Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life For Me...a December 2012 TR

Welcome to my TR. Let me cover some of the basics first in case you haven't read my PTR. I am Amy, a 39 year old veterinarian. This trip was planned last minute (about 60 days out) and the dates were Dec. 9-14, 2012. We stayed at CBR in a pirate room. We being me, my mom, and my 4 (almost 5) year old son, Owen.

Our flight left Dayton at 11:16am. We arrived at the airport at 9:30am and quickly made it through security. We stopped at the coffee shop for some OJ and potato chips for Owen. He had already eaten a good breakfast before leaving home, I promise! We had a little time at the gate before we had to gate check our stroller and were able to check our carry-on luggage after attaching our DME tags to it.

We loaded on the plane and were quickly pulling away from the gate. Owen was so excited to be flying again.

We had an uneventful flight. The flight attendants were very playful that day. They had a prize available for the person with the oldest penny, they had Christmas trivia questions for the kids, and they had someone sing the Oscar Mayer song for a prize. It was enjoyable and helped pass the time.
We landed in Orlando a few minutes early, and quickly made our way to DME. We were shown to this line:

We waited about 10 minutes for our bus, which was a cruise line bus. Owen was excited to watch everything that was going on outside.

Then he just crashed.

A few pictures on the way to CBR:

And then we were there!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Then it was back inside.

We saw Goofy with no line and had to go say hello!

Then we saw Daisy with no line!

And a blown kiss goodbye!

Then a quick stop in:

 

[TheMouseFan]

The plan was to make our way leisurely around World Showcase and exit via the International Gateway to have dinner at Beaches and Cream. So we headed toward WS.

Then we hopped in line to meet Duffy. I guess I missed these story pages when we were here last year.

Owen was again in picture taking mode:

 

[TheMouseFan]

These guys were out at Mexico this time.

Then we had to ride Gran Fiesta Tour again!
Next, we saw these two in Norway:

We didn't get to hear anything, as they were getting ready to leave the stage as we walked up.
Then a few more pics as we made our way past countries we had seen earlier.

Owen was starting to get fussy at this point, but I made him stop here:

We saw her inside talking about Hanukkah. Sorry the pic is a little blurry!

And we saw her outside talking about Kwanzaa.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Next, we saw her in Japan:

Then we tried to get in line to see these two, but they had already closed it off.

On to France:

Then I started talking to Owen about dinner thinking he would be excited to go get some ice cream at Beaches and Cream. Nope!! He wanted nothing to do with it, so we passed by International Gateway and continued on our way back to Future World. Maybe next time Beaches and Cream!
Owen wanted to get back and ride Figment again, so we passed through the UK and Canada quickly.

My mom didn't really care to ride Figment again, so she sat it out this time. I can't imagine what her problem was!
Then it was back to Living with the Land. I got a few more Christmas decorations that I missed last time.

We decided to eat dinner at Sunshine Seasons since we were already there. I had Mongolian beef:

My mom had sweet and sour chicken:

Both were okay, but we won't be rushing back to eat those particular items again!
Owen liked his PB&J and birthday cookie!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Then Owen and I rode SSE one last time before heading out.

Then through the turnstiles one last time! The monorail was still down.

Up next...Magic Kingdom

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I won't bore you all with my pics from this ride. I'll just share the one of the Santa cactus.

OK...I just LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE that! Now it's making me want to head back to the store and buy the light up Santa Cactus that's now 50% off for my big light display!. Also jealous that Living with the Land is all decked out for the holidays. We went in Dec 2010 and I am pretty certain it wasn't festive. And to continue with my jealousy------also jealous that you got to ride TT and saw the various story tellers! Your pizza looks great too!!! Now too bad Owen didn't want Beaches & Cream. I was thinking about it earlier and actually bought sundae fixings in honor of it LOL.

 

[TheMouseFan]

OK...I just LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE that! Now it's making me want to head back to the store and buy the light up Santa Cactus that's now 50% off for my big light display!. Also jealous that Living with the Land is all decked out for the holidays. We went in Dec 2010 and I am pretty certain it wasn't festive. And to continue with my jealousy------also jealous that you got to ride TT and saw the various story tellers! Your pizza looks great too!!! Now too bad Owen didn't want Beaches & Cream. I was thinking about it earlier and actually bought sundae fixings in honor of it LOL.

I was very surprised when we saw the decorations in Living with the Land. They even had the fish tanks decorated, I just wasn't able to get any good pics! I would have liked to have been able to stop and actually listen to some of the storytellers, but Owen didn't want to have any of that. I was so disappointed when he didn't want to eat at Beaches and Cream. I know he would have loved it, but it wasn't worth it to listen to him complain the whole way over there!!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Thanks for all the pics. I had read in a thread that Epcot hardely decorated for Christmas and a was little disapointed but I think everything looked great!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Thanks for all the pics. I had read in a thread that Epcot hardely decorated for Christmas and a was little disapointed but I think everything looked great!!

It did not appear to me that Epcot was any less decorated than the other 3 parks! I thought all of them were beautiful and I can't wait to go back again at Christmas time!

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

What a great TR!!! Owen is adorable!!!! Love the Christmas decoration pics!! It's so festive at Disney

 

[TheMouseFan]

What a great TR!!! Owen is adorable!!!! Love the Christmas decoration pics!! It's so festive at Disney

Thank you so much!!

 

[Ellen Ripley]

Awesome report!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Awesome report!

Thanks for reading!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Wednesday was our Magic Kingdom day. We started off with a relatively late wake up. MK didn't open until 9 and we didn't have an early ADR, so we were able to sleep in a little. We had a light breakfast in the room before heading to the bus stop. Owen started the day wanting his picture taken.

I couldn't resist taking these pictures on the way!

MK here we come!!

Then a few more pics before we arrived.

We didn't attend, but I thought I would get pics anyhow.

Then we were in and waiting for the welcome show.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Then it was time for the welcome show. We had front row "seats". Owen was thrilled!

Then it was time to make our way down MSUSA with a few pics along the way.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Then we made our way through the castle.

And got our first sight of The New Fantasyland.

There was already a line building here and we were on a schedule this morning, so we passed it up. I wasn't sure how much Owen would like it anyhow!

So we moved onward past Be Our Guest.

And Gaston's Tavern.

And arrived at our destination.

There was so much to look at while in line, and because we were there first thing in the morning, the line kept moving and made it difficult to take pics.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Owen loved this ride and asked to go back on, but he was satisfied when I offered to take him back on later in the day.
This was not open yet.

Then we made our way back toward the old Fantasyland.

At this point, I wanted to get some more pics, so I sent my mom ahead with Owen to ride the Prince Charming Regal Carrousel and told them I would meet them after getting FP.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Then I was back in the old Fantasyland and on my way to get FP for Peter Pan. I had to take some more pics before finding my mom and Owen.

The new Rapunzel tower.

We also got surprise FP for this:

There they are!

Then Owen had to try this. Last year, Logan actually pulled the sword out, so Owen was very frustrated when he couldn't!!

A few more castle Christmas decorations.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Now, if you read my PTR, you know that about a week and a half before we left, Owen asked what day we were eating breakfast in Cinderella's castle and I had to break his heart and tell him we wouldn't be eating there. I tried numerous times every day to get an ADR. I found one for a very late dinner, which just wouldn't work with a 4 year old, and I found one for lunch, but Owen insisted it had to be breakfast. The morning we left, I made one last ditch effort and checked as we were walking out the door. I GOT A 9:55AM ADR!!!!! Unbelievable!! My husband thought I was crazy because of the way I was dancing around the room. I decided not to tell Owen until we were walking into the castle!
So here we were:

He doesn't look particularly excited in those pics, but he was!
Then they sent us upstairs immediately.

Owen had to have his picture taken with his sword as soon as it arrived at the table.

Then they had the wishing ceremony.

Then the food arrived. My mom had the breakfast platter and I ordered the cream cheese stuffed french toast.

It was delicious! But it was very rich and I was unable to eat the entire thing.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Then the princesses came one right after the other.

With a birthday cupcake in between.

Aurora was by far the best princess that morning. She talked to him quite a bit and drew him out of his shell. She was talking to him about whether he was a prince or a pirate since he had pirates on his shirt. He assured her that he was a prince!

One last pic inside the dining room, and we were on our way.

And one last final pic before leaving the castle.