It's 9:15am and we're already off the touring plan!!! Aka: A Very Mickey Christmas!

[cfw213]

Last we left off we were in AK, heading one of my least favorite attractions...

Dinosaur!! We waited for about 15 minutes for this one...the ride photo was classic, I wish I had bought it! I had my head buried in my moms arm (even though I KNEW it was coming!) and Jess is making a “dinosaur face”. I look like a three year old! I was thirsty so we stopped to get some sodas then headed over to Nemo! We saw the show last year and really enjoyed it so we stopped to see it again - very good again. We had to stand outside and finish our drinks before we could go in but the crowds were still low this day and we walked in about 5 minutes before showtime and had a decent seat. I enjoyed it, but it’s so long! Definitely a time-commitment. We will probably skip it this year.

We then did something we haven’t done before - Festival of the Lion King. WOW!! I can’t believe I’ve never seen it before. This show was sooo amazing and I am already looking forward to seeing it again next year. We were in the “lion” section. We had to wait a little while for the next showing but it was so worth it!

After the show was finished, we exited in Camp Minnie-Micky and I was so excited to see the character trees I’d been hearing so much about! I lovedddd these cute little things and took lots of pictures!

Goofy’s tree

Minnie’s tree

Lilo & Stitch tree

Nemo tree

Lion King tree

My favorite - Pluto’s tree!

Also, Chip & Dale were there but had a long line (If you noticed, we didn’t wait for ANY characters this time - definitely want more character pics on our September trip!). Jess snapped a pic of them in between kids!

Love their Christmas outfits!

We decided we were pretty much done what we wanted to do in the park and it was early afternoon...I want to say around 1:00. We were getting hungry so we wandered towards the entrance - but stopped to use our EE fastpass first! My mom & I were craving pretzels, but the only booth we could find them at were out of the plain pretzels, and I wasn’t daring enough to try the jalepeno (but I will next time!), so we headed back to the hotel.

Up next: A relaxing afternoon

 

[cfw213]

This post doesn't have many pics - sorry!

When we got back to the hotel we went into Everything Pop and picked up some food to share. I think we got chicken nuggets and Jess got a Mickey bar. We took them back to the room to decide what to do next. I was really tired so opted to take a nap, while Jess & mom wandered around the hotel and took pictures of the “icons”. I think they sat by the pool for a little while as well.

Little tiny mom with Tramp

After napping for about an hour or so, they came back and we started to get ready for a run to Downtown Disney! We were super excited to try a dinner we’ve heard so much about - Earl of Sandwich! Jess grabbed a table and mom and I went in to order. I unfortunately didn’t take pictures (again, next time I will be better about this!!), so I don’t remember exactly what we got. I know Mom & I got sandwiches (I’m sure I had something with turkey), and Jess got a salad. Since we had a special event later with lots of yummy dessert, we subbed two sides and a water for dessert. The macaroni salad was really yummy, and mom had the coleslaw. I CAN’T WAIT to go back here again - best CS meal of the trip!

After dinner, we went to two of our favorite stores - World of Disney & the Christmas store! I didn’t get any Christmas ornaments here since I had bought one in MK. Mom grabbed a wine from the street cart while Jess & I went into WOD. We were both looking for a long sleeve t-shirt that was fitted, but could only find one! They only had in an xs and a large, so I grabbed the xs. I was also realllly wanting a cell phone case but Jess talked me out of it! She found a regular t-shirt that was one sale, but doesn’t wear it because it’s too big!

After we finished up our shopping, we walked down to the Lego store then headed out to Magic Kingdom, it was almost time for our Wishes dessert party!! We went to the bus stop and jumped onto which ever bus came first - happened to be Port Orleans Riverside. We stopped at one of the bus depots and only waited a few minutes until an MK bus stopped. When we got to MK, we snapped this gorgeous shot!

Up next: Wishes dessert party!

 

[cfw213]

I totally disappeared off the face of the earth for the last couple months, but now it's time to finish this TR before my next trip starts!

Where we last left off, we had spent the morning in AK and had a relaxing afternoon at Pop. But not it was time for the one of the things I was most excited for the whole trip - the Wishes! dessert party.

When we arrived at MK, I went and changed into my new shirt. By this time it was about 9:00pm, and our Wishes Dessert Party check in time was 9:05, so we walked over to TomorrowLand Terrace and got our wristbands. We were led to our seats and they were EXCELLENT! We were in the front row all the way on the left hand side (looking out). The CM said they were the best seats in the house! We didn’t waste any time in getting our first helping at the dessert buffet - happy I remembered to get a picture of this!

My favorite was the chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate mousse and chocolate truffles. I like chocolate . For drinks they had water, milk, and pink lemonade. By then MSEP had started - I’ve never seen that parade but that music is SO catchy. We were not able to see the entire parade but could see the tops of the floats.

Here’s the one crappy picture I was able to take!

Once we went up for seconds, we moved our chairs to the side a little bit so we were up against the railing, since I knew people would stand and move to the front for Wishes. We watched the Magic Memories & You (which I LOVE!), and I made a quick bathroom trip before the fireworks. Then the CM told us we had to move our chairs. No problem, we were still able to stand and watch at the rail. No one pushing and shoving and no craning to see. Tink flew over us when the show started, really neat! I never take pictures during Wishes because I just want to enjoy the magic!

The Wishes dessert party was so worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat! The food was good (if you love dessert like me!) and the view of Wishes is unbeatable. After Wishes was over, we were really tired and ready to head home! We walked towards the bridge and a CM was yelling that they had opened a back exit. We walked behind the stores on Main St. and were out of the park in less than 10 minutes! We were one of the first ones on the bus and were back at Pop before we knew it. We were exhausted from another busy day and ready to face our last park day

Up next - Last park day!

 

[cfw213]

Thursday was our last full day in the world! We were pretty sad about this but ready to enjoy ourselves. Today was the only day our Ridemax plans had some critical errors, unfortunately. And this was December 22, so the Christmas crowds were in full swing! I can’t remember if we ate at the food court this day or in the room, but we were out by 8:30 and arrived at DHS by 9:00...apparently it had opened early! Our touring plan said we should ride RNR first and get Fast Passes.

Arriving at DHS!

I KNEW we should have went to TSM first, but I was stupid and didn’t. After my stomach issues the other day at Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure, I didn’t want to spend the whole day sick so I didn’t ride RnR right away...instead we all got fastpasses to ride later, but Jess and Mom rode right away, and I hung out to wait. Meanwhile, I monitored the FP for TSM - they were GONE before they got off the ride, by 10:00am! I couldn’t believe the crowds.

Disappointed that I wouldn't get to ride, we grabbed FPs for TOT, and headed to the Backlot Tour - also something new for me! I thought this was really cool, but we were rushed through the props section, and I would have liked to have more time there.

This thing is so cute! Luckily, we only had to wait a few minutes for the next show to start.

After the backlot tour, we waited around 15 minutes for the movie ride. I like this ride but I found our “gangster” to be really annoying. I don’t know why! We walked over to Muppet Vision and just missed the show, so we had a little bit of a wait. By now the early mornings/late nights were catching up to me and I was super tired! My eyes were getting a little heavy in Muppet Vision. I wanted to run over and get FP for Little Mermaid, but Jess & Mom didn’t think it was necessary. Instead we elected to get fastpasses for Star Tours.

By now it was already lunch time! I could definitely see the crowds this day because we'd only done a few attractions since lunch. Jess grabbed a seat outside and mom and I waited to get our food. We each got a pizza with a side salad - Jess & I had pepperoni and Mom had a veggie. Jess got a cookie and Mom and I each got a really adorable cupcake!

They were really yummy! It took a lonnngggg time to get our food and when I checked the receipt, I noticed a mistake. We should have had 3 table service meals remaining and 2 counter service meals after this meal, but our receipt said 0 table service meals and 5 counter service meals. Uh oh, had I made a mistake in planning? When we sat down to eat (our pizza was very yummy!), I called Disney customer service, who was NO help. She didn’t know off the top of her head what restaurants were TS/CS and couldn’t figure out what the problem was. After we were done, we went to guest services who were SO helpful! They figured out that they charged us 3 TS credits for Earl of Sandwich instead of 3 CS credits, and she was able to fix everything, thank goodness!

After that debacle, we were ready for some thrills!! Jess & I used our TOT fastpasses! This is tied for my all time favorite WDW ride (along with Test Track & Splash!). This ride scares the crap out of me but I LOVE it. There were some girls behind us (probably late teens) and the one girl was SO afraid to go on it and her friends were trying to reassure her. I told her that I was the biggest chicken (scared of Dinosaur and ITTBAB!), and I wouldn’t go on this ride before last year, but after I went on it I absolutely loved it. We were seated in the back row and they were in the front.

I tend not to pay attention to anything on the ride before the drop - so much anxiety! I tried the “penny on the knee” thing, but I think it flew off on the first drop. All I could hear was the poor girl in front of me screaming her head off. When we got off the ride we asked her if she liked it and she said no - I felt bad for steering her wrong!

Next up - more planning errors at DHS!

F! & 50s PTC!

 

[Aussiesalad]

I am loving your TR! Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your adventures!!

 

[rdkeim]

Reading Your trip sounds great - going around Christmas is my favorite time to go!

 

[cfw213]

I am loving your TR! Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your adventures!!

Thank you for following! This report is definitely lacking in pictures (esp food pictures!!) but this time I'm prepared to take good notes/photos for an excellent TR!

Reading Your trip sounds great - going around Christmas is my favorite time to go!

Thank you for following! I LOVED Christmas and will definitely go again, but probably a week early. The crowds were a little crazy!

 

[IllinoisMommy]

Those holiday cupcakes are adorable, and I LOVE Festival of the Lion King. One of my favorite things in any of the parks

 

[cfw213]

Those holiday cupcakes are adorable, and I LOVE Festival of the Lion King. One of my favorite things in any of the parks

Thanks for reading! The cupcakes were adorable...but during this trip I didn't know about Starring Rolls - that will change this time!

I love FOTLK too! But I heard it's going to be closed down soon for the Avatarland makeover

 

[cfw213]

After all those thrills, we sat down to watch Beauty and the Beast. We missed this last time, but I loved it!
They were so talented. After that we went to check the LM again - it was about an hour wait. Jess & Mom were mad that they didn’t listen to my advice to pick up fastpasses!

We walked around inside the Magic of Disney animation - very interesting. We waited to do the class, but we bailed after a few minutes of waiting in favor for Star Tours. As we walked over, the parade was about to start and we got a decent spot! I was craving a pretzel but couldn’t find one nearby. I think Mom grabbed a beer and we watched the parade. Very cute, if a little short. The song is very catchy!

We then went over to do Star Tours. I can’t remember why, but Mom sat this one out. I wish I had too! I felt SOOO sick in this ride - I absolutely hated it! I took off my 3D glasses almost immediately. The scenes with the stars were the worst because I felt like we were floating. The only good part about this ride was that Jess was chosen as the rebel spy! It was so funny, we cracked up!

When we were done, I needed to sit a few minutes. Mom was waiting at the Backlot Express while we debated what to do. We still wanted to see LM and still had our RnR fastpasses - which I was not ready to use yet. I went to get the pretzel I had been craving and we watched Jedi academy for a little while before we walked over to LM. We had to wait about 30 minutes before getting in. I really like this show but wish it was a little longer. Next time I will fastpass it for sure!

After LM, we all used our RnR FPs! I was a little nervous that the loop would make me sick but I was fine. I was worried about my purse though as I was afraid it was going to fall out of the pouch. By then it was about 5:45 and Fantasmic was at 6:30. Here was another critical error in planning - I made 6:50 ADRs for 50s PT!!! I knew we wouldn’t make the 8:00 Fantasmic with our ADRs, so we planned to watch the first 10-15 minutes of F! and then leave for our ADR. I was really upset with this critical error as F! is my favorite nighttime show! Next time I planned Fantastmic on a CS night and made an ADR at DHS on another night.

We walked to 50s and were seated immediatley. Our waiter was really good and funny. I had the fried chicken & Jess and mom both had the sampler platter (I think that's what it was called - pot roast, meat loaf and fried chicken). For dessert, they both had the sundae and I had the Smores, which I actually thought were really gross.

But overall I really liked 50s and would definitely go again! After dinner, I was excited for another wonderful Christmas experience - the Osbourne lights!

Osbourne Lights & heading home

 

[IllinoisMommy]

But I heard it's going to be closed down soon for the Avatarland makeover

Oh no
I am so excited to see Disney at Christmas, and my MIL who lives in FL during winters is joining us for the day at AK. Was so excited to see FOTLK since it appeals to many age levels and is one of the best shows at Disney.

Real excited to take my little girl though to Beauty and the Beast show

 

[cfw213]

Oh no
I am so excited to see Disney at Christmas, and my MIL who lives in FL during winters is joining us for the day at AK. Was so excited to see FOTLK since it appeals to many age levels and is one of the best shows at Disney.

Real excited to take my little girl though to Beauty and the Beast show

I think it's still open until January!

 

[cfw213]

Let's finish up this sad little TR! I'm leaving for our September trip in 3 weeks and I'm determined to take more pictures (esp of food ) to make an awesome TR for next time

Where we last left off, we had finished dinner at 50s PTC, and head over to the Osbourne Lights. I can't even begin to describe to you how OBSESSED I am with Christmas, so this was my dream! We stayed here for a lonngggg time looking at all the amazing lights. It was one of my favorite memories of the trip.

I cannot even describe how AMAZING these were!!

We stayed for probably half an hour. The crowds were actually not terrible in this part of the park. I could have stayed all night but it was getting close to closing and we didn’t want to be stuck in the crowds leaving the second Fantasmic! We headed out to the bus and went back to the hotel to pack. We were so sad that the trip was over, but happy to be leaving as the major crowds were coming in, and of course happy to get home to our families for Christmas!

The next day, we got up around 7:30, and head breakfast at Everything Pop. The DME came around 9:00 to pick us up for our noon flight. We ate again at the airport (Chipolte for me and mom & a smoothie for Jess), and were home around 4. Then it was Christmas!

They’re not all for him!

Overall, we loved visiting in December. The weather was cool but not cold, and the crowds were low at the beginning of the week. If we visited again at that time, I would go a week earlier. The Christmas decorations were absolutely amazing - so worth going in December!

We also had a positive first experience with the dining plan (especially since it was free ). We will get it again on a future trip, even if we have to pay for it. Part of a great vacation to me is good meals, and I like the long break from the park and eating different foods. We had some good luck with restaurants on this trip!

Thanks for reading - jump over to my PTR to hear our plans for our next trip!