November 25th Part Four: A Whole New Land
As you may or may not know, Captain Jack Sparrow does M&Gs at MVMCP. I dont entirely know why because pirates have nothing to do with Christmas and its not like they deck his dreads with boughs of holly or anything, but hes there.
Mom is a big
Pirates of the Carribean/Johnny Depp fan. She was really excited about this. Im not much of a Pirates fan, but since it was what Mom wanted, I didnt mind. She does so much for me that the least I could do is stand in line with her so she can meet a pirate. Its not like she was asking me to wait to for an ax murderer or an ostrich or something.
Because the 7 Dwarfs came out early, we made it to Adventureland before Captain Jacks line got too crazy. Cast members were still setting up the queue ropes and there were only a handful of groups in front of us. Unfortunately, we had to wait awhile for the Captain himself to arrive.
Pirates. You just cant count on them to show up on time.
Once Captain Jack awoke from what Im assuming was a rum-related stupor, the M&G began. I was planning on letting Mom do the picture by herself, but somehow I got dragged in.
Apparently Dad's and the character attendants shadows wanted to join us for the picture. Maybe fix the lighting over there, Disney. Just a suggestion.
After that, we got in line to meet the
Aladdin characters. Well, Mom and I did. Dad got in line for free cookies and hot chocolate. He brought a hot chocolate over for me while I waited. It was ridiculously hot and I burnt my tongue, but I guess thats better than lukewarm hot chocolate. Plus, I found the novelty of drinking a hot beverage in Florida highly entertaining. Usually I stick to the coldest things possible, so this little cup of hot chocolate felt special.
At MVMCP, Jasmine/Genie and Aladdin/Abu pair off and alternate appearances throughout the night. When we got in line, Aladdin/Abu had just taken over. Al was in his Prince Ali getup which AHHHHHHH!!!! Prince Ali is one of my top favorite Disney songs and I heart Aladdin lots and lots (who doesnt?), so I was excited.
The line didnt seem that long, so I figured wed make it before they switched again. We didnt. Sigh.
I tried not to be disappointed because A) Im 22 and B) I knew this was a possibility when I got in line, but I was disappointed. Jasmines cool and all but I wanted to meet Prince Ali! *whines* *stomps foot*
Because of the laid-back approach, I looked for the positives. Genie was wearing a cute scarf and Jasmine had her winter coat on, so thats both unique and thematically appropriate.
When it was my turn, Jasmine asked if I was carrying monkey treats in my bag. We wound up having a whole conversation about the dangers of carrying monkey treats in a bag like mine that hangs at monkey height. Apparently Abu steals them out of hers all the time.
As always seems to happen, we all looked at different cameras. Mom got Genie and the Photopass guy got me and Jasmine. Oh well.
While it had not yet had its official opening, New Fantasyland was open to guests during our trip. In all of the AHHHH CHRISTMAS frenzy, I had completely forgotten about it. After meeting Jasmine, the OMG PRINCESSES lightbulb went on in my head and off to Fantasyland we went.
Before we made it into the expansion, I got sidetracked by Peter Pan and Wendy. They were meeting by the carousel and had a super short line. The picture didnt turn out, but they were so much fun! Peter loved my hat.
After that detour, it was New Fantasyland time!
I took this picture, quickly realized my camera is terrible at night and put the thing away.
Dont worry. There will be more later in the TR. Dad did take a few during the party, so hopefully these will tide you over.
Seeing New Fantasyland for the first time at night was weird. I felt like I couldnt fully take everything in, but its really pretty back there with the lights on. The Beasts Castle is downright magical.
Enchanted Tales with Belle had a long line, so we skipped that for now. Under the Sea Journey of The Little Mermaid (what a mouthful) was a walk-on, so we hit it. First ride of the trip and it was the brand new one!
The queue is super long but gorgeous. The detail in the rockwork is incredible. All of the water was a good call because while the ride itself doesnt involve actual water, you still get that Disney water smell. The whole thing is really great.
Scuttle!
As for the ride, I thought it was cute. Sure, its not mindblowingly amazing or technologically groundbreaking, but I dont think it needed to be. Its just a fun, pleasant ride. The Ursula animatronic is cool. I sang Kiss The Girl with Sebastian. This is going to make me sound so stupid but I even caught myself holding my breath when we went underwater, so Id say that effect worked. Ha. UTS-JOTLM (even the acronym is a mouthful) gets a thumbs up from me.
My only complaint is with the lighting in the Under the Sea scene. I think it needs to be darker. If you just focus on whats in front of you, its not bad, but I made the mistake of looking up and had an Oh right were in a warehouse moment. Hopefully they were still tinkering with the light levels when I rode.
After that, we headed over to Gastons Tavern.
Im going to hold off on properly freaking out about the Beauty and the Beast stuff for now. We spent more time there later in the trip and took lots of pictures, so I feel like I should wait and review it all together.
Right now, Im just going to freak out about LeFous Brew.
OUUUDKJFEKBBFBBDSBFBDGKGAJFKCLNFS;
It is so good, you guys.
Im an apple juice fan, so I knew Id like it. I didnt expect to be quite so obsessed though. After one sip, it became one of my top favorite Disney foods. Its that delicious.
If you haven't tried it, LeFous Brew is a frozen apple drink with a hint of toasted marshmallow topped with a passion fruit/mango foam. To me, the foam tasted like candy. Sweet Tarts, specifically. It has a bit of a pucker to it which works really well with the sweetness of the apple juice. So good. Sooooo good.
I got mine in one of the souvenir Gaston mugs which I love. I just hated having to carry it around for the rest of the party. Keep that in mind if you're considering one.
While I was enjoying my Brew, we headed to Main Street to find a spot for Celebrate the Magic (which was brand new at the time) and Holiday Wishes.
This was my first look at the Castle all lit up. Ahhhhhhhh!!! Its so perfect. There are no words to accurately sum up that level of perfection, so Ill just let the pictures do the talking.
There was some waiting between finding our spot and Celebrate the Magic. It was then that I began to regret downing a frozen drink. I was already cold enough. I didnt need to add more. I started shivering. Which WHAT? Shivering? In Florida? I still cant even believe thats a thing that happened.
Pants and shivering. Mind blown.
Anyway
Lets talk Celebrate the Magic.
I was a big fan of The Magic, The Memories, And You!
I didnt have a particular attachement to the show itself. The guest photo aspect was whatever and I figured the projections would be just as cool in the new one.
But that song, man. It got me everytime.
EVERY DAY A FAVORITE MEMORYYY
SHARE ANOTHER PERFECT MEMORYYYYYYYY
OPEN UP YOUR HEART AND LET THE MEMORIES BEEEEE-GIIIIIINNNNNN
I teared up just typing that.
So I was not happy that Disney took it away from me. I would have been even more unhappy if Celebrate the Magic was terrible.
Thankfully it isnt.
In fact, its very good. It took a few minutes, but as soon as the Castle turned into the Cheshire Cat, I was sold.
Character explosion!
Wreck-It Ralph!
For the special Christmas segment, they transformed the Castle into a Gingerbread Castle. Amazing. They also covered it in go-to poinsettias. Because duh.
The best part of Celebrate the Magic is that MEG AND HERCULES ARE IN IT! Theyre only very briefly part of the finale montage, but I still felt like a proud mother.
Hercules is my absolute favorite Disney movie. Meg is my lifespiration. Im a big tough girl. I tie my own sandals and everything. Hades is hilarious. Pegasus is flawless. The songs are great. And Hercules? Well,
Hunkules is right. His big blue eyes
his rippling pectorals
Major Disney crush material. His personalitys not bad either.
But seriously Herc is adorable and I love him lots. I mean, I love everything about this movie. Its got so much heart and its so funny and I will always be peeved that people dont love it enough.
So, when they popped up on the Castle, it was like I was Phil seeing Hercules in the stars. It was great. Celebrate the Magic is great. The songs not as good, but thisll do. [SMILEY]
Holiday Wishes was next. Once again, I absolutely loved it. Its really well done. The soundtrack, the fireworks, the use of the Castle
Its excellent!
I cant say Im a fan of
The Polar Express as a film, but I have an special attachment to its soundtrack for reasons I wont bore you with. Holiday Wishes uses Spirit of the Season so I instantly filled with warm fuzzies and really, warm fuzzies are what both Christmas and Walt Disney World are all about.
Its the spirit of the season
You can feel it in the air
I think the Nutcracker section was my favorite part. I wanted to break into some ballet right then and there.
Its kind of hard to see, but there are what basically amount to fireworks pinwheels on the Castle. Its so cool.
May allllll your Christmaaaas WISHES coooome truuuue!
My goal is to go to Disney in each month month (well, not the same year... but that sure would be nice!) I'm getting close!
I love your plaid personality (and hat) and your dwarf picture is so cute! But where's Lee Arenberg? 
And OMG the castle pictures are amazing!!! 
