Hello everyone & welcome to my October 2014 Pre-trip Report! I can barely contain my excitement for my next trip to the World (even though it's over 300 days away ) so I figured now would be the perfect time to start my PTR! Without any further adieu, let's get started with introductions.
The Cast
Hi, I'm Mandy & I'll be your PTR guide!
This is Matt, Disney boyfriend & Dole Whip King
& last but not least is our beloved Stitch. Stitch came home with us on our very first trip to Disney in 2011
A few Disney pictures of us
This is our serious look
This is my favorite look.... us near food!
Non Travelling Cast
Unfortunately we can't bring our babies with us, but they are just as important!
From Left to Right: Oliver, Loki, & Minnie
Minnie's full name is Professor Minerva McGonagall, but we call her Minnie
Mandy, lover of Maelstrom & Sweet Cream Cheese Pretzels
Favorite Disney Movies: Aladdin, Lilo & Stitch, Peter Pan, Tangled
Favorite Disney Character: Stitch
Favorite Disney Princess: Belle & Rapunzel
Favorite Disney Park: Hollywood Studios
Favorite Disney Rides: Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Expedition Everest, Maelstrom, Pirates of the Caribbean, Living with the Land, TTA Peoplemover
Favorite Disney Counter Service Restaurant: Tangierine Cafe
Favorite Disney Table Service Restaurant: Ohana
Favorite Disney Snack: Dole Whip Float/Sweet Cream Cheese Pretzel
Matt, demolisher of Dole Whips
Favorite Disney Movies: Lilo & Stitch, Peter Pan, The Rescuers
Favorite Disney Character: Stitch
Favorite Disney Princess: Rapunzel
Favorite Disney Park: Epcot
Favorite Disney Rides: Test Track, Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, Splash Mountain
Favorite Disney Counter Service Restaurant: Tangierine Cafe
Favorite Disney Table Service Restaurant: Kona Cafe & Ohana
Favorite Disney Snack: Dole Whips, Dole Whips Floats, and Dole Whips in whatever form he can get his hands on! Should I mention that almost every snack credit he had last time was used on Dole Whips?!!
The What
A glorious 9 day trip to the World during Epcot's Food & Wine Festival! We are also visiting Universal/IOA for a day (Shhh! Don't tell Mickey ) Another first for us will be Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
The When
September 30 - October 8, 2014
The Where
We really want to stay at Art of Animation or All Star Movies.... however, we also want free dining & this year those resorts were excluded. So for now, The Where is still TBD.
One of my favorite things to do when I'm going to Disney is a Disney countdown! There are a few different ways that I enjoy counting down. I have the WDW Countdown app on my phone. Here is a picture of that from today
Getting close to being under 300!
But my absolute favorite thing to do is Disney Movie Nights! I actually stumbled across the idea right here, on the disboards. Here is a link to the thread - Post family Disney-theme night ideas HERE!
Most of the Disney Movie Night ideas I have seen entail a themed menu to go along with the movie, some sort of mini game/craft, and maybe some decorations. It's just my DBF & I on these trips so we usually skip the mini game or craft. Here are some pictures from one of last last year's Disney Movie Nights.
The Princess & The Frog
I was born in New Orleans so this movie is very special to me
Since our trip is in September, we have already had 2 Disney Movie Nights. I'll post a little about those in the upcoming weeks. However, since this report was started a year before the trip I have to save some things to write about! I will leave you with the list of movies we have decided on for this year's selection. It was so hard only picking these! However, I have a very special Mother/Daughter/Niece trip in the works for 2015 so there will be more movies for that trip
Disney Movie Countdown List Aladdin
Alice In Wonderland
Aristocats
Beauty and the Beast
Cars
Dinosaur
The Emperor's New Groove
Finding Nemo
The Great Mouse Detective
Hercules
The Incredibles
The Jungle Book
Lilo & Stitch
Monsters, Inc.
Mulan
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Up
Wall-E
The first Disney Movie Night for this upcoming trip was The Jungle Book! It's bee a while since either of us have seen it & it just seemed like a great idea. We tried to narrow it down to just 12 movies so that we could watch 1 per month until our trip, but we somehow ended up with 16. We are going to have 1 Disney Movie Night per month until ~3 months before the trip. There will be multiple movie nights 2 months before our trip & 1 movie night a week during that last month!
Now more about our first Disney Movie Night! For The Jungle Book, we decided on Indian food!
The Food
Matt & I both LOVED the Butter Chicken. I have never made Indian food before so I'm happy that it turned out so great. We've also never had naan before and we found that to be very scrumptious. When it came to dessert we cheated a little & got pre-made cheesecake!
Overall, everything was wonderful & we could not wait for our next Disney Movie Night!
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) so I figured now would be the perfect time to start my PTR! Without any further adieu, let's get started with introductions.
The Cast 
) Another first for us will be Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party 
