Joy to the World: an offsite Christmas extravaganza at Disney, Universal & SeaWorld – Dec. 2016 TR

[dancin Disney style]

Yes like we all believe that............

True.....I was asking for @bankr63

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

There is just something about the name Fruit of the Loom that I find really funny.....maybe the similarity to the expression' fruit of my loins' and where the Fruit of the Looms go.

So it's true, you do learn something new everyday. Steve likes fruit.

Never rode the Ferry to Magic Kingdom? That is the only way to arrive! It makes me tear every time! I even teared up just looking at your photots! Unfortunately we usually stay onsite if we are doing Disney and don't get to ride the ferry often. Have to say that is my Classic Ride.

Nope, this was a first!! But definitely not the last. In fact, I think we might try and arrive early enough at the TTC on every visit to allow us the luxury of riding the ferry versus packing into the smelly monorail. Is is me, or does it always have a foul odor in there???

Asking for a friend.....
Boxers or briefs?

Hey, you can't ask that question!! A guy has to have at least one or two secrets, after all .

I dislike fish and CHH is one of my favorite QS stops in MK.... but for the life of me, I don't know what I got last time. I used to love Pecos Bills as a kid. It was the first place we ever saw or had nachos back in the late 80s. I know their menu has been changing a lot recently.

You all are making a good case for CHH in October. Is there lots of seating in there? I am wondering how packed it will be in those last few hours before the party starts.

Aw that's so sweet! And sounds like a lot of fun.

I thought it was VERY sweet . My big, tough guy has a very tender side.

Familiar story - East York General Hospital - arriving class of '63.

Also move around a lot when young - Edmonton, Montreal (DDO), London (dad also worked in Stamford CT, but we stayed in London), then Ottawa by grade 4 where we finally put down some roots. The only immediate family I have left in Toronto is oldest sis who migrated back there after living in Vancouver for a while (despite the fact that she was born in Montreal).

He commuted from London to Stamford? How long of a drive is that?

I'm betting commando...

Yes like we all believe that............

What, you didn't think she was convincing???

I am just surprised @Ruthie5671 isn't chiming in on this one yet . Ruthie, where are yoooooooooooooooo?

True.....I was asking for @bankr63

Mmmm hmmmm. Sure ya were .

 

[Ruthie5671]

I am just surprised @Ruthie5671 isn't chiming in on this one yet . Ruthie, where are yoooooooooooooooo?

What?? Why would anyone in the world think I would make an inappropriate or tacky comment? Oh, wait, you all know me too well.

I'm guessing boxers. Does anyone wear tighty whities anymore???

 

[dalmatian7]

CHH gets tight downstairs, but there is additional seating upstairs

 

[bankr63]

You can say that again! After that last video I'm thinking TMI!!! What you like to do with Steve's Fruit of the Loom, or Loin, or whatever should really remain between the two of you

 

[vrajewski10513]

We had never taken the ferry before, and had said more than once over the years that we’d have to do it “someday”.

I love the ferry, but I feel like we always end up taking it at night and end up battling millions of sand flies!

In the meantime, Steve and I splurged today and we bought tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party for our October trip!

Yayyyy!! I'm so excited for you! Although I would have loved to see you guys at MNSSHP on the 17th!!

My next task is to find a Memory Maker share to take part in, so we can get all of our party pics at a reasonable cost.

If you come across one would you be so kind as to let me know?? I've never done one before and I'm not entirely sure how they work. Also, we're going to Epcot on 10/16 for Food & Wine- would we be able to use it for that AND MNSSHP? Or is it strictly for the Halloween party in the share?

Steve found lots on the menu at Pecos Bills that he liked, but nothing really appealed to my finickier palette.

We LOVE Peco's Bills! But the menu is rather pointed so I can understand if your not a fan of Mexican food.

The food was…..unremarkable . Not “bad”, but not noteworthy in any single aspect. Pricey. Not as warm as I would have liked or expected. But, it filled our stomachs and did the job for which it was intended.

That's a bummer!

After dinner, we headed to Big Thunder Mountain for the first of the two Fastpasses that we booked: we were super excited to ride on this trip, as our favourite couples ride at MK had been closed for refurbishment when we were there for the Halloween parties in October.

We definitely missed it on our last trip as well! This October we're gonna miss out on Splash mountain luckily it'll be open when we go back in December!

 

[lauralynn0612]

Thursday, December 22nd (continued)

Once we were inside the park and had made our way down Main Street, we decided to grab an early dinner: we hadn’t eaten anything since our big breakfast at the Portofino with Lynne and her kids earlier that morning (so we were hungry), and this would help preserve the party hours for more important things than eating [OMG what on earth did I just say there?!?!? ]. We decided to try somewhere new, and settled on the options in Frontierland.

Steve found lots on the menu at Pecos Bills that he liked, but nothing really appealed to my finickier palette. That was no biggie, though, because right outside the side entrance to Pecos Bills was the Golden Oak Outpost: they had chicken nuggets on their menu, and while that didn’t exactly amaze and impress me, it would more than suffice. I wasn’t really looking for a big meal anyway, as I wanted to be able to sample the holiday beverages and cookies that were being offered to party guests after 7 pm….that was the reason we decided against an ADR in the first place. Less dinner, more snacking!

We decided on a meeting place inside Pecos Bills……it wasn’t at all busy and there were lots of tables to pick from……and we each headed into our respective food lines. Miraculously, we somehow even managed to reconvene at almost exactly the same time with food trays in hand.

The food was…..unremarkable . Not “bad”, but not noteworthy in any single aspect. Pricey. Not as warm as I would have liked or expected. But, it filled our stomachs and did the job for which it was intended. I did appreciate the waffle fries versus just regular french fries.....that was a positive. Even so, it was underwhelming enough that I doubt we’d ever repeat either quick service location when visiting the Magic Kingdom.

After dinner, we headed to Big Thunder Mountain for the first of the two Fastpasses that we booked: we were super excited to ride on this trip, as our favourite couples ride at MK had been closed for refurbishment when we were there for the Halloween parties in October.

We were glad we had a Fastpass: standby was almost an hour , and with our FP, we were on the ride in right around 10 minutes .

We spotted a Photopass photographer next to the ride as we exited, and since she didn’t have any line, we hopped in for a few pictures.

I guess maybe “hopped in” was more fitting of a term than I had originally thought!

Our second Fastpass was for Pirates of the Caribbean, so we headed there immediately after Big Thunder: another favourite, and one we both enjoy (though Steve remarked that he thinks PotC is even more fun when you’re dressed like one! ). After Pirates, we figured we had just enough time to get over to Fantasyland and catch a character or two at Storybook Circus before the attraction closed for the 7 pm party start.

Crowds were not too bad as we made our way through the park: pockets of congestion interspersed with pockets of nothing. Like lumpy oatmeal, only it was people and not rolled oats .

Arriving at the Storybook Circus line, I let Steve choose which two characters we would meet: Minnie and Daisy or Donald and Goofy.

He surveyed the lines and opted for the one that he felt was shorter; or, he knew I’d get a kick out of meeting the girls and just SAID that he though their line was shorter so I wouldn’t feel bad about his sacrifice . It’s hard to say. Regardless, we hopped into the Minnie/Daisy line and waited our turn to meet the characters amidst the dozens of little rug rats and their parents. We were literally the ONLY people in line without kids .

Photopass was with each character (yay! ) so we were able to get our pictures with each of the lovely ladies without having to whip out our clunky camera. Both characters were sweet and charming and fussed all over Steve, which made me so happy and brought a smile to his face, too .

Character interaction was really great. Minnie, especially, was quite entertaining as she showed us her puppies with the same kind of exuberance that I have for my little furbabies. I could totally relate to her excitement . My kittens were MY pride and joy, after all.

We had hoped to be able to visit Donald and Goofy immediately thereafter, but CM’s were literally just closing the doors as we re-emerged from the Minnie/Daisy exit and made our way to the front of the building . While we were a little bummed to miss out on the second pair of characters, we were excited to know that the clock had struck 7 and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party was now officially underway. Holiday tunes were streaming from the overhead speakers, and the late afternoon twilight had given way to full darkness: best of all, the castle was sparkling in the light of a million white “icicles”.

I think it was the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen at Disney .


Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party is continued in the next post.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is on my party list! Looking forward to the next update!

We discovered the waffle sandwiches at Sleepy Hollow. I still dream about the nutella-slathered waffle with strawberries, bananas, and blueberries on top. My husband had the "spicy" (not even close) chicken waffle sandwich and really liked it. I was too engrossed in my waffle to even ask for a bite, though. We had Sleepy Hollow at the Halloween party and watched the parade from there.

 

[vrajewski10513]

Just dropping in to say I hope you had a great first week at your new job!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

What?? Why would anyone in the world think I would make an inappropriate or tacky comment? Oh, wait, you all know me too well.

I'm guessing boxers. Does anyone wear tighty whities anymore???

I'd like to get you, @dancin Disney style , and me together with a bottle (or two, or three....) of wine. I can only imagine how entertaining that evening would be. We really do need to try and coordinate a big ol' Dismeet in a semi-central location one of these days.

While I couldn't possibly divulge Steve's underwear details, I did think this quote quite says it all :

CHH gets tight downstairs, but there is additional seating upstairs

Good to know . I'm making some notes so I don't forget between now and October!

You can say that again! After that last video I'm thinking TMI!!! What you like to do with Steve's Fruit of the Loom, or Loin, or whatever should really remain between the two of you

Hee hee . Sorry about that .

I love the ferry, but I feel like we always end up taking it at night and end up battling millions of sand flies!

Yayyyy!! I'm so excited for you! Although I would have loved to see you guys at MNSSHP on the 17th!!

If you come across one would you be so kind as to let me know?? I've never done one before and I'm not entirely sure how they work. Also, we're going to Epcot on 10/16 for Food & Wine- would we be able to use it for that AND MNSSHP? Or is it strictly for the Halloween party in the share?

We LOVE Peco's Bills! But the menu is rather pointed so I can understand if your not a fan of Mexican food.

That's a bummer!

We definitely missed it on our last trip as well! This October we're gonna miss out on Splash mountain luckily it'll be open when we go back in December!

I wish our MNSSHP date was able to jive with yours, too . Unfortunately, we really only had one party date that worked with the rest of our plans (HHN, Volcano Bay, and Capone's). Our VB and Halloween Horror Nights don't coincide either, do they?

If you were able to find a Memory Maker Share Group, then you could definitely get your photos from both MNSSHP and your Epcot day through the share . I have tentatively found a group that is willing to take me on as a participant, and have reached out to the contact for that share to see if they have room for one more as well. I will definitely keep you posted when I hear back. I also posted interest on the easywdw photography share forum but so far there's been no bites there. I am virtually certain we could find you something, though, between now and October.

Steve is super bummed to be missing out on Splash Mountain this autumn . It's one of his MK favourites. I know the rides all need a refurb from time to time, but it still stings when its a good one that's missing from your trip.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is on my party list! Looking forward to the next update!

We discovered the waffle sandwiches at Sleepy Hollow. I still dream about the nutella-slathered waffle with strawberries, bananas, and blueberries on top. My husband had the "spicy" (not even close) chicken waffle sandwich and really liked it. I was too engrossed in my waffle to even ask for a bite, though. We had Sleepy Hollow at the Halloween party and watched the parade from there.

Oooohhhh............waffle sandwiches!! I *love* the ones at Typhoon Lagoon, and had no idea that they were also available at MK!! Columbia Harbor House officially has some competition!

Just dropping in to say I hope you had a great first week at your new job!

Aw, thank you . It was a challenging week, not gonna lie. It was hard to get back into the routine of getting to work early in the morning. The hours are longer than I've been used to for the past 20 years. There are some challenging personalities that I am having to learn to balance, and there is a ton of new stuff for me to learn. By Wednesday night, I was emotionally drained, physically tired, missing Jake and my mom more than normal, and more than a little discouraged. There may have been some tears as I drove home. Of course, I'm a sensitive person by nature so that doesn't help.

Thursday was a better day. I was finally making some good connections with my coworkers and feeling like I was more of a help than a hindrance.

Change, regardless of how positive, can be unbelievably hard.

 

[vrajewski10513]

Our VB and Halloween Horror Nights don't coincide either, do they?

Well we will be at VB on Sunday 10/15 and Thursday 10/19. Were planning on hitting up HHN on Sunday 10/15, Wednesday 10/18, Thursday10/19, and Friday 10/20.

 

[dancin Disney style]

So I heard you calling my name. I have not read through yet but will try to get caught up tomorrow. My eyes are a little bleary from the 1 or 8 beers that I had to help with today. Loving the rural QC mountain life.

 

[Ruthie5671]

I'd like to get you, @dancin Disney style , and me together with a bottle (or two, or three....) of wine. I can only imagine how entertaining that evening would be.

I would imagine that would be a fabulous time. Just a warning though, the more I drink, the louder I get. And I sometimes insist on singing. Which is where the 80's music comes in. So, when are we meeting???????

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Well we will be at VB on Sunday 10/15 and Thursday 10/19. Were planning on hitting up HHN on Sunday 10/15, Wednesday 10/18, Thursday10/19, and Friday 10/20.

Our RIP Tour is the 18th. I would totally be up for saying hello there afterward, if you plan on sticking around until Midnight when our tour wraps up.

So I heard you calling my name. I have not read through yet but will try to get caught up tomorrow. My eyes are a little bleary from the 1 or 8 beers that I had to help with today. Loving the rural QC mountain life.

Lucky for you, there isn't much to catch up on . I'm a terrible trip reporter. I'd like to say I've been holed up in a charming chateau on a mountain in Quebec, but I've been just.....inefficient. An update is coming though.....don't fall off your chair in shock .

I would imagine that would be a fabulous time. Just a warning though, the more I drink, the louder I get. And I sometimes insist on singing. Which is where the 80's music comes in. So, when are we meeting???????

Let's set a date. And a place. How about Michigan for Columbus Day?

And for the record, I love people who sing loudly. They help camouflage the fact that I can't carry a tune in a bucket .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Thursday, December 22nd (continued)

We decided to approach the Christmas Party in the same manner as we do the Halloween Parties: we planned to have no plan. Aside from catching the parade and fireworks (pretty much the only two must-do’s on our list), we opted to simply go with the flow for the balance of the night: with no Fastpasses to fuss with past 7 pm, it’s the way we have the most fun. No timelines, no deadlines, no stress .

We poked around the park, hitting up pretty much all of our favourite rides at one point or another over the course of the night as we toured about. We rode the Peoplemover at least twice that evening (maybe even three times…..it’s hard to remember exactly after all these months). There’s never a wait during the parties and the views are so awesome after dark. It's a great place to rest weary feet while in Tomorrowland, and still have fun.

We took a spin on Prince Charming’s Regal Carousel, and can you believe this was the first time we’ve done so since 2009?

Steve is looking a bit annoyed in this picture, because there was a large family behind us with the most boorishly behaved kids ……they were seriously awful, and poor Steve had taken several whacks to the back during the mercifully brief wait in the queue. It’s a good thing the lines were short because I think he was ready to utter something less than festive the next time he got an elbow or fist in his side .

I managed to get Steve on board It’s A Small World for one happy cruise , and considered that a huge win: let’s just say that it’s not his favourite ride . But, God bless that man, he humours me Every. Single. Time.

Steve, of course, rode his beloved Splash Mountain two times during the party. Me? Well, I must admit, I missed having the trick-or-treating stations of the Halloween parties as a diversion while I waited (does anyone else find that to be an exceptionally long ride??? ).

He enjoys this attraction so much, though, that the waiting is all worth it when I see the joy on his face when we stop at the kiosk to have his ride photo added to our Photopass account . That kind of fun is what the Magic Kingdom is all about: it brings out the child in each one of us.

After Splash, we hopped aboard Big Thunder Mountain for the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness . I love the different feel of riding after dark….and now that the party was underway, that hour-long wait during the daytime had shrunken to a walk-on .

As we made our way around the park……not overly efficiently as normal, just more where the flow happened to take us at any given moment…..we stopped occasionally for some of the festive treats that were extended to party guests. Unlike the Halloween parties (where they give out various types of candy at a multitude of trick-or-treat stations through the Kingdom), the Christmas food stations were less abundant and generally featured a holiday drink and a specific Christmas cookie. The sole exception to that was the station that offered blue frozen ice in lieu of a beverage: coupled with a similarly-coloured snowman sugar cookie, it made for an adorable pairing.

Adorable, but not that tasty (sorry ). Neither Steve nor I are huge fans of sugar cookies, so we ended up tossing the remnants of ours in the trash after sampling an initial bite or two. The ice seemed to make us thirstier than we started, so we ate a few bites of that and tossed the balance as well. It was all very festive looking and cute, but if they each got an A for presentation we gave them both a D for taste.

A few more random asides on the food: several of the stations were out of the flavour of cookies they were supposed to have (like Snickerdoodles) and the default was, apparently, the sugar cookie snowmen: perhaps because it was the final party of the season, Disney didn't feel justified in replenishing their offerings for that last event. Beverages were hot chocolate, hot apple cider, egg nog, and the frozen ice: we came upon each of those at least once in our travels that evening. The only other cookie flavour we encountered beyond the sugar snowmen, however, was gingerbread. That kept our snacking to a minimum, as fussy me doesn't like egg nog nor am I huge fan of gingerbread, and I already noted that neither of us were thrilled with the sugar cookies or the frozen ice. Steve is no lover of egg nor nor gingerbread either, so he too wasn't enamored with the assortment. Their Halloween candy is so good and plentiful that the Christmas treats definitely paled in comparison. First World Problems, of course but I thought it was worth mentioning.

Moving on......

We hit up Pirates of the Caribbean twice during the party : Steve said he felt under dressed in his street clothing versus his pirate costume .

We also did the Jingle Cruise: I guess I lied when I said we really didn’t have any must-do’s aside from the parade and fireworks. I wanted to see how they achieved a holiday overlay on this very cheesy (but still somehow oddly charming) ride, and Steve was happy to indulge me.

It was cute, and I’m glad we did it, though it was just as cheesy for Christmas as it is normally. Despite the fact that our party was a sold-out night and the Jingle Cruise was only something you could experience during the holiday season, it too was a walk on…..we had expected heavier crowds but were, for the most part, happily surprised that wasn’t the case. Aside from congestion on Main Street (and along the parade route ….. which is why you will see no photos of the parade in this report: without a good vantage point from which to capture pictures, I eventually gave up on trying to photograph it and just enjoyed watching without the camera in hand) the crowds were surprisingly manageable.

There were lots of festive Photopass opportunities scattered around the park, and we stopped at as many of them as we could (avoiding all that had any kind of line…..the party is way too short to stand around waiting for a photo op, regardless of how much we enjoy great pictures).

For this one, they had us stand still for several seconds while a second Photopass CM moved a tall pole on wheels quickly behind us, from one side to the other. While the photo was taken in the inky darkness of the night, the actual picture shows a printed Christmas-sweater background. Disney Magic meets festive fun .

This was probably the last photo I taken before my “accident” :

One of the stations was offering cups of hot chocolate, which should have been a culinary highlight of the complimentary snacks being offered, but instead a poorly attached lid sent it gushing down my chest on the first sip . And of course…..I was wearing white . Thankfully the air had cooled just enough by then that a sweater, while not super necessary that early in the night, was still perfectly wearable without me being hot…..so after a trip to the washroom to clean as much off my shirt as I could logistically accomplish without the aid of detergent, I just donned my fleece and kept on rolling. Let’s just say we were super vigilant for the balance of the evening to double check the lids on any other beverages that we sampled . Sigh.

We took in a few more rides, listened to Voiceplay perform on their stage (which I, especially, enjoyed . I thought they were awesome, and it was all I could do to not sing loudly along ) ....

.......and then eventually made our way to the front of the castle as the time for fireworks grew closer. We didn’t secure a spot super early at all….maybe 15 minutes before the first flare lit up the night sky?....but managed a superb little square of pavement with a full frontal view of that magical, sparkling, stunningly beautiful Christmas castle . We couldn’t have asked for a better vantage point, and we somehow didn’t even have to waste any precious party time in staking it out . Sah-weet!

Fireworks, characters, ice cream, and the conclusion of our Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is coming up next.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

And I know I'm almost a bit late, but ....

A belated

to my Canadian peeps

and

to my American friends.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend of celebrations!

God Bless America *and* the True North Strong and Free.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Splash Mountain is a very long ride. It's nice when you're on it, not so much when you're waiting. Using baby swap there is pretty much torture. Have you even gone on the ride?

 

[Lynne G]

Yeah, we ate very little of the cookies. And while the ice was cute, had not great taste either. We all wanted hot chocolate. But we found only a few that had the right ratio. Most were ick, too much water.

It was a beautiful evening though. And while my DS had to go back to the room, DD and I enjoyed the fireworks before leaving. All enjoyed the parade. We had a good place in frontierland.

I was thinking of doing the party again this year, but the price is so high, and we're going to be there after the parties end. So, we're going to do the parade one night, and the fireworks another day. Plus, we'll have some snacks and drinks that we will enjoy.

Great pictures, and hope your Canadian and American celebrations were fun. Enjoyed seeing your FB pictures too.

 

[vrajewski10513]

Our RIP Tour is the 18th. I would totally be up for saying hello there afterward, if you plan on sticking around until Midnight when our tour wraps up.

Oh I'm sure we will be around. We will also be around at Universal everyday expect the 16-17th so I'm sure we can figure something out

No timelines, no deadlines, no stress .

This is one of the reasons Universal has surpassed Disney on our vacation list. Don't get me wrong, I do like planning our Disney trips, but NOT having to plan excessively is even better!

I love the different feel of riding after dark….and now that the party was underway, that hour-long wait during the daytime had shrunken to a walk-on .

Woohoo!! I love BTMRR at night. Jeremy and I have been known to buy tickets to a second Halloween party just to indulge in the MK rides without a line!

We didn’t secure a spot super early at all….maybe 15 minutes before the first flare lit up the night sky?....but managed a superb little square of pavement with a full frontal view of that magical, sparkling, stunningly beautiful Christmas castle . We couldn’t have asked for a better vantage point, and we somehow didn’t even have to waste any precious party time in staking it out . Sah-weet!

That's an excellent view! I'm in the same boat as you. Id rather spend as much time as possible taking in everything around the park during the party than stake out firework spots an hour+ in advance. I'll take my chances lol

 

[livingthedream]

Hey Gina, thanks for making the effort to post while you are experiencing so many new things in your life right now. Sometimes its easy to think fondly and miss the familiar when so many changes are happening all at once. Remember, come here to find your cheering section!

Use us to post about fond memories, keep giving us your gorgeous pictures, and before you know it you will be back at your happy place in Florida. Have a good rest of the week!
Bev

 

[Raeven]

Adorable, but not that tasty (sorry ). Neither Steve nor I are huge fans of sugar cookies, so we ended up tossing the remnants of ours in the trash after sampling an initial bite or two. The ice seemed to make us thirstier than we started, so we ate a few bites of that and tossed the balance as well. It was all very festive looking and cute, but if they each got an A for presentation we gave them both a D for taste.

We didn't really try any treats during MVMCP, and I'm kind of glad after hearing they weren't that good. Josh couldn't eat most of them anyway.

One of the stations was offering cups of hot chocolate, which should have been a culinary highlight of the complimentary snacks being offered, but instead a poorly attached lid sent it gushing down my chest on the first sip . And of course…..I was wearing white . Thankfully the air had cooled just enough by then that a sweater, while not super necessary that early in the night, was still perfectly wearable without me being hot…..

Oh no! This is something I definitely would've done too