I just got back from an 11 night vacation at Riverside (will always be Dixie Landings to me).
December 18-23: Not too bad. Pretty cold at night but the crowds weren't too bad.
December 24-29: Horrendous crowds. Will not do Disney World between Christmas and New Year's ever again.
Christmas Day: Felt like any other day. Went to the Magic Kingdom for about two hours in the evening and the crowds were disgusting. The line to get the bus back to Riverside was through all the corrals of bus stops 5 & 6, then heading back down the center aisle towards the MK. And don't think they had two busses coming at a time, either.
Magic Kingdom: The Timekeeper was open Christmas weekend so I went on it on Christmas Eve. The Carousel of Progress had a few changes, most noticeably the coloured lights on the Christmas tree in the final scene. I finally got to see the Noodle Station open (and very crowded). Unfortunately, none of the food looked good to me. Lots of rides on the TTA. Tried the new pizzafied Pinocchio Village Haus. I'm satisfied with that but I noticed a few people who were not in the know about the menu change who were a little miffed. My mom liked the minestrone soup. My dad did not like the Italian sandwich. I liked the pizza, as always. The River Boat is on rehab but I noticed it backstage while on the train. Country Bear Jamboree Christmas show was good, as always. The rest of the audience seemed to really enjoy it as well. I went on Splash Mountain with a ridiculously short wait. They were running both sides of Pirates, so I chose the left side because it never seems to be running. Tried a "citrus swirl" (vanilla ice cream & frozen orange juice) from that little place now behind the Aladdin magic carpets. I wasn't too thrilled with it because the orange juice was like ice next to that creamy ice cream. I expected something more like a creamsicle. Parents had a Dole Whip which was apparently good.
Epcot: Lines for Spaceship Earth! Had to wait in the loading area while they found out who got out of their time travel vehicle. That was an experience. Got on Soarin' once during EMH and still had to wait 45 minutes. Not happy about them not giving out Fastpasses for EMH anymore. Impossible to get on Soarin' during the day unless you get a Fastpass before 11a or want to wait 90 minutes or more. Got on Test Track with Fastpasses and during EMH. Broke down a couple of times. Journey Into Your Imagination with Figment: still sad. The Living Seas: I like the new colour scheme. I miss the hydrolators. I miss the queue. I miss the film. It doesn't feel like the Living Seas anymore. Universe of Energy: finally got on it on the 28th. Tried to get on a few days earlier but it broke down. Maelstrom: long waits. I saw the Norway film for the first time in years. El Rio Del Tiempo: love. My dad and I shared a margarita slush in Mexico. Boy was that yummy. My mom did not approve of our drunkness. I'm 19, 20 next week, so my mom felt I shouldn't have had the alcohol, even though she knows I drink. But my dad is more laid back. So I finally got my margarita and my mom got to watch my dad and I be very silly.
MGM: New scenes added to the Great Movie Ride. Short wait for Star Tours when I was there. Finally saw One Man's Dream and loved it. Osbourne Lights are AMAZING. I had to go back and see them again. Did LMA take up almost the entire backstage tour area or what? It's not even worth going on anymore. Very disappointed. The state of cleanliness of the Toy Story Pizza Planet was horrendous. The condiment bar was a mess; there were no napkins in the dispenser, trays all over, soda splashed all over, dressing open in the bins. Yucky.
Animal Kingdom: I love Pizzafari so much. Looks like they're doing some work on the mural in the big room in the back. Got early Fastpasses for the safari both times I went on. Everest is coming along nicely. It looks the most realistic of all the Disney mountains.
Downtown Disney: Work is being done on the World of Disney.
MVMCP (20th): No snow on Main Street that we saw. Different cookies from last year but still good. I don't recall MVMCP cups or napkins last year either. Got cookies & cocoa inside the Diamond Horseshoe. Got our picture taken in the Adventureland Veranda (yay!). Saw the parade from Frontierland. I fell asleep during it last year so it was nice to see the whole thing this time. Holiday Wishes wasn't as great as I thought it'd be; I prefer regular Wishes. Got a MVMCP shirt and two pins (Tink and Donald).
Shopping: I bought two Everest shirts at Belz for $5 each. Why is there Everest merchandise in the outlets already? Lots of Christmas pins. Got the whole set of pins with the stockings. Epcot Holidays Around the World pins and the Passholder exclusive. A new CoP pin I got at the AK. The new set of vintage Disneyland pins (all bought). Looks like they're making new Flora, Fauna, & Merryweather pins as there are none out. Overall we spent a few hundred dollars on pins.
Contemporary: construction on the south wing looks good. I can't wait to see the finalised rooms for myself.
Dining: Chef Mickey's was booked solid on Christmas. We had a 5p PS and didn't get in until 5:30p. They seemed to be very unorganized and I was not happy. Christmas Eve dinner at Liberty Tree. The food was good but we weren't too excited about it. We got seated on someone else's PS for some reason. Ours was for 5p for 3 adults. We got seated with someone's for 4:30p with 2 adults and 2 kids (5 & 9), one of whom must've been having a birthday because the table had all confetti and streamers on it. Oh well. Food situation at the MK was horrendous on the 28th. Lines to get into Pinocchio's and Cosmic Ray's. Only one door of Pinocchio's was open and there was no sign to tell you where to go, only CM's standing at every other door saying it was an exit only. That made me cranky. Breakfast at Chef Mickey's was good; yummy pancakes. Overheard a CM tell a guest that the Grand Floridian opened in the mid-90's. Where do they get this info?
Riverside: Eh. We're really not too thrilled with it. We've come to realize we're happiest when we stay at the MK, especially the Contemporary. The last two times we went at Christmas time we stayed at the Wildy and the Poly and we were happier there.
Airplane: flew Allegiant Air from SWF to Sanford. Good flight, no problems. My dad got chosen for extra security at SWF. Pretty much got molested. Made me angry.
Security at the theme parks: makes me so cranky. Don't put your hands in my purse and rummage through it. My dad has a large stomach resembling a pregnant woman's belly. Yes, it's solid like that, not like a beer belly. Had security officers on more than one occassion ask him what he had in there and then exclaimed, "Oh! That's you!" Very inappropriate if you ask me. I feel no safer with bag check.
And back home... the Pizza Hut my boyfriend worked at just randomly up and closed the day after Christmas so now he has to work at a different one about 15-20 minutes away in a different town and he isn't getting the same hours and we are not happy. But now minimum wage went up to $6.75 so now my dad has to give me a raise. And I'll be making $10/hr at he YMCA starting next Saturday.
December 18-23: Not too bad. Pretty cold at night but the crowds weren't too bad.
December 24-29: Horrendous crowds. Will not do Disney World between Christmas and New Year's ever again.
Christmas Day: Felt like any other day. Went to the Magic Kingdom for about two hours in the evening and the crowds were disgusting. The line to get the bus back to Riverside was through all the corrals of bus stops 5 & 6, then heading back down the center aisle towards the MK. And don't think they had two busses coming at a time, either.
Magic Kingdom: The Timekeeper was open Christmas weekend so I went on it on Christmas Eve. The Carousel of Progress had a few changes, most noticeably the coloured lights on the Christmas tree in the final scene. I finally got to see the Noodle Station open (and very crowded). Unfortunately, none of the food looked good to me. Lots of rides on the TTA. Tried the new pizzafied Pinocchio Village Haus. I'm satisfied with that but I noticed a few people who were not in the know about the menu change who were a little miffed. My mom liked the minestrone soup. My dad did not like the Italian sandwich. I liked the pizza, as always. The River Boat is on rehab but I noticed it backstage while on the train. Country Bear Jamboree Christmas show was good, as always. The rest of the audience seemed to really enjoy it as well. I went on Splash Mountain with a ridiculously short wait. They were running both sides of Pirates, so I chose the left side because it never seems to be running. Tried a "citrus swirl" (vanilla ice cream & frozen orange juice) from that little place now behind the Aladdin magic carpets. I wasn't too thrilled with it because the orange juice was like ice next to that creamy ice cream. I expected something more like a creamsicle. Parents had a Dole Whip which was apparently good.
Epcot: Lines for Spaceship Earth! Had to wait in the loading area while they found out who got out of their time travel vehicle. That was an experience. Got on Soarin' once during EMH and still had to wait 45 minutes. Not happy about them not giving out Fastpasses for EMH anymore. Impossible to get on Soarin' during the day unless you get a Fastpass before 11a or want to wait 90 minutes or more. Got on Test Track with Fastpasses and during EMH. Broke down a couple of times. Journey Into Your Imagination with Figment: still sad. The Living Seas: I like the new colour scheme. I miss the hydrolators. I miss the queue. I miss the film. It doesn't feel like the Living Seas anymore. Universe of Energy: finally got on it on the 28th. Tried to get on a few days earlier but it broke down. Maelstrom: long waits. I saw the Norway film for the first time in years. El Rio Del Tiempo: love. My dad and I shared a margarita slush in Mexico. Boy was that yummy. My mom did not approve of our drunkness. I'm 19, 20 next week, so my mom felt I shouldn't have had the alcohol, even though she knows I drink. But my dad is more laid back. So I finally got my margarita and my mom got to watch my dad and I be very silly.
MGM: New scenes added to the Great Movie Ride. Short wait for Star Tours when I was there. Finally saw One Man's Dream and loved it. Osbourne Lights are AMAZING. I had to go back and see them again. Did LMA take up almost the entire backstage tour area or what? It's not even worth going on anymore. Very disappointed. The state of cleanliness of the Toy Story Pizza Planet was horrendous. The condiment bar was a mess; there were no napkins in the dispenser, trays all over, soda splashed all over, dressing open in the bins. Yucky.
Animal Kingdom: I love Pizzafari so much. Looks like they're doing some work on the mural in the big room in the back. Got early Fastpasses for the safari both times I went on. Everest is coming along nicely. It looks the most realistic of all the Disney mountains.
Downtown Disney: Work is being done on the World of Disney.
MVMCP (20th): No snow on Main Street that we saw. Different cookies from last year but still good. I don't recall MVMCP cups or napkins last year either. Got cookies & cocoa inside the Diamond Horseshoe. Got our picture taken in the Adventureland Veranda (yay!). Saw the parade from Frontierland. I fell asleep during it last year so it was nice to see the whole thing this time. Holiday Wishes wasn't as great as I thought it'd be; I prefer regular Wishes. Got a MVMCP shirt and two pins (Tink and Donald).
Shopping: I bought two Everest shirts at Belz for $5 each. Why is there Everest merchandise in the outlets already? Lots of Christmas pins. Got the whole set of pins with the stockings. Epcot Holidays Around the World pins and the Passholder exclusive. A new CoP pin I got at the AK. The new set of vintage Disneyland pins (all bought). Looks like they're making new Flora, Fauna, & Merryweather pins as there are none out. Overall we spent a few hundred dollars on pins.
Contemporary: construction on the south wing looks good. I can't wait to see the finalised rooms for myself.
Dining: Chef Mickey's was booked solid on Christmas. We had a 5p PS and didn't get in until 5:30p. They seemed to be very unorganized and I was not happy. Christmas Eve dinner at Liberty Tree. The food was good but we weren't too excited about it. We got seated on someone else's PS for some reason. Ours was for 5p for 3 adults. We got seated with someone's for 4:30p with 2 adults and 2 kids (5 & 9), one of whom must've been having a birthday because the table had all confetti and streamers on it. Oh well. Food situation at the MK was horrendous on the 28th. Lines to get into Pinocchio's and Cosmic Ray's. Only one door of Pinocchio's was open and there was no sign to tell you where to go, only CM's standing at every other door saying it was an exit only. That made me cranky. Breakfast at Chef Mickey's was good; yummy pancakes. Overheard a CM tell a guest that the Grand Floridian opened in the mid-90's. Where do they get this info?
Riverside: Eh. We're really not too thrilled with it. We've come to realize we're happiest when we stay at the MK, especially the Contemporary. The last two times we went at Christmas time we stayed at the Wildy and the Poly and we were happier there.
Airplane: flew Allegiant Air from SWF to Sanford. Good flight, no problems. My dad got chosen for extra security at SWF. Pretty much got molested. Made me angry.
Security at the theme parks: makes me so cranky. Don't put your hands in my purse and rummage through it. My dad has a large stomach resembling a pregnant woman's belly. Yes, it's solid like that, not like a beer belly. Had security officers on more than one occassion ask him what he had in there and then exclaimed, "Oh! That's you!" Very inappropriate if you ask me. I feel no safer with bag check.
And back home... the Pizza Hut my boyfriend worked at just randomly up and closed the day after Christmas so now he has to work at a different one about 15-20 minutes away in a different town and he isn't getting the same hours and we are not happy. But now minimum wage went up to $6.75 so now my dad has to give me a raise. And I'll be making $10/hr at he YMCA starting next Saturday.
