Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from The One and Only Genuine Family Blog! We have spent two different New Years at Disney but for 2018/2019 we are sitting it out safe, warm, and at home. 

December 31. 2017 Contemporary Resort lobby display

Back when 2000 turned into 2001 we spent most of the evening sitting on the Disneyland hub in front of the castle waiting for the countdown...eventually it became standing room only.

Disneyland, December 31, 2000

It was so packed and we spent so much time just waiting that we have never tried to experience NYE from inside a park again! The New Year's crowds are insane inside and out of the parks. 

Walt Disney World Contemporary Resort December 31, 2017

We were at Walt Disney World to see 2017 turn into 2018 last year and and it was quite the experience. Our vantage point for the New Year's eve fireworks was from an exterior staircase balcony landing at the Contemporary Resort Hotel. The three videos below give a taste of what it is like looking at the New Year's revelry across Tomorrowland to Cinderella Castle from the Contemporary Resort. The perimeter bursts (seen in the second video) are spectacular and the entire show was amazing. It was unseasonably cold last year, we had a great time, but we did not try to go back this year.

January 1, 2018 Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World

January 1, 2018, Overlooking WDW,s Magic Kingdom

Gingerbread display at Contemporary Resort, WDW January 1, 2018

  Happy New Year to all! Here's hoping 2019 is a great year!

Disney Springs Christmas Tree Trail at Walt Disney World

The Disney Springs shopping district at Walt Disney World has a Christmas Tree Trail setup and it is a beautiful holiday display! There is no admission charge for Disney Springs or the Christmas Tree Display and parking at Disney Springs is complimentary.  This year the highlight was the Haunted Mansion themed tree complete with “ghost bride”, it was very striking!

We also particularly enjoyed the Cinderella, Mickey/Minnie, and Mary Poppins trees.

The kite at the center of the Mary Poppins tree is a very nice touch. There were Muppets, Jungle Book & Star Wars trees that caught our eyes.

Sam The Eagle is always watching out for America!

The Monorail Tree was Toddler Sons favorite (as you can see in the first picture of this post), it had wonderful references to the four parks of Walt Disney World.  Several Monorail Toys were encircling the trees to the delight of the boys. We have two sets at home...a Walt Disney World version & a Disneyland version.

"Please stand clear of the doors...por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas"

Teenage Son is always the biggest EPCOT fan in the family. There were many other themes as well, but these were our personal favorites. This was the first year we managed to see the tree display. It is located in the old bus terminal area of the Marketplace section of Disney Springs. There is also a Santa Claus meet and greet but when we were there it was a 2 hour wait so we did not visit with Ol' Saint Nick. They will give you a return time if you desire so that you do not have to stand in line the whole time. This was really one of those neat things to do at Walt Disney World that doesn't require you to enter the theme parks, in fact we find there are many things to see and do without setting foot into one of the theme parks. 

Sketch: Christmas Castles at Disneyland & Walt Disney World

The Christmas lights on Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland are an enchanting holiday spectacle that inspired this sketch. It has been nearly 10 years since we have seen Disneyland in it’s Holiday decorations.

We have been fortunate enough to be able to visit Walt Disney World during the holidays the last 4 years. At Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Cinderella Castle is adorned in the “Dreamlights” and at nearly 200’ tall the castle decked out head to toe in lights is a remarkable sight and inspired the following sketch.

Sketch of Cinderella Castle in dreamlights

Meeting Mickey down an alley at EPCOT Center

On our last trip to EPCOT Center we saw a small group of people quite a ways down an alley between  the American Pavilion and the Italian Pavilion. To our surprise the big cheese dressed smartly in his classic tuxedo was holding court with anyone who cared to meet him! We joined a brief line and had a charming visit with Mickey Mouse himself! There was no fanfare or signage...just 2 cast member handlers (no photopass photographer). We love meet & greets and recall fondly the less structured versions you typically find at Disneyland in California. But we have gotten used to the longer lines and more formal backgrounds you find at Walt Disney World. So we were really surprised to find the legendary mouse halfway down an empty alley(albeit a lavishly landscaped and clean alley) and with essentially no wait! It was the sort of impromptu visit we remembered from Disneyland. Mickey was of course a gracious gentleman and we were thrilled to meet him.

UPDATE: after receiving social media feedback we have been informed that we stumbled on to a character training session! There are several Out of the way locations where this happens, but this was a first for us! We will keep our eyes posted for these in the future!

Sketch: Magic Kingdom entry plaza at night

Nightfall over the Magic Kingdom just before the fireworks. Can you hear the music and smell the popcorn yet? Last chance for a grand circle tour on the Walt Disney World Railroad.

Photo Album: Family Scavenger Hunt at Walt Disney World!

On our last trip to Walt Disney World we booked through ConciEARS; an authorized Disney Vacation Planner. As part of their customer service package they included an activity kit for the kids and part of that was a Photo Scavenger Hunt. This ended up being lots of fun and definitely something we would not have thought to do ourselves. For the most part we managed to get all 20 pictures...but for a few of them we tweaked the type of photo ever so slightly. We'd recommend this activity, and we'd recommend ConciEARS (www.conciears.com) too, they provided excellent service and support. (We heard of them through their sponsorship of the Disney Fan podcasts "The Sweep Spot" & "Jiminy Crickets!"). 

1. Excited faces at the gates as you walk in.

2. Happy Smiles in front of the castle.

3. Jumping photo in front of a favorite ride.

4. Thumbs up in front of your favorite ride.

5. Hugging a character.

6. Eating your favorite dessert. (Figment enjoying a Dole Whip Float)

7. Bored faces standing in a long line. (EPCOT Monorail Station)

8. Group hug on Main Street.

9. Scared face in front of a haunted house.

10. Fishy faces riding a boat. (It's A Small World by the flying fish in the Polynesia room)

11. Pretend staring competition with a statue.

12. Eating a food shaped like a character.

13. Making a pressed penny.

14. Getting an autograph from your favorite princess.

15. Trying on hats in the gift shop.

16. Mean faces at a villain.

17. Selfie with parade in the background. 

18. Silly faces with the fireworks in the background. (In this case the Figment hat is providing the silly face)

19. Duck face with a character. (In this case Uncle Scrooge is the Duck Face and Teenage Son is the character.)

         And for the final picture in the series....a composite of two sad faces at the end of the day:

20. Sad faces while leaving for the day.

Review: Disney Junior Play 'n Dine Breakfast at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios

Toddler Son's 3rd birthday was celebrated in part at the Disney Junior Play 'n Dine Breakfast at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios.  This Character Breakfast Meal takes place at  Hollywood & Vine Restaurant in the Echo Lake area of Hollywood Studios. 

Teenage Son is pointing to the windows over Hollywood & Vine to the office of Eddie Valiant from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"!

The ambiance is classic art deco Hollywood diner style.  We had a reservation and were seated very promptly. The characters you will meet here are the stars of the Disney Junior Channel preschool shows.  This mix is often in flux, on the day we went we were visited by Doc McStuffins, Princess Sofia The First, Jake from the Neverland Pirates, and Goofy in his Roadster Racers suit.  Goofy is consistently one of the most engaging characters whenever we encounter him regardless of the venue...we always love meeting Goofy!  These are favorite shows of Toddler Son so he enjoyed meeting all four characters. 

The food was really good at this one, it was classic breakfast favorites in all you care to eat portions. There was quite a bit of turnover so it kept the food fresh. The Birthday Boy received a cupcake and a card which was autographed by all of the characters.  These character meals are among the highlights of our visits to Walt Disney World and it's sort of a tradition now for the birthdays when possible. 

The characters can be somewhat obscure at this one, especially if you do not have a toddler at home...which probably contributes to this being one of the lesser attended breakfasts.  We don't always visit Hollywood Studios on our trips to WDW so we may not be back to this one right away but we did enjoy it and it was an otherwise great experience.