Disney Thanksgiving - Day 3 - Mickey's Merry Christmas Party

November 22, 2013

The rest of our group arrived at 1:30am this morning.  We spent a little time at Art of Animation before switching hotels.  We wanted to show our new arrivals the Cars area of the hotel before we left and of course the kids had to pose in front of every car.

Kyle, Max, Zoe, Ella, Avery, Jacob

Zoe, Avery, Ella

Animal Kingdom Lodge has two sections: Jambo House and Kidani Village.  Marc checked us into our room at Jambo while the rest of us proceeded to Kidani where we were eating lunch.  While we waited to be seated, we enjoyed one of the savannas.

We had lunch at Sanaa.  I think I'm the only one who really enjoyed the taste of lunch very much, but everyone survived and we had a good time.  Our service was pretty good until after dessert and then our waiter disappeared for quite a while and I finally had to ask for him.

I really enjoy Sanaa too.  Even though I'm not an adventurous eater and never thought I liked Indian food, it was good.  I especially like the bread service...and the atmosphere.  

The 'decorate your own' cookies were definitely the highlight of the kids meals.

Jambo House

After our two hour lunch, we went to Jambo House hoping our room would be ready.  The kids were so hopped up on sugar that I'm surprised they didn't knock the giant Christmas tree over.

Zach, Zoe and Grandma waiting for our room to be ready.

Daddy and Zach in the entry way to our Grand Villa.

The kitchen

Bedroom 1

Bathroom 1

Bedroom 2 

Bathroom 2 with bathtub and separate shower

Living room

Dining room

Pool Table Room?

Master Bedroom

Master Bath

3 huge balconies!

The most important appliance for the Kleinfelters!

We received room 5564.  The room is gorgeous and fits the 13 of us perfectly.  My only complaint is that it mostly overlooks a savanna that doesn't have giraffes or zebras.  You can see the end of one of the other savannas which does have them, but mostly we only see some other animals.

The pictures certainly can't do it justice!  Some of the details not pictured are huge bath with tub/shower across from the laundry room in the entry way.  And the gorgeous Lion King mural that is the centerpiece of the master bath over the tub.

The first official pin trading of our trip (in the lobby.)

After exploring, changing, and some unpacking we were excited to get to the Magic Kingdom.

Tonight was the only night of our trip that offered Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, so even though it wasn't ideal for us to be up so late today, we didn't have much of a choice.

The park was very festive.

Zoe can't take her eyes of Dumbo flying around the ceiling

We had fastpasses for Goofy's Barnstormer (kids' rollercoater) so that was the first stop.  Then the new Dumbo where the kids played in the wait area for a few minutes even though there wasn't much of a wait.

Melissa & Ella,  Marc & Zach,  Is that Greg & Jay back there?

 Lots of hot cocoa and cookies!

The Christmas Party boasts special shows, a parade, and Holiday Wishes (fireworks.)  We found a spot in front of the castle where we could see all of these things and held it while taking turns getting some dinner.  Marc made a cookie and cocoa run too.

Zoe was pretty excited about that!

The castle was shimmering.

The kids occupying themselves between shows.

 One of the shows consisted of images and video projected onto the castle.  This was by far the highlight of the night for me.  This picture shows the castle turned into a gingerbread house - er castle.

 We really haven't figured out the best way to enjoy the Christmas or Halloween parties.  For this party we managed to get on a few rides and then felt like we had to go find a place to camp out to watch the shows because everyone else does.  So for hours we were in one little spot watching different shows.  If our kids were older, I guess we would have watched the later parade instead, which might have made a little bit of a difference, but I'm not sure.  At any rate, we did have a good time, and while I wouldn't be in a hurry to go to the Christmas party again, I still felt like it was worth doing.