Trip Report The I'm Ditching the Spreadsheets....an Unrecognizable Trip!

We arrived home around 10pm last night from our Disney vacation. The planning for this trip started in March, but by September it was not even close to the original. So how did it all turn out? Did I make the correct decisions? Was this trip as hectic as the last one? Should I have cancelled so many dining reservations? Did we miss too much because upon arrival I decided to rip up the spread sheets..the same ones that I so painstakingly obsessed over?! I'm thinking about all of this as I am attempting to organize my 609,504,302 photos.

There were a few hiccups, including my Etsy order not arriving in time, sprinting to the Magical Express just as the doors closed, leaving our Elf on the Shelf in the room after check out, getting stuck on a ride, a missing boat captain, broken ornaments, and a horrible 3 hour lunch. All in all it was an amazing trip. I do not regret the decision to change from the original plans, or the second, or the 3rd, or even the plans I had when we were on the plane heading to Orlando. I decided to throw out most of them and take a (semi) wing it approach.

 

[21stamps]

We get to the Speedway and the wait is too long for our liking so we decide to go back to the Castle to watch Elsa.

I have never seen anything so beautiful!!!
I shed a few tears of happiness.
Frozen is the first movie that T was allowed to see, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. Sure there were times a few years back when I wanted to insert permanent ear plugs, and prayed never to hear "Let it Go" again.. but, we've been out of that stage for awhile, and now I can appreciate it once more. I recorded the Castle Lighting and we have watched it several times since. Especially me.lol.

Favorite MK moment of the trip?
Right here. Right now. It took my breath away.

The show ended and the Castle is lit in all of it's beautiful glory.
I have the handy MVMCP map in my possession trying to walk and read and figure out a game plan for all of the shows and meet and greets that will be starting soon.

We take another extremely short ride on Barnstormer.
It's a fun little coaster which would be a lot more fun if it went around twice.

Here's our Must Do characters-

Jack Skellington
Seven Dwarfs

We walk over to where the Seven Dwarfs line is, look at each other, then back at the seemingly never ending queue, and mutually agree that maybe they just aren't worth the wait.

So instead, T poses with himself..

We then go back to Tomorrowland for the Peoplemover. The view from here is so pretty.

I get to hear another rendition of "It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" courtesy of T. It cracks me up the way he tries to make his voice deep when singing it.

Again- The Castle!!! I can't get enough. We're actually here! At MK for the Christmas Party. Oh, and Space Mountain in red and green?! I'm a happy camper

 

[21stamps]

Well, just did not want to distract from your TR.
So you have narrowed the photos down to only eight million?

I think so. It's tough. I still haven't seen all of them. Going through section, by never ending section.lol

 

[King Panda 77]

Disn't think Jack came out for the chrisrmas party.

 

[21stamps]

Next up- Buzz Lightyear!
**And my kid acting out**

T takes his shooting (and all) games very seriously. I actually won this round..he was not happy. Almost angry. Stormed off the ride and wanted to get right back on.
Hold up buddy, we need to pause for a teaching moment-
"While I appreciate your competitive drive, you need to take losing with a grain of salt. Sportsmanship, remember? You won't always win. You can't act out over it when you lose. Try again next time, but that's not going to be right now. Your choice- pouting or moving on and having fun?"

He said "Fine. I'm not pouting, but you're not winning again." (Pause)
"And I'm sorry for acting like that."

Apology accepted.
Let's go have some cookies and hot chocolate.

 

[21stamps]

Disn't think Jack came out for the chrisrmas party.

I'll answer that in my next post..trying to go in chronological order here.lol

 

[Princess Leia]

Arrived at Space Mountain at 5:25

Our FP still worked!!!

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My kid does NOT walk on moving walkways. He just won't. He stands and waits to be moved. It's minorly infuriating, especially when I'm a super fast walker, but it is what it is. He won't move.
If you see him. Veer to the Left. Don't get stuck...if you do- You'll be there for quite some time.


Next Up for our 2nd FP- The Jingle Cruise!
We have been looking forward to this one!
It oddly was not quite what we expected.

I've been on the Jungle Cruise before, kiddo never has. We were even more excited that it would have a Christmas twist that I've been reading about.

So here's what happened-

We get on our boat and settle in. It was packed full and we were in the very back.
The announcer must have been having technical difficulties because we could barely hear her.
A woman across from us calls out "We can't hear you"
The announcer says "Ok. So I'll stop."

Wait, What?! The ride just started.

Everyone looked at each other a little bewildered. Someone up at the front asked what was going on.

The announcer just stood there, stoic, not facing us.

An odd and uncomfortable tension could be felt. We all sat there for the remainder of the ride. We passed other boats and could hear other announcers telling jokes and all of the occupants laughing and having a good time.

We were just sitting. Staring. All kind of shocked.

We get back to the front and the announcer finally speaks!!! She turns towards us and says "Now get out."

This is part of the script, but T didn't know that. He says "Hurry Mommy, she said get out, and I don't like this ride. Let's go."

I told him that it was a joke. Which would have made more sense to him if it wasn't the only thing she's said since about a minute after we boarded.lol. He just gave me a side eye and says in a yeah whatever voice "Oh ok."

There were quite a few angry passengers, and I felt sorry for the clueless to the situation CMs who got bombarded after we all disembarked.

It was by far the strangest thing I have ever experienced at WDW. Ever.

Guess she was having a bad night.

We weaved our way thru the complaining herd and booked it to The Speedway. I am a little curious to know what happened to that CM, maybe an announcer position isn't the best for her, hopefully she got moved to a more appropriate spot. As for T, he doesn't care to go on the Jungle Cruise again, but I'll make sure to take him and I know he'll enjoy it. At the very least the experience tonight will be a funny "remember when" when he's older.lol

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Skippers shouldn't behave like that. Even if they're having a bad day, or if they're having tech issues, the real draw of the Jungle Cruise is the puns that accompany the animals. No need to pull a Mariah Carey over the tech problems. The show must go on!

 

[21stamps]

We eat a few cookies, T has an apple juice, I have a hot chocolate, and then we walk around soaking up the atmosphere and of course- photos.

If it wasn't for Memory Maker my kid would look back at photos and think he was at Disney alone.lol

We go back to the tree to have our photo taken..Not quite the Christmas Card photo I was hoping for, my darling son tried to kick me out of the photo.

Afterwards we check in to Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom!!
It was my first time doing this..I highly recommend it!!! We were both excited to find out that we also received a special Christmas Party Sorcerers card!

So you know all of the shows I mentioned? The ones that I was planning to see? The main reasons that we were attending MVMCP?
Well, they didn't happen.
We were having too much fun with the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards and stations!

 

[21stamps]

Skippers shouldn't behave like that. Even if they're having a bad day, or if they're having tech issues, the real draw of the Jungle Cruise is the puns that accompany the animals. No need to pull a Mariah Carey over the tech problems. The show must go on!

I agree completely. That's why even if she was having a bad day, she should be moved.
Maybe she had family, or boyfriend, or whatever problems, but you can't act like that when you are in charge of guests. Someone more professional should be in that position.

It was an uncomfortable and not at all fun experience. We went on with our night and no real harm was done...luckily we had a FP and didn't wait 45 minutes for it! Like I said, it will be a funny story the next time we go on. Lol

 

[21stamps]

We finish our Main Street stations, then decide (thanks to the handy map telling us about all of the yummy holiday offerings) to hit up the Plaza Ice Cram Parlor for 2 holiday ice creams.

Make that 1. Kiddo apparently just now decides that he doesn't like perpermint, so he chooses a root beer float. We sit and eat at the tables outside, then decide to go meet Jack Skellington. T's still working on his float..gotta get every last bite.

Oh but first we need to stop at a store.. the $15 lightbulb necklace that I just purchased 2 hours earlier stopped working. Instead of buying batteries (I'm not even sure if batteries are sold in the MK? The shop clerk gave me a weird look when I asked.) they just handed us a new one and we were on our way. Awesome!

Ran into a photopass photog..

T dabs while a tired Princess photo bombs him..

Wait, what's this? I was so happy when I noticed this in my MDE!!!!

A photo of me and my son..eyes open..and he's smiling!!!!! Hooray!!!!!

**Tired Princess must have lost her shoes. Anyone find a glass slipper?

 

[21stamps]

A Nightmare Before Christmas is one of T's favorite movies. He watches it year round.

So naturally we were excited to meet one of his favorite character...

Time to meet Jack Skellington!

O.M.G. This line is CRAZY. We inquire about the wait time.
"Close to 2 hours." (Yes, @Mr Ferret 88 , he does meet, and apparently everyone wants to meet him lol)

T, do you want to do this? It's your call?

He says "No way. Let's go ride the Magic Carpets."

Ok!

I check the map for nearby meet and greets. I see that there is one not too far from us, so we walk there. (The map doesn't tell you which characters, only that there is a character spot).

We arrive to the dot on the map, and find out it's Aladdin.

I don't even know if T has ever seen the movie. He says that they watched it at summer camp one time.. Great! Let's meet him! He didn't look thrilled, but agreed. The line was short.

Once he walked in front of them he was excited. It really is amazing how these characters bring out such wonder and awe in children.

Time to fly on a magic carpet!

 

[King Panda 77]

Hope the line isn't that crazy next October

 

[21stamps]

Hope the line isn't that crazy next October
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That is awesome!!! I have to show my son!

Are your sleeves all Disney related?

 

[Longers]

Very late to this TR but have now caught up. Loving it! Great Disney Magic by the cast member for Chewbaca meet and greet I would have cried too. Not so great service on jingle cruise, you would probably have got free food or something if you would have complained, just because they are having a bad day it shouldn't spoil the Disney Magic. Your son is adorable. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[21stamps]

Very late to this TR but have now caught up. Loving it! Great Disney Magic by the cast member for Chewbaca meet and greet I would have cried too. Not so great service on jingle cruise, you would probably have got free food or something if you would have complained, just because they are having a bad day it shouldn't spoil the Disney Magic. Your son is adorable. Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks for following!!

The Launch Bay CM was a darling...and a life (or at least day) saver!

The Jingle Cruise CM was just nuts. Hands down most odd and disappointing experience that I've ever had at WDW. I'm not sure what the group who complained received..the party was starting and FP was over, so a FP would have been useless. If I had waited in line for a long time, and was not in a rush to get somewhere else, I probably would have asked if we could go again. I just didn't want to deal with it.

 

[Courtney6682]

Wow. What a great couple of days! Here's a stupid question ... do u have to have a boating license to rent the kind of boat u rented?

 

[21stamps]

Wow. What a great couple of days! Here's a stupid question ... do u have to have a boating license to rent the kind of boat u rented?

No! That's probably why they have the crazy annoying engine settings. You guys should definitely do it! It is strange being attached and even more strange having the camera on you, but it's fun.
It didn't feel as weird in the sea raycers because they're so little.

We've done a Whaler there before, but the new Element's at Poly are all shiny and new. One black. One red. T's favorite color is Red, so obviously that's the one we chose.

 

[Courtney6682]

No! That's probably why they have the crazy annoying engine settings. You guys should definitely do it! It is strange being attached and even more strange having the camera on you, but it's fun.
It didn't feel as weird in the sea raycers because they're so little.

Interesting....definitely something to think about...

 

[21stamps]

Interesting....definitely something to think about...

You get a discount if you got a package. I think you purchased the dining plan? We did last year and used a coupon for the rentals.
This year I used the AP discount.

 

[Courtney6682]

You get a discount if you got a package. I think you did the dining plan? We did last year and used a coupon for the rentals.

Sweet. We actually just got our little booklet today! Also decided today to upgrade to APs. Since all of you know, when should I tell my husband? Lol...oops!

 

[21stamps]

Sweet. We actually just got our little booklet today! Also decided today to upgrade to APs. Since all of you know, when should I tell my husband? Lol...oops!

Ha ha!! Wonderful!!!! Plus you can justify more shopping now that you'll be saving 20%

I think the AP discount may be better than the booklet for the boat. Worth looking at. With mini golf the booklet is better...obviously since it's free.lol