At last my December 2012 first solo trip report

hi guys I'm Laura and I'm from London and this is my first trip report and first solo trip to wdw and first trip back to the world in 8 years, my travel dates were November 28th to December 9th



Over the previous 7/8 days before my trip back to the world I had been travelling across New York and Boston, sadly though my camera as stolen on a day trip to Salem :( so 99% of the photos here are taken on my iPhone 4s and the rest on a cheap loyalty camera I got from Walgreens but it did the job :)


travel day, November 28th,

I have never done an internal flight in the US before so I wasn't sure how much time to leave before getting to the airport. I decided to leave my hotel just before 5.00am to make my 7.00am flight and I as soooooooooo excited to get back to wdw.
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Once I collected my luggage I headed to the shuttle buses area as I had a voucher for transportation via Mears to my hotel the Rodeway Inn in kissimmee and I didn't have to wait long for my bus :). Once I got to my hotel it was around 12pm and my receptionist who was very lovely informed me that the hotels complimentary shuttle to Epcot would be along at 1 so I put my stuff in my room, changed and waited outside the hotel for the bus or well mini van as it was, it was about 10 minutes late but it was nice waiting in the sun :)

I was so excited to see the famous arches that I didn't manage to snap a pic through tears lol but I snapped a pic of my fave billboard
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we then arrived at Epcot yayyyy

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soooooooooo pretty :)
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seasonal topiaries so lovely
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I just love the landscaping of Epcot so relaxing walking around here

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It was now time for the first ride of the trip Spaceship Earth and it was such an overwhelming feeling of happiness being back in wdw





the ride was a walk on yay :) time to sit back and listen to dame judi





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I really don't now why im pulling my concentrating face lol

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fountain of nations



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Joyful and their Gospel Celebration of the Season had just started performing so I stopped and watched until they finished, I really loved them and got right into the spirit :)



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Now over to my favourite purple dragon at the imagination pavilion, ive missed this little guy

best fountain ever!!

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then over to the seas with Nemo and friends this ride was another walk on and I loved it

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After Nemo I decided to get some food over in word showcase before getting in the standby line at the American gardens theatre to try and get a seat or the candlelight processional with Neil Patrick Harris, I decided on the liberty inn for dinner and had the chicken nuggets and fries and I got excited over these holiday cups
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After queuing for a little while I was one of the last people to be let in and as I was on my own I got quite good seat near to the front, the candlelight processional was one of the most moving things I have ever seen and was truly the message and spirit of the season and Neil was a fantastic host and the choir was so moving and the sign language interpreter was so expressive and I found myself him alot. during the show the weather decided to turn extremely cold but I didn't mind as I found it a very peaceful and spiritual event, here is a pic I managed to take before my phone died.
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after the candlelight processional I took the shuttle bus back to my hotel to rest before my first full day at the magic kingdom
 

arielbabe

Member
Original Poster
Day 1: magic kingdom November 29th

I was up early to get the local bus (number 56) from outside my hotel to the TTC and got the monorail to the magic kingdom
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yayyyy monorail

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I loved the contemporary's huge mickey wreath


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and then finally I saw the entrance and I felt like I was home :)
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the gateway to the magic, not a cloud in that blue sky
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I the love toy solders, I've wanted to see them my whole life and here I am :D





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and there it is the most beautiful sight in all the world, the most magical castle :)



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Awww miss hildegard olivia harding was around on main street this morning, she was a delight



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I just love all the attention to detail Disney puts into everything
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here I am posing in front of the castle, so happy to be here :)



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now over the bridge into liberty square
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I think this is one of the most beautiful views in all the world, the castle is just simply breathtaking

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the first ride of the day had to be my most favourite ride everrrrrr so it was over to the haunted mansion :) the ride had a ten minute queue so basically a walk on but I wanted to go round and see the fun interactive queue rather than straight to the doors


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I the loved bubbles coming out of the captain hehe


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master gracey

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arielbabe

Member
Original Poster
this was really cool

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this always makes me laugh
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the tangled area was coming along nicely, but I wished it was open then as I am the biggest tangled nut ever right down to my sun symbol tattoo :) cant wait to see the area on my next trip

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time for a little trip on the happiest cruise that ever sailed

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I work at the tower of London and it was nice to see the beefeaters (yeoman of the guard) embedded on this ride

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a little walk around fantasyland

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just such a beautiful day

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the royal majesty makers were out and about inviting these two little princesses to the ball

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the grand entrance to new fantasyland

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the queue for enchanted tales with belle had a bit of a queue so I thought I would come back earlier in the day another day

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as I walked towards Gaston's tavern I saw the man himself doing meet and greets so I got in line and I have to admit I did find him quite handsome :p after he told me to try and enjoy the rest of my day as it would
all go downhill after meeting him lol

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I loved the fountain outside the tavern

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arielbabe

Member
Original Poster
lol so loves himself hehe

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the detail and theming in the tavern is just amazing, I loved the details of the antlers

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poser :p

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I loved this shirt in bonjour Village gifts


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cast member being interviewed for something

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the detail on Maurice's popcorn stall was actually amazing

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now to go under the sea with Ariel, Eric's castle and the landscape was just beautiful

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I had ridden this ride in Disneyland and I was looking forward to seeing the updated effects, the ride had a 10 minute queue, so result :)
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I liked the game with the little crab it was really cute

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scuttle :)

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part of your world <3

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shimmy lol

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njDizFan

Well-Known Member
Great report so far...keep it coming.

You have to be brave to fly to a different country and do a solo trip..cheers
 

awhit066

Well-Known Member
Can't wait to read more! I have been contemplating a solo trip myself and would love to hear how you enjoyed it!
 

arielbabe

Member
Original Poster
Ursula

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I loved the change in effects in Ariel's transformation from the Disneyland version

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off to see the lady herself who only had a 10 minute queue as well :)

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now off to see maestro mickey and the PhilharMagic :) I just love this show and the lovely smells

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Cindy's fountain

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Lady Tremaine, Anastasia and Drizella were out doing meet and greets, Anastasia liked my bag and asked if I had a dog in it as its a small bag lol and then we chatted about my cats and her Lucifer :)


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arielbabe

Member
Original Poster
I was getting abit hungry now, so I got in line for the be our guest restaurant :D it had about a 25 minute queue but l plenty of things to look at and the detail was just amazing

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I loved the armour talking to each other

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the ballroom was just beautiful

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I had the braised pork and the chocolate cream puff and omg both were sooo good

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after my meal I went to see the enchanted rose in the west wing

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and the princes portrait

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I then went over to tomorrowland to ride the Carousel of Progress one of my favourites


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okw2006

Active Member
I was getting abit hungry now, so I got in line for the be our guest restaurant :D it had about a 25 minute queue but l plenty of things to look at and the detail was just amazing

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I loved the armour talking to each other

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the ballroom was just beautiful

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I had the braised pork and the chocolate cream puff and omg both were sooo good

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after my meal I went to see the enchanted rose in the west wing

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and the princes portrait

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I then went over to tomorrowland to ride the Carousel of Progress one of my favourites


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Love this ride also! Hope you are having a wonderful time!
 

arielbabe

Member
Original Poster
hi guys sorry for the lack of updates I've been working quite a bit this week so here goes

after i rode the Carousel of Progress my phone died, i went on a few more rides then i had to leave as mickey's very merry Christmas party was starting, and i had to be up early the next morning to be back here to see the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade filming.



day 2: magic kingdom and epcot; November 30th

another clear blue sky morning beautiful

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cameras set up for filming :)

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the princesses only had a 10 minute queue so i went off to meet rapunzel, cindy and aurora, i am the biggest tangled fan and i wore my tangled shirt that i got in nyc and showed her my tangled sun tattoo and she asked if i painted it myself and if was from her land of corona lol she was great :D


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aurora <3

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cindy

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i just had to get this lol

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when i came out from seeing the princesses the filming had started and that's when i got the biggest surprise the newsies were here :D i had seen the show the previous week on Broadway and absolutely loved it, one of best shows I've ever seen and i love Corey Cott who plays the lead role of jack kelly so it was so exciting to see them here :D


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arielbabe

Member
Original Poster
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crowds

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stunning

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me

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liberty bell

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more flags

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the cast members said that the stormtroopers would be out in around 5 minutes and then they came

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darth vader

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arielbabe

Member
Original Poster
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i then went up to the rail road station to get a better view of the cheerleaders now filling main street

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now it was back to get the monorail to the ttc to get one to epcot as i had a lunch reservation at the rose and crown and reserved seating for whoopi goldberg candlelight processional, on the monorail i got this lovely view of the wedding pavilion

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spaceship earth

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bambi

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the land

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i love this film

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one of my favourite foods growing at living with the land lol

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world showcase lagoon

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Canada

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arielbabe

Member
Original Poster
the uk
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hidden mickey

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hopscotch :)

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meeting tigger and pooh

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Christmas carol <3

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father Christmas

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i loved these jaffa tarts

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France

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Morocco

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Japan

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arielbabe

Member
Original Poster
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the american adventure

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Italy

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Germany

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china

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Norway

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love this tree

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whoopi goldberg candlelight processional

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i filmed this on my video camera but i couldn't screen dump any pics

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blurry me and belle

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Mary poppins

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i then went to meet mickey, Minnie and pluto at the Character Spot


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