Florida is supposed to be warm, what's going on here?? A December 2010 TR!

[JacksLilWench]

I know, I know....it's March and I'm just now starting a trip report for a trip I took in December. I'm a slacker. But I have a good reason!!! When I first got back, I had PDDD- Post Disney Depression Disorder (it's legit, I promise). Then it was Christmas. Then New Year's hit. Then my DBF and I broke up (he's not so "dear" anymore his loss!). Then I contracted MONO. No joke, this has been an INSANE start to 2011. But it's finally time to buckle down and actually do this before the details of this trip start to fly out of my head!!

(Deep breath, long exhale...wait...it smells like Main Street!)

There's nothing like crossing the border into Florida. There's something about Florida that speaks to me. It signifies letting go, it means we're almost "home", it tells me things are about to get awesome. And how could it NOT?! Whenever I see that sign, it means I'm about to spend a week in a place designed and constructed as the best place on Earth. And for me it is But let's get on with the goods!!!

If you don't feel like reading my PTR (and let's be honest, I slacked there a little bit...working two jobs to prep and pay for a Disney vacay is exhausting, especially if one of your jobs is in retail during the Christmas season) I'll give you a refresher course.

The cast list is short, just me:

and my mom:

(disclaimer: my mom picked to be Ursula, don't read into that too much, lol)

We go to Disney World about once a year, but I'd never been during the Christmas season. And I'll never do that again. You'll find out why later I'm still trying to get all my pictures on my computer, so this might take a little bit. I took over 250...I got excited, haha.

More to come soon, I promise!

 

[YukiPhnx]

I'M HERE!! I'm first!!! Yaaay!

Woah, what a way to start the year off!! It's definitely his loss.

I can't wait to read more!

 

[JacksLilWench]

I'M HERE!! I'm first!!! Yaaay!

Woah, what a way to start the year off!! It's definitely his loss.

I can't wait to read more!

Yuki!!!! I'm so excited your first!! I just had to catch up on Lia's TR, and now I have to catch up on yours! I usually get to do all my "Dis-ing" at work because I sit at a computer all day...but I never get to see the pictures, they're all blocked, lol. I'm gonna go rightnow and finish yours up too!

 

[__disneygirl]

Hey! Yay, another mother/daughter trip!

Wow, you have had a crazy year so far. And like Yuki said... his loss, obviously.

I've heard Christmas at Disney is kind of maddening... I don't think I could do it, I'm so used to the lax crowds! Plus having it be warm around Christmas would weird me out too much. Someday though I would like to experience it anyway. Did you go see the Gingerbread House at the GF? Mmmm, gingerbread...

 

[JacksLilWench]

Hey! Yay, another mother/daughter trip!

Wow, you have had a crazy year so far. And like Yuki said... his loss, obviously.

I've heard Christmas at Disney is kind of maddening... I don't think I could do it, I'm so used to the lax crowds! Plus having it be warm around Christmas would weird me out too much. Someday though I would like to experience it anyway. Did you go see the Gingerbread House at the GF? Mmmm, gingerbread...

YAY!! Lia's here, too!!! This is exciting, to say the least :-D Can't wait to really get started!

Yeahhhh...Christmas at Disney is quite maddening. And we even went during the slow time before Christmas. It was fun to do once, but I won't do it again. It doesn't feel like Disney to me unless it's almost unbearably hot and I'm wearing tank tops. This was not a tank top trip at all. The next one will be though! We're going this coming September and it better be HOT!!!

 

[JacksLilWench]

^^(It's totally true, I can't function without it in the morning. Regardless of where I'm going that day)

December 12, 2010, 8:00 AM. It's finally happening again. Today is the day we get in the car and drive to Florida to go to Disney World!!!!!!!! Nothing can ruin the excitement I feel right now...except that I've fallen victim to The Haze. (No, not the Purple Haze, this is a family TR!) I'm talking about that early morning haze where you think things like "Did I remember to put coffee in the filter before I pushed start....?? Screw it, I'm going to Starbucks." I usually have it regardless of when I wake up, especially if I have to wake up early like that.

Since we had packed the car up the night before, all I had to do was brush my teeth, get dressed, and grab my day bag and be gone! We left the house at 8:30 in some pretty dreary rain. Not the best way to start it off, but I knew it would be sunny and beautiful once we got to Florida, so it was all good with me

Now, before I go any further, I should warn you I am quite addicted to Starbucks. And not just tasty coffee concoctions with sugar-free vanilla and an extra shot of espresso. But even a grande Pike with room for cream. (Dangit...now I want some.) But I knew I couldn't start the trip off right without a stop at the 'Buck. I had the yummiest coffee and bagel, and my mom bought a little present for us: the soundtrack to Charlie Brown Christmas! To me, it's just not Christmas until Charlie Brown says it is. Once we got settled back into the car, we were on our way, and that's when it started to sink in-we were on our way to the best freakin' place on EARTH!

We kept up an uneventful drive until we stopped for lunch. I picked the restaurant, a Bojangles. And if you've never eaten at a Bojangles...well, I don't know what to say to you. It's a chicken fast-food place that is soooo goooooood and sooooo bad for you. And I think someone was trying to send us a message about how bad it was, because as we were eating, the most bizarre and weird and creepy version of "Silver Bells" started playing. It was so bad, I lost my appetite. And that doesn't happen, lol. My mom and I just looked at each other with this look that just said, "There's no way someone actually produced this and sold it as a real record. It's not even funny." It was just so bad.

So at this point, we're halfway to Florida. The car is already a mess. And we've run out of CD's. It's about to get real, haha.

Coming up next, we finally make it to the Florida state line!!!!(I promise to put pictures in the next one!)

 

[Goofy442]

Can't wait to hear more! We were there in December as well and way to cold for me.

 

[Queenofallthings]

Can't wait to read another mother/daughter TR...his loss is right girl!!!

Can't wait to read more

 

[JacksLilWench]

Can't wait to hear more! We were there in December as well and way to cold for me.

It was so cold!! The last day we were there, it finally got warm. But the first four days were COLD! So glad to have you along for the ride!!

Can't wait to read another mother/daughter TR...his loss is right girl!!!

Can't wait to read more

It's about to get a little crazy, this whole trip was a blur. I'm hoping the next one goes okay...I really need to find a second job in order to afford it, and I don't see any coming down the pipeline anytime soon. Looks like I need to get back into my Mary Kay business! If anyone reading needs any makeup advice or makeup, PM me and I would love to help you out. And 100% of the proceeds go to the Disney Fund!

 

[JacksLilWench]

So, after lunch we got back in the car and headed south once again! It was pretty uneventful again. My mom is a safe (read: kinda boring) driver so nothing really out of the ordinary. But after a couple more hours, we finally got to...

The Florida State Line!!!!!

This is always one of my favorite parts of the trip. We always stop here and get orange juice and Disney brochures...because we don't get enough of them when we go to the AAA office, apparently, lol. They had Christmas trees all over with these super cute ornaments on them. They were all marine themed, with mermaids and fish, but they all had on cute little hats and coats with all this glitter all over. I would post pictures of them....but I can't find them anywhere and I didn't want to put off another update another day! I'll find them and add them later

After about 20 minutes of roaming around, we got back in the car and continued our drive down. A couple hours later, we stopped in St. Augustine to shop at the Disney Character outlet If you ever drive down there, you NEED to stop at those outlets. They have two huge outlet malls right across from each other, but Prime Outlets is better. They have a Disney outlet, a Juicy Couture outlet, and TONS of other stores too. It's so worth the stop. I got most of my purchases at the Juicy outlet (a girl's gotta have her couture ) and I got a cute necklace at the Disney outlet. My mom got the find of the day: It was a WDW hoodie that came with a fleece drawstring bag for only $12!! We saw the same thing later in the park for over sixty bucks!! That was definitely the clear winner that day. After about an hour of roaming around the malls, we got back in the car and headed down once again, this time no more stopping!!

We finally got to Orlando, and went to check into our hotel. What we have done in the past (but will do no more) has been to stay in a hotel on I-Drive and then check into our Disney hotel the next morning. And let me tell you why I refuse to do this anymore: for me, the magic starts the day we leave the house. And I refuse to put it off a day longer. Plus, the hotel we stayed at this time on I-Drive was HORRID. There's not another word for it, because it's so ridiculous. We stayed at a Days Inn, and that is enough right there to not do it again. But also, there was apparently some kind of family reunion going on, and all the kids were running around at like, 1am yelling in the "hallways" (it was an outside hotel, so there was no real hallways or anything) after I've been in the car all day and driving and just irritated and can't sleep anyway because I'm too excited that I'll be in Disney tomorrow!! Plus, and this might sound crazy but, all the bed sheets felt "wet". I don't know how to describe it other than that. They didn't leave wet marks on my clothes or anything, but they just had that wet, cold feel. It was gross. And another reason I couldn't sleep that night.

So after laying in bed and rolling around til 7am and getting no sleep I was ready to wake up and get packed to get to the Most Magical Place on Earth!!!!

Next stop, Main Street!!!!

 

[Goofy442]

We have stayed at hotels off Disney property and it is just not worth it. Some of those hotels are really gross, when we drive I sleep in the truck. We stayed at one off of 95 and when we got into the room there was bugs. When you factor in driving to WDW and paying for parking it's not worth the hassle.

 

[JacksLilWench]

I've been gone for too long from this!!! (I get really easily distracted, sorry. But I'm back now though!)

So today is FINALLY the day. After months of waiting, after having to reschedule the trip several months, after the longest drive down ever, after the worst night of sleep imaginable....we're finally going to Disney World!!!

That morning, we checked out of the hotel and headed (FINALLY) westward(Ho!) to the land of magic and awesomeness. We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter, so we headed there to check in and get our goodies. First, let me say this hotel is BEAUTIFUL. The theming is gorgeous, the colors are so suited to the theme, and the grounds are just breathtaking.

This was in the courtyard outside our room...we just didn't know it when we checked in because our room wasn't ready yet, lol.

After we checked in, we went to the food court to try the beignets everyone talked to much about on the boards. Oh. My. Goodness, they are so good. It's like eating fried air with powdered sugar on top. So good...but messy as all get-out. There was a fine coating of powdered sugar all over the table, the floor, and us when we were done eating them, lol. We did try to clean it up though, we're not total slobs

After breakfast, we hopped the first bus to....

MAGIC KINGDOM!!!! (I told you there would be pictures in this one!)

It was all decked out for Christmas, and just beautiful. Lights up everywhere, garland draped on everything, and all the pixie dust you can stand. And I can stand a LOT of it! It was truly gorgeous.

The first thing we rode was Space Mountain....because I had never been on it before. I never said I wasn't strange-it's taken me til my fifth trip to ride SM. (I had tried to ride it the last trip before this one: I took advantage of the promo to get in free on my birthday in 2008, and it was the first and last time I ever made a touring plan. While I was in line for PPF, it broke down and by the time it got back up it was too late to go to SM and wait in that line, the park was about to close. So instead I rode HM again!) It was so cool, I loved it! I think I might have a new top 5 after riding it, actually.

After SM, DM and I headed over to Toontown to say our "goodbyes". We knew it was the last time we would see it, because we wouldn't be back down again before it closed. It was kinda bittersweet to walk around and know this was the last time we would see all this amazing stuff.

(I just started my own garden...I wonder if I can get my tomatoes to grow like that??)

After walking around a little, we got in line for The Barnstormer. I had never been on it before. I thought it was themed really well, and I can't wait to see what they do with it for the new Storybook Circus

We did everything we wanted to do in MTTF, so we decided to hop the train and ride over to Adventureland! On the way, I only took a couple pictures. I didn't realize there was so much vegetation in MK.

CR and BLT from the train

We sat in the back of the train, and our "attendant" was pretty entertaining. At one point, he turns to us and jokingly says "Who knew, I got a college degree to do this for a living," and he puts this big smile on his face and does the Princess Wave It was such a cheeky little moment, haha.

We got off the train in Adventureland, and assessed the situation: we were pretty hungry at this point, and Pecos Bills' was looking mighty tasty...but we also wanted to ride a couple things then eat, because DM gets a little motionsick. So we hopped in line for BTMRR, only a 15 minute wait. Another one I hadn't ever done before. I'm really bad about finding favorites and sticking to them, and not branching out like I should. But I did like BTM

After we got off, we headed over to Pecos Bills'. I wanted to eat there because I wanted to try the whole system of ordering your own meal from the new kiosks they had installed. It was really kinda cool! It covered everything we got on the dining plan and was pretty quick too- much quicker than waiting in a line for everyone ahead of you to order. What did take a while was to actually GET the food. We stood there at the counter for about (no joke) 10 minutes before we got our food. People who had ordered after us got their food before us. I'm not usually one to make a big fuss about something like this. I actually make it a point to not tick off the people that handle my food. So I just took a breath and said to myself that I was in Disney World and it was gonna be just fine, and so it was.

The real hard part came next: trying to find somewhere to sit! It was chaos, to say the least After a few minutes of searching, we found a family about to get up from their table, and snagged two seats. I ordered the taco salad, and it was soooo good. I definitely reccomend it!


That's all for now...but coming next time, we get Preferred Parade Viewing for the 3:00 Parade!!!

 

[Goofy442]

Great update

 

[carrie6466]

I love reading everyone else's take on it. We were there 12/12 - 12/19 and the beginning of the trip I'm surprised we didn't freeze to death