Every Day's a Holiday (3 updates 12/7 page 10)

[lovethattink]

Every Day's a Holiday​

If you like stories that entail traveling through rabbit holes, police booths, hyperspace, clicking heals, pixie dust, magic, even phone booths (ok Bill and Ted aren’t Disney) then this PTR/TR/Year in the Making Journey celebrating every season and holiday at Disney is for you. From Unbirthdays to Star Wars Weekends, from New Year’s Day to New Year’s Eve, every day’s a holiday. Come along and join us as we continue to do Disney differently.

Photo from the bonus material on my photopass cd.
​

 

[lovethattink]

INDEX

Who We Are

My Christmas Wish List

Jingle Cruise and Castle Lighting

MVMCP

Veteran's Day: Part 1: To Party or Not to Party?

Veteran's Day: Part 2: Celebrate the Season

Veterans Day: Part 3: Characters, Fireworks

Veteran's Day: Part 4: MVMCP Parade

Disney Friends are the Best

Candlelight Processional

Bibbidy Bobbidy Woohoo

MNSSHP

Part 1:Are You Ready?

Part 2: Are You Ready? Villains Mix and Mingle

Part 3: Are You Ready? Celebrate the Magic / HalloWishes / Villains Mix and Mingle

 

[lovethattink]

Who We Are


​

There are four of us, but we usually travel in trio. DS(19) is in college and commutes, so he schedules his classes to maximize his time. He often has 10 to 12 hours school days plus his commute. So he is not available to play very often.

He is in college and working. His favorite character is Grumpy, so we’ll call him Grumpy. He loves cooking and fishing, especially combining the two. The irony of it all, he works at an aquarium store where he neither fishes nor cooks. He has a vast knowledge of both fresh water and salt water fish and habitats. Had he not gone for culinary he would have gone for marine biology. He still has dreams of degrees in both.

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Our youngest is JJ. He is a character with his own set of challenges. He loves theater, both being on stage and watching. He loves people and has never met a stranger. But most of all, he loves Star Wars. He eats, sleeps, and breaths Star Wars! His favorite Star Wars saga character is Yoda. His favorite Clone Wars character is Ahsoka. He loves dressing in costume and cosplay. He has spent countless hours working on as many DK Ultimate Star Wars Sticker books as he can get his hands on. He also loves putting together Star Wars Lego sets . His favorite movie of the saga is Epsode 2. He is a member of the Galactic Academy. His enthusiasm and excitement is contagious. He lives for his favorite season of the year, "Star Wars Season" aka Star Wars Weekends. Besides Star Wars Weekends, his next favorite thing about Disney are the characters. He loves meet and greets.

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DH is quickly becoming a huge fan of the expanded universe. He loves reading Star Wars books any chance he gets or listening to Star Wars books on CD in the car. He is working on a costume to hopefully get into the 501st by next year’s SWW. He is creative and artistic. He and JJ designed a couple of the shirts they wore for SWW. Like Grumpy, he also enjoys fishing. Every Monday is his day off, we usually spend part of it at Disney, hence, our Monday musings. Continuing as the other TR’s, I’ll call him Goofy.

I’m mostly known as Tink, Michelle or JJ’s mom. I love Disney; the shopping, the shows, the food, etc. We are a homeschool family. We fell into homeschooling when JJ started having seizures in his sleep. However, we’ve found that it works very well for us. When I’m not teaching or being mom, I become chauffeur taking JJ to his myriad of doctor appointments, therapies, theater classes, voice lessons, etc. I spend a lot of time waiting. I’ve picked up crocheting last fall to fill in the time. I started making R2D2 hats for friends and family. 

​

 

[lovethattink]

Christmas 2013

It's not even Thanksgiving and we've already been celebrating Christmas at WDW. It was almost and immediate transformation from Halloween to Christmas. October 27th we went to MNSSHP. November 9th we went to the MK and it was Christmas time!

We really enjoyed the fall at Disney. We went to 5 of the MNSSHP!! Reviews to come. We also enjoyed the F&W festival, though we didn't get to spend as much time here as I would have liked.

I'm really excited about the upcoming holiday. This is my favorite season at Disney. It doesn't last long enough to suit me. I would love to see the castle lighted up in all its splendor year round!

I'm hoping to:

-at a pumpkin spice funnel cake...yum!

-see Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade

-walk through the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights

-sit through the entire Candlelight Processional

-listen to every International Storyteller

-see the entire holiday version of IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth

-drink hot apple cider

-see all the gingerbread displays

-see Festival of the Lion King before it goes down for it's 6 months refurbishment

-buy a glass ornament from Germany

 

[blessedmom4]

I am here, Now to read. Thanks for the heads up!!.




ETA: David just came by to read over my shoulder and saw JJ's picture and recognized him. He asked me about JJ's seizures and said he hopes he has them much less as he gets older so that he can feel better, like he does. Then he hugged me, thanked me and told me to tell YOU Michelle it would get easier...

Great start to your report!

 

[lovethattink]

I am here, Now to read. Thanks for the heads up!!.




ETA: David just came by to read over my shoulder and saw JJ's picture and recognized him. He asked me about JJ's seizures and said he hopes he has them much less as he gets older so that he can feel better, like he does. Then he hugged me, thanked me and told me to tell YOU Michelle it would get easier...

Great start to your report!

So glad you are here!

Oh my goodness, David has me in tears! Please tell him I appreciate his words so much. Once we make it through tonight, JJ will be 7 days free of seizures and tics!!

Our insurance woes for next year have been figured out. $100/paycheck more, but it's a 90/10 thing and the deductibles are much, much lower than before $600 individual and $1200 family. Office visits are a copay too, which will help as well. Now as long as we can keep continuity of care with OT and counseling, we're all set.

 

[kaoden39]

I'm here!!

 

[pwdebbie]

I'm here too! Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Moodyzblu]

I'm here !!

I'm so happy to say I finally met you guys ! I just loved seeing JJ and the boys playing together, even if it was just for a few minutes .. they still talk about him.

Hope to see you guys around another time !

I'll be lurking here and there.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Thanks to your message, I'm here and looking forward to reading about every single detail. The R2D2 hat is adorable! The pictures that you chose for the introducions are great. Loved them all!

 

[ladylyons]

I'm here!! Great character pictures!!!

 

[annmarieda]

Thanks for the heads up! Of course I am excited to follow along!

 

[lovethattink]

I'm here!!

How was the house today?

I'm here too! Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks for coming, I know you haven't had much time to DIS.

I'm here !!

I'm so happy to say I finally met you guys ! I just loved seeing JJ and the boys playing together, even if it was just for a few minutes .. they still talk about him.

Hope to see you guys around another time !

I'll be lurking here and there.

I'm so glad you said something or I would have kept on walking. I thought the boys looked familiar, but just wasn't sure. I was reaching to grab my phone to send you a message to see if it was.

The boys really hit it off in that short time. JJ is still talking about the jedi game they taught him.

Thanks to your message, I'm here and looking forward to reading about every single detail. The R2D2 hat is adorable! The pictures that you chose for the introducions are great. Loved them all!

My MIL taught me how to make them last Thanksgiving. Wonder what this Thanksgiving will bring?

Thanks, I think all but the Alice picture are ones that haven't been posted before.

I'm here!! Great character pictures!!!

Thanks! JJ loves those characters!

Thanks for the heads up! Of course I am excited to follow along!

 

[WDWRids]

Great title! Love the intro!

 

[lovethattink]

Great title! Love the intro!

Thanks!

 

[lovethattink]

Castle Lighting and Jingle Cruise​

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at Disney. After we got off the ferry and started walking to bag check, we saw the MNSSHP was gone and in its place were poinsettias and a MVMCP sign.

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The times guide said the castle lighting was at 6:15. The show is called Cinderella’s Christmas Wish.

​

Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it! was going down Main St. We ducked into the stores to avoid the crowds. I have an obsession with handbags, though I rarely carry one. I always seem to have a back pack with me. I really like the Harvey’s seat belt bags. There were new animal print ones. And I noticed another bag, not sure of the brand. It looks like a bowler and costs $90. At first I thought they were the ugliest bags I ever saw, but now they are growing on me.

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I usually don’t care for the Harvey’s that are woven. But in the animal print, I prefer the woven.

​

We split up on Main Street. Dh headed towards Buzz Lightyear with JJ. JJ was busy playing a game on dh’s phone. He didn’t even take notice. I headed to the Jingle Cruise with JJ’s DAS card. Here I learned something new. The cm told me that what I needed to ask for was a “rope boat”. She wrote the return time and put a letter “R” by the time to remind me. I left to find my guys by the castle. They were standing near the front in the far left. You can see the circled R on the back of JJ’s DAS.

​

I found my guys to the far left of the stage near the front. Our view was slightly obstructed by a wall. Next time we see the show, we’ll go center or right instead of left. While we were waiting for the show, I noticed something about the castle I had never seen before. I think they are gargoyles?

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The show started. Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy, Cinderella and Prince Charming are in it. The fab 4 all have blinking eyes. It was next to impossible to get a picture of them all with their eyes opened.

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I think we went to ride the Jingle Cruise next. The building for the queue was decorated, and the shack behind the boat dock was as well. I didn’t notice any other decorations on the cruise. Our tour guide wasn’t the most talkative. She said a few Christmas infused jokes. She talked about humbugs that said bah, and said a few more. After all the hype, we felt a disappointed. We met up with friends from the theater later. They went on the Jingle Cruise and had the best time of their lives. They said their skipper was hysterical. Maybe they had one of these skippers. They were having fun on the dock and made goodbyes fun. That was actually the highlight of our cruise, these cm.

Speaking of the dock, the rope boat arrived. As JJ got in the boat, I was thinking about how this way of boarding would have helped Mickeystoontown’s mama. The boat gets pulled and roped to the dock in such a way that it doesn’t rock. I got in the boat to help JJ and dh helped from above to get him down the steps. It was so much easier without the rocking of the boat. Usually dh would lift JJ down the stairs trying to keep his own balance and nearly breaking his back. Getting out of the boat was much easier too. JJ did that on his own.

Mickey popcorn buckets are out! I think they are the same as last year?

​

From the Jungle Cruise, we headed to our FP- with Buzz Lightyear, but walked a round about way. We stopped at Winnie the Pooh for another FP-. AND we stopped at Fairytale Hall for a return time for Cinderella. Then rode Buzz. While we were waiting, JJ played Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. His friend from theater arrived. We decided that I’d take the boys to see Cinderella since his DAS is for 3 people.

Because of preparation for the fireworks, the queue for Fairytale Hall was changed and the sprinklers were on. We got in the FP+ line and it was out the door. JJ’s friend has ASD and almost right away he started pacing. We waited about 10 minutes and didn’t move. He began hitting the wall with his body, and the pacing was more anxious. I asked the cm if she had any idea how long it would take until we saw the princesses. She said approximately 30 minutes. JJ’s friend said he can’t wait that long. So we got out of the line.

It was time for our FP- for Pooh. JJ’s friend wanted to ride the Haunted Mansion. JJ doesn’t ride HM, so we split up. We were finished around the same time and met up at the Rapunzel rest area. JJ’s friend talked him into going on POTC. JJ hates the darkness, the skeletons, the hill. But he wanted to go on it since his friend was. The the standby queue and the FP+ queue are w/c accessible now. They sat in the front row and we sat in the back. JJ tolerated the ride. We all told him how brave he was. His friend’s mom bought him a sword. A few weeks back, JJ’s friend had broken his when they came to visit. She felt the need to replace it. At home that sword disappeared. The next day JJ got it out. He had hidden it behind the clothes hamper. He got tape and taped where it had been broken. He was happy to have a replacement too. Though he says he wants to play at his friend’s house with his toys not the other way around.

We said goodbyes from here. The park was opened til 1. I think they closed it down. We never did make it back to Fairytale Hall, which is why that attraction on the DAS was never crossed off.

Speaking of the DAS, when we got home I looked at the date. I knew it had to soon be expired, I just didn’t know when. It was already expired. I didn’t notice and neither did anyone we handed it to that night. Over a three week period of time, JJ went on 3 attractions with his DAS (Enchanted Tales, Pooh, and JC), used 2 fast passes (Buzz and Pooh), and one standby line that was 5 minutes (POTC). I think he has finally adjusted to the new system and accepts it. We are definitely doing less attractions and more Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, Agent P., and people watching.

Up next: Undercover Jedi on Main Street

 

[Moodyzblu]

We used the DAS last week and I have to say, I don't hate it .. it just takes getting used to. We got into the habit of getting a return time and then either getting a snack or riding something with no wait time. Jayden well with this and was able to ride pretty much everything he wanted to.
The boys learned how to play Sorcerer and are now anxious to go back to play again !

 

[mommy2mrb]

a little late to the holiday party....needed to finish my decorating today before I could get on the computer

we are so excited to experience all the holiday events and see all the decorations!

cute purses, not my style though!
oh mickey popcorn bucket, we have the snowman mickey from DLR 2 years ago.
great you know about the special boat for jungle cruise, so much safer for you all!
happy JJ got to spend a little time with his friend, so brave of him to ride POTC

will you be home Monday or Tuesday? wanted to be able to talk to you about our plans if you are able, if not just text me if that works better!

can finally say.....SEE YOU NEXT WEEK

 

[kaoden39]

Love the purses! I am not sure why because its is not my normal style but I love the bowling bag looking one.

 

[ladylyons]

Sorry not a fan of the purses. Even though I do like the red of the one.

Ahh was hoping to hear better things about Jingle Cruise but maybe now I won't feel as bad about missing it this year. Glad your friends enjoyed it though!!

Yeah JJ!!! So brave for riding POTC!!!