There’s no place like home for the
holidays! We are so excited to be back in
our true home, Walt Disney World, for a
magical holiday vacation! This is our first
time to experience Disney during the
holidays and we could not be more excited
for all of the special events, decorations,
characters, and more! We left yesterday and
drove to Pensacola, Florida for the night.
We woke up this morning and continued our
road trip to Disney! We arrived at our
hotel for the night, which is just across
the street from property, before we check in
to our Disney resort in the morning! We
headed over to the Polynesian Resort to see
their holiday decorations, as well as Mickey
and Minnie looking adorable in their
Hawaiian Christmas outfits. We took the
monorail over to the Contemporary Resort and
we were so excited to see our first bakery
display! The chefs at the Contemporary
spent over 1,200 hours working on the
gingerbread tree! While we were there, we
saw the cutest toy soldiers around, Chip and
Dale! We walked around the Contemporary for
a while before going outside to see the
giant Mickey wreath on the side of the
resort.
From there, we took our favorite walking
path and headed to the Magic Kingdom! We
have been anxiously awaiting the sight of
Cinderella Castle covered in the holiday
dream lights, and it was absolutely
incredible. Words and pictures do not even
begin to cover the beauty. After taking
lots of pictures on Main Street, we went to
Columbia Harbour House for dinner, which is
one of our favorite places. Neil, Bonnie,
and Megan enjoyed the fried shrimp and fish
baskets, and Courtney had a giant turkey
leg. After dinner, we did some window
shopping in the Emporium and caught part of
the Main Street Electrical Parade. We made
our way over to Megan’s favorite spot in the
Magic Kingdom – the Confectionary! We
enjoyed watching the bakers prepare Rice
Krispies treats and candy apples. We ended
our night by watching the Celebrate the
Magic projection show and Holiday Wishes
fireworks show! We headed home after a fun
evening, and we are so excited about the
week to come! Take a look at the pictures
from tonight and check back tomorrow for
another update!
12/22/13
We started off today by heading to both
locations of Disney's Character Warehouse,
the Disney owned and operated stores at the
Orlando Premium outlets. We went to one of
them over the summer, and this time we found
some great shirts at both stores! After
shopping, we headed over to Disney's All
Star Sports Resort to check in. Our room
was ready right away which is always great
to hear! We unpacked before eating lunch at
the brand new End Zone food court. The
restaurant was completely renovated over the
past few months, and re-opened just two days
before we arrived! It was beautiful and we
had a delicious lunch! We decided to head
to Hollywood Studios for the evening. We
started by seeing the American Idol
Experience. After the performances, we took
a trip through the movies on the Great Movie
Ride. We walked back to the Premier Theater
to see the Comedy Warehouse Holiday Special,
a limited time engagement. It was
completely improvisational and the comedians
based it off of people in the audience. It
was absolutely hilarious and we were
laughing the entire time! We can't wait to
see it again later in the week!
Afterwards, it was time for the Osborne
Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. The
Streets of America are completely covered in
thousands of lights that dance to different
holiday songs. The Osborne lights are truly
a sight to be seen! We also got to meet
Santa Goofy. After the show, we took the
Friendship Boats over to Disney's Boardwalk
Resort, where we saw Mickey and Minnie in
their adorable holiday sweaters! We also
admired the beautifully crafted gingerbread
bake shop. We ate dinner outside on the
boardwalk and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
We decided to go to Downtown Disney for
some shopping and pin trading. We stopped
at Ghirardelli's and Goofy's Candy Company
for dessert before heading home. Tomorrow,
we are going to Magic Kingdom! Take a look
at today's pictures, and feel free to email
us with any comments or questions!
12/23/13
We started out our day with the morning
Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom! We
headed straight towards Tomorrowland to ride
Space Mountain and the Tomorrowland Indy
Speedway! Afterwards, we headed back to New
Fantasyland where we went on Under The Sea:
Journey of the Little Mermaid and walked
around Gaston's village. We went to the
brand new Princess Fairytale Hall, where we
saw some of our royal princesses, including
Cinderella and Aurora. After that, we met
Princess Merida from the Disney-Pixar movie,
Brave. We went on some more attractions in
Fantasyland, including The Many Adventures
of Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan's Flight, and
Mickey's Philharmagic. We were anxiously
awaiting lunchtime as we were going to our
very favorite place, Tortuga Tavern. Their
taco salads are without a doubt our favorite
meal in the Magic Kingdom! After lunch, we
went on the Jungle Cruise, which had it's
first ever holiday overlay, called the
Jingle Cruise. The boat skippers told
holiday jokes, and each boat had been
renamed to a holiday themed name. Then, we
went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and
watched Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime
Parade.
After spending some time on Main Street, we
went back to our hotel to change for the
evening. We headed to Epcot, and went
straight to ride one of our favorites,
Soarin'! While we were in the Land
pavilion, we got to see the incredible
chocolate and gingerbread display of Disney
icons from the parks and resorts around the
world. We went over to The Seas with Nemo
and Friends before heading back to the World
Showcase. We were going to the Disney
Vacation Club booth in the Canada pavilion
to see our friends Andrew and Nichole. They
are both DVC Advance Sales Associates, and
we met each of them this past summer. They
were coincidentally working together
tonight! It was so much fun to see them
again and catch up, and we ended up spending
over an hour talking to them! We headed
back to the Italy pavilion for dinner at Via
Napoli, one of our absolute favorites! The
pizza is incomparable, and we really enjoyed
the appetizer platter. We have gotten to
know lots of the cast members at Via Napoli
over the past few years, and really enjoyed
seeing them again. After a wonderful
dinner, we headed back to the resort after a
very long day! Click on the link above to
see pictures from today! Tomorrow, we are
going to Hollywood Studios!
12/24/13
Today we went to Hollywood Studios and were
there before the park opened! The park was
pretty empty, and Courtney and Megan rode
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster twice in a row.
Then, we all went on Toy Story Midway
Mania. Afterwards, we headed over to the
Magic of Disney Animation. We got to see
Minnie Mouse in her new room, and Sorcerer
Mickey. We had breakfast at Starring Rolls
Cafe, and we enjoyed our pastries and
bagels. Afterwards, we decided to head to
Downtown Disney to do some shopping! We
stopped at Disney's Pin Traders and we were
so excited to see that the giant pin trading
board was open. The board is only open
randomly at unannounced times, so it was
just luck that it was open when we were
there! After making some great trades, we
went to World of Disney and Team Mickey. We
had lunch at Cookes of Dublin, an Irish
restaurant that we had never eaten at
before. We all enjoyed our fish and chips.
We headed over to the Grand Floridian to
see the giant gingerbread house, that
doubles as a bake shop. This is the 15th
anniversary of the Grand Floridian
gingerbread house. We walked around the
resort, and they were even handing out
roasted chestnuts! We walked over to the
new Disney Vacation Club section of the
resort, the beautiful Grand Floridian
Villas. We can't wait to stay here someday
on a future DVC stay!
We took the monorail over to Magic Kingdom,
not knowing that lots of Disney magic
awaited us! As you might know from this
blog, Megan absolutely LOVES the Main Street
Confectionary. Not just the sweet treats
that are sold there, but she loves to watch
the bakers make the Rice Krispies treats,
caramel apples, and other delicious desserts
at the show kitchen. She will literally
walk straight to the Confectionary the
moment we enter Magic Kingdom. Megan met
the manager on our last trip, and saw her
again yesterday. When she saw Megan
watching again tonight, she asked her if she
wanted to make her own! Megan was in shock,
and could not believe it! The manager set
up an entire cart with all of the supplies
for Megan and Courtney to make their own
caramel apples. One of the bakers assisted
them through the entire process. They made
the apples next to the show kitchen in the
middle of the store, and it was such an
incredible experience, thanks to the magic
of these wonderful Disney cast members!
Megan has always wanted to work at the
Confectionary, and this was truly a dream
come true! She can't wait until she can
work there in the future! We were all blown
away by this magical experience.
Afterwards, we went back to Tomorrowland to
ride Space Mountain. Then, we had a snack
of Mickey pretzels before heading to the
castle forecourt stage. We watched the
Cinderella's Holiday Wish show, where the
Fairy Godmother lit the castle dream lights.
We took the train around to Main Street USA
to meet Magician Mickey. He is so magical
at the Town Square Theater that he talks!
He even showed Courtney and Megan a magic
trick. We had dinner at the Contempo Cafe,
so we took the monorail to the Contemporary
Resort. We enjoyed our sandwiches, salad,
and flatbread pizza. We headed back to our
hotel after an outstanding day! The magic of
Disney is unbelievable, and we love spending
time in our true home! Take a look at the
awesome pictures from today, and email with
any questions or comments! We're headed to
Animal Kingdom in the morning!
12/25/13
Today we set out on a wild adventure at
Animal Kingdom! We headed straight to
Expedition Everest, where Neil, Courtney,
and Megan rode it twice in a row. We
stopped for breakfast and enjoyed pastries
and coffee/hot chocolate in Africa. Then,
we went on Kilimanjaro Safaris. We saw tons
of animals, such as giraffes, lions, zebras,
okapi, rhinos, and many others. We went
over to Camp Minnie Mickey to see the
Festival of the Lion King for the last time
in it's current location. Camp Minnie
Mickey closes within the next week to make
room for the Avatar expansion, so we snapped
a few last pictures! We went back to ride
Expedition Everest again before having lunch
at the Yak and Yeti Cafe. We enjoyed
delicious honey chicken, sweet and sour
chicken, and chicken fried rice. After
lunch, we rode Dinosaur and did some pin
trading on our way out of the park.
We went back to the hotel to relax before
going to the Beach Club Resort. We spent
some time in the lobby admiring the giant
gingerbread carousel created by the resort's
bakery. We had dinner reservations at one
of our favorite restaurants, Beaches and
Cream Soda Shop. Beaches and Cream is famous
for their hamburgers and ice cream, and we
really enjoyed our meal! We had to go to a
park to transfer back to our hotel, so we
decided to go to Magic Kingdom for a bit.
Being Christmas Day, it was extremely
crowded, but we went to the Confectionery
for a while to watch them prepare the
sweets. We watched the Main Street
Electrical Parade before heading home.
Tomorrow, we are going to Epcot! Take a
look at pictures from today!
12/26/13
This morning, we went to Epcot! We headed
straight to Soarin' and had a great flight
to California! We then went over to Test
Track, where we enjoyed designing and
testing our own cars. Courtney and Megan
created their own virtual simulator roller
coasters at the Sum of All Thrills. We
stopped for a late breakfast at the new
Fountain View Starbucks before riding Soarin'
again. We did some pin trading with other
guests at the tables in Future World and
made some great trades! We did a little
shopping in Mouse Gear before heading back
to the hotel. After changing, we went to
Hollywood Studios. When we got there, Neil,
Courtney, and Megan rode Star Tours. We had
a quick snack of cinnamon sugar and salted
pretzels before going to see the Comedy
Warehouse Holiday Special again. Each show
is different and they use the audience to
build their sketches. After the show,
Courtney and Megan rode Rock 'n' Roller
Coaster while Bonnie and Neil rode Toy Story
Mania.
We went to dinner at the wonderful 50's
Prime Time Cafe with our friends Larry,
Andrew, and Kelli. We were really excited
about having dinner here because this is
such a fun restaurant, and the waiters are
very interactive! We enjoyed some of "Mom's
favorites", including fried chicken and pot
roast. It was an excellent dinner with
great company! After dinner, we went to the
Animation Academy with Andrew and Kelli. We
all learned how to draw one of the 7 dwarfs,
Dopey. We went to see the nighttime
spectacular, Fantasmic. Then, we went to
the Polynesian Resort to watch Holiday
Wishes from the beach! After a long day, we
headed back to our hotel. Tomorrow, we are
going to Magic Kingdom! Take a look at
pictures and email us if you have any
questions or comments!
12/27/13
Today we slept in before heading to Magic
Kingdom! We got breakfast from Main Street
Bakery and enjoyed eating breakfast outside.
We did some shopping in the Emporium before
going to Tomorrowland. We rode the
Peoplemover and watched Carousel of
Progress. Then, we saw our favorite alien,
Stitch! We went over to Adventureland for
lunch at Tortuga Tavern. We enjoyed our taco
salads and nachos, as always! After lunch,
Courtney and Megan did the Pirate's
Adventure scavenger hunt around
Adventureland. They followed the treasure
maps, using their magic bands to activate
the next clue. We went to Liberty Square
where we rode Haunted Mansion, and back over
to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz Lightyear's
Space Ranger Spin.
We decided to take a boat over to the Fort
Wilderness Campgrounds. We did some pin
trading in the shops and had ice cream
treats. We walked around to see the
decorations that guests had put up on their
RVs and just enjoyed the great outdoors. We
took the boat back to Magic Kingdom, where
we rode Pirates of the Caribbean and Big
Thunder Mountain Railroad. After stopping
for some pictures in front of the beautiful
dream lights on the castle, we went to have
dinner at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. We
rode Space Mountain and did some pin
trading. We ended our night by watching the
Electrical Light Parade, Celebrate the
Magic, and Holiday Wishes. After a wonderful
and busy day at the Magic Kingdom, we headed
back to the hotel. Take a look at today's
pictures! We're going to Epcot tomorrow!
12/28/13
Today was our last full day in Disney, and
we headed to Epcot! We stopped at the
Fountain View Starbucks for breakfast before
going to the World Showcase! We spent the
morning exploring the shops, taking
pictures, pin trading, and talking to the
cast members in each country. We went to
Mexico, where we walked around the village
shops. Then, we went to Norway to ride the
Maelstrom boat adventure. After the ride, we
went to China, and we always love walking
through the shops. We continued through the
Africa Outpost on our way to Germany. We
stopped in Karamell Kuche, the German
caramel shop, to watch them make the sweets.
We made our way over to the American
Adventure, where we watched the famous
Voices of Liberty choral group perform
holiday songs. It was neat to see their
rendition of Hanukkah songs. We went back to
Italy, where we had lunch at Via Napoli. It
has become a tradition to come here for
lunch on our last day, to have our favorite
pizza! It was great to see the cast members
there, and we enjoyed our delicious pizza.
After lunch, we continued through the world
showcase, exploring Japan, Morocco, France,
the United Kingdom, and Canada. We went to
the Refreshment Port, to try the latest
addition to the Disney snack family, a
cronut! This sugary treat was a combination
of a croissant and a donut! Afterwards, we
rode Soarin’ before heading back to the
hotel to begin packing.
We went to Magic Kingdom for our last
evening in Disney. We stopped by Bibbidi
Bobbidi Boutique to say hi to our friend
Jess, who is a “Fairy Godmother in Training”
at the salon. It was great to see her
again! Afterwards, we headed to Space
Mountain in Tomorrowland, for one last
adventure through space. We had dinner at
Columbia Harbour House, where we enjoyed our
fish, shrimp, and chicken meals. Megan
enjoyed the Nutella waffle sandwich from
Sleepy Hollow. We went to see the Monsters
Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Club. It was a great
show with some especially funny audience
interaction. We stopped in Fantasyland for a
little cupcake and popcorn snack. We made
our way to Main Street to watch the
Celebrate the Magic show and Holiday Wishes
fireworks. We said goodbye to Magic Kingdom
for this trip, and headed back to the hotel.
We had such a great time seeing all of the
decorations, lights, characters, and special
events that we don’t normally see on our
summer trips. Disney truly is magical, and
we are so lucky to have this wonderful place
that we can call home! We made so many more
wonderful family memories. It was a great
vacation, and we are already planning our
next trip! As always, we would love to hear
from you or answer any questions that you
have. Feel free to email us at any time!
Happy New Year!
Until next time,
The Suchart Family
