Family Christmas (Dec 9-12, 2025) at Bay Lake Towers

[tkd lisa]

Welcome to my December Disney World Trip Report.

I used to write up all of our trips, way back when my kids were still at home. I recently wrote up our European Disney Cruise on the cruise line board, and it made me remember how much I like being able to recapture the experience, and potentially help others in their planning.

So starting with the basics:

The Cast (in order of appearance):
Me, Lisa, age 61, recently retired from the federal government after a LONG career. I live in Tampa FL, and wouldn’t be able to count the number of WDW trips I’ve taken. I’m a DVC member (own at Saratoga Springs and Hilton Head), and I do most of the planning for the family.

DM, who turns 88 one week after this trip. She’s a retired nurse, and lives about 2 hours south of me. She has taken a WDW break for the last couple of years, but decided to buy an AP again and come along for the ride. She uses a rented mobility scooter because she has a substantial heart issue which limits her endurance. She can walk, just not very far.

DGS, 5 years old. This little guy is a true bright light, and he loves his Grammy (that’s me) and GiGi (DM, it’s short for great grandma). He’s on the autism spectrum, and is undergoing quite a bit of therapy to develop coping tools for him and the family. He does qualify for Disability Assistance Service (DAS), which will come to play in the report.

DS, 32 years old, active duty member of the Navy stationed at Kings Bay GA (just north of Jacksonville FL). Since COVID, DS has been on regular deployment, so he’s missed a lot of our Disney trips. But he’s on shore duty now, so he has been able to join us for the last couple of times. His objectives for this trip were to see the new Villians show, and ride some of the bigger rides with his daughter.

DDIL, 34 years old, home schooling mom. True Disney lover, who absolutely KILLS at trivia because she remembers everything. She and DS were both in the Disney college program, and she ended her Disney time working costuming for Fantasmic. Seeing this show was her only request for the trip.

DGD, 9 years old. We joke she was literally born at WDW (actually at Celebration Hospital). She’s tall enough for everything at WDW now, and really loves the thrill rides.

When/Where: 9-12 December, in a 1 bedroom at Bay Lake Towers Contemporary Resort.
Plans:

I had bought new Pixie Dust Annual Pass vouchers for myself, DM, DS, and DGD earlier this year which had to be activated. DDIL and DGS had been using military salute tickets, and we were going to upgrade them to APs as well, so our first stop was guest services.

DM, DGS, and myself were driving over from Tampa early Tuesday morning (9 Dec), while DS, DDIL, and DGD were driving down from southern Georgial. DGD had a girl scout event on Saturday, so I picked up DGS early. The park lineup was:

Tues, Dec 9th – Hollywood Studios in the morning, park hop to EPCOT, then catch the Christmas Party fireworks from the top of the Contemporary.

Wed, Dec 10th – Magic Kingdom in the morning, park hop based upon what people wanted to do, Dinner in the room followed by AK evening extra magic hours.

Thurs, Dec 11th – EPCOT in the morning, lunch (for DM’s birthday) at Coral Reef at 1:00. DM and I wanted to see the candlelight processional with Marlee Matlin, the others would break off. This was our only night to see Fantasmic, so that was on the docket.

Frid, Dec 12th – DM and I were doing AK in the morning. The other half was uncertain. There was a chance they would go to Sea World to use their military tickets.

 

[tkd lisa]

Day 1 am, Tuesday December 9th

I apologize up front for the lack of photos on this morning. Nothing we rode had photopass shots, and I was too busy managing the scooter and stroller to take any with my phone.

DM, DGS, and I woke up fairly early and after a quick stop by Wawa for some on the go breakfast, we were on the way to Disney by 7:30. No real traffic challenges, so we pulled into the Contemporary just before 9am. I had pre-ordered a scooter for my mom from ScooterBug, so I left her and DGS at the Bay Lake Tower lobby while I parked the car and brought in our cooler bag for storage with Bell Services.

While waiting for the scooter, we discussed our plans with DGS. As he has gotten older, and had more therapy, we’ve learned that he does better when he is able to provide input into plans. As described in the planning post, we were starting at Hollywood Studios, then taking the skyliner to EPCOT, and planned on returning to the resort via monorail (this comes into play later). I explained that we would have to stop to get our tickets set before entering the park, so he was prepared for a delay.

Smooth sailing via bus to DHS. This was our first experience with the new buses that can hold up to 4 scooters or wheelchairs. They do seem to take a while to load, but given the increased number of people using mobility devices, I’m glad that Disney has adjusted. We had 2 scooters and one wheelchair on the bus this morning. Once through security, we stopped by guest services to activate our passes. We have to show proof of Florida residence the first time the passes are used, and it can back up the ticket gates to do it there. Plus I needed to upgrade DGS and DDIL’s military tickets to change them to APs. I was able to take care of DDIL’s even though she wasn’t there, but they were going to have to stop by the window for the same FL resident validation once they arrived.

We made it into the park shortly after 10. Meanwhile, I had checked on the progress of the GA crew, and unfortunately, DGD had woken up with a sick stomach, which slowed them down. They decided it was just early morning grumpiness once she actually woke up (this side of the family are NOT morning people, and DGD is probably the worst one to get up in the morning), and they were on their way about the time we got into the park. I suggested they just skip DHS and meet us at EPCOT given the timing.

I pulled a DAS for the Millennium Falcon for DGS and me, and decided to set DM up with the new Little Mermaid show. I mistakenly thought that the construction had blocked off access behind the Runaway Railroad, so we all took the long way around through Star Wars Land. I got DM pointed toward the path throught Toy Story Land, and DGS and I headed toward our spaceship ride. He really loves to do this, and insists on being the gunner so he can shoot. We were put in a car with a pair of young adults who were riding this for the first time. DGS explained to them that they had to be the pilots, and it was very important that they didn’t damage the ship! They were really good sports, and played along with DGS’s excitement in the ride.

Rise had a very long line, so DGS and I pulled a DAS for Midway Mania and headed over to stand by on the Alien Saucer ride. The wait for this was listed as 30 minutes, and I wasn’t sure how DGS would do with the line. Thankfully, he made friends with families around us, and the time passed quickly. He also decided while we were waiting that it would be okay if we didn’t get a blue alien car, he was willing to take green. And since all the aliens are green, I knew we wouldn’t have a melt down in the loading area. Blue is his favorite color, and he’s struggled in the past if he’s not able to ride in that car.
We headed straight to Midway Mania and basically walked straight on with our DAS time. Being a party of 2 put us on the fast track for loading. I actually managed to unlock one of the extra point opportunities, which I’ve never done before! We checked in with DM, who had enjoyed the Mermaid Show, and was waiting for us near the entrance to One Man’s Dream. She told me that the ramp was open to come back up behind the runaway railroad, but that it was pretty busy. They’ve redone this ramp area. In the past, there was one ramp, and it wasn’t wide enough for two way traffic, often creating challenges between scooters and double wide strollers. They’ve now added a 2nd ramp, and there was a CM at both ends directing people onto the correct one for their direction. Unfortunately, it still was a traffic jam because 1) many people just don’t listen, and 2) you have to cross traffic to enter and exit. DM was still getting used to the scooter, and it was a bit of a challenge to help her AND manage the small stroller that I was using for DGS, but we made it. We headed to the exit and were on the skyliner by about noon for our trip to EPCOT.

Up next,

The beginning of the transportation trading card quest, meeting with the family, and an evening of Christmas fun.