Overall this was a very interesting trip, in fact as I write this my husband Jeff is still driving back. There is so much background on this trip that I would have to write a novel to cover it all. As most people would not be interested in reading that novel, and you know we all want to get on to the good stuff I will make it as brief as possible.

Last November, Jeff and I had this great idea to go to Disney during Christmas-time (okay I will admit I did), we had all seen the shows on television, we loved Disney, and we had (or would have) Annual Passes at the time. Perfect. Somewhere along the line Jeff’s Sister (hereinafter referred to as Suzy) got wind of the idea and Suzy, her husband, Wilfredo (grumpy), and my MIL were all involved. After several months and a million and a half e-mails we had reservations at Port Orleans Riverside.

This is about the same time Disney decided to re-design (terribly IMHO) Wilderness Lodge, and Mouse Surplus got ahold of all that furniture. Yep we had to have some, so to Ebay we go, and bought enough furniture to fill Fort Knox, well not quite, but a lot. A lot of you know it was expensive to ship. So we had devised The Plan. We had come up with the idea to have Suzy pick up the furniture, drop it off at one of those handy dandy storage facilities, and then we would drive down and take it back in a U-Haul. Looking back it actually worked pretty well, Pending Ice Storm not withstanding.

So there you go, these are important things to understand. As our original plan was the fly, then we changed to driving, and in the end almost everyone drove back but I flew. Yeah figure that out. So….


11/21

It’s the day we leave, its so sad looking back at all of this and realizing that this was a week ago. I had busily the night before, done laundry, packed (yes I am one of those people), taken one of our cars to my mom’s house close to the airport, and cooked a sweet potato casserole. AT&T where I work was having a Thanksgiving dinner, and I had volunteered for the marshmallow in a pan concoction. Not surprising I didn’t get to sleep until Midnight, and yes we got back up at 5AM the next morning to drive Jeff to work, and then get to work myself. 11AM couldn’t come quick enough. After eating a little cold turkey I headed for the door to complete the long list of stuff Jeff had left me to do. Fill the fish tank up, cancel the paper delivery, go the PO Box, fill a prescription. Things most normal, organized people would have done days before. But no, this is me, procrastinator to the max, so three hours to do everything, not a problem, we have a plan! …

Yeah you know how that ends, at the end of it all I should have picked up mom at 1:30 and Jeff at 2:00, I ended up picking up Jeff at 2:15 and MIL at 3:00pm. Come on we need to get going before rush hour people! Times a wasting, Disney is waiting for me! Must go. Nope, have to go back home and collect the 2nd pair of shoes, and hope UPS gets around to delivering that flash card for the digital camera. (Yes we need to join a procrastinator’s help group) Luckily everything goes okay, miraculously as we are about to pull out of the driveway The Brown UPS Truck pulls into said cul-de-sac, Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus and he comes in brown trucks. So with 2nd pair of tennis shoes in hand (in case it rains), digital flash card and all luggage packed away we are ready to leave! M-I-C K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E! Here we come! So we turn on the Soarin’ CD and away we go.

We are leaving from Kansas City, our mission should we choose to accept it is to get to Clarksville…. And after driving across the great state of Missouri, we pass the Airport to nowhere in Illinois, grab some Fazoli goodness in Mt. Vernon, we arrive in Clarksville at around 12:15… Not bad for us. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn, which while not quite up to Disney standards, was still decent enough.


11/22

Besides being Procrastinators we are also not early risers on vacation either. You read those trip reports were people are at the gate at 8:30… not us, at least not usually. So we rise around 8AM, and get out of Dodge, er Clarksville, around 9:00. The First Time. Dum Dum Dum. Jeff forgot his Camera charger (that dang camera!), so 10 miles out we realize this, turn around and head back to the hotel to claim it. 9:30 rolls around and we are finally headed down I-24 towards our destination. I’m driving at this point, and Jeff being the caring sweet husband that he is recommends that we stop at Crack in a Barrel, (yes we call it that) for breakfast/lunch. I’m happy, let me rephrase, it’s one of my favorite places besides Disney World. Well not quite, but the food is good. Back on the road outside of Nashville, and we are heading towards Chattanooga, through the mountains when it happens. Back up, grid lock. I’m in a mountain, going 10 miles an hour, and… I’m happy about it. You know Finding Nemo when Marlin and Dory are down there in the deep, deep, dark place and he see’s the light, and he says something along the lines of “I’m feeling happy and that’s a big thing” That’s how I felt. La La Land. Usually traffic would upset me, not now, I am goin’ to Disney! Nothing can faze me.

Here is MIL and myself at Barrel of Crack, Jeff is taking the photo.	Yes, me pumping gas... I dont take these photos!	The Traffic heading through Atlanta, it looked this way for about 2 hours.

After making it through Chattanooga, we arrive on I-95, I-95, beloved I-95, Sweet I-95, The Mother Road. So we stop at the Georgia Welcome Center, I’m worried about Atlanta, and while I am decent in traffic I could only handle one huge traffic jam a day. So Jeff drives. Away through Georgia we go. It’s about this time I am NOT realizing that we are going to be heading into Atlanta at Rush hour. I guess it wouldn’t make too much of a difference at this point. I start seeing traffic backing up northbound and I laugh, thank goodness we are not there. Remind me again never to tempt fate like that. Yep we got stuck in our own traffic jam from about downtown, to about 30 minutes north of Macon. Two hours to go about 30 miles. You are saying, I told you so, you should have known better, and yes I should have, but you know it makes a great story. It’s like that 12 hour layover in Detroit six years ago…. Aweful then, great story afterwards.

So we head through Georgia, Georgia is just awful to drive through; I knew this ahead of time though. (After all we have driven this way five times roundtrip already!) I am driving again outside of Macon, and after about 3-4 hours of more boringness, we make it to the land of plenty, Florida! Yes it’s 3.5 more hours to Disney but still. After another few hours we are on the toll road, vaguely considered taking 429 (I had an idea that that was the right highway but I wasn’t sure and didn’t want to get lost at 12:30 in the morning), we finally make it to Disney, took the Animal Kingdom exit, and arrive at Coronado Springs.

Aha! You noticed it. I said Coronado Springs, when I had specifically mentioned earlier we were staying at Port Orleans. You are clever. Well what happened is that we did not finalize the driving part until about two months before our trip, so two months out we were trying to get 11/22 at Port Orleans, wasn’t going to happen. We ended up at Coronado Springs instead. I was happy in the fact that we got Casitas building 2, with Adjoining rooms, exactly as I had requested.

Our room at Coronado Springs, Casitas Building 2.	Some of my SIL's christmas decorating handwork.	One of two small christmas tree's SIL purchased from the Disney Store website.

Now there are two things that I learned within the next few hours. Number one, never underestimate the power of Christmas, in the fact that when we arrived my SIL had decorated it to the hilt, and number two, it is absolutely true that Disney does most of its decorating overnight. Midnight, small Christmas trees sitting outside of Convention center shrink wrapped. 10AM in the morning, Christmas trees are now lining the walkway to Pepper Market and Lobby. I also received second hand news that that Christmas tree at Coronado Springs, the big one, wasn’t there the night before when Suzy checked in. So there you go, Christmas Fairies do exist.

Here Suzy, MIL and Wilfredo loading back up their Jeep.	A picture of the Casita Grounds area, more are below.	MIL and myself in the fountain rotunda.

11/23

The morning light wakes me up, its 9:30, so the alarm clock says, and I am at Disney. Since we almost always arrive at some ungodly hour it never really hits that I am at Disney until I wake up there. It’s the simple things that let me know I am here. You know how when you are in your room you can hear the luggage bags being wheeled down the walkways? I love that sound, not the fact that people are leaving, but that I am at a place were people live out of their luggage. It says Disney to me for some reason. I know I am weird. So we get up, get dressed, and get the car re-packed to go to Port Orleans. I haven’t been saying it, but I am itching to see Christmas decorations, I have seen Buzz’s photos and I want to see them first hand. I nag Jeff about this. Suzy hears me and says that there were not that many decorations last night when she checked in, my heart sinks. I am worried that maybe Disney is delayed in decorating this year. We walk to the lobby (Casitas are very close) I have never been so happy to see Christmas trees in my life. I love them, and I really love the little gingerbread village they have set up over by the Maya Grill. Coronado Springs has won hands down so far for its lobby, it’s beautiful. The rooms and grounds are a little Arizona Health Spa-ish but the Lobby is beautiful. Especially so with Poinsettias all over the place, and those beautiful white poinsettia garlands hanging from the rafters.

A fountain in the Casitas section.	The start of Christmas decorations! Poinsetta Hanging Baskets in the entryway.	Small Christmas trees line the walkway.

After taking tons of photos, we head over to Pepper Market to grab a quick snack to tide up over to 1:30, when we have an ADR at Whispering Canyon. I actually really like Pepper Market, I think it is the best solution to the Food Court Dilemma, in that it handles crowds very well and you do not have to wait in line to pay with your food. You know so it doesn’t get cold? The food is good too. Today I just had a bagel, Jeff and mom had a Cinnamon Roll, I honestly cannot remember what Suzy and Wilfredo had, but it was good, better then the bagel I had at Port Orleans later in the week.

The Coronado Springs Lobby... oohhh ahhhh.	The Gingerbread village, next to the Maya Grill.	Jeff and myself infront of the Coronado Springs Christmas Tree.

Once we were done we figured we should get over to Downtown Disney to activate Suzy’s, Wilfredo’s and MIL's passes, we already had our Annual Passes so we headed over to the World of Disney for some shopping, and for Jeff some well earned Pirate drooling. Now I really like Haunted Mansion, It is my favorite ride, and I consider it a travesty to go to Disney and not ride Haunted Mansion at least once, I have the Disneyland soundtrack (the one with the ad clips in it), and I happen to know that it’s Xavier Atencio who voices the “ride stopped” spiels. So we have it known that I love that ride. However, as much as I love Haunted Mansion, Jeff’s adores Pirates of the Caribbean even more. So when we entered World of Disney, Jeff waited in line behind the little kids for the photo with the Pirate at the Helm, he gleefully pointed out exactly what he would buy later that week, and acclaimed that he would gladly spray paint a Christmas tree black in order to re-create the Pirate tree that they had in the store. He will also tell you if you strike up a conversation with him that he has the original 45 Record for the Pirates of Caribbean at Disneyland that he got back in the 70’s. I had to drag him out of the store…

Jeff wanted me to chime in here and say on his behalf that his favorite ride really is Tower of Terror.... riiiggghhhht...

One last Coronado Springs christmas photo...	Jeff at Downtown Disney!	A bedecked fountain at Downtown Disney.

The rest of the group meet us at the World of Disney shortly thereafter, and as it was only 30 minutes to our ADR at Whispering Canyon it was time to head that direction. Wilderness Lodge is another great love of my husband and I. You might have figured that out when we went on an EBAY shopping spree for Wilderness Lodge furniture. We are not rich people folks, and so just could not afford the $225 a night, for two rooms for 6 nights. I am still in Wilderness Lodge Recovery Group trying to come to terms with the fact that I just can no longer get a room there for $115 a night. I need a hug….

In spite of this Jeff and I have decorated our house in Arts and Crafts style, we even paid out the big bucks once at stayed at the Grand Californian, only to realize that even though it was beyond beautiful, it was not Wilderness Lodge. Our walls are painted burnt umber yellow, pine cone green, we have oak mission furniture in our living room and dining room, we are even proud to own two genuine pieces of Stickley Furniture. So yes we love Wilderness Lodge in its normal style.

Wilderness Lodge, enough said.	THE Christmas Tree.	A beautiful view from the 3rd Floor.

Wilderness Lodge at Christmas was beyond amazing. I have made a pledge that next time, even if its $300 a night I will find a way. Watch out United Missouri Bank… no, I would never do that. I’m a good person. After warning Jeff that “Last of the Mohicans” had been replaced by “Sleigh Ride”, we entered the Lodge and took some time to take it all in. I also found this a good time to call my mom and wish her a happy thanksgiving.

After the photo shoot was completed of this beautiful hotel we headed for our Thanksgiving lunch. We had eaten at Whispering Canyon several times in the past, and this time was one of the best. It was rowdy and obnoxious, the food was not haute couture, but it was good, home-style and filling. Our waitress, I can’t remember her name for the life of me, was one of two of the original staff members left, and she played it up good. The meal started out with the field greens salad, with a wonderful vinaigrette dressing and corn bread. The main course was served on the lazy Susan, just like their regular all-you-can-eat is served. It included roasted chicken, sliced ham and turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and stuffing. The stuffing, mashed potatoes and ham were the best parts for me. Jeff had one of their world-famous bottomless milkshakes, and for desert there was pumpkin pie. I left there very full. During our meal they were using a microphone to MC the events, (which was different then previously but worked well). One thing I thought was hilarious wasn’t even instrumented by Whispering Canyon. While we ate a LARGE group of dinners came in wearing orange shirts, they sat towards the left of us, and there must have been 30 people in that group. What was funny about this is that they still had a kids table and adults table. I don’t know how they controlled it all, but the children were all very well behaved especially considering the climate! It was great, and would definitely do it again.

I also wanted to add in here that I had a few weeks prior to the trip considered the idea to make matching t-shirts. Not bright orange things, just you know, matching shirts. I was vetoed at the time by everyone. Amazingly enough, on said Thanksgiving Day everyone though having matching shirts was a great idea! Huh?

Whispering Canyon Cafe!	Picture taking time!	All of us on Sunset Terrace.

After stuffing ourselves, we again wandered Wilderness Lodge, we spent some time taking photos on Sunset Terrace, we took a look at some of the new carpet and wallpaper, I didn’t care for it too much but it looked better then the photos. I loved the little hidden Mickey’s on the wall paper, very cute.

I’m sure this next part will have some frowns, but frown away. We next headed over to the Villas. It has been my dream to buy into a re-sell of Wilderness Lodge Villas. Someday… It fills so much home-like, warm and inviting, not that Wilderness Lodge proper doesn’t, but I seem to like the Villas a little bit better. I did try out that window seat for a few minutes,(there was no one in the room or came into the room while I was there), which was very comfortable, Jeff and I played checkers, and took photos. Very nice.

Our 6th family member, Paddington tags along for the ride.	The tree at Port Orleans Riverside!	Riverside Mill with a festive wreath.

It was about 4PM so we figured it was a good a time as any to check into Port Orleans Riverside. We had made two different reservations one from Nov 23-26th and one from the 26th – 28th to take advantage of the change in rates from Regular to Value Season. We were also VERY lucky to get Florida Resident Rates and AP Rates for our stay. So we drove up to Port Orleans, waited in line, and got a CM who was “earning my ears”. I usually have no problem with this at all. I think CM’s have one of the hardest jobs around; working at a park is NOT easy. However, we had a somewhat complex reservation, two rooms, checking in and checking out, and they had put both deposits on the first reservation. After about 45 minutes of sorting it out, we figured it out. We ended up with exactly what we requested, Non-Smoking, 1st Floor, Alligator Bayou, Adjoining Rooms. I honestly did not expect to get all of that, in fact all I really though I MIGHT get was the Adjoining rooms part. I was delighted to get it all. We ended up with rooms 2405 and 2406. Yes, some of you know were those are, Building 24, way out there. At least that’s what I picked up from reading the Resort Board.

All in the entire walk was not bad at all; in fact we really enjoyed Port Orleans Riverside. It was VERY quiet, serene, lots of mature trees and wonderful landscaping, Magnolia, Southern Yellow Pine, Bald Cypress, Cottonwoods, all mature. The rooms were nice; I liked the woodsy-style. The double beds were small, but expected and overall I think Riverside tops out my list for Moderates. We will definitely stay again.

The main street down MGM Studios at night.	Walkway towards Tower of Terror, I love the stars on the polls!	Jeff and myself at Osbourne Lights.

After getting to our rooms, getting everything unloaded it was about 6PM. The plan for today was to get to MGM and ride a few rides and see the Osbourne Lights. We considered axing it all and just staying in a relaxing. After about 30 minutes of downtime though we decided to go, and got in the Jeep and drove to MGM. This is one thing I NEVER see mentioned about Riverside. It is EXTREMELY close to everything, driving wise. MGM was about 5 minutes away. Loved it. MGM was pretty busy, not anything like the shoulder to shoulder I imagined (or had nightmares about). We headed straight for Osbourne Lights.

Osbourne Lights.	More Osbourne Lights.	Even more Osbourne Lights.

All I can say is WOW. Now keep in mind I am from Kansas City, MO, This area is known for some of the most amazing Christmas decorations across the country. Plaza Lights, The largest Christmas tree in the country at Crown Center (think Hallmark Cards), and who can forget the overzealous use of lights at Silver Dollar City? Nothing can compare to Osbourne Dancing Lights. The Dancing Lights, wow. I am willing to say that it was ALMOST better then Illuminations. Almost. The lights are choreographed to Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas in Sarejevo, and another piece that was also Trans-Siberian but I am not familiar with the name (Nutcracker Suite). They also sell hot chocolate in flashing mugs. (Okay give me a break I thought it was Hot Chocolate at the time...) The whole thing is right out of A Christmas Story. I especially love the fact that they tell a little bit of the story before the lights play. It’s impossible to explain it well, No photo or video can do it justice. You could go to Disney just for the lights and leave content. I know I could.

So after taking in the lights for about an hour, we figured we could get one ride in. Jeff loves Tower of Terror, but we wanted something everyone would ride (I am still afraid of that thing), and decided on the Great Movie Ride. I enjoy this ride even though it could use an update. Once off, we looked around, took some photos and left back for the hotel. After still recovering from the drive, it was time for some well earned sleep.


11/24

When planning this trip, this day, Friday, Nov 24th, bothered me forever and ever. That and the following Saturday. Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. I actually considered joining Tour Guide Mike just so I knew which would be a better day. You know it’s bad when I cannot trust the wisdom of the Unofficial Guide. I finally decided that Friday would be a good Animal Kingdom day, and that was the plan. First before we walk with the animals, talk with the animals, we had to eat. Suzy and I had both decided long ago that a nice sit down breakfast was in the cards, especially since Jeff HATES breakfast (not the way it sounds but because when I am with him alone I never get to eat breakfast). So after reading the reviews of Boatwright’s, I figured it was a good choice, especially since its right there. Since I thought at this time we were in the sticks we decided to drive, especially since we were to drive to Animal Kingdom anyway. We had an ADR at 9:30AM and I was very glad that I had listened to the Dining Board and made a few Dining reservations. They gave us the beeper, and we went to check out Fulton’s Dry Goods, about ten minutes later I got the familiar vibration and we gathered our group and went to eat.

Overall the food was good, not super spectacular stellar, but good, and definitely worth a trip back. I had the Banana-Stuff French Toast, Jeff had the Breakfast Combo with eggs and French Toast, Suzy had the Sweet Potato Cakes, Wilfredo had the Boatwright’s Breakfast, and Mom had the Banana-Stuffed French Toast as well. I thought the Stuffed French Toast was good; it was sweet with brown sugar, but not overly so, Suzy thought the cakes were good, but didn’t really taste any different except for the pecan topping they add, which was very good. I only have two negative comments. One was an issue we ran into a couple of times that they put five adults (one 6’3”) at a four person table, which is cramped. And two, the wait service was a little slow. Both might have to do with the fact that the restaurant was very busy at the time. I wouldn’t hold it against them; I just wanted to mention the facts.

The Animal Kingdom Christmas Tree during the Daytime.	Dino Rama Snowman.	The Standby Entrance to Expedition Everest. Standby was showing 70 minutes at 5:24PM.

After stuffing ourselves it was time to head to the Animal Kingdom park. Animal Kingdom is the only park that is a fair distance from Port Orleans, which is to be expected due to the size of the WDW resort. When we arrived we parked in Dinosaur, and for a bit I felt bad that we hadn’t gotten up early to hit the park at opening. I think in the end though we were glad we got the sleep. Our first stop at the park was for a fast pass for something. I was honestly surprised that at 10:45 fast passes were gone for the Kilimanjaro Safari (I Know), so we hoofed over to Everest, arrived about 11AM and were lucky enough to get fast passes for 5:50. The park was to close at 7, so I felt lucky. All in all it was a very enjoyable day, we all had visited the parks numerous times and had no desire to go commando-style, but we did get to enjoy several attractions.

After getting the fast pass for Everest, we headed back over to the Safari for stand-by. This is one of my pet peeves about Disney, they always advertise the line as almost twice as long as it actually is! The stand-by posted time was 80 minutes, so we got in line, and waited about 40 minutes. Not bad. It was very fun, I love animals as does everyone else in the party so we had a great time. Lots of photos. We then headed right next door for Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, and spent the two hours or so wandering through, relaxing and taking photos.

Jeff also agrees with the "Disney Lies" about the time issue. He says though we only waited about 20 minutes. Which may or may not be true.

One attraction that I absolutely wanted to see was the new Finding Nemo show at the Theater in the Wild. I had seen Tarzan and really enjoyed it and was hoping Nemo would at least be a decent replacement. (keep in mind that I love Finding Nemo the movie) I had picked up a show guide upon entering the park and saw that the next show was at 3PM, so about 2:15 we started heading out that direction and got in line about 2:30. Another pet peeve of mine is line cutting. I absolutely positively despise it. I am also pretty easy going on vacation and overlook a few people meeting up with their families ahead in line. What I do not care for is the literally 40-50 people I saw in groups of 5-6 cut ahead. I know this is a show, I know that everyone in line was getting a seat. What I didn’t care for is the fact that these people were making is so that the people at the very end of the line might have very poor seats or might not have seats at all. Please keep in mind that I had a good spot in line, I just was concerned with others who were waiting as well. I like to call this strange disorder ex-park employeeitis. When you have worked for an amusement park it never gets completely out of your blood. I brought this up to a CM standing there, very politely, and he did not seem to care. The fact that people cutting I could let go, the fact that a CM showed such disdain, did bother me. I do like to give people the benefit of the doubt and didn’t bring it up to Guest Services, but it still bugged me.

The show itself was very enjoyable. I will have to see it a few more times to see if how it compares to Tarzan, but it was better then I expected. I loved the transitions between the scenes, which were very seamless, things seemed to pop out of nowhere and I did enjoy the interaction within the audience. If you or someone you know likes Nemo this is a great attraction. As far as shows in Animal Kingdom I am thinking that The Lion King is still the best. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see that on this trip.

Now I like thrill rides, roller coasters, etc, but after Nemo, everyone decided they want to ride Dinosaur, or the ride formerly known as Countdown to Extinction. I rode this in 2002 on our Honeymoon and it scared the living bejesus out of me, I cowered, I screamed, and I just about cried, I still have that photo, and no you cannot see it. :) In fact I had such a traumatic experience with Countdown that I was scared of the Knott’s Berry Farm Time Machine ride, anything that had dinosaurs in it for awhile. I like dinosaurs! I just don’t like them trying to eat me for lunch. So I sat in that little pavilion, the wait time said 40 minutes, this is one that told the truth. It was about 4Pm too and I was getting rather hungry so I walked over to Chester and Hester’s gift shop and bought a rice crispy treat, mmm mmm good. Those people that rode Dinosaur without me were so envious. :)

Everyone was getting hungry at this point, but it was 5PM, and Tusker House was closed, no one really wanted Pizza or Barbeque (we are from Kansas City, foreign Barbeque is evil), so we figured we would ride Everest and then go over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner. I recommended Mara, because only two out of five people in the party liked Boma (myself being one of two), and Mara from past experiences was pretty good, and I could still have my chocolate mouse mountains or whatever they are called.

A hidden mickey in the Expedition Everest Queue Line.	Everest Queue Line details.	Everest Queue Line details.

So we head to Everest, fast pass is still not for 40 minutes, so we figured get in line, ride it once, and ride it again with a fast pass. Good idea. Line was pretty long, about a 40 minute wait (The time posted was 70 minutes). It was getting dark too and I knew from past experience that Everest in a blast in the dark, because well you REALLY can’t see were you are going! This was also the first time I actually got to wait through the queue-line, and see all the theming, we found a hidden-mickey in there. In one of the rooms, where all the canned-goods are, there is a shelf that is barbed off, and inside one cubby hole is a bunch of white-stuffed things, one has a little set of mickey ears on. I loved it. I am so simple to please, Disney, Lady Bugs, and hidden Mickey’s, and I am in love.

Our first ride on Everest was in the back (2nd to last car) and our 2nd ride was towards the front, Jeff keeps calling it like Big Thunder, Everest is very much like Big Thunder except for the backwards part, it pulls some significant g-forces in there! I can see were people say the feel like they went upside down, it a similar feeling. There are certain rides that I love immediately and there are rides that grow on me, Everest is growing on me, and it really looks like I am not the only one!

Expedition Everest At Night.	Animal Kingdom Christmas Tree at Night.	Animal Kingdom Entrance at Night.

As the darkness set in we headed out of Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom is a park that is especially beautiful at night, it really sets of the jungle atmosphere, and Everest has a beautiful lighting package on it that is only viewable at night. We headed out towards the car and then road the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Animal Kingdom Lodge Christmas Tree	Our last Zebra Dome...	After a few futile tries by myself, Suzy attempts to discover the flavor of Zebra Domes... to no avail.

We actually had briefly considered changing part of our reservation to Animal Kingdom for the last 3 days (an AP rate was available for $155), We decided against it, as we would have to change resorts three times, and maybe if I wasn’t so happy to POR I would have wished I had changed, but I really wasn’t. AK was beautiful, I love the suspended bridge and we took some time up there for photos. We headed over to Boma and the wait there was 1-2 hours that was axed immediately. Obviously if we had really wanted to eat there that would have been a disappointment, but I really didn’t want a big sit down restaurant. We headed to Mara instead. I had eaten there previously when we stayed at AK Lodge a few years ago and I really enjoyed it. I had the Fried Shrimp basket, Jeff had the Smoked Turkey Melt, Suzy had the Tandori Chicken Pizza, Wilfredo had the African Stew, and I can’t remember what MIL had. The shrimp was very good, very fresh as they fried them right when I ordered it, the African Stew though Wilfredo said was very good, it came in an edible bread bowl, Suzy didn’t seem to care for the pizza though. After hearing so much about them I also picked up a package of Zebra Domes and Chocolate Mouse Domes, the Chocolate domes were VERY VERY good, the Zebra Domes were okay, and they had an unusual, coffee-like flavor that I couldn’t figure out. I shared them with everyone.

Main Street USA looking towards the castle.	The Magic Kingdom Christmas Tree with the castle in the background.	Looking down Main Street USA from the hub.

At this point in time Jeff and I were itching to get over the Magic Kingdom, two days and still no Magic Kingdom! It was driving me nuts. So we split up, and I put my life in the hands of Disney Transportation. Me and Disney Transportation have always been at odds, except for the monorails, I have not been a fan, and have stayed as far away as possible. This trip made me change my mind, atleast a little bit. Even though I do think they should junk all the buses and expand the monorails. Monorails, Monorails, Monorails…

So we grabed the bus from Animal Kingdom Lodge to the Magic Kingdom. When we got to the stop there were a lot of people waiting around, it seemed that they had been waiting awhile, it only took five minutes after that for the bus to arrive and everyone fit, barely. One thing I do like about the Disney Transportation System is that the buses do drop you off right at the gate, this is especially nice with the Magic Kingdom. Once there I understood exactly why Touring Plans.com advising against staying away from MK on Friday. It was packed! Worse then June, elbow to elbow. As it was about 8PM Wishes was beginning, so Main Street and the central spoke was packed. We headed to Adventureland, we had to have a meeting with some Pirates, and once we passed under the bridge, all the people magically disappeared, man I love Disney. Poof go the crowds. So at 8PM, on Friday Nov 24th Pirates had a 5 minute wait. You could tell it had been much, much longer, trash was tucked well into the walkway crevices all along the queue-line.

So even though my allegiance lies with 999 Happy Haunts, I like Pirates as well, and thought the additions of Capt. Jack Sparrow and Barbosa were great additions. The animatronics were extremely well done. I know there was some controversy over it, but I also did like the addition of the music from the movie being incorporated into the battle scene. The only thing I had read about that I was disappointed in is that unlike Disneyland they didn’t update the entire ride. Just the new additions. Oh well gives me another reason to go to Disneyland again! But this is a Disney World Trip report so I will keep my feet firmly grounded in sand. After Pirates, were else would we head but the Mansion on the Hill, the greatest ride in the world, Haunted Mansion. Again the Disneyland comparisons, Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion is better, much better. But that’s because it had a major rehab before they added the Burton “Nightmare Before Christmas” overlay. I’ve heard about Disney World’s rehab, and am obviously very excited about it.

Wow I just really derailed the train off topic there! So we get to Haunted Mansion, it says 20 minute wait, we walk into the line, stand around about 1 minute, and then get admitted. You know you have ridden a ride too much when you know when you have a good CM, this one seemed kind of tired, not that I can blame her.

The worst part of it though was the prank teenagers in front of us, Somewhere around the attic scene they lost the top of a cup, and started throwing ice at other riders, including us. I wish I could say I got back to ride the Haunted Mansion, but I didn’t. We did mention it to another CM standing outside the ride, and they apologized. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t go to Disney to find things wrong, I love Disney, and I think they do a spectacular job about 99% of the time, I just have a knack for details, and it’s all about the details.

After Haunted Mansion it was about 10PM, and both of us were tired so we were looking to get out, unfortunately about this time Spectromagic was going on and there just was no way we were going to get out of the park. So we stopped near Cinderella’s Castle to watch. It was very beautiful, I’m not a big parade person, but parades like Main Street Electrical Light parade are the best in my mind. I don’t think I had ever seen Spectro and I loved what I saw so that just means sometime I am going to have to stick around and see the whole thing. It’s funny too because I had read so many trip reports including those who though Spectro was so great, but never thought anything about it. I guess I am now a convert too!

Jeff would also like to mention that I HAD seen SpectroMagic previously during the IAAPA Social in 2003. I guess my mind just forgot... Oh well that happens sometimes. :)

When Spectro ended I thought well now there are going to be huge lines for the buses, so we decided to check out the shops, we didn’t buy anything, but took a look at some rings (we have been married almost five years and my husband still doesn’t have a decent wedding ring). After some shopping I thought since we would be getting up early the next morning for our one and only park opening that maybe I should stop by the Main Street Bakery and pick up breakfast for tomorrow. I ended up with 2 Cinnamon Rolls (more like loafs!), 2 chocolate croissant and one regular croissant. We got in line, which was quick and were on our way. By the time we left the park was pretty empty and we headed out the bus pick row. Our joke has always been no matter what resort we stay at we always are the very further away and this was no different, spot #7, Port Orleans Riverside.

It seems for Port Orleans they do not always share the same bus, Magic Kingdom has a bus for each resort, French Quarter and Riverside. Which was very convenient. We actually never caught a bus from the resort to the park only the way around. There were only 3 people ahead of us in line, and the bus showed up only 3-4 minutes after we got there. Instead of stopping at our West Depot, Your’s Truly had forgotten to pick up butter, and knives for breakfast tomorrow while at the Bakery and needed to stop at the food court to pick up the necessary eating utensils. While doing that I realized the stop by the entrance is the Blue Bayou, of course I thought this was beyond cool. Blue Bayou is the restaurant by Pirates in Disneyland. Amazing Jeff didn’t think this was cool… oh well he was almost perfect… Maybe I can trade him in for a newer model down the line. :)

We took the walk back to the room, which was beautiful, and quiet. Alligator Bayou is very swamp-like (amazing, hence the name) and I loved the bubbling pools. We got to our room, put the food in the frig, and headed to bed. Tommorow morning we would be up with the sun and at Magic Kingdom opening…


11/25

Fred the Bear with Paddington wait for Magic Kingdom to open.	The Train pulls into the station... where are the characters?	Everyone (except Jeff!) on the Resort Monorail to the Grand Floridian.

Today was the first day I really hated that alarm clock, beep, beep, beep it went off at 7AM to get up and go to the Magic Kingdom. So I got up took a shower and then woke Jeff up. Our partners in crime next door did not know about the late night rendezvous with the Main Street Bakery and were pleasantly surprised, especially in the mammoth size of that cinnamon roll, I mean those cinnamon rolls could feed a small country! I had my Coke Zero and Croissant, and about 8:00 we were ready to go. Again we decided to drive, and I was honestly surprised again to see parking was already in Pluto Lot. It’s terrible to remember but I still remember during our wedding in Jan, 2002 that the cars never even got that far, they wouldn’t even run the trams. It was sad in one way, but nice in others. So there we were Pluto 11, commit it to memory and we were onto the wildest ride in the park, the TTC trams! For us there is never a question as to whether the Monorail or Ferry, Jeff has an infatuation with Monorails (we even have the Monorail set that goes around our Christmas tree), and I can’t say that I don’t think they are pretty cool, so away we go to the transportation of the future. Once at the gate I was very excited. See in June I had woken and been at MK at the VERY ungodly hour of 6AM, and gotten to see the opening ceremony for the very first time, and I thought it was greatest thing since sliced bread. I ended up having two minor disappointments this morning, one we had a visit from one of those million dreams people. I had never given barely a thought to the Millions Dream promotion, but I knew about it, and when I saw here I was like wow, here’s my luck! Nope just a map. Second I got an abbreviated opening ceremony! What’s up, no dancers, no opening family to throw confetti, no main street trolley song… I have been robbed! It’s a ploy! I got up early, I listened to the alarm clock and no clang clang clang goes the trolley? *sniffle* I guess I still have my CD.

So after that what can you do? Well we did what we do best this early in the morning, we scope out a place in the park with no lines, and turn our backs to the establishment, otherwise known as touring plans. And boy did our plan, to not follow a plan deliver. We first hit Pirates of the Caribbean, then Splash Mountain, no line whatsoever, walk on, and got soaked, Splash Mountain is my 2nd favorite ride, and just a few months ago I had the distinguished honor to watch a (completely illegal) copy of Song of the South. It just makes the ride that much better. Jeff got completely soaked, I mean that shirt that says Dry is not an option? Well he had to buy it because his other shirt was as wet as a dish rag. I also purchased the Tales of Uncle Remus book. I had that sent back to the hotel.

We then headed to Big Thunder, and again NO LINE! WHOOAA! After we had ridden all the big rides in Adventureland/Frontierland we took a second to catch our breath then headed for Fantasyland and rode Peter Pan, with a 20 minute wait, and It’s a Small World which was again a walk on. Our last attraction was Philharmagic. I didn’t care for it to much when I saw it the first time a few years ago, but I really enjoyed it this time around. By this time it was about 11:20 and as we had an ADR at Grand Floridian Café for lunch at 11:50 we figured we should probably head that way. We stopped for a fast pass for Space Mountain and then headed for the Monorail. This was another one of those moments that I should have listened to the DIS Board gods. Grand Floridian as I had forgotten was the last stop on the Resort Monorail line from Magic Kingdom, and we where about 10 minutes late for our reservation. It wasn’t to bad though, we were given another pager, waited about 5 minutes, and the table was ready. As I made a point about this earlier the GF Café did give us a six person round table, which was nice to have.

The Grand Floridian Gingerbread House.	A view of the Grand Floridian Lobby from the 2nd Floor.	A detail of the Gingerbread house.

I had never eaten in any GF restaurant excepting for Victoria & Alberts and I found it to be a very beautiful resteraunt but not overbearing or fluff at all. Our waiter was wonderful, my husband drinks Coke’s like there is no tomorrow and he always kept him well filled. To start off, Suzy and I had the Oreo Smoothie, which was interesting. It wasn’t really sweet at all, I was still good though. For the food options, I had the Soup and Salad with a tuna sandwich and cream of mushroom soup (that was sooo good), Suzy had the Grand Sandwich, MIL and Jeff had the Reuben, plus Jeff had the Chicken Caesar Salad, and I cannot remember what Wilfredo had. I had a bite of the Grand Sandwich and can attest that it is extremely good. I think I would have that next time. One of the pre-concieved notions I had always had about the GF is that it was stuffy and overbearing, that’s why I was worried about eating at the GF Café. But everyone said it was great, it had a good location, no characters, and the price was right, so there you go. What I found was that it was a fantastic restaurant, very laid back but still wonderfully beautiful, with good food, I can now understand why people love it as much as they do. It also gave me a completely unrealistic desire to stay there someday. Yes someday when I can afford $400 a night! Gotta buy a lottery ticket. :)

Mom at the Grand Floridian Cafe.	Suzy trying out some soap at Basin at the Grand Floridian.	Our engagement brick.... ahh!

After that nice lunch we of course had to check out the decorations, that we had briefly glimpsed coming in. WOW, Flagship hotel the Grand Floridian most definitely is! Huge overflowing boughs, huge tree with beautiful ornaments and LED lights, and the gingerbread house. Never in my life have I had the desire to go up and lick something like I did right there. So I had to amuse myself buying Gingerbread ornaments, a shingle, and a solid white chocolate snowman. I saw the gingerbread house, it was $65, but I knew in a second that it would never make it safely home, at least not with me. If my bank account would have let me I would have bought everything in that little store… Oh man some women have shoes, some women have jewelry, I have a fascination with gingerbread things.

We took a lot of time looking around, taking pictures. Actually I should mention the picture thing, my husband does photography for our magazine, Suzy is a photo editor for the Miami Herald and Wilfredo is a photographer for the AP. I am not saying that to sound snobbish, I am saying that because everyone had atleast one camera, 2 lenses, and took probably at least hundred of photos a day. So when I say they photographed things…. Well they REALLY photographed things. I took some time to shop. I looked at some watches, but came home with $10 christmas tinkerbell watch (the one they sold if you bought over $X of stuff). I also began to look at the Disney Christmas clothing line. BASIN is a neat shop and I bought some things from the one at Downtown Disney in Disneyland but I haven’t used any of it yet, so I figured I would do that first. After about an hour or so we grouped up to decide what next. At this time it was about 3PM and everyone was getting tired, so we figured a rest and nap would be good, and headed back to the hotel.

Port Orleans Riverside	Port Orleans Riverside.	Port Orleans Riverside.

When we got back Jeff and I walked around the resort a bit, went an bought a USA Today (they were running an article on our KC Chiefs and the Liberty Memorial), and went back and took a long nap. …

When we got up around 6PM, Suzy wasn’t feeling to well, so we immedialy nixed going back to Magic Kingdom, I honestly didn’t feel up to it either. After about an hour considering the options we ended up splitting up. Jeff and I went to EPCOT for the last two hours, and as we later found out Suzy, Wilfredo, and MIL went to Downtown Disney for dinner at Wolfgang Pucks.

We arrived at EPCOT around 7:30PM, and took some photos including a photo pass with that cute Goofy stringing the lights on the dog house topiary. Of all the parks combined I think EPCOT handled the holidays overall the best. I loved the snowflake images cast on the pavement, it was very magical. The first ride we rode was Spaceship Earth, we ride this every single time we come to Disney World, and I don’t know why I like it but I do. We have gotten stuck on it twice for an extended period of time. 11/25 was our second time. Right about the monk scene, for about 10 minutes. I wasn’t worried, I honestly wanted a ride evacuation from Space Ship Earth. Yes you are talking to one of only a small group of people that actually hope for ride evacuations! They are nothing to be worried about afterall the ride is doing exactly what it was designed to do, but then you get to see the innards of everything, and that’s the best part.

Goofy Topiary in front of Spaceship Earth.	Pretty picture!	The Seas with Nemo and Friends.

Our next stop after a completed Space Ship Earth was Living Seas…. Scratch that The Seas with Nemo and Friends. This ride was the most pleasant surprise of the entire trip. I was truly excited when I heard they were going to actually re-open in some form the old Sea Cabs ride, in the Living Seas. I loved the new entrance, I loved the theming, I loved the clam shells, and I REALLY loved how they seemed to add Nemo, Dory and Marlin to the real tank at the end of the ride. I also loved the Star Fish at the end of the ride, I rode it twice and she/he said a different thing each time. :) I could ride it over and over again just to see the star fish. We poked around the Pavilion a little bit afterwards, and then headed for our last attraction… Test Track.

Jeff always pokes fun at me when we play the Walt Disney World CD we have that has the Test Track music, and says oh its Jennifer driving! I used to have a habit of terrorizing parking lots in my car. I grew out of that. I really enjoy Test Track, I wish I had seen the original World of Motion so I had a comparison but I can’t imagine that Test Track would be worse. The stand by line said 40 minutes when we got in line and guess what… it only took about 10 minutes to get to the video and another five minutes to get into the car. Did I mention I love this ride? The only thing that scares me is I am always afraid that one time that door isn’t going to open and that are going to crash into it!

After Test Track we began to head out and stopped at Mouse Gears to take a look, when I heard the fire works from Illuminations I knew we should probably head out to avoid the crowds and away we went. We had driven to the park so we just our car right were we left it and drove back to the hotel. As we hadn’t eaten since lunch time we decided to stop at the Riverside Mill for dinner. Jeff had the Meatball Sub and I had a kid’s meal. I just don’t eat that much and the kid’s meal is the perfect size, plus I happen to love mac and cheese. Tommorow we had no plans and we could sleep in what a wonderful idea!


11/26

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday… Sleeping in for me means not waking up until at least 9, and that’s what happened. I didn’t actually get up until around 9:30AM, how nice is that? First item of business was to check out and check back in. If you have been taking notes (why aren’t you taking notes this is important stuff!) we made two reservations one for the regular season and one for the value season. Well this was check in for the Value Season, thankfully there was no line. Check in and Check out was fairly easy, and straight forward. Then we had to come up with a plan. See I had purposefully planned the trip with unplanned moments and days and Sunday was one of those days. After carefully consideration we decided on EPCOT, and got in the car to drive. Now I loved the idea that we were extremely close to EPCOT, but that didn’t give us much time to decide on some things. Most important, food. Everyone was very hungry, and its just not a good idea to take on rides when you are starving. So after short deliberation we decided on somewhere in World Showcase, and after narrowing our choices to Japan, Mexico and UK and I called Disney Dining, Yep right there, in the car, at the EPCOT parking lot. It was 11:15 and I was able to score an ADR for five adults for Mexico at 11:45, how good is that? Ok, truth be told I couldn’t get Japan, but oh well. Mexico was good, we had eaten there before, but it had been awhile.

Suzy and Wilfredo in Mexico!	Another photo of the interior of the Mexico Pavilion.	This was a common sight...

So after we got out of the car and starting walking we had a plan. Get to the Land Pavilion and get Fast Passes to Soarin, and then head to the Mexico Pavilion. The plan went off without a hitch, Fast Passes were already to 2:35 when we got there at about 11:30, and then we began the walk to Mexico. I honestly don’t remember everything that everyone had, I had the Plato Mexicano, Suzy had the Carne Asada Con Chilaquiles, mom had the Ensalda Mexicana, I think Jeff had the Carne Asada Tampiquena, and I can’t remember the rest. Suzy had a great margarita there; next time we go I will have to try one, as it was probably the best Margarita I have ever tasted. I was the only one at the table who had never been the Mexico, but the food was decent, not bad but not great. I think it has gone downhill a bit sense the last time we visited. That’s too bad, it was a great restaurant. We would go back but it wouldn’t be our first choice.

After eating we strolled around the Pavilion, Jeff and I have six of the blue rimmed blown glasses and we keep meaning to get more of them, I think we just forgot to get them again. They are wonderful glasses, and you can put them in the dish washer and everything. After some photos (the Mexico Pavilion was beautifully decorated) we headed back to future world, and Jeff and Wilfredo rode Mission Space, I don’t care much for the ride myself so we sat outside and watched the trash can band (sorry don’t know there name) they were very good though. The line was very quick, they said they had walked right on, and came out quickly. Since Wonders of Life was open we headed there next. It was so sad to see it dead like it was, it smelled like it had been moff-balled, and we rode Body Wars. I had ridden it before but I don’t remember it being that rough! I actually did make me a little sick to my stomach. We strolled around a little, took some photos, and talked with a nice CM who told us that by contract they have to open the pavilion at least a few weeks a year. There contract is up in two years and then they can do what the want with it. I love the old EPCOT, even though I didn’t get to ride Horizons or World of Motion, but Universe of Energy is still there so that’s were we went next. I don’t know WHY I enjoy it but I love Energy and we ride it every time we come to WDW.

A cute mickey pumpkin on Living with the Land.	The Body Wars queue line. Soarin had about a 70 minute wait at the same time!	Body Wars.

After Energy it was time for our Soarin Fast Passes and headed that direction. Soarin is quite possibly the most spectacular ride Disney has built recently. I rode the original at Disney’s California Adventure and was very excited when I heard EPCOT was receiving it as well. Unfortunatly it has turned my beloved Land Pavilion into a mess of people. At this time I was secretly happy that we had not decided on Sunshine Seasons for lunch! Soarin was great though, we were on the right hand side, in the middle row. After exiting we went straight for Living with the Land, it showed a 10 minute wait, but was basically a walk on. I thought I was going to really miss having the live show guide on the boat, but it really wasn’t too bad. I think there were some people on the boat that didn’t realize the vegetables were real though until we saw the “Behind the Seeds” tour walking through. I am still concerned about the budget cutting… but It didn’t see to have the dramatic effect on the Land as I had expected and that was reassuring.

Next door was the Seas, and as you remember we had ridden this last night ourselves. This time it was the entire group. I actually liked it even better the second time, and while the first time the giant attacking fish was stationary this time it was moving around, and it added a very cool effect to the ride. I still like that star fish! :) Did you know there is 3.5 seconds between each clam shell? We took more time wandering the Pavilion today and we were not disappointed. They had just feed the manatees and got to see both of them out and swimming around. We got to see the tail end of the Dolphin Demonstration (I had never seen). Plus and this is a major plus they used the Diving Tube (sorry for my lack of terminology) for the first time I had ever seen, actually that any of us had seen. Overall I was thrilled, Disney Magic all around… Maybe I should give up January and start coming around Thanksgiving more often? Yeah I know I’m weird, we have already discussed this people.

Aboard one of the Friendship boats to the Yacht Club.	The Yacht Club Christmas Tree	The Train set-up at the Yacht Club, it was very cute.

At this time it was getting somewhat late, about 5PM, and after collecting a Fast Pass for Test Track for around 8PM we started discussing our next point of attack. Now Jeff and Suzy’s mom was on this trip and she started talking about wanting ice cream. Aha we can’t let her discover our evil plan! Yes you smart one’s might be figuring this one out. Several months ago in our long e-mail discussions Suzy and I had discussed stopping by the Beach Club at a specific restaurant known as Beach and Cream. Thank you Disney Board for making me aware this place existed. So the “plan” was go take the boat over to the hotel with the carousel, and take in some decorations…. So we headed over to the UK and took Friendship across the World Showcase Lagoon, then exited through the International Gateway, and took Friendship VI to the Beach Club. I had only been over to the Boardwalk area once, five years ago and we had never gone into any of the hotels. These are beautiful hotels people, again making me wish I had the $300 per night to pay, but no. We got off the boat, walked into Yacht Club, took some photos of the train set… very cute. And began the walk to the Beach Club. We almost walked right by Beachs and Cream its so tucked out of the way.

Suzy scans the menu at Beachs and Cream.	It's the Kitchen Sink!	The Beach Club Christmas Tree, notice the "shell" shaped chairs.

Needless to say, we were advised the wait was 20 minutes and began to walk to Beach Club Lobby, we never made it, buzz, buzz, buzz. Man that was a really short 20 minute wait! More like 2 minutes. Hey Im not complaining. So we sat down, had a great energetic waiter, and we already knew what we were going to get. Drumroll please….. The Kitchen Sink. Yes I did get some Onion Rings before hand, and suzy and MIL shared a Hot Dog Meal but its all about the Ice Cream people. By the way those Onion Rings were big and GOOD! Yummy Yummy. So after the Appetizer its time for the main course. Yes it was all they say it was and the Kitchen Sink. Of course I hadn’t told anyone in the group that they flash the lights (I had read that only about a week before we left so I was somewhat innocent), people came over for photos, Jeff and Suzy took photos, it was a media frenzy, and it was ice cream folks! It was also very good, except that they cover the ice cream I think with too many toppings. I ended up with some chocolate, the coffee flavor and some mint chocolate chip, some brownie, lots of cherries, a milky way bar, and some weird cake topping things. Towards the end the sink had turned into a milky mess, we had a blast, laughing and ingesting who knows how many calories, but who cares when you are on vacation right? I think we will be back but next time I might get to No Way Jose, I saw someone with it and it looked really good.

A horse from the Beach Club Carousel!	The entire carousel (yes I have a thing for carousels)	A cute gingerbread castle.

So after the pure gluttony, we strolled over to the Beach Club Lobby, admired the amazing gingerbread/chocolate carousel and decorations. You know its all in the details and I loved the seashell chairs and the real towels in the bathroom, even the Grand Floridian doesn’t have that! We also took a look in the shops, I purchased the Joy from the World 2006 sweatshirt, to keep me warm and to finally get my Christmas shirt, and then we headed back to Yacht Club and took the boat back to EPCOT. I wanted to mention in here that I loved the boat skippers, they were fun and as I am the self-appointed queen of completely useless information I had a ball with the Trivia. Even though I forgot EPCOT opened in 1982 and not 1980…

So its about 8PM and we head to Test Track, second time this trip for us, great as always and then following THE PLAN we start to stake out a place for Illuminations. Illuminations along with the Haunted Mansion is one thing I will not miss at Disney World. I have the music on CD in my car, I have seen the guy who set his Christmas Lights in sync with Illuminations, (very cool BTW), I have read all there is to read about the thing, so of course I knew about the special Holiday Illuminations and there was no way I was going to miss it. So around 8:45 we start looking. The railings are pretty much all taken but we find a place behind some ECV’s in Norway and have a perfect view. If those people are reading this I thank you for your kindness. No trees, great view, and wonderful show. We even got to see the show with the Inferno Barge for the first time in almost four years. This is Disney for me. I could sit and watch Illuminations every day and never get tired of it.

I don't know what to call these lights... they are cute though!	The lights of winter.	And rounding out with #4, the EPCOT Christmas Tree!

The Christmas add on did not disappoint, and was a wonderful end to a great day. After the show we took a seat in the Norway Counter Service and waited for the crowds to dissipate, after about 20 minutes we headed out, it was a quick trip back to the resort. Tommorow was the last full day and I was already getting sad … I didn’t want to leave! But Candlelight Processional was waiting, so I had that to look forward to!


11/27

Monday, you know when reality sets in when you have to call your job for your schedule next week. How I hated that. Yes, the real world was out there waiting for me. But it would have to take a back seat at least for awhile. Today again we slept in, and got up around 10AM. Suzy got up a little earlier and had already headed to the food court for breakfast so I joined her. I had to remind everyone that the meal to end all meals was in five short hours so we couldn’t eat to much. Canada was waiting for us. I had a Bagel for breakfast, I honestly can’t remember what Jeff had, and the rest of the crew had already had some version of the breakfast platter. This was another one of those days…. What do we do? I considered Magic Kingdom, I considered EPCOT world showcase, but one thing we hadn’t done that all of really wanted to do was to go to Downtown Disney and do some shopping. After all we had AP and had a 10% discount to take advantage of, plus loads of Disney Dollars burning a hole in my pocket.

We decided very quickly to take the boat, as it was there at the time, and it was a very nice trip, though somewhat long, about 15 minutes. I loved seeing the old Institute Tree Houses, and I really wish they would open these back up, they would have been perfect for our 5 adult group. It had been threatening rain the whole morning, and it sprinkled and rained a bit on the trip, but was pretty dry by the time we arrived by Rain Forest Café.

Jeff had previous Saturday night bought hordes of Pirate Treasure at the Pirates of Carribbean Store by the ride, this time though we walked out with Christmas ornaments, Christmas cards, rice krispy snowmen for people at work, the Disney landscaping book and more. What’s so ironic about all this is that I usually don’t like to shop, yes our closet is full, but its not a big closet. Disney however, I lose all good sense, but I do it with Disney Dollars that I had previously saved so that I don’t have the horrendous bank statement to look at when I get home. Disney Dollars are your friend, say it with me, Disney Dollars are your friend. :)

About this time it was closing in on 2PM and I knew if we were going to make our 4PM ADR we should be moving along. Jeff made the executive decision that instead of taking the boat back we should take a bus. Everyone run for the hills pigs can fly and hell has frozen over! Mr. Monorail man himself preferred the bus over the boat. You have to know the guy to realize how shocking this is, but shocking it was. We aimed our direction for the bus stop and waited about 10 minutes. Our bus arrived and we found ourselves all alone. Yep only people on the bus. The bus dropped us off at the Blue Bayou Depot (smile), and we got in the car for the short drive to MGM.

The Pirate's Tree in the World of Disney Store.	The MGM Studios Christmas Tree, notice the upcoming storm...

Notice there I said MGM. Jeff had a plan of attack, our our forces would attack EPCOT from an Amphibious landing. The plan was to visit EPCOT for the Candlelight Processional Package, stroll around until about 9PM then head to MGM for Late Magic Hours. We had a plan and we were ready to go. So we arrived at MGM around 2:30, headed for the boat dock and yes… it began to rain. The ducks loved it, I think. We were undercover and fine. Got on the boat and away we go. As quickly as the rain started it ended, and we took the boat on to EPCOT International Gateway. We checked in early for our 4PM ADR at Le Cellier for the Candlelight Package, and as this was my first time, I was a bit confused. I know some people have recently committed on poor service at Le Cellier, but we never experienced it, in fact our experience was one of the best ever at Disney.

A christmas decoration in Le Cellier, overall the restaurant is very beautiful.	Canada at Sunset.	Suzy and I with Father Christmas in the UK.

I again can’t remember our servers name, she was from British Columbia, and we were seated in the Quebec section. She was wonderful and always attentitive, explained all the breadsticks, menu items, and pointed out her favorites. Now we are from Kansas City, and we are a steak city. Word of advice never go to Kansas City and ask for a New York Strip, it is a Kansas City Strip people. Point being I have had some pretty decent cuts of meat in the past. Le Cellier was just as good. The Candlelight Package worked just like the Dining Plan so all of us had one appetizer, entrée and dessert. All non-alcoholic beverages included.

This was the meal of gluttony, I did not care then nor do I currently care to know how many calories I ingested… It was good and well worth it though! Suzy and I started out by ordering the Raspberry Chocolate Milkshake. I liked the combination of flavors, I still think just plain chocolate is better though, you know you can’t mess with a classic. Everyone else had Coke or water. The breadsticks came out at the same time, and while I had eaten at Le Cellier about two years prior I had forgotten just how good they were…. Preztel Breadsticks…. They should box them up and sell them, these by themselves are worth Le Cellier. But no we were just getting started.

Now we had never done the Dining Plan before, nor were we doing it on this trip, but this was still our first time doing something similar. You know appetizer, entrée, dessert. It was unusual for everyone to order their own appetizer. I ordered the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup, Jeff had the Grilled Beef Tenderloin Kabobs, Wildfredo had the Caesar Salad, and Suzy and MIL had the Tomato Stack. Everything was wonderful. That Cheddar Cheese soup…. It lives up to its reputation. After reading that you could taste the beer I almost didn’t order it as I do not at all care for the taste of beer in general. I can say that I could not taste it at all. Creamy goodness all around. Jeff thought the Kabobs were good, and I tried a bit of the tomato stacks. Let me rephrase, I ate quite a bit of them. Those are HUGE. I mean these tomatoes were the size of grapefruit! They were very good though, but if you order it I would recommend sharing, or eating it as a meal. The salad I heard was good, its pretty much a basic Caesar salad.

We sat with that for a bit, I should mention the timing between the courses was good, long enough to take your time but not so long that you are wondering whether they had to kill the cow. Before I had ordered I had specifically asked what risotto was. I had heard of it, but like I am sure many people, had no idea what it really was. It turned out to be a pasta-like rice mixture, it was EXTREMELY good. So as you might have figured I had the Mushroom Filet Mignon, Suzy also had this. Jeff, and MIL had the 7 oz. Filet Mignon, with MIL having the sauce on the side. The food was very good, the steak was amazing. Extremely tender, cooked perfectly, and as I love mushrooms, perfect in every way! :) I tasted the sauce, that came with the other Filet and it was tangy with a little sweetness, I didn’t exactly care for it, Jeff enjoyed it. In fact, as you might have noticed I don’t eat a whole lot but I finished the entire thing. Our last course was dessert, usually my favorite but at this point I was filled pretty full… Jeff and I ordered the Whiskey Chocolate cake, MIL and Wilfredo had the Crème Brulee. The chocolate cake was very good, the Brulee seemed a little small. You really can’t share it. Chocolate cake has definite share ability. I didn’t finish the cake but I ate most of it, and felt beyond stuffed. Like poke me and I’m done good.

We had eaten somewhat slowly, no rushing, but we were done right about 5:15, and had some time to waste before heading to the Candlelight Processional show. We stopped in UK and Japan for a bit, took some photos, and then after I mingled in the shopping kiosks over by the American Pavilion for exactly 30 seconds we figured we noticed they were seating people so we headed for the end of the line. Once in line it moved quickly and we headed for the front of the theater, it had been threatening rain and if possible I wanted some cover. We were lucky and ended up in the front area under cover, right in front of the percussion section. I think this was a bit of a beginners mistake, but it turned out to be decent seating. Our narrator was John O’Hurley, Jeff and MIL and everyone else on the planet who has seen Seinfeld knew exactly who he was, I living on planet Venus I think, didn’t have a clue, but he turned out to be a very energetic and excellent narrator. Honestly, this is a show I would not bring a small child to, but as an adult it is just one more reason for me to come back next year during the holidays. Very beautiful, lots of talent, and I found it wonderfully amazing that we can still have these presentations that actually don’t try in any way shape or form to skirt around the true meaning of Christmas. I mean I still remember as a child, Christmas began with Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, it was a magical time, full of television specials, buying the tree, putting up the tree, and waiting for snow. Now it seems more a time of worry and stress, purchasing gifts, hoping so-and-so likes the gift, mailing Christmas cards, were has the magic gone? It’s sad that as we grow up the magic just seems to die away… Disney and all of its holiday experiences showcases the simple things that make Christmas, well Christmas, and Its not just the Candlelight Processional but everything that will make me want to visit during this time many times again in the future.

Papa Noel in France.	A Moorish Arch in Morrocco, You can see Suzy and Wilfredo (ahhh!)	One Last moment, the fountain in Venice.

Everyone always asks me why I go to Disney so much, after all we go atleast once a year, people think we are nuts. I am sure many can sympathize. You know though I think I have my answer. Disney allows you to be a kid again, be free to have fun, laugh out loud, not worry about the world outside the gates. It’s freeing, and I have also learned it’s very addicting. So now, as I write this I am looking at the 2007 December calendar and planning next year, how sad is that?

So after my little delve into fantasy world there, the show ended, the night shown bright around. We slowly made our way out, and I was just a little tempted to head into the standby line to watch again. But no, other things to see, and around the World Showcase we went. We stopped in Germany and Italy and shopped a bit and took photos. I bought a Christmas tree ornament in Italy for my mom, and one of those neat little Christmas bags they have. Around about 8:30 we began to think about heading back to MGM for Late Magic Hours, and headed to the International Gateway. Does anyone find it weird that the boat goes to Boardwalk and then the Beach Club? I had been thinking about this since last night and it just seems that Beach Club is so much closer. Hmmm… ok enough thinking about that. We finally disembarked at MGM, headed into the park and it was crowded! Time Warp time again, I remember when they began doing the late Magic Hours, we went to EPCOT and the place was diserted. Now it was Monday, and there were supposed to be no crowds. Well people there were. We got our wristbands and headed for Tower of Terror.

Now that stupid tower thing, Jeff has been trying to get me on it for years and years. In fact, I would probably like it if I rode it. But the whole idea of a straight drop down an elevator shaft scares me to death. Yes people I have rode Millennium Force a 300+ Giga Coaster at Cedar Point, I have rode SheiKra a 200 foot+ dive coaster at Busch Gardens and liked them both, but I won’t ride a demented elevator. Go figure. So Jeff and party went and rode the previously mentioned demented elevator and I found a nice bench. Yes a bench, flat on the ground, doesn’t move up and down and no screaming involved. New at MGM for 2006 it’s Bench: The Ride. :) Sorry I couldn’t help myself. So after Tower of Terror, we headed over to Rockin’ Roller Coaster. This is my favorite ride at MGM, well one of them, even though it is a Vekoma er… head banger. I guess that’s appropriate. But it had a 60 minute line, the queue line was full, and just last June we had ERT on it were I rode it 6 times in a row so R&R would just have to wait until next year.

Remember how earlier in this novel… I mentioned we were entranced with Osbourne Lights? Well we went back and watched it some more. Jeff also wanted to record it on his handy dandy little Sony camera he had just bought. So we watched it again and again, and by that time the forces were getting tired. So Suzy, Wilfredo and MIL headed back to the car and to the hotel. Jeff and I stayed along to watch Osbourne Lights some more, and then watch another of my favorite attractions Muppet Vision 3D. I love that show, it never gets old for me. So after heading out it was about 11PM and MGM was closed. This was our last “real” park day and I haven’t even realized that until now. Tomorrow was the last day, we had Yuletide Fantasy Tour booked, and I had that to look forward to. So we headed to the bus stop. Caught the combo Riverside/French Quarter bus and took it back for some well earned rest… Tomorrow morning get up at 6AM!


11/28

So this morning the alarm goes off, its 6AM and we have to be at EPCOT waiting for our tour at 8:45… first order of business was to get packed, sad day. Thankfully suzy saved me for seeing that aweful door hanger. *sniffle* We had packed up a bit the previous night but this was it. I had packed my small carry on bag for the plane and Jeff packed the rest of the bags in our Jeep for the drive home. After getting ready, packed, it was about 7PM so we headed over the Riverside Mill for breakfast. Pretty standard fare, eggs, potatoes and biscuit, decent and filling, for a 3 hour tromp through 3 different parks. After breakfast we took one long last look through Fulton’s and then headed for the car to drive to EPCOT. We arrived about the EPCOT entrance early about 8:20, and waited around for awhile, watched the grounds people clean the benches and such. As 8:45 approached I began to get worried that we were waiting in the wrong place, even though we were in the ropped off section that said Tours begin here. Yes I worry about everything. So I tried to head in the direction of a group I saw standing near the bathrooms and got royally yelled at by Mrs undercover Security Guard. No I couldn’t go that direction, I would have to go outside of the ropes…. I gave up at this point. Her attitude did perturb me though. I can understand if she was undercover (every other security guard was dressed as a security guard though) but if she was undercover BOY was she undercover. Belt bag, visor and all, she looked every bit the tourist. All I will say is that someone really woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and that’s all I will say. So around about 8:45 our tour guides show up, again the names fail me, they were very entertaining and informed though. We took a few minutes for roll call, and to get our name stickers, then we were ready to go. Behind the magic green fence we boarded the Disney Cruise Line bus to head for the World Showcase.

I had read reviews for this tour before booking it, and had decided almost last minute (I believe about a week before we left) to book. We were not disappointed. We had a group of about 30, and they divided us into two groups. Our tour guides were Lisa and Bryan and both were extremely enthusiastic about their jobs. We first toured Italy, Germany and Japan explained the traditions of Christmas or New Years (in the case of Japan), and then went inside the American Pavilion for a sit down discussion of Kwanzaa and Hannakah. We boarded the buses then over to MGM, and were able to see the Osbourne Lights during the daylight (this first time), the Grand Floridian, and Magic Kingdom. We learned quite a bit more about how Disney decorates, about the traditions of Christmas and were they come from, and quite a bit more then I even knew about the Osbourne Lights themselves. The only let down is that we didn’t get to see inside the Holiday Decorating Warehouse, but there was nothing there during that time so it wasn’t to much of a big deal. Overall I enjoyed the tour, this was Jeff and I second Disney Tour (we had previously done the Steam Trains tour at Magic Kingdom) and think it’s very enjoyable especially if you like to know the in’s and out’s of everything.

After the tour ended up EPCOT it was about 12:30 and yes, it was that time. Time to leave. But before I headed to the airport, and Jeff headed to the great grey interstate we had a few loose ends to tie up. The first was the whole reason we decided to drive. Wilderness Lodge Furniture. We headed to the Gatorland U-Haul where the furniture had been stored for three months, picked up our 5 X 8 trailer and somewhat carefully packed the furniture away for its 1,500 mile trip. We then headed over to Mouse Surplus to hopefully purchase more, but they were closed. This initiated me beyond belief, as they were posted to be open, but oh well to bad they lost hundreds of dollars worth of business, not my fault. This is one of my pet peeves, not following up on what you have posted, told or promised. If you say you are going to be open, then be open, or have a good excuse why. Anyway. It was now about 2:00 and last thing we had on our itiniary was food, as in eating. Suzy had the idea to try out the new Dixie Crossing that was in Orlando, and as I love seafood, and everyone (except Jeff) likes seafood, it sounded like a good option. Now for those thinking I am a bad wife, we almost NEVER eat seafood, so this was a luxury for me. Wonderful shrimp is all I can say, so if you are around the area definitely give it a try. So after eating we finally realizing we had to leave…. Suzy drove me to the airport, and Jeff began his drive home.

Looking back on it all, it was a lot of fun. True we didn’t ride every ride, or take in every show, but hey I’ve been there, and I’ll always be back. What I did get to experience was amazing, beyond amazing. Everything they say, is absolutely true. We have turned ourselves into Disney Christmas people, and I am already eyeing the Week of December 10th for our next trip. So I will say this definitely go to Disney during Christmas at least once, but if you do plan on coming back again and again, because like they say there is no such thing as just once.