Trip #3 of our "tour of festivals 2013" and bottomless pit takes on holiday snacks!

[Chellymouse]

Welcome back friends! Our "tour of the festivals" ended on
Dec 15th with the NME pulled into SSR and took us to the dreaded MCO for our flight home to the frozen tundra! 2013 allowed us to visit during the International F&G, SWW, MNSSHP, F&W and finally, the Christmas trip. As you will sadly note....no ticker at the bottom Only 1 trip for 2014 and will most likely be in Oct once I move the stick up DH's boss'....oh wait..sorry, this is a family friendly spot! I digress!
So our trip was 12/6-12/15 and this was our longest trip of the 3 and the one we were really excited to take as we hadn't been in Dec for the past 5 years. We had fun, we had excitement, we had disappointments so without further adieu... here we go!

Some of you may remember my DMIL (aka fairy godmother) from our "we took the family and survived 6/2012 trip" Well, she's a really good house guest and had a plane ticket to use, so since she doesn't mind the pullout, she came along too!

It's Friday and 20 degrees and I'm running around in shorts to pick up my breakfast, DH's breakfast and some coffee as DH had to go to work for 2.5 hours before we left.....don't ask...has to do with the stick! So, DH's uncle and FGM drove up to our house, picked us up and off the airport we go. Got an upgrade for all of us the day before, which was a good thing as the flight was a little bumpy. We got on the plane (on time) backed out of the gate and proceeded to sit on the runway and sit and sit and sit until finally the de-icing people came and finally we took off 45 minutes after we were supposed to. We had just beat a storm out so the flight was rather bumpy for the first hour, so, thank goodness for the complimentary adult beverages to go with National Lampoon's Christmas vacation! We finally landed, got DME rather quickly and

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arrived home at SSR 3:15pm (we were supposed to land in Fl at 1:30..we landed at 2:15) our villa was ready, CP as always and this was the fastest check in ever. A CM met me while I was in line, scanned my MB, handed me my packet and I was back out at bell services before the golf cart was loaded! We rode to our villa, put groceries away, switched bags from travel to park and headed to MK by 3:45pm! Nice! We arrived at MK and despite moving very quickly, we were late for our Space Mtn FP+. I went up to a CM and explained what happened and she was very gracious (we were only 5 minutes late) and let us ride. FGM said once was enough, thank you! After space, we scooted across the park for our FP+ for BTMRR and Splash....hey guess what??? Splash was down...again...I know shocking! This has been the theme this year. We've hardly been on splash at all! The CM told us we could use our FP+ at another attraction so after BTMRR, the pit needed a snack...popcorn and we watched our last parade. It was done at 5pm today due to Christmas parade taping. I chowed my snack on the way to POTC and after saying hello to the good captain, we stopped for a quick photo and headed out to catch the boat for dinner!

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Took this as we were pulling away from the dock over to WL

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We had decided to go to Whispering Canyon for dinner as we thought FGM would have fun and we arrived to find they were running 30 minutes behind so we wandered around the lobby and took some pics of the tree and décor before dinner!

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Unfortunately, the food at WC was not as good as we had remembered and we apparently picked hooligan night as every single table was asking for ketchup constantly! After a not so great dinner, we hopped a bus to DTD to do some Christmas shopping! Kind of nice to have the camera with us for a change!

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We stopped at the Christmas store to pick up our gifts to Monster and Merida (soccer ball ornaments with their names on them) and of course, a treat from Ghiradelli for the pit. We saw the new volcano as we were heading back to walk home

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I shot this one from our lot.....it sure will be nice when our regular walkway is back open...it's a little scary walking in the road!

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We made it home around 10pm, unpacked, showered and headed off to nap time as we had plans for a very early morning....it's parade taping day!
Up next...our first full day, our character selfie and.....oh yeah....NPH!!
btw...we did find ourselves on tv Christmas morning!

 

[SSRmonkey]

Yay! Can't wait to hear more!!!

 

[Chellymouse]

It's our first full day and we are up and out the door in time to be the first people at AP. Picked up my customary Mickey waffles to go, headed to the Springs stop and MK bus! We were the only people on the bus. We made it MK, found the mass of people who were in the "audience line" and waited our turn to be placed on Main St. We actually had a really good spot! Here are the newsies rehearsing

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For the better part of the morning, we had production folks right in front of us!

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Production took FOREVER!! We wound up ditching before the parade as we had been on Main St from around 7:45am until nearly 2pm. We took this "group selfie" while trying to entertain ourselves

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It was a really good spot as the production moved down Main St. You may recognize the gentleman in the photos....

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Have to say, it really was cool to see the production despite how time consuming it was and how hot it was....more like Oct than Dec but I'm not fussing! FGM was feeling the heat and the need for cold drinks and some chow, so instead of waiting for the cheerleaders and the parade, we headed over to Epcot as we had FP+ times as well as CP. We grabbed some snacks for lunch...popcorn for the pit and DH and FGM split a lunch at the Electric Umbrella and it was time for our FP for TT. FGM sat it out...I think she was afraid of it after we got her on Space Mtn even though we kept telling her it was just like riding in a car. DH and I tried to take a trip to Mars and as we were entering and the CM says orange or green, the guy ahead of us said "Eating at Disney is expensive and I prefer to keep my lunch a little longer" so he was given a green while DH and I grabbed orange. Unfortunately, someone on the ride just before us did not share that gentleman's philosophy and after we were loaded (and wondering why we hadn't gone yet) a CM opened us up, handed up a FP and said they were having "difficulties" translation....someone gave up his lunch! I felt really bad for the people in the pod with them! By now it was time for dinner so we went over to Garden Grill and had a good meal while visiting with some friends. FGM loved this place last summer so we figured it would be a good place to go!
GG did not disappoint!

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We also checked out the gingerbread creations!

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Now it was time for Soarin! I should mention that Soarin' is FGM favorite and DH is still the only person in the Western hemisphere that does not like Soarin'...sorry about your luck this trip 'cuz FGM is all over that!!

After Soarin, we made our way back to WS to get our seats for CP. Shot this on the way.

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What a nightmare and the CM back there should be ashamed of themselves. It's already a mess near Morocco so let's bring the band out while 5000 people are trying to make their way to the show and 5000 people are trying to make their way out! We did get seats and Whoopi Goldberg was just fabulous! You can tell how warm it was as we counted at least 15 choir members who "went down" during the performance.

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My favorite line all night was when Whoopi said no matter how much she enjoys CP, she's always concerned about lightning during her performance! We had a good laugh and then it was our turn to fight the masses (although we went the other way) and made it out pretty unscathed. Since it had been a pretty long day, even though is was only around 8, we decided to head in. DH went to the shower and FGM and I put some libation in a cup and headed to the hot tub! Still was an early night!

Up next...a mixed bag of bad food, good deeds and a super cool ending to a wild day!

 

[Chellymouse]

It's Sunday and the plan for the day was to start at Epcot and finish up a DHS for EMH (which were over at 10). We hadn't planned on RD, however, at 7:30am everyone was awake and ready to go, so out we went. Mickey waffles for me, Danish for DH and coffee for FGM and we are off to the park. We grabbed some pics as we entered.

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We had FP+ for Soarin', TT and MS (FGM sat out for TT and MS) so we arrived, dropped gear in the locker and set out for the day. Our MS was first and since it was a short wait, we went twice. We did a little shopping then it was time for TT. After TT, we went to visit Nemo, the boat ride in the land and Soarin'. We had planned to spend the afternoon in WS so that's what we did. We stopped for pics of the holiday topiaries and the tree. I have to say that we were disappointed with the lack of holiday decorations resort wide this time. Much has changed in 5 years and not all for the better!

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We had lunch at Sunshine Seasons and while the chow is tasty...it's not cheap! We stopped to grab Passports for the Holidays around the world, which I have to say, was quite poor compared to F&G. I know it's really caught on from F&W, but the activity is quite overused. We were also disappointed as all of the passholder pins were gone and no more were coming. oh well! It was a warm day again so the hot beverages were out. I will say the gingerbread cookie from America was not only the best gingerbread cookie of the trip, it was the last tasty food given to the pit for a long time!
Here comes the disasters (ok, not REAL disasters, but definitely no pixie dust that's for sure!)
While in America, we tried to purchase the special ornaments....sold out! Although a CM was kind enough to tell us that the shipments usually come on Monday so if we came back on Monday, we should be able to purchase one. Next it was on to France, only to find the one snack I was really excited to eat...the beuche de noel was all gone for the day! (I make this at home and was very excited to try this!)
We did a couple of cute photos!

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We continued to wander around the WS and tried a couple of adult holiday beverages, none of which were tasty although DH liked the warm, weird stuff in Germany and I enjoyed some wine. We spent quite a bit of time browsing through the countries and FGM enjoyed the storytellers. We did the boat ride in Mexico and Norway, which FGM had asked to do and enjoyed.

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It was nearing 5pm and the pit was growling so we decided to head to ESPN for some drinks, grub and to catch up on some NFL. DH's squatch sense was in full force because he said 3 times on the way over about going to Big River instead. Thinking he was being kind to mom, mom said ESPN was fine and hello.....highlights please! (My fantasy team had been kicking butt and taking names this day) so off to ESPN. We were seated immediately (strange for a Sunday) and we soon found out why. Our "server" (I use that term loosely) took over 20 minutes to bring our drinks and take our order. We had planned to catch the second show of F! and enjoy the lights during EMH and she was seriously cutting into my evening! After having been seated for nearly an hour, we finally got our "food" which included DH's order being completely wrong, my food undercooked and cold and mac n cheese burnt and FGM food cold and overcooked. The server then had the nerve to argue with DH about his food. I told her to bring our bill for our drinks and DH gave me the TIW card and some $$ and headed over to Big River. The manager comes over and apologizes, says how busy they are (NOT!) and offers us new food. Too late! I told her we wanted to pay for our drinks and leave, the service and food were lousy and we've been there when it's been on an hour wait and had better food and service. She did comp our drinks and FGM and I went over to catch the squatch. Strike 2! Didn't realize the MLB winter meetings were at the Swolphin and there was over an hour wait at BR. Now, the pit is cranky! DH suggests we salvage the evening and just head to DHS, since we are going to have to eat junk anyway. We walked to the Swolphin to get the boat and Strike 3..not 1, but 2 boats are full, no room for us!
Did get a cool picture though!

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Along with another guy and a couple, we formed a little group and using our "paw power" beat the boats to DHS! We had a nice chat with our new friends and that's when I learned Glow with the show ears were $27! Yikes! Ok, I decided I didn't need them. We arrived at the studios and I decided to stop at the FP+ kiosk because we had somehow acquired a second FP for TSM on Monday and I knew we would not be able to use it (Merry Member Mixer time) so I went to try to give it back. The CM's were quite flabbergasted! They were in complete disbelief that a guest would do such a thing so, they cancelled all our selections for Monday and gave us the equivalent of 4 "DVC FP" on our bands. The CM really didn't have to do that, but what happened next is even better! The lady CM asked how our day had and been and I said "great until it was time for dinner" and gave her the short version. I told her we'd planned to catch F! but now it wasn't likely. While the CM was fixing our FP+ selections, the other CM said, how would you like VIP seating for F!.....ummmm YES PLEASE!! When I came back out, DH was standing in the middle of the road wearing GWS ears! I had told him NOT to spend $27 on them to which he replied "they weren't $27, they were $25 and you said not to spend 27" I happily put on my ears and off the QS joint by ST for our not so yummy dinner of chicken nuggets and carrot sticks. After our "grub" we went and had our VIP seats for F! which really were awesome!! Here's my new ears!

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After F! it was EMH and we made it over to the lights, which were WAY less crowded than during regular hours! This post is getting a bit long so I'm going to post our pics on the next installment!

 

[Chellymouse]

Here are some of the better pics from the Osbourne lights!

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And....we got to see Santa Goofy!!

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It was nice to be able to walk around and just enjoy the lights and take some pictures without the insanity that is usually back there! Promptly at 10pm we headed out to the bus and were home at SSR soon after! Showers and bed for everyone!!

Up next....Redemption Monday, the Merry Member Mixer and much better food!

 

[Chellymouse]

Yay! Can't wait to hear more!!!

hello SSRMonkey!! You will be delighted to read about DH's "Squatch sense" it was right on point for once!

 

[SSRmonkey]

You got some awesome pictures (as usual)! I've learned to always listen to Squatch sense. It's like spidey sense, but without the radioactive spiders. I'm glad the Squatch got your Glow With the Show Ears. Not that it made up for the debacle at ESPN, but new ears always make things better. What he said about the cost sounds exactly like what Dad would tell Mom. And you got some pixie dust at the end of the day! Can't wait for the next installment. Koala is making popcorn.

 

[Chellymouse]

You got some awesome pictures (as usual)! I've learned to always listen to Squatch sense. It's like spidey sense, but without the radioactive spiders. I'm glad the Squatch got your Glow With the Show Ears. Not that it made up for the debacle at ESPN, but new ears always make things better. What he said about the cost sounds exactly like what Dad would tell Mom. And you got some pixie dust at the end of the day! Can't wait for the next installment. Koala is making popcorn.

I have definitely learned my lesson....pay attention to the squatch sense! It was definitely a weird day! Sounds like dad and the squatch would get along! Tell Koala I would love some popcorn!!

 

[Chellymouse]

It's Monday and hopefully a better day! We were up and at 'em and at the Springs stop by 8:30am and (cue groundhog day music) the day is not starting off well. We FINALLY got a bus at 9:20am I just don't get it! Bus service overall was quite crummy this trip, more crummy than usual!

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So we finally get to DHS, drop gear and head to TSM where all of the FP are gone for the day already. We used our MB and rode, I of course, had the high score in the car (DH swears I cheat) and FGM decided to ride again so DH and I went to RNR and TOT. We met up after TOT for ST and actually were able to ride that twice. We decided to head over to Epcot for lunch and to hopefully not strike out as we did the day before! 1st stop France and I got the last piece of beuche de noel they had for sale and it was heavenly! We also ordered sandwiches for lunch and those were quite tasty. First time we've eaten in the French bakery and honestly, I think we will go back. Next stop was the garden shops in America and score....able to purchase both limited edition ornaments! We stopped to say hello to Duffy!

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It was around 2pm so we decided (having learned our lesson 5 years ago) to go get in line for the Merry Member Mixer. The family behind us, turns us, live about 15 minutes away from us, so that was cool! The gates opened a few minutes before 3pm and we were off!

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We ran right to the merchandise and finally, the holiday shirt I had been looking to purchase was right there and in my size! We were also able to purchase the all of the pins we were after! After our 4 minute shopping stint, we went over to visit the big cheese since the line was still quite short!

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We grabbed our snacks and had some drinks and headed back over to DHS for dinner at 50's PT! Dinner was excellent as always and we had a great server! Proud to report the none of us had to stand in the corner or had to be punished at dinner! We grabbed a few pics after dinner!

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We made a pit stop at the Beach club to pick up my gingerbread house to bring home! (happy to say it made it home in 1 piece!) and to enjoy the food displays!

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We headed home to SSR with FGM taking my house home and DH and I stopped to pick up some of our packages! We took a few pics of the lobby.

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We dropped our packages off at our villa and FGM decided to hang out in the Jacuzzi tub so DH and I decided to go DTD and do some shopping. We did quite a bit of shopping, including getting an engraved frame from Arribas brothers for Christmas from us and, strange upon strange, the line for Ghiradelli store was three times as long as the line for snacks, so we stopped for snacks! After our snack, we picked up FGM present and made our way back home. We decided to head down to the hot tub and the pool for a bit then it was in and off to bed!

up next...Breakfast with Stitch, a not so pleasant encounter, a visit with our guide, the pit needs a refurb and MVMCP, take 1!

 

[Chellymouse]

Our day started with us walking out the door, with a plan to walk up the street to catch a cab, however, the MK bus was pulling in, so we hopped on the bus, transferred to the monorail and soon it was time for our favorite breakfast! I drank a full carafe of "stitch juice" by myself! (may not have been the best choice of the day!) Stitch was rather playful during breakfast!

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As we had time, we headed over to GF to check out the tree and gingerbread house after breakfast!

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We also stopped to buy some way overpriced gingerbread shingles that wound up tasting terrible (very disappointing!) By now it was 10:20am so we knew we were pushing it as we were meeting our guide at 11 at SSR so, we found a DVC kiosk and explained we had an appointment and would it be possible to get a van back to SSR? The guy confirms we have an appointment and proceeds to direct us to either the front for a cab or to the monorail and back to MK for a bus.....WHAT??? Are you seriously kidding me???? He said "as a courtesy" he'd let our guide know we were going to be late! $#$%*&%^! or as we hear in Wreck it Ralph....BULL ROAR!! We made it to the monorail and back to the bus stop where the bus was pulling away. Long story short, we made it back to the member center at 11:20am and we told our guide what happened and he was not pleased to hear that CM would not call us a van. He even made a complaint for us!! GRRRR!! We toured the new VGF and the units were quite impressive then had a nice visit. We are planning on adding on when POLY goes on sale!! We were planning to head over to BB (we have PAP right now so that's how we justify going for short periods of time) however, it was a bit later than we had planned. When Todd asked what we were up to, he told us to go home, get ready and come back and he would have a van drive us over! Thank you Todd!! We ran home, grabbed our stuff and made our way to BB! Unfortunately...for me...DENIED! Summit Plummet was closed! GRRR! Oh well! We had fun on the other slides and then it was time to head home. We stopped for doughnuts (my favorite) and I foolishly let DH talk me into a larger portion, which I wound up eating, and disaster strikes! The extra doughnuts and the pit are not getting along at all! We make it home, shower and get ready for dinner and the party, pick up FGM (who spent the afternoon at the pool) and head out! In order to post pics, I will continue this installment next!

 

[Chellymouse]

Despite large quantities of "tame the pit meds" the pit is still protesting the doughnuts, which is not cool because we really like Kona and I was really looking forward to dinner. I spent most of the meal not at the table. DH and FGM both said dinner was great! We made it to the monorail and went to MK where the pit was still acting up. After wandering aimlessly for about 20 minutes, DH finally says either head home or fix the pit. We wound up in a shop where it was freezing and finally the cold snapped the pit out of it's funk! (either that or the drugs finally kicked in) Praise Mickey...we can salvage this evening yet! We did the Jingle Jungle Cruise (not impressed), POTC, HM and DH and FMG had been enjoying some cookies and cocoa. (the pit is now grounded and is not getting anything other than sprite) We were heading to catch a spot for the fireworks and parade and since, the pit had been behaving (plus was starving) I fed it some popcorn, which thankfully was acceptable! The party was sold out and VERY crowded (even more so than MNSSHP when it's sold out) Ride lines were just as long as during the day and of course, no passholder merch...all gone! We did find party pins, but wound up paying more than we'd planned because we'd had to buy the set. Here's a few pics from the fireworks that honestly, were not all that impressive!

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After the fireworks, we made it over to find a place to watch the parade. Second parade less crowded my tail! Ok, it was 4 people deep instead of 6 people deep! Here are a few pics from the parade:

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After the parade, since DH is now calling the pit's misbehavior "a temporary refurb" and as the park was fairly we crowded, we decided to just grab a couple of pictures and call it a night.

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***this picture is in contention for our Christmas card next year!

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We made it home shortly after midnight (the line to get a bus to go home was to the ferry) and everyone was clean and in bed shortly thereafter! Up next, a late start, craziness with FP+ and the MB and the day of the million monorail rides!

 

[Chellymouse]

It's Wed and the dreaded "we have to go home in 4 more days" creeps into the thought process this am! FGM has decided she needs a "real break day" so she planned to spend the morning relaxing at the pool and said she would meet us at Epcot for our 3pm Soarin' time and dinner. DH and I were out the door, had our breakfast and although the pit seems to no longer be in refurb, I wasn't taking any chances and fed it rice krispies instead of Mickey waffles. We went over to Epcot and grabbed a FP for TT and we did some shopping at Mouse Gear. We rode TT then decided to head back to WS to try to meet the Frozen princesses. We arrived at Norway at 11:15 to find a 2 hour wait!
Uh....no. We wandered around WS and picked up a bottle of wine for our neighbor who was watering our tree and managing our outdoor lights then decided...now what. We decided to head over to MK, via the monorail, for a bit and I jumped on my phone and managed to grab FP for Splash and Buzz! We had lunch at Casey's and Dole Whips for dessert. We rode Splash and got soaked (but it was hot so we didn't care) and had time to ride BTMRR (line was really short) and Buzz (DH beat me soundly). We grabbed a couple of pics.

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We hopped back on the monorail (same one-pink) and met FGM at Soarin. So, she can ride, but DH and I cannot. The CM asks to see my app then proceeds to tell us that FP+ is only for 3 attractions per day period. I politely told him it was our understanding that it was per park. He says no, it's per day. It's one attraction in 3 or 1 and 1 and so forth. We had no idea and it was truly an honest error so does he let us ride? nope! Wrong answer! I was ticked so we went to guest services where I politely explained what happened and the CM gave DH and I each 1 FP to ride Soarin with FGM (she didn't want to ride without us). We went back and rode Soarin' and we still had some time so we took FGM on the golf ball....I mean Spaceship earth. She enjoyed it. After the ride, we went back to the monorail (and got the pink one!) and headed back to TTC for dinner at Ohana! We arrive at TTC to find the resort line is down....now what?? We found the walkway (WAY faster!) and made it in plenty of time for dinner! Dinner was excellent, the lapu lapu was tasty and now it's time to walk (forget the resort line) back to TTC to head back to Epcot and which monorail pulls into the station???? Guess? Yep, the pink one! We hopped on and had planned to grab some pics and just enjoy some of the lights before heading back to MK for Wishes (this was pretty much the only night we knew we'd be able to see Wishes).

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We emptied out the locker then headed back to the monorail station. Anyone one want to guess which monorail pulled in? Yep, the pink one! We hopped on and made our way back to TTC then onto the express to MK. We go to bag check and oops...totally forgot our neighbor's present is in the cooler bag. Not thinking about it, I admitted it was a bottle of wine (boy I should have olive oil!) Well, long story short, DH had to "check it" with guest services outside of the park and was given a ticket to pick it up. Ok, I grabbed a locker, dropped our gear and we had just enough time to see the new talking Mickey! What an awesome experience! We saw his original debut during our first trip this year (DH's surprise SWW) so it was very cool to interact with him!

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After we said see ya real soon to Mickey, we scurried over to Main St and had a decent spot for Wishes (my GWS ears worked!) and the castle show before the fireworks (ears worked with this also!)

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After Wishes, we headed to the locker and DH to guest services only to find it closed! What?? He went over to Town Hall which was horribly crowded so I went to package pickup and was told to find a manager. I grabbed DH from the horrible line, found someone in security, explained our plight and gave him our claim ticket. 20 minutes later he returned with our "contraband" turns out, when the GS near the lockers close, they move everything to Town Hall. Oh well....at least we probably waited less because the security officer told us it was an hour wait at the town hall right then. We made it home and decided to hit the pool and the hot tub for a bit!

Up next....our first visit to AK in 2013, the cold front finally came through, Wreck it Ralph, the college awards and F!

 

[SSRmonkey]

Wow! So many adventures. I'm glad the pit is feeling better, but it sounds like "under refurbishment" is a great way to explain your situation. I might have to use that. It sounds like you had a mixed bag of experiences this time around. We thought MVMCP was super crowded too and we were there before Thanksgiving. Even the second parade was crowded. Generally speaking, I tend to like MNSSHP better, but Koala loves the cookies and hot chocolate at MVMCP. And since Mom and Dad buy our tickets, we kinda have to go whenever they say. I'm glad you wee able to rescue your contraband. Sounds like it was a close call. Looking forward to the next installment!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

Wow! So many adventures. I'm glad the pit is feeling better, but it sounds like "under refurbishment" is a great way to explain your situation. I might have to use that.

I too will be stealing this term and using it extensively to describe Tigger's tummy troubles.

So I have to ask...What on earth are you carting around to all the parks that you have to store in lockers. Do you actually go back to the lockers throughout the day to retrieve these cart worthy items? Now that I type this question out it seems like it could be an invasion of privacy, so feel free not to answer, but all I kept picturing you doing is carrying a giant bag of who knows what, sticking it in a locker on arrival, and retrieving it when you left the park. To sort of give your items a $10 ride in a locker for the day. Ugh, now I know your going to say something like 'my life saving medication' and I'm going to feel terrible for asking. I should just delete this whole passage, but meh, I'll leave it, feel free to ignore it.

Enjoying your trip report. When I was reading the part about you going over to MK to ride Splash all I was thinking was "NO NO NO, They are not going to be able to ride Soarin with FGM!!!!" I'm glad it all worked out in the end.

 

[Chellymouse]

Wow! So many adventures. I'm glad the pit is feeling better, but it sounds like "under refurbishment" is a great way to explain your situation. I might have to use that. It sounds like you had a mixed bag of experiences this time around. We thought MVMCP was super crowded too and we were there before Thanksgiving. Even the second parade was crowded. Generally speaking, I tend to like MNSSHP better, but Koala loves the cookies and hot chocolate at MVMCP. And since Mom and Dad buy our tickets, we kinda have to go whenever they say. I'm glad you wee able to rescue your contraband. Sounds like it was a close call. Looking forward to the next installment!

This really was a mixed bag trip. We had some really good things and some really not so good things. Food was very hit or miss this trip which may be why the pit needed a refurb! We'd been to MVMCP several times before and we were very disappointed this time. If I'd had a crystal ball, we would have used that $$ elsewhere! We also now prefer Oct to Dec which I didn't think would ever happen but we'd much rather go to MNSSHP and there is much more at Epcot with F&W. Hope mom and dad read this...maybe it will convince them to go in Oct!

 

[Chellymouse]

I too will be stealing this term and using it extensively to describe Tigger's tummy troubles.

So I have to ask...What on earth are you carting around to all the parks that you have to store in lockers. Do you actually go back to the lockers throughout the day to retrieve these cart worthy items? Now that I type this question out it seems like it could be an invasion of privacy, so feel free not to answer, but all I kept picturing you doing is carrying a giant bag of who knows what, sticking it in a locker on arrival, and retrieving it when you left the park. To sort of give your items a $10 ride in a locker for the day. Ugh, now I know your going to say something like 'my life saving medication' and I'm going to feel terrible for asking. I should just delete this whole passage, but meh, I'll leave it, feel free to ignore it.

Enjoying your trip report. When I was reading the part about you going over to MK to ride Splash all I was thinking was "NO NO NO, They are not going to be able to ride Soarin with FGM!!!!" I'm glad it all worked out in the end.

I'm still laughing!! No, no life saving medications! We are blessed to be in good health, although not lately with all the crud going around! So, we don't have a Tigger, therefore, we have no stroller and I refuse to spend my hard earned vacation dollars on drinks in the park so we have 2 soft sided coolers that we load up with drinks and for us, I would rather spend $7 on a locker (we can get away with a small) because that's basically 2 drinks. We use garden grocer and have everything delivered to the resort so it's there when we arrive. We spend between $40-$60 on drinks and snacks and most days we have a locker and at the end of the trip, we save $$. We've even done a spread sheet to make sure we're getting our money's worth. So, that's why we usually get a locker!

Have at it! DH thinks his "refurb" remark is hilarious and quite honestly....I've gotten some mileage out of it too! Feel free to use it for Tigger!

I really wish someone would have done a better job explaining FP+ and the testing to us because we would not have made that mistake in the first place. It truly was an honest error on our part. I'm really mixed about the FP+, in some ways, we REALLY liked it and other ways, not so much. It's too much to keep track of and when I'm on vacation, I really don't want to be tied to my phone. That thing is an electronic leash and I prefer to leave it behind as much as possible but it's not possible anymore.

 

[SSRmonkey]

This really was a mixed bag trip. We had some really good things and some really not so good things. Food was very hit or miss this trip which may be why the pit needed a refurb! We'd been to MVMCP several times before and we were very disappointed this time. If I'd had a crystal ball, we would have used that $$ elsewhere! We also now prefer Oct to Dec which I didn't think would ever happen but we'd much rather go to MNSSHP and there is much more at Epcot with F&W. Hope mom and dad read this...maybe it will convince them to go in Oct!

Mom and Dad tend to like to stay close to home in December. More time to enjoy the snow and Christmas trees at home. I think they are planning for October this year. Maybe we will be there at the same time, but we will have to be sure they are stocked up on Stitch Juice and popcorn!

I forgot to mention your picture with Duffy. I still think he has stolen my life story and apparently has made a fortune from it. I'm going to try to get Barbara Walters out of retirement to ask him the tough questions about his real life story and why he felt the need to steal and exploit my way of life. If Barbara won't agree to talk/interrogate him, my second choice is Steve Wilkos. "Get off my stage!" Haha. It's a great picture, though.

Good thinking about the lockers. I suppose it would also be handy for ponchos and another layer just in case it gets cold, but you don't want to carry all that junk around all day. Mom and Dad would probably forget their stuff and have to go back....once they were already back at the resort. I'm impressed with your organizational skills.

Ready for the next installment...

 

[Chellymouse]

It's Thursday and we had decided to head over to AK. Boy we were in for an unpleasant surprise this am! The cold front that had been threatened had arrived and after 5 days of record heat (86-88 every day!!) Holy icicles Batman! Ok, it wasn't really that cold! It was upper 50's, low 60's but it felt much colder! We were up and out the door, pit was fed Mickey waffles and off to the bus we go! We made it to AK shortly after RD, but we had FP pulled so it was ok with us! We grabbed a few pics on the way in!

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We made our way to the safari first and since it was cool and cloudy, the animals were pretty active. While on safari, the clouds began to break up and it wound up being a really pretty morning! Love the "new" camera. It's not really all that new anymore, but we were able to get some really awesome animal pics with it!

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After the safari, we wandered over to EE. FGM did it once, last year and had no desire to repeat it so she went in search of some coffee and used our FP and the line was pretty much walk on so we were able to ride 3 times in a row! After EE, even though it was a little early, we went over to Dinosaur and it was a very short wait so we rode it. Dino was disappointing....it wasn't as noisy and the giant carnatauraus was broken. We only rode it once. The line for Primevil Hurl was awful and DH isn't really a fan so we bypassed that experience. We were quite surprised, as we were leaving Dinoland, the giant crocodile was actually in his pool instead of in hiding!

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The pit needed a snack and my nose kept smelling popcorn so it was a quick "pit stop" at the popcorn cart for a snack! After my snack, we decided to see Bug's Life. FGM didn't see it last time and I honestly couldn't remember when the last time we saw it so we went. My is that stink bug stinky! Worse than wet squatch smell! (which likely rivals wet monkey smell!) After Bug's Life, we decided to head out. EOS was calling my name! We stopped for some pics of the tree on our way, since our earlier pics were gray and now the sun was out (but still chilly!)

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We headed back to SSR and decided to stop by the villa to drop off my jacket and DH and FGM needed a break before we went to EOS! We walked over to DTD and oh sweet heaven....my beloved holiday sandwich!! Yummy, yummy! If I were independently wealthy I would build an EOS by my house! Ok, who am I kidding....if I were independently wealthy, I would just move to G.O.!, Ok, I digress. After lunch, FGM decided she just wanted to rest this afternoon so I talked DH into DisneyQuest. We hadn't been there for some time (usually because it's a night and it's packed) and since it was still chilly, it was a good plan. This is what greeted us when we got off the elevator!

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I will say, that game is NOT as easy as it looks! It was VERY, VERY cool! DH drug me away from it after about half an hour! We spent a couple of hours playing games, DH's new favorite is the tank game where you drive a tank and blow stuff up! It was nice Astro-Blaster didn't have an hour wait, nor did cyber-space mtn. We were pleased we got a 4 on our coaster, should have been a 5, but still respectable! We also spent some time in the (as DH calls is) 80's land! I would also have a video arcade at my house if I could! or at least a pinball machine, Ms Pac-man and spyhunter! When we'd had our fill of gaming, we headed back toward SSR. We did finally find the food trucks, however, they weren't open yet. Apparently, they are only open from around 5 until around 10. We were a little bummed, but hopefully we can try them on another trip.

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We headed home, picked up a refreshed FGM and headed out to the bus stop. We hopped on the Epcot bus and walked through the park to the Boardwalk and over to Big River for dinner. Wouldn't you know, we are Big 10 fans (although we are a house divided) and a table full of Auburn coaches was sitting next to us! After they left, DH leaned over to me and said "I just couldn't do it.....do what? I ask....wish them luck in the championship" Our meals were all very good and their microbrews are also very good! We had good food, drinks and service so we were happy!
We saw quite a few college players heading over to the Atlantic Dance Hall. After dinner, we were able to score a spot on the red carpet. We caught a few players we knew, including the Heisman winner! It was funny to see these huge college players, many of whom will probably wind up in the NFL, asking Mickey and Minnie for pics and autographs!

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We walked over to DHS and made it in time to get a good spot in line for the second showing of F! because I could really watch it every night. I had my GWS ears on and they worked great again! We also were in our usual spots...Sorcerer Mickey, halfway down. DH did the honors and grabbed our favorite F! snack of caramel corn! Yummy! After F! we headed home because, quite frankly, FGM and I were Frozen! (ok, it was 58 degrees and we were in capris and jackets....we were told to "suck it" from our family back home in Oh!) We made it home and called it a night! up next....DHS rerun, BOG and MVMCP part deux!

 

[Chellymouse]

Mom and Dad tend to like to stay close to home in December. More time to enjoy the snow and Christmas trees at home. I think they are planning for October this year. Maybe we will be there at the same time, but we will have to be sure they are stocked up on Stitch Juice and popcorn!

I forgot to mention your picture with Duffy. I still think he has stolen my life story and apparently has made a fortune from it. I'm going to try to get Barbara Walters out of retirement to ask him the tough questions about his real life story and why he felt the need to steal and exploit my way of life. If Barbara won't agree to talk/interrogate him, my second choice is Steve Wilkos. "Get off my stage!" Haha. It's a great picture, though.

Good thinking about the lockers. I suppose it would also be handy for ponchos and another layer just in case it gets cold, but you don't want to carry all that junk around all day. Mom and Dad would probably forget their stuff and have to go back....once they were already back at the resort. I'm impressed with your organizational skills.

Ready for the next installment...

This Dec trip was not like our previous 3 and in all honesty, it was definitely pushing it this year! I don't that we would do this long of a trip this time of year again. most likely not!

DH is going in to plead for his vacation in Oct later this week because we know we need to get booked. If they cave, we are going 10/10-10/19, if they don't move the sticks, we will be going 10/7-10/15. If we do all go at the same time, DH and I will sneak you both out to F&W with us!! mom and dad will love that!! There will likely be no stitch juice or popcorn to be had by anyone else!

sounds like you'd better give Barbara a call! :rotfl2 Perhaps Duffy can give a royalty! Then you could build at G.O.!!

Depending on the time of year, we do carry a clothing change (usually shirts and maybe a jacket) with us and we usually manage to be in the part of the park that we need to be when we need a locker run. Poor mom and dad! We actually know someone who made it in for the night and realized (thankfully not too late) that they had a locker. Good thing the park had EMH that night!! I could not even imagine!! We've just figured it out over the years and it's a huge cost savings for us!

 

[SSRmonkey]

I'm confident that wet Squatch smell is certainly close to wet monkey smell. Stinky stinky stinky!

Glad your got you holiday sandwich in! I definitely think there should be am EOS closer to us.

Those football players certainly look larger in person. Just like me, I hope. Haha.

We actually might end up there at the same time!! We could get into lots of trouble. I'm in for F&W. I bet mom and dad will even give up my backpack for the night. . Hope the Squatch's boss lets him out for the week.

I'm calling Barbara's agent now. Great idea on royalties. I'll cut you in if it works out.