Never Mind The Clever Title, Here's My Trip Report! December 2014 Solo Trip (Completed)

[dragonflydoll2]

Really enjoying your report. Can't wait for the rest

 

[jordansmama]

Following along- can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip. When were you there? I was there Dec. 7-12.

 

[PrincePluto]

Following along- can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip. When were you there? I was there Dec. 7-12.

Boy, is my face red... I thought I had put the dates in my first post, but I guess I forgot... I have gone back and put them in. I was there from 12/6 through 12/13. So depending on which parks you were in on which days, we may have been in the same place -

12/7 - AK
12/8 - DHS
12/9 - MK
12/10 - Epcot
12/11 - Epcot
12/12 - Relaxation at the timeshare

 

[PrincePluto]

So I last left off getting back on the monorail at Contemporary Resort, headed over to the Polynesian.

The monorail was crowded, but I managed to find a seat. As we approached the flowers near the Polynesian, we were put in a brief holding pattern, which gave me the opportunity to take a picture of the floral bushes... someone on the monorail said what kind they were, but I didn't make a note...

We then started moving again, and pulled up to the Polynesian, where I got off. At this point, my battery on my camera was getting low, but luckily I had a spare, fresh battery, so I swapped out batteries so I could keep taking pictures.

Some informational signs:

Moana Mercantile:

At this point, it was time to re-board the monorail, and head to the destination that I was most looking forward to, the Grand Floridian lobby, all decorated for Christmas.

 

[jordansmama]

Great pics of the Poly- very pretty (even though I'm upset with the renovations). Looks like the only day we were in the same park on the same day was on the 9th- we were in MK that day as well. I'll let you know if I've photo bombed any of your pics.

 

[jrathburn]

Love this report so far!

 

[PrincePluto]

I boarded the monorail, and rode it to the Grand Floridian. I walked into the resort and started snapping away:

I walked down to the lobby, and started taking pictures of the gingerbread house.

For the princess who has everything... "My Disney Girl's Perfectly Princess Tea Party"
in summary, it costs $333.64 for one Guest age 3-9 plus one guest 18 and over, and $234.98 for each additional Guest age 3-9, and $98.66 for each additional guest over 10.

I then saw that there was a Photopass photographer by the lobby Christmas tree, so I went over and had my picture taken.

After he handed my camera back to me, I took a picture of the tree by itself.

I then went over to the gingerbread house, which also sells gingerbread cookies and other baked products, and I bought two chocolate-covered gingerbread shingles. I did not eat these until after I had gotten back home at the end of my vacation. They were delicious!

I then began taking pictures of the shop windows as I passed:

I decided to take a picture of the piano player:

I took a picture upwards, towards the lofty ceiling with its skylights:

I headed back up to the balcony toward the monorail:

I hopped onto the monorail, and decided, as I was feeling tired, to head back to the TTC, and from there homeward.

I took the tram back to the Heroes lot, and as I was walking to my car, I saw a car with a USAA insurance wrap. I decided to take a picture of this as USAA is one of my employer's biggest accounts.

I drove to Denny's on US 192, where I had "breakfast for dinner". I then drove back to the timeshare and watched some TV before going to bed.

 

[choppee]

really enjoying your trip report! will be going there in december of this year, so i am reading your report with great interest. love the pics--they give good detail on the holiday decorations, and your touring style is easy which i like. thanks so much for doing this trip report--i getting great information and am enjoying your account!

 

[Inumom2]

Count me in, can't wait to read along! Our trips are during the first weeks of December! However; our next one is not until Dec2017. That is a long wait, but reading trip reports is helping the time move a little faster and giving me ideas for the next trip!

 

[PrincePluto]

December 10, 2014 - EPCOT day 1

I got up at 6:30, showered and dressed and had my daily breakfast of Corn Pops and Pop tarts, and headed for EPCOT in order to make it there for rope drop.

I got to the parking plaza, paid the $18 parking fee, and pulled into a parking space in the AMAZE section, row 29.

I walked towards the gate, taking the obligatory "Spaceship Earth in the palm of my hand" picture:

The lines were still fairly short, so I was able to be up at the front of one of the lines and take pictures of the topiaries, etc.

The park was opened at 8:50, and we all headed at a fast walk (no running allowed!) for Soarin'. I was in the lead vanguard, and was able to get in the first departure of Soarin'. I chose to wait for the second departure, in the interests of being in the first row, so I was in row B1 of the second flight:

 

[darrenf67]

Love Soarin', a personal favourite

 

[PrincePluto]

Flight Attendant Patrick giving the preflight briefing:

We boarded the "flight", and I took some pictures with my smartphone, with the flash turned off:

At this point, I decided to stop taking pictures and just enjoy the ride.

After the flight ended, I walked out of The Land pavilion, and took a couple of pictures of things that struck my eye:

 

[PrincePluto]

I decided to head over to Mission: Space, and on the way I took a bunch of pictures of the tiles on the pavement that commemorate important scientific discoveries:

As I passed the fountain in the center of Future World, I saw a Photopass photographer and had my picture taken:

I then decided to take some pictures of the fountain:

I then took a couple of photos of MouseGear:

Holiday Mickey Head topiaries in a bed of pointsettia outside MouseGear:

 

[PrincePluto]

So I started heading towards Mission: Space, and saw that the Jammitors were performing, so I had to stop and watch them and take a couple of snaps:

I then approached Mission: Space, and there was very little wait on either side, 5 minutes for Green and 10 for Orange, but I chose Green as I did not feel like hurling; although, I've been able to handle the "rotor" type rides at the boardwalk amusement parks, so I probably would be able to handle it OK.

Gary Sinise (AKA Ken Mattingly from Apollo 13) gave us the mission briefing.

On this mission, the first of two I would take that day, I was the flight engineer, which I believe meant I was responsible for initiating cryosleep... After completing the mission, I looked around the interactive exhibits, sent my brother's family a video mail (which I never followed up to see if they got), and then headed for the dump shop:

 

[PrincePluto]

Some more Mission Space dump shop photos:

Stephen Hawking and his daughter have written a children's book on the universe:

"Astronaut Ice Cream", AKA an overpriced freeze-dried concoction that is more a novelty than an actual delicacy.

The line for Mission: Space Green was still very short, so I got on line again.

This time, I was the Navigator and got to press the button to slingshot around the moon. I know, it's an illusion that it is that interactive... if you don't press your button, it will automatically be activated within 2 seconds...

After I got off Mission Space, I decided to go to Universe of Energy (formerly known as "Ellen's Energy Adventure", as I had never been on it before.

I took several photos inside, but due to not being allowed to use a flash, only a couple came out halfway-decent:

My 11:45 Fastpass+ window for Soarin' came due, so I went over to The Land and got in the Fastpass line. I saw huge lines of people on the standby line, who seemed resentful of those of us who had Fastpasses for this ride. The volume was so large at this point, that I decided not to try to get row 1, but be satisfied with whatever row I was seated in. I ended up in row B2, which is not too shabby, and enjoyed my flight.

 

[PrincePluto]

As it was after noon, I decided to head over to the World Showcase; I passed the rose gardens of Future World and took some pictures of roses blooming in December.

I got into Canada, and took pictures on my way to "O' Canada".

I enjoyed O' Canada as always, and the performance of "Canada (My Canada)" brought a tear to my eye. I miss the massed RCMP mounties from the old presentation, however...

Going back out through Victoria Gardens:

Wicker mooses:

I passed the Mill Stage, but I did not get to see the Canadian Holiday Voyageurs perform:

I continued around the lagoon taking a couple more pictures:

 

[darrenf67]

Beautiful pictures - what gorgeous weather you had

 

[PrincePluto]

Beautiful pictures - what gorgeous weather you had

Yeah, it was nice all week (except for the day at DHS which was very rainy, and even that was mostly a light drizzle).

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I miss the massed RCMP mounties from the old presentation, however...

I do too there were so many great moments that are gone from the new one but it also needed an update.

 

[PrincePluto]

I last left off when I departed Canada, heading counter-clockwise around the lagoon towards the World Showcase.

I approached the UK pavilion, and saw that Alice was greeting fans, so I decided to get my picture taken with her. As seems to be a recurring trend, there was no Photopass photographer, so each person would politely ask the person after them in line to take their picture with the character. I chatted with Alice, and asked her if she had caught the White Rabbit, and she said no, and I asked her if she could provide me a refresher course in how Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum taught her how to say hello, and she obliged.

You can clearly see what a humid day it was, in this next picture, by looking at how frazzled my hair was...

I then walked a little down the path, and Mary Poppins was greeting admirers, so I got in line, or "queued up", as the English say... I asked Mary how to say Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious backwards, and she coached me, syllable by syllable, but I am sorry to say that in the ensuing months, I have forgotten.

As I was walking past the International Gateway, I saw another Photopass photographer, and I asked him to take a photo of me with my camera as well as on Photopass.

I was heading towards France, so I took a picture of the Eiffel Tower in the distance...

The dessert party location between UK and France: