TikiTwinsFamily Plus Christmas (Delayed) Trip Report

[TikiTwinsDad]

First. Let's put the rest the rumors of my demise. Wait...there weren't any rumors...that was Kanye West? Oh well. I'll try to make up for the delay with a pic-filled report. I had an "old year's resolution" to substantially complete this report in 2009 and I just beat my own deadline.

The holidays and illness have been interfering with my grand plans since our return, but finally, here is a trip report for our 11/28 to 12/5 extended family trip. Here’s some background. This was our first trip with extended family. TTM and I had gone many times as a couple and then we made three trips with the twins during their first 3.5 years (never mind my third trip didn’t come until I was 15 and TTM’s until she was in college). On this trip we had:

Me – TTD – playing the role of dad and chief itinerary keeper
TTM – TikiTwinsMom – playing the role of mom and keeping the itinerary keeper in line
TTB and TTG – TikiTwinsBoy & Girl – the aforementioned 3.5 year old twins
TTGM – TikiTwinsGrandMom – last on a trip to WDW a few years ago at Christmastime
TTGP – TikiTwinsGrandPop – the other part of the grand matching set
TTA1 – TikiTwinsAunt #1 – unattached younger sister of TTM who hadn’t been to WDW in a decade and never at Christmas
TTU – TikITwinsUncle – TTM’s younger brother and the baby of that family who also had the same WDW profile as TTA1, but did work a summer at the Breakers and spent one day at the MK a few years ago.
TTA2 – TTA2 – the youngest adult on the trip and wife of TTU, though I was a teenager when she last made a trip to WDW, she was just a kid <sigh>

Everyone except TTU & TTA2 departed from Philadelphia airport very early on the morning of 11/28. TTM & the kids and I had spent the night before at the PHL Hilton, because we knew we’d have to get up at 3:45 AM otherwise. That was a sound decision, but the Airport Hilton needs to get some queen size beds. The twin beds just weren’t cutting it for someone whose as “healthy” as I am. The kids love staying in a hotel and this was the first trip they would not be sleeping in separate pack ‘n’ plays. That went pretty well there was only minimal goofing off and disputes over who was stealing whose covers. Thank God they were tired.

We met up with TTGM, TTGP and TTA1 at the airport. Our flight to Orlando was somewhat uneventful. The twins were glad to have the rest of the family there to keep them entertained and so were we. TTU and TTA2 were coming from Denver. Originally they were to arrive about 25 minutes after we did (around 10:50 AM), but some last minute flight changes meant they wouldn’t be in until much later.

So, we hopped on Disney’s Magical Express and off we went. This was the first time we did not have to stop off to check in so it was a breeze. It’s also the first time in a while we got a “real” DME (not Mears colored) bus with the video. We were on our way to the Villas at the Wilderness Lodge! I believe we were the 2nd or 3rd stop after the Polynesian. While there, we all waived to Daddy’s tikis.

Despite staying at WL many time, we had never had an extended stay at Christmas (2 days after New Years 2004).

Here we are arriving


We arrived in the WL lobby around noon. It awe-inspiring for everyone. Just beautiful at Christmas.



We had done online check-in, which was painless. Not surprisingly, the room was not ready. So, we signed up for the text message – another first for us and a heckuva lot better than calling the number periodically. We headed down to Roaring Fork to eat. TTB loves pinecones and loved this wreath on the way:

After lunch at the Fork,

we headed down to the boat launch to go to the Magic Kingdom. Almost as soon as we arrived, TTB fell asleep.


So, TTG and the rest of the family hit a couple of attractions while I waited. TTG went on Haunted Mansion (as she has done in the past), but this would prove to be the last time she would agree to that on this trip.

I had time to take in the new façade work at iasw and the village haus that was being worked on during our trip in May. Thought it looked great. I was also able to better understand the “castle wall” concept that is part of the Fantasyland attraction as there really is an extension of the castle wall out here that I hadn’t noticed.

This reminds me that we did not see any other overt evidence of construction on Fantasyland during our trip, but, then again we never go to Toontown Fair (why start now when it’s going to be rightfully and thankfully demolished), so there could have been something we missed (we did take the train on the Grand Loop though).

We then had a seat in Frontierland to watch the Celebrate Dream Come True (or whatever it is called now) parade. We hadn’t seen this particular incarnation of the parade, which is by now old and tired, but the TTs enjoyed it. I wish we could get some new floats, though.

[TikiTwinsDad]

While watching the parade, we got the text message that the room was available and the Denver portion of our trip was arriving at the hotel. So, we went back to the room. The room looked great. We even had three towel animals and a bow/ribbon of dish towels in the kitchen.








We were taking the second bedroom with the TTs. TGM and TGP got the main bedroom and TTA1 had the pullout. She said it was quite comfortable and really was a breeze to fold up. Our first experience with that. TTU and TTA2 got the studio.

During online check-in, I had requested to be “near transportation” As there were only 3 rooms further from the transportation than us, I wonder where we would have been had I not put that request in! Anyway, this wasn’t a big deal at all. We were on the third floor and the studio was 2 doors further down. The view didn’t really matter to us, but it was a view of the access road (dumpster?) below.

[TikiTwinsDad]

Dinner was set for Whispering Canyon Cafe. We alwayshave fun there. This time was a little more subdued. We were seated in the back (beyond the wall and close to the fireplace). There are only a couple of tables back there and it’s generally pretty quiet. Here’s we are dining:



Everyone was fairly tired already and we had a big week ahead so we didn’t mind. Only a couple of us got the skillet, but everyone enjoyed what they had. Particularly the bottomless milkshakes which was a first for us. The strangest part of the whole dinner was – after several of us ordered a Yuengling – our server asked what part of PA we were from. We are from the far suburbs of Philly. A pretty small area. However, of course, when we told him, we learned he married a girl from that area who actually graduated high school with TTA1 and was a cousin of girl TTM and I graduated with. Truly is a small world. We hit the hay after that.

[dcatlet1]

Love the pictures of the parade! Can't wait to see it in a couple of weeks. How is WL right now...and the parks for that matter????

[TikiTwinsDad]

A note about our schedule. I made up – as I usually do – a fairly detailed itinerary. We were hopping all over the place. We had ADRs almost every day for everyone and people were encouraged to do whatever they wanted, but 95% of the time they followed our itinerary. Anyway, on Sudnay 11/29 we were scheduled for an 8:15 AM breakfast at Crystal Palace and then some time at the MK.

There was a bit of a hiccup when we got to the boat launch and didn’t realize that the boats don’t run to MK until 45 minutes before it’s opening (seems strange to me to use the bus instead). We did catch a small boat to the Contemporary and then did the walk from the Contemporary to the MK. We had never taken that walk and it took longer than expected, but we arrived pretty much on time. At least now we’ll know where the walk is when we spend 3 nights of our May trip at BLT.

We love the breakfast offerings at CP and it didn’t disappoint on this trip. The character interactions were good as well and I think it set the tone nicely – particularly for the “young couple” (TTA2 and TTU not the twins) on the trip to meet some characters.

The twins with eeyore:


The “kids” with tigger:


After breakfast, which took a little longer than usual, it was off to Fantasyland. The park had been open for about 15 minutes. Dutiful parents that we are, it was right for Dumbo! TTM and I managed not to ride Dumbo on this entire trip. Everyone else got to ride, though.










The wait was about 15 minutes. While waiting in line Drizella, Anastasia and Lady Tremaine came by and I managed to have a nice insulting interaction with them (it ended with them telling me to “look in the mirror” when I commented on how ugly they looked this early in the morning). I love villainous face characters.

After stopping off to try to pull out the sword in the stone with TTU…


We also hit a couple other TT favorites - the Cinderella’s Golden Carousel and it’s a small world (the twins managed to ride that 5 times on this trip I think, though I was only subjected to 4 of them).

[TikiTwinsDad]

We got some space mountain fastpasses and then traipsed over to Frontierland to do some rides while we waited. So, the adults finally got into the act. Shockingly, the twins were tall enough to go on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder. They did not ride Splash Mountain, but I managed to ride it and I hadn’t been on in since their birth. I managed to stay dry, too.

We talked over riding Big Thunder with the twins and decided to give it a try as it is a relatively tame coaster and themed to a train – we called in the “fast train.” You forget just how fast, and unfortunately for our light-loving daughter, dark, it can be. They were real troopers and came out relatively unscathed, but you could tell they didn’t enjoy it too much. We told them that all they need to do is tell us if they don’t want to do something or if it will be too fast or too dark. I think they got it. Nevertheless I was proud that this was the first ride with a height limit they had been on.

Space Mountain was a “blast.” It certainly was a lot darker and I thought smoother (though not smooth) than the previous version. I enjoyed it immensely and the reconfigured queue was great. Looking forward to trying it again. We didn’t buy the new photo, but here I am (with video camera going in the front seat) along with TTM and TTA2.



It was much later than anticipated. Took a while to accomplish some stuff in the morning. So, we decided to head on over to the Animal Kingdom and forego a break. The twins would have to sleep in the stroller. TTB did that in the afternoon and TTG did it a little later on when we got to the AK. At the AK we went for Everest. TTM had never ridden it and she managed to get on it and loved it. The moon was almost full on this night, too, and we are really at the AK at night so I managed to get off a couple of good evening shots.








After the AK, we were heading over the AK Lodge to have dinner at Boma. TTGP and TTGM hemmed and hawed at the Boma menu beforehand as they are not adventurous eaters, but we convinced them to give it a try. I think they ended up liking it. I know the rest of us (including TTB) did.


We were pretty hungry and tired and the wait was pretty long about 20 minutes past our ADR, but we still had a good time. Here’s the Boma tree.

And people (other than us of course) enjoying their meals

[TikiTwinsDad]

Last but not least I stopped into Zawadi Marketplace to get a new AKL shirt as I had spilled paint on the one I had purchased just 6 months earlier. I thought the Christmas decorations were pretty amazing.



After dinner we knew we wanted to go see the Osborne Lights because it was DHS extra magic hours. I was a little apprehensive about crowds because of that, but there was no need to be. That extra time really helped. We had not seen the dancing version of the lights and they were spectacular, of course. I think everyone felt very “Christmassy” after our trip over there. The TTs in particular had a great time trying to catch the snow.





After a very successful first full day that saw us in 3 parks and 2 resorts, we went to bed. The pace was brisk, we’d slow down as the week went on.

[jrbdad]

Ryan-

Great pics -- glad to "see" you again!

[TikiTwinsDad]

On Monday morning (11/30), it was right back to DHS. We wanted to be there for rope drop to get at least 2 rides (FP and non-FP) on TSMM. They had a very abbreviated rope drop ceremony to the one we were used too, which was fine by me. We were the only ones who had ever done this attraction. Everyone enjoyed it the second time through we had a quite a lot of downtime though. Probably one stretch of at least 5 minutes where we didn’t move. TTM and I set new personal highs and I had the high score of the trip, though I am by no means a champion (side note: I did get the Wii version for Christmas – woohoo!) I was called out by Mr. Potatohead for the second consecutive trip as well.

Here’s the Christmas view down Sunset Blvd…


After a couple of more attractions at DHS (Playhouse Disney Live for us, ToT for the others), we headed out to have lunch at Beaches & Cream. We enjoyed a nice walk over to the Beach Club from DHS. No one else had done that before, but we really like that walk. B&C is a family fave. It’s hard to get a party of 9 in, but after about a 40 minute wait we did get seated. No one in our party ordered a Kitchen Sink but at least 3 other parties did eat it (or at least order it).




We then went over to the Beach Club and Boardwalk to check out there Christmas displays, which were spectacular as usual.

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Great start to the trip report!