Joy in the World, A Christmastime TR of sorts. Lots of pics.

[morgtroy]

So we hop on the monorail, ride through CR and on to Poly then to GF. I checked at Park Fare, nothing available, it was crazy packed in there. No problem, we wanted to go here to check out the decorations anyway.

The band was playing Christmas music

We had some photopass pics made in front of the tree and checked out the gingerbread house, which had steam come out of the chimney every so often. For those of you like me, that have not been here. They actually have a store in the gingerbread house selling cookies and things. They have a pamphlet that tells you how many hours it took to make it and how much sugar, and ingredients were used.

After soaking this up, we head back to the monorail, this in down, ground level at GF

So we decide to try the Kona cafe, since we're pretty sure the bigger places are going to be packed. We get to ride up front on the monorail and ride back through the resorts.

We had a 20 minute wait at Kona, not bad for a rainy night.
I even thought to take some food pics.
I had not tried this before. I have to say I expected more things to choose from on the menu. MIL and I decided to split a steak. The kids had chicken strips and pasta. They were not overly impressed with their meals, but my DS loved the sundae.

The meal was really good for the adults. The best part was the round bread and the macadamia butter they bring out before the meal. I could have made a meal on it.

I took a few pics of the tree and small gingerbread houses in the poly.

 

[tmkinney]

All I can say is WOW to the GF Christmas Tree and Gingerbread House! Sorry you didn't get to ride EE, but you have plenty of chances coming up to ride it, so something to look forward to! Funny about Diane in A Bug's Life...

 

[morgtroy]

That tree was incredible. I think about the time it takes me to do my little decorating. Can you imagine the decorating they do.
It was very pretty.

Bugs life was funny..she mainly yelled when the bugs exited the theatre.

Yes, we'll have to try to get EE next time. Since DH is the only one that has got to ride it so far. We'll have to spend a little more time at AK next time since we got cut short there this trip.

 

[scottny]

great update and pics.

MMMM Kona. I will be eating there in 48 hours and I cannot wait and to also have a Lapu Lapu.

The Gingerbread house is amazing.

Glad you could change the ticket (hope it turned out for the better)

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Love the new pics!

We've had Breakfast and Lunch at Kona....both were delicious, especially Breakfast!

 

[disneydusted]

Wow! Who knew there were so many Christmas trees at AK?! They are all really fun! And the one in the lobby of the GF is just beautiful.
My ds had a fit in Bug's Life. We were right in front of the praying mantis and he flipped out! He was 9 at the time... then the "stinger" poked his back and he jumped up and yelled that he was outta there!!! I had to jump up and run after him... there was no stopping him!! Dh and dd wondered where we were going!

 

[borntoshop96]

great update and pics.

I am so excited to see the decorations, thanks for posting them.

 

[piney]

Beautiful pictures!!! Looks like you had an awesome time!

May I ask what kind of camera you use?

 

[morgtroy]

great update and pics.

MMMM Kona. I will be eating there in 48 hours and I cannot wait and to also have a Lapu Lapu.

The Gingerbread house is amazing.

Glad you could change the ticket (hope it turned out for the better)

Thanks, we loved the bread, and just being at the poly.

Love the new pics!

We've had Breakfast and Lunch at Kona....both were delicious, especially Breakfast!

We'll have to try breakfast there sometime. We did Ohana's breakfast last year and loved it.

Wow! Who knew there were so many Christmas trees at AK?! They are all really fun! And the one in the lobby of the GF is just beautiful.
My ds had a fit in Bug's Life. We were right in front of the praying mantis and he flipped out! He was 9 at the time... then the "stinger" poked his back and he jumped up and yelled that he was outta there!!! I had to jump up and run after him... there was no stopping him!! Dh and dd wondered where we were going!

All those themed trees were in the camp Minnie Mickey area. They were really cute, to look at all the little details in the ornaments.
That's cute about your DS. That stinger can hurt if you're right against it. I'm sure there's been a lot of early exits at that show. My DD also know as chicken little will still duck or hide her head or pull her glasses off at times there or other scarey rides

great update and pics.

I am so excited to see the decorations, thanks for posting them.

You're very welcome, I've got a wealth of info from the Dis by other people sharing. I thought all the Christmas decorations were too gorgeous not to share. Thanks for subbing

Beautiful pictures!!! Looks like you had an awesome time!

May I ask what kind of camera you use?

Thansk for the nice comments, we did have a great time. My camera is a canon G9. I haven't had it that long, but there's a lot I love about it. The bad thing is I still pretty much use the auto, or scene modes, the camera has a lot more features for manual controls that I could use if I knew how to use all the extras. Some day I'm really going to read the manual.

I'll try to get some more pics up tonight or tomorrow... Up Next MGM, I mean Hollywood studios... 3 words...Toy Story Mania

 

[MJAJmom]

Love the huge tree at GF and the gingerbread house is enormous!!! Thanks for sharing your holiday trip pictures. They are amazing.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Just caught up! Your trip looks so awesome! I love the decorations - thanks for sharing the beautiful pics. I can see you were having so much fun together - I can't wait to see more!

 

[morgtroy]

Love the huge tree at GF and the gingerbread house is enormous!!! Thanks for sharing your holiday trip pictures. They are amazing.

Thanks for subbing, we had a great time. I just looked at your TR, your boys are adorable, looks like you had a great trip and did very well on your own. When I looked through your TR, I saw your new puppy. I'm sure he's big now since that's been a few months. It was funny because we just got a yellow lab puppy last week. My kids are . Her name is Katie. I'll have to post some pics of her soon.

Just caught up! Your trip looks so awesome! I love the decorations - thanks for sharing the beautiful pics. I can see you were having so much fun together - I can't wait to see more!

Thanks, we had a great trip. More pics on the way.

 

[morgtroy]

I said HS was up next, but I forgot me and the kids walked over to DTD when we got back to the room. We hit the World of Disney store, checked out the decorations and saw Santa.
I'll have to post some pics from the photopass with Santa, they are SUPER.
Here's the view from our room as we walk over.

The tree in downtown disney.

We went in a few more stores and had to get some treats at Goofy's Candy Co.

We love the deal here. We all 3 got rice krispie mickey's with tons of toppings.

Notice how wet the ground is there, and when we left the Kona and went to MK to catch our bus there were many wet people leaving MVMCP early. So I was thankful we were able to change dates.

Now up next HS.

 

[morgtroy]

So we get up try to make it to park opening. We do and go in with a crowd.
Here is the tree out front at HS. Huge...

I love the decorations on the posts down the the streets and all the buildings.

We head straight for Toy Story Mania. I've been looking forward to this ride.
It showed a 20 minute wait and it only took 10 maybe 15 minutes. Wow, what a neat waiting line. I had many flashbacks from my childhood, games I played or my brother had. Mr. Potato head doing his standup routine was cute.
We loved, loved, loved this ride. Kids kept saying, wait til Daddy sees this when we come back, he's going to love it.
I had the high score, though I tried to hide it. DD and DS really wanted to "win"
Another one of those Disney things you say, how did they do that?
The fast pass line getting FP was longer than our wait line going in. I FP it as we came out so we could ride again later.

More of the street decorations:

We then cut through and ran into these.

We rode Star tours.
After we exited Star Tours, the Jedi training was still going on. We saw some people with Dream Fast passes. I asked them where they won them. They said when they came off star tours. Well, we came close to the dream team. Like I said before, I think it was winding down, I really didn't see many people with prizes. I was happy for them, they acted like they really knew what they were. Last year when we won, some people acted like ok, I'll take this, whatever it is.

Up next...Rock N Roll Roller Coaster...

 

[morgtroy]

Ok, I didn't make a journal while we were there, I'm just going on memory here, but we went to Rock N Roll roller coaster. This is something else that was too intense for kids our first trip and then was closed for refurb last year. So this was a first for us. We all rode, had about a 20 minute wait. Kids were getting a little nervous when we got up to ride, but both were brave. Our ride photo is hillarious. I did the redneck ride photo, it didnt' turn out great, but here it is.

We hooped and yelled thru the entire ride. LOVED IT. When the ride came to a stop. DD says out loud, "That was awesome, Mom, I lost my headband, oh wait, it's around my neck" Everyone around us was laughing. We all loved this ride. Can't wait to do this one again.

I can't remember the order, but we did animation class. The kids LOVED this. First time we did it we drew Mickey. We had to come back later in the day and do it again. That time we drew Stitch. Again, the kids loved this. Even picked out drawing books in the gift shop and they have enjoyed those both on the drive back and since we've been home. Kit was $12. something, had instruction book, set of colored pencils, a drawing pencil and a drawing pad. Now that was a deal DS got the kit that had classic characters, Mickey, Donald, etc. DD wanted the Fairy book. It didn't come in a kit, but was cheaper $5-6. They had other books, princesses, cars, I don't remember what others.

We also saw sorcerer Mickey in animation. This was for me a must. I sorcerer Mickey

They also had Bolt characters in there. We did not do photopass with them, just took some pics from the side. BUT...if you are doing photopass, you may want to wait in line for this one. They have some cute borders for the Bolt characters you can add in photopass.

We took a break for lunch at Pizza Planet. We really like this place and for theme park pizza, I think it's very good.

Of course, DS had to play a couple games.

We went back for toy story mania FP, it was just as much fun the 2nd time, maybe more. We also did the backlot tour.

It was interesting. I liked seeing the jailbird plane they used in the movie ConAir. Also Walt's jet and all the people at work in the costume section.

I think this is when we went back to animation class, and I went to grab FP for Tower of Terror. We watched HSM 3 show. Very cute. DD also had her picture made with photopass with the HSM 3 props. I'll post those later.

We then went to get milkshakes and Min's dockside deli (I think that's correct name?) Super milkshakes...Oh yeah, speaking of milkshakes, we loved the one we got last trip at Sci Fi. Well, when we went by Sci Fi this trip, the convertible out front was gone. No car? Maybe it's just a refurb? I really like that car.

Back on topic, we get our milkshakes and pick out a spot for Block Party Bash parade.... I'll post that next.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Great update! I loved the look on your face in the RNR pic!

 

[disneydusted]

Wow! That tree at the entrance is HUGE!! I like all of the Christmas decorations they've put up.
Didn't you just love RNR?? That first take off is amazing!!
Good job to your kids on their animations pictures. Very cute! Did you save them?

 

[MJAJmom]

Just love all the holiday decorations, the huge christmas trees at each park is simply amazing. Your day at HS sounded great. It's one of my boys favorite parks. Thanks for the pictures of Bolt, the movie wasn't out yet during our Oct trip.

 

[morgtroy]

Great update! I loved the look on your face in the RNR pic!

Yeah, it was a lot of fun, not a picture I'd put on my wall I laughed so hard when we saw it, my hair straight back, DD and DS with smiles but a hint of fear, and I was holding my DS's hand. And you can't see it well from the picture of the monitor, but my MIL has her eyes squeezed shut.

Wow! That tree at the entrance is HUGE!! I like all of the Christmas decorations they've put up.
Didn't you just love RNR?? That first take off is amazing!!
Good job to your kids on their animations pictures. Very cute! Did you save them?

That's why I have wanted to go near Christmas, just take in all the decorations, it was so beautiful, not a disappointment at all. It was over and above what I imagined.
The blast off on RNR is the best part
The kids really loved the animation class, yes I kept them. I may take pictures of all the drawings and print out 4x6's and put them in a black and white frame.

Just love all the holiday decorations, the huge christmas trees at each park is simply amazing. Your day at HS sounded great. It's one of my boys favorite parks. Thanks for the pictures of Bolt, the movie wasn't out yet during our Oct trip.

We did have a blast at HS. And we made it long day stayed thru the parade and until the Osborne Family lights. Wait til you see that. OMG we were in awe... Bolt was cute, we just didn't want to do the wait.

 

[morgtroy]

So we have our milkshakes and pic out a spot to watch the parade.
This parade changed since our last trip when it was still the stars and motor cars parade.
Unknowingly we had picked a great spot to watch the parade, (standing in front of the hat, we were on the left just before parade turns left.)
They put on one more show. Talk about HIGH ENERGY, it was more of a show than a parade. The kids loved it.

They play all kinds of cool songs and at one point, get kids out on the street to dance with them. Both DD and DS were out there shaking their booty. They had songs like Celebration, The twist, and wipe out I think? And of course Shout. They were showing them all these "moves" for the dances. The music was loud and all the grownups were singing and moving too. Lots of fun. My DS had been video taping, but when it came time to get picked to dance, he handed me the camera, so I videoed, but don't have pics. The guys in the show put these spring things on their feet and bounce all over the place and they unfold a trampoline and do jumps on it as well. Like I said, High Energy.

After the parade we did VOTLM. I love this cute little show and spent some time in One Man's Dream. We were tired, but wanted to just wait until the Osborne Lights started, walk through then head back to the room for rest.

So we picked a spot at the end of the street, it was starting to get cool and darker so we sat there, got us a hot chocolate from a street cart and waited. In just a few moments the music started and the lights came on.
I think we were speechless for a moment. It was amazing. The lights were dancing with all the music. We stayed right where we were for a few moments, then decided to work our way up the street to take it all in.
It was very and of course everyone standing, looking up and taking pictures, me included. But it was so beautiful. I like my pictures, but it just doesn't do it justice. You can't see the snow blowing down from the tops of the buildings and of course the music. I do have some video I'll try to upload later.

Love the Mickey at the top of the tower on this building.

The nativity was just beautiful. I should have taken a picture of the kids in front of it, that would have been a perfect Christmas card.

This was so pretty and I did take tons of pics, I did of the whole trip, I'm just putting a "sampling" on here. I did like that about my camera, it's a quick on , quick fire camera, and most of my pics were taken while walking. The daytime pics especially, I just kept it on sports mode to get the fast shutter. My son took several of the pics. He even said one time, "Mama, it's not on sports mode." So he may pick up my hobby of taking pics, saving memories.

While I'm on him, let me add that for about 3 seconds in the crowd on the street, I lost him and was yelling his name. That's 2 times he's scared me to death this trip. At least this time it was quick.

So we still had the FP for Tower of Terror. My DD had said all along, she really wasn't planning on riding it. So what did we do?...