Trip Report "When We're Together" - December 2024

So yall that read my trip report for May already know that we booked a bounceback offer before leaving WDW so that we could use those 2 free park tickets. Well, Disney should be proud to know that their "free" ticket plan worked and we are for sure returning to WDW in December - and this time I'm purchasing the MVMCP and Jollywood Night Tickets I just purchased plane tickets, party tickets, and travel insurance (if you know, you know LOL). This is the first time we've been more than once in a year so I'm super excited!! I told R that maybe it will help me get more comfortable on flights and maybe next time I can do one longer than 2 hours I am holding off on getting Mears until closer to the trip - I'm hoping that they release a Disney+ or Disney Visa room discount that has more selection than the bounceback offer at Riverside. I'm not complaining about Riverside though since it's our place but I would like to save a little extra money (or stay at AKL cheaper), if at all possible. This year's discount selection is not very good compared to past years.

When we went in December 2021 for the short 3 night stay, they didn't have the full Christmas Party just the abbreviated themed After Hours event. We loved it but I'm seriously looking forward to a full Christmas party though. And we've never done Jollywood Nights

 

[erstwo]

I do plan on doing a trip report but it will be slow going. I'm having technology issues again. By the time I'm able to get this thing finished, I won't remember much of anything LOL. I kept having pen issues and wasn't able to write in my travel journal but for one night. Thanks to the frigid weather while we were there, I didn't end up in the ER so that's a major positive There were a few lows while we were there but for the most part it was a very good trip! It wasn't as magical to me as the December 2021 trip but still one of my favorite trips. R said it was because we stayed at Riverside again, and he probably isn't wrong! We're now thinking of planning a Disney Cruise and I have a bounceback offer booked for September just in case. Although, I am thinking about changing it to the week before Christmas based on what looks like low waits at the parks this week! Anyone else stalk the MDE app to check wait times after returning from a trip? Or is that just me??

Glad the weather cooperated! And this gets me excited for my stay at Port Orleans. Loved Olaf peeking around your tree - they are both beautiful trees
Looking forward to more!

 

[LeighM]

Glad the weather cooperated! And this gets me excited for my stay at Port Orleans. Loved Olaf peeking around your tree - they are both beautiful trees
Looking forward to more!

We stayed at PO French Quarter in 2021 and it just wasn't the same for us. It's still a great resort (and I actually prefer the Christmas decorations in the FQ lobby) but Riverside just feels like home to us.

 

[LeighM]

Day 1 continued - Monday, Dec 2

I just realized that, since I changed this from a pretrip report to a trip report, I never clarified my vacation dates LOL. We checked in on Monday, December 2 and checked out Saturday, December 3rd. I warned yall that this trip report will be scattered

After getting ready, we took the boat to Disney Springs and it really was a great start to the trip! The boat ride is so relaxing. I don't necessarily like the longer walk to the Marketplace section compared to where the PO dock used to be, but it's still so much better than a bus ride.

The primary purpose of rushing to Disney Springs was for R to get his favorite lunch at Polite Pig. While he got in the line, I got "our" seats while they were available. I saw the ad for their coquito (in the bottle) and asked R for one. What I didn't expect was an overpriced cocktail but it was still tasty. Just not the kind of coquito I was expecting (my husband is Puerto Rican for those that may not know and he's gotten me addicted to it during the holidays).

His favorite - the chicken. He didn't get the corn, despite it being one of his fav sides because I didn't want to share it. Because I wanted the beet salad and I'm glad I chose it to go go with the meatball appetizer that I got so often in May.

There's a cinnamon stick on the cocktail pick.

I don't recall the times or what we did after lunch but I know we eventually got on a bus to Yacht and Beach Club because I wanted to see their Christmas decorations since I missed them in 2021. We got to Yacht Club first. And I absolutely LOVE this lobby. And their tree! I told R that I really want to stay here one day for a couple of nights.

A CM was nice enough to take our picture

A close up of the tree

I think Yacht Club may have had one of my favorite decorated lobbies of the trip. And I really enjoyed the little village.

We walked over to the Beach Club. I have a few pictures from their lobby but I wasn't able to upload them. However, I could upload ones of their gingerbread carrousel

There was no line for their gingerbread (and they had a GF option) but I said I would come back later and get one (spoiler alert - I actually never did). It was getting close to the start of Jollywood Nights so we waited for the boat to take us to HS. Despite it being chilly, we picked the seats outside on the back, and glad we did.

Up next - Jollywood Nights and a game of Can We Find My MagicBand