DECEMBER 9, 2011
Day 5, Part 4 In Which We Have Ourselves A Merry Little Christmas
We arrived back at Pop and I took a picture of our door, because I am an awesome Trip Reporter and I knew you were dying to see it:
I have absolutely no memory and no notes of what we did back at the room. I assume I watched Stacey in admiration, as usual, and what is more important to report on than that? Nothing. The answer is nothing.
Anyway, at some point we headed out for a night out on the town...
The town being Hollywood, of course.
It was almost time for the first Fantasmic! showing. Now, after the disaster that was getting to the Fantasmic theatre in 2010, I figured we'd skip the show on our next trip, but I just really felt like seeing it and so did my mom. Look, fireworks shoot out of Mickey's fingers, and that just never gets old. Luckily, it was nowhere near as crowded, so we stopped Sweet Spells to pick up a couple of treats before heading in.
I chose the iced Mickey sugar cookie, and my mom got the chocolate nut cluster. The cookie was delicious and soft, but did not taste like a sugar cookie to me. It actually tasted more like gingerbread, which was fine with me since I LOVE gingerbread. My mom raved about the nut cluster as well, and I believe she had a couple more of them before the trip ended.
As we approached the theatre, I could see that people were just strolling in like they were on their way to Sounds Dangerous or something. Last time we saw Fantasmic!, we were stuck in a wall to wall crowd for like 45 minutes. It was the worst. Luckily, Disney read my trip report, in which I said that it was stupid they were only showing Fantasmic! twice a week, causing for the massive crowd build-up. They show it almost every night again, and while there is still a huge amount of people that come, it's WAY less of a mess. We were able to walk right in and got a great seat. But really, all the seats are good. People who show up two hours in advance confuse me. But then again, I don't go to Disney in the summer since I value air and personal space, so maybe during those times you do need to show up that early. I guess my point is: rip your children from school and go during early December!
We had so much fun just waiting for the show to start. First of all, the music they were playing was aces. First, it was the characters from Winnie the Pooh singing Christmas classics. Then, it was the freakin' SPICE GIRLS! Oh man, they were my life from ages 7-10, and I got so excited when I heard their version of "Christmas Wrapping" playing over the loudspeaker. LOVE that song!
Of course, everyone was doing the wave, and a woman a few rows in front of us kept holding up her BABY every time it was our section's turn to stand. She was totally channeling Rafiki at the beginning of The Lion King. It was hilarious.
And then it was time for the most random Disney show ever: Fantasmic! I love this show because it doesn't really follow the normal Disney format. I mean, yeah there's a plot, but I love how they're basically just like "Look at all these great Disney things!"
Also, I love how so many characters are included, and that Pocahontas is featured. That is one of the most underrated movies ever. And it's so cool to see the snake scene from Aladdin come to life (wish they had the part where Jasmine is in the sand, though). My favorite part of all is when the couples float by. It makes me tear up every time. I only wish that more of the couples were included. If they add Rapunzel and Eugene, I will never stop crying.
After Fantasmic! ended, it was time to head over to the Streets of America, so we could finally see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.
WOW.
Actually, "WOW" isn't the word. They need to invent a new word for WOW because WOW is not working right now.
This attraction is so much more amazing than you can possibly imagine if you have not seen it in person. It seriously took my breath away at certain moments. Yet another thing Disney knocked out of the park. Before seeing it, I thought it would be cool but not *that* exciting or that much of a must see. I figured we'd walk through and think it looked awesome and then move on. Instead, we were standing around with our mouths gaping open.
I almost don't want to post my pictures because there is hardly a point to it. They IN NO WAY begin to capture how stunning this really is, but here we go anyway...
Can ya spot the Hidden Mickey? There are dozens of them hidden in the lights each year. We found a bunch, but failed to spot the cat they also hide in a different spot each year. I would have really liked to spend more time looking, but it was uncomfortably crowded back there.
See that heart? It was actually a flashing sequence of lights: the first was a peace sign, then a heart, then a mickey head. Peace, love, and Mickey Mouse! Just like in my signature.
SO THEN IT STARTED SNOWING!!! I can't even describe how I felt at this point. They were playing Christmas carol classics the whole time but then one of my favorites, one that always makes me very emotional, came on. It was Judy Garland singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas from Meet Me In St. Louis. Oh my God. This song mixed with the lights, the spirit of Christmas, and being at Disney... I started to cry. It was a really beautiful moment. My mom was in awe as well. If this doesn't get you in the Christmas spirit, nothing will.
I thought this light covered tire swing and bike were kinda neat. I wish I had got more pics of the details, but it was just so crowded.
People, people, people. EVERYWHERE PEOPLE! Our cat friend from Sci Fi would not be pleased.
For those who don't know, it's called the Spectacle of DANCING lights because every few songs, a fast one will come on that the lights are timed to dance with. It's really cool, but messes up your picture taking.
Overall, this was just so amazing. Please do not miss this if you are there during the holiday season. I absolutely can not wait to see it again. This and the Holiday Illuminations will be the first things I do the next time during the holidays. Hopefully it will be less crowded so I can explore more.
It was almost time for the park to close, but not before we got to ride Toy Story Mania! I hadn't been on it at all that day, so I was itchin' to shoot some targets.
My mom was not so thrilled about this. She was super tired and wanted to skip it. I could not let this happen. I love the woman and could not let her miss TOY STORY MIDWAY MANIA! Are you kidding? She's just not crazy about it. I mean, she thinks it's fun, but she doesn't find it to be more addicting than crack, which is exactly how I feel about it. I mean, I've never tried crack, but I'm sure if I did I would just roll my eyes, say "This is boring", and continue planning my strategy to score 1,000,000 points on TSM, something I work on daily. I WILL get there and you will deal.
We got in line a few minutes before close, so the line wasn't that long, but it was still the longest line we had waited on and my mom was sleepy and dragging. I kept telling her that even though I was going to kick her butt either way, she should really wake up a little so that she at least had a chance. I warned her of how psycho I become on this ride and told her she would probably be scared of me. "Okay Lia," she said in a tone that suggested she was not taking me seriously. Imagine that!
So we get on the ride, and she tried pretty hard but I still demolished her and was of course #1 in our vehicle LIKE I ALWAYS AM BECAUSE I AM GREAT.
At the end, when you have to keep shooting the same target and they are all screaming at you to KEEP SHOOTIN, KEEP SHOOTIN!!!!!! I got extra violent and really really screamed. My mom said that she did not realize I was serious about how insane I act on the ride. I told her that I don't even do it on purpose, it just comes out of me. Hey, we all have our vices. Whiskey, gambling, food.
Mine is Toy Story Midway Mania. DONE. Do not try to challenge me. You'll lose. Not only the game, but your ability to hear, and also your dignity.
YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
YES, that was a threat. This isn't your momma's TR.
Continued in next post...
(kind of) But seriously. CRACKING ME UP. You, my friend, queen of the Polynesian, are hilarious.
We're adorable. YAY FOR SPACE MOUNTAIN! And "having a blast" puns!
You are one funny chick! I was laughing so hard at your musings about the difference between Goofy and Pluto.
Or maybe I'm wrong and it would make me happy to be there. I don't know. We'll see.
TO THE DIS!!!!!!!!!!! You will NOT regret joining... I love this site and all my friends here so much. It's just such a wonderful place to thrive in your Disney obsession! haha
Hmmm perhaps I will drag it out even LONGER than my last TR, since I don't think I'll be going to Disney for awhile.... 
We'll see...
