We Bounced Back to a Whole New World! A December 2012 TR Update:MK & MVMCP

[megan511]

I love the family photo in front of the tree! Tessa is like, "Whatever! I'm so over this."

It's really interesting hearing about the mini golf course. That's something we've never done at Disney and I don't read a lot of TRs where people did that. Who would've thought they'd be busy right at opening?

That's great that Anthony did so well!

That's the look we usually get from Tessa when we want a picture with her!

I was confused about the mini golf course too. It's definitely a fun thing to do though when you need a break from a park.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Joining in.

 

[megan511]

Joining in.

Thanks so much for joining in! I have a major update coming right up!

 

[megan511]

After our Safari we walked the Pangani Forest Trail. We always seem to skip the trails because we are rushing from attraction to attraction. The low crowd level during December allowed us to relax and enjoy some of the things we miss while trying to stick to a schedule.

I'm not sure what's happening here...




Naked Mole Rat!








You may notice that there are no pictures of the gorillas! Everytime I tried to get a picture of one it would move to a different area of the habitat! Oh well, sometimes I don't want my picture taken either.

We decided to walk over to Asia next. On the way we stopped for some pictures.











I had set a goal for us that we would try at least one new thing everyday so we checked on the wait for Kali River Rapids. We had never done this ride before because we always come during summer when the wait is too long. The line was only 20 minutes! Tessa does not like to get wet so I wasn't sure she would like it. Chad and Anthony rode first and used one of our two fastpasses we were given at Guest Services.

Tessa and I watched the Gibbons while we waited on the guys. We heard a CM saying that all the males were black and the females are blonde.





While we were waiting for the boys Tessa fell asleep. Chad and Anthony came back not long after and Anthony LOVED the ride. He asked if he could ride again, this time with me. Chad warned me that the people sitting across from them had got soaked. The line moved pretty quickly and soon Anthony and I were boarding our raft. When we got to the hill where the big splash happens I was right next to the couple that was going to get the worst of it. Anthony looked at them and said, "You are going to get really wet!" My jeans and shoes were soaked but I wasn't nearly as wet as that poor couple!

Anthony wanted to ride one more time so Chad took him. This time I remembered I had a water proof camera so I sent it with Chad to get some pictures on the ride.













That was awesome!


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[kaelalala]

I'm joining in!! your kids are adorable and I can't wait to see what you guys get up to. excited to read more

 

[megan511]

I'm pretty sure Anthony would have rode Kali River Rapids for a fourth time but Tessa had woken up & I didn't want to risk her getting one of the "lucky" splash seats. We stopped & got some drinks while we walked to our next attraction, the Maharajah Jungle Trek.





Anthony was in charge of the field guide and pointed out the different animals.








Gorgeous animals:




After the jungle trek we walked back through Asia. Animal Kingdom is so beautiful, there is wonderful theming and great picture opportunities every where you look.









The wait for Expedition Everest wasn't long at all so we asked Anthony if he was sure he didn't want to ride. He said, "NO! It is too fast, too high, and the yeti is too scary!" Okay, then!

(By yeti he means the projection on the wall...he's never seen Disco Yeti because by the time we get to it his eyes are firmly closed.)



These are the pictures from his only two rides on Expedition Everest in May 2012. I can't imagine why he didn't want to ride this time...

Ride Number 1: "Anthony, you have to sit up!"


Ride Number 2: "I can't look!"


After Anthony's refusal for one more expedition to Everest we decided to move on.



We ended up at Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama. There is a really cool article explaining the theming of Dinoland USA. I never really "got" this area but this goes a long way into explaning what the Imagineers intended and all the little details. Why is there a carnival at AK?

Chad has always wanted to ride Primeval Whirl but one trip it was being refurbed & another trip we just never got to it. He was determined to ride it this time until he got a good look at it. He sometimes gets motion sickness & saw that little car making those hair pin turns & said, "Nope, not riding that."

We did ride Triceratop Spin though!










You match the dinosaur, Tessa






Anthony didn't want to ride Dinosaur ("Too loud") so we walked towards Discovery Island. I wanted to meet Russell & Dug but they had a pretty good-sized line & we didn't want to wait. Instead we decided to do another new attraction for us: It's Tough to be a Bug!

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[megan511]

Since this was our first time seeing It's Tough to be a Bug we had never been up close to the carvings in the Tree of Life. I, of course, had to get some pictures!











That's a little creepy!


We got inside, collected our glasses and waited on the next show. I had read about this attraction and knew that some of the reviews included, "my kids were traumatized, it was terrifying, never again," etc. I hoped the kids wouldn't be too afraid but Anthony is pretty scared of bugs as it is so I was a little nervous. I knew Tessa would be fine, girl's not scared of anything (except for character meet & greets)! Would I be earning a bad Mommy award today for scarring my children?

He's smiling now...


He's still smiling but the show hasn't started yet. Tessa has a better idea of what's about to happen...


We sat right next to the exit just in case we needed to make a quick escape. The show starts and everything is going fine. Everyone's laughing at Flik & the friendly bugs on the screen. Then Hopper comes out. Okay, no big deal. I don't want to spoil what happens in case people want to be surprised but suffice to say Anthony starts yelling, "I don't like this, I don't like this." Even Tessa started whimpering! Right when we were about to leave it was over. Anthony said he would NOT be doing that again & I think Tessa was happy to get out of there too. Yep, bad Mommy award!

After the trauma of It's Tough to be a Bug we decided to ride the Train to Rafiki's. Tessa loves the train so we just ride it around without getting off. She wasn't as excited about it this year as she has been in the past though.







After we got off the train we decided to ride the safari again. The wait was still only 20 minutes or so but we used our last special fastpass anyways. Our safari driver was great! I wish I could remember her name because she was so good. As soon as she saw Tessa get on the jeep she said, "Is that a princess? Oh wow, it's a royal safari!" She kept the whole safari really fun.

This time I put on my zoom lens.





I wouldn't want to mess with these guys


More of Ant's favorite






The lions are awake!


These next two pictures are some of my favorites from the whole trip. Totally worth the cost of my camera...

He looks like he's getting ready to roar!




Getting to see the lions walking around was amazing! They walk with such power.

Every year I try to get a decent picture of Pumbaa & I never can. One of these days!


This Rhino came right up to our jeep. Very cool




Zebra Butts! I don't know why it still boggles my mind that zebras are black with white stripes not the other way around.


So pretty


We only had one thing left on our agenda for Animal Kingdom, Camp Minnie Mickey!

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[megan511]

I'm joining in!! your kids are adorable and I can't wait to see what you guys get up to. excited to read more

Aww thanks so much!

 

[megan511]

Our last stop today was to go by Camp Minnie Mickey. I wanted to watch the Lion King show but no one else was up for it. Oh well, next time.

There were a bunch of cute Christmas decorations around Camp Minnie Mickey. They had all these trees decorated for different movies or characters.



Finding Nemo Tree



Lion King Tree



Pluto's Tree



Chip & Dale's Tree


One of Anthony's favorite movies is the Jungle Book so he had to meet King Louie & Baloo.



We saw Pocahontas out & since we are from Virginia we decided to say hello. Anthony seems awfully excited.



We made the mistake of getting in line for Mickey next. Well it's never a mistake to see Mickey but Tessa was D-O-N-E.



After that we headed to the front. We took some more pictures of the Christmas Tree.









We had a dinner reservation at Rainforest Cafe. We were about an hour early but they said they could seat us. We only had to wait a few minutes before we were led to our table.











I ordered the Awesome Appetizer Adventure - Great sampler for two or more, featuring Chimi-Cha-Cha, Spinach and Artichoke Dip with Tri-Colour chips, Cheese Sticks, and Chicken Tenders. Served with fresh guacomole, marinara, and coconut curry sauce $18.99 (all menu descriptions & prices courtesy of allears.net)



This was okay. The chimi-cha-chas were the best part. The Spinach and Artichoke Dip was congealed at the top like it had been sitting around a long time. The tenders and cheese sticks were fine but nothing special. The coconut curry sauce was very good though.

DH ordered the Rainforest Burger - burger piled high with a fried onion ring, served on a toasted bun with tomato, lettuce, onion, and your choice of cheese $13.99; with bacon, add $0.99; with sauteed mushrooms add $0.99



DD had the Jurassic Chicken Tidbits" - dinosaur-shaped chicken $6.99



DS ordered the Castaway Kid's Pizza - Cheese or Pepperoni $6.99



They all thought their meals were fine but nothing special. Even though the menus are very similiar we all prefer T-Rex Cafe to Rainforest Cafe.

After our meal we went back to Animal Kingdom Lodge to relax and get ready to switch hotels in the morning. We settled into to watch some TV and get some rest.

Up Next: Epcot Time

 

[megan511]

I woke up to a foggy Monday.We had to check out of AKL today and I wanted to soak up as much of the ambiance of the hotel as I could. I sat and watched the animals outside our balcony with a cup of coffee. A perfect morning!







I went and got the kid's some Mickey Waffles from the Mara and by the time I came back they were stirring and the fog had cleared. Tessa sat out on the balcony with me and watched the animals while we waited for Anthony & Chad to get ready.





We are usually a get up and go family while at Disney and rarely miss rope drop. I loved being able to have a more relaxed morning at the hotel. Chad on the other hand said he liked summer better when we get up & go all day.

We checked out of AKL and went over to Pop Century to check in with our free QSDP. It was a bit crowded because it was the check-in day for free dining but we were through the line in about 25 minutes. After receiving our package we headed to our next destination...





We didn't arrive at Epcot until around 10:30. We grabbed FP's for Soarin' and then headed to our first ride, one of Anthony's favorites.







Anthony loves Figment...













After our Journey with Figment we walked over to the World Showcase. We had a lunch reservation at 12:15 so we decided to slowly walk around the countries until we reached our lunch spot. I was also interested in listening to some of the World Showcase Storytellers who talk about the holiday traditions of their country.



Canada Pavilion








When we got to Canada we were just in time for their storyteller's presentation. Their storyteller is Nowell, who is a lumberjack.



After the story you can take a picture with the storyteller.



We continued on to the UK Pavilion. Anthony wanted to do one of the Agent P adventures & we promised him that after lunch he could. It was getting close to our ADR time so we kept walking. Just a word about the weather this day, it was very pleasant. It was overcast all day but warm. We all brought jackets but none of us needed them except for Tessa.





​

Epcot part 2

 

[megan511]

We continued our stroll through World Showcase in France.





All the pavilions have such great details.




Our lunch ADR was at Les Chefs de France with the Candlelight Processional Dining Package. Anthony picked Les Chefs because he enjoyed his lunch here on our previous trip & he wanted to see Remy again. When we walked up to the restaurant we saw Serveur Amusant performing so we stopped to watch.


Anthony kept saying, "wow that is too high!" It was a fun show but a little nerve wracking! We checked in at Les Chefs & waited outside for our name to be called.


We waited about 10 minutes before we were led to our table.







With the Candlelight Processional package you can order 1 appetizer, 1 entree & 1 dessert & you can choose anything on the menu. The cost of the package was $55.37 per adult & $27.68 per child. Chad ordered the tomato & goat cheese flatbread, I ordered the french onion soup, & both kids got the cheese puff pastry. I only have a picture of my soup but it was all delicous! We were also served a warm baguette with butter which was also very good. (All menu descriptions courtesy of allears)

Soupe a l'oignon gratinee - The classic onion soup topped with gruyere cheese


For our entrees, I got the salmon dish.

Filet de Saumon, pommes de terre ecrasees au beurre et ciboulete sur coulis de tomate et poivron rouge - Broiled salmon, smashed potatoes with butter and chives, served on a tomato and red pepper sauce

I have to say this was pretty disappointing. It was very bland & neither the salmon nor potatoes had a lot of flavor.

Anthony got the child's burger with fries. He enjoyed it.
Croquette de Boeuf en Brioche - Ground beef steak on a brioche bun, served with French fries


Tessa got the child's breaded chicken strips served over pasta. She didn't eat very much but she never does.
Blanc de Poulet Aux Nouilles - Breaded chicken strips served with pasta


DH ordered the adult burger, Steak haché Angus, champignons et Bearnaise, salade ou frites - 1/2 lb. Angus hamburger with confit onions, mushroom duxelle, tomatoes, and Bearnaise on on a brioche, salad or french fries. He said it was fine.

While we were eating we had a visit from the chef himself.




For dessert I ordered the profiteroles & both kids got a chocolate chip cookie. I can't remember what DH ordered.

Profiteroles au chocolat - Puff choux with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce

The description doesn't sound like much but they are so, so good. The chocolate sauce is amazing!
Overall I thought our meal was good. I don't know that I would rush back for a third visit but it's definitely a nice choice for lunch.

We walked back to Future World to grab FPs for Test Track for that evening & then headed to use our Soarin' FPs we had picked up that morning. Tessa was finally tall enough & was excited for her first ride.







Tessa, like the rest of us, loved Soarin. It's such a fun ride, my favorite part is the smells! I can't believe Disney hasn't started selling the scents of Soarin yet.

We exited the Land building and checked ride times. Mission Space didn't have much of a wait so we headed there next.

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[megan511]

Anthony & I headed to "our ride" Mission:Space. He calls it "our ride" since Tessa isn't tall enough & Chad does not do simulators. We grabbed our green team tickets & headed in. I will ride pretty much anything but for some reason Mission:Space Orange scares me! I still haven't tried it but maybe one day when Anthony's ready for it.











Hearing the details of our mission...


He's ready!


We had a great trip to Mars. Anthony wanted to ride it again & since Tessa had fallen asleep we got back in line. The wait was about 10 minutes & then we were off to Mars again.

After our second ride we decided to go to Innoventions as we had never really explored in there before.


When we walked out of Innoventions it had started to drizzle & Tessa woke up. It was time to head over to Test Track for our first ride on the new version!








DH & DS really enjoyed designing their car & seeing how it performed through the tests on the ride.


I thought the new version was fine but I certainly wasn't blown away. Anthony & Chad really enjoyed designing their cars though so I guess that's a plus for the new one. Tessa loved her first ride on Test Track. When we sped up & went outside she grabbed on to me but once it ended she was all smiles.

After we had used our FP's for Test Track we didn't have a plan until the 5:30 Candlelight Processional. Anthony wanted to do another first for us, an Agent P mission. He picked the UK so we walked all the way to the other side of the park to get his phone . He received his phone & it was time to start saving the world!


Anthony loved this. He thought it was so cool looking for all the items & he got really into it. Chad & I liked it because we enjoy walking around the pavilions & seeing all the details. It was a great way to keep the kids interested while I got to walk around & take pictures. Some parts of the mission are a little wordy & it does take a good chunk of time so it may not hold everyone's interest but for us it was a winner.














While the boys completed their mission Tessa & I caught the end of Father Christmas' presentation. I love his green suit.


Anthony finished up & immediately wanted to do another one. We told Ant he could do another one later as it was time to get our seats for the Candlelight Processional. We were watching the weather because we were under a tornado warning & there were some ugly clouds around. We hoped that the show would be able to go on as planned as we were looking forward to seeing it for the first time.

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[Britard]

Love your report!
I think Christmas time is a great time to go to Disney. There are so many wonderful activities that Disney does so well that time of year.

I can't wait to see more!

 

[megan511]

Love your report!
I think Christmas time is a great time to go to Disney. There are so many wonderful activities that Disney does so well that time of year.

I can't wait to see more!

Thanks for joining in!

I Christmas at Disney! It was such a magical time to go & the decorations are gorgeous.

 

[megan511]

We made our way over to the American Gardens Theater for the 5:00 showing of the Candlelight Processional. The four of us had stickers showing that we had purchased the dining package & we were let in. We got there pretty close to 5:00 even though it's recommended to get there about 1/2 hour early with the package. If the crowds hadn't been so minimal we would have gotten there a bit earlier. There wasn't too much of a line & there was plenty of room for extra people in the back where we were seated. It turned out we didn't really need to purchase the package but we wanted to be sure we got to see the show, so it was worth it to us this time.

The weather appeared to be holding off and we were grateful when the show went on without any issues.

Waiting for the show to start...




Go away clouds!




Some pictures of the stage area...







The live orchestra:


The choir:




Our narrator was Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel. She did a great job!




I really enjoyed the show. The choir sings traditional hymns while the narrator reads the Christmas story. DS & DD enjoyed the show as well & were very well behaved...until Tessa got a LOUD case of the giggles at the part of the show where they talk about the Crucifixion. Jodi Benson was becoming emotional while reading about it, the theater was pretty darn quiet especially considering we were in the middle of a theme park, & Tessa could just not stop laughing! DH ended up walking her out, but there was only one song left and they could hear everything from the American pavilion.

After the show we walked back around towards Future World. World Showcase looks so pretty at night.
















We reached the front of the park and decided to head back to Pop. We still had to unload our car and get settled into our room. Our room was located in the 80's section. Anthony was very excited to see Pac-Man on the building.

Once we got settled we needed some dinner. I went down to Everything Pop and grabbed food for everyone. The boys got burgers, Tessa ate her snacks in the room, & I got a grilled chicken sandwich with pasta salad.



This was not great. The chicken was very dry & the pasta salad had a weird taste to it. I can't quite put my finger on what it was but I wasn't real impressed.

For dessert I picked up a brownie covered in M&Ms and the famous Tie-Dyed Cheesecake.





The brownie was super hard! It was probably better earlier in the day but I think it had been sitting out awhile.The cheesecake was just alright.

After we ate we all settled in & watched Stacy give us the must-dos. Then we went to sleep to rest up for the next day!

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[amandaw]

Hey! I'm sorry I've been missing but I'm trying to play catch up.

Looks like the AK & EPCOT days were both very nice. All of your pics have me missing WDW at Christmas time.

So sorry your dinner at POP wasn't great.

 

[wiigirl]

Great pics!

 

[megan511]

Tuesday, December 11 was my absolute favorite day I have ever had a Disney. Everything was just perfect. December 11th is Chad & I's anniversary and it was just an incredible way to spend it. It all started with us SLEEPING IN! I didn't set an alarm at all as we had no where to be until 10:55. Our plans for the day were to eat a late breakfast and then hang out until 4:00 when we could enter the Magic Kingdom. We were attending Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party for the first time and we wanted to be ready to stay late into the night.

I got up before the rest of the family to do some laundry (not the perfect part of the day.) I had fully intended to walk around Pop and take some pictures but I didn't make it very far. I just decided to go back to the room and relax a bit.









We all got dressed and out the door around 10:30. We were having a late breakfast at Anthony's favorite spot.

Snacks before breakfast? Why not, it's vacation!




Our breakfast was at Ohana in the Polynesian. We checked in and decided to skip the photo before the meal. We waited about 10 minutes before our "cousin" (the servers here are called cousins, we're all family at Disney) called us back.





The lovely view.


My favorite part, the pineapple coconut bread!


The fruit was very fresh and delicious.


Ohana breakfast is served family style and includes biscuits, sausage, bacon, eggs, and breakfast potatoes. Servers walk around offering Mickey Waffles which are included as well. Breakfast is around $25 for adults and $13 for kids so one of the more reasonable character meals.


Stitch was the first to come around and say hello.


Tessa is very leery of the characters still so we had to let Stitch know that she needed some space.


Yum!


Pluto is Anthony's favorite character so he's always excited to see him.




Lilo came around shortly after Pluto.




Finally it was time to give Mickey some hugs!


Tessa has never liked getting her picture taken with characters. She would always bury her head on our shoulders or cry and recoil away. When Mickey came around though she was all smiles! I can't even explain how special that was to us. Having a special needs child really makes us appreciates the little moments like this. Chad and I both left breakfast saying it was totally worth the cost of the trip just to see her smile at Mickey. Even my dad who is NOT a Disney fan saw the pictures and said the same thing!

It's Mickey, Tessa!




After our yummy breakfast we discussed what to do with our day. Since the kids had slept in we decided to just head on over to Magic Kingdom and add a day to our tickets. We were just going to try and go through to the Christmas party! We were a little worried about the weather forecast because it was calling for storms that night. I was so hoping we would be able to see the parade and fireworks at the party.

Next Update​

 

[megan511]

Hey! I'm sorry I've been missing but I'm trying to play catch up.

Looks like the AK & EPCOT days were both very nice. All of your pics have me missing WDW at Christmas time.

So sorry your dinner at POP wasn't great.

Hi, Amanda! Great to "see" you again.

I know what you mean! I went missing for quite a while too. Now in the few minutes I get on here I feel like I should work on my TR before I forget everything! I really hope to get to catch up on TR's soon. I miss reading about everyone's trips.

WDW at Christmas is just

Dinner wasn't awesome but we weren't that hungry anyways.

Great pics!

Thank you so much! The camera does all the work, believe me!

 

[amandaw]

Looks like a great start to the day!

We really enjoyed our breakfast at 'Ohana back in October. I would definitely eat there again.

And Tessa smiling for Mickey is just priceless!!