Trip Report COMPLETED: Christmas Week 2013: Nevermind the crowds, what's with all the churros?

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)????

 

[Betsyboo]

Can't wait to read the rest. Staying at POFQ for the first time in February.

 

[foreverbelle]

Great start, your son is adorable. Ah the LeapPad, it pretty much saves on so many roadtrips...Looking forward to so much more! I have always wondered about the holiday time.

 

[draybook]

What part of Memphis is your family in? And yeah, the drive down Highway 78 through MS to Birmingham is pure zzzzzzz. That's why the first 2-3 hours of our trips is the hardest on me when we drive, because it's so boring. Awesome trip report so far and we went to T-Rex for the first time back in September and loved it!

 

[Minnie Sue]

December 22, continued.

We left Downtown Disney at about 1:30 p.m., passing an amusing incoming amass of people -- amusing in that half were dressed for winter and half were dressed for summer. It was 80 degrees when we left DTD, and the high that day was 86. Despite being used to humidity and unseasonably warm winters in Oklahoma, I was a bit warm in my T-shirt and denim Capris. There was a steady crowd heading into DTD as we left. Remember, the last we were there was May 2012, the week before Memorial Day weekend. That week, according to Easy WDW, was rated a "5" on the crowd calendar. December 22, 2013 was rated a "9." I didn't find the crowds (at DTD in the early afternoon) oppressive, but they were more noticeable than they had been in mid-May.

MAGIC BANDS!! They were available in our three favorite colors.

We had no issues with our Magic Bands all week: they worked as room keys, as park tickets, as FP+ scanners, for Dining Plan redemption and for Photo Pass+. Even Jonah was able to haphazardly match up the Mickeys to open the door and to redeem his FP+ selections. I know there have been a LOT of glitches and many Disney watchers were leery about how they would perform during the high-crowd holidays, but we had no issues. I'm not a computer programmer, but I would surmise that a lot of the reason our experience was so seamless is that there are only 3 of us and all of our reservations, from hotel to dining to FP+ were all exactly the same and were all made by me under my main account. I did see several people over the week at Guest Services attempting to link larger groups and having issues. We did have ONE minor problem our last day, but I'll detail that in a bit.

Port Orleans French Quarter! Oo De Lally, I love this resort! I looked at AoA and Ft. Wilderness and Animal Kingdom Lodge when I was planning our trip, but we really loved this small, quiet and lovely little resort, and the price isn't bad at all, even during heavy markup seasons like Christmas.

Our room in building 4.

I had requested Building 5 since we'd stayed there last time and really enjoyed our room (despite proximity to the swimming pool and its noise). I made the reservation in February and the request at the same time, and forgot to follow up. I figured we'd take what we could get at Christmas time. When we walked in to register at around 2:00, we were prepared to be told rooms were not ready and we'd just hop a bus to the MK.

However, there were several cast members working the lobby, only a handful of guests attempting to check in, and since I'd already pre-registered online, it was only minutes before we had our packet in our hands and we were heading toward Building 4 to drop off our luggage. We got a bit of pixie dust, as Building 4 is the closest to the food court, front desk *and* the one bus stop at POFQ. We also received a corner room and it was so quiet and had such a peaceful view that we forgot that we were at Disney World during its dreaded holiday season.

But never mind that...off to the Magic Kingdom!!!

First bus ride to the MK! We were three of six people on this 3:45 p.m. bus to the Magic Kingdom, and the bus traveled directly to the MK without stopping to pick up others at Riverside (the only occasional downside to POFQ's bus system, since the resort is so small and the bus stop easy to get to).

Eddie had run out of time with all of our last minute pre-trip details in OKC to get a haircut, so I had called and made an appointment for him at the Harmony Barbershop at Main Street USA. We were excited about the possibilities: a serenade from the Dapper Dans, the Big Red Scissors, all kinds of Walt Disney, 19th century cuteness. Yeah, no. The shop was closing at 5:00 p.m. and you could tell the barbers and stylists just wanted to get out of there. This was more of a Bibbidi Bobbidi BOO But! He did get a great haircut --and at $19 for adults, that's not bad -- and I got some cute pics.

As we were entering the MK, the 3:30 Once Upon a Christmastime parade was just ending (we caught Goofy, Clarabel -- one of Jonah's faves -- and a couple of princesses). I told the boys to come on, despite LOW (and I mean low) crowds between the train station and the barbershop to view it, because we'd be seeing it in a few days. Oh, how I'd live to regret those words.

After Eddie's haircut, we sped down Mainstreet USA and grabbed a PP photographer.

Then we made our way to Frontierland, in anticipation of the Frontierland Hoedown which, according to Disney's website, was to begin at 5:30 p.m. that day. The boys decided that a snack was in order (since we'd eaten lunch at 11:00 and wouldn't be having dinner until 9:00) so they grabbed their favorite WDW snack.

Eddie asked for a cup of cheese with his pretzels (we used 3 snack credits, one for each pretzel and one for a bottle of water to share) and were going to pay OOP for the cheese, but the cashier misheard him and gave him a churro. Plastic Cheese...Styrofoam Churro, they both start with CH and are both featured at Taco Bell. It's an easy mistake. The cashier saw Eddie's birthday button and, after giving him the requested cheese, gave him the churro free of charge with the first cheery, "Happy Birthday, Eddie!" he heard all week. I said, "Hey, free churro!" and ate half of it. Meh. Plastic churros are plastic. Maybe if they're fresh? I digress.

With time left until the hoedown, we decided to cut through to Adventureland for one of Jonah's favorites last year, The Magic Carpets of Aladdin.

The posted wait time was 20 minutes, but we waited less than 10 minutes. Here's a pic of one the few times we waited standby during Christmas Week, and of my Minnie ears!

I know a lot people consider this ride "just a spinner" but I was one of those kids who wanted flying carpets to be real long before The Arabian Nights were Disneyfied, so I love it. Would I complain if the spinner were removed and an interior, Forbidden Journey type ride were built instead? Uh, no.

There was still no sight of a Hoedown, and since we had time (our first FP+ wasn't until 5:55) we decided to check out the Country Bears. As I said, I'm from Oklahoma and an Oklahoman who's not into country and western things, and in the past 40 years I've gotten my fill of Hee-Haw type, cornpone humor, so I hadn't ever planned on visiting this. I thought it was cute, and I can see how its lack of a wait time and cool interior would be welcome on hot summer days. Eddie thought it was cute in a Hyuck! knee-slappy way, and Jonah thought the old theater was stinky (I like the stinkiness of old theaters).

We went back out to find that there was no Hoedown to be had (Nooooo!). We had so been looking forward to it, because it's one of the few places to see Clarabel, and I really wanted to get a pic of her. Oh, well. We were at Disney World and there was lemonade to be made (or at least snack credited).

We made our way back to Fantasyland to use our first FP+ selection.

The standby wait was 90 minutes, so I was super glad I'd changed this to a FP+ instead of trying to do it standby later in the evening "when the crowds subsided." I was ambivalent about this ride last trip (I think we did Fantasyland too quickly last time) but I really enjoyed it this time. It helped that Jonah has now seen all Disney movies (except The Jungle Book and Lilo and Stitch, working on those) and helped point out mermaids, Tiger Lily, etc.

After, Eddie went to try to find a hat at The Chapeau while Jonah and I walked on to Prince Charming's Carrousel. I love a good Carrousel, and that's evidently an hereditary trait:

We tried the Sword and the Stone afterward, and while he was NOT the new King of England, it was still an amusing good time.

We met up with Eddie who was annoyed at still not finding a hat that fit (uneasy lies the head that wears no crown) and headed to the castle stage for Cinderella's Holiday Wish.

After suggestions from Mickey and Minnie and the gang, The Fairy Godmother lights Cinderella's Castle for Cinderella and Prince Charming for their guests to enjoy.

We got there at 6:00 p.m. for this 6:30 p.m. show and there was still plenty of room with the people seated in the hub. HOWEVER, once we were seated and the show was beginning, the inevitable rush of Disney late-arrivals eager to sit on top of the early birds occurred. I haven't mentioned yet that I broke my left great toe 5 weeks before we left for Disney World, have I? Well, I did, and I was wearing a knee-length orthopedic boot which, while it let me canvass the parks like medi-Darth Vader, did not allow me to bend my leg. So I was sitting with my leg stretched out in front of me in an obvious cast, with the other bent behind me. I'm only 5'1' and I curled into Eddie, so I wasn't taking up much more room than if I'd sat "crisscross applesauce" but oh, the people who sat on my leg. A little girl next to me (around Jonah's age) crept up and leaned against me, and that was okay, I like kids and I don't mind making room for them. Rude people standing in front of the seated and worse, standing ON the seated, almost made me lose my Christmas cheer.

I said almost. This was worth it.

I managed to get up in the crowds after the lighting ended and got out ok, despite the swarm, but Eddie was carrying Jonah and was shoved and stumbled and twisted his ankle. That was the worst moment of the trip, though, and oddly, the worst crush of crowds. Just too many people trying to leave the same small space at once.

We made our way to Tomorrowland (one of Eddie's favorites because it's one of the few things he remembers from the trip when he was 4) and saw it lit up for the first time (we did Tomorrowland at rope drop in 2012). We timed Monster's Inc Laugh Factory just right and walked in as they were seating. That was super cute. We weren't "That Guy" or any of the other pictured guests (it was a full room) but Jonah thought it was hilarious.

Then we were off to Space Mountain to use our FP+! Jonah wasn't tall enough to ride SM in 2012, so we'd skipped it. I had shown him videos and asked his thoughts about riding it this year, and I had booked him a FP+ for it because I wasn't sure we wanted to split up and do Child Swap. Once there, he agreed to ride it. The three of us got into the car: me first, Jonah in the middle, and Eddie in the rear seat. That ride is TERRIFYING, haha! I loved the beginning, but once the actual rollercoaster began and I got air from the first big hill, I thought, "Oh, dear God, I put my 5 year old on this!" He was FINE. I was just having the vapors. We all agreed, though, after it was over that it was one-and-done. Eddie because someone with two prior back surgeries shouldn't have ridden it, me because I couldn't do it without being able to see Jonah and Jonah because of the dark. But! We've ridden Space Mountain. So, win.

We followed Space Mountain with our last FP+ of the day at Buzz Lightyear. The boys rode together and I had TWO blasters at my disposal and Jonah STILL beat my (combined) score. I have horrid hand-eye coordination, but considering the last video game I played with any intent was Ms. Pac Man in grade school, I'm giving myself a pass.

We stopped in at Mickey's Star Traders and saw that they had a Build Your Own Lightsaber kiosk. We wouldn't have to wait until Tatooine Traders at DHS. Eddie and Jonah constructed Jonah's lightsaber while I shopped for and purchased absolutely nothing. I had saved all year, putting money on a Disney gift card to buy Christmas gifts and souvenirs for us and our family, so of course since money was (somewhat of, it is Disney) no object, I wanted nothing but to hang out with the guys.

It's purple!

We left Tomorrowland, promising to see it again at the Dessert Party our last day, and headed to New Fantasyland for our highly anticipated dinner reservation at Be Our Guest!

 

[Minnie Sue]

What part of Memphis is your family in?

Most of my mom's family used to live in the Memphis and Covington area, but sadly most of my parents' generation has passed a way. I still have a cousin who lives in Germantown, though, and we saw her on our return trip.

I'll say this about MS/Al and the drive -- it's a heck of a lot greener than Oklahoma this time of year! I did enjoy T-Rex and would do it again. The boys loved it.

 

[Minnie Sue]

Can't wait to read the rest. Staying at POFQ for the first time in February.

I hope you love it! It's such a quiet, beautiful and small resort. It isn't as showy as many of deluxes and more expensive of course than a value, but we find the quiet and the landscaping makes up for a either of those!

 

[Minnie Sue]

Great start, your son is adorable. Ah the LeapPad, it pretty much saves on so many roadtrips...Looking forward to so much more! I have always wondered about the holiday time.

Thank you, I think he's pretty awesome, haha! He got that LeapPad for Christmas last year had it's redeemed many a grocery store trip and long car ride! I have great things to say about holiday time, thanks for reading!

 

[draybook]

Most of my mom's family used to live in the Memphis and Covington area, but sadly most of my parents' generation has passed a way. I still have a cousin who lives in Germantown, though, and we saw her on our return trip.

I'll say this about MS/Al and the drive -- it's a heck of a lot greener than Oklahoma this time of year! I did enjoy T-Rex and would do it again. The boys loved it.

Fantastic, we actually live in Olive Branch, which is exit # 4-Highway 305 when you crossed over from TN to MS. When we went to T-Rex we were seated over by the cooking area under the pterodactyl. We absolutely loved it and the food and service were great. Looking forward to the remainder of this TR!!

 

[Minnie Sue]

December 22, continued

We headed over to New Fantasyland, which we'd barely glimpsed as it was still behind scaffolding when we visited in 2012, to our 9:05 p.m. Be Our Guest dinner reservation. I made our reservations 180 days out, at 6:00 a.m. Central time, and 9:05 was STILL the best I could do for BOG. In retrospect, I should have taken advantage of the 10+ days and made the reservation for our last day at MK, Dec 26. However, I was set on CRT for the 26th and didn't want to do both restaurants in the same day. Besides, I figured we'd eaten as late as 8:30 before (once or twice, I was a stay-at-home Mom until 6 months ago and I've been a stickler about a 6:30 p.m. dinner time), how bad could 9:00 p.m. be?

We had a bit before our reservation time, so we attempted to visit Minnie & Daisy at Pete's Silly Sideshow, but Jonah wasn't interested in the 20 minute wait and we had plans to see both of them at AK in a couple of days. We made our way instead to Gaston's Tavern. The line for Gaston's M&G was a bit long, so we just popped in to the tavern to try LeFou's Brew.

I'd read mixed reviews of the brew, but I *had* to try it because Eddie and I saw Beauty and the Beast as a new release while we were dating, and we had a couple of the songs in our wedding ceremony. When we were very young and poor, it was one of the few CDs (what's that?) that we owned, and we had the entire soundtrack memorized. Still today I will vow something I mean strongly with an earnest, "It's true, LeFou!" That bit of ramble done, I liked the brew! The foam was apple-sour and the frozen drink was appley in the way that Apple Jacks are appley and something richer...it was great! Jonah and I shared a souvenir goblet, and Eddie got a disposable cup. I should note that Gaston's was NOT crowded; there was no one in line ahead of us at the counter and there were perhaps four other people seated in the small pub. We paid OOP for my souvenir cup and used a snack credit for Eddie's drink.

Eddie tried on the big chair.

We headed out of Gaston's and made our way over to check in for Be Our Guest. We checked in 10 minutes early, received a pager (NOT a rose, is that just at lunch, or is that no longer a thing?) and went to wait on the bridge. The view, at night, was beautiful with the waterfall and the castle (I thought the forced perspective worked, but I'm barely over 5' tall and EVERYTHING is taller than I am) but we were DONE. We'd been on the road since 6 a.m. and had already had a full day. I really regretted not trying to get an earlier reservation -- I was just so thrilled to get into BOG during Christmas week that I jumped at the 9:05 time even though we'd never eaten that late. We only waited about 15 minutes (five minutes after our reservation time) and then we were called to the castle and Jonah was given the candelabra to carry.

We were seated in the Rose Room, which made me happy because as others have stated, the ballroom is beautiful and incredibly like the film but sounds EXACTLY like a high school cafeteria and I think Jonah would have fallen asleep in the West Wing.

The Rose Room was quiet and our server was quick and efficient, if not terribly outgoing. We ordered our drinks and already knew what we were having, so service was quick. Since we were doing the Deluxe Dining Plan (which I like because you can combine credits for a 2-service like CRT, but DON'T like because I'm never hungry enough at WDW for an appetizer, an entree and dessert even once, much less at multiple meals), I ordered the potato leek soup as my app. I loved this (it wasn't too salty, which I've read is a common complaint). I could have licked the cup, but refrained. Eddie had the garden salad and didn't comment. Jonah ate his celery and carrots and did his first of many, many coloring sheets this trip.

I ordered the Layered Ratatouille. I am not a vegetarian, but I eat a lot of vegetable dishes and I try to eat as healthy as possible at table service meals. I liked this. The quinoa had a great flavor, and so did the Bell Pepper Sauce. The vegetables, however, were a little bland for a Ratatouille. Not much seasoning, and no binding tomato sauce or olive oil to make you want to spread them on a baguette. Probably healthier, though.

Eddie had the Strip Steak and Pommes Frites. The steak, he said, was great but the fries were SO salty. I like salty, and this was beyond that, this was "Oops, I've had a kitchen accident with Morton's, get the broom!" Jonah had the Mickey Meatloaf Meal. This was all things he loves: meatloaf, broccoli, zucchini. His meatloaf was older than he is, but he did chow down on the veggies and I was happy to see him get some green food on vacation.

Eddie and I both ordered cream puffs for dessert. His was chocolate and mine was tropical. He said his was good, kind of like an eclair. I didn't like the pastry served chilled, but the Tropical filling was good. I managed a couple of bites, but I wasn't remotely hungry. Jonah had a strawberry cupcake and, after we released it from the paper like Prince Phillip released Aurora's castle from Maleficent's vines (seriously, where did this paper come from? A finger cuffs factory?) he devoured it.

Our server brought Eddie the grey stuff with a candle and I didn't even try it! Jonah was falling asleep, I was tired and I just wanted to go back to the resort. The one picture I tried to take of the grey stuff turned out too dark, but you've seen it. It's a dab of piped grey mousse. Eddie said it was okay, and we appreciated the gesture.

We visited the West Wing before we left, but I didn't even bother to take pictures of the ballroom. We looked in on the Beast's photo op and he was on break, so we just moved on. I kind of regret that, but we were SO tired.

On our way out, and my child is DONE with being my picture subject.

We attempted to beat the Wishes crowds, but we were too late. No matter how quickly we headed toward Mainstreet USA, we still got stuck in the bottleneck right next to Casey's. Although the crowd was annoying (one guy next to me with a "My First Visit" button said, "Well, this is ridiculous!") I didn't find it any MORE annoying than the after Wishes crowd in May. It was definitely the worst crowd *we* saw that week, but we didn't tend to do crowded things (i.e. Mainstreet for Wishes or ride headliners standby in the afternoons). We managed to pop into one the stores and make our way out that way. As we got to the gate, Eddie saw Mickey Santa hats in the gate shop and said he was going to try one.

A Wish for a Hat that Fits!

With that, we hopped on a shockingly uncrowded bus for POFQ with no wait and headed back to get some rest before EMH the next the morning.

Up next: Hollywood Studios!

 

[LisaBelle]

Great TR so far. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.

 

[Minnie Sue]

December 23

In the interest of full-disclosure, I should note that the main reason we saw low crowds and low wait times during our Christmas week trip is that we faithfully do Rope Drop. We are all three natural early risers, so there's no point not going to ride Toy Story with little standby wait if you're already up at 6:00 a.m.

Disney's Hollywood Studios! We had very little wait for a bus at 7:15 a.m., and the morning was foggy and a bit chilly, but warming up quickly. On our 2012 trip, we did DHS on our arrival day and got to the park the in the late afternoon, too late to do Toy Story. I know I had done research for the 2012's trip, because we knew about Disney Junior LIVE! and we had plans to eat at Pizza Planet (which was closed by our dinner time), but I went into our Christmas trip as prepared as 9 months of reading Disney blogs and posting boards can make you.

They let us into the park about 10 minutes early for the 8:00 a.m. EMH and we joined the crowd headed to Toy Story Mania! We had FP+ to ride it later in the morning, but since Jonah decided last minute (that morning) that he did NOT want to do the Jedi Training Academy, we had the time in our schedule to try to ride TSM twice. (Eddie and I were both a bit disappointed that J didn't want to try JTA, since he'd been talking about it all year while playing Lego Star Wars, but he was too shy to get on the stage by himself and Eddie and both miss the JTA age cutoff by a few years).

Magic!

Toy Story Maniac!

We had about a 5 minute wait first thing in the morning. Eddie and I really enjoyed this ride, and we get why it's such a big draw at DHS, but Jonah had a bit of trouble with the pull-strip shooter being so different from the Wii remote he was used to. I scored 114,000 which was massively impressive for me and my lack of detail orientation!

We walked to Starring Rolls for breakfast, admiring the Tower of Terror in the misty distance.

Jonah had eaten a banana at the resort and only asked for chocolate milk at Starring Rolls. He also started complaining of a sore throat. Eddie and I got a cinnamon roll and a cheese danish, respectively, with two of our snack credits. They were great -- very fresh. I eyed the red velvet cupcakes and tried to entice Jonah into sharing one with me, but he was uninterested and they just sounded too rich and sweet first thing in the morning. I promised myself I'd come back and get one. I lied.

We made our way over to Star Tours, our favorite DHS ride from our 2012 trip. We were really excited about Jonah riding it this year, since he'd had vague knowledge of Star Wars in 2012 and was now a HUGE fan. The standby line was 10 minutes, but we only waited about four.

In line for Star Tours in our Star Wars tees. Eddie's has Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper riding a coaster, mine was a picture of Leia with a blaster that read, "Don't mess with a Princess." We got TONS of comments on shirts (we ordered them from 80sTees.com). Jonah's had Han Solo, R2-D2, Obi Wan and and Chewie doing the Abbey Road walk, and I got it from thinkgeek.com.

We love this ride! The jump into Hyperspace feels so REAL the first time (I'd wager, not actually being Han Solo and all). I love motion simulators (I'm good with spinny rides, too, it's just being suspended at extreme heights that gives me the wig) and our first trip was to the Death Star! Jonah wanted to immediately ride a second time, so we got back into the non-existent line. The trip started on the ice planet, Hoth, and when I realized that I said, "Woo-hoo! Hoth!" and there may have been clappy hands. I seriously want a Tauntaun. We picked out some souvenirs at Tatooine Traders and Jonah picked up a Star Wars vinyl toy set with one of his gift cards (he got one for Christmas from a family friend and had saved his chore money all year in a My Disney Trip jar) and had them sent back to our resort.

I realized we were going to be late for Disney Junior LIVE and the Sofia the First M&G if we didn't hurry, so we took a few pics and made our way back over to Animation Courtyard.

Jonah is a huge Sofia the First and Doc McStuffins fan, so we HAD to do Disney Junior LIVE! again and I thought Sofia would be a great choice for his first character M&G of the trip, and his first time using his autograph book. We had spent so much time at Star Tours that there was already a line for Sofia, which was to be expected since she's new. It was the longest line we waited in our entire trip, about 15-20 minutes.

Jake escorting Sofia back from her break. I just missed where he kissed her hand.

Jonah got shy in the line and decided he didn't need Sofia's autograph, he'd write it himself. He asked me how to spell her name and then wrote it beautifully...but no dice, we were still meeting the girl from Enchancia. Her theme song has gotten stuck in my head way too many times NOT to meet her and wish her a Happy Wassailia when we were standing three feet away.

The queue for Sofia caused us to miss our planned Disney Junior LIVE! show time, so we decided to head back to Pixar Place to use our TSM FP+. The boys thought it would be a good idea to stop for a snack first (I wasn't hungry yet. Story of my life with DXDP: Snack Credits: 2, Sue: 0).

His throat was still hurting, but he said this Mickey ice cream sandwich made his throat feel better. I'm sure he didn't even feel it, he ate it so fast!

Mickey Premium bar!

The standby line for TSM was now 95 minutes (before 10:00 a.m.) so we used our first FP+ at DHS and walked right on.

Jonah rode with Eddie this time and I tied my 114,000 score. I liked this ride, but I was sort of glad to only get to ride it twice, because I was starting to get pull-string elbow.

We backtracked (in defiance of my plans) and caught the next Disney Junior LIVE! show. If you have preschoolers or kindergarteners or just love puppets, this is for you. I enjoyed the Sofia and Doc vignettes, but the Minnie's birthday party plot-line and the Jake and the Neverland Pirates vignette were the same as before. Sofia made it snow, Doc filled with room with bubbles and Jake dropped "gold" paper doubloons. Jonah loved catching the doubloons and was amused by them for long stretches, haha.

Shushing Daddy so he can hear the magic words Sofia uses to make it snow!

We stopped for a third ride on Star Tours to use our FP+ for it (the wait time was a posted 30 minutes at that point, I doubt it was that long). I had a hard time making FP+ choices for DHS. I knew TSM and Tower of Terror, but I made the third Star Tours in case it was a super long wait during Christmas week. This early in the day? It wasn't.

Obviously members of the Rebel Alliance. The little one appears frozen in carbonite.

Next we headed off to our 11:30 ADR at Mama Melrose. I had read terribly mixed reviews of MM, but we were doing the Fantasmic! dining package and it was the best choice.

Making a snow man while we wait for Mama Melrose reservation. We checked in 10 minutes early and we were called in 5 for our table.

Honestly? I thought the food was great. It didn't taste as if I were in my friend Debee's mom's Italian kitchen, but it was right up there with Olive Garden prom night good. My Caesar salad was fresh and crisp (other than the crouton, which was a bit soggy) and my main course, the chicken campanelle, was delicious! I ate half the bowl, which is a lot for me. The spinach was especially fresh.

Eddie had the Carne d'Italia flatbread and a Caesar salad starter. He liked the salad, but I think he was full by the time the flatbread came.

Jonah had the celery and carrot sticks app and the kids' spaghetti. He ate the carrots. Considering he ate that entire ice cream sandwich, I didn't expect him to have much appetite. Up until this point, he had only been sick twice in his life (a cold as a baby and a stomach virus when he was 3) so I was surprised to see how tired and quiet he seemed. He's typically up at 5:30 a.m. and ready to go, but we had done a lot that morning, so I gave up my plans to do all day DHS and we decided to head back to the resort for a brief nap before our early dinner ADR.

Our server at Mama Melrose was fantastic. We had quick, seamless service, she was very helpful about the Fantasmic! package and after she brought the dining package dessert for Eddie and I to share (Jonah had ice cream that he mostly ate), she brought Eddie a spaghetti and meatballs birthday cupcake and she and I sang happy birthday to him.

Back at POFQ by 1:00 for a mid-day nap.

While Jonah napped and Eddie ran errands (I think he went to the giftshop to get Jonah some cough medicine), I decorated our window with a Mardi Gras Princess theme.

Up next: Sci-Fi Dine In and Fantasmic!

 

[LisaBelle]

Hope your little man started to feel better. Love the window decorations for your room. Very festive and creative! I never would have thought to do that.

 

[Minnie Sue]

Hope your little man started to feel better. Love the window decorations for your room. Very festive and creative! I never would have thought to do that.

Thank you! I knew about the window decorating from reading Christmas trip reports, LOL. I did luck out in finding Christmas princess window clings that included Tiana (since we were at POFQ) on Amazon.

 

[Tiggerish]

Very entertaining report!!

 

[Minnie Sue]

Very entertaining report!!

Thank you!

 

[Minnie Sue]

December 23, continued

Jonah awoke begrudgingly from his nap and we hopped another quick bus back to Hollywood Studios. I had made an early dinner ADR (4:55 p.m.) at Sci-Fi Dine In Theater since we were seeing the 6:30 p.m. Fantasmic! I had gone back and forth about just having a snack for dinner, but I really wanted to see this restaurant and decided that we might as well since we'd chosen to do the DXDP again.

We arrived a little after 4:00, so we killed some time taking a few pics.

101 Doggie Stockings to hang!

Jonah's face is a study in "Whatever" but Eddie really wanted to do this Photo Op again.

We made our way from the Streets of America over to the Sci-Fi Dine In. We checked in 10 minutes early and there was a quite a crowd ahead of us, with two or three groups attempting a walk-in. We waited about 5 minutes (we were incredibly lucky this trip with reservation seating) and then a hostess showed us to our car.

Jonah and I were in the front, Eddie behind us and cute blonde stranger drifter in the rumble seat, hah!

Sci-Fi was as awesome as I hoped it would be as far as the atmosphere, the setting and the vibe went.

The food was...okayish. As my Granny used to say, "Hunger is the best sauce," and since I'd already eaten a pastry, a salad, pasta and bite of dessert that day, I wasn't feeling terribly saucy. But since I had agreed to get the Dining Plan again, I perused the menu. (In case you haven't guessed, I won't be getting the Deluxe Dining Plan for our third trip. I like paying in advance for meals and not having to keep track of it while on vacation, but it's just so much wasted food for us).

My starters: a chocolate shake and fried pickles. There's this thing where I never order Tex-Mex outside of Texas, and I'm going to have to stop ordering milkshakes and fried pickles outside of Oklahoma. Once you've grown up on Braum's Ice Cream's handpacked milkshakes and Sonic's fried pickles, you just can't go back. The shake was from a mix which, eh, forgivable but the pickles were CHEWY. Frozen breaded vegetable + deep fryer should not equal CHEWY anywhere in these United States.

My main course was a Reuben with a cucumber salad. The Reuben was fine as far as Reubens not from an actual Deli go, a little steamy and soggy, but the cucumber salad was DIVINE. I ate more of it than anything, which allowed me to feel good about me, LOL.

Eddie ordered the artichoke-spinach dip starter and tried to share it with me, but I gestured to the plates barely fitting on my tiny dashboard table and said, "Are you kidding?" He had the burger for his main course, which he said was utterly forgettable. Well, the movie reel was cool!

And then there was Jonah. I ordered the kids mac'n'cheese for him, along with a lemonade in souvenir cup with a clip-on Ariel light. He was somewhat entertained by the light, but was unable to drink, much less eat, without his throat making him wince. His pain kinda sucked all the fun out of the dine in theater for me. It sucks to see your child miserable, ESPECIALLY at Disney World. I asked Eddie to settle the bill, skipped out on dessert and took Jonah to the First Aid Station.

Our service had been good at Sci-Fi, quickly seated and order taken, food delivered. However, she disappeared after dropping our entrees and it would be a loooong time before Eddie met up with us. The First Aid station at DHS is inside the main gate, to the left as you come in. The provider on call was fantastic and gave Jonah children's Ibuprofen and in 10 minutes, I had a changed child!

He and I sat on the shockingly empty bench just inside the gate and people watched. Hollywood Studios was NOT a recommended park for December 23rd because of morning EMH and the likelihood that most people, like us, would be spending the 24 & 25th at either MK or Epcot and would probably choose DHS for the 23rd. Was it busy? Yes. Was it crazy, elbow-to-elbow busy like I feared? No. Granted, that's coming from someone who did Rope Drop, took an afternoon break and was sitting on an avenue with mainly shopping venues, not attractions. But I come from a state whose entire Pop. is only 3 million. I grew up in a town of 600. If *I'm* looking around and thinking, "I've seen more people at the Muskogee County State Fair on Coke can night," it's probably NOT that busy.

Eddie caught up with us, saw that Jonah's zest for life had returned and we headed toward the Hollywood Amphitheater. Jonah decided he was hungry and there was an ice cream shop right across from the theater, so I stopped in and got him his requested bowl of mint chocolate chip (unusual for him, but kinda seasonal) with a snack credit.

Fantasmic! This was our first Fantasmic, and Jonah was super excited because the idea of Sorcerer Mickey fighting all of the Disney bad guys and random appearances by princesses combines most of his favorite things about Disney.

As we went into amphitheater, I saw a stand selling the collectible R2-D2 popcorn buckets Eddie had meaning to pick up and sent him to get one of those. Jonah and I found the dining package seating and, as others have mentioned, it's now prime seating in the center section. We sat about 2/3 of the way down, close enough to feel the fire but not get splashed. I had packed Jonah's NY Rangers Mickey blanket in case we got cold, but it was a perfect warm evening. We folded up the blanket and used it to pad the bleachers instead.

Eddie showed up with R2-D2, a bottle of water and a box of popcorn. I quirked a quizzical brow and wondered at his very serious popcorn needs. He popped R2 open to reveal....half a dozen churros. Dude, what is the DEAL with all of the churros?! He said that these R2s are churro-filled, not popcorn-filled, and he didn't want to spend more time looking for another R2, so he just went with the churros. Jonah dove into the popcorn and I think Eddie ate a churro? Perhaps he passed them around in a display of holiday fervor? I have no idea.

Of course, on our way out, Eddie dropped R2's head topper while trying to juggle blankets, backpacks and jackets. R2-Churro, December 23, 2013--December 23, 2013. We really enjoyed Fantasmic! I was a little confused as to how the Pocahontas opening tied in with the Sorcerer's Apprentice story, but there was FIRE! I did not expect to feel the heat from the fire, and I didn't know about the water projection. Jonah loved this and was attentive the entire time, so if you have a sleepy, slightly-drugged five-year-old, this is still a good bet.

After Fantasmic!, we walked across the street to use our last FP+ of the day.

We did not ride ToT last year, and I don't remember if it was because Jonah wasn't tall enough, or I just assumed it would be too scary. He was excited to ride it this time, but I was nervous. I loved what I had seen of the ride, but becoming a mom has turned my reckless sneer into a nervous tic, LOL. We boarded our elevator and I barely had time to process all of the theming before DROP!

Haha, I am totally soccer-moming Jonah! I couldn't help it! I just got this irrational fear that he was going to pop out of that seat and I alone could save him from his fate. He liked the ride and initially said he wanted to ride it again immediately, but I explained that we were out of FP+ and I needed to wait until, oh, our next trip in 2 or 3 years to get up the nerve again.

During our ToT ride, we missed a MASSIVE rain blast. People were in the ToT gift shop buying shirts and ringing their clothes out on the street corners. We've had a great luck with rain at WDW...it always seems to happen when we're safely inside. We had some time to kill to let the Fantasmic! crowd clear out before we hit the Osborne Lights, so we asked Jonah what he'd like to do to kill some time. Three guesses:

In line for our fourth go around at Star Tours, which was a walk on again after 7:00 p.m.

He seems rather zen about it, but of course adventure...excitement...a Jedi craves not these things.

By the time we walked over to the Streets of America to see the Osborne Lights, the crowds had shrunk dramatically and we were able to wander at will and watch the lights dance. The Photo Pass line was short, too, but our PP pic of the Osborne Lights was terrible. Really awkward 'shot from below' angle. Our camera was back at the resort with the battery charging and I'm afraid my iPhone was just not up to capturing the lights, but I tried.

This was as they danced to Trans Siberian Orchestra's "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" which is one of my Christmas faves.

And our Photo Pass pic

Despite leaving at 8:00 p.m., we did not have a wait for the bus back to POFQ and it wasn't crowded. When we got back to our room, we found that Jonah had a surprise delivery:

Sorry it's blurry; he was excited and would not stand still. It's a personalized Mickey stocking stuffed with a Jedi Mickey.

His first response, though, was to ask, "Can I pop the balloon???" Boys. I had great service from Disney Floral and Gifts. I ordered this for Jonah and a wedding package for friends who Disneymooned at Kidani Village the week before we arrived. Better prices if you do "build your own" and they were incredibly accommodating to special requests, and I could pay with my Disney gift card.

Back in the room early for once, we got ready for bed in order to get up early on Christmas Eve to visit Disney's Animal Kingdom for the first time!

Up next: Tusker House, Festival of the Lion King, Yachtsman Steakhouse!

 

[QueenMum]

Late to the party but all caught up now! I'm super stoked that the crowds weren't too bad. They really need to fix the food at Sci Fi. I've never read a good review. Love the Minnie ears.

 

[Minnie Sue]

Late to the party but all caught up now! I'm super stoked that the crowds weren't too bad. They really need to fix the food at Sci Fi. I've never read a good review. Love the Minnie ears.

My Sci-Fi food was more bland than bad. If I had been hungry, the sandwich and pickles would have been okay. But an instant milkshake is an instant milkshake, LOL.

I was really stressed out about Jonah not feeling well and that kind of colored everything. The popcorn was good, later! Glad you're here!

 

[Minnie Sue]

December 24 - Christmas Eve!

I had initially read blogs stating that Epcot was a good choice for Christmas Day because it "swallowed" the crowds, so I made our Christmas Day plans there. I chose AK for Christmas Eve because I assumed (not ever having gone during the holidays and with one Disney trip under my belt) that it would be much less busy than the MK. A few months later, after I had made our ADRs and more or less locked us into a schedule, I read on Easy WDW that my assumption was wrong, LOL, and the Magic Kingdom was the MOST recommended park for Christmas Eve. AK was having its first EMH in a week (which was not scheduled when I booked our 8:15 a.m. Tusker House ADR) and people saving MK for Christmas Day would be hitting AK hard the day before.

We got up early and got into our matching holiday Mickey shirts (this was a struggle with Eddie who was not especially down with wearing matching Mouse ear shirts. I'd originally chosen a Rudolph Mickey design that Eddie hated, so I changed it to a red, green and giraffe pattern pith helmet design. This was somehow more acceptable to him, haha!). We waited impatiently for the bus for a few minutes and then decided to drive since we had our own car.

The drive wasn't remotely confusing since Disney property is signed so well and we pulled into a prime spot near the entrance just before the 7:00 a.m. EMH time. The plan was to ride Dinosaur and possibly Everest standby during the EMH hour, but Jonah had awoken with continued throat pain and the cough syrup we had was doing nothing for it, so he and I headed off to the First Aid Station while Eddie went to rent a stroller, something we hadn't planned to do this trip, but we hadn't counted on a sick little dude.

The staff at the AK First Aid station was just as wonderful as the DHS station, and after his Ibuprofen, Jonah was dancing his Daisy Duck around the park (he's had her since he was two, and this is her second trip to WDW). We stopped to take a couple of pics while we waited on Eddie (and what turned out to be a mostly unnecessary stroller, of course).

Tree of Life. I was really impressed with how many uninterrupted views we had of this tree throughout the day.

Working on his music.

By the time Eddie caught up with us, there wasn't time to ride a ride before we strolled back toward Tusker House, taking some pics on the way.

Our safari breakfast destination!

We are fans of the character meal, preferably breakfast. In 2012 we ate at Chef Mickeys and the Crystal Palace. Jonah likes them because he likes the characters, and I like them because I don't have to stand in line for a M&G and I feel like my Dining Plan is actually paying for itself. For some reason, it's so much easier for me to pre-pay for a $70 dollar breakfast where Jonah only eats a donut than to pay $20 for that donut in cash. I realize it's the exact same amount, it's just the mental gymnastics.

Donald gave Jonah's Daisy a big kiss on the head. I am absent from pics on Christmas Eve because of humidity + curly hair and feeling a bit blah. Which stunk, because of the matching tee shirts and all.

He's eating! He ate a strawberry and 1 1/2 Krispy Kreme donuts. I realize that wasn't a win for nutrition, but it was food in his empty belly, so yay.

No one expects stealth!Mickey! He was a safari ninja and surprised Jonah from behind, which is impressive for a 5 foot tall mouse! Mickey is absolutely one of my favorite characters to meet -- so incredibly expressive despite the lack of words.

Jonah's favorite: DAISY! She was so excited about his plush Daisy Duck that she forgot to sign his autograph book and Eddie had to chase her down on our last day to get her flower-dotted signature.

Goofy guys. Eddie's 6'2", so that is one tall cartoon dog.

We had a FANTASTIC server! I wish I had noted her name, because I'd add her to the list of wonderful CMs who helped us Christmas week and email WDW with kudos for them. She kept us floating in delicious Jungle Juice, she let us know which of the characters were coming and when and at the end of the meal she brought Eddie a cupcake with candle and joined Jonah and me in singing Happy Birthday and then gave him a card signed by Mickey & the Gang.

We had never visited on one of our birthdays before, and we were amazed at the attention his birthday button got from the CMs. More Happy Birthday greetings than he'd ever received in the same week in his life, and AK set the gold standard....CMs were practically hurdling the tropical vegetation to yell, "Happy Birthday, Eddie!"

After breakfast, Kilimanjaro Safaris was a walk-on before 9:00 a.m. I had scheduled a Fast Pass+ for it, so I switched our FP to a Dinosaur instead. I have an iPhone 4, and I no problems using the MDE app to change the experience or time for our FP+ reservations EXCEPT on our very last day when Splash gave me problems because it was closed for maintenance.

I stayed home with Jonah until he turned 5 and he started full-day kindergarten. One of our semi-weekly jaunts was to Oklahoma City's Zoo and botanical garden, so I was surprised at how much he enjoyed the safari ride. He was especially taken with the elephants and the giraffes, which we have incredible sanctuaries for at our zoo, so maybe it was just the safari truck novelty? Either way, suddenly the animals were shiny and new.

We took a scenic route from the safaris to the Adventurers Outpost for our M&G with Holiday Mickey and Minnie.

Detail of carvings on the Tree of Life

I loved this. I thought AK was beautiful. I could have walked around it for hours, attractions unnecessary.

My dudes (and Daisy).

(Continued)