Christmas at the Springs

This is my first holiday season in Florida, so of course I had to check out how Disney does Christmas at the Springs!  Jim & I made Jock Lindsey's Hangar Bar our first stop.  I loved their Autumn Smash last time I visited, so I was eager to try their winter seasonal beverages!  This one was called the Holly Jolly Kali Punch: "Mola Ram's favorite holiday libation! Absolut Mandarin Vodka and Southern Comfort with Lime Juice, White Cranberry Juice, Passion Fruit, and a splash of Ginger Ale."

It was delicious!  We then did some shopping at World Of Disney, Basin, and Tren-D.  There was an adorable soap sculpture of Olaf in the middle of Basin:

We then checked out the tree trail!  There were trees themed after all sorts of Disney movies.  Jim pointed out the chalk art on the ground by the entrance:

 

Lilo and Stitch:

Minnie Mouse:

Princess and the Frog:

A cute detail:

101 Dalmations:

Muppets (I wish there were some eyes or something more Muppety on this tree!):

Tangled:

I thought the long braid wrapped around the tree was super cute!  And the hand-painted lanterns!

I loved the dragon on the Mulan tree!

Jungle Book:

Mary Poppins:

 Jim pointed out the spoonful of sugar!!  So cute!

Cinderella:

Beauty and the Beast!  They had cute Beauty and the Beast garlands in the World of Disney, not for sale but as decoration!  I don't quite get the red ribbons on this tree, and it was kind of.. thin.. but cute anyway!!

It left me feeling rather crafty, like I should have a themed tree in my apartment next year, or make my own ornaments (spoonful of sugar, anyone?)! 

This was one of the big trees, in the spot where the Mickey jack-o-lantern had been for Halloween.  Here's a picture of me in front of it for scale:

We then hit Goofy's Candy Company, which was full of holiday cheer!

 I wish they were selling wrapping paper like the display panels!

Santa Mickey and Minnie (and Sorcerer) apples:

Snowflake and Santa apples:

Santa Mickey cupcakes and Mickey Christmas tree!

Giant Mickey sugar cookies:

Cutie little cake ball:

Candy cane chocolate-dipped marshmallows, so cute!

Shortbread and gingerbread Mickeys:

Blurry shot because I was called next for purchase!  But this is cute melted snowman bark!

Then we made a stop at Hanes' Design-a-Tee so I could make my mom a custom shirt!  We saw these cute Disney Springs sample shirts and I think I want to make my own!

Christmas music played throughout the park, and you could even visit Santa!  Santa Goofy was set to replace Santa for Christmas Eve!  I won't be back in time to meet him (shame!) but the Starbright  Holidays drone show will continue through Jan 8!  Jim and I missed it because we were hanging out at Raglan Road's Hole in the Wall outdoor pub, and when we realized what time it was and paid our tab, it was over!  The show was slated to begin at 8:30 and we were out by 8:36 and the show was over!  So, if you're hoping to catch it, there are 2 performances nightly at 7pm and 8:30pm and you have to be there WHEN IT STARTS!  We spoke to a family afterwards who said it was not to be missed, but yes, very short!






Next up: Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!!

Pokemon, Amorette's, Ghirardelli, and More Merch from Disney Springs!

My parents came to visit my brother and me last week and the closest timeshare they could find was in Kissimmee, which is right outside Orlando.  So of course we all went to Disney Springs together!  First of all, if you are staying outside Disney property, definitely check out local stores, outlets and gift shops.  There are tons of souvenirs around!  I went to CVS and they had aisles of stuffed animals, mouse ears, and Disney mugs!  I bought a towel there!

So I haven't had a good margarita since I moved down here.  I went over to Dockside Margaritas in Disney Springs and got this Patrón Añejo Margarita (I had to look that up from the site).

Exactly what I had been craving!  You can read the menu here.

Then of course we went to the World of Disney!  I hadn't seen these mugs last time:

These are just 2 of the many cute designs like this!  The ceilings are always fun to look at in this store.  Here are Ariel and Pocahontas, and a little mural of Mickey and Minnie on a magic carpet ride with Aladdin and Jasmine!

These Mickey magnets are so pretty, but a little bit expensive in my opinion.  I bought three for my classroom, but I also got to use a resident discount!  I don't know if that's new this weekend, only on weekends, or for a limited time... But it was 15% off last Monday when we were there, and becoming 20% off the next day!  It was still 20% off when I went back this weekend!

Pokemon Go isn't going unnoticed at the Springs!  I haven't heard much about it in the news lately (we must be getting used to it), but a couple weeks ago Basin announced some limited edition Pokeball Bath Bombs!  Aren't they adorable?  I finally went back and bought one yesterday haha.  I was just too curious to see what was inside!  (I'll show you in my next post!)

Also, Starbucks was giving out free samples of a PokemonGo "Team Instinct"-inspired Mango Lemonade!  It was actually really tasty and refreshing!!  Where do I sign up for this team? 

We stopped by a new shop called Amorette's, which is a french patisserie that has these adorable Mickey-shaped financiers (like almond sponge cakes, according to Google.  Wish I had known this.  I would have bought one!) You can read the menu here.  

The financiers and most pastries are $8, and I was surprised that the mini cakes (which are decorated exquisitely) are only $15!  They also have boxes of beautiful pastel macarons.  The big-ticket items are the Mickey and friends cakes which are $65.

But so cute you can kind of justify it...

This woman is painting the ears (probably with chocolate).  There are decorations around suggesting an artists' workshop, and I was happy to find this painting of one of my favorite Disney parade costumes from the Festival of Fantasy:

And I love this wall of sprinkles in color order!!

Speaking of Sprinkles, I finally made it inside! 

I loved the Sprinkles in NYC and this is very similar.  They also have ice cream!  I was hoping they'd have some special Disney cupcake (maybe they do--I didn't read the menu), but I didn't find anything.  I was hoping they'd have 3 of their fancy dots on one cupcake to make a Mickey, or at least have one on display like a hidden Mickey!  

They had this adorable dollhouse-size display of their shop which I absolutely loved:

And I highly recommend buying the mix if you can--I tried the chocolate one (the cylinder with blue on the bottom)--it's my favorite mix yet!  It also makes you feel like you're doing it from scratch since you have to prepare various ingredients that aren't in the package (but that's what makes it so fresh).  I posted about it in my cupcake blog a couple years back!

I haven't tried it yet, but Sprinkles also has the first-ever Cupcake ATM!  I imagine it's only open during business hours because it's probably someone physically placing a cupcake in the little window.. I really don't know.  But it's a cute idea!

We stopped at Ghirardelli to get some ice cream treats:

Mine was the "Treasure Island Sundae."  It had a warm brownie in it, along with hot fudge and walnuts drizzled over the ice cream.  SO GOOD!

Before we left, I stopped by Arribas Brothers and found some cute glassware designed like Disney characters (like this Mickey vase--it's the only one I could get a clear photo of since the sun was shining right behind the window)

I love this Chihuly-looking chandelier!

 There were some cute miniatures in glass like the Genie, the Toy Story Aliens, Tigger, Pooh, and more!

My favorite was this gorgeous pegasus unicorn!  Reminded me of Fantasia!

A couple addenda to my previous post... I took a photo of B.B. Wolf's Sausage Co. menu (click for larger image):

So while they don't have turkey or chicken sausages, they do have a vegetarian option!

And here are some photos of the UNIQLO patches that I believe were not pictured in the website image I'd posted before.

Until next time!