Making Our Way Through The Magic: A Nov TR with 2 Disney-Crazed Fools! (UPDATE 7/12!)

[catchmeifyoucan]

Welcome to my first trip report! I’m so excited to share this trip with you all! My name is Carrie and I went on this trip with my boyfriend, Mark.



I recently graduated from veterinary school and am working in a small animal emergency-specialty hospital for my first year out, in an internship program. I am living with my family, and Mark and I are doing long distance this year. He is living with his family half way across the country, and it’s pretty tough at times, we really miss each other! My schedule allowed me to have 9 days off in November, so I daydreamed about us going to Disney during that time. Well, all that daydreaming and joking about going just ended up turning into a reality! Us going in November meant that we would be able to have the free quick service dining plan, experience the Food and Wine Festival, be there for the Christmas decorations, low crowds, and perfect weather! I just kept thinking about it, talking about it, basically planning everything without actually buying the tickets. Then once Mark got the time off as well, we decided to go for it and book the tickets! We went from Nov 10-16, upgraded to the Disney Dining Plan, and stayed in Pop Century.

This really was a trip of firsts for us! First time staying on Disney property, first time flying into MCO and taking the Magical Express, first time seeing the Christmas decorations, first time being on a Disney Dining Plan, and first time at the Food and Wine Festival! We were suuuuuper excited!

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[catchmeifyoucan]

Table of Contents:

Pre-Disney Shenanigans

Day 1 - November 10
Many Things Stand Between Me and Disney
Get Me To Those Resort Mugs!

Day 2 - November 11
It's a Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Day!
Why Can't We Digest Faster?
Why Would We NOT Stay for Extra Magic Hours?!

 

[catchmeifyoucan]

The week before leaving for Disney, I was working overnight shifts. Luckily I was scheduled to work with some of my favorite people at work, and the emergency room wasn’t too crazy busy that week. One of my co-workers, Rachel, who is also Disney-obsessed, was the staff clinician that night. As soon as I walked in and saw her, she looks at me and says, “guess who our only hospitalized patient is tonight??” I asked her who, and she said, “Belle Gaston!!!”

That’s right. My only hospitalized patient, on my last shift before Disney, was a dog named “Belle” Gaston. I thought to myself, “this is a sign!” I just had to make sure she stayed alive throughout my shift, otherwise it would not be a good sign!

Well the night ended up being fantastic and Belle survived, yay! I was beyond beyond excited to know that I was officially on vacation, but in a calm way. In a way that said, “I know I’m done, and I’m going to Disney, that’s right!!” It’s strange, but I even stayed around a little bit after rounds, to watch a little bit of an abdominal ultrasound that was going on. When I am not forced to be somewhere, I am a lot more willing to stay ☺

So I drove home and the weather was a little overcast and it was drizzling. Since I was coming off of an overnight, it was morning by the time I was driving home, and everyone else on the road was heading to work. I got home and fell asleep!

I woke up around dinner time, packed the last of my bags, wrote an excited comment about heading off to Disney the next morning on my PTR, and then fell asleep sometime around 12-1am.

Here is my cat, Rooney, laying on my Mickey Mail. He wishes he could come too!



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[catchmeifyoucan]

I woke up bright and early at 5am! Suuuuuper excited and didn’t even care that it was 5am, because it was Disney Day, baby!!!

My mom dropped me off at the airport, and when we were on our way I asked her, “is it weird that I am already feeling a little sad that my trip is almost over?” Well everyone else would say that I’m crazy, because I’m thinking too far into the future, but my mom pauses for a second, and says, “I see why you would think that.” Haha she knows my personality and how I have a history of thinking this way, so I guess she was not surprised at all that I would say that. I have a bad habit of thinking too much about the future, so I don’t really live in the present.

I was flying United, and the check-in line was a little longer than I’m used to, but I guess I usually don’t fly United, so I thought that it made sense, since United is such a large airline company. There were 4-5 hairpin turns of the check-in line, and each turn seemed to be taking 3-5 minutes, so I was not too worried about catching my flight on time, I figured the timing would end up being perfect. After checking in, there was a line just to get down to the security area. They had blocked off the escalator to get down to the security area, so I was standing in that line for awhile. There was one major hairpin turn to this line. I was in front of one family, and all of a sudden when they were at the peak of the turn, they stopped. I was talking on the phone with my mom, so I was a little distracted, but you could sense that everyone in line was already stressed. So this family just stops, and everyone ahead of them keeps moving. I could hear murmurs all around me, and I tried to motion to these people in front that they should keep moving. Then, all of a sudden, the line behind me starts to curve so they can keep up with the line, basically cutting me. I was like, “no way are you guys cutting in front of me on my way to Disney!” So I just followed them and cut in front of the family in front of me, since they weren’t moving. In the end, only about 5-10 people got ahead of me in line, so it wasn’t too big of a deal.

I guess this airport recently updated their security line area, because a ton of people ended up missing or being late for their flights! In my opinion, security was a little longer than I’m used to for that airport, but it was nothing that I was surprised about, because security in Denver frequently takes that long. Anyway this security system was a little strange because after you stand in one main line for awhile, you then have to choose between like 20 mini lines, and most people just pick the mini line closest to them, because it is not clear that there are more open if you keep walking. So, basically confusion all around.

I made it to my gate on time, and went to the agent desk, since I was not assigned a seat yet. My boarding ticket just said “see agent”. So I did, and said, “Hi! I’m here to get my seat assignment!” Then she says, “I don’t have a seat assignment for you.” Uh, what? So she tells me that the airline had overbooked their flight. My flight was scheduled to depart at 8:25am. I asked her when the next flight was, and she said “12:25pm. I’ll try to get you on that flight but there are no guarantees. Oh wait, no I see here that I already booked you on this flight.” Ok well good, I was thankful at least I got on that flight, because the one after that was leaving at 5:30! She said that the 8:25am flight was still not full. There were still about 20 people who they were waiting for, so if they do not show up, then I can get on the 8:35am flight. What didn’t make sense to me was how they can overbook the flight, but then not assign a seat to someone who is there first. Maybe those 20 people checked in online before me. The agent said that they have no control over this, and it might depend on when you buy your ticket. So I went to sit down next to a woman, and she told me that she had a seat assignment, was in line to board, and then once they scanned her ticket, told her that she no longer had a seat, and asked her to get out of line. What? How can that happen? I guess there was some glitch in the system, based on what I overheard.

So we sat there, hoping that no one else would come on the flight, so that we could get seats! We had about 15 minutes until the flight was scheduled to leave. Then one big wave of people would come, and all get in line, and I was keeping count. It was so cute because most of these passengers were families all decked out in Disney t-shirts, and the kids would have Disney luggage or stuffed Mickeys. There was one family all decked out in Mickey ears, and the dad was running and pushing a stroller, to try to make their flight. After the last passenger boarded, the woman who lost her seat (I don’t know her name, let’s call her Carla from now on) went to the desk and asked if there were any open seats left. Unfortunately, no (though something was off because based on my counts, there should have been like 5 seats left). Anyway, the good news is that the agent told me they would give me a reimbursement for being kicked off the flight. She said, you can either have a $400 travel voucher, or a $400 check. I’m thinking in my head, why would I prefer a travel voucher over a check? I said to her, “well I’ll take the check, right? I mean why would the travel voucher be better?” She said, “well some people who travel a lot might like the voucher”. Still, I travel a lot, what if your ticket ends up being $355? Then you’d have the hassle of dealing with that remaining $45. So I had to walk all the way over to the Customer Service desk, which was really far away. That line took forever, and everyone standing in line was in a bad mood because they had missed their flights due to the long security lines. There was one guy who said he travelled every month, and he has never missed a flight, so there evidently was something going on with TSA security. There was another old couple who was trying to go to Orlando to board a cruise, but they missed their flight and now United was going to fly them to one of the cruise stop ports so they could still have most of their trip! So getting the voucher took awhile, and I was standing in line with Carla’s husband. He said she was so frustrated that she had to go take a breather. I was not too concerned because I was going to get $400, I was guaranteed a seat on the next flight, and Mark would end up arriving only an hour before me anyway! If I would have gotten on the 8:35am flight, I would have had to wait around for 3 hours in MCO for Mark.

Carla and her husband were a funny couple. She was really stressing out and kept complaining about the situation, while he was incredibly laid back and just made the best out of the situation. When she was away, taking a "breather", he told me that he was nervous about how the rest of the trip would go for him, because he knew she would be in a bad mood!

I saw them later, having lunch, and they said to me, "Didn't United give you a lunch voucher?" I said no, and they said, "Go ask them for one! They gave us a $10 lunch voucher each!" Well gee thanks, Carla and husband! I went ahead and got something at Gordon-Biersch, with this fancy voucher. I got a Turkey Club Sandwich with fries and hot tea. It was good, and gave me a chance to start taking food pictures! I always feel like I'm in Disney when I'm taking pictures of my food! Haha!!



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[saintstickets]

I'm in! I must say you handled the flight problem much better than most people. I'm looking forward to your TR.

 

[catchmeifyoucan]

I'm in! I must say you handled the flight problem much better than most people. I'm looking forward to your TR.

Welcome! Yeah it was a little bit of a rough start to the trip! Thanks for joining in

 

[catchmeifyoucan]

BTW, United ended up giving me $531 as compensation for getting bumped off my flight! Mark and I were joking that we should use that to stay in the Grand Floridian for a night.

Haha, Im reading through my trip report notebook, and I made a funny note in there. I was at Target, doing some pre-Disney shopping, and overheard a father and his son. The dad was talking on his cell phone, and after he hung up, his son (who was maybe 8 years old) said, Daddy, why were you pretending to be at work? The dad was like, I didnt want him to think. . . (but then he trailed off and I couldnt hear what he said).

Anyway, my flight was pretty normal, it went well. Im pretty sure I took a nap on the flight because thats what always happens. Then we landed in MCO!! Mark was waiting for me at my gate, we were so ecstatic! I ran over to him and we hugged and jumped up and down because we were here! I had my Disney documents all organized in a folder, and Mark was super impressed with my organization, because I was able to easily pull out my folder and find the map to direct us to the Magical Express.









We rode the fake-o-rail, and easily found our way to the ME line. It was a pretty long line, but we didnt mind waiting at all! It was like a dream come true and I couldnt believe that we were there. At the beginning of our trip, and already surrounded by Disney!






Our beautiful ME motorcoach

Everyone on the bus was really excited, which made it even more fun! This was Marks and my first time ever on the ME, which means it was the first time watching the welcome video! I loved it.


Mark is excited to be heading to Disney!


Passing under the Disney sign

We stopped first at Caribbean Beach, then the 2nd stop was Pop Century, our hotel! When we pulled up, there was a CM (her name was Carrie too, I think) with a hand-held bubble machine! There was also a red carpet. Very fancy.



In the Pop Century lobby, there was even a CM handing out lemonade! She was standing behind a table with a big pitcher of lemonade, and there were lots of little glasses with lemonade in them. I had some, it was really good. Not too sweet, because sometimes lemonade can be too sweet.



I had requested a room in the 60s section, and we got it! Mark and I got our check-in packets, then went to Everything Pop to get our mugs and filled them up! I was kind of in a magical daze at this point, because all the Disney magic was already hitting me from every angle and I was feeling very happy.



We then walked over to our room, and unpacked. Mark wanted to get going right away, but I made us unpack because I knew it would be even harder after a day at the parks!


Here's our room. It was on the ground floor. No towel Mickey head However, we did get little towel animals that were in our windowsill.

Our plan for the night was to go to Hollywood Studios. We took the bus, and enjoyed our first Disney bus experience! Our first stop was to get fastpasses for Tower of Terror.





After our ToT fastpasses were secured, we headed on over to Pizza Planet for dinner.

Mark got a cheese pizza with Caesar salad, chocolate milk, and a chocolate chip cookie. I got a cheese pizza with Caesar salad, apple juice, and a cappuccino cupcake. It was good, I love a good Disney cheese pizza. My favorite is still always from Pizzafari though. Im not sure why that is. I dont know if the pizza really is better there, or maybe its just always more refreshing since Animal Kingdom is hotter than the other parks, and Im always more worn out when we eat there.





We ate outside, with a good view of the Muppets fountain, and watched people walk by, in Disney! We were in Disney and everything was perfect.

We went to watch the Muppets show, which we had never seen before. I remember I was really tired at this point, since I had been up since 5am that morning. Next we went to use our ToT fast passes. I love this ride, though I always get nervous when we are in line. We sat in the front row, and it was scary, but really fun! The girl sitting next to me has a funny pose.



After riding ToT, we made our way over to the Osbourne Spectacle of Dancing Lights.



There were lots of people, and it was really crowded in the area leading up to the lights. Once we got onto the main streets though, it was not as bad. I really love this area of Hollywood Studios. I like walking around and feeling like I am in a fake little world, with all the shop fronts, and that little side street where there is a row of townhouses.



Mark and I got a Jalapeno cream cheese pretzel, which was a little dry. We sat down on a curb, listening to the Christmas music and watching the snow fall. It's funny. I felt like we were tucked away in a quiet, peaceful area of the world, where no one could bother us, and I felt like I was getting away with something, being there and away from work. I texted some pictures to my friend Connie, who is along the same lines of Disney-obsessed as all us Dis-ers!





After we hung out at the Spectacle of Lights for a little while longer, we made it out of Hollywood Studios, but stopped in the shops on the way. One of my favorite parts of going to Disney is walking through their gift shops and looking at all the Disney merchandise! We then hopped in line for a bus back to Pop Century. The line was really long. After we got back, we stopped in the Everything Pop store and did some more Disney merchandise window shopping. This became a favorite thing for us to do  walk through the Everything Pop store after we came home from the parks. It was a good way to keep the magic going : We then walked through the lobby and there are tons of vintage photos on the walls of the lobby. By the bathroom, Mark took a photo of a photo of guy that looks like his dad from the 70s. We headed back to our room, showered, I charged my camera, we watched an episode of Phineas and Ferb, and Mark sketched in his notebook.

Stay tuned for our first full day at the Magic Kingdom!

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[catchmeifyoucan]

Loved walking under this structure every morning!

Mark and I woke up this morning without much time to spare, and we only ate 2 small granola bars each for breakfast. We were able to make it to MK in time for rope drop, though! Its always mandatory to make it to MK rope drop at least once per trip!




I love the Emporium! It's so beautiful.


I love this photo of the girl sitting on her dad's shoulders, walking down Main Street towards the castle. It's so classic.



Our first ride was the Haunted Mansion. We decided awhile ago that we would make it our own little tradition to ride Haunted Mansion first thing in the morning. At first we were contemplating making Splash Mountain our first ride tradition, but decided against it since it might be cold, and we may not always feel like going on Splash so early. One of the other nice things about riding Haunted Mansion first is that its not busy at all. Seems like most people dont book it to Haunted Mansion right after rope drop!

Next up was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This was really fun, especially because the last time we went in March, the ride was down for maintenance. I love the theming of BTMRR! After a rough and tumblin' time on the mountains of the West, Mark and I headed on over for some splashin' good fun! We went to Splash Mountain, and sat in the front because we were the ONLY ones in the car. Lots of water got splashed in my face after we went down the waterfall.


Making our way over to Splash Mntn!




What a funny sign


Haha, I asked Mark why it looks like he's saluting someone, and he said that he was trying to put his hands up during the drop, but didn't want to let go of his backpack or something!

Next, we went over to Storybook Circus, and went into the Dumbo play-area/waiting-area to take a look. I think this may have been my first time riding Dumbo in Disney World!





Afterwards we went on the Barnstormer. Seems like every time I ride this, at the end of the ride, theres someone that I overhear saying, "is that it?" Haha. Agreed, it is a very short ride. I guess that's good though, for kids that might be really scared. Afterwards we took a look in the Big Top Souvenirs tent.



So since we didnt eat much that morning, we were REALLY hungry by 9:30am. However, no restaurants were open! Everything was opening around 11 for lunch, but we were starving at this point. So we went to the Bakery on Main Street. We got 2 yogurt parfaits and a bottled water, using 3 of our snack credits. We then sat on a curb on Main St, and people-watched. Mark said, "Its funny if you look at all these little kids being pushed in strollers, and pretend that they are royalty, being pushed by servants." And it was funny! Haha. Because these kids just sit in their strollers, and they have these bored looks on their faces, which is totally what royalty would look like.

Afterwards we headed on over to Tomorrowland. We rode Space Mountain. I don't know what it is about this ride, but I always get really dizzy, and my neck always gets strained on this ride. I think its a little too bumpy and jerky. I can't imagine what it was like before they did the re-furb!

We also met Push! I had never seen him before in real life, though I had watched tons of YouTube videos of him before.



Next we went to the Carousel of Progress. I love this ride. I don't know what it is, but it feels so nostalgic to me. And I really like the song too! Afterwards, we went to the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. I was the first one that they showed up on the screen! The showed an image of me, with a caption that said, "Has no idea where she is." At first I didn't realize it was me, then once I realized, I made myself look confused on purpose, haha.

Mark and I had never been to Stitch's Great Escape before. I was hesitant to do it, just because of all the reviews I've read here on the DisBoards. Mark wanted to go ride it, and I was interested, just because I had never been on it before. However, I warned him. So my review? I agree with the rest of the community. It was loud, and really dark for a really extended length of time. One of the other things that made me uncomfortable was just thinking about how all the kids on this ride were probably really scared, and how their parents probably did not know it was going to be this bad. I mean, I've never seen Lilo and Stitch, but this ride is very different from what I imagine the movie to be like. I think Disney should work on re-doing this ride.

Mark and I were still super hungry, so stay tuned for where we go to lunch (and how this affected our early Liberty Tree Tavern ADR).

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[ohboyx3]

Subscribing!

 

[rachel09985]

Great start and I love the photos! Looking forward to more!

 

[JulieODC]

Great start!!

We'll be heading to WDW the exact same dates this year, so I'm excited to see how the crowd levels are throughout your report!

 

[jane2073]

Great start! I can't wait to read more!
It is a pain that you had to get a later flight but the compensation almost makes it worth it. And it didn't seem to set you back on your plans too much.

 

[wiigirl]

Can't wait to hear more.

 

[catchmeifyoucan]

Subscribing!

Great to have you! Thanks for subscribing

Great start and I love the photos! Looking forward to more!

Thanks for the compliments! I love taking photos, especially in Disney! Glad to have you along for the ride!

Great start!!

We'll be heading to WDW the exact same dates this year, so I'm excited to see how the crowd levels are throughout your report!

Awesome! What a coincidence! I loved Disney at this time of year. The weather was perfect - during the day it was usually either shorts or pants weather, and you could be comfortable with a t-shirt. At night it was nice to have a long-sleeve top. I'll be sure to try to be extra detailed with the crowd levels for you!

Great start! I can't wait to read more!
It is a pain that you had to get a later flight but the compensation almost makes it worth it. And it didn't seem to set you back on your plans too much.

Thanks! Yeah, that whole airport fiasco in the morning was a little crazy! I have been bumped off flights before, and have not gotten compensated, so I was very pleased with my check I agree, in the end things totally worked out. Hopefully Carla's husband can say the same thing!

Can't wait to hear more.

Aw thanks! Glad to have you!

 

[catchmeifyoucan]

So finally, once the restaurants in MK were open for lunch, we headed on over to Caseys Corner because I was craving a chili cheese dog. I ended up getting a chili cheese dog with fries, a bottled water, and a brownie for dessert. Mark is not big on pork or beef, so I took my order to go, and we walked over to Columbia Harbour House. No, they didnt actually package it up like your typical to-go order . . . I dont even know if they do that, probably not, because its not like you will be bringing your Caseys Corner meal with you in the car, and driving it home to eat in front of the TV. That would be sad if you did. Or maybe it would not be sad, because it would mean that you lived close enough to the MK where this would be possible!

Anyway, we walked over to Columbia Harbour House with my Chili Cheese Dog meal, and Mark helped me carry it to the upstairs seating area. We both love CHH  for the food and the atmosphere. I really like sitting upstairs, especially when you get a seat by the window that looks out to the Haunted Mansion. Its a great people-watching area. I sat down at a table, with my food, and Mark went downstairs to order.

Mark ordered a Lobster Roll with chips, and got a chocolate milk and a chocolate cake (I think) for dessert. When he came back, he told me to open my bottled water and said he had a surprise. I opened the bottlecap, then he stuck a green Mickey crazy straw in my water! It was one of those crazy straws thats shaped like a Mickey head. Sorry I dont have a picture of the straw, or Marks food. But heres a photo of my Caseys Corner meal, taken in CHH! My food was really good, though it was a little cold.



Here's my hotdog from Casey's Corner! Very yummy

We finished eating at 1pm, however we had an early dinner ADR at LTT for 4:05pm! When I was making my ADRs, LTT was on the top of my list for places I wanted to eat. The only time they had available that day was 4:05pm.

After eating at CHH, we headed on over to Adventureland to take a ride on the Jungle Cruise. This was a good ride. The CM was very entertaining, and he was joking around with a little kid on the ride.



Mark and I then headed on over by LTT to hang out and watch the parade. It was nice to relax, and we got a pretty good shaded spot. I was very comfortable with the crowd level today; it was very low and manageable.


Mark's excited for the parade!


You can see behind us, that the crowds today were not bad at all


Hi ya, Pinoch'!!



After the parade, we stuck around the area and I ran around with my camera, taking pictures of everything I saw.









Look we found a lizard? Salamander? By the Liberty Bell!







I was still full from lunch at this point, and was trying to use mind control to make myself hungry again. Needless to say it did not work. Haha. Mark and I checked in to our ADR (first ADR of the trip, whoo!!) and were seated very quickly. Looking back I should have planned our meals a little better that morning, because we were not hungry at all for this meal 9 The problem was that we were sooo hungry in the morning, and then our lunch was a little too late and a little too heavy.

For those of you who don't know, Liberty Tree Tavern's dinner is served family-style. They bring out the dishes for the whole table, and refill the dishes as needed. The food was really good, even though we were still a little stuffed from lunch! My favorites were the mac and cheese, beef, and the root veggies. I ordered tea to drink, and I think Mark got a root beer :


Dinner rolls!


The "Declaration Salad"


I loved this mac and cheese!


The mashed potatoes and gravy were very good as well.


Green beans and root potatoes


Roasted turkey breast, carved beef, and sliced pork. My favorite was the carved beef! It was very flavorful and was cooked perfectly.


Johnny Appleseed cake with vanilla bean ice cream. I was less than impressed by this dessert. It just wasn't as decadent as I was expecting. I am not a big fan of very sweet desserts, and even for me, this wasn't as sweet as I was hoping it to be.


The whole table! Overall this was a fantastic meal and Mark and I were very sad that we were not as hungry at the beginning of it. Ah well, we still ate a lot and enjoyed it

We were in Disney during their free dining plan offer, so we got a free Quick Service Dining Plan, and paid to upgrade to the normal Disney Dining Plan. There was a family of 4 that was seated right next to us, and they had no idea how LTT did their dinner service that night. The server explained it to them, and I got the sense that they were like, ok&well I guess well eat here, since were here anyway& I just dont envy the dad when he finally looked at the final bill. Thats kind of an expensive dinner, especially for a family of 4. Ah well, theyre in Disney, so who can complain?

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[TuffyCatt]

Loving the TR so far! Can't wait for the rest! I love the food pictures - making me hungry, though!

Also, I think the lizardy thing you saw at the Liberty Bell was an anole. My dad LOVES looking for them when we are in FL, and makes a big deal over finding them.

 

[catchmeifyoucan]

Loving the TR so far! Can't wait for the rest! I love the food pictures - making me hungry, though!

Also, I think the lizardy thing you saw at the Liberty Bell was an anole. My dad LOVES looking for them when we are in FL, and makes a big deal over finding them.

Thanks! I'm glad you're here!!

An anole! Thanks! Sounds like anoles are like a version of Hidden Mickeys for your dad

 

[catchmeifyoucan]

When we were done with dinner, it was dark out, so we were just in time to watch the castle lighting ceremony. We headed over there, and took some pictures of the castle before the ceremony started. The sky looks so bright in this photo, but everything else looks so dark!



Getting closer to the castle lighting!


And there it is!!


And can I say, just. . . wow. . . ? I mean, I’ve seen photos of the castle lit up for Christmas before, but to see it in person? I just. I can’t even explain. . . It was so magical. And I like the skit that they perform beforehand too. But those Christmas lights on Cinderella’s Castle are like no other lights I have ever seen before. That splendor does not exist in the real world. I want them on my house. All the time. Ah perfection!

It was a drizzling a little rain during the lighting ceremony, so we pulled out our trusty Disney ponchos that we got during our last visit.

After Cinderella got her house all decorated for Christmas, I asked Mark what we should do. I told him that there were EMH from 10-1 that night in MK, and that Wishes was showing at 10pm that night. I gave him the option of 1) Go back to Pop and nap, then come back for EMH. Or 2) Stay until 10pm, watch Wishes, then go back and sleep and not stay for EMH. The bad part about option 1 is that we would then get back to the hotel late, therefore not get a good night’s sleep for the next morning. We were really tired at this point and knew that we had to take one of those options, because we would most likely not make it all the way through until 1am, and knew that running ourselves ragged on day 1 would only lead to sad times in the future ☹ We both decided on option 1.

Took a picture on Main Street on our way out of the MK.


Back at Pop!


We hopped on a bus to head back to Pop, and took a nap until 9pm. It was glorious, and I’m very happy we did it! We then headed back over to MK, feeling very refreshed. Only then did I realize that Wishes was at 8pm that night, not 10!! Not sure why I thought it was 10, maybe because in my mind Wishes is always shown right at park closing. Not true people, not true. So we missed Wishes, but we were there for EMHs, baby! And this was our first time experiencing EMH!

First thing we did was get Dole Whips! Ooh I love Dole Whips. We both got the pineapple + vanilla swirl. Sooo good.

Our first ride during EMH was the Haunted Mansion. The CM at the beginning of the queue entrance asked to see our Key To the World cards to make sure that we were staying on-site, and were actually allowed to be there for EMH. After we passed him, Mark said to me, “why’d they card us?” Uh, hello, Mark! I stared at him for awhile . . . giving him the benefit of the doubt. . . thinking maybe it’s just all the travel and the nap that made him hazy. I said, “do you really not know?” He said, “no.” I told him, “guess.” He said, “I don’t know, tell me.” I finally told him that EMH were only for people who were staying in a Disney resort, and he had to check our cards to make sure that we were staying in a Disney resort. Then Mark goes, “OH!!! Well why would we NOT come for EMH? Why were was this even up for debate earlier?”

Haha WHAT? I couldn’t believe that after all the trips that we have taken, he was just now getting the concept! The thing is, we had DEFINITELY discussed the concept of EMH on other trips. We had just stayed off-site previously, and since we were just going to one park per day (did not have park hoppers), we had planned in the past to go to parks that did NOT have EMH that day, to beat the crowds. I don't know what he thought EMHs were! That was soooo funny to me, that he didn’t realize the awesomeness of low crowds for EMH, and that now we were here! We were here, in Disney, staying in Pop Century, and we were in line for HM (aka one of our FAVORITE rides ever)!

Us, after Mark has just discovered one more thing that makes Disney awesome.


Next up we went on Peter Pan’s Flight. This is probably my #1 favorite ride in Fantasyland! The first time that I remember riding it was the summer after sophomore year in undergrad, aka not a kid, but still it all seemed so magical and real to me! I love when you are soaring over London and feel like you are so high above the city ☺ The soundtrack to Peter Pan is so nostalgic too, ahhhh love it!

Next up we went on the Winnie-the-Pooh ride, which was fun like always. Afterwards Mark and I headed on over to ride BTMRR! This ride is totally different at night; it feels faster at times, and it’s more mysterious. You can also see the partiers having a crazy time in the saloon when you ride this at night! We had a BLAST during our first EMH experience. I am also SO glad that we decided to nap ahead of time. Even though we missed Wishes (sad face), we felt so refreshed, and we were running around the MK like it was our own little paradise!

I got some more pictures of Cinderella's Christmas lights, up close.




Then it was time to head back to Pop. We just got to the bus stop while our ride to Pop was pulling away, so we had to wait a really long time for the next bus to arrive. Finally a bus arrived, but there were 2 elderly people in wheelchairs who were getting off the bus. This was taking awhile, and in the meantime a 2nd bus to Pop arrived! Some guy ran over to tell us that it’d be faster if we hopped on the 2nd bus. This ended up being a FANTASTIC choice, not only because we left a little sooner than that first bus, but mainly because our bus driver, Len, was the epitome of what a Disney CM should be. He told jokes the whole time, was VERY upbeat even though it was probably like, 1:30 am or later at this point, talked about Disney trivia, and you could just tell that he LOVED his job. He made the ride back to Pop so much fun! I almost didn’t want to get off the bus. But, get off the bus we did, and went to bed, anticipating our next morning at Epcot, baby!!

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