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

[emma212010]

Hi!!

I was a lurker on your last TR, but I am soooo excited for your Christmas TR!!

I wish you the best of luck in pursuing your dreams! I'm a freshman in college too, and I'm in the process of changing majors. Luckily, my college has the major I want, but I totally know what a headache it is!

I can't WAIT to hear about your audition!!!!

Oh, and that is so funny about the cat!! I probably would have died laughing right there!!! Can't wait to hear more!!

[poohbearluver]

Hi there (:
I'm loving your TR! I loved hearing about your college plans, and I think it's awesome that you went with what you love.

Super excited to hear about your audition!

[Disneyfreak508]

Originally Posted by abarnold

I have to say I LOVE your trip reports!! I don't get the opportunity to go as often as I would like, so I live vicariously through your TRs

I really cant wait for this one- we were supposed to go for Christmas this year (we were living in TX at the time) but my husband is in the Army and we had to move to WA and there was no way we would be ale to drive across the country and back in the 2 weeks the kids had off (and we're a small army ourselves and can't afford to fly) What my husband found sad was while yes I was upset to be leaving family and friends behind, I was inconsolable when I had to call up and CANCEL our very first Disney trip at Christmas. However my dh promised me we would go to DL next Christmas We would have gone this year but my daughter does competitive cheer and we had to spend the $$$ for her to be able to join a team up here ( which if you notice will go to WDW in March dh thinks that's the only reason I chose this cheer group......)

I laughed when I read about you and your mom giving the crash course to the family in the airport- I do the same thing all the time. Yes, I am obsessed as well lol. DH, bless his heart, pretty much says- you plan the trip I'll go along for the ride (he's a VERY smart man) I quickly became known as the "Disney mom" and I LOVE IT!!!

All of my kids have been well trained- they see midden mickeys EVERYWHERE and they dont care where they are they will scream out "HIDDEN MICKEY!!!!!" They make me sooooooo proud My daughter absolutely LOVES your hidden mickey dresses- where in the world did you find those?

Thank you again for all of your hard work in the TR- they really make me feel like I am right there in the parks! I am glad that there are others out there like me Can't wait for the next chapter!!

Aww thank you so much!
I'm so sorry your Christmas trip didn't work out Ugh that had to be sad. But going to DL for next Christmas is EXTREMELY exciting... you have no idea how much I want to go there!!! And haha that's fantastic about the cheerleading. Hey, I would pick the squad if they were going to Disney... just sayin'.
VERY smart man you have there. That's super funny. And oh I know I'm going to be known as the Disney Mom when I'm older. It's going to be great.
And my kids will be finding hidden mickeys everywhere too! That's' super cute. And thank you! I actually got those dresses at Island Mercantile in AK and MouseGear in Epcot in April. Then apparently after I left they were not available for much longer! Maybe they're just a spring thing. I'm not sure!
Aww thank YOU for reading them! That's so good to hear - it just means that all of this writing is worth it! And trust me, I'm as Disney crazy as anyone can get! You're definitely not alone! Thanks for reading!!

Originally Posted by rdkeim

Absolutely LOVE your trip reports! You could make the worst skeptic into a Disney lover :-) Can't wait to follow along on your December trips. We were there Dec. 3-8 so I'll be interested to see how your trips went. It's my favorite time to go for sure.

Sounds like a good decision on the school change. If someone like you wasn't "connecting" probably wasn't the right place for you. Keep moving forward and I'm sure you'll be very successful.

Thank you! And aww that's such a compliment haha. I always try to point out the good side of Disney to people. I don't know if they actually believe me or if they just agree to get me to shut up... but you know. It's effective. That's awesome that you were there when we were! I can't wait to tell all about it!
Thank you! It DEFINITELY was a good decision. I just went there today and all of these good things are lining up... I'm very excited. And yeah, I'm an optimistic person, and if I was miserable somewhere, I knew it couldn't have possibly been right. But thank you very much! I definitely will!

Originally Posted by Jiminy_78

I've been reading your TRs and I love following along your adventures!

I had to comment because we were just in WDW this past weekend, because I ran the half marathon, and we stayed at the Dolphin so we had to rent a car to get to/from the airport. I think we had the same car you had; it was a beautiful boxy Jeep! I'll have to go back and look at our pictures but we also use the Emerald Aisle club and love the convenience of just picking a car and leaving. That's too funny! It was a nice car.

Thank you so much!
Congrats on the half marathon! I'm not a runner so I could probably never do it (unless I walked LOL) but I always admire the people who do it! Hahaha I'm not even kidding... we probably had the same car! That's so cool. What a small world. We liked that car too! It was perfect for our trip!

Originally Posted by midwest2wdw

Joining a trip report for the first time and looking forward to it. We were there the first few days of December and had a wonderful time!! I am ready to go back, but unfortunately, nothing is planned yet. I am anxious to hear more about your trip.

Thank you! I really hope you enjoy it - it's going to be a lot of fun! That's so great to hear that you had a fun time! And I know what you mean... I'm always ready to go back but the next trip seems so far away. I'm excited to write all about it! Thanks for reading!

Originally Posted by debrapagliasotti

Joining in!

We are going to WDW this Christmas, so your title IMMEADIATELY drew me in!

Hooray! Thanks for being here!
And oh good I am SO happy! By the end of this trip report, you're going to be a WDW Christmas pro. I hope you have a magical trip when it finally gets here!

Originally Posted by ChattaAlley

The Cat part was hilarious. I am always thinking I hear things. Whether I do or not is still to be determined.

The Little Mermaid shirt is adorable. That use to be my favorite Disney movie. Now I think it is Tangled and Cinderella. IDK it changes all the time. But TLM holds a special place in my heart.

The WDW Entrance never gets old I could see that welcome sign everyday and be ok with it.

Looking forward to your Christmas adventure.

Hahaha I'm so glad you found that amusing. I sure did.
Thank you! Ahh I know it was my favorite when I was 5. I was obsessed. Now I love Aladdin the most.. but I know what you mean about it changes all of the time. There are just so many great options!
I agree 100%!
Thank you!

Originally Posted by emma212010

Hi!!

I was a lurker on your last TR, but I am soooo excited for your Christmas TR!!

I wish you the best of luck in pursuing your dreams! I'm a freshman in college too, and I'm in the process of changing majors. Luckily, my college has the major I want, but I totally know what a headache it is!

I can't WAIT to hear about your audition!!!!

Oh, and that is so funny about the cat!! I probably would have died laughing right there!!! Can't wait to hear more!!

Hello! I'm so glad you're here and ready for the next one!
Thank you so much! I hope it all works out. Changing majors is a chore too... but at least you're doing it now! You'll be happy you changed for what you really wanted in the long run!
I'm excited to tell all about it!
And LOL yeah that was REALLY funny. My Mom and I couldn't stop saying "Do you hear a cat?!" all morning!

Originally Posted by poohbearluver

Hi there (:
I'm loving your TR! I loved hearing about your college plans, and I think it's awesome that you went with what you love.

Super excited to hear about your audition!

Hello! Thank you so much! And I'm so glad - I had to let you all know what was going on with my crazy life haha.
I'm excited to tell about it! Thanks for being here!

[Disneyfreak508]

Chapter 2: Let's Go Downtown for Lunch!
December 6th, 2011

Our first stop on this trip was.... DOWNTOWN DISNEY! We needed to get some lunch! It was Disney food time!



We parked in Lot E which is near T-Rex Cafe. I saw the Characters in Flight balloon off in the distance. I really need to do that someday, seriously.



We walked in Downtown Disney and one of the first things we saw were the Lego Statues! Can you believe I never saw them until this trip!? The last time I was in Downtown Disney was February, so these were new to me.

My FAVORITE, of course, was the Toy Story one. Like... you can't get cuter than that!





The Snow White one is PRECIOUS. My Nana would love it. Snow White is her favorite.



LOOK! DEER!



The Sleeping Beauty one is so extravagant! It's really impressive. That has to be a 7 year old boy's dream to build something like that! Amazing.



Also, THE CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS WERE UP!!!! This was my first look at Disney Christmas Decorations in person since I was 10 years old. Like... EEEEEEEE!!!! I can't tell you how thrilled I was. It's all so BEAUTIFUL!



And why is Christmas my favorite holiday, you ask? Because there are Deer EVERYWHERE! Be prepared for a slew of deer pictures throughout this report. There are tons.



DEER FACE!



Oh shoot. I never explained the deer face in this trip report for all of my new readers. OR what a frump is! (In case you hear me mention that later on) Let me throw in this explanation right now so everyone can be caught up to speed. This excerpt is taken from the beginning of my August Trip Report:

Originally Posted by Disneyfreak508

FIRST of all, the most important question of the day: "What is a Frump?"

I’m sure you’ve all heard the word “frump” used, but not commonly. Well, that’s about to change... because frump is our favorite word!
A frump is basically a lazy person. Like, for instance, on a day when you wear baggy sweatpants and a big tee-shirt, you may say: “I look like a frump today.”
Frump has many definitions, though. It can also be talking about a crazy person (such as someone who gets a little too excited over Schoolbread or Muppet Vision… aka Kristen).
It can be someone who is overly sleep-deprived and laughs at anything.
Or there are always random people in crowds that you just find “frumpy.” It’s a self explanatory kind of thing.
We started with this whole Frump thing (on disboards, anyway) back in January, so we’re continuing on the tradition!

The deer face is a very frumpy aspect of our friendship. This face is used for SO many things – most commonly excitement. ESPECIALLY about food.

The face originated because, since we are so unathletic, Kristen would do this frumpy run and I would say “you run like a deer.” Then she would make this face, where you basically smile without your teeth and your eyes get really wide.

It reminded me of a deer in headlights.

So, hence, the deer face! It has been a standing joke for over a year now… and I don’t think it’s going anywhere.

So if you see me making this "deer face," you now know what it is!

Anyways, we stopped in front of Once Upon A Toy and I got some pictures with two of my favorite toys!

CITIZENS OF TOMORROWLAND, JOIN BUZZ LIGHTYEAR ON A DARING SPACE MISSION TO SAVE THE UNIVERSE FROM THE EVIL EMPEROR ZURG.



Ahem.

LOVE Mr. Potato Head. ♥



Christmas Tip #2: If you are like me and usually avoid taking pictures with certain statues because the areas are too congested, the early December crowds are light enough where statues/major disney icons/photo ops won't be surrounded by swarms of people!

After taking a little walk, we had to decide on lunch. There were two places we wanted to try: Earl of Sandwich and Wolfgang Puck Express. Since I had been to Disney last time, I had picked out some menu items that I needed to try at both places. So now was the time to chip one of those stops off of the food list!

We tried Earl of Sandwich first, but the line was RIDICULOUS. Like out the door. So we turned around to try somewhere else.

That meant WOLFGANG PUCK EXPRESS! YAY!!!



We got in line and it was SO much shorter. Before I knew it we were ordering our food!

I love that they have these words under the kids menu. This is like my life motto:



But really.

We placed our order and we grabbed a table in the corner near the front door. While we were sitting there, I took some pictures! This one is the view out our window:



CHRISTMAS!





Did you all ever notice that the Maximum Occupancy of this restaurant is 77? That seems really small to me, for some reason.



Beautiful Poinsettias!



Soon, our food was brought to our table! - JUMPS FOR JOY!!! -

My Mom ordered the Romaine Heart Salad, which she liked. She had her eye on another salad though and didn't know it's name. So this wasn't exactly what she wanted, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.



And now for my meal... thank you to my good friend, Lia, and her AMAZING trip report, The MCLOVINS Hit the World - HARD!!!!!, I knew EXACTLY what I had to get at this restaurant. And not just because she raved about it and got it three times throughout her trip.

I got the 4 Cheese Pesto Pizza:



JUST LOOK AT HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS!!!!!



This pizza is absolutely fantastic. Up until about a year or so ago, I have ALWAYS only gotten cheese/cheese and pepperoni pizza. However, it was time to branch out. It was time to LIVE. And let me tell you, this was AMAZING.

It did have a lot of cheese, and although I'm not a huge cheese person, I was able to eat a very good amount of it. My Mom had some too, and she was VERY happy. Absolutely delicious.

And now after reading that I'm not a huge cheese person, you may wonder why I got pizza with a lot of cheese, as well as macaroni and cheese for my lunch.

I don't know. I'm weird. I like cheese in certain forms. But give me one of those Kraft singles and I'll shove it right back in the fridge.

I don't even know.

So YES, like I said, we also got the mac and cheese!! My Mom and I split it. And this was the KIDS' SIZE!



This kids portion was big! Like I could have eaten this alone and I would have been perfectly fine. If we would have gotten the adult portion, so much would have gone to waste!

This is not your normal mac and cheese. It has bread crumbs on top that gave it more flavor (ahhh so good). And it is obviously made out of different noodles and cheese than you usually see at Disney restaurants. But WOW it's just like... so GOOD! I love it so much more than that typical mac and cheese concoction to put on your plate at every other Disney buffet in the world.

Also, since it was a kids' portion, they gave me a Kids' Cup. (Yes, I am 18. JUDGE ME.) I NEVER drink anything besides water, but they for some reason wouldn't let us get a water bottle to substitute. So I splurged. I got lemonade. LOL.



Overall, we got the perfect amount of food. We were able to finish almost all of it. IT WAS SO GOOD!

And also, thank you, Lia, for your wonderful suggestions. We were extremely satisfied and I really want to go again! YUM!!!

Continued in Next Post

[librarymouse]

Oh my gosh that mac n cheese looks AMAZING!! I wonder if my hubby and I will have time to try WP Express when we are there...only 10 days to go! I have never been there either, but it definitely looks yummy!

I really like your Little Mermaid shirt! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

[Merida]

Kraft singles aren't really cheese! That's why you put them back in the fridge.

Honestly, I have more to say but that was super important. I need to catch up on both your trip reports!

CHOOSE REAL CHEESE! (and kids' cups. Seriously kids' stuff is way better and way cheaper than adult stuff.)

[__disneygirl]

YAY!!!!!! hahaha as I was reading this I was like, omg, I hope they go to Wolfgang Puck's!!! AND YOU DID! I just have so much influence on the world with my food choices, it's unreal LOL.OMG that is seriously one of the most ridiculously good meals I have ever had in my life. Now you have my stomach screaming!

[Disneyfreak508]

Originally Posted by librarymouse

Oh my gosh that mac n cheese looks AMAZING!! I wonder if my hubby and I will have time to try WP Express when we are there...only 10 days to go! I have never been there either, but it definitely looks yummy!

I really like your Little Mermaid shirt! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

Oh my God it was SO GOOD. And AHHH that's so exciting!! Have a magical trip! You should definitely try WPE if you have the chance!

Thank you! And thanks! I can't wait to write more about it!

Originally Posted by Merida

Kraft singles aren't really cheese! That's why you put them back in the fridge.

Honestly, I have more to say but that was super important. I need to catch up on both your trip reports!

CHOOSE REAL CHEESE! (and kids' cups. Seriously kids' stuff is way better and way cheaper than adult stuff.)

Hahaha that could be why!
I hope you like catching up! haha but that was important LOL
And I will! Very true!

[Disneyfreak508]

Originally Posted by __disneygirl

YAY!!!!!! hahaha as I was reading this I was like, omg, I hope they go to Wolfgang Puck's!!! AND YOU DID! I just have so much influence on the world with my food choices, it's unreal LOL.OMG that is seriously one of the most ridiculously good meals I have ever had in my life. Now you have my stomach screaming!

Hahaha we did! Your food choices really do have an influence on me. After seeing it like three times in your trip report, I was like... I have to. It just sounds SO GOOD. And it was Wahh I want some now. I'm hungry!!

[kansasdisneygal]

Oh my goodness! I LOVE the Christmas decorations! I am so excited to see more pictures of them!!! Also, that Mac and Cheese looks divine! Yum!!

[Disneyfreak508]

Originally Posted by kansasdisneygal

Oh my goodness! I LOVE the Christmas decorations! I am so excited to see more pictures of them!!! Also, that Mac and Cheese looks divine! Yum!!

I have HUNDREDS of Disney Christmas Decoration pictures, so I'm sure you will be satisfied by the time I'm done here And YUM oh my gosh it was so good. I want some now lol

[ChattaAlley]

Yummmm WPE. Love that place. And the Pesto Pizza sounds devine. Will try the next time.

Awe I love how happy Woody and Buzz look in legos. That is some amazing Lego work.

I catch myself saying Frump now all the time. So it must be a pretty cool saying.

[disneylovin24]

That mac'n cheese looks amazing!

The 6th was Tuesday right? Im trying to remember what I was doing that day

[DMGeurts]

That pizza and mac n' cheese looks so amazing!!!

Sadly, we are not planning to eat at WGP while we are in DTD... That's an OOP meal for us, and I am a tightwad - so it's EoS while we are there... Which I have heard good things about - so I am sure we won't starve.

Loved the update.

D~

[DMGeurts]

Yes, I did just quote myself. LOL Only because the Dis has been weird today...

Originally Posted by DMGeurts

That pizza and mac n' cheese looks so amazing!!!

Sadly, we are not planning to eat at WGP while we are in DTD... That's an OOP meal for us, and I am a tightwad - so it's EoS while we are there... Which I have heard good things about - so I am sure we won't starve.

Loved the update.

D~

So, I reworked my #'s and going off what the girls and I would potentially order, the price difference is (wait for it....) a whopping $8 - yup... I think we are going to WGPE for lunch on our DTD day. Who could resist that yummy looking food?

D~