A Splash Of Wonder & A Dash Of Christmas Cheer: A Trip Report With Pictures

[Disneygrl36]

Next we flew over Neverland & then took a ride with the fairest of them all. We went to Tomorrowland next, as we were going to try to see the first Night Before Christmas show at 7, but it was already too crowded, so instead we rode the TTA which is one of our favorites. Sidenote…there just doesn’t seem to be enough time to do everything at the Christmas party….if you want to ride any rides & since this was our only time in the Magic Kingdom this trip, we did. So, we came up with a game plan & decided what was most important to us…the fireworks, parade & getting in a few rides.
DMom on TTA

Us on TTA…I was in the Christmas spirit.

Cool picture……….Space Mountain with the lights on which we saw on our spin on the TTA.

Next up we needed to defeat the evil Emperor Zurg…..which I am not very good at, but it is still great fun.

We headed to Adventureland next to take a ride with the Yo-ho pirates. Captain Jack Sparrow made a couple of surprise appearances which was very cool.
It was spooky sailing through Davy Jones. I give the rehab a big .
We went to get some cookies & cocoa too!! It is at this point that Mickey lost his stickie thingie & he will now be presenting the food with only one hand. How sad .

Next was one of my favorites…..Mickey’s Philharmagic. I just love this no matter how many times I see it. The part where Ariel spreads out her arms just gets me every time & flying with Peter Pan & Tink………….WOW!!!!

Next up on the agenda was “Holiday Wishes-Celebrate the Spirit of the Season” which we watched from the bridge to the right of the castle. They were fantastic. I loved the music & we bought the CD. Fireworks were all around us at one point. SPECTACULAR.

We then headed to Frontierland to stake out our spot to watch the 2nd Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Parade at 10:45pm. We like getting a spot where we can sit without people in front of us & we were successful. We enjoyed watching the Country Bears entertain the crowd while waiting for the parade. It was awesome & it really put us in the holiday mood.

 

[Disneygrl36]

I am having to post this one in smaller segments for some reason. Sorry bout that.

We ended the night with show “Celebrate the Season” in front of the castle. It was really cute & we got to see all the characters & I got some good pictures. You can see on the clock that it was almost midnight which meant our time was almost up.

It was a wonderful party & we had a great time.
We said goodbye to Main Street & the castle knowing it will be sometime before we are back in the Magic Kingdom.

We left after midnight & headed back to Old Key West where we went to bed very tired, but happy.

Next up….Day 7 A day at MGM & dinner with Uncle Tim

Sorcerer Potatohead…

 

[OhMari]

I enjoyed reading your report on this Christmas nite. I really want to go on a cruise now. The only problem is, I know nothing at all about booking one. Is their a strategy to use, like booking early, or waiting for a good rate. I have no clue.

 

[HookedonMagic]

Merry Christmas and Thanks for a terrific report! DH and I sailed the Wonder November 30 - December 3...glad to see that we left her in good shape for you. And we're sailing the Magic next October for my 40th...maybe we'll see you onboard.

 

[swankybeth]

Great installment, loved the pics of OKW and the Christmas party!

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

I'm just now catching up on your last 3 installments! I am LOVING your report and pictures! I love looking at other people's WDW vacation photos! So fun! It looks like you had a blast at MVMCP! I know DH & I did! I love your antlers too! So cute! Old Key West is beautiful! I also loved your little towel mouse left my mousekeeping! Love those magical touches! I hope you had a very merry Christmas!!!!

 

[ibouncetoo]

Thanks so much for the pictures of OKW! I'll know next month if that's where we will be staying for our "Surf n'Turf" next December.

OhMari, come on over the the DCL forum...we'll answer all your questions about cruising with Mickey! (BOOK EARLY)

 

[Disneygrl36]

Oh Mari....I am with ibouncetoo here, you can get any answers to anything you want over on the cruise line board. They are great. We used points for this cruise & I booked it at the 11 month window. We are paying for the Oct cruise & I hope we got the best rate possible by booking while on the ship. I think it's always best to book early. Hope you get to cruise soon!!

Hookedonmagic...she was in great shape for us. Thanks!! When are you cruising in October? We will be on the Oct 27th sailing on the Magic. I guess I will have to start searching early for a cruise meet....I didn't meet any disers on this cruise.

Glad you are still with me Swankybeth. Old Key West was really beautiful. We had such fun at the Christmas party...it really put in the holiday mood & watching the parade on TV yesterday really brought it all right back to me. Disney just does Christmas so well.

FTB........glad you are still enjoying all my pics. I just think they add so much to a report....they help me when I am reading other people's to imagine myself there. I LOVED our little mouse too!! The Christmas party was SO great. I love the special ticketed parties.......I think we will have to go down a day early before the Oct cruise & go to another Halloween party.

ibouncetoo...you are most welcome. We really liked Old Key West.

I will have to get to work on the next day, but I am feeling so tired from all the holiday stuff that it may be a day or too, but I promise it won't be too long.

Til then.....

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

FTB........glad you are still enjoying all my pics. I just think they add so much to a report....they help me when I am reading other people's to imagine myself there. I LOVED our little mouse too!! The Christmas party was SO great. I love the special ticketed parties.......I think we will have to go down a day early before the Oct cruise & go to another Halloween party.

Ooooh! Ooooh! Will you be there around October 12!? That's when we're holding the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween DIS Party!

 

[tubachick]

Great pics and wonderful TRIPPY!!!

 

[jackdis]

I've loved your report, and especially the pictures! I just read all 7 pages at one sitting! I'm glad you had such a nice time.

 

[jrose529]

Great TR! I am enjoying all the pics as well.

 

[Philadisney]

I just stumbled on your report and I love it so far! Your pictures are fantastic, thank you so much for sharing them. Castaway Cay was my absolute favorite part of the Wonder cruise I took in July 2004 - I do hope you have perfect weather for it in October!
Be careful on the floaty things though - I dozed off while floating along on the raft for just a few minutes, and when I woke up I had floated so far out, my cousin had to swim out and help me get back

 

[Disneygrl36]

You guys all make me feel so good knowing you are enjoying my report. I have 2 more days to share.

Oh phooey....FTB, we will sailing Oct 27th so we will probably go to the Oct 26th party. I would have loved to come to the Dismeet. Oh well, maybe next time.

Welcome along Tubachick, jackdis & jrose. Glad you all like my trippie.

Philadisney....I will keep that in mind WHEN (not if) I get to use my floatie on Castaway Cay in October. I love the island & really hope I get to enjoy it to it's fullest this time. I might even try parasailing...I mean that sounds like a perfect adventure for a 40th birthday...what do ya'll think?

Day 7 up next....I am working on it now.

 

[Disneygrl36]

We had a very late night at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party the night before & so we decided to sleep in & not get in a big rush the next day.

We woke up around 9 & for DH that is LATE….we relaxed a bit & let DMom sleep in longer & went to get breakfast from Good’s to Go in the main building of Old Key West. It was a bit chilly, but it was a nice walk.
We saw a swan a swimming….

And a “snake” bird a drying…..

We went to browse in the general store a bit & picked up some drinks to put in the fridge. Muffins, cinnamon buns & cereal seemed like a good way to start the day, so we picked those up & took them back to the room. By this time DMom was up. We headed out to MGM around 11. Our first attraction was Voyage of the Little Mermaid.
The big finish…..

Outside Narnia

Next up we went to visit Narnia….I really love seeing all the props at the end. This is an aside….but I LOVED this book series growing up & I was really nervous about it being made into a movie. Disney did an awesome job in my humble opinion & being such a fan of the books, I was hard to win over, but as always Disney did it!!
The lamppost

We toured the Animation building & I cannot help but be a bit sad every time that there are no real artists to watch creating magic. I used to spend a long time in this attraction just mesmerized watching the artists at work. I do like the Animation Academy & we went in & drew Donald Duck. We browsed the shop & I dreamed about all the things I would buy in there if money was no object.

We grabbed a snack next at the commissary sharing some fish & chips (we had a late breakfast & a 5pm reservation at the 50’s Primetime Café for dinner so we just needed a bite to hold us over).

Next up, we went down Sunset Blvd & got fast passes for Tower of Terror…this is the thrill ride that DMom will ride…go figure. She will not ride anything that spins (tea cups, Mission Space etc) or any real roller coasters (she does do Thunder Mtn) but she will be dropped in the old creaky elevator. We went to ride Rock N Rollercoaster while she shopped….it was cold & I had already given her my sweatshirt to wear, but she insisted on buying a new one. We had a great ride with Aerosmith & then the 3 of us took our plunge on TOT……I did the hold a penny in your hand thing & that was pretty cool & the picture was funny because my Mom had her eyes closed tight, DH was screaming & I was looking at my hand & watching my penny. We should have bought it.
We took a ride on the Great Movie Ride & enjoyed that as always…it is another classic & I love the Mary Poppins scene & the Wizard of Oz scene so much. I also finally found the hidden Mickey in the Indiana Jones scene…but wasn’t quick enough to get a picture.
The Pevensies coats from “The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe” in the lobby of the Great Movie Ride

Cool decorations on the lake…..

By, now it was time for dinner. We checked in at the 50’s Primetime Café & waited in this cute little lobby area.

We had Uncle Tim as our server. He had on a walking cast & was pretty tired so we didn’t get a whole lot of trouble with our dinner. It was really good food & we enjoyed watching the old tv shows & the antics of some of the other servers. One man had to sing “I’m a little tea pot” & another man was being fed by his “Mom”. Too funny!!!! My favorite part of the meal was dessert….I had the smores & they were too die for good!!
Smores…

Our 50’s kitchenette

We went to walk around the Osborne Family Lights display before the park closed..they were having something private so the park was closing at 6:30. They had the lights dancing to music periodically & that was pretty cool. It was snowing & the lights were beautiful. It was chilly so the snow almost seemed like it could have been real.
Here are some Christmas light pictures.

This one has a hidden Mickey do you see it??

We left MGM after window gazing on the way out.
A cool window display.

We then headed to the buses & caught one to the Contemporary as we had decided to take a holiday monorail resort tour. Here is the holiday display in the lobby. We saw such cool gingerbread & chocolate creations all over the World.

We headed up to catch the monorail & let me tell you it was MADNESS. The parks had not seemed crowded, we hadn’t waited long for any rides but that monorail was PACKED. We waited through 2 trains before we were finally able to squeeze on & it was sardine city. We got off at the Polynesian to start our tour & that was as far as we got. The POLY was packed too….what was the deal? I needed a drink (all this crowd was getting tome). We pounced on a table in the Tambu Lounge as some people were getting up & we got a drink & hung out for awhile.
Here is my Lapu-lapu.

We discussed traveling on to the Grand Floridian to see more decorations but yet again the monorail was jam packed & we just decided to call it a night & headed back to Old Key West. We watched some TV & just had a quiet night in. The big humongous hot tub was immensely enjoyed by our tired, aching muscles & we went to bed soothed & warm. It had been a very chilly day in Florida.

Next up……
Day 8…Animal Kingdom & our last Disney Dinner.

Disney Parkhopper Potato Head…

 

[tinawv]

Great TR and pictures. Can't wait to read about your last day.

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Where is Mickey's hand!?
Ahhhhh!
What happened!? Is he okay!?
Poor little Mickey!

 

[Disneygrl36]

Where is Mickey's hand!?
Ahhhhh!
What happened!? Is he okay!?
Poor little Mickey!

Lindsey, back on our Castaway Cay day Mickey's hand was broken off accidentally & I used a stickie thing for the rest of the cruise to put it back on...but once we got back to WDW the stickie thing fell off & so Mickey was handless. He's ok now....super glue is our friend.
Thanks for the concern for my little pal.

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Hi from one East Tennessee girl to another!

I'm loving your trippie! Tonight was the first chance I've had to read any of it--it is wonderful! I am so excited to see pics of OKW--we are staying there in March for the first time, and I am so looking forward to it! What a great report!

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Lindsey, back on our Castaway Cay day Mickey's hand was broken off accidentally & I used a stickie thing for the rest of the cruise to put it back on...but once we got back to WDW the stickie thing fell off & so Mickey was handless. He's ok now....super glue is our friend.
Thanks for the concern for my little pal.

Thank goodness!
I was worried about your little Mickey!
I'm glad you were able to save his hand!
I was afraid it was lost forever!