We unpacked our bags and settled into the villa whilst
waiting for Rob’s parents to arrive. They sent us a message when they got
through security and onto the Magical Express and we headed over to Saratoga
Springs to meet them off the bus.
We took them back to the tree house to drop off their bags
and then we popped to Wal-Mart to buy some food for the villa. We were also
planning on getting something to eat but Paul and Tracey were tired so we went
back to Saratoga and got some flatbreads at Artist’s Palate.
They went to bed and we watched some TV before going to bed
ourselves.
1st December
We were woken up by “the noisies” (Paul and Tracey) in the
morning. They had woken up early (as expected) and Paul had already been to the
pool for a swim....!
We got up and had breakfast in the villa before heading over
to Epcot. Unfortunately despite their early start we didn’t arrive until a
little while after opening and the lines for Soarin’ and Test Track were
already much longer than we were prepared to wait (and fast pass times were
well into the evening).
So, to Spaceship Earth we went – there was a short line but
we were quickly onto the ride. Afterward we went over to Nemo for a quick ride
and a little look at the fishes. We decided that we would return to Future
World another day and so we headed over to the World Showcase for a wander
around.
As we entered I saw Santa Duffy. As you may have noticed I
quite like meeting characters so I joined the line. There were a couple of
families ahead of me so it only took a few minutes and I got a photo with Santa
Duffy :)
We continued around the World Showcase – stopping in Mexico
for the boat ride but skipping the meet and greet with Donald due to his long
line.
Into Norway for Maelstrom and oh my goodness what a line for
the new Frozen Princesses! We carried on around for a little bit and then
stopped at the refreshment outpost for some soft serve ice cream :)
Further around the World Showcase and Tracey and I went to
see Pooh and Tigger in the UK :)
We tried to get our tickets linked with our Magic Bands –
Paul and Tracey’s tickets liked fine but ours would not link :( We were told to
try at guest relations to see if they could fix the problem.
Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
We headed over to the Magic Kingdom around 6pm (much too
late but still!) and we then had to battle our way down Main Street which was
extremely busy as party goers were entering and some day guests were heading to
the exit....!
First task of the evening was to ride It’s a Small World –
this was the last day the ride was open until after our trip was over as it was
having a short refurbishment.
Once we were done with IASW we headed over to Frontierland
where we took a quick ride on Splash Mountain – we got really wet :( The water
seemed to hit us right in the face!
Then we took a quick ride on Pirates of the Caribbean
followed by the Jingle Cruise (it’s fun to ride at night).
We headed over to the hub to try and find a spot for
Celebrate the Magic and Holiday Wishes – unfortunately as we had now discovered
the party was sold out this was quite difficult and we ended up in a less than
ideal spot.
We could see Celebrate the Magic fine but had a tree
blocking our view for some of the fireworks :(
Once the fireworks were over we headed towards Liberty
Square to find a spot for the 2nd parade – it was still much busier
than I had expected but we found a spot behind a family with children who were
sitting on the floor and there was a wall where we could sit while we waited.
Although not the best viewing spot we were able to view the
parade without feeling squashed by people. My photos are not that great though
due to a large light shining from the opposite side of the parade route.
Once the parade was over Paul and Tracey decided to catch
the bus back to the resort as they were tired. I wanted to meet at least one of
the special party characters so we headed over to see who was available.
The line for the 7 dwarfs had already been cut so we kept
going to see if Scrooge McDuck and gang were still meeting. They were so we got
in line :) They went for a break shortly after we arrived so it took a little
while but eventually I got to meet them :)
By now it was approaching Midnight so there would be no time
to meet anyone else, so we headed over to the exit. We stopped on Main Street to
take some pictures of the snow and Christmas decorations before taking the
ferryboat back across the Seven Seas Lagoon.
We were back at the villa shortly after 12.30 and headed off
to bed after checking that Paul and Tracey had managed to successfully make
their way back!
2nd December
Breakfast in the villa again today and before heading to a
park we decided to take a ride around Saratoga Springs on a Surrey Bike.
This was an interesting experience....Rob was steering most
of the way and doing a good job of keeping us on the path and out of danger.
Then Paul took over and he almost tipped us over while cornering too fast on 3
separate occasions! We demanded that Rob take over the steering!
The ride of terror over we decided to take the boat to
Downtown Disney to get some lunch and see if our passes could be linked with
our bands.
We headed straight to the Earl of Sandwich for lunch and
then popped across to Ghirardelli for a chocolate sample.
We then got in the ridiculous line at guest relations to try
and fix our bands. The cast member who eventually helped us just had to reissue
our annual passes and then the new ones linked easily.
Unfortunately it took us about 30 mins to see a cast member
and Toy Story Mania FP+ were unavailable on all days during our trip!
We took the boat back to the tree houses and took the short
walk to our villa. We stayed at the villa until around 5 when we headed back
across to the Magic Kingdom.
I had managed to book us some FP+ for this evening. We had
dinner booked at Be Our Guest for 7.15 so we first went to the Haunted Mansion
at 6.15. Then we took Paul and Tracey to see Storybook Circus as this was new
since their last trip.
Over to BOG and I was hoping that as a table of 4 we might
be seated in the West Wing as last time as a twosome we were seated in the
ballroom.
We were taken to our table and it was in the West Wing! Yay!
I was the most excited – nobody else was really interested.
For some reason the restaurant gets some very mixed reviews,
I’m not sure why as both times we have eaten here we have enjoyed the meal and
the service has been very good.
I had the steak followed by the Grey Stuff for dessert :)
Then
Tracey and I went to meet the Beast before we left. He had only just returned
from a break so there was a short line but we left the restaurant just in time
to see Wishes.
We watched from Fantasyland which gives a different
perspective than watching from the hub but it’s much less crowded and you get
the feeling that you are in the middle of the display :)
I had booked a FP+ for Buzz Lightyear but because we had
been watching the fireworks we were too late. Instead, we waited until 9.25 to
ride Space Mountain. We had a short wait because I think everyone was waiting
for their FP+ window to open....
After riding Space Mountain we headed out of the park and
took the Ferryboat back to the parking lot.
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