Oct 2012, In which it was Cold and Blustery....updated 01/08

[ash-n-brensmom]

Aaahhhhh....October! A wonderful time to visit Walt Disney World. The weather isn't too hot...the crowds are not too full...Food and Wine Festival and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween parties are in full swing! This was our thinking when we were planning this perfect vacation to our Happy Place!

Best laid plans, for sure! And of course, we know what happens to best laid plans? Fate steps in and.....laughs as Hurricane Sandy blows in with cold and blustery weather. Who cares! We're at Disney, right?!

Welcome to our October 2012 Trip Report!​

Disclaimer:
First off, I would like to apologize right now for a few things...

1. I have been MIA from the Disboards since we got back. It's been over 2 months since we returned from this vacation and for some reason I have been in such a post Disney funk that I haven't even been reading other people's TR's or even really looking at the boards.

2. I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't take very good notes on this trip...actually, I bet this TR is gonna SUCK! But, I hope you will stay anyways...


Okay...let's get down to business...

Introductions:

This is me and DH....I don't have a cutesy name...DH on the other hand is known as Ferb, his fave character and they both are British!

These are our two DD's! Not the best pic, quality-wise, but still a great pic of them looking relaxed and happy to be at WDW!

On the left is Rapunzel, she is 8 and the right is Stitch, she is 12. Rapunzel is taller than Stitch and she is often mistaken for much older. She is a typical 8 yo girl..still loves girly princess stuff, loves to laugh and is finally getting more adventurous with her park rides! Stitch is named after her favorite character and who she is most like! Totally a fun loving goofy girl, but she is definitely moving along in her tweendom.... Moody at times, loves One Direction to distraction, and can be easily embarrassed by her Mommy!!


​

Chapter Links:
The Details
Day One
Day One: Part Two
Day One: Part Three
Day Two: Part One
Day Two: Part Two
Day Two: Part Three
Day Three: Part One

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

The Details:

When: October 22-30, 2012

Where: Wyndham Bonnet Creek and Art Of Animation

How: Jetblue down from Buffalo, NY and Airtran back

Why: Seriously, do we need an excuse?! But, the 25th was our 15th Anniversary, so I guess that counts!​

The plan:

We had 6 day base tickets that we got from participating in the YES program, it was our first time trying this. The discount was awesome, they have since changed the ticket discount structure so you don't save as much. We would be doing MK 3 days and DHS, Epcot and AK one day each with a night at MNSSHP on one of our MK days. I had talked Ferb into staying an extra night this year so we could take advantage of the pools at both resorts and bask in the Florida sunshine. Yeah, well we can kind of see where that plan went...​

T minus 24 hours:
We live in Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada....Honeymoon Capital of the World!
On the day before we left for our trip, there was an International Marathon that ran from Buffalo, NY USA to Niagara Falls, On Canada. My department at work runs a water station every year and we volunteered this year. The girls and Ferb came along and it was great fun! Plus, I work midnights and it was a great way for me to regulate my sleep pattern before we were in WDW. I got out of work at 8 AM on Sun, went home and got everyone up and we all got ready to be out in the chilly morning weather handing out water. We spent a very fun few hours doing something good! Then when we got home I made sure we were all packed and ready to go for the next morning. They had a dinner for the volunteers at a local hotel, so we ate there and then went home and CRASHED! I slept like a baby, the rest of the family took something to help fight the Disney excitement!​

 

[homeschoolmomof4]

Looking forward to hearing about your trip!! I'm especially curious about Bonnet Creek. With a family of 6, we're alway looking at more economical ways to visit Disney.

Ah tweendom. <insert shudder here> My daughter is 18 now, but those tween years were rough. My only advice is that if your daughter is a reader, read some of the books she does and since she's into One Direction, give the music a shot. I think finding common ground was the only way DD and I survived the tween/teen years.

I honestly haven't been on Dis for a couple of months either. I always go into a Disney funk as well. I'm starting to plan a possible trip for next December, so I'm pulling out of my funk slowly. Have you started thinking about another trip?

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Day ONE!!!! ​

Our flight on Jet Blue was at 10:10 AM. A little late for this crew, we prefer to arrive at MCO before noon, but this was the only direct flight that got us there before the afternoon fully set in. This was our first JB flight ever, we usually use SW, and we were excited to get TV's!

After a wonderful night of sleep for all of us, we got up at 5...yes I said 5!! The airport is about 45 minutes away, but Ferb is always nervous about driving across the border and what if we get pulled over for random inspection?! So, we were showered, packed and in the car at 6:45! We stopped at Tim Horton's for some light breakfast...and on the road to the airport by 7. And guess what time we pulled into the airport? Yep.....7:45!

The good thing about those slightly later flights we found out, was there was no one in line for ANYTHING! The JB counter had NO ONE!! The security line had next to NO ONE!! We were at our gate by 8:15...yeah, I did say the flight was at 10:10! But, when we got there we realized it was a good thing we were early...they had moved up the flight....by FIVE MINUTES! Wow, good thing we made it in time! Thanks, Ferb!

We killed time by getting something more substantial for Ferb to eat at the food court, a breakfast Stromboli or something to that affect, and the girls and I got smoothies. This is a tradition for me and the girls...we love those smoothies! Sorry, no pics...we didn't take any food pics this trip, I wanted to be sure not to be tethered to the camera as much...I know, epic fail for a TR.

We wandered around the airport terminals, stopped and bought gum because we forgot beforehand....watched some planes take off...took some pics...

Finally we got to board the plane!
We are used to the SW cattle call...this was much smoother, not saying I won't fly with SW again, but the price and the schedule would have to beat JB!

Who's excited!!!???

 

[Disneychix]

Lovely start! I am from WNY so I know all about how easy our airport is to get through. And thank god for that! Glad you were able to pass the time somewhat quickly!

Can't wait for more!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

We had a lovely flight with JB...no issues, no snags or snafus...just a peaceful flight. The girls loved having TV's and sitting in a row without us! And Ferb and I enjoyed the time alone-ish...I had my Kindle and he had his Ipod,so we were good!

Love taking pics mid flight!

Getting ready to land!!!

We landed 15 minutes early! YAY!! We hightailed it out of the terminal and road the fake monorail! Can't believe I didn't take any pics along the way...but I remember feeling disoriented since we flew into a different area using JB....we found our way to the elevators and Ferb took the girls to grab our luggage and I took all the carry-on with me to the rental car area and practically walked right up to the counter to claim our car.

Edited to add....
Ferb to the rescue!!! He had been taking pics on his Ipod...his NEW 5th generation Ipod that he got about a week before we left!!

Palm Trees from the fake monorail! Proof that we were finally on vacation!!

Now, we rented with a secondary company located in the UK. Until this trip they had offered a special rate for US, Canadian and UK drivers that included all insurance with the rental. We booked with this rate and then they decided to change it to only include UK drivers. We went back and forth with them and they finally honored our reservation as we booked it. So, Alamo was providing the car, but we paid and booked with uscarhire.

I was expecting trouble when I got the counter, but the only trouble I has was with the lady trying to upgrade my car. Telling me we wouldn't all fit in a midsize with our luggage! I said, Lady, we just fit all of us and all of it in a Honda Civic...we are good! Nice Try!

I met up with Ferb and the girls and we went across to pick out our car. Done and done we got a Toyota Corolla ...we headed out to Wyndham Bonnet Creek! We own with Wyndham and we have stayed here previously so we knew where we were going and what we were to expect...we love Wyndham Bonnet Creek!!

Ferb's pics again to the rescue!!
Who's happy we are on our way to WBC and WDW? I am!!!

Driving through the gates to get to WBC...love the location!!

We arrived at WBC at 1:50 and didn't expect to have a room ready...their check in time isn't until 4 and we figured we would hang by the pool, go get groceries for the week and then get in our room later. We checked in with no problem, asked for a room in tower's 5 or 6 and got tower 5!! And our room was ready!! We headed over there and checked out the room before we brought anything in. If any of you have read my previous reports, you will know that we found bed bugs in Jan 2012 and have become obsessive with checking before we move in. Thankfully we found them before we moved in that time!

I apologize for the lack of pics...again...but here is a thread with lots of pics from WBC...
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2701195&highlight=bonnet+creek+photo

So, beds checked....luggage moved in....off to the store? Nah..we can do that later!! Lets go swimming!!!! We were hungry at this point so we grabbed lunch at Escudos by the pool...lunch was great, we really enjoyed sitting in the sun by the pool...we swam for a bit, got in the hot tub and and Stitch and Ferb were getting tired. They headed up to nap and Rapunzel and I stayed and swam some more.

We had dinner reservations for our traditional arrival night restaurant! Raglan Rd, which we missed in Jan since we got waylaid by the bed bugs! We didn't want to miss this time, so we all got ready and headed out to DTD!! The location of WBC is amazing! And having a car to use really makes a huge difference when traveling to the parks and especially DTD!! We were right up the road!

We parked around 5:45 and we had an hour to kill...so we walked towards the Phineas and Ferb experience...we really wanted to try this!!
They had some Halloween decorations along the way...

Rapunzel thought this lady was cool!!

The Phineas and Ferb experience was pretty neat! Stitch wasn't too into it, I think she was too embarrassed ...Ferb, Rapunzel and I loved it!!

We bought Ferb his big vacation souvenir there as well...a talking Ferb! He had wanted it on another trip but didn't buy it! So now, with talking Ferb in hand, we headed to Raglan Rd!!!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Looking forward to hearing about your trip!! I'm especially curious about Bonnet Creek. With a family of 6, we're alway looking at more economical ways to visit Disney.

Ah tweendom. <insert shudder here> My daughter is 18 now, but those tween years were rough. My only advice is that if your daughter is a reader, read some of the books she does and since she's into One Direction, give the music a shot. I think finding common ground was the only way DD and I survived the tween/teen years.

I honestly haven't been on Dis for a couple of months either. I always go into a Disney funk as well. I'm starting to plan a possible trip for next December, so I'm pulling out of my funk slowly. Have you started thinking about another trip?

YAY!! Thanks for joining us! It's so true about those Tween years, you walk a thin line between Mother and Friend. Glad you survived!! And that post Disney depression, can only be truly cured by booking another trip! And yes, we are in the middle of planning for Sept!!

Oh,and we love WBC!! Have you looked at the threads on the Orlando Hotels and Attractions boards?

Lovely start! I am from WNY so I know all about how easy our airport is to get through. And thank god for that! Glad you were able to pass the time somewhat quickly!

Can't wait for more!

Thanks for joining in on the fun!! Where abouts are you located? I am from Tonawanda originally! We love the Buffalo airport! We had to fly out of Toronto once....NEVER AGAIN!!!!

 

[Disneychix]

Thanks for joining in on the fun!! Where abouts are you located? I am from Tonawanda originally! We love the Buffalo airport! We had to fly out of Toronto once....NEVER AGAIN!!!!

Hey, I'm from Tonawanda too! Small world!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

Hey, I'm from Tonawanda too! Small world!

SCARY!!! Okay, let's get more specific here...I'm from the Town of Tonawanda.....what about you?

 

[jenseib]

joining in

 

[Disneychix]

SCARY!!! Okay, let's get more specific here...I'm from the Town of Tonawanda.....what about you?

I grew up in the Town (went to Hoover and Ken West, DH went to St Andrews/Ohara) but currently reside in the City (at least for a few more weeks until we move to Amherst!).

 

[khertz]

Joining in!!

Glad you experienced a good travel day. We had a later flight too, and wasn't it so wonderful? We didn't wait in line for anything either! Definitely different from leaving first thing in the morning with everyone else!

Love the Phineas & Ferb pics, especially the one petting Perry! I hope it is still there next time, I'd love to do it with DS.

Looking forward to more!

 

[tifaas]

Hi there! So glad to see you started your trip report. I was hoping to see how it went with all the plans. I love Jetblue for our non stop flights as well. Loving the pictures so far. Ya'll look like you had a blast and hooray for the talking Ferb.

 

[blessedby3]

Im in! I cant wait to read about your experiences since we were there at the same time. I really need to start my TR as well.....

 

[oopsiDAISY]

You're here!!! So glad you got this started...I was one of the "off chance" folks still stalking your PTR....

Now to go back and catch up with what I have missed on here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And I am back with comments:

This is yet again making me miss Disney...that Disney funk just creeps up and grabs hold of you doesn't it??? Just reading the TR's you put yourself there in your mind while you follow along on other's adventures....and it just isn't the same.

So glad no bed bugs this time!

Can't wait to see how your dinner at RR was...

 

[jenny105]

I'm here!

I love, love, love JetBlue! They are my favorite airline by far.

That lady in DTD creeped me out! I saw her take a picture with someone and she put them in what looked like a chokehold and wouldn't let them walk away!!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

joining in

Yay!!

Joining in!!

Glad you experienced a good travel day. We had a later flight too, and wasn't it so wonderful? We didn't wait in line for anything either! Definitely different from leaving first thing in the morning with everyone else!

Love the Phineas & Ferb pics, especially the one petting Perry! I hope it is still there next time, I'd love to do it with DS.

Looking forward to more!

It was pretty sweet! I thought we just got lucky, but I guess it was the time of day! The P&F Experience was fun! Quick, before you knew it they were taking the pic...but still fun and really cute!

Hi there! So glad to see you started your trip report. I was hoping to see how it went with all the plans. I love Jetblue for our non stop flights as well. Loving the pictures so far. Ya'll look like you had a blast and hooray for the talking Ferb.

Thanks for joining the fun! We had a great time and can't wait to go back....only 9 months to go..

Im in! I cant wait to read about your experiences since we were there at the same time. I really need to start my TR as well.....

Do get one one started!!! Post your link when you do so I can read along and see how things went for you!!!

You're here!!! So glad you got this started...I was one of the "off chance" folks still stalking your PTR....

Now to go back and catch up with what I have missed on here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And I am back with comments:

This is yet again making me miss Disney...that Disney funk just creeps up and grabs hold of you doesn't it??? Just reading the TR's you put yourself there in your mind while you follow along on other's adventures....and it just isn't the same.

So glad no bed bugs this time!

Can't wait to see how your dinner at RR was...

Haha!! I'm so glad you were there to see the link I posted! I didn't think anyone was left! I am back to my old self and can't wait to write this report! Then I can start on a new PTR!! What we do to get through the blues!

I'm here!

I love, love, love JetBlue! They are my favorite airline by far.

That lady in DTD creeped me out! I saw her take a picture with someone and she put them in what looked like a chokehold and wouldn't let them walk away!!

Thanks for jumping in!! It was a great flight! Can't wait to fly with them again, we got a credit that we can use for our next Disney trip! That lady was fun to watch, I expected her to do something while she was getting her pic taken, but I think she knew not to touch a kid...LOL!

I grew up in the Town (went to Hoover and Ken West, DH went to St Andrews/Ohara) but currently reside in the City (at least for a few more weeks until we move to Amherst!).

Okay, this is creepy! My brother and I went to St. Andrew's and he went to Ken West! It's hard to tell, but you guys look at least 5 years younger than us...I graduated from St Andrew's in '86 and my brother in '90, then he graduated from Ken West in '94. I wonder if he knows any of the same people as you guys. I went to Ken East, so different people for sure. What a small world!!

 

[ash-n-brensmom]

So now we are at DTD, we've done the Phineas and Ferb experience and we are getting hungry...I mean HUNGRY!!

I forgot to mention that on the way around DTD we stopped by Guest Relations. We had to pick up our YES program park tickets, and our MNSSHP tickets! This took all of 5 minutes and we were on our way!

We had reservations for Raglan Rd tonight! One of our all time faves at WDW and our arrival night tradition. We have been doing this since our first trip in Sep 2008 with my Cousin and her family, and we have been able to do this each year...except last year in Jan....by the time we got moved to our new room we were late, tired and frustrated. So we ate in.

Moving on...we had plenty of time to get to our 6:45 ADR and we were a little early. We checked in and got seated right away. We were led into the main dining room and got a table right at the stage. We were so excited, until we realized that the band and dancers didn't start until MUCH later. Like when we would be climbing into bed!

But, we got lucky and they had one dancer doing a little dance to pre-recorded music on the stage in the middle of the room. We ordered and she got up and danced right behind us!

I am of Irish descent and I love this music...so do my girls!! It was a fun way to pass the time!

On to the food....Ferb got the citrus glazed salmon, which he LOVED!! I got the steak...almost the best on property usually, this time, not as good, but still delish. And the girls ate burgers, one off the adult menu and one off the kids. Lots of food, too much food...is there such a thing? The thing we love here is the bread service...come with a guiness reduction...delish!!

Then all of a sudden the dancer got up on the stage right in front of us and did a longer dance there! It was awesome!! This pic is blurry, but you can see how close we were!

Then she got down from the stage and we made eye contact and got a chance to say how much we enjoyed the dance...our camera flashes probably gave that away! So she offered to take a pic with the girls!
I apologize for the red eye, couldn't get photobucket to remove it!

After dinner we wandered around the shop there for a bit, but we realized we were pooped and headed back to WBC...we were in bed by 8 and 9 kids and parents respectfully. Had to get up early the next day....gotta get there for ROPE DROP!!! Where to? You'll have to wait and see!!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

What a great night at RR! When we were there in March we were seated in the back room (music room) with a pole between us and the stage. Then we realized that only the band was playing...no dancers. We were delighted when two dancers came with a "barn door" (portable dance floor) and a Karaoke machine right to our table (literally only a foot from us). We felt like we were getting our own little show. It was a great surprise!

 

[Disneychix]

What a great experience at Raglan Rd! But what about the bread pudding dessert?