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Who: Me (32), DH (30), DS (3)
DAY ONE
We arrived for check-in at the Contemporary around 10:00am. We were about the fifth in line. Things moved a bit slowly but it was all
worth the wait. I had been very specific when making my room location requests. I had even called the hotel directly and
explained my position. We planned this whole trip around a tower room with a MK view and that this was very important to us. I asked
for 8th or 9th floor and non smoking also. I didn't say this to any of the CM's but I went to WDWIG and checked out the hotel map ahead
of time and knew that I was interested in room #'s 4445 or #4545. :-) Anyway, our room wasn't ready yet so they didn't tell us a room
number but the CM knew exactly what I wanted. So I was happy and we were off! We took the monorail over to the TTC and then switched and
took the monorail to Epcot. I am not sure exactly what time we got to Epcot but I am guessing around 11:00am. We went to the Ice Cool
Station right away, LOL. I love that watermelon soda! ;-) Actually we all like that one best. After that we headed over to Test Track
for my fast pass. My husband had already experienced it but I had yet to so I was up, LOL. My fast pass was for 6:00-7:00. :-( Ahh,
but I knew I wouldn't have to stand in line. We then headed out to World Showcase. We did some shopping, rode the ride in Norway,
checked out the preview area for Spain and had lunch at The Tangierine Cafe. It seems like this year we eat at that cafe every
time we visit Epcot, LOL. My son loves their hamburgers and we like the vegetarian platter. After lunch we did our usual shopping and
drinking in France and England and then headed back for the Contemporary. I used my cell phone to check on our room and it was
ready! We were in Room #4543! We had gotten exactly what we wanted! :-)
After a nice monorail ride, which my son loves, we were at our hotel. I couldn't wait to see our room. Finally we arrived at our
door (9th floor) and I just couldn't stand it anymore! I had to get inside, LOL, so I pushed past my husband and stuck my card in. I
walked inside and the first thing I thought was "This room is huge"! I put down my belongings and checked out the bathroom. It was
immaculate. I am really big on clean bathrooms and I was impressed. Now it was time for my view.....I basically ran to the sliding glass
doors and threw them open! My mouth dropped! Words really cannot describe our view. Space Mountain was so close it almost seemed that
we could touch it and the castle, well, let's just say, the only person talking was my son and he just kept repeating "Castle, castle,
castle...."! The hotel had put up a gigantic christmas tree in front which my son also loved. The balcony is very large and has two
comfortable chairs on it as well as a small table for drinks. My husband had changed his mind about the Contemporary already! We were
all very happy indeed with our accomodations. After a bit of relaxing and exploring the hotel we headed back out for Epcot again.
Dinner that night was at The Rose and Crown in England. Delicious, as usual. :-) After dinner it was time for me to use my Test Track
fast pass but we decided to wait a bit and go explore The Land. We rode the boat ride and looked all around. I even managed to pick up
a Christmas present. After that we went over to Test Track. It took about 10 mins. from when I walked up until I was actually seated in a
car. This being my first time I really had no idea what to expect except that my husband said it was boring. Boy was he wrong! :-) I
love this ride! We then went to Mexico for their boat ride and headed back to the hotel to catch the fireworks at MK and the water
pageant from our balcony. We were not disappointed. After my son's normal nightly routine we put him to bed and had drinks on the
balcony. This was living! :-) That night we didn't shut the drapes, I fell asleep staring at the castle.
DAY TWO
Breakfast this morning was scheduled for the Concourse Steakhouse. It was very good and we all liked the monorail running overhead.
After we finished our breakfast we went outside to catch a bus to MGM. I must say that I love the transportation at the Contemporary.
It really is great. I never had a long wait for the monorail and we only waited about 5 mins for our bus to arrive. The bus stop was
right outside the door as well. After the bus loaded at the Contemporary we went to the Poly to pick up more people. It ended up
taking longer than I expected to get to MGM so when we got there we grabbed fast passes for ToT (DH) and RnRC(me) and went to wait in
line for Disney Playhouse Live! My son absolutely loves this show! It's like a concert for toddlers, LOL! :-) After the show we hit
Star Wars and The Muppets. My son refused to wear the 3-D glasses but he liked the show anyway. After the Muppets attraction my son
and I got temporary tatoos at a stand right outside. He got Tigger on his arm and I got a castle on my ankle. The tatoos were $5.00
each in case you are interested. After a bit of shopping we set out for our PS at the Hollywood and Vine character lunch. This was a lot
of fun! While we were at lunch we picked up some of those light up ice cubes. They sell them for $4.00 each. We each picked a color
and decided the MVMCP later that night would be a good place to show them off. After lunch we used our fast passes and then returned to
our hotel for a nap and some down time since my son was going to be up very late for the MVMCP. When we got back to the hotel there was
message saying that our pakages from the day before had arrived and I could pick them up at one of the gift shops downstairs. My son
slept, my husband watched some football and I shopped and explored the hotel a bit more. I did manage to find that darned 5 legged
goat. People must have thought I was nuts because I kept circling the mural. Once I found it I felt pretty foolish considering how
many times I had walked by it, LOL. Anyway, after we had all freshened up we decided to wait on dinner and watch the 6:00pm MK
fireworks from our balcony. Fabulous once again! When the fireworks had finished we went downstairs and had dinner at the food court.
The food court was a mad house. It took forever to get a table so we ate as quickly as we could and went up stairs to catch the monorail.
This is when the magic really started! I asked if we could ride up front in the monorail and we were told absolutely! This thrilled my
son. I have to be honest here and say actually we were all thrilled. So off we went to our very first MVMCP! Right as we
got to the Christmas tree at the front of Main Street Tigger and Piglet came out. Tigger is my son's favorite. Actually he is the
only character my son will allow anywhere near him, LOL. He even had his Tigger sweatshirt on. This was pure magic for him. He really
got a kick out of seeing Tigger and getting to "bounce" with him. We then headed up Main Street. The decorations, the music and the snow
all added up to me crying. Tears of joy of course! As we were walking up main street (DS was running/dancing while
screaming "snow"!) these camera men starting following him with lights and a microphone, video taping him. They followed him down
most of Main Street. I asked one of them what was going on and I was told they were taping for an upcoming ABC Christmas Special! I
couldn't believe it! Could things get any better? After my son, the television star ;-) finished his debut we went over to get our hot
cocoa and cookies. What a nightmare. Next time I think we will skip the free yummies. Now it was time for our family photos. We went to
Tommorowland to get the photo. This really didn't take very long. They gave us our pins and took our photo. I have read posts about
these photos and how many you get. The way I understand it, you get a photo for every ticket you buy. So we will get three (three copies
of the one photo). They told us to expect them at our house in 5 to 7 days and if we wanted more we could order them then. Hope that bit
of info clears some things up. :-) The wait time for Space Mountain was 5 mins and the wait time for the little race cars was 20 mins.
DH and DS rode the little cars and I went for Space Mountain. Yippee! The Buzz Lightyear ride had a pretty short line so we got
that done as well. There seemed to be a lot of characters out and about, which made me happy. :-)
The lines in Fantasyland were crazy so we saved those for the next day, except the Pooh ride. My son insisted we do this one right
away! So we did. What a cool ride. The fireworks were supposed to start at 9:15 but there were problems so they didn't end up showing
the fireworks until the end of the night. The perimeter fireworks are amazing! We watched the Christmas Parade and went over to BTMR.
Fun, fun, fun! But, cold, cold, cold, LOL There were way more people there than I had thought there would be so we didn't try to do
too much. Basically we just wanted to get a few things out of the way so we wouldn't be as pressed the next day. I did some more
shopping (yeah, I know...shopping, LOL) and picked up a few Christmas presents as well as my MVMCP t-shirts and ornament. I
found all sorts of stocking stuffers which was good because I usually have a hard time with DS's stocking. After all this fun we were
bushed, especially since it was late so back to the hotel we went. We got all settled and my husband and I opted for some quiet time on
the balcony after we got DS in bed. Once again we didn't shut the drapes and I fell asleep staring at the castle.
DAY THREE
Breakfast this morning was at Chef Mickey's. I have read many reviews about this place and decided to give it a try. My husband
really liked the food (especially the fact that he could have salmon with breakfast). I thought the food was good but not fantastic. My
son liked that he could have all of his favorites. The meal was nice (but I could have lived without the napkin twirling). One thing I
didn't like was the photo business. I knew that we were going to have our photo taken but I didn't realize we wouldn't be seated until
the photo had been taken. The photo was horrible and it took 30 mins for us to actually be seated. After breakfast we hopped on the
monorail and went to the MK. The crowds were once again heavier than I had anticipated. Not bad by any stretch, but still more than
expected. Since we had already gotten a few things accomplished the night before we planned on a slow paced day. We rode the
Tomorrowland Transit Authority and then the Teacups. After that we got our fast passes for Peter Pan's Flight and and rode Small World.
We found a bunch of the Villians where 20,000 Leagues used to be. I stopped to have my photo taken with Prince John. Just before the
photo was taken I asked him if he had a dirty thumb and he quickly put his thumb in his mouth. So the photo is of myself and Prince
John (?) sucking our thumbs, LOL! It's actually a very good photo. :-) We really did take it slow. In fact, while my son
napped in his stroller my DH and I played a game of checkers in Frontierland. We also embarrassed ourselves at the shooting arcade.
Not by being bad shots but by shooting everything in sight! Next it was time for lunch and Pirates of the Caribbean. I think that is my
DH's favorite. We did a bit of shopping and rode Dumbo, Splash Mountain and BTMR (again). The day was coming to an end and so was
our trip. We stopped by the confectionery and got some treats for the ride home (I love the chocolate covered pretzels, DH loves their
fudge and DS loves cotton candy and lollipops. I waved Good-Bye to all my Disney Friends and started planning.
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