Disney World at Christmas Recap Part 1

Life has finally slowed down somewhat so it’s back to regular blogging! :0) I know these are very long overdue, so I’m playing catch up!

To begin, Jason and I were asked to be in a friend’s wedding. Back in July, I booked their entire Disney World Honeymoon.  I was very excited for them and a little on the jealous side that we weren’t getting to go back in December.

Fast forward to November, Jason was placed on a special schedule at work. This schedule gave him a “long off” week of work in December. Can you guess when that week fell? You got it! The same week as our friend’s Honeymoon! Hah!

We decided to go but weren’t going to mess with our Honeymoon friends at all. They ensured us that they wanted to hang out, so now the story begins….

No, we really didn’t ride together and yes, my husband has a “thumbs down” because he wasn’t looking forward to the drive! Hah!

YAY!  GPS says Disney World! Here we go!

 

After hours and hours and hours and hours and hours of driving, we finally saw Disney World signs! We drove straight through the night. We stopped every few hours to switch drivers and potty at a rest stop. I think we made very good time and if we have to drive again, I recommend driving through the night! The traffic was low so that made for an easy trip!

 

We made it!

Before checking in, we stopped at Shades of Green for tickets.

Shades of Green lobby

I love this!

 

The Bride and I! :0)

My friends weren’t very happy with me. We bought the tickets at Shades of Green, then walked through the Polynesian to the Ticket and Transportation Center to activate them. Yes, I made them walk. I had been in a car ALL night and wanted to walk! They got over it! :0)

On the Monorail back to the Polynesian

We activated our tickets, said goodbye to our friends, then checked in at Port Orleans Riverside! I love this place! We stayed here for our Honeymoon and again one other time at Christmas! :0)

Love the decorations!

Our room with a King Bed thanks to Heather! :0)

Did we take a nap in that nice comfy bed? NOPE! We got in our car and drove straight to Hollywood Studios!!

I took a 5 hour energy on the drive over and oh my gosh was I WIRED! Hah!

Off to Hollywood Studios we go! 

Originally, we wanted to get tickets to MVMCP but they were all sold out. I found out later that Hollywood Studios was going to have extra magic hours until midnight! Osborne lights all night long ? YES please!!

Inspiration point :0)

Couldn’t wait for nightfall and the Osborne lights!!

First stop, Star Tours. This was our first time to see it since the revamp and we liked it! We waited about an hour in line, then we walked to the Streets of America.

I LOVE THE OSBORNE LIGHTS!

These streets were PACKED! We eventually found our friends Randy and Melissa who were there to spend the evening with us.

Finding Hidden Mickeys!

Cookies and hot chocolate anyone? I was trying to be nice….

My husband got all WWF on the poor gingerbread man… sad times.

We stayed on the street for a couple of hours – and really enjoyed the lights. I didn’t get to do that last time, so that was my goal for this trip!

Us with Melissa :0)

If you haven’t been at Christmas, I strongly urge you to take a trip! It’s amazing!!!

Another Hidden Mickey :0)

We walked to the front of the park with our friends and bid them farewell, then we walked all the way back to the lights to enjoy them without the crowds!

I had such a good night, I didn’t want to leave.  However, it was around 11 p.m. and we had driven the ENTIRE night before with NO nap. Needless to say, we were a little on the exhausted side. My 5 hour energy had worn off by this point!

So we said goodnight to Hollywood Studios. I was so exhausted and confused I couldn’t figure out what day it was! When you miss an entire night’s sleep in a bed, that kind of happens….

Up next: Recap of day 2 :0)