[aengus]

Day 1 Friday, December 3rd

Day 1 was nothing more than a travel day. We got a 6:30pm flight out of Boston on Jet Blue and landed somewhere around 9:30pm. Between a massive line at the rental car place and not knowing really where we were, we didnt check in to the All Star Music hotel until roughly midnight. Thankfully we only stayed here only one night because thats all I could stand. The room was painfully small for the four of us and just didnt have the Disney feel I am accustomed to. At least I did manage to get some real sleep here, but that was all this hotel was good for. On the bright side, we made it, and were ready to roll in the morning!

Day 2 Saturday, December 4th

Went to the lobby and arranged to have our bags sent to our room at old key west and got to MGM just at opening. Made our way right to tower of terror and then onto rock n roller coaster (twice) in no time at all. Next we hit the big movie ride and by 11am it was apparent this park was getting packed, fortunately we did the two biggest attractions already. As we got hungry we decided that we would like to get out of the park to get some lunch. We thought it would be fun to take the boat to the boardwalk and eat somewhere over there. The espn club and big river grill (our first two choices) were packed. More of the same as we continued on to the boardwalk and then eventually moving towards the dolphin and swan hotels. Our lunch ended up being burgers from the dolphin fountain. OK this wasn’t our idea, but we accomplished lunch and live and learn.
Took the bus back to MGM and we managed to get a couple runs of star tours, one more rock-n-roller coaster, and viewing of muppets 3d. Darkness was soon upon us, and our last task for the studios was to see the Osborne family spectacle of lights. WOW! I have seen this a few years ago, but it has become something you have to see to believe. Words can not describe it. If you ever get the chance to see this be sure you do!

After seeing the lights, we had to run to a bus to the Polynesian marina to get ready for our wishes cruise. Although it was really windy and quite a cold evening, this was an amazing way to view these incredible fireworks. Our family really enjoyed this. They take you on a pontoon boat out across from the park and the radio picks up the Disney broadcast you hear from inside the park. Other than the fact you can’t see tink fly down this beat seeing it inside the park hands down. Very nice, and something we hadn’t tried in the past.

Ahhh, Old Key West was amazing, never been here before and our 2 bedroom villa is just what the doctor ordered!

Summary for day 2: weather: cold high of 65 and windy and overcast. MGM was moderately crowded.

Day 3 Sunday, December 5th

Me and my son are up and out in time to get to animal kingdom before its opening of 9. My wife and daughter went to have facials and all that girly stuff over at the spa at the grand Floridian. We enjoyed the rope drop ceremony and made our way to Africa for Kilimanjaro safaris and then right to the Kali river rapids. We managed to not really get wet on the kali river rapids by some miracle and decided to not test it again. The other people on our raft were drenched MUAHAHAHA. (evil laugh). We would soon be meeting my father and brother at dinosaur so we took in a viewing of tough to be a bug on the way to dino land. Met the others in front of Dinosaur and made a go at it, then once again just because… just because there was no line haha… brother and dad went off on their own and me and my son went on to prime evil whirl (the only real line we encountered here and not that bad at 15 minutes). For lunch we dropped in at rainforest café (one of my favorites) and got the mixed appetizer and I had the pot roast, all was just great that we had here. Now that we pretty much did our rides after lunch we just took it easy and enjoyed the sites. Saw several animals, and caught some of the street performers and just had a really good time taking pictures and being goofy. I had to get my son back to the hotel by 4 because his grandparents were taking my children to the hoop de doo review. At this point me and my wife went to epcot and were hoping to eat at le cellier (Canada) but it was booked. We took a chance and walked out the back way and went to big river grill and luckily all was normal this time. The food was pretty good but we definitely enjoyed the beer and had a couple for good measure. Back into the world showcase for some light touring. We planned on watching Illuminations but were just too tired to make it. Back to the hotel we went and for the record the kids really liked the hoop de doo review.

Summary for day 3: weather: partly cloudy and 75. Animal kingdom seemed to be pouring in people all through the day but we couldn’t tell by the lines. Epcot seemed pretty busy in the evening.

Day 4 Monday, December 6th

My father and I had to get up extra early this day for our fishing excursion. They picked us up at the docks of OKW at 7:00am and off we went. I managed to catch a nice bass on a top plug, but they just didn’t seem much interested in artificial lures. My dad in the end just killed them using minnows. Final score: dad 5 me 1… See Disney truly is a magical place because my dad NEVER out-fishes me! We return with pictures and a smile about 9:30 to see a very anxious family waiting for us haha. Off to magic kingdom we go. The major rides were posting times of 30 minutes, so we pulled a fast pass for space mountain and then went on buzz light year. Buzz was a longer line than posted but we survived and put our fast pass to use for space mountain. Grabbed a fast pass for stitch and got some lunch at the starlight café. Saw stitch, and I have come to the conclusion that all people who loved alien encounter just cant learn to let go of the fact that its gone. This is why all the bad reviews. It really wasn’t bad at all, I even liked it quite a bit as did the whole family. Don’t believe the reviews, its very humorous and quite an enjoyable attraction. Philarmagic was our next run and we for some reason didn’t see this on our last trip. I don’t know why, but for some reason we didn’t think we would enjoy it. This is the best 3d movie attraction we have ever seen, a must see. Haunted mansion was of course on the agenda and as always a big hit with all of us. We had a character dinner reservation at the liberty tavern and it was a lot of fun. I do have to admit I was disappointed in the food (the character meals are served home style and not from ordering off the menu) because I really enjoy the menu of the liberty tavern and didn’t get to order what I really wanted. The park was open until 9 on this night (instead of the typical 6) and as it became time for the spectral magic parade to get underway we could see we could really get some rides done if we skipped it. We managed to get jungle cruise, pirates, magic carpet, snow white, Winnie the pooh and peter pan all accomplished before wishes. We watched wishes for the second time, we wanted to be sure to see tink haha and it is a great fire works display. Never gets boring. We stayed still after the fireworks and let the place pretty much empty. We took advantage of this opportunity to take some great photos of us around the castle and around the statue of Walt and Mickey. It was like we had the place to ourselves. Some quick shopping on main street and off we went for the evening.

Summary for day 5: sunny and 82. Moderately busy at magic kingdom

Day 6, Tuesday December 7th

Today was Epcot day. We arrived in time for the rope drop ceremony, my brother and wife had arranged for a segway tour and did so first thing. We went on and made reservations for lunch at Canada’s le cellier. We decided rather than get a running start, we would prefer some breakfast. A quick stop at the electric umbrella and we hit the pavement. Test track had only a 15 minute wait, great no need for fast pass. We make our way through the queue, and get the announcement. It broke down, ok don’t panic, people leave the line, we move a bit more and about 10 minutes of nothing, they announce testing continues, ok through the queue we go up the stairs and… broken again. Hmmm… Again, more people leave, we wait it out, and another 10 or so minutes it resumes and we finally get in. I so love this ride, but in the end we waited about 50 minutes for it. We manage to get 5 tickets together and get fast passes for mission space and now its time to meet my wife and brother and onto mission space we go. By this time its time to get to Canada for lunch. The cheddar cheese soup is to die for! I have heard several mixed reviews on this restaurant and I cant imagine why. I have nothing but praise for the dining experience, I had filet mignon after my cheese soup and it was all cooked to perfection! After lunch our group split up and my wife, kids, and I hit some rides, we went over to the living seas, and caught the new crush attraction. It was very funny and if you have little ones be sure they don’t miss this and get them to sit up front on the floor when asked. We went to see our friend figment and had a lot of fun in the imagination pavilion before continuing onto honey I shrunk the audience. We got fast passes to try our luck at test track and when we go to the elevators, we waited, and waited. SURE enough they finally announce they have a problem. Another 15 minutes goes by and they announce the ride is terminated for the day. I love this ride, but it is not reliable in the slightest! By now its all starting to shut down in future world so we start our touring. We went from Canada side up to America, hitting all the kid stops and enjoying all the sites and shopping along the way. We settled in a terrible spot for illuminations but enjoyed it nonetheless. We again took our time and let this park clear out. We got some amazing pictures during our slow methodical exit. Eventually its back to the bus and on to the hotel.

Summary for day 6: 84 and sunny. Epcot was moderately busy, world showcase at times even seemed real busy.

Day 7, Wednesday December 8th

Today we spent at universal, and since this is a Disney forum I will keep this short (haha) I would just like to say it was my first time back since the opening of the mummy and wow it’s a great ride. And I would also like to say we did both parks in the same day but its commando all the way, no time for the sites, or pictures, or anything but ride… run… ride… Ate at Emeril’s in city walk, which is always a treat, and then back to the hotel.

Summary day 7: hot, sunny 85, universal was pretty much empty

Day 8, Thursday December 9th

My mother and I went to Epcot to go through the 7 hour backstage tour. I was shocked to see how different things are on the other side of those ‘cast members only’ doors. It was humorous in some cases. They showed some of the animatronics creation, costume making, employee resources and the like. It was interesting, lunch was good at momma rosa’s and I got to see some of the rehab being done to figures from ‘it’s a small world’ so on this visit we are some of the few that have seen anything from that attraction haha. My family and friends are happy to know that I now have even more useless facts in my head haha. The tour finished with a viewing of the parade from main street. I got picked on by several characters in the parade, which made me enjoy it all the more heh. While we were touring my wife and kids swam at the hotel and then spent some time at animal kingdom. After the tour we met back up with the others at the hotel and went to downtown Disney. We let the kids run into Disney quest and arranged a later meeting time out front. We went on to Bongos to eat. This too was a great and unexpected treat. I have avoided this place trip after trip but I ordered the ropa veja (pulled beef) and it was very very good. Everyone else seemed to enjoy their meals as well. My wife and mother started shopping after dinner, and I got my dad and we snuck over to pleasure island for some yegerbombs! Saaaaweeeet. Snuck back into downtown Disney just in time to meet back up with everyone. Dropped by quest to get the kids (they loved it as they always have there) and another night was in the books.

Summary Day 8, 77 partly cloudy. Our tour wasn’t crowded haha.

Day 9, Friday December 10th

We had left this and the next day as an open to finish anything we felt we didn’t do enough in. As predicted, magic kingdom and epcot needed more time. Today we decided to magic kingdom as we didn’t want to do that on a Saturday. We made sure to hit space mountain and buzz for a second time as well as the mansion and pirates. We had turkey legs for lunch, and got pretty much everything we wanted to. In the afternoon, it was time to venture on. We got a bus to boardwalk and walked over to the beach club to do something I always wanted to. ME VS. The kitchen sink. Ok, me my son and my daughter VS the kitchen sink. Lets just say we lost real bad haha. My mother and wife also were with us but ordered something different. At first I was thinking we should order two kitchen sinks for the table haha. Well its bigger than they describe and have shown in the pictures! It was enormous and delicious. We lost the contest but by the smile and the full belly we had you would have thought we won. We walked through Epcot to make it easier to get a bus, and stopped by guest relations to make a PS for biergarten the next day for dinner. Back to the hotel, and eventually we got hungry and called the front desk to find about getting some pizza. They gave us a number for a place called papa johns, and all was grand. They deliver right to the room.

Summary day 10, 72 cloudy, some rain. Crowds were moderate at magic kingdom, didn’t seem bad at epcot

Day 10, Saturday December 11th

The one remaining task for us this vacation was the world showcase. So we didn’t rush off right away. I talked my brother into going off site to ‘outdoor world’ (pro bass shops) and had a blast buying all kinds of junk I cant use until next spring. The kids and my wife went to epcot they wanted to try test track one more time (are they nuts? ). After our return we headed to Epcot to join them. Turns out, they did actually ride test track haha. Starting from Mexico we made our way to good o’l USA and hit every shop and kid stop along the way. It got colder and colder over the course of this day here. We were aware it was going to so we were prepared, but wow, by 8 it was low 40’s. I couldn’t help but giggle as more and more people exited the park because I knew I was going to see Illuminations better than I have ever seen it before. It was time to eat now so we made our way back to Germany and sat for a meal in biergarten. Again I was pleasantly surprised by how good the food was. I filled my plate with all kinds of things I don’t know what they were and ate and repeated. The 32 ounce beers were a nice feature as well haha. I was a little disappointed in the show. The show was of good quality, I just was surprised with how short it was. Oh well, maybe the beer was taking effect and it just seemed short. Most of us thought it was great, a couple of us just thought it was ok. Back to the world tour! The temperature continued to drop, I sampled a few more country beers, and with 15 minutes to Illuminations, we find a path out front of Morocco with an unbelievable view of the bay. I held my camera to my chest and focused in a manner that I could just snap a picture without watching the camera. I got several photos, most awesome, and we all enjoyed the show. It was beautiful and the most memorable Illuminations ever.

Summary of day 10, unseasonably cold, Low of 42. Crowds dispersed over the day as a result of the coming cold front.

Day 11, Sunday, December 12th

Unfortunately we had to get up at 4am to checkout and get to our flight. A most memorable trip. I was home before noon, and already was going through the hundreds of photos I had collected through the trip. I cant wait until next year to go back!

If anyone would like specific information about anything over the course of my trip feel free to pm me or email me, or ask away here. I would be more than happy to answer any questions people might have.