The Long, Awaited Trip Recap! Day 1

I am sorry to keep you all waiting on my Trip Recap from December.  So without further ado, let's go!

My Mom and I flew down on a Friday morning. We stayed at Disney's Beach Club Villas.  This was our first time in the Villas, but not our first time at the Beach Club.  The Beach Club is wonderfully decorated with a Gingerbread Carousel being the center of attention.

 This is a "mini" castle, that is just a "side" decoration

 A cute little gingerbread man

You can't see the Carousel very good, but you can see it's taller than us!

Our first official Christmasy outing was Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party.  The Party doesn't officially begin until 7 pm, but attendees can get into the park at 4 pm.  I wanted to take Mom to see the Gingerbread House at the Grand Floridan before hand so we left a little early, as to not miss any of the action at the Magic Kingdom.

If you go at Christmas (or anytime for that matter), the Grand Floridan is a place not to be missed!  At Christmas, it boasts the largest Christmas tree in the hotels and then there is the Gingerbread House!  When you walk in the GF, the smell of Gingerbread hits you like a ton of bricks.  

Walking into GF

The amount of poinsettias at WDW is ridiculous!  

Simply spectacular!  

The Gingerbread House is almost 2 stories

And inside is a little store!   

The view from the 2nd story!  

So after showing off the Grand Floridan, it was time for the Christmas Party (MVMCP).  We got there about 5ish.  I would recommend getting there early so you can get your money's worth out of the whole night.  MVMCP is a "hard-ticket" event, meaning that your theme park ticket will not get you in.  It is a little expensive, about $60, but well worth it.  I suggest going to it on a day that you don't use a theme park ticket.  I wanted to go early so we could ride the rides before the party actually started.  

We did the rides we wanted to do and then we ate at Pinocchio's Village Haus.  I love to eat there because (if you are lucky) you can get a seat by the window overlooking "It's a Small World."  The menu had been revamped and was very good.  I had Chicken Parmesan and Mom had Spaghetti with Meatballs.  It is a great Counter Service if you are on the Dining Plan.

One of the things that I had missed in the prior two years of attending MVMCP was the Lighting of the Castle so I wanted to make sure that I was there to witness it.  It was great.  The characters were all there and the Fairy Godmother lit the Castle.  Seeing the Castle turn into a Sparkling Icicle is a must-see!

The characters are dressed up in their Christmas attire so we made our way to stand in lines to get all our Christmas pictures with them.  We may have been the oldest in the lines, but who cares!  

During the Party, there are two parades that are exclusive to MVMCP, with the fireworks in between.  Since it was getting close to parade time, Mom and I decided to go get some complementary cookies and hot chocolate and a spot for the parade.  We have a "secret" little hideaway were we watch the parades so we found our way there and basked in the Disney, Christmasy goodness!  After the parade was over, Mom decided that she wanted to walk up Main Street to watch the fireworks so we would be close to the front to go see Minnie and Mickey.  {Discloser, because of the Fantasyland Construction, the characters are much more spread out all over the park and therefore it's hard to get in all of the characters in one night}.  I was a little reluctant, but I finally resigned myself to it.  What a GREAT decision, Mom!  We stood at the very front of Main Street for Holiday Wishes and then quickly walked over to Town Hall where Minnie and Mickey are stationed.

NO ONE was there!  NO ONE!  They rushed us right into the man...Mouse...himself!  Just us and Minnie and Mickey!  It was great!

Since there was no wait, we decided to go and see the Princesses - they were in the same building.  And no one was there either!  They escorted us in and we had a fifteen minute one on one session with Snow White, Aurora, and Rapunzel and their Princes!  It was quite a Disney miracle.  It totally made our night.  They were so personable and not at all in a hurry.

Rapunzel was the Best!  

All of the sudden, all the Princesses and Princes joined in for one priceless picture.  You just don't see that in Disney very much! 

We were very pumped after our victory of Character sightings that Mom decided that she had to see the Parade again!  Well it was getting towards midnight and since we had been up since 5 AM, I was getting tired.  But this trip wasn't about me, so I agreed.  We stood right in the circle of Main Street and had THE best view of a parade ever!  It was so worth seeing the parade again.  

Well after a very long day, we were ready to call it a night!  

Sweet Disney Dreams!