At 730p I was standing outside the train station putting on my VMAH wristband, and the crescendo of excitement was reaching a critical level. The slow approach on the ferry definitely amplified my anticipation. The Magic Kingdom was aglow with Christmas! I got to my spot on Main Street at 735p and just soaked it all in for 25 minutes when Enchantment started. For the first time on this trip I truly felt some magic.
Getting a little ahead of myself, but the end result of tonight was the rekindling of a love for the Christmas season, which I had lost over the last 3 years. It used to be the climax of my favorite 60ish days each year - Halloween through Christmas. Loved Halloween and especially Christmas way more than average, and who doesn’t love stuffing themselves on Thanksgiving? But since my then-2-year-old DS’s cancer in 2018 I have not cared at all for the holidays really. Until this night on November 8th…
When I picked out my spot for Enchantment, there was plenty of space to go around. It wasn’t until about 10 minutes before the show that it really got packed in. But even then I didn’t feel packed in too tight. I had a comfortable cushion of space around me.
There was a family in front of me, including a teen-aged boy and a younger brother that got up on his shoulders for the show. The moment he did that, I felt an instinctual anger that he was messing up my view. But a moment later that feeling melted away, replaced with a surprising joy for the family to have this amazing moment. The younger boy was really in to the show and kept looking down at his parents with this big, beaming smile. A beautiful moment, but it wasn’t mine. Made me miss my kids in an aching kind of way. The dad was trying to get a picture of them with the fireworks but he couldn’t get the right angle since he was beside them a bit. I asked if he wanted me to take their photo for them, and he brushed me off like it was weird. Maybe I seemed like a creeper to him, who knows. I took several photos anyways, so maybe I am a creeper. It made for a good shot I think. Too bad that guy didn’t want it.
The projections on Main Street have some impressive moments, but it’s impossible to take them all in while also watching the castle projections which I think are far superior. So, if I was only seeing Enchantment once I think the hub is slightly preferable. Of course, that means getting there earlier so it depends on timing too.
One thing that drives me nuts no matter where you are, is the number of cameras on long sticks that block people’s view. If you’re going to use a camera, keep it eye level or lower at least. Here’s an example of a streamer that had their phone up way too high. She had comments scrolling on her super bright screen, and it was really distracting. I would have been pissed if I was directly behind her.
I didn’t spend a lot of time beforehand thinking about touring strategies for VMAH other than penciling in a logical order of special attractions. I remember from the before-times that Frontierland was a great spot to watch parades, but only saw the parade from Main Street. So, I decided to tour clockwise through Adventureland and Frontierland with the goal of staking out a spot near the Reindeer Wranglers. After the parade, hit key Fantasyland and Tomorrowland rides before getting a spot in the hub for the 1115p fireworks. Anything additional would be a bonus.
Immediately after Enchantment, I made my way to the left of the hub which was not easy because I was an idiot and went over to a gift shop on the right side of Main Street to check on something first. Going across the river of humanity and back took like 5 minutes. There was a crazy line for VMAH wristbands between JC and Pirates so I would suggest getting your wristband before Enchantment (outside the train station if you can’t anywhere else). The line must have been 15-20 minutes just for wristbands. But after this the park felt nearly empty all night! CMs everywhere were also asking to see wristbands past this point until probably 900p(ish).
JC had a long line as usual so I skipped it and practically walked on to Pirates at 830p. Splash was down to start the night, so I went over to BTMRR and walked on at 845p. Splash was still down so I went over to HM at 900p, and then got my first yummy snickerdoodle cookie (my favorite kind!) and hot chocolate at CHH at 915p. Finished that up as I walked over to the breezeway between CBJ and Magic Carpets. I staked out a spot along the ropes for the parade where I had a good view of both the parade coming towards me and the Reindeer Wranglers. They were already performing when I got there and they were awesome! Loved every minute of it until the parade started at 945p. There was a dad dancing with his daughter and it made me miss DD2 so much. Looking forward to making those kinds of memories in a few years.
The parade… WOW! Can’t say enough about this. It put me over the edge and officially in the Christmas Spirit. It was not crowded where I was whatsoever. In fact, it was the lowest crowd “feeling” I had experienced yet on this trip. It was awesome. I recorded the whole thing to show my kids.
At 1005p I grabbed a coke and bag of popcorn and downed those while walking over to Splash, which had finally started running. I got wet, and I was cold, but it was worth it. Love this ride. Every time I’ve been on it this year I think it could be my last before the big redo with Princess and the Frog.
After Splash I went to CHH again for another cookie and hot chocolate (1038p), then headed towards Pooh. Since B didn’t care to ride this one, it was a priority for me tonight. Very short wait and was on at 1050p.
Made my way to the hub where there was plenty of space everywhere I looked, despite the fireworks starting in like 15 minutes! I stood near the Mickey and Minnie 50th statues. This was the best fireworks show I’ve ever seen, without a doubt. It was amazing.
At 1135p I was riding Space and at 1140p I was eating a Mickey Bar while watching the dance party with Stitch. At this point my energy level was approaching zero, so I decided to call it a night. Caught a few minutes of the castle stage show as I went through the hub, enjoyed a few last moments on main street, and was out of the park at 1155p. At the exit, they gave us this little Mickey-shaped chocolate marshmallow which I did not care for at all. Waited a few minutes for a bus and wheels were rolling at 1207. Got to ASMu (transferred from Pop to save a little money) at 1225p to find out the room was not in my name, but in B’s name. No idea how that happened. The manager had to look up a bunch of information and I had to confirm my identity a few ways before they would change the room over to me. Got a room in the BatB building again like I did in October! Retrieved my luggage from bell services and made the long walk to my room. I was in bed at 105a. What an epic day.
You still have to cover your departure but you’ve milked this 4 day trip into a month-long trip report! I like it!
I’m so glad your wife has been supportive of your running and your travels and that you have not yet been destroyed by her laser-shooting eyeballs. I may have to do a solo trip someday …
Why do you think this report has taken me a month to finish!!! I’m busy working off my spousal debt! Gotta get way back into the green before January. When I got home from this trip, DW asked if I really needed to do the Dopey or if I could just do the Marathon and make it a shorter trip. I said maybe…
On my final morning, I did the same thing I had done twice already in the previous month(ish): rope dropped Pandora, then Africa and Animation Experience. This time I was closer to actually rope dropping though. Great timing this morning: packed and out of my room at 700a, on the bus at 714a, at the AK taps at 725a, Tree of Life at 734a, FOP standby queue entrance at 745a, caves at 755a, lab at 802a, preshow at 810a, and at 820a, “Sivako!”
NRJ standby queue entrance at 830a, more crowded than the day before but still only a 10ish minute wait. There was a family in front of me that was letting their kids fill the whole place up with bubbles. I can’t believe how prolific those bubble wands are. At first, I was like WTF? but immediately let go and just enjoyed the spontaneous randomness of Bubbles in Pandora. The shaman was backstage for repairs I assume, because a large screen was in its place showing a video of the shaman. Boo… Still a wonderful ride, just lacking the climax.
The posted wait for the safari was something like 45 minutes, I can’t remember exactly, but knowing how long I waited the day before I didn’t want to risk a long wait again. I wanted to be on the first train to Rafiki’s for Animation Experience at 10a. So I got a late breakfast at Kusafiri Coffee Shop and enjoyed that immensely while people watching at the Dawa Bar
Third time doing Animation Experience, and I’ve had three different teachers. All three were PHENOMENAL. Some witty jokes and a little history mixed in with the technical instruction. This is one of my favorite things to do at WDW, and a must-do from now on. They provide coloring pages and crayons for the littles, so I even recommend it for families. The class is only 30 minutes and they guide you through drawing each line pretty slowly. I’m honestly not very good at drawing, but somehow I have ended up with 3 masterpieces!
I was on the train back over to Harambe at 1050a, then walking towards Nomad. Constantly refreshing MDE to get on the walk-up list, but never got it to work, maybe I didn’t get in range before the list was full, or maybe they weren’t using it. By the time I got over there at 1100a the line was at least 10 parties deep and they had already seated some. I decided that I didn’t have time for this since DME was picking me up in 90 minutes. Maybe I did, but I didn’t want to be rushed or stressed about time. No Nomad
I had heard that Divine was back, so I opted to go find her instead of riding EE which was the other option I had in mind. Got to the Oasis and couldn’t find Divine anywhere, so asked a CM that was standing off to the side. She confirmed that Divine was back but she wouldn’t be out until 1140a. My DME pickup was scheduled for 1230p, so again I decided I didn’t have time for that. And I was now at the front of the park and didn’t feel like walking all the way back to EE and risk the SR line being long. So, I just said goodby and bussed back to ASMu for Tragical. Ironically, I waited like 30 minutes for a bus, and wasn’t leaving AK until 1145a. I should have stayed to see Divine and Lyfted back to ASMu. Oh well…
There was a DME bus already there when I arrived, and I asked the driver if I could ride this one. He said yes. So I was on DME at 1200p. We also stopped at ASMo, and then made it to MCO at 1255p.
I was looking around at Magic of Disney store when I got the last piece of pixie dust on the trip. On our June family trip the kids each got these character pens, and DS6 got the Donald version (see below). A few weeks ago it got broken and he had asked me to get a new one on my trip. I had looked everywhere in the parks but it was out of stock. Well, they had them at the airport! When I checked out, I told the cashier how I’d been looking everywhere for this pen and she said I was lucky because they had literally just arrived a few minutes before I got there!
I had a great lunch at Cask and Larder at 130p and then made my way over to gate 123 at around 215p. Flight was supposed to board at 320p and depart at 350p, but by 330p noone had boarded yet; And there were no SW personnel at the gate. Very odd, and my anxiety was building. I was really pushing it on timing because my flight was supposed to land at 540p and my DS6’s cub scouts meeting started at 630p. He was getting his first badge and as the den leader, I was supposed to be the one to give it to him. I should have had plenty of time to get to the meeting before that part which would probably be around 715p. But if my flight was delayed…
We finally boarded and I was in my seat at 403p, so we were at least 30 minute behind. At first the gate personnel were telling us there was a paperwork issue but nothing was wrong with the plane, the flight would not be canceled. Then on board, the crew told us that there was an issue with some of the baggage and they were working to resolve the issue. Around 420p someone got on board and asked for a specific person to gather their things and de-board the plane. After they were off, we pushed back and were in the air around 440p.
I got to see WDW from the air again like in October. It was too far to see details, but I recognized the outline of Bay Lake (red) and Seven Seas Lagoon (yelllow). From that I could tell which tiny blobs were the Contemporary (green), Space Mountain, etc. Even Spaceship Earth was a tiny dot, but I could see it.
I was walking to my car at Love Field at 625p, and knew my drive would take me about 40 minutes. Traffic was really bad though, and I got to the meeting just in time for the badge ceremony at 720p. Whew… What a day!
I’ll finish this trip report with a few quick things. First, the next day after my trip was my birthday, and I got the best present: DS6 and DS5 got their first Pfizer shot! When DD3 gets her vaccine or if COVID risks are sufficiently reduced by next fall, we will be coming back to WDW as a family! I’ve decided they all need to experience it during Nov/Dec, so that is what I’m shooting for. Teaser: we will be going with Make-A-Wish.
Love this. I was at every ceremony and court of honor while my boys were in scouts. Of course being a leader I kinda had to. Here are my 2 Eagle Scouts
Like being in line for Rise at DL at 4:00 when your flight is at 6:30? Don’t judge! I made it with at least 10 minutes to spare before boarding started. No joke, I thought to myself … wow, I could’ve stopped in the Emporium for a second on my way out.
Yeah no. Absolutely no. I’m having palpitations just thinking of it.
Please tell me that at least you were flying SNA and not LAX We hit no traffic and 3hrs was just about right to have us at the gate without a lot of wait time before boarding.
