We all really struggled to get moving today. My fibro pain was worse – I assume to doing too much yesterday. I woke up around 7am but didn’t get moving till 9am when I went for my shower and to start packing. Luckily packing up was fairly straight forward as everything just had to fit into our bags (and we were using our spare bag for souvenirs /gifts. Once all our bags were packed Kevin called for them to be picked up and transfered over to Bay Lake Towers (so helpful not to have to move them ourselves when changing resorts). I then ate my Amy’s tofu scramble for breakfast while last minute pantry items were being packed. Just after 11am we left the room and drove around 20mins to Wholefoods.

Finally I got the chance to have a slow shop at Wholefoods and pick up some items that I wanted and some stocking stuffers for the kids. Also our groceries for the next week. We didn’t pick up everything though – no frozen items (we found out later the resorts will not only store fridge items but also frozen ones).


We were here for over an hour. Christy wanted to know what was the nearest thing we had to Wholefoods in Australia and there is NOTHING. After we loaded the car with groceries Kevin spotted a Dunkin’ Donuts right next door and wanted to get a drink to try. He got frozen chai latte which he really enjoyed but found to be about 80% ice. He got me Strawberry Dragonfruit refresher with coconut milk – which I did enjoy but not as much my dragonfruit drink from Starbucks.

We then drove back into the Disneyworld bubble and to Bay Lake Towers.


It was funny having mostly groceries to check in – but I think they are kind of used to that – and they have the trolley for the job. They look it all away to store until our room is ready.

Since our room was obviously not ready we had a quick little explore around the pool area before heading across the linkway to the Contemporary Resort where we checked out gingerbread house display and explored some shops

before having lunch in the Contempo Cafe. I had the tofu bowl – it was pretty good and I mainly ate the rice, tofu and bean mixture. Kevin had the kids burger.


I was super happy to see the magical Mary Blair murals. I just love her art style. Hard to believe they are 50 years old.


After lunch we checked out the other stores – not buying anything – and then found a table in the lounge to just sit and rest and wait. Luckily we were able to move to a more comfy lounge not too long after – which also gave a great water view and a rainbow off in the distance.

We were getting a bit antsy to head to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party so about 3.45pm we walked back over to Bay Lake Towers to find out how our room was going. It was apparently waiting for inspection so we took a seat in the lobby to wait.


Just before 4.30pm we got a text to say our room was ready. Kevin asked for our luggage at the Bell Services desk before we headed up and luckily our luggage was already here from Riviera (they say before 7pm). Our room is really nice but the resort overall is not as nice (to us at least) as the Riviera.

We again have a one bedroom which means plenty of space and seperate area for Christy to sleep, though it’s a sofa bed this time.


Our luggage and groceries arrived quickly so we were able to put stuff in the fridge, gather what we needed and prep the room ready to fall into bed sometime after midnight. Then we set off for the Magic Kingdom, which is just a 6 minute walk away. It did seem odd not taking the ferry across as that’s what we usually do to get to the Magic Kingdom.

Security was a straight walk through and only a few people in line at the entry booths. We got our party wristbands and walked so we could get our first look at the castle and main street.


We then went around to the party entrance, where we received a very nice and unexpected xmas ornament.


We were going to use our advance DAS pass to go on Haunted Mansion but got stopped by our first ever calvacade (little mini parade they started doing during the pandemic). Then it on to Haunted Mansion. This is one of our favs but some reason this trip all the rides seem to be over so quick.
We then headed to Pecos Bills for an early dinner before the party officially starts at 7pm. I had another rice bowl – this one was nicer with black beans, capsicum, onion and rice. I ate it ALL. Kevin had a fajitas plate and Christy had some tortillas. We did find out later that Pecos Bills is open during the party but I still think it was good to have eaten now.

We walked over to Big Thunder but unfortunately it was down. So we entered Adventureland to ride Pirates (one of our favs)



We picked up our first (free) cookie, then rode on Aladdin’s magic carpet before wandering (without any plan) over to the main hub. It’s so beautiful at night with all the Christmas lights on.


Then it was over to Tomorrowland for the Transport Tourist Authority. Unfortunately I was not feeling good at this point. Fibro pain all over – I took some more pain meds which will hopefully work. This meant I didn’t enjoy this ride as much as I normally do but it’s okay we’ll go it again at some stage.


Since I wasn’t doing too good we went to watch the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor (though ended up having wait a good 10-15 min until we took our seats. This was a funny show and we all enjoyed it.

We then did Buzz Lightyear, which was a walk on. The ride stopped midway through but you were able to keep shooting so both Kevin and Christy maxed out points at 999,999.

Christy then rerode since she wanted to get a proper score. Kevin and I found a nearby seat. Sadly I still wasn’t feeling good so we decided to prioritise watching the fireworks and parades and leave the rides until the next party. So we made our way back to the main hub arriving just as the parade was starting past. So we had to wait for that to be finished before we could get some seats to wait for the fireworks. It wasn’t where we’d been heading too but it was fine. We were beside a garden area which meant no-one could stand right in front of us and we had a seat to sit on while we waited the 45mins until the fireworks. I enjoyed some popcorn that Kevin had gotten for me earlier and did plenty of people watching. I made a trip to the toilet and made a friend when the lady in front of my starting chatting when she heard my accent. We have found all the Americans here to be so friendly – always chatting in lifts or at least saying to have a great day. I don’t really remember this from previous trips but maybe that’s because we didn’t stay onsite. I don’t know. It was the same at Universal. Thankfully I was slowly starting to feel better. Maybe thanks to my pain meds but also thanks to a more restful time.

At 10pm it was time for Minnie’s Wonderful Christmastime Fireworks which were spectacular. Even though we had a pole in front it didn’t bother us. It was so nice seeing all the projections on the castle from almost front on.




We thoroughly enjoyed both the music and the fireworks. When they were done we sat back down for a bit to let the crowds disperse before going to find a spot to watch the parade. We usually watch from up in the front entrance but I thought it might be quieter for us and also more likely for us to find a seat if we headed to Frontier Land (where we have seen parades from in the past). We found an almost perfect spot that was roped off so no-one could stand in front of us and there was a garden fence behind us – which we could lean against. It was opposite the Christmas Shop if anyone wants to know. And we realized just how good a spot it was when we (esp. Christy) had LOTS of character interactions during the parade because there were so few people around us (and no-one behind). Christy loved the parade while Kevin and I did enjoy it, but there little that was new since we last saw it in 2019.














The other thing about this location was that the parade passes by earlier and since it’s much less crowded it’s easy to get around. If we’d been planning to hit a few more rides before the park closed this would be perfect. As it was we decided to browse the shops as we made our way towards to front of the park. Starting with the Christmas store, before making our way to the Main Street stores (the parade was still moving along Main street but people poured in the shops as the parade finished.
It was hard to have a leisurely look but we managed. Kevin was determined to get a Caramel Apple before we left. While we waited for Kevin, Christy and I watched a lady making fairy floss (or candy floss as it’s called here) which was quite fascinating.

One last photo stop


Then the short walk back to Bay Lake Towers (probably the best thing about this resort) and into bed with a cup of tea. I ended up reading until about 2am as I was too awake after such a special evening.