A Jolly Holiday with Masseys: THE TRIP REPORT - WDW Dec2019

[vamassey1]

I like this more than the bar as it's less messy but....

That's a very valid point.

I just discovered that recently and LOVE it!! So much fun!!! JP looks so happy!

We do too! And it's a little different every time.

 

[vamassey1]

Let's Dance!

After Frozen Sing a Long we headed to Animation Courtyard to get ready for our next Fast Pass Disney Jr. Live. You don't need a FP for this show but we had to burn one and we thought JP would like it. I had read the only advantage to a FP was to have first dibs on the benches in the back so you don't have to sit on the floor which is good for people our age cause it's getting harder and harder to get back up. Our bodies aren't as young as they were when we took Danielle there for the first time in 2002, which she loved.

We hit up what ended up being our go to bathrooms for DHS. These are located right next to the entrance to Star Wars Launch Bay. JP had dumped out his drink on himself so we needed to change him into his pants. He had some fun playing around with Grumpy.


If you're familiar with the area you know there is a shop right across from where we were. Of course our resident shopper had to take a look around. We ended up taking turns walking around with him but eventually dragged him out without make a purchase.

While waiting for our FP time we lucked out and caught the Star Wars characters walking out for the stage show. Once JP heard the "bad guy music" he was all alert. Eventually we made out way over to Pluto for JP's first character interaction. He did ok but the pictures didn't come out good due to the late afternoon sun.


It was now time to join the dance party. I'm going to honest and admit I was not familiar with most of the characters. It's been awhile since I've watch Disney Jr. We did get a nice bench in the back and no one fell asleep.


Poor JP you can tell by now he was getting tired again. He did get up and dance some but not as much as we expected. He also had to deal with some more bubbles that he did not like.

We hit the bathrooms again after we exited. I was starting to get a little cold so I changed into my capris and grabbed my sweater. We ended up being in this area for so long that we got to see the "bad guys" again.

We started to make our way to Sunset Blvd so Dennis and Danielle could try to ride RRC in the single rider line. I'm so glad we caught a group picture on her way over.

We passed these lovely ladies.


Again I can't say enough how much I loved the Christmas Decorations in DHS. Soon we were headed down the very crowded Sunset Blvd and caught a glimpse of my favorite DHS attraction.


Dennis and Danielle headed to RRC and I took JP to meet some Cars. I was hoping to catch the Lightning McQueen Racing Academy but we ended up not having enough time. He loves Cars and got a kick out of seeing them up close.


He really liked that he could touch the Cars.



The Cars are so much bigger than JP.

I was right outside the Driving Academy when I got the text that Dennis & Danielle were done. Their wait was a lot shorter that we thought it would be.

They may have gotten a little confused with the single rider and fastpass line. I promise it wasn't intentional. I think we met back up in the restrooms outside the Driving Academy and then headed to diner at Mama Merose.

Up next DHS @ night.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

You got some fabulous family snaps on your HS day! It’s so hard to plan when little kids are going to get tired but I’m betting JP was happy to be inside the cool dance party venue even if he didn’t dance as much as you expected. I find it so funny he has inherited his mum’s passion for shopping. Well done to you for managing to extract him from the store without a purchase.
Can’t wait to read about your Mama Melrose’s dinner We love eating there anytime we are in HS

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

The Disney Jr show is always a safe bet with the little ones!

I love all of the DHS Christmas decorations, too! I can’t wait to see them later this year!

I love the picture y’all took together as a family with the Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam sign!

I totally didn’t even realize Cars were still there to meet! So fun!

 

[pkondz]

You don't need a FP for this show but we had to burn one

Isn't that a ridiculous statement? So glad they got rid of the "everything in the park is Tier 1!" system.

it's getting harder and harder to get back up.

Oh, how I can relate to this...

Cute shot.

Once JP heard the "bad guy music" he was all alert.

the pictures didn't come out good due to the late afternoon sun.

Very odd that they would shoot there with that lighting.

I'm going to honest and admit I was not familiar with most of the characters.

I remember when I went... oh about 15 years ago. I knew most of them, back then as my DDs watched. But now? Not a chance.

We did get a nice bench in the back and no one fell asleep.

No one???? Impressive!

He also had to deal with some more bubbles that he did not like.

I wonder if JP is the only kid on the planet who doesn't like bubbles??

He loves Cars and got a kick out of seeing them up close.

 

[Steppesister]

Aww, such a fun afternoon dancing and getting JP to see the cars. Even my teens in 2016 loved seeing Mater and the other cars!!

I'd agree, the lighting on those PP photos wasn't all that great. Sometimes you gotta wonder... do they even bother?

 

[vamassey1]

You got some fabulous family snaps on your HS day! I

Thank you! I think so too. I love looking back at them and reliving the memories.

It’s so hard to plan when little kids are going to get tired but I’m betting JP was happy to be inside the cool dance party venue even if he didn’t dance as much as you expected.

I think he enjoyed it. He was just tired and being shy. I think he would do better if he got a chance to do it again.

I find it so funny he has inherited his mum’s passion for shopping

He really has! We have to check our shopping buggies to make sure he hasn't added to it

Well done to you for managing to extract him from the store without a purchase.

We weren't always so lucky. I think Danielle ended up getting him the penny from the penny press on one of his strolls through the store.

Can’t wait to read about your Mama Melrose’s dinner We love eating there anytime we are in HS

Hopefully I'll get that up tonight or tomorrow night.

The Disney Jr show is always a safe bet with the little ones!

It was our go-to when Danielle was little and now we have a new generation to share it with.

I love all of the DHS Christmas decorations, too! I can’t wait to see them later this year!

I'm so jelly you'll be seeing them this year. Enjoy them for me too!!

I love the picture y’all took together as a family with the Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam sign!

Thank you! I like it too.

I totally didn’t even realize Cars were still there to meet! So fun!

Great benefit for the little boys.

Isn't that a ridiculous statement? So glad they got rid of the "everything in the park is Tier 1!" system.

Me too!!

Cute shot.

Thank you! He likes playing with his Grumpy.

Very odd that they would shoot there with that lighting.

I thought the same thing.

No one???? Impressive!

I know!

I wonder if JP is the only kid on the planet who doesn't like bubbles??

He likes bubbles just not in his eyes. They need to keep their distance.

Aww, such a fun afternoon dancing and getting JP to see the cars. Even my teens in 2016 loved seeing Mater and the other cars!!

It really was. I have pictures of Michelle and my niece Chelsea enjoying the Cars from 2012 when they were young adults.

I'd agree, the lighting on those PP photos wasn't all that great. Sometimes you gotta wonder... do they even bother?

Exactly!

 

[pkondz]

Thank you! He likes playing with his Grumpy.

He likes bubbles just not in his eyes. They need to keep their distance.

Ah! Well... who wants soap in their eyes?

The child is wise beyond his years.

It really was. I have pictures of Michelle and my niece Chelsea enjoying the Cars from 2012 when they were young adults.

Post!

 

[vamassey1]

Post!

This was our Mardi Gras 2012 trip. We crashed Danielle's Disney club trip. She was there but with her school group. My niece Chelsea filled in for Danielle, it was her first trip ever. I didn't do a trip report but if I had it would have been titled "Posing Around the World". Michelle and Chelsea got together to plan "cute" outfits and loved having their pictures taken everywhere.





Aren't they lovely! @mFont23

 

[pkondz]

They look great and like they had fun!

 

[Steppesister]

This was our Mardi Gras 2012 trip. We crashed Danielle's Disney club trip. She was there but with her school group. My niece Chelsea filled in for Danielle, it was her first trip ever. I didn't do a trip report but if I had it would have been titled "Posing Around the World". Michelle and Chelsea got together to plan "cute" outfits and loved having their pictures taken everywhere.

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Aren't they lovely! @mFont23

Love it! A fashion photo shoot with Mater! LOL!!

 

[vamassey1]

They look great and like they had fun!

They really did! We all had a really good time on this trip. It was the first trip in many years that I didn't have little ones to keep up with.

Love it! A fashion photo shoot with Mater! LOL!!

They played it to the hilt. This was also the trip they posed in every country in Epcot with merchandise. They tried to repeat that in 2015 but it worked better in 2012.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Aren't they lovely! @mFont23

Love it

 

[vamassey1]

Love it

Thank you!

 

[vamassey1]

I'm sorry I'm so late finally getting this posted. I switched jobs last Monday and I'm no longer working from home. I actually went back to work for my prior boss. He called me up and gave me an offer that was hard to refuse. I had been away for a little over 2 1/2 years so I've been going back to do online training so I can get back up to speed. This also meant I had some computer tech issues. Our computer tech support is in Ireland @luvpoohandcompany so I really enjoyed my calls to them. Both of the guys I spoke with said they were in Northern Ireland and were very helpful and fun. Where are you @luvpoohandcompany? Even though I'm not working from home we aren't seeing any clients in the office and we all have separate offices that are very far apart and have doors. It doesn't hurt that the office is at the end of the street I live on.

Danielle and I are starting to plan a possible weekend trip in early October to catch a Halloween party while she's on fall break. Hopefully by then things will be better and we won't be in another spike.

I really want to get back to the report so I can keep reliving the really great memories of Christmas in Disney. I don't think the parks will ever be the same again. I think any trip in the future to Disney will be very different.

DHS After Dark

We had a dinner ADR for Mama Melrose's for 5:25 so technically it wasn't really dark yet. Dennis & I ate here w/Michelle & Chelsea in 2012 and really had a nice time. The food was good and we just had a great time together. Danielle has always wanted to try it since we enjoyed it so much. I really like the interior and atmosphere the first time we ate here and was hoping for a repeat. This was going to be an out of pocket meal for us and my first chance to try out the annual pass discount.

We parked the stroller and entered the restaurant to get checked in. With all the changes to the park this feels like a real out of the way area and kind of secluded. There was a good many people waiting to be seated but I lucked out and got a seat. John Paul was really tired by this point. The seating area was kind of dark and cool. I snuggled up with JP and before too long he was out. He was still out when they called us to be seated. The last time we were here we were seated to the right as you enter, this time we went straight back and was seated in a different area. Luckily our table had a bench seat on one side with 2 chairs opposite. This really helped with holding a sleeping toddler. The only down side was were on the end so lots of traffic. I think I liked the other seating area but I did like the bench seat here. One of our greatest fears for taking JP without Michelle was meal times. We had a whole bag with stuff to keep him occupied. It had toys, activities, his Kindle and anything else we could think of to keep him distracted. We ended up not needing any of this cause he sleep through the whole meal, so needless to say we had a quite dinner. I think it was one of three quite meals. After 2 days in the parks we ended up not taking this bag with us, not because he slept through every meal but because we found if we just let him watch some Blimpy on the phone he was pretty good.

Dennis and Danielle split a Margherita Flatbread (Fresh Vine-Ripened Tomatoes, Mozzarella, House-made Marinara Sauce, Fresh Basil, drizzled with Extra Virgin Olive Oil) for their starter. I ordered a Carne d'Italia Flatbread (with pepperoni, house-made sausage, pancetta, and spicy marinara sauce) for my meal. John Paul loves pizza so if he did wake up we would have something for him to eat. Dennis & Danielle both ordered Oven-baked Chicken alla Parmigiana (Breaded chicken breast with marinara sauce topped with melted mozzarella over spaghetti). This is their go to meal at most Italian restaurants. I didn't get pictures of the main dishes but I did get the flatbreads.

Magherita


Carne d'Italia




We of course did not put a dent in all the food. I did enjoy my flatbread. I asked Dennis & Danielle what they thought of the parmigiana and they both said it was ok but nothing great. I was nice to spend some time sitting and relaxing. I did eventually lay John Paul down on the bench seat so I was a little more comfortable. I don't remember our waitress's name but I do remember she was just ok. Since we do like Italian I do think we'll be back just not every trip. I don't remember how much the dinner was, Dennis must have ended up with the receipt. I try to keep as many receipts as I can but Dennis just trashes them. When it was time to leave JP was still snoozing so we loaded him up along with the extra slices of flatbread. It was now time to see the park at night.

Mama's after dark.


Muppets area @ night.





It was finally time to enter Galaxy Edge at the main entrance at night! I'm going to apologize now for the overload of pictures but it really is a different experience at night and oh so cool.








This was the first time we even saw this area. We had totally missed it during the day.



continued in next post . . .

 

[vamassey1]

More Galaxy Edge pictures.



Still snoozing.


We found Ronto's Roasters.




The Falcon!


This first picture was taken from a distance. Once we figured out how to down and closer we had to do it.




We found the Cantina.


And then we found The First Order.



Continued in next post . . .

 

[vamassey1]

Even more Galaxy Edge.




Believe it or not I have even more pictures. But we moved along until we made it to the back side of Toy Story Land.


TSL is really pretty at night too, but I think GE is better. We check out the sights, used the restroom and then prepared to ride Alien Swirling Saucers, but JP was still sleeping so I stayed with him with Dennis & Danielle rode. I used this time to take night photos of the area.










After riding AS* we headed back to see the rest of the park. I really wanted to see the Christmas decoration all lit up.

I'm going to stop here. Hopefully I'll get the day finished in the next update.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Both of the guys I spoke with said they were in Northern Ireland and were very helpful and fun. Where are you @luvpoohandcompany?

That’s amazing that your tech support is based here! I’m also in the North. Congratulations on the new job. Brilliant that you have such a short commute to work. I agree with you in that I don’t think things will ever return to the way they were. I just hope that some day in the not too distant future borders open up (safely) and we can all look forward to traveling again. Until then I’d settle for being able to hug my daughter and grandson. It’s been 7 long weeks since I’ve been able to do that and I miss them terribly. Still at least we are all staying free from the virus and hopefully we will get together soon. Hope you are all keeping safe and well

 

[pkondz]

I switched jobs last Monday and I'm no longer working from home. I actually went back to work for my prior boss. He called me up and gave me an offer that was hard to refuse. I had been away for a little over 2 1/2 years so I've been going back to do online training so I can get back up to speed.

Oh! Wow! Then you've been super busy! And... congrats on the new job!

It doesn't hurt that the office is at the end of the street I live on.

That's like a dream job!

Danielle and I are starting to plan a possible weekend trip in early October to catch a Halloween party while she's on fall break. Hopefully by then things will be better and we won't be in another spike.

Oh, how I hope so. I just can't even plan. Who knows when the borders will be open again.

With all the changes to the park this feels like a real out of the way area and kind of secluded.

I agree.

I snuggled up with JP and before too long he was out.

Awww...

he sleep through the whole meal, so needless to say we had a quite dinner.

And a sigh of relief was heard?

I ordered a Carne d'Italia Flatbread (with pepperoni, house-made sausage, pancetta, and spicy marinara sauce)

That sounds good.

I didn't get pictures of the main dishes but I did get the flatbreads.

They both look really yummy.

I asked Dennis & Danielle what they thought of the parmigiana and they both said it was ok but nothing great.

I'm not surprised. I've rarely had one that I would say was amazing.

I'm going to apologize now for the overload of pictures but it really is a different experience at night and oh so cool.

You got some nice photos there. Thanks for that!

TSL is really pretty at night too, but I think GE is better.

I think I need to make going there at night with my tripod a priority.

 

[vamassey1]

That’s amazing that your tech support is based here! I’m also in the North.

Our tech support has been there for a goo while. I asked both guys who helped me where they were neither place sounded familiar. Where are you?

Congratulations on the new job. Brilliant that you have such a short commute to work.

Thanks! Everyone tells me I could walk to work, and I could but I would not smell nice. It's already hot here.

Until then I’d settle for being able to hug my daughter and grandson. It’s been 7 long weeks since I’ve been able to do that and I miss them terribly

I really hope you get to see and touch them soon.

Still at least we are all staying free from the virus and hopefully we will get together soon. Hope you are all keeping safe and well

Good to hear you have stayed safe. So far we've stayed safe too.

And... congrats on the new job!

Thank you! In today's world I'm very happy to have a job.

That's like a dream job!

Dennis seems to think so. When I was trying to decide if I would take the offer he was pushing for me to take it because it's so close.

Oh, how I hope so. I just can't even plan. Who knows when the borders will be open again.

Hopefully soon.

You got some nice photos there. Thanks for that!

Glad you like them.

I think I need to make going there at night with my tripod a priority.

I would love to see your photos with a tripod.