Double the fun : East & West coast Disney & Universal parks - UPDATED 1/14 About This Page:

[Colexis Mom]

Wow, what a day at MK! I think you did it all! Love the surprise waiting back at the room! Great pictures!

[pamcarey]

Glad to see you writing again! What a wonderful day at the MK and a great surprise for Nest when you got back to the room!

[L'eau Sirene]

Loved reading your TR and great pictures. Now I will try out the T-Rex for our trip to WDW next year

[mushu22]

Glad your back writing your TR. the and your first day at MK. Hope Nest gets over his cold. Love the surprise in the room when you got back. Can't wait for more.

[clio]

Glad to see that you're back. I love your writing style it's so descriptive. I don't think you guys could have done anything more. Nest's surprise was wonderful. i can't wait to read more.
Liz

[lazanya]

Great to see you back!
You certainly did a lot! The surprise was awesome!

[Dlandmom2]

Wow, how did you and Nest do it?! You've had maybe 10 hours of sleep in the last week!!! What a wonderful day you had, and you both got so much done! I'm sorry Nest wasn't feeling his best, but he sure did seem to have a great first day at WDW! You are such a great sister for treating him to the surprise at the end of the day! Can't wait to read more!

[ilovedisney247]

Wow--what a long day! I'm not surprised that you took a few unplanned naps! The room decorations are amazing!

[dsnytina]

3 hours of sleep, and you were able to go until 4am???
What a wonderful surprise for Li'l Bro from Big Sis
Can't wait to read more!

[Big Sister]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYBODY!

Originally Posted by Cam22

Glad you are writing again! Great pictures, but I especially like your Buzz and Space Mountain Ride photo and your picture of the Christmas Castle! Beautiful! Awesome day at MK!

I love souvenir ride photos too, as I never know (or can remember) where the camera is, so I'm always caught unawares, making for some pretty funny shots My bro, on the other hand, has a good memory for these sorts of things, so his shots are generally posed after the first experience.

Glad you liked my castle pic - including it in the report was a last minute thing, as it wasn't as perfect as the ones Nest took . I thought it would be interesting to have all levels of photography in my report.

Originally Posted by chezp

I tend to agree - I don't think you could've fitted anything else into that day! As I read it, I was thinking "they've done just about everything in the Magic Kingdom"!

And what a wonderful surprise to come back to in the room!

Originally Posted by ilovedisney247

Wow--what a long day! I'm not surprised that you took a few unplanned naps! The room decorations are amazing!

Glad you enjoyed reading about our full day . If we weren't falling asleep all over the place, we probably could've fit one or two more rides in

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Wow, what a day at MK! I think you did it all! Love the surprise waiting back at the room! Great pictures!

Originally Posted by pamcarey

Glad to see you writing again! What a wonderful day at the MK and a great surprise for Nest when you got back to the room!

Originally Posted by lazanya

Great to see you back!
You certainly did a lot! The surprise was awesome!

Thank you all! I was so excited about organising the room surprise for Nest's first full day, that I also organised another one at the same time, but that wasn't available for delivery until December. Can't wait to share it when I'm up to that entry!

Originally Posted by L'eau Sirene

Loved reading your TR and great pictures. Now I will try out the T-Rex for our trip to WDW next year

very much. definitely include T-Rex in your itinerary for your trip to WDW next year! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Originally Posted by mushu22

Glad your back writing your TR. the and your first day at MK. Hope Nest gets over his cold. Love the surprise in the room when you got back. Can't wait for more.

Originally Posted by clio

Glad to see that you're back. I love your writing style it's so descriptive. I don't think you guys could have done anything more. Nest's surprise was wonderful. i can't wait to read more.
Liz

Originally Posted by Dlandmom2

Wow, how did you and Nest do it?! You've had maybe 10 hours of sleep in the last week!!! What a wonderful day you had, and you both got so much done! I'm sorry Nest wasn't feeling his best, but he sure did seem to have a great first day at WDW! You are such a great sister for treating him to the surprise at the end of the day! Can't wait to read more!

Originally Posted by dsnytina

3 hours of sleep, and you were able to go until 4am???
What a wonderful surprise for Li'l Bro from Big Sis
Can't wait to read more!

Thanks so much - it means a lot!

Unfortunately, Nest's cold lingers for quite some time, then his back goes (Either that, or he really didn't want to get up at 4am for the hot air balloon flight a bit further down the track )

I've finished the draft to my next entry - just need to give it a bit of a polish ... and wait for copies of Nest's photos to help illustrate it, otherwise I'll have to revert to grainy screen dumps from my videos, for shots I wasn't able to take myself.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYBODY!

[Big Sister]

**Just letting you all know that the uncopyrighted photos from the parade and the fireworks are a bit fuzzy, as they're screen dumps from my personal holiday videos**

DAY 11: Friday, 19 November 2010

Awake just in time for another shot at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party : capturing the Christmas fireworks and parade

If we had stuck to our itinerary, this should've been another day where we got only three hours sleep due to an 8.35am reservation for Donald's Safari Breakfast in the Animal Kingdom. I forced myself awake long enough at this three hour mark to cancel the breakfast reservation, as Nest was feeling massively tired, had really aching feet, and his cold was developing. I was feeling super tired and had really aching feet too, so thought the cancellation was the best thing to do in these circumstances. Imagine the photos if we had forced ourselves to go along - there would probably be a photo of Nest asleep in his cornflakes, and me slumped back in my chair with a waffle half-way to my mouth

I got up for good at 2.30pm (10 and-a-half hours sleep - woo hoo!! ) I peeked out our window, and saw that it was a fantastically super bright sunny day outside. Just as I was about to go and start getting ready for the day, our bro Johnny rang us up to see how we were going

While waiting for Nest to wake up, I converted the little alcove directly outside the bathroom, into a make-shift office. I pulled the privacy curtain in the hope that the light wouldn't disturb Nest, and set about continuing work on the previous day's journal entry. As you know, writing takes a lot of brain power, so during that time, I finished off the Mickey puffy cheese crackers, ate half the packet of Mickey pretzels, and demolished my inch-thick choc chip cookie baked in Minnie's kitchen, according to the packet. As water wasn't quenching my thirst, I reverted to the half bottle of Coke I had leftover from the previous day, which had since gotten warm. Surprisingly, this crazy mix of leftovers didn't make me sick.

12 hours of sleep later, Nest woke up at 4pm, still not feeling all that great. He was bitterly disappointed with how sick he had become, and all the exciting opportunities he was missing out on as a result. In an attempt to make him feel better about the situation, I told him not to worry, and that we still had plenty of time left at WDW. It's not as if getting sick was a deliberate act of holiday sabotage.

As Nest was awake, I was free to make some important phone calls When we had gotten in the 'night' before, there was a message on our answering machine saying that our Holiday D-Lights Tour for December 1 had been cancelled. I was so crestfallen on hearing this , but my spirits were buoyed when we were given two alternative dates to choose from . After ringing the Disney Institute to reschedule our Holiday D-Lights Tour for November 29, I rang the Florida Express Bus to confirm our transport to Busch Gardens for the following day.

The next call of business for the day, was afternoon tea. While Nest tried to get himself started for the day, I walked over to Everything Pop, our resort's food court, to get something for us both to eat. I was very impressed with the variety of food and drinks I had to choose from, and came back with a carefully balanced tray of turkey salad ciabattas with sides of crisps, bottled water, peach mango drinks, grapes, an individual plain cheesecake (ie. serves one), and a cup of dirt as a joke for Nest (chocolate mousse with lolly worms in it, and sprinkled with chocolate flecks. He loved it.)

While eating afternoon tea, we discussed how we'd devote that night's Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP) to photographing and videoing the Christmas fireworks and Christmas parade It wouldn't take as much energy as walking all over the park experiencing the attractions would, which suited the way Nest was feeling at the time. Making sure all his camera batteries were recharged, he gathered up all his camera equipment, and off we set to the Magic Kingdom.

We arrived at MVMCP at 7.30pm. The colour of that night's party wristbands, were green with Disney-themed Christmas illustrations. As the fireworks weren't due to start for another two hours, we just walked around the park while Nest took photos. As Nest didn't have a pressing time restriction hanging over him, he was really able to take his time perfecting the settings on his camera, and coming up with resulting shots he was happy with. He got some gorgeous exterior shots of "It's a Small World" and Prince Charming's Regal Carrousel.

Once the first Christmas parade was over for the night (we would be attending the second one in the belief it would be less crowded), we went and staked out a spot in the middle of Main Street in preparation for the 9.30pm fireworks spectacular entitled "Holiday Wishes : Celebrate the Spirit of the Season". While Nest experimented with the height of his tripod and the angle of his camera, my job was to make sure people didn't trip on the legs of his tripod (it's amazing the number of people who don't watch where they're going), and explain to anyone who approached us, that we weren't actually Disney PhotoPass photographers.

At 9.30pm, everything went dark, and 12 minutes of the most beautiful display of Christmas fireworks I've ever seen, began in earnest. The show seemed to be divided into six segments. To the musical strains of the title song, the castle lit up pink, with a silvery gold arch of white rockets fanning out behind it and meeting at the top. High above the castle, huge starbursts in gold, green and red then lit up the night sky, with the odd planet firework here-and-there (small globes of colour, with a single ring in another colour, surrounding it.) This was followed by silvery gold rockets shooting up from the base of the castle, and meeting way over the top-most turret, crossing over each other. This introductory segment was brought dramatically to a close, with three mega huge silver starbursts exploding in a horizontal line, either side of the castle. It was a sight to behold, and drew audible gasps of appreciation from the crowd.

I was wondering how the rest of the show was going to top that introductory segment, and my question was soon answered. The castle came to light in a beautiful royal blue colour with sparkling silver fairy lights dancing all over it, then the castle turned dark again, the only light being large white snowflakes swirling over it. What happened next stole the show, causing the crowd to erupt into applause and excited shouting - we could all see a brightly lit up Tinkerbell, flying from the castle and off into the night sky over us, waving her wand. When we could see her no more, our attention was drawn back to the castle, with silver rockets that leapt up and burst over the castle, turning blue in the process and reminding me of wands, as the tips lit up. They slowly faded away as they arched back down, with gorgeous lolly bursts taking their place. The lolly bursts had a multi-coloured centre, with orange sparks shooting outwards. Little gold wiggly worms followed overhead, and then it was back to the castle, with silvery gold rockets bursting from each side, each burst reaching higher than the previous one. Back overhead, were beautiful large orange starbursts that turned blue, followed by quiet gold waterfall bursts (I call them this, because on bursting, they flow downwards like a waterfall, instead of upwards and outwards like the starbursts.) The gold waterfalls were followed by more blue wands and orange starbursts. For the finale of this segment, the castle lit up all different colours, with large silver rockets shooting out from both sides. Then there were two moving fan effects created, by smaller faster silver rockets putt putt putting their way in an arch trajectory. Overhead, special kinds of silver starbursts exploded (they reminded me of moon jellies, as these bursts had thick stripy centres), followed by normal sliver and blue starbursts, and then everything turned a blinding bright white for a second, before plunging us yet again into complete darkness.

The next segment was devoted to being home for the holidays, with the castle being lit up a bluey pink colour, and delicate orange rockets quietly popping up from the base. As the introduction came to a conclusion, the castle turned completely pink, with gold waterfalls bursting overhead to the tune of I'll Be Home For Christmas. As the song got going, gold rockets shot from the base of the castle, and gold starbursts exploded overhead. As the song wound down, more delicate orange rockets shot up from the base of the castle, and fanned overhead. A mix of Christmas instrumentals began playing as the castle turned a royal blue, with silver rockets shooting up and crossing overhead. Someone must've been arguing over what colour to have the castle, as it then turned pinky gold with beautiful condensed fine gold starbursts clustering behind it, then it turned blue, with more of the same fireworks, then it goes dark, with the fine gold starbursts still clustering behind it. Added to the mix, were gold rockets crossing overhead, with pink double circles high above. The conclusion was marked with red rockets shooting up vertically, big red starbursts, gold waterfalls, and pink hearts. It's amazing how the fireworks can be designed to display particular shapes!

Santa and Rudolph were the theme of the next segment. It began in darkness, with just the sound of reindeer bells approaching, and then the castle comes to in a red light, to the tune of Santa Clause is Coming to Town, with big red starbursts and gold moon jelly bursts exploding overhead, followed by multi-coloured starbursts. As the song changed to Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, goldy red rockets shot from the base of the castle, and a huge red ball-centred starbursts appeared in the sky overhead, erupting into a gold starburst. Thick gold rockets shot from the base of the castle, erupting into a gold starburst as they met at the top. This segment was brought to a close by super bright rockets with small red starbursts briefly erupting overhead and gold wriggly worms.

Most people's Christmas wouldn't be complete without a Christmas tree and toys. This segment began with fairy music, and small gold bursts erupting from the castle, illuminating just that part of it. Eventually the whole castle had been illuminated green, which we soon realised was to represent a Christmas tree, as gold shoots then began to continually arch over the castle at a narrow angle, to the tune of O Christmas Tree, with gold and green starbursts erupting overhead. To introduce the toy part of this segment, magical toy sounding music came on, with circular cog patterns spinning on the darkened castle. Then the castle turns pink for a second, and a smiley face firework burst overhead, then we're plunged into darkness. Then the castle lights up a pastel blue colour, and another smiley face firework bursts overhead, much to the delight of nearby children. We're really into the swing of the toy part of the segment by that stage, and to the tune of Toyland, the castle turns a bluey pink colour, with reddy pink gold starbursts erupting overhead, and smaller multi-coloured fireworks that scatter like angry bees on bursting. These are followed by green cubes, pink cubes, and smiley faces - totally awesome. There was a lovely mix of purples and pinks next, with pink rockets shooting straight up from the ground, and big purple balls with pink rings coming to life overhead. This segment was brought fittingly to an end with my favourite instrumental piece from the Nutcracker Suite (the piece the thistles dance to in the original Fantasia.) To the build-up of the instrumental, the castle turned gold, with silver rockets shooting out from the middle. As the music sped up, massive special starbursts erupted overhead. These starbursts were special in the way that their centres were gold, with multi-coloured sparks shooting outwards. Sometimes these bursts would be framed by vertical gold rockets erupting from either side of the castle. The piece culminated in a mass of exploding starbursts in a variety of colours, then an absolutely blinding white light swamped the area - much more extreme than the one in a previous segment.

For the final segment, the castle came to light in a bluey pink, then changed to red with silver sparkly fairy lights dancing all over it, then became ever-changing colours. As gold starbursts erupted overhead, there were snowflakes swirling slowly on the darkened castle still displaying dancing silver fairy lights, to the tune of Spirit of the Season. This display was followed by one large gold fan effect, as the castle changed to a gold colour itself, with gold starbursts overhead. One of the gold starbursts was magnificent, as it turned out to be super huge, with fluttering silver bits in it. This was followed by vertical silver rockets, with multicoloured starbursts overhead. I really loved what came next, which was a lone orb with a long thin tale coming up from either side of the castle, gently crossing at the top and disappearing - simple, but very effective. A galaxy of different coloured planets then burst overhead, followed by a long horizontal line of massive gold starbursts either side of the castle. If I was impressed with the horizontal line of three massive silver starbursts earlier on in the show, then you can imagine what I thought of this display! You would think that this would be more than a suitable end to such a brilliant fireworks spectacular, but no, it kept on going! (Not that I'm complaining!) In quick succession, a huge cluster of greeny silver starbursts erupted behind the castle, followed by a reddy silver cluster, more vertical silver rockets, then a blinding white light. When the blinding white light receded, we were met with the sight of the castle lit up in a pinky purple colour, and studded with millions of silver fairy lights, which is the way it stayed for the remainder of the night. Nest was pleased with the way his photos turned out.

As soon as the fireworks spectacular had finished, we headed straight for Frontierland to stake out a spot for the second showing of Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade, which was due to begin at 10.30pm. We got a nice spot on the edge of a wooden porch directly behind the rope barricade. The porch enabled us to sit comfortably, instead of directly on the cold ground. While Nest minded my spot and began to set up his camera tripod combo, I went to get us something to eat. I came back with a cheese pizza from one of the food carts for Nest, and a corn dog from Westward Ho Refreshments, for myself. While I was gone, Nest said that another of the bears from the Country Bear Jamboree had came along and started acting silly in front of his camera as he was setting it up. I don't know - Nest and those Country Jamboree Bears! That's two nights in a row now!

As the parade begins in Frontierland a bit up from where we were sitting, right on 10.30pm, we could hear the parade music start, and strained to our left to see the beginning of the parade as it first appeared. The first sight of it we had, was a giant snowflake saying "Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade" in sparkly blue writing, and carried by two Cast Members.

Following the giant snowflake, were some dancing characters - Pluto, Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Peter Pan, Wendy, Geppetto, Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket, and Mary Poppins with her friend, Bert. More dancing characters were to follow, but first, a lone gold octagon box with snowflakes on the side, purple tinsel trim, and a giant 3D snowflake on top, came travelling down the parade route. The second group of dancing characters, were made up of Tigger, Eeyore, Alice, White Rabbit, Mad Hatter, and some Cast Members dressed in Christmas coloured suits.

The first parade float of the evening, was quite aptly Mickey and Minnie's. They were dressed in their warm Winter Christmas outfits, and waving to us from in front of a beautiful big Christmas tree all brightly lit up with bright coloured lights and a glowing gold star on top. There were gifts under the tree, all wrapped in bright paper and secured with ribbons and bows. As the float passed us, I noticed that a toy train set was running around the base of the tree and presents. I also noticed that the side of their float was gold glitter in colour, and decorated with snowflakes and candy cane striped trim. Sometimes we are so busy looking up at the main part of the float, that we miss the smaller details down below. It's nice that Disney still makes an effort to decorate these less-noticed parts.

While waiting for the next part of the parade to come along, I became aware of light projected snowflakes swirling around on the ground. It was fitting that I noticed the snowflakes at this point in the parade, as the next group of dancers that came along, were ladies in beautiful long flowing white gowns, with snowflake tiaras atop their long hair.

The next float featured Scrooge McDuck - now he's not a character you come across often, but I understand his place in the parade, what with his part in Disney's version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Scrooge was standing in front of a cosy little cottage with a smoking chimney, shaking his walking stick at everyone as his float passed by, sometimes forgetting himself as he began to move in time to the music. I loved how the window boxes had coloured lights on the plants. The red window shutters around the side of his cottage had Christmas tree shapes cut out of them, and the back door was framed with Christmas tree branches studded with coloured lights. On the snow-covered back step, were two large presents beautifully wrapped and awaiting discovery.

Following Scrooge's float, were two skating couples wearing warm vintage Winter outfits. The men's costumes were blue with white trim, and the women's costumes were green with white trim.

Next to appear, was a beautiful big Clydesdale horse pulling Donald and Daisy Duck in a red cart. In the back of the cart behind them, were an attractive array of presents. I thought it was a nice touch how some of the horse's leather straps were studded with gold fairy lights. Directly following this act, were two Cast Members acting as pooper scoopers. They got a big cheer! We couldn't have the two skating couples that followed, to run into any little 'accidents'

Chip and Dale's snow-covered float followed next - you could hear their cheeky giggling from way off, despite the Christmas music. They were standing out the front of their ski chalet, having snowball fights and building chipmunk shaped snowmen. Their skis were propped up against the chalet, and a nearby fence had a nice flower design on it. Around the side of the chalet, you could see two white Christmas trees beautifully decorated with coloured baubles. There was a cosy warm glow emanating from the windows, and the green window shutters had Christmas tree shapes cut out of them.

Following Chip and Dale, were the highly popular Seven Dwarves, dancing about and interacting with onlookers. This meant that the float to naturally follow them, was the royal gazebo featuring Snow White and Prince Charming. The couple were dancing and waving from their platform, which had a highly illuminated white Christmas tree in each corner, decorated with coloured baubles and topped with gold stars.

Six beautiful white horses with purple feathered headdresses, followed next, pulling behind them Cinderella and her Prince, in the famed magical pumpkin coach. The pumpkin coach had pearly opaque sides with silver trim and fairy lights, not to mention big beautiful white flowers on top. The coach had big glittery silver wheels, and carried behind it an equally glittery silver treasure chest. A pair of highly applauded pooper scoopers followed closely behind.

The way was soon cleared for four dancing couples. The men wore long suit tails, and the women wore long hoop dresses with puffy sleeves at the shoulders. If you looked at the women's outfits in the right light, they sparkled beautifully.

A large float made up of glass turrets which shone gold and had royal blue tops with fluttering gold flags, followed next. In-between the turrets, was glowing white Christmas tree trim studded with coloured baubles. From the various platforms at various heights behind the turrets, wove Belle and the Beast, Aurora and her Prince, Princess Jasmine and Aladdin, Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen, with the Fairy Godmother bringing up the rear.

Six energetic dancing women filled in the intermission between floats. Their costumes reminded me of candy. They wore candy cane striped tops, stockings and hats, with red skirts, green aprons, and cute green high-heeled ankle boots with white trim. They flung around hula hoops, which were also candy cane striped in colour.

If the dancers' costumes reminded me of candy, then I couldn't ignore that the next float simply screamed it! It was a huge mass of candy - giant peppermints, oversized toffees, fully stuffed Bo-Peep jars, and a super large bubble gum jar half full, with a spinning bird on top of the lid (perhaps he had been the one to eat half the gum balls, and was currently in the midst of a sugar melt-down? ) Goofy was at the helm, decked out in a very smart shiny green top hat, matching suit tails, and candy cane striped flares, whilst riding a bicycle mid-air. Around the side of the candy float, were spinning cogs, and at the back was a giant hour glass, and flashing coloured lights. Bringing up the rear, were a pair of giant white gloves sweeping imaginary mess away with a straw broom.

Six risqué dancing ladies with short hair and twirling candy cane striped batons flourished onto the scene next. They were wearing thick red tights, frilly red knickers, and red high heels, with puffy white shirts, a micro red apron around their waist, and a green and white striped bustle round the back.

The next float featured a highly candy-ladened gingerbread house with a dancing cow out the front. (If my brother Johnny read this, he would probably say something like he didn't know I featured in the parade ) I'm not familiar with the Disney cows, but suspect they may feature in the Silly Symphonies The top of the chimney (which was emitting a sweet yummy aroma) was lit up green, and the hearts on the roof were lit up red. The roof itself was lit up white, as were the sides of the house, to make the coloured candy really stand out. Out the back of the gingerbread house, were two giant Hershey chocolate kisses.

Quite fittingly, six dancing gingerbread men followed the gingerbread house float. They related to the float following them also, as it was a bakery float featuring another cow! She was inside at the bench, undertaking some Christmas baking while singing and dancing around the kitchen with a spoon in her hand. The float was decorated with lit up toffees and peppermints lining the base. There were also oversized cupcakes, a jar containing coloured candy sticks and a waving gingerbread man sitting on the rim, and a basket of oversized eggs with a smiling gingerbread man nearby. There were red and green Christmas shaped cookie cutters hanging from the ceiling. The roof was surrounded with white lights, and had presents on top, with a worried looking gingerbread man riding a moving part of the structure. Dancing bakers and ladies followed this float.

Preceding the Toy Story float, were two scooter riders, a small red car complete with driver, a motorised rocking horse complete with jockey, Bo Peep, Teddy, and more dancing Christmas candy women from before, but instead of hula hoops, these ones had oversized bouncy balls.

The Toy Story float was a wooden corral style structure, with Woody, Jessie, a green army man, and a toy soldier waving down at us. An elf was sitting high up in a seat out the front, leading the way. The structure was decorated with two rows of green Christmas tree trim with lit up coloured baubles, many colourful toys, and lots of rotating spinning objects. Two outfits of marching toy soldiers followed on.

A pile of pressies then motored on down. There were two pressies on the bottom - one was green and white striped with a huge frilly gold bow. The other was red, yellow and orange striped with matching bow. Both were illuminated with larger white fairy lights. The pressie on top was blue with a white snowflake pattern, and very curly sprigs of gold and silver curling ribbon.

Making sure the pressie were going in the right direction, were a group of dancing Christmas candy women with swirling ribbons in each hand. They were joined by pairs of dancing Christmas suited guys holding widths of material, which they would make patterns with as a group when the occasion took them.

The last group of dancers, were Santa's reindeer complete with jingly bells, blowing kisses. Following closely behind, was Santa's glorious float - it was certainly a sight to behold, and became my favourite of the night, knocking Goofy's candy float to second place (surely Santa's float had candy on it somewhere! ) It had snowy rooftops, with Santa's red and gold sleigh carefully balanced on top. Santa was sitting in it, waving, laughing and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. Behind him, was a massive green sack overflowing with gifts for all the good boys and girls out there. On the snowy ground below, were some decorative gold star ornaments on sticks, and silvery Christmas trees of various sizes, decorated with coloured baubles and white fairy lights. At the back of Santa's float, were a flourish of snowflakes in suspended animation.

And that was Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. It was so enjoyable, that it seriously didn't feel as if it went for twenty minutes - it seemed to go by in a flash! I also very much loved the music to this parade. I still go about singing parts of it to this day, often getting jokingly told off by Nest. I suppose someone randomly singing, "Must be Santa! Must be Santa! Must be Santa Claaaaause!", especially when it's not the season to be doing so, is enough to drive sensitive people such as Nest, crazy

Once the parade had moved on, I accompanied Nest to the front of Splash Mountain for him to take photos of it, as we had suddenly noticed it was covered in swirling light projected snowflakes. He captured it quite successfully after a short time, so began experimenting with long exposures while having the lens zoomed in on the shoot the logs fly down. I didn't understand what he was doing at first, so when he showed me one of the photos, I exclaimed that I didn't think the Cast Members would allow the logs to go off so tightly crammed with people. He then explained to me in layperson's terms, that the current settings he had his camera on, captured three logs of people in the one shot, hence the ghostly effect of the people featured. I thought it was cool, and suggested he take a photo of me going down it. Usually I feel guilty going on rides without Nest, but on this occasion I didn't, as I knew he was out the front, waiting to take my picture. As I was about to go down the drop, I spotted Nest, screamed out hello and waved madly. I so love riding Splash Mountain at night, and only wished Nest was well enough to have experienced it with me. He met up with me in amongst the lanterns near the souvenir ride photos, as I struggled slightly with my uncomfortably wet jeans.

We then went to the beginning of the walkway near the water across from Splash Mountain, where Nest began taking photos across the Rivers of America, with the castle reflecting in it. We both expressed great delight when an unexpected burst of fireworks shot out from the castle during one of Nest's long exposures - the shot turned out so pretty. We then moved along the boardwalk a bit, where Nest took a picture of the Liberty Square Riverboat all lit up, with the Haunted Mansion looming ominously in the background. Lastly, he tried capturing a close-up of the castle, now a beautiful aqua blue with silver fairy lights, reflecting in the moat, but the reflection wasn't as strong as he had hoped, and he was too tired by this stage to work out why. All the time we had been taking photos, there were lovely Christmas carols playing in the background, adding to the fantastic holiday spirit in the air.

Even though the party still had around an hour of life left in it, Nest didn't due to his cold, so we caught the bus back to the Pop Century Resort, where Nest went straight to bed. I'm surprised we didn't stop to pick up some food on the way, but as our diaries or receipts don't record a mention of it, then we mustn't have. I went to bed myself, really stressed out as to whether Nest would be well enough to accompany me to Busch Gardens the following day.

Next entry: Tiger and Orangutan Keeper Experience at Busch Gardens in Tampa

[Dlandmom2]

I'm glad you were able to get some rest on this day. Hopefully Nest is better in time for Busch Gardens!

Nest really is quite the photographer! He really outdid himself this time! I already thought he took wonderful shots, but these are just spectacular! Can't wait to read your next entry!

[Cam22]

Awesome photos that make me feel like I'm right there! Great update!

[mushu22]

AmazingCan't wait to more.

[chezp]

I'm not surprised you slept in - you guys have been keeping going so well and it had to catch up sometime! The parade and the fireworks at the Christmas Party are the highlights for us, so I can imagine going there and just focusing on those.