A Not So Scary Very Merry Wine and Dine Dashing TR *updated 12/27

[Jenna319]

Do you happen to remember what date the castle lights started at MK? I am hoping to see the castle lit up for Xmas on 11/5.

 

[dancingtodisney]

Part 4- If you are what you eat then I only want to eat the good stuff

It was time for one of the meals I had been most looking forward to..
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Can you guess where??

You must have it now!

California Grill baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FRICKEN EXCITED!!!!!

We were seated at our table which unfortunately was around the back (if you look at the picture above you would walk around with the bar area on your left and we were right around the other side. One good thing about this was that the area was a bit quieter which was nice.

First things first! Check out the cocktail menu!

I can not remember what we ordered to drink but they were all AMAZING :banghead:

On to the food! We decided to go with one of the flatbread offerings and some sushi to share.

Our server brought out some bread and salted butter, it was so yummy!

The oven-dried tomato flatbread

Dragon Roll

Look at us pretending to be posh!

More food pics

Sorry they're a bit dark! For desert we decided to share again!
We went with a sampler and the chocolate pudding...

YUM YUM YUM!!!!!

We were soooo full after the meal! It was absolutely delicious!​

Next up was our fireworks viewing from the balcony...

The special viewing area at California Grill is a really great bonus to eating here! Our server informed us that no matter what time of day you have a reservation you can return in the evening to use the viewing area for the fireworks which we didn't know! ​

We caught some photos of the electrical water pageant

Then it was time for hallowishes

It was amazing seeing the fireworks from a completely different perspective. We were surprised by how far away the fireworks are set off, when you're watching them in front of the castle they seem so close!

Look at the area these fireworks cover!

It was the perfect end to a perfect meal...
On our way out we got a quick photo

Random photo of me and Rachel walking to the car

And there you have it... Our first full day... From MK to Epcot to the Contemporary... SO MUCH FUN! ​

 

[dancingtodisney]

Do you happen to remember what date the castle lights started at MK? I am hoping to see the castle lit up for Xmas on 11/5.

I don't think it was until around when the first christmas party started which will be the 8th this year I'm afraid, I could be wrong but I didn't see them lit before then....

We are renting points at the Grand Floridian! First time staying there, I am SO excited!!!!

OMG! So exciting!! I'd love to stay there one day...

 

[BibbitybobityLu]

OMG! I totally didn't realise you had a TR going!!! I will have to go back and get caught up!

 

[miabellarose]

What a busy 1st day! Enjoying your trip report! My family and I are staying at ASMu and was wondering how you liked the busses. We're also going Oct 24th to Nov 2nd...how was the weather for you and did you like going during this time?

 

[dancingtodisney]

Part 1 - What's a motto? Nothing. What's a motto with you?

Early start this morning again as AK had EMH from 8am. I really like Animal Kingdom and am SO EXCITED for the new expansion, I love how you feel transported out of a theme park in Florida and into this beautiful jungle like place! It's so immersive and definitely the best themed park IMO.
On our route from the carpark to AK

We ventured over to Dinasour but it was out of action... BOO :arghh:

We decided to hop on Primawhirl instead

Empty Queue!! AWESOME!!

Look at that little face, she's super excited!

Here we goooooooo

STRETCH ARMSTRONG

Big climb ahead

Eeeeeeeeeeeek I'm SCARED :jawdrop:

This ride looks pretty tame (and is in the kiddy area) but MAN does it whip you around! We really enjoyed it despite slamming into each other a few times!

**TIP** This ride can be a bit of a slow loader at times so I usually hit it up early in the day..

NEXT UP.... ASIA

Can you guess what ride.... ??

Here's a VEHICAL

Three is not a good number... I was the lone rider this time

And we're off... Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Hmmmm what to do now.... I know! We'll just go on again!

Queue Pics

Ooooooh a yeti

I was clearly in a pic snapping mood...!

Aaaaaaaaah

Imagine waking up to THAT face? :cautious:

RIDE PHOTO Look at that dude beside Rachel.. tehehe :joyfull:

Our next stop was to meet the main man himself and his better half

This is one of my favourite places to meet a character, I love the set up and don't Mickey and Minnie just rock that safari look!

And... back to Asia we go

Animal Kingdom is just SO PRETTY!!!!

Our next stop was the Safari Ride....

ANIMALS

Hard to believe we are still in a theme park


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[dancingtodisney]

Part 2 - I wanna eat eat eat and eat until I die

We just about managed to squeeze in our Safari ride before it was time for our ADR at Tuskar House at 10.30am!! This is an ADR I've had three visits in a row now!

I was disappointed that the photo on the way in was not with Donald anymore! We got the pick free with our photo package and last time it was one of my favourites of the whole trip

Still a nice pic though

THEN IT WAS FOOOOOOOD TIME

I started with the breads and some yogurt and granola, see that juice in the background?? In case you don't know that's Jungle Juice and it's SOOOOO GOOOOD :hungry:

My next plate was hot food... MICKEY WAFFLES

Jungle Juice close up because it's AWESOME

First to our table was Goofy

HE'S MY FAVOURITE!!!!!!!!!

This was my THIRD plate.... (side note: I've not eaten breakfast yet and this is making SO FRICKEN HUNGRY)

***TIP*** If you book a late breakfast then you get to eat from both the breakfast menu and the lunch menu as it'll change over while you're there. It's really handy if you want to fill up until dinner! Just make sure you sample all the breakfast items you want early on or they might change over before you get the chance.

Next to our table was Daisy

Isn't Daisy so cute

Then Donald

We had to wait quite a while to catch the big cheese, Grumpy was eager to get over to the flights of wonder show so he went on ahead and got some seats!

Eventually Mickey around, he is a busy guy I guess!

Before leaving we each got a takeaway cup of iced water, it was a hot day and this was really refreshing! With heading to the show next as well so it was nice to have this with us!

We settled our bill and made our way over to the Flights of Wonder show where Grumpy had secured a good spot..

The show was really well put together and we were all very impressed at how well trained the birds were

The parrot was funny and was having a little bit of a off day, when asked to sign a song he just made some random noises and then eventually when the presenter was in the middle of speaking burst in the song unexpectedly!
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[dancingtodisney]

Our next stop after the Flights of Wonder show was a photo opportunity with some Jungle Book favourites! I'd never met either before so this was a new one! YAH FOR NEW CHARACTERS!​

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Big smushy cuddle​

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This was a really fun interaction, we got high fives and cuddles and each got separate photos as well as a group one​

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After our fun in the jungle we wandered over towards Dinosaur, along the way though we got a bit distracted. FIrst a cool photo spot with the might Everest​

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The we spotted Daisy with NO QUEUE so myself and Rachel took a quick detour, Grumpy was a bit charactered out and played around with his camera instead​

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BIG KISS for Rachel​

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[dancingtodisney]

Part 3 - Forget about your worries and your strife

Our next stop after the Flights of Wonder show was a photo opportunity with some Jungle Book favorites! I'd never met either before so this was a new one! YAH FOR NEW CHARACTERS!

Big smushy cuddle

This was a really fun interaction, we got high fives and cuddles and lots of photos!

After our fun in the jungle we wandered over towards Dinosaur, along the way though we got a bit distracted. First a cool photo spot with the might Everest

The we spotted Daisy with NO QUEUE so myself and Rachel took a quick detour, Grumpy was a bit charactered out and played around with his camera instead
BIG KISS for Rachel

Finally it was time for Dinosaur

Grumpy pointing out the obvious dangers

As you can see it was really busy AND the ride was down AGAIN... it just wasn't meant to be today!

We left and went to watch It's Tough to be a Bug and then made our way towards the exit.

Random Rachel pic

I have to note there that the construction in Animal Kingdom really does take away from the enjoyment of the park. There were boards up everywhere and it just didn't have that 'feel' that it had in previous years. We still had a great day though!

Bye bye Animal Kingdom

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[dancingtodisney]

What a busy 1st day! Enjoying your trip report! My family and I are staying at ASMu and was wondering how you liked the busses. We're also going Oct 24th to Nov 2nd...how was the weather for you and did you like going during this time?

Happy you're enjoying it!! The buses were alright for the most part, it was better obviously when they didn't share with the other resorts but we didn't have any major issues although we did drive a lot.

The weather was nice, it was mixed with some really hot days and some cooler days, the evenings were cool so we always brought an extra layer.

 

[dancingtodisney]

OMG! I totally didn't realise you had a TR going!!! I will have to go back and get caught up!

Yah... you found meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[dancingtodisney]

Part 4 - I don't like food. I LOVE it!

We spent a bit of time exploring our resort and chilling out in the room before heading to DTD for some shopping and food.

The construction all around DTD is such a nightmare! It took us AGES to get to Planet Hollywood for our dinner.

Lots of random things hanging from the sky

We ordered a big starter to share and some drinks.

MILKSHAKE

Our server wasn't great at all, we had to make a big effort just to get his attention to place our order.

Here's our food, lots to share, we ordered

I have to say… we were not impressed with the food either. It was OK but none of us would be in any hurry to head back. We spent quite a while trying to get a server to bring us our bill as well.

Random Fountain picture

We rambled around DTD and then made our way over to our SECOND reservation for the night. So I know what you're thinking… why two dinners? Well we just couldn't decide between Planet Hollywood and TRex. Myself and Rachel had been to TRex before and enjoyed the experience but had never been to Planet Hollywood. I'd always loved the look of the big Planet Hollywood ball and thought it would be cool to eat there so we decided we'd just do both and hence only getting a starter and drink in Planet Hollywood. I was actually glad that we made the decision to keep both after are not so good experience at our first choice!

There was a MASSIVE wait outside for TRex but I think we only waited about 5mins before being seated.

Mr TRex

The decor in here is fantastic

The view from our table back towards the entrance

The Ice Room

Our server was really good here and gave us lots of info on the alcoholic drinks available. The food was much better as well, I'm pretty sure we took food and drink pics but I can't seem to find them ​

 

[heidijanesmith]

Fantastic trip report, love all your pics!

 

[TeresaNJ]

Enjoying your report! Looking forward to the rest!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Hey Karen! I've just caught up with your TR, loving it so far!!! I'll try not let this message get too obnoxiously long

NOT SO SCARY VERY MERRY WINE & DINE DASHING TR!!

If this is implying you did MNSSHP AND MVMCP, as well as the Run Disney event, then this sounds like the greatest trip ever! I need to do this one day

Errrrrrrrrrm WOW.

She told me when I came back that loads of people had come up to her asking what this was and where to get it! It did not disappoint! SO YUMMY!

The exact same thing happened to me when I got a chocolate funnel cake at Epcot! Three different groups of people asked us where we got it from. I wasn't even a fan, but I can tell it's a crowd pleaser!

I enjoyed your little trip to Typhoon Lagoon, I haven't been there in a few years, but may just try it when I'm there next month. It looks so tropical and peaceful

Now I had read a LOT of trip reports before coming on the this trip and most people seemed disappointed with this ride. I wasn’t expecting an amazing ride…
Well we got in and took off on our mine train adventure… there was a brilliant atmosphere in our train, I think it might have been a lot of people’s first time riding but the energy was great and it was dark at this point too which I liked. The rocking motion is pretty cool and makes the turns feel really odd!

The next bit though was my favourite… We’re climbing up to exit the mine and the final dwarf (I don’t know which one? I was just so overwhelmed with everything I was seeing at the time!) shouts out ‘HEIGH-HO’ and everyone in the train shouts back ‘HEIGH-HO’ it was one of those moments that just gives you butterflies in your tummy and you really feel the magic of Disney! I was bouncing around in my seat at this point singing along as we climbed.

Omg, we had the EXACT same experience towards the end of our trip! We rode it on our first day and thought "yeahhh it was ok." But then we rode it at night and it was SO much more fun. And everyone on our train did the "HEIGH-HOOOO!" - I actually have it on video! It seems like night time is the best time to ride it, maybe everyone is starting to get deliriously tired and silly

We got a lovely picture on the way in that was included in our memory maker package

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Love this!

This was my starter... it was yummy! I was really looking forward to trying the famous strawberry soup.. to me it was just like a smoothie in a bowl but I liked it!

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I've only ever eaten at 1900 Park Fare for breakfast a few times when I was younger, but I have a dinner reservation for my upcoming trip Can I get your opinion on something though..?! I've heard SO many good things about the strawberry soup, BUT - desserts disguised as dinner items really gross me out and put me off... Do you think I should skip it, or at least leave it until the very end of my meal, or does it fit in well with the other dinner items?! I've heard someone describe it as "melted strawberry ice cream", and the thought of having that with, eg. chicken, makes me feel ill...!! That probably all sounds really weird, I'll stop talking now..

We were up early and made it to MK for the opening show but with the railroad out of action it wasn’t the same!

Oh boooo! The railroad is going down for refurb part way through our trip this year - what do they do instead?!

CUTE.

We had quite a long interaction with Goofy so Donald by this point was free and started taunting Goofy doing his usual Donald is number 1 pose... Well Goofy was not impressed and marched right over to tell him off. Donald was quick to react though and hypnotised Goofy! Goofy stayed still for ages in a complete trance...

Hahaha this sounds hilarious.

We stumbled upon this performance right as it was ending, I can't remember the name of the band (and tried to google it!) does anyone know??! They were AWESOME!

Is this the Main Street Philharmonic maybe? That's the name I always give them anyway

LOVE this photo!! Great unique shot.

Excited to hear what you thought of Food and Wine fest! It's my first time this year

All your photos of Chefs de France made me salivate

California Grill baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It looks sooo pretty! One of the main reasons I'm loving your report is you've already been doing a lot of things that I have planned next month! We're also going back to the California Grill for the first time since the refurb

I can not remember what we ordered to drink but they were all AMAZING :banghead:

This might make me sound crazy, but I NEED those Contemporary Resort stirrers *makes mental note*

Omg DROOL.

Next up was our fireworks viewing from the balcony...

The special viewing area at California Grill is a really great bonus to eating here! Our server informed us that no matter what time of day you have a reservation you can return in the evening to use the viewing area for the fireworks which we didn't know!

You are the BEST for sharing this info!!! THANK YOU. Our reservation is at 6, I was looking forward to getting some sunset pictures, but part of me wanted to push it back to watch the fireworks there instead. So we might just try going back for both, thanks!!!

Great shot, what camera did you use?? Your pictures are great quality

Part 2 - I wanna eat eat eat and eat until I die

I hear you girl.

We just about managed to squeeze in our Safari ride before it was time for our ADR at Tuskar House at 10.30am!! This is an ADR I've had three visits in a row now!

Ahh I've never been! So much to do, so little time...

I started with the breads and some yogurt and granola, see that juice in the background?? In case you don't know that's Jungle Juice and it's SOOOOO GOOOOD :hungry:

My next plate was hot food... MICKEY WAFFLES

Aaaaaaaaand I'm looking at reservations.

We rambled around DTD and then made our way over to our SECOND reservation for the night. So I know what you're thinking… why two dinners? Well we just couldn't decide between Planet Hollywood and TRex.

Two dinners! We should definitely be friends

Sorry I ended up writing a short novel here, I'm really enjoying your report so far! Looking forward to hearing more

 

[BibbitybobityLu]

Okay I'm caught up! Just an FYI the DIS seems to hard me today and this is the FOURTH time I've tried to do this comment!!

So hopeful it will actually let me do it this time!!

A Benefit vending machine! I’ve never seen one of these before...

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Okay I want on of these machines!! Such a cool idea!

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You all look so fancy!

Prince Charming was over right after... so.... how do I put this... he was a bit of a square! Probably the worst character interaction I've ever had, he literally had no personality and just responded with 'yes' and 'no' and then stood there posing waiting for us to stand beside him for a photo

We really enjoyed the interaction with the ugly sisters and step mother.

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I think this is the problem with some of the face characters that are, erm, just there for looks! They don't have any personality!

Next up headed over to meet Ariel… There was pretty much no wait. I love this photo, mid hair flick, you gotta try blend in with these princesses

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So true!

Ride photo!

as @TXMNie so kindly pointed out... LOOK AT THAT LITTLE GIRLS FACE

Ride photo number 2

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Oh my! That little girl! Shouldn't laugh....but can't stop laughing!

California Grill baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay! I love the Cali Grill!

First things first! Check out the cocktail menu!

Well...yeah! What else would you do?

The parrot was funny and was having a little bit of a off day, when asked to sign a song he just made some random noises and then eventually when the presenter was in the middle of speaking burst in the song unexpectedly!

Or was he having the BEST day? Sound like he was spot on to me!

Lots of random things hanging from the sky

Like a naked man in a weird plastic upside down cup

I have to say… we were not impressed with the food either. It was OK but none of us would be in any hurry to head back.

Yeah the food at Planet Hollywood is pretty rubbish

Okay while the DIS seems to be behaving I'm gonna stop! Before it breaks on me again and I lose my sh....I mean get a little bit annoyed!

 

[dancingtodisney]

Part 1 - I solemnly swear that I am up to no good

Today we spent our first day in Universal Studios. We were really excited to go to the new Harry Potter area and that did not disappoint. When you go to Universal there are pretty strict no loose article rules so I didn't bring my camera in order to avoid wasting lots of time queuing for lockers both to put your stuff in and then again to take it back out. This means I end up with WAY LESS PHOTOS obviously so writing a trip report without photos is not nearly as much fun. SO... my point to this ramble is that I'll keep the recap of this morning brief but don't worry we did visit Universal and IOA again and that time we took photos
So first ride of the day was obviously going to be Harry Potter's escape from Gringotts. I purposely avoided reading ANYTHING about this ride. A few bits slipped through and I'd seen the odd picture of the new area but really did not want to know, I wanted it to be a surprise, I LOVE NEW RIDES!!
The new area in Universal Studios is absolutely brilliant. We jumped in the queue and wouldn't you know the stupid ride broke down! I'd read that this was a regular occurrence but it was back up and running in about 10mins. We entered the bank and O.....M.....G it's incredible, I WAS IN THE MOVIE... like actually IN THE MOVIE... I haven't got my own pictures (as explained) so I've stolen some from google but even still I don't think they do the experience any justice. The goblins were REAL I'm telling you REAL!!!

The ride itself was great, of a similar standard to the Forbidden Journey in Islands of Adventure but different, both are fantastic rides. The Harry Potter section of both parks makes a visit to Universal a must in my mind. I'm not a massive Harry Potter fan but it's so much more than that.
We hopped on the Hogwarts Express over to IOA after exploring the area a bit (and witnessing some MAGIC) and this again was something I purposely avoided reading about. I did not realise that it was more than just a transport train that looked like the one in the movie, it was a ride in itself. Really cool!
In IOA we got on all the big guns. Hulk, Dueling Dragons (they're called something else now, don't care), Spiderman, Jurassic Park Ride & Ripsaw Falls. We then hopped back on Dueling Dragons (we describe Jurassic and Ripsaw as the 'wash' cycle and so we just had to follow it up with the 'spin' cycle on Dueling Dragons. I think we rode twice in a row. We were pretty wet afterwards and made our way out of IOA and grabbed some food in the Nascaar bar while we finished drying off.
The queues were minimal with the exception of anything Harry Potter related but even that was fine if you were there early and also seemed to die down again later on. I love rollarcoasters and thrill rides and Universal hits the spot there for us in a way that Disney doesn't so we always visit when we come to Orlando. Also HARRY POTTER PEOPLE...
I had searched online that morning to find a place to pick up some costumes for MNSSHP so we went there afterwards. We got ourselves home right away... we had a party to go to!​

 

[dancingtodisney]

Part 2 - Today is my new favorite day

We got ready in the room and Grumpy drove us to MK parking lot as there was a MASSIVE queue for the bus.
So..... Grumpy wasn't convinced that he should getting properly dressed up but I assured him that everyone would be and he'd look silly if he didn't. We parked up and immediately I was getting some serious evils from him. All the people around us getting out of their cars were either not dressed up at all and just wearing a Halloween themed t-shirt or some Halloween mickey ears. :cautious:
We got out of the car and started walking towards the monorail and luckily then spotted a few more people fully dressed up. We got to the MK gates, collected our wrist bands and went inside. Our tickets had been linked to our accounts online so we simply scanned our magic bands and we were in!
First thing we wanted to do was get a photo with the seven dwarfs. I'd heard this got really busy, we made it to the line around 6.30pm I think which was quite a bit later than planned. We stopped for a photoshoot along the way

I think this is for making him dress up ​

We joined the back of the Seven Dwarfs queue and it was already really long! We got chatting to some people around us which helped pass the time. When it hit 7pm (the official start of the party) we took turns leaving the queue to go get halloween candy and come back.
The candy spots were marked with a bright pumpkin light and you could also find them on the park map too.

Most times two of us would go candy hunting and take the third persons bag. The first one was right beside our queue and me and Rachel went over and picked up weathers original apple candies.​

They were really nice! Rachel became OBSESSED with these! You can buy them in Germany in Epcot if anyone wants to try them.​

Rachel and Grumpy went wandering next down the back lane between new fantasyland and Space Mountain. They came back with LOADS! They said there were about 3-4 stops just along that trail.

Finally it was time of our photo, it was the biggest set up I've seen for a Disney character photo​

The picture itself felt quite rushed and you don't get a lot of interaction with the dwarfs. I did eye up some of the gems though and Grumpy (the real one) was quick to shake his fists at me and give me a telling off.
The queue took AGES and the dwarfs took more regular breaks than you would see with other characters, they picked up those buckets of gems each time they left and followed each other away and came back.
Right after we left we bumped into the wicked witch with pretty much no queue.
No apples for me thanks love... I'll stick with candy​

Rachel getting her shot​

Our next stop was new fantasyland to get some photos AND MORE CANDY
We came across Daisy and Minnie and decided to jump in Daisy's queue as Minnie was popping off to check her make-up!​

Candy time

Time for some more character interaction... SO EXCITED TO SEE MY FAVOURITE​

Snapping pics in the queue​

Do you know who we're waiting for yet?????
SWORD FIGHT WITH GOOFY​

And Donald was there too... added bonus

I think Donald was eyeing up Rachel's wand...

This is a really cute photo... Goofy is nailing his poses tonight!

We took another wander down that trail between new fantasyland and space mountain to pick up LOTS MORE CANDY
Sorry these pics are a bit blurry!​

So blurry they look like GHOSTS ​

It was time for the castle show to start so we found a spot to watch ​

 

[TXMNie]

So fun! Love the costumes. Great update.

 

[dancingtodisney]

Fantastic trip report, love all your pics!

I had SO MANY PICTURES at the end of this trip! It's great for writing a TR though because I took so many I always know what we did next!

So fun! Love the costumes. Great update.

I loved our costumes too it was so much fun getting dressed up
Thanks for following!

Enjoying your report! Looking forward to the rest!

Thank you!! I love writing a trip report when I have another trip planned because it gets me SO EXCITED!