Christmas Trip to Disney 2009 Part 2

And away we go!

Tuesday December 8, 2009

We headed to Animal Kingdom to meet up with the Gibby's on their last day at Disney. We arrived just as the opening ceremony was finishing up and headed straight to the Expedition Everest fastpass, where we met up with the Gibby's. We then grabbed our fast passes and jumped into the standby line. Within 10 minutes we were riding. We were able to put in 2 more rides after the first one before my empty stomach had enough. We bid the Gibby's farewell and headed to find something to eat.

After a quick bite to eat we headed to the Safari ride. Since it was a little later in the morning there weren't a ton of animals roaming around. We did see the normal players though.

After that we caught the Lion King show and just took in the sites of all of the Christmas decorations before departing for our turn at the Magic Kingdom Christmas Party.

If I had to fault Disney on one thing, it would be that you can not travel from park to park by bus. You have to either head to a resort, Downtown Disney, or the Ticket and Transportation Center. This meant that we had to leave Animal Kingdom a little earlier than we would have liked so that we could get to the Magic Kingdom around 4:00 pm.

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom just before 4:00 pm and were allowed into the park after getting wristbands to show that we were supposed to be there. We then headed to the Haunted Mansion for a quick ride. After that we realized that if we wanted a good spot to view the evening fireworks, we had better get it now. I thought that it kind of sucked that you pretty much had to find your spot at least an hour before anything going on that night. The fireworks were awesome though. We then made our way to Main Street and found a good spot to watch the parade. The parade was awesome as well.

After the parade we walked around a while checking out the decorations. When else can you see snow on Main Street in Disney? After that we headed back to the resort for some much needed rest. It had been a long day.

Wednesday December 9, 2009

We headed to Epcot for a second time. Upon arrival we headed to Soarin' and grabbed fast passes. Which were for later in the day. After that we headed over to Mission Space and Test Track.

After riding both of those it was off to the World Showcase to see some of the countries that we missed the first time around. The decorations are amazing. Both Canada and China have a movie about there country. The cool thing about this is that it is shot in what is called Circle Vision. What that means is that there are screens that completely encircle the room near the ceiling. The way that it is shot you have a 360 degree view of what the camera sees. Very neat.

We then decided to head to the Yacht Club to see the Gingerbread Carousel. It is amazing the detail that they put into things.

After roaming around the Yacht Club for a while it was time to head to the California Grill for dinner. The great thing about this restaurant is that it is on the 15th floor of the Contemporary, which offers a birds eye view of the Magic Kingdom. The food was amazing. After dinner we headed out onto their observation deck to watch Wishes from above the Magic Kingdom. The meal was pricey, $144, but I would highly recommend dining there just for the view.

After Wishes we headed back to the hotel for the evening.

That wraps up those two day.

So, until next time....

Yeti Out!