Trip Report It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas! *COMPLETED*

The soothing croon of Michael Bublé kept reverberating in my mind as I pondered starting yet another trip report. Like summer, the Christmas season makes me happy. Going to WDW during the Christmas season makes me VERY HAPPY. The joy of sharing my trips with my WDWMAGIC friends makes me happier still. Thank you for the encouragement to keep on writing!

Holiday Vacation #1
When: November 16-23, 2019
Where: Disney’s Pop Century Resort and Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Who: Tuvalu and Woody

Looky! I finally got a Magic Shot!

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Okay, so it’s a bit creepy. But it leaves no doubt that this was a CHRISTMAS trip.

In mid-November. :hilarious:

But hey, we had Halloween in August!

And yours truly was very excited to experience Christmas decor at the resorts and in 3 of the 4 parks. (Epcot was still in full “Food and Wine” mode.) It wasn’t always this festive in November. We’ve been this same week in the past and outside of MK, there was very little decorating completed. I was so disappointed the year we stayed at WL (very close to turkey day) and missed out on the holiday stuff. I was worried the same thing would happen again. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Woody, on the other hand, is a “Let’s celebrate Thanksgiving before shifting our focus to Christmas” kind of guy. Growing up, his family did not put up their tree until CHRISTMAS EVE. (Can you imagine?!!) Over the years he has mellowed, thanks to my influence, and better tolerates the Christmas creep. Yet I was concerned that his inner Scrooge might reveal itself during this vacation.

I needn’t have worried. But I’m getting ahead of myself again.

Our week consisted of some new experiences and old experiences....some frustrations....some drama (of course!)....and a very magical meet.

Stay tuned.
 

harleebug

Active Member
“There’s more room in the hall than in our room.” Fold it.
”No one will mind.” Wrong. We all care you’ve created a safety hazard!

I’m sure there are even more excuses for this selfish behavior. 🙄
A point to add is that those particular strollers are extremely easy to collapse and just as easy to open back up for riding. Ours is more simple than an umbrella stroller..no excuse not to fold and set in the room.
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
We were gifted some party cookies by my parents. DH and I each tried one bite and ended up tossing them all out. Figured then it was the extra travel days but it sounds like they were already gross.
Sadly, it was not the extra travel days.

Also boo to the Mickey waffle toppings being gone! The strawberries with whipped cream was my go to at WL!
Mine too! Liked the strawberries even more than the chocolate chips.

Mission Accomplished!! 👍🏻 You’re a fabulous sister!! Nothing is more fun than finding a high demand toy/item that someone is going to LOVE for Christmas!! And it makes the hunt for the item all the more fun after it’s found!! Lol
Yeah!!! I’m glad you found Pooh bear! He is adorable.
It was a win for everyone!
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Teach them a real lesson
Move up or down a couple floors at the same room number
That will make them think twice

Max
612F5205-8BFF-4928-9275-5F268AC5BE63.jpeg


Hey @Tuvalu
why don’t we just move that left hand up about 6 inches and try to keep this report PG rated

OK?
Max
Ever snuggle a baby or small child while standing? Kind of hard to do without supporting their bottom. 😉
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
We have a jogging stroller and an umbrella stroller and both fold down enough that they wouldn’t be in the way 🤷🏻‍♀️ We had plenty of room to leave our jogging stroller open in the room during our last stay....little did I know that I was doing it wrong 😂
A point to add is that those particular strollers are extremely easy to collapse and just as easy to open back up for riding. Ours is more simple than an umbrella stroller..no excuse not to fold and set in the room.
We all THANK YOU for your courtesy. :happy:
(If only others were as thoughtful.)
 

MissViv

Well-Known Member
The CM last night had told us Pooh “was at the store in the Contemporary.” But she didn’t say which store. After a few fruitless and frustrating minutes in B*V*G, we thought to check the other store.

View attachment 442760

Yes, the other store with all the children’s merchandise and toys. :facepalm:

There were two Sleeping Poohs on the shelf with other Dream Friends. I am not ashamed to say I literally grabbed him. Moments later his twin was gone, being cuddled by a special-needs tween.

We returned to the dock.

View attachment 442761

I sent this picture to my brother.

View attachment 442762
He was very appreciative. His reply also contained another request.....“if you have time.”

I always make time for family.

Although had I known what a sacrifice it would be (story to come) I would have replied, “Sorry we can’t.”

Hindsight. Sigh.

I put Pooh back in the plastic bag so he would not get wet from any water spray. Woody held on to the bag tightly.

View attachment 442763

Hello again, Wilderness Lodge!

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Soon-to-be M’s Pooh joined my Pooh for a joint nap.

View attachment 442765

The 40 winks helped prepare him for his big debut on Christmas morning.

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And M was thrilled!
Love that sleeping Pooh! He is much larger than I imagined, I may have to look for me one when I'm there.
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Friday, con’t

Woody and I were in the mood for a non-QS lunch, so I searched the app to see what was available and snagged an ADR. We then brought some of our Christmas purchases to the car so we’d have less to load in the morning.

I get a kick out of the animal tracks in the concrete around the Lodge.

Bear tracks
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Racoon tracks
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Disney theming at its finest! Such a small detail and most likely missed (and therefore under appreciated) by the majority of guests.

Woody did not make any tracks. 🐾
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Waiting at the bus stop.

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Almost as good as a pirate ship! A new Peter Pan bus!

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This bus was so spanking new, no advertising placards had been installed yet.

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And we enjoyed the aroma of “new bus smell” all the way to the MK.
 
Last edited:

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Woody and I had time for one attraction before lunch. We cut through the Tomorrowland Terrace, which seems to be open only for dessert parties these days. I thought the silver bows over the serving windows were funny.

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Are purple wall pics even a thing anymore?

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Yes, I know we just rode TTA PeopleMover (twice) last night.
Doesn’t mean we can’t do it again. Third times a charm, right?

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Woody looked intrigued by Astro Orbiter.....

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....so I snapped a couple pics from this unusual vantage point.

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Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
I posted the next picture in the “Where in the World” thread. It stumped everyone.

36F5BAA9-183F-4416-8C41-FB48D9AA6D6B.jpeg


So then I posted a photo of the entire tree....which just happened to be in the lobby of our lunch destination.

7CB13C79-E62E-465E-A861-0157B09AF8E4.jpeg


Y’all are smart and I’m sure have figured out that we were dining at Liberty Tree Tavern. We were placed at a two-top next to a wall. All the two-tops in this restaurant are located in uncomfortable/awkward locations....if not directly against a wall, then straddling a support beam in the center of the dining room. Why penalize couples, LTT?

With the exception of a lousy table, lunch was wonderful. We had a proficient server and the food was hot and delicious!

🦃 for the turkey junkie
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WAIT!!!

Better with gravy. :hungry:
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Pot roast for the midwestern chap.
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82B5E30F-2D18-47A5-AC7C-EE904354F2B9.jpeg


We passed on the now TEN DOLLAR Ooey Gooey Cake. More money for a lesser cake? No thanks.

E73714A6-BBE4-4E3F-8823-CE6EB89098A6.jpeg
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster

93boomer

Premium Member
I posted the next picture in the “Where in the World” thread. It stumped everyone.

View attachment 443057

So then I posted a photo of the entire tree....which just happened to be in the lobby of our lunch destination.

View attachment 443056

Y’all are smart and I’m sure have figured out that we were dining at Liberty Tree Tavern. We were placed at a two-top next to a wall. All the two-tops in this restaurant are located in uncomfortable/awkward locations....if not directly against a wall, then straddling a support beam in the center of the dining room. Why penalize couples, LTT?

With the exception of a lousy table, lunch was wonderful. We had a proficient server and the food was hot and delicious!

🦃 for the turkey junkie
View attachment 443061

WAIT!!!

Better with gravy. :hungry:
View attachment 443062

Pot roast for the midwestern chap.
View attachment 443060

View attachment 443059

We passed on the now TEN DOLLAR Ooey Gooey Cake. More money for a lesser cake? No thanks.

View attachment 443058
$10!!!! Geez!!
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
After lunch we took a stroll around the park to soak in the ambiance one last time.

32F461C9-8F69-4530-9C19-6A90EEB1C991.jpeg


A pooped pirate!

284D0FA3-073A-432F-BA3B-F32DAFFE0E01.jpeg


I noticed two tees that made me LOL so I thought I’d share them.

I just did a week’s worth of cardio by walking into a spider web

My spirit animal is a Hammer


I told Woody that #2 was perfect for him and he looked at me with a furrowed brow. I then had to explain what a “spirit animal” is.

He just isn’t hip (with it? trendy? cool?) like me. 🤣

We did not want to get caught in Festival of Fantasy traffic so we bid MK goodbye. Since we “had time” we set out to fulfill the second “favor” my brother had requested of me.

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Getting to the monorail wasn’t easy, thanks to gates, fences and WALLS!

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Wanna hint where we were going?

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93boomer

Premium Member
After lunch we took a stroll around the park to soak in the ambiance one last time.

View attachment 443074

A pooped pirate!

View attachment 443073

I noticed two tees that made me LOL so I thought I’d share them.

I just did a week’s worth of cardio by walking into a spider web

My spirit animal is a Hammer


I told Woody that #2 was perfect for him and he looked at me with a furrowed brow. I then had to explain what a “spirit animal” is.

He just isn’t hip (with it? trendy? cool?) like me. 🤣

We did not want to get caught in Festival of Fantasy traffic so we bid MK goodbye. Since we “had time” we set out to fulfill the second “favor” my brother had requested of me.

View attachment 443075

Getting to the monorail wasn’t easy, thanks to gates, fences and WALLS!

View attachment 443076

Wanna hint where we were going?

View attachment 443077
Poor Woody! 🤣
I spy with my little eye -The Grand Floridian?
 

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
I spy with my little eye -The Grand Floridian?
BINGO!!

Now Woody and I had already visited the GF earlier in the week, to pick up the Basin product for my DIL. Too bad my brother hadn’t put in his request prior to this morning, as we could have saved ourselves a trip!

But the tree had been put up in the interim, so that was a nice surprise.

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The garland matched the carpet!

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I spy with my little eye.....a wedding party!

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My brother and SIL are crazy about the chocolate-dipped gingerbread shingles sold at the GF during the holidays.

How crazy are they?

Crazy enough to spend $10 per shingle! They wanted 3. I used to buy them 4, back when shingles were $7.50. Apparently $30 is their comfort threshold.

Woody and I entered the queue for purchases.

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A moment earlier there had been no one in line, but a man and his mother (in an ECV) cut us off.

But fear not ~ that was not the rudest thing they did.

I don’t think they realized what they had done, because it soon became clear neither of them were the brightest bulb on the tree. They spoke in the thick, southern drawl found in areas where folks marry their cousins. Not in line with them were four unruly kids, who were picking off pieces of the gingerbread house and scooping soil from the nearby potted plants with toy pirate swords. Mom (also not in line) was oblivious, as Dad kept asking her....and ECV grandma....questions.

Questions, you ask?

Turns out this family was on their way to the airport, their vacation over. Dad had a printed sheet of their remaining Disney Dining Plan credits, which he kept showing to the two CMs inside the gingerbread house. He was very confused, as the CMs explained that he could indeed convert a quick service meal credit into three snack credits, something he had been told by whatever CM had printed the paper for him.

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Dad had 30 snack credits. The next 10+ minutes were spent debating what to get (“Will Jimmy like this cake pop? Mama, what do you think?”), how many of each item to get, having to start over and select different items when their original choices were not DDP eligible....and on and on.

Meanwhile hillbilly children continued to run amok and there were now over a dozen people in line behind Woody and me. A great murmuring of What in the world is taking so long?! began among the line dwellers.

And just when we thought it was over, Dad turned to EVC grandma and said, “Now what do you want?”

EVC grandma had 16 snack credits. And she had not been paying attention, so the process started ALL. OVER. AGAIN.

The face on this Santa pretty much matched mine at this point.

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There was never a “We’re sorry” or any recognition from Dad/ECV grandma that they had been holding others hostage for over 20 minutes. Meanwhile I texted my brother that he owed me BIG TIME.

Eventually I was able to send him this:

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#BestSister
 

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