On Sunday, December 6, 2015 we started our day early by having an 8:45 AM breakfast reservation at Tusker House at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  At this character breakfast buffet, you are visited by Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Goofy in their Safari outfits:

After breakfast I decided to rest as later this evening I will be attending another Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party!

This day in Walt Disney World didn’t start the way it was originally planned.  First for some reason my alarm didn’t go off and I ended up sleeping until 8:30 which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Everyone knows that Disney vacations can be intensive and I’m the type of person who is on the go constantly so I have been fairly tired. So a little extra sleep on vacation isn’t a bad thing.

We decided to get quick service breakfast at our resort which was pretty good but the wait was a bit long. I had a fast pass to the 11:00 AM showing of Indiana Jones and so I got to the Contemporary bus stop at around 10 AM thinking it would be in more than enough time. Well it turns out the monorails were down and they were bussing people to Magic Kingdom and the Transportation & Ticket Center (for EPCOT). So the bus stop was a zoo.

I decided to change my fast pass times and go back and rest in the room until they sorted this out. Instead I got a fast pass for 11:55 The Great Movie Ride and for the 2:00 PM show of Indiana Jones.

By the time we got to the bus stop around 11:15 it was much more calm and we got to Hollywood Studios in no time at all.

We used our fast pass for The Great Movie Ride.

  
After the attraction I saw that Dinosaur Gertie’s was open so I got an ice cream cone!

  
We then were able to get into the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.

   
 
They had us enter through the left hand side and actually walked us on the stage and to the middle of the theater to enter the seating area. 

    
   
 We then boarded the Friendship boats and sailed to the Yacht & Beach Club where we got off and walked the rest of the way to EPCOT. At EPCOT we had dinner reservations at the Garden Grill which included the Candlelight Processional dinner package. Since our dinner reservation was at 4:05, we literally had met every character (Farmer Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Chip & Dale) before our server ever came to the table. 

   
    
 
Because we had met all of the characters so early they actually came to our table a second time and posed for pictures a second time which is rare.

Since we had ample time before the Candlelight Processional we took our time walking around World Showcase.

In England we stopped to listen to British Revolution which is always great. I also took some pictures of the Christmas decorations.

As we continued walking around World Showcase, as we got to the Japan pavilion at around 5:45 PM we saw the line for the Candlelight Processional had already started and even if you had the dinner package, the line was already long for the 6:45 show. So we got in line and did the waiting game. They started letting us in to the theater around 6:20 PM.

  
 Our guest narrator was Whoopi Goldberg, who I have seen narrate before. 

   
 
It was a long trek back to our resort as the parks were quite crowded and the lines at the monorail stations were intense. After we returned I walked around the Contemporary a bit taking pictures.

   
   
And I got to watch the electric water pageant which was a nice way to end my day.

Since I was out late last night with the Christmas Party, I slept in a bit Friday morning. I got on a bus to Hollywood Studios around 9:45 AM as I had a fast pass for Toy Story Midway Mania for between 9:30 – 10:30. I got to the attraction around 10:20 so I made it in time!

  
After Toy Story I walked over to Sorcerer Mickey’s new meet and greet location which is where Jack Sparrow had been. There was no line and I walked right in.

  
Santa Goofy is now where the Backlot Tour cue had been (and recently where Sorcerer Mickey had been).

  
The line was fairly short so I hopped in line even though I saw him at the Christmas Party the night before.

  
I then headed to the area outside of the Chinese Theater and met with some characters.

  
Next I used my fast pass to go on Star Tours: The Adventure Continues.

The sequence was Millennium Falcon in hanger, follow Millennium Falcon to Jakku and through the crashed ship, hologram from BB8, Jango Fett at Geonosis, Darth Vader & Death Star and the Rebel Alliance cruiser with message from Admiral Ackbar. This was the first I’ve seen the scenes added from the Force Awakens. Interesting to have all three trilogies of movies kind of mixed together.

I then broke for lunch at the ABC Commissary where I had salmon with broccoli and cous cous, a bottle of water and a BB8 lemon cupcake.

   
 
Along the streets of America I stopped and bought both of the Osbourne Lights shirts: green long sleeve and red shirt sleeve which is passholder exclusive.

It was then time for Lights, Motors, Action. The set was decorated a bit for Christmas.

After the show I walked back over to the Star Tours area and what had once been “Sounds Dangerous” is now “Path of the Jedi”:

The movie covered the history of the Jedi with an emphasis on the Skywalkers of course but ended with an extended trailer for the Force Awakens.

The Star Wars Launch Bay was where I headed next and I got in one for the Darth Vader meet and greet with the Chase card. You can tell the cast are still new to the Launch Bay as I was given wrong directions where to go by a cast member.

Darth Vader talked today which is something he didn’t do when I saw him the other day.

At this point I headed back to the resort for a bit to recharge. Here is the Christmas Tree from Hollywood Studios:

After a short break I headed back to Hollywood Studios and attended the Holidays Happen Here dance party. It is a dance party with a DJ, dancers, and characters dancing. The first batch of characters were Chip & Dale, Pluto, Stitch and Baloo all of whom were wearing holiday scarves. Then the rarer characters came out: Genie, Bolt, Robin Hood and Sebastian. They didn’t have photographers and you could take pictures of them and try for a selfie but they didn’t pose for you so this is the best I could do:

   
   
 
It was then over to the Streets of America to see the Osborne Spectacular of Dancing Lights. This will likely be the last time I will see this since it has been announced to be the last year for this amazing display.

   
    
   
After watching the lights, I took the path from Hollywood Studios to the boardwalk area. I went to the Beach Club to look at the Christmas decorations including the gingerbread carousel.

Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party officially begins at 7:00 PM but many of the festivities start at 4:00 PM. Therefore I got to Magic Kingdom by 3:15 PM and waited at Tortuga Tavern which is one of three locations where the wristbands for the party are distributed.

Immediately upon getting my band just before 4:00 PM I headed to the Frontierland pin store where I purchased the complete set of the exclusive pins for the Christmas party as well as the passholder pin and shirt. 

  
 Next I went to the Emporium where I purchased the Christmas party exclusive shirts (red is long sleeve and green is short sleeve) and this year there is a Christmas ornament that is exclusive to the party as well. 

  
The next stop was to the Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom stand in Liberty Square where I got the card that was exclusive to the Christmas party. This year it features Olaf.

  
I started walking into New Fantasyland and there was a photographer standing outside of Voyage of the Little Mermaid with no one in line. Therefore I stopped and got a picture and asked for the Sebastian magic shot.

And then the character hunting began:

The first line I got in was for Jack Skellington as Sandy Paws. The line was already fairly long for how early it was as there were about twenty people ahead of me. Cast members were on hand to check for party wristbands and they announced Jack would not be signing but handed out presigned cards.

  Jack came out at 5:00 PM. He was very talkative and interactive so it took about 15-20 minutes for me to see him. 

  
Since I was done so early I headed to the line for the Seven Dwarfs. I had about 15 people ahead of me which wasn’t too bad.

It was raining off and on during the over hour I waited. They came out at 6:50 PM to cheers and applause from the large crowd that was in line for them. 

  
Next I walked back to Storybook Circus and got in line for Scrooge & Donald, Minnie & Daisy and Santa Goofy.

   
 
I headed over to the Winnie the Pooh area but the line was closed so I moved over to the outdoor Prince & Princess area which is  Auroura & Prince Phillip and Snow White & her Prince. The projected wait time was 45 minutes.  Well it turned out to be a little over that because as I got close (4th from the front) they went on break. Then it started raining and that put them on a delay but they did come out.

To dodge the rain I headed to the Princess Fairytale Hall and saw Rapunzel with Flynn Rider and Cinderella with Prince Charming.

    
 
By the time I got out of the Princess Fairytale Hall the rain had subsided. I made my way over to the other side of Fantasyland to the Neverland Map. I got in line and was one of the last people allowed in line to see Peter Pan and Wendy.

I then got a picture with the green Christmas ball which is in Liberty Square. This was followed by a picture with the elf and reindeer by the red Christmas ball which are in Adventureland.

It was then on to more time in Adventureland. I first saw Aladdin as Prine Ali and Abu.

After Aladdin and Abu went back, Jasmine came out but without Genie. Genie had been out earlier but they said he had to do the fireworks. 

I attempted to see Mary Poppins and Bert but the line was capped so I went in and got in line to see Mickey Mouse.

  
So I spent the entire party time getting the exclusive merchandise and character hunting. I didn’t see the parade, fireworks or any of the shows. I did get to see all of the characters except Winnie the Pooh and friends, Mary Poppins & Bert, Tinkerbell, and Genie. 

I will be attending the Christmas Party one more time before I leave so I will focus on doing things I didn’t get to do tonight then.

After having breakfast at 1900 Park Fare, I headed back to the resort for a bit before embarking on a day at the Magic Kingdom.

First in the agenda was to play a portal of Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. I am currently on Main Street USA and today’s portal was the one inside the shop that sells the art.

I then used my fast pass for Under the Sea: Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

   
   
Ariel’s grotto had only a 15 minute wait so I decided to wait in line to see the little fish. The wait turned out to be more like 30 minutes but it was worth it to see Ariel.

  
Next I used my fast pass to go on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. 

   
    
   
I then headed over to the Neverland Map area and got in line to see Peter Pan again. 

   
After flying back from Neverland, I walked by the Haunted Mansion which had a posted 15 minute wait so I got in line. 

  
 It was then time to use my fast pass for the Jungle … err … Jingle Cruise. It is the Jungle Cruise reimagined for the Holiday Season.

   
    
   
I decided to head back to the resort to rest for a bit before Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. On my way out I had to buy the Mickey Mouse Elf popcorn bucket:

On the morning of Thursday, December 3, 2015 we had 8:00 breakfast reservations at 1900 Park Fare. This character meal is in the Grand Floridian.

   
We got to the Grand Floridian early so we could look at the Christmas decorations including the Gingerbread House. 

   
    
 
The Grand Floridian has a beautiful Christmas trees and decorations:

  
   

Today at 1900 Park Fare the characters were Mary Poppins, Mad Hatter, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Snow White. Normally Snow White isn’t part of the breakfast but Alice is and the waitress sai Alice would be here but Snow White came outside instead which was a nice surprise.

After spending the morning at Disney’s Magic Kingdom, I headed back to the resort and got organized a bit. We decided to resort hop a bit and we took the monorail to the Pokynesian Village resort. I took pictures of the Christmas lights and decorations and then we are at Captain Cook’s where I had a lobster roll with chips and a brownie. We were quite full so we headed back to the resort with our desserts in hand.

  
I decided to head to Hollywood Studios where I immediately headed to the brand new Star Wars Launch Bay. I had a great time including getting pictures with Darth Vader and Chewbacca, a selfie with a Jawa and I got to the see the Star Wars documentary type film they have in the launch bay. I even bought the BB8 stein.

  
As I was walking out of the Launch Bay it had started raining so I got a bit wet heading back to Bay Lake Tower. Because of the rain, we decided to leave early for our dinner reservation which was at 7:05 PM at the Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom.

We took the monorail from the Contemporary to the Magic Kingdom. It was fairly crowded at Magic Kingdom, probably because there were extra Magic hours until 1:00 AM.

We had our dinner at the Crystal Palace where we met Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore and Winnie the Pooh:

On the afternoon of Wednesday, December 2, 2015 I went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Immediately, I went back to Star Wars Launch Bay which had just opened the day before, December 1st. 
  
There are two lines when you enter Launch Bay. To the right you enter the building that was formerly the Art of Animation building. There they have replicas of Star Wars items on display: 

   
    
 
Also in this area are the meet and greets for Darth Vader and Chewbacca. If you have a Disney Chase Visa you have your own entrance for Darth Vader and it is much quicker than his normal line:

   
 
Both characters are interactive as you hear Vader breathing and Chewie roars and laughs. The cast members are in uniform and ask for your identification device (magic band) when you have your picture.

There are even characters roaming around like the Jawas although they don’t have forms meet and greets or photographers:

  
There are also video game consoles where you can play video games:

  
As you exit there is a room with Star Wars: The Force Awakens replicas:

And the very last room is a shop that has mostly high end items like storm trooper armor:

  
On the other side of the Launch Bay is Launchbey Theater which had a 30 minute wait this date. 

While in line you are surrounded by artist prints and movie posters:

   
    
 
The Star Wars Launchbay Theater was a movie that was about minutes in length.

  
The movie was a behind the scenes documentary type movie that features Kathleen Kennedy, J J Abrams, the director of Episode 8, director of Rogue One, Dave Filoni and others from Lucasfilm and Disney. It talks about how Stad Wars touched so many and how Star Wars will be around for decades to come.

The room where the movie is housed empties into the rest of the launch bay starting with where the meet and greets are.

Outside of the area where the Launch Bay is the popcorn / snack stands are selling sodas in either a BB8 or Chewbacca stein. Popcorn can be purchased in a Darth Vader Helmet or in a Tie Fighter bucket:

  
Overall I was pleased with Star Wars Launchbay and can’t wait for Star Wars Land.

Wednesday, December 2, 2015 was our first full day in Walt Disney World. I had fast passes for Magic Kingdom so that is where I headed first.

The lines were pretty long at bag check and upon entering I went to the Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom portal by the Emporium and defeated the villain. I then walked to Liberty Square and got my daily allowance of cards for the game. As I walked through Frontierland, Chip and Dale were out in their Frontierland outfits and the line was fairly short so I got a picture:

  
It was then off to Adventureland where I had a fast pass for Pirates of the Caribbean. I was seated in the front row and as I sat down I got wet from the water already in the boat so I knew that didn’t bode well. And I did, in fact, get pretty wet during the drop and cannonball shot. 

  
Walking back through Adventureland toward Frontierland I decided to head in to see the Country Bear Jamboree since I haven’t seen it in some time. 

The show was pretty good. I know some don’t care for it, but it was fun.

  
I then walked toward Fantasyland. I have said it before but with the Nee Fantasyland expansion the princesses got a lot of exposure but poor Rapunzel only got a bathroom.

   
It was then time to use my fast pass for Peter Pans Flight.

This is truly my favorite attraction in all of Walt Disney World.

  
I had time before my next fast pass so I walked to New Fantasyland and into Storybook Circus and decided to visit some friends at Pete’s Silly Sideshow.

  
  
I then did some window shopping at Momento Mori by the Haunted Mansion. 

  
It was then time to use my fast pass for the Haunted Mansion. 

  
There was a Disney photographer outside the Haunted Mansion taking photos in front of the Mansion. I stood in line and he had everyone do a standard pose and then a pose where you were to look frightened so I’m guessing there is a magic shot.

I then got in line to meet Peter Pan. He was scheduled to come out at 12:15 and by 11:30 the line had already started and by 11:45 it was already fairly long and wrapped around the rope. 

  
 I was hungry by this time and decided to head back to the resort to get ready for lunch. 

December 1, 2015 marks our first day back in Disney for our annual December trip.  For this vacation, we are staying at Bay Lake Tower and the Contemporary Resort. Hands down this is my favorite resort in the Disney Vacation Club.

Our day started very early as we got up at 2:15 AM so we could get the shuttle from the hotel to the airport. Our flight was at 5:30 AM with a 5:00 AM boarding time. Our flight was without difficulty and we boarded a Disney’s Magical Express bus right away. It was about 10 AM when we got to the Contemporary and we were in our room before 11:00 AM. Our wait for the room to be ready wasn’t bad and it gave me enough time to get our refillable mugs and to buy the Christmas 2015 shirt. The gift shop didn’t have my size so I used to shop Disney Parks ap to scan the tag and buy one in my size. It will be shipped to my resort by tomorrow which is great.

After settling in to the room, I decided to head to Magic Kingdom. At the Magic Kingdom I stopped to get my picture in front of the Christmas Tree on Main Street USA. 

After some window shopping in the Emporium, I walked around Adventureland as I thought my next portal for Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom was there. It turns out my next portal was at Main Street USA so that’s where I headed and after getting my new challenge, which is to stop Cruella Deville with the help of Pongo, I went to the firehouse and got my daily allotment of cards. 

I then headed back to Bay Lake Tower and when I had arrived our luggage had arrived. So I spent some time unpacking and getting settled before heading to the monorail to Transportation and Ticket Center to go to EPCOT.

My time in EPCOT was great. After taking pictures of the Christmas decorations, I got a picture with Pluto near Spaceship Earth. I then did some window shopping at Mousegears before using my fast pass for Mission Space. I did the orange team mission.

After Mission Space I stood in line for the DVC Merry Member Mixer. While waiting I got to hear the Canadian Holiday Voyagers.

The DVC event was good. They had exclusive pins which I bought and then they had a voucher for a treat for which I got a Rice Krispy Treat stocking. Also had hot chocolate. There were three character meet and greets: Mickey & Minnie in Christmas outfits, Lilo & Stitch in Christmas outfits and Donald & Daisy in Christmas outfits.

After the event I used my fast pass for Soarin’ and because I was a single rider at the time, I got taken out of line and right to the next boarding since it had room for just one more rider.

Since Captain EO is closing on December 1st, I went and watched the show for maybe the last time. It was then time for my fast pass to the EPCOT Character Spot where I had pictures with Mickey, Goofy and Minnie. 

I then waited in line in Innoventions for the Chase Visa character meet. As of today, December 1st, they no longer give you the voucher for the photo print. You just get a digital copy. I still had my voucher from my October trip. The cast member gave me a little lip but did print me my picture from October. The only reason I didn’t use it in October was because the photos weren’t uploading so they said they would honor it in the future.

It was now going on 7:00 PM and I was beyond exhausted so I decided to head back to the resort before dinner. 

Dinner was at Chef Mickey’s which is always fun. One difference is the statue of Chef Mickey at the entrance where you got your picture taken is gone. Pluto was standing there instead. Otherwise all was the same.