Trip Report ‘Tis The Season For More Disney! *COMPLETED*

Fa la la la la
la la la LA

But let’s be honest.
Which season isn’t the season for more Disney?
In 2017 I have been fortunate to experience winter, spring and summer in the world.
And now the holidays!
Since December is such a festive time of year at the parks, I think two trips are in order....don’t you?

Trip #1
Cast: Tuvalu and Em
When: December 1-4, 2017
Where: Port Orleans Riverside
Why: A Jingle BAM Birthday 2.0

Join us as we attend our first MVMCP, wander around World Showcase like a couple of newbies, meet a forum friend and intentionally watch LOTS of fireworks....did we get to Illuminations this year?

You’ll have to wait and see.

 

[susan lees]

Loving part 2. We are planning to do Wilderness lodge club level either when we retire or win the lottery, whichever comes first

 

[gobstoper27]

Beautiful photo's on all the parade shots @TrolleyFollower91

But what is this CM doing? Looks like he is eating some popcorn along the way?

or covering his nose from stinky horse poo!!

 

[sheriffwoody]

Notice the “Hard-Boiled Hen Eggs” sign? I recently read a funny article about composing (hoity toity) descriptions for menus. The author specifically mentioned the current trend of referring to eggs as “hen eggs”, as if eggs were produced by something other than a hen and needed clarification.

This cracked me up! The school where I work does this sometimes when we have dinners and stuff. I work next to the graphic designer and we always laugh at the stupid names people come up with for super basic menu items.

 

[MinnieM123]

In Italy we saw the enchanting La Befana....a storyteller much more appropriate for kids.

I really like her costume--lots of patterns, textures, and colors going on.

 

[Tuvalu]

I had hoped to catch the storyteller in Norway (as that’s a good one!) but alas, we had just missed the show. We did sit down for a few minutes to admire the Stave Church, which really is a treasure (and sadly overlooked by the majority of guests.)

As a former roofer and current woodworker, Woody was enamoured by the precise detailing and textures and gave me a mini lesson on technique.

Our last stop in World Showcase was Mexico....for a relaxing boat ride, of course!

As we perused the marketplace area afterwards, I attempted to find the Chip wreath to show Woody how difficult it was to spot.

So difficult, in fact, that I couldn’t find it!

I ended up texting Em to ask her where the wreath was located.

If you don’t remember, scroll back to page 17 cause I’m not posting that picture again.

We left Mexico and turned toward Future World. The park was unbelievably crowded. I think it was the last Saturday before the seasonal pass black out and the locals were there en masse. It was discouraging since we’d planned to return later in the evening for Holiday Illuminations. I’d already missed it with Em and I really wanted to see it.....but at what cost?

I could spend the next few hours fretting over what to do, weighing the pros and cons, or make the decision now and move forward. Indecision is more stressful for me than making a choice. I looked at Woody and said, “Let’s browse Mouse Gear and then I’ll be done with Epcot for today.”

Shockingly, there was nothing new in Mouse Gear since my visit with Em.

Before leaving, we got JOYFUL!

 

[Tuvalu]

The Epcot bus stop for WL is out in the boonies, although closer than where we’d gotten dropped off this morning. We saw the bus at the stop and picked up our pace, hoping it would not pull away before we got there. It didn’t ~ and actually sat there for quite awhile after we boarded (isn’t that always the way?)

We popped into the Mercantile to check out the merch. Then we used a different set of elevators (on the DVC side) to get to the 7th floor.

A late afternoon snack from the lounge. Cupcakes and Coke!

@MinnieM123 we sat at another table that overlooked the lobby.

Never get tired of this view!!

 

[Tuvalu]

Woody rested while I journaled. Just before 6 pm we left the room to check out Happy Hour.

Tonight’s offerings:

The Roast/Grill Chicken with Vegetables was actually a stew....and it was DELICIOUS. Unfortunately I only had three spoonfuls as that was all that was left in the pot. I mentioned to the CM manning the alcohol that the stew pot was empty and she said, “Once it’s gone, it’s gone.” Ummm, okay. Happy Hour was until 7 pm, so it seemed a little early for one of the offerings not to be replenished.

I got even by having two glasses of wine.

Obviously we were going to need something more substantial for dinner, but neither of us felt like leaving the Lodge. Geyser Point was an option, but it had turned cold once it got dark and I didn’t feel like bundling up to eat outside. Whispering Canyon was booked solid. And we’d already had a pricey lunch which ruled out Artist Point.

Roaring Fork it was!

A surprisingly good chicken sandwich with fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers and arugula. With “potato barrels.” Not being a huge fan of tater tots, I’ll glad when this fad is over. Gimme fries!

By the time we’d finished dinner, desserts were out in the lounge. We used the elevators near Roaring Fork to get there.

This set of elevators requires a MagicBand to get to the 7th floor.

Woody got coffee and pointed out the cute “sugar canoe.”

Dessert was a chocoholics dream! Chocolate mocha cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies and mint chocolate Oreo mousse.

Again we sat overlooking the lobby. We watched a choir perform. And we saw an elf checking in.

Oh we still got to see fireworks ~ the ease of watching Holiday Wishes from our balcony certainly trumped returning to crowded (and now cold) Epcot!

Coming Up: Meeting Magic friends!

 

[Gabe1]

Moving on to Morocco....while not exactly a “storyteller” there was a middle-aged belly dancer who was shaking her stuff amidst a few young girls which I found awkwardly disturbing. (Let’s just say the German Hooters gal was tame in comparison!) I could not bring myself to take a picture so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

In Italy we saw the enchanting La Befana....a storyteller much more appropriate for kids.

But she sure was BENDY.

Inappropriate was the word we came up with. And when this woman and her scarf came down to 'engage' and 'interact' with the audience and there were 'families' watching...brought new meaning to storyteller. I think we all were in shock 'cause I asked my adult kids...none of us took a picture of the AARP belly dancer. Ewe ewe ewe!

It was that uncomfortable feeling everyone gets when someone receives a 'dancer' as a live Birthday Gram and procedes to lap dance the Birthday Guy...you want to flee but are frozen in place. The Modern Disney World Showcase I guess. Wonder who casted her and how that audition went for Disney to say Hired!

If anyone is looking it is called Epcot Morocco Musique Aramenco storyteller Cringe worthy

 

[Tuvalu]

But she sure was BENDY.

Inappropriate was the word we came up with. And when this woman and her scarf came down to 'engage' and 'interact' with the audience and there were 'families' watching...brought new meaning to storyteller. I think we all were in shock 'cause I asked my adult kids...none of us took a picture of the AARP belly dancer. Ewe ewe ewe!

It was that uncomfortable feeling everyone gets when someone receives a 'dancer' as a live Birthday Gram and procedes to lap dance the Birthday Guy...you want to flee but are frozen in place. The Modern Disney World Showcase I guess. Wonder who casted her and how that audition went for Disney to say Hired!

If anyone is looking it is called Epcot Morocco Musique Aramenco storyteller Cringe worthy

Everyone ~ @Gabe1 gave a much more accurate description of the belly dancer! ^^^^^^^^^

 

[fractal]

Not everyday you see an elf checking into a hotel.

 

[Zipadeelady]

I'm with you, why the love for tots? Just... no .....

 

[WDW74]

You knew this was inevitable...

 

[Zipadeelady]

You knew this was inevitable...


View attachment 262577

I should've figured Napoleon would appear.

 

[Tuvalu]

When you discover Photopass pictures you forgot to include in earlier posts:

Our stop in Germany included a visit to Karamel Küche but we left empty-handed. The line was long and we weren’t feeling it.

Back at the WL that evening in front of the tree.

This was the pic used for the “Christmas Card” Magic Shot. Em saw these pictures hours before I did (she was creepin’ on my MDE) and she sent me the card. I thought she had made a real card and had snapped a picture of it to send me.

I’ll try to do better at remembering to include the Photopass pics from this point forward!

 

[Tuvalu]

Saturday, December 16

Magic Kingdom had an 8 am open today which should have clued us in that the park was likely to be very crowded (spoiler alert: it was!!) Even though Woody and I were up early, we weren’t moving fast enough for rope drop....I mean, we had to stand outside and enjoy this view for awhile.

We had cereal and muffins from the lounge for breakfast. I know we sat at a table overlooking the lobby.

We breezed through the Mercantile on our way to the bus stop to check on something but I didn’t write down what and now that nearly two months have passed I haven’t a clue!

We jumped on the bus and got through security pretty quickly and were inside the park just before 9 am. We decided to head for Adventureland/Frontierland first, hoping that most guests would be in Fantasyland/Tomorrowland (though the longest line to be found was at the Main Street Starbucks ~ it was out the door!)

Had to make a pit stop near Casey’s and noticed the fountain had disappeared!

(I later read it had been removed so this area could be used as an alternate exit behind Main Street for the Christmas week crowds.)

 

[Tuvalu]

@Longers can probably guess which ride was first.

The standby wait was 25 minutes but the line moved through the switchbacks at a steady pace so it didn’t seem that long.

Look how happy we were waiting to ride!

See the young girl sitting behind me? So sweet, right? She was wedged in between her dad (you can see his arm over my shoulder) and her brother.

The moment our train began to move I despised her.

Say what??

She let out a blood-curdling shriek at such a high pitch it could’ve shattered glass (that’s possible, right @bee?)
Rather it shattered my ear drum. She was leaning forward and her mouth aligned perfectly with my left ear.

This was not a scream out of fear. This was a “this is fun!” scream.

A forced scream that lasted the ENTIRE ride.

Her father, speaking Portuguese, seemed to encourage her to shriek louder. She did. And for the first time ever, I had to ride BTMRR with my fingers in my ears.

A sacrificial pic for you, Tracey.

Now I’m all for kids having a good time but not at the expense of my hearing. The prolonged screaming at the top of her lungs was unnecessary and likely spoiled the ride for others in the train besides us.

We let the family pass by and then we stopped for a couple PP pics.

On our way to our first FP we caught some Muppets history.

The midnight ride of Paul Revere!

 

[sheriffwoody]

Had to make a pit stop near Casey’s and noticed the fountain had disappeared!

Completely forgot about this until I saw your post! It was weird. But also kind of nice to not be splashed with water as I made my way to that bathroom...haha. I feel like that fountain is extra splashy.

 

[DisneyJeff]

Her father, speaking Portuguese, seemed to encourage her to shriek louder. She did. And for the first time ever, I had to ride BTMRR with my fingers in my ears.

That's funny. I always have to ride BTMRR with my fingers in my ears. At least on that first lift hill. The clanking of the chain going up the hill is so loud!!!

 

[bee]

She let out a blood-curdling shriek at such a high pitch it could’ve shattered glass (that’s possible, right @bee?)

Right! (Under very specific circumstances involving the frequency of the scream and the thickness/type of glass!)

 

[Longers]

Another BTMRR ride but we’re still not counting as theses are not 2018 trips - (yet) - having fun is mandatory, spoiling for others is unnecessary - when do we start counting?