Tis the Season to be Freezin': A December 2010 Trip Report

HollyBelle · Jan 12, 2011

It was really starting to warm up. So much so that some of us even thought the pool sounded like a good idea. I was all for the hot tub, but the pool... I think I’ll pass. :lol: This picture of Brett rejoicing the warmth of the sun cracks me up...

Obviously only the brave were going to make a mad dash for the pool that afternoon. It looked more inviting than it actually was.

HollyBelle · Jan 12, 2011

The slide at Samawati Springs is great, and I think that’s why Brett wanted so desperately to go down to the pool. It was so funny though because he said when he sat down at the top of the slide the water was nice and warm and once he got to moving it became colder and colder... and he started questioning why he’d done this to himself, but it was too late. :ROFLOL: You can kind of see his thought process in the next two photos.

After that he was out of the pool and in the hot tub in record time.

I like the set up with the hot tub up away from the pool. It’s so pretty up there.

HollyBelle · Jan 12, 2011

While we were in the hot tub Brett and I decided we wanted to head back to Epcot for a little while before we all went to the DVC Member Mixer. So we headed inside, cleaned up quickly and then made our way back out to the car. By the time we were parked in the Epcot parking lot and walking towards the entrance, we realized we wouldn’t really have time to do anything before we needed to be at the Contemporary to meet up with his parents. So instead, we decided to hop on the monorail and head over to the TTC, where we could walk over to the Polynesian and see Sunset Pointe, our ceremony location. And then from there we’d just ride over to the Contemporary. I don’t know why this sounded like a good idea to us, but it was the worst idea ever. Especially with the delays we’d been experiencing with the monorails that week. It was idiotic.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed walking out to Sunset Pointe! I really can’t wait to get married there. It’s perfect for us.

We ended up waiting on the monorail platform at the Poly for 30 minutes or so before one came around to pick us up, but eventually we made it to the Contemporary concourse. When we got there it seemed like absolutely everyone got off and headed towards the convention center for the Merry Mixer. Speaking of, I think it was a really good choice to move it over here. They had more than outgrown the location near the International Gateway and the convention center provided ample space for the hoards of people.

As soon as we were let through the doors at 3 pm, Brett and I were making our way to the character greeting corner, until I became distracted with a lone puppy on the dance floor. We had to go snap a quick picture:

The characters are the only reason Brett and I even bothered to show up at the Mixer. A couple years ago I saw a picture of Donald and Daisy dressed up in red velvet Christmas attire and it was taken at the mixer that year. I’ve never seen them dressed that way anywhere else, including the MVMCP. So, just like last year, we showed up at the Mixer hoping, but not expecting, but be surprised by them. Mickey and Minnie were there, switching out with Chip and Dale.

And Pluto’s relief on the dance floor was Goofy! I was surprised to see he wasn’t Santa’d up. Too bad we couldn’t get anywhere near him for a picture!

I can’t remember why, but we didn’t exit the Mixer with Brett’s family, so our only way of getting back to Epcot was the monorail system, which I might add took over an hour. As I’m writing this I’m thinking there’s probably a bus from the Contemporary to Epcot.

Again, what were we thinking?! Clearly we weren’t thinking at all.

HollyBelle · Jan 12, 2011

Once we finally got there, we hopped on the tram and rode out to the car to get our coats because it was starting to get chilly again.

Let’s just put it this way, it felt like we had pretty much wasted our last day, which sucked. In fact, I can't remember a more wasteful day on any of our trips.

HollyBelle · Jan 12, 2011

With about two hours until our dining reservations at La Hacienda, we headed right towards Canada to make the World Showcase loop. We spent a good bit of time wandering through Japan and Mitsukoshi.

When we got to the American Adventure we found ourselves caught in the chaos of the Candlelight Processional, something Brett and I watched years ago (maybe 05 or 06) and have no desire to sit through again. It boggles my mind how popular it is and how early people line up for it. We watched the American Adventure before continuing on to Italy. And if I’m not mistake we rode the Maelstrom on our way through Norway. We finally made it to Mexico and checked in at the outdoor podium for La Hacienda around 7:10 pm. We wandered around for a bit before finding a bench to sit down on. I’d say we were finally paged for our table at about 7:45 pm.

The menu was SHORT... I was actually a little disappointed when I read it. There were only five true entrees on it. Now, most menus at Disney restaurants are condensed, but I’d say it’s uncommon to see less than eight entrée choices. I decided on the tacos de camarones, as did Kathy and Danny. The flour tortillas were served with fried shrimp, a chipotle-lime aioli, cabbage and salsa verde. They were absolutely delicious. Hands down, it was the best meal of the trip for me. I love most any aioli you put in front of me if it has a nice creamy texture and good flavors and this one blew me away.

Brett ordered the pescado a la talla (tilapia) with some kind of roasted corn and mango chutney. His plate looked messy with all the juices running across it, but his fish was cooked perfectly, so that made up for presentation. I think he said it was his favorite meal of the trip as well.

Derek had the arrachera (flank steak). I don’t know how much he liked it and I didn’t taste the dish, but it looked good.

Dinner was delicious, and although I had tried to time our reservation with Illuminations, we found out that evening that Illuminations was actually at 9:30. Oh well! None of us felt like waiting for the fireworks, so we headed out of the park and back to Kidani after dinner. After all we had to start the packing process and get ready for our check out and departure the next day. :cry:

Up next... a little park hopping before we head home.

joanna71985 · Jan 12, 2011

Great TR! I love the pictures. And hopefully we can meet up someday

HollyBelle said:
Of course when Brett joined us for a picture Rapunzel asked if he could smolder. My reply, “of course,” put him on the spot because Flynn challenged him to a smoldering duel!

Great picture! And I agree about the wait times. When I worked there, people were lining up at 1pm for the 3pm time. It's crazy!

HollyBelle said:
In case you’re wondering… that’s Brett, with an eye patch. Seeing as how I felt the need to provide a description is very telling of how bad the chosen pose was! But hey, at least we try.

Cute!

HollyBelle said:
When we came out of the ride, we met back up with Kathy. There were random employees dressed oddly, everywhere, doing strange things. I think it was Universal’s version of the Citizens of Hollywood entertaining folks along the parade route, only it was shocking just how bad it was. Bizarre doesn’t even begin to cover it. Some girls were dressed as cheerleaders, but as they were walking down the street they weren’t “in character” and you could tell they were uncomfortable the way they dressed. One of them was flirting shamelessly with another employee who had on what appeared to be painter’s coveralls. He was taunting her for how she was dressed. Speaking of the coveralls, everywhere you looked there were employees in different colored coveralls. In some areas of the parks, the employees on the street outnumbered the guests. And none of them seemed to actually be working.

Brett thought he had figured out a way to select the Muppets Rainbow Connection as our song of choice, but we missed the first step, which is sooooo unfortunate.

The people dressed up were performers from the Macy's parade. They would go out for 45-minutes before the parade.

As for Rainbow Connection, I finally figured out how to get it to play. The only bad thing is that it takes forever to program it in, so half the time I run out of time to get it

Southern_Tink · Jan 12, 2011

Holly, your TR has been the perfect cure for the cabin fever I've had due to all this snow! I'm looking forward to reading your wedding TR, its so soon! Also, love your suede boots, I have the same pair!

Brett · Jan 12, 2011

HollyBelle said:

If I knew there was nobody behind me, I would have tried to stop myself before hitting the water and crawl all the way back to the top. Sooooooooo cold.

The hot tub, on the other hand, was absolutely amazing. I could have stayed in there all day.

DisneyRed95 · Jan 12, 2011

Holly, I love your pictures of Sunset Pointe! What a perfect spot to get married!!! I hope your wedding plans are coming along smoothly. Your big day will be here so soon! :sohappy:

TakeMeThere81 · Jan 12, 2011

Ok so my computer ate my post(the one complete with pictures, and whitty comments...boo!!) So here is a quick rundown of my feedback on your totally awesome report!

I Love those boots!! I totally would have bought flip flops to save those beauties.

Thanks for the reminder about Portabello again. I really need to take DH there.

Basin is one of my favorite places to get a souveneir there. It makes the magic last longer when you've got Disney soaps to use for months beyond.

Tell Brett I agree, the Who's are freaky!! Krustyland creeps me out too...reminds me of Killer Klowns:lookaroun

Oh, I almost forgot! Pooh...I have to say that from a Mom's perspective, those little diversions are pure genius. I hear what you're saying about how it could hold up the line, but I wouldn't worry about that. From other's descriptions, they are strategically located so that they are all along the queue. What I would do as the line moved was to direct my child's attention to whatever surprise was coming next. I gotta say, I'm totally sold on this idea for queues! There's nothing more exhausting than an antsy child that has to wait. Kids just don't do good waiting when there's nothing to look at but the adult's butt in front of them. Mine seem to always be hanging on the ropes...

Anyway, I LOVE your report! Loved thd descriptions of AKV and the new Hacienda restaurant. I also loved seeing Repunzel and Friends. She's quickly becoming one of my favorites.

WishIWasAtWDW · Jan 12, 2011

HollyBelle said:
As for the wedding planning, it hasn't been too incredibly stressful because we're doing an intimate wedding with family only and the Escape package at Disney has it all planned out for you already... now dress shopping was another matter entirely. I was a stressed out panic stricken mess over that! Add to it that I was running out of time, and I was freaking out. But I ended up finding a dress I LOVE, so it all worked out! In fact I did so much dress shopping that I ended up near your neck of the woods at that outlet in Burlington. Let me know if you plan on going there... that place was a trip!

i am happy that you found a dress that you love! i can't believe you went all the way to burlington to find a dress!! that's pretty far from you. i used to live over in mebane near where they built that new outlet mall. i moved a couple months before it was completed. i heard that opening weekend was ridiculous! traffic on 40 right there was nuts that entire day. thank god i moved out of there before it opened. :lol:

HollyBelle · Jan 13, 2011

joanna71985 said:
Great TR! I love the pictures. And hopefully we can meet up someday

Great picture! And I agree about the wait times. When I worked there, people were lining up at 1pm for the 3pm time. It's crazy!

The people dressed up were performers from the Macy's parade. They would go out for 45-minutes before the parade.

As for Rainbow Connection, I finally figured out how to get it to play. The only bad thing is that it takes forever to program it in, so half the time I run out of time to get it

Thanks, Joanna. For some reason I was thinking you worked at DHS, so I was looking for you over there. Not at the Magic Kingdom though. Yes, I was glad we got in one of the early sets for Flynn and Rapunzel, because I don't know if even I could've waited 2 hours for a character meet and greet. :lol:

I think we finally figured out the Macy's parade performer thing, but it just wasn't working for me. I think because some of the performers (cheerleaders in particular) were flirting with other employees and not interacting with guests. It was all a bit odd to me.

I was so sad we didn't get to ride along to Rainbow Connection, but we were completely taken aback when the ride didn't stop for us to get on.

It freaked me out a bit and I missed the cues Brett was giving me for Rainbow Connection.

Southern_Tink said:
Holly, your TR has been the perfect cure for the cabin fever I've had due to all this snow! I'm looking forward to reading your wedding TR, its so soon! Also, love your suede boots, I have the same pair!

Cabin fever is right... I've been going crazy the last couple days! And you have good taste in boots, my friend! :lol:

Brett said:
If I knew there was nobody behind me, I would have tried to stop myself before hitting the water and crawl all the way back to the top. Sooooooooo cold.

The hot tub, on the other hand, was absolutely amazing. I could have stayed in there all day.

The cold is written all over your face in that picture. :lol:

DisneyRed95 said:
Holly, I love your pictures of Sunset Pointe! What a perfect spot to get married!!! I hope your wedding plans are coming along smoothly. Your big day will be here so soon!

Thanks, Krista. It's just right for us. There are lots of little things to pick up here and there, which I'm stressing over, but for the most part things are quite smooth. I have the man (and the dress), so I'm good!

TakeMeThere81 said:
Ok so my computer ate my post(the one complete with pictures, and whitty comments...boo!!) So here is a quick rundown of my feedback on your totally awesome report!

Hi, Melanee. :wave: Computer-eating posts are the WORST!

TakeMeThere81 said:
I Love those boots!! I totally would have bought flip flops to save those beauties.

Thanks! I found them at TJ Maxx.... they only had one pair, and they were my size... it was meant to be! Love at first sight!

TakeMeThere81 said:
Thanks for the reminder about Portabello again. I really need to take DH there.

Basin is one of my favorite places to get a souveneir there. It makes the magic last longer when you've got Disney soaps to use for months beyond.

Tell Brett I agree, the Who's are freaky!! Krustyland creeps me out too...reminds me of Killer Klowns

I can't believe it took me so long to purchase something at Basin. I'm still using the Pink Mickey soap (sooooo good) and I'm now obsessed with bath bombs!!

I can totally see how Krustyland would freak someone out... especially someone who has any sort of clown issues. :lol: And the Who nose is just so totally weird.

TakeMeThere81 said:
Oh, I almost forgot! Pooh...I have to say that from a Mom's perspective, those little diversions are pure genius. I hear what you're saying about how it could hold up the line, but I wouldn't worry about that. From other's descriptions, they are strategically located so that they are all along the queue. What I would do as the line moved was to direct my child's attention to whatever surprise was coming next. I gotta say, I'm totally sold on this idea for queues! There's nothing more exhausting than an antsy child that has to wait. Kids just don't do good waiting when there's nothing to look at but the adult's butt in front of them. Mine seem to always be hanging on the ropes...

Anyway, I LOVE your report! Loved thd descriptions of AKV and the new Hacienda restaurant. I also loved seeing Repunzel and Friends. She's quickly becoming one of my favorites.

I definitely see how perfect those queues are for kids. And I'm certain I'll be extremely thankful for them one day when I have rugrats of my own. :lol: I guess my concern lies more with the inconsiderate parents who allow their kids to do whatever they want and don't care that they're inconveniencing others.

Rapunzel is also pretty high up on my list! I wasn't expecting that. Hey, aren't you running the Princess in February?! Oooh, I bet she'll definitely be out on the course... she and Flynn both. Will the whole family be going, or is this just going to be a quick weekend trip for mom? I'm getting excited now and hoping for a report!!!

WishIWasAtWDW said:
i am happy that you found a dress that you love! i can't believe you went all the way to burlington to find a dress!! that's pretty far from you. i used to live over in mebane near where they built that new outlet mall. i moved a couple months before it was completed. i heard that opening weekend was ridiculous! traffic on 40 right there was nuts that entire day. thank god i moved out of there before it opened. :lol:

Well, I didn't find my dress in Burlington, but we went all the way there because we had heard it was this crazy huge place (plus it's kinda on the way to my brother's house) and I just wanted the opportunity to try all those dresses on. OMG... the place was a madhouse, but my mom and I had soooo much fun; it's worth the trip for that alone. But if you're modest I wouldn't go because the place doesn't have fitting rooms.

HollyBelle · Jan 13, 2011

Day 6 – Friday, December 17: Check-out and Park Hopping

Brett and I packed up all our stuff early Friday morning and called bell services to store it. His parents usually go back to the room to pack up after breakfast on the last morning, but we like to check our bags beforehand so we can go straight to a park and get every last bit of magic out of the day as possible.

The guys dropped Kathy and I off at the Boardwalk so that we could go check in at Kouzzina while they went and parked the car.

Again, Kouzzina had been closed for awhile and I failed to notice any major changes. They removed the big map from the wall and added pictures of Cat Cora’s family. Inside they replaced the offset (pizza?) area with the wall of olive oils, but that appeared to be about it. For breakfast I ordered the spinach flatbread with eggs, red peppers, and feta. It sounded delicious... what I got was a salad! :lol:

Does anyone else think they went a little overboard on the spinach? Honestly though, once I found the flatbread and set aside three quarters of the spinach it was really good.

Derek ordered the blueberry orange pancake, and gave it high praise. It’s something I might order next time around:

Brett had the standard French toast with turkey sausage:

And I don’t recall what Kathy and Danny had because I don’t have pictures of those. Overall, I enjoyed Kouzzina for breakfast more than I thought I would. And considering Olivia’s dropped my favorite menu item, Kouzzina was, surprisingly, my favorite breakfast of the trip.

HollyBelle · Jan 13, 2011

After breakfast we took some pictures and said our goodbyes to Brett’s family (even though we’d be seeing them back at home that night), and parted ways.

HollyBelle · Jan 13, 2011

Brett and I wanted to ride the Tower of Terror so we decided a quick trip over to the Studios would be a good place to start for the morning. We arrived around 9:45 am and headed down Sunset Boulevard, where we grabbed fastpasses for the Tower and hopped in the single rider line for the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

To burn some time before our fastpass return we went to the Animation Courtyard, where we saw Leo and Annie hanging out without a soul around. So we stopped. Hah... we weren’t even sure of their names when we approached them so I was like “Hi, Einsteins!” What a dork. I’ve since looked them up.

I always enjoy the exhibits/displays they put up in the Animation Academy for the new movies. So we went to check out the Tangled stuff. Excellent movie, by the way!

Back on Sunset Boulevard we hopped on the Tower of Terror... definitely one of my very favorite rides.

HollyBelle · Jan 13, 2011

We decided to hop on the bus to the Animal Kingdom. We had one last plush to pick up and we thought we’d get him over there. But first we had to stop and meet Eeyore. He’s a favorite of mine and we hadn’t seen him yet on the trip, so we went down to Discovery Landing.

Brett, who is easily distracted by the shiniest of objects, wasn’t paying much attention to the photographer when we met Tigger. Here’s why:

Eeyore was playing the bongos.

I love shots of Eeyore from the side because you get just the slightest hint of a smile!

We ran over to the Roadside Treasures store in Dinoland to rescue Rex. He was so happy to see us. As much as he tried to be a ferocious dinosaur, I think the other dinos were on to him.

We left Discovery Island and watched It’s Tough to be A Bug before exiting the park and hopping back on a bus, this time headed for the Beach Club. We wanted to grab some lunch in World Showcase so we figured this would be the best way to get there. And it was!

HollyBelle · Jan 13, 2011

The previous evening when we passed by the Yakitori House we decided we’d kinda like to try it, so we were headed back there for lunch. This was my first time eating up here and I’ve got to say, on a beautiful day that little area out back is so peaceful and the perfect place to have lunch. And it was definitely shaping up to be a beautiful day.

And there’s a restroom up there! Color me shocked, I thought I knew where all the restrooms were at Disney World. I had no clue there was one there. You learn something new every day!

I had the California roll for lunch, which was good. I only wish they would’ve had more sushi options to choose from, because the California roll isn’t a favorite of mine. Brett ordered the teriyaki chicken. And then for whatever reason they gave us a bowl of udon noodles for free. They ended up being really good, and the best part of the meal.

In the end we were really satisfied with the Yakitori House as a counter service option and I think we’d eat there again. That’s saying a lot because we can be pretty snooty about counter service. The ambiance in the little seating area is what made the meal for me. I really enjoyed sitting back there and relaxing with Brett before making the trek home.

It was really starting to warm up as we made our way back to the International Gateway. People all around us were wearing shorts, t-shirts, and tank tops. Why oh why do we have to leave now!?

I know it probably seems like we’d had a crazy morning, being that we went to three different parks, but it was actually quite relaxing and enjoyable.

We stopped in Seashore Sweets to pick up some cookies before getting in the car and going over to Kidani to pick up our luggage. It was about 2:45 pm when we finally left property. And I’ve got to say, this is the very first time I haven’t been exceptionally sad while leaving. But then again, it’s obvious as to why... we have a Disney wedding sneaking quickly up on the horizon! I can’t wait to share it with you all! Thanks for reading along again with this one.

barrettismyhero · Jan 13, 2011

very nice picture

sweetpee_1993 · Jan 13, 2011

HollyBelle said:

REX! OMG! That's Tracey's faaaavorite! I loooove Rex! I got him the coolest little Rex collectible figure while we were there and I love the description they give of him on the back of the box:

MEET REX: Rex is a neurotic and insecure plastic dinosaur with a small-roar complex. With his tender heart and weak spine, this Tyrannosaurus is still one of the most lovable toys of the bunch.

Sooooo true!

We tried Yakitori House on our trip, too. We were curious. The boys liked the noodle soup they gave y'all as a bonus. I had the beef sushi (I'm not a fishy-eater person) and finally found a variety I enjoy. :sohappy: You're right, tho, a lot of the awesomeness is the atmosphere. It's so beautiful and peaceful tucked away up there. I don't know how the service was for y'all but those ladies weren't playin' around when we were there. The one older lady of the bunch was very...I dunno...direct. Like when you started to order she told you what you were doing. She almost sorta felt like the Seinfeld Soup Nazi guy. I found it so entertaining! There's all those sweet little Asian ladies behind the counter doing there thing then there's that one who stood out. I loved it.

Overall the trip sounded wonderful in spite of the cold. Doesn't it feel almost foreign when it's like that? Ugh!

As always, your pics & narrative totally rock. Nuff said, there.

Oh, and am I right in thinking y'all didn't do a MVMCP? Well, yeah, I don't know if I'd do one in December again. The 1st week of December party we did in '07 was miserable with the giganto crowds. The mid-November party was killer: light crowds, great weather, tons of fun.

Can't wait for the wedding/honeymoon report! What are the dates of that trip???? March......

Y'all take care and stay un-frozen up there.

HollyBelle · Jan 13, 2011

barrettismyhero said:
very nice picture

Thanks... it was such a beautiful day that day!

sweetpee_1993 said:
REX! OMG! That's Tracey's faaaavorite! I loooove Rex! I got him the coolest little Rex collectible figure while we were there and I love the description they give of him on the back of the box:

MEET REX: Rex is a neurotic and insecure plastic dinosaur with a small-roar complex. With his tender heart and weak spine, this Tyrannosaurus is still one of the most lovable toys of the bunch.

Sooooo true!

That is the most perfect description ever! Love it. We knew we had to pick Rex up from the dino store... it just didn't seem right for him to come from anywhere else.

sweetpee_1993 said:
We tried Yakitori House on our trip, too. We were curious. The boys liked the noodle soup they gave y'all as a bonus. I had the beef sushi (I'm not a fishy-eater person) and finally found a variety I enjoy. :sohappy: You're right, tho, a lot of the awesomeness is the atmosphere. It's so beautiful and peaceful tucked away up there. I don't know how the service was for y'all but those ladies weren't playin' around when we were there. The one older lady of the bunch was very...I dunno...direct. Like when you started to order she told you what you were doing. She almost sorta felt like the Seinfeld Soup Nazi guy. I found it so entertaining! There's all those sweet little Asian ladies behind the counter doing there thing then there's that one who stood out. I loved it.

I remembered reading that in your report, as well. As for the ladies inside, I didn't spend but a moment in there... Brett took care of standing in line and ordering while I went to find us a table. It was definitely a good place for a light lunch. I don't know if I would've liked it as much if we'd been stuck eating inside, though. All the ambiance is certainly outside!

sweetpee_1993 said:
Overall the trip sounded wonderful in spite of the cold. Doesn't it feel almost foreign when it's like that? Ugh!

As always, your pics & narrative totally rock. Nuff said, there.

Oh, and am I right in thinking y'all didn't do a MVMCP? Well, yeah, I don't know if I'd do one in December again. The 1st week of December party we did in '07 was miserable with the giganto crowds. The mid-November party was killer: light crowds, great weather, tons of fun.

Can't wait for the wedding/honeymoon report! What are the dates of that trip???? March......

Y'all take care and stay un-frozen up there.

It was definitely a fun trip, but our December 2009 trip easily beat it. Of course, this had a lot to do with the cold weather and the fact that this year was a bit overshadowed by my excitement for March. Still, it was a blast! And you're right... no MVMCP for us. The only MVMCP we've been to was in December 2008. We didn't experience the crazy December crowds like you did in 2007... it's more that we choose not to spend the extra money on a party every single year. I prefer the Halloween party to the Christmas party, so hopefully we'll get to do that again this year. We haven't done it since 2006.

The wedding/cruise/disneymoon dates are March 17-27. :sohappy: Hopefully I'll have that pre-trip report started sometime next week or the week after.

Thanks for reading along and posting with me, Kelly!!

Tis the Season to be Freezin': A December 2010 Trip Report

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member