Our Best Friends Are Flakes … A December WDW Trip Report

Welcome to H20Babie's Trip Report
*applause*
*ooooohhhh*
*aaaahhhhhhhh*​

With 7 days to go, I thought I would kick off the festivities by starting the Pre-Trip Report. (Of course, it will be followed up by the Post Trip Report). Just like the Christmas lights all over Disney this time year, this report is meant to sparkle, dazzle and, of course, entertain.

Warning: This product can burn eyes.




Our Best Friends Are Flakes … A December WDW Trip Report​

Since my last trip report was a solo one, I will now introduce you to the "players":

Who?

Me: 34 year old Single Mom, conceived in Disney and 20 WDW visits under the belt since. Last trip was solo in March/April 2008. Has never been to Disney during the Christmas Season. Affectionately known as Thing 1.

Jackson: My son, mischievous and potty-humoured 7 year old, 6 visits under his belt (also conceived in Disney). Last trip was March 2007.

Goni: Short for Antigoni, and my mother, 50-something Disney aficionado. She is joining us after spending a week in Orlando golfing with my dad. She and my dad honeymooned in Disney just after it opened.

Suzy Q: Another Suzanne, also a 34 year old Single Mom. She has only been to Pleasure Island for New Year’s Eve (15 years ago before taking a cruise in the Bahamas). Affectionately known as Thing 2.

Claire: Suzy-Q’s 7 year old daughter, precocious yet shy, absolutely in love with the Princesses (and me). Has never been to Disney or on a plane.

William: Suzy-Q’s 6 year old son, likes to play fight with Jackson and gets a little rambunctious. Also has never been to Disney or been on a plane.

Suzy Q, William and Claire, 2007.

Me and Jackson, 2007.

Me and Mom, 2008.


When?
December 1 - 8, 2008

Where?
Disney’s All Star Music Resort

Why?
Why not?

 

[H20Babie]

Back at the ASMu, the kids has been itching to use the pool, so we finally gave in and let them have their way (but not before having mine ... lol):

Wild Thing (You make my tatts sing ...):

Water balloon toss:

Dance break:

Pool Twister:

 

[disneyfamilyjd]

Suzanne...Oh my, your trip report is fantastic. I am having such a great time snuggling in bed and reading your wonderful trip report! I love all of the extra little planning that you put into the trip to make it extra special. What a wonderful mother and friend. Your son will always have such wonderful memories of your trips together, can't wait to hear more!!!:wave:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Jackson has over 30 Webkinz ... he picked up two more in WDW, and then I put my foot down. We're in WDW ... buy something else! :lol:

I have no idea how many my boys have. It's a lot. Last December we gave them each a $300 gift card for their souveniers. They each bought a handful of Webkinz and I put a stop to it, too. Gosh! You're in WDW! Buy something you can't get anywhere else!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

And I'm toooootally lovin' your TR! Thank you thank you thank you! :sohappy:

 

[H20Babie]

Thanks everyone! I'm off to work for the day, with no spares, so I'll do another couple of updates this evening.

:wave:

 

[HollyBelle]

Great trip report! Looking forward to more. And I, too, am obsessed with the guava juice at the Ohana breakfast... it's delicious.

 

[H20Babie]

Woo-hoo! Got my Photopass CD today! I'll insert some pics here and there!

 

[H20Babie]

After some sun, swim and sanity, we headed out to Epcot and World Showcase for the evening.

We started with Mexico (darn those Dos Equis!), and made our way around in a semi-orderly fashion:

Felice Navidad:

In China, we ran into these guys ... maybe if I was that flexible, I wouldn't be single ... lol.

Which, of course, lead me to the Pickle Tree:

Jackson had been hording his allowance and any money given to him by family for the department store in Japan ... he remembered they sold Bakugan and Pokemon. He blew his whole savings ... look how proud he is!

Oh SSE, Oh SSE, Much pleasure doth thou bring me!:

On the way out, I took Will and Jackson and hit Test Track again:

Then Jackson and I blasted our way to Mars for the third time this trip (he finally got to be pilot):

The evening would not be complete without a stop at Mouse Gear:

 

[H20Babie]

Day 6: DAK & MK

Animal Kingdom was such a hit, we decided to go back and cover a few things we missed, such as Camp Mickey & Minnie.

Jackson and I went for a coffee while the others went to see FOTLK. As we rounded the corner, we ran into Pocohantas.

After we met up with the rest, Chip and Dale came out for pictures. Of course, they were up to their antics again:

We had breakfast at Pizzafari (delicious breakfast pizzas, BTW) and headed for Kali River Rapids as it was warming up pretty good. Claire looked a little worried:

She had good reason:

The boys went for a second soaking:

 

[H20Babie]

While Suzy Q, mom, Claire and Will went to look for dry clothes (no better reason to shop), Jackson and I hung around Africa and ... pin traded (pay close attention to the lanyard):

After, we went on safari again (where's the lanyard?):

I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas:

Tick tock:

More @sses:

And more ...

You looking at me?

We ended our time at DAK by spending a lengthy amount of time retracing our steps and visiting Guest Services for Jackson's lost lanyard while the others headed to MK. Jackson was the one who realized he didn't have it and had tucked it into the bags on safari. We were given a card and told to call Central Lost & Found in the morning. Jackson was devastated ... but held his chin up until we could find out the next morning. I was so proud of him!

 

[H20Babie]

Once at MK, we realized (1) we had just missed the day's parade taping (we had tickets for the next morning):

and (2), we had not yet been to MK during the day!

We quickly took a right after Tomorrowland, bypassing Fantasyland for Toon Town before it got dark. I took the boys on the Barnstormer; Claire bowed out while waiting in line and toured Minnie's House instead.

Now, travelling with 3 kids, you would indeed think that one of them would get injured. Well, both boys did with bleeding and split lips from the "do not swing the chain or it will hit you in the face, accident to happen" railings, but who would think an adult would get injured? We dubbed them the Disney Wounds:

 

[Disneyfalcon]

That is a great picture of the water soaking everyone!!! I hope you found his pins!

 

[H20Babie]

We all went inside Mickey's House, decorated for Christmas ...

And found a real Hidden Mickey:

By now it was getting dark, so we headed to Fantasyland to ring Tinkerbell's bell ...



This absolutely made Claire's trip! Yay, Claire!

And I played around with my camera settings again (notice how the photos are getting better and better bit by bit ... lol):

I gave each of us a penny for Cinderella's wishing well ... Jackson wished for his pins, lanyard and Pluto hat back:

We ended the night with some shopping on Main Street and another fabulous (late) dinner at Tony's Town Square:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

OMG! Who's bleedin' heel is that and how did it happen???? Ouch!

K. Gotta ask ya. I'm guessing SuzyQ likes the old-timey pin-up girl art. Just guessing with the Tawny Kitaen pics and the pose at 50's Prime. I love love love the stuff myself. I have a killer Varga book that's just amazing. I'd love to get a tat down my back of one of those pics. Just gorgeous.

Keep it coming. Love the TR!

 

[H20Babie]

The end is near ... I promise! It's -37 here with the windchill, and tomorrow is supposed to be -45. I'm not planning to leave home!

Day 7: MK and Epcot

We woke up bright and early today, and the first thing I did was call Lost and Found. First I was directed to voice mail three times and then I was put on hold for 30 minutes. By that time, the kids were getting antsy so Suzy Q and I took the kids and headed for MK again, while my Mom stayed behind to pack a little and would personally go to the Lost and Found on her way to meet up with us later. We all had our fingers and toes crossed.

While strolling through ASMu, we realized Pop Warner had indeed hit:

as we saw hordes of these everywhere on the resort grounds ...

I found it interesting that we received a phone call from the front desk that morning to request that we take off our Christmas window clings or be hit with a possible fine when we passed all of these:

Talk about putting pressure on your kids!

MK was almost dead this morning. We covered more than any other day combined. What was great about this trip was that we did all the little things that we normally don't do every trip, like the Swiss Family Tree House:

What a view:

 

[H20Babie]

From there, we went on Jungle Cruise, saw the Tiki Room, Country Bears, and let the kids run wild on Tom Sawyer's Island (I jumped on the suspension bridge like an idiot and Suzy Q fell like one!)

I also have to mention that we delcared this sign as "No Dancing." It was a running joke all week ... "Look guys, no dancing!" So, of course, everyone would start Staying Alive ala Travolta.

We finally met up with Mom at the Sunshine Terrance. Low and behold, they had found Jackson's lanyard, pins and Pluto hat! The castmember said we were very, very lucky that they were turned in. So, we celebrated:

 

[H20Babie]

And then dragged the kids, kicking and screaming, on Haunted Mansion:

They loved it (after the scream in the stretch room)!

By then, we were starting to get a little Pooh'ed out:

So we took some more pictures. No crown:

Crown:

The rest of the bunch decided to wait 40 minutes for Peter Pan, so I had a little time to shop and people watch:

Now it was time for one last ride in the MK before heading over to Epcot for dinner. The kids each got to pick one ride. Claire picked Monsters Inc., so Mom and Claire headed that way. The boys picked the Teacups (I could kill them!) It didn't help that Suzy Q came too, giving the spin more of a drunken lurch. Jackson really wanted to see his Mommy puke by the look on his face:

Click to hurl:



By the time we got off, I was staggering to the closest bench I could find!

 

[H20Babie]

Our last dinner of the trip was at Garden Grill. I didn't realize that we would actually be able to feel the restaurant revolve. For the first 20 minutes or so, I felt like I was on the teacups again. Then again, so did Suzy Q (na na na na na-na)!

The characters, once again, were fantastic:

Pluto was great with Jackson, even autographed his Pluto hat:

Will's birthday was back in November, and due to some unforseen circumstances, he never had a birthday party. So we arranged one for him:

 

[H20Babie]

Last Day:

No parks today. Instead, we slept in, packed (had to buy a new bag for our loot) and lazed around the resort.

DME back was uneventful, and everyone slept on the plane.

Winnipeg was back to Winterpeg

And Finn is all sparkly for Christmas

 

[H20Babie]

Some of our Photopass pictures: