2013's Big Celebration Christmas Trip!

[Tinkerbell1989]

Okay, so 3 months after our trip, I thought I might have some videos to show you, but as it turns out… I don’t! Haha!

But hopefully, I will be able to start posting them, and I wanted to post my TR along with my videos.

(My PTR is here in case anyone is interested!)

So, without further ado, let me introduce you to the cast of 2013’s Big Celebration Trip!

Click on the red to watch our first video (I'm very proud of it, haha!) We just came to say hello!


Me – I’m Steffi, 24 years old, and a type-A Disney planner. I love rides, I love food, I love Christmas and I love my family… what was I not looking forward to?!

Tom – My fiancé, 25 years old, and a big lover of technology. He was looking forward to using the MDE app, the flight (weirdo!), and Tower of Terror!

Ryan – My brother, 21 years old, and “too cool for Disney”. He had a great time, and liked being able to take time out with my cousins.

Melissa – My sister, 18 years old, and is just like me; she is definitely my sister! Her top 2 characters from this trip are Cinderella and Spiderman!

Anj and Steve – my mum and dad. They love Disney; in fact, my Dad is our number one fan on our Youtube channel because of the Disney videos! And Mum loves Christmas trees… like, it’s a problem…

Grandma and Grandad – the stars of the trip! They loved the fact that the family were together for Christmas and New Year, and we treated them like royalty!

Sharon, Russ, Kiera and Kyle – my aunt, uncle and 2 cousins. They really enjoyed collecting autographs and meeting the characters. Oh and shopping! Hehe!

So… that’s us! Stay tuned to see our trip and videos 

Steffi xxx

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[DVC Ashley]

Following along! Your Grandpa looks so happy

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Following along!

Following along! Your Grandpa looks so happy

Thankyou guys Grandad was so happy, this was his dream trip, and he loved it!

Day one should be up soon!

Steffi xx

 

[I_Luv_Stitch]

Following along

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Following along

Thankyou, I hope you enjoy it!

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Day One - Thursday 19th December 2013

Day One Video here!

I managed to leave work at about 2pm, and after packing the last few things in the car, Tom and I made our way from Taunton to London. The drive wasn't actually too bad, a little busy here and there... but the weather was horrible!

I kept in touch with the other 3 cars (all travelling from elsewhere in the UK!), and ended up meeting Grandma and Grandad at a service station. We had a chat, grabbed some dinner, and then made the final 30 minute journey to Gatwick!

After a little bit of confusion with who was parked where, we finally met everyone, and then the 12 of us made our way to twilight check in. It took the woman a while, but eventually, we had our seats

We went back to the car, and then drove 10 minutes to The Lawns B&B. My favouite quote was "I can't wait to see what it looks like!" from Kyle... oh boy, there's more to come!

We were shown our rooms, which were lovely and basic, but that's all we needed. We grabbed a quick cup of tea, arranged to meet for breakfast at 8am and then head to bed. It's fly-day tomorrow!

Steffi xx

 

[tinkerbells mum]

Really looking forward to your TR, we've done a family trip with 8 which was brilliant. Love the videos so far especially trying to fill the kettle!!! Looking forward to the rest xx

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Really looking forward to your TR, we've done a family trip with 8 which was brilliant. Love the videos so far especially trying to fill the kettle!!! Looking forward to the rest xx

Aw thankyou xx

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Day Two - Friday 20th December 2013

Day Two Video here!

We didn't sleep very well as it was a different bed, it was nice to be awake and comfortable!
Breakfast was lovely; I had fried egg on toast. As we started packing the last few things, they had turned the water mains off, so we ended up running around with toothbrushes trying to brush our teeth! What a sight that must have been, haha!

Eventually, we checked out and handed our car keys over, and were given a lift to Gatwick. We strolled past the check-in desk at 9.40, and it was very busy! It was such a good feeling to go straight through to security!

As we had children with us, we could go through the family lane, which had turned the metal detectors into a castle! Mum and I both beeped as we walked through (typical! ) , but the guy was very kind in explaining the difference - if it is a few short beeps, then it's to fill quota, and it's random; if it's a long continuous beep, then you need to worry haha!

Finally we made it through to the departure lounge and so we made base and split up! Before long, the screens were showing our gate - so off we went to gate 13. Our seats had already been called, so we walked straight onto the plane, and head upstairs Yes, we had those coveted seats in the bubble! Take off was over half hour late, but it was a very smooth flight.

I watched, Monsters University, Despicable Me 2, Planes and The Internship! I could have easily watched another film, but I played a few games too! Lasagne for lunch was actually really nice, for airplane food!

9 hours later and we had a really smooth landing in Orlando, where the temperature was 28 degrees! We were off reasonably quickly, but still queued for 40 minutes at Immigration! As we were the first family to get through customs, we collected all the bags, and for some reason loaded them onto 3 trolleys... before having to take them off again, as the carosel was broken! Never mind, we loaded ourselves up and took a few journeys on the escalators before getting on the first ride of the holiday... the monorail! Russ said it reminded him of going to work on the Tube!

Next stop, Alamo desk to get the cars sorted - we had 2 Toyota Siennas, ours was red whilst the other was silver.
After a quick stop at Walmart for immediate supplies, eventually, we got to the villa in Terra Verde... it was beautiful, and so big! It had been a long day, but we were so excited to be there - cookie, tea and bed!

Day 3 – Florida Mall and Old Town coming soon!
Steffi x

 

[I_Luv_Stitch]

What a nice flight you had and the food sounded quite decent for aeroplane food!
I have always wanted to know how big the upstairs part is of the Virgin Atlantic planes and now I know!!!
Don't you find travel days are the worst, that 9 hour flight always seems to drag!
Can't wait to read more

 

[amberg93]

Following along too!

I've always wanted to follow a UK trip report. I dunno why, but I just feel like people from Europe who come all the way to Disney must love it more? lol

Good flight movie choices, btw And I don't know if I'd envy the bubble seats. Those huge planes scare me more than anything else.

That is a nice looking Villa though!

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

What a nice flight you had and the food sounded quite decent for aeroplane food!
I have always wanted to know how big the upstairs part is of the Virgin Atlantic planes and now I know!!!
Don't you find travel days are the worst, that 9 hour flight always seems to drag!
Can't wait to read more

It was actually a really pleasant flight, and the cabin crew were in festive spirits too! But yes the flight does drag! X

Following along too!

I've always wanted to follow a UK trip report. I dunno why, but I just feel like people from Europe who come all the way to Disney must love it more? lol

Good flight movie choices, btw And I don't know if I'd envy the bubble seats. Those huge planes scare me more than anything else.

That is a nice looking Villa though!

Well thanks for joining in!

Haha, we do love Disney, we do 2 week stays every few years... so the excitement has had time to grow!

Some people love the bubble, some hate it... lol.

The villa was gorgeous, plenty of space for 12 of us. Sometimes we would lose each other!

Steffi xx

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Day Three – Saturday 21st December 2013


Day Three Video here!

I woke up at about 4am, which isn’t bad for me, before going back to sleep and waking again at 7am. I heard footsteps downstairs so I joined them for breakfast by the pool! It was so nice – such a difference to 2010 when it rained and was quite cold!

Russ was the first in the pool, and one by one we all changed and joined him. After lots of jumping and splashing, we started to get showered and changed, and by 1130, we began to head to Florida Mall.

We all decided to grab some lunch first – so Tom, Melissa, Ryan, Mum, Dad and I went to ‘Five Guys’ for …well, burger and fries!

I had a cheeseburger with all the toppings, and it was seriously good! The other 6 went to ‘A&Ws’ the next counter down, for a lighter choice burger! And we had to split up to sit down (as expected!). We decided to split up to do some shopping, and meet again later. We went straight to M&Ms World…

I LOVE THIS PLACE! Tom and I bought a Red M&Ms Christmas tree decoration and a small bag of M&Ms – whilst Mum and Dad spent a fortune on a multitude of things! We now know that it was many presents for us!

We wandered around, dipping in and out of shops. I picked up a new Hollister hoody for £20, so I left happy! As we met up, we head to Walmart to pick up some provisions before heading back to the villa.

Melissa’s loot

We had pizza for dinner, and pies for desert, before we surprised Grandma and Grandad with a card. It said that on Monday we were taking them to T-REX for lunch as a thank-you for this awesome trip! They loved it!

Next stop, the Old Town Car Cruise. We don’t have any pictures, as we were rushing to find a spot! It was really good, as usual, but I do feel that I’ve done it now!
We wandered through the ‘Fun Spot amusement park’ and had the obligatory photo with Big Foot, before watching some crazy people on the tripod bungee swing thing! We were all getting a bit tired, and we’d covered all we wanted to, so we decided to head back to the villa. I had a snack or two, there were a couple of beers and margaritas, and then we head to bed!

Day Four – Magic Kingdom baby!!

Steffi xx

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Day Four - Sunday 22nd December


Day Four Video here!


We all got ready to leave by 10am, and drove to Disney, and parked up in Magic Kingdom!

We walked over to the TTC and joined our first queue, to collect our fancy plastic tickets! We then caught the ferry across to the park... I could already see Cinderella's Castle!

We got off the ferry, and scanned our way into the literally - so easy - and then Tom and I went to get our Photopass+ card, whilst everyone else went to get a stroller for Kyle.

Tom and I also picked up a few celebration buttons... birthday one, 2 'happily ever afters', 5 'we're celebrating' and 4 'first visits' We made good use of our new PP+ card...

Thanks to MDE, we could see the fastpass and wait times - so we decided to get FPs for Big Thunder Mountain, before 10 of us jumped in the queue for Splash Mountain (Sharon and Grandad watched )

I love this ride! We all squeezed into one log - I sat with Melissa and Kiera. As soon as we went round the corner, Kiera said "I love this ride, I would queue over and over again! We laughed, screamed and got wet, but had a great time!

We were a little early for our FPs, so we had a bit of lunch in Pecos Bills. Tom and I both had BBQ pulled pork sandwich and fries... it was so good! We head over to Big Thunder Mountain (right after lunch? Apparently!) Kiera and Melissa sat in front of Tom and I, and the three of us deafened poor Tom with our screams! Sharon and Kyle weren't massive fans of it.

Our next stop was Fantasyland, where we bumped into Peter Pan and Wendy

Mum took on the role of 'FP runner' and went to get FPs for Peter Pans Flight, but when she came back, she apologised... she'd accidently picked up FPs for the meet and greet with Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty! Oh Mum!

We found a spot for the parade, with just 10 minutes to go - Kiera, Kyle, Melissa and I even had front row seats! We all enjoyed the parade, and it was all Christmassy!

Part 2 coming soon - with accompanying video

Steffi xx

 

[DaisyDuck001]

Subscribing! Enjoying what I've read here.

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Subscribing! Enjoying what I've read here.

Thankyou, and welcome!
Part 2 should be up in the next couple of days...
Steffi x

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Day Four - Sunday 22nd December... continued


Day Four part 2 Video here!

Okay so, we just watched the awesome Christmas parade. Next, we decided to use those Fastpasses for the Princess Meet and Greet. Ryan and Dad stayed outside, but the rest of us ventured in…

It was literally the BEST meet and greet! Cinderella was amazing : She was beautiful, she was brilliant with Kyle (who was a bit shy) and she stayed in character (obviously) the whole time! I didn’t want to leave!

But we moved on to Aurora. She was also really good actually, and made us laugh! The Fairytale Hall is beautiful.

We left smiling (and a bit starstruck?!)… Mum said “I take it back, I’m glad I got those Fastpasses!” The next plan was to split up – some of us went on Ariel’s Under the Sea, whilst some went on the Winnie the Pooh ride. I enjoyed Ariel’s ride again; Mum, Dad, Ryan and Melissa also enjoyed it, but didn’t think it added much to the park. And I have to agree actually. We went to meet the other group, to find they couldn’t do Winnie the Pooh’s ride as he had overspilled his hunny pots!

So we formed a new plan, and went on the TTA. In hindsight, this probably would have been a good place to start as we could show Sharon and Russ the park from above! Ryan and Tom were far more interested in high-fiving people on the opposite ride! Sharon, Russ, Kiera, Kyle, Ryan, Grandma and Grandad decided to call it a night and went back to the villa. So we said our goodbyes, and head to Buzz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin and grabbed FPs for a little later. The Carosel of Progress had a five minute wait so as Mum, Dad and Melissa have not done it before, we stuck around. They really enjoyed it!

We head back towards Buzz Lightyear – I think I won, with a high score of 231800! Yay!

We noticed as we left, that Buzz Lightyear himself had a short queue, so we grabbed a quick photo with him.

Cosmic Rays for hot dog and fries, before heading off to Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion.

We were just in time for the parade again, and found good seats on the floor I enjoy the Main Street Electrical Parade, but I do think it’s time for change now. We wandered round to Main Street after the parade, but kept being re-directed! We just wanted to stop and watch the fireworks (seeing as we were there!) We finally managed to find a way in, and stopped to watch the fireworks – luckily, they’re in the sky!

As always, they were awesome! We stopped for a quick photo on our way out…

Time for bed!



Thankyou for reading and following along

Steffi xx

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Day Five – Monday 23rd December


Day Five Video Here!

Today we started off at Downtown Disney. I headed straight for T-REX to confirm our reservation time, and so we had just enough time to pop into the Lego store and have a few pictures and build a few things!

We then wandered back around the corner for lunch As you may remember, we booked this as a surprise for Grandma and Grandad to say thankyou, and we picked this place as it is very similar to Rainforest Café.
Needless to say, it went down a treat with everyone! The food was AMAZING! We even had to turn down pudding – which for us, is a big deal!

After lunch, we split up and took a wander around the shops. Tom and I didn’t buy anything, but it was nice to just soak up the sun and take it easy! We met back up at 4pm, and head to Epcot.

We had pudding in Electric Umbrella, whilst Tom and I sat with Sharon and Russ, and a map and explained bits of the park to them (Sharon had mentioned the night before that she had felt a bit overwhelmed with everything!)

From this, we decided to visit some countries today – and so we head to the United Kingdom. We met Mary Poppins, who was incredible, Alice in Wonderland, and then Pooh, Piglet and Tigger! The meet and greets were outstanding!

Not long after the final meet and greet, the sky emptied, and we were daft enough to carry on dancing and singing in it... until it got really bad! We sheltered next to a shop for a while, and soon enough the rain stopped!

We decided to stake out a spot for the fireworks, and Tom and I shared a funnel cake (I guess this is dinner? Haha!) Kyle had fallen asleep in the pushchair… and he did not wake up once!

‘Illuminations’ was awesome, as always, and the Christmas addition was actually really sweet.

We made the slow walk back to the car, where we did some jiggling around and one group went straight back to the villa, the other went via Walmart.

Christmas Eve tomorrow!

Steffi x

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Day Six – Tuesday 24th December


Day Six Video here!

We woke up a little later today, and arrived at the TTC at about 11am, before catching the monorail to Epcot.

Our first stop was an early lunch at our all-time favourite… Electric Umbrella! I had a macaroni and cheese burger. It sounds weird, but it was seriously good! After lunch, and with our plan of attack, we went to ride Spaceship Earth… but it had broken down. So, instead, we went to the Test Lab in Innoventions and had a play
Then we head over to Mexico, and continued the ‘hat tradition’ Tom and I were encouraged to start last year!

Then, we moved onto ‘The Grand Fiesta Tour’.

We all enjoyed that one – and that song gets stuck in your head forever! We carried on around to Germany, where Tom and I had promised each other a treat from none other than Karmel-Kuche. Wethers popcorn for Tom, and a chocolate covered caramel with sea salt for me… both delicious!

It was already that time again, to head back to the monorail… it was time for tea with some friends at the Contemporary

Thanks for following – sorry it’s taking so long!

Steffi x