Trip Report Live Reporting Xmas Eve to New Year's

Welcome to the latest Brifraz live trip report. I'm sure there are many of you who have followed along with us in the past - this is our 10th WDW Trip Report (if you include the Aulani report, 11th). But, I am also sure that we have some new travelers along for the ride.

So...we are a team of 3. Our DD is now 11 years old and heading quickly for 12.

Most of the household activities revolve around music. I teach high school band and my daughter is fully immersed in it (she plays euphonium, tuba, and trombone in different bands at her school, plus piano at home and sings in school as well as a community chorus). Mrs. Brifraz is also a teacher, but she teaches English - we are in fact at rival high schools which makes things fun, and in a couple years our daughter will be at a third high school which considers both of ours to be rivals of a sort.

As a youth, I visited the World quite early on. My Great Aunt lived in Orlando as her first husband was a scientist with NASA and I got to visit DW quite early on. Sadly, those visits ended with my youth and it was not until I was out of college that I began to go back. In the 90s I did a number of trips with different friends until I took my girlfriend there in 1999 and to my great shock she has stayed with me ever since. We are approaching 15 years of marriage and this will be our 20th Disney trip together.

Usually, I give a full Pre-Trip report with lots of details of our plans, but this time, I'm going to let the surprises come with the live report that will be starting on 12/23.

But, I can't resist a little overview...coming up briefly...

 

[coachwnh]

Happy New Year!

 

[brifraz]

Our dinner view. The Merry and Bright Dinner Party at DHS is quite enjoyable, I must say!

 

[Jae99]

Sounds like you had an excellent New Years Eve and a great start to 2016. How was the dinner party?

 

[brifraz]

Sounds like you had an excellent New Years Eve and a great start to 2016. How was the dinner party?

Dinner party was very nice. I would say the food was better than many of the buffets at Disney. The seating was just in front of LMA entrance and was convention style tables, 10 to a table. Food included a Thanksgiving-type station with fresh carved turkey, cranberry-pecan cornbread stuffing, and veggie succotash; a station with spinach with bacon, a shrimp stew and something I can't remember (but it had cabbage); a station with salad, rolls, mashed potatoes, and stewed beef; a station with mac and cheese, baked cod in a olive and caper sauce, and flatbread (kind of like naan); and two dessert stations - one with cookies and one with apple and peach pies and buttered popcorn gelato. A few specialty drinks (which we enjoyed) and beer and wine, plus POG with grenadine and fresh apple cider for the kids (and of course, water and sodas).

You got the special viewing glasses - tonight's made every light look like a snowflake (we also have the ornament glasses from a friend) and a keepsake shadowbox with an actual light from the Osborne display in it. Overall, a very nice experience - and sitting there for an hour and a half, we saw pretty much all the 'shows' of the lights. Although, at the end it was quite sad knowing it would possibly be the last time we ever see them. I am still under the (likely misguided) impression that they will move to Disney Springs once it is finished, but my wife thinks that is pretty unlikely.

 

[brifraz]

And...finally, here are some pictures from New Year's Eve. As you saw earlier, we got into Epcot mid-afternoon. Enjoyed a slow walk and quite a few pictures heading in with a little bit of shopping as well. Definitely had some fun with the Photopass folks.


It was about 4:30pm when we checked in to the Rose and Crown for our 5:15pm ADR. They seated us almost immediately, which had us a little worried about sticking around until Illuminations at 6pm, but not a problem. We had appetizers (cheese plate and potato leek soup) and dessert (sticky toffee pudding) which easily stretched our meal time out. I'm not posting any Illuminations pictures this time - I actually didn't take any. I just stood and enjoyed. I love the Peace on Earth tag and was quite happy watching it. After the show, we finished our dessert and drinks and then headed around World Showcase a little bit. Very crowded, but not totally unreasonable. Most of the time, we could move pretty easily and get to where we wanted to go. Around the lagoon was getting pretty full as people were camping out for the midnight fireworks. We got as far as Italy and took in a bit of the laser light show.


Then we headed back toward International Gateway to catch a boat to Hollywood Studios. Once there, we hit Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror with FP+ and then found our spot behind Min and Bill's to watch the fireworks - it was about 10:45pm when we sat down. By 11:15pm, the area was packed with people. We enjoyed a couple of the Star Wars drinks and then it was fireworks time.


After the show, we caught a bus back to OKW and got to sleep. I'm afraid that it will be a day or two before I get the last two days of our trip up. We are just about to pack up the car and head to Epcot and Magic Kingdom for our last day before hitting the road for quite a few hours back to Maryland. If I am awake enough on Sunday afternoon, I'll get you caught up - but it might have to wait until Monday or Tuesday!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Be safe in your travels. How did you like OKW? The hubby and I are thinking of renting points in the future and OKW never came up until recently. Any good or bad thoughts?

 

[Jae99]

Dinner party was very nice. I would say the food was better than many of the buffets at Disney. The seating was just in front of LMA entrance and was convention style tables, 10 to a table. Food included a Thanksgiving-type station with fresh carved turkey, cranberry-pecan cornbread stuffing, and veggie succotash; a station with spinach with bacon, a shrimp stew and something I can't remember (but it had cabbage); a station with salad, rolls, mashed potatoes, and stewed beef; a station with mac and cheese, baked cod in a olive and caper sauce, and flatbread (kind of like naan); and two dessert stations - one with cookies and one with apple and peach pies and buttered popcorn gelato. A few specialty drinks (which we enjoyed) and beer and wine, plus POG with grenadine and fresh apple cider for the kids (and of course, water and sodas).

You got the special viewing glasses - tonight's made every light look like a snowflake (we also have the ornament glasses from a friend) and a keepsake shadowbox with an actual light from the Osborne display in it. Overall, a very nice experience - and sitting there for an hour and a half, we saw pretty much all the 'shows' of the lights. Although, at the end it was quite sad knowing it would possibly be the last time we ever see them. I am still under the (likely misguided) impression that they will move to Disney Springs once it is finished, but my wife thinks that is pretty unlikely.

We were fortunate to see the Osborne lights again this year as well. We spent well over an hour at the end of the night wandering the streets and stayed right until the end when they shut the lights off for the night.

I hope they find a way to continue the display somewhere, it is a truly beautiful sight to behold.

 

[Jae99]

Have a great last day and a safe drive home!

 

[disneygeek 2069]

Love this trip report, it was a lot of fun seeing Disney through your eyes. Have a safe trip home and looking forward to the rest of your pictures!

 

[brifraz]

Got home mid-afternoon on Sunday and spent the rest of the day unpacking, resting, and recovering. Today was back to work at 6:30am and after the school day I was coaching soccer tonight. Haven't had a chance to put the last couple days of pictures onto the computer yet, so the final days of Reporting are going to have to wait. Sorry!

But, I will leave you with a couple of thoughts to keep you interested...

Trader Sam's Grog Grotto at the Poly is a very enjoyable visit, but quite tough on the wallet. We walked away with 4 different souvenir glasses. Pics and details coming at you.

I didn't like FP+ when it first came about, but now that we really know the system and work it to our advantage, I find that I think I like it better than the old way.

Lots still to come. Tomorrow is a 12 hour work day followed by some chauffeuring the daughter to rehearsals, but I hope to get some posting done later in the evening. If not...I promise to get the last two days taken care of on Wednesday!

 

[brifraz]

Be safe in your travels. How did you like OKW? The hubby and I are thinking of renting points in the future and OKW never came up until recently. Any good or bad thoughts?

I really can't sing the praises of OKW enough. During my Disney career, I have stayed at All-Star Music, Art of Animation, Caribbean Beach, Port Orleans French Quarter, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Beach Club, Boardwalk, Grand Floridian, Bay Lake Tower at Contemporary, Saratoga Springs, and Old Key West. The one we keep going back to is Old Key West. It is far more laid back than the other resorts. The theming is much more subtle. Lots of people consider it more 'adult,' but I'm not sure that really fits. It is spread out, so bussing sometimes takes a bit longer than other places, but that is the ONLY drawback in my book. The rooms (studios) are the biggest on site and you really do feel the difference. It was almost a decade ago that we rented points for our daughter's first visit and stayed with extended family in a 2 bedroom villa at OKW. And within a year, we had bought in to OKW (through resale) and have never looked back. We've used our points for stays at a lot of other places and never are as satisfied.

If you do stay at OKW, make sure to visit the very small, but also very nice social lounge, the Gurgling Suitcase - and say hi to Arlene, Roberto, and Ken (our favorite bartenders). Feel free to Private Message me with more questions.

 

[brifraz]

OK...where were we? New Year's Day! We slept in a little bit and then headed to Disney Springs. Somehow, we had managed to book lunch at the Boathouse just a couple days earlier. We shopped a little on the way in and our daughter bought herself and Alex and Ani bracelet.


The meal itself at the Boathouse was excellent. Our daughter had the Filet Mignon sliders, which strike me as one heck of a good deal - 2 2oz filets on brioche buns for $12. Considering the 8oz filet is $40... Anyway, all the food was really excellent and the setting is very nice. In terms of quality of service, it is certainly one of the best places on property. We shopped a little more and then caught the boat back to OKW and rested for a little bit in our room before heading to Studios.

Our evening at Studios was basically all about the Osborne Lights, but we did have a few FP+ to hit before light time, so we went to the 5:30pm Comedy Warehouse show and again were not disappointed at all.


Then we did Toy Story and to nobody's surprise, @MeffysMom still scored quite a bit higher than my daughter or I. And watched MuppetVision one more time. We then walked through the lights and took some pictures before our dinner.


Panoramic of quite a bit of the entire area.


Finally it was time for the dinner. And it did not disappoint. The food was quite good and sitting for an hour and a half in the lights meant that we got to see all of the 'shows' of dancing lights. They also had a few interesting cocktails devoted to the lights. We certainly enjoyed a few of those and really had a great time. Another picture of the view from our seats.


At 10pm, they ushered everyone out of the seating area and within about 10 minutes they had all the tables, chairs, and food and drink service cleared. Pretty impressive. We quickly headed back to our room for one last night of vacation sleep before our final day. Coming at you later tonight!

 

[brifraz]

Ok, maybe not tonight with the last day. I'll try to get it posted tomorrow!

 

[brifraz]

Final day. Started off the morning with the dreaded packing up of the room and loading of the car. Never much fun, but something that has to be done. Picked up the total tab from the check-in desk (most depressing moment of the trip, by far) and then headed to Magic Kingdom. OK, not all the way to MK, just to Ticket and Transportation Center to catch the monorail to Epcot for our late breakfast with Chip, Dale, and company.


I'm very glad that they have brought breakfast back to the Garden Grill. I remember the excitement of eating there back in the mid-90s when they had a regular menu (not family style) and some of the most unique offerings on site (had the portabello mushroom sandwich once and obviously I still remember it 20+ years later). After breakfast, we monorailed back to Magic Kingdom for a couple of FP+ on our last afternoon.

We hit Haunted Mansion, then stopped for a 'rest' at Hall of Presidents, over to Pirates, and finally one last visit with Buzz Lightyear. All enjoyable as ever and we were quite glad to have the FP+ because the waits for everything were up around an hour. After the rides, we had decided to pay a visit to Trader Sam's at the Poly for a last drink before departure. If you haven't been before, it is quite a bit of fun. They have a number of signature drinks (both adult and kid-friendly) and they are presented VERY theatrically, with lights, special effects, and the Cast Members acting out characters, or chanting, or arguing with the TIKI god, etc. We splurged and got souvenir glasses with everything!


And then had a second round with the soon to be infamous Uh-Oa which is delivered on fire and then uses cinnamon for a bit of localized fireworks.


We also had the dumplings to eat, which were good. But, sadly, this was the end of our adventure at Disney this time. We took the monorail back to TTC and got one last picture before hitting the road.


Lots of wrap-up thoughts, comments, etc. coming at you this weekend. Thanks for following along!

 

[catmom46]

Just a quick note before getting some well deserved and needed sleep.

We headed out of the Magic Kingdom right around 6pm and went to the Contemporary. On the way down to the wave, we checked out the Frozen/It's A Small World-inspired gingerbread display. Cute.


Our ADR was for 7:05pm, but they seated us as soon as we arrived (around 6:15pm). Dinner at the Wave was quite good. The girls split the Beef Tenderloin and I had a couple of the appetizers - the soup du jour (tomato bisque) and the fish tacos. I also had a flight of Orlando Brewing Company beers (decent, fairly uninspired, though) and @MeffysMom had a glass of wine, while our daughter enjoyed a mango smoothie.



After dinner, we crossed over to Bay Lake Tower and went up to the Top of the World Lounge for a piece of their infamous 7 layer cake (awesome stuff, and big enough for 2-3 easily) and to watch the Holiday Wishes fireworks. Didn't have the Nikon, so just one little picture from the phone for your enjoyment. The Top of the World is definitely a nice DVC perk as it is never too crowded and a great view.


Tomorrow - headed to Magic Kingdom at 6am and OUT BY NOON. That's when the masses will be descending and we don't want to get in their way.

I don't know if anyone else already said this, but it's an upside down hidden Mickey!

Edit: Nope, no one else said it!

 

[brifraz]

So...first of all, a great vacation. Really amazing time. We may have missed on a few of our plans, but we did manage to do just about everything we wanted to and get a few surprises along the way - and all this during one of the busiest times of year.

Speaking of how busy it was, I know that many really frown upon traveling to the World during holiday season, but with the right planning it can really work. This is where (to me at least) FP+ has really paid off. When it is this busy, making the mad dashes back and forth across the park to score the old fashioned Fastpasses was exhausting and at times didn't pay off. Being able to book 3 FPs before arrival for 3 relatively big time attractions definitely can work in your favor this time of year. If you arrive at the park at opening (or, ideally, EMH opening), you can usually manage to hit one or two E-tickets with relatively short waits. Let's assume it even takes an hour (which it rarely does). But, then in your second hour you can usually get two or three C or D-tickets out of the way. The third hour is where you ideally have that first FP+ so you can do that plus most likely one or two other smaller attractions. Fourth hour is another FP+ and another couple small attractions or maybe a show. It is likely lunch time at this point and after lunch you can manage one more show (let that food settle) and then the last FP+. In Studios, Animal Kingdom, or even Epcot that means that you have likely done ALL the major attractions and only have (at Studios and AK) one more show to take in - and it is only 1 or 2pm. So you go to a FP+ kiosk, see what you can score for the evening and go back to your resort to nap or maybe hit the pool. And...if you plan it right, nobody is too exhausted from criss-crossing a park.

And, as your vacation goes by and thoughts and plans change, believe it or not...you can change plans. People complain about the lack of availability of FP+, but we changed our plans for January 2nd at least 3 times. We finally changed to our bookings at Magic Kingdom on New Year's Eve and were able to get anything we wanted except Seven Dwarves (not available at all) and Space Mountain (only available later in the evening and we had to hit the road). Yes, there were two things we couldn't get - but we easily got Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Buzz at the times that we wanted. Had we planned for that to be a BIG Magic Kingdom day, we would have gotten up early and hit headliners first thing.

Anyway, that's my commentary of FP+ for the day. When they came about, I complained vocally because I was a park runner and would score 8-9 Fastpasses in a day on a regular basis. In hindsight...what was I thinking? Yes, we did more rides, but I got less time with family and was exhausted half the time. I think food thoughts will be next... we'll see how the afternoon goes and what I'm ready to spout off about.

 

[brifraz]

We did quite a few restaurants, both new and old on this trip. Here's a rundown and some thoughts on each:

Gurgling Suitcase/Goods to Go at OKW - at least 3 meals at our favorite resort lounge. At the Suitcase, you can get the full menu from Olivia's next door which is quite nice. We did that once, but the other times, we got things from the small but delicious bar snacks menu. The Kalua Pork Nachos a really enjoyable! The bartenders here are excellent and the speciality drink, the Turtle Krawl, is a great one.

The Wave at The Contemporary Resort - this was our first time. Staff was really good - we were well taken care of and it was obvious they were quite busy (our waitress had a 12 top next to us getting 4 separate checks). The food was also very good. I'm not sure that it is totally memorable or over the top amazing, but everything was very good.

Top of the World Lounge at Bay Lake Tower, Contemporary Resort - we only got a piece of cake and drinks this time, but we have eaten some of the more filling fare in the past. It is such a great setting and the drink selections are quite good, but in our visits, there seems to be very little social going on here. It's really nice to go up and see the fireworks, but I'm not sure that we would go up for any other reason - just not compelling enough.

Chef Mickey's Brunch - so, the brunch thing was new, but basically the same old Chef Mickey's. Food is decent buffet fare, but nothing special and the Fab 5 come to visit you. It is what it is. The proximity to the Magic Kingdom and the sheer quantity of food that we usually take in make it worthwhile. Crystal Palace would get the same review from this family.

Sci-Fi Dine-In - It's been over 20 years since I visited here. It was before I had even met @MeffysMom and my recollection was 'fun visuals, weak food.' Not sure that the review has changed. I actually think the food was a little better than I remembered and playing it safe with a sandwich, burger, and wings (as we did) was likely a good plan. We'll be back in another 20 years (although if it turns into the Star Wars Cantina...we'll be there a lot sooner!)

Minnie's Holiday Dine (which is now something else, but still the same) at Hollywood and Vine is certainly better than what was there before at dinner time. At least with characters, and in this case characters in unique outfits, make this buffet a better destination. We had been to the Playhouse Disney breakfast quite a few times in the past and always loved the characters and...well, ate. I would definitely say that the food quality has improved. It's still a buffet, but there were a few unique offerings and the quality seemed to be quite a bit better than what we were expecting.

Yak and Yeti we always love. Great food and some of the best prices on site for what you get. We always eat well and come away quite content. Plus, the large sized draft beers are the best beer value in the World - almost as good a deal as what you get when you drive half a mile offsite.

Harambe Market - I feel like the dishes we got at the Market were both very good and a pretty decent value. We had the vegetable stack and the tika masala chicken and both really were enjoyable. And it's nice to get unique offerings at a counter service place.

Sunshine Seasons at The Land. Really? Is there a better counter service location in the World. This trip we only had quick snacks on the awesome Epcot morning, but it is always good and there is such a variety.

The Biergarten is always one of our favorite destinations. Great entertainment and very good food (oh, and litres of beer....litres and litres of beer).

Be Our Guest. I'm always a bit torn on Be Our Guest. I feel that it is overpriced (even by Disney standards) but really does provide some of the higher quality food on site. The setting is amazing and beautiful. But the menu is pretty limited. Beast is there! But he only meets in the cashier area from lunch. So, take the good with the bad, enjoy the best parts and deal with the lesser parts. It is an experience worth doing.

Rose and Crown for dinner. Yup, still my favorite restaurant on site. Good food, always great service, menu that is interesting enough, but also close enough to comfort food. I'm also a sucker for fish and chips and theirs are very good.

The Boathouse - excellent. Really excellent. Amazing service and really top notch food. We will be back.

Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights dinner. OK, maybe this isn't worth reviewing since it was a one time event, but it really was very good food and some of it was pretty unique. I would say it was better than most on site buffet meals - which is saying something for an outdoor meal that is a decent distance from food prep areas. And specialty drinks always help.

Garden Grill - I am so glad that breakfast is happening at the Garden Grill. Because it was very good. The fresh salsas (with produce from the Land greenhouse) were really good. As a huge fan of Living with the Land, I love circling around above it and the character interaction here is a little better than most places.

Trader Sam's. Well that was a ton of fun. And good drinks. And fun. And good drinks. Did I mention fun?

That's the food wrap up. Yup, ate quite a lot. Funny, but we did very little counter service dining in the parks this trip. Mainly table services and food at our resort and in our room. Made pretty good use of the Tables In Wonderland card (even with the blackout dates). More wrap up coming at you later this week.

 

[21stamps]

Nope, but I hope you have a magical time! We are!
View attachment 124245

How about now?



Still waiting for our room, but I think it'll be OK.

Nope:
View attachment 124252

Darn it... You guys have hands!

On the bus to MK now. Gave up on waiting for the room, time for some Tomorrowland fun!

I literally laughed out loud reading these posts. It's almost 18 months later and I'm jealous of both of you!!

 

[21stamps]

It's 8:17 and the girls are doing Sum of All Thrills. They make the most insane coaster that they can so I sit out!

Anyway...Epcot surprise 7am opening. Glad at 6:30 we decided to just come over and not hang out in the room.

So, three Soarins, Test Track, and now Sum. And just 8:17.

This is what the Land looks like when you are the ONLY guests.


And this is us with the CMs.


And this is what being the ONLY people on Soarin looks like. Yes, a whole theater to ourselves.


Now, back to normal Epcot touring!

Wow!!! Perfect morning!!

 

[DryerLintFan]

I'm far more impressed that you went to work that early the day after vacation than about braving the holiday crowds, lol. I'd want to sleep and unpack and do laundry.