The Christmas Trip - Take 2!

After some much needed sleep, I was ready to take on a full day of the Parks!  On the morning To-Do-List was Animal Kingdom.  Mom's least favorite Park in AK, but I love it!  It has a completely different feeling than the other Parks.  I just feel relaxed there - maybe because of all the trees and lash landscaping.  I convinced Mom that we had to go so she could get the full Christmas at Disney Experience!

The Christmas trees at each Park are absolutely amazing and you really need to take sometime to soak in their beauty.  The ornaments are ridiculously huge and so intricate.  Overall, Animal Kingdom does not have as much Christmas decorations as the other Parks, but there is a ton of garland with more ornaments.

One of the things on my Bucket List has to go on a Safari in Africa.  But after going to AK so many times, I've decided I wouldn't be any better than the Safari there.  I probably take too many pictures of the Animals every time I go, but they are just so cute and close!

Flights of Wonder is a bird show that I had never seen until last summer.  Frankly, it just didn't sound interesting.  I was so wrong!  It is an amazing show.  It's probably about 25 minutes, but the birds put on quite the show during that time.  While we were there, Mom noticed that Isabella Rossellini was also enjoying the show.  I still am not sure who she is, but she was the Celebrity Narrator for the Candlelight Processional the night before so she was enjoying the Parks as well.

Isabella Rossellini in the black also enjoying the Birds after the Show.

After our Safari and bird adventure, we stopped at Flame Tree Barbecue for lunch.  FTB is a little gem of a "counter-service" that has been featured on Food Network before.  They have great chicken and baby back ribs for about $10 dollars.

The 2nd Park of the day was Hollywood Studios, mainly for the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.  First, we had to take in Toy Story Midway Mania.  I think this is the most fun ride at Disney World.  I might also say this because I have only been beat once on this ride - and that was a fluke!

The Osborne Family Lights are actually from a family in Arkansas. The family's display got so large that Disney World offered to display the light show for them.  (I think their neighbors were very happy).  The light show is indescribable.  There is about 5 million lights that light the Streets of America!  Almost every single inch of the buildings are covered in strings of light.

The bottom of the Christmas tree before dark!

What Mom didn't know - I didn't know to tell her - is the lights come on all at the same time, so it is literally like sensory overload...Imagine, 5 million lights turning on all at the same time! You can stand and everywhere you look is overwhelming, not to mention that the lights are all choreographed to Christmas music.

After enjoying the lights, we headed to dinner at the Captain's Grille at the Yacht Club.  Honestly, I was impressed with this restaurant at all.  There are so many good places to eat in the World, that this will not be on my "repeater-eater" list.

Mom at the Polynesian before we headed to Magic Kingdom

Magic Kingdom was having Extra Magic Hours the next morning - a benefit of being a Resort guest - so I wanted to be there a little before the Park opened.  I just like being there early!  And this is why...Look there is no one there!

We headed to Tomorrowland to do Buzz Lightyear - 3 times in a row!  After that we went to see what the lines were like in Fantasyland and surprisingly we were able to basically ride everything mainly by walking onto the rides.  It was amazing.  It was sort of like we had the Park to ourselves!  The benefit of going during in the "off-season"!

Because we got through MK so quickly, we decided to forgo a counter service at MK and head to Downtown Disney to eat at Wolfgang Puck Express (for the 2nd time in 3 days!).  WPE has quickly become a go-to counter service for us and it is very gourmet food and a cheap price!

EPCOT was on the agenda for Sunday night.  While we were in Disney, All Ears.net was having their 15th anniversary celebration.  If you have never used allears.net, I suggest you go.  I use it ALL the time!  I mainly use it for the menus.  They have basically every menu for every restaurant in the World.  Whenever we are planning a trip, we use the menus to help use decide where we want to eat.  All Ears was having a bunch of parties throughout the weekend, but I was not able to attend because they were sold out.  I was convinced though that it would be magical enough if I would run into Deb, the founder of the website.  I follow Deb on Facebook and Twitter so I am fan.  As luck would have it, walking from the back of our hotel to EPCOT, guess who I ran into?! Deb!!!  She was very gracious to take a picture with us and talk to us for awhile.

A couple of pictures in EPCOT.  One of the cool things that EPCOT does is celebrate Christmas in all of the countries their tradition way.  I really wanted to walk "Around the World" and immerse myself in their customs.  Well it actually was a lot more time consuming than I thought, plus alot of the shows were showing at the same time.  But we did get to take in three...

 Los Tres Reyes Magos in Mexico

The Tradition of Julenissen in Norway - my favorite!  

China didn't have a Christmas story, but we did get to take in the acrobats.  And they were amazing!  

Another Gingerbread House.  This one in the American Pavilion 

Sunday night was probably one of the one that I was looking forward to the most for Mom to see because it has moved me so much in the last 3 years...The Candlelight Processional.  The Candlelight Processional tells the Birth of Jesus complete with a symphony orchestra, a huge choir - made up of Disney Cast Members - and a celebrity narrator.  It really reminds you the Reason for the Season.  The Processional is so popular, it shows 3 times a night, and you have to wait in line for hours sometimes to get a seat.  Unfortunately, it started raining...well pouring...when we got in line, but that didn't stop us from waiting or the hundreds of others.  After about 45 minutes, we got seated - in an outdoor seat - for the event.  The celebrity narrator for the night was Neil Patrick Harris.  Frankly, I wasn't all that excited about him.  The first time I went, Steven Curtis Chapman was the narrator and he was so sincere.  But the fact of the matter was that it was The Christmas Story with Christmas Carols, so you couldn't mess it up.  

Fireworks to top the night off.

Our last day, I wanted to do something different and new.  Even when we, I, go multiple times a year, I try to do something new.  Monday was the Yuletide Fantasy Tour, a tour that only is done about 6 weeks out of the year.  The premise is to get a Behind the Scenes tour of decorations in the Parks.  But mainly why I wanted to do it was because they take you to the Warehouse where they store all of the decorations.  That' right - ALL of the decorations.  For every Park, every hotel, AND the Cruise Line, and the Vacation Club properties in Vero Beach, Hilton Head, and Hawaii.  It is awesome to see.  The organization is unbelievable and a crew of about 20 work year around to maintain, create new ornaments and decorations, and store them.  It is something that you sort of have to see to believe.  

Unfortunately, our trip came to a close.  While it seemed to go way to fast, we had a blast.  It was a great Christmas present for my Mom!