Trip Report The Holiday Humdinger *COMPLETED*

I can't believe the Summer of @Tuvalu is over! Is there going to be a holiday humdinger trip report?!!

I couldn’t disappoint a very expectant mama-to-be, now could I? Especially one who was kind enough to provide the title for this trip report!

So here you go, @krisri18......and anyone else who’d like to follow along on yet another Tuvalu WDW adventure, HOLIDAY STYLE.

I plan on posting live updates and will write an expanded report (“Part Tu” @Tony the Tigger ) once I return home. After all, what else will I have to do in December?

Who: Tuvalu and Woody

When: November 27 - December 3, 2018
Where: I shouldn’t even have to tell you. My go-to.

So be on the lookout for us, @DisneyShe, @slipperalwaysfits @mcstensrud. We’ve packed our sweaters and jeans for the chilly weekdays (highs only near 60, lows in the 40s ~ WTH??) and our shorts and tees for the unseasonably warm weekend (highs in the 80s). Yeah, that 30 degree temperature swing isn’t going to help the colds Woody and I are starting with.....

But we’re going to DISNEY WORLD!!!!

 

[Spash007]

I have learned over the years that with kids, less is more. Using lots of words to “explain” or “reason” with a child is typically unsuccessful because 1. Kids have short attention spans and 2. Kids don’t have the adult capacity to think critically/reason.

As much as many parents would like to believe, kids are NOT “little adults.” There are things they cannot understand due to their developing brains. Kids take their cues from their parents. If a parent prefaces something by saying, “Now this might be scary” the child will immediately begin to worry that it WILL be scary, and the more words the parent uses to reassure, the more anxious the child becomes.

Letting the child experience an attraction on their own, without any qualifiers, helps the child come to their own conclusion. Should something scare the child mid-ride, that’s the time for a loving hug and reassurance that “it’s not real.”

Parents know their child best and if they think the child will be traumatized then absolutely SKIP the ride. And for attractions where the child seems reluctant (but the parent knows the child will actually enjoy) a positive enthusiasm of “This is going to be such fun!” and pointing out interesting things in the queue (to distract the child from protesting) works wonders.

100% agree. The over reasoning actually tends to scare them more, and bring up more questions! We would pre-face certain rides with what we know might worry her, like "there will be a lightning flash" on Living with the Land. We would never say, "there's a scary moment with lightning", but just let her know what happens because we know that if she is taken by surprise, she is more likely to freak out. This is how C always was - if she's prepared, she can and will face it head on. 9 times out of 10, she would just say it's ok, but occasionally, she would retort back "if I get scared will you be there?". We would say of course, you can look away if you must, and we would move on!

I'm sure that dad meant well, but as much as its different parenting "styles" it also comes down to being cognizant of the fellow guests around you. If you heard it, and it affected your ride, something should have been done differently on his end.

 

[93boomer]

We entered the short standby line for Jingle Cruise and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Without moving a single step forward!
There seemed to be an issue with the boats....in that there weren’t any. We’d already waited longer than I wanted, but now there was a long line of people behind us and there was no way out. When two boats finally arrived and the line moved forward, we were able to exit via an empty queue. It seemed silly to wait when we still had a FP for later.

Pirates standby was posted at 5 minutes so we ducked in.

We might have changed course had we known what was in store.
View attachment 342773
See the family behind us? Specifically the dad cradling the little boy?

This hyper-concerned father narrated the ENTIRE ride:
“Don’t worry, this isn’t real.”
“Those people are fake.”
“They are pretend.”
“See, they are mechanical.”
“They move like that because they are machines.”
On and on and on! I suppose he was “explaining” everything to assuage any “fears” the little boy might have. The little boy never said a word, though to be fair his dad NEVER. STOPPED. TALKING.

Woody, Em and I were ready to mutiny.....and throw dad overboard.

Instead, they took out their aggression in the gift store.
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Where we went next was just beyond the Liberty Belle.
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[Tuvalu]

Monday, con’t

Em and I boarded our doom buggy and the ride came to a screeching halt. I can only imagine what it would be like to be on the moving sidewalk during a sudden stop.

The ride resumed motion shortly and we only experienced one more interruption by playful spooks!

Then it was time for a pit stop.

Light fixture for @Doc Disney (this seems to be a “thing” in TRs now )

Onward to Neverland!

Preparing to “Look left! Look right!”

 

[Zipadeelady]

I know it seems silly but this last picture of you with the 3D glasses on is beautiful. Your cheeks, lipstick, and shirt all match.

 

[Tuvalu]

We had a little time before we could check in for lunch.

We chose to go Unda the Sea.

The wait was posted at 15 minutes. The sign lied.

Scuttle, can you make all these people ahead of us disappear? Cause we’re gonna be late for lunch!

Every time.

 

[Swissmiss]

I know it seems silly but this last picture of you with the 3D glasses on is beautiful. Your cheeks, lipstick, and shirt all match.

I was thinking the same thing when I saw it

 

[Tuvalu]

I don’t know how, but we managed to check in at Be Our Guest right on time. Since we’d pre-ordered we bypassed the long line on the bridge and were immediately summoned inside.

Meal paid for, we began to scour the Ballroom for a table near the Christmas tree. Every other month of the year we prefer to sit in the Rose Gallery, but during the holidays I want to see the decorations!

There were a few tables in the vicinity of the tree, but none of them had been cleaned. I claimed the one with only a few dirty dishes and promptly transferred them to another table, much to the embarrassment of my hubs and daughter. I wiped down the table while they procured our beverages and dining utensils.

While we waited for our food to be delivered, I pondered snacking on leftover purse grapes.

Ultimately I did not. I watched the snowfall instead.

Woody had an urgent matter to tend to on his phone. It must have been important since he never has his phone out during meals.

Though she’s smiling, Em was fighting the “last day of vacation” melancholy blues.

Something is missing from our lunch. Do you know what it is?

If you guessed a Master’s cupcake, you’d be correct! For the first time ever, I did not order my fave BOG dessert. There was another treat I planned on having later and “double dipping” seemed a tad gluttonous.

 

[Longers]

The MK bus arrived immediately and we climbed aboard. It’s only a five minute ride to the park so we figured we would have plenty of time to wander Main Street before opening.

We did not factor in a 20 minute wait to get through security.

View attachment 342637

Once inside, our “wander” became more of a “purposeful walk.” I was curious as to the identity of this new Citizen of Main Street (talking to the fire chief) but did not stop to inquire. Anyone know?

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The park officially opened when we reached the hub.

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Due to the unpredictability of the weather, I altered our touring plan for the morning. We had afternoon fastpasses for Big Thunder Mountain and Jingle Cruise, both of which could be impacted by rain. Rope dropping them seemed safer.

BTMRR was my #1 priority. Y’all may recall a little friendly competition between me and @Longers ~ how many rides each of us could accumulate in one year. Now from the start @Longers was at a huge disadvantage, as she lives in the U.K. and only went to WDW twice last year. Still she managed an impressive “Lucky 13”! I had six trips in 2018 and had attained 17 rides by the end of summer. Going into this trip I did not know @Longers final tally, but honestly it did not matter as I was not in it to “win” but to create a memory for myself. I figured 20 rides in one year would be easy to remember so I set that as my goal.

On the night of MVMCP I got in rides #18 and #19.

For my final ride of the year I was sprinkled with pixie dust ~ got assigned the last row without asking for the back.

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I thought of @Longers that entire wild ride, wishing she was beside me. (Someday.....)

Em marked the end of the momentous ride with her hands.
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I don’t know how many times I’ll ride BTMRR in 2019 and I don’t plan on keeping track. But I won’t forget my 20 “virtual” rides with my sweet U.K. friend.

Such kind words and I appreciate all the virtual rides we’ve taken together.

Like you say one day I hope to be sitting where Em was (sorry Em) so that we can ride together....

 

[Longers]

Monday, con’t

Em and I boarded our doom buggy and the ride came to a screeching halt. I can only imagine what it would be like to be on the moving sidewalk during a sudden stop.

The ride resumed motion shortly and we only experienced one more interruption by playful spooks!

Then it was time for a pit stop.
View attachment 343162

Light fixture for @Doc Disney (this seems to be a “thing” in TRs now )
View attachment 343159

Onward to Neverland!
View attachment 343160

Preparing to “Look left! Look right!”
View attachment 343161

Yay

 

[Tuvalu]

Earlier I had swapped our BTMRR FP for IASW. This worked in our favor for two reasons:
1. It had rained while we were at lunch and we didn’t need to worry if BTMRR had shut down.
2. MK was super crowded and it was great to skip the standby line.

Did she get lost on the way to her resort?

Citizen watches are the new sponsor for IASW. I love this clock!

There was a backup at the FP tapstile. You can see the CM above patiently explaining to a confused family that their Fastpasses were for Space Mountain, not Small World. There wasn’t a language barrier and I wasn’t sure why the family was so insistent they should be allowed in. The CM stood firm and soon we scanned our bands.

Here’s one way not to lose your luggage claim tag!

I was happy to see that someone has dialed back the brightness of the LEDs in the final room.

This is what it formerly looked like:

Blinded by the Light

IASW knew it was almost the end of our vacation.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Something is missing from our lunch. Do you know what it is?

Wine.

I was happy to see that someone has dialed back the brightness of the LEDs in the final room.

Budget cuts. #nomagic

 

[Tuvalu]

It must have briefly rained again while we were cruising, because all the pavement around the hub was wet.

Treat time!

Em held a table for us while Woody and I went inside. All American sundaes for two, a chocolate ice cream cone for me.

The sun came out while we enjoyed our ice cream.

 

[Tuvalu]

The window for our last FP.....and final attraction of our vacation....had opened. We headed towards Adventureland.

I noticed the building that will house the exclusive Club 33 was getting close to completion.

Should be some nice views off that deck!

Em being silly. Pigs will fly before she sees the inside of Club 33!

(Either that or she needs to move her wrist up and actually touch the “33” sensor. )

 

[krisri18]

The window for our last FP.....and final attraction of our vacation....had opened. We headed towards Adventureland.

I noticed the building that will house the exclusive Club 33 was getting close to completion.
View attachment 343782
Should be some nice views off that deck!

View attachment 343783

Em being silly. Pigs will fly before she sees the inside of Club 33!
View attachment 343784
(Either that or she needs to move her wrist up and actually touch the “33” sensor. )

I've got a pair of socks that seem to imply Em will be inside Club 33 in no time!

 

[Tuvalu]

Trying again....with a FP this time.

But....OH MY WORD!!! The Fastpass line was backed aaalllll the way up to the spitting camel, next to Aladdin’s Magic Carpets. Had it just been me and Woody we probably would have bailed, but Em hadn’t done Jingle Cruise this trip and she likes the holiday overlay.

I think it took between 20-25 minutes until we were on a boat. We were rewarded with a fantastic skipper who shared these gems:

As we passed the 3 Natives with drums: “Hey, they promised me 12 drummers drumming!”

As we passed the Natives with spears: “Look, carolers! Throw some figgy pudding on them because they won’t go until they get some!”

“Do you know what they call someone who is afraid of Santa? Claustrophobic!”

 

[Tuvalu]

We couldn’t hide our three pouty faces as we made our way back to Main Street. Crowds of happy people lined both sides of the street, awaiting the Festival of Fantasy parade. We gazed back at the decorations once more and said farewell to MK for 2018.

Em wins best pout.

Gate 2 here we come.

We retrieved our stuff from Bell Services and sat in the lobby for a few, drinking in the ambiance one last time.

 

[93boomer]

We couldn’t hide our three pouty faces as we made our way back to Main Street. Crowds of happy people lined both sides of the street, awaiting the Festival of Fantasy parade. We gazed back at the decorations once more and said farewell to MK for 2018.

Em wins best pout.
View attachment 343802

View attachment 343806

Gate 2 here we come.

View attachment 343803

We retrieved our stuff from Bell Services and sat in the lobby for a few, drinking in the ambiance one last time.

View attachment 343804

View attachment 343805

Leaving day is awful!!

 

[Tuvalu]

The Tragical was right on time.......as always. It was just us and another family that boarded. We stopped at the Poly to pick up more passengers and then the GF before becoming airport-bound.

The bright spot of the bus ride? Getting to see this (and sing) again.

Cheesy? Absolutely. But I love it!

When we arrived at MCO we learned that many flights were delayed in landing due to thunderstorms in the area ~ of course one of those planes was ours! We drank the most expensive McDonald’s Cokes ever ($8 and change for 3 small cups....where’s the $1 any size soft drink we have at home?) while we waited (and waited) for our plane to arrive.

We took off over an hour late. We had not had any dinner and Em was hungry. She remembered something in her backpack and was as excited as Michelle Tanner when she found it.


“All right a Cheeto!”

After seeing Uncle Jesse and now munching on Cheetos, Em decided we’d had A Full House Christmas!
(She also thought that would make a great title for this trip report. Unfortunately I’d already used @krisri18 ’s suggestion for the LIVE part, and did not want to start another TR.)

Oh I just remembered I should have put a warning before posting Em eating Cheetos ~ sorry, @ajrwdwgirl!

 

[Tuvalu]

A couple days after returning home I received this snap from Em ~

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Earlier I had swapped our BTMRR FP for IASW. This worked in our favor for two reasons:
1. It had rained while we were at lunch and we didn’t need to worry if BTMRR had shut down.
2. MK was super crowded and it was great to skip the standby line.

Did she get lost on the way to her resort?
View attachment 343763

View attachment 343764

Citizen watches are the new sponsor for IASW. I love this clock!
View attachment 343768

There was a backup at the FP tapstile. You can see the CM above patiently explaining to a confused family that their Fastpasses were for Space Mountain, not Small World. There wasn’t a language barrier and I wasn’t sure why the family was so insistent they should be allowed in. The CM stood firm and soon we scanned our bands.

Here’s one way not to lose your luggage claim tag!
View attachment 343765

I was happy to see that someone has dialed back the brightness of the LEDs in the final room.
View attachment 343766

This is what it formerly looked like:
View attachment 343769
Blinded by the Light

IASW knew it was almost the end of our vacation.
View attachment 343767

The Tragical was right on time.......as always. It was just us and another family that boarded. We stopped at the Poly to pick up more passengers and then the GF before becoming airport-bound.

The bright spot of the bus ride? Getting to see this (and sing) again.

View attachment 343809

View attachment 343810

View attachment 343812
Cheesy? Absolutely. But I love it!

When we arrived at MCO we learned that many flights were delayed in landing due to thunderstorms in the area ~ of course one of those planes was ours! We drank the most expensive McDonald’s Cokes ever ($8 and change for 3 small cups....where’s the $1 any size soft drink we have at home?) while we waited (and waited) for our plane to arrive.

We took off over an hour late. We had not had any dinner and Em was hungry. She remembered something in her backpack and was as excited as Michelle Tanner when she found it.


“All right a Cheeto!”
View attachment 343811

After seeing Uncle Jesse and now munching on Cheetos, Em decided we’d had A Full House Christmas!
(She also thought that would make a great title for this trip report. Unfortunately I’d already used @krisri18 ’s suggestion for the LIVE part, and did not want to start another TR.)

Oh I just remembered I should have put a warning before posting Em eating Cheetos ~ sorry, @ajrwdwgirl!

I'm okay with seeing the cheetos, just had dinner otherwise I might have been jealous.

And I don't know how people are allowed in with those rolling bags! Drives me nuts!