Just Pretend the Raindrops are Snowflakes!~A 12/11 TR! *Trip Wrap Up! Pg 21, 2/23!*

[KatMark]

LOVE your Disney window all decorated...very cute.

Merry Christmas to you and Brandon.

 

[Merida]

Subbing! I have a weakness for Jettas, even though I can't drive stick. I was supposed to learn on a Jetta though. I like your window decorations! There were some really impressive ones when we were at Riverside and now I want to go straight back with all of our unused Christmas decorations and have a pretty window.

 

[ronnmel]

Joyeux Noel to the both of you!!

 

[xoktenox]

Hey girl, I'm here!

Your window looks great!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

 

[Nermel9]

OMG !! I love, love LOVE your Mickey head Christmas lights !! I need some !! I NEED them !!

Thanks! I got them at the Disney Store online, so I'm sure you can still get them! They're really cute when they're lit up!

Your window looks awesome!!! Love those mickey head lights!!!

Can not wait to hear more about your trip

Thanks! I loved decorating my window! Aren't those lights so cute? I originally bought them to hang at work, but then I thought they'd be better for my trip!

Hahahaha the "it's just the airport Christmas tree" sounds exactly like an exchange between me and DBF. Hey, these are precious memories here, people!

I'll take your word for it that the Holiday sandwich is good...I'll admit I'm intrigued, but I've read the ingredients, and it just seems to have a few too many "wet" ingredients on there for me. I'm not a fan of mayo or any sort of copious sandwich dressings (and I HATE when I get my sandwich and the bread is wet), so I feel like I'd be instantly annoyed with this one.

(Sorry you had to read a paragraph about my sandwich hangups. But that's my story, and I'm sticking to it! )

Your window decorations are too cute, and I had absolutely no idea that they made Mickey head lights!!! Seriously?? Where are those from?

Haha, I can't believe that after so many trips together, Brandon still doesn't get that I take a picture of the most random things!

Hmmm...I guess the Holiday Sandwich is a little on the wet side! Between the gravy and the cranberry sauce, it's a little messy! But it's warm, so that's ok! If it wasn't a warm sandwich, I wouldn't want my bread to be wet either, that's gross! But since it was warm, it was really just like eating Thanksgiving dinner all in one bite, it was great!

I got the Mickey lights at Disneystore.com! Aren't they so cute? I wish I could have them up all year, but that would be too depressing!

You're so right, don't the beginning of all our trip reports seem like "I woke up, I got ready, blah, blah, blah". No problem skipping past that.

"Dude, it's the airport Christmas tree". That's just classic. There is no such thing as too many pictures.

Love the window decorations!

Haha, I tried to skip that part, but it still seems like I took forever with the beginning! If something different ever happens, like we leave a different time, maybe I'll include that, but for now, just assume we're leaving at 3:30 in the morning and eating breakfast at Mc Donald's, it's always the same!

I was just so happy to see some sign of Christmas, I had to stop and take a picture! My Christmas spirit was seriously lacking this year.

Aww, I know what you mean about Florida air! It's totally different than what we have up here!
Your window looks fantastic! You really went all out!

I was so upset when I didn't really notice the Florida air! I did eventually, but it wasn't as strong as it was in October, probably because I was so stuffed up!

Thanks, I actually brought more decorations than that for the window...I have so many left for next year!

Very cute Christmas window decorations. (sorry, too tired to make comments more thoughtful than that. )

Thanks! Haha, don't worry, sometimes all I can manage with comments is "great update"!

Aww your window looks so cute, can't wait to see it all lit up

Yay for being in Disney

Thanks! It's really cute lit up!

I'm here!!!!

Sickness oh no!!! When my friends were here a few weeks ago, all 3 of them left FL sick and my dad came home sick from FL a few days ago I've been popping Airborne like it's going out of business!!!

I love your window! I tried to decorate our door at AKL but I guess only really mousekeeping saw it lol

Yay!

I had a bad feeling I'd be sick on this trip...I tried to tell myself I was being dramatic, but seriously, every single person I was around at work was sick before I left, there was no way I could avoid it. At least I wasn't so sick that I couldn't go to the parks, but it definitely made me more tired than I would have liked to be!

Thanks! Yeah, you can't really decorate in deluxes, unless maybe you decorate the balcony or something!

Hey there, I'm joining in! I haven't gotten to read any of your past TRs but I'm starting from the beginning on this one! It looks like yall left the day we got there... which COULD mean we were at the airport at the same time? Anyways, can't wait to read!

Yay, !

I always wonder how many DIS'ers are in the airport at the same time, I'm sure there are a lot!

 

[Nermel9]

Seriously, you started a trip report 3 days ago and I don't know about. I must be avoiding the Dis.

Interesting chapter title. Whenever Caitlin spends time at your house she comes home and calls John or I dude and we always say "I am not Brandon, you don't call me Dude."

Being sick at Disney stinks and so does the rain.

Mmmmm, oreo balls. Never had them, but they sure sound good.

Haha, yeah, I didn't even bother telling you because I didn't think you came on here anymore!

Yeah, other people call their husbands or wives "honey" or "baby"...we call each other dude.

I seriously better not be sick again for like, a year. I've been sick so much in the past couple of months, I'm done!

Better late than never! I didn't expect you to start a second TR. I figured you'd put it in the other one.

Very funny beginning Jen! I felt like I was right there with you! Boo to Brandon for getting "Disney-ed out". That happens to Denny too and he loves to tell me so.

I can't wait to see you window. And that Holiday sandwich - I bet it's like a capriottis bobbie (that's a local sub shop here that puts the turkey, stuffin, and cranberry sauce all together on a roll). Love it!

Glad you liked your pop room and it sounds like you had a great location.

Sorry it rained - that stinks. We had a couple overcast days but not a drop of rain. The temps were perfect!

I thought of doing this TR in the other one, but it would have been too confusing! Although, it's confusing doing 2 at once too...I feel like I'm neglecting my October TR, I guess I'll have to do an update for that one later.

The holiday sandwich is SO good! AHHH I want one right now! I should take a little day trip to New York City, there is an EoS there now...

First of all thats a pretty impressive Christmas tree in the airport, I would have taken a picture too

OH MY GOSH why did you have to post a picture of that sandwich...its like "What would you do for a Klondike bar"...because I would do just about anything for that sandwich right now DF got it one night and I got something else, I took a bite of it and made him go back another time during the trip so I could get my own Theres a place around here that makes something similar, but it was no where near as good...sorry that was a big ramble about a sandwich!!

Your window decorations are too cute!! I love them!! Thats funny they stopped you over the Christmas tree in the airport! I have never stayed on the 50's side at POP

I liked the airport Christmas tree! I mean, it obviously wasn't a Disney tree, but it was nice to see!

Haha, don't worry, there is a whole thread in the restaurant section on the DIS about that sandwich! It's pretty popular, it has a following! It's so good!

Thanks! I liked the 50's area at Pop, I wasn't sure I would, but it's really cute! The whole place is pretty cute, actually!

OMG, I have a photo of the MCO Christmas tree, too! It's nice to know I'm not the only person who feels it's necessary to document every single second of the trip!

Good start...can't wait to hear more...and excellent window decorations!!

Haha, I'm sure lots of people have pics of that tree! I normally try not to take many airport pictures, because I don't want to stop and dig my camera out, but I had to take one picture of that tree!

Thanks! It was really fun, decorating a window! I would love to do a Halloween window sometime!

LOVE your Disney window all decorated...very cute.

Merry Christmas to you and Brandon.

Thanks! And Merry Christmas to you!

Subbing! I have a weakness for Jettas, even though I can't drive stick. I was supposed to learn on a Jetta though. I like your window decorations! There were some really impressive ones when we were at Riverside and now I want to go straight back with all of our unused Christmas decorations and have a pretty window.

I love Jettas, I've always wanted one, but VW's are just not reliable cars! That's why I was so excited when we could rent one for a few days. It actually wasn't as fun to drive as I thought it would be, but it was still cute to look at!

I wish I had more time at Pop so I could have walked around more at night and looked at more windows, but I only saw the ones that were decorated in our section. I want to go back next year and decorate another window!

Joyeux Noel to the both of you!!

Thank you! Merry Christmas!

Hey girl, I'm here!

Your window looks great!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Yay, glad you're here!

Thanks, it was fun to decorate! I hope you had a Merry Christmas as well!

 

[Simba22]

Subbing! I gotta go back and read!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I find it hilarious that your bag got searched because you had a Christmas tree in there! It was worth it though - your window was adorable! I can't wait to see what it looked like all lit up.

 

[Simba22]

Umm..there is NOTHING wrong with the Tuna Melt!! That's what I get everytime we go to EoS!

Although your Holiday Sandwich looks mighty yummy.... I'm 5 minutes away from lunch time so I'm STARVING!

Your window decorations look SOOO CUTE!!!! I LOVE those Mickey Lights!! You did a GREAT job!

 

[Nermel9]

Subbing! I gotta go back and read!

Yay,, you made it!

I find it hilarious that your bag got searched because you had a Christmas tree in there! It was worth it though - your window was adorable! I can't wait to see what it looked like all lit up.

I know, I felt kind of stupid that my Christmas tree caused such a problem! Thanks, I really loved decorating my window, another reason I want to go for Christmas every year now!

Umm..there is NOTHING wrong with the Tuna Melt!! That's what I get everytime we go to EoS!

Although your Holiday Sandwich looks mighty yummy.... I'm 5 minutes away from lunch time so I'm STARVING!

Your window decorations look SOOO CUTE!!!! I LOVE those Mickey Lights!! You did a GREAT job!

Haha, I know, I love the tuna melt at EoS! But that Holiday sandwich is amazing, maybe part of it is because it's only available for a few months!

Thanks, it was fun decorating the window! I really love those Mickey lights!

 

[Nermel9]

It's Raining? Great.​

12/10 Saturday

As we were getting ready to go to Epcot, not only did I noticed I was really stuffed up, but my throat was starting to hurt, which was strange for me, I never get a sore throat, and if I do, it only lasts a couple of hours. So between that and the stuffiness, I thought "oh great, I'm getting sick." I hate being sick, but even worse, I HATE being sick in Disney. I had a cold the first year Brandon and I went together in 2008 and it was awful.

Since my throat hurt, I took some Advil and tried to just hope it would go away soon. Maybe Epcot would make me feel better. So we opened the curtains before we left the room and saw...rain! Ugh, seriously? I don't want to skip ahead, if you're reading my October TR, but our last 2 days of that trip had SO much rain, and it was miserable! I'm not talking a sprinkle here or there, I'm talking wind and downpours and being soaked! Not good! So we were pretty upset to see it raining, but it didn't seem like the kind of rain that would be too horrible, so we just grabbed our hoodies and figured if we needed ponchos, we'd get them at the park. Honestly, Brandon didn't want to go to Epcot at all because of the rain. But I'm sorry, we only had 4 days there, and there's no way I'm letting sickness OR rain keep me from the parks!

When we got to Epcot, it was sprinkling a little, but the sun was peeking through, so it wasn't too bad. A lot of people seemed to be leaving as we were walking in, which was fine with me, maybe the lines wouldn't be too long!

I always seem to start out my Epcot updates with a picture of Spaceship Earth, or that fountain in front of it, so instead of that, here's my first Epcot picture:

Isn't that so cute? I was thrilled when I saw that! I didn't like how they decorated on the sides of it through, they had these big poinsettia trees on either side...it just looked a little tacky. It looked like they didn't know what to put there so they were like "yeah, just toss these trees over there, no one will notice." Well, I noticed, Disney. You need someone to do your park decorating for Christmas, I'm available.

Anyway, I checked the times board really quick for the Soarin' wait time, and it was way too long, so we went towards World Showcase. There were more Christmas decorations along the way:

I was wishing we could stop for a Photopass picture, but since I didn't pre order the CD this trip, I didn't really see the point. Plus, they were going back and forth with being out and then going in when it would start to rain.

The Epcot Tree
​

I love that tree so much, it's so pretty at night! It doesn't look that impressive in that picture, but trust me, at night, it sparkles! Even though we have been to Disney in November the past 2 years and have seen most of the Christmas decorations, it never gets old for me!

We were getting kind of hungry, and I wanted something yummy from the World Showcase. Mexico? No, we'd be back another time for margaritas. Something from China? Nah, I don't like their CS. As we approached Germany, I noticed they had booths selling Christmas items which I think were the same booths they used for the F&W festival, which made me really wish it was F&W time again! Really, it should just last through the winter. I miss those booths when they aren't there!

Brandon knew exactly what he wanted, beer in Germany, of course!

So I went into Karamell Kuche, just to look around

and came out with this:

Caramel popcorn! Yum, so good! Unlike any other caramel popcorn I have ever had, it was so fresh and soft!

Oh, and just to show you how crazy the weather was being that day...look at this picture I took while waiting for Brandon to get his beer:

Blue skies and sunshine
​

How crazy is that? That is how it was all afternoon, sunny and blue for one mintue, gray and rainy the next!

Once we had our snacks (and yes, beer is a snack, even if the DDP doesn't count it as one!) we continued walking through WS. We noticed a really long line on the other side of the walkway, and I realized that was the Candlelight Processional standby line! It was crazy! I mean, it was probably as far back as Germany. I thought they were waiting for the 5:00 show, but I heard a CM tell someone that they people at the end of the line wouldn't get in to that show, they were waiting for the 6:45 show! Can you imagine?? I know Neal Patrick Harris is popular, but I'd never wait that long!

Anyway, when we got to Japan, I commented that the new CS was open (I had to look up the name of it, because I kept forgetting-it's now Katsura Grill, replacing Yakitori House) and Brandon wanted to go in and check it out.

We never go up there, so I forgot how pretty Japan is!

The new CS seemed pretty much the same as the other one, but Brandon had to try the sushi, even though he hated the sushi at Yakitori House when he got it once. I guess they did something to it, because he loved it! I tried a piece and it was ok, I'm not a big sushi person, I like it when it's soaked in soy sauce, which is apparently not the the right way to eat it! But Brandon loved it, so I guess it was good!

We stopped to look at the HUGE fish in the pond in Japan for a minute

and then we continued walking. I considered getting something from the bakery in France, but it was getting later, and we had dinner reservations that night, so I didn't want to stuff myself, and I still had my popcorn, so I skipped it.

We found ourselves in England, and of course, Brandon's beer was empty, so he had to stop for another!

Since I was still in denial about being sick at that point, I decided to get a beer too. I wasn't feeling too horrible then, so I was almost convinced that it was just the plane and the weather change.

We wanted to go walk around Canada and maybe see the Canada movie, but it was getting kind of late at that point, so we decided not to, but we did stop to see the storyteller in Canada, who was just coming out!

Isn't he so authentic looking? I admit, I didn't really listen to closely to his story, but it was all about Christmas in Canada. It was nice, but it didn't really capture my attention, so we moved on!

We were on our way out of Epcot, but I had to stop in Mousegear before we left, I'm obsessed with this store!

Everything was so Christmasy in there, I loved it! I ended up buying a Star Wars Vinylmation, because I was hoping to get Darth Vader, and surprisingly, that's all I bought that day! I usually spend so much $$ in Mousegear, but I managed not to this time!

On our way out, I took some pics of the cute topiaries at the entrance, which we didn't stop to look at on our way in because of the rain:

and we got one photopass picture on the way out, the same one you saw in my intro:

(That's one maybe 4 pictures you will see of me through the entire trip, once I started feeling really sick, I didn't bother doing anything with my hair or makeup and just felt like I looked terrible, so I wasn't in many pictures!)

It was around 5:00 at that point, and we were ready to go back to Pop to rest for a little while. We had a full night of Magic Kingdom fun in front of us, and I was hoping to get a little sleep after being up since 2 am!

Up next...my beautiful castle and a holiday sleigh ride!

 

[tankgirl427]

Hmmm according to my notes, this day we were in HS, then DTD, then AKL, then HS (you'll see why in my TR), then over to MK. So maybe we could have seen each other at MK!?!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

You will not believe this when I say it but not ONCE this holiday season have I been to the front of Epcot!!!! I was looking at your pics and it just hit me that I haven't been in the front AT ALL!!! Not only have I not been in the front but I didn't listen to one Santa this holiday season..eek!!! How can I say I live in Orlando and didn't see those things but I did go to MVMCP 3 times haha.

I love that Popcorn!!! I used a snack a few weeks ago and purchased a "small" bag which took me 3 days to attempt to eat before I finally threw it out!

I hope your sickness didn't last for long!!!!

 

[ronnmel]

Wow, that's crazy to be waiting hours and hours for the Candlelight Processional. The garden area in Japan is one of my favorite of all World Showcase. When we were there last time it was still being renovated for that new CS, so we didn't get to see it.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Ugh, you know how I feel about the rain. Both of us must have been cursed this year with rain. haha

OK, the more I see of the caramel store I seriously need to go in there. I think in March Claire and I walked through it but didn't get anything. And everyone seems to rave about the popcorn. Sounds yummy!

haha, I've seen that Darth Vader vinylmation. It is so cute and if I ever got any I'd be hoping for the same one. You know you're addicted to vinylmations when you don't even really like Star Wars but would get one to try to find Darth Vader. Which one did you end up with?

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I must try some of that caramel corn! I am not even that big of a caramel fan, but everything I've ever seen from that shop looks so good! I have tried to go in there a couple of times, but it's always packed so I end up leaving.

Ugh, so sorry it was raining on you guys! Even though it's Florida and I know it rains often, it is just miserable! I'm glad it was sunny at least part of the time!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I would love to see WDW at Christmastime! Especially Epcot. I would love to see all the storytellers and stuff. I'm with Brandon on beer being a snack but only in Epcot!

Totally stinks that you were feeling sick and that the weather wasn't good. We had a VERY rainy trip once and it actually wasn't that bad once we accepted it!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

We were at Epcot that day, too, and you're right about the schizophrenic weather. It was downright warm and sunny that morning...too bad it didn't last! It's a shame you weren't feeling well. I'm really enjoying your photos...they're so good!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Joining in here! I guess a bit late than most, but better late than never. I'm all caught up and I can't wait to read more about your trip, Jen!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

The weather definitely does sound like it was bizarre that day!! Wow, I definitely would never want to spend my whole Disney day waiting in the CP line! (Even for Neil Patrick Harris!! )

It's funny, the hugest downpours we seem to encounter at WDW are usually at Epcot. I guess it's all the wide open spaces you can get caught in!