Yay, finally my TR for the planning trip in December! This 3 day trip was kind of last minute, but we knew we should probably squeeze it in during December so we could see the park during the holidays (something we'd never seen). It so happened that Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party fit perfectly into our schedule as well, woohoo!We booked a room at Pop Century, since we have guests potentially staying there.
After a painful red-eye flight that put us in at 5:30am we boarded a Magical Express bus solo. We had the entire bus to ourselves to Pop Century! (I guess that kind of arrival time on a weekday is slow, haha.) When we arrived to Pop, the very kind CM found a room ready for us immediately. That being said, we B-lined it there and took a nap (neither one of us even taking the time to take off our shoes!). Feeling recharged after a few hours of rest, the WDW excitement kicked in and we hurried over to Epcot for the morning, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party started at 7pm, so we figured we could get in a few hours.
After redeeming our season passes, we headed to the world showcase to see how many of the seasonal dishes we could try in the World Showcase. It ended up our favorite of the day was the Turkey, Cranberry and Mash Potato Sandwich from Canada.
Norway's "Christmas Story" show. So cute!
Norway's holiday dish was Strawberry and Creme Rice Pudding! Yum!
After a quick ride on Soarin, we zipped back to Pop (it was approx 5pm), and to our horror, our bags were not in the room yet. After a VERY rude call to bell services, where the attendant told us, "we'd get our bags when we get them," and a subsequent chat with a manager, we ended up getting a refund on our room for an evening. But not our bags. We waited another 2 HOURS for management to hunt down our bags, having feared we lost the chance to wear our especially packed Christmas outfits for the special event we paid extra money for.
Fortunately the bags arrived and we got to the party only 30 minutes late.
Can we just talk about how pretty the castle is?!
I'm so happy I got to see the frozen variant in person finally!
The park was as least crowded as I had ever seen it and the holiday parade was amazing!
Our outfits we waited so patiently for.
Some lucky firework shots! We actually used one for our Save the Dates, more on that later!
The party was amazing! We were able to ride every major ride and gorged ourselves on free cookies and hot cocoa. The fiance commented on how the lack of crazy crowds gave him a brand new Magic Kingdom experience.
The next morning was our planning session! I remember being so excited, I didn't need coffee to wake up, lol. After a quick ride in an Uber, we arrived precisely on time.
One thing I had failed to mention so far, I was actually suffering the later end of a head cold. I had felt pretty good (read: functional) up until arriving at Franks. Upon meeting our planner Sara, my sinuses went nuts! She fetched me tea and a box of tissues for our session, but I felt so embarrassed, pausing and blowing my nose so much.
The actual planning portion zipped by. When the floral rep stopped by, she knew exactly what I wanted and I felt super confident we made all the right choices!
The cake! I wish I could have tasted it!!! They snuck another slice of almond cake onto the plate with the amaretto crunch filling. We didn't complain!
We tried:
-Almond cake: very mild and smooth, I see why this one is popular
-Marble cake: couldn't really taste anything remarkable about this one, the Fiance said it tasted like yellow cake
-Lemon cake: zippy and creamy, I loved this one
-Red Velvet cake: could taste a hint of chocolate
-Amaretto mouse: very rich and very true to its name, best with the almond cake!
-Baileys mouse: so good! Best with the Red Velvet and Marble, but also surprisingly with the lemon.
-Cream Cheese frosting: at this point I'm convinced it tasted good with everything. I love cream cheese, pretty standard as far as this variety goes.
-Lemon mouse: my favorite of the bunch, best with the lemon cake. I wiped the container clean!
We ended up deciding on: Almond cake with amaretto mouse for one layer, lemon cake with lemon mouse for another and chocolate cake with Baileys mouse for the third. I figure lemon was my favorite from the tasting because it was the strongest flavor, regardless, we decided to go with well rounded choices.
After our initial planning session we had a few hours to kill before our tasting session. We stopped by the pavilion to see it one last time before the big day, yay!
We also took the time to check out the Deluxe resort gingerbread displays at the Grand Floridian and Contemporary... And munch on a bit of the authentic gingerbread of course.
At 2pm we met our planner and she directed us into the kitchen of the Grand Floridian Events Center! Please note we are having a brunch/buffet reception.
Our names on the marquee!
Our planner and kitchen staff.
One of two salads, apple + roasted nuts, wasn't crazy about this one.
Poached pear with red wine reduction and a tart dressing paired with blue cheese. We picked this one!
Cheesy scalloped potatoes with a cherry roasted chicken breast.
Mac and cheese with panchetta and fontina cheese stuffed chicken breast. We ended up going with a mac and cheese bar with this chicken entree.
Our chef Orlando was so friendly and excited throughout the tasting. I guess we had dug up some old dishes that hadn't been prepared for a while. He kept snapping pictures before we were served. :laugh:
Last up was the vanilla drizzle mandarin crepe or blueberry blintzes. Both were divine!
The tasting was so much fun! Chef Orlando ensured us a lovely meal and our planner Sara chowed down beside us, complimenting our choices and calling them, "fun!"
Chef Orlando gave us this small whisk and salt slab as a gift. So cute!
After the tasting we met up with some local friends and first hit up Trader Sams at the Polynesian Resort, and then Downtown Disney.
Our dinner at the T-Rex was amazing. After having a very passionate conversation with the store manager about Star Wars (all four of us were wearing Star Wars shirts he comped us desert!
On our last morning we met a friend for breakfast in Pop's cafeteria. It was disgusting! I cannot say I'd ever had a bad meal at Disney, and now I can. My waffles were rubbery and my Fiance's eggs smelt horrible. Yuck! The breakfasts at moderate resorts have never disappointed me, but now I know!
Packing our things into our buddy's car, also a pass holder, we headed over to Hollywood Studios for a few hours of fun before our flight in the afternoon. He fortunately offered to take us to the airport so we didn't have to allot so much time to the Magical Express... Overall I didn't really enjoy our stay at Pop. It wasn't bad, but I think I'd rather spend a bit more to have a hot tub! Haha. (Only moderate and deluxe had hot tubs.)
The first place we stopped at in HS was the new Star Wars Launch Bay.
At the Launch Bay you can create your own custom Star Wars band! They are thinner and more flexible than the store bought bands. I made the purple Storm Trooper, and he made the Boba Fett.
The fiance is working on a costume of this Star Wars the Force Awakens character. I think he took about a couple hundred photos of it!
Our quick day ended at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater. The waitress scoulded him and proceeded to put a bib on the, "messy boy." Lol!
The airport and trip home were simply horrific. To skip to the end, I'll just say I will never fly with Frontier again, and suggest others do the same. What a nightmare.
In the end I am SO thankful we made the trip. I encourage any Disney bride to budget for a Planning Trip!