Well, its time to wrap up another portion of this trip report, so in order to do so, here are a few reflections on Buzz and my October trip:
Weather and Crowds:
On both days of the trip, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The temperature was pleasant for most of the day with the main exception being the time we spent waiting for the parade (lesson learned: find a spot with shade where its not too hot). The sky was a beautiful blue which was great for taking pictures, and we never got even a drop of rain the whole time we were there- a far cry from August and its daily afternoon thunderstorms.
The crowds at the Magic Kingdom were lower than we tend to experience when we usually go in August and December. The longest wait of the day ended up being
Pixie Hollow (about 30 minute wait plus another 15 waiting at the entrance for the rope drop), and the longest wait for a ride was
Splash Mountain (20 minutes). Most of our other waits never exceeded 10 or so minutes, and for a few that did, we used Fastpass to avoid the lines. I was a little concerned that the crowds would start pouring in after 4pm when the Halloween Party guests were let in, but even then, the crowds and waits werent any worse than before.
All Star Movies:
Both Buzz and I really enjoyed All Star Movies. All of the giant characters and photo opportunities were a lot of fun, especially
Toy Story which was undoubtedly both our favorite area. Im still a little bummed that we didnt get our room request to stay in Toy Story, but
The Love Bug was fine too. It was in the back of the resort so it was a bit of a longer walk to the food court and bus stop, but not bad at all compared to some of the larger moderate resorts. Like I said earlier, it did feel like everything was just a little smaller than what were use to at Pop Century (smaller rooms, smaller food court, smaller shop, etc.), but it suit our purposes just fine. And though I cant comment on their transportation to other locations, the buses to Magic Kingdom at least were running frequently, were never too full, and never made any stops at the other All Stars.
Like at Riverside in August,
Online Check-In worked great here. And even though our room was not ready when we arrived, the new system that allows them to text you your room number when it becomes available was fantastic- so much better than having to call the front desk and see if its available yet. A lot of the Cast Members both at the desk and elsewhere at the resort were fantastic- extremely friendly, helpful and willing to go the extra mile. It was a great experience, and Id definitely love to stay here again and maybe even try
All Star Music too since it looked pretty cool.
New and Rediscovered Attractions:
For me, I think one of my biggest surprises of the trip was the
Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Parade. I was really expecting it to be kind of cute that we would take a few pictures of and then leave after a few minutes, but it was really fun to watch and very well done. Seemed like a great addition to the parks entertainment offerings, and even if you dont normally like parades, Id recommend giving this a try. The
Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade was also a lot of fun. I loved a lot of the changes the made from the last time I saw it like the new music and float decorations, and a lot of the new additions to the character line-up of the parade were terrific with the always-fun Tremaines certainly being a highlight.
Also new for me this trip (though not for Buzz since he passed on it) was
Pixie Hollow. Ill talk more about the characters there a little later on, but in a whole, I thought that it was probably the best experiential meet-and-greet location Ive seen. It really did look great, and despite a less-than-magical trip down the shrinking hallway, it was still a fun experience. Finally, bordering on being a new and a rediscovered attraction for us was the new version of
Hall of Presidents featuring President Obama. The new version didnt turn me into a fan of this attraction, but Im glad I at least saw it.
Dining:
I think its safe to say that the undeniable dining highlight for the trip was breakfast at
Cape May Cafe. The food was plentiful and very tasty and both our server and the characters were great. If youre looking for a more low-key character meal or a nice resort breakfast buffet, this is a great place.
I was also really pleased with our counter service meals as well this trip. The shrimp basket at
Columbia Harbour House exceeded my expectations and turned out to be a great quick lunch. I really thought that the look of the
World Premiere food court at All Star Movies was really cool, and the food was typical or slightly above average from what you would expect to find in a resort food court, so thumbs up from me. Buzz enjoyed his meals as well. Another good trip for food.
Characters:
Considering we only spent one day in the park and did one character breakfast, Im kind of impressed on how many characters we met. By the end of the trip, I ended up meeting 18 different characters- including Tinker Bell, Terence and Fawn whom I had never met before and the White Rabbit whom I had never gotten an autograph from before- which isnt too much less than I met in two full days in the parks in August. It really seemed like there were a bunch of characters out in the park, and because of the lower crowds, a lot of them had shorter lines than I usually see, which was great. Even Buzz got into meeting the characters a little more than he usually does and got to meet Woody and Jessie for the first time.
Out of all the characters at Magic Kingdom, I have say that Fairies at
Pixie Hollow and the Tremaines were some of my favorites of the trip. Both groups were entertaining, great to interact with and really very funny. Theyre certainly worth looking for if you havent seen them yet. Other favorites for this trip were Goofy, Donald and Minnie at
Cape May Cafe as well as Donald in his Davy Crocket outfit in Frontierland. They were also a lot of fun and it was great seeing them in some different costumes.
Birthday and Halloween Events:
As Ive mentioned, this was our first time really getting to experience Halloweentime at Magic Kingdom. I really thought that Main Street looked great all decked out in orange and brown and the different scarecrows, pumpkins, statues and other decorations were a great touch. And though we didnt get to go to
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, what we saw of it looked really cool. Id still love to be able to do that someday. Unfortunately, being practically rushed out of the park even before scheduled closing time due to the Party was the low of the trip and put a damper on the end of the Magic Kingdom experience. I understand the desire to clear the park for the Party guests, but its no excuse to be grumpy with guests or say that 6:55pm is close enough to the time to 7pm closing to tell guests they cant even take a photo of the fountain off Main Street.
Of course, the main reason for the trip was to celebrate Buzz and my birthday, and what a celebration it was. As if getting
Free Birthday Admission wasnt enough, we had so many wonderful surprises throughout the trip from free birthday buttons at check-in, an autograph photo of Mickey and card in our room, little gifts and a free cupcake at a few of the restaurants, and more Happy Birthday wishes from cast members and other guests than I can even count! It was such a fantastic birthday and these little surprises were truly wonderful icing on the cake.
Well, I think that just about does it for October. It was a short trip, but such a great one! As always, if anyone has any questions I might be able to answer, please feel free to ask. Otherwise, thanks so much for reading. Ill be finishing up the December Pre-Trip fairly soon, so stay tuned for that.
I've always been drawn to Boardwalk, I'm not sure why but it just seems like such a neat theme. I must check it out!
, so it was back to the All Stars for us. Besides using up my Disney Dollars, a trip back to the All Stars would mean a little more time to get to explore the resort and specifically, more time to take pictures of the Toy Story area, something Buzz was very happy about. I got to the gift shop and lo and behold, no Cinderella pin sets. It had been the All Star Music gift shop! We figured wed stop by on the way out and (hopefully) get those pins at last. 
It wont be long now. 
