Halloween Weekend with our Favorite Disney CM...new PTR LINK p. 16

[wdwgirl03]

I have a tale to tell, I hope you'll follow
Of a legend born in Sleepy Hollow...

Hello everyone and :welcome: to my latest trip report! OK, so maybe I don't have a legend born in Sleepy Hollow but I felt like I had to use that quote in a Halloween trip report because it comes from one of the coolest things Disney does for Halloween. :thumbsup2 (anyone know what I'm talking about? ;))

Anyways, for those of you who don't know me, I'm wdwgirl03 (aka Sarah), a 26-year old Disney fanatic. My parents took me and my sisters to WDW for the first time when I was 5 years old and I guess the rest is history. We've been going back to Disney World ever since, thanks in large part to our DVC membership.

This trip was pretty exciting for a couple of reasons. First, we got to experience some of the great events Disney offers in the fall, including the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival and of course Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. However, the main reason for this trip wasn't to attend those events. Back in February, my youngest sister applied for the Disney World College Program. A few weeks after her web and phone interviews, she was accepted into the program!!! Yes, she was going to be a Disney Cast Member!!! :yay: Of course that meant the rest of my family would have to go down at some point to visit her. Well, after several discussions and trip rearrangements, my parents and I ultimately ended up choosing Halloween weekend since I had a (short) school break.

We had a little bit of rain but other than that we had a great time as always, and it was especially nice getting to see my sister again. It's hard to believe she's been in Florida for two months already!

So, here are the trip basics:

The resort: Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa (our DVC "home")

The dates: October 28-31, 2011

I hope you'll join in on all of our adventures!

TRIP REPORT INDEX

Friday, October 28, 2011
We're on our way to Disney World! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43168992&postcount=20)...POSTED 11/6/11
Arriving at Saratoga Springs (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43189269&postcount=31)...POSTED 11/8/11
Visiting the Animal Kingdom (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43216832&postcount=54)...POSTED 11/11/11
How to suck up to Donald Duck (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43254465&postcount=71)...POSTED 11/15
Downtown Disney (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43295840&postcount=86)...POSTED 11/20

Saturday, October 29, 2011
Morning at the Magic Kingdom (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43332802&postcount=100)...POSTED 11/25
Our last ride on Snow White + more MK (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43394358&postcount=110)...POSTED 12/3
Admiring the decorations (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43422711&postcount=120)...POSTED 12/7
Food and Wine Festival (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43477139&postcount=130)...POSTED 12/15
Yummy desserts and a favorite attraction (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43508197&postcount=139)...POSTED 12/20

Sunday, October 30, 2011
Hooray for Hollywood! + Christmas video (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43532636&postcount=146)...POSTED 12/24
First flight on Star Tours (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43548338&postcount=154)...POSTED 12/27
More DHS (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43596660&postcount=168)...POSTED 1/1
Pre-MNSSHP fun (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43668386&postcount=180)...POSTED 1/8
Meeting the Seven Dwarves (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43743615&postcount=195)...POSTED 1/15
Happy Hallowishes! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43788947&postcount=204)...POSTED 1/19
Boo...To...YOU! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43789256&postcount=205)...POSTED 1/19

Monday, October 31, 2011
Now it's time to say good-bye (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43851871&postcount=215)...POSTED 1/26

MISCELLANEOUS POSTS...
It's holiday time in the World (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43216111&postcount=52)...POSTED 11/11

[BerrysGirl]

I'm here! :cool1:

[Angies1274]

Yay! So glad to see you started your TR!!:thumbsup2 Can't wait to read all about your trip!!:goodvibes

[lauren_elizabeth]

I'm here, Sarah! :wave:

[Mickey_Mom]

Hi Sarah! :wave: Fabulous timing to get this started.... my internet is back today! :laughing:

[PlutosRHM55]

I'm in! Can't wait to read all about it! :mickeyjum

[Jazzabelle508]

I'm in :)

[Nermel9]

I'm here! Can't wait to hear about your trip! :cool1:

[Joanna71985]

How is your sister enjoying the CP?

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Looking forward to it!

[xoktenox]

Hey Sarah, you know I'm in :thumbsup2

I just found out some good news regarding SSR and myself :rolleyes1 I may have some questions to ask!

[Pinkocto]

I'm here, excited to read about the fun!

[Caretames1]

I'm here!

[cbg1027]

I'm in! :yay: Can't wait to hear about it all. I love your TR's!

[jwwi]

Ready to read your report. I'm sure everyone would agree, 2 days in Disney is better than No days! I'm sure you managed to keep yourself busy.......:rolleyes1

[wdwgirl03]

I'm here! :cool1:

Hi Megan. Congrats on being first to post. ;)

Yay! So glad to see you started your TR!!:thumbsup2 Can't wait to read all about your trip!!:goodvibes

Welcome Angie!

I'm here, Sarah! :wave:

Yay! Hi Lauren. :wave2:

Hi Sarah! :wave: Fabulous timing to get this started.... my internet is back today! :laughing:

haha, glad your internet is back. :thumbsup2

I'm in! Can't wait to read all about it! :mickeyjum

Hi Timmy-thanks for reading!

I'm in :)

Yay!

I'm here! Can't wait to hear about your trip! :cool1:

Hey Jen. :)

How is your sister enjoying the CP?

Hi Joanna! She is really enjoying the CP so far. I don't know how she's going to survive when she comes home in January. I have a feeling she'll end up back in Disney somehow after she graduates!

Looking forward to it!

Thanks for joining in!

Hey Sarah, you know I'm in :thumbsup2

I just found out some good news regarding SSR and myself :rolleyes1 I may have some questions to ask!

Hi Kristen!

I was curious after seeing your comment about SSR and saw your post on your wedding PJ. Feel free to ask away!

I'm here, excited to read about the fun!

Welcome!

I'm here!

Hi Carey!

I'm in! :yay: Can't wait to hear about it all. I love your TR's!

Aww, glad you enjoy my TRs. Thanks for joining in again!

Ready to read your report. I'm sure everyone would agree, 2 days in Disney is better than No days! I'm sure you managed to keep yourself busy.......:rolleyes1

Yes, I agree and we certainly kept ourselves busy. Time went by way too fast!

[disneygeeks]

you can count me in as well.....A friend of mine from work applied for the CP as well and just had her first phone interview about 4 days ago and she said it went well and now she has to wait about 5-6 weeks for another phone interview. She is so excited

[Cat0727]

I'm here Sarah! Can't wait to read about your trip!

[wdwgirl03]

you can count me in as well.....A friend of mine from work applied for the CP as well and just had her first phone interview about 4 days ago and she said it went well and now she has to wait about 5-6 weeks for another phone interview. She is so excited

I bet she is excited! What kind of role did she apply for? That's interesting she has to have another phone interview. Is she trying for a character performer?

I'm here Sarah! Can't wait to read about your trip!

Welcome Christina!

[wdwgirl03]

OK, here are some quick Cast intros before we get this thing started:

Me (aka Sarah)...26-year old teacher and Disney fanatic. Some of my Disney favorites include Tinker Bell, Mickey Mouse, Soarin, and the Polynesian. :)

My sister (aka Emma)...21 year old college student, studying marketing. Her favorite park is Hollywood Studios so she is thrilled to be a CM there for her college program! Sorry, I don't want to give out her exact work location though. :(

Dad...the DVC owner in our family. One of his favorite things about Disney World is the atmosphere. Also a huge fan of Tigger. :tigger:

Mom...likes Disney but I don't think she's quite as obsessed as some of the rest of us are. LOL! Some of her Disney favorites are strolling through the countries in World Showcase and the Boardwalk.

My other sister, Claire, didn't come with us, but will be going with my parents in about a month when they go visit Emma again.



Friday, October 28, 2011

Our day started off pretty early. I woke up around 4:00 or a little after for our flight at 7:50. It’s kind of hard getting up when it’s still dark (and a little cold) but like always, it’s also exciting knowing you’re on your way to Disney World. Plus, I couldn’t wait to see Emma in just a few short hours (I’m sure my parents felt the same way). This was the longest we’ve gone without seeing each other. Even though my sisters and I all lived on campus at school we’d see each other often since MU is pretty close to where we live. It’s been sort of strange not being able to see each other but thankfully there’s facebook/texting/blogs to keep in touch. But anyway…did I mention I was looking forward to seeing Emma? :yay::hug:

We left the house around 5:00 to head to the airport. After dropping off the car we were able to check our bags and go through security. We made it to our gate with plenty of time to spare. Since I was starving, I went to find some breakfast to hold me over until we arrived in Orlando (and if you’ve read my other TRs you know what our favorite place to get food from is-in fact, I think I’ve even convinced some other DISers to do the same now. Haha!)

One of the things I always love about travel day is hearing other people talk about Disney World. I’m sure it’s the same everywhere, but there are always tons of kids on our flights, and with schools having a long weekend, this trip was no exception. I know there was one mother with her little boy talking about seeing Mickey Mouse and trying to keep him occupied with Disney toys and another lady with her two small girls. I heard her ask one of the girls if she wanted to meet Rapunzel. Knowing that she is so popular I had to offer some advice and told them to plan on getting there early (lucky, she had done her research and said she had heard that). So then Mom asked her where they were staying and it turns out they were also going to Saratoga Springs. It’s just fun hearing/talking to others and adds to the excitement of going to Disney World! Of course with the excitement, there was also a little worry because of the rain they were forecasting for pretty much the whole weekend. We only had two full days so I really did not want it to be raining the whole time, especially after our trip this past March! I was hoping any rain that did happen would be short-lived.

Finally, around 7:30 it was time to start boarding the plane! We were on a Southwest flight so I’m sure many of you know about their odd boarding technique. My parents boarded first since they were in group A and then I went with group B. We were lucky to get three aisle seats near the front of the plane-that way, we’d be some of the first ones off once we arrived in Orlando! On the way down I listened to some theme park music on my ipod to help pass the time. And after an uneventful flight, we touched down at MCO! The runways were pretty wet so it looked like it rained hard early in the morning but thankfully it wasn’t raining anymore. But would that last???

(Sorry for the lack of photos in this update-I never seem to have any from the airport/plane but don't worry, you know they are coming! Stay tuned!)

Up next: Grabbing some lunch and the Magical Express ride!!!

[xoktenox]

Every time I read one of your reports I want Chick-Fil-A so bad lol I have never had it before!! I'm deprived!

Anxious to hear more popcorn::

[Goofy22]

Awesome Sarah, Now hopefully I can keep up! :goodvibes

[disneygeeks]

I think she is applying to work at epcot in the canadian pavillion and she wants to do the sales part of it in the sales queue. She said she has to do the other phone interview for some reason and then after that she will meet face to face with someone and then hopefully off to florida

[Joanna71985]

Hi Joanna! She is really enjoying the CP so far. I don't know how she's going to survive when she comes home in January. I have a feeling she'll end up back in Disney somehow after she graduates!

Nothing wrong with that! :teeth:

[PrincessCaitlin]

I'm in!

I can't wait to hear about MNSSHP and the Food & Wine Fest!

[jenbear123]

I'm here! Looking forward to hearing about your experiences since we were there at the same time :thumbsup2

[TanzUnited99]

I'm here and looking forward to hearing all about the trip! :goodvibes

I'm glad you had an uneventful flight.

[marDgreen88]

Hey there! I'm new to the posting world around here, but I found your spring TR link on your signature on someone else's TR. (Caretames1, I think!) I read the entire thing and I really enjoyed it! I was a little too late to comment, however, so I decided to follow along with this one! Hope you had a great trip, even though it was short! (My last one was only 2 full days as well!)

P.S. If I'm remembering correctly from your last TR, you ate Chick-Fil-A at MCO... YUM. :love:

[Merida]

Subbing!

[wdwgirl03]

Every time I read one of your reports I want Chick-Fil-A so bad lol I have never had it before!! I'm deprived!

Anxious to hear more popcorn::

haha, you should try it on one of your upcoming trips. It is well worth the stop!

Awesome Sarah, Now hopefully I can keep up! :goodvibes

Hi Colleen! :wave2:

I think she is applying to work at epcot in the canadian pavillion and she wants to do the sales part of it in the sales queue. She said she has to do the other phone interview for some reason and then after that she will meet face to face with someone and then hopefully off to florida

Ahh, that's cool. Good luck to her.

Nothing wrong with that! :teeth:

No there's not!

I'm in!

I can't wait to hear about MNSSHP and the Food & Wine Fest!

MNSSHP and F&WF are a lot of fun. :)

I'm here! Looking forward to hearing about your experiences since we were there at the same time :thumbsup2

Yes, it is always cool reading TRs from people who were there at the same time.

I'm here and looking forward to hearing all about the trip! :goodvibes

I'm glad you had an uneventful flight.

Yay! I can't wait to share our trip, even though it was so short.

Hey there! I'm new to the posting world around here, but I found your spring TR link on your signature on someone else's TR. (Caretames1, I think!) I read the entire thing and I really enjoyed it! I was a little too late to comment, however, so I decided to follow along with this one! Hope you had a great trip, even though it was short! (My last one was only 2 full days as well!)

P.S. If I'm remembering correctly from your last TR, you ate Chick-Fil-A at MCO... YUM. :love:

Welcome and thanks for posting! Glad you enjoyed my spring TR.

Yup, you are right about Chick-Fil-A! SOOOO good.

Subbing!

Welcome!

[wdwgirl03]

Friday, October 28, 2011 cont'd (part 2)

Once we touched down in Orlando, Mom told me that I could have the honors of calling Emma to let her know we made it. The plan was to have her meet us at Saratoga Springs and then we would head over to the Animal Kingdom if the rain stayed away. It was sort of cloudy out so we were hoping it wouldn't start raining again.

Thanks to our seats near the front of the plane we were able to get off quickly. I always love that feeling of setting foot in MCO knowing you have the whole trip ahead of you. And what better way to kick off our trip than to grab some lunch at, yes, you guessed it-Chick-Fil-A!!! We boarded the airport monorail (which was filled with people from our flight-everyone had on Packers gear it seemed) and when we got to the main terminal we headed to the food court. Mom and I got some of the delicious chicken nuggets and Dad ordered a chicken sandwich. We all split the waffle fries. YUM!

Now that we had our food, we could make our way to the Disney Welcome Center to board the Magical Express! I don't know if we just have good luck but it seems like there is never anybody there when we arrive. We were able to quickly get in line for the bus to SSR and waited literally two seconds before they let us board. YEAH!! I'd say the bus was about half full so it was easy to find a seat. I chose the left side of the bus so I could get a picture of the sign at the entrance to Saratoga Springs. haha When I was settled I called Emma to tell her we were on our way. The thing about the CP is that if you don't have a car, you have to rely on the bus transportation. Well, Emma doesn't have a car with her so she told us she'd be able to get the bus from her apartment complex to SSR-apparently it makes a ton of other stops first because it was going to take almost an hour before stopping at SSR. So, I told her to call us once she arrived and then we'd finally be able to meet up! :hug:

Before long we were pulling out and were on our way to Disney World...yippee!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7604.jpg?t=1320796809

I had to take a picture of those yummy chicken nuggets.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7605.jpg?t=1320796851

It really is too bad there are no Chick-Fil-As around here. :sad2: Oh well, I guess it just makes it more special then when we're in FL. :)

Like always, the bus ride was fun-it's always nice to watch the "grand circle tour" video and see all of the familiar sights on the way from the airport to the WDW grounds. The best one of all, though, has to be this sight:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7606.jpg?t=1320796886

So it's not the greatest picture but considering I was on the wrong side and halfway back it's not terrible. Not long after that we found ourselves getting closer and closer to home:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7607.jpg?t=1320796918

DISNEY VACATION CLUB WAY!!! Since the bus to SSR usually stops at OKW too, I was thinking we'd stop there first. It turns out nobody on the bus was going there, which I was actually kind of sad about-I wanted to show Dad where our building was when Claire and I stayed there in April (turns out he also wanted me to show him...oh well). The good news is that meant Saratoga Springs was the first stop. It was exciting driving down Vacation Club Way and seeing some of the buildings. I know SSR is not the most popular of the DVC resorts but I am SO glad it's our home.

Here we are!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7608.jpg?t=1320796955

Home sweet home! :goodvibes
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7609.jpg?t=1320796990

I tried to take a picture of some of the buildings as we drove toward the Carriage House but the trees were in the way.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7610.jpg?t=1320797024

When we arrived at the Carriage House we thanked our driver and went to check in. There was a friendly CM waiting and asked if he could be of any assistance. Dad told him we were checking in so he directed Dad to the online check-in desk. Mom and I waited while Dad picked up our welcome packet. I also took a picture of the guy who was greeting guests...

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7611.jpg?t=1320797055

hehe, love his costume.

Even though it was still early, our room was ready for us. Congress Park #1236. Woot, we love Congress Park (if you're not familiar with SSR, it's the section closest to DTD) and always request it. We ended up walking to our room and relaxed for a while as we waited for Emma to call back.

up next: Time to see my sister and our first park!!!

[Nermel9]

Yay, I love arriving at MCO and knowing you have your whole trip ahead of you, it's awesome! I always feel so bad for the people getting on the mini monorail, going to catch flights home! I know not everyone in Orlando is coming from WDW, but I always assume they are! :laughing:

Glad you got your requested section at SSR! I'd really like to stay there someday, it looks really pretty! :thumbsup2

[Merida]

Chik-fil-a! I was so sad when they changed their frying oil, the french fries aren't quite as tasty now as they were before (we go pretty much every time my boyfriend is homesick for the South). Love their special sauce!

I've never stayed there but I love Saratoga Springs! Who wouldn't love a horse-themed resort? And those costumes are awesome.

That is a long bus ride for your sister! But I'm guessing there's not very much traffic over to those resorts? I can't imagine having to do that for a commute!

[tinkgurl]

Three of the best words ever in a phrase a.k.a. the best road name ever- "Vacation Club Way". :rotfl:

[Pinkocto]

Love the SSR pictures! It wasn't our first choice but I am now so excited to be staying there in December.

Your Chik-Fil-A tradition is great, if if was closer it might not be as special when arriving at MCO. :)

How lovely that you didn't have to wait for the Magical Express!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

SSR is so pretty and peaceful looking. I wonder why people don't like it as much as the others? Because it is not next to a park?

[cbg1027]

Hooray for Chick-fil-a and Disney! :laughing: You should write Chick-fil-a and ask them to expand in to the Mid-west! The stores seem to do well wherever I see them so I'm sure they'd be a hit up there too. Who doesn't like fried chicken?!?!
I have one about 5 minutes from my house. I can totally see how it would be a great treat if I only got to have it once in a blue moon. Have you ever tried their milkshakes? They're really yummy and hand mixed, not the kind from a dispenser machine like they have at most fast food places.

[marDgreen88]

I can't believe yall don't have a Chick-Fil-A! But you're right, now it's like a special Disney thing. :goodvibes
Saratoga Springs looks beautiful! I would love to stay there, I wonder why it's not as popular as some of the others? :confused3 Looks great to me!
Looking forward to yall meeting up with your sister!

[xoktenox]

Ok so I'm pretty sure you've convinced me to get Chik-Fil-A in MCO...but we'll have to get it before our flight home because I'm always like a 5 year old and want to go right to DME when we get off the plane lol

Yay for SSR! I'm not sure if you've had a chance to read my latest PTR update but that's where we're going to be booked for our honeymoon at 11 months out :thumbsup2 My friend owns there and if we aren't able to get BWV or BCV at 7 months, we'll stay there. I see you like Congress Park the best...I'm indecisive as to where I'll request. What suggestions would you have? Do you know the order of the bus route? I like that Grandstand is the first bus stop when we are returning from the parks but I don't want to sit on the bus for 40 mins in the mornings going through all the stops before leaving for the parks!

I'm not sure why SSR isn't loved like the other DVC resorts...everything I've seen of it looks GORGEOUS!

[jenbear123]

Yay! You made it to SSR :woohoo: I really want to stay there next trip. I feel like it was made for me since it's all horse racing/horse themed, which is my favourite animal. Plus the close proximity to DTD helps too ;) Can't wait to see more pictures.

[MiaBella05]

popcorn:: joining in popcorn::

[Shannon84]

I am joining in on the fun :goodvibes

[Joanna71985]

I love Chik-fil-a! It's sooooo good.

[Goofy22]

It's so cool that your Sis gets to be a CM!! Will she still be there for my december trip? Im gonna keep an eye out for her and make sure I say hi if I see her since she is at my Favorite park also!! We just had a CHIK-FIL-A open up near our mall which is apprx 45 mins away!! I have yet to go to this one but we have been to the one in MCO we really like it too! Have you ever done night flights? In December when we go we are taking a 630pm flight there and a 940pm flight back and we have flown quite a few times just never at night usually early morning or mid-day :) We've also stayed at SSR and it's a very nice resort I really like their counter service . I had a chicken ceasar pita or something not sure it's been awhile and it was really good !

[wdwgirl03]

Yay, I love arriving at MCO and knowing you have your whole trip ahead of you, it's awesome! I always feel so bad for the people getting on the mini monorail, going to catch flights home! I know not everyone in Orlando is coming from WDW, but I always assume they are! :laughing:

Glad you got your requested section at SSR! I'd really like to stay there someday, it looks really pretty! :thumbsup2

I know what you mean. It is weird when they talk about returning home or visiting the world class attractions (OK, I think I've been to FL too many times if I know the spiel on the fake monorail)-it just seems like most people there are tourists!

haha yes, I would recommend SSR (and also AKL...hehe ;))

Chik-fil-a! I was so sad when they changed their frying oil, the french fries aren't quite as tasty now as they were before (we go pretty much every time my boyfriend is homesick for the South). Love their special sauce!

I've never stayed there but I love Saratoga Springs! Who wouldn't love a horse-themed resort? And those costumes are awesome.

That is a long bus ride for your sister! But I'm guessing there's not very much traffic over to those resorts? I can't imagine having to do that for a commute!

I know one of the complaints a lot of people have about SSR is the "lack" of theming-I don't get it! I think it's great and so the resort is so pretty.

Yeah, I agree! Luckily she doesn't have to take a bus ride like that very often and the one to work is much shorter.

Three of the best words ever in a phrase a.k.a. the best road name ever- "Vacation Club Way". :rotfl:

Agreed!

Love the SSR pictures! It wasn't our first choice but I am now so excited to be staying there in December.

Your Chik-Fil-A tradition is great, if if was closer it might not be as special when arriving at MCO. :)

How lovely that you didn't have to wait for the Magical Express!

Ohhh, you will love SSR! It's a DVC resort so you really can't complain about that!

We actually did used to have one at a mall around here but that mall is long gone. I think I heard there is one a couple hours away though. LOL.

Yup, it's always nice being able to walk right on to the bus!

SSR is so pretty and peaceful looking. I wonder why people don't like it as much as the others? Because it is not next to a park?

I think that's part of it. Also a lot of people are turned off because it's so big/spread out.

Hooray for Chick-fil-a and Disney! :laughing: You should write Chick-fil-a and ask them to expand in to the Mid-west! The stores seem to do well wherever I see them so I'm sure they'd be a hit up there too. Who doesn't like fried chicken?!?!
I have one about 5 minutes from my house. I can totally see how it would be a great treat if I only got to have it once in a blue moon. Have you ever tried their milkshakes? They're really yummy and hand mixed, not the kind from a dispenser machine like they have at most fast food places.

haha, maybe I should start a petition. I have not had their shakes but that does sound really good. I'll have to remember that for April!

I can't believe yall don't have a Chick-Fil-A! But you're right, now it's like a special Disney thing. :goodvibes
Saratoga Springs looks beautiful! I would love to stay there, I wonder why it's not as popular as some of the others? :confused3 Looks great to me!
Looking forward to yall meeting up with your sister!

I mentioned this in another comment but there used to be one around here a few years ago. It's sad it's no longer here but oh well. It's kind of like Earl of Sandwich at DTD-when you're there it's a nice treat. :)

Ok so I'm pretty sure you've convinced me to get Chik-Fil-A in MCO...but we'll have to get it before our flight home because I'm always like a 5 year old and want to go right to DME when we get off the plane lol

Yay for SSR! I'm not sure if you've had a chance to read my latest PTR update but that's where we're going to be booked for our honeymoon at 11 months out :thumbsup2 My friend owns there and if we aren't able to get BWV or BCV at 7 months, we'll stay there. I see you like Congress Park the best...I'm indecisive as to where I'll request. What suggestions would you have? Do you know the order of the bus route? I like that Grandstand is the first bus stop when we are returning from the parks but I don't want to sit on the bus for 40 mins in the mornings going through all the stops before leaving for the parks!

I'm not sure why SSR isn't loved like the other DVC resorts...everything I've seen of it looks GORGEOUS!

LOL, it really doesn't take that long to get the food! Plus we always take it with us so we can enjoy it on the bus. :)

After reading your comment I did go check out your post. YAY for getting to stay at a DVC resort! I'm always going to say Congress Park, but if you would prefer to be closer to the main building (the Carriage House) then maybe the Springs (that's also the last stop on the buses). Speaking of the buses, the order is the Grandstand, Carousel, Paddock, Congress Park, and then the Springs. It does take a while to get through all the stops but it's really not that bad.

I think you'll really enjoy SSR. And if you are able to get BCV I'm sure you'd love that. I can't comment on the BWV yet!

[wdwgirl03]

Yay! You made it to SSR :woohoo: I really want to stay there next trip. I feel like it was made for me since it's all horse racing/horse themed, which is my favourite animal. Plus the close proximity to DTD helps too ;) Can't wait to see more pictures.

Oh, then SSR would be perfect for you! I was just thinking on this last trip that maybe they should have some REAL horses there. That would be kind of fun. haha

popcorn:: joining in popcorn::

Welcome!

I am joining in on the fun :goodvibes

Yay! Thanks for joining in Shannon!

I love Chik-fil-a! It's sooooo good.

It is amazing! :thumbsup2

It's so cool that your Sis gets to be a CM!! Will she still be there for my december trip? Im gonna keep an eye out for her and make sure I say hi if I see her since she is at my Favorite park also!! We just had a CHIK-FIL-A open up near our mall which is apprx 45 mins away!! I have yet to go to this one but we have been to the one in MCO we really like it too! Have you ever done night flights? In December when we go we are taking a 630pm flight there and a 940pm flight back and we have flown quite a few times just never at night usually early morning or mid-day :) We've also stayed at SSR and it's a very nice resort I really like their counter service . I had a chicken ceasar pita or something not sure it's been awhile and it was really good !

I know, I am so jealous that she is doing the program. If only I would have done it-but atleast I get to live vicariously through her. :rolleyes: And yes, she doesn't come home until January so you might see her when you're at the Studios!

We have only done a late flight once and it wasn't by choice! Our early morning flight was cancelled and we had to go on a later one. We stayed at SSR that trip too and didn't get there until midnight when we should've been there around noon.

[xoktenox]

LOL, it really doesn't take that long to get the food! Plus we always take it with us so we can enjoy it on the bus. :)

After reading your comment I did go check out your post. YAY for getting to stay at a DVC resort! I'm always going to say Congress Park, but if you would prefer to be closer to the main building (the Carriage House) then maybe the Springs (that's also the last stop on the buses). Speaking of the buses, the order is the Grandstand, Carousel, Paddock, Congress Park, and then the Springs. It does take a while to get through all the stops but it's really not that bad.

I think you'll really enjoy SSR. And if you are able to get BCV I'm sure you'd love that. I can't comment on the BWV yet!

I never even realized you guys take it on the bus! That's smart!! You just planted a seed in my head :laughing:

Thanks so much for the SSR advice...I'm so indecisive on what section I want to be in! How far is CP from the CS place at SSR? I don't even know what building it's in...so much to learn! haha

I will honestly be happy wherever we get to stay! Thanks again!! :thumbsup2

[TanzUnited99]

Yay on being home and getting Congress Park! :cool1:

[archdandy]

I'm joining in! It's so great that you guys were able to go to Disney and visit your sister! :goodvibes It would be awesome to be a CM.

I'm happy for you that you got the section you wanted at SSR and I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip.

[wdwgirl03]

I never even realized you guys take it on the bus! That's smart!! You just planted a seed in my head :laughing:

Thanks so much for the SSR advice...I'm so indecisive on what section I want to be in! How far is CP from the CS place at SSR? I don't even know what building it's in...so much to learn! haha

I will honestly be happy wherever we get to stay! Thanks again!! :thumbsup2

haha yeah, we don't sit down at the airport and eat it. Sometimes when we have had to wait a little for the ME bus we've just eaten it in line.

You're welcome. Congress Park really isn't too far. It's easy enough to walk from there down the main road up to the big pool/Artist Palette. Good luck making your decision-there are perks to each section, I'm sure!

Yay on being home and getting Congress Park! :cool1:

Yup! Gotta love Congress Park!

I'm joining in! It's so great that you guys were able to go to Disney and visit your sister! :goodvibes It would be awesome to be a CM.

I'm happy for you that you got the section you wanted at SSR and I can't wait to read about the rest of your trip.

Welcome! Glad to have another reader. I am very happy I was able to squeeze in another trip. I was originally going to go this December after Christmas (which now that all the holiday stuff is going up I'm getting sort of sad about :sad2:) but ended up changing my mind.

More to come soon! popcorn::

[Queenofallthings]

I have no idea how I missed that you started this but I'm here now and all caught up!:thumbsup2

[wdwgirl03]

Happy Friday everyone! I thought since I have the afternoon off I'd do another update. First I wanted to share a couple more pictures my sister posted on facebook. As you might know, the holiday transformation is well under way and many of the Christmas decorations are up. There were cast previews for some of the holiday things about a week ago or so. It's so crazy to think when we were there it was all Halloween and now it's already Christmas! So for all of you going over the holidays here's what you have to look forward to...


http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/xmas.jpg?t=1321041745

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/xmas2.jpg?t=1321041729
(I think this is the show only done at MVMCP but they always have the dream lights!)

Seeing all Emma's pictures makes me so sad I'm not going after Christmas this year like I was originally going to (not to mention I'm jealous of all you guys who ARE). BUT...because I keep saying how badly I want to see the decorations again (it's been almost 3 years since we were last there in Dec.), Dad suggested that maybe I could go NEXT year instead of going for spring break in 2013. Seeing as after our trip next April will be my third year in a row going in the spring, I'd be all for a holiday trip (and maybe going somewhere else for spring break). I know it's a long way off so we'll see what happens. Our DVC point allotment needs some time to recover after all these trips. haha

Anyway...I'll be posting the next update right after this so stay tuned!

[wdwgirl03]

I have no idea how I missed that you started this but I'm here now and all caught up!:thumbsup2

Welcome! I've really only just started so you haven't missed too much. ;)

[wdwgirl03]

Friday, October 28, 2011 cont'd (part 3)

When we got to our room in Congress Park we of course had to turn on resort TV to watch Stacey. Plus, it would be a good way to pass the time while we waited for Emma to call. I really couldn't wait for her to join us. :goodvibes After about twenty minutes or so, someone's phone started to ring. Mom told me it was mine, which I could tell it wasn't-it sounded muffled and I had my phone sitting out on the table. So Mom had to go digging through her stuff to find it but she missed the call. Two seconds later mine rang. It was Emma! She told us she was at Saratoga Springs and asked us where we were. She said she was on the main road near the "green thing" (if you've stayed at SSR you know the "green thing" she was referring to is that green tower that says "Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa" on it-I think it's used in a lot of pictures of the resort). We told her we'd meet her somewhere in between so she didn't have to walk all the way to our room. We both hung up and Mom, Dad, and I quickly gathered up our stuff and went to meet my sister! But as we were walking, we didn't see her and then my phone rang again. It was Emma again asking where we were. Turns out she went all the way to our room and knocked on the door but nobody answered (she must've been walking really fast, LOL). Still on the phone, we headed back towards our room. Our conversation went something like this:

me: "Can you see me?"

Emma: "No."

me: "Wait, I think I see you. We're walking toward you."

Emma: "Oh yeah."

*we wave at each other and I sort of laugh*

When we were finally all together, we took our turns giving Emma a hug and saying hi. Even though it's only been two months, it was so nice seeing her again. :yay: We then went to get a bus to the Animal Kingdom. Our good luck with buses continued as the second we walked up, an AK bus was coming. It must've been the first one in a while because there were a few other people waiting too.

On the way to DAK, we spent some time catching up. She told us about work and her class (which I wish I could take...it sounds really cool!) and I had fun looking at her autograph book. hehe

Finally, we arrived at the Animal Kingdom! It seemed like most people at that point were leaving so hopefully that was a good sign and things wouldn't be too crowded. I noticed the new sign/pictures they had up for the "Let the Memories Begin" campaign...so the only park that doesn't have anything like that now is Epcot. Aren't the pictures so cute?
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7612.jpg?t=1321042959

Before we went into the park. Emma went to will call so she could redeem her voucher for her MNSSHP ticket.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7613.jpg?t=1321042941

Once that was taken care of, it was time to start the fun! Since Emma was going to be letting us use her gate pass, we got to go in the CM entrance where she had to show her ID and got us our tickets. It was kind of cool because they printed them right there at the turnstile. Then we walked through the Oasis toward Discovery Island where we saw one of my favorite Disney sights, the Tree of Life! We quickly stopped for a photopass picture (might as well get that card started right away), checked out the attractions board and decided that our first stop would be the safari since it had a short wait time.

I love the Tree of Life, even if it's cloudy.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7614.jpg?t=1321042917

Before long we were on our safari vehicle ready to begin our adventure. Our driver gave us three important rules for our journey:

1. Remain seated
2. No standing
3. Remain seated

It sounds so simple but there are still some people who think they can just stand up during the ride. We've been on safaris where the drivers have had to repeatedly remind the same person over and over to SIT DOWN. So I thought his rules were kind of funny.

In the forest we saw an okapi and a little further up we spotted a rhino.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7615.jpg?t=1321042890

I don't have tons of pictures from the first part of the ride since I think the savannah is way more interesting but I did notice a rather unusual species beyond some trees.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7616.jpg?t=1321042874

People on the Wild Africa Trek tour!!! I had to point them out to Dad since I really want to do this tour. We had so much fun when we did the Backstage Safari tour-I'm sure the Wild Africa Trek is amazing too.

Back to the real animals, there were a couple hippos in the river.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7617.jpg?t=1321042859

And the crocodiles. Yikes!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7618.jpg?t=1321042843

Soon we reached the savannah. We didn't see too many things at first but there were some tommies, wildebeest, and the ankole cattle (the brown ones with the huge horns). I always look for the giraffes and it looked like we were going to get a great view of a bunch of them!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7619.jpg?t=1321042827

Thankfully, I was sitting on the right side of the jeep (and by the right, I mean the left) so I could get some good pictures.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7620.jpg?t=1321042812

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7621.jpg?t=1321042795

There must've been atleast 5 giraffes up on the hills eating. SO COOL.

We also saw another one of my favorites, but sadly there was no baby in sight. We'll have to ride a couple of times in April to hopefully see him.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7622.jpg?t=1321042778

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7623.jpg?t=1321042752

So then we approached the rickety bridge. Obviously we knew what was coming but some people didn't. We start going across and it starts shaking. Thise one woman in front of us shrieks, and I mean really screams! She honestly thought we were falling because afterward she said really loudly, "I FEEL SO STUPID!" Dad and I were cracking up at that.

As we got closer and closer to the lion rocks, I was hoping we'd get another good view of the lions. If you read my spring break TR, you might remember how we had two amazing safaris where we got to see both lions. The cheetahs were out, so maybe that was a sign of things to come...

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7625.jpg?t=1321042726

I had my eyes glued on those rocks. Sadly, we didn't get quite as good a showing this time. We did see the female perched way up on the rock. But no male.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7626.jpg?t=1321042708

Oh well. Guess those couple safaris spoiled me and now if I don't see the lions it's going to be a disappointment. :rolleyes:

Overall though it was a good safari. Since we were right there, Dad wanted to go through he Pangani Forest Exploration Trail to see if we could find the gorillas. We walked through the first part of the trail kind of quickly (some people in our family do not appreciate the AK as much as others...) but we did stop to watch the meerkats.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7627.jpg?t=1321042694

They're so cute when they perch up on the rocks keeping watch.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7628-1.jpg?t=1321046285

When we got to the gorilla viewing area, there was a huge crowd of people so we knew there must be something there. Sure enough, there were atleast three gorillas, including baby Lilly.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7629.jpg?t=1321042664

Lilly was so fun to watch. She had that blanket and was playing with it-she kept pulling it over her head. It was the cutest thing because it was just like watching a little kid. Maybe she wanted to be a ghost for Halloween. :) Dad also asked one of the CMs how she was doing since we once heard she was sick or something because she was so small. The CM told us she is doing fine, just taking her time growing. :) So I guess she's OK-just small for her age.

After our visit with the gorillas, it was time to go see a different type of creature...the YETI!

up next: Did we keep dry for the rest of the afternoon?

[BerrysGirl]

Aw you got such a cute picture of baby Lilly! When I saw her she was smooshed against the glass with her mom so I didn't get a good picture.

Glad you finally got reunited with Emily. Matt and I had a similar experience at Epcot meeting up. Sigh... our CMs, right? :laughing:

[Nermel9]

LOL, you would think it would be common sense to NOT stand up during the safari, but there's always one person! On the trams too! :rotfl:

I want to do that Africa Trek SO bad someday! Maybe on our anniversary trip! I definitely want to do something special, I was thinking either that or the Epcot Segway Tour, but I'm afraid I'll fall off a Segway and kill myself! :laughing:

Great pics of the animals, especially the giraffes! :lovestruc

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I'm here!!! I think Danielle and I had the same safari guide last weekend because we got the same directions!!! haha. Glad to see you all made it in one piece and got chick fil a too!! You'd be sick to know that my kids at school can get catered lunches of chick fil a twice a week!!! lol.

Was your sister at MVMCP on Wed??? That's when I was there and the crowd was great..unlike both MNSSHP parties I went to in Sept!!

[xoktenox]

Yay for being reunited with Emma :hug:

I love the "Let the Memories Begin" signs at all the parks (except Epcot :confused3) I think they're so cute!

Looks like you had a good safari! I always get my hopes up to see the lions too...you've have some excellent luck over the years!! :goodvibes

Baby Lilly is adorable!!

[Merida]

Aww, animals! And Christmas decorations!

I used to do that 'don't come here, we'll go there' mix up all the time with my parents. I'm not sure why, it seems like such a family thing. :)

I went back and look at your old trip reports - wow! Those lion pictures were amazing. How lucky you were that they came out (at least in that trip, sad that it didn't work out that way this time).

I love animals with blankets. Have you seen the video of the dog who carries his blanket while playing fetch? Adorable.

[cbg1027]

Ooooh getting in free because you have CM family....I wish I could check that off my list!

[disneygeeks]

I have never been at christmas but have always wanted to...looks so beautiful

[TanzUnited99]

Love all the Christmas decorations...the parks look very festive. It makes me want to plan a trip for that time as well! :laughing:

I'm glad you were finally able to meet up with your sister.

Love the AK and giraffe pics. Oh no on not being as lucky with the lions but maybe on a future trip...

[meeko_33785]

Hey Sarah. Just got caught up with your new TR. I'm looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

I always like hearing that you guys had Chic-Fil-A. I can't imagine not living in an area without them. Then again, I can't remember the last time I've eaten there. :laughing:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7620.jpg?t=1321042812

I think this is my favorite of your photos so far. Nice shot.

[onelilspark]

Joining in! Excited to see the rest of your trip!

[Caretames1]

[ Our driver gave us three important rules for our journey:

1. Remain seated
2. No standing
3. Remain seated

]

:rotfl2: I just shared this with my DH and we both just said "We miss Disney"!

What a nice recap of the safari and extra treat of going thought the CM entrance!

[Queenofallthings]

Oh my goodness....your pictures of Lilly are precious...she is beyond cute!! Great shots overall at AK...that park is continuing to grow on me....we end up staying longer and longer each visit:thumbsup2

[marDgreen88]

LOVE the Let the Memories Begin campaign! So cute.
So I guess your Safari Driver wanted yall to sit? :confused3
I don't think I've ever seen the lions... they always hide or something when I go on the safari ha!
The elephants are too cute but where is baby? Weird...
Lily! How adorable. Good thing there is nothing wrong with her. :thumbsup2
Looking forward to your next post!

P.S. Love the Christmas pictures! AHHH can't wait to see those in person. :santa:

[Goofy22]

Oh, then SSR would be perfect for you! I was just thinking on this last trip that maybe they should have some REAL horses there. That would be kind of fun. haha



Welcome!



Yay! Thanks for joining in Shannon!



It is amazing! :thumbsup2



I know, I am so jealous that she is doing the program. If only I would have done it-but atleast I get to live vicariously through her. :rolleyes: And yes, she doesn't come home until January so you might see her when you're at the Studios!

We have only done a late flight once and it wasn't by choice! Our early morning flight was cancelled and we had to go on a later one. We stayed at SSR that trip too and didn't get there until midnight when we should've been there around noon.

Sarah,
Im jealous of your Sister too! LOl At least you get to live through her! I hope I see her I will be saying Hi! So glad you got to spend time with Emma!
I dont know if Im looking foward to the night flights but we shall see maybe I will love it who knows! LOL That picture you have of baby LILY is great! She's such a cutie :)

[wdwgirl03]

Aw you got such a cute picture of baby Lilly! When I saw her she was smooshed against the glass with her mom so I didn't get a good picture.

Glad you finally got reunited with Emily. Matt and I had a similar experience at Epcot meeting up. Sigh... our CMs, right? :laughing:

Bummer you didn't get a good shot of Lilly. We've had pretty good luck seeing her lately.

LOL, you would think it would be common sense to NOT stand up during the safari, but there's always one person! On the trams too! :rotfl:

I want to do that Africa Trek SO bad someday! Maybe on our anniversary trip! I definitely want to do something special, I was thinking either that or the Epcot Segway Tour, but I'm afraid I'll fall off a Segway and kill myself! :laughing:

Great pics of the animals, especially the giraffes! :lovestruc

You would think, but apparently some people are lacking in the common sense department. :rolleyes:

You should do a tour! My dad and I are hopefully going to do the Keys to the Kingdom one in April. Atleast he mentioned it once. I'd love to do it.

I'm here!!! I think Danielle and I had the same safari guide last weekend because we got the same directions!!! haha. Glad to see you all made it in one piece and got chick fil a too!! You'd be sick to know that my kids at school can get catered lunches of chick fil a twice a week!!! lol.

Was your sister at MVMCP on Wed??? That's when I was there and the crowd was great..unlike both MNSSHP parties I went to in Sept!!

haha, nice. Was it a younger guy? He was a good safari guide. WOW catered CFA lunches. That would be awesome.

No, I don't think she has gone to any of the Christmas parties yet-just the cast preview. Glad the crowd was good though.

Yay for being reunited with Emma :hug:

I love the "Let the Memories Begin" signs at all the parks (except Epcot :confused3) I think they're so cute!

Looks like you had a good safari! I always get my hopes up to see the lions too...you've have some excellent luck over the years!! :goodvibes

Baby Lilly is adorable!!

Yes, it was a happy reunion. :goodvibes

I do too-I wonder why they didn't put one at Epcot. Unless I'm just completely clueless and missed it (but I don't think that's the case!).

Well...when you go on your honeymoon next year you'll be there long enough to do the safari a couple times. Maybe you'll see them then. :)

Aww, animals! And Christmas decorations!

I used to do that 'don't come here, we'll go there' mix up all the time with my parents. I'm not sure why, it seems like such a family thing. :)

I went back and look at your old trip reports - wow! Those lion pictures were amazing. How lucky you were that they came out (at least in that trip, sad that it didn't work out that way this time).

I love animals with blankets. Have you seen the video of the dog who carries his blanket while playing fetch? Adorable.

I really love the Christmas decorations-hopefully I'll be able to see them next year!

We were SO lucky to see the lions two times in one trip. I guess when you go so many times you're bound to have some good luck eventually (sort of like we had bad luck with the weather that trip).

I have not seen that video. That sounds really cute!

Ooooh getting in free because you have CM family....I wish I could check that off my list!

haha, atleast you live in Florida so you can go as often as you want. ;) But yes, it was nice getting in free!

[wdwgirl03]

I have never been at christmas but have always wanted to...looks so beautiful

If you ever get the chance to go at Christmas go! All the decorations are amazing. It's hard to not get into the Christmas spirit!

Love all the Christmas decorations...the parks look very festive. It makes me want to plan a trip for that time as well! :laughing:

I'm glad you were finally able to meet up with your sister.

Love the AK and giraffe pics. Oh no on not being as lucky with the lions but maybe on a future trip...

The parks (and resorts!) are very festive for the holidays. I just love it.

It's OK, atleast we saw the lions once. Can't see them all the time. haha

Hey Sarah. Just got caught up with your new TR. I'm looking forward to hearing more about your trip.

I always like hearing that you guys had Chic-Fil-A. I can't imagine not living in an area without them. Then again, I can't remember the last time I've eaten there. :laughing:

I think this is my favorite of your photos so far. Nice shot.

Hi Meeko. Glad you're joining in again. :)

Yeah, I bet I'd feel a little differently about getting it all the time if we had it around here. But we don't, so I'll keep going there!

Joining in! Excited to see the rest of your trip!

Welcome!

:rotfl2: I just shared this with my DH and we both just said "We miss Disney"!

What a nice recap of the safari and extra treat of going thought the CM entrance!

haha, don't we all miss Disney? :(

Oh my goodness....your pictures of Lilly are precious...she is beyond cute!! Great shots overall at AK...that park is continuing to grow on me....we end up staying longer and longer each visit:thumbsup2

She is super cute. I wish my camera would've worked when I tried to take a video of her playing with the blanket. We got such a kick out of her.

LOVE the Let the Memories Begin campaign! So cute.
So I guess your Safari Driver wanted yall to sit? :confused3
I don't think I've ever seen the lions... they always hide or something when I go on the safari ha!
The elephants are too cute but where is baby? Weird...
Lily! How adorable. Good thing there is nothing wrong with her. :thumbsup2
Looking forward to your next post!

P.S. Love the Christmas pictures! AHHH can't wait to see those in person. :santa:

Yes, I don't think he wanted to lose any of his passengers. haha

The lions do usually seem to be hiding so it wasn't a huge surprise we didn't see them.

I was so bummed the baby elephant wasn't out. :(

SO jealous you're going to see the decorations. Ahh I want to see them.

Sarah,
Im jealous of your Sister too! LOl At least you get to live through her! I hope I see her I will be saying Hi! So glad you got to spend time with Emma!
I dont know if Im looking foward to the night flights but we shall see maybe I will love it who knows! LOL That picture you have of baby LILY is great! She's such a cutie :)

That is true but it sort of makes me even more jealous. But I'm glad she is having a good time. I don't know how she's going to survive when she comes home. Life will be so boring without Disney. LOL.

Are you taking the Magical Express after your flight? That was another thing I didn't like about getting there so late. We made it in time to still take the bus but we had to wait atleast half an hour because there was hardly anyone there. Not to mention we didn't get our luggage until 4 am (but I think they stop luggage service after a certain time).

[wdwgirl03]

Friday, October 28, 2011 cont'd (part 4)

After wandering around in Africa, it was time to hit up the other two major attractions at the Animal Kingdom. First up was of course Expedition Everest! We headed over toward Asia and we quickly stopped to get another photopass picture. Emma also asked the photographer to take one with her camera.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/ee.jpg?t=1321396927

You can't see it in the picture but you know that shrine that's right there at that spot? Dad told Mom how each of the points in the shrine match up with the peaks of the mountains on Everest (one of the fun facts we've learned from all our Disney books!). I don't think she believed us though. :confused3

Since Mom wasn't going to ride, we had her hold on to all our stuff (nice, right?) so we wouldn't have to worry about it. Then Dad, Emma, and I went to go ride. I don't think the standby line was all that long but the single riders line was even shorter so we chose to do that.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7632.jpg?t=1321395793
(I took my camera with me hoping to get some more shots from the ride but because it was cloudy I didn't think I'd get any decent pictures. But I did get one of the little Yeti museum!)

There were only a few people in front of us so we were on the ride within five minutes or so. Emma and I ended up on the same train and Dad was on the next one. As usual we enjoyed the ride...always a thrill!

When we met up with Mom we crossed over the bridge to Dinoland so we could ride Dinosaur. As we were walking it started to sprinkle a little bit. It is always amusing to see everyone pull out their ponchos at the first little drop of rain (including our mom...:rolleyes1). But, it was barely raining so we were able to manage. If you remember from my PTR, I briefly mentioned how it might just be Dad and me riding Dinosaur. Emma had told us she didn't want to; however, as we got closer she decided that she'd go with us. YEAH! I heard a great comment as we were walking inside. One guy asked the CM what the ride was like and the CM described the ride to him. I didn't hear exactly what the CM said but the guy was pretty enthusiastic and said something like "Dark and bumpy is always fun." I am curious to know what he thought of the ride afterward...hehe

Soon we were in the preshow area meeting with good old Dr. Grant Seeker.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7633.jpg?t=1321395777

Sorry the picture's blurry, but you know what Dr. Seeker says: "Flash photography? I wouldn't. It alters the homing signal and that's not good." hehe Once we were in, it was time to board our time rover. Right away I knew it was going to be a funny ride-the group in front of us (two younger girls and their parents) seemed pretty scared. The two girls were covering their ears from the very beginning tunnel. And then later on in the ride the father was and they were all hiding. :rotfl: I don't know what it is about this ride-maybe it's all the bouncing/loud noises/Dr. Seeker yelling "WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!" but it's pretty intense. At the final dinosaur I tried not to scream but I couldn't help it (though I sort of did it on purpose...). :teeth: It may be a tad scary but still a whole lot of fun. Here's our ride photo where you can see the family in front of us looking terrified. We're in the middle row. My fellow Wisconsinites/Brewers fans might notice that we decided to do "Beast Mode". For those of you who are thinking what the heck is beast mode, let me briefly explain because it does have a little Disney connection to it. Towards the end of the regular season, the Brewers started doing that little gesture every time they made a good play. I guess Prince Fielder got the idea when he was watching Monsters Inc. with his kids.

http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1340468113495&id=fb46038b13e3c9f8051824b484b14456

Pretty soon the whole team adopted it:
http://blak4rest.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/beast-mode.jpg

So, we thought it would make an entertaining ride photo:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/beastmode.jpg?t=1321396881

(can I just say I miss the Brewers? :()

Now that we had done the three major rides, we decided to go over to Camp Minnie Mickey to see if we could meet any characters. There was probably a Festival of the Lion King show going on because the area wasn't that crowded, which made it a great time to visit with the characters! I noticed that Goofy didn't have anybody waiting in line so we went to see him first. It sounds dorky but I always feel bad when characters have nobody waiting to see them. We would have to change that.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7634.jpg?t=1321395751

^^This is what happens when you have two people trying to take a picture at the same time. Everyone's looking in different directions. Oh well.

Next up was Mickey and Minnie. The line for them was a little bit longer. Surprise surprise. Right as we got to the front of the line, the character attendant said that it was "time for Mickey and Minnie to go take a call from Bob Iger." He then asked us if we knew who Bob Iger was. Yes, we do. He said that some people just look at him with confused expressions. Clearly they aren't the Disney buffs that we all are. ;) Soon enough Mickey and Minnie returned! Since it was still drizzling, they were escorted with umbrellas which I thought was adorable.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7635.jpg?t=1321395735

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/minnie-1.jpg?t=1321396988

We all gave our two favorite mice hugs before taking our picture.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/mickeyminnie-1.jpg?t=1321401155

Look at Mickey...is he not the cutest thing?! I love the way he's posing. Even Dad said as we were leaving that Mickey is so cute. LOL. OK, Minnie's pretty cute too.

There were still two more gazebos to visit so next up we went to the trail marked "Forest Friends." Here we discovered a rather unusual mix of characters: Pocahontas, Thumper, and King Louie. I'm not sure why they were all together but it was cool getting to see 3 characters in one spot.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/pocahontas.jpg?t=1321397006

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/kinglouie.jpg?t=1321396955

And last but not least, we saw Donald! As soon as we got to him, Donald did not approve of Dad's Mickey Mouse t-shirt. He decided that he had to pose us for the picture and strategically placed Emma in front of Dad so we couldn't see his shirt. haha!

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/donald1.jpg?t=1321396902

I will say that my sister has learned one thing during her CP and that is how to kiss up to characters. One of her roomies is "friends with Donald" so after Donald disapproved of Dad's t-shirt, Emma decided to make it up and declare "Donald's # 1!" which he of course loved. I thought I'd try that on our way out so as we were leaving, I also shouted, "Donald's #1!" But I guess Emma still wanted to be his favorite because she immediately ratted me out and said, "But she has Mickey on her shirt too!" My bratty little sister. LOL. But we had a fun time visiting with Donald. Keep that in mind though, next time you're in WDW and want to suck up to him, make sure you tell him he's number 1! ;)

up next: An evening at Downtown Disney

[Caretames1]

I'm so just walking along with you guys as you go through AK! We haven't done Dinosaur yet, but next time, I will, even if it means I have to do it alone!

Brewers were so close:sad2:, but at least we got the 9-0 Packers Baby!!!:woohoo:

I had a Chipmunks shirt on in AK in Jan and they loved it! They pushed everyone esle out of the pic and got one with just me!:lmao:

[cbg1027]

[B][COLOR="DarkOrange"]

When we met up with Mom we crossed over the bridge to Dinoland so we could ride Dinosaur. As we were walking it started to sprinkle a little bit. It is always amusing to see everyone pull out their ponchos at the first little drop of rain (including our mom...:rolleyes1).


Sarah, I think we can officially declare you an honorary Floridian now!:thumbsup2 Too bad Disney won't give you the FL resident discounts for that.

That was odd to see Pocahontas with Thumper...that's a rare photo you have now!

[BerrysGirl]

What a fun AK day!

Although Pocahontas, King Louie, and Thumper is a very strange combination of characters :confused3

If Emma's roommate shares any more ways to suck up to characters please share! It's so fun to interact with them :goodvibes:

[Pinkocto]

You gave me such a chuckle with the poncho comment!:rotfl:

Disney really picks the best CMs to be characters, to funny that Donald blocked your dad's shirt! I agree with you on when there's no one in line, I get sad for them. :) but then when there's a line I just wish there were less people, I guess I can not be pleased, ha!

I'm glad Emma decided to go on Dinosaur with you guys. Try as I might I can't help but scream on that ride, even though I know what's coming it still catches me off guard. I just love it!

[xoktenox]

:banana: love EE!!

I'm glad Emma gave Dinosaur another try! I ride it every time but I plug my ears and don't look at the big dino at the end...I need to cut it out and act my age :rotfl:

Awww, you got some adorable pictures with the characters! Mickey's pose in the one shot really is so cute!

[meeko_33785]

When it's raining, they usually have to double-up on characters at the Greeting Trails so all the characters are under cover, which is why Mickey and Minnie were together and Pocahontas, Thumper and King Louie were as well. I love weird character pairings so I would have loved to see Thumper and Pocahontas.

[TanzUnited99]

Yay on getting on EE in 5 minutes! :cool1:

Lol at the two girls on Dinosaur covering their ears from the very beginning. Great hand gestures and thanks for explaining the story behind it.

Love all the character shots and agree that it is adorable that Mickey and Minnie were escorted by an umbrella to protect them from the rain.

[IheartDDuck]

D'oh! I missed this because I was gone when you started! Going back to read now.

Okay, I agree with Megan, and I do believe that we had the same Safari guide. He was a younger guy. How funny!

They did build a Chick Fil-A apparently in Schaumburg. A little far for you, but at least it's here. lol

[marDgreen88]

EVEREST. :love:
I'm not gonna lie, Dinosaur legitimately scares me. I have only ridden it once and I had my head buried in my chest pretty much the whole time. What a great view... hahah. :eek:

Beast Mode! That's awesome, and even more awesome that it's Disney inspired. :)

Aww, Camp Minnie-Mickey is so much fun. I know what you mean. I always feel sad for the characters with no line. That happened to me last year with Meeko, which I was puzzled about because I LOVE MEEKO. Anyways... Mickey and Minnie with their umbrellas is seriously the cutest thing.
I'm sorry... Pocahontas, Thumper, and King Louie?! That's just odd. Where were their normal companions Meeko, Mrs. Bunny, and Baloo? Very weird!

OK! So your Donald story reminded me of my last trip again. My group and I were at the character spot in Epcot meeting Donald, and he's actually my favorite, so in the picture we all held up our fingers like a #1. Well the next night we were at MVMCP watching the parade and when Donald and Daisy came by, Donald held up his finger #1 at us! And we were like... wait a minute... either this is totally normal for 'friends of Donald' to do, or this is the exact same one at a different park. :confused3 It was funny though.

Sorry about this super long comment! Looking forward to hearing about DTD!

[Goofy22]

I love your Character Pics we usually get some really good ones at Camp Minnie Mickey also!!! :) We are due to arrive in MCO apprx 850pm and we are not going to use DME because our first night is at ASSP and the remainder of the stay is at POP! Dont want to chance luggage not coming til late and we need to switch resorts that would be to much of a:headache: LOL! So were going to retrieve it then off to ASSP we added this night last min due to Cheap Airfare!! :wizard: Is your Sister as tiny and short as she looks compared to You ? I think I'll be able to spot her with no problem if I see her :)

[Nermel9]

Yay, EE, love that ride! :thumbsup2

Haha, love the Dinosaur pics! Did Prince Fielder really get "Beast Mode" from Monsters Inc? That's so cute! Ahhh, I miss baseball.

Aww, I feel bad for characters with no line too! :rotfl:

[wdwgirl03]

I'm so just walking along with you guys as you go through AK! We haven't done Dinosaur yet, but next time, I will, even if it means I have to do it alone!

Brewers were so close:sad2:, but at least we got the 9-0 Packers Baby!!!:woohoo:

I had a Chipmunks shirt on in AK in Jan and they loved it! They pushed everyone esle out of the pic and got one with just me!:lmao:

You have to do Dinosaur. I'd be curious to see how you reacted on your first ride. :)

I know-it was such a bummer they lost, not that I really expected them to win the World Series. But it would've been cool to have WI be home to both the Super Bowl and WS champs!

haha, that's awesome about the chipmunks!

Sarah, I think we can officially declare you an honorary Floridian now!:thumbsup2 Too bad Disney won't give you the FL resident discounts for that.

That was odd to see Pocahontas with Thumper...that's a rare photo you have now!

Yes, that would be nice to get a FL discount. Maybe some day I'll just have to move there. haha

What a fun AK day!

Although Pocahontas, King Louie, and Thumper is a very strange combination of characters :confused3

If Emma's roommate shares any more ways to suck up to characters please share! It's so fun to interact with them :goodvibes:

It was weird but still cool. Now that I think about it I don't know if I've ever met Pocahontas before.

I'll have to ask if she knows anything else because her roomy is friends with a lot of the characters. ;)

You gave me such a chuckle with the poncho comment!:rotfl:

Disney really picks the best CMs to be characters, to funny that Donald blocked your dad's shirt! I agree with you on when there's no one in line, I get sad for them. :) but then when there's a line I just wish there were less people, I guess I can not be pleased, ha!

I'm glad Emma decided to go on Dinosaur with you guys. Try as I might I can't help but scream on that ride, even though I know what's coming it still catches me off guard. I just love it!

We have met some great characters over the years, especially with some of the face characters. But it is fun when the other ones are good too.

I'm the same way!

:banana: love EE!!

I'm glad Emma gave Dinosaur another try! I ride it every time but I plug my ears and don't look at the big dino at the end...I need to cut it out and act my age :rotfl:

Awww, you got some adorable pictures with the characters! Mickey's pose in the one shot really is so cute!

haha, that makes two of us but if even grown men get scared on it I think we're OK!

I know, isn't he so adorable? I love Mickey.

When it's raining, they usually have to double-up on characters at the Greeting Trails so all the characters are under cover, which is why Mickey and Minnie were together and Pocahontas, Thumper and King Louie were as well. I love weird character pairings so I would have loved to see Thumper and Pocahontas.

Ahh, thanks for the explanation. That does make sense though-I know they sometimes have the characters out in that area in addition to the trails.

Yay on getting on EE in 5 minutes! :cool1:

Lol at the two girls on Dinosaur covering their ears from the very beginning. Great hand gestures and thanks for explaining the story behind it.

Love all the character shots and agree that it is adorable that Mickey and Minnie were escorted by an umbrella to protect them from the rain.

Yup, the single rider line at EE is one of the best ones because there's really never a wait.

I thought it was funny the girls were so scared but hey, that was me once too. It is scary for first timers!

D'oh! I missed this because I was gone when you started! Going back to read now.

Okay, I agree with Megan, and I do believe that we had the same Safari guide. He was a younger guy. How funny!

They did build a Chick Fil-A apparently in Schaumburg. A little far for you, but at least it's here. lol

Glad you are joining in now!

I think the CFA in Wisconsin is in Racine or something. Good to know there's another one in the midwest in case I ever really need a fix.

EVEREST. :love:
I'm not gonna lie, Dinosaur legitimately scares me. I have only ridden it once and I had my head buried in my chest pretty much the whole time. What a great view... hahah. :eek:

Beast Mode! That's awesome, and even more awesome that it's Disney inspired. :)

Aww, Camp Minnie-Mickey is so much fun. I know what you mean. I always feel sad for the characters with no line. That happened to me last year with Meeko, which I was puzzled about because I LOVE MEEKO. Anyways... Mickey and Minnie with their umbrellas is seriously the cutest thing.
I'm sorry... Pocahontas, Thumper, and King Louie?! That's just odd. Where were their normal companions Meeko, Mrs. Bunny, and Baloo? Very weird!

OK! So your Donald story reminded me of my last trip again. My group and I were at the character spot in Epcot meeting Donald, and he's actually my favorite, so in the picture we all held up our fingers like a #1. Well the next night we were at MVMCP watching the parade and when Donald and Daisy came by, Donald held up his finger #1 at us! And we were like... wait a minute... either this is totally normal for 'friends of Donald' to do, or this is the exact same one at a different park. :confused3 It was funny though.

Sorry about this super long comment! Looking forward to hearing about DTD!

That's what I was like the first time I went on Dinosaur. I think I saw the first dinosaur and got really freaked out so I had my head buried too. I've tried to become more brave over the years. LOL.

I love your Donald story! That's awesome he did #1 too. Gotta love when characters acknowledge you.

Don't worry about your long comment-I like hearing what others have to say. :)

I love your Character Pics we usually get some really good ones at Camp Minnie Mickey also!!! :) We are due to arrive in MCO apprx 850pm and we are not going to use DME because our first night is at ASSP and the remainder of the stay is at POP! Dont want to chance luggage not coming til late and we need to switch resorts that would be to much of a:headache: LOL! So were going to retrieve it then off to ASSP we added this night last min due to Cheap Airfare!! :wizard: Is your Sister as tiny and short as she looks compared to You ? I think I'll be able to spot her with no problem if I see her :)

Ahh, good plan. And yes, my sister is pretty short. hehe

Yay, EE, love that ride! :thumbsup2

Haha, love the Dinosaur pics! Did Prince Fielder really get "Beast Mode" from Monsters Inc? That's so cute! Ahhh, I miss baseball.

Aww, I feel bad for characters with no line too! :rotfl:

haha, yes, he did actually get it from Monsters Inc! I found this when I was searching for the pictures: "The sight of a burly slugger like Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder enacting the team's beastly celebration after clouting a key hit can be slightly menacing and, well, that's sort of the point. After all, the move is inspired by the Disney/Pixar film Monsters Inc., in which a band of meek monsters go to work each night to frighten children. The raised arms move employed by the Brew Crew is inspired specifically by the John Goodman-voiced character Sully."

It's so sad when the characters have nobody waiting to see them!

[marDgreen88]

That's what I was like the first time I went on Dinosaur. I think I saw the first dinosaur and got really freaked out so I had my head buried too. I've tried to become more brave over the years. LOL.

I love your Donald story! That's awesome he did #1 too. Gotta love when characters acknowledge you.

Don't worry about your long comment-I like hearing what others have to say. :)


Hahaha, it's just so intense! I am gonna try REALLY hard to brave it this time... we'll see what happens. :rotfl:

Thanks! We thought it was pretty awesome! Oh good, I'm glad it wasn't too long haha. I get excited. Looking forward to your next update. :goodvibes

[wdwgirl03]

Hahaha, it's just so intense! I am gonna try REALLY hard to brave it this time... we'll see what happens. :rotfl:

Thanks! We thought it was pretty awesome! Oh good, I'm glad it wasn't too long haha. I get excited. Looking forward to your next update. :goodvibes

You can be brave...just remember it's not real. ;)

Time to work on the next update so stay tuned.

[wdwgirl03]

Friday, October 28, 2011 cont'd (part 5)

When we left Animal Kingdom, we were ready to go somewhere for dinner. We figured Downtown Disney would be a good option so that's where we ended up going. Then it was just a matter of deciding between Earl of Sandwich or Wolfgang Puck Express. You all know how much I like EOS but my dad had said that WPE was pretty good too. I had never eaten there but it sounded like another good option. We ended up deciding when we got to DTD because first we had to get there!

I don't remember exactly why we did it but instead of taking the bus back to Saratoga Springs we ended up getting on the bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We got off at the Kidani Village stop and waited for a DTD bus from there. While we were waiting we saw a couple guys who were obviously going to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party that night-their costumes were hilarious. They were both dressed as lobsters in pots. :rotfl: Then a few minutes later the rest of their group showed up as chefs. So great. It definitely got me excited for Sunday night when we'd be going to the party because part of the fun is seeing some of the costumes people come up with.

I think we waited a good 15 minutes for a bus before we arrived at Downtown Disney. We ended up going to Wolfgang Puck Express (I never even knew where it was!). The menu looked pretty good so we all agreed to eat there. The Earl would have to wait for another night. We all chose a different meal-Dad got meatloaf, Mom ordered the spaghetti and meatballs, Emma decided on the chicken, and I picked the margherita pizza. Sorry, no pictures but I can say that everyone enjoyed their food. And like most places, the portions are pretty generous so I had some pizza left to take back to the room. I'll definitely want to eat there again so I'm glad Dad suggested it.

After enjoying our dinner it was time to shop! As you know from my last couple trip reports, my latest Disney souvenir addiction is vinylmation so we had to go check out D-Street on the West Side. I took a couple pictures along the way since it was turning out to be a decent evening.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7636.jpg?t=1321820025

The lego displays are so cool. This Snow White one is adorable.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7637.jpg?t=1321820009

When we got to the West Side we noticed some Halloween entertainment. There was this guy dressed up like a scarecrow, kind of like those living statues they have at the Italy pavilion (atleast I think they still have them...). We stopped to watch for a bit and pretty soon there was a small crowd gathered around him. These boys were the first to go up to him and try to get some sort of reaction.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7638-1.jpg?t=1321821226

We thought it would be a cool picture so Emma and I went up to him. He was standing perfectly still and then when we turned around for the picture he started tickling our ears. LOL! I have to say it was a bit strange but still pretty funny.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/dtd.jpg?t=1321820672

Then we continued on to D-Street. It would be really easy to spend a lot of money there but since it was our first night I tried to control myself. When I went in, I was planning on purchasing the Cars vinymation set with Lightning McQueen and Mater but then of course changed my mind and got one of the It's A Small World keychains. I think we got 3 total because Mom and Emma wanted one too. It was also the first chance for us to take advantage of Emma's holiday CM discount. :thumbsup2

If you aren't familiar with vinylmation, one of the things that's fun about them is that you can trade them like pins. D-Street had a big trading box but I also noticed they had a smaller box with some of the junior keychains. I decided that if I didn't get the keychain I wanted, I was going to trade for the little tiki man from IASW. So when I got outside I opened up my box. I ended up getting this little guy:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/frog.jpg?t=1321821879

It was pretty cute but I really had my heart set on the tiki. Since I have such terrible luck with the blindboxing I went back in to trade for this one:
http://www.vinylnation.net/siteimages/articleimages/iaswjr8.jpg

And in case you need the ride reference, here it is!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/4277768508_3f884fbd08_z.jpg

hahaha, isn't it awesome? One of my favorite scenes in the ride! I love it so I was happy with my trade. And that wouldn't be the only trade I made on this trip...:rolleyes1 I can't remember which keychains Mom and Emma got. :confused3

With our purchases in hand we ended up going back to the Marketplace but again got distracted by some more of the Halloween statues. This time there was a pumpkin head and a witch.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/dtd2.jpg?t=1321820652

The witch was pretty cool. One guy wearing a baseball hat went up to her and she ended up taking it off of his head. She held it up over her head so he couldn't get it. :laughing: She kept teasing him by holding it in front of her but then would move her arm out of reach again. After a few attempts he finally got it back but I think he was kind of annoyed. haha

Back at the Marketplace we made quick stops in a couple more stores but I don't think we bought anything else. We figured we'd be back at some point so we walked back to Saratoga Springs to pick up a few groceries for the couple days we'd be there. I ended up getting one of those yummy rice crispy treats.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7639.jpg?t=1321819970

Emma came back to our room for a little bit because she asked us to bring a few things from home so she needed to pick those up. We watched a little bit of the final game of the World Series before she went to catch the bus back to her apartment complex. But, we would see her again in the morning at the Magic Kingdom!

I also just realized I did get another souvenir that day. Before leaving the Animal Kingdom we stopped in Island Mercantile. I spotted this super cute t-shirt that I couldn't resist. After all, DAK is my second favorite park!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7842.jpg?t=1320184243

I love how it has Everest, the Tree of Life, and two of my favorite animals on it. Perfect! I'll have to wear it in April when we visit the Animal Kingdom. :)

up next: Was more rain in the forecast or would we stay dry?

[BerrysGirl]

I love the tiki vinylmation! I kept eyeing those little keychains... particularly the good luck, bad luck ones but never ended up getting one. I think that'll change in December :)

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Yay for some purchases!!! I love the CM Holiday Discount!! My parents also loved it because I would pay but use the room key which was in my name but tagged with my parent's credit card! ;) Now, I just get gift cards and hand them to my friends so they are able to pay which works too! It is a great CM perk, that's for sure!! I'll have to try WPE sometime!!

[disneygeeks]

love the lego displays and the I guess it 's a good thing the living statue didn't scare you two when the picture was takin instead of poking you in the ear

[TanzUnited99]

We loved seeing the MNSSHP costumes every evening at the MK bus stop as well...made me even more excited for our MNSSHP night.

Lol at the scarecrow tickling your ears when you went to take a pic! That's great that DTD had lots of Halloween statues and I agree in that the shirt you got from AK is cute.

[xoktenox]

Yummmm, Wolfgang Puck Express sound delish!

D-Street for me is the equivalent of a drug addict walking into a crack den :rotfl: I love the tiki man! So cute!! Did you hear about the new Vinylmation line, Jingle Smells? Apparently it's a holiday line where the vinyls smell like holiday things! I want them all...if I were rich lol

[Nermel9]

I really need to try WPE someday, it sounds so good!

I finally went into D Street on this past trip, and I love it! I love that huge table full of Vinylmations! The Tiki is so cute! :thumbsup2

Mmm, that rice krispy treat looks so good!

[Caretames1]

We saw those living statues as well! One freaked out the guy who was staring at it and then he moved!:lmao:

WGPE is on my next trip list and a friend just went and said it was awesome as well!

[cbg1027]

Ha, I wish I could seen the Lobster people. That is too funny!

That shirt from AK is really cute. :)

Yummy, WPE...I'm surprised that was your first visit! That pizza is pretty awesome.

[marDgreen88]

:rotfl2: Those lobster and chef costumes sound hilarious!
Oh wow, good job to yall for not completely freaking out when the scarecrow statue TICKLED YOU. Oh man... those things are a little freaky!
The whole Vinylmation thing is so intriguing. Love the small world Tiki! Do you buy one just to trade them, or do you have a big collection?
Cute Animal Kingdom shirt! :)

[Merida]

Aw, those vinylmations are adorable! I'm leaning more towards getting/trading some of those versus pins. I like being able to go up to someone who has a job of trading instead of possibly interrupting someone. Plus they're so cute! Love the Tiki man. Do they have a big variety available to trade non-blindbox?

I like seeing the clever costumes like lobsters/chefs. It's nice to see people dressed up as their favorite characters but - as someone who is very uncreative with making costumes - my favorites are definitely the kookier ones.

I've never seen living statues like those! I've seen the typical copper person, etc., etc. I never know what to do around them, it seems awkward (to me) to go get my picture with someone without asking/talking to them. You got a great picture! :)

[wisblue]

LOL, you would think it would be common sense to NOT stand up during the safari, but there's always one person! On the trams too! :rotfl:



In August when we helped move Emma in I went on a safari by myself in the late afternoon. It wasn't that busy so the rows of the vehicle were not full. I was in the second row, right behing a man and a kid (presumably his son) who appeared to be about 12.

They were the only two in the row, so the kid kept running back and forth to take pictures out of both sides of the vehicle. The driver told him more than once to remain seated and, although the people didn't seem to speak English, I have little doubt that he and his Dad understood from the driver's gestures what he was trying to tell them. After about 4 warnings the driver stopped the vehicle and sternly admonished the boy to STAY SEATED. I thought he was going to come back and physically put the kid in his seat, and I would have applauded him if he had. The whole time, the dad didn't say a word to the kid.

Some people.

[wisblue]

Friday, October 28, 2011 cont'd (part 5)


I don't remember exactly why we did it but instead of taking the bus back to Saratoga Springs we ended up getting on the bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. [/I]

The explanation is pretty simple. A bus to Saratoga Springs was pulling out just as we approached the stop so we were going to have a wait of 20 minutes or so for the next one. A bus to AKL was sitting at the stop ready to leave and, since the ride there takes less than 5 minutes, I decided to get on that bus and transfer to DD from Kidani. The other benefit of that was that by taking a bus directly to DD, we wouldn't have to walk from Congress Park to DD. That walk isn't that long and is usuallypretty pleasant but, because it was raining, it may have been a little uncomfortable.

[wdwgirl03]

I love the tiki vinylmation! I kept eyeing those little keychains... particularly the good luck, bad luck ones but never ended up getting one. I think that'll change in December :)

Isn't the tiki adorable? I loved it. I wasn't too crazy about the good luck/bad luck ones. The good luck ones would be cute but with my luck, I'd get one of the bad ones!

Yay for some purchases!!! I love the CM Holiday Discount!! My parents also loved it because I would pay but use the room key which was in my name but tagged with my parent's credit card! ;) Now, I just get gift cards and hand them to my friends so they are able to pay which works too! It is a great CM perk, that's for sure!! I'll have to try WPE sometime!!

Ohhh, that's a good idea about using the room card. You've never had WPE before?! You should go there.

love the lego displays and the I guess it 's a good thing the living statue didn't scare you two when the picture was takin instead of poking you in the ear

haha yeah, we were sort of expecting some reaction from the statue-atleast I was.

We loved seeing the MNSSHP costumes every evening at the MK bus stop as well...made me even more excited for our MNSSHP night.

Lol at the scarecrow tickling your ears when you went to take a pic! That's great that DTD had lots of Halloween statues and I agree in that the shirt you got from AK is cute.

I totally agree about the costumes. It's one of the best things about the parties.

Yummmm, Wolfgang Puck Express sound delish!

D-Street for me is the equivalent of a drug addict walking into a crack den :rotfl: I love the tiki man! So cute!! Did you hear about the new Vinylmation line, Jingle Smells? Apparently it's a holiday line where the vinyls smell like holiday things! I want them all...if I were rich lol

You'll have to go to WPE when you stay at SSR. ;)

Of course I heard about the Jingle Smells...my sister and I may or may not have gotten one of those...I know what you mean though, there are so many designs that I like but you have to have some self control!

I really need to try WPE someday, it sounds so good!

I finally went into D Street on this past trip, and I love it! I love that huge table full of Vinylmations! The Tiki is so cute! :thumbsup2

Mmm, that rice krispy treat looks so good!

Yes you do need to try it! I'm glad we ate there instead of Earl of Sandwich. Now we have another place to go at DTD!

Ooh, I know, the table is really cool. Love that store.

The rice krispy treats are yummy! And on the day we left when we met Emma again she said they were handing them out for free at her apartment complex.

We saw those living statues as well! One freaked out the guy who was staring at it and then he moved!:lmao:

WGPE is on my next trip list and a friend just went and said it was awesome as well!

haha, that is too funny!

Yum, you will like WPE. Everything was really good and they seemed to have a nice variety of things to choose from.

Ha, I wish I could seen the Lobster people. That is too funny!

That shirt from AK is really cute. :)

Yummy, WPE...I'm surprised that was your first visit! That pizza is pretty awesome.

I should have taken a picture. They were great costumes.

Thanks! I saw it and had to get it.

I know! But the pizza was delicious and the bite I had of mom's spaghetti was really good too. Oh yeah, and the bite of the mashed potatoes that came with Emma's chicken...

:rotfl2: Those lobster and chef costumes sound hilarious!
Oh wow, good job to yall for not completely freaking out when the scarecrow statue TICKLED YOU. Oh man... those things are a little freaky!
The whole Vinylmation thing is so intriguing. Love the small world Tiki! Do you buy one just to trade them, or do you have a big collection?
Cute Animal Kingdom shirt! :)

They were so funny-I think they got a lot of people's attention.

I think because the statue had done something to the other people I was expecting him to do something to us too. So we just thought it was funny.

Oh, my sisters and I are a little obsessed with vinylmation. We all have our own little collections. They are so addicting. I always seem to get sucked into collecting the pointless things. :rolleyes1 But I do like them because they remind me of some of my favorite rides/characters.

Aw, those vinylmations are adorable! I'm leaning more towards getting/trading some of those versus pins. I like being able to go up to someone who has a job of trading instead of possibly interrupting someone. Plus they're so cute! Love the Tiki man. Do they have a big variety available to trade non-blindbox?

I like seeing the clever costumes like lobsters/chefs. It's nice to see people dressed up as their favorite characters but - as someone who is very uncreative with making costumes - my favorites are definitely the kookier ones.

I've never seen living statues like those! I've seen the typical copper person, etc., etc. I never know what to do around them, it seems awkward (to me) to go get my picture with someone without asking/talking to them. You got a great picture! :)

I know they have quite a few places to trade the vinylmations but from what I saw, a lot of the trade boxes (atleast the clear ones) had a lot of the same figures-ones that aren't as popular. There are also mystery boxes too but that's basically like blindboxing.

I agree about the costumes. I am so uncreative when it comes to stuff like that.

In August when we helped move Emma in I went on a safari by myself in the late afternoon. It wasn't that busy so the rows of the vehicle were not full. I was in the second row, right behing a man and a kid (presumably his son) who appeared to be about 12.

They were the only two in the row, so the kid kept running back and forth to take pictures out of both sides of the vehicle. The driver told him more than once to remain seated and, although the people didn't seem to speak English, I have little doubt that he and his Dad understood from the driver's gestures what he was trying to tell them. After about 4 warnings the driver stopped the vehicle and sternly admonished the boy to STAY SEATED. I thought he was going to come back and physically put the kid in his seat, and I would have applauded him if he had. The whole time, the dad didn't say a word to the kid.

Some people.

Wasn't there another trip where people got yelled at too? Maybe it was in March when Claire and I were there.

The explanation is pretty simple. A bus to Saratoga Springs was pulling out just as we approached the stop so we were going to have a wait of 20 minutes or so for the next one. A bus to AKL was sitting at the stop ready to leave and, since the ride there takes less than 5 minutes, I decided to get on that bus and transfer to DD from Kidani. The other benefit of that was that by taking a bus directly to DD, we wouldn't have to walk from Congress Park to DD. That walk isn't that long and is usuallypretty pleasant but, because it was raining, it may have been a little uncomfortable.

I thought the line at the SSR stop was long too.

[wdwgirl03]

ETA: OK, I just realized this is my 11,000th post in the DIS...yikes! :scared1:

Hi DIS friends!

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Ours was good but a little strange not having Emma at home. :( For the first time during her CP I think she was a little homesick. She had the day off and was luckily able to watch the Packer game. However, the CP apartments no longer get FOX so she had to find a different place to watch it! So, what better place to do that than go to the Polynesian! She sent me this picture...jealous!

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/tday1.jpg?t=1322240900

We texted each other throughout the day and she also sent me this picture. Atleast she had fun exploring the resorts and seeing all the Christmas decorations! Here's the display at the Boardwalk...
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/tday2.jpg?t=1322240885

And now it's only a week until my parents and Claire go down there to visit her so atleast that's something.

Anyways...since I think I'm the only one on the face of the planet who is NOT going out shopping today, time for another update!

Saturday, October 29, 2011
In keeping with our usual plan for visiting the parks, we decided that we would visit the Magic Kingdom on our first morning. It also made sense this trip since we would be going there Sunday night for MNSSHP. We woke up, got ready and went to catch the bus to the MK. We wanted to make sure we got there plenty early since Emma's CP bus was scheduled to get there around 8:23 or something like that.

Pretty much as soon as we got out to the stop, the Magic Kingdom bus was arriving. Woo hoo, gotta love when you time it perfectly.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7640.jpg?t=1322241406

Notice that it was a somewhat dreary morning. It wasn't raining at that point but that wasn't going to last...

Since that was around 8:00, we got to the park pretty early so we'd have to wait for Emma. We did get our first glimpse of the Halloween decorations outside the train station. So pretty!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7641.jpg?t=1322241420

Emma told us that the CP bus would drop her off at the Transportation and Ticket Center and then she'd have to take a monorail to the MK. So we went over to the CM entrance to wait for her. Some of the main entrance CMs were having a little friendly competition to lure guests in through their turnstiles. It got to be around 8:20 and a couple monorails came by. But no Emma. Then another monorail pulled into the station but nobody was getting off, which was sort of strange. We soon realized that the same monorail wasn't going anywhere. It just sat in the station for a good fifteen minutes atleast. So here it was, getting closer to park opening and she still wasn't there. :confused3 I think Mom finally spotted her coming. It turns out that the express monorail loop was having issues so they had to put everyone on the resort loop instead. But, atleast she made it and luckily there still wasn't a lot of people in the plaza area. The weather probably kept a lot of people from getting up early.

Once we got in, we waited for the opening show to begin.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7642.jpg?t=1322241438

Isn't this sign the greatest?
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7643.jpg?t=1322241461

By that point it was sprinkling a little bit but they were still making the announcements for the welcome show. The music started up but instead of one of the citizens of Main Street USA coming out to greet us, it was a prerecorded spiel. So, it looked like we were going to get the rain-shortened version that morning (kind of a bummer since I always like the welcome show, but what can you do?).

Atleast the dancers and characters still came out, but they were all holding umbrellas.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7644.jpg?t=1322241476

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7645.jpg?t=1322241494

We did the countdown to open the park and were on our way inside! Despite the rain, I was still looking forward to seeing the decorations on Main Street and they did not disappoint. It all looked so festive!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7646.jpg?t=1322241512

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7647.jpg?t=1322241528

The downside is that I only got a couple because of the rain. But now that I think about it, I probably wouldn't have taken all that many if it wasn't raining because we had rides to visit! And where did we go first? I'll give you a hint (as if you need one...LOL!): this is the view of the castle we saw as we were making our way to our first ride.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7648.jpg?t=1322241542

That's right, we made our way to Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain! Mom stayed behind-she went to the Main Street bakery to get Emma something for breakfast and would meet us in Tomorrowland. As we got closer to Space Mountain, the rain was starting to come down pretty hard. I wouldn't say it was pouring but it was pretty steady. But soon we were inside the building out of the rain. Not that the wait is ever that long first thing in the morning, but I have to say it seemed even shorter than usual since they had both sides of the track operating right way. So we were in and out pretty quickly. We all loved the ride as usual. Such a classic. And the good news is that by the time we got out the rain had already let up and was back to more of a drizzle. :)

We found Mom and sat down to eat some treats from the bakery. As we were eating, I realized there was no line for the Astro Orbiter, but since it was going to be wet, nobody else wanted to ride. So we went to do Buzz Lightyear instead. I love this ride too and am still hoping they'll someday update it so it's more like the one in Disneyland where the controllers are so much easier to use.

After Buzz we decided to go over toward Fantasyland. As we were walking, we could see there were maybe 5 people on the teacups so that was our next stop.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7649.jpg?t=1322241555

Emma and I ended up riding together. When we got in our teacup there was one of those Mickey stickers. For some reason I felt I needed to take a picture of that. LOL.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7650.jpg?t=1322241570

I let Emma do the driving and she was really whipping us around for a while!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7652.jpg?t=1322241600

I have a quick little video, but DO NOT WATCH if you hate the teacups!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/th_100_7653.jpg (http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/?action=view&current=100_7653.mp4)

We were off to a pretty good start and we were hoping that would continue!

up next: Saying good-bye to Snow White :sad1:

[cbg1027]

Wow Sarah....11,000 posts! :scared1: Congrats!

Looks like you were off to a great start at MK. Can't wait to hear about the rest of the day.

[Merida]

Yay for 11,000 posts!

I love that sign, but I always debate if Frontierland is really a 'yesterday land' because it's still there and Liberty Square is more of a yesterday land. (Unless I'm switched around on which one came first!) And no Adventureland mention :(

I kind of like Magic Kingdom in the rain, it's a different look but I like it! And fewer people is always good ;)

[disneygeeks]

11,000 posts, that is awesome, I just hit 140 got a long way to go to catch up. Looks like a crappy day out there but I hope it got better as the day went on and I like your little video :)

[BerrysGirl]

Oh my goodness, I didn't even watch your video... just the picture of the spinning made me dizzy! I haven't been on the teacups since I was 5. I just can't handle spinny rides :(

[marDgreen88]

YAY Magic Kingdom morning! I love it. Yall have a good routine going to Space Mountain first. Sorry yall keep getting rainy weather though!

I love the teacups and how colorful and happy-looking they are. I was able to stomach the video. :rotfl:

Hope the rest of your MK morning was less rainy! And hope yall had a great Thanksgiving!

[TanzUnited99]

I'm glad to hear your sister is having fun! :thumbsup2

Oh no on the rain but Magic Kingdom still looks pretty.

Lol at finding the Mickey sticker on the teacups! Sounds like you had a great day!

Congrats on hitting the 11,000 mark. By the time I get there you'll probably be in your 20s :rotfl:

[Nermel9]

Wow 11,000 posts, that's impressive! :banana:

I didn't know there was a shortened version of the opening show at MK! That's kind of disappointing, but I guess they don't want to be out in the rain very long. At least they still do something to open the park! :thumbsup2

Haha, I like the teacups, but I can't spin them for too long! :rotfl:

[xoktenox]

Glad you had a nice Thanksgiving Sarah...I'm sure it was rough without Emma though. I love how close you are with your sisters :goodvibes

I'm so happy the weather wasn't TOO bad for you...you all deserved a dry trip after your last trip!!

You're brave on those tea cups lol I'm one who did not watch the video because I did not want to get sick :laughing:

[wdwgirl03]

Wow Sarah....11,000 posts! :scared1: Congrats!

Looks like you were off to a great start at MK. Can't wait to hear about the rest of the day.

haha, thanks. I guess I spend too much time on the DIS.

I have been really slacking lately but with the rest of my family going down tomorrow I'll have to do some more updates to get my Disney fix.

Yay for 11,000 posts!

I love that sign, but I always debate if Frontierland is really a 'yesterday land' because it's still there and Liberty Square is more of a yesterday land. (Unless I'm switched around on which one came first!) And no Adventureland mention :(

I kind of like Magic Kingdom in the rain, it's a different look but I like it! And fewer people is always good ;)

I wouldn't go so far as to say I like the MK in the rain but it did look kind of pretty with the lights still on. That is one thing I DO like about the MK-all the lights on the buildings!

11,000 posts, that is awesome, I just hit 140 got a long way to go to catch up. Looks like a crappy day out there but I hope it got better as the day went on and I like your little video :)

Don't worry, it didn't stay like that all day. :) Glad you liked the video.

Oh my goodness, I didn't even watch your video... just the picture of the spinning made me dizzy! I haven't been on the teacups since I was 5. I just can't handle spinny rides :(

LOL, it's not too bad if you don't spin a lot. Some people really go crazy when they're on the teacups. :scared1:

YAY Magic Kingdom morning! I love it. Yall have a good routine going to Space Mountain first. Sorry yall keep getting rainy weather though!

I love the teacups and how colorful and happy-looking they are. I was able to stomach the video. :rotfl:

Hope the rest of your MK morning was less rainy! And hope yall had a great Thanksgiving!

Yeah, it always works well going to Space Mountain first, so we just don't ever bother trying something different. haha

I agree about the teacups. They are very fun. The one in Disneyland is even neater looking because it's not under cover!

I'm glad to hear your sister is having fun! :thumbsup2

Oh no on the rain but Magic Kingdom still looks pretty.

Lol at finding the Mickey sticker on the teacups! Sounds like you had a great day!

Congrats on hitting the 11,000 mark. By the time I get there you'll probably be in your 20s :rotfl:

Yes, and luckily the rain didn't last. We did get to see the sun but I'll get to that later. :)

haha, I hope I don't have that many posts!

Wow 11,000 posts, that's impressive! :banana:

I didn't know there was a shortened version of the opening show at MK! That's kind of disappointing, but I guess they don't want to be out in the rain very long. At least they still do something to open the park! :thumbsup2

Haha, I like the teacups, but I can't spin them for too long! :rotfl:

I don't know if it's impressive or sickening. LOL.

It was disappointing but it's not like we've never seen the real version. And I'm sure we'll see it again when we go in April!

Glad you had a nice Thanksgiving Sarah...I'm sure it was rough without Emma though. I love how close you are with your sisters :goodvibes

I'm so happy the weather wasn't TOO bad for you...you all deserved a dry trip after your last trip!!

You're brave on those tea cups lol I'm one who did not watch the video because I did not want to get sick :laughing:

It was definitely strange and I felt sort of bad for her since she wasn't here. But, like I told her once her CP is done she'll be wishing she was back. I can't believe she's only got a month left before she comes home!

Yes, I definitely agree after all that rain in March! I never want to deal with that again.

[wdwgirl03]

Wow, I can hardly believe it's already December. Only a little over a month before Emma is done with her College Program. Time sure seemed to fly, so I can't imagine how it must feel for her! Dad, Mom, and Claire left today to go visit her. I am super jealous (obviously) since they'll be going to the Christmas party on Wednesday and Claire and Emma are also going to go to Universal again (mainly for the Wizarding World, of course!). They were on two separate flights, so last I heard my parents were sitting outside the Artist Palette waiting for their room and Claire was grabbing lunch at Chick-Fil-A. :rotfl: So, while I'm left behind, I can only continue counting down the days until April and finally post another update from October!

Saturday, October 29, 2011 cont'd (part 2)

When we were finished riding the Mad Tea Party, we began our "grand circle tour" of the rest of the park. As we entered Fantasyland we got a glimpse of the construction. The Beast's Castle is really coming along!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7654.jpg?t=1322943998

I think I read that the first phase of the expansion is supposed to open in spring 2012. I'm not sure what exactly spring 2012 means since that could be anywhere from March to June but it would be awesome if it was open when Dad and I go in April. It's really going to be a whole new park once it's all open.

As is typical, Dad asked us what we wanted to do. LOL. Since we were right there we ended up going on Winnie the Pooh.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7656.jpg?t=1322943981

This ride is so cute. We always like looking for the picture with Mr. Toad handing Owl the deed to the ride. Speaking of Pooh, we rented the new Winnie the Pooh movie and it was pretty cute. Definitely a good movie for the little ones (funny how we have no little ones...).

One thing we had to do this trip was ride Snow White's Scary Adventures one last time before it closes. I still can't believe they're closing it! Sometimes I miss the old classics and I'm sure it'll be the same with Snow White. Normally I'm not one to take pictures on dark rides but I felt I had to for this one.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7657.jpg?t=1322943962

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7658.jpg?t=1322943945

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7661.jpg?t=1322943927

Just looking at these pictures sort of bums me out. :( At the end of the ride we stopped so I tried to get a picture of Dopey waving but of course by the time I got my camera ready we started moving again. So no Dopey. Oh well.

After the ride we quickly went into one of the gift shops right near there. We didn't buy anything, but check out this t-shirt I spotted:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7663.jpg?t=1322943912

It's just like Up! I thought it was so cute. As we continued on our way through Fantasyland we were able to do Peter Pan's Flight before the line for that got too long. Another classic that we can never skip. :thumbsup2

Our next stop was the Haunted Mansion. It had the usual 13 minute wait. I have to say I was looking forward to seeing the new interactive queue area. The one thing I didn't realize about it was that you can choose to go through the "graveyard queue" or go directly to the ride. If we would have chosen to skip the new stuff, we would've gotten on the ride faster but either way it was a short wait. It was fun checking out the new additions. First up were some statues of the dearly departed:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7664.jpg?t=1322943897

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7665.jpg?t=1322943882

Then we saw Master Gracey's grave.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7666.jpg?t=1322943677

You can see in the background the guy who drowned in the tub. That one was cool because it had leaks and bubbles coming from it. Overall I really enjoyed the new queue and the ride was great as usual.

After the HM, it was time to complete the triple mountain whammy! Dad, Emma, and I started with Splash Mountain, which we literally walked right on. I'm pretty sure we were the only ones in our log too.

Slippin Falls! And notice the sun is starting to come out!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7667.jpg?t=1322943643

Mom then joined us on Thunder Mountain. Dad and Emma rode together and I went with Mom.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7668.jpg?t=1322943516

It was another really short wait here.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7670.jpg?t=1322943490

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7671.jpg?t=1322943438

I think everyone knows BTMRR is one of my favorites but this ride was pretty enjoyable. There were a lot of younger kids on it. I don't know if they were first timers or what but it was hilarious hearing all their shrieking and screaming! I had to try to take a video because it was too funny.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/th_100_7672.jpg (http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/?action=view&current=100_7672.mp4)

Love it! I can't tell if they are scared of if they are just trying to scream as loud as they can. LOL.

We were continuing to make good time hitting all the major attractions, but where would we experience a minor hiccup? :confused3 Stay tuned!

[disneygeeks]

The new queue for HM looks like it was a lot better then it was before and love the 3 mountains and like you said BTMRR is my fave ride of the 3 of them. Hoping to go in early march...not sure yet, don't want to get my hopes up in case we can't go but I sure hope we can

[TanzUnited99]

I can't wait to see photos of the completed Fantasyland expansion!

I haven't seen the new Winnie the Pooh movie yet but have to agree in that the ride is so cute.

Love your shots of Snow White's Scary Adventures and am glad I got to experience it before it closed. Lol at all the screaming on BTMRR!

[wdwgirl03]

The new queue for HM looks like it was a lot better then it was before and love the 3 mountains and like you said BTMRR is my fave ride of the 3 of them. Hoping to go in early march...not sure yet, don't want to get my hopes up in case we can't go but I sure hope we can

I hope you get to go in March. It's a great time to go!

I can't wait to see photos of the completed Fantasyland expansion!

I haven't seen the new Winnie the Pooh movie yet but have to agree in that the ride is so cute.

Love your shots of Snow White's Scary Adventures and am glad I got to experience it before it closed. Lol at all the screaming on BTMRR!

It's really cool even seeing the pictures of the construction progress. I just saw a couple new ones on twitter of the Beast's Castle, the new Dumbo ride top, and work on the Little Mermaid ride.

I'll miss Snow White but the new mine train ride with the dwarves should be fun too.

[xoktenox]

Love the triple mountain whammy! When we go in Jan/Feb, BTMRR is going to be closed for a long rehab...I'm so sad!! :guilty:

Gotta love all the classic Fantasyland rides. Peter Pan is my favorite but I'm going to miss Snow White, too. Although I am really excited for what the new minetrain roller coaster is going to bring!

[Pinkocto]

I have no little ones and thorougly enjoyed the new Pooh movie also! Loved when Pooh sees everything turning into honey pots, too cute.

It always makes me wonder why they can't just keep the old rides and just add the new ones. They have plenty of space, and they know people love the old rides...

[marDgreen88]

Wow... last time on Snow White! How weird! :sad1:
THAT is the cutest shirt I've ever seen! Oh wow. I just squealed, I'm completely serious. I want that now. Thanks for taking a picture of that!

TRIPLE MOUNTAIN WHAMMY! Oh man. Love it!!!
Fun video! :thumbsup2

[wdwgirl03]

Love the triple mountain whammy! When we go in Jan/Feb, BTMRR is going to be closed for a long rehab...I'm so sad!! :guilty:

Gotta love all the classic Fantasyland rides. Peter Pan is my favorite but I'm going to miss Snow White, too. Although I am really excited for what the new minetrain roller coaster is going to bring!

Yeah, that's the one bad thing about going during non-peak times. A lot of the more popular rides seem to have their refurbs then.

The mine train does look like it will be fun!

I have no little ones and thorougly enjoyed the new Pooh movie also! Loved when Pooh sees everything turning into honey pots, too cute.

It always makes me wonder why they can't just keep the old rides and just add the new ones. They have plenty of space, and they know people love the old rides...

haha, that was cute. I liked whenever he said "Oh, bother!" I don't know why but it was funny.

Wow... last time on Snow White! How weird! :sad1:
THAT is the cutest shirt I've ever seen! Oh wow. I just squealed, I'm completely serious. I want that now. Thanks for taking a picture of that!

TRIPLE MOUNTAIN WHAMMY! Oh man. Love it!!!
Fun video! :thumbsup2

Glad you liked the picture of the t-shirt! It was so cute.

[Merida]

!! I love that shirt! It's so cute; I like non-character Disney stuff and it's sometimes a bit of a gamble if it's available. Somehow a castle with Mickey balloons based on Up seems more... I'm not sure, subtle? wearable? than something with, say, Tigger. Or maybe I'm overthinking things.

Aw, Snow White closing. I like the ride, but it seems very forgettable. Like it needs a wow factor, like Peter Pan's flying boats. I know I've been on it several times but the only thing I remember about it is Dopey waving good-bye! And the mine train coaster sounds super cool. Of course, I have another chance to ride it, so I may not be feeling sentimental quite yet!

Big Thunder Mountain is the best.

[wdwgirl03]

!! I love that shirt! It's so cute; I like non-character Disney stuff and it's sometimes a bit of a gamble if it's available. Somehow a castle with Mickey balloons based on Up seems more... I'm not sure, subtle? wearable? than something with, say, Tigger. Or maybe I'm overthinking things.

Aw, Snow White closing. I like the ride, but it seems very forgettable. Like it needs a wow factor, like Peter Pan's flying boats. I know I've been on it several times but the only thing I remember about it is Dopey waving good-bye! And the mine train coaster sounds super cool. Of course, I have another chance to ride it, so I may not be feeling sentimental quite yet!

Big Thunder Mountain is the best.

No, I get what you're saying. I used to get the t-shirts with all the characters on them. Don't get me wrong, they're cute but sometimes the ones that are more subtle are nicer.

I think that's part of the charm of the dark rides-they're so simple. I like all the classics. :)

[wdwgirl03]

Happy Wednesday everyone! Hope you're all having a good week. I've been living vicariously through my family with their phone calls keeping me up to date on what they've been doing in WDW. Tonight they're going to the Christmas party which I am super jealous about (in fact, they've probably already been there a couple hours). Then tomorrow they come home. It's crazy to think that Emma will be home in less than a month too. :eek:

Before I get on with the next update, just wanted to say only 4 months until Dad and I go back for Easter! Ahhh I can't wait to stay at the Boardwalk! :thumbsup2

Now back to our MK morning...

Saturday, October 29, 2011 cont'd (part 3)

After finishing up in Frontierland, we continued our way around the park by heading towards Adventureland. There wasn't too much of a wait at Pirates of the Caribbean so we stopped there first. I really think the rain had scared some people off that morning because as you can tell, we had no problem getting on anything-that is until we got to the Jungle Cruise. We got to the little courtyard area where you get in line and noticed a HUGE tour group. I'm not even kidding, the line stretched pretty much the entire length of that area. And there wasn't even a wait time posted (Dad was wondering if it was even operating). Not wanting to get in the crazy line, we decided to skip that and add it to our list of things to do at the Halloween party. So, instead we walked back toward the hub.

Since the sun was now out, we were able to fully enjoy the fall decorations. I loved how they even planted some fall-colored flowers. So pretty!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/flowers-2.jpg?t=1323300919

The statues of the characters dressed in different costumes were cute too. I don't know why, but I thought they were smaller (more like the size of the ones inside the hub-like the Dumbo and Goofy ones). They were actually pretty big!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/statue.jpg?t=1323300794

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/statue2.jpg?t=1323300784

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/pluto-1.jpg?t=1323300863

I had to get another picture with my sister. :hug:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/sisters.jpg?t=1323300817

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/castle.jpg?t=1323300989

After admiring the decorations it was time to get some lunch. We decided to go to one of our favorite places at the Magic Kingdom...Cosmic Ray's!

Even the street lamps are decked out for the fall.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/pumpkin.jpg?t=1323300853

I can't remember what everyone got at Cosmic Ray's but I know Dad and I got bacon cheeseburgers (does anyone know if they've recently changed their menu? I don't remember them having those before). We then enjoyed our meal while listening to the music of Mr. Sonny Eclipse.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/sonny.jpg?t=1323300808

Since we wanted to get over to Epcot before it got too busy with the Food and Wine Festival going on, we made our way toward Main Street. Another shot of the castle (I seem to have taken more pictures of the castle than usual this trip):
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/castle2.jpg?t=1323300981

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/mainstreet2.jpg?t=1323300875

As we made our way down Main Street I couldn't help but admire the decorations some more. All of the detail is amazing. You can't tell from this picture but see the pumpkins? Each store had the pumpkins carved to match the store. So the Ice Cream Parlor had little ice cream cone carvings. I seem to remember reading that in someone else's TR, otherwise I probably wouldn't have noticed. But I'm glad I read that because I was able to share that little tidbit with Dad.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/icecream.jpg?t=1323300900

Of course we had to stop in the shops on the way out but before we did that I noticed that some of the citizens of Main Street USA were coming out to perform. Can't pass up a chance to see them-who doesn't love the "clang clang clang went the trolley" number? And every time I hear "I'm Walkin' Right Down the Middle of Main Street USA" I think of the old Disneyland Fun sing along. :goodvibes
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/mainstreet.jpg?t=1323300885

Notice how they're dressed for the season as well.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/dancers2.jpg?t=1323300955

I wish I could be a citizen of Main Street USA. No, really. That would be pretty awesome. What a great job. I'll leave you with a few more pictures from Main Street. You really can't help but get into the fall spirit. Not quite as good as the Christmas decorations ;) but still very festive with all the pumpkins, orange and gold flowers, bunting, and the fun pumpkin statues/scarecrows!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/flowers3.jpg?t=1323300909

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/pumpkinstatue.jpg?t=1323300843

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/decorations.jpg?t=1323300941

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/seeya.jpg?t=1323300827

up next: Food around the world

[Nermel9]

I can't believe your sister is almost done with her CP! That flew by!

Have your parents mentioned how the weather is in FL? I'm wondering what I'm in for when I get there on Saturday! Not sure how to pack! :rotfl:

Sounds like you guys had a great day in MK! I love the Fall decorations, you're right, they aren't as good as Christmas, but they are really, really nice!

Haha, being a citizen of Main Street would be awesome! Best job ever! :woohoo:

[IheartDDuck]

I can't believe that your sister is going to be finished with her CP soon! Where does the time go? I just don't even know anymore...

[Caretames1]

I believe I missed the last update, I keep thinking this update seemed like it had more before it!:lmao: Yup, I missed it.:guilty:

You did get a lot of rides in! Too bad about the big tour group, I hope you got in during the party!

I really loved the decor at MK as well. It really oput us in the fall/ halloween mood!

[marDgreen88]

UGH. Tour groups. Why can't they ever split up into less annoying, less intrusive, smaller tour groups? Come on people...

The Halloween decorations look awesome, those statues are so cute. You got some great pics of the castle!

Hahahah... YES I know exactly what you mean, I think it would be SO awesome to be a Main Street Citizen! :rotfl: AND YES!!!!! I love the Disneyland Fun Sing-along! I always used to watch that (and still do occasionally!) and like DREAM of going to Disneyland/World before I had been! So much fun! I also loved the picture song "taking pictures is making memories!" Awww, memories. :)

[TanzUnited99]

Wow on your sisters CP coming to an end already! :eek:

I loved the fall decorations and now really want to see the Christmas decorations as well! The 'clang clang went the trolley' number is awesome and being a citizen of Main Street USA would be pretty neat.

[xoktenox]

Oh jeez, those tour groups :headache: Smart idea to wait on the Jungle Cruise!

Wouldn't being a citizen of Main St. be the best job ever? It really would!! I always say that when I retire, I want to be one of the people that stands at the beginning of Main St. with the Mickey hands on in the morning and waves to people as they enter the park :laughing:

I bet you're excited to get your sister home! I'm envious of your parents...the holidays in WDW are the best!

[bellebookworm9]

[COLOR="Magenta"]And every time I hear "I'm Walkin' Right Down the Middle of Main Street USA" I think of the old Disneyland Fun sing along. :goodvibes


I'm here, if a little late! I can't believe you had never eaten at WPE before this trip, but I'm glad you liked it. Disneyland Fun-I still have it on VHS, and I get super excited when other people know what it is! :cool1:

[disneygeeks]

When you mentioned the fun sing along about going down mainstreet usa..we used to when our kids were small had an old vhs tape that we had from one of our trips to disneyland about about 15-16 years ago. Our kids would watch it over and over till it finally wore out but I remember watching it with them and thinking how much I wanted to go back...Thanks for the trip down memory lane
Our kids are big now and don't want to do that anymore with us so we just go ourselves and become big kids runnin through the parks :)

[wdwgirl03]

I can't believe your sister is almost done with her CP! That flew by!

Have your parents mentioned how the weather is in FL? I'm wondering what I'm in for when I get there on Saturday! Not sure how to pack! :rotfl:

Sounds like you guys had a great day in MK! I love the Fall decorations, you're right, they aren't as good as Christmas, but they are really, really nice!

Haha, being a citizen of Main Street would be awesome! Best job ever! :woohoo:

OK, I'm super late in replying to this so it's not going to help since you're there now but they said it was really nice. It got cooler in the evening though, so they needed jeans and jackets a couple nights!

I really think they did a great job with the fall decorations. It's still so strange to me that when we went in Oct. five years ago they had nothing except a few pumpkins here and there. :confused3

I can't believe that your sister is going to be finished with her CP soon! Where does the time go? I just don't even know anymore...

I don't even know either. Time goes by waaaay too fast.

I believe I missed the last update, I keep thinking this update seemed like it had more before it!:lmao: Yup, I missed it.:guilty:

You did get a lot of rides in! Too bad about the big tour group, I hope you got in during the party!

I really loved the decor at MK as well. It really oput us in the fall/ halloween mood!

You haven't missed too much because I've been dragging this out like I seem to always do lately. :rolleyes1

It was odd about the tour group so stay tuned to see if we did it at MNSSHP.

I agree about the decorations!

UGH. Tour groups. Why can't they ever split up into less annoying, less intrusive, smaller tour groups? Come on people...

The Halloween decorations look awesome, those statues are so cute. You got some great pics of the castle!

Hahahah... YES I know exactly what you mean, I think it would be SO awesome to be a Main Street Citizen! :rotfl: AND YES!!!!! I love the Disneyland Fun Sing-along! I always used to watch that (and still do occasionally!) and like DREAM of going to Disneyland/World before I had been! So much fun! I also loved the picture song "taking pictures is making memories!" Awww, memories. :)

LOL, sometimes they split up...like when we've gone over spring break the school groups break up into little groups and then they're just everywhere!

Ohhh boy, I remember that one too! I think I might have to go on youtube one of these days. That sing along was awesome.

Wow on your sisters CP coming to an end already! :eek:

I loved the fall decorations and now really want to see the Christmas decorations as well! The 'clang clang went the trolley' number is awesome and being a citizen of Main Street USA would be pretty neat.

If you liked the fall decorations I'm sure you'd really love the Christmas ones. Nobody does Christmas like Disney!

Oh jeez, those tour groups :headache: Smart idea to wait on the Jungle Cruise!

Wouldn't being a citizen of Main St. be the best job ever? It really would!! I always say that when I retire, I want to be one of the people that stands at the beginning of Main St. with the Mickey hands on in the morning and waves to people as they enter the park :laughing:

I bet you're excited to get your sister home! I'm envious of your parents...the holidays in WDW are the best!

Aww, that would be so awesome! I always think how much fun that must be to wake up each morning, go to the MK to work, and get to greet guests like that. It's one of those little things that makes Disney so magical. :goodvibes

Yeah, we're looking forward to having her home but I'm a bit sad for her too. She just posted on her blog how a part of her wishes she could stay a little longer. We all know how much it sucks coming home from WDW after a week, but after almost 5 months?! I'd probably be in tears (considering I've done that before on vacations...:rolleyes1)

I'm here, if a little late! I can't believe you had never eaten at WPE before this trip, but I'm glad you liked it. Disneyland Fun-I still have it on VHS, and I get super excited when other people know what it is! :cool1:

Yeah, it always seems like we eat at the same places but lately we've been trying to branch out a bit. haha

I'm a little bummed, we don't have our tape anymore. :sad2: We had some flooding in our basement last year and I think it was lost then. Boo. Atleast there's youtube!

When you mentioned the fun sing along about going down mainstreet usa..we used to when our kids were small had an old vhs tape that we had from one of our trips to disneyland about about 15-16 years ago. Our kids would watch it over and over till it finally wore out but I remember watching it with them and thinking how much I wanted to go back...Thanks for the trip down memory lane
Our kids are big now and don't want to do that anymore with us so we just go ourselves and become big kids runnin through the parks :)

We had a whole bunch of those VHS sing along tapes! Ahh memories. The Disneyland Fun one was my favorite, and I hadn't even been to DL at the time!

[wdwgirl03]

OK, I really need to get going on this trip report. It's been a month and a half and I'm only halfway through the first day of a two-day trip. :rolleyes1 Before I get to the next installment, a quick update on my sister's happenings. As I said, her program is nearly finished. Last week she had her last class (and earned a "Mouseter's Degree!) and then she had her graduation ceremony yesterday where they get their mouse ears and diplomas. I'm a little suprised it's so early but I guess there's other CPs who probably leave earlier than she does. She also found out that starting next week she's going to be "deployed" to the Magic Kingdom to help with the holiday madness. I think she's looking forward to being at a new location but is not looking forward to the crowds! :scared1: It'll be interesting to hear what she has to say about that.

In other news, I was looking at my planner earlier and we're getting closer to the 100 day countdown for our April trip. YEAH! As far as planning goes, we haven't done a whole lot with that. LOL. Oh well.

Now back to the report!

Saturday, October 29, 2011 cont'd (part 4)

From the Magic Kingdom, we decided to go visit Epcot. We took the monorail to the TTC and then transferred there. I just have one random picture from the ride from the MK to the TTC:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7688.jpg?t=1323988810

While passing the Polynesian, we had to stop and hold for traffic clearance so of course I had to take a picture. Dad made a comment about how I'll never get over the nostalgia of the Polynesian and how one of these days we'll (or I'll?) have to break down and just pay to stay there again. Personally, I'm hoping for DVC...Disney just recently confirmed the rumors that they're building DVC units at the Grand Floridian (another resort to add to my list now!) so maybe the Polynesian will be next. I can dream, right?

After the couple monorail rides we finally arrived at Epcot!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7689.jpg?t=1323988794

Our first order of business was to check out the Land pavilion to see if Soarin still had any fastpasses left. Luckily when we got over there, they did. Yay! We were going to have to wait a few hours to use them but any trip to WDW is not complete without a ride on Soarin! Plus, we had plenty of other stuff to do to keep us occupied.

We were able to do a few of the Future World rides including Living with the Land, the Nemo ride, and Journey Into Imagination.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7690.jpg?t=1323988780

The best part of the ride is the ending because it sort of reminds me of the original. But really, who are we kidding, I know I say it every trip report but nothing compares to the original!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7691.jpg?t=1323988764

Atleast they put Figment back in. :)

On the way out we enjoyed playing with the jumping fountains. When we were little for some reason we liked this one, where it shoots out little water balls. We liked catching them or smashing them. hehe
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7692.jpg?t=1323988750

We also had to stop in Innoventions to get our free Disney Visa picture. The line was a little longer that it has been on past trips. Lucky for us though, there were those video games right near the line so Emma and I attempted (that is the key word) to play some of them. I think I tried some baseball one and Emma did the NFL one, which fittingly enough, was set to the Packers vs. the Bears. haha
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7694.jpg?t=1323988739

The wait was probably around 25 minutes. When we got to the front of the line, the CM asked us how many Visas we had. Dad and I both had ours with us, so the CM said that we could get two photos! Here's how one of them turned out:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/visa.jpg?t=1323989444

From Innoventions we figured we should head out to World Showcase. It was getting to be late afternoon and our hope was that we would beat the evening crowd for the Food and Wine Festival. On the way there we got to see the cranberry bog. I thought it was kind of cool that they had that.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7695.jpg?t=1323988723

Another fun display for the F&WF:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7696.jpg?t=1323988707

So I said we were hoping to beat the crowd but I'm guessing there really is no good time to go during the festival. I wouldn't say it was unmanageable but it was definitely a heck of a lot more crowded than normal. But, we were still looking forward to trying a few of the foods they had to offer. We ended up going counterclockwise around WS, starting at the dessert and champagne booth.

Quick, can you spot the hidden Mickey in this picture? Hint: it's not the one on my t-shirt. ;)
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7697.jpg?t=1323988690

Mom ended up getting some sort of rose champagne and mousse with white chocolate pearls. I had a sip of the champagne and that was enough for me. Let me just say that as boring as it may make me sound, I don't really care for alcholic drinks. :rolleyes1 It was OK but my mom liked it. The mousse, on the other hand, was very tasty.

Next up was Canada, where Dad was going to try the famous Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup! Emma also got a small sample of apple wine.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7698.jpg?t=1323988674

Again, I had a taste of the soup but didn't really care for it. I know, I am probably one of the few. Can you tell I'm not a foodie?

We stopped briefly to listen to one of the bands before continuing our trip around the world!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7699.jpg?t=1323988662

[PlutosRHM55]

Hi Sarah!

Sorry I haven't been very good about keeping up with your TR... :guilty: BUT NOT FOR ANY LONGER! I'm going to try and catch up tonight and hopefully I'll be back up to speed. Can't wait to read all about it (:

Okay... your first update... wow all the way back there! ... anyways... LOVE Chick-Fil-A. I don't think I really had any interest in that place until I read your TR. Hopefully they are at the airports around here so I can get some :thumbsup2

That's so great you got to talk with some people about on the plane ride, it's so... uncomfortable when you don't, well, for me anyways. A BIG :thumbsup2 to the lady who had done her research (especially when it comes to Rapunzel) :) Possible DISer-ness in her future... maybe lol

I hope it didn't rain for you guys... I'll just have to read the next chapter to find out and see your beautiful pictures too (:

Can't wait to read more! :mickeyjum

[PlutosRHM55]

YAY! You are in Disney! I think that deserves a clap *applause* Okay, ENOUGH APPLAUSE! ;)

Oh my gosh, WHY MUST YOU TAUNT ME WITH CHICK-FIL-A?! Seriously! I really hope I'm going to the mall soon or something because I need the waffle fry goodness YUM :goodvibes LOOOOVVVEEE their waffle fries! I presume you enjoy those too lol

YAY! IT'S ME TIME! Even though it isn't at the center of the trip, that's just such a great start to the trip. I couldn't even fathom not going on the ME when going on a Disney trip, though I might have to if I want to check out WWoHP :sad2: Darn you Universal for getting to HP before Disney did! Oh, I forgot about the he heavenly gates and sign!! They always deserve some love :love:

SSR looks so nice, that's definitely a DVC resort I would love to stay at though I've been to Saratoga enough times now, but the resort looks much nicer. Too bad you didn't get to show your dad where you and Claire stayed at at OKW... maybe next time :thumbsup2 Also, the picture of the guy in the lobby... priceless!

Can't wait to hear about when you finally meet up with Emma! :mickeyjum

[IheartDDuck]

Hahaha, how funny is it that the game that was playing was Packers vs. Bears. Obviously, the Packers won. ;)

[Nermel9]

I loved those jumping fountains outside of Journey to Imagination when I was little too, I remember standing there for a long time when I was younger! :rotfl:

I can't believe you don't like the cheddar cheese soup! I could bathe in that stuff! :eek:

Love the food and wine pics. Makes me miss being there during that time!

[cbg1027]

I'm with you on the cheese soup! In years past, I enjoyed it, but I thought it was awful this year...way too salty!

[TanzUnited99]

Yay I loved Epcot and rode Soarin loads of times!! We saw some kids having fun at those jumping fountains as well.

I've read mixed reviews of the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup. Think it's one of them you either love or hate!

[xoktenox]

:thumbsup2 for getting Soarin' FPs!

Oh man, I love me some Cheddar Cheese Soup! :lovestruc

I can't wait to finally get to F&WF!

[wdwgirl03]

Hi Sarah!

Sorry I haven't been very good about keeping up with your TR... :guilty: BUT NOT FOR ANY LONGER! I'm going to try and catch up tonight and hopefully I'll be back up to speed. Can't wait to read all about it (:

Okay... your first update... wow all the way back there! ... anyways... LOVE Chick-Fil-A. I don't think I really had any interest in that place until I read your TR. Hopefully they are at the airports around here so I can get some :thumbsup2

That's so great you got to talk with some people about on the plane ride, it's so... uncomfortable when you don't, well, for me anyways. A BIG :thumbsup2 to the lady who had done her research (especially when it comes to Rapunzel) :) Possible DISer-ness in her future... maybe lol

I hope it didn't rain for you guys... I'll just have to read the next chapter to find out and see your beautiful pictures too (:

Can't wait to read more! :mickeyjum

Hey Timmy, glad you found my TR! I understand not being able to keep up with my TR-sometimes life just gets in the way, and I haven't been the greatest at updating/keeping up with everyone's reports either!

It's always fun talking to other travelers about going to WDW. Like I said, it helps add to the excitement.

YAY! You are in Disney! I think that deserves a clap *applause* Okay, ENOUGH APPLAUSE! ;)

Oh my gosh, WHY MUST YOU TAUNT ME WITH CHICK-FIL-A?! Seriously! I really hope I'm going to the mall soon or something because I need the waffle fry goodness YUM :goodvibes LOOOOVVVEEE their waffle fries! I presume you enjoy those too lol

YAY! IT'S ME TIME! Even though it isn't at the center of the trip, that's just such a great start to the trip. I couldn't even fathom not going on the ME when going on a Disney trip, though I might have to if I want to check out WWoHP :sad2: Darn you Universal for getting to HP before Disney did! Oh, I forgot about the he heavenly gates and sign!! They always deserve some love :love:

SSR looks so nice, that's definitely a DVC resort I would love to stay at though I've been to Saratoga enough times now, but the resort looks much nicer. Too bad you didn't get to show your dad where you and Claire stayed at at OKW... maybe next time :thumbsup2 Also, the picture of the guy in the lobby... priceless!

Can't wait to hear about when you finally meet up with Emma! :mickeyjum

Yes, I do like the fries too but the chicken is my favorite! One of these days I'll have to try a shake because everyone says those are really good too.

I agree. The ME is a great way to start off a trip. It's so strange to think of going without it-but we somehow managed because before they had it we always just rented a car! I was so excited when I finally got to ride ME.

SSR is an amazing resort. I would recommend it to anyone. :thumbsup2

Hahaha, how funny is it that the game that was playing was Packers vs. Bears. Obviously, the Packers won. ;)

We didn't finish it but Jay Cutler kept getting penalties. :lmao:

I loved those jumping fountains outside of Journey to Imagination when I was little too, I remember standing there for a long time when I was younger! :rotfl:

I can't believe you don't like the cheddar cheese soup! I could bathe in that stuff! :eek:

Love the food and wine pics. Makes me miss being there during that time!

LOL, yeah, I just didn't really like the soup. Oh well. Atleast Dad did.

Well...maybe you'll get to go during the F&WF next year if you don't go in May!

I'm with you on the cheese soup! In years past, I enjoyed it, but I thought it was awful this year...way too salty!

I'm just not really a huge soup person to begin with so that might've had something to do with it. :rolleyes1

Yay I loved Epcot and rode Soarin loads of times!! We saw some kids having fun at those jumping fountains as well.

I've read mixed reviews of the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup. Think it's one of them you either love or hate!

haha, we did too. They were shrieking with glee. But what's not to love about them? They are pretty fun.

:thumbsup2 for getting Soarin' FPs!

Oh man, I love me some Cheddar Cheese Soup! :lovestruc

I can't wait to finally get to F&WF!

Yup, I was so glad they still had some FPs for Soarin!

I bet you guys will really like the F&WF. It wasn't my favorite event (I actually think I prefer the Flower and Garden!) but I definitely get why it's so popular.

[wdwgirl03]

Saturday, October 29, 2011 cont'd (part 5)

As we continued on through World Showcase, we soon found ourselves at the Ireland booth.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7700.jpg?t=1323988649

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7701.jpg?t=1323988636

There was one thing from here that we all wanted to try: the Chocolate lava cake with Bailey's ganache! Mom and Emma had heard that it was good and I thought it sounded tasty so they got in line to get the cakes. The line was a little bit longer than they were at the other booths. The nice thing, we found, was that even if they were long, they went pretty quickly since there were multiple places to order. While Mom and Emma were in line, Dad and I found a place to sit near the UK pavilion.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7702.jpg?t=1323988618

It was here where I saw something kind of...odd. There was a pretty big group of adults, who all had some sort of beer in their hands. Apparently they thought it would be a good idea to see how many people they could stuff into that phone booth. Hmmm...LOL. I don't know how many people they got in there but it was strange. But whatever.

Soon Mom and Emma were back with the lava cakes!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7703.jpg?t=1323988599

Now these were delicious! They were pretty small but also very rich so you wouldn't need a huge cake. We all really enjoyed those.

We also stopped briefly to listen to the new band in the UK (I can't remember what their name is).
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7704.jpg?t=1323988583

There weren't too many foods that I had planned on trying but one that was on my list was the baked ravioli from Italy. Anything Italian is good to me. But, when we found the Italy booth the line was by far the longest of any and I didn't feel like waiting. :sad2: I sort of wish I would've but oh well. Instead I did get one of the famous Belgian Waffles! Sorry I took the picture when it was half-eaten but you can probably guess I enjoyed it! The berries and whipped cream added to flavor. Loved this.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7705.jpg?t=1323988537

After that I don't think we really had anything else. Dad and Mom got some sort of sausage in a pretzel roll from Germany which they liked but then we went back to Future World. We still had some time to kill before using our Soarin fastpasses so we all went on Test Track (single rider line) and Dad and Emma went to do Mission:Space.

While they were on M:S, Mom and I decided to do some quick shopping so we went to explore Mouse Gear. I wanted to get a Food and Wine Festival pin to add to my collection and we got a couple other things as well. I posted this on my PTR as a souvenir I wanted but this is the pin I chose:
http://eventservices.disney.go.com/files/400004035662.jpg

We also got a couple Pirates of the Caribbean vinylmations, one for me and one for Claire. When we went to wait for Dad and Emma back at M:S, I opend it and got this one:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/piratevinyl.jpg?t=1324422614

I was hoping for Jack Sparrow but was happy with the one I got. The little hat comes off too. :)

Once we all met back up again we picked up our Visa picture and some of us rode SSE.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7706.jpg?t=1323988520

Finally, it was time for my favorite-Soarin! Inside the Land pavilion they had this cute little pumpkin display. Maybe they're ones they grew there?
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7707.jpg?t=1323988506

Before long we were watching this:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7708.jpg?t=1323988490

:love::cloud9:

Words cannot describe how much I love this ride. The first time we rode it was in Disneyland so I am VERY happy they decided to build it at Epcot too, considering how much we get to go to DL.

After our flight on Soarin, it was time to head out. It had been a long day without any breaks. So, we said our good-byes to Epcot.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7709.jpg?t=1323988475

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7710.jpg?t=1323988462

We ended our night with dinner at Earl of Sandwich. Yum! Here's a random picture of a cute balloon they had right outside the restaurant.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7711.jpg?t=1323988398

up next: Visiting my sister's "home" park!

[bellebookworm9]

In my opinion, you didn't really miss anything by not getting the Baked Ravioli. It tasted like Chef Boyardee. :sad2:

[cbg1027]

That F & W pin of Chinese Minnie is so cute! Great souvenir!

Soarin' is definitely my favorite ride at Epcot, and in my top three of all Disney rides.

[Caretames1]

Wow, what a full day! The food looked yummy, and then you throw EOS in there and hit the bullseye!:thumbsup2

[Caretames1]

http://dl10.glitter-graphics.net/pub/1835/1835670h9hurhjb2p.gif (http://www.glitter-graphics.com)

[marDgreen88]

I fell a little behind but just wanted to say Merry Christmas! :santa:

[wdwgirl03]

In my opinion, you didn't really miss anything by not getting the Baked Ravioli. It tasted like Chef Boyardee. :sad2:

Really? That's kind of a bummer. I still would've liked to try it but oh well!

That F & W pin of Chinese Minnie is so cute! Great souvenir!

Soarin' is definitely my favorite ride at Epcot, and in my top three of all Disney rides.

Thanks-I thought she was super cute!

I would agree with you on Soarin. It might be my favorite ride in all of Disney.

Wow, what a full day! The food looked yummy, and then you throw EOS in there and hit the bullseye!:thumbsup2

It really was a loooong and tiring day but definitely lots of fun. :thumbsup2

http://dl10.glitter-graphics.net/pub/1835/1835670h9hurhjb2p.gif (http://www.glitter-graphics.com)

Aww, Merry Christmas Carey! I hope you and your family have a great holiday. :) And Go Pack Go!

I fell a little behind but just wanted to say Merry Christmas! :santa:

Thank you...I hope you have a great Christmas!

[wdwgirl03]

OK, it's hard to believe that Emma will be done with her College Program in just 2 weeks. :eek: :sad2: Where did the time go? I'm looking forward to her coming home but at the same time it's kind of sad because she is having such a good time. Oh well, I guess all good things must come to an end!

Hopefully with winter break I can get moving on this TR. I can't believe it's taking me so long to do a TR for 2 days! Plus, Dad and I are almost at 100 days until our Easter trip so I might have to start a new PTR for that.

So, enjoy the next update and the little Christmas treat at the end.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

We woke up in the morning with plans to go visit Hollywood Studios, aka Emma's home. I think the CP bus was scheduled to stop there around 8:30 so we left to meet her there. It was a much nicer morning than it was on Saturday, that's for sure! You know it's going to be a great day when you see this right away in the morning:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7712.jpg?t=1324744188

Gotta love those early morning shots when everything looks so peaceful. I just love that view!

We then walked around to the bus stop at Congress Park.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7713.jpg?t=1324744173

Our good streak with the buses continued and soon we arrived at Hollywood Studios. We knew Emma wasn't going to be there yet, especially since we got there so quickly so I was able to take a few more pictures. These topiaries looked familiar...(more F&GF "recycled" topiaries)
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7714.jpg?t=1324744158

DHS's version of the "Let the Memories Begin" pictures. So cute!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7715.jpg?t=1324744145

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7716.jpg?t=1324744132

There weren't too many people waiting to get in yet. I can't remember a time when there were so few people. But, it was still pretty early.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7717.jpg?t=1324744118

After having gone through the routine with Emma on Saturday, we went over to the CM entrance to wait for her to come. I admired the empty Hollywood Boulevard and all the familiar sights. Just having that down time to take in all the surroundings really makes you appreciate all the work that went into the theming of the park.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7719.jpg?t=1324744101

In case you forgot where we were...
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7720.jpg?t=1324744084

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7721.jpg?t=1324744065

Another detail I can't ever remember seeing were the Mickey heads on the gates. So cool.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7722.jpg?t=1324744047

After a few minutes we spotted Emma going through security and were ready to go. Our plan of attack was to head to Toy Story Mania first (that's a no brainer) but then after that, we would be able to slow down. One of Emma's roommates, who also works at the Studios, had a bunch of fastpasses that had to be used by the end of October. She knew she wasn't going to be able to use them so she gave them to Emma. That meant we wouldn't have to wait in the crazy line to get TSM fastpasses for a second ride. :thumbsup2

Before long we were on Hollywood Boulevard. Of course we'd be stopped up at the rope but there still wasn't a ton of people there. It's not too often the street is this empty in front of us!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7723.jpg?t=1324744031

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7724.jpg?t=1324744018

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7725.jpg?t=1324744001

While we were waiting for the park to officially open we were entertained by one of the best Cast Members ever. His name was Oscar. That's him in the green outfit.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7726.jpg?t=1324743988

He was so friendly and energetic. There were a couple younger boys who had on birthday buttons and made everyone sing to them (which they didn't really seem to enjoy) and then when some of the other CMs came out to help with the TSM stampede he had one of them start a game of Simon Says. I don't know how it came up but he had mentioned to someone that this was his part-time job. You could just tell he loved every minute of it! Then again, I'd be pretty happy if I worked at DHS, haha.

Shortly before the welcome announcement a bunch of characters came out to try to distract some people from heading straight to Toy Story Mania.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7727.jpg?t=1324743972

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7729.jpg?t=1324743945

Aren't they cute in their Tinseltown outfits?
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7728.jpg?t=1324743958

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7730.jpg?t=1324743916

And then, it was time for the park to open! I took this short video and you can see Oscar in action. I was watching it yesterday and noticed toward the end you can hear some girl in the background say "Too much coffee in that guy." :rotfl:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/th_100_7731.jpg (http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/?action=view&current=100_7731.mp4)

The mad dash to TSM is always entertaining (and a bit frustrating) because there's always got to be some group who gets split up and then they feel like they can skip you to meet up with their families. But whatever.

We got there pretty quickly and walked right through the standby line. Good morning, Mr. Potato Head!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7732.jpg?t=1324743851

Before we boarded the ride vehicle Emma decided that Dad and I were going to ride together because, as she said, we hit all the targets and she can never get any of them. LOL. Then it was game on. I always try to save my energy during the practice round. Plus I wanted to beat Dad. It was a back and forth battle but when all was said and done, here were our scores:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7733.jpg?t=1324743836

145,500 to 146,100. Any guesses on the winner?








It wasn't me. I lost by a measly 600 points. Boo! I'd get a chance later to redeem myself but in the mean time there were other rides to do!

I'll leave you with this cute video. I saw this yesterday-it seems to be going around facebook, atleast among my Disney friends. I hope everyone has a great Christmas!
Twas the Night Before Christmas in Walt Disney World (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXtkhXb9HpA)

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Merry Christmas!!!!!

I saw the video as well and loved it :)

I can't believe she only has 2 weeks to go!! Has she thought about extending for another semester or is she not able to do that??

When I left a few days ago it was in the 80s with sun and it was pretty hard to leave even though I know I'll be back on New Years Eve lol.

[IheartDDuck]

I can't believe that your sister only has two weeks left to go. That's just amazing.

I love that Bailey's ganache cake. I'm just all happy thinking about it right now. ;)

[Pinkocto]

Merry Christmas!!!

On our last trip I very happily defeated my mother, and with a very joyous attitude told the first CM we saw, I was very proud. Well he seemed genuinely happy for me and asked my score, only 190,000. Well he very proudly told us that he had the best score ever. The 500,000 something that shows up at the end of the ride. I very sillily felt I was meeting some kind of celebrity, I was in awe of his skill. :)

[xoktenox]

DHS :lovestruc I feel like AK and DHS get the short end of the stick by some people but I just love it! Like you said, the themeing is wonderful!!

Oscar did look like he had a little too much coffee lol I would have enjoyed him though!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

[jwwi]

Merry Christmas Sarah. Loved the video, thank you for sharing the link.

[wdwgirl03]

Merry Christmas!!!!!

I saw the video as well and loved it :)

I can't believe she only has 2 weeks to go!! Has she thought about extending for another semester or is she not able to do that??

When I left a few days ago it was in the 80s with sun and it was pretty hard to leave even though I know I'll be back on New Years Eve lol.

Hope you had a good Christmas Megan. :)

I don't know if she's seriously considered extending but she did mention in her blog a few weeks ago how she wishes she had atleast another month. Not much she can do about it now since her tuition/class schedule is all taken care of for this semester but who knows, maybe once she graduates she'll go back (or think about the summer alumni program?).

Yeah, when we talked to Emma on Christmas she said it was warm. It's going to be rough when she comes home to the cold, even though it hasn't been all that bad here yet.

I can't believe that your sister only has two weeks left to go. That's just amazing.

I love that Bailey's ganache cake. I'm just all happy thinking about it right now. ;)

I know, it seems like she just started and now it's almost time for her to come home.

Yes, that Bailey's cake was pretty good.

Merry Christmas!!!

On our last trip I very happily defeated my mother, and with a very joyous attitude told the first CM we saw, I was very proud. Well he seemed genuinely happy for me and asked my score, only 190,000. Well he very proudly told us that he had the best score ever. The 500,000 something that shows up at the end of the ride. I very sillily felt I was meeting some kind of celebrity, I was in awe of his skill. :)

haha, nice! You should've asked him for all the secret targets so you could beat him next time. ;)

DHS :lovestruc I feel like AK and DHS get the short end of the stick by some people but I just love it! Like you said, the themeing is wonderful!!

Oscar did look like he had a little too much coffee lol I would have enjoyed him though!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

I'm with you. It's so strange to me when people say they're going to skip one of the parks (especially AK). All of the parks are so unique that I can't imagine going to WDW and not visiting them all. Heck, if I was there for one day I'd probably find a way to go to all four. :laughing:

Oscar was awesome! Emma actually told me she saw him one day when she was leaving work.

Thanks...hope you had a good Christmas too.

Merry Christmas Sarah. Loved the video, thank you for sharing the link.

Merry Christmas! Glad you enjoyed the video...we all thought it was so cute.

[Nermel9]

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Haha, I always notice the recycled topiaries around WDW! I'm glad they get good use out of them, I guess!

DHS rope drop is such a let down. We did it for the first time in October and it's just a recording! I guess they can't do one like MK for every park, but I feel like they should do something! Oscar looked crazy! :rotfl: Although, I'd be happy if I got to open DHS all the time too! I love that park! :lovestruc

I love the characters in their Hollywood outfits!

TSM is so much fun, but I really wish they would do something about the FP situation! :confused3 I don't know what, but something! :rotfl:

[wdwgirl03]

Hi DIS friends! Hope everyone had a good Christmas. Did anybody get any Disney themed gifts this year? I got a couple:

First I got a Pixar day by day calendar which is really cool.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51gIsXToImL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

But the biggest treat I got was this...a Disney Dooney and Bourke! :yay::lovestruc
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/disneydooney1.jpg?t=1325011606

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/disneydooney2.jpg?t=1325011594

Thanks to Emma's CM discount my mom and dad were able to (luckily) pick this up earlier this month. I say luckily because whenever they called home they kept saying how the purple one (my first choice of colors) was nowhere to be found. So I was pretty surprised when I opened it up Christmas morning and got the purple bag! :thumbsup2 Isn't it cute? I love it! Dad even said that in a twisted way, it was sort of fun trying to find one. :laughing:

Anyways...since I'm on winter break, time for another update!

Sunday, October 30, 2011 cont'd (part 2)

After our ride on Toy Story Mania, we gladly bypassed the fastpass line and went back toward Sunset Boulevard where we would be able to take advantage of Emma's roommate's fastpasses. They were good for any attraction in the park (except TSM, but she also had some that we could use there). But first Emma wanted to stop to get something to eat so we went into Starring Rolls and a got a couple things to split. We took them with us and would eat them after conquering the two big thrill rides.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7734.jpg?t=1325011576

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7735.jpg?t=1325011559

We decided to do Tower of Terror first. Since Mom doesn't like TOT she waited outside while the rest of us rode. We didn't have to wait too long before entering the library for the little preshow. There was this one creepy Cast Member (I shouldn't say creepy, I should really say she was in character) who kept staring at us and then on the way out toward the boiler room she was peeked around the corner and in a spooky voice said, "Byyyyee." Dad thought she was pretty funny.

Soon we found ourselves in the boiler room, which wasn't very crowded.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/emma1.jpg?t=1325012105

Now that I've gotten over my fear of this ride, I've grown to appreciate the details/special effects a lot more. I love how they continue the story while the elevator moves into the shaft. It's so well done with the ghost family and then the lighting effects with the stars is brilliant. So much fun.

Here's our ride picture:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7737.jpg?t=1325011546

We're on the right side in the second row.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/emma2.jpg?t=1325011709

Next up was Rock 'N Roller Coaster.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7738.jpg?t=1325011532

For some reason I don't even think we used the fastpasses the first time we rode because Emma was hoping she'd get to see her friend. We didn't see her, but the ride was great as usual.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/emma3.jpg?t=1325011696

One thing that Dad wanted to do this trip was ride the new Star Tours again. He rode it in August when they moved Emma in and wanted to see if it would be any different since there are a bunch of ride sequences. So we headed over toward that area. When we got there, the Jedi Training Academy was going on so of course I wanted to stop and watch for a little bit. Even though I'm not really a Star Wars fan this show cracks me up because the kids are so fun to watch when they battle Darth Vader.

All of the young Jedis beginning their training.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7739.jpg?t=1325011516

Soon there was that ominous music and, accompanied by two Storm Troopers, Darth Vader appeared, hoping that some of the young Jedis might change their minds and go over to the Dark Side.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/th_100_7740.jpg (http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/?action=view&current=100_7740.mp4)

None of them wanted to join forces with Darth Vader so instead it was time to battle!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7741.jpg?t=1325011454

The tiniest Jedi-in-training...so cute!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7742.jpg?t=1325011439

It was amusing watching her battle Darth because one of the moves they have to do is a swipe to the head but clearly she couldn't reach (and there was no need to duck when he swiped at her, haha!).

After the show we all ended up riding Star Tours. I have to admit, I was a little hesitant because I don't like motion simulator rides and had never done the original Star Tours. :rolleyes1 The wait said 20 minutes but it was really more like a walk-on. That might've turned out to be a good thing because if I would've had to wait I might've changed my mind! It was exciting getting to see the inside of the building for the first time.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7743.jpg?t=1325011180

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7744.jpg?t=1325011041

So as we were waiting to board the Star Speeder (is that what it's called?) I noticed a couple small kids next to us. It was then that I started feeling less nervous. I decided if they could do it, then I could too! Once the ride started I started to enjoy it. I can't remember all the scenes we went through except for the ice planet (Hoth?). Overall it was pretty neat. I don't think I appreciated it as much as Star Wars fans might but I'd do it again. In fact, now that I have done it Dad is trying to convince me to do the wimp side of Mission:Space. We'll see when the time comes in April...

[wdwgirl03]

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Haha, I always notice the recycled topiaries around WDW! I'm glad they get good use out of them, I guess!

DHS rope drop is such a let down. We did it for the first time in October and it's just a recording! I guess they can't do one like MK for every park, but I feel like they should do something! Oscar looked crazy! :rotfl: Although, I'd be happy if I got to open DHS all the time too! I love that park! :lovestruc

I love the characters in their Hollywood outfits!

TSM is so much fun, but I really wish they would do something about the FP situation! :confused3 I don't know what, but something! :rotfl:

Thank you! My Christmas was good and I hope yours was too.

There actually is a rope drop show at DHS. They didn't do it that day but we have seen it before. They have a little car come out with a film director who's shooting a new movie and there are a couple guests who get to help open the park. I'll see if I can find the pictures I have of it.

Yeah, the FP situation at TSM is insane. You have to wonder if the craze will ever die down, but then again look at Soarin. It's been there almost 7 years now and it's still crazy there too.

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I love the bag!!!! :) You've never done Mission Space?! The easy side is fine but you still spin a little but not as much as the other side. If you don't like enclosed dark spaces that is going to be a problem lol.

[Caretames1]

Thanks for the video! It was cute and Kadence loved it!

Awww, we love DHS! It has become a very close 2nd to MK. I bet you felt pretty important going in the CM entrance!:thumbsup2 TSM is ride to get to first, maybe when Kadence is older she lose her fear of TOT and RnR.

I agreew with you, TOT has some of the best theming! It's just to drop that gets me:rotfl2:

Love your new D&B purse!

[IheartDDuck]

Wow, I can't believe that you've never done Star Tours before, even the original! I do have to say though, simulator rides are their own thing. So I can understand the hesitance, because you can get motion sickness from that more easily. You read my February TR. Some things are just a motion sickness cocktail!

I love getting good CM's at ToT. It just makes the ride so much more fun, especially when they're creepy.

[marDgreen88]

I'm playing catch up a little, but that's so cool that yall were able to get those free fastpasses! Also, Oscar sounds like a hoot. I definitely appreciate seeing CMs that you can tell genuinely love their jobs. :goodvibes

I LOVE your Disney Christmas gifts! That calendar looks like it would be awesome, and THE DISNEY DOONEY IS SO CUTE! I did get a Disney gift too... nothing like THAT! But I got a stuffed Dumbo. It's seriously the cutest thing.

Moving on... Tower of Terror and RNRC are just so much fun. I love how close they are, too. It's just a little corner of thrills on Sunset Boulevard hahah. I totally agree, the Jedi Training Academy is so cute! I think it's really creative too. STAR TOURS IS AWESOME. It just feels so real!

[Nermel9]

I love your Disney Dooney, that's a great bag for the parks! :thumbsup2 And the calendar is adorable! I usually get the official WDW calendar, but it's sold our everywhere this year, so I got the Thomas Kinkade Disney calendar instead, it's really pretty!

Glad you liked Star Tours! I actually think Mission Space is a little smoother than Star Tours, so I think you can definitely handle the green side! :thumbsup2 I don't ever get motion sickness, but I went on Star Tours on this past trip and felt a little nauseous, which is really strange for me!

[Pinkocto]

That D & B is too cute! I also got a bit motion sick on the new Star Tours, it was quite disappointing because we would have kept going on to see the different scenarios. Tower of Terror is one of my absolute favorites but since I was sick from Star Tours we didn't get on it that day, and weren't able to get back that trip. I'll make sure to get a ride in next trip.

[wdwgirl03]

I love the bag!!!! :) You've never done Mission Space?! The easy side is fine but you still spin a little but not as much as the other side. If you don't like enclosed dark spaces that is going to be a problem lol.

No, I've always been to scared to do Mission Space. I don't think the small space would bother me, it's more the spinning. :scared1:

Thanks for the video! It was cute and Kadence loved it!

Awww, we love DHS! It has become a very close 2nd to MK. I bet you felt pretty important going in the CM entrance!:thumbsup2 TSM is ride to get to first, maybe when Kadence is older she lose her fear of TOT and RnR.

I agreew with you, TOT has some of the best theming! It's just to drop that gets me:rotfl2:

Love your new D&B purse!

Glad you both liked the video! I love the Jedi Training.

haha, yes I did feel pretty special going in the CM entrance. It was nice that it had a much shorter line too.

Aww, the drop is the best part! :)

Thank you...I love it too! Thank goodness Emma had her CM discount because Mom told me if she didn't I wouldn't have gotten it. LOL.

Wow, I can't believe that you've never done Star Tours before, even the original! I do have to say though, simulator rides are their own thing. So I can understand the hesitance, because you can get motion sickness from that more easily. You read my February TR. Some things are just a motion sickness cocktail!

I love getting good CM's at ToT. It just makes the ride so much more fun, especially when they're creepy.

I know, it sort of stinks I never did it but oh well. Atleast I can say I finally did the newer version!

I'm playing catch up a little, but that's so cool that yall were able to get those free fastpasses! Also, Oscar sounds like a hoot. I definitely appreciate seeing CMs that you can tell genuinely love their jobs. :goodvibes

I LOVE your Disney Christmas gifts! That calendar looks like it would be awesome, and THE DISNEY DOONEY IS SO CUTE! I did get a Disney gift too... nothing like THAT! But I got a stuffed Dumbo. It's seriously the cutest thing.

Moving on... Tower of Terror and RNRC are just so much fun. I love how close they are, too. It's just a little corner of thrills on Sunset Boulevard hahah. I totally agree, the Jedi Training Academy is so cute! I think it's really creative too. STAR TOURS IS AWESOME. It just feels so real!

Yup, it was another nice perk of having a CM sister. I can't believe she's almost done. :eek::sad2: I agree about the really good CMs, but it sort of makes me want to work at WDW myself!

Thank you! The calendar has some really cute pictures from the movies. I love it. Aww, a stuffed Dumbo sounds adorable!

I agree, it is nice that they're so close. Before TSM Dad always joked about how the park would "tilt" because everyone went to those 2 attractions right away!

I love your Disney Dooney, that's a great bag for the parks! :thumbsup2 And the calendar is adorable! I usually get the official WDW calendar, but it's sold our everywhere this year, so I got the Thomas Kinkade Disney calendar instead, it's really pretty!

Glad you liked Star Tours! I actually think Mission Space is a little smoother than Star Tours, so I think you can definitely handle the green side! :thumbsup2 I don't ever get motion sickness, but I went on Star Tours on this past trip and felt a little nauseous, which is really strange for me!

Yeah, the only bad thing is that I have sort of a big camera that won't fit in there. Guess I'll just have to use it at home instead. ;) Emma was looking for that calendar too and said she waited too long to get it-she couldn't find it anywhere. Too funny that you got the Thomas Kinkade one because Claire got that one!

We will have to see come April if I'm brave enough to try M:S.

That D & B is too cute! I also got a bit motion sick on the new Star Tours, it was quite disappointing because we would have kept going on to see the different scenarios. Tower of Terror is one of my absolute favorites but since I was sick from Star Tours we didn't get on it that day, and weren't able to get back that trip. I'll make sure to get a ride in next trip.

Isn't it adorable?

That stinks that you got motion sickness on Star Tours. All the more reason to go back! :)

[Merida]

Ah! I'm so late on things!

#130

I actually went inside the Poly for the first time on our recent trip and it was really nice! I liked it much better than the Wilderness Lodge. It's so serene and vacation-y.

The Visa picture spot was always really full in Epcot, I wonder if more people are getting cards or more people are hearing about the picture? It looked like fun, Donald kept teasing people outside because there was a huge hold up right before him (Pluto, maybe?).

#139
Mmm, lava cake. My favorite kind of cake! It was pretty much the only reason I would ever go to Chili's, but it's now $6 so I'm on the lookout for a new favorite lava cake :)

Belgian waffles are also really delicious and that pin is really cute. I love the colors. Mission: Space isn't that bad, I've never noticed a lot of spinning. But I've never gotten motion sick so I might have just never paid close attention!

I love the Land pavilion so much. This was the first trip I've ever spent any real time in there and it was super nice.

#146
It seems like the CP goes by so quickly! I would think the transition between working at Disney and going to school would be difficult, it's hard enough coming back after a short vacation.

Wow! DHS is empty! We got there before 8:30 on our DHS day and it was many times fuller. It's neat to see how crowds change with different seasons. Lucky you with the extra fastpasses.

I do love the themeing in DHS, even the hat. It's just so fun.

#154
Congrats on your bag! I've never seen a purple one (I've pretty much only seen white), it looks really cute.

Tower of Terror is different than I thought (I just went on it for my first time). For reason I'd gotten the impression is was similar to the movie, but it didn't really have anything to do with that? I still have to get over both my ToT and Rockin' Roller Coaster fears to really appreciate them, haha.

[wdwgirl03]

Ah! I'm so late on things!

#130

I actually went inside the Poly for the first time on our recent trip and it was really nice! I liked it much better than the Wilderness Lodge. It's so serene and vacation-y.

The Visa picture spot was always really full in Epcot, I wonder if more people are getting cards or more people are hearing about the picture? It looked like fun, Donald kept teasing people outside because there was a huge hold up right before him (Pluto, maybe?).

#139
Mmm, lava cake. My favorite kind of cake! It was pretty much the only reason I would ever go to Chili's, but it's now $6 so I'm on the lookout for a new favorite lava cake :)

Belgian waffles are also really delicious and that pin is really cute. I love the colors. Mission: Space isn't that bad, I've never noticed a lot of spinning. But I've never gotten motion sick so I might have just never paid close attention!

I love the Land pavilion so much. This was the first trip I've ever spent any real time in there and it was super nice.

#146
It seems like the CP goes by so quickly! I would think the transition between working at Disney and going to school would be difficult, it's hard enough coming back after a short vacation.

Wow! DHS is empty! We got there before 8:30 on our DHS day and it was many times fuller. It's neat to see how crowds change with different seasons. Lucky you with the extra fastpasses.

I do love the themeing in DHS, even the hat. It's just so fun.

#154
Congrats on your bag! I've never seen a purple one (I've pretty much only seen white), it looks really cute.

Tower of Terror is different than I thought (I just went on it for my first time). For reason I'd gotten the impression is was similar to the movie, but it didn't really have anything to do with that? I still have to get over both my ToT and Rockin' Roller Coaster fears to really appreciate them, haha.

That's OK...glad you found me. :)

We all love the Polynesian so much since it's the first resort we stayed at. Some day I'm hoping to stay there again, but in the mean time I'll have to settle with visiting. :)

Yeah, I don't know about the Visa spot. Maybe word is getting out.

Part of my fear is that I will talk myself into getting sick because I'll be so nervous. :rolleyes: I keep saying it but one of these days I'll have to suck it up and try.

Man, it wasn't even me doing the CP and it sure seemed to fly by! This time next week Emma will be home. :eek:

I was so happy they were able to find the purple bag for me. I would've been happy with any but unwrapping the purple one was very exciting. They do carry them in a few other colors too.

LOL, that's exactly how I was with TOT and RNRC. So trust me, if you ride them enough, you'll learn to love 'em. :thumbsup2

[wdwgirl03]

Hi everyone!!

I thought I would make one more post on here to wrap up 2011. I really can't believe that the year has come to an end (am I the only one who gets a little sad when the year is over? :rolleyes1). It sure seemed to fly by. Speaking of which, Emma is down to her final week in Disney. Who knows, maybe by the end of this week she'll be ready to come home. I'm sure you've all seen how the parks have been closing because they've reached capacity. She's had a pretty busy week with some long shifts-including a 14-hour one today. :scared1::scared1::scared1: Crazy.

Anyway...I hope everyone has a good start to 2012 and that it's a Disney-filled year. :) Less than 100 days now till our Easter trip! Woo hoo. :woohoo:

I saw this image floating around on facebook so I thought I'd share. I don't know who created it, but isn't it cute?
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/2012.jpg?t=1325376852

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'll hopefully have another TR update tomorrow since it's my last day of winter break. (Boo.)

[PlutosRHM55]

I'm all caught up! party: And just in time... Too bad, this will be my first Disney-less year as a DISer, unless all goes well for me :/ Anyways. I hope you have a very...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[wdwgirl03]

I'm all caught up! party: And just in time... Too bad, this will be my first Disney-less year as a DISer, unless all goes well for me :/ Anyways. I hope you have a very...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thanks Timmy. Hopefully everything will work out and you'll get in a trip to Disney. :)

[wdwgirl03]

Sunday, October 30, 2011 cont'd (part 3)

After my first flight on Star Tours, we made our way back toward the Streets of America. The Osborne Lights were almost all, if not already completely, up.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7745-1.jpg?t=1325459320

OK, so it's not as impressive when they're not lit up. I may be crazy, especially after hearing how busy it was this past week but I am still hoping to get to see the Christmas decorations this year. We'll see.

While we were walking around we spotted the Cars meet and greet area so Emma and I ended up getting our picture with Lightning McQueen and Mater.

A little chalk drawing near the line entrance. Kachow!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7746.jpg?t=1325459335

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/cars2.jpg?t=1325459798

After getting our picture taken I got a pressed penny of the 2 characters to add to my collection. Gotta love cheap souvenirs. Just as a side note, the Phineas and Ferb meet and greet area was right near the Cars one. Only that one had a much longer line. It would've been cool to meet them but then again I've never really seen the show. :confused3 Maybe in April I'll wait for them just because. haha

By that time we were all just about ready for lunch but first we stopped in the little Christmas store that's near Pizza Planet. I love Christmas decorations so it was fun looking at all the cute ornaments and such. I had seen the little green alien one at the Christmas store at DTD so I showed it to Emma. We didn't get it there, but each year Mom always buys us a new ornament and that one became Emma's. You'll have to wait until a later update to see which one I got. :)
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7747.jpg?t=1325459349

Christmas Duffy!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7748.jpg?t=1325459365

We may or may not have brought one of those guys home too. :rolleyes1

Then it was time for lunch at one of our favorite QS restaurants, Pizza Planet!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7749.jpg?t=1325459381

We ended up splitting a couple pizzas, salads, and a meatball sub. If you haven't tried the meatball sub, it's actually pretty good! Since it was such a nice day we ate our lunch outside.

When we were done, Emma pointed out the "backstage" area where she goes in/out when she works. If only she could have taken us back there. I wonder what it's like...
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7750.jpg?t=1325459397

Random shot of the ABC Commissary...
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7751.jpg?t=1325459411

Our next stop was the Animation building so we could do the Animation Academy. When we got there, the next session was already full so in the mean time we decided to go meet Winnie the Pooh. I still think it's sort of sad that they already took Lotso out, especially since it's not like you can't meet Pooh anywhere else. Oh well. As we were walking toward the line entrance, there were these adorable little twins dressed as Pooh and Tigger getting their picture with Pooh. I wish I had a picture because it was almost too cute for words. :cutie:

The queue area had snippets from Pooh stories.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7753.jpg?t=1325459441

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7754.jpg?t=1325459459

We didn't have to wait too long until it was our turn to meet that silly old Bear.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7755.jpg?t=1325459478

And some random shot from inside the building.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7752.jpg?t=1325459425

After getting our picture we went back to wait for the Animation Academy. I was hoping our instructor would be Brian. We've had him a couple different times and he's great. Well, we didn't get Brian but the instructor we did have was just as good. And strangely enough, I found out from another TR that this guy's name is Ryan.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7756.jpg?t=1325459493

We started off our session trying to determine which character to draw. Ryan asked if anyone had ever done the class before and about half of the people raised their hands. He then said that he was hoping we could find a character that nobody had ever done before, so he then started rattling off different characters and had us raise our hands if we drew that particular character before. He was hoping to get a list of 3 possible characters we could do. As you can imagine, this turned out to be quite difficult. One of the options that most people hadn't done was Buzz Lightyear, and a lot of people were pretty excited about that one. The thing is, back in March (or one of our trips, I can't even keep them straight anymore) we sort of drew Buzz. I say "sort of" because the main character we drew was Woody, but since we still had a couple minutes left afterward, we got to do a really quick version of Buzz Lightyear. When I shared this, Ryan must've thought I was insane because he didn't get it at all and was wondering how we could have "sort of" drawn a character. Whoops! But, he still decided to add him to our list of possible characters. Another one that he suggested was Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas, to which pretty much everyone shouted out, "NO!" In the end, we finally decided on a character and it was Eeyore! Ryan did a great job explaining how to draw the different lines/shapes and in the end, I was pretty happy with how my Eeyore turned out!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7757.jpg?t=1325459507

I really do enjoy this class and would recommend it if you haven't done it before.

We then decided to go use some of Emma's fastpasses to go ride Toy Story Mania again. While we were waiting in line I noticed this door for CMs. Isn't it clever how they even theme the sign to the attraction?
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7758.jpg?t=1325459524

Dad and I rode together again for a rematch. We both ended up with lower scores than our first ride, and the outcome was the same as it was in the morning. :sad2:

We also used the fastpasses for one more ride on Rock 'n Roller Coaster.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7759.jpg?t=1325459539

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/rnrcpic.jpg?t=1325459779

When we got off, we spotted Mom talking to Emma's friend, who was working at the kid's activity station in the RNRC courtyard. We chatted for a bit and then headed out. After all, we wanted to have a little bit of a break before going to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

Good-bye, Hollywood Studios!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/dhsentrance.jpg?t=1325459813

[marDgreen88]

Happy New Year!!!
The Osborne lights look so funny during the day. No it isn't crazy to go in December! The week of Christmas and New Years, yeah, that's a little crazy, but I have been in early December and mid December and the crowds were not bad at all!
I know a lot of people think Duffy is pointless but I think he is adorable!
Your Eeyore is so cute!
Excited to hear about MNSSHP!

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

Great update!!! Backstage haha. Nothing too thrilling :) I have Xmas Duffy too!!

[Pinkocto]

Great update! Happy New Year!

[jwwi]

I love your Eeyore picture, I have not been able to draw him yet. It is hard sometimes for the instructor to pick a character that no one has drawn. But always fun to do the drawing.
Hope you have enjoyed your time off, Happy New Year.

[onelilspark]

I had to laugh at the ornament part. My Mom always gets an ornament with the year on it when we go in February each year. Doesn't matter that they now live within an hour of WDW, she still gets it in February. Except this year she forgot to get it! So she's waiting until early January (so like this week) to head into the park and hopefully get it on clearance :laughing:

[Nermel9]

Happy New Year!

I have issues with the Osborne Lights when they are not lit up. It just doesn't look right! :laughing:

Aww, the Pooh queue is adorable! I love Pooh, but at the same time, there are so many other places to meet him, I wish they would put a more random character there, like when they had Lotso. Like maybe, I don't know, the Cheshire Cat! :rolleyes1

That was nice of your instructor to ask what character you guys wanted to draw! I would have been the one person to say yes to drawing Jack Skellington, I love him! :thumbsup2 Your Eeyore is really cute!

[PlutosRHM55]

Awwww... the sad, sad Osborne lights not lit up. It really does look depressing and not very appealing. I wish they could really cover it up like they do with the Castle Dream Lights, but I guess not :/

Awww... that little hopscotch by the M&G area for Mater and Lightning is so cute! I really want to meet those guys. I've been kicking myself about not meeting them the first time I was in Disney because I discovered we had walked right by it, but in our dismay of not being able to go on the Muppets, we had missed it :sad2: Always next time, right? :thumbsup2

Oh wow... I didn't even know there was a Christmas shop in DHS... I really need to get around more over there lol The ornaments are so cute though! I really need more Disney ornaments for my sad little tree in my room. I'm crossing my fingers that with my new little tactic in place I will be going there soon ;) Love the little Duffys btw! :teeth:

I would love to go into those backstage areas at Disney. I remember how many a time I would end up leaning against the door of one of them and a CM would just walk right on by and need to get through. Maybe it's just destiny... :cloud9: Anyways... those little twins sound so cute, I wish I could've seen a picture, though I think you guys with the REAL Pooh suffices :D

Wow, that must've been one interesting Animation Academy. I've never done it, so I would've felt really left out while there. LOL @ your little explanation to Mr. Ryan about only half-drawing Buzz Lightyear. I was confused reading it, though I remember what you meant by that, I think it still counts though... maybe you should've asked what Buzz would've looked like as a final product if you did, if you were so interested? :confused3 Though your Eeyore came out great :thumbsup2

Sorry to hear you didn't have such a great round on TSM again. That ride is always on my mind now especially when I won, but didn't get best in car the last time I played. With my competitive spirit, I'm going to get above the 200,000 and I WILL do it. ::yes:: And that's so cool you noticed the CM door... I probably walked right by it, just never got a picture of it, but I just love what they write on those doors in Disney, so creative they are.

Can't wait to read about your MNSSHP adventure! :mickeyjum

[Merida]

I liked December. The first few days of our trip were at a really nice crowd level and it helped to have hoppers if a park did get too crowded. There was never a day when all of the parks were swamped.

The Wall-e ornament is adorable (and the Little Green Man one as well)! :) I wish we would've stopped in there and picked one up.

I wish they at least had different Pooh characters in all the parks (like the different versions of the Fab Five) because there really is only so many times a person can meet Winnie-the-Pooh! Maybe it alleviates lines in individual parks because there's so many opportunities?

I love all the euphemisms for 'cast members' at Disney. I think it would be neat to do a 'Hidden Mickey search'-style trip for all the CM labels.

[Caretames1]

Nice update!:thumbsup2 I really want to eat at Pizza Planet, we got to walk through in Sept, but it wasn;t open for food yet.

Love your Eyore! You did a great job:thumbsup2 I'm really going to have to get my Stitch up on my TR so you can see how awful it is:lmao:

I bet your sister is going to be so sad to be done with her CP.


Christmas decor is my favorite shopping!

[xoktenox]

Gotta love 2 rides on TSM in on trip to DHS :thumbsup2

We love Pizza Planet too! Plus, eating with the Little Green Men is pretty cool too :laughing:

Don't you wish you could just see all the backstage areas? I loved that on the KTTK tour...is your sister home now?

[wdwgirl03]

Happy New Year!!!
The Osborne lights look so funny during the day. No it isn't crazy to go in December! The week of Christmas and New Years, yeah, that's a little crazy, but I have been in early December and mid December and the crowds were not bad at all!
I know a lot of people think Duffy is pointless but I think he is adorable!
Your Eeyore is so cute!
Excited to hear about MNSSHP!

Oh, we've been there during the madness that is Christmas. Hearing all the stories lately makes me wonder if it's gotten more chaotic the past couple years.

I agree about Duffy! And Emma fell in love with him during her CP. She got one of the Halloween Duffys for $5 at one of the Cast Member stores!

Great update!!! Backstage haha. Nothing too thrilling :) I have Xmas Duffy too!!

Don't you have a bunch of Duffys? ;)

Great update! Happy New Year!

Thanks...hope 2012 has been good for you so far. :)

I love your Eeyore picture, I have not been able to draw him yet. It is hard sometimes for the instructor to pick a character that no one has drawn. But always fun to do the drawing.
Hope you have enjoyed your time off, Happy New Year.

It is hard but I'm surprised the instructor even asked. I thought that was really cool.

I had to laugh at the ornament part. My Mom always gets an ornament with the year on it when we go in February each year. Doesn't matter that they now live within an hour of WDW, she still gets it in February. Except this year she forgot to get it! So she's waiting until early January (so like this week) to head into the park and hopefully get it on clearance :laughing:

haha, I hope your mom is able to find her ornament!

Happy New Year!

I have issues with the Osborne Lights when they are not lit up. It just doesn't look right! :laughing:

Aww, the Pooh queue is adorable! I love Pooh, but at the same time, there are so many other places to meet him, I wish they would put a more random character there, like when they had Lotso. Like maybe, I don't know, the Cheshire Cat! :rolleyes1

That was nice of your instructor to ask what character you guys wanted to draw! I would have been the one person to say yes to drawing Jack Skellington, I love him! :thumbsup2 Your Eeyore is really cute!

haha, the Cheshire Cat would be funny.

I know I mentioned how I don't care for The Nightmare Before Christmas. Luckily nobody really wanted to draw him (or Grumpy, which I thought could've been cool).

Awwww... the sad, sad Osborne lights not lit up. It really does look depressing and not very appealing. I wish they could really cover it up like they do with the Castle Dream Lights, but I guess not :/

Awww... that little hopscotch by the M&G area for Mater and Lightning is so cute! I really want to meet those guys. I've been kicking myself about not meeting them the first time I was in Disney because I discovered we had walked right by it, but in our dismay of not being able to go on the Muppets, we had missed it :sad2: Always next time, right? :thumbsup2

Oh wow... I didn't even know there was a Christmas shop in DHS... I really need to get around more over there lol The ornaments are so cute though! I really need more Disney ornaments for my sad little tree in my room. I'm crossing my fingers that with my new little tactic in place I will be going there soon ;) Love the little Duffys btw! :teeth:

I would love to go into those backstage areas at Disney. I remember how many a time I would end up leaning against the door of one of them and a CM would just walk right on by and need to get through. Maybe it's just destiny... :cloud9: Anyways... those little twins sound so cute, I wish I could've seen a picture, though I think you guys with the REAL Pooh suffices :D

Wow, that must've been one interesting Animation Academy. I've never done it, so I would've felt really left out while there. LOL @ your little explanation to Mr. Ryan about only half-drawing Buzz Lightyear. I was confused reading it, though I remember what you meant by that, I think it still counts though... maybe you should've asked what Buzz would've looked like as a final product if you did, if you were so interested? :confused3 Though your Eeyore came out great :thumbsup2

Sorry to hear you didn't have such a great round on TSM again. That ride is always on my mind now especially when I won, but didn't get best in car the last time I played. With my competitive spirit, I'm going to get above the 200,000 and I WILL do it. ::yes:: And that's so cool you noticed the CM door... I probably walked right by it, just never got a picture of it, but I just love what they write on those doors in Disney, so creative they are.

Can't wait to read about your MNSSHP adventure! :mickeyjum

They do look like an eyesore when they're not lit but when they do go on it is quite an amazing sight.

That's right, you can always meet them next time. More reason to plan a trip. :)

The Christmas store is kind of tucked away in a little corner so I can see how you missed it. But it's worth a stop next time you go!

It was an interesting Animation Academy but still fun. Love that class!

I liked December. The first few days of our trip were at a really nice crowd level and it helped to have hoppers if a park did get too crowded. There was never a day when all of the parks were swamped.

The Wall-e ornament is adorable (and the Little Green Man one as well)! :) I wish we would've stopped in there and picked one up.

I wish they at least had different Pooh characters in all the parks (like the different versions of the Fab Five) because there really is only so many times a person can meet Winnie-the-Pooh! Maybe it alleviates lines in individual parks because there's so many opportunities?

I love all the euphemisms for 'cast members' at Disney. I think it would be neat to do a 'Hidden Mickey search'-style trip for all the CM labels.

If you go early-mid December it is a great time to go. We went in 2008 in the middle of the month and the crowds were pretty much nonexistent, atleast by our standards. Our last day was the 21st or something and you could really tell the Christmas crowds were arriving. The MK was swamped on our last night!

They had so many cute ornaments. It was hard to choose just one. And I'm sort of jealous Emma ended up with the alien, but I like the one I got too. :)

Who knows about Pooh, I really wonder if Lotso just wasn't that popular because he was a villain in the movie.

Oh, I think that would be cool too! When we ate dinner at Casey's they had one there that said "home team only." haha!

Nice update!:thumbsup2 I really want to eat at Pizza Planet, we got to walk through in Sept, but it wasn;t open for food yet.

Love your Eyore! You did a great job:thumbsup2 I'm really going to have to get my Stitch up on my TR so you can see how awful it is:lmao:

I bet your sister is going to be so sad to be done with her CP.


Christmas decor is my favorite shopping!

I love Pizza Planet!

Thank you! I think it really helps when you have a good instructor who explains everything. I've been pretty surprised with most of my drawings. :)

Yeah, I think she's got mixed emotions. I don't think she's going to miss her job all that much-it's her friends/people she worked with who she's going to miss.

Gotta love 2 rides on TSM in on trip to DHS :thumbsup2

We love Pizza Planet too! Plus, eating with the Little Green Men is pretty cool too :laughing:

Don't you wish you could just see all the backstage areas? I loved that on the KTTK tour...is your sister home now?

I think it would be interesting to see the backstage areas. It was really cool when we went on the Backstage Safari tour. Maybe we'll get to see more if we do the KTTK tour in April!

No, she is down to her final days as a Floridian. Her last day of work was yesterday. Dad went down today to help her move out (she's got to be out of her apartment tomorrow morning) and then they come home on Saturday. I really can't believe her stint is up!

[wdwgirl03]

Hi everyone!

Well, I can no longer say I have a Cast Member sister. :( Emma made it home safely yesterday, so her CP stint is over. I've said it before but I really can't believe how fast those few months flew by. :scared1: When she and dad got home we exchanged our Christmas gifts (since we obviously couldn't do it on Christmas!) and went out to dinner. Of course, Emma gave us all Disney gifts! Here's what I got:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_8029.jpg?t=1326047532

A Disneyland Paris Space Mountain vinylmation, a Slytherin pin (ok, so that's not exactly Disney), and a keychain. Here's a better look...S for Sarah. :)
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_8031.jpg?t=1326043177

If you're wondering about the pin, when I got my Pottermore account, I was sorted into Slytherin. :confused3 LOL! Still think that's sort of funny. But anyway, even though I'm sure she misses Florida (we all know how much it stinks leaving WDW) it's nice that she's home again.

Now back to the trip report...

Sunday, October 30, 2011 cont'd (part 4)

After a busy morning at Hollywood Studios, it was time for a break. We didn't want to be too tired for the Halloween Party that night so we headed back to Saratoga Springs for a little bit. Emma came back with us instead of going to her apartment, and it was actually pretty funny because she fell asleep on the couch for a little bit. I guess we tired her out. :laughing: I also had to put on my Aaron Rodgers jersey so I atleast had some sort of "costume." Hey, it's better than nothing, right? I made the mistake of not dressing up for the Halloween activities at school and felt left out. I was not going to feel left out again!

We wanted to get to the Magic Kingdom early so we could so some things before the start of the party. I think we got there shortly after 4:00 or so. It was my first Halloween party since 2006 (the only other time we've ever gone) so I was pretty excited!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7761.jpg?t=1325890313

They had all of the party guests entering on the right side so we got our wristbands and treat bags. And of course as we went through the tunnel to Main Street I had to grab one of the Halloween party maps.

Dad wanted to get our boarding passes for the next day so we stopped in Guest Relations quickly. I decided to take a couple more pictures instead since it wasn't raining. :)
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7763.jpg?t=1325890298

Then it was time for some rides! What a view looking down Main Street. So pretty! And I just noticed the little boys in the picture both have on Harry Potter robes. I was so looking forward to seeing all of the costumes, and it sure seemed like wizard costumes were a popular choice, especially for the kids. I don't remember when it was, but since I mentioned wizards, there was one father and son who were dressed like Harry and Snape. Awesome.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7764.jpg?t=1325890684

So where did we end up going first? Since we missed the Jungle Cruise on Saturday due to that huge tour group, we headed toward Adventureland first. On the way I got another shot of the castle:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7765.jpg?t=1325890284

As we were walking toward the Jungle Cruise, we heard first comments about our "costumes." Emma and I both had on Aaron Rodgers jerseys and Dad had on a Packers t-shirt, so I heard one guy say something like, "Hey, they're dressed as Packer fans!" It was pretty amusing how many comments/reactions we got for that. Anyway...when we got to the Jungle Cruise, the line was much more manageable. I'd say we waited 10 minutes at most before we were on our boat.

The ride was corny as always :laughing:. Here's a few pictures I got from our cruise:
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7766.jpg?t=1325890578

8th wonder of the world?
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7767.jpg?t=1325956094

"Don't worry, they're all wearing their trunks."
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7768.jpg?t=1325890603

The most dangerous part of the cruise...
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7769.jpg?t=1325890643

While we were on the ride, Emma had gotten a text from one of her roommates. She is friends with Mickey Mouse ;), and it turned out she was at the Exposition Hall. So, we went over there hoping to meet her. The line wasn't too long, maybe 15 minutes. While we were waiting there were a couple people in Brewers shirts so of course we had to comment on each other's costumes. Yay Wisconsin.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7770.jpg?t=1325890656

When we got to the front of the line, Emma told the CM about her roommate and asked if we could go to the room where she was working. Well, for some reason the CM wouldn't let us and said something about how you're not supposed to ask. I think Emma felt sort of bad then and I don't understand why she wouldn't let us. It's not like there was anybody else around when she asked but this CM wasn't going to crack. Atleast we still got to meet Mickey Mouse. I thought we had a picture from one of our cameras but I can't find it. Good thing I ordered the photopass one!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_8032.jpg?t=1326043595

After meeting Mickey Emma and I stopped for a picture. I just love the Halloween decorations!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7771.jpg?t=1325890671

We then went to get some dinner at Casey's Corner before some more party fun!

[Caretames1]

Welcome home to your sister! This will be something she holds close to her all her life!

Love the costume choice!:thumbsup2 I also got many comments on my Aaron Rodgers Jersey! One Bears fan wasn't as pleasent, but too bad for him!

Love the pictures, just brings me back there!:lovestruc

[Queenofallthings]

Love the Jungle Cruise...even tho it's corny, I can't help myself...have to do it! Casey's is our dinner choice whenever we're at the MK for an event! I just love those hotdogs!

I can't believe her stint of being a CM is over...that really did fly by, but I bet it's nice to have her home!

[xoktenox]

I just love all the MK fall/Halloween decorations, so pretty!

Gotta love the corny-ness of the Jungle Cruise!

That's mean that the CM had to be kind of rude with you and not let you in to see Emma's friend. Like she had to show some kind of power or something. But, meeting Mickey makes up for it! :thumbsup2

[jwwi]

Love your choice of costume, perfect since there were so many WI people there on that weekend. It is so much fun to see all the costumes.
Welcome home to Emma, it was fun talking to her when she was at work when I was there in late September. Will she be headed back to regular classes now?

[cbg1027]

Am I getting old? I swear it was just last week that you were telling us Emma had gotten accepted in to the CP! :lmao:

[marDgreen88]

Wow, she's done already! Do you think she'll ever go back to work there?

Ughhh Magic Kingdom is just so beautiful and I can't even handle the fact that I'm in my room right now and not there... isn't it so sad? hahaha but really, great pictures!

Jungle Cruise cracks me up. I don't know why but I think corny jokes are hilarious. THANK GOODNESS those elephants had their trunks on! :lmao:

Seems weird that the CM wouldn't let you back their considering Emma was a CM too... ? I don't like people that are power hungry. Cute pictures with Mickey though!

[wdwgirl03]

Welcome home to your sister! This will be something she holds close to her all her life!

Love the costume choice!:thumbsup2 I also got many comments on my Aaron Rodgers Jersey! One Bears fan wasn't as pleasent, but too bad for him!

Love the pictures, just brings me back there!:lovestruc

Yes it will and for that I'm kind of jealous. I don't know what I was thinking not doing the CP when I had the chance. :confused3 She is already talking about going back she misses it so much.

Yeah, I got one comment from a Bears fan too. But I also had on my Marquette jacket which he said he liked. LOL.

Love the Jungle Cruise...even tho it's corny, I can't help myself...have to do it! Casey's is our dinner choice whenever we're at the MK for an event! I just love those hotdogs!

I can't believe her stint of being a CM is over...that really did fly by, but I bet it's nice to have her home!

I agree, Jungle Cruise is a classic. We always do it too.

It is nice...then next week it's back to the real world for her with school. :eek:

I just love all the MK fall/Halloween decorations, so pretty!

Gotta love the corny-ness of the Jungle Cruise!

That's mean that the CM had to be kind of rude with you and not let you in to see Emma's friend. Like she had to show some kind of power or something. But, meeting Mickey makes up for it! :thumbsup2

Yeah, I don't get why she couldn't let us go but apparently CMs aren't supposed to ask things like that. :confused3

Love your choice of costume, perfect since there were so many WI people there on that weekend. It is so much fun to see all the costumes.
Welcome home to Emma, it was fun talking to her when she was at work when I was there in late September. Will she be headed back to regular classes now?

Glad you got the chance to talk to her when you visited. :) Yep, she starts up again next week. One more year and then she'll probably want to go back to FL!

Am I getting old? I swear it was just last week that you were telling us Emma had gotten accepted in to the CP! :lmao:

I know, it is crazy. It's been a little under a year since she applied and got accepted and now it's all over. :scared1:

Wow, she's done already! Do you think she'll ever go back to work there?

Ughhh Magic Kingdom is just so beautiful and I can't even handle the fact that I'm in my room right now and not there... isn't it so sad? hahaha but really, great pictures!

Jungle Cruise cracks me up. I don't know why but I think corny jokes are hilarious. THANK GOODNESS those elephants had their trunks on! :lmao:

Seems weird that the CM wouldn't let you back their considering Emma was a CM too... ? I don't like people that are power hungry. Cute pictures with Mickey though!

Oh yes, she wants to go back. She mentioned in her blog how she's thinking about the summer alumni program and if she can't do that she'll want to try to do the program again in Spring 2013 or look into the Professional Internships. If she does go back I may just up and move with her. LOL.

I like the jokes too even though they're cheesy. It's great when the skippers add their own twists too.

Yeah, it was weird but oh well. We still got to meet Mickey.

[disneygeeks]

that chocolate lava cake sure looked good and like you I love anything pasta as well :)

[disneygeeks]

Isn't it great watching all the cute little kids become jedi's and fight darth vader...so fun and the ride is excellent. If you have a hard time with motion on some rides I think you may not like mission space. It's a great ride and it feels like your taking off to mars but the ride itself spins but when your in the pod you can't tell your spinning and if you go the extreme side it's even worse but a heck of a lot of fun.

[disneygeeks]

It's to bad you two couldn't get to see emma's roommates place where she works...oh well stuff happens. Sounds like you guys had a terrific day though

[Bridora]

I just now found your trip report! So I'm pretty far behind! :eek: But I just wanted to let you know I'm here!

[Nermel9]

Glad your sister made it home safely! Sad that she misses FL, but maybe she will have a chance to go back and work there again! :thumbsup2

Fun update, I loved seeing all the costumes at MSSHP! The Jungle Cruise looks like so much fun, except we never go on it! I don't know why! :rotfl:

That's strange the CM wouldn't let you in the room with Emma's roommate, maybe they're really not allowed to or something! It seems like Disney would have pretty strict rules, but still, if no one was around, what's the big deal! :confused3

[TanzUnited99]

I can't believe your sister is home already! :eek:

Sounds like you had a great day at DHS and MK. I think your drawing of Eeyore turned out great and love the Jungle Cruise photos.

[wdwgirl03]

that chocolate lava cake sure looked good and like you I love anything pasta as well :)

Yep, gotta love chocolate cake and pasta! :thumbsup2

Isn't it great watching all the cute little kids become jedi's and fight darth vader...so fun and the ride is excellent. If you have a hard time with motion on some rides I think you may not like mission space. It's a great ride and it feels like your taking off to mars but the ride itself spins but when your in the pod you can't tell your spinning and if you go the extreme side it's even worse but a heck of a lot of fun.

I love watching the kiddos in the Jedi Training. They're hilarious to watch.

As for M:S, I don't know if part of it is that I freak myself out so much into thinking I'll get sick or what. I was fine with Star Tours. If I ever do toughen up and try M:S it'll definitely be the one without the spinning first.

It's to bad you two couldn't get to see emma's roommates place where she works...oh well stuff happens. Sounds like you guys had a terrific day though

It was a great day...still more to come too!

I just now found your trip report! So I'm pretty far behind! :eek: But I just wanted to let you know I'm here!

Yay, welcome!

Glad your sister made it home safely! Sad that she misses FL, but maybe she will have a chance to go back and work there again! :thumbsup2

Fun update, I loved seeing all the costumes at MSSHP! The Jungle Cruise looks like so much fun, except we never go on it! I don't know why! :rotfl:

That's strange the CM wouldn't let you in the room with Emma's roommate, maybe they're really not allowed to or something! It seems like Disney would have pretty strict rules, but still, if no one was around, what's the big deal! :confused3

Yes, she really wants to go back and work there again. One more year of school and then who knows, maybe she'll do the CP again and find a full-time job there. That would be pretty cool (but it would also make me extremely jealous! haha).

WHAT?! Why don't you ever go on the Jungle Cruise? You have to go on it on your next trip...it is a classic!

Her roommate was obviously on one of her breaks when she texted her but we were hoping to see her since she's "friends with Mickey" if you know what I mean. :rolleyes1 (she was Mickey that day!) OK I really hope no kids are reading this and saw that comment!

I can't believe your sister is home already! :eek:

Sounds like you had a great day at DHS and MK. I think your drawing of Eeyore turned out great and love the Jungle Cruise photos.

I know, those few months flew by. :eek:

Thanks for the comment on my Eeyore. I love it. :goodvibes

[wdwgirl03]

Sunday, October 30, 2011 cont'd (part 5)

One of my must-dos for the Halloween party was to meet the 7 dwarves. So even though the party still hadn't officially started, we immediately headed over towards Frontierland/Splash Mountain to get in line. After talking to Emma and reading other people's comments on the DIS, we knew it was a popular draw. It sounds nuts waiting over an hour to meet characters but really, how often do you get to meet ALL 7 dwarves at one time? Plus, I'd rather wait before the party than during the party.

When we got to the Splash Mountain area, I noticed that some of the Halloween decorations were up for the candy trail.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7772.jpg?t=1326647745

It is pretty cool how they transform the park for the party to make it even more festive.

I also noticed that, not surprisingly, we weren't going to be the first ones in line for the meet and greet. In fact, they already had CMs asking people if they were waiting for the dwarves. So while we weren't the first ones there, I'd say there were maybe 20 or so people already in line which wasn't too bad at all. Mom and I got in line and then just played the waiting game. Since Emma had met the dwarves at another Halloween party, she and Dad ended up going to ride Splash Mountain. I just sort of people watched to help pass the time. I enjoyed seeing some more of the costumes. Does anyone remember the show Legends of the Hidden Temple? There was this one group of girls, maybe high school aged or maybe CPs who were dressed as contestants from that show. It was so awesome, they had gold helmets and team t-shirts (my favorite was always the Purple Parrots, haha). I had to text Claire about them because I thought it was so cool. Mom and I also chatted with a woman from Texas who was there with her mother (I think they were celebrating the mother's birthday?). She was so nice and it helped pass the time. As it got closer to 7:00, the CMs started to bring out the props for the dwarves. They actually started the meet and greets about five minutes early which was nice.

There they are!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7773.jpg?t=1326647758

It was a lot of fun watching them interact with everyone. And then finally it was our turn! I stood right by Sneezy. He was so cute because he was sniffling and wiping his nose. LOL. He was definitely in character, as were the other dwarves.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7774.jpg?t=1326647771

By the time we got our picture, it was only 7:15. Yes, we had to wait a long time beforehand but atleast now we had the rest of the night to do whatever else we wanted. We started off by picking up our first treats of the night at the candy trail.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7775.jpg?t=1326647786

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7776.jpg?t=1326647800

You can certainly accumulate a LOT of candy at one of those parties. The CMs just give you handfuls of candy! Interesting fact about the candy: I was reading in my dad's AP newsletter that each year for the Halloween party they get 18 truckloads of candy. :scared1: Crazy!

As we were leaving the Splash Mountain area we got a glimpse of the line for the dwarves which was quite long now. More reason to be glad we had waited beforehand! Our next stop was the Haunted Mansion. We didn't ride it (though we should have since it was the Halloween party...oh well) but instead took advantage of another one of the cool photo ops for the party. It was in front of the hearse. There was a CM holding a cutout of a ghost. We had to look scared and then when you look at the pictures on the photopass site they added in an image of a ghost. Sadly I don't have a copy of it but you can use your imagination. ;)

After getting our picture we continued on to Fantasyland. That area seemed a bit more crowded. Maybe because everyone with small kids was there. Since we hadn't done it on Saturday we went to ride It's A Small World.

Random picture from the ending scene, my favorite part!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7778.jpg?t=1326647813

We kept walking through Fantasyland when we spotted another character opportunity...Donald and Daisy! The fun thing about the party is that they were also wearing the Halloween costumes. Donald was a pirate and Daisy was a princess. So cute!

The view I had while waiting in line...
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7780.jpg?t=1326647829

Donald and Daisy with some kiddos...
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7781.jpg?t=1326647850

And finally our picture.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7782.jpg?t=1326647868

I have to say I'm jealous of Emma because when she went to her first party, I think she met Donald dressed as a pumpkin. It's pretty cool that the characters even have different costumes to wear on different nights!

After our picture we headed to Tomorrowland where we walked through another candy trail and rode the Speedway. I have to say, it was kind of fun riding at night-whenever we do it, it's always during the day.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7783.jpg?t=1326647882

While in Tomorrowland I also wanted to pick up a pin to commemorate the party. I got one with Chip and Dale at one of the dance parties:
http://eventservices.disney.go.com/files/400004258528.jpg

Speaking of dance parties, there was one going on. It seemed like fun but we didn't stop to dance.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7784.jpg?t=1326647896

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7785.jpg?t=1326647910

Instead we went for a ride on the People Mover (also very different at night because the tunnels seem much darker!) before heading back to Main Street for the fireworks.

[Merida]

Congrats on your 7 dwarves photo! I think it would be cute if Dopey met with Snow White sometimes, something to make her meet'n'greets a little more interesting. ;)

Aw, Donald and Daisy have such cute costumes. I prefer their various wardobes to Mickey and Minnie's, I think (especially in Hollywood Studios).

I love the TTA at night - in fact, I don't think we've really gone on it during the day. It does make me sad that it's not open during evening EMHs, though. It's like the perfect last ride on a 3AM magic hour!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I really hope that I get to go to a Halloween Party someday, the parade and fireworks look awesome and I love the characters they have out and the costumes that the regular characters have.

[Pinkocto]

What fun! I keep saying this, but your wonderful pictures just reiterate it, I must get there for Halloween one of these years.

[TanzUnited99]

We did the same thing and headed straight to the dwarfs line upon entering MK! Love your pic with them and I was stood next to Sneezy as well and loved how he kept in character :thumbsup2

Wow 18 truckloads of candy sure is crazy though it's probably needed with the amount of people that attend the party!

[marDgreen88]

AHHH so cool that you got to meet the dwarves! I wanted to meet them at the Christmas party (spoiler alert: I didn't get to. hahaha).

I love the character costumes. Donald dressed as a pumpkin sounds too cute to be true. The pirate costume looks awesome too!

[Nermel9]

Awww, cute pictures with the Dwarves! :)

We didn't do any of the candy trails at the parties. :( Brandon just saw lines and lines of people at them and didn't want to wait, so I didn't get any candy! If I ever do a MNSSHP again, I'll go to the candy trails alone! :rotfl:

Donald and Daisy look so cute! I think we walked by them, but as always, the line was too long.

I love the Peoplemover at night! :lovestruc

[Caretames1]

You did the right thing by waiting in line and being done with the 7 Dwarves by 7. I can't believe that people will waste prime party time by waiting for hours!

We never made it over to Tomorrow land, but Woodys dance party was a blast!


Kadence loved Trick or Treating there! A highlight for sure!

Nice Jerserys!:thumbsup2

[wdwgirl03]

Congrats on your 7 dwarves photo! I think it would be cute if Dopey met with Snow White sometimes, something to make her meet'n'greets a little more interesting. ;)

Aw, Donald and Daisy have such cute costumes. I prefer their various wardobes to Mickey and Minnie's, I think (especially in Hollywood Studios).

I love the TTA at night - in fact, I don't think we've really gone on it during the day. It does make me sad that it's not open during evening EMHs, though. It's like the perfect last ride on a 3AM magic hour!

Thank you! Yes, I agree. At first I thought Snow White was a part of it but when I was looking before the trip to see which characters were there I realized it was just the dwarves. Oh well. It's still pretty cool!

The DHS costumes are adorable!

I really hope that I get to go to a Halloween Party someday, the parade and fireworks look awesome and I love the characters they have out and the costumes that the regular characters have.

Yes, it is well worth the extra money to try atleast once. I hope you get to go some day.

What fun! I keep saying this, but your wonderful pictures just reiterate it, I must get there for Halloween one of these years.

I'm glad you like all the pictures. Like I said to Lifelong_Dreamer, it's definitely a great event worth doing atleast once!

We did the same thing and headed straight to the dwarfs line upon entering MK! Love your pic with them and I was stood next to Sneezy as well and loved how he kept in character :thumbsup2

Wow 18 truckloads of candy sure is crazy though it's probably needed with the amount of people that attend the party!

They were so cute acting like their character.

Yeah. I've seen pictures where people (especially with kids) end up with bags and bags of candy. :eek:

AHHH so cool that you got to meet the dwarves! I wanted to meet them at the Christmas party (spoiler alert: I didn't get to. hahaha).

I love the character costumes. Donald dressed as a pumpkin sounds too cute to be true. The pirate costume looks awesome too!

Aww, bummer you didn't get to see them at the Christmas party. More reason to go again though, right? ;)

Awww, cute pictures with the Dwarves! :)

We didn't do any of the candy trails at the parties. :( Brandon just saw lines and lines of people at them and didn't want to wait, so I didn't get any candy! If I ever do a MNSSHP again, I'll go to the candy trails alone! :rotfl:

Donald and Daisy look so cute! I think we walked by them, but as always, the line was too long.

I love the Peoplemover at night! :lovestruc

Thanks. :)

The lines actually weren't that bad and they moved pretty quickly. You will have to do it next time. :)

It was cool riding at night but the Peoplemover is great at any time. :thumbsup2

You did the right thing by waiting in line and being done with the 7 Dwarves by 7. I can't believe that people will waste prime party time by waiting for hours!

We never made it over to Tomorrow land, but Woodys dance party was a blast!


Kadence loved Trick or Treating there! A highlight for sure!

Nice Jerserys!:thumbsup2

I agree. And waiting before made me feel like I wasn't missing out on anything else. haha

I bet Kadence had such a good time.

Thank you...gotta love Aaron Rodgers. Still sucks they are out. I've decided the Super Bowl stinks when they're not in it. :snooty::laughing:

[wdwgirl03]

Alright everyone, we're nearing the end of this trip report (sort of) and I need to get a move on! So, I'm going to combine updates for both the fireworks and the parade. I won't have too much commentary since I've got a bunch of pictures. I'll let them do the talking instead. And I'll even provide you with some background music too. ;)

Sunday, October 30, 2011 cont'd (part 6)

When we were done in Tomorrowland we started making our way back toward Main Street for the fireworks and also the Boo to You Parade.

I got another shot of the castle. There's just something about the lights shining on it that make it even more awesome...and in this case, a little more Halloween-ish. haha
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7787.jpg?t=1326930613

We were going to the second parade of the evening because from our past experience at the parties, it seems like more people do the first one (especially when they've got little kids). Plus it gives you more time to enjoy other things during the party.

Normally for the fireworks we are a little further down Main Street, more towards the park entrance. This time we ended up finding a spot right near the hub.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7790.jpg?t=1326930598

I think one of the Villains shows might've just ended so there were a couple characters out doing meet and greets.

As we were waiting, I played around with my camera settings. I figured that since we were so close, I better get some halfway decent fireworks shots! But in the mean time I ended up with a few more castle pictures. :rotfl:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7791.jpg?t=1326930584

Soon music from the Haunted Mansion filled the air and the show began.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7792.jpg?t=1326930571

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7793.jpg?t=1326930551

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7794.jpg?t=1326930537

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7795.jpg?t=1326930521

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7796.jpg?t=1326930506

Just like Wishes, this show is awesome in that it synchs up the fireworks and lighting to the music (which is a medley of some of the more spooky Disney songs, including HM music and songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas). Here's a short video clip featuring Pink Elephants on Parade.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/th_100_7797.jpg (http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/?action=view&current=100_7797.mp4)

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7798.jpg?t=1326930452

These are probably the best pictures I got during the show...who would've thought that a fireworks setting would work for taking fireworks pictures? ;)
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7799.jpg?t=1326930435

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7801.jpg?t=1326930420

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7802.jpg?t=1326930406

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7803.jpg?t=1326930392

I think I forgot how good these fireworks really are. Such an awesome show and it doesn't make you tear up like Wishes. LOL. (Still love you, Wishes).

In between shows we just hung out around Main Street and browsed in some of the shops. I had another person comment on my Packer jersey in the Confectionery. A CM said he didn't like it. :mad: I noticed on his nametag he was from the Chicago area...he was probably a Bears fan. :laughing: Atleast he liked my Marquette jacket because he said his uncle went there. We also stopped in the art shop which is always fun. I seriously want this picture:

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7804.jpg?t=1326930378

I think it was only $2500. OK, so maybe that's a little out of my price range but it's still gorgeous. Love The Princess and the Frog!

As it got closer to parade time, we found a spot on the curb to watch. I saw that some of the Pooh characters were at the end of Main Street taking pictures. I wanted to get a picture with some more characters in their Halloween costumes so I kept watching the line. When I noticed it was getting shorter, I asked Emma if she wanted to come with me. Sadly, when we got over to the line, the CM said they had already cut it off because Pooh and his pals had to go get ready for the parade. So instead we got a picture with the castle in the background.

Up next: Boo to You (and you and you and you)!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7805.jpg?t=1326930365

Cont'd in next post...

[wdwgirl03]

Cont'd from previous post...

One of the things I was most looking forward to was the ride of the Headless Horseman before the parade starts. I love the whole spiel they do to announce his arrival. It's all pretty epic. The only sad thing is that he ride by so quickly. I knew if I tried to get a picture I'd fail. Instead I tried to go for a video but even with that I managed to get a measly 3 seconds.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/th_100_7806.jpg (http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/?action=view&current=100_7806.mp4)

But atleast you can sort of see what it's like.

Fortunately for everyone, Emma managed to get a pretty awesome picture at the party she went to with her roommates!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/headlesshorseman.jpg?t=1327016538

Then there was a few minutes in between the Headless Horseman and the actual start of the parade.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7809.jpg?t=1326930334

Gotta love CMs who "paint" characters on the ground!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7810.jpg?t=1326930318

Soon that all too catchy song began playing. In order to get the full experience of the parade, CLICK HERE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8YHUD_uD5U), minimize the window, and enjoy the pictures! It won't take you 8 minutes to go through the pictures, but if you listen to the song long enough you can see how the music matches up with the pictures.


http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7811.jpg?t=1326930305

It's not so very scary...
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7816.jpg?t=1326930278

It's really not so scary...
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7814.jpg?t=1326930292

(side note, here are the Pooh characters I wanted to meet!)
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7817.jpg?t=1326930266

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7819.jpg?t=1326930251

Drink up me hearties, yo ho!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7820.jpg?t=1326930234

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7821.jpg?t=1326930222

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7822.jpg?t=1326930208

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7823.jpg?t=1326930194

Haunted Mansion!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7824.jpg?t=1326930171

(I was so sad the gravediggers didn't do their shovel routine in front of us)
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7825.jpg?t=1326930156

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7826.jpg?t=1326930143

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7827.jpg?t=1326930130

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7828.jpg?t=1326930116

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7829.jpg?t=1326930101

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7830.jpg?t=1326930074

Of course at the end of the parade they hand out more candy. One CM gave me a handful of Goofy's lollipops. :thumbsup2
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7831.jpg?t=1326930047

If you listened, do you now have that song stuck in your head? Because that's pretty much what happens at the end of the parade! I know I left the park singing it over and over in my head. LOL.

As we walked out of the Magic Kingdom, I had mixed emotions. I really enjoyed the party but at the same time I was also a little bummed because it was just about time to say good-bye to Emma. :sad1: We were still planning on (hopefully) meeting up in the morning before our flight but it was just so strange walking to the bus stop for SSR while she went to hers for the CPers. It's already sad enough leaving the MK and then throw that into the mix it was extra depressing.

On that happy note...

Here are a couple parting shots as we headed for the buses.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7833.jpg?t=1326930022

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7835.jpg?t=1326930002

up next: A WET morning at Downtown Disney

[marDgreen88]

Hallowishes looks AWESOME. Great pictures!
I mean, come on, $2500 is a STEAL. I can't believe you didn't snatch that puppy right up! :rotfl: I really do love that picture though, it's gorgeous! If only it was cheaper. (About $2400 cheaper hahaha)
Aw, it stinks when you go try to meet a character and then you can't. Booo.
Excited to see Boo to You pics! I LOVE that parade a lot, probably too much for someone who's never actually seen it in person...:rolleyes1

ETA: OH HELLO. I had this page open while I went to do something else, so I somehow missed that you had already added the Boo to You pics! They're awesome as well! YAY :)

[TanzUnited99]

I love the Halloween-ish shot of the castle! :thumbsup2

Also great pics of Hallowishes and I agree in that the show doesn't make you tear up like Wishes but is spectacular in it's own way.

Wow Emma got a great shot of the Headless Horseman - I didn't have much success either.

Loved seeing the pics of the Boo to you Parade with the music though you are right - it'll be stuck in my head for the rest of the evening! :rotfl:

[Nermel9]

Great Hallowishes pictures! :thumbsup2

I love that painting of Tiana and Naveen!

I just watched your 2 second video of the Headless Horseman and now I want to be at a Halloween party! :sad2: I love the Haunted Mansion part of the parade!

[Caretames1]

Thank-you for the music!:worship: What a great way to look at MNSSHP photos!:thumbsup2


We missed out on Pooh and the gang too. The line was so long the one time we were close.

[Queenofallthings]

Great updates! I love the fireworks and parade at MNSSHP...I've done the MVMCP also, but much prefer the Halloween one....so much fun!

[disneygeeks]

Now I take it that the 18 truck loads of candy is not for 1 night but that it's for the 4-5 weeks they have halloween going on at MK

[disneygeeks]

awesome pictures of the fireworks and castle and great little video

[disneygeeks]

more great pix and great mix of music and pictures.....loved it

[wdwgirl03]

Hallowishes looks AWESOME. Great pictures!
I mean, come on, $2500 is a STEAL. I can't believe you didn't snatch that puppy right up! :rotfl: I really do love that picture though, it's gorgeous! If only it was cheaper. (About $2400 cheaper hahaha)
Aw, it stinks when you go try to meet a character and then you can't. Booo.
Excited to see Boo to You pics! I LOVE that parade a lot, probably too much for someone who's never actually seen it in person...:rolleyes1

ETA: OH HELLO. I had this page open while I went to do something else, so I somehow missed that you had already added the Boo to You pics! They're awesome as well! YAY :)

LOL, I know, right? All of those pictures are so pretty. They should do postcard versions (or maybe print size versions, like 11x14 like the little ride posters!).

Glad you liked all the pictures!

I love the Halloween-ish shot of the castle! :thumbsup2

Also great pics of Hallowishes and I agree in that the show doesn't make you tear up like Wishes but is spectacular in it's own way.

Wow Emma got a great shot of the Headless Horseman - I didn't have much success either.

Loved seeing the pics of the Boo to you Parade with the music though you are right - it'll be stuck in my head for the rest of the evening! :rotfl:

I definitely agree. All of the fireworks shows are unique which is why they're so fun.

She did get a great picture. I don't know how she did it!

haha, I hope it wasn't stuck in your head too long.

Great Hallowishes pictures! :thumbsup2

I love that painting of Tiana and Naveen!

I just watched your 2 second video of the Headless Horseman and now I want to be at a Halloween party! :sad2: I love the Haunted Mansion part of the parade!

The HM part is really cool. I love the man walking the dog. :thumbsup2

Thank-you for the music!:worship: What a great way to look at MNSSHP photos!:thumbsup2


We missed out on Pooh and the gang too. The line was so long the one time we were close.

You are welcome...glad you enjoyed it!

Bummer you guys missed Pooh too. :(

Great updates! I love the fireworks and parade at MNSSHP...I've done the MVMCP also, but much prefer the Halloween one....so much fun!

haha, I love the Halloween party but I actually prefer the Christmas one. I have a feeling though it'll be a very long time before I ever get to go to one again being on a teacher's schedule.

Now I take it that the 18 truck loads of candy is not for 1 night but that it's for the 4-5 weeks they have halloween going on at MK

Yes, that's for the all the parties. Can you imagine 18 truckloads per night?! :scared1:

awesome pictures of the fireworks and castle and great little video

Thanks. :)

more great pix and great mix of music and pictures.....loved it

Glad you liked the pictures/music!

[wdwgirl03]

Alright everyone, it's time to wrap up this trip report! Sorry for the lack of pictures in this update-I didn't take too many because of the rain!

Monday, October 31, 2011 aka Happy Halloween!

As is always the case, the end of our trip came way too quickly. Of course it also might've been due to the fact that we only had two days, but still. Time always flies in Disney World. Because our flight back home wasn't until mid-afternoon, we were able to sleep in (which was also nice after a long evening at MNSSHP!). I'm not going to lie, waking up that morning was difficult. I'm going to sound like such a baby but I was sad that we were going to be leaving Emma, knowing that I wouldn't see her again until January. I was literally fighting back the tears all morning. :rolleyes1 Oh, and it didn't help that the weather was pretty lousy that morning too. I mentioned in the PTR how the forecast was showing rain for the whole weekend. Sunday was fine but then the rain came through again which stunk because we were planning on going over to Downtown Disney to kill some time before the ME came to pick us up.

Mom called Emma to ask if she felt like doing anything. Since we had to be out of our room by 11 (I think) anyway, we still ended up going over to Downtown Disney to meet up and get some lunch.

When we were ready we called bell services to help with the luggage and the CM took us to the Carriage House. I was sort of wondering if the resorts did anything fun for Halloween. Saratoga Springs had a little Cast Member pumpkin decorating contest. They had a bunch of pumpkins on display and then little slips of paper where you could vote for your favorite. Some of them were pretty clever.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7836.jpg?t=1327531023
The Phineas and Ferb one (in the middle) played music! haha

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7837.jpg?t=1327531003

Jack Skellington.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7838.jpg?t=1327530986

In case you're wondering, I voted for the Pooh one in the first picture. I just thought it was cute.

We then went into the Artist Palette shop for a little bit. Well, as I was looking around at any last-minute souvenirs I couldn't hold back my tears anymore. I had my hat with me (mostly for some protection from the rain when we got outside) so I tried to hide behind that, but Mom still noticed and then I'm pretty sure Dad did too. I don't know why I was having such a hard time. It was weird the day she left for FL but after that I was fine. Sure, I missed her but at the same time I didn't (I hope that doesn't sound cruel...) because I knew she was having a blast, plus it was always fun reading her blog posts and checking out her new pictures on facebook. Maybe I just hate good-byes? :confused3 Anyways...

Despite the tears I did manage to spot some new Saratoga Springs merchandise. I had never seen resort-specifc stuff there and I was eyeing up a really cute little shotglass with a SSR logo on it. I ended up waiting to get it though so I wouldn't have to carry it around at DTD. After browsing around we headed out to the boat dock. Emma was going to meet us there instead of coming to the resort.

Once at DTD we found shelter at World of Disney. While we were in there Emma called to say she made it so we went back outside to wait for her. When she found us we went back inside to get a couple things (our Duffy Christmas bear and a few more It's A Small World vinylmation keychains-it seemed like Mom was becoming addicted to them too, haha!). The rain made walking around not as much fun as it usually is so we didn't spend too much time there. We went into a few more stores, including the Christmas store where Emma and I got our ornaments for last year. You'll see which one I ended up with at the end of this post. popcorn::

Instead of eating lunch at DTD we all ended up taking a bus back to Saratoga Springs and ate at the Artist Palette. I got a sandwich, Emma got chicken tenders, Dad got a Caesar salad. I'm not sure what Mom got. After eating I went to purchase my shotglass, as well as a vinylmation for Emma for "hosting" us over the weekend. I spotted a Storm Trooper in the trade box, which Emma wanted, so I ended up trading for it. She was pretty happy. :)

And then came the moment I was not looking forward to-time to say good-bye. :sad2: I managed to pull it together a little bit but it was still sad when Emma said, “See you in January.” We all gave her one last hug before she headed back out to her bus stop and we went outside to wait for the ME.

A couple parting shots from SSR...
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7839.jpg?t=1327530970

It figures that by that time the rain had stopped!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7840.jpg?t=1327530950

And so was the end of our trip. We arrived at MCO with plenty of time to spare and then had an uneventful flight home. We all had a great time spending the weekend with Emma and attending the fall events. I think I still prefer the holidays and even the Flower and Garden Festival but it’s still a fun time to go, especially for MNSSHP. If you’ve never been during that time, I’d recommend trying it out sometime.

Oh yes, and here are a couple more of my souvenirs. Of course I chose a Tinkerbell ornament!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h172/wfbdukegirl03/100_7846-1.jpg?t=1327530936

Thanks to everyone who followed along-it’s always fun sharing our trips with you guys. Now it’s time to count down to April! I’m not going to start a new PTR right away but I will say that we have made a couple reservations for ADRs and other things…as for what reservations we made, you’ll just have to wait to find out. ;) As for another future trip, we’ve got a couple options. We’re probably (hopefully) going to make a reservation for this December since I’m dying to see the Christmas decorations again. And once Emma graduates she is planning on going back to Florida for either the Spring Advantage ’13 College Program (4 months of WDW wasn’t enough for her!) or one of the Professional Internships if she gets accepted, which means we’d have to go visit her at some point-maybe another spring break trip. So we’ll see what all unfolds.

Thanks again for reading and as they say, see ya real soon! :wave2:

[marDgreen88]

Aww, it's over! :( Sorry the weather wasn't great for your last morning!
It's cute that you were so sad to say goodbye. I understand haha.
YAY for the April trip! That would be awesome if yall got to go in December!

ANYWAYS... I enjoyed this TR and I'll look forward to your next one too! :goodvibes

[Pinkocto]

Sometimes our emotions just get the better of us, no need to feel bad about it :)

Too cute about your mom and the keychains. I have finally found something to collect, the new Cutesations! I wanted to like the Vinylmations I really did, but now that these are out I'm hooked.

Thanks so much for sharing your adventure. Countdown to April :cool1:

[IheartDDuck]

I would have been sad if I had to leave too. I'm sad it's over, but you've got another trip on the horizon, so that's always fun.

[ladybugjen]

Thanks for the trip report. Brought back wonderful memories of our trip in september! Looks like you guys had a great time!

[Merida]

All the Christmas decorations are cute! But I think I agree with you that fall isn't quite as nice as winter/Flower festival. Just much more my personality.

Glad you had a great trip and that you get to go back soon!

[TanzUnited99]

Oh no on it being time to go home :( It must have been so hard leaving Emma behind - you two sounds so close. It must be nice to have her back home :thumbsup2

Them pumpkins sure are creative - did you ever find out who won?

Looking forward to counting down to April with you and hearing all about your future plans :goodvibes

[Caretames1]

Awww, sorry to see this end, but all good things do. I hate "go home" day! It's just so sad.

I can't wait for your next PTR and TR!

[Queenofallthings]

You reminded me of Jasmine on our last days...no matter how hard she tries not too she always ends up crying, and I just put my arm around her and say nothing. By the time we're on ME, we usually both crying!

Another great TR and thank you for sharing with us. I love your ornament btw!:hug:

[wdwgirl03]

Aww, it's over! :( Sorry the weather wasn't great for your last morning!
It's cute that you were so sad to say goodbye. I understand haha.
YAY for the April trip! That would be awesome if yall got to go in December!

ANYWAYS... I enjoyed this TR and I'll look forward to your next one too! :goodvibes

LOL, yeah, it was sort of ridiculous how sad I was considering Emma was fine the whole time. :rolleyes: But I guess there's no reason to be sad when you basically live in Disney World.

Glad you enjoyed the TR...look for a new PTR soon!

Sometimes our emotions just get the better of us, no need to feel bad about it :)

Too cute about your mom and the keychains. I have finally found something to collect, the new Cutesations! I wanted to like the Vinylmations I really did, but now that these are out I'm hooked.

Thanks so much for sharing your adventure. Countdown to April :cool1:

I have not heard of cutesations. What are they? Not that I need anything else to collect!

Yes, I can't wait to go in April! :yay::woohoo::dance3:

I would have been sad if I had to leave too. I'm sad it's over, but you've got another trip on the horizon, so that's always fun.

I agree, it's always better when you know you're going back.

Thanks for the trip report. Brought back wonderful memories of our trip in september! Looks like you guys had a great time!

You're welcome! Glad you were able to relive some of your trip too. :goodvibes

All the Christmas decorations are cute! But I think I agree with you that fall isn't quite as nice as winter/Flower festival. Just much more my personality.

Glad you had a great trip and that you get to go back soon!

I LOVE the Christmas decorations! I hope I get to see them in person soon.

Oh no on it being time to go home :( It must have been so hard leaving Emma behind - you two sounds so close. It must be nice to have her back home :thumbsup2

Them pumpkins sure are creative - did you ever find out who won?

Looking forward to counting down to April with you and hearing all about your future plans :goodvibes

It is nice that she's back home even though I know she still misses Florida/WDW.

No, sadly I don't know who won the pumpkin contest. I seem to remember seeing a couple more CMs adding pumpkins as we were leaving.

Awww, sorry to see this end, but all good things do. I hate "go home" day! It's just so sad.

I can't wait for your next PTR and TR!

Yes it is, no matter how many times you go. Leaving is never fun.

I'll hopefully start a new PTR within the next couple of days since it'll already be February!

You reminded me of Jasmine on our last days...no matter how hard she tries not too she always ends up crying, and I just put my arm around her and say nothing. By the time we're on ME, we usually both crying!

Another great TR and thank you for sharing with us. I love your ornament btw!:hug:

Oh yes, I've definitely cried a few times on the ME too. :rolleyes1 Though I think on this trip I did it all before the bus ride. haha

Thank you! I thought she was so cute.

[Pinkocto]

I have not heard of cutesations. What are they? Not that I need anything else to collect!

Yes, I can't wait to go in April! :yay::woohoo::dance3:

http://www.disneystore.com/disney-store-official-site-for-disney-merchandise-cutesations-alice-in-wonderland-series-plush-5/mp/1300002/1000267/?D=cutesations&Nr=pPublished%3A1&Ntk=All_Shopping&Nu=pProductID&Ntt=cutesations&Dr=pPublished%3A1&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial

They're mini plushes!!! They're so darn cute! The first collection is Alice in Wonderland. They're blind boxed like vinylmations, so I ordered two just in case, and I'm hooked!

[Nermel9]

Great TR, so sad your trip is over, but at least your Spring trip is right around the corner! :cool1: I love the souvies, the SSR shot glass is adorable!

[cbg1027]

That SSR Shotglass is sooo cute!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us once again Sarah. Enjoyable as always. :goodvibes

[disneygeeks]

It was great reading your TR and can't wait to read future TR's....shed a little tear for cause it's all over and like you said it's so hard to leave that last day...all you can think of is the sad flight home and getting withdrawls for the next 2 weeks after you get home.
Take care. Jeff. :( :)

[wdwgirl03]

Great TR, so sad your trip is over, but at least your Spring trip is right around the corner! :cool1: I love the souvies, the SSR shot glass is adorable!

Yes it is and I just started a new PTR. :) Thanks, I thought the SSR stuff was so cute!

That SSR Shotglass is sooo cute!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us once again Sarah. Enjoyable as always. :goodvibes

You're welcome...glad you enjoyed it. :)

It was great reading your TR and can't wait to read future TR's....shed a little tear for cause it's all over and like you said it's so hard to leave that last day...all you can think of is the sad flight home and getting withdrawls for the next 2 weeks after you get home.
Take care. Jeff. :( :)

Leaving is never fun but it does help knowing you're going back. Can't wait for April!

----------------------

OK everyone, I just started a new PTR for April so if you're interested, the link is below. Hope to see you over there!

Bunnies, Blooms, & the Boardwalk (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2872697)

[PlutosRHM55]

These TRs are just finished way too quickly... well, I enjoyed catching up and reading about your MNSSHP experience. From all the videos I have on my iPod, I DESPERATELY need to go and see all those shows one day at the World. :goodvibes And I can't believe you already have another PTR going... boy am I behind! Going over there to catch up. For now... have a magical day! :mickeyjum

[madsmom22]

So as we were waiting to board the Star Speeder (is that what it's called?) I noticed a couple small kids next to us. It was then that I started feeling less nervous. I decided if they could do it, then I could too! Once the ride started I started to enjoy it. I can't remember all the scenes we went through except for the ice planet (Hoth?). Overall it was pretty neat. I don't think I appreciated it as much as Star Wars fans might but I'd do it again. In fact, now that I have done it Dad is trying to convince me to do the wimp side of Mission:Space. We'll see when the time comes in April...

Enjoying reading your trip report! Just had to say - I have not been on the Star Tours ride yet either - don't like motion rides either - I tend to get motion sickness and don't want to feel bad the rest of the day! But I did the wimp side of Mission:Space and it was NO PROBLEM! So much so that I even went on the NON-WIMP side! - won't do that again! I got very nauseated and dizzy from that and it took me about an hour to recover! But if I can do the wimp side - I'm sure you can too! You've inspired me to try Star Tours when we go in November!:yay: