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[jc040404]

December 17th, 2010 * Friday * day sixteen

Yay! Another Disney day! Today was mission Epcot storytellers. Where better to start such a project than..... Magic Kingdom??

We got to the park as early as our still sleepy bodies would allow, just managing to make it through the turnstiles in time for the welcome show. The crowd was thick so we had to squeeze in. I really didn’t think the CMs would allow more through, but they packed us in like sardines. Well, as I imagine sardines must be packed. Everyone says that, but I’ve never actually seen a packed sardine before. It could be quite roomy for all I know... Anyway, I picked up Blake while John put Andrew on his shoulders. Needless to say, I didn’t take any pics. It’s tough with a squirmy two year old in your arms! (And I might've been dancing a little, too..How could I resist?)

Blake had been talking endlessly about how awesome Goofy’s barnstormer was, so that was really our only reason for stopping here this morning. The storytellers wouldn’t be out for a couple of hours, so why not?

We had to check “somewhere else” for that Mickey’s Christmas Carol dvd, so this seemed as good as anywhere else. It didn’t turn up anything, but the CMs were a bit more helpful than those at DHS. She said to check Target. The search continues! We headed back outside.

Though he’d been in excited in the car about riding the Barnstormer again, Blake wasn’t in the best mood once we got here. He didn’t fuss or get upset, just kept giving me this look. Blake has the most expressive face I've ever seen. I'm not certain what this one meant that day, but he was serious about it! It didn’t help much when I took them all straight to Tomorrowland. Mommy needed a little Buzz.

Bubbles!

I did okay..

The highlight of this ride, however, was Andrew’s score! He found one of those special spots along the ride and his score shot up 100,000 all at once. He had never been so excited on this ride before! He started cheering and calling for me to get my camera out right away for a picture. This was a big event!

Yay Andy-Roo!!

Routine took us into Fantasyland for Pooh..

and back for a short spin on the tea cups!

To make this update super exciting, I’ll even throw in a rare pic of me..

We still had a bit of time to kill before Toontown opened, so we decided to split up. John would take Andrew off to the race cars while Blake and I.. Well, while we found something to do. We weren't interested in racing. I didn’t have a plan but decided we’d get some PPF FPs, just in case.

As we made our way over to PPF, Blake spotted Dumbo. It is kinda hard to miss. He wanted to ride it so bad that the FP mission was almost forgotten. I told the little guy we’d come right back after our FP collection and off we went. He loved helping me catch our passes.

When we returned to Dumbo, Blake was thrilled! I think he could tell by the line that this was something we'd usually skip. Despite that. the wait went fairly fast, but it was about as the thirty minutes posted. We had fun together, playing without big brother. I love to pick up one of the boys and play a whispering game. They think it’s hilarious to share secrets in line, though we usually say little more than “I love you!” and “You’re so silly!” to each other.

Smile, silly boy!! It took some tickle encouragement for a Dumbo smile picture. Blakers was focused on Dumbo control!

John and Andrew finished their alone adventure before we were back on the ground. They couldn't believe we'd actually picked Dumbo! We met up around the tea cups again. Toontown was now open!

Amazingly, there was no one around the big Toontown sign! I don’t think this had ever happened before, not that we checked out this spot all that much. I had to grab a picture of the boys in front. Afterall, you never know if this might be the last time we saw it!

The sun was not a friend.. It took about a dozen shots to get 'em looking at me. Maybe this is why no one was around?


....next post....

 

[jc040404]

Begin excessive Toontown picture posting.... now!

*tear* Where Andrew had his face painted for the very first time ever..

Andrew got to ride first this time! We both noticed something new in our journey. How cute are the squash? How did I miss this?

Blake was up next!

Ooohhh.. New angle to this expansion stuff!

He didn’t laugh or make any sound at all during the ride. I decided to record his face and the poor little guy looks terrified the entire time. Once we came to a stop, he was all smiles and begging to ride again. Such a silly boy.

While one boy was on the ride or in line, the other was playing in the little Toontown park area. They both love it in there, so we stayed for a bit for them to run around. Andrew is particularly sad about this being gone.

I hope the new area has something like this. It really is needed after all that line time!

I’ll give you three guesses on where we went next. Here’s a hint. It was lunchtime for us!

Andrew splashing all the way there!

We grabbed our usual lunch in the usual place before going back to use those PPF FPs. The plan to get over to Epcot in time for the storytellers to begin was pretty much shot by this point. Andrew had been vocal about not doing them, so I wasn’t about to force the idea on anyone anyway. We’d take our time and see what we saw. PPF would be our last MK ride this day.

Stopping to park the stroller by a then closed IASW, we all spotted some nifty Christmas trees. I’m guessing it must’ve been part of MVMCP. Who could these trees belong to??

Blake took one look at that giant blue jewel and announced... “Pluto!”

Andrew was quick to correct baby brother, of course. He’s too kind.

After our flight into Neverland, it was time to get out of here! We began the journey to the front of the park.

If only I could’ve found that movie.. Why did the stop showing it on television every year anyway?

....silly pic limit.. one more tonight!

 

[jc040404]

When we got to the front, a wild thought hit me.

“Let’s go up there!”

“Where?”

“There!”

I love confusing my husband. He looked all around, not having a clue where I was talking about.

We did something completely new and exciting. We went up the stairs to the train station! Can you believe none of us had ever been up here?

The castle looked great! Hahahaha..

We had some fun checking out the things around here that we’d never taken the time to look at. The boys loved all the keys and train stuff. They each had to have a fun picture taken, too!

^I see someone's reflection.. hahaha..

A ferry ride to the TTC, it was now monorail-to-Epcot time!

 

[AprilRenee]

A picture of you?? yay!! Is this to make up for NOT putting in that Pooh picture?? Your hair is so long and pretty!! I love it!!

Haha!! Those squash are great!

I CAN believe that you haven't be up in that train station! We haven't either and it was on my list for this past trip...I just forgot about it in all the excitement once we were there! It is now at the TOP of my list for next time! I WILL go up there!

Ok...I don't get the jeweled tree...does it actually belong to a character? Or am I just not getting the joke?

 

[CAStevens218]

I love looking at all the Christmas decorations in this part of your trip report! It reminds me of my trip! We were in Animal Kingdom on this day...if I recall correctly it finally warmed up a bit for us!

It looks like the train station would be a great place to watch the parade/fireworks (minus the giant tree of course)...is that somewhere you are allowed to watch from?

 

[PirateKate]

We didn't make it to Magic Kingdom until 3 on December 9th, so we probably missed you all. I do remember it was quite cold that night.

I love all the Animal Kingdom character pictures! All the characters look very festive in their holiday clothes and the boys look really cute meeting them.

 

[Dugette]

I've been terrible at keeping up with the Dis lately, but I just finally read the last several pages of your TR. Love all the pics of details we missed. CMs wouldn't let us go see all those character-themed trees in AK, since they apparently close down that whole area in the later hours of the day. I didn't realize there were so many--I was thinking it was just the Fab 5. Nice to see them in your pics. Also, the AK parade pics were nice, as we missed some details, since we stole an idea from you and watched from Yak & Yeti (nice way to go when it's that cold out!)

You're writing about a day that we were there now...yea! I miss Disney...we haven't been there since then (obviously)... Too long!

Anyway, looking forward to more!

 

[jc040404]

A picture of you?? yay!! Is this to make up for NOT putting in that Pooh picture?? Your hair is so long and pretty!! I love it!!

Haha!! Those squash are great!

I CAN believe that you haven't be up in that train station! We haven't either and it was on my list for this past trip...I just forgot about it in all the excitement once we were there! It is now at the TOP of my list for next time! I WILL go up there!

Ok...I don't get the jeweled tree...does it actually belong to a character? Or am I just not getting the joke?

Yeah, I felt bad for never putting any of the pics John takes of me on here, especially after not adding the Pooh pic.

We're guessing the jeweled tree must be part of the Seven Dwarfs stuff. Makes sense, right? I'm pretty sure I've seen it in the pics of them on MVMCP.

I love looking at all the Christmas decorations in this part of your trip report! It reminds me of my trip! We were in Animal Kingdom on this day...if I recall correctly it finally warmed up a bit for us!

It looks like the train station would be a great place to watch the parade/fireworks (minus the giant tree of course)...is that somewhere you are allowed to watch from?

This day did warm up! John had the bright idea not to bother with jackets when we watched the weather before leaving. Worked out until the sun went down.

I'm sure you're allowed to watch from up there. I've seen a couple TRs where DIS'ers have planned to.

We didn't make it to Magic Kingdom until 3 on December 9th, so we probably missed you all. I do remember it was quite cold that night.

I love all the Animal Kingdom character pictures! All the characters look very festive in their holiday clothes and the boys look really cute meeting them.

We definitely missed each other. The characters were cute for Christmas!

I've been terrible at keeping up with the Dis lately, but I just finally read the last several pages of your TR. Love all the pics of details we missed. CMs wouldn't let us go see all those character-themed trees in AK, since they apparently close down that whole area in the later hours of the day. I didn't realize there were so many--I was thinking it was just the Fab 5. Nice to see them in your pics. Also, the AK parade pics were nice, as we missed some details, since we stole an idea from you and watched from Yak & Yeti (nice way to go when it's that cold out!)

You're writing about a day that we were there now...yea! I miss Disney...we haven't been there since then (obviously)... Too long!

Anyway, looking forward to more!

Interesting. I had no idea they closed that part down. We never seem to last long if we try AK to find out. Love that you watched the parade from Yak & Yeti! I need to plan an ADR there. Miss that place!

Still sad that your year is over, but it must be relaxing in a way not to do all that traveling all the time! Hope you finish your TR, but I can understand not really keeping up on here now. Our year is just about up.. Only five more days in the parks left in my plans!

 

[Dugette]

Interesting. I had no idea they closed that part down. We never seem to last long if we try AK to find out. Love that you watched the parade from Yak & Yeti! I need to plan an ADR there. Miss that place!

Still sad that your year is over, but it must be relaxing in a way not to do all that traveling all the time! Hope you finish your TR, but I can understand not really keeping up on here now. Our year is just about up.. Only five more days in the parks left in my plans!

Yeah, we didn't know they closed that part down either, but they apparently must after the last FOTLK show. And thanks for the idea of watching the parade from Y&Y, it worked out pretty well.

It is sad that our year is over. At first, I suppose it was sort of relaxing not to have all the travel, but now we miss it! If we still had APs, I guarantee I would have somehow justified at least a long weekend at WDW by now. Oh, well. I'll definitely finish the TR...I think it just makes me slower knowing I don't have any upcoming trip to finish before. I can't believe you only have 5 days left!!

 

[jc040404]

The monorail ride was uneventful and we were soon walking by the big “golf ball” into Epcot. Andrew has often wondered. If we all worked together, could we make it roll away? After a minute or two of discussion, it's usually decided that we shouldn't attempt this.

Epcot near Christmas was completely new to us. We hadn’t managed to fit it in the year before so I was really hoping to catch some of the holiday storytellers around WS. I’d even typed up a nice plan of attack to fit most of them in. It would still work, despite the late arrival, but Andrew wasn’t into it. As soon as I mentioned checking them out, he started to complain. Oh well. I didn’t want to push him into it, even though I knew he’d probably enjoy this. Listening to these stories wouldn't be much fun for anyone with a grumpy four year old pouting on the side.

We let the boys lead us and wandered over to find Nemo.

The ride had no wait, but that isn’t very shocking. What was shocking was Blake not being afraid in the scene with Crush and all those bubbles. Like his father, he’s not a fan of that part. Unlike his father, he still wants to ride this every chance he gets anyway. Thank goodness it's a short scene! We had a fun time and left the ride to the sound of Andrew begging for Turtle Talk.

You know how this goes. He promised not to get upset over Crush not choosing him, so we went inside. We had a wait in front of us so the boys checked out some of the sea life near the entrance.

A CM popped out of a window above to feed the fish as we watched. It was different and entertained everyone for a few minutes. He was tossing oddly colored bits of something down and the fish rushed to gobble it up. At one point, the CM’s aim must’ve been off. The food hit the side of the tank and stuck. I found his expression hilarious. He glanced around at everyone. Perhaps we didn't notice? He didn’t seem to know how to handle it, so he simply left it stuck to the side and went away!

Eventually let inside inside Turtle Talk, we watched the show yet again. I wish they’d mix it up a bit. Sometimes the kids can make it entertaining, but a couple new scripts for Crush would make it a little more worth doing over and over again. Just as every visit before, Crush didn’t talk to Andy-Roo. He was obviously sad over it, but didn’t cause a fuss after. I was thankful for that.

Checking the time, we noticed visiting Alice might be a great way to get Andrew into WS and more excited over the storytellers. That’s where we headed next.

Just a bit early, we took a few minutes for a snack and got to watch the British Invasion, too! The boys loved it and I had fun singing along to bug my husband. This was the one and only time we’d ever been here at the right time to see them. We all really enjoyed a bit of the music and I planned to stop here again. That never did work out.

Before their show was over, it was back beside the tea shop for his girl. I checked inside to be sure she’d be out soon and joined my waiting family. It seemed like we’ve spent so much time waiting in this little area during our Disney adventures, but we weren’t really visiting Alice here much at that time. Everything looked so sad after the cold that hit Florida, but Andrew still had fun running around while we watched for her to come. The little signs apologizing for Jack Frost’s visit did seem out of place with the gorgeous weather of the moment though!

I knew this might happen, and had actually been hesitant with the idea of meeting Epcot Alice before, but it wasn’t something I could avoid forever. Soon Alice skipped over to her spot by the tea shop and it was Andy-Roo’s turn.

It began innocently.

“Alice! How did you get all the way over to Epcot? You’re supposed to be by the tea cups!”

She replied by asking Andrew how he’d gotten all the way over to Epcot and said she’d done the same. She does have a secret rabbit hole that will help her travel a bit faster though. He accepted this. If he could visit both parks, why couldn’t Alice? He knew he’d seen her here many times before anyway so it was silly to ask that. The question was soon forgotten as they continued to chat. For a moment, I thought we'd make it out of this just fine.

Unfortunately, I was wrong. Andrew suddenly stopped the conversation with a revelation. Something just wasn’t right about Alice’s eyes, and her voice was different. While I can’t remember exactly how she responded, she did know just what to say. Andrew seemed okay with her answers, but it was too late. The Alice magic was officially gone. Blakers joined the discussion before they posed for a picture and walked back to me. The look in Andy-Roo’s eyes was one I’ll not soon forget.

“Mommy, she had a different voice today. The characters are really just actors.”

Just actors. We all knew this was coming. Andrew had figured it out. It wasn't that she didn't act thrilled just at the sight of him, instantly knowing who he was. It wasn't that she didn't mention their much planned wedding. It was her voice and those eyes.

He wasn’t upset and didn’t act terribly disappointed in the truth. That little bit of doubt had been in his mind for some time and he’d already had theories on those that didn’t speak. None of it came as a shock, which I suppose was the best way for it to happen for us. He said he still loved Alice and would like to continue seeing her. “His” Alice was the best and still a friend. It was okay to play pretend at Disney.

As for me, I found myself trying to control a couple pesky tears at the idea of my little man growing up. Wouldn’t it be an amazing thing to be able to capture that innocence and wonderful belief in every bit of magic and hold onto it forever? Would our park visits now be forever changed? It all seemed silly, and I knew I was putting too much into adults playing dress up. To be honest, I was surprised it lasted as long as it did.

“Do you want to try one of the storytellers? Father Christmas will be out in a few minutes.”

Without a single complaint or moment of hesitation, he agreed that it might be fun. I gave my big kid a hug and looked up at my husband standing behind him. He smiled and I felt a tear run down my cheek. A thought had hit me. We still had Santa Claus. I knew it was only a matter of time before I lost that one, too. Andrew pulled away from my hug faster than I would've liked. He was ready to walk back to wait for Father Christmas.

 

[jc040404]

I can't believe you only have 5 days left!!

Down to three! But somehow up another so I guess we're standing at four more for now. I'm ready for Disney to be over, but sad that this chapter is ending, too.

 

[jane2073]

As a parent of a young one, I found your post to be heartbreaking!
But so sadly true!
My daughter is 6 1/2. I know our santa Christmases won't be lasting much longer.

Andrew has so much insight for being so young! Such a smart boy!

 

[CAStevens218]

If the EPCOT ball ever rolls away, I"ll know who to look to!

The whole story of Andrew with Alice made me so sad, so I can only imagine how you felt! He seemed to handle the whole thing quite well though.

Hopefully you guys got to have some fun after this!

 

[AprilRenee]

I knew from the title of your post that this was going to be the day. I've cried at magical stories on here before but always happy tears. This one had a couple of tears thinking about welling up in my eyes. How sad to end that stage. He got some amazing magic through it all though!

This day did Alice know about the wedding before he mentioned it? Or did she just play right along with him? I think it would be so cool if all the Alices shared stories and this girl just happened to know about Andy from the MK Alice. Probably not, but it would have been awesome!

 

[jc040404]

As a parent of a young one, I found your post to be heartbreaking!
But so sadly true!
My daughter is 6 1/2. I know our santa Christmases won't be lasting much longer.

Andrew has so much insight for being so young! Such a smart boy!

Isn't it rough watching them grow up? I am happy to learn your daughter still believes in Santa at six. I worry that once Andrew is in school, we'll lose that one so I'm preparing for the worst this Christmas. I'd probably still believe if not for all those other rotten kids ruining it for me! You can't keep 'em little forever, I guess.

How was Pixar Weekend?

If the EPCOT ball ever rolls away, I"ll know who to look to!

The whole story of Andrew with Alice made me so sad, so I can only imagine how you felt! He seemed to handle the whole thing quite well though.

Hopefully you guys got to have some fun after this!

Don't look to me! It's all Andrew's idea!

He did great. Sadly, we've yet to see "his" Alice again though. It's cute how he wants to check out who it is when we notice one out now.

I promise there's still some fun yet to come!

I knew from the title of your post that this was going to be the day. I've cried at magical stories on here before but always happy tears. This one had a couple of tears thinking about welling up in my eyes. How sad to end that stage. He got some amazing magic through it all though!

This day did Alice know about the wedding before he mentioned it? Or did she just play right along with him? I think it would be so cool if all the Alices shared stories and this girl just happened to know about Andy from the MK Alice. Probably not, but it would have been awesome!

That would've been pretty cool if she knew about the wedding plans. They didn't mention the wedding at all during this visit. It was just the usual line of "Are you having fun?" and "What was your favorite ride?" that the face characters go through.

It is sad to see this stage end, but you're so right about the magic along the way. He had some really special Alice moments during our visits. Riding with her in the tea cups those times still rates on his list of best Disney days ever.

 

[CAStevens218]

Don't look to me! It's all Andrew's idea!

He did great. Sadly, we've yet to see "his" Alice again though. It's cute how he wants to check out who it is when we notice one out now.

I promise there's still some fun yet to come!

As long as I'm not in there when he makes his move! I get motion sick...

 

[Dugette]

Huh, I was there that day, but have no memory of that Stitch topiary--must've missed that one.

Cool that you got to see British Invasion. It was on our to-do list, but we never got to it...and I guess now we'll never get the chance...

Awwww, what a sad day for the Andrew and Alice magic! Good thing you got the years of Disney in at this stage so he got so many magical moments before this happened, though!

I can't believe you only have 4 days left. You might be ready to be done with Disney, but just wait about 5 months and see how you feel... Darn WDW withdrawal!

I think I remember you once talking about doing other parks/attractions in the area once Disney was done. Do you have any plans for the next year to fill the Disney void?

 

[jc040404]

As long as I'm not in there when he makes his move! I get motion sick...

Don't people complain that Disney needs more thrill rides? This could be a great idea. We'll be sure you're not on it!

Huh, I was there that day, but have no memory of that Stitch topiary--must've missed that one.

I think it was to the right of Spaceship Earth, near the restrooms and lockers. That's what it looks like in the pics anyway. I'm sure you just walked right by or went to the other side.

Cool that you got to see British Invasion. It was on our to-do list, but we never got to it...and I guess now we'll never get the chance...

That's too bad. Timing all the WS performers never seemed to work out well for us. I was happy we managed to see this one. I've heard the new group as we walked through the area, but we haven't stopped to listen just yet.

Awwww, what a sad day for the Andrew and Alice magic! Good thing you got the years of Disney in at this stage so he got so many magical moments before this happened, though!

He was a lucky little guy! Stuff like this makes me sad when I read about parents waiting until their children are older to visit the parks. While I understand their reasons, Disney is such a magical place when they're small enough to believe in everything. I'm glad we were able to give this time to him.

I can't believe you only have 4 days left. You might be ready to be done with Disney, but just wait about 5 months and see how you feel... Darn WDW withdrawal!

I'm sure you're right and I'll be missing it, too. We always have such a great time in the parks. If you stick around for the rest of my TR, you'll see why we wouldn't mind a bit of space between us and the mouse for a bit. Nothing terribly bad happens, and we still love WDW. It's just been kinda stressful with the resorts.

I think I remember you once talking about doing other parks/attractions in the area once Disney was done. Do you have any plans for the next year to fill the Disney void?

At this time, we have no plans for any of that. I want to see how life changes with Andrew in school full time before trying anything new. There's loads of stuff here to keep us busy until we find our new routine. You know how we do with plans, but I think this one will stick.

 

[jc040404]

The wait for Father Christmas wasn’t very long at all. The boys had fun looking at the decorations and playing. I enjoyed listening to a couple of men near us with a video camera. They appeared to be introducing what was about to happen in a semi-professional manner with some of their own commentary on previous viewings. They seemed to find each other very clever and reminded me of the local news personalities here. There were just sooo many bad jokes! It seemed so odd and out of place. I tried to search when we got home to see what this might be used for, but I have no idea what they were doing. Maybe they were just having fun. It did look like a pretty fancy camera set up anyway.

Soon enough, Father Christmas stole everyone’s attention as he walked towards us, singing and ringing a bell. He began counting, but lost his place as he noticed everyone waiting. He asked a guest the year and told us about ringing the Devil’s Knell. One ring for every year since Christ's birth equals a lot of bell ringing!! I'd lose count, too. Father Christmas gave up on the project and began to tell us of UK Christmas traditions.

It was fun with much that we already knew and some fun facts I was clueless about. We first learned about Christmas carols and that most originated here. While speaking of the music, he asked a little boy to come forward to help. The child was then given some jingle bells to ring along as we all sang a bit of “Deck the Halls.” The boys love this song, but perfer the Chipmunks’ version. With the singing finished, the little boy was then given a gift of a reindeer bell. It possessed the magical power of waking Mom and Dad, if shaken just above their heads on Christmas morning!

He continued on with the history of Christmas cards and mistletoe. It was all so much fun to listen to and I was impressed with how he told everything. None of the children wandered or seemed to get bored. He had their attention every second!

At the end, we all sang a bit of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and lined up to visit for pictures.

I wasn’t sure what all to expect before we did this. I hadn't been able to find any real detailed information beyond pictures, so I didn’t know how well this stuff would go over with the boys. I had a feeling Andrew might enjoy it, and I’m so glad that he did. We left the area to search for another storyteller. Everyone was excited to see what we might learn next!

Japan’s time was coming up soon and we made it to the spot a few minutes before it would begin. My plans had mostly gone out the window with out late arrival to Epcot, but did make the times easier to pick out for our priorities.

The Daruma vendor came out in about the same manner as Father Christmas. He was also ringing a bell but pushing his cart to sell daruma dolls. With his singing, it was unfortunately much more difficult to understand and I could see in Andrew’s eyes that he wouldn’t be a favorite. It was too bad really, as I quite enjoyed this one.

He spoke of the Japanese New Year and taught us about the daruma doll and how it came to be. I knew next to nothing about Japanese traditions, so this was fun to learn. The doll has no pupils in its eyes as the tradition is to make a wish and paint in the left one. Should your wish come true before the year’s end, you’re to paint the right. If you don’t get it, keep trying. In the moment, I thought of trying something like this with the boys in the next year. What a fun way to teach persistence in working towards your wishes.

We learned more about the significance of bell ringing and it’s importance in starting off the new year with a clean slate. The moral of it all is excellent and I’m glad we were able to fit this one in.

When the show was over, we were again invited to line up for pictures before he went back to his sales. It seemed like most just wandered off instead of lining up. Silly people. This one was a fun shot! Blake loved being able to hold one of the dolls. He brought it up again and again during the rest of the day!

Andrew wasn’t as thrilled as Blakers over this presentation. He only had one comment to make on the daruma vendor..

“I’m not a Japan person.”

It seemed Andy-Roo had been bored by it, but I think he didn't really listen well.

I checked out my typed times list and tried to decide what we would be able to fit in now that so much of the day was gone. I regretted not trying this from the start, but we’d manage what we could. Despite the lack of love for the poor daruma vendor, Andrew was ready for what we might find next. We turned the stroller towards Italy!

Italy wouldn’t go quite as well as the first two. There was already quite a crowd and the sun wasn’t working in our favor. Most everyone had gathered to the right, so we were stuck staring straight into it. The boys didn’t look up most of the time, but did sit still to pay attention to her speaking.

Our storyteller here was La Befana! Apparently, she is a witch that didn’t follow to Bethlehem at first. When she did decide to go, she didn’t have a proper gift. Ultimately choosing a small doll, she finds that she’s now too late. The star was gone and she couldn't find her way.

She didn’t give up though. On the eve of Epiphany every year, she climbs down your chimney and checks the face of every child. Just in case she’s found him, she leaves a gift. They all look like angels when they're sleeping, right? I found the whole thing quite depressing. She was sure to let everyone know it isn’t a sad story and was reason for celebration. Even so, this was really sad.

The same as the others, everyone lined up for photos after her story.

Andrew actually told her that he didn’t like her story because of the sun. She just laughed and apologized for being bright!

We decided to call dinner at this point and moved around to America. I think this may have been our first visit to Liberty Inn. Along the way, a restroom break was needed. We knew there was one around here, but this day we were directed somewhere else. I found it kinda nifty, so I took pics. Yes, of the restrooms!

There you have it. I didn’t take any pictures inside, but they were the teeniest restrooms I’ve ever seen at Disney!

Walking back out to Liberty Inn, I caught my first glance of the set up for the Candlelight Processional lines. One word sums it up for me... Wow! I was shocked at how much was roped off for people to wait. I’d be even more shocked to see just how insanely long this line got as the night went on. Yikes! I’m glad that hadn’t been part of our plans. I don’t see the boys lasting!

Liberty Inn was boring, but filled our tummies. They have those chicken wraps the boys like, so that was nice. I didn’t have to worry that someone would refuse to eat. During the meal, a super friendly, older CM stopped by to give the boys Timon & Pumbaa safety cards. I know he meant well, but I had an “Oh No!” moment. When these two are eating without any issues, I’d rather not introduce any distractions! Of course, both wanted to play with the cards instead of finishing their food, so I quickly tucked them away until they did.

Inside the Libery Inn, there was already a giant distraction just behind us anyway. I’d read about the huge gingerbread house in one of the resorts, but wasn’t aware there was going to be a smaller version here. It smelled wonderful, but John continued to argue that it wasn’t really made of gingerbread. He kept pointing out bits of the house to prove his point. I’m not sure either way. We did stop over to check it out some before heading back into the park.

The thought of 135lbs of butter kinda turns my stomach!

When we saw that side, Andrew was quick to point out that we could “totally make this!” as all the candies were sold at CVS! I’m forever remembering this house as the home of cheap CVS candy now.

I guessed that they probably sold eggnog in here. It was Christmas afterall. Blake and Andrew are little eggnog nuts, so I decided we’d get them a drink. Andrew raced up, excited to make our order.

The CMs inside looked at him. They looked at me as I approached. Then they went back to gossiping about someone. Huh? I had to interrupt and they both let out huge sighs with rolling eyes of annoyance. Yep, we were definitely in America. I see stockings of coal in their futures!

Back to the storytellers!

 

[AprilRenee]

Those storytellers are awesome!! Your TR is the first time I've heard about them! I may need to go back at Christmas sometime and see them.

I actually am involved in something like that each Christmas here in STL. I'm a director of "Christmas Traditions" which is a month long Christmas Festival in a historic suburb area. We have about 30 different living history Christmas characters walking around our historic main street and talking to kids and families and telling them about historic holiday traditions from around the world and different time periods.