The Twelve Days of Disney (A Christmas/Birthday TR) *UPDATE x2 2/12 COMPLETE!*

[holleypie]

THURSDAY DECEMBER 6TH (PART 2)​

After we met back up with Tabby and Tommy, we drove straight to Magic Kingdom for our very first Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!

We've been to three Halloween parties at Disney, and have heard that the Christmas party isn't as good, so our expectations weren't high.

First, we headed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for Tabby and Tommy's first ride of the trip.

We got a baby swap pass, and the three of them got in the standby line while I walked around with Luke.

The wait time was 20 minutes, so I had some time to kill.

First, we listened to some music. Then we attempted to find Tiana and get some PhotoPass pictures taken. I've never met her before so I had no idea where she was. When we finally found the spot, she was on break. Brian called and said they were done riding, so we went back to BTMR and I rode with Tabby and Tommy. There was some miscommunication between us and the CM and she ended up seating us all in the same car. Fortunately, Tabby and Tommy are pretty skinny.

Tommy was hungry so we gave him the map and told him to pick what he wanted to eat. He said he wanted to check out Pecos Bill. Since I wasn't the least bit hungry, I said I wanted to go back and try Tiana.

She wasn't back yet, but I figured they would take awhile to eat so I waited. It turns out that Tommy didn't see anything he wanted, and decided to just get a small snack instead. He got...a turkey leg. Hahaha. So they came and found me and hung out outside of the queue.

This PhotoPass photographer took a TON of pictures. I'm glad, because this was Luke's first princess, and he was pretty smitten!

I remember thinking, "Naveen's face looks like it's made of plastic." Then I figured it was just all the makeup he was wearing. But later, Brian said, "Look at Gaston's profile. There is no way that's his real chin." So I guess some of the characters wear prostheses.

We walked over to Tomorrowland and happened to spot the family inside Cosmic Ray's. Luke had fallen asleep, so Brian asked my parents if they would watch him while we all rode Space Mountain together. It sounds quick when I type it up in two sentences like that, but this whole exchange probably took thirty minutes.

When we got to Space Mountain the wait was 40 minutes. Nope, not happening. We did Buzz Lightyear instead, which had a 10 minute wait. Then we saw the line for Space Mountain was only 20 minutes, so we decided to do that too. After we had been waiting in line for nearly 20 minutes, I got agitated and started to feel terrible about leaving the baby with my parents for so long.

When we went back to Cosmic Ray's to pick Luke up, I felt even worse. It was after 7pm, the party had officially started, and I had left my precious sleeping baby in the middle of a DANCE PARTY.

You can see Santa Goofy here. I told you he kept popping up everywhere.

There's Pluto.

And my poor baby!

Now that he was awake and the party had started, I took him to the baby care center to feed him and change him into long sleeves. Meanwhile, Brian, Tabby, and Tommy went to the fire house to get more sorcerer cards. There was a special one for the Christmas party. I think Brian's nefarious plan was to keep their cards for himself, but Tommy ended up actually wanting to learn how to play.

After that business was taken care of...it was time to hurt some more cats.

 

[holleypie]

THURSDAY DECEMBER 6TH (PART 3)​

I like to get at least one nice group picture on each trip. In 2011, we had an early morning ADR at Crystal Palace so we were easily able to get a nice picture in front of the castle. At the Christmas party...not so easy. Main Street was absolutely mobbed.

There was a PhotoPass photographer taking pictures near the baby care center, so I figured it would be easier to do it there instead of fighting my way back to Main Street and figuring out a place for everyone to meet up. So I had everyone meet me there.

We had to wait until the Celebrate the Season show was over. Then we had to wait for the guy in the ECV to decide to stop sitting in the PhotoPass spot staring at the castle. Then we had to wait for the PhotoPass guy to take pictures of the three people that were also standing there waiting. Finally, we got our picture.

Since there were 11 of us, I'd thought it would be cute if we were Santa, Mrs. Claus, and the nine reindeer so I bought Santa hats and reindeer antlers. Then Tommy came along and I got him an elf hat. So, that explains the mystery of why I brought a hamper full of hats on vacation with us. My intention was that everyone would KEEP THEIR HATS and it would be a fun festive thing to wear for the party. But my mom didn't want me to give the kids their hats until right before the picture, and then everyone gave me the hats back right afterwards, so now I'm stuck with nine reindeer antlers and an elf hat. Anyway. I suppose I would have regretted NOT getting a nice group picture, but whenever I look at it I just think about how much time and energy and money I wasted on those stupid hats that no one besides me even cared about. BUT. It is a cute picture. So I suppose it was worth it.

If you haven't noticed, I'm not posting pictures of my siblings here for privacy reasons. I don't feel like blurring out all their faces, so just trust me when I say it was a nice picture.

The castle looked nice, too:

Next, we went en masse to Sunshine Tree Terrace to get some complimentary holiday treats.

Since I didn't really want a cupcake, I stuck a candle in my cookies, let everyone sing happy birthday, and told my mom her obligation had been fulfilled.

I think Brian suggested we all ride Pirates of the Caribbean together. This is one of the major differences between Brian and me. He enjoys a big group and he wanted to spend more time together with my parents and the kids. I love my family, each one of them individually, but I find it stressful and draining to tour the parks together. One ride was nice, though.

After Pirates, my mother wanted to go stake out a fireworks/parade viewing spot. Brian thought the area in front of the baby care center where we had already spent so much time would be a good spot for the fireworks. So, we all moved over there and parked our butts on some railings. The Crystal Palace treat spot was open now, so some of us got more cookies and juice. As a group, we were divided on the cookies. I thought the chocolate chip cookies were PERFECT and the snickerdoodles were crumbly and inedible. Most everyone else had the opposite opinion.

The Celebrate the Magic show happened before the fireworks, and I thought it was AMAZING. I hadn't read anything about it beforehand so I had no idea what to expect. I loved it.

Afterwards my mother said, "Stone Mountain's show is better."



After the fireworks, the family went off to find a spot for the parade, and Brian, Luke, and I raced to Fantasyland to cross an important item off my birthday to-do list:

(Luke had fallen asleep in the stroller, so we just shoved him to the side. Like good parents.)

Our good friend Tom had this to say about McDuck: "Scrooge is going to be there?? You have no idea how much this amps up my regret of having to sit this one out. No idea."

So of course we needed to meet him. As we were waiting in line I realized he WAS signing autographs (for some reason I had thought none of the characters signed at parties) and I had nothing to get signed. Argh.

On our way back toward Main Street, the parade was already starting and we got stuck beside Sleepy Hollow Refreshments. It wasn't the greatest spot to watch the parade, but we managed. And even with our limited visibility, I LOVED it.

Brian was ready for a snack, so we made our way to Gaston's.

What a sexy beast!

It was nearing the end of the party, so we got in touch with Tabby and Tommy and told them we were going to start moving toward the exit. I had one more party-specific item on my birthday to-do list: Meet Mickey and Minnie in their Christmas outfits.

The snow on Main Street was delightful.

When we got to the Main Street Theater, I had second thoughts. I could stand in one line and meet Mickey and Minnie who I have met so many times before...or I could stand in line and meet three princesses AND THEIR PRINCES.

As much as I wanted to check everything off the birthday to-do list, the math spoke for itself. I had to go for the princesses.

Luke was still asleep, so Brian stayed outside with him and I went alone. The wait felt so long and dull. It was the end of the night, I was tired, and I had nothing to entertain myself with. But the worst part? The way the line was situated, I could SEE the princesses and princes interacting with everyone in line ahead of me, so I pretty much got my fill of them before it was even my turn. I seriously thought about just leaving, but I stuck it out.

Finally, it was my turn. And when I saw Flynn Rider up close and he wished me a happy birthday...well, I knew I had made all the right decisions that night.

I fell asleep at the very beginning of Tangled, so I really had no idea what he was talking about. Something about lanterns.

That's fascinating, Flynn. Tell me more.

My goodness, they're so adorable.

Next up: Snow White and...Prince Charming? Is that his actual name? Anyway. He was charming, but I could tell I wasn't his type. Ifyouknowwhatimean.

No idea what we're all looking at.

Now we're looking at my shirt. Charming was telling me that Snow had holly in her hair, then he said I had some on my shirt too. Then we realized it was actually mistletoe.

Finally: Aurora and Prince Philip!

This interaction was as awkward as the expression on my face. I said something about his tights because Flynn told me to, but I didn't even get the joke. Then he asked me if I'd seen him in the parade and I told him no, that I'm short and we had a terrible view. He told me he was up on a float. Haha. Sorry, Phil.

Then he wished me a happy birthday and I realized...actually, it's after midnight. The party was over and so was my birthday.

Day 5 Summary: Despite the fluctuating levels of crankiness, it was a wonderful, memorable birthday. I wish I'd gotten more sleep the night before, but I was glad we were able to stay for the whole party--and more importantly I'm glad Luke was able to sleep in the stroller. Because so many of the items on my birthday to-do list were party-specific, I completed EIGHT of them today (I think we're up to 13/30 total). Unfortunately, I decided to skip over Mickey and Minnie which guaranteed that I won't complete the entire list. Oh well. Flynn was worth it!

 

[holleypie]

We stayed at AKL the first night of our trip and really enjoyed it- next time we go we are going to do a Savannah view. Have you stayed at Kidani too? I am not sure (if its even avail when we book) if we want to do Jambo vs Kidani yet.

We stayed at Kidani on our first trip. As far as the rooms and savannas go, they're equally nice. I prefer the resort decor and overall feel at Kidani, but Jambo was nice too. At Kidani, parking was underground, which was good when it rained, and also made the walk back to the room a bit shorter. On the other hand, the walk from our room to the lobby was ABSURD. At Jambo, I liked that the pool, fitness center, and the restaurants were all centrally located and easy to find. At Kidani, I thought the pool was in an awkward location. The restaurants aren't a big deal because the walk between Kidani and Jambo is only a few minutes. But, at Jambo it was nice having The Mara's bigger beverage selection. Kidani didn't have filtered water and that was a big deal to me. So...yeah, I don't know where I would want to stay again either.

 

[holleypie]

FRIDAY DECEMBER 7TH​

After the long night we'd had at the Christmas party, we slept in on Friday. Brian is usually an expert navigator, but for some reason on this trip he kept spacing out, missing our turn, and driving us on a scenic tour of the Walt Disney World Resort. We ended up going in the back entrance of Hollywood Studios. As we drove across the parking lot, Tabby asked, "There aren't any PORTALS at this park, are there?" Apparently Tommy had gotten really into the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom game and had dragged her around while he played the day before. Haha.

It turned out that Tabby and Tommy hadn't even bought their tickets yet, so we had to wait for them to do that. By the time we got inside, it was noon already.

We took a few family pictures. Today's t-shirt theme is "superheroes."

At one point the PhotoPass guy was like, "Bazinga!" And I'm like...okay. Then he asked us if we were Big Bang Theory fans. Which we are, but I don't know how he knew. I guess we just looked like nerds.

Then I looked at Luke, and realized what the guy was thinking. He thought Luke's shirt was a reference to this guy:

Instead of this guy:

Tabby wanted to do Toy Story Midway Mania, but the wait (as expected) was outrageous. The FastPass return time wasn't until 6pm, which was the time Brian and I had to leave for our dinner at Epcot. After some discussion, Tabby and Tommy got FP for TSM with their tickets, and Brian took our two tickets and got FastPasses for himself and Tabby to ride Rock N Roller Coaster. Tommy had a bad experience on it when he was younger and refused to ride again, and I could take it or leave it so I didn't mind sitting it out.

I had to feed Luke, so we decided on Star Tours for our first ride of the day. Brian, Tabby, and Tommy rode while Luke and I went in Writer's Stop.

I ate this adorable brownie while I fed him. Shockingly enough, it actually tasted as good as it looked.

When they were done riding, we got some pictures of Brian and Luke on the speeder bike. I wanted to take Luke's picture in the same spot on every trip, and it looks like the speeder bike is going to be it.

I don't remember if I even rode Star Tours. I might have skipped it.

Next, Brian and Tabby went off to RNRC to use their FastPasses. Tommy and I ran into my teen sisters, and they went with us to the Animation Courtyard place to see if we could find any characters.

Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope were there. I haven't seen the movie so I didn't really care about meeting them, but from past experience I have learned that by the time I HAVE seen the movie and DO want to meet the characters...they're going to be gone. Luke had pulled off his socks in the stroller and I hadn't noticed, so the CMs wouldn't let me put him down to cruise around. That made the wait in line SO MUCH FUN.

The PhotoPass photographer was either not there, or had something wrong with his camera, so I think one of my sisters took this picture.

I wish I'd gotten a picture of the whole meet-and-greet area. It was super cute.

Next we all met Frozone and Mr. Incredible. we couldn't get PhotoPass for them either. Urgh.

Yes, my little sisters are both taller than me.

My sisters ditched us at this point, and Tommy and I met back up with Tabby and Brian. It was time for my FAVORITE RIDE EVER, but Brian wanted us all to do it together, so he wanted to ask my parents to watch Luke.

Okay, I forgot to tell you this part. Before the trip, I had been really excited about taking my youngest siblings on the Tower of Terror (my teen sisters both had surgery earlier in the year, so they couldn't ride). They were both so excited about it too! But my mom was doing the whole, "ehhh, I don't know" overprotective mommy routine. I didn't seriously think she wouldn't let me take them, but when I called her that morning and asked when we could meet up, she told me they weren't allowed to ride anything. This was one of the things I'd most been looking forward to on the trip, so it really made me sad and angry.

Anyway, we found the family at the ABC Commissary and Brian asked them to watch Luke. My mom presented me with a gingerbread cupcake she'd gotten with their snack credits, because she felt like she owed me a baked good for my birthday.

I haven't liked any of the cupcakes I've had at Disney, and this was no exception. Super cute, though!

So, we rode Tower of Terror, and Tommy HATED it. We went back to the ABC Commissary, collected Luke, and split up for lunch. Tabby and Tommy wanted to go to Pizza Planet, and I had scoped out a place online that I wanted to try...

Backlot Studio Express!

Thrilling, I know.

I got the vegetable sandwich.

It was edible.

I think Brian got a cheeseburger?

We both rated our lunch a 2. So, the search for decent counter service at DHS continues.

Brian somehow realized that you could see the parade from the side entrance of the restaurant, so he took Luke out and they watched it while I finished eating. After the parade ended, we met back up with Tabby and Tommy and did The Great Movie Ride.

Then we headed to Streets of America where we were meeting my family so they could watch Luke while Brian and I jetted off to Epcot.

Just walking around and seeing all the lights was amazing. It's a TON of lights.

I fed and changed Luke then changed myself because I wasn't going to wear a shirt that said, "My Boyfriend is a Superhero" to a real restaurant. I had wanted to see some of the Osborne Lights before we left, but I wasn't sure exactly when they came on and I didn't want to be late to dinner. They turned them on just as we had walked out of view. Oh well--we would catch them later.

 

[holleypie]

FRIDAY DECEMBER 7TH (PART 2)​

We drove to Epcot and got some PhotoPass pictures on the way in. The guy near France talked like a robot. Like, using robot noises. It was...interesting.

Worst heart ever.

We checked in at Chefs de France and as we were standing there listening to other people's names being called, we wondered, "Are we even going to recognize when they call Brian's name in a French accent??" Haha. We walked around France a little while we waited. I wanted to check out the bakery, but it was so packed we didn't even try to go inside. I think we might have been super early for our reservation, because we waited a really long time.

Finally, we were seated. Our waiter was named Jordan and he was the hottest waiter there, for sure. My only regret from this trip is that I didn't get a photo of him.

I was so excited when I remembered we would get a baguette. But then it didn't even come until AFTER our entrees.

I had the gratin de macaroni. Now, I love macaroni, but usually of the Kraft variety. Before I'd even taken a bite, I got it into my head that it was going to taste like alfredo sauce, because that's what it looked like. I don't like alfredo sauce. I really didn't enjoy it too much and I felt so bad that I could have bought twenty boxes of Kraft for the same price.

If I'm not mistaken, Brian had the filet de boeuf grille, sauce au poivre noir Gratin Dauphinois et haricots verts. At least that's what it looks like to me.

Here's our tardy bread. It was pretty good.

And the menu, just because I liked it.

Brian had the creme brulee for dessert, and I had a bite to confirm that I do not like creme brulee.

I gave this meal a 2, Brian gave it a 3.5. This was the biggest gap in our ratings so far. I think I would have been happier if I had ordered a cheaper side dish instead of an entree, like I had done at Le Cellier.

Our post-dinner plans had been to hang out at Epcot for extra magic hours until midnight. I realized very shortly into dinner that this would probably NOT be happening. I was exhausted. But my parents were babysitting and it seemed like a waste to leave already.

As we walked through America, we saw that the American Adventure show was just starting. Tom and I saw it last year when Brian had gone back to the room to rest, but Brian has never seen it, so I suggested we go in. I fell asleep about thirty seconds in. I think Brian enjoyed it.

When we left the theater, Illuminations was getting ready to start, so we found a spot and watched most of it. We'd decided we weren't going to stay and do anything else, and wanted to beat the rush back to the parking lot, so we started to head out before it was over.

We drove to Art of Animation to pick up Luke. They weren't going to be expecting us so early, so I hoped we would be able to find them. They said their cell phone service wasn't great inside. Brian said, "They're probably in the food court." You might have noticed that during this trip we often came across my family sitting inside a restaurant or food court.

We walked around the gift shop for awhile, then went to the food court. And sure enough, there they were.

Brian and I decided to get some food while we were there. I'm not sure how I was even hungry, because I'd eaten every dollar of that fancy macaroni. Brian picked out some mini-cheesecakes and I went to get some cheesy pesto bread. They gave me a ticket and I stood there waiting for a really long time. Other people were coming up and getting pizzas and I was still just standing there. I was getting frustrated and I didn't know if I was supposed to be waiting or if I should have done something with the ticket, and I motioned for Brian to come over and help me.

And he shook his head no.

Well. That was it. I crumpled up the ticket and huffed away. I told Brian to pay for his cheesecakes and let's go, but he got huffy with me and insisted on putting them back and getting nothing.

We collected Luke from my parents, and headed back to AKL. Brian told me his legs had been hurting ALL NIGHT and that it was painful to walk. This didn't make me any more sympathetic, because (1) he had done PLENTY of excess walking around the gift shop and food court, and only seemed to hurt when I needed him to walk over to me, and (2) if he had been in so much pain, he should have SAID SOMETHING. I had tried to stay at Epcot as long as possible even though I was exhausted because I thought he had wanted to stay and do stuff. If he'd said, "I'm hurting," I would have said, "Poor baby. Let's go to bed."

After we got in bed, Brian got a call from my mother. Apparently, while Brian and I were busy not getting food, she had found my cell phone sitting on the table and TOOK IT because she thought it was my sister's and she wanted to teach her a lesson. Arghghthgfhgt. It was annoying at the time, but in retrospect it's funny to think about her being all smug and waiting for my sister to notice she had lost her phone.

Day 6 Summary: Definitely not my favorite day of the trip. It was disappointing food-wise, I was tired and cranky, and we really didn't get much done. Somehow I only managed to get on Tower of Terror ONCE.

 

[holleypie]

SATURDAY DECEMBER 8TH​

The birthday boy woke up around 6:30 to nurse, then went back to sleep. I was wide awake, so around 7:30 I went down to The Mara to get a drink and ate half a brownie my dad had given me the night before (they always ordered a bunch of different desserts since they were on the dining plan, but they could never eat everything). This brownie was seriously delicious and so chocolately. There were mini M&M's on top, and it originally had marshmallows too, but someone else ate them before I got to it. Okay, that probably sounds gross, but this half-eaten hand-me-down brownie was one of my favorite things I ate on this trip. If we make it back to Landscape of Flavors for an actual meal, I'm definitely getting it. So. I ate my brownie and wrote in my trip journal, then went back to the room.

While everyone started getting ready, I gave Luke his birthday cards.

He was pretty thrilled.

We had a breakfast ADR for 1900 Park Fare, so we drove over to the Grand Floridian.

The guy at the guard shack told Brian to drop his family off at the entrance and then park. (When we left, I understood why. It was a pretty nice hike.)

Ack, I forgot to write about Tom's postcard, and I think it actually came on MY birthday. My friend Tom sends us a postcard whenever he's on vacation--even when he vacations with us. So I definitely wanted to send him some postcards. Well, he one-upped me--he had sent us a postcard from Baltimore (where we live), to Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was the coolest thing ever. I was so thrilled.

So after I dropped the ball with Scrooge McDuck, I knew I definitely wanted to get Tom's old pal Mary Poppins to sign a postcard for him. So we went upstairs to the shop to buy one while Brian parked the car. We had to use the elevator because there was a bride in her enormous wedding dress taking pictures on the staircase. See what I mean? Swanky.

I found a suitable postcard, and also got one for my other BFF Alison that was pink and princessy. I never got to send that one, though. The postcard was so shiny I couldn't find a pen that would write on it. Very annoying.

We went back downstairs to check out the gingerbread house while we waited on Brian. Tabby was super excited about it and was annoyed with me because I wasn't more excited, so I had to admit that we'd already been there a few days earlier. Sorry!

Brian arrived and checked us in. We'd had to change our reservation from 3 to 5 after Tabby and Tommy decided to join us, so we had a bit of a wait. I tried to go find a nice secluded place to feed Luke while we waited, but I couldn't find an empty corner. I ended up on a bench right underneath a staircase, so anyone descending would have a great view of the action.

I'd taken our buzzer with me, and just as I finished feeding Luke and rejoined the group, it went off.

I must admit that I was incredibly disappointed with the inside of 1900 Park Fare. Considering how grand and swanky the Grand Floridian is, I was expecting a fancier Crystal Palace. But, as Brian put it, it looked like they had an underused conference room and decided to turn it into a restaurant. Really, really not impressive at all.

I stayed with Luke while the others got their food, and tried to convince him that I needed a cute picture of him with his mouse ears and birthday button.

Good enough, Mom?

Eh, good enough.

Tabby had gotten one of these Mickey-shaped plates from the kids buffet, so I followed her lead.

I also tried the strawberry soup, because I think it's required by law.

I don't have any complaints about the food--it was all pretty tasty. Brian and I both rated it a three. I would definitely go back, but probably not until Luke is a few years older.

My old friend Pooh came around while we were eating, so I had to whip Luke out of his high chair to meet him. Somehow, this is the best picture we got.

Mary Poppins came around next and I had her sign Tom's postcard. She was SUPER disappointed that he couldn't make it on this trip.

Tigger came up right after MP left.

Then Alice. She and Luke seemed pretty smitten with each other.

And finally the Mad Hatter.

I'm not sure, but I think he might wear a prosthesis.

We finished eating, and our old friend Pooh came by to visit again.

So we hurried up and got out of there to avoid doing the whole rotation again.

 

[holleypie]

SATURDAY DECEMBER 8TH (PART 2)​

After breakfast, we attempted to take a nice picture in the carriage, but Luke had other plans.

We made the long walk back to the car and then headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Brian and Tommy went off to get sorcerer cards. I was going to take Luke to the baby care center to change him, and I thought it was weird that Tabby wanted to stay with me. After the boys left, she admitted she had an ulterior motive: She wanted to buy Tommy some mouse ears!

I needed to get Luke's name embroidered on his mouse ears, so I went with her to the Chapeau. Luke decided now would be a fine time to sneak in a nap.

The guy at the counter told me there was a 30 minute wait for embroidery, so I told him I would come back later to pick it up. Tabby wanted to buy our nephew a pair of mouse ears like Luke's, but they didn't have any at the Chapeau. We walked across the street to the Emporium where she found the baby ears, bought a pair for Tommy, and then we went back over to the Chapeau so she could get them embroidered. While she was doing that, I wandered into the other room and looked at the hats.

I saw Luke's, finished and on the shelf! We'd been gone less than 10 minutes.

When Tabby joined me, she told me the exact same guy had told her it would only be 5-10 minutes. I have no idea why he lied to me.

We could see they were already working on our nephew's ears, so we waited for them to be done, then we hurried over to the BCC.

Brian and Tommy were already there waiting for us. Oops. Since Luke was asleep anyway, I wasn't going to wake him and change him. Someone wanted to do the Tiki Room, so I said I would wait with Luke while everyone else went in.

To get out of the sun, I ended up hanging out near the exit. When the next show let out, I looked for them but didn't see them. Then I saw one of those Guys in Plaid taking a picture of two pretty short-haired girls. One of the girls was just gorgeous. I thought, wow, she looks like Ginnifer Goodwin.

As the Guy in Plaid and the two girls walked past me, a woman walked up to them. At the time I thought she just happened to be standing around like me, but now I think she probably saw them inside the theater and waited for them to come out.

The woman said, "You're so pretty. You look like Snow White."

I'm thinking...pfffft, she doesn't look like Snow White, Snow White has much longer hair.

The pretty girl smiled and said, "Thank you."

The woman said, "Are you her?"

And the pretty girl smiled again and said, "Yes, I am."

Then I connected the dots. IT WAS ACTUALLY GINNIFER GOODWIN, who plays Snow White on ABC's Once Upon a Time. I learned later that she was there that weekend for the opening of New Fantasyland.

The woman asked for a picture and the Guy in Plaid was like, "I'm sorry, we have to go." But Ginnifer posed for the picture. Then the woman called over the other people she was with and wanted pictures with them too. The Guy in Plaid was like, "WE REALLY HAVE TO BE GOING NOW," but Ginnifer was so sweet and she took the pictures with them anyway.

I waited until her back was turned and they were a safe distance away before I snapped a picture of my own.

After missing all the excitement, Luke woke up and I fed him. Everyone else finally emerged from the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room. Tabby and Tommy went off to do some stuff on their own. Brian, Luke, and I met up with the rest of my family outside of It's a Small World so I could retrieve my stolen cell phone from my mother, then we headed to Storybook Circus.

We checked out the Casey Jr. play area, which was super cute. Then we checked the wait times at Pete's Silly Sideshow.

I wanted to meet the guys even though they had a slightly longer wait time.

There was no PhotoPass photographer for Donald, which was annoying. Since I prepaid for the CD, I was so annoyed whenever there wasn't a PhotoPass photographer, which actually happened pretty often.

It had only taken about 10 minutes to meet Goofy and Donald, but now the wait time for Minnie and Daisy was 40 minutes, so we decided to skip them.

It was getting late, and we had to pick up Luke's birthday cake from Publix at 4, so we started to make our way out of the park. But first, we decided that we couldn't NOT visit Mickey Mouse on Luke's birthday.

I completely ignored all the cute Scrooge McDuck theming, but Brian noticed it.

This next picture is my favorite picture from the trip. By far.

 

[holleypie]

SATURDAY DECEMBER 8TH (PART 3)​

We got to Publix a little before 4, but the cakes were ready. There were a few free sample stations set up in the bakery that day. One guy had apple pie and egg nog. Of course I had to buy egg nog after that. I probably would have gotten all the ingredients to make that apple pie if we'd had a kitchen.

After picking up the cake, egg nog, and a few other snacks and drinks, we had an hour to kill until we were supposed to meet the family for Luke's birthday dinner, so we went back to the room.

There were a bunch of animals out on the savanna, so we hung out on the balcony for awhile.

I also fed Luke and then looked over my pins.

We'd found the Pluto and Goofy cupcake pins to go along with the Donald Duck one I already had, an "I" letter pin, and Brian got me the heart-shaped Mickey head and Minnie dressed as Tinker Bell.

It was almost party time, so we drove over to the Polynesian. The guy at the guard shack basically wished us luck finding anywhere to park. We finally found a spot but then saw a "Reserved" sign half hidden in the bushes, and we didn't want to risk it. Arrrrgh.

I didn't want to fool with any parking lot shenanigans on Luke's birthday, so we decided we were just going to valet park. File that under "Things I Never Thought I Would Spend Money On." But really, it was SO worth it. We would have both been in terrible moods if we'd had to circle that parking lot for half an hour waiting to pounce on someone as soon as they left.

We met up with the family at Captain Cook's for dinner.

I had the adult grilled cheese, which I'd been pretty excited about.

Unfortunately, I just wasn't into it. My mother got it too and she seemed to like it.

This is Brian's food. I have no idea what it is. Brian wasn't too impressed with his meal, either. I rated Captain Cook's a 1.5 and Brian rated it a 2. Tabby and Tommy both ordered the pork nachos. They enjoyed it, but thought the serving was huge and wished they'd shared one instead.

After dinner...it was time for cake!

I picked this cake because it seemed to fit the Polynesian theme more than the other Mickey Mouse cakes.

And it came with a free smash cake for Luke.

We sang happy birthday.

And then it was time for some smashing.

After taking ten million pictures, we realized that he'd actually eaten a decent amount of that cake and we should probably take it away.

We had plenty of cake, so we shared with a few people in the restaurant. Then we cleaned up Luke, and the table, and the chairs, and the floor. My goodness, it was a mess. After we'd cleaned up and eaten our cake, one by one people started wandering off and looking around the resort. I consolidated all our things onto one table. Then Brian said to me, "There is icing all over that chair." I looked over at the table where we'd been sitting, and sure enough there was a substantial amount of blue icing smeared all over the back of the chair. And there were people sitting at the table. So I had to walk up to them like a weirdo and say, "Ummm, I'm just going to clean this icing off. Don't mind me."

We'd paid to valet, so were going to get our money's worth and we took the monorail back to Magic Kingdom. I left Brian with all the bags at the bag check while I took Luke to the BCC to nurse him. When they met back up with me...Tabby had bought a bunch of sorcerer cards! Now I was the only one who didn't have any. I felt left out, so I wanted to run back to the fire house and get some of my own. The others decided they would ride Jungle Cruise while I did that.

Oh, if I'd known how difficult it would be, I wouldn't have bothered. THERE IS ALWAYS A PARADE HAPPENING. I figured it would be faster to walk through the Emporium, even with Luke's stroller, and I literally got stuck inside. The firehouse was right there, but I physically could not get out the door and walk over. Trapped in a gift shop--well played, Disney. I ended up buying a plush baby Dumbo and his mother while I waited. It is the cutest thing in the entire world.

Finally, the parade ended and I made it over to the fire house. I wanted to get the whole experience and learn how to play, especially after that long wait in the Emporium, but since Brian had already used my park ticket to get a key card, they gave me my daily pack of cards and sent me away.

Tabby and Tommy had gone off to play the game, and I had Brian meet me in an alley off Main Street. The fireworks were getting ready to start, and I didn't feel like fighting my way up Main Street with the stroller. The portal where I was supposed to start my game was in Fantasyland, so we walked through Tomorrowland to Fantasyland...but we couldn't get to the portal, it was blocked off for the fireworks. Urgh. We walked back to Tomorrowland and I got on Space Mountain. The wait time said 20 minutes but it was more like 5. After the fireworks, we went back to Fantasyland and I played the Sorcerers game and defeated Maleficent. The portal technology was really neat and it's fun to collect the different cards, but I would rank the entire experience below the Agent P game at Epcot. In World Showcase, you're actually interacting with the environment and there is a REASON to go to each location. In the Sorcerer game, you're hopping between portals just for the sake of hopping between portals. You could play the entire game from one location and it wouldn't make a difference.

Next, we went over to Frontierland and Brian rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad while I sat with Luke, who'd been sleeping in his stroller for some time. But while we sat there waiting for Brian, he woke up. I held him and rocked him back to sleep. Tabby and Tommy found us and I looked at the time. It was 11:17pm. My precious baby boy was exactly one year old.

When Brian got back, Tabby and Tommy rode BTMR with me (separate cars, this time!), then we headed back on the monorail to the Polynesian to get the car.

Day 7 Summary: Luke's first birthday was awesome! I'm glad he is too young to remember it, so next year he won't be disappointed with a pizza party at home instead of a day at Magic Kingdom with breakfast and dinner at two of WDW's swankiest resorts.

 

[holleypie]

SUNDAY DECEMBER 9TH​

On Sunday, I woke up at 7, nursed Luke, put in a load of laundry, then took a walk around the lodge.

My family was flying home today, and planned to have lunch at T-Rex Cafe and then hang out at Downtown Disney until they had to catch Magical Express. Brian, Luke, and I were "scheduled" to go to Animal Kingdom, but I was exhausted and I said I'd love to have a rest day instead. We had a rest day scheduled for Monday, so we just swapped days.

Tabby and Tommy packed their bags and got ready, then Brian drove them to Downtown Disney to meet up with the rest of the family. He wasn't in need of a rest day, so he was going to hang out with them for awhile. My parents wanted to get Luke and his cousin a dinosaur, so Brian and Tommy each made one. I was told the whole experience was precious.

After the others left, I laid Luke down for a nap and hung out on the balcony. While I was out on the balcony, some people checked into the room next to us. It was a family with a few kids and they were ARGUING VERY LOUDLY. I don't mean the kids--I mean the DAD and the kids. At AKL, there are partitions so your neighbor's balcony is right next to you, but you can't actually see them. I'm sure they didn't know I was out there, and didn't realize I could hear every word they were saying. So I called Brian and loudly talked about nothing for a few minutes, hoping they would overhear me and take a hint. Then I took the phone inside and told him why I had really called, because he seemed pretty confused, because I NEVER call him just to chat about nothing. Then I told him he should go to Flippers on his way back and bring me some pizza.

I took a nap, and when I woke up, Brian was back with the pizza. Flippers is my favorite pizza in Orlando. It's a 4, for sure. We get it every trip, sometimes twice.

Luke played with his new dinosaur. His name is Lukousaurus, which is both adorable and actually the name of a dinosaur.

Our nephew's dinosaur also traveled back home with us so my parents wouldn't have to take him on the plane, but I didn't manage to get a picture of him.

Also, here's the plush I bought the day before. SO CUTE, right?

Now that I'd spent half the day doing nothing, I was well-rested and decided I would do my "night out" at Epcot this afternoon. I got Luke dressed in his swim trunks, and Brian took him down to the pool. I went to catch the bus.

My timing was awful. Buses to DHS, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and TWO for Downtown Disney all came before the Epcot bus.

Finally, I arrived. Daisy was meeting and greeting out front, and I've never managed to meet her so I stopped for a picture.

I love this. I don't know if you can tell in the picture, but Stitch has bitten off the corner of the sign.

My main objective at Epcot was to see some of the Holiday Storytellers. I was very interested in this, and Brian and Luke couldn't care less, so it seemed like a perfect activity for my night out. The storyteller times aren't organized in any logical fashion (like, you can't start in Mexico and work your way around) and they're not all the same length, so it's hard to come up with a good plan in advance. The Norway storyteller was coming out soon, so I decided that would be a good place to start, then I would just check the times afterwards and decide which country to run to next.

This story was too cute. Sigrid looked like Alison Sweeney, the actress who plays Sami Brady on my soap opera, and Julenissen reminded me of that guy who plays Christina Applegate's brother on Up All Night.

The gist of it is that Sigrid doesn't believe Julenissen is real, so she can't see him, but the audience can, and hilarity ensues.

It was really a delightful show. I wanted to bring Brian and Luke back to see it if we had time on our last Epcot day.

Afterwards, I consulted the guide and decided to go to Italy next and see La Befana. I had a few minutes to spare, so I stopped and looked at the train garden in Germany for awhile. I love miniatures.

I also stopped in the Santa's Village marketplace they had set up.

I can't remember anything they were selling, except for these adorable porcelain dolls. Some were regular dolls but some were based on the Disney princesses. I wanted to buy them all. My great-grandfather used to buy me porcelain dolls when I was a little girl, so I still had a soft spot for them.

 

[holleypie]

SUNDAY DECEMBER 9TH (PART 2)​

I pulled myself away from the porcelain dolls, and headed over to Italy.

This story made me kind of sad. From Wikipedia: "Christian legend had it that Befana was approached by the biblical magi, also known as the Three Wise Men (or the three kings) a few days before the birth of the Infant Jesus. They asked for directions to where the Son of God was, as they had seen his star in the sky, but she did not know. She provided them with shelter for a night, as she was considered the best housekeeper in the village, with the most pleasant home. The magi invited her to join them on the journey to find the baby Jesus, but she declined, stating she was too busy with her housework. Later, La Befana had a change of heart, and tried to search out the astrologers and Jesus. That night she was not able to find them, so to this day, La Befana is searching for the little baby."

I wanted to see Germany next, but again I had some time to spare. I'd read online about a chocolately alcoholic drink called "Tipsy Ducks in Love" sold in China, so I walked over to China to get one. I couldn't find it, though. Hmph. I went back to Germany and saw a seasonal cart there selling drinks, but I hadn't read anything about it online so I didn't get anything there. Instead, I got a Powerade. Exciting, I know! I wish I'd just tried something at the cart--I read about the drinks online afterwards and they sounded really interesting. Let that be a lesson for next time. Don't be afraid to try something new...even if you HAVEN'T read about it online. (And if three wise men invite you on an adventure, don't stay home and DO HOUSEWORK)

The Germany story was super short, and then she rushed away afterwards. Most of the storytellers hung around afterwards to take pictures, but the handler said she was sick. Now that I'm looking at the pictures...I guess she doesn't look too happy. Poor girl.

My next destination was the UK, but I had about half an hour until the next show. I bought an Epcot shirt which I don't have a picture of. It's like these except it's purple, and it has both the food and the drinks. It will be the perfect shirt to wear if I ever get to Drink Around the World.

When I walked toward the UK, I saw the Queen of Hearts out greeting. There was no PhotoPass photographer, but I'd never seen her out except after the Villains Mix and Mingle show at MNSSHP, so I decided to stop for a quick picture.

I found the storyteller area and sat on a bench to wait for Father Christmas.

Fortunately, only little kids sat in front of the stage and didn't block my view.

Or ruin my pictures.

I wanted to hear the Japanese storyteller next, and I had a few minutes so I walked into the store.

Mistake! I got caught up in browsing and ended up missing half of the show. Oops.

I entertained the idea of going over to DHS to ride Tower of Terror a few times, but decided to call it a night. Even though I knew I could watch it On Demand when I got home, I really wanted to hang out in bed with Brian and Luke and watch the Tia Mowry/Tori Spelling Mistle-Tones TV movie that was coming on at 8. I KNOW, I KNOW. I'm lame.

I stopped for a picture in front of the tree on my way out. Why not?

Then I headed back out to the bus stop.

The wait was kind of ridiculous. There was an Animal Kingdom Lodge bus on the other side of the lot...then it drove past us very slowly and left without picking us up! Then approximately seven million Animal Kingdom buses came and went, and I'm not sure why because I'm pretty sure Animal Kingdom was closed. Finally a bus came and I made it back to AKL.

Brian got himself some dinner from The Mara and I heated up a can of lentil soup, and we watched The Mistle-Tones.

When the movie ended at 10pm...it immediately started again. Seriously, an instant rerun. If I'd known I might have decided to go to DHS, but oh well.

Day 8 Summary: What a perfect low-key day! I got to nap, I got pizza, I got my night out at Epcot, and I got to watch my movie. I love having a lazy day like this in the middle of a long vacation.

 

[CDolacki2003]

Great trip report. I forgot Disney had a place in Hilton Head, I now want to check it out. Thanks.

 

[SAT887]

Great updates!! Your son is too cute!! Love all the storyteller stuff, we didn't get a chance to really get to any of that. Our trip was so crazy though and we will do Christmas again in 2014 so I need to take some notes to remember!

 

[holleypie]

I finally figured out how to quote multiple replies!

Great trip report. I forgot Disney had a place in Hilton Head, I now want to check it out. Thanks.

Thanks! Hilton Head was beautiful. I'm not sure when we'll get to go back, but I'm looking forward to it.

Great updates!! Your son is too cute!! Love all the storyteller stuff, we didn't get a chance to really get to any of that. Our trip was so crazy though and we will do Christmas again in 2014 so I need to take some notes to remember!

Thanks! We're thinking about alternating October/December trips so we might be back in 2014 too.

 

[holleypie]

MONDAY DECEMBER 10​

We woke up early and then lazed around. We realized at around 7:30 that Animal Kingdom had extra magic hours that morning, but by the time we got dressed and got there, we only had a few minutes until the park opened to the general public.

Because this would be our last day at AK, we stopped for the obligatory PhotoPass pictures in front of the tree.

My hair was still wet so it looks kind of funky. Oh well.

Luke fell asleep, so Brian rode Everest. I was starting to get sick, so I didn't feel like riding.

Next, we looked at some animals. The pictures are from two different cameras, and I don't remember the exact order or where all the animals were located, so I'm just going to throw them all in here with no explanation.

On our way to the baby care center, I saw I had a voice mail. Apparently my ex-boyfriend had put me down as a job reference. While I fed Luke, I called the guy back and said some nice things about my ex, because I'm a nice girl. He didn't get the job. I hope it wasn't my fault.

We got lunch from the food stands in Asia.

I got the noodle salad. It was okay, but I was disappointed that it didn't have more vegetables.

I've never had a summer roll before, so I waited until Brian got back with his wings so he could unwrap it before I took a picture. I didn't realize that's how you eat it!

The summer rolls tasted strongly of cilantro, which I don't like. Brian gave his food a 1. I rated mine a 2.

After lunch, we did some more wandering around.

After five trips, we finally found Devine!

There was another PhotoPass guy so we decided to stop for some more pictures, intending to ask for some magic shots. But then the guy started taking all kinds of close-up family pictures like we were at a portrait studio or something, so we didn't want to take up anymore time with special requests.

When we were finished, we discovered why he'd been so into it: There was a survey-taker standing off to the side waiting to ask about our experience.

 

[holleypie]

MONDAY DECEMBER 10TH (PART 2)​

Next, we went to Camp Minnie-Mickey to meet some characters.

First we met Donald. I think he might be Luke's favorite.

I wanted to meet Minnie, but her line was long so we went to see Baloo and King Louie instead.

 

[holleypie]

MONDAY DECEMBER 10TH (PART 3)​

My favorite part of camp Minnie-Mickey was all the Christmas trees. Now let's see if I remember who they belong to...

Donald.

Goofy, I guess? I don't understand the flamingos.

This one is fairly obvious.

Mickey.

Lilo, maybe? I've never seen the movie but it looks Hawaiian.

Stitch.

No idea.

Nemo. This one's cute even though I'm afraid of fish.

Lion King.

Ummm. Country Bears?

No clue.

Chip and Dale.

Not sure. I see a lot of food.

Pocahontas?

Before we left, I wanted some pictures in front of the tree at the front of the park because I really loved this tree. I like how they turned out.

We didn't do the safari because we'd already seen plenty of animals while staying at AKL, but afterwards I remembered there's a new ending with zebras instead of that dumb poacher storyline. When we were there in October, the poacher storyline was gone but the zebras weren't there yet! Oh well, something to look forward to for next time.

 

[holleypie]

MONDAY DECEMBER 10TH (PART 4)​

Brian dropped us off at AKL and left for MK for his "night" out (he's going to make a separate post about it). I laid Luke down for a nap, then took a bath with my water lily bath bomb.

It turned the water such a pretty color! I felt like I was bathing in the ocean.

After my bath, I hung out on the balcony for a bit.

Ostrich!

When Luke woke up, we walked over to Kidani.

This isn't a great picture, but I LOVE these lanterns. In general, I love the decor over at Kidani. We're currently booked there for our next trip, but we're going to try switching to the Boardwalk.

After walking around for a bit, we hung out in Community Hall. There wasn't really anything age-appropriate for Luke to do, but I let him crawl around.

Brian called and said he was back, so we met him at the room, then changed and got ready to go out. We took Luke down to the lobby to get his caricature drawn. I asked the artist to draw Luke in a safari outfit with a giraffe. Luke was wearing a Tigger outfit, so the guy drew a Tigger-like tiger into the picture, and a monkey, and then right before he was finished he's like, "You said you wanted a giraffe, right?" Haha. I don't have a picture of it--I'll try to remember to upload one.

Next, we went to Downtown Disney, and it was raining a bit. I was actually excited for the rain, because we had bought a plastic cover for the stroller and I was glad we actually had a chance to use it. We looked in the pin shop then decided to get dinner. I wanted Wolfgang Puck Express. Brian wanted Bodie's All American. WPE was on my birthday list, and I didn't know if we would make it back for another meal at DTD, so I got my food at WPE and took it over to Bodie's to eat with Brian.

I got the four cheese pesto pizza and I LOVED IT. It was definitely a 4.

Brian loved his meal too and also gave it a 4. His burger really did look pretty delicious.

I think this was a Baileys milkshake?

After dinner, we looked in the World of Disney, then to Once Upon a Toy and got a box of Mr. Potato Head parts for Luke's birthday with the gift card Brian's dad had given him.

We were happy with what we'd gotten, but when we tried to pay the cashier insisted that we go back and cram some more pieces in the box. "Each piece represents four dollars. Here's four dollars! Here's another four dollars!" She said that if we dug deep enough we would be able to find a slice of pizza.

Brian had to keep digging until she finally found one at the very bottom of the bin.

DAY 9 SUMMARY: I was starting to feel sick, but overall we had a good day. The pictures of Luke with Donald, Baloo, and King Louie are so precious. That pizza at Wolfgang Puck Express was the culinary highlight of the trip for me. I did 3 things on my birthday list bringing the total up to 20/30 I think.

 

[SAT887]

Enjoying your update! When is your next trip? I think you said it before but I'm spacey We want to try and get a studio at BWV during F&W. I was kicking myself the other day for not get more potato head pieces when my girls were playing the other day. I love all of your pictures they are really great- did you get the bath bomb at Basin?

 

[holleypie]

Enjoying your update! When is your next trip? I think you said it before but I'm spacey We want to try and get a studio at BWV during F&W. I was kicking myself the other day for not get more potato head pieces when my girls were playing the other day. I love all of your pictures they are really great- did you get the bath bomb at Basin?

We're booked September 30-October 5 right now but we're eventually going to add some days on at the end so I can run the Tower of Terror race that weekend. I'm really hoping we can switch to the Boardwalk. It would be so convenient for F&W and the race. But I'm sure everyone else is thinking that too!

Yep, the bath bomb came from Basin. I got a few but the water lily was my favorite.

 

[SAT887]

We're booked September 30-October 5 right now but we're eventually going to add some days on at the end so I can run the Tower of Terror race that weekend. I'm really hoping we can switch to the Boardwalk. It would be so convenient for F&W and the race. But I'm sure everyone else is thinking that too!

Yep, the bath bomb came from Basin. I got a few but the water lily was my favorite.

When is the marathon? We are going down (DH and I only) Oct 6-10. I figure at the 7 month window if its not available we stay at OKW (cheap points) and wait list it. Good luck! Are you looking for a studio or 1 bedroom?