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

[MelMel11]

Enjoying your TR!! Count me in!!

 

[holleypie]

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?

The TOT race is a 10 miler and that's October 5th. The marathon's sometime in January and I think there's a half marathon in November too. I'm not crazy enough THIS year to try for a marathon.

We're looking for a studio. We've been borrowing instead of using the current use year so we need to be cheap for a few trips and get caught up.

 

[holleypie]

Enjoying your TR!! Count me in!!

Thanks for reading!

 

[SAT887]

The TOT race is a 10 miler and that's October 5th. The marathon's sometime in January and I think there's a half marathon in November too. I'm not crazy enough THIS year to try for a marathon.

We're looking for a studio. We've been borrowing instead of using the current use year so we need to be cheap for a few trips and get caught up.

Nice! It sounds like fun- but also sounds like ill have a harder time getting that studio! I get confused with the running lingo I should try and figure it out better (i try to run 5 miles a day) but ehhh I get it about being cheap with points. We are going to have to borrow (I might buy some 1x use points too) for our October trip, but when we think about future vacations and what we will need it makes me debate certain luxuries (views etc) Maybe I will hit the lotto and add on!

 

[holleypie]

Maybe I will hit the lotto and add on!

That's my plan too!

 

[holleypie]

TUESDAY DECEMBER 11​

We got to Epcot right around park opening.

As we were crossing the parking lot, I saw a monorail approaching. ARGH. We were going to get stuck in an ENORMOUS bag check line.

Then we came upon this:

There were two bag checks! There was literally not a single person waiting in line on this side of the parking lot. So after we were through, I had to run over and take a picture of the other line.

Suckers.

I took Luke to the BCC to feed him. The trees and the water looked so pretty this morning!

Brian tried to ride Test Track, but it was closed until 11. We met back up near the Imagination Pavilion to see my favorite show.

We got there just in time for the next show. I made sure to sit on the end in case Luke hated it and I had to run out. But, no worries! He danced and clapped.

We walked through Innoventions and Brian wanted to do Sum of all Thrills.

I walked around with Luke, then I got hungry so I walked around Future World until I found a pretzel. I saved half of it for Brian, because I love him. It took ALL of my willpower to not eat the second half of that pretzel. I went back to Sum of all Thrills to wait for him, but I couldn't see him in line. Luke and I made ourselves comfortable on a bench and sat for a few minutes. Then, for no real reason, I decided to stand up and look at the ride.

There was Brian, right behind me!

When Brian got finished, it was after 11 so we went back to Test Track. Now the standby line was 40 minutes and the Fast Pass/single rider line was 30 minutes. Nope, not happening.

Luke was napping, so we decided to do an Agent P Adventure.

We tried this once when it was Kim Possible, I think in Norway. Actually, Brian and Tom did it without me on our 2011 trip while I went to Welcome Home Wednesday at the Boardwalk.

Our adventure was in the UK, so we started to walk over.

The Canada storyteller was out, so we stopped and listened for a minute.

Then we got to the UK.

I can't remember any specific details, but the adventure was cute. I've actually seen Phineas and Ferb (unlike Kim Possible) so I think that helped me enjoy it more.

Walking through France, we saw Pere Noel just finishing up.

We were starving by now, so we stopped in America for lunch.

There was a cute gingerbread display inside, with Chef Duffy!

Brian got a steak, potatoes, and broccoli.

I got a black bean burger with fries.

Brian got a dessert, but I can't remember what it was.

I gave our lunch a 2 and Brian gave it a 2.5.

Luke was super cranky during lunch. He ended up getting food everywhere because he kept smacking my hand!

After lunch, we finished walking through the countries and decided to take Luke on the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico to see his old pal Donald Duck.

 

[holleypie]

TUESDAY DECEMBER 11 (PART 2)​

Next, we visited Duffy (in his Christmas outfit!). This was on my birthday list. I'm not sure why Luke looks so suspicious and disgusted.

We went back to Innoventions and got in line for the Visa photo op (another item on my birthday list).

You get a free photo from the meet-and-greet and we've been trying to do this ever since we got a Disney Visa card a few trips ago. The hours are something like 1:30-4:30, so by then we're usually over in World Showcase and don't feel like walking all the way back.

We waited about 10 minutes, but the two people in line in front of us had to round up literally TWELVE people when it was their turn. It was pretty outrageous.

In line we tried to guess who we would be meeting, because it's a random combination of the Fab 5 and they won't tell you who it is. It ended up being Mickey and Pluto.

Before we headed back to World Showcase, I nursed Luke and we went back to Test Track...but now it was down! Haha. Brian didn't even care all that much about riding it at this point.

We saw the end of the Three Kings story in Mexico.

Then saw some of the monkey king in China.

As we were walking through China, Brian said, "Hey, there's that drink you wanted to get the other day."

I looked, and there was a sign for the Tipsy Ducks in Love! Right there at the drink stand where I had looked for it on Sunday. I'd just fed Luke, so after some debate I decided I would get it. We mentioned to the guy that I hadn't been able to find it the other day and he said, "Yeah, it's seasonal." So apparently the season just started.

It was delicious!

We were heading to the DVC Merry Mixer now, which is the DVC holiday party. I think they have one every week of December. It's held in the World Showplace pavilion between the UK and Canada. We had to walk ALLLLLLLL the way into Canada to find the end of the line, and I was starting to think maybe we should have gotten there early. By the time we got in line, the doors had already opened and we were moving pretty quickly.

The building was huge and held a ton of people, so I'm glad we decided NOT to get there early and wait in line. There wasn't much reason to.

As we walked in, we saw Santa Goofy and Pluto meeting and greeting. They're everywhere! We ended up seeing them in all four parks.

As I was busy checking out Goofy and Pluto, Brian said to me, "You're going to be so excited. Mickey and Minnie are here...in their Christmas sweaters."

WHAT?!?

You might remember that seeing Mickey and Minnie in their Christmas garb at MVMCP was on my birthday list, but I skipped over them to see the princesses and their princes instead. If I met them here, I would have a chance to complete everything on my birthday list!

Brian knows me well. I was SO EXCITED.

We checked out some pins on display (I think they were upcoming releases? I wasn't paying much attention).

Then we got in line.

There was a professional photographer, but not PhotoPass. It was some other company. The photo on our camera turned out decent enough, so I wasn't going to pay $15 for their print.

Brian got in line to buy a pin while Luke and I watched the kids have a hula hoop contest.

Check out the DJ:

It was pretty festive. I was feeling the effects of the Tipsy Ducks, so Luke and I both found the hula hoop contest PROFOUNDLY INTERESTING. My youngest brother is actually a pretty phenomenal hula hooper, and I wished he'd been there. These kids were amazing.

After Brian got his pin, we got our holiday treats (Rice Crispy treats and sugar cookies) and drinks (apple cider, hot cocoa, and water).

They were selling those treats for $4 in the stores, and we got three of them for free. It was pretty awesome. We spent a little over an hour at the party. We also got a free ornament (it was the same design as the pin Brian bought). There was a raffle, too, but we didn't win anything. Overall I really enjoyed the party.

We were leaving the park now and Brian tried to lead the way toward Canada, but I wanted to take him to see the storyteller in Norway. We checked the showtimes and--ARGH--a show had just started. So we went over to Canada and checked out the shop. I wanted to get my Duffy a new outfit, but I hadn't seen the country-specific outfits anywhere. We asked someone...and they said they've been discontinued! Grumble grumble grumble. I saw them on sale three for $30 at the Disney Store online last summer, but I didn't buy any. Now I wish I would have. They were so adorable.

We saw some of Joyful on the way out.

As we were walking toward the exit, I happened to glance over at the Camera Center and remembered--we needed to pick up our free photo! It didn't take too long to edit the picture and get it printed, and then we left Epcot for the last time on this trip.

 

[holleypie]

TUESDAY DECEMBER 11 (PART 3)​

After we left Epcot, Brian wanted to go visit Old Key West to look at the pins and also see if they had a kid-sized shirt for Luke to match our OKW shirts. I wanted to check out the decorations.

I love their pin board.

Sadly, they didn't have any Luke-sized shirts. After we left, we somehow got lost on the highway and drove down 192 looking for somewhere to have dinner. We didn't see anything good, so Brian suggested we go to the Pepper Market at Coronado Springs. After he mentioned it, I remembered reading about it online, but I would never have thought to suggest it. Coronado Springs is the other resort in the "Animal Kingdom Resort Area."

We checked out the lobby and the shop, then Brian came up to me and said, "Instead of a pin board, they had a pin-ata."

I'm like, "OH MY GOD, THAT'S AWESOME!"

And Brian says, "...and his name is Burrito."

Well, I had to meet Burrito, so I went up to the cashier and asked to look at the pins. Then I asked her if I could take his picture. She said of course I could, then asked if I wanted to get Luke in the picture too.

Sure, why not. Then she offered to take a picture of all of us with Burrito, but I really didn't need to take it THAT far, so I politely declined.

We went to Pepper Market and it's a very strange setup. You wait to be seated, and you have a waitress who gets your drinks, but you get your own food and then pay for it at a register before you leave. Brian went up and got a burrito, then I went up and looked at the food. I wanted a burrito but I didn't understand the setup, so I sat back down and made Brian get it for me.

You have to get a ticket stamped when you get your food.

This picture couldn't BE more boring, but I'm telling you, THE BURRITOS WERE AMAZING. 4's all around.

When we were ready to leave, the waitress insisted on not charging us for Brian's drink, because I only ordered water and I had my refillable mug with me. I tried to tell her that it was from another resort, but she either didn't understand or didn't care, and she didn't charge us for Brian's soda. Then when we got to the register, they charged Brian for two veggie burritos even though he told them his had meat. Maybe they were trying to make up for the fact that we had to wait FOREVER to pay. It was seriously a ridiculously long wait.

It was now our last night at Animal Kingdom Lodge, and I still hadn't relaxed in the hot tub, which was on my birthday list. I hadn't been too worried about it before, but now that I had met Mickey and Minnie, I NEEDED to finish everything on the list! The stupid hot tub couldn't be the ONE thing I didn't do. But when we got back to AKL, I was just so tired. we rented Brothers Grimm from Zawadi Marketplace. I fell asleep twenty minutes in. I actually completely forgot we had rented it until I read this in my trip journal!

Day 10 Summary: Another great day! I was so excited to find both the Tipsy Ducks AND Mickey and Minnie in their Christmas sweaters. Our dinner at Pepper Market was so outrageously good--definitely worth a special trip. The Visa photo op and Merry Mixer were both fun, free things I would make an effort to do again in the future. We completed 4 items on my birthday list, bringing the total up to 24/30.

 

[clynngibson]

hahahahha I LOL'd at you saving half the pretzel for your DH because you love him. In DAK, I was waiting for DH and DD to get off of Kali, DS was asleep in the stroller, so I bought a jalapeno cheese stuffed pretzel. I was so sad that DH and DD walked up before I finished it because I had to share! hahaha

 

[SAT887]

I like your list of things you really want to do. I think I might steal that from you next trip! I have never been to a Merry Mixer or Welcome Home Wed. What are the Welcome Home Wednesdays like? I know I have said this before but Luke is so adorable! He is very photogenic. So sad this is the end of your trip- I really need to get moving and finish mine....

 

[holleypie]

hahahahha I LOL'd at you saving half the pretzel for your DH because you love him. In DAK, I was waiting for DH and DD to get off of Kali, DS was asleep in the stroller, so I bought a jalapeno cheese stuffed pretzel. I was so sad that DH and DD walked up before I finished it because I had to share! hahaha

I like your list of things you really want to do. I think I might steal that from you next trip! I have never been to a Merry Mixer or Welcome Home Wed. What are the Welcome Home Wednesdays like? I know I have said this before but Luke is so adorable! He is very photogenic. So sad this is the end of your trip- I really need to get moving and finish mine....

The last time I went to WHW (2011), there was a game show format and they picked people from the audience to answer questions about Disney/DVC. The whole thing heavily promotes whatever big thing is currently new (I think it was Aulani last time). They changed the format last year and I think they do a few different games now instead of the game show. There's free lemonade and popcorn, and you get a free gift for coming (last time it was a hat, the time before that it was a pin) and then there's a drawing for door prizes. I wouldn't say it's a must do, but if you have some downtime, it's an amusing way to spend an hour.

 

[holleypie]

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 12​

This was originally our departure day, but we added two days off-site at the last minute. So, we were checking out of Animal Kingdom Lodge this morning, but NOT going home.

Luke woke up at 3:30 am to nurse, and then I couldn't fall back asleep so I decided to do laundry. I ended up doing laundry twice as often as I thought I would on this trip, so next time I will definitely bring more detergent (and dryer sheets!). I drank some hot cocoa in the laundry room and wrote in my trip journal. Then I went back to the room and fell asleep until 7:30.

After we got dressed, we packed everything up and started loading the car. I hate tipping people for things I can do myself, so I insisted we carry everything out instead of getting them to send someone up to help us. On my last trip down, I made a Herculean effort to get about six bags AND Luke AND his stroller down to the lobby all by myself. When we got out to the car, Brian said, "Did you get my tea?"

I said, "I THOUGHT YOU DIDN'T WANT IT." But apparently he did really want his tea, so all that effort was wasted and he had to make another trip up to the room. Because of the stress of packing and the sadness of leaving Animal Kingdom Lodge, I was like a cranky little kid this morning.

If we were going back in anyway, I wanted to fill my mug, but in the chaos of packing the car I had lost track of it. Brian ran up to the room while I waited in the lobby with Luke. I decided we needed to get some pictures in front of the tree. I'd been wanting to do this all week, but every time we passed through the lobby we were obviously on our way to do something else, and never made the time to stop.

When Brian came back, I told him I wanted his tea in the pictures but he refused.

The family pictures we took were Awkward Family Photo worthy, so I'll only post a few funny ones of Luke.

He just wouldn't stop making this face.

I don't know why. Maybe he was sad that we were leaving AKL too.

On our way to Magic Kingdom, I STILL couldn't find my mug, so I threw myself an impromptu pity party. The last time I could remember having it was when we left Coronado Springs the night before. I never found it, so I still have no idea what happened to it.

We arrived at Magic Kingdom and parked in the Heroes lot. This is the first time we were on the Heroes side of the parking lot on the whole trip! Brian said, "I wonder if all the heroes and villains match up. Like Peter Pan and Hook, Scar and Simba--"

"Zurg and Woody."

"No, not Woody. Buzz Lightyear makes more sense."

We started walking across the parking lot.

And then...

How rude. Let's try that again.

I was right! It's Woody.

But in case you were wondering, the Heroes and Villains DON'T match up. Here are the complete lists:

Oddly enough, the male characters all match up, but the females don't.

After we got inside, Brian went to the firehouse to get Sorcerer cards and I went into guest relations to check off another birthday list item: Fill out a comment card for a CM.

The CM I picked was Norma from the barbershop. It was a little awkward because I had to tell the guy what I wanted to say, and he filled the form out himself. I was still sick and I had practically lost my voice, so I sounded TERRIBLE. Later, I read a thread on disboards that suggested writing a letter AFTER your trip is the highest form of praise you can give a CM, so I'll definitely do that next time. Especially since it will be easier for me!

I took Luke to the BCC to feed him, then we walked over to Sunshine Tree Terrace to meet Brian. On the way there, we saw this grandmother yelling at her grandson to come use the bathroom. He was like, "I don't have to go." And she's like, "YOU'RE GOING TO USE THE BATHROOM." She yanked his arm, he fell over, and while trying to yank him back up she tripped over him and fell down! So there they are, in the most magical place on Earth, lying on the ground screaming...in their matching Perry the Platypus shirts. It was so sad.

Brian had gotten a citrus swirl for himself...and a soda for me in a new mug.

He is just so sweet.

When we were separated, Brian came across these guys:

So adorable. I would have definitely stopped if I'd seen then.

We walked around for a bit then went to Tortuga Tavern for lunch, which was probably a mistake after the GREAT burritos we had the night before, but we wanted to try it and this was the first time we had actually seen it open.

We both got burritos--basically the same thing we'd had for dinner the night before.

Brian gave his meal a 2, and I gave mine...a zero. It was so gross, I couldn't eat it. When we go to Qdoba or Chipotle, I have to unwrap my food and pick the cilantro out. But the cilantro rice at Tortuga Tavern didn't have pieces of cilantro...the rice was ONE with the cilantro. I thought if I covered it with enough cheese and sour cream I would be able to choke it down, but the cheese and sour cream were low quality fixin' bar crap, so that just made it worse. I gave up and fed some of it to Luke, because he doesn't have such a discriminating palate.

Brian finished his food first because I was having so many issues with mine, and he decided to walk back to the firehouse to get his portal changed because whatever portal he was supposed to use wasn't working.

While Luke and I waited for him to get back, a CM came over and asked how everything was. I don't know why, but I was actually honest with him and told him that my husband liked his food but I hate cilantro so I couldn't eat mine. He insisted on bringing me something else. I felt bad because I KNEW there was cilantro in the rice and I ordered it anyway, but he insisted. So I asked for a kids quesadilla because I knew it was cheap! And then he's like, "Okay, and that comes with two sides." So I got a free quesadilla AND two sides. I can't even imagine something like that happening anywhere else.

The quesadilla was the strangest thing I've ever seen. It wasn't flat...there was a huge ball of cheese in the center. I had to flatten it out before I ate it. But, it wasn't terrible and it kept me from dying of hunger. Thank you, kind Tortuga Tavern CM!

Brian came back for us after changing his portal to Fantasyland, so we headed there next. We got a Fast Pass for the Little Mermaid ride and then rode Peter Pan.

We had a 20-25 minute wait, but it wasn't too bad. I was a little afraid of Luke falling out of this one, but he was okay.

We did Winnie the Pooh next.

Luke wasn't big enough to appreciate the full experience, but it was certainly more entertaining than waiting in a normal line.

Brian played the Sorcerer game while Luke and I lurked.

I saw this shirt inside the store and it made me laugh:

Apparently if you wear it while you're playing the game, it gives you some kind of "Power Boost." Clever, Disney. Very clever.

After Brian triumphed over evil, we went over to New Fantasyland and rode the Little Mermaid ride.

Little Mermaid was one of my favorite Disney movies when I was a little girl, so I think this ride is a lot of fun.

We decided to leave Magic Kingdom for the day and go check into the Wyndham.

 

[holleypie]

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 12 (PART 2)​

After staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge, anything was going to look like a dive. I tried so hard to not be judgmental about every little thing and just enjoy two extra days at Disney....but LOOK AT THIS SIGN.

Oh my God. It's just so boring.

The layout of the hotel was kind of weird, but some employees gave us directions to the front desk and we checked in.

The CMs had pin lanyards for trading.

And there was a Christmas tree.

But here's the laundry room. I love Mickey's shrug. He's like..."So what?"

And here is the view of our room. Yawn.

We could see the pool from our room and it looked like the hot tub was blocked off. I told Brian I NEEDED to get in that hot tub for the sake of my birthday list, and if it was closed then he was going to drive me back to Animal Kingdom Lodge that night.

While I was taking a picture of the room number, Brian got all testy with me and told me to hurry up because there was a maid waiting to get by. That irritated me too. At AKL, THE MAID WOULD HAVE HAD ROOM TO GET BY.

As boring as the exterior was, the room was actually clean and nice. We got settled in, then got back in the car and headed over to Hollywood Studios.

It was raining pretty hard now.

We went in the back entrance again, so I never got to see the big Hollywood Studios sign on this trip!

This guy is sweeping up the rain. Oh, Disney.

We headed to Tower of Terror and I rode it for the last time on this trip. It was on my birthday list as "Ride TOT as many times as possible," and that ended up only being twice.

When it was Brian's turn, I hung out in the gift shop but I would have rather been standing in the rain!

EVERYONE exiting the ride felt the need to ring these bells. It was seriously maddening.

After Brian came back, I was a little hungry so we got pretzels and frozen lemonade.

Next, Brian rode Star Tours. I didn't want to do it alone because Darth Vader scares me.

Now that we knew Luke was interested in stuff, we decided to do something solely for him, which meant we were experiencing an attraction we've NEVER done before.

I've never watched any of these shows on television. Since Luke's aunt and uncle are 5 and 4, so I'm sure he's watched at least some of them at his grandmother's house.

The gist of the show is that Mickey's planning a surprise birthday party for Minnie, and everyone volunteers to do something. Daisy's going to hang a sign, Goofy's going to bake a cake, and Donald's going to compose a song. Mickey is going to...wait for it...get everyone to yell surprise. On this trip, I'd started to realize that Mickey is a totally crappy boyfriend. When we met him on Luke's birthday, one of the CMs asked him when he and Minnie were going to get married, and he hid behind a curtain. Then when we met Duffy at Epcot, I started thinking about how Mickey went on a cruise around the world and left Minnie at home. Now he's throwing a birthday party for her and making his friends do all the work. What a dope.

I knew that Handy Manny and Baby Einsteins and Jake and the Never Land Pirates were going to come into play, so I thought I knew what was going to happen. Handy Manny would teach Daisy how to use a hammer so she could hang the sign, and maybe one of the musically-inclined Little Einsteins would help Donald compose a song...

But no. The actual show was LUDICROUS. Daisy watched a skit from Jake and the Never Land Pirates and realized she too "has friends in high places" and uses some kind of crane to hang the sign. Then Goofy learns that if his friends simply cheer him on, he'll be able to bake a cake. WHAT? I can't remember what happened with Donald, but the whole thing was insane.

But yeah, Luke enjoyed it. I felt kind of bad because the family sitting in front of us had HEADPHONES to put on their youngest son to protect his ears. I'd taken Luke to see Captain EO without any fancy headphones. I'm probably a terrible mom.

 

[holleypie]

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 12 (PART 3)​

After the Disney Junior show, we went over to the Streets of America to see the Osborne Lights. It was already dark so we had missed them coming on for the first time, but we wandered around and watched them dance for three different songs.

 

[holleypie]

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 12 (PART 4)​

We left DHS for the last time and headed over to the Boardwalk to check out the Christmas decorations at the Boardwalk Resort, Beach Club, and Yacht Club.

We parked at the Boardwalk and obviously started there.

We were hungry so we put our name down at Big River Grille.

There was a DVC room model right there, so we went in to check it out. The buzzer went off while we were looking, so we had to leave in a hurry.

I had a big salad. There wasn't much more on the menu for me, but that was okay. The salad was just a salad, but I felt bad giving it a low score so I gave it a 2.5 (as if these ratings have a bearing on anything).

It looks like Brian had a bacon cheeseburger. He gave it a 3.

When I went to the bathroom, I overheard some drunk older ladies in there talking. The first one said, "I'm going to call Bob and tell him I'm drunk. He'll be so happy. Wait. AM I drunk?"

Her friend said, "Yes."

After dinner, we stopped in the Boardwalk Bakery to get some dessert for later.

I got a cheesecake brownie and Brian got a fruit tart.

 

[holleypie]

WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 12 (PART 5)​

Next, we walked over to the Beach Club.

And then to the Yacht Club!

The Yacht Club feels a little too country-clubbish for my taste, but I LOVED the train garden.

It was getting late so we headed back to the room.

Except...neither of us remembered our room number. So we went to the lobby and asked them to remind us. You might be wondering how we could have "forgotten" the room number, after that argument we'd had earlier because I was TAKING A PICTURE OF THE ROOM NUMBER. Well...I didn't remember that until later.

When Brian stuck the key in the lock, it didn't work. He tried it a few times and then he went BACK to the lobby to get another key.

When he came back, the new key didn't work either.



I took the key and shoved it in and out of the slot until the door unlocked. I figured if I got angry enough, it would work!

Finally we got in and got settled for the night. I ate half of my cheesecake brownie and then went to bed.

 

[holleypie]

THURSDAY DECEMBER 13​

On our last day at Disney, we went to Magic Kingdom. I'm not sure if it will always work out this way, but I really liked starting and ending the trip at MK.

It was cold and rainy.

I was actually glad, because that made me feel better about going home. If it had been 80 degrees and sunny...well, I'm not sure if Brian could have dragged me away.

We stopped at the fire house for cards, then headed toward Tomorrowland.

As you can see, there was a parade happening. THERE WAS ALWAYS A PARADE HAPPENING.

When I'd tried to make breakfast that morning, I realized our new room didn't have a microwave. So, we were all hungry and Brian suggested we check and see if there was any availability at the Plaza Restaurant.

They said they could seat us in 15-20 minutes, so we decided to hang around and have an early lunch.

We kept seeing these motorized scooters from a company named Walker, and the irony made us laugh.

When we were seated, I was shocked at how small this restaurant was. After seeing the size of some of these places, now I understand why reservations go so quickly.

I loved the menus.

Our waiter mistook Luke for a girl. At the time I didn't understand why because he was dressed as a pirate.

But he only had half the costume on and now that I'm looking at the pictures I guess the shirt does look a little girly.

I decided to order Luke his very first kids meal. He had the grilled cheese and tomato soup. They were both really good.

I had the vegetarian sandwich.

It really disappoints me whenever there's only ONE designated vegetarian option AND it has the word "vegetarian" in the name. It lacks creativity and it makes me feel like I'm being pacified. Everyone can and should eat vegetables! It's not some weird choice that only vegetarians make.

Here's the description of the sandwich: "Fresh mozzarella, hummus, basil pesto, cucumber, roasted red pepper, tomato, and lettuce on freshly baked focaccia." Doesn't that sound delicious? Unfortunately, it had absolutely no flavor. I don't even know how that's possible.

I'm not even sure what Brian had. Turkey sandwich?

I gave the Plaza Restaurant a 2 and Brian gave it a 2.5. If we returned here, I would order the kids' meal. It was cheaper and much better than my own sandwich!

During our lunch, the mayor came in and gave a little girl a some sort of junior mayor award. It was kind of cute.

After lunch we went to Space Mountain and I rode first. There were a bunch of rambunctious preteens in line, and I ended up riding with five of them. I like to scream on Space Mountain, but because I'd lost my voice I couldn't. I knew the kids would make up for it though.

But...they didn't. We rode in ABSOLUTE SILENCE. It was so bizarre. As soon as we got off the ride, they were super loud again.

While Brian took his turn, I took Luke to the bathroom and changed him out of his pirate outfit. I'd wanted to get some pictures of him in it, but it was just too cold.

Next, we went to Laugh Floor. Normally I try to avoid the seats that I think are susceptible to being put up on the screen. But now that I had Luke I didn't mind showing him off. They didn't use us, though. It was a fun show. The guy the monster picked for the mind-reading trick didn't even speak English, so that was funny.

We checked on the wait time for Minnie and Daisy at Pete's Silly Sideshow and it was 35 minutes so we decided not to wait.

As we were walking toward New Fantasyland, I noticed for the first time that the dwarf paintings on the construction wall around the mine coaster were themed to each area. So I let Brian walk ahead while I stopped to take pictures.

Dumbo.

Alice in Wonderland.

Winnie the Pooh!

Beauty and the Beast.

Little Mermaid.

So adorable.

When I walked past Enchanted Tales with Belle, the wait time was OUTRAGEOUS.

As I was taking that picture, a CM walked over to me and said, "It's really only 20 minutes, come on in!"

But I had to meet back up with Brian and Luke, so I walked on to Gaston's.

Brian got a cinnamon roll and a LaFou's Brew and we sat outside and ate it.

After that, Brian played some more Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom while I fed Luke at the baby care center.

And then it was time to leave.

Before we left, we took some family pictures on Main Street.

I love that Luke and the random woman behind us are making THE EXACT SAME FACE.

We let Luke have one more look at the castle, and then we left Magic Kingdom for the last time.

 

[holleypie]

THURSDAY DECEMBER 13 (Part 2)​

After we left Magic Kingdom, we headed over to the Wilderness Lodge. This was the only DVC resort at WDW that we had never visited before.

We weren't exactly sure how to get there, so we got turned around a few times. When we drove under the Magic Kingdom sign, they were already getting ready for the MVMCP that night.

The Wilderness Lodge is very similar to the Grand Californian where we stayed for our honeymoon.

I seem to remember them having this exact thing at the Grand Californian, but I couldn't find a picture of it.

We walked around the lodge and looked in the store, and then headed back to the Wyndham.

When we got back to the room, I laid Luke down for a nap, and then I changed...into my bathing suit. I was getting in the hot tub. Even though it was cold and raining. At this point I had done 29/30 things on my birthday list, and now I was going to check off #30. I AM NOT A QUITTER.

There was a sign in the room that said we should NOT take the towels down to the pool because there would be towels down there. So I pulled on my bear hat, grabbed my iPod, and walked down to the pool.

The good thing about going to the pool, in December, in the rain, is that I had the whole place to myself. That was also bad, because I was incredibly paranoid that a drifter was going to jump out of the bushes and abduct me. I'm not even kidding. I was being SO overly dramatic about the fact that we weren't staying on Disney property anymore.

I couldn't figure out how to turn on the jets. That might have been what all the orange netting was about. But the hot tub was, in fact, hot. I also didn't know how to access the WiFi, so I played an episode of This American Life on my iPod. But I didn't have my headphones, so I had to hold it up to my ear. This ended up being good, because any drifters with nefarious intent would think I was talking on the phone and probably wouldn't try abducting me.

The episode of This American Life was about some huge Native American slaughter. It was incredibly depressing. So there I was, all alone, sitting in the rain, listening to this depressing broadcast and keeping my eyes peeled for drifters in the bushes. Now if THAT'S not "relaxing in the hot tub," I don't know what is. BIRTHDAY LIST COMPLETE.

When I got out of the hot tub, I discovered there were ZERO towels in the pool area. I had to walk back up to the room, shivering and dripping wet.

I took a shower and then after Brian and Luke finished napping, we decided to go to Downtown Disney. Our hotel was so close, we could have walked. We didn't, but we could have. We hadn't been to the West Side yet, so we parked over there.

First, we checked out the Harley-Davidson store.

Then looked in D Street.

Then we walked over to Marketplace.

I'd loved Wolfgang Puck Express so much, I insisted we had to go there again.

This time I ordered the four cheese macaroni.

I was a little leery of fancy mac and cheese after the disappointment at Chefs de France. This was okay, but I wouldn't order it again. The green specks ruined it for me.

Brian got the traditional margherita pizza. He didn't care for it and gave it a 2.5. I tried a bite and it wasn't ANYWHERE near as good as the four-cheese pesto pizza. I wish he'd tried something a little more exciting.

We spent the last fifteen minutes of the meal bickering about who should go get a box for my leftovers. Finally, we looked over and saw that the to-go containers were literally right next to our table.

After dinner we looked in a few stores, then went to World of Disney to take care of all our last minute shopping.

With that, we concluded the vacation portion of our vacation, and now all that was left was the long drive home.

 

[holleypie]

Friday December 14th​

We woke up, packed, and got on the road a little after 8am. Brian drove. We stopped for breakfast at McDonald's around 9:30.

Our next stop was in a shopping center in Darien, GA at 12:30pm. I tried to nurse Luke but he was so excited to be out of his car seat that he wasn't having any of it. I spied a store called Book Warehouse in the shopping center, so we walked inside. Really, how could I see a store called "Book Warehouse" and NOT go inside?

The bad news (for them) was that this store was going out of business. The good news (for me) was that everything was one dollar.

So...I spent quite a long time shopping. After awhile, Brian quietly walked up and added this book to the pile.

OKAY, OKAY, WE CAN LEAVE. YOU DON'T HAVE TO DIVORCE ME.

Between Christmas presents for all the kids in my life and a few for myself, I got seventeen books. It was pretty awesome.

By now Brian professed to be starving, so we got back in the car and drove...

ALL THE WAY across the parking lot to Ruby Tuesday. I remember the service being subpar, but the food was good. We finally got back on the road at 2:30. I drove.

At 7, Brian wanted to stop for the night. Luke was being well-behaved, but Brian said he felt bad that he was cooped up in the car seat. I hadn't planned on stopping unless Luke started pitching a fit, but if Brian wanted to stop, we could stop.

We found a Holiday Inn with a Denny's attached. Before we left for vacation, I saw an ad for a grilled cheese sandwich with mozzarella sticks ON THE SANDWICH. If I was ever going to eat anything that disgusting, it had to be on vacation. So, Denny's sounded like a good dinner to me. We went in and I took Luke to the bathroom to change his diaper. When we came back, Brian said they wanted $100 for a room. Ummmm...no, can't do it. So we got back in the car and drove across the street to a Super 8. They wanted $73 which still sounded freaking ridiculous to me, but at least I had saved us $27.

We grabbed a few things and carried them up to our room, then Brian went out for more, came back in, and said, "Please tell me you have your spare keys."

HE HAD LOCKED THE KEYS IN THE CAR.

Right before we left for vacation, I had grabbed my set of keys just in case something like this happened. Fortunately I had put them in my purse instead of a random bag, so I found them quickly and we got the rest of the stuff out of the car.

I refused to go back across the street after I'd stormed out, so we decided to have dinner at the Waffle House next to the Super 8. We all had breakfast food and I got a huge Cherry Coke in a to-go cup for the drive tomorrow.

Saturday December 15th​

We got up a little after 6am and left. We stopped near Rocky Mount, NC for breakfast. That is the same town where we stopped for breakfast when we departed for vacation two weeks earlier. As much as I love things coming full circle, I had no desire to eat at Biscuitville again. Instead Brian found a Chick Fil A.

As soon as we walked in, a festively-dressed cow grabbed Luke and took him over to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus!

Poor Luke. He wakes up in a strange place and then his parents hand him off to strangers!

The people at Chick Fil A were so sweet. They took a bunch of pictures and then emailed them to us since we weren't local. For the locals, they were printing the pictures out and having them available for pickup.

After breakfast, we got back on the road and made our next stop at the Virginia Welcome Center to feed Luke and let him roam for a bit. The "WELCOME TO VIRGINIA" sign was practically in the parking lot, but there was a British woman inside the welcome center on the phone telling someone she was eight miles from Virginia. Haha.

Brian drove the rest of the way home while I entertained Luke in the back seat. It was a little exhausting. It seemed like Luke knew whenever we were in the home stretch, and that's when he got super fussy. He fell asleep when we were about 20-30 minutes from home. We got back around 2pm. All my cats were still alive.

 

[holleypie]

THE TRIP IN REVIEW​

This was such a special trip. Between Luke's first birthday, and all the Christmasy stuff we've never seen before, and my family coming down for (only) three days, we had a great time.

Favorites and Least Favorites:

Favorite Part: My night out. I felt bad saything this until I asked Brian what HIS favorite part was and he said, "I feel bad saying this, but I really had fun when I went to Magic Kingdom by myself." Haha. As much fun as it is to be together, it is so nice to only be responsible for YOURSELF. I think we'll incorporate nights out into our future trips, time permitting. My other favorite part was the sleigh ride because it was such a fun surprise, and so different from everything else we did. AND we were together.

Least Favorite Part: Not getting to ride Tower of Terror with the kids.

Favorite Food: The four-cheese pesto pizza at Wolfgang Puck Express and the burrito from Pepper Market. And that brownie from Art of Animation.

Least Favorite Food: The burrito from Tortuga Tavern. I hope I never eat anything that disgusting for the rest of my life.


Some Numbers:

We drove 2241 total miles.

We visited Magic Kingdom 6 different days (7 for Brian), Epcot 3 days (4 for me), Animal Kingdom 2 days, Hollywood Studios 2 days, and Downtown Disney 3 times (4 for Brian).

We tried 12 new restaurants. The best new restaurant we tried was Pepper Market at Coronado Springs. Our other top 2 restaurants were Columbia Harbor House at MK and Flippers Pizzeria off property. Our bottom three restaurants were Captain Cook's at the Polynesian, the food stands in Asia at AK, and Tortuga Tavern in MK. Most of our ratings were similar, but the biggest difference of opinion we had was a tie between Chefs de France (2 and 3.5) and Wolfgang Puck Express (4 and 2.5).

We visited 12 resorts on this trip and checked out their Christmas decorations. At this point, I think the only DVC resorts we haven't seen are Vero Beach and Aulani.

We met 28 different characters, including Mickey three times, and Pluto, Donald, and Goofy twice each. About half of these were characters we hadn't met before.

I finished all 30 items on my birthday list. I liked having the list to prioritize the things I really wanted to do, and I'll probably make shorter lists in the future. The only regret I have is not riding the safari at AK to see the new zebra ending.

But that's okay. We'll be back in 7.5 months.

Thanks for reading!