The Non-Nightmare Before Christmas.. Two Disney Sisters in WDW - December 2009 01/24

[Nancy for Disney]

I think I was two steps behind or ahead of you on your every move. That is so bizarre. We were also at MK for opening, went straight to SP. Found it was closed but got a FP. We ended up doing Buzz and then the tea pots. I see Alice was doing her meet and great. She road with a couple of little girls when we went. We had to of just missed you. I think we then did Small World and headed to Main Street Bakery. I know that it started to rain when we road SP. I think we road stand by. We road TTA. It was pouring. We then had lunch at The Plaza. I think we went to The Hall of Presidents. You wil just have to read my TR. I haven't made it to this day yet.

Where is the pink/blue sleeping beauty dress? I have never seen it. That is the only part of that movie I like is when they change the dress color.

 

[disneybarbie]

Where is the pink/blue sleeping beauty dress? I have never seen it.

It is in the shop Tinkerbell's Treasures in Fantasyland, just behind Cinderella's Castle - I hadn't seen the SB dress before! We actually went in there because we'd heard a lucky guest is chosen each today to 'wake up tinkerbell' - we asked a CM but apparently we were too late - you have to go first thing in the morning!
While we were there we did see a CM give two guests 'pixie dust' in their hair, from a magic wand!

How strange we had such similar days at MK!

Emma x

 

[PopArtGal]

I love the bakery! We discovered the Apple Turnovers and are dreaming of them now hehe

Did you guys buy anything at the Emporium?

 

[Kimmy]

Great update. Can't wait to hear about Jelly Rolls. I love that place, we always have a great time there.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

First of all, I have NEVER had breakfast from the Main Street bakery and I'm just dying to do it! I feel like everytime I have an early morning in the MK, I have a Crystal Palace ADR. Definitely next time!

Secondly, I can't BELIEVE Splash was a walk on! Especially since BTMRR had such a long wait! I feel like Splash has one of the worst lines in WDW, definitely in MK!

Dinner sounded great and I"m all about an early night once in a while...especially so you can be ready to go bright and early! I'm pretty sure, though, that the buses DO run well before park opening. We always get the bus to MK for our early morning Crystal Palace breakfast at like 7:30 when the park doesn't open until 9. I'm almost positive while waiting for those buses, I've seen the ones for the other parks too.

Oh and I had NO idea that Beci Mankhen looked like that! I picture a blonde for some reason! That's fun that you got to meet them. I've always wanted to do one of those but felt weird, just like you said, about joining in with the crowd. There was a DIS meet on our cruise and I walked in and walked right out because I was scared of the huge crowd! Where was Mongello?!

Lastly, how do you pronounce your sister's name? It is so unique, I've never heard of that name before and as I'm reading, I want to make sure I'm saying it correctly in my head!

 

[Nancy for Disney]

Coming up tomorrow... Tusker House, AK, The Wave, MVMCP.. then Jelly Rolls til 2am!

Emma x x

I can't wait for the next update. I have a feeling I sat next to you at The Wave. I know that we sat next to two young women with a british accent and we ate there on Fri night. I also remember them having their server take their photo. It had to be you.

 

[littleE]

fantastic report! Glad to know there are other twenty-somethings that love Disney!

 

[disneybarbie]

I can't wait for the next update. I have a feeling I sat next to you at The Wave. I know that we sat next to two young women with a british accent and we ate there on Fri night. I also remember them having their server take their photo. It had to be you.

OMG no way!! Were you sitting along a wall, to the right from where you enter the restaurant?! .. there was a couple sat next to us... our ADR was at 5.30pm !!!!

fantastic report! Glad to know there are other twenty-somethings that love Disney!

lol! Yes we adore all things Disney!

First of all, I have NEVER had breakfast from the Main Street bakery and I'm just dying to do it! I feel like everytime I have an early morning in the MK, I have a Crystal Palace ADR. Definitely next time!

Yes definitely do it on your next trip.. everything looks, tastes and smells soo good!

Secondly, I can't BELIEVE Splash was a walk on! Especially since BTMRR had such a long wait! I feel like Splash has one of the worst lines in WDW, definitely in MK!

I know.. the only reason I can think it was such a short queue was because of the time of year? it was mid 70s which I guess is cool to some people?!

Dinner sounded great and I"m all about an early night once in a while...especially so you can be ready to go bright and early! I'm pretty sure, though, that the buses DO run well before park opening. We always get the bus to MK for our early morning Crystal Palace breakfast at like 7:30 when the park doesn't open until 9. I'm almost positive while waiting for those buses, I've seen the ones for the other parks too.

Thank you for the info.. we thought buses started one hour before park opening - but didn't want to risk missing our ADR! maybe next time I'd ask what time buses start before paying for cabs - it was very easy to do though

Oh and I had NO idea that Beci Mankhen looked like that! I picture a blonde for some reason! That's fun that you got to meet them. I've always wanted to do one of those but felt weird, just like you said, about joining in with the crowd. There was a DIS meet on our cruise and I walked in and walked right out because I was scared of the huge crowd! Where was Mongello?!

hehe.. Beci is kinda blonde, she is stood at the back, next to Verity.
Lou Mongello was meant to be there that weekend but had to cancel his meets due to family illness - I would love to meet him one day, his books & podcast are amazing!
That first 'meet' was the hardest, after that we found it much easier to talk to people - I think we stuck out as the 'two young English girls' though!

Lastly, how do you pronounce your sister's name? It is so unique, I've never heard of that name before and as I'm reading, I want to make sure I'm saying it correctly in my head!

It is a bit like the word "Verify" but with a "t" ... pronounced "Ve-ri-tee" it means Truth - its a lovely name, I forget it's unusual because it's my baby sister's name!

Did you guys buy anything at the Emporium?

Yup we spent about $200!! but saved $40.. so it was ok lol

Update coming soon!!

Emma

 

[disneyaddicted]

Hi my name is Ty, I have always wanted a sisters trip, every time my sister and I try it falls through, but I did get a tip with my BFF who I hadn't seen in 25 years because we had lost touch with eachother while our parent smoved us all over the world for the military.
We were at Epcot on Dec 9th celebrating my birthday and then we were at MK on the 10th eating at Pecos Bill roughly aroun the same time as you and your sister, I wonder if maybe we crossed paths,
I am enjoying your TR and looking forward to more updates.

 

[disneybarbie]

Day 3 – Friday December 11th 2009

Animal Kingdom, The Wave, MVMCP.. then Jelly Rolls til 2am!

We left our room at 7.45am and got a taxi from the front of the Boardwalk – just as Guest Relations had said, there were several taxis waiting in front of the resort... although there were only two of us, we got a HUGE taxi – more like a mini bus!!

We got to Animal Kingdom just after 8am, the taxi cost $11 so I think we gave the driver $15.

We took some photos by the beautiful tree at the front of the park.. another guest took our picture together, he had a 'Happy Anniversary' pin on so I said congratulations to him!

We entered the park at a turnstile on the right hand side, a CM had a printed out list of Tusker House ADRs and checked us off the list... another CM noticed our English accents and asked when was a good time to visit the UK.. Verity said “well.. sometimes it's nice May to July – but we never really know!”

It was great to be able to walk through an almost empty park – apart from a few CM s who stood waving & wished us a great breakfast, at times we were completely alone in the park!

Neither of us had done a breakfast buffet before – but we really liked the idea of getting into the park early!

We checked in at Tusker House, and waited a few moments while each party had their pictures taken with the host.. Donald Duck!

The photographer took a picture with our camera, then ones for the photo package that you can buy during your meal – I think it was around $30 (including tax) for several copies in a souvenir folder (which we bought!)

A server showed us the buffet area and explained the set up to us – then we were seated in a small area off the side of the main dining area – we were given some 'jungle juice' (think it was orange, mango & guava?) and we ordered a pot of coffee too.

We had a little while before our first character arrived, so we went to explore the buffet! It was all delicious, we tried some authentic African breakfast items (beef bobote) and other more standard things.. got to have Mickey waffles in WDW!

And met Daisy, Mickey and Goofy..

At one point during breakfast, the servers encouraged all the children to get up at join Daisy Duck in a conga line around the restaurant, it was so cute!

We finished our meal and left just after 9am, perfect timing to head to Kilimanjaro – we were right by it! There was only a 5 minute wait – we had a great safari – lots of animals were out (today was our coolest day of the trip, mid 60s), and we were temporarily held up as a giraffe walked right along next to our jeep!

Next we crossed continents to Asia.. and rode Expedition Everest, again only a 5 minute wait.. and we got the front row!! (I really like sitting at the front on EE as you can see over the mountain at the top.. and watch the track rotate before you speed forward again!)

As we wandered towards Dinoland, we noticed a Nemo Musical show was just about to start.. we both love this show! It was really excellent, both got a upset in places, it's so emotional!

As we exited the show building, there was a steel drum band playing “Little Drummer Boy”.. it was so festive but still fitted well in AK!

Next to Dinosaur – we were looking out for hidden mickeys in the line (Verity had the book with her!) and the family behind started to join in with us!
The queue was less than 5 minutes again – and the ride was great, it still scares me even though I must have been on it a dozen times!

Verity wanted to do Primeval Whirl next – this was our longest line all day, but still only about 20 minutes.

Headed back to Discovery Island to do 'It's Tough to be a Bug' – I love the theming of this area and seeing the Tree of Life up close!

The show was great although there was no Hopper animatronic? He must have been out chasing ants...

 

[disneybarbie]

Then we went back to Asia to do the Maharajan Jungle Trek – again, we looked in the HM book and found some great ones! A couple walking behind us started to look for them too!

(in his earring)

(in the brown mountains!)

We also saw De-Vine …

We wanted to see the Festival of the Lion King show next – so we went over to Camp Minnie Mickey... we just wanted a light lunch as we had an early dinner ADR, so we had... icecream!

While we ate it we wandered around the camp and saw some unusual characters doing a meet & greet...

Once we'd finished our icecreams we went to watch the show.. I hadn't seen it for a few trips, it was still amazing – but, as usual, we were sat in the Giraffe section – I don't think I've ever sat anywhere else?!

We headed out of the park after this, we got the bus & decided to get off at the first stop – The Swan, and walk back to the Boardwalk.

(our room is end window of red building, top floor!)

We'd planned to swim or go in the hot tub for this afternoon, but due to the cool weather we just hung out in the room, watched some tv (Disney Channel, of course!) and then made ourselves pretty, ready to head off to The Contemporary Resort for dinner!

We got the bus to MK then walked to CR – it was much closer than I thought it was. We found The Wave and checked in – the CM was from England and we chatted to her about the International College Programme

We were given a buzzer but had barely sat down in the stylish blue waiting area, when our table was ready!
We had a great server called Yvonne – she was originally from Germany but had moved to Orlando & worked at WDW for over 10 years! She knew the menu inside out & made recommendations for our meals.
We considered doing a Wine Flight (we both like Sauvignon Blanc the best!) but decided to splash out on a bottle lol.

The meal was excellent, really nice sized portions – we made it to dessert and felt full at the end, but not stuffed!
Verity had tomato & lentil soup, chicken pot pie & then the indulgent trio

I had the chilli, fish of the day (trout, that looked like salmon!) with edamame bean salad, then the sugar-free trio

After our meal, we explored the resort a little,

and visited the restrooms so we could add some more sparkly makeup.. had to look festive for our next destination.. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!!
Verity had also bought us some fairylight necklaces which were perfect for the party.

We got the monorail to MK – when we stopped at the Polynesian resort I noticed a lady get on the train who had a Dis LGMH on her bag, I wish now we'd said 'hi' !

 

[disneybarbie]

Onto the party!!

By now it was even colder, a CM at the entrance asked us if we were cold (we were wearing party dresses & cardigans!).. Verity said “oh no, we're English – this is like summer for us!”

Main Street USA was breath-taking.. the lights looked beautiful, the christmas tree and.. the castle!!

It was about 8pm so a lot of people were getting ready to watch the 8.30pm parade, we decided to wait for the 10.30pm one & do some other things in the meantime.

We'd missed the castle lighting ceremony (that's at dusk so about 6.30pm) but it still looks stunning!

First we went to Haunted Mansion, we decided this would be pretty creepy at night time.. it was!

Next to Fantasyland to do Peter Pan's Flight (the line is always soo long for this! We only waited 10 minutes), just after we got in the queue, the area around the back of the castle and FL was closed for the fireworks, we were lucky to get on the ride!

It had started to rain a bit, so we headed to Cosmic Rays in Tomorrowland.

We saw Pluto & Goofy having a dance-off on stage to Elvis, Michael Jackson & Queen songs!

The Queen of Hearts & Alice were on the dance-floor with the children dancing, so cute!

We got our free cookies & hot chocolate from the counter... mmmm!

We wandered back to the hub and found a good spot to watch Holiday Wishes, lucky the rain was easing. While we waited we drank our hot chocolate and listened to all the great festive songs that were being played!

The fireworks started at 9.30pm and were amazing.... seemed much much bigger than normal Wishes (which I also love!!) and they came from all around us, set to a lovely medley of holiday music.

After the show we went to Tomorrowland to watch the new 'Totally Tomorrowland Xmas' show – there were announcements to say it would be delayed due to the weather, but it started about 10 minutes later.
It was a nice show, better than expected!

Unfortunately we missed the show in front of the castle, so we headed to the Emporium to buy some of the MVMCP merchandise .. I got a pin & tree decoration, we bought a few other items so that we could purchase the blanket for $15.95! It was perfect to wrap around us while we waited for the parade to start.
We stood on Main Street, the parade was fantastic – so many floats & characters!

The 'snow' was great too, so much more than I thought there'd be – it even stuck to our hair and clothes!

We wandered along Main St and saw the Mickey's Christmas Carol window displays.. we watch this movie every Christmas eve so it was great to see them!

We stopped for a photo with Pooh & Eeyore before we headed out the park.

There was a HUGE line for the Boardwalk bus.. then we noticed there was no line for the Y&B bus, just in front of it?! So we got that one.

Once we'd walked back to the BW, it was nearly midnight, but we still had one more thing to do today – an All About the Mouse podcast meet at Jelly Rolls!
We popped to our room to freshen up makeup and drop off Pal Mickey – then headed to the Boardwalk!

We'd never been in Jelly Rolls before, I play piano and was really impressed – there are two pianist who sing & play a huge range of music, you can request practically anything!
There was a $10 cover charge to get in, as we walked in – I straight away recognised the podcast presenter, Bryan Ripper, we walked over and introduced ourselves; a lot of people had left already (the meet had started at 10pm, we were fashionably late!) but we met some other listeners & Bryan's wife, Amy.
We stayed there for nearly two hours, chatting.. making friends! It was really good fun, it was great to talk about all things Disney & they also asked us lots about England – we met one of the piano players when he took a break & walked around the bar; he asked “who are these two movie stars?!” when he saw us (we were pretty dressed up still from MVMCP!) and put us on the guestlist for the next night (unfortunately we didn't make it again, but I definitely want to go on another trip)

It got to nearly 2am, we decided it was time to go to bed.. we wanted to be at DHS for extra magic hours at 8am!!

Coming up tomorrow.. Hollywood Studios, then Epcot for Kim Possible, drinking around the World (nearly!), Teppan Edo & Candlelight Processional!

Emma x x

 

[Nancy for Disney]

OMG no way!! Were you sitting along a wall, to the right from where you enter the restaurant?! .. there was a couple sat next to us... our ADR was at 5.30pm !!!!




Emma [/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

Yes that is where we sat but our ADR was at 7:15 but I don't think you were there too long. I also think we get in before our ADR time. I know when we left there was a family with a young child there so we may have been there just on the end of your dinner. I can't remember for sure. If you got your picture taken I am sure I will recognize it when you post. I just remember the kids because one the reasons I picked the wave was because when I was picking restaurants I did a thread on good places for adults to dine and many many people suggested the wave. I felt like I was surrounded by kids the entire meal, except for the two girls to my left (you?). At the end of the meal there was a toddler that screamed as loud as he could nonstop for about a half hour. Not I am tired or hurt scream but just a scream for no other reason than he didn't want to be there. My guess is that you were gone by then.


Ok, I just saw that picture. Yep, I am 99% certain that I was sitting directly to your left as that picture was taken. Lets all sing It's a Small World After All. Oh, and if I looked cranky it was because we closed jelly rolls the night before. lol Weren't you cold in those outfits? It was so cold that night. brrrr

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Wow, what a fun day! I can't believe how much you got done at the AK...in just a half a day, no less! MVMCP sounds so much fun! Tom and I went to Jellyrolls once and we had a blast! The only problem was getting back to our resort at 2am! Lucky for you, you were already there!

 

[jewels1916]

Wow, looks like you had a great day! I was excited to see all your pics from the Christmas Party! Can't wait to read more! Oh, and we ate lunch at The Wave while I was there, and Yvonne was our server too!!

 

[disneybarbie]

Weren't you cold in those outfits? It was so cold that night. brrrr

We were a little cold but had long cardigans to wear too - the whole vacation we wore shorts & vest tops though, it really did feel warm to us compared to England! But then other people were wearing jeans, coats & scarves!

I meant to post some photos of the window displays on Main St - of Mickey's Christmas Carol...

Emma x

 

[PopArtGal]

I loooooved MVMCP!

I wish I could go again.

Did you enjoy the atmosphere? During the second parade, we were walking in Adventureland. Pirates was a walk-on, and there was no one in sight for a while.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I meant to post some photos of the window displays on Main St - of Mickey's Christmas Carol...

Emma x

OH those are AWESOME!!! We watch that every year too! It's not Christmas without certain Christmas specials, and that is one of them!

 

[PopArtGal]

You are so right Nikki. Mickey's Christmas Carol is a tradition here too.

 

[ladybugmom]

What an eventful day you had!! It looks like you had a lot of fun! I especially liked the pics from MVMCP and the window displays!! Gorgeous!!