The Yuletide Hypothesis // Stuffed & Joyful! **NEW 10/16**

[annmarieda]

I got to experience CP for breakfast for the first time. Holy cow.. YUM!

I know there must be a trick on the Buzzlight year ride... I never get a very good score.

Judging from the countdown to christmas, I assume this was 12/9... we arrived that day... no parks though. And we didn't check into WL until 12/11.

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Wow, I can't get over how beautiful WL is or all the amazing decorations.

One of my favorite things is to go to CP for breakfast then ride the people mover. It's a good way to let all that stuffed french toast digest.

I love the idea of taking a carriage ride through Ft. Wilderness during Christmas time. You should definitely consider doing that during your upcoming trip. I hope you'll post a link to your PTR.

 

[PryncessChrysty]

I got to experience CP for breakfast for the first time. Holy cow.. YUM!

I know there must be a trick on the Buzzlight year ride... I never get a very good score.

Judging from the countdown to christmas, I assume this was 12/9... we arrived that day... no parks though. And we didn't check into WL until 12/11.

Apparently, there's a target on the backside of the claw in the first room, and that's what does it. So he's usually at that score early in the game. I don't know, I can never seem to hit it. Although, put me on DL's version and I can kick some serious booty....still not his.

Yep - your calculations are correct! This was 12/9 It would be funny if you & your family show up in the background of any of our photos along the way.

Wow, I can't get over how beautiful WL is or all the amazing decorations.

One of my favorite things is to go to CP for breakfast then ride the people mover. It's a good way to let all that stuffed french toast digest.

I love the idea of taking a carriage ride through Ft. Wilderness during Christmas time. You should definitely consider doing that during your upcoming trip. I hope you'll post a link to your PTR.

Just wait until I get to the night time part of the TR for this day, I took a TON of photos around the lobby.

Yes - we were definitely considering the carriage ride. What we finally decided on (well, it was my mom's idea), was to rent a golf cart. I'm so excited to drive it around! They're staying at WL this time around, so we're going to head over to Ft. Wilderness in the afternoon to look around, then have dinner at Trails End and more exploring - this time with all the Christmas lights on. We're all super excited! I'm wondering if we should decorate it, even though we'll only have it for a day. Hmmm....

 

[annmarieda]

Apparently, there's a target on the backside of the claw in the first room, and that's what does it. So he's usually at that score early in the game. I don't know, I can never seem to hit it. Although, put me on DL's version and I can kick some serious booty....still not his.

Yep - your calculations are correct! This was 12/9 It would be funny if you & your family show up in the background of any of our photos along the way.

Thanks for the tip! And... I certainly will be keeping my eyes peeled to see if we are in any of your photos...

 

[PryncessChrysty]

After I photographed seemingly every nook & cranny of Main Street, we hopped on the resort monorail. I could not wait to see the life-size gingerbread house in the lobby of the Grand Floridian. I mean, I was seriously giddy that we were finally getting the chance to see it in person!!

That's a whole lotta poinsettia!

Pretty trees adorn the lobby entrance from the monorail

Ooooooh Aaaaaah

THERE SHE IS!!!!

I absolutely love gingerbread houses. They’re one of my favorite themes for holiday decorations, so it’s safe to say that it was love at first sight here. We hitched a ride in the birdcage to get down to the first floor

Ain’t she purrrdy?!

I couldn’t believe how much detail there was. This was something I didn’t see on all of those WDW Christmas specials.

Proof that we were there! (grainy iPhone photo)

Some elves were busy putting together gingerbread houses to be sold INSIDE the big gingerbread house. So meta.

They were also making gingerbread cookie ornaments

After pouring over every last detail, we hopped in line to buy some goodies. I was still on a high from actually being there and may have gone a little overboard. Although, I did stay strong in resisting the urge to drop $70 on a gingerbread house, I couldn’t even imagine trying to get that thing home to CA. We bought a few shingles, 1 for us and the rest to take home as gifts, a chocolate snowman filled with little chocolates for my dad (he LOVES snowmen like I love gingerbread houses), and a pin made exclusively for the gingerbread house.

After we had our bag o’goodies and successfully searched out all of the hidden mickeys on the house, we decided to relax in the lobby for a bit. Our view:

Squeeeeee!

A very sweet older couple came and sat down with us and we got to chatting for a bit. They told us about how they moved down to FL from the Northeast a few years ago, and that they liked to take weekend getaways to the Disney resorts every couple of months. This time they were staying at the Grand for a few nights with their friends. Fun!! I love how Disney becomes the common denominator and you can meet so many different people while you’re there.

After about 20 minutes, their friends appeared and it was time for us to get going, so we bid farewell and headed up to the monorail platform. One last shot on our way out (it’s like I can’t help myself)…

 

[PryncessChrysty]

Since we had already been to the Poly and they didn’t have much to offer in the way of holiday displays, we opted to skip it and made way to the Contemporary.

Always a happy sight

Apparently someone wanted to sample the gingerbread before they bought a piece. Yeesh.

Their cute, albeit understated, display

“O’ Gingerbread Tree, O’ Gingerbread Tree, how tasty are thy branches”

I wanted one of each!

We figured the gingerbread shingles would be the same, so we just picked out one of the specialty cookies they had for sale. I can’t seem to find a picture of it but it was a double layered cookie with jam in the middle, covered in powdered sugar. Afterward, we wanted to check out the cupcakes in the quick service bakery, so our next stop was the Contempo Cafe.

I think they need to put up some “no drooling on the glass” signs here

In keeping with the holiday theme, we chose Chocolate Peppermint & Spiced Apple cupcakes to take back to our room. For the record, we were buying sweet treats left & right, but we hadn’t eaten any of it just yet.

We made our way out to the boat dock, which led us into an area of the Contemporary we’d never been to before.

Waiting on the dock

Our boat was practically empty!

Home sweet home

We stopped by the geyser in hopes that we’d get to see it erupt

On the boat ride back from Ft. Wilderness the night before, our driver pointed out that there’s a bear face within the building, so I entertained myself while waiting for the geyser by trying to capture it on my camera. Can you see it?!

Meanwhile this was still happening over at the geyser…

After a few minutes, we gave up and decided to try to catch it later (spoiler alert: we never did). We had some fun stuff scheduled for that night, and I was in dire need of a nap if I had any hopes of seeing our plans through.

We were greeted by this little guy in our room!

We brought a mini pre-lit tree along with us, so our new little friend had a perfect home underneath it (nevermind the unopened box of ornaments in bubble wrap in the background )

For those wondering how all of our goodies were: we ate our shingle from the GF later in the trip and I’m sad to report that it was NOT good. It tasted like bland dough filled with cloves; not at all what I was hoping for. We left the cookie from the Contemporary for too long and we didn’t get to try it because it expired a couple days after we bought it. Boo to that. The cupcakes, however, were quite tasty! Not our favorite of the trip, but they hit the sweet spot.


Next Up: The Best Cupcake EVER, and something about some dancing Lights.

 

[PryncessChrysty]

Where'd evereryone go? Did I scare you all away with my crazy love for gingerbread? I promise I don't bite, those weren't my teeth marks on the Contemporary's display. Honest.

If you're following along, don't be shy - stop in and say hello.

 

[summerw]

I just read your tr. I live near Disneyland and had bells palsy in college. I'm sure it seems endless right now, but normal is right around the corner. And no one else would ever know I had it. Please keep posting. And please feel free to include more comparisons to dlr since this will be our first trip to wdw. I also love all the cupcake finds. I'm looking forward to the cupcakes almost as much as anything.

 

[CarolynK]

Where'd evereryone go? Did I scare you all away with my crazy love for gingerbread? I promise I don't bite, those weren't my teeth marks on the Contemporary's display. Honest.

If you're following along, don't be shy - stop in and say hello.

Sorry, I don't think I've commented since the beginning

Your pictures are great! I love WDW decked out for the holidays.

 

[annmarieda]

I love all your pictures. It really has me remembering my own trip. One of the first things we did in December was to go to the GF. I never did get any ginger bread... maybe glad now that I didn't. Although those cookies at the CR looked so pretty I wanted one just to look at. (but didn't buy one then either).

Like you... I never did get to see the geyser erupt.

Oh... the peppermint cupcake at Contempo... wasn't it just yummy!

 

[PryncessChrysty]

I just read your tr. I live near Disneyland and had bells palsy in college. I'm sure it seems endless right now, but normal is right around the corner. And no one else would ever know I had it. Please keep posting. And please feel free to include more comparisons to dlr since this will be our first trip to wdw. I also love all the cupcake finds. I'm looking forward to the cupcakes almost as much as anything.

Hi there! Thanks for joining in, and for the encouraging words on the palsy. It's definitely been a roller coaster in itself! I'm 3 months out and I'd say I'm about 90% recovered, just still working on the little muscles around the side of my upper lip and around my eye. It's getting better everyday, and I'm so incredibly thankful for it! What's crazier than anything is finding out how many people have been affected by it. I had no idea it was so common.

I will try to remember to post comparisons as I go along. I know a lot of people are very opinionated on either WDW or DL, we love them both. They're VERY different and offer much different experiences, even though some of the rides are technically the same. If you ever have any questions, feel free to reach out and I'll be happy to answer them.

Sorry, I don't think I've commented since the beginning

Your pictures are great! I love WDW decked out for the holidays.

Thank you!!

I love all your pictures. It really has me remembering my own trip. One of the first things we did in December was to go to the GF. I never did get any ginger bread... maybe glad now that I didn't. Although those cookies at the CR looked so pretty I wanted one just to look at. (but didn't buy one then either).

Like you... I never did get to see the geyser erupt.

Oh... the peppermint cupcake at Contempo... wasn't it just yummy!

Yes, you were definitely not missing anything with the gingerbread.
I'm thinking I might go ahead and buy one the ornament cookies at the Contemporary this time and just take my chances getting it home. They're just so pretty!

I'm convinced the geyser just doesn't erupt. Maybe it's a like a pot of water.

It WAS yummy!! Have you seen the new King Cupcake at Pop?! We're staying 2 nights at AoA during our December trip, so you can be sure we'll be making our way across the bridge to pick one up!

 

[Cira]

Oh my goodness Chrysty, this is ME too! LOL I thought I was the only one. I suffer from ear fluid to begin with, so I know what you mean about the ear popping. Am enjoying your TR so far. Thanks!

A month before we leave, we increase our vitamin C intake and add Echinacea to our daily routine. Inevitably, a few days before we're set to leave, I’m certain that I’m getting a sore throat. DH just rolls his eyes because, luckily, I’ve been wrong every time. (Gees, I really sound nutty don’t I? ) This time was different, though. This time I felt it coming and didn’t say anything, hoping it would just pass and that I was wrong like I had been EVERY other time. When we got off the plane in Orlando, my ears were completely full of fluid and I couldn’t even hear myself talk. But I'm sure they just needed to pop, right?

 

[Cira]

For anyone who has been @ the WL:

We love going to the different Disney hotels, parking and walking around and eating at their restaurants. I have never done that at WL. Are non-guests allowed on the premises? Is there a time-limit? We enjoy sitting in the lobby, and again, having a meal, etc; Thanks in advance.

Happy Mother's Day, everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful day.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Day 3:

Today started with an early wake-up call, but after a little hustle-bustle in the morning the rest was set to be a fairly easy-breezy day. We had to get up & get packing cuz we were checking out of Old Key West and into Wilderness Lodge for the next 3 nights!

While we were getting ready, I went out onto the balcony to soak up the scenery for a bit because we really didn’t get to spend much time enjoying the resort during our stay. After a minute or two I noticed this little guy:

Can you see him? I don’t know why, but he cracked me up. He was just chillin’ out there and I never saw any movements so he must’ve been out there the whole time. After a little while he ran down the tree, and it was time to get back my bee-hind back in gear.

This was our first stay at OKW and we really enjoyed the laid-back pace of the resort. The grounds were a lot more impressive in person than what I saw in pictures leading up to our stay there, and the whole place had a very calming feeling to it. Even for all of those great qualities, it seemed to be missing a spark for us. We would definitely stay here again, especially for the great value it can be when renting DVC points (which we did), but it wouldn’t be our first choice. The subtle theming was a nice change of pace, but Animal Kingdom Lodge and the Boardwalk are still at the top of our list.

 

[PixieMama]

Ok, I am now caught up!

Looking at all your pics just reaffirms two things: 1., I must stay at WL sometime! and 2., I must go to WDW during the holidays! The decorations are amazing!

And I can only imagine how delicious the GF must have smelled with all that gingerbread!

 

[PryncessChrysty]

Oh my goodness Chrysty, this is ME too! LOL I thought I was the only one. I suffer from ear fluid to begin with, so I know what you mean about the ear popping. Am enjoying your TR so far. Thanks!

Oh yes, the fluid in the ears is no fun at all!

Welcome to the TR & thanks for reading along!

For anyone who has been @ the WL:

We love going to the different Disney hotels, parking and walking around and eating at their restaurants. I have never done that at WL. Are non-guests allowed on the premises? Is there a time-limit? We enjoy sitting in the lobby, and again, having a meal, etc; Thanks in advance.

Yes, guests that aren't staying at the hotel are allowed to meander around the property just the same as you can at any of the Disney resorts. The only thing you can't do if you're not staying at the hotel is take advantage of the pool.

Ok, I am now caught up!

Looking at all your pics just reaffirms two things: 1., I must stay at WL sometime! and 2., I must go to WDW during the holidays! The decorations are amazing!

And I can only imagine how delicious the GF must have smelled with all that gingerbread!

LOL - Yes, you must! We had a great time there! The only thing that threw me off about the holiday decor were all of the antlers stuck in everything. I get it that it's the WILDNERNESS Lodge, it was just a little more barbaric....er rustic....then I would normally prefer.

You're trip is just around the corner!! You must getting ready to dance this guy --->

 

[PryncessChrysty]

After our Magic Kingdom Resort tour, we chilled out for a bit in our room and took a not-quite-long-enough nap. If you've ever taken a nap on your WDW vacation, don't they always feel that way?! We freshened up, I applied a fresh coat of mascara, and off we went.

Our first stop of the night: Hollywood Studios

Wheres our red carpet?!

We had dinner reservations at Mama Melrose, a first for us. Leading up to the trip I was reading reviews that were either really good or really bad, so we decided to just try it for ourselves.

The bread was good. Warm, fresh & not too chewy or dry.

We each ordered a starter Caesar salad. I remember this was surprisingly good, but I wish I would've asked for more croutons. They were really good!

We each ordered an entree to share, first was Chicken Parmigiana alla Spaghetti

This was OK, just very standard and nothing special.*

We also had the Charred Strip Steak with five-cheese baked macaroni, aged balsamic-shallot butter, and sans Chianti Wine Reduction

The steak was alright, a little too fatty for me. The mac & cheese was good, though.

The best dish up to this point was our salad and after reading all of those so-so reviews we were feeling, well, so-so about it. The saving grace, however, was our server. He was attentive, personable, and kept our drinks full. Major plus.

When it was time for dessert I knew exactly what I wanted to order, I read about it on the Disney Parks Blog and couldn't wait to give it a try. When I ordered (sans menu), I seemed to catch the server a bit off guard. He said the item was actually on the kids menu and didn't get the love it deserved. I assumed DH & I would just share, but after hearing my conversation with the server he was intrigued and decided to order his own. Thank goodness.

What is this underdog dessert, you wonder? Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you the Spaghetti and Meatball Cupcake. Yes, this is a thing. A very, very good thing.

It's a chocolate cupcake, topped with vanilla buttercream spaghetti, a chocolate truffle meatball, strawberry marinara, and sprinkled with white chocolate parmesan. AH-MA-ZING. Our plates were CLEAN. This is easily one of the top 3 cupcakes in all of WDW, and there are a lots to choose from these days. All I can say is that we have reservations to go back this December, and its not for the entrees!

Another shot, because, well, why not?

Click here for the link to the post on the Parks Blog.

Leaving dinner, we saw they were herding the crowds for the Osbourne lights around the backside of the Streets of America towards Lights, Motor, Action. We hopped into the sea of people, then I looked up and this was my first glimpse at the lights, which immediately made me all misty-eyed.

Decorating for Christmas has always been a HUGE thing with both of my parents, with exterior lights being my dad's specialty. I mean, he's won awards from his Homeowners Association for his lavish holiday displays, so seeing the thousands of gorgeous twinkling lights, it was all just really overwhelming & nostalgic for me. I know my dad would just go crazy for this, especially the Santa & Mickey. My guilty daughter conscience kicked in since we were having this incredible experience while he was back at home in CA. Now I'm just all that much more excited to be able to go back with him on a future trip! That was my (super) sappy moment, now back to the lights...

It was seriously so very crowded. Thankfully I anticipated this going in so we were mentally prepared for the herds.

Mooooo......

We took a gazillion terrible self-shots with my phone on the Streets of America, case in point:

As we made our way through the streets we noticed the Youse Guys merchandise stand was selling some event specific items, so I stopped in to get the special Osborne Lights pin. I also got a SUPER cute necklace with really big Christmas lights (think C9s) that flashed at all sorts of speeds. I thought about buying one for hubby, too, but I didn't think he'd want to wear it. After I checked out, I found DH (he was leaning against a wall trying to keep away from the crowd while I shopped...lol) and we made our way out.

Even though it was crazy, we LOVED it! We were only able to stay for about 20 minutes so we didn't get to see much of the dancing aspect, but we had plans to come back with my mom & step-dad later in the trip.

See ya real soon, Osborne Lights!

We hitched a ride on a Friendship boat to make way for EPCOT. We were going to an Illuminations dessert party hosted by the travel agency we booked our WL room with. It may sound silly, but this was one of those things on my Disney bucket list that I've been dying to do, and we were getting to do it for FREE!

We arrived at Italy to check-in and hung out in the rotunda until they were ready to escort us over to the Isola. Remember when I said I was going to buy hubby a set of the Christmas lights but didn't think he'd wear it? Well:

That didn't take very long.

Our view from the Isola

We were still on a high from the spaghetti & meatball cupcakes from dinner so we didn't go crazy with the desserts here. What we tried was good, although nothing to write home about. There were a few specialty desserts, lemon bars, cupcakes, cookies, rice krispie treats, hot chocolate, lemonade, tea, coffee, etc.
Here's a very blurry picture just to give you an idea of the set up:

We mingled a bit and bumped into our friend Carrie, you may know her from the DIS as lurkyloo. We're both from southern CA, but we tend to bump into each other at WDW more than anywhere else. Kinda funny. Afterward, we found seats at a table, which was quite lucky cuz they were sparse. We sat with a mother & (adult) son who were visiting all the way from England! They've attended many of the same D23 events that we have, so we chatted a bit about our experiences until the show started.

We had a great view, despite whats shown in these photos.

Admittedly, I'm not the biggest fan of Illuminations. There are elements that I really love about it, but the show as a whole is a little too slow for me. I suppose I just don't have the sentimental attachment to it that many folks do. I mean, we went to the World 3 times before we finally caught the show. The holiday tag, however, was spectacular!


After the show, we took our time leaving World Showcase since it was now closed - something we love to do whenever possible.

 

[PryncessChrysty]

We walked back over to the Beach Club from the International Gateway

With his green shirt and glowing lights, I decided that Daniel looked like a Christmas tree so I sent him up to blend in with the others. What a trooper.

Hey, where'd my hubby go?!

We poked around the holiday decorations and searched for all of the hidden Mickeys on the gingerbread display.

Just in case you were wondering how to replicate the recipe at home:

After we had sufficiently searched out the hidden Mickey's, we drove back to our resort. Since it was late I took the opportunity to photograph every nook & cranny of the empty lobby.

Everyone says the Wilderness Lodge is *THE* place to stay for the holidays, and I can totally see why. Even still, I was a bit perplexed by the amount of antlers used in the decor. I mean, I get it - it is the WILDERNESS Lodge, but it was too much for me. While we loved the look & feel of the resort, it just never felt like we were "home". We would definitely stay here again, it just wouldn't be the first choice. Taking the boat around was pretty awesome, though.

Look at that sweet, patient, blurry man

I love these lamps

We crashed pretty quickly that night, thankfully we’d get to sleep in a bit the next morning.


NEXT UP: Feeling JOYFUL!

 

[DISNEYDUET]

Just found your wonderful TR!! Enjoying every detail. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[PryncessChrysty]

Just found your wonderful TR!! Enjoying every detail. Can't wait to hear more!

Thank you for joining in!

 

[CarolynK]

Another great update! Love the pictures!!