Christmas Time With Mickey - 1st Trip Offsite - Dec 17-23 Completed

[mommykds]

Happy New Year!

When: 12/17-12/23

Who: Family of 5. Mom, Dad, & 3 kiddos

Where: This was our first trip staying offsite & it went very well. We stayed at the Comfort Inn LBV & the location was great. Just a few minutes to the gates of WDW. This worked well for us since we only slept & showered in the room.

On to the pictures....

 

[mommykds]

Arrival day 12/17 - first stop DTD. We walked up to TRex & they seated us right away. Food was good & our server was excellent. There was a "meteor shower" every few minutes...my kids loved this place.

Then on to Goofy's for dessert!

 

[PNO4TE]

Great start, Anne Marie!!

 

[my3princes]

I'm onboard for your adventure. Can't wait.

 

[Kimmy]

Can't wait to hear more & see more pictures!

 

[mommykds]

After some chocolate dipped oreos for dessert we decided it was best to get an early night. We had been up since 4am & we were all feeling it. So in the car & off to the Comfort Inn LBV. Took 5 minutes tops. The room was clean & refurbished but the bathroom was old & dirty. Keep your crocs on in the shower-dirty. But this is not a resort review so I will skip over that for this report.

Hidden Mickey at Goofy's Candy Kitchen

 

[mommykds]

I subscribe to TGM & UG & like to plan out as far as possible which park we will be in & where we will be eating. However we did have to make some changes during the trip & thankfully we were able to snag some last minute ADR's.

Friday December 18

We were up at 6:30am & at the park gates of Hollywood Studios by 8:30am. At 8:50am they opened the turnstiles & off we went down the street where they hold you for a few moments for the street performers show. Well this usually takes longer than I would like but not this time, as soon as we got up to the performers they let us go. Cool! So we walked up to TSM. Last summer we saw a little girl get hit with a stroller really hard in the TSM rush. That sticks in my head every time we go to HS. We walk & when we get there, we get there. So we grab some FP's & then ride standby. I think the wait was 10 minutes by the time we got on the ride. Most of the day the park crowds were very light considering the time of year. We walked into the Great Movie Ride, One Man's Dream, Beauty & Beast show, Animation Courtyard, & even Lights, Motors, Action with great seats.

 

[mommykds]

Some more from Hollywood Studios.

There is a neat exhibit that the Animation Studio of The Princess & The Frog. We also saw someone inking a animation cell. Years & years ago we had seen real animation going on, it's too bad they moved that to California.

My kids loved UP but the line was very long to see Carl & his friends so I just snapped some shots as we walked by. I love the tennis balls on the end of his cane!

This is a model of Peter Pan at One Man's Dream

On the backlot tour they told us this was Walt's personal plane.

 

[mommykds]

Lunch was at 50's Prime Time. We had a fun server & the food was good as always. The best dessert ever..Dad's brownie sundae!

My DD's pictures from LMA stunt show. It was delayed slighly due to rain but then went on with all the normal stunts. Looked even more scary since the ground was so wet.

I did not plan for a table service ADR so we just had our dinner at the Backlot. I gobbled our dinner of chicken nuggets, hot dogs, & fries (oh yes very healthy!) so we would not be late when they turned on the Osbourne lights.

 

[Kimmy]

Great update...I love your picture looking down to the TOT.

 

[mommykds]

Great update...I love your picture looking down to the TOT.

Thank you.

 

[mommykds]

Great start, Anne Marie!!

Thanks!

I'm onboard for your adventure. Can't wait.

 

[mommykds]

We take our spot for the Osbourne lights. My kids were little the last time we were there for this & didn't remember everything so they were excited to see the lights. We got there right before they were turned on...when they went on it was spectacular! Beautiful!! However because it was spritzing lightly they canceled the "dancing" part. Still amazing though..anyone remember (before the LMA set was built) that the Osbourne lights used to stretch into the back of the park? They used to have suburban looking homes back there...I remember the characters were back there too for photo ops. Anyway, the story goes that when Disney acquired the lights they also took a black cat that was part of the Halloween decorations. Disney puts this up too every year in a different spot. My kids had fun looking for it & it was my youngest DD who found it.

 

[mommykds]

This was a fantasmic night but we decided to skip it because of the incoming crowds. We made our way through the shops towards the exit. It was a great first day. I had hoped that the managable crowd levels would continue through the week but of course that did not happen....

Up next...
Me, DH & kiddies go to the Magic Kingdom with a BAZILLION other Disney goers!

 

[mommykds]

Saturday December 19.

Today was our Magic Kingdom day. I knew it was going to be crowded. #1 it was the first day of the Christmas parade at 3pm, #2 first day showing of holiday Wishes, #3 it was the Saturday before Christmas. We got to the MK by 8:30am & for the 1st 2 hours it was great. Alot of rides were walk on until 11am. We rode SM, CoP, Buzz twice, SW, PP twice, Pooh, & Indy Speedway before 11am. Lunch was at the Plaza. Hamburgers & ice cream..yum! When we came out of the Plaza (maybe noon?) it was another story....Main Street was MOBBED with people & more coming in & walkng towards the castle.

We were able to ride more rides using fastpass. Then around just after 1pm my DH noticed that people started taking seats for the Christmas parade....being tired of walking though the crowds we decided we would get some popcorn & people watch until the parade. Now we usually sit in Liberty Square to watch a parade so being on Main Street was a treat. We parked ourselves in front of the Emporium. Spots were filling up fast!

 

[mommykds]

 

[mommykds]

 

[mommykds]

 

[mommykds]

Here are some crowds pictures from 12/19 at the MK. It does look crazy but I would probably go back & do it again next year.

 

[mommykds]

After the parade we made our way up to BTM for fastpasses. It must have been around 4pm & the FP return time was 7:30pm. The wait time was 65 minutes. I am still surprised to see how many people will wait for a 3 minute ride for over an hour when FP's are available. The line for Pirates was 35 minutes so we skipped that & headed back to Main Street to do some shopping. They had some pins (2009) that were 50% off & add the 20% off from the AP discount so I was happy.

Dinner was at Liberty Tree Tavern. We miss the characters & it would be nice if they came back but dinner was still good. We had a great table in the back away from the hustle & bustle of the waiting area. It's always crowded at dinner time but today it was more so. After we stuffed ourselves silly we walked out & here came the Tiana Showboat show across the way. We found a spot nearer to the water & watched. Tiana, Naveen, Dr. Facilier, & the Alligator were all singing & the show was very entertaining. My family loved the new movie & the new princess. What a great addition to the Disney family.