Hold Onto Your Bag, It's a Pretty Wild Ride! ~ December 2015 WDW *Completed 5/15*

[TheMaxRebo]

I do love how they theme the holiday decorations to the location - the Poly ones fit in perfectly!

I haven't seen Holiday Wishes, but we have watched Hallowishes from the Poly beach and it is just phenomenal from there, capturing the perimeter fireworks.

Seems like a fun evening resort hopping like that!

 

[emilyindisney]

That perimeter shot of Wishes from the beach is my favorite one that you shared! I really like the extra detail of the silhouettes of the beach chairs. That gingerbread house is awesome!!! Dying to see that in person one day!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I love resort exploring. The Poly is a great place to see the fireworks. I've also seen the EWP a few times - it's very cute! Sorry you weren't able to get any bread pudding! I'm embarrassed to say I've never tried any, but want to.

 

[princessallison71]

I do love how they theme the holiday decorations to the location - the Poly ones fit in perfectly!

Don't they!? When I first saw them I was so impressed!

I haven't seen Holiday Wishes, but we have watched Hallowishes from the Poly beach and it is just phenomenal from there, capturing the perimeter fireworks.

I love Hallowishes from the Poly beach too! Honestly, I love it anywhere, but the colors of those fireworks are especially amazing from the beach!

That perimeter shot of Wishes from the beach is my favorite one that you shared! I really like the extra detail of the silhouettes of the beach chairs. That gingerbread house is awesome!!! Dying to see that in person one day!

I was obsessed with that photo too! I didn't realize that they were in the shot to begin with because it was so dark on my viewfinder, but I can't say that I'm mad that they made it into the shot. Thank you!

Sorry you weren't able to get any bread pudding! I'm embarrassed to say I've never tried any, but want to.

You definitely need to try the bread pudding. It's my all-time favorite Disney food!

 

[princessallison71]

Life Update!

A thousand apologies! My life has been crazy this year, and sadly my trip report has suffered! I’m going to do my best to get back on track, but the end of my freshman year of college is right around the corner (finals start in two weeks!). I’m not going to promise that I’ll be cranking out updates every day, but things should be calming down soon enough. I’ve missed the Dis greatly, and I’m excited to dive back into my December 2015 Trip Report.

This year I’ve already been back to Disney five times. Don’t worry; I know that I’m ridiculous. I’ve stopped in Orlando once in January and once in February by myself for a few hours, I joined friends for a day trip in January, I was with a school organization in Orlando for a few days in March, and I spent my birthday in February at the Beach Club with family. Now here comes the sad part, I didn’t take notes for any of these trips, so I won’t be able to share those adventures on the Dis.

Upcoming trips that I have planned are for this coming Sunday, April 5th for a day with my parents to experience the Flower and Garden Festival and May 7th-8th. The May trip was originally put in place to see Rivers of Light at Animal Kingdom. However, Disney has pushed back the debut of the show, so we will not get to experience it that weekend.

I plan on taking notes about each of these trips and combining them into one trip report because they are both so short. Once I start them I will put a link here.

As if I haven’t dumped enough information in this update… I ALSO REGISTERED FOR THE WINE AND DINE HALF MARATHON!

I’ve run for years and I’ve raced in a handful of fun run 5K’s, but this will be my first time taking on a serious training plan and running 13.1 miles through Walt Disney World! A PTR willing be linked here once I start planning that weekend!

Whew! That was a lot of information. I hope I didn’t lose any readers during my absence because this trip report will be starting back up very quickly!

If you want to keep up with my spontaneous trips to WDW follow me on Instagram: Allison.wonderlland or on Snapchat: acurry71

See ya real soon!
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[princessallison71]

Vamos!

My alarm went off at 7:30 am, and I verbally groaned for 0.7 seconds until I realized that I was waking up in Disney! I used to religiously use the resort wake up call, but once Olaf took over I immediately switched over to my phone’s alarm. Frozen Forever? More like Frozen Never.

My mom was nowhere to be found when I got up, but she came back to the room around 7:45 am with the most magical breakfast. Mickey waffles and coffee. She knows me too well.

I would say that I was a lady and took my time eating my delicious waffle, but let’s be real – I dumped a pound of syrup on top of the waffle, and it didn’t last much longer than 2 minutes. Sorry Mickey, but food shaped like your face just tastes so good!

Once I finished my nutritious and well-balanced breakfast, I got ready, and headed out to the buses with my mom. We weren’t waiting for very long, and soon enough we were cruising along to our first destination of the day.

I’ll give you a hint about where we were headed. We walked past it the previous night. Any ideas? C’mon, it’s not that hard…

We were going to Magic Kingdom!

I felt right at home scanning my band and walking out onto Main Street.

Side Bar: My mom and I were out shopping and found a limited edition Bath and Body Works candle that smells just like Main Street. It’s intoxicating, and instantly makes me crave fudge and a caramel apple from the confectionary whenever I light it. I may or may not have bought back ups, and may or may not be on the lookout for more…

I had just read on TheLittleKatie’s trip report that the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom Game was free, and headed over to the firehouse to pick up my first pack of cards. The cards are not with me at college, so I can’t share which one’s I have. We both thought it was a cute idea, and it’s definitely a must do for smaller kids.

Once we got our cards and were assigned a mission, we headed down Main Street.



We love the holiday decorations, but we’re still a little sad that the wreaths strung across Main Street are no more. I guess they’re a small price to pay for Festival of Fantasy.



Once I stopped taking photos (shout out to my mom for putting up with my frequent stops to take pictures. You da best!), we started going to our first Fastpass of the day.

On our way there, my mom pointed out a bird perched on top of one of Cinderella Castle’s turrets.



We walked through a very empty Liberty Square, and kept trekking back towards Frontierland. Our Big Thunder Mountain Fastpass was useless as the standby line was only 5 minutes, but we used it any way.



We were also the chosen one’s, and were given the responsibility of delivering the elusive red card to the CM at the end of the line.



I ended up almost forgetting to give it to the cast member because I put it around my neck, but my mom grabbed it off of me and handed it to a CM who came around to check that the lap bar was secure.

Now Big Thunder is a family favorite for sure, and one of the best parts of this ride is hearing the spiel given while you’re boarding your train. It’s extremely quotable, especially the line, “This here’s the wildest ride in the wilderness!” It’s so quotable that I say it very frequently even when at home. So of course I had been reminding my mother just how wild this ride was the entire morning. And you better bet I repeated it each time it was said in the queue. My mother was not too amused with this.

That previous bit of information will be very important in a later update, so DON’T FORGET IT! Pull out a notepad and write it down! Right now! Done? Perfect.

We left the wildest ride in the wilderness, and decided to try out the Sorcerer of the Magic Kingdom game. It was a something new to try, and we had fun with it. We probably wouldn’t spend a lot of time in the future doing it though.



After we saved the Magic Kingdom from Dr. Facilier we headed towards our next Fastpass which was Space Mountain.

On our way over we saw that nothing had a wait longer than 5 minutes, and we were in complete shock. That is until we saw the Mine Train line. 70 minutes was listed, and we both turned to each other and said, “Ohhh…”

Of course the early morning crowds would have all flocked to this ride. Duh.

We were fine passing on the Mine Train, and we kept going to Tomorrowland.

Once again, our Fastpass wasn’t necessary, but we still used it.

Our space journey eventually ended and we landed back on Earth. We took the oh-so-helpful moving walkways out of the attraction.



Yay for terrible shutter speeds resulting in semi-cool photos!

I did not plan this morning very well, and our next destination was on the opposite side of the park. We didn’t have a Fastpass for Pirate of the Caribbean, but it had been closed the past couple of trips and we wanted to see how Jack Sparrow was doing.

Move It, Shake It was going on in the Hub while we cut through to Adventureland. We danced with the gang for a little bit, I snapped photos, and my mom was singing, “Vamos” all day afterwards.



Sadly the wait time for Pirates was too long, and it would have made us late for a very important ADR. So we passed on it this time.

On our way back to Main Street we spotted Mary Poppins out meeting in the hub grass, and watched her interact with guests for a little while. People-watching is a fabulous pastime in Disney, and I would highly recommend it. Bonus points if you make up stories for all of the people you see around you.



After that it was time to head out of the park, so we said our ta-ta for now’s to the Christmas decorations and headed to the monorail station.



Up Next: So. Much. Food.


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[FantasiaMagic]

My life has been crazy this year, and sadly my trip report has suffered! I’m going to do my best to get back on track, but the end of my freshman year of college is right around the corner (finals start in two weeks!).

I totally understand. School has been very busy for me as well! I can't believe my freshman year is almost over...

This year I’ve already been back to Disney five times.

Lucky Duck!
Do you have an AP?!

Upcoming trips that I have planned are for this coming Sunday, April 5th for a day with my parents to experience the Flower and Garden Festival and May 7th-8th. The May trip was originally put in place to see Rivers of Light at Animal Kingdom. However, Disney has pushed back the debut of the show, so we will not get to experience it that weekend.

Sounds like so much fun! The F&G festival is so beautiful! Yes! I has heard about ROL being pushed back - that's too bad you won't be able to see it then.

I ALSO REGISTERED FOR THE WINE AND DINE HALF MARATHON!

Yay! That is great!

A PTR willing be linked here once I start planning that weekend!

Perfect! I can't wait to hear all about it! Looking forward to the PTR.
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Mickey waffles and coffee.

Yum - perfect breakfast!

Side Bar: My mom and I were out shopping and found a limited edition Bath and Body Works candle that smells just like Main Street.

That is so cool! What was the name of the scent?

Once we got our cards and were assigned a mission, we headed down Main Street.

Ugh - such a beautiful picture! Really making me miss MK... I love all the Christmas decorations too

I always love getting that card - makes me feel special lol
Also - loving the MB/Alex and Ani bracelet combo - I do that too

Our space journey eventually ended and we landed back on Earth. We took the oh-so-helpful moving walkways out of the attraction.

I love how this one turned out!

And this one! mary looks practically perfect that morning.
What camera do you use? You photos all look great and look so professional!

 

[princessallison71]

Lucky Duck!
Do you have an AP?!

Yes I do! I'm so lucky to be living in Florida, and I make my pass useful as frequently as possible!

That is so cool! What was the name of the scent?

I believe it's called Happy Easter! It's three different colors.

loving the MB/Alex and Ani bracelet combo - I do that too

I LOVE this combo! My bracelets are my babies, and I wear them everywhere!

I love how this one turned out!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Sometimes "bad" photos turn out to be great!

What camera do you use? You photos all look great and look so professional!

Oh my gosh, you're too sweet! I use a Nikon D3200, and I love it dearly.

 

[Kiersten]

Looks like fun! I wish I lived closer to Disney so I could go more often. Have you ever thought of doing the Disney College Program?

 

[princessallison71]

Looks like fun! I wish I lived closer to Disney so I could go more often. Have you ever thought of doing the Disney College Program?

Yes! I've already worked it out with my advisor so I have a semester open to go work in Disney! I'm hoping I'll be accepted into their Professional Internship program which is similar to the DCP except you work in corporate. I'm SUPER excited to start that journey!

 

[Kiersten]

Yes! I've already worked it out with my advisor so I have a semester open to go work in Disney! I'm hoping I'll be accepted into their Professional Internship program which is similar to the DCP except you work in corporate. I'm SUPER excited to start that journey!

That would be awesome! Make sure you share up here if you do work at Disney!

 

[princessallison71]

So. Much. Food.

At the station we hopped onto the Star Wars monorail, and we made our way to the TTC.



From there we grabbed another monorail to Epcot.



It was about 10:45 am at this point, and I had scheduled us an early lunch ADR at 11 am. We went off towards World Showcase, so we weren’t late.

Any guesses about which of these countries we were on our way to?



If you guessed Norway…

You’d be wrong.

We were going to Italy! More specifically, we were going to Via Napoli.


This reservation was for the Candlelight Processional Package. That meant this meal would be a prix fixe meal that included one non-alcoholic beverage, one appetizer, one entrée, and one dessert per person! It was going to be a lot of food, but we felt up to the challenge.

My mom and I arrived at the restaurant just before it was opening, and there was a long line out the entrance for people waiting to check in. However, inside the waiting area there was a separate kiosk for checking in guests who were doing the Candlelight package. We happily walked past the long line of guests, and we were the only ones checking in for our package at that time. We waited about five minutes, and then our name was called. We were seated at a great table. It was in the front of the restaurant, and we were right next to a window that looked out to the Italy pavilion, and the outdoor seating. It was the perfect table for people watching. We also had a very cute waiter named Gabrielle.

I ordered lemonade and water, and my mom ordered Diet Coke and water.

Our appetizers came out pretty quickly.

I went with the Calamari Fritti. Which is described as corn-crusted rings served with spicy tomato sauce. It was delicious, but it was such a large serving. It’s probably better suited for sharing. Sadly my mom is not a fan of calamari, so she wasn’t much help with finishing this dish.



My mom went with the Arancini. These were described as fried risotto balls filled with mozzarella and meat ragu. These were delicious!



At this point we were already filling up, and wondering whether or not we would last through the entire meal. Don’t worry though we pushed through!

Our entrees came out next. My mom went with the Piatta alla Paramigina Pollo. This dish was chicken parmesan traditionally prepared with tomato sauce, parmesan and mozzarella, and served with roasted potatoes. We’re both suckers for chicken parm, and frequently visit Tony’s in MK for it’s chicken parm. Now I don’t think this dish can beat the Lady and the Tramp experience you get at Tony’s, but it is a very close second.



I ordered Paccheri alla Crème con Pollo which is described as large macaroni tubes, crème, chicken, and pancetta. This was delicious. I will definitely be ordering this dish the next time I find myself at Via Napoli!



Up next was dessert. I kept it light and ordered lemon sorbet. It was refreshing and yummy.



However, I immediately regretted my decision when my mom’s dessert came out.



She ordered the infamous Coppa dii Brutti Ma Bouni, otherwise known as the “Ugly but Good.” Our waiter set this in front of her and she said, “Who thought that this was ugly!?” She thoroughly enjoyed this and was kind enough to share with me. The biscuits incorporated in it were amazing.

We were unable to finish either dessert, but we made a good dent in them. We joked about needing to sit down for a while before thinking about moving. Once we settled the check we gathered our strength and rolled to the check in desk. We showed our receipt to the Candlelight package check-in kiosk, and we were given our stickers for the (I think) 8:45 pm show for later that night.


Up Next: We Tried to Leave!


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[princessallison71]

That would be awesome! Make sure you share up here if you do work at Disney!

I definitely will!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I hate to say it but I still haven't had the chance to get to Via Napoli - it is on the top of my list for must do restauraunts!

My mom went with the Arancini. These were described as fried risotto balls filled with mozzarella and meat ragu. These were delicious!

My gosh, I am in love with these things!

However, I immediately regretted my decision when my mom’s dessert came out.

This looks delicious too! All the food looks so good!

We were unable to finish either dessert, but we made a good dent in them. We joked about needing to sit down for a while before thinking about moving. Once we settled the check we gathered our strength and rolled to the check in desk. We showed our receipt to the Candlelight package check-in kiosk, and we were given our stickers for the (I think) 8:45 pm show for later that night.

Wow you and your mom had a fun filled day! Can't wait to hear about the Candlelight Processional!

 

[princessallison71]

I hate to say it but I still haven't had the chance to get to Via Napoli - it is on the top of my list for must do restauraunts!

I would highly recommend it! It's definitely our favorite table service restaurant in Epcot!

My gosh, I am in love with these things!

I KNOW! I need to find an Italian place near my school that makes these.

This looks delicious too! All the food looks so good!

I'm hungry just thinking about it!

 

[emilyindisney]

Glad you're seeing this TR through! VIA NAPOLI IS TO DIE FOR Makes me wish I was eating there right now!

Side bar- wooo wine and dine! I'm registered for that one this year as well! Should be a great weekend!

 

[princessallison71]

Glad you're seeing this TR through! VIA NAPOLI IS TO DIE FOR Makes me wish I was eating there right now!

Isn't it amazing!?!?

Side bar- wooo wine and dine! I'm registered for that one this year as well! Should be a great weekend!

That's so exciting! Best of luck with your training and the race!

 

[princessallison71]

Life Update #2

Hey Disboards!

I got back from WDW Sunday night, and I’m ready to wrap up this trip report! Here’s my report writing set up currently.



I’ve got Alice in Wonderland tea in a Minnie Mouse mug and my laptop ready to go.

Before we get back to the trip report I wanted to update you all on my life and share some great Disney finds that I’ve stumbled upon.

I finished my first year of college, and I’m officially home for the summer! I’m working hard to prepare myself for applying for a Disney Professional Internship or Disney College Program. Ideally, I’ll be applying for these programs next spring and hopefully living in Orlando for the fall of 2017. Fingers crossed that this all works out!

I’ve been doing a pretty good job sticking with my half-marathon training. While I don’t officially start training for the half marathon until 14 weeks before the race, I’ve been training for a 10k. I’m planning on using this race for corral placement. (For those of you who aren’t familiar with runDisney races, Disney divvies up the runners into groups, or corrals, and staggers their starting time so the roads are not clogged up.) Doing well at the 10k will help place me in an earlier corral, so I don’t have to wait very long to start the race. The 10k takes place at the end of May, so my 8 week training plan is almost over!

I’ve recently been obsessed with Disney Instagrams (Follow me at Allison.wonderlland) and I’ve come across a bunch of cute apparel shops on Instagram! Because these shops are small businesses they typically have a longer order turnaround time (3-4 weeks) or they restock their designs randomly. If it’s the latter of the two, you’ll have to stalk their social media for what times their shops open and have quick fingers to place your order before they sell out! Although it would be nice to have all the shirts that I like immediately, the adrenaline and stress associated with ordering quickly adds to the fun! I’ve been lucky and not so lucky with this process so far. Keep your eye out for some of these shirts in future trip reports and posts!



I’ve successfully placed an order with The Main Street Press for a black muscle tank with their Mountain Ears Co. logo, and I’m currently waiting for it to come in the mail. This shop is great because they’ll mail you a 15% code when you subscribe to their newsletter and shipping is super affordable!







Happily Ever Tees is another shop, and I’ve got my eye on a handful of their shirts! I haven’t been able to grab a shirt from them yet, but I’m more than willing to be patient for these beauties!



Lastly, Disney_derp on Instagram has a great Etsy shop where you can choose from her listed paintings or message her to work on a custom piece. She was amazingly easy to work with and turned an idea of mine into a beautiful little canvas. Her Etsy shop is AlliePaintsThings.

Now that I’ve caught you up on my life, let’s get back to the report!

Up Next:​

 

[princessallison71]

We Tried to Leave!

After a very filling lunch it was time to hobble towards the exit.

However, we stopped a handful of times on our way out of the park because there was so much going on!

While we were leaving World Showcase we passed by Germany where a show about German Christmas traditions was being performed.



This was an adorable show, and it has a really fun surprise at the end. Be sure to close your eyes when the storyteller says to so you can get the full experience!

We almost made it out of World Showcase after that, but some cowboy gentlemen were calling our names. Okay, it was mostly me wanting to go see the new animatronics that were installed with in the Three Caballeros ride, but my mom was a great sport and willing hopped into a boat too.

I was still quoting the wildest ride in the wilderness as we were getting in line. Once we were in our boat my mom suddenly turned towards me with a serious face and whispered, “Hold onto your bag, it’s a pretty wild ride!” in a country accent mimicking the Big Thunder voice. I completely lost it, and the woman working the attraction gave me the strangest look.



After we said adios to Donald, Panchito, and Jose, we made it out of World Showcase.

... only to stop about 50 steps later when we noticed that Joyful was performing.



They’re a gospel group that sang a handful of Christmas songs, and they were amazing performers!

After watching them we were on our way out again, but then we overheard someone mention that another singing group would be out shortly. Upon hearing this we sat back down and waited until America Music Machine came out.



They gave another great holiday performance.

Finally, we made our way out of Epcot, to the buses, and back in our hotel room by 3.

In our hotel room we relaxed in our beds. My mom was watching TV, and I wasted time looking at Buzzfeed quizzes. One of the Buzzfeed videos I came across was news anchors bloopers, so my mom and I cracked up watching those for a while.

After 2 hours of R&R we were ready to head back out to the parks!

Any guesses to where we might be going?

Well, you’re going to have to wait for the next update to find out.

Up Next: Avoid Elsa!​

 

[princessallison71]

Avoid Elsa!

We were on our way back to the Magic Kingdom!

It had been about 7 hours since we had last been there which is far too long.



We arrived during a gorgeous sunset, and I was able to take a minute to photograph the golden hour. (AKA my absolute favorite time to take pictures)





Main Street looked extra beautiful as well.



We had a Pirates of the Caribbean fastpass, but the ride was down. Disney does a really awesome job with the new fastpass+ system though. While I was on the bus I got an email from Disney informing me that the ride had gone down, and I could now use my fastpass on a handful of other rides just by walking up to them.

We decided to take a spin on the world famous Jingle Cruise! When we walked up to the ride the wait time was at 75 mins! Frankly, the fastpass line took way longer that I would have liked too. This is a great ride, but a 40 minute wait with a fastpass can be a bit of a pain.

After hearing the greatest holiday puns it was time to head out of the park.

While passing through the Hub, Elsa was lighting up the castle dreamlights, so we practically ran out of the park.



We normally avoid Frozen related things like the plague. I was devastated by Frozen taking over the Norway pavilion, so this is our form of a protest. (Although I will admit that I love the Frozen sing-a-long at Hollywood Studios)

We raced straight to the buses to go on our merry way to the last park of the trip!

Up Next: Where's America?!
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