Trip Report It's a Jolly Holiday! *COMPLETED*

I am often asked, "What is your favorite time of year to go to Disney World?"

I used to answer late spring ~ warm but not miserable, little to no rain, manageable crowds. Then in 2009, I discovered the splendor of Disney of Christmastime ~ and have made an annual visit since. Now those of you who read the countdown thread might be thinking, "Hey, didn't you go last February?" Well, yes. "April?" Spring Break, of course. "June?" Had to celebrate the start of summer. "August?" Had to celebrate the end of summer. "September?" When your adult son asks you to go with him, you go! "November?" Quick getaway to celebrate DH's milestone birthday.

Which brings us back to....December!

(In case you think my frequency borders on lunacy, let me say I have fine company with @lostpro9het, @b33b33, @Doc Disney, @samantha788 and @gwhb75, among others ;).)

I have a love/hate relationship with going to WDW in December. While I LOVE being there, I HATE having one less week at home to decorate, shop, wrap presents, send Christmas cards, bake cookies, etc. And since this year we were due to arrive home on Christmas Eve, I needed to have everything ready for Christmas dinner too. Why don't I just eliminate a few things? Can't. Won't. I am under the curse of perfectionism! So I rush around like a mad woman for 3 weeks in order to have BOTH a perfect vacation AND a perfect Christmas! :confused:

This is probably a good time to confess that my Christmas tree is NOT perfect. You see, two summers ago we adopted an adorable kitten named Poly (yes, we named her after our favorite resort :cat:.) She is strictly an indoor cat. Having had cats before, we were surprised to discover that our new addition enjoyed climbing both our Christmas trees. Multiple times per day. Now last year this was merely a minor inconvenience, since Poly was still a kitten and didn't weigh much (read: she didn't cause much damage.) This year? Completely different story!! Bent branches, broken ornaments...on any given day, we didn't know what was going to end up as collateral damage next.

Can you spot her? For reference, we have 9 foot ceilings.
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And here she is in the living room tree:
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Anyhoo, I was able to complete all my Christmas and Disney preparations by December 16...the next morning we would start our Jolly Holiday!
 
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LisaBelle

LisaBelle

Well-Known Member
blgauger said:
Congrats! I wish I had that kind of stamina.. I'd love to do a runDisney event butttttt.... instead I'll read TR's from those who have the qualities that I do not. :rolleyes:
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Don't know that I could match Em's accomplishment, but I say you should definitely do a runDisney event. I just turned 50 and had never run at all (other than gym class!) until my sister and I decided to do the Princess 5K. It was awesome! Definitely worth doing! If I can do it at 50, you can do it! I am pondering a 10K in the future. The medals are way nicer. We were jealous! :)
 
Disneyfreak Jen

Disneyfreak Jen

Well-Known Member
Longers said:
Glad you said the same thing about Pirates - I thought maybe we were going mad as I hadn't seen others comment but we got soaked in the front row last year (as evidenced in my TR photos) - it took ages to dry out - in fact our socks didn't so we had to go back to our room to dry them.
Let's hope Disney fix this!
Wish I could go to Disney as much as you :(
Following along
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We were there in November, and had tickets to MVMCP. We stayed late and finished the night with Pirates just before midnight. We got hit with the wall of water too, front row. Luckily that was our last hurrah for the night. This October I'm timing my Pirates for either right before I head back to the resort for my afternoon break or I'm bringing flip flops and putting my sneakers/socks in my backpack. Then again, I'm going solo, and it seems like I always get row 6 when I'm by myself, but I'm not taking any chances.
 
Courtney6682

Courtney6682

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
Our timing had worked out that when we exited Jingle Cruise it was time for our final FP at Big Thunder Mountain. And then we went from riding a runaway train to a regular train, also known in our family as a "moving park bench" (Woody's terminology.) While on the train I received a text that our room was ready.

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Moving park bench! Soooo fuunyyyy...I'm dying over here! I've never been a fan of BTMRR...kinda boring lol
 
Tony the Tigger

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
Friday (con't)
On our way out of BOG, I made Woody stop for a picture:
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We were glad to see that the rain had stopped, and though it remained a dreary afternoon at least we didn't get wet! The crowds weren't bad either ~ we figured everyone who had tickets to the final MVMCP of 2015 were waiting until after 4 p.m. for some MK fun. For our first attraction of this trip, we went on this sentimental favorite:
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Moving on to Haunted Mansion to use our first FP:
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We have a friend whose son's name is Asher, so I just had to take this shot!

This is such a well-done gift store, always fun to browse:
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We continued on through Liberty Square into Frontierland and to another favorite:
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True confession: I know ALL the words to every song. And I ALWAYS sing along. Consider yourselves warned should you ever see me waiting for the next show. ;)
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Your favorites are my favorites LOL. "There was blood awn the saddle..."
 
Tiggerish

Tiggerish

Resident Redhead
Premium Member
Just found this great TR!!

I, too, am unhappy about the removal of the clock radios, although I found that they rarely showed the correct time. So I'd have to check my watch. ;)

Ooey Gooey is the greatest dessert ever.

So sad that the Osborne Lights will be no more. I was able to get to see them at the beginning of December, but refused to buy the t-shirt because I didn't need a reminder that it has "wrapped". :)

My indoor/outdoor kitties used to curl up on the high branches of our Christmas trees when they were small. They're elderly gents of 16 now, so they are content to curl up underneath them now. Poly is a hoot.
 
gobstoper27

gobstoper27

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
Up next was a former favorite which, sadly, has been dropped from our usual Must-Do list. Since the recent refurb, it is no longer a Pirate's life for me :(. Or Woody. We simply do not enjoy a thorough soaking on a ride where you used to stay dry. When we sat in the first row, we got hit by a wall of water at the bottom of the drop that rivaled Kali River Rapids (no exaggeration.) Sitting in rows 2 or 3 was only slightly better. We managed to fare okay in the last row, so we decided to request row 6 when it was our turn to board the boat.

Our request was granted...but when the boat pulled up, there was at least 2-3 inches of water covering the bottom of the entire boat. We had to ride with our feet elevated to avoid the puddle.

PLEASE, DISNEY, FIX THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was time for our next FP:
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This overlay has gotten even better than last year! There were more decorations and the jokes were even cornier:
"Come aboard and stuff the boat like a stocking!"
"Feeling Itchy? It's Fleas Navidad!"
"Piranhaca ~ The Festival of Bites!"
"I do all my holiday shopping on the Amazon!"
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Our timing had worked out that when we exited Jingle Cruise it was time for our final FP at Big Thunder Mountain. And then we went from riding a runaway train to a regular train, also known in our family as a "moving park bench" (Woody's terminology.) While on the train I received a text that our room was ready.

Pic from the train:
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We disembarked at the Main Street Station and took the bus back to WL.

See you tomorrow, Magic Kingdom!
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This is giving me flashbacks to when I visited during the holidays!! Great TR so far
 
RebeccaMcK

RebeccaMcK

Member
I read your whole report today in one sitting! Looks like you all had a great time despite Em not feeling well, and the pics are gorgeous! I also read LostProphet's report a while back since I was eager to read reports that were from December trips (found yours today). We're doing December 19-27 this year at our home DVC resort (GF), and it'll be the first time for us at WDW over Christmas. I've done November trips before (solo and with my sister) but never with the hubby and kiddo so they haven't done MVMCP yet (I've done 3). Really looking forward to the trip, despite the crowds. And we added a trip sooner than that, recently, to use up more points (Hubby has some business to take care of down there so it's a bonus trip of sorts) May 30-June 3....it'll be our first time at Old Key West. On my November trip last year I, too, got super soaked feet on the POTC ride and didn't like it one bit. Maybe it has something to do with how they're filling each row on the boats now? I think for a while they were not, before the refurb. It didn't matter where you sat (but I will try for the back row next time) because the water went everywhere on the floor. I had to stuff tiny pieces of notebook paper (I used to write trip reports, too, but on another site) into the bottoms of my Skechers to help soak up the water the rest of the night (I can't wear Crocs). Good think I had an extra pair of shoes back in the hotel room, for other days.

Had to laugh a little at your mentioning of Em swearing off Tower of Terror at age 4.....my kiddo (now almost 11) tried TOT for the one and only time at age 4-1/2 (hey, she was tall enough and didn't complain at all until the drops started) - it took my sister and me at least 10 minutes to calm her down afterwards while she kept saying, "I'm never riding that ever again!" Same thing sort of happened when she was 6 and rode Expedition Everest with us for the very first time, only THEN she said she wouldn't ride it again "until I'm 17!" I'll remind her when she's 17, hehe.

I agree it's bad that they don't have alarm clocks in the rooms any more - I do rely on my Droid for my own alarm settings and time, etc., but I wear a watch now, too, just to save my phone's battery (all those times looking at the phone throughout the day just to see the correct time....wears the battery down quicker). I wish I had one of the digital watch attachments they came out with for the Magic Bands but I looked around and asked about them in shops last November and they're all gone/no longer available.

Congrats to Em on her run times (my hubby wants to do the Dopey - he ran Cross Country in HS and has stayed in shape with running and mountain biking here in Colorado. He thinks he can jump in and do the Dopey but I'm trying to talk him into starting smaller. He's 45 like me and he can probably handle it, though. The kiddo and I would just go cheer him on, but the kiddo could run a 5k easily). We will try Whispering Canyon for the first time ever in June (and we plan to use the "join in" coaster). I'd like to try Skippers Canteen but the hubby and kiddo are very fussy eaters and I might have to try it without them some time (also, reviews I've read since they opened are mostly so-so or bad food-wise. A lot of spices, I've heard. If the place gets better we might try it or see if they can alter menu offerings a bit, such as leaving the spicy meat out of the macaroni). Your tip about the GMR ride (when to expect a chance to ride with the Western guide theme) is great - I'm adding it to my ongoing planning notes. In 7-8 trips I don't think I've ever had the Western experience, just the Gangster one.

Thanks again for the great report!
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Disneyfreak Jen said:
We were there in November, and had tickets to MVMCP. We stayed late and finished the night with Pirates just before midnight. We got hit with the wall of water too, front row. Luckily that was our last hurrah for the night. This October I'm timing my Pirates for either right before I head back to the resort for my afternoon break or I'm bringing flip flops and putting my sneakers/socks in my backpack. Then again, I'm going solo, and it seems like I always get row 6 when I'm by myself, but I'm not taking any chances.
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This sounds like a very wise plan! Thanks for reading :).
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Tiggerish said:
Just found this great TR!!

I, too, am unhappy about the removal of the clock radios, although I found that they rarely showed the correct time. So I'd have to check my watch. ;)

Ooey Gooey is the greatest dessert ever.

So sad that the Osborne Lights will be no more. I was able to get to see them at the beginning of December, but refused to buy the t-shirt because I didn't need a reminder that it has "wrapped". :)

My indoor/outdoor kitties used to curl up on the high branches of our Christmas trees when they were small. They're elderly gents of 16 now, so they are content to curl up underneath them now. Poly is a hoot.
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Thank you for your compliments :happy:. Someday (maybe?) Poly will curl up underneath our tree!
 

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