Trip Report The Cold Never Bothered Us Anyway - December 2024

Happy New Year, WDW Magic Friends!

We have been back from our latest WDW for nearly a month, so it's high time I get started on our trip report, before I forget everything that happened. 😂

The cast of characters:

Me, Katie - thirty-something mom, wife, and Disney trip planner extraordinaire

Jason - My husband of 11 years, fellow Disney adult, happy to be along for the ride

Lincoln - Our precocious three-year-old son, Jason's twin, lover of characters and roller coasters

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Sunday, December 1st - Travel Day

I was up and at 'em shortly after 4:00 am, after a fitful nights' sleep. Between the excitement (we're going to Disney!) and the anxiety (what if all of our reservations randomly get canceled?), I can never sleep the night before a trip. I got J up around 4:30, and he and I quickly got ourselves ready to go and packed up last-minute items in our "go bag." We always get Lincoln out of bed last, hoping that he'll stay asleep while we transfer him to the car seat, but it never works out that way. The three of us were wide awake and pulling out of the driveway just after 5:00 am.

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We made our first stop of the trip at Buc-ee's, where we all had a potty break and grabbed some breakfast.

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I sat in the back with Lincoln for the next leg of the trip to try to keep the breakfast mess under control, and get him set up with a movie on his tablet.

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Don't mind my disgusting car window - Lincoln has these little suction cup car toys that constantly fall off and get re-attached, thus the million little circle marks on the window.

We stopped again for gas and another potty break shortly after crossing over into Florida. And once we hit Gainesville, this was our view for the next hour and a half.

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This was the second trip in a row that we ended up stuck in traffic for over an hour on the way down, and both times the traffic was not in Atlanta! This time around, I had considered booking a hotel room in Lake City for the night before our check-in day, so that we could drive most of the way down the night before and be on property before Noon. Plus, that would keep us from having to wake up so early to drive down. For our next trip, I'm definitely booking that hotel room for the night before.

Thankfully, Lincoln was a good sport, and kept himself entertained.

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Finally, shortly after 1:30 pm, we passed through the magical gates, and all of our troubles disappeared.

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Up next: Disney Springs
 

k8einwdw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
You can see L’s teenager face in this picture.

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Savor this precious time because he’ll be a teen in the blink of an eye.

(And save this pic to post again in 10 years to prove me right. :happy:)
I agree, he looks so grown in that pic! We’re only doing this once, so we try to really soak in every moment. This age is definitely tough at times, but it’s also a lot of fun.
Oh my goodness, the smiles on his face at 'Ohana!!! Sweeeeet!!!!
We were so thrilled that he loved this character meal - this was definitely our best one yet!
 

k8einwdw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Wednesday, December 4th - Resort Day - Continued

Since we hadn't gotten much time at Disney Springs on our check-in day, we decided to carve out some time on our resort day to spend some more time there. We were hoping it would be less crowded, and we could get some peanut butter cold brews from Gideon's. It was definitely less crowded than it had been on Sunday night, but the Gideon's line was still crazy long. Lincoln fell asleep in the stroller, so we used that opportunity to grab some of his Christmas presents from World of Disney. We got him the Disney Parks Candy Land board game for under the tree, and some Mickey lollipops and Buzz and Woody parachute toys for his stocking. We also grabbed a spare "Patchy" just in case, as the original is looking a little worse for wear. We popped into a few other shops as well - Disney Days of Christmas, Basin, Marketplace Co-Op, Disney Ever After...The one store we completely forgot to go in was Bowes Signature Candles - they have a candle inspired by the Yacht/Beach Club lobbies that I love, and I burned my last one out back in the fall.

I didn't grab any pics of the Christmas Tree Stroll, but I of course had to get pics of my favorite peanut reindeer. Someone had woken up and wanted to be included in the pics as well.

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When we had had our fill of Disney Springs, we headed back to Pop to begin our day...er half day...of resort-hopping. First, we had to get a couple pics for Grandpoppy (my dad) - "Lady and the Tramp" was one of the few Disney movies he would sit down and watch with us kids when we were little - the list also inluded "101 Dalmatians" and "Jungle Book."

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Then, we hopped on the Skyliner to head over to the Epcot International Gateway.

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From there, we walked over to Beach Club to admire the gingerbread carousel. Lincoln was appalled to find out that he was not allowed to ride on this one.

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Next, we walked over to Yacht Club, where Lincoln enjoyed watching the model train for a few minutes. I also love their Christmas tree.

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Up next: More resort-hopping
 

Figment Forever

Premium Member
I remember when Julia was younger she LOVED collecting the pressed pennies. One time, my dad (pop-pop) had supplied her with several rolls of quarters AND pennies. As we made our way through security at the airport, we had NO idea why Julia's backpack was pulled off and searched! Then we watched as the TSA guy pulled out all the rolls of coins! lol. At the time, we weren't laughing so much, but now we crack up at that memory!
 

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