The TCD Gang Jump Starts Christmas: An Early November Fort Trip Report

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

Robin Hood! We just watched that movie last week.

 

Glad you got to see your favorite band.

 

TSMM FP+=winning! 

 

So we should see Big Hero 6? We're really behind with our movie watching. I blame football season. 

[dvccamper 32]

I'm thinking I need to make a reservation for Trails End for breakfast.

In your TOT picture the little boy in the back row looks like he's crying his eyes out.

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

We need to go see Big Hero 6.

We opted to go see Interstellar that night.

[Beckers 1,136]

I'm thinking I need to make a reservation for Trails End for breakfast.

.

Yes, yes you do. The French toast bread pudding is awesome.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Caught up.

Great pix and updates.

[Memphis 105]

Don't know how I didn't see this latest update until now.  I must be slipping.  Good job on the TSM FP. Don't think I'm going to call them FP+ anymore as the + seems to have faded. Disney really makes you to work for the magic these days. You didn't get your cart until after midnight?  Sure hope you didn't have to pay for that day.

 

It's great you girls can still enjoy Disney even after working there.  I have gotten pretty cynical just having APs for the past few years.  I fear that I wouldn't even be able to watch a Disney movie if I went behind the curtain to work for the mouse.    

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Robin Hood! We just watched that movie last week.

 

Glad you got to see your favorite band.

 

TSMM FP+=winning! 

 

So we should see Big Hero 6? We're really behind with our movie watching. I blame football season. 

 

I was never a fan of Robin Hood. I was 12 years old when it came out, and I remember going to see it with my family in the theater.  It made me not a Disney fan for a long time.  I don't think I've ever watched that movie again.

 

LOL- my favorite band.  There is no justice in the World.  Epcot canned all of their entertainment, but these guys keep on playing every single day at Hollywood Studios. 

 

Yes, it was good that I was able to get Toy Story FP+'s.  It wasn't that hard to do.

 

Yes, you should see Big Hero 6.  It's a Disney movie with no princesses.  Z needs to see one of those.  You can wait until after y'all win the SEC Championship game to see it.

 

I'm thinking I need to make a reservation for Trails End for breakfast.

In your TOT picture the little boy in the back row looks like he's crying his eyes out.

 

Yes, you need to go to Trail's End for breakfast.  There's nothing fancy, but there's a lot of good food.

 

Good catch about that boy in the back row.  You're right. There was a scene.  I don't judge parents in this situation, and forgot about it, but it was bad.  That mom and two boys were standing off to the side when we were being assigned our places for the elevator.  The CM went over to see if they were ready, and then put them in their spots.  The smaller boy clearly didn't want to go on the ride. The mom insisted.  It was an awkward situation for the CM.  And for the rest of us.  That kid cried the whole time, and was mad at the mom at the end.

 

As I said, I don't judge.  I've been involved in a few situations like that.  The first was a long. long time ago.  My oldest daughter was probably 4, and my sister came to visit with her two daughters.  One is about a year and half older than my daughter, and the other a year younger.  We all decided to go on pirates. The line was longish.  We waited about 30 minutes, and were near where you board when the oldest girl started to cry and said she was scared of the skeletons and the guns.  Her little sister joined in.  And, to my surprise, so did my daughter.  All three girls were crying and saying they didn't want to go.  The thing is that my daughter had been on the ride lots of times by then, and she liked it.  But, she was right there with her cousins bordering on hysteria.  I told my sister that there was nothing to be afraid of, and that her girls would be fine.  So, we told the girls we were going to ride, and that was that.  Big mistake.  They cried the whole time.  Even my daughter, who wasn't really scared.  It's a famous story in our family.  About how I made the girls ride a ride they didn't want to.

 

We need to go see Big Hero 6.

We opted to go see Interstellar that night.

 

I thought about seeing Interstellar, but I hear it's confusing.  I got lost in Star Wars, so it's probably not for me.

 

Yes, yes you do. The French toast bread pudding is awesome.

 

That's true.  It's that praline sauce that puts it over the top.

 

Caught up.

Great pix and updates.

 

Glad you're caught up.

 

Because we're about to move on.

 

Don't know how I didn't see this latest update until now.  I must be slipping.  Good job on the TSM FP. Don't think I'm going to call them FP+ anymore as the + seems to have faded. Disney really makes you to work for the magic these days. You didn't get your cart until after midnight?  Sure hope you didn't have to pay for that day.

 

It's great you girls can still enjoy Disney even after working there.  I have gotten pretty cynical just having APs for the past few years.  I fear that I wouldn't even be able to watch a Disney movie if I went behind the curtain to work for the mouse.    

 

Yeah, I didn't get the cart until after 1 am.  I got a text that it was ready to be picked up as we headed to Downtown Disney, but we didn't get back to the Fort until after 1.  I don't want to go into the situation too much here, as there may be Disney spies reading along, but everything worked out fine.  It was a big mix up, and I think it was the guests who I picked up the cart from who caused the problem.

 

I used to think like you do about not wanting to see behind the curtain.  I kind of still don't.  But, the girls are in the utilidors and other backstage areas every day. The things they have seen.  Even so, they love Disney even more than they did before they started their College Programs.

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Where is the gate that was closed?  Is it under the upside-down car?

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Where is the gate that was closed?  Is it under the upside-down car?

 

Yes.  That's exactly where it is.  I never even knew there was a gate there.  The entire entrance into the attraction was closed off there.  They weren't letting anyone back there.  Even the gift shop and restrooms were closed off.

 

As I mentioned, one of the CM's told my daughters that the ride had never even opened that day.  But, they were still issuing FP+'s for it that morning, and they didn't bother to give guests any notice that it was down prior to their FP+ return times.  And, they were still saying that it might re-open that day, but the way things looked, I think that was a lie.

 

TCD

[momof3kids-Yvonne 594]

DH would get irked at me when I would not force my kids to go on rides. My two older ones were a bit hesitant to ride things when they were younger. The youngest was a daredevil. When we would go to Worlds of Fun in K.C., Steve would always tease DS that they were going to go on that flying bungee type thing that costs extra. He knew DS would say no. Well when Jessica finally reached the 48" mark and could ride it he told her they were going to go on it. He was not expecting her reply. She removed her hat and sunglasses and gave them to me to hold. DH kept trying to point out how tall it was. I am not sure if DH was afraid of the ride or the extra money that was coming out of his wallet. In the end he rode it with her and as DS didn't want to be shown up by his little sister so he went on it too. They all loved it!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

DH would get irked at me when I would not force my kids to go on rides. My two older ones were a bit hesitant to ride things when they were younger. The youngest was a daredevil. When we would go to Worlds of Fun in K.C., Steve would always tease DS that they were going to go on that flying bungee type thing that costs extra. He knew DS would say no. Well when Jessica finally reached the 48" mark and could ride it he told her they were going to go on it. He was not expecting her reply. She removed her hat and sunglasses and gave them to me to hold. DH kept trying to point out how tall it was. I am not sure if DH was afraid of the ride or the extra money that was coming out of his wallet. In the end he rode it with her and as DS didn't want to be shown up by his little sister so he went on it too. They all loved it!

 

Cute story.  The reluctant kid thing is a difficult issue.  As parents, we mostly know what our kids will like and not like, and it can be frustrating when a kid is being irrational.  But, the right thing to do is not to force them.  That's hard to remember in the heat of the moment.  Especially if the kid chickens out after a long wait in line.  A kid who is crying and carrying on isn't going to like the ride, even if it's not as scary as he imagined.  Nobody enjoys riding with a crying kid.  So, it's best to let the kid win in these situations.  That lady on TOT was in a predicament because she had an older kid who wanted to go, and the crying kid who didn't.  There's no easy solution to that situation.

 

Your daughter sounds like all of mine. They are not afraid of anything.  My oldest wanted to do one of those bungee things at the Florida State Fair.  I let her, but I passed.  I would have sucked it up and done it had she wanted me to go, but she was fine going by herself.  They also love the crazy roller coasters at Busch Gardens and Sea World.  Same deal there- I go on them, but I don't like them.

 

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

We left off with a very late night golf cart ride, but I was still up early on our second morning.  I had stuff I needed to do.

 

It was another beautiful November morning.  T-shirt weather.  I began my day at my favorite spot:

 

 

Later today, the entire TCD gang would be across the lake at the MK for the very first Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party of the year. The party was sold out, but we had tickets.  All of us. Even Mrs. TCD.  She would be heading over today to join us!

 

One thing that was not settled was our dinner plans.  With the MVMCP tickets, you can enter the park at 4 pm.  And, I had planned our day intending that we would head in to the MK as close to 4 as possible.  That meant we needed to eat dinner somewhere in the park.  It's been a long time since the whole TCD gang has been together at WDW, and I wanted to make it special by reserving us a spot for dinner in a full service restaurant.  Of course, I didn't know 6 months ago that we would be trying to do that today, so there were no ADR's to be had on the My Disney Experience site.  I had been checking it for weeks, and not one thing ever came up.  The night before, the girls and I checked the app at various times, and a few things did pop up, but not at the right time- those reservations were for 6:45 and 6:50 pm.  That would be great if we weren't planning to go to the Christmas party, but we didn't want to spend our valuable party time eating.  We needed a reservation for some time before 5:30 pm.

 

When we turned in the night before, we discussed making a run to the MK at rope drop.  We have seen guests making walk up dinner reservations at Be Our Guest restaurant on some of our recent visits, and we figured it was worth taking a chance to get one of those by paying an early visit there this morning.  I wasn't too keen on that idea, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  I was going to keep trying for a reservation this morning, but if that didn't work, I would be getting the girls up soon.

 

For now, though, I had some time to enjoy a magical peaceful time on the pedestrian nature path.  It was just me and a couple of deer:

 

 

There's a deer right in the center of this photo.  Do you see her?:

 

 

This was the same momma and baby I saw yesterday:

 

 

The baby had no fear.  Which isn't a good thing:

 

 

 

This morning, I was traveling the opposite way from the day before.  So I came off the path behind the Settlement Trading Post.  It turns out I was not the only one up at this early hour.  Dorito guy was here:

 

 

Dorito guy left the gate open so I could see the rotting covered wagon:

 

 

There was only one golf cart parked at the marina:

 

 

And zero kids on the playground:

 

 

You can't really see her in this photo, but Ms. Josie was up there on the porch wiping everything down and getting ready to open Trail's End:

 

 

The lights on the bumpy road turned off automatically right before I took this photo:

 

 

Since I now had a cart to assist with my exploring, I hopped on it and headed to the 600 loop.

 

I needed a photo of site 617.  Because it's not a TCD TR without a photo of the best site in the Fort:

 

 

Those folks are so lucky that they have this awesome sidewalk right next to them:

 

 

I saw a couple of things that I needed to get photos of in the 600 loop.

 

The first thing was this little car.  Look at the seats:

 

 

The second was these Cheeseheads' site.  They are always here this time of year.  They must have been pretty happy this past Sunday:

 

 

I headed across the footbridge that goes from the 600 loop to the campfire area.  Here's a look at the Meadow Trading Post across the Old Fishin' Hole:

 

 

From this spot, I spied something set up to the side of the campfire area.  I hadn't heard anything about this:

 

 

I needed to investigate.

 

But first, one more photo of the Trading Post:

 

 

What have we here?:

 

 

Halloween was exactly one week before I took this photo on Friday, November 7.  Was this something left over from then?  If so, why is it sill here?  Is the Chuckwagon closed or something?  Does anyone know what this is?

 

It looks like a food and drink sales location.  There's a drink cart there, and that booth is for serving food.  They have it decorated with hay bales and pumpkins:

 

 

It looks like this is set up to handle hot and cold food, and has a sink and electricity:

 

 

 

That's definitely a power cord running across the sidewalk:

 

 

On the 4th of July, they had a food truck parked right in this spot.  Now this.  Anything for a buck.

 

The Theater Under the Stars was in good shape:

 

 

The stage is looking good:

 

 

Nothing to see here.

 

So, I headed out.

 

Here's a shot of my favorite footbridge- the one that goes from the Meadow to the 1500 loop bus stop:

 

 

We have a photo gap here.

 

What happened after this is that I stopped by Trail's End for some coffee.

 

Then I stopped by the concierge window for a last ditch effort to get a dinner reservation for the night.

 

I struck out.

 

The concierge told me that if folks hadn't cancelled by now, it was not likely that they would, and there probably wouldn't be anything new popping up that morning.

 

Which meant I needed to head back to get the girls up for rope drop at the MK so we could check for dinner reservations at Be Our Guest.

 

I headed back to the site, and was ready to do just that.

 

But, something told me to try one more time for a dinner reservation.

 

Since this is the Disney site we're talking about, I had been trying all kinds of weird combinations to see if something would open up.  I was checking for parties of 5, 6, 7 and even 8.  Which is a pain.  But, I was desperate.  I decided to try one more time, and put in for a party of 8.  And, up popped a reservation for Liberty Tree Tavern for 4:10 pm.  That was perfect.  It's been a long time since we've eaten in that restaurant, and I wasn't even sure what they served there, but I took it.  And I got it!  I went in to the camper to let the girls know that I had secured that reservation, and asked them if they still wanted to try for Be Our Guest.  They said that was fine.  So, they slept some more.  I wasn't sure what would happen when I showed up at the restaurant and told them that we were only a party of 5, not 8.  I've heard that isn't a problem, but I wasn't sure that there wouldn't be a penalty for cancelling the extra 3.   I would find out soon enough.

 

For now, I looped some more.  I stopped by the Meadow Trading Post and got a bag of Tater Tots for our breakfast.  I ran in to Shannon and Mrs. Claus again in there. 

 

I went back to the site and whipped us up a nice breakfast.

 

After that, we went looping.

 

At the four way stop, we met up with a knucklehead in a car who got there first, but then wouldn't go.  I waved at him to go.  And he waved at me to go.  Then I realized that was no knucklehead,  it was Lou!

 

I pulled up, and we talked for a minute.  Then I invited Lou back to the site so I could hook him up with a few spikes for that weekend.

 

Lou had already worked that morning, and he headed out.

 

The girls hit the showers, and we awaited the arrival of our special guest.  The one-The only-Mrs. TCD.   She was coming to the Fort!  And we were going to the Christmas party!

 

I had some hammock time while I waited.  Here's your basic hammock POV photo.  I think that might be a squirrel nest up there:

 

 

I shouldn't have put that Seminole guy so close to the hammock:

 

 

I had some Christmas lights strung across above the hammock, which made it nice in the evening:

 

 

It wasn't long after this that Mrs. TCD arrived and the fun really began.

 

We will pick it up from there in the next update.

 

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Great job on scoring LTT reservations!  Hope you enjoyed it there as much as I always do.

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

I was never a fan of Robin Hood. I was 12 years old when it came out, and I remember going to see it with my family in the theater.  It made me not a Disney fan for a long time.  I don't think I've ever watched that movie again.

 

 

 

TCD

 

So why did Robin Hood cause you to not like Disney for a while?  Was it the quality of the animation?  I remember hearing one time that the movie was a mashup of recycled animation or something.

 

I was actually a huge fan of it as a kid, it was probably my favorite Disney animated movie when I was little.

 

It just so happens that last night my little guy was sleepy laying with me on the couch, well when I realized he was watching tv (which he never does) I quickly got on Netflix to find something he could watch and Robin Hood was the first thing I found so I put it on for him.  I saw how poor the quality was, but I still like it and the music gets stuck in my head.

 

WBI

[DaveInTN 3,247]

So why did Robin Hood cause you to not like Disney for a while?  Was it the quality of the animation?  I remember hearing one time that the movie was a mashup of recycled animation or something.

 

I was actually a huge fan of it as a kid, it was probably my favorite Disney animated movie when I was little.

 

It just so happens that last night my little guy was sleepy laying with me on the couch, well when I realized he was watching tv (which he never does) I quickly got on Netflix to find something he could watch and Robin Hood was the first thing I found so I put it on for him.  I saw how poor the quality was, but I still like it and the music gets stuck in my head.

 

WBI

 

We watched Robin Hood on Netflix recently too.  It's one of the few Disney movies available on there.  What does that tell you? 

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

We watched Robin Hood on Netflix recently too.  It's one of the few Disney movies available on there.  What does that tell you? 

 

True, there are a lot of less popular Disney movies on there.  Mulan, Sword in the Stone, Atlantis, and some others I can't remember that I've never seen.

 

I actually saw last night that Swiss Family Robinson is on there now.

 

WBI

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

A lot of people like LTT, but after two bad experiences there, it's not on our list for dining anymore. Once it was a snooty waiter and once it was the food. We gave it the second chance because a bad waiter can make the best restaurant seem bad.

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

Loving the report so far. I can say I got take out breakfast and sat at a high top table while I was down. I wanted to look at the water while I ate.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

My favorite time at the Fort, is before anyone is awake.  I love it when it's quiet.  You scored some excellent Fort time this particular morning  :thumbsup2:

Love hearing about your family time and that fact the even though your miracles are grown, that they still love Disney and (more than that) they still love spending time with mom and dad.  I pray that's our family in 15 - 18 years.  

 

Loving Disney, loving mom and mad...put loving Jesus in there (in first place actually) and I'll consider my job a success :)  That's my prayer at least...

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great job on scoring LTT reservations!  Hope you enjoyed it there as much as I always do.

 

You will find out in the next update how we liked it.

 

If you like it a lot, then you liked it more than I do.

 

So why did Robin Hood cause you to not like Disney for a while?  Was it the quality of the animation?  I remember hearing one time that the movie was a mashup of recycled animation or something.

 

I was actually a huge fan of it as a kid, it was probably my favorite Disney animated movie when I was little.

 

It just so happens that last night my little guy was sleepy laying with me on the couch, well when I realized he was watching tv (which he never does) I quickly got on Netflix to find something he could watch and Robin Hood was the first thing I found so I put it on for him.  I saw how poor the quality was, but I still like it and the music gets stuck in my head.

 

WBI

 

Seeing that Robin Hood movie just turned me off of Disney.  As I said, I was 12.  I found the movie to be painfully boring and just dumb.  I don't think I saw another Disney animated movie after that until I took my then 3 year old to see The Lion King when it was first released.  I can't say exactly why I didn't like it- I just didn't.  I am glad my girls were around for the string of hits that followed Lion King- plus all the Pixar movies that started coming out in the mid-90's.  That turned things around for me for sure.

 

We watched Robin Hood on Netflix recently too.  It's one of the few Disney movies available on there.  What does that tell you? 

 

Netflix is a ripoff?

 

True, there are a lot of less popular Disney movies on there.  Mulan, Sword in the Stone, Atlantis, and some others I can't remember that I've never seen.

 

I actually saw last night that Swiss Family Robinson is on there now.

 

WBI

 

Hey now don't you say anything bad about Swiss Family Robinson. That's Mrs. TCD's favorite movie.  And, I like it too.  Plus that's one of the attractions Twin #1 works at WDW.  She is the only CP CM who works there who has seen the movie.

 

A lot of people like LTT, but after two bad experiences there, it's not on our list for dining anymore. Once it was a snooty waiter and once it was the food. We gave it the second chance because a bad waiter can make the best restaurant seem bad.

 

Snooty waiter you say?

 

Stay tuned.

 

Loving the report so far. I can say I got take out breakfast and sat at a high top table while I was down. I wanted to look at the water while I ate.

 

Too bad I didn't see this.  That would have been the first time I saw someone actually using one of those high top tables.

 

I have to reluctantly agree that the view is probably better from those chairs than it is from the rocking chairs.  But, those tables still need to go.

 

My favorite time at the Fort, is before anyone is awake.  I love it when it's quiet.  You scored some excellent Fort time this particular morning  :thumbsup2:

Love hearing about your family time and that fact the even though your miracles are grown, that they still love Disney and (more than that) they still love spending time with mom and dad.  I pray that's our family in 15 - 18 years.  

 

Loving Disney, loving mom and mad...put loving Jesus in there (in first place actually) and I'll consider my job a success :)  That's my prayer at least...

 

Just keep doing what you're doing.

 

If you are ever at a gathering of Fiends- check out the kids.  The children of Fiends are a pretty remarkable bunch.  You won't find a better group of kids.

 

I think they turn out so well because they come from families who put a premium on spending quality time together.  That makes a difference.  A big one.

 

TCD

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

 

 

 

Hey now don't you say anything bad about Swiss Family Robinson. That's Mrs. TCD's favorite movie.  And, I like it too.  Plus that's one of the attractions Twin #1 works at WDW.  She is the only CP CM who works there who has seen the movie.

 

 

 

 

TCD

 

Don't worry I would never say anything bad about Swiss Family Robinson, I've always been a huge fan of that one.

 

As a kid I taped it off of tv, back when Disney showed a movie one night a week, and people had VCRs.  I wore that copy out.  Recently I watched it and saw parts I didn't remember, it never occurred to me that my bootleg copy I watched as a kid had been edited down, I had forgotten all about the snake fight scene.

 

Oh and I still like to walk through the tree house.  You hear that Troll, I like the tree house!  I guess because I always dreamed of building one like it.

 

While we're talking about older movies, me and my sister loved all of the old live action Disney movies, not that long ago I made my wife watch In Search of the Castaways, most people don't remember that one.

 

WBI

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

In honor of Mickey Mouse's birthday (which is today in case you forgot to send him a card), I am bestowing a second update today.

 

We left off on Friday morning, November 7th.

 

Mrs. TCD showed up a little after noon, and we just hung out around the Fort.

 

The girls and her did some looping.  And some shopping.  It was a great day.

 

The only photo I have from early afternoon is this one of a bunch of turkeys hanging out making plans on where to hide in a couple of weeks:

 

 

The plan was to leave the site at about 3:15 and head to the MK.

 

We were on a tight schedule.

 

I had an ADR for Liberty Tree Tavern at 4:10 pm, and I didn't want to lose it by checking in late.

 

And, I had booked FP+'s for the Mine Train that were good until 4:30.  We had Space Mountain booked for after that, but since we now had dinner plans, the Space Mountain FP+'s didn't get used.

 

The boat wasn't there when we got to the dock, so we had to wait a bit.  Which is good, because Twin #1 forgot something and had to run back to the site.  Good thing we were on the 100 loop.

 

It was a really warm afternoon.  Too warm, actually, as they girls were dressed for cooler weather.  The weather predictions from earlier in the week called for cooler temperatures than we were experiencing then.

 

How warm was it?

 

Well, you see that boat over there? :

 

 

Can you see what's behind it?:

 

 

Look at this zoom:

 

 

There are people tubing behind that boat!

 

On November 7.

 

And it was warm enough that I didn't think they were crazy.

 

The MK appeared before Twin #1 made it back.  We texted her to hurry.  And she did.  She made it.  Poor girl was sweating though.

 

We got to the MK at about 3:45.

 

And they were already letting party guests in and distributing wristbands.

 

So in we went.

 

We had time for a group photo on Main Street:

 

 

This could be Christmas Card material:

 

 

I had hoped that I could ride the Mine Train with everyone, but I sent them that way, and I headed to check in at Liberty Tree Tavern instead.

 

I took this photo at 4:03 pm, so all was well:

 

 

And that was after I made a stop at the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom booth behind the Christmas shop to pick up one of these:

 

 

I tried to pick up one of the cards for all of us, and I had everyone's ticket, but they were marking each guest's wristband when the card was distributed, so they all had to go back there to pick theirs up.

 

While I was doing that, the rest of the TCD gang was doing this:

 

 

Do you see the twins there toward the back with their Christmas ears on?  There's Mrs. TCD and the oldest TCD DD there in front of them.  That was Mrs. TCD's first time riding the Mine Train.  And she liked it.

 

When I checked in at Liberty Tree, I told them we only had a party of 5, not 8.  That was no problem.

 

After you check in, they tell you to wait either inside or outside for them to call for your party.

 

They called for us before the girls were there, but they had texted that they were on the way. That was no problem.

 

We got seated in the Thomas Jefferson room.

 

Things started out great.

 

The food here is all you can eat and is served family style.

 

Our server got our drinks, and then brought out bread, followed by salad.

 

The pace was a little slow.

 

The restaurant was busy, but there were empty tables around.

 

Our server didn't show up too often.

 

It would be one thing if it was packed, and she was helping other guests.

 

But, she just wasn't around.

 

We sat for a long time after we finished our salad.  With dirty plates and empty drink glasses.

 

Other servers were bringing out food.

 

But our server was missing.

 

Eventually she showed, and got the salad plates cleared and got us new drinks.

 

And she brought out our food.

 

Lucky for us nobody wanted seconds, as she never came back to check.

 

After another long period of absence, she returned.

 

It was taking a long time.

 

Now it was time for dessert.

 

If was something called Johnny Appleseed cake, and it involved a sauce made out of Craisins^TM.  Incidentally, Craisins^TM is the new sponsor of Liberty Tree Tavern.  So whether you want them or not, you're going to eat some cranberries if you go to Liberty Tree Tavern.

 

Nobody liked the dessert very much.  Which isn't all the surprising.

 

We just needed the check, and we would be on our way.

 

Of course, this server was one of those servers.

 

So, we had a long wait for the check.

 

But, then the best part came.

 

Twin #2 whipped out her 50% off coupon.

 

And this happened:

 

 

The server won, because she got an 18% tip on the whole bill before the discount.  But, we still got out of there for $114 with the tip.

 

Which is pretty darned magical.

 

It's good to be TCD.

 

Overall, it wasn't that bad.

 

But, it wasn't great either.

 

Did you catch the time on that receipt?

 

5:48 pm.

 

We were seated around 4:20 pm.

 

We should have been in and out of there in 45 minutes tops.  But, thanks to our slow poke server, we were there for an hour and a half. 

 

No big deal, though.

 

We didn't have any big plans other than to go and see the princes with the princesses at the Fairytale Hall.

 

As luck would have it, the new castle lighting show was set for 6:15, and we were able to find a place on the Frontierland Bridge to watch.  Here's where we were at 6:05:

 

 

If you look real carefully, you can see a blob on the stage to the right in this photo- that's Anna:

 

 

It was 6:23 before the lights finally turned on.  It just seemed like it took a lot longer. In this photo, you can see Anna and Olaf to the right, and Elsa to the left of them, closer to the bottom center of the photo:

 

 

I knew some fireworks were coming, so I got ready and got this shot- you can see Elsa up there on the stage pretty good in this one:

 

 

After this, we backtracked to Princess Fairytale Hall, and tried to find the line for the princes.  There was no line yet, so we started one.

 

And, right before 7, we got ushered in, and the girls met Flynn and Rapunzel and Cindy and Prince Charming:

 

 

After that, we decided to head back to Storybook Circus, as there were some rare character meet and greets there.  They all had pretty good lines, so we rode Dumbo instead.  Way back in the day, riding Dumbo on a party night was a big deal, because you could ride it with no wait.  Dumbo used to have an awful long wait time.  Now that there's two Dumbos, it's so much better.

 

There was no wait at all for us, and we were all able to have our own personal elephant.  This picture would be good if Twin #2 wasn't in the shadows.  We have Mrs. TCD, Twin #1, oldest DD, and Twin #2 here in one shot:

 

 

When that ride ended, they told us we could stay on and ride again.  Twin #1 moved up to sit with Mrs. TCD, so we ended up with a stranger in her elephant:

 

 

One of the rare characters they had back in Storybook Circus was Sandy Claws from the Nightmare Before Christmas movie.  Thankfully, none of us cared to meet him.  His line was 90 minutes long at this point:

 

 

As we headed out of Storybook Circus, the twins suggested that we meet the Pooh characters. They were all together, and had winter clothes on.

 

Why not?:

 

 

Mrs. TCD and I even jumped in:

 

 

From here, we crossed the park to check out a party they had going on inside of the old Diamond Horseshoe.  It was called the Holiday Hootenanny.  It was a bunch of rare characters dancing with guests:

 

 

Next thing we know, Liverlips grabbed Twin #1, and she was dancing with a bear:

 

 

 

Then I spotted Big Al:

 

 

And I got some photos with one of my favorite Country Bears:

 

 

 

It was crazy in there- look at this lady:

 

 

After this, we rode Big Thunder Mountain, and then headed back toward Main Street, as we wanted to see about finding a place to watch the fireworks and the second parade.

 

It seemed like a good time for another castle photo-this one with the lights:

 

 

Next up, we stake out a spot for the fireworks and parade.

 

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Great family photos on Main Street.  Definitely Christmas card material. 

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Very nice update!!

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Great family photos!

 

And I like that long sleeve tee, was that a special purchase for the Christmas party?

 

WBI