Let's Talk Turkey: TCD's 2016 Thanksgiving at the Fort Trip Report

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

1 hour ago, Millermouseketeers MaryAnn said:

The Toy Soldiers are my favorite also! Always have to see them at least once.

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Great minds think alike... well as long as Dave doesn't join in. 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Great minds think alike... well as long as Dave doesn't join in. 

Don't worry. My favorite part about the MK Christmas parade is beer and caramels in Germany.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

On ‎1‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 5:07 PM, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

I love the Christmas parade! I think it's second only to the Halloween parade.

Gwen- There were gingerbread men. I have pictures from a few days later.

I love the toy soldiers. They're my favorite part of the parade.

I like the Halloween parade too, but the cool thing about the Christmas parade is that they perform it for regular parks guests after the last Christmas party.  Since the Halloween parties run right up to Halloween itself, that doesn't happen with the Halloween parade.  Which is just as well, that Halloween parade wouldn't work very well in daylight.

I also like the Toy Soldiers, but they aren't my favorite part of the parade.  My favorite part is Cinderella's coach with the ponies. 

On ‎1‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 8:13 PM, Millermouseketeers MaryAnn said:

The Toy Soldiers are my favorite also! Always have to see them at least once.

I always want to see the parade more than once too!

On ‎1‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 9:25 PM, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

Great minds think alike... well as long as Dave doesn't join in. 

Wait for it.

On ‎1‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 9:28 PM, DaveInTN said:

Don't worry. My favorite part about the MK Christmas parade is beer and caramels in Germany.

Classic.  Always going for the dirndls. At least you're consistent.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I still have some more bonus photos from 12/23, and here they are!

After the parade, we headed up Main Street.  According to the times guide, there was a final Muppets performance in Liberty Square at 4:15, and we had just enough time to get there.

It was a warm afternoon, and the sky was blue.  Almost made me not think about how much I miss the garland that used to be strung across Main Street:

There was a seagull situation today.  I felt like I was in Sea World:

We would be heading back to this area after the Muppets, but I wanted to make sure I got a photo of the castle with the blue sky, so here you go:

We made it to Liberty Square with a few minutes to spare.  To this point, I had only seen the Muppets perform here once, and we wanted to stand back a bit from the buildings.  Today, there were CM's present directing guests to step close to the buildings.  That's probably a good idea, but I ended up standing behind a guy who was taller than me.  At least he had good taste in clothing:

That fellow in the tri-corner hat you see there over the Gator guy's left shoulder is James Johnson, aka JJ- the Town Crier.  He wasn't involved in the previous Muppets performance I watched, and he added a lot to the show.

Also different in this performance was Sam Eagle's location at the top of the Hall of Presidents' building:

You can see the remnants of the Jesus Jet's message up there in the sky above Sam:

After some banter between JJ and Sam, the Muppets popped out of the windows over to the right:

The jokes and puns were flying, and the show was entertaining.

Plus, I really liked the shirt the guy in front of me was wearing:

I'll bet GDF would like one of those for Mr. GDF.

Having that guy in front of me wasn't a big deal, because all of the action is up high:

JJ did a good job holding up his humorous scrolls at the appropriate time:

The finale came just in time:

And we had streamers:

From here, our next stop was the hub.  There was one more performance of Merf for the day, and we wanted to catch that. In case you're not hip to the lingo, Merf is what the cool kids call Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire (MRFF, but pronounced Merf).  It's the new afternoon castle show that's performed multiple times per day.  They added a fall overlay to it in the fall, and there was a winter/holiday overlay added after that.

The show was scheduled for 4:30, and was already running when we arrived at 4:31:

You can see in that last photo that it was pretty crowded in front of the castle.  But, no worries, the viewing area back here next to the Partners statue is good because it's slightly elevated, which gives you a clear view of the stage, even over the heads of all the KOS's (kids on shoulders):

You can see pretty much the whole stage from back here, but there are some obstructions like light posts and fancy bushes:

For me, one bad thing about Merf is that Olaf has a big speaking part.  But the rest of you snowmen lovers will be happy:

Aside from too much Olaf, the show is good, and I liked the added holiday ending:

And, there are some day-time pyrotechnics:

Merf ended at 4:50 pm.  Next on our agenda was watching the castle lighting show at 6:15 (which also has too much Olaf).  Twin #1 wanted to go and claim a spot in front of the castle because after the castle lighting, we wanted to watch the new stage show which was introduced for this year's Christmas parties, and would be performed for the first time tonight as part of the regular park entertainment.  DD1 and I thought it was too early to do that, but Twin #1 said it was worth waiting to get a front row seat for that show- she and Twin #2 had seen it at this year's first MVMCP, and they both loved it.

I needed to renew DD1's annual pass before the end of the month, so I thought this would be a good time to do that.  She and I headed to Town Hall while Twin #1 headed to the castle.

At Town Hall, we heard from Twin #1- she had a front row spot reserved at the castle, but she wanted us to get there quick as she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to save the extra spaces.

DD1 and I completed our transaction, and headed to the castle as quickly as we could.

We found Twin #1, and claimed our spots.  It was 5:27 now, and it wasn't too bad, as most of the crowd moved back to watch the Move It Shake It parade:

Twin #1 did a good job claiming the front row spots, as there were a lot of people who were clearly planning to do what we were doing.  She also spotted a CM friend.  That guy in the green sweatshirt is one of the toy soldiers in the parade we had watched earlier.  There was a big group of CM's gathered here, and more joined him:

Twin #1 also pointed out the guy with big camera in the back of that last photo- he's some kind of famous blogger and is in the parks all the time.

We had about 45 minutes to go until the show, and there were still spots close to the castle that were open.  That would soon change:

Next up, it gets savage in front of the castle, but we held our ground and I have some photos of the lighting and show to share.

TCD

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Beautiful blue sky and perfect shot of the castle. Just what I needed on a very cold , gray day up North. Looking forward to the savage part of this TR ;0)

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

1 hour ago, Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie said:

Beautiful blue sky and perfect shot of the castle. Just what I needed on a very cold , gray day up North. Looking forward to the savage part of this TR ;0)

Thanks.

The savagery will start pretty early in the next update.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

OK, let's wrap up the 12/23 day trip.

We watched the parade, then the Muppets, then Merf.

Now, it will be the Frozen castle lighting.

Looking back from our spot up front, you can see that there are a lot of people mobbed around the Move It Shake It parade route while there is still open space in the area in front of the castle:

Our view looking the other way was sweet:

Hey, there's Nick Wilde on the Move It Shake It float.  Judy Hopps must be there too, but I didn't catch her in the photo:

The lifts on the sides of the castle were raised and ready for the show:

At about 5:37, they started with that Vamos! song, and the mob that had been watching the parade all shifted into the remaining open spaces in front of the castle:

We braced ourselves and got ready for people trying to shove in front of us.

I decided it would be better for me to stand behind the girls, and they could stand next to each other along the chain.  My thought was that I could have a wide stance, and block anyone from getting right behind them and shoving.

It got dark quick.

Here's how the castle looked at 5:37 pm:

And this is how it looked at 5:59:

As we got closer to 6:15, we could feel people packing in around us.  So far, my strategy worked- people were trying to squeeze in between the people at the front, but they couldn't get to the TCD girls:

The castle lighting show began right at 6:15.  As soon as it began, a woman pushed in to my left and grabbed DD1 on the shoulder.  She had a small child with her, and asked DD1 if her child could stand in front of her to see the show.  Keep in mind that we had claimed these spots almost two hours earlier, and the place was packed, but this woman wanted DD1 to give up her spot.  The other thing I should share is that we've been through this routine before.  We had something similar happen at a parade once.  I stood up to give my spot to a kid, and low and behold two kids needed the spot.  Then the mom needed to stand behind her kids, and I didn't get to watch the parade with my family.  My daughter told the mom, sorry, but no.  The mom replied, "Merry Christmas B*tch!"  Seriously. That rude comment confirmed that my daughter made the right decision.

So,. our enjoyment of the show was a little marred.

But, we had a great view:

I only saw the castle lighting show a couple of times this year, and it didn't bother me as much as it has in the past.  For one thing, the performers for this show were not lip-synching. 

What a view we had:

After the castle lighting show, we had about 45 minutes to wait for the stage show.  Nobody left, and people still were jockeying to get closer to the stage.  We held our ground.  The nice lady who wished my daughter Merry Christmas had moved on, so that was a plus.

The stage show was delayed for a few minutes, and they made an announcement that it was delayed.  That was bad, because it gave people more time to shove in.

Then the show started. 

It was very good.

It had live performers plus a bunch of characters.

The live performers actually sang- no lip synching here either:

There were some crazy moments.

Like a whole song and dance number performed by Clarabelle Cow:

When did she become a thing?  She has a whole float in the parade, and a whole song in the show.

The dancing reindeer were great too.

It was during this number that more savagery occurred.  There was a couple standing to the right of the TCD girls.  They had been there the whole time we were.  I noticed that a kid had squeezed in between them.  And then I heard a woman scream "you punched my son in the face!"  I looked over, and this red-faced woman was screaming at the guy in the couple.  Apparently, her other kid had tried to squeeze in next to him, and got an elbow in the eye when the guy brought his camera down.  The woman said he punched her son and continued screaming.  The guy was a lot calmer than I would have been and said that he had not done anything, and he was sorry for whatever had happened to her son.  In the meantime, while the guy was turned around speaking to the crazed mom, her kid who had allegedly been punched squeezed in front of the guy.  It was nuts.

I didn't let the craziness ruin the show for me.  Even thought I'm not a big fan of the song, I loved when the Three Caballeros came out and sang Feliz Navidad:

Twin #1 was right about this new show.  It was very fun to watch, and we all enjoyed it.  But oh the savagery!

At this point it was 7:30 pm, on Christmas Eve Eve.  We had a big day tomorrow, and the park was packed.

So we headed out.

We were going to stop at a resort and eat dinner, but instead we got on the road, and just got dinner from a drive-through on the way home.

I hoped to get back to WDW one more time during the holiday season.

And, we made it back exactly a week later.  For New Year's Eve Eve.

I have some bonus photos from that visit which I'll be sharing next.

TCD

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Oh. My. Word!! What is wrong with people. We had a similar incident. I had been looking forward to watching the Electrical Parade. It was the first time since I was a kid and I was really excited. My husband staked a claim along with our crew and we settled in to wait and people watch. Out of no where two little kids show up and squeeze in. Then a few more and a few more. Next, you guessed it, 2 mom's with strollers bigger than mine!! They stood right in front of us and I was forced to the back. Their kids shoved my children out and took their seats on the curb. One of the moms looked at me and smiled. I just stood there shocked. My kids were shocked. On our next trip we wouldn't be so easily fooled.

[keith_h 420]

Unfortunately this type of behavior isn't limited to the MK. We run into it at just about any event where it is first come, first served. Come to think of it we've even run into at some reserved seat events. All I try to do is keep Rene in front of me and extend my elbows out to keep some space between us and the rest of the crowd. It is sad in a way as there was a time where we would be fine with a young child slipping in front but no longer as it just gets looked at as an invitation for them to take over your place. 

[DaveInTN 3,247]

That's why we've stopped going to Disney, and moved out to the country where I deal with more animals than people. The animals have more respect and better manners.

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[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

I can't stand the rude people that shove in at the last second before a parade or a show......and calling your daughter what she did showed her lack of class and no doubt taught her own kid to follow in her footsteps.  

I know that people say there are no slow times at Disney anymore but I will still take late January/early February over any other time of year and then time the big parade/show watching during the week......and try to avoid weekends for that stuff.  

On another note.....i think the dancing reindeer are slightly weird lol, but I always love the toy soldiers.

 

 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

18 hours ago, Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie said:

Oh. My. Word!! What is wrong with people. We had a similar incident. I had been looking forward to watching the Electrical Parade. It was the first time since I was a kid and I was really excited. My husband staked a claim along with our crew and we settled in to wait and people watch. Out of no where two little kids show up and squeeze in. Then a few more and a few more. Next, you guessed it, 2 mom's with strollers bigger than mine!! They stood right in front of us and I was forced to the back. Their kids shoved my children out and took their seats on the curb. One of the moms looked at me and smiled. I just stood there shocked. My kids were shocked. On our next trip we wouldn't be so easily fooled.

It's a shame that it's like that, but it is.  On another day, a while back, one of my DD's was saving us two spots for the FOF parade in Frontierland.  She was sitting on the ground with her purse next to her.  A woman rolled up in a big ECV and parked her front wheel on my daughter's purse, and her companion pulled up right behind my daughter.  After pulling her purse out from under her wheel, my daughter told the lady that someone was sitting there.  The lady told her she didn't see anyone, and she wasn't going to move.  She was very mean about it, and she made my daughter cry.  Which is right when I walked up.  My daughter told me what happened, and I asked the lady to move.  She said no, and that my daughter was being a drama queen.  The nerve.  I was getting ready to make a big stink, but my daughter said let's just leave.  Which we did.  I told the woman's companion that he could have my daughter's spot, and to have a magical day. 

So now, when we have a spot, we defend it.  Unfortunately, if you give some people an inch, they want a mile.

18 hours ago, keith_h said:

Unfortunately this type of behavior isn't limited to the MK. We run into it at just about any event where it is first come, first served. Come to think of it we've even run into at some reserved seat events. All I try to do is keep Rene in front of me and extend my elbows out to keep some space between us and the rest of the crowd. It is sad in a way as there was a time where we would be fine with a young child slipping in front but no longer as it just gets looked at as an invitation for them to take over your place. 

It's worse out in the real world.  My daughters have been to their fair share of general admission concerts, so they know how it goes.  Teenage girls are the worst.

17 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

That's why we've stopped going to Disney, and moved out to the country where I deal with more animals than people. The animals have more respect and better manners.

You're absolutely right about that.

15 hours ago, AC in A2 said:

I can't stand the rude people that shove in at the last second before a parade or a show......and calling your daughter what she did showed her lack of class and no doubt taught her own kid to follow in her footsteps.  

I know that people say there are no slow times at Disney anymore but I will still take late January/early February over any other time of year and then time the big parade/show watching during the week......and try to avoid weekends for that stuff.  

On another note.....i think the dancing reindeer are slightly weird lol, but I always love the toy soldiers.

It's really sad.  I mean, who would say "Merry Christmas, B*tch?"  Over nothing.  How low class can you get?  

Holidays and weekends are the worst.  We usually make an effort to avoid situations where we know that guests will behave badly, but every now and then, we wade into a situation that we know will be bad.  Going in knowing that we're likely going to encounter some bad behavior makes it easier to handle.

You are not wrong about the reindeer being weird.  There's one in that stage show who apparently gained the reputation for being "off."

TCD

[djsamuel 322]

Waiting for the 3PM parade, my wife was standing next to a trash can near Casey's.  i was standing a bit further back, and went to use the rest room.  As I came back I saw my wife turn around quickly, but didn't know what happened until afterwards (thankfully). When I saw her move, I said something to her and saw a guy standing there looking somewhat worried. Later, my wife said the man and his wife came up behind her, and the guy pushed my wife into the street and they wanted her spot.  My wife is a lot tougher than she looks, so she stood her ground in a way that I didn't know what happened.  She knew it would not have ended well and hid it.  

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

4 minutes ago, djsamuel said:

Waiting for the 3PM parade, my wife was standing next to a trash can near Casey's.  i was standing a bit further back, and went to use the rest room.  As I came back I saw my wife turn around quickly, but didn't know what happened until afterwards (thankfully). When I saw her move, I said something to her and saw a guy standing there looking somewhat worried. Later, my wife said the man and his wife came up behind her, and the guy pushed my wife into the street and they wanted her spot.  My wife is a lot tougher than she looks, so she stood her ground in a way that I didn't know what happened.  She knew it would not have ended well and hid it.  

That's horrible!  But, sadly, it's the way things are these days.  People can be savages.  As you know, it doesn't pay to reason with these people.  So, the best strategy is to hold your ground and tell them no.  There's no other way.  In most cases, they will move on to some poor suckers who will cave in to their demands.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Is anyone up for some more bonus material?

Good, because I have some.

The last bonus photos were from our quick visit on 12/23.

There was other Christmas stuff that we wanted to see- like the Candlelight Processional at Epcot, and we planned to get back some time before that ended.

Christmas Eve and Christmas were great at the TCD home.  Last year the twins were in California, and we had the first Christmas where we were apart.  That was sad.

This year, Twin #1 had a long break from school, and she was home with us for a couple of weeks.  DD1's vacation policy at her new job is much better than it was at the University of Miami, so she was also home for over a week.  Poor Twin #2 with her four jobs could only manage to get home for two nights, but she was home for two nights, and one of those was Christmas Eve.  She had to go back to work on Christmas day, but she got to spend the morning at home.

As the week progressed, we had more and more things going on that kept us from heading over to WDW.

Finally, the weekend was upon us.  I definitely wanted to see the New Year's Eve fireworks at the MK, but Twin #2 had to work, and Twin #1 had a better offer in the form of a party in Orlando with her friends.  DD1 was already planning to attend a wedding on New Year's Eve.  So, that left Friday, December 30 for the final visit of the Christmas season.

Since the girls had plans that didn't involve me, we drove over in three separate cars.  I left home first, as I had a delivery to make to Twin #2 at her dorm.  She got a new futon for Christmas, which I think is more like a gift for Twin #1, as she will probably sleep on it more than Twin #2 when she crashes there on weekend trips.  DD1 also got a couple of new furniture items for Christmas, so I had a delivery to make to her too.  Since she lives on the other side of WDW, and we were going to stay for the midnight fireworks, the plan was to go there last, and I would get to crash on her couch for the night.

I visited Twin #2 that morning and delivered her futon.  She was going to meet a friend for lunch then go to work, so I didn't stay there long.

I headed over to the MK, and the plan was that DD1 and Twin#1 would meet me there for the 3:30 parade.  This was one of the last days that the Christmas entertainment would be performed at the MK.

Traffic and parking were nowhere near as bad as I expected, and I got to the MK way earlier than I needed to.  But, it was busy, and my main priority was to get us a good spot for the parade, so I stayed right on Main Street.  Even though I am faithfully boycotting Starbucks, it was a cool afternoon, and I caved and got one of their Christmas concoctions, and then found a spot for our parade viewing.  That was not much past 1:30, and there were very few folks sitting along Main Street.  I found a spot near a light post, so I had that to lean against, and I settled in for some nice people watching.  Things were nice and calm.  I didn't expect the girls until around 2:30, but it looked like I would have much trouble saving them seats.

Not 15 minutes had passed when I heard that dreaded music. The darned Move It Shake It parade was coming.  And, suddenly, the uncrowded curbs along Main Street filled in.  I had my backpack and a bag next to me, but I felt obliged to pick them up since the girls would not be here for 45 minutes, and I didn't want to hold that space open for the Move It Shake It parade.  I hoped that the folks who stopped to watch the parade wouldn't stay after it passed.

So here's some photos of the Move It Shake It parade- I hadn't planned for this:

I am not one to talk, but have you ever noticed how old and out of shape the performers are in this parade?  How can someone who has to dance up and down Main Street all day look that out of shape?

No offense.

Hey, there's Judy Hopps:

And Nick Wilde:

They have some odd characters in this parade.  Like Old School Balloo and King Louie:

And Phineas and Ferb:

Note how the CM's are dressed today.  It was a lot cooler today than it was just a week ago when it was 80 degrees on Christmas Eve Eve:

That blue sky we enjoyed last week was replaced by a cloudy sky today:

Hey, hold on- do you see what I see?:

Look closer:

A selfie stick!

How did she get past security with that?

Makes you wonder what else gets past security.

She wasn't exactly hiding it:

Note how much space is still open along the curb- it was 2:27 pm when I snapped that photo.  Last week at this same time, the curbs on both sides of Main Street were already full.  I guess interest in the Christmas parade dies down a bit after Christmas.  I could have arrived an hour later and gotten as good as seats as I had now.  Oh well, you never know.  Plus, that open space meant nobody had to fight me for mine.

It didn't bother me that I was early.  I did a lot of people watching.  This little meeting out in the street caught my interest.  Mainly because I was wondering what was going on here exactly:

My best guess is that those young folks are castmembers.  The way the girl is dressed gives it away.  She is wearing MIckey crocs and her sweatpants were Disney branded as well.  The only thing unusual about this is that today was a day that CM's self entry passes were blocked out at the MK.  That doesn't stop College Program kids from sneaking in, and I think that is what happened here.

Or maybe not.  It's not important.  I was just people watching to kill time.

The girls showed up around now- just in time, as the curbs did start to fill in.

I took an official screen grab of today's weather report:

57 degrees is cold to us.

That's 23 degrees cooler than it was at the same exact time a week earlier.

But, I'm not complaining.

I reckon most of you were a bit cooler on New Year's Eve Eve.

Just like last week, there was a pre-parade appearance by the Kringle Krew:

Twin #1's wish came true, and one of the elves foolishly entrusted her to hold his ball:

The street shenanigans began:

Then there was elf marching:

And elf dancing:

The elves moved on.

A kid jumped out in the street to take an iPad photo of the castle:

There's that CM we saw last week with the Rapunzel hair:

And, then, it was parade time!

Here they come again:

I'll bet you can guess what's coming next.

A bunch more parade photos.

I'll put them all in one update, so you can skip it if you want.

After that, we will be hopping to Epcot.  And then we'll hop back to the MK.

On one of the busiest days of the year.

It's how we roll.

TCD

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Ipads and selfie sticks.......did you slip a "kick me" sign on their backs?

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

3 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

And elf dancing:

I thought leg warmers bunched around the ankles went out in the 80's.  But I am not very up on current fashion trends.

Thanks for suffering through the parades just to get great photos for us!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

19 hours ago, AC in A2 said:

Ipads and selfie sticks.......did you slip a "kick me" sign on their backs?

That's a great idea.  I'll have to try it some time.

17 hours ago, Momof6....aka Marty said:

I thought leg warmers bunched around the ankles went out in the 80's.  But I am not very up on current fashion trends.

Thanks for suffering through the parades just to get great photos for us!

Suffering?

Not at all.  I like to watch the parades- especially the Halloween and Christmas ones.

What's not to like?

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's get to the December 30 parade photos.

We had just done this the week before.

But, there were some things that were different today.

One thing that was different is that they pulled all of the trash cans off of Main Street- they do that sometimes on busy days.  If you go back a page and look at the December 23rd photos, you'll  see trash cans along the curb my photos.  Today, they were all gone.  Well, they weren't gone- they were pulled up toward the buildings. 

You might not have noticed it, but all of the parade photos from December 30th will be trash-can free.

So, here we go- nothing new at the beginning of the parade:

Mickey and Minnie were here again:

And they were followed by the Frozen overload:

The same lady CM was driving Anna and Elsa's sled:

The female Royal Poop Scooper was replaced by a young man:

Olaf:

The dudes on roller skis were there, but I didn't get any good photos of them.  Next came the Ice Cutters:

And Kristoff:

Vanellope and Ralph were both here again:

Gingerbread men:

Goofy:

The dwarfs and Miss White were all here:

Then came the princess float:

Twin #1 was the first to notice that something big was missing here.

She pointed out that there were two new passengers on the Princess Float- look there way in the back and you can see their heads:

That's Cinderella and her prince back there.

What happened to her coach?

I guess it turned back into a pumpkin?

Also note that the sky is blue again.

Not bad.

Another prince and princess float photo:

Here come the toy soldiers!:

But first we have the toys:

Since everyone loves the Toy Soldiers, here's a few photos of them:

The reindeer came dancing along:

Then Santa- who probably was ready for some time off a week after Christmas.

And then the end:

It was 4:03 pm as that last float passed us.

The plan now was to hop over to Epcot.  There, we planned to hit some of the holiday food booths and then line up for the second Candlelight Processional performance.  Truthfully, none of us were looking forward to that hop to Epcot.  On a busy day like this, that could be brutal.  DD1 decided that she didn't want to do it.  She was already iffy about staying for the midnight fireworks anyway, as she had to get up early on the 31st to drive to Jacksonville for that wedding she was going to. Also, FSU was playing Michigan this evening, and she wanted to watch that. So, she decided to head back to her apartment now. 

That left just Twin #1 and I.  We wanted to see the midnight fireworks, and didn't want to hang around the MK until then, so we decided that we would hop.

But how?

I suggested that we look into that express bus transportation they were trying out.  For $15 a piece, we could take an express bus from backstage at the MK to backstage at Epcot, and that would be good for any other hopping we wanted to do that day.  I was kind of interested in trying it, and with just the two of us, it would only set me back $30.

Twin #1 said no way.  We would hop like the pros we are.

I'll let you know what we did in the next update.

TCD

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

I think you should have hopped to the Fort, but I'll forgive you for going to Epcot. 

And I would have thrown up on that dude's shirt. Z probably would have growled at him. 

I think there were only 2 cool days on our trip, and the 30th was the coldest by far. Man, I already miss the 80s.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

14 hours ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

I think you should have hopped to the Fort, but I'll forgive you for going to Epcot. 

And I would have thrown up on that dude's shirt. Z probably would have growled at him. 

I think there were only 2 cool days on our trip, and the 30th was the coldest by far. Man, I already miss the 80s.

I really did want to try and get by the Fort, but I knew that this would be our last shot at the Candlelight Processional and those food booths, so Epcot won.

I thought you'd like that guy's shirt.  I wonder if it comes in red and black?

It did get pretty cold on the 30th, but the temperatures rebounded quickly.  The weather isn't always that nice this time of year-I'm glad you had good weather for your trip.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's wrap up this bonus content.

These are the last of the photos I have from our 12/30 day trip.

And that will be all I have to share for now.

Time for another trip.

We left off with the end of the 3:30 Christmas parade.  It was just past 4 pm as the parade passed us on Main Street.  We decided to follow the parade to the exit.  We were in quite a mob.

DD1 left us here to head to her car and then on to her apartment in Orlando.  I would be seeing her much later that night.

Twin #1 had shot down my suggestion of paying for the express bus transportation to get to Epcot.  She also vetoed my idea of taking the ferry to the Epcot monorail  Her idea was that we would catch a bus to the Beach Club Resort, and enter Epcot via the International Gateway entrance.  That was a genius idea since we wanted to visit one of the new food booths that was located between France and Morocco, and then head on to America. 

So, we headed to the bus for the Yacht and Beach Club.  As we approached it, we saw a good sized crowd was there waiting for the bus.  When we were about to join that crowd, a bus pulled up in the stop next to it.  That was the bus stop for the Boardwalk.  Twin #1 told me that the plan had changed, and we'd go to the Boardwalk instead.  Genius. 

As far as I can recall, I've never taken a bus to the Boardwalk, and didn't know exactly where the bus stop was, or whether this was a good move.  Twin #1 told me that she had-lots of times, and that it would be fine.  I constantly forget that the Twins know far more than I do about WDW now.  They lived and worked here for six months, and went to the parks almost every day then.  And Twin #2 has continued to do that for the past year.

Twin #1 was right, the Boardwalk bus was a good choice.  From the bus stop, we were able to cut through a walkway and get right out to the Boardwalk without having to go through any buildings.  From there, it was a short walk to Epcot.  Along the way, we stopped at the new bakery they have there and got a cup of hot cocoa.  There aren't many days when you want to drink hot cocoa at WDW, but today was one of them.

We headed to the International Gateway entrance and found just a few folks in line in front of us.  After a quick bag check, we saw that they had a passholder line here, and headed right in.  Sweet.

It was 4:58 pm when I snapped this photo from the bridge between the UK and France- I don't recall them having the big globe out in the lake like this before Illuminations- and thought maybe it had something to do with the special NYE ending they would be performing on the 31st:

So, on this very busy day, it had taken us less than an hour to exit the MK and get this far into Epcot.  I don't think we would have done  better with the express bus, as we would have to wait for their scheduled departure, and we would have been dropped off near the front of the park.

From here, it was a short walk to the Alpine Haus booth, which is located in the space where they have the Brazil booth for the Food and Wine Festival.  It was right at 5 pm when we walked up, and the booth was dead- so strange compared to the Food and Wine booths:

Here's the menu for the Alpine Haus booth:

We were here for the fondue.  We've been wanting to try it for a while, and tried to get some during our Thanksgiving trip, but found out that they close the booths down early.  The original plan was to share one order, but we were both hungry, and we were thinking about the sizes of the Food and Wine servings.  So, we got two.

The seating/standing area adjacent to the booth is nice, and was deserted:

They had an informative Christmas tree display around the seating area:

The signs were interesting.  The Christmas Tree is a relatively new tradition:

They had a very nice temporary bar set up next door at Morocco- probably just for NYE and tonight:

Oh, I almost forgot- here's the fondue.  It's hard to tell the size from this photo, but that's one of the large serving plates they use at WDW:

The fondue serving size was bigger than I expected.  The bread was fresh and the crust crisp.  The vegetables were all good too.  This was a winner, and really not bad for $8.00.

Twin #1 pointed out something on the plate.  Take a look- - it has the phrase "If you can dream it, you can do it" printed on it.  It appears that they're attributing the quote to Walt Disney.  Twin #1 said Walt never said that.  I had never heard that, and it sounds like something Walt would say.  But, I've done some research since then, and it looks like Twin #1 was right.  Again.

Anyway, we enjoyed our fondue.  We each ate every bit of it, including the bread.

Then we moved along.

There was something I was interested in trying at the America pavilion, and we wanted to check out the Candlelight Processional situation.

Hey look - actual customers in the outdoor seating area at Morocco.  Weird:

As we walked up to the America pavilion, we realized that the first Candlelight Processional show was still going on.  There was standing room in the back, so we stood and watched:

Cal was actually reading as we walked up.  No offense, but he isn't a very good reader.  He wasn't putting any emotion into it. That surprised me.

Twin #1 didn't know who Cal Ripkin, Jr. was.  I told her about him and that his nickname was Iron Man, and that he had it before all the Marvel movies popularized the comic book Iron Man. 

We watched for a bit.  Look how bundled up everyone in the audience is:

There's always a breeze blowing off the lake, an it felt colder there than it had anywhere else we had been that day.

At this point, we were planning to line up soon for the next Candlelight Processional show, but we wanted to get one more food item before that.

I headed over to the booth that is normally the BBQ booth at the America pavilion for the Food and Wine Festival.  It's not BBQ for the holiday festival.  I didn't get a photo of the menu, but I was here for the turkey dinner.  And here it is:

I think that was $12, and it was a ton of food!

It was really good.  Twin #1 was full from the fondue, so I ate it all, and I was stuffed.

I really hope that they bring these food booths back next year.  But, I have doubts that they will.  Neither of the booths we visited had any customers besides us.  If they try this again next year, I expect that big changes will be made.

This was our view from the seating area at America.  We could hear the big Hallelujah Chorus finale of the Candlelight Processional from here:

Now it was time to line-up for the next Candlelight Processional performance.  We headed to the standby area, and were surprised to see how few guests had lined up.  But, it was a week past Christmas, and Cal wasn't a very dynamic performer.  Plus it was kind of cold there right next to the water.  I guess all of that kept the crowds down.  As we stood there, Twin #1 and I discussed whether or not we were all that interested in waiting for an hour or so to see the 45 minute long show.  We talked it through, and decided we weren't all that interested after all.  So, we skipped it.

That left a big time gap in our plans.  We wanted to be back at the MK to see the last performance of the Christmas stage show, and then to see the midnight fireworks.  That left us with a couple of hours to kill, and we were cold and tired.  We agreed that we should go to a resort to chill for a while. But which one?

We talked that through, and came up with an odd idea- the Contemporary.

It wouldn't be exactly easy to get there, but when we were ready to go the MK, we would just be able to walk,  So, we headed there.

We took the monorail to the TTC, then the resort monorail to the Contemporary.  We got some drinks and then headed up to our secret spot on the third floor  There are always plenty of spots to sit there, and it's always quiet and peaceful.  We both grabbed a couch and chilled. 

They were performing Wishes tonight, and our plan was to skip that and head over to MK after Wishes.

We could barely hear the fireworks going off as we sat in our resting spot.

As the fireworks finished up, I looked up to see two people walking toward us.  One of those people jumped up on the ottoman in front of Twin #1 and started talking to her:

I think that's what you call a magic moment.

Peter told us that he was there to meet a boat which would be docking after the fireworks finished.  So he had to fly.

So did we.

We headed over to the MK.

It wasn't too crazy getting in.

We headed to the hub, and found a viewing spot behind one of the fenced planting areas.  As I mentioned earlier, this area is elevated, and is a good viewing spot for anything being performed on the castle stage.  Our view:

We watched the same show we watched the week before, but this time, there were no savages around bothering us.  The view wasn't quite as good, but it was nice to watch the show without being pushed and called names.

Plus, you could see all the projection effects from back here:

The sound was great from back here- we heard everything fine.  I liked being close to the stage the week before, but this spot was a lot less of a hassle.

After the show, we had some time to do some things before finding a fireworks spot.

We knew that the Hall of Presidents would be closing soon so they can install Robot #45.  We figured we ought and go and pay our respects to #44, so we headed there.  We don't visit here often:

Goodbye #44:

Next up, we headed to the Mine Train.

Believe it or not, I was able to snag two FP+ reservations for us the night before.  So we rode that.

It was only 10 pm or so, but these folks were wiped out and sleeping in the corner of the quick serve seating area across from the Mine Train:

Then we headed over to the People Mover and took a ride.

Next, Carousel of Progress.

I wanted to see those new carports they put up next to Space Mountain, and I found them hiding behind some of those bushes on wheels:

From here we ventured over to the hub area to find a fireworks spot.  It was pretty packed.  We decided to see if we could find a spot in the back of the old FP viewing area in front of Casey's, and it wasn't too bad there.

We watched the fireworks from there.

They were awesome, as usual:

After the fireworks, we cut through the Emporium, and got to Town Square pretty quickly.  They had the snow machines going:

And that was it.

Twin #1 headed over to hang out with her friends.

I headed to DD1's apartment, delivered her furniture, and crashed on her couch.

We got up at 6 in the morning, and we both hit the road.

It was cold that morning!  I had some temperature readings in the 30's as I headed home.

Mrs. TCD and I spent the 31st at home with Rocky.

Happy New Year.

The end.

Really.

TCD

 

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Happy New Year! Thanks for writing the report.

We've had a magical moment with Peter Pan too, but t wasn't that good. I'd love to run into Hook.

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[dblr....Rennie 224]

TCD thanks for another great trip report ( as usual) and may the New Year bring many more trip reports from you and the best to you and the whole TCD Family for a great New Year

[DaveInTN 3,247]

We've had a couple of Pan encounters...one on the dock at the CR as she was waiting for that cruise, and another on the Disney Dream. Both kind of creeped me out to be honest with you.

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