Currently I am sitting on my bed at Caribbean Beach waiting for my husband to get dressed and enjoy some last hours in a park, before Tragical Express will finally pick us up.
Post Disney blues is already in full swing and I‘ve got no clue what to do about it. No more Mickey waffles, no more Illuminations Soundtrack stuck in my head 
But we had 10 magical days. Highlight was CP with NPH. So wonderful.
I will continue this from home. So stay tuned 
The only cure is to plan another trip! Glad you had a wonderful vacation.
Not gonna sugar coat it: the mco approaching video on dme is gonna hurt.
So, here we go.
Arrival day 11/26:
I don’t know why, but Florida doesn’t like us. It was our second time and again it was raining cats and dogs when we arrived, this time including a thunderstorm, so our plane had to wait before it could finally get to the gate.
Immigration took a while, but was smooth and our luggage was already on the belt and so off we went to DME. I got my room ready message and was surprised. We had booked a standard room and I requested 5264. I got 2403 in Martinique which is technically an upgrade, because it’s preferred. Preferred always was something I thought wouldn’t be worth the money. But now I know it is.
We were lucky enough to be able to hop on DME just before it started. So, from getting our luggage to arrival at the resort it took only about an hour.
I really like the new Old Port Royale. Yes, it feels crowded sometimes, but it is a really nice place.
We could have walked to our room directly, but I wanted to pick up our new Magic Bands, as they don’t ship to Germany. The CM at check in was the only one I encountered to be not so nice. When I asked for the Magic Bands he starred at me like that was a stupid question. He went to get them, handed them over to me and waved goodbye. No word about a resort plan, resort activities or anything else. Well, not that I need that, but I think you know what I mean and some information would have been great.
I lke bell services, but I just wasn’t worth the drive. We were just in the car, when we had to get off again 
One of the advantages of a preferred room. The walk from our room to OPR was just about five minutes. As the room was not only preferred, but also wheelchair accessible it was a little big bigger with a lot of space in the bathroom. Really nice!
We had to collect the gift cards that were included in our package from The World of Disney, so we boarded the bus to Disney Springs. Luckily the rain had stopped and we could explore Disney Springs a little more this time. What a nice place. Especially with all the Christmas decorations.
I really wanted to get me some Mickey Ears this time, but Disney doesn’t carry them for big heads like mine. Really nothing fits and the headbands are only available in Minnie designs, which would be fine for me, but I couldn’t decide which one to buy 
After we collected the gift card, we had dinner at D-Luxe Burger. The burgers are great there and in my opinion they have the best fries you can find at WDW. This was also the first time I used mobile order, which is a great thing. No standing in line and your food arrives in a breeze. Well, at least when Disney’s Wi-Fi works.
After this we took the bus back to the hotel, as the next day would be MK and MVMCP.
Day 2 11/27: Magic Kingdom and MVMCP
Originally I had planned BOG at 8am, but I postponed it to 10am as I knew we would be tired from traveling. Well, in the end we were up at 6, so we went to MK early and arrived there at about 8:30 and had enough time for pictures. MK is so beautiful at Christmas time. As we walked down Main Street we saw the Trolley Show. I didn’t know they do that pre park opening, but it was great.
We were so early that we started our plan before BOG and got the Railroad done (my husband considers the Railroad to be the first thing you have to do when at a Disney park) and met Minnie, Daisy, Donald and Goofy. I love the character interactions at Disneyworld. It is so much fun to meet them. Well, usually it is, but more in this later.
One thing I learned on this trip: Don’t always stick to your plans and do what you want. We met so many characters we hadn’t planned on and did so many things we wouldn’t have done if I had insisted on sticking to the plans.
For most things TP predictions worked pretty well this day, so we arrived on time for our reservation at Crystal Palace. We had to wait a while for a table, which was fine because I had built in some extra time. Again, the characters were great, as was our server. But the food was… well. It wasn’t good, but also it wasn’t bad. We were on the dining plan (which was free) so I didn’t worry about getting the best value or the best food. I would have been annoyed if I had to pay the full price. I think I don’t have to mention that the place was crowded and noisy, but in the end, the whole thing was fun.
After we finished it was time for check in for the Christmas party. A CM gave us wrong information, so we stood in line at City Hall quite a while until I figured out that check-in was at Chamber of Commerce. We got our bands and walked over to get the first cookie and a picture taken.
We walked over to Fantasyland and met Ariel and did the ride. By this time it was freezing cold already and I was only in a sweater, because who expects Orlando to be as cold as Germany? Maybe I should have listened to the weather forecast?!
At around 5 we got in line for the dwarfs. This was the one meet&greet I was looking forward to the most. We could enter the tent at around 5:30 and the dwarfs arrived at 6:15. We were out by 6:45, so this worked pretty well. The dwarfs were great. I tried to cheer up Grumpy, but no chance 
We got to Main Street at around 7 and the crowds were already waiting for the parade at 8:30 (!).
Most other M&G this evening were a disaster. We waited 60 minutes for Minnie & Daisy before we gave up. We were told that Donald and Scrooge was about 90 minutes wait. We got a cookie and hot cocoa (which was a blessing and it got me warm a little) and decided to watch the first parade and managed to find a more or less good spot at the hub. The parade is amazing, as is Holiday wishes.
The wait for Mr. Mouse himself wasn’t as bad as expected, so we got in line after the parade. I love his Christmas outfit and how he reacts to my Mickey tattoo 
After wishes we tried to meet Jack & Sally, but the wait was still horribly long.
MVMCP was the one thing I was looking forward to the most. In the end it was a mess. It felt so crowded and lines were moving slow (except for the treats). It was somehow fun and a great atmosphere, but I definitely wouldn’t pay 110$ for this again. Maybe my expectations were too high. Regarding to TP this was one of the lesser crowded parties. So I wonder what happens at the party right before Christmas. No chance to move at all and get anything done I suppose.
And this is why I love Housekeeping
Looking forward to reading more!
Day 3 11/28: 1900 Park Fare, Resort hopping, Animal Kingdom
Again I had planned a late start, because of MVMCP the night before and indeed we took it slowly this morning.
I love the new feature, that you can see bus times on the app. So we knew exactly when we had to leave the room to board the bus to MK for our 10:15am reservation at 1900 Park Fare. I totally wasn’t aware that we had to go through bag check at MK, but it only took about 10 minutes and just in time we hopped on a boat to the Grand Floridian. Again it was freezing cold, but I was prepared this time and wore my jacket.
I love breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. The food is good and the character interactions are great. Please have a look at Mary Poppins’ face. You will see her later again When I asked her why our hotel room doesn’t clean itself on a snap she told me that she measures practically perfect, while I measure absolutely lovely. I love it!
I love the picture of Tigger with his miniature self.
We were ahead of time so explored the Grand Floridian. The Christmas tree and the gingerbread house are amazing and I was tempted to take a bite.
Our next stop was the gingerbread house at the Contemporary and so I got one thing done from my bucket list: taking the Monorail through the Contemporary. This was one of the first things I saw about Disneyworld when I was a Child and I had always dreamed about taking the whole circle. One thing I learned through the trip: Plan, but don’t overplan and take your time when you want to do something.
I love AK. It’s such a beautiful park and I could sit on a bench the whole day there and just watch people and animals.
First thing was Kilimanjaro Safari. I was so disappointed when we did it during our first trip and it was so much better this time. So many animals to watch.
After meeting Russel & Dug and Mickey & Minnie we watched the Festival of the Lion King for the first time. I always wondered why this show is so successful, but now I know. It’s such a great and fun show.
From there we walked the bridge over to Pandora. I have to admit that I have never seen Avatar, so I wasn’t sure if I would like it or not, but it is so impressive and detailed. We had Fastpass vor Na’vi this afternoon. Pretty impressive as well, but generally a boring boat ride I wouldn’t do again. At night Pandora is even more beautiful.
The original plan had us visiting Dinosaur now, but on our way we saw that Scrooge was still meeting. I don’t know if characterlocator was off with its times or if I am to stupid to use the page, but we saw many characters meeting later or earlier than Kenny predicted. However, we got in line for Scrooge as we missed him during the Christmas Party and it was one of my favorite M&G. He was so funny, when I asked for a Dollar and searchd his pockets. Great.
The line for Launchpad was already closed when we approached, but the Cast Member was so nice to let us enter and as we were the last to visit he spend a lot of time with us talking about his favorite plane and that he as well doesn’t get money from Scrooge.
We than hopped on a bus to Epcot, ate the worst burger ever at the Electric Umbrella, had a first ride on Soarin’ (I can’t tell you how I love this ride) and called it a night.
Day 4 11/29: Hollywood Studios
This morning started with breakfast at Centertown market. I ordered via the app und soon got my “Your order is ready for pick up” message. The food was there, but the cups for the coffee I ordered were missing. I had to ask for them three times until the guy behind the counter knew what I wanted and I got my coffee.
The walk form the bus stop at Hollywood Studios to park entrance is pretty long currently, so we arrived there at about 08:40 and they were already letting people into the park. But still we were ahead of time and had Mickey, Minnie and Olaf done bei 09:05.
Next stop was the little Mermaid. I love this movie, but this show needs an update. At least the projections should be upgraded to HD.
On this morning TP was pretty correct with predictions and we got everything done we wanted until it was time for our Fantasmic lunch at Hollywood & Vine. The last time we were here, the characters were amazing. This time, they were good, but nothing special and pretty fast. At least Minnie surprised me with a kiss Our server, however, took forever. We were finished, I had signed the bill and it took her about 30 minutes to come back. I would have given her a sign, but she was nowhere to be seen. We hadn’t planned anything important right after lunch, so it was ok and I enjoyed my beer while watching the characters working their way through the room.
DH skipped Star Tours and I should have as well, as it left me a little dizzy.
The Frozen Sing-a-long is still such a cute show, especially with the holiday finale and even as an adult it is fun to sing-a-long.
Now it was time for something new, so we entered Toy Story Land, as we had FPP for Slinky. Toy Story Land is really cute and fun to explore, but it feels so crowded. SDD is so much fun and I was happy to know that we had a second FPP on Saturday.
We rode TSMM, which had a posted wait time of 45 minutes, but we waited over an hour.
At this point hubby left, as he wasn’t feeling good, so I finally had a bit of solo touring (don’t get me wrong, I don’t want him to feel bad and leave, but a few hours alone were great after spending so much time together). I made my way up Hollywood Boulevard, enjoyed the projections and the snow and entered the Fantasmic theatre. The Cast Member asked why I had two tickets and when I explained that DH got ill, he said he was sorry and hoped I enjoyed the show anyway. This is one reason why I love Disney. In Germany nobody would have cared why I was alone with two tickets and if I enjoyed the show. I found myself a good seat and enjoyed the atmosphere. At 7:50 there was an announcement, that the show would be delayed which was repeated about every five minutes. While waiting, the atmosphere at the theatre got even better. People danced and sang and had a fun. At 8:25 it was finally announced the show was cancelled. Pretty bummed, as I like the show, I left the theatre and made my way back to the hotel, got me a slice of pizza and went to bed.
There must be something wrong with me. I love Na’vi. I plan to ride it multiple times on my upcoming trip. Yet there’s so little love for it.
The same is true of Fast and Furious at Universal Studios. No-one likes it apart from me. I thought it was really exciting and fun.
“Exciting”? No. However, it is a wonderful display of modern Disney ride technology. Projections, animatronics, lighting effects, sounds, subtle motions all working together to really create a believable space in a ridiculously small area.
Which is why I really like it. It also is not a retelling of the movie so, as always, good stuff from my POV.
The problem with the ride is it makes no sense. If you are going to be a new story, it needs to be understandable. FOP is understandable, you are there to ride a banshee for the first time (while its illogical, it is, at least, understandable). But the river ride is just you floating for some reason. Supposedly to get to know Pandora, but it never actually introduces you beyond visuals. (Hah, like the movie!)
I was referring to F&F, not Na’vi!
It’s the the same for me & Poseidon’s Fury at IoA. I really enjoyed this show, while most people are pretty annoyed from what I hear
Thanks for sharing your trip report, looking forward to the rest.
Day 5 11/30: Epcot
This day started with an early breakfast at Garden Grill. I love those sticky buns, the characters and the atmosphere and it gives us an advantage on Soarin’. We got in line after we were finished with nearly no wait and again were seated on the far left end. I simply don’t have luck sitting in the middle (yes, I could have asked, but didn’t want to wait longer this morning).
After our flight over the world I wanted to get my backpack from under the seat, got down and felt my pants tear apart. Well, I couldn’t walk through the park with a big hole at my backside (luckily I wore nice shorts today ), but we had to go back to the room to get changed. So, off to the bus stop where luckily a bus was just approaching. Unfortunately the driver told us, that he was going to CBRs b-side (Jamaica and Aruba) and my brain wasn’t working fast enough to hop on that bus and just walk over. So, we waited for the next bus, got me dressed and went back to Epcot. In total this took over 90 minutes and was one of two times I was annoyed with Disney’s bus systems. Luckily we had over 2 hours of free time in our plan, so somehow we managed to get everything done on the end, plus a few extras.
I was able to move our FPPs and in the end we got everything done and there was still time for extras like meeting Belle, Snow, Mulan and Baymax… Our first stop after we returned was Turtle Talk with Crush, which we hadn’t seen during our first visit. What a great and fun show. Really amazing how it is done.
After Illuminations, which we saw from behind a tree next to one of the reserved areas, so not a very good space, I once again wondered how long it takes for the parks to clear at the end of the day.
Day 6 01/12 Disney Springs and Hollywood Studios
This day was originally planned for Discovery Cove, but we decided to skip this. Instead I had planned an hour or maybe one and a half at Disney Springs, a short swim at Typhoon Lagoon and another afternoon at HS.
Well, Springs took us about four hours in the end. With the Christmas Tree Trail and all the stores and restaurants there is so much to do we simply didn’t want to skip.
We did some shopping, explored all the Christmas trees and had really good hot dogs at B.B. Wolf’s Sausage Co.
As we had a second FFP for Slinky scheduled we skipped on Typhoon Lagoon. Thanks to all the shopping bags we again had to go back to CBR (which was good as I had forgotten to tip Mousekeeping this morning and we met the nice ladies at our room) and than we wanted to board a bus to HS. Bus transportation was a mess this afternoon. A family was waiting for a bus to MK and three busses had passed already. When our bus arrived the driver told us that he was also full, but he would call for another bus. The next bus was scheduled to arrive in 35 (!) minutes and I didn’t believe there would be any earlier bus, so we boarded an Epcot bus to walk over. Well, maybe we should have waited. I took quite a while. The walk to International Gateway was smooth. The walk from there to HS could use more signs, as those start only at Boardwalk and we nearly took the wrong way (pretty cool place, maybe we stay there next time) . It seems the walk is slightly longer thanks to the new bus stops now and you have to go through the construction area quite a while before arriving at the bus stops and you could walk over to the main entrance.
We saw Mary & Bert meeting outside the gates to the right (which is Character Palooza I suppose), but had no time to stop.
In the end, we made it just in time for another ride on the dog. We had missed FPP for ToT and RnR of course, but I was able to reschedule them and got FPP for Fantasmic in the end.
We had some time left, so we enjoyed the snow and the projections once again and had our very first Disney Churro. Great stuff! Warm, crispy on the outside, soft inside. Really good.
As we were walking up the Fantasmic theatre I had the idea to ask if we could enter the dining package area, as the show was canceled two days ago and, indeed, the Cast Member was happy to let us in. I still love this show and could see it over and over again.
After Fantasmic we made our way out of the theatre quickly and missed only 2 or 3 minutes of “Jingle Bell Jingle Bam”. Another great show.
We want back to the hotel, had dinner and watch the third fireworks show for today as we could see Illuminations from there. Really nice!
Tomorrow we will leave the world and go to Universal. I think that deserves an extra post
Day 7 12/02 Universal
This was our first day leaving the world, so I was a little nervous. Uber picked us up right at 7 and so we arrived at Universal too early. But as we had to print our tickets, which didn’t work at the Will Call Kiosks, time flew by.
As we had booked the Grinch breakfast we were let in at about 07:45am and made our way passed the early entry line to the restaurant. The breakfast was really good. Freshly prepared food and great character interactions. Well, mostly. The Grinch was the first character we met, after we were greeted by The Who’s. He came to our table, talked about onions and Christmas, took a picture and was not seen again. Took about 40 seconds. The other characters, however, took their time and were so much fun. Thing 1 and Thing 2 tried to steal my bacon every time they passed our table and I took a lot of Who-fies. Really funny. But once again I noticed Dr. Seuss stories aren’t as famous here in Germany as they are in the US. When I told a friend about Thing 1 and Thing 2 he starred at me and asked what I was talking about.
After we finished we took a ride on “The Cat in the Hat” next door and went over to the Incredible Hulk coaster. Maybe the lockers and TSA-like security should have been a warning. The coaster is great and I really enjoyed it as Disney rides are more family-friendly, but DH was done after it and I nearly couldn’t get him on anything else this day.
I had read that Spiderman is one of the best rides in Orlando. And, well, it is. I had to take off my glasses at one point to see if I was starring at a screen or at a real set. Amazing! And this is true for many attractions at Universal. They are mostly pretty good, but not very kid friendly.
After Reign of Kong and Jurrasic River Adventure (where I was alone in a row and could hide behind the guy in front of me) we finally made our way to Hogsmeade.
We visited Olivander’s and the show was so good. The wizard was amazing. We explored Hogsmeade and finally felt good enough to enter Forbidden Journey. Technically this ride is amazing. No 3D-glasses and still you think you are flying. Indeed, the scenes on the screens are so good that is nearly a bit too much and I had to close my eyes at some point. In the end I would give the ride 5 of 5 stars. Amazingly good and the line is a “ride” itself, but I think you can see in the picture that we both weren’t happy with all the movement and even I, who loves rollercoaster etc., didn’t feel well now
So we had to find something that doesn’t go upside down and entered Poseidon’s Fury. Interesting show, I really enjoyed it.
I didn’t know what I should expect from Hogwarts Express. Just a train ride? Something special? I hadn’t watched any videos before, so I was all new. And it is amazing. Really well done!
Diagon Alley is as amazing as the rest of the Wizarding World, but feels so crowded. We visited the “real” Olivander’s and it was much better than the first experience. This time it was a witch and she was so good.
Universal was so low crowded this day and the single rider line at Escape from Gringotts was pretty much longest wait this day and it was just about 20 minutes. Cool rollercoaster, but nothing I’d have to do over and over again, as I could do with Soarin’ or FoP.
We had lunch at Fast Food Boulevard. The Clogger Burger was good and I couldn’t even finish it. DH had some Chicken with fries. The place is real fun. At least if you like the Simpsons.
In terms of rides we were both done for the day, so we explored Universal and saw the animal show and met a lot of characters we hadn’t planned on. The animal show is good and gives a nice break.
The only thing we still did was the E.T. ride. Old, but cute. I didn’t get why they give you a pass and take your name until I read the description at TP a few days later. I am sure E.T. didn’t say our names. Oh, the picture spot is pretty cute.
I think our TP had us finished at about 2pm, but there is so much to see, that we weren’t finished until 5pm and so it was reasonable to wait for the parade. Luckily we watched it. The Christmas Parade is really good.
Before we left we had another ride on the Hogwarts Express. You should really experience both directions.
In the end it was well after 7 when we left. Amazing parks. The only thing I could complain about is the cast members who partly aren’t as nice as Disney’s.
From Universal we wanted to go to Vineland Premium Outlets so again I ordered an Uber and it was a mess this evening. The first driver pretended he couldn’t find us and the Wi-Fi at the pick-up point is non existent. So, we waited half an hour until we got charged a non-pickup-fee and ordered a second Uber. After a while the driver found us and finally we arrived at the outlets.
Mainly we got there because of the Disney outlet. Nothing special at all and we couldn’t find any good offers. So we explored a little, I got myself a nice Calvin Klein sweater at a very low price and after a late dinner we ordered another Uber to get back to the hotel.
The lady behind the wheel was really nice sand funny, but she took the wrong exit at one point (oh why should she have listened to her navi?) and we nearly had to go back all the way until we could turn again. We weren’t charged for this, but it took awfully long.
We had the Universal PhotoPass, which was worth every cent. It doesn’t work as smooth as Disney’s system, but the pictures are great. Luckily we didn’t have ExpressPass. It was so low crowded that day and the longest waits were Gringotts and the Hogwarts Express right after the parade.
Would I go again? Yes! But I would do things differently. I would save the thrill rides for later in the day
Day 8 12/03 Magic Kingdom again
This day was our “do what. you want”-day. We had reservations at BOG and CRT and three fast passes scheduled but the rest wasn’t planned as strict as I would have usually done.
After breakfast at BOG, where we met @Randall1028 we hoped for an early ride on 7DMT. When we arrived there was already in line. Last year we were allowed to ride at about 08:45am. This year they only let us enter when the fireworks got off. The line moved so slow that we were the last to enter the actual line before the breakfast line and the stampede coming from Main Street finally mingled and there basically wasn’t any advantage any more.
After we rode Winnie it was time for FPP at 7DMT. The wait time was at about 90 minutes by then already. This time we sat front row. Really cool experience.
In the end, this day was our “character-day”. We met so many of the I didn’t expect. We had fastness for Ariel, as she is my favorite. After this we met Gaston, who was amazing.
We got in line for Fairy Godmother, but were told that she was about to leave and we would meet the Stepsisters instead. They were so great! I asked them to sing a song and when I said I knew the lyrics to “Oh, sweet Nightingale” only in German, they wanted me to teach them the song in German. So much fun, but I think the other people in line hated us as it took a while
MK was pretty crowded this day as there was no Christmas Party. So we did only a few rides (even the People Mover had a line) and mainly got in line for Characters or “smelled the roses”. We got in line for Fairy Godmother again and finally met her. She was one of the worst meet&greets during this week. After this we met Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and Mary Poppins.
As it was crowded it wasn’t easy to find a good spot for the parade on Main Street, so we made our way to Frontierland and here I learned how rude and ignorant people can be. Cast Members were blocking the way to Liberty Square right behind the bridge and directing people to the left or the right. A woman with stroller simply ignored the Cast Member and marched on. He followed her to tell her again that she was supposed to go to the left, but she simply marched on and ignored him. I mean, they have a reason why they are doing this and CM are doing a great job. I hate people like this.
The parade was good as usual and after it we got in line for Splash as it was hot and we hoped for a little cool down. Well, everybody else did as well and we waited over an hour, but I love this ride.
Finally it was time for dinner at CRT. DH requested it and I did it only for him. The place is amazing. Nice staff and really good food. My steak was so tender that I could cut it with a fork. Some of the characters seemed to be new. Ariel seemed as she was thinking too much about what she could say. In the end, it was fun and we even got our own little swords, made our wishes and just enjoyed the evening.
When we left it was raining cats and dogs again. Luckily we had ponchos with us, so we could move on. I was just a little anxious that HEA would be canceled. Luckily the rain stopped and we found a nice spot at the hub. HEA is pretty average. Yes it is nice, but I liked Wishes much better.
The crowds were insane when we left. We needed to get a “you are mug” from Starbucks, but it was almost impossible to get to the store and later out of the park.
Loved the report, thanks for sharing!
Fun following along with you! I have a question. Why was the Fairy Godmother a bad meet & greet?
Maybe not bad, but not what I expected. She said hi, we took a picture and that was all. Nothing related to her role.
Day 9 04/12: Animal Kingdom and Epcot
This day started with breakfast at Tusker House. It took awfully long to be seated and for the characters to come around. But I think it was the best breakfast we had. Variety and quality of the food are awesome, as are the characters.
Donald got so mad about my shirt and had to hide the “Mickey Mouse - The true Original” logo. When the Cast Member pointed to my Mickey tattoo he even pretended to faint and I had to tell him pretty often that I like him too. So much fun.
After breakfast we took another Safari and again it was a totally different experience. So many animals to be seen and the tour guide was really good. And we were the first to see the baby giraffe.
After this it was finally time for our FoP fastpasses. What an amazing ride. There wasn’t time to wait 3 hours that day, but I l happily would wait for this ride. Btw, TP predicted a 27 min wait with FPP, but it was basically walk on.
We had FPP for Everest after this, but as the ride was down, we could use it for any tier 2 attraction. So, we walked over to Dinoland, met Daisy and entered Dinosaur. I don’t know why I remember this ride as good and had it on the “do again”-list. This time I thought it is awful. So shaky and I was so glad that it was over.
This is by far my favorite pic. I wanted to smile, but there was a nasty bee
We watched “Up! - A great bird adventure”. What a boring show. After a Dole Whip and some more pictures we left and took a bus over to Epcot.
I got us FPP for Test Track. Another ride I could do over and over again. We met Pluto, had coffee and a Santa Mickey cupcake and finally got in line for Frozen. Posted wait time was 45 minutes, TP predicted something like 55 minutes. In the end we waited 75 minutes. On the one hand it was good as I did online check-in while waiting and the app told me I wasn’t allowed to check-in, so I had to make a phone call. On the other hand the line is in no way entertaining, so we played a few rounds of Heads up!.
Thanks to the long wait we arrived late for our dining reservation at San Angel Inn Dinner. I booked this for Candlelight Processional dinner on special request of DH. We had to wait quite a bit for a table, but were seated near the water. Nice place, but pretty narrow. Our server was nice and happy to hear I could talk to her in Spanish, but she was slightly confused. She mixed up orders, so the table next to us got the wrong appetizers and entrees, she forgot our drinks and desserts. However, the food was amazing. We left about 7:20pm and had tickets for 8:15pm Candlelight Processional and so I thought we had some time left. Well, maybe we should have walked directly to the theatre. When we arrived the line for the packages went all the way to Morocco. In my opinion they started too late letting people in, but in the end we were seated not too bad.
We were in the performance that was broadcast live at Disney Parks Blog and it was truly overwhelming. Neil Patrick Harris is a great narrator and where else can you see a choir and orchestra of this size for free? I was very glad that the camera didn’t catch me. I started to cry when they sang “Silent Night” and couldn’t stop until we left the theatre. I always wondered why CP is so popular, but now I know. Truly awesome!
For Illuminations we found a spot near the restrooms at Refreshment Port. Nice spot for a good view and I really enjoyed seeing Illuminations one last time.
As there was EMH this evening I could take another flight over the world and entered Soarin’. Finally, I was seated in the middle! I decided I wanted a last ride on Spaceship Earth as well. I don’t why, but I like this ride. As it stopped while I was at the top and watched the stars it took so long (and I was slightly hoping to be evacuated ;-)) that DH called me to ask if I was hiding at the ride so I could stay there forever
Day 10 12/05 One last day…
I hate final mornings. I hate to know that I have to leave. We had planned breakfast at O’hana this morning, but DH was so tired that I had to cancel it. So we packed, dropped our luggage at Bell services and took a bus to MK. We would have made it to O’hana, but that’s another story.
I was hoping for FPP for Princess Fairytale Hall, but nothing was available and wait times were horrible this morning. The only thing with a reasonable wait was Splash, but it was too cold again. We had late breakfast/early lunch at Pinocchio Village Haus (I suppose chicken breast nuggets cannot be called breakfast). On our way to Pinocchio we met Alice.
We strolled around a bit and caught The Main Street Philarmonic at Storybook Circus and got in line for Ariel again, as I had a dinglehopper to bring her. Posted wait time was 15 minutes and, again, we waited an hour. But it was worth the wait. Ariel was amazed by the dinglehopper.
Oh, it was Walt Disney’s birthday and I met a guy looking like Walt Disney, but he told me he wasn’t allowed to take pictures.
After some more pictures and some shopping (our dog now has a Minnie lead and Minnie bowls) we finally had to leave and go back to CBR where Tragical Express picked us up.
Here, my trip report ends. I will write some final thoughts later. Thank you for following
Great report, thanks for sharing!
Did you have any kind of lead-in? With face characters, I always try to have some lead-in in mind in case they don’t initiate conversation. (Like with Belle it’s usually asking her what she’s been reading lately.) Sometimes you have to be proactive - especially as an adult.
