"One Step Ahead of the Slowpokes!"- A Dec '10/Jan '11 Trip Report! FINISHED 3/9 pg 38

[therussells08]

Ok, I'm coming back out of lurkdom to start commenting again! Love the last update! Glad you finally got to see Philharmagic! We love that show! Although every time we leave DH says he is hungry from the smells they pump in!

Oh my goodness! As a parent, I can't believe the parents just let their kids act that way! I know they were probably tired and frustrated, but come on!

Ok, I'm guessing you are going to Main Street to get a warmer jacket!

Welcome back! I really enjoyed Philharmagic! I think that is definitely going to be one of our "must dos" that we simply...must do! rotfl: Sorry, gotta throw in the Stacey reference!)

Just found your TR today, and I've been enjoying it! Your photos are great - I love the fact that you capture the smallest details; I never think of doing that! It looks like you're having a great time, even as cold as it was...can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much for joining in! I am really glad you are enjoying it! I will be posting another update later today!

Great update! I love that Christmas store in MK, I could probably spend all of my souvenir money on ornaments! I have a problem with Disney ornaments!

Isn't Philharmagic amazing??? I could seriously watch it over and over! I don't know why we only do it once on every trip, I think on this next trip I'm going to try to see it every time we are in MK!

Wow, I can't believe the line for Minnie's house! I probably would have waited too, knowing they were closing soon. So sad, I love those houses, especially Minnie's!

Hope you found something warm to wear on Main Street! Because I'm guessing there's no way you left!

That store is SO great, but so dangerous. I am usually not tempted to buy much because we are there in the summer months, but being there right after Christmas made me want to buy everything!

Philharmagic was GREAT! I can't believe it took me 3 1/2 years to go see it!

Honestly, that entire experience in Toontown going in Mickey and Minnie's houses was pretty miserable. It was so cold and crowded, but I knew that if I didn't go one last time I would regret it. At least now I won't miss it, since my last memory there wasn't very pleasant!

Stay tuned to find out what happened! (Although, I think I texted you that night, so I'm pretty sure you already know! )

I'm glad you enjoyed LTT! I really want to try it, but I don't think it's going to happen this year either.

I'm sorry it was so cold for you guys! I hope you found a way to keep warm!

As far as the kids in line for Snow White, I honestly don't understand why people can't control their children better. I am a mom, so I can safely say that if my child was wandering off, I wouldn't be screaming at them, I would be wondering what I was doing that was so important I hadn't noticed my child was missing!! I am not a perfect parent, but I don't let my son act like that, especially not in a way that would affect strangers!

LTT was great, I would definitely recommend it at some point! It didn't make it into our list of favorites, though. We still have our few restaurants that we have to eat at EVERY trip!

I'm glad to hear some input from parents who don't think that I was being a jerk by being shocked by this behavior! I couldn't believe how little attention they were paying to their children!

nice update! Gotta love parents who shouldn't be parents hm..

I love the castle pic! I have a similar one that's my wallpaper on my phone!

You crack me up!

Thank you! I was pretty proud of my castle pics this trip. Stay tuned for my favorite!

 

[therussells08]

That picture of the flags is cool

All the ornaments sure do look cute. Don't think I would have managed to leave the shop without making a purchase!

I love that you took pictures of the musical posters at Philharmagic - don't think I've seen them before. Yay on seeing Mickey's and Minnie's house before they disappeared.

Am hoping you did find a jacket and decided to stay!

Thank you!

It was definitely tough leaving the shop without buying anything. Don't worry, I made up for my lack of purchases then ten fold later!

I'm glad I got to see Mickey and Minnie's house one more time!

Stay tuned to find out!

Great pictures!! I especially love all the ones of the ornaments! I see an ornament purchase in my future....

Ugh on the parents at Snow White. I just don't get it.

Hope you found a jacket! Brrr..

Sara

Thank you! I was frustrated with my camera because it didn't do a very good job taking ornament pictures, but you get the general idea of how pretty they were!

"Ugh" is right. That was something to see.

I'm enjoying your trip report. Thanks for posting.

Thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying it!

How have I never seen the flags at in Liberty Square?! Your picture is beautiful - so patriotic! I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed Philharmagic - it's one of my favorites.

I can definitely sympathize to being so cold at Disney. After our freezing trip last January and some chilly times on our recent November trip and our one day trip to Epcot, I'm actually excited about going to Disney in June when it's HOT. I will probably regret that, though!

Thank you! I really loved that picture too.

Philharmagic was so much fun! I will definitely do that again!

I understand what you mean completely. I am desperately hoping that our next trip will be in the warm months, because I don't think I can do cold in Florida again!

All caught up again! We enjoyed LTT, especially the fried cheese and the toffee cake. I think we'd kind of hit our completely full point for Deluxe Dining when we went so it wasn't our best lunch.

We rode Snow White this last trip too. I agree that there's not a whole lot to it. Still, it's sad that they're closing it. I hope the new mine ride will be better.

Welcome back! I can't wait to hear all about your trip! I'm glad you liked the fried cheese and toffee cake! Those were my favorite parts of the meal too. I know that completely full point well...John and I hit it quite a few times on our DxDP adventures!

Yeah, it wasn't very exciting, but I'm glad we did it just for the experience. I didn't know they were closing it! Now I feel even better about having ridden it.

 

[therussells08]

Brr! I hope you found a warmer jacket! I enjoyed your pictures of Toontown... the last few trips, I haven't bothered going over there, and now I'm regretting it! So I enjoyed a trip down memory lane!

I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures! It really wasn't a very pleasant experience with all the crowds, but I'm glad we went just to see it one last time!

I'll have to make a point to look up in Liberty Square. I sure have never seen the flags of the colonies before.

Wow, on the family at Snow White. I'm sure it was a rough day, but good or bad, buck up and be a parent. It does remind me that my neighbors were in MK that same day and they left early because the crowds were heavy and their two boys weren't having such a magical time. I guess more people should have taken the cue to leave.

I'm sad we didn't take the time to look at the holiday decor in Mickey and Minnie's houses, but it did look pretty crowded.

Hope you found a heavier jacket and were able to stay in MK.

Don't feel bad, it sounds like a lot of people haven't noticed the flags before!

I think you are right about taking the cue to leave. I don't see the point in staying if your children are miserably sick.

Oh yeah, Minnie and Mickey's houses were REALLY crowded. I'm glad we went through them, but I don't think we'd do it again!

Caught up on your TR! I have been reading on my phone, but can't see the pics. I can't believe you didn't like the Enchanted Tiki Room! We love it! But I love Iago & Zazu! When Brady was 5, we would walk the mall & he would sing LOUDLY "In the tiki tiki tiki room". People would look at us like we were nuts!!!

I still can't believe that Toontown is gone

As for the parents, good thing I wasn't there! I would have made some comment about the sick child. Now if Koby pulls his 'tude, and wants to stay behind, we leave him & show him we are not playing around. This happened alot at Disney when we went. No more than 3 & running around on her own? Um no! That is neglect (and I should know lol) & I definitely would have made a comment about that one. That makes it more clear to me that some people should not have children. If they are that tired, cranky, sick, go back to the resort for a bit & NAP TIME!!! We did it, even though I wanted to spend every second on the parks that I could, I much rather skip 2 hours of park time than be miserable & my child be miserable. When we went in 07, it was raining & Brady's lips were turning blue. He wanted to meet Ariel soooooooo bad. We tried to stick it out, but when we saw blue lips, we went back to the resort. It broke his heart, but he got to meet "Drag" Ariel when we went in June. Ok, sorry long post...off my soapbox now lol

I will say, the song from the Tiki Room was my favorite part! I get it stuck in my head at random times and have a tendency to sing it like Brady!

I enjoyed your soapbox girl, because you are so right! Sometimes being a parent means you have to do what's best for your child, even if he/she doesn't like it. You knew it was in Brady's best interest to go back to the resort, so that's what you did. Just like on your last trip, when you missed seeing the fireworks at MK. I'm sure that's something you really wanted to do, but you knew it was better for Shelby to get in the bed early. I guess some people just don't think like that, although I don't know why!

 

[therussells08]

John and I decided to head back on over to Mainstreet USA to see if we could have any luck finding a jacket there. I was SO miserably cold, but I really didn't want to leave because we had reservations for the Wishes Dessert Party that night! AS we were heading down Mainstreet I took a picture of the Christmas tree at the entrance to Magic Kingdom.

We figured if we were going to have luck anywhere it would be in the biggest shop on Mainstreet USA, the Emporium. We went inside, and it seemed like everyone had the exact same idea we had! The shelves were practically empty of jackets and other warm articles of clothing. Still, they had a pretty big selection, so I was feeling hopeful. We spent about half an hour in the store, but I was struggling to find anything I liked. I found a lot of really cute jackets, but they were all very thin and VERY expensive. Finally, all alone and abandoned on a random rack, I found the perfect jacket! It was nice and thick, with a warm lining on the inside. Plus, it was only around $50. Now, I know what you're thinking. ONLY $50?! Trust me, I usually wouldn't dare spend $50 on a hoodie/jacket, but at Disney this wasn't a bad price. I justified the purchase by telling myself I would definitely wear it at home as well, because it was really cute. It was dark brown, with white lettering outlined in pink. I loved the color combination, and I REALLY loved the fuzzy lining!

We went to pay for my jacket, and it was obvious that I wasn't the first person to drop an obscene amount of money on something warm that day. The cashier asked me if I wanted the tag removed so I could wear it out, and I said, "YES PLEASE!" A few minutes later we left the store and I was feeling much better in my toasty new coat.

On our way out we caught a little bit of the same dance party/parade we had seen earlier. I was feeling so great, I decided to capitalize on my new warmth and spend a few minutes watching the show.

I saw my good buddy Sebastian again!

Yay! Woody and Jessy! I love them so much!

I was really excited to see the Genie! Aladdin is one of my favorite Disney movies.

After watching a bit of the parade we decided to go back to Fantasyland and use our Fast Passes for Winnie the Pooh.

We cut through Tomorrowland, I called my mom to tell her how our trip was going so far. While I was talking to her John texted her a picture of my new jacket so she could see. I love my mom so much, and I call her several times a day, so I wanted her to know exactly how things were going!

As soon as we got into the pretty long Fast Pass line for Winnie the Pooh, I looked over my shoulder and saw a familiar face walking by.

I felt like I was spotting a celebrity, and I got all excited and waved like a crazy person at Tigger.

John and I had never ridden Winnie the Pooh before, so we were pretty excited. I took a picture of John while we waited in line.

I had heard about the new additions to the queue with the interactive honey pots that you could play with. Since we were in the Fast Pass line we bypassed these, which was fine with me. From the little bit I saw, there was a whole lot of touching all over those screens going on. I could see the smudged finger prints, and I wanted nothing to do with that germy mess! I still took a picture of one of the screens, just for memories. You can see it a little bit over the people's heads.

Before long we were boarding Winnie the Pooh! I enjoyed this ride, and even John said it was pretty cute. I have always loved Winnie the Pooh, so it was a nice trip down memory lane for me.

After we finished our journey through the Hundred Acre Wood we thought about riding Peter Pan. No way, Jose! The wait was around an hour and a half. John and I looked at each other and just said "Um...no." We like that ride, but it was definitely not worth that wait. Instead, we decided to ride John's least favorite ride on earth:

It's a Small World! I'm not the biggest fan of this ride, but I don't hate it. I insist on riding it every trip, just because it's soooo Disney! John, on the other hand, hates it with the burning passion of a thousand suns (hence the title of this update). He always moans and groans when I want to ride it, but he goes along with it anyway!

The wait for IASM said 30 minutes, but it only took about 20. Before long we were seated in the very back of a boat, heading out on "the happiest cruise that ever sailed!"

As we were getting off the ride, the clock struck 6:30.

What a great day so far, and we still had so much to do!

Up Next: I get my first glimpse of one the most beautiful things I've ever seen! Stay tuned to find out what it was!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Cute jacket! I bet that made the cold much easier to handle! The Winnie the Pooh ride looks so cute. I've never been on it! I must do it next time - Pooh is my favorite!

 

[Tracy161]

Great update! So glad that you were able to find a jacket! I also absolutely have to ride iasw every single trip for the exact same reason: it's just SO Disney!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Love the new jacket Am so glad you managed to find it - especially as it was abandoned on a random rack!

Love the Winnie the Pooh ride pictures and yay on meeting Tigger - I would have been the same as you as love everything to do with Winnie the Pooh! Can't wait to watch the movie.

'It's a small world after all!!'

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

nice hoodie!!!! Did you get any type of discount with it?! Are you wearing it at home a lot?!!!

 

[Nermel9]

I love the hoodie! I love brown and pink together! My luggage is brown and pink! I love it because so far I haven't seen anyone else with the same luggage!

The Winnie the Pooh ride is so cute! I missed the new queue, though, it looks adorable! Although, there's no way I'd touch anything either!

I was laughing when I read the part about you and John going on IASW...Brandon and I are the same way! I always want to go on, just because it's such a Disney classic, and he can't stand it! Usually he will give in and ride it, and whine the whole time, but this past trip, he refused! So in October, we're going on it twice, to make up for it!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Cat0727]

Cute hoodie! I bet it made the rest of your day much more enjoyable now that you had an extra layer Wow an hour and a half for Peter Pan I can't believe people wait that long!

 

[MickeyLover20]

Loving your TR!!! It sounds like you guys hare having a great time so far minus the cold. I love all of your Disney Christmas presents...it sounds like it is still a lot of fun at your parents house on Christmas morning. Can't wait to read the rest of your TR.

 

[laashley]

Yay for finding a jacket and continuing to play in the MK!

 

[saralexander97]

Love the jacket!
Its amazing how energizing it can be to get warm and refocus on the magic of Disney. Ill make sure we bring extra jackets for our trip in December. I so not do well being cold.

 

[Parla]

We are planning a Christmas Break trip in 2013. Everyone thinks we are completely insane for planning to actually be there on Christmas. Can't wait to read all of this. Going back to read your entire PTR before I start.

 

[therussells08]

Cute jacket! I bet that made the cold much easier to handle! The Winnie the Pooh ride looks so cute. I've never been on it! I must do it next time - Pooh is my favorite!

Thank you! It definitely made the cold a lot easier to deal with. Winnie the Pooh was really fun! It was so sweet, and it reminded me so much of my childhood!

Great update! So glad that you were able to find a jacket! I also absolutely have to ride iasw every single trip for the exact same reason: it's just SO Disney!

Thank you! I was so glad I got my jacket. I'm glad I'm not the only one who MUST ride IASM! I feel like I'm betraying WDW if I don't!

Love the new jacket Am so glad you managed to find it - especially as it was abandoned on a random rack!

Love the Winnie the Pooh ride pictures and yay on meeting Tigger - I would have been the same as you as love everything to do with Winnie the Pooh! Can't wait to watch the movie.

'It's a small world after all!!'

Thank you! I definitely got lucky finding it. It was the thickest jacket they had for the best price, and I actually liked the way it looked!

Everything about the Pooh ride was so nostalgic! I really enjoyed it!

Sometimes I sing that song just to bug John! It drives him nuts! It used to be my ringtone, but I got rid of it because I was afraid he was going to jump up and down on my phone everytime someone called me!

nice hoodie!!!! Did you get any type of discount with it?! Are you wearing it at home a lot?!!!

Thank you! I didn't get a discount, unfortunately. However, I did wear it at home a lot once we got back, and it ended up being a life saver on the rest of our freezing cold trip!

I love the hoodie! I love brown and pink together! My luggage is brown and pink! I love it because so far I haven't seen anyone else with the same luggage!

The Winnie the Pooh ride is so cute! I missed the new queue, though, it looks adorable! Although, there's no way I'd touch anything either!

I was laughing when I read the part about you and John going on IASW...Brandon and I are the same way! I always want to go on, just because it's such a Disney classic, and he can't stand it! Usually he will give in and ride it, and whine the whole time, but this past trip, he refused! So in October, we're going on it twice, to make up for it!

Can't wait to read more!

Thank you! I really liked that color combination too! It's so pretty!

Yeah, the new queue was great, but those screens just looked like the ultimate germ hangout!

What do all these guys have against IASM?! John says it's "creepy". I'm sure Brandon is just going to loooove riding it twice in October!

 

[therussells08]

Cute hoodie! I bet it made the rest of your day much more enjoyable now that you had an extra layer Wow an hour and a half for Peter Pan I can't believe people wait that long!

Thank you! It definitely made the day SO much better! I know, I couldn't believe people were willing to wait that long either!

Loving your TR!!! It sounds like you guys hare having a great time so far minus the cold. I love all of your Disney Christmas presents...it sounds like it is still a lot of fun at your parents house on Christmas morning. Can't wait to read the rest of your TR.

Thank you! The cold made it a little harder to have a great time, but we still managed to! Christmas morning at my parents' house is so much fun! It's just like when I was a kid! I'm so glad you're enjoying my TR! Thanks for reading along!

Yay for finding a jacket and continuing to play in the MK!

Thank you! I was so happy!

Love the jacket!
Its amazing how energizing it can be to get warm and refocus on the magic of Disney. Ill make sure we bring extra jackets for our trip in December. I so not do well being cold.

Thank you! The warmth really did energize me! I felt so much better! I would definitely recommend bringing extra jackets. I will never make the mistake of coming unprepared again!

We are planning a Christmas Break trip in 2013. Everyone thinks we are completely insane for planning to actually be there on Christmas. Can't wait to read all of this. Going back to read your entire PTR before I start.

Thank you for reading along! I am so excited to hear about your Christmas trip. Don't worry, everyone thought we were insane too! They just don't get it until they see those beautiful Christmas decorations and all that Disney magic!

 

[therussells08]

As John and I were getting off It's a Small World it was just starting to get dark. John really wanted to stop for a cigarette break, so we headed over to the one smoking area in Fantasyland. As we turned a corner to approach the spot, my eyes beheld one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen: the Christmas lights on the castle!

Jen (Nermel9) had told me they were going to be beautiful, but I was SO not prepared for just how gorgeous they would be! I immediately y began snapping pictures on my cell phone and proceeded to text them to everyone I know.

After John finished his break we headed back to the hub so I could take more pictures. I just couldn't get enough pictures of that beautiful castle! I had never seen anything like it.

Suddenly, I was on a mission: get as many Photo Pass pictures as we possibly could! We started going to different spots along Main Street to try and get the best shots of the castle.

Unfortunately, even after four or five different stops, I was not happy at all with how these pictures came out. The long day and lingering head cold was starting to show on my haggard looking face, and half of the pictures came out blurry. I was really hoping to use one of these pictures for our Christmas card next year, but I'm really not happy with any of them. Here's just a few, so you can see for yourself.

We walked up to near the entrance for this one so we could get all of the hanging decorations on Main Street in the picture.

After we finished with the PP Photographers I attempted to get my own shot of the decorations on Main Street. My camera, unfortunately, didn't cooperate.

Now, our original plan had been to eat our big lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern and then to skip dinner so we would be nice and hungry for the Wishes Dessert Party at 9pm. However, our tummies had another plan altogether! There's something about Disney that makes me eat more than I ever want to eat at home. I guess it's just because the food it so good, but I always get SO hungry there! John and I both decided that we needed to use one of our meal credits on the DxDP for a quick service meal. We agreed on heading over to our absolute favorite quick service spot: Columbia Harbor House.

When we got there the place was almost empty, so we got our food and headed to a really nice secluded room upstairs. There was only a few other families in there, and we grabbed a really cozy table for two in the corner. It was so warm and peaceful, I really felt like I was in a colonial era home eating dinner.

John and I both ordered one of our favorite Disney meals: the fried fish basket. We both got fries as our side, and had the apple crisp for dessert. Our only meal difference was that I had a diet soda and John had a regular soda.

Sorry, the picture came out pretty dark because the lighting in the room was so low. This meal was really tasty, but I didn't eat as much as I normally would because I wanted to save my appetite for the dessert party. I barely even touched my apple crisp. I'm sure I would have devoured it any other time, but I knew there were far more delicious desserts in my near future.

We took our time eating our dinner because it was so wonderfully cozy and warm in the restaurant.

There was a really nice family of adults next to us and we talked to them a little. One of the ladies complimented me on my Dooney & Bourke bag, and then one of the men realized that he had lost his bag somewhere. They started searching frantically and left in a rush. I felt really bad for them, because I know how stressful it is when you realize you've lost something. That is one reason why I love the crossbody D&B bag so much. I never have to take it off, so I always know it's right there with me. Plus the bag zips up, so I don't have to worry about anything falling out on a ride.

Anyway, after we finished our dinner we decided to hang out in Liberty Square a little longer and take another ride in our beloved "doom" buggy.

I took a picture of Haunted Mansion as we were walking over because it looks so cool at night. The picture didn't come out like I hoped it would, but I kind of like it. It makes the mansion look so creepy!

We had a great time riding the Haunted Mansion, but after we got off it felt like the temperature had dropped ten more degrees. I was SO cold again! Suddenly my new jacket didn't feel very warm at all.

John and I decided since we got two snack credits each per day with the Deluxe Dining Plan that we would use a few to get something warm to drink. We went back into Columbia Harbor House to order a hot chocolate for me and a coffee for John.

I was so happy to have my warm beverage!

We still had some more time to kill before the dessert party, so we wandered back over to Tomorrowland. The line for Space Mountain was a little too long, so we decided to try something we had never tried before.

We're going to call this segment of my TR, "Joni and John make their first stupid decision of the trip." Sound good? Okay, here we go.

We decided to ride Astro Orbiter.

As soon as I realized you had to take an elevator to get to it, I knew riding this thing was against my better judgement. However, my curiosity got the best of me and I agreed. We rode our little elevator to the top, and almost immediately it was time to load into our torture device...I mean ride vehicle.

Somehow, I honestly don't know how we managed it, John and I crammed ourselves into one of the little space ships together. At this point I still didn't know what was in store, so I was pretty happy. I snapped a very cruddy one armed picture of John and me getting ready to ride.

And then, we were off. OH. MY. GOSH. It was SOOOO cold! We were flying around in circles about a mile over Magic Kingdom, and I felt like I was going to freeze to death. The cold air literally felt like needles stabbing me all over my face. Within seconds I was chanting, "I want to get off, I want to get off..." It would have been really pretty, seeing all of Magic Kingdom lit up at night like that, if it wasn't for the fact that I felt like I was riding full speed on the back of a champion dogsled team in the Iditarod.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, our space ship descended back to planet earth and we were allowed to get off.

As we rode the elevator down, John and I looked at each other and simultaneously said, "NEVER again."

Up Next: The Wishes Dessert Party and the end of our first fabulous day at Disney! Which room will we get at POP? Stay tuned to find out!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I completely agree about the castle! You just really can't describe or capture how beautiful it is. Everyone should see it once!

I think everyone has an Astro Orbiter horror story! I just hate how uncomfortable the thing is. There really should be more room in the "spaceships". Sadly, Miguel loves this attraction. I was successful of steering him away from it on our recent trip but I have a feeling we'll be riding on the Disneymoon.

I can't wait to hear about the dessert party! I just made our reservation for one today!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Love the castle pics!! They look soo good!

Think the Photopass pics came out ok considering how cold you were...my fav is the one with the hanging decorations

Am glad you managed to warm up at CHH - hope that person found his bag

Have just read another Astro Orbitor horror story recently on these boards so after reading yours as well think we will stay away from that ride

 

[Parla]

Just finished reading your PTR. Didn't want to post there (always amazed how long those things are left open) so here goes.

I love Ratatouille. But only when I'm watching it. It's a really good movie and I don't understand why it isn't one everyone thinks of as a good movie. But even I don't remember how much I like it until the kids put it in or it comes on the Disney Channel.

Love that you went with DxDP. We also love to sit and relax for our dinners rather than fight for tables and condiments. Plus, so many great restaurants to choose from.

That Abu is an ugly little squishy. Can't wait to see pictures of him around the world though. Love that you re-discovered him while going through your sister's DVDs looking for DMR codes. Shhhh... I use to put movies on hold at the library to get them but then they changed their policy and you couldn't put movies on hold in advance anymore.

Also, thanks for the idea to do all of your posts in a different color of ink. It was much easier to go through and skip all the guesses on the waiting game.

Now on the the TR.