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Trip Log:
Left the room around 8:30am and boarded a bus to the Magic Kingdom. Arrived on Main Street at 9am rope drop. Took a stroll through Adventureland thinking of trying the Jingle Cruise but the line was to the tree house and nearing an hour so passed through to Frontierland and walked through Liberty Square. Haunted Mansion was longer than my patience so continued on to Fantasyland and went for a cruise on it's a small world. Once back wandered around Fantasyland and through the Castle. Decided to venture into Tomorrowland for the Peoplemover. It went down while we were in line. Walked by the Speedway to the back of Fantasyland and visited Ariel and friends at the Little Mermaid. Continued on around Fantasyland and back through Liberty Square. Caught the band marching by then the 50th Cavalcade. It was nearing 11am so stopped by Grizzly Hall to listen to the Country Bears. After their performance returned to Tomorrowland and went for a spin on the Peoplemover. Once back decided it was time for lunch. We took the Monorail to the Contemporary and opted for the Contempo Cafe. After lunch checked out the Lobby and then hopped back on the Monorail and took it to the Grand Floridian to see the Christmas decorations. Circled the lobby then returned to the Monorail and took it to the Transportation and Ticket Center. Transferred to the EPCOT. Once at EPCOT made our way out to World Showcase and walked around starting with Mexico. Stopped by China to see the Lion Dance and then walked through the Shanghai Disneyland exhibit. Continued on around World Showcase wandering through the countries looking for Olaf and watching some of the entertainment. Caught the Beauty and the Beast sing a long in France and then stopped by the UK and listened to the Piano player for a while then finished the loop. Walked through World Celebration to the front of the park and watched the lights on Spaceship Earth for a while. Decided to grab a snack from France and then head back to the room to pack up. Caught a Friendship boat back to the Boardwalk. After an hour break returned to EPCOT. The wind was blowing toward the south (American Adventure) so I walked around to the other side and ended up stopping in front of the gift shop on the east side (closer to Mexico). It was not roped off today so stayed there to watch Harmonious. After the show worked my way through the crowd and back to the International Gateway and the Boardwalk to wrap up my final night.
Thoughts & Observations:
- Started my last full day at the parks heading to the Magic Kingdom. We had no real agenda this morning so took our time and arrived at the park just about the 9am rope drop.
- As we were walking into the park noticed the guest relations line to the right of the front entrance had overflowed its queue and was going down the walkway toward the Contemporary.
- Took a walk by the Jingle Cruise and quickly turned as the line was back into Adventureland again.
- Decided to take a cruise on it's a small world. The line moved quickly until we were about to board. We were held as as an accessible boat pulled in. There was one cast member on the exit side trying to move the parties onto the two boats. This process was painfully slow and the cast member really could have used some help. The guests and their parties were not making it easy on him as many were not prepared. You would think if you were the 3rd or 4th group you would see what is going on and be prepared. This backed up the entire attraction.
- Our bad Peoplemover luck continued with the attraction down the first few times I took a look at it.
- While walking through Belle's Village in Fantasyland noticed they did not decorate the area at all this year. In year's past they at least had a couple strands of garland.
- Belle was out visiting with guests but in a very awkward way. She was in the queue for the Enchanted Tales with Belle and a good distance away from the nearest guests.
- The Country Bears were not scheduled to open until 11am, 2 hours after park opening. This seemed really late to us. We were in line for the first showing along with a number of guests. The cast member working the entrance let everyone know a cavalcade was coming and you had time to go outside and watch it before they were going to open the theater doors. About 2/3 the crowd took them up on the offer and stepped outside.
- The Magic Kingdom crowds continued to swell so we decided to head to the resorts for lunch. Ended up at the Contempo Cafe. We found a table out of the way to eat and had a nice meal. Unfortunately my burger was overcooked, but other than that a good meal.
- The 4th floor of the Contemporary had very few Christmas decorations up, basically just the shops. No gingerbread this year.
- I went downstairs to check out the lobby, I had not seen it since the remodel. It looks great! I still think its interesting the lobby is history of the resort and Mary Blair and the hallways/rooms are Incredibles.
- Next on our resort tour was the Grand Floridian. The Christmas decorations in the lobby looked to be on par with previous years. The gingerbread house and tree looked great. The house this year has some touches for the 50th.
- Arrived at EPCOT just after 2pm and spent a couple hours checking some items off my to see list. The park felt crowded for a Monday afternoon.
- Stopped by France to watch the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along. I am not a fan of it. The concept is ok, but it really seems an awkward fit in France at EPCOT and listening to the guests try to sing along was rather sad. I wish they would run Impressions de France more than an hour a day.
- Wrapped up my Olaf quest filling in the ones I missed the other visits. I thought it was a fun quest and would have been great for my nephews. The Olafs were in spots that were accessible to kids.
- Decided to grab a snack from the bakery in France, not sure why after less than stellar experiences this trip but I did anyways. This turned out to be the worse one of the trip. The line was long and fairly slow moving again. Then the cast member I drew to help me had a hard time understanding me and seemed very distracted. When it came time to ring me up I saw the green message but he insisted the card did not work and made me swipe again. Then was baffled by the receipts that came out, eventually handing me one. I really thought he double charged me but I did not have access to to view my transactions. Then to top it off they were out of butter and the cast member showed zero interest in trying to locate any! I ended up going to the Boardwalk Bakery to pick up butter and then back to the room to eat. I checked my card transactions and he did double charge me. Unfortunately I did not have time to go back and deal with it this evening so I lost the money. This really frustrated me but I really should have argued more when I was there or gone back.
- I did return to EPCOT right before Harmonious to watch it one last time this trip. I ended up behind Disney Traders just off show center. The view was decent for the screens and center projections but the lasers were not really visible from this angle. You could see them but could not really make out many of the effects. The audio was not great either, but better than other locations I had tried this week.
Pedometer Information for the day:
| Steps |
26,822 |
| Miles |
12.6 |
| Moderate | 20,080 |
| Walking Time |
181 |
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Part I: Magic Kingdom
it's a small world, Country Bear Jamboree and Peoplemover
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Part II: Contemporary & Grand Floridian
Stopped by the Contemporary to see the Christmas decorations and remodeled lobby then the Grand Floridian to see the gingerbread house.
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Part III: EPCOT
A Monorail ride to EPCOT then stroll around World Showcase looking for Olaf and Entertainment.
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Part IV: EPCOT
My final evening in the park concluded with Harmonious at EPCOT
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Addition Blog Picture Posts from today:
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