Christmas Magic & Freezing Temps! Dec 10 TR (Upd 6/26, the last night!)

[jenseib]

Love the updates. It's Spaceship Earth. And Living with the Land... But I am famous for giving my own names to rides too.

 

[francis6306]

Um...you couldn't possibly be referring to me, right?

Noooooo....

Love the updates. It's Spaceship Earth. And Living with the Land... But I am famous for giving my own names to rides too.

I'm sure at the time I knew what it was- we were looking at maps and the NAMES of the rides, but it just doesn't always stick with you! Living with the Land... Yes. I love that ride!

I'll be updating soon hopefully!

 

[francis6306]

So, we leftoff with splitting up from Brian and Shelley so they could ride Soarin' and we could ride some other things and make our way to our lunch ADR at Les Chef's. I don't really remember what we did in between... it was another one of the rides in that building though. Man, I suck at this! Oh well!

Anyway, so it was getting to be lunchtime, so we decided to head into the World Showcase and make our way around to France. Remember how Shelley and I were SO happy with the beautiful weather? Well, Corey and I were looking at the sky thinking... hmmmm... maybe the weatherman was right and it is gonna get yucky later. So, we're heading towards the bridge to the World Showcase and all of a sudden the BOTTOM drops and it begins to POUR! OHMAGAH! It was crazy. We duck into a little overhang and start pulling out the ponchos that I packed "just in case" and we covered up. It was crazy! We were looking at each other trying to figure out WHAT to do. We got as covered as possible, and started walking towards France... but this was NOT what I imagined our first World Showcase experience to be! I was so sad. The rain slacked up and as we rushed through England and Canada towards France. No stop at the red phone booth... no looking around... just forward march people!

We get to France and we have a bit of time before our ADR. Brian and Shelley were already there and had stepped into the Givenchy store area I believe (right, Shelley?) and so we hung out in there for a little bit. I fell in love with a perfume that would have cost as much as a week of Daycare... sigh. I should know better that to even look in there, right?

So, we finally go and check in. Now, I do want to mention here, in case someone is reading this and has a stroller and it starts to rain: They won't let you take the strollers inside, even in the rain, so Corey rigged up the poncho's on the stroller and found the dry-est spot possible for the stroller. Next time I will bring a large black garbage bag- because I think that would do better, but the poncho did the job.

On to what you REALLY care about! The FOOD!

Okay first, you have to see where we sat!

The Lobster Bisque... OMG, sooooo yummy. Just sitting here thinking about it, I'm craving it again. Dang it!

Cort's Mac & Cheese. She LOVED this and didn't want to share. I MIGHT have gotten a bite if I tried, but she was really into this and ate EVERY bite!

I got the Chicken & Spinach Crepe. It was good, although, I think it could have used a little more cheese.

Corey got Salmon with spinach and poached potato. He remembers nothing except that it was delish, but the sides were really bland. The potato was literally a boiled potato with no seasoning or anything...

Corey's dessert. It Apple crepe with a caramel sauce. The sauce had a weird flavor to it... it wasn't bad, but it just wasn't what we were expecting either.

MY dessert... or the Dessert that Cortlyn allowed me to share with her! It was Chocolate cake and had some peanut butter cream on top I believe. OMG SOOO good!

It was so good and we were really impressed with our first non-character meal. You are SUPERCLOSE to the table next to you, so if you go, be prepared for that. There was a couple that sat next to us, and I immediately told them I would try and keep Cortlyn under control (something to that effect anyway) and they were super nice and said that they realized they were at DisneyWorld and were perfectly fine with her being there. Of course, Cortlyn is usually well behaved, but I don't want people to think I'm that mom that can't control her kids, you know? But Cortlyn was really good!

And now... it was naptime! Time to head back to Pop and get out of the drizzling rain.

Here are Corey and Cortlyn trying to stay dry...

 

[jenseib]

OH no!!! yucky rain ...go away!
I have done the poncho on the stroller too. I take a clear poncho and just throw it over the stroller, even with Claire right in it. Works great.

 

[sbprincess]

Christen, you are so funny with the details. I know I'm not a whole lot better though. But then again, I'm not doing a TR! Did you even take any notes??

I hated that your one good Epcot day was so rainy. Brian and I stuck it out and it did get better. But we didn't have a toddler with us so I understand.

I'll just post a few of my pictures from this period with ya'll.

This is the baguette they brought to the table at the beginning. I think I remember it being quite good.

I ordered two appetizers as my meal. I got the lobster bisque (which looked just like Christen's, of course. SOOOO good!!) and the tomato and goat cheese tarte. I'm a little obsessed with goat cheese so I usually order it when I see it on a menu. This was very good too.

Brian got the croque monsieur (classic French toasted ham and cheese sandwich) served with a green salad. If we ever go back here, this is probably what I would get. I had one bite and it was great!

And I did steal a bite of Cortlyn's mac and cheese when she wasn't looking I thought it was excellent. But I cannot imagine eating an entire serving. I think she finished it though!

 

[francis6306]

I LOVE that I always make a face when I'm feeding Cortlyn OMG... haha...

YES! the bread was good. It was all good!

 

[francis6306]

When we got back to the room, this is what we were greeted with

I love that Mousekeeping does special things with the kid's toys! Cortlyn always thought it was so cute.

I was just as happy for the naptime and Corey was happy to come and get changed out of the wet clothes... We all snuggled into the bed and napped. I also prayed that the weather would clear up and we could go back- and it did! But it was COLD. Our mild cooler temps were replaced by freezing- record cold temps for the area. Awesome. I should mention that I am NOT a cold weather person. I can catch a chill at the beach in the early summer... I was prepared for cooler weather, but being that we live in southern Mississippi, I assumed the weather would be the same or warmer.

So, we bundled back up and headed to Epcot. I don't remember it being SO dark, but in the pictures it looks really dark. Probably my camera...

This was the fountain and it was dancing to Mannheim Steamroller "Carol of the Bells" (I know... I can remember the SONG that was playing, but forget me knowing what the names of rides are...)

We saw a photopass person and I REALLY wanted some Photopass pictures of us... you know, ALL looking at the camera. But you know what I ended up with right?

So, I asked the photographer if he would mind Cortlyn taking a picture of HIM so he could take a picture of all of us. And he was fine with it. I promised him I wouldn't post it on Facebook... So if you happen to recognize him don't mention you saw him on Disboards.

My idea paid off...

 

[francis6306]

Cortlyn refused to give back the camera after we got our photopass pictures... So, our walk through World Showcase is documented through HER eyes. (Let's just say... Santa brought Cortlyn a KiddieZoom Camera for Christmas!) We met up with Brian and Shelley who had a little bit of time before their ADR at that new place... oh what's the name??? No, I do know this one! I probably know Table Service better than rides! They were going to Via Napoli! I was a tiny bit jealous, but they have their days of mostly character meals in their future I'm sure!

We did get Cortlyn to give up the camera when we got to this spot... Morocco maybe? With the drums. OMG, we had a blast in here!

We walked Brian and Shelley to Italy and then we got on the little ferry to go back to the front of the park. Cortlyn was hungry and bored so we were going to go find something to eat and possibly go back to the hotel. I didn't get any pictures on the ferry because Cortlyn started to MELT DOWN. I was pretty sure our day was done...

 

[francis6306]

So, I was on the ferry looking out at the Worldshow case thinking my night was totally about to come to an end. Cortlyn usually needs to go to bed by 7:30 central time, and I just didn't see her staying up much later with the meltdown- which, to my daughter's credit, probably isn't a meltdown like some other "meltdowns" and I don't say that lightly. For US her behavior was very uncharacteristic, but she wasn't having a tantrum on the ferryboat floor or anything... Just being super clingy and not wanting to do anything. Oh well.

So, we decided to go back to the Land pavilion and eat at Sunshine Seasons. OMG, this was sooo good! But um... I'm not sure where my pictures went!!! OMG! I'm not on the computer with the pictures, but I thought I had uploaded everything to photobucket...

Here's one picture of Corey's good and his dessert (I swear there was another picture...) He got the pork chop and LOVED it.

and of my dessert

I had the half chicken and let me tell you... it was SOOO good! And HUGE! It came with rice & BBQ beans, which I wasn't too excited about at first, but they were really good. Not baked beans at all.
Corey's strawberry shortcake- SOOO yummy! By the fabulous photographer- CORTLYN! haha...

I actually never got any of my carrot cake. I put a lid on and took it back to the hotel, but I NEVER had any for some reason. Anyway, there was plenty of food to share with Cortlyn and she enjoyed sampling some of both of our plates.

After we ate, Cortlyn seemed to be in a good mood. Maybe she was just hungry?? Okay, well, let's try to get in another ride or something... soooo... off to the Seas!

Can I just say that the ONE good thing about the freezing temps here, was that there was NOBODY at the Seas! So, we jumped on the Nemo ride and Cort thoroughly enjoyed it. And then we ran around looking at all the aquarium stuff and did Turtle Talk with Crush!

"The girl with pink lid!"

 

[francis6306]

Shameless bump... I'm a little sad I have no comments...

 

[mickeystoontown]

Looks like you've got a budding photographer on your hands. Cortlyn's are pretty darn good!

Your dinner at Sunshine Seasons looks really good. You know that in all of my trips to Disney, we've only gotten a bagel from there.

I could tell from your pictures of Turtle Talk With Crush that there weren't many people there. Yippee for that!

 

[francis6306]

So, I'm not sure if we called Shelley or if they called us- I know that I talked to Nita & her family, (we hadn't really seen them all day at Epcot) and they had given up on the cold. It was BITTER cold... Anyway, we decided to stick around and see what Cortlyn thought about the fireworks.

Now, a little background, in case you didn't read my PTR... Cortlyn didn't seem to like fireworks very much back at July 4th! I was REALLY concerned that she was going to be scared of them. But Shelley had a spot near some speakers so Corey and I decided to stick it out and see how she handled it!

Daddy gave us his jacket for a little bit to try and warm up!

But then Cortlyn decided that she wanted to get her groove on to warm up!

I'm guessing this is when the fireworks were starting??

Cortlyn likes to move around and be held by different people...

And some of the fireworks and show....

Verdict is? Cortlyn LOVED Illuminations! I'm glad that we stuck around and watched the show. By this point it was WAY past her bedtime, but she was a trooper! We bundled her up and made our way out of the park... along with everyone else at Epcot! AAAANNNNNDDDDDD.... we were there while a certain group from South America with bright jumpsuits and loud singing where leaving as well... I have nothing against this group... however! When you are trying to push a double stroller with a kid in it and keep up with your husband and friends- lets just say at one point we were in middle of the loud singing group and split up from each other heading towards the buses! It was quite interesting to say the least!

We got to buses, and had to wait a little bit- I think we were able to get on the 3rd Pop bus, but I don't think we were out there for more than 30 minutes... maybe 45. They were pretty quick about getting us picked up. I know people like to complain about the buses, but I was impressed. People were generally really nice and we chatted with the others in line and got back to Pop quickly. Changed into warm jammies and were ready to go to bed so we could wake up for our very special breakfast the next day!

 

[sbprincess]

So, I just looked and I did not take ONE picture after our dinner at Via Napoli! I kinda cannot believe it. I blame it on the cold though!

I still laugh to myself when I think of that walk out of Epcot. We were all together and the next thing I knew, you were a lone pink hoodie surrounded by yellow track suits! That was definitely picture worthy. But I guess I was laughing too hard. At least the Brazilians seemed like a friendly bunch. I would hate for you to have been surrounded by a scary mob of people.

I was so glad that Cortlyn didn't freak out during Illuminations. I know you're not as excited by the fireworks as I am, but I still wanted you to see that show. It is my favorite!

Woo hoo - End of day 3!!

 

[francis6306]

So, I just looked and I did not take ONE picture after our dinner at Via Napoli! I kinda cannot believe it. I blame it on the cold though!

Probably had to do with the freezing cold and Cortlyn jumping from person to person at one point!

 

[DisneyStoryMania]

WoW Looks like an amazing trip, Disney is the best.....

 

[jenseib]

I'm just catching up or I would've commented for sure!
Did Crush talk to Cortlyn then?
I just saw Illuminations for the first time in about 12 years. It was wonderful.
And that picture in Bruce the shark...I am so mad, but we never even walked over by him. I totally forgot. I forgot to a lot of things I had listed as must dos. LOL!

 

[francis6306]

WoW Looks like an amazing trip, Disney is the best.....

Thanks! It was a pretty amazing trip! And I'm only on day 3! Two more days...

I'm just catching up or I would've commented for sure!
Did Crush talk to Cortlyn then?
I just saw Illuminations for the first time in about 12 years. It was wonderful.
And that picture in Bruce the shark...I am so mad, but we never even walked over by him. I totally forgot. I forgot to a lot of things I had listed as must dos. LOL!

He did talk to her, but she didn't really get it. And the picture with Bruce-I wish that Corey had gotten a wide shot of that... I didn't know until we uploaded the pictures he had just gotten US... Oh well... there is always NEXT time... Which MIGHT be happening sooner than I though!!

 

[francis6306]

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back... Between being pregnant and working, I managed to get an Upper respiratory infection and my husband is in the last little crazy bit of his Doctoral degree... Its been a litttttttttle crazy round here! I'm better (although, I have passed my illness off to Corey) and we are just waiting on baby Catrina to decide to make her grand entrance! I'm due on Friday...

So, let's see... where are we??? We are to Monday... which was a VERY special day for me. See, ever since we started planning this trip, I was VERY excited about the character breakfast that we had scheduled for TODAY. It would be at 1900 Park Fare and we would be meeting Mary Poppins!!!!!!! Now, if you read my PTR, you know that Mary Poppins was one of my favorite movies as a child and then, amazingly, Cortlyn fell in love with it too! She loves the singing and dancing!

We had orignally booked the meal for everyone on the trip, but Nita and Michael decided that they were going to skip it. They aren't really morning people and I kinda had a feeling that they wanted to do something different. And they weren't as into the Mary Poppins thing as I was, so whatever. Shelley's favorite resort is the Grand Floridian, so really, I think she would have came no matter what, just to get a look at the beautiful Christmas decorations at the GF. Since Nita and Michael decided not to come along, we just drove to the Grand Floridian rather than risk the buses and monorail.

Let me tell you... this resort looked GORGEOUS!

Cortlyn had a blast running around the lobby area...

And the Gingerbread House was just amazing!

Of course, this will be continued! Each post can only have so many pictures! Shelley... I know you have more of the GF that you want to add from this day, so feel free!

 

[francis6306]

After we took pictures and looked around for a while, we decided to check in. I was a little nervous about checking in with less people in our party than we had reserved for, but it wasn't a problem. They gave us a little beeper and we went back out and sat down waiting for our turn. I know we were early and I don't know how long we had to wait, but it wasn't too bad. Finally, our beeper/buzzer whatever you call those things went off and we went and got in line to have our picture taken. They had a Christmas Tree set up and mural. We ALMOST didn't take the goofy picture, because you-know-who was acting so silly about having her picture taken, but Cortlyn actually WANTED to have this picture taken. So, we did it. I wish I had it scanned- because let me tell you. This ended up being my FAVORITE picture of Cortlyn from the WHOLE stinking trip! This child smiled so pretty and looked right at the camera. We hadn't planned on buying it (because it wasn't part of the photopass but as soon as I saw it, I looked at Shelley and said "I have to buy this." There's another $30 Mickey... way to go!

The FOOD! Omg, this was really good. I told the server that I had a Pork allergy and I got to talk to one of the chef's. They brought me some turkey sausage patties and told me what to avoid on the buffet. No big deal.
Cortlyn's plate:

Corey's (first) plate:

My Lobster Eggs Benedict. I had never had Eggs Benedict before and honestly, had I known that there was a running yolk, I might not have tried them. But since I already had it on my plate, I decided to go for it. It was actually REALLY good. The lobster sauce tasted a lot like the Lobster bisque from Le Chefs. So, as long as I didn't think about the yolk, I was fine with eating it! Its VACATION! You have to try new and different things on vacation right?

The strawberry soup (Very good- like a melted strawberry milkshake!):

My turkey Sausage (very good!):

The Buffet:

Okay, so here is Cortlyn... "hiding" from Pooh... I'm not sure why she thought hiding in her plate would "save" her from the characters... but it was her MO!

Then we have the Mad Hatter... Now, to be fair, she has never seen Alice in Wonderland. I kinda think its a little old for her. A guy with a goofy hat and a HUGE nose would be scary to me too if I didn't know who he was. He was pretty good about it though, when I mentioned she hadn't seen him before.

Tigger decided to try something different... he hid from HER! She actually enjoyed this, but still didn't want anything to do with him.

We had Belle instead of Alice, which was nice, since Cortlyn had recently seen Beauty and the Beast AND she was wearing Belle socks and a necklace. Shelley was excited too, since Belle is her favorite princess! This Belle was SUPER nice! You can tell she really enjoys playing with all the little girls:

Showing off her necklace and her socks! Belle was VERY honored!

Now, at some point, while I was NOT at the table... Apparently Cort saw Mary and thought she was coming towards our table. Cortlyn got VERY excited and sat up all straight just READY for Mary to come to the table and see her. And then heartbreak... Mary was actually just passing our table to go to break, we guess as she disappeared through a door. Of course, it was all made right when Mary Poppins DID come to the table...

WHY Don't I have a better camera?!?!! Sigh... Part of the issue here is that Mom MIGHT have started crying as soon as Mary approached the table and I saw just how excited and happy my beautiful little girl got at seeing her favorite character. I really don't know what came over me. Okay, fine Shelley... I was BAWLING. And not the pretty little tears that you can wipe away. I completely blame it on the pregnancy hormones!!!!!!!! So, there is no picture with the three of us, because I could just not pull myself together. Cortlyn was too excited to care that her mother was making a fool out of herself. She was with MARY POPPINS!!!!!! It was a WONDERFUL meal, and a wonderful experience. Hopefully, next time, Mom will be able to handle seeing Mary and we can get a picture of the three of us together!

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

Yeah for Marry Poppins! I'm glad Cortlyn liked her. Great Update