Disney at Christmas Part 3: Osborne Lights!

Next up on our Disney Christmas trip was the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. With 2015 being its 20th and final year, we knew that seeing these again was a must!

• Exploring Orlando Area/Grand Floridian Gingerbread House
• Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
• The Osborne Lights 
• Epcot  
• Animal Kingdom
• Hollywood Studios & Magic Kingdom at night
• Beignets at Port Orleans French Quarter

Before Hollywood Studios, our friends stopped by Port Orleans Riverside so we could unload our luggage. Here's where the "extended" version of our trip came into play. When we found out that our Princess 2016 trip was going to have to be deferred due to pregnancy, we tacked on a few extra days to our December trip and stayed at Riverside!

After attempting to drive to Hollywood Studios (it was MADNESS, y'all), we were redirected to the Epcot parking lot where we would then board a bus to Hollywood Studios. Instead, we decided to park at Riverside and take bus to HS from there.

Vacation mode!

We finally made it!

I loved all of the Christmas decorations! After riding a few rides (the boys headed for the roller coasters while we stuck with the Great Movie Ride and Little Mermaid), we ate dinner then set out for the Streets of America!

20th and final year. Sad times.

The display was breathtaking as always!!

Stitch!

The crowd was MADNESS!

I just couldn't get enough! We spent a majority of the night trying to find that silly black cat.

After a few hours, we sat down on the backside of the display to rest and I noticed a hidden Mickey. All of a sudden, Jason said "KITTY" and pointed up towards the lights! Yep, there he was! Good eye, Jason!

Towards the end of the evening, the crowd began to thin out significantly. Even thought the park closed at a specific time, the Osborne Lights continued to run for an additional hour after park closing.

I actually managed a shot without a person in it!

Our tradition is to eat a gingerbread cookie while exploring the lights, so we did just that! It was delicious, too!

After saying goodbye, we left and headed back to our resort. It was Randy's birthday that day and a little celebrating was called for! Our poor wrapped gift for Randy didn't make it over so well - TSA decided to open it to inspect the roux that was inside. (Roux is what we use for a gumbo base and apparently our roux looked suspicious.)

Ah well, we made the most of it and enjoyed celebrating his birthday!

What is your take on the Osborne Lights? Sad/happy they are going?

Disney World At Christmas Part 2: MVMCP

Continuing with our December Disney World trip, today's recap is of Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party!

I left off the last recap at the Grand Floridian where we admired and took pictures with the gingerbread house. We finished there then hopped on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!

I made shirts for everyone, not sure if my friends would be too-cool-for-school to wear them. However, they happily agreed! :)

Our first stop? COOKIES! :)

Cookie and hot chocolate stations were located throughout the parks. These giant candy canes signaled the station locations and as we walked through the door, several cast members were singing Christmas carols. It was a nice touch!

 

Yum!

No trip to the Magic Kingdom during the holidays would be complete without a ride on the Jingle Cruise! This is one of my favorite parts of the Magic Kingdom at Christmas! SO much fun!!

After the Jingle Cruise, we stopped by the brand new Skipper Canteen to see how long the wait might be. Unfortunately, it was an hour and a half wait. On a normal basis, that would have been ok with us but we didn't want to waste a chunk of our special ticket night sitting around, so we declined.  Dinner instead was at Pecos Bill! :)

Around this time, it began raining...and continued to rain off and on the entire night. You think a little rain dampened our fun? NOPE!

I could stand here all night! :)

Our game plan was to ride rides first then watch the fireworks and second parade.

...once upon a Christmas time at Christmas...

You can tell how wet the ground was here. At one point, I wasn't even sure if they were going to go ahead with the parade or not because of the rain. I'm thankful they did!

My favorite part of the entire parade is the Toy Soldiers!

After the parade, we rode more rides and shopped around Main Street. I also had a Peppermint Sundae. You might remember Christmas time and my pregnancy cravings for all things Peppermint? Well, this hit the spot!! 

I ended up sharing with Jason because this guy was way too much for just one person!

No, my husband is not sweaty - the last ride of the evening for the group (not me) was Splash Mountain and his shirt got soaked!

Before long, it was time to call it a night!  We had a great time as always and enjoyed being able to spend yet another holiday party with our friends!

Last year, I put together a Youtube video of the party. If you'd like to check it out, here's the link! :)

For additional recaps of our Disney Christmas trip, check out the links below!

• Exploring Orlando Area/Grand Floridian Gingerbread House
• Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
• The Osborne Lights 
• Epcot  
• Animal Kingdom
• Hollywood Studios & Magic Kingdom at night
• Beignets at Port Orleans French Quarter

What's your favorite Disney specialty party/ticket event?

Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

Have no clue what I’m talking about? Well, if you keep scrolling down, you soon will! The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights is hands down one of my favorite parts of Walt Disney World during the Christmas season! I love to look close at the smaller picture, capture details in the lighting, and find hidden Mickeys throughout the display! Can you guess my absolute favorite part of the Wine & Dine Half Marathon course? Yep, our short run through the Osborne Lights in Hollywood Studios!

These are a must-do for anyone visiting Hollywood Studios during the Holidays. This year, the dates range from November 7 2014 to January 4 2015 and the lights are displayed nightly at 6 p.m.

A few fun facts about the Osborne Lights:

• 5 million lights
• 20 snow machines
• 2,000 gallons of snow fluid a night
• 43 hidden Mickeys

Today’s post IS a Wordless Wednesday (well, almost)…and is hosted by: Focused on the Magic!
Theme: This Is Really Good!

According to Disney Tourist Blog - In 2011, Jennings Osborne, the creator behind the original light display passed away. In the years since, Walt Disney World has added a nice tribute to him in the form of a lone white angel amongst the angels that circle the globe. A fitting nod to the man who created that shine so brightly on the ‘World. What a special tribute!

Do you like to search for Hidden Mickeys throughout the parks? Have you seen the Osborne Lights in the past?  I hear there’s also a black cat in this display that moves every year, but I’ve only found him one time (several years ago) and didn’t realize he was on the move from year to year!

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