Welcome to my Christmas Week 2013 Trip Report!
Dates Traveled: December 22-December 27
Basic info: Port Orleans French Quarter Resort (second stay), 5 day Park Hopper and Deluxe Dining Plan.
Our family:
Jonah, age 5. This is his second trip to WDW (first was in May 2012 when he was 3.5). He's a huge Star Wars fan, a big Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Donald, Goofy and Pluto fan and a princess fan, as well. His current Princess ranking is as follows: 1) Tiana, 2) Rapunzel, 3) Aurora, 4) Snow White and 5) Ariel.
Eddie, the birthday boy, age 43 as of this trip. This is his 3rd trip to WDW (he doesn't remember the first in 1975) and he's a Star Wars, Goofy and Baloo fan.
Me, Sue, age 43. Huge Minnie Mouse fan, Star Wars fan, princess fan, lover of rides of all kinds.
Eddie and I visited WDW in May 2012 to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We took along our son, Jonah, who was almost 4 at the time (we were married for 16 years before he was born because of long term infertility. Since he's been born we try to celebrate every moment that we can, and for Christmas 2013, that meant going where the MAGIC happens!).
I started planning our Christmas week trip beginning January 2013. Initially, we planned for our best friends (a couple without kids) to join us and the 5 of us to stay in a Ft. Wilderness Cabin. They backed out on the trip early on, so we changed our plans to the POFQ since we'd stayed there before, loved it, and felt it would be familiar since we knew our Christmas trip would have the uncertainty of holiday crowds and My Magic. We decided to drive to save money (we did not save money driving) and bought a 2013 Kia Soul to make the road trip easier (as far as road trips go, it wasn't bad). Here we go!
DECEMBER 20th
We left Oklahoma City at 12:30 p.m., right after Jonah's school Christmas party ended and his school break began. We drove to Forrest City, AR, before we were stopped by a huge rain storm (Oklahoma City had a massive ice storm that night and Edmond, OK, OKC's northern suburb, made national news with the amount of ice it received. Thousands were out of power. We were extremely grateful to just be stuck in AR in a roadside motel in the rain).
DECEMBER 21st
Our original plan was to spend the night with family in Memphis, but after spending the night on the AR/TN border, we pushed on to our reservation in Tallahassee, FL. There was NO traffic in Mississippi. It was eerie. Like, "Walking Dead" eerie. Also? What's up with the Magnolia State's love of Bryan Adams? I must have heard the entire "Reckless" album, something that hadn't occurred since sleepovers in middle school. Isn't Bryan Adams Canadian? (Eddie: "I believe he's the Canadian Bruce Springsteen.") Well, anyway, he rocked me through the Winter of '13.
Road trip warrior. He ate string cheese, watched "Tangled" and "Aladdin" and played 8 million Leap Pad games, plus Palace Pets on my iPhone. Zero whining.
December 22
We're here!
We arrived at Downtown Disney at 9:45 a.m. and, worried about the issues with parking and construction we'd read about, parked over near La Nouba, even though we were going to the Marketplace. We did not need to park near La Nouba, there was still plenty of parking. Oh, well! A walk through DTD upon first arrival wasn't terribly annoying. The weather was great...it was around 75 degrees and would only get warmer.
Once we arrived at the Marketplace, I attempted to direct the boys to World of Disney to buy ears, but Jonah was distracted by the Lego Store. I decided, instead, to head to Team Mickey to get our Photo Pass card (we ordered Photo Pass two days before Memory Maker was announced). I was directed to a HUGE Guest Services line (the longest line I saw all week) and stood in it for a few minutes and then thought, this can't be right. There were unoccupied Photo Pass CMs across the room. Finally I asked Eddie to see if they could help him (so I didn't lose my place in line) and, of course, the Photo Pass desk WAS where we were supposed to be (this was the first of two erroneous bits of direction I received from a DTD CM about their Guest Services area). Eddie took this to mean he was the Photo Pass Commander and wore the lanyard all week. I was A-OK with that.
I found a Minnie headband with the old-fashioned Classic Minnie hat with flowers and feathers. Jonah turned down my suggestion of an R2 earhat (he's not a fan of the way earhats feel) and opted instead for a black, glow-in-the-dark Jedi Mickey ballcap. Eddie went to get the Goofy bucket ear hat he liked last year and discovered that it was too small for his head! So was the Pluto ballcap. And the Donald earhat. And the Chip and/or Dale plush hat. Are we seeing a pattern? He's finishing up his PhD this year...so check out the big brain (or skull) on Eddie! Two out of three whimsical Disney hats purchased, we headed off to T-Rex for our 11:00 a.m. lunch reservation.
His Dr. Pooh shirt was a Christmas gift from his godparents who were unable to join us on this trip.
He drank the entire thing. He doesn't eat much, but he can imbibe big time.
In case you ever wondered what the Jurassic Chicken Tidbits at T-Rex look like:
Eddie and Jonah picked T-Rex for our lunch reservation on arrival day, and I was happy to let them, since I (over)planned everything else. I would have chosen Raglan Road, but hey -- I like a good Stegosaurus as much as the next non-8 year old. I had the Footprints Flatbread, which was HUGE and would have fed all three of us comfortably. Although we were on the Deluxe Dining Plan, we paid out of pocket for this meal since we were using a lot of our dining credits for the (three) 2-credit meals we had planned. I only ate two small pieces of my flatbread because I was saving room for later, and while I enjoyed the mélange of cheddar, Parmesan, cilantro, pizza sauce, carmelized onion and balsamic glaze, I found the chicken tasted over-processed, almost canned (although it was not canned). Eddie had the Bronto Burger and loved it, said it was one of the best burgers he'd ever had. I barely glanced at it because I was too busy watching Jonah watch the meteor shower and the animatronics. We sat in the aquarium area and although it was LOUD, it wasn't super busy and our service was pretty fast (we checked in 10 minutes early and were seated within 5 minutes of checking in).
We looked some more for a hat for Eddie (fruitlessly, in the non-Carmen Miranda way), promised Jonah he could come back later to the Lego Store to pick up the Star Wars set with Ahsoka Tano (she's his favorite) and then we stopped in at Ghirardelli for dessert. I have visited the flagship store in San Francisco, but we hadn't been able to work the DTD Ghirardelli into our 2012 visit and I had REALLY talked it up to the guys.
Eddie's a big fan of butterscotch, so I offered to split the Butterscotch Hot Fudge Sundae with him. Since I am NOT a big fan of butterscotch, he took this as the Christmas miracle it was intended and eagerly agreed. Alas, I didn't read the ingredients carefully and didn't realize until we dug in that the sundae was made with butter-pecan ice cream, not vanilla. Eddie doesn't do butter pecan, and since the butterscotch topping was buried in the bottom of the glass, he was underwhelmed. I ate the delicious, not-of-this-earth hot fudge *and* the butter-pecan ice cream (I'm secretly an old lady, I like hard candies and Lawrence Welk, too!) and ignored the butterscotch sludge at the bottom of the glass. Someone, however, was totally pleased:
SPRINKLES!!!
Coming up:
Trying to check-in at POFQ before 3:00 p.m. and taking the bus to the Magic Kingdom at 3:30 p.m. the week of Christmas. Are we wacky on the nuts (and sprinkles)????
Dates Traveled: December 22-December 27
Basic info: Port Orleans French Quarter Resort (second stay), 5 day Park Hopper and Deluxe Dining Plan.
Our family:
Jonah, age 5. This is his second trip to WDW (first was in May 2012 when he was 3.5). He's a huge Star Wars fan, a big Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Donald, Goofy and Pluto fan and a princess fan, as well. His current Princess ranking is as follows: 1) Tiana, 2) Rapunzel, 3) Aurora, 4) Snow White and 5) Ariel.
Eddie, the birthday boy, age 43 as of this trip. This is his 3rd trip to WDW (he doesn't remember the first in 1975) and he's a Star Wars, Goofy and Baloo fan.
Me, Sue, age 43. Huge Minnie Mouse fan, Star Wars fan, princess fan, lover of rides of all kinds.
Eddie and I visited WDW in May 2012 to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. We took along our son, Jonah, who was almost 4 at the time (we were married for 16 years before he was born because of long term infertility. Since he's been born we try to celebrate every moment that we can, and for Christmas 2013, that meant going where the MAGIC happens!).
I started planning our Christmas week trip beginning January 2013. Initially, we planned for our best friends (a couple without kids) to join us and the 5 of us to stay in a Ft. Wilderness Cabin. They backed out on the trip early on, so we changed our plans to the POFQ since we'd stayed there before, loved it, and felt it would be familiar since we knew our Christmas trip would have the uncertainty of holiday crowds and My Magic. We decided to drive to save money (we did not save money driving) and bought a 2013 Kia Soul to make the road trip easier (as far as road trips go, it wasn't bad). Here we go!
DECEMBER 20th
We left Oklahoma City at 12:30 p.m., right after Jonah's school Christmas party ended and his school break began. We drove to Forrest City, AR, before we were stopped by a huge rain storm (Oklahoma City had a massive ice storm that night and Edmond, OK, OKC's northern suburb, made national news with the amount of ice it received. Thousands were out of power. We were extremely grateful to just be stuck in AR in a roadside motel in the rain).
DECEMBER 21st
Our original plan was to spend the night with family in Memphis, but after spending the night on the AR/TN border, we pushed on to our reservation in Tallahassee, FL. There was NO traffic in Mississippi. It was eerie. Like, "Walking Dead" eerie. Also? What's up with the Magnolia State's love of Bryan Adams? I must have heard the entire "Reckless" album, something that hadn't occurred since sleepovers in middle school. Isn't Bryan Adams Canadian? (Eddie: "I believe he's the Canadian Bruce Springsteen.") Well, anyway, he rocked me through the Winter of '13.
Road trip warrior. He ate string cheese, watched "Tangled" and "Aladdin" and played 8 million Leap Pad games, plus Palace Pets on my iPhone. Zero whining.
December 22
We're here!
We arrived at Downtown Disney at 9:45 a.m. and, worried about the issues with parking and construction we'd read about, parked over near La Nouba, even though we were going to the Marketplace. We did not need to park near La Nouba, there was still plenty of parking. Oh, well! A walk through DTD upon first arrival wasn't terribly annoying. The weather was great...it was around 75 degrees and would only get warmer.
Once we arrived at the Marketplace, I attempted to direct the boys to World of Disney to buy ears, but Jonah was distracted by the Lego Store. I decided, instead, to head to Team Mickey to get our Photo Pass card (we ordered Photo Pass two days before Memory Maker was announced). I was directed to a HUGE Guest Services line (the longest line I saw all week) and stood in it for a few minutes and then thought, this can't be right. There were unoccupied Photo Pass CMs across the room. Finally I asked Eddie to see if they could help him (so I didn't lose my place in line) and, of course, the Photo Pass desk WAS where we were supposed to be (this was the first of two erroneous bits of direction I received from a DTD CM about their Guest Services area). Eddie took this to mean he was the Photo Pass Commander and wore the lanyard all week. I was A-OK with that.
I found a Minnie headband with the old-fashioned Classic Minnie hat with flowers and feathers. Jonah turned down my suggestion of an R2 earhat (he's not a fan of the way earhats feel) and opted instead for a black, glow-in-the-dark Jedi Mickey ballcap. Eddie went to get the Goofy bucket ear hat he liked last year and discovered that it was too small for his head! So was the Pluto ballcap. And the Donald earhat. And the Chip and/or Dale plush hat. Are we seeing a pattern? He's finishing up his PhD this year...so check out the big brain (or skull) on Eddie! Two out of three whimsical Disney hats purchased, we headed off to T-Rex for our 11:00 a.m. lunch reservation.
His Dr. Pooh shirt was a Christmas gift from his godparents who were unable to join us on this trip.
He drank the entire thing. He doesn't eat much, but he can imbibe big time.
In case you ever wondered what the Jurassic Chicken Tidbits at T-Rex look like:
Eddie and Jonah picked T-Rex for our lunch reservation on arrival day, and I was happy to let them, since I (over)planned everything else. I would have chosen Raglan Road, but hey -- I like a good Stegosaurus as much as the next non-8 year old. I had the Footprints Flatbread, which was HUGE and would have fed all three of us comfortably. Although we were on the Deluxe Dining Plan, we paid out of pocket for this meal since we were using a lot of our dining credits for the (three) 2-credit meals we had planned. I only ate two small pieces of my flatbread because I was saving room for later, and while I enjoyed the mélange of cheddar, Parmesan, cilantro, pizza sauce, carmelized onion and balsamic glaze, I found the chicken tasted over-processed, almost canned (although it was not canned). Eddie had the Bronto Burger and loved it, said it was one of the best burgers he'd ever had. I barely glanced at it because I was too busy watching Jonah watch the meteor shower and the animatronics. We sat in the aquarium area and although it was LOUD, it wasn't super busy and our service was pretty fast (we checked in 10 minutes early and were seated within 5 minutes of checking in).
We looked some more for a hat for Eddie (fruitlessly, in the non-Carmen Miranda way), promised Jonah he could come back later to the Lego Store to pick up the Star Wars set with Ahsoka Tano (she's his favorite) and then we stopped in at Ghirardelli for dessert. I have visited the flagship store in San Francisco, but we hadn't been able to work the DTD Ghirardelli into our 2012 visit and I had REALLY talked it up to the guys.
Eddie's a big fan of butterscotch, so I offered to split the Butterscotch Hot Fudge Sundae with him. Since I am NOT a big fan of butterscotch, he took this as the Christmas miracle it was intended and eagerly agreed. Alas, I didn't read the ingredients carefully and didn't realize until we dug in that the sundae was made with butter-pecan ice cream, not vanilla. Eddie doesn't do butter pecan, and since the butterscotch topping was buried in the bottom of the glass, he was underwhelmed. I ate the delicious, not-of-this-earth hot fudge *and* the butter-pecan ice cream (I'm secretly an old lady, I like hard candies and Lawrence Welk, too!) and ignored the butterscotch sludge at the bottom of the glass. Someone, however, was totally pleased:
SPRINKLES!!!
Coming up:
Trying to check-in at POFQ before 3:00 p.m. and taking the bus to the Magic Kingdom at 3:30 p.m. the week of Christmas. Are we wacky on the nuts (and sprinkles)????
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Jonah was quiet at first and Eddie explained that it was nice to see her again, but Jonah was a little shy. Snow quickly said, "Oh, that's alright, one of my best friends is Bashful!" which she had said to him at Epcot, so Jonah turned to me and said, "Does she know she's already said that?!" Haha.
