2015 Christmas Trip Report Day 3 - Epcot & Hollywood

[jans2kids]

So after two late nights in a row we slept in a little this morning getting up at 9:00. It's Christmas Eve and we planned on spending the day at Epcot to see Christmas around the World and then to HS to see Osborne lights and Star Wars FW at night.
We had breakfast at the AS food court which is something we don't normally do as we are normally rope drop people. It was pretty crowded & not many seats available. arriving at Epcot there was a large mass of people waiting to get through security but it still only took 5 minutes. We didn't choose any FP for Epcot electing to save them for HS tonight. A major advantage of FP+.
Today was going to be everything Christmas. First was to see the Jammitors but since we had some time to waste we checked out the new Colortopia exhibit at Innoventions - it was ok to do once but I liked many of the other shows that are no longer there better. We then watched the Jammitors who put a holiday spin on their show. Next was the American Music Machine which is a 5 member a capella group that started performing in Epcot last spring. They performed a nice medley of holiday songs on the Fountain stage.
Back to WS to start Holidays around the World. In Canada were the Canadian Holiday Voyageurs who put on a lively show of Celtic music and Canadian storytelling. Then there was another new act in the UK called Quickstep - a 4 member group who play Scottish & Irish music & then we saw Father Christmas who told about UK Holiday traditions. At the same time was a Mary Poppins meet & greet in the same area so the line for that got mixed in with those trying to see the show.
Across the bridge to France for a visit & picture with Pere Noel, then lunch at the France Bakery. I used to like eating here but the quality of food doesn't seem to be what it used to be. We had a $9 Croque Monsieur that was pre made and then thrown in a oven to heat for a few minutes. It was very hard around the edges and cold in the middle. The Ham & Cheese croissant was more reasonably priced & was not too bad.
At this point Andrew didn't want to see any more holidays so he went his own way and hit the shops. Our next stop was Morocco for a story of all their year round celebrations. In Japan we learned about the Daruma doll and New Years in Japan. At the American pavilion we were able to listen to the Voices of Liberty's' Christmas show. I wish they would perform a longer show. The line for Santa was very long since it was his last day there so we just got a picture of him and Mrs. Claus between visitors.
We missed Kwanzaa & Hanukkah and moved onto Italy to see La Befana the witch. Before her show we also saw Sergio the juggler. In Germany they had a nice area for their story teller Helga and her tales of the Christmas tree and the Nutcracker. In China there was the Lion Dancer and then the Acrobats. It was a very windy day which made it difficult for them to catch things when throwing them high in the air. Their trainer did not look pleased as they kept missing them.
It was now time to head over to HS. We met up with Andrew at the Intl Gateway and walked to the Y&B Club to see the Christmas décor, trees, chocolate carousels, gingerbread house and model railroad. They were even giving out cookies & cider in the lobby. We caught the boat from Y&B to the Swan & Dolphin. They also had huge trees, gingerbread houses and a chocolate Santa. I wanted to see Santa's Tiki hut but for some reason that was only there thru the 20th.
We had dinner at the Fountain Sweet Treats at the Dolphin. We have always liked this for the sandwiches and ice cream and great fries. We had fries, shakes and sundaes but they changed the fries and they were a big disappointment. The last thing to see here now that it was dark were the dancing lights covering the causeway between the two hotels. It was a nice light show set to Christmas music so we watched for a while and then got in line for the boat to HS.
Our 1st FP for TSM was at 7:00 so we rode the GMR and then over to TSM. Then we continued down Pixar place & entered the Osborne light area near Watto's Grotto. It was crowded but we were able to move about freely & take lots of pictures. The lights were overwhelming & the music was terrific especially when the light show began in tempo with the music. We could have spent all night there. With all the pictures we took our phones were almost dead so Andrew found somewhere to charge while Janice, Bryan & I waited in line to get a picture with Santa Goofy.
We used our 2nd FP on Indiana Jones as they were having a 9:00pm show so we wanted to get good seats for the nighttime show. The FP line weaved in and out of so many places and they finally had you enter the theater in the exit at the top left, led you all the way down to the stage, had you walk on the stage over to the right and then back up into the seating area. The fire and special effects at night seem so much more explosive. Our last FP was for Star Tours and the Muppets before catching the Star Wars fireworks at 11:00pm.
Even with the large crowd we were out of the park and back in our room before midnight. Tomorrow is Christmas day and MK opens at 7:00am. We weren't planning on making it there for rope drop but we would not be far behind.

[JanetMegan]

Loving your recap. I arrived on the 30th and it was pretty busy but the weather those last few days of the year was amazing!!!

[faline]

What a terrific and relaxed day!! Although I've been at the holidays, I've never spent an entire day just focusing on the holiday offerings!! I may need to do that on our next December trip!!

[IloveJack]

We'll be there the 2 weeks leading up to Christmas this year. We might have to take an Epcot day to do this, too! Thanks for the idea.