Christmas at Disney World (12/22-1/4) About This Page:

[dutchdisneyfamily]

I hope Dillon stays feeling better. You've gotten a lot done!

[B.M.]

Tuesday December 25th:

I woke up around 1:30am cold where I had kicked the big blanket of the bed and the ceiling fan was on high. It had been very humid in the house the night before, so we had all went to bed with our fans on. I turned the fan off and got my blankets situated, but I was worried the kids might be cold under their fans also. So, I trekked upstairs and turned off all the kids’ fans and covered them up. I felt of Dillon’s forehead and sure enough- he felt warm. So, I woke him up and gave him some ibuprofen without bothering to check his temp. While I was up and about, I changed out the laundry; I guess it could be said with five kids I do so much laundry I can do it in my sleep- lol. After that, I headed back to bed.

The alarm was set for 6am. We must be exhausted because I managed to oversleep when the alarm didn’t go off. Austin, Winston, and Wesley were awake but they hadn’t realized it was past time to get up. So, at almost 6:30am we started getting ready for the parks. Thankfully, I always have bags packed and clothes laid out the night before so we were ready in no time and still left at our desired time of 7:00am. *Dillon awoke with no fever thankfully*

As I had mentioned yesterday, we had plans to stay in the park all day this day. Well, my sister decided it may be too long of a day for them- so they decided to wait and come to the park a little later.

We arrived at Hollywood Studio’s in no time. By the time we parked and walked to the gate, it was basically 7:30am and they opened the park gates. We were not roped off in the park either, but rather the park just opened a half hour early. That made for a nice start.

Our first order of business was pin trading . Austin about drove me crazy this day (and the other days) wanting to pin trade every 5 feet.

We made our way to sign up for Jedi Training. The ages for the show are ages 4-12; so I signed up Madilyn, Austin, and Winston. They were all very excited about it! We were able to get signed up for the first show of the day that was scheduled for 9:20am and we needed to be back there at 9am to prepare. So, we had one hour.

I had planned on heading to Toy Story Mania next, but since we only had an hour I really didn’t want to venture far. So, instead we headed for Star Tours. This was our first time on the “new version” and we really enjoyed it a lot! It was right at 8am and there was a 5 minute wait listed but it was really just a walk on.

Next, we headed to the Muppet Show after a quick bathroom break. It was now 8:25am and it was 4 minutes until the next show. While we enjoyed it, this is definitely not one of our favorites.

It was 8:50am when we exited and spotted Lightning McQueen and Mater with no line. The little boys were very excited! I also texted my sister to let her know where they were because I knew her boys would want to meet them when they came to the park later. There was also a penny machine next to the character meet and Dillon got a pressed penny.

It was now time to head back over to our Jedi Training show. Wesley and Dillon did not want to stick around, so I let them go ride Toy Story Mania (they said it was nearly a one hour wait) while I watched the kids fight Darth Vader.

Unfortunately, all the excitement and hype over the Jedi Training went to crud when we prepared for training. First Madilyn starts in that it looks like a bunch of little kids and she’s too big to do it. She’s 12 and she was definitely one of the bigger ones there. She wanted to back out, but I knew she’d enjoy it so I coaxed her to stick it out.

Then when it was time to line up, Winston started crying not to go. They had the kid’s line up and the adults follow off to the side. Winston is still a pretty clingy kid at six years old, but I expected him to be fine with Madilyn & Austin doing it. On the walk over to the stage area he was getting more and more upset, and I finally had to tell them he wouldn’t be able to participate. Well, I figured he would calm down when I stopped pressuring him to do it. Nope. He got more upset as we watched Austin and Madilyn participating because he truly wanted to do it and had been so excited- he just got scared at the last minute. We spotted some chairs and tables off to the side and sat down and talked about how he could do it next time if he wanted to and maybe he wouldn’t be so scared now that he’s watched the show and seen how it goes. He agreed and finally calmed down. I felt bad for the inner conflict he was having over wanting to do it but being too scared. Austin loved it as expected! And Madilyn got over being one of the biggest ones there and enjoyed it as well! Maybe Winston will do it next time…

It was now 10:00am. Wesley and Dillon had made it back just as the show was finishing up. I had packed some sandwiches and snacks to bring in the park with the idea we’d eat it while waiting for Fantasmic this evening. But we had a change of plans and ate a very early lunch .

Next, we headed for the Back lot Tour. It was 10:20 am with a 15 minute wait time. I was a little concerned on how it would time out because when we entered the park this morning we were given special fast passes to the 11am Lights Motor Action Show and I was worried we wouldn’t get off the back lot tour in time to make it next door. We enjoyed the ride and we made it over to the car stunt show just as it was starting. However, there was certainly no need for the fast passes. We enjoyed the stunt show as well, including having added McQueen to the lineup.

By this time my sister had made it to the park, but we didn’t end up meeting up as they had a different agenda.

We now headed to Toy Story Mania where there was a 75 minute standby wait time! (We had fast passes though). As usual and as expected, we loved our ride! Dillon got the highest score, but I can’t remember what it was.

We exited Toy Story Mania about 12 and noticed the Legend of Jack Sparrow next door. Austin especially wanted to do this, but it had a 30 minute wait posted and we decided to save it for our second Studio’s day.

We headed into One Man’s Dream. When we reached the end, there was an eight minute wait till the next film started. The little boys were a little antsy, but managed. Winston actually fell asleep during the movie, but popped right up when it was over.

After One Man’s Dream, we stopped off for some snacks. I got a Mickey bar, Austin and Winston got a Popsicle, Dillon, Madilyn, and Wesley got a Mickey pretzel with cheese sauce. We found a bench to sit and enjoy our snacks.

At 1:10 we arrived at the Great Movie Ride and there was a 20 minute wait. The wait seemed to go by pretty quick and we really enjoyed the ride.

At 1:40pm we got in line for the 2pm American Idol show. We absolutely loved this show! It was very fun!

We now headed over to meet up with my sister at Tower of Terror where the posted wait time was 80 minutes at2:45pm. (Wesley & Austin didn’t ride)

There was also a very long wait for Rock n Roller Coaster, but I didn’t take note of the actual wait time. While in line, the ride stopped a few times and I think they were having technical issues. (Wesley & Dillon didn’t ride)

I really enjoyed both of these rides!

After getting our thrill needs out of the way we headed in search of dinner. We ended up at the back lot express where Madilyn, Winston, & Wesley had chicken nuggets and fries; Dillon & Austin had hotdogs; and I had a burger.

We took our time eating before heading over to the Indiana Jones 5pm show. Unfortunately, the show was at standing room only. We went ahead and watched but got frustrated a few times because it seemed every time we found a spot to stand where the kids could see, we were asked to move. I don’t mind following rules- but it seemed if they were going to be that picky/limiting that maybe they should just not allow folks in once the seats are full. Despite the mild frustration, we did enjoy the show!

We now made a bee line for Fantasmic! (After a bathroom break). My sister and her family were also going to meet us at Fantasmic! Unfortunately we were unable to sit with my sister’s family because they were in the handicap section and there wasn’t room for us. But we did have second row seats a few sections down. This was my very first experience with a firework show and we all loved it! In the past I’ve always had two problems; a few kids who were scared of fireworks and/or trouble being in the parks late enough to experience the night time attractions. Seeing a night show was one of my main goals for the trip and it was accomplishedJ. And we really enjoyed the “pre-show entertainment games” as well; my nephews were even asked to participate in the quiz game! It was truly fun! While we loved the show and stayed for the whole thing; my sister exited early because she said they got soaked from the water and were cold. But they still enjoyed the portion they did see.

Next, the plan was for all of us (my family and my sister’s family) to head to Osborne Lights. Since my sister left early they had a good head start on us whereas we got stuck in the masses leaving Fantasmic!

Madilyn was asking if we could see the finale show of American Idol and I really wanted to see it also. It was scheduled for 7:30pm and it was about 7:20pm when we came up on it; I was worried it would be full to capacity- but we were able to get in and we just loved it! They had some very talented folks singing and it was hard to choose just one. Winston fell asleep during the show and I had to carry him out. He woke up soon after though.

We finally headed over to the Osborne Lights. And they were as amazing as ever! I also loved that they had a photo pass photographer over there and I can’t wait to see how those pictures come out.

It was now nearing 9pm and we were spent. We made our way out of the park to the van and once “home” we quickly got ready for bed. We had an early day planned for tomorrow…

Back at the vacation home, my sister informed me of what all they had done that day. She said they rode Toy Story Mania which the kids just loved, seen the lights motor action show which was also a hit with their family, and rode the Great Movie Ride which scared the baby to death. They also rode Star Tours and met some characters. They also went to the HISTK playground and seen the Disney Junior show. My sister said this was actually a close tie to her favorite park (tying with MK).
Tomorrow we are off to the Animal Kingdom…

[jimmymac]

I just got caught up and I'm really looking forward top the next installment

[chezp]

Wow, what a great Christmas Day!

[Russi01]

Great update!

[KMB733]

Certainly a long day, but sounds like the perfect way to spend Christmas!

[B.M.]

Wednesday December 26th:

The alarm was set for 6am; as Animal Kingdom was opening at 8am and we wanted to leave at 7am. Everyone was awake before the alarm sounded and we were ready to go lickety split. Well, my family was anyways. My sister was scrambling to get packed as this was their last day and they were heading home straight from the parks. Since I had some extra time, I decided to download my pictures from yesterday. I’ve also been downloading my sister’s pictures because I plan to put together a slide show after the trip. Well, I always delete my pictures from my memory card after importing and without thinking I did the same to hers. I tried to “export” them to no avail. So, I now had all her pictures on my computer and she didn’t have them downloaded. I felt bad about it and spent a good bit of time trying to get them back on her memory card until I finally gave up. I told her I would email her the pictures this evening.

So, despite getting ready early it was nearing 7:30am when we headed out and my sister was still here packing. We arrived at Animal Kingdom in no time and were walking through the gates just before 8am. Apparently they had opened a little early, but there is no way to know how early. There were a lot of photo pass photographers out today and I was so excited to get some pictures because photo pass photographers had really been far and few up until now!

We stopped for several photo opportunities and it was nearly 8:30am before we were ready to actually visit an attraction and by that time my sister texted that they were pulling in the park. We had been about to head off to the Safari when she texted, but decided to wait and ride with her. I shot her a text back to stop and take advantage of all the photo pass guys on her way in and that we’d meet in front of the tree of life for a group pictures. I figured by the time they parked and took all those pictures we had time to see It’s tough to be bug since there was no wait and it’s such a short film.

Apparently they were really fast because they had been waiting for me “a bit” she said when we caught up to them. I was excited to finally get a photo pass group shot with all eleven of us in our matching shirts! I had been trying to do this since day one, but the photographers were never anywhere to be found. I can’t wait to see the photo pass pictures!

Now that we were all united, we headed towards the Safari ride which only had a posted ten minute wait. It was a great ride and everyone loved it! It seems they have changed up the ride a bit since we last rode though.

My itinerary kind of got thrown out the window today because all the kids really wanted to stick together rather than separate and my sister needed to focus on “must” rides since today was their last day. So, next we all headed to Expedition Everest which also had a short ten minute wait. Only six of us rode and it was a great ride!

After that we headed over to Dino land to ride Prime Evil Twirl which also had a ten minute wait. Wesley wasn’t up for the ride and said he wasn’t feeling 100% this morning, so he took a seat on the bench. My BIL took the baby for a ride on Dino-rama since he doesn’t like spinning rides while the rest of us rode Prime Evil. I’m not positive, but I believe this was my first time riding it and I didn’t love it. I’m not a fan of jerky rides.

It was now nearing 10:30am and since Wesley wasn’t feeling great we decided to do an early lunch at Restaurant- asaurus. After eating and taking a break, Wesley was feeling much better. I found out later he had ate a honey bun for breakfast and sweet non healthy things like that tend to not sit well with him first thing in the morning, so I think that is all it was as he felt fine the rest of the day.

My sister wasn’t quite ready for lunch, so they headed off to ride Dinosaur. After they rode Dinosaur they also went and ate lunch at Restaurant- asouras. After we ate, we headed off to ride Dinosaur also. We arrived at Dinosaur at 11:10am and it had a ten minute wait as well. We were boarding in no time. I do enjoy the ride, but wish it wasn’t so jerky. Wesley sat this one out also.

It was now about 11:30am and we all headed towards the Finding Nemo Musical. They started letting people in shortly after we got there. I sat in the back near the handi-cap section hoping my sister could be seated behind us. But the employees kept sitting people in “their seats” and I had to keep moving. My sister finally arrived and they were able to have their handi-cap seating with us sitting directly in front of them. I didn’t get to ask her what she thought of the show, but we loved it!

The plan was for all of us to head to the Boneyard so the kids could play together before saying our goodbyes. My sister planned to see Festival of the Lion King before leaving and I planned to ride Kali Rapids before heading back to the vacation home. Unfortunately, when we stepped out of Finding Nemo it was sprinkling and before we could even get our poncho’s on it started down pouring. Our families got split in the crowd. We headed towards the Boneyard as planned, but I got a text from my sister that they were headed to their vehicle as they didn’t want to get wet before their long drive home which is understandable.

We decided to head on into the Boneyard as the rain had let up a little and there is a bit of covering in there that keeps the rain at least a little bit at bay. Shortly after we were in, they made an announcement that the Boneyard was closedL. Or so we thought… As we exited they clarified that the announcement said only the slides were closed, but the rest was open. Austin was dying to go back in, but the rain was picking up again and we were all getting pretty water logged. I told him we would be sure to spend plenty of time digging for bones on our next Animal Kingdom day. Since we were already wet, we decided to keep with our plans of riding Kali River Rapids before heading out of the park.

On the way out of the Boneyard, I asked if Kali would be open in this weather. They assured me everything was still open as of now and would remain open unless it started thundering or lightning. So, we head off to Kali getting more and more soaked with every step despite having the poncho’s on. Once Kali is finally in our sights and we spot that it only has a short ten minute wait we hear a big clap of thunderL. Sure enough as we approach they announce that the ride has been closedL. So, we turned around and made the long walk out of the park…

Once back home we quickly showered and got out of our soaked clothes; I’m so glad to have a washer and dryer. Once settled, I emailed my sister her pictures that I had accidentally erased and called the lost and found about Dillon’s cell phone that we had lost on Christmas Eve. They found it! Yay! So, we will pick it up at the Ticket Transportation Center on Friday when we go to the Magic Kingdom again…

All in all, it was a great day. Tomorrow is a much needed relaxation day. So, we will not hit up any parks but will likely just lounge around and maybe check out the community pool and/or clubhouse. I’m sure this will rejuvenate us for round two with the parksJ.

Thanks for following along everyone….

[Russi01]

Great update. Glad they found the cell phone!

[mmsportsmom]

Thanks for your great trip report! I am really enjoying it. I am amazed at everything you are getting done this week!

[Cam22]

Great updates!

[Colexis Mom]

Great day at DHS and at AK despite the rain! Enjoy your down day!

[chezp]

I'm also amazed at how much you're packing in this week as well!

[B.M.]

Thursday December 27th:

Today is our relaxation/no park day. Even though we had no plans for the day, we were still awake around 6am. Immediately, Wesley says he feels terrible and sure enough he has a fever. I gave him some ibuprofen and then I got in the shower to get ready for the day. I decided to take them to the emergency room. Even though Dillon seemed to be pretty much over whatever he had, he still had a lingering cough and I figured they should both be seen.

We went to the Celebration hospital and we were seen pretty quickly. They took chest x-rays and did a flu test for both of them. Everything had been going pretty quickly, but it took what felt like forever to get the results. The doctor finally came back in and said the x-rays were clear on both of them, but Wesley tested positive for the flu. It seems, Dillon probably had the flu and is now over it. They said Dillon is no longer contagious, but Wesley is.

Both the boys (and all of us) got the flu vaccination, so it was really frustrating that they managed to get the flu anyway. The doctor gave Wesley a prescription for Tami-flu and said he would need to stay out of the parks for today at least. This was no problem, especially since we weren’t planning on the parks anyhow. We have two relaxation days built into our trip, so if Wesley is still too sick tomorrow, we will just have to take our relax days two in a row; but I’m hoping he feels better by tomorrow. Since they had the vaccine, they’ve had a milder/shorter version of the flu plus Wesley has the Tami-flu that will hopefully kick in quickly. But we will just see what happens…

We’ve been having internet problems since yesterday and that has been frustrating. I planned on doing a bit of work on the computer during our relax day but having the internet go out constantly and work slowly when it is on is making it very difficult.

We took a spin around the clubhouse and seen that they have a basketball court, volleyball court, ping pong table, foosball table, and playground. I took the three little kids to the pool and hot tub for a bit, but other than that we’ve just stayed here in the house. Wesley is definitely feeling noticeably better and I’m hoping he will wake up fever free and feeling ok in the morning so that we can go to the Magic Kingdom.

[dwonderz]

Sounds like a great few days! Glad the phone was found!

Hope Wesley feels better!

[Cam22]

Sending that everyone is well soon!