"IF I HEAR SLEIGH RIDE ONE MORE TIME" - A Nov 2012 Holiday Extravaganza UPDATED 10/18

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How could you keep this from us?! :rotfl: YAY! So excited for you - have a great time!!!!!!! :goodvibes
 
YOU'RE IN DISNEY!!! And you are not tweeting/instagramming nearly enough. I understand, it's hard to shovel Mickey Rice Crispie tweets into your mouth while choosing the perfect filter for your latest IG post, but try!

I could have sworn I commented on your last update. Obviously not though. Oh well, I'm crazy, what else is new.

YAY LOW CROWDS!!!

I'm the same with Buzz. Exactly. I just shoot...somewhere... and never know how I get a high score if I magically happen to get one!

LOL I know what you (and Kanye) mean about the red card. I don't want to be responsible for keeping myself in order, nevermind reporting a wait time. They gave me a red card the last time I was on Maelstrom and I ended up bringing it on the ride by mistake, and then Jess was like OOH GIVE IT TO ME, I WANT IT and I was like ...okay... but then I forgot and as we were walking away I realized it was still in the boat. F-A-I-L.

OOH I like Fantasyland I. I also sometimes call it OG Fantasyland.

GREAT pics in the Belle queue! I love the views of the OG castle from there.

The lace on the sleeves of her new one fills me with so much anger. Thank you. Rage. I am full of rage. STOP CHANGING ALREADY PERFECT THINGS. Like really, you have to change the Princess costumes but Stitch's Great Escape is just sitting there....?

That braised pork looks AMAZING for a CS meal! I mean... for any meal. It looks like TS. I still haven't eaten at BoG but I am so looking forward to that someday.

I really appreciate that description of EEE because I rarely involve myself in any kind of romp that isn't a multimedia romp, you know?

Hope you're having the happiest of happy days in Disney right now!! I can't wait to hear all about this new trip and the rest of your holiday one!!! YAAAYYYYYYYYY Disney lalalalaa!!!

P.S. Are you doing anything special for the OC 10th anniversary? Besides ODing in TJ, I mean. I think I'm just gonna do a re-watch while eating a lot of ice cream and sobbing uncontrollably for hours and days. I love the summer!
 


Hiiii. I realized today that it has been almost a month and I never let you guys know what happened with my trip. Unfortunately, my time in Disney ended early. I'm not going to go into the details of why but it's a bummer. For several reasons.

I've been in a weird mood since returning home. I'm happy that I was at least able to get some Disney time in this summer. Two and a half days is better than nothing and they were a great two and half days. But at the same time, everything just kinda sucks, y'know? The last few weeks have been one giant mixed emotion.

The other day, the Test Track Medley from the Happiest Celebration on Earth CD set came up on shuffle and I bawled my eyes out. It's 4 minutes of car noises, banging, and weird techno music and yet it caused me to feel things and sob. So that's where I am right now. :rotfl:

The good news is that I fully intend to get back to trip reporting soon. I'll probably just tack those two and half days onto this TR instead of starting a brand new one. Part of me is all "Why even bother?" but I saw Captain EO for the first time and I feel like I'd be letting the world down by not sharing my deepest thoughts and feelings about that life-changing experience. I mean, there was an elephant-esque green thing in tank top. Life-changing. :p

Anyway, thanks for the trip-related well-wishes everyone! And Lia, I'm dying at OG Fantasyland. Can we get that on t-shirts? Or maybe trucker hats? These *NSYNC rumors have me feeling very early 00s.​
 
HUGS. I'm sorry that you had to leave Disney early. I hope you are doing ok, and I look forward to hearing about the time you were there!
 


I love you!!!! :hug: :hug: :hug:

I'm glad you like my OG Fantasyland idea. I agree, it should be on Trucker Hats™ ©A. Kutcher. We need to get him wearing those again, it's only right. Actually, he should come on stage to introduce *NSYNC at the VMAs. Then, we gotta get Britney to strap that catsuit back on. It's only fair. This will send Justin into a frenzy and hopefully he'll writhe around on the floor while singing "Gone" again. But honestly I just hope *NSYNC takes over the show and performs a minimum of 10 songs. I think it's pretty obvious how no one cares about ANYTHING else on the show at this point so everyone just needs to get in gear before I stage a protest. I do not live far from Brooklyn and I will go there and throw down. DON'T THINK I WON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I saw Captain EO for the first time and I feel like I'd be letting the world down by not sharing my deepest thoughts and feelings about that life-changing experience. I mean, there was an elephant-esque green thing in tank top. Life-changing. :p

Kara, please don't deprive the world of your Captain EO commentary... it just wouldn't be right. ;)

Sorry to hear things ended on a bad note. The good thing about Disney is that... there's always next time! :goodvibes
 
I miss hearing about your trip(s) Kara. I hope you are having a happy autumn.
 
November 27th Part Three: Gaston
Hi. I’m back. With three whole updates!!! Sorry it took four months. :p

As we were leaving lunch at Be Our Guest, I noticed that Gaston was out and about. I ran over to join the line.

Ever since word got out that Gaston would appear regularly in New Fantasyland, I looked forward to meeting him. The man amuses me greatly. Always has. He’s a total pig who holds all kinds of backwards beliefs and Belle nailed it when she labeled him “positively primeval,” but he’s just so extreme that it’s funny.

Plus he eats five dozen eggs every morning. Misogynistic jerk or not, that’s impressive.

Once it was my turn, Gaston took my hand, kissed it, and we chatted. Y’know, a little back and forth. But I don’t even remember what we talked about because the next thing that happened left me all flustered. As we turned toward the camera for a picture, before I even knew what was happening, he wrapped an arm around me, pulled me into him, and said all seductively, “Wouldn’t want you to blow away.”

It wasn’t windy.

:rolleyes: but also :blush:

We posed for the picture. Well, he posed for the picture because that’s what Gaston does. I was still trying to process what the heck just happened.

Here’s my “Really, Gaston? Really? You are ridiculous and yet I am so charmed and also my wrist just awkwardly hit you in the crotch when you pulled me in so like that happened” face.



I don’t even know.

I’m not supposed to love you, Gaston, but I do. Keep saying ridiculous things that make me blush, laugh, and roll my eyes all at the same time.



After that, we hung around the village a bit longer.



I wanted to check out the gift shop and wound up buying a Gaston’s Tavern t-shirt. So did several other women. I guess that’s why they have Gaston meeting right outside. Rake in the cash while we still have hearts in our eyes.

While she was ringing me up, the cast member asked if I’d met Gaston yet and mentioned that he hangs out in and around the store sometimes.

The woman in line behind me chimed in with “Yeah, he was just checking his teeth in your window.”

:love:

Wonderful, magical plastic Disney merchandise bag in hand, we headed back to Fantasyland I.



Because it can’t be said enough, I love these walls. A lot.





Adorable.

We decided to do Mickey’s PhilharMagic.



I just can’t get enough of Simba “standing in the spotlight” and that glorious pie smell. Bottle that stuff, Disney. Start a home fragrance line. Think of all the money us die-hards would spend. You love taking our money. It’s a no-brainer.

For some reason, Mom really wanted to go to the Swiss Family Treehouse so that’s what we did next. Dad found a nice bench and waited while she and I went up. The Treehouse is something I loved as a kid but hadn’t done in YEARS. I was moderately excited to be doing it again. As we all know, moderate excitement is the highest level of excitement one can feel about the Treehouse, so this was a big deal. Most people fall somewhere around “Ugh fine” on the excitement scale.







I like the treehouse look. There’s something really cool about resourceful architecture. Obviously a man-made tree in a theme park isn’t exactly resourceful, but still. Treehouses are creative and I like creative things.











Oh this is where we’re supposed to “contemplate our small world”? I guess we’ve been doing it wrong all these years, guys. Who’s going to tell all the dolls their services are no longer needed?



Our trip up the treehouse was lovely. Then I kinda started to panic as we stood there atop the Magic Kingdom. You see, heights and I don’t really get along. Which I probably should have thought about before climbing up a tree, but that moderate excitement swept over me and I wasn’t thinking. Therefore there were some chest pains, jelly legs, and shortness of breath going on. And people were backed up in front of us so I couldn’t just run down. Apparently it was the one day of the year the masses actually wanted to do the Swiss Family Treehouse. Of freaking course.

I tried not to think about heights/the fact that I was standing on a thin piece of wood tens of feet in the air as we slowly made our way down.



Hammock bunkbeds! That’s nice and distracting.



Plastic fruit! That’s nice and welcoming.





Finally back on that sweet, sweet ground, we decided we’d had our fill of MK for the day and headed back to Pop Century to relax for a bit and freshen up. They were playing “MMMBop” by the pool as we walked past and I sang along, did a little dance, and was like, “Mmmmhmmmm this is my place.” Then it switched to Justin Bieber and I felt old. Sigh.​
 
November 27th Part Four: Epcot


A nice thing about Pop Century is that, in case you ever forget where you’re staying, these signs are everywhere to remind you.

After our little break, we headed over to Epcot for the evening.

The entrance was all Christmas-ed out.







There’s nothin’ like a good Disney topiary.

Well, there is this.



The best, most wonderful, most underrated fountain in all of Epcot.

Someday you’ll get the attention you deserve, Fountain. I’ll see to it.







I thought these were pretty. It was nice to see plants that aren’t poinsettias. Ha.



We started our evening off with The Land.





I feel like I take that exact same picture every trip. I’ve gotta get more creative next time.



Not surprisingly, Living with the Land was a walk-on. Thus we walked on.



Here are the obligatory greenhouse pictures. Yay agriculture!



They must have sand-touching problems. What part of “Remain seated with your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the boat at all times” don’t you people understand? They even specify hands in case you’re weird and think of them as separate from your arms. You have no excuse, sand-touchers.











The Hybrid Tilapia must be big Christmas fans.













There’s just something so cool about plants growing WHILE HANGING IN THE AIR. I wonder if the ground plants are jealous of these guys. I would be.​
 
November 27th Part Five: More Epcot
After that exciting journey through food production, I A) really wanted a salad and B) decided we should go see Circle of Life.



We’d never done it (that I can remember…we might have done it a loooooong time ago) but it’s an “environmental fable” with Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa so it should probably be everyone’s top must-do.

The theater reminded me of an old college lecture hall. It even smelled like an old college lecture hall. Considering Simba spends most of the film lecturing us about how terrible we are, that is appropriate. Gosh, Simba, when did you become such a buzzkill? Who cares about the environment and the majestic herds of wildebeest and stuff? I WANT TO LIVE IN HAKUNA MATATA ALL-ELECTRIC LAKESIDE DISCO VILLAGE!

Next up, we hit Journey Into Imagination. It may not feature footage from Earth Day 1990 (Circle of Life reeeeeally needs to be updated) but it’s one of my most favorite things in WDW.





Everything about this ride is just the best. The randomness of it all cracks me up. I laugh and laugh and laugh. This time, Mom’s hair was hilariously windswept thanks to the “Imagination is a blast!” blast and I cried from laughing so hard.

Figment is my hero.

We ventured to World Showcase next.



We started in Canada which was looking extra festive for the holidays.









That’s where Canada’s Holiday Storyteller does his thing, I think.





The UK also got in on the poinsettia action.







My parents were craving some fish and chips, so that’s what they had for dinner. They both enjoyed it. It smelled good.

We hung out down by the water while they ate.



For my dinner, we continued on to Morocco. I had a date with some hummus at Tangierine Café.

Here’s the Chicken Shawarma Platter:



It’s chicken served with hummus, tabouleh, a couscous salad, and bread.

This is delicious, you guys. Fresh, flavorful, filling (but not so filling that you feel sick after eating it). I highly recommend it.

We sat at a table outside and could hear (and sorta see) Mo’Rockin perform. Sitting there enjoying the food, the music, and the surroundings was definitely one of those “I am totally and completely content right now” moments.

Once I finished eating, we moved over to the good old U-S-of-A.

We chose this night to check out the Candlelight Processional. Since we didn’t do the dining package and the standby line for seats was predictably long, we were fine with just standing in the back.



America gets its own massive Christmas tree. It’s extra special like that.

It started raining lightly while we were waiting, so we (and a billion other people) darted under the entrance to the American Adventure lobby. Ick crowds.

Thankfully the rain didn’t last long and we were able to mosey right up to some standing room only spots.

If you’re willing to stand, this is not a bad way to experience the Candlelight Processional. It’s not the greatest view, but you can hear everything just fine.



Neil Patrick Harris was our narrator.



He did a great job. Really funny and charming. Typical NPH.

Overall, I thought the Candlelight Processional was neat. I wasn’t super blown away, but my parents loved it. For me, the whole thing mainly brought back a lot of high school orchestra memories. Both good and bad. Our Christmas concert always ended with the full orchestra and choir performing the Hallelujah Chorus so I was having weird flashbacks to rehearsals and desperately trying not to yell KING OF KIIIIIIINGS in random tourists’ faces.

After that, since we were right there, we decided to see the American Adventure. The Golden Dream montage at the end gets me every time. Chills. Goosebumps. Tears.

We finished off our night with Illuminations from the spot between Mexico and the Duffy store. I was really glad to find that the Pre-Illuminations Techno Dance Party hadn’t been Christmasified like everything else. I think we all know how much I love the Pre-Illuminations Techno Dance Party. Nothing gets me pumped for fireworks quite like Busindre Reel.

Anyway…fireworks!







Can we talk about how amazing the Peace On Earth holiday tag is? Because I LOVED it omg. Illuminations always makes me feel things and adding that to the end made me feel things 10x more. I was thoroughly heartwarmed.



Red and green. Because Christmas.





That finale, man. When you can feel the fireworks inside of you, you know it’s a good finale.

After Illuminations, we headed to the exit with the masses. I love leaving Epcot.

Wait. That sounds wrong. I don’t love leaving, but I do love walking out of Epcot at night. It’s so peaceful and the Fountain of Nations smells wonderful and there are fiberoptic sidewalks. Why can’t the entire world be paved with fiberoptic sidewalks? Have y’all seen the video Disney posted about the plans for Avatar? In one of the pieces of concept art shown, the ground is lighting up as a family walks on it. I screamed. I was pretty “Whatever” about Avatarville or whatever we’re calling it, but all the new art/info pushed me into the “Yep. This is good. I want this.” category. I have no interest in the movie, but if Pandora has light up sidewalks, I want to go to there.

Anyway, I think this was the night where our bus back to Pop Century had to take a bit of a detour because of roadwork. We couldn’t make the left turn into Pop so we had to drive all the way to Wide World of Sports and turn around so we’d be approaching from the other direction and thus able to turn into the parking lot. At first I was like “Who schedules roadwork at the same time as park closing?” but it turned out to be a godsend because the Ghostbusters theme started playing as we drove past and I got to hear the whole thing. If I had to get off the bus before the initial “OH MY GOSH IT’S GHOSTBUSTERS!!!” wore off, I would not have been happy. Teasing people with only part of Ghostbusters should be illegal. There are a variety of situations in which Ghostbusters should be called and we need to know them all. It’s really a matter of safety. Plus, Don’t You Forget About Me (which follows Ghostbusters in the loop) makes for a much better “triumphant exit from the bus” soundtrack.

Pop Century Bus Music Loop, you’re the best.​
 
I am so glad you updated =) I told you and Jess both (separately) that you should update your TRs and look what happened. Updates galore. I am the Trip Report whisperer!!!!! :yay:

OH GOOD GOD. I believe you and Gaston had what can only be described as a "moment".

I finally know where to contemplate our small world! Well I can cross that off my "Things I Need To Learn Before I Die" list. Whew.

MMMBop?! Oh thank God. MMMBop fixes everything. I don't know why they can't just play that when the government thinks of like, shutting down and stuff. Things could so easily be resolved with a little ba duba dop.

A nice thing about Pop Century is that, in case you ever forget where youre staying, these signs are everywhere to remind you. :rotfl:

I'm just really happy the hybrid tilapia finally got off their lazy fins and decorated for Christmas. The year before they definitely did NOT have garland on their tank and I thought they were such losers!

EDIT: Oops, I didn't realize you were not done. I am an overzealous fan of this report, what can I say.

Glad to hear your thoughts on the world's most famous environmental fable. I remember watching that years and years ago and crying. Like, it's upsetting. I would not say it's on the same fun level as say, Soarin.

I think we all know how much I love the Pre-Illuminations Techno Dance Party. Nothing gets me pumped for fireworks quite like Busindre Reel. HAHAHAHA please update more often. PLEASE.

I am totally here for Avatarville (I hope they call it that. Or just Ville, so I don't have to be reminded that it's Avatar-related) with its light up sidewalks and such. It sounds awesome, a lot better than I thought even though I did give Disney the benefit of the doubt because hello, they're kind of good at this whole theme park thing.

I LOVE THE POP CENTURY BUS LOOPS. Oh my God. I can be seriously DEAD tired at the end of a jam packed day and then Bohemian Rhapsody comes on and I am a woman brought to life!!!
 
It’s so peaceful and the Fountain of Nations smells wonderful and there are fiberoptic sidewalks. Why can’t the entire world be paved with fiberoptic sidewalks?

It's really high time someone brought this up... the lack of fiberoptic sidewalks in this world is really weighing on me lately... I need a night-time Epcot fix. :rolleyes:
 
Hahaha, great Gaston interaction. I admit I really do enjoy watching his interactions with others. Just so funny and endlessly entertaining. And apparently, you REALLY got to know him too. :lmao:

I would gladly tell the Small World dolls that their services are no longer needed... if I wasn't so deathly afraid of them.

I am SO looking forward to seeing the Holiday tag for Illuminations again. Heck, I am so looking forward to ALL the Holiday stuff. :hyper:

Kara, you need to NOT take such a long break between updates. The world needs more of your humour to keep spinning I think. :goodvibes
 
Yay updates! Aww, your meeting with Gaston was adorable...he is a pig, but you can't help but love him. Although, I'm not a fan of him in the movie, but in the park, he's fun!

I don't mind the Treehouse, there's something about it that is fascinating to me, maybe because I've always wanted to kind of live in a treehouse...and this one is just made so well...:confused3

I liked the Candlelight Processional too, but I'm not really sure I need to do it again? At least, I'm not sure I need to pay 100's of $$ for the dinner package!

I think we all know how much I love the Pre-Illuminations Techno Dance Party. Nothing gets me pumped for fireworks quite like Busindre Reel.

OMG...do you know how long it has been since I've listened to Pre-Illuminations music? Too long!!! My favorite! :lovestruc
 
Yes! Thank you for the wonderful and informative updates!!
I had NO IDEA that there was a sand touching problem at WDW! That seems like an issue that we should have been aware of and should be getting updates on so we would know any new sand touching developments. I hate being uninformed on important issues. :(
The tree house tour was a nice break and the fireworks are really pretty, but lets discuss sparkly sidewalks!! Fiber optic sidewalks are magical. And I really do need more magic in my everyday routine. Epcot knows these needs already. And if AK is planning on adding fiber optics, which will in turn add magic and beauty to life, I see no fault here.
I am sure that a glowing Pandora landscape will make lovely and memorable moments. :)
 
Yay updates! Your Gaston meet sounds hilarious. And I completely agree about the IllumiNations Peace on Earth tag, it's incredible. Apparently that's all I can think of to say, so... yeah. Glad you updated!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards
 

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