Very Merry D23 Holidaze Dec 2009 TR - 7 magical park days! updt 7/1

I already updated this on its proper page, but thought I would add it here too.

You've already seen the Epcot Holiday Vinylmation in its tin box, so here is the DHS Osborne Lights Holiday Vinlymation in its tin:

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closer shot of the vinylmation itself
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So glad we were at Disney this March around the same time, so I didn't miss many updates & it didn't take long to catch up with your TR ;)

and OF COURSE, stopped for a PP!
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I've never seen a PP by that fountain! I always hunt them down, but you did an awesome job with finding them this trip!

Next: Backlot Tour! It's finally open!

The Backlot tour is NEVER open when I'm there, either. What's the deal? :lmao: And those are some really cool pics, hopefully it'll be open next trip!

MyMuse said:
After we hit TSM to us our 2nd FPs from earlier in the day. Jen declined to go on. My score was better! but my accuracy declined considerably.

Wait, what? Someone declined to go on TSM!? I don't understand (you know that I kind of like this ride, right? :3dglasses) I don't even pay attention to my accuracy, I just go for the higher points. I keep forgetting to look up and read about the ways to get higher points, so I've been stuck at around the same points the last 2 trips, though I did hit a new high this trip.
 
Many of you know that my cousin's child, CJ, lives with my sister.

As we found out recently, the school district and the child study team people now want to have more legalities in place to keep CJ in school, in services and with the sister.

They have requested Lisa (CJ's birth mom) to sign & notarize paperwork (not quite legal custody paperwork but close) and she refuses to sign it.

CJ now has to leave my sister's home as the school will not accept him back nor will his services continue without it. My sister is hysterical and in tears!!!

CJ will have to be told, but it is not going to go down well. He has progressed greatly, but he is not quite in control of himself enough to deal with going back home. I'm sure my sister will explain everything to him and make sure he knows it is not his fault, but it is heartbreaking!!! :sad1:

All this, basically, because she will not be able to claim him on her taxes and receive the Child Tax Credit. All this for a tax refund!!!!

I can't express how angry, how sad and how completely disgusted I am with my cousin.
 

Michele, I am so sorry! That is just awful! That woman is so selfish for putting her child and all of you through that! Prayers to you and your family :hug:
 
That is awful. Now she can claim him for the year 2009, becuase I beleive she had him for the majority of the year, (or at least some of the year?) but she won't be able to for 2010 unless she takes him back into her home full time by June. It doesn't matter what legalities are in place. If the child is not in the home with her for more than 6 months of the year...meaning at least 7 months, she can't claim him anyways. You could report her if she does. So you could threaten that I guess. Or could you guys just pay her the amount she would get to get her to sign it? It might be worht handing out that money to her just to get rid of her. She sounds like pure skum. Why should she feel entitled to any of that refund anyways? I'm sure she does though. :rolleyes1
 
Michele, I am so sorry! That is just awful! That woman is so selfish for putting her child and all of you through that! Prayers to you and your family :hug:

Thank you. :hug: My sister is a complete mess. My cousin does not see what she has done at all. Completely & utterly clueless.

That is awful. Now she can claim him for the year 2009, becuase I beleive she had him for the majority of the year, (or at least some of the year?) but she won't be able to for 2010 unless she takes him back into her home full time by June. It doesn't matter what legalities are in place. If the child is not in the home with her for more than 6 months of the year...meaning at least 7 months, she can't claim him anyways. You could report her if she does. So you could threaten that I guess. Or could you guys just pay her the amount she would get to get her to sign it? It might be worht handing out that money to her just to get rid of her. She sounds like pure skum. Why should she feel entitled to any of that refund anyways? I'm sure she does though. :rolleyes1

Yes, she can claim him since she had him for 9 months in 2009; but for 2010, no, if he lives with my sister. So, therefore, she wanted him back to claim the refund/exemption/child tax credit for 2010.

I did think of paying her off, just to keep CJ with my sister. But, I don't think that would be a good idea. Like any blackmailer, she would just want more.

She doesn't see what the problem is. At all. It's amazing this tihng is part of my family. I already stopped talkign with her when CJ came to my sister and we realized how much he has to learn. Now, with this, I have no intention of considering her par tof my family.

My family is very small, & losing anyone is a tremendous blow, but she is not worth having at all. There is and never was anything positive about knowing her, but I need because of her kids, my uncle and general principles. Now, I just can't.

My sister is completely miserable and has not stopped crying since Friday afternoon. I think she got herself back together last night since she has to go into wrk today and life goes on. she was very depressed and it was like CJ has died.

CJ did tremendously well. I am so proud of him. He did break my heart the night before. He didn't want to go to sleep. I asked why and he replied that if he doesn't go to sleep, tomorrow will not come and he wouldn't have to go back home. We explained the best we could without trying to put his mother in a very bad light. It was difficult, believe me.

I actually have full confidence, he will be coming back. My cousin cannot handle him, doesn't want to handle him and now has to run around to get him back into school. If he even went to school today. Half the reaon, he came to my sister, was that authorities we getting a bit too close. I would imagine, we will get another phone call. This time, it wil be with custody papers in hand.

Thank you for letting me rant & rave. This post is super long and I'll try not to fill this TR up with bad thoughts. :grouphug:



I will get back to my TR with my 5:05pm AD at Garden Grill in Epcot for the Candlelight Processional! :wizard:
 
Great Update!! :thumbsup2

I love the pic of the 3 generations all taking the same picture! Very sweet!

Your Dopey is great! I'm impressed! I have no artistic talent and my picture was awful :sad2:

The pp shots of you and Jennifer and really cute and the Mickey/Minnie border is adorable! :cutie:

Thank you. I need to make actual copies of the generational pictures & place it in a frame. :goodvibes

I have zero artistic talent, but believe me, my Dopey definitely lived up to its name. :lmao:

I liked the holiday borders alot. I wans't too impressed with the recent ones. :rolleyes:

You were an updating FOOL! I love it. Looks like a wonderful time.

Thank you! I did! I did! :goodvibes

So glad we were at Disney this March around the same time, so I didn't miss many updates & it didn't take long to catch up with your TR ;)

I've never seen a PP by that fountain! I always hunt them down, but you did an awesome job with finding them this trip!

The Backlot tour is NEVER open when I'm there, either. What's the deal? :lmao: And those are some really cool pics, hopefully it'll be open next trip!

Wait, what? Someone declined to go on TSM!? I don't understand (you know that I kind of like this ride, right? :3dglasses) I don't even pay attention to my accuracy, I just go for the higher points. I keep forgetting to look up and read about the ways to get higher points, so I've been stuck at around the same points the last 2 trips, though I did hit a new high this trip.

I will have the March 2010 trip as soon as this one is done. I have the rest of Day 6 & then the 2 days of Magic & Merriment. :thumbsup2

Oh, I was always on the lookout for PP. If I was spending that kind of money, I was going to use it. LOL! Though, now I see we have the back of Miss Piggy, would ahve been nice if we got her front. :laughing:

The Backlot tour is back to being closed again. I don't know if it is a cost-saving measure or what, but why bother having it there, if you don't use it. Or just turn it into a walking exhibit. geesh. :rolleyes:

Jennifer declines to go on just about everything. I'm thinking she was there just to hang with me, but I appreciate it nonetheless. This day, was actually, my first time on TSM. I never bothered going on before. I like it, but i don't know if I'll wait in a tremendous line for it, though i wuld like to take pics of the standby line someday. :goodvibes
 

Last time I wrote, I was arriving at Epcot for my 5:05pm ADR from Hollywood Studios.

Off I go into Epcot and hurry to Garden Grill, the spot for our 5:05pm ADR as part of the Candlelight Processional. I got there around 4:55pm & checked in since my friend Mary & her mom were not there yet.

my fellow candlelight package peeps are LATE. garden grill is holding ressie, thank goodness.
5:07 PM Dec 9th

at the land pavilion waiting for garden grill adr
5:26 PM Dec 9th



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As it turns out, there was a monorail delay but, thankfully, Garden Grill saved our ressie and we were able to be seated around 5:30pm.

The Garden Grill was a great experience; I would gladly come here again and highly recommend it. It is a slowly rotating restaurant with a set menu, buffet-style but delivered by a waiter, with most of the food grown right at The Land. At some points in the rotation, you can see the “Living with the Land” boat ride go through.

Since it was buffet-delivered, we all had a bit of everything and each & every item was DELICIOUS!!!

The Garden Grill is also a character meal and it was so relaxing, so interactive that even I had a ball. It is nice to have other people with you though, the only reason I went is because Mary & her mom got ressies. I am not sure if I would do character meals solo. We had Farmer Mickey, Chip & Dale and Pluto. They came through 3 different times and each time, it was fun.


garden grill rotates! and has characters!
5:35 PM Dec 9th



Here's our table with Mary & her mom; our table was on the lower level that look outward into the boat ride
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Menu
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looking out to Living with the Land ride:
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Here you see the boat ride come through
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We also passed this in our rotation
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We can't forget about the amazing wall mural!
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something look a little familiar...??
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yup! that would be a full side profile of Mickey peeking through the ferns! what a difficult HM it was to spot!!!
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Onto our character meet n greets! it was very fun, relaxing & interactive. just my style.
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I think they were high-fiving
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waiting his turn; it was so funny! so he posed
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being introduced as "the boss"
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yes, he finally got to meet me
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he was waiting too, so he posed, not to be outdone by "the boss"
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acting silly
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I can never resist when the characters meet children
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I think Mary has a couple more shots on her camera as well.

We finished in about 90 minutes, which is pretty much the standard for character meals in my opinion.

garden grill was excellent! good food, character interaction...everything. highly recommended.
7:39 PM Dec 9th



Next: Onward to Candlelight Procesisonal!




 
Glad you enjoyed your meal at Garden Grill! :goodvibes There are so many places at WDW that we want to eat at that it gets hard to narrow it down! Guess that's why we have to keep going back :rotfl:
 
Great update! Garden grill looks so fun :) My kids would love the fact that it spinned around! I can not wait to hear about your Candlelight Processional experience! We are planning a trip in December (12-17th are our dates as of right now). How did you find the crowds? Also, love your D23 shirt :thumbsup2
 
Glad you enjoyed your meal at Garden Grill! :goodvibes There are so many places at WDW that we want to eat at that it gets hard to narrow it down! Guess that's why we have to keep going back :rotfl:

It was sooo good! This particular ADR was made by Mary & her mom at their 10 day window. She wanted LeCellier, but so glad we got this one!

Great update! Garden grill looks so fun :) My kids would love the fact that it spinned around! I can not wait to hear about your Candlelight Processional experience! We are planning a trip in December (12-17th are our dates as of right now). How did you find the crowds? Also, love your D23 shirt :thumbsup2

I was great! It was a very slow rotation, you barely feel it. You notice it really because of the changing scenery every once in awhile. It is a fun, relaxed atomsphere.

Candlelight is coming up next! :thumbsup2

The crowds were moderate. I did not find it unmanageable.

I like my D23 shirt too. ;) I'd figured it would be the one place I can actually wear it. :goodvibes
 

At this point, it was now a little past 7pm, so we went straight to the American Theater to get in line for our 8:15pm Candlelight Processional!

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We got in line and it was already extending into Japan. Surprisingly, we were able to get a seat in the second section front row and I thought it was a great spot. Our narrator was Andy Garcia. He seemed gracious and did a wonderful reading.

Besides, Andy and the chorus, the Voices of Liberty also sang.

waiting for candlelight processional...package line already passed japan.
7:41 PM Dec 9th


The Candlelight Processional was just amazing. Gorgeous. My words would not compare, so I’m going to post pics & vids. I'm so glad I did this; I always wanted to, just never did.

I did also tweet during the show, but the pics are the same, just better.

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introducing conductor
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see forming a christmas tree?
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Videos to come! edit: added below!








 

This package also came with Illumination viewing at 9:30pm (a throw-in since Disney increased the price) at Showcase Plaza, but it was just too far away after the 8:15pm show. And, besides, I read reviews that everyone was packed in there like sardines.

So, we decided to stop at Morocco & we had a lovely view. I enjoyed the holiday ending. Very nice! I did record it for those of you who would like to hear it.

now waiting on holiday illuminations at morocco; decided not to use cp pkg area at world showcase.
9:29 PM Dec 9th



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Holiday Wishes portion- Video!



On back of Spaceship Earth
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On our way out, we stopped at MouseGears & I bought 3 more vinylmations –only one repeat! It was $31.80 at 10:12pm. Of course, I have to get a pic out of these. I also forgot to tell you that Mary’s mom paid for my Garden Grill meal. How nice was that!!! :hug:

At this time, we parted at the monorail as Mary & her mom headed back to Bay Lake & I headed to my car. I parked so close to the monorail that I watched them board from my car before I left. I was in car at 10:36pm and at my resort by 11pm.

At the resort, I went to the front desk and again, found them locked. So annoying. And my request for a “Do Not Disturb” magnet was not fulfilled.

I went into the condo and organized my stuff to leave the next morning. Technically, I did have another day at the condo, but decided to visit family in Tampa for a night before coming back to celebrate D23's Magic & Merriment weekend.


 
It sounds like you had a wonderful evening! We :lovestruc the Candlelight Processional but you're right it is something you need to experience because words can't really do it justice? So how did Andy Garcia look? I always thought he was so handsome when he was younger ;)

Can't wait to see all the Magic and Merriment pictures! popcorn::
 
It sounds like you had a wonderful evening! We :lovestruc the Candlelight Processional but you're right it is something you need to experience because words can't really do it justice? So how did Andy Garcia look? I always thought he was so handsome when he was younger ;)

Can't wait to see all the Magic and Merriment pictures! popcorn::

It was very nice. :goodvibes It is much better than watching it from outside the theater. ;)

The closest I got to Andy Garcia was the photo above. American Theater doesn't look too big, but once inside, it is!

What a wonderful evening!

It was! Thank you! what a great memory.
 

December 10, Thursday
This was the day I went to visit family, so I was up, checked out and on the road by 8am. I think we can skip this part to get on with the TR.

Here are my tweets from the day:

Good Morn! I'm taking a 2 day park break & then D23's MAGIC & MERRIMENT!!
7:27 AM Dec 10th

ahhh..breakfast at cracker barrel is always a good thing. :)
12:57 PM Dec 10th


Basically, I got there, got breakfast, shopped & hung out. :goodvibes


December 11, Friday

Heading out with fam to breakfast & tomorrow is @DisneyD23's Magic & Merriment!!
8:59 AM Dec 11th

doing some shopping with the fam in Tampa. i definitely need to mail home a box. oiy.
1:44 PM Dec 11th

Can't wait for tomorrow for D23's MAGIC & MERRIMENT weekend of coolness. :D
4:10 PM Dec 11th

going to have supper with Tampa fam & then heading back to Disney to rest up for weekend's festivities at D23's Magic & Merriment.
6:19 PM Dec 11th


I spent the day with my family, had dinner with them, then hit the road at 7:30pm to return back to Orlando for Magic & Merriment weekend. I arrived at Port Orleans Riverside around 9:30pm.

I expected to find my newly minted Disney Visa, but it was not there. I also confused the holy heck out of my check-in person when I asked about it. When I did online check-in, there was a promotion, to receive a $100 credit, if I applied for the Visa. In the confirmation, I got afterward, it did state that my card may be available upon check-in. Apparently, no one told my check-in person. No big deal.

After check-in, I retrieved the luggage from the car and went to Room 8503 in Magnolia Terrace. I returned to the main building to get another gift card – a Christmas version this time. Did I ever mention that I used the gift cards in the parks, so I do’t fumble with paper money or credit cards? So much easier.

I also caught a bit of Yeehaw Bob at the Riverside Lounge. I enjoyed it, it was fun, but I can take it or leave it. I went back to the room at 11pm and got myself ready for D23’s Magic & Merriment weekend tomorrow!

all checked in at riverside & heading to lobby to check out yeehaw bob! whoo!
10:25 PM Dec 11th


Some pics of Yeehaw Bob
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Video of Yeehaw Bob



Hidden Mickey in Riverside Lounge?
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The crowd for Yeehaw Bob at Riverside Lounge
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Night pics of POR
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Lobby
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My room at POR
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For those of you who don’t know, I was able to attend D23’s Christmas event called Magic & Merriment. My family was incredibly understanding for which I was grateful.

Time for me to get some sleep for D23's MAGIC & MERRIMENT tomorrow!! can't wait!!
12:04 AM Dec 12th


 
Nice update! Can't wait to hear all about the weekend!

As I was reading this post Dale walked in and wanted to know whose TR I was reading because he liked the photos. When I told him yours he said to say "hi" :)
 
The processional looks great. I didn't even try to get in while I was there. We just listened as we walked around. I can't wait to hear about the D23 weekend!
 












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