Trip Report *COMPLETED* Simply Having a Magical Christmastime - Nov/Dec 2022

Hellloooo humans! And Happy Holidays! I had every intention of starting this trip report earlier in the month, but work has been busy busy busy ever since we returned from vacation, and of course we had Christmas preparations as well. Nevertheless, I'm ready to get this report cranked out while the memories are still fresh on my mind! Let's get this party started!

Who: Me (Katie), my husband Jason, and our then 17-month-old son, Lincoln

When: Sunday, November 27th - Friday, December 2nd

Where: All Star Movies

As I mentioned in my Pre-Trip Report, we're planning to drop down to one trip per year starting in 2023 - a bittersweet decision after several years of J and I being passholders - so we tried to soak up as much of the magic as possible on this trip. Lincoln is at a really fun age, and he had an absolute blast on this trip. We're already looking forward to next year!

 

[Sr Cara de Papa]

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This is a great picture!

 

[k8einwdw]

Love the story of L meeting Tigger! And the pictures are really cute!

Also, that picture of the castle at night is amazing!!

The story of L meeting Tiger has just made my day!

I'm loving following along!

It was definitely a magical moment for all of us! Of course, Santa had to bring L a Tigger plush for Christmas to commemorate his special experience.

This is a great picture!

Thank you! I'm crossing all of my fingers and toes that they bring back the Dreamlights during the holidays this year, since the 50th Anniversary will be over!

 

[k8einwdw]

Wednesday, November 30th - Hollywood Studios Day - Continued

After we had finished our coffees (and L had finished his cocoa puffs), we walked around for a little while, in an attempt to get L to take a nap in the stroller. We walked through the shops in Galaxy's Edge, and made our way back to the front of the park and walked through the shops on Hollywood and Sunset. Admittedly, it maybe wasn't the best idea to let L eat cocoa puffs right before naptime, because he was not interested in napping at that time.

We popped in to the Baby Care Center to change L's diaper, and change him into some shorts, as it was getting a little toasty outside. The HS Baby Care Center is probably our least favorite, for two reasons - 1) It is alllll the way at the front of the park, so if you're all the way back in Galaxy's Edge, it is a haul to get up there, and 2) you have to enter through Guest Services, which always feels a little awkward when there's a long line of people waiting at Guest Services. J and I have both said that it would be so much more convenient if they put it in the massive building that houses ABC Commissary. After changing L, J and I both needed a bathroom break, so we stopped off at the restrooms near the front of the park, where we saw Daisy. L was so excited to see her, and she waved and blew kisses to him while she was out there.

Since L wasn't interested in napping, we decided to take him to the Disney Junior Dance Party to hopefully wear him out. L loved the dance party, but he wanted to run around independently like some of the bigger kids were doing, and there was no way I was going to risk him making a run for it. Thankfully, they keep this show at around 15 minutes - just long enough to get some energy out without losing interest.

After the dance party, the time had come for our ROTR Lightning Lane return time, and in a shocking turn of events...the ride was actually up and running. I went first this time, since it was my first time riding. Every time we had a pause in line, I was convinced that the ride was down, and I'd be missing out again. When we finally reached this spot, I breathed a sigh of relief.

And nothing can prepare you for this moment - I'd seen countless pictures online, but it is so much cooler/more intimidating in person.

I did get a little nervous again when we had to wait in line again to be split into groups for interrogation - we were at a standstill for what seemed like forever.

Thankfully, we made it through, and onto the actual ride!

While I'm not the world's biggest Star Wars fan, I have watched all of the movies with J, as well as some of the Disney+ series. But, after I got off of ROTR, I found myself asking...that was it? It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it - it is a fun ride, and a cool experience. I think I had built it up in my mind to be this life-changing event, because I had waited so long to ride it, and had been let down so many times. I think if I had been able to experience ROTR with Jason my first time, it would have felt more exciting. Now that I know what to expect, I hope to get more out of it in the future.

After I got off, I met up with Jason to take over with Lincoln, who had finally fallen asleep while I'd been on the ride. While J rode, L and I strolled around Galaxy's Edge - even though I've been to HS six times since this land opened, I still manage to get turned around every time.

Up next: More strolling, MMRR, and will we make it to our lunch reservation?

 

[k8einwdw]

Wednesday, November 30th - Hollywood Studios Day - Continued

After strolling through Galaxy's Edge, I headed over to the Muppets Courtyard area to stroll around with L, and J eventually met us at the Muppet Fountain.

L woke up from his nap, and J and I wanted to go into the Christmas store, but found out that it still hadn't reopened since the COVID closures.

Every time we’re in this area, we mourn the loss of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights. We only got to see it once, in 2015, the last year they did the lights before they closed the Streets of America to make way for Galaxy’s Edge. I’m still shocked that they haven’t brought it back in some form. As a special treat, please enjoy these super high quality photos from the ancient iPhone I had in 2015.

MMRR had come back up, and we had about half an hour before our lunch reservation, so we decided to head over there.

Since it had been down most of the morning, the Lightning Lane was pretty backed up. At one point while we were in line, the ride went down again, and we were at a standstill for about 15 minutes. We considered bailing, but it finally came back up. They skipped the pre-show - I don't know if the pre-show was the reason the ride had been down, or if they were just trying to get people through the line quickly. Finally, we made it on to the ride, and got off with a couple minutes to spare before our lunch reservation.

Thankfully, we didn't have far to go - we were having lunch at Hollywood & Vine. I checked us in on the app, and we waited over by Echo Lake for our name to be called.

Up next: The cutest character meal

 

[Disstevefan1]

Wednesday, November 30th - Hollywood Studios Day - Continued

After strolling through Galaxy's Edge, I headed over to the Muppets Courtyard area to stroll around with L, and J eventually met us at the Muppet Fountain.

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L woke up from his nap, and J and I wanted to go into the Christmas store, but found out that it still hadn't reopened since the COVID closures.

View attachment 691448

Every time we’re in this area, we mourn the loss of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights. We only got to see it once, in 2015, the last year they did the lights before they closed the Streets of America to make way for Galaxy’s Edge. I’m still shocked that they haven’t brought it back in some form. As a special treat, please enjoy these super high quality photos from the ancient iPhone I had in 2015.

View attachment 691453
View attachment 691454

MMRR had come back up, and we had about half an hour before our lunch reservation, so we decided to head over there.

View attachment 691449
View attachment 691450

Since it had been down most of the morning, the Lightning Lane was pretty backed up. At one point while we were in line, the ride went down again, and we were at a standstill for about 15 minutes. We considered bailing, but it finally came back up. They skipped the pre-show - I don't know if the pre-show was the reason the ride had been down, or if they were just trying to get people through the line quickly. Finally, we made it on to the ride, and got off with a couple minutes to spare before our lunch reservation.

View attachment 691451

Thankfully, we didn't have far to go - we were having lunch at Hollywood & Vine. I checked us in on the app, and we waited over by Echo Lake for our name to be called.

View attachment 691452

Up next: The cutest character meal

Excellent trip report!!! Looks like the Genie is treating you great!

But, now you did it! I MISS the Osborne lights

 

[Bullseye1967]

Wednesday, November 30th - Hollywood Studios Day - Continued

After strolling through Galaxy's Edge, I headed over to the Muppets Courtyard area to stroll around with L, and J eventually met us at the Muppet Fountain.

View attachment 691446
View attachment 691447

L woke up from his nap, and J and I wanted to go into the Christmas store, but found out that it still hadn't reopened since the COVID closures.

View attachment 691448

Every time we’re in this area, we mourn the loss of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights. We only got to see it once, in 2015, the last year they did the lights before they closed the Streets of America to make way for Galaxy’s Edge. I’m still shocked that they haven’t brought it back in some form. As a special treat, please enjoy these super high quality photos from the ancient iPhone I had in 2015.

View attachment 691453
View attachment 691454

MMRR had come back up, and we had about half an hour before our lunch reservation, so we decided to head over there.

View attachment 691449
View attachment 691450

Since it had been down most of the morning, the Lightning Lane was pretty backed up. At one point while we were in line, the ride went down again, and we were at a standstill for about 15 minutes. We considered bailing, but it finally came back up. They skipped the pre-show - I don't know if the pre-show was the reason the ride had been down, or if they were just trying to get people through the line quickly. Finally, we made it on to the ride, and got off with a couple minutes to spare before our lunch reservation.

View attachment 691451

Thankfully, we didn't have far to go - we were having lunch at Hollywood & Vine. I checked us in on the app, and we waited over by Echo Lake for our name to be called.

View attachment 691452

Up next: The cutest character meal

The lights were donated to the Give Kids the World display, so they were put to good use!

 

[k8einwdw]

Excellent trip report!!! Looks like the Genie is treating you great!

But, now you did it! I MISS the Osborne lights

We had great luck with Genie+ this trip - I don't know if that was due to experience, research, crowd levels, pure luck, or a combination of all of them.

I think if I could bring back one extinct attraction/show at WDW, it would be the Osborne lights. Close second would be the Jammin' Jungle Parade.

The lights were donated to the Give Kids the World display, so they were put to good use!

I knew they did holiday lights at GKTW, but didn't know they had come from WDW! I'm glad they're not just sitting in a warehouse going to waste.

 

[k8einwdw]

Wednesday, November 30th - Hollywood Studios Day - Continued

A few minutes after checking in at Hollywood & Vine, we were brought inside and seated. Our server came to take our drink orders and explain the buffet situation, and some friends stopped by as soon as she left the table.

There are four characters that you meet during your meal - the day we were there, it was Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy - I think that is the standard lineup, but that can always change. The seating at Hollywood & Vine is split right down the middle, and they will have two characters on one side of the restaurant and two on the other. Then, every 15 minutes or so, they'll play a little song, and the characters will swap sides.

After Goofy and Pluto had come by, we took turns going up to the buffet to get food. This was our first character buffet, so I don't know if it's this way everywhere, but they had a section of the buffet with kid-friendly foods like chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, etc, that was built shorter than the rest of the buffet, so kids could easily get their own food. Of course, that meant that adults had to hunch over to get anything from that section. I thought it was cute though, and great for kids who are old enough to be a little more independent.

I got L some chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, peas, watermelon, and cucumbers. He was a big fan of the mac and cheese and watermelon, so much so that Jason went back up to get him an entire plate of watermelon later in the meal. J and I sampled a bit of everything. They had a mushroom risotto that was surprisingly good.

After we all got our food, Mickey and Minnie came by, and L demonstrated his best table manners.

L had been asking for a cookie, so I promised him that I would get him a cookie at lunch. Unfortunately, they didn't have cookies at the buffet, but he happily settled for a cupcake.

Mickey came by again while L was enjoying his cupcake, and L could not be bothered to interact with Mickey.

In total, all of the characters came by our table twice.

This meal wasn't cheap - I want to say we paid about $55/person (thankfully L still eats free at buffets), but it was 100% worth it for the character interaction. We're already looking forward to doing another character meal on our next trip!

Up next: Everyone is Mater

 

[Swissmiss]

I know I already said it but L is just too cute

 

[cgersic]

Oh my heavens every one of those photos is just priceless!!! Agree, totally worth it!

 

[Wicked Sisters]

Lincoln’s interactions with the characters are adorable and I look at a cupcake the same way Lincoln is in the photo.

 

[MickeyCB]

After we all got our food, Mickey and Minnie came by, and L demonstrated his best table manners.

Mickey is dying inside!

 

[k8einwdw]

I know I already said it but L is just too cute

Thank you!

Oh my heavens every one of those photos is just priceless!!! Agree, totally worth it!

He was crazy about the characters on this trip. I hope it stays that way for a long time!

Lincoln’s interactions with the characters are adorable and I look at a cupcake the same way Lincoln is in the photo.

That kid loves cake. When I told him that Jason's birthday was coming up after Christmas, the first words out of his mouth were "Happy Birthday, Dada! CAKE?!?"

Mickey is dying inside!

Mickey was a good sport, but we were all cracking up at Lincoln stuffing his face while Mickey was at our table.

 

[k8einwdw]

Wednesday, November 30th - Hollywood Studios Day - Continued

After we had finished lunch and paid our bill, we headed out of Hollywood Studios. We wanted to take Lincoln to see the Cars section at Art of Animation, so we hopped on the Skyliner and headed over there. I probably mentioned it earlier in the report, but L was crazy about the Skyliner on this trip. He has a hard time saying Ls and Rs (he calls himself Incoln), and anytime he saw the Skyliner, and several times when we were on it, he would exclaim "Sky Yinah!"

When we made it over to AoA, we popped in to the main building to see the Christmas tree, and grab some Powerades for J and I, since we were both parched.

Afterward, we headed over to the Cars section. I got L out of the stroller and let him walk with the wrist leash, which he enjoyed. We took things at his pace, which meant a lot of stopping to look at plants, and circling around to see the cars multiple times. L has "watched" all three Cars movies, and he recognizes some of the characters. Mater is his favorite.

After we saw Mater first, L was calling all of the cars Mater. He now knows that this is "McKeen," but he still calls his McQueen toy Mater sometimes.

He also loved Miss Sally, and was sure to remind us that she was a "boo cah."

After L had had his fill of walking around to see the cars, we headed back to the Skyliner to get our car from HS. It was about time for L to go down for another nap, and J and I debated on what we should do for the rest of the day. I initially suggested heading to Disney Springs, but J said that he felt like we'd done everything there. We ended up decided to go to the outlet mall on Vineland to see if the Character Warehouse had anything we wanted. L napped in the car on the way there.

Right as we got in to the outlet mall, I tripped on the walkway where a portion of the pavement was not level. I managed to roll my ankle and bust my knee, and embarrass myself in front of a ton of people in the process. Thankfully, we had some wipes and band-aids with us, so I was able to get myself cleaned up, and limped the rest of the way through the outlet mall. At the Character Warehouse, we didn't find anything we loved, and I wasn't up to walking all over the outlet mall, so we decided to head back to the car. That was the second time we'd been to that outlet mall, and both times, something bad had happened - the first time, we'd seen a bird fly right into a store window. We decided we'd skip the outlet mall from now on.

After we left, we decided we'd just grab dinner from somewhere outside of the Disney bubble to try to save some money. We ended up ordering dinner from Tijuana Flats, since we'd seen Tim and Jenn Tracker rave about their food. We placed a to-go order and took it back to the hotel to eat, getting stuck in rush-hour traffic on the way back to Disney. I don't remember what each of us got, but I do remember that we all really enjoyed our dinner.

After dinner, we facetimed the grandparents for a little bit before getting L bathed and down to bed around 8:40. I spent the rest of the night resting with my ankle elevated, in hopes that I'd be able to walk around Epcot the next day. Even though it had been a short park day, we felt like it was the best day we'd had at HS in a while.

Up next: Our last park day

 

[k8einwdw]

Thursday, December 1st - Epcot Day

Lincoln woke up just before my 6:30 am alarm - Epcot was opening to resort guests at 8:30 this morning, and we wanted to try to be out of the room around 7:30. I purchased Genie+ for the day ($15/person again), and at 7:00, I made our first selections - SSE for 9:00-10:00, and GOTG Cosmic Rewind for 9:15-10:15.

We got ourselves and L ready, L had his first breakfast, and we were heading out of the room at 7:40. The Epcot parking lot was practically deserted when we got there, and we were able to get a really good parking spot. We chatted with the parking attendants for a minute, and one of them gave L a sticker, which he promptly tried to eat. We made it through security and in to the park just before 8:00.

When we arrived, we headed over to the righthand side, with the intention of rope-dropping the Seas, followed by Living with the Land, and then Figment. Imagine our surprise when the Seas, Land, and Imagination pavilions were all closed. In fact, those three pavilions didn't open until 11:00 that day. I don't know if that's something new they're doing, or if it was just that day, but we were a little miffed that no one said anything to us while we were all waiting for the park to open. I guess they wanted everyone on that side of the park to go to Ratatouille first.

Ratatouille wasn't a must-do for us, so we rope-dropped Joffrey's. J and I both got the seasonal Horchata cold brew. J enjoyed his, but I felt that it had a strange aftertaste, and ended up tossing half of mine.

While we were drinking our coffees, we saw that SSE only had a five-minute wait, so we decided to cancel our LL and wait in standby. In its place, we got Frozen Ever After, since L had never ridden, and the he is a big fan of "Let it Go."

While on SSE, we got stopped in the living room scene for a couple minutes - long enough to zoom in and see that the current record on display was Jerry Lee Lewis.

J was holding L in his lap, and held him up for the picture at the beginning of the ride. We also let L choose from the different options on the screen - we evidently live in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and in the future, I'm only going to have half a face, and L is going to be a workaholic.

Up next: More Future World fun

 

[Spash007]

We chatted with the parking attendants for a minute, and one of them gave L a sticker, which he promptly tried to eat. We made it through security and in to the park just before 8:00.

I legit laughed out loud at this, because that sounds like something my L would do and I completely feel that emoji

 

[amjt660]

so we rope-dropped Joffrey's

too funny!!

Max

 

[k8einwdw]

I legit laughed out loud at this, because that sounds like something my L would do and I completely feel that emoji

You have to pick your battles with toddlers.

too funny!!

Max

When the choices are Test Track, Mission Space, and coffee, I'm always going to choose coffee.

 

[k8einwdw]

Thursday, December 1st - Epcot Day - Continued

By the time we got out of SSE, we only had a few minutes before our LL return time for GOTG Cosmic Rewind. We took the opportunity for a restroom break, and a SSE photoshoot.

When we got to GOTG, Jason went first, while I waited with Lincoln. I waited forever to get this shot of the monorail, SSE, and the Starblaster.

When J got off, he found L and I, and made sure to let me know to go alllll the way to the righthand side to scan in with my LL. He had tried to enter on the furthest-right boarding group line, and was scolded by a CM for being in the wrong place. Wouldn't you know it, I did the same exact thing. To be fair the Lightning Lane sign isn't centered above the Lightning Lane entrance. Anywho, I breezed through the LL queue, and soon enough, I was getting on the ride.

They did a "holiday remix" song for the onboard music during the Festival of the Holidays. When they announced that they'd be doing a holiday overlay, I (and I'm sure many others) thought they'd be playing some iconic holiday songs from the 70s and 80s, but instead, they played "Run Run Rocket," a remix of "Run Run Rudolph." It was cute, but I'm sure it would have been more enjoyable to hear "Last Christmas" by Wham, or "Santa Claus is Comin to Town" by the Jackson 5. Maybe they just didn't want to pay the royalties - we all know Disney is hurting for money right now. Regardless, the ride was fun, as always. The guy who rode next to me kept his hands over his eyes the whole time, but he was whooping throughout the ride, so I guess he had fun? Maybe he just had motion sickness and didn't want to look around during the ride.

After I got off the ride, L had fallen asleep, so we strolled through some of the shops while he napped. In Mouse Gear Creations Shop. we bought 3 Munchlings to give L for Christmas, as well as a bubble wand. There was a large bird (I think maybe a crow) flying around the ceiling of the store, so we didn't spend any more time in there than we needed to. We also went through the Disney Traders shops at the entrance of World Showcase, so that we could grab a wrist gift card to use at the festival booths.

After we had finished our shopping, we sat at a bench outside of one of the Disney Traders shops to open and put together L's bubble wand so he could have it when he woke up. I also took the opportunity to grab a pic of the Epcot Christmas tree. J always insists that this tree is crooked.

After a short nap, L woke up, and we let him play with the bubble wand for a few minutes. He called it "Bubble Party."

We were feeling a little hungry, so we stopped by the Mele Kalikimaka booth, where we got the Kalua Pork with Okinawa sweet potatoes and mango salad ($5.50). J and I both thought that the pork had great flavor, and L devoured the sweet potatoes.

While we were in line at the booth, I saw that the Seas, Land, and Imagination pavilions were finally open, so when we had finished our snack, we headed over to the Land pavilion to ride LWTL. This was L's second time riding, and we were afraid he might get bored, but he really enjoyed it! So much so, that when we got off the ride, he signed "more" and said "more peas!" I thought the holiday overlay was really cute - we hadn't seen it since 2020, and it seemed like they had added some extra decorations since then.

Up next: Manatees, Baby Shark, and a purple dragon.

 

[k8einwdw]

Thursday, December 1st - Epcot Day - Continued

After riding Living with the Land, we exited the Land pavilion, and headed over to the Seas pavilion. We decided to skip the ride, and just head straight for the aquarium. We first made a stop to see our friends Lou and Lil' Joe. I told L how before he was born, Mommy and Daddy went kayaking in Florida and had a manatee swim right up next to us. He wasn't impressed.

We took our time letting L enjoy the aquarium. He sang "Baby Shark" to the sharks...when that song became wildly popular a few years ago, I vowed that it would never be played in my house. Well, never say never. We also saw the dolphins jumping and diving around in their tank - it looked like there were some people in wetsuits up at the top of the tank, so we were thinking they must have been doing the dolphin encounter.

After the Seas, we headed over to the Imagination pavilion...

Where L got to ride Journey into Imagination for the first time. We weren't sure how he would react with the loud blast toward the end of the ride (he's a little skiddish about loud noises), but he seemed to enjoy the ride. He was dancing along to the music.

We had to stop here for a photo op, since Lincoln's nickname is Link (and Linky, Linky , Linky Dinky Doo, Stinky Linky, etc).

While we were in the Imagination pavilion, we popped in to the Short Film Festival building to meet Mickey in his classic tux.

Up next: Festival of the Holidays fun