2014 WDW Holiday Trip

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finngirl's picture
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Oh Zz, I'm so sorry. Sending you bighug

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Ohh I am so sorry for your loss! bighug

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ZapperZ wrote:
Hey everyone,

I haven't finished with posting on this trip report yet, and intend to continue soon. It has been a tumultuous few weeks. I had to go out of the country unexpectedly over the holidays because my dad was not doing too well. A couple of days ago, just a week after I came back home, he passed away.

I'm doing fine and just need some time to get back into the spirit of things.

Zz.

So sorry Zapper. Thinking of you. sad

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Zapper,

So sorry to hear of your loss.

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bighug

Sorry to hear this. Take your time.

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Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your father Zz. My deepest condolences. bighug

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Sending hugs xxx take care xxx

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My sincerest sympathies for your loss Zz.

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I'm so sorry for your loss sad

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Please accept my condolences. It is always tough to lose a parent, even when it is expected.

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My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I'm so sorry for your loss.

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Zz, so sorry for your loss of your father, prayers for you and your family!

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I'm so sorry to hear about your father, Zz. Keeping you in my thoughts. bighug

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Thanks for the condolences and sympathy, everyone. I truly appreciate them. This is just one of those things that just need time.

In any case, I'd like to get back to happier thoughts and continue with this semi-aborted trip report.

During this trip, just like last year, we went to the Wilderness Lodge and Campgrounds in the evening just to look at the holiday decorations made by the guests staying there. And we weren't disappointed. So here are a few samplings of what we saw.

We arrived at the homestead in the early evening.

We had dinner and by the time we were done, it was already dark and time to walk around to look at the holiday decorations.

There were definitely a lot of Olafs in this year's decorations.

cont....

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... cont.

The highlight of the evening was when we encountered the electric cart parade. We missed the first couple of minutes of it, but stayed on to watch the rest of the parade. Some of these carts were highly decorated and impressive.

We would have stayed longer to look at more of the decorations, but it was getting late, and it was getting awfully chilly. So we left. But this has become something we look forward to doing each time we visit WDW during the holidays.

Zz.

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Spook's picture
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This is high on my to do list next time we do a holiday trip. I didn't know about the cart parade, how awesome is that!

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That looks so great!!!

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This post has a sub-topic called "I have wonderful friends".

While on this trip, we found this box of Haunted Mansion ornaments:

Unlike the previous Haunted Mansion ornaments that I mentioned already in this trip report, this one is rather special. It is a limited edition ornament set (LE 2000). It looked like they were very meticulously made, packed in a rather plush box. Plus, the set costs more than $100! Not only that, the Madam Leota ornament also GLOWS! It was awesome and I wanted one.

Still, we have a friend who loves the Haunted Mansion attraction and merchandise, and she had a birthday on Jan 1st. So the 5 of us pooled our money and bought her this set. I would have loved to have one of these as well, since we all know that I also collected Haunted Mansion stuff, especially if there are the 3 Hitchhiking Ghosts, but I didn't say anything since we were already buying this for this friend of ours.

Since I had to make an unexpected trip over the holidays, I wasn't around to see the gift being given to our friend (I did do a nice gift warp before I took off). The week after I got back, I had a few friends over for a small party, and lo and behold, the hubby and a few of my friends surprised me with another set of this very same ornaments for my birthday! It turned out that a couple of my friends bought another set while we were there while I wasn't around. It was a very pleasant surprise, and certainly helped me to quickly get out of my emotional funk at that time. The entire set looks even more spectacular when you open the box and examine each ornament carefully. Unfortunately, by then, we already were taking down our holiday decorations, so this will be saved for next year.

The thoughtfulness that some people show can often be quite overwhelming.

Zz.

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Karma Zz you sound like a jolly nice guy and your friends obviously think so too x

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Sally-Ann wrote:
Karma Zz you sound like a jolly nice guy and your friends obviously think so too x

I'm not that nice, but thanks for saying that. Smile

Here are a few additional photos of the munchies we got during our Afternoon Tea at the Grand Floridian. This has turned into something we thoroughly enjoy on our visits, so we will probably continue doing that whenever we can.

We actually celebrated a birthday of someone in our party during our afternoon tea. We preordered a cake and had that along with our tea service. It was a fun time.

Zz.

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During the DVC Annual Meeting, we had a reception right afterwards. Besides drinks and snacks, we also had a meet-and-greet with Lilo and Stitch. So this is a picture of us taking a picture with then. Notice Stitch being highly amused with my "Fish are food, not friends" t-shirt. And I don't now what Chuck was talking about with Lilo, but he was giving it a thumbs-up.

Zz.

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Aww how special is that Haunted Mansion set! Very cool! The golf cart "parade" looks awesome and tea looks fabulous, I have always wanted to do that! Maybe when my daughter gets a little older we can do a Mommy/Daughter date in Disney.

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Allie wrote:
Aww how special is that Haunted Mansion set! Very cool! The golf cart "parade" looks awesome and tea looks fabulous, I have always wanted to do that! Maybe when my daughter gets a little older we can do a Mommy/Daughter date in Disney.

She will be perfect to have the "My Disney Girl's Perfectly Princess Tea Party".

Quote:
This fantasy-come-true showers young princesses with the royal treatment"plus a special visit from a Disney Princess.

Royal Revelry
Young princesses and princes are regaled with music, dancing, storytelling and more at this unforgettable, courtly tea.

"Rose Petal," a magical rose from Aurora's garden, has come alive to host the party, leading a special princess parade, storytelling and sing-alongs. At this stately celebration, Princess Aurora herself may also make an appearance, so be sure to bring your cameras and autograph books!

Encouraged to dress as their favorite Disney Princess, young royals sip apple juice "tea" and feast on heart-cut peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, ham and cheese sandwiches, grapes and Princess Cake.

Children must be accompanied by an adult, and the price reflects the individual cost per Guest for both one child and one adult. Additional children and adults are also welcome to attend at an extra individual charge per Guest. Adults can enjoy an extensive selection of traditional and herbal teas and dine upon a selection of cheeses, tea sandwiches (such as egg salad and chicken salad sandwiches), grapes and lavosh.

Regal Gifts
Each young partygoer receives exciting gifts as keepsakes of this storybook morning.

Princesses receive:

A special 18-inch My Disney Girl doll dressed in a Princess Aurora gown plus accessories
A princess tiara
A silver princess bracelet
A princess necklace
A fresh rose
A special princess scrapbook page "Best Friend" certificate for their new My Disney Girl doll

Each young prince who attends will receive a princely sword and shield, a plush Disney bear and a "Best Friend" certificate.

If you do this, promise that you will take tons of photos!

Zz.

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Oh my gosh, adorable! I will definitely have to do that someday! She is 18 months right now and is already a HUGE princess fan.

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Just catching up...

I'm very sorry for your loss, Zz. bighug

What a cool Haunted Mansion set! I love the ear ornaments. awesome

We've talked several times about trying the Tea at GF and it certainly does look enticing from your photos! Maybe on our next trip it's time to stop talking about it and make some room for tea time.

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Trip Reports:
December 2013: 10th Anniversary, 1st DVC Stay | April 2014: Birthday on the Boardwalk | May 2014: Star Wars Weekend, Navigating WDW with a wheelchair | August 2014: Villains Unleashed | September/October 2014: MNSSHP, F&W, Tower of Terror 10-miler | March/April 2015: Disneyland and California Coastal Cruise | November 2015: Wine & Dine Half, Food & Wine, 1st Disney Cruise | February 2016: Presidential Classic Gymnastics Meet | March 2016: "Work" Trip, Tours, F&G Festival | April 2016: Conference at Disneyland | Fall 2016: Festive Fall Fun | January 2017: Festival of the Arts | May 2017: AbD Backstage Magic | July 2017: AbD San Francisco | Sorry I had to give up doing trip reports. Too many time commitments right now.

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alicemouse wrote:
Just catching up...

I'm very sorry for your loss, Zz. bighug

What a cool Haunted Mansion set! I love the ear ornaments. awesome

We've talked several times about trying the Tea at GF and it certainly does look enticing from your photos! Maybe on our next trip it's time to stop talking about it and make some room for tea time.

Thank you, alicemouse.

For us, the best time to do the afternoon tea is on the day that we either have a MVMCP or MNSSHP. That way, we can eat something, and be reasonably full before heading out to MK for the evening and not have to waste time looking for food to eat.

Of course, hundreds of other people also thought of the same thing, so reservations are usually difficult to get on days when those two events are being held.

Zz.

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So, am I the only one who has been having either slow connection or no connection at all to this forum lately?

Anyway, here are a few photos from the Festival of the Lion King at their new theater that we attended during this trip.

Thematically, the new location in Africa certainly matches quite a bit more with the show. I believe there are planning to have a lot more things going on around that area in the near future, since I've heard of quite a few expansion plan, including a marketplace, for that location.

Zz.

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ZapperZ wrote:
So, am I the only one who has been having either slow connection or no connection at all to this forum lately?

No Zz you are not the only one with connectivity issues and Kristen posted about it recently. Brad is working on the problem and they should be hopefully diminishing very soon, in fact I think they are getting better as I sit here and type. crossfingers

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ZapperZ wrote:
So, am I the only one who has been having either slow connection or no connection at all to this forum lately?

Zz.

Here's the link to the PSA I posted earlier this week
http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/forum/walt-disney-world-grown-ups-connectivity-psa

Brad made some changes on Tues/Wed and we're hoping that will make things better.

~K mickey