A List of Firsts for a Couple of Frequent Disney-goers: Anniversary trip to WDW

[DEA]

As I posted to Facebook on and off this year from various Disney parks, I got a lot of "You're there AGAIN?!!?!?" from my friends. And, looking back on it, yeah, we spent a lot of time at Disney parks this past year for people who live several states away. Curiously enough, though, there were a lot of things we hadn't done, and this anniversary trip was a way for my DW and I to cross some things off the list.

Speaking of the list:

1. Stay at the Grand Floridian
2. Attend DISapalooza
3. Visit Islands of Adventure for the Harry Potter stuff (not Disney, but, hey, if we're in Orlando anyway...)
4. Attend the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT
5. Eat at Victoria and Albert's
6. Volunteer at Give Kids the World (also not Disney, but something we wanted to do)
7. Attend a live DISUnplugged Podcast
8. Meet the Podcaster we had not yet met
9. Eat at the Kona Sushi Bar
10. Attend Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

Amazingly enough, we were able to do all of those things on our latest trip, and the DISapalooza event took care of a lot of them. The rest were achieved with the careful application of luck.

Who:

Although we love taking our kids to Disney, this trip was just for DW (myweegirls) and I, as a late Anniversary present to each other. Here's us:

When:

Well, DISapalooza this year turned out to be the second weekend in December. The Harry Potter event made us leap at the chance to spend some time at WDW and to finally check out the Harry Potter area at Universal without the high crowd levels we'd been hearing about. Plus, it put us well into the Holiday season at WDW, opening up MVMCP and Candlelight Processional. Excellent. Speaking of which, here is a rough paraphrase of my conversation with DW about Candlelight Processional:

DW: When makes sense for us to go to Candlelight Processional?
Me: Well, it looks like Sunday evening is open. How does that sound?
DW: Okay. Who's the narrator that night?
Me: Neil Patrick Harris
DW: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, yeah, booked a dinner package for that all right. Lots of things were falling into place.

I should back up a bit, because V&A was also on that list, and so, 180 days before the start of our trip, I was on the phone at 8:59 am calling the reservation line. I was hoping to try the Chef's Table, because, hey, it's hard enough to get that if we have the time scheduled to eat there, it's worth a shot whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Alas, the Chef's Table was booked (darn you, 180+10!), but I took the offered table in the Queen Victoria room. it sounded really quite swanky, and featured the same menu as the Chef's Table. Barring being struck by lightning, we were going to be able to check V&A off the list.

So, now, on with the show. I will cover the experiences in the order in which they occurred during the trip. First up:

Staying at the Grand Floridian.

 

[DEA]

I've been kind of ambivalent about the Grand Floridian. I like the restaurants there, and the place is very grand indeed. I do find it a bit austere in the main building. Lots of white. And grand. Did I mention grand?

Well, during the holidays, I will have to say that the place really warms up. The holiday decorations really transform the lobby from swanky to festive. The huge tree:

And the Gingerbread House:

really bring the place into a different realm of warmth and hospitality, I think.

We hopped off of Magical Express and headed into the lobby, ready to explore the resort and begin enjoying the place before our scheduled V&A dinner at 6pm. We ended up in the Conch Key building, out by Narcoossee's and facing MK.

It's a lovely spot, and close to the boat launch, which is nice if you're coming back from MK by launch. It drops you off so very close to your room. It's not as overwhelming as the main building, either, although it is a walk to get to the amenities. Still, it's a lovely spot.

 

[saintstickets]

Signed up and ready to see your TR. DW and I were able to do some of the items on your list when we went without children last year and hope to do the rest when we return in a few months. Your TR is off to a great start! Keep it coming and LOTS of pics.

 

[DEA]

So, yeah, holidays intervened and I didn't get back to writing this until today... Onward!


DW and I headed over to MK after we checked in to get some lunch (Columbia Harbor House), then headed back around on the resort monorail. I was playing Facebook tag with another one of the DisDads (Stopher1) and I went to meet up with him at MK while my DW relaxed in the room. I did not get a picture of our meetup, but it looked a little like this:



I'm the one on the right.

After a brief visit, I hopped the launch to get back over to the Grand Floridian in anticipation of dinner at Victoria & Albert's, which I hear is a pretty good place to eat...

Sorry for the lack of pictures. The next post will have pictures. Oh yes...