Quick Trip to POFQ & MVMCP

[Gdad]

Well, just got back from an interesting little trip to Disney. My wife and I decided to take the girls to MVMCP last Friday so here is a quick run-down.

Day One of Two

I'll start of with a (little) rant about POFQ. We got there about 5:00 - I had to work that morning so we were playing a little catch-up all day but were still in good shape at this point to make it to our first planned show, Twas the Night Before Christmas at 7:00. That was until our room was not ready that is - so much for 3:00 check-in time. About an hour and a half later- after they finally located us another room- we got changed and scurried over to WDW arriving at the gate about 7:30. No real harm done just really annoyed by the whole thing.

Anyway- Wife is steamed but kids don't miss a beat. On to find Santa...

Waiting in line..

And Here he is!

After that it was time to see snow on Main Street.

How cool is Disney to a kid whose never seen real snow in her life?

Waiting for Wishes - we watched it from 2nd level on the train station this time. The whole area in front of there where we usually stand was closed off (more on that later)

And the Wishes Fireworks...

And then there was a show in front of the castle...

And then of course there was the parade!

Midnight in MK after the party was great- I'm so glad we did not try to evacuate right after the 2nd parade. We strolled around and had a few more cookies and left just past 12:00. The crowds were thinned out nicely- we got on the first monorail to the TTC- no line to speak of- and were back at POFQ by about 1:30 am. In bed by 2:00.

We had a great time- two tired but happy kids. Our 2yo sacked out around 11:00 but our 6yo made it all the way back to the resort- I was impressed.

That's it for now- I will give you the run down on Day Two of Two later on...

NEXT INSTALLMENT: SURPRISE EARLY WAKE-UP CALL FROM POFQ, THE GRAND FLORIDIAN, AND REGIS PHILBIN.

 

[lexmelinda]

Wow....great pictures, Jeff! The view of Wishes is spectacular. How far in advance of the fireworks did you have to stake out those seats? Thanks for sharing...can't wait to hear about Regis.

 

[pumba]

I love the photos of the castle and the fireworks......what awesome pictures....thanks for taking the time to post this.....anxious for the next installment

 

[Gdad]

Wow....great pictures, Jeff! The view of Wishes is spectacular. How far in advance of the fireworks did you have to stake out those seats? Thanks for sharing...can't wait to hear about Regis.

Thanks- it was not as busy as we have seen it in past years. There were maybe 20 people up on the train station platform watching wishes. We were off top the side a bit but it was not at all packed.

 

[Gdad]

Here's a little bit of the things we bought - mainly Christmas Ornaments and a picture frame.

I will try to post some more parade shots and finish up the story tomorrow night...Thanks for looking!

 

[KatGarcia]

Beautiful pictures!!! I can't wait to get there and see Wishes again, it was soooooo awesome! Hope you had a great time, and your kids are just precious!

 

[Gdad]

First off- sorry it took so long for this- when we first got back I was so hyped up the first page was easy- anyway. Here goes.

Day Two of Two

I guess Day Two technically started after midnight while we were still at MVMCP...

...but as I said we got back to POFQ by 1:30am and in bed by 2:00.

That would be exactly 6 hours from when we got our surprise wake-up call - or in this case - wake up pounding on the door - at 8:00am. As near as I could gather in my near comotose state they just wanted to hand deliver our express check-out statement (you know the one they usually just hang on the door with the little rubber band that is part of the envelope?) So the girls are awake now- if wife was annoyed by yesterday afternoon she is furious at this point, so I can tell we are off to a wonderful day.

So since I had taken a shower at 2:00 I (quickly) got dressed and let the rest of the family get ready in peace (probably the wrong word). I grabbed my camera, got some coffee, and took in the resort decorations, which were lovely.

After a quick breakfast at the food court we were on our way. First stop was to be the Grand Floridian to see the Gingerbread House we had seen on the food channel. The decorations were very nice throughout.

The tree was fantastic-

Click HERE to see the full size pano image.

From there we took the monorail over to MK as we had ADR's at Tony's for early afternoon. What a spectacle the Magic Kingdom was! Apparently they were pre-taping the Regis & Kelly Christmas Parade that day and Main Street was completely clogged for hours but it was interesting. Here are a few of the pictures.

We finished up the afternoon on a few rides and Tom Sawyer Island. As many times as I have been to MK - too many to count since I was a kid - I can't remember ever going over there. I found it to be kind of relaxing.

That evening we went back to GF to get our car. We had planned on going to see the Osbourne Light Show at MGM but time kind of crepped up on us- oh well- you always need to have a reason to come back again.

 

[2cutiepatooties]

So other than the room not being ready, how was POFQ? We are staying there in March for the first time.

 

[lexmelinda]

Don't know how I missed this update! Thanks again for the report on the short but fabulous trip. Your girls are adorable and your pictures incredible. I would love to see WDW all dolled up for Christmas. Gotta start working on DH! Thanks again!

 

[Gdad]

So other than the room not being ready, how was POFQ? We are staying there in March for the first time.

I still like it - of all the moderates I tink I like the theme here best. I will probably try for CS next time though as we absolutely loved it there about four years ago and have had no luck getting in since.

 

[southernbohemian]

Beautiful pictures, especially of the fireworks. The one with Santa cracked me up - the girls looked really thrilled.