Christmas Holidays

Wordless Wednesday: It’s All in the Details

Nancy Christmas Holidays, Wordless Wednesday , , , , , , 0 Comment

I often feel when I am at Disney World, that I just don’t know where to look first, as there are a seemingly countless number of fascinating visual experiences, all competing for my attention. But I usually find that, if I can stop and take the time to *really look* at some of the most insignificant things, I am rewarded with some pretty cool surprises. Take the Christmas tree at Epcot’s World Showcase: what seem to be, at first glance, just a bunch of Christmas balls, are actually miniature globes, ornaments featuring the national flags of different nations, and my personal favorite, holiday greetings in many different languages. Next time you visit Walt Disney World, make it a point to check out those details: you may be surprised at what you actually find.

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Wordless Wednesday: Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade

Nancy Christmas Holidays, Wordless Wednesday , , , , 0 Comment

A highlight of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in the weeks leading up to Christmas is Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade. Disney does great parades, and this is no exception. Featuring many of your favorite characters in their finest holiday garb, you will also find ice skaters (yes in Florida, don’t ask, it’s that Disney magic 🙂 ), Marching Wooden Soldiers, and at the very end, Santa himself. And there are great holiday “smells” too…. Of course the castmembers are wearing appropriate festive attire too, including hats, scarves, and mittens, bless-their-overheated-hearts. If you want to see the parade, and will be there during Christmas week, you’re in luck because it is held every afternoon. Happy Holidays!

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Travel Tuesday Tales: T-Minus 36 Days and Counting…

Nancy Christmas Holidays, Travel Tuesday Tales , , , , 7 Comments

While our friend Brenda is enjoying her vacation in Walt Disney World, I thought I’d take today to provide a quick update to our Disney vacation planning. We leave for Disney World in 36 days, on December 30…and as always happens when you start planning so far in advance….I can’t believe that we’re about a month away!

I can’t believe it because I have quite a bit to do in the next month for this trip.

Oh yeah. And we’ve got a few holidays sprinkled in there as well. 🙂

First let’s start with an update to some previous plans: Instead of 4 going, there are now just 3, myself, my DH and our DD. So I have had a few changes to make in the past month or so, namely to all of our ADRs, and Candlelight Processional reservations.

I also have been regularly in touch with Disney Vacation Club (meaning *daily*), in the attempt to reduce the size of our accommodations from a 2 BR to a Studio or 1 BR. Knowing how crazy busy this week is at Disney, I’m not holding my breath, but it’s worth the try, so that we can save the points for another trip. (And isn’t that always the case: you start planning your next one before you leave on the current one? Or is that just me…. 🙂  ) In any event, currently we still have a 2 BR at Old Key West for the first two nights, and now have a 1 BR at Wilderness Lodge for the 2nd 2 nights. In addition to calling DVC, I’m also on the waitlist for something smaller, so we shall see what happens.

Now what is done so far?

  • Accommodations (well sort of): check.
  • Basic Disney Dining Plan added: check.
  • Advanced Dining Reservations for all dinners: check.
  • Flights booked: check.

And what needs to be done in the next few weeks?

  • Tickets ordered: To Do!
  • Magical Express contacted: To Do!
  • Parking/transportation to and from airport: To Do!
  • Check park hours: To Do!
  • Any additional tours/meals/events booked: Research, maybe yes, maybe no.
  • Check luggage situation and replace some suitcases: Research, but probably To Do!
  • Check for new comfy walking shoes for me: Oh definitely To Do!!!!

This is, of course, in addition to getting ready for Christmas. Yeah, it’s gonna be a fun month! 🙂

Now you may notice that I don’t really have any itinerary planning on here, and I will say that is a benefit of many trips: for us at this point, we don’t worry about this as much as we would if we were still fairly new to Walt Disney World. Plus, and this is a biggie: there will be lots of crowds, and so we have learned that flexibility will be key during our time there over New Years. We have a few favorites at each park, and certainly know where we will be each evening (we decided that when making our ADRs). Beyond that, once I see the hours for each park, and see when the Holiday events will be ending, then we will narrow it down to which park we’ll go to each morning, and we’ll chat about if there are any Must-Sees for anyone on this trip. That will be about it for itinerary planning for this Disney vacation for us. (Note: it really helps here that we are 3 adults, so no little one meltdowns if we just can’t see something…..)

This weekend, DD will be home from college 🙂  so we’ll have a chance to talk a bit about if there are any extra things anyone wants to do, like doing a tour or something like that. We also need to decide if we want to get Park Hoppers for 4 days or 5, so I can order them from Undercover Tourist. And then I need to call Disney to arrange for Magical Express.

Oh, and before Black Friday, I’ll be looking at our suitcase situation, and my shoe situation, both of which are apparently necessary purchases….

And that will be it then, for a few weeks, as I get ready for Christmas………

…….until I start obsessing about the weather forecast. 🙂

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Making Disney Holiday Magic Affordable

Nancy Christmas Holidays, What to Do at Disney World , , , , , , , 10 Comments

Well it is November 1, and that can only mean one thing: the Holiday Season in upon us, and in fact, from Disney’s point of view, the holidays begin next Monday with the 1st Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party of 2010.

This is the favorite time of year for many, but all that Holiday magic can get a bit dimmed when combined with concerns about keeping costs under control. And when you add in an impending Disney vacation into the mix, well it can get more than a little challenging.

With that all in mind, I am going to use my Monday blog posts over the coming weeks leading up to Christmas, to discuss ways to have a very merry Disney Christmas. I’ll talk about what you can expect at Walt Disney World for the Holiday Season if you will be visiting during this time of year, and how to experience the magic affordably. And I will also share some of my favorite ways to bring Disney into Holiday gift-giving: whether you are looking for something for the Disney lover on your list, or you will be buying Christmas gifts that will be useful on your Disney World vacation, I will give you some ideas for how to make a Disney Holiday Season both magical AND affordable.

So let’s get things started with a quick overview of the many great Holiday happenings at Walt Disney World, and then in coming weeks we’ll explore some of them in a bit more detail.

For anyone traveling to Disney World in the coming two months, prepare to find TONS  of Christmas events and attractions. Decorations abound, characters are in their festive finest, and music, entertainment, and yes, of course, food all combine to make this one of the most special….and popular times of the year to visit Walt Disney World. And best of all, most is free. 🙂 Some of the highlights include:

Magic Kingdom

The centerpiece of the Holiday celebrations is Cinderella’s Castle, decked out in the “Castle Dream Lights” that sparkle, shimmer, and glisten to create a breathtaking sight. Do not miss this. Lit every evening as part of a special ceremony, the Castle Dream Lights are amazing: if you think the Castle is lovely at other times of the year, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. And it is free to see, every night, starting November 8.

In addition to all of the special decorations, Magic Kingdom features Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party on select nights from November 8 to December 19. A “hard ticket” item that requires separate admission, this fun evening event features a showing of  the Holiday Wishes edition of the fireworks, as well as the popular Christmas parade (both of which can be seen….for free…..without attending MVMCP, after the 19th until New Years.)

Epcot

Epcot is probably my favorite place at this time of year. In addition to the beautiful decorations, World Showcase offers some wonderful programs, for no additional charge, as part of the “Holidays Around the World: if you have ever wondered what it would be like to celebrate Christmas in another country, this is the place to find out. Each country shares their most interesting holiday traditions, and many have Holiday Storytellers that highlight some fascinating and fun customs. Look carefully to find Father Christmas in England, Pere Noel in France, and St. Nicholas in Germany to name a few. It is delightful and yes, educational, in a very fun way.

Probably the highlight of the Walt Disney World holidays in Epcot is the Candlelight Processional, a nightly presentation of the Christmas story with a celebrity guest narrator and a huge massed choir made up of professional, college, and high school choirs from around the country. You can reserve a seat by purchasing a Candlelight Processional dinner package for one of the 3 shows each night, or if you don’t want to pay for the dinner package, you can take your chances and wait in the stand-by line. (More about this in coming weeks.) If you love Christmas music, you will find this to be a dramatic, powerful, and very moving experience.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

At Disney’s Hollywood Studios you will find the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, held nightly on the Streets of America. There are literally millions of lights and it is an absolutely amazing experience….and also free. 🙂 The streets can get very crowded however, so if you want to get the most of your visit here, consider going during the nightly Fantasmic show, or at the end of the evening, before the park closes. It is much more enjoyable when you are not elbow to elbow with people!

But Wait, There’s More!

If you still want more parades, then Animal Kingdom has Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade, with all the characters in their holiday finest. Plus, you will want to visit Downtown Disney for the Festival of the Seasons, where you can finish any holiday shopping, visit Santa before Dec. 24, and say hi to Santa Goofy from Dec. 25 to Jan. 4. And then there are the resorts: some of them feature decorations that are attractions in themselves. Of particular interest are the towering trees at Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge, the Gingerbread House in the Grand Floridian, and the Carousel at the Beach Club. Tour the Disney resorts for a fascinating, and free way to spend an entire day!

The Christmas Season is a wonderful time of year. We’ll take the next several weeks to see how amazing it is at Disney World, and find ways to make that Disney magic more affordable for your family this Holiday Season.

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Thrifty Thursday: Get the Idea?

Brenda Christmas Holidays, Thrifty Thursday , , , , , 1 Comment

Something inside me keeps me always on the prowl for new ideas for decorating once I get back home from DisneyWorld. This is especially true about the holiday decorations at the parks; I want my house to look just like them and, darn it, one day I will win the lottery and make it happen.

There is one spot in particular where I can spend half the afternoon enjoying a wonderful creation and dreaming of what my yard could look like. It is the miniature train village by Germany in Epcot’s World Showcase and it is another one of those free treasures that has been fashioned around the notion of adding a little extra magic to your visit. Disney has designed and created a whole countryside made into the landscape with a miniature community and trains running through. There is also a bridge that goes across it for anyone who wants to view it from the middle.

My family loves this charming attraction. I remember the first time we found it how enamored we all were by the beauty of it. It is so well-designed and detailed. I also really enjoy people watching so I love to get a glimpse of children discovering this wonder for the first time. That experience truly adds value to my time at Epcot.

If I had my way, this is exactly what my backyard would look like! Maybe I could convince some Imagineers to come for a visit. In any case, don’t miss out on this awesome creation. If you can’t seem to find it, ask any cast member and they will be happy to help you.

Brenda is a native Texan born and raised on the Gulf Coast. She visited Disney World twice as a teenager and always dreamed of growing her family Disney. She took her first-timer husband and their three children to Disney World in 2000 and they now spend every Thanksgiving there. Brenda writes with a comedic twist on various Disney topics. She will be sharing tips she has learned during her travels and also hopes to enlighten people on little-known freebies that Disney has to offer. She wishes she could have met Walt Disney and considers herself to be a student of Walt. In parallel to his dream it is her wish that everyone would take at least one trip to Disney World in order to share in its magic with their families.

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