Photo TR: Christmas around Orlando

[CD]

Just having moved to Orlando this past summer I was very excited to experience my first Christmas here. I have always wanted to see all the decorations around WDW and UO. So, I headed out a few days ago with my camera in hand and checked out all the holiday offerings.

 

P.S. This is my first trip report so please excuse any errors.

 

First Up:

 

Magic Kingdom and the surrounding resorts.

[CD]

Day 1: Magic Kingdom Resorts and Magic Kingdom

 

Today I started out at the Polynesian Resort and worked my way over to the Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge, and finally the Magic Kingdom. After only being at the Magic Kingdom for about an hour my camera died... So, I was only able to get pictures of the decorations in the daytime today (I will put up pictures I took from another night later).

 

I then headed to Epcot and saw the Candlelight Processional, which was narrated by Abigail Breslin (from Little Miss Sunshine). Which I was able to snag one picture of before my camera died again...

 

Anyways, on to the pics.

 

Part 1

And fianlly I made my way back to the Magic Kingdom... which will be coming in part two. How suspenseful

The entire Contemproary Resort.

I present to you: The Backside of Bay Lake Tower (a little Disney humor for you)

I then walked my way back to the boat.

Cozy Fireplace? Check

Some of the decorations on said tree.

The Wilderness Lodge has it's very own Christmas tree as well.

My favorite picture of the resort. Can you say B-E-A-U-tiful? Winnie the Pooh referencer anybody?

How convinient, there's a natural geyser right next to the Wilderness Lodge. It's almost like it was built for the resort... wait a minute

You really don't feel like you're in Florida when you're at Wilderness Lodge.

And just like that, I was greeted by this.

The final destination.

I see you...

The Contemporary's Christmas Tree

I passed the brand spankin' new Bay Lake Tower.

But, in an attempt to tease the readers. I did not visit Magic Kingom, instead I took a boat over to the Wilderness Lodge.

I then got on the Monorail and headed over to... The Magic Kingdom!

Like the Polynesian, the Grand Floridian Resort is also very beautiful.

As shown by the not-focused picture, you can spend all your money at the giant gingerbread house!

hello giant gingerbread house!

Oh ya, there's somethng else in the Grand Floridian as well...

One last angle of the tree.

Some of the decorations on the Grand Floridian's tree.

Inside the lobby, with the beautiful Christmas tree.

Hello Grand Floridian.

Wedding Pavillion again.

looking back at the Polynesian from the Wedding Pavillion. This looks like it's straight from Hawaii.

Hi Robb and Elissa! (WDW wedding pavillion)

After checking out the Polynesian I decided to walk over to the Grand Floridian.

The Polynesian's Christmas tree

Polynesian's lobby.

(see above)

The beautiful Polynesian Resort.

This was just too comfortable looking to pass up. Notice Cinderella Castle, Space Mountain, and the Contemporary in the background).

and finally, The Polynesian.

The Grand Floridian.

The Contemporary Resort with the recently added Bay Lake Tower.

the ferry that connects the Ticket and Transportation Center to the Magic Kingdom.

Space Mountain from said beach.

One of the white sand beaches that surrounds the Polynesian

I headed down this lush pathway to...

I began my day at Disney's Polynesian Resort (which is one of my favorite hotels on property).

[TheRapidsNerd]

Great to see even MORE Disney photos! Thanks for putting these up, as I'm less than a week away from moving to Orlando and haven't been to Disney World since my junior year of high school. While there, we stayed in the building that was demolished for the new Contemporary resort tower.

 

Some great pictures and this really makes me happy to visit again.

[CD]

Part 2

Abigail Breslin from Little Miss Sunshine. She did an amazing job as the narrator for the Candlelight Processional at Epcot. Very Mature for her age. Anywho, I'll be adding another update from WDW at night and Universal before too long. Stay tuned

Since Goofy is my favorite character I had to throw him in here. Then my camera died, but came back to life for just enough time to grab a horrible shot of...

Neat lamp decoration throughout Liberty Square/Frontierland.

Liberty Belle

This found it's way into Liberty Sqaure. Now don't get me wrong, the movie looks good and I love the fact that Disney is going back to hand drawn animation. But what does 20th century New Orleans have to do with Colonial America?

when you combine the two and zoom in.

When you combine the two

Hall of Presidents

Big Ol' Tree with a lot of lanterns.

I really like Liberty Sqaure.

Tom Sawyer's Island from Haunted Mansion

Big Thunder Moutain Railroad from Haunted Mansion

I think I'm going to speak with the owner about filling that last vaccancy.

I love The Haunted Mansion.

This charming little cottage.

This is the best place to sit in the Columbia Harbour House. Not only that, but going underneath it leads you to...

it may be dark and gloomy but at least it looks nice.

I know it's just used as stroller parking but it looks so cool.

I hope they don't give this skyway station a tomorrowland makeover, I like this one.

And now the parts of Fantasyland that look nice and will not be changing.

This is spawning.

Ariel's about to get a much bigger Grotto. That sounds dirty... hehe

Even Winnie the Pooh knows what's up. Wave goodbye to the playground.

GOODBYE

Donald Duck does have a nice tree farm though.

I actually like Barnstormer's theming, but I am hoping to see it get plussed.

Soon to get a new huge home... To prove a point, this was not a busy day in the park by any means. The longest line I waited in was 20 minutes for Space Mountain. But this has a 75 minute wait! And people wonder why the faries are getting a big chuck of toontown?

I mean... c'mon. This is just mediocre themeing. Bring on Fantasy Forrest!

homeless.

Soon to be...

Good Ridance, I hate Toontown Fair about as much as Dinoland in Animal Kingdom.

And now I present: "The stuff that ain't gonna be here in a few years"

I see something floating around on the new ceiling.

Welcome to an enclosed station, that has no line... scary

then it stops and tells you to "move along, there's nothing to see here."

Play the games or die of boredom! In all seriousness I really like these games, they do kill quite a bit of time.

Welcome to Starport 75.

I wish this would have received a more Disneyland-esque refurd like it was orginally intended to have. I mean it looks good an all but the ride still shows it's age, there's no on-board audio, and a lot of the area's look kinda of half-a**ed when compared to Disneyland's version. However, in my opinion the Fl version's layout is much better than the Ca version.

And now some pics of Space Mountain (all of which are completely unoriginal and I'm sure are very similar to those you've already seen).

If Mickey and Minnie were bushes they would look like this.

again.

Cinderella's crib.

Mickey lantern wreaths.

Main Street.

nice decorations on the beginning of the Emporium I believe.

Some toys for the taking underneath the tree.

Magic Kindom's tree.

I love these guys.

Toy Soldier and Main Street.

City Hall also looks very nice this time of year.

Tree, flag, Christmas decorations, toy soldiers, and Main Street USA... Yup we're at Disney

Some nice Christmas landscaping also waits for guests at the entrance

Giant Mickey flower ornamaent.

I've always really liked the magic kindom's entrance.

This was going on, but since I have an annual pass, I don't feel like paying an extra hunk of change, and almost all of the offerings are available during the week of Christmas, I didn't go.

Where were we? Ahh... yes. Magic Kingdom

[CD]

Great to see even MORE Disney photos! Thanks for putting these up, as I'm less than a week away from moving to Orlando and haven't been to Disney World since my junior year of high school. While there, we stayed in the building that was demolished for the new Contemporary resort tower.

 

Some great pictures and this really makes me happy to visit again.

 

Thanks for the compliments. I love living out here, I'm originally form California and I moved out here to go to UCF. Before this summer, I hadn't been to WDW since I was 7. You never grow too old for it though.

 

I am about to start my college program in January (I know I live close, but it's the best way to move up within the company, which I plan on doing) and I couldn't be more excited.

[PKI Jizzman]

The Wilderness Lodge looks VERY similar to the Grand Californian resort...which is my most favorite place in the world

[CD]

The Wilderness Lodge looks VERY similar to the Grand Californian resort...which is my most favorite place in the world

 

They are definitely similar, and I love both. On the outside Wilderness Lodge is bigger (or at least it looks bigger, I've just visited both resorts and never actually stayed). But, I prefer Wilderness Lodge just for the fact that it really puts you in another world. You honestly feel like your in a midwestern state and no where near Florida let alone WDW. That's where I believe WDW Resorts have the upper-hand on DL Resorts. There's just so much land at WDW to where you can be transported to another place, as opposed to DL where it seems like you never leave the resort (which isn't necessarily a bad thing haha).

[CD]

Day 2: Universal Orlando Resort

 

This past Friday I headed over to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. I started my day around 2 in the afternoon over at the Studios.

 

I immediately noticed that HRRR was not operating, but the banner was up. There were workers on top of the lift with some robot arm tool doing who knows what (I got pictures of their work for anyone who may know what was happening). There was also a train at the bottom of the lift that would periodically rise a little higher.

 

I then checked out some of the attractions and decorations and then made my way over to IOA.

 

Potterville is looking pretty good. It's amazing hom much larger it looks in pictures than it does in person. Yes, it's HUGE, but the forced perspective works much better on camera than it does in person.

 

It was raining pretty good by the time I left, but I got on everything I wanted to at both parks in about 2 hours. I wasn't able to stay for either Grinchmas or the Macy's parade due to the fact that watching either of those wasn't worth getting drenched.

 

All in all it was a good day at UO with absolutely no lines, I can't complain.

 

On to the pics.

 

Part 1:

That's it for Universal Studios. Part 2 at IOA coming soon.

I hear the lady that works here is just "Super!"

Since it was starting to rain pretty good I decided to end my day at the Studios on this.

More Christmas decorations

I do like this picture.

The mysterious arm is still doing somthing...

The elephant was right.

This fellow looks like he heard something. What did you hear? That the HRRRRRRR train moved again, and I din't notice it? No way...

I do like this.

Am I the only one who thinks that this ride is verry overrated?

That sneaky little train moved when I wasn't looking.

wait a minute...

HRRRRR is making a comeback into my Photo TR

Zeee Simpons

But at least they gave Krusty a hat.

I have a love hat relationship with the Simpson's Ride. I'm glad that something new and less jerky replaced BTTF, but I liked BTTF and the Simpson's aren't really all that great anymore.

hmmm... Something doesn't seem right here.

AHHHH... It's a shark! Wait, I see Fear Factor Live in the background, lets go!

I don't think they realize it's December. But hey, if you can do Christmas in July, why not July in Christmas?

I was suprised by this ride, I was expecting the something unintersting and cheesy (after ridding the tram tour in Hollywood countless times), but it was actually fairly cool. The preshow is awesome as well.

Having lived by San Francisco for the past 8 years, I think they did a very good job with this area.

As you can see here, park guests in jump suits waiting to participate in the parade.

They let park guests be balloon hadlers. I don't know how well this has been working out as I have yet to watch the parade, but I think it's a really cool idea. Now all the parade should need is an audience... Which judging by the crowd this day, it didn't get that.

They did something different with the Macy's parade this year.

I see you.

"My name is Cat in the Hat and I get shoved in a desolate alley-way because the live-action movie the made for me sucks. Especially when compared to How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which gets its own holiday celebration on both coasts... Man did I get screwed"

These two were quiet good. Didn't stay for the Blues Brothers show, but I liked the Christmas pre-show.

"My name is Garfield and I support Revenge of The Mummy, which, like most things in Orlando, is better than its west coast counterpart."

Christmas.

How did this picture sneek in with the Christmas stuff? If you tilt your head this almost looks like a loop.

There's something curios about this fellow.

They even have a tree. Though, I think it's kind of ugly.

Universal Studios is decorated very well for Christmas.

Enough of that for now, lets get to some Christmasy stuff.

Ohhhh it moved.

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Anyways, on to the interesting stuff. Anyine know what's going on here? It looks like they're doing something to the chain.

And in my opinion, very underrated. It may not be the best ride around but it has some really good pops of airtime and some interesting elements. I wasn't expecting much from this ride but it certainly delivered.

It is also very fun.

It is a photogenic ride.

Oh looks it's running! Maybe I can get on! Oh maybe due to the deceiving nature of this picture you can't tell it was sitting in that spot for at least an hour

First things first, lets check out HRRRRRRR. Now that the banner and the OMG Rings are up, the ride appears to be complete.

The snowpeople welcome you as well

It was really packed today if you can't tell.

Welcome to Universal Studios.

[CD]

Part 2

Goodbye IOA and Universal Orlando. The next update will feature Magic Kingdom and night and a whole lotta Epcot.

More Christmas decorations.

A forrest that only Dr. Suess could create.

I quickly snapped some pictures of Suess Landing on my way out. It started to rain hard while I was here.

Not fun without the water vortex tunnel! But the building still looks amazing.

It's still neat, just small.

What remains of The Lost Continent.

again.

The entrance to Hogsmeade.

I love the chimmneys.

I can't wait for this to open.

It looks like the track goes right through it.

The now all grey Flying Hippo and my best attempt to get a picture of the new struture next to it.

The other side of Potter.

Filling in the gap.

I wonder how much longer it will be until DD officially closes?

Hogsemeade construction now extends over the DD queue.

It's all grey, for now.

Something looks different. Flight of the Hippo has changed colors.

Attention to detail.

Hogsemeade from the DD queue.

The new and much shorter DD queue.

The definition of awesome.

Upskirt shot, with nothing to see. But if there was something to see it would be here, I swear.

"Dragon Challenge" Castle.

The barely visible Potterbox.

The floating Great Hall is starting to get its foundation.

One last angle with a mystery wall in the background.

Casa de verde

A greenhouse. Really? What do they plan on doing to cover up the Potterbox? It's REALLY obvious from multiple angles.

What's this I see?

You can barely see the GIANT Potter box. Right?

"Wecome to Jurrassic Potterland"

Sadly, only the restaurant was open.

I'm gonna steal a kid and get on this one day...

A very fun ride, but I give the upper-hand to the Hollywood version just for the falling truck effect and the fog.

Hey doesn't this belong in Toon Lagoon? This boat may look full, but they must have had only two boats operating.

Look, other survivors of the Dinosaurs of JP!

This is just a little eerie.

And now to my next favorite land (I love the movies).

But, I would say it's my second favorite log flume behind Splash Mountain.

It doesn't look like you get *that* wet.

Define "acceptable ammount of wetness."

Did I mention Toon Lagoon was all about water?

Looks apetizing.

Nifty little Popeye statue.

And... You guessed, water. Probably the wettest ride ever created. But a great rapids ride interms of length and scenery.

Water

This whole land is all about one thing... water

I mean, it's not elaborate theming but it's neat and immersive.

with the reduced Lost Continent, Toon Lagoon is probably my favorite land as of now.

I don't care how cool it is... You're not gonna catch me waiting in a line that long for anything.

Even after a decade has passed, this is still an awesome and unique attracrtion.

Doctor Doom's Fearfall does have a cool entrance.

It was packed here as well...

cooler than Maverick's.

One of the most interesting coasters to watch, and while it may not be the most intense B&M it is still one of the best.

Welcome to IOA. Still one of the most beautiful parks in the country IMO. (I took this picture on m way out but it fits better here.

[CD]

Day 3: Epcot and Magic Kingdom

 

Ahhh... It's now time to please all of the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow fanboys.

 

I arrived in Epcot this past Saturday around 4 in the afternoon. I took some pictures (mainly focusing on the World Showcase) and then watched the Cadlelight Processional, which was narrated by Whoopi Goldberg this evening (She did a fantastic job). After that I finished my loop around the World Showcase, unfortunately for you the pictures I took of the countries at night came out horribly so I won't be posting most of those.

 

Around 8:30 I went over to the Magic Kingdom to take the night shots that I intended on taking the other night before my camera died. I have never seen MK as busy as it was tonight (as I said earlier this was a Saturday, the first one of the busy holiday period, and the park was open until 1 AM so a lot of people headed here). It literally took me about 30 minutes to make my way from the entrance to the hub, but this put me in a great spot for Holiday Wishes. After spending about another hour in the park and only riding Splash Mountain (infact that was the only ride I got on the entire day) I had to leave. It took me about 20 minutes to get on the resort monorail (the express monorail line was horrendous). It was way too busy, but a good day nonetheless.

 

Here are the pics:

 

Part 1:

That concludes part one. Whoopi!! The Candlelight Processional is up next, along with more Epcot and some night shots at the Magic Kingdom.

Statue.

Restaurant.

For the most part it looks neat, it just needs more.

And now to my least favorite pavillion, Italy. It's just not very immersive and there isn't much but a mediocre restaurant. It would be nice if the ride that was intended for this pavillion was built one day. I can dream can't I?

The last shot of the American Adventure.

Also, like the gingerbread house in the Grand Floridian, you can spen all your money here too!

The ingredients.

Just like in the Grand Floridian, there is a giant gingerbread house in the quick service restaurant at the American Adventure.

I love this show.

American Adventure's tree.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus, these two were great.

Anyone feel like a little American Adventure?

Pagoda.

Japanese candy everywhere!

I love Epcot.

Awesome quick servie restaurant.

Awesome full service restaurant.

Now to the Japan.

Goodbye Morocco.

The detail is amazing.

This is about as immersive as it gets.

More Morocco.

The beautiful entrance.

Morocco, the most imersive pavillion of them all.

France's Storyteller was out. The Storytellers are great.

If someone asked for the definition of beautiful, I'd show them some pictures of Epcot.

Due to the cold weather, the fountains were off.

Artsy shot of Mini France's weenie.

I love the waterfront theming here.

France.

One last shot of the U.K.

The back of the U.K. Pavillion is very peaceful.

Some nice decorations in/on one of the stores.

The U.K.

A surreal looking picture of Japan from the pathway between Canada and the UK.

Proof that the park really wasn't empty.

That's enough Canada for one day, let's move along.

Great landscaping.

The waterfall tucked away in Canada.

You would swear the park was empty judging by this picture.

one of the windows was decorated fairly well.

The back of Le Cellier had some nice decorations.

Totem pole and expensive retaurant.

Quiet beautiful if I do say so myself.

OHHHH Canada.

and Norway.

China.

Germany ffrom across the lagoon.

again.

The real tree of Epcot (which has been having a lot of lighting issues over the past few weeks).

"Trees" and Spaceship Earth.

These "trees" were just recently added.

The songs they sing are also pretty good, they put a twist on traditional Christmas music. Though I still much prefer the original music.

The singers are very good and look like they really enjoy performing.

This, while not a sufficient replacement for Lights of Winter, is very good.

Tarps and SSE.

Epcot's tree, through the fountain.

I've always really liked these tarps for some reason. I can see why people likes the area better pre-tarps but they're neat to me.

This is not a good sign for the rest of the day. But, I am happy to see SSE with a decent line.

Artsy Spaceship Earth shot.

I hear somebody on these forums likes the Monorail.

Infact the entire topiary gang was out, but due to the people flooding the entrance to get their picture witht them, I coudln't get a good pic. So, this is all you get.

Topiary Mickey and Minnie were out at Epcot too.

I love Spaceship Earth, it is the perfect park icon.

Welcome to Epcot.

[jarmor]

wow...they put a net on the highest point of the treble clef...is it even effective over there since park guest dont really go back there?

[CD]

wow...they put a net on the highest point of the treble clef...is it even effective over there since park guest dont really go back there?

 

I thought that was pretty strange as well. I'm assuming that something probably fell out of a train and hit someone a while back and this caused Universal to put up some safety nets.

 

What I don't understand is why the nets are on the top of the treble clef, the ride really doesn't pull to many G's through the top of the element. So, you would think that if anything were to fall out of the train it would just fall straight down.

[ebl]

Very nice report! Makes me miss Epcot all the more.

 

What ride was the Italy pavilion supposed to get? I really should know this, but I don't.

 

Eric

[CD]

Thank you.

 

I believe that the ride initially intended for the Italy Pavilion was a journey through the ruins Rome. I'm not too sure though. It may have been through the ruins of Pompeii...?

 

I'm sure someone else on TPR knows.

[CD]

Part 2:

 

This will be my final update. Thanks for the compliments everyone!

 

I am going back home to California tomorrow. I'll be there for a week and then I'll be heading back to Orlando. I plan on taking some pictures at the Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. I may head back to Universal to get some pictures of an operating HRRR and some updates on Potterville.

 

Let me know if there's anything special that you would like a picture of and I will try my hardest to capture it for you.

 

Thanks again!

I made my way to frontierland and saw that BTMRR had an hour long wait. So I went on Splash Mountain, which only had a 10 minute wait (Like I said earlier it was Freezing for Florida!). It was still fun, and then I decided to leave. So, I'll finish this portion of the Photo TR with a picture of Main Street.

 

I wish Everyone a very happy holiday season with whatever it is you celebrate! Thanks for reading my Photo TR, I will be adding more late next week when I get back to Orlando. Once again, if you have any requests for pictures let me know! Happy Holidays!

The show was good and I would recommend sticking around and watching it.

It was actually pretty good. Too bad none of the characters would stop moving long enough for me to get a good picture... But hey, Donald attempted to pose.

So, I decided I would go check out Frontierland. On my way I noticed this.

But... When I get there, I found out that it's broken down. Nooooo

Yes, I finally made it!

I then decided that I would go ride Space Mountain while a large amount of people left. I looked over at the Tomorrowland Bridge and saw that it was packed. So, in an effort to be creative, I took the bridge that is just to the right of the castle that heads to Toon Town Fair. I was greeted by this... It literally took me 10 minutes to get across this bridge! It was way too packed. Well at least I can go ride Space Mountain.

One last shot of Cinderella's castle post-Holiday Wishes

Another one of my favorite pictures. Again notice the lighting on the castle.

I really like this picture for some reason.

Disney really does the best night time shows there are.

My favorite picture of the fireworks. Notice the snowflake lighting on the castle.

Green and red "Saturns."

And then Holiday Wishes started. IMO it's not as good as just plain ol' Wishes. But it was still a very good firework show.

Once again... Those blue lights are castmembers unseccesfully trying to funnel people out. If you didn't notice what was wrong last time I asked, can you see it now?

If you don't believe me, here's the reverse angle.

Where I was stuck for almost half an hour. At least with all the body heat it was actually warm (It must have been in the 40's that night).

And then almost an hour later I made it to the hub. The Castle truly does look beautiful with these lights, it's amazing in person.

SO MANY PEOPLE! Anyone notice anything wrong with this picture?

I do like the wreaths over Main Street.

Same picture, this time with the flash on to hide all the people.

I then decided to go down Main Street. Little did I realize at the time I was about to enter a sea of people. I took this picture around 9:15. I finally made it to the hub for Holiday Wishes at about 10:05. Luckily due to the massive amounts of people they delayed the show until a lot of people cleared out.

The train station all decked out for Christmas.

Once the parade was over I checked out the decorations at night. Here we have the Magic Kingdom's beautiful tree.

Once I got through the gate I was greeted by Spectromagic, which is very hard to get a good picture of. So, I present to you a blurry Goofy.

And now we're back at the Magic Kingdom to get those nights shots.

And... One last shot of Spaceship Earth to round up Epcot.

Epcot's Christmas tree all lit up.

which was all decorated for Christmas.

And finally we have Mexico.

They put on a good show.

And then the cute Norwegien storyteller (isn't any girl with an accent cute?) came out to tell us about their 3 day Christmas celebration. This was probably my favorite out of all the stories, it's very interesting and funny.

These were on the lightposts throughout Norway.

Here's Norway.

China's storyteller stage lit up.

Germany's Christmas decorations.

Germany.

As I said earlier my nighttime pictures didn't come out to well but I'll post the best of the bunch. Here's the American Adventure tree at night.

(Sorry for the picture quality once again) I really do like the candlelight processional, which was very suprising to me as I am not religious by any means. It's just a great show and it really puts you in the holiday spirit.

And she ended superbly by giving a speech and putting her own twist onto the processional. She talked about how music connected all people no matter what their religion be, and she proposed that the audience members return home and spread holiday cheer by getting a group together and singing the very songs that were just performed.

She did a fantastic job though and was the best narrator I have seen to date. She really got into it and you could tell that she really liked narrating. I hope she comes back next year.

Especially of Whoopi Goldberg, who was this evening's celebrity narrator.

And due to the constant light changes and the distance (I was standing behind the seating area), it was very hard to get a decent picture.

The greatest thing since sliced bread.

[bp/19]

As generic of a coaster Rockit looks for an immersive park like Universal, they definitley scored big with the look of the new Harry Potter ride. I have to admit, thats pretty incredible. Although one minute detail that kind of sticks out to me is the building sticks off the edge of the mountain in the back. I havent seen the movies so don't know if its supposed to look like that but it does look rather bizarre. Other than that, to put it simply, visually stunning. Hopefully the ride delivers as much as the building .

 

 

And BTW excellent pics! Always love TRs that cover the things most people dont.

[CD]

^Thank you!

 

The part of the building that you are referring to is The Great Hall. Right now they are constructing a "porch" that will wrap around the base of The Great hall and that will fill in the space where it looks like the castle is floating.

 

I definitely agree with you, the detail in TWWoHP is already phenomenal and it's not even close to being finished.

[Woogle]

This is a great TR. I'll be visiting the World first week of February and it will only be my second time in 10 years! So looking forward to it. Just a pity about the extreme travelling to get there.

[BeemerBoy]

I hear somebody on these forums likes the Monorail.

 

I've heard the same thing.

 

 

Thanks for all the World Showcase coverage. Nice work.

[mcjaco]

Thanks for all the World Showcase coverage. Nice work.

 

Ditto. I added a couple of the pics to the Park Index!

[CD]

Thanks BeemerBoy and mcjaco!

 

When I get back from California I'll be sure to get some more Epcot and Monorail pics.

 

Have a great trip Woogle.

[CD]

As much as it saddens me to say it seems as if this will be my last *Christmasy* update from WDW. The parks will start removing their decorations around the 4th so I probably won't be able to get pictures for you. However, I still plan on doing Orlando updates so there is no need to fret.

 

Today (New Years Day) I headed over to Disney's Hollywood Studios expecting horrendus crowds and rainy weather. Luckily for me, neither of those showed up today (except for the TSMM crowds...). Everything had a fairly normal line and making my way around the park was just as easy as it always is. So, enjoy the New Year pics!

 

Final Day: Disney's Hollywood Studios

 

Part 1:

Yes. 240 minutes! A whole 4 hours!! There is no way you would ever catch me standing in line for 4 hours for a glorified Wii game! It's fun but not that fun... Anyways, part two will be up soon!

Sunset theatre during sunset... yup, I did it. And I'll round off part 1 of this section with the promised picture of TSMM wait time only an hour after I had passed the attraction earlier... What you are about to see is not a mistake.

Can I sue them for false advertisement if there are no stars to shop with?

I went from RnRC back to the Backlot Express Restaurant for some dinner, and got some pics on my way. The Fantasmic crowd for the 6:30 show

It's a big ol' geeetaur.

The coolest looking part of the queue/ride.

An artsy photo of an artist's entrance.

let's head on over to that one Aerosmith ride!

Still one of the best themed rides on the planet.

The queue.

Are you sure this was built in the 90's?

Street Performers. One of the reasons that Disney is awesome.

Christmas decorations are a nice touch to the ominous looking hotel.

Everyone's favorite Disney Hotel.

The must have DHS picture.

Is that the park entrance?

And after that you get moved into a tiny room with some movie props. It leaves you saying "That's it?" So, I would recommend skipping this attraction if you don't have the time to get everything done.

And then there's a somewhat interesting show.

After the first room, you get put into this bigger room with some table (I never saw the movie so I don't know what the prop signifies).

My last new thing of the day, The Narnia exhibit... While in line I heard a boy ask his father this question "Daddy, what does oxymoron mean?" and then child's father replied back, "You know I don' speak no spanish boy!"... A father and son learning moment, priceless.

Am I the only one who's not excited to see this? I mean, why does Andy still have his toys when he's heading off to college?

Again.

More Toy Story themeing.

I do like the Themeing in this section.

What?! only 90 minutes? That's how long the line normally is... It should be way longer on New Years Day. Well little did I know that the ride had just reopend from a breakdown... Just wait until you see how long the line gets to be just over an hour later.

And now we venture into Pixar Place to see how long the line for TSMM will be...

Honestly... Open something here. Please

This set's been hot for so long you'd have thought it would've cooled down by now...

Awesome show. Now there just needs to be something to replace the rest ot the Tram Tour and we'll be set. (Pixar Place expansion anyone?)

Really? this can't be it...

This is suppossed to be spectacular? I don't get it... It just looks like a whole lotta cords to me.

Frosty has a very short lifespan in Florida...

Santa, you do realize it's January 1st right? No need to be carrying that sack around anymore.

I guess nobody likes Pizza Planet

This section of the park was dead...

Kermit in his pimp suit.

This fountain is pretty much awesome.

"Is this that balloon thingy that takes you up really high in the air?" Though it does have a strking resemblance to the Downtown Disney Character's in Flight balloon.

I then stopped by an old favorite, Muppetvison 3D

More Star Tours.

I now suddenly really like Star Wars!

It was this... WOW.

It was cute in the only was little kids fighting with plastic light sabers can be. But then I noticed something and the show became REALLY cute (And no, it's not Darth Vadars [sp?] awkwardly positioned light saber).

Then I saw that the Jedi Trainning Academy was going on so I figured I would check it out.'d never seen the show before this.

I then got some pics of the Star Tours entrance, but not being a fan of Star Wars or the ride, I didn't ride... I am looking forward to ST 2.0 though.

My favorite quick service restaurant at DHS (for the cool themeing and the free refills!)

Gotta love Disney themeing.

Sounds Dangerous (now a seasonal attraction) was actually open. So, I checked it out and I realized why it's seasonal... Replace please!

Keep the idea, now gut out everything behing the sign and put in a replica of either the California or Tokyo version.

I then decided to mosey my way around the park and check out the crowds. Here we have The American Idol Experience (I know this show has a bad repputation but I enjoy it, unless it causes Fantasmic not to perform!)

The band Mulch Sweat and Sheers were making appearances throughout the day.

The BAH with the temporary New Years stage and the always present Disney Balloons.

See, it's not too horribly busy.

I really like this for some reason.

A shot including most the park's icons (the tree, the hat, the entrance, and the earful tower)

From another angle.

The Tinsle Town Tree.

Wecome to Disney's Hollywood Studios! The thrid theme park constructed on the Walt Disney World Resort.

[CD]

Part 2: The End

Thanks for reading everyone! Have a great 2010!

My last Christmasy shot of the WDW Resort until next year.

Pluto's Toy Palace sign.

On my way out.

Proof that I actually got in line.

I then went on TOT one last time.

I love how Disney did this animitronic, it's pure Disney magic. Too bad it's kind of tucked away to where a lot of people walt right by...

It was then time to check out The Lamp formely known as Luxo but is no longer affiliated with that name due to copyright restrictions' Christmas show!

Why are you trying to get in the way Witch?

We're off to see that wizard.

I woudln't go up there if I was you Mugsy...

Oh No! We've been stopped by gansta's.

Poor guy, he has to sing in the rain every day. One of these days it's gonna be sunny.

Ohhh Ahhh

Inside The Great Movie Ride.

After Fantasmic! I decided that I wanted to venture into the world of movies.

And then Mickey does some magic, and it's over... Ya, that's pretty much Fantasmic! in a nutshell.

And then there's some fireworks.

Mickey needs to pay more attention when he's driving.

And then Mickey and all his imaginary friends come out on a boat.

And Mickey said "Ya, well I got a wall of water and a big sword that shoots fireworks, so kiss my a**" and then the dragon died.

And the Dragon was all like "I ain't afraid of no mouse!"

Mickey's all like "I'm not afraid of no dragon!"

A Dragon!

Fire on a water screen and glowing eyes in the background can only mean one thing...

Mickey don't like no snakes.

Oh no...

The Little Mermaid. Soon to become an omnimover attraction at a U.S. Disney park near you.

I now present to you John Smith and Pochontas through Pochontas. Thank you thank you...

John Smith's cool cuz he can climb a rock!

And some Pochontas.

I now present to you, Fantasmic in a nutshell. So, pretty much Mickey has one screwed up imagination. Here's a little Lion King.

I then went over to the always less crowded second showing of Fantasmic! Here's what the BAH looked like on the way over.

One last shot of awesome in the form of lights.

It's not cold enough to warrant a real fireplace in Florida so we get stuck with this...

Let it snow.

How did Frosty grow two lumps on the side of his head?

Once again, the little touches are great.

Looking down from the other end.

I see you...

The globe is ginormous.

"Dear Nay,

We fixed this after seeing your trip report.

 

-Disney"

See... The snow does stick to the ground.

An artsy picture of the lights.

or this...

You've got to love all the little touches, like this.

My favorite section of the lights, it's amazing to see them dance from this spot.

The huge Christmas tree, with the very hard to capture "snow"

It really is amazing to see in person.

Pure greatness.

It's time for my favorite Christmas attraction at WDW. The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights! Presented by Sylvania, who pretty much presents all things that are awesome at WDW.

The sun is starting to set here at DHS and that can only mean one thing...

[nay]

"Dear Nay,

We fixed this after seeing your trip report.

 

-Disney"

 

Haha, nice to see that they fixed that.

 

Great photos - I just love WDW around the holidays.

[CD]

"Dear Nay,

We fixed this after seeing your trip report.

 

-Disney"

 

Haha, nice to see that they fixed that.

 

Great photos - I just love WDW around the holidays.

 

Thanks Nay.

 

Alight, so I have a special New Year addition to this thread that will indeed be the final update. I took some videos (with my camera so please excuse the quality) of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights and of Whoopi Goldberg's final speech at the end of the Candlelight Processional.

 

I'll try to embed the videos but if I can't do it correctly will a mod please help me out?

 

Here you go everyone! Enjoy.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbv-lj9kWjo ()

 

This first video shows the lights dancing from underneath the canopy.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sF0DitsRfyA ()

 

This video shows the lights dancing from the front of the attraction, underneath the main sign.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWtoj4ys6Nw ()

 

And this final video is Whoopi Goldberg's inspirational speech at the end of the Candlelight Processional.

 

Thanks for viewing my thread!