No Kids Trip to Disney (our early Christmas trip) update 1/1/11

[pjstevens]

Kelly, welcome. How have you been? I see you have a trip coming up also.

Lisa, yes, I will do an update, AFTER I get my A&P exam done (tomorrow night), so I'll work on one when I get home from school tomorrow night

 

[mymainmouse]

Kelly, welcome. How have you been? I see you have a trip coming up also.

I have been doing pretty well. I bet your granddaughter is getting so big.
We have our annual trip in September coming up. It seems like such a long way off.

Good luck on your exam!

 

[pjstevens]

I have been doing pretty well. I bet your granddaughter is getting so big.
We have our annual trip in September coming up. It seems like such a long way off.

Good luck on your exam!

Kelly, we'll be there after our cruise on the Dream Sept 1-4th. When are you going?

 

[mymainmouse]

Kelly, we'll be there after our cruise on the Dream Sept 1-4th. When are you going?

We are going to be there Sept. 17th-24th. I try to plan it for a little later in the month so that we might get a little cooler weather but still get Free Dining. I suppose you'll be gone by the time we get there. It would have been cool to meet. Unless you could talk Dale in to staying 2 weeks after the cruise.

Is this your second Disney cruise? That is one of my dreams for the future. Maybe someday we'll get to take a Disney cruise.

 

[NMW]

subscribing

 

[debsters41]

where the heck is that popcorn smilie??

 

[pjstevens]

I promise, working on an update RIGHT NOW!!!! Will be posted TONIGHT!!!!

 

[pjstevens]

Wow, what a delay. Sorry, life got crazy with our little grand daughter in the hospital mid December, then Christmas, New Years, her second birthday, our Disney marathon trip and going back to school. Wonder why I’m having trouble getting to this. So sorry…. but, finally on with the trip.

After a wonderful morning at MGM (oh, ok, Hollywood Studios) we headed back to our ‘home’. We hadn’t booked a savannah room this trip and I now realize we’ll always use the points and get the view, we love relaxing and watching the animals. We dropped our bags at the room and met a sweet young man who was doing the college program and hoping to be working for Disney when he was done. Staying in DVC, you don’t get daily maid service. On day four you get what is called ‘trash and towel’ service. We had already gathered the trash for the cm to make it easier. Well, we ended up chatting with this young man for some time (his family was coming next week to see Christmas at Disney) and we shared about our dd and her experience. Finally, we left him to take the trash and we did a little walking around Kidani to see who was out today.

I wanted to try out my camera and the ‘zoom’ as that wasn’t the feature I bought it for (carrying it for 26.2 miles and taking pictures through the entire marathon was the REAL reason I got this little camera).

These next three are all taken from the same spot, but with my 'older, larger' camera. Boy do I love this camera (expect when I have to carry it around).

We then took a walk back to the room to get ready for lunch (had to get over to the Wilderness Lodge)! We walked into our room and were pleasantly surprised to see that our new friend had actually made our bed and cleaned our room, and left us a little card for our anniversary (you’ll hear about that later).

My Pooh bear was enjoying that BIG bed all for himself

We made our way to the Wilderness Lodge. Someday we’ll stay here. It is beautiful!

We checked in at the Whispering Canyon Café and then sat and waited and waited and waited. We did that frequently this trip. Hubby loves the skillet here, so that was on order for lunch. I start to take photos of our food when our waiter says to the entire room….”How do you know tourist in Disney?” ‘How?’ “They take photos of their FOOD!!!!”

You should of seen how red he got when I told him it was ‘Food Porn’! I don’t think he’d ever heard of that or the Disboards!!!??? How is that possible.

We had a lovely lunch and then it was time to make our way to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party!!!

Up next (and it won't be so long from now) MVMCP!

 

[mymainmouse]

Great update! I am glad you took pictures of the food. Whispering Canyon was the reservation that we really wanted last time but weren't able to get. It looks soo tasty! I usually don't take pictures of the food just because I don't want any one teasing me like that waiter did to you.

 

[pjstevens]

Oh, before we start, I have a few Photopass pics (I forgot to put into the days leading up to today). I only picked a few of the good ones.

Ok, now up next, really, this time, MVMCP!

 

[pjstevens]

Finally one of the very main reasons for coming to Disney in December. . . Getting to go to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. We heading right to MK from WL and arrived a little before 4pm. You can officially enter the party at 4pm, but since we had our all new annual passes, we could enter whatever time we wanted, lol.

I loved these poinsettia trees and missed not seeing them more often this visit.

We quickly got our bracelets and started our way down main street.

We rode BTMR, waiting a bit longer than I normally like to wait, but it was still early. We did some other rides, but for the life of me, cannot remember at this point. I just knew we had to be in front of the castle for the lighting. So soon we took our spots and waited for the magical moment.

Then it was time to walk around and get in line for the seven dwarfs! Oh, wait, did you notice my soft, fuzzy, warm coat! This was what I got this am at MGM (or DHS)!

Up next, video of the lighting and the Christmas parade...

 

[debsters41]

Hi Pat and Dale! These updates are so worth the wait. The pictures of the animals on the savanah are amazing! I never realized how close the animals were!

Ohmygoodness, that picture at MGM (ahem) Hollywod Studios when Dale is giving you a kiss is just about the cutest thing I have seen in a while!

Also, isn't it funny how incongruous it is to see the fab 5 in their winter finest and you two in shorts and short sleeves! I hope those poor characters weren't suffering in the heat!

Love the warm fuzzy jacket! Are you getting a lot of use of it now that it is so cold everywhere over there? If I got one like that my one daughter would turn up her nose in disdain at me and the other one would just take it for her own Yes, it is the second one coming on the cruise with us in Sept! Can't wait to see you guys in person!

 

[mymainmouse]

Your photopass pictures are so cute! I love your coat! It is adorable! I would love to go the MVMCP sometime. When we are there the Halloween party is usually going on. My youngest daughter probably wouldn't go for the scary stuff. She's still a bit of a chicken.
Great updates.

 

[pjstevens]

Hi Pat and Dale! These updates are so worth the wait. The pictures of the animals on the savanah are amazing! I never realized how close the animals were!

Deb, The animals are 'close' but not that close. I posted the two to show you how far they were and how close my zoom lens brought them. But really they are very visible from your balcony.

Your photopass pictures are so cute! I love your coat! It is adorable! I would love to go the MVMCP sometime. When we are there the Halloween party is usually going on. My youngest daughter probably wouldn't go for the scary stuff. She's still a bit of a chicken. Great updates.

Kelly, We did MNSSHP and I think your daughter would love it. It's a lot of the characters dressed up in costumes, lol. The only 'scary' part might by the headless horsemen as he starts the parade. You can avoid that though as there are lots of things to do that night.

 

[pjstevens]

Video of the Castle Lighting

 

[mymainmouse]

Kelly, We did MNSSHP and I think your daughter would love it. It's a lot of the characters dressed up in costumes, lol. The only 'scary' part might by the headless horsemen as he starts the parade. You can avoid that though as there are lots of things to do that night.

I think I am going to check into it. It looks like it would be a lot of fun. I am guessing that the crowd in the park is a lot lighter for that night too. Abby (youngest daughter) might just have to close her eyes for the headless horseman.

 

[chepic]

Hi guys....love the pictures, especially with the dwarfs.

Did you like staying at Kidnai. We are going in 2 weeks, and haven't stayed there yet.

Cheryl

 

[pjstevens]

Hi guys....love the pictures, especially with the dwarfs.

Did you like staying at Kidnai. We are going in 2 weeks, and haven't stayed there yet.

Cheryl

Cheryl, I suck at TR!!!! Guess you have given me the umph to get going and finish this baby up.

We LOVE Kidani. It's our 'home'. We bought into DVC after our VR. Could kick ourselves for not doing it sooner. We so LOVE staying there. We've only stayed at the Boardwalk one time and Kidani all others. Prior to DVC we loved Pop (and would stay there again if need be).

I hope you have a great time. If you want any tips on stuff at Kidani, let me know.

 

[pjstevens]

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Parade.

We’ve been fortunate enough to have watched this parade before, so I tried to enjoy the parade more so than take a ton of photos. Sorry if these aren’t the greatest, they were with my quick point and shoot.

We planted ourselves at the very entrance of Main Street (just in front of the circle). We got our seats a good hour or 45 minutes before the parade was to start.

After the parade, we quickly exited the park (we were beat at that point)!

Up next, Epcot and Holidays around the World.

 

[pjstevens]

Wow, it’s hard to believe that our trip is almost over. This is our last FULL day at Disney. Today was Epcot day! We’d planned this so we could see the Candlelight Processional.

Before heading out to Epcot, we wanted to go by Pop (our first home). Somehow we got turned around and completely missed Pop, ended all the way at Magic Kingdom and turned around and headed back, lol (funny now, NOT at the moment).

Dale and I have stayed at Pop several times (he LOVES their food court) so we always call this our first home since it was pre-DVC.

The tree in the lobby.

Some of the icons we love about Pop!

The bridge to no-where!

Peeking through the greenery to see the status of construction on the Legendary Years!

Up next Epcot!