There's no place like "home" for the holidays...*updated 3/18 p. 43 and 44*

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Love the update - the photos are fab!

The welcome show looks great - we missed them this trip! DH is really keen to catch one, and I'd love to see it as well.......I just don't know if I could get up early enough - I'm SO NOT a morning person. I would do it if I could persuade DH to leave the park a bit earlier to rest, but he tends to go a bit park commando - his ambition is to spend every minute in a park, from rope drop to lights out!

Di x

 

[Lady Lallie]

I love how the Christmas Decorations make your pictures look so vivid and vibrant. Does that make sense? I guess what I am trying to say is that the pictures look even more striking with the Christmas Decorations in them.

I've caught the opening show just once and completely by accident. We ended doing early entry for a CP reservation, I like that even better.

 

[xoktenox]

once again loved the pictures! i never knew about the opening show until joining the DIS so hopefully I can see that in April. All the MK decorations are just so beautiful. And don't think your traditions are dorky, every family has them and they're just stuff you do in the magic of the moments!

 

[lmillercrew]

WooHoo more pixie dust!!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Love the update - the photos are fab!

The welcome show looks great - we missed them this trip! DH is really keen to catch one, and I'd love to see it as well.......I just don't know if I could get up early enough - I'm SO NOT a morning person. I would do it if I could persuade DH to leave the park a bit earlier to rest, but he tends to go a bit park commando - his ambition is to spend every minute in a park, from rope drop to lights out!

Di x

Thanks!

I think you should try to catch the welcome show once...it's so much fun. It's worth getting up early. Oooooh, I don't know if I could do the parks from opening to close...we did that once a couple years ago because we were staying offsite. I think we did 3 parks in one day. Needless to say we were exhausted at the end of the day!

I love how the Christmas Decorations make your pictures look so vivid and vibrant. Does that make sense? I guess what I am trying to say is that the pictures look even more striking with the Christmas Decorations in them.

I've caught the opening show just once and completely by accident. We ended doing early entry for a CP reservation, I like that even better.

haha, yes that makes sense. The decorations are beautiful.

I bet that was cool getting in early for your CP reservation!

once again loved the pictures! i never knew about the opening show until joining the DIS so hopefully I can see that in April. All the MK decorations are just so beautiful. And don't think your traditions are dorky, every family has them and they're just stuff you do in the magic of the moments!

Glad you like all the pictures! Yeah, there are a lot of things that I've learned from the DIS even though we've been to WDW so many times. There's a lot of tips/secrets out there!

WooHoo more pixie dust!!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 cont'd (part 2)

Once the park was officially open we made our way through the tunnel and out onto Main Street. I never get sick of that walk...it's so magical knowing that you're back "home." Right away we were able to see the Christmas tree and Christmas music added that extra touch.

Once we rounded the corner we saw Main Street all decked out for the holidays and of course, Cinderella Castle. Gotta love that first view of the castle. Again, another sign that tells you you're home.

As we were walking down Main Street several Cast Members were greeting guests.

I think it's so cute how they wear those Mickey gloves.

We also had to take that obligatory castle photo. I wonder how many of these we've taken over the years...??

I also spotted one of the Main Street vehicles. I don't remember seeing this bus a lot so that was kind of cool.

In keeping with tradition, our first stop of the day was Tomorrowland.

We thought that we'd be able to go right there since it was already 9:00 but they did have a rope there. Luckily we only had to wait a minute or two before they dropped it. We were up pretty close but I don't know how many people passed us to get to the rides. I guess some people just have to run! LOL.

So along with everyone else, we headed over to Space Mountain! It's one of those Disney classics that you just can't miss. (I just saw on here that it is going to be closed for refurbishment for several months!).

It only took a couple of minutes before we saw those familiar rockets.

Soon we were loaded and ready for the ride. When we got off Emma informed us that it is much better when you close your eyes because you can't see where you are going. I guess I'll have to keep that in mind for our next trip. Next up was Buzz Lightyear!

Emma and I rode together while Dad rode by himself. We all love this ride but Emma gets pretty frustrated because she never hits any targets more than 100 points. So you can imagine she was mad at me when I hit the 100,000 point target on the orange robot in the first room! Ohhhh well. As much as I love this ride I wish they would change the guns so they are like the Disneyland version (they are attached to a cord so you can move it around easier and they vibrate/light up when you hit a target). But it's still a lot of fun!

By the time we got off of Buzz it was already pretty warm out. I could tell it was going to be a great day! Our next stop was the Indy Speedway. While we were in line I noticed that the people behind us had the dream fastpasses. Dad asked them where they got them and they said Buzz Lightyear. So I guess we had just missed them. Anyways, we each got our own car and were ready to race. Here's a picture Emma took along the way:

Now I don't know about you, but whenever I am done riding the speedway my foot is always so tired from pushing down on that gas pedal. haha So it was nearing 10:00 and we were still just getting started.

up next: Fantasyland and the longest wait of the entire trip...

 

[Jennifer48]

Hi there!

I made it over and have caught up on your trippie. I absolutely the opening ceremony at MK! I saw it for the first time a couple of years ago and have to make it if I can when I'm there.

Great job, can't wait for more!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

I'm here! What dates did you do each park? I wonder if we did the same stuff on the same days...

 

[xoktenox]

Too bad you guys just missed the dream team I'm so disappointed about Space Mountain's rehab...its closing the day we arrive in Disney! But according to a lot of people its in desperate need of a rehab.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Hi there!

I made it over and have caught up on your trippie. I absolutely the opening ceremony at MK! I saw it for the first time a couple of years ago and have to make it if I can when I'm there.

Great job, can't wait for more!

Hi! to my TR...I'm glad you decided to join in. Isn't the MK ceremony cute? I love it too.

I'm here! What dates did you do each park? I wonder if we did the same stuff on the same days...

Yay! Thanks for stopping by. I didn't even realize we were there for some of the same dates! Let's see, on 12/17 we did the MK (obviously!) and Epcot, the 18th we did DHS and MK for the Christmas party, the 19th we went to AK, DTD, and DHS for a bit, and then the 20th we went to Epcot and the MK again. Maybe we crossed paths and didn't even know it!

Too bad you guys just missed the dream team I'm so disappointed about Space Mountain's rehab...its closing the day we arrive in Disney! But according to a lot of people its in desperate need of a rehab.

It seems like we always just miss the dream squad so I'm kind of glad the YOAMD is over. I shouldn't complain because we did win a couple things.

I hope the Space Mountain refurb makes it more like the one in Disneyland. The ride there seemed so much faster and smoother.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Sounds like you got a lot done. I am curious to see what you do next.

 

[lmillercrew]

Sounds like you're off to a good start at MK! You rode all of those rides before 10:00??? That's great.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Sounds like you got a lot done. I am curious to see what you do next.

Yep, we got a lot done. Stay tuned, a new update is on the way!

Sounds like you're off to a good start at MK! You rode all of those rides before 10:00??? That's great.

Yeah, we usually get Tomorrowland done by 10:00. And this time it just seemed so dead compared to what we're used to!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

We were at he same places quite a few times! Bizarre! We'll have to play close attention to one anothers pictures! I was at the MK on the 20th I know and the others I'd have to check....

 

[wdwgirl03]

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 cont'd (part 3)

After doing the rides in Tomorrowland, we continued on our way to Fantasyland. We saw that there was hardly anybody in line for the Mad Tea Party so we did that. Since we couldn't all fit in one teacup, we split up. Though there was this one group of teenage girls who decided to cram about 6 of them in there... Oh well, we'd rather have some space. haha

After the teacups I mentioned how I had been wanting to meet the fairies so we walked over to the Judge's Tent since Toontown just opened. When we got there, the cast member said there was already a 45 minute wait. Even though he said that would be the shortest it would be all day, I decided against it. So instead we went back into Fantasyland. There was this adorable little tree lot where Donald was posing for pictures.

Again, the line was pretty long so we went to ride the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. But while we were on the ride I was having second thoughts about skipping the fairies. I know that Emma didn't want to wait that long so I suggested that we just split up for a while and I would go by myself. I figured that since we have been to WDW so many times I should try something different. So Emma and Dad stayed in Fantasyland while I headed back to Toontown to meet the fairies! When I got back to the Judge's Tent the wait had already gone up to an hour. But I decided I'd stick it out figuring it probably wouldn't take that long (or not...). It was kind of strange waiting by myself...I don't know if I could do a solo trip! Anyways, the line was very slow-moving but finally after 20 minutes or so I saw this:

They also did have some video clips playing to help the time. When I could finally see where they were letting people in, I was getting excited! But it was also so annoying! I swear that once I was about 20 feet from the door we didn't move for close to 20 more minutes. Meanwhile, the princess line was moving and they must've let atleast 3 groups go in to see them. Ugh. I was starting to think I was never going to get in there. And then when they finally let more people in to see the fairies I was next in line and they cut me off again! Grrrrrr. Luckily I only had to wait a few more minutes before they finally took us in! We were taken into "Pixie Hollow".

It was so bright and cheery and the walls were covered in oversized trees, mushrooms, etc. because we had been "shrunk" to fairy size. The cast member also gave us "pixie-sized" photopass cards so we could get our pictures. At last we were going to meet Tinkerbell and her friends in Pixie Hollow!!! I was so excited because I had seen the new Tinkerbell movie and the fairies are too cute. I was curious to see which ones would be in there. I also was talking to another CM, James, and told him I was by myself. He then asked if I was a fast-flying fairy since they travel alone (apparently nobody can keep up with them, hehe). So then James introduced me to the first fairy...Iridessa!

The cool thing about meeting the fairies is that you really got to interact with them (maybe that's why the wait was so long...). So after talking to Iridessa, she introduced me to Tinkerbell. She was so cute!

I guess the group of girls in front of me played basketball so Tink asked if I played too. I told her no but I played volleyball. She said she didn't know what that was. haha And last up was probably my favorite fairy, Rosetta the garden fairy.

I loved her pink costume and she was happy I was wearing pink too. After meeting Rosetta I said good-bye to Pixie Hollow. So it really did turn out to be an hour wait but it was definitely worth it. I loved meeting the fairies and I think they're my new favorite characters.

up next: Meeting back up with Emma and Dad

 

[Lady Lallie]

Oh, I am so glad you went back and met the Fairies! That is a must do on my trip. I've heard great things about the interactions. They all look very pretty and in character.

 

[lmillercrew]

I'm glad that you got to meet the fairies and that there are some new characters for me to meet too! Hopefully by the time we go, they won't be so new anymore. Yeah, right!!!

 

[nts4wdw]

How cool you met the fairies!! I can't believe I forgot all about that!! Silvermist is my favorite. I'm not sure I could convince the rest to wait tha long, though.

 

[xoktenox]

Love the fairy pictures, I hope I get to see them but since we don't get to go that often idk if I could justify an hr wait. Very cute! Rosetta would be my favorite too, I love pink anything

 

[hollyluvsdisney]

The MK looked gorgeous decorated for Christmas! I am going to have to find a way to get back there next Christmas, even though I already have a trip scheduled for May. I missed it so much this year!

That's so cool that you met the fairies!