The 5 trips of My "Disney Free Year" - A Mermaid, A Buzz, A Boat and A Steak - 7/8

[not_Joanna_eggs]

That's really too bad that you waited all that time to use those TSM fastpasses and never got to ride. At least it sounds like you enjoyed Fantasmic for the most part.

Well.... we didn't get to ride then, but all wasn't lost. More on that later though...

Fantasmic was fun. It's not an every-trip thing for us, but it was fun to see!

That sucks about TSM! So close!

So...do you love Fantasmic? I've only been once, years ago, and all I really remember about it is how much those benches hurt after a while! Since then, it hasn't seemed worth all the crowds to me. But sometimes I feel like I might be missing out?

There's nothing like being so close to a great ride and not being able to ride it!

Fantasmic was neat to watch - but I don't think it's like super-awesome-must-see-every trip. It's kind of predictable, but what do you expect from a theme park show - even Disney. I think you should check it out if you haven't in a while - but if you have the chance to go to the Disneyland one instead - see that one! Yes the seats are super uncomfortable and there's always a snotty kid with a glow toy in front of you.. just saying.

HI!
Just found your TR this morning and spent the last hour or so reading through!!!
So now I'm caught up!!
We were at WDW on Dec. 27 - Jan 1st and we really beat the crowds by being up for the rope drops and using the EMH's!

I was glad to read that your opinion of the movie at WD - one man's dream was not a big deal as we decided to skip that!!

I look forward to more updates and photos!!

Debbie

Hi Debbie - Thanks for joining the insanity.

Wow we really just missed each other! The early mornings really were a blessing to avoid the crowds. It took every bit of will power I had to get up - i'm so not a morning person - but it was so worth it!

The exhibits at OMD are much better than the movie - good call skipping it!

You're in luck - I've got more of both coming up

LOL, I had to scroll back to catch your comment to keep scrolling

HAHA You know me - always trying to keep you on your toes!

I've never done Fantasmic. It looks kind of fun though!

That stinks about TSM. I wish you'd gotten your fastpasses

If you've never done it, I think Fantasmic is worth it. It's fun every once in a while - though Nory's right - the benches are really uncomfortable!

TSM was a bust that time - but just hold on... we might get some pixie dust...

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

After Fantasmic (we went to the 2nd show, if I didn’t mention that already…) the park was still open for 2 hrs, but the crowds had really thinned out. This was surprising as it was Christmas Adam (you know…. The day before Christmas Eve… when I was 7 that was hilarious and it stuck.)

So we once again split up. Panic and DH braved the post-Fantasmic crush and headed to TOT.

Then they went to the single rider line for RnRC.

They both wanted to do the fist of rock for their pictures.

DH was able to convince the complete strangers in his car – way to be a good sport random strangers!

Queenie, Grumpy and I headed over to the Osborne Lights.

I have seen pictures of these on DIS before, but really they don’t do it justice. They are just amazing. I really hadn’t said too much, just that I wanted to go – and Queenie and Grumpy were blown away.

Okay folks, get your scrolling fingers ready!

On you Marks

Get Set!

Scroll!

Okay quick take a picture so we can go back to looking at the lights!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

The lights are so bright they’re blurry!

That’s better!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Just when you thought I couldn’t surprise you – here’s a picture of a fountain just to throw you off your game.

Okay more lights…..

After we’d been seriously dazzled by the lights we headed back to the front of the park.

On our way we passed TSM – which still had a 102 minute wait (the park was only open for 45 minutes more!) Oh well.

But Grumpy decided to take a chance and try to shake some pixie dust out of tinkerbell. He walked up to the FP CM, and explained how we’d been denied our FPs earlier and she let us in! YAY.

They both really liked it, but couldn’t imagine waiting 100 minutes for it. I can’t say I disagree.

So finally we felt that we have done DHS as much as we wanted, so we headed out.

We’d never noticed this sign before – thanks for the shout-out DHS!

We headed back to the room to sleep and play some Epic Mickey.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Love your report! I'm glad to hear you weren't foiled by TSM entirely (I still have never been on it - NO patience for a line like that!).

 

[norybell]

Sooo...did you guys like, I dunno, look at some lights, or something??

I really have to stop working retail, so I can take time off and get to WDW for the Christmas decorations sometime!

(Wow, that sentence really displayed some messed-up priorities, didn't it?)

 

[Princess_K]

I just love the Osborne Lights!

That's great the TSM CM let you ride. A good way to end the night!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Glad you were able to ride TSM after all.

Isn't it cool how they have the Milwaukee sign? It's so random because all of the other ones on that sign are huge/famous cities. Maybe someone from around here made it. haha

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Love your report! I'm glad to hear you weren't foiled by TSM entirely (I still have never been on it - NO patience for a line like that!).

Hi there - thanks for joining in! TSM is fun, but I totally agree, it is not worth waiting in a 2 hour line!

Sooo...did you guys like, I dunno, look at some lights, or something??

I really have to stop working retail, so I can take time off and get to WDW for the Christmas decorations sometime!

(Wow, that sentence really displayed some messed-up priorities, didn't it?)

yeah, i guess there were a few lights

Yeah, working retail would really prevent a trip at that time. But it is so worth it if you can make it! and P.S. your priorities seem totally fine to me

I just love the Osborne Lights!

That's great the TSM CM let you ride. A good way to end the night!

We were so impressed with the Osborne Lights, they were amazing! We were so happy for the pixie dust. It was great!

Glad you were able to ride TSM after all.

Isn't it cool how they have the Milwaukee sign? It's so random because all of the other ones on that sign are huge/famous cities. Maybe someone from around here made it. haha

A trip to DHS wouldn't be complete without a ride on TSM, ToT or RnRc, so I was trilled we made it too.

I can't believe I never noticed that sign before. There must be a story behind it because it is pretty random comparatively.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Finally, it was Christmas Eve! We had planned on doing all the parks before Christmas day so we avoid the crowds. So this was a nice relaxing morning.

No Queenie, I’m not taking a picture of you in your jammies to post on the internet. No, not me!

After breakfast, we lounged around for a while just a nice peaceful morning.

By 11 we started discussing what to do. Panic wanted Mexican food for lunch. So Panic, DH and I decided Epcot was in our future. Queenie and Grumpy declined, and decided to stay back.

On our way to the bus, we decided to head to AK first to pick up Everest FPs so we could ride it on our way back.

Off to AK we go!

Hey, we’ll be in AK? That me jalapeno cheese pretzels!

You know what this calls for? SENIOR PORTRIAT POSE!

Soon we were arriving at the AK – could we be lucky with the crowds?

We ducked into the shops to avoid the bottleneck of discovery island. And that’s when I saw it…

My new love. I forgot all about the princess bag, and focused my sights on this beauty. The problem? The princess bag I wanted was $140, this one was $220…that’s a lot for a handbag. So we decided to wait….

So we headed out to Everest. My ankle was really hurting from my fall in Epcot a few days earlier, so I sent DH and Panic ahead and took my time to take pictures.

Have I ever mentioned that AK is my favorite park?

My summer home

I know the history, but I’m so sad I never got to ride the discovery boats, I just love how pretty the AK is!

Something from the hidden magic book – this little shrine things aligns almost perfectly with the mountain.

The standby line was over 100 minutes, so they grabbed FPs and we headed back to the front of the park.

Our destination was Epcot, but we had a mission to get some Advil and of course, a jalapeno pretzel.

The pretzel was the easy part

Soooooo good

Finding the advil was another story. Seriously, it shouldn’t have been that hard.

Definitely not advil… But super adorable

After talking to like 12 people, we found the Advil and headed on our way. We decided to hop on a Yacht/Beach bus instead of an Epcot bus so we could enter at the International Gateway.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Ahhh an empty bus - yep definitely super crowded.

I took advantage of the space and put my ankle up. It was really hurting me at that point.

When we arrived at the Yacht Club, we split up. DH and I hopped on the boat, and Panic walked and talked to Greg.

We arrived at Epcot to find a bunch of characters out. However, these were really random characters and they all had huge lines!

I think this is Rabbit from Whinnie the Pooh

Wheezer?

Um… the bear from Country Bear Jamboree? (If so why would he be at Epcot?)

Rafiki was there too – I knew who he was but still pretty random. Especially for Epcot.

So we met up with Panic and headed towards Mexico

I couldn’t resist a Canadian fence photo.

Oh yeah, it is Christmas…

Finally we made it to Mexico. We talked about trying one of the other restaurants, but of course we ended up at the Cava del Tequila..

Huh where are we?

Mmm glowing!

DH got some tequila.

And we got some guacamole and taquitos

Mmm…. I just love the cava!

We distracted ourselves with glowing things

Boo, all done!

After Mexico, we headed to Japan

When we arrived at Japan, the drummers were out, so we watched them for a bit.

We went to the store and Panic bout Greg a sake set for Christmas

They had a Sake bar in Japan (who knew?) Panic an I both loved the kinds we had – she unfiltered, me sparkling.

Then we headed to the front of the park and stopped in MouseGears, where I found my present for Greg. You know, cuz he loves Captain Eo so much!

So we decided to head back to resort to drop off our goods our trip to Epcot, a success.

 

[Purpleblanket]

loving the photos!

Debbie

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Hahaha I loved that little cart outside Captain EO with all the swag. I didn't know it had spread into Mousegears though. Definitely didn't think there would be that much (any?) demand for a Captain EO backpack or whatnot.

Also, I love the random character smattering in Epcot. I believe that is the penguin from Mary Poppins, but it would be pretty awesome if it was Wheezy.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

loving the photos!

Debbie

Thanks! I took a lot!

Hahaha I loved that little cart outside Captain EO with all the swag. I didn't know it had spread into Mousegears though. Definitely didn't think there would be that much (any?) demand for a Captain EO backpack or whatnot.

Also, I love the random character smattering in Epcot. I believe that is the penguin from Mary Poppins, but it would be pretty awesome if it was Wheezy.

I totally agree. I don't remember seeing Captain EO stuff in Mouse Gears in October. I kind of wonder if (hope that) they are trying to get rid of the merchandise because they are going to switch it out with something new and awesome (a girl can dream right?)

Oh, Marry Poppins makes way more sense than Wheezy! Though, that seems like it is even more random than Wheezy. I didn't even remember that there was a penguin in MP though. Guess I'll have to watch it again.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

After our afternoon of going to 2 parks and doing pretty much nothing, we headed back to the resort to drop our stuff off.

Got to the resort, and found Queenie and Grumpy playing Toy Story Mania on the Wii. Queenie proclaimed “why would anyone wait in a 102 minute line? This is exactly the same.” Can’t say I disagree.

They went to Saana for lunch. Grumpy had the Turkey Club Sandwich, and Queeine had the Salad Sampler. And for dessert they had a chai cream. They loved it. I was surprised since they’re not very adventurous eaters, but they even got the chai cream recipe to make at home (we have and it is yummy!)

After a brief visit, we headed back out to the AK to use our FPs.

My version of Disney Hell yeek!

The crowds had thinned considerably.

We passed the pretzel stand again, but we decided one a day was enough…

So we ambled our way back to the far reaches of AK. Maybe we should have stolen this rigshaw.

We rode Everest

The picture is bad, but we’re all waving at the Yetti .

We exited into the gift shop where we found or kin – squishy baby yetis!

We considered riding again, or hitting up Dinosaur, but it was getting late and we had to get ready, so we headed back.

Soon we were a the Exit, and headed back to the hotel. We chillaxed and got ready for our big dinner.

We clean up all pretty and stuff

We got to the GF and we were floored by the sheer number of people there. Yikes!

We tried to get close to the gingerbread house,

but quickly gave up and went to the 2nd floor and walked around.

 

[beachgirl2000]

Welcome back -- I would love to hear about your recent cruise! So jealous!!!

 

[norybell]

You all look so nice, all dressed up!

I'm very attached to Christmas at my parents' house. But I dunno...as the years go by and the family gets bigger and there's more travel involved, it all starts to feel a bit more stressful...

I guess what I'm saying here is: Christmas at Disney looks NICE!

 

[marymac123]

OK caught up. Reading your report makes me actually consider 2 things...#1-doing Christmas at Disney can be fun! And, #2(dare I say it) it might be fun with the whole family?? You have a great fun family!

 

[boys938]

Love the picture of you and DH by the tree. Makes me wish for Christmas. No, never mind. I am ready for April and our family vacation!

 

[meeko_33785]

I think I'm all caught up.

Loved the pictures of the rare characters at International Gateway. I think I might have braved that long line to see Rabbit since he's so rare to come by and I haven't seen him in years.