Shenanigans, Tomfoolery & Mayhem, Oh My! A Christmas/New Year's TR (New 6/12!)

[Victoriasmom98]

Wow....with all you went through to get there and then to be seated in the dark, in the back, with cold food? I think I would have broken out in hysterics!! That is soooooooooo un-Disney like! I'm glad you enjoyed the show and you are a better person than me as I would have been upset for the rest of the evening. Wow....it's all I can say.

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

Wow....with all you went through to get there and then to be seated in the dark, in the back, with cold food? I think I would have broken out in hysterics!! That is soooooooooo un-Disney like! I'm glad you enjoyed the show and you are a better person than me as I would have been upset for the rest of the evening. Wow....it's all I can say.

Believe me, I was thisclose to going medieval on someone or busting out crying. I was SO emotional about the whole thing. But my mom and brother were adamant about "not making a scene" and I gave in to them in an effort to try to salvage the evening. At that point, I decided to just be in the moment, and the show really is awesome.

Have no fear, the Hoop Dee Doo saga isn't over...I'm just telling things in the order they happened. Stay tuned for the resolution!

 

[marDgreen88]

AHHH DONALD!

Excuse me.

Wow, that's such a shame about all that happened. I really wish yall would have sent back the food anyway! I'm so glad the show was enjoyable either way though. I really want to go someday, and I thank you for (unintentionally) teaching me that I should go after a day spent at MK!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

AHHH DONALD!

Excuse me.

Wow, that's such a shame about all that happened. I really wish yall would have sent back the food anyway! I'm so glad the show was enjoyable either way though. I really want to go someday, and I thank you for (unintentionally) teaching me that I should go after a day spent at MK!

Donald is one adorable duck!

Yeah, it was like a comedy of errors...only no one was laughing. There's a bit more to the story, so stay tuned for that! You should definitely do the Doo! Going directly from MK is a GENIUS idea!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

Day 1, Chapter 8—Back on Track​

“It's the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we smile a little easier, we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year we are the people that we always hoped we would be.” (Scrooged)​

We had to wait a bit for the crowd to thin out so we could get to the scooters, but soon enough we were outside in the crisp, chilly, oh-so-Christmasy air.

There were a lot of kids running around, CMs blowing bubbles, and a hula hoop contest in full twirl. Bee jumped right into the middle of things and had a fine time. Unfortunately, I was hurting and didn’t take pictures. Sadness. FW was really pretty, all lit up for the holidays! I found some photos on Flickr, taken by the exceptionally talented figmentfan84. Here are just a couple to give you an idea of what it was like.

There were plenty of buses waiting, and we boarded one bound for POR with no waiting…dillydallying so Brianna could play worked in our favor! She wasn’t happy to be leaving but cheered up when the bus driver offered her a lavender princess balloon that had been abandoned. I felt bad for the little girl who was probably crying because it was gone…and for whoever had paid $12 for the thing!

We made it back to POR with no transportation problems, and I hoped this was a good omen the rest of the trip…Christmas is the time for miracles, right? In spite of the Transportation Tragedy of 2012 and the pain in my knee, I was feeling blessed and happy. After all, it was a beautiful Christmas Eve night at Disney, I was surrounded by most of my favorite people, and I was going to be sleeping in a royal guest room while fireworks exploded over my bed. We rolled/strolled by the river, our voices filling the quiet night; and I had a moment of perfect contentment, reminding me that things don’t have to be perfect to be perfect, you know?

I love this fountain…unfortunately, the pictures don’t do it justice!

Hmm…maybe super saturated from a different perspective…

Brianna agreed to one (and only one) photo with her helium-filled treasure…

…and then passed it off to her dad to hold…

…because a great dad will smile while he holds your pretty princess balloon and wears a silly Christmas hat!

Have I mentioned that I love my brother?

So pretty…tell me again why I can’t live here all the time?

Gabriel and I left the others and went back to our room where my knight in shining armor made me an ice pack. In short order I was feeling much better.

Since neither of us had eaten much at HDDR, we were both famished, and the three broken Bugles left from the drive over were NOT enough. Gabriel went on a food court run and returned with a veritable plethora of gastronomy…a pasta dish for me, burger and fries for him and carrot cake, cheesecake, and an apple pastry thing to share.

Here’s the thing…I don’t do cooked fruit. At all. Ever. That means no fruit pies, strudels, turnovers, crisps, or cobblers of any kind.

Embrace the weirdness!

We ate dessert first because we’re cool like that. I had the carrot cake (because vegetable desserts are perfectly OK), and he had the icky cooked fruit. We shared the cheesecake. All of them were yummy…Gabriel is still talking about that apple thingy. The pasta and burger were very good…and big, too. The burger had bacon, barbecue sauce, and deep fried onion rings on it, and it smelled divine. My pasta was packed with shrimp, and the Alfredo sauce was perfect. POR has the best food court of all the Disney resorts I’ve stayed at!

Gabriel found it odd that there wasn’t a microwave in the room (he noticed because we had leftovers that went into the fridge with no way to heat them up), so I told him if it’s that important to him, we can always stay at GF or one of the DVC resorts. Bay Lake Tower, here I come!

I wish!

Up next: A Fine Romance

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Very nice update and how fortunate for Bee to get the balloon. Those things are so darned expensive! Yes, POR is so beautiful and that's why we are going back in August. Your brother looks so precious with the balloon! Oh, and the hat!

 

[marDgreen88]

Hahha I'm glad you finally got a nice dinner.

(I don't do cooked fruit either... specifically apples. Ew.)

POR looks so pretty.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Wow, your transportation difficulties sound so frustrating!!! I probably would have given up long before you did and just hailed a cab! Glad that you were still able to be seated at HDDR though!!! The show does sound like a lot of fun!

That is a HUGE princess balloon!!! What a nice surprise from the bus driver!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

Very nice update and how fortunate for Bee to get the balloon. Those things are so darned expensive! Yes, POR is so beautiful and that's why we are going back in August. Your brother looks so precious with the balloon! Oh, and the hat!

Thank you!

Yes, the balloons are outrageously overpriced, but I have to say that even after ten days, it was full of helium and floating just as high as the night she got it.

I think the hat kinda makes that picture!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

Hahha I'm glad you finally got a nice dinner.

(I don't do cooked fruit either... specifically apples. Ew.)

POR looks so pretty.

LOL...the food was SO good, probably because we were SO hungry!

Finally, someone who understands that cooked fruit is just wrong. So WRONG!

Staying at POR is like stepping back in time!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

Wow, your transportation difficulties sound so frustrating!!! I probably would have given up long before you did and just hailed a cab! Glad that you were still able to be seated at HDDR though!!! The show does sound like a lot of fun!

That is a HUGE princess balloon!!! What a nice surprise from the bus driver!

It was beyond frustrating, partly because I've never experienced anything like that in all the times I've been to WDW. Luckily, it got lots better after that.

I thought about getting a cab, but with two scooters that I didn't know how to break down, I was afraid it might be biting off more than I could chew. Aaargh!

I know! It was definitely some much needed pixie dust at the end of the night!

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

This trip report is being interrupted for an important announcement...​

I have an extra Eugene Fitzherbert trading pin for anyone who wants it. It's an official Disneyland Paris trading pin that was issued as part of a four-piece Rapunzel set. I don't want anything for it, and I'll send it to the first person who PMs me their name and address.

I promise I'm not a stalker, and you'll never hear from me again!

Please note that I don't have it in hand yet. A friend of mine is bringing it back from Paris next week. The reason I have an extra is that I'm also getting the four-piece set (Rapunzel, Eugene, Maximus, and Pascale). I just want to pay the Pixie Dust forward!

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming....​

Day 1, Chapter 9—A Fine Romance​

“Christmas is awesome. First of all you get to spend time with people you love. Secondly, you can get drunk and no one can say anything. Third, you give presents. What’s better than giving presents? And fourth, getting presents. So, four things. Not bad for one day. It’s really the greatest day of all time.” (The Office)​

I love Christmas, and Christmas loves me back.

I love Christmas more than Monorail Voice Guy (the original), more than Eugene Fitzherbert, more than Illuminations, more than…well, you get the idea. And what I love most are the traditions that bind each Christmas to the last and connect me to the people I love, no matter how far apart we are or how long it’s been since we shared the merriest and most magical season of all.

After we ate, Gabriel hooked up the DVD player we’d brought with us, and we settled in to enjoy some movies. During the season, we watch a lot of different holiday movies, but on Christmas Eve we start with the silly Elf, move on to the sentimental Miracle on 34th Street, and end with the sublime It’s A Wonderful Life. I called my brother to see if they wanted in on the fun, and Mom and Brianna came over, giving Earl and Lenny a chance to do some Christmas stuff.

Bee and Mom made it through Elf, but afterwards they were both sleepy and decided to go back to their room. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was tired, too. Gabriel and I decided to skip Kris Kringle and go straight to our old friend George Bailey. Before Harry fell through the ice, I was out, and the next thing I knew it was Christmas!

Christmas morning at Disney…could anything be better?

I think not!

I woke very early…like 5 a.m. early. What the...? I tried to go back to sleep, but no dice. Maybe I should have tried longer than two minutes. I crept around the room like Cary Grant stealing Grace Kelly’s diamond necklace so as not to awaken the hibernating bear and then slipped out the door on a super secret Santa assignment.

But more on that later!

I also grabbed my mug so I could fill it with a hot beverage; and after successfully completing my mission, I went in search of go-juice. Knowing that Disney coffee is notoriously…what’s the word I’m looking for…oh, yeah, DISGUSTING, I packed a variety of flavors of Via (God’s gift to the coffee industry) for the trip. My choice for Christmas morning? Peppermint mocha!

The lobby was empty, peaceful, and beautiful.

Hey, lookie who I found! Earl and Lenny were on a coffee run, too, but didn’t stick around long because they wanted to be sure they were in the room when Brianna woke up.

Riverside Mill was just as empty as the lobby, but I have no pictures to prove it. Blame it on caffeine deprivation. A CM and I had a nice chat about how glad we are that Starbucks and Disney World have teamed up and how sub-par Nescafe (shudder) is. The coffee must have kicked in a little bit because I finally took a picture…

Gabriel called to see where I was, and since he was awake, I headed back to the room. I was pretty excited to give him his present!

Up next: Christmas Surprises are the Best Surprises…

----Continued in the next post----

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

-----Continued from previous post----​

Day 2, Chapter 10—Christmas Surprises are the Best Surprises​

“The best Christmas show of all-time is the Star Wars holiday special shown only once in 1978 and then locked away in the Lucas film vault like the precious jewel it is. Every fanboy in the galaxy knows it’s completely awesome.” (Glee—Extraordinary Christmas)​

Lumiere: “Master, we all understand how you feel about Christmas. But when a woman gives a man a gift, she's saying, I care about you."
Beast: “But I don't have a gift for her.”
Lumiere: “It's not too late.”
Beast: [huffs] “Well, I guess I'll get her a little something.”
(Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas)​

When Disney took over Marvel Comics and Star Wars, they did me a HUGE favor because Gabriel is a comic book/Star Wars geek along the same lines as Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper. Thanks, Disney, for upping your cool quotient and making my life easier!

I wanted to get him something great for Christmas, but we had agreed not to spend a lot on each other this year because a ten-day Disney trip is a pretty awesome gift all by itself. The thing is, I’m not real good at limits…I’m more of a defying gravity kind of girl.

He collects Star Wars memorabilia, so I decided to go that route and found a Return of the Jedi poster signed by Harrison Ford. I was able to negotiate the price and even got the seller to throw in a cool T-shirt.

Boo-yah!

So, what was his reaction?

I’m not sure, but I think he liked it.

I didn’t have time to have it framed before Christmas, and evidently it has to have some preservation technique done to it, and special glass has to be ordered. I really have no idea…when Gabriel was telling me about it, I completely zoned out and heard Charlie Brown’s teacher in my head. At any rate, I’ll post a photo when we get it back.

He apologized because he didn’t have anything extravagant for me, but I wasn’t expecting anything, so I wasn’t disappointed. He gave me a Disney gift card and a small bottle of my favorite perfume.

Oh, wait, there was one other little thing….

…Tickets to The Lion King…and a weekend in New York!

He actually apologized because it’s not until February…LIKE I CARE…I’ M GOING TO NEW YORK TO SEE THE LION KING ON BROADWAY!!

I mean, whatever. It could be fun.

He ordered the tickets while he was celebrating an early Christmas with his kids, and his daughter made the very cool announcement below. I love that she basically made Gabriel and me Mufasa and Sarabi in the top left photo. I guess that makes her Simba?

So much for our deal to not go overboard on each other this year!!

We had a breakfast ADR at Kona at 9:35 and were at the bus stop a few minutes before 8. Mom woke with a bad headache, so she chose to rest in the room where it was quiet. Brianna was not happy to be awake, let alone awake and on a dreaded Disney bus.

Remember the nursery rhyme about the little girl with the curl? I love Brianna very much, but it describes her to a T. She pouted all the way to MK, where we disembarked off so we could catch that single-track marvel of the modern world.

The crowd outside MK was HUGE. Later on we heard that it was closed for capacity by 10 a.m. Good thing we weren’t going there!

---Continued in Next Post----

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

----Continued from Previous Post----​

Day 2, Chapter 11—Christmas Morning (continued)​

“I thought maybe we could make gingerbread houses, and eat cookie dough, and go ice skating, and maybe even hold hands.” (Elf)​

Going up the ramp makes me happy, and not even Bee’s bad attitude could dampen my joy at being reunited with my darling monorail…or in our case, the Avengerail! Gabriel ripped the camera from around my neck so fast that he almost dislocated a few vertebrae and started snapping away. We rode it several times during our stay, and every time he saw it he had to take pictures of it (I have no idea which photos were taken what day). Sort of like me with a certain piece of Magic Kingdom real estate. Try teasing me about my Castle obsession now and see what happens!

Captain America is ranked sixth on the list of Top 100 comic book heroes. (Yes, there really is a list of the top 100 comic book heroes…I was surprised, too.) Gabriel thinks he should be second only to Superman. In case you’re interested, he also rejects Batman as a “superhero” because Bruce Wayne has no supernatural abilities. Don’t even get him started on mixing up DC Comics and Marvel Comics characters. Please, I beg of you, don’t get him started!

“Yes, honey, I know you appreciate Scarlett Johansson because she’s an exceptionally fine actress. And I saw Magic Mike three times because of the brilliant storyline.”

Note to self: Never call him “Bow and Arrow Guy” in Gabriel’s presence again. He was only too happy to give me a dissertation on Hawkeye. Sigh. That’s 45 minutes of my life I’ll never get back.

Sometimes I tell Gabriel that Lou Ferigno’s performance as Hulk is highly underrated and it’s too bad they didn’t use him in The Avengers. Watching his head spin around just never gets old.

Iron Man’s burning question is, “Does the man make the suit, or does the suit make the man?” Well, duh, ROBERT DOWNEY, JR. makes both of them!

I once made the mistake of saying that I think Thor is pretty (well, he is). Gabriel was offended on behalf of the Son of Odin, reminding me quite adamantly that Thor is a SUPERHERO FOR GOD’S SAKE. And that’s why he’s no longer allowed to tease me about my deep and abiding love for Eugene Fitzherbert.

----Continued in next post----

 

[SoNotAPrincess]

----Continued from previous post----​

Day 2, Chapter 12—Even More Christmas Morning​

"Does someone need a hug?" (Elf)​

We enjoyed our all-too-brief ride with the Avengers, and Brianna was still sullen and cranky as we checked in at Kona and got our buzzer. Earl had had enough and called her down for her attitude. She started to melt down, so Lenny took her off to the ladies room for a discussion on appropriate behavior.

We waited maybe ten minutes to be seated and ordered almost right away (macadamia nut pancakes for me; Tonga toast for the boys, Mickey pancakes for Bee; and an omelet for Lenny).

We were sipping our drinks when I said, “Hey, Beezer, did you like what Gabriel and I got you for Christmas?”

This is the face I got:

Probably because we hadn’t given her anything.

“Hmmm,” I said, thoughtfully, looking at Gabriel. “You didn’t give it to her?”

He shook his head. “I thought you gave it to her.”

“She probably wouldn’t like it anyway.”

“I would probably like it!” she exclaimed. “I will like it!”

“Are you sure?” Gabriel asked. “It’s a pretty big risk.”

“Yeah,” I added. “We could totally ruin Christmas by giving you something you don’t like. That would be the worst.”

As you can see, she didn’t appreciate us teasing her…

Since she was sure she’d LOVE it no matter what it might be, we decided to chance it, and I held up this sign for her to read…

This was her reaction….

It was totally worth getting up at dark-thirty and driving to the Poly to surprise her. They held the sign for me at the front desk, and when she had her meltdown and had to be taken to the ladies room, Gabriel ran down to get it; and we stashed it under the table.

I love it when a plan comes together!!

Her mood changed immediately, and she chattered about BBB, riding Aladdin’s magic carpet, and meeting Jasmine throughout the meal. Yes, the princess who ran away from home and hooked up with a wily street thief and his pet monkey is my niece’s favorite. Lord help us all.

Kona is my favorite place for breakfast in all of WDW, and I must eat there EVERY SINGLE TIME. I like Tonga toast, but for me it’s all about the Macadamia nut pancakes. I don’t know whose idea it was to put Macadamia nuts IN THE BUTTER, but they’re a freakin’ culinary genius!

Gabriel perused a lot of WDW menus in advance of the trip. And when I say a lot, I mean ALL of them. I got pretty tired of hearing, “Honey, are we eating at (insert restaurant name)? This (insert dish) sounds great.” He’s like the Anthony Bourdain of Disney World! He was pretty excited about trying Tonga toast, and it exceeded his expectations. He declared it the best thing he’s had for breakfast EVER. He waxed rhapsodic about it for 15 minutes and only stopped because I told him he could probably meet the chef if he wanted. I was totally joking, but he was all about it.

The chef was very nice, and they had a pleasant chat about whether or not it’s worth the trouble to scrape fresh vanilla beans in your recipes (yes, it is, in case you’re wondering). I wasn’t really listening, though, because I was sidetracked…

It’s not the first time I’ve been distracted by chocolate, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

Up Next: Deluxe Decorations and Captivating Cupcakes

 

[Victoriasmom98]

“Yes, honey, I know you appreciate Scarlett Johansson because she’s an exceptionally fine actress. And I saw Magic Mike three times because of the brilliant storyline.”

Note to self: Never call him “Bow and Arrow Guy” in Gabriel’s presence again. He was only too happy to give me a dissertation on Hawkeye. Sigh. That’s 45 minutes of my life I’ll never get back.

Sometimes I tell Gabriel that Lou Ferigno’s performance as Hulk is highly underrated and it’s too bad they didn’t use him in The Avengers. Watching his head spin around just never gets old.

OMG!!! Laughing out loud. You are a riot and I probably would have said some of the same things. (but, again, I'm sacastic that way!!!) Love the spinning head referrence! My hubby goes into a dissertation about old farm tractors......yeah, so exciting....thanks hun!!

 

[Jenna319]

Loving your report! I am also a huge fan of the macadamian pancakes at kona. We were at WDW from 12/29-1/8. Can't wait to see where you spent NYE! We were at epcot.

 

[MK2010]

You're report is totally hilarious and I'm loving it. I can't wait to see what the rest of Christmas Day holds. I've always said I wouldn't go to WDW at Christmas because of the crowds so I'm eager to see how you dealt with them! I LOVE Christmas too. In fact, since we choose not to celebrate Halloween with trick or treating, we use that day to put up our Christmas tree! I am totally NOT kidding (It ususally comes down New Year's Eve/DAy just in case you're wondering.) ANyway, more more more! (Please )

 

[MelMel11]

Count me in!!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Christmas morning at Disney - how cool!!! Yours and Gabriel's gifts for each other are so sweet! And what an awesome gift for Brianna!

Hahaha DF can go on and on about the superheroes too, I totally hear you on that! Gabriel got some great shots of the Avengerail!