If You’re Screaming that Means You’re Still Alive!” Updated x4 3/12!-The End!

[JulieODC]

Great early morning MK photos!! Perfect time to capture the little details!

Looks like a fun breakfast at CP too!! Love those pre-parking opening reservations!

 

[tinkerbell615]

That will be a perfect way to celebrate his birthday! Its a fun breakfast place with good food : ) And you can't beat getting to walk down an empty Main street, its fabulous!

We did take the bus, we lucked out and jumped on a bus right at 7:45am, it took about 15min to get to MK from POP so we were walking thru the turnstiles around 8:05am. Our reservation wasn't until 8:30am. They have turnstiles specifically for breakfast reservation guests to the far left but they didn't ask us to show anything. They just said breakfast reservations this way. The CM will direct you : )

Thanks so much! I am such a nervous nellie. I just want to make sure we get there on time and I can't wait to see an empty Main Street!!

 

[JessM]

Ahhh man! We were in the vicinity of each other a few times during our Dec. trip. When you were having dinner at Big River Grille we were walking from our room at BWV across the Boardwalk over to YC for dinner. Then on the morning of the 8th we were in MK after our breakfast at the Poly. It would be so funny if I see you in some of my trip photos!!

I suck big time at Buzz in MK so I don't show my score on purpose! I like the attraction and I'm pretty competitive but I'm horrible!

After reading about your Wishes Dessert party I think it's high time I book another party. I loved the cannolis too! I was glad that the staff told us to take some with us after the party was over. Don't mind if we do!

I wish you all the best as you prepare for your 1/2! I only had to run another 9 miles tonight to get to the 1/2 distance! No way, no how can I run that far!

Haha that is too funny! It would definitely be too funny if we crossed paths in each other's trip photos! We didn't know it at the time but we must have been on the same wave length or something!

I would love to meet some one who is actually good at buzz and ask them how they do it. I need some pointers. I'm super competitive at TSM but I'm terrible at Buzz, I can't even try to be competitive.

Omgoodness I would definitely take a bunch of cannolis home if offered, they were so good. They went fast at both parties we went to!

Thank you so much! Training is hard but it is rewarding! And be proud of yourself for running any mile that you do! Even just a mile is a wonderful accomplishment!

Great early morning MK photos!! Perfect time to capture the little details!

Looks like a fun breakfast at CP too!! Love those pre-parking opening reservations!

Thank you! It was a lot of fun having a while to just look around and soak it all in!

I hate getting up for them sometimes, but pre-park opening reservations are awesome!

Thanks so much! I am such a nervous nellie. I just want to make sure we get there on time and I can't wait to see an empty Main Street!!

No problem! I hope you and your family have a wonderful time! Empty main street is magical

 

[JessM]

Ch-Cha-Changes!-A PTR Interruption!

Hello all! Before I continue on with our regularly scheduled trip report I wanted to stop in for a quick update on my Princess Half Marathon Trip!

First off, my travel buddy changed… again. Sometimes I think this trip was meant to be a solo trip haha!

Allen isn’t going to be able to make it because this semester at school is turning out to be way harder than he thought so he doesn’t want to take the days off, which I completely understand

SO

My wonderful Mother will be joining me and we are going to make it a girls only trip!

I'm actually really excited to do a girls trip with my Mom, I’ve always wanted to but my Dad doesn’t like to be left out of the Disney fun!

She shares my love for Disney and desserts so she will be the perfect travel buddy!

My Mom is taking a later flight than me on the way down so I’m a little nervous to see how she navigates the airports alone. She is definitely a follower but I have every confidence that she will arrive at Pop…eventually haha!

Training

So training has been going really well. I can’t believe I’m almost to the taper point! I’ve got back to back runs on tap for this weekend, 6.2miles Friday and 13.1miles Saturday to complete my Glass Slipper Challenge simulation.

I did 6.2 followed by 11 two weeks ago and it felt great so hopefully this last long training weekend before I taper and enjoy some shorter runs before the race will go well!

Costumes!

Now for the best part. I finished up my costumes this weekend and did a little hair trial as well.

For the 10k I’m going to be Jasmine!

I made a headband to wear as Jasmine’s headpiece, so I’m planning to wear that and then try to do the double ponytail thing that Jasmine does.

I’m hoping the headband won’t move around too much while I’m running.
And for the Half Marathon I’m going to be Rapunzel!

I’m super happy with how this one came out.

For the hair I’m going to do my best braiding my short hair and then I bought a bunch of clip in flowers to wear.

I’m getting super excited for this trip! I can’t wait!
​

 

[JessM]

A fun morning in the Magic Kingdom!

After checking out Gaston’s we used our FPs for the Little Mermaid.
I absolutely love the outside of this ride, its gorgeous.

I also really enjoy this ride as well.

Its so colorful and such a classic Disney dark ride.

The only problem is not being very good at photographing it.

Like come on Disney, can the ride please momentarily breakdown while in this room haha.

Whoever designed this Ursula did a fantastic job, I just love it!

After we returned safely back to dry land, we went and hit up one of my personal favorites

Peter Pan! We had a FP+ for this, I didn’t get any pictures but it was a wonderful flight per usual!

Next up was

Mickey’s PhilharMagic!

We only had to wait around 2 minutes for the next show!

The show was fabulous per usual.

After that we headed over towards Frontierland!

We actually swung by the Jungle Cruise and grabbed some Fps for later and then went into Frontierland!

We had FP+s for BTMRR!

I love this ride at night but there’s also something completely wonderful about it in the bright sunshine! It was just wonderful!

We stopped in for another spin on Pirates before heading back to the Jungle Cruise, or Jingle Cruise as it was named while we were there.

The holiday overlay wasn’t “amazing” but it was something different so props Disney

They just had the queue decorated and not the actual ride but it was still cute

The boat names were a nice touch

I loved the simple lights around the shack

Wreath in the boat

The jokes were all holiday themed. None left a big impression but they were different which was appreciated. We had a skipper who was extremely into it but she was hard to hear over the loudspeaker because she was yelling into it.

Still a cute ride and I’m glad we got to experience the holiday overlay
We had Splash FP+s to use next but Splash was down : ( It seemed like it was the story of the trip, Splash was always down. I guess it really needed that refurb this year.

We instead headed over to SM to use our FP+. The way it works if a ride is down during your FP+ window is that you can either wait and use it when the ride comes back up or you can just use it at a different ride. Disney will send you an email of available rides. We decided to go ride SM since we hadn’t ridden it yet today. We got all greens no problem even though I didn’t rebook the Splash FP, it worked really well!

After Space we decided to walk down to Fantasyland to grab the train and ride it to the front of the park

I love this back pathway, so quiet!

After reaching Main Street we headed out of the park. We jumped on the monorail to begin our trip on the Highway in the Sky!

We rode the resort monorail around to the Grand Floridian! We all really wanted to see the gingerbread house!

I don’t think I’ve ever stopped into the Grand Floridian at Christmas time, it was beautiful!

And the gingerbread house did not disappoint!

We explored around for awhile and then jumped on the monorail again and rode over to Epcot!

Stay Tuned!​

 

[RachelNinja]

Haha, I love the story your dad tells about your mom on Splash Mountain! And yay for a girls only trip! I absolutely adore your costumes for the marathons!

 

[courtneybelle]

HEY JESS. HAPPY DISNEY MONTH!!!! A girls trip sounds so fun!

I LOVE your costumes! I especially love that Pascal is on your shoulder. They look amazing!

I felt the same way about Jingle Cruise...it was a nice change but I was expecting a little more.

The Grand is SO pretty! I really wish I had gotten to see the gingerbread houses.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Aww Jess, you know, a girl's trip actually sounds really nice.

You know I saw the pictures that Meg had on her current TR. I had no idea people dressed up like that. Your Jas outfit looks perfect. So clever with the headband, my goodness.

And the Punzie with the Pascal is adorable. YOU MADE THESE??!!! Wow!!

Haha, you do know you just jinxed yourself on LM and the ride will now break down constantly every time you ride.

Yeah, Jingle Cruise was a little unwhelming. It probably would have felt better if it hadn't been promoted raising my expectations. I did like the Santa hats the CM's wore.

 

[missangelalexis]

Bummer that your friend can no longer go with you, but YAY for a mother-daughter trip! That will really be special I LOVE LOVE LOVE your costumes, you did such a nice job!!

You guys did so many fun things at MK! That stinks that Splash was down though.

Love all the Grand Floridian pics!

 

[tinkerbell615]

Jess, you're costumes are amazing! Do you do all of that yourself? I wish I was able to do things like that! Your girl trip will be super fun. Your mom seems like she really enjoys Disney as much as you do.

Thanks for the pictures of the Jingle Cruise. One of the young ladies that my daughter grew up and graduated from high school with is a skipper. She went to work for Disney through the college program and has decided to make it her permanant residence. We can't wait to see her this summer!

 

[scottny]

Great updates and pics.

Too bad he had to cancel for the trip but glad your mom is going.

 

[PrincePluto]

Ahhh I guess i just have a bad memory wouldn't be the first time. And I can never remember if its Pete's dragon or Pete the Dragon, I'm ashamed to say I've never seen the movie so that's probably why. I'll have to watch it!

That's OK, you have an excuse - it was in theaters like 35 years ago - you would have to be over 40 to have seen it in the theater, or have bought the VHS or DVD, which can be hard to find, unless you scour Amazon or ebay. Although now I believe it's available on Netflix (DVD, not streaming).

 

[JessM]

Haha, I love the story your dad tells about your mom on Splash Mountain! And yay for a girls only trip! I absolutely adore your costumes for the marathons!

Me too, its one of my favorites, I wish I had been there to see that! I'm so excited to get to do a trip with just my Mom, I can't wait. And thank you! I'm really happy with how they turned out!

HEY JESS. HAPPY DISNEY MONTH!!!! A girls trip sounds so fun!

I LOVE your costumes! I especially love that Pascal is on your shoulder. They look amazing!

I felt the same way about Jingle Cruise...it was a nice change but I was expecting a little more.

The Grand is SO pretty! I really wish I had gotten to see the gingerbread houses.

Thank you so much! I can't wait, I'm so ready to be out of the cold and into the Florida sunshine!

Thank you! I'm really happy with how they came out. I've been wanting to buy a pascal for my desk so this gave me the best excuse!

I think Disney just sets us up for disappointment sometimes they do so many things amazingly that when they do something ho-hum we are all disappointed.

It truly is beautiful that was the first time I've made it over there at Christmas time but I don't think it will be the last!

Aww Jess, you know, a girl's trip actually sounds really nice.

You know I saw the pictures that Meg had on her current TR. I had no idea people dressed up like that. Your Jas outfit looks perfect. So clever with the headband, my goodness.

And the Punzie with the Pascal is adorable. YOU MADE THESE??!!! Wow!!

Haha, you do know you just jinxed yourself on LM and the ride will now break down constantly every time you ride.

Yeah, Jingle Cruise was a little unwhelming. It probably would have felt better if it hadn't been promoted raising my expectations. I did like the Santa hats the CM's wore.

Thanks, I'm really looking forward to some girl time!

Thank you so much! I was the most worried about the Jasmine outfit but I love how it turned out! I was actually the most stressed about the headband but it turned out perfect!

I also love the Punzie one too, its amazing what you can do with a little hot glue haha!

Haha you are probably right but that's ok, I won't mind getting stuck under the sea!

It was a nice thought but hopefully they do something a little more next year. I love the concept, but they needed to put stuff in the ride not just the queue.

Bummer that your friend can no longer go with you, but YAY for a mother-daughter trip! That will really be special I LOVE LOVE LOVE your costumes, you did such a nice job!!

You guys did so many fun things at MK! That stinks that Splash was down though.

Love all the Grand Floridian pics!

It is a bummer but I've always wanted to go with just my Mom so I'm excited!

And thank you so much! I'm really pleased with how they turned out!

Splash was killing me this trip, it was always down but I wanted to ride so bad haha.

Thank you! It was beautiful over there!

 

[JessM]

Jess, you're costumes are amazing! Do you do all of that yourself? I wish I was able to do things like that! Your girl trip will be super fun. Your mom seems like she really enjoys Disney as much as you do.

Thanks for the pictures of the Jingle Cruise. One of the young ladies that my daughter grew up and graduated from high school with is a skipper. She went to work for Disney through the college program and has decided to make it her permanant residence. We can't wait to see her this summer!

I did! Well the tops and the hair accessories, I did buy the skirts. Its amazing what you can do with a glue gun haha. I'm so excited to make it a girly Princess trip! With lots of cupcakes

Oh my goodness how fun! I would think being a skipper would get a little boring but would also be super fun! She must be very talented to get a role like that!

Great updates and pics.

Too bad he had to cancel for the trip but glad your mom is going.

Thank you! I'm bummed but I'm really happy I convinced my mom to come along.. not that it was hard

That's OK, you have an excuse - it was in theaters like 35 years ago - you would have to be over 40 to have seen it in the theater, or have bought the VHS or DVD, which can be hard to find, unless you scour Amazon or ebay. Although now I believe it's available on Netflix (DVD, not streaming).

Haha thank you but I would like to try and see some more of the old Disney movies, I've actually been having some luck grabbing them at Goodwill on VHS

 

[PrincePluto]

Haha thank you but I would like to try and see some more of the old Disney movies, I've actually been having some luck grabbing them at Goodwill on VHS

I think a lot of the live-action Disney comedies made between 1960 and 1980 are a lot of fun and don't get enough credit, including, but not limited to, the Herbie movies, the original Parent Trap, anything with Dean Jones, the Boatniks and the ones with a young Kurt Douglas, playing a college student who gets in awkward situations.

 

[JessM]

Character Dining Palooza Continues!

We arrived at Epcot and quickly went through bag check and headed towards World Showcase.

We stopped and watch Joyful for a few minutes but the lead singers acoustics were all messed up. I felt bad because the choir behind him sounded great but it was difficult to listen to.

I love these toparies

World Showcase Tree!

Lets all have a moment of silence for the Lights of Winter. I miss them SO much but the tree is still pretty!

Our goal for the afternoon was to catch some of the holiday storytellers around Epcot.

First up was Mexico!

The 3 kings are the storytellers in Mexico and they are fabulous! They were so enthusiastic and so much fun. I might need to move to Mexico as they celebrate the Christmas Season until 3 Kings Day January 6th.

I highly recommend taking the time to check these guys out!

After they finished up their story we headed into the Mexico pavilion for a little A/C (never thought I’d need that in Dec!) and to look around

Mexico is one of my favorite pavilions, its just beautiful!

We also hoped on the boat ride, because who doesn’t like a nice little Disney boat ride.

After our cruise through Mexico we headed over to Norway for the next group of storytellers.

There was already a huge crowd waiting for them, plus Norway was crazy with people trying to meet Anna and Elsa so we stood up on the planters across the walkway and listened from there. Not the best view but we heard it all.

These two were great as well. I LOVED them, they were funny, enthusiastic and so much fun.

I have a terrible memory so I don’t remember much about the story but the lady kept being “turned off” by Santa and it was too funny. They also got a couple adorable little girls to help them out on stage and it was so cute.

After the Norway story we hightailed it over to Canada to hear the Storyteller over there. The Canada one isn’t actually a story it’s a mini concert on the off kilter stage.

They sang Christmas songs from the various regions of Canada. They did a great job and we really enjoyed the show!

After the show I was really starting to not feel well at all. My parents are the type of people that if they eat a big breakfast they don’t eat until dinner. I didn’t want to slow anyone up so I hadn’t stopped to eat since breakfast! I didn’t feel hungry but I definitely was, I had a headache and my stomach hurt it was awful.

I needed fuel ASAP!

Luckily it was time for our ADR at the Garden Grill!

We hightailed it over to the land and checked in.

We only waited about 10mins to be seated but it was the longest 10mins ever, I needed food.

We were finally lead to our table and I started chugging water and eating so much bread haha. My Dad also gave me some ibuprofen from his secret stash. I was starting to feel SO much better.

And soon the characters were coming around!

First up was Pluto!

My Mom thought it was hilarious watching them try to figure out where to sign my Vinylmation

Up next was the big cheese himself in his adorable overalls.

I don’t know why but my parents crack me up in pictures

Dale was up next.

He was super excited that he was on my lanyard.

He so cute!

Keep scrolling!​

 

[JessM]

A Very Christmasy Night!

Finally Chip came by!

I don’t know why my Dad feels the need to bend down in ever Character photo haha.

Overall the food at the Garden Grill was good. It wasn’t spectacular but it hit the spot and it was nice that it was all you can eat. I was so hungry!

I also loved how small the restaurant was. The characters made at least 3 more laps while we were eating so we didn’t have to wait forever to see them. We will definitely be back.

I also forgot to mention we did this meal as part of the Candlelight
Processional dining package so we had tickets to the 6:30 show included!

We headed out towards World Showcase after dinner.

Our plan was to slowly make it over to the theater for the 6:30 show!

Beautiful France

I thought these ornament displays were really cute, I don’t remember seeing these the year before…

We walked up and checked out the new bakery but we were too full to get anything.

We made our way over to the theatre and waited in the ridiculously long package line to get in.It was constantly moving but my goodness it was long!
Eventually we got in and took a seat. We were right on the end of a row in the left most section of the theatre. We were happy with our seats!

The show was as always fabulous. The singers had amazing energy and they were all really into it. It truly is an incredible show.

I would recommend this show to anyone visiting WDW around the holidays.

It is so well done.

Sigourney Weaver! She was great, she did a nice job narrating the show and I really enjoyed her. You could tell she was very happy to be there and was just as impressed with the choir as the rest of us.

My Dad, as I have mentioned is OBSESSED with the Candlelight Processional, he can’t get enough haha. He loved the show as well.
We also felt like the dining package was a good value. The standby line was pretty long even on a Sunday night so we were glad to be guaranteed a seat for the show.

After the show we fought our way out the international gateway. We had a date with my favorite holiday lights!

We hopped a friendship boat at the Beach club and headed over to DHS!

Pretty Tree!

I don’t mind the hat, but I think the stage in front makes it pretty ugly haha.
We quickly made our way to the back of the park!

I was so excited it was finally time to see these spectacular beauties again…

The Osborne Lights!

Words cannot describe how much I love these lights. They are truly spectacular. They are so magical and so festive… ahhh I just love it!
I even love the corny “radio” show they play during it. Its so fabulous!

Are these tv screen looking windows new?

Sorry I took a million pictures!

These carolers are so cute

This fireplace! So awesome

The snow adds that extra bit of magic Disney is famous for!

Seriously, if you have not seen these lights get yourself down to Disney at Christmas time. These alone are worth the time and money to get down there.

I think I drive my parents crazy walking around the lights because it’s the one time in Disney I go SO slow haha. I like to take it all in and take tons of photos.

Hidden Mickey and Minnie!

Keep Scrolling!
​

 

[JessM]

Osborne Lights!

More Osborne Lights spam!

I love Santa and Mickey, they are one of my favorite parts of the display

Too cute

I swear I’m in this picture haha. I really missed having photopass this trip!

That’s a little better

This puppy is adorable!

I just love all the details

Further proof my parents are awful photographers, check out that thumb haha

After wandering through the lights we headed up towards Sunset Blvd. It was EMH tonight and we had one ride that we wanted to get in while it was dark.

TOT!

Apparently this is the only picture I took haha.

Only my Dad and I partook in this one but it was awesome as always. Its such a great view when those doors open at night. It was just fabulous and there was no line. We walked right into the library!

After TOT we headed to the bus stops. There was a huge line at the Pop Century bus stop which is fine, but oh my gosh the bus driver who finally pulled up to take our group home was moving SO slow. It was painful to watch but eventually we made it on the bus and headed back to POP!

It was another fantastic but tiring day!

Stay Tuned!​

 

[Credit Man]

Another fantastic update. Candlelight and Osborne lights on the same night sounds just about perfect!!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Aww I never saw any of Joyful at all. Ugh though for that poor singer.

I did love all the storytellers. And oh man, can you believe how hot it was? I definitely feel for those poor performers in those outfits. Yikes!

I never got to see all of the Norway storytellers, but I've heard they were one of the best. Sounds like what I heard is true.

YAY Canada.

On a completely random note but since you're from Maine and thus near Canada (and because I don't feel like searching), do you say "pop", or "soda"? I know most in the US say "soda" but some northerners say "pop", so inquiring minds want to know. Told you it was random...

OMG I saw the line for the CP various times. I couldn't believe it was the package line. It's hard to imagine everyone getting in, let alone the standby.

AHHHH THE LIGHTS!!!! YES, thank you. Those screens have to be new. I know I never saw them before (but then it had been 4 years).

OMG how did I miss the dog???? That is adorable.

Those lights are so great. It really feels like time stands still in there. Plus how many attractions that are that amazing have so real "wait time". Unless you hit it at the absolute wrong time, but...

Great day Jess. Great day. And for some weird reason I am really looking forward to the next day.