Disney Loving Peas / Universal Loving Peas

Ma'am when you have some down time, I'd love a link if it's still available. That's going to be my #1 Christmas gift.



Maybe that's what I was thinking? But, yes, this is definitely a "must do", IMO. I'm sure the hurricane played into it, but our train rides were empty both ways, too.

Final DW Day - Magic Kingdom #2

It was incredibly foggy. I have a photo from Tomorrowland bridge-ish and you can't even see the top of the castle. It cleared up, but it was pretty overcast for a bit. We hopped straight on Space Mountain, but had our LL for Pirates. After Space, we decided to try the Astro Orbiter. For those not familiar, you have to wait in line on the ground and then ride an elevator up to another smaller waiting area split in 2. We got in line and an elevator went down. This means we had to wait for the elevator to go up with a group, then wait for the people up top to finish their ride, to load back onto the elevator and come back down. It was a longer wait than originally anticipated. It was a surprisingly fun ride! It was like a faster Dumbo with great views. If both elevators are working and the line is under 30 minutes, you should ride.

We hit our Pirates LL and then I immediately booked Splash. We had some time, so we found the closest Mickey pretzel vendor, which ended up being across from the Country Bear Jamboree. We were there just in time to see 2 of the 3 bears out waving from above which thrilled my son because "Bear" has been his nickname since was born. Then we went to snag my Lava You Float and then turned around and cut through that bathroom area near Sunshine Tree Terrace to get back on the Liberty side. We caught one of those CMs that do the water art on the ground using a broom? He made Chip + Dale! They were phenomenal. (Side note: I'm not sure how people are so damn oblivious to things, but there were multiple people who just walked through the onlookers and straight onto his art. I was furious for him, but he took it in stride.)

We hit our Splash LL and I booked a Little Mermaid. We definitely had time to kill between LLs. It's frustrating and after having used LL vs FP, I prefer FP.

The other frustration / cool thing is that they were filming the "Disney Parks Holiday Special". Which means, the castle was blocked off as well as many other locations using tape, rope, and CMs. They also had giant lifts(?) directly behind the Mickey + walt fountain that blocked off portions and then had tons of potted trees to block even more. I understand they have to do these things, but holy crap balls. It was all day and all night. If you were on the front or sides of the castle, you could hear the taping over and over, then they'd hype "the crowd". I can't imagine how some of those people stayed in their sweaters and fully decked out all day. They did.

Later in the afternoon, we had had enough, so we bailed. We would go back that evening for our goodbye and to see the lights.

We dropped our gear at the hotel and DS wanted to go back to The Boardwalk because they have a courtyard of fake grass that's pretty big and kids gather there to play. Sure enough, they found some friends to run around with. I was going to go inside The Boardwalk to see if they'd put up their tree, when DH starts yelling for me to come back. Yes, I rolled my eyes because this usually happens for something silly. This was the biggest reversal of an eye roll. DS had spotted some new friends and wanted me to see them.

IT WAS DONALD AND CHIP + DALE AND GOOFY!!! They just walked out of the hotel and started giving people high fives! Then they congregated in that courtyard and let everybody do photos. I got a selfie with Donald and then with Goofy. My kids posed with all 4 individually. There were a few CMs around to help, but it was very chill. More people showed up after word spread, but they started heading out after being there for maybe 20 minutes? It was one of my trip highlights and caused some tears for me.

DH had the watermelon margarita btw, and if that's your kind of thing, he said it was delicious!

We went back to MK after dinner (yes, I ate the deli + fries again, I regret nothing) and it was beautiful. The castle was still blocked off, but not as much. I braved the crowd solo so I could get a nighttime photo, but it was definitely too people-y. We rode Big Thunder Mountain again - the back row is THE BEST ROW!!! And, for our first time, we rode the People Mover. That was another fun surprise since it was night. Tron is running empty, but the cars are lit up. OH, we saw Tiana waving at people from a window down in Liberty, across from that Christmas shop.

If you think you want your photo near the Christmas Tree on Main Street, it's a long wait. I think it's better to be farther away from the tree, but the line where you stand right under the tree was the longest.

I think everyone should own a snoap wand - don't forget to buy refill snoap!

Be sure to ask the PhotoPass photographer to give you the Magic shots. We found that most just do the same 3 poses: smile, excited hands in the air, and group hug. BOOOOOOOOOORING! If you ask them for the special shots, they'll load it up. Youngest DD was absolutely ecstatic for a Stitch one in Tomorrowland. There are even some special holiday ones.

From a SBing pre-planner aspect, I also took photos of each wreath I encountered to form a collage either in my trip albums OR in my December Daily when I want some filler. I only ended up with 28, but they're fun to look back on.

Yes, they did! I almost got it, but figured I'm not a big enough fan to take it from someone else. I did get the Mickey Snowglobe sipper from DHS though. It's at a stand to the right as you enter the park. It also comes with Mickey snowflake stickers! I didn't attach them because I might use some for my album.



I felt really lucky because we got to meet him in 3 different outfits: Mexico, The Boardwalk, and Topolino's!



I love that.

I can share about the Universal visit, if anyone wants to hear. You won't hurt my feelings. It's a totally different type of experience, IMO. We also did the Holiday "tour" and I have some not so good feelings about it. ^.^

The two Universal parks are Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. The experience is so different from Disney for a few reasons. There's no big plan, plan, plan. It's more laid back, IMO. The people are not as nice as Disney, of course there are exceptions. At Disney, I don't have to answer questions about why a grown man is wearing a shirt featuring the giant words "Working harder than an ugly stripper", for example, or stupid political shirts. Disney has Universal beat, hands down, in the photo taking department as well. You have to activate your photo pass in a shop and have it scanned every time. Unless it's a special thing where they can't scan it and then you have to now carry a card around. The rides don't automatically send the photos to your app, you have to scan at the end. The number of rides that take photos and availability of photographers is low, even compared to Disney's cutbacks on photographers.

For our trip, the early admittance was limited to only IoA, so that made it easy. We rope dropped that first official morning only because 1-we were up early even though we'd had a late night and 2-we weren't interested in rushing to a main attraction. We were dodged by all the runners (some, literally) while we went straight to Hogsmeade for some butterbeer and wand practice. The kids and I rode Forbidden Journey but because you can't bring anything on the ride, DH decided to skip since I had my big camera and he had his huge backpack. After that morning, he decided to leave it in the hotel since our resort was an easy walk to the parks if we needed anything.

Another thing that I felt Universal did really well was decorate their parks. I was not at Disney for the "high time", but Universal had just done their reveal and it was awesome. The major tree they have is over 80 feet tall and they actually use some of the floats from the Macy's Day Parade. They also have a tree hunt that spans the 2 parks and City Walk (their version of a Downtown Disney / Disney Springs) which is right outside both parks. You bet your tail we had a blast searching for all the trees and Earl the Squirrel.

The Wizarding World is also decked out and has holiday performances throughout the day with special surprises.

We did 4 full days of the 2 parks. We rode Hagrid's twice (two different mornings) and DH & I did Velocicoaster each once while my oldest DD did it twice and younger DD did it once. DS had zero interest and had butterbeer both times and watched us from the bridge. That ride is AMAZING. Unless you don't like roller coasters, then don't do it!

DH has a fondness for water rides, so we all agreed to leave the big camera and bags at the room and do Bluto's since the other one has been closed since Hurricane Ian. DH tells us "oh, this is the one we barely got wet on". He was so wrong. We were soaked. I mean, SOAKED. People were laughing at us as we walked back through Superhero Land to get to Seussville. We ran into Rogue (from X-Men and also my favorite superher), so I have some pics of us while we're drowned rats with her. I love it.

Oldest DD is really big into HP and wanted to try the wand ceremony again. We went once and my youngest DD was pointing at her the whole time to hopefully help her out. Another family's son was chosen. So, we tried again later on. Youngest DD did her pointing thing, but SHE was chosen. Oldest DD told me later she was so happy for her but so sad. Totally understandable. She decided she wouldn't get a wand that day, because her sister got hers. The next day she decided she didn't need a ceremony and would choose her own wand. My Slytherin girl.

DS was excited to meet Captain America again, so of course we did that. He wore his favorite Cap hoodie and brought his new shield he purchased in DS. Cap was very impressed that it lights up and makes noise. When we left Cap he ran into Cyclops (another X-Men) and DS loved that Cyclops wanted to hold it for a minute. Spider-Man is always a standout visit though. He's just amazing (hah!) and chatted the kids up before photos.

I finally got my photo taken on the Knight Bus! I always take photos of the kids, but this time I handed my big camera over for my own.

If I ever plan another Disney / Universal vacation, I think putting Universal 2nd will always be the way to go for us. Unless Disney changes their rules again... hahaha.

I can't wait to hear how everyone else's upcoming visits go!

I am so, so excited for you!!!