Holiday 2008 Trip Report

[ZapperZ]

Hi again, everyone.

It's time for another trip to WDW. And with this trip, it'll break our old "record" of 3 trips in a year, since this will be our 4th trip to WDW this year. But then again, who's counting!

We leave for WDW early tomorrow morning. This trip will be a lot of fun. We will be attending MVMCP on the 11th, and then doing the Yuletide Fantasy tour on the 13th. We are also planning on waking up at some ungodly hour on the 13th to do the World of Disney "Doorbuster" for passholders and DVC members. All this, among doing other things and visiting many resorts to look at the various holiday decorations and festivities.

As before, I'll try to file a report on each day, hopefully with pictures.

The next transmission will be from the Most Magical Place on Earth. Cheers!

Zz.

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Have a great time, I will be watching for your updates

My cousin is leaving for WDW tomorrow too...geez, I'm really jealous right now .

[H20Babie]

We just got back ... we'll pretend we're still there with you

[thrupaytonseyes]

Have fun!!!! Can't wait to read your reports!

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Have a great trip

[DormaNesbit]

Have a safe and enjoyable trip!

[ZapperZ]

We made it in yesterday. It was a rough flight from Chicago. No in flight service until the last half hour due to bumpy conditions.

When we got to our resort, our 2-bedroom DVC villa at SSR wasn't ready. So we spent the afternoon at Downtown Disney. Our vacation officially started when we bought our first pins!

Finally got our room at around 4:00 pm. It's very nice. It is actually a 1-bedroom suite connected to a standard studio. It has a full kitchen, a jacuzzi, a separate shower area, and washer/dryer. That's why we didn't bring a lot of clothes - we expect to do our laundry some time in the middle of our trip. So more room for stuff to bring back with us in our suitcases.

From SSR, we went directly to Epcot since we had a 5:30 pm reservation at Marrekesh. Had a great time since we met up with other friends from the Chicagoland area for the dinner. After dinner, we staked our favorite place for Illuminations (with the Holiday tag at the end). Once staked, members of our group went around the place to snap pictures (I certainly did). Illuminations went off at 9:30 pm. The wind was blowing slightly into our faces, so it wasn't the most ideal condition, but it was amazing anyway, especially the Holiday tag at the very end. It made the hair on the back of my neck and arms stood up. A terrific show full of energy and emotional impact!

Today, we originally planned on starting the day at DAK. However, very bad weather is the forecast for the day, at least until mid afternoon. We are currently under a tornado watch, and severe storm is about to pass through orlando for the next several hours. So we may simply hang around our resort at least until the afternoon, which is fine because we bought a lot of food to stock in the fridge last night. I'm just hoping that the storm would quickly and not ruin our MVMCP tonight!

I'll upload the pictures some time this morning and post them on here.

Zz.

[wdwmemories]

Your accomodations sounds very cool! Thanks for the report and we look forward to seeing the pictures when you get a chance
Enjoy!

[ZapperZ]

Here are a few pictures from yesterday.

The Christmas tree in the lobby of SSR.


Spent the afternoon at Downtown Disney. World of Disney was festively decorated.


Santa was there. This is the Santa Paws, where you can also bring your dogs to meet Santa.


We finally got our room. This is the common living area (living room) with an attached kitchen.


We have a full kitchen, which we promptly stocked with fruits, yogurt, milk, juices, and other munchies.... and oh, a good bottle of wine (and yes, they do have a wine bottle opener and wine glasses provided).


Jacuzzi tub. I'm hoping to get a chance to use it at least once during the trip.


But the best part is the washer/dryer right in our room. It came with a small box of Tide, but we also brought some of our own, and dryer sheets. Yes, we DID plan on doing at least a load of wash on this trip.


[... cont]

[ZapperZ]

[cont ...]

We got to Epcot after settling in our room. Epcot was decked to the "walls".


This is the tree at the entrance to World Showcase. This is what it looks like in daylight.


This is what it looks like at night when the lights come on.


Of course, once it gets dark, all the magic of the lights becomes the highlight of the evening. Here is a series of night pictures showing all the wonderful light shows.











[... cont]

[ZapperZ]

The other highlight of the evening was Illuminations with the Holiday tag at the end. Here are some pictures from it.





We go oooonnnnnnnn.....................




The finale of the Holiday tag. It was a rousing finish!


Cross your fingers that I can get to MVMCP tonight dry!

Zz.

[HollyBelle]

Great report thus far! And I love your pictures of the lights at Epcot... one of my favorite things during the holidays. I hope you're able to make it to MVMCP tonight.

We stayed in a two bedroom at SSR last Christmas and your pictures remind me of how much we loved it!

[ZapperZ]

The morning so far has been a washout, literally! The storm is in full force right now, and it's raining in buckets. We decided to hang around the resort earlier in the morning, and then went to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping. Got the last of the Find-A-Pin pin that was released today.

We scrapped our original plan of going to DAK due to the rain. We had lunch in Downtown Disney, and then went back to SSR to rest and wait out the rain. Hopefully, it'll stop soon, and we plan on going to MK early, around 3:00 pm, and stay through for MVMCP tonight, rain or shine.

Zz.

[ZapperZ]

We see blue skies and sunshine! Hooray!

We are off to the Magic Kingdom for the afternoon, and MVMCP this evening!

Zz.

[ZapperZ]

We had a terrific time at MK and MVMCP last night. The weather wasn't a problem at all, even though it got a little bit chilly late in the night. But hey, we're from Chicago. The cool weather is NOTHING compare to what it is now back in Chicago!

We got to MK around 4 pm and stayed till past midnight. We saw the parade, Holiday Wishes, rode everything in Fantasyland, got to ride Thunder Mountain at night, got on Haunted Mansion, and rode Pirates right at when they were about to close. We also drank a ton of hot chocolates, ate countless cookies (there goes my diet), and bought tons of MVMCP pins. It was a good night!

And oh, I took tons of pictures as well. Here are a few. I'll post more after I get home and had time to sort them out.

Christmas tree at Town Square


Holiday decorations along Main Street leading to the castle.


The castle at night when it is lit up




Holiday Wishes.






Leaving MK after a very satisfying evening.


We're sleeping in, obviously, for most of the morning. And then we head out to AK till mid afternoon before we head out to Epcot to do the DVC members' Merry Mixer. Unfortunately, we can't stay for the whole event, since we have a 4:30 pm dinner reservation at Boma. So it will be a packed day.

Zz.