(Mostly?) Live! from WDW, it's my trip report....

Seems totally surreal that I'm about to start this trip report! My Grand Gathering Christmas 2010 report! :xmas:

First things first, and I must thank the person who made this trip possible, kept my sanity, survived nearly 18 months of emails with yours truly AND my immediate family.......... Marie from Kingdom Konsultants.

I can't say enough good things about Marie and all the help she has provided my family over the last year and a half. From the '500 days out room only reservation' to now, she has stuck with us through some very tedious changes. First we were a group of 12, then 14, then (sadly) 12 again. We got pin codes, promotional emails and bounceback offers - one at a time, Marie made all those changes with never any complaint.

Then came the Free Dining promotion, oh so close to our travel dates, but just not in our arrival range. It was Marie who pointed out that we could go for 10 days and still pay less than it would cost us to go for 7 days! :sohappy::sohappy: And it was Marie who manged to get us FIVE rooms at Pop DAYS after the promotion had been released (I thought she couldn't do it, but I now know never to doubt Marie! )

Anyway, I am sure that the other travel agents and support staff at Kingdom Konsultants helped out along the way too, so a big thank you to them as well. And my point is, if you have a Grand Gathering to plan, I HIGHLY recommend Marie (marie@kingdomkonsultant.com) and the Kingdom Konsultants! Thank you so much for making this planning process so easy!!

Up next: Roll Call

 

[erstwo]

We used some of our Fastpasses for Space Mountain, saving some for a night ride as well. (Several members of our group aren't thrill ride riders)

After a shopping stop or two, it was time for dinner at the Crystal Palace!

Salad plate

Dinner was good. The fire roasted spoon bread is still my favorite thing on any buffet at Disney. The food was great.

We were split into 2 tables of 6 and my table had a great waitress, but my sisters table did not. Their waiter literally brought their drinks and then never showed up again until my sister went looking for him to get the bill. Dirty buffet dishes (normally picked up by your waiter/ waitress or at least a busing person) were piled up on their table. They had nothing left to drink. It was awful. And to make things worse, when they got their bills, instead of charging 2 table service to my brother's room and 4 to my sisters room, the waiter charged all 6 table service credits to my sister's room (throwing off her table service count)

My sister had to get a manager on her own to fix the problem. It was terrible. Not a magical moment. And our dinner had gone so long that we missed almost all of Wishes!!!! With MVMCP going on most nights, this would be our only "scheduled" chance to see the MK fireworks.

We thought we might have one other chance to see Wishes on Wednesday night, so we weren't too disappointed. Alas, that was also not to be, but we had no way of knowing it at the time.

It had been cold all day, but as the sun set during dinner it got COLD. Brrrrrrrrr........ where's my hat and my gloves, this isn't Florida weather....cold. So we bundled up and headed for Space Mountain to use our last fastpasses.

The the kids and the dads went on Astro Orbiter again while the moms saved a place for the 2nd Main Street Electrical Parade........ nice and warm under our blankets! Hehehe...... we got the best job!

 

[erstwo]

MSEP was awesome. I really miss Spectro, but on a night like that, when the air is best described as frigid, you can't help but appreciate the professionalism of the Disney Cast members.

We cheered our hearts out for all of them, even the dancing bumble bees and the Clock tower!

It was a great show!

It was Extra Magic Hours until 1 am this night. The crowds were already much lower - the cold temps sending most people home right after Wishes, but just to avoid any other "right after the parade" crowds at the bus stop, we went to

Which we all LOVED! Plus we really warmed up while we were in there.

Then we walked across the Tomorrowland bridge with my parents and sister, who decided to head back to Pop because of the cold temps.

We shopped for a few minutes

and while we were checking out, my husband asked CM if the walkway through the Castle was ever open. He responded that it was open right now. My husband said to me "I'd really love to walk through the Castle." My hubby and I were feeling great (my husband is from Chicago, so we have lots of winter wear for playing in the snow when we visit!) and the park was virtually empty. Normally our kids are "go to bed at 7:30 and get up at 6:00ers" but the schedule had been thrown out the window days ago and they had both napped in the stroller earlier. The park was all but empty, so we decided to go for it! The MK awaited!

This sight almost took my breath away. The glow of the Castle, the Carousel twinkling at the end of the tunnel. It was so beautiful. My picture doesn't do it justice. I'm hoping some of our talented photographers will (or have) captured it too because I'd love a really good image!

When we got through the tunnel, who did we see standing all by himself?

And then as we turned around, there were Mickey and Minnie! Unfortunately, they had already gathered a large following ala the Pied Piper, so we decided to skip that line in favor of testing our rightful claim to the throne of England:

Seemed like a good idea at the time. Hope I didn't scare any small children. :lookaroun

 

[erstwo]

My son and I rode Big Thunder Mountain 4 times with a zero wait while my sweet husband took my daughter on Small World. Twice. (Not sure which parent got the better deal, I avoided incessantly singing dolls, but I couldn't feel my fingers.....)

It was nearing midnight, and we didn't want anyone to turn into a pumpkin or screaming, tantrum throwing mess, so we took a few pics and headed out.

I like the perspective my husband got on this one:

The Photopass photographer took this one for us. I had seen them taking Photopass pictures toward the tree the night before, but when we asked her to take our picture toward the tree - her camera was currently facing the Castle- she said she could take one with our personal camera, but not on Photopass.

The only thing I could figure is that taking a picture toward the tree is a MVMCP thing only? :shrug:

Either way, I thought she took a great picture!

Main Street was honestly the most crowded part of the park at that point. And as you can see from the picture there weren't that many people there! We found out the next morning that at around 12:30, the park was so empty, Mickey Mouse himself rode Dumbo with my brother and his girlfriend!! They weren't in the same 'Dumbo' as he was, but they were on the same 'flight.' How awesome is that?

But we were already in our room at that point. Day 4 (or 5 depending on how you count!) was officially o'vah! :xmas:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I'm still following your updates...just not so good at posting replies. Loving it all soooooo much. That frigid weather looks just miserable. I'm glad y'all adapted so well. Sounds like everyone's having a blast. Love love love it!

 

[emh1960]

We leave tomorrow around lunch and will arrive at WDW mid morning Thursday! The plan is to hit up Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic (if we don't freeze to death! ) that night.

The next few days are dictated by ADR's - Epcot, Epcot, and then the MK on Sunday, the next 7 days we will play it by ear! Woo Hoo for 10 days at Disney!

If you're headed down this week (or already there) be sure to say hello! if you see me, because (repeat after me......) I WILL be wearing my WDW magic button..... I WILL be wearing my WDW magic button (unlike the other trips I've forgotten it!)

Lastly, also starring in this trip report will be the outfits my mom has made for my kids and my nieces. She doesn't do this for a living, she just does it for fun, but for those of you who might be interested in similar outfits, I recommend Etsy.com, specifically the shop "Everything Abigail" for applique and " MissTinaSmocking" for smocked dresses.

Some of the outfits my mom has made (in TRIPLICATE! - there are 3 granddaughters on this trip!)

There will also be matching family tshirts :xmas: Heaven help us all - yes, we will be "that" family! This is my parent's, sister's and brother's first trip since 1995 (back when there were trees in the MK hub!) so they are just a *tiny* bit excited. Which may or may not have resulted in matching tshirts :lookaroun I can't wait for the look on their faces when we round that corner and see the castle! It's my #1 moment I'm looking forward to!!!

"See" you all tomorrow!! :wave:

Love the smocking! Going to etsy now! Hope you had a great time, now I'm going to read the rest of your report!

 

[erstwo]

I'm still following your updates...just not so good at posting replies. Loving it all soooooo much. That frigid weather looks just miserable. I'm glad y'all adapted so well. Sounds like everyone's having a blast. Love love love it!

Whew! I was beginning to think I was talking to myself! :lol:

Love the smocking! Going to etsy now! Hope you had a great time, now I'm going to read the rest of your report!

I think the smocking was my favorite too! When you visit misstinasmocking, be sure to look at her 'sales' section. That's where the best Disney ideas are. She does a great mickey/ minnie and her princess dress is awesome too!

 

[erstwo]

Day 6 (I'll go ahead and count from arrival day, even if it was just a 1/2 day.
Tuesday, December 7

We had a hard time deciding where to go this morning. At this point we had been to Epcot for 2 full days, and Magic Kingdom for 2 full days. We knew we would be going back to Magic Kingdom on Wednesday to try to catch the fireworks (that we had missed the night before thanks to the bad waiter and the dining credit mix up.) That left us with 3 full days and one half day left to cover Animal Kingdom and DHS.

The decision was made to visit DHS because #1 - it hadn't gotten any warmer overnight! and we thought many of the animals at Animal Kingdom were probably going to stay inside and stay warm and #2 - Tuesday was a non Fantasmic night at DHS and we'd heard the crowds might be lower because of that.

So off to DHS we went! We were all excited to arrive right before park opening. As we came through the bag check we could hear them 'opening the gates.' I thought, "Awesome! We can walk right up to the rope and then run straight for TSMM and get in the standby line while I get everyone fastpasses!"

But then....... DISASTER.... I had forgotten my lanyard with mine and my daughters Key to the World back at our hotel room!

I knew there was no way I would make the standby line, so I sent DH and the family running off toward the "goal" :lookaroun while I headed for Guest Services to get a new Key to the World. When I got to Guest Services there was no line! :sohappy:

I knew I would be late/ behind my family, but I figured I would only be minute or two after rope drop. Well, that was wishful thinking. Because that pesky new "system" Disney installed at the beginning of the month was DOWN. Completely shut down. After trying for 20 solid minutes to pull up my reservation (she finally had to call Pop Century just to confirm I was actually staying at the resort) she issued me 2 complimentary paper tickets to get into the park. Wooo Hoooo! :sohappy: We were late, but we were back in business. The only bummer was that I would have to waste some precious park time going aaaaalllllllll the way back to Pop and then allllll the way over to the Contemporary for our Chef Mickey's reservation. Because while our paper tickets would get us in the park, they didn't contain our Table Service Dining credits. (and because the hubby and I had 2 rooms with 1 adult and 1 child per room, we had to pay with both his card and my card each night.)

This is the sight that greeted my husband while I waited:

He took one for the team and stood in line for fastpasses while they got in the Standby line. Standby said 50 minutes when my family got there, but it took only around 20. Maybe because there were no Fastpasses being redeemed???

Anyway, once I rejoined my husband, we took our daughter over to the Magic of Animation building to keep her mind off the fact that her cousins and brother were in line for one of her favorite rides without her! (Plus it was warm!)

We were the only ones there

 

[erstwo]

Seriously, the only ones there:

But my daughter, husband and I had a lot of fun playing with the animation and sounds kiosks!

Soon enough, my family called to say they were getting on the ride, so we made our way back out into the cold to meet them.

We decided to stay warm and head into the Voyage of the Little Mermaid:

Then we headed back to the Magic of Animation for my nieces to meet the Mouse himself for the first time!

After a wonderful meet & greet and some more fun with the kiosks, we walked out into the courtyard to find we had just missed the next Playhouse Disney show. The big kids weren't excited about seeing it anyway, so it was decided that we would check out the wait for the Tower of Terror.

On the way, we caught the new Disney Channel show.

Once again, I have to commend Disney Cast Members on their professionalism. I can't be easy to sing and dance in such cold weather, but their performance was perfect!

The wait was only 10 minutes! Here we go!

(This was us walking up the line didn't start here.)

This was my first time any of us had ridden on Tower of Terror. My daughter and my mom sat it out. I screamed like a little girl the entire time. But I did think it was really cool how they don't just drop you, but they build the story and then carry you out toward the front. Only in Disney!

After we recovered from our ride, we grabbed some Fastpasses for the Rockin Roller Coaster and headed for seats at Beauty and the Beast:

After B&B, we found the perfect solution to our earlier problem when my Mom and my sister took the "littles" to Playhouse Disney Live Onstage

while my husband, brother in law, Dad, and I took the big kids on the Rockin Roller Coaster. My dad is a big fan of classic rock, so I knew he would love this one!

We grabbed fastpasses on the way out and headed for some lunch at the ABC Commissary. Again, our sole motivation was just the indoor seating! I totally forgot about Pizza Planet, but oh well, there's always next time!

Then it was time to redeem our Fastpasses for TSMM!

I love Chutes and Ladders! We love to play that game at this house! We have to buy a new gameboard almost every year.

The ride was awesome as always (how many times can I say awesome in one trip report do you think? :lol - loved the updates for Toy Story 3! And of course, as mentioned before I RULED!!! with the highest score in my car. Of course, other than my husband, my biggest competition was a couple of 4 year olds, but that's beside the point right?

 

[LeafsFanNL]

I am just loving the TR.

You seem to be doing well travelling with such a large party. I did not have so much luck last April. You are cracking me up with how cold you guys were finding it. Where were you on Thursday Night the 9th? That night which was our first night, when we saw Illuminations was the only night I needed a touque.

 

[erstwo]

I am just loving the TR.

You seem to be doing well travelling with such a large party. I did not have so much luck last April. You are cracking me up with how cold you guys were finding it. Where were you on Thursday Night the 9th? That night which was our first night, when we saw Illuminations was the only night I needed a touque.

The 9th we were in Animal Kingdom all day. Looking back at my pictures, I see that the kids did take our jackets off for about 2 hours that afternoon. I kept my big fluffy coat on all day though! In my defense, I think it was a little cooler there because of all of the shade trees. We didn't go out that night as my son wasn't feeling well. The rest of my family went to have dinner with my uncle in Kissimmee that night and they said it was super cold.

They stuck together really well! Everyone kept up, I was so proud of them! My brother and his girlfriend did essentially ditch us about half way through the week, but I predicted that would happen. They kept saying they wanted to stay with the family, but I knew that as soon as a couple of 24 year olds realized how many bathroom breaks 4 kids require, they would be off on their own agenda. We did meet up at every meal though, so it worked out really well.

 

[CarlFredricksen]

:wave:Looks great so far! Thanks for sharing!

 

[erstwo]

After TSMM, it was almost 3:00 - time for me to head back to Pop to get my Keys to the World, and make it in time for our ADR's a Chef Mickeys.

Before I left though, I really, really wanted to see the Muppet Show with my family. I love the Muppets, but in all of our trips, we've never made it to this show! When we got there, there was a line outside the door, but after about 3 minutes, we were all ushered inside the preshow area. I LOVED the preshow area! I took a dozen pictures (not all of them in focus.... :lookaroun)

Department of Comedic Timing - Take Fozzie Bear - Please - :lol:

Sadly, the actual show wasn't as good as the set up area. Don't get me wrong, it had it's moments (mostly from the guys in the balcony), but I actually got bored. Too bad.

I headed straight for the bus stop after Muppets. I really have no memory of what my family rode while I was gone. My trip home only took about 45 minutes total. After a quick outfit change, I grabbed my lanyard containing my Keys to the World and boarded a bus to the Magic Kingdom. Once I got there, I walked over to the Contemporary and took an elevator up to the 4th floor.

 

[erstwo]

If we had a bad experience the night before, then Chef Mickey's was the perfect remedy!

Our waiter, Tim, could NOT have been better!!!! He was all over our table, bringing drinks, clearing plates. It was awesome.

Speaking of our table, we were seated at the far end of the restaurant, up the little stairs behind the frosted glass wall. I know why that glass is frosted now! The view was AMAZING!!! We could see the Castle and some of Tomorrowland from our table. We got to watch the sun set. It was absolutely perfect. Thanks Chef Mickeys!

The characters were great as usual. When Goofy got to our table, he picked up my youngest niece's (recently purchased) baby Goofy plush and rocked it in his arms. So sweet. When he saw my son's Stitch plush, this is what he did. So funny!

After dinner, my parents decided they needed to rest their feet, so they headed back to Pop, while my brother and his girlfriend headed back to the Animal Kingdom, which had Extra Magic Hours until 9 pm!

My sister and I decided we wanted to see the Osborne Lights, so we waited in the cold for a bus to Hollywood Studios, crossing our fingers we would make it back by at least 7:30 - DHS closed at 8.

We made it! At around 7:15, and everyone loved it!

Catching some "snow"

After we saw the lights dance a little, we decided to hit up one more ride before calling it a night. The big kids were begging for another ride on the Rockin Roller Coaster. It was time to use those fastpasses we had gotten so long ago! My husband and I ran that way, while my sister and brother in law stood in line for one last ride on Toy Story with the Littles.

Our roller coaster dreams were dashed however, when we arrived at the RnRC to find a few people running out and toward the Tower of Terror. A quick check with the Fastpass CM confirmed that RnRC was down.

The big kids begged for a chance to ride the Tower of Terror instead, but my husband and I weren't so sure. We'd barely survived our first ride. We weren't sure we'd come out of a second ride alive. :lol: But they kept asking so nicely, I finally said I would take them. I guess my husband didn't want to seem like he was less brave than I was so he decided to join us.
Honestly, the second time wasn't as bad. But it won't be first on my list the next time we visit. :animwink:

We met up at the front of the park with my sister and headed back to Pop to catch some :snore:

Day 6 was in the books!

 

[erstwo]

:wave:Looks great so far! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you for reading!

 

[Alison1975]

seriously adore this trip report.. the fast you have so many in your "group" and it's working is awesome. We have 19 as of now in our group...7 in my immediate then 9 then 3 (potential of 204 more teens joining)..

 

[Billy6]

Great stuff..enjoying the trip report!!!:xmas:

 

[wannabeBelle]

Hi there!!! First things first ::Serious blush:: Thank you for all of your compliments. I am proud to say I work with the best team of travel agents anywhere. From my wonderful boss, Pam to our secretary/ agent, Denise to all of the wonderful agents that I am proud to call my co-workers, I Am truly blessed to be able to be a part of the Kingdom Konsultant Travel Team!!!!
You have such a cute family!!!! It looks like it was just amazing!!!! The little ones are adorable!!!!
I can completely identify with your Mom, The same thing happened to me a number of years ago with my Mom. She came on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad with me and freaked out. She didnt realize it was a full blown coaster. Mom was not happy!!!!! She does love Test Track though. Did your Mom do Soarin'? I keep saying if I get my Mom to go again, I think she would love that ride.
I am anxiously awaiting more!!!!
Marie

 

[DroPZ0nE25]

This is a great read keep up the great work!!!!:xmas:

 

[LeafsFanNL]

seriously adore this trip report.. the fast you have so many in your "group" and it's working is awesome. We have 19 as of now in our group...7 in my immediate then 9 then 3 (potential of 204 more teens joining)..

19??? My hat's off to you

 

[Alison1975]

yep..7 of us, my best friend and her fam ( dh and 7 kids) then another set of friends and their kids. Plus 2-4 ( NOT 204) teens that if they can save are joining too!