A Very Merry, but also Painful and Nauseating Dec 2014 TR (4/7 - US and IoA)

[DisneyLifer87]

Hi there, ho there! Welcome to my TR from our most recent trip from December 1st - 8th. Like the title says, we had a Very Merry Christmas time amid some bumps in the road.
Needless to say, Disney magic wasn't always on our side, but we strived our best to have a great time. We also decided to book a redo on the holiday cheer, but more about that blessing later! If you're coming from my PTR, then welcome! If not, then welcome again, and here's a little about us:

Me: Meagan, 27, Online High School English teacher. I love Tinkerbell and Belle and currently am collecting Animator Dolls from the Disney Store where I'm also working part time to fund my Disney obsession. I love planning trips and living out the magic.
DH: Matt, 26, overnight baker for Panera and part-time student for a System Administration degree. DH did not enjoy severely adjusting his sleep schedule for this trip, but he was a good sport. He is not as obsessed with Disney and actually doesn't even show interest until we are on the plane headed to Florida.

We have been married for almost 5 years now and are still currently childless, though there have been discussions now that I have finished school. As for the trip, here are our details:

When: December 1st - 8th, 2014
Where: Animal Kingdom Lodge - Jambo House, Pool View
What: Park Hopping and tickets to US/IoA for a day with Mears Transportation. No Dining Plan this time
Celebration: Getting my Master's Degree in Teaching!

I look forward to having you all along for our first time enjoying the World during the Christmas festivities!

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Table of Contents - or the "please let me skip the comments" section:

01 - Day One - Traveling with Explosive Residue?!
02 - Day One, Continued - CP at Epcot
03 - Day One, Part 3 - NPH and an Illuminations Holiday finish
04 - Day Two - A Very Merry Magical Kingdom Day
04.5 - Memory Maker Update
05 - Day Two, Continued - A Very Wet Christmas Party
06 - Day Two, Continued - The Parade that Never Was
07 - Day Three - Searching for Comfort
08 - Day Three, Continued - A Cirque Du Evening
09 - Day Four - Wizarding World on the Darkside
10 - Day Four, Continued - Beer thirty and Margaritaville

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

Following

 

[emilyindisney]

Tuning in!

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Following

Tuning in!

Welcome!!!!

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Day One: Traveling with Explosive Residue?

December 1st dawned bright and early for DH and myself. I was so excited the night before that I could hardly sleep... and actually didn't for more than about 3 hours. But 4am rolled around mighty quick and we were up and at 'em. We finished packing our necessities from the morning and lugged our tired butts out to my sister's car just before 5am. Aside from some minor traffic, we were at the airport by 5:35am for our 6:55am flight. I wasn't feeling too bad about the time and hey... we were on our way to Disney!

Being the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend, the airport was fairly busy, but TSA was handling the traffic well. We breezed through security with no problems and headed down the long walk to our gate. It's important here that I note this was a LONG walk as we were near the end of the terminal. The reason for this will be valid shortly. However, on the way we stopped for some Caribou Coffee and sat near the gate at 6:10am for a boarding time of 6:15am. It wasn't long (and only a few sips into the morning coffee) that we were called to board in our zone. As we were standing in line, they announced that TSA would be doing random screenings at the gate. No big deal... right? Wrong. Yours truly was randomly selected for a hand test and it rang true for explosive residue. I was beyond floored. With little to no explanation, they walked myself and DH all the way back to security (remember that LONG walk to the end of the terminal? This is where it came into play...) and I was given a pat down behind closed doors. It was a bit humiliating and they did finally tell me my hair product was likely the cause. Finally they released me after digging through my carry on and told us to walk back to our terminal. Walk back... at 6:45am.... I was a nervous wreck and forced DH to trot down the long terminal. We were the last ones on the plane and sat down as they closed the door. I was so worked up from the whole ordeal that I found myself a little emotional... perhaps it was being tired, or excitement, or just upset that my Disney magic was already negative and we hadn't even left the tarmac. Regardless, the flight was uneventful from there on out and I mostly slept through it hoping things would get better.

I mean... they had to, right? This is Disney! It can only go up from here!!

We landed at MCO right on time and walked to DME. Our wait was nonexistent and we boarded a bus right after our first successful use of the magic bands. I sat down, relaxed, and prepared myself for the excitement of staying Deluxe for the first time. I kept shaking DH's arm the closer we got. Finally we rolled into the parking lot, climbed off the bus, and entered the most beautiful lobby I had ever seen.

It was breathtaking and I knew I was home. Forget the TSA drama, this was going to be an amazing time! I squeezed DH as we sat waiting for a helpful Cast Member to grab our welcome packet (we used online check in). Our room was ready which was awesome considering it was shortly after 11:30am. We headed down to take a peek and it was lovely. I don't have any room pictures, but our view was more of the hot tub than the pool and we had a small balcony that we never really used. However, it was close to the busses and food court, which was what I wanted. After we set down our stuff and changed to the shorts we had carried on, DH and I immediately set out to explore and find the food court. The animals were out, but too distant to snap a good picture of. We saw giraffe and zebra, but then hunger took over so we explore the Mara.

The Mara is so much different from our usual Pop Century food court. There seem to be less choices, but they're delicious all the same. We had two carved turkey sandwiches and they were melt in your mouth amazing. We also purchased our refillable mugs and experienced that new system for the first time. I'm not the biggest fan, but we didn't have any negative issues. Unfortunately I did not take food photos this trip (bad DISers) but I just never remember to do it! I'm far too concerned with enjoying my meal As a mini review, the Mara is a decent price and a convenient place that we frequent a lot on this trip.

After our lunch, we were ready to hit the parks. Stay tuned to see where we ended up! (And yes, I will have more pictures!)

 

[heaven2dc]

Sorry to hear of your experience at the airport! I hope the rest of the trip goes smoothly! Love the AKL lobby - it always takes my breath away when I walk into it

 

[emilyindisney]

Explosive hairspray- who would have thought?! Glad you made your flight. I always hate having to sit and wait at the boarding gate so I suppose your little adventure with TSA at least alleviated that wait time.

 

[ariane37]

Joining in ! Your title got me lol. Sorry about your unfortunate airport incident, you handled it much better than I think I would have. I know why they do that but I most likely would have either burst into tears when they pulled me aside or started cursing and gotten kicked out of the airport!

Looking forward to reading more

 

[marmalade]

How horrible!! What the heck is in hair products nowadays?

Hope the rest of your trip goes smoothly.

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Sorry to hear of your experience at the airport! I hope the rest of the trip goes smoothly! Love the AKL lobby - it always takes my breath away when I walk into it

It was pretty breathtaking! We want to go back now that we've had a taste!

Explosive hairspray- who would have thought?! Glad you made your flight. I always hate having to sit and wait at the boarding gate so I suppose your little adventure with TSA at least alleviated that wait time.

It did make the wait time nonexistent!

Joining in ! Your title got me lol. Sorry about your unfortunate airport incident, you handled it much better than I think I would have. I know why they do that but I most likely would have either burst into tears when they pulled me aside or started cursing and gotten kicked out of the airport!

Looking forward to reading more

I considered both realms of swearing and of crying, but I was far too tired to try either option. I guess I understand the need to, but with how intense TSA is just to get into the airport, I'm wondering where they think I'm going to pick something up?

How horrible!! What the heck is in hair products nowadays?

Hope the rest of your trip goes smoothly.

I think it was the pomade I use in place of a gel... but it does really make you wonder. Oh the things we do for beauty these days!

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Day One, Continued - Candlelight Processional at Epcot

After our traveling morning and a quick change in our resort room, DH and I headed out to catch a bus to Epcot. We had plans for a Candlelight Processional dinner package after a few rides and some pin trading. The bus ride was uneventful other than hearing the wonderful music as you enter Epcot. I was home!!! We were very excited, especially considering that the bus was pretty empty (even though it was 12:30pm) and we were hoping that our crowd levels would be low. As we entered the park, we used our magic bands for the first time and had no issues! I was a little worried considering the horror stories I've heard, but fortunately the good luck kept up through the entire trip with absolutely no band issues!

Walking into the parks, we stopped for our first Photopass. I'm in a Memory Maker share, so I do not have those photos quite yet. I'll update them once I do. However, we also snapped our own view of the wonderful holiday festivities right outside:

Unfortunately, this was the only photo I snapped for a little while. However, I still recall what we did and also why we didn't do much photography. We made a pit stop to pick up some mystery pin boxes as is our tradition on every trip. We opened both boxes and realized of the 4 mystery pins, we wanted to keep 3 of them. Score! But also poor for trading. Luckily I had brought about a dozen pins we wanted to trade anyway, except they were nestled safe in my luggage, so unavailable at the moment. We then headed for our FP+ on Soarin' - one of our favorites. It was just magical flying over Disneyland and watching fireworks when I knew we'd very soon be doing just that!

After Soarin', DH and I had a little time to kill before our next FP+'s and our ADR for the evening. We headed over to Mouse Gears to look around and start getting ideas on souvenirs to take home. I try to restrain myself from making purchases until near the end of the trip, but I'm always sure to make a mental list and then spend hours debating if I REALLY need it. We heard some music on the way to the shop and had to stop to watch these awesome guys:

The JAMMinators! They were doing festive holiday songs and were a riot to watch. After they wrapped up, we headed into Mouse Gears to poke around and kill time. Finally we headed to The Seas with Nemo and Friends which was a walk on. Our FP+ was for Turtle Talk with Crush at 3:30pm and we showed up shortly after. I know you can hit this without riding the ride, but it's always a cute little ride. Plus, DH had to get a video of the animatronic seagulls saying "mine, mine, mine" repeatedly. It's a tradition. I'll spare you all...

After a very entertaining Turtle Talk, we headed to our ADR at Coral Reef. We were scheduled at 4:50pm, but we arrived around 4:15pm because we were just starving. Fortunately they weren't too busy and fit us in by 4:30pm. Once again I did not get good pictures, but we did the Candlelight Processional dinner package which is a three course meal. We shared the crab dip which was AMAZING! Just so delicious! For entrees, we both had the steak which was good, but the cheddar mashed potatoes were a little too gluey. It's hard to explain, but they just stuck in your mouth. Dessert was a torte for me (which was just light enough after being way too full) and DH had his usual chocolate wave that he loves. We do love the Coral Reef and keep coming back each time. We were seated one row up from the tank, but still had a great view of the sea turtle who kept cruising by. All in all, it was a great first dinner at Disney. We also got our ticket for the 8:15pm Candlelight Processional.

....which we decided to line up early for....

....like 5:45pm early.....

Stay tuned for the craziness of waiting in line, taking turns buying treats in Japan, meeting some fellow Northerners based on our talk of weather, and Neil Patrick Harris!

 

[TutuWahineLV]

How horrible!! What the heck is in hair products nowadays?

.

I think its the glycerin. You can get a positive on your luggage too, if you've used hand lotion shortly before schlepping the luggage.
Living in Las Vegas, I'm always trying to keep the hands from drying out... and have had many positive swabs on my luggage handles. They always shrug their shoulders and say ...it must be your lotion.

 

[ursalita]

Joining in! Sorry to hear about your experience at the airport. I rarely fly and only when we go to Disney. I always seem to get the pat down. Last time I think it was the underwire in my bra. It's sad but I'll put up with getting molested to go to Disney. Looking forward to hearing about your evening at Epcot.

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

Sorry about your bump at the airport.

 

[emilyindisney]

I love Coral Reef! The tank is just too cool (and always makes me think of the Full House episode, haha!) Glad you enjoyed your dinner!

 

[TeresaNJ]

Love WDW at Christmastime! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[DisneyLifer87]

I think its the glycerin. You can get a positive on your luggage too, if you've used hand lotion shortly before schlepping the luggage.
Living in Las Vegas, I'm always trying to keep the hands from drying out... and have had many positive swabs on my luggage handles. They always shrug their shoulders and say ...it must be your lotion.

Yeah, you'd think Minneapolis would be up to speed on this one, but I guess they're just doing their job. Plus being a 5'5" female in a Disney hoodie might be the most threatening thing they see

Joining in! Sorry to hear about your experience at the airport. I rarely fly and only when we go to Disney. I always seem to get the pat down. Last time I think it was the underwire in my bra. It's sad but I'll put up with getting molested to go to Disney. Looking forward to hearing about your evening at Epcot.

I think we ALL would go to extremes for Disney!

Sorry about your bump at the airport.

All I've learned is to never do anything to my hair or hands until after I'm off the place

I love Coral Reef! The tank is just too cool (and always makes me think of the Full House episode, haha!) Glad you enjoyed your dinner!

Someone else thinks about this episode, too?! I thought I was the only crazy one!! Ah, the memories of that fantastic sitcom and the irony of DJ's boyfriend being the actual voice of Aladdin!

Love WDW at Christmastime! Looking forward to the rest of your report!

 

[DisneyLifer87]

Day One, Part 3 - NPH and an Illuminations Holiday finish

After walking out of Coral Reef, it was just shortly after 5:15pm. I told DH that NPH would be a popular lineup for the 8:15pm showing and we would do well to get in line by at least 6:30pm if he wanted close seating. DH hates lines and hates waiting, but for NPH he wasn't really going to complain. We headed out towards Spaceship Earth as we had a FP+ at 6pm, but DH decided he didn't really feel like riding this evening and would rather wander the World Showcase. I wasn't too worried - we could always hit the ride later this week. We headed towards World Showcase and had our first glimpse of nighttime park decoration magic:

So beautiful! I was just beside myself with happiness at being home. For those who followed my PTR, DH and I have been struggling with finances due to his constant layoffs and terrible jobs. We never thought this trip would be possible, but with hard work on my part by not taking off the summer, and with help from a part time seasonal Disney store job (which looks like it will be permanent!), it became a reality. I was in love.

DH finally led me away from the tree and through Canada, the UK, France, and on into the rest of the World Showcase. He had one goal in mind and that was hitting Japan where he could pick up some Japanese cookies called Koala's March. These cookies used to be sold in America in the 90's under the name "Koala Yummies" and they're really only wafer cookies with chocolate inside of them. Don't get me wrong - they are delicious. But DH has an unusual fixation on them and we can't find them in MN anymore. Epcot Japan carries them alongside their other Japanese treats, so DH is always in heaven when we can stop. To each their own! We reached Japan and noticed a line already for the CP that evening. It was 5:45pm and people were already lining up?! In Japan?! DH panicked that we would get terrible seats and insisted we jump in line. I agreed and we secured our spot before I left him on a mission to get to the restroom. When I returned to him, he was up near the pavilion and there were only about 5 couples/groups in front of him. In fact, he was sandwiched in between the railing to World Showcase, and the line for handicapped guests. I illegally crossed Disney ropes to get to him (and wasn't yelled at, though the elderly gentleman behind me was scolded by a cast member for crossing later that evening). I asked DH where the line had gone... and it was for the earlier show. It wasn't even 6pm and we were in line for a show in 2 hours... looks like we'd get a good seat! I told DH we could sit on the ground and take turns running for shopping... the time would fly by. While he left to get his cookies, I snapped an awesome view:

I love Christmas trees and wish I could have my own except for my cat likes to terrorize them. We did have a little one up (4 ft) and she left it alone this year, so let's hope for next year!

DH came back shortly and it was around 6:30pm. He had found his cookies and also bought some chewy candy (reminds me of taffy only tart) and one of their sodas that has a marble in it. It's clear, but tastes like blueberry. Not sure what it's called, but it's delicious. Anyway, as we were drinking and eating snacks and waiting, my sister texted me an image of our weather at home... -3! It was 72 at Epcot and overcast, but comfortable. DH and I joked and discussed how thankful we were to be out of the cold. An elderly couple in front of us overheard and shared that they were from Wisconsin. We shared a conversation with our neighbors to the East and time passed fairly quickly until 7:50pm when they began letting us in for the CP. We snagged seats in the second row and prepared for our first Candlelight Processional. I'll let images speak first:

And then, the man of the hour appeared:

The processional was beautiful and NPH added a small bit of humor, which was very akin to his personality. It was an amazing show and I didn't really want it to end, but as NPH reminded us: "Now it's time to get out because Illuminations is starting soon." And out we did get - fairly quickly and orderly. DH and I backtracked around World Showcase to the large Christmas Tree as I wanted to be near the exit, but also in a spot we've never experience Illuminations. The crowd levels were quite low once we dispersed from the CP crew. Illuminations is always a touching show, and I love it. The holiday ending was unexpected for how amazing and large it is! I was over the moon with happiness and did not take pictures simply because my camera hates fireworks and wanted to experience the show through my own eyes.

After Illuminations, we headed back to AKL and had to stand, but it wasn't too bad - the ride is fairly short. Our first Disney day was over and it was going very well - I was home, we were finally happy from a rough morning, and though we were exhausted from lack of sleep, the CP was beautiful and DH finally saw NPH in person. This was shaping out to be a great trip.

Little did I know that tomorrow would be a painful reality.

 

[1stvisit0909]

your title drug me in too.
I also have a bit of an interesting trip to report on....

Can't wait to read more!