This is free day #1.
The alarm went off at 7:30. My ankle felt slightly better once again, but getting ready was still somewhat challenging. We would be driving around in the van today. DH asked if I wanted to take the wheelchair and load it into the van, and I said yes. We wouldnt be walking any great distances, but I might want it, especially when we went to DTD. He wheeled me down to the van, loaded the wheelchair into the back, and we were off to the Contemporary. When we arrived, DH valet parked the van & told the CM that we had the Disney Dining Experience card. (This means we valet park for free.) I decided to go without the wheelchair since we were just going into Chef Mickeys, so there wouldnt be that much walking, and I would want to fill my own plate at the buffet anyway! With DHs arm as my cane, we got to CMs & checked in. I was trying to take a picture of the wreath in the waiting area when we were called just after sitting down. Of course, we got taken to the seating area where you have to go up 3 steps, but it was only 3, and I navigated them OK. We went to the buffet and filled our plates twice each, characters mingled, & napkins were twirled!
They brought us our picture with the giant plate, and we bought it! It was actually good! That is a rarity for us at these meals for some reason. Usually, I have a droopy eyelid or DH is sweating profusely.

So, because it was good, we forked over the extra dough and bought the pic. We had a nice view too. While we were waiting for our credit card to be run, I took a couple shots of it. Here's one.
I also got my shot of the wreath on the way out.
We rode the monorail over to the Grand Floridian to see the tree and gingerbread house. And just to ride the monorail. Gotta love the monorail! Besides, we love to hear the announcement on to "Please stand clear of the doors. Por favor, mantangase alajado de las puertas." That announcer just sounds so enthusiastic about it!
We headed downstairs. When DH checked in at valet, they tried to charge him. He explained that we had the DDE card & shouldnt be charged. The LOVELY CM told DH that he should tell them upfront, to which he replied, I told the guy who took the van. She, of course, didnt charge us, but wasnt all that pleasant either. What a peach! Well, we were off to our next destination
DTD.
Josh asked me if I wanted the wheelchair. I was a little concerned about going without it, but he pointed out that we had gotten an excellent parking space (
right up front! Thats a good omen! Who can name the movie?

), and if I decided I needed it, he would come back and get it while I sat and waited. I agreed. I had to see how I could do at some point, and it might as well be here, where we wouldnt be walking long distances. We shopped around, hitting the pin station, where we got another bag for pins, our Visa cardholder exclusives, and a few others we wanted, and the Christmas shop. We headed over to Earl of Sandwich for lunch, and I saved a table while DH stood in line. We LOVE Earl of Sandwich and their Hawaiian BBQ sandwich, which is just heavenly! DH had the tomato soup too, which is also wonderful, but I didnt because I was supposed to lay off the tomato-y items because of the heartburn which for which I was taking medication. After lunch, we stopped at the candy store, and I got a white chocolate-raspberry cookie for later. (It was good!

) Then we went to Tails (where we spent an ungodly amount on our furry kids the cashier asked how many dogs and cats we had
Uh, one of each.

), Once Upon a Toy (I needed potato head parts!), and World of Disney.
Then, it was back to the van and off to Winter-Summerland. Thats right. I survived DTD, so I was ready to give mini golf a try.
When we arrived, and it was deserted! That was OK with me. Let me just say that this place is adorable!
The theming here is soooooo cute! We did the winter course, and I started off the game with a hole-in-one! Yay me!
There were a lot of tiny lizards! I kept thinking I was going to step on one, but managed not to do so. Thank goodness! And there was this one hole

! Josh had now gotten 3 hole-in-ones in a row and actually kicked the ball just to see if it would go in, and it did! But no matter what I did, the ball would not go in the hole for me! (Yes, I tried kicking it too.) We decided that hole didnt like me, and DH tried kicking the ball for me. It went in! And we moved on. The course was really easy, but it was soooooo cute. I would love to go back and play the summer one. DH won, we grabbed some sodas (It was getting pretty warm.), and we were on our way again.
We headed over to Beach Club so I could take some photos there of the gingerbread carousel and the Villas for an upcoming photo contest. We valet-parked the van, and I noticed I did not have my flash attachment with me

, which I knew would make this difficult. Sure enough, the pictures werent turning out like I would have liked, and DH said it was OK with him if we came back later in the week to get some better shots if we had time.
While we were there, we noticed a desk in the lobby with a sign that said you could book your trip for next September, while staying on property, and get free dining. It was the pilot program we had heard about. We are planning to take FIL and SMIL with us next September. But we are DVC members and Annual Passholders, so we didnt think this would work for us. We looked at the brochure. No one was at the desk, but there was a phone there. A woman was on it trying to get more info. We went to the gift shop, picked up some Advil and a DVC T-shirt for me, and checked back at the desk. The CM finally returned to the desk just as the woman was getting off the phone. We waited, and when she was done, we sat down with the CM to ask some questions. What exactly did we have to book to get the free dining? How many tickets did we have to buy?

Turns out we could book a moderate resort and only had to buy 1 one-day ticket for each person in the party to get the free dining for the length of stay. We decided we needed to do some figuring and come back later.
We headed back to the hotel so I could rest and ice the ankle and burn DVDs of the photos and videos we had done so far. We had managed to FILL our hard drive!

We brought the laptop with the smaller hard drive and more pictures stored on it. What were we thinking? We werent thinking, I guess. DH did some calculating while we were in the room, and we discussed the pros and cons of booking the September trip. We realized that we could buy 2 one-day tickets to activate the dining plan for us, and FIL and SMIL could use the tickets since we have APs. Then theyd just need to buy 2 two-day tickets for their other 2 park days. (We would be arriving on Friday, and they would be flying out on Tuesday.) Then we would have their leftover meal credits to use for the rest of the trip. DH figured out what it would cost to book it at POFQ (We havent stayed there yet, and would really like to.), and it was not much more than we normally budget for meals alone! Plus, wed save our DVC points for our May 08 trip! This sounds like a win-win situation all around.

We have some questions to ask to confirm this can be done, but we decide that if all pans out, we will book the trip. DH calls his dad to confirm they will be available.
At about 6:00, we got ready for dinner at Cali Grill! Now, I have been looking forward to this one! I struggled a bit trying to find the right skirt/shoe combo for my wrapped and still swollen ankle.

I ended up in beaded flip flops, which wasnt what I had in mind for Cali Grill, but it would have to do. We were off to the Contemporary again, and this time, when we left the car with the valet, DH STRESSED that we had the dining card and showed it to the valet. That should do it.

We followed the directions in the elevator to check in for Cali Grill. We went to the floor where you check in desk is located and checked in, where we were met by someone who took us into the elevator again, and we went up to the 15th floor. We found a seat in the lounge and waited for our table while enjoying the beautiful view. When we were called, we were being led to a table on the far side of the dining room, where we would NOT have a good view when the fireworks started, and based on the time, we were looking at finishing dinner at right about the time they started. DH asked the host if we could be seated at an empty window table we had walked past. The host went to check and came back saying that yes, we could sit there, so we did.

We noticed that there was some rain on the window, but it lightened up as our meal progressed and time for the fireworks approached. We confirmed with our server that we would be seeing Holiday Wishes, not just regular Wishes, and that it would start at 9:30. I intended to take some photos of my food, but it would have required flash, and I just didnt want to mess with the mood of the meal we had going. It was lovely! We were right next to a Christmas tree. I had a glass of wine, and we had sushi as an appetizer. Very yummy, but I think we liked the sushi at the Japan pavilion was better. Still, it was really good. And then came dinner - Seared Day Boat Scallops with Farro Wheat Risotto, Braised Baby Carrots, and Crustacean Butter Sauce for me and Oak-fired Filet of Beef with Gruyere-Potato Pave, broccolini, and Teriyaki Barbecue Sauce for DH. So good! Dessert was "Where Dreams Come True" - Honey Crunch Cake with Chantilly Cream and Oven-roasted Golden Pineapple (OMGosh!

). And the time was approaching for Wishes as I was finishing dessert. I got out the camera, and prepared to get the best pictures I could through a damp window without a tripod. The photos werent that great, but the Holiday Wishes was wonderful from that vantage point. What an experience!
We headed back to the room, where I iced my ankle again, and we turned in.
The next day would be Animal Kingdom day, and I had made it through most of one day without the wheelchair. Would I be able to do it again at AK?