[MissDisney]

We started Day 4 at Magic Kingdom. We missed EMH, but check out this pic of how deserted it was! In fact, the whole time we were at WDW , it seemed that EVERYONE was either in line for Soarin', Toy Story Mania or Space Mountain. The rest of the rides had really light lines and short waits.

This is a pic from about 9 a.m., believe it or not!

[MissDisney]

We walked on Pirates and Jungle Cruise first -- We had a weird Jungle Cruise experience, with boat captain CM Chase, who sort of launched into his life story while he killed time as we waited for the other boats to unload. Hmmm. But he had been excellent earlier in the ride, so it had been a fun event anyway.

I love the changes on Pirates. There is nothing like walking on to that ride, especially when it usually has long waits.

We moved along to BTMRR and HM, then roamed over to Space and Buzz. We got fast passes to Splash so we could ride it when it had warmed up a bit, but before they came due, we were ready to leave the park. We gave the passes to a couple who had no clue what FPs are, so we had to launch into the whole story about them -- hard because the people barely spoke English and they had to use the dictionary for every other word. Why didn't any of us take Italian in school? It could have saved 20 valuable midday minutes this trip!

[MissDisney]

Off to AK, and we did our usual schedule -- first get FPs at EE, then take a quick SAfari, then off to use the passes. It worked perfectly, and we actually got a second set of passes for EE, which the kids used to ride twice after DH and I left the park.

We saw more animals this safari than ever before -- and we had CM Frank as our driver, which was a treat. He was really into his role and made the ride wonderful. This is another ride that can be so silly if you have a bored/jaded non-ham as your CM. Let's hear it for Frank: "You rocked it!"

[MissDisney]

The kids moved on to tackle EC and they had ressies at Nine Dragons. DH and I had ressies at Yachtsman's, and then we all planned ot meet up for fireworks afterward.

I walked to China with the kids, and the sun was low and the Christmas lights were on, and it was beautiful. The American Pavilion is so impressive at Christmas, and I also love Germany and Italy.

And tons of international Santas and performers all around:

[MissDisney]

My two favorite Christmas pavilions:

[MissDisney]

OK, on to the dinners. The kids were blase about the Nine Dragons experience for the most part. DS said his fried rice had huge hunks of ham in it and wa inedible. They ended up splitting DD's sesame chicken even though it was greasy.

Our dinner at Yachtsman's, on the other hand, had some really high points. It's a weird place, because it has bright lighting and a family atmosphere, which we hadn't expected in a steak house. But our server was great and there were really good items on the menu.

We tried several wines, and they were all delicious. The sweetbreads appetizer was incredible, and the scallop appetizer was very good as well. The steaks were only so-so, really, but the rest of the dishes were great. They brought out a special anniversary dessert for us, which had Happy Anniversary painted on the plate in chocolate.

((Mean guy alert: At the table next to us, a man, his wife and their three young children were seated. They were on the dining plan. The man ordered for all of them, including his wife. I often think that's very demeaning, and in this case it surely was. Anyway, he acted like a jerk about everything. Though the kids wanted chicken fingers and macaroni, he ordered expensive steaks and fries -- he called them chips -- for all three kids (I don't hink the youngest even had all her teeth as she was still on a bottle, so what does she need a steak for?). The steaks came with mashed potatoes instead of fries, and the guy went ballistic. Loud and pompous and angry. He was further infuriated when our nice CM apologized and said she'd be right back with plenty of fries. And he screamed that no, he wanted the plates to be served "properly" and that they needed to be completely redone -- and not to bother setting the old steaks on new plates with fries at this point. He screamed that he wanted all new steaks to be prepared so they'd be fresh and hot with those fries! He continued on and on throughout the entire evening with complaint after complaint. His wife sort of tried to be invisible and his kids understandably stuck their noses into Nintendos and pretended to be elsewhere. We saw this guy everywhere we went for DAYS! It got to be our joke, because he seemed to be looking for things to complain about. Turns out, his room was about three doors down from ours. No wonder we couldn't get a break.))

[MissDisney]

After dinner, we headed over to see Holiday Illuminations, which was excellent. The best part is that we arrived at the World Showcase Lagoon just minutes before the show and we wandered over to the water behind the Fish & Chips, and an older couple had a table for four and invited us to join them! So we had front row chairs for the show. The view was perfect.

We brought home the strangest memento ever -- big hunks of fireworks shells that all splatted to the ground and sizzled into the water in front of us! People were actually pulling chunks of fireworks containers out of their hair and kicking them along the ground. We found a piece with a fuse part still on it and took it back to the hotel. Weird, right?

[mickeyspal]

Fireworks souveinirs is kinda cool. Wonder what they would fetch on Ebay? Ha ha. Happy Anniversary to you and your DH!

[MissDisney]

OK, our last day was the biggest and best!

We headed over to Studios early and made a beeline to the Toy Story Mania area. We grabbed passes and got in the standby line. A note about the standby line for this ride -- if it's half an hour or so, go ahead and do it! It is such a fun queue area that you will actually enjoy the time.

What a great ride. I have no way to tell you how much we enjoyed this. Plus I won. I beat everyone in my family. I beat them BADLY. Neener neener. I BEAT THEM. I never beat anybody at any ride, but I did this time. Wow, I wish they were all reading this post, because I want them to know that you all know that I BEAT THEM -- TWICE!

[MissDisney]

For some reason, this cracked me up.

It's still cracking me up.

[dixie]

MissDis your TR is a pleasure to read, the photos are amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed the read. I have to add, one...we were told by our HK to take the towel critters (and did) and two I also have the exclamation mark disease (I nearly used one then) I am aware that I over use them but then they are so effective.........ooh I am getting a withdrawal :)
Thanks for a great read- loving it

[lovemysons]

You can never use too many exclamation points, in my opinion!

[WishUponAStar]

Originally Posted by MissDisney

Never. I don't allow photos to be taken of me. Even the kids know that to snap a pic of mom is punishable by total parental torture till the end of time. But I can describe myself for you -- I am the shortest one in any room. I have brown hair and hazel eyes. That ought to do the trick!

I am not your child, what would happen to me? Next time I see you I may have to be sneaky with the cell cam.

kidding! I know you'd kill me.

[MissDisney]

OK, so after we did the Toy Story Mania ride -- where I beat my family, did I mention that? -- we headed over to RnRC and did standby, which was only 20 minutes (Seriously, where was everyone? Oh yeah, over at TSM). Now I have been to WDW many, many times. I have stood in line for RnRC many, many times. But I was determined to do it this time, AND I DID! A huge step toward really being a big girl!

RnRC is a seriously fun ride... and once you get past that fast blast at the beginning, it is really a smooth ride not unlike EE or Space -- the whole ride is NOT like the takeoff, which I had been fearing. I loved it, and I hated thinking about the many times I chose not to ride!

We also took the Backstage Tour, which was deserted as well. During our trip, the Lights Motors show was going on, so we watched some of it from our tram, which they stopped behind the fence.

OK, this first picture is a momentous one for me. It is a view of an officein the back of a building, and I saw it the first time many years ago on our first trip. Inside the window is a desk and way back then, a woman was seated there, working on a computer. Just outside the window are topiaries in storage, and she had tons of little Disney things in the window. It was at that moment that I decided I wanted to work at WDW -- in that office doing that job. Whatever it is.

[MissDisney]

Did I mention that we are actually doing Christmas day at this point? Sorry if I forgot to mention that part...

So, we had some pool time (OK, make that hot tub time. I love hot tubs.) and then got dressed for Christmas dinner at the Contemporary. I had already told them it was our 20th anniversary when I booked the ressie months ago.

WHAT A VIEW! Honestly, it's incredible. When we first walked into the lounge area and I looked out the window, I almost couldn't act right.

We got our table and it was decorated with Mickey confetti. The food was delicious, highlights being the sushi (it wa huge and must have weighed 50 pounds!), the butternut squash soup and the chicken in leek puree.

We had a bottle of Honig wine that made me want to weep with joy, it was so good.