We checked in Friday at 2:00 and we were shocked to be told our 1BR Boardwalk view villa was ready. It was room 5017, about two hallways from the elevators and above The Big River Grille and Brewing Works, with a great view of Spaceship Earth and Illuminations. You could also see Wishes off to the left. If you go to bed early or are a light sleeper, a potential negative with this area of rooms is that they are directly across from the Basketball Hoops game and the Water Gun game. The bell from the water gun game is very loud and people play it quite late. It was pretty annoying, but we really didn't go to bed too early, so at least it didn't keep us up.
After unpacking, we put up our Christmas lights on the balcony (one long balcony from the living room to the bedroom, very nice), and relaxed from the drive. Later that evening we went to Bistro de Paris. Although we were on the DDP, we paid OOP because we would be using 2 table service credits twice during the week. The service and food were excellent (about $130 with 2 drinks and the DDE discount). We stayed for Illuminations and the special holiday fireworks afterwards. Great, as always! We loved seeing our lights on from the boat!
On Saturday my sister and BIL arrived and we met up at Sunshine Seasons for lunch. We toured the countries and then met up again for our 5:40/8:00 CP package at Le Cellier. By the time we actually sat down it was close to six, so we gave our waitress our drink, appetizer and entree order right away. Dinner was very good, steaks were done perfectly. We were told to be on line about 30-45 minutes early and by the time we got there (30 minutes out), we were standing all the way down past Japan and the line behind us grew and grew. I don't know if any of the standby people even got in. It was the first time my sis and BIL saw the show and they were just blown away. It always brings me to tears and this time was no exception. Truly outstanding!
We thought Sunday would be perfect for MGM and it was, small crowds, not bad lines, etc. We had lunch at Starring Rolls, huge sandwiches, and great desserts. Luckily we did VOTLM because it was closed the rest of the week. Headed over to Brown Derby for our 4:20 Fantasmic package. We absolutely love this restaurant and it did not dissappoint. Everything was wonderful. Later in the evening when we were let into Fantasmic, I was shocked at how few people were there. We didn't even bother to sit in the dinner section. We sat right down front in the Mickey section. Awesome seats, and the theater did fill up by showtime.
About 9:00 Monday morning, as we were on our way out the housekeeping CM came for the full cleaning. She did a great job. My sis & I headed off to DTD to finish up our Christmas shopping. I shipped a bunch of stuff up to NJ and though they wouldn't guarantee it would arrive for Christmas, my other sis said it arrived today. I'll wrap it when I get there next week. We had lunch at Earl of Sandwich. The stores did not appear excessively crowded, but the line here was huge. It moved fairly quickly, and you can't beat the fresh bread. After lunch we went back to the hotel to rest up for the MK EMH. To be close to MK, we went to GF Cafe for dinner. The waitress started out strong, friendly and quick with the drinks, but then she just lost all steam. For appetizers we all ordered soups. I am not exaggerating when I say it took at least 20 minutes to get the soups, and the place was pretty empty. Our section only had 2 other tables. We were happy with the food, but the service was poor. We won't be going back any time soon. Then, it was on to MK. The place was mobbed. I heard many people say they never saw it this crowded. It was a Spectro/EMH night, so I imagine that had a lot to do with it, but it was crazy. The rides had very long wait times so we didn't even bother before Spectro. Spectro was dazzling. It looked better and brighter than ever. After Spectro we were going to try to go on a ride or two before Wishes, but it was hopeless. We staked out a wall to wall spot on Main Street and were mesmerized by the beauty of the castle. We loved the icicles. We all thought it was breathtaking. After Wishes, and official park closing, it was still impossible to get on HM, but we were able to go on Philharmagic, Jungle Cruise, Tiki Birds and a couple of others. I can't even imagine what it's like at Christmas time, because I never expected crowds like this. Whew!
Tuesday we headed to the Rainforest Cafe before tackling AK. We made sure to get into line early to see Finding Nemo. It paid off because we got great seats. Did I imagine this, or is it going to Broadway? It's really that good. Crowds were minimal, and we got to do everything we wanted. It was just warm enough to go on Kali River Rapids before leaving, no lines, and no fastpass. We got soaked, but it was fun!
Heading back to our room, we let someone pass us by and as he knocked on his door, I noticed it was to a Grand Villa. I don't usually have the nerve, but I always wanted to see inside one, so I asked him if we could peek in as he opened the door. He looked kind of shocked, but then said, "okay." When his wife opened the door, she let us come in to the living room/dining room area (kids were napping). It was spectacular. They had brought a full-sized tree down on the plane from NY. It was all decorated with lights and everything. She had wreaths hanging all around, and stockings hung on the armoire. The whole place that we could see was decorated. It's a lot of points, but it sure was gorgeous.
We thanked them, then headed down a few doors to our villa to dry out. Later on, we went for a light dinner at the Dolphin Fountain with the 20% DVC discount. They had flatbread sandwiches. They were very good, but not so light. We couldn't even finish them.
By Wednesday after lunch, I needed a little bit of a break, so we hung out at the pool. We had 4:30 dinners at Tutto Italia & Marrakesh. I ate with my BIL in Italy and thought the taste of the food was excellent, but the price was crazy. My BIL & I both got Penne Caprese. It's $24 for a bowl of pasta. I don't think I'd ever eat here if I wasn't on the dining plan. My DH & sis both had the lamb in Morocco and they both loved it. After dinner we finished up the rides and movies, then went back to the villa to watch Illuminations from the balcony.
Thursday we got up early to go on Soarin' again. It's enjoyable every time. For lunch we ate at Teppan Edo. I think the food was much improved from Teppanyaki. The others were not crazy about the appetizer choices, but I liked the assorted tempura. After lunch it was back to the pool, then later we went to MGM again. We went on more rides and saw IJ for the second time. For dinner, we had counter service at the Backlot Express. We thought it was decent.
Strangely enough, on Friday we were scheduled for T&T. It didn't really make much sense to me since we were checking out the next day, but the CM showed up early and we told her we'd be leaving in a few minutes. When we arrived back at 4:30, the T&T were just as we left them. A quick call to Housekeeping corrected the situation, and the sweet CM who came kept apologizing over and over again. We had spent this day at MGM and got to see the 3:00 parade which we usually skip. That was a treat. Dinner that night was at Yachtsman Steakhouse. Bill, our waiter was excellent. The food was outstanding. Always a highlight!
We had a great trip, not a drop of rain, lots of fun. We usually take it a lot slower, but my sis doesn't get down here as often as we do, so she kept us hopping. About the DDP, we ate breakfast in the villa every morning except one. Since most dinners came to $30 and up, and most counter services were about $10, we felt we pretty much broke even, but as so many people have said, it is a lot of food. Even taking home six bottles of water, we still did not use 3 snacks and 3 counter services. I guess with the new plan without the appetizer, we may need a few more snacks, but without the water, we would have still had 9 snacks left on the last day.
We never encountered anything but sweet/nice CMs. We didn't see much going on in terms of dreams, except for dream fastpasses in Epcot & MGM. If you're not going this month, make sure you look at some pictures of the castle at night, it's just beautiful! I'm sorry this was sooo long. I hope I didn't bore you all to death. Take care.
After unpacking, we put up our Christmas lights on the balcony (one long balcony from the living room to the bedroom, very nice), and relaxed from the drive. Later that evening we went to Bistro de Paris. Although we were on the DDP, we paid OOP because we would be using 2 table service credits twice during the week. The service and food were excellent (about $130 with 2 drinks and the DDE discount). We stayed for Illuminations and the special holiday fireworks afterwards. Great, as always! We loved seeing our lights on from the boat!
On Saturday my sister and BIL arrived and we met up at Sunshine Seasons for lunch. We toured the countries and then met up again for our 5:40/8:00 CP package at Le Cellier. By the time we actually sat down it was close to six, so we gave our waitress our drink, appetizer and entree order right away. Dinner was very good, steaks were done perfectly. We were told to be on line about 30-45 minutes early and by the time we got there (30 minutes out), we were standing all the way down past Japan and the line behind us grew and grew. I don't know if any of the standby people even got in. It was the first time my sis and BIL saw the show and they were just blown away. It always brings me to tears and this time was no exception. Truly outstanding!
We thought Sunday would be perfect for MGM and it was, small crowds, not bad lines, etc. We had lunch at Starring Rolls, huge sandwiches, and great desserts. Luckily we did VOTLM because it was closed the rest of the week. Headed over to Brown Derby for our 4:20 Fantasmic package. We absolutely love this restaurant and it did not dissappoint. Everything was wonderful. Later in the evening when we were let into Fantasmic, I was shocked at how few people were there. We didn't even bother to sit in the dinner section. We sat right down front in the Mickey section. Awesome seats, and the theater did fill up by showtime.
About 9:00 Monday morning, as we were on our way out the housekeeping CM came for the full cleaning. She did a great job. My sis & I headed off to DTD to finish up our Christmas shopping. I shipped a bunch of stuff up to NJ and though they wouldn't guarantee it would arrive for Christmas, my other sis said it arrived today. I'll wrap it when I get there next week. We had lunch at Earl of Sandwich. The stores did not appear excessively crowded, but the line here was huge. It moved fairly quickly, and you can't beat the fresh bread. After lunch we went back to the hotel to rest up for the MK EMH. To be close to MK, we went to GF Cafe for dinner. The waitress started out strong, friendly and quick with the drinks, but then she just lost all steam. For appetizers we all ordered soups. I am not exaggerating when I say it took at least 20 minutes to get the soups, and the place was pretty empty. Our section only had 2 other tables. We were happy with the food, but the service was poor. We won't be going back any time soon. Then, it was on to MK. The place was mobbed. I heard many people say they never saw it this crowded. It was a Spectro/EMH night, so I imagine that had a lot to do with it, but it was crazy. The rides had very long wait times so we didn't even bother before Spectro. Spectro was dazzling. It looked better and brighter than ever. After Spectro we were going to try to go on a ride or two before Wishes, but it was hopeless. We staked out a wall to wall spot on Main Street and were mesmerized by the beauty of the castle. We loved the icicles. We all thought it was breathtaking. After Wishes, and official park closing, it was still impossible to get on HM, but we were able to go on Philharmagic, Jungle Cruise, Tiki Birds and a couple of others. I can't even imagine what it's like at Christmas time, because I never expected crowds like this. Whew!
Tuesday we headed to the Rainforest Cafe before tackling AK. We made sure to get into line early to see Finding Nemo. It paid off because we got great seats. Did I imagine this, or is it going to Broadway? It's really that good. Crowds were minimal, and we got to do everything we wanted. It was just warm enough to go on Kali River Rapids before leaving, no lines, and no fastpass. We got soaked, but it was fun!
Heading back to our room, we let someone pass us by and as he knocked on his door, I noticed it was to a Grand Villa. I don't usually have the nerve, but I always wanted to see inside one, so I asked him if we could peek in as he opened the door. He looked kind of shocked, but then said, "okay." When his wife opened the door, she let us come in to the living room/dining room area (kids were napping). It was spectacular. They had brought a full-sized tree down on the plane from NY. It was all decorated with lights and everything. She had wreaths hanging all around, and stockings hung on the armoire. The whole place that we could see was decorated. It's a lot of points, but it sure was gorgeous.
We thanked them, then headed down a few doors to our villa to dry out. Later on, we went for a light dinner at the Dolphin Fountain with the 20% DVC discount. They had flatbread sandwiches. They were very good, but not so light. We couldn't even finish them.
By Wednesday after lunch, I needed a little bit of a break, so we hung out at the pool. We had 4:30 dinners at Tutto Italia & Marrakesh. I ate with my BIL in Italy and thought the taste of the food was excellent, but the price was crazy. My BIL & I both got Penne Caprese. It's $24 for a bowl of pasta. I don't think I'd ever eat here if I wasn't on the dining plan. My DH & sis both had the lamb in Morocco and they both loved it. After dinner we finished up the rides and movies, then went back to the villa to watch Illuminations from the balcony.
Thursday we got up early to go on Soarin' again. It's enjoyable every time. For lunch we ate at Teppan Edo. I think the food was much improved from Teppanyaki. The others were not crazy about the appetizer choices, but I liked the assorted tempura. After lunch it was back to the pool, then later we went to MGM again. We went on more rides and saw IJ for the second time. For dinner, we had counter service at the Backlot Express. We thought it was decent.
Strangely enough, on Friday we were scheduled for T&T. It didn't really make much sense to me since we were checking out the next day, but the CM showed up early and we told her we'd be leaving in a few minutes. When we arrived back at 4:30, the T&T were just as we left them. A quick call to Housekeeping corrected the situation, and the sweet CM who came kept apologizing over and over again. We had spent this day at MGM and got to see the 3:00 parade which we usually skip. That was a treat. Dinner that night was at Yachtsman Steakhouse. Bill, our waiter was excellent. The food was outstanding. Always a highlight!
We had a great trip, not a drop of rain, lots of fun. We usually take it a lot slower, but my sis doesn't get down here as often as we do, so she kept us hopping. About the DDP, we ate breakfast in the villa every morning except one. Since most dinners came to $30 and up, and most counter services were about $10, we felt we pretty much broke even, but as so many people have said, it is a lot of food. Even taking home six bottles of water, we still did not use 3 snacks and 3 counter services. I guess with the new plan without the appetizer, we may need a few more snacks, but without the water, we would have still had 9 snacks left on the last day.
We never encountered anything but sweet/nice CMs. We didn't see much going on in terms of dreams, except for dream fastpasses in Epcot & MGM. If you're not going this month, make sure you look at some pictures of the castle at night, it's just beautiful! I'm sorry this was sooo long. I hope I didn't bore you all to death. Take care.
