Royal Me This, Royal Me That ~ Disney in December, How About That? *Update 6-1* P26

[Lady Lallie]

I don't know why it took that many lights to do it for me, but it did.

And here you have a little insight into LL's love of light fixtures.

I love slinky dog, he's so cute.

 

[jenjolt]

Oh. My. God.

Never in my life, folks. Never in my life.

But before we get to the Osbourne Lights, let's talk about the little journey we took to get there. After a little pit stop for all, we were ready to leave our wonderful, wonderful Brown Derby meal and head on out to see the Osbourne Lights. We went by way of Pixar Place. Mostly for ha has, to see how long of a wait TSM was. All the fastpasses gone and about 90 minutes. No, thank you. I came to see some decorations!

But we did stop along the way, and HRH played in the little shop they have off to the side. I like to let him do this because it helps him to blow off some steam, and plus, it was getting very close to bed time, and we'd had a long day. He went right for the Slinky Dog again. I don't know if this was in my September trip report or not, but that boy LOVES that Slinky Dog from Toy Story.

Three guesses as to what happened next?

While HRH is distracted, Mom grabs one, has the CM ring it and ships it to the resort. Can you say Christmas present? Either that or birthday, I'm not sure. And honestly, if she hadn't, I would have. That's the second time I've watched him play with that, and it would definitely have been purchased.

So after he'd had his fill, we made our way over to the Osbourne Lights.

Oh. My. God.

Honestly, this is a time when words...well, they just don't do it justice. I must tell you, kids, this was without a doubt, my favorite thing on the whole trip. And honestly, this first night was my favorite night. Wonderful meal, good time, amazing, amazing Christmas lights.

I felt like a kid. I had tears in my eyes, and I watched HRH watch the lights, and Mom and Nana watch the lights and we all took it in together for the first time. And in that moment, I was glad that I came. Glad that I put myself out there, even though I knew it would be hard.

It was just...unbelievable.

And then the timing to music! The way the lights synced up with different holiday songs! Could it get any better?

Now, it was a little too loud for HRH, so there's actually this hilarious photo of me holding my hands over his ears, him staring at the lights, and me staring at the lights with my jaw wide open. I mean wide open. "Close your mouth, Michael, we are not a codfish." Seriously.

I know I said I felt like a kid. I did. I felt about five years old. I felt young, and innocent. Don't laugh. I felt that wonder that you can only feel when you're little. I don't know why it took that many lights to do it for me, but it did. Every inch of every building covered. So, so, so beautiful.

And it's so beautiful, dear friends, that all the photos are going to be in an entirely separate post. I don't even know if they'll fit in one.

We shall see.

And I had no plans to write this today. But I thought, what better gift to all of you on Christmas Eve than this royal discourse and some beautiful photos from the happiest place on earth?

Who wants to feel five again?

The Osbourne Lights are the one reason I'm going in December with my mom!! I want to feel five again and have that "magical" experience when I see the lights come on and I want to share that with my Mom!!

TK..thank you for the special treat today...I love the way you tell your stories...its like I have a front row seat to your adventure..you have talent lady!!!!

Hope you and HRH and DH have a very Merry Christmas!!!!

 

[TarzansKat]

All these photographs can be attributed to my mother using Nana's camera on night mode. My camera didn't even come close to some of the shots here, so I'm not including them. I think Mom did a fantastic job, and without further ado, here it is.

Even looking at these just doesn't do it justice. My memory is so much stronger than these photos. I know I'll never forget it as long as I live.

 

[jenjolt]

Those are amazing pictures

It's like the heavens opened up and a choir of angels starting singing!!! Tell your mom WOW!!!

 

[TarzansKat]

Wow, you guys are quick!

And here you have a little insight into LL's love of light fixtures.

Ha! I never thought of it that way.

I love slinky dog, he's so cute.

I can't wait to see HRH open it.

The Osbourne Lights are the one reason I'm going in December with my mom!! I want to feel five again and have that "magical" experience when I see the lights come on and I want to share that with my Mom!!

Oh, I can only imagine how it must feel to see it go from black to all that light. We got there after the lighting, and for me it was just turning that corner and taking it all in. WOW!

TK..thank you for the special treat today...I love the way you tell your stories...its like I have a front row seat to your adventure..you have talent lady!!!!

Thank you so much! I always question whether or not I'm really doing these memories justice, but you all make me feel so good about my writing. Thanks!

Hope you and HRH and DH have a very Merry Christmas!!!!

Thank you! Merry Christmas to you and yours!

 

[TarzansKat]

Those are amazing pictures

It's like the heavens opened up and a choir of angels starting singing!!! Tell your mom WOW!!!

I will tell her! She'll be so pleased. She really takes great photos. Honestly, I rarely have to get professional photos done of HRH because between me and my mom, we've got it covered.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Beautiful photos. You can tell her we said so and then call her a camel.

 

[TarzansKat]

Beautiful photos. You can tell her we said so and then call her a camel.

And again, I say, had I but known that the camel thing would be so funny.

 

[maroo]

wow...how beautiful!!!

I want to be 5!

Count me in!

might just have to plan me a Christmas trip one year to see the lights.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I wanna be 5 too!

The lights are amazing. Incredible. And the dancing. It's incredible.

Was it crowded the night you visited? One night I was there we were crammed in like sardines!

 

[TarzansKat]

wow...how beautiful!!!

I want to be 5!

Count me in!

might just have to plan me a Christmas trip one year to see the lights.

I think it's worth it to do at least once.

I wanna be 5 too!

The lights are amazing. Incredible. And the dancing. It's incredible.

Was it crowded the night you visited? One night I was there we were crammed in like sardines!

It was definitely crowded. Being that it was a Saturday, I think we had a lot of local people in addition to those who were vacationing, and it made for some tight quarters. But it wasn't the worst crowds I saw on the trip, oddly enough. So I never even had a panic attack. Plus, I was in a great mood. When the claustrophobia hit, I had had a DAY. That's just a little something for you all to look forward to.

 

[MegansMom]

My dear TK---I have learned two things today as I sit and read your last two updates that I have to catch up on:

1. NEVER read a TK update about a meal WITH FOOD ART included on an empty stomach!!!!! VERY bad decision on my part---I am sure I have salivated right onto my laptop!

2. The Osborne Lights are enough reason for me to go back again in November or December!!! I knew you would love them---I knew you would have the same exact reaction I had to them last year!!! I JUST KNEW IT!!!! But I did not know that hearing about them again and all their glory and seeing them in the pictures, would instill in me a HUGE desire to go back for the sheer purpose of seeing them!!! ;o)

 

[2ScottishPrincesses]

Hi TK, loving the report so far. Those picies of the lights are gorgeous . Hope you're all well and thriving

 

[TarzansKat]

My dear TK---I have learned two things today as I sit and read your last two updates that I have to catch up on:

1. NEVER read a TK update about a meal WITH FOOD ART included on an empty stomach!!!!! VERY bad decision on my part---I am sure I have salivated right onto my laptop!

Hee hee. I had to learn that the hard way, too. Never, ever read a food review on the DIS when you're hungry. Honsetly, even when I'm not hungry, oh my goodness, some of the art just gets to me.

2. The Osborne Lights are enough reason for me to go back again in November or December!!! I knew you would love them---I knew you would have the same exact reaction I had to them last year!!! I JUST KNEW IT!!!! But I did not know that hearing about them again and all their glory and seeing them in the pictures, would instill in me a HUGE desire to go back for the sheer purpose of seeing them!!! ;o)

I don't know if I'll ever go at that time of year again. I'm a HUGE fan of going during off season, like September. I love fall in Disney. But I can't deny that the holiday spirit was magical, and the Osbourne Lights was...yeah, I think it was my favorite thing on the trip.

Hi TK, loving the report so far. Those picies of the lights are gorgeous . Hope you're all well and thriving

Hey, 2SP! Hope you and your family are doing well! Glad you're enjoying the report.

 

[trixiequilts]

I know nothing about The Lights, but I NEVER imagined them to be like that! Holy carp!

 

[TarzansKat]

I know nothing about The Lights, but I NEVER imagined them to be like that! Holy carp!

It was really quite amazing.

 

[TarzansKat]

Well, as all good things must come to an end, so must this night at the World. I could have stayed watching The Osbourne Lights forever. But it had been a long day, and we had a whole weekend ahead of us.

Now, at one point during our stay in the land of light, HRH got really tired. And I could tell he'd just hit the point where he was done. So I let him recline in his stroller, and walked up and down the street as best I could, and in less than five minutes, he was out.

So as we decided to walk out, we were able to take our time, because HRH was sleeping. Mom and I wanted to stop in one of our favorite MGM shops. I believe its called Keystone Clothiers, but I'm not sure. I could be making that up. At any rate, it's on a corner, and it usually has a great assortment of women's clothing.

Well, there were a combination of things working against us this evening. See, all the cold Floridians were walking around in their sweatshirts. TK, the New Englander? Not so much. I had a tee on and I was very comfortable. Honestly I think it was in the upper 60s low 70s that night. So when we walked into that store, we were hit with a blast of hot air so unbelievably warm it was stifling. That and all the other people packing in there, and Mom and I just weren't feeling it.

Ah well. There's always next year.

Now we did stop and take some pictures on our walk out.

We fondly called these the Minettes. They were doing a little can can.

I totally forgot about this! We blinged out HRH's stroller. I had wanted to do battery operated Christmas lights, but couldn't find any. Let me tell you though, that gold garland was awesome for finding that stroller when we parked it!

When we took a look at the boat dock, we knew we were going to have a wait. The line was LONG. But I really didn't care. I had that whole it is what it is mentality going on and I was in love with having seen those lights. In short, all was good in my world. That and the sleeping toddler, and I could have waited...well, not forever, but you get the idea.

I chatted up a lovely family behind us in a line for a while. They had three girls, and were local, about an hour or two away and had just come for the weekend as well. The girls were very sweet. I remember how nice they were, what a great little family.

We got on the second boat that came, which was fine by me. I didn't consider it to be too bad.

Now we had an entertaining crew, let me tell you. And I just about died when the first mate introduced himself and the captain. "I'm blah blah blah, and this is Captain Jack."

Ba da bum.

No joke, the captain's name was Jack.

You can call a trip royal, but no matter what you do, the pirate just gravitates to this girl, savvy?

They were a great crew, telling lots of jokes, and discovering someone with happy birthday button in the front row. You can imagine what happened next, right? The whole boat sang Happy Birthday to Jennifer. It was so much fun. I don't remember the last time I had that much fun on a boat. Seriously, it's that kind of attitude that is the embodiment of Disney. Keeping people entertained even when you don't have to. When you could have just silently steered that ship, only announcing when you were dropping people off, and instead, they made it fun. It passed the time. And before I knew it, we were back at the Yacht Club, and ready to make our way to the room.

On the way back, we passed the great little set up they have for movies on the beach. How cool is that?

On our way back to the room we stop at the gift shop to get drinks. I pay for mine. I know Mom and Nana will cover everything if I let them, but I really wanted to do some things for myself, if that makes any sense. We decide we're too tired to shop, and we'll go later.

We get back to the room absolutely pooped, and all the ladies slip into...well, their slippers! Let me tell you, it was wonderful to have a pair of slippers to put on my feet at the end of every day. Just heaven. I may have already said that, but in case you weren't paying attention.

Eventually we heard a bit of a ruckus, and discovered that we could see Illuminations from our room! SCORE!

Seriously?

How lucky am I? Wishes from my Wilderness Lodge room in September, and now Illuminations from my Yacht Club room in December? Count me grateful. HRH slept through the whole thing. We spent a good bit of time getting everything unpacked, during which I left HRH in the stroller.

When I was finally ready to go to bed, I took him out and get him dressed in his jams and overnight diaper. Which was no mean feat. I mean, he didn't wake up. At all. Which I was grateful for! But he kept curling up into these positions that made it really difficult to undress / redress him. It was kind of funny. I ended up taking a few pictures that will never, ever get posted on here. There may have been a naked bottom involved.

Up next - Day Two

 

[Lady Lallie]

Sounds like a lovely exit. I love those relaxing endings to Disney Days. I also love boats but you already knew that. Your boat ride reminds me of the ride we had on our last night, it was so much fun!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Lovin' the stroller bling! Too cute!

Okay, here is my question for you -- the boats from DHS to YC/BC -- I read that they were really claustrophobic and get really hot -- is that true? Because I have a fear of being trapped in a sweltering boat packed with tons of people. Not really a fear, perhaps, but a concern.

Illuminations from your room??? Seriously??? Okay, that one is definitely a plus!

 

[TarzansKat]

Sounds like a lovely exit. I love those relaxing endings to Disney Days. I also love boats but you already knew that. Your boat ride reminds me of the ride we had on our last night, it was so much fun!

I hate to be a killjoy, but...

this was really the best night of the whole trip. I don't want you all to think I didn't have any fun on the rest of it, because I did, but this was by far, the best.