And now for a change of plans-A Dec '18 Solo TR - COMPLETED 9/19

This is amazing. I make a motion to have this be standard at all character meets everywhere ever.
At DCA there was a PP who did something similar at Halloween in Carsland. He basically would hold off families for about 30 seconds so people could get a clear shot of the ghost car! He basically said - this way the parents don't have strangers taking random photos of their kids, and we don't end up taking random photos of strangers!
I am kind of sort of instagram friends with Ingrid's "friend" and she is an awesome person all around and a terrific performer. So glad you had a chance to see her!
Cool! Is she doing it again this year?
Just a lion casually walking back stage 😅
Not even casually- sort of running!
Okay how nice is it that you were able to just walk right back for a nap? So convenient!
Yeah, I like the theming of the Lodges more, but the Crescent Lake resorts certainly win on convenience!
Okay bao getting the advice right on point. Well done bao.
Very well done!
With the sleeves in tact this time? :rotfl:
Haha - it was actually sort of chilly this morning!
And this is how you can tell when you've reached peak Disney fanatic status. But also I totally agree.
:rolleyes1
HOME! All your photos make me so excited to stay there at Christmas soon!!
Oh you guys definitely need to do that! Put your home resort advantage to use!
 
That tour sounds awesome and unique! Something I'd definitely consider for myself!

Definitely a good idea calling it an early night and resting!
If you are ever there at Christmas time, then definitely look into it! There's a longer one, but it focused more on the in-park celebrations and stuff, not backstage things.
Nah. It's Florida. Doesn't get chilly.
Probably the chills from fever.
Haha, I think there may have been frost on the grass that morning! So it was a bit chilly - not Canada chilly, but Florida/SoCal chilly!
Start a timer. 30 minutes gets a recall.
Yeah, from now on, I will!
 
Sorry for such a delay in posting - been busy and also exhausted!

Day 7, December 6 - Magic Kingdom Christmas!
Pre-trip plans:
11:00 – 7DMT FP
11:30 – Be Our Guest

Magic Kingdom rides, fitting in snacks and other things as desired – Haunted Mansion, Jingle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain (I don’t remember which were FPs)
5:00 – Grand Floridian Café
6:00 – Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party



After getting all that rest the night before, I was feeling better. Though still not 100%. I ended up waking up earlier than expected, so I rolled with it and headed to Magic Kingdom!

This was the view from outside my room door. Not too bad!

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This was my first time taking the boat to Magic Kingdom and I was looking forward to it! Though in the end, I wasn’t as much a fan of it as I thought I would be! I liked the smaller boats because they felt more “magical” (though did leave you exposed to the wind and weather). The larger ferries were really very loud and industrial feeling. Most of the time I ended up getting those (it just depended on who pulled up at the right time). And it wasn’t even like the buses, where you could see the times board to know when one was on their way. I dunno – maybe I just had such high expectations anything would have been a let down!

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But I still arrived in Magic Kingdom for the first time this trip! That may be crazy to some people – waiting until I had been there a week before going to the most famous park? But it worked for me!

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I made my way up Main Street with one unproductive stop at a photopass photographer. Most of them had longer lines, but this one didn’t, so I decided to go with her. Then of course just as we were about to take it, the horse-drawn trolley came down (followed by some other cars), so we had to get out of the road. I guess the trolley dropped a teeny bit of horse poop (it was so small and flat I didn’t even notice it at first). But the photographer was adamant it had to be cleaned up, so she had to flag down a custodial person and point it out (in the meantime, someone ended up walking on it and accidentally picked it up with her food). But the custodial person came over and the photographer was just delaying so much, I finally got frustrated and just grabbed my bag and left despite her probably being able to take a photo 30 seconds later. I just didn’t want to deal with that s**t, literally!

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Anyways, I headed east and went to Adventureland. Jingle Cruise already had a 40 minute wait posted, so I headed to Pirates of the Caribbean, with only a 5 minute wait. I realized I had only ridden the MK version once and never done it standby, so I got to see the detailed queue, which was nice. Overall the ride was good – I’m not as upset about the redhead changing over as some people.

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I headed to the pin traders and picked up some new pins that had been released that day. Also they had started to sell MVMCP merch outside of party hours, so I got the ornament and had the whole thing delivered back to the Wilderness Lodge. (Though the CM wasn’t listening when I told her I wanted it delivered at the beginning of my transaction, so she had to go back and ring everything up again…)

I then considered doing BTMR, but instead was able to move up my Haunted Mansion FP to almost immediately, so I went that way (to be fair, despite a 20 minute posted time, I think there was very little standby wait). I noticed the red eyes on the bench when I was leaving – a nice little detail!

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And a stop with a photopass afterwards. I need to figure out if I’ve gotten all the hitchhikers by now!

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Then into Fantasyland. I searched high and low for Pascal, because I’ve never found one. I swear they remove all of his figures when I come to the parks (because I’ve read TRs before and after my trips when they have spotted him… or maybe I’m just making that up?) Update: I ended up finding one for the first time in May…

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Anyways, it was time for my 7DMT Fastpass. This is my favorite ride at Magic Kingdom, and I had a fun mine train. I didn’t realize there had been changes to the queue, getting rid of the even/odd lines.

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Now, breakfast time. (Well sort-of, it was actually around 11am.) I had a Be Our Guest reservation, though I didn’t plan on a full meal – I just wanted a cupcake and to see the Christmas decorations! I had hoped to sit in the Rose Gallery just to get away from noises, but they had closed it off for about 15 minutes (don’t quite know why), so I sat by the windows and the tree.

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I think I may have ridden Winnie the Pooh at that point, but I don’t have any photos (sorry, as you can tell the photos were greatly reduced after I started feeling icky)!

I then headed into Tomorrowland and took a ride on another of my favorite rides – the Peoplemover.

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Then made a quick stop at Star Traders to pick up the Passholder MVMCP ornament (I didn’t see it at the Frontierland shop). I think I looked at some other merch, but didn’t end up buying anything else.

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On my way out of Tomorrowland, I noticed the line for Stitch wasn’t too long, so I stopped by and got a photo, since he matched my shirt! Though I went to point out the big Stitch didn’t have a red nose like my shirt, and rubbed his nose – forgetting that is the eye hole for the CM inside – so it would have looked like I was poking them in the eye! Oops!



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Coming up - more MK wandering...
 


this way the parents don't have strangers taking random photos of their kids, and we don't end up taking random photos of strangers!
An even better way to look at it!

Is she doing it again this year?
I don't know, I'll have to ask. I'm sure they have to re-audition each season.

Oh you guys definitely need to do that! Put your home resort advantage to use!
Yes we can't wait! Although it may be a couple years yet... I'll just live vicariously through you!
 
This was the view from outside my room door. Not too bad!
So beautiful 😍😍😍

And it wasn’t even like the buses, where you could see the times board to know when one was on their way
That would be so amazing. It's seriously anyone's guess as to when a boat will show up.

I just didn’t want to deal with that s**t, literally!
:rotfl:

I noticed the red eyes on the bench when I was leaving – a nice little detail!
Oh nice I've never noticed those.

and to see the Christmas decorations
I loooove the Christmas decorations at BOG because The Enchanted Christmas was one of my favorite Christmas movies growing up and I still play "As Long As There's Christmas" on a loop every holiday season.

Though I went to point out the big Stitch didn’t have a red nose like my shirt, and rubbed his nose – forgetting that is the eye hole for the CM inside – so it would have looked like I was poking them in the eye! Oops!
I'm just picturing that CM silently screaming in terror inside :rotfl2:
 
Oh my goodness, I love your Christmas Stitch shirt! So cute! And how fun that you could get a photo with him and show it off to him. :)

I'm with you about struggling to find the hidden Pascals. Oof! We've found probably 2 or 3 now, but that's it.
 


I liked the smaller boats because they felt more “magical” (though did leave you exposed to the wind and weather). The larger ferries were really very loud and industrial feeling.
Interesting. I've only done that once or twice and had the same boat both times.
But I still arrived in Magic Kingdom for the first time this trip! That may be crazy to some people – waiting until I had been there a week before going to the most famous park? But it worked for me!
yes! That's crazy! :laughing:
I guess the trolley dropped a teeny bit of horse poop (it was so small and flat I didn’t even notice it at first). But the photographer was adamant it had to be cleaned up, so she had to flag down a custodial person and point it out
I'm not surprised by that. I would imagine CMs are trained pretty rigorously about any mess being cleaned up ASAP
I just didn’t want to deal with that s**t, literally!
:laughing:
 
After getting all that rest the night before, I was feeling better. Though still not 100%. I ended up waking up earlier than expected, so I rolled with it and headed to Magic Kingdom!

I'm glad to hear you were feeling a little better!!

But I still arrived in Magic Kingdom for the first time this trip! That may be crazy to some people – waiting until I had been there a week before going to the most famous park? But it worked for me!

Not crazy at all! That's the beauty of solo trips... going where you want, WHEN you want!


This is a really cute ornament!

On my way out of Tomorrowland, I noticed the line for Stitch wasn’t too long, so I stopped by and got a photo, since he matched my shirt! Though I went to point out the big Stitch didn’t have a red nose like my shirt, and rubbed his nose – forgetting that is the eye hole for the CM inside – so it would have looked like I was poking them in the eye! Oops!



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These photos came out great!
 
This was the view from outside my room door. Not too bad!

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this makes me really wish we were staying here for our December trip. Wilderness Lodge seems like the most Christmas-y resort. But it was just too $$$ We will at least get to go to it when we are there. That will have to do..

I just didn’t want to deal with that s**t, literally!
Ha!

Then into Fantasyland. I searched high and low for Pascal, because I’ve never found one. I swear they remove all of his figures when I come to the parks (because I’ve read TRs before and after my trips when they have spotted him… or maybe I’m just making that up?) Update: I ended up finding one for the first time in May…
Gwen can show you were they all are! We spent ALOT of time looking for them in February when it was so busy. They are really really hidden. And I read that one has been hidden by growning plants, so you literally can't see it anymore.

I love it.
 
This was the view from outside my room door. Not too bad!

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OMG! :cloud9:
I just didn’t want to deal with that s**t, literally!

:eek:

:rotfl2:

Must have been a cool morning. I'm seeing lots of layers.


I know nothing about this, please elaborate.

Update: I ended up finding one for the first time in May…

Yeah! I've found a few but want to find more.

I just wanted a cupcake and to see the Christmas decorations!

Love the Christmas decorations! Can't wait to see it in December.


This is perfect! Love your shirt and matching ears.
 
It was just decoration! Haha - I could imagine you grabbing a knife and going to town on it!

You know it, Sister!


If taken out of context....



This is fantastic! I"ve never seen one before.


So huge and so full of decorations – when you consider how many were already out in the parks! That warehouse has decorations for all the WDW parks, resorts, cruise ships, Castaway Cay, Vero Beach, and Hilton Head! A huge wall just of crates ornaments, divided between color and size. And they organize them well – shrink wrapping the crates, with one ornament on the outside so you know what is in the crates. There were also rows of shelves (like those library stacks where you crank them back and forth, so rather than going shelf-aisle-shelf, it would go shelf-shelf-aisle-shelf, with the center shelf able to go back and forth. Those shelves were just full of ornaments, like a whole aisle of mermaids! It was organized in its own dewey decimal system. There was also an area at the side of the warehouse which was empty… that was the spot where the icon trees hang out during the year (we actually didn't walk down there, but we could see empty space from the places we were allowed - they actually have painted lines on the ground so we had to stick to the Yellow line)!

That sounds like an amazing tour and something I'd really love! Hmmmm, on the list, but not sure when/if I'll ever get back at Christmas.


Those are absolutely adorable!


I LOVE this!

And the second, was a bit of a surprise. Around 9:30 I suddenly heard this crazy loud music outside my room. And I was very confused. It took a moment to realize it was the Electric Light Water Parade passing by the WL.

Noted! I wonder if it'll be the same with the Poly in a few weeks for us.

This was the view from outside my room door. Not too bad!

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Just perfect! Love it!

I noticed the red eyes on the bench when I was leaving – a nice little detail!

OH! That's a very cool touch!

Update: I ended up finding one for the first time in May…

YAY!! I found 7 and still have to find those last elusive 3. Some are SUPER hard and I looked for about 30 minutes.
 
I fell way behind on this report, but I'm all caught up now!
So many photos of the awesome holiday decorations...I'm really itching to go back during Christmas now!

That tour you took of the warehouses and cookie decorating sounds wonderful. I am writing that down as a must-do with my mom one day. Something unique and fresh to experience at WDW.

Such a bummer that you were starting to feel the comings of a cold. There's nothing more annoying than that scratchy throat, which you know only means one thing...worse feelings are headed your way. :sad:
 
What a start to your day with the PP photographer and the pooping horse!

I love BOG when it's decorated for Christmas!

Sounds like a nice day in MK so far :)
 
So I got soooo far behind on my quoting (and TR in general)! Sorry about that!

So beautiful 😍😍😍


That would be so amazing. It's seriously anyone's guess as to when a boat will show up.


:rotfl:


Oh nice I've never noticed those.


I loooove the Christmas decorations at BOG because The Enchanted Christmas was one of my favorite Christmas movies growing up and I still play "As Long As There's Christmas" on a loop every holiday season.


I'm just picturing that CM silently screaming in terror inside :rotfl2:
I wish the boats were a bit more reliable! I mean, I guess they are better than the buses though!

Be Our Guest was very pretty! And I felt so bad about the CM!
Oh my goodness, I love your Christmas Stitch shirt! So cute! And how fun that you could get a photo with him and show it off to him. :)

I'm with you about struggling to find the hidden Pascals. Oof! We've found probably 2 or 3 now, but that's it.
Thanks - I loved the shirt when I picked it! The Pascals are so hard to find!
 
Interesting. I've only done that once or twice and had the same boat both times.

yes! That's crazy! :laughing:

I'm not surprised by that. I would imagine CMs are trained pretty rigorously about any mess being cleaned up ASAP

:laughing:
We had issues in May waiting for the larger boat (the only one that could take ECVs). Lots of smaller boats coming over but no big boats...
I'm glad to hear you were feeling a little better!!

Not crazy at all! That's the beauty of solo trips... going where you want, WHEN you want!

This is a really cute ornament!

These photos came out great!
I did like that ornament and was happy they still had it. I think this party or the previous one was when they stopped only selling merch during the party, which was nice so I didn't have to take time buying the ornaments then!

And I'm not as in-love with Magic Kingdom as other people because I have Disneyland so close by!
this makes me really wish we were staying here for our December trip. Wilderness Lodge seems like the most Christmas-y resort. But it was just too $$$ We will at least get to go to it when we are there. That will have to do..
Ha!

Gwen can show you were they all are! We spent ALOT of time looking for them in February when it was so busy. They are really really hidden. And I read that one has been hidden by growning plants, so you literally can't see it anymore.

I love it.
WL is definitley full of Christmas spirit! At least you will visit it!
 
Must have been a cool morning. I'm seeing lots of layers.
It was cooler - not that bad in the sun and not as chilly as the day before, but still cool.
I know nothing about this, please elaborate.
I don't know either - I just noticed the red eyes and hadn't seen anyone mention them before!
This is perfect! Love your shirt and matching ears.
The ears are actually from Disneyland Paris! But I had to order off Ebay, as they had sold out by the time I arrived, but I had seen them on other people and they were so pretty I needed them!
If taken out of context....
Haha, yup!
This is fantastic! I"ve never seen one before.
They may have them in non-holiday seasons? Maybe in the ornament area of the German store?
That sounds like an amazing tour and something I'd really love! Hmmmm, on the list, but not sure when/if I'll ever get back at Christmas.
Definitely you need to try and do it!
Noted! I wonder if it'll be the same with the Poly in a few weeks for us.
Hmm, it'll probably just depend on where you are located. I could imagine the Bungalows would get a noisy surprise though!
 
I fell way behind on this report, but I'm all caught up now!
So many photos of the awesome holiday decorations...I'm really itching to go back during Christmas now!

That tour you took of the warehouses and cookie decorating sounds wonderful. I am writing that down as a must-do with my mom one day. Something unique and fresh to experience at WDW.

Such a bummer that you were starting to feel the comings of a cold. There's nothing more annoying than that scratchy throat, which you know only means one thing...worse feelings are headed your way. :sad:
I think Christmas is my favorite time of year for Disney parks!
What a start to your day with the PP photographer and the pooping horse!

I love BOG when it's decorated for Christmas!

Sounds like a nice day in MK so far :)
Yeah, a pretty chill morning!
 
I have just read through all of your updates and I'm enjoying it so much!

*I'm sorry you got sick! Boo!
*I love all of your shirts. So cute.
*I loved your pics at the Boardwalk. We stayed there in Sept and I miss it!
*Your poking Stich and realizing it was the eye hole made me laugh :rotfl2: . Oops!
 
I have just read through all of your updates and I'm enjoying it so much!

*I'm sorry you got sick! Boo!
*I love all of your shirts. So cute.
*I loved your pics at the Boardwalk. We stayed there in Sept and I miss it!
*Your poking Stich and realizing it was the eye hole made me laugh :rotfl2: . Oops!
I'm glad you are enjoying it!

And yes - I was laughing and surprised once I realized the eye hole!
 

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