A Surprise Weekend Getaway

[DaisyFoote]

November 12, 2015


My DH and I had bought annual passes when we were at Disney earlier this summer (July 3 - 17). Those passes are like magnets - at least to us. We couldn't wait until we could go back. We are both teachers and school had been really busy with soccer season and chocolate sell on top of our regular duties. We saw a free weekend coming up which happened to be a Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party weekend so we started to make plans. We would be in Disney from Nov. 12 - 14. We were able to keep it a secret from our DD the whole time - yeah!

Here we are -


After school on a Thursday we had my DD come to my classroom to "break" the news to her. She said, "But I need to hurry to cheerleading practice." We told her she was going to have to miss practice today and showed her the plane ticket. It took her a minute to understand what it was. She had never flown before so when it sunk in she was going to get to fly, the excitement starting to come. Then when she realized WHERE we flying to, and then WHEN we were flying. Hugs all around and exciting squeals - such a fun memory! Then we told her - we're leaving right now. Right now?! She ran to get her bookbag and then we went home quickly to get the luggage (DD couldn't believe I packed without her finding out) and then to the airport. US on the airplane -


A short 2 hours later we were in Sanford getting our rental car. Then we went to our hotel. It was just a real cheap hotel so we won't discuss that anymore. Tomorrow was a Disney day so all was good!


November 13,

We woke up super early. I have read about being family of the day and wanted to be that so I knew we had to get there early. I was shocked as we were parking to see how many people were already there. I think it was just a little after 6:00. We rode the bus over and it was full. I was so perplexed until we got there and realized why - they were taping the Christmas parade. I had actually read about that but forgot. We were herded toward the entrance with a lot of other people; we didn't even go through the entrance where they scan your magic band. I found a cm and told him that I didn't realize we were getting in on the taping of the parade and wondered if we needed special tickets. He was about to answer me when a lady says, "Do ya'll not have tickets? I have some extra. How many do you need?" I told her 3 and she had them - wow!! Talk about being in the right place at the right time - and how very nice of her. We continued moving through this slow moving line - they were only letting in a small group at a time. We stuck out like a sore thumb though cause everyone else was dressed up for Christmas big time. They ushered us up right to in front of the castle where we got front row "seats". We got to watch the finding Nemo part of the parade. Here's a picture of Dore I took -

They did about 4 retakes. At one point they gave out bubble guns - said that would inspire the performers more. They also gave out green and gold pom poms. It was a really neat experience and we were actually on tv for about 3 seconds on Christmas day. We didn't stay for the next section of the parade though - we were very hot and DD was cranky so we moved on. We met this guys first -

We then hopped over to HS. We were only planning to be at MK for the morning show; I had scheduled all our fps for HS. We rode the Tower of Terror first. We got in line right behind some friends of ours from PA - small world! I knew they were going to be there at the same time as us but didn't think we would run into them. They are sitting beside us on the ride photo - she's bending over to get something though.


We then rode Rock-n-Roller Coaster.


We then went to met Phineas and Ferb which ended up being our favorite characters of the trip and one of our happiest moments. My daughter loves Perry. She had a little stuffed Perry that we got her right before the trip. Phineas and Ferb loved Perry - they grabbed him and hugged him and played with him. They spent a lot of time with us and it was so much fun.


We left about 1:30 to go to Cracker Barrel for lunch and take a nap before the big party.

 

[DaisyFoote]

Christmas Party time!!

We grabbed a bite at Chick-fil-a before heading to MK. We got there at about 5:30. After getting our wrist bands we made our way to stand in line for the 7 dwarfs - that was a priority. I held our place in line while DH and DD went to do something. When they got back DH held our place in line while DD and I went and rode Splash Mountain.

DH was calling me like crazy though cause the line was moving and he was afraid we weren't going to make it back in time. I never heard my phone though; he was so frustrated with me. We got back right as it was our turn to go up - talking about cutting it close. Our Splash picture was at 6:53 and our 7 Dwarfs picture was at 7:12.
We then stood in line to meet Rapunzel and Flynn and then Cinderella and Prince Charming. The wait was kind of frustrating. We had to wait about an hour. I thought the purpose of the Christmas party was to be there at a less crowded time. It was very crowded all night, and I knew to avoid Main Street. Anyway, the m&gs were fun. Flyn showed us inside his bag; we saw the crown. Prince Charming was such a gentleman too; kept complimenting Cinderella.

We then went to meet Aladdin and Abu. My DD had hoped for Jasmine and Genie, but it didn't work out.


We then found a good place to watch the parade. The parade is awesome. You can even smell the cookies that Clarabelle is making. Disney's attention to details is amazing. So many characters and then the toy soldiers are so impressive. What an awesome experience! We then went to ride Mine Train before the party was over and took some pictures on the way out. I was really glad we could do that because I half expected that at midnight all the photopass cms would disappear. They seemed very happy to be there and take your picture. I just love Disney.

 

[DaisyFoote]

November 14,

We were at Epcot for rope drop. We went to ride Soaring. We then rode the monorail to the MK. Our main purpose in MK was to get some Sorcerers of the MK cards and play the game a little. My DD and I have really got interested in collecting all the cards. We then rode the monorail back so my DD could play the Agent P game. We were there during the Food and Wine Festival. Boy was it crowded! I got some special cheese while we were there but that was about it.


We went back to our hotel for a nap and headed to HS for that night. We used 2 of our fp - Rock-n-Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror.


Then we went to see the Osborne Lights - amazing!! The lines for the 2 photo pass cms were extremely long. We were planning on coming back in December so I determined then that we would stand in line for some pictures next time.


November 15,

Our wonderful weekend was almost over. We checked out of our hotel that morning and was at MK for rope drop. We were going to try for family of the day again but didn't get there early enough - only about 30 minutes earlier. I knew it would be hard to be extremely earlier with us having to check out and all. The morning show is always worth it though - love the show and it puts me in the happiest mood for the rest of the day. We rode Mine Train first thing. Something bad happened as we rode though. My DD wanted me to check my phone for ride times right before we got on the ride. I stuck the phone in my purse real quick as I got on the ride. As I was bending over to sit down, my phone fell out right below the ride tracks. They wouldn't be able to get it until that night when the ride closed down and we would be home by then. Oh well...
We have heard how hilarious the Tremaine sisters are and wanted to meet them. We went over that direction and saw them riding the carousel. Anastatia and Drizella were riding beside this little boy and playing with him - what a lucky little boy! Lady Tremaine was riding as well. By the time we found where their line was, it was pretty long. Every 30 minutes they switch places with the Fairy Godmother. We knew it was going to be close and then we knew we weren't going to make it. My DH and DD didn't want to wait in line anymore so they went to ride Space Mountain, but I decided to stay and meet the Fairy Godmother.


I was going to just sit and wait for DH and DD but then figured that would be a waste of time. I decided I would go wait in line to meet Aladdin and Jasmine - and then DD could join me. I borrowed this strangers phone to call my husband to let him know where I would be. I know this stranger thought I was crazy - who doesn't have a phone? lol I waited and waited and waited and let lots of people pass me in line. Finally they weren't letting in any more guest in line. My DD didn't make it in time so I met them by myself. It was kindof awkward without a child, but they were very kind. My DD got there like 5 minutes after that. We had her favorite dessert - a Dole Whip.


DD and DH rode Splash one last time while I went to customer service to check on my phone. I would have to call lost and found tomorrow.
We had to hustle at this point. We certainly weren't going to be at the airport as early as we were for the trip down. We were about the last people on the plane, but we made it. "See ya in about a month Disney!"

 

[abarriger]

What a fun weekend! And that's terrible about your phone... I can't imagine how distraught I would be, for me it'd be like losing my arm!