"I am so hungry I am going to eat your arm off" Ohh motherly love... A Nov 2013 TR!

[DisneyMountainWoman]

So next we head back going through Dr Seuss land, this place is super cute for kids.

I love the X-mas decor they did here:

And we head on over to Marvel Super Heroes area. Now that I look through my photos I realize I have no pics of this area. When I was there I just kept looking around and going eh.. not as cool as the HP area or even Dr Seuss area so I took no pics. And fyi I am a huge comic book fan, I go to comic conventions all the time, love DC and Marvel. On that note I saw the meet and greets of Storm and Wolverine they had going and I was disappointed. I have seen better costumes at Comic Conventions that I go too. They should think about hiring some cosplayers, the costumes they make are better than the costumes they came up with.

So we head on over to the Hulk, it was a walk on ride, looks like everyone is still over at HP and we jump into the empty seats in the middle. This ride is a blast! Soo fun and smooth. We love roller coaster rides that are smooth. We loved it so much we, went around and did it again!!

Next mom loves tea cups rides and they have a version of it right next to Hulk called Storm Force Accelatron. We had tons of fun on it as mom tries to spin me silly.

Next we head to Dr Doom. ride, this ride sucks, they only had half going so even though the line was short, it took forever, we waited a half an hour for this ride. Then when we went on it it accelerates up, but no drop, it was a very boring ride. I would skip it.

Next we head to the Spider Man ride. This ride is supper cool. You can see where they got some of the ideas for the HP ride and then expanded on it.

We were getting hungry so we go back to our lockers in the front while we were close to it and grab our lunch and head out.

(And again sorry for the lack of pics in this post, I just did not see anything I liked when compared to HP)

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

After we grabbed our lunch we head on out to Toon Lagoon to eat. We spot a nice set of picnic tables that are a shaded area that are right next too Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges.

Our lunch is light, just a sandwich, to tide us over till we head back to HP to eat a early dinner.
At a table next to us they have a huge pile of hamburgers, so I have fun with that

The toon lagoon is kinda of cute, very old school cartoons. I am not really old enough to have watch most of these cartoons that are represented but I can recognize most of them. Again now that I look back I wish I took more pics but, I was just not that impressed.

This area has all the water rides though, so I zip up my jacket to help keep me dry and mom stays at our table and relaxes. She does not want to get wet.

First ride, Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges, since it is right next to us. I am soo happy there is not a lot of people here there are water guns people can pay to squirt more water down at us. No pics here because I do not carry my camera on water rides. This is a whitewater rafting ride that is based on the Popeye.

It was a walk on, and only a few other brave people joined me in a raft. It would have been a funny pic, because everyone has jackets and ponchos on since no one wants to get wet since it is a bit chilly out, but we all must ride it. We joked around about that. We all were trying to avoid getting wet. I got soaked, I ended up hitting a couple big water falls. Luckily only the bottom have was soaked and jacket kept everything is dry and I was wearing saddles. I felt bad for a couple people in our group because they had sneaker on, eek.

Next while soaked I go and check in with mom. Mom laughs at my drowned wet look and then I head to the next ride
Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls. Again it is a walk on, I wonder why? There are tons of signs warning you, you will get wet on this ride.

The CM put me in the first seat, at this point I was already soaked so it did not matter to me at this point. An older couple went with me, they said they wish they thought of bringing their jacket when they saw mine, I love being prepared This ride is cute log flume but the big kicker on this ride, you get more soaked than Splash mountain or any log flume ride I have been on and that is because there are things along the way that get you wet too! The drop also feels bigger than Splash, man I wish it was warmer so I could do this ride more times.

I now officially feel like a drowned rat. I meet back with mom, she just laughs at me and we head on over to Jurassic Park area, to the last water ride.

You can see how wet I am in this pic

Next I head to Jurassic Park River Adventure. Mom again finds a nice place to sit and waits since she does not want to get wet and grabs my camera, so again no pics. Walk on again here.

This ride is super cool! I loved Jurassic Park as a kid. The ride starts off like you are going on dinosaur tour and then things go terribly wrong in a great way! You feel like you are really in the movie, loove it You do not get super wet in this ride.

After the ride I met mom again and I find a bathroom to get out of my wet shirt into the new shirt I bought, sadly cannot do anything about my skirt.
And then some fun pics!

Ahh, watch out!!

Looks just like the movie!

Man my hair is a mess from all the wetness.

Next we head off to eat at HP!

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Next an early dinner at Three Broomsticks and the Hog's Head

(I know at this point you are thinking, more Harry Potter and I go YES!!)

The entrance is cute:

The bar next to it, Hog's Head even has a Hog Head in the bar!

Since we are going during the off times, we could walk right up, we shared a fish and chips and 2 butter beers one frozen and one regular to try both!

Of course mom eats it before I get a pic of our food

With the butterbeer we get one souvenir cup and one regular cup to save money.

The fish and chips was nothing special but it was yummy and hit the spot. The real winner was the butterbeer. Man this stuff is wonderful!!! I had a hard time deciding if I loved the frozen or regular better. Yummmy.

Man I look like a mess, not my cutest pic ever that is for sure but at least I am happy!

After we finish eating I take this opportunity for more pics!

I love how they keep it cozy while having lots of room for seating.

We finish and head on out of IOA and it is not even dark yet. This is the first time we have not stayed all day from opening till closing before and man do our feet feel it.

We head back to our hotel with an eye on something very special to us right now, the hot tub!!

Seen here through our window:

After we soaked our painful bodies in the hot tub for at least an hour, and then we went up to our room and past out. Yep we are that tired.

Tomorrow we see Disney Studies!

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

(I need to get this trip report done before my May trip coming up soon)

Today we woke up with some renewed energy after our trip to the hot tub and passing out early on our bed last night.

We showered, then ate and then we were off!

We arrived early again. First in the line at the regular gates and we waited.

The gates open 5 to 10 mins early, yeah!!

We all start heading to Toy Story. I got me speed walking on and grabbed two fast passes. Mom went strait for RR and waits for me there. I see mom waiting outside the roller coaster and she tells me the bad news, the ride is down I decide lets go to ToT since it is right next to it and there looks like there is no wait.

Man the ceilings are gorgeous, I know it this is suppose to be the haunted, but it looks too nice!

We only have to wait a few mins till we board our elevator.

I am soo excited!! We are in the middle row and as you can see they did not even fill up our elevator.

This ride is amazing!!! I loove it

We quickly head out and got to Toy Story ride!

I am soo happy we have fp for this ride.

The line is already at 30 mins and it is still really early.

We walk right up, and when I look over at the regular line I cannot believe how long the regular line gets even during the slow time.

So before I rode this ride, I was wondering if this ride would live up to its hype well I am glad to say it did!! This was soo much fun, it is like a video game and ride all in one.

As you can see mom needs some work on her accuracy. I am not bad for my first time.

As we head out we grab another fp for it!

I check my app to see if RR is open yet and it is, yeah! So we head back to RR, my mom is laughing about how many times we walked this path at this point and wondering if there is anything else in this park. I say Haha aren't u funny...

We go in and walk right into the sound room. Yeah!

They lead us out to the ride and we walk right to it.
I was a little worry about my book bag on this ride since there is a loop, so I put the bag through my legs on the floor.
Man this ride goes fast and I loove how it is all timed to the music!

We take the time for a few pics, I did not realize till later how my mom decided to be all artsy with the pic....

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Next as we were heading out of the ride I noticed a CM with a tink pin on their lanyard

Yeah!! I quickly do a trade with one of my starter pins and finally get a tink pin. The CM said she knew as soon as got it, it would go fast only lasted 5 mins

Next we still see that ToT was still only 10 mins long so we jump on. It was really walk on for all practical purposes.

This time we got to go all the way to the top and we were in the front row,yeah!

I love how the lady next to my mom looks scared to death!

Next on our list, Star Tours! So we walk across the park again, mom made this comment to me again.

I love the outside theming here, I think they just need to make a bigger version of this and finally make a Star Wars land!

It was a walk on ride, the only thing that slowed us down was me taking so many pics

For the life of me I can not remember which scenes we saw, kinda of sad but it was months ago and now I realize why people take notes. I have been just going off pics and memory. Woops, next time I will do better.

So of, course we had to do it again! The second time around again was walk on and this time I got picked as the rebel spy, yeah!!

Next we wait a turn for some fun pics!

We are getting a little hungry but we still have a little over an hour before our noon ADR. So we decide it is a good time to get a snack to tide us over and what better way to do that than through one of Disney famous cupcakes!

We head across the park again to go to Starring Rolls!

It was packed in this little place, mom was thinking mabye we should go somewhere else, but I had to let mom know this has the best selection of cupcakes in HS! So we wait, one of the things that was holding it up was a group of older ladies whose magic bands were messing up and they were trying to figure out what they could get on there dining plan. But it was sooo worth it!

We got one of their seasonal cupcakes: Pumpkin Cupcake with Maple Icing, the the frosting tastes just like maple syrup!! It was nice and moist on the inside. Mom and me shared this and it really hit the spot.

Next we take this opportunity to get our pics done at with a photopass photographer.

As we head over we spot some characters!

This photographer was one of the good ones, took a lot of pics and actually directed us!

And I mentioned if he can do any of the magic shots and he said yes he can, yeah! He moved us to the side and had us pose.

Mom did not understand what was going on but she played a long and now loves the pics!

Next food!

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

We headed off to our ADR and did some fun pics too

One thing I noticed this area was dead, like no one was back here at this time which I thought was weird.

Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano

We did our ADR at noon as part of the Fantasmic package. We picked it because Hollywood and Vine buffet reviews look bad and Derby was to expensive. This was the perfect middle.

The front looks small but it does not show how big it is on the inside.

I love how cute they made this place look. They had all the small details down of how a typical American Italian restaurant would look like.

As you can see in the pictures, nobody was in here yet, we were a part of the first seating.
We met our waiter, he was nice but when I started looking over the menu I noticed something was missing... the Antipasto for two app. I asked about it and they said they just updated their menu and that was taken off. : So if you are looking forward to that, it is not there anymore even though I see on most online menus of the Restaurant.

So we put in our order for our drinks while we looked at the menu to find out what to eat for app (I had our meal planned out here months ago)

Hehe the moment I saw the drink online, I knew I had to get it ( I am a sucker for shiny things)
Magical Star Cocktail - $10.75
Light up your celebration with X-Fusion Organic Mango and Passion Fruit liqueur, Parrot Bay Coconut rum, pineapple juice and a souvenir multicolored glow cube.

Mom went with a Chardonnay ( kinda of boring I know)

Next we picked our app and the rest of meal.

While we waited we drank our lovely drinks, mine was tasty and as fruity and yummy as it looks, while we ate the yummy warm bread with olive oil to dip in the bread. Soo good. Mom had to remind me to save room for the actual lunch

So we picked these two things as our app, first:
Mozzarella and Tomatoes - Served with marinated sweet onions, balsamic drizzle, extra virgin olive oil, and fresh sweet basil. - $8.49
I do not like mussels that are not in soup and I hate calamari.

As you can see we started eating again before I could take a pic, we are soo bad at that. The app was nice and fresh, very tasting and not too filling which is good since there was soo much bread eating before this.

My order this as her app:
Oak Fired Mussels - Cooked in a spicy tomato Butter with grilled onions and Herb Croutons - $10.99

Mom wanted to take advantage of the fresher seafood here than what we get back in Colorado. She loved it! She wants to order every time we come back now.

For my entree I pick this:
Charred Strip Steak - Italian roasted potatoes with carmelized sweet onions, aged Balsamic shallot butter and Chianti Wine reduction - $29.99

it was a real toss up between this and the pizza. If the package was not set price I think I would have chosen the pizza since the reviews all rave about it and the steaks are either having loving it or half hating it (I think it depends on the cook on the day) Well I am happy so to say, I made the right choice. The steak was amazing!! The butter and the sauce it was in was just delicious and it had the perfect amount of charred (not to much just right). I do not think the pic does it justice. They also cook it just right a nice medium rare. For the priced we paid and all the food you get, this is a great value for a steak here in Disney.

Mom choose one of the dishes they are known for:

Oven-baked Chicken alla Parmigiana - Served over spaghetti. - $17.99
Mom said the chicken was flavorful and juicy. The cheese was melt in your mouth and the spaghetti was cooked perfectly.

Next we had dessert, at this point we really did not have much room left in our bellies.

We did not get to choose our dessert, this is what comes with the package.

My fav was the dessert on the right the Chocolate Amarettini Cheesecake, it is a Chocolate Cheesecake is built on a Chocolate Cookie Crumb Base, and is then garnished with Almond Cream and Amarettini Cookies. It was to die for!
I remember not liking the middle one and the end one was just okay. I wish you could pic your dessert instead of them picking for you.

At the end of lunch we got our vip ticket and then we headed out with very, very full tummies.

Overall: This is a great package and a good value. The food is yummy and the seating you get for Fantasmic is great. I recommend this to everyone to try.
(Side note: we loved this place so much we booked it again for our upcoming trip, but only canceled them because of the new Star War meals (wish star wars characters could meet us here instead of Hollywood and Vine))

 

[JulieODC]

What a great DHS day! You guys got so much done!!

That pumpkin cupcake looks delish --- I'm a sucker for anything pumpkin though!

And your meal at Mama Melrose looked really good too! I've never been there....but it looks awfully tempting.

And May is coming soon - enjoy your trip!

 

[minmate]

Great trip report. Love all the details you share!

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

What a great DHS day! You guys got so much done!!

That pumpkin cupcake looks delish --- I'm a sucker for anything pumpkin though!

And your meal at Mama Melrose looked really good too! I've never been there....but it looks awfully tempting.

And May is coming soon - enjoy your trip!

That cupcake was to die for and I guess it is just the Thanksgiving cupcake, so it is only avaible in Nov.

Mama Melrose i think gets over looked but is really yummy

I am soo excited about the May trip, it is even more last min, again because mom is flying out there for work again, but we will only be doing the weekend this time and my husband will be able to come this time!

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Great trip report. Love all the details you share!

Thanks!! It is good to hear that you enjoy it

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

After our delicious lunch we slowly walk (that is all our full tummies allowed) to the Muppet Show!

Luckily it was right next to our restaurant so it was not a long walk at all.
We shuffled in and wait...

I think the pre show movie is really cute here, I cannot wait to see the updated one they just made when I go in May
When the doors open, I let mom know to let some other people in a head of us since I read they want everyone to go all the way to the end and that way we can sit more in the middle. As I sit down I take a look at the surrounding and looks great.

And then the show begins, I loove these guys!!!

Man I did not realize how much would be taking place off the screen during the show, so much fun and the seats were very comfortable. What a great way to get your stomach settle after eating a big meal.

And of course I had to get a pic in front of the fountain! (they really should have photo pass person here)

Next we had perfect timing for the Indian Jones show, they said it would be starting soon so we file in the place is filled up, so we get a seat all the way to the left hand side that is kind of high up. And here is where the fun begins. I did not realize this is one of the few places adults get to volunteer to do something! Normally it is only kids, I was needless to say very excited. When they started picking people from the audience I literally (I have no shame) started jumping up and down and waving my arm like a crazy person (of course remember I have my Minne ears on too) The lady was not looking our way at all since we were too far to the left side, it got to a point I was thinking I was not going to get picked but all the people around me started saying pick her and pointing at me to help me get picked. Ahh I loove disney people And she finally looked our way and picked me yeah I ended up being the last person they picked as an extra. So I ended up going on the stage and she had us do some silly things, luckily again I have no shame and I go all out. Then they send us to the top where we need to sign waivers and put on our costumes.

While waiting I watched some of the show, I love how they do the first action see with the boulder!

This is the only clear pic mom got using her camera phone, it is not as good as mine but it works.

I am the one without the hood on since they said I should keep the ears on and not cover them with hood, hehe I wonder why

I mostly clapped, screamed and ran around the stage, soo much fun!! I would do this again in a heart beat!!

After we finished the onstage stuff they had us go back up to take off our costumes and even gave us some bottle water for free Nice, bottle water is very expensive in Disney, so I grabbed a couple for mom and me and then I went to where mom was sitting and finished the rest of the show.

I am glad we were not on the stage when things started to blow up!

And the end of show, overall the show was fun and I am a sucker for Indian Jones!

Next we filed out and I thanked all the people around us that helped me get picked and we went back to Toy Story for FP slot time!

As we were walking over there we got to see a toy solder, they are funny and creepy all at the same time.

We were a little to soon still for our FP so we decided to go see some Disney history at "One Man's Dream". I am soo happy we did this. I loved seeing all the history of Disney and mom had a fun time reliving her childhood.

20 mins flew in here and then we headed out to Toy Story. Man the line is even longer line, I do not know how anyone could wait in standby for this ride.

We both improved our score, yeah! Mom actually took this one more seriously since she was sick of losing, but she still lost. She does not play enough video games

 

[JulieODC]

So cool that you got to be an extra at the Indiana Jones show!! How fun!

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

After Toy Story it started to sprinkle so we put on our jackets and went quickly to our next activity which I was really looking forward too, Animation Academy!! Man this place is hidden in the back. But it is perfect for staying out of the rain. We see a group sitting in the corner and assume it is them. The CM was playing a game with them, there was one seat left so mom sat there and I sat on the floor next to her. The game with the CM was fun, I thought I knew a lot of Disney facts, but apparently I still have some things to know

The group was growing bigger, I think a lot people wanted to get out the rain too. We got to the point were they started telling people they would have to wait for the next class.

Our class was a lot of fun, he had us vote on the two characters that he has not done in a while. Our class ended up choosing Mike for Monsters Incorporated.

And remember the main rule, do not erase anything.

Here was my drawing:

And here is mom's:

This was soo much fun, I could have done this all day! Sadly though we had to get going to the next show of Beauty and the Beast.

As we are leaving the building it is now down pouring! We quickly move to the theater, at this point we are wondering if the theater is covered or not, we are hoping it is covered! Luckily it is and there is still plenty of seating, we grab a seat right behind the lighting and sound crew pit. This way no tall person can sit in front of me and block my view. (They always seem to do that and I am short being only 5'1)

Mom is just happy she is off her feet and dry

This show is cute and is a shorter version than the Broadway musical. I was singing along the whole time. Sadly the show had to end and it was still pouring outside, eek. So we decide it time to go do some meet and greets, mom likes the idea because it is nice and dry!

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

So we hid out in the animation building to see some of my fav Pixar characters and keep dry!!

Mom spots a plug next a column in the middle of the room and finds a nice place to sit and charge up our phones. Man do we use up our phones here.

The Wreck Ralph line was quite long, but not horribly bad. It was cute in the line they had some games for the kids to play. Any one who has not watch Wreck It Ralph really should see it, it has some great 80s and 90s gamer references for us adult nerds

They like my ears

Next I had to see my other fav nerdy Pixar movie the Incredibles. The line was shorter here, probably since the movie has been out for a while. I think it would have been cooler if they did real people, like they do with the princess but they still looked cool.
I decided to do the action pose as Frozone because I loove Frozone powers, as a skier that would be my dream (hince why I also love Frozen)

Next we are getting a little hungry so we went looking for a snack. We peeked our heads out of the building still raining. We put on our jackets and head out.
We head for Sweet Spells:

Yummyyy...

We were going to get a candy apple, but wow look at the price of them. I noticed there are some other yummy looking treats at half the price.

So we decided to get a rice krispie treat and a brownie for the same price as the candy apples.

So we ask the CMs if the Fantasmic was still going on because of all the rain. The CMs all said Fantasmic was still scheduled and they wait till the last min before they cancel because they hope the rain will stop. We stop by a store to pick up some ponchos, are jackets were just not cutting it with all this rain. Then we headed to Fantasmic. We had VIP seating because of our dinner package but honestly we did not need it today, since it was raining so hard there was not a lot of people. We get out our dinner we packed, just sandwiches nothing special and start eating in the rain. If you looked at us, it was probably pretty sad, the two of us with our drenched sandwiches. To chear us up we first try to eat the rice krispie treat but the sugar was just melting in the rain so we put it away and ate the brownie. We picked the mint brownie, nice balance with the chocolate and mint! So while eating we hear announcement that they are delaying because of the rain and then after a while they made the announcement that there will be no Fantasmic They did do a little rain show, with the fountains and lights though, which was better than nothing. So with disappointed hearts, we move out of the theater....

(One good thing our trip coming up we will be again trying to see Fantasmic)

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

So to try and make up for the sad turn of events we go and check out
The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights! Even in rain we think it will be fun.

And ohh my gosh when we went around the corner we were floored!

It was spectacular!

But a little wet

Now that is what I call a x-mas tree!

I love all the details!

Even the grill is decorated!

Look at the hidden mickey!

We watched two of the light shows, soo cute.

Then we wanted to dry off so we went to ABC Commissary since it was right next to us. We picked up some hot chocolate to warm up. Man they do not have real hot chocolate all they have is powder stuff, blah...

We finished the rice krispie treat we picked up and then I noticed some of the cool costumes they have in here.

And my fav TV Show:

So with that we leave HS, not quite the ending I wanted but still a fun day.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

So after HS we drive the two hours it to get to North Redington Beach near Tampa. We will be staying at Double Tree that is right on the beach. The drive was easy, we were able to follow the gps nav.

The check in was quick and easy and of course we got some of their famous cookies!

Our room is very nice we are facing the parking lot, instead of the ocean but you know work will not pay for that for some reason

We crash pretty quickly and hit the sack.

Next day we woke up to get some breakfast!
And man is the view gorgeous!!

We eat breakfast with her co worker, sadly I forgot to take pics!

And then we see the dolphins in the distance!

Mom heads out for work, while I get to have fun and relax

Now time to work on my tan!

Like my Epcot towel, a little bit of disney at the beach

My view:

I laid down here for a long time, sleeping or reading. Man it is relaxing after being on my feet all day. Poor mom had to work. When I get hot a go into the ocean, it is pretty warm still, not to cold at all for what I am use to.

Mom calls to let me know she are coming back and to get ready for dinner.

We will be heading to The Conch Republic Grill. it is the local restaurant that we can walk to that is know for fabulous seafood at good prices. Our kind of place!

I order a Margarita, mom gets a white wine.

We get the yummy crab soup!

So you can tell we did not like this... I keep forgetting to take the pic before I eat!

COCONUT-CRUSTED MAHI MAHI :Crusted with fresh coconut and oven-roasted to perfection. Topped with warm mango chutney.

Man do we miss fresh seafood, it taste soo much better than what we can get in Colorado!

And last but certainly not the least dessert:

OMG, this is the best Key Lime pie, they say they make it from scratch soo good.

After we filled our bellies we head back to the hotel and relax.

Tomorrow we go back to Disney, but what a great day for relaxing!

 

[JulieODC]

What a fun and relaxing looking beach day....and a yummy looking dinner!

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

What a fun and relaxing looking beach day....and a yummy looking dinner!

Thanks, it was great just to relax for a bit but I still feel bad about mom having to work that day.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

Next day we wake up and we eat breakfast looking out over the water. Again I forgot to take pics of the food.

We had our waiter take a pic for us

I ask mom if she wanted to spend some time at the beach or if she wanted to go resort hopping. She choose resort hoping so we packed up and headed out.

I feel soo much more rested today.

So we drive back to Orlando.

We decided the first thing to see is Animal Kingdom Lodge, since we were not able to see Animal Kingdom the park, this is a good substitute.

We told the gate keeper we are here for lunch and we were able to park for free. Yeah

Love the plants around the lodge.

We walk in and are just floored with how beautiful this place really is, the pictures just do not do it justice.

Love the details.

And then the animals:

Sadly not many of the animals are out right now, but the CM said if we come back in a hour they will be moving more of the animals out here. Yeah

So we go over to the Mara to eat some lunch. Since we have a high tea reservation coming up we did not want to get full but needed something to just tied us over till our early afternoon tea.

The food court here looks really cool too, love the way they did the trees on the ceiling.

We got chicken flatbread, Berbere Sauce, Mozzarella, Chicken Breast, Corn and a Zhoug Drizzle.
So yummy, a very interesting combo of flavors. Berbere sauce is some sort of special African sauce that is fabulous and who would think corn would taste good in a pizza. I know I would never think of this combo.

And no we did not get the zebra cake desserts here, mom did not want to get filled up before high tea and did not want a dessert.

After lunch we head back out to the animals and are excited to see they are out!

I now officially have mom convinced that we have to stay here at some point, mahaha, my evil plan is working.

Next we notice there is a photographer next to the tree in the lodge and we go and wait in line to get our pic taken.
And he had a special x-mas photo, so of course we had to do it, he would not tell us what was coming out of the present he said it was a surprise!

Love!

Next up, the Grand Floridian and High Tea!

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

So next we head to the Grand Floridan.

Mom freaks out a bit thinking we will have to pay for parking since we have to go through the MK main parking gates and I had to keep reassuring her we will be fine. I let the parking CM know we have ADR to High Tea at Grand Floridan and then he explains where we should go and park. Yeah, free parking.

We park in the guest parking area and we start walking in.

I love how they have xmas decor even in the walkways!

Love the kids water park feature, it makes me want to be a kid again, soo cute!

While I was taking pics of the kid area, one of the life guards came up and said she loved my ears and my whole outfit that matched it. Yeah, even if she was just trying to be nice it still made my day We chatted for a bit as you can see from the pic she did not have anyone to watch so she was probably a little bored. Next we said good bye and then went on to see the main building.

Man I think this tree may be even bigger than the AK Lodge tree!

And of course the Ginger Bread House!!

This thing is gigantic and makes the whole place smell like ginger bread.

And of course I had to buy a ginger bread shingle!

(FYI I ate this at home, not soo yummy)

Love the details!

Next mom was to sit for a while, she is just plain tired, since she had to work yesterday, so I go wondering around taking pics, while she relaxes on the comfy couches.

I spot a bride and groom doing their first look

I saw the wedding party chilling in the lobby area later. I wonder how many weddings they do here on Sat?

We also did some shopping at the guy store here for some golf xmas presents for our guys. The shop here has great high end gear for your harder to buy people.

Then we did some pics together when a photopass photographer set up his stuff infront of the xmas tree!

Next High Tea Time!