I will do my best just to give the highlights though it will kill me to be brief
I was traveling with my 4 year old daughter Michelle.
Drove down Friday 12/3. Left late and stopped several times along the way so didn't get to WDW till about 9:00. Checked in at AS Music. Quick check-in which was nice, our rooms were in building 5 in the Country Fair. Bad news is it was Pop Warner week and the entire parking lot on the right side of the resort was full. So I drove around and parked by building 6 where there were lots of empty spaces. Our room was the farthest from the elevators on the 3rd floor. A bit of a hike from the bus stop but nice and quiet once we got there.
Saturday we slept in then headed to MGM. Bought a Pal Mickey as we entered the park. Our first stop was the Magic of Disney Animation to meet the Incredibles. When we were at WDW last summer they didn't have anything after the little presentation with Mushu so the whole interactive area was new to us. Saw Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl and Frozone. That was very cool.
Met up with the WDWMagic gang at the RnR but didn't do the rides. I used my daughter as my excuse but really I'm a wimp and wouldn't have ridden even if I was by myself! Sorry guys. Instead we went and watched the Beauty and the Beast stage show. It is great! Four for a $ were fantastic too - I meant to buy their CD but forgot. Then we watched the Hollywood Holly Days parade and went to the IJSS. The show was great but the best part was the firey explosions because we were COLD! Who knew it was going to be coat and gloves weather (at least for us from NC!)
After the show we went to 50s PTC and met up with the meet people again. You would think that with Disney pushing the Grand Gatherings theme, the restaurants would have a better plan for seating large groups together. Instead we ended up in different rooms. Michelle and I sat with ClemsonTigger and KevinPage and his wife and daughter. Our server was Uncle Tim who was the same server my husband and I got on our trip in August. What I ate for dinner escapes me at this moment but I had the smore's for dessert. Yummy - but made with 16 marshmellows which is way too many for one person. So I didn't finish it, but still probably ate more than my yearly quota of marshmellows.
After dinner we headed to the Osborne lights. But I somehow went in the wrong direction and ended up having to turn around. Lost the whole group. The lights were amazing. You can totally see why the Osborne's neighbors complained!
Sunday I had scheduled a wake up call. I was not happy to be awakened to Stitch screaming in my ear. I love the Mickey wake up calls, but the rest of the trip we used the alarm clock if we needed to wake up early. At 9:40 we had breakfast with Mary Poppins at 1900 Park Faire. I underestimated how long it would take to get there using Disney transportation so we were late but it was no problem. Lots of empty tables in the restaurant. After breakfast we headed to the MK. Rode the train around and started in MTTF. Saw Mickey in the Judge's tent and were introduced to the terrific idea of the Photo Pass. That's great.
Made it as far as Fantasyland and were surprised to see some random character greetings - Max, Pinocchio and Donald were there next to Mrs. Potts'. Poor Max - people don't know who he is! I even heard one person tell their child: "look, there's Mickey's son!" Aaargh.
Rode the Carrousel and Snow White then used FPs for Philharmagic. We ended up sitting in the very front row which is way too close for me. The 3D glasses give me a headache if I sit closer than the middle of the theater. But the show is still great. Got FPs for PP then went to meet Ariel. The wait was pretty long (for a character). We were almost to the front of the line, after having waited about 30 minutes and some women behind me were talking about the "attraction." No kids, just three 50-something women. I don't usually butt in but said to them, "you do know this is just the line to meet Ariel, right? There's no ride or anything." And they didn't believe me!!! One of them said, "oh, I'm sure there's a ride." I showed them on the park map that its just a character greeting area. Another one of them said, "no, there's a theater in there and a show." Aaargh. We finally got up to where the CM was waiting and they asked her about the "attraction." She of course told them exactly what I'd told them. One of the women said, "isn't there a Little Mermaid show somewhere?" and the CM told her it was at MGM. So these ladies who had no desire to meet Ariel left the line after waiting about 40 minutes. Nitwits. Can't people read park maps??
Saw the Sword in the Stone ceremony on our way to Cosmic Ray's for dinner. Sat in the lounge and had Sonny Eclipse entertain us while we ate. Then back to Fantasyland to use our FPs on Peter Pan before leaving the park which was closing at 6 for MVMCP. Rode the bus back to ASMu and decided to call it a night.
Drove down Friday 12/3. Left late and stopped several times along the way so didn't get to WDW till about 9:00. Checked in at AS Music. Quick check-in which was nice, our rooms were in building 5 in the Country Fair. Bad news is it was Pop Warner week and the entire parking lot on the right side of the resort was full. So I drove around and parked by building 6 where there were lots of empty spaces. Our room was the farthest from the elevators on the 3rd floor. A bit of a hike from the bus stop but nice and quiet once we got there.
Saturday we slept in then headed to MGM. Bought a Pal Mickey as we entered the park. Our first stop was the Magic of Disney Animation to meet the Incredibles. When we were at WDW last summer they didn't have anything after the little presentation with Mushu so the whole interactive area was new to us. Saw Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl and Frozone. That was very cool.
Met up with the WDWMagic gang at the RnR but didn't do the rides. I used my daughter as my excuse but really I'm a wimp and wouldn't have ridden even if I was by myself! Sorry guys. Instead we went and watched the Beauty and the Beast stage show. It is great! Four for a $ were fantastic too - I meant to buy their CD but forgot. Then we watched the Hollywood Holly Days parade and went to the IJSS. The show was great but the best part was the firey explosions because we were COLD! Who knew it was going to be coat and gloves weather (at least for us from NC!)
After the show we went to 50s PTC and met up with the meet people again. You would think that with Disney pushing the Grand Gatherings theme, the restaurants would have a better plan for seating large groups together. Instead we ended up in different rooms. Michelle and I sat with ClemsonTigger and KevinPage and his wife and daughter. Our server was Uncle Tim who was the same server my husband and I got on our trip in August. What I ate for dinner escapes me at this moment but I had the smore's for dessert. Yummy - but made with 16 marshmellows which is way too many for one person. So I didn't finish it, but still probably ate more than my yearly quota of marshmellows.
After dinner we headed to the Osborne lights. But I somehow went in the wrong direction and ended up having to turn around. Lost the whole group. The lights were amazing. You can totally see why the Osborne's neighbors complained!
Sunday I had scheduled a wake up call. I was not happy to be awakened to Stitch screaming in my ear. I love the Mickey wake up calls, but the rest of the trip we used the alarm clock if we needed to wake up early. At 9:40 we had breakfast with Mary Poppins at 1900 Park Faire. I underestimated how long it would take to get there using Disney transportation so we were late but it was no problem. Lots of empty tables in the restaurant. After breakfast we headed to the MK. Rode the train around and started in MTTF. Saw Mickey in the Judge's tent and were introduced to the terrific idea of the Photo Pass. That's great.
Made it as far as Fantasyland and were surprised to see some random character greetings - Max, Pinocchio and Donald were there next to Mrs. Potts'. Poor Max - people don't know who he is! I even heard one person tell their child: "look, there's Mickey's son!" Aaargh.
Rode the Carrousel and Snow White then used FPs for Philharmagic. We ended up sitting in the very front row which is way too close for me. The 3D glasses give me a headache if I sit closer than the middle of the theater. But the show is still great. Got FPs for PP then went to meet Ariel. The wait was pretty long (for a character). We were almost to the front of the line, after having waited about 30 minutes and some women behind me were talking about the "attraction." No kids, just three 50-something women. I don't usually butt in but said to them, "you do know this is just the line to meet Ariel, right? There's no ride or anything." And they didn't believe me!!! One of them said, "oh, I'm sure there's a ride." I showed them on the park map that its just a character greeting area. Another one of them said, "no, there's a theater in there and a show." Aaargh. We finally got up to where the CM was waiting and they asked her about the "attraction." She of course told them exactly what I'd told them. One of the women said, "isn't there a Little Mermaid show somewhere?" and the CM told her it was at MGM. So these ladies who had no desire to meet Ariel left the line after waiting about 40 minutes. Nitwits. Can't people read park maps??
Saw the Sword in the Stone ceremony on our way to Cosmic Ray's for dinner. Sat in the lounge and had Sonny Eclipse entertain us while we ate. Then back to Fantasyland to use our FPs on Peter Pan before leaving the park which was closing at 6 for MVMCP. Rode the bus back to ASMu and decided to call it a night.