Day 1 - It was snowing as I left DFW and then I flew in to MCO where it was a lovely 80 degrees. I hopped on Magical Express and was at Pop Century in no time. I had never stayed here, but had heard good things so I was excited. The theme was pretty cool. Each section is a different decade so there were giant homages to the 70's, 80s and so on. I was in the 80s and so there were over sized computer type things and it said like 'Radical' and had people wearing leg warmers all over the place.
I headed out to MK first. It is all decorated for Christmas as you can see...
They just redid Space Mountain so I rode it first. They now have these games you can play while waiting in line. The ride itself didn't seem much different, but maybe a little smoother. After riding a couple other things I toured Wilderness Lodge, Contemporary, Poly and Grand Floridian to see all the cool decorations. Here are a few pics...WL (my personal fave)...
Contemporary (that tree is made of real ginger bread)
Grand Floridian and the mother of all Gingerbread Houses. Made totally of edible ingredients!
I then headed back to MK for a reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern - which was my FAVORITE meal the whole trip. Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes. Yum. I also got to see the lighting of the castle. They do this whole show where Cinderella has a Christmas wish that her castle would sparkle like her glass slippers and the fairy godmother grants her wish by lighting up the castle. It is so pretty. Sort of makes you tear up. Ok, well it makes me tear up. =)
Then I watched Wishes and headed back to my hotel.
Day 2 - Slept in until almost 8 o clock! Then I headed to Epcot. I rode Soarin' first. I always go back and forth on which ride is my fave. Soarin' or Tower of Terror. I still think ToT wins, but I heart Soarin'. I had a lunch reservation at Rose and Crown, but I went by to see the Canada movie first. I hadn't seen it since they redid it with Martin Short and I really liked it! R&C was delicious. Had some Bangers and Mash and then headed off to try to see all the holiday storytellers. Each country has their 'mascot' of the holidays tell the Christmas, or whatever holiday they celebrate, story and it was SO much fun. Norway had a funny gnome that helps tell the story and in Italy there is a witch. I didn't get to hit every country, though, because I had tickets for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!
MVMCP Review portion of the blog - I definitely had fun. You get 'free' hot chocolate and cookies and they had a cute show in Tomorrowland and in front of the castle. There is also a special parade, which I didn't love. It was VERY slow, with sometimes minutes between floats. Not sure if it was just an off night, but just wasn't great. However, the Christmas Wishes fireworks were just as good if not better than normal Wishes. LOVED it. They also had snow on main street which was fun. But I would say I like Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party better for sure. Also, really only like Main Street and the hub are decorated. If you are anywhere else in the park you might not even know it was any other time of year. Kind of disappointing.
Day 3 - Today it rained. All. Day. Long. Lots and lots of rain. And it turned cold. I braved it and went to Hollywood Studios. Luckily all the rides there are inside so I rode ToT, Rock N Roller Coaster, Great Movie Ride and Toy Story Mania. Then I headed over to the Boardwalk because I had lunch plans at Captain's Grille. I so wish it hadn't been raining so hard. I had never been to the Boardwalk area and it looked really neat! I would really like to go back on a nice night. I bet there are lots of cool things going on. Captain's Grille was good. Didn't have as much seafood on the menu as I had hoped, but still tasty. I really didn't want to get back in the rain at this point, so I went ahead and headed to my room and took a nap and watched TV for a while. It was honestly really nice to just be able to relax and do nothing. You moms all know what I am talking about. =)
That night was the only day I had to see the Osborne Lights so I made myself go back out in the rain back to DHS to see them. I had been told they had them no matter of rain or what. So I go back out there, head to the Streets of America annnnnd...no lights. I asked a cast member what the deal was and he said he didn't know. That they always have the lights even when it rains so there must be a malfunction. I convinced myself it would be just minutes before they came on so I walked around for a bit and then on the loud speakers you hear 'Ladies and Gentlemen. Due to adverse weather the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights has been CANCELLED'. =( Talk about disappointed. This was like THE thing I wanted to see on my trip and I had to leave the next day. I was pretty bummed, so I just went back to the hotel, got a pizza and some wine from the food court and went back to my room to gorge and watch TV.
Day 4 - I had gotten breakfast ressies at Boma, so I headed to Animal Kingdom Lodge. I was almost 40 minutes late due to no busses coming to pick us up on time, but they still let me in! =) It was really good, but I don't know if I would have gone there if I had to pay for it. (I had free dining this trip) Kind of pricey. AKL was awesome though. Reminded me a lot of WL. Here is a pic...
I then headed to Animal Kingdom and rode Expedition Everest. It wasn't raining as much this day, just sprinkling, but going on a roller coaster in the rain is not the best idea I learned! Kind of stings. I decided to spend the rest of my trip at Magic Kingdom. They were supposed to be filming the Christmas parade that day at MK, but they had canceled it due to the weather. This worked out to my advantage when I was boarding Pirates of the Caribbean only to see Kelly Ripa (she hosts the parade) and her family boarding right behind me! Pretty cool. I just rode all the things I hadn't gotten to yet. Saw the new Hall of Presidents with the new Obama animatronic. But alas, my trip had to end sometime. I hopped a plane back to DFW around 7 and was home around 9. I missed my baby girl SO much. I think it was even worse since I was alone and had all the time in the world to think about her. Not sure how I will do if Jason and I go for a week's vacation sometime later this year!!
