"There's a great big beautiful tomorrow..." Christmas 2014 Trip report ~~update 1/9

[1stvisit0909]

Hi and Welcome!

We just returned from our WDW Vacation at Coronado Springs Resort from 12.20-12.26.2014. Overall we had a great trip, but there were a few bumps and snags along the way. This was our third family trip to WDW Resort, and our second Christmas time trip.

First Introductions: Here's the fam as we left our house at 6 am 12.19 to start our drive from our home to Orlando.

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Me: Planner of this crew. This trip also fell over my birthday! That was totally awesome.

Hubby: Along for the ride and pretty much game to do whatever I ask him too.

DD13. Thinks she's too old for princesses, but totally dig's villains.

DD9: Still loves princesses (truly, this one always will).

 

[1stvisit0909]

Arrival at Coronado Springs Resort

First Park of the Trip: Soaking time on Kali River Rapids!

Day 1 Continued: Pool Time at the Dig Site

Day 1 Continued: Hollywood Studios

Day 1 Continued: World Domination

Day 2: Part 1: its My birthday! DHS

Day 2: Part 2 EPCOT and the Candlelight Processional

Day 3: Part 1 Its a Jolly Holiday with Mary

Day 3: Part 2: EPCOT Soarin' over the SEAS

Day 3: Part 3: Wishes, Desserts and more!

Day 4: Its VACATION!

 

[1stvisit0909]

Our original plan was leave our house about 8-9am, to try to make it to Gainesville, Fl, spend the night and then get up early on 12.20 to finish the trip.

But, since everyone was up and ready to roll, we left at 6am.

We saw this almost the entire way.

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gahh. It rained. And rained. And rained some more.

But we only stopped twice! We stopped when we got to the Alabama/Florida line.

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Then we stopped in Tallahassee for gas and lunch. We decided then just to push on through to Orlando. So we cancelled our room in Gainesville and booked a room in Orlando for the night. We found a great deal on a room on hotels.com for the Wyndham Orlando Resort on International Drive. We ate dinner at BJ's Resturant and Brewhouse. The girls split a pizza and I got a chicken sandwich that had WAAAY too much garlic so I didnt eat much of it.

Headed to bed about 930 and were up and at them at 8 the next morning to head to CSR! We had packed poptarts and cereal bars, so we grabbed a light breakfast and we were off!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Thanks for PM'ing me the link for your TR. Excited to follow along as I plan my own return for Christmas trip next year.

 

[vicceja]

Can't wait to hear how your trip went Your title is my Boys favorite song - we sing it all the time!

 

[1stvisit0909]

We drove from the Wyndham Orlando Resort to Coronado Springs the morning of 12.20.14.

In just a few moments we saw...

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We arrived at CSR

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At about 840 am and were at the online check in desk at about 845. Dawn greeted us with a great big smile and welcome.

She proceeded to check us in, and provided our buttons for us. I got my birthday button, and everyone else got buttons that said "Im celebrating" and she added "Mom's birthday" to the buttons.

She was asking our names and some how we changed my youngest's name to Mary. We were joking about it and Dawn realized my youngest wasnt digging it so she started calling her Not Mary, which tickled her. Then she gave her a "happily ever after button" that said she added "like a princess" to it. And gave my oldest another I'm celebrating that my sister is Not Mary. It was really funny. She had the girls cracking up.

She found us a room that was ready, and by a few minutes after nine we were all checked in. We picked up our mugs at the store in El Centro. Then we headed to our room, which ended up in Ranchos 7A, courtyard view, first floor. Amazing location. Steps from the bus stop 3, close to a quiet pool and not far from the Dig Site. We loved it.

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We had fast passes for 5pm and later at Hollywood Studios. It was just about 10 am. Where did we decide to go since we were ahead of schedule??!

 

[1stvisit0909]

Thanks for PM'ing me the link for your TR. Excited to follow along as I plan my own return for Christmas trip next year.

Welcome friend! I'm glad you are here!

Can't wait to hear how your trip went Your title is my Boys favorite song - we sing it all the time!

This song becomes important.

 

[1stvisit0909]

And we picked....

Animal Kingdom!

See according to the forecast, 12/20 was going to be our only day warm enough to get wet. So we decided to pop over and get soaked on Kali River Rapids - since we had never ridden the ride and we were planning on pool time at the Dig Site before our time at DHS later this evening.

So we headed to the bus stop to take our first bus ride.

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In what became a "theme" for our trip this time, we saw every bus for every park (including two for blizzard beach) before the one we wanted. It actually got kind of funny.

After a short ride to AK, we were here!!!

Stopped for our first Memory Maker Picture.

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After two rides on Kali, one where DH and my oldest got soaked, and one where Me and the youngest got soaked...we were hungry. We grabbed Mickey Pretzels on our way to the bus stop.

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Snack credit one spent...the girls and I got plain ones, DH got he jalapeno cheese one. yummo!

Back to the bus depot and short ride back to the resort. It was POOL TIME!!!

 

[debrapagliasotti]

I have never been to CSR. We looked at it for an option for next December, but ended up choosing POR as hubby really likes that resort.

Mmmm...Mickey pretzels

 

[1stvisit0909]

I have never been to CSR. We looked at it for an option for next December, but ended up choosing POR as hubby really likes that resort.

Mmmm...Mickey pretzels

We "settled" for CSR as we were shopping for Free Dining and POR and POFQ were excluded. I'm glad we did. Hubby still says he prefers POFQ because its smaller, but I really enjoyed CSR and the kids ADORED the Dig Site.

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Yum! Mickey pretzels! I didn't get one on our trip, but I did get some regular Germany pretzels

Can't wait to hear your story! Bumps are terrible in Disney, but I bet you, like me, find a way past them!

 

[1stvisit0909]

After our two rides on Kali and a our Mickey pretzels, we made our way back to a bus ride back to CSR. We had Christmas Day planned to at AK and this was "bonus" time anyway. I had promised the girls pool time our first day and I wanted to attempt Characterpalooza (thanks Kenny) at DHS before our fast passes.

We got back to the resort quickly, and in no time were on our way to the Dig Site, mugs in hand. I took a few pictures on the way.

This time I remembered to take a picture of the view from our room.

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Beats the parking lot view I expected!

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The pool was busy, so I didn't try to take many photos of the girls swimming. Hubby and I found an empty table and just chilled watching the girls swim. We enjoyed a few refills. The girls enjoyed the waterslide and the poolside activities. My youngest won a prize for answering trivia questions.

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We headed back to the room and while the girls showered and changed, I started decorating our room for Christmas. They helped once they were done and our window ended up like this.



We got ourselves together, and packed a park bag and off to the stop we went. We had planned to visit characterapalooza, use our FP, grab some dinner and chill for the night.

 

[1stvisit0909]

We arrived at DHS in plenty of time to make our way back to the Tower of Terror exit, and the first characterpalooza was already under way. We went ahead and darted in, meeting

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Mulan first. She was in great character, complementing DD13 on her "badges of honor" and asking if the general planned to have us in matching outfits anytime during our visit. I told her yes, that the general had matching outfits planned for the next day. That made her very happy.

Then we spent a little bit of time with Tiana

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Oldest was being all shy but I told Tiana that she was her favorite princess (she is, since she was also born in Louisiana) so she talked her into a photo. It was funny because when they found out we were going, she made sure I knew she really really wanted to meet her!



Then Characterpalooza was over, but the CM told me they'd be back in about 20 mins, and I HAD to meet one of the characters we didnt get to. So we went outside the gate and plopped it down on a wall to wait. Hubby was hungry but he knew how much meeting this one character meant to me, so he was willing to wait. We talked about meeting her and how we would pose...and I was getting so excited. About 2 mins before time we saw feet behind the gate so we jumped up off the wall to be first in line. And when the gate opened....we made our way past the other characters and STRAIGHT to....

Her Majesty, the Evilest of Queens herself. And I totally forgot to pose. I was so excited. She was awesome. She noticed we made it straight for her, and said of course we knew to come to the best. I told her of course your majesty! I had to meet you for my birthday. She was so awesome. Did I say that already? My kids rocked the pose.

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Then we took our time and met the others available, which today was:

Rafiki: he was sad that DD13 didnt have a Rafiki pin.

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And Pinocchio

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I highly recommend trying to make this meet and greet. Its not on the parks guide, and there is no photopass photographer, but it was sooo worth it!

Next up, food! We grabbed some dinner at ABC Commissary. It was "ok" nothing to write home about. DD13 and I had a burger, DD9 got chicken nuggets, and DH got the steak. And a round of Olaf cupcakes! They were totally adorbs!

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After we ate it was about 515, and we rode The Great Movie Ride, and made our way to our Fast Passes! We rode Toy Story Midway Mania, then wandered over for our Star Tours FP, then it was time for DH and DD13 to ride Tower of Terror, while DD9 and I went to see the Little Mermaid Show. While waiting for the Little Mermaid, we saw that the store there had an Elsa dress in DD9's size so we snatched that up and some ears that she wanted.

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After our Fast Passes it was good and dark, so we enjoyed the Osborn Lights!

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We decided right then that we would attempt World Domination. It was a goal we had on our last trip for our last day, but we were too tired to try it. We decided we could do it!!

So we made our way to the front of the park. We took a photo in front of the hat.

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We took the boat to EPCOT, with the plan of walking through the park, getting a photo and hopping the monorail to MK.

 

[1stvisit0909]

Yum! Mickey pretzels! I didn't get one on our trip, but I did get some regular Germany pretzels

Can't wait to hear your story! Bumps are terrible in Disney, but I bet you, like me, find a way past them!

Thanks for joining!!! Well it did get kind of hairy...but it all turns out ok in the end.

 

[1stvisit0909]

We hopped on the friendship boat at DHS and road to the International Gateway at EPCOT. It was neat to get to see the EPCOT resorts, we had never done that before. I'd love to stay over there some day!

We entered at the IG and made our way to the UK. I had heard that the UK shops carried Dr Who stuff, and our oldest is an extreme whovian, so we stopped to check out the merch.

She was in Who heaven. She purchased a TARDIS coffee mug, and then some she bought some Jelly Babies, which is some candy talked about on the show that is from the UK. She also asked about Jammie Dodgers? But they had sold out of them. She bought a pack of Jelly Babies for herself and her friend who is also a whovian. Means nada to me, but it made her happy, so therefore it makes me happy.

We walked around to the front and posed for a couple of pictures.

We then left the front of EPCOT and took the monorail around to the TTC, and then on to Magic Kingdom!!!

And boy howdy it was crowded! I think we got there as people were setting up for the Main St Electrical Parade, but we took a quick turn to tomorrowland and went and did a family favorite....

Monster's Inc Laugh Floor

We didnt get picked directly, but they did pick a guy from England in the geography skit and said england was south of North Alabama - showing my DD and her North Alabama shirt.

By this point travel was catching up with us so we made our way and and to the bus stop. The photopass photographers we passed all had lines so we skipped a park photo.

BUT WE DID IT! We accomplished something in ALL four parks in one day.

 

[debrapagliasotti]

I have never done Characterpalooza either. Maybe one day we will make it there for it. It was the same characters for both sets right?

You mentioned the Epcot resorts. If you ever get the chance I highly recommend staying at one. We did BW over Christmas in 2012 and it was AMAZING!!!

Congrats on 4 parks in 1 day. Another goal of mine...but I don't know if it is one I can accomplish with my little guys in tow. Maybe on a solo trip or a trip with hubby.

 

[cstorm65]

I enjoyed reading about your first day! What a day, 4 parks on just your first day, wow! Can't wait to read more.

 

[1stvisit0909]

I have never done Characterpalooza either. Maybe one day we will make it there for it. It was the same characters for both sets right?

You mentioned the Epcot resorts. If you ever get the chance I highly recommend staying at one. We did BW over Christmas in 2012 and it was AMAZING!!!

Congrats on 4 parks in 1 day. Another goal of mine...but I don't know if it is one I can accomplish with my little guys in tow. Maybe on a solo trip or a trip with hubby.

Yes, both sets had the same characters the day we were there. I did see people from our planning group getting additional characters the week we were there, so you never really know who is going to be there. They do say that on nights there are 3 fantasmics it wont happen, and if its stormy it wont happen. Totally worth trying though!

I'd love to stay deluxe but I doubt I EVER talk the hubby into that $$$. The thinks mods are overpriced. But he thought CSR felt "deluxe" maybe some day.

I enjoyed reading about your first day! What a day, 4 parks on just your first day, wow! Can't wait to read more.

Thanks!!!

 

[1stvisit0909]

Day 2 brought my birthday, and even though my teen was totally not into it, she wore her matching shirt with mostly a smile.

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Us girls have on Princess tshirts and hubs has on a "princess protection agency" shirt. We got lots of complements on them.

One thing we LOVED about FP+ is that you didnt feel the need to rush to the parks. We knew we had a Toy Story Midway Mania FP for 930-1030, so we werent in a super hurry. I really liked that feeling!

We accomplished our FP for Toy Story Midway Mania, and after our spin in Andy's Room, we went back to see the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground. Both of the girls wanted to see and they felt like they had "missed out" by not seeing it our last trip. In fact when we surprised the girls with the trip, this and the Swiss Family Tree House in MK were there top two "To-dos" after our FP discussion. Kids.

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Then we used our Star Tours FP, and my youngest got her face painted.

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DD13 wanted to but she was afraid she'd "sweat it off" and decided to pass. teens.

We ate at Backlot Express. Food was meh. I mean it was QS burgers and chicken. Nothing major.

After lunch we split up. DD13 was NOT interested in the Frozen Sing-A-Long at all, so DD9 and I went that way with our FP+ and DD13 and DH went to see the Indiana Jones Show.

The FP for the sing a long as a good choice. We got good seats and didnt have to wait. The others enjoyed the Indiana jones show.

I admit, my allergies acted up hearing 1000s of kids sing along, and the show was pretty stinkin' cute.

We posed for a photo.

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DD13 wanted to do Rock and Roll Rollercoaster, which we had intended to do at rope drop but we didnt make it. So DH and her went of to do that, it said it was about a 30 min wait. They were gone about 45 mins. In the mean time, DD9 and I did some shopping, got some ice water. We sat on a bench to drink it when the mayor of Hollywood came driving up. He saw my birthday button and stopped, and offered me a 100$ in Hollywood money. I stepped in the street to take it from him when another citizen of hollywood drove up and beeped at me for stepping into the street. It was pretty funny!

Then we went to find DD13 the Maleficent ears she wanted, and on the way ran into some citizens of hollywood doing a show. We found a seat on the curb to watch. It was HILARIOUS. They were doing a bit about "Tell us where you are from" and had to remember and act out how each person told them where they were from. it was SO funny. They scared people and the reactions were priceless. It was a hoot.

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Then Dd13 and DH joined back up with us. We sat for a bit with a drink on a bench just watching.

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Youngest wanted a snack, so we got her an ice cream and she sat on a bench with DH while DD13 and I went and did "one man's dream". That was a great attraction! The movie made my allergies act up again.

By this time it was time to make our way towards EPCOT for our 5pm Candelight processional dinner package!

On our way out we posed for several photos.

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We made our way to the friendship boat launch for another ride over to EPCOT.

 

[debrapagliasotti]

So is the Frozen sing along just songs from the movie? I really know nothing about it.