A Very Festive Do-Over - December 2024 (updated 6/12 - MK and BBB)

[Disney102015]

Jollywood Nights​

Our plan for the night was Jollywood at Hollywood Studios. The kids were begging to try the Skyliner, so we decided that’s how we’d get there, even though it was far from the most efficient option. We were at the Epcot Skyliner station around 5:00, and getting to Hollywood Studios around 5:40. This was N’s first trip on the Skyliner – the man is not a fan of heights, so this was very brave of him!! (Several times, after dinner at Topolino’s, we have walked down to the Skyliner planning to head to a park, only to panic at the last second and end up calling a Lyft.) The kids had also never been on the Skyliner, and C was nervously talking non-stop, basically a stream of consciousness:

“Ohhh wow, we are really high. Oh no. We’re going higher. OH we are above water, I wonder if there are alligators down there, if we fall down, they’ll eat us. OH NO now we are over the road, we’ll crash if we fall down. Ohhhh we are going higher, oh no!”

N had his head in his hands and was begging C to stop talking – it was pretty funny. At the transfer station, an older couple joined us in our gondola and were telling us all about their trips with their (now grown) children. They were really nice and this was a good distraction to get N through the rest of the ride!

We got to Hollywood Studios and there was really no line to enter so that was great. We got to enter through a bypass area I had never seen before – the decorations and music were really cool. Even N commented how festive it was.

A note on bringing little kids to Jollywood: I’d say the event is definitely geared toward adults, but there was plenty for the kids to enjoy. We initially planned to make this a date night and to get a sitter for the kids. We have a friend of a friend who has babysat for our kids several times before on trips to Orlando, so we are pretty comfortable leaving them with her. Unfortunately she was away this weekend and couldn’t babysit. We looked into some of the agencies that offer babysitting services, but when we added up the price for 3 kids, versus the cost for 2 additional Jollywood tickets (since E didn’t need a ticket), it was actually slightly cheaper to just bring them along to Jollywood. A date night would’ve been nice, but given that it was a shorter trip, I’m glad we all stuck together for the night.

I had booked LLMP for the mix-in time – I was on the fence about doing this, but it was 100% worth it. We walked right onto Toy Story Midway Mania at 6:00 and were off by 6:20.



I love this ride – weirdly, my girls get a little nervous on it! I think because the spinning happens so fast and it kind of whips you around. Then it was time for Slinky, one of my absolute favorites. Only C and I rode this one – hopefully G will be tall enough next time. It was just getting dark and I had never ridden it when Toy Story Land was all lit up, so that was really cool to see. We were off in no time – less than 10 minutes after getting in the Lightning Lane.

We had booked Alien Swirling Saucers for earlier but it expired just as we were entering the park. We still tapped in about an hour and a half late, and it was no problem. E was tall enough for this so we all got to ride! We did wait about 20 minutes since only one side was running. G said, “This is faster than Mine Train!” Which…it objectively is not, haha.



I have a tradition of getting a photo of the kids in front of this big yellow ball, but didn't manage to get a very good one tonight!

We had also gotten a DAS for Minnie and Mickey’s Runaway Railway right when we entered the park, so we did that around 7:10. This ride has really grown on me and now it’s a must-do! We had gotten a lot done in just under an hour and a half, so buying LLMP was totally worth it to us.

Now we had to strategize the rest of our evening. We had originally planned to do the Nightmare Before Christmas show first (the kids LOVE this movie) but we were all a bit snacky so we asked the kids if they minded skipping the show, and they were all fine with it. We all got popcorn and then we headed to ABC Commissary for some of the Jollywood specialty items. I know we got the tacos and I think one other food item? Plus the coquito (which we always love) and the Oaxaca old fashioned (which neither of us liked).

I will say, I had seen a lot of good food reviews for Jollywood, and that wasn’t our experience at all – we didn’t like most of the food we tried. Maybe it was just an off night, or we chose the wrong things to try? Since the snacks were a bit of a bust, we grabbed some more popcorn next!

You could book DAS in the app during this event and I had tried to get a DAS for the 8:15 Holidays in Hollywood show, but only the 9:15 show was available so we changed up our plans a bit and grabbed spots for the Glisten ice skating show. I grabbed a sugar cookie martini while we waited – blech!! I couldn’t finish this, way too sweet and weirdly thick?


We all LOVED Glisten! It was a little goofy and cheesy, but so fun. The music was great, it’s so unique to see an ice skating show outdoors in Florida…I think this was a really fun addition. Next we popped by Baseline because we wanted to try a few drinks and snacks there, but after waiting in line a bit, we bailed since we were hoping to catch the 9:15 Holidays in Hollywood show.



Unfortunately, when we got to the end of Hollywood Boulevard, we pulled back the stroller canopies to find 3 sleeping children!! We were shocked! We asked, but we weren’t allowed to bring the strollers into the theater, and we didn’t think it was wise to wake the kids. N offered to sit with the sleeping kids while I went in to see the show, but we had planned to use C’s DAS, and from the line it wasn’t looking like I’d get into the 9:15 show standby. I think this was the only Jollywood thing I was really bummed to miss – we had watched the show on YouTube and it looked really fun. Oh well, what can you do!

We headed to Fairfax Faire for some additional food and drinks. We had been excited to try the popovers but they were just not good – we tried both kinds, but there was way too much breading, and they were weirdly chewy. However, we did love the Mistletoe Martini, which had vodka, elderflower, and cranberry juice, topped with cranberries and mint leaves. It looked very festive and was delicious too! It was a little challenging to maneuver two strollers plus the popovers plus the drinks – I saw a table of people just staring at me as I tried to make my way to my seat and was just praying I wouldn’t spill anything!

Next we popped over to the Tip Top Club. This was a blast! The music was awesome and it was just a really cool vibe. Again, just really unique to be hanging out right under the Tower of Terror. The specialty drinks here didn’t really appeal to me – I really don’t like tequila, and rum is not my favorite – so I had a glass of Prosecco. We hung out there for a little bit listening to the music and just relaxing, talking about how glad we were that we decided to do this event.

Then we decided we wanted one more Mistletoe Martini, so back to Fairfax Faire we went! Why not, right?? We found a quiet spot to sit and just hung out and chatted while we had our drinks – it ended up being a little date night after all!

We were both tired and decided to call it a night – the fireworks were going off behind us as we were leaving so that was neat. I had never walked back to the Boardwalk before so wasn’t sure how long it’d take – it was almost exactly 10 minutes to the edge of the Boardwalk property and maybe another 5 minutes to the main boardwalk area itself.

All in all, this was a super enjoyable day and evening! I’d do Jollywood Nights again in a heartbeat. MVMCP will always have a special place in my heart and I’m sure we’ll do it again, but I kind of lean toward Jollywood being the better fit for our family at the moment – we aren’t big character people so that isn’t a draw for us at MVMCP, but the shows, cocktails, and snacks really made Jollywood a big hit (even though we personally didn’t love the food items we tried – we’d give it another shot!) Plus the whole “vibe” of the event was just really fun and different – the jazzy Christmas music, people in really fun dress up outfits, etc. I am so glad we decided to do this and don’t regret bringing the kids at all.

Next up…back to Magic Kingdom!

 

[Disney102015]

Magic Kingdom and Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique​

Sunday dawned bright and early, but we were NOT ready to get up. The alarm went off around 6:30 as we had grand plans of rope dropping but G immediately asked if we could go back to sleep and I didn’t have the heart to say no! We snuggled up and went back to sleep.

We got up for good around 8:40 and scrambled to get ready, leaving the room by 9:00. The bus came at 9:12 and we were in the Starbucks line at Magic Kingdom by 9:40. I desperately needed some caffeine but after waiting 20 minutes (after ordering!), we had to bail, as we had a BBB reservation to get to. Hopefully someone got to enjoy the coffee I had to abandon!

G had a 10:05 Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique reservation, and we also had an 11:15 Cinderella’s Royal Table reservation. I knew we’d be tight on time - I didn’t book these at the 60-day mark, as I thought we’d skip both this trip. (G had done BBB and CRT on our trip last February.) But a week or two before the trip, she said she was most excited about 1) eating “fancy cookies” at MVMCP and 2) going to BBB and “eating with the princesses.” Needless to say, that had me scrambling for BBB and CRT reservations at the last minute, so I had to take what I could get!


Totally worth it.

Last time we did BBB, it was a loooong experience with a lot of waiting around. This time was more expedited, probably because I told them we had a reservation to get to. We still didn’t get to the makeover room in the castle until 10:30, but they had plenty of time to do her makeover and she was done by 11:00. This time, Baby E hung out with me while N and C went to do rides. They did SDMT with LLSP and Thunder Mountain with DAS. I thought E would be antsy waiting, but she actually loved watching the whole experience. She even took out my bun and tried to do my hair for me!



As we were wrapping up at BBB, I got a table ready text for CRT, which was weird because I hadn’t checked in yet and it was still 15 or so minutes before our reservation. But it didn’t really matter - N and C got there just in time and we headed inside. We met Cinderella first this time before heading upstairs.


Ahhhhhh the way she is looking at Cinderella!! Can I keep her 4 years old forever?!

The princess interactions were super quick this time around, but the kids didn’t seem to mind. And C was pleased with his sword.





Our last meal at CRT had been really good, which convinced us to book again, but it was just ok today. I had planned to cancel our dinner reservation for Yachtsman Steakhouse because I knew I’d get steak at CRT and figured I didn’t need TWO steaks in a day - but my meal at CRT was so mediocre that we decided to go to Yachtsman anyway. YOLO, I guess! The kids are usually pretty good at restaurants but I have to say, they were extra good today. Everyone was just in a great mood and very silly and giggly and I have really great memories of this meal, despite the mediocre food!

We finished up around 12:30 and made a quick stop at Sir Mickey’s to grab photos.



One of my favorite pictures of the trip. Sometimes I just look at pictures of the 3 of them and think...wow, how did I get so lucky??!





Ok but why does G look so angelic, while Baby E look so devious?!

Next we headed to Barnstormer with an LL - this was E’s first time and she seemed to like it! We still had to take turns riding because we had 3 little kids and only 2 adults. Then we went to Dumbo - our LL had expired but it wasn’t a problem - then Little Mermaid.

Next it was me and G’s turn to use our SDMT LL - she loved it again and I’m hoping I have a new roller coaster buddy!! We stopped by the sword in the stone but no one was lucky enough to pull it out.



We all laughed when Baby E marched herself up there to try!



We had had a Peter Pan LL that we missed that morning due to sleeping in. I didn’t know if they’d let us ride but the LL still appeared in MDE so I figured it was worth a try. The scanner flashed blue but I think the Cast Member took pity on us because they waved us through anyway.

After that, we grabbed our stroller from near the Carousel and headed for Frontierland. I was hoping to finally ride Tiana’s with a LL because it kept going down when I was there in June, but it wasn’t meant to be - the ride was down again. I said to N, “maybe we’ll hang out for a bit and see if it comes back up?” The nearest Cast Member overheard and said “NOPE!” I said “excuse me?” And he said, “if I were you, I’d just move on with your day.” Bit of a bummer, but I appreciated the honesty. Maybe E will be tall enough to ride by the time we finally get to go on it! With that, we were ready to wrap up our time at Magic Kingdom.

Next up…another lazy swim and the BEST meal of the trip!