Don’t miss the talking trash can: Christmas in Disney, Day 11

Another day, another missed rope drop opportunity.

We got up around 7:30, dressed, and headed immediately to the lounge to scope out the breakfast offerings. I had oatmeal with dried blueberries, a mini blueberry muffin, and fruit. CP had fruit and a mini bagel. Not a huge spread, but enough to satisfy us until our late morning Kona brunch. We headed to the Great Ceremonial House to buy coffee from the Kona Island; club level is great, but the lounges still serve the same nasty Nescafe you find elsewhere in WDW.

With coffee in hand, we returned to our room to grab books, ipads, and my camera, and headed to the Poly beach for some…*gasp*….relaxation. I must admit, it was pretty relaxing to lay there in the sun, listening to the birds ahead and the boats on the water. By this point in the trip, we were tired, and this morning of relaxation really fit the bill. Before settling in to relax – and after we were done – I took advantage of the beautiful day to take some outdoor pictures of the Poly. Some highlights:

Beautiful, but too cool for swimming.

Looking toward the GCH.

Gorgeous.

Another shot of the Volcano pool.

I spy a Grand Floridian!

I made a friend.

Beautiful.

I didn't even notice the kid at first, but he kind of makes the shot.

Aaaaaah.

Our camp, with Hawaii in the background.

Our home for the weekend.

Outside the GCH.

At 11 we headed to the Great Ceremonial House for our Kona Cafe ADR. The meal was GREAT. We split a press pot of Kona coffee to start (YUM, even better than the Kona blend coffee you can buy at the Kona Island), and CP had the Big Kahuna, while I had the infamous Tonga Toast. It didn’t disappoint! The

Tonga Toast FTW.

service was fast and friendly, the food piping hot, and the price very reasonable (especially with the

Chocolate Lilo & Stitch!

Tables in Wonderland discount). Kona Cafe gets the official Nerds in Wonderland seal of approval (and awesomeness).

After brunch we headed to the monorail (love this about staying at a MK resort!), destination Contemporary. Frankly the Christmas decorations were a little underwhelming, so we didn’t linger long. We then walked to the Magic Kingdom, which had a crowd rating of 9.5. Smart, right? But we weren’t crazy; we just had two objectives that didn’t involve waiting in lines: buying more pins and seeing PUSH the talking trash can. We headed to Tomorrowland to accomplish both goals; after buying a few more 40th anniversary mystery pins, we realized we had a new obsession and that life would never be the same. Soon after, we spotted PUSH – and his (her?) handler – and followed him (her?) around Tomorrowland, enjoying his (her?) interaction with kids and adults alike. At this point, our missions were accomplished, it was hot, and it was crowded. After browsing the Main Street stores in hopes of finding pins to trade, we headed to the boat dock for a lengthy wait and then a boat ride back to the Poly. We stopped in the lounge for soda, white chocolate pretzels, and some Asian snack mix, and then headed back to our room for a nap. A few highlights from our monorail circle tour:

Leaving the Polynesian to start our monorail tour.

Gingerbread tree at the Contemporary.

Two of my favorite things: Mary Blair and gingerbread.

The train station in its holiday finest.

Christmas on Main Street.

Hawaii, as seen from the boat.

Promptly at 5 (you can tell we were trying to get our money’s worth), we headed to the lounge for dinner offerings. What a difference a day makes! On this night chef Eugene was on duty, and the food was AMAZING: pork satay with BBQ sauce, vegetable spring rolls with chili sauce. Even the cheese was better, and

Beckoning us to the lounge.

included my all-time favorite, Purple Haze (a delicious goat cheese with fennel pollen. Try it!). There

was an edamame salad, pineapple and other fresh fruit, and more hummus and pita. I had some POG punch and then a glass of chardonnay, and CP had some punch and proclaimed it “good.”

Our plan for the evening was to head back to the Magic Kingdom, have dessert at the Poly, and then

Can't get enough of the castle lit up for the holidays.

head to the Studios for one more ride on Toy Story Mania. Frankly, we were just too tired, so we headed to the Magic Kingdom for an epic evening of pin trading and buying. Seriously, it was like we were on drugs. I even dragged CP to the crazy crowded Emporium to buy a seven-pack of pins for trading. Our

biggest trade find of the evening was the crazy cat pin from the Toy Story Mania set; we also scored some great CM Hidden Mickey pins.

We then continue our pin buying/trading on the monorail loop, stopping at the Contemporary (trading for a Duffy pin, we have a problem), and then heading to the Grand Floridian (no good pins, but it was oh-so-pretty at night and how can you

Lovely.

complain about that?). We finish up with a leisurely walk back to the Polynesian, where we look for pins to trade in the Great Ceremonial House (no luck, AND I got yelled at by a grumpy Cast Member for trying to trade off of his green lanyard. I didn’t know!) we stopped in the lounge for dessert, cocoa and Kahlua, and then headed out to Sunset Point to watch the Electrical Water Pageant. It was a really lovely moment, and a bittersweet one – our trip was really wrapping up. We headed back to the room, showered, and slept.