How Many Times Did I Meet Pluto This Trip? A Dec Solo TR - New TR Link 11/30!

[Pluto0809]

Candlelight Processional

When I made it into the theater, the front section that was under the roof was filling up fast. But it was a beautiful night and there were seats in the first row out from under the roof. There is a pretty wide path between the two sections so I grabbed a seat there with plenty of leg room. Here was my view.



The orchestra filed in first followed by some trumpeters.







The Voices of Liberty were part of the show along with a very large choir.



You can see what I meant by the wide path in front of me in this next photo.













The narrator for the night was Jonathan Groff. I honestly didn’t know who he was and had to look it up. He was the voice of Kristoff in Frozen and has also been in some TV shows I don’t watch.





During the show, the narrator reads a section of the Christmas Story then the choir sings a song related to the passage he just read. Jonathan was excellent. He was genuinely enjoying himself and seemed so happy and honored to be a part of the show.







I even took a partial video of one of the songs to send to my Mom.



I really, really enjoyed the show, much more than I thought I would. I am not a hugely religious person but the music was beautiful and Jonathan really nailed the narration. I definitely want to go and see it again someday.

Up Next: I Fail at One of My Quests

 

[missangelalexis]

Great photos of the CP! I'm glad you enjoyed it! It really looks like a lovely show.

 

[MEK]

I love the CP. So glad you really enjoyed it. While we are in the midst of political correctness to the point that the Christmas story may be considered an "insult" to others, I find it refreshing the Disney does such a fabulous telling the tale. The narration and the music is so uplifting. I am looking forward to seeing it in December. If I lived there I would totally join one of those choirs that gets to sing in the performances.

I still have some catching up to do. Let's see what else I've missed.....

 

[MEK]

Cool purchases from the antique store. It's always fun to find some treasures.

Nice meal at Coral Reef. And you got some lovely pictures of the tank. My last meal there was quite enjoyable and I look forward to going back.

Nice shots from your ride along with Donald. It can be really difficult to get clear shots in there.

 

[rteetz]

If I ever get to go during Christmas time I want to do the candlelight processional.

 

[kroseycorn]

Candlelight Processional

When I made it into the theater, the front section that was under the roof was filling up fast. But it was a beautiful night and there were seats in the first row out from under the roof. There is a pretty wide path between the two sections so I grabbed a seat there with plenty of leg room. Here was my view.



The orchestra filed in first followed by some trumpeters.







The Voices of Liberty were part of the show along with a very large choir.



You can see what I meant by the wide path in front of me in this next photo.













The narrator for the night was Jonathan Groff. I honestly didn’t know who he was and had to look it up. He was the voice of Kristoff in Frozen and has also been in some TV shows I don’t watch.





During the show, the narrator reads a section of the Christmas Story then the choir sings a song related to the passage he just read. Jonathan was excellent. He was genuinely enjoying himself and seemed so happy and honored to be a part of the show.







I even took a partial video of one of the songs to send to my Mom.



I really, really enjoyed the show, much more than I thought I would. I am not a hugely religious person but the music was beautiful and Jonathan really nailed the narration. I definitely want to go and see it again someday.

Up Next: I Fail at One of My Quests

Where does the choir for the processional come from, or are they different choirs? And the orchestra? Just curious if they share that info!

 

[Chicago Mo]

somebody came over to check out all the people in the people tank. This resulted in one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

This CRACKED ME UP!!!!!
it is a great picture too!!

And my pictures with Duffy. I loved his Santa suit.

OMG wait til i show Meg these pictures! She is going to FLIP!!! He is SO adorable! and you are so cute with him!!

I also got to watch a poor little girl get pooped on by a bird. Her parents were trying to be sympathetic but were having a hard time not laughing about it which just made her mad.

BAAAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA i would have laughed..

Jonathan Groff

Kinda a cutie!

I definitely want to go and see it again someday.

I would love to see this.. Unfortunately my kids will never sit for this in Disney. Maybe when they get older and can appreciate it.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

That looks like a pretty good view to me. Pretty centred.

The Voices of Liberty were part of the show

Um... DING DING DING This alone might have encouraged me to see this now!!!

I love the "Christmas Tree"

I don't think I've ever heard a bad word about this show. I was always mostly apprehensive about the time commitment involved. I've seen people lined up for so long, even with "reserved seats". But it does seem to be worth it.

 

[missjackiemcg]

My Mom made me go to the Candlelight PRocessional on our trip together in 2005. I didn't really want to but figured it was the ONE thing she picked, so I didn't argue. We had John Stamos and absolutely LOVED it!!! A few years later we went and had Rita Moreno...it was definitely a different feel but still beautifully done. A great narrator really impacts the experience. I love the poem, One Solitary Life--my most favorite part of the whole thing!

 

[marDgreen88]

Jonathan Groff! Ahh, he's awesome. He's an INCREDIBLE singer (even though Frozen didn't showcase that at all... which I still don't understand) and he seems like a great guy. I'm glad you enjoyed the show so much! So would you say the dinner package was worth it?

 

[KatMark]

I'm so glad that you enjoyed the Candlelight Processional, Ariana. We really enjoyed it (we had Oprah), but I would really like it to see again as we were a bit distracted through a good part of it because of several members of the choir having to leave because of the heat (one actually fell to the ground). I wouldn't have known who your narrator was if you hadn't told me. What shows has he been in?

You picked a great seat...awesome!

 

[Kirby]

We were there on Monday night and saw Neil Patrick Harris. It was our first CP and we really enjoyed it. On Friday night we stopped for awhile and listened to Whoopie Goldberg. She was good also.

 

[hokieinpa]

It sounds like a great experience at CP. I saw an interview with Jonathan Groff about Frozen and he seems like a genuinely nice guy so I'm sure he did a great job. I've heard nothing but good things about CP - I hope I get to check it out one day! I love the variety of performers involved - narrator, singers, musicians!

 

[Pluto0809]

Great photos of the CP! I'm glad you enjoyed it! It really looks like a lovely show.

It really is a lovely show. I highly recommend seeing it if you ever get a chance.

I love the CP. So glad you really enjoyed it. While we are in the midst of political correctness to the point that the Christmas story may be considered an "insult" to others, I find it refreshing the Disney does such a fabulous telling the tale. The narration and the music is so uplifting. I am looking forward to seeing it in December. If I lived there I would totally join one of those choirs that gets to sing in the performances.

I still have some catching up to do. Let's see what else I've missed.....

It was very refreshing to see show. It was so beautiful. Unfortunately I would not be one of the ones joining the choir. I have a horrible voice and cannot carry a tune to save my life!

Cool purchases from the antique store. It's always fun to find some treasures.

Nice meal at Coral Reef. And you got some lovely pictures of the tank. My last meal there was quite enjoyable and I look forward to going back.

Nice shots from your ride along with Donald. It can be really difficult to get clear shots in there.

I love antique shopping and luckily so does Jim. We have 6 large antique malls all within a 1/2 hour of our house so we go quiet often.

I really love Coral Reef not only for the food but for the awesome view of the aquarium.

I'm getting better with the shots in the dark rides. I only have a point and shot but I've figured it out somewhat.

If I ever get to go during Christmas time I want to do the candlelight processional.

Definitely! It was well worth the wait.

Where does the choir for the processional come from, or are they different choirs? And the orchestra? Just curious if they share that info!

As far as I know it is made up of CMs and also locals. I talked to a CM once who participated in the show. Also, the choirs on the sides in the yellow were made up of younger kids so I'm thinking they might be from local high schools.

This CRACKED ME UP!!!!!
it is a great picture too!!

OMG wait til i show Meg these pictures! She is going to FLIP!!! He is SO adorable! and you are so cute with him!!

BAAAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA i would have laughed..

Kinda a cutie!

I would love to see this.. Unfortunately my kids will never sit for this in Disney. Maybe when they get older and can appreciate it.

I love that turtle picture! It's so hard to get good photos of the aquarium due to the lighting so I have no idea how I managed to get that clear of one.

So did Meg love the Duffy pictures? He was so much fun to meet.

It was all I could do not to laugh at the little girl along with the parents. She was soooooo mad which made it even funnier!

He is pretty cute, isn't he?

Yeah, it might be too much for your kids right now. Hopefully it will still be around when they get old enough to appreciate it.

 

[Pluto0809]

That looks like a pretty good view to me. Pretty centred.

Um... DING DING DING This alone might have encouraged me to see this now!!!

I love the "Christmas Tree"

I don't think I've ever heard a bad word about this show. I was always mostly apprehensive about the time commitment involved. I've seen people lined up for so long, even with "reserved seats". But it does seem to be worth it.

It was a very good view. I think if I had gotten in too close in the front section, I wouldn't have been able to see all of the stage. I had a nice wide view of everything from my seat.

Yep, VOL are in the show, you need to go see it!

Well, since this was my 4th trip to WDW in 2014 I felt like I could give up the time needed to see the show. I highly recommend the meal package though as I only had to line up about an hour beforehand. A few days later, I was back in Epcot around lunchtime and I saw people already in the standby line for the 5 pm show!

My Mom made me go to the Candlelight PRocessional on our trip together in 2005. I didn't really want to but figured it was the ONE thing she picked, so I didn't argue. We had John Stamos and absolutely LOVED it!!! A few years later we went and had Rita Moreno...it was definitely a different feel but still beautifully done. A great narrator really impacts the experience. I love the poem, One Solitary Life--my most favorite part of the whole thing!

Glad you Mom made you go! I think I might do that but the opposite. I think I need to make my Mom go! She didn't seem interested the last time we were there for Christmas but I know she will enjoy it.

Jonathan Groff! Ahh, he's awesome. He's an INCREDIBLE singer (even though Frozen didn't showcase that at all... which I still don't understand) and he seems like a great guy. I'm glad you enjoyed the show so much! So would you say the dinner package was worth it?

He did seem like a really great guy, very humble and so happy to be there doing the show. The dinner package was absolutely worth it. I'll talk about it later but on my last day I saw people lined up in the standby line at 11 am for the 5 pm show!

I'm so glad that you enjoyed the Candlelight Processional, Ariana. We really enjoyed it (we had Oprah), but I would really like it to see again as we were a bit distracted through a good part of it because of several members of the choir having to leave because of the heat (one actually fell to the ground). I wouldn't have known who your narrator was if you hadn't told me. What shows has he been in?

You picked a great seat...awesome!

Oprah was also there during the week I was but I already had my schedule down and didn't want to change it. I think I'm glad I didn't because I saw people lining up for the show featuring her at 11 am!

Luckily it wasn't too hot that night so I didn't have to see anyone suffer from the heat.

I looked it up again and Jonathan has mostly done theater. He was in 14 episodes of Glee though.

We were there on Monday night and saw Neil Patrick Harris. It was our first CP and we really enjoyed it. On Friday night we stopped for awhile and listened to Whoopie Goldberg. She was good also.

I thought about changing my days around to see one of those two but in the end kept my original plan. Thursday just worked the best for me to see the CP.

It sounds like a great experience at CP. I saw an interview with Jonathan Groff about Frozen and he seems like a genuinely nice guy so I'm sure he did a great job. I've heard nothing but good things about CP - I hope I get to check it out one day! I love the variety of performers involved - narrator, singers, musicians!

I got the same feeling during the show, he really seems like a nice guy. I do hope you get to check it out it was a wonderful show!

 

[Pluto0809]

Elsa Visits the Shelter!

As many of you know, I volunteer at a local animal shelter on Saturdays. They do a "read to the cats" program every summer. Basically kids can come in and read stories to the cats. It's a great way to help socialize the cats and also helps the kids with their reading. To kick of the program this year, we had a Frozen weekend and Elsa came to visit. This "friend" of Elsa is a local girl who does this for parties but she was wonderful!

First picture is of me with the staff that day. I found the Olaf shirts on the sale rack at the Disney Store for $6.99 each. Unfortunately they only had mediums and larges left so we had to find a different shirt for the one girl. Her shirt came from Walmart.



And here is all of us with Elsa.



And of course I had to get some photos with just me and her.





This last one is my favorite from the day.

 

[Pluto0809]

I Fail at One of My Quests Part 1

After the CP was over, I went across to America to check out the little Christmas village they had set up. There were several booths selling stuff and Santa and Mrs. Clause were doing meet and greets. I was loving these Precious Moments dolls. If there had been a Pluto one, I can guarantee it would have come home with me. I did consider the Stitch one for a bit but they were expensive and I was pretty sure I didn’t have the room to bring one home.









I had skipped over Norway, China, Germany and Italy to get to the CP in time but I decided to only backtrack to Italy as I wanted a glass of wine. I knew I would be back to Epcot the next night and could catch the others I missed then.









I picked up a glass of the Rosa Regala which is one of my favorite drinks at Epcot.





I know I walked through all the store in Japan but I have no pictures. I was on the search for different teas for my sister-in-law for Christmas. I had bought her a nice tea caddy and wanted different types of teas to fill it up with. I found a package of green tea in Japan.

I also spent some time exploring Morocco but did not find tea to buy there.





No luck with tea in France either but I did love the Christmas decorations.









The wine was long gone by now so it was time for a vodka slushie. I prefer the lemon version so that’s what I got.



I moved onto the United Kingdom.





Continued in Next Post

 

[Pluto0809]

I Fail at One of My Quests Part 2

I checked out the line for Christopher Robin’s Room and it was very short so of course I got in. I got to witness one of the cutest interactions ever. There was a little girl in front of me, she couldn’t have been more than 2. She was obviously in love with Pooh because she just kept hugging him over and over. I think the PP photographer took at least 30 photos. Every time the parents would lead her away, she would turn around and go back for more hugs.

When it was my turn, I got some hugs too.









In the UK tea store I was a bit overwhelmed by the selection as I am not a tea drinker. But a very good looking young CM helped me out. I’m afraid I felt like a dirty old women because I was drooling over him more than a bit. I probably would have bought the whole store if he told me to. In the end, I left with one package of tea. Here it is with the tea I bought in Japan.



Oh and also in the Japan store I bought some little owls.



The gold one was for me and the Christmas one I bought as a joke for Mom. She loves owls and I thought it was hilarious that they had a Christmas one. I forgot to tell her it was a joke though and she was quite confused when she opened the package on Christmas day.

I had planned on stopping in the UK for some fish and chips at Yorkshire Country Fish Shop for dinner but I was still very full from lunch so I moved on.

I didn’t spend much time in Canada although I did take a few pictures of some hockey T-shirts to send to Jim. He ended up not liking any of them.



I stopped in the stores at the front of WS to look around. One of them had a little sample of the goods from each country. While in there, I found a gift set of Alice in Wonderland teas that I purchased. The CM that checked me out said she loved those teas and it was a good choice. I’ll have to take her word for it since tea is not my thing.



I thought about staying for Illuminations but I knew I had two very long, very crazy days coming up so I decided to head out instead. Besides, I’m just not a huge Illuminations fan.



I stopped for PP pictures by the Epcot tree where the photographer took three pretty much identical photos.



One more set of pictures at the back of SE.





I also visited Starbucks very quickly because I had not gotten my cupcake for the day. Unfortunately they only had two kinds and I didn’t like either one. I know one was Strawberry but I can’t remember what the other one was. I figured I would just get one back at my resort.

One last picture of SE as I exited the park.



I caught a bus very quickly and was back at ASMo before I knew it. The lobby was looking very pretty all lit up for Christmas.





My favorite picture in the lobby.



Even though I still wasn’t super hungry, I knew I needed to eat something little before bed so I headed to the food court. I went straight to the bakery counter and there was not a single cupcake to be found. Darn, I had failed at my cupcake a day quest!

Instead I bought a container of sliced apples and a Minnie’s bake shop cookie.



Stitch was waiting patiently for me when I arrived back in my room.



I only traded for one pin during the day and I also found a pressed penny at the ASMo food court. If you can’t tell from the photo, it’s 101 Dalmatians which was appropriate since I was staying in that area of the resort.



I ate my snack and turned out the lights around 10:30.

Up Next: The Four Park Quest Begins

 

[rteetz]

I was really glad to see the Christmas decor for the first time in January. Epcot really is decorated well during Christmas. The only thing that wasn't up when I was there was the big Christmas tree. You have some great Photopass photos! My mom has some of those houses from that Disney Christmas village. Can't wait to hear about your four park quest!

 

[missangelalexis]

The program sounds really nice, love the Frozen theme

That shop sounds so cute, I love the precious moments dolls.

Love all your nighttime pics!

Great pics with Pooh & Tigger!

Ahh sorry you didn't meet your cupcake quota that day!