What a wonderful trip! - The rest of the story!!

[llij]

I apologize for the delay in finishing this trip report! The holiday threw me for a loop and I am now just getting back to it. If you want to see the other days, I'm sure that they are somewhere here on the board!

Ok, a little reminder about the cast of characters:

Cast of characters:
Me (36) - the trip planning, Disney fanatic and commando tourist. Multiple trips to Disneyworld since 1974.

DH (36) - the trip payer and fellow commando tourist. Never was a Disney fanatic, but loves his family and always enjoys our trips! Sixth trip to the World.

DD (8) alias "Lizzy lover" - Disney fanatic in the making. Loves to try new things, but not quite the thrill rider that we initially thought. Sixth trip to the World.

DD (6) alias "Tink lover" - Disney fanatic in the making as well. Huge fan of Mickey Mouse and major Tinkerbelle fan! Fifth trip to the World.

DDad (65) - Turned 65 the day before we left and the recipient of many surprises along the way! Secretly loves Disney. Multiple trips to the World since 1974.

DMom (62) - Loves to go to Disney with the grandkids. Found a new hobby on the trip...checking out the Resorts! Multiple trips to the World since 1974.

Stay tuned....I'll post the rest as replies to this post!! I promise to type fast!!!

 

[llij]

Day 6 - Wednesday, December 8th

Today is the day that we check out of SOG and check into the YC. Today is also the day that I usually "hit the wall" on my trips b/c it is the day that I realize our trip is almost over. I do this on each Disney trip and you would have thought that by the fifth or sixth trip, I would get over those "We are going home soon" blues. Well, that was not the case. I was a little sad on this day and my family would say a little cranky too! It got better when we checked into the YC though.

I was sad to say goodbye to SOG. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay there and would go back again in a heartbeat. Hey, I forgot! My dad made reservations at SOG for next year this time b/c this trip was so magical that they want to experience it again.

So we pack up our car and we are off to YC. We get to YC around 9:30 in the morning and I never imagined that our rooms would be ready, but they were! Ok, why was I cranky again? The CM checking us in was great and it turned out that he used to live about 2 miles from where we live now. Sweet!! We hit it off and he even noticed that it was my dad's 65th birthday! The only snafu was that I had paid in full, but YC's computers didn't have it. Thankfully, one quick call to CRO cleared it up and we were off to our rooms.

A funny note though, the CM mentioned that our rooms had a nice view of some pond (can't remember the name) so we were all pretty excited thinking we got upgraded to a water view. Well, we get up to the room and go straight to the balcony. No water view, just a view of trees and some work area. We all got a good laugh out of that one and it was our inside joke for the rest of our trip. Gotta love that water view. BTW, the hotel is gorgeous! The rooms are great! We loved the YC!!

After settling into our room, we decided to head on over to Epcot to do some things we didn't get a chance to on Monday. We decided to have lunch at Alfredo's which was delicious. The portions were huge so I just ordered a salad and my mom and I shared an entree. I can't wait to eat there again.

We also got another Kaki Gori in Japan which is an addiction for us. I know that they are just snow cones, but it absolutely melts in your mouth and I have never had anything like them around here!

We ended up seeing Pere Noel in France which was nice. We rode JIYI and SE again and then headed over to Mousegear for a little holiday shopping. Got our items we needed and had them shipped home. (As an aside, shipping items home was great on this trip! I did extensive Christmas shopping and had everything sent home. I was great!)

After Mousegear we decided that it was time to check out Stormalong Bay. After all, one of the main reasons we chose YC was b/c of that awesome pool. The weather was perfect for it! Our walk back to the hotel was great. I now love the Epcot resorts b/c they are so convenient!

After a relaxing swim with the girls and some fun on the water slides, it was time to head on up to the room and get ready for dinner. (There were renovations going on with SAB, but they weren't that bad and we thoroughly enjoyed the pool).

Tonight's dinner was at Yachtsman Steakhouse and after all the rave reviews about it here in the DIS, I was very excited to try it out. The restaurant did not disappoint. The dinner was delicious and our server, John, was superb! They even brought out a little birthday cake for my dad after dinner which was great. Boy, my dad was having a great week! I think this was the 3rd birthday cake for him since we got to Disney.

After dinner, my parents took the girls to Beaches and Cream for ice cream while my DH and I headed over to Epcot. We wanted to hang out together and my parents were wonderful about taking the girls. Our first stop was to Germany for a beer. The beer was good, but not as good as the Harp beer in England! Once we had our beers in hand, we decided to casually stroll through the WS and check out everything. The 8:15 CP was starting so we stopped and stood to catch some of it again. We were enjoying this show with Marlee Matlin,but we didn't feel like standing for 45 minutes. We were walking away and some nice CM asks us if we would like to sit down. Well sure!! We get a seat in the back and get to see our 2nd CP of the trip. I will never get tired of the CP. I love it!!

Once the CP was over, we decided we needed another beer so we headed on over to England for our beloved Harp beer. Mmmmmmmm.......It was almost time for Illuminations so we strolled along the WS as it was starting. We found a great spot in Japan and watched it from there. The holiday ending with "Let there be Peace on Earth" was wonderful and got me all choked up. I was definitely going to recommend that my parents see this tomorrow night. It ended up being a great day and thankfully my "trip is almost" over blues had ended!

Stay tuned for Day 7 or the day I was attacked by a squirrel!!

 

[llij]

Today was our MGM day! We were up early and at MGM just in time for their 9:00 a.m. opening. Even though yesterday was great, I still had a little bit of that vacation grump. I don't want to leave!! I just needed to snap out of it and enjoy this time that I have left here at Disney! There must be some sort of support group for this........

Our mission this morning was to hit RNRC. This is my DH's absolute favorite ride. He had been talking this ride up to my 8 yo in hopes that she might ride it with us. I had my trepidations about letting her ride it and I should have listened to my instinct!! My dd wanted to ride it, but she admitted that she was scared to. At this point, I am totally against her riding it. We have plenty of other trips planned to come back to Disney and she can ride it when she feels more comfortable. I told her this and that went over like a lead balloon with the gang. She was determined to ride it. We walk up to RNRC and she gets a look of panic on her face. I tell her she can't ride and she pleads to ride it. My DH talks it up again and we are off. I could tell right away that she was going to hate it and I felt horrible for her. I couldn't enjoy the ride at all and you guessed it....she came off the ride crying! So, to any of you that were at RNRC on Thursday morning December 9th, my apologies. If you saw a cranky mommy (cranky at DH) and crying 8 year old, that was us!! Of course, if you ask her now, she'll tell you that she loved it! Go figure!! She can't wait to go on it again!

After this little fiasco, we decided to head onto the GMR. On the way, we meet Minnie, Pluto and Lilo and Stitch. Nothing like a little character meet and greet to cheer you up! We were all happy again!

That morning at MGM, we rode GMR, Star Tours, saw the Muppets and did the Backlot Tour. We walked on to everything which was great!!! At this point we were famished, so we decided to see if we could get into the Prime Time Cafe without a PS. No problem!! A five minute wait and we were seated!! Cousin Brenda was our server and we loved her! When we go back, we will ask for her! Maybe she can help my picky eater nephew next year! The food was delicious just like most of our other meals at Disney. I got the fried chicken and it was sooooo good! I'm drooling at the thought of that fried chicken. For dessert, we split the s'mores which was yummy too.

The girls wanted to hit SAB again so we decided to head out. We've been to MGM a bunch of times before so it was no big deal if we didn't hit some of the headliners today. Remember, our mantra is to save something for the next trip!! On the way out, we caught some street performers singing their own rendition of the 12 days of Christmas. It was a hoot! We all got a good laugh out of it! Disney magic at its best! I love when we come across little gems like this.

My parents headed over to Epcot while my DH and I went to SAB with the girls. I was really tired so I just hung out on a lounge chair for a little nap while my DH took the girls on the slide. Before I fell asleep, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a squirrel running around on the deck. I thought to myself that those squirrels sure weren't shy! As I dozed off, something jumped on me and it turned out to be the squirrel!!!! I screamed and must have jumped about 2 feet in the air. Thanks Mr. Squirrel for paying me a visit! The people around me were very nice and asked if I was ok. Yes, I'm fine....a little embarrassed, but fine.

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Can't wait to hear about the squirrel!

 

[llij]

After the friendly squirrel incident, I decided it was time for me to go back up to the room. Thankfully, my DH and my girls were ready to go back too!

We got ready for dinner and headed off to Beaches and Cream. On this trip, we had many goals and missions...tonights was to order the Kitchen Sink at Beaches and Cream. We wanted to try that Kitchen Sink, baby!!! For those of you who don't know what a Kitchen Sink is, I'll give you the low down. (I'll try to add a picture later...) It has 8 scoops of ice cream in assorted flavors, brownies, angel food cake, oreos, milky ways and every topping known to mankind!! Let's not forget and entire can of whipped cream on top with a ton of cherries!!! Yes, we were all little piggies and ate the entire thing!!! After we rolled out of Beaches and Cream we took the friendship boat back to MGM so we can see the Osborne lights. They were beautiful and casually strolling down the street viewing the lights and listening to the Christmas music was another highlight of our trip. We had never seen the Osborne lights before and we thought that they were breathtaking. Another thing that was breathtaking was the line to take the Friendship boats back! Thankfully, we only waited for about 20 minutes and we were on a boat. Boy that boat was packed, but we had the best driver and she made the boat ride back so much fun. Thanks, Sharae for one of the most memorable boat rides!! She had us singing, waving to people and yelling hello to every person we saw walking on the path back to the resorts. It was great. My dh and I also met this great retired couple who come to Disney all the time. They were sooooo nice and my dream is to be like that one day! Retire to Florida and make a lot of little weekend trips with my dear hubby!

My DH, dd's and I headed to bed while my parents headed on over to Epcot to see Illuminiations. They loved it with the special holiday ending! Another great day!!

Stay tuned for Day 8 - Our last day!

I forgot to mention that earlier in the day my parents bought my dh and myself baseball caps - one New York Yanks (dh) and one Boston Red Sox (me). The neat thing is that the logo on the hats light up! We wore them out to MGM that night and boy did we get a lot of comments on them. Some people asking dh (yankee fan) how he could be married to me (Red sox fan) and vice versa! So if you saw two adults with glowing baseball caps at MGM that night, that was us! We started to take a poll on who got the most positive comments and I think I won! More Red Sox fans at WDW that day!

Also, YC left balloons and a card in my parent's room for my dad. Nice touch! Very nice of them to do that!

 

[llij]

Today, my DH, dd's and I headed over to MK for one last full day there! My parents were going to meet us there later as I had a very special surprise for my dad.

My dh and my surprise was at how empty MK was this morning! Where was everyone? This was a great little surprise for us!!

We literally walked onto Splash, and Big Thunder. We actually got to ride BTMRR three times in a row with no wait. Yes, this is magical!!! Even though I was now if full fledged Mickey Withdrawal Syndrome (MWS), I was enjoying every last minute of this trip. It has been one of the best trips of our lives and I didn't want it to end!

After the mountains, we rode Alladin, Peter Pan and then the girls wanted to meet Ariel. Waiting for Ariel proved to be the longest wait of our trip (20 minutes) but we didn't care b/c today was all about hitting any last minute rides the girls wanted. While we were waiting for Ariel, we met two couples who live about 10 minutes from us! It is truly a small world after all!!! We also met a family who were on their third trip to Disney, but had never used FastPass. "What? You've never used FP before? Well, let's change that!!" The family thought that this was something you had to pay for. Yikes!! It is always fun to give a little Disney education on your trips!!!

After our FP education encounter, we headed off to ride Pooh and then grab some lunch at Casey's Corner. Yummy hotdogs!! We then rode HM, Jungle Cruise, at a Dole Whip, took tons of pics in front of the castle and then met up with my parents. Whew! It was a fun filled morning for us.

My mom hadn't ridden the Liberty Belle since I was a little kid so we promised her that we would do this. We then headed on over to BTMRR and the heavens opened up on us during the ride. I never laughed so hard in my life. We were riding and it started to sprinkle....then we went through a tunnel and came out to more rain....as we came out of another tunnel it was POURING! We were drenched! It was too funny! Too bad that our Mickey Ponchos were in the backpack during the ride. Today's weather was one of those days where it would rain then be sunny, rain then be sunny. We didn't care though b/c we were in WDW!!!

We headed over to the HOP to dry off, then had portraits done of the girls, got frozen lemonades and popcorn and headed over to Tomorrowland. We rode Buzz twice and then the TTA.

To be continued.....the last big surprise!!

 

[llij]

It was getting late and we had to be at the flag pole at 4:45 sharp for the flag retreat ceremony. You see, I had set it up a few weeks before our trip for my dad to be the veteran of the day at MK. Thanks, Tigger&Tink for your help and encouragement on this! Thanks, Mr. Haines at Main Street operations for setting this up!!

My dad had no clue as to why we were hanging out on Main Street and I was so very nervous about this last surprise. I knew it was going to be emotional for us all! 4:45 came and went and no one had come out yet. I was getting more nervous, thinking that I had the wrong time or day even. Some other family was hanging out too and I was paranoid that they were going to be the veteran of the day. Ok, I was getting a little crazy at this point. I had planned so many surprises on this trip that I think it was getting to me!!



Well, I should have had no worries b/c it all went wonderfully! The color guard CM's came out and I ran up to one of them and told them that this was a surprise for my dad. He went up to my father and said, "Surprise, Mr. xxxxx, you are the veteran of the day!" My dad was so surprised! They familiarized him with what was going to happen. When the flag retreat took place, my dad was very very emotional which got me very very emotional. I was snapping about a million pictures too! I ran around to get better shots so if I ran in front of anyone, my sincerest apologies. I was crazy at this point. I kept saying "sorry to run in front of you! That is my dad out there!" At the end, they gave my dad a really nice certificate and pin. He also got a free 5x7 picture of the event. Disney did a great job and my dad was very touched by the whole thing. Even though we had about a million magical moments on this trip, this was the best for me. A very proud and moving moment that I will cherish forever.

Our last thing to do on this trip was to have dinner and I had PS for us at the Crystal Palace. It was fun to meet Pooh and the gang. After dinner we left MK as MVMCP was starting. It was hard to say goodbye to MK as we walked down Main Street. The snow was coming down and Christmas carols were playing. We had so many wonderful memories from this trip and it was hard to say goodbye!

We decided to monorail over to Epcot and walk out the International Gateway entrance in order to get back to YC. I got to say my goodbyes to Epcot too! My DH thought I was crazy for the drama of the goodbyes, but I truly love Disney!!!

Well, it was off to pack and call it an early night b/c we had an early flight home in the morning.

 

[llij]

Our flight home was great! We left the YC at 7:30 in the morning and were walking through our front door at Noon. That was the smoothest trip home yet! I did feel like crying the entire flight home b/c I missed Disney already. Ok, I am crazy!!

Did you ever have an experience in life that was so special that you knew that you could never duplicate it? That it would never happen again? Well, that is how I felt about this trip. Yes, I've been to Disney a million times, and have always had a great trip, but there was something so extra special about this trip that I know that I can never replicate. I don't even want to try to either. It was a truly magical trip and my entire family loved every minute of it (even the stressful moments!). I don't know if it was all the little surprises, the wonderful CMs or the time of year or what, but I have the fondest memories of this trip. I can't even put it into words how great it was. We definitely enjoyed all the little moments and saw magic in even the smallest events. We laughed a lot and made the best of everything. I am also proud to say that we had no "Crazy Santa" episodes on this trip (see other reports for details on what a crazy santa is!) which is a first for me as I am a true commando at WDW.

I truly cherished this trip as I am sure that many of you cherish yours. Well, I hope you enjoyed my reports!



I'll end with my favorite song which describes this whole trip best!!

What a Wonderful World
by Louis Armstrong

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shakin' hands, sayin' "How do you do?"
They're really saying "I love you"

I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world

Oh yeah.......

 

[kathymc]

wow! what wonderful memories. I love the feeling of happiness that Disney can help bring out in all of us. your dads surprise brought a tear to my eye. I hope we have some special surprises on our trip next Dec!

thanks so much for taking the time to post

 

[cuterlt]

Great trip report!!! Got a bit teary eyed myself reading it. Wonderful. Thank you for sharing.

 

[MelessaG]

Thanks so much for your reports! I really enjoyed them. That's so neat about your Dad being Veteran of the Day!

 

[banks37]

Jill,
I remeber seeing two people wearing light up Yankees and Sox hats while we were waiting to go to Epcot from MGM. I assume that was you and the family. We left MK right after the flag retreat and we were hoping to catch Fantasmic one last time but we were told that it was full when we arrived so we decided to high tail it to Epcot for a little. This was at around 7:00.

Mike

 

[AshClan]

Jill,

Thanks for the great reports. I really enjoyed reading about your trip, and it sounds like you have a great family! So nice of you to arrange all the surprises for them. Hope your next trip is just as special!

Susan

 

[HollyJoy]

Hey um, Jill? I think we were on the Liberty Belle the same time you were! We also went back to MK that friday, and when we got on the Liberty Belle, it was bright and sunny, then BOOM.... pouring rain! LOL

Loved reading your report!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[llij]

Thanks for all of the kind words everyone!

Mike,
That was us that you saw!! LOL! Too funny. Weren't you there at the flag retreat ceremony too? It is too bad that we didn't know each other on the DIS before. We could have met.

Holly,

Too funny! Yes, we were on the LibertyBelle while it was very bright and sunny. We were on the top deck in the front. It is too bad that we never met. Maybe next time! When is your next trip?

BTW, Holly and Mike....we were all at SOG together too!

 

[banks37]

My FIL was the veteran of the day that day (12/9) and the next day we were at the park for MVMCP and saw your fathers flag retreat ceremony. Neat. - Mike

 

[Credit Man]

WOW!! What a great report! Thanks for posting.