Your ULTIMATE SURVIVAL GUIDE to Disney World at Christmas Time! UPDATE x2 10/21

[Disneyfreak508]

Originally Posted by LumosQ102

Oh California Grill, how I love you. I dream about that Ravioli... We've been planning our ADRs for out next trip so I was so pleased to see you update with my favourite restaurant. 235 days and I'll be there! (Early planning - pfft, only 55 days til we book those adrs!)

I'm more if a lurker than a commenter, but just wanted to say thanks for your trip reports - your passion & enthusiasm for Disney almosy makes me feel like I'm back there.

It's SO delicious there! Ahh you're getting close! It's never too early to start the countdown!

You're so welcome! I'm just glad you're here and enjoying! I'm glad the reports can help ease the time in between trips! I hope your upcoming vacation is as magical as ever!

Originally Posted by emmysmommy

That was so nice that you were able to be seated in the wine room at Cali Grill - it is definitely much quieter. I absolutely LOVE the pork tenderloin (and the plolenta even if it is really, really salty) and the mushrooms with the glaze. Oh soooo good! I don't think you could top having Christmas dinner at Cali Grill - seriously!

It was SO nice! That couldn't have worked out better! I loved that dish too - it was amazing! And I don't either - it was too perfect!

Originally Posted by dreamerchic33

Awww!! What a wonderful christmas day!!!!!
California Grill looks amazing! Would love to try it!!!

It really was!
I hope you get to sometime!

Originally Posted by Reberella

California Grill looks sooo good! Especially that flatbread and ravioli! Yum!
Your waiters name is really fun to say.... Javier....
I ate their last June and wasn't a huge fan, but it looks like I'll have to try it again!
I love your Xmas outfit! I think I have the same headband!

It was AMAZING! Everything tasted absolutely phenomenal!
Yeah you definitely should go back! It really is a wonderful restaurant!
Thank you! And haha that's too funny! I can't even remember where I got it!

[emma212010]

What a lovely way to end Christmas day with a beautiful Christmas dinner!! That is so awesome you all got to spend it together in the most magical place on Earth!

Too bad your throat was so sore, but you couldn't tell from your pictures!! LOL, I hope you felt better in the morning!

[Disneyfreak508]

Originally Posted by emma212010

What a lovely way to end Christmas day with a beautiful Christmas dinner!! That is so awesome you all got to spend it together in the most magical place on Earth!

Too bad your throat was so sore, but you couldn't tell from your pictures!! LOL, I hope you felt better in the morning!

It was just wonderful! I loved everything about that whole day! It couldn't have been more perfect!

Aww well that's good! Haha yeah thankfully I felt better within the next few days! What bad timing.

[JolllyHoliday]

What a perfectly wonderful way to spend Christmas day. Love all your pictures.

[DulcetDiscord]

Originally Posted by Disneyfreak508

That sounds absolutely MAGICAL! Oh my gosh how wonderful! Thanks for sharing that story! I can just imagine how great of a meal it was!

Aww that's awesome!! Do you live near Disney or are you going on a vacation?

It's about an hour from my door to the Magic Kingdom parking lot. (then another 30-45 minutes to actually get into the park!) I'm originally from Indiana, but my mom and I love Disney so much that we moved down here in 2010. (like it says in my signature.)

We have premium annual passes too, so we're in a park at least once a month. (usually more often that than, especially when people are visiting) Unfortunately we only get to eat at the fancy restaurants for special occasions--even with Tables in Wonderland, Disney dining is expensive! But my sister works for the U.S. State department and she'll be moving to Istanbul for two years at the end of the week, so it qualifies. (Plus she's never eaten there.)

[Disneyfreak508]

Originally Posted by JolllyHoliday

What a perfectly wonderful way to spend Christmas day. Love all your pictures.

It really was! And aww thank you very much!

Originally Posted by DulcetDiscord

It's about an hour from my door to the Magic Kingdom parking lot. (then another 30-45 minutes to actually get into the park!) I'm originally from Indiana, but my mom and I love Disney so much that we moved down here in 2010. (like it says in my signature.)

We have premium annual passes too, so we're in a park at least once a month. (usually more often that than, especially when people are visiting) Unfortunately we only get to eat at the fancy restaurants for special occasions--even with Tables in Wonderland, Disney dining is expensive! But my sister works for the U.S. State department and she'll be moving to Istanbul for two years at the end of the week, so it qualifies. (Plus she's never eaten there.)

WOW that is awesome! How lucky! Hahaha yeah someday I am going to move down there too! I COMPLETELY understand!

That's absolutely wonderful! What's the difference between the premium and regular passes? For premium do you get to do the water parks? And oh yeah, I completely understand! We had TiW for this past trip and it still added up A LOT! I'm gonna have to watch myself when I do the DCP because I'm gonna want to eat at restaurants every day!!! Bad Jess. Bad. Too much Money... BUT SUCH GOOD FOOD.

And aww well that DEFINITELY qualifies! I hope you have an amazing meal!!

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

I don't think i've commented since about 60 pages ago, but I just caught up and your updates are FABULOUS!! I love how enthusiastic you are about everything. It just makes my day.

[doitforlove]

I just started reading your trip report yesterday and I couldn't stop reading. You are so funny and gorgeous!! Looking forward to following along for the rest of your trip. Contemporary at Christmas must have been like a dream come true

[therussells08]

Yay! I was so excited to read your California Grill review, especially since I'll be eating there for the first time...NEXT WEEK! It helps too that you ordered pretty much exactly what I want to try, so now I'm even more excited to try it!

I love your family pictures! You guys are such a beautiful family!

Apart from the sore throat, it sounds like a pretty perfect Christmas!

[sue_88]

I especially liked your family elevator pic! I could feel what a nice time you all had at your special dinner.

[RachelNinja]

Wow, what a fabulous Christmas dinner! The food looks delicious especially the sushi and the ravioli! I had a few people try to tell my DH and me to eat at California Grill on our honeymoon, but I kept thinking that it would be super expensive and not worth it. But then I see posts like yours and, in the back of my mind, hope we can go in the future (well, in the far off future now that they're going to be closing it for a bit).

BTW, your Christmas outfit is so pretty! I love your shirt, your hair accessory, and your nails!

[petals]

that food all looks yummy!

[Laffites Landing]

Love your Cal Grill review. We ate there one night on our trip just concluded and I have concurr it was a high point of our trip and the best meal we had! We got to see the fireworks on our trip but I assume you had seen them and just wanted to get home (back to the room, which I always called "home" when I was there) so I can understand that.

Can't wait for the next installment!

[Disneyfreak508]

Originally Posted by NoOrdinaryPrincess

I don't think i've commented since about 60 pages ago, but I just caught up and your updates are FABULOUS!! I love how enthusiastic you are about everything. It just makes my day.

Haha that's okay! I know, suddenly we are at over 100 pages here! It's a little scary lol. Aww thank you! I'm so, so glad you like them! Thank you for the kind words!

Originally Posted by doitforlove

I just started reading your trip report yesterday and I couldn't stop reading. You are so funny and gorgeous!! Looking forward to following along for the rest of your trip. Contemporary at Christmas must have been like a dream come true

Aww thank you so much for the compliments! That's so nice of you! I have lots of fun stuff coming up for the rest of this trip report so I hope you like it! And oh my gosh, it really was. I will remember this trip for the rest of my life!

Originally Posted by therussells08

Yay! I was so excited to read your California Grill review, especially since I'll be eating there for the first time...NEXT WEEK! It helps too that you ordered pretty much exactly what I want to try, so now I'm even more excited to try it!

I love your family pictures! You guys are such a beautiful family!

Apart from the sore throat, it sounds like a pretty perfect Christmas!

Oh my gosh ARE YOU!?!! That's so so so exciting You're going to love it! I can't wait for your review on it!! And omg you're leaving in 4 DAYS!! YAY JONI!

Joni, you're too sweet! Thank you so much!

It was!

Originally Posted by sue_88

I especially liked your family elevator pic! I could feel what a nice time you all had at your special dinner.

Haha aww thank you! I'm glad that you liked hearing about it!

Originally Posted by RachelNinja

Wow, what a fabulous Christmas dinner! The food looks delicious especially the sushi and the ravioli! I had a few people try to tell my DH and me to eat at California Grill on our honeymoon, but I kept thinking that it would be super expensive and not worth it. But then I see posts like yours and, in the back of my mind, hope we can go in the future (well, in the far off future now that they're going to be closing it for a bit).

BTW, your Christmas outfit is so pretty! I love your shirt, your hair accessory, and your nails!

Thank you! Everything tasted REALLY delicious! You'll have to go sometime once it reopens - it really is great!

Aww thank you so much!

Originally Posted by petals

that food all looks yummy!

It was!

Originally Posted by Laffites Landing

Love your Cal Grill review. We ate there one night on our trip just concluded and I have concurr it was a high point of our trip and the best meal we had! We got to see the fireworks on our trip but I assume you had seen them and just wanted to get home (back to the room, which I always called "home" when I was there) so I can understand that.

Can't wait for the next installment!

Thank you so much! Aww was it? That's wonderful! Haha I always call it "home" too. I think we had a little while between dinner and fireworks so we went back to the room. I mean, gotta take advantage of the theme park view while we had it!

[Disneyfreak508]

Chapter 68: Yuletide Fantasy Tour Part 1 - Epcot
December 26th, 2012

Usually the day after Christmas is a sad morning because the holiday is over. HOWEVER, I was in Disney! And we weren't even halfway through our trip yet! Life was good and better than ever!

I got up at 7:10 am, took a shower, and got ready to go. Mom and I had a very special morning planned!

We walked down to Contempo Café and got some breakfast. We got a Cinnamon Raisin bagel to split, as well as some yogurt parfaits. Unfortunately, the parfaits were NOT good. They were a waste of our money, sadly.



I still wanted a yogurt so I went back to get a plain one and the lines were SO long. The cast members who were older ladies took FOREVER and the younger girl's computer broke. Then the guests were all confused about their Dining Plans. It was just ridiculous. Slow service at Contempo Cafe for breakfast was a recurring theme, unfortunately.

I posted on twitter:
Contempo Cafe cast members... Get your act together! Contempo cafe guests... Learn how to use your freakin dining plan!!! #ihaveplacestobe

Once we finally finished our food, we took the monorail over to Epcot!

I posted on twitter:
I haven't taken a monorail to Epcot in the longest time!!

We arrived and went through the very busy bag check and went to our meeting spot for the YULETIDE FANTASY TOUR!

Since we never go at Christmastime, I was looking for unique experiences while I was researching for our trip. I came across the Yuletide Fantasy Tour and it sounded PERFECT. The only Disney tour we had ever done previously was the Backstage Magic tour for my 16th birthday present, so we were really excited to go behind the scenes once again!

I want to warn you all now that I took detailed notes of this tour. So, this is a MAJOR SPOILER ALERT for anyone taking the Yuletide Fantasy Tour. It is your choice if you want to read these updates or not. This is also a warning that there is a lot of reading coming your way. However, if you love hearing about behind-the-scenes Disney secrets and Christmas stories, you're really going to enjoy this. The information you are about to be presented with is AWESOME - so I hope you have fun taking it all in!

I posted on twitter:
It's a littleeee cold outside today ): but we have our Yuletide fantasy tour for the next three and a half hours! Yay!

Like I said, the tour was 3 1/2 hours long. In my opinion, that is the perfect amount of time for a tour! It gives you plenty of time to learn a lot, and by the end you aren't completely exhausted. It's great!

At the initial meeting spot near the Epcot entrance we got our name tags and introduced ourselves to the other people in our group. We all stood in a circle, said our names, our hometowns, and our favorite Disney characters!

Our guides were Brian and James. Brain used to be a wedding photographer for the fairytale weddings. He said, "if you think Bridezillas are bad, you should see the Mothers at the Disney Fairytale Weddings!" hahaha I bet!

James started out with Disney as a Great Movie Ride gangster! He said "the Disney spiels will stick with you for life!" I always remember that too, whenever I see a Cast Member saying their spiel. It'll become a part of you, that's for sure!

The tour got split into two groups and our guide was James! I posted on twitter:
AHHH our tour guide just did a perfect monorail voice <3 hahahaha that was FANTASTIC!

Clearly, we were sorted into the correct group.

We took a bus to the World Showcase and we got to enter through the back entrance. Our first country was Germany!



The story that James told us was the tradition of the Christmas tree. The Germans used to have parties in their town square, however their celebrations became outlawed. So they ended up bringing their trees inside and having parties in their own home! The tradition just sort of stuck, and that's why we have Christmas trees!



Also, ornaments originated in Germany! They used to have contests to see who could make the best glass figures. Eventually, they figured out that they could silverize the inside and paint the outside with colors. They ended up creating shapes like birds, nests, candies, etc. and these glass ornaments were hung on their trees!

Here is James telling us the stories:





I took a few more pictures of Germany while we were in the area.



I never noticed that this was called "The Romantic Road!" How adorable is that!?



I posted on twitter:
I need to marry a boy who wants to work for Disney so we can just revolve our lives around it. #thatsalliask

Haha ahh wouldn’t that be nice.

Italy was our next country! This story included the tale of La Buffana, who is like Santa Claus to the Italians. She is in charge of giving presents to the kids.



The people in this culture put out their nativity scenes but don't include Jesus until Christmas day when he is "born." Each day leading up to Christmas, the child who is best behaved gets to move the wise men closer to the manger. On January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany, the kids finally receive their presents!





James gave me the Darma to hold. The Darma, as you may remember from the Epcot Storytellers day, is the traditional doll of Japan where you color in the eye pupils when you make a wish for the new year.

Due to the fact that I am a MAJOR frump, I ended up dropping the Darma in between Germany and Italy! OF COURSE I would do that! I had a feeling it would happen. It's such an awkward size that it slipped out of my hands! Thankfully Darmas are made out of paper maché, so it didn't break or anything. But everybody laughed about it, including me. I'm glad I can laugh at my own frumpy behavior!

Japan was our next country and James told us the New Years tradition of the Darma. Like I said, you make a wish or say a prayer and color in the left pupil of the eye. When it comes true, you color in the right pupil. Once its colored in, you take it to the Buddhist temple to burn it.

James said that he burned his in his BBQ on the girl, which his Japanese friends were VERY appalled at! He still didn't understand why.

He bought a Darma for his daughter and his son. His daughter finished college and filled in the eye. And as for his son... well.. he's still waiting on that one!

I'm not gonna lie... I kind of wanted one! Maybe next time I go to Disney for Christmas I will get one. It's a cool way to keep track of a really important wish or goal in your life!



The American Adventure was our next stop.







Here we learned about Hanukkah! James said that the feast is great - since Hanukkah is a celebration about oil, all of the food is fried!!





He also explained the Dreidel game, which was really cool. I always wondered how it was played!

The game starts by people putting one gold coin into the middle.

If it lands on the first side of the Dreidel, that means nothing happens.
The second side means everyone has to add another coin.
The third side means the spinner gets half of the loot.
The fourth side means that spinner takes all!



Continued in Next Post