The Trip Full of Thanksgiving and Christmas 11/19-11/28 - Page 13 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Just getting caught up! Boy, what a great time you've been having at Epcot and DHS! Love all the pictures. Cool celebrity sighting! And my gosh, all the great eats!
After breakfast we headed out to the lobby of the Grand Floridian. We loved what we saw!
There was a cast member that came out to answer any questions. She told me that they start baking in June for this. The ornaments hanging in the window in the picture below take three days each to make. Everything but the furniture is edible. The decorations are made of chocolate and hand painted.
Preston taking it all in.
Like that Santa in that picture below? All chocolate.
There were 27 Golden Hidden Mockeys like the ones in the picture below. One for each year they have done this house. We found 12 of them.
And then there is that tree!
The little store in the gingerbread house opened as we stood there, so we bought a shingle. We will enjoy that in a day or two.
We also saw a Photopass photographer so we had some great family pictures taken in front of the tree.
A friend of mine wanted some soap from The Basin, so we stopped in there to get her soap. We also got some Christmas ones for stockings, and a few bath bombs for me too.
We then took the monorail to Magic Kingdom. And oh boy was it packed!
We then stopped to get something done that I have been wanting to do since I found out about it. Silhouettes! This amazing lady just free handed the whole thing and had it done in less than ten minutes.
She said she had done 105 of them on Friday!
I took some detail pictures while waiting.
And then it was Caden's turn.
The final product! And the nice thing is, you get two for the price of one. It was probably the least expensive souvenir and yet I love it the most.
We then rode a classic, and Tim sang through every scene.
Next update: Photopass pictures and a glimpse into our afternoon
The Boys had a Fastpass up for Space Mountain, so they rode that. Tim's face in this cracks me up! He said he wanted to be silly, but really overplayed it here. Caden looks like he is asleep. Preston is just chilling. By silly, silly boys.
After that we rode the People Mover, which was a lovely, relaxing ride.
The boys then had a Fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain, and I had a Fastpass to see some Princesses.
Rapunzel is my favorite princess, so I was really excited for this meet and greet.
She was asking me if I had seen Max anywhere, and if I did he needs to bring back her apples because she wanted to make a pie.
And then there was Cinderella. Some of you may remember from my pre trip report that I wanted to FaceTime Cinderella for my mom. I explained to her that it was my mom's birthday wish to say hello to her, but she was stuck far away in the cold and snow, so we had to do it this way.
Well unfortunately the reception is so bad that the picture wouldn't go through, but my mom was able to hear her wish her a happy birthday and tell her to eat lots of cheesecake. Mom later asked me how she knew she liked cheesecake and wondered if I told her that. I told her no, it was just Disney Magic.
My mom, I who was laid up from just having knee surgery, enjoyed this interaction.
After that, it was time for lunch. I checked in at Be Our Guest and was given a yellow rose. I was told to bypass the long line to my right and give the rose to the lady at the end of the bridge. We double checked out orders at the podium and we were seated within minutes. Preordering saved us a lot of time!
We chose the Rose Room since we hadn't been in there before.
I chose the braised pork. It was very good!
Tim and the boys had the roast beef sandwich and declared it good.
Meanwhile I met up with a friend here and that was exciting!
Disney friends are the best!
Tim and the Preston had the chocolate cupcake.
Caden had the eclair and I had the strawberry cupcake. Caden said the eclair was very good!
We stopped at the bathrooms on the way out and Preston was waiting so patiently.
Caden and his cheesy grin.
I just love al the details!
It was time to head out of the park for a break, but we needed to stop by and pick up the silhouettes first. Meanwhile they were setting up for the 3:00 parade, and the marching band from Springfield, IL came marching by! I know a mom of one of those players is a Passporter!
So we headed back to our room for a rest. The boys and Tim were crazy enough to go swimming. If was too cold for me.
Caden checking out the view.
One souvenir I got as an early Christmas present is this gorgeous thing!
Next update: Playing hide and seek with a Princess and hitchhiking with a Mouse.
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After our break we headed back to Magic Kingdom. Tim said he wanted to check an area out so we followed him. The castle was just finishing its first lighting of the evening, so going down Main Street wasn't a good idea anyway. As we headed over to the area near the Chamber of Commerce, I see Aurora and a cast member playing hide and seek. It was hilarious!
I complimented her pretty winter dress and told her that once upon a time she had complimented Preston's beautiful blue eyes and he had been a fan of hers ever since. She said that we blue eyed people need to stick together.
After that people started coming. How fun to have met her with no line at all! I noticed that the wait time to meet Mickey was 15 minutes so we popped in there. We didn't have to wait too long before meeting the Mouse Himself, who spoke to us about seeing hitchhiking ghosts on the Haunted Mansion ride.
And apparently I thought it was really funny. It was funny, but I don't remember it being that funny!
I didn't know what to expect with this interaction. I knew he could talk now. I didn't expect not being able to have an actual conversation with him. It is definitely pre recorded and you just kind of have to go with the flow with this one. Now I know.
After that, our Fastpass for Peter Pan's Flight was up, so we flew off to Neverland. We also did Philharmagic at this point. I started to get worried because we had to be in Tomorrowland for the Wishes Dessert Party, and they were starting to block things off already, so we headed that direction.
Soon we were checked in. This time we had a table right next to the railing and we didn't need to stand up to see the fireworks. And frankly, we were exhausted. Sitting sounded so much better. Again, I didn't take pictures of the fireworks. I just sat back and enjoyed them.
Those mini cheesecakes with the chocolate chips on them were the best!
Our view...
We had gotten a Fastpass to ride the Jingle Cruise afterward, but decided we were too tired. We headed back to the resort and fell right asleep.
That made two of the same dessert party in the same trip so far. Were we sorry we did them? No, because it was so nice to have a seat. Knowing what I know now though, I would have done one or the other, not the same one on the same trip.
Firsts on this day: 1900 Park Fare and our first major celebrity sighting, going to the Grand Floridian, seeing the Gingerbread house there, and going to the Basin there. Meeting talking Mickey was also a first. Seeing Aurora in that location was new, and seeing her in her winter garb. Face timing my mom with Cinderella was new.
Oh about the Cinderella thing, after I was wrapping up my meet and greet with her, she asked to hug me again and how sweet I was to do that for my mom. Then whe the Photopass photographer scanned my band I noticed he was choking back tears. He told me how touching that was to do that for my mom and it totally made his day. I can't believe I forgot to add that part in earlier.
Next update: That's your favorite ride here? Really?
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Last edited by dutchdisneyfamily; 12-22-2015 at 08:13 PM..
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Another marvelous day! The silhouettes are such a special souvenir. I think I already told you on Facebook that I got the same Vera bag at DLR and love it. Aurora looks so beautiful in her winter dress. The hitchhiking ghost pose for you all with Mickey is priceless.
Another marvelous day! The silhouettes are such a special souvenir. I think I already told you on Facebook that I got the same Vera bag at DLR and love it. Aurora looks so beautiful in her winter dress. The hitchhiking ghost pose for you all with Mickey is priceless.
I'm not surprised you were exhausted by then - you did pack a lot into that day. Great character interaction with Aurora and Mickey. I still haven't met talking Mickey, I'd like to just to see what it's like.
I'm not surprised you were exhausted by then - you did pack a lot into that day. Great character interaction with Aurora and Mickey. I still haven't met talking Mickey, I'd like to just to see what it's like.
It was cool to experience talking Mickey, just different than I expected. And yes, we were very tired with three more very full days to go. We needed some rest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xwewhisper
Love Auroras winter dress! I'm going to have to make a point to stop and see her next week! glad the dessert party was a hit tonight!
See her during the castle lighting and there won't be a line! I don't know if she is always there or not. I think Santa is there often too. It was in a place called the Candy Cane Garden I think?
We slept in this morning and took ate breakfast at the resort. We then hopped a bus to Hollywood Stidios. When talking about our plans for the day, we told the kids that we had a Fastpass for Rockin' Roller Coaster, Star Tours, and Indiana Jones. Preston asked why we didn't have one for The Great Movie Ride, as that was his favorite. It is?? Who knew? Well at 10:00 it was going to be tough to huge the crowds on that one. We saw the line was 30 minutes so hopped in line, and as soon as we did, two things happened. The wait jumped to 45 minutes and it started to rain. The line was snaking outside, so we were waiting in the rain but only for a minute or two and then it stopped. We were inside and honestly it was not a 45 minute wait. Maybe 25 minutes.
There was this lady behind us that kept trying to push in front of us. Her son told her to cut it out. I was so thankful!
We really liked the new film introduction sequence, and I was looking forward to seeing the other changes.
Caden had Duffy with him along for the ride.
I had promised myself I would take more pictures of rides this trip, so you are welcome to come along for the ride.
And we got the gangster scene. We have never gotten the cowboy one.
After that, we made our way to the Rockin' Rollercoaster for Caden's first ride on it. What was is impression? He said he didn't like it. Tim made me promise not to post the picture as the g-force applied to his face was not friendly. But here is the picture I took of them right after they got off.
See, Caden says he didn't like it but he still can't stop talking about it!
We then rode Star Tours, which was fun as usual. We then made our way to lunch.
Preston had requested Sci Fi. When they at first tried to seat is, they tried to seat is at an umbrella table in the back. I showed my displeasure at not being in a car, and she said we were just a walk up, so we didn't get a car. I explained that I had had a reservation, so she went back to the front and got that fixed.
I didn't get food pictures because of how dark it was. Tim had the ribs and said they were not impressive. Not tender at all and the sauce was bland. I had the salmon BLT and it was okay. Again, lacking in flavor. Preston and Caden had Reuben's and said they were good. Preston and I had the turtle cheesecake. It was okay. Tim had the candy bar and said it was good, but rich. Caden really enjoyed the donut.
After lunch we went to the Muppet Show and bought some shirts for the Osbourne Lights that night.
We also saw Phoneas and Ferb out for a meet and greet. The boys have been wanting to see them for six years so we let them have fun.
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And my gosh, all the great eats! 
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
I knew it would take some time, but not that long. You really do learn something every day. 
Great character interaction with Aurora and Mickey. I still haven't met talking Mickey, I'd like to just to see what it's like.
glad the dessert party was a hit tonight!
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