(Complete 4/20!) How Many Cookies Does One Couple Need? - Dec 2023 Trip Report

[Keladry84]

I really like your report with the dual experiences on the same day in different parks! It’s fun to read (albeit for sure was more fun to experience ) Looks like you are both having good days so far!

 

[Araminta18]

Genie+ Works Best Solo - Sunday, Dec 17, 2023 (part 6)​

As for me, it was finally time for Space Mountain. Yay!

In case you couldn't tell, my theme for ride photos today was pretending to be asleep.

I was really having good fastpass luck today - I think being a single person really helps with the fastpass luck. Next up - Buzz Lightyear! As always, my goal was to be a galactic hero. And this time....it happened! I got up to like 800,000 and then the ride stopped here:

And I was in a perfect spot - that target on the bottom of the spaceship? It's worth 100,000 points. So I took advantage -

Maxed out both guns!!!! I didn't sleep in this ride photo, 'cause I was too dang pleased with myself.

Also, pro tip: if you get Galactic Hero, tell them at the gift shop - they have something for you:

Yay! Sometimes they have stickers, but today I guess they were out. I was so excited.

Meanwhile, Trevor was not having the best luck with shows - there was only one showing left of the one he missed (at 3:30) but there was another show he wanted to see more at 3 and 4 pm, so he decided to stick around in the park where he was t osee that show (the one at 3 and 4) vs heading back to the other park to see the show at 3:30. He was disappointed, but *shrugs*. These things happen.

As for me, Tron was riding the struggle bus - it had only called 12 groups in 90 minutes, so I decided to stop hanging around Tomorrowland and head over to Big Thunder, cause I'd gotten a fastpass for it. Woot!

Ran into a photographer on the bridge - hey there Orange Bird!


Big Thunder selfie! I always enjoy the Wildest Ride in the Wilderness!

Honestly, at this point I was just going to wherever I was able to get a fastpass, while waiting for my Tron boarding group and my Jungle Cruise fastpass at like 5:30. And guess what I got a fastpass for next? Peter Pan, in like 15 minutes! That was surprising, but I wasn't gonna say no, right? And of course, 5 minutes later, my Tron group got called. I decided to do Peter Pan first and then Tron, cause why not. So over to Fantasyland I went!

Trevor meanwhile was enjoying the show, and had decided to head back to the other park, get a snack, and watch the parade at 5:30, then back to the park he was currently in for the light show on the castle. Lots of criss-crossing parks at Universal! I guess it's a bit like Disneyland and California Adventure where you can criss-cross without much effort.

On my way up to Peter Pan, I found myself looking for (and finding) some of the Pascals there by the Tangled bathrooms. If you've never looked for the various hidden Pascals there you totally should - it's really fun!



Peter Pan himself was even out meeting and greeting, but the line was closed so I just grabbed a quick picture in passing.

Hi Peter!

Honestly, my fastpass luck was weird, considering how crowded the park felt. I told Trevor that it felt like a busy day, but busy with people who don't really come to Disney often, so they weren't working the fastpasses or anything. I'd overheard lots of conversations along those lines today - like there was a family behind me in line at the Haunted Mansion talking about how it was walk through attraction, not a ride. So people excited to be there, but who weren't super familiar with the parks and how it all works. Worked out for me!

I tapped into Peter Pan, and had a great ride. I know it's short, but I love it. I think it's just the whole mechanism of flying above the ride.

And in the vein of fastpasses, I was looking for my next one and there was a Jungle Cruise one for right then, so of course I moved mine up. After waiting all afternoon, now I had both Tron and Jungle Cruise for the same time! What to do?!

 

[Araminta18]

I really like your report with the dual experiences on the same day in different parks! It’s fun to read (albeit for sure was more fun to experience ) Looks like you are both having good days so far!

Oh that's so nice - thank you! I was hoping it wouldn't be too confusing! And I definitely take way more pictures than Trevor does. But thank you for reading! And yes - definitely having a great day

 

[jrmint427]

People who are wrong, that's who!

That's right! I love how you're switching between your and Trevor's days

Trevor ended up waiting about 30 minutes for Hagrid's and ended up in the sidecar vs the bike, but he still enjoyed it. And by the time he got off it was posting 120 minutes, so at least he got on pretty quickly!

That's a really good wait for Hagrid's!

Also, I got lucky - the ride stopped when I was in a good spot to see the Hatbox Ghost!

So lucky! I was so caught off guard, I didn't know they had put a hatbox ghost in WDW, I barely had time to get my camera out when we went by.

As always, my goal was to be a galactic hero. And this time....it happened! I got up to like 800,000 and then the ride stopped here:

Congats!!

Maxed out both guns!!!!

Whoa - that's extra talent!

Yay! Sometimes they have stickers, but today I guess they were out. I was so excited.

How cool! I was going to ask if you got 2 stickers, one for each side you maxed out

Peter Pan himself was even out meeting and greeting, but the line was closed so I just grabbed a quick picture in passing.

We never saw Peter Pan out and about, I bet he is a fun meet!

 

[awrites]

I also like the split day/experiences! Very fun.

I… am a little shocked there are people who don’t know HM is a ride! It’s one of the older ones! It’s not new! A quick search on the internet will tell you everything!

Or maybe I take after my mom with wanting to prep, because when I was talking about the research I was doing and explaining Genie+ and everything, she said “when you were a kid we only had the Unofficial Guide to Disney World!”

Which means though that she DID plan (and in fact I remember the prep she did with me to get me feeling brave enough to go on it, and I don’t think she’d ever been herself).

But I’m just flabbergasted about this in particular. Haunted Mansion as a walkthrough!

 

[Araminta18]

That's right! I love how you're switching between your and Trevor's days

aw thank you!

Whoa - that's extra talent!

LOL I wish - that's more a function of being stuck there for long enough time!

We never saw Peter Pan out and about, I bet he is a fun meet!

I would imagine! He's one of the ones we've also never met. Someday!

I also like the split day/experiences! Very fun.

I… am a little shocked there are people who don’t know HM is a ride! It’s one of the older ones! It’s not new! A quick search on the internet will tell you everything!

Or maybe I take after my mom with wanting to prep, because when I was talking about the research I was doing and explaining Genie+ and everything, she said “when you were a kid we only had the Unofficial Guide to Disney World!”

Which means though that she DID plan (and in fact I remember the prep she did with me to get me feeling brave enough to go on it, and I don’t think she’d ever been herself).

But I’m just flabbergasted about this in particular. Haunted Mansion as a walkthrough!

Right? I was so surprised that they thought it was a walkthrough. Like I get folks not wanting to do the crazy level of planning some of us *cough cough me* enjoy, but like...wouldn't you at least want to know which rides are thrill rides vs not? Just totally flabbergasted. I hope they enjoyed the ride though!

 

[Araminta18]

Tiffany Gets Distracted - Sunday, December 17, 2023 (part 7)​

Ok, so what to do with both a Jungle Cruise fastpass and a Tron boarding group for right now? I decided to go with Jungle Cruise, since I figured Tron would probably still have a decent line and therefore take longer. So, off I went by the castle, but guys. I got epicly distracted. First, by the pretty decorations!

I love this little wreath thing with the glass slipper there. So cute. And then, I saw a photographer out by the wishing well, so obviously I had to get pictures.

They didn't turn out amazing, but I don't think I've ever seen a photographer here before so...including just for fun.

Then. Then I should have been heading over to Jungle Cruise, but on the right of the castle (by the Cinderella statue and the side with that path down to Liberty Square), I saw a character attendant. With no characters. And since that's usually where the Stepsisters meet, I asked the character attendant if it was them and if so, would they be coming out soon. He wouldn't tell me who it was but that whoever it was would come out "in just a few minutes". So.....I waited. Caught a bit of the Festival of Fantasy parade (specifically Malificent breathing fire ) while waiting, so that was cool.

Also, the castle man - just gorgeous.


The stepsisters came out almost immediately after the parade, and I was second in line!

They're so funny! I didn't have Trevor with me to film it, so I just filmed them coming out - you can kind of hear them talking about the newlyweds "rubbing their love in our faces". My meet and greet was really good - we discussed what makes a man look "rich", and then somehow moved on to maybe it's better to not look rich, but if you don't "look" rich and rub it in people's faces what's the point? They were hilarious.

The character attendant was great - she took so many pictures!

Also A+ to the these characters - they have such great facial expressions!

Seriously - Drizella's expression is top tier.

I finished the meet and greet at 3:30 and scurried on over to Jungle Cruise - my fastpass started at 3:15, but my boarding group expired at 3:58, so I figured it'd be close, but that I'd be ok.

Hello Jingle Cruise!

The fastpass line was a bit backed up though - I ended up waiting about 15 minutes to get on. But at least that meant I could take lots of pictures of the theming.

Brrrrr Bertha

The office is all decorated for Christmas!

Poinsetti-Sal!

In the meantime (since I've left Trevor out of this post so far), Trevor saw the show he wanted (the one at 3 pm) -

Croaking Frogs!

Next up for him? Back over to the other park to watch the parade (and get a snack. )

 

[Araminta18]

From the Jungle to the Wilderness! - Sunday Dec 17, 2023 (part 8)​

More Jungle Cruise queue photos. I'd say sorry, but I'm not, not really.

It's just so cute!!

Wassail Wanda!

Took this pic more for the Crew Mess Dinner menu - it's all turkey!

As you can tell - I'm a sucker for Dad jokes and bad puns. It's actually kind of a thing at work (forgive me if I've told this story already - I think I have but I'm too lazy to go back and look) - we have office hours via zoom meetings where folks can drop in and ask questions. When I first took the job and I had to run the office hours, there was a lot I wasn't able to answer right away (had to have my team do some research, etc), so as a way to kind of fill time/apologize, I started sharing a dad joke each office hour and it became a THING. People randomly message me dad jokes now, so... *shrugs* good thing I like them!

Anyways, had a great time on the Jingle Cruise, but I got off at like 4:02. Which, for those of you keeping track at home, is indeed after my boarding group ended. I decided to head over there anyways and see if I'd get lucky and they'd let me in.

And I did! I tapped in 24 minutes after my boarding group expired but the tapstile turned green on it's own. So, that's a fun datapoint. Either way, I was excited - this time my plan was to wait/ask for the seats at the back of the train, vs the bike (to you know, not aggravate my bruise any further). I did have a bit of a wait, so I'm glad I did Jungle Cruise first. It ended up being about 35 minutes before I got on the ride, but I did get the seated car, so yay!

I actually really liked the seated car - I felt like I got to see more of the story and the theming. It even felt a bit more exciting - like the launch was faster, or something. Highly recommend it.

At that point, I'd basically ridden everything I wanted to, and I was hungry, so time to head out of the park! Where was I going? To Wilderness Lodge! I wanted to see their Christmas tree, and also figured getting food at Geyser Point would be a good thing to try, since I'd heard so many good things about it. So off I went!

Hi there Christmas Mickey and Minnie!

I headed to the boat docks, and actually ended up having a super long wait - dunno why, but for whatever reason the Wilderness Lodge boat just wasn't coming. It was about 20 minutes. Which now that I write it doesn't seem that long but it felt like a long time. Especially with Trevor texting me this picture of his snack:

Fun fact about Tiffany: I love popcorn but the smell from the popcorn carts at Disney almost makes me nauseous - it's like tooooo buttery somehow.

But the boat came eventually and I got a seat. It was a bit chilly with the wind, but the sunset was making the sky so pretty!

Once on the dock at Wilderness Lodge I put my name on the waiting list for Geyser Point, and then headed that way. It was saying about 30 minutes, but I was hoping that with just me they would be able to fit me in sooner.

So pretty.

Once I got there though, it took me like 5 min to find someone/ask a waiter how it works - it's a bit weirdly set up and there was no one at what seemed to be the host stand. But I finally found someone and they said that the app was wrong and it would be at least an hour, unless I was able to find a spot at the bar. Luckily someone left the bar right as I got there, so I was able to get their seat. But also, that's a pet peeve of mine: Disney makes us use the app so much - they need to do a better job making sure it's correct. If the wait time is an hour, the app should say. Drives me crazy!

Anyways, rant over. While I was getting settled, Trevor had found a good spot and was enjoying Universal's Christmas parade!

Back with me at Geyser Point, I was fighting ducks.

The ducks were wandering around everywhere by the bar, looking for food. Poor thing, I hadn't even ordered yet so no food to drop! I had gotten my drink - virgin raspberry mojito.

And that's the picture limit - you'll have to wait and see what I got to eat!

 

[Araminta18]

Wilderness Lodge at Christmas - Sun Dec 17, 2024 (part 9)​

I ordered and enjoyed my drink and reading on my phone while I waited. And of course, the view!

So pretty.

Finally my food came:

I got the bison cheeseburger with bacon, sweet crispy onion straws, marionberry sauce, lettuce and garlic aioli. This was really good! I don't remember many specific details by now (the downfalls of writing this 4 months later) but I do remember really liking it.

I finished up around 6:30 and headed inside the hotel to look at the decorations.

So that's not inside but it was just so pretty!

Meanwhile, Trevor was trying to head back to the other Universal park to see the nighttime show on the castle. He was slightly regretting his choice to take the Hogwarts express, because they didn't have the single rider line any more and the regular line was longer than he wanted. But he'd left himself enough time, so no worries.

At least he got to see the decorations!

Back at Wilderness Lodge, I was taking LOTs of pictures.


So many trees! But...

this is the big one! They even had a photographer with a small line taking photos.


Wilderness Lodge really goes all out - even more than Grand Floridian!

I waited in the line - it was only a couple minutes. And as I always say with Photopass - you gotta play the odds! The more pictures you take, the better chance at least some will be decent.

Not my favorite pic, but still nice.

 

[Araminta18]

A Non-Rainy Animal Kingdom Night - Sun Dec 17, 2024 (part 10)​

Ok, one more picture of the tree.

Cause gorgeous.

Then I got in line at their snack stand thing, for hot chocolate and snacks! No gingerbread shingle here, but I got a chocolate Christmas tree with crispies in it, and cheddar puff bites.

I saved the tree but I ate the cheddar puff bites right then (well, started to eat them right then). Trevor doesn't like cheese cause he's weird, so I knew he wouldn't mind that I didn't share.

Hot chocolate was delish, especially cause after buying the stuff I headed to the bus stop to catch the bus and it was colder than I expected! Hot chocolate felt good.

Where was I going? Animal Kingdom! I wanted to see the light show on the Tree of Life - without being completely soaked. The bus came pretty quickly but Wilderness Lodge was sharing with Contemporary, so it was a bit of a longer ride than I expected. But soon enough I was at Animal Kingdom! There were photopass photographers out, so of course I took pictures.

I love this photo op, with the wooden animal carvings.

Also had to take a picture with the tree - I love the big trees!

I even filmed the tree a bit, because the lights danced with the music!

I really love the music at Animal Kingdom - such fun arrangements of the Christmas songs. Also, anyone else love the feeling of entering a park at night, especially when it feels like everyone else is streaming out? Dunno why but I love that feeling.

Look at the fun little animals all lit up! So cute.

There were a couple things I wanted to see without being in the rain, so I did a quick little jaunt over to Dinoland first -

Gertie, not all wet!

She sparkles too!

Then, over to the mural with the animals, in case there was a photographer there. There wasn't, but I took another picture of it. Cause I love it.

So pretty! They should sell this as a print - I'd buy it.

Then, over to the Tree of Life to watch the shows!

In the meantime though, Trevor was watching the light show on the Hogwarts Castle.

Very pretty!!

I got to see one show on the Tree of Life from a bit far back, and then I moved up basically right to the fence, so no one would be in front of me. It was a great spot -

And I was able to sit down!

 

[jrmint427]

The stepsisters came out almost immediately after the parade, and I was second in line!

That was a good eye to see the character attendant and get in line!

They were hilarious.

I’ve still never met the stepsisters, they are on my list too. They seem like a lot of fun.

More Jungle Cruise queue photos. I'd say sorry, but I'm not, not really.

Never apologize for pictures - it’s fun to see all the Christmas decorations!

When I first took the job and I had to run the office hours, there was a lot I wasn't able to answer right away (had to have my team do some research, etc), so as a way to kind of fill time/apologize, I started sharing a dad joke each office hour and it became a THING. People randomly message me dad jokes now, so... *shrugs* good thing I like them!

That’s a fun thing to be known for!

 

[Araminta18]

Who Won the Race Back to the Resort? - Sunday, Dec 17, 2023 (part 11)​

Once camped out in my spot, I basically just sat there and watched all of the shows on the Tree of Life. There were three of them, with about 3/4 minutes in between each one. How do I know there were three? Cause I sat there long enough to see one for the second time. It was amazing.

There was one which featured bunnies:

Then one that used some music from the Nutcracker:

Then the last one had foxes.

Seriously, all of these were so cute - I loved them! So glad I got to see them all - and without being rained on. I feel like the nighttime show here is a hidden gem! I'd definitely make time to see it.

I also filmed a little bit of the animals on the tree "waking up" in between shows.

It was awesome. Such a fun experience. Highly recommend. And a couple pics, just for fun:


Love it!

In the meantime, Trevor had ducked into line at Hagrid's Motorcycle Adventure. That is truly my best pro-tip: if you want to ride a popular ride with less of a wait, do it last thing at night, especially if you can get in right before park close. The line was posted at 80 minutes when Trevor got in, but he decided to go for the regular line this time. Why? Because he wanted to ride the motorbike (instead of the sidecar), but he texted me that he was a bit worried, because when he rode earlier, the employee said that the non-single rider person got to choose the sidecar or bike, but this time around the employee at the entrance said that the riders had to figure it out between themselves. Uh oh!

It was about 8:15 pm when I left Animal Kingdom:

Instead of heading to the resort, I decided to swing by Disney Springs 'cause there was an ornament I wanted to get at the Christmas shop there. But I forgot that Disney has yet to bring back the buses direct to Disney Springs from the parks! Oops! I asked a security guard if there was a bus to Disney Springs and he told me no, but to take the bus to the Riveira and then from Riviera to Disney Springs. I'm still not sure if this was my best move - it took about 15 minutes to get to Riviera, and then had to wait 12 min for a bus to Disney Springs, so I didn't make it there until 9 pm. I probably should have taken an uber.

Especially cause again, Trevor was texting me pictures! He made it off Hagrid's at 8:30 (he got in line at 7:40 - so a wait of probably 45 min. Not too bad when it was posting 80!), and had gone to Antojito's in Citywalk! The picture he sent me?

Blood Orange Spritzer. Rude. But not too rude 'cause he was getting the chips and table-side guac to go and bringing it back to the hotel to share with me. So I'll forgive it.

On my way to the Christmas store, I cut through World of Disney and ended up buying a few things (like a Star Wars pillow for Trevor that was half off - it ended up being $17 total with our AP discount. Woot!). I got my ornament at the Christmas tree store (it's a pretty one of Sleeping Beauty), and then cause it was right there, looked at the art store. They had so many cool things, including the paper-cut originals of some art that I'd bought a postcard of earlier this year!

So pretty, but slightly out of my budget at $10,000. Bummer.

Wandavision! No print of this one but still so cool

I did get a bit sucked in and bought one of those little boxes with a scene from a movie and it lights up. I keep seeing them every time we go and finally I broke down.

I got that Sleeping Beauty one in the back there. I texted Trevor about it so he knew I was getting it but it comes in kind of a big box (to you know, protect the fragility) and he was...a bit surprised when he saw how big the box was. I was too, actually, but I didn't want to ship it cause fragile! And they are fragile! The CM got one from the back and opened it up to show me that the light worked, but in doing so I noticed that those pillars in the box (the ones Sleeping Beauty is dancing between) had come loose from the base and were wobbling around. So the CM got me another one that wasn't broken, thankfully.

Once I had all my purchases all ready (my arms were tired ) I headed for the boat dock, and by 9:55 I was on a boat back to the resort! Trevor had texted that he was in his uber back to the resort too, so it was a race!

I got to the resort dock around 10:10 and walked over to the bus stop by the main building. It said the next internal bus wasn't until 10:26! And since it was 10:12, I decided to just walk back to my room, even with carrying all the stuff. I made it back like 6 minutes later (it feels like a longer walk than it is). Trevor beat me though - know how I know? I saw him through the patio window and decided to go in the back way. Apparently I scared the bejeebers out of Trevor knocking on the patio door.

The sting of losing the "race" back was softened because chips and guac!


Delicious. We really like the Antojito's tableside guacamole. It hit the spot at the end of the day.

So yea, that was our day! It was our first real separate day (since when we'd done this in August it was cause I was in my class), but it worked out well for both of us. Trevor got to do everything he wanted, except the one show that kept getting canceled because the stage was wet, and I had awesome fastpass luck and got to see the shows at Animal Kingdom. Ooh, actually a few more videos from Trevor's day:
The Beedle the Bard show:

Some streetmosphere people:
https://youtu.be/OPNA3fB5jAE
Some clips Trevor took in Knockturn Alley:
https://youtu.be/RdVbpDakisY

You already got all my videos - I just didn't know where to put these chronologically!

Anyways, tomorrow was our re-booked Jollywood Nights! Would we have a better experience than the people did at that first night?

Fun with Metrics:
Steps walked: 23,959 steps (10.4 miles)
Ride count: 9 for Trevor, 8 for me (Trevor: The Mummy, Men in Black, Gringotts, Hagrid's x2, Forbidden Journey, Hogwarts Express x3; Tiffany: Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Buzz, Big Thunder, Peter Pan, Jungle Cruise, Tron)
Savings due to AP discount: $42 (merch at Disney Springs...I kind of went a little crazy)
Cookie count: 9 (plus 2 bags of cookie bites. )

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Goodness, I got behind!

I appreciate your corn dog feedback - I’ve never paid attention to corn dogs but my daughter LOVES them. It’s good to have a go-to spot to get one!

I have a modification question: if you attempt to modify a Genie+ selection and don’t see anything you like, are you able to cancel it and retain your original choice and time? Or if you try to switch times are you stuck with the new time?

I’m thrilled you were able to get a nearly immediate ride on Haunted Mansion - especially considering Little Mermaid had a 45-minute line (wow!). You really know how to work Genie+ to your advantage and got on SO many great rides.

I’d love to try Geyser Point at some point but don’t think it will fit on my upcoming trip. Your burger and your drink look very tasty.

I’d also love to see Animal Kingdom at night! I love both your and Trevor’s nighttime pictures. I’m sorry you lost the race to the resort but guacamole is always a good consolation prize.

 

[jrmint427]

So yea, that was our day! It was our first real separate day (since when we'd done this in August it was cause I was in my class), but it worked out well for both of us. Trevor got to do everything he wanted, except the one show that kept getting canceled because the stage was wet, and I had awesome fastpass luck and got to see the shows at Animal Kingdom

What a fun day! It’s awesome you both got to do the things you really wanted to do and fun to read about your days bouncing back and forth. Even though he beat you slightly it sounds like you both timed it well to meet up around the same time! Beautiful art at Disney Springs!

 

[awrites]

That sounds like an excellent day for both of you! Glad it worked out that you both got to do the things you wanted.

I've read about so many fun interactions with the stepsisters--my daughter isn't too keen on them just from the movie but next time we go I'll have to push her a little to try a meet with them. (Or, if she still doesn't want to, I can go by myself while she hangs with Daddy. Ha!)

 

[Araminta18]

Goodness, I got behind!

I appreciate your corn dog feedback - I’ve never paid attention to corn dogs but my daughter LOVES them. It’s good to have a go-to spot to get one!

I have a modification question: if you attempt to modify a Genie+ selection and don’t see anything you like, are you able to cancel it and retain your original choice and time? Or if you try to switch times are you stuck with the new time?

I’m thrilled you were able to get a nearly immediate ride on Haunted Mansion - especially considering Little Mermaid had a 45-minute line (wow!). You really know how to work Genie+ to your advantage and got on SO many great rides.

I’d love to try Geyser Point at some point but don’t think it will fit on my upcoming trip. Your burger and your drink look very tasty.

I’d also love to see Animal Kingdom at night! I love both your and Trevor’s nighttime pictures. I’m sorry you lost the race to the resort but guacamole is always a good consolation prize.

Nah, you didn't get behind, I just posted a BUNCH yesterday. I'm trying to finish up this trip report before we go in May (though that still puts mean behind 'cause i haven't even started our Jan trip report!) - I was going to be further ahead but then I had a whole bunch of real life stuff come up, so now my goal is just to finish this report before May.

re: genie+ modification yup! You can back out and keep your original time - just click the "x" in the upper left corner instead of "confirm change" down at the bottom. Especially with popular rides sometimes it happens just like when you book originally - the time looks good but once you click it it's moved to a not good time.

What a fun day! It’s awesome you both got to do the things you really wanted to do and fun to read about your days bouncing back and forth. Even though he beat you slightly it sounds like you both timed it well to meet up around the same time! Beautiful art at Disney Springs!

We both really did - it was a new experience, but definitely a good one. And I love the art at Disney Springs too! So good.

That sounds like an excellent day for both of you! Glad it worked out that you both got to do the things you wanted.

I've read about so many fun interactions with the stepsisters--my daughter isn't too keen on them just from the movie but next time we go I'll have to push her a little to try a meet with them. (Or, if she still doesn't want to, I can go by myself while she hangs with Daddy. Ha!)

The stepsisters are fun just to watch, even if you don't interact with them - may be a good way to help your daughter get accustomed to them? But I'm also 100% in favor of you meeting them by yourself while she hangs with Daddy, or even watches!

 

[Araminta18]

Quick real life update - I'm gonna be posting a ton, trying to get this trip report finished before we go back to Disney in May. I still have my January trip report to do! My plan was to have both done before May, but mid-January there was a pretty big stressful family thing that popped up that required a lot of my time and energy, so I got behind. But things seem to have finally evened out a bit, so I want to at least be only one trip behind, not two!

Also...I'm crazy. Southwest changed our flight times a bit, and so I could modify to a different flight with no penalty. So...I decided to have us fly in late Friday night (vs Saturday afternoon), and then do one night at French Quarter before moving over to the Contemporary. French Quarter is the first resort we ever stayed at, and we really like it but we got used to the convenience and proximity of some of the deluxe resorts, so we haven't been there in a while. And since this May trip is our 10th anniversary trip, it'd be nice to do one quick night there - get some beignets, take the boat to Disney Springs... I'm excited! That does require some re-arranging of dining reservations, but not too many. And now we get to enjoy May the 4th! I didn't do a pre-trip report, but if anyone is interested in my somewhat late plans for our May trip, I'm can add a couple pre-trip updates to this trip report

ANYWAYS. Back to our last full day of our Christmas trip!

Animal Kingdom! Together! Without Rain! - Monday, Dec 18, 2023 (part 1)​

Today was our last full day, and there were two things left that we (I) really wanted to do. Jollywood Nights (which we had a ticket for that night - and thankfully no rain in the forecast!), and the Magical Menagerie at Animal Kingdom! So where were we heading this morning? Animal Kingdom! We figured we'd ride rides and then try to meet the Magical Menagerie before our lunch at Nomad lounge.

We bought Genie+ and got a fastpass for Kilimanjaro Safaris, but we were a bit slow getting out of the room. We also weren't planning to rope drop FoP, since we got to ride it the other night, so no real rush. We got to the bus stop right before 9 am, and the bus came after like 2 minutes. Not too bad!

By 9:25, we were at Animal Kingdom! First up, pictures! Sorry not sorry. We were heading to Africa, but I wanted to see if there was a photographer by my favorite mural.

And there was!

I do love the mistletoe magic shot.

Then over to Safaris for our fastpass - we only had to wait like 5 minutes! I always like the Safari.


The zebras got so close!

She's a bit hard to see but the lioness is just splayed out on top of that rock there.

Not the best Safari film - Trev and I were on the wrong side of the truck but he still gamely took some videos that I combined into one. A great ride though - our driver was super funny. We did get held up a bit because of ostrich antics, but I feel like that's par for the course.

Where to next?

Everest! By way of photographers.

We had a fastpass for it, so pretty quickly, we were on the ride.

Row 14 - not too bad!

We were being explorers on the ride - Trevor's taking a picture with his camera.

I wasn't gonna include this picture we took at the end of the right but then I noticed the photobomb, and it made me laugh.

Anyways.

From here, our plan was to go to Dinoland and see if we could successfully ride Dinosaur! We kept trying and it kept breaking down...would it break down again? You'll have to wait and see!

On our way over there though, guess who we ran into:

Kevin!

 

[Araminta18]

Will We Finally Make it on Dinosaur? - Monday, Dec 18, 2023 (part 2)​

I've never seen Kevin on this pathway by the Nemo theatre and in Dinoland, but today, that's where she was!

Also the way Kevin poses for selfies is the most hilarious thing.

Trevor filmed it - we learned that Kevin is not eating chocolate cause she's being a good example, and chocolate is really bad for most birds. Good job Kevin!

Next stop - Dinosaur! We had a fastpass so pretty soon we were in the ride load area. I was getting nervous - would it break down?

No! We made it on!


I'm pretty proud of myself in this picture - I'm not completely freaking out. A+ This ride is seriously scary. And very dark. But fun.

So, riding off that high, it was about 11:15, and so we decided it was time to head to the front of the park and try and see the Magical Menagerie!

When we got there, they were about to start the Winged Encounters show with the macaws, so we didn't see the menagerie. We figured we might as well watch the show, though I wandered away from Trevor just to check and see if the menagerie might be a bit further away.

The show was shorter than I thought it would be, but it was cool to see all the macaws in flight! Then there was a photographer out (and still no menagerie) so of course we got photos. I really liked the variety of magic shots we got here -


DIsney100!

Hey, the macaws we just saw in real life!

And one just for fun with us being Wilderness Explorers:

Sorry! The one downside of these pictures is that we're facing the sun and it was definitely in our eyes.

BUT THEN FINALLY the menagerie came out!! I was so excited - I'd seen pictures and videos of these puppets but I couldn't wait to see them in person. And they were AWESOME.

The puppeteers were amazing - just really bringing these animals to life and giving them a fun personality.

This little penguin for example was super inquisitive and curious and kept darting around seeing what everyone was doing.

(more pictures coming...of course - do you think I'd only take two? dang picture limit)

 

[Araminta18]

A Magical Time with the Menagerie! - Monday, Dec 18, 2023 (part 3)​

Seriously - these guys were so cute!

The seal was also very inquisitive - he startled me at one point! I'd met all the animals out and about at that point so I was just sitting and watching, and didn't notice the seal sneaking up behind me until he stuck his head over my shoulder. Just so much fun.



Then at one point I was just wander around watching and the two little penguins came up to me!


Then there was also the reindeer mom and baby -


I also loved seeing the animals interact with each other.



Look at that cute fox! Honestly, the artistry of these puppets is amazing - they're absolutely gorgeous.

The animals come out in two waves - first up the penguins and deer and seal, and then the next wave is the fox and bears and birds. They kind of switch off. So after we'd seen the first wave, Trevor went over to Nomad Lounge to check where our name was on the walkup list, since he'd snuck over there to put our name on the list when we'd first gotten there. When he got there, they said the had a table for us, but they were gonna seat us inside, so he asked if he could wait for an outside table. So he was waiting there while I was watching the second wave of animals come out.

 

[Araminta18]

Nomad Lounge - Monday, December 18, 2023 (part 4)​

Couple more pics of the menagerie -


The little bears!

So much fun - honestly - I loved it. Definitely lived up to the hype. I wish there was more merch! I bought the shirt and the little penguin puppet, but I wanted more!

But it was time for lunch at Nomad Lounge - Trevor had gotten us a seat out on the balcony! yay! Though it was right by the entrance so we didn't really have a good view of the river, but oh well.

And because Trevor was amazing, he'd ordered drinks and food so the drink was waiting for me when I got there and the food arrived pretty soon afterwards.

Trevor got the Lilly Gorillie (strawberry!); I got the Hibiscus Henna.

I can't remember why we each got these - usually I get the Lillie Gorillie but *shrugs* I'm sure it was yummy.

Then we got the Poke Bowl:

The Cuban Sliders with the yucca fries:

The bread service:

And then later the chicken satay:

And the churros:


Honestly, this was great. We always love Nomad Lounge and the food this time didn't disappoint. So delicious and flavorful. If you haven't been, definitely try it - it's one of our absolute favorite places in all of Disney World. And if you sit outside you can see the flotillas go by on the river!

Anyways, we finished up right about 1 pm, and we were ready to head back to the room for a rest before dinner and Jollywood Nights!