A Guide to Taking it Easy at WDW. Oct 2014 Mother/Daughter Trip Updated 3/6x2 The End!

[missjackiemcg]

I am such a runner when it comes to Disney trips--I plan everything like crazy and love to make sure I get it all in. Until I traveled there with my husband, just the two of us. He is the one who forced me to slow down and I really found myself enjoying a slower pace (once in awhile!) Can't wait to hear more about your fun trip with Mom

 

[Pluto0809]

This is so wonderful! Looking forward to more. I just took an Alaska cruise with my Mom who is 83, and it's so wonderful to be a mom/daughter traveling team!

I want to do an Alaskan cruise so badly! It's just hard being on the east coast because you have to add days before and after the cruise so it is almost too long of a trip to get off of work.

Damnit I am NEVER first I'll take 2nd place Your picture taking skills are getting better and better I can almost " smell " that Chik-Fil-A

So close yet so far away. I think I've finally got my camera mostly figured out. Someday you know they are going to invent scratch and smell TV. Well Disney sort of has that with Soarin', don't they?

POFQ I don't think gets as much love from Dissers that always want POR I think FQ is much prettier. Nice corner room and as a side note thanks for taking bathroom pictures with the toilet closed I HATE pictures with that lid up

It is a very pretty resort. I've now stayed at all four but I'll make you guys wait till the end of this report where I will rank all of them. You know I'm mean like that. As for the toilet I'll have to keep that in mind when I do pictures in December.

YAY glad you started! Sounds like it was definitely a different kind of trip, can't wait to hear all about it. Waiting at the airport must have been brutal, stinks that the wi-fi was so spotty. Your room looks really nice!

It definitely was different from any trip I've taken before. You know, the wait wasn't all that bad since I knew I would have to do it. Plus I rarely get time to just sit and read so that was kind of nice.

Can't wait for the rest of this TR! Loved the last one as well. We also love the Port Orleans resorts have stayed at both and we live the theming. We like french quarter because it's small but POR is our favorite when it comes to moderates.

Thanks! I've now stayed at all four moderates and will do a post at the end ranking them all.

Yay New TR! Looks like we passed each other along the way at the airport. DH had to come home from Afghanistan due to his mother falling at the nursing home she was at and ended up passing away. We decided last minute to get away and literally booked a room and booked a flight on Thursday and was in Orlando by 10:30am Friday! Maybe one day our paths will cross

Sorry to hear about your MIL, that's such a sad story. Wow, that's really short notice to take a trip. Our DME bus going home on 10/17 was 10:40 am so we did literally cross paths on the way.

 

[Pluto0809]

I'm here!

Hi Stephanie!

Great first update, though it sounds like you didn't have much to do while you waited at the airport. And I like the pictures of POFQ, I've never stayed there and while I doubt I ever will I still like seeing the theming!

I was actually fine waiting, I don't get to sit and read like that too often so that was nice. I probably could have done some more shopping but I just wasn't in the mood at that moment. POFQ is a very cute resort.

Checking in as well.

Great start! Looks like you had a fantastic room.

Hi! Glad you are here. Other than being a little further from the front than we liked, our room was wonderful.

Okay, I'm here, but I'll have to come back to read all about my favorite resort of all time! Loving the pics I've seen so far!

i'M HERE!!!! Thanks for the heads up!!! here before D!!! YAAAAAAAA HOOOOOOO

Hi Mo! You just had to taunt D~ didn't you?

3 hours in an air port. I might have gone stir crazy! LOL!! the room is beautiful! sorry you were so far.

I was actually fine with it because I knew I would have to do that and came prepared with books and magazines. Our room was very beautiful and despite being so far out, it really was not that bad.

You and your Mom are so cute. I love you two are so close! cannot wait to hear your re-do!

Thanks, we do get along really well. More coming up very soon.

Not sure I will make it to the first page... But, I am here!!!

You did make the first page! Thanks for reading along.

 

[Pluto0809]

Here Arianna.

Hi Rob!

I guess there are worse places to be stuck for 3 1/2 hours.

That is so true and I was fine with my book and soft seat.

Ah, that looks like my Disney travel snack. Oh so good.

That sandwich was very good but I still wanted the Chicken Minis.

It actually sounds like a great trip. Nothing wrong with taking it easy sometimes.

I think the fact that I was going back in six weeks time really helped me to relax on this trip.

Better late than never!!!! I am here to follow along Ariana... Anxiously awaiting your verdict of our beloved FQ...

D~

Hi D~! I'm going to be a bit mean and make you wait a bit longer on the verdict (where's the evil laughing smiley when you need one?). I'm planning on doing a ranking of the four moderates at the end of the TR.

Following Along
Monica

Hi! Thanks for reading along.

Great start, I'm looking forward to hearing about your mother-daughter trip! I never had the chance to do that with my mom, but look forward to doing this with my own daughters!

Thanks! Glad you are here reading along. I hope you have many wonderful trips with your daughters.

Those chicken minis at Chick-fil-A (that the airport didn't have!) are the best ever--little buttery biscuits of goodness!

You are not kidding! We've had trays of them brought into work and it's all I can do to not eat about 20 of them.

 

[Pluto0809]

Okay, read everything so far. I agree with Mo that it is so nice you are so close with your mother. Yes, even the most distant room is close to everything pretty much. And we love the boat to downtown Disney!

Hi Lois! We had a bit of bad luck with the boats but I'm getting ahead of myself there. That will be coming up later in the week.

It would have been hard for me to wait patiently in the airport when so close to Disney!! But, you do what you have to do.

I didn't think it was too hard because I knew in advance I would have to do it and came prepared.

My Mom had a bout of dizziness many years back and they couldn't do anything for her. It eventually went away as suddenly as it had come. But it took several months to do so. Hope your Mom gets some answers and some relief soon.

I wish Mom's would just disappear but she's been dealing with this for more than two years now so I don't think that is going to happen. I need to nag her a bit to make sure she goes again. We are planning DL in the next couple of years and I don't want her worrying about getting sick on that trip!

Can't wait to read more!

Coming up soon!

Joining!

Hi Marissa, thanks for reading along!

I'm here to read along!

Hi and welcome!

I had no idea there was a Chick Fil A at the Orlando airport. I'll probably never fly through Orlando since we live so close, but I like to know where all the Chick Fil A's are because I almost always need a fix. As a matter of fact, I know where at least 2 are along the 2.5 hour drive to Disney, just in case.

It's in the food court in the middle of the airport. Just keep in mind that it has a limited menu as compared to the actual restaurants.

The view from outside your room was very nice. We love POFQ but we haven't stayed in Building 7 yet. We are at POR for our trip next month.

This was my first time staying at POFQ and I think we would have preferred to be closer to the food court. Next time I'll put in a room request.

Looking forward to following along on your adventure!

Thanks, more coming right up!

I am such a runner when it comes to Disney trips--I plan everything like crazy and love to make sure I get it all in. Until I traveled there with my husband, just the two of us. He is the one who forced me to slow down and I really found myself enjoying a slower pace (once in awhile!) Can't wait to hear more about your fun trip with Mom

When I'm by myself, I never stop. But both my DH and Mom are much slower paced than me so I've learned to slow down for them.

 

[Pluto0809]

After Mom got off the phone with my Great Aunt, she told me that she really wanted to wait till her suitcase came so she could change into her sandals. She had worn her tennis shoes to the airport. My suitcase was there already but I did not bring any sandals that I could loan her. I will admit I was getting a little antsy at this point to get going but I reminded myself that this was Mom’s trip and we were going to do what she wanted. After about a half hour of waiting though, Mom decided she would be fine with her tennis shoes so we headed out.

We were both getting a little hungry at that point but didn’t want to eat too much since it was close to dinner time. So instead of heading to the bus stop, we went to the food court and got some Mickey ice cream. Mom got one of the premium bars and I got an ice cream sandwich. No pictures as they were melting too fast. They had them in the ice cream case in the food court and I think all of the times the CM opened the case to make ice cream cones caused them to be quite melted.

We finally headed out to the bus stop sometime after 3:30 pm. I guess that isn’t too bad considering Mom didn’t land till 1:15 pm but it still felt like a long time to me. I don’t have anything in my notes about the bus but I will say we had amazing bus luck this trip. We never waited more than 5 minutes other than the one time we decided to wait on a second bus because the first was too crowded.

We arrived at MK a little after 4 pm. Our first FP+ was for 4:45 – 5:45 and I wanted to use it towards the end of the time so we decided to do some shopping. First though, we made a stop to get a PP picture with the Halloween decorations. I was surprised to see no line at all at the pumpkins so we went there.





Our first stop was the jewelry store. I was on the hunt for both a Vera Bradley bag and a Dooney & Bourke. There were three different Vera styles I wanted to look at and the Dooney was a brand new pattern that just came out. The jewelry store had two of the three Vera styles and when I asked about the third, they said it was available at the new Co Op Marketplace. I decided to wait till I could see all three patterns before choosing one. As for the Dooney, I won’t keep you in suspense, it was sold out everywhere and I never did find it. I was kind of expecting that and am hoping to find it in December.

I hope you don’t think I left the store empty handed do you? Of course not. I also checked out the new Alex and Ani bracelets. There were two I wanted, one with just Pluto and another with Mickey and Pluto. They only had the Pluto one and it came in both silver and gold. I ended up choosing the silver one.



We spent a long time in the store so it was getting close to 5 pm by the time we exited and since we had only had a breakfast sandwich and a Mickey ice cream all day, we were pretty hungry. In February, Casey’s had been closed and since it is a favorite of ours, we headed that way. It wasn’t too crowded yet and we managed to find a table in the room where the bleachers used to be. We both got hot dogs and fries.



Since we weren’t on the meal plan, we did not get dessert. We were planning on getting something sweet later that night.

After dinner it was getting pretty close to the end of our first FP+ so we headed straight to that ride which was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. As I said earlier, I was being super lazy and the only picture I took during the walk to the ride was this:



No idea why I even took that photo except maybe to show the fact that it was crowded that day. We enjoyed BTMR as always although I was a little worried because it probably wasn’t the best choice right after eating. We made it through though with no problems.

One thing I forgot to mention is that I had been texting back and forth with my friend Katt. She is katt789 on here and was one of the very first DISers I started talking to when I joined the website. She was in MK that day and we were trying to coordinate a meet. She was in Fronterland waiting for the Ho Down to start when we were boarding BTMR so we decided to meet right after the ride.

I’ve followed Katt as she has attempted for the last two years to become a CM at WDW. Well, she was accepted to the Cultural Representative Program and started working at Epcot a few days after this meet! She is writing a TR about her adventure so if you are interested in reading about it, here’s a link.

Something’s Starting Right Now! A year of working for Disney

Any way, we met up briefly right as the Ho Down ended. We chatted for a few minutes and then she and her friend headed out of the park to go get drinks at the Poly. I didn’t get a picture this time as it was our 3rd time to meet up in WDW. But here’s a photo from when we saw each other in February.



We had a bit of time before our next FP+, so we walked through the pin store and I found three new Pluto pins that I did not have. Because of the amount I spent, I could get a hidden Mickey pin for a couple of dollars so that’s where the Dale pin came from.



As many of you know, Big Al is one of my favorite Disney characters and since we were right there, I suggested we pay him a visit. Mom was fine with that and we were both relieved to get out of the heat for a few minutes. It was very hot the first few days of our trip and even though I live in the south, I don’t spend hours at a time out in the sun so the heat got to both of us a bit this trip.

I finally put my camera to some use and got some pictures of the show.

























After the show it was time for our next FP+ so we headed in that direction.

Up Next: Step 3: Leave the Park Long Before Close

 

[missangelalexis]

Love your Halloween purse!

Great Alex & Ani choice!

Yay Country Bears, great pics.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

That is impressive. The pumpin Photopass always had a line when I was there during LOW crowd times.

And wow again. Getting a seat at Casey's at 5pm is also impressive. Simple yet delicious.

Haha, I constantly shoot random photos like your Frontierland shot. If I didn't I'd have no clue what I was doing when writing the TR, lol.

Katt was in Disney?? What??? Wow, what are the odds? Yeah I know, this time she was staying, but it still needeed to be said.

Hahahaha I was just going to say, wait, isn't that TOmorrowland? Did they move the Hoe Down?

Awww Big Al...

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Love the bracelet and pins!

Good thing BTMR didn't upset your stomachs right after eating. and yay for Big Al!

 

[rteetz]

Love the Country Bear Jamboree and especially Big Al!

My mom is big with the dooney and Burke bags not surprising it was sold out. When I go in January my mom wants me to look for her.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Look at all that pluto merch. Great choices.

Lovely pictures.
Pity about the D&B.

 

[Chicago Mo]

​

Happy Halloween!

The PP pictures! well all your pictures! and yes it was crowded isn't it!

the scariest thing i have seen all day today was the ketchup on a hot dog

 

[MEK]

Subbing in! Just back from vacation so I am very slowly getting caught up.

Great start to your trip! LOVE the room and resort pictures. Just lovely!

 

[Pluto0809]

Love your Halloween purse!

Thanks! It is a custom made by someone here on the DIS boards.

Great Alex & Ani choice!

There were a lot of cute choices but you know I wouldn't get anything other than Pluto.

Yay Country Bears, great pics.

I don't know why I love that show so much! Probably because I love bears and it has a lot of fond memories for me.

That is impressive. The pumpin Photopass always had a line when I was there during LOW crowd times.

I know, I couldn't believe there was only one family in front of us.

And wow again. Getting a seat at Casey's at 5pm is also impressive. Simple yet delicious.

I think we got very lucky there as a table opened just as I walked into the room. It was definitely crowded and we were planning on walking across the street to the Tomorrowland Terrace.

Haha, I constantly shoot random photos like your Frontierland shot. If I didn't I'd have no clue what I was doing when writing the TR, lol.

That is very true, I do that occasionally too which is why I might have that shot. I took so few photos on this trip though, that you guys are going to get even the random shots.

Katt was in Disney?? What??? Wow, what are the odds? Yeah I know, this time she was staying, but it still needeed to be said.

You are right, she is always there! We've met up three times in the last two years if that tells you anything.

Hahahaha I was just going to say, wait, isn't that TOmorrowland? Did they move the Hoe Down?

Nope, I was just too lazy to take a picture this time.

Awww Big Al...

Had to get some pictures of my guy! I can't wait to actually meet him in a few weeks!

Love the bracelet and pins!

Thanks, I had some great luck finding Pluto stuff this trip despite having been there a few months before this trip.

Good thing BTMR didn't upset your stomachs right after eating. and yay for Big Al!

It's kind of funny but I usually get sicker when my stomach is empty than right after I eat.

Love the Country Bear Jamboree and especially Big Al!

Me too! He's probably in the top five of my favorite Disney characters.

My mom is big with the dooney and Burke bags not surprising it was sold out. When I go in January my mom wants me to look for her.

I wasn't surprised either. I really did not need the bag as I already have 3 Dooneys. But this new one has Pluto on it so it is a must for me. Make sure you check out the new Co Op Marketplace at DTD because they have a huge selection.

Look at all that pluto merch. Great choices.

Thanks, I was surprised to find so much new stuff.

Lovely pictures.
Pity about the D&B.

I wasn't surprised they didn't have it but hopefully I can find it in December.

​

Happy Halloween!

Thanks!

The PP pictures! well all your pictures! and yes it was crowded isn't it!

It was definitely crowded. Wait till you see the wait time for HM in the next post.

the scariest thing i have seen all day today was the ketchup on a hot dog

Sorry! But I put ketchup on just about everything.

Subbing in! Just back from vacation so I am very slowly getting caught up.

Hi! Thanks for checking in.

Great start to your trip! LOVE the room and resort pictures. Just lovely!

We really did enjoy our room and the resort.

 

[Pluto0809]

Our second FP+ for the evening was Haunted Mansion. I wasn’t sure it would be necessary but when I saw the wait time, I was glad we got it.



We did wait a little bit in line and I tried to get some good pictures of the HM. My cousin had asked me to try to take some background pictures she could use for digital scrapbooking but I didn’t have a lot of luck that week due to the crowds.







I didn’t even bother to try pictures on the ride as mine rarely come out.
After visiting the 999 haunts, we decided to check out the new HM store, Memento Mori.



It had just opened recently and was therefore packed. There was actually a line to get in and they were only letting people in one door and using the other as an exit. Mom and I spent quite a bit of time in there checking out the merchandise but did not buy anything. Mom did consider a set of bookends that were the busts from the library but she decided to think about them since we would be back later in the week.

We made a quick bathroom stop on the way to our next FP+.



We were still pretty early for our next FP+ and Mom had never been in the Castle Couture store so we walked through there then headed across the way to Sir Mickey’s which is now “Frozen land”. I took some pictures of the castle as we walked.





It was about this time that Mom told me she had gotten up at 4 am that morning. No idea why as her flight wasn’t till 11 am. She just said she had stuff to get done before she headed out. So combined with that and the fact that I got up at 4:30 am, we were both starting to drag at this point.

Our last FP+ for the night was at 7:55 – 8:55 pm for the 7 Dwarves Mine Train and we used the FP+ right at the start. I tried to get a few pictures of the Dwarves cottage as we walked through the line but they came out a bit dark.





I did not get out my camera during the ride since this was my first time on it and I really wanted to enjoy it. But at the end we did stop for a minute in front of the cottage and I tried to get a picture of Snow White and the Dwarves.



Not the best picture. So what did we think of the ride? I really enjoyed it but Mom was a little disappointed. I think I was fine with it because I had seen the video of the ride online and knew what to expect. Mom thought there would be a lot more to the ride.

They really went all out for the pictures on this ride. You get two separate pictures plus a video. Hopefully I will get the video posted correctly for you but first the two photos.





And here’s the video (click on the picture to view):



When we got off the ride, we decided we were done for the night even though MK was open till 3 am. We were a little hungry and did go looking for a snack on the way out. We stopped at Storybook Treats but didn’t want ice cream since we had that earlier. Then we headed to Cheshire Café because I wanted one of the chocolate mocha cake cups but unfortunately they only had birthday cake and strawberry versions. So we moved on. As we headed towards Main Street, I decided to take some more castle shots for my cousin’s scrapbooking projects. And since I took so few pictures on this day, you are getting all the versions that I took.









We fought our way down Main Street because it was really crowded with people waiting for the parade. We finally ended up at the Confectionary and got in line at the candy counter. Mom decided on a caramel apple which she had them cut.



I went back and forth between several items and ended up deciding on a Mickey Head brownie.



We took our snacks to go and headed out of the park before the first MSEP at 9 pm.

Back in the room, we unpacked and dug into our snacks. Mom loved her candy apple but my brownie was just awful. The ears were some hard chocolate, they tasted almost like the cheap chocolate pieces you can buy to melt for candy molds. The brownie part just tasted stale. I only ate about half of it before it went into the garbage.

One more picture for this update. I did a ton of pin trading on this trip so I will post my pin trades at the end of each day. I have no idea where I traded for most of the pins at this point. Not only did I trade for Pluto ones, I also picked up ones that caught my eye. I also got some Donald ones for Jim and Cheshire Cat ones for my Mom. First day though I only traded for two.



We hit the bed pretty early that night and also decided not to rush the next morning. I ended up setting the alarm for much later than I had originally planned.

Up Next: Step 4: Sleep in and Throw Rope Drop Out the Window.

 

[missangelalexis]

That FP for HM definitely came in handy!

Cool pics and video from the mine train!!

Don't blame you guys for heading out early, you had a long day!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I can understand I guess why some people would be disappointed with 7dmt if they are expecting more, but I liked it too! I do really look forward to the 2 pictures and video when we go. No pictures yet when I went in May since it wasn't officially open for 5 more days!

That's not good that your brownie was so bad.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Oh my I so love the HM. The detail on just the outside is remarkable. Love it.

Ooh I aso love your Tangled Tinkle Spot photo. Just the perfect time of night. So pretty.

I think I'm with your Mom on the 7DMT. I expected more. What they did was great, but I just wanted more. However, I am EXTREMELY upset that I wasn't even aware there was a ride photo. No idea how I missed that. But at least now I know...

 

[JnKinVA]

Wow, it's amazing how a week can be so different from someone else's trip. HM even with standby was no where near 45mins! And Momento Mori was hardly packed when we were there although they did have the entrance and exit still going.

I too was eyeing those bookends....and everything else in there lol

I liked the ambiance of 7DMT but the roller coaster part was just ok.

I think I am in WDW withdrawal! I can't wait for the next trip.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

Only Casey's could actually make me crave a hot dog, yum! So the bleachers are gone now? Awe, so much has changed in the World since we took our last full WDW vacation.

Love the bracelet! Those are just too cute.

I miss my WDW friends!!! Hey D~... are you coming to Knoxville for Christmas??? I feel the need for another Cheesecake Factory meet!