This morning we decided that we would like to get a little extra sleep, then head over the visit some of the resort hotels. So we kicked around the house in the morning. Maria slept in. Then we headed out to Disney’s Polynesian Resort for lunch. We stayed there on our honeymoon, so it was nice to go back and remember our first time there. They were all decked out for Christmas. They had a Christmas Tree with ornaments made out of seashells and tropical flowers. It was a really nice touch. The boys had fun playing on a giant tiki for a while, then we went upstairs for lunch at the Kona Cafe. It was good food and good company. We got a bit of shopping done there at the nearby souvenir shop. Andrew found a skull that you could fill with pirate stuff – so he decided to fill it with pirate dice so that we can play that pirate game from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, and we’ll keep the dice in a cool pirate head thingie.
By the time we finished touring the resort and eating lunch, it was already time for the kids to take their naps. So Vavo volunteered for her and Vavu to take the kids back to the house so that Andrew and Maria could spend some time doing additional touring with the Masons. That was nice of them. So the kids headed home for naps, and the Pascoal/Mason party headed to the Grand Floridian to continue touring.
The Grand Floridian had a really big Christmas Tree. It is 2 stories tall! They also had a life-size gingerbread house, that sold confectionary items from inside. Maria bought a gingerbread shingle like the ones used on the roof of the house. That was fun!
The Grand Floridian
We took the ferry across the lake to the Magic Kingdom next. Once there, we decided to hit a few rides that the kids might not be interested in. So we went to Stitch’s Great Escape, in Tomorrowland. That ride is apparently too scary for some youngsters, so we figured this was probably the only time we would bother to ride it. It was a pretty funny experience. Not really that scary, but the alarms and red flashing lights and sudden jolts of pitch darkness would probably be intimidating to most young kids. One little guy in the ride with us had to go out in the middle of the show. It was really gross, too. Stitched burped right behind your head, and it smelled like chili dog....ewwwww!!!!
We also tested out the Laugh Floor Comedy Club – a recent addition to tomorrowland. The show is interactive. Even though the characters are animated, they have conversations with people in the audience and make observations about them. It was pretty cute.
After a quick trip to the Carousel of Progress, it was time to meet back up with the kiddos at the main gate. We went over and greeted Vavo and Vavu with the kids at the gate, handing them their tickets to get in, because tonight was Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, and only those with special tickets (yay, that’s us!) can get in. Walking back into the party, snow was falling down on Main Street – what a cool sight!
Christmas Treat Station
This way to Party!
The first thing we did as a part of the party was to watch Mickey’s Twas the Night Before Christmas, at the Galaxy Palace Theater in Tomorrowland. The show was pretty cute. It was a narration with music and dance of Twas the Night before Christmas, but it had a Disney twist. For instance, Goofy played the part of Santa Claus. The cool part was that it snowed at the end of the production! As we exited the show, Aiden remembered that he had been asking to go onto Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. So we decided it would be nice to all go on together. So in we went, and the kids had a great time! And we had a great time taking pictures of them having a great time!
After Buzz Lightyear, we headed over to stake out a spot to view the fireworks. And BOY, did we get the BEST SPOT ever!!! We sat at the very edge of the Tomorrowland Terrace, and had a completely unobstructed view of the fireworks show. This was especially good, because it meant that Aiden and Jeremy would be able to have a nice view. The castle sure was beautiful all light up at night. It was nice to be able to see it so clearly, without 20 million heads in your way. It was a special Christmas fireworks show, called “Holiday Wishes – Celebrate the Spirit of the Season”. The fireworks were timed to Christmas music. There were cool firework shapes, like hearts and smiley faces. They did a really good job.
A little fireworks video for you :-)
After fireworks, we hustled over in front of the Castle to view the “Celebrate the Season” show. Goofy made another appearance as Santa during the show. Then later, he came out all dressed up in his Christmas best – and he said “I made my quick-change and everything”! We thought that was pretty funny.
After the show, we were right in a great area to view the special, “Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas Parade”. We were right at the corner where the parade came straight at us, then made a turn to the left. So we had a great head-on and side view of all of the floats.
Cinderella all decked out
By the time the parade was over, it was already about 11pm. So we wanted to go meet Santa before the party ended at midnight. The boys did such a good job being patient in line, and neither one of them cried when they sat on Santa’s lap. What a wonderful surprise! Both boys have been a bit tentative about meeting Santa in the past. But Aiden was all prepared to tell Santa how good he’s been this year and ask for a present. He asked for a sword and cars. Vavo and Vavu even got to sit on Santa’s lap!
By the time we were done saying hi to Santa, it was almost midnight. So we started to mosey our way out of the park. We stopped and did a little shopping on our way out, then made our way to the Monorail. We were the last people on the last monorail to the Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC). The cast member loading the train said, “Good job making it on the last monorail!”, and applauded us. It was funny.
The abandoned monorail station - a rare sight
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The best part of day 14 was the great view of the fireworks, meeting Santa, free cookies.
The worst part of day 14 was feeling like we had to hurry to do everything because we would only be at the party one time.
What we learned on day 14 was snow on Main Street is nice, but snow in your nose on Main Street is not so nice; a light-up toy will keep a kid happy for hours in a theme park at night; we are really good and really smart for planning a rest day after a day like today, when we are up til 2am.
The weather on day 14 was the hottest day on record for today’s date – 89 and humid. The evening was really nice, though. A breeze kicked in and the temps went down..
Our character sightings on day 14 included Cinderella and the mice, Santa. We also saw practically every other Disney character in existence between all the shows and the parade we saw, but those don’t count, because we didn’t have an opportunity to greet them.
The crowd level today was moderately heavy.
4 comments:
Awww those are some amazing pictures Pascoals! Thank you so much for sharing them with us! :) The castle looks absolutely beautimuss!
Wow! That view was SPECTACULAR! And i like the picture with Vavo and Vavu with Santa. That was funny. :)
That castle picture was probably the most beautiful castle picture I've ever seen. You should blow that one up poster size and frame it. (I'm so jealous!) Loved the pic of mom & dad, too.
Definitely the best blog so far. I love the Magic Kingdom! And Mom & Dad's picture was great! Hope you guys make it back to Animal Kingdom to have an experience more like this day. Can't wait to see more!!!
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