(Complete 4/20!) How Many Cookies Does One Couple Need? - Dec 2023 Trip Report

Araminta18 · Feb 11, 2024

Hello! Welcome to my trip report! This is a weird one for me - we got annual passes last year and so we went in December and January and despite being back from our January trip for two weeks, I'm only just getting ready to start the December trip report! I love writing trip reports because it allows me to basically relive the trip, so hopefully this is at least a little bit interesting for people are not me.

The details:
who: me and my husband Trevor
when: Wednesday Dec 13 through Tuesday December 19th
where: Saratoga Springs

Introductions:
I'm Tiffany, I'll be your ghost host for this trip report.

I'm 36 and while I'm a librarian by education, I currently do federal records management, since records management is where the pay is, and I gotta pay for Disney! Favorite princess is Sleeping Beauty, but I also love Mary Poppins and Beauty and the Beast and Rapunzel. Favorite ride: I can never pick just one -- Haunted Mansion, Rise of the Resistance, Tower of Terror, Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind...I can't pick! But I also love the food and the theming -- the music and all the attention to detail just makes me happy.

My traveling companion is my husband Trevor. He's 38 and loves Star Wars, but has grown to love Disney--his favorite characters are Boba Fett, Vader and Stormtroopers, and on the non-Star Wars side, Grumpy. His favorite rides used to be Haunted Mansion and Star Tours--he doesn't really like coasters or thrill rides, but I did get him to try Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain and last January I got him to try Rockin Roller Coaster and Everest, so he's now ridden all the coasters at Disney. Woot!

Ok, let's get started! So the whole impetus for this trip was wanting to see Disney at Christmas time, and taking advantage of our annual passes. We ended up renting DVC points to stay at Saratoga Springs; I didn't love the idea of being that far from the parks but being super close to Disney Springs sounded cool and I'm always up for a new Disney resort.

I'd done some planning on the things I wanted to see (like the Magical Menagerie at Animal Kingdom, and all the resort decorations) and the things I didn't care about seeing (like Candlelight Processional and maaaaaybe Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party). Though as the time went on, I of course caved and we bought tickets to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party (what can I say, I'm more of a Halloween gal vs Christmas, and wasn't sure if I wanted to pay the money for it). And Candlelight Processional was "meh" for me until they announced the narrators and BRENDAN FRASER was there when we were. I had to hurriedly rearrange our MVMCP tickets so we could catch the last night of Brendan Fraser. But I did it, and booked a dining package for us. Woot!

And then finally, it was the day we were heading to Disney! I'd finally gotten smart and booked us noonish flights vs the buttcrack of dawn, so we took the day off work, and got to sleep in a tad. So excited!

(I am going to apologize in advance - I got burned by the whole imgur pictures not embedding thing, so now I just embed my pictures directly in the posts, but there's a limit of 10 and if you are at all familiar with any of my previous trip reports, I include a LOT of photos. a LOT. So there will be a LOT of posts...sorry!)

Araminta18 · Feb 11, 2024

Araminta18 · Feb 11, 2024

Departure Day! - Wednesday, December 13, 2023 (part 1)

Our flight was at 1:20 pm, out of DC's National airport, about 30 min from our house. So we'd done most of the packing the night before and then finished packing up Wednesday morning after sleeping in a bit. Work has been crazy for me for the past year or so (like 10/12 hour days - at least I get the overtime!), so Tuesday night packing was a bit nuts. But we got it all set with a few minor things left to do Wednesday morning and by 10:45 we were in the uber heading to the airport. It all went super smoothly - we were at the airport a little after 11:20, in plenty of time to check all our bags (gotta take advantage of that Southwest perk

).

We breezed through security with our TSA pre-check - this was only our second trip with pre-check and it continued to be AMAZING. It took maybe five minutes? And no need to pull out our liquids or take off our shoes. I love it.

Once through security, there's not a lot of options at this particular terminal, so I got a very overpriced deli sandwich (cause hungry). I split it with Trevor though 'cause I'm a good wife.

I was gonna make a comment about me being a good trip reporter but clearly I forgot to take the picture until after I'd had at least a few bites.

Oops!

We'd paid for Early Bird Check in and managed to get spots in the A boarding group (don't remember which ones, oops) - we always try to get A group when heading to Orlando so we can get the seats we prefer ahead of the family boarding.

Looks like probably between A40 and A45, based on the stanchions next to us.

Boarding took a while but we were able to get the fancy exit row with a TON of extra legroom for Trevor:

And we got super lucky cause we had an empty middle seat between us. WOOT! Boding well.

We landed a few minutes early, and headed down to baggage claim, where...we wait. I hate waiting for bags.

Anyone else miss when Disney would pick up your bags and take them to your hotel for you? So you just got off the plane and headed right to the Magical Express? *sigh*

But by 4:09, we had our bags, which actually wasn't too bad. Maybe 20 min? We called for our Lyft and then I dunno what happened cause if there's any place where I don't expect to wait a while for a Lyft it's the airport, but we waited 15 minutes for our Lyft to arrive. At least the weather was nice! It was not too cold, and not too humid. (also I STRUGGLED figuring out what to pack for this trip - would it be hot or cold? should I bring spirit jerseys and jackets? Usually we know it's just going to be hot so we bring shorts and tshirts but this time...I was struggling y'all)

But soon enough we were going under the sign! (4:43 pm per the time stamp

)

Hello Saratoga Springs! It's a blurry picture but I was so excited to see the racehorse all decorated for Christmas - our first real Christmas decoration.

We got dropped off and as we were heading in, we heard the 5 pm race horns go off, which was kind of cool.

We got checked in - we'd booked a standard room and while I'd done my research and requested a section, we were in the one section that's like the furthest away and I didn't want.

Oh well! I was disappointed now but it actually wasn't too bad. But I didn't know it yet - we weren't heading to the room! As is our tradition on arrival days, we dropped our bags at Bell Services and immediately called for a lyft and headed to the outlets! We bought some things (I'll do a haul at the end), but then quickly booked it back to Disney Springs for our dinner plans!

Well, that's a bit of a lie-before dinner, cookies!!

Gideon's wasn't doing a virtual queue, and the line was back here to Morimoto Asia. But we figured it probably wouldn't be too long, and we had time, so we decided to wait.

Well, Trevor waited while I ducked over to the Ganachery to get some chocolates and such! I got some to take home and something for our friends and some hot chocolate for me.

Small, but yummy and thick and chocolatey - delicious!

We only ended up waiting about 25 minutes, and then -

Gideon's! Well, that's Trevor doing a crazy face, but we were in Gideon's! Yay!

So we have a whole system for Gideon's: we each check out separately (so we can get more cookies...#sorrynotsorry) and we take the cookies home and freeze them. Gideon's cookies freeze really well - I just had one this afternoon, actually. Delish. And I have a friend who goes to Disney too and every time each of us goes we get some cookies for the other. So we ended up with 16 cookies, as well as a couple slices of cake, a bag of the chocolate-covered cookie bites, and one of their new collectible tins. #disneymath #worthit

Pile of cookies behind the fire!

We were feeling pretty good about ourselves - a great way to start! It actually worked out really well - our dinner reservation was at 7 pm. When did we leave Gideon's? 7:03 pm. And dinner was right across the way at Wine Bar George. Woot!

(dinner will be in the next post

)
(I told you there'd be lots of pictures)
(sorry but not sorry enough to stop?)

Counting Stars · Feb 11, 2024

Love your trip reports

Looking forward to reading about your holiday adventure.... Following!

disneyAndi14 · Feb 12, 2024

Joining in! We skipped Gideon’s cookies this recent trip and tried Summer House!
I miss the luggage service so much from Disney!!

Newsies · Feb 12, 2024

I'm here Tiffany! Love your TRs and so excited to read this one!

dachsie · Feb 12, 2024

The real question is - which cookies did you get? lol

alohamom · Feb 12, 2024

Following and looking forward to reading all about it!
(Your hair looked amazing in the boarding line up for SouthWest)

ThreeBoyMama · Feb 12, 2024

You guys have got Gideons wired for sure!

footballmouse · Feb 12, 2024

Araminta18 · Feb 12, 2024

Counting Stars said:
Love your trip reports Looking forward to reading about your holiday adventure.... Following!

thank you! I'm so glad

disneyAndi14 said:
Joining in! We skipped Gideon’s cookies this recent trip and tried Summer House!
I miss the luggage service so much from Disney!!

OOOOH how was Summer House? I want to try it but we haven't made it yet.
Right? the two things I wish Disney would bring back - luggage service and package delivery to either the front of the park or your hotel... though maybe it's good they don't cause I would buy so much more

Newsies said:
I'm here Tiffany! Love your TRs and so excited to read this one!

yay welcome! I'm so glad!

dachsie said:
The real question is - which cookies did you get? lol

LOL so many - so far it was just cookies and cream and a few dark coffee cake

alohamom said:
Following and looking forward to reading all about it!
(Your hair looked amazing in the boarding line up for SouthWest)

yay! So glad you're here (also thank you!!

)

ThreeBoyMama said:
You guys have got Gideons wired for sure!

yea...we may have a problem.

footballmouse said:

welcome!

Also can I just say I'm so glad for your comments? It's been a real rough few weeks and will continue to be so, and it was so nice to log in after work and read your nice comments

Thank you!

cassidy57 · Feb 12, 2024

Tiffany so glad you are writing another trip report!!!!!!!!

Araminta18 · Feb 12, 2024

cassidy57 said:
Tiffany so glad you are writing another trip report!!!!!!!!

thank you! I'm glad to be writing one!!

Noreen411 · Feb 13, 2024

Hi

Enjoying your report.

I couldn’t figure out how to just copy/paste a portion of the review that I wanted to comment on, but at Gideon’s you don’t have to check out separately. You are 2 people so can still buy up the max amount per person even if it’s one transaction. My husband, Scott, and I do that when we go and buy the max amount - mainly to freeze and bring back home.

Looking forward to reading more.

Noreen

VAtink · Feb 13, 2024

Joining in! We were there the week before you, absolutely fell in love with Disney in December. Can't wait to read more!

StarWarsMomofGirls! · Feb 13, 2024

I'm here!!! And ready to read along!!! We have Wine Bar George reservations for our arrival day coming up. So I can't wait to here how you guys liked it!! And what you got.

Araminta18 said:
Anyone else miss when Disney would pick up your bags and take them to your hotel for you? So you just got off the plane and headed right to the Magical Express? *sigh*

I miss it ALL THE TIME!!!! I am so glad I got to enjoy it when the girls were little. There really was something magical about hte bags just showing up in your room.

Araminta18 said:
nd we take the cookies home and freeze them. Gideon's cookies freeze really well - I just had one this afternoon, actually. Delis

I proposed to Andy that we bring our vacuum sealer with us, to seal up the cookies once we get them back to the room for maximium freshness!

Araminta18 said:
we each check out separately (so we can get more cookies...#sorrynotsorry)

Wait, do you HAVE to check out seperately? There are clearly 2 of you?

We just realized how good the cake is there! So good!!!

Araminta18 · Feb 13, 2024

Noreen411 said:
Hi

Enjoying your report.

I couldn’t figure out how to just copy/paste a portion of the review that I wanted to comment on, but at Gideon’s you don’t have to check out separately. You are 2 people so can still buy up the max amount per person even if it’s one transaction. My husband, Scott, and I do that when we go and buy the max amount - mainly to freeze and bring back home.

Looking forward to reading more.

Noreen

huh! I didn't know that - I think we were told at one of our first visits that it was per transaction or something, so we just assumed we needed to check out separately. Thanks for the tip!

VAtink said:
Joining in! We were there the week before you, absolutely fell in love with Disney in December. Can't wait to read more!

hi!! Disney in December was indeed awesome - we had a great time! Glad you did as well!

StarWarsMomofGirls! said:
I miss it ALL THE TIME!!!! I am so glad I got to enjoy it when the girls were little. There really was something magical about hte bags just showing up in your room.

RIGHT?! so cool when it just showed up. Our first couple trips I combined with a work trip on the first day so we only got to use it like once or twice but it was AMAZING.

StarWarsMomofGirls! said:
I proposed to Andy that we bring our vacuum sealer with us, to seal up the cookies once we get them back to the room for maximium freshness!

oooooooooh that's brilliant. we usually end up bringing ziploc and tupperware, like crazy people.

StarWarsMomofGirls! said:
Wait, do you HAVE to check out seperately? There are clearly 2 of you?

We just realized how good the cake is there! So good!!!

I just found out from Noreen's post above!! Learn something new every day!
and yes the cake is AMAZING!

Araminta18 · Feb 13, 2024

Wine Bar George Dinner + Christmas Trees! - Wednesday, December 13, 2023 (part 2)

Ok time for dinner! We got checked in and seated pretty quickly (we almost always get seated immediately at Wine Bar George, which is just another perk.

)

We were seated inside in the main room with the bar, for the first time! We're usually either on the balcony or in the little hallway by the bathroom, which we really like. But the main room wasn't bad either.

View of the Boathouse out the window.

We ordered the two mocktails that they have - the orgeat lemonade and the cherry smash. We really like both of these - I like the lemonade best, with the subtle almond taste from the orgeat. Yum!

(the lemonade is the yellow one in the tall glass).

Then, time for food! We always like to try things we haven't tried yet when we come, so this time we got:

Pumpkin fritters: these were just ok. Not our favorite, but the sauce was yummy.

Birria braised short rib: triple corn grits and pepita crumbles. This was yummy - short rib isn't my favorite flavor generally but this was yummy.

Then we split the ribeye:

This was really good flavor wise - there was kind of a lot of fat and such which made it a bit hard to cut, but the flavor was SO YUMMY. And I especially loved the savory bread pudding - savory croutons. So delicious with the seasoning. I'm kind of on the fence with it being a bit hard to cut with all the fat, but the flavor was really yummy.

So overall, not one of our favorite meals at Wine Bar George, but still good. We love this restaurant, though I do wish they'd bring back the pork pluma - I still dream about that pork pluma.

ANYWAYS! Done with food, it was time for the main attraction - the Christmas tree stroll! I'd seen videos in the past of the Christmas tree stroll so I was excited to see the trees for myself. And to do some shopping at the same time.

We got the little map from the gelato place right by Wine Bar George, and then headed off to look at all the trees.

The first tree was the Guardians of the Galaxy one right by the Star Wars outpost and the Marvel store.

So fun! A bit subtle but I liked the topper being Star Lord's mask.

We also definitely looked in the stores there and then ended up buying an Avenger's bag for Trevor. Cause he has a problem with bags. And to be fair it was a cool bag AND it was like half off. Brilliant.

Walking to the next tree we saw rollerskating snowflakes!

They were MOVING so this was the best picture I got. Nice atmosphere Disney Springs - I approve.

Encanto tree! One, I love the doors and then two, this was when we discovered there was something weird going on with Trevor's magic band because mine was lighting up if I just looked at the tree but Trevor's was like NOPE not lighting up no matter what. I think we did eventually dig down into the settings and figure out what setting we needed to turn on but man that was like 20 min of my life I'll never get back.

Lion King Tree! I love the topper - hey there Simba!

Then the DVC tree! It wasn't super impressive except for this like whole diorama of (I think?) the new cabins at Fort Wilderness or something close like that.

I've never seen a whole diorama on a tree before!

(There will be a LOT more Christmas tree pictures)
(you're welcome)

mickey916 · Feb 13, 2024

You had me at cookies! Looking forward to reading more.

StarWarsMomofGirls! · Feb 14, 2024

Araminta18 said:
So overall, not one of our favorite meals at Wine Bar George, but still good. We love this restaurant, though I do wish they'd bring back the pork pluma - I still dream about that pork pluma.

So, what would you suggest we get when we go? I think we have to get the flaming cheese. Just for presentation alone.

Araminta18 said:
Trevor's magic band because mine was lighting up if I just looked at the tree but Trevor's was like NOPE not

We have not gotten new magic bands. They are just too $$$ for us to buy 4 at once and the thought of charging 4 magic bands plus all of our other things seems so annoying! I am sure we will eventually but we are holding out for now.

(Complete 4/20!) How Many Cookies Does One Couple Need? - Dec 2023 Trip Report

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