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

[missangelalexis]

Glad you got to see Pere Noel again and some of the other storytellers! It stinks that you weren't feeling well- good idea taking that break!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Im sorry you weren't feeling well. I've definitely been there before and as much as you want to power through its impossible! It still seems like you were able to get quite a bit done though!

 

[disneyAndi14]

The dreaded winter cold, yuck!
I love your Christmas Toy Story shirt, so cool, where did you order it from?
I like how you put the pre trip plans and what really happened. I might have to steal this for my next TR

 

[Newsies]

I woke up this morning and knew there was a problem! Scratchy throat, congested. Uh oh! I hoped it would clear up and was maybe just overnight, but nope – my cold had started!

That moment where you realize you're starting to get sick is the absolute worst! I'm so sorry you got sick on this trip

Another perfect shirt!!!

I've NEVER seen this magic shot before, it's so much fun!

So first, I took some more stalker photos of the Toy Story characters! I noticed at the Disneyland Paris special events they had places next to the characters where you could just take a photo of them alone. Every couple of people, the handler and photographer would hold the next group of people for a couple seconds so people could snap pics without strangers in them! I would definitely take those opportunities, because I like getting photos of the characters but don’t care about waiting in a long line for the whole interaction.

I wish Disney would bring this to the US parks!

Then, it was another meetup with Zach (@AMusicLifeForMe)! We had FPs for Slinky Dog Dash. As we scanned into the FP line I realized I knew the CM working the front of the line. So she told us after riding to come back to the front and she would let us in again! Very nice! (Unfortunately my friend will no longer be working at SDD the next time I visit so I can't use that connection...but she will be in a galaxy far far away, so maybe a better opportunity will arise?!?)

Always helps to have those cast connections!! Congrats to her for being called to Batuu!

I like the Slinky animal world. And honestly, they should sell some of these characters in the gift shops/carts! I would probably buy the cat!

YES!!!! So glad someone finally said it!!!! Slinky cat is a darling and I need a plush of her, ASAP!!!

Then I picked up an order of Turkey Poutine from Refreshment Port (sweet potato fries, turkey gravy, cranberry relish, crispy onions). It was large! And interesting! I think it would have been better shared between people! It was decent, but not amazing - I think I prefer regular poutine!

These look really good!

So, I ended up opening the fortune cookie that came with my bao… "Follow your instincts". I decided to take that to heart and called it a night.

That is SO ominous! Looks like you made the right call!

Hopefully I’ll get to see some of this in the days before NYE this year. If not – another Christmas trip may be in order! Well, who am I kidding - of course I'm going to visit again at Christmas. Just have to decide what year to do it!

I hope you get to see everything you missed during your December trip this year!

 

[Lesley Wake]

I agree that Sigrid and Julenissen are the best. I wish it wasn't as well known how great they are because when I saw them I only ended up seeing them once because the crowds that formed during their performances were insane. La Befana is also fabulous but her story is a bit on the more somber side. You really got a lot done on this day though and omg so much food. Time for post-work chicken nuggets for me lol

Yeah, crowds definitely formed quickly for them! But it was worth it!

I hate when the scratchy throat starts, sorry you got sick on your trip. We did the Chip and Dale scavenger hunt, some of them were definitely tricky but we did end up finding all of them. We got some greeting cards for completing it.

Yeah, scratchy throat = no fun! Congrats on completing the scavenger hunt!

Glad you got to see Pere Noel again and some of the other storytellers! It stinks that you weren't feeling well- good idea taking that break!

Yeah I think the break was definitely necessary!

Im sorry you weren't feeling well. I've definitely been there before and as much as you want to power through its impossible! It still seems like you were able to get quite a bit done though!

I still had several days left so I didn't want to power through it and mess up the rest of my trip!

The dreaded winter cold, yuck!
I love your Christmas Toy Story shirt, so cool, where did you order it from?
I like how you put the pre trip plans and what really happened. I might have to steal this for my next TR

I think I got the shirt from Glitter Ever After? I know it was from etsy!

I figured the schedule showed how much things changed!

That moment where you realize you're starting to get sick is the absolute worst! I'm so sorry you got sick on this trip

Yeah, it sucks! Oh well, what can I do!

 

[Lesley Wake]

Day 6 – December 5 - A Tour and a move​

Pre-trip plans
9:00 – Yuletide Fantasy Tour
1:00 – Boathouse Lunch
-Disney springs exploration
-Grand Floridian visit
4:00 – Peter Pan’s Flight FP
5:00 – 7 Dwarves Mine Train FP
6:00 – Explore Fort Wilderness
-Check into Copper Creek Villas
8:00 – Whispering Canyon Cafe

Today will be a smaller post, because it was the worst of my being sick…

I woke up bright and early and had bell services collect my bags. I also realized it was much chillier this morning, so I finally pulled out one of my Disney Christmas sweaters.

I stopped at Boardwalk Bakery for breakfast. Just ended up getting a croissant, and I also filled my mug with hot cocoa.

I walked up to the IG and got in early because I had a tour, which met at the front of the park. So, I was able to walk through a very empty Epcot, which was pretty cool! Though it was also super windy – the Showcase Plaza really acted like a wind tunnel!

Sort of interesting to see everyone held back behind the ropes! And then I was leaving the park!

The CMs directed me to the tour location (I had to cut through the long turnstile lines), where I checked in. And finally ate my croissant, which was actually super yummy! Very fresh and you could tell it was baked at Boardwalk Bakery.

My tour was the Yuletide Fantasy tour. It was just a 3-hour tour run by Adventures by Disney. We took a bus to get to the locations, which was all decked out in Christmas stuff, with garlands and decorations in the luggage racks and a Disney yule log on the TVs! Our guides were also super adorable and very excited about holidays! Though they divided us up into two groups and I was happy about my guide, as she seemed more knowledgeable.

The tour was divided into Decorations, Gifts, and Food. Also, photos were limited due to being backstage!

First, decorations. We headed to the Holiday Services Warehouse, which was AMAZING!

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)!

We also went back into the workshop area, where they were examining the Halloween decorations to see what needed to be repaired/replaced.

Overall there have 27 full-time employees, plus lots of part-timers at busy times of years. I would love to visit that warehouse more times (especially during non-holiday times) – I think doing a whole backstage tour where you just go to all the WDW storage areas would be soooo interesting!

Oh and the guide said they have so many decorations because they plan out everything 3 yrs in advance, and buy enough to last for 5 yrs! So… that means the decorations for Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge are somewhere in there (if they have any)! And the ones for Toy Story Land were there for years!

I’m sure there was even more we talked about and I forgot about since then! Definitely a highlight of my whole trip!

They also took photos of us with a decoration backdrop in the warehouse

Next, time for Gifts. We went to the Disney Special Events building, which mostly is offices (it’s where they plan the special group events and celebrations). But that is also the home of the floral department, so we got to see them getting things all set up. We sort of guessed that the decorations they were working on were for a conference, since they looked all the same (and more professional focused than a wedding). They were also working on some of the hotel lobby centerpieces – they change them out weekly.

Next to the Floral department is the gift basket area, where they design and collect all the gift baskets. It was cool to see all the details, and the people working on them actually really enjoy making it special for families! The CM also told us a story about a family who was visiting over Christmas; their kid was worried Santa wouldn’t know where they would be. So they contact Disney and got a photo of a tree that could be ordered. The parents went home and bought everything to make an identical tree at home. Then, when they arrived at their room, it was the same tree. Very cute!

They all gave us a bag of mickey sequins, which apparently you can’t get anywhere else!

And a photo spot in front of the building

The final stop was Food. We went to Disney Springs and got to Amorettes, where we had gingerbread Mickeys all set out for us to decorate. First the chef talked about the various gingerbread houses around the resort (also, you know how they have all the hidden Mickeys – the tradition is the number of Mickeys equals the number of years they’ve done that house. So the Grand Floridian house is on its 20th year and they have 20 Mickeys; the Amorettes is on its 2nd year, so it has 2 Mickeys).

We then all got to decorate our Mickeys. Mine wasn’t exactly the best, but it got the job done (I ended up eating it later and it was very yummy)! Funny thing too, they provided a plastic spoon so if people wanted to eat the frosting directly, they could pour it into the spoon, rather than stick the bag into their mouths! They also showed us how to package things up with tissue paper (hint - it involves extra frosting to keep them in place) and gave us fancy gift boxes. I forgot to take a photo of mine though! Someone at my table decided to just eat hers right then and there! They then let anyone who wanted buy some of the treats at the counter, even though they weren’t open yet (we had many many people trying to come in, even though the doors were locked).

At the end, we got a pin for the Yuletide Fantasy tour, which was newly designed for this year! I can’t find any photos I took, so here is a photo from Ebay!

​

 

[Lesley Wake]

At the end of the Amorettes time, most of the people stayed in the shop to get taken back to Epcot via the bus. Meanwhile, a few people (including me) bid everyone a farewell and stayed at Disney Springs. I had planned on doing a DS lunch anyways, so it worked out well with the tour! I actually thought it would be later (the 3 hrs included travel back to Epcot), so I was able to switch my ADR to an earlier time.

Lunch today was at The Boathouse. I loved the buoy decorations in front of the restaurant, as well as the garlands.

I started out with the delicious rolls! I got way too many of these! I also got a hot chocolate which I really needed for my throat!

For my main course I got the Crab Cake, which was good. Unfortunately, a combination of being sick and eating those rolls meant I could only eat half of it! I boxed up the rest and brought it with me (the beauty of a Studio villa-you get an in-room microwave), but I didn’t end up ever eating it!

Overall I liked The Boathouse and think I need to have a redo when I'm not sick!

Penguin decorations at DS

I then left DS and headed to my final resort – Copper Creek Villas at Wilderness Lodge.

Originally I planned on going to Magic Kingdom for the afternoon and I did have FPs there, but I knew my energy was just shot, so that wasn’t a good idea. I didn’t have a room ready text yet, but was hoping that would arrive quickly. So I camped out in the lobby and waited… and waited… (I wish I had know about the 4th floor fireplace and alcove because I totally would have gone there).

I also bumped and ran my dinner reservation at WCC, because I knew if I couldn’t eat a whole crab cake, how was I going to enjoy an endless platter!

To be fair, the wait wasn’t too bad because the lobby is gorgeous!

Eventually (about 1.5 hrs later, but still before the 4pm check-in time), I got my room assignment and I headed up. My room was on the 5th floor, right off the main lobby with a view into the courtyard. I actually really liked this location. Yes, it wasn’t the quietest, but most of the noise coming from the lobby was Christmas music, which helped me get in the Christmas spirit! The location also put me close to the elevators, and also I got to go thru the lobby all the time and admire that lovely tree and decorations!

After I got my room I called down to Bell services and asked for my luggage…and waited…and waited. Again, I had to call a second time, when it was delivered almost immediately. So that was annoying, but I guess I need to be more active about calling after a delay!

After my bags came up, I quickly pulled out a few things I needed-PJs, toiletries, etc. And then I went to bed, and slept until 7:30 the next morning! Definitely necessary for my cold.

To be fair, I did end up getting up twice. Once to eat my gingerbread mickey (which was actually delicious – so much better than the ear hat ornament), though I may have eaten this while I was waiting for my luggage, I can’t quite remember.

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. Unfortunately I couldn’t really see it because there was a tree in the way. So, keep that in mind if you are staying at WL and trying to have an early night! The music is loud!

​

A review of my pre-trip plans
9:00 – Yuletide Fantasy Tour - yup!
1:00 – Boathouse Lunch - check
-Disney springs exploration – not necessary
-Grand Floridian visit - nope
4:00 – Peter Pan’s Flight FP – skip
5:00 – 7 Dwarves Mine Train FP - nope
6:00 – Explore Fort Wilderness – as if!
-Check into Copper Creek Villas
8:00 – Whispering Canyon Café – cancelled

Coming up - Magic Kingdom Christmas!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

The Yuletide Fantasy tour honestly looks so cool. I've passed by the Holiday storage behind Magic Kingdom many times going into work or the parks or whatever but never been inside but now I'm intrigued. Again, even working here as many times/long as I have I still haven't seen it all. I'm sorry you were too sick to really enjoy this day but it looked like you took it at the right pace.

 

[buzzrelly]

That stinks that you were getting sick I came back from a December trip once with strep throat and a double ear infection. It was excruciating to fly home After that trip, I always call and get a prescription z-pack to bring with me.

I love your Toy/Christmas Story shirt

I think I've said this before, but your report makes me want to go again for Christmas so bad!!

 

[Newsies]

First, decorations. We headed to the Holiday Services Warehouse, which was AMAZING!

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)!

WOW!!! I always passed by this building on my way to work and wondered what it was like inside, this is such a cool tour!

They all gave us a bag of mickey sequins, which apparently you can’t get anywhere else!

Again... cool!!!

This tour sounds amazing, I hadn't heard about it before this post! Thank you for this review!

My room was on the 5th floor, right off the main lobby with a view into the courtyard. I actually really liked this location. Yes, it wasn’t the quietest, but most of the noise coming from the lobby was Christmas music, which helped me get in the Christmas spirit! The location also put me close to the elevators, and also I got to go thru the lobby all the time and admire that lovely tree and decorations!

This is such a nice room!

I'm glad you were able to get some rest before the next day, hope you woke up feeling at least a little bit better!

 

[DLo]

What an interesting tour. I haven't heard of it before - then again I haven't been during the holidays either. Is that the only time it is offered?

 

[Woth2982]

FINALLY caught up! June is my busiest month at work, then had some fun July plans, and now I am home sick and finally caught up! Took a virus, but I did it! You are making me so nostalgic for Christmas at Disney. DH just got a new job so his holiday ban is coming to an end! I keep putting a Disney Cruise on the Magic in my cart for Dec 26, 2020 then back it out. I still have to buy my AP and the deposit costs the same. Adulting is rough! Love seeing the Copper Creek studio! DH and I just bought into CCR in May, cannot wait to plan our first welcome home stay there! It was between there and Rivera, and I let DH pick (gotta let him feel like he has SOME say in our lives right?).

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

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. Unfortunately I couldn’t really see it because there was a tree in the way. So, keep that in mind if you are staying at WL and trying to have an early night! The music is loud!

YES!!! The very first time we stayed here, we were upgraded to a water view that was all the way down by the water. It was beautiful, but EVERY night, just as the girls were trying to fall asleep we would hear the water parade go by.

 

[vamassey1]

Today will be a smaller post, because it was the worst of my being sick…

I'm so sorry you were so ill. I hope this means you were feeling better after this day.

So, I was able to walk through a very empty Epcot, which was pretty cool!

I really love all the empty Epcot pictures.

Sort of interesting to see everyone held back behind the ropes! And then I was leaving the park!

Those poor masses of people waiting.

We took a bus to get to the locations, which was all decked out in Christmas stuff, with garlands and decorations in the luggage racks and a Disney yule log on the TVs!

That's a really cool touch.

First, decorations. We headed to the Holiday Services Warehouse, which was AMAZING!

This building sounds so amazing. Way too much to see.

They also took photos of us with a decoration backdrop in the warehouse

This was very cool that they took photos of y'all at every stop.

I think he looks delicious.

Lunch today was at The Boathouse. I loved the buoy decorations in front of the restaurant, as well as the garlands.

Cute decorations.

I boxed up the rest and brought it with me (the beauty of a Studio villa-you get an in-room microwave), but I didn’t end up ever eating it!

I don't think we have every eaten something we boxed up for later.

To be fair, the wait wasn’t too bad because the lobby is gorgeous!

It does look gorgeous.

After I got my room I called down to Bell services and asked for my luggage…and waited…and waited. Again, I had to call a second time, when it was delivered almost immediately. So that was annoying, but I guess I need to be more active about calling after a delay!

I hate waiting for the luggage.

And then I went to bed, and slept until 7:30 the next morning! Definitely necessary for my cold.

Sounds like you really needed your rest to heal.

 

[suse66]

Then I went back up to my room. I’m not sure exactly if I rested or what, but I do know I made some changes to my outfit. First-the magicband puck switch (at Disney Springs I got a magic keeper carabiner, which I had been considering for a while, since it also came with a screwdriver (though I guess all resorts have a couple up front for people to use). Then I also decided I couldn’t deal with those sleeves anymore…so I just cut them off! And I also put some shorts on! So much better!

Such a cute shirt.....love the improvisation with the sleeves!

We had John Stamos as a narrator, and well, he was amazing! Like seriously, wow! He was so emotional and seemed to enjoy it sooo much! Everytime he talked about an infant child, he would get choked up (he and his wife just had a baby boy and this was the baby's first WDW trip). You could seem him dancing along and just so happy to be there! At the end, he gave a little speech about trying to come together and have peace, not division, which I really appreciated. I don’t have any videos, but when I post Day 4, I’ll include a video Zach put together of the CPs.

So lovely!

Anyways, after the CP, Zach and I had planned to stick together most of the night. We had a FP for Frozen Ever After. We haven’t had the best luck with boat rides, with noisy and rude guests behind us both on Gran Fiesta Tour and Pirates of the Caribbean (that even caused me to turn around and yell at the boat behind us), so were a bit apprehensive! But overall, nothing to worry about – a normal Frozen ride! I think if I have to choose, FEA is my favorite ride at Epcot (that or Living with the Land), though I would prefer most of the rides at Animal Kingdom over that!

LwtL is my fave with FEA a close second.

I headed up to the front of Epcot to see the topiaries up there. Cute!

They are sweet! Are they the F&G topiaries with a holiday overlay?

Zach then came back into line, and I headed over to Italy for La Befana (basically the Christmas Witch). I really liked this one, the lady was very funny and the kids were super cute interacting with her! She kept trying to sweep away this one little kid who was climbing higher and higher up the steps!

So funny!

Savory food offerings: pretzel bread and smoked sea salt flatbread; cheese fondue; kettle chips, roasted onion dip, spinach and artichoke dip, trail mix;

Looks great! I would love that pretzel bread and cheese sauce.

Santa Goofy had absolutely no one when I went up there! I think there were a handful of families who got in line after me, but I don’t know if there was ever a significant line.

Such a cute picture!

When I got back to the room I realized the pool was going to stay open for another 15 minutes – I was already wet, why not enjoy the hot tub a bit! So I quickly went down and was able to relax a bit. Plus I did 2 rides on the water slide – which was awesome! It really feels like a boardwalk roller coaster! I am a big fan!

Nice!

And then into Toy Story Land.

Love this pic! And all your shirts are so cute!!

Then, it was another meetup with Zach (@AMusicLifeForMe)! We had FPs for Slinky Dog Dash. As we scanned into the FP line I realized I knew the CM working the front of the line. So she told us after riding to come back to the front and she would let us in again! Very nice! (Unfortunately my friend will no longer be working at SDD the next time I visit so I can't use that connection...but she will be in a galaxy far far away, so maybe a better opportunity will arise?!?)

Awesome!

But I quickly recognized my energy was fading fast and I needed to take a break. The plan had been to see Joyful, then head towards Norway and see Ingrid. But I realized I needed to choose, so chose Ingrid. And I was soo happy I did! I loved that performance, such a cheeky barn Santa! This is the one performer I HAVE to see this December!

That sounds like fun!

And a stop for a nice photopass with a lantern

Great picture!

I didn’t do the Chip'n'Dale Wreath hunt, but did find this one in the German store. Considering how out of the way this guy was, I’d imagine the scavenger hunt could be pretty hard!

I would love to do this! Must check it out in December!

I like how you put the pre trip plans and what really happened. I might have to steal this for my next TR

I was thinking the same thing!

My tour was the Yuletide Fantasy tour. It was just a 3-hour tour run by Adventures by Disney. We took a bus to get to the locations, which was all decked out in Christmas stuff, with garlands and decorations in the luggage racks and a Disney yule log on the TVs! Our guides were also super adorable and very excited about holidays! Though they divided us up into two groups and I was happy about my guide, as she seemed more knowledgeable.

Sounds like a wonderful tour!

So the Grand Floridian house is on its 20th year and they have 20 Mickeys; the Amorettes is on its 2nd year, so it has 2 Mickeys).

Oh! Something else fun to look for! I didn't realize the gingerbread houses have Hidden Mickeys.

At the end, we got a pin for the Yuletide Fantasy tour, which was newly designed for this year! I can’t find any photos I took, so here is a photo from Ebay!

Love the pin!

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Scratchy throat, congested. Uh oh! I hoped it would clear up and was maybe just overnight, but nope – my cold had started!

Ugh no! Even though I knew you said you got sick on this trip it's still such a bummer to get to the part where it actually happened. So sad that you had to deal with a cold at Disney.

I noticed at the Disneyland Paris special events they had places next to the characters where you could just take a photo of them alone. Every couple of people, the handler and photographer would hold the next group of people for a couple seconds so people could snap pics without strangers in them! I would definitely take those opportunities, because I like getting photos of the characters but don’t care about waiting in a long line for the whole interaction.

This is amazing. I make a motion to have this be standard at all character meets everywhere ever.

(Unfortunately my friend will no longer be working at SDD the next time I visit so I can't use that connection...but she will be in a galaxy far far away, so maybe a better opportunity will arise?!?)

Oh heyyy now that's what I'm talking about!

but I thought the maple flavor was a bit overpowering.

But what else would you expect from the Canada booth, eh?

And I was soo happy I did! I loved that performance, such a cheeky barn Santa! This is the one performer I HAVE to see this December!

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!

and then when I left Norway I happened to see the Lion Dancer leaving his performance.

Just a lion casually walking back stage

I then headed back out and over to the Boardwalk. Where I took a nice, long nap.

Okay how nice is it that you were able to just walk right back for a nap? So convenient!

And a stop for a nice photopass with a lantern

So pretty!!

I guess being sick helps save money, since I'm just too exhausted to think!

Hahaha I guess that's a silver lining?

So, I ended up opening the fortune cookie that came with my bao… "Follow your instincts". I decided to take that to heart and called it a night.

Okay bao getting the advice right on point. Well done bao.

so I finally pulled out one of my Disney Christmas sweaters

With the sleeves in tact this time?

So, I was able to walk through a very empty Epcot, which was pretty cool!

Oh cool SUPER empty!

I think doing a whole backstage tour where you just go to all the WDW storage areas would be soooo interesting!

And this is how you can tell when you've reached peak Disney fanatic status. But also I totally agree.

And a photo spot in front of the building

Cute Mickey!

I then left DS and headed to my final resort – Copper Creek Villas at Wilderness Lodge.

HOME! All your photos make me so excited to stay there at Christmas soon!!

So, keep that in mind if you are staying at WL and trying to have an early night! The music is loud!

OMG sooooo loud. It's actually startling.

 

[missangelalexis]

That tour sounds awesome and unique! Something I'd definitely consider for myself!

Definitely a good idea calling it an early night and resting!

 

[pkondz]

Today will be a smaller post, because it was the worst of my being sick…

I also realized it was much chillier this morning,

Nah. It's Florida. Doesn't get chilly.
Probably the chills from fever.

Looks like he's getting ready to sprint.

Sort of interesting to see everyone held back behind the ropes! And then I was leaving the park!

That's a cool perspective! Just like what a CM would see.

with garlands and decorations in the luggage racks and a Disney yule log on the TVs!

Really love that.

So huge and so full of decorations –

That was all really interesting. Had no idea, but... it all makes sense.

(also, you know how they have all the hidden Mickeys – the tradition is the number of Mickeys equals the number of years they’ve done that house. So the Grand Floridian house is on its 20th year and they have 20 Mickeys; the Amorettes is on its 2nd year, so it has 2 Mickeys).

ohhhhh… Didn't know that!

Cute shot of you.

Lunch today was at The Boathouse.

Been there. I liked it.

After I got my room I called down to Bell services and asked for my luggage…and waited…and waited. Again, I had to call a second time, when it was delivered almost immediately. So that was annoying, but I guess I need to be more active about calling after a delay!

Start a timer. 30 minutes gets a recall.

It took a moment to realize it was the Electric Light Water Parade passing by the WL. Unfortunately I couldn’t really see it because there was a tree in the way. So, keep that in mind if you are staying at WL and trying to have an early night! The music is loud!

Good to know.

 

[Lesley Wake]

The Yuletide Fantasy tour honestly looks so cool. I've passed by the Holiday storage behind Magic Kingdom many times going into work or the parks or whatever but never been inside but now I'm intrigued. Again, even working here as many times/long as I have I still haven't seen it all. I'm sorry you were too sick to really enjoy this day but it looked like you took it at the right pace.

Yeah it was a very cool tour! I actually was sitting next to a girl finishing up her CP. I think it was priced fairly too (well, by Disney standards)!

That stinks that you were getting sick I came back from a December trip once with strep throat and a double ear infection. It was excruciating to fly home After that trip, I always call and get a prescription z-pack to bring with me.

I love your Toy/Christmas Story shirt

I think I've said this before, but your report makes me want to go again for Christmas so bad!!

Yeah, I need to bring a z-pack with me next time I travel!

Christmas is probably my favorite time to visit!

WOW!!! I always passed by this building on my way to work and wondered what it was like inside, this is such a cool tour!

Like the last scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but all Christmas!

What an interesting tour. I haven't heard of it before - then again I haven't been during the holidays either. Is that the only time it is offered?

Unfortunately, yes, only during holidays. And then only during certain days of the week. But totally worth it!

FINALLY caught up! June is my busiest month at work, then had some fun July plans, and now I am home sick and finally caught up! Took a virus, but I did it! You are making me so nostalgic for Christmas at Disney. DH just got a new job so his holiday ban is coming to an end! I keep putting a Disney Cruise on the Magic in my cart for Dec 26, 2020 then back it out. I still have to buy my AP and the deposit costs the same. Adulting is rough! Love seeing the Copper Creek studio! DH and I just bought into CCR in May, cannot wait to plan our first welcome home stay there! It was between there and Rivera, and I let DH pick (gotta let him feel like he has SOME say in our lives right?).

Haha, yeah I'd probably pick CCV over Riveria. Riveria looks nice, but it's going to have high maintenance fees (as it seems to be subsidizing part of the skyliner).

 

[Lesley Wake]

YES!!! The very first time we stayed here, we were upgraded to a water view that was all the way down by the water. It was beautiful, but EVERY night, just as the girls were trying to fall asleep we would hear the water parade go by.

It's definitely jarring! You think you have a peaceful room view, then bang - time for music!

I'm so sorry you were so ill. I hope this means you were feeling better after this day.

A bit better. Still not perfect. But at least I knew I was coming back to WDW only a couple months later, so I decided to focus on the things I couldn't do then (Christmas stuff)!

That's a really cool touch.

I wish they had a loop of it you could buy - we usually like having a Yule Log on the TV when opening Christmas presents. We've done the kitten/puppies, and my brother likes the Nick Offerman version where he's just sitting in a chair sipping whiskey!

This was very cool that they took photos of y'all at every stop.

Yeah, I appreciated it, especially since we couldn't take other photos!

Such a cute shirt.....love the improvisation with the sleeves!

Haha, thanks! It was sooo much more comfortable!

They are sweet! Are they the F&G topiaries with a holiday overlay?

I think so!