The highlight of the trip was probably all the little magical moments. We rode in the front of the monorail, 5yo dd got to drive the boat at the Jungle Cruise, finding Buzz Lightyear all by himself and getting a picture with him, the look in my 11yo dd's eye when Santa walked up beside her in DTD and put his arm around her (I think she wants to believe), watching the fireworks from the observation deck at the Contemporary and having Santa show up in shorts and a t-shirt and asking if he could pick my 5yo dd up so I could get a picture of them with the castle in the background, my renewed faith in people when I left my brand new camera in the back of a rented stroller and thought it was gone for good but some wonderful person turned it in to lost and found a few hours later. There are many more of these moments that helped make the trip wonderful.
The puppy was very happy to see me. Unfortunately, she didn't look very clean and was shaking and barking(she never barks). I felt terribly guilty and have decided that if I had to leave her again I would pay someone to stay at my house and watch her.