Chased By a Bear and a Trip to Urgent Care - A Very Merry Dis-mas 2016 TR! **Complete 2/23**

[xlsm]

Loving your TR so far! I hope things turn around for you at the BoardWalk... it's one of my favorite places to stay!

Hello and welcome! I'm glad you're having fun with us so far!! While our visit at the Boardwalk wasn't the best, we did come to appreciate the appeal of the resort. It's absolutely gorgeous, there's no denying that. I can understand why people love it!

I don't know where to start! Except with the BW stuff Yeah, those hallways are long. Remember last year, when we had that awesome room right off the elevator with the view of SE and Illuminations? And then sewage appeared and we were moved basically to a room in the state of Georgia ???? I don't know exactly how far the walk to the elevator was mileage wise but it was over 6 minutes. Then we had to walk out to transportation or food. So no mugs for us that trip. It was way better at BC last month and WAY better at WL. Even when we stayed at AKL it was really good, and people say those hallways can be long but our room was HOURS closer to the elevators than our 2nd room at BWV!!!
Your view is very pretty but I can imagine the noise and that sucks It's like I've said a million times, you can't beat the location of the Epcot resorts............
I have to laugh with you on your hair, which doesn't look bad at all BTW! Nov. is about the only month mine is manageable in Fla., but that's not to say it's decent looking every day in Nov. Steve talks about moving to Florida when Chris goes to college. I'm like what???? do you know what I'll look like on a regular basis?????
Jealous you got to meet Mickey and Minnie in their Christmas sweaters! As you'll find out we missed all the characters in their holiday outfits this time unfortunately.
I'm glad you're enjoying all the Christmas decor so far Not looking forward to hearing more on X's hurting ear (which I know about anyway).......

Yes!! I kept thinking about the plumbing issues you had when our tub wasn't draining, and then remembering how far you were after moving. I was like, is history repeating itself?? What is the deal?? LOL! Who designed this place and why do they hate us?? Install some more elevators, people, come on! Upgrade the flipping plumbing!

While we were waiting to go into Epcot one day, we started talking to a family that was staying at Beach Club (they were upgraded upon arrival from Caribbean Beach - they were so excited!), and they said the hallways were like a maze, but not as far as our walk. I know now that requesting a room near an elevator is super important. We also felt like booking club level at Boardwalk would make more sense for us than at any other resort...as long as we were close-ish to the lounge. We had to walk past the area on our 3rd floor that is open up to the 4th floor lounge area. I laughed and said, "I feel bad for the deluxe rooms down here that are club level. Do they provide them with a grappling hook or ladder to get up there so they don't have to walk all the way to the elevator?? Are one of these doors a secret staircase??"

The noise was mainly a problem on the first night, the day X was back from the doctor, and our last night. It was really unreasonably loud. Fortunately, on the other nights we were too tired to notice or care! Exhaustion won over noise...maybe that's what Disney is counting on??

My hair. Ugh. So, it's not at the really bad point in the pictures yet. Later in the week, it was cold and misty in the mornings, and my hair, much like the Grinch's heart on Christmas, grew three sizes those days. We didn't get as many holiday character meets as I wanted...which is coming up soon, BUT spoiler alert, we did meet Mickey and Minnie in the Beach Club lobby in outfits I'd never seen before, and it was very exciting!!

I've never stayed at an Epcot area resort either, but they look cool.



Yuck too far. But the view is sooo pretty.


We did that Photobooth too the lighting was not flattering.


Me too!


Also yuck.


We've had to do this before too!


Same.

I agree. My reaction is kind of like yours I just looked mildly amused

It was .17 miles to our room, LOL! I tracked it. I really think the resort designer was feeling hostile toward guests the day he or she drew up the plans. Or they're a sadist. Or both, haha! But yes, the view was soooo nice!

Yeah...the lighting in the photobooth was BAD. I was so tired...and I look at the bags under my eyes and think, I didn't need to check luggage, I could have packed everything in there!
When we got back to the room, they left a real Do Not Disturb sign on our door...but took our homemade one. I was sad, because I like to take the notepads home with me!

Haha, the Dinosaur picture...I mean, really, I've never seen anyone look scared in it before unless they're putting on a show for the camera. It's just like, "Oh, hey. There's a dinosaur there." It makes me laugh!

Joining in. I too was disappointed that Rivers of Light was not up and running.

Welcome aboard!! I'm glad you're here!

I was SUPER sad about Rivers of Light, but it kind of became a blessing in disguise for us, because we ended up being really tired on the night I had planned to fit it in if it started. I have two more trips this year, so crossing my fingers I get to see it at least once!

 

[missangelalexis]

Yay welcome back! So glad you've started your TR

Your arrival day sounds like it went really smooth! Wow, the walk to your room sounds rough. You did get a nice view though!

Love the photobooth pics you guys took

I'm sorry to hear about your suitcase! I'm glad you finally got it though.

I loveee the Animal Kingdom tree, so pretty!

Sounds like a great morning! Yay for more photobooth photos. I had that on my list to stop at, but didn't see it when we were in the area and we didn't have time to go searching for it.

Love the pic with Mickey & Minnie and the one in front of the tree!

 

[xlsm]

Yay welcome back! So glad you've started your TR

Your arrival day sounds like it went really smooth! Wow, the walk to your room sounds rough. You did get a nice view though!

Love the photobooth pics you guys took

I'm sorry to hear about your suitcase! I'm glad you finally got it though.

I loveee the Animal Kingdom tree, so pretty!

Sounds like a great morning! Yay for more photobooth photos. I had that on my list to stop at, but didn't see it when we were in the area and we didn't have time to go searching for it.

Love the pic with Mickey & Minnie and the one in front of the tree!

Thank you!! I knew I had to get started right away so I could get several posts in before "real life" gets started again soon!
The room walk was...ridiculous. Thank goodness for the nice view, lol!

I was so happy to see Mickey and Minnie in their holiday sweaters They visited our resort in the same clothes, so we didn't pose with them then, but later on we find them at the Beach Club in the CUTEST outfits...I can't wait to get to that part!

I'm glad you're here!!

 

[DisneyFan119]

Following along! Can't wait to hear more! We were there Dec 11-16, so I'm interested to hear about the week after that! Love the pictures and your stories, keep them coming!

 

[Raeven]

I alwas assumed people knew when to act scared Josh usually has an appropriately fearful look on even the first time he rode it before he knew where they'd take it. We decided they take it too soon. I knew it was coming but didn't have time to register what was going on before the camera went off and caught me looking politely amused.

 

[ShelbyWagon]

Following along! I'm starting to think I got really lucky with my room at the Boardwalk Villas. It was about 5 doors down from the elevators! I did experience the winding hallways at Yacht Club though. We had a great view of the quiet pool but I would have been just fine with a lesser view that didn't require a compass to find the way back to the room

 

[xlsm]

I'm back again!!


Learning about Carrie Fisher's death yesterday put me into a really low mood...it was bad enough on its own, but way too close to losing George Michael. When I was a kid, George Michael was just about the hottest thing on two legs. I had a babysitter who had a life-sized cardboard cutout of him. In her formal dining room. No lie!! She was in her early 40s and lived in this really fancy house (at least it seemed that way to me at the time!), and George Michael the Cardboard Version lived in her dining room. My life, ladies and gentlemen. This is the cloth from which I am cut, LOL!
The whole year has just been one emotional blow after another...I'm ready for 2016 to hit the road! The cultural and celebrity icons we've lost have been bad enough, but losing one of my close friends in October was the ugly, painful icing on the cake. I'm over it!

One good thing happened yesterday, though...our Larry Dotson prints arrived! In 2015, we met him at Epcot and he signed a Wilderness Lodge picture for us. This year, he was at the MK and we got to meet him again and he signed another for us, this time of Wishes and the castle. I'll share more about it when it rolls around in the report

I was sooo lazy yesterday. I accomplished ZERO productive things (unless you count TR updates!). Today I had to put on my adult costume and go pick up some groceries. Nothing reminds you that vacation is over like the first trip back to the grocery store. Ugh.

Luckily, the store was pretty quiet and empty...I love going first thing in the morning! I'm not sure I bought anything of substance, but I bought a few Christmas ornaments on clearance, so that's a win in my book!

OH! And remember back in one of the first updates when I said we had that sinking feeling about the inconvenience of refilling resort mugs at the Boardwalk?? I forgot to mention that we decided to order some cases of water bottles and gatorade from Amazon! It was scheduled to arrive at our resort on this day sometime between 8am - 10am...that comes up in a little while, so I wanted to make sure I brought it up!

Blah, blah, blah, whatever, xlsm...get on with the show!!

Ok, ok...I know what you're really here for

Chapter Two Part Three...

when I left off, we were waiting for the AKL bus outside of Animal Kingdom. We didn't have much of a wait before it rolled up. We wanted to take the AKL bus instead of Kidani Village where our reservation was located, because we wanted to get our first glimpse of the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I'll be staying there in May, and I wanted a sneak peek! Plus, our goal was to see as many holiday decorations at the resorts as we could, so that was an added bonus!

We pulled up to the resort and started up the sidewalk to the lobby entrance. We passed a couple of ground floor rooms with windows/patios facing the sidewalk and felt bad for anyone who was in those rooms...I'd hate to have so many people walking by all the time, and so close to us! I don't think I would be able to enjoy having a patio in those rooms, there is no privacy.

Since I had never been to this resort before, and had only saw it in pictures, I kind of expected to be wow-ed immediately upon entry through the doors...but no, it's tricky like the Magic Kingdom! You have to walk forward a bit before the grandeur and INSANE BEAUTY AND MAGICAL GLORIOUSNESS slams into your face!!















Pictures are not even coming CLOSE to showing how spectacular this place is. Seriously. If you've never seen it before, do yourself a favor and carve out some time on your next visit to WDW to come see this showstopper. For real.

We looked all around the lobby and went outside to see if any animals were out on the savanna. We saw a few cattleish types of animals out grazing, but that was about it. It had gotten pretty hot outside, so most of them were off somewhere cooler I imagine.

At this point, it was about 11:25 or so, and we were ready to start over to Kidani Village. X was really getting cranky and complaining pretty hardcore about his ear, so I took a look at it. I won't go into detail, but some yucky things were going on in the ear department, and I had a sinking suspicion I knew what was wrong. He agreed to tough it out until after lunch, and then we'd pick up a few things at the store inside Kidani's lobby to try and see if we could fix it, or at least alleviate the pain. I told him we would reevaluate once we were back at the Boardwalk, and then take him to urgent care the next day if we needed to.

The plan was to walk over to Kidani...I didn't realize how far away it was! If you're ever in this situation, TAKE THE SHUTTLE!! It was a long, hot walk!

We finally arrived, sweaty and ready for some serious air conditioning!





I loved these lanterns and the little quote thing. It was really pretty walking up and seeing those.

It was dark inside, and hard to photograph with only my phone (I realized I left my DSLR at home when we got to the airport on departure day. I may or may not have become a little tearful on the moving walkway to our gate!)



I was not prepared for how small the lobby at Kidani is! I just assumed it would be large and grand like Jambo House. It was beautiful, but definitely more intimate. It took us a minute, but we finally figured out how to get to Sanaa, and took the elevator down to check in.



This is a meal I have been waiting years for! I always want to book it but it never quite fit into our plans. I'm glad I arranged this day to work around this ADR! We checked in about ten minutes earlier than our reservation time, and were given a buzzer to wait. I killed time by taking pictures of more trees!



Everything was just so perfectly themed and so, so pretty!

We were seated pretty soon after check in, and were taken to the table. It's a lot smaller in there than I expected, and the tables were really pretty close together. We were seated toward the center of the restaurant, but could still see out the windows ok. I feel like there were some zebras out?? If they weren't out during our meal, I know they were out once we left and looked out on the observation deck upstairs after our meal.

Our server showed up and explained the menu to us and talked to us about the story behind the restaurant. Wow. She was so perky. I don't know how she did it, I would never, ever be able to maintain that level of cheer. She asked us about our plans for the day, and we told her we were headed to DHS for a dessert party. She didn't even know they had a dessert party there. Where've you been, sister?? She used to work at MK, she said, and liked the one they have for Wishes, so she said she needed to check out Hollywood Studios. Um...yep!




Both boys got kid menus "just in case"...L ordered from it, but X decided to be adventurous! I was shocked!! I honestly thought it would be the other way around. L got cheese pizza (and he claims really was adventurous because it was on naan, haha!), X got the braised beef and paneer tikka (he liked the beef ok, but wished he'd done something more savory - the sauce is sweet. He did NOT like the paneer tikka! It's chunks of paneer cheese, which is pretty bland, in a tomato soup. He loves basmati rice, so that mixed with the beef worked out for him), DH got butter chicken with chickpea wat (butter chicken was EXCELLENT, but I personally hated the chickpea wat. He liked it. It was sweet, and I don't care for sweetness in most entrees.), and I had the Tandoori Chicken. Mine was DELICIOUS. I think about it all the time! We also had the bread service with all accompaniments. My favorite out of all of them was the chili sambal, but I also liked the hummus, cucumber raita, mango chutney, and the jalapeno one. I can't remember the exact name of it. All of the breads were good.

Somehow I managed to get NO pictures of the food!! I know DH has one of the bread service, somewhere. Bad Dis-er alert!! This is why I don't do dining reports!!

I definitely plan to return to Sanaa in May. I know my mother-in-law will enjoy it as much as we did. We'll do bread service again, and I'm not sure if I'll branch out from the Tandoori chicken. It was that good!

We stopped in the gift shop and picked up pain reliever and peroxide for X's ear, and immediately gave him a couple of tylenol. We also enjoyed the view outside the windows for awhile before heading out to the buses. I loved this candelabra thing in the vestibule between the doors and lobby:



We took the bus back to Animal Kingdom, and then got into the bus line for Boardwalk. While in line at the Boardwalk stop, X pulled himself up on the rails and was sitting on it. I hate when he does that and told him to get down...but he didn't get down fast enough to avoid the security officer who walked up behind him and handed him a ticket!



it's a little card that says, "Stay on your feet, it's not a seat" or something...Oops! But I loved the validation for my always telling him to get down from the rails! L was sad...he wanted a Disney ticket, too, LOL!! He kept climbing up on rails during the rest of the trip, trying to get one. I kept ruining his plans and made him GET DOWN!!

We headed back to the Boardwalk, where the water and gatorade we'd ordered from Amazon was waiting. We had a little time to rest and hang out before our big night out.

It was Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam dessert party night!! Time to add the "party" to the "animals"!

More soon...happy Wednesday!

 

[xlsm]

Following along! Can't wait to hear more! We were there Dec 11-16, so I'm interested to hear about the week after that! Love the pictures and your stories, keep them coming!

Welcome! Our week was really great. I thought the crowds would really be amped up, and at times they probably were, but we avoided them for the most part. I was prepared for insanity, but we were spared most of that, thank goodness!

I alwas assumed people knew when to act scared Josh usually has an appropriately fearful look on even the first time he rode it before he knew where they'd take it. We decided they take it too soon. I knew it was coming but didn't have time to register what was going on before the camera went off and caught me looking politely amused.

Same! I know the picture is coming, but fail miserably at turning on the fear!

Following along! I'm starting to think I got really lucky with my room at the Boardwalk Villas. It was about 5 doors down from the elevators! I did experience the winding hallways at Yacht Club though. We had a great view of the quiet pool but I would have been just fine with a lesser view that didn't require a compass to find the way back to the room

Happy to have you here!!
You got SUPER lucky being near the elevator at the Villas, for sure.
The twisty turny hallways were crazy...My family wants to try Yacht Club, and being at the Boardwalk has me prepared with what to ask for in terms of room location across the way at YC. I'd happily listen to elevator noise to avoid the long walks!!

 

[PolyRob]

Following along! Love your detailed posts and pictures!!

I agree 100% that you cannot completely appreciate Jambo from pictures. I stopped in after my Sanaa lunch (also DELICIOUS) and it was beautiful! My family and I eventually made it around to every deluxe resort to see the trees and decorations. What a great time!

Looking forward to reading the rest of your report!

 

[xlsm]

Following along! Love your detailed posts and pictures!!

I agree 100% that you cannot completely appreciate Jambo from pictures. I stopped in after my Sanaa lunch (also DELICIOUS) and it was beautiful! My family and I eventually made it around to every deluxe resort to see the trees and decorations. What a great time!

Looking forward to reading the rest of your report!

Hello and welcome!! I'm glad you're enjoying our craziness so far
We made the rounds for Christmas decor too, just a little differently that originally planned...but that's coming up!

Thanks for sticking around!

 

[Lynn57]

Joining in! My sister was in WDW at the same time! So I will be scanning your picture for her in the background!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Following along! Loved your photos of AKL (that's where we stayed this Christmas.)

 

[xlsm]

Joining in! My sister was in WDW at the same time! So I will be scanning your picture for her in the background!

Oh, how fun would it be if she's in one of my pictures!! I hope she had a great trip...I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd levels, it wasn't as bad as I expected, so I hope she felt the same way.

Thanks for following along

Following along! Loved your photos of AKL (that's where we stayed this Christmas.)

AKL is so beautiful!! I feel like I can't even say it enough. I hope you enjoyed your stay there...I'm really looking forward to my visit in May. We have a savanna view, and I plan to ask for zebra trail, 2nd or 3rd floor, with easy access to the Mara. I hope we get a good location, it makes me nervous since it'll be my first stay there.

I'm glad you're here and following

 

[ariane37]

So glad you also appreciate the beauty of AKL, my second favorite resort after OUR beloved WL Our stay there back in Jan. was amazing and I'm sure yours in May will be, too.
I may have to try the tandoori chicken next time we go to Sanaa if you promise it's that good! All 3x we've gone I've gotten the butter chicken which I love, so I only want to give it up for something equally amazing!

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Helllooooo lovely lady! I am suuuuuper behind obviously, I didn't even know you had started your TR!! I have been home for well over 3 weeks and haven't managed to even think of a title for mine yet much less post it. So it may not even happen

I had NO idea the hallways were so long at the Boardwalk! I have never stayed there and now I am kinda glad I haven't because I am lazy and long hallways at the end of long day would be super annoying lol
I do love me some Beach Club though, you cannot beat the Epcot area resorts

Loving all the pics from your first day at DAK! I was just saying the other day that I used to not care for Animal Kingdom much but the older I get I have learned to appreciate it more and more. It's such a gorgeous park! All the little details are so wonderful. And I LOVED the Christmas decorations too! Especially that amazing tree!

The AKL tree...OMG...I didn't make it there this trip but next time I am there during the holidays it's going on my "must see" list! How beautiful! That whole resort is so beautiful! I still need to make it to Sanaa too

Sorry to hear X wasn't feeling well...ear infections are NO BUENO, especially on vacation! Hope it didn't put too much of a damper on the trip for him! Poor kid!

I can't wait to read more! I'm looking forward to seeing your pics from JBJB! We only saw it one night and didn't have the best view...kind of makes me wish I had shelled out the money for the dessert party!

 

[missangelalexis]

2016 sure has been a bummer of a year

What a massive tree! I absolutely love AKL and dream of staying there one day!

Ah I'm sorry you left your camera at home

I'm glad you enjoyed Sanaa!!

 

[xlsm]

So glad you also appreciate the beauty of AKL, my second favorite resort after OUR beloved WL Our stay there back in Jan. was amazing and I'm sure yours in May will be, too.
I may have to try the tandoori chicken next time we go to Sanaa if you promise it's that good! All 3x we've gone I've gotten the butter chicken which I love, so I only want to give it up for something equally amazing!

Oh my gosh, I just loved everything about it so much! It just has such a good feeling about it. Nothing can top WL for me (at least so far!), but I'm so happy it's where we're headed in May. I was already excited to stay there, but now, after seeing it firsthand...I'm practically giddy about it. Not only for me, but for MIL. I think it's going to make all the difference in her mood on the trip, because the resort has such a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. Plus, it's gorgeous! We felt a similar feeling at Yacht Club, and to a slightly lesser extent, the Beach Club. I wasn't kidding when I said the kids were obsessed! I think it's the place that might get Xavier out of his "I want to stay at the Polynesian next" mindset. I'm not sure though, because he really feels like he needs immediate access to Ohana and potstickers! We'll see which wins out - pool or food!

And I'm so glad you're onboard the WL love train, because it's really the best.

I thought the tandoori chicken was fantastic...but I feel you on always ordering the butter chicken. When you know what you like, and it's the one place you can have it, it's really hard to try something else. What if you don't like it? Then, you're sad and wishing you had your original in front of you. I struggle with this every time we go somewhere to eat, lol!! It doesn't help that I have the Family Food Curse. Basically, if anyone's food is bad, or late, or wrong in some way...it's mine. Every. Single. Time. That makes me hesitant to branch out, but I try to!

Helllooooo lovely lady! I am suuuuuper behind obviously, I didn't even know you had started your TR!! I have been home for well over 3 weeks and haven't managed to even think of a title for mine yet much less post it. So it may not even happen

I had NO idea the hallways were so long at the Boardwalk! I have never stayed there and now I am kinda glad I haven't because I am lazy and long hallways at the end of long day would be super annoying lol
I do love me some Beach Club though, you cannot beat the Epcot area resorts

Loving all the pics from your first day at DAK! I was just saying the other day that I used to not care for Animal Kingdom much but the older I get I have learned to appreciate it more and more. It's such a gorgeous park! All the little details are so wonderful. And I LOVED the Christmas decorations too! Especially that amazing tree!

The AKL tree...OMG...I didn't make it there this trip but next time I am there during the holidays it's going on my "must see" list! How beautiful! That whole resort is so beautiful! I still need to make it to Sanaa too

Sorry to hear X wasn't feeling well...ear infections are NO BUENO, especially on vacation! Hope it didn't put too much of a damper on the trip for him! Poor kid!

I can't wait to read more! I'm looking forward to seeing your pics from JBJB! We only saw it one night and didn't have the best view...kind of makes me wish I had shelled out the money for the dessert party!

Hiiiii!!!! I'm so glad you're here!
That's why I started it pretty quickly...I knew if I waited it wouldn't happen (kind of like a dedicated California report. I waited too long so it got lumped in with the PTR). Going through the pictures takes FOR-EV-ER. I still haven't gone through them "for real", outside of pulling some out for this report. My family is asking me to get them up in an album on Facebook and the thought of going through all of them and creating a huge album is overwhelming!

Haha, I feel like all I can talk about is the hallways It was a big drawback, and it kind of hurt our initial enjoyment of the resort. As the week went on, our attitude changed a little (about the resort, not those FREAKING HALLWAYS, lol!!), and we began to appreciate the Boardwalk for what it was. I can understand why people love it, it just wasn't the best fit for our family. That kind of bummed me out, because it was my "bucket list" resort, I guess you could call it. I just always thought it was so beautiful in photographs - and it definitely is! If I had to stay there again, it would be much more manageable, because I know what to expect.
We were in the Beach Club for a short time to see the decorations and meet Mickey and Minnie in the lobby...it was really nice! It had a good feel to it and was so pretty! I understand why you love it!

Animal Kingdom is right up there with Magic Kingdom for me. No other park comes close in terms of theme perfection. I mean, it's just unreal! I'm practically jumping out of my skin to get a look at Pandora when it opens.
And as for the AKL tree, it's 100% in the top three of resort trees with Grand Floridian and Wilderness Lodge. It was just... I kind of want to move in. It's so huge there, surely they wouldn't even notice me! I could just beat up a housekeeper in a stairwell or something, take her outfit and key, and just hop from vacant room to vacant room!

Poor X...he was feeling rough for awhile, but eventually things smoothed out! With him, it's hard to figure out how bad a problem is right away, because he tends to be dramatic. He doesn't get sick often at all, even with the sniffles or something basic, so I was struggling to determine what we were dealing with at first!

The dessert party...hm...well, I have some opinions. I won't spoil it here yet, but that post is coming up pretty soon, maybe one or two away.

2016 sure has been a bummer of a year

What a massive tree! I absolutely love AKL and dream of staying there one day!

Ah I'm sorry you left your camera at home

I'm glad you enjoyed Sanaa!!

I was so sad about my camera!! We live about 15 or 20 minutes from the airport, depending on traffic/weather, and it was extra hard to know I was so close but couldn't go back to get it. I survived! If I forget it in May when we're at AKL, I might throw myself into the savanna!

Sanaa was great, and I can't wait to go back again!

I hope you get to stay there one day!! I am hoping it's going to be as good as I have built it up to be in my mind.

 

[xlsm]

I think this post-Christmas pre-New Year thing is turning me into a sloth.

Seriously, though.

Normally, DH is off this week, but he's been going in to work with just his team so they can work on their projects without everyone else in the office. The kids are off at their grandparents, so it's just been me sitting around and hanging out with dogs. I've slept past 7am for three days in a row!! I'm still in pajamas!!
I'm thinking about taking down all my Christmas stuff today...we'll see if that actually happens. I usually leave it up and take it down the day the kids go back to school after break, but this year I have three meetings that day. There's no way it's coming down then. It makes me sad, because my house never looks prettier than it does with all the trees and holiday stuff up and around. On the other hand, I would like to be able to use the fireplace without worrying that I'm going to set a bunch of Santas and greenery and stockings on fire!

One good thing these lazy days are facilitating is report updates!! I am going to try to get two in today...this one and another later. Because I need to get out of the house today, or I'm going to lose my mind! Or become one with the sectional. It could go either way.

Let's get going with...

Chapter Two Part Four

X was super proud of getting caught by the Disney police, and held onto his little citation all the way back to the resort. The tylenol or ibuprofen or whatever it was that we'd given him before leaving Kidani had kicked in and his mood had improved. The ride back from Animal Kingdom was pretty quick, and soon we were back to the Boardwalk!



The water and gatorade we'd ordered from Amazon had arrived, so we headed to the lobby to figure out where it was. The kids and I took this opportunity to spend some time admiring the lobby and the holiday decorations! I know that Boardwalk usually has a gingerbread house up where you can buy treats, but this year it was different. This year, they had a bunch of trees set up, all decorated with gingerbread cookies and super fun ornaments. There were also several small gingerbread houses set up...I think they might have been part of a staff contest?? I feel like someone told us you could vote on them at one point, but I can't quite remember. Also, on this particular day, there was a table set up where you could decorate your own. For $8.95 you could get your very own gingerbread shape and decorate it however you wanted, and they had a bunch of frosting and candy pieces set up. The kids wanted to do it, but I didn't want to invest that kind of time in a cookie at that moment. All proceeds go to charity, so it was a worthwhile cause at least! I asked if they'd be set up again later in the week, and they gave me their schedule, and I figured we'd come back to do it later. They also had pre-decorated ones available for sale.

While DH was at the desk hunting down our drinks, I took pictures!!



To the left of the tree you can kind of see one of the tables they have set up for the cookie decorating/sales.



And here to the right, you can see where I didn't do a very good job framing the shot, and got the baskets of wrapped cookies in there a bit

I loved all the little houses! If you read my PTR, you know we decided to try our hand at gingerbread house decorating...this should have been right up my alley, but I was the worst out of all of us! These houses have me determined to do better next year. I even bought a kit on clearance to practice, in addition to one I'd bought before Christmas and never got around to. I'm competitive, what can I say??









One of my favorites...Jack Skellington's house!!




I loved that there was even a little house for Zero thrown in! Details!! I'm such a sucker for details! That's why I love Disney so much.






The lobby of The Boardwalk is very beautiful. I also loved all of the outdoor seating areas/porches. There were all kinds of nooks and crannies around the resort. Along the walk to our room, there were at least three little loungy areas with chairs/coffee tables/sofas...so you could rest on the long walk to your room
(I'd like to say I'll stop talking about the long hallways, but it's kind of becoming another "character" in the report, sooo...I make no promises!)

The fireplace is very inviting, and the furniture is really comfortable. I love that about Disney resort lobbies. They're just so welcoming and comfy, and it doesn't feel weird to just hang out and enjoy your surroundings.



X wanted to sit in one of the creepy chairs...



It looks like a time out chair to me, LOL!!

The front desk people, along with the help of a manager and bell services FINALLY managed to figure out where the drink delivery was located, and bell services said they'd bring it up to us. Part of the reason the boys and I stayed downstairs was to help if we needed to haul it to the room, so we were very, very grateful that they offered to bring it up.

We went up to the room, and were barely in the door when the phone rang...it was bell services asking what we wanted brought up again. Was it luggage? For real? We were just there! Once again, we got things figured out, and within ten minutes they showed up at our door.

The boys wanted to go down to the quiet pool, and we had a little bit of flex time before we needed to get ready and go to Hollywood Studios, so I doctored up X's ear a little bit, and we used the stairs that were near our room to go down to the quiet pool. It was close to our room, and a lot easier than going down to the lobby and out to the clown pool. We never made it in the clown pool, unfortunately. I was looking forward to watching them slide out of the clown's mouth!!

I will leave you with some view-from-our-room photos, to show you where we were:

To the left:



To the right/center:



And to the immediate right:



We were the second room from ESPN, only one room was separating us. But the view!! I just have to stay focused on the view, right??

Next update will be DHS and Jingle Bell Jingle Bam!!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Great report so far!

I love Christmas time at Disney.

Honestly, I'm jealous of your room. You do go to Epcot, right?! That room is like...one of the best you could get for an Epcot day. I think there are just a few closer at Beach Club.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you think about the Jingle Bell Jingle BAM dessert party. I've done the SW one before.

Hopefully your son's ear problems cleared up I had horrible ear problems in California after driving down into the valley from the Yosemite, my ear didn't pop until sometime that night and it was super painful and annoying.

 

[xlsm]

Chapter Two Part Five

The kids and I came back up from the pool, and even though I didn't get in, I was gross and hot so I took a quick shower. DH had showered right as we were leaving to swim, and allll this time later, there was water in the tub. Cold water, because it had been sitting. I was grouchy about this, and we called for maintenance to come up when they could.

After we all got ready, we headed down to the boat dock



It was cooling off and the temperature was pretty nice, but X kept saying he was freezing. Uh oh. This had me worried, because it was nowhere near being cold, even by the water. I was hoping it was just because he hadn't been out of the pool for very long. He'd had more tylenol, and said his ear was ok, but it was starting to feel funny when he opened his mouth. Double uh oh!

Trying to look on the bright side, we all smiled and tried to be excited about the night ahead of us!



It didn't take too long for the Friendship boat to arrive, but it was PACKED. This would be a recurring theme. We only ever got to sit a couple of times over the course of the week, it was usually standing room only. It was an adjustment after the boats to/from Wilderness Lodge. We went to Yacht/Beach and Swan/Dolphin to pick up and drop off guests, but finally we were on the way to the park.

Missing out on Osborne Lights was a huge disappointment for me personally...I had booked this trip in part because I wanted to see them so badly, and I was sad when last year ended up being their final run. I had no idea what to expect from Hollywood Studios in regards to holiday decorations, but I was so very pleasantly surprised!!

[/URL

We stopped for a photopass picture with the tree...this tree is dazzling! It screams tinseltown and old Hollywood.



The photographer didn't do a shot with the whole tree, which I thought was odd, and did close ups instead...Oh well! At least we had the most famous reindeer of all in there with us! (Get lost, Rudolph! You're old news Pal!)

I was so anxious to get inside and look around!


http://s1175.photobucket.com/user/xlsm/media/IMG_6726_zpszoam1axt.jpg.html

http://s1175.photobucket.com/user/xlsm/media/IMG_6726_zpszoam1axt.jpg.html
[/URL
http://s1175.photobucket.com/user/xlsm/media/IMG_6733_zpsswh0kkma.jpg.html


I was in awe of the decorations!! They were perfection!! The thick, gorgeous garland and the colors...Oh, it was just beautiful.



We had a fast pass for Star Tours that was getting ready to expire, so I wanted to go ride that, but first I wanted to check out the Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam party area and make sure I knew exactly where to check in and everything. On the way there, I heard familiar voices...

Storm Troopers!

They were walking by, and tried to basically frisk this girl:



Are they trying out to be TSA agents???

I had to scramble for my phone and tried to get a selfie with them in the background while yelling at my husband, "Storm Troopers!!"



You can tell I was in the middle of the word "troopers" when I hit the button, lol!!

We easily found the check in area for the party...it was pretty early, but a line was already beginning to form.


I didn't really want to commit to that line right then! X was saying he didn't think he could do Star Tours with his ear, and L had to use the restroom, so we went ahead and got our wristbands and the 3d glasses for the party and went over to the restroom area nearby for L.

X kept clinging onto my arm and saying he was cold. I was trying hard not to be annoyed, because I knew he wasn't feeling 100%, but he kept stepping all over my feet, and even though he only weighs 106, when that's hanging onto you, it's heavy!

DH and I decided we'd just go ahead and get in line, so we could pick our seats more easily. By the time we got back over there, less than ten minutes later, the line had grown even more, so we felt we had made the right decision. We still had two fastpasses to use after the party and show, so it wouldn't be a total loss...even though I'd really wanted to get Star Tours in, and a meet with Olaf.

While we were waiting, Star Wars characters began walking by to take their places for the stage show. We saw Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Chewbacca, and more troopers...I have some pictures but they're not very good. It was a disappointment that we couldn't see the show at all from line, since we were behind the backdrop thing on the stage.

They dropped the rope for the party area while the show was starting (the pyro booms were really loud and every party guest practically jumped out of their skin every time they went off, lol!!), and we began to file in. We weren't *too* far back in line, so it didn't take very long, but it was so odd...it started out so calm, but it was like, as soon as people got past the CM with the rope, they started rushing for seats like it was a race. Not everyone, but about five or six groups. The other guests were looking at them like they were nuts, it was so rude and odd! It wasn't crowded at all at that point, and there was no need at all for rushing even, let alone being pushy!

Here's where I become a bad Dis-er again...I didn't get a ton of pictures of the food!



These are the almond gingerbread cookies and a mini lemon meringue tart thing. I thought the cookies were just ok, but didn't have one of the tarts. L said it was pretty good. I did notice on another night that they were selling slightly larger versions of the cookies for $4.95 on Sunset Blvd near Sunshine Day or whatever that QS is called, along with several holiday themed drinks.



This is the other side of that station, with chocolate cupcakes with peppermint frosting and white chocolate Mickey ear Santa hats and rice krispy treats.

X liked the krispy treats, but the cupcake was probably my favorite thing! I think X ended up with about four of them!!



My first plate. I didn't eat much else...I had some of the salted caramel cake thing with vanilla ice cream on a different station, but it wasn't very good. It had kind of a plasticky taste. Maybe I got a bad piece because DH liked his. L had some of the warm chocolate cake from that station with ice cream and he said his was really good, so I must have just chosen wrong!



Here's another look...that drink is the infamous (if you followed any JBJB party threads, anyway!) gingerbread martini. Lovely CMs had these on trays for you to pick up upon entering the party. It was good, although not as good as I was expecting given the reviews. I only had this one.

As the night grew darker, the area was very pretty lit with those little lantern things on the table. The whole area looked nice...the location was my favorite part of the whole thing. I really enjoyed being up there near the Chinese Theater, it just felt special.

Santa Goofy began making his rounds, and I was able to pass my phone off to his handler for a photo. She took four, and this one was the best:



It was getting dark, and the lighting was terrible for pictures. The meet up with Goofy was very rushed, but what interaction we had with him was good...you could tell he had a talented "friend", and he would have been a lot of fun at a traditional meet and greet I think!

DH had gotten a plate of the savory stuff, but none of it was all that appealing to me except the spinach dip and I took a few bites of that on some of the flatbread. That station was the only one that maintained a line, and I just never made my way over there. I sent the kids to grab some drinks for us, and went up to the bar to get the apple cider cocktail that was offered.



Sorry for the messy table pic! The apple drink wasn't very good, it tasted very watered down, even though there wasn't a ton of ice in it and I watched the bartender make it right in front of me. I considered getting a beer, but I hadn't had enough cocktails to make drinking a Bud Light or Angry Orchard all that appealing, LOL! Those are last resort beers for me!

Here's the bar:



another bad picture, I know! It never had a line during the party that I noticed, no more than three or four people at the busiest times...and we were sitting right in front of it, so I feel pretty confident saying that.

The best part of the night for me was realizing what star I was sitting beside!!



I loooove Neil Diamond!! Michael J Fox's is to the upper right of it on the diagonal. I got a picture of it too but didn't pull it out for the report.
Xavier was sitting by Mickey Mouse's star

At some point, L went over to the nitro station. They didn't let him pick a flavor, just put a couple of globs of the stuff in his bowl. I had assumed that it was going to be more ice creamish, or like dippin' dots, but it was like cool whip after it has been out of the freezer for 20 minutes or so. It also didn't taste all that great. He was disappointed, but I think he ate enough other things to pay for everyone's party tickets!

Overall, none of us were that thrilled with the food. Honestly, our desserts were better at the Wishes Dessert Party in July 2015. I DID like that this party didn't seem crowded at all, and the location was awesome. Having the addition of the character meet was the most important thing to us, and the little 3d glasses were a lot of fun (even if they weren't that great of a perk)!! I also liked the option of the cocktails and the bar, but I wish the drinks were better, and that they had more quality beers available.

I had been stalking reservations for the Star Wars Dessert Party for months before this became the available option, and I was sad to miss out on the Chewbacca stein at the Star Wars party. I'm still bitter about that! I was really hoping that the viewing area for JBJB would be worth it, because while the party experience was ok, it was nothing to write home about.

I'll get to that in the next post...coming up soon!!