The Most Magical Time of Year! December 2018 TR Completed 5/8 New TR link!

[JKMastalski]

Never say never about Victoria and Albert's.... I always said that too, but now we've been twice! It's amazing and the most romantic night ever. My DH's favorite place - I make him use his fantasy football winnings to pay for it!!! HAHAHA

 

[ariane37]

I loved how they cycled through the shows super quick and that it didn’t just happen once a night.

We saw this for the first time last Thanksgiving and loved it! We did stand there and watched it cycle through like 3x lol. Ricky was watching intently; Chris had stayed back in his favorite place (our room) or there was no way he would have watched that long. Looking forward to seeing it again over NYE this year!

I told DH this year is going to be trip-heavy to get all of my Disney wiggles out before any kids haha because I can imagine bringing kiddos along changes trips a lot! Not necessarily in a bad way, because I cannot imagine seeing Disney through their eyes!

Aw Yes it's way different going with kids but it's wonderful really. Seeing their excitement and experiencing it all through their eyes. Plus then when they get older you can do adult only trips again and it'll be like something new

I saw this mask fabric in the store before our trip and just knew I needed to make some ears with it! And I love how they turned out! They just screamed POFQ to me!

I LOVE those! They are POFQ perfect

Dan was excited to see 1991 on the sewer grate (the year I was born)

Um, I won't even say where I was and what I was doing in 1991......

I now only have to eat at Citricos and V&A’s to have eaten at all of the monorail resort restaurants!

Please please PLEASE eat at Citricos, and soon! And as for Rony as your server

Hoping your current trip is off to a wonderful start!

 

[cinderaimee]

Dan was excited to see 1991 on the sewer grate (the year I was born) and thought it would be a cool pic with my ears.

I love the look around the resorts and your lunch at the Wave looks amazing!

Have so much fun this week!

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

Loving your TR! Your pictures are wonderful, and your ears are seriously the cutest! Have the most magical trip!

 

[Cloe Colton]

OH man I was WAAAAY behind! I am all caught up now!

Welcome back! haha

My favorite! Yum

You inspired me to try it! Great recommendation!

I hope they bring these back this year.

Me too! I think with all of the new mugs they are bringing out I think Disney realized just how successful the new options are! lol

I love it! Sometimes it is the simple things..

Right? He was actually sad that I was so quick in Sephora! I wish I had known

I never want to risk the whole grace period thing... Glad you made it!

It was stressful! I mean I kind of put us in the predicament with searching for my sweater and taking pictures but the important thing is that we made it!

That is so strange..

Right? I fail to understand how this day in age that the picture here is always wonky! lol

Sharing time with family and friends is really what Disney is all about!

We had a good time! It was almost nice that it was so busy because we had to slow down and find something else to do. And who can say no to Baseline Taphouse!?

Love the Christmas sweaters!
Have a great time!

Thanks! I originally bought two Mickey Mouse ones from Kohls but then I just couldn't pass these ones up from the Disney store!

I love your ears and sweater, very cute!
We love FQ, we have stayed 3 times now.
The Wave is a nice place, we have had breakfast there twice, yummy!
Have an awesome trip, we aren’t to far behind you, we leave in 1&1/2 weeks!

Thank you!

I think FQ is my favorite moderate. Riverside is nice but its just too big for me! (Although I've never stayed at Carribbean or Coronado but I think the size would bother me there too!)

I feel like it's a hidden gem!

Your pictures are so cute! POFQ is a great resort--love it!

I love your Mickey Christmas sweater and have a fabulous time on your trip!

Thank you!

I too really like The Wave! Although, I've yet to have lunch there...

I feel like most people probably do breakfast here with the buffet option but we enjoyed lunch! I definitely want to try out their breakfast though!

Your Port Orleans themed ears came out awesome!

Love the pics around the resort!

Sounds like a nice lunch with family!

Thank you! Once I saw the fabric I knew I had to make them!

I got 4 pages behind because I stopped getting notifications! Grr. And then a bunch of my quotes disappeared. Sigh. Today is not my Dis day apparently LOL

I hate when that happens! haha Welcome back!

I love this gif, and I use that line ALL. THE. TIME.

I love it!

This is absolutely hilarious.

I was laughing so hard!

I love your Minnie Christmas sweater!!

Thanks!

Visiting WDW at Christmas time is my absolute favorite!!! This report is making me SO excited that we will be back there this December!

It is just SO magical!! When will you be there in December?

 

[missjackiemcg]

It is just SO magical!! When will you be there in December?

We'll be on a cruise for Christmas and then at WDW afterward through New Year's. My favorite time of year!!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Never say never about Victoria and Albert's.... I always said that too, but now we've been twice! It's amazing and the most romantic night ever. My DH's favorite place - I make him use his fantasy football winnings to pay for it!!! HAHAHA

Hahaha I'm sure we'll get there at some point in our lives, its just not high on our list at the moment! Palo on our cruise was uber fancy and we felt so out of place so I can't imagine eating here! lol

We saw this for the first time last Thanksgiving and loved it! We did stand there and watched it cycle through like 3x lol. Ricky was watching intently; Chris had stayed back in his favorite place (our room) or there was no way he would have watched that long. Looking forward to seeing it again over NYE this year!

We definitely should have watched at least once more through! But I definitely felt like everyone else was ready to move on lol if it had been just DH and I, I definitely would have made him hang around longer! lol

Aw Yes it's way different going with kids but it's wonderful really. Seeing their excitement and experiencing it all through their eyes. Plus then when they get older you can do adult only trips again and it'll be like something new

I really can't wait to go with our kids someday! (I had some REAL baby fever on the trip with my Mom and Calista last week! lol) Just getting a couple more trips in without any real responsibilities! hahaha

I LOVE those! They are POFQ perfect

Thanks!!

Um, I won't even say where I was and what I was doing in 1991......

Please please PLEASE eat at Citricos, and soon! And as for Rony as your server

It's definitely on our list! We plan on doing the Highway in the Sky Dine on our September trip but they only have dates for it through June right now so if that doesn't happen I think we will do Citricos instead!

Hoping your current trip is off to a wonderful start!

We had a great trip!

I love the look around the resorts and your lunch at the Wave looks amazing!

Have so much fun this week!

We had a great time!!

Loving your TR! Your pictures are wonderful, and your ears are seriously the cutest! Have the most magical trip!

Thank you!

 

[evre13]

Welcome back! You're making me quite nostalgic for my December trip at POFQ a few years ago!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

feel free to follow me on instagram at cloe_girl1

Or if you have any interest in reading about our plans hop on over to my PTR here​

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I just started following you on instagram. So when you see a new person liking all your pics it's me mama.scherm not some crazy person. It's like I'm getting a preview early of your trip report to come. It definitely looks like y'all are having fun.


**Not sure why the quote feature didn't work right but at least the posts are one on top of the other.

 

[Cloe Colton]

We'll be on a cruise for Christmas and then at WDW afterward through New Year's. My favorite time of year!!

Amazing! I need to get to Disney for NYE one of these years!

Welcome back! You're making me quite nostalgic for my December trip at POFQ a few years ago!

We really enjoyed POFQ!

I just started following you on instagram. So when you see a new person liking all your pics it's me mama.scherm not some crazy person. It's like I'm getting a preview early of your trip report to come. It definitely looks like y'all are having fun.


**Not sure why the quote feature didn't work right but at least the posts are one on top of the other.

You are more than welcome to follow me on insta! haha We had a great time!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

You inspired me to try it! Great recommendation!

Glad you liked it. I always get nervous recommending things. I mean everyone likes different things.

 

[suse66]

Everything was just so unbelievably good! We were both full from what we had but since we only split an 8oz steak instead of the whopping like 19oz cowboy steak this time we did have room for dessert! Plus, it was so gorgeous and relaxing here with the decorations and the later reservation that we were in no rush to head out

Looks like an amazing meal! I love your outfit too, so fun and elegant!

although I'm not sure I'll ever splurge on V&As but I guess never say never!)

The great thing about V&A is that they totally put you at ease. It is is a wonderful experience. We ate there back in 2010 and DH has wanted to go back ever since. So we are splurging on it this summer as we are celebrating our 20th anniversary.

 

[Cloe Colton]

Looks like an amazing meal! I love your outfit too, so fun and elegant!

Thanks! It was super comfy too! (well minus the shoes haha)

The great thing about V&A is that they totally put you at ease. It is is a wonderful experience. We ate there back in 2010 and DH has wanted to go back ever since. So we are splurging on it this summer as we are celebrating our 20th anniversary.

I think DH and I will have to try it for one of our big anniversaries! We always joke (and are super thankful) that a lot of our trips together have been amazing and over the top so we'll have to keep this in our back pocket for our 5 or 10 year!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Hello everyone! I'm back! Work has been crazy since I got back from Disney and I do like to get a rough draft of my trip typed up so I don't forget details down the road and for some reason our March trip took me forever to get through! But I am back! Now where did I leave off?

Oh that's right, we were just finishing up lunch at The Wave!

Day 3 Part 2 December 16th

Since I knew we’d have some time today to also look around the resorts Dan and I skipped looking at the Contemporary’s Gingerbread house the night before. So that’s where we were headed next! My cousins and Aunt all asked if I had extra ears of mine to put on for the picture so that was fun! (I had made a ton for my Christmas trip and liked switching them out so I had just enough in my bag!)



After this picture I realized DH probably didn't get that I wanted Prince Charming and Cinderella in the picture too so I had him retake it lol



I loved that this Gingerbread house was Cinderella themed! It was seriously so cute!



I was glad we were able to see the gingerbread house at the Contemporary but we were already feeling strapped for time due to our lunch delay so we really didn't spend all that much time looking at it. It also felt a bit cramped in its new spot with the stores right there so we just got our pictures and moved on!

The plan after the Contemporary gingerbread house was to take the monorail around to the Grand Floridian to see their gingerbread house. Well, it took us almost 30 minutes to just get on the monorail because there were so many people in line and the monorails were already so full. We made our way around the loop and I was thinking the whole way that we should probably just stay on and forget the Grand Floridian but I really wanted to see theirs as well. As soon as we hopped off the monorail at the Grand my heart sank into my stomach seeing the number of people in line waiting for the monorail there. The line was backed up to the elevators in the lobby! We were looking at another half hour or longer wait just to get to the Magic Kingdom and it was already 3:40 and I wanted to be at MK by 4! So I took a deep breath and just tried to enjoy the magic of the Grand.

You can actually see the craziness of the monorail line behind the tree in this photo - I was stressing!

I decided while we were walking around that I was willing to pay just about whatever it cost to take a Minnie Van to MK. I figured that was definitely going to be the fastest option, although I never bothered checking the boats.

So while we waited for the app to find us a Minnie Van we took some pictures with the decorations.





I was just about to give up on a Minnie Van being available when I handed my cousin my phone to take a picture of us and she told me that while she was taking the pictures the app found us a Minnie Van! Woo! Our chariot awaits!



We all piled in and I was so glad I made this decision. A. I had a Lyft credit so the ride was cheaper than it normally would have been (I think I only paid $17) and B. The driver was super awesome and friendly! He was telling us party tips the whole way to MK and at some point my cousin told him how I was pretty knowledgeable about Disney so then he was trying to stump me! Haha it was great fun and he never stumped me so I was happy! Dan was hoping he would

He was even nice enough to take a picture of us once we made it to the Magic Kingdom!



I definitely wish the Minnie Vans didn't cost as much but I definitely think they are worth it for getting to the Magic Kingdom or for areas where they only have access. (I totally plan on getting one in September when DH and I go to Hoop De Doo Revue!)

Even though my cousin, her husband and my Aunt didn’t have party tickets they do have APs so they decided to head into MK for a little bit to just grab a Starbucks and enjoy the atmosphere before the day guests had to leave!

It was VERY busy getting into MK at this time but the party was sold out!




Even with the crowds though it only took us about 7 minutes to get into the park and get our wristbands




We said our goodbyes to my Aunt and cousin by the train station and started our evening in the Magic Kingdom! Obviously our first stop was the bypass to get our Mickey cookie! We were pretty excited!






I did get pulled in by the souvenir cart and ended up buying one of the light up necklaces! With the AP discount it was only like $8 and I actually used it a couple times this Christmas when we got home so I really felt like it was worth the money! And the new design was super cute!

We did skip the photopass opportunities in the bypass because the lines were just super long and we didn’t really feel like waiting since they weren’t photos that I just had to have. Instead, I had Dan just take a picture of me with a MVMCP!



The crowds really weren’t too bad once we were passed Main Street which I was thankful for!



I had booked us a FP for Mine Train first so we made our way over to use that. The line was wrapped around the ride for the FP line which was just crazy to me. Apparently everyone and their brother thought to use a FP for Mine Train before the party started! I think the standby wait time said something like 300 minutes but it honestly looked like standby was pretty empty. So I think they may have inflated the wait time just to get the FP line down.


Where the FP line started

In hindsight, Mine Train really isn’t my favorite (I mostly do it because I like to feel the win of getting that FP! ) so I probably should have just picked something else to start our afternoon. Oh well, you live and learn!



Even though the wait was longer than I would like we were still just so happy to be there! The Christmas party is my favorite and nothing was going to ruin that for me!



Our total wait was about 20 minutes which isn’t great for a FP but still better than it could be for SDMT so I’ll take it!



We enjoyed our ride through the mine!




Our next FP was for Space Mountain so we made our way back over to Tomorrowland. Dan was in need of a coffee so we went to the Joffrey’s stand since it was right there and had barely any wait for his coffee. (This was a great move on our part because my cousin said it took them an hour to get their drinks from Starbucks!) Since Dan had just gotten a coffee and wouldn't be able to bring it on the ride I decided I wanted to get pictures with the castle during the day before the sun went down so I suggested heading back to Main Street to take some pictures before using our next FP.


sir what are you looking at?


A nice family was trying to get some pictures with the castle so I offered to take a picture of them. I’m one of those people that will really try to frame out your photo, wait until people stop walking by, take more than one photo. So if you ever see me and need a photo feel free to ask! (My family has had so many bad photos by random strangers – like how do you not get that we want a background to our photo?? Oh that castle back there? Please allow our bodies to fully block it or zoom in so there's no background at all ) Anyway, since I had offered the Mom returned the favor and to which I never say no.



After our photos we went back to Space Mountain to use our FP! The sun was starting to set and made my beloved Space Mountain look super cool.



We actually got sent to the left side with our FP this time which I was excited about because I always get sent to the right with my FP and I swear the left is more fun!



I was also excited to see the new ride exit (I know weird right? Lol) Even though the old version was a classic I think it really updates the ride to a modern feel. Does anyone know why they took out the moving sidewalk? Was it too hazardous when wet or something?



Next up was the Peoplemover! Which the app showed as a 5 minute wait and we waited almost 20 minutes but everything else had a long wait and at least with this there were no Fastpasses hopping in! Plus, we figured by the time we were off the day guests would officially have to start leaving so it was the best option!




Once we were off the peoplemover the day guests were officially heading out for the day so we were ready to party!

​

 

[NJlauren]

Welcome back!

Looks like a great start tot he party, but the monorail lines look insane!

Not going to lie I love the Minnie Vans, I was a bit disappointed in the new pricing, but we will probably still use them often next trip.

It makes getting places so easy, especially with kids!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Welcome back!

Looks like a great start tot he party, but the monorail lines look insane!

Not going to lie I love the Minnie Vans, I was a bit disappointed in the new pricing, but we will probably still use them often next trip.

It makes getting places so easy, especially with kids!

They were insane! As soon as we stepped off of the monorail I knew we were in trouble if we wanted to wait for another one to get to MK! I honestly don't understand why the Grand doesn't have a walking path, like those guests are paying enough money that they should have one!

Thankfully, the cost wasn't too bad from the Grand to MK but that wasn't a very far drive. I'm sure Disney realized we were all willing to pay a bit more for its convenience! I can only imagine how the guaranteed two car seats makes it easy for families!

 

[NJlauren]

They were insane! As soon as we stepped off of the monorail I knew we were in trouble if we wanted to wait for another one to get to MK! I honestly don't understand why the Grand doesn't have a walking path, like those guests are paying enough money that they should have one!

Thankfully, the cost wasn't too bad from the Grand to MK but that wasn't a very far drive. I'm sure Disney realized we were all willing to pay a bit more for its convenience! I can only imagine how the guaranteed two car seats makes it easy for families!

Omg right? I don’t understand how you can’t walk from the Grand and Poly to MK? Like what why not? It would honestly cause so many less issues....

Totally make it worth it for us, honesty we are so spoiled I think last trip we only took 2 boats, 2 monorails and the rest was walking or Minnie vans.... good thing it’s my Lyft account and DH doesn’t realize the cost! Especially with the cost going up since out last trip!

 

[missjackiemcg]

I would've been so super stressed out with the monorail lines you experienced, too, but I'm glad you got to see both gingerbread set ups on your way and still had plenty of time!

I cracked up about how people always end up taking awful photos for you! It's like, 'yea, thanks for the awesome picture of half my face. You're the best!" LOL

 

[dolewhipdreams]

After this picture I realized DH probably didn't get that I wanted Prince Charming and Cinderella in the picture too so I had him retake it lol

Silly DH! An instagram husband should know better

So I took a deep breath and just tried to enjoy the magic of the Grand.

So many of these deep breaths are needed at Disney hahaha

Haha it was great fun and he never stumped me so I was happy!

WINNER

He was even nice enough to take a picture of us once we made it to the Magic Kingdom!

How nice!

sir what are you looking at?

(My family has had so many bad photos by random strangers – like how do you not get that we want a background to our photo?? Oh that castle back there? Please allow our bodies to fully block it or zoom in so there's no background at all )

Ugh the saga of kind but clueless people...

I swear the left is more fun!

LOVE your photo hahahaha