Just Mom and Me -- Our late November 2018 trip

Sorry to hear about the issue with the hotel stay! Hoping you enjoyed your visit there after all! I have been contemplating booking the Wyndham Bonnet Creek location for our next trip to save money but decided to rent points instead for our October '19 trip. Anxious to hear all about your trip!

Honestly, had we just booked with this hotel with normal hotel expectations, we would have been quite happy. The location was excellent, the landscaping and pools were awesome, and most of the staff was friendly and helpful. They also have a bus shuttle that goes to the Disney parks, although the schedule is very limited (we were only able to utilize it twice). We did have a few issues (the towel rack wasn't stable and repeatedly fell down with a crash, the housekeeping was spotty and didn't empty all garbage cans each visit and was inconsistent with picking up towels on the floor, and they repainted the hallways during our stay so the odor of new paint was pretty strong for a while), but overall it was a nice place. It wasn't their fault that Wyndham's timeshare counterpart was so unethical.

Ultimately, once I factored in the costs for all the Lyft rides (including round-trip from the airport), the savings were negligible and didn't make up for all the perks lost by staying offsite. Some people are fine with that, and if I were planning things outside of Disney, it would make sense, but for me it just solidified my decision that if I go again, I'm going back to the French Quarter resort. :)
 
Sorry to hear about the issue with the hotel! I’m always weary of those time share presentations because of stories like this. It sounds like it worked out though.

I’m looking forward to your trip report! We were at MK that same Tuesday and staying at AKL. I’m interested to hear how the approach of 2 half days worked as that sounds like a great way to do Disney!
 
I’m interested to hear how the approach of 2 half days worked as that sounds like a great way to do Disney!

You'll see that, at least in theory, it's the best way to do the parks--assuming you have the luxury of time or are willing to sacrifice park time. I made the decision mainly on behalf of my Mom, and so was mentally accepting of the fact I was "losing money" by doing half-days, but I never regretted this. I think a person really has to consider WHY they're going to Disney and then adjust their plans appropriately.

Also, the fact that Disney has embraced the business model of FORCING half-days twice a week due to special event parties makes it easier to just plan half-days. Personally, this policy pisses me off because I paid for a full day but am still kicked out several hours before the fireworks--but so long as customers are willing to shell out the additional cash, I don't see them reversing this trend. So I looked at the calendar to see which were short days, and then worked around them.

Finally, as you'll see in my later posts, things didn't always go according to plan. Some days that were intended to be short ended up being longer...but overall, I do still think it made a difference endurance-wise and yet we still were able to do nearly everything we'd planned. So my general conclusion is to plan shorter days rather than over-planning--it gives you the flexibility to adjust on the fly.
 
Monday, November 26th
My preparations for this trip were uneventful (aside from that hotel situation). Plus, I had a lovely four-day holiday weekend off from work before this trip even started, so I had plenty of time to clean house, pack my bags, and simply shed any stress from work before even stepping foot on the plane.

Before flying out, I placed two same-day deliveries from Amazon Prime Now to our hotel, one of which would come from Whole Foods. Although we wouldn’t have a full kitchen or any way to heat food, we would have a standard minifridge in the room, so I thought we could still save some money most mornings by having several days’ worth of yogurt, hard boiled eggs, snack bars, and a carton of O.J. in the room. Whole Foods doesn’t seem to offer bottled water, so I had to place a second separate order for water directly from Amazon.

My only real concern that morning was due to the reports of a blizzard sweeping through the Mid-West that had already caused hundreds of flight cancellations from Chicago to New England. My Mom was scheduled to fly out of Appleton, WI around 11 am and then transfer in Detroit for her final leg to Orlando. While the storm passed south of Appleton, Detroit was another matter and was already suffering delays. In fact, her plane, which was originating out of Detroit, hadn’t even left there yet by the time she was supposed to be in the air. I was worried that the entire day and week could be blown if she never left Wisconsin or got stuck in Detroit overnight. Eventually, however, that plane did take off and make it to Appleton, and then returned (with her aboard) to Detroit. Fortunately, there was enough of a layover that she was able to absorb that delay and make her second leg, which left on time.

I took off on my non-stop flight aboard Jetblue (my new favorite airline!) and arrived on time in Orlando, although there was a lot of turbulence most of the way and they rushed service. We both arrived at the airport within 15 minutes of one another, as planned, but it took us significantly longer to meet up because neither of us knew the airport well. By the time we connected and retrieved our bags from the two different terminals, it was nearly 8:30 pm and we decided to just grab something to eat there in the food court.

A little Pre-Disney Magic: We bought slices of pizza from Sbarro’s in the food court. But it hadn’t occurred to me until after we’d ordered that, with both our hands already full pulling two bags each, we’d struggle to carry plates and drinks as well. Duh! Just as we were trying to figure out how to wrangle our way over to a table, a very young man (maybe 8?) stepped up and offered to carry our plates over to a nearby empty table. I glanced up and saw his mother watching and smiling, and I nodded back with a grateful smile. We both thanked him and called him a gentleman, etc.

Mom and I chatted for a while over dinner, then did took shifts to the restroom before gearing back up to head for the exit. It was a warm and rainy night when we got to the outside curb and summoned a Lyft ride. Our driver, Beth, arrived just a few short minutes later.

Observation: Dear Florida, do you have any idea what a pain in the butt it is to use an app rideshare system when cars don’t have license plates on the front? You can’t tell if the car approaching you is the one you want until it drives past you or you walk around to the back to confirm by the tag number. As of now 31 out of 50 states require front tags—please fix this!

There wasn’t enough room in the trunk of Beth’s car for all our bags, so we wedged our two big bags, plus one of the roller carry-on bags in the back, then I tossed the rest of our bags into the back seat, along with our jackets, and got in while Mom took the front seat. We had a nice chat with Beth as she drove us to our hotel and dropped us off.

We had to wait a little at the desk before finally checking in around 9:30 pm. I asked the clerk if the deliveries had arrived and he showed me that they’d received the water, but there was no record of a second delivery. I checked my messages from Amazon and they had sent me a confirmation that both deliveries had been completed. Another clerk called over to the timeshare resort to see if it had been accidentally delivered there, but nope. Finally, she decided to walk back into the kitchen area, where she found the three insulated bags in a community fridge. If she hadn’t thought to check there, the bags would have been lost. Because of the mix-up, the staff had the food and water delivered up to our room without charge.

It had been a long day and we were very relieved to finally get into our room and collapse. I was emptying my pockets and reaching for my backpack…but it wasn’t there! With growing nausea, I realized that it wasn’t in the room. Trying to swallow back my fear, I returned to the Front Desk to see if I’d accidentally left it on the floor while checking in, but no luck—nothing had been turned in.

Now feeling a real sense of panic, I returned to our room and told Mom that my bag was indeed missing, either forgotten at the airport or left behind in the Lyft car. I always carry my wallet and work iPhone in my pockets, but everything else valuable was in that bag (personal cell phone, all other electronics including eReader, iPad, iPod, extra batteries and all chargers; Magic Bands; medications; keys to luggage and home; spare credit cards, etc.). The vacation was ended before it had even begun if I lost everything—all I could think about was how much time and effort (not to mention cost for nearly $1k of electronics) it would take to replace everything.

I called Lost and Found at the airport but it was after 9 pm and they were closed for the day. I tried to think logically about what would happen if they’d found the bag—considering which airport it was and the recent string of bombing attempts, they would probably treat any abandoned bag as a bomb and destroy it.

I wracked my brains, walking through my actions after we’d sat down for dinner in the food court. I knew I’d had it then and set it on the chair next to me while we ate. I was also pretty sure that I hadn’t left it on the chair because I remembered picking it back up and setting it on the table afterward to show Mom something. I just couldn’t imagine I would leave it on the table and walked away, so the only logical explanation was that it was in the Lyft car. The more I thought about it, the more I vaguely recalled shoving it down onto the floor between the seats in back to make room for the roller bag, and although I had glanced behind me after getting out at the hotel, the bag was black and hidden in the shadows.

I brought up the Lyft app on my iPhone and discovered there’s a “Lost Item” button available when you pull up the Ride History. I clicked on that and it gave me the option to Call or Text Message the driver. I did both and left urgent messages and to please call me AT ANY HOUR if the bag was found, stressing that we were helpless without it. The minutes slowly ticked by and there was no response. Mom suggested I call my personal phone and maybe she would hear it ringing (a brilliant idea that hadn’t yet occurred to me) and I tried it, but the call rolled straight into voice mail and I realized that it was in Airplane mode. Sigh. Then it dawned on me that if anyone had already found the bag and tried calling the number on the name tag, it would be to that lost phone as well. Double sigh!

Frustrated and sick to my stomach, I went back down to the Front Desk to ask if they had a bolt cutter in case I needed to cut off the locks of my luggage. They said yes and to just call down and ask for the Engineer if need be. I went back to my room and then decided to try contacting Beth once again. This time, when I clicked on the option for “Lost Item”, it redirected me to a main Lyft text message service. I wrote a description of the bag and stressed the urgency of the situation. A few minutes later I got an email response from them stating that they would start a “Lost Item” process, but I couldn’t tell if it was a real person or an auto-response. Around 11 pm, I gave up and called for the Engineer. He came up and cut off the locks, and then I went back downstairs to purchase new locks from the gift shop, as well as another iPhone charger because now I also faced the possibility of my one remaining means of contact dying overnight.

After unpacking, we finally turned in and I tried to sleep, but with very limited success.
 
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Also, the fact that Disney has embraced the business model of FORCING half-days twice a week due to special event parties makes it easier to just plan half-days.

This is so true! We purposely went to MK one party day when we weren’t staying for the party. I tend to over plan and exhaust us so this made me plan a shorter day, and I think we were all thankful for that. But I’m with you, I also feel like they shouldn’t charge the same price on a party day.

a very young man (maybe 8?) stepped up and offered to carry our plates over to a nearby empty table.

This is so sweet!

I’m sorry you lost your backpack but so glad you got it back, and glad you could rearrange your days to still make your plans work. This sounds like an awesome and relaxing day! I am putting tea on my must-do someday list. Were there young kids there or is it something more for adults?

The drinks at the Polynesian sound awesome too. So fun that you made friends and found entertainment until the fireworks!
 
I am putting tea on my must-do someday list. Were there young kids there or is it something more for adults?

Although I don't recall seeing many kids when we had tea, we were also seated late and were the last to be seated, so the room had already thinned out. However, there is a special kid-sized option on the menu, and I've certainly seen kids participate in other teas I've attended. On the menu, it's called "Mrs. Potts Tea" for ages 3-9. I would caution that it's probably not a good option for kids who are hyperactive or bored easily (the entire point of Tea is to sit, relax, and talk). It's also not a character meet & greet. But for kids who are more--let's just say well-behaved?--I do think they would enjoy the entire experience, plus it's a good opportunity to teach the lost art of enjoying a long meal without screens. :teacher:
 


Tuesday, November 27th
Around 6 am I checked my phone and found an email from Lyft stating that Beth had indeed found my bag in her car! However, it stated that I would have to wait to hear from her on when she could return the bag (for an additional $15 fee) and that if I didn’t hear from her within 24 hours, to contact them again.

While I was certainly relieved that the bag was found, it was still unclear when I would get it back and if it was still intact. It was obvious, however, that our plans for that first day were likely ruined. We were to spend the first half of the day in the Magic Kingdom before leaving around 2 pm to have Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian. I showered and dressed to be ready for anything, hoping we might still be able to salvage the day if things happened fast.

At 7 am I went down to the main lobby to sign up for the required timeshare presentation for the upcoming Thursday, as planned. Around 7:30 am I got a text message from Beth. She said she was up and moving, but probably wouldn’t be able to return the bag to me until 10 am. I thanked her, but I realized that this meant our park plans were shot—we would miss most of our Fastpasses and there was no point wasting a park ticket if we could only go for a few hours. However, we could still do the Afternoon Tea since that was at a resort.

Beth arrived right at 10 am, as promised. I was grateful and relieved (it was intact), and even tipped her an additional $5 on top of the $15 fee. She said that she would hope that someone else would do the same for her, and I totally agreed.

I went back to our room and proposed an idea to Mom—what if I could shift that timeshare presentation to today (if I did the 11 am appointment, I could still be done in time for us to do tea) and then the thing would be done, and maybe I could shift all those Fastpasses to Thursday instead. It would mean doing four days straight in the park with no break, but at least we wouldn’t lose a day. She agreed it was worth a shot, so I ran back downstairs. They were very accommodating and had no trouble shifting things around. I cancelled our Fastpasses and luckily managed to reschedule all the same ones again for Thursday (we never did have a FP for Seven Dwarfs)! We would still be limited to a half-day in the park because we had dinner reservations at Boma in the Animal Kingdom Lodge, but at least we wouldn’t be losing anything.

I left Mom to her own devices as I headed out to the timeshare section of the resort, at the opposite end of the central lake. The temperature overnight had dropped over 20 degrees, down into the low 50s! We knew ahead of time that it would do so and had packed several layers of light jackets to add/strip as needed, but I hadn’t counted on just how windy it would be, and that wind cut through everything.

I signed in, and then let the salesman know upfront that I was not interested (I’m single, over 50, no kids, my vacations are usually going home or camping, and I don’t want the equivalent of a second mortgage commitment with my single income). That didn’t stop him or his associates from attempting to sell me something for the next 130 minutes (well past the promised 90)! It was incredibly frustrating, but I couldn’t just leave or else they would revoke the “discount” and gift cards, so I had to endure. Finally, they gave up and signed the release forms, giving me that $175 card. I swore that I would spend the money on something completely indulgent because I’d earned it!

By the time I walked back to our room, it was nearly 2 pm. Mom was ready to go, so we geared up and called a Lyft ride to the Grand Floridian. We arrived without incident and had plenty of time to explore and enjoy the Christmas decorations (including a giant tree in the center and an amazing life-size gingerbread house), pose for the Photopass there, and shop at the Basin store (one of my check-list items). At one point a wedding party arrived as well, so we got to watch them pose in front of the amazing tree.
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Photopass shot in the lobby.
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The gingerbread house was impressive. It was real and the scent from the ingredients filled the lobby.
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Here's a video of the lobby, tree, and gingerbread house.
https://www.disboards.com/media/too-bad-you-cant-smell-the-gingerbread.87083/

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Our reservation for tea was at 3:45 pm but they were running late (learned later it was due to the dishwasher breaking down), so it was 4:15 pm and we were the last to be seated. There was a fun party of four women (three generations) from North Carolina to my right, and an older couple from Pennsylvania to my left. We ended up having running conversations with both groups and had a great time.
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We went with the Bedfordshire Tea, and it was plenty--we struggled to finish it all!
(Oh, and I want to point out that while $35 per person may sound steep, that's actually no more expensive than Afternoon Teas here in the Washington DC region. Because teas take much longer than a typical meal, their rate of turning over tables is much lower and so they need to charge more. When you look at it this way, this was probably our most reasonably priced meal on property!)
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I picked the Enchanted Forest tea, while Mom picked the Gingerbread (and yes, we swapped halfway through). Both were lovely.
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Yeah, we needed a little time to figure out what we wanted.
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The sandwiches came first, and it was a wider selection (but smaller portions) than I was used to--we both really liked the variety.
(Clockwise from top, Fire Roasted Tomato w Oregano Goat Cheese, an Onion tart (not on menu), Cucumber, Egg Salad, Sweet Curry Chicken, and Poached Pear & Gorgonzola Cream Cheese.) They were all excellent, but I particularly loved the surprise onion tart--you rarely see that but it was so good!
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Middle and lower tier was the Buttery Golden Raisin Scone with Devonshire Clotted Cream, Lemon Curd, and Strawberry Jam. Served with a Strawberry Preserve Tart.
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We went with the Seasonal Apple Chai Trifle (tasted like apple pie) for me and the house-made pastries with Mousse-filled Swan, French Macaron, and chocolate covered strawberry for Mom--and then of course we shared. It was all delicious!
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Eventually Mom and I were the last ones there, but the cast members were very patient and friendly, never giving us the impression that they were in a hurry to shut down. Throughout our meal, we were treated to live music from the adjoining lobby that switched from piano to jazz band and back, playing a mix of Christmas carols, Disney songs, and classic standards.

My final verdict on the Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian? Absolutely worth it! Between the beautiful setting, the great music, and the quiet tradition that expects you to slow down, this is a genuine oasis right in the center of Disney World. I would do this again in a heartbeat. Mom had a great time and it was one of her favorite experiences on the entire trip.
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Magic Moment: The wedding party we’d seen earlier moved outside and we got to watch as a white Cinderella carriage, pulled by white horses lead by fancy liveried crew complete with white wigs, passed by our windows to pick them up, which was a neat moment.

Of course, Mom found the Tinkerbell!
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After tea, we debated what to do—we weren’t ready to back to our hotel, but we learned that the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom would be even later than usual because it was a party night, and the idea of just loitering there for another 5 hours was daunting. I suggested we take the Monorail around the loop and then stop at the Polynesian to explore a bit. She agreed and we set out. It was already dark so we got to see the Magic Kingdom lit up as we passed by. We arrived at the Polynesian and I’d say that Mom fell in love with the landscaping, the same as me. We both just love all the green plants!
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Of course, I suggested we hit Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto, my home away from home. The lounge was a little crowded and there was only one free seat, at the surfboard bar, so I stood behind her as we ordered, and then a few minutes later a seat opened up across from her so I sat down. We had a lot of fun watching the antics (Mom particularly loved the changing “window”) and talking with the group of four youngish folks at the end of our bar. I explained how much I loved this resort and how it felt like home to me, and the one guy totally agreed—he felt so strongly about it that he then showed us all the tattoo on his calf of the Tiki god in the main lobby! Mom is a teetotaler and so ordered non-alcoholic drink while I tried a Shrunken Zombie Head (it hits you like a brick, all that rum!).
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The bartenders were a bit off the hook. They called this the Olaf Meet & Greet!
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It had been a long day for both of us... :earboy2:
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Magic Moment: After our drinks, we left to hit the main giftshop (I was disappointed by the complete lack of Trader Sam’s swag this time, not even a t-shirt). We were debating giving up on the fireworks since it wasn’t 8 pm yet and it would be 2 hours before they started, when suddenly the older couple who had sat next to us during tea that afternoon appeared! We greeted one another like old friends, and they said they were just heading out to watch the water pageant out on Seven Seas Lagoon and that we should join them. I’d never seen or heard of this before, so we readily agreed. It was very gusty and cold outside on the lakeshore, cutting right through our layers of light jackets, but we endured and enjoyed the waterboat light show as it passed by. The show isn’t something I would go out of my way to watch (unless you enjoy sedate pontoon-style water parades with dated digital music), but we were in good company, so it was a nice way to spend time.

After the parade, we rushed back inside to warm up and managed to score a four-seat table in the Tambu Lounge. We ordered drinks and settled in to spend the time talking until the fireworks. It didn't occur to me at the time to get their names, contact info, or just take pictures to share, and I regret this. But I did snap a pic of the drink menu. :drinking1
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I ordered the Tropical Macaw. Fantastic.
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Funny Moment: Actually, this became a running joke throughout the rest of our vacation. While having those drinks, the other couple dropped one of those bad jokes from the Jungle Cruise—you know, the one that goes along the lines of “And here we have the beautiful Schweitzer Falls, named after the famous explorer and brilliant scientist, Dr. Falls…” We all laughed…except for Mom, who said she didn’t get it. We must have spent a good 15 minutes trying to explain the joke, but she still didn’t get it, and that made us laugh even harder. Two days later Mom and I were on the Jungle Cruise and sure enough, the joke came up again. She said she still didn’t get it, and we both laughed. I explained that it’s a bad joke that works on the premise of flipping the listeners’ expectation, and that she’s probably trying too hard. :)

Right before 10 pm we bundled back up and headed back out to the lakeshore to watch the Christmas-themed party fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. Because half of the lightshow now relies on laser lights projected on the castle, the distance and obstructions kept us from seeing details, but the fireworks themselves were still impressive and enjoyable despite the cold. Afterward we said goodbyes (I wish we’d thought to exchange contact info) and I summoned a Lyft ride back to our hotel.

The rest of the night was uneventful, which was a blessing considering how rocky it had started. The second half of the day was perfect and we had a great time. Mom even ended up with two cocktail umbrellas in her hair (wish I’d thought to take a picture!).
 
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But for kids who are more--let's just say well-behaved?--I do think they would enjoy the entire experience, plus it's a good opportunity to teach the lost art of enjoying a long meal without screens. :teacher:

I will probably wait a few years before attempting tea with my daughters :). I think they would find it fun but aren’t always great and staying seated for long meals. Some day, though!
 
What a rough start! I'm so sorry about your bag, that is so stressful.

Afternoon Tea sounds awesome. Something I definitely want to try in the future!

Sounds like a great evening!
 
Looks like we had some overlap on our trips!! We got there on the Sunday after Thanksgiving! We were in MK on Wednesday and AK on Friday too! :) It was a great time of year I thought!
 
Wednesday, November 28th
After a sleepless Monday night followed by a late night on Tuesday, we crashed hard Tuesday night. Wednesday was intended to be a half-day in the Magic Kingdom, with all our Fastpasses in the late afternoon/evening. However, we had a breakfast reservation at Kona Café in the Polynesian resort for 9:15 am, so we still had to be up and moving and out the door rather early. The temperature outside had plummeted since our arrival on Monday night and this would prove to be the coldest day of our entire trip, with temps never getting above the low 50s and gusting winds, and dipping into the low 40s overnight.

Because I’m a bit obsessive about being on time, and traffic was lighter than I’d expected, we arrived at the resort around 8:30 am. I told Mom to go hit the gift shop while I checked us in at the restaurant, even though we were early. I started back in her direction and hadn’t even reached the shop yet when I got the text message that our table was ready! We were seated 30 minutes ahead of our reservation, which really surprised me considering how hard it is to get a reservation.
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Mom reading over the menu.
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On my last trip I ordered the Macadamia Nut Pancakes (with Macadamia Nut Butter, Pineapple Sauce, and Bacon), which was excellent. But I really wanted to try the Tonga Toast (Banana-stuffed French Toast rolled in Cinnamon Sugar and served with a Strawberry Compote and your choice of Ham, Spiced Ham, Bacon, or Sausage), the resort’s signature dish and something everyone raves about, so Mom and I agreed to order one of each and split them.
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Final verdict? I preferred the Tonga Toast and Mom leaned toward the pancakes (not a surprise because she’s a nut for nuts). We could easily have split just one of these plates, though—it was a lot of food.

We left the restaurant and were surprised to spot Pluto doing a pop-up meet and greet in the lobby, so we hopped into the short line to get our first pics with a character.
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Here are some of the ornaments on the Polynesian Christmas tree. I thought they were pretty cool and unique. In fact, each tree at all of the different resorts are uniquely themed and fitting. Just more evidence of the attention to detail that Disney is famous for.
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Because we were seated so early, we were on our way to the Magic Kingdom much earlier than originally planned, and despite my intention of it being a half-day, we entered the park around 10 am, only an hour after rope drop. Our first Fastpass wasn’t until after 3 pm, so we had five hours to do whatever we wanted.

This was the first time I've seen Disney World for the holidays, and as to be expected, they were thorough and impressive. Everything seemed to have an extra touch--right down to some of the attractions having Christmas touches.
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I was glad to see all the scaffolding gone--most of Main Street was covered with scaffolding and scrims on my last trip.
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It allowed us plenty of time to do occasional shopping as well. One of the things I was on the hunt for were cool coffee mugs, and I ultimately found two that I really liked. I’m done with the oversized mugs (things get cold too fast), so I was happy that things are trending back toward the smaller mugs.
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Since we had no Fastpasses in Futureworld on this trip, I decided the most efficient place to start was there, so that we could knock out the low-wait attractions we were interested and then not return to the area. We also shared the opinion of skipping the super-kiddy or generic rides (like the carousel) and instead focus our time on the Disney-specific stuff.
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We started with Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor. Since every show is different and unpredictable, I find it enjoyable. We had a couple of good sports in the crowd, which is vital to having a good show.

Then we hopped onto the Carousel of Progress (Mom liked it although she admitted she nearly fell asleep—and I admitted that this was why most folks liked it). But it’s still fascinating when you think of how mechanically complex this was for its time.

After that, we took a spin around on the Tomorrowland People Mover (probably the coldest ride that day because we were elevated with little to block the wind). Also, I don’t know if this is because we’re older and your night vision diminishes with age, but we couldn’t see a darned thing while passing through Space Mountain. Did there used to be more to this part? I can’t remember.

Then we headed for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and got into line. It was the longest we faced that day (about 30 minutes) and in that time we struck up a conversation with this small family behind us. The little boy noticed that I was wearing a couple of pins of my favorite characters and asked me if I wanted to trade. I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to (I’d paid upper-range prices for my favorite pins, and we bought them more for decoration than with the intent of trading), but I couldn’t turn him down, so I agreed. He showed me his collection, but he was trying to tell me which one to take (I didn’t even recognize the character!) and we all told him that not how it works—if you initiate trading pins, each person is allowed to pick what they want from the collection. He picked my Bagheera (Jungle Book) pin and I picked a Dale pin (from Chip & Dale, I knew he wasn’t super attached to that one because he’d explained all of them in detail prior). We were both satisfied with the trade and that’s what mattered.

We eventually got onto the ride and were barely into the first chamber (we could still see the line) when the ride suddenly stopped. In that spot, it’s dark and there’s a mirrored disco-ball spinning around, and it was very disorienting to sit there not moving but continuing to feel like you’re moving! After about 5 minutes of not moving, everything shut down and the main lights came on as they killed the power! Something was clearly wrong. Then the mother of the family behind us told us that her purse was missing and that it must have fallen down onto the track somewhere during or after boarding. A cast member got down on his knees, with a flashlight, and began checking under every car, trying to find it. He couldn’t spot anything, however, and they told her that they couldn’t keep the ride shut down any longer and that she would have to wait until the end of the day to retrieve it! Having recently experienced the exact sort of panic she was feeling, I really felt for her—I hope it worked out for her in the end, but I have no doubt it ruined her day.

This was the view we had before the turned the lights on. The upside was that both of us got the opportunity to target practice and get a feel for it.
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We walked around a little bit afterward and entered Fantasyland where I suggested we grab a snack. We ended up splitting a Cheshire Cat Tail pastry. It was fresh, flaky, and tasty, although Mom admitted she wasn’t a big fan of chocolate in pastries, but she thought it was okay. I wish she would tell me these things BEFORE I order something.
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My memory’s a little fuzzy on the order of things the second half of the day because it was unscheduled, but these were the highlights.

We hit Mickey's PhilharMagic and enjoyed the show, although we agreed that the 3D effects were only moderately effective because a lot was double-imaged for us. (I’ll spoil things now by saying that the 3D effects in It’s a Bug’s Life and Flight of Passage are far superior and effective, so it wasn’t just us.)

We made our way over to Adventureland for our first Fastpass (3:05-4:05 pm) on Pirates of the Caribbean. This was always a family favorite, and so it was very nostalgic for both of us. It's still creepy just how real-looking the Jack Sparrow additions are--and because I know he once stood there himself to play the part, I kept studying extra hard to make sure it wasn't him in the flesh. pirate:

Warning: Even though Pirates isn’t’ considered a wet ride, you’ll probably get a wet butt if you’re seated in the last row like we were. Normally I wouldn’t care, but it was cold out!

Our next Fastpass was from 4:40-5:40 pm for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This was another family favorite from our last big family trip, and it was reaffirmed because we both loved it. (When I asked Mom at the end of our trip which ride was her favorite, she said it was still this one.) It’s just a great combination of detailed theme, satisfying length, fast but smooth curves and bumps, and of course the opossums!
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While walking around, we came across this Country Bear Jamboree dance in the streets.

It was dusk by this point and we could feel the temperature dropping already. We had a block of time before our last Fastpass, so we decided to find dinner somewhere. I’ve heard good things about Columbia Harbour House from the DIS blogs, and since it was nearby, we headed there. The lines were short and we found a table easily enough. We decided to spit an entrée of Grilled Salmon served with Vegetable Rice and Green Beans and Carrots, and a side of Hushpuppies. It was good, filling, and satisfying.
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It’s funny how the park seems to feel completely different at night. Like two different parks!
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We made our way back into Fantasyland for our final Fastpass (7:35-8:35 pm) Peter Pan's Flight. We’d been overhearing talk in the late afternoon/evening that the attraction was having issues and down for a while, which explained some of the crazy wait times on other attractions in the area (since when is Small World a 40 minute wait?!), but when we arrived at the entrance, it was back up and running properly.

My opinion on Peter Pan hasn’t really changed. It’s a cute ride, the only dark ride that is suspended rather than on the floor or in the water, so you’re sort of flying, and it’s a true Walt classic, so it’s extremely popular. You’ll never see the wait time for this under 60 minutes, so it’s absolutely worthy of a Fastpass…although I don’t believe it’s worth a Fastpass thrill-wise. It’s worthy because it’s NOT worth standing in line for hours when we could be doing so many other things. That experience reconfirmed my theory.

Next, we looked to It's a Small World and saw that the wait time was still listed as 40 minutes, but we’d done everything else we’d wanted to do that night, and it was still a good 90 minutes before the fireworks, so we decided to just get in line. Fortunately, the wait time was inaccurate, and we were riding in under 30. But afterward Mom said, “I think I’m done with that ride now,” and I laughed and agreed. It’s another Walt classic, but it’s extremely simplistic (not to mention infamously repetitive) and I probably won’t bother again unless I’m with someone new to the park or I’m bored and want a break off my feet.
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It was about 8:00 pm by this point, so we started working our way back to Main Street. By this point the area was packed nearly shoulder to shoulder, just like the videos you see of Disney parks at their worst. It’s definitely an endurance test for me (I hate crowds) not to mention a challenge to keep together. Mom and I established a rule on Day One that we never leave a shop unless we’re together because it’s so easy to lose track of one another and some of the shops are extremely big and convoluted, with many sections and doors. Like everyone else, we went into the shops to get out of the cold and do a little shopping.

Another item on my Want List for this trip was a Disney hoodie. Unfortunately, I was seeing very little that appealed to me. And then I found it—exactly what I was looking for! It took a long time to get one in my size, though, because everybody was shopping for something warm to wear and the cast members struggled to keep things stocked.
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We wove our way back out onto Main Street and the Happily Ever After fireworks show started promptly at 9:00 PM. I’ve seen fireworks there before and it’s always impressive, but it was the first time I’ve seen the projected laser light shown on the castle up-close, and it’s amazing. We were about at the mid-point of the length of the street, so we couldn’t make out the images projected at the base, but we could see most of it.
Afterward, neither of us were keen to deal with the mad crush at the exit, so we decided to linger and shop a while more, even though by this point we were both exhausted and sore. Around 9:30 it was still packed in the street so we walked closer to the castle and found a wall in front of it to sit and just people watch until they kicked us out.
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Around 9:45 the P.A. came on again and we expected to be told the park was closing, but instead it was an announcement that there would be another light show at 10 pm. That was a shock, and I said that I couldn’t imagine they do two big fireworks shows every night—I’d never heard of that before. Since we were in a perfect spot already, we decided to wait and see what happened. At 10 pm, it started. It was a different show, nearly all just laser light images on the castle, with only a single little burst of fireworks at the very end. I could be wrong, but I guessed that it was the show that was replaced by Happily Every After. In any case, it was a pleasant surprise and a nice way to cap off our long day.
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We knew it was also officially the beginning of the end of the night, so we started walking toward the exit. Unless you’ve never been to the park, you’d be shocked by just how much walking you have to do just to get out and to the public transport area. Because we were staying offsite, we would have to then either take the Monorail or a ferry ride around/across Bay Lake to the Transportation Station. The lines for the Monorail were still very long, so we walked over to the ferry, and walked right on and found a seat, and we left only minutes later. This just reaffirmed my opinion that if your choices include a boat, take the boat. Then we had to walk to the spot for app rideshare pickups. We weren’t back to our hotel room until around 11 pm and were beat. We knew we were facing a Rope Drop the next morning, which made us groan.
 
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Breakfast & a meet with Pluto sounds like a great start to the day!

Sounds like a really nice, and productive day at MK. And nice getting more time than you expected there too! Even though I'm sure you were exhausted once you got back to your hotel.
 
Ok, #1 your mom is so adorable, #2 I share your love of JetBlue, we flew with them last spring and loved them and #3 you handled that backpack situation like a champ I would have been a sobbing crazy lunatic

Can’t wait to read about the rest of your trip!!!
 
Ok, #1 your mom is so adorable, .......#3 you handled that backpack situation like a champ I would have been a sobbing crazy lunatic

She is! And she's a real trooper. She not only kept going, but rode everything (except Space Mountain because it's just too rough, even for me, or the wet rides for obvious reasons). She does water aerobics several times a week, which is more exercise than I'm getting right now. I can only hope I'll be that sturdy at her age.

As for not sobbing like a crazy lunatic...I'll be honest, I came very close to it. There were moments when I just couldn't think because it seemed like every possible path or answer was stymied by an obstacle and I'd just go blank, like, "OMG!" It's very rare when I've felt as helpless as I did that night. :sad2:
 
Thursday, November 29th
We were starting to feel the accumulated effects of the late nights, early mornings, and tons of walking when we rolled out of bed that morning. But we had another early morning Rope Drop to do if we hoped to ride Seven Dwarfs without waiting half the morning. This was the make-up day after the disaster on Tuesday, and fortunately it just happened to dovetail with our evening dinner reservation at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, which meant we didn’t need to cancel anything. However, because I hadn’t written down these new Fastpasses, and the Disney app doesn’t have a history option, I can’t recall the specific times (they weren’t exactly the same as our original day). The times I list are rough estimates.

It was still very chilly that morning when we set out, although the temps were expected to rise about 20 degrees by mid-afternoon to the high 60s. The main entrance to the Magic Kingdom was already open when we arrived, although the bridge entrances to the lands were still closed. We quickly made our way to the bridge that led to Fantasyland and joined the small crowd of folks waiting there.

It was here that we found another Photopass photographer, who was not only super friendly, but excellent at his craft. Just look at these! They’re the best pics I have from either of my trips, and they’re being framed right now.
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Of course we got Tinkerbell, one of Mom's Top Three Favorites (the others being Bambi and Jiminy Cricket).
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From that spot, we got to watch the opening show in front of Cinderella’s Castle.
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Everyone present was hoping to get in line for Seven Dwarfs, so the cast members just lead all of us over as soon as the rope dropped. We moved as a herd to the attraction and then walked nearly halfway around the entire attraction before reaching the end of the line. Even getting there so early, the line was already 70 minutes, but it was that or skip the ride completely since it would only get longer as the day went on (typically 140 minutes!).

The wait time for Seven Dwarfs was dead on at 70 minutes, I’ll give them that. We felt every inch. I was keeping an eye on the time since our first Fastpass, for Jungle Cruise, started around 10:45 am. Mom had some fun with some of the interactive stuff in line as we approached the boarding area, while I prefer not to touch that stuff—I made sure she doused herself with antibacterial gel afterward. :wizard:
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This is still one of my Top Five rides in all of Disney World (touch choice, but my favorite is probably still Expedition Everest). Sadly, Mom didn’t enjoy this one as much. She said that she thinks the fact that the cars rocks as they went into the banks scrunched her in a weird way and hurt her back. I feel bad that she hurt, and was very relieved that it wasn’t lasting—just in the moment.
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Sadly I think this is the moment Mom stopped enjoying the ride.
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We were finished by around 10:15 and had a little wiggle room, so I decided we could fit in Under the Sea -- Little Mermaid quick since the wait time was only 15 minutes—and really not even that since we pretty much just walked on, it’s just that you have to walk a mile of zig-zagging! It’s a sweet and rather short dark ride that takes you past animatronic scenes from the film, accompanied by the music, of course. No thrills, really, other than when you “go under the sea” by turning backwards and then dropping down a track. It’s one of my favorite Disney films, though, so it’s always a Must Do for me.

After that, we still had time so we stopped at Gaston’s Tavern to pick up a couple of LeFou's Brew (Frozen Apple Juice with a hint of Toasted Marshmallow and topped with All-Natural Passion Fruit-Mango Foam)—it was starting to warm up just enough to be comfortable with a frozen drink. Still delicious!

We started making our way across the park as was passing by this little garden area in the Colonial America area when I spotted Mary Poppins around some bushes and realized there was a meet and greet going on, tucked away in the garden. We rushed over to get in line. When we reached her, they told me that they didn’t have an actual Photopass photographer at the moment so the handler had to use my iPhone, which I found odd. Still, glad we just stumbled across this one, although I think I like the Mary Poppins last year more—she was more talkative.
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When we were finished, I looked at the time and realized that we would now have to hurry to make our Fastpass for the Jungle Cruise in time. We quick-stepped the rest of the way there and were still about 5 minutes late but they let us in without a problem.

While we were boarding, I had the only unpleasant experience due to rude people on the entire trip—this woman cut me off and jumped onto the boat ahead of me, and then realized that her family was still back behind me and Mom, who had already boarded by this point, and then she wanted to try to get back to them but it’s very cramped quarters on the boat and we had to stand on the seats to let her get around. It was completely obnoxious and delayed the cast members, etc. Then she had the nerve to give ME a dirty look. Obnoxious.

Anyway, we had fun on the ride, and I was very surprised to see just how much they customized everything on this attraction for Christmas, right down to the bad puns.
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After the cruise, we had time again before our next Fastpass on Haunted Mansion, so we took advantage of proximity to do the Enchanted Tiki Room. We made it just in time to get in, although we missed the intro show outside the room. This was another family favorite—or at least it was for Mom and me, so we sang along and really enjoyed it. Sadly, several kids didn’t and one screamed so badly that a cast member had to help escort the embarrassed parents out. It’s bad when the screams overpower the surrounding concert.

After that, we saw that the wait time for Pirates was only 15 minutes, so we decided to ride again and this time not get a wet seat. It’s cool to ride more than once and catch the details you missed on the first run.
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Afterward, I figured it would be a good time to break and have a small lunch, so we tried out the cheeseburger eggrolls from a food cart nearby. They weren’t great, but they weren’t bad, either—they were greasy and tasted like a cheeseburger, and you can’t really ask for more.

It was getting close to our Fastpass time for Haunted Mansion, so we started walking up back up in that direction, just enjoying the scenery and warming weather. Along the way, we stumbled across this cute Muppet's Moments in History show.

We arrived on time and rode Haunted Mansion, yet another favorite from our past family trips. I remember my brother and I doing this one multiple times in a row because there usually wasn’t much of a line right after the fireworks. We had fun and then enjoyed mugging for the Photopass outside, though he was positioned so that we were facing into the sun, thus we're squinting in most of the pics.
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By this point, it was around 1:00 pm and I suggested we start working our way toward the exit, since we still wanted to travel over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge before sunset to enjoy the grounds and see the animals, etc.

Along the way, we did some more shopping. Yet another item on my Want List was a cool pair of sunglass frames, if I could find any. I wear prescription sunglasses, so I’m used to paying a lot more than most folks do (I’m jealous!), and I’m tired of either needing to run to my car to get them, or forgetting them in the house when I get in my car, so I’d decided months before that I wanted a second pair. I’d seen in a DIS article about RayBand Micky Mouse themed frames and decided that might be what I wanted, but needed to see them in person since they weren’t cheap. I just assumed I’d look for them whenever we got over to Disney Springs, so I was very pleasantly surprise to discover a Sunglass Hut shop right there in the middle of Adventureland! And sure enough, they had the exact frame on-hand. I love them! And this is how I spent that $175 I got from enduring that agonizing time share presentation (and then some). I was very happy!
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We eventually reached Main Street once more and I asked Mom if she wanted to head out at that point or do more shopping and wait for the Festival of Fantasy Parade that wasn’t starting until 2:00 pm. She loves parades, so it was a silly question. I’ll admit that I’m not that big into parades (I’m used to marching in them, so I’m a bit bored standing on the sidelines), and didn’t watch any on my last trip, but since this trip was for the both of us, I agreed. We spent a bit more time shopping, and then I realized that people were already staking out spots on the curb and they were starting to clear the street, so we wrapped up quick and then managed to grab good spots on the curb to sit and give our feet a break.
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Magic Moment: Actually, more like a Magic Hour! I’m SOOO glad I listened to Mom and we stayed for the parade. Well, the parade itself was okay and had some cool floats—but it was the photographers patrolling up and down the street that were fantastic and so entertaining, creating magic everywhere they went.
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Mom and I were wearing Our Birthday buttons, and this drew several photographers to us—we got a lot of attention since we were celebrating together.
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Here are some videos of more of the antics going on in the street. Honestly, this was some of the most fun I had on the trip, watching all the excitement as the anticipation grew. Which was a good thing because although the parade technically started at 2 pm, it hadn’t occurred to me that it would take so long for them to travel from where it started to where we were.
At the end of the following video, you'll see one of these photographers approach us and ask Mom to join him in the middle of the street. The rest is pure magic!
Doesn’t she look like she owns the place?! “Hi, make yourself at home. Clean up after yourself.”
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He had her pose like this and then called it “the perfect selfie.”
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Occasionally a band like this would march past to remind folks that something was coming.
We did a little bit more of browsing through a couple of the small shops on the opposite side of the street on the way out. Then I asked Mom if she was up for waiting in one last line, to meet Tinkerbell (near the exit). She absolutely was, so we headed inside and got into line. It moved fairly fast and we were done within about 15 minutes. Unfortunately, I wasn’t satisfied with the Photopass results and the ones from my iPhone were better (which is exactly why I do both).
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Afterward, with sadness, we said goodbye to the Magic Kingdom. I'm not sure if/when I'll be making it back. I do hope to visit again some day, but it's so expensive that it prevents me from traveling anywhere else, and it's becoming so crowded now that there aren't any "slow periods" anymore. I find the crowds exhausting on a mental level, which makes it harder for me to enjoy the parks. Maybe in a few years after the initial craziness of Galaxy's Edge (the pending Star Wars land) dies down.
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We started the long walk to the bus stop that would take us to the Animal Kingdom Resort. It was a long ride, but we were grateful to be off our feet for a while.

We arrived at the resort around 3:45 pm and headed through the main lobby, checking out the amazing Christmas tree inside, and then out the back into the animal enclosure area.
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When you see commercials advertising people watching wild African animals from their resort room balcony, they aren’t kidding! This place is definitely on my Bucket List. My ideal stay would be a Rest Day when I could just sit out on my balcony with a good book, a bottle of wine, and my binoculars.
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We stayed outside, wandering the short trails and talking with a young cast member/docent from Malawi who was a pleasure to speak with. He was part of the student intern program Disney uses, and he was really enjoying his job. He talked with us for a long time, telling us all about the different animals, etc. I really wish I’d thought to snap his picture and get his name so I could send feedback, but it just didn’t occur to me at the time because I was in the moment. Oh well…

As the sun began to set, we moved inside, checked out the gift shop for a while, and then collapsed onto seats in the lobby to relax and wait for our reservation, which was still a couple hours away at 6:40 pm.
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Observation: Both of us wondered at just how tall the furniture designers for Disney are, because not a single chair or couch in that lobby was comfortable—they were all so long in the seat that we looked like children with our feet sticking out if we sat all the way back. The cushions were also weird and uncomfortable. Were they made for giants?!

Eventually we spotted a couple of normal chair near the circular fireplace open up and swooped in to grab them—they were much more comfy! Then I decided hit the Victoria Falls lounge to buy a drink, settling on was is probably the most expensive glass of wine I’ve ever bought at around $16 a glass. I wish I’d take a picture of the name because it was darned good! I took it back to the fireplace and we chatted with a nearby couple, just enjoying the quiet and beautiful atmosphere after the hectic and crowded park.

At 6:40 pm we went down to check in and were seated immediately. Boma is an African and Indian fusion buffet that is regularly ranks as one of the best restaurants on Disney property, so this was a real treat. Not remotely cheap—including another drink for me, plus tip, the total was $136. But this is exactly why I save all the bonus gift cards I get at work—so that I can treat myself without guilt. I had accumulated nearly $1k of those cards for the sole purpose of food and drinks on this trip.

Here's an overhead shot of the Boma buffet below. That's just the dessert section. :eek:
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The food was excellent. I can’t eat large portions and so I almost never do buffets, so it was very challenging to sample everything and not regret it later. But there was so many cool and interesting things to try. Mom’s not typically very adventurous in the food department, so I was proud of her for stepping outside her comfort zone. One of the things we tried and totally fell in love with was Mulligatawny, which was new to both of us. I could eat a pot of that on a cold winter day! Mom tried the roasted salmon while I tried the slow-roasted pork ribs, plus lots of different sides. It was all excellent. Again, it didn’t occur to me at the time to snap a picture of my main plate, but I did remember to take one of the few dessert bites I decided to try. There was so much to choose from! The best on the plate was definitely their signature dessert, the Zebra Dome (a chocolate mousse inside).
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During the meal, we talked a while with the family next to us—they were new to Disney in general, and were staying at the resort. The young boy next to me (maybe around 10?) was very bright and curious and asked me all sorts of questions about the parks, absorbing all the tips and advice I could offer him. I could appreciate that because I’m the same way—I love hearing all the trivia and tips, etc.


Near the end, our server returned with a couple of special birthday treats, complete with lit candles! We were so full by that point that she kindly offered a take-out box so we could bring them back to our hotel. I thought they were cupcakes, but it turned out they were a type of brownie and became part of our breakfast the next morning. And yeah, I think Mom was starting to fade--we were both pretty tired by this point.
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It was after 8:00 pm when we finally headed out and summoned a Lyft to take us back to our hotel. It was another long, exhausting day but full of great moments I’ll never forget, topped off with an excellent meal. You can’t ask for better than that.
 
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The temperature outside had plummeted since our arrival on Monday night and this would prove to be the coldest day of our entire trip, with temps never getting above the low 50s and gusting winds, and dipping into the low 40s overnight.

We were at Hollywood Studios this day! The cold weather was rough, we left around 5:30 or 6:00 because of it.

However, we had a breakfast reservation at Kona Café in the Polynesian resort for 9:15 am, so we still had to be up and moving and out the door rather early.

I really wanted to try Kona on our trip! We had a reservation that we cancelled while we were there because we were so exhausted. I hadn’t decided if I was going for the macadamia nut pancakes or Tonga toast - sounds like both are great!

In fact, each tree at all of the different resorts are uniquely themed and fitting. Just more evidence of the attention to detail that Disney is famous for.

This was one of my favorite things about the Christmas decorations. I took so many pictures of individual ornaments.

I’m done with the oversized mugs (things get cold too fast),

I wanted a mug for my souvenir this trip too and thought the same thing - the oversized ones are adorable but not practical.

In that spot, it’s dark and there’s a mirrored disco-ball spinning around, and it was very disorienting to sit there not moving but continuing to feel like you’re moving!

We got stuck in the same spot! I really didn’t like it. I get migraines from lights like that sometimes and tried to keep my eyes closed. It took me awhile to realize we were even stopped in there because those lights really do make you feel like you’re still moving.
 
And this is how I spent that $175 I got from enduring that agonizing time share presentation (and then some). I was very happy!

I’m glad you were able to make good use of that money on something you wanted!

He had her pose like this and then called it “the perfect selfie.”

I love that they were pulling people out for pictures, that is the best selfie!

I find the crowds exhausting on a mental level, which makes it harder for me to enjoy the parks.

I found this trip more exhausting too because of the crowds.

My ideal stay would be a Rest Day when I could just sit out on my balcony with a good book, a bottle of wine, and my binoculars.

We did this! Minus the book and wine because I had 2 little people to watch on the balcony. But we spent one rest day in a savanna view room just to enjoy the view.

It was after 8:00 pm when we finally headed out and summoned a Lyft to take us back to our hotel.

Our paths might have crossed! We got back to AKL that night right around 8pm. We had our van parked out front and we discovered spilled apple juice in the back trunk area. A CM brought us towels out to help clean it up. If you saw 2 stressed parents by a van that was us
 
What a nice day at Magic Kingdom! You got lot of nice Photopass photos :)

Animal Kingdom Lodge is such a beautiful resort. Sounds like a nice night spent there!
 
I'm so sorry for the delay in finishing this write-up. I ended up working over 60 hours last week, and then of course Christmas, volunteering, and everything else going on. This trip to Disney feels more like a dream than something that happened only a few weeks ago. I feel like I need a REAL vacation soon just to mentally unwind after all the craziness. I did manage to get our favorite photo from our trip framed and in the mail just in time so Mom received it the day of Christmas Eve. She loves it! I got exactly the same frame for myself and love the result.
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