Christmas for 15 as told by the planner

[graveskj]

I'm still here! I have been bad both at reading TR's and posting updates on mine. I'm going to get all caught up today and tomorrow.

Jack freaked out at ITTBAB too. He doesn't like the dark.

I LOVE the mushroom filet at Le Cellier. I think it's the best thing I have ever eaten. The chocolate moose was awesome too!

Glad I still have you!
I know I was procrastinating like crazy, using the fact that I didn't have my photopass pics yet as my excuse. But, I have them all now, so it's time to get back to business.
Guess we will just have to wait a few more years to try ITTBAB again.
I can still remember the few bites of filet my husband so generously gave me. It was amazing.

 

[graveskj]

Christmas Eve

We woke around 7am again and Kevin walked to the food court and brought back an omelet and drinks. We hopped on a bus for Hollywood Studios around 8:30 and walked in at 8:55am (opening was 9). I took Charlie over to Star Wars to sign up for Jedi training. There were very few people over on that side of the park and we were able to sign up for the first show (9:55am). We just had to be back at 9:25am. Kevin and Claire had headed back to TSM to try to get FPs. They were just getting to the machine when Charlie and I found them. The return time for TSM was already for noon.
We continued around the park towards Little Mermaid and grabbed FPs for that as well since the ride itself was not working. We headed back through the park, stopping around the fences for pictures with Goofy and Pluto.

We were back at Star Wars at 9:25 and were told that we could just hang around, so Charlie and I got in line for pictures with Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper.

Eventually they called all the kids in to the show area. Kevin and Claire had wandered around while waiting and so when they came back the only spots left around the show area were the ones facing directly into the sunlight. Oh well. It was a very good show and the photopass photographer got some great shots.

We stopped in the store and bought Charlie a lightsaber and Claire a spinning light-up R2-D2. She still loves that thing and calls it “My Two-Dee”.

We headed back towards LM to try to get in for that, stopping to watch the Narnia show on the way. LM was still down, so Kevin took the kids in for Playhouse Disney while I went back to the photo place near the entrance to load the Jedi Training photos on to our photopass cards. We met back up near LM & PHD around 11am and decided to have lunch before doing TSM. I’ve always read that Pizza Planet is the best place for lunch and we liked it in 2007, so we headed all the way across the park again. It was very sunny out so we ended up sitting outdoors at Pizza Planet to eat our food.

To complete our third trip around the park, we headed back to TSM and used our FPs. It was still a 15 minute wait or so, but a pretty fun ride. After that we headed back to Sports for naptime.

 

[graveskj]

After a couple hours we woke up and saw that it was a little after 3pm. Our ADR for Teppan Edo and the Candlelight Processional package was 4:10. Yikes! Boy, that walk around EPCOT feels even longer when you are late and it is crowded. We arrived around 4:25pm and they seated us at 4:30pm at a table with another family and a couple. Ours were the only young children. Neither child was very interested in eating or sitting still. Luckily we were on the very outside so when the kids got bored and kept jumping out of their chairs, they had space out the doorway to watch people walk down the hallway. I ordered scallops and ginger cake and even managed to eat the scallops with chopsticks. I really enjoyed my entire meal. Kevin had steak and chicken. I forget what Charlie had, but he was already complaining about his stomach and side hurting before we even got the food. We thought he was hungry or tired from the long rushed walk, but the complaining continued through the evening. He did get a special chef’s hat and dessert since we had noted that we were celebrating his birthday on our ADR.

We started walking towards the American Pavilion, but noticed the line stretching very far in the other direction. We finally found someone to ask and they said yes, that is the line for CPP. I don’t have any idea what the line was like for non-package holders. We walked all the way to the back and got in line for the 6:45pm show. We were seated on the left side, about halfway back. I really liked it, but didn’t get much chance to take any pictures since the kids were so fidgety and Charlie was still complaining about his sideache. This is the only one we took:

He was still whining on the way to the viewing area for Illuminations, so we even let him ride in the stroller...
We got a quick photopass and then Kevin headed off in search of popcorn and snacks while I found a place to sit with the kids in the viewing area.

I put down a blanket for Charlie to lay on, but he kept complaining about his side and how he was also afraid of fireworks and loud noises. He really turns into a wimp when he has a stomachache. Kevin returned with a pretzel, chips and water but then promptly took Charlie back to the room so Claire and I could stay and watch the show. It just started as they walked out at 9:30. I had plenty of room around me so I stood and tried to be packed up so I could leave right away since I would be alone bringing Claire and the stroller back to the room. After the “big bang” was over, I glanced down at her and she was asleep! So it was really just me watching the fireworks. After another 10 minutes of watching I figured we must really all need to just get back to the room and rest, so I headed out. I beat the crowds easily and still had a few nice people around to help me with the stroller while I held my sleeping daughter. We got the kids asleep in bed by 10:30 and then filled all the stockings before hitting the hay.

Summary of the day:
Rode: Narnia, Playhouse Disney, Toy Story Mania; Jedi Training completed, Goofy & Pluto photos, Vader & storm trooper photos, 1 Teppan Edo meal (4 year old goal finally accomplished), 1 Candlelight Processional, 1 fireworks show (mostly) watched, and 4 stockings filled

 

[stephielela]

Jedi training looks awesome! Jack doesn't know about Star Wars yet. How old do you think is old enough to participate in the Jedi training?

Kids are so much aharder to handle when they feel bad.

I can't believe Claire could sleep through the noise!

 

[graveskj]

Jedi training looks awesome! Jack doesn't know about Star Wars yet. How old do you think is old enough to participate in the Jedi training?

Kids are so much aharder to handle when they feel bad.

I can't believe Claire could sleep through the noise!

It was really cool. I was so jealous of all the kids that got to do it. There were certainly a few kids smaller than Charlie there (he's a bit tall for having just turned 6 right before), but I would think 5 is the minimum unless you have a very mature & brave 4 yr old. I guess it depends on how much they believe in the characters. Charlie was at the point where he's starting to understand that they are people and not the real characters from the movies.

I think after 3 full days of all that walking and doing as much as we possibly could, he was just maxed out. I couldn't bring myself to build in extra downtime when I made our plans, when I knew the crowds were going to get worse and worse, but we were able to slow down a bit from there on.

I was surprised to see her sleeping, too! It's not like she hadn't been getting her naps, but I guess she had just maxed out, too!

 

[graveskj]

Resort and DHS day

We decided that since we were able to do TSM and the Jedi training yesterday, we will take it really easy this morning, and let the kids sleep in as late as they like. They woke up by 7:30am. We let them start opening up their stockings and Kevin headed out for breakfast.

He brought back eggs, sausage, bacon and juice. We all hung out in our pjs for awhile watching tv. After a little while I took Charlie down to the arcade to use the 100points coupon that came with our package. Of course that lasted about 5 minutes. Luckily the next 100 or 2 lasted a bit longer and he was able to get enough tickets to get a couple small toys and candy. Kevin and Claire joined us for a bit and then we stopped in the main building near the food court where they had set up a table of lemonade and Christmas cookies for everyone. We stopped there a couple times that day.

We ate lunch in the food court and then took a short nap back at the room before hitting the pool for a bit. Luckily it was very sunny and 60s that day. Our evening plan was an ADR for Mama Melrose at 4:25pm with plenty of time to head over to see the first showing of Fantasmic! at 6:30pm. I wanted to make sure we did this ourselves since the family from TX said their girls would be too scared to watch it. We also didn't want to do the later show and be up later and try to leave with the masses when it was over.

So, we head to DHS and do the Muppet Show before checking in. They say they are running behind, but tell us to stay nearby as all they will do is yell out our name when our table is ready. All the seating is taken so Kevin takes the kids outside. I finally snag a spot on a couch. After awhile the kids come in and sit with me. At 5pm I walk back up to the desk and ask how much longer. She then calls my name. We order our food right away so we can try to still make Fantasmic!.

Kevin has chicken parmesan and I order chicken pipette. The kids share pizza on a Mickey plate with apple slices and ice cream. I order my cheesecake and take a few bites and ask for a box. I take Charlie with me and we run across DHS to F! while Kevin and Claire finish up and take care of the bill. We got in line around 6:20pm as they announce that there is only standing room only left. Several people turn around and leave the line, but we kept going. We ended up in the front of the standing room area in the back, which was fine for me, but Charlie couldn’t really see anything. So, I held a 50lb boy on my hip for most of the show. We both did enjoy it, though.

We head out when it is finished and Kevin sends me a text that he and Claire did LM. We meet near there and then head towards the Osborne lights. It was so amazing! We tried to take a lot of photos (didn't really come out that great) and also did a photopass.

It was so neat to see the lights and the snow. We took our time and really looked at each display. This was probably the only time we took our time doing anything, and it was really great. There were definitely a lot of people looking up at lights and bumping into each other, but no one was really pushy or rude.
We wanted to get up early the next day for EMH, so we grabbed a bus around 9pm and got back to our beds right away.

Summary of the day:
Rode: Muppet Show, Little Mermaid; many resort arcade games played, 1 pool swam in, 1 Mama Melrose meal, Osborne Family lights viewed, 1 Fantasmic! show watched, and 4 stockings opened

 

[exwdwcm]

your osborne lights PP pic is so cute! what a great memory. so did you enjoy the food at mama melrose? we are going to try it for the first time in October. did you notice the park was really crowded on Christmas day? another great update and pics!!!!

oh and i had the same question as Steph on the training academy- Will is going to be turning 4 when we go in October and i wanted to try it. He isn't scared of anything. in fact he rode TT 2x, BTMRR 2x, splash 2X and Soarin this last trip, and he had just turned 3 (he's tall). He likes star wars, but isn't a fanatic, but i figure we can make sure he watches all the movies and gets excited before we go!

 

[stephielela]

Awesome PP pic! We wanted to get one with the lights, but the line for PP was crazy. I can't even imagine holding Jack all the way through F!, and he's only 30 lbs!! I put him on my shoulders sometimes for parades, and even that kills me! Sounds like an awesome Christmas day!!

 

[graveskj]

your osborne lights PP pic is so cute! what a great memory. so did you enjoy the food at mama melrose? we are going to try it for the first time in October. did you notice the park was really crowded on Christmas day? another great update and pics!!!!

oh and i had the same question as Steph on the training academy- Will is going to be turning 4 when we go in October and i wanted to try it. He isn't scared of anything. in fact he rode TT 2x, BTMRR 2x, splash 2X and Soarin this last trip, and he had just turned 3 (he's tall). He likes star wars, but isn't a fanatic, but i figure we can make sure he watches all the movies and gets excited before we go!

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond!
We did enjoy Mama Melrose food, quite a bit actually. The bowl of chicken pipette was huge. I think I ate half and would have taken some with me, but we were staying a while and didn't want to keep it in the stroller. We did keep the cheesecake which was a nice snack the next day. I think it would be hard to mess up our dishes, but they tasted very good to us.
Yes, it was definitely crowded. I'm glad we didn't try to fight the crowds all day. Half a day was enough. I can't imagine what MK would have been like. They do a great job of roping off the Osborne lights so people have to go a certain direction, so that helped out there, I think. The lines were pretty long, but we didn't have anything else planned, so we were ok waiting for the pp.
Sounds like Will would be just fine doing the Jedi Academy. They go through several steps showing how to use the light saber ("strike his left shoulder, now right shoulder"), so it helps if he can follow directions well, but it's also a show and part comedy act, so it's not really a big deal. If he knows who Vader and Maul are, he'll probably enjoy it. I can't remember for sure, but I think they may have put all the shorter kids on stage and they got to fight Vader and the rest were on ground level and fought Darth Maul, if that matters. You can also have him watch a video of the training on Youtube, of course.

Awesome PP pic! We wanted to get one with the lights, but the line for PP was crazy. I can't even imagine holding Jack all the way through F!, and he's only 30 lbs!! I put him on my shoulders sometimes for parades, and even that kills me! Sounds like an awesome Christmas day!!

Thanks!
Yeah, I'm glad we took the time to wait for the PP. The line was only 3 families ahead of us at the time, I think, but you also have to wait until the light show stops. I was really glad, though, to have that pic since our own didn't come out well at all. I am not knowledgeable on how to get good night shots with lights on like that.
It was a bit stressful holding Charlie for F! I think I set him down once and changed sides, but my back was sore for the rest of the evening.
It was really a pretty good Christmas overall.

 

[graveskj]

MK and leaving AS Sports for an All Star rental home day

We woke up earlier today – a little after 6am. There was a lot to do today – packing up, checking out, picking up the rental van, picking up Grandma from MCO and using up our remaining dining credits. This was also our last day to do any EMH, which I had been avoiding up to this point because of the crowds, but we knew we’d be leaving the park around lunchtime before it got too busy. So I took the kids to MK for EMH after breakfast in the food court (cereal and Mickey waffles) while Kevin packed up and did all those other things on the list for the day. It was a bit chilly, but I was hoping we’d see lots of characters around Fantasyland and get a lot of those pics taken care of during EMH like we had been able to do back in ‘07.
We arrived at MK around 7:30am and grabbed FP for Buzz. There was no wait, but I wanted to see characters, so we headed to Fantasyland. We wandered a bit checking the areas where we had played back in ’07, but found no characters whatsoever. We rode the carousel, Snow White, and then Tea Cups.

We wandered more since ToonTown was still not yet open, but it must have been too cold and drizzly for the characters. I think it was only in the 40s that morning since the high was only 60. We headed over to Peter Pan, but “Captain Hook had been in there and broken something”. So, we rode IASW. The kids did so well with SWSA that I asked if they’d be ok trying Haunted Mansion and they said Yes! So, we rode that and I did my best to keep them secure and lighten the mood and they did just fine. We headed over towards ToonTown around 8:55 and found it was already open. I parked the stroller near Barnstormer and we rode that first with no wait and maybe even a few empty seats. I sat with Claire, and Charlie was in the very front. Claire did ok, and Charlie was disappointed it was such a short ride. Guess he has moved on to bigger and better things now! We toured Mickey’s house next and saw him at the photopass.

Then we went in and got in line for the Fairies greet, which was just a line along the wall. It didn’t move for several minutes and so we ducked under the rope and saw the Princesses with just a 2 minute wait instead.

As we walked out Charlie kept reminding me about our Buzz FPs, so we headed down there and rode standby with no wait. Buzz was waiting outside the exit, so we got some pics, but he didn’t have a Photopass photographer, so I had to use my own camera and have the assistant take one of all of us with our own camera.

The kids watched the TTA go by and said they wanted to do it, but we got confused by the signs and ended up running in to Carousel of Progress since it was about to start. The kids weren’t too impressed, but thankfully the moving seats happened at good intervals. We exited there and went up the ramp to TTA and rode that. It was a pretty chilly ride still for the morning, but we all enjoyed it. A little before 11 we decided to use our Buzz FPs and then use some CS credits for lunch. We headed up to Ray’s Café and shared a cheeseburger meal. It was tough to find a table along with room for the stroller, but my 6 year old was very helpful while I carried the food. The receipt had the coupon on it for 20% off merchandise bought before noon, so I made a note to try to shop today to get some of that done before the other groups arrived.
We made our way through the crowds waiting for the parade and shopped for t-shirts for the kids, a long sleeve one for me, and a towel gift for a cousin. The shirts were also all red (2010 holiday clearance! ), which helped make for some nice pics. So, shopping was finished at 12:05pm and we walked out to see a few minutes of the parade. The kids were already hungry again, though, so we headed into the Confectionary and picked out some popcorn with a snack credit.
We started to head out to snack and ride the monorail, but received a call from Kevin. He had checked out and gotten the rental van (Enterprise does pick you up at Disney Resorts!), but Grandma was delayed in Charlotte because of that huge snowstorm moving up the east coast. So, we had time to get ourselves over to the rental house and start getting settled. We decided it would be easiest if he picked us up at the Contemporary, so we monorailed over there and found the main lobby entrance. Kevin drove up a minute later.

We found the rental home and brought all our stuff in. We picked one of the master bedrooms upstairs and put the kids in other rooms so they could nap. I managed to tweak my knee doing something, which was painful for the next few days, but did gradually get better. It was just annoying for my husband to go up and down the stairs for me when I needed something from our room.
So, I put away the fancy place settings (wine glasses) they had on the table at the home and started a load of laundry while Kevin drove to MCO to get Grandma. My mom, who actually drives tractor-trailers (semis) for Western Express called around 3pm to let us know she was about an hour away, but couldn’t get any closer. Unfortunately, we still had credits to use up for dinner and didn’t have any way or time to go get her and bring her back again. We were planning on seeing her at New Year’s, though, anyway.
Kevin and his mom got back to the house around 4:30pm. I woke up the kids and they groggily said hello to grandma. We followed the GPS directions to DTD and had grilled cheese and ham & cheese sandwiches at Earl of Sandwich. We also used our last snack credits for extra hot chocolates. The food was great, but it was pretty crowded in there.
We walked up to the toy store to get the box of Potato head pieces and crammed in so much the box started to rip, but she gave it to me anyway. We were too cold to do any more walking, so we headed back to the house around 8pm.
We stopped for groceries at Winn-Dixie and replenished our supply of baby wipes. We had been using them for wiping off just about everything we touched. At least it was working and no one caught any bugs!

Summary of the day:
Rode: Carousel, Snow White, Tea Cups, Peter Pan, Small World, Haunted Mansion, Barnstormer, Buzz (twice), Carousel of Progress, and TTA; photos with Mickey, Aurora, Cindy, Belle; gift shopping started (including box of potato head pieces), few minutes of parade watched, packed up & checked out of AS Sports, rental van picked up, Grandma picked up, checked into rental house, 1 meal at Earl of Sandwich, and one grocery store stop.