Trip Report Our First December Trip! A Bay Lake Tower/ Dream Cruise Land & Sea Report COMPLETED

myhappyplace · Dec 12, 2016

epcotisbest said:
We have come close to staying at all of them and do have a couple of favorites. OK, three favorites, WL, AKL Kidani and Saratoga Springs. The Epcot resorts were nice and I like both Boardwalk and Beach Club, but liked Beach Club better because of the pool. Having stayed at all levels from value to deluxe, I suppose we are easy to please, as each time we are there, regardless of resort level, we are mostly just happy to be there. We have been staying offsite a lot too and have stayed at some places that are really amazing. Our vacation style has changed over the years and we are now at the point where we spend much more time at the resort and poolside than at the parks, and that suits us just fine.

I love reading your reports, and your laid-back style of visiting!! When I first started visiting WDW when I was 22, I was park open till park close kind of girl. Only needed a place to sleep and shower, so thus I stayed at All-Stars and POP. Then came our Disneymoon 3 years ago, where we decided to splurge for the WL, and well, now I do appreciate my time at a nicely themed immersive resort. We do tend to take more breaks now, so you could say our style has changed over the years as well.

epcotisbest said:
This photo, and several others too, looks like something out of a travel magazine. Very nice.

View attachment 179406

Thank you very kindly!! That made my night!

Mrhappyplace · Dec 13, 2016

myhappyplace said:
Next up, we had a FP for:

Our verdict--- We loved it! I don't know if I was a little "too used" to the old one, but this one had my eyes taking in every little bit! I did miss the orange scent, but it was fun to have a change.

To be more accurate I found the new Soarin film to be more exciting, the original I found to be very serene, enjoyable but relaxing. Experiencing the new one a found myself gripping the armrest once or twice. Both are fun but I think I did enjoy the new one more, though I wish the transitions between scenes was smoother as I found that quite jarring.

Also while the discount was a attractive benefit the real reason for getting the APs was that we received a pin code and had booked a Caribbean Beach trip for Flower and Garden so buying the AP was slightly cheaper then the cost of tickets for this trip and that one. Discounts on food and merchandise just made the deal even better. Unfortunately all of our purchases before upgrading our tickets would have been eligible for the discount and the first three or four purchases we made right after were not which I found kinda comical.

epcotisbest · Dec 13, 2016

Oh, I forgot to mention...bringing your own strawberry compote to Captain Cook's...genius!

fractal · Dec 13, 2016

Following along...

How nice to be able to walk to MK.

I loved the T-shirts as well.

Some great parade photos!

Mrhappyplace · Dec 13, 2016

epcotisbest said:
Oh, I forgot to mention...bringing your own strawberry compote to Captain Cook's...genius!

That was a very good idea that DW had and it tasted just as great as it does upstairs. I will admit that I did really enjoy The Samoan I got at Kona last vacation but the price difference between Tonga Toast upstairs and downstairs is considerable enough that it is worth bringing the homemade compote. Probably a even better idea if one is staying at the Poly and can use it multiple times during their trip.

Tiggerish · Dec 13, 2016

myhappyplace said:
Amber, age 38 (myhappyplace) and Dave, age 46 (Mrhappyplace).

I've met you guys. You both look WAY younger than the numbers you wrote here.

myhappyplace said:
we booked our next cruise on this one!! (TIP: if you think you even remotely want to cruise again while onboard, there is no reason NOT to do this! It locks in a discount and shipboard account credit, you have 2 years to complete the cruise, plus if you decide not to, the deposit is refundable!!)

Preach!! On our last cruise in October, we booked a placeholder and are hoping to go to Alaska in 2018.

myhappyplace said:
Our plans for our first day included resort hopping to see Christmas decorations, and MVMCP that evening. First, even though our room wasn't ready, I peeked in the BLT lobby and took a few pictures:

Cool! I've stayed at BLT a few times, but never at Christmas. I like their decorations!

myhappyplace said:
Where were we going for lunch you ask?

I was able to guess!

I've had some good times at Crew's Cup, and one of my Top 10 WDW meals was there, simply a lobster roll and a glass of Chardonnay, but it was memorably good.

Love all the photos of the holiday decor around the resorts. My living room Christmas décor is based on the Boardwalk's.

I was at WDW last December, but didn't get a chance to resort hop, so I can tell that the Beach Club has really changed up their decorations, and the Yacht Club freshened theirs--last time I saw it, the ribbons were burgundy and now they're navy.

That is a crazy tree in the Dolphin!

MK Tree looks great. Castle photos are spectacular!

epcotisbest · Dec 13, 2016

Mrhappyplace said:
That was a very good idea that DW had and it tasted just as great as it does upstairs. I will admit that I did really enjoy The Samoan I got at Kona last vacation but the price difference between Tonga Toast upstairs and downstairs is considerable enough that it is worth bringing the homemade compote. Probably a even better idea if one is staying at the Poly and can use it multiple times during their trip.

Your wife is very smart. We often stay in villas with a kitchen so we sometimes bring stuff back to the room and modify it to our liking, or save it for breakfast or something.

Tiggerish · Dec 13, 2016

myhappyplace said:

@Mrhappyplace Love the Baymax Santa shirt! And @myhappyplace the whole outfit--so festive!!

myhappyplace said:

This photo = AMAZING.

myhappyplace said:
We looked around at the Poly decor...it is a shame they don't have an icon tree, but theirs was nice too.

I love that wreath, it's gorgeous and so perfectly themed! The tree is lovely, too. Curious--what makes a tree an "icon tree"?

myhappyplace said:

That is a LOT of ice cream!

Yay for Father Christmas! Boo for beer trash.

Your SSE video grabs are funny--I've gotten that ending, too, and wish I had that closet!

Seriously, though, do any of those outfits look like they're ready for a party? No. And sometimes we've had it happen that my husband is the one who's looking for a party outfit and I'm sitting cross legged drinking coffee

ScarletBegonias · Dec 13, 2016

Following along! You both take stunning photos!

Mrhappyplace · Dec 13, 2016

Tiggerish said:
I've met you guys. You both look WAY younger than the numbers you wrote here.

That's sweet of you to say but I feel older, well physically at least, mentally I still feel like a teenager.

Tiggerish said:
@Mrhappyplace Love the Baymax Santa shirt! And @myhappyplace the whole outfit--so festive!!

Wish I could take credit for it but I stole it from @carriehpotter.

ScarletBegonias said:
Following along! You both take stunning photos!

Thanks, many more photos to come!

myhappyplace · Dec 13, 2016

epcotisbest said:
Oh, I forgot to mention...bringing your own strawberry compote to Captain Cook's...genius!

Thanks!! It just started out as I was hungry for it, and thought "Pinterest has every copycat recipe you can think of, from almost anywhere, I bet they have strawberry compote". We knew we didn't want to do a sit-down table service for breakfast at the Poly this year, just because we knew we would spend a lot of time looking at the Christmas decor, so it seemed like a perfect fit

fractal said:
Following along...

How nice to be able to walk to MK.

I loved the T-shirts as well.

Some great parade photos!

Yes! Loved the proximity to my (not DH's though) favorite park! We love taking advantage of any of the resorts that have walking paths to a park, like we did last year with Boardwalk to DHS and Epcot.

Thank you for the compliments, and for reading along!

Mrhappyplace said:
That was a very good idea that DW had and it tasted just as great as it does upstairs. I will admit that I did really enjoy The Samoan I got at Kona last vacation but the price difference between Tonga Toast upstairs and downstairs is considerable enough that it is worth bringing the homemade compote. Probably a even better idea if one is staying at the Poly and can use it multiple times during their trip.

Just noting for posterity

Tiggerish said:
I've met you guys. You both look WAY younger than the numbers you wrote here.

Preach!! On our last cruise in October, we booked a placeholder and are hoping to go to Alaska in 2018.

Cool! I've stayed at BLT a few times, but never at Christmas. I like their decorations!

I was able to guess! I've had some good times at Crew's Cup, and one of my Top 10 WDW meals was there, simply a lobster roll and a glass of Chardonnay, but it was memorably good.

Love all the photos of the holiday decor around the resorts. My living room Christmas décor is based on the Boardwalk's. I was at WDW last December, but didn't get a chance to resort hop, so I can tell that the Beach Club has really changed up their decorations, and the Yacht Club freshened theirs--last time I saw it, the ribbons were burgundy and now they're navy.

That is a crazy tree in the Dolphin!

MK Tree looks great. Castle photos are spectacular!

I know right? Like DH I have been bodily feeling my age more and more, but mentally I'm not a grown up yet. I think it has to do with spending my day with 14 one-year olds.

There really is no reason not to, unless you hated the cruise and never want to go back ever.

I LOVED Boardwalk's decor, something about the beach mixing with Christmas. My school that I work at has a nautical theme, so it is how our front lobby is decked out right now, and I love it.

myhappyplace · Dec 13, 2016

epcotisbest said:
Your wife is very smart. We often stay in villas with a kitchen so we sometimes bring stuff back to the room and modify it to our liking, or save it for breakfast or something.

Aw, shucks. I have my moments, lol. DH is usually the idea-getter. Wait till our report in May! We've got an ADR at Mormioto, and Asian food is DH's weakness. I'm already planning on bringing a couple of throw-away tupperware containers, because he has informed me we are ordering LOTS of food, and then we can bring it back to the resort if we don't eat it all there

Tiggerish said:
@Mrhappyplace Love the Baymax Santa shirt! And @myhappyplace the whole outfit--so festive!!

This photo = AMAZING.

I love that wreath, it's gorgeous and so perfectly themed! The tree is lovely, too. Curious--what makes a tree an "icon tree"?

That is a LOT of ice cream!

Yay for Father Christmas! Boo for beer trash.

Your SSE video grabs are funny--I've gotten that ending, too, and wish I had that closet! Seriously, though, do any of those outfits look like they're ready for a party? No. And sometimes we've had it happen that my husband is the one who's looking for a party outfit and I'm sitting cross legged drinking coffee

Thanks! I had been planning my outfit out for awhile, saving those Lularoe leggings for months! DH got many compliments on his shirt.

I've been using the term "icon tree" because that's what Tom in Disney Tourist Blog calls the very very tall trees, of the size in the parks, I believe. I think he said there were 9. (4 parks, DS, AKL, WL, Contemporary, and Grand Floridian) Poly's was smaller.

It was a lot of ice cream, but oh so good! Confession: when she was using that little scoop to get out the ice cream, I thought to myself "ugh, that doesn't look like very much" but it was perfect.

I loved our future! And, no that is NOT what I'd be wearing to a party!

ScarletBegonias said:
Following along! You both take stunning photos!

Thanks for reading and the compliment!!

Mrhappyplace · Dec 13, 2016

myhappyplace said:
Yes! Loved the proximity to my (not DH's though) favorite park! We love taking advantage of any of the resorts that have walking paths to a park, like we did last year with Boardwalk to DHS and Epcot.

What we really took advantage of was that Contemporary/Bay Lake Tower essentially has bus transport to every resort if you are willing to walk to MK bus depot. I think we did that walk 2 or 3 times every day.

myhappyplace said:
It was a lot of ice cream, but oh so good! Confession: when she was using that little scoop to get out the ice cream, I thought to myself "ugh, that doesn't look like very much" but it was perfect.

I could have had more and said so at the time. Probably gonna get a sundae next time.

myhappyplace · Dec 13, 2016

Finishing up Epcot on Day #2--

After Spaceship Earth, we still had time before our ADR, so we decided to go try to meet Anna & Elsa. The queue was to the entrance, but we thought we'd have time.

The details in there were adorable!

We were behind a family of 5: a mom wearing a baby, a dad holding a little boy (under 3) on a leash, and a little girl, maybe 5 or 6. They climbed on absolutely everything. EVERYTHING! And the little boy laid down on the floor, and the mom gently put her foot on his rear and jiggled him as he did so, causing him, and thus her, to laugh. But after a couple minutes of doing this, she wanted him to stop and they were not happy that he wouldn't stop. My inner Toddler Teacher was shaking her head.

Well, the wait didn't zoom by like we hoped, and we felt the time had come for us to jump out of line (and do the awkward walk back through the line) and head for our ADR. Leaving when we did caused us to run into the release of the Candlelight Processional crowd. Talk about hard to get through!!!

Apparently I had enough time for this photo:

But we made it; tonight we were dining at:

Ever since DH heard of a Scotch Egg, he has been wanting to try one. So we knew that would be ordered. We both went with the fish & chips. I did have a Yuengling, however.

Scotch Egg:

Verdict: he really enjoyed it! We chatted with our server, Nick, who told us how to make them...now I have promised to attempt them at home!

And for dessert, we split a Sticky Toffee Pudding:

We loved getting to take our time, as NIck assured us our table was ours for the duration. Our meal was very enjoyable, and further enhanced by our excellent view of Illuminations, courtesy of our table on the very outside, closest to the water! I almost wished I would have turned the camera on myself, to capture the expression that I'm sure was there the entire time. Not so much for regular Illuminations, though there were some fireworks launches from the edge of the water toward the middle, that kept startling me. But that tag. OMG. That Peace on Earth tag. I was in tears, and mouth agape, especially at the finale. I've never seen so many bursts in a fireworks show in my life. And all right in our faces!! The SOUND. Amazing. Amazing. As much as I love Magic Kingdom, and all the goings-on there at Christmas, if anyone asked me what was a DO NOT MISS, I would quickly recommend the Peace on Earth tag of Illuminations. Chills.

After Illuminations, we exited through the International Gateway yet again, with the thought of going to enjoy a drink at Todd English's Bluezoo in the Dolphin.

We arrived, and sat in a booth. I liked the look of these prisms, though DH commented that it looked homemade.

I had the Zooberry, which was yummy:

Dave had the Burnt Orange (though I was in the restroom during the presentation)

It was then we realized, our Magic Bands won't work here. Also we had not much cash, and no credit card with us. So it would only be one drink each for us tonight! We finished our drinks, and headed out to the bus stop.

We liked how they had the tree inside the revolving door:

I knew there was a MVMCP going on that night, so transportation should all still be available, but there was no one else at the stop at that time, and of course we inwardly start to...not panic, but worry what would happen if no bus came. Would we walk to Boardwalk and try there? Go inside and see if they can call anyone? Call an uber? Do they take Paypal? LOL. Luckily, none of these worries were necessary, and a bus pulled up shortly, to take us to Magic Kingdom. Since we were the only guests aboard, and it seemed to kind of surprise him that wanted to go that way, and we told him we were actually staying at BLT, he dropped us off closest to the pathway. We walked home to BLT, and that, my friends, is the end of our first full day.

Up next, our Magic Kingdom day!

myhappyplace · Dec 13, 2016

Day 3: Saturday, December 3rd- Magic Kingdom

As per usual, DH was up and at 'em earlier than me. He was able to catch this beautiful early morning photo off our balcony:

Prior to the trip, I attempted to make a pre-park opening ADR at Be Our Guest. We really enjoyed not only the meal, surprisingly to us, but getting in the park earlier than the crowd. However, I was unable to secure one until a short time before our trip, for 8:20. Great! we thought! But then, hours changed, and the park opened at 8. Darn. We weren't sure if they'd let us in early, or make us wait with everyone else.

Turns out, they let us in at 7:45! Yay! Some photos along Main Street.

I was so glad we were able to walk through the castle in the morning, I love that! A look back toward the train station:

Hopefully this isn't weird, but I loved the shadow of this little family at the edge of the tunnel:

Tiggerish · Dec 13, 2016

Wow, you packed a lot into that first day!

I'm surprised that "Magic Bands don't apply" at the Dolphin. Good thing you realized when you did!

I've always thought Scotch Eggs seemed kinda gross.

Shows how much I know!

Early morning MK shots are awesome!

Mrhappyplace · Dec 13, 2016

Tiggerish said:
Wow, you packed a lot into that first day!

I'm surprised that "Magic Bands don't apply" at the Dolphin. Good thing you realized when you did!

I've always thought Scotch Eggs seemed kinda gross. Shows how much I know!

Early morning MK shots are awesome!

Technically the second day, just the first park day, and yeah we did get a lot done, including something DW just realized she forgot to include and we killed a few hours going to the resort to get our IDs and relax a bit. It was a good day, the Ample Hills visit and the Blue Zoo were two of my requests. BTW we both liked the atmosphere in Blue Zoo but found their restrooms needed some attention, both of us encountered closed stalls and general uncleanliness and were unsure we would ever return.

It's sausage and egg, a kinda popular combination I'm actually surprised the Scotch Egg hasn't been turned into a fast food staple for breakfast.

myhappyplace · Dec 13, 2016

Some additional park entry pics:

We headed straight to 7DMT, of course. As we entered the queue, the CM at the entrance said on her walkie talkie "the breakfast crowd is coming!", which made me chuckle. We walked right on!

After the ride, we still had some time to enjoy a still empty Fantasyland, so we opted to do something DH hadn't done...Pooh!

When we got out of Pooh, the wait time for 7DMT was up to 30 minutes. But we had a breakfast to get to!! We checked in, and got our rose because we preordered.

Loved seeing it decked out for Christmas, too! So magical! I seriously want these ornaments.

My breakfast was Croque Madame

DH had the Feast a'la Gaston. He wasn't really impressed, he liked his Eggs Florentine from last trip better, but they weren't on the menu.

Of course I had to get a pic by the tree!

Thanks for the breakfast, Lumiere!

myhappyplace · Dec 13, 2016

Mrhappyplace said:
...including something DW just realized she forgot to include...

I went back and included it! I inserted it into one of our Epcot posts, because looking back on this trip, I want to see it somewhat in order. So...

if anyone would like to see our pictures with Baymax, please re-read post #36

DRD · Dec 14, 2016

myhappyplace said:

Love this picture!

Glad Mr Happy Place got to enjoy the scotch egg. We've been talking about that for over a year now as I was supposed to try one last year but didn't. (Though I did get to try haggis at the Scotland booth at F&W)

Trip Report Our First December Trip! A Bay Lake Tower/ Dream Cruise Land & Sea Report ***COMPLETED***

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Trip Report Our First December Trip! A Bay Lake Tower/ Dream Cruise Land & Sea Report COMPLETED