Trip Report 'Tis the Season to be Jolly... at WDW! 🎄 - Live- *COMPLETED*

Hello and Welcome Disney Friends!
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Another adventure is about to begin for Frank and me, starting tomorrow!
We are very excited, for this is our favorite time of the year at our favorite place in the World! We've been looking forward to this trip since we booked it back in January.

When: Dec 1 -Dec 9
Where: Bay Lake Tower
Who: Frank and Nunu

The last few days have been crazy, my friends, like they always are for us (mostly me!) trying to get everything in order here at home, including leaving my beloved turtle Domenica under JC's care. You don't want to know how that went with her in the car today, she was trying to get out of her "house" while I was driving! And to make things more nerve wracking, Frank had to travel to Mexico this morning and I was afraid that something might delay him and that, could've complicated our departure tomorrow morning.

Fortunately, he landed an hour ago, so things are looking good so far, phew!

Frank and me, last December

Our immediate plans are:
Fly tomorrow into Miami, lunch at Aventura Mall (between Miami and Ft. Lauderdale) buy some necessities and stay the night.

Sunday morning we drive from there into Orlando. Those who followed us on our April/May trip, might remember about our highway scare, so this time around, we're hoping to check-in at our WDW Home, without any incidents at around 10am.
Wish us luck!

Thank you for choosing to read along, you're all delightful to have around, and we're happy and grateful for your company! Feel free to comment or ask, I'll do my best to keep you posted as much as I can. I'm an so expect some late night posts.

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[Nunu]

We boarded the monorail a few minutes ago, so excited about today!

And... here we are! Hello EPCOT

This is where we are right now, we'll be having lunch at Seasons.

 

[Loco_driver]

I know I know!
As long as he doesnt fill it with the inferior citrus swirl I say:
PASS IT ON!
PASS IT ON!

A person who’d fill Bucky up with delicious citrus swirl sounds like a super cool dude. Since it’s the greatest frozen treat available at WDW. But I’m sure they’d be polite and only use it for its intended purpose .

 

[coachwnh]

Hope you guys are having a great day. Looking forward to hearing about it later!

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

We finally found the ring in line (Tuvalu, I thought it was past where standby and FP merge, but not sure ? There is a trash can on the right where you can't get to it for the railing. The ring is in front of it, but kind of hard to see because it is so small. I only found it because someone else said where it was. You have to really really look hard for it. Have fun

 

[donaldtoo]

OK, time for me to try and do a little “ketchup” on this TR...!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

^^^ I ❤ this!

I was hoping you would like that...!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

With the weather I woke up to I thought you’d suddenly taken a transcontinental trip ... but your post says otherwise

I was wondering myself...!!!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

Not late at all, this party is just getting started!
Welcome!

Those emojis gave me a “Saturday Night Fever” flashback shudder...!!!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

Hello Friends!
After hugging my friend and her handsome boys goodbye, we finished our Dunkin iced latte, and drove for about an hour, soon, we were finally "Home"!
View attachment 429808
View attachment 429809
See @Darstarr , Bucky is checking-in too!
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Our room wasn't ready, we kept getting messages, lots of them, and it was driving us nuts!, it was before noon, so no problemo! We had the chance to ask for our favorite lake view at the front desk, so that was an advantage. We also got our MB's.
Left our bags at bell services, and walked towards MK. Finally! We are here!
View attachment 429814
The park felt so festive, we were looking forward to see all the Christmas decorations, specially this!
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“Bucky”...LOVE it...!!!!!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

We didn't have any set plans for lunch and we were getting hungry, we hadn't been able to get an ADR for Be Our Guest, so after riding the Peoplemover, I thought I might give it a last minute shot on MDE. We got a spot and got lucky once again, like on our last April visit!

But first, we had a first FP to use:
View attachment 429825
I asked Frank to help me look for the Bride's ring on the floor, but we couldn't find it, maybe it's on the Standby line @Tuvalu ?
Also, our rides photos aren't showing on MDE Same thing happened on my August solo trip.

We were running a bit tight for our last minute get, so as soon as we left our Doom Buggies, we walked briskly towards lunch. Got there just in time.

I like the BOG Christmas Tree too.
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Frank chose the French Dip Sandwich
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And I had a Croque Monsieur
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Our order took what felt like quite a long time, and when we got it, both our fries were very cold, even Frank noticed! I made a courteous comment about it when a server came by the table to ask if everything was ok, and a few minutes later, he brought us hot, just made fries. Nice!

Sorry about the fries, but, glad they made it right...!!!

Somewhere on my old Blackberry Torch phone I have a pic of the original HM “wedding ring” that started this bit of fun Disney lore...I hope this is of interest...!!!

https://maps.roadtrippers.com/stori...cursed-engagement-ring-buried-in-the-pavement

 

[donaldtoo]

We got in line for Pooh, which had a 30min wait, but when we were about to board our honey pot, the ride had an issue so we all got a multi experience FP. This is what we chose:
View attachment 429837
It was 6:45 and MK was closing for non-party guests at 7 tonight, we decided to start heading towards our resort (we finally got a room ready message at 4:15). Started walking towards Main Street and the exit, but not before enjoying the beautiful Holiday ambiance.
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Love the Main Street's Holiday window displays!
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And I had to capture the Christmas Tree all lit up!
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Love that last pic from under The Emporium corner...!!!!!

 

[Nunu]

Hello Friends!
Remember this morning I said today was "a bit colder" than yesterday? Ha!, make that "a lot" colder! It's 52° right now! The only time we took off our jackets was for lunch. Glad we changed from shorts to jeans just before leaving our room.

So, where were we? Oh yes, lunch. We were walking towards Seasons when I noticed that LWTL was only a 25min wait. We wanted to check out the Holiday overlay, so we got in line before lunch.

We liked what they did, here are some of the decorations we saw. I think everything would look a lot better when riding after dark, though.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

A person who’d fill Bucky up with delicious citrus swirl sounds like a super cool dude. Since it’s the 2nd best frozen treat available at WDW. But I’m sure they’d be polite and only use it for its intended purpose .

Fixed that typo for you.

 

[Nunu]

Ooops! I was forgetting this picture:

Then it was time for some food.
Frank had the Mongolian Beef, as expected.

I had the Oak Roasted Chicken. Both meals were very good!

After lunch, we headed towards our only FP for the day.

We were able to recover this next picture at a Photopass assistance kiosk, but we'll need to check my new Millenial Pink MB, there seems to be an issue with one of its chips.

 

[Nunu]

After Frozen, we grabbed coffee from the Joffrey's kiosk near Canada, and walked towards the International Gateway. We wanted to check out all the Christmas decorations at The Boardwalk,Yacht and Beach Club.
First, we saw the beautiful Christmas Village at Yacht. This is such a beautiful display, and bigger than expected too!

Some cute Village details, like the Frozen and Mickey features!

I see VIP Santa Claus waiting for the train at the station!

Next, we headed to Beach Club. The theme of the Gingerbread Carrousel this year, is Peter Pan. The single standing horse is inspired by Captain Hook.

Tink is hanging from it's hook!

Lastly, we headed towards The Boardwalk. I was on a mission, I read great reviews about a treat sold at their display.

 

[Nunu]

This is the treat I was telling you about: Coconut with Dark Chocolate Macaroon. I read great reviews about it. I got it to enjoy it with my morning coffee tomorrow. I'll be letting you know about it.

It was time to go back to EPCOT, and Mickey was dancing at the International Gateway.

The EPCOT International Festival of the Holidays started on Nov 29. Tonight we wanted to try a couple of the Holiday Kitchens offerings.
At Japan, I got a Tsubaki Whiskey Sour. I loved it!, it's made with plum wine, whiskey, cranberry juice and lemon.

Then at Germany, Frank got the Pork Schnitzel with Mushroom Sauce and Spätzle, and I had to have the Cheese Fondue in a Bread Bowl that I also had at last year's festival!
This picture doesn't do them justice. My hot and yummy cheese fondue really hit the spot, we were feeling the cold by then!

From the same booth, our drinks:
For Frank, a Possmann Pure Black Currant Apple Cider.
For me, Possmann Pure Hard Apple Cider.

 

[Nunu]

We strolled around World Showcase some more, and then it was time to hop on the monorail back to our room.

Today MK closed at 4:30 because a private party for CM's celebrating milestone years of service took place there. We saw a few of these signs at the TTC on our way back.

Back at the Contemporary, chefs were retouching gingerbread details at the Holiday display. Did someone "stole" a few pieces to snack on?

We are back in our cozy, warm room, about to go to bed.
This was another great day!

 

[Swissmiss]

Now I’m even more sad we only have virtual coffee together because that dark chocolate coconut macaroon sounds awesome! Hopefully it will still be there at the end of the month

 

[Nunu]

Hope you guys are having a great day. Looking forward to hearing about it later!

Thanks! We had a great time, the colder weather added to the holiday season feel.

 

[Nunu]

Sorry about the fries, but, glad they made it right...!!!

Somewhere on my old Blackberry Torch phone I have a pic of the original HM “wedding ring” that started this bit of fun Disney lore...I hope this is of interest...!!!

https://maps.roadtrippers.com/stori...cursed-engagement-ring-buried-in-the-pavement

Thank you for this article, very interesting. I enjoyed reading it!