FOR THE FIRST TIME IN FOREVER...I'm NOT GOING HOME!! UPDATE DEC.30 PG 74

[pkondz]

Nice Christmas picture!
Merry Christmas to you and all your family.



(ps Sent you a pm)

 

[rteetz]

Merry Christmas to you as well!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Love the picture with Santa!!

Merry Christmas to you and your family!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

AWWW I love that picture. Santa Mickey!!!! How perfect!!! Merry Christmas to all of you!!

 

[JayhawkFans]

Merry Christmas!! Hope I didn't freak you out on Saturday when I recognized you just outside the Land at Epcot!

 

[MEK]

 

[lovegrumpy]

Merry Christmas!!!

 

[dawnbu40]

Thanks to all who posted Merry Christmas to us! We had an incredible Christmas and honestly the whole holiday season was awesome! We took advantage of much of what the area has to offer so we thought we'd share our reviews with all of you. That way, if you ever find yourself here at Christmas time you will know what the "must sees" are and what's ok to skip. At least in our opinion.

We started the season with attending Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party with my mom and aunt. Now this is something you "must do" once. There is nothing like seeing the castle in icicle lights! However, this was our 3rd time doing the party and it doesn't change (adding Frozen doesn't count )
so next year we probably won't attend.

Isn't this BEAUTIFUL?!


I love the soldiers!



Over at Epcot we did the Holiday Storytellers and the Candlelight Processional. We all absolutely love both events! I love the cultural aspect of the storytellers and think its wonderful for children to learn how other countries celebrate.


Our favorite storytellers include:

USA Kwanzaa: her enthusiasm is infectious!!


La Befana at Christmas in Italy


and seeing the Off Kilter guys in Canada was awesome!! (here's hoping those lumberjacks have gone back up North!)




As for the CP, our celebrity narrator was Neil Patrick Harris and he lives up to his reputation. He is that good! We did the dinner package and ate at Garden Grill. The packages are pricey but if seeing the show is important to you, book the package. Even with the dinner packages people line up an hour early! (people without packages line up 5 hours early) You do not want to waste your Epcot day in line so do the package



Over at DHS we highly recommend the "Osborne Lights". There are rumors this will be eliminated when DHS gets it's update. Let's all cross fingers that this is not true! The lights are amazing and pictures do not do it justice. It really is something you must experience for yourself



We also made the rounds to all the Disney Resorts to enjoy their holiday decorations! The top 2 in our opinion:

The Wilderness Lodge




The Grand Floridian






Neither of those surprised you, did they?

Off Disney property there is tons to do too!

Caitlin went to "Ice" at the Gaylord Palms. This gets a big thumbs down! It is pretty expensive and not worth the $$



Over at the "Dark Side" they have Grinchmas and the Macy's Christmas Parade. Now if you are going to be there when they are holding these events they are cute and you should stop. We don't suggest making a special visit just for them though.


Meeting the Grinch is a lot of fun. He asked Caitlin if her dad "breaks bad"? For those who don't get the reference...Dale is often told he looks like the guy on the show "Breaking Bad"



If your family celebrates the religious aspect of Christmas then Sea World is a must do! They really focus on the holiday being about Christ's birth and the living nativity is amazing! We weren't too sure what to expect but we were all pleasantly surprised with what a great event they put on. The decorations are beautiful and all the live performers are excellent. (they put Universal to shame!) On Black Friday they offer B1g1 free tickets and APs so keep that in mind





So that's a bit about how we kept busy during the holiday season. As for the big day....we spent that at the Yacht Club! About 2 weeks before Christmas I got to thinking that it would be nice to spend the holiday at a resort so we'd be around a lot of people and not feel as lonely and homesick. Our original plan was to stay at the WL but when Caitlin got her schedule they had her working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so we thought an Epcot area resort would make more sense as she could just walk back and forth. Well since YC is Dale and my favorite resort it won and we booked CL with Caitlin's awesome discount We hung our stockings in the room, a wreath on the door and strung lights around the room. As I'm sure you can guess, we had an amazing time and this will be a new tradition.



Our lovely view





Santa was at the Beach Club that evening


Christmas brunch at Cape May



Thank you for sharing our holiday season!! Happy New Year to you and yours!!

 

[PrincePluto]

...
and seeing the Off Kilter guys in Canada was awesome!! (here's hoping those lumberjacks have gone back up North!)

I'm confused - Isn't that actually a picture of the Holiday Voyageurs? I had heard that Off Kilter was permanently gone from Canada. Has that changed?

 

[dawnbu40]

I'm confused - Isn't that actually a picture of the Holiday Voyageurs? I had heard that Off Kilter was permanently gone from Canada. Has that changed?

They were called the Holiday Voyaguers but it was the guys from Off Kilter. I'm hoping they bring them back but I am sure they'll have a new name.

 

[declansdad]

Happy New Year to the three of you!

Loving you updates about your new experiences at WDW.

 

[dawnbu40]

Happy New Year to the three of you!

Loving you updates about your new experiences at WDW.

Thank you! Happy New Year to you too!

Glad you're enjoying our adventures

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Awwww I so miss that beautiful dream light castle as well as MVMCP.

That was the same Kwanzaa lady I saw last year. She is fabulous.

CP is one thing I haven't done. I'm assuming NPH said a special hello to Caitlin since they're BFF's now.

Hahahaha, I never made that Breaking Bad connection before. Hilarious.

I so agree. Seaworld really does Christmas proud. Did you get to see any of the shows? I saw them last year and they were excellent.

Haha, I do seem to remember Caitlin posting on FB about how "your view" at the YC is better that "our View". I couldn't argue.

Wishing you all a very very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

[dawnbu40]

Awwww I so miss that beautiful dream light castle as well as MVMCP.

That was the same Kwanzaa lady I saw last year. She is fabulous.

We love her!


CP is one thing I haven't done. I'm assuming NPH said a special hello to Caitlin since they're BFF's now.

Of course he did. That's our story and we're sticking to it

Hahahaha, I never made that Breaking Bad connection before. Hilarious.

Before the show ended he used to have people saying things all the time. One time a guy freaked out thinking he was the actor and filming a commercial at Best Buy

I so agree. Seaworld really does Christmas proud. Did you get to see any of the shows? I saw them last year and they were excellent.

Yes, we saw the Shamu show and o O Wondrous Night ad Elmo. We also saw some of the "street performers". Everything was excellent.

Haha, I do seem to remember Caitlin posting on FB about how "your view" at the YC is better that "our View". I couldn't argue.

Wishing you all a very very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Happy New Year to you too Rob!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the different holiday events in the area. Good to know you didn't think ICE was worth it (though I have heard making a visit and just checking out what you can for free is worth it)

Definitely would like to make it to Sea World one of these holiday seasons - I love that it is all included in the regular ticket as well.

Glad you had a nice Christmas and have found a new tradition.

have a very Happy 2015!

 

[dawnbu40]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the different holiday events in the area. Good to know you didn't think ICE was worth it (though I have heard making a visit and just checking out what you can for free is worth it)

Definitely would like to make it to Sea World one of these holiday seasons - I love that it is all included in the regular ticket as well.

Glad you had a nice Christmas and have found a new tradition.

have a very Happy 2015!

Caitlin said the Gaylord Palms is beautiful so if you wanted to stop and see what you could for free that might be worth a visit. She just didn't think it was worth the money. The friend she went with had been in the past and said that it was "much smaller" than it used to be.

Sea World is really nice and I love that they don't upcharge you!

Thank you! Happy New Year to you too

 

[gardengirl2790]

Thank you for sharing your new holiday tradition with us. It's so fun seeing all of your pictures!

 

[dawnbu40]

Thank you for sharing your new holiday tradition with us. It's so fun seeing all of your pictures!

You're welcome! Thank you for reading

 

[pkondz]

That way, if you ever find yourself here at Christmas time you will know what the "must sees" are and what's ok to skip. At least in our opinion.

I was there (once) at Christmas time (oddly enough, exactly 37 years ago today). I wonder if it's changed at all....

We started the season with attending Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party with my mom and aunt. Now this is something you "must do" once. There is nothing like seeing the castle in icicle lights!

To be honest, considering how FREAKING crowded it was... 37 years ago... I don't know if I have any desire to go again during extreme crowd season.

Isn't this BEAUTIFUL?!

think its wonderful for children to learn how other countries celebrate.

I couldn't agree more.
I think it's great the more exposure anyone gets to other cultures and languages.

La Befana at Christmas in Italy

Geez, for a supposedly nice lady, she doesn't look too happy.

and seeing the Off Kilter guys in Canada was awesome!! (here's hoping those lumberjacks have gone back up North!)

So you like to see Canadian dudes, huh?
(Yes I PMd a reply to your daughter)

As for the CP, our celebrity narrator was Neil Patrick Harris and he lives up to his reputation.

He's done it before, right?
Pretty sure I've heard good things about him as narrator before.

The packages are pricey but if seeing the show is important to you, book the package. Even with the dinner packages people line up an hour early! (people without packages line up 5 hours early) You do not want to waste your Epcot day in line so do the package

Five hours???? That's either really dedicated, really uninformed, or really nuts!

Over at DHS we highly recommend the "Osborne Lights".

Ozzy! Ozzy! Ozzy!


No?

There are rumors this will be eliminated when DHS gets it's update. Let's all cross fingers that this is not true! The lights are amazing and pictures do not do it justice. It really is something you must experience for yourself

Oh, I hope not! I'd love to see them.... but considering the likelyhood of me being there around Christmas time is pretty low....

We also made the rounds to all the Disney Resorts to enjoy their holiday decorations! The top 2 in our opinion:

The Wilderness Lodge
The Grand Floridian


Neither of those surprised you, did they?

Nope!

Caitlin went to "Ice" at the Gaylord Palms. This gets a big thumbs down! It is pretty expensive and not worth the $$

Perhaps not... But what amazing ice sculptures!!
I've got to show that pic to DD17.

Over at the "Dark Side" they have Grinchmas and the Macy's Christmas Parade. Now if you are going to be there when they are holding these events they are cute and you should stop. We don't suggest making a special visit just for them though.

Really? Gee, that's disappointing. I would've thought the Macy's Parade would've been a "not to be missed".

Meeting the Grinch is a lot of fun. He asked Caitlin if her dad "breaks bad"? For those who don't get the reference...Dale is often told he looks like the guy on the show "Breaking Bad"

He does! He really does!

If your family celebrates the religious aspect of Christmas then Sea World is a must do! They really focus on the holiday being about Christ's birth and the living nativity is amazing! We weren't too sure what to expect but we were all pleasantly surprised with what a great event they put on. The decorations are beautiful and all the live performers are excellent. (they put Universal to shame!)

I never would've guessed.
Would've liked to have seen the living nativity.
Nativity scenes used to be really common, but now you don't see that many anymore.

I got to thinking that it would be nice to spend the holiday at a resort so we'd be around a lot of people and not feel as lonely and homesick.

Did it work?

Well since YC is Dale and my favorite resort it won and we booked CL with Caitlin's awesome discount

Nice!

We hung our stockings in the room, a wreath on the door and strung lights around the room. As I'm sure you can guess, we had an amazing time and this will be a new tradition.

Hey! That's really great! I'm very happy for you guys!

Santa was at the Beach Club that evening

Nice family Christmas pic!

Thank you for sharing our holiday season!! Happy New Year to you and yours!!

Happy New Year to you guys too!

 

[eandesmom]

Over at Epcot we did the Holiday Storytellers and the Candlelight Processional. We all absolutely love both events! I love the cultural aspect of the storytellers and think its wonderful for children to learn how other countries celebrate.

I would really love someday to be able to see these. They were only there the last night of our trip last year and it just didn't work into the plans.

and seeing the Off Kilter guys in Canada was awesome!! (here's hoping those lumberjacks have gone back up North!)

I believe the Holiday Voyagers includes some extra folks that aren't in Off Kilter too. I REALLY hope they bring back Off Kilter. The fact that they guys were willing to do this though, all things considered, is encouraging (I hope!).

I agree, Merry Grinchmas is cute but not worth a trip just for that. The Grinch himself though, what a riot!

What a fun new tradition and great way to stave off homesickness by making a new wonderful tradition like that.


Happy New year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!