A bit of Disney Christmas Magic - Dec 11 - 27th

[Redeemed&Loved]

Fantastic pictures and report! Thanks!

 

[princessnpirate]

I am REALLY enjoying your details! DH and I keep saying we need to break away from all the craziness of being home for Christmas. Is this the first time you did it? I had NOOO idea you could ship stuff ahead of time to Disney hotels. You are inspiring me to try this one out!!!

 

[Tab2Disney]

I always plan to write a trip report and never do...
I have really enjoyed reading yours. Thank you for taking the time to add the details. I hope you continue.

I love the time of year that you spend at Disney. We try to go then too. But to hear about a Cruise and a trip to the World at Christmas time and all as a surprise... fantastic!!

By the way, was the ship decorated for Christmas (all decked out?) or just a Christmas tree??

Thanks again for the report!

 

[Timon]

Another great installment

Quick question, where did you store your owner's locker and that one suitcase while you were on the cruise? Were you able to store it at BLT or SSR? I didn't think they would let you do that.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Just lurking so far... loving your TR. Were there any holiday decorations on the ship or on the island? Do you have picts of any of them? We're going next Dec. and I hope they ship is all decked out when we go.

Yes, there are holiday decorations up everywhere. I'll sift through my photos and get some posted later today for you. We tend to cruise only in December so I have many many pictures even from past cruises that display the holiday decorations....I think because we are so used to the holiday decorations that I did not take as many pics on this last cruise. I'll find some for you, though.

So sorry that you were sickish for two of your favs (Palo and CC), big bummer . You will make up for it in the future, I am sure!

Thanks for posting that yummy recipe, sounds amazing

I know, it's just terrible. I love to eat and not being able to enjoy some of my DCL favorites was a real bummer. I'm looking forward to going back and doing better next time, though!
You're very welcome for the recipe. My kids love mac and cheese and this homemade kind is so much yummier!

Enjoyed your cruise report very much! So sorry about the bug - yuck! Would love to read about Christmas at WDW!

I'm so glad you're reading! I'll get another day posted later.

Great TR! We had a LOOONG stay like that a few years back --WDW, 7 night cruise, and back to WDW (for a total of 17 days). It was our favorite vacation we've ever been on! Looking forward to reading about the rest of your stay

Oh neat! This was our longest trip ever. I think prior to this 10 or 11 days might have been it. We absolutely loved this, though, and it was our best vacation ever. We're planning on 17 nights this coming December, but sadly, no DCL this time. Just straight WDW.

Fantastic pictures and report! Thanks!

Glad you're reading! Thanks for posting!

I am REALLY enjoying your details! DH and I keep saying we need to break away from all the craziness of being home for Christmas. Is this the first time you did it? I had NOOO idea you could ship stuff ahead of time to Disney hotels. You are inspiring me to try this one out!!!

I'm so glad you've posted and are enjoying the report. In 2009 we went home on Christmas Eve but decided that although traveling on Christmas Eve was a piece of cake, we really wished we had stayed until at least the day after Christmas. That's why we stayed straight through this time. This year we're doing the same (sans DCL) and coming home on the 27th.
Yes, you can ship stuff ahead of time to the resort. You just need to address it to the resort and then on a few sides of the box, I put our last name, res number and check in date. They hold these for you until you arrive. The only glitch is that for resorts that have conference centers, they charge you a fee for holding packages. We shipped to SSR and since there isn't a conference center attached they didn't charge.
It's a lot of work to prepare for but TOTALLY worth it!

I always plan to write a trip report and never do...
I have really enjoyed reading yours. Thank you for taking the time to add the details. I hope you continue.

I love the time of year that you spend at Disney. We try to go then too. But to hear about a Cruise and a trip to the World at Christmas time and all as a surprise... fantastic!!

By the way, was the ship decorated for Christmas (all decked out?) or just a Christmas tree??

Thanks again for the report!

TRs are a lot of work but I'm always glad I get to it and finish them. I've written a lot! Here is a link to some of them: http://staff.kings.edu/mfpriebe/Disney/index.htm
The holiday decorations on DCL and the ship (and even port) are very pretty. They don't skimp at all and really go all out from snow on CC to the huge gingerbread house in the Promenade Lounge to the tree in the atrium. I'll try to get some of these decoration pics up later.

Another great installment

Quick question, where did you store your owner's locker and that one suitcase while you were on the cruise? Were you able to store it at BLT or SSR? I didn't think they would let you do that.

Thanks, Cass!
Well, when we were at BLT for that one night I had BLT Bell Services transfer the locker and a suitcase over to SSR. They put a note on it that I'd be picking it up at checkin the following week. They stored it for us with SSR Bell Services. No problems at all doing that.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Disney – Sunday, December 20 – Day 10

I woke up around 6am and got some more work done. Mia woke up and EB actually woke up not too long after. EB prepared some breakfast for us all, including coffee. I finished up in about an hour and then showered. Amelia joined me unwillingly – she despises showers. Ern eventually woke up while we were showering and you could tell his belly and intestines weren’t all right. He got down breakfast, though, and we all cleaned up and left for the bus stop by 8am.

Got on a bus by 8:15 (there was a cast member there with a board and walkie-talkie timing the buses and waits, I presume) and were at the Magic Kingdom by 8:30.

It was already very crowded but we got through security for a good spot on the left side for morning show.
After the countdown, we did the Dumbo dash and were the first loop of Dumbo that morning. We then got Peter Pan fast passes, knowing this queue would build rather quickly. We rode Pooh twice (by Mia’s request), then Snow White, then Peter Pan before heading to Toontown for Barnstormer. We were surprised to see it open as it was only 9:30 and times guide said Toontown opened at 10am today.

This was Ernie’s first time on Barnstormer and he whined a bit during it. Afterwards he proclaimed it was fun and wanted to do it again. We skipped a second run, though, even though the cast member said we could stay on.

We ended up wanting a snack so we bought some chips at the exit of Barnstormer and made a potty break.
From here we decided to head to Tomorrowland for the TTA. The spiel is dull and boring but we still love it. I really miss the old narration.
We then made our way into Frontierland to try and meet Jessie from Toy Story 2. Amelia had been attached to her new Jessie doll since the cruise and has been hoping to meet her here. Along the way we met Goofy in his cowboy gear. It was a very cute picture. From there we continued toward Splash Mountain and were in luck as Jessie and Woody were out and their line was still short. Amelia was over the moon meeting her! Jessie was happy to see she had her doll and signed the hat for her. Ernie was acting a bit shy and I had to hold him through some of this. He was definitely not feeling great, which was why he put on the shy guy routine.

After our fun character meets, we decided to try for our Whispering Canyon ADR early since Ernie wasn’t feeling well. We exited the Magic Kingdom, catching the Move It, Shake It! parade and took the boat over to the Wilderness Lodge.

We didn’t wait too long for a boat and did some shopping and picture taking in lobby while waiting for pager to go off. It was a rough lunch as Ernie was fussy and not willing to sit on his bum. In addition, Amelia was on verge of tantrum probably because Ernie was getting so much attention. EB and Ern left lunch early and went back to SSR. They ended up taking a nap and then Ern had a bad bum rash so he went to CVS for Desatin.

Mia and I went back to MK after finishing lunch. During the morning, I had not mentioned it but I did end up accumulating a bunch of FPs. First we did JC and then Philharmagic. From there we got a spot for Christmas Parade on Main Street. As usual, it was a great parade – Amelia enjoyed it from the curb on Main Street while I stood behind her. She had fun sitting with a young girl on the curb while I chatted away with the adults.

Parade Photos will be on next post.

​

After the parade we began to make our way out of the park, stopping to take some pictures of the decorations. While waiting by the MK Christmas Tree, a little boy of about 8 came running up to me crying. Seems he had lost his family. After reassuring him we'd find them, he handed me a slip of paper that had his Mom's cell phone number on it so I gave that a call. Within minutes the boys father retrieved him and thanked me. Later on, I received a text message from his mother thanking me for helping him.

After that bit of drama, we headed back to room via the resort bus. It was pretty quick service and we didn’t wait long.​

​

Ern was a bit of a suffering mess by the time I got back, but luckily this was the worst of it all for him.
Instead of heading to DTD for dinner, I made spaghetti and crescent rolls I our villa. The kids downed dinner as did EB and I. I suppose it was a nice change to have more "homemade" food.
Amelia and I shared chocolate covered pretzels from Goofy’s in the bedroom while Ernie ate Pedialyte pops with EB in the TV room.

Ernie and Amelia both went to bed early (for vacation it was early) tonight. Actually, Amelia fell asleep in front of the TV on the floor! I got to bed later as I had more work to do.

Up tomorrow – Disney Hollywood Studios! ​

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Magic Kingdom Christmas Parade Photos

​

 

[kellyb2000]

Hey Melody!!! I have been waiting on this for 6 months! I check your website just about every week (you still haven't finished your "final thoughts" from your sept. trip ) Finally, this morning I searched here for threads started by you (I was worried about you - wanted to see how long it had been since you posted) and lo and behold, here you are! I'm so glad!

LOVE the picture of you and Amelia in the porthole and the one of you and Ernie at rope drop at MK!

Great report, can't wait to read more!

(Hey Cass! So glad you are feeling better! )

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Hey Melody!!! I have been waiting on this for 6 months! I check your website just about every week (you still haven't finished your "final thoughts" from your sept. trip ) Finally, this morning I searched here for threads started by you (I was worried about you - wanted to see how long it had been since you posted) and lo and behold, here you are! I'm so glad!

LOVE the picture of you and Amelia in the porthole and the one of you and Ernie at rope drop at MK!

Great report, can't wait to read more!

(Hey Cass! So glad you are feeling better! )

Hi Kelly!
I'm so sorry to have worried you! You should have passed me an email or something!
Regarding my personal site link, I have to get that FTPd to my home computer and start using a new program to design the pages. I just haven't done that yet. Someday I'll get to it. Ha ha! For now I'll just post the TR to the threads until I get my butt moving on my site.

Another day forthcoming.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Disney - Tuesday, December 21 - Day 11

We woke up earlier today because we had to get to DHS for an 8am Hollywood and Vine character meal. I took a picture of our tree lit up this morning. It looks so much better and prettier in person than it does in pictures!

​

We got to the parking lot with minutes to 8 to spare but they parked us way yonder today. We had a bit of a hike but we checked in and were seated in no time.

​

Kids enjoyed breakfast. I love their breakfast burrito station. The kids danced and had pictures with Leo, JoJo, June and Goliath.

​

We were out of there by about ten of 9 – the park officially opened at 9. We got in position for the Toy Story Mania (TSM) sprint (which we did great) at rope drop but WOW people are crazy running and pushing to get on this ride. I am proud of how we made our way with the crowd and ended up getting right on the ride. That’s something you need to coordinate on. It’s comical.

Next did Muppet Vision 3D and we all enjoyed it as usual. We found the key under the mat.

​

We then headed to the Streets of America and queued up for pictures at Luigi’s Garage - those pics began at 10am. Were about 8 families back and waited only about 10 minutes or less before the line began moving at 10. Ernie really enjoyed this, especially the music they play in this area.

​

We went back over for Playhouse Disney Live on Stage and I took kids in alone while EB made work calls. Afterwards we grabbed Fastpasses for Voyage of the Little Mermaid and then headed to the next Beauty and the Beast stage show for 11:30. We enjoyed some snacks while waiting for show. Everyone enjoyed the show and it was the first time Amelia saw it. She was mesmerized, actually.

​

Next we used our Fastpasses for VOTLM and all in all we were thrilled we had the Fastpasses. If we didn’t we’d have to wait for the next show nearly 45 minutes later. That would have never worked.


Continued on next post...

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Continued from Previous Post...

We left the park afterwards to grab some lunch off property at UNO. That was enjoyable and so much less expensive than eating at Disney! And for the most part the food was much better. Ernie picked at his food and fussed but you could tell he was exhausted and his rear was still bothering him. After eating we came back to SSR and Ernie had fallen asleep on the way back. We put him in bed and he ended up sleeping for about an hour and a half. Mia watched TV, I read a book and EB had more work calls to make.

We left our villa for the bus to Epcot by 5pm and made it into Epcot by 5:30. I thought that was pretty good timing. We went right to Garden Grill in The Land to check in only to find that our reservation had been cancelled. That must have been an accident by a Reservations agent when I called to have other ADRs cancelled. It was fine, though, and they still took us. We played near the restaurant until our pager went off about 15 minutes later.

The meal was outstanding. Out waitress was so nice and prompt with everything and the kids played with the characters of which came around many many times. Ernie fed Pluto gummi worms. Dale played a whole bunch with both kids and we were in stitches at his antics. It was great. Food was very yummy as well. They had a vegetable cous cous dish for me which was a bit bland but I still enjoyed it. EB loved the fish. We had two helpings of salad and the butter (it is to die for – honey maple). The kids picked at their pudding and gummi worm dessert (dirt and worms) and EB and I enjoyed the blueberry cobbler. It was outstanding. Overall it was a very good experience and one of our best meals this entire vacation – even including the cruise. Everything just went perfectly.

Afterwards since the kids were in good moods, we decided to walk around the World Showcase and enjoy the holiday decorations and live music.

I gave the kids glow sticks which they loved playing with and we began our walk starting to the right rather than left.

​

The trees were all beautifully lit and it was so peaceful and relaxing looking at the decorations, listening to Christmas music and just taking a leisurely stroll. When we talked about and envisioned this trip prior to departing, this is exactly the kind of evening we were hoping for. We stopped to watch Mo-Rockin which we enjoyed as usual. Ernie and Amelia were both dancing in their strollers. The violinist was amazing!

​

Walking closer to the American Pavilion (where Candlelight Processional is held – patrons were lining up for it at this time) it started to get very congested for about three countries but that was the only place it felt crowded.

When we made it to the Mexican pavilion we parked the strollers and took the kids on La Grand Fiesta Tour. That was a lot of fun because our kids are big Donald Duck fans.

Afterwards we continued our loop and then headed back into Future World and headed out of Epcot.

We made it out and to our bus stop to see a bus pulling up. Luckily we just made it (by running) on the bus and were back at our resort within about 15 minutes. In fact, this bus driver was the very first pleasant driver we’ve met here so far.

Back to our room to see our Christmas Tree and balcony lights as we were walked back. The kids loved that and so did we.

We got the kids ready for bed and in bed and asleep by 9:30-ish. A bit of a late night but we had fun.

I worked until after 11:00 but now I’m finally done with all the work I have to do during this vacation. I have our last 5 nights work-free! Yippee!

Tomorrow: Animal Kingdom and 1900 Park Fare.

 

[Timon]

Awwwww, how sweet is that picture!!!

Sounds like a fabulous night! We also love walking at night in Epcot and listening to the music! One of our favourite memories from our first trip with Kira in 2007

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Ahhh, thanks!!!

Some of our best memories were from our evening in Epcot.

Awwwww, how sweet is that picture!!!

Sounds like a fabulous night! We also love walking at night in Epcot and listening to the music! One of our favourite memories from our first trip with Kira in 2007

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Disney Day 4 Wednesday – December 22 - Day 12 of vacation

Today we were planning on Animal Kingdom opening. We drove to the AK and got through security in good time. Just like our previous day at DHS, we were parked pretty far away even though it was a half hour to park opening.

Instead of lining up behind the crowds at the main AK entrance, we made our way through the Rainforest gift shop to that turnstile. Now previously when we've used this strategy we had been let through about 10 minutes prior to park opening to go to the roped area. Well this time they did not do that. They had the opening ceremony, the character float drove right by us and then the CM let us begin going through the turnstile. So we missed the opening ceremony, rope drop and all the crowds were in front of us.

Very strange.

Through the turnstile, we headed toward Africa for the Safari. We waited only about 5 minutes in line before being loaded onto our Safari vehicle. We had a good driver and the animals were plentiful. The kids are still not awed by this ride, though. I guess over time and with age they'll think it's pretty cool.



From there we crossed the park and headed to Dinoland. We rode Triceritops Spin twice and then we played a carnival game. I think it was $5 for two players? Either way, the CM was really nice and even though Amelia won, she gave equal prizes to both Ernie and Amelia. To this day those little dinosaurs are still some of their favorite toys. They call them "Curvy" and "Blue Curvy" - very creative.

Afterwards we walked over to Camp Minnie Mickey to see some characters. I always love the themed trees they have decorated in this section so we really enjoyed looking at them all. The kids had photos taken with Donald and then Mickey. I think we waited about 5 minutes to see Donald and about 15 minutes to see Mickey. The line for Minnie was too long so we skipped her this time around.

It was about 10:50 by this time so we decided to make our way slowly back to Africa - we had a Tusker House ADR for 11:30am. We thought we'd check in early and look through some shops. When we got to the Tusker House checkin they let us know we were not able to check in early as they were transitioning from breakfast to lunch. We'd have to come back. Luckily, however, we noticed a bunch of characters with various lines over past the drummers along the water so we thought we'd get some character photos taken at this point since we had time to waste.

We met Flick and the kids were pretty psyched. We'd not met him before. I like the system they used for this line, as well. He was positioned further out than where the line began. They queued you up so that you moved to the next spot while the party in front of you met Flick. This meant that you had more privacy for your character meet. That was nice. In addition, Flick spent quite a bit of time interacting with the kids. It was fun.

From here it was about time to check in so we headed back over, waited about 5 minutes and then were able to check in for our lunch. About 10 minutes after checking in our pager went off and we were seated in the middle room rather than in the far back room where we seem to always be seated.

This is one of our most favorite meals on property - we love the spices of African cuisine and they have very good vegetarian selections. We all enjoyed our meals and then rolled ourselves out of there in time to catch the next Nemo show.

We didn't get to the Nemo pavilion early enough, though, to get a decent seat. We were in the nosebleed section and it made for tough viewing. Seriously, we were in the very back row and they even had people standing behind us! We made it through the show (barely, because Ern had had enough for the afternoon) and then departed AK afterwards (leaving by 2pm).

We went back to our room for a brief rest as we had 1900 Park Fare dinner reservations for 4:45pm. I was ready to skip it and eat in our room but EB thought it best to move forward with the reservation since the kids would probably enjoy it. He was right (of course).

We checked in for 4:45pm and immediately had our photo taken in front of the Christmas tree (it came out horribly, though, so we didn't purchase it). We were seated in the main room near the carousel horse and by the buffet - in a corner. Our seats were just fine but we had unusual neighbors next to us. It made for a lot of "***" moments between me and EB.

We filled the kids' plates up with some of their favorites and they were happy with their meals. EB enjoyed his as well as they had some good seafood selections. For me, though? I just didn't find much on the buffet that I was able to eat. I ended up with some salad and steamed vegetables. Boring. While I was taking Amelia to the restroom, though, EB said the chef visited our table because he heard I had dietary restrictions (I never noted that on our reservation - but somehow wonder if EB was being sneaky while I was gone) and that he's prepare something special for me. Wow, was I surprised! About 20 minutes later the chef returned with a great hummus spread as well as a plate with other grains and vegetables. I really enjoyed both!

The kids enjoyed this meal, too. Amelia was totally flustered when the Prince came to visit. Then Cinderella stopped by for photos as well as the Stepmother and Stepsisters. Ernie was absolutely smitten with the stepsisters, though, and immediately went over to them to hug them. It was quite sweet. They were great with him and the one stepsister told him to come back in a few years with a ring. Ha ha!

After this meal we decided to walk around the MK a bit and maybe see a show or go on a ride. When we got to the MK, though, the kids were pretty tired and it was crowded (obviously) but we did enjoy walking around. I do not recall going on any rides, though. In addition, Amelia passed out by about 7:30pm in her stroller.

After our brief stroll of the MK (the castle is so beautiful) we headed back to the Grand Floridian to retrieve our car and then made our way back to SSR for the night.

Tomorrow: Epcot, Beaches and Cream and swimming in the freezing cold.

 

[princessnpirate]

Yeah I am glad you returned! I am loving your trip report. I never considered WDW during the holidays due to it being crowded but you are quickly changing my mind!!!

 

[jenshell75]

Fantastic TR and Photos, I am planning a DLC and WDW Christmas Holiday for 2011.

Can't wait for the next instalment.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Yeah I am glad you returned! I am loving your trip report. I never considered WDW during the holidays due to it being crowded but you are quickly changing my mind!!!

It is totally crowded but it is also very do-able with a good plan. I think you should go for it!
(by the way I'm totally a Disney enabler. )

Fantastic TR and Photos, I am planning a DLC and WDW Christmas Holiday for 2011.

Can't wait for the next instalment.

Thanks!!! Are you planning both Disneyland AND Disney World? That's amazing!
I'll get another installment up shortly.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Disney Day 5 Thursday – December 23 – Day 13

We originally had an early breakfast at Cape May Café at the Beach Club planned as the kids have never had a character breakfast there. Plus, as a parking cheater, it would have allowed us to just walk right over to the World Showcase entrance to Epcot.

Upon waking we decided we didn’t want to hurry along that quickly so we skipped breakfast and ate in our villa. We did make it to park opening and got a decent parking spot. This was our first experience at Epcot’s rope drop, as well.

After waiting briefly for the park to officially open, I “ran” with Amelia to the Land to get on Soarin’ (me and the rest of the crowd at rope drop) while EB took Ernie over to the Seas.

Amelia and I enjoyed soaring over California and afterwards we picked up some Fastpasses for her and her Daddy to enjoy together later on. We walked over to the Seas and after some searching we met up with EB and Ernie. From here Amelia wanted to go on Spaceship Earth but the line was outrageous so we said we’d try it later. We figured most people headed straight for that attraction as they enter the park because it was the first one they saw. Instead, we decided to see Figment at Journey into the Imagination.

There was no line there and we walked right on. This one is hit and miss with the kids. They don’t love it but they also do not hate it. They do, however, despise the loud part as they aren’t big on loud noises. After our visit with Figment we let them play in the Kodak Pavilion for a while.

Since it was getting close to lunch, we decided to forgo our later Coral Reef reservation in favor of heading over to Beaches and Cream for opening at 11am. Boy, in looking back we were skipping all our ADRs today!

We were almost immediately seated at Beaches and Cream at one of the small round tables and ordered our usual. It takes forever to get food here but it is pretty much worth the wait. The kids shared a grilled cheese and fries and EB and I each had veggie burgers – his with onion rings and mine with fries. For dessert the kids enjoyed the mickeylodeon while EB and I shared a No Way Jose. The minute Ernie saw our dessert, though, he abandoned his own in favor of ours. He’s a sweets junkie!

With full bellies, we decided to make our way around the World Showcase. Along the way we met Aladdin and Jasmine, watched the trains, looked at trees and took a spin on Gran Fiesta in Mexico. The kids just love Donald Duck!

From here we began to make our way back through Future World, took a ride (after waiting in a somewhat short line) on Spaceship Earth and were back at our villa around 2:30.

EB and the kids really wanted to swim. I didn’t think it was warm enough yet but they have been bugging for days so I gave in today. We got changed and froze playing in the sprayers at the Grandstand Pool. There were only two other families there and the water was pretty frigid. We spent most of our time in the hot tub and Amelia made friends with some young girls who she ended up playing “mermaid school” with for a little while. We lasted about an hour in the pool. I believe this is where we all began to come down with colds that would hit in about a day! Jeesh!

For the life of me I cannot remember what we did for dinner, but since my pics are of the kids in their jammies, I assume we ate in the villa and made an early night of it.

Up next: Christmas Eve – all day at the Magic Kingdom and lunch at the Castle​

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Friday – December 24 – Day 14

Well today was Christmas Eve and we were all excited for our day at the Magic Kingdom. Last year when we took our December vacation we left for home on this day but this year we were staying straight through.

We woke up quite early and got moving as we wanted to get a good spot for the 8am park opening at the Magic Kingdom. We took the bus this morning, arriving at the Magic Kingdom by about 7:45am.

After the opening show, we decided to hit Peter Pan first and also gathered Fast Passes for this ride. In addition, I’m sure we hit several other Fantasyland rides before heading over to Tomorrowland for Buzz Lightyear.

After Buzz Lightyear we made our way to Toontown to go on Barnstormer. Amelia decided she didn’t want to ride, but Ernie did so I took him on while EB took Amelia into Minnie’s House. After two spins on Barnstormer, Ernie and I met Amelia and EB outside of the exit and we all went in Minnie and Mickey’s homes. In hindsight, this was probably our last visit to Toontown as we know it since the renovations will be starting soon. From here we decided to see what the line for the Fairies was like and entered the Tent. The line was only about 20 minutes long which is the shortest we’ve ever seen it. Ernie was not interested at all in waiting in this line and was showing signs of needing a nap. Waiting in this line was difficult, although it wasn’t very long.

When it was our turn, Amelia had her turn with wings and had a picture taken.

We were then taken into the larger room where we met three fairies – first Fawn (whom Ernie just loved), then Tinkerbelle and then Terence. It was fun and they were all great with the kids. Ernie just loves hugging the girls and flirts with them. It’s pretty funny.

We were getting very hungry by this time and our Cinderella’s Royal Table lunch reservation wasn’t for another 2 and a half hours at 1:30pm so we decided to have an early lunch at Cosmic Rays. This counter service is a family favorite of ours and the kids really love Sonny Eclipse. CRs had just opened, so our choice of seating was actually pretty wide open. We normally sit on the second level overlooking the first, but we decided to change it up a bit and sat front row in front of Sonny. I got the kids settled, table sanitized (I’m a fanatic with this wherever we go – laugh if you want I just don’t care – LOL) and their drinks out for them along with some small snacks. EB brought back a couple veggie burgers, French fries and apple slices for us all to share. We shouldn’t fill up here but we did satisfy our hunger quite well.
After Sonny Eclipse we noticed a Photopass Photographer taking pictures with the Castle as the background on our way toward the hub so we tried to have a family photo taken. Most of them didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped but this was better than nothing, I suppose.

From here I believe we did a little park-crossing and went on Jungle Cruise, then Haunted Mansion and then we used a bonus fastpass we received for Mickey’s Philharmagic. This is one of our favorites and we all enjoyed it.

Afterwards it was about time to check in for our CRT lunch reservation. We changed Amelia into her Ariel dress, checked in at the podium and were soon in queue for our Cinderella photo. We got a family photo with Cinderella and it turned out nice. It was hard to get everyone to pose, though, because Ernie just wanted to stare at her and hug her. He was enamored with her and she played right along with him. Totally cute. He's such a ladies man.

After our photo we waited in the lounge to be called up. Just like last time our name wasn’t called and a CM visited us to ask our name and see why we weren’t called. We just have such bad luck with this!
After another short wait from there we were called upstairs to be seated. We were seated at a table for four one table over from where we sat in September on the lower level. They immediately presented Amelia with a wand and Ernie with a sword. When giving Ernie the sword my husband and I immediately looked at one another and read each other’s mind which said, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!” We took both sword and wand away (although Amelia would have been fine with hers, Ernie would have flipped had he been the only one at the table without his toy). The sword was placed under his high chair and I let Amelia know why hers was being taken away. She was totally fine with it.

When the first princess came by, Snow White, she immediately retrieved Ernie’s sword and handed it to him – poor Snow White. We pretty much jumped on her and explained that a sword in our 2-year old’s hands was not a safe idea. She understood and we got pictures. This would happen several times as each princess thought she was being nice by trying to give him his sword back. Ha ha! It was pretty funny and annoying all in the same.


***Continued on next post...***

 

[CRSNDSNY]

***Day 14 Continued from previous post***

We saw each beautiful princess and the Fairy Godmother did her thing. Lunch was definitely confirmed by us as the better of the CRT meals and we enjoyed ourselves. They were great at creating a vegetarian-friendly kids dish and table appetizer. EB had fish and I had pasta – it wasn’t as greasy this time around and I enjoyed it. For dessert the kids had the ice cream with chocolate crown, I had the rice pudding dessert which was excellent and EB had the cream cheese blueberry buckle which he declared as his absolutely favorite WDW dessert. Overall, it was a fun and memorable lunch for us – we just love eating here.

It was about 2:30 by the time we left and we headed back to our resort to relax for a while. We were all worn out from the long day at the Magic Kingdom. We almost immediately got a bus back and were back at our room by about 3:15pm. We did a lot of relaxing, clothes washing (ok, that was me), etc. before heading back out for 5pm. Santa Claus was at the Carriage House and we wanted a Santa photo for the kids.

Let me just say that the Cast Members at the Carriage House were so nice this entire vacation. One woman in particular (I’m guessing she was a manager – I really wish I had caught her name) was so nice to the kids, engaging them in conversation each time we’d see her. She was there overseeing the Santa photo opportunity and was again very nice. The kids were either second or third in line and they were good. Ernie actually sat which was a bonus, although I had trouble getting them to look at the camera together.

From here we walked over to Wolfgang Puck for our dinner reservation. Ernie, though, was in a mood and we knew he wouldn’t be up to sitting through a dinner. We were seated toward the back of the restaurant and our server was very nice. EB and I ordered butternut squash soup. Amelia wanted plain pasta which we had planned for her to share with Ernie. I ordered the margarita pizza and EB ordered some sushi. We got as far as eating our soup and having our meals delivered before it was clear Ernie wasn’t going to make it any longer. EB took him back while Amelia and I finished eating. We had the rest of the food taken as to-go and Amelia and I met them back at our room. EB had given Ernie a bath and was putting him to bed. Amelia and I stayed up and baked Christmas cookies. She decorated them and had a blast – I had a lot of fun watching her. What great memories!

She and I got to bed around 9pm and I read and flipped through the channels until I was sure she was asleep. Then the Christmas magic happened.

Up next: Christmas Day – Brunch at Ohana and dinner at Jiko