A sprinkle of Pixie Dust and some Disney Christmas Magic! A December TR

[TinkerbellinNY6]

I'm Here and following along! I couldn't miss it after following your PTR! We always seem to hit a delay in that same area when we travel. What great pixie dust! THat is my family's favorite moderate hotel! I can't wait to see what you thought about it compared to CBR as we have not stayed there yet. I also love how excited your kids were about going to Disney!

 

[seacrestpromo]

OMG - I totally missed the part about your upgrade to CSR! My mind must of been in some kind of holiday fog.

OK - When is the next update!

Sea

 

[ScotsMinnie]

What a horrendous drive - well done for getting through that with such little rest. What good luck to get an upgrade!!! Can't wait to hear about your trip!

 

[archdandy]

Wow! An upgrade to a moderate! I bet that helped make the crappy start to your vacation better! I can't wait to read the rest of your report.

 

[Monny2AE]

Hi Kim, checking in!!!


Holy cow what an ordeal!! That is an insane trip down you had!! But so cool, an upgrade! I can't wait to hear what you thought about CSR-- it's a mod I think I'd like to try sometime.

Your kids have gotten so big-- I can't believe it! Too cute.

We may have a trip in the works for next year at the same time, so I can't wait to hear how yours ended up!

Hi Jo! Thankfully the trip ended up much better than it started out! You'll love it in December!

Wow .. so sorry about the traffic mess ! I would have been SO upset .. I don't do well in the car as it is. BUT glad it all worked out in the end with the upgrade ! I've heard of it happening .. but I know it's rare.

Loved the pics ! ASMo is our "home" resort (yeah, I know its a crummy value .. but it gives us a place to sleep ) Seeing the pics made me homesick for WDW !

Can't wait to read more !

I couldn't believe we got an upgrade either! I wasn't too disappointed in ASMo. All our family needs is a place to sleep but I immediately found myself comparing to a moderate. What really failed to impress me was the Pop Warner crowds. Just the little we encountered in the food court and parking lot was enough for me.

Joining in on the fun. Well, I am hoping it gets fun from here on out. The driving part, the cop car and the loose toilet surely wasn't a great start.

It gets better!

I'm definitely going to join in Kim!!!

WOW what an eventful start to your trip...but what a nice upgrade!! YAY for CSR...can't wait to hear what you thought about that resort!!

Hi Jen thanks for joining in and following along!

Hey Kim! What an eventful start to your vacation. But upgrade to CSR - that's awesome! I love the excitment on your little ones' faces! Can't wait to read more.

My kids were excited...once the initial shock wore off! It was fun surprising them!

Hey Kim! I made it here!!!

Great start on your report - OMG that traffic was AWEFUL!

26 hours of driving - you guys are road warriors!

Sea

We felt and looked like road warriors! By the time we arrived we hadn't showered in over 24 hours and looked like we had been to war! Maybe that's why they gave us an upgrade. We must have looked pathetic.

 

[Monny2AE]

I'm here too!

Ok I think I'd break down and just start crying if I was stuck in traffic like that.

I think at one point I almost did break down and want to cry.

I'm here!!!
Your kids are too funny! "you're surprising us?"

So sorry about your traffic problems. Having been there (but not to THAT extreme), I feel your pain. It's a risk we take every time we make that awfully long road trip! I guess it's good you built in extra time! So glad you made it safe and sound. And an upgrade - well, heck, you deserved it after that driving fiasco!!!

It was hilarious that they didn't get it at first! We always expect a little traffic but never expected it to be that bad. No worries, when we FLY next time we won't get stuck in traffic!

Happy New Year Kim!

Thanks Shelly! Happy New Year to you and your family!

I'm here, Kim! Wow, what an adventure so far. Your video of the kids made me tear up a little! Can't wait for the rest!

I'm glad I got it on camera. It's one of those memories I will cherish!

Wow! You guys are real troopers! You deserved that upgrade!

Can't wait to read along.

Hi! Glad you're along for the TR! I was definitely feeling like we had been sprinkled with some pixie dust when the CM offered us the upgrade! It was fantastic news after that road trip.

I'm Here and following along! I couldn't miss it after following your PTR! We always seem to hit a delay in that same area when we travel. What great pixie dust! THat is my family's favorite moderate hotel! I can't wait to see what you thought about it compared to CBR as we have not stayed there yet. I also love how excited your kids were about going to Disney!

Thanks for joining me again! I still prefer CBR but I think sometimes our opinions of resorts can be biased. I have such great memories at CBR. We stayed there for our honeymoon and for both my kids first trips so it holds a personal connection for me. CSR was a nice resort but CBR will always be my favorite.

OMG - I totally missed the part about your upgrade to CSR! My mind must of been in some kind of holiday fog.

OK - When is the next update!

Sea

I'm working on an update soon! Thanks for your patience!

What a horrendous drive - well done for getting through that with such little rest. What good luck to get an upgrade!!! Can't wait to hear about your trip!

I think by the time we got to WDW both DH and I looked at each other and wondered how we actually made it. To be honest neither of us should have been behind the wheel at certain points of the trip. We were on autopilot for a good portion of it...just stay on 95 South kept repeating in my head.

Wow! An upgrade to a moderate! I bet that helped make the crappy start to your vacation better! I can't wait to read the rest of your report.

Getting an upgrade was fantastic! It made up for the terrible drive!

 

[Monny2AE]

DAY ONE IN DISNEY!
Saturday, Dec. 10th

We woke after a much needed great night of sleep and immediately headed for Magic Kingdom! MK is always our first park. I’m never “officially” at Disney until I walk down Main Street and see the castle in the distance!

We drove to the Epcot parking lot since we planned to go to Epcot later in the day then hopped on board the monorail to get to the TTC.

I tried to get a picture of DH…he was being uncooperative.

Hopped off the monorail and onto a boat.

Finally we arrived at MK!
I got a little teary eyed when we came out from under the railroad platform and I got my first glimpse of Main Street! The marching band was playing Gloria in excelsis Deo and I looked up to see this enormous Christmas tree. It was an amazing first moment finally experiencing MK at Christmas!

The kids voted that our first attraction should be Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin so we started off in Tomorrowland admiring the castle along the way!

Practiced being Space Rangers with Buzz! Zurg didn’t stand a chance.

Next we headed over to Tomorrowland Speedway. The car that DD and I were in was slow as molasses. It actually stopped moving at all as we were heading into the pits. Turned out they forgot to take off the brake when they sent us off in the beginning. The CM kicked some sort of lever on the side and we got a quick spurt at the end before we were done.

 

[Monny2AE]

Took a spin on the Teacups

Saw the White Rabbit! No one felt like waiting in line to meet him.

DH got on Prince Charming’s Royal Carousel with the kids

DS pulled the sword from a stone. We watched this movie on the long car ride so he was super excited to try. DD gave it a try but it wouldn’t budge. We’ve never had it actually come up before and I honestly didn’t know it still worked!

Put on some fun glasses for Philharmagic

Next up was one of our all time favorites- Haunted Mansion! We did it twice since the lines were so short. The first time we went through the new interactive graveyard- it was “way cool” according to DS. I agreed!

We caught some fugitives in Frontierland

DD started to go downhill after that. Bring on the meltdown!!!! It was getting to be lunch time and I think being hungry, tired and overwhelmed with being at MK started to get to her. DH of course caught every meltdown of the trip on camera for future use.

We stopped for a couple hot dogs and with the help of some silly faces from her brother all was well again.

Up Next: The rest of the afternoon at MK and a park hop to Epcot!

 

[cic]

I love the meltdown picture. I have a few of my little one too!

 

[seacrestpromo]

What a great park to start your WDW trip! What did you think about the decorations and atmosphere? Those pics are so much fun!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

YAY! You're at MK!!!
Did anything happen when he pulled the sword out of the stone?

LOVE your sweet DD's crying picture! Is that wrong? It's just so sweet to see you trying to help her...

Your son looks so much like a boy in Paige's class. Every time I see him, it reminds me of your son and vice versa.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Great update!! Love all the pics! Even the crying one! Looks like you got a lot done, the lines must have been short!

I can't believe Andrew pulled the sword up!! The boys want to know what time of day it was, now that they can see that it actually does come up they think it's on a timer!!

 

[Moodyzblu]

Yeah .. does anything happen when you pull the sword up ??

Love the pics of the kids meltdowns AND silly faces ! lol

I have a few meltdown pics too ..

I get teary eyed when I first see the Castle and Main St too .. Disney dork here.

 

[Pluto_fan]

Great pictures, Kim! Your kids are just darling.

And I have to say...the words "interactive graveyard" just crack me up!

 

[Lil'Mermaid75]

We where in MK during the magic moments promotion a few years ago. DS was determined he was going to pull that sword out. One of the CMs came out and talked with us. She had a little remote control that she used to activate the sword coming out. DS was so excited he pulled that thing out! He received a certificate and a prince for a day sticker. Of course, now he thinks he should be able to pull it out every time we go!!

Great photos! Love the one of your DS's funny face! That would definately make me smile if I was having a rough day!

 

[mommyof3princess27]

Ha! I have to comment on the resort snob thing. Our first trip we stayed at the Poly and the last short trip we stayed at POR but only after upgrading from POP....I cant do a value....not once I have stayed higher! Nothing wrong with it but I too am a resort snob lol. I loved POR though, we are staying there again this year! Love the TR!

 

[Monny2AE]

I love the meltdown picture. I have a few of my little one too!

Unfortunately that one wasn't the only meltdown picture of the trip. All in all she did well. She naps on occasion at home and never napped at Disney so I'm actually surprised she did so well being so exhausted.

What a great park to start your WDW trip! What did you think about the decorations and atmosphere? Those pics are so much fun!

Disney at Christmas is even more magical than Disney any other time I've seen it! I love how detailed and over the top the decorations were. There's no way you couldn't be in a Christmassy mood while surrounded by that!

YAY! You're at MK!!!
Did anything happen when he pulled the sword out of the stone?

LOVE your sweet DD's crying picture! Is that wrong? It's just so sweet to see you trying to help her...

Your son looks so much like a boy in Paige's class. Every time I see him, it reminds me of your son and vice versa.

Strangely nothing happened. It got heavy after a few seconds and DS had to let it go back down. We were never able to get it back out again. The poor kids after us were so excited to do it and it didn't work for them. I felt bad. I wish I knew what triggered it to come out.
DD responds really well to soft words when she's upset. She's your typical girl- she just wants to know someone understands her.

Great update!! Love all the pics! Even the crying one! Looks like you got a lot done, the lines must have been short!

I can't believe Andrew pulled the sword up!! The boys want to know what time of day it was, now that they can see that it actually does come up they think it's on a timer!!

The lines were pretty short! I was surprised. MK was supposed to be a park to avoid on the 10th. It did start getting a bit more crowded as the afternoon went on. That's when we decided to hop on the monorail and go to Epcot.

Yeah .. does anything happen when you pull the sword up ??

Love the pics of the kids meltdowns AND silly faces ! lol

I have a few meltdown pics too ..

I get teary eyed when I first see the Castle and Main St too .. Disney dork here.

I haven't had a trip yet that didn't involve my eyes welling up with tears when seeing the castle for the first time!

Great pictures, Kim! Your kids are just darling.

And I have to say...the words "interactive graveyard" just crack me up!

Those words do sound weird together!

We where in MK during the magic moments promotion a few years ago. DS was determined he was going to pull that sword out. One of the CMs came out and talked with us. She had a little remote control that she used to activate the sword coming out. DS was so excited he pulled that thing out! He received a certificate and a prince for a day sticker. Of course, now he thinks he should be able to pull it out every time we go!!

Great photos! Love the one of your DS's funny face! That would definately make me smile if I was having a rough day!

How fun! We didn't have any of the extras but DS was excited enough just that he was able to do it!
DS does a great job of making her smile. He gets his silly gene from his dad. Humor is the best medicine!

Ha! I have to comment on the resort snob thing. Our first trip we stayed at the Poly and the last short trip we stayed at POR but only after upgrading from POP....I cant do a value....not once I have stayed higher! Nothing wrong with it but I too am a resort snob lol. I loved POR though, we are staying there again this year! Love the TR!

Hey stranger! Hope your quick trip with DH was fun! I agree. Values are fine if you just want a place to crash but at Disney I want to be spoiled a bit more than that!

 

[Monny2AE]

It's Saturday night and we are relaxing watching Tangled...no better time to update a TR!

DAY ONE (continued)

We finished lunch, recovered from a meltdown and took a picture of a hidden Mickey that DS spotted. He was on a mission this trip to find as many Hidden Mickey's as possible. Next trip I am getting him a book to help him since he had so much fun looking for them this trip!

Then we made our way towards the castle to see this...

continued next post...

 

[Monny2AE]

Then we grabbed a spot along Main Street to enjoy the parade.

MK was starting to get a little crowded so we decided to head to Epcot for the evening. MK and Epcot are our two favorite parks so it was wonderful to see them both on our first day!

On our way out DS asked if we could stop and take a picture of them in front of the toy soldier. How could I resist a photo opportunity?

UP NEXT: The end of Day One- an evening at Epcot!

 

[jecskc]

Loving your TR. Looking forward to reading more.