Trip Report Some People are Worth Melting For: Round 2! (PLUS, a little Christmas, right this very minute!)

We’re back!

Timeline: June 2024
Location: Boulder Ridge Villas at Wilderness Lodge
Cast: Me (A), Dad (R), my sister SB, brother-in-law Iz, and niece B!
Why? It is little B’s first trip! I feel so thankful to be here experiencing the magic with her for the first time.

This is all of us pre-B during our last trip all together in 2021. I’m excited for SB and Iz to finally experience WDW since the pandemic. Things were quite different back in Summer 2021! They also of course haven’t ridden Ratatouille, Guardians, or Tron yet, so I’m looking forward to that for them too.

 

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I was timing things exceptionally well today. After I left Italy, I leisurely walked over to America and the VoL were set to begin their show in 10 minutes. I wandered around for a few and noticed that there were already a few people in line for standby to see Josh Gad and the Candlelight Processional. It was only 1:30, so I was shocked. My Garden Grill breakfast was also a Candlelight Dining Package for the 6:45 show, so I started to wonder when I too should join the line since that was the main reason I booked this trip in the first place! Queue anxiety.

Anyways, the VoL were excellent as always.

I didn’t stop for more food here because I’m not a turkey, catfish, or snickers fan, but I saw others and the portions were excellent.

On to Japan, featuring the Sushi Tree Roll, which was pretty to look at but also not my thing.

I again managed to walk right up not to their storyteller, but to the drum show!

I knew I wanted to see Pere Noel, so I checked the times in the app and had about 15 minutes to make it over for the next show. I swiftly walked past this booth to make it. I would have liked to try the Pastrami but, Pere Noel calls.

 

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I also wanted to try the chocolate martini in France and vowed to get it later, but sadly did not. I heard it tasted like a melted chocolate popsicle, so I’m sad I missed it.

I didn’t miss Pere Noel though! He was excellent, but I think his microphone was malfunctioning because he was very quiet.

I also didn’t miss this guy, if you’re familiar with him! We watched Pere Noel together.

After a total fangirl moment, I pulled myself together and decided what to do next. Ratatoille was a 110 minute wait, but I heard they had started running single rider so I walked over to give it a shot.

I am happy to report that in only TEN minutes, I was through the queue and boarding my rat. 10/10.

I headed on into the UK next. It was starting to sprinkle a little bit. I loved the banners for the festival. So cute.

In keeping with my excellent live entertainment timing, I caught some of the UK band’s performance.

 

[Beastly74]

You got to meet Paging Mr.Morrow! We love watching his videos and he seems like a genuinely nice guy. I have to say I am a bit jealous .
Enjoying your report. Thanks for sharing.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I think it is cool you got to meet Nate (Mr. Morrow) too! His videos are great and I ran into him at D23 this year in Anaheim and he was as nice as he seems in his videos. My husband and I love how dorky he is.

 

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With the sprinkling turning more into a steady rain, I was looking for a place to hide out. Originally, I thought I’d head back over to The Land but then realized I was 5 minutes away from seeing the Canadian band. I decided to take a seat under one of the large umbrellas and wait.

It was well worth it! This was one of my favorite things I saw. They are really good!

I almost got the Beef Bourguignon, but decided it wasn’t worth the trouble in the rain.

I walked through some of the shops at the WS entrance just to stay drier. I thought these overalls and dress were cute. I would have gotten something, but usually it’s just way too hot to wear stuff like that!

I feel like it’s sad that they have to do this for the pins now. It makes me not want to bother because it’s so much trouble to have a CM come open it.

In keeping with my trend this afternoon, I looked at the menu here but passed. I guess I’m a bit too picky for this festival.

It was a little after 4:00 and my goals for the remainder of the day included seeing the Barn Santa and scoring a great seat for the 6:45 show of the Candlelight Processional. As such, I went back into Mexico. The name of the game was crowds, crowds, crowds.

 

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I was nervous that the Barn Santa wouldn’t show with the weather, but it stopped raining just in time and CM’s came out to quickly dry the set. I also ran into Nate (Paging Mr. Morrow) again!

This was my favorite of the storytellers, with La Befana being a close second.

The bridge was up to bring in the Luminous barges, so that created quite the commotion.

I made my way to get in line for the processional. I was about the 20th person back on the dining package side and VERY early, but I decided to just hang out since there was nothing else to do in the area. I made friends with a sweet family behind me, so it made the time pass quickly! That was one thing I noticed about being alone- it felt like I never really was because there were so many people willing to talk in line. Honestly, I didn’t have a bad view of the 5:00 show!

Another thing of note is the level of WIND. The closer it got to the 6:45 show, the wind got worse and worse. No rain, but I couldn’t believe how cold it made it feel!

 

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Soon after the 5:00 show ended, we were let in. I scored the second row, and really enjoyed being that close.

Candlelight Processional: 11/10. LOVED it. Josh Gad was funny and wonderful and did a beautiful job reading the Christmas story. The music was wonderful, choir fantastic. I also highly enjoyed watching the conductor. He truly eluded joy and seemed like he was just having the best time. My favorite part was when the whole audience joined in for Silent Night. Chills. I know different narrators and conductors might make it feel a little different, but if you’re on the fence about it, do it. I’m already thinking through how I can make it work for next year.

After the show got out, it was freezing, damp, and crowded. I wanted to try the Mozzarella “Corn Dog” at the new Blue Ribbon place on the Boardwalk, so I decided to bail out of Epcot and walk over. I love the Boardwalk at night!

…..I wish I could say I also loved the giant cheese stick at night. I waited in the line for like 25 minutes and then was told they ran out.

I considered my options.

A. Take a boat to HS to see Fantasmic.

B. Go back to Epcot for dinner somewhere.

C. Bail completely and go back to ASMu.


Option A was vetoed for me when I saw the boat driving away shortly after I received my devastating news.

I ended up (reluctantly) going with option B.

Yorkshire County Fish & Chips for the win.

AND, an almost completely empty dining section in the water. I’ll take it.

Part of me wanted to stay and watch Luminous from my epic location, but with the continued rain, I decided to call it a night.

 

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But, not before a final run on Spaceship Earth!

We did stop here….

And here.

For a combined total of 25 minutes! I was so hoping for an evac but it didn’t happen.

It had been a GREAT day. Magic Kingdom in the morning tomorrow!

 

[ToInfinity]

You got to meet Paging Mr.Morrow! We love watching his videos and he seems like a genuinely nice guy. I have to say I am a bit jealous .
Enjoying your report. Thanks for sharing.

I think it is cool you got to meet Nate (Mr. Morrow) too! His videos are great and I ran into him at D23 this year in Anaheim and he was as nice as he seems in his videos. My husband and I love how dorky he is.

He was SO nice. My family and I love his videos, so I was thrilled to run into him. He is just as friendly in person as he seems in his videos. I ran into him twice, and both times he was looking around to see if there was anybody who he could improve their experience. Both times, he let young children in front of him so they could see better!

 

[cgersic]

I travel to the World solo quite a bit, and chatting with the families is one of my very favorite thing!

 

[ToInfinity]

Anybody need a *little* more Christmas, right this very minute? Be back REAL soon!

Working on the rest of this TR right this very minute!

 

[Tuvalu]

Anybody need a *little* more Christmas, right this very minute? Be back REAL soon!

Working on the rest of this TR right this very minute!

 

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Day 3 (11/30/24): Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, & Epcot?

The cold from last night stuck around for the morning! I was out the door by 7:30, headed to the bus stop in a chilly 46 degrees. Thankfully, I had lots of layers to work with so I was nice and warm. I was caught off guard on a January trip a few years ago and froze, so I don't make that mistake anymore.

I was on what I assume was one of the first (or the first!) bus to MK that morning, because the park opened at 8:30 for EE and I was on the bus by 7:34.

Security and scanning into the park was a breeze. There wasn't a ton of people out yet this early. I enjoyed seeing all of the Christmas decorations. The last time I had been with them up was November 2019!

Hey, Roy!

I made my way down a fairly uncrowded Main Street. My original plan was to RD Tron, so I joined the group of people waiting at the entrance to Tomorrowland. I felt pretty good about my position in the crowd, but it was really cold just standing still!

While I was waiting, I overheard another family's conversation about Tron and learned through them, and a quick google search to confirm, that Tron didn't typically open for EE. Bummer. I would be able to get in line, but everything I could find suggested that it wouldn't open until close to 9:00. I pivoted and decided to go for Space instead, so that I wasn't wasting my EE time just standing in line.

This was the line of people who were waiting for Tron. I was happy with my decision!

 

[ToInfinity]

Ok, let's get this show on the road! BECAUSE...
1. I interrupted my July 2024 TR with S to do this Christmas one, so I need to finish that.
2. My dad and I made a Halloween trip in October 2024 I want to share!
3. Currently having a countdown to a trip VERY soon featuring Baby B!

So, on with the show.

Despite these photos, Space was a walk-on and I was totally finished in less than 10 minutes. WIN.

Buzz was also a walk-on, so I knocked that out. I don't have any photos of my score, because I was rather disappointed. Would I redeem myself later? Stay tuned.

The rest of my early morning plan consisted of hoofing it over to BTMRR to (hopefully) walk on that at normal park opening. On the way, I spotted some chipmunks.

I was among the first few people to board the wildest ride in the wilderness. Success.

I will miss this view! I am so excited for MK to continue to grow, but I wish it could be done without sacrificing what I consider to be a lot of the charm of the park.

Where was I headed?

Duh. Mansion was listed as a 13 minute wait. I had a LL that had just opened up, but I decided to do standby first and the LL directly after.

Next stop: the bears!

 

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Seeing this guy got me in the spirit, so I wandered in to see the show. I spent some time taking in all of the details in the lobby.

Now, let's get on with the show!

I think the remodel of this show is great. I loved the nostalgic factor of the old version, but I feel like imagineers did a nice job of updating the music and costumes without losing that nostalgic feeling.

It was shortly after 10:00, and I was feeling hungry. Cheeseburger Eggroll breakfast? Sign me up.

After I finished enjoying my breakfast in Adventureland, I went to JC for my next LL. There was no wait in the LL, but standby was already 45 minutes. Right now, it was the Jingle Cruise!

 

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There seemed to be a lot of brand-new cruise visitors on my boat. They were big fans of the humor, so it was a fun ride! I also had to book my next LL and was trying to grab something in HS before we got far into the jungle, but I was quickly scolded by the skipper for not paying attention to him.

After the cruise, I had a small dilemma. It was about 40 minutes until my Pirates LL and that was really the last thing I had on my list to do. The wait time was listed as 35 so I didn't want to wait that long. I asked the CM at the front if they felt like the 35 minutes was accurate, and then got into a conversation about the LL I had for later. She was SO nice, and since it was just me, let me go ahead in through the LL without scanning in and told me just to modify my LL into something else. A bit of pixie dust for my day.

I made my way back to the hub, and with the time I saved at Pirates decided to make one final stop on the PeopleMover to close out my MK rides this morning. The line looked long, but I was on in about 10 minutes.

I have been wanting to try milkshake from Auntie Gravity's for a while now, so I decided an 11:30 milkshake felt appropriate.

It was VERY delicious. I could have done without the donut holes honestly, but I will be back next time for another.

I went out of MK the long way. On this solo trip, I really enjoyed being able to just wander around as I pleased!

 

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Back on Main Street, I caught the Dapper Dans holiday set.

Where to next? Here are a few hints.

 

[ToInfinity]

The Contemporary!

As much as I wish I was headed to my beloved Steakhouse 71, it wasn't in the cards. Instead, I was on a mission to try the Patty Melt at Contempo Cafe. I LOVE a good patty melt. It took an unusually long time to get my meal. I had a mobile order, but they were clearly running very behind. Eventually though, I had my food. Admittedly, the presentation wasn't excellent.

It tasted good though! It was way too much for me, so I only ate about 3/4 of it and had to trash the rest. I wasn't headed back to the resort. I was on a mission. A gingerbread mission.

Gingerbread Castle:

Obligatory Neon Mickey Head Wall:

35 (YES, THIRTY-FIVE) minute monorail line? Unfortunately, .

Originally, I wanted to get off at the Poly to see what decor (if any) there was and to grab a dole whip dessert. After my experience at Contemporary, I saw the line at the Poly and decided to give up that dream because I was on a schedule. I had to LL for HS that started at 2:30 but I also wanted to run back to the resort and get some warmer clothing, and the current time was 1:30. Instead, I continued on the the GF. Their monorail line was also extremely long. I decided then that I would find another way to MK and then ASMu.

This was my first time seeing the GF decor. What a gorgeous tree!

I loved all of the details on the gingerbead house.

The resort was CRAZY busy, but I found this peaceful nook while I wandered around.

I had seen this peppermint cake pop brownie-type dessert in a video and wanted to try it. I picked it up from their QS location and enjoyed it by the water outside. It was very good, but also very rich. You need to love peppermint to like it, though!

 

[ToInfinity]

Terrified of the monorail wait, I decided to try the boat. It had a line too, but it was much quicker than the monorail would have been. Trust.

I got off and went straight to the bus stop. Thankfully, the bus had JUST arrived and I made it! I went back and put on some warmer clothes, and hopped on a bus from ASMu to HS. I was seeing this sight by 4:30. (Well after my goal, but it worked out because I had been modifying my LL all afternoon!)

I love the Christmas decor here.

I scanned in for MMRR and was on in no time. The LL's had been moving very fast on this trip.

On to the Twilight Zone.

And, without wasting any time, I bid farewell to HS and was on the boat to Epcot by 5:15. I got lucky again with this one. The boat was nearly full, there was a very large party next with strollers and the like, and they were closing the queue because they wouldn't all fit but I ran up and told the CM I was a party of 1 and she let me on! Solo trip for the WIN again.

 

[ToInfinity]

I do love the water transportation at WDW. The sunset tonight was GORGEOUS.

I considered stopping at the Boardwalk to try and get the giant mozzarella stick, but after waiting forever with no luck the previous day, I decided to let it go.

Instead, I found another waterfront location in Epcot to enjoy the sky. (and some fish)