Mission: Christmas at Disney Part 3

Day 5: Epcot

Christmas at Epcot

All five of us got up early to beat the rush at Epcot, which never arrived until after 5 pm. The day was a little marred by rain and tornado warnings, but it didn't stop us. We started out by riding the Test Track, that was a blast, we didn't realize it was sort of like a roller coaster.
The whole family at the Test Track ride
Then we rode the new ride called Soarin'. It is a virtual ride where you fly over a lot of landmarks in San Francisco, that was really cool. All of us enjoyed this ride thoroughly. Then we headed off to visit the different countries. We started in Mexico and worked our way through Norway and China before heading off to Morocco for lunch. Lunch was excellent.

You can't go to Epcot without getting a Viking hat.

Trolls!!!!!!!


Mom and Dad then headed back to the hotel for an afternoon nap and we continued on through the rest of Morocco and then to France. We met up with the parents to see the Candlelight Processional in which Gary Sinise read the Christmas Story.

Tami and Jenny in front of Epcot France


We then walked through Germany and England where we had supper at the Rose and Crown. The food and drinks were so good. The last thing we did was head over to watch the firework show that they had. It was fireworks put together with fire, lasers, and even a giant globe that had digital images on it.

Day 6: Home

We got up early, yet again, to catch the bus to the airport, the entire day was uneventful. Once we got home we met up with my mom and Brad for lunch before Mom, Dad and Jenny headed to see Kaye and Bill in Lincolnton.

Greg and I exchanged presents with my mom and Mindrey. I got a travelling bag that I had seen that I absolutely loved from Victoria Secrets. The bag has a painted pink Union Jack symbol on it, this will be perfect since we are going to London in February. I also got a pink iDog, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest DVD, the Gwen Stefani DVD, a Georgia Bulldog pink tshirt, and some socks that have the Union Jack symbol on it. Mindrey also got me some of the New Zealand coasters with Chili Peppers on it and a beautiful necklace from her Sorrelli collection that I have been looking at for a very long time.

Greg got a gift card from my Mom to the Apple store and a book that he had wanted. My present to him came a day late but I think he was okay with the wait, I got him the Nintendo Wii system, it has been so much fun to play, very interactive.

We gave my mom a leather tank cover for her motorcycle that she had been looking at along with a joke gift of a pot and potting soil, maybe she will replant her ivy one day.

All in all Christmas was excellent this year. Can't wait until New Year's.

Mission: Christmas at Disney Part 2

Day 3: MGM-Studios

Greg, Jenny and myself all got up at 6 am again this morning to hit the rides. Mom and Dad stayed at the hotel a little longer to get ready, and to feel better since they were both sick. We got to the park before it opened and were the 3rd roller coaster to go out on the Rockin' Roller Coaster with Aerosmith. That was the best ride that we rode the entire time. We then hit the Tower of Terror which wasn't nearly as scary as we thought it was going to be. We also got some pictures with some of the Disney Characters like Daisy Duck, Mickey Mouse, Chip N' Dale, and Stitch. He was the best, even though we weren't originally planning on seeing him. The three of us were wearing shirts that we bought at the Vortex which have huge skulls on them and they got a lot of attention from everyone at the park. Mickey seemed embarrassed and Stitch wanted Greg's shirt. Stitch was taken with me, since I danced with him, he was a lot of fun.

Tami with Stitch

Mickey was shocked by our shirts


We also got pictures taken with Mike and Sulley from Monsters Inc and even the characters from Cars.
Tami with Tow Mater from Cars.


Afterwards Mom and Dad got there and we were off to the Stunt show, that was amazing to watch. Seeing all of the car chases and explosions and such. We continued on with more shows and rides. At nightfall the park turns on the over 5 million lights from the Osbourne family. It was really neat watching the light show that was going on to the music and the snow was fun. We had dinner at the Sci-fi Diner which was set up like a drive in movie theater, where we all sat in cars to eat dinner and watched an old black and white screen that showed some clips of old movies. Then, back to the hotel for a little shut eye.

Day 4: Animal Kingdom

Game Day at the Animal Kingdom

This day followed the same pattern of the three of us up early to be at the park when it opened and Mom and Dad arriving later. We started off with the Expedition Everest roller coaster, that was so much fun, except for the 35 minute wait we had to endure because the Yetti was being difficult. We were the first roller coaster to go once it started. We ended up riding it again before we hooked up with Mom and Dad since we enjoyed it so much. The next stop was breakfast and then the safari, I love seeing the wild animals just roaming around. We even got to see a baby giraffe. We did all the rides and shows at the Animal Kingdom that we wanted to do and even watched the parade. Recommendation: Do not waste your time with the Tiki Room, it was bad.

We headed back the Magic Kingdom for dinner, we had reservations at the Liberty Tree. We had a blast with all of the characters, we even took a funny pose with Goofy, inside story from the Bufords. We then went outside and watched the Light Parade, it was so beautiful. Then we headed to Cinderella's Castle to watch the fireworks.

Jenny and Tami with Goofy

Mission: Christmas at Disney Part 1

Day 1: Arrival/Downtown Disney

We arrived at our hotel around 7 pm, grabbed a bite to eat and then we were off to visit Downtown Disney. It was pretty uneventful, we walked around, did a little shopping, and even grabbed some hot chocolate from the Ghirardelli soda shop. While walking around Downtown Disney we looked at all of the awesome lego displays that were created. They had small window displays of some cities and large displays of animals and even a dragon in the water. We got to see part of a firework show as it peaked over the buildings. All in all it was fun but we didn't do too much.

Lego London.... We'll be in the real London in a couple of months:



Day 2: Magic Kingdom...a taste of Epcot


Today started out very early, 6 am in fact. We headed off to Magic Kingdom since we had breakfast reservations with Cinderella. The breakfast was really good and we had a ball taking our pictures with the other princesses like Jasmine, Snow White, and Belle, we even had pictures taken with our Fairy Godmother.




The best part was Jasmine's confusion on the Smokey and the Bandit shirt that Greg was wearing. We weren't sure if she really didn't know what Smokey and the Bandit was or if she was playing her "role".



After breakfast we headed off to enjoy the rides. Our first ride was the Futureworld Transit Authority, which is just a covered train system that takes you around part of the theme park. The rest of the day was spent riding rides and watching shows. I happened to be wearing an Alice shirt so all day we kept trying to get my picture taken with her but somehow she kept managing to to slip through our grasps, so no picture with her. We do have lots of other pictures though, so no biggie.

Once done with all of the rides and shows that we wanted to do at Magic Kingdom we attempted to start Epcot. That did not go too well. There were torrential downpours and all of the dinner restaurants were booked so we headed back to the hotel for dinner. The dinner spot at the hotel is called the Pepper Market, my recommendation is to never go there, the food is okay but the wait staff could care less about you.

Look at all of the pretty lights

Got a few quick updates to share. We haven't been too busy lately with anything worth posting. However, we did go up to Charlotte the week before last to spend time with our friends Chad and Marc. Tami has known Chad since they were very little. Tami and I were both sick which put a little bit of a damper on everything, but we still had a great time. We both got better; however, Tami required some medicine to get back to 100%. After that, we've just been getting ready for Christmas.

Tami, me, Marc and Chad













Last night, Tami and I celebrated our 8th anniversary. We went out to a restaurant called Aqua Terra located in downtown Buford. It was the first time I had eaten there. Tami had been there for lunch, but said the menu was entirely different for supper. The food was excellent, we'll definitely be going back. After that, we went out to Lake Lanier's Magical Nights of Lights. We've been every year for the past few years and it's always a lot of fun. Basically, you drive around six miles on the islands which feature tons of light displays. Here are a few of the pictures that turned out the best.

Candles


















12 Drummers Drumming.













The Holiday Village. This is where they have shops and a small amusement park. Normally we roast marshmellows in the large bonfires that they have setup, but last night was just too hot. Instead, we rode some of the rides in the amusement park.








A picture of Tami and me from the top of the Ferris Wheel.












Also, we fly out tomorrow going to Disneyworld with Dad, Mom and Jenny to spend Christmas at the Magic Kingdom. It should be a lot of fun and we plan to take a lot of pictures.

Since we won't be posting anything before, we wanted to go ahead and wish all of our friends a family a Merry Christmas!