More Fun Than Sitting at Home! Our Dec 2009 TR-UPDATE: 6/11 Final Thoughts & Big News

[praisehisname]

Wasn't this the day you saw Penn Jillette??

Yep! Wow, I'm impressed with your memory!!!

 

[ag98]

Great post!
Thanks for not sharing too much (even though I secretly wanted you too) about the tour.

Thanks for answering all my questions in my last post!

 

[khertz]

Wow, what an awesome last day. It was so cool that you and DH got some alone time.

KTTK tour does sound pretty awesome. We will do that someday when DD is older. I like that you didn't really spoil too much in your notes...that would be my greatest worry taking the tour is that I would already know everything that they tell me.

We are going to do our first tour in October...but this will be the "Family Magic" Tour. I don't think it is particularly informative, but more about fun, almost like a scavenger hunt and more designed for the kids. DD is super into Peter Pan, and supposedly he comes out at the end and greets everyone, so that right there will be worth the cost of admission!

KTTK was great. You will still enjoy it! There were a lot of things I knew just from picking up info here on the Dis, but there was so much many more things that our tour guide told us or showed us, I was really impressed! I would probably even do it again someday because I bet by the time we can, there will be new secrets and behind the scenes things to see.

Everything I have read about the Family Magic Tour includes Peter Pan, so your DD will surely love it! Hopefully you get a good Peter...I have read some interesting threads about him on here.

A little huffy?! You weren't even talking to me when we were walking back from the castle except to tell me to hurry up.

I remember thinking when Evelyn walked out with her riding crop, "What the heck is going on here and what kind of tour did you sign us up for?"

Okay, so I was a little more than huffy! You should know by now I don't take it well when my plans get messed up!!

And I will make sure to include your thoughts about Evelyn & the tour when I make the scrapbook.

Yep! Wow, I'm impressed with your memory!!!

Haha! My memory can be downright scary when it comes to random things like that, but I'm also the type of person that often gets up, takes 2 steps, and then realizes I completely forgot what I was getting up to do!!

Great post!
Thanks for not sharing too much (even though I secretly wanted you too) about the tour.

Thanks for answering all my questions in my last post!

No problem! I was worried that I knew too much about the tour going in, so I definitely wouldn't want to ruin it for anyone else!!

And I don't mind answering questions AT ALL, especially about Universal because I know a lot of people on the Dis are not big into USO and the Universal boards can be kind of slow. So if you come across any more things you are unsure about in your planning, feel free to send me a message or whatever!!

 

[khertz]

DAY 11: Monday December 14th

Our last morning seemed to get there WAY faster than I wanted it to! Of course, I wasn't ready for my Disney Holiday Vacation to end, but we still had a pretty good chunk of the day ahead of us, so I was prepared to make the best of it.

No sleeping in that morning! We were awake at 7 am to finish packing our toiletries and the last of our clothes so that we could get dressed and check out of the Bonnet Creek resort for good. We left all of our luggage with the bell hop and headed out to get our car and return it to the AAA Car Care Center. When we had picked up the car originally, the lady at the counter said something about the shuttle bringing us back to our resort when we brought the car back. So we were thinking we'd have to go all the way back to BC and wait for one of their shuttles.

However, when we got there, we found out that the shuttle could take us back to the resort, or to anywhere we wanted on Disney property! Our hopes had been for one more morning at DHS to ride Toy Story Mania, so this worked out perfect. The shuttle dropped us off at DHS around 8:25, so we were still in time for rope drop!

We weren't as close to the rope as the first time, but still pretty close. No pictures because we were VERY focused this morning since it was our last one! We hurried behind the crowd to Toy Story Mania, and got in line with only about 20 or 30 people ahead of us.

DH still beat me, but we had fun!!

As soon as we got off the ride, DH got in line to get some FPs for later. The FP line was HUGE, but we still got a very decent return time of 11:45.

Next, we headed back towards the front of the park for another ride on our other two DHS highlights, Tower of Terror & Rock'n'Roller Coaster!

The fog was SO thick that morning, but I think it made for a really cool effect!

After a fun drop screaming our heads off on ToT, we ran over to RnRC.

The wait was a little longer than we had hoped, and we definitely couldn't get anymore FPs yet, so we went through the single rider line again. Pretty much no wait!

We still had some receipts from CS places for the discount when you shopped between 9 am and 12 pm at certain stores, plus some Disney Visa points to use, so we went shopping at Mickey's of Hollywood. We didn't end up with much, but DH got himself 2 more t-shirts, and we finally found a picture frame we liked.

(After we got home from vacation, we bought a new bookshelf for the living room that this frame just looked perfect on with our Mickey & Minnie bride and groom bobble heads, so I had my friend who went to WDW in January pick us up a second frame, and it looks great in our house!!)

After enjoying the animation classes so much earlier in the trip, we decided to do another one. We ended up getting into the animation building a little too early for the first class of the day, so we played around on some of the machines. We did the one called You're a Character where you answer some silly questions and it tells you which Disney character you are.

I got Belle

DH got Captain Hook!

At 11:00 am it was time for the first animation class. We headed into the classroom hoping we'd be drawing someone good. We ended up with a choice of Minnie Mouse or Dale, and I was really hoping we'd do Minnie, but more people in the class wanted to do Dale.

My finished product

DH's Dale masterpiece

The teacher for this class wasn't as good as the others we'd had, and since we knew they usually teach 2 or 3 classes in a row, we didn't stick around for the next one. Instead, we decided to grab an early lunch, so we made our way to the Streets of America for some pizza at Pizza Planet.

We got a seat upstairs next to the window so we could people watch while we ate our last Disney World meal. :-(

With full bellies, we headed back outside so I could get some pictures of Muppets 3-D since I hadn't gotten any when we had done it earlier in the trip.

Another couple saw us taking pictures of the fountain and offered to take our picture in front of it if we'd take theirs, so we did!

Since Monsters Inc. is one of my favorite Disney movies, I couldn't leave Disney World without meeting Mike & Sulley! They were harder to find this time since their old meet & greet spot is now an audition spot for the American Idol attraction, but the new area is SO much better! Lots more to look at, and you are inside a covered building instead of lined up in the sun.

Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

After meeting my two favorite monsters, we decided to go use our TSM FPs for our very last ride!

DH STILL beat me!!

We decided to stop by the animation building again for one last class. We did the You're a Character kiosks again while waiting for the 1 pm class, and this time I got Tinkerbell, and DH got Jafar. Then we did the ones where you record yourselves saying lines from Disney movie scenes and it plays the scene back with your voices. We did a scene from Beauty & the Beast, and it was pretty hysterical!

We got into the classroom for our 1 pm class and found out we'd be drawing...

Donald Duck!! Of course DH was thrilled, and that is his finished product, which came out better than mine.

I made his beak a little short!

Some PP pics on the way to the front:

Once the class was over, we knew it was time to get moving. We went back to the front of the park to pick up our packages, then decided to try and hit the Magic Kingdom just one more time before we really had to leave.

We grabbed a bus to the TTC, then hopped on the monorail to MK.

Our last view of the Castle and Main Street as we hustled up to our destination...

...to get the one snack I had REALLY REALLY wanted the entire time I was planning the trip...

...an ice cream cookie sandwich!!

We sat down inside the bakery and hastily split our snack before we really had to get a move on.

One last Photopass picture!

We took the monorail to the TTC and luckily made it there just before the next shuttle back to Bonnet Creek to catch our Mears shuttle back to the airport.

When we got to the airport, we had plenty of time before our 7:10 pm flight, which was good because the check-in line was SO long. We got up to weigh our bags and were over by like a pound and a half. So DH pulled the suitcase off the scale, opened it, and started shoving things into our backpacks to avoid having to pay the baggage fee (we only fly Southwest when we can to AVOID baggage fees altogether!). Wouldn't you know when he plopped that thing back up on the scale it weighed exactly 50.0 pounds! Even the girl behind the counter was impressed!!

We grabbed some dinner at Chick-Fil-A in the food court and looked around at the Disney store before we made our way through security. Our flight ended up delayed from 7:10 to 7:45, so we had some time to sit and look through our pictures on DH's laptop while we waited to board.

The flight home was mostly uneventful, except that when we landed, it was POURING down rain. I called my dad as soon as we landed to let my parents know they could come pick us up, but he said it was raining so bad by their house that their street was flooded!! By the time we collected our luggage and had digested the whole situation, I had dissolved into tears from a combination of the events at hand and sheer exhaustion from 10 days in WDW. I called my aunt Sheri & uncle Mike at their house and started crying explaining the situation to my aunt and asking if they could come get us, but turns out my dad was on the phone with uncle Mike at the same time asking him the same thing! My aunt just said, "Stop crying, your uncle is on his way!"

So he came and got us and drove us to my parents' house in his truck that could handle the water in the streets. He is the best!! So that was our semi-dramatic return home story. The next morning, we drove to Mississippi to pick up Callie & Linus who had missed us SO much, had lunch with DH's parents, then headed for home. And that was the end of our Disney Holiday Vacation!!

EDITED TO ADD: Here is the video DH took Sunday night of the Castle lighting ceremony. For some reason, photobucket squished it, I guess because he had videoed it up and down instead of side to side on his iPhone. But still, here it is is you are interested.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v... TR - Other/?action=view&current=IMG_0033.flv

UP NEXT: Final thoughts and BIG NEWS (with a new ticker!)

 

[skier_pete]

Oh ho...I was going to ask when you are going back!

I guess I'll find out soon.

Looks like you had a good last day (on my birthday!)...we were at MK most of the day...I wonder how close we came to crossing paths.

 

[disneybarbie]

Looks like you made the most of your last day at WDW... it's always sooo sad to leave isn't it?!

Lol I'd forgotten about that fog on the monday morning! .. we'd been to 1900 Park Fare for breakfast and then to MK... it was so foggy that you couldn't see the castle at the end of Main Street - the Photo Pass photographers were taking photos in front of the xmas tree & train station instead!

Emma x

 

[praisehisname]

Love the fog and the eeriness it adds!

Your Dale picture turned out great!

Was that ice cream sandwich as good as it looked?

UP NEXT: Final thoughts and BIG NEWS (with a new ticker!)

I hope it's what I think it is!!!

 

[khertz]

Looks like you had a good last day (on my birthday!)...we were at MK most of the day...I wonder how close we came to crossing paths.

Probably not very close unless you were right at the front of the park! We literally ran up Main Street to the bakery, ate the ice cream sandwich, and ran back to the gates because we were cutting it SO close to catching the next shuttle back to Bonnet Creek.

Looks like you made the most of your last day at WDW... it's always sooo sad to leave isn't it?!

Lol I'd forgotten about that fog on the monday morning! .. we'd been to 1900 Park Fare for breakfast and then to MK... it was so foggy that you couldn't see the castle at the end of Main Street - the Photo Pass photographers were taking photos in front of the xmas tree & train station instead!

Emma x

The last day is always so depressing! Even though I'm usually kind of ready to get home, I'm really never ready to leave Disney. We hadn't planned out where we wanted to go on our last day, and we were both surprised to find that we wanted to go back to DHS. We really found a lot of things we love about that park that we had never tried before!

The fog was crazy that morning!! How funny that they were taking pictures of just the tree & train station. That probably wasn't very funny though to people who were leaving that day and wanted one more picture in front of the castle, though!!

Love the fog and the eeriness it adds!

Your Dale picture turned out great!

Was that ice cream sandwich as good as it looked?



I hope it's what I think it is!!!

I love the fog in front of ToT too! It works so well with that ride!!

lol Thanks. I was surprised it came out so well considering our animator wasn't very good. But I guess Dale is pretty easy to draw.

The ice cream sandwich was DELICIOUS!!!

Hmm...you'll see soon!!

 

[khertz]

Sorry there has been such a long delay in my wrap up post! We just got back from a great week in Washington D.C. so I was pretty preoccupied leading up to the trip. But I'll have the last post done within the next few days!!

 

[praisehisname]

Glad you had fun in DC!

 

[khertz]

Glad you had fun in DC!

Thanks!! We only had 4 days there, but we got a lot accomplished. It was just so dang HOT!! I'm used to hot in south Louisiana, but I expected it to be a little cooler up there than it was. It made for some pretty exhausting days. But it was a great little getaway.

 

[khertz]

I'm pretty bummed that my first trip report has come to an end, mostly because it has kept me reliving the fun we had on our first trip to Disney World during the holidays. I guess now I really need to start on my scrapbook to extend that feeling a little longer!!

1. CROWDS
The six of us agreed that while the parks felt crowded at times (there were times at MK you couldn't turn around without running into someone), the wait times were excellent. Following the recommendations by touringplans.com really helped, and there were days it was 100% noticeable. Our second day when we started out in DHS (the recommended park) and went to MK (the park to avoid) for Spectro and Wishes, the difference in crowd levels was obvious! I would love to continue going at times that are considered lower crowds, but I will probably always use TP on future trips as long as they are still providing their service. It was spot on! Between most rides being walk-ons or very short waits and using Fast Passes when needed, we never had to wait in line for anything!

2. WEATHER
Whoever on the boards has said that December is a mixed bag when it comes to weather was totally right!! We had a little bit of everything: some rain, a few days we couldn't stop shivering in the cold, and some where we were sweating it out in shorts & t-shirts! Staying at a Wyndham was definitely a benefit here because we could pack less of all kinds of clothing for all types of weather and do a load of laundry at night instead of packing enough clothes to last us 10 days for both warm days AND cold!

3. WYNDHAM BONNET CREEK
This was my first time since my very first trip that I have stayed offsite. I was worried at first, but it ended up being so much better than I could have expected. We didn't miss out on anything we wanted to do in the parks despite not having those EMH hours available to us. Transportation to and from the parks would have been more difficult from this resort if you had to depend on the buses, but having a rental car made it a breeze. We were never more than a 5 minute drive from a park. We had plenty of room to spread out, and we were able to bring some of our own food and drinks to prepare in the kitchen. The fireworks view was INCREDIBLE! Being able to see every single park from our balcony, being able to watch Illuminations every night (when we were in early enough to catch it!), and even getting the bonus treat of watching Illuminations and Holiday Wishes simultaneously was just the most AMAZING thing about staying at WBC! I know people are hardcore about staying onsite, and I understand completely, but if you have to stay offsite, this is the way to do it!!

4. CHARACTERS
DH & I met a LOT of characters this year! I had anticipated only really wanting to meet characters out of the ordinary, like the Fab 5 in their Christmas outfits at AK, Scrooge McDuck at MK, etc. But we really had a GREAT time interacting with the characters this year! It was fun to see how many we interacted with when we got home to review our pictures. I think we will definitely keep doing this. It made our trip more fun, and we had more silly stories to tell to remember the trip by, like our weird encounter with Snow White, or Dale hiding from the chanting Brazilian Tour Group!

In addition to the general things, we had a LOT of firsts on this trip. Most of them were holiday related, but we had even more that weren't.

1. DECORATIONS
By far, Magic Kingdom wins in the decorations department!! What else could top the towering tree at the foot of Main Street, the garlands strung across the building tops, and of course, Cinderella Castle in icicle lights?! An added bonus was that we had seen MK before they hung the garlands and set up the tree, and were able to return the next day and see how Main Street had been magically transformed. I loved all of the little details that each of the parks put into their decorating, even something as simple as poinsettias! And each tree was just amazing. But MK will win in my book every time!

2. CANDLELIGHT PROCESSIONAL
I loved this show way more than I had anticipated I would in the planning stages. It was so moving and beautiful, it is definitely a must do experience for people visiting during the holidays. I understand that Disney has to be more commercialized when it comes to Christmas because they are appealing to people all over the world with different beliefs, But I'm glad they have this one experience that still reflects the Christian foundation of Christmas. Steven Curtis Chapman was a FANTASTIC narrator! I would love to see him perform the show again on a future trip. And the dining package was a must! Even though we did not get to eat at our first choice of Le Cellier, and we had a less than stellar experience at Biergarten (the food was great, but the wait time and the service...not so much!), it definitely beat waiting in the miles-long standby line & hoping to get in!

2. MICKEY'S VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS PARTY
This was our first party of any season, and it was definitely magical! However, I did not enjoy it as much as I had thought. I loved the parade and the fireworks, but felt the shows available were not anything to spend my party time waiting for. I was disappointed that we missed out on seeing Twas the Night Before Christmas (which I hear might be coming back this year?!) as I had been looking forward to seeing that one. I guess I can't understand why they got rid of such a popular show?! The Tomorroland show and the Belle Storytime show didn't appeal to any of us. But it was nice to get a late night in the parks with no waits for any of the rides! I would possibly do this party again in the future, but I guess I wouldn't consider it a must.

3. OSBORNE LIGHTS
This was another experience I had underestimated, but I think anyone would until they actually see the lights in person!! It is so much more beautiful and amazing in person than can EVER be captured in pictures or even videos! Watching the lights dance to some of my favorite Christmas music is definitely one of my favorite memories from the trip.

4. RESORT DECORATIONS
Even though our first day of exploring got thwarted by torrential rain and the parade taping taking over the Grand Floridian, I still managed to see the two resorts I wanted to see the most, the GF and the Wilderness Lodge. Same as the O Lights, it's just so much more impressive than a picture could ever show!!

5. KEYS TO THE KINGDOM TOUR
DH & I are so happy we did this tour! It was something special the two of us decided to do together after our parents left, and it was a great way to spend a half of a day in the Magic Kingdom. I learned so many new things about the park and Walt Disney, got some long time questions answered by our great tour guide, and got to go backstage & into the utilidors! What could be better?!

6. MINI-GOLF AT WINTER SUMMERLAND
I just love playing mini-golf, and it's hard to believe that I had never played at a Disney course before! DH & I had a blast playing and seeing all of the Disney characters in snow. The snow castle was definitely my favorite!

7. CHARACTER MEAL
Eating at Chef Mickey's was my very first character meal, and I loved it! It didn't feel as rushed as I had expected, and we got to meet the Fab 5 without having to stand in line (although DH & I ended up doing that for all of them anyway! ). The food was delicious! The buffet had a great variety. We would definitely eat here again, but I also look forward to trying other character meals with other characters!

So overall, it was a great trip with no regrets! We gave ourselves enough time in the parks that we had plenty of time to do all of the attractions and shows we wanted to do, and then some. We had time to wander around the parks and take in the environment, rather than rushing from one thing to the next. We enjoyed having the time to wander through the rose garden, take our time exploring One Man's Dream, take several animation classes, and wander the nature trails at Animal Kingdom. And it has been great sharing all of this with everyone who read and responded to this TR. Thanks for all of your comments and encouragement! It may be awhile before my next TR, but I hope that some of you will still be around when I get to it!!

And last but not least, yes, I have added a new ticker to my sig, but it might not be what you expected!! We will definitely be going on more Disney trips in the future, but it will probably not be for a few more years because...we are having a BABY!! Our future pirate or princess will be joining us in early November of this year, and we could not be more excited about the addition to our little family.

Thanks for sticking this out with me, guys!!

 

[praisehisname]

I was hoping it was baby news!!! I'm so excited for you! I will definitely join in any future reports you write.

 

[disneybarbie]

Thank you soo much for sharing your TR.. and ..... CONGRATULATIONS on the baby!!

Luv & pixie dust to you & DH


Emma x

 

[skier_pete]

Congratulations! That's way better news than another Disney trip! Blessings to your and your family!

 

[khertz]

I was hoping it was baby news!!! I'm so excited for you! I will definitely join in any future reports you write.

Thank you!!! I had a feeling you might have guessed it wasn't another trip to Disney by your first reply. I look forward to more TRs from you as well!

Thank you soo much for sharing your TR.. and ..... CONGRATULATIONS on the baby!!

Luv & pixie dust to you & DH


Emma x

Thank you for all of your comments throughout the TR & for the Congrats!! Geaux Saints!!!

Congratulations! That's way better news than another Disney trip! Blessings to your and your family!

Thank you!!! I'm excited for little one's first trip in a few years.

 

[RachelNinja]

Hi! I don't remember if I ever posted on your TR before, but I feel like I know you since I read all your posts! So sad that your trip has come to an end, but congratulations on the baby news! Hope your little one has you and DH's smile! All those PP pics were great because it showed just how much fun you guys were having together at WDW!

 

[khertz]

Hi! I don't remember if I ever posted on your TR before, but I feel like I know you since I read all your posts! So sad that your trip has come to an end, but congratulations on the baby news! Hope your little one has you and DH's smile! All those PP pics were great because it showed just how much fun you guys were having together at WDW!

Thank you so much!! I'm so glad you enjoyed the TR. We had SUCH a great time, and I of course can't wait to go back. But with the baby on the way, it will probably be awhile until he is a little older to enjoy it more. I will make sure to check out your April TR!!