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December
23, 2024
Carol surprised me last December
when she said, 'I've made a reservation for Fort Wilderness next
Christmas!'
We have been at Walt Disney World just
a few days
before Christmas and just a few days after, but never on the big day
itself.
Whenever we talked about going on Christmas day we always agreed
that it would be too busy. Christmas is the busiest day of the
year at The Magic Kingdom and they often reach capacity crowds.
Apparently Carol's agreement had
come to an end and I had not been informed! Did I not get the
memo . . . or did I not read the memo?
So on Monday December 23rd we
unhooked the RV and left a lot of our outdoor stuff on our camp site
at Canopy Oaks while we ventured out for a five-night stay at our
happy place. This is our 86th vacation stay at Walt Disney
World and our 32nd time camping at Fort Wilderness.
In addition to the 86 vacation
trips, we've taken a couple of dozen 'day-trips' to The World while
we've been 'snow-birding' in the Orlando area! |
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The sand hill cranes
said goodbye as we left! |
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It was high noon as we
approached the campground. |
We raced the monorail in
the RV and we lost! |
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At 5:00 p.m. we headed
to the Magic Kingdom for dinner. |
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Carol was happy to see
that the new Gingerbread House popcorn bucket hadn't sold out! |
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We had dinner at the Liberty Tree
Tavern. Since it was almost Christmas we asked them to hold
the roast pork and double up on the roast turkey! It was
yummy!
Then we headed to The Hub for the
8:00 p.m. fireworks show! It was so crowded by then that we
ended up sitting by the umbrellas at Casey's Corner. |
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At first we were upset
that the trees partly blocked our view. |
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Then the trees started
changing color and became part of the show. Nice! |
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When we got back home Jasper
insisted that we go and do some looping. He just loves the
nightly golf cart ride and he won't stop coaxing until we load him
and Jake up and get going! |
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This hand-crafted
color-changing light display was amazing! |
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The 500 loop was alive
with Minions . . . |
. . . and Storm
Troopers and Darth Vader! |
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This camp site in the 300 loop won the
overall prize for decor; it was quite unique. There were many
little vignettes scattered among the decorations and each vignette
featured the 'Elf on a shelf' with Disney characters. Above
you see him with Lady and the Tramp. He must be a waiter at
Tony's Restaurant since the love-bird dogs are eating spaghetti. |
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The tent reads 'Camping
at Disney' |
Having a cuppa tea with
some princesses! |
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Playing UNO with Goofy,
Woody and and Olaf. |
Here's something you
never imagined in your wildest dreams! |
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That train is homemade,
using wooden crates from Michael's Crafts. |
The winning site! |
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It was nice to see so
many creative homemade items! |
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The reindeer are Disney
blow-mold snowmen! |
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December
24, 2024
Carol had booked a dining package
for the Christmas Eve presentation of the Candlelight Processional.
The dining portion was for lunch at the Biergarten in the German
Pavilon. We sprung out of bed bright and early, drove to EPCOT
and gleefully pranced back to World Showcase for lunch! (Boy
how I wish that were true!)
The reality is that I rode along
in my ECV while Carol used her walker and plodded slowly and
painfully along beside me. Her back is giving her a lot of
grief and we're both hoping to hear very soon about a date for
surgery! |
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The poinsettia trees are
beautiful! |
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As we passed by Norway they were
just beginning to tell the story of 'Barn Santa' who delivers toys
and treats to Norwegian children! We stopped to hear the tale! |
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It's almost like being
at Oktoberfest! |
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Alpenhorns. |
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Glockenspiel. |
Cow bells. |
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After lunch we hustled back to
Fort Wilderness to watch the golf cart parade. Yes, you're
right, it was more of a shuffle than a hustle . . . but we got there
in time! |
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Jasper had a ring-side
seat. Jake was tucked under my lawn chair! |
The parade was led by
a pair of Disney horses! |
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Yes, there is a golf
cart inside that gingerbread house! |
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After the parade we
headed back to EPCOT and queued up for the Candlelight Processional. |
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A symphony orchestra
plays traditional Christmas music. |
There are 15 members in
The Voices of Liberty, Disney's professional choir. |
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The choristers
processing into the theatre are Disney cast members who volunteer
their time. |
The pro's are in green
robes and the volunteers wear gold! |
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Trumpeters are in the
wings on each side! |
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The Candlelight Processional has
become a tradition for us. If we are near WDW at Christmas we
do our utmost to attend. This was our twelfth processional.
Tonight's guest narrator was Edward James Olmos. In the 1980's
he starred in Miama Vice and in Battlestar Gallactica. He did a
terrific job telling the Christmas story from the scriptures between
musical performances by the orchestra and choirs. |
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The audience had a
chance to sing along with 'Silent Night' |
We've been anxious to see the
Living With The Land greenhouses after dark . . . and we weren't
disappointed. The lighting looks magnificent! |
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Carol took some great
shots of Spaceship Earth. |
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I got a pretty shot too,
while I waited for her in the parking lot. |
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Jasper insisted that we
go looping again! |
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Jasper freaked out when
the Muffin Man started talking and walked toward him. |
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December
25, 2024
Merry Christmas!
We knew that The Magic Kingdom
would be busy so we wanted to get there early, see if we could get a
few PhotoPass pictures and find a good spot to watch the 12:00 noon
parade. We had agreed that when it got too busy we would head
home. |
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A Christmas golf cart! |
There were only about a
dozen folks in line when we boarded a cruiser at 10:00 a.m. |
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PhotoPass #1 - DONE! |
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Love the Toy Soldiers! |
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PhotoPass #2 - DONE! |
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The fellow directly
ahead of us in the PhotoPass line dropped to his knee and proposed.
She said yes and the
crowd of passers-by went wild! |
PhotoPass #3 - DONE! |
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The Dapper Dans! |
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A good spot to watch the
parade - DONE! |
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The Main Street
Philharmonic. |
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We waited a few minutes for the
crowd to disperse after the parade then headed to Frontierland.
Carol had to browse a bit in the pin store. I went bear
hunting while I waited. |
Wendell from the Country
Bear Jamboree. |
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The crowds were getting
thick when we headed toward the exit just after 1:00 p.m. |
We stopped for a hot dog
at Casey's and were home by 2:00 p.m. |
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We enjoyed a tasty and
lively Christmas Dinner at Pioneer Hall. |
The Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue
has been selling out for over 57 years. |
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Good food, song and
dance, corny jokes! It's always an entertaining evening. |
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This 'hairy coo' brought
back fond memories of Scotland. |
Yup, Jasper insisted on
some looping as soon as we came home. |
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December
26, 2024
It's Boxing Day! Let's go
to Animal Kingdom.
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We had to wait for a
Trail Ride that was returning to the stables. |
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The Merry Menagerie
puppets are captivating. |
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A colourful and
high-energy show in the Harambe Theatre. |
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The Tumble Monkeys. |
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Oops! I almost
missed one of the Mickey Bars. |
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We raced the monorail
again, this time in the car . . . and we lost again! |
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In the evening we
visited friends Curtis and Alek at their home in Winter Garden. |
Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, Sven and Olaf. |
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Now that elf is
impersonating Snow White, and he has duped the Seven Dwarfs. |
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December
27, 2024
We had planned to spend some time
at Hollywood Studios but Carol's back had different ideas. It
was insisting that she take it easy today. So we did.
The only excitement was when she
yelled from the back of the RV, 'Wow, what's wrong with the fan!'
She was attending to a call of
nature when the overhead exhaust fan in the bathroom began to bang,
clatter and thump. She turned the fan off as soon as she
spotted a very excited lizard, a little skink, who was taking an unexpected joy ride.
The fan blades had him bouncing around violently inside the fan housing . . .
it's a miracle he survived. We kept checking the fan for
while and after about an hour he was gone.
He sure had a story to tell his
wife when he got home! |
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We were heading out for
dinner at Toledo when Carol spotted some familiar faces!
It was Georgie and her
husband Joe from New Jersey. They're staying in a cabin here. |
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Dinner at Toledo was great.
We shared a shrimp appetizer and then each ordered filet mignon.
We finished with a shared Orange Flanchoco. Quite tasty. |
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After Jasper had his mandatory
golf cart ride, Carol and I headed to Tri-Circle-D Ranch for a
horse-drawn sleigh ride. |
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Our sleigh was pulled by
a Percheron named Cruiser. |
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Our driver Garrett. |
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December
28, 2024
It was time to
head back to Canopy Oaks. We pulled out at about 10:45, just
ahead of the 11:00 a.m. check out time. |
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Christmas at Disney was a good
experience. The campground was filled with happy people, the
camp site decorations were amazing, crowds in the theme parks
weren't as bad as we expected and we were able to do everything we
had hoped for.
The Candlelight Processional is
always a moving experience but it seemed to be even more meaningful
on Christmas Eve. Christmas dinner at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue
was good fun and good food too.
Jasper gave the looping two paws
up!
Will we do Christmas at Disney
again? It's a definite possibility! |
