Our 1st Holiday Trip to WDW (COMPLETED 1/4/05) About This Page:

[luvnwdwgal]

That's too bad that Savannah was scared on the Pirate Cruise, but nice that you got a refund. How nice of you to have had Josh and Kelly's ornament personalized! Love the picture of the gingerbread house!!

[SharonK0527]

Angie,

It was so great to meet you & your mom! Thanks again for the nice little gift you brought for Savannah - that was very sweet & thoughtful of you. I'll let Lee know that you owe him a scare!

Kathy - it was great meeting you too! Hope you guys enjoyed the rest of your vacation!

[SharonK0527]

<font color="blue"> Day Four, Wednesday 12/1/04 </font>
<font color="blue"> Part Two - "But Mommy, I AM tall enough!" </font>

The first thing we did upon arriving at MGM was head over to Rosie's All American Cafe near Tower of Terror for lunch as all three of us were starving. I had a cheeseburger &amp; fries, Savannah had chicken nuggets with fries and grapes, and Lee had soup and crackers. While we were eating we called Josh &amp; Kelly on their cell phone to see where they were at. They were on the Backlot Tour and would probably be another 30 minutes or so. We noticed that a showing of Beauty &amp; the Beast was getting ready to start and we had never seen it before so we went over and grabbed some seats. Four for a Dollar was almost done with their set so we only got to see them for a few minutes, but what I saw was good! Here are some pictures from the show:






After the show, we met up with Josh &amp; Kelly and decided to go on Rock 'n Roller Coaster. Lee, Josh, and Kelly went first while I stayed with Savannah (she was NOT tall enough for this ride! ) When they got off the ride, Josh &amp; Kelly stayed with Savannah so Lee &amp; I could go on the ride together. This was a first for us since we always had to do a child swap and ride separately. I LOVE this ride!!! After RnR, Kelly &amp; Lee wanted to go on Tower of Terror. Since Josh &amp; I were not going to ride, we decided to walk along with them so we could see the theming in the queuing area. The cast member at the entrance started to measure Savannah. I told her we were not going to ride, we were taking the chicken exit but she said it didn't matter - kids had to be at least 40" tall just to be able to go through the line. Of course as soon as Savannah saw that she was tall enough she wanted to go on the ride. Lee &amp; I had already decided that even if she was tall enough, we don't want her going on that ride yet. She's too young for a ride that intense (in my opinion). She threw a fit the whole way, begging us to let her go on. We didn't give in and Josh &amp; I used the chicken exit while Lee &amp; Kelly got on the ride. Kelly was a little scared because she had never been on this ride before. A CM escorted the "chicken exit group" downstairs in a normal elevator. He stayed in character the entire time and thanked us for visiting the hotel. He said he was sorry we had to "cancel our reservations so suddenly" but he hoped to see us back at the hotel in the future. When Lee &amp; Kelly came off the ride, Kelly was beaming and said "There's no line - do you mind if we go on it one more time?" So off they went. After that, Lee &amp; Savannah &amp; I had to head out because it was already after 4:00pm and we wanted to catch SpectroMagic (my favorite) over at Magic Kingdom at 6:00pm. Josh &amp; Kelly walked towards the front of the park with us and we said our goodbyes as they were heading home to Connecticut tomorrow. We really enjoyed meeting them and hanging out with them the last two weeks and we will definitely stay in touch with them. We didn't have time to go back to the hotel to change so we headed right over to MK for Spectromagic. By the time we got parked and got in the park it was around 5:30pm. We found a good viewing spot in the same spot we sat in for the Christmas parade, right across from the Liberty Bell. I love this parade so much!! It is so beautiful!! Savannah had dozed off in her stroller but woke up right as the parade was coming by.

Peacock

"Under the Sea" fish

The three fairies float



After the parade we had about 15 minutes until Wishes was starting and then the park was closing at 7:00pm. We sat right down in the middle of the street by the Liberty Bell and watched Wishes again. I love watching the fireworks going off by the castle - what a sight! After Wishes the park was closed so we made our way out and back to the hotel. Our original plans were to have dinner at 8:30pm at Whispering Canyon Cafe but we were all beat and didn't feel like waiting around until 8:30, so we cancelled the PS and headed back to the hotel. Side note - this is the first trip where we have cancelled so many PS's. We're finally learning that we don't have to do everything we plan and we can be spontaneous. We know we'll be going back to Disney so we can always do things the next time if we don't get to them this time. So, we drove back to the hotel and since it was such a nice evening we decided to put our swimsuits on and go to the pool. First we stopped at the food court and had some dinner. I had the chicken club wrap (Yum!!), Lee had a cheeseburger, and Savannah had macaroni &amp; cheese. After dinner we headed over to the pool and let Savannah swim for a while. Since it was so nice out, there were quite a few people out at the pool and Savannah had fun playing with some other kids. After a while the three of us headed over to the hot tub. The water was pretty hot so I only allowed Savannah to sit on the edge and put her feet in. But boy did that hot water feel good to Lee's &amp; my tired muscles! After about 20 minutes the hot tub started to get really crowded so we headed back to the room. Savannah went to bed. Lee &amp; I stayed up for a little while watching TV and then we hit the sack too.

<font color="blue"> The best thing today was </font>Rock 'n Roller Coaster
<font color="blue"> The worst thing today was </font> Savannah not wanting to go on the Pirate Cruise and having to say goodbye to Josh &amp; Kelly
<font color="blue"> The funniest thing today was </font> Kelly's reaction after going on Tower of Terror
<font color="blue"> Firsts for today: </font> Beauty &amp; the Beast show at MGM, Lee &amp; I being able to ride Rock 'n Roller Coaster together
<font color="blue"> The most magical moment today was </font> Spectromagic and Wishes!

<font color="black"> Coming up.....Day Five - A little dose of Family Magic </font>

[SharonK0527]

<font color="blue"> Day Five, Thursday 12/2/04 </font>
<font color="blue"> Part 1 - Family Magic Tour </font>

This morning we were supposed to have an 8:05am PS at Crystal Palace but we have been there before and we were all so tired that we cancelled the PS and slept in. We stopped for some coffee and beignets (thanks Angie for convincing me to try these! ) and headed to the car. We had to be at Magic Kingdom by 9:45am to check in for the Family Magic Tour. Upon checking in we immediately met another family who had a little girl only 2 weeks younger than Savannah. Her name was Lexi and she &amp; her parents were from Pennsylvania. Lexi &amp; Savannah hit it off instantly and it was like they had been best buddies their whole lives. We hung out with them during the tour, which was pretty crowded (I think they definitely over-booked our group). I thought they had a maximum of like 12 people per group but our tour had at least 20 people. The tour was a lot of fun and I would definitely recommend it.

Savannah &amp; Lexi

Making a Wish in the wishing well during Family Magic Tour

Savannah &amp; Lexi playing during Family Magic Tour


I won't give away the whole tour but I will talk about the ending. The premise of the tour is that Peter Pan stole Captain Hook's favorite hook and Captain Hook is threatening to close down the Magic Kingdom if he doesn't get his hook back within the next 2 hours. Peter Pan has drawn a map and left us clues to follow to find the hook. It's a very interactive tour through the Magic Kingdom and trust me, you get lots of stares and giggles from other people along the way! But it's so much fun! At the end we were searching in the bushes behind Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe when out jumps Wendy with Captain Hook's hook! She spent about 10 minutes talking with the kids and posing for pictures with all the families.


Then she suggested that we all join her on a ride. We of course assumed she would suggest Peter Pan's Flight but instead she suggested Mickey's Philharmagic (Lee was happy about that!). As the kids started walking, Savannah walked right up to Wendy and took her hand and Savannah &amp; Wendy walked hand in hand the whole way over to Fantasyland. Trust me, I had big old sappy tears in my eyes at the sight of that! I wish I could have gotten a good picture of them together, but they all came out blurry because they were moving. Anyway, they allowed our group to go through the Fastpass entrance. Once inside, the whole group was ushered down to the front row, with Wendy leading the way. Guess who sat right next to Wendy? You got it - Savannah. Wendy asked Lexi if she would like to sit on her lap during the show. Now normally Savannah does not like the 3D movies at Disney. They tend to scare her when things pop out of the screen at her. But of course sitting next to Wendy, every time Lee &amp; I looked over at her she was grinning from ear to ear. Go figure After the show, Wendy gathered all the families together and presented each family with a certificate with Tinkerbell on it for being brave and helping save the Magic Kingdom from Captain Hook. She also made all of us take a pledge that made us honorary lost boys &amp; girls. It was a cute pledge that included promising to stay up late every night and eat lots of candy and always love our honorary Mother Wendy The only disappointing parts of the tour for me were that our group was just too big and also that we only got Wendy at the end instead of Peter Pan AND Wendy. We passed another Family Magic Tour a few days later and noticed that they had both characters join them. After the tour was over of course Savannah wanted to ride Peter Pan's Flight. We waited about 25 minutes in the stand-by line and took her on the ride. We then left to head over to the Grand Floridian because this time Savannah had reservations for the Wonderland Tea Party. Dreading a replay of yesterday's Pirate Cruise, I kept asking her all day if she was sure she wanted to go to the Tea Party and she kept saying yes, so off we went.

<font color="black"> Coming up.....Part Two - Wonderland Tea Party </font>

[SharonK0527]

<font color="blue"> Day Five, Thursday 12/2/04 </font>
<font color="blue"> Part Two - Wonderland Tea Party </font>

The tea party was being held at 1900 Park Fare so we got Savannah checked in and brought her into the room where a long, very festively decorated table was set up. Most of the kids were already there. They found Savannah a place near the head of the table. The dreaded pager was given to us. We left Savannah with a camera and her autograph book and off we went. The tea party was only going to last for one hour so we went over to the Grand Floridian Cafe for some lunch. I had a fabulous Cobb Salad and Lee had a very tasty turkey club sandwich. Much to our happy surprise the pager didn't go off and when the hour was up we went to pick up Savannah. Each of the moms were given a bouquet of wildflowers and each child got a souvenir photo of themselves with Alice signed by Alice and the Mad Hatter. Savannah didn't have much to say about the party except that she had a good time and she enjoyed decorating her cupcake. She must have really liked it though because we have been back from our trip for a month now and so far she has asked me 10 times if she can go back to the tea party with Alice

Our original plan for tonight was to take Savannah to the Neverland Club at the Polynesian and Lee &amp; I were going to go have dinner at California Grill. On a whim, we got to talking and we both agreed that we would rather try and go back to MVMCP instead. I called Disney Dining and cancelled our PS for California Grill and was told that MVMCP was not sold out for tonight. We all needed a nap so we decided not to rush to get there since we had just been to the party two nights ago. We fell asleep around 4:00pm and set the alarm for 6:00pm.

<font color="black"> Coming up.....Day Five, Part Three - MVMCP, again </font>

[SharonK0527]

<font color="blue"> Day Five, Thursday 12/2/04 </font>
<font color="blue"> Part Three - MVMCP...again </font>

We got up from our nap feeling more refreshed. We filled up our mugs on the way out and headed back over to MK. We purchased our tickets for MVMCP and went right in. Our goal tonight was to skip all of the Christmas shows we had already seen and just focus on rides. We started out by getting hot dogs again from Casey's for dinner. After dinner we headed over to Adventureland. We passed Aladdin, Jasmine, and Genie out signing autographs together so we stopped for Savannah to meet them. Then we went on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. We were going to go on the Jungle Cruise because everyone says it's really cool to go on at night but unfortunately it was closed, as was the Tiki Room. We headed past Pirates of the Caribbean (Savannah didn't want to go on that one again - I guess she really doesn't like pirates ) We noticed Captain Hook and Mr. Smee were out signing but Savannah didn't want to see them so we kept going. We went on Splash Mountain &amp; BTMRR again. When we got off those rides, the first parade of the evening was just ending. We watched Wishes again from our same spot in the middle of the street by the Liberty Bell. We ran in and got our free photos taken (no line again). We wore our Santa hats this time - the picture turned out really cute.

After having our photo taken, we headed over to Fantasyland. When we got by the fountain behind the castle I noticed a short line was starting to form so I figured Cinderella &amp; Prince Charming were probably getting ready to come out since that was where they had been a few nights ago. I got in line and sure enough within 5 minutes we looked up at the back of the castle and there emerging from a room in the castle were Cinderella and her Prince. They waved to the crowd below and descended the stairs, just like royalty. The line moved quickly and soon it was Savannah's turn. When she approached them, Cinderella immediately told Savannah that she loved her Santa hat with the miniature Minnie Mouse sewn into the cap. Savannah started talking up a storm and Cinderella and the Prince just kept chatting with her.

There is an ongoing joke in our family because for the last year Savannah always refers to Cinderella's castle as "my castle". I wanted to see if she would say that right in front of Cinderella so I said "Savannah, whose castle is that?" as I pointed to the castle. Cinderella got a knowing smile on her face as if she fully expected Savannah to respond that it was Cinderella's castle. Instead Savannah replied "My castle". Cinderella and the Prince started laughing Cinderella looked at Savannah and said "I thought it was my castle". Savannah smiled at her and said "Well, it's yours and mine". Cinderella bent down and swooped Savannah up in her arms and gave her a big hug.

We were stunned - we hadn't seen her pick up any other kids because it's probably not very comfortable with wearing that big dress. After I took a picture of them together, Cinderella kept holding Savannah. She turned to face the castle and asked Savannah "Which room is yours?" Savannah said she didn't know so Cinderella and Prince Charming started pointing up at the castle, showing Savannah which room is hers! At this point, they had spent about 5 minutes with her and I was starting to feel embarrassed because I knew there were so many other people in line waiting to see them but Cinderella was in no hurry to let Savannah go Finally Cinderella asked Savannah to give Prince Charming a hug and he gave her a hug and kissed her hand. Then Cinderella gave Savannah one more big hug before putting her down and planted a big lipstick kiss on Savannah's cheek and said goodbye. I said goodbye and thanked them for all the time they had spent with Savannah. Cinderella said it was no problem, "she's such a cutie!" This whole scenario was one of the most magical moments of the whole trip for me


As we turned around, Aurora and Prince Philip were out so Savannah saw them too. They spent a few minutes with her and they talked about picking berries in the forest. Savannah informed Princess Aurora that she doesn't like the forest

At this point Savannah wanted to ride on the carousel so I took her on that.

Lee was coming back from the men's room right as we were getting off the carousel and said that on his way to the bathroom he saw Donald Duck out signing autographs in his "Christmas Tree lot" they had set up. We walked over and met Donald.

After that we walked back over and went on Dumbo then went over to the teacup ride. Right as we approached the ride (which had NO line), we looked over and saw Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum skipping down the street right toward us! Savannah stopped when she saw them coming and they skipped over to her and started dancing around her! There was no one else there, it was great! Savannah had never met them before so we took a picture and they signed her autograph book. Then we went on the teacup ride. The faster it spins, the more Savannah loves it. Lee had that teacup spinning so fast we couldn't even see! It was so much fun After that we walked over and got right on Winnie the Pooh. I love that ride - it's so cute We made our way into Tomorrowland and took Savannah on the Indy cars - bumped and crashed our way all over the course (with my 4 year old at the wheel!). It was almost time for the park to close so we started making our way out of Tomorrowland. We stopped at a pin cart and bought some more pins for our lanyards. Savannah got a Test Track pin and a Splash Mountain pin since she loved those rides so much. Lee &amp; I each got Rock 'n Roller Coaster pins plus a few others. Just past Stitch's Great Escape we saw Buzz Lightyear out signing autographs so we stopped so Savannah could meet him. We stopped at The Lunching Pad and got our free hot chocolate and cookies (they were just getting ready to close but we made it in time). The last show of the night in front of the castle had already started so we stopped at the umbrella tables again and watched the show across the water.

On the way out we stopped at the Emporium on Main Street and bought some souvenir shirts and some other souvenirs.

Then we braved the throngs of people heading toward the monorail to go over to the TTC. We were amazed at how quickly the line moved and before we knew it we were back at our car. This is a picture of a giant Santa Stitch that is set up at the TTC.


We went back to the hotel and went to bed for the night.

<font color="blue"> The best thing today was </font>Family Magic Tour and going back to MVMCP
<font color="blue"> The worst thing today was </font> sitting in the front row for Mickey's Philharmagic (can't see very well at all when you're that close to the screen)
<font color="blue"> The funniest thing today was </font> all the crazy things we did during the Family Magic Tour
<font color="blue"> Firsts for today: </font> Family Magic Tour, Wonderland Tea Party
<font color="blue"> The most magical moment today was </font> seeing Savannah walking through the Magic Kingdom holding hands with Wendy as well as all the attention she got from Cinderella &amp; Prince Charming

<font color="black"> Coming up.....Day Six - What a Spectacle!! </font>

[Jillybean]

What a very magical day! You rarely see the characters pick anyone up, so Cinderella must have fallen head over heels in love with Savannah!

I have never heard of the Family Magic Tour -- I'll be sure to check that out! My DD would love it! The tea party sounds great also -- so glad that she enjoyed it more than the pirate cruise!

Jill

[Tara O'Hara]

Wow! What a magical day you guys had!! Savannah is adorable!! The family magic tour sounds awesome!!

[luvnwdwgal]

What a magical time Savannah had with Cinderella and Prince Charming!! How precious!!

[Tink and co.]

What a magical time you and your family are having! Can't wait to read more!

[kathy320]

Hey there Sharon!!!!!!!!!! I am loving reading your report!!!! Some day I too will get to writing mine!!!! Those pics of Savanah and cinderella are priceless!!!!!

[disneyknut]

REally enjoying your TR... don't you just love it when characters spend 'extra' time with the little ones? I'll bet it's something Savannah will remember forever

[Colexis Mom]

What great updates Sharon! Between the Family Magic Tour, and the time with Cinderella, you guys hit it big How magical

Hurry back with more

[SharonK0527]

<font color="blue"> Day Six, Friday 12/3/04 </font>
<font color="blue"> Part 1 - Epcot </font>

This morning we had an 8:30am PS for the Princess Storybook Breakfast in Norway. I was tempted to cancel it since again we had gotten to bed so late but this one we would have to pay to cancel and Savannah was looking forward to it so we rolled out of bed and got ready to go. We got to Epcot around 8:00am and got a great parking spot right up front. This time we weren't running late so we didn't have to rush over to World Showcase. Another family was heading that way too and asked us if we were going to the Princess breakfast. We said yes and they said "Can we walk with you? We don't know where it is and you guys look like you know where you're going". We chatted with them on the way over to Norway. They thanked us for showing them the way and said "We never would have found this on our own!" We arrived for our PS and got seated right away. Lee &amp; I really like the food at this breakfast which is one of the reasons why we wanted to go to this breakfast again (we took Savannah to this last year). First to come to the table was Jasmine, followed by Mulan, Snow White, Aurora, and Belle.


After breakfast Savannah played on the Viking Ship outside Norway for a few minutes.


Since World Showcase was not open yet, we headed over to Future World. We noticed the stand-by line for Test Track was saying 20 minutes but honestly it looked longer than that. We braved it anyway and it ended up being right around 15-20 minutes which wasn't too bad. Savannah of course wanted to ride it a second time but at this point the line was way too long and the new posted wait time was 45 minutes. We walked over to let Lee blast off on Mission:Space one more time. He keeps trying to convince me to go on it but I've heard so many horror stories of people getting sick after going on this ride that I'm still too nervous to try it. Savannah played in Space Base, the kids play area in the post-show section of the ride, and we waited for Lee to come off the ride. After Mission Space, we decided to walk back over to World Showcase to see if we could find any characters out (I especially wanted to try and find Belle &amp; Beast since Savannah has never met Beast). We walked over to England and who do we see right in the middle of the street but Lexi and her parents!! (cue the music from "It's A Small World"). We couldn't believe we had run into each other again!! I walked over and looked in The Toy Soldier and saw that Tigger and Eeyore were there. I was very excited because after cancelling our breakfast at Crystal Palace earlier in the trip, I had yet to see my boy Eeyore. I called to Lee and he &amp; Lexi's family all walked over to get in line. Savannah &amp; Lexi saw them first and we got some pictures. I got in line so I could see them too. The people in front of me were very excited about seeing Tigger so when it was their turn they ran right up to him. Poor Eeyore - he just put his head down and shrugged his shoulders and moped around because no one was paying attention to him. I called out to him "Don't worry Eeyore, I'm coming!" He looked up at me and gave me a big thumbs up When it was my turn he threw his arms open and gave me a big hug. I rubbed his nose and said "You're my favorite, Eeyore" and he patted me on the back. Tigger stood there tapping his foot with his hands on his hips and I jokingly said "Tigger, you got all the love from the last people. Eeyore needs some love too." Tigger nodded his head and gave me a hug We took a picture (see my signature picture below) and Lee ran up and got a picture with them too. After that we started walking over towards the Japan pavilion because it was almost time for the Character Caravan to arrive. We stuck with Lexi and her parents and the girls got to meet all kinds of characters: Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Chip &amp; Dale, Robin Hood, Friar Tuck (what a little cutie he was! I had never seen him before), Gepetto, Terk.




The girls had a blast meeting the characters together. After that we parted ways. Lexi's family had a PS at the Garden Grill so we said goodbye and headed over towards England again. I checked back in The Toy Soldier to see if any new characters had shown up but it was still Tigger &amp; Eeyore. The CM said Pooh would be coming out in about 30 minutes. I asked about Rabbit and he said Rabbit was not scheduled to appear there that day. He said Rabbit comes out at The Toy Soldier about 2-3 days a week. We stopped in France and checked on Belle &amp; Beast but they were not scheduled to come out for another hour. We checked over in Canada and asked if any of the Brother Bear characters ever come out. The CM said that was only around the time Brother Bear was released and she hasn't seen any of them in the parks for a very long time. We stopped for a quick bite at the McDonald's stand outside Canada and then headed back to the car to go back to the hotel and take a nap before going to MGM tonight.

<font color="black"> Coming up.....Part Two - What a Spectacle!!! </font>

[SharonK0527]

<font color="blue"> Day Six, Friday 12/3/04 </font>
<font color="blue"> Part 2 - What a Spectacle!!! </font>

After our afternoon nap, we headed over to MGM Studios for a 4:30pm Fantasmic Dinner Package at Hollywood &amp; Vine.

MGM Christmas Tree

The food was very good and they had some great desserts on the buffet table. Next time you go in this restaurant, be sure and check out the huge sculpture of Mickey fighting the dragon made entirely of chocolate! Very cool! After dinner, we wanted to walk over and catch Mickey in his autograph spot over by WWTBAM on Mickey Avenue. Unfortunately we got there at 5:45pm and he had stopped signing for the day at 5:30pm We walked over to Streets of America to try and catch the Osborne Spectacle of Lights before Fantasmic. NOT a good idea!! It was wall to wall people! We made it through one quick loop of the street and fought our way out, determining that we would catch the lights after Fantasmic.

We walked over to the Hollywood Hills Amphitheater and used our passes for priority seating. Fantasmic would start at 7:00pm and be over around 7:30pm. MGM Studios was open until 8:00pm that evening so we knew we'd have time to catch the Osborne Lights again after Fantasmic. What we did was pick seats in the reserved section near the top of the amphitheater right on the end of the row. We enjoyed the show immensely (we love this show!). They've made lots of changes to the show since last year: different film clips reflected on the water, the dragon was different. The storyline was the same, but they made some improvements and we liked the show even more. The moment the show was over, we jumped out of our seats and were on our way out while most of the people were still in the theater. We headed quickly over to Streets of America and lo &amp; behold - no crowds!! We were able to take our time and stroll through the streets, stopping to take lots of pictures along the way. The snow was falling, the lights were breathtaking - it was truly a great experience and I'm so glad we made sure to see it. Osborne Lights are a definite must-do for anyone at Disney during the Holiday season.










Right as we were finishing up and heading out of that area, the Fantasmic crowds had made their way over and the street was packed again. I'm so glad we beat the rush! It made viewing the lights so much more enjoyable. We stopped at a few shops on the way out and were on our way back to the hotel.


We spent the rest of the evening packing and finally got to bed around midnight.

<font color="blue"> The best thing today was </font> Osborne Spectacle of Lights
<font color="blue"> The worst thing today was </font> Savannah got really crabby right before we left Epcot - definitely needed a nap!
<font color="blue"> The funniest thing today was </font> running into Lexi and her parents again and watching the girls run around together meeting all the characters
<font color="blue"> Firsts for today: </font> dinner at Hollywood &amp; Vine, Osborne Spectacle of Lights
<font color="blue"> The most magical moment today was </font> during the Osborne Spectacle - taking Savannah up to the huge Nativity Scene and pointing out Baby Jesus to her and also Savannah &amp; I trying to catch the snow as it fell on Streets of America.

<font color="black"> Coming up.....Day Seven - Our Last Day </font>