A Pixie Dusted Christmas 2013 - Completed 8/4/14

[LB1122]

Hollywood Studios Character Extravaganza Part 2
After lunch we decided to seek out some more characters but first we headed towards the entrance to get some photos. We were happy to have Stitch pop up with us.

We headed back towards the animation courtyard and got in line for Sorcerer Mickey. The line was pretty long, but this was one we really wanted. Erik stayed in line and Sophie and I decided we would go see Minnie in her new space. There was no line, but while we waited we loved checking out the fun movie posters in that area.

Minnie’s space is super cute and her dress is sparkly. As always it was a fun meet up with Minnie.

We had no problem getting back in line for Mickey and after a little waiting and pin trading we got to meet with Mickey and do some tricks. We made sure e each got a photo with him and a family one also. We were up to 10 Mickey costumes now!

We decided to walk around a little and head over to where Phineas and Ferb do a meet & greet. We came across the Monster’s University are first and waited to see Sulley. Mike went on break before our turn but I snapped a photo of him before he left.

I loved the décor in there are with all the frats and sorority poster. Begin a Sigma Kappa myself I am very fond of the Slugma Slugma Kappas as one of their colors is purple and a member is named Violet (the Sigma Kappa flower!!)



We made our way over to Phineas and Ferb and found out when they would be back for their meet & greet. While we were waiting we looked around for some pins to trade. My daughter had started collecting the Character Nerd heads and was on a role so we were on a mission to get them.

We got in line for Phineas and Ferb and enjoyed singing along with the radio station of all their songs. We know all the words and it was fun guessing which one would come next. A wonderful meet up came right around the time the song Backyard beach was playing, one of our favorites.

Ferb loves the little girls who come and is super sweet to all of them waving as they head away. We had to get a photo with Duckie Mo Mo as well.

Now it was time to head towards the tower. We had a FastPass for Tower of Terror, but I had a feeling only one of us was going to go on the ride.

We knew my daughter would not be up for this one so Erik went in on his own. He enjoyed it, but did not think I would so I decided to skip it and get ready for the ride


I was really excited about - Rock N Roller Coaster.

IT WAS SO AWESOME! We are not sure if my daughter knew it would go upside down or not, but she did not seem scared at all when we got into the ride. She screamed her head off and had her eyes closed at the started but says it was one of her favorite rides.

Our day at Hollywood Studios was coming to a close. We had a fun surprise planned for the night so after grabbing a Mickey shaped pretzel we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our night.
​

 

[Jackiemarie21]

What a great day in HS! Looks you guys got a lot done and had a great time! Love all the character pics!

 

[LB1122]

What a great day in HS! Looks you guys got a lot done and had a great time! Love all the character pics!

It was a fun day at Hollywood. Thanks.

 

[LB1122]

Dinner with Cinderella​

Once back at Wilderness we grabbed another photo with the tree in the lobby. I was going to have one that I loved no matter what, but lucky for me a lot of them turned out great. We went upstairs and all rested for a little while before getting dressed for dinner.

My daughter knew as soon as she put on the fancy dress where we were going – Cinderella’s Royal Table.

We caught the boat over to Magic Kingdom. It was a beautiful evening out. After getting some family pictures outside the main entrance, we headed back to the castle. They were preparing for fireworks so we had to walk in a side way and once there could not really go anywhere else. Our reservation was for 9:15 and we were told we could not check in yet.

***This is the only bad experience of our whole trip and it wasn't that bad, but….there was a couple waiting with us and they were also told they could not check in yet. We patiently sat down to wait and chatted. When it was time to check-in a small line was forming on the side and they called those people up to check in first. We were a little miffed considering we had been waiting and had been told we could not check in until later. We both got up and expressed this annoyance as nice as we could. It worked but we got a little attitude back about it. Again, not trying to cut in line, but we had been there on time for the reservation before the other people so it made since we would get called up first.

The rest of our Castle adventure was amazing. We had a table up to the side and could see the whole center and a great view out the window – which proved amazing for fireworks time. They darkened the room and we all just turned to watch as we ate.


We got to meet with Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, Aurora and Jasmine (we were very happy about this one as we had not seen her yet) and had some amazing dinner.



Dinner & Dessert was also so fantastic and beautiful.

Hubby & I both had the pork chop


Mine


Sophie's

Our server was amazing, especially when we asked if our daughter could have a sword instead of a wand – she ended up with both, maybe because of the wish on her wishing star?I love this part of the meal. They give each child a star to wish on and have them close their eyes and make a wish. It is so sweet.

On the way out, a women gave Sophie a rose. She had been eating dinner in the castle as a surprise for her birthday (several months in advance so she was really surprised…super cute to watch as her family from other parts of the country joined them and she had no idea they would be there) and was giving the other “princesses” around her roses.

We headed towards the carousel and had to get some photos trying to pull the sword from the stone. No such luck this time. But seeing as King Louie had knighted him I was okay.

We rode on the carousel and walked around playing a little more Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. A churro was shared by all and we enjoyed the Electrical Light Parade. After that we decided it as finally time to ride It’s a Small World for this trip and hopped on. Little did we know just how sleepy it would make us.

It was time for us to head back to the hotel for the night as we knew all the fun we had had so far was going to wear us out if we did not get a little sleep before out last day in the parks.

​

 

[LB1122]

We need Ketchup!!!!
We woke up for our last park day very well rested and happy we had not overdone it the night before. We had breakfast reservations at Whispering Canyon right in our hotel and were happy to find out we could get milkshakes for breakfast!!!

Not only milkshakes, but bottomless milkshakes. FROZEN COW for breakfast!!!

Our waitress was fantastic and ready to go first thing in the morning. She reminded us of Kristen Chenoweth with her smile and voice and exuberance of happy, she of course was happy to sign our book and happy to help me get what I needed for my eggs….

KETCHUP!! If you have not been to Whispering Canyon you should go- great food and milkshakes and a whole lot of root‘n’tooten fun.
​

 

[cstorm65]

We just had the same waitress on our trip. We agree that she was awesome. The perfect mix of being a good waitress and having fun at the same time. So sad your trip is close to being over, but a great way to end it.

 

[LB1122]

We just had the same waitress on our trip. We agree that she was awesome. The perfect mix of being a good waitress and having fun at the same time. So sad your trip is close to being over, but a great way to end it.

She really was a blast. We ate there 3 times total and she was the best one we had but all were good.

 

[khaleesi]

You got some great characters meets!!!

I love the hugs and kisses around the world. Super cute idea! I need to think of an "around the world" thing to do on my next trip.

Wow, that's a lot of ketchup! Haha.

OH!!! And YAY for your upcoming trip!!!!

 

[LB1122]

You got some great characters meets!!!

I love the hugs and kisses around the world. Super cute idea! I need to think of an "around the world" thing to do on my next trip.

Wow, that's a lot of ketchup! Haha.

OH!!! And YAY for your upcoming trip!!!!

We had fun with the hugs and kisses... I also so someone do the different benches around the world with the back drops being each country...next time maybe...

We did have some fun character meet ups and my favorite one is coming up next!!!

 

[LB1122]

Amazing Grace helps a Fairy Dream Come True
After breakfast we went upstairs and grabbed our gear and Periwinkle the fairy. My daughter was super excited about meeting her today, but we were concerned. When we had walked by The Fairy Meet & Greet one of the cast members had said it wasn’t Periwinkle always at the meet up and it got us a little worried about how our daughter would react to get through the line and find a different fairy.
No worries – Grace to the rescue. Our amazing hotel concierge made a phone call over to the parks to find out when Periwinkle would be at the meet up. She wrote us a note and gave us directions to head to Guest Services for more assistance. A quick stop at the exploding geyser and we were off.

I went into guest services and after showing them the note they called over to the Fairy area and made sure it would be Periwinkle for us. Thank you Disney for understanding children with strong emotions need some backstage magic to ensure happiness sometimes!!!

Meanwhile my Periwinkle and her Dad had met with the Practically Perfect in Every Way Mary Poppins and were waiting for me to head over to Pixie Hollow for a visit.

As we waited in line I wondered if this meet up would be as wonderful as all our others and if the two Perwinkles would be excited to see each other. The attendant at the line told us she had never seen another Periwinkle in the line before and while we figured it was rare that was a fun thing to hear.

We got shrunk down to fairy size and entered the room. As soon as we did I knew all bets were off – This would be the magically meet-up of the trip. Tinkerbell was waiting for us and only one person was with Periwinkle when we came in.

Tinkerbell immediately shouted at Periwinkle, “Peri, look, look!” and Periwinkle turned and jumped up with joy. We talked and visited with Tink and the girls matched their wings together to show they were twins.

We walked over to Periwinkle and they two immediately held hands and started talking.

Hugs were shared and photos taken and then this happened…

Tinkerbell stopped her line and said, “Can I come in for a family photo?” She walked over and we posed for a bunch of photos all together and then just the girls. It was amazing. The photographer echoed the statement about not seeing another Peri and how fun it must be for the cast member playing Periwinkle! It made my day so I can only imagine!! ​

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Oh my! That was an incredibly sweet meet & greet. I got choked up reading about it. So glad it worked out for your little periwinkle.

 

[LB1122]

Oh my! That was an incredibly sweet meet & greet. I got choked up reading about it. So glad it worked out for your little periwinkle.

My husband says I was pretty teared up during the whole thing so I get it. Sometimes magic really happens and I was so worried about it.

 

[LB1122]

Our Last Day at MK
After our amazing time with Tinkerbell and Periwinkle we stopped to look at the rest of our day in the Magic Kingdom. It was going to be jammed packed and amazing. We had switched all of our pre-planned FastPasses for the day because of what we had been able to do earlier in the week.

On the books for the day were Thunder Mountain Railway, A Meet and Greet with Ariel in her Grotto and one last ride on Space Mountain, but we had time before any of that so we decided to head over to Tom Sawyer’s island and check it out.



It is a fun raft ride across to the island and there is a bunch of fun things going on over there including a fort to play in and small mines to hide in.




Right after we left the island it was time for Thunder Mountain Railroad so we got in line and enjoyed…this one was still too bumpy for Sophie, but she was happy to have done it again.

We started heading over to New Fantasyland and our meet up with Ariel in her Grotto. Ariel had many questions about how a fairy could fly underwater. This was our first time visiting her as a mermaid and it was a fun one.



After the meet up we were looking for snack. We headed to LaFou’s and learned Gaston would be out shortly. Erik got in line, Sophie decided it was time to put her wings away and did a quick change and waited with Daddy while I got us a super large cinnamon Roll and some LaFou’s brew –YUM – frozen apple juice with a marshmallow foam on top??? (I wish I had thought to snap a photo…so great) We finished just in time to meet with Gaston.



Talk about spot on – This Gaston was awesome. The line was full of teen girls and women and he was eating it all up – dipping the ladies and putting on the charm. When we came up, he was talking to Sophie about how great he was and how could Belle have picked the Beast over him, but Sophie was having none of it…look at how she looked at him?

After seeing Gaston we walked around and back towards Space Mountain for our last ride. I was snapping photos of signs along the way to have for the scrapbook. This was the first time we were on the other track – which was a lot more bumpy and jerky but still awesome.



All Fastpasses now completed we had about two hours until our dinner reservation. This was one we were really looking forward to….



We could not believe our luck when we were getting reservations for the trip and were able to grab a table at Be Our Guest. In fact we had grabbed two of them, but dropped one after figuring out our plan more fully. With two hours to go I knew I needed to do a little shopping – Christmas Ornaments were needed for this trip to add to our Disney tree.

As we walked over the holiday shop we passed by the Photopass area and took a few more photos – LOVE magic shots.



We decided we also need a quick trip someplace we had not been yet…The Tiki Tiki Room was calling us so we headed over before going back to get our ornaments.



We got our ornaments; pin traded and got in line to meet with Tiana & Naveen before dinner. At the time Naveen only did meets after 5PM and we had not gotten to see him our first visit so this was an exciting one for us.
Princess & the Frog was the first movie we took our daughter to see and it holds a special place in our hearts because of that – funny enough she was the last princess we saw on our first trip to the World and now the last on this trip.



It was getting close to our dinner time so we walked back over to Be Our Guest to wait to go in. How fun – when you walk in they have a candelabra, which they gave to our daughter to carry, and we were walked all around the room so we could see all 3 areas of the Beast’s castle.

Our waitress was so sweet and had great recommendations – even if we were all thinking of dessert the whole time due to the cart be wheeled by. My daughter was so fascinated by the napkin roses that after we ate the waitress taught her how to make them (I took notes!!) – amazing and special memory.
The food you ask? Well no complaints here-

Or Here

And of course the Gray stuff really is delicious.


When the meal was over we were stuffed and maybe a little tired because my daughter wanted nothing to do with the Beast for the meet & greet after dinner. No problem for me as Belle is my favorite princess so I was happy to hug him and smile.



As we headed out of the park we talked about all our amazing memories from our time at the Magic Kingdom…but we were not headed back to the hotel just yet.
​

 

[LB1122]

After Be Our Guest we had one more thing we wanted to do. We had not stayed to watch Wishes or Illuminations at all this trip and we wanted to see a show, but not one of those two…

We wanted Fantasmic!! We had never seen it and had heard it was an awesome experience. So we got on a bus at MK and headed over to Hollywood Studios. Sophie and I were both super tired and took a quick nap on the bus but we were also worried about making it to the show and when we got off the bus we all hustled over to the back where Fantasmic is shown. We had rushed over and were happy when we arrived that we were just fine getting seats.

I did not even try and take photos as I just wanted to enjoy the show without a lens in my way. I was happy I did. It was such an amazing show. I love how they project images on to the curtain of water.

We took our time leaving the theater. It was majorly crowded on the way out, but there was no rush for us extra Magic Hours at MK went until 1AM that day.



We headed over to see the Osborne lights. I guess there is some talk that these might go away or that a new display might be coming??? This was one thing something on my top ten for the trip and I am glad I got to see them. What a fun adventure.



We looked for hidden Mickey’s in the lights, enjoyed the holiday music, the uncrowded streets and even found the black cat light – mistakenly packed up and sent to Disney when the lights were sent from the Osborne family.



We started to head out but with extra magic hours there was no line for Star Tours. Sophie did not want to go so I sent Erik in and we waited for him outside and felt ourselves growing tired. I thought about going in myself after but I had done it a long time ago.

We headed towards the exit stopping to pin trade and do a little last minute shopping.

As we got on the bus to head back to the hotel for the last night we were all happy about our trip.​

 

[MonsterWDWmom]

What an awesome last night both Fantasmic! and Osbourne Lights

Extra magic hours are an awesome extra to staying at a resort!

Looks like you guys had an awesome trip, thank you so much for sharing!

 

[LB1122]

What an awesome last night both Fantasmic! and Osbourne Lights

Extra magic hours are an awesome extra to staying at a resort!

Looks like you guys had an awesome trip, thank you so much for sharing!

It really was awesome. Magical!!

Last post coming any moment

 

[dreamerchic33]

Joining in!!

 

[LB1122]

Joining in!!

Glad you found me.. The last report is about to be added. Hope you will follow my new pre trip report.

 

[LB1122]

See Ya Real Soon
No one ever wants to get up in the morning thinking you are going home form the happiest place on earth. Lucky for us we had some fun plans for the last day.
We started with one more Mickey meet up – This time decked out in a Hawaiian shirt. We were headed to O’hana at the Polynesian Resort.

To get there we got on the boat over to MK and finally rode on the monorail over to the Poly.

Breakfast was fun. The food included some great bread, fruit and of course Mickey waffles. The meet & greet better. Let’s start with Lilo and of course Stitch.


Now add in one last Mickey (11 total!!)

And a silly Pluto. Love how Pluto has to sign above his nose. The first signature in the autograph book Pluto – the last Pluto!! What a way to bring our character visits to an end.

After breakfast we purchased a few snacks to pack into the suitcase and use up our snack credits. I also found a great Space Mountain pin and an Animal Kingdom Pin to remember some of our favorite moments.
We headed over to the Grand Floridian on the monorail to see the giant gingerbread house. WOW. According to the sign it takes 1050 Pounds of honey to make the gingerbread in that house and about 700 pounds of chocolate. But it really is pretty.

We left the Grand Floridian and completed the monorail circle back to MK. We took our last boat ride back to Wilderness Lodge to pack everything up.

With a little rearranging of items into different places we had our luggage checked in to head home and time for a few more really special moments.
First we had to say good-bye to Grace. This was super hard and I was worried Sophie was going to really lose it as good-byes are very hard for her, but her and Grace arranged to be penpals and lots of hugs helped us make it downstairs.

One other thing helped – knowing that my Aunt Joyce and cousin/bestfriend, Allison, would be meeting us in the lobby for lunch before we headed home. And in that the last surprise for Sophie. She knew they were coming to meet us, but we had been keeping a major secret about Allison – she was having a baby!!!!! I had known since day one of her pregnancy, but due to miscarriage concerns we had kept it from Sophie and even when things were all clear we decided to wait until Disney to let her know.
It all happened so fast that I go no pictures of it, but Sophie hugged Allison and stepped back, her mouth dropped open and she said rather quietly, “You’re having a baby????” It was adorable.

We sat by the fire, took some photos and decided to have lunch…where else, but Whispering Canyon? We wanted to make it official and have one of each meal there. Totally not disappointed as everything we ate was delicious and Mickey ready (and we had enough meals to pay for everyone).

The S’mores Dessert!!!
Of course, somebody needed KETCHUP!!!!

We said our good-byes to Joyce and Allison, made a few more pin trades, bought one last smashed coin and then Magic Express came…
What an amazing totally Pixie-dusted Holiday trip.
See Ya Real Soon!!! Thanks for being part of my trip report. Hope you will join in my newest adventure as we plan for a 1 night visit in October.​

 

[kangaand2roos]

What a great trip! I'm currently planning our third Christmas week trip in 4 years (we didn't go last year) and I'm glad to be reminded what a big difference being there for rope drop makes! We are morning people (well, not my so so much) so this fits right in with our lifestyle!