Rise and shine, it's Embarkation Day!! (Again!)

I thought that I had allowed myself plenty of time in the morning to get ready and pack... and then I realized that all of Aaron's clean clothes were hanging everywhere since our laundry day and needed to be folded and packed - eek! The careful tetris job of packing everything made it very challenging to repack so it all fit. If I were to do it again, I'd have Aaron pack his own checked bag, rather than us sharing a checked bag. Aaron said that if he were to do it again, he would only pack his suit and brown dress shoes, and not his velvet blazer and black dress shoes, and then he wouldn't even need a checked bag.

Needless to say, everyone was waiting on me.

As we left Central Florida and headed toward the coast, it became very cloudy.

I'm not sure why, but the line of cars for the Disney Terminal at Port Canaveral is always horrendous. It's been like this since our first ever cruise in 2001. I've yet to experience anything similar with any other port/cruise line.

We were in port with the Norwegian Escape. We sailed on the Norwegian Escape over Christmas in 2017.

December 31, 2013 - Hollywood Studios + Epcot

We went to Disney's Hollywood Studios around 10AM. I had made all of our FP+ reservations for that morning and afternoon. As soon as we arrived, we immediately rode the Tower of Terror (my favorite), and we also had FP+ for Toy Story Mania and Rockin' Rollercoaster. You can no longer do this. I was lucky enough to be grandfathered in because I booked far enough in advance, but now you can only make a FP+ for either Toy Story Mania or Rockin' Rollercoaster, but not both in the same day. Kind of a setback.

We ate lunch at Pizza Planet. It's been a while since we've done that!

December 30, 2013 - Pool and Magic Kingdom

Rachel looked at the week's forecast and decided that this was the best day for her pool day. The sun didn't come out until the afternoon, though, so we spent the morning sleeping in and watching Disney Channel.

Also, something to note is that the Waldorf Astoria is kind of like a Vegas hotel in the way that you may be getting a five star resort room for a three star price, but the food is still the five star price. If you're wondering prices, it's like a bowl of cereal for $7 or a cup of coffee for $4 (though the room did have a Nespresso machine with free cartridges that the restocked throughout our stay). It's just obnoxious because I could buy a box of Frosted Flakes for $4 - I find it immoral to charge $7 for a bowl. My point is it's not higher quality food, it's just more expensive. Food at Walt Disney World hotels is much more reasonable.

Our 2013 holiday started with an Eastern Caribbean Cruise on the Royal Princess.



We planned to visit Walt Disney World for New Year's Eve because we purchased annual passes when we visited in October. However, hotel prices for that time of the year are steep - more than we wanted to pay. So we started looking into other alternatives. We had narrowed it down to the Swan or Dolphin resort which would be convenient, and we know that they are nice because we have stayed there before.... or the Bonnet Creek resort area because I've heard great things about Bonnet Creek, and I've always wondered about it. After much debating, we realized that this was our opportunity to try it out. With our annual passes, we got free parking at the parks, so transportation was not an issue. We also already had Magic Bands, and I had already made FP+ reservations on My Disney Experience (as annual passholders who stayed at a Disney Resort during Magic Band testing, we could make FP+ reservations up to 60 days out on our My Disney Experience account). It was the perfect time to see if an off-site resort could work for us, so we booked the Waldorf Astoria at Bonnet Creek.

We arrived at MK at 11:30. The New Year's Eve fireworks were going to start at 11:49 PM. We went on top of the train station to get a good view.















The fireworks were also going off behind us, over the lagoon.



















































I was very glad that they ran their New Year's fireworks a night in advance, as well, because I knew I wouldn't get to see them when we were actually ringing in the New Year (these fireworks were celebrating New Year's Eve). It was such an amazing show. I loved it.

After taking all of those fireworks pictures, my camera died, and I had forgotten to charge my spare battery. So, I had no camera for the rest of the night, and my dad had forgotten to bring his. I was upset.

After the fireworks, it was time for EMH. We headed over to Space Mountain and got FPs.

MK was a giant party. There was a DJ in front of the castle, and they blasted his dance mixes throughout the park. Great music selection. If I wasn't sick and Rachel was there, I would have been dancing.

Tomorrowland was packed, so we went on to Fantasyland where the wait times were short. We went on the teacups, and I had to convince my dad to help me spin them. Mom would have no part in it.

Dumbo only had a 20 minute wait, so we hopped in line. My parents hadn't ridden Dumbo since Rachel and I were little kids (Rachel and I have ridden it together since). Gosh, it had been at least ten years. Over by Dumbo, there was a separate dance party going on. It looked like alot of fun. Then Goofy came out for his meet and greet and started dancing. Too cute! I wished my camera wasn't dead. Dad got his own elephant and Mom and I rode together. Once again, I wished my camera wasn't dead!!!

After Dumbo, we went on Winnie the Pooh. We passed up Peter Pan because it had a 30 minute wait, and it's Rachel's favorite, so I figured we'd do it later. We also skipped out on the carousel and it's a small world because they typically have short waits and we could ride them later, as well.

We went on to Liberty Square for The Haunted Mansion. Mom, Dad, and I squeezed in a Doom Buggie together.

After that, we headed to Frontierland to ride Big Thunder Mountain. It had a thirty minute wait, but we never stood still. I don't think it was thirty minutes. It might've taken us twenty minutes to navigate through the queue, though. It was really fun because they were playing great music and everyone was dancing and singing. MK was so upbeat. All of the CMs working tonight were dancing and having a blast. Most were young (the College Program kids and interns, I found out later! ) in their twenties.

After BTMRR, I was starting to feel tired, so we headed on over to Space Mountain and used our FPs.

I didn't really care for the new queue. I missed trying not to stumble in the pitch black. None of the games were working when I walked by, and they're only close to the boarding area, which means the unlucky ones in the way back of the line are still bored. I missed the soundtrack. The silence was so weird. I did like the new bars in the queue area. I noticed that they rearranged the queue so it wraps differently. Waiting, I couldn't hear any cars on the tracks, but I could hear the chain lift. There was absolutely no soundtrack playing, which I found really weird. Has it been like that since the refurb or was it just like that for the night? The bars separating the rows when waiting to board were an addition that I found somewhat unnecessary.

The new plush seats were cool, and I actually appreciated how the bar pulled down the same way. I've always found it awkward, but at this point, I was missing the retro-ness of the old attraction.

I liked the revamped laser tunnel at the beginning. The ride was much darker, but I was still very aware of how close the beams were. It was so much quieter and felt faster which actually made me even more scared of the beams. I could still see the track right in front of me and the beams around me, but I could not see track way ahead or the other side's track, which is an improvement. It was QUIET. I didn't like this quiet. There was absolutely no music playing. I think they should take the music they used at DL's hightech version and play it, even if it's not synchronized to the ride. Just having some music in the background would make the ride more exciting.

Now, the exit.... they took out Lab Retriever!!! And once again, no music. I WANT THE ORIGINAL bah-dah... bah-duh MUSIC PLAYING!!!! And where the TVs used to be... missed that... but there were fabric wall covers up like it's not complete yet. I don't think the exit is area is complete yet at all. I have a feeling that we will continue to see additions.

The smoother track was cool, but all in all, I didn't really appreciate this refurbishment. They took away from the classic retro vibe, but didn't really add any modern futuristicness. It's so... plain. I'm not liking it. I hope that they continue to make improvements.

Now, after Space Mountain, we headed out. I was exhausted. As we left, it was snowing on Main Street. So pretty. I wished my camera wasn't dead.