Trip Report Two Turkeys at WDW & Merrytime Disney Cruise November 2016

Hello! My husband and I (two turkeys) just got back from WDW & a Merrytime Disney Cruise and I thought I would share our adventures. All of you are welcome to read but I'm going to tag a few of you that I know have followed along before. (Or at least those I can remember.) I look forward to reading your reactions!


I have shared a few of our other adventures and if you are interested here are some links:

Disneyland
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/disneyland-forever-july-2016.917141/
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/back-to-disneyland-ringin-in-2016.909039/

Walt Disney World
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...ts-wdw-november-2015-lots-of-pictures.907613/
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/movin-in-two-weeks-in-the-world.915373/
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/springin-into-wdw-solo-march-2016.911995/

Introduction:
Who: Me (Amy) and my husband (Brad) We are the two turkeys.
Magic Band personalization: Me: Gobble '16 and Brad Stuffing, in honor of Thanksgiving
When: November 22-November 28
Where did we stay: All Star Sports

Backstory We have wanted to do a Christmas themed cruise for awhile, and in May of 2014 I booked us on a 3 night cruise in hopes that it would match up with my school's calendar. Luckily it it did. I figured I might have to take a personal day (which I did), and we would add in some time at WDW.

The Report
Tuesday November 22:
I teach in a rural northern Wisconsin school so school for our students is off the whole week of Thanksgiving, but we have teacher inservice Monday and Tuesday. In our district we are not supposed to take off inservice days. So being the rule follower that I am yet still wanting to get maximize my WDW time I book (months ahead of time) a flight leaving at 7:10pm on Tuesday night. I figure I am golden, I don't have to break the work rules, and I'll still get to Disney on Tuesday night giving me 2 full WDW days before the cruise. Leaving on a 7pm will be perfect for traveling from work to the airport and giving me the time cushion I like to give myself at the airport. Well, Delta airlines had other plans.

About 1 1/2 month before our flight, I get an email from Delta saying they cancelled my 7pm flight and moved me to a 5pm!!!:jawdrop::mad: This was not good! If I left work for the airport without asking to leave early I would make it to the airport (if things went perfectly) when my plane would be boarding! So long story short I went and talked to my boss, fully prepared to take unpaid time and all that. And luckily he was very understanding and he said he knew that I would easily make up the time/work since I usually come in to work about 1-1 1/2 early every day anyway, and I would not have to take unpaid or personal time. (which was good because I had already designated my other personal day for a WDW in March of 2017). So now the only thing I had to worry about was weather & traffic getting to the airport.

Well, wouldn't you know it, but the weather decided that there would be a wintry mix with mostly freezing rain starting at noon the day we flew out! :jawdrop::mad: Ok, so now I'm already "breaking" the rule of leaving early, but now the roads would be treacherous. And I HATE driving in bad weather. It all made this type A girl very anxious. So my boss said I could leave even a little earlier. Luckily the weather people were somewhat wrong and it was mostly rain on the way, and stayed mostly rain. But were were at the airport now about 3 1/2 hours early. But we were there and our plane was on time. It really was time to relax now.

Minneapolis has two terminal buildings and we were flying out of the big terminal and flying back to the smaller one (with the cheaper parking). So we parked at the smaller terminal and took the light rail train to the bigger one. It is a bit of a hassle but the train came shortly after we got the to platform and away we went.

Brad at the train platform
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We are on time for take off. The plane did have to go through de-icing, as did other planes. So we were 20 minutes late in take off because of waiting for de-icing, but we only landed about 5-10 minutes late.
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The plane is here, what you can't see to well in the pictures is the sleety-rain. It made me a little nervous, but the trucks were constantly spraying de-icer on the runways.
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We landed, YAY! And since we planned to drive to the cruise port we rented a car. This was our sweet ride. As usually hubby, tried to pick up the most beat up and scratched one in the lot. His theory is that then the rental car company can't prove the scratches are from us.
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It was dark then as we drove under the sign so my picture didn't turn out clear. I got this blurr, but in a way it is kind of trippy and cool with the blur.
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We were super hungry and we thought about going to Trader Sam's or Disney Springs for something but it was a little after 11:30 pm and figured we wouldn't have much time. So we parked at the All-Star Sports and went into the food court. We probably should have went to the McDonald's. We got chicken tenders and fries and they were definitely end of the night servings (a little cold and stale). But it was sustenance and then we could go right to our room.
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A couple pictures of the decorations at the Sports. They weren't anything spectacular like a gingerbread house, but I liked them.
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Our room was really close to the main building in the Touchdown section. So we were both happy. In June we had requested to be near transport at the Music and got stuck in the Broadway section which was a bit of a hike. So we unpacked and I put up a few Christmas decorations to spirit up the room.
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So after unpacking we went to bed. We were planning to maximize our WDW with early mornings and late nights. We figured we could relax on the cruise.

Tags:
@figmentfan423 , @MinnieM123 , @JenniferS , @Tuvalu , @PacNWTigger , @Gabe1 , @betty rose , @Songbird76 , @catmom46 , @BuddyThomas , @donaldtoo , @Cesar R M , @fractal , @Mr Ferret 88 , @MouseDreaming , @PUSH, @Wrangler-Rick, @sheriffwoody, @MOXOMUMD
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
After Test Track we were up for some Spaceship Earth. Sorry for the blur but you can see how busy it was not here.
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I always seem to pick the travel/leisure ending. Brad ended up picking the same stuff I did on his screen. I guess great minds really do think alike.
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Then it was off to the Land.
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An action shot
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I took some time to examine the murals on the outside of the building. They really are fantastic.
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I thought this was a fun wreath in the land. I liked how they included the hot air balloons to complement the 4 seasons ones normally hanging from the ceiling.
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We had some time before our Soarin fast pass so we went on one of my must do's....Living with the Land.
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
A little more of the Land....
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Christmas and Fall were both represented in the land. This gave me a touch of a Thanksgiving feel. Also, I loved that a lot of families had designed Thankgiving shirts. Many were so cute with turkey mickeys, I didn't take any pictures of any. I was tempted though because they were dang cute.
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Then a flight on Soarin'! I was next to people this time, that didn't feel the need to have a running commentary with each other about the sights. It was so nice, I almost thanked them at the end. I always get people next to me who want to talk to each other during the ride. And I am always wanting to tell them to shut it and enjoy the ride.
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I think the poinsettia trees are pretty awesome.
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Fountain!
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We also caught a bit of the Muppet lab. It is a cute idea.
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Then we headed back to the All Star to meet my dad.

Up next a Thanksgiving feast at the All-Star!
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Continuing on with Thanksgiving.

So we had left Epcot and headed back to the Sports to meet my dad. He lives about an hour away from Orlando and we invited him to Thanksgiving lunch. He has never been a big Disney fan, he put up with it for my mom but he has no interest in going into the parks now. So anyway we met up with him back at the Sports and then drove over to Wilderness Lodge for lunch at Whispering Canyon.

I think Wildernes Lodge is one of the prettiest resorts but it really shines at Christmas. So here are a few shots around the resort.
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prfctlyximprct

Well-Known Member
Your report is making me wish I had stayed longer!! :( the tree trail and drone show both look amazing!! So sad I missed them both :( And the Ak Christmas tree is just gorgeous, thanks for the pictures! Loving everything, and jealous there was no wait at Trader Sams! I have so much on my Disney bucket list!! :)
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
The three of us before dinner.

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Inside the restaurant.
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The menu
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Everything was pretty tasty. Not quite as good as my homemade turkey dinner, but at least I didn't have to wash any dishes for this one!
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My beer
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The main platter. Brad was very pleased with the stuffing, although he said he prefers mine (my mom's recipe). He was pretty happy that he only had to compete with me for stuffing, my dad is not a stuffing fan. The turkey had a great light smoked flavor and the glaze on the ham was really great.
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Pumpkin pie. Yum!
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Your report is making me wish I had stayed longer!! :( the tree trail and drone show both look amazing!! So sad I missed them both :( And the Ak Christmas tree is just gorgeous, thanks for the pictures! Loving everything, and jealous there was no wait at Trader Sams! I have so much on my Disney bucket list!! :)

Thanks, I'm glad you are enjoying my report. There are just so many things to do and always something to add to the bucket list. ;)
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Bye Whispering Canyon, thanks for filling us up!
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We headed back to the Sports and said our goodbyes to my dad and then Brad and I went to rest up for a big night. We didn't take too long of a nap though. Soon we were up again in our Christmas finery ready to go to the Studios to see Jingle Bell Jingle BAM!

A few weeks before we left a friend and I went shopping and I found some fun ears at Hobby Lobby. They were $6 each and 50% off so it was a good deal. Brad was a good sport to put up with them.
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Cute bus sign.
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I really like the Studios tree, although I do love silver garland.
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My ears had a Minnie bow with a small piece of holly.
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
I was really diggin' the decorations on Hollywood Blvd this year.
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I wanted to spend more time looking at the decorations but Brad was freaking out because we only had 15 minutes to use our fast pass for Star Tours. It only takes 5 minutes to walk there from Hollywood Blvd, but he was impatient so I agreed to head over there. We went back to Hollywood Blvd after Star Tours/a quick visit to the Muppets because they called out that the theater was ready and no wait.
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A sad look at the buildings left still standing of Streets of America. I really wish the Osbornes were still around.
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A quick look at pizza rizzo.
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Not happy about the plants in this fountain, it had better be temporary like they say. But often Disney's temporary is forever.

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Back to Hollywood Blvd to look at the decorations.
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
We had a couple more fast passes to use before the Jingle Bam dessert party. So we went to Toy Story where I was the winner! Then we had time before our Tower of Terror fast pass so we did the Great Movie Ride. As we exited the Great Movie Ride the dessert party was starting to hand out wristbands at check in, so we checked in before using our TOT fast pass.
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I liked seeing the Arc of the Covanent from Indiana Jones in the queue at the Great movie ride. Indiana Jones are some of my favorite movies (well only Raiders and Last Crusade).
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After Tower we went back to wait in the Jingle Bam dessert party line. We wanted one of the sit down tables they had, and we got one. We only had about a 20 minute wait before they let us in for the party. While waiting I tried out the glasses they gave us, it made me see candy canes.
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This is only the 3rd dessert party we have done but by far it was the best. We've done the Wishes one, that was our first it was fine. Then this past June we did the Star Wars one and we really enjoyed the food, the fact that they had sweet and savory was a big draw. We missed that there wasn't any where to sit. But this dessert party takes the cake. I loved the location, it was in the courtyard of the Great Movie Ride, so it had a great view while eating (and it was fun to have the stars prints around us). This dessert party had many good sweet and savory options, and a variety of beverages including beer! I like beer, I can't do a lot of fruity drinks. I didn't mind that the party and the viewing location were separate. We left for the viewing area about 10 minutes before the show. Everyone was grouped up in the front but hardly anyone in the back by the projection tower, so we ended up with a good view and no one was crammed next to us. So I would say it was a good value for us, oh and we got to play around with Santa Goofy. He came to our table and then goofed around with us as we were leaving. Hollywood Studios knows how to put on a dessert party.

Here's a picture of the tasty meatballs they had.
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View from the table, I know it looks like a bunch of strollers, but I liked getting glimpses down Hollywood Blvd.
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Brad at the party
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
We were eating fun snack when we got a visitor! Santa Goofy. Brad was so happy, Goofy is his favorite (which is pretty apt).
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A view of some of the treats. I really don't like gingerbread but the almond gingerbread cookies with the chocolate dollop were pretty fantastic. (I may have taken a few of those to go and had them for breakfast the next day.)
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The chocolate peppermint cupcakes were good too, just the right amount of peppermint.
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The bar.
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This was tasty too, I should have had a few more.
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Our parting gifts. Also as we left Santa Goofy came over and was goofing around with us it was fun!
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It was time to get a spot for Jingle Bell Jingle Bam!
A couple pre-show projections, the snow falling on the Chinese Theater was pretty neat, the snow actually started piling up like real snow.
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And the show began with some rockin' music. We danced around a little!
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
More Jingle BAM pictures! I had never seen Prep and Landing before but I read up on the concept and we enjoyed the show. I missed the Osborne lights and nothing will come close to replacing it but this was enjoyable for what it was. We wanted to like it, we wanted it to be festive, and on both parts it was successful.
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Oh no! Santa is missing!
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I think this Donald Duck short is one of my all time favorites so I was pleased it was in the show.
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
I liked the lady and the tramp scene too because that would be so awesome if that happened to me Christmas morning. (I really want a puppy. My pup needs a brother)
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We liked that they kept the projections on the theater for awhile, that made for some good photo ops. And the snow machines were in full effect on Hollywood Blvd.
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Up next a little more time at the Magic Kingdom.
 

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