Final update 12/31/13: 4 parks in 48 hours with MVMCP and Candlelight Processional

[toodycat]

Hi, everyone. I’m Toodycat, a Disneyphile, educator, wife of 26 years to my charming DH, who first took me to WDW when I was 20, and mother of one brilliant and beautiful son. I usually stick to posts about resorts, but I’m going to branch out here with a holiday trip report. We stayed at the WL, got our first Magic Bands, attended MVMCP and the Candlelight Processional and toured the resorts to see their decorations.

It all started like this: I was minding my own business a few days after Thanksgiving when my sister (48), a committed Disney lover since childhood, texted me to ask if I would like to go to WDW for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. She had a free companion ticket on Delta for my airfare and we could share a room. I’ve always wanted to see the World at Christmas, but could never bring myself to book a trip for my DS (19) DH (53) and myself (50) because they prefer to be at home for the holidays, and it is so prohibitively expensive to purchase air for three passengers from New York to Florida during Christmas week, not to mention the cost of a WDW resort room (s) to accommodate three adults during holiday season.

Now, here was my sister saying we could fly to Florida for the weekend, rent a car, share a room, get tickets to MVMCP, have the whole deal cost less than $900 each and be at home in time for Christmas. I already had days left on my park hopper from our last visit. How could I say no?

There were rooms available at the GF, CR and WL. I had heard that WL was the best deluxe for Christmas decorations, but I have stayed there already and wasn’t that impressed. We eliminated the GF as an option because a standard room was over $700 and we’ve both already stayed there. I asked her to consider the CR, but she preferred the WL. A standard room was $500/night. She reserved tickets for MVMCP and the Candlelight Processional dinner package. I rented a car, so that we could drive around the resorts to look at all the holiday decorations. We didn’t really make any ADRs, apart from one at Whispering Canyon Café for the day of our arrival.

I'll be sharing the story and photos from our amazing and busy weekend. Stay tuned…

 

[toodycat]

The flight from NY left on time. Travel was uneventful. We arrived at MCO and picked up our car at Budget Rapid Rez. It was a black Chevy Cruze. It was in good shape with low mileage and a steal at $65. I don't care how many times you've been to WDW. This is always an exciting sight:

 

[toodycat]

We arrived at the Wilderness Lodge and I immediately felt good about our choice to stay there. The Christmas decorations were beautiful. Here they are

 

[toodycat]

Although it was not even lunch time, our room was ready. Since we had booked a standard room, I asked if we could pay for an upgrade. Cora, the CM helping us, said, "You are in 6029. This is a very nice room already." We went upstairs to our room and found we were the recipients of some major pixie dust. This was the view from our room!

 

[toodycat]

Having checked in and been pleasantly surprised with our room, we had a lovely lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe. Last time my family stayed at the WL, WCC was a real liability. It made my son who has autism and is sensitive to loud noises very uncomfortable because of all the yelling and kidding around. However, for two grown women, the restaurant was just plain fun. Definitely order the pulled pork spring rolls. They are delicious! We both had the organic mixed green salad as well. My sister also had Pa's Maple Shake, a mixture of maple whiskey and vanilla ice cream. It tasted great, but kind of sneaks up on you. It's easy to drink whiskey in a milkshake.

After that, we visited resorts. Our plan was to hotel hop to see the holiday decorations until we could enter the MK for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Our first stop was the GF. While the GF is my favorite Disney resort of all time, I was glad to be at the WL for Christmas just because the GF's decorations did not feel as winter-y and homey as the WL. Nonetheless, they were quite beautiful:

 

[toodycat]

Of course, the true highlight at the GF is the gingerbread house. It is spectacular.

 

[toodycat]

After the GF, we visited the Poly which was quite pretty, but not super Christmas-y.

 

[toodycat]

After the Poly, we went back to the WL for a while and rested. Around 3:30 p.m. we took the boat from the WL to the Contemporary which managed to have a lovely holiday atmosphere while remaining sleek and modern.

 

[toodycat]

From there, we took the monorail over to MK for MVMCP.


Christmas decorations at the "Jingle" Jungle cruise.


Holiday signage at Pirates



The castle at night as viewed from Sleepy Hollow. (My sister ordered the gingerbread waffles and they were to die for.)

 

[LindaBabe]

Looking forward to more! Sounds like you had a fab 'girls trip'.

 

[wiigirl]

Awesome pics!

 

[toodycat]

Thanks LindaBabe and Wiigirl. We did have a great trip. It was definitely different from traveling with the whole family.

Here are my Christmas parade photos. Sadly, the battery on my camera died before the parade, so these were taken with my phone.

 

[toodycat]

 

[toodycat]

Goofy is my favorite.

 

[toodycat]

After the parade, we decided not to stay for the fireworks because we were hungry and sleepy. We took the boat back to the WL and walked into Artist Point. Although we hadn't been able to make an ADR, at this point it was so late that they seated us within five minutes. We had never eaten there before, but the food was excellent, starting with the bread basket. We both ordered the beet appetizer which was delicious and beautifully plated. I had the crispy breast of chicken with fall bread pudding. It was the most tender and flavorful chicken I've had. We each had a glass of Chardonnay as well. I can't remember the vineyard, but I think it was from the Williamette valley. In any case, it was a lovely meal and a magical finish to a great day.

 

[toodycat]

We woke up relatively early on Saturday, split a breakfast bounty platter at Roaring Forks and took the car over to DHS where we had fast passes for Toy Story Mania. There was a little confusion regarding the fast passes on our Magic Bands, but they did let us in. After that, we walked around a bit, did the Studio back lot tour, Star Tours, watched the Jedi Training Academy, and walked into the waiting area of ToT. I'm not able to do ToT because of back problems, but the CMs let me walk around and check it out. After that, we watched some street actors and purchased some souvenirs for family members.
Outside Toy Story Mania


Inside Toy Story Mania


Backlot tour
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Holidays around the DHS

 

[toodycat]

We left DHS, returned to the WL for a quick lunch and swim before taking the bus to AK. My sister had had it with driving. The bus to AK arrived quickly, but we had to stand. We got there in time for Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade which we had both seen on television and wanted to see in person. While it was fun, it was not appreciably different from the usual parade.

 

[toodycat]

We had reservations at the Biergarten at 5:45 and were therefore a little pressed for time at AK. We decided if we had to pick one attraction after the parade, it would have to be the Kilamanjero Safari. What luck! There was absolutely no line and we saw every possible animal. Our guide kept saying, "I've never seen this many animals in one tour," and "You all are really lucky today." We were especially surprised when a family of giraffes blocked the road for a while.

 

[toodycat]

We took the bus from AK to Epcot. We didn't have a lot of spare time, but tried to get on the stand by line for Soarin' but failed. We arrived at the Biergarten in time for our 5:45 reservation only to discover that they were running at least a half hour behind schedule, our Candlelight Processional dinner package notwithstanding. The waiting area in Germany was very crowded and not terribly organized. The Biergarten dining area feels like you are eating in an outdoor German square. There was a German band performing during dinner. We were seated with 6 other people who were very nice, but it was still a touch awkward. I was aware that this was the dining style, but had it not been the only available Candlelight Processional Dining Package, we would not have been eating there. They sell some interesting looking beer flights if you like beer. Otherwise, there are some good Rieslings. The service was not especially attentive and the buffet looked like a cruise ship buffet on German night. Most of the dishes were things you could get anywhere with a few German classics ,such as an excellent schnitzel, included. The desserts were mostly unmemorable. Even the Black Forest cake was just so-so.

After dinner, we got on line to wait for a long time for the Candlelight Processional. This was a looooong line. We and some of the people around us started to doubt that we would get in. A CM kept assuring us that everyone would fit. Even though the processional is on the outdoor stage at the American Pavillion and the line backed up to the end of Morocco, we were seated.

I wanted to see the Candlelight Processional because it was one of the events that is unique to WDW during the holidays. However, having seen it, I am not sure I would do it again. It was very pretty and the music was lovely, but left us feeling like we'd attended a church service crossed with a King Family Christmas Special. (I'm showing my age there.) James Denton was our celebrity narrator. I'm glad I saw the Processional, but next time I'll go see the Osborne Family Dancing Lights instead.











German band at Biergarten




Candlelight Processional






Once again, we were too tired to stay for the fireworks. We had planned on having a drink at the Territory Lounge, but were too tired even for that.

 

[toodycat]

On Sunday, we woke up, had our bounty platter at Roaring Forks and headed out to do some more resort hopping. Many thanks to the kind CMs at WL for extending our check out to 12:30 p.m. We drove over to the AKL, one of my all time favorite resorts, where they had a lovely tree and someone filming something in the lobby: