Trip Log:

Started off the morning with a 6am wake-up call and we were off to Osprey Ridge by 6:30am for our 7:30 tee-time. After golfing we headed back to Port Orleans and grabbed a bite to eat and a shower before going to the Magic Kingdom.  Walked down Main Street USA and turned into Tomorrowland.  Grabbed a Fastpass for Buzz then went for a spin on the People Mover.  Walked along the walkway that goes along the train track and into Toontown.  Strolled through Toontown, did not see the Turkeys (are they still around?) and into Fantasyland.  Walked around a bit then grabbed a Fastpass for Peter Pan and continued on into Liberty Square.  Walked along the River for a while, stopped to listen to a trio near the Country Bears exit and then turned into Adventureland.  There was no line so rode Pirates and then the Jungle Cruise before heading back through the hub and into Tomorrowland.  Took a spin on Buzz and then roamed through Fantasyland and back around to Liberty Square again.  Found a spot to watch the Castle lighting then grabbed a quick hot dog from Caseys as Wishes was starting.  Watched the show then hopped the Ferryboat to the TTC and a bus to the Studios.  Strolled down Hollywood Blvd taking some pictured and went to the Big City Streets and spent some time viewing the Osborne Lights.  Around 8pm as the park was closing headed for EPCOT.  Due to crowds at the boat and bus stop we hiked over to the park.  It took about half and hour to make it to the American Gardens stage and the Candlelight.  After the show finished the loop of the World Showcase, stopping at Mexico for the boat ride and then found a spot for Illuminations.  After the show joined the herd and headed for the bus and back to Port Orleans to call it a night. 

Thoughts & Observations:

• Osprey Ridge is still in good shape, but it was sad to look over to the couple holes you can see of Eagle Pines and see the Golf course die. No construction has started on the site, even though the course closed in July. I was talking to a couple of the CMs and they echoed my comment about watching the course die. They said there was a delay with the surveying, I guess when Disney de-annexed the land they had to re-survey it for the county. I still do not understand why Disney did not put the Four Seasons development somewhere else on the property and keep these two great courses running.. also I always thought it was a good catch-phrase to say 99 holes of golf... soon it will be back to the original 63 holes which just does not sound that good... guess they could start counting the 72 miniature golf holes!
  
  
• The Castle holiday lighting package I thought looked pretty good. During the day it really does not interfear with your shots too much and it does not look as "tacky" as Disneylands, but I give a slight edge to Disneyland for the distance shots because of the snow. At night I think its a draw. The short snow show that Disneyland puts on a couple times a night is a great little plus but the lighting with the characters down in Florida is a fun show too. I think the Disneyland Castle looks better up close at night but the shear size of the WDW one is impressive and approaching by boat it looks great!
  
  
• I was really disappointed with the Magic Kingdom's holiday offerings again this year. To start things off the Country Bear Christmas show did not return this year (two years in a row now so it may be gone for good). I am also bugged by the fact that you get to experience very little of the Christmas offerings unless you pay and go to the after hours party. There is no Christmas parade, no Fireworks, limited decorations, no castle show, and no show in Tomorrowland unless you happen to be there the couple days around Christmas or on a select day when they run one of them. I can understand having special events and entertainment for the party but what about the rest of the public who pay the regular $71 a day to get into the park, don't they deserve something too vs the same shows and parades that have been around for years? I did take the time to drop Disney an email about this because it really did bother me.
  
  
• Since the Magic Kingdom closed so early we headed to the Studios. As we arrived at the Transportation and Ticket Center bus area we were greeted by a crowd of people waiting for the Studios bus. This was a disorganized crowd, not even a line really. A bus showed up and they had to load a couple of ECVs (they could only take 2 but there were 4 or 5 in the crowd). The CM driving the bus was slower than slow and then she started to load the bus.. it took us a good 15 minutes to load. There were two other Transportation CMs who were taking the bus and they just stood there watching the slowness, they could have helped strap down the ECV or something you would think. The bus ended up taking only about half the crowd too. I thought this was very poor and one of the worst bus experiences of the trip.
  
  
• Once we finally arrived at the Studios we headed for the Osborne lights and spend some time roaming the Big City Streets and looking at the displays and watching the dancing lights. This year they seemed to have more/different songs for the dancing segments. I did not notice anything else really different than last year.
  
  
• After the lights we decided to head over to EPCOT. The boat line was backed-up nearly to the Christmas tree, I figured it was at least 2-3 boat loads of people. The Bus line was nearly as bad probably 2 busses only, so we decided to hike. Even including a stop to watch a group of bell ringers (not really sure what you call them) at the Boardwalk we still beat the first Friendship boat from the Studios to EPCOT.
  
  
• Caught the last 2/3rds of the Candlelight Ceremony. Its still a great show, but I think the Disneyland version is much more impressive in its venue and I enjoy many of the arrangements more. I still think the Voices of Liberty play too big of a part in the EPCOT version.
  
  

Pedometer Information for the day:

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