We survived Christmas week, drinking around the world and holiday airline drama! A Dec. 26-30 trip report
- Thread starter mcgypsy
- Start date
Thank you! I was thrilled that she asked me to do that with her!
Thank you - I was so excited that she would want to do this with me!
Orion Nebula
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2020
I was hoping for some drinking around the world reporting, even though... it's just drinking. I always wanted to do that, but then realized how much it would cost my wife and I. lol
That’s coming - complete with pictures and prices!
Day 3 - Part 2
We left Oga's Cantina and headed over for our LL time at Slinky Dog Dash. The standby line for this was almost 3 1/2 hours. We were on
in 15 minutes. This was such a cute ride! We loved it and wished we had time to try to do it again another day, but that will have to be on
the list for our next visit.
Once we finished on Slinky Dog, it was time for our Genie+ return at Rock n Roller Coaster. We wanted to ride ToT too, but the standby line was over 4 hours. Again, I didn't get the stamina of some of these people! While waiting in line for RnRC, we decided to make a hop back to MK. We had not ridden Splash Mountain the day before because it was COLD. So, we booked a 4pm return time using Genie+.
Our first ADR was scheduled for this night at HS, so
we knew that hopping to MK was gonna make for some quick travel.
After rockin and rollin a bit, we took a bus to MK for our final ride on splash before it closes down. We wanted to ride, but not get drenched. We were eating dinner in 2 hours and really needed to NOT be soaking wet. Of course, when we got to the front of the line, we were assigned the front row. I politely asked if I could sit in the back and played the pitiful old lady card. They kindly allowed other groups to go ahead of us so that we could take the back row. We still got pretty wet, but the poor people in the front were soaked!!!
We made a beeline to the buses after this ride and headed back to the Boardwalk to dry our hair for dinner. Claire's first choice for an ADR was Mama Melrose - a favorite of hers since she was a little girl.
We managed to get cleaned up quickly and decided to take the skyliner to HS instead of walking this time. It took way longer than I thought, but was a neat thing to do once.
Dinner was fantastic! I know Mama Melrose is not everyone's cup of tea, but I've honestly never had a bad meal there and this was, I believe, our 8th visit.
Tonight, we decided to sleep because tomorrow, we DRINK!
We left Oga's Cantina and headed over for our LL time at Slinky Dog Dash. The standby line for this was almost 3 1/2 hours. We were on
in 15 minutes. This was such a cute ride! We loved it and wished we had time to try to do it again another day, but that will have to be on
the list for our next visit.
Once we finished on Slinky Dog, it was time for our Genie+ return at Rock n Roller Coaster. We wanted to ride ToT too, but the standby line was over 4 hours. Again, I didn't get the stamina of some of these people! While waiting in line for RnRC, we decided to make a hop back to MK. We had not ridden Splash Mountain the day before because it was COLD. So, we booked a 4pm return time using Genie+.
Our first ADR was scheduled for this night at HS, so
we knew that hopping to MK was gonna make for some quick travel.
After rockin and rollin a bit, we took a bus to MK for our final ride on splash before it closes down. We wanted to ride, but not get drenched. We were eating dinner in 2 hours and really needed to NOT be soaking wet. Of course, when we got to the front of the line, we were assigned the front row. I politely asked if I could sit in the back and played the pitiful old lady card. They kindly allowed other groups to go ahead of us so that we could take the back row. We still got pretty wet, but the poor people in the front were soaked!!!
We made a beeline to the buses after this ride and headed back to the Boardwalk to dry our hair for dinner. Claire's first choice for an ADR was Mama Melrose - a favorite of hers since she was a little girl.
We managed to get cleaned up quickly and decided to take the skyliner to HS instead of walking this time. It took way longer than I thought, but was a neat thing to do once.
Dinner was fantastic! I know Mama Melrose is not everyone's cup of tea, but I've honestly never had a bad meal there and this was, I believe, our 8th visit.
Tonight, we decided to sleep because tomorrow, we DRINK!
Day 4 - Drink, ride, drink, eat, drink, drink, drink....
We saved EPCOT as our last full day so that if the drinking didn't end well, we could sleep in and then catch our flight. Only time would tell!
This morning, we started in our room with water and a
protein pack of hard boiled egg, ham cubes, cheese cubes and walnuts.
It's important to prepare your stomach for a full day of drinking.
I was a little worried about how this was gonna end up as the last
time I tried to keep up with my 2 kids (both of legal age) was in Key West and that ended with me not making it to our dinner reservation that night because I was sleeping on floor of the bathroom in our rental - not my proudest moment as a parent.
We arrived at the International gateway at 7:45. Morning hours started at 8:30. The line was insanely long and it took forever to get through security. Once inside, we joined everyone else by heading straight to Ratatouille. The line was over the bridge leading back to the international gateway, but moved steadily. Even with constant movement, we were in line a little over 30 minutes.
I forgot to mention that we did buy ILL for Guardians again today and made a Genie+ selection for Frozen for 9:45. We booked it over to Test Track which had been down this morning and just opened back up. We were in line for 30 minutes or so, built our car and took a ride!
Mice and fast cars behind us, it was time to start drinking!
Since we had a Genie+ for Frozen at 9:45, we decided to start our alcoholic trek around the world in Norway. Our first drink of the day was the Frozen Viking Coffee from Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe. This was
Baileys Irish Cream and Kamora Coffee Liqueur in a frozen coffee form for $13. We did have Lefse as a little snack to go with it. Both of us LOVED this one, but it was strong and early, so we decided to split one.
As a side note, I should say that in preparation for this beverage extravaganza, several people gave us gift cards for Christmas and Claire's birthday, so we started with a $300 gift card balance!
We finished our drink in line for Frozen. Based on the ride photo, I should have stopped at one drink!!!
But, I didn't stop. We headed next to China, but the TikTok preferred drink of my 23yo was not yet available so we scooted over to the outpost. Here we had an Outpost Lemonade for Claire that was frozen Lemonade and Vodka, and a Brown Elephant for me - Frozen Coke with honey and bourbon. These were $15 each, but they were both delicious and generously sized.
About this time, we made a Genie+ reservation for Soaring for 11:35. We had a lunch ADR in Mexico for 12:50 at San Angel Inn because Claire thought we should have lunch in the midst of our day drinking!
We walked from the Outpost to do a little shopping and then headed straight to Soaring. I have NEVER seen The Land as full as it was this day. Living with the Land had a 45 minute wait when we got in there - we were glad we rode it our first night!
The new Soarin was so much fun! I loved it, but I really missed the smell of oranges on this one.
Next up - Guardians, lunch and many, many more drinks!
We saved EPCOT as our last full day so that if the drinking didn't end well, we could sleep in and then catch our flight. Only time would tell!
This morning, we started in our room with water and a
protein pack of hard boiled egg, ham cubes, cheese cubes and walnuts.
It's important to prepare your stomach for a full day of drinking.
I was a little worried about how this was gonna end up as the last
time I tried to keep up with my 2 kids (both of legal age) was in Key West and that ended with me not making it to our dinner reservation that night because I was sleeping on floor of the bathroom in our rental - not my proudest moment as a parent.
We arrived at the International gateway at 7:45. Morning hours started at 8:30. The line was insanely long and it took forever to get through security. Once inside, we joined everyone else by heading straight to Ratatouille. The line was over the bridge leading back to the international gateway, but moved steadily. Even with constant movement, we were in line a little over 30 minutes.
I forgot to mention that we did buy ILL for Guardians again today and made a Genie+ selection for Frozen for 9:45. We booked it over to Test Track which had been down this morning and just opened back up. We were in line for 30 minutes or so, built our car and took a ride!
Mice and fast cars behind us, it was time to start drinking!
Since we had a Genie+ for Frozen at 9:45, we decided to start our alcoholic trek around the world in Norway. Our first drink of the day was the Frozen Viking Coffee from Kringla Bakeri Og Kafe. This was
Baileys Irish Cream and Kamora Coffee Liqueur in a frozen coffee form for $13. We did have Lefse as a little snack to go with it. Both of us LOVED this one, but it was strong and early, so we decided to split one.
As a side note, I should say that in preparation for this beverage extravaganza, several people gave us gift cards for Christmas and Claire's birthday, so we started with a $300 gift card balance!
We finished our drink in line for Frozen. Based on the ride photo, I should have stopped at one drink!!!
But, I didn't stop. We headed next to China, but the TikTok preferred drink of my 23yo was not yet available so we scooted over to the outpost. Here we had an Outpost Lemonade for Claire that was frozen Lemonade and Vodka, and a Brown Elephant for me - Frozen Coke with honey and bourbon. These were $15 each, but they were both delicious and generously sized.
About this time, we made a Genie+ reservation for Soaring for 11:35. We had a lunch ADR in Mexico for 12:50 at San Angel Inn because Claire thought we should have lunch in the midst of our day drinking!
We walked from the Outpost to do a little shopping and then headed straight to Soaring. I have NEVER seen The Land as full as it was this day. Living with the Land had a 45 minute wait when we got in there - we were glad we rode it our first night!
The new Soarin was so much fun! I loved it, but I really missed the smell of oranges on this one.
Next up - Guardians, lunch and many, many more drinks!
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Orion Nebula
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2020
These wait time reports are killing me... I don't think I have ever seen LWTL over 10 minutes before. 
moonshadow
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2005
Really enjoying reading about your trip!
This was our first Christmas week trip in years and I was not fully prepared for the crowds. Having said that, we did get to do pretty much whatever we wanted by utilizing Genie+ and the ILL options. It cost me almost $100 a day extra for the two of us, but I was aware of this before I went and planned accordingly!These wait time reports are killing me... I don't think I have ever seen LWTL over 10 minutes before.
ThreeBoyMama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2014
Can’t wait to hear more about your boozy Epcot crawl!
ambula603
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2019
I love a mother/daughter trip! I can only hope one of my daughters (or both!) asks me to do this someday when they are older!
We did Boardwalk at Christmas a few years ago, it was perfect. I actually loved their tree ornaments and decor so much that I now have a "Boardwalk" tree at home! Love that vintage circus feel. And you cannot beat the location!
We did Boardwalk at Christmas a few years ago, it was perfect. I actually loved their tree ornaments and decor so much that I now have a "Boardwalk" tree at home! Love that vintage circus feel. And you cannot beat the location!
Orion Nebula
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2020
Ya there will be five of us, adding an additional 1,000 just to be able to get on many of the rides is pretty disheartening.
This was my first trip to Boardwalk ever and I fell in love with it! I'd love to see your tree!!!
I was a single mom for a long time so we took a lot of trips with just me and the two girls. This
was the first time one of them had ever asked for a trip alone though - I remarried a few years ago
so it's been mostly family of four trips for a while. This was really special though.
Ouch! That would be painful. It's a lot cheaper to do if it's not a peak week. In all honesty, we could have gotten
most things done during the extra morning time and the evening hours at MK and EPCOT, but now I see that they
are going to start charging for the night hours and that just stinks!
Day 4 Part 2 - Day Drinking Continues
We left off just after exiting Soaring and the window had opened for
our ILL for Guardians. This was part of my plan - get the rides out of the way before you get drunk.
Guardians was just as good the 2nd time around. We agreed this
was the best new ride we experienced during the trip.
After Guardians we still had over an hour and a half before lunch, so we decided to hit Spaceship Earth and stop for a couple of photopass pictures
Rides over, we were ready to get our drink on! We backtracked to China and grabbed the plum wine that Claire had heard was delicious. She heard wrong - we didn't like it at all, but the glasses were small and a challenge is a challenge so we drank it up. These were $8.50 each. I'm not sure what taste I expected, but this tasted kind of like a raspberry soaked in rubbing alcohol. I wasn't amused.
Next stop was our 2nd ADR of the trip - San Angel Inn - for lunch and margaritas! We went with a light lunch of tostadas and chose the San Angel Inn Margaritas as our drinks. I went sans salt and Claire got a sugar rim. Hers was definitely better, but both were very good. These were very pricey at $22 each, but there was enough alcohol in them to equal 2 drinks. We took our time sipping these so we would be able to walk down the steps outside and continue our journey!
Our next stop was Germany. Neither of us are big beer drinkers so we got another frozen coke drink with a honey bourbon. It was similar to the one at the outpost, but this one wasn't mixed. The filled the bottom 1/3 of cup with liquor and then added the coke.
I thought this would be the point that I quit. It was crazy strong. We had a bottle of water that we took sips of in between sips of the drink so we didn't die.
As you can see in the picture, the bottom of the drink is a different color than the top even though we tried to mix it. I would probably just get a beer next time unless I was just trying to get trashed on one drink! These were $16 each, so a pretty good bang for our buck!
Italy was next and we were excited about that one. We spent a week in Italy last summer and went to several wineries while we were there so we knew what we were looking for. We immediately found a Moscato and a Proseco and sat to watch a street performer in the re-created San Marco Piazza. It's incredibly authentic in this area. We could have stayed here and pretended to be in Italy the rest of the night, but there were still 6 drinks to be had, so off we went!
The sparkling wines were $13 for one and $15 for the other, but I can't tell from the receipt which was which. It was delicious though!
Moving on to a new post so I don't run out of picture space!
We left off just after exiting Soaring and the window had opened for
our ILL for Guardians. This was part of my plan - get the rides out of the way before you get drunk.
Guardians was just as good the 2nd time around. We agreed this
was the best new ride we experienced during the trip.
After Guardians we still had over an hour and a half before lunch, so we decided to hit Spaceship Earth and stop for a couple of photopass pictures
Rides over, we were ready to get our drink on! We backtracked to China and grabbed the plum wine that Claire had heard was delicious. She heard wrong - we didn't like it at all, but the glasses were small and a challenge is a challenge so we drank it up. These were $8.50 each. I'm not sure what taste I expected, but this tasted kind of like a raspberry soaked in rubbing alcohol. I wasn't amused.
Next stop was our 2nd ADR of the trip - San Angel Inn - for lunch and margaritas! We went with a light lunch of tostadas and chose the San Angel Inn Margaritas as our drinks. I went sans salt and Claire got a sugar rim. Hers was definitely better, but both were very good. These were very pricey at $22 each, but there was enough alcohol in them to equal 2 drinks. We took our time sipping these so we would be able to walk down the steps outside and continue our journey!
Our next stop was Germany. Neither of us are big beer drinkers so we got another frozen coke drink with a honey bourbon. It was similar to the one at the outpost, but this one wasn't mixed. The filled the bottom 1/3 of cup with liquor and then added the coke.
I thought this would be the point that I quit. It was crazy strong. We had a bottle of water that we took sips of in between sips of the drink so we didn't die.
As you can see in the picture, the bottom of the drink is a different color than the top even though we tried to mix it. I would probably just get a beer next time unless I was just trying to get trashed on one drink! These were $16 each, so a pretty good bang for our buck!
Italy was next and we were excited about that one. We spent a week in Italy last summer and went to several wineries while we were there so we knew what we were looking for. We immediately found a Moscato and a Proseco and sat to watch a street performer in the re-created San Marco Piazza. It's incredibly authentic in this area. We could have stayed here and pretended to be in Italy the rest of the night, but there were still 6 drinks to be had, so off we went!
The sparkling wines were $13 for one and $15 for the other, but I can't tell from the receipt which was which. It was delicious though!
Moving on to a new post so I don't run out of picture space!
We left off with wine in Italy. Our next stop of America. Still not into beer, we went with a frozen Strawberry Daquiri. These were very sweet and light on the alcohol which was a good thing at this point. I was past the point of tipsy and worried about my ability to walk like a normal person. Daquiris were $12 each.
We got a pretzel, some water and a little popcorn and decided to get something in our stomachs before we moved on. It was about 4:30 at this point and we had no plans for dinner. After checking the app, we realized that Trattoria Al Forno on the Boardwalk had availability at 8:30. We booked that and then forged ahead with our cocktail tour.
Next stop was Japan. Once again, my child had found drinks on TikTok that she decided we MUST have. So, we did. TikTok insisted that Violet Sake and a Tokyo Sunset were the best drinks in Japan. I left the Sake to Claire and she wasn't able to finish it. It was very pretty though and she was able to create a lovely photo for Instagram! I loved the Tokyo Sunset. By far, this was the best drink I had all day. It's fruit juices and rum and was very easy going down. I did finish mine! The sake was either $12 or $13 and the Tokyo Sunset was $15. I would definitely get this one again.
Morocco was our next stop. We couldn't quite figure out what to get here so we ended up both getting a Blood Orange Bellini. These were $11 each and were pretty good. By this point we were really starting to need substantial food and didn't want to wait until our 8:30 reservation, so we checked the app and saw that Le Cellier had a 7:15 opening. We jumped on that! With dinner plans made, we could continue our drinking fun.
We stopped by the drink cart in France next and grabbed a Grand Marnier Slushy and a Peach Frose'. These were pricey at $16 each. I don't know where my picture disappeared for these, but they were delicious. (Maybe I deleted it because my eyes close more and more the more I drink and I look ridiculous!)
Our last stop before dinner was in the UK. One of the holiday booths had a cranberry ice wine that looked pretty tasty, so we got those. They were $8 and were very small, so this proved to be a good choice for our current state!
It was around 7pm by this point so we headed over to Canada for dinner at Le Cellier. We waited until 7:30 to be seated, but that was fine - we needed to rest! Our dinner was fantastic - I got the ribeye and Claire got the prime rib. We added a side of Mac n Cheese. This felt like a more upscale version of munchies after a night of partying in college!!! Our final drinks for the day were Ottawa Apple for me and the Blueberry Icewine Martini for Claire. Mine was $11.50 and hers was $14. Mine was pretty tasty. Claire only drank about 1/2 of hers before switching to water. I don't know if she didn't like it or if she was just done drinking - if it was the later, she wouldn't admit it!
For some reason, I have pictures of the food, but not the drinks. It was all very good especially for an unplanned meal. I forgot how pricey this place can be though - our total with tip was over $200.
Our mission for the day was complete so we went home early and crashed hard! So, what would happen on our last day? Did we sleep in to recover? Or did we rope drop one last time???
We got a pretzel, some water and a little popcorn and decided to get something in our stomachs before we moved on. It was about 4:30 at this point and we had no plans for dinner. After checking the app, we realized that Trattoria Al Forno on the Boardwalk had availability at 8:30. We booked that and then forged ahead with our cocktail tour.
Next stop was Japan. Once again, my child had found drinks on TikTok that she decided we MUST have. So, we did. TikTok insisted that Violet Sake and a Tokyo Sunset were the best drinks in Japan. I left the Sake to Claire and she wasn't able to finish it. It was very pretty though and she was able to create a lovely photo for Instagram! I loved the Tokyo Sunset. By far, this was the best drink I had all day. It's fruit juices and rum and was very easy going down. I did finish mine! The sake was either $12 or $13 and the Tokyo Sunset was $15. I would definitely get this one again.
Morocco was our next stop. We couldn't quite figure out what to get here so we ended up both getting a Blood Orange Bellini. These were $11 each and were pretty good. By this point we were really starting to need substantial food and didn't want to wait until our 8:30 reservation, so we checked the app and saw that Le Cellier had a 7:15 opening. We jumped on that! With dinner plans made, we could continue our drinking fun.
We stopped by the drink cart in France next and grabbed a Grand Marnier Slushy and a Peach Frose'. These were pricey at $16 each. I don't know where my picture disappeared for these, but they were delicious. (Maybe I deleted it because my eyes close more and more the more I drink and I look ridiculous!)
Our last stop before dinner was in the UK. One of the holiday booths had a cranberry ice wine that looked pretty tasty, so we got those. They were $8 and were very small, so this proved to be a good choice for our current state!
It was around 7pm by this point so we headed over to Canada for dinner at Le Cellier. We waited until 7:30 to be seated, but that was fine - we needed to rest! Our dinner was fantastic - I got the ribeye and Claire got the prime rib. We added a side of Mac n Cheese. This felt like a more upscale version of munchies after a night of partying in college!!! Our final drinks for the day were Ottawa Apple for me and the Blueberry Icewine Martini for Claire. Mine was $11.50 and hers was $14. Mine was pretty tasty. Claire only drank about 1/2 of hers before switching to water. I don't know if she didn't like it or if she was just done drinking - if it was the later, she wouldn't admit it!
For some reason, I have pictures of the food, but not the drinks. It was all very good especially for an unplanned meal. I forgot how pricey this place can be though - our total with tip was over $200.
Our mission for the day was complete so we went home early and crashed hard! So, what would happen on our last day? Did we sleep in to recover? Or did we rope drop one last time???
flipflopmom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2009
I am loving this thread. My oldest is 23, and we did our first drinking around the world 2 years ago and this brings back so many memories! It’s such a special time
It makes you feel like you've done something right when they still want to hang out with you after they don't have to anymore!
Orion Nebula
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2020
Thanks for the around the world report. You both did a great job pushing through it, lol. I also was waiting for the "I just went for a beer" point towards the end. Those prices... I mean that's Disney for you but also a reminder why I haven't attempted it yet. =P
Hoping you didn't have a hangover.
Hoping you didn't have a hangover.
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