Belated December Trip Report w/photos

**Altair** · 02-11-2015, 10:23 PM

As usual Here are the photos

We went the second week of December last year. The weather was mostly dry, but a little on the cool side. Still wore shorts, but needed a jacket most of the time.

The original plan did not include any Disney Park days, due to the new FP+ system. We did end up at DHS, mostly to see the Osborne Lights for possibly the last time, and Epcot because it's our favorite park. So we cut our usual 6 to 7 park days down to just 2. I did use the "My Disney Experience" website to get reservations at the Bier Garten and a few other FassPasses, but did not bother to get my limit.

Saturday we headed to DTD very early and were there before most stores opened. It was very peaceful at that time in the morning. The construction walls were a nuisance, but the Marketplace area was unaffected. We strolled around for awhile and then had lunch at the Earl of Sandwich where I end up with the Holiday sandwich.
We had left a day early, you can do that when you drive down, so we had nothing else planned for this day so this is where things get different. We decide to take the but over to Wilderness Lodge. The bus worked out fine so we walked around the area and lobby. Some of the detail is copied very closely from Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone. Anyway we wandered down by the pool and eventually to a boat dock. There was a boat leaving for MK, but we couldn't decide to take it soon enough, so it left. Another boat soon pulled up that was going to the Contemporary so we took it. After some exploring at the Contemporary we took the walking path to the MK entrance. On the walk over you get to see the back side of Space Mountain. We hung around the entrance for awhile and it's very strange to be that close and not enter the park. We then headed to the Monorail for a trip to the TTC, where we changed monorails to go to the entrance to Epcot and again did not enter the park. Instead we returned by monorail to the TTC and then changed monorails again to go to the Poly. After checking out the decorations there, we headed back to DTD via a bus. So other than the lunch, we did the entire day on Disney's dime.

Sunday we went to Lake Louisa State Park on US27 near Clermont, FL. It's a little west of the Orlando area. We did a few short hikes and got to see some real Florida, wildlife and scenery. It was cool cloudy and windy on this day.

Monday was DHS day and there was light rain all day. I did have three FP's here, which I really didn't need. One for Indiana Jones, one for Fantasmic!, which did make the wait shorter, and one for Little Mermaid we didn't use. I was disappointed there were no Streetmosphere people out, I guess due to the rain. I like to interact with them. We made no attempt to do TSM. The Osborne Lights were great as usual and we enjoy finding the purple cat. We also enjoy Fantasmic!, the show is a little uneven, but the last 10 minutes, to me, is as Disney as things can get.

Tuesday was SeaWorld. We went mainly for their lights, but many were not lit due to the show was only on certain nights. Also, the Sealion show was down so that meant no mime.

My favorite thing there.

Wednesday we went to Epcot and did use any FP's. I did try to set up Soarin' and Test Track, but could only get times late in the day when we were in World Showcase.

Thursday we left the Orlando area for Clearwater Beach. We visited Fort Desoto Park and walked on the beach and pier60. We did stick around for the street performers, but they just seem kind of creepy to me.

Friday was Busch Gardens. We had not been there for quite a while. They have really improved their zoo and I rate it above AK. If you intend to do the zoo and the thrill rides this is a two day park now IMO. We were also very impressed with the Christmas/Holiday lights here. They were also only on certain nights and Friday was one of them. They are not Osborne Light caliber, but are very impressive.

Saturday we headed home. It was a nice, but different trip this time. The FP thing did not affect us too much, but I knew the MK would be a problem because it is so ride heavy.

Thanks for reading.

**Katzateer** · 02-12-2015, 06:35 AM

Glad you had fun. We were there around the same time and it was cool.

It is a strange feeling to be right outside the MK and not go in. We used to do that when the girls were younger. You could see a lot of the fireworks during one of the celebrations a few years back. They were doing the fireworks around the complete circle of the park and the girls enjoyed seeing them up close.