Playing 'I Spy' in Disney... December 2010 TR

[Tinkerbell1989]

Great report so far!

Great report Steffi! Looking forward to more.

Aww, thank you ladies! I'm glad you're enjoying reading it! I'm working all week now, so you might have to wait until Saturday for the next installment!

xxx

 

[Chilly]

So you got a return time to go back to the WWOHP? I've not heard of that before.

A couple of really lovely days.

 

[taylor91]

Really good report so far. I love all the photos, especially as you were there over Christmas, brings back lots of fab memories. Looking forward to the next day

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

So you got a return time to go back to the WWOHP? I've not heard of that before.

A couple of really lovely days.

Thanks Claire - yeh, whilst we were there we had to collect return times, like a Fastpass, to filter entry. I don't know how long it will be like that, I guess it was over Christmas when it's expected to be busy. But it made good use of our time!

Really good report so far. I love all the photos, especially as you were there over Christmas, brings back lots of fab memories. Looking forward to the next day

Thanks taylor91, I am loving writing it, I just wanna go back now!

xx

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Well, it's Christmas Day, and as any little child, I was up quite early because I was excited!
After breakfast, Tom and I spoke to his parents on Skype, and then we opened up our Christmas presents!

This was our poor excuse of a Christmas tree, with Disney chocolate coins decorating it, and lots of goodies underneath! Santa had found us!

I got a gorgeous Disney scarf from Tom, some jewellery, some bath smellies, and a candle that smellt so good I could eat it!
We then decided to get into the pool, just because we could!

We got out and left for Epcot again - I know, Epcot two days in a row, but Magic Kingdom had been closed since 11am. So we started by getting Fastpasses for 'Soarin'' at about 6pm... that's how busy it was! Then, as we'd remembered our passports, we went to Canada, and watched the film. This was nice, and I'm sure we'd done it before, but I couldn't remember it!

Next we went to the UK; it is always so fun to listen for local accents. We wished all the CM's a Merry Christmas and hoped they didn't miss their families too much! Tom, Melissa and I also bumped into Pooh and Tigger.

We walked by France quite swiftly, and then decided to skip a couple of pavilions and head to the 'Liberty Inn' in America for our Christmas lunch! I had a burger, fries, and a rocky road moose! It wasn't traditional, but it was still tasty! After lunch, Tom, Ryan, Melissa, Dad and I went to Italy to search for more Hidden Mickey's, whilst Mum, Grandma and Grandad watched the American Adventure film.

We met back up, and went to listen to the drums in Japan. They were amazing, and I could have listened to the for ages! Next, we went to Morocco. I went to Morocco in 2008 with two girlfriends of mine and we had an amazing time, so I was excited to re-visit this holiday!
Melissa and I decided to get henna tatoos with some of our Christmas money.

Mine is the one on the left and means music, and Melissa's is on the right and means dance. They were really pretty!

This meant we had visited all the countries, and our passports were complete! I was so pleased with this... as you can tell!

We stopped off in the Land for a snack. Tom and I split a Rice Crispy cake and a chocolate chip cookie, they were yummy!
We hung in the Land before our 'Soarin'' FP, Tom was searching for Hidden Mickey's...

These photos just make me chuckle! I'll admit, they aren't entirely natural, but it did go something like that!

Mum, Grandma and Grandad weren't sure if they'd like 'Soarin'', as Mum doesn't like heights, and Grandma and Grandad don't like rollercoasters. I was really struggling to explain it to them, but I convinced them to go on it. Anyway, we all went on it, and everybody loved it! I had never noticed the smell of orange and pine before!

We slowly made our way back to the car, and jumped on 'Spaceship Earth' as there was hardly a queue. I really ejoyed the updates and I loved the interactive video of 'Your Tomorrow'. Eventually we went back to the villa, and jumped in the pool. Again, just because we could!

What a way to spend Christmas Day!

xxx

 

[taylor91]

Wow what a Christmas day I bet you will remember that for years to come. I love the use of the house-plant as a Christmas tree

 

[disney_princess_85]

Another lovely day!

 

[scottish mum]

Really enjoying your TR. Seems like you managed to have a good balance of alone time for you and Tom but still had a great time together as a whole family

 

[tony64]

What a great way to spend Xmas day.

 

[Linda67]

What a great trip report, I have really enjoyed reading along

You all look like you are having a wonderful time

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Wow what a Christmas day I bet you will remember that for years to come. I love the use of the house-plant as a Christmas tree

It was an amazing Chrismas Day, and thank goodness it wasn't that busy, we could wander round as we pleased!

Another lovely day!

Thank you Lauren

Really enjoying your TR. Seems like you managed to have a good balance of alone time for you and Tom but still had a great time together as a whole family

We did have a great time thank you, both with my family, and alone with Tom!

What a great way to spend Xmas day.

It was a lovely Christmas Day thank you, lots of planning but it was all worth it

What a great trip report, I have really enjoyed reading along

You all look like you are having a wonderful time

Thank you for reading in the first place!

Lots of love Steffi xxx

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

We woke on Boxing Day morning to freezing temperatures and frost on the ground... Eek!

So we dressed up warm in our English winter coast and headed to Animal Kingdom, as we hadn't done this yet this holiday!

The first thing we did when we arrived, we went straight to 'Expedition Everest' and Tom, Melissa, Ryan and I queued up. We sat toward the back of the train, and I was a little bit disappointed, as it looks much faster than it is! Still screamed though!

We wandered through to Dinoland, and we rode 'Primeval Whirl'... even though the wait in the cold seemed like forever! It was a pretty tame ride, but it was still really fun! Next on our list was 'Dinosaur' - which again Mum, Dad, Grandma and Grandad took a rain-check on. This was so exciting; I had forgotten how fun the back story was, and the ride was very scary!

We had lunch after this. Tom's Mum had asked the day before whether we had eaten turkey, so Tom and I had a turkey leg from Dinoland!

Everybody else had burger and chips in Restaursaurus The Turkey leg was very yummy!

We walked over to the safari after lunch, and had a really good tour guide, and we saw loads of animals that were really close to the jeep. We saw giraffes, rhinos, elephants and all sorts of gazelle and deer!

After the safari, we went over to the 'Tree of Life' and 'It's Tough To Be A Bug'. This show was very funny, and I loved the bugs leaving the theatre before we could!

As we left, we could hear the 'Jingle Jammin' Jungle Parade' making its way round the park, so we stopped off to watch it! The song was very catchy, and we did end up singing it for the rest of the day!

We had a snack and hot chocolate in Pizzafari, and sat there for a while as it was so cold outside. Tom, Melissa and I decided to brave the weather and check out the wait time for 'Expedition Everest', so we organised to meet the rest before heading off.
The wait time was just 5 minutes, so we rushed through the queue and ended up sitting in the middle of the train - this was an incredible difference, especially as it was dark too! It seemed faster, the drop seemed higher and the yeti seemed to be more obvious than before!

We got off, freezing but exhilarated, and saw the queue was still just 5 minutes, so we went round again and tried sitting in the front, all in the name of research! This again was a whole different ride, as when you reach the top where the track is broken, you don't think you're on the mountain! Scary!

Our verdict? Ride in the middle of the train if you can, it's amazing!

We eventually met the rest of the gang at 'Festival of the Lion King' where we had recieved Fastpasses earlier in the day - this is possibly because it was so cold, they wanted to make sure people stuck around to watch the show! It was amazing, as usual, and I was so glad we got to watch it!

Sorry they're blurry - it was difficult to get good pictures with my little digital camera!

On the tram back to the car, Dad made the executive decision to not see the Epcot fireworks tonight, as he was the tiniest bit cold...

Haha! We have never laughed so much! But, to be fair to him, it was absolutely freezing!

A great, but cold Boxing Day

xxx

 

[Linda67]

Another great day

Boy it looks cold though, glad to see you did the British proud and stuck it out though. I bet the Florida natives thought it was horrendous

I so wish that the could fix the yeti on EE. I have never seem it working properly and it must look amazing. Great tip about riding in the middle

 

[jockey]

Great report

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

We woke up this morning to find that Florida had had the coldest temperatures in 21 years! This did not make us happy, especially Tom - I'd told him it would be spring/ summer weather! So, out came the coats again and we braved the weather to go to SeaWorld!

We decided to head to Cypress Bakery for lunch... this seems to be a tradition! I had a chocolate chip muffin and a mint chocolate mocha! Yummy!
We warmed up a little and headed to 'Manta' but it was closed because it was too cold! I was not happy! Apparently, the rides can't operate in temperatures under 45F and at the time it was 39F!

We wandered round to the 'Dolphin Nursery' and watched the young dolphins practising their tricks and signals. This brought back those memories of Discovery Cove and I relayed some of the facts I learnt!

We moved on to the 'Polar Express'. I love that film and remember Mum taking us to see it in the cinema on Christmas Eve when it was first released! This was an okay ride, I loved the theming of it, but the simulator didn't seem to match what was happening on screen. I did come off feeling a little bit dizzy, which is very unusual

After checking out the show times, we went and saw 'Believe' in Shamu Stadium. This was very good and very impressive. However, now that the trainers aren't allowed in the water, the special something has definately gone from the show, which is such a shame. Of course, I understand why.

(Look at everybody sat with their hoods up!)
On the other hand, there was a women sat behind us who had obviously never seen anything like this before and she was whooping and screaming with awe and joy the entire way through. And it was genuine too!

Whilst sitting in the stadium, Dad pointed ou the Manta was moving, as was Kraken, so we rushed out to see a 90 minute wait for Manta! So Tom, Ryan, Melissa and I all queued up whilst Mum, Dad, Grandma and Grandad went and grabbed a drink and went shopping.

It did not take 90 minutes, but more like 150 minutes... I was a little upset as it seemed to take up the whole day. Eventually, we got on the ride and I was getting a little nervous. We sat in the back row and got tipped forward. This is when I screamed! As we went up the first hill, facing the floor of the park Tom said he was waving to Grandma! I couldn't let go of the restraint, so I didn't wave!

(How good is my Mummy, taking pictures like this?!)
The ride was amazing, and it was definately worth queuing up for it. It's an odd experience when you go round a corkscrew, or upside down but it's a fab ride!

We finally found everybody else, and just heard the announcement that both Manta and Kraken were closed due to cold weather. It was unlikely that they'd re-open fully for the rest of the evening as the temperature was dropping, so we left Kraken and went to see some animals!

The sealions were very funny, although they weren't out in the water playing but hiding under the balcony shouting to each other!

We also saw the puffins and penguins, which were gorgeous as always!

It was just before 6pm, and so we sat by the water to watch the 'Festival of Dancing Trees'. This was very Christmas-y and very pretty.

As we walked along the shops, it started snowing which was very romantic, especially with all the Christmas lights!

Next, we went to see the rays. We couldn't feed them as it was quite late, but I wanted to stroke them (even though I'd stood in a pool of them at Discovery Cove a week before!) This was really nice, and I explained to Melissa that they had a certain 'flight path' which is why they seem to swim in circles. She was worried they'd all gone mad!
I wanted to take a quick peek at the dolphins underwater, which was really beautiful - impossible to take any pictures though as it was so dark!

Finally, we head back to the car and had tea in Ponderosa! This is Grandad's favourite non-Disney restaurant and always comes here at least once. It was very yummy, and we were looked after by our server really well - he kept on bringing hot chocolate and tea and telling us to wrap up warm!

It was a fantastic day, very cold but I'm glad I did Manta in the end!

xx

 

[Chilly]

what a lovely family holiday

 

[disney_princess_85]

Seeing frost on the ground is so strange! As Linda said, I bet the Floridians weren't impressed!!

SeaWorld's big Christmas tree is very nice and the Festival of Dancing Trees looks pretty.

 

[Linda67]

Great day

Manta is an amazing ride.

I was the same as you when I first got on it .... I just thought 'what the hell am I doing!!' but I absolutely loved it

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

We had a little bit of a lie in this morning, before getting ready for a bit of 'extreme park hopping' as Ryan called it! It really wasn't that bad though!

We started off in Hollywood Studios, and looked at the time for 'Toy Story Mania'... I was determined to queue for any amount of time to ride this, after amazing reviews here and elsewhere online.
However, I wasn't prepared to queue for 200 minutes So, it's top of my list for my next visit
I then suggested the 'Great Movie Ride' as this was another ride we hadn't done before. It was... okay! Our guide seemed to be very bored, so maybe it depends! Not sure where all the photos are from this morning though, sorry!

As we left, we saw the 'Block Party Bash' parade coming round the corner. We managed to catch it as it travelled down towards the Indiana Jones show - this was actually pretty cute!

The army men were hilarious! Very witty and they were talking to everyone in the crowd!

The floats themselves are actually really detailed and look incredible!

We spent some time checking out the shops, planning my last few purchases and looking for a hoody that Tom had his eye on. Tom and I then decided to check out the time for ToT, and jump on for one last ride!
We waited for about 30 minutes, and it was still as terrifying as ever! My stomach had been suitably tickled, and so we found the rest of the gang before walking into the theatre of Fantasmic.

Okay, we were a little early, so we got the iPod out and listened to some tunes, played I Spy, took silly pictures and ate a LOT of pink candy floss! Man, did we go a little loopy on that?!

Soon, it got dark, and the CMs were sending a Mexican wave around the theatre, and back again! This amused us until the show started - which was incrediable! It's just hard to do it justice through pictures!

When this finished, we made a move towards to exit, jumped in the car and head off to Epcot, to watch Illuminations! Ryan moaned a little, and we all laughed at him...

*Back Story When we first went to Florida in 2000, we watched the Epcot fireworks at least 5 times in 14 days, because Mum absolutely loved them. Ryan was about 8 years old, and he was never happy about having to stay late to watch them "again!" Now, whenever we watch any fireworks, it's just one of those little things!*

We staked out a good spot on the bridge by Mexico, and played more I Spy. I'd had to put socks on with my sandals - it was that cold - and so whenever someone said 'S', I'd say "Socks? Sandals? It's not my fault! It's so cold!" We were all a bit hyper!

The fireworks though, were fantastic!

Photos just don't do them justice!

We caught the tram back to the car, and head home in preparation for a early morning the next day!

 

[Tinkerbell1989]

Another great day

Boy it looks cold though, glad to see you did the British proud and stuck it out though. I bet the Florida natives thought it was horrendous

I so wish that the could fix the yeti on EE. I have never seem it working properly and it must look amazing. Great tip about riding in the middle

The natives didn't like the cold so much, I guess it made it quieter for us though! The yeti still wasn't working, but I didn't even see the fake on the first time! I nearly wet myself when I did see it!

Great report

Thank you so much for reading it!

what a lovely family holiday

Thanks Claire, it was amazing!

Seeing frost on the ground is so strange! As Linda said, I bet the Floridians weren't impressed!!

SeaWorld's big Christmas tree is very nice and the Festival of Dancing Trees looks pretty.

We thought it was a bit weird too! It was meant to be my sunny holiday!

Great day

Manta is an amazing ride.

I was the same as you when I first got on it .... I just thought 'what the hell am I doing!!' but I absolutely loved it

Manta was fab - I'd love to go again, so I can enjoy it rather than being scared!

Thankyou everybody for your lovely comments, I'm so glad that people are reading it!

Steffi xxx