Today, gentle reader, I will tell you about things related to the Holiday Season.
We chose to go in December as we wanted to see all the Christmas stuff. Having looked on message boards, websites and in books it seemed that the best time to go was immediately following Thanksgiving and before the main Christmas rush . This was a relatively cheap time and the weather looked to be fine.
What nobody warns you about is the Pop Warner - particularly if you stay, like we did, at one of the value hotels. They were a nightmare. I know that theyre excited but gee you wouldnt want to spend any time in their general area. There were hundreds of teen and pre-teen cheerleaders and football players. They hung around in groups (and thats when they werent practising at the hotels) and treated the most mundane things with the utmost drama. It made Terminator 3 seem like an episode of Mary, Mungo and Midge (in a particularly unexciting episode where they didnt get into the lift).The girls all had on trowels full of make-up and hair teased beyond belief. One looked like a satanic Ronald McDonald. They all stayed up REALLY late and ran from room to room whooping. Those cinema fans amongst you might remember the magnificent art film Jeepers Creepers 2 in which a coach full of cheerleaders and football players gets attacked by a mysterious flying monster. Oh how I longed for life to imitate art. So be warned - if you can avoid staying at a value hotel during Pop Warner - then avoid it.
The weather was very varied. One day it was 81 degrees, two days later 41. We had packed light jumpers but I ended up buying a woolly hat with my namesake on and some gloves with the small mouse on them. If youre going in December - be prepared for all kinds of weather.
Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party was fantastic - well worth the money. As you know the magic Kingdom stays open later on the special nights when the party plays, well it does for those of us who had tickets. People used the park to go on the rides but we had a plan of action and went from one show to the next with, mostly, only short gaps in between. Mickeys Night Before Christmas is a nice sung show. The lad singing was very good indeed, the girl rather less so. Nice costumes, good choreography and sets, lots of characters. Good. Rather shocking to see Mickey and Minnie in bed together but I particularly noticed that Minnie was very flirty this year, so maybe shes become easy. We saw the parade on both showings. Brilliant - much longer than the usual parades with loads of characters (including some you dont usual see - Clarabelle and Horace the Horse bigged it up). Some of the music was live and the performances were impressive. I should say that I always admire the mime capabilities of the performers in Disney, its easy to think they dont do much but they create character through movement. The fireworks (Wishes have an extra bit tacked on the end and I think different music. Always amazed by Tinkerbells flight from the castle. There was a show played on the castle forecourt but I cant remember what it was called. Again a well played, fun show and we made it the last thing we saw, so went from the park - snow on Main Street - with smiles on our faces. We had a brilliant night. In fact we went again (you pay more if you buy tickets on the day, our first tickets were bought before we left the UK) and enjoyed it just as much. The cocoa was lovely and the biscuits good. There was alternatives of apple juice and apple slices. There is merchandise thats only available at MVMCP - different pins for each day it plays (worth looking around all the shops as you might find that you can get pins from a previous night), very nasty t-shirts and sweatshirts and a couple of others bits and pieces. If you are in Disney at Christmas and you can only afford one show - make it this one.
The Osbourne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights is brilliant (and free). Ive seen pictures and videos but nothing prepares you for just how fantastic it is. Im the sort of person who backs away from gaudy, brashly decorated houses here at home but again I loved it. (It gets quieter during Fantasmic and is at its busiest just as it starts).
We booked a dinner package at the Garden Grill (indifferent as always food) so we could get seating for the Candlelight Processional. It wasnt worth it. Firstly the stage is laid out very badly. The orchestra and conductor are in front of the guest speaker (we had Brian Dennehey [ who?]) and the choirs are behind him. We were seated to the side so got to see a timpanists backside and a sideburn of the speaker. The chorus filed in past us and it was only after a while that I realised the strange murmuring was them singing. Hundreds of voices and they made about as much noise as a small kitten purring. The crowd loved it. After about half an hour wed had enough and left.
Conversely the tree lighting ceremony (every night and free) was lovely. Both singers were very good and it was fun to see a cast member from each country on stage. The English lads kept up tradition by looking embarrassed and mumbling along to the carols! Hurrah.
Mickeys Jamming Jingle Parade was the usual parade with snow on it and the Hollywood Holly-Days (Starts and their Cars) was similar with some extra stars. Both good as always. Im not damning with faint praise, the usual Disney standard was maintained.
If youre going to Disney a Christmastime make the effort to go round the hotels to see the decorations, particularly the luxury resorts. There were some fantastic sugar sculptures and shaped cakes at the Contemporary, the Floridian, the Yacht and Beach and the Boardwalk for example. The trees are beautifully decorated too. Everywhere is very well decorated with great attention to detail.
We went to Seaworld (a great day as always) and the Christmas effort seemed to be a man dressed a Shamu with a woolly hat and scarf on. Universal were starting their Christmas stuff the week we left (we found Universal boring so didnt bother going back - 2 years in a row and it doesnt improve - wed had 4 years off from it).
Thats all f-f-f-f-olks.
We chose to go in December as we wanted to see all the Christmas stuff. Having looked on message boards, websites and in books it seemed that the best time to go was immediately following Thanksgiving and before the main Christmas rush . This was a relatively cheap time and the weather looked to be fine.
What nobody warns you about is the Pop Warner - particularly if you stay, like we did, at one of the value hotels. They were a nightmare. I know that theyre excited but gee you wouldnt want to spend any time in their general area. There were hundreds of teen and pre-teen cheerleaders and football players. They hung around in groups (and thats when they werent practising at the hotels) and treated the most mundane things with the utmost drama. It made Terminator 3 seem like an episode of Mary, Mungo and Midge (in a particularly unexciting episode where they didnt get into the lift).The girls all had on trowels full of make-up and hair teased beyond belief. One looked like a satanic Ronald McDonald. They all stayed up REALLY late and ran from room to room whooping. Those cinema fans amongst you might remember the magnificent art film Jeepers Creepers 2 in which a coach full of cheerleaders and football players gets attacked by a mysterious flying monster. Oh how I longed for life to imitate art. So be warned - if you can avoid staying at a value hotel during Pop Warner - then avoid it.
The weather was very varied. One day it was 81 degrees, two days later 41. We had packed light jumpers but I ended up buying a woolly hat with my namesake on and some gloves with the small mouse on them. If youre going in December - be prepared for all kinds of weather.
Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party was fantastic - well worth the money. As you know the magic Kingdom stays open later on the special nights when the party plays, well it does for those of us who had tickets. People used the park to go on the rides but we had a plan of action and went from one show to the next with, mostly, only short gaps in between. Mickeys Night Before Christmas is a nice sung show. The lad singing was very good indeed, the girl rather less so. Nice costumes, good choreography and sets, lots of characters. Good. Rather shocking to see Mickey and Minnie in bed together but I particularly noticed that Minnie was very flirty this year, so maybe shes become easy. We saw the parade on both showings. Brilliant - much longer than the usual parades with loads of characters (including some you dont usual see - Clarabelle and Horace the Horse bigged it up). Some of the music was live and the performances were impressive. I should say that I always admire the mime capabilities of the performers in Disney, its easy to think they dont do much but they create character through movement. The fireworks (Wishes have an extra bit tacked on the end and I think different music. Always amazed by Tinkerbells flight from the castle. There was a show played on the castle forecourt but I cant remember what it was called. Again a well played, fun show and we made it the last thing we saw, so went from the park - snow on Main Street - with smiles on our faces. We had a brilliant night. In fact we went again (you pay more if you buy tickets on the day, our first tickets were bought before we left the UK) and enjoyed it just as much. The cocoa was lovely and the biscuits good. There was alternatives of apple juice and apple slices. There is merchandise thats only available at MVMCP - different pins for each day it plays (worth looking around all the shops as you might find that you can get pins from a previous night), very nasty t-shirts and sweatshirts and a couple of others bits and pieces. If you are in Disney at Christmas and you can only afford one show - make it this one.
The Osbourne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights is brilliant (and free). Ive seen pictures and videos but nothing prepares you for just how fantastic it is. Im the sort of person who backs away from gaudy, brashly decorated houses here at home but again I loved it. (It gets quieter during Fantasmic and is at its busiest just as it starts).
We booked a dinner package at the Garden Grill (indifferent as always food) so we could get seating for the Candlelight Processional. It wasnt worth it. Firstly the stage is laid out very badly. The orchestra and conductor are in front of the guest speaker (we had Brian Dennehey [ who?]) and the choirs are behind him. We were seated to the side so got to see a timpanists backside and a sideburn of the speaker. The chorus filed in past us and it was only after a while that I realised the strange murmuring was them singing. Hundreds of voices and they made about as much noise as a small kitten purring. The crowd loved it. After about half an hour wed had enough and left.
Conversely the tree lighting ceremony (every night and free) was lovely. Both singers were very good and it was fun to see a cast member from each country on stage. The English lads kept up tradition by looking embarrassed and mumbling along to the carols! Hurrah.
Mickeys Jamming Jingle Parade was the usual parade with snow on it and the Hollywood Holly-Days (Starts and their Cars) was similar with some extra stars. Both good as always. Im not damning with faint praise, the usual Disney standard was maintained.
If youre going to Disney a Christmastime make the effort to go round the hotels to see the decorations, particularly the luxury resorts. There were some fantastic sugar sculptures and shaped cakes at the Contemporary, the Floridian, the Yacht and Beach and the Boardwalk for example. The trees are beautifully decorated too. Everywhere is very well decorated with great attention to detail.
We went to Seaworld (a great day as always) and the Christmas effort seemed to be a man dressed a Shamu with a woolly hat and scarf on. Universal were starting their Christmas stuff the week we left (we found Universal boring so didnt bother going back - 2 years in a row and it doesnt improve - wed had 4 years off from it).
Thats all f-f-f-f-olks.
Still, I'd rather see a non-lift entering episode of Mary, Mungo and Midge than any episode of Crystal Tips and Alistair.
