There's no place like "home" for the holidays...*updated 3/18 p. 43 and 44*

[kaysmommie]

Great MK pics. Love the ones with the fairies, so cute!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Your Fairy pics turned out really good. I thought the room was super cute!

 

[wdwgirl03]

We were at he same places quite a few times! Bizarre! We'll have to play close attention to one anothers pictures! I was at the MK on the 20th I know and the others I'd have to check....

That is strange! And how weird would it be if we were in each other's pictures?!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Oh, I am so glad you went back and met the Fairies! That is a must do on my trip. I've heard great things about the interactions. They all look very pretty and in character.

I am glad I went back too. You should definitely go see them...and hopefully you won't have to wait as long!

I'm glad that you got to meet the fairies and that there are some new characters for me to meet too! Hopefully by the time we go, they won't be so new anymore. Yeah, right!!!

Yep, it was a lot of fun meeting the fairies. I just loved how they had Pixie Hollow all done up...but if you watched the WDW Christmas Day Parade, the Disneyland one looks waaaaay better.

How cool you met the fairies!! I can't believe I forgot all about that!! Silvermist is my favorite. I'm not sure I could convince the rest to wait tha long, though.

Aww, Silvermist is so cute. Sometime I'll have to go back to see if I can meet her.

Love the fairy pictures, I hope I get to see them but since we don't get to go that often idk if I could justify an hr wait. Very cute! Rosetta would be my favorite too, I love pink anything

I know, there were a couple times I thought about getting out of line because it was taking forever. But I had fun. Don't know if I could wait that long again though.

The MK looked gorgeous decorated for Christmas! I am going to have to find a way to get back there next Christmas, even though I already have a trip scheduled for May. I missed it so much this year!

That's so cool that you met the fairies!

I know, the decorations were so pretty. I say go for another trip around Christmas...we were there in May last year too (of course it helps when you don't have to pay for the flights either time!).

I loved the fairies!

Great MK pics. Love the ones with the fairies, so cute!

Thanks!

Your Fairy pics turned out really good. I thought the room was super cute!

Thank you! The room was so much fun and very fairy-ish. (I think I just made up a new word...).

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

That is strange! And how weird would it be if we were in each other's pictures?!

Oh I am looking.

 

[got2luvtink]

Oh, I can't wait to see the fairies when we go later this year! We are thinking of going around the same time you went. I've been wondering about the weather. Was it cool/cold at night, and hot in the day? And how were the crowds, as compared to your previous visits?

 

[Figment's Friend]

Ahhh the first Magic Kingdom morning! From your description, the Disneyland pointers on Buzz do sound a lot better! How cool you got to meet all the fairies -- sounds like it was definitely worth the wait! What great interaction

 

[wdwgirl03]

Oh I am looking.

Yeah, I am going to have to pay attention to your pictures more too.

Oh, I can't wait to see the fairies when we go later this year! We are thinking of going around the same time you went. I've been wondering about the weather. Was it cool/cold at night, and hot in the day? And how were the crowds, as compared to your previous visits?

You will have a lot of fun if you see the fairies. For us, it was the perfect time to go! Normally we go the week after Christmas but this trip we went before because we had to use the rest of our free flight vouchers by the end of the year. In our opinion, it was not crowded at all. I took a picture of how dead the MK was (so stay tuned, it's coming up!!) and I'll have to post the one of the MK last year AFTER Christmas at about the same time of day. But then we were talking to a couple other people who usually go before Christmas and they thought it was more crowded than usual. Guess it's really what you're used to. As for weather, it was beautiful. Usually upper
70s/80s during the day and cooler at night. We usually brought a sweatshirt or jacket with us and we were fine (then again we're from Wisconsin so when the weather is only in the 50s or 60s it is not that cold!).

Ahhh the first Magic Kingdom morning! From your description, the Disneyland pointers on Buzz do sound a lot better! How cool you got to meet all the fairies -- sounds like it was definitely worth the wait! What great interaction

Don't you just love that first MK morning?! I wish they would update WDW's version of Buzz so it's like DL. And I really enjoyed visiting with the fairies.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 cont'd (part 4)

After my visit to Pixie Hollow, I called Emma to see where they were. On my way out of the Judge's Tent I saw the dream squad again. I was hoping they would maybe give me the night stay in Cinderella Castle since I was alone, but who was I kidding?! So another Dream Squad sighting and no dream. *sigh* Oh well. I got a hold of Emma and they were still in Fantasyland in line getting their picture with Pooh and Tigger. So I headed over there to meet up with them. I tried to get in line with them but since I really can't stand when people do that I decided to just wait for them until they got their picture taken. Instead I took a picture near the little playground.

Here's their photo with Pooh and Tigger!

When they were done they told me they were able to do quite a few rides: the carousel, Peter Pan, Snow White, and Thunder Mountain. They also picked up some fastpasses for Splash Mountain since they knew I'd want to ride it. Here's a picture Emma took on the carousel:

And by that time our fastpass time was coming up so we headed over to Frontierland. We were pretty much able to walk right on. I'm glad they waited for me since this is one of my favorite rides. By that time we were getting pretty hungry so we went to go get some lunch. On the way through Adventureland we stopped to get some fastpasses for the Jungle Cruise. We decided to get Casey's for lunch. Yum! Emma and I found a table outside while Dad went to get the food.

They had these really cute cups for the holidays and Emma couldn't resist taking a picture of them.

After enjoying our delicious hot dogs we walked over towards the hub and took some more pictures. I love how they have all the pointsettas in the area to make it looks so festive for the holidays.

As I was taking this picture of Main Street, I couldn't believe how dead it seemed. Atleast compared to what we're used to on our trips! Where is everyone?!

In comparison, here's a similar shot from last year, at around the same time. Granted this was December 31 and right before (or after...I don't remember) a parade but still. I don't know how we dealt with it!

Pretty crazy, huh?

I don't really know what I was doing here, trying to be artistic I guess ...but you can never have too many castle pictures!

I also like to take a picture by one of the little statues in the hub. This time I chose Brer Rabbit!

Emma took one of the horse-drawn trolley.

The two of us:

And Emma's picture of "Partners." I love this statue!

And this is my favorite picture I think:

Once we had taken enough pictures it was time to use our fastpasses for Jungle Cruise!

Stay tuned for more, but right now I have to go watch American Idol!

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi there!

Loved all the photos, especially of the fairies! We consideredf waiting, but DD didn't want to wait that long! It's great that they interact so much, but at busy times I sometimes think they could move just a bit faster! Hopefully when we go next year the wait times won't be quite so long!

I love the partners statue!

Di x

 

[Lady Lallie]

Wow! You took some awesome photos of the castle and Main St. I know I couldn't deal with those crowds from last year.

 

[Jennifer48]

Cool that you got to see the Fairies. Everytime I was there in December the wait times were always over an hour. No way was I going to wait in that. Good for you!

You are right, you can NEVER have too many castle photos!

 

[kathleen27]

Great photos!

The MK looks beautiful decorated for Christmas!
The opening ceremony is so cute!
Sounds like lots of fun traditions!

How exciting to meet the fairies!
I'm looking forward to that.
Hannah received the Tinkerbelle movie for Christmas and we enjoyed watching it!

What a difference in crowds!!!!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Wonderful update. I loved the way you used the poinsettas to frame out your castle picture. Very good!

I like the crowds much better in picture one than in two and three. Whoa! I would run screaming....gate!!!! gate!!!! gate!!!!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Hi there!

Loved all the photos, especially of the fairies! We consideredf waiting, but DD didn't want to wait that long! It's great that they interact so much, but at busy times I sometimes think they could move just a bit faster! Hopefully when we go next year the wait times won't be quite so long!

I love the partners statue!

Di x

Glad you liked the pictures! I wish they would've moved faster especially since the princess line was going so fast! The people who got in that line way after I was in line for the fairies were probably in and out before I even got to the front. Oh well. I had fun and I guess that's what really matters.

Wow! You took some awesome photos of the castle and Main St. I know I couldn't deal with those crowds from last year.

Thanks. haha, I know, the time after Christmas is insane. You should have seen Epcot on NYE last year!

Cool that you got to see the Fairies. Everytime I was there in December the wait times were always over an hour. No way was I going to wait in that. Good for you!

You are right, you can NEVER have too many castle photos!

I know, we don't even wait in line that long for a ride. The things you do in Disney...

Great photos!

The MK looks beautiful decorated for Christmas!
The opening ceremony is so cute!
Sounds like lots of fun traditions!

How exciting to meet the fairies!
I'm looking forward to that.
Hannah received the Tinkerbelle movie for Christmas and we enjoyed watching it!

What a difference in crowds!!!!

Thank you.

All of the parks look great, but there's something about the MK that's even more special. I love it!

The Tinkerbell movie was really cute. I think my favorite thing about it was the animation...it was just so bright and colorful! I'm curious to see what the other Tink movies will be like.

Wonderful update. I loved the way you used the poinsettas to frame out your castle picture. Very good!

I like the crowds much better in picture one than in two and three. Whoa! I would run screaming....gate!!!! gate!!!! gate!!!!

Thanks! And thanks for the compliment on the picture...that is exactly what I was trying to do! The poinsettas were so pretty.

haha, me too. The crowds on our last 2 trips have been so light compared to what we've experienced in the past. Now if we ever go again during a busy time I don't know how I'll survive!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Well, since schools were cancelled today because of the cold weather (the current temperature is 3 degrees and with the wind chill they were saying it could feel like -40 below! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.) I thought I'd post another update. Maybe looking at the pictures will warm me up. I am looking forward to this weekend when it's supposed to be in the 20s!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 cont'd (part 5)

After we had killed some time around the hub we headed back towards Adventureland to ride Jungle Cruise. I was excited to ride it because in May it was down for refurbishment. Emma took a couple more pictures and we started walking over there.

I saw this little tiki guy right outside of the entrance to Adventureland.

We also saw the Swiss Family Treehouse. I think I've only been through here once on one of our very first trips. Sometime I should do it again.

So then we got to the Jungle Cruise and were pretty much able to walk right on with our fastpasses.

Have you ever noticed the menu in the queue? Pretty funny.

We boarded our boat and we were ready for the adventure!

Our skipper's name was Amanda and she was great! She really seemed to enjoy what she was doing and was really enthusiastic. Along with all the usual cheesy jokes she added in her own along the way. I took this video and I guess I wasn't paying attention (must've been too focused on recording!) because I did not get it at first. Can you?



We continued on our journey down the rivers and saw the alligators (Ginger was snapping!) and the elephants (Amanda said it was OK to take pictures because they had their trunks on!) Gotta love those jokes.

I think one of my favorite jokes she told was when we were about to enter the temple. She said that maybe it was a gift shop like everything else in Disney World. haha! After our cruise was over we decided we were ready for a break. We made our way back to Main Street. On the way, we stopped by the information board to check out the wait times and were shocked at what they were. Seriously, I think the longest time was maybe half an hour. It was crazy! On our trips after the holidays there is no way the waits would be that short in the early afternoon. And again, walking down Main Street, I kept wondering where everyone was. Not that I was complaining or anything...

Before leaving though, of course we had to stop in the Emporium to look at souvenirs. Emma and I both picked out a few pins to add to our collections. Sorry, you'll have to wait to the end to see what I got! When we went to pay the cast member checking us out turned out to be from Wisconsin. He was asking us about the cold and telling us how his son still lived here. It's so much fun meeting all the people when you're there.

We saw Daisy Duck posing for pictures so Emma and I went to get one. I remember when it was nearly impossible to find Daisy anywhere besides in the parades. Honestly, I thik the first time we saw her was in 2005 and now you see her everywhere.

And then near city hall was a very special guest...Santa! His little area was so cute.

There were these adorable toy soldiers near the entrance like the ones in the parade!

And Dad posed by a giant nutcracker. Again, the Magic Kingdom was so festive!

Finally we were ready to leave. We were amazed at the number of people coming in. Or should I say, NOT coming in. There was hardly anyone. I know I keep comparing the crowds to after Christmas but it really was amazing to us. I really would like to know what it's like been like in the past at the same time because some people told us it was more crowded than usual. The parks must've been like ghost towns then. So we said good-bye to the Magic Kingdom (until the next day that is!) and went back to the resort.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

We were amazed at the number of people coming in. Or should I say, NOT coming in. There was hardly anyone. I know I keep comparing the crowds to after Christmas but it really was amazing to us. I really would like to know what it's like been like in the past at the same time because some people told us it was more crowded than usual. The parks must've been like ghost towns then. So we said good-bye to the Magic Kingdom (until the next day that is!) and went back to the resort.
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I totally agree. I thought it was very slow at the MK during that week. On that last night...the 20th it was BAD but before then. It was nice and I never saw a long line. Nothing real bad. Me, Joy, and my friend Wendy went one New Year's Eve. I think it was NYE 1991. Back then there were hardly any lines at all. On NYE! We walked right on Space Mountain at the stroke of midnight and took off as the countdown started. I should have sucked it all in then because never again will NYE be THAT SLOW.

 

[wdwgirl03]

I totally agree. I thought it was very slow at the MK during that week. On that last night...the 20th it was BAD but before then. It was nice and I never saw a long line. Nothing real bad. Me, Joy, and my friend Wendy went one New Year's Eve. I think it was NYE 1991. Back then there were hardly any lines at all. On NYE! We walked right on Space Mountain at the stroke of midnight and took off as the countdown started. I should have sucked it all in then because never again will NYE be THAT SLOW.

I definitely agree...it seemed to be getting a little more busy as the week progressed but nothing too bad. The 20th was absolutely nuts though. At that point we were almost glad we were leaving!

 

[Figment's Friend]

You were so lucky with the crowds! I don't know what happened the week before you got there, but I promise you it was worse than in the thick of summer I love all your MK-Christmas decoration pictures, they really go above and beyond. And you gotta love those Jungle Cruise jokes!

 

[xoktenox]

wow, I'm really shocked at how empty it is! Main Street just looks...EMPTY! lol Lucky for you guys though. Your Dad and Emma got on a lot of rides in the hour or so you waited for the fairies, so it just shows how slow it was. I love all the pics you took of the castle and with all the Christmas decorations, they're so beautiful!