Christmas trip 2017, Day 4: Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios

Today was a little different for us, but still so much fun.  We had planned from the beginning to take this morning and sleep in and take our time getting out the door since we had the late evening at the Christmas party the night before.  While planning this trip, we knew we would probably be giving up one evening to visit with our local friends, but we didn't know which one yet.  So, we planned one day in each park and two in Magic Kingdom.  Since this was a bit of a floater day, we decided to pick up fastpasses at Animal Kingdom, because we knew the new Avatar rides would be the hardest to get on if our plans changed.  We didn't get them too early this day though since we wanted it to be a more relaxing day.  We ended up with Safari (10:25-11:25) Kali River Rapids (11:40-12:40) and Flight of Passage (12:55-1:55.)  That morning however, we looked at the app and decided to switch our Safari pass out to instead meet Mickey and Minnie at the outpost.  We knew they met in holiday attire here, so we decided we would all wear our new party shirts and get our pictures with them.  After taking our time this morning, we arrived at Animal Kingdom shortly after 10:00

10:00

Once inside the park, our first stop was to use those newly obtained fastpasses to meet Mickey and Minnie, characters #1 and 2.

We had a lot of fun here, as they loved our holiday spirit!

While we were waiting in line before our picture, we realized that Littlecjc's new necklace wasn't lighting up.  Since we had just bought it the night before we were a little saddened.  The castmember working at the front of Mickey and Minnie's line heard us talking about it and he told us to go to any store that sells them and they will replace it.  So, our next stop was a gift shop and sure enough they exchanged it out for a new one, no problem.  We didn't need our receipt and she didn't really ask any questions other than "it just stopped?"  She did look at it for a moment and tried turning it on herself, but then she pulled the tags off a new one and handed it over after making sure that the new one worked.  I've always heard great things about Disney exchanging these lights, bubble wands, etc. but this was our first time experiencing that.

11:00

The outpost was a little too close to Dinoland for Littlecjc, so we then headed back there for attraction #1, Triceratop Spin.

 

One of the few attractions we didn't get done the other day was Everest, so we thought we would walk that way and check out the wait times.  En route, we found a photopass photographer and stopped too take advantage of their presence.

I don't remember how long the wait was at Everest, but the single rider line was completely empty.  You're unable to get a rider swap if using this line here, but since it was just the two of us we didn't need it since no one else was in this line.  After that realization, I rode Expedition Everest, attraction #2 first and then Patrick rode making Expedition Everest (take two) attraction #3.

12:00

By now, we were in our window for our next fp at Kali River Rapids, attraction #4.

After soaking a few poor souls, we decided to walk through the Jungle Trek, attraction #5.

Even after our walk through the jungle, we still had a little time before we could use our third fastpass at Flight of Passage.  So, while walking that way, we stopped for some Dole Whip and took a little time to enjoy that and put on a little sunscreen.

1:00

When we first arrived in Pandora, we decided to take another family photo.

After our photo, we went to the Flight of Passage line, where Patrick rode first and acquired a rider swap pass making Flight of Passage, attraction #6.  While waiting, Littlecjc and I got to play a while at the drum circle, before being treated to another drum show. 

By the time the show finished, Patrick had returned and I was able to take my turn and ride Flight of Passage, attraction #7.  While I was on the ride, Littlecjc got some amazing pictures taken.

We actually purchased this banshee on our previous Disney trip, but we never got any pictures in the park with it last time due to rain.  So, Littlecjc brought him back this day and they wanted some pictures.  After taking the picture together, they came across a second photopass person and Littlecjc thought she would take her picture by herself.

As you can see, she quickly changed her mind resulting in this awesome photo, and a few more similar ones.  Needless to say, Patrick had to jump back in again.

2:00

After we had all finished having fun in Pandora, we asked Littlecjc if there was anything else she wanted to do here.  She was okay with leaving, so we decided to park hop, something we haven't done in a while.  When we were at Epcot two days earlier, a castmember told Littlecjc that she really needed to see Belle since she was meeting in her Christmas dress.  We didn't get around to it that day, but Littlecjc had reminded us of it many times since.  So, we offered this as an option and she was beyond excited.

3:00

I know it was after 2:00 when we left Animal Kingdom, but I don't know exactly when.  I do know, however, that we had successfully ridden a bus to Epcot, gone through security and made our way to Figment: Journey to Imagination, attraction #8 by 3:15.

Do you remember the surprised face from the other day?  Well, here's the face you get when you remember what is coming.

After riding Figment, Littlecjc and I headed straight to the France pavilion to wait on Belle while Patrick stopped for some food.  He stopped by the Yukon Holiday Kitchen in Canada for a traditional french canadian touterie and a maple buche de noel, both of which were delicious.

Since this was our only lunch this day, and the line was still pretty long, Patrick went in search for more food.  He came back with this delicious dessert from Les Halles.  I definitely think I'll be stopping here again, especially since this wasn't even a special kitchen or holiday treat.

4:00

So, I'm so glad Patrick thought to grab food now, because the line to meet Belle was no joke.  It took about 1 hour before we made it to the front of the line.  I was thankful for the food distraction, and Littlecjc made friends in line so it worked out.  We also used this time searching for other fastpasses.  We debated trying to get a pass for Test Track or something else in Epcot, but ultimately we decided on Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios, since we knew we wanted to catch the evening holiday shows there.  At the end of our wait, we were rewarded with this beautiful picture with Belle, character #3.

Not to mention, that our little princess was happy.  It was actually a little humorous how much she wanted to meet Belle here.  It's not like Belle is her favorite princess or that she recognized this dress or anything, but ever since that cast member told her she needed to see it, she NEEDED to see it.  With that finally accomplished, we tried something new.  We hopped over to Hollywood Studios via the Friendship boat.

This seemed to take a while, but it was nice not needing to walk to the front of Epcot and it's always fun to do something new and different.

5:00

While I waited on the slowest bag checker ever (not complaining, I'm happy to see them do their job properly) Littlecjc decided to model for Daddy.

Once inside, we headed first to Tower of Terror, attraction #9.

Unfortunately, the couple right in front of Littlecjc decided to lean together for a kiss, so we can't even see her face.  Although she's ridden this ride twice before, she decided this time that she didn't like it and she wasn't going to go on it again. 

6:00

We thought it was a good time for her favorite ride in this park, and headed straight to Toy Story Mania, attraction #10 and used our fp.

We thought we better eat some real food, since we really only snacked on desserts for lunch, so we headed to the Backlot to eat.  Littlecjc loved eating here, because she enjoyed watching the Jedi Training.  We tried talking her into joining since we were starting our day here tomorrow, but she said she didn't want to.  She loved watching though.  

7:00

After dinner, we headed back to Sunset Blvd to take in the falling snow and the new holiday projection shows on the Tower of Terror.  We really enjoyed these and watched them many times since it was a loop of four short clips.

They each had a little pre-show on the billboards down the street, that led into the projections.

At some point while playing here, we were sure to get another picture.

When we felt that Littlecjc had played in the "snow" enough, we moved back to the front of the Chinese Theater for Jingle Bell Jingle BAM!  I had forgotten about the Movie Magic projection, so we were happy to see that start at 7:45.

8:00

At 8:00, Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM! began.  I had heard mixed opinions about this show, so maybe I really just wasn't expecting much, but I loved it!  I thought it was fun and the storyline/song choices made sense to me.

This may not have been the most productive day in the amount of rides and characters met, but we had a great day.  We felt like we accomplished a lot and we saw and did new things which is always a plus.  Join me next week for more Hollywood Studios adventures and a little more park hopping!

Christmas trip, Day 2, Epcot, 2017

Today was our full out Epcot day.  The park was open from 9-9:30 and we had the following fastpasses (fp) booked: Mickey and friends at 9:50-10:50, Spaceship Earth at 11:05-12:05, and Frozen Ever After at 12:55-1:55.  Since Epcot is on a tier system for their fastpasses, our current pick for our tier one attraction is Frozen Ever After.  For our tier two choices, we always pick Spaceship Earth for one, but our second pick bounces around between Finding Nemo and the meet and greet with Mickey and friends.  I feel like Mickey usually gets longer lines than Nemo, but if we visit Epcot late in our trip, we don't seem to care if we meet him here, especially since Epcot offers the special meet and greet for Disney Visa cardholders which has always been for us 2-3 of the fab five anyway.  Before I get too far gone in our fp choices, let's move on.  We always try to arrive early, before the parks open, because we feel you get the most done that way.  We also were attempting something new this time at park opening and we didn't know how that would go.  When they opened the checkpoints, we quickly entered the park and made our way to stroller rental.  That's right, we rented a Disney stroller for the first time.  We realized while traveling to Disney that we forgot to pack our stroller.  I don't know how we could forget that, but we did.  I guess since we never use it at home anymore, we just didn't even think about it.  Anyway, we weighed our options and decided to rent from Disney.  We thought we'd see how Littlecjc did without a stroller on day one at Animal Kingdom (great, by the way) and if it went well, we decided we would rent the stroller for 2 days.  Epcot is a lot of walking, so we knew we wanted one here, and we also thought it would be nice to have one the day we attended Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party since it would be such a long day.  She usually only uses the stroller for a nap anyway, so we were hoping this would work for us.  For our single stroller, the cost of one day was $15 and if you rented two or more days they discount it to $13 each day.  I'm not sure how popular these rental locations are later in the day, but this process moved quickly, and we were back in the crowd, with our stroller, by the time the Jammitors came out to entertain us.  We were back far enough that we couldn't really see them, but we heard them and were still among the front of the herd when they dropped the ropes.

9:00

Our first stop as usual here was at a character location.  I was a little concerned at first, when the doors weren't even open yet and I started to doubt our decision, but a castmember soon opened the doors and we walked right in to meet Joy and Sadness, characters #1 and 2.

We then quickly moved across the hallway and met with Baymax, character #3.

It always feels so good to knock out these three characters right away.  The five minutes it takes to meet these three at the beginning of the day is so worth it.  Yes, we didn't walk onto our next ride, Soarin, but the line moves quickly and it was still shorter than it will be the rest of the day.  So, after parking our stroller outside of the Land pavilion, we rode Soarin' Around the World, attraction #1.

After our ride around the world, we were heading up the escalator when Littlecjc stated that she wanted to ride the boat ride, so we went back down the escalator and rode Living with the Land, attraction #2.

I know it's not much, but they did decorate inside the ride for the holidays, so that was a nice surprise for us.

10:00

When we left the Land, we debated heading to our first fp, but decided instead to knock out Nemo while we were here next to it.  So we left the stroller where it was and snapped this quick picture before heading inside.

It's been so long since I've done standby, that I forgot how long the queue line is.  We walked straight through it all, but it's a lot of weaving inside that building.  Eventually, we made it to a shell and rode Finding Nemo, attraction #3.

Most of the time, we explore the Seas pavilion some, but this time Littlecjc ran straight to Bruce's play area.  So, after a little play time, we were able to convince her to move on so that we could use our first fp.  We found our stroller and moved it up to the Character Spot where we met Mickey, Goofy, and Minnie, characters #4, 5, and 6.

11:00

It was almost time for our next fp, but with a little time to spare, we made our way to the front of the park for a picture.

Our next fp was right there, in that large silver ball behind us.  I understand that this ride is a must since you travel inside the iconic ball, but the line here amazed me.  I don't remember how long the standby line said it would take, but even the fp line wrapped up and around longer than I've ever seen before.  Of course, being the fp line, it still moved quickly (a lot quicker than the standby) and we shortly rode Spaceship Earth, attractioni #4.

Our next stop was Pin Traders, to pick up our map and stickers for Chip 'n' Dale's Christmas Tree Spree.  We love these scavenger hunts that are now apart of these festivals at Epcot.  Littlecjc really enjoys searching for each item and it really helps her stay motivated to walk the world showcase.  For convenience sake, we decided to go ahead and eat lunch now at the Electric Umbrella.  

12:00

We had great timing leaving lunch, as the Jammitors were just coming out to perform.  We asked Littlecjc if she wanted to watch and she made the decisioin to stay put.

She loved this show and they passed out stickers to junior jammitors at the end, so win win.  We continued on when they were finished to Mission: Space, attraction #5.

Littlecjc is still too short for the more intense version, but with the help of the new booster seats, she's allowed to ride the green side, although I still wonder how much she actually sees.  Either way, she thinks it's great.  She also loves playing in the play area at the ride's exit.  In fact, this is probably the hardest play area to get her away from when we're ready to move on.  We try to let her play when she wants to, but there is always that eventually moment here when enough's enough and it's a battle to get her to move on.

1:00

We were on our way to the World Showcase, when we stumbled across the Festive Center at the Odyssey Center and decided to stop.  Inside was The Cookie Nook, a new holiday kitchen.  This trip was actually our first time to attend the Festival of Holidays, so they actually were all new to us.  This was a nice stop though, because there was a movie playing for the kids to watch while the adults could enjoy the kitchen and browse the merchandise set up here.  The also had crafts set up for the kids and a backdrop where you could take your own pictures, but Littlecjc made some friends at the movie screen and so that was as far as she made it.

I thought this was great, because the video seemed like the old classic Christmas Disney cartoons that I remembered watching as a kid.  They had some tall tables set up behind the viewing area, so we could watch Littlecjc and enjoy our snack, the warm apple fritter.

This was tasty!  As you can see, we also picked up some holiday passports here.  These are great, because they have stickers inside meant to mark which kitchens you've visited, but they are also helpful when little ones need something to do.  Patrick also tried one of the locally brewed beers here.

We actually spent a bit of time here, and by the time we left, we needed to head straight to Norway for our third fp at Frozen Ever After, attraction #6.

After scanning our magic band and making some modifications, we eventually ended up with another fp for Test Track at 5:00.  With that ride pass secured, we backtracked a bit and started our Chip 'n' Dale hunt at Mexico.  We didn't really know what we were searching for yet, but it didn't take long to find the big wreath with Dale holding his ornament inside the pavilion above the store entrance.

The line for the boat ride here was actually really long, so we decided to skip this since Littlecjc was just getting started on her scavenger hunt and she was already anxious to find the next one.

2:00

So, back in Norway, we found Chip and Dale at the back of the Kidcot area.

We quickly moved on to China, and again found Chip at the Kidcot station.

Before finding Chip and Dale in Germany, we took in a little of the entertainment provided by Margret Almer and the Bavarian Band and then decided to wait and see Snow White.  Littlecjc loves her and the line looked short so we jumped in and waited for Snow to make her appearance.  This made character # 7 Snow White.

 After visiting with Snow White, we quickly found Chip and Dale near the caramel candy store.

In Italy, we found Dale back by the Kidcot station again.

3:00

Already half way through with our search, we found Chip inside the American store, Heritage Manor Gifts.

The American pavilion had a beautiful tree set up, so we stopped to take some pictures.

Patrick decided to stop at the American Holiday Table kitchen for a chocolate pecan tart and two chocolate apple shakes, one with butterscotch schnapps and one without.  

While in line, he realized there was a photopass photographer on the other side of the tree, so of course we walked around the large tree to take some more pictures.

After two stops for pictures, Littlecjc was ready to move on and find Chip and Dale at Japan.  What a surprise, they were again at the Kidcot station.

When we moved on to Morocco, it seemed like we weren't going to find Chip at first since we apparently walked right past him, but we quickly spotted him on our second lap. 

In France, we found Dale at the back of a store above all the new Ratatouille merchandise.

Upon arriving at the UK, we unfortunately just missed Mary Poppins, but at least we were able to see her finish while she finished her set.  We then found both Chip and Dale hanging out inside one of the shops.

Our final stop for the scavenger hunt was a quick find of Dale.  He was way up high in the first room of the store when we walked inside.

4:00

Before continuing our loop, we stopped at both the popcorn cart (for maple popcorn) and the new Yukon Holiday kitchen for the seared salmon with Crown Royal maple whiskey glaze, parsnip silk, apple chutney, and hazelnut croquant.

As you can see, we almost forgot to get a picture of this one.  As we finished the World Showcase loop, we stopped in to ride Figment, Journey into Imagination, attraction #7.

Littlecjc got caught off guard by the skunk this time.

We all spent a little time after the ride to play inside Imagination Works.

Littlecjc also partook in a time honored Disney tradition here, she tried on a fun hat at the gift shop.

At this time, we cut across the park stopped in at Disney Traders for our prize in completing the Chip 'n' Dale Tree Spree scavenger hunt, which was a collection of little pins matching the stickers of the Chip and Dale with their ornaments.  They actually had the pins divided into three different packs so you could collect them all if you bought three sets of the map and stickers.  We only bought one, so Littlecjc had a choice to make.  Once she had made her decision we moved on towards our fp at Test Track.

5:00

When we reached Test Track, attraction #8, we discovered that again, the fp line was backed up.  We actually had to weave around outside before even entering the building.  Oviously, this was still faster than standby.  In fact, when this happens, it seems like they pretty much stop the standby line just to keep the fp line moving.  After scanning our bands and searching for new fps, we were able to pick up Illuminations. Of course, our vehicle was decked out with accessories.

Littlecjc decided this was her favorite ride this time.  She really wanted to go again, but the line was huge, so we told her maybe later.  Instead, we made way back to Norway.

6:00

We visited with Elsa and Anna, characters #8 and 9.

As we exited Norway, we made the decision to try to check out the 6:45 Candlelight Processional.  We hurried off to the American Pavilion not really sure what to expect.  We had seen people already lined up when we first passed the theater 3:00 for the 5:00 show.  We had heard that this show was very popular, but we had never seen it before and were unsure on whether we really wanted to stand in line for it or not.  We were also hoping that our narrator, Matt Bomer, was not going to be a big draw for the local crowds.  When we reached the theater the line looked really long since they had not opened the theater yet.  A castmember was at the start of the line counting people as they entered, so I asked her if she thought we would get in for the 6:45 show.  She gave me a definite yes, so we decided to wait.  Shortly after we got in line, they opened the theater and we began to move.  We did easily get into the theater for this show, but there weren't many rows left behind us for those that chose to get in line after us.  There is also a dining package available for this and their line was on the other side of the theater where they were led to the front of the seating area.

As you can see, we were pretty far back, so we didn't get any pictures worth anything, but Patrick and I both enjoyed the show.  Littlecjc on the other hand, decided that this seemed like a good time for a nap.  I'm pretty sure she fell asleep before the first song ended.

7:00

When the show ended, we found our stroller and took our time leaving the congested area since Littlecjc was asleep, we were in no hurry.  Patrick and I took our time walking around the World Showcase, trying to decide if we wanted any more food or merchandise.

8:00

Eventually, we ended up near the front of the park for this photo op.

9:00

Around 9:00, we entered the fp viewing area and found a good spot to watch the show.  We were able to sit on the ground until showtime.  Littlecjc decided to wake back up during the show.  We debated not staying since she fell asleep, but we knew there was a holiday tag at the end of the show and we wanted to see that.  I'm so glad we stayed.  The holiday tag was amazing!  There were so many fireworks all over the sky and I loved it.

10:00

After Illuminations, we took our time leaving the park.  We took advantage of our baby carrier since Littlecjc was still sleepy, used the restrooms and returned our stroller before stopping at the front of the park to take one final picture.

By the time we got to the bus stop, the wait wasn't too bad.  This was a great day for us.  We visited with 9 characters and rode 8 rides.  We ate some delicious food and experienced a new festival, including the Candlelight Processional.