For our final trip to WDW in 2016, we chose Vanellope and Ralph from Wreck-It
Ralph for our Magic Band names. This was our fourth trip in four
months! Unfortunately, this is where the streak comes to an end...several
years ago, we managed to visit WDW once a month for ten months in a
row, but four will have to do for this particular streak!
We flew down to Orlando on Saturday morning, picked up our
rental car, and drove over to WDW to check in to our resort. We
stayed at Coronado Springs, which, while not necessarily our favorite, is
one we enjoy because it is beautiful resort and we love wandering around the
grounds during our down time. The rooms are not as elaborately themed as many
of the other resorts, but they are still lovely in their own way! The check-in
area of the main building is stunning - great architecture and at holiday time,
a gorgeous tree!
After dropping our backpacks off in our room, we headed over
to DHS because we had a fast pass for Toy Story Mania. On
our way through the park, we stopped at Starbucks and I decided this was a good
opportunity to get Jessie and Buzz written on the cups with
the intention of taking a photo of the cups in front of the sign for the ride.
As I was trying to take the photo, while C so patiently held up the cups
and tried to follow my ridiculous directions, one of the Green Army Men came
over, took the cups from C, and posed with them for me! All without a word! It
was so cute!
After TSM (of course C not only beat my score, but
earned the best score in the vehicle), we walked through One Man's Dream,
one of my favorite attractions, before setting out on a mission to get a carrot
cake cookie from The Writer's Stop. Imagine our disappointment when we
discovered that the shop had been closed down as part of the park expansion! We
immediately sought out a couple of cast members to ask if they knew if the
carrot cake cookie could be found anywhere else in the park, since The
Writer's Stop had been the only place we knew of where it was available,
and after some discussion, one cast member mentioned the "candy shop"
at the front of the park as a possibility. We knew exactly where he meant, so
we made a beeline for Sunset Boulevard and the Sweet Spells shop.
Much to our delight, we did find the carrot cake cookie, and when we
asked the cast member about it, he said they'd been selling them there for at
least the several years he'd been working there! We had no idea, but
needless to say, we are thrilled they're still available - this cookie is one
of our very favorite things to eat at WDW!
After DHS,
we decided to head over to Animal Kingdom Lodge to see the Christmas
decorations there because they always have a very impressive tree in the lobby.
As you can see, it is amazing! After that, we went to Magic
Kingdom to see the Dream Lights on Cinderella Castle before
continuing along on our tour of Christmas decor at Contemporary, Grand
Floridian, and Polynesian. So beautiful! We also walked past the Wedding
Pavilion, which conjured up so many magical memories for us!
On Sunday, we had breakfast reservations at Whispering
Canyon Cafe over at Wilderness Lodge, which meant not just delicious food,
but a chance to admire more great Christmas decorations! We also wore
matching shirts that I ordered from a shop on Etsy. This is not something
we regularly do, but these were too cute to pass up! We got lots of questions and compliments about them throughout the day, particularly from cast members,
so they resulted in a lot of fun conversations!
After breakfast, we went over to Animal Kingdom to
check out more Christmas decorations and wander around the park. We stopped at
Starbucks to get a drink, and when I told the cast member that the names for
the cups were Mufasa and Sarabi, she looked at me liked I was
insane. Now, MAYBE you don't know Sarabi's name because it is not
mentioned many times in The Lion King. But MUFASA?!? You work
at WDW, in ANIMAL KINGDOM, and you don't know who Mufasa is?!?
I was NOT impressed.
After AK, we drove over to Port Orleans French
Quarter. Not only was the food court recently refurbished and we wanted
to take a look at it, but we could also get beignets, so it was a win-win. I
really like the new look of the food court, especially the hints to the
movie The Princess and the Frog!
After POFQ, we went to Epcot for the rest of
the day. We really like how the pavilions in the World Showcase are
decked out for the holidays, and there are always fun snacks to try at this
time of year. We ended our time at Epcot with dinner at Via
Napoli, which is always delicious, and then walked out of the back entrance of
the park.
After leaving Epcot, we walked over to Beach Club,
another resort that always has fabulous Christmas decor. The photos do not do
it justice, but they have a spinning carousel with the four horses designed to
look like Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy, and a fifth horse decorated like
Pluto as a reindeer! Not only is it completely adorable, but the entire
lobby smells like chocolate because of this display!
Monday morning meant packing up and checking out before
heading to MK. We had an early breakfast reservation at Be Our Guest,
which meant we were able to enter the park before official opening time. As a
result, I was able to get some photos with almost no one around, which was
awesome! If only the crowds were this light all of the time!
After breakfast, we caught the new Muppet show
in Liberty Square, which was hilarious, and then went on Pirates of the
Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Carousel of Progress, and TTA. The
sun finally came out and we had such a fun morning before heading home!
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