love Roxy’s ToT heart!! Poor Bean…what bad luck having ridden twice and having her face covered in the ride photo both times! LOL

The ladies look as if they are feeling a bit better at this point! (late day 2)

I noticed in the the following picture that PumpkinGirl looks like Roxy & Bean looks like you!


I honestly hadn’t noticed before now because of the way y'all (yes, I'm a southerner) are standing!

You're cruisin' through this thing! Roxy's heart on ToT was great and very unexpected, she rocks! Bean did have some bad luck, but got to ride ToT 3 times in a row so i don't think she was too heartbroken

The ladies had their ups and downs as far as energy, things kind of fall apart on day 4 at AK

I had always noticed how much PumpkinGirl looks like Roxy but had always thought Bean was kind of a mix of the two of us. But you are right, that picture really brings out the similarities between her and I And I'm all about the y'all. I may live in the northwest but I was born a Georgia boy

Originally Posted by cherbear

And in this one, I love how the pink color of the cotton candy is also represented in the bottom of Roxy’s shirt along the same horizontal line of the frame. It’s a fun effect! Did you plan that, Mr. Creative??



WOW, I had absolutely NO IDEA about this new pirate attraction! I am excited to see it! Was it loud in there? Do you think it would be scary for my wee one? (Trying to pull a trip together for her 1st birthday month!)

Your Osborne lights pics are absolutely breathtaking! Thanks for sharing so many.

The pink color going across was a happy accident. Great photographer's eye to catch that. I was just trying to keep the camera steady while it did the longer exposure to get them and ToT.

The new pirate attraction is pretty cool and I don't think it was very loud. Probably a good one to stay towards the back with a wee one though. That's where I was and I could still see everything.

You're very welcome on the Osborne pics, the atmosphere there is so very wonderful and Christmassy.

Originally Posted by cherbear

Yay for day 3's park....Epcot is MY favorite park too!! I love both Future World and World Showcase, and how they are so vastly different but can see both at the same park. The music in Future World just gives me a good feeling! On our last few trips, we went to Epcot first, so maybe, just maybe that has something to do with the music making me so happy. I hear it and know I’m in DisneyWorld!

I must compliment how efficient you are in the evening. The past 2 nights you seem to have gotten so much done in only an hour’s time. (I know men can shower much more quickly, but you still get props) I am like you in that I prefer to have things ready for the next morning too!

Wow what a great day that was!

I agree on the music in FutureWorld. And the overall atmosphere of both it and World Showcase are just so varied and interesting. There's always something new to discover.

We were a pretty well-oiled machine in the evenings. Roxy and PumpkinGirl would go to the room first and take care of shower and such while Bean and I did pin trading and picked up snacks. Then we'd come back and deliver snacks and take care of our bathroom stuff.

It worked well for me to shower last so I could get the money and lanyards and such together. Then I could get cleaned up and come back into a dark, quiet room and slip into bed. It helped a whole lot that everyone came back to the room ready to sleep.

It was a very full day, those first few days were all very full ones. Next time I'll make sure and slow the pace a bit ..or at least try to

Originally Posted by cherbear

It's going to take me a while to catch up; I'm taking in all of your pictures trying to enjoy everything rather than rushing through.

Y'all had some beautiful princesses at the Akershus breakfast! I do believe Belle is the official greeter there, btw.


The girl in the role of Snow White was just perfect!


and I didn't quote the pic but Ariel was just gorgeous! And her hair color is almost the same as PumpkinGirl/Kyra.

My goal is to finish reading day 3 tomorrow I only got through part 1 (the breakfast)

I appreciate you taking the time - that takes some dedication considering I'm just shy of 2,000 pics posted with 2 more full days to go

All of the princesses were very good, and I agree on Snow White - she was great. And from your info and that of some other peeps Belle does appear to be the greeter princess. We really enjoyed the interactions they all had with PumpkinGirl. It would have been great to have on video but I took a BUNCH of pics to capture those special moments.

The hair color between Ariel and PumpkinGirl was a big hit all around which all of the princesses played up.

Good luck getting throug the rest of the EPCOT day and thanks again for the great comments!

[PracPerfPatricia]

So....lots of stuff going on...

The Universal Cinematic Spectacular looks really cool and very different than any of the night shows at Disney... I'm assuming that you recommend?

(btw ... don't know how I missed this... but what exactly is the expansion at the WW of HP?)

(While I do think that Disney is more immersive and just practically perfect in every way... I think that if you just compare Universal to Disney Studios... that might be a fairer comparison... & Universal really does seem to have a lot of things themed to recent film...)

Seuss Landing looks like a photographer's dream come true... the Grinch looks like it was a really cute show...

It's good to hear that the Beetlejuice show is good... I like the film (even though the clothing is pretty dated... curse the 80s) so I'm glad the show is good...

Hmm kinda of avoiding the Hulk and the Rip Rockit huh? Can't say that I blame you ... not too sure about those... (there's nothing I won't ride at Disney but they look like they're in entirely different categories...)

Oh... Olivander's looks really cool... sounds like an early morning thing...

The Macy's Parade ... I love the real one on tv... and the park one... seemed really festive as well... seems like a great way to get your holiday spirit on...

[mnmrmustard]

Originally Posted by PracPerfPatricia

So....lots of stuff going on...

The Universal Cinematic Spectacular looks really cool and very different than any of the night shows at Disney... I'm assuming that you recommend?

(btw ... don't know how I missed this... but what exactly is the expansion at the WW of HP?)

(While I do think that Disney is more immersive and just practically perfect in every way... I think that if you just compare Universal to Disney Studios... that might be a fairer comparison... & Universal really does seem to have a lot of things themed to recent film...)

Seuss Landing looks like a photographer's dream come true... the Grinch looks like it was a really cute show...

Yes, a busy week for sure - I'm actually trying to wrap up the TR a bit faster than usual so I can use it as a template to do a weblog of the trip to show to the girl's Nana. She has seen pics on my phone but wants to hear the whole story and doesn't have internet at the asssisted living place where she lives.

If I can get it done i can copy it as a local file so she can view the whole thing on my laptop

The Universal Cinematic Spectacular is worth seeing at least once, I want to go back and see it again without taking pictures so I can take it all in. I can tell you it was nice in comparison to Illuminations in that there was no crush of crowds and we could actually sit down to watch it.

From what I've heard on the Universal expansion they are taking the area that was Amity Village/JAWS and are converting it into a section of DiagonAlley and Platform 9 3/4s. Among other things DiagonAlley will include Gringot's Bank and a coaster ride similar to what you see them ride on in the movies. Platform 9 3/4s will have a functional Hogwart's Express that will transport you between the DiagonAlley area and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Islands of Adventure. The train will be a themed ride unto itself with different scenarios playing out each time you ride it including an attach by the Dementors. If you look at Google Maps you'll see the ride route as 5th street, which runs a pretty direct route between the construction zone and WWoHP.

As far as theme park comparisons Uinversal is good for a direct comparison with DHS and I think they both have winning elements in live shows and ride experiences that put them on pretty equal footing. One edge you might say Universal has is with the scope of 3-D attractions they have. And DHS would have the edge with more live shows.

But then you have Islands of Adventure, which has such varying elements that it is hard to make direct comparisons. In 'land' theming Jurassic Park could be compared to Dinoland USA and WWoHP could be compared to Fantasyland, but they are still very different places. Universal did a good job with making Islands unique.

Sorry I babbled on a bit with that And yes, Seuss Landing is great for photography with all of the interesting shapes and colors and fun characters.

Originally Posted by PracPerfPatricia

It's good to hear that the Beetlejuice show is good... I like the film (even though the clothing is pretty dated... curse the 80s) so I'm glad the show is good...

Hmm kinda of avoiding the Hulk and the Rip Rockit huh? Can't say that I blame you ... not too sure about those... (there's nothing I won't ride at Disney but they look like they're in entirely different categories...)

Oh... Olivander's looks really cool... sounds like an early morning thing...

The Macy's Parade ... I love the real one on tv... and the park one... seemed really festive as well... seems like a great way to get your holiday spirit on...

The Beetlejuice show is a lot of fun with a good mix of classic rock hits and more modern tunes. The performers are very energetic and very good at the characters they play. Pretty much a must see in our eyes.

I would ride Hulk again, it was fun and fast and really moved you around. I just had bad timing as far a eating and riding something that big. No, nothing at Disney compares to Hulk. I will probably never ride Rockin' Rockit again. Too many quick, jerky turns. I like a smooth coaster.

Yes, hit Olivander's first thing, everything else the lines move just fine. It is worth seeing once at least though.

If you enjoy the Macy's parade on TV you'll really like their version of it. It truly did get us in a holiday frame of mind.

Back to editing pictures for me - I'm still trying to figure out how to present our split day. Not sure if I'll do the full day for Roxy/PumpkinGirl and then do the full day for Bean and I or try and do a timeline thing and jump back and forth