"Can I see your pins?" 12 Days of Disney Fun: Oct. 2011 3/13 It's the end.

[DisneyCrafter]

~*~We spent 12 days in Disney World and I can't wait to share all of our fun with you! We were there from September 29-October 10. Just a bit of our fun included MNSSHP, the Food & Wine Festival, and THE Cake Boss!~*~

MEET US:

That's me (Rachael) and DH (Greg). We're both 20-something's with a bad love for the mouse! We even named one of our cat's Mickey! Greg commutes to downtown Chicago for work as a testing engineer for a web content company and I work as an assistant in the youth department in a local suburban library and I also recently began working from home as a writer for a web-based education company.

~*~Be Our Guest! I hope you'll join us!~*~

"CHAPTER" LINKS:​

Thursday September 29: It's time to go to Disney World!
Thursday September 29: First park of the trip: Hollywood Studios!
Thursday September 29: Luggage Mishaps, Mama Melrose's and Fantasmic!

Friday September 30: Food & Wine Fest
Friday September 30: Musical rooms??? (aka checking in to the Dolphin)
Friday September 30: MNSSHP, Part I
Friday September 30: MNSSHP, Part II

Saturday October 1: Hurry up! We need to get to the MK, it's the 40th anniversary!
Saturday October 1: Grand Floridian Cafe and 40th anniversary fireworks

Sunday October 2: Wizarding World of Harry Potter!
Sunday October 2: the rest of Universal Studios
Sunday October 2: Downtown Disney (& the title of the TR explained)

Monday October 3: AK, Kona Cafe & MK EMH

Thursday October 6: Food & Wine Festival

Tuesday October 4: Boma and more Food & Wine Fest

Wednesday October 5: Hollywood Studios
Wednesday October 5: San Angel and Epcot EMH

Thursday October 6: Food & Wine Festival
Thursday October 6: California Grill

Friday October 7: DHS Morning
Friday October 7: MNSSHP
Friday October 7: MNSSHP

Saturday October 8: Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Sunday October 9: Sweet Sunday event featuring THE Cake Boss!
Sunday October 9: It's time to say farewell...

Monday October 10: Departure Day

Souvenirs & Final Thoughts

 

[DisMomAmy]

Woo hoo!! You started!!

 

[Nermel9]

Yay you started! Can't wait to see how many times our paths crossed over the week!!

 

[kcandbella]

Joining in! We were there from Sept 28-Oct 5!

 

[Joyciemc]

Woohoo! Can't wait to read all about your trip!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I'm here! I'm so excited to hear about your trip. Congrats on the new job!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Yay, you started!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Woo hoo!! You started!!

I'm so glad you're reading, Amy! I love my loyal readers!

Yay you started! Can't wait to see how many times our paths crossed over the week!!

Yep! Now, if I can just find the time to ACTUALLY start.

Joining in! We were there from Sept 28-Oct 5!

Hi! A new reader, love it! I'm sure I'll be posting on your TR as well.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Woohoo! Can't wait to read all about your trip!

Hello, Joyce! Where have you been? Glad you came out of lurkdom.

I'm here! I'm so excited to hear about your trip. Congrats on the new job!

Hey Courtney, I'm so happy you're here to read along. Thanks! I feel so Blessed with the job.

Yay, you started!

Woo Hoo! Hey there local DISer.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Darn work is getting in the way of my DIS time. One of my coworkers had a family emergency so she's out of town for the rest of the week and I filled in for her for a few hours today and with starting my new writing job, I've been busy! I forgot what it's like to work full-time!

Good news is I did receive an e-mail yesterday saying that my photopass CD shipped!

I hope to share our arrival day with you very shortly! So don't go anywhere!!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Thank you guys for waiting so patiently and QUIETLY I may add.

Just a quick note before I'm off to work at the library for the day; our photopass CD came in the mail yesterday! So now I have ALL the pictures needed to start the TR.

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Yay for getting your Photopass CD!

Sorry I haven't commented, I've just been busy (hours are funky at work, and then my commute on Pace and CTA is insane).

 

[shan23877]

Joining in! Can't wait to read all about it.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Thank you guys for waiting so patiently and QUIETLY I may add.

Just a quick note before I'm off to work at the library for the day; our photopass CD came in the mail yesterday! So now I have ALL the pictures needed to start the TR.

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Yay for getting the PP CD! I can't wait to see all of the pictures!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Yay for getting your Photopass CD!

Sorry I haven't commented, I've just been busy (hours are funky at work, and then my commute on Pace and CTA is insane).

Yikes! That commuting doesn't sound like fun! Greg commutes to the city everyday but he takes the Metra and then walks the 1/2 mile to work.

Joining in! Can't wait to read all about it.

Welcome!

Yay for getting the PP CD! I can't wait to see all of the pictures!

We have some really great PP pictures!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Day 1: Thursday, September 29

The alarm buzzed at 2:45 AM, yes you did read that right, and I jumped out of bed and into the shower. I woke up Greg so he could groggily get ready and then began doing the last minute things like putting toiletries into the suitcase and wiping down the kitchen counters. I woke up my brother, who was driving us to the airport, just a few minutes before we left. Surprisingly, he woke up easily with just me saying his name. Before I knew it and definitely ahead of schedule by around 15 minutes, we were on the way to the airport!

Of course we missed the entrance. I swear they need to put a sign with an arrow that hangs to the right instead of straight! It is so much easier to find if you are heading south down the street instead of the north. That little detour didn’t matter because as soon as we walked into the airport we saw THE LINE. It was about 415 AM and guess what? The Southwest counter doesn’t open until 430 AM! There were at least 100 people in front of us. They wouldn’t even start weaving the line until 430 AM so the line wrapped around and all the way down a corridor. I honestly don’t know why they wait until 430 AM when there are at least 10 flights that leave at or right around 6 AM! Anyway, off of that tangent. We did have our boarding passes and I was surprised by just how many travelers didn’t. By the time we made it through security, where Greg was stopped and his carryon items had to be rescanned, we had just enough time to eat some McDonald’s before boarding. I want to say we had seats in row 2. Greg spent the flight doing the word search and crossword I made for him and I chatted with the lady sitting next to me.

Before I knew it, we were descending into Florida-20 minutes early! Woo hoo!
We decided to yellow tag our luggage (remember that for later) and after using the restroom and riding the mini-monorail we headed to the Magical Express.

Greg managed to snag this photo of our ME bus:

After getting giddy at the start of the video, I couldn’t believe it, we were pulling into Pop Century around 1045! Even better, our room was ready! We were in Building 9 so we didn’t have far to walk to the bus stop and it was just a bit farther to the food court, overall it was a great location. It wasn't a king room and Greg and I ended up sleeping in separate beds that night-we are used to a king bed!!!

Greg was going picture crazy on our walk to the main building.

Greg’s birth year:

I was too excited to sleep so we quickly freshened up and headed out for our first meal on property at Everything Pop! Can you say tie dye cheesecake? I was quickly in and out of the line for my food but Greg had to wait for his food for at least 5 minutes and my food was getting cold so I went to pay and began eating while he waited. He finally showed up when I was about half finished with my meal. This meal was the better of the meals we ate at Pop throughout our trip. Unfortunately I only have pictures of my meal and dessert and Greg’s dessert. Greg had a cheesesteak wrap-he really liked it!

I had the Chicken Penne Alfredo. The breading was on a little too thick and wasn’t as crispy as I would have like it to be. The breadstick was warm and soft, though, and there was plenty of sauce-a must for me!

I don’t know what it is about the tie dye cheesecake that I love so much. It is just really good!

Worms & Dirt cup for Greg. I had a bite (or two) and I thought it was delicious!

Up Next: Our first park!

 

[Nermel9]

Yay, an update finally!

That's so weird the SW counter doesn't open til 4:30 when there are so many flights at 6, I wonder if people miss their flights because of that.

Glad your room was ready, Pop looks so cute! Brandon and I sleep in separate beds sometimes on vacation, it's nice to have so much space to yourself once in a while!

That penne looks so good, and the tie dye cheesecake looks awesome, I really have to try that someday!

 

[Joyciemc]

Sounds like an easy trip to Florida (minus the SW line!)

Tie-Dye cheesecake IS delicious! Who knew those colors could add so much flavor?

 

[shan23877]

That food looks delish!

Were you flying out of Ohare? We're considering Southwest for next trip because (for now) the fares are pretty reasonable, so your TR could prove to be very helpful!!