Follow Me! I Will Lead Us Into Battle! A Thanksgiving 2013 TR *COMPLETE*

[DisneyKid4Life]

Oh Courtney... No Churo... No Bueno.

Aw darn, I should have angled for a free beer.

Aww I really love Duffy too, haters gonna hate. He is seriously huggable, plus, how cool is his design with all the little Mickeys. I even purchased a Santa Duffy, although it wasn't for me.

Voices of Liberty... I will save my full commentary for my own TR, but as a sneak peak...

 

[JessM]

Ahh Duffy is so cute in his Christmas gear! He was never out when we walked by in December I was bummed.

Haha I actually do like the American Adventure but those sad songs do tend to get stuck in your head. I don't mind the America Spread your Golden Wings one but the civil war and pilgram songs are kinda sad!

 

[courtneybelle]

To answer your question, I did get the Lemon Blueberry cupcake with the sorcerer's hat. It was really yummy. Really really yummy.

Okay, the line for Anna and Elsa when we went was 4 HOURS!!!!! And that was first thing in the morning, right when you got into WS! I was like, no. Doing the creep instead.

Awww, they would have bought you a beer?! That's it. I'm turning 21 again!

Gavin and Joaquin are obsessed with Duffy. Like, legitimately obsessed. They bring their Duffy's on road trips, and literally almost fell over themselves when we meet him in July.

The music from the American Adventure always gets stuck in my head! Especially the Two Brothers song!

It looks so adorable and delicious, but shockingly no one in my family was up for a flight to Florida so I could get a cupcake...

Yeah there is no way I could wait four hours for them!

Haha, being 21 suits me quite well, not going to lie.

I'm seriously considering buying a Duffy on my next trip. He is just too cute!

Me too!! That song is so depressing and it's always stuck in my head.

Who doesn't like Duffy .

He is the most adorable.

The theming was actually pretty cute with a talking Olaf and such. But the queue was awful - it was a tiny space in which we just round around ropes for hours. Horrid! I will have pics when I finally get to that little birthday trip in my current TR.

Santa Duffy is too cute!

All the pics of the Epcot decorations are gorgeous. How fun to see them!

Olaf is my favorite so I would have loved to see him talk! I can't wait to get to it.

Santa Duffy was absolutely precious. He's one of my favorite characters to meet now.

It was really awesome to see the different countries decorated! I wish we had more time to spend exploring.

 

[courtneybelle]

Oh Courtney... No Churo... No Bueno.

Aw darn, I should have angled for a free beer.

Aww I really love Duffy too, haters gonna hate. He is seriously huggable, plus, how cool is his design with all the little Mickeys. I even purchased a Santa Duffy, although it wasn't for me.

Voices of Liberty... I will save my full commentary for my own TR, but as a sneak peak...

It was very sad. As sad as you can be in Disney World.

Haha, just say it's your 21st birthday the next time you're wearing that birthday button!

I love all of Duffy's hidden Mickeys too! Definitely my new favorite character to hug.

They are so unbelievably talented. I was in awe.

Ahh Duffy is so cute in his Christmas gear! He was never out when we walked by in December I was bummed.

Haha I actually do like the American Adventure but those sad songs do tend to get stuck in your head. I don't mind the America Spread your Golden Wings one but the civil war and pilgram songs are kinda sad!

He was so adorable! Sorry you didn't get to meet him

I like it too, and I love the Golden Wings song! The Two Brothers one is too sad though.

 

[courtneybelle]

Chapter Fourteen: The Garden Grill

We started walking back toward Future World to head to our next FP+, taking pictures of the decorations along the way.

LOOK AT THIS MAN’S HAT. How fabulous. I did feel like a huge creep, but like…I couldn’t NOT get a picture of this hat. I want my own.

More decorations:

On the way over, we saw a princess who recently had a makeover greeting guests near the International Gateway!

Unfortunately her line was closed, but I made my mom get some creeper pictures of Ariel’s new dress. I wasn’t thrilled with it when it first came out, but I did like it much more when I saw it in person. The color really is great.

The World Showcase tree!

Dad's Photobomb Count: 4

We managed to catch part of a Joyful performance. I loved what I saw and wished I could have seen a full performance.

We headed over to Spaceship Earth! This is one of my favorites, and it was being refurbished when we were here in August, so I was very happy to be reunited.

Mom and I rode together and created our future.

After that, we headed over to the Land for our dinner reservation…

We were eating at the Garden Grill this evening! We had purchased the Candlelight Processional Dining Package, so we were eating at 3:30 in order to see the 6:45 show.

We checked in and were brought to our table soon after. Our waiter’s name was Luis, and he was great!

We started off with the rolls with maple butter. They were amazing! I am a girl who loves bread and butter and these were delicious.

Soon after Luis brought out our plate of steak, turkey, fish, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and veggies.

Dad's Photobomb Count: 5

I asked for the mac & cheese, because I love some Disney mac and cheese.

I thought the food was really great! The steak was awesome, and Kylie was raving about the turkey. My parents didn’t really care for the fish, but all the side dishes were very good.

I do have to say that I felt the restaurant spinning and it didn’t really make me feel great…I didn’t feel sick enough to stop stuffing my face, but I needed some Motrin afterward. My dad didn’t notice that the restaurant moved until we told him, though, and he’s always been most susceptible to motion sickness.

Continued in next post
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[courtneybelle]

Chapter Fifteen: The Best Birthday Surprise

The characters started coming by, with Chip up first! Whenever I’ve met Chip he’s always been more mischievous than his brother and this was no different. He stole my Belle ears and tried to eat them! Then he gave Kylie a moustache with her own hair.

I was amused.

Dale came by after and was much nicer. He gave us hugs. When we offered him a roll, he said he had to watch his figure. You’re beautiful the way you are, buddy!

The best puppy in the world was up next! I told Pluto he was my favorite, and he was SO EXCITED. He gave me a big hug and had me rub his nose!

Pluto also saw my birthday button and flipped out! He was so happy I came to see him on my birthday.

Kylie said she didn’t need a picture with Pluto, but that made him feel snubbed, so they took one together.

The big cheese was last. Mickey gave us hugs and wished me a happy birthday!

We were just hanging out waiting for dessert to come around when all of a sudden Luis and Dale come back…WITH THE MOST GORGEOUS CAKE I HAVE EVER SEEN.

Okay, so some of you may have read about when I ordered a cake for my mom and what a disaster it was. To make me feel better, my mom hinted that there might just be a cake for me on this trip. But I was still in complete awe of this cake!

Dale conducted a performance of Happy Birthday, and it was amazing.

It’s hard to see in the pictures but the fondant actually sparkled. It was so beautiful! It was chocolate cake with white chocolate mousse, and it was absolutely delicious.

The characters all came by and noticed the cake. They all wanted a slice!

Chip tried to scare Kylie, and then he stole her Anna bow! He’s a crazy one.

We paid and then waddled over to Test Track. I had a great time at the Garden Grill. Though the spinning of the restaurant didn’t really appeal to me, I thought the food was awesome and the characters were great. I would definitely recommend it!

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[IheartDDuck]

That guys hat was pretty awesome.

I really like Ariel's new dress. Very pretty.

I too love bread and butter. My butt does not....

Disney mac and cheese is magical! I don't know what it is about it. Maybe the fact that it's in Disney. Everything in Disney is just better.

Plutos are always the best character interactions! I don't know what it is about them, but I've never met one that's lackluster.

Oh my god, that cake was perfect! So absolutely beautiful. Nice job Mom!

 

[JessM]

What a fun dinner at the Garden Grill! We had a great meal there in Dec too. I thought the food was pretty delicious and the characters were so much fun there!

That cake is gorgeous, I love it!

 

[khertz]

We got inside the theater and watched the show. Well, most of us did. I briefly rested my eyes but couldn’t actually fall asleep. A certain member of our party, who shall remain nameless so I don’t humiliate him or her, knocked out and was snoring.

Hmmm...I wonder who that was???

Lunch at Garden Grill seems really awesome! The characters were on point, and your mom did an EXCELLENT job surprising you with that gorgeous cake!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Well, I look at it like this. If you wear a hat like that, you should expect people to take pictures.

AHHHHHHH ARIEL IN THE GATEWAY!!!!!!!! I think I'm in the minority, but I think the dress is gorgeous particularly the colour. But I do miss the starfish.

I'm still bummed I missed Joyful. I love gospel music.

Aww how is it that Chip and Dale are always so fabulous? Just love 'em.

Oh my what a beautiful cake made even better by your awesome reaction to it. Precious!!

 

[CarolAnnB]

I agree that Pluto is always the best, most enthusiastic meet you have - guess that's cuz he knows he's your fave! Chip was a little rambunctious, ripping those ears off your head when they were pinned on haha. Farmer Mickey ~ not so exciting. Maybe he's embarrassed to be in those overalls and not his tuxedo.

I could become a Disney blogger with all my creeper photos.

Shout out to the DIS Cake Chatter thread for the cake ordering info. Epcot Food & Bev department was great to deal with and I thought they did an awesome job making my vision come true. And I thought it was delicious as well as beautiful. I did have a knot in my stomach the whole day worrying about another cake-tastrophe but luckily it turned out wonderfully.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We managed to catch part of a Joyful performance. I loved what I saw and wished I could have seen a full performance.

We were lucky enough to be able to catch the whole show. It was very good. We also got to see all of the Kwanza storyteller and she was very good. I wish I had been able to see more of the storytellers. There was just so much to see and do there.

We were just hanging out waiting for dessert to come around when all of a sudden Luis and Dale come back…WITH THE MOST GORGEOUS CAKE I HAVE EVER SEEN.

It’s hard to see in the pictures but the fondant actually sparkled. It was so beautiful! It was chocolate cake with white chocolate mousse, and it was absolutely delicious.

That is a gorgeous cake. What a nice way to celebrate your birthday.

 

[DVCWDWMEMBER]

We haven't eaten at the Garden Grill for a while.... the food looks great. We will have to add that to our list for sure.... That cake is beautiful... Did it taste as good as it looked?

 

[RGirl]

Oh, I love all the Christmas decorations!

I’m so glad you enjoyed GG! We absolutely fell in love with it in August. The characters there are just so darn much fun!! And your birthday cake is too adorable - wow!!

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Finally all caught up! Your cake was so amazing - totally jealous! I wish I had parents at 21 as cool as yours, but alas I married at 21 so I was all on my own.

I'm enjoying your TR. It's giving me great ideas for my future trip!

 

[maddiebee]

I dont haaaate Ariel's new dress but man I just wish they'd put her in the pink one! I don't get this green dress thing! Someone once told me that people would confuse her with Aurora but Ariel has FLAMING RED HAIR, so I think that's a bit of a stretch. UGH.

Why does Garden Grill rotate?

THAT CAKE!!! How incredibly gorgeous! Was that something your family brought from outside? I can't stand how cute it is and it looks delish! What a fun meal!

 

[courtneybelle]

That guys hat was pretty awesome.

I really like Ariel's new dress. Very pretty.

I too love bread and butter. My butt does not....

Disney mac and cheese is magical! I don't know what it is about it. Maybe the fact that it's in Disney. Everything in Disney is just better.

Plutos are always the best character interactions! I don't know what it is about them, but I've never met one that's lackluster.

Oh my god, that cake was perfect! So absolutely beautiful. Nice job Mom!

I really appreciated it, he went big.

I like it a lot too! I wish we could have met her, but doing the creep sufficed.

Ugh I am with you there. I looooove bread and butter even though it's really not that great for you.

Disney mac and cheese is perfection. I pretty much had the bowl to myself (I think Kylie had one spoonful) and I regretted nothing.

Pluto is awesome! He's always so excited to see you.

Ahhhhh I loved it SO much. It was absolutely perfect for me and it tasted wonderful!

What a fun dinner at the Garden Grill! We had a great meal there in Dec too. I thought the food was pretty delicious and the characters were so much fun there!

That cake is gorgeous, I love it!

Garden Grill was definitely a hit. I wouldn't say it's necessary for every trip but I will definitely be back!

I loved it too, it was beautiful!

Hmmm...I wonder who that was???

Lunch at Garden Grill seems really awesome! The characters were on point, and your mom did an EXCELLENT job surprising you with that gorgeous cake!!

Haha I promised this person I wouldn't divulge, but it wasn't Kylie or me

It was such a fun meal! She did an amazing job getting it for me. I was a very happy girl.

Well, I look at it like this. If you wear a hat like that, you should expect people to take pictures.

AHHHHHHH ARIEL IN THE GATEWAY!!!!!!!! I think I'm in the minority, but I think the dress is gorgeous particularly the colour. But I do miss the starfish.

I'm still bummed I missed Joyful. I love gospel music.

Aww how is it that Chip and Dale are always so fabulous? Just love 'em.

Oh my what a beautiful cake made even better by your awesome reaction to it. Precious!!

That's a good way of looking at it!

Your girl! I miss the starfish but I was surprised at how beautiful the color of the new dress is. It was mostly the sleeves that bothered me, but they looked a lot better in person.

I really wish we could have seen a whole show, they sounded incredible!

They are too much. So rambunctious and so hilarious.

It was an amazing surprise! I adored it and I'm glad it showed!

 

[courtneybelle]

I agree that Pluto is always the best, most enthusiastic meet you have - guess that's cuz he knows he's your fave! Chip was a little rambunctious, ripping those ears off your head when they were pinned on haha. Farmer Mickey ~ not so exciting. Maybe he's embarrassed to be in those overalls and not his tuxedo.

I could become a Disney blogger with all my creeper photos.

Shout out to the DIS Cake Chatter thread for the cake ordering info. Epcot Food & Bev department was great to deal with and I thought they did an awesome job making my vision come true. And I thought it was delicious as well as beautiful. I did have a knot in my stomach the whole day worrying about another cake-tastrophe but luckily it turned out wonderfully.

I think it's equal parts Pluto being a happy puppy and us loving each other. Chip has wronged me several times (slobbering on my autograph book, messing up my hair) so I am definitely #TeamDale.

All you have to do is tilt your pictures a little more and you'll be set

I was so unbelievably happy when I saw that cake. It was exactly what I would have asked for if I ordered my own cake. You did an amazing job and I am so thankful

We were lucky enough to be able to catch the whole show. It was very good. We also got to see all of the Kwanza storyteller and she was very good. I wish I had been able to see more of the storytellers. There was just so much to see and do there.
That is a gorgeous cake. What a nice way to celebrate your birthday.

That is awesome! I know what you mean. Disney is so packed with great stuff to do during the holidays and I feel like I needed at least another week! I'll definitely be back sometime though.

It was an amazing pre-birthday surprise!

We haven't eaten at the Garden Grill for a while.... the food looks great. We will have to add that to our list for sure.... That cake is beautiful... Did it taste as good as it looked?

I was really happy with the food, everything was very tasty!

The cake did taste as good as it looked! The frosting was so delicious, and chocolate cake with vanilla frosting is my favorite combination, so I loved it!

 

[courtneybelle]

Oh, I love all the Christmas decorations!

I’m so glad you enjoyed GG! We absolutely fell in love with it in August. The characters there are just so darn much fun!! And your birthday cake is too adorable - wow!!

Me too! I really wish we had more time to just look around all the countries, but with only one day at Epcot it was tough to fit everything in. The ones we saw were stunning though!

I really loved it! All the characters were really great, and the food was delicious. The cake was definitely the best part, though!

Finally all caught up! Your cake was so amazing - totally jealous! I wish I had parents at 21 as cool as yours, but alas I married at 21 so I was all on my own.

I'm enjoying your TR. It's giving me great ideas for my future trip!

I am definitely lucky, my parents are awesome. I love that they're still willing to take me to Disney and surprise me.

I'm so glad! That's my favorite thing about reading trip reports, getting new ideas and trying new things!

I dont haaaate Ariel's new dress but man I just wish they'd put her in the pink one! I don't get this green dress thing! Someone once told me that people would confuse her with Aurora but Ariel has FLAMING RED HAIR, so I think that's a bit of a stretch. UGH.

Why does Garden Grill rotate?

THAT CAKE!!! How incredibly gorgeous! Was that something your family brought from outside? I can't stand how cute it is and it looks delish! What a fun meal!

You have no idea how much I would love pink dress Ariel!! See, I could see the confusion if they were trying to bring out pink dress Cinderella, but like...totally different hair colors.

It rotates so you can see different scenes from Living with the Land! It's definitely a cool idea, I just didn't love how I felt when I realized we were moving haha.

Nope! My mom called the Cake Hotline and had the Disney pastry chefs make it. It was absolutely delicious and beautiful!

 

[courtneybelle]

Chapter Sixteen: Candlelight Processional and Via Napoli

This is an extremely wordy update with not enough pictures, but hang with me, guys!

We headed over to use our Test Track FPs from earlier. My dad wasn’t feeling it after eating so much, so Mom, Kylie, and I went. We were all put on one design stand.

Kylie used her MagicBand to design our car.

So I had a thought. Would my car from this morning still be on the MB? I decided, in the name of science, to find out. When we got to the loading area, I tapped my band, and my car was still there! Thus concludes this science experiment, exciting to no one but me.

After Test Track, we decided to take the boat over to the other side of the World Showcase. As we boarded, a girl noticed my birthday button, and said it was her brother’s birthday too! She asked how old I would be, and I said 21—how old her brother was!

Then, she said, “Oh, look at his sweatshirt,” to her brother, pointing at my dad’s sweatshirt that had the name of my college on it. I told them that I went there, and it turns out that the guy celebrating his birthday was a senior there, and his older sister and brother graduated from there! It was really an awesome coincidence—it is a small world after all…

The whole boat sang to us, and it was great, but I was also worried that these people would be mad at me since it wasn’t really my birthday…

When we got off the boat, they were waiting for me! It turns out his birthday was earlier in the week, and they were celebrating that day in Epcot. We talked a little about our school. He was super nice, and I ran into him the next week at a school event.

Disney World, man. Think of how many hundreds of thousands of people go there every day, and I happen to run into a kid from my school. It was a really cool, magical moment!

We got in the Dining Package line, which was already pretty long. Kylie and I peeked around the Japan store for a bit, then headed back to our parents.

When we got inside, we managed to get AMAZING seats. We were in the first row of the second section of seats, so we didn’t have anyone directly in front of us.

Another cute magical moment happened while we were waiting. A man had a tray of coffees and was looking for his family. He jokingly asked if anyone wanted some coffee, and the guy behind us joked that he’d love a Jameson. Well, a few minutes later, that man came back and brought the other man a Jameson! It was absolutely precious to see this man buy a stranger a drink.

Soon enough, the Candlelight Processional started.

OH. MY. GOSH. I really don’t have words to describe it. The Processional featured some of the most tremendously talented people I have ever heard in my life. The music, the voices, the narration…I was in awe. It was a really moving and beautiful experience that has to be seen to be believed.

One minor hitch was that a man dropped his clarinet during the first song…I felt so badly for him!

The music was absolutely amazing. I noted that they did a really good version of The First Noel, which is one of my favorites. The Voices of Liberty were fantastic leaders, and the choirs were wonderful.

Gary Sinise did a great job too. He was so happy to be there and told the story so well. He also pointed out his uncle, who was a World War II veteran, and had us all applaud for him. It was such a sweet moment.

I think that the Candlelight Processional is a must-do for the holidays at Disney, and although the package was pricey, I’m beyond glad we used it—a LOT of people from standby did not get in because there were so many people with packages. It might not be necessary during less busy weekends, but since it was Thanksgiving I think it was a great idea to get it.

After the Processional, we headed over to Italy for our second dinner at Via Napoli! I really wasn’t hungry at this point, but it was Via Napoli.

We sat down and met our waiter, Simone, who was a very cute Italian man. He asked where we were from, and when I said Massachusetts, he said, “Massachusetts! It sounds much better in your accent.” I promptly swooned and rolled off the chair and into the World Showcase Lagoon.

I am going to Italy in March, so my dad asked him about how safe I would be there, and Simone told him not to worry because he has never felt unsafe in Italy. He was really sweet and had some good tips for me!

We all shared a margherita pizza for dinner. It was a little burned, so definitely not as good as last time, but it was still very good!

On our way out we debated whether or not to see Holiday Illuminations. We were all exhausted, and the next day would be a long one, with the Christmas Party lasting until midnight. BUT I also have Disney FOMO (fear of missing out) and wanted to stay…

Ultimately, we decided to head home. I felt very conflicted, especially since I haven’t seen Illuminations in years, but at the same time the Christmas Party was what I was most looking forward to, and I didn’t want to risk being burned out and exhausted for that. So we headed back to Port Orleans Riverside.

I got to see my buddy Pluto on the way out!

I had to get a picture with my grand and miraculous spaceship!

When we got back, my mom got on the phone with the FP+ experts at the front desk. We wanted to see if we could switch one of our FP+s to Enchanted Tales with Belle so we wouldn’t have to rush to MK the next morning to make rope drop, which we thought was at 8 a.m. (remember this for later). The cast member was surprised we wanted to change, since we had the three mountains, but as my mom said, “We would give up a mountain for Belle!” The CM couldn’t get us a FP+ for the next day, so instead she told us to go to Guest Relations at MK the next morning and she would give us a no-strings pass that we could use for Enchanted Tales! We thanked her profusely, as this would make our lives so much easier. Unfortunately, this did not turn out to be as helpful as we thought…cliffhanger!!!

So that was when we made the shocking decision to sleep in at Disney. I KNOW RIGHT?! We never ever do this especially on short trips! But we really wanted to be able to stay at the party until midnight, so we decided it would be worth it to get a little more rest.

Tomorrow was the last full day of the trip...BUT do not fret! We have 365 pictures of that day alone, and believe me, it was a great one!

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