October Anniversary Trip: MNSSHP, D23 Sip and Stroll and Food & Wine

[Aburns8]

Welcome to my first ever trip report! I am so excited to be sharing my trip with everyone. I have read many other reports and decided since we did so much this trip that I would share my experiences!

As part of our 5 year wedding anniversary we decided to go back to where we honeymooned, WDW. I have always been a Disney fan, grew up watching all of the movies, but never became an intense fan until after our honeymoon. I think it was because we had such a good time that I became obsessed!

There are just two in the cast of this story. My name is Andrea and I am 33. My DH is Brian and he is 36. We got married October 8, 2005 in my hometown of Rochester Hills, Michigan. We now live in Virginia since unemployment forced us out of our home state last year. Here is a picture from our wedding day (my parents don’t even have a photo).


http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/DSCF0428_edit.jpg


We don’t have any children yet, just 3 cats (Louie, Lucky and Leo). Here is a picture of Louie and Lucky:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1000700.jpg


And of Leo:
http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1000699.jpg


Here is a little history after our initial trip to WDW together. After our honeymoon we decided to do Christmas (or just experience the season) the following year in WDW. In 2007 we went back again in December, but this time with my in-laws, including my SIL and her boyfriend. In 2008 we went in April to check out the Flower & Garden Festival. Later that year we also went to Disneyland with the Adventures by Disney. That was the most memorable trip ever! Here is a picture of us on our first night of the adventure.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/image020.jpg


We didn’t make it to the world in 2009 since we were both unemployed and we ended up moving to Virginia that September. In fact I started a new job the week before we left for this adventure. Nothing like putting a week of work in and then going on a vacation!

For this trip I didn’t plan every second, but I did purchase MNSSHP tickets for October 12th and decided to attend the D23 Sip and Stroll on October 15th – 16th. I also made ADRs for almost every day of the trip, mostly lunches. My goal was to have a more leisurely trip, but as you will see that really didn’t happen. For the first week we stayed off property at an interesting timeshare called Mystic Dunes, more about that later. The last night we stayed at Pop Century since I wanted to stay at least one evening on property.
And so here it begins my trip report….

Day One October 9th: Are We There Yet?!?
This day is a relatively short one since we didn’t even make it Florida. Also there really aren’t any pictures from this day. Since moving to Southeast Virginia we are only 12 hours from WDW. We decided to save some money and drive down there, plus it was nice to have a car. Since Brian worked the night before we didn’t get on the road until 10:30 this morning. After he ate some breakfast and packed up the car we were on your way to WDW. Obviously I did all of the driving today since Brian was up all night working and fighting a cold. We stopped and ate lunch somewhere in North Carolina and dinner was somewhere in South Carolina. Poor Brian didn’t get much sleep in the car since he was sick and unlike me can’t sleep very well in a car. Around 7:45 we decided to stop in Brunswick, Georgia for the night. Needless to say Brian was out by 8:30 and I watched some television before going to bed.
Here is the only picture we got of this day. I am sure if Brian read this he wouldn’t be too happy that I shared this picture!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040747.jpg


As a side note, the drive from Virginia to WDW is on I-95. All I have to say it is a beautiful drive. I wouldn’t mind driving down to WDW again next year.

[Disneygrl36]

I'm here....good start.
Beautiful wedding photo!

[Aburns8]

Thanks Melanie! I didn't know you were going to Orlando next month. Are you going to Disney as well?

[IheartDDuck]

I'm joining!

Sleeping pictures.....they're the best!

[Aburns8]

I'm joining!

Sleeping pictures.....they're the best!

Thanks for joining in! I showed him the first post and he didn't seem to mind.

[Aburns8]

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone has a happy and safe day and if you are shopping on Black Friday, good luck! I should have another update up this weekend. Heck I might even do the whole day!

[Disneygrl36]

Thanks Melanie! I didn't know you were going to Orlando next month. Are you going to Disney as well?

We are going down to see the Wizarding World @ Islands of Adventure & it's a quick trip....fly down Sunday fly back Wednesday. We are debating now whether to do a day at Disney or go to Sea World or Universal.

[Aburns8]

We are going down to see the Wizarding World @ Islands of Adventure & it's a quick trip....fly down Sunday fly back Wednesday. We are debating now whether to do a day at Disney or go to Sea World or Universal.

I think you should go to the world for one day! We are actually going down in May for the D23 Destination D. I just hope we can get tickets when they are released.

[Spartangirl]

Hey Andrea! I'm here! :goodvibes Thanks for letting me know you got started!

What a gorgeous wedding pic! :thumbsup2

The picture of Brian sleeping is hilarious...gotta love the sleeping pics! :laughing:

Happy Thanksgiving...hope your day is fantastic! :hug:

[Missyrose]

Great start! We stayed at Mystic Dunes about two weeks after you did. Did you like the resort?

[Aburns8]

Hey Andrea! I'm here! :goodvibes Thanks for letting me know you got started!

What a gorgeous wedding pic! :thumbsup2

The picture of Brian sleeping is hilarious...gotta love the sleeping pics! :laughing:

Happy Thanksgiving...hope your day is fantastic! :hug:

Thanks Lynn for joining! :cool1: I should have the next installment up shortly. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving because I had three of them in three days. Crazy I know. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

[Aburns8]

Great start! We stayed at Mystic Dunes about two weeks after you did. Did you like the resort?

Thanks for joining! I have been to a couple timeshare places near the World and Mystic Dunes was just okay. Although we just really used the place to sleep at. I will have more in my report about it.

[Aburns8]

Day 2: Let the Magic Begin!
After getting some much needed rest it was time to head to WDW and start this vacation! After enjoying a continental breakfast and fueling up it was time to hit the road. Again I was driving, so we decided to stop at Starbucks so I could get a pumpkin spice latte. After a little drive we finally hit Florida!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0211_10_10_2010_189.jpg

We decided to stop at the first rest stop which was also the visitor’s center. I got some brochures for WDW (even though I didn’t need them) and we both got a sample of FL grapefruit juice. Then back on the road for the longest drive ever. I can tell the excitement was getting the better of me. And there was a ton of advertisement to remind me where I was going!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0218_10_10_2010_192.jpg

Finally we made it to our home for the next week, Mystic Dunes. Now we only decided to stay at my in-laws timeshare because at the time of booking we were a one-income household and it was cheap for a week’s stay. But I am pretty sure from now on we will just spend the money and stay on property. That way we get the transportation, the extra magic hours and someone cleaning our room.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0219_10_10_2010_193.jpg

After trying to check in, it was about one in the afternoon, they told us to come back at three. So we got back in the car and we decided to check out Downtown Disney. After finding a parking spot we walked toward Earl of Sandwich. While walking I noticed that there were a ton of people. I know it was a Sunday afternoon, but I couldn’t believe how many people were here in October. Instead of going to Earl I saw Wolfgang Puck Express and decided that we should eat there since we have never been before. I have been following Spartangirl’s current trip report which included a dinner at Wolfgang Express and it looked really good. Plus on this trip I wanted to eat at places that we have never visited.

I got the butternut squash soup.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040750.jpg

And Brian got the margarita pizza and a cookie.
http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040749.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040751.jpg

This was really good. Brian’s pizza had the best sauce in the world on it! My soup was yummy as well. It had a nice balance of sweet to it so it wasn’t bland by any means. I really suggest eating here if you want to do a counter service in Downtown Disney.

After finishing up our lunch we walked toward The World of Disney and Lego stores. Brian took off toward the Lego store to take pics while I went shopping. Brian got some great shots of these city scenes (that I have never noticed before).

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0230_10_10_2010_204.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0229_10_10_2010_203.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0228_10_10_2010_202.jpg

I walked around the World of Disney Store and made a mental list of what I wanted to buy! I like to shop, but I like to get in and get out. It was way too busy in the store to actually buy anything. So I decided to pick up a shirt and go find Brian. By now it was time to head back to the hotel to check-in. On the way back we decided to go to the Target down the street from the condo and get some milk and snacks for the week. That is the great thing about renting a condo, you can save money by making your breakfast before heading out to the parks!

After waiting in a short check-in line we headed to our room. I have to apologize since I didn’t take any pictures. It served its purpose. It had a double bed, a small kitchen, a washer and dryer and small sitting area. I knew we wouldn’t be in the room a lot during the week and I just wanted to have a place to shower and sleep. We quickly unpacked the car and changed clothes to head to Epcot for the evening.

On the next edition: our first night in Epcot and a review of The Coral Reef restaurant.

[IheartDDuck]

Whenever we drive, I always have to pick up Disney brochures at the welcome center. It just means you're getting closer to your destination!

I love Wolfgang Puck Express, that was a great choice for lunch (even though I love Earl of Sandwich too!).

[Aburns8]

Whenever we drive, I always have to pick up Disney brochures at the welcome center. It just means you're getting closer to your destination!

I love Wolfgang Puck Express, that was a great choice for lunch (even though I love Earl of Sandwich too!).

I really liked the Welcome Center. I mean who doesn't like free samples of orange and grapefruit juice? I did pick up some brochures as well since they had one for MNSSHP.

Wolfgang Puck Express was so good that we ate there for dinner one night as well. So look out for a food review from that evening in the future.

[Spartangirl]

I LOVE all the signs heading into Disney...kind of gets you pumped up before you even arrive! :woohoo:

Thanks for the "shoutout" in your TR! :hug:

Mmmm...your lunch looked fantastic...now I'm kind of wishing I had tried the soup or pizza. Next time! :laughing:

[FauntleroyFAN07]

aww nuts second page, but im here.


good start:thumbsup2

[Aburns8]

I LOVE all the signs heading into Disney...kind of gets you pumped up before you even arrive! :woohoo:

I know! It was two years since we have been there so I was super excited!

Thanks for the "shoutout" in your TR! :hug::

Hey, you were the reason why I decided to eat there :worship:

Mmmm...your lunch looked fantastic...now I'm kind of wishing I had tried the soup or pizza. Next time! :laughing:

I love soup. I mean I can eat it when it like a 100 degrees outside!

[Aburns8]

aww nuts second page, but im here.


good start:thumbsup2

Thanks for joining in Dan! I am glad that I made it to the second page!

[Aburns8]

Hi everyone! Sorry for the delay in an installment, but I have been a little busy with getting stuff done for Christmas. I will work on the next installment at work this week and will hopefully it have it up soon!

I gotta get back to decorating the cookies!

[sjs314]

Subbing-I have heard nothing but good things about WGP Express, that pizza looked great, I am seriously considering it for our next trip

[Aburns8]

Subbing-I have heard nothing but good things about WGP Express, that pizza looked great, I am seriously considering it for our next trip

You should! Brian liked it so much we ended up eating there again later in the trip! I think next time I am going to get my own pizza, it was so good.

[Aburns8]

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you enjoy the time with your families! :santa:

[Aburns8]

I am finally back! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Brian didn’t have to work this Christmas Eve and Christmas. So on Christmas Eve we started a new tradition and went to Busch Gardens Williamsburg (30 min from our house) for their Christmas Town. On Christmas Day we got 14” of snow. I was told when I moved down here that it never snows enough for major accumulation. Well, I have to see that since last winter we got a 10” snowfall. For New Year we headed up to Washington DC to check out the monuments and hit a couple museums. New Year’s Eve I was asleep by nine, I must be getting old. Back to the report!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050880.jpg

Famous self portrait at Busch Gardens.

Day Two: Getting to the Epcot

After getting into the room there was one thing on my mind, getting to the park. I have been waiting two and a half years to get back to my happy place. Early in the planning process we decided to do Epcot the first night. I would have liked to have gotten there earlier, but with the room not being quite ready that dream wasn’t a reality. I packed up my bag with Brian’s cold remedies and out the door we went. Getting to the park was really easy from where we were staying. It was just navigating through all of the drivers who did not know where they were going. Thank goodness for learning how to drive in Detroit, you can navigate through anything.

Before going in the gate I decided that I wanted to get our hard tickets for MNSSHP. I think that I purchased them back in August to make sure I got the date we wanted. After getting the tickets we headed into the park. I had a slight problem with my pass because the plastic wasn’t cut properly. Epcot seemed to be the only park that my pass had a problem. We pre-purchased our passes at AAA and when you get them there is some additional plastic around the pass that you have to remove. Well I guess I didn’t do a great job at removing it.

We were finally in Epcot and boy was it busy for being a Sunday night. There were people everywhere, more than I remember 5 years prior during our honeymoon. Since one of the goals of this trip was to have as many pictures taken of us, we stopped at the first PhotoPass photographer we saw. She was standing on the bridge between England and France. So here is our first official photo from our trip!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/Photo0002FourBySix.jpg

We decided to go toward the front of the park since our reservation for Coral Reef was at 8:10 and it was about 6:00 when we arrived. We walked through England and Canada and Brian took some pictures of the monorail (well, he took a lot of them during our trip). Here is one of the monorail shots.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0256_10_10_2010_230.jpg

We felt like we needed a snack. I wanted my rice cream so we headed off the Norway. Brian got a cream puff with berries. Sorry no pics of this food. I wasn’t used to taking pictures of everything we ate. Next we headed to Spaceship Earth. There was a little line so I decided to go into Disney art store next to it so we could wait for the line to go down. I love the art stores in Disney, you can always find something you want! When I walked in I noticed an artist that I have seen before, Larry Dotson. While I was waiting for Mr. Dotson to return I looked through his pieces and decided on this one to put on our wall. I don’t think you can tell, but he signed it again and dedicated to our family.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050940.jpg

Brian finally got me out of the store and we took our first spin of the trip on Spaceship Earth. Here is a pic of us on the globe!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040763.jpg

Next we headed toward Coral Reef, but we had some time to kill. So we decided to do The Seas with Nemo & Friends. This was actually the second time we have ever done this ride. I think it took longer to go through the entrance than it took ride the ride.

Now was it was time for dinner. We arrived 5 minutes before our reservation to check in. We waited 15 to be seated. This is the only time during our whole trip that we had to wait longer than a couple minutes to be seated. I was hoping for some good seats since I put on our reservation it was our anniversary. Well, we got the worst possible seat. For anyone who is familiar with the restaurant we sat in the top tier, in the right hand corner facing the tank. My first impression of the restaurant was this was loud. I mean really loud. I feel bad for Brian, he wasn’t feeling well and we are having our anniversary dinner in a loud place. On our actual anniversary we didn’t see each other because he worked that night I was working during the day. So I decided to spend some extra money and have our anniversary dinner somewhere nice. We decided not to have an appetizer and just order dinner.

Brian got the Rainbow Trout:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040766.jpg

I didn’t try Brian’s dish but he said that it was good. And it looked good as well.

And I got the scallops:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040767.jpg

Mine was horrible! When your scallops taste fishy, they are not fresh. I was extremely disappointed.

For dessert we got the Baileys and Jack Daniels Mousse, sorry no picture. This dessert was good, not great. You can taste the alcohol in it but I needed something sweet after what I just ate.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040769.jpg

I was overall disappointed in the meal. The waiter who waited on us was not really watching our table as closely as I hoped. We had to wait a while for drink refills and he didn’t ask if we wanted more bread or dessert. I hate asking to see a dessert menu. The food was subpar for what you pay for and the restaurant was too loud. It is a pretty restaurant and I like the concept of eating within view of the fish tank, but I will not be going there anytime soon for a meal. After dinner it was time to leave since the park was closed, so we headed back to Mystic Dunes.

Up next: More Epcot and a boat ride to Hollywood Studios!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

sorry your dinner didnt go as planned.

but i like the photo, we had the MK one from the last trip so when i saw him at DTD i decided to bite the bullet and get the other 3 parks signed by him so we would have a complete set in case i dont see him while we are there again.

[Aburns8]

sorry your dinner didnt go as planned.

but i like the photo, we had the MK one from the last trip so when i saw him at DTD i decided to bite the bullet and get the other 3 parks signed by him so we would have a complete set in case i dont see him while we are there again.

Thanks Dan. I wanted to get more Dotson pics but Brian only wanted to start out with one. I like that idea of getting one pic for each park to complete a set. He had some really cool castle Christmas scenes complete with snow. But I knew I couldn't keep that on my wall all year long.

[BettyBeBop]

Enjoying your TR. Sorry your meal at Coral Reef fell below your expectations. I have heard such mixed reviews for that restaurant. I think it might be a hit or miss place.

Looking forward to reading more.

[Aburns8]

Enjoying your TR. Sorry your meal at Coral Reef fell below your expectations. I have heard such mixed reviews for that restaurant. I think it might be a hit or miss place.

Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks for joining in Betty Sue!

I agree that Coral Reef is hit or miss. I wanted to try seafood there but I think that should have gotten a meat dish. I have so many restaurants that I want to try that I won't be going back for a while.

[JennisSilly]

Subbing in!

So jealous of your Adventures by Disney trip to DL! It's the one thing we have left to do there now that we've done Club 33!

[Aburns8]

Subbing in!

So jealous of your Adventures by Disney trip to DL! It's the one thing we have left to do there now that we've done Club 33!

Thanks for joining in! The trip is awesome and I highly suggest it. Club 33 is on my bucket list. I know in my heart one day I will get to go there!

[IheartDDuck]

Sorry that your dinner at Coral Reef was not as enjoyable as you anticipated. When I ate there last the food also left something to be desired. The menu just seems so small. I blame the dining plan for the shrinking menus.

[Aburns8]

Sorry that your dinner at Coral Reef was not as enjoyable as you anticipated. When I ate there last the food also left something to be desired. The menu just seems so small. I blame the dining plan for the shrinking menus.

I agree. I noticed that a lot of the menus did not have the variety that I was expecting. I am a tad of a picky eater and there were only a couple things on the menu that appealed to me. I just hope one day some of these restaurants will get back a variety of food.

[DsnyMama]

:dance3: I'm in! We did Coral Reef our first trip and thought it was just ok. We both had steak though... Ava loves fishies, so we are making an ADR there for October just for her - I know she will love the fish.

[Aburns8]

:dance3: I'm in! We did Coral Reef our first trip and thought it was just ok. We both had steak though... Ava loves fishies, so we are making an ADR there for October just for her - I know she will love the fish.

After the meal that I had I wished I had the steak! Thanks for joining in. I should hopefully have another post today.

[Aburns8]

I get really excited on our vacations to the World. So of course I get up really early in order to enjoy the most of our time. Poor Brian is still not feeling well, but I make him get out of bed and get ready for the park. We couldn’t decide between Epcot and Hollywood Studios this day. We had a reservation at noon for Restaurant Marrakesh so just decided to hit up Epcot first.

Again, we couldn’t decide what we wanted to do first so we just headed over to The Land and decided to get our Soarin FP. While we were there we also decided to ride Living with the Land. I love this ride! I really don’t know why I like it so much, maybe because you get to see what they have growing in the greenhouse.

Here are some pics of our adventure on the way to Soarin:

Brian being funny!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0287_10_11_2010_261.jpg

Another monorail shot.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0292_10_11_2010_266.jpg

Our destination.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0294_10_11_2010_268.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0298_10_11_2010_272.jpg

Even decorated for fall!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0302_10_11_2010_276.jpg

After our ride in The Land we decided to check out Captain EO. I never saw it before because my parents took us to WDE when I was 4 and 16. So basically it wasn’t there when I visited. Brian has seen it before so it was nothing new to him. I liked it! I thought it was much better than Honey I Shrunk the Audience (which I only saw once and that was enough).

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0308_10_11_2010_282.jpg

Now it was about time for lunch at …

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0327_10_11_2010_301.jpg

We had some time to kill so Brian and I walked around Morocco and took some pictures.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0323_10_11_2010_297.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0324_10_11_2010_298.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0326_10_11_2010_300.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040807.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040820.jpg

Being originally from the Detroit area we have a lot of Middle Eastern eateries. So it was good to eat some food that we are somewhat familiar with. The décor was really nice and the restaurant was completely empty. I think there were 4 other tables in use.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040815.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040814.jpg

I had the beef couscous, which I really enjoyed! It was huge so Brian had to eat some it for me.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040817.jpg

Brian had the lemon chicken. He seemed to like it a lot.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040818.jpg

For dessert we had the Moroccan symphony which was basically different forms of baklava (sorry forgot to take a picture). While we were there we got to see the traditional music and belly dancing show they put on. Sorry the pics are not that great since it was so dark in the restaurant.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0328_10_11_2010_302.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0329_10_11_2010_303.jpg

[Aburns8]

After lunch we decided to head over to the Japan pavilion to see Myuki. I have heard of her and saw some of her work on other people’s trip reports. We got there a little early so we walked around and Brian took more pics.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0333_10_11_2010_307.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0334_10_11_2010_308.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0346_10_11_2010_320.jpg

The drummers also started their show. I always stop to watch them because they are so mesmerizing.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0331_10_11_2010_305.jpg

Finally Myuki came out to do her candy show. At first there were a few of us there. Once people realized it was some sort of show it got a little crowded. She was so interesting to watch. She makes it look so easy, but I am pretty sure it takes a while to be that good at what she does.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0336_10_11_2010_310.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040822.jpg

After watching her for 15 minutes we decided to keep moving along and let someone else stand in the front to watch her. We decided to check out Hollywood Studios so we headed toward International Gateway.

On our way we stopped at the Belgium kiosk to get a Belgium waffle.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0347_10_11_2010_321.jpg

This waffle was so good that I decided that I had to buy the Food & Wine cookbook since the recipe is in there. And no I haven’t made anything out of there yet! We then decided to stop in France since we saw the Beauty and the Beast topiaries. They were there for the release of the movie, but it reminded me of the Flower & Garden Festival!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0348_10_11_2010_322.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0351_10_11_2010_325.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0350_10_11_2010_324.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040872.jpg

Finally we headed toward the exit when I decided to make the Food & Wine Festival a little easier and purchased a wrist gift card.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040879.jpg

Up next… A boat trip to Hollywood Studios, and Epcot (yes, again)!

[Aburns8]

Bumping up! I need to do an update soon. I have so much to talk about and I want to finish it before our next trip in May.

[Disneygrl36]

You did 2 things I have never done but have on my list.....restaurant Marakesh. That food looked really good but the belly dancer kinda freaks me out.:rotfl: I also want to see the candy lady but have never caught her.
That is part of why I love WDW so much....always something that we miss that I can look forward to going back to see.

That Belgian waffle looks so good right about now! And those F&W wrist cards are so great aren't they?

Ready for more............since you gotta trip coming up & all you know.
P.S. Can't wait to see you in May!

[Aburns8]

You did 2 things I have never done but have on my list.....restaurant Marakesh. That food looked really good but the belly dancer kinda freaks me out.:rotfl: I also want to see the candy lady but have never caught her.
That is part of why I love WDW so much....always something that we miss that I can look forward to going back to see.

That Belgian waffle looks so good right about now! And those F&W wrist cards are so great aren't they?

Ready for more............since you gotta trip coming up & all you know.
P.S. Can't wait to see you in May!

I was going to do an update this weekend and that didn't happen. I think that I will work on it during work and then polish it up at home.

I can't wait till may either! Aren't you glad that you read my blog?

[holleypie]

I was at WDW around the same time and my husband is a Brian too. :)

Looking forward to seeing what you tried at F&W Festival. Epcot's my favorite. :thumbsup2

[Aburns8]

I was at WDW around the same time and my husband is a Brian too. :)

Looking forward to seeing what you tried at F&W Festival. Epcot's my favorite. :thumbsup2

Thanks for joining in! My goal is to get better at posting updates and finish before my next trip in May.

[Disneygrl36]

I was going to do an update this weekend and that didn't happen. I think that I will work on it during work and then polish it up at home.

I can't wait till may either! Aren't you glad that you read my blog?

Very, very glad!!!!! :banana::cool1::banana::cool1::banana:

[Aburns8]

Sorry for the delay, the trip report continues!
I guess my feet were starting to hurt (which always happens on every trip we take), so we decided to ride one of the Friendship boats over to Hollywood Studios. Plus it gave me a chance to rest my eyes :goodvibes

Hollywood Studios seemed a little crowded today. So we first headed off to the animation building. We didn’t want to see the movie (again) so we walked into the area that takes you the character meet & greets. I saw Sorcerer Mickey and decided to wait in line to take our pictures. Brian wasn’t really amused, but I really want our picture with him. I think they turned out really nice, in fact I have this one framed at work.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/Disney%20World%202010/D5000DSC_0358_10_11_2010_332.jpg

I also love the animation building because I collect the cels that they create and sell there. In fact one of the artists, David Rippberger , was there painting in a cel. I never pre-ordered the one that released in September, and when I got there they were backordered, so I called when we got back home to order it. So you never know I might have gotten this one!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/Disney%20World%202010/D5000DSC_0361_10_11_2010_335.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/Disney%20World%202010/D5000DSC_0362_10_11_2010_336.jpg

Next we decided to ride Tower of Terror. I then noticed a photographer and we had some pictures taken.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/Photo0053FourBySix.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/Photo0048FourBySix.jpg

When we came home and looked at this picture, I was amazed at the effect that the camera picked up. I never realized this.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0372_10_11_2010_346.jpg

Me being silly.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0374_10_11_2010_348.jpg

We also checked out Pixar Place since it was under construction the last time we were there. I find the attention to detail amazing. Here are some of my favorites!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040883.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040882.jpg

We decided to walk back to Epcot since we didn’t want to wait for the friendship. It was getting close to dinner and I wanted to eat at the counter service outside of Mexico. I know this sounds horrible, but I love their cheap nachos. I have a thing for fake nacho cheese. :rotfl2: We decided to go past Canada and noticed that Off Kilter was going to start soon. I told Brian to find us a spot to stand in while I went to get some of the cheddar cheese soup from the Canadian kiosk. I must say, I was a little disappointed with the quantity of the soup. For $3.50 they could have filled it up more, or given a larger portion.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040890.jpg

I finally found Brian and we enjoyed watching Off Kilter, they are so entertaining.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040892.jpg

On our way over to the Mexican restaurant we stopped at the Desserts and Champagne kiosk and got the Pear Streusal Pudding Cake for $1.50. It was extremely tiny, but worth the try. I liked it, but it is hard to screw up a dessert in my eyes. Next we went over to the Mexican pavilion and had our dinner.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040893.jpg

We enjoyed our not-so-healthy nachos and had a churro.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040895.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040896.jpg

After dinner we headed over to Soarin’ to use our Fastpasses. Even though we had Fastpasses it still was a little bit of a wait. I like this ride, but the picture in the one in California Adventure is so much better! This was also the first time that we were in the third row. I guess it was better than not riding it at all.

We had a long day and wanted to wrap it up but first we wanted some F&W snacks. We headed out towards China since we liked that a lot the last time we did F&W. In 2005 Brian loved the pot stickers, so we made sure to get that. I also wanted to try the black pepper shrimp with Sichuan noodles and the caramel ginger ice cream. Everything there was wonderful and the ice cream was huge for the price you paid.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040901.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040902.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040903.jpg

Next we head to Italy. By now were not really hungry, but I love a good cannoli and really wanted one. So we waited in line for this:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040905.jpg

It was really disappointing. The weekend before we came to WDW we were in Baltimore to see the Detroit Tigers play the Baltimore Orioles. There is also a Little Italy in Baltimore that we decided to go to since I haven’t had a cannolli in a long time. Those were so good compared to this joke of a cannoli at the Italian kiosk. After that disappointment we decided to leave because we were actually able to sleep in a little the next day.

Up next… Breakfast at Kona, Downtown Disney and MNSSHP!

[Disneygrl36]

I never noticed those cute spoons in the Pixar area.

I just love men in kilts. :love: I wanna buy Eric one every time we see Off Kilter.:rotfl:

Yummy looking food!

[Aburns8]

I never noticed those cute spoons in the Pixar area.

I just love men in kilts. :love: I wanna buy Eric one every time we see Off Kilter.:rotfl:

Yummy looking food!

There is a place where you can buy snacks across from the ride, that is where I found them. I thought they were super cute!

I think I could get Brian into a kilt :rotfl: He loves Celtic music and I could tell him it is a heritage thing that I would like him to do since I am Irish.

I am sure that my next trip report from the D23 conference will have some good looking food pics as well.

And I think that I will have an update for you this weekend as well. I will try to do the whole day since I want to get this thing done. And I think you are now my only reader :goodvibes

[FauntleroyFAN07]

i have never seen those spoons either they are pretty cool.

wonder if they are bolted down?
:rolleyes1

and there is no such thing as a bad pot sticker, i think i will have some of those bad boys tonight.
:banana:

[Aburns8]

i have never seen those spoons either they are pretty cool.

wonder if they are bolted down?
:rolleyes1

and there is no such thing as a bad pot sticker, i think i will have some of those bad boys tonight.
:banana:

Right! I want those spoons as well. They are super cute! They should sell a souvenier version of those.

Pot stickers do sound good, but I am hungry right now and could eat anything!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Right! I want those spoons as well. They are super cute! They should sell a souvenier version of those.

Pot stickers do sound good, but I am hungry right now and could eat anything!
me too good thing lunch is only an hour away.
:banana:

[Aburns8]

I will be back with an update soon. I had some complications this past week that ended up with me in the ER. Once I get my spirits up I will be back!

[Aburns8]

Sorry duplicate post!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

I will be back with an update soon. I had some complications this past week that ended up with me in the ER. Once I get my spirits up I will be back!
hope everything is okay with you

[Aburns8]

hope everything is okay with you

Let's put it this way. I can go on rides in May.

[Disneygrl36]

Hey you, are you gonna keep going on this? I would like to hear about the D23 event since we have one coming up soon!

[Aburns8]

Yep, I am going to work on the next installment today at work. When it gets up here hopefully by the weekend. :thumbsup2

Guess I am too late, I am no longer able to post this thread.

[Aburns8]

Hey everyone! I got this back on the TR thread. When I get home tonight I will put the update up here. I promise to finish it in the next month. Plus I have to start one for the trip we just started!

[Disneygrl36]

Yeah they moved it back. :cool1:
I am thinking of starting a trip report for D23. Might work on that tomorrow.

[xDisneyAngelx]

Wonderful trip report so far. I love the food pictures (very delicious looking). You guys are so adoreable :-) I am sorry your husband was not feeling well one morning. I am glad that he was well enough to visit a park. It is shocking to see how it was crowded on a Sunday night. Can't wait to hear more about your trip xoxoxox

[Aburns8]

Wonderful trip report so far. I love the food pictures (very delicious looking). You guys are so adoreable :-) I am sorry your husband was not feeling well one morning. I am glad that he was well enough to visit a park. It is shocking to see how it was crowded on a Sunday night. Can't wait to hear more about your trip xoxoxox

Thanks for joining! I should have another update up tonight. I have it all written, I just need to put it up.

[Aburns8]

Today we got to sleep in a little bit since we had 9:25 reservation for Kona Café. I was excited to eat breakfast there since we have never had it before. We love Kona for lunch and dinner and thought to give a whirl for breakfast. Plus Brian loves to get the Kona coffee. We have to go every time we are at WDW.

After waiting five minutes for our table we were seated. I was torn Tonga Toast and the pancakes. Brian was leaning toward the Tonga Toast, so I got the pancakes so we can both try them.

Tonga Toast:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040910.jpg

Pineapple Macadamia Nut Pancakes:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040911.jpg

After breakfast we caught the bus to Downtown Disney to do some shopping. Sorry, I didn’t take any pictures of what I bought. But I did purchase the one Jim Shore piece I really wanted. It is the three Hitchhiking Ghosts from Haunted Mansion. We popped in a couple of stores, but just really purchased from World of Disney. Brian was getting a little antsy since he hates shopping so we decided to head back to the Magic Kingdom.

When we first got there we took some pictures of the Halloween decorations.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040913.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040914.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040915.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040917.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040916.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040952.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040950.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040954.jpg

We have a habit of always catching the parades or street parties without knowing what time it is. We happened to be around during the Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade. Here are some pictures. There is a funny story about this parade, but that is in another day’s report.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040940.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040948.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040934.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040937.jpg

Next we headed over to the Hall of Presidents since it now features our newest president. To me this really doesn’t look that much like President Obama. While on our Adventures by Disney trip to Imagineering we were told that his people were not allowing a full body scan of him for security purposes. I think they should have let them do it. Just sayin!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040955.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040956.jpg

Next we took a ride on the Liberty Square Riverboat. Brian just loves anything transportation. He is an engineer, so he likes to see how things work. Here is what we saw on our tour.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040966.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040962.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040961.jpg

[Aburns8]

We had some time before our late lunch reservation on the Liberty Tree Tavern, but we just decided to see if we could get in early. We were lucky and were seated pretty much right away. This is our first visit to Liberty Tree Tavern. It reminded me of the taverns in Colonial Williamsburg and the Eagle Tavern at Greenfield Village (Dearborn, MI). After looking at the menu it was easy to figure out what to get. We both had a bowl of clam chowder and we shared the pot roast.

Clam Chowder:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040974.jpg

Pot Roast:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040975.jpg

The food was good. I still think that the pot roast at 50’s Prime Time Café is better. Brian had to eat most of the pot roast since I was too full from the soup!

As we were leaving the restaurant, the 3:00 parade was coming around. Brian didn’t seem too interested in seeing it but I managed to get some pictures before we headed to Adventure Land.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040976.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040977.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040980.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040982.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040995.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1040987.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050008.jpg

Next we decided to try a ride that we have never been on, we decided to do Aladdin’s Magic Carpets. Brian and I each got our own carpet and we took pictures of each other during the ride.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0473_10_12_2010_447.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050010.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050011.jpg

Next we headed to the Jungle Cruise to see some elephants and other animals in their natural habitat.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0476_10_12_2010_450.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0480_10_12_2010_454-1.jpg

After coming off our 3 month cruise we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean. It looked like they were closing it down for something, then they said we could go in. After getting all the way to the front of the line they shut it down. So then we left knowing that we could check it out later in the evening. On our way out we say Goofy dressed as a pirate!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0488_10_12_2010_462.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0484_10_12_2010_458.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/Photo0197FourBySix.jpg

Since it was after 4:00 we decided to get a Dole Whip and search for a location to get our bracelets for MNSSHP.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050017.jpg

Coming up soon… MNSSHP

[PryncessChrysty]

Hey Andrea! :wave2:

We got married on 10/12/10 and were at WDW from 10/13 - 10/26 on our honeymoon! We could've been bumping into eachother all over the place on that trip, too and just not have known it at the time. lol

I'm excited to read your trip report! I'll definitely bookmark it to catch up on it. I've been thinking about writing my own TR for our honeymoon, maybe this will help to inspire me :)

Talk to you soon!

[Aburns8]

Hey Andrea! :wave2:

We got married on 10/12/10 and were at WDW from 10/13 - 10/26 on our honeymoon! We could've been bumping into eachother all over the place on that trip, too and just not have known it at the time. lol

I'm excited to read your trip report! I'll definitely bookmark it to catch up on it. I've been thinking about writing my own TR for our honeymoon, maybe this will help to inspire me :)

Talk to you soon!

You're kidding me? I am sure we have seen each other during that time. Did you meet up with Carrie? Too bad we didn't know each other last year we could have met up! :rotfl:

[Aburns8]

We were ready to get the Halloween party started! After getting our bracelets by Stitch’s Great Escape, we decided to go on it. Now we have not been on it since our honeymoon. After getting off the ride I remembered why we have never visited it on any of our other trips. Personally I just don’t understand it. I guess I don’t find Stitch’s Great Escape that exciting. Next we headed to one of my favorite rides, Carousel of Progress. I had to make sure that we hit the ride before it closed down. From doing previous parties, I know that Carousel doesn’t stay open all night.

I don’t remember when we went on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, but I have a picture of me on it. Don’t mind the face.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0491_10_12_2010_465.jpg

We continued our Tomorrowland experience and did Space Mountain. Now this was our first ride on it since the refurb, and I couldn’t really tell the difference. I guess I was a little disappointed that they didn’t make the ride more like the version out in Disneyland. I love their version so much more! Next we head toward Buzz Lightyear’s Spaceranger Spin. And of course Brian always kicks my butt on this ride. After we decided to try a ride we have never been on before, Astro Orbiter. I should have passed on this ride, but I just couldn’t. First, I don’t like being in a cramped elevator. So I had a little anxiety on the way up. Next because we were two people they wanted us to share a vehicle. That is where I have a problem. Being a little Pooh sized I saw what room was left for me and there wasn’t much. So I decided to step away. As luck had it there was an extra rocket so I was able to go on it. I thought I would like it, just how I liked the magic carpet ride from earlier, but I felt nauseous after it. Needless to say I will be skipping it from now on. Here are some pics from the Astro Orbiter:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0497_10_12_2010_471.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0504_10_12_2010_478.jpg

Next we were ready to get some trick or treating down in Toontown. But first I had to buy a couple pins for the Halloween party. As I wait to buy them Brian just rolls it eyes and waits for me by the door. After we walk toward Toontown and I notice that they started the construction for the Fantasyland expansion. I got to see some of the progress on my May trip to WDW (maybe there will be a trip report).

First stop was Minnie’s house for some candy:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0510_10_12_2010_484.jpg

And a nap:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0509_10_12_2010_483.jpg

Then we did the Alice in Wonderland trail.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0511_10_12_2010_485.jpg

The first parade of the evening was going to kick off shortly so I decided to try another ride that I have no recollection of ever riding, Dumbo. I say no recollection because my parents say that I have been on this ride when I was a kid, but I don’t recall. Now Brian didn’t want to go on the ride with me, so he sat back and took some pics.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0529_10_12_2010_502.jpg

We continued our Fantasyland exposition by riding Winnie the Pooh two times. The first time I noticed the picture of Mr. Toad handing Owl the deed to the building where the ride is. I tried to point it out to Brian, but he missed it. So we got back on the ride and snapped a shot of it!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0516_10_12_2010_490.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0518_10_12_2010_491.jpg

We next headed over to Snow White’s Scary Adventure and to Peter Pan (since there were no lines).

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0536_10_12_2010_509.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0538_10_12_2010_511.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0542_10_12_2010_515.jpg

After we went to The Haunted Mansion, one of our favorite rides!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0549_10_12_2010_522.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0543_10_12_2010_516.jpg

We even got some Photopass pictures taken:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/Photo0245FourBySix.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/Photo0224FourBySix.jpg

[Aburns8]

The fireworks were going to start shortly so we decided to head toward the castle. I noticed that there was a state show so we watched a little of it.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050047.jpg

Then it was time for the fireworks!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0551_10_12_2010_524.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0561_10_12_2010_534.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0563_10_12_2010_536.jpg

After a great show we headed back toward the Liberty Square Riverboat to watch the parade since that seems to be the location we prefer.

First we saw the headless horseman:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0574_10_12_2010_547.jpg

Then the parade started with the catchy Boo To You song that I love!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0575_10_12_2010_548.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0579_10_12_2010_552.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0583_10_12_2010_556.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0585_10_12_2010_558.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0586_10_12_2010_559.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0588_10_12_2010_561.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0590_10_12_2010_563.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0591_10_12_2010_564.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0592_10_12_2010_565.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0594_10_12_2010_567.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0604_10_12_2010_577.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0608_10_12_2010_581.jpg

I love how at the end they give you some more candy as well!

We finished the evening by going on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain (which was nice that we didn’t get wet since it was cooler at night). We also found a place to trick-or-treat and they pretty much filled up our bags since it was the end of the night. On our way out we decided to hit Pirates of the Caribbean one more time before shooting some pictures on our way out.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0612_10_12_2010_585.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0613_10_12_2010_586.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0614_10_12_2010_587.jpg

Up next – Hollywood Studios and more Magic Kingdom.

[Disneygrl36]

Great updates.
Love your TTA picture. :teeth:
I just love MNSSHP! I was trying to talk Eric into going again on the night we are coming back to WDW after our cruise but I think since we have been so many times, we are just going to enjoy our time at Bay Lake Towers & watch the fireworks from the lounge there.
Great parade pics!!!! That is my favorite parade.

[Aburns8]

Great updates.
Love your TTA picture. :teeth:
I just love MNSSHP! I was trying to talk Eric into going again on the night we are coming back to WDW after our cruise but I think since we have been so many times, we are just going to enjoy our time at Bay Lake Towers & watch the fireworks from the lounge there.
Great parade pics!!!! That is my favorite parade.

We might be doing MNSSHP the day after our cruise as well, as long as we are still going on this cruise. Brian might have a work conflict and we might have to move the cruise to November. :eek:

[Disneygrl36]

We might be doing MNSSHP the day after our cruise as well, as long as we are still going on this cruise. Brian might have a work conflict and we might have to move the cruise to November. :eek:

No,no,no..........move it to Oct 23 or 27. :teeth:

[Aburns8]

No,no,no..........move it to Oct 23 or 27. :teeth:

I could move it to the 27th. I will see what Brian's boss says since they don't know when this "shut down" (even though they work through it) is occuring.

[FauntleroyFAN07]

enjoyed the updates and i like seeing the little changes of the characters outfits for the halloween party.

can you believe that i have never been on the magic carpets and it has been about 15 years since i have been on the astro orbiter, which im sure will change next trip, because i want to ride them again.

:thumbsup2

[Aburns8]

enjoyed the updates and i like seeing the little changes of the characters outfits for the halloween party.

can you believe that i have never been on the magic carpets and it has been about 15 years since i have been on the astro orbiter, which im sure will change next trip, because i want to ride them again.

:thumbsup2

Hey Dan! So glad you made it over here so quickly after your trip. I guess I just never put thought into riding those rides. I bet your son will love to go on them on the next trip!

[Aburns8]

Working on updates now. I am hoping to finish this bad boy!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Working on updates now. I am hoping to finish this bad boy!

:surfweb:

[FauntleroyFAN07]

gonna bump

[FauntleroyFAN07]

you around

[FauntleroyFAN07]

to the next page, so i dont have to scroll down so far to read the next update.
:thumbsup2

[Aburns8]

to the next page, so i dont have to scroll down so far to read the next update.
:thumbsup2

You are too funny! :rotfl2:

[209Disney]

Loving your trip report...cant wait to read more!!popcorn::

[Aburns8]

Loving your trip report...cant wait to read more!!popcorn::

Thank you so much! The update is coming up.

[Aburns8]

Day 5 – No time to slow down and a mini rant

Even though we got back late from MNSSHP, we still got up early to start our day. I made reservations for lunch at 50’s Prime Time Café so we headed out to DHS. Our first order of business for the day was to get a FP for Toy Story Mania. We have never been on this ride at DHS, but we did get to ride it a couple of time while on our ABD Backstage Magic trip. Unlike California Adventure, DHS has FP and we took advantage of it since I didn’t want to wait an hour to go on a ride. Since we didn’t have to be back until 2:00-3:00 we decided to see the Little Mermaid show since they were seating for it while we were walking by. We really enjoy this show for two reasons:

1: You can take a nap if you need it
2: It is nice and cool and a great place to rest.

We then ventured over to The Great Movie Ride. I know people feel like this rides needs to be updated with more current films, but I like the classic movies. In fact I feel like it matches the theme of DHS, old school Hollywood.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0630_10_13_2010_603.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0619_10_13_2010_592.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0631_10_13_2010_604.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0633_10_13_2010_606.jpg

We then took some pictures of ourselves:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0622_10_13_2010_595.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0623_10_13_2010_596.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0626_10_13_2010_599.jpg

While walking around we noticed that the Obsorne lights are going up.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050127.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050126.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050163.jpg

Not knowing what to do next we headed over to see the Muppets 3D. I have read some information on hidden gems at WDW. In fact I knew that Muppets 3D had one.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050130.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050131.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0642_10_13_2010_615.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0640_10_13_2010_613.jpg

I think Brian, and the people walking in behind us, were wondering what I was doing. But I wanted to see the key under the mat. Of course we had time to spare while we waited to be seated. By the time we got out it was getting close to our lunch reservation. So we headed over to Primetime Café to eat. Now this has been one of our favorite places to eat since we ate here on our honeymoon.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0651_10_13_2010_624.jpg

I got the fried chicken (like I always get):

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050138.jpg

Brian got the meatloaf:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050137.jpg

And we shared a sundae:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050140.jpg

I just love the old décor:
http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050139.jpg

One of us usually gets the pot roast, but since we had it for lunch the day before Brian decided to try something different on the menu. I am not a big meatloaf fan, but I had a bite and it was fantastic! In fact I even asked for the recipe (still haven’t made it though).

[Aburns8]

As we were walking out of Primetime, we noticed that the next showing of the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular was about to begin. We haven’t seen this show in a while so we decided to check it out. Here are some pics:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0647_10_13_2010_620.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0654_10_13_2010_627.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0658_10_13_2010_631.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050146.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050143.jpg

After, we still had some time to kill before our FP for TSM, so we just decided to walk around. We came upon Lightening McQueen and Mater from Cars. There was really no line so we decided to have our pictures taken.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0661_10_13_2010_634.jpg

It was time for to use our FP, so we headed over to TSM. We still had to wait about 20 minutes to get on the ride from the FP line, but we really enjoyed the ride. I score much better on this ride that I do on the Buzz Lightyear ride at MK. I beat Brian’s score this time around, and I didn’t even practice at home before we left for the trip! After I decided we needed to get our pictures taken across the way with Woody.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050176.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050171.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050168.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050173.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050178.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0662_10_13_2010_635.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0663_10_13_2010_636.jpg

Next we decided to go on the Backstage Tour. After waiting in line forever to see the action sequence, I decided that we didn’t need to see it and we just kept on walking to get on the ride portion. Here are some of our pictures.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0665_10_13_2010_638.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0671_10_13_2010_644.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050188.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050191.jpg

Even though we ate a big lunch we were getting hungry and had no dinner plans. We happened to be walking past the Sci-Fi Drive In and I decided that we could check out the wait. We were in luck! We had to only wait 15 minutes before we got a car, granted we had to share it with other people. But we didn’t care, we just wanted to get a snack and enjoy the atmosphere. We decided to get an appetizer of their chili and spinach artichoke dips and try the peanut butter cake. The dips were good, but the cake was a little on the dry side.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0636_10_13_2010_609.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0674_10_13_2010_647.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050198.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050199.jpg

Here are some more pictures of what we saw while walking around.
My favorite tv show at the time (now it is gone). I loved it because that is where we are from and we miss home.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0676_10_13_2010_649.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050125.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050186.jpg

[Aburns8]

We decided we had enough of HS studios for the day so we headed out with the MK in our sights. We wanted to go see the Mainstreet Electrical Parade so hopped on a bus to the Contemporary to walk over to MK.

We were able to get a picture taken with not as many people walking behind it!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0682_10_13_2010_655.jpg

We hit the Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade again. Here is the funny story that I mentioned on Day 4. While I was waiting for Brian to take pictures I was window shopping. I happen to hear the MC on the parade float (and I am quoting) “you can even celebrate a bucket of chicken”. I turned around to look at the float and you can tell he really said it since everyone working the parade was cracking up. Even Brian heard it!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0687_10_13_2010_660.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050202.jpg

This is what I saw while “window shopping”:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050214.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050215.jpg

It was still way too early to wait for the parade we decided to take the train around the park. We got off at the Toontown exit and walked over PhilharMagic. This is one my favorite 3D shows!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0691_10_13_2010_664.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0692_10_13_2010_665.jpg

We still had some time to kill so we went on the Haunted Mansion, again. By the time we got off the ride we noticed that people were starting to line up for the parade. So we found a spot so we can be in the front.

Warning, I have a miniature rant here:

While we waited the 45 minutes for the parade to start we noticed how crowded it was getting. Yes, we got there 45 minutes before the parade was going to start because I wanted to take good pictures of the parade. Well, during that time people felt the need to either push us up against the rope so they could make room behind us, or seat their children around my feet so they could see. Now, I get blisters every trip we take to WDW and this day 5 so they were bad. At one point all I said was “ouch” and moved my foot because someone’s child decided to put their entire weight onto one of my feet. Then this woman, who even told me this wasn’t her child, decided to yell at me. Yes, yell at me. Why you may ask? I to this day still don’t know. I think she was frustrated because there were some people who were near her who decided to let their children sit down in front with her kids. Well, this lady basically told me that I shouldn’t be there in the front row because this was a place for children. I bit my tongue because I wasn’t going to stoop down to her level in front of her children. I really want to tell her that Walt Disney didn’t create these parks for children, but for families, and just because my family doesn’t have children in it doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t be standing where I was standing. Also, that maybe next time she should have gotten there an hour ahead of time to be standing where I was. But I decided to be the bigger person and ignore her. In fact I was nothing but nice to what I was assuming were her children. After the parade was over her little girl had problems with her popcorn bucket and I helped her with it because that lady wasn’t even paying attention to her kids.

OK rant over, here are the pictures from the parade (these pictures are taken with 2 different cameras and are not in any order):

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0699_10_13_2010_671.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0700_10_13_2010_672.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050287.jpg


http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050280.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050265.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050263.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050262.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0737_10_13_2010_709.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0734_10_13_2010_706.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0732_10_13_2010_704.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0729_10_13_2010_701.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0725_10_13_2010_697.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0704_10_13_2010_676.jpg

After the parade there were so many people that we just decided to walk around Liberty Square for a little bit so that the crowds would lessen. Once we got back to the room we both passed out for the evening.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0738_10_13_2010_710.jpg

Up next: Animal Kingdom – yes a park we haven’t been to yet!

[Disneygrl36]

Another jam packed day!!
Love the pics of the parade & hate that you had to deal with drama. I get really upset about that kind of behavior too because I paid the same admission price & I DID my planning to be able to enjoy things like parades the way I want to & just because we don't have kids doesn't mean that other people should just assume it's ok to try to put their kids in front of us. WDW is for everyone not just kids!

[Aburns8]

Another jam packed day!!
Love the pics of the parade & hate that you had to deal with drama. I get really upset about that kind of behavior too because I paid the same admission price & I DID my planning to be able to enjoy things like parades the way I want to & just because we don't have kids doesn't mean that other people should just assume it's ok to try to put their kids in front of us. WDW is for everyone not just kids!

I knew that you would understand. It was really hard not to give that lady a piece of my mind!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050131.jpg

thanks for the picture, now i just have to remmeber to bring my philips head with me, and get me that souvenior.

think how much i could get for it on ebay
:banana:




and those families like that at the parades are the same ones who book the trip, do no research, or planning get honked off after one day because they only did 2 rides in the MK for a 4 hour period because they slept in till 10 didnt get to the park till after 12, had lunch at 2 because they couldnt find a place...and waited 3 hours to ride splash because they didnt want to "pay" for fast passes.

and walk up to the parade as they are turning out the lights, and you need to move so there kid can have a front row....which you were sitting and relaxing in for the last hour because you researched your vacation.
:laughing:

that pretty much sums up what some people think.
:3dglasses

[Aburns8]

thanks for the picture, now i just have to remmeber to bring my philips head with me, and get me that souvenior.

think how much i could get for it on ebay
:banana:




and those families like that at the parades are the same ones who book the trip, do no research, or planning get honked off after one day because they only did 2 rides in the MK for a 4 hour period because they slept in till 10 didnt get to the park till after 12, had lunch at 2 because they couldnt find a place...and waited 3 hours to ride splash because they didnt want to "pay" for fast passes.

and walk up to the parade as they are turning out the lights, and you need to move so there kid can have a front row....which you were sitting and relaxing in for the last hour because you researched your vacation.
:laughing:

that pretty much sums up what some people think.
:3dglasses

If you steal that key let me know!

I am hoping for better parade experiences in the future. But you have had your own drama in parade situations.

[FauntleroyFAN07]

If you steal that key let me know!

I am hoping for better parade experiences in the future. But you have had your own drama in parade situations.
if i take it, then i wont tell you because then they can track me down.
:rolleyes1

you might be in on the hunt for the finders fee of the key.
:laughing:

[Aburns8]

if i take it, then i wont tell you because then they can track me down.
:rolleyes1

you might be in on the hunt for the finders fee of the key.
:laughing:

You do have a point :rotfl2: I wonder if anyone has taken it before.

[Aburns8]

Today we knew we were going to Animal Kingdom since I had a reservation at Yak and Yeti for lunch. We only visit this park once each trip so we seem to take a lot of pictures.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050300.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050301.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050303.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050304.jpg

We had no specific plans for the day so we decided to head over to Everest and get a FP. On our way we met Eyore, Tigger and Pooh. There was no one in line to meet them so we decided to take some pictures.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0745_10_14_2010_717.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0741_10_14_2010_713.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0743_10_14_2010_715.jpg

We got to Everest and grabbed our FP. Since the wait in line was only 10 minutes we decided to get in line and go for a spin. As we were waiting the line never moved. Then a CM came out and told us to come back later since there was something wrong with the ride. A little bummed, we walk out knowing that we would be back to use our FP later on.

We decided to head over to the other end of the park. On our way we decided to go through the Maharajah Jungle Trek to see the tigers. Here are some of the pictures we took:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0755_10_14_2010_727.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0759_10_14_2010_731.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0764_10_14_2010_736.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050308.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050314.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050315.jpg

We haven’t been on this trail a lot and forgot that there is an area of birds:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050321.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050330.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050323.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050338.jpg

And one of Brian:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0767_10_14_2010_739.jpg

On our way to Kilimanjaro Safaris we ran into Divine. Out of our many trips to AK we have never seen her, just heard stories of her. So we stood there for a moment and watched her. I was amazed on how many people were walking past us wondering what we were looking at.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0782_10_14_2010_754.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050346.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050351.jpg

[Aburns8]

And we had our picture taken again…

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0787_10_14_2010_759.jpg

We were able to grab a FP for the safari, but decided to get in line any ways. The line was supposed to be a 10 minute wait, but after 30 minutes we were off on our adventure.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0791_10_14_2010_763.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050370.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050380.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050393.jpg

When we got off the ride there was a PhotoPass photographer taking pictures. So we thought it was a good opportunity to get some more photos of us.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0840_10_14_2010_812.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0842_10_14_2010_814.jpg

Side note – since we have barely any pictures of us together from our honeymoon, we went overboard this trip to make sure that we got enough pictures of the two of us.

It was time to use our FP for Everest so we headed over there and found another PhotoPass photographer. This girl was the best photographer we ever encountered. She even told Brian that he had his camera on the correct setting, so we knew that she knew what she was doing.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0853_10_14_2010_825.jpg

We then used our FP for Everest and picked up another one for later. We still had time to kill before lunch so we thought we would wait for It’s Tough to be a Bug! Here are some of my favorite posters:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050403.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050408.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050410.jpg

Finally we could head over to Yak & Yeti. We were still a little early, while we were waiting to be seated Brian took only a couple pictures.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0865_10_14_2010_837.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0867_10_14_2010_839.jpg

We started off with an appetizer of egg rolls.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050423.jpg

Then we got some wonton soup:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050424.jpg

And shared the shrimp lo mien:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050425.jpg

The egg rolls and soup were delicious, but the shrimp lo mien was gross. I don’t even think we finished the whole thing. From what I heard the thing to get is the orange chicken.

[Aburns8]

We got out of the restaurant in time to see the Flights of Wonder show. We have never seen this show and thought we should give it a try. Now, we missed a couple of minutes of it, but it was a cute show.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050426.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050440.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050442.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050447.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050458.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050456.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050457.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0869_10_14_2010_841.jpg

We decided to use our FP for the safari. On our way over I found a hidden Mickey:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0844_10_14_2010_816.jpg

And Divine was out again:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0873_10_14_2010_845.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0875_10_14_2010_847.jpg

Here are some more safari pictures from our second trip:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0879_10_14_2010_851.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0881_10_14_2010_853.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050460.jpg

I love the ones with the mommy and baby elephant:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0894_10_14_2010_866.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050475.jpg

[Aburns8]

After we went on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail to see if the gorillas were out. This time there weren’t very many gorillas out. We were a little bummed since I have pictures from previous trips with water bowls on their heads, but we got some great napping shots.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050486.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050485.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050487.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0908_10_14_2010_880.jpg

Here are some other pictures from the trail:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050484.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050480.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050482.jpg

We decided to take the train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch and back. We just didn’t feel like getting off the train, it was time for a little rest. I happened to get a behind the scenes shot.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050490.jpg

After leaving the train we enjoyed a Mickey ice cream bar (which part of always falls down the front of you while you are eating it) before riding Everest for the last time. Our last ride of the day was Dinosaur. Brian loves this ride and we didn’t have a FP so we had to wait over 30 minutes to get on.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050500.jpg

Once we were done with Dinosaur we were done with AK for this trip. We hopped on a bus to Hollywood Studios because they were going to show Fantasmic this evening. Once we got there we walked around and tried to get into Mama Melrose’s for dinner. They were booked solid so we decided to get some food at the commissary. I didn’t bother to take a picture since we just got some burgers and fries.

[Aburns8]

After dinner I had a sweet tooth so we picked up a churro. These churros were the only free things (except for what we got at the Hollywood Brown Derby, more to come) we got the entire trip since we were wearing our anniversary buttons. Then we hopped on the Great Movie Ride, ToT and Rock’n Rollercoaster before waiting in line for Fantasmic!

Here are some pictures ove DHS at night.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0917_10_14_2010_889.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0919_10_14_2010_891.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0918_10_14_2010_890.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0914_10_14_2010_886.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0915_10_14_2010_887.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0916_10_14_2010_888.jpg

I really like Fantasmic, just not the line you have to wait in. The first seating the line was bad, so we decided to wait for the second seating (and ate some cookies while we waited). The second seating’s line was just as bad. Once we got in line they moved us forward toward the seating. I felt like we were being herded like cattle. Finally we got a seat and watched the show.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050506.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050516.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050517.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050522.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050523.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050525.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0920_10_14_2010_892.jpg

After finding our way out of the park it was time to get some much needed rest.

Up next: More of Epcot and the beginning of D23’s Sip and Stroll

[BettyBeBop]

What awessome pictures!!! You make me feel like I am right there!!

[Aburns8]

What awessome pictures!!! You make me feel like I am right there!!

Thanks! It is so easy to take pictures there. I really do like the park, but we never make it a priority when we are there!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

i havent seen flights of wonder since tarzan was still at AK, need to go back and see it, always skip for some reason.

the baby elephants are my favorite as well.
:thumbsup2

[Aburns8]

i havent seen flights of wonder since tarzan was still at AK, need to go back and see it, always skip for some reason.

the baby elephants are my favorite as well.
:thumbsup2

We have always skipped it as well. I should have another update this week so I can finish this up and maybe start one from our May trip before the cruise in September.

[Disneygrl36]

Great day at Animal Kingdom. Cool pics of Devine....we have never gotten lucky enough to see her!

[Aburns8]

Great day at Animal Kingdom. Cool pics of Devine....we have never gotten lucky enough to see her!

Sounds like us! And then we see her two times in one day. It is really funny how many people are walking right by her and not paying attention to what is going on :lmao:

[Aburns8]

I thought that I would have gotten this one out sooner, but it didn’t happen. I am trying to finish this one so I can start, and finish, the May report I would like to do before our cruise in September. We were originally scheduled to go on the October 9th sailing of the Dream. But Brian’s schedule got in the way and we moved to it September 11th. We will be driving down to Georgia the day before, spending the night and hopefully boarding the Dream around noon on the 11th. This will actually work out better than our original plans. We are going to spend two days in Port Orleans Riverside so that I can do a proper review on it. We stayed there in May and didn’t have time to even go swimming. We are also going to do MNSSHP, which will be the second one of the season and hopefully less crowded. Now, on to the trip report.

By now we have been to every park. We have decided to just hang out at Epcot and DHS the last couple of days since it is easy to travel between the two of them. Yes, as crazy as it sounds we like to walk between the two parks. Our day started at with getting a FP for Test Track. The line was too long to wait in so we decided just to come back later and use the FP.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0925_10_15_2010_897.jpg

We then took a stroll to the other side of Future World to ride Journey into Imagination with Figment. This was the second time we went on this ride this trip. I don’t mind it, but it makes me wish I came in the 90’s to see the other version. What I do like about this ride is that there is never a line! After the ride we took our picture with the three hitchhiking ghosts. Well it was Brian and I in front of a green screen and then the computer added the ghosts. Sorry, the picture isn’t on my FP and I could take a picture of it with my camera if there is a demand for it.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0924_10_15_2010_896.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0923_10_15_2010_895.jpg

Since we were in the area we caught another showing of Captain EO before we headed over to Test Track to use our FP. We had a lunch reservation at Mama Melrose’s and we thought that we should head over to DHS. On the way I picked up a cute Halloween t-shirt at one of the shops before we got on the Friendship II.

Here are some pictures from our boat ride.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0927_10_15_2010_899.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0930_10_15_2010_901.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0931_10_15_2010_902.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0932_10_15_2010_903.jpg

Once we entered DHS we headed straight to Mama Melrose’s. This is Brian’s favorite place to eat! We started off with an appetizer of calamari. If it is one the menu we usually get it. This was some of the best calamari that we had in recent times.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050536.jpg

The bread basket.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050535.jpg

Next we shared spaghetti con vongole, which has sautéed clams, pancetta in a white clam sauce.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050537.jpg

It was good, but a tad on the spicy side. For desert we had the chocolate cannoli cake.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050539.jpg

This dessert was really good and the sauce was really yummy! We didn’t want to spend any more time at DHS so we hopped on the Friendship IV back to Epcot. But we did take some pictures on our way out.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0933_10_15_2010_904.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0934_10_15_2010_905.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0935_10_15_2010_906.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0936_10_15_2010_907.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0938_10_15_2010_909.jpg

[Aburns8]

Once we got to the International Gateway we stopped in France to get an apple tart for later. Then we walked back over to Test Track to get another FP for later in the evening (that we ended up not using). As you can tell here we are killing time because the park was super busy and we didn’t want to wait in long lines since we were eagerly waiting to check into the D23 event. After getting our FP we walked back to American Adventure.

Here are some pictures of us killing time!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0940_10_15_2010_911.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0942_10_15_2010_913.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0943_10_15_2010_914.jpg

We waited by the fountain for the event to start. While we were waiting I was on the lookout for Lurkeyloo (Carrie). I have read her TRs and I knew that she was going to be at this event. I was so excited to meet another DISer. Finally we could check in. The line was long, but at least we were not in the back of the line. Once we got into the American Adventure rotunda we quickly picked up some drinks. Brian got some beer (his drink of choice) while I tried the specialty drink of the evening, the Pinktober. This was a really good drink, and very girly. It was nice and sweet and didn’t have any after taste.

Our passes to the event!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050613.jpg

The Pinktober:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050549.jpg

The lines for the appetizers were supper long. So while one of us waited in line, the other one stayed at the table we got. We of course let other D23 members share the table with us. We met some very nice couples, sorry don’t have their names. We were the only one at the table not going to the dinner for retiring Disney Archives Director Dave Smith. It was tempting to go to this dinner, but I already spent enough money to attend this event.

Pictures of the buffet:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050550.jpg

The crowd:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0944_10_15_2010_915.jpg

My favorite items on the table were the honey, the Canadian cheese fondue and pretzel bread. It was enough food to keep us happy for the rest of the night. Stephen Clark, the head honcho of D23, started the evening out by introducing the beer guys (more to come in the next report) and more importantly Dave Smith (who started the Disney Achieves). Here are some pictures of the evening:

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050554.jpg

Brian and I with Dave Smith

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0945_10_15_2010_916.jpg

In case you were wondering, I did meet Lurkyloo.

We decided to close out the evening with a trip to the Magic Kingdom since it was open later. One the way to the monorail we took some pictures.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0948_10_15_2010_919.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0952_10_15_2010_923.jpg

Once we got to MK we took one more picture before we headed to
Adventureland.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050559.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0954_10_15_2010_925.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0958_10_15_2010_929.jpg

We decided on another Dole Whip since we were in the neighborhood. We talked to the CM who was taking our order and he was from Michigan, can’t remember the city but close to where we grew up. After we paid for our order we ended up with a pretty big cup!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0959_10_15_2010_930.jpg

After we finished our treat we headed to the Swiss Family Treehouse. I really like going up there at night and looking at the park. Here is a picture of Space Mountain.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/D5000DSC_0961_10_15_2010_932.jpg

We then took a night cruise on the Jungle Cruise, a trip on Pirates and then I convinced Brian to go on Splash Mountain again. For some reason he didn’t want to go on it. I said I was going to by myself and he felt bad and decided to go on it with me.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050575.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050576.jpg

We didn’t get too wet since it was a cooler evening, which was nice. Then we went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to “dry off”. This is another ride that is really cool at night. It was getting close to the time that Wishes was going to start so we headed to Haunted Mansion for one more ride and then to Peter Pan. For once there wasn’t a long line to Peter Pan since the fireworks were going to start.

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050580.jpg

I love this ride. I really don’t know why. Maybe it is because it is one of the rides I remember going on when I was four years old. After we got off Peter Pan, Wishes had started. We never watched the fireworks from Fantasyland, but it was well worth it!

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050594.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050597.jpg

http://i933.photobucket.com/albums/ad175/Athomas8/P1050610.jpg

Up next: A full day of D23 Sip & Stroll!

[Disneygrl36]

The D23 event in the AA looked really cool & great pic with Dave Smith.

I really, really like the fireworks shot over Pinocchio's. :thumbsup2

[Aburns8]

The D23 event in the AA looked really cool & great pic with Dave Smith.

I really, really like the fireworks shot over Pinocchio's. :thumbsup2

Thanks Melanie!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

the event sounded fun, did you get any archives for attending.:thumbsup2

[Aburns8]

My next segment will highlight what we got :lmao:

[Aburns8]

Sorry for being MIA. I plan on working on the next installment this weekend. I have 22 days before my cruise, so I have to make sure that I finish this! I also plan on doing a report on my cruise as well!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

well get cracking i wanna see what swag you got.
:thumbsup2

[Disneygrl36]

Your cruise is getting so close! :banana::cool1::banana::cool1::banana:

[Aburns8]

Your cruise is getting so close! :banana::cool1::banana::cool1::banana:

I know! It is crazy. There is so much to do before that.

[Aburns8]

Ok, I know that I promised an update. But the computer with the pictures on it died. And on top of it we are expecting Hurricane Irene tomorrow/Sunday. So you will just have to be patient while Brian figures out what to do with the computer and we get out of this nasty storm!

[Aburns8]

We leave tomorrow for our first cruise! I will finish the report when we get back so I can start on about the cruise!

[Disneygrl36]

Bon Voyage!!!!!!! :sail: :beach: :boat: party:

[Disneygrl36]

Uh Miss Andrea.......are you gonna finish this so you can do your Dream report? :rolleyes1

[Aburns8]

Uh Miss Andrea.......are you gonna finish this so you can do your Dream report? :rolleyes1

Ok, ok! I will work on it starting tonight and have it up by the weekend! :goodvibes

[Aburns8]

Hoping to get an update up soon. Things have been crazy in my world.

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Hoping to get an update up soon. Things have been crazy in my world.
:wave2:

[Aburns8]

Hey everyone, mostly Dan and Melanie since you have stuck with me. I promise that there will be an update soon. But now I can reveal why I haven't done much in the last couple of months. On the first night of our cruise I found out I was pregnant! This week is week 13 so I am starting to tell people. I had no energy to do anything since September, including cleaning my house. So once I get a month's worth of dust off of everything I will finish this report! I hope that you are still reading.

[FauntleroyFAN07]

awesome news congrats and here is a little baby dance.

hey that rymed

:banana::cool1::yay::woohoo::dance3::cheer2::banan a::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:]


im gonna be the first to say it is a pirate:

[Aburns8]

awesome news congrats and here is a little baby dance.

hey that rymed

:banana::cool1::yay::woohoo::dance3::cheer2::banan a::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:]


im gonna be the first to say it is a pirate:

Thanks Dan. After March I am still freaking out. DH thinks it is a girl, and I have no feeling either way. We will be finding out in early January (I hope)!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Thanks Dan. After March I am still freaking out. DH thinks it is a girl, and I have no feeling either way. We will be finding out in early January (I hope)!
yep about 20 weeks is when they do the ultrasound.

are you going to find out? or keep it a suprise.

[Aburns8]

yep about 20 weeks is when they do the ultrasound.

are you going to find out? or keep it a suprise.

Oh, we are finding uot. I hate surprises.

[Aburns8]

im gonna be the first to say it is a pirate:


You were right! We are having a pirate! pirate:

[FauntleroyFAN07]

You were right! We are having a pirate! pirate:
:cool1::banana::dance3::yay:
awesome news.

big brother to beat up the boys when they come knocking for the little sister which will be next in a few years.

[Aburns8]

:cool1::banana::dance3::yay:
awesome news.

big brother to beat up the boys when they come knocking for the little sister which will be next in a few years.

I think that one will be it for us. We are getting too old to have more.