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

 

[Mikey15]

I guess I’m going to skip Monday Dec 9. At this point I have no idea what happened without going back to my credit card statement

We stay at a great resort called Summer Bay which is on the west end of US-192, so we probably enjoyed a pool day and maybe went to happy hour over at the Bahama Breeze ten minutes away. No photo evidence so I’m not sure how much you’re interested in me describing the tostones nachos, or their adult beverage menu, but it’s definitely a staple for us. There’s another one by Disney Springs / Vineland Premium Outlets. It’s another Darden chain, but it’s not everywhere like Longhorn or Olive Garden so we try to enjoy it once or twice a trip.

Tuesday Dec 10th on the other hand had a LOT! of photos as we drove to Busch Gardens for the day.



Actually it is coming back to me one one thing that occurred on Monday, which was the total pain it was to book the Giraffe feeding experience we were so looking forward to doing at BG. We did it a decade before and had so much fun taking photos w the giraffes while feeding them lettuce, but there was an issue with the booking site just not processing our payment, and the issue was with the site rather than our card. But with issue resolved we meandered our way through BG for the first time since 2016. While Animal Kingdom actually does have good zoo exhibits in addition to its rides and shows, I feel like a lot of guests walk right past them, tucked into nooks and crannies off of the main path. BG in contrast does a good job of centering the zoo experience, and even theming rides to the animals nearby.



After checking out the cheetahs, for example, I waited in a short line for the Cheetah Run coaster. Most coasters at Busch Gardens are the real deal like you’d find at Sea World or a dedicated roller coaster park, and it’s well worth the drive to Tampa if you’re into them.

Giraffe experience was added cost ($$) but still a lot of fun. You’re on the back of a truck with railings all around, and they take you around to see the different animals of their safari area, before heading over to the giraffes. The giraffes voluntarily come over because they know they’re going to get a lettuce treat, and you can take your own photos on top of the ride-along ($$) photographer’s shots,



It wasn’t ~quite~ as magical as last time when our group alone was half the truck, but we still had a blast.

Afterwards we toured counterclockwise around BG checking out various animal exhibits. Our favourite though was a walk-through kangaroo enclosure. The walk-through was free, but we each got trays of treats to literally have kangaroos eating out of our hands. 100% magical, and we fell in love with this older, greying kangaroo. Very much looking forward to going back.

 

[Mikey15]

Overall, BG was really cool and worth the trip. We hadn’t been there since Sept 2016, which was a really quiet time with kids in school, and also a period post-Blackfish where SW parks were really struggling for attendance. This felt lively, even on a random December Tuesday, and I was able to ride as many coasters as I felt up to on top of the animal experiences.



I love AK, don’t get me wrong, but BG I feel has more rides (provided you like coasters) and more accessible zoo animal views. It just doesn’t have anything comparable to Pandora / FoP. Also, while there were some winter / Christmas themed shows going on in December, I don’t think any of them are quite Festival of the Lion King. If you get a Disc Cove admission that includes SW & BG like we did, definitely make the drive and take advantage!





And that wasn’t even the end of our fun that day. We hmmd and hawed about where to eat that night… try somewhere in Tampa, stop at a food stall market in Lakeland like the one we went to in Charlotte, or try one of the various Mexican places we’d been eyeballing back in the Orlando area. We ended up trying Agave Azul, which is an Orlando-area Mexican chain, and very much enjoyed it!

I-4 was predictably horrendous on the way back to Central FL, but we got off at 429 and made our way to the Windermere Agave Azul location. Great choice. Apps were good. Drinks were good (you’d think we were booze hounds by the way I mention this each meal, but we rarely ever have alcohol at home). Entrees were delicious but we took the rest home, and are glad we tried the recommendation for their Tres Leches cake dessert. Sooo good, and we’re absolutely going back next month.



We even got treated to MVMCP fireworks on the way back to our resort!



We turned in after that for an early start Wed Dec 11th for our last Disney park day of the trip!

 

[Mikey15]

Well I may actually pull it off! Time to finish my December ‘24 trip report before my December ‘25 trip starts on Saturday



Our “neighbour” made an interesting parking job beside us the night before. I guess they really wanted to be close to us (& the sidewalk ). But nevermind, we were off to our longest day in the parks (potentially ever for us?).

We started our day off at the Polynesian, where we had a nice breakfast at Kona Cafe from 8:45-9:30. I haven’t fallen in love with Kona’s lunch/dinner menu, but their breakfast menu is still great! Highly recommend some Tonga Toast and POG juice. Just love visiting the Poly period,



Our first park of the day was some unfinished business at Hollywood Studios. We couldn’t ride Rock’n’Roller during Jollywood, so our main priority on this regular park day was getting that ride in. We went there armed with a Lightning Lane MultiPass and quickly did both it and Tower of Terror.



But this was actually mostly a leisurely, box-checking trip to DHS. One of those boxes was sharing a buffalo chicken grilled cheese at ABC commissary, which was absolutely as good as it looked!


But we didn’t want to overeat, like at this holiday decorated Woody’s Lunch Box,



because our next stop was Epcot for our Candlelight Processional dining package at La Creperie, which was early because we chose the first seating that day for the Candlelight processional.

Before the clock struck 2pm (Park Hopping time then) we were out the gates and riding the Skyliner towards Epcot!

 

[Mikey15]

There was a slight delay at CBR station, but we enjoyed our gondola ride to France!

In order to get a guaranteed seating for the Candlelight Processional, you can buy a ‘dining package,’ which is essentially a pre-booked prix fixe meal at a participating Epcot restaurant that gives you “tickets” to the processional reserved seating after you’ve dined there. Normally a salad, savoury crepe, and sweet crepe each, plus hard cidre, is not something we would order for ourselves. Too much food! But it was all part of the prix fixe courses, so, when in Rome! (Or in this case, Paris!)



This was a rare experience for us but it was delicious, authentic, and well worth it. The highlight for me was the ratatouille buckwheat crepe. The filling and the flavours were just phenomenal and I can’t wait to try one again. Our waitress was from Marseille and just really added to the experience as well. We’d enjoyed the crepe sucre from the to-go window before at La Creperie, but this was our first proper dining experience there and I absolutely will go back (and order less food).

After lunch, we had a little bit of time before our Candlelight seating… enough for me to get some maple popcorn in Canada before we got in the line for dining package seating. Torii picture taken from line (which extended west of the American pavilion towards Japan) at 4:19,



Shortly after 5, the show began (you get great seats with the dining package),



and our narrator, Brendan Fraser, was greeted with a huge round of applause,



The show lasted almost an hour, and I found the whole experience start to finish to live up to my expectations. Yes it’s kind of weird to wait in a long line even after you’ve paid for the dining package reserved seating, but it’s kind of like anytime there’s a line after you’ve paid for Lightning Lane, which I suppose happens all over Disney.



We meandered a bit after the show, so it was also interesting to witness them “stop traffic” to get the performers across from the pavilion to the backstage area. Disney really has everything ironed out well.

Being December, the sun was down before the show ended, and the views of Epcot had transitioned to night before our “wrong way” counter clockwise lap of World Showcase reached China,



and Mexico,



And there was more Epcot to do! We rode Guardians (again), and then it was time to start Living with the Land.



We even went through the Nemo ride and visited the friendly neighborhood manatee,



So at 9pm and near the front of the park, it was time for us to wave bye to Spaceship Earth & Epcot… but despite it being over 12 hours since we arrived at Poly, we still had one more park to end on!

 

[Mikey15]

(I hit the photo limit in my Epcot post but I still had to share this one)

Loooove Epcot this time of year