Trip Report So I guess Disney thinks Canadians do not celebrate Christmas?? A Max Trip Report- COMPLETED

A big hello to all my Disney friends:

As the title suggest this is a trip report regarding our recent Christmas adventure at Walt Disney World

Why the title you ask? I will keep you guessing on that one for a few days at least

Details leading up to the departure can be found here:

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...-max-the-girls-and-the-boys-do-disney.951075/

This is my 6th trip report on these boards so hopefully you have read at least one before

The reason I say that is that my style might not suit all - I can probably sum it up as

1) Shoot from the hip
2) Do not pull punches
3) Definitely not PC
4) Not always PG
5) As much Seinfeld references as @Tuvalu can handle
6) Not too heavy or too light on the Pixie dust -keep it real and call it as I see it

Quick introduction will come from:

Day 1 - Travel Day towards the US but not quite beyond the comfort of home:
Friday Dec 21, 2018

The original plan was to drive from our home in Waterloo Ont Canada to Buffalo NY on Sat Dec 22.
With a 10:35 am fight a same day drive could have worked.

We switched it up to a drive on the day before and booked a hotel in Niagara Falls Canada

(our B&B in Buffalo backed out on us - @Doc Disney can try to explain how she let us down!!!)

So here we are at the Embassy Suites on Friday enjoying our homemade Mickey cookies

Me (Max, Andrew, Clarence) and Tricia

My younger daughter Cassie and Shane (BF)

and my older daughter Stephanie and her fiancé Jordan

and this is all of us at the Falls ( selfies are harder with six people!!!)

This report will chronicle Disney trip 28 for me and lucky(?) 13 to WDW.
It is also 13 to WDW for Tricia
The girls celebrate 10 trips to the world
Trip 2 for Shane (though his memory of the first is limited)

And - 1ST TIME FOR JORDAN!!!!!!

More Day 1 to follow and then off to Buffalo the next day!!!

Welcome aboard, ashore and wherever we are!!!

Max

 

[amjt660]

I hate you had to deal with the room mixup, not fair, even with a credit- but you got to see the Gingerbread House! We mixed everything so up, with the little fella- I missed it, but did not have the heart to wake him up. :-/ Glad you guys got to see it. (PS, how is you had green grass, in Canada, and we had a ton of snow in N.C.?) Just kidding, but not fair, it took ours, forever to melt!

The gingerbread house was one Christmas thing we wanted Shane and Jordan to see for sure.
With only 4 + days and having essentially 2 newbies we struggled to have them see/experience as much as possible.
And the green grass thing is very rare and odd to see at this time of the year

Actually Zero, but we have one here in town at our local zoo. Isn't it such a fun word to say though? FUNicular!

They are fun to ride

Thanks for the food photos, I love them!

Hi Kiwi - between Stephanie and I we should be able to supply more food pics than ever before!!

With you all the way on that one!

Stephane is a New England fan so I take my shots when I can

Glad to hear dinner at GFC was good! It’s on our list of possibilities for later this year.

We enjoyed it - good food and nice atmosphere - casual but not too casual if you know what I mean

Trying to catch up on all my TR reading so I'm a little late, but excited to be following along!

I am glad you are able to join in!

Following........ I will ignore the comment about New England

As above - use any chance I can to get a shot in!!
Thanks for following

Hi everyone!
I’m Stephanie (max’s daughter) and I’ll be chiming in throughput some of this trip report and I’ll be taking over the report later on briefly

Wait, what, Taking over!!, I did not authorize this!!!

Hi Stephanie! Welcome to the Forum.

Welcome to the forum Stephanie!

Greetings, Stephanie. Looking forward to your trip impressions.

Welcome to the forum Stephanie!

Welcome Stephanie! It will be fun to hear your take on things!

Hi Stephanie! Look forward to hearing from you!

Welcome Stephanie!!

I love the support from my WDWMagic Family !!!

Max

 

[darthcarranus]

The gingerbread house was one Christmas thing we wanted Shane and Jordan to see for sure.
With only 4 + days and having essentially 2 newbies we struggled to have them see/experience as much as possible.
And the green grass thing is very rare and odd to see at this time of the year


They are fun to ride


Hi Kiwi - between Stephanie and I we should be able to supply more food pics than ever before!!


Stephane is a New England fan so I take my shots when I can

We enjoyed it - good food and nice atmosphere - casual but not too casual if you know what I mean


I am glad you are able to join in!


As above - use any chance I can to get a shot in!!
Thanks for following


Wait, what, Taking over!!, I did not authorize this!!!









I love the support from my WDWMagic Family !!!

Max

A Max TR !?! Enjoyed your Shanghai TR ( and your snarky bits on @Tuvalu's TRs) and just had to get on board this one. Welcome to the show, steph.

 

[Swissmiss]

The gingerbread house was one Christmas thing we wanted Shane and Jordan to see for sure.
With only 4 + days and having essentially 2 newbies we struggled to have them see/experience as much as possible.
And the green grass thing is very rare and odd to see at this time of the year


They are fun to ride


Hi Kiwi - between Stephanie and I we should be able to supply more food pics than ever before!!


Stephane is a New England fan so I take my shots when I can

We enjoyed it - good food and nice atmosphere - casual but not too casual if you know what I mean


I am glad you are able to join in!


As above - use any chance I can to get a shot in!!
Thanks for following


Wait, what, Taking over!!, I did not authorize this!!!









I love the support from my WDWMagic Family !!!

Max

Max your family is our family too

 

[aliceismad]

You all are so sweet. Makes me wish I could go to WDW all the time so I could hang out here all the time.

Enjoying the report and the snark, Max!

 

[WDisneyW]

Hi everyone!
I’m Stephanie (max’s daughter) and I’ll be chiming in throughput some of this trip report and I’ll be taking over the report later on briefly (stay tuned). I’ll talk about food a lot!

At the GFC, I had trouble finding a dairy free vegetarian option but they offered to replace the salmon in the miso glazed salmon with tofu instead of salmon. Jordan got the miso glazed salmon enteee so we didn’t end up taking a picture of his meal because it looked just like mine but with salmon instead of tofu.

Welcome Stephanie!

 

[stephmax975]

Hi Stephanie! Welcome to the Forum.

Welcome to the forum Stephanie!

Greetings, Stephanie. Looking forward to your trip impressions.

Welcome to the forum Stephanie!

Welcome Stephanie! It will be fun to hear your take on things!

Hi Stephanie! Look forward to hearing from you!

A Max TR !?! Enjoyed your Shanghai TR ( and your snarky bits on @Tuvalu's TRs) and just had to get on board this one. Welcome to the show, steph.

Welcome Stephanie!!

Max your family is our family too

Welcome Stephanie!

Hey Dad, these people are cool!

 

[amjt660]

Hey Dad, these people are cool!

That is why I keep coming back!!!

Max

 

[krisri18]

Welcome Stephanie! Is the snark a family trait or just a Max thing? Lol

 

[amjt660]

Day 2 cont'd
Start off with a Photo pass pic from the entrance
One of the best of the trip

After Spaceship Earth we went to Test Track to use our first FP as an extended family
Tricia and I paired up, Steph and Cassie designed their car and the boys took up the challenge
(although the boys did not know about the time limit so they did not accessorize like we did)

From the queue we did this...

For some reason we did a knee bump rather than a fist bump - cannot remember why

Then we entered the design centre ( being a Toyota guy this is always awkward for me to get excited about!!)

This was our car (T and me)
We finished second behind the girls

The ride photo was great - I believe I was shouting something about how flipping cold it was in a convertible car at high speed

Test Track with no strangers in the car !! - Love it!!!

Everyone loved it and decided to go again during the trip (Spoiler - did not happen - either long line or broken down)

Max

 

[amjt660]

After our thrilling test track ride we headed toward world showcase

First up was Mexico
The entrance was wide open - no obstructions or steel barriers or walls

We rode this ride - the guys thought it was cute

Big line up (not really)

Ride Selfie!! (Jordan should be doing these - he has longer arms than I do!!)

I think the boys only recognized one of the three!!

Then it was off to Norway /Arendelle / where the heck are we exactly??

Max

 

[amjt660]

So how did the ride photo turn out??
You be the judge

Happy?

Creepy?
Perplexed ?

Not sure what the f#@ this is

And it looks like we had another Canadian in the boat!!

Max

 

[krause]

Start off with a Photo pass pic from the entrance
One of the best of the trip

This is, dare I say snarky?, but my first thought was - oh good, boys at the edges of the picture so they’re crop-able JUST JOKES of course, I have a sister-in-law who is a bit of a serial dater and my wedding pictures needed some serious cropping and now we joke that her boyfriend-of-the-week always has to be at the edge of any pictures If these boys can handle a family trip with you, they must be keepers!

Seriously though, this looks like such a fun family trip and can’t wait for more!

 

[fractal]

Hi everyone!
I’m Stephanie (max’s daughter) and I’ll be chiming in throughput some of this trip report and I’ll be taking over the report later on briefly (stay tuned). I’ll talk about food a lot!

At the GFC, I had trouble finding a dairy free vegetarian option but they offered to replace the salmon in the miso glazed salmon with tofu instead of salmon. Jordan got the miso glazed salmon enteee so we didn’t end up taking a picture of his meal because it looked just like mine but with salmon instead of tofu.

Howdy Stephanie! Looking forward to your commentary!

 

[ELeigh]

Spoiler - did not happen - either long line or broken down)

It was broken down most of the day on our Epcot day Jan 1

 

[aliceismad]

This is, dare I say snarky?, but my first thought was - oh good, boys at the edges of the picture so they’re crop-able JUST JOKES of course, I have a sister-in-law who is a bit of a serial dater and my wedding pictures needed some serious cropping and now we joke that her boyfriend-of-the-week always has to be at the edge of any pictures If these boys can handle a family trip with you, they must be keepers!

Seriously though, this looks like such a fun family trip and can’t wait for more!

Ha ha ha. Do you watch How I Met Your Mother? There's a whole episode about this.

 

[MeeskaMooska0714]

Hi everyone!
I’m Stephanie (max’s daughter) and I’ll be chiming in throughput some of this trip report and I’ll be taking over the report later on briefly (stay tuned). I’ll talk about food a lot!

At the GFC, I had trouble finding a dairy free vegetarian option but they offered to replace the salmon in the miso glazed salmon with tofu instead of salmon. Jordan got the miso glazed salmon enteee so we didn’t end up taking a picture of his meal because it looked just like mine but with salmon instead of tofu.

Awesome! Welcome, and looking forward to hear your thoughts

 

[Tiggertoo56]

Welcome Stephanie - I always enjoy Max's trip reports so I think another member of the family joining in should be fun.

 

[DisSplash]

Welcome Stephanie! Is the snark a family trait or just a Max thing? Lol

LOL! I was going to ask the same thing! . Welcome Stephanie! We are all looking forward to your take on things, and dying to see whether you are a ‘snark off the old block!’

 

[amjt660]

Day 2 wrap up:
As we left FEA Illuminations was just starting but we were pretty tired ( combo of actual tired and the exhaustion related to the hotel)
So we walked from Norway to the IG while enjoying the music and occasionally pausing to see a few bursts

The dolphin looks nice lit up

This model was in the entrance at the back of the hotel

So we had to unpack and settle
Head hit the pillow around 11:30 pm

Next up: MK Day!!

Max

 

[amjt660]

A Max TR !?! Enjoyed your Shanghai TR ( and your snarky bits on @Tuvalu's TRs) and just had to get on board this one. Welcome to the show, steph.

I am glad to see a repeat customer

If you do not like what I say in my TR then tell me
If you like what I say in my TR - tell your neighbors!!

Max your family is our family too

That is very sweet - oh and we are all coming over for Christmas next year!!

ou all are so sweet. Makes me wish I could go to WDW all the time so I could hang out here all the time.

Enjoying the report and the snark, Max!

I honestly do not even think I try to be snarky - it just comes naturally
Some people are blessed

Welcome Stephanie!

She is getting a lot of attention
Lets not forget who is writing this OK!!!

Welcome Stephanie! Is the snark a family trait or just a Max thing? Lol

This is, dare I say snarky?, but my first thought was - oh good, boys at the edges of the picture so they’re crop-able JUST JOKES of course,

and we have a winner
You made me and many people at my work laugh as I showed them the pic then zoomed in to take the boys out of the picture
Well done

Howdy Stephanie! Looking forward to your commentary!

Just remember her grandparents are Greek/Macedonian so she can lay down a pretty good guilt trip if she wants to.....

It was broken down most of the day on our Epcot day Jan 1

Yes - ride uptime seems to be a concern across the whole world - probably because the rides are overworked / under loved and do not have enough capacity to keep up with demand - wait - are we still talking about rides or I am talking about me again!!!

Ha ha ha. Do you watch How I Met Your Mother? There's a whole episode about this.

Cassie recently watched the whole series and when I mentioned your post she knew exactly what you were referring to.
Barney cropping out Robin and inserting other people(?) or pets(?)

Awesome! Welcome, and looking forward to hear your thoughts

Now if we can get Cassie to join in too it will get even more interesting

Welcome Stephanie - I always enjoy Max's trip reports so I think another member of the family joining in should be fun.

I agree

LOL! I was going to ask the same thing! . Welcome Stephanie! We are all looking forward to your take on things, and dying to see whether you are a ‘snark off the old block!’

The gene has been passed down to both of them!!

Max