First December at Disney, first Jollywood, and a first time doing a trip report!

[Mikey15]

Saturday Dec 7, 2024, the halfway mark of our trip:



We don’t tend to plan park days on Saturdays. I find there’s still a weekday / weekend rhythm to crowds, and that’s especially so at a time of year like December. But that doesn’t mean we stay away from neat things.

On Dec 7, we slept in and then leisurely headed to a Whispering Canyon ADR at Wilderness Lodge, to enjoy a good brunch and also take in the sights of the WL lobby at Christmastime.



There’s great places to sit and read, even if it’s reading your phone



In the afternoon they even open up a little cookie and hot cider stand, which we enjoyed so much we came back the following week too. We each enjoyed a warm cider, and I remember liking the Linzer cookie and the dark chocolate bar.



We did a little shopping on the way back to the resort. Went to a different TJ Maxx up in Dr Phillips and took a photo of this ridiculous thing at Home Goods ($700 ):



Then we just settled in at the resort for a quiet night, while I watched some good and thrilling conference championship games for college football.

It was all recharge time, but that’s absolutely needed on any vacation. It’s ESPECIALLY needed on vacations with 10+ mile walking days

 

[Mikey15]

Sunday Dec 8th had some brunch discussions surrounding Disney resort, Disney Springs, and non-Disney restaurants but we ended up in decision paralysis and not going out for brunch at all. We’ve done the Art Smith’s Homecomin’ brunch before. While I enjoyed it, it wasn’t worth going back for her, so we were just looking at other ideas. Maybe this year!

We did do another foodie move and went to try something for dinner, on the way to our actual dinner
That night our destination was Sana’a, an old favourite of ours, but on the way we had to try this Gourmet Grilled Cheese from the pool bar of all places at Kidani.



It was actually worth the special stop! I really liked it anyway. It’s not exactly a kids’ grilled cheese but more like what I would make at home.

We then made our way to our Sana’a reservation. Bread service was a must, but we don’t usually fuss around with their entrees as much. This time I was almost prepared to order one once I saw it came with Upma as a side; Upma being an Indian dish made with semolina (Cream of Wheat), spices, and vegetables that Indian family friends make so well but I hadn’t had in years at that point. Our server was so nice and checked with the kitchen about getting just the side Upma without the entree, and I was even able to order some to take home as well.

The ‘pixie dust’ continued when each side was only a $3.99 side of rice on our bill! Of course, he also helped us with drink recommendations (which at Disney means >$15 cocktails with 2oz or more), and dessert recommendations after they no longer had my favourite Sana’a dessert; the Seradura real butterscotch pudding. Not sure how they got rid of that because it was just so good, and I’m not much of a sweets person. The new dessert options just couldn’t hold a candle to this:



After dinner, we headed over to DS for some evening shopping before heading home