The Sweetest Little Disneymoon Ever! *4/25 Update! - Rise and Dine!*

[disneydreaminA115]

Hey there folks, nice to see ya! We just got back from our sweet little Disneymoon on Sunday and after finishing up some college finals and getting our toddlers used to not eating chocolate for breakfast and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse until midnight every day (thanks, Nana ) It's now time to start the trip report!

I'm sure you're all tired of hearing about the background of this trip, so I'll do a quick rundown, and if you're curious about the nitty gritty, check out the PTR in my siggy!

Who: DH and Me!

What: A Disneymoon!

Where: DISNEY of course! We stayed at the Grand Floridian in a theme park view room!

Why: Technically to celebrate an anniversary, but we never had a real honeymoon, so it was dual purposed

When: December 13th - December 16th. A short one, but it was wonderful none the less and I hope you'll join me in reliving some truly wonderful moments!

Are ya ready? Let's go!​

 

[disneydreaminA115]

The Sweetest Little Disneymoon Ever!​

Day 1​

Part 1: The Arrival​

Part 2: The Adventure Begins!​

Part 3: An Artistic Meal​

Part 4: A Wonderful Christmas Time​

Day 2​

Part 5: A Disappointing Breakfast​

Part 6: Retail Therapy​

Part 7: First Rides and Second Chances​

Part 8: A Taste of Africa​

Day 3​

Part 9: Rise and Dine!​

 

[disneydreaminA115]

Part 1: The Arrival​

On Wednesday night myself, DH, Looberry and Lovebug, and Nana got together with my brother to celebrate what has become the annual tradition of pizza, tree trimming, and watching A Muppet Christmas carol. It never really feels like Christmas until we do this. We wrapped the candy-colored Christmas lights around the tree and DH had the honor of topping it with the star. The clock struck 8, and even though thats usually only the beginning of the night for DH and I (since he works until 11:30 usually) we had to get the girls to bed and get some sleep ourselves, since we had a very, very early morning.

We tucked the girls in and I gave them approximately a thousand and thirty five kisses, squeezed them about five minutes too long for their liking, and told them I loved them a dozen times. This would be the last time Id see them for 4 whole days. I know, I know so what? Its only 4 days. Ive never been away from my kids for more than 12 hours, and that was only twice since they were born. This was a big step for me. I knew that they would be perfectly fine with their Nana, and they probably wouldnt even realize I was gone for two days anyway Nana has that effect on them. But I would realize I was gone, all the way across the country for half a week. I had to get in all the kisses I could!

By 9:00 we finished packing our small bags and preparing our carry ons and hit the hay. 5am comes very early to these night owls!

Surprisingly we woke up mostly well rested and excited we were going on our second, but first REAL, Honeymoon! DISNEY WORLD HERE WE COME!
We quickly brushed our teeth and packed our toiletries, gave Nana the list of phone numbers and emergency information, kissed her goodbye. I stopped outside the Twincesss bedroom and prayed for peace and protection over them, and then were out the door leaving our little loves sleeping soundly for another few hours.

The morning was cold but clear and wintry, it was perfect. The skies were still pitch black when we rolled through Tim Hortons for our coffee, and we got to watch the fiery sunrise peaking to our left as we made the trip to the Buffalo Airport.

(Obligatory crack of dawn driving photo)

We checked in and got our boarding passes, breezed through security and made it to our terminal with an hour to spare. It was busy, and I could tell it was going to be a full flight, but the gate was filled with excited children and surprisingly happy parents. I had a peace about the trip and all the anxiety Id experienced the day before had melted away with the morning frost.


The made the boarding call a few minutes earlier than we anticipated, and despite some delays caused by those who somehow still havent managed to understand the concept of turning off electronics, we were in the air two minutes before our scheduled departure. A good sign!

The plane began the journey down, down, down, crossing over mountain range after mountain range, still adorned with a shimmering crown of clouds. I am double majoring in Communication/Rhetoric and Geology, so poor DH was forced to endure my constant oh! and ah! as I pointed out the different cloud formations and atmospheric wonders clearly humoring my fascination and amusement, for the most part.

We flew with JetBlue, whom I make it a point to fly with usually. The flight was decent with the exception that there was a ton of turbulence almost the entire way down. At one point over South Carolina we flew above a thunderstorm and I was fascinated to see the motion of the clouds beneath us, but we experienced a few pretty substantial dips and jolts, which eventually put me into a state of prayer and deep breathing techniques. I used to love flying until I had a very scary and turbulent flight once in San Diego, and it severely impaired my enjoyment of flying, but I digress.

I noticed the attendants beginning to come around with the snack carts, so I lowered my pull down tray and found that it, as well as the tv screen were really gross, absolutely caked in dried goo. It looked as though someone had splashed a cup of soda on the back of the seat in front of me and let it dry. I showed the stewardess and she remarked Ill get you a wet nap rather rudely. I had to ask her about 3 more times before I finally got one. Not up to par with the kind of service I have come to expect from JetBlue, but everyone has an off day so Ill cut them some slack.

I love that we get the Terra chips on JetBlue though! This time they were different; apparently theyve begun to add sweet potato chips to the bags along with the blue potatoes. They were good, though a little bit tougher to chew, and I still prefer the regular blue chips. They also had caramel popcorn chips, which I may have to try and find when I get home they were delicious! Similar in concept to a caramel flavored rice cake but saltier and lighter, and obviously made of popcorn. Yum!

I worked on a few final assignments for college and before I knew it we were getting ready to land, and the real magic would begin!

(Obligatory MCO terminal tree photo)

We landed without event and found our way to the DME where we ran into, surprisingly, an ENORMOUS crowd of people doing exactly the same thing. Now, I dont know if its because of the new Fantasyland opening, but last year when I visited at this exact time the parks were dead just like ALL the travel books said they would be. This year is completely opposite. There are crowds everywhere! We waited about 40 minutes (!) before we were finally able to board the DME and then found that we were last on the list of stops.

SQUEE!!

We entered the MK resort area quickly and began dropping off the rest of the bus - First the Wilderness Lodge, then the Contemporary, then the Poly, and finally us The Grand Floridian! It was a long trip but it didnt matter, we were here, alone, in DISNEY, about to have unbridled fun for the next 4 days. Very little could damper this day!

(Isn't he cute?!)


We finally pulled into the GF and were greeted by a very efficient cast member who led us to the check in counter.

And just as I'd been dreaming, the GF took my breath away, completely decked in Christmas splendor.

we got to the counter and begun our check in process. I had been calling for weeks, if not months, ever since I booked the GF to request a certain room. Id done hours (literally, yall) of research into which rooms had the best castle view, because I really didnt want to get stuck with a rubberneck castle view and a dead on view of Space Mountain. I finally settled on room 7331, so I made sure that I got that request in very nicely! I was anxious though, because I know no room request is ever guaranteed. As luck would have it, it wasnt guaranteed. I did not, the CM said, get room 7331 because it wasnt available. BUT I had room 7329, if that was acceptable. YES! Woo hoo! I just hoped now that it wasnt a tree room that Id heard so much about.

So DH and I grabbed our things and made the trek past the Gingerbread house and around the Sugar Loaf building to Conch Key, climbed the.. uh& elevator (HA), and meandered down the hall until we found our room.

We opened the door and I sighed a sigh of pure contentment. No matter the view at this point, the room was just lovely.

(I loved these sweet touches)

And was especially fond of this rather iconic painting

And the balcony! Oh the balcony! I could see even from the front door that it was wide and open exactly what Id been hoping for.

So what about that view? Well, you tell me!

I LOVE IT! Ahhhh so perfect!! We look STRAIGHT at it from across the water!! I was worried because in some pictures the castle looked tiny and far away in the distance, and I noticed the same thing when I tried to take a picture, so I took the above picture zoomed to a point where it looks true to life as far as the size that it looks to my naked eyes from my room. Its beautiful!

(Narcoossee's from our room!)

So now it was 1:30 and we were starved and ready for action, it was time to head to the Magic Kingdom!
​

Continued In Next Post​

 

[disneydreaminA115]

Hey y'all! I'm about to post Part II to day one, but if you're out there - speak up! I need some moral support here!

 

[brandihead2012]

Im here ....... Ppossstttt!!

​

 

[Disney9.9.10]

I thought I had already commented on this, but apparently not! Anyway, I'm here! The GF is my favourite resort, so I can't wait to see all of your pictures!

 

[disneydreaminA115]

Part 2: The Adventure Begins!​

We emptied out our heavy carry on items from the backpack and loaded it up with only the essentials (which including our sweaters because it was in the mid 50s and windy) and then headed down to the boat dock. I had been determined to stay on a monorail resort for the convenience, but it turned out that the boats were just a small hop away from our room, and the monorail was all the way across the resort, so we ended up using the boats much more often, which was just fine with me!

The GF boat dock

Look, its our room!

Once we reached the MK we first headed over to Guest Services and received our tickets for the Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party that night before finally heading into the park. We walked under the brick arches and found ourselves in the middle of Main Street USAs Christmas. It was absolutely LOVELY! I had purchased a new camera on Black Friday especially for this and began snapping away.

We were starving, and I decided to check and see if we could get in for lunch at Be Our Guest (stop laughing, I can hear you!), so we made our way through the crowds and into the New Fantasyland. Sadly however, as you have probably figured, the line was well beyond the main entrance to the new Fantasyland section, and if I had to guess I would say that it probably would have taken close to two hours to get in.

So! How do you feel about a hot dog? I spun around and asked DH

Hot dogs sound great. Lets go.

And we were off to Caseys! Now, dont ask me why that was the place I decided to go to. Maybe it was desperation due to starvation, and I knew it would be almost instant food in our bellies. Or maybe it was the fact that everything else I could think of was too heavy of a meal to be eating three hours before our ADR later that night. Probably a combination of the two.

Since we didnt use the DDP this time I didnt get a free mug, so I bought one! Which I ended up being glad about since the resort mugs hadnt changed from the last time we were here.

Caseys was busy but fast, and we didnt stand in line more than 2 minutes before we got our order in. Before long we were handed a tray with our chili cheese dogs, fries, and a mug of Sprite. We scarfed them in record time and basked beneath the vulturous gazes of the birds. No, birds, you cannot.

To be honest, it wasnt the worst chili dog Id ever had. Certainly wasnt the best, but I was more than satisfied  impressed even, given the location and the mass production involved.

As we let our food settle for a bit we discussed what to do next. We were chosen to be part of the FastPass+ test and our time at the Haunted Mansion was quickly approaching, so that was where we decided to head first.

I don't know how many of you have seen this new concept, but I love it! Especially the pretty little machines that light up as you scan them. (Yes, these are the things that excite me!) We walked right in to the car room (Is there an official name for that?) but it took about 15 minutes to actually get on the ride from there. It was packed and hot and sweaty, and I was starting to get a little skeeved out by the time we got in our buggy, and I was grateful for the cool wind through the ride.

I had been on the Haunted Mansion ride twice before so I knew what to expect, but this was DH's first time. He told me when we got off that he didn't care for it; he said that he found it to be too dark for his tastes. I wondered about that, as we try to stay away from ghosts/demons, but since it was a silly Disney ride I didn't think it would be bad. Apparently I was wrong. That's okay, it's not one of my favorite rides so I'm not heartbroken that he probably won't go on it again.

At this point we were out of FastPasses, since we had missed the two before it, so we decided to go BACK to the new Fantasyland area. I had wanted to explore it and this was our only day here at the MK, and I wasn't sure if we'd have time later that night with everything else going on. Once we got over there we found that the line for The Little Mermaid was over 2 hours long, so I knew it wouldnt be happening. Instead we browsed the new gift shop and I grabbed a mug of LeFous Brew at Gastons. The restaurant seems small at first glance, but the seating wings on either side of the counters make it actually rather spacious. The decorations are true to the movie, dark woods and antlers abound. We were full from lunch but the pork shank (which to me sounded very out of place given the rest of the menu had a bakery theme) smelled delicious and I was impressed by how big they were upon seeing other people carrying them out.

The drink itself was a little bit awkward for me, if Im honest. The base was mulled and creamy tasting while the weird foam on top was sweet, tangy, and a little citrusy. It was good, but not my favorite drink on property, and I dont think Id go out of my way to get one again. Nevertheless Im glad I had the opportunity to try it.

At this point the crowds started to fill in once again, and DH told me he was anxious to get his favorite MK snack, so we headed in the direction of Adventureland. We hadnt gotten very far, maybe 50 feet or so, when a commotion caused us to pause and look around. To our immediate right, no more than five feet from us, a man had raised his voice at another man; they were encircled by a large group of moms and kids in strollers. It became clear that this group was all together, most likely family of some sort. At first it sounded like they were joking around but within seconds the first man began screaming something about the other man being a punk cop, and before anyone had time to process what was happening he began punching and attacking the second man (the apparent cop). The first man lunged at the second man and he fell backwards into the group of children and babies in their strollers (with the previously mentioned moms). Chaos broke lose. Moms were screaming and crying, yelling for the first man to stop, and trying to hit him enough to break his hold on the cop. Soon other men tried to pry him off of the cop (who remained defensive but never on the offense). Women were trying to shield the small children from being crushed by the toppling men, and before I knew it my mama bear instincts kicked in; I lunged to grab a stroller with two little toddlers that was being pushed forward by the mass of bodies in time to catch it, and pulled it away from the fight, placing myself between them and the violent crazy man.

Finally someone was able to get the man off the cop and he stopped attempting any further assault. Then I watched him scoop up two little kids, whom it turns out were his, and start screaming at the distraught and horrified group that he warned his sister about him (the cop) and that she better shut up or hed beat her (insert swear word here) too. The mother of the kids in the stroller I had grabbed rushed over crying to retrieve her children, and she hurried away to join the rest of the group who were now distancing themselves from their violent group member.


The crazy man began pacing around the area with his kids in tow still yelling profanities despite their sobbing and obvious terror. I had to fight every instinct not to grab them out of his arms. Whoever this man was, he is not fit to be taking care of children. A CM was on the phone with security and maintained an approximate 10 foot distance between himself and this crazy guy, never getting too close, but never letting him get too far away from his sight.

Within minutes a swarm of security guards and police were there and they were questioning the assaulting party. I felt assured that there were plenty of people standing around who witnessed the fight that they had enough information sources, so we decided to move on and not let our anger at this mans behavior ruin our afternoon.

PSA: We learned as children that you do not solve your problems with violence, and as adults we should know better tenfold. If you are the kind of person who has not matured enough to grasp this concept, do us all a favor and STAY HOME. Whoever you are, you should be absolutely ashamed of yourself. You traumatized no less than a dozen children that day, including your own. Grow up and stop being so selfish!
*stepping off soap box*

So where were we? Oh, right, on our way to Aloha Isle! We chatted about how unbelievable the events we just witnessed were and attempted to put our Disney colored glasses back on. (I wish I could say that this was the only instance of crappy-fathering that we would witness on this trip, but sadly it wasnt. More on that later.)

We sauntered past Sleepy Hollow again, the smell of fresh waffles tempting me with all of their being, but I knew we had a dinner to go to soon and I would NOT ruin it! Soon we were passing beneath the Adventureland sign and made our way to the Aloha Isle counter. DH ordered a Dole Whip Float with orange and vanilla swirl ice cream; I still had my drink from Gastons, so I chose just to mooch off of DH instead of getting my own. It was delicious, as usual! This remains one of DHs top favorite snacks from the World, and its one of mine too! I admit, they taste better when the air outside isnt as cold as the drink, though.

Satisfied with our treats we decided it was time to head back to the boat dock to catch the ferry to our dinner ressie, so back down Main St. we went, pausing for a few moments to listen to the Dapper Dans singing Christmas carols and basking in the Holiday atmosphere that Disney embraces so well.

Soon we were at the docks with the Kingdom behind us, eager and ready for our first Disney dinner!

​

Continued In Next Post​

 

[disneydreaminA115]

Im here ....... Ppossstttt!!

​

Thank you!! I feel less like I'm sitting around talking to myself now :

I thought I had already commented on this, but apparently not! Anyway, I'm here! The GF is my favourite resort, so I can't wait to see all of your pictures!

Thank you! We LOVED the GF! I think I'm spoiled now, I'll never want to stay at anything but a Deluxe resort again!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Wow that is a lot of drama! I'm glad that security was on it so that nobody got hurt in the park, but I am afraid for some of those people when they are behind closed doors. Your idea to try Be Our Guest isn't crazy! We tried the same thing on our trip and actually got in! It was a smaller line and only took about a half an hour to eat. It was absolutely worth it, hopefully you will get in at some point!

 

[disneydreaminA115]

Wow that is a lot of drama! I'm glad that security was on it so that nobody got hurt in the park, but I am afraid for some of those people when they are behind closed doors. Your idea to try Be Our Guest isn't crazy! We tried the same thing on our trip and actually got in! It was a smaller line and only took about a half an hour to eat. It was absolutely worth it, hopefully you will get in at some point!

Yes! The wrong kind of drama for a family park like that. I do think the "cop" (but he wasn't in uniform) got a bloody nose, but I couldn't be certain. I agree with you, it's obvious that that guy has an anger problem and it breaks my heart for his kids.

I'm so jealous/happy for you! I had wanted to eat there SO badly! I tried to make reservations the day it opened, but I never saw the revision to the website when they changed the time from Noon to 7am, so by the time I realized it was already open all the slots were gone for our weekend. I admit, I cried! But next time for sure.

 

[Splashboat]

Just so you know - - - - we are lurking out there even if we don't write.

 

[disneydreaminA115]

Part 3: An Artistic Meal​

We spotted the boat that was headed to the Wilderness Lodge just as the CM was attaching the rope; running and waving our hands we shouted, “Wait! Wait! Can we get on!?” We knew that if we missed this boat we would be substantially late for our reservation. Fortunately the Captain nodded to the CM and she let us through. Phew!! We squeezed past the mass of people who were huddled in the warm cabin back to the open air seating in the back where we cuddled together, and braced against the ever chilling wind.

The ride from the MK to the WL was really lovely; I enjoyed cruising around the Contemporary as I’d never seen it from this angle before. Someday I WILL stay there for New Years!

We quickly made it to the WL and I was struck again by how beautiful it was during Christmas. Someday I will definitely be staying here for the holidays.

We were about 5 minutes late for our reservation by the time we got to Artist Point’s podium, but “no big deal!” the hostess assured us. She took down our names and led us up the small ramp.

It would be just a few minutes before our table was ready, she said, so we waited along the railing just taking in the view. It was at this point that we witnessed the second act of crappy parenting. A father was walking through the doors with his, absolutely no more than, 5 year old son. We don’t know what exactly the problem was, but the words “d-bag”, “little s*** stick”, and “I hate you” were all uttered in the 10 seconds it took him to walk past us with a dejected little boy in tow. I don’t care how bad your child was, I don’t care if he just set the white house on fire, those should never, ever be words any child hears from their parent. It angered me and broke my heart at the same time. Do people not understand the damage they do to their children when they speak to them like this? Somewhere I hope that little boy is being gushed over by his other family members so much that those words fade in his mind.

*disappointed sigh*

We were still shaking our heads when our table was ready, but we put it behind us and determined to enjoy our dinner regardless of what happened. This was our honeymoon after all!

We were seated and introduced to our very nice waiter, although I can’t remember his name for the life of me, who then brought us some complimentary anniversary/honeymoon champagne with our bread. We thought it was a very thoughtful touch! Although I admit we like our champagne sweet, so I’m not sure it was all finished, but we toasted with it and that was good enough!

We perused the menu for a few moments, but that’s really all it took. Nothing on the appetizer list looked good to me except maybe the Smokey Portobello soup, and only because I’ve been listening to people RAVE over it forever on the boards. Still, I am not a fan of mushrooms. I liked the flavor, I thought, because I like cream of mushroom soup and etc, but I didn’t know if that was really the way mushrooms tasted, or if it was just completely watered down. The idea of eating a whole bowl of mushrooms didn’t really appeal to me, to be frank.

When the waiter came back he took our entrée orders, but before leaving asked if we were sure if we didn’t want an appetizer. I explained to him that no, the only thing I would even be interested in trying was the soup, but that I couldn’t justify spending $10 on something I wasn’t even confident I would eat. He said he understood and left to put our orders in.

A few short moments later, though, he came back carrying these!

Two “sample” sized bowls of the soup! Compliments, he told us. Amazing! We were SO impressed. Not only that they had been kind enough to send me out a very decent sized sample, but that they also brought one for DH as well, and he didn’t even ask! There was about a cups worth of soup here; very generous!

So what did I think?

DELICIOUS! A resounding “Oh my gosh, this is amazing!” came from both of us. You were all right. Even if you don’t like mushrooms, GET THE SOUP! It was unbelievably creamy and savory, the crunch from the mushrooms on top was really lovely, and the oil finished it off beautifully. Had our entrees not come out a few moments later we probably would have gone ahead and ordered this with a few more baskets of bread But alas, they did. And I’m glad we didn’t change our minds! (Although I do still wish we’d just added the soup on now.)

My meal was the All-Natural Kurobuta Pork Tenderloin with Yukon gratin, Root spinach, Heirloom moonshine apple ketchup, and pomegranate pork jus.

Look how festive it is! I thought the plating was just perfect. Everything on my plate was delicious, especially the potatoes. I am a meat and potatoes kind of girl all day long and twice on Sundays, and this did not disappoint. The pork may have been a touch over-cooked for my liking, but overcooked is better than undercooked with it comes to pork, so I wasn’t complaining.

DH ordered the Slow-roasted buffalo strip steak with Zellwood corn-sausage hash, Yukon gold potato smear, and blackberry pinot noir reduction.

He loved this! He said really enjoyed the steak, although I thought I’ve had and cooked better steaks myself, but he liked it and that’s all that mattered. I REALLY loved the onions that came on the side though, they were incredible!

We declined dessert as we were about to get our fill of it in just a while, although in hindsight I almost wish we’d gotten the berry cobbler everyone talks about. Oh well; next time! We finished up our food and paid our check, being sure to leave a nice tip and note of thanks on the receipt for our waiter who made our first night truly special for us.

I was hesitant about coming to AP because the menu didn’t look all that appetizing before, but I am SO glad that I did, and I definitely will be coming back, you can be sure of that!

We thanked the staff again and slowly made our way through the lobby where I stopped to snap a few more pictures.

Then we were on our way back to the boat dock; we had a party to get to!



Continued In Next Post​

 

[brandihead2012]

Great update More pictures of you and your man, So cute

I must try Dole Whip, never have, tell me about the flavor... im guessing it is orange?

Love the Gaston Mug, I will be buying that since he is my Villein crush.

Bummer about BOG, The boyfriend and I are going in March and I made our ADR for dinner our last day . But I am going to try to do lunch there as well.

So nice about your dinner at Artist Point. Sometimes CM can make a trip. HOWEVER, your a much better person than me. I think with all the crazy things happening in the world, parents needs to step up there game and treat Children like Children.

Anywho, looking forward to reading more.

 

[disneydreaminA115]

Great update More pictures of you and your man, So cute

I must try Dole Whip, never have, tell me about the flavor... im guessing it is orange?

Love the Gaston Mug, I will be buying that since he is my Villein crush.

Bummer about BOG, The boyfriend and I are going in March and I made our ADR for dinner our last day . But I am going to try to do lunch there as well.

So nice about your dinner at Artist Point. Sometimes CM can make a trip. HOWEVER, your a much better person than me. I think with all the crazy things happening in the world, parents needs to step up there game and treat Children like Children.

Anywho, looking forward to reading more.

Thanks for the comment, it really is encouraging!

Dole whips are predominantly pineapple juice, but you can get vanilla, pineapple, or orange ice cream mixed with it. I prefer pineapple and vanilla. Kind of pineapple creamsicle, if you can imagine that We love them!

I hope you get into BOG! A friend of ours went to disney the week after we got home and they got walk up ressies for DINNER! I was beyond jealous. lol

Thanks for reading along!

 

[brandihead2012]

Aww well, we can be friends Im Brandi and live in michigan woth my dear boyfriend Zac I have a ptr but it is mostly me just talking away hope you have a great new years

 

[Disney9.9.10]

I really need to eat there some time. The pictures always look so great. I hope that you do get to stay at CR for New Years and WL over the holidays one day! That parent sounds horrible. Being through what I have, I have zero tolerance for people treating their children like that.

 

[disneydreaminA115]

Part 4: A Wonderful Christmas Time!​

We sauntered back down the lovely wooden trail to the dock where we waited with a large group of people who were also going to the Very Merry Christmas Party. I was so excited to finally experience this! Last year we had purchased tickets, but unfortunately because of a bad night with the girls we ended up missing it. This year we were going to experience it! The boat docked and we raced through the gates, excited to get the party started.

The air was thick with Christmas spirit and I couldn’t contain my giddiness. Main Street was completely aglow with Christmas lights, and the magic of Disney had conjured a light beautiful “snow” which seemed to swirl with the Christmas music that was playing over the speakers. It was a Christmas wonderland!

If we thought the crowds were bad earlier, they were nothing compared to what we were seeing now. It was shoulder to shoulder all the way up to the castle. Most people were party guests, but some were the normal park guests that they were still trying to escort out of the park. All of the spots on the sidewalk were already taken by parents who were spread out saving their places for Wishes, which was set to start in just a while.

We pushed our way past the crowds and made our way into Tomorrowland. We had about 45 minutes before the Dessert Party was supposed to start, so we went on some rides right around the area, Stitches Great Escape, The Peoplemover, and Buzz Lightyear. Stitch was my least favorite, I kept waiting for *something* to happen, and was honestly disappointed with the ride/show. Stitch is one of my favorite characters, I was expecting something a little crazier! The Peoplemover was awesome, but those kinds of rides are almost always my favorites. We didn’t have very much time after that, so we headed back to the Tomorrowland Terrace to get in line for the party.

Our tickets were for 8:15, so we got there around 8:10. 5 minutes went by, and then 10, then 20, then 30, and then FINALLY a CM showed up to open the gates. I don’t know what was going on, but there were people waiting there since 8pm who were awfully mad about waiting until 8:45 to get in.

I admit I was pretty disappointed right off the bat. For some reason I had thought that the terrace was on an upper level, so the fact that it was just ground level seemed to make it less “special” somehow.

I mentioned how chilly it was before, but now it was straight up freezing. I checked the weather and it read something close to the low 40’s, and just our luck, the wind was starting to pick up!

First order of business was to get some hot chocolate! Okay, I’m lying. The first order of business was to race up to the buffet to get pictures for you all

My plates! I’m fairly certain I got some of everything, so starting with the plate on the left, from “12 o’clock” and working clockwise we have the mango shooter, a chocolate and peanut butter tart, an apple pie tart, a fresh fruit tart, a key lime tart, chocolate covered strawberries, crème brulee, and a cannoli.

On the second plate going the same way we have a chocolate chip cookie, a brownie, cheesecake mousse (I think?) , a cupcake, some kind of cappuccino mousse (again, I think?), and a rice krispy treat.

The chocolate covered strawberries were good, as was the mango shooter and the cannoli, the peanut butter tart was good, but the crust was a little bit soggy, but I found this to be true for all of the tarts, especially the apple and the fruit tart, which I didn’t think were very good at all. The key lime tart was incredibly bland as well. The crème brulee was mediocre. The cookie, brownie, cupcake, and rice krispy treat were all subpar and I only took a small bite of each of them. I have very little memory of the two mousses here, so I’m going to go ahead and say that they weren’t good either.

Overall I was pretty disappointed with the desserts. It was nice having somewhere to sit and watch the fireworks without fighting the crowds, but the food was definitely not worth the price. I REALLY wished I had ordered the dessert at AP. Oh well!

We went to refill our cups of hot chocolate and realized we still had close to an hour until Wishes was supposed to start, so we huddled up in our chairs sipping our quickly cooling beverage, growing colder by the minute. 20 minutes passed and we were shivering like crazy, our fingers were freezing and the wind was really picking up. It was pretty miserable in our thin little hoodies. We looked at each other and I knew we were having the same thought.

“Do you want to just go back to the room and watch the fireworks from our own balcony?”

“Yep! Let’s go!”

So we made a beeline for the monorail (since we saw the boats weren’t running because of the Water Parade) and made it back to the room just as the show started. What a good decision! I felt bad that we had essentially thrown away $60 dollars, but we had a full on view of the castle from our room and the music was loud enough to feel like we were standing right there! We pulled the couch in front of the open sliding doors and snuggled up together. We could hear every note and every word, and when the fireworks started we had the most amazing view. All from the comfort of our warmed room! We both agreed it was fantastic, and for the next 3 hours we lounged around with the doors still wide open, as the party continued. DH took a long soak in the tub while I updated my notes and uploaded some pictures to the soundtrack of the Very Merry Christmas Party. It was amazing. I was in a state of blissful contentment. Around 12:30 we checked on the girls (who were sleeping peacefully) through their wi-fi nursery monitor (man, I love technology!) and then we closed up our curtains and called it a night. Tomorrow was another fun filled day!



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[disneydreaminA115]

I really need to eat there some time. The pictures always look so great. I hope that you do get to stay at CR for New Years and WL over the holidays one day! That parent sounds horrible. Being through what I have, I have zero tolerance for people treating their children like that.

Have you ever stayed at either of those resorts or been there during the holidays? The WL is just gorgeous. I love it. Yes, he was. Lately I've been in the habit of confronting people, but I didn't want to get that worked up on my Honeymoon. I just don't understand why you would do that kind of thing, especially at Disney. So sad.

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Have you ever stayed at either of those resorts or been there during the holidays? The WL is just gorgeous. I love it. Yes, he was. Lately I've been in the habit of confronting people, but I didn't want to get that worked up on my Honeymoon. I just don't understand why you would do that kind of thing, especially at Disney. So sad.

I've never stayed at either of those resorts - both are on my bucket list lol But I've visited them during different parts of the year. I don't blame you for not wanting to get worked up on your honeymoon, and if you did, it probably wouldn't change anything anyway… it is really sad.

 

[disneydreaminA115]

You're so right. I think it's funny that you and I were there (in The World) at the same time!!

Hello, lurkers! Why don't you come on out and say hi? I'd love to make some DisFriends!