Countdown to Christmas - Day 17

17th December

So finally today I have managed to decorate my Disney tree, the last piece of Christmas decorating to be done so the house is now completely 'decked' out.

I have to say though that I am a bit picky when it comes to Disney decorations, as not only do they have to truly represent Disney but they also have to be very Christmassy. I am not a lover of just characters designed to hang on your tree, they have to have at least a little bit of Christmas about them.

But I do have everything from Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto to the Princesses to Stitch to Buzz and Woody to Dalmations and lots more besides.

Beauty & The Beast themed

Stitch - Naughty!

Stitch - Nice!

Chip & Dale

Dalmations

Toy Story

A couple of tinks!

The Fab Four ;)

 And here are a few shots of my Disney tree in all it's glory...

...hope you approve :)

Countdown to Christmas - Day 16

16th December

So today sees the remainder of my Christmas decorations going up.  Now I already have twinkly lights in my garden, a trio of light up figures on my patio (Santa, Snowman & Penguin), a tree in my kitchen, a tree in my hallway, wreath on the door, a few faux boughs of greenery, ornaments a plenty and tinsel hanging from numerous places but today is the day that we put up the real tree in the living room.

Now this tree is a bit special, because this is my Disney tree.  I already have a light-up Pooh Bear Hundred Acre Wood display, and a Tigger tree topper that's just too heavy for the top of a tree, there's a couple of Jingle Smells Vinylmations on  the cupboard and a glitter ball set of Mickey ears hanging off a curtain pole but there is still more to come!

My first proper Disney tree ornaments were a present from Simon, who brought back a handful of decorations from a work trip to San Francisco back in 1992, I even have the original boxes they came in and each year they get carefully packed away in their correct boxes.  But since then the collection has just grown and grown, and each trip to a Disney park wouldn't be complete if we didn't bring home a new edition or three to our collection!

A few of our Mickey decorations!

But it looks like my attempts to get the tree decorated today are to be thwarted...a combination of a weekend away and our youngest having her first music performance has meant that the hours have just disappeared.  So tomorrow (hopefully) will see my tree completed, with an appropriate blog post and photos to follow :)

Countdown to Christmas - Day 15

15th December

So the observant amongst you will notice that despite this post being titled Day 15 it is actually being published on Day 16!  So first I shall apologise for being a day late and then I think my post will explain why.

Christmas is always a time for family and friends, a good excuse to get together with those we love and care about, and this weekend for us has been no exception.

Through the common interest of all things Disney we have over the last couple of years, and especially this last year, begun to find other liked minded individuals through the medium of the internet.  By following podcasts like WDW Radio or The Minnie Minxes we have been introduced to a 'whole new world' of all things Disney, and subsequently along the way have made new friends.

So this weekend has been spent with one of the hosts of the The Minnie Minxes, Michelle, and other Disney obsessed people and we even managed to connect with long time friend Emma by the power of Skype!

And at the same time our friends at WDW Radio were posting a blog all about 'My Best Disney Present Ever' and one from our friend Christy Viszoki, right at the bottom of the blog post, caught our eye - couldn't have said it any better Christy.

Disney and the spirit that it embodies brings about a kindness and warmth among people and ultimately new connections, friends and adventures.

Countdown to Christmas - Day 14

14th December

Thought I would just get a quick post in tonight.  Remember my post about getting an early birthday present in the form of a Disney themed Christmas jigsaw?

Well it's out of the box and making progress...which I am very impressed with as December so far has been a busy old month and the amount of time I have had to devote to the jigsaw has been limited to say the least.

So the question is - will it be finished in time for Christmas??  Have to wait and see :)

Countdown to Christmas - Day 13

13th December

Right so what shall I write about today...then I looked at my holiday countdown app on the i-pad and we've hit the 250 days till our next WDW trip mark!!

Now on my Christmas list I had already specified a number of Disney themed books that would help me with my planning for next years trip, but I was actually lucky enough to get an odd one or two for my birthday :)

Now the Birnbaum book has become a bit of a ritual in our house, it was the first WDW guide book that I ever bought.  It was so informative, and full of little pieces of interesting trivia that it has become an essential part of our holiday planning, and a trip just wouldn't be right if I didn't have the latest copy to peruse through!

Happy planning to me!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 12

12th December

As we've been talking Disney parks in the last couple of posts I thought I'd keep the theme going.

Even in the height of Summer you can still experience a little bit of Christmas at WDW.  The first way, and probably the most obvious, is shopping.  So not only do I get to combine my love of Disney with Christmas but then I get to shop too - what more could a girl want?!!

Now there are Christmas shops at the Magic Kingdom, Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe, and at Disney's Hollywood Studios, It's a Wonderful Shop, but probably the best and definitely the biggest is at Downtown Disney's Marketplace, Disney's Days of Christmas.  It takes a great deal of self control (and luggage allowance) not to come home with lots of decorations and ornaments!!

Outside It's a Wonderful Shop, Disney's Hollywood Studios, 2011

The other way to experience a little seasonal fun at any time of year is with themed miniature golf! Over at Blizzard Beach you can play miniature golf at Disney's Winter Summerland, where Santa and his elves have taken a vacation.

And nothing says Christmas more than miniature golf in the Florida heat with carols playing in the background!!  Just gotta love it :)

Countdown to Christmas - Day 11

11th December

So continuing the theme of reminiscing about time at Disney parks at Christmas, let me tell you about the couple of visits to Disneyland Paris during the holiday season.

Our first visit at Christmas was in early December 2000, we visited over a weekend spending 3 nights at Hotel Cheyenne.  We even managed a day visiting Paris with the highlights of the day being The Eiffel Tower and Picasso Museum.  The weather was cold, although the snow falling in the Disney Village was man-made!  There was a lovely Christmas market laid out through the Disney Village and I remember that everywhere seemed to smell of warm mulled wine, it was all very Christmassy, there was even an ice-rink outside the Hotel New York.

Main Street, USA - Disneyland Park, Paris - 2000

Ice Rink, Hotel New York - 2000

Our second visit was the weekend just before Christmas in 2002.  The main difference between these two visits was the crowds.  Now both visits were busy, as you would expect over weekends, but the second visit just before Christmas was unbelievably so.  On our last day I remember by 11.00am all the Fastpasses had been issued for Peter Pan's Flight and the standby queue was at nearly 3 hours!!

Main Street, USA - Disneyland Park, Paris - 2002

There were two great things about this visit, first we happened to visit at the exact same time as some very good friends of ours, totally unplanned but great fun to share the experience with them!  And the second was that it coincided with our son's birthday; when we arrived at our hotel there was even a present waiting for him and a special badge for him to wear.

Pull key-chain Donald, still working 10 years later!

Birthday Badge

We had also arranged to have a character meal, a buffet tea with a special birthday cake.  Our daughter who was just over one at the time didn't quite know what to make of all the characters, but I think the abundance of cakes and sweets made up for that :)