Celebrating Christmas at the Cape: A December 2009 Trip Report

Woohooo… Christmas at Disney World. Is there any better way to celebrate the season?!

I’m a little late posting, but that’s because about a week after we returned from Disney we left again… this time for a New Year’s Eve cruise! Now that I’m back and reality has set in, I’m excited to relive all our adventures through both trip reports! It’s hard to believe after just over a year of trip reporting I’m typing up my sixth installment. I really enjoy writing up the reports when we return and I even create printouts in publisher when they’re finished. So, if anyone is interested, the previous Disney reports should all still be intact:

Living the Life at the Contemporary: A September 2008 Trip Report
The Making of Disney Dreams and Christmas Memories: A December 2008 Trip Report
Going the Distance… From Mile 1 to 26.2: A Marathon 2009 Trip Report
Lodge-hopping from the Pacific Northwest to an African Savannah: A July 2009 Trip Report

Now let’s get to the latest… our Christmas 2009 trip report! Tacky t-shirts, pixie dust upgrades, and santa hats all make an appearance this holiday season! For those of you who aren’t familiar with us, the cast includes myself, Holly, and my boyfriend, Brett. Both Disney freaks and young at heart. Also with us for the annual Christmas trip are Brett’s parents, Kathy and Danny, and his brother, Derek. A Disney family for sure!

From left, Derek, Brett, myself, Goofy, Kathy and Danny:

This trip kind of snuck up on us. Brett’s been working in Atlanta for the past four months so my countdown was focused more on him coming home than it was on Disney. Disney was certainly the icing on the cake! Our trip was planned for Sunday, December 13-Friday, December 18 at the Beach Club Villas, but Brett and I decided to head down a day early and stay at Caribbean Beach for one night.

 

[HollyBelle]

Day 1 - Saturday, December 12: Travel and Check-in

Our trip down Saturday morning was pretty much uneventful. Around lunchtime we drove through the magical gates and made our way to the Caribbean Beach Resort. We hadn’t stayed here since Brett surprised me with my very first trip to WDW many moons ago!

Once inside the Customs House we got in the regular check-in line. We always consider online check-in, but ultimately decide not to do it because we surmise our odds are better at getting some kind of upgrade with regular check-in. Of course it’s a silly thing because there’s really no way to know.

Not even five minutes after getting in line, we were up next. As soon as we gave our name and information, the CM said “It appears you have a message… one second, I’ll be right back.” And with that she disappeared into a back room. Hmmm. Of course Brett immediately looked at me and said “Do you know what’s about to happen?” “No, do you?!” We were both convinced the other had altered the reservation as a surprise. Whatever could it be?!?! While we were still trying to convince each other of our own innocence… the CM showed up and asked “Have you ever stayed at Disney’s Yacht Club before?!” With big grins, we both replied “NO.” “Well we’d like to upgrade you!! How does that sound?” Fan-freaking-tastic, I tell you!!

Woohoooooo! And with that… we got ourselves a complimentary upgrade all a glitter in pixie dust! Next thing I knew she called over to the Yacht Club to apprise them of our arrival and we were off. It all happened so fast I didn’t get a single picture of CBR before we were en route to the Yacht Club. Talk about a nice way to start your vacation!

Still giddy over our great fortune, we arrived at the Yacht Club, handed off our luggage to Bell Services and checked in. Lucky us… our room was ready. “Welcome Aboard!”

Now, I will say, along with the Contemporary, the Yacht Club has always ranked a little lower on my “Must Stay At” resort list. But also like the Contemporary… it won me over immediately. I wasn’t expecting to like it so much. The room renovation is absolutely fabulous, and I’m sure this played a large part in my newfound love of the resort. We had a king room overlooking the quiet pool. And the balconies on those rooms are ginormous… they’re twice as deep as the balconies at most other deluxe’s we’ve stayed at (AKL, WL, CR, and SSR come to mind).

My favorite detail in the room was probably the Mickey lamppost!

 

[disneygirl1]

Hey Hollybelle!! Great start to the report!! I swear you have all the luck!!! Upgraded to the YC!!! How awesome is that!!! Can't wait to hear more about your trip.

 

[PotteryGal]

Yay! Can't wait to read more! I know DH would love to stay at the Yacht Club because of Stormalong Bay!

 

[Brett]

Great start Holly! I can't wait to read more! WOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[mouselvrmom]

Well, what do you know? I was so excited to see a trip report from you, Holly! Now I'll just have to try to patiently wait for more...

Your start is fabulous! What a great way to get an upgrade. If we didn't stay DVC I might not want to do online check in either. I can't imagine that they'll ever want to upgrade us from a two bedroom to a grand villa. :lol:

 

[HollyBelle]

Hey Hollybelle!! Great start to the report!! I swear you have all the luck!!! Upgraded to the YC!!! How awesome is that!!! Can't wait to hear more about your trip.

Hi Disneygirl1! You are so right in that we have a lot of luck while we're at Disney World. We've been surprised with things on our last 5 or 6 trips. Maybe we should start playing the lottery. :lol:

Yay! Can't wait to read more! I know DH would love to stay at the Yacht Club because of Stormalong Bay!

Yep. Stormalong Bay was awesome! This was our first time getting to play there.

Great start Holly! I can't wait to read more! WOOOOOOOOOOO!

Hmmm.... I bet you can't guess what we did next!

Well, what do you know? I was so excited to see a trip report from you, Holly! Now I'll just have to try to patiently wait for more...

Your start is fabulous! What a great way to get an upgrade. If we didn't stay DVC I might not want to do online check in either. I can't imagine that they'll ever want to upgrade us from a two bedroom to a grand villa. :lol:

Thanks, Jenn. Better late than never though, right?! Yeah, the two bedroom villas are so nice though. Can't really go up much from there!

 

[HollyBelle]

Unlike every other trip we have ever taken, we would not be going to a park on the first day of our visit. We renewed our AP’s in October and to get the DVC discount, Brett’s parents had to be present the day the card was activated. No worries… it’s certainly worth the $100 savings to wait an extra day. So, after checking out the accommodations we took off for the Rainforest Café to grab a late lunch. Of course, because we’re crazy character fans we decided to go to AK instead of Downtown Disney. This way we could meet some characters on our non-park day!

Woohoo… Meeko and Baloo were out when we walked up! I’m not sure what’s going on in this picture… this was Meeko’s idea. So let’s just say they’re sneakily plotting against Percy:

Baloo and I:

I love the set up with all the characters at the base of the Animal Kingdom tree:

It was closing in on 2pm so we were seated almost as soon as we approached the purple elephant. Usually we share a pizza at the Rainforest but we were both so hungry we decided against it this time. Brett had the Brave New World (a bbq chicken pizza) and I ordered the China Island Chicken Salad which is a favorite of mine.

 

[HollyBelle]

After lunch we headed back to the room to enjoy the resort. Considering we weren’t going to a park it was perfect timing on the upgrade because we were able to utilize the resort. First thing’s first… we just had to go down to Stormalong Bay. It was a bit overcast and a little cool, but otherwise perfect. The Flying Jib was fun, but I still think the slide at Kidani is the best of all the ones we’ve tried. I thought the sand was only in the kid’s area, so I was shocked when I got to the bottom of the slide and stood up in it.

Views from atop the Flying Jib:

 

[HollyBelle]

After spending the afternoon floating around Stormalong Bay and relaxing in the hot tubs, we went back to the room and took our time getting ready for the evening. Our plan that night was to grab some dinner and then go to Jellyrolls. Considering we’re big fans of piano bars we’ve always wanted to try this place, and thought now was the time to do so.

Our dining options on the Boardwalk were limited for a couple of reasons. We already had Kouzzina and Yachtsman Steakhouse reservations for later in the week, we tried the Captain’s Grille on our last trip, neither of us are fans of clam bakes, and we couldn’t afford the Flying Fish although it’s an absolute favorite of mine. Not including the Swan and Dolphin that pretty much left us with Boardwalk Pizza or Big River Grille. We opted for the Big River Grille, which was definitely a mistake. We split the shrimp and scallop penne; it was completely under seasoned and the scallops even had a gritty taste. This was our second bad experience with Big River (the first for lunch back in May 2008), so it’s now officially off the option list. Looking at the bright side… our dining experiences could only go up after this meal!

We wandered around the Boardwalk for awhile and checked out the Christmas decorations.

Stitch made an appearance in this year’s Boardwalk decorations. While I’m a huge fan of the blue guy, even I found him slightly out of place in Donald and Daisy’s gazebo.

Around 10pm we headed back by Jellyrolls and the place was extremely empty. I realize 10pm is still very early for such an establishment, but we didn’t really want to pay the cover charge and then end up leaving shortly thereafter so we decided to forego the bar and explore the resorts a little more instead.

The carousel at the Beach Club is my favorite gingerbread creation on property. I love how it changes from year to year.

Eventually we just grabbed a snack in Fittings and Fairings and headed upstairs to our room for the night. These deluxe resorts can really spoil a girl!!

 

[Yanks07]

Love the report!! Great pics. too, Love the whole Boardwalk area and Yacht Club is high on our list. Thanks for sharing

 

[Brett]

Mmmmmm... the BBQ Chicken Pizza looks as delicious as it tasted.

I think the Daisy/Donald/Stitch gazebo thingy was my favorite Christmas decoration. So great.

 

[harveyt0206]

Your pics of the Yacht Club are gorgeous. I never really considered staying there before but I may have to rethink that after seeing your pictures. I am going to subscribe to this thread so that I can read the rest of your report.

Looking forward to the rest.

 

[mouselvrmom]

I love that even though you didn't get into a park on your first day, that at least you met some characters!

Patiently awaiting more.... :sohappy:

 

[HollyBelle]

Love the report!! Great pics. too, Love the whole Boardwalk area and Yacht Club is high on our list. Thanks for sharing

Thanks, Yanks07. I can certainly see why the Yacht Club is high on your list. It really did blow me away and is now a resort I would consider booking.

Mmmmmm... the BBQ Chicken Pizza looks as delicious as it tasted.

I think the Daisy/Donald/Stitch gazebo thingy was my favorite Christmas decoration. So great.

That's because it has Daisy Duck!

Your pics of the Yacht Club are gorgeous. I never really considered staying there before but I may have to rethink that after seeing your pictures. I am going to subscribe to this thread so that I can read the rest of your report.

Looking forward to the rest.

Thanks, harveyt0206. I never really considered staying there, either. I guess because I always thought I'd pick the Beach Club over the Yacht Club for it's theming. But now I'm not so sure. Our YC room was perfect.

I love that even though you didn't get into a park on your first day, that at least you met some characters!

Patiently awaiting more.... :sohappy:

I thought you might like that, Jenn. To my knowledge, the Animal Kingdom is the only place you can meet characters without having a park ticket.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

Looking forward to more Holly. You had me worried going through the Boardwalk pictures and Yacht...without the carousel....saved it till the end.

No marathon this year?

 

[HollyBelle]

Day 2 - Sunday, December 13: BCV check-in/Epcot

We slept in until 7:45, which is late for our usual Disney selves. But considering we couldn’t go racing off to a park just yet, we weren’t in nearly as big of a hurry. I don’t know where I read/heard it, but for some reason I had it in my head that the POR food court had Boatwright’s famous deep fried French toast. So we hauled our butts over there… just hoping it were true. Unfortunately, it’s not. With our hopes deflated, we grabbed some quick service breakfast and headed back to the Yacht Club. I know Captain Cook’s sells Tonga Toast, so maybe that’s where I got the crazy idea. :shrug: More likely I dreamed it up.

Back at the resort, we changed into running gear and took a leisurely jog around the Boardwalk area. What a perfect place for a morning run; it was invigorating. We showered, packed up and reluctantly checked out of the room. Two thumbs way up for the Yacht Club and our complimentary upgrade! Part of me really wanted to stay there for the rest of the vacation. Of all the Disney resorts we’ve stayed at… Yacht Club gets my vote for “Best Bed.” I don’t really know what it is, but in some ways the Deluxe resorts just seem more luxurious than their DVC counterparts.

Our villa wasn’t ready yet, so we met up with Brett’s family and went over to the International Gateway to World Showcase. We found Marie in France; I'm glad to see she's back out where she belongs. It was almost lunchtime, so shortly after we got there we headed back to the Beach Club for lunch at Beaches and Cream. I LOVE the International Gateway… it was so nice to walk back and forth to Epcot all throughout the trip.

 

[HollyBelle]

It was about 12:30 when we showed up at Beaches and Cream and our wait was probably 25 minutes or so. Not too bad when you think about how small the place is. It’s definitely one of my favorite lunch spots on property.

We were seated at the bar as usual and I had my root beer float in hand soon thereafter. It might just be me, but the burgers seem larger than they were the last time we ate there. Brett, who usually polishes off a double with no trouble, couldn’t finish it. And I’m thinking the price was a bit higher too. Anyone know if they made a change recently? Either way, they’re still good.

 

[HollyBelle]

Looking forward to more Holly. You had me worried going through the Boardwalk pictures and Yacht...without the carousel....saved it till the end.

No marathon this year?

Oh yeah... the carousel is definitely my favorite!

No marathon this year. We didn't sign up for the half in time and I couldn't bring myself to do the full again so soon. :lol: Although, right now I'm okay with that decision because I would have been none to happy running at 28 degrees Sunday morning.

We're signed up for the Princess Half instead. Brett's going to look great in a tutu and tiara!

 

[ClemsonTigger]

Oh yeah... the carousel is definitely my favorite!

No marathon this year. We didn't sign up for the half in time and I couldn't bring myself to do the full again so soon. :lol: Although, right now I'm okay with that decision because I would have been none to happy running at 28 degrees Sunday morning.

We're signed up for the Princess Half instead. Brett's going to look great in a tutu and tiara!

Wouldn't that be the trip report to end all...

Marie is that kitty's name....saw her sashaying around during my visit, but didn't know....is she from Aristocats? Never saw that.