5th timers 1st experience with DDP(free!) TR!

[lori1043]

We normally begin and end our trip with MK, but this time we had MK on day 4, which also happened to be a Tuesday, which also happened to coincide with MNSSHP. We have done that, on Halloween night, in 2003. It was pretty miserable crowd wise. We were thinking of going to this as I am SURE it would have been a different experience. So, since 2003, our rule has been "do not go to a the Halloween party on Halloween night". BUT since we had been there and done it, and we did have fun despite crowds way back when- we did not go this time. We did, however , enjoy seeing people dressed up slowly seeping into the park in the early evening!

We had a NINE pm ADR at WCC, which was NOT the original plan. Ohh, goodness, we got to go get our kids from a church function, so I'll add more later........

I will leave you with our typical morning....at least before we used DDP.... and on days we had late ADR's!

 

[portocall]

More please? Sounds good... and I need your report to help me get through the next 56 days!!!!!

 

[lori1043]

Okay, so maaaybeee i am talking to myself 'round here but i am still gonna get this done, for ME, to drag out the magic...............

My friends who I have been waiting for to get home from WDW got home tonight- so now I cannot wait to see our photopass pics-we shared a CD!

As you can see we the kids started their day with chocolate milk and pringles and we had a coke and a poptart, or just a coke........ or DH had coffee.

Ok, so I am tired of writing DH, DD, etc, so I will tell you our names, besides, most of you reading this already know us!

DH- Paul
DD11-Ashton
DD9-Haley

We were heading to MK........

and as always, we are in awe of Main St and the castle........ all decorated for fall, my personal favorite time of year. I anot a fan of the color orange, but I LOVE all the colors that the trees up north turn, as close to orange as that gets!

The weather while we were there was NOT unbearable. It sure wasn't cool, but for native southerners, it was a bit dryer feeling than the norm. And bearable...

So our goal was to get here at rope drop, right?
NOT today!! We were tired and needed to sleep in a bit, so we got there about 10:30 am.

My personal goal was to see the "small" things on Main St I read about.......like the phone in a store on Main St you can pick up and there are people talking, or the photo ops in the Kodak store........ but the kids were all about the rides this time and I figured i could see it later.....which never happened, BUT I also figure that a trip without my kids one day would facilitate those ideas, so it really didn't bug me that much.........

Fall/halloween displays...

Pictures of THE castle....

So I downloaded an app on Paul's iPhone about where some Hidden Mickeys are........the back of the blue ones head is one, but I kinda thought that was a forced one on the app makers part.......

If you ask me all 3 of them had hidden mickeys if you looked at them from the back........

I am gonna give a shout out to Jordan here: I now think it is hilarious that you devoted some of your trip to rating WDW resrtrooms. I found that we weren't in them long enough to bother noticing! But there WERE a few left to be desired.

We rode IASW, PPF(my FantasyLand favorite), CGC, seen the show in front of the castle(part of it), went to add a day to our passes at City Hall by a very cute young French guy.......b/c we had used a day for the 2 hour jaunt we did at MK on Sunday night already. Very worth the $12.43.

We were hungry, so we headed to Columbia Harbor House- a place we had never been, but HIGHLY recomended by a few gals on the NOLA Dis thread, one being Lorie, who makes it a WDW trip-ly tradition! I MUST add that THIS place will be a WDW "trip-ly" tradition for us too! Our kids asked us a few times to come back here to eat! It was the BEST CS meal we had the whole trip.

That salad and apple crisp were GOOD!

Full, very full, and walking back toward Dumbo, we spied Ariels Grotto- a place, even when our kids were younger, that we had never been to. The lines were short, for once, so we ventured there.......

My kids are so funny with characters still and this pick will be on our photopass, which I will share later b/c I do not have them yet!

We felt no need to do Dumbo, so we headed to Mickey's Philarmagic and again, walked right in!

 

[portocall]

YAY, that was fast! Thanks... and if you figured it out yet, you are most certainly not talking to yourself. And Day 4 already.. wow, the week is just flying by!

I can't wait to go to Columbia Harbour House. Really glad for the good review...

 

[lori1043]

YAY, that was fast! Thanks... and if you figured it out yet, you are most certainly not talking to yourself. And Day 4 already.. wow, the week is just flying by!

I can't wait to go to Columbia Harbour House. Really glad for the good review...

Thank you Cara!!!

It didn't feel like day 4 at the time b/c we had only been to EPCOT and MK so far!

But I will never end the vacation with AK again. I will tell you why when I post about that day. We just need to begin and end at MK!

CHH was really good. You feel like your in a TS when you only used a CS!

My hubby says we'd never pay for DDP- it was just too much food. Please remember that we have girls and they are finicky and so we felt a lot had been wasted, and we are not the type people who can casually throw food away very easily. We had to learn to on this trip, or skip a desert at a TS. The second to last day of the trip we still had 8 snack and 8 CS, and 1 TS left to use! I'll tell you about the 1 TS leftover also on the last day. Paul DID say, however, that the CS Dining Plan may work for us in the future. We just don't like quite how scheduled it made us each day.

Lori

 

[Stefy]

Yay another update I keep hearing alot of good things about Columbia Harbour House, must try this next year

I love Mickeys PhilharMagic, such a cool ride

The Carousel pics are so cute, you look like you are having so much fun.

Can't wait to read more

 

[Charleston Princess]

Hi, Lori! Your girls have grown up so much since your last trip report!!! We are all about Columbia Harbor House as well (except for Connor ) -- that apple crisp was quite good, wasn't it?

I just love Magic Kingdom all decked out for the fall and Halloween! So pretty!

 

[TigerKat]

Great update Lori! We love CHH too.

 

[shovan]

Lori, Loved your TR! It has me excited for our upcoming trip!

I really enjoyed all of your pics! Gave me a little Disney magic smile!

 

[mymainmouse]

Great updates! CHH is my favorite CS meal. I especially like the tuna sandwich. It also seems to be a little bit quieter than the others which is nice.
The food pics are making me hungry!

 

[lori1043]

Yay!! My friends are here. I didn't say that to MAKE you comment, I REALLY am going to finish this for ME!!! But I AM glad you stopped by!

Yay another update I keep hearing alot of good things about Columbia Harbour House, must try this next year

I love Mickeys PhilharMagic, such a cool ride

The Carousel pics are so cute, you look like you are having so much fun.

Can't wait to read more

We were having a blast and CHH was fabulous! I think the next time we go it'll be a place we go a few times!

Hi, Lori! Your girls have grown up so much since your last trip report!!! We are all about Columbia Harbor House as well (except for Connor ) -- that apple crisp was quite good, wasn't it?

I just love Magic Kingdom all decked out for the fall and Halloween! So pretty!

Connor doesn't like CHH??? I think I remember a referral to that.......

MK IS beautiful in fall!

Great update Lori! We love CHH too.

Thanks!

Lori, Loved your TR! It has me excited for our upcoming trip!

I really enjoyed all of your pics! Gave me a little Disney magic smile!

I hope you do a TR! Even if it is just a mini one on the NOLA board!

Great updates! CHH is my favorite CS meal. I especially like the tuna sandwich. It also seems to be a little bit quieter than the others which is nice.
The food pics are making me hungry!

I'll have to try the tuna next time! It was quiet, it really felt like a TS place to us for a CS price-even though the DDP was free!

 

[jordanyosh]

CHH....one of my faves! I LOVE the theming. I LOVE sitting upstairs. That apple crisp looks sooo good.

The restrooms right next to Peter Pan usually are gross, but the in 08, quite nice!

Is DH asleep?

 

[scoot241]

CHH looks yummy. Might be an idea for the next trip (whenever that is).

Might I ask where the NOLA thread is? I know, my location says Texas (and I'm always tempted to add an extra S on the end), but I was born and raised in NOLA. I've only actually lived in Texas for a couple of years.

 

[Ms Marigny]

Woo hoo! I got a shout out! I'm so glad you loved CHH! Did you sit upstairs? We love sitting up there overlooking the people coming and going through Liberty Square.

We can't do the DDP every trip either- too much scheduling for our tastes. But it is fun to do every so often to be able to experience so many restaurants that we wouldn't normally go to. We are thinking of going the QS plan next time too.

I'm loving your trip report! Keep it going! It is helping me pass the time until our trip in May, which feels like it will never get here!

 

[lori1043]

CHH....one of my faves! I LOVE the theming. I LOVE sitting upstairs. That apple crisp looks sooo good.

The restrooms right next to Peter Pan usually are gross, but the in 08, quite nice!

Is DH asleep?

Haha!!!No, he was standing in the que area probably playing on his iPhone!

CHH looks yummy. Might be an idea for the next trip (whenever that is).

Might I ask where the NOLA thread is? I know, my location says Texas (and I'm always tempted to add an extra S on the end), but I was born and raised in NOLA. I've only actually lived in Texas for a couple of years.

I see you have found us on the Nola thread! That thread is my home base on the Dis and there are a bunch of wonderful gals over there. We have now met more than a few times and we even have a transplant from the Bronx who is now a NOLA girl.

I will be adding to my TR very soon- hopefully today.

Lorie- yes, on your advice we sat upstairs by a window that was on the fantasyland side. The back areas were closed off! Paul tried to go over there for me but it was roped off. Paul and the girls LOVED it and we wondered how we have passed it by and never gone before. If i get the QS plan whenever our next time may be, we will go there a couple times. I thought about you while there and was so thankful for the advice-all of us were!

Lori

 

[zipuzee]

Lorie- yes, on your advice we sat upstairs by a window that was on the fantasyland side. The back areas were closed off! Paul tried to go over there for me but it was roped off. Paul and the girls LOVED it and we wondered how we have passed it by and never gone before. If i get the QS plan whenever our next time may be, we will go there a couple times. I thought about you while there and was so thankful for the advice-all of us were!
Lori

Was this at lunch that the area was roped off? If so, when we did the Keys to the Kingdom Tour, we stopped there for lunch and ate in the area upstairs.

 

[jordanyosh]

Haha!!!No, he was standing in the que area probably playing on his iPhone!

. I was wondering because it looks like he's standing up.

 

[lori1043]

Was this at lunch that the area was roped off? If so, when we did the Keys to the Kingdom Tour, we stopped there for lunch and ate in the area upstairs.

Yes, it was. The part that crosses over the street was closed off(where we wanted to sit). We saw that more of it was opened up as lunchtime progressed(the part over the street), but it was roped off in the back part of upstairs. Must have been for that tour!

Interesting!

Jordan- that iPhone was invaluable on the trip. With exception of that app issue, he also had an app with all the park maps, one with wait times of rides(which we still used just for info, but the wait times were not what actually was "real"). It was all pretty much walk on. The best was for checking into our SWA flight so we could all get "A" and sit together. My fear is to be in "C" and not be able to sit with the kids. Haley would NOT deal well with sitting next to a stranger! And I would be a nervous wreck the whole flight knowing that and worrying if a NUT was sitting by her.

Lori

 

[lori1043]

Okay, so here is the conclusion to day 4........

After the carousel, we rode the teacups. I ahve a GREAT video of Ashton spinning me on this ride. I do not like that ride and no one would go on it with her, not even Haley! So I rode and asked her not to spin to fast.......right............All I can say was focusing on my camera was a good thing!

Then we headed over to one of our family favorites: Tomorrowland Speedway! It has only been a family favorite since our last trip in 2/08. We rode it for the 1st time and the kids drove and even though those darned cars go 5MPH we had more fun trying to beat each other or taking pics, pretending we were speeding faster...the kids got thier licenses;

After speeding through the MK, we headed to the WEDway people mover(yea, I still call it that) or Tomorrowland Transit Authority, or whatever it is called these days.......we needed a break from heat and sun. On the site it said it was closed right now, but it wasnt.....we got some COOL pics of SM getting overhauled-well part of it. The lights were on inside and the spot where you normally see the glow in the dark cars of the SM cars going up the hill into the dark, was all lit...I took pics as fast as possible, but missed some of it.

Here are some of demo from the outside......

My personal hope, and I have stated it before, is that they update it to be a version similar to DL's Space Mountain. Paul and I LOVED thier version!!

Then we headed over to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin!!
Another family fave:

We also did Mikes Laugh Floor, Stitches great Escape, then headed for a snack- to our most favorite snack in all of Disney!

TA DA!!

and

So, after a little Aloha Isle cafe, and a water(HOT that day)

We knre MNSSHP was gearing up cuz those cups were being served now and there were more costumed people running amok!

Speaking of Aloha Isle Cafe, I was starting to get miffed in that line....I got in the shortest one, but of course, it wound up being the LONGEST one. The couple in frongt of me ordered a Dole Whip, the someone ran up to them and gave them money for another, then another person ran up and gave them money for ANOTHER one. I thought this charade was done, when the girl of the couple took off and then she came back with another order. The poor CM serving kept giving me an apologizing look. After these rude people finally finished getting everyone in thier party a dole whip-one by one- I finally was up. I swear I thought abotu giving them money for ours too!!
Anyway the CM was very apologetic, as he was in a tough spot, and made ours quickly and we chatted about MNSSHP(he was in the garb already as they were also switching shifts). You could feel the electricity in the air as it was twilight and we had about 2 hours left in the park(7pm closing).

We rode POC-gosh I LOVE that ride!!! I also love the store at the end of that one. Last 2/08 trip I bought a t that said, "The bearings(beatings?) will continue until moreal improves"- which I thought was a hilarious saying.

Then we headed to MY personal all time Disney favorite, Splash Mountain......don't believe me about wait times? Check this out!

Before fall;

at the top, mosying part.i thought it was cool seeing the castle in the clouds, or fog or mist or whatever......

After fall;

cont'd due to # of pics!

 

[lori1043]

After riding 2x, Paul rode BTM with Ashton, and Haley and I headed to HM....walking right on both!

The time was closing in on us so we started our trek to the exit, taking our time, of course.....

I love Halloween!

We had a 8:55 ressie at WL at WCC, where we were celebrating my brithday-since this was the birthday trip(I turn 40 on 2/2/10)- our gifts to one another.

BUT we hurried over the Ohana, to see if we could get in. Once again. This time,the computers were up and working and they quoted us 2 hours... well we tried 2x and we decided against it and got on the monorail back to MK to get the boat to WL.

One of our best meals. Our second time here. The last time had a BIT more meaning, being Ashton's 5 years off treatment celebration. This time was fun too, and my hubby got me a treat....
waiting in WL(1 of 2 of my dream places to stay)....

We were BEAT after this long day, but was looking forward to Blizzard beach in the morning, as well as a Character Bfast at my other dream hotel to stay in!

Lori