A Christmas Surprise of a Lifetime - Accomplished

Well we have returned to reality (sadly) and have an amazing assortment of memories that I will cherish forever.

As a reminder, the wife and I planned a surprise for our 3 children (5, 2 and 6 months) from Santa. We guided them into putting Disney on the brain and their letters to santa included a trip to Disney.

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4 days/3 nights at Art of Animation starting on Christmas Morning.

We knew we were in for crowds. We were prepared ... and because of careful planning, rational decisions and going at the kid's speed... we had a magical experience even while the parks were at capacity.

(I don't yet have all the pictures uploaded to the interwebs, so for now... you just got woven a tale.)

Our story begins on Christmas Eve. I spent the few hours at work preparing the last items for the big reveal. I filled a large back with Mickey balloons, I created a binder with maps, pictures and a letter from Santa, I packed the new individual suitcases for the kids and put a big red bow on them... and then as soon as I got out of work I went and got the rental car. I got a rental car because the wife and kids drove down to orlando to stay at the In-Laws house on the Friday before... more time with family.

The plan for Christmas Eve was for me to arrive and then we would open the "few" non-santa presents. My in-laws went a little overboard with the presents, despite me asking everyone to avoid presents this year. Following presents, we would put them in bed, have a nice adult Christmas Dinner and then santa would visit.

Of course I couldn't sleep soundly, I was way too excited.
 
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monkeysammich

monkeysammich

Active Member
Original Poster
The big day finally arrived... shouts of "SANTA WAS HERE!" echoed through the house... and while the other adults were stumbling to get coffee, I was dressed with Camera in hand.

The surprise went off beautifully... but its best summed up by my Daughter's reaction to opening the present in her stocking. "Its a Mickey book! Hey... wait, this isn't a book... its an AUTOGRAPH BOOK!"

That's when the pieces started coming together... the autograph books, the pens, the jackets, the suitcases... by the time she opened the bag full of balloons she knew that she was in for a trip to Disney.

The original intention was to have breakfast with everyone and then we would all meet up at magic kingdom (Me, My Wife, Our 3 Kids, Sister in Law, Nephew, Mother and Father in Law.) I got that reservation for 9 at Be Our Guest for 5:30 pm Christmas Dinner... and by george I was proud of it.

Well... it ended up just being Me and my family due to various complications. And we missed the boat on breakfast, so we had to give the kids bags of cereal in the car while on our way.

The kids, excited as can be, sang the "I'm going to Disney!" song patented by my eldest daughter 3 years ago. ("I'm going to Disney, I'm going to Disney, I'm going to disney.... and so on and so on and so on).

We got to Art of Animation... which blew me away with its rich colors and vibrancy.. and I walked in, kids in toe, to check in. I handed our cast member the note that said simply "This trip is a surprise from Santa. Please play along... here's my name, conf number, travel dates and cell phone..." and man did she latch on and play along with me. Once the kids were out of ear shot, she complimented us on our efforts and made celebrate buttons for Christmas for all of us. She also went to the kids (who were watching cartoons) and said that Santa let her know that they loved to color, so here's a bunch of pages to color and some crayons... and then told us about the coloring contest they have. She told me that they would text me my room number and that we were free to go to the parks... So we walked around for a bit and then got in line for the bus to Magic Kingdom.

Now, walking through the AoA resort was breathtaking, the statues and scenery was so well done... down to the way that the plant life changed to meet the theme. My only complaint is that the Little Mermaid rooms are a 10 minute walk from the lobby, cafeteria and bus stop. We ended up giving up on our refillable cups and just buying 20ozs to stock in the fridge.
 
monkeysammich

monkeysammich

Active Member
Original Poster
Now, I will admit... according to this forum... I am a terrible parent. I brought a double stroller and let my 5 year old ride around in the front, 2 year old in the back while the infant stayed in the carrier. Clearly they will grow up to be addicted to Meth and make poor life choices. :rolleyes:

We got the stroller and kids up on the bus and we took off for the Magic Kingdom. We passed the parking booth and the driver informed us that the wait time for cars was hovering on one hour... so we called the family and said that if they arent feeling well they shouldn't bother coming... so they didnt. That lead me to my first stop - Guest Services! I stopped in and got my reservation lowered from 9 to 5 people and the CM thanked me because that meant that maybe someone else would have an opportunity to get in... which was my reasoning... The family was in line for the main street bakery... so I paused to take in some of the sights on my way out...

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We hopped out of the line for Main Street Bakery and instead went to the Chesire Cat outside of the teacups. I left the wife and kids and booked on over to get fast passes to Under the Sea...

I was greeted by this... at 9 am.

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On the way back, I grabbed a few shots of New Fantasyland to tide me over...

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We snacked on a pair of blueberry muffins, a banana and a duo of Strawberry juice (special for the holidays?)

After we had our fill, we strolled over to adventureland to ride my eldest daughter's favorite... Pirates.

Well, my daughter loved it... my toddler son... not so much. He got terrified of the drop and clutched my arm for safety. Oh well, you can't win em all... :)
 
JillC LI

JillC LI

Well-Known Member
So far, great trip report! Having just accomplished a surprise Hanukah trip for our kids, I know that the surprise is half the fun! Glad you had a great time. I love how the CM at check-in played along.
 
monkeysammich

monkeysammich

Active Member
Original Poster
Lets see... where did we leave off? Oh right... Pirates.

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After leaving pirates we took a look at the time and realized we could probably stroll over to new fantasyland and ride Under the Sea.

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We basically walked right onto the ride... and I was quite impressed with it. I know its just a copy/paste from disneyland... but I haven't seen that nor do I have that as a viable option. I enjoyed the animatronics and the way it flowed, it kept me interested and looking at things... so much so that I forgot to take any pictures. Oh well!

Jacob said he liked that ride much more than the pirate one and wanted to ride it again. I suggested we get some lunch first... so we headed over to Cosmic Ray's.

While in line, the person ordering opposite of me asked for chicken nuggets. The CM calmly explained the Bay system and that he's in the wrong line for nuggets. He freaked out calling her irresponsible and a waste of his time. He then ordered kids nuggets because he could get them... and an extra fry. Good for him, I guess?

I had the pulled pork sandwich, wife had the turkey sandwich... kids both had PB&J. We sat in the air conditioned room, people watching and pointing out the castle to Jacob, who was fascinated by EVERYTHING.

Probably because he was tired... so after lunch, we went back to the room for a mid-day siesta. A must for anyone braving Disney with wee ones.

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While the kids were sleeping, I went down to the gift shop and got them all hats, because the sun was beating down more than I had anticipated.

They got up in time for us to get on our bus and head over to our restaurant for dinner. They adored their new hats.

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We got on the bus and headed over to check in to Be Our Guest.

While waiting, I was feeling artistic.

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We were led inside a short time later with seats in the main ballroom. My daughter shouted "DADDY ITS SNOWING OUTSIDE!" and that's when I knew this place was perfect. I didn't feel like I was packed in like a sardine even though it was quite busy. Shortly after being seated our server, Becky, came by holding one of the light up souvenir mugs... and both kids HAD to have them... and my goal this trip was to be able to say "yes" more than "no" ... so I went ahead and got them lemonade in the special cups while the wife and I got some root beer.

For our appetizer, we split the meat and bread tray...

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The kids both had the whole-wheat macaroni...

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And the wife and I both had the steak... which was -amazing- ... probably the best meal I had all weekend.

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I took the kids to meet Beast in the Study while Danielle fed the baby... then upon returning I asked for some grey stuff. It was, in fact, delicious. We had our cupcakes/cream puffs... and then we gave our server a christmas card. She asked if she could open it now and I said sure...

The card was a very poetic thank you card that I had picked out previously.... and it also happened to have a crisp $100 bill in it.

She broke out in tears.

She made us get up and give her a hug.

She said in her 10 years working in a restaurant, no one has ever done anything like that for her ... it was a very sweet moment.

I thanked her for making our Christmas special and wished her a happy new year.

And that's how we spent Christmas day.... next up... Epcot!
 
mickey2008.1

mickey2008.1

Well-Known Member
  • BOG looks amazing. Will definitely have to try it out. Great trip report so far. It is peoplenlike you that make the restaurant profession a pleasure, the appreciation you showed goes a long way. Instead of complaints, you did the opposite, way to go! If there were only more like you and your family.
 
mickey2008.1

mickey2008.1

Well-Known Member
  • BOG looks amazing. Will definitely have to try it out. Great trip report so far. It is peoplenlike you that make the restaurant profession a pleasure, the appreciation you showed goes a long way. Instead of complaints, you did the opposite, way to go! If there were only more like you and your family.
 
mickey2008.1

mickey2008.1

Well-Known Member
  • BOG looks amazing. Will definitely have to try it out. Great trip report so far. It is peoplenlike you that make the restaurant profession a pleasure, the appreciation you showed goes a long way. Instead of complaints, you did the opposite, way to go! If there were only more like you and your family.
 
mickey2008.1

mickey2008.1

Well-Known Member
  • BOG looks amazing. Will definitely have to try it out. Great trip report so far. It is peoplenlike you that make the restaurant profession a pleasure, the appreciation you showed goes a long way. Instead of complaints, you did the opposite, way to go! If there were only more like you and your family.
 
monkeysammich

monkeysammich

Active Member
Original Poster
I just realized that I may not be in any of the pictures.

I swear there were some taken of me... I'll have to find some.

Thanks for following, everyone... I should get epcot up today... or tomorrow at the latest.
 

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