Our Magical Pre Christmas Trip 12-13 to 12-20-2009 - Updated 04-15-2010

[nantrev]

Off we went to our first Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. We had some Photopass pictures taken at the Magic Kingdom Christmas Tree and Cinderella Castle.

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We were off to Aloha Isle for some pineapple goodies. DS had a Pineapple Doel Whip Soft Serve, DH & I had a pineapple float. Both were a strange green color, but they still tasted wonderful.

We rode some old favorites: Jungle Boats, Pirates of the Caribbean, both had a very small wait. Then came the fun part DS rode Splash Mountain 4 or 5 times in a row, he didn't even have to get in line again, he had a blast. He rode Thunder Mountain numerous times without a wait. Then our famly had some cookies, apple slices & hot chocolate, it was all very good.

We stood in line maybe 5 minutes at the Diamond Horseshoe location. We watched the Celebrate the Season show & the Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas Parade, while we ate our goodies.

Then off to Space Mountain

DS had his fingers crossed for a short line as Monday it had a 50 minute wait and no fastpasses were available. He was in luck, he rode it 7 or 8 times, with little wait.

We watched Holiday Wishes what a wonderful firework show, it was amazing to watch the fireworks go around you & they were in tune with the Christmas Music that was playing. It was so beautiful. They even had snowflakes on the castle.

We had a late night dinner at Cosmic Ray Starlight Cafe, they had a couple of bays open and the other bay was hot chocolate, cookies & apple slices. So we got a free dessert with our dinner. During dinner we were able to watch & listen to Goofy's Dance Party.

DS decided to ride the cars at Tomorrowland Indy Speedway & I decided I wanted to check out Mickey & Minnie.

Mickey had a 15 minute wait at this house, but it was well worth the wait and Minnie being such a lady had no wait . Love her pink heart gazboo.

Then we headed toward the castle as we knew this was our last night at Magic Kingdom. The castle is pretty, but when they lite it up with the Christmas Lights and the change the colors on the castle it is magical.

When we turned to leave it was bubble snowing on Main Street and and at the end of of Main St was the Magic Kingdom Christmas tree all lite up, it was a beautiful sight.

By the time we got to our bus stop it was long after midnight.

Thoughts for the day: The boys loved Blizzard Beach & had a great time due to no crowds. We all loved MVMCP,
my favorite was Holiday Wishes
DS was Space Mountain with no wait
DH being with is family

 

[nantrev]

Here are some of our favorites Photopass pictures from the MVMCP

Enjoy
Next up Exploring Animal Kingdom Lodge & Animal Kingdom

 

[cmp1111]

That sounds like so much fun! I want to do a party one day...

 

[nantrev]

That sounds like so much fun! I want to do a party one day...

We all loved the MVMCP, even my DH who said early that day, I'm sure we won't stay pass ten . When we went in 2003 we went to the Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party and we loved it also. We have been lucky that at both parties the crowds were very lite.

 

[nantrev]

We slept in today till 8 am rotfl2: hey it's late for Disney World ) Walked downstairs for breakfast at BOMA's

We loved the Africian breakfast dishes and the Frunch juice, it was yummy!
Then we explored more of the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We went to the Uzima Savanna, Arusha Rock Savanna overlook and finally we walked over to the Sunset Savanna by the Kudu Trail. We saw a lof of animals close-up: giaffes, zebras, wildebeast and Ankole cattle.

Then we saw a wildebeast chase two zebras, who got mad and tryed to kick a giaffe then they started chasing each other. We were all amazed with the interaction of the animals. DS took these pictures!

After seeing all the animals we headed back to the AKL lobby, we walked across the suspension bridge, you get a great view of the lobby

The boys went to the pool and I went to the jewerly making class, (it said the class was for 13 & older and I'm definitely over 13 ) The ladies running the class were happy to have me come as I was the only one there. I had a blast making a bracelet, it was very hard choosing what beads to use as they had a lot! But, I finally decided on blue and brown beads and made a beautiful braclet and they helped me make a bead Christmas ornament, to help us remember our fantasic trip.

Up next Animal Kingdom

 

[praisehisname]

It sounds like you had a fantastic time at MVMCP! We loved it, too! Love the bracelet and ornament you made!

Denise

 

[nantrev]

After exploring the Animal Kingdom Lodge, we headed over to Animal Kingdom (our DS wanted to spend more time at Animal Kingdom, so we went there on the Extra Magic Hours, both the Early Morning and the late evening hours.)

On the way in we stopped at the Customer Relastions and ask about dinner reservations at Yak & Yeti or Tusker House. The two CM talked us into Tusker House at 6:45 pm. This would be our first thime eating there. We had ate at Yak & Yeti on our last trip and loved it there.
We did the safari again, this time there was no fog. Rode the train to Rafikis Planet Watch. We walked both the tiger trail (Maharajah Jungle Trek) and the gorilla trail (Pangari Forest Trail)

and did It's Tough to be a Bug

and then we headed over to Expedition Everest, were DS rode it for 6 times in a row. Ride - get off - walk quickly back to the single rider line - and ride again. He loved it! As he passed us one time, he said this is the way it should be! The only problem with him riding it so much was, mom and dad sitting on the non flat hard rocks

We headed over to Tusker House and had a very yummy buffet dinner. We enjoyed the African food.

Since our reservation were very close to closing time we enjoyed a nice and quiet walk out of the park and was able to get some nice photopass pictures at the Tree of Life and the Animal Kingdom Christmas Tree.

Back at the hotel DS jumped into the pool, while I had a nice glass of wine.

Thoughts on today:
We really enjoy spending the time to explore the Animal Kingdom Lodge and seeing the animals close up.
My family loves Animal Kingdom, it was cool to be there at night (our first time). Having dinner late there was nice, they didn't try to rush us out and they still had photopass photgraphers out and you can get some great night time shots of the Tree of Life.

 

[nantrev]

Here is some of our Photopass Pictures from Animal Kingdom

Next up Hollywood Studios and rain

 

[nantrev]

It sounds like you had a fantastic time at MVMCP! We loved it, too! Love the bracelet and ornament you made!

Denise

We did have a fantasic time at MCMCP, it was one of the very magical moments. It was so much fun making the bracelet and the boys love going to the pool. So we all had a lot of fun

 

[jenseib]

Love it! I really love your pictures. they are great.
I am hoping to get DH talked into going about the same time this coming Dec. Did it rain much? What were your average temps?

 

[praisehisname]

and then we headed over to Expedition Everest, were Trevor rode it for 6 times in a row. Ride - get off - walk quickly back to the single rider line - and ride again. He loved it! As he passed us one time, he said this is the way it should be!

That is awesome! I love EE and would jump at the chance to ride it 6 times in a row!

Denise

 

[nantrev]

Love it! I really love your pictures. they are great.
I am hoping to get DH talked into going about the same time this coming Dec. Did it rain much? What were your average temps?

Thanks, DS & I love to take pictures. Now I get to go through all of our pictures to figure out which ones to print for my scrapbook. Our trip in January 2009 ended up in 2 scrapbooks. Hopefully this trip will be in one. We had great weather on our trip, we wore shorts and only had rain for 2 days and it didn't rain all day . When we went last January it was actually colder then this trip. Of our three trips that we have done, our favorite was December and October. I don't think we would go again in January due to the Brazilians tour groups.

 

[nantrev]

That is awesome! I love EE and would jump at the chance to ride it 6 times in a row!

Denise

Our DS loved it! He was thrilled that on this trip he was able to ride almost of his favorites numerous times: Expedition Everest, Rock N Roller Coaster, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain and Test Track. The only one that he didn't get to ride numerous times was Toy Story Mania.

 

[nantrev]

Woke up bright and early for Hollywood Studios

Made the rope drop, DH & DS went on Toy Story Mania while I got fast passes for all of us for later.

When the boys got off of Toy Story Mania, there was a 50 minute wait. I think that 90% of the people at the rope drop went to Toy Story Mania. Then DS rode the Rock N Roller Coaster, it was still faster to the use the single rider line.
I saw these poinsettia trees, they were so cute and different.

We saw Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and Lights, Motors Action! Extreme Stunt Show. Rode on the Back Lot Tour (which we rode on our first trip in 2003 and this time it seemed a lot shorter).
Our DS got a $9.00 Carmel Apple (it was covered in carmel, chocolate, marshmallows, chocolate chips and nuts). Normally there is no way we would pay $9.00 for a Carmel Apple even a deluxe one, but our DS just got his braces off 2 weeks earlier! So he hasn't had a Carmel Apple in 2 years.

Around 2 pm it started to sprinkle, then it got heavier so we decided to leave Hollywood Studios and head over to Kidani Animal Kingdom Villas to see what places they had to eat at.
Up Next Kidani Animal Kingdom Villas and fun at Animal Kingdom Lodge

 

[nantrev]

We stoped at Sanaa and they took us right in, (with no reservations) and gave us a window table with a great view of the savanna.

We all said this was the best meal of our trip, we started with the:
Potato & Pea Samosas, very yummy to the last tiny little piece.
DS had the Club Sandwich
DH had the Sustainable Fish
I had the Tandoori Chicken
for Dessert we had the Dessert Sampler, it had the Chai Cream, Passion Fruit Kulfi and the chocolate cake. It was so good that we licked the plate clean. With dessert I had a glass of Paul Clover Late Harvest Riesling, Elgin South Africa very smooth and good.
Here are some pictures that we took during lunch

After our late lunch we headed back to Jambo House, we had a family portait taken in front of the beautiful Christmas Tree. DS & I made a Christmas ornament using colored Ostrich egg shells. The broken Ostrich eggs actually came from the Animal Kingdom & Animal Kingdom Lodge. they are a lot harder and thicker than regluar egg shells. We made a giraffe.

We went out to the Arusha Rock Fire Pit and Penny from South Africa told us an African Folk tale Jabu and the Lion (a traditional Zulu story)

After the story our DS headed to the pool again and then DH & DS went over to the Animal Viewing area at the Uzima Overlook to use the night vision goggles they got to see a giraffe and a Thompson Gazelle.
Thoughts on today: People are crazy about Toy Story Mania and even if you don't have a reservation at a restaurant, ask you might get in and have the best meal of your trip
Up next photopass pictures

 

[nantrev]

Here are some of our Photopass Pictures from Hollywood Studios

and in front of Animal Kingdom Lodge Christmas Tree

Enjoy
Up next a day and night at EPCOT

 

[jenseib]

Love the update .I have heard good things about Sanaa too.

 

[nantrev]

Love the update .I have heard good things about Sanaa too.

It was very yummy and we had a great waiter. We came in at the end of the lunch service, but he never rush us, it was great food and a fantasic view of the animals on the savanna

 

[nantrev]

Woke up to rain, and the Weather Channel said it was going to be a lot of hard rain and thunderstroms . But we still went to EPCOT as we have the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package.

DH headed over to Soarin' to get fastpasses and DS & I headed over to see EPCOT's Christmas tree, which was beautiful with a large angel on top

We rode Soarin' and smelled the oranges from Camarillo (our home long ago) and smelled the pine trees (we don't remember the smells before). We also rode "Living with the Land" and saw the Mickey shape pumpkin . Had a great bite to eat at Sunshine Season.

After our quick bite we stop by and said hi to Nemo at The Seas with Nemo & Friends, we walked right onto our Clam Shells for ride. We spent a lot of time in the aquarium area and saw the dolphin show.

We walked over to the World Showcase area, and listened to the Canadian Santa and then we got great seats for Off Kilter band.

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What a great show, they played New Age Celtic music and it was so neat to watch Jamie play his bagpipe. This was our first time hearing these guys and they were great!

Up next lunch at Chefs de France

 

[nantrev]

We headed over to France as we had the Candlelight Processional dinning reservations at Chefs de France (our first time eating there.)

While we were waiting we had some Photopass pictures taken at the fountain and then I saw Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) she had no line at all, so I had a picture taken with her (my first picture with a princess ) .
Lunch at Chefs de France was very good, since we had the Candlelight Processional dining package we got appetizers, entree and a dessert.
Our meal was:
Appetizers: Soupe a l'oignon gratinee (French Onion soup)
Salade Maison (salad)
Assiette de Fromates de France (cheese plate)
Entrees:
Filet de Saumon, salade de choux avec pomme et mail, coulis aux herbs (salmon)
2 of us had the Plat de Cote de boeuf au chabernet avec pates (beef shot ribs)
Dessert
2 Crepe a la pomme et cannelle, glace vanilla, cramel jus de pommes
and we can't remember what the other dessert was .
The food was very good and the resturant was very pretty, but the best part was that Chef Remy from Ratatuille came by our table twice. Chef Remy and his handler Armand was so funny

Remember this morning the Weather Channel said hard rain, well during lunch it POURED outside! But, as soon as we were done eating and left the resturant it was cloudy but not raining.
Our waiter gave us our Candlelight Processional tickets and we headed towards the America Garden Theatre to get in line.

As we were standing in line it started to sprinkle, but since we were standing under a tree. We were getting wetter from the rain dripping off of the tree then the rain it self.

As soon as we enter the America Gardens Theatre the sky went from grey clouds to blue skies.

Our narrator was Whoopi Goldberg and she was great, it was a very moving performance.

The Candlelight Processional is the telling of the Christmas Story accompanied by a 50-piece live orchestra, mass choir and the Liberty Singers.

It was WONDERFUL. When the choir came out the first group had green robes on and they made a Christmas Tree shape, then the second group came out in yellow robes and stood on either side of the green robes, it was beautiful! The sky also stayed blue the rest of the night.

After the wonderful show we stop at the American Gingerbread House, very cute. We got some hot cider, DH & I got a Gingerbread man cookie and DS got a Rice Krispie treat in the shape of a Christmas tree.

We headed to Club Cool to taste some different sodas from around the world, most of them we didn't like. So instead we got a frozen Coke, which was a lot better tasting. We sip our frozen Coke while we watched the EPCOT Dancing Fountain, which was dancing to Christmas music.

Up next IllumiNations