Dec. 17-21

[KirklandTutu]

Our trip to Disney couldn't have come at a better time. Our power had gone out on the 15th and we had just burned the last of our wood when we left at 5am Sunday the 17th. As my husband said, the best ride of the day was the hot shower.

Sunday, December 17th

We stayed at the GCH, though we arrived at 10am and couldn't get rooms until 4pm or so (and we really, really wanted those hot showers!).

First up, we hit CA for chowder at the Pacific Warf. I didn't realize how much I had missed hot food the last few days until that moment, yum! And hazzah for good beer...though why wait until 11am to open? It's 5pm somewhere...
I personally love CA. Of course, I loved Epcot from the first time I went when I was a kid in the 80s.

We went back to the hotel for some much needed hot shower time (yay for robes!), after eating at the Whitewater deck and listening to the 49ers. The Christmas Tree that I had ordered was wonderfully perfect (and we had a surprise stocking from hubbies grandmother!). I had brought LED lights to put on the tree, and it really made things perfect at night.

Then, in one hour I got California Screamin, Triton's Carosel, the Sunwheel, Orange Stinger, and Mulholland Madness...of course I had left behind hubby in the dust as he was on crutches and needed his time to get to our dinner. That evening we ate outside at the Wine Country Trattoria (yummy lasagna, dessert, and wine!) and got to watch the electrical parade. I was able to make my mother happy by recreating alot of pics from a childhood trip to Disneyworld.

Hubby wasn't feeling well, so he went off to bed while I attempted to see how many rides I could get in in two hours.
so...
Soarin
Jungle Cruise
Indiana Jones
Pirates
Space Mountain
Matterhorn
Mr. Toad
Teacups
Snow White
Peter Pan
Dumbo

Monday, December 18th

Yay for sleeping in! I had brought my hot pot, french press, and coffee goodies, so I was a v. v. happy camper. Oh yeah, instant oatmeal works too. I had gotten hubby a massage and facial at the spa for his christmas present...some may ask why not get one for myself? aha! during that time I was able to go off on my own for a three hour wine tasting! And did I taste...and taste...and taste. If you haven't before, I highly recomment the port and blue cheese tasting. wowzers. I'm ruined forever now. Kudos to Catalina who was running the tasting, she was great to talk to and not for once did I feel like I was alone. Btw, hubbies skin looked fab after that facial! and he loved every moment of the massage. I had requested that the aesteticians not try to sell products or services to him as it was a gift, and they honored that request.

Oh yeah, and Soarin after wine is fun!

That evening we ate at the Blue Bayou, which is always a highlight for us. Great service from ?Afram? The food, wonderful, as always is for us. We got to sit next to the water and we were immersed in that feeling of being at the edge of civilization, and knowing that just around the corner, something would happen that could be v. v. bad.

We also did the later seating Fantasmic! buffet at the gallery. I was so glad that we did! Of course I'm into fancy desserets and sipping chocolate as opposed to hot chocolate, not sure if everyone is though. The only downside? It was sooooo cold. Thank goodness we were bundled in advance. They should have blankets available to use. Another highlight, since hubby was on crutches they took us in the Club 33 elevator, we can finally say that we've been in Club 33! lol

When we got back to the room there was a wonderful surprise. Hubby's parents had gotten us the cheese and fruit basket. And boy, was that appreciated!

(more to come, and I can't seem to get my fab pics posted, I need to test more on the test page)

 

[KirklandTutu]

Tuesday, Dec. 19th

Once again, sleeping in. Who needs early entry when you can have no crowds for the last two hours of the night?

We took the holiday tour. Which was very much worth it, if for no other reason than gleefully embaressing ourselves and other tour groups by yelling 'Merry Christmas' and singing 'Jingle Bells' As loud as we could...as directed by our tour guide of course. Not sure how the folks on the train thought about that, though. One of the highlights had to be my getting 'snowed' on by Genie...all the way down the shirt in fact. I was still pulling that stuff out by the next day. Aladin seemed entertained by what happened, I think he broke face for a full five seconds!

That evening we ate at Hook's Pointe, which IMO was the least worthy of a special dining experience. It was nice, but it reminded me more of a good, run of the mill seafood resteraunt in any seaside vacation resort. The service was great, the food was good, but not worth the extra walking time.

That night we walked through CA in order to get to DL (had to drop off packages at the room). I had to laugh when the lady behind me started complaining as loudly as she could to all who could hear in regards to the stack up of people trying to get into DL after leaving the electrical parade. Well, duh lady. What did you expect? Do you think you're the only one who had the brillant idea to watch the parade and then the fireworks? When you sign up for DL, you sign up for lines. Get over it, we're all in the same boat. If you think this line is moving too slow, then go get in another one. Please.

Wednesday, Dec. 20th

Went to see Aladin, don't know why. I found it as annoying as I did last time. Genie's jokes are way too laboreous for me. Well...I'll take part of that statement back, I do love the puppets, just beautiful really. Stunning in fact.

Princess Time at Aerial's Grotto! woohoo! Easily the best deal in the whole resort. A price fix menue and access to the barre upstairs! And don't forget the princesses...a five course of Aeriel, Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, and Belle. It is some crazy makeup they have on those girls though...there's some sort of commentary of how unreachable the ideal is there, but I'm not in that frame of mind to truly explore that right now.

In the evening we watched the fireworks from the littler terrace by Casey Junior's circus train (which, imo, the most underrated ride in the park...that Train gets the speed going!). Seeing as we had a deep freeze snow two weeks before, we opted out of the snow fall experience. Now, I have two complaints. Casey Junior area is a great place to watch the fireworks, as long as they turn off the circus music. Second, why is it so impossible to find a cup of something hot to drink after 9pm in Fantasyland? There was nothing? Village Haus was closed, there were no carts...I left hubby on his crutches and hiked through the Fantasmic crowds and was able to locate some hot tea at the saloon. Disney? why do you have against hot drinks on cold nights?

When we got back to the hotel, we had another surprise from the in-laws. Cookies and Milk! and btw, if you have never had those cookies at the GCH, wow wow wow. Order them because they are so amazingly good.

Thursday, Dec. 21st

Last day
*sigh*
I needed two more days

My biggest thought about this was, how easy it was to deal with crowds in DL as long as you are willing to be flexible (and don't have children who demand a different sort of schedule than you do_.

Sleep in.
Do California Adventure between 10am and noon.
Have a leisurely lunch.
Go take a nap.
Late afternoon do the shows and exhibits.
Have a good dinner.
Do Disneyland rides after that.
At the 10pm hour we were able to walk on Dumbo, and just about every other ride for that matter.

Oh, and drink the wine and beer. v. v. good.

 

[KirklandTutu]

Is this a normal thing? Are they for entertainment? Or are they doing something up there?

Love the Bug's Land Xmas deco!

We have almost this exact same pic from when I was 5 and in WDW

I like the fact that the ballerina doll was actually a really good dancer

Anyone else think that the Snowglobe is out of proportion with the rest of the park?

Thank you Genie, for the snow down the shirt...really

Hubbie's favorite part of the parade

An accidental pic, but I love it

Beautiful!

Hubby likes those readin types

Thank you to all the cast members for making this trip with his injury so easy!

My favorite pic of the whole trip.

 

[disney-super-mom]

Loved your trip report and GREAT pictures!

Sounds like my kind of trip - Good food, great beverages, and lots of FUN!

DH and I are leaving our little ones at home and going on our first adults only trip. We're going to WDW, which will also be a first for us.

Too bad about the big wind storm that knocked out power for so many of you. I've been through that myself (2 weeks without power after a big icestorm in Spokane), and it's horrible, so I have a lot of sympathy for you and what you went through. Boy, that Disney vacation of yours came just in the knick of time!

 

[lulubelle]

Wow, great trip report and pics.
I hope DH survived ok with the huge crowds on those crutches! Thanks for sharing Kirkland Tutu

BTW...Are you a dancer? DD was a dancer in High School, she still loves taking jazz classes for fun but sadly gave up ballet right before she was ready to move on to point classes - and here it takes several years to get to that level of dance. She still points her toes when she sits and is quite graceful, at least that much stuck with her, LOL . How about you?

 

[KirklandTutu]

We're all recovered now from the power outage. Got the fridge completely emptied! was that fun or what. Thank you for the sympathy!

And I teach now more than I actually dance. I had a few too many injuries to continue it on a professional level, but I'm trying to pass on what I know and love to others now.

Hubby survived with flying colors on the crutches. He quickly learned the 'pole vault' method of moving around. I had to get him to slow down because I was having to run to keep up with him. I didn't want to get called on stampeading after all.

 

[shellyof4]

Hey! Great trip report! I really enjoyed it...

We are in Woodinville and of course, lost power forEVER....We got it back a couple days before Christmas....8 days without power! It had it's fun moments though....snuggled up with the kids ready Harry Potter comes to mind... BUT, I kept thinking, this would've been a great time to be in DL!!! :O) Glad you were!!

AND glad you had so much fun!