Disney for the day: Christmas & the New Fantasyland!

With just a little over a week until Christmas, we decided to take advantage of our season passes and dash up to Disney to see the holiday lights and Christmas decorations. Have you been to Disney during the holidays? The castle is really splendid!

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We had been wanting to go up in November for a passholder preview, but that didn’t work out. And since the New Fantasyland just opened on December 6th, we had one more VERY important reason to head up there!! As I’ve shared with you many times…..our family are HUGE Disney fans. It’s surprising that no matter how many times we’ve been, we always find something new to do.

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And with the New Fantasyland now open, and new rides slated for the rest of 2013 and 2014….I imagine there will be plenty of new stuff to keep us occupied for awhile. Of course our Disney passes expire February 7th, and it will probably be at least a year or two before we get them again. 🙁 Growing up in Florida, my girls have a huge advantage in visiting Disney World. Our visits have probably numbered into the triple digits.

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Funny thing is friends and family have been getting snow this week, and since they’ve NEVER seen snow before at ages 13, 10 and 4, they spend a lot of time trying to make us feel guilty. A good friend of mine said, “kids always want what they don’t have.” So very true. Check out the pictures of our day….you be the judge. Do they look like they’re missing out on anything?

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It was a long day, but really whizzed by. We got up at 4:00 am, and were on the road by 5am. We pulled into the Magic Kingdom parking lot at 7:20 am and were inside the ticket turnstyles about 15 minutes before opening. Wow!! We were finally able to see “rope drop” at Magic Kingdom….a first for us. It was really neat as the characters arrived on the Disney steam engine train, and they have a neat little opening ceremony.

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As soon as they were officially opened we rushed straight back to New Fantasyland! We were suprised to see the we were the very FIRST riders of the day on the new Ariel ride: Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid. That alone was worth the drive up! The girls were thrilled.

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They also have a new Enchanted Tales with Belle. Wow…what a neat concept that was, and so much better than the old storytime with Belle beside the castle. Walking into Maurice’s workshop and then being transported through an enchanted mirror to the day that Belle and the Beast fell in love. The fact that they actually get to meet and have their picture taken with Belle certainly sweetens the whole deal.

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We made sure to hit all our favorite attractions: People Mover, Mickey’s Philharmagic, Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan….the girls needed to ride all three “mountains.” And because the youngest and I don’t ride them, they are able to ride them twice in a row using our fastpasses.

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It got increasingly busy as the day wore on, and it was actually the first time we didn’t ride Pirates of the Carribean. We just weren’t willing to stand in a 30 minute line that somehow seemed it would take forever since we usually just walk on that ride.

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We didn’t want to use up any of our time that could be better spent soaking in the holiday magic. At one point my girls were mesmerized by the glass blower on main street. Have you ever seen glass being made?

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I have to mention I found my beloved Chicago Dog there at Casey’s Corner, and couldn’t resist. My hubby bought his requisite turkey leg, and we met up at Columbia Harbor House so the girls could have their mac and cheese kid’s meals. We found a nice big table upstairs, and a bonus of the day….found an outlet to charge my phone. You know I can’t resist instagramming every time I’m in Disney.

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There were several reasons we decided to drive up and back in the same day. The main one being time constraints. We had a lot of commitments on Sunday since it was only a week before Christmas.

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We only live about 2.5 hours from Disney, and though we really like to stay over at least one night…..it was worth it to us to drive up for the day. This was the only way to make it happen. We arrived home around 11:30 pm, and though an almost 20 hour day just about did us in…..it was worth all the effort to make meaningful family memories during this Christmas season!

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8 Responses to Disney for the day: Christmas & the New Fantasyland!

  1. Elizabeth says:

    These pictures are wonderful!
    Elizabeth recently posted..Chocolate Chunk Blondies

  2. JulieD says:

    Thanks for sharing!! I have been wanting to see the new Fantastyland!!
    JulieD recently posted..five things under $25 – what to buy with those gift cards!

  3. Sandra says:

    Those are beautiful pictures, my word. I’ve been to Disneyland during the summer but never during Christmas.

    Hope you and your family have a wonderful new year 🙂

    Oh and as to your question about Doctor Who, I think you and your husband would enjoy it, it’s about a “doctor” who time travels and goes on all these adventures, in the future, in the past etc. Really great show 🙂
    Sandra recently posted..Soaking in every moment

  4. I was recently looking at Disney’s site about Fantasy Land and got all excited until I remembered it was at Disneyworld. I live 90 minutes from Disneyland and for a few years my daughter and I had annual passes. We had Southern California Passes that cost about $125 back in 2005 now they are $329 each and we’d want 2 of them. My husband grew up near Disneyland and doesn’t like to go but once every 10 or so years. He’s only gone 2 x’s since we had our daughter. when she was almost 3 and at age 6 (she is 15 now).

    My dream is to see Disneyworld and I will definately have to stay over night. Shoot I usually stay over night when I go to Disneyland cause it’s hard on me to drive back and forth. I was in awe that you and your family made a round trip from 2.5 hours. I can totally relate the need to squeeze it in during the holidays though. I haven’t been do Disneyland during the holidays in a long time. It seems like it’s always Halloween time, so at least we catch the Nightmare before Christmas at the Haunted Mansion. 🙂

  5. It must be wonderful to live so close to Disneyworld. We are Disney fanatics at our house as well, and we try to get to Disneyland every couple years, although being quite far away we have to fly. That Chicago Dog looks amazing!
    Our Eating Habits recently posted..Oatmeal Date Muffins

  6. Pingback: Disney's Night of Joy & Seven Dwarf Mine Train Review {Family Fun!} | Creative Kitchen

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