Our annual Christmas trip

rebelbuddhist

Mouseketeer
Joined
May 28, 2010
Started our trip today. Spent tonight at airport hotel watching Olaf's Frozen Holiday and Prep and Landing both for the first time to get ready. Flying tomorrow landing at MCO around 3:30. Only plan for tomorrow is the Ferrytales Fireworks Cruise with some monorail resort decoration viewing beforehand if time allows. This trip new things for us. Tiffins dinner, Trail's End brunch, Narcoossee's brunch, California Grill brunch, two dessert parties-- JBJB, Star Wars Galactic. Of course FoP and Nav'i River ride for the first time. Along with these new things will be our must do's during holidays-- Candlelight Processional, MVMCP, Epcot Festival of Holidays, resort decoration visiting and ADRs at our favorite places-- BoG, the Wave, LeCellier, Coral Reef, Yak & Yeti, Brown Derby, Mama Melrose's, Citricos, Tusker House. We know the crowds will be large, but we just slow down and enjoy the experiences we have. Only two of us and with the support of a DAP, we accomplish a lot even with large crowds. Had a little windfall this year, so we are splurging some at WDW and flying first class.. Will try to post daily reports if time permits.
 
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We are having a wonderful trip. Have had lots of extra magic from very helpful CMs. All our plans have worked out well and we have had to wait very little for rides or shows. The Ferrytale Fireworks cruise was a bit disappointing but we are both glad we did it once. FoP was absolutely great-- not worth a 210 minute wait but with our FastPass+ we all but walked on! Not sure why anyone would wait that long for anything at WDW? HS sure has upped its game for the holidays with decorations and projections. It may even be outdoing MK and Epcot this year. We are off to AK this am and the CP with NPH this evening. Oh! Hall of Presidents reopened? We had planned to skip it, but saw on YouTube the new minute or so and decided it doesn't spoil a otherwise great show. We will catch it in a day or so if it is a walk in-- won't wait any time to see it. Since not many are following this report, will probably just wait and do a summary when our trip is over.
 
Can not believe that today is the final day of our holiday trip! This trip was, all in all, a great one. We had no issues with MDE, our magic bands, our resort room, our ADRs or FastPass +. Everything went as smoothly as clockwork☺️.
We LOVED Flights of Passage and rode several times. Both of us think FoP has knocked TSMM and Soarin out of our favorite ride spot. Pandora other than FoP or maybe because of it was a bit underwhelming especially the bioluminescent plants at night.
There were some other "once and done" experiences also. Ferrytales Wishes is at the top of that list followed closely by Rivers of Light. The only difference is that RoL doesn't cost any additional $. On the other hand, Jingle Bells, Jingle Jam Dessert party was a great experience worth the extra money. We are ending our trip with the Starwars Gallactic Dessert Party tonight and hope it is on the order of JBJM. Hollywood Studios has sure upped its game for the holidays. The tiger cubs are cute, playful, and entertaining. Wish the same were true of all the human cubs and parents! ☺️ Our meals were all good, substantial food but none really stand out as excellent. It seems menu variety is on the downside. We were pleased we took the time to eat breakfast at Trail's End. That was an unexpected satisfying meal.
The crowds with the expected exception of 12/25 were large but manageable even from a wheelchair. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous-- lots of sunshine, few clouds, no rain, and mild temperatures the entire trip. Well, it's off to Hollywood Studios today and then pack up and fly home tomorrow. We may have come to the point that the dining plan may not be the best for us any longer especially with the inclusion of alcohol since we don't drink any. By the way although Narcoossees Sunday brunch was fine--nothing can top California Grill!
 


It was a good last day in the parks. We decided to spend the day at Hollywood Studios. Minnie's holiday party at H&V was much nicer this year than last. The Star Wars Gallactic Dessert party was ok, but goes into our once and done category. Crowds did not seem as large today as they were yesterday.
 

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