BMan62
12-14-2007, 07:54 AM
Tuesday, December 4
Cast:
Me (Bud - 45) semi-recent Walt Disney World obsessive
DW (Cindy - 50) obsessed, but won't admit it
“Happy Anniversary, baby, Got you on my mind.” – Little River Band
(Just leave it here :secret: – don’t go any further into the lyrics to this one. I just like the tune and these two lines fit.)
We started this day by going to the Concierge desk at Pop and getting our Anniversary buttons, which we proudly displayed all day!
We wanted to spend some time on this trip bouncing from resort to resort to see the decorations, and the resorts themselves. We’ve eaten at Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and Animal Kingdom Lodge, but never really looked around, so here’s our chance. We have a 3:45 dinner at Tutto Italia for the Candlelight Processional dining package, so the morning is free.
We start off by snapping a couple pics in the Pop Century lobby before heading out to Magic Kingdom to hop a boat around the lake. First stop, Grand Floridian. Just walking from the boat dock to the main building for this resort is beautiful. The architecture and landscaping just fits so well there. Inside the main hall we are amazed at the gingerbread house and the line of people picking up their orders from the shop inside it. Then, to go around to the front and see the way it is decked out. The tree in the lobby really pales in comparison, but it is a very nice tree! There was a wedding going on on one of the balconies, so the band was not playing. I would have liked to hear them playing Christmas songs to go along with the rest of the setting.
Next, we take the boat over to Polynesian. Maybe I missed something, but it did not seem like they did much for decorating. We did stop and get a coffee and cinnamon bun with nuts at the Kona Café stand.
Back on the boat and over to Wilderness Lodge. We were not impressed with the entryway from the docks – it looked dirty and dingy. When we got into the main hall, the first thing that caught our eyes was the fireplace. Not because of the decorations, but just the fireplace itself. The wreath over it was festive, but not necessary. The tree was nicely decorated with American Indian style pieces.
Next on our hit parade… Back to Magic Kingdom on the boat and pick up the monorail over to the Contemporary. Nice to see the shop is complete and open, as you can see pulling in to the Contemporary station. We went down and stood in front of their Pinocchio display for about half an hour, trying to spot the Hidden Mickeys. For part of that time, one of the CMs working the DVC desk right across from the display, stood there with us looking. She said she must have spent hours searching and she still only found 5 of the 7. We found the 5 pretty quickly, but left before finding all 7.
Since we needed to be over at World Showcase for the afternoon, we left the Contemporary and headed to the TTC to get the monorail to Epcot. It is really a nice, relaxing ride back over towards MK – kind of the long way around – Contemporary to Grand Floridian to Polynesian to the TTC.
Back at Epcot, we make a quick pass through to get out the ‘back door’ to the Boardwalk – International Gateway. The Boardwalk Inn is quite festive with its decorations, from the Christmas tree out in front of the entrance (boardwalk side) to the trimmings throughout the lobby area and on the railings on each floor. Donald and Daisy are the focus of their main lobby display and are looking quite dashing in their winter garb. We weren’t thinking and didn’t try to find the 5 Hidden Mickeys and the photos I took only show a couple of them.
Now, it’s time to make our way to Tutto Italia for dinner. We hadn’t eaten at Alfredo’s, so we don’t have a frame of reference for Italian food at WDW, but we were very pleased with our dinners here. Everything was cooked well and was very well flavored. The price of the wine was a little salty, but what the heck, it’s our anniversary and we deserve it!
After dinner, we had plenty of time before our 6:45 Candlelight Processional seating so we wandered around checking our more of the decorations around World Showcase. Yes, I know we had been here enough during this trip, but there always seemed to be more to see.
As we passed the entry line for the CP, the cast member at the entry line noticed our pins and asked if we had seats for the CP. We told her we already had them and showed our stickers and thanked her for the offer. Geez! A chance for a Magical Moment and we already had it covered. (After seeing the show, if she had offered a pass to see it again at 8:00, we probably would have jumped at the chance. It was that good of a show!)
It’s really hard to describe the show other than saying that it is a retelling of the Christmas story with a celebrity narrator, ours was Dennis Franz (Sipowitz from NYPD Blue,) a huge choir made up of kids from school choirs all around Florida and a living tree made up of a choir of Disney employees. The music and voices were excellent and Mr. Franz’ recitation was crisp and heartfelt. The last part of the recitation dealt with things that happened later in Christ’s life with a nod to His influence in today’s society. This was definitely 45 minutes well spent.
After the show was over, we made our way toward Future World and the Epcot tree. DW was getting a little chilly as the temperature dropped into the mid-50’s for the first time on our stay and did not want to stand around waiting for an hour and a half for Illuminations, so we went back to the room for our last night stay.
Tomorrow: Once around Downtown Disney and home, James
Cast:
Me (Bud - 45) semi-recent Walt Disney World obsessive
DW (Cindy - 50) obsessed, but won't admit it
“Happy Anniversary, baby, Got you on my mind.” – Little River Band
(Just leave it here :secret: – don’t go any further into the lyrics to this one. I just like the tune and these two lines fit.)
We started this day by going to the Concierge desk at Pop and getting our Anniversary buttons, which we proudly displayed all day!
We wanted to spend some time on this trip bouncing from resort to resort to see the decorations, and the resorts themselves. We’ve eaten at Grand Floridian, Polynesian, and Animal Kingdom Lodge, but never really looked around, so here’s our chance. We have a 3:45 dinner at Tutto Italia for the Candlelight Processional dining package, so the morning is free.
We start off by snapping a couple pics in the Pop Century lobby before heading out to Magic Kingdom to hop a boat around the lake. First stop, Grand Floridian. Just walking from the boat dock to the main building for this resort is beautiful. The architecture and landscaping just fits so well there. Inside the main hall we are amazed at the gingerbread house and the line of people picking up their orders from the shop inside it. Then, to go around to the front and see the way it is decked out. The tree in the lobby really pales in comparison, but it is a very nice tree! There was a wedding going on on one of the balconies, so the band was not playing. I would have liked to hear them playing Christmas songs to go along with the rest of the setting.
Next, we take the boat over to Polynesian. Maybe I missed something, but it did not seem like they did much for decorating. We did stop and get a coffee and cinnamon bun with nuts at the Kona Café stand.
Back on the boat and over to Wilderness Lodge. We were not impressed with the entryway from the docks – it looked dirty and dingy. When we got into the main hall, the first thing that caught our eyes was the fireplace. Not because of the decorations, but just the fireplace itself. The wreath over it was festive, but not necessary. The tree was nicely decorated with American Indian style pieces.
Next on our hit parade… Back to Magic Kingdom on the boat and pick up the monorail over to the Contemporary. Nice to see the shop is complete and open, as you can see pulling in to the Contemporary station. We went down and stood in front of their Pinocchio display for about half an hour, trying to spot the Hidden Mickeys. For part of that time, one of the CMs working the DVC desk right across from the display, stood there with us looking. She said she must have spent hours searching and she still only found 5 of the 7. We found the 5 pretty quickly, but left before finding all 7.
Since we needed to be over at World Showcase for the afternoon, we left the Contemporary and headed to the TTC to get the monorail to Epcot. It is really a nice, relaxing ride back over towards MK – kind of the long way around – Contemporary to Grand Floridian to Polynesian to the TTC.
Back at Epcot, we make a quick pass through to get out the ‘back door’ to the Boardwalk – International Gateway. The Boardwalk Inn is quite festive with its decorations, from the Christmas tree out in front of the entrance (boardwalk side) to the trimmings throughout the lobby area and on the railings on each floor. Donald and Daisy are the focus of their main lobby display and are looking quite dashing in their winter garb. We weren’t thinking and didn’t try to find the 5 Hidden Mickeys and the photos I took only show a couple of them.
Now, it’s time to make our way to Tutto Italia for dinner. We hadn’t eaten at Alfredo’s, so we don’t have a frame of reference for Italian food at WDW, but we were very pleased with our dinners here. Everything was cooked well and was very well flavored. The price of the wine was a little salty, but what the heck, it’s our anniversary and we deserve it!
After dinner, we had plenty of time before our 6:45 Candlelight Processional seating so we wandered around checking our more of the decorations around World Showcase. Yes, I know we had been here enough during this trip, but there always seemed to be more to see.
As we passed the entry line for the CP, the cast member at the entry line noticed our pins and asked if we had seats for the CP. We told her we already had them and showed our stickers and thanked her for the offer. Geez! A chance for a Magical Moment and we already had it covered. (After seeing the show, if she had offered a pass to see it again at 8:00, we probably would have jumped at the chance. It was that good of a show!)
It’s really hard to describe the show other than saying that it is a retelling of the Christmas story with a celebrity narrator, ours was Dennis Franz (Sipowitz from NYPD Blue,) a huge choir made up of kids from school choirs all around Florida and a living tree made up of a choir of Disney employees. The music and voices were excellent and Mr. Franz’ recitation was crisp and heartfelt. The last part of the recitation dealt with things that happened later in Christ’s life with a nod to His influence in today’s society. This was definitely 45 minutes well spent.
After the show was over, we made our way toward Future World and the Epcot tree. DW was getting a little chilly as the temperature dropped into the mid-50’s for the first time on our stay and did not want to stand around waiting for an hour and a half for Illuminations, so we went back to the room for our last night stay.
Tomorrow: Once around Downtown Disney and home, James