Trip Report THE ONE WITH THE CREW AT CHRISTMAS; December 21-28, 2018 **COMPLETE**

When I returned from our vacation I had the “Disney bug”. You know, when you feel tired and blah and listless? Then you vomit. Oh wait...
Turned out it was more of a flu bug....
I was off wdw magic for a couple weeks then I started up again at a feverish pace (see what i did there?). There are so many great trip reports to read! So here is another (trip report, not sure if it will be great. It is my first😎)

For those of you who did not read my pre trip, don’t bother. You will catch on/up.

Who went:
Myself
Husband Ant
Sons: X 19, AJ 15, Dre 13
FIL or Gpa
BIL J
SIL K
Their children, my nephews A 22, JJ 15, and niece Ash 20

Let’s do this!

We had a group reservation flying Southwest from our local airport to Tampa on Friday, December 21st. Why Tampa? $$$$
It was a 7:30 flight so the kids all went to school and I cleaned the house. I always clean before a trip because I hate coming home to a dirty house but this time I really cleaned. My son has a team mate who lives in Maryland and he and his family were going to NYC for a few days and their place to stay fell through. The mom and I get along really well so she asked if her party of six could stay with us. Perfect timing as we will not be home so they could have the place to themselves.
Did I mention I have 3 boys? I spent the day CLEANING!!!

Then we dropped off this guy
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Ate some pizza with my Father in law
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Loaded these:
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Into here:
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And we were on our way.
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Not the best pix but you get the idea.

The airport is about 13 minutes from our house so we made it there in about 10. My husband is the WORST driver!!!

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My FIL was in a wheelchair because his knees are garbage. My son was on a knee scooter with a broken foot. SIL just got cleared from her broken hip. And when it was time to pick up the pizza my husband was on the phone. I was giving him “the look” to get off so we could keep to our schedule. Turns out it was his doctor. Ant had tripped on one of the dog’s bones
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And tore tendons in his ankle. I had ordered a scooter for my FIL and gave everyone else a last chance for me to add on to the order. All declined and we headed for security and our gate.

FIL and AJ got pre boarding and they could each take one person with them. My husband and his brother went with strict orders to save us seats. The lady who issued the pre boarding passes messed up however and Ant had two boarding passes while AJ had none.
This would be a common theme as we had 3 Alexanders, 2 Anthonys, 2 Johns and a partridge in a pear tree.

We managed to get it sorted out and got on and left without incident.
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Day 4/Dec 24 cont

Then we snuck INTO Mexico. You don't hear that everyday! We did not want to run into Jorge or Carlo from lunch. We just wanted to see the three cabelleros.
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No idea what is happening here.
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Now it was 5 minutes until Illuminations. We needed a spot. We started walking around to the “front”. Then, with two minutes to go we saw this great spot. Well, you decide:
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I did not take many photos because I was enjoying it (and my iphone camera skills stink!) there was a low planter in front of us and then a dessert party. We were back a bit but had a clear view. Not bad for two minutes to spare.

When it was over we left. (Duh, what did you think we would do?!?)
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We boarded the bus at 11:06 and disembarked at 11:19. People say AKL is far. People lie.

It was Christmas eve!!! We quickly got ready for bed and went to sleep so Santa could come🎅🏼
 
Last edited:

Spash007

Well-Known Member
Waiting for O’Canada and O did it smell like urine in that waiting room. I felt like I was in Penn station waiting for the LIRR.

As a native LIer there are few descriptions more detailed than that. I know EXACTLY what you mean! :hungover:

And now excuse me while I burrow my face in my coffee mug (I'm at work and good smelling options are limited) to try to get this smell out of my head!
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
As a native LIer there are few descriptions more detailed than that. I know EXACTLY what you mean! :hungover:

And now excuse me while I burrow my face in my coffee mug (I'm at work and good smelling options are limited) to try to get this smell out of my head!
Love that you are reading TR’s at work! Two thumbs up 👍👍
 

bee

Well-Known Member
I felt like I was in Penn station waiting for the LIRR.
I live in NJ and I will do ANYTHING to avoid Penn. Luckily I live close enough to Manhattan to take either a bus or the PATH (which each have their own set of problems, but nothing is worse than Penn!!).

I have only had "meh" or worse experiences at San Angel Inn. I much prefer La Hacienda if I'm going to eat Mexican in Epcot.
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Day 5/Dec 25

Today was our “sleep in” day. We woke up to this:
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I love giraffes! Soon the brats across the way started screaming at them and they left.

But Santa came!
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Just what I wanted! And it’s ice cold!!!
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They are all happy at the same time😳
Plus, I bought the jammies but didnt think they would actually wear them. Merry Christmas indeed.

We met up about 10:00 for presents in the rotunda type area close to our rooms and the elevator.
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Lucky kids to get a trip to WDW AND presents. My FIL got them all shares of Disney stock. (He and my MIL have always given them shares for xmas and bdays).
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Day 5/ Dec 25 cont

We went to the Mara for an early lunch. I had the falafel which was pretty good but there is a greek place near my work that is amazing and has the best falafel I have ever eaten. So I am biased.
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My bloody mary was delicious. I tried tipping the CM who made it for me and she said she was not allowed to accept tips. “But I always tp my bartenders.” With a shy giggle she said,”I am not a bartender.” “You are today!”
-actually it’s not tipping I believe in, it’s over tipping.- can anyone name the movie???
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My son was loving the Mara hamburgers.
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The Crew:
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We then headed to DS. The kids had all gotten Disney GCs ( thank you BJ’s sale) and wanted to spend them.
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Gpa with the grandkids:
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We were suppose to do the Christmas tree trail but we went our separate ways first to shop. Dre wanted Goofys candy and AJ needed new Sanuks. His left one had gotten a hole in it because he had been using his foot as a brake for weeks now on the scooter. The Sanuk store in DS has the best selection. The surf shops near us don’t always carry a lot of styles in his size 14.

My BIL sent out a group text he was getting a drink and to meet him. He was across from the Sanuk store so I was good. His wife, K could not find us. We were suppose to go to the tree trail but my BIL and nephews had other plans.
Seems the Knicks always play on xmas(?) and they wanted to watch. Ummmm, you couldn’t have mentioned that in the planning meetings? On the group text at ANY point? That morning?
No Christmas tree trail for us, but there was no way I was watching the Knicks! Yuck!
I did get a drink. Don’t remember what.

The happy fam watching the Knicks ( my unhappy fam was on the opposite side of the bar NOT watching basketball)
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amjt660

Well-Known Member
The CM ringing up my fish and chips was really friendly and super chatty. At first I thought she was just bored because there was no one around and then it dawned on me. X. The girls love him. I managed to work “his girlfriend” into the coversation and with that I was finally given my change.

Maybe she was a One Direction fan???

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Switched at birth? Maybe......

Max
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Day 5/Dec 25 cont

Next up was the Grand Floridian for some gingerbread pix! I have to say, the bus ride from DS to GF was the loooongest we experienced. The wait was fine, really all our waits were acceptable as far as I can remember right now, but the actual drive time was a drag. Hmmmm. Maybe the GF is out in the middle of no where? Or maybe it’s DS that is so far from everything? - sorry i am still a little riled up about the whole AKL being so far away thing-

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Best TP in property! Hands, er....down.

The lobby was crowded. It was Christmas after all. The PP line was long so we thought we would sneak around back and get some shots. Lo and behold (what does that even mean?) there was a photographer all the way around the house. Still at the front of the house but the opposite corner of the huge line. Score!!!
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We hoped on the monorail
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I think it is pretty obvious from our clothes where we were headed.
First I saw Harry Stiles and had to get a pix
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JK!
 

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Day 5/Dec 25 cont

We went to check in for the the spirit of aloha show. My family did this several years ago:

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My SIL wanted to try it. We liked it the first time and it was Christmas after all so we decided to go for it. This is where I made a big mistake that ended up ok. When I booked it I booked category one, not even thinking about the dining plan. The next day Ant asks me what the huge charge was to Disney. I research and discover you can not sit in category one and use the dining plan. I have no idea how I missed it as it was clearly stated all over the website. My SIL and I go back and forth for a week or so and we decide I will change it to category two and we will use the dining plan. Problem was there weren’t any more tables (for 11) in category two and category three seats are not good. I called, because this can not be changed on line, every week for months. Finally we embraced the fact that we were going to have great seats at a high price. It was Christmas after all. Merry Christmas to us!

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We all got purple leis for pancreatic cancer (for my MIL)

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The kids (ok me) asked Ant to compare noses with this guy.
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Hi ho hi ho its off to the luau we go!
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