A SPINETINGLING Tale of a SPOOKTACULAR Disney Visit 10/20-26/2013

[ElenaJane]

Enjoying your report. Thanks for posting.

Thanks "Credit Man"! Interesting Alias

 

[ElenaJane]

OCTOBER 24th MNSSHP take 2!

Will got up early with me this morning so we could eat together at Roaring Forks. He got the “Breakfast Flatbread” that was a flatbread with eggs on it and tasted better than it sounds!! I got the “Bounty Platter” which had eggs and potatoes and a biscuit and pancakes. Lots of carbs needed for you know, for sitting for many hours at a conference!

I had more time than yesterday, so I wanted to use Disney transpo to get to the Dolphin. I took the boat to MK and the sun was rising and it was all very serene.







As I was heading to the Dolphin bus, hordes of people are coming towards me to MK (EMH that morning). Two different men shouted out to me “You are going the wrong way!!”. I think they were just teasing me, and did not think I was really that lost. I hope. I gathered at the Dolphin bus corral with some other conference badged peeps. Again, conference, blahblah, learned a lot. I met up with a friend and we had time for lunch. There was a place I had been dying to try….



Beaches and Cream!



I got the grilled cheese and tomato soup. Yummmm! And, when in rome….I got a malted chocolate milkshake to go as well.



The milkshake was delicious, but I really wanted the Gold Rush (peanut butter and chocolate), but without Will to share it, I passed. Fortunately the people next to me got it.



Then sirens went off and my lunch mate was all, what the heck?! I knew it meant someone had ordered the Kitchen Sink!!!!



Where is a close-up lens for the iPhone when you need it!?

I’m pretty sure my professional colleague I had lunch with thought I was a little odd for the intrusive picture taking, but I had a trip report to do!!

Second half of the day was over and I was so happy to come back “home” to Will at WL! I initially made us an ADR for Whispering Canyon for dinner. But, after our short MNSSHP on Tuesday, we decided to go again and cancel our ADR! I knew we would be going to MNSSHP again since yesterday evening, so all during the conference today I was so excited!!!

This time I was Haunted Mansion wallpaper (which admittedly I was wearing on Monday, but I had a clean shirt underneath!) and Will went as CIA agent (he had this shirt already and just happened to bring it to sleep in).



It is just not everyday you get to dress up as your favorite ride, so why not do it twice?!



Will found the shirt in a used clothing store. It cracks me up. I wonder if it was really worn by a CIA agent. Nothing says covert like bright yellow and a large logo!

I had an amazing week, but I think this was my favorite day of the whole trip, and I was at a conference for the majority of it! I just loved MNSSHP and it was a spontaneous thing to do it again. To go from "Yeah, I don't think parades and candy are our thing" to going twice!

We hopped on the boat, this time needing to bring a sweatshirt. This evening was so much cooler and it actually felt like Halloween compared to the last hot evening!



I like how you can see the reflection of my polka dotted cover of my phone.

Again, first order of business...food! Since we cancelled our ADR I figured we would do CS somewhere. Just for giggles we stopped by Tony’s Town Square to see the wait. We were told about 20 minutes and we decided we could do this and look for Hidden Mickey’s while we waited. We waited all of 5 minutes when we were asked if we would sit on the patio...um, yeah! I think being a party of 2, it is a lot easier to be seated!

This was so amazing!!!! Great views of all the people in costume! I got Pumpkin Ravioli and Will got the Spaghetti.



It is a small Disworld after all. I remember sitting there and seeing this couple dressed as Chefs and one had Remy coming out of his pocket. I thought, what a cool idea! And then recently I was looking through trip reports and it seems I had spotted Pluto0809!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3192698

We decided to split the Pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. Because who would say no to that?



I think I would of been content to just sit right there for several hours, but figured we should let other people sit in that magical spot as well!

We headed to the Train next as we learned from the last MNSSHP when 7 oclock rolls around they shut the train down.





As if on cue, Monorail Red rolls by..my favorite monorail (I think it is ok to play favorites with Monorails).



We rode a few rides, and the sun was setting, and casting this amazing warm glow on everything.



Soon the unsightly wooden fence will reveal the new Snow White ride!! Can't wait!

This time, even though I usually skip parades, I did not want to skip the Boo to you parade. We got a pretty good spot in Liberty Square.





Eeyore in his comical attire.



Haunted Mansion guy!!


We then went to our special spot for the fireworks and watched the Hallowishes show. Again, jaw dropped, 360 fireworks, wow!!!!! A man with an ear piece and shirt that said "Fireworks" on it was watching and seemed to be monitoring. We all broke out into applause afterwards and I saw this huge smile on his face as he walked off. Sometimes I get wrapped up in all of the magic and forget what hard work people put in to pull all this off everyday...365 days a year!!

We then headed to bed, as the next day I would not be going to the conference (in the morning at least)! Where would we be going? Well there is only one major park left! You do the math!

Miles walked: 10.6

 

[ElenaJane]

OCTOBER 25th: Part 1: They don’t call it a dash for nothing!!!!

Oh how I married such a sweet man. This is vacation time for him from work, and he likes to sleep in, but is willing to put up with me! Today would be an early day as there were EMH to be had! Today we were going to MGM! Ok, HS, but I am old, and it will be MGM and Webway people mover and so on and so forth…

The EMH started at 8am, which meant I wanted to be at the bus stop by 7am. Will did not fully understand why. Before this we were spoiled by Poly and being 2 monorail spots away from MK. And, he had no idea there was such a thing as a Midway Mania FP dash. So, I reassured him it was important to leave so early and the fate of the universe depended on him (or something like that). He insisted on a complete breakfast before we left, and since breakfast at Roaring Fork does not start until 7am, we would be cutting it close. I was first in line at the Mickey Waffle station. The night before I woke up with a horrible leg cramp, and was going to eat a banana, and what do you know, they had Banana Fosters Mickey Waffles. No joke, I think this might of been my favorite thing to eat on the entire trip! They put bacon on it without asking, but easy to remove.




Will got the Bounty Platter I had the day before.



We made it to the bus stop by 7:20 which is not bad and there were a lot of people waiting, which made me think being there 15 minutes earlier may not of helped much.

At this point in the trip, I was excited that I had only one transpo option. Bus to HS! No transfers, no hedging my bets. One option! I gladly waited for the bus and boarded. The bus was fairly quick, and I was on a Disney and sugar high.






We were dropped off at 7:50, which meant we were still technically early for EMH! I again had the nervous Disney excitement! I had been on the Midway Mania ride, but only at Disneyland (which I have only been to once). So unlike MK where I could get to places blindfolded, I had to actually look at a map to know where we would be going first! Looking back, I am not sure why I was worried I would not be sure how to find TSMM, I mean, just follow the hordes of people! We got in line with the rest. Today was supposed to be a crowd day of 4.0, but I would hate to see anything more than that! Holy Moly the place was hoping!

Finally it was time to head off to TSMM! I kind of expected a starting gun boom to get us going! Was not necessary! My plan was to grab fastpasses and then go on the ride.

Well, wow.

I mean wow, in all my WDW experience, I have never seen anything like this. By the time we got to TSMM, again during EMH...having got there early, it was already a 30 minute wait!!!! Also, the FP distribution did not open until 9am! I refused to wait in a line for 30 minutes during EMH. Quickly had to recalculate plan. I decided we should shift over to Tower of Terror! This was a walk-on.



Now that’s more like it!!!

Next I decided to get in line for FPs for TSMM and sent Will on an important errand...to Starring Rolls! I so wanted a Butterfinger cupcake anyway.

His line was pretty long, and mine was even longer! What the heck! The line for the FP was already crazy.





To quote the gentleman behind me “Jeesh, I need a Fastpass for the Fastpass line!”. I got in line by 8:38, and they started distributing FPs around 8:55. I was amazed how quickly the FP time slot was jumping up….9:30, 9:50, 10:30, 11:00...I was really worried my time slot would be after 12noon when I needed to head back to the conference. It was at the 11:30 time slot with one lady in front of me. She actually started a conversation with a CM standing near by and I told her to move it along! TSMM brings out my assertive side apparently! I got 11:45 slot which would be the latest acceptable time. By the time I got out of the line, the line was RIDICULOUSLY LONG.



A CM was shouting “You are not guaranteed Fastpasses if you are in this line!”

I mean wow. By the time I was done, Will had only been sitting with our coffees and cupcakes for a few minutes. This might of been my favorite “ride” all day.







Maybe because it was the end of the week, but I felt worn out after just one ride. And that FP TSMM extravaganza was just crazy. However, the cupcakes were amazing and we were able to regroup and plan.

Again, this was supposed to be a 4.0 crowd day, but everything had long lines. I talked Will into single rider line at RnR. At first he did not want to separate, but when he saw the stand-by wait of over 40 minutes, and SR wait around 16 minutes, he changed his mind.

This is an amazing roller coaster. I was next to a mom in the front car, with her two young kids in the very front seat. They were so cute and so brave! They kept reassuring mom she would be ok.

Then, seeing the long lines, we went to the Great Movie Ride, which still had around a 20 minute wait.










We got the usual gangster version. It was nice to sit at least. I think the Animatronics could be stepped up a bit!

We had worked up enough of an appetite for lunch. This was an ADR I could not snag. I so wanted to go to SciFi for lunch! But the only time available back in June was 2:00, when I needed to be back at the conference. But I was not ready to give up!! I knew they started seating at 11am.

Will and I sidled up to the CM podium in front of Sci-Fi at 11:00am. We had breakfast at 7:00am, and besides our cupcake snack, were hungry for lunch! I asked as politely as I could if we could be seated for lunch? He was like yeah, no big deal. I almost wanted to protest it was so easy! I was happy, but then wondering why I go out of my way booking ADRs when it is not always needed? I think this was just luck, and the fact that I asked so early.

While waiting to check in, I discovered something new. There was a CM dressed nicely in line behind me. She was a VIP escort!!! I thought it was for a celebrity, but anyone can “rent” one. It is like $300 per hour with a 6 hour minimum, and they will take you to any ride where you can join the fastpass line, and they will apparently wait in line for you for restaurants. They are also very knowledgeable about all things Disney and can point out Hidden Mickeys. New item to the bucket list!!!!! Though Will pointed out I am kind of his VIP escort already! And honestly, half the fun of a WDW visit is planning and making a strategy!

By 11:20 we were seated in our car booth! Whenever we get seated at a booth in a normal restaurant, Will and I always sit on the same side. I am a soft talker and this just works better for us. So, this place is perfect! I have actually been here a few times before, and it never fails to disappoint!






I Hope not!

Once we ate, we swung by TSMM and got our first ride in! Will was amazing and had more than double my score. We loved the ride!!!

I had a long afternoon at the conference ahead of me. I was not sad though, as I knew we would be back in a few hours.

Will chose to stay at the Park where he went to Lights! Motor! Action! and I went to the boat dock to the conference. This time I actually did not mind having a quiet place to sit for a few hours!

Up next: Are we under-dressed for dinner?

 

[ZehnJahren]

Whoa, bananas foster mickey waffle? Yes, please!

I always go through that line at TSMM regardless of the posted time if I come in at rope drop. I don't think they ever change the time from the night before until there are a certain amount of people there. I walked in to the line once at rope drop and it said 45 minutes; I walked through the line at a fast pace and ended up being the second group on to the ride. My wait was more like 5 minutes - including the line! You would have had less than a 10 minute wait!

HS doesn't handle its crowds well. There just aren't too many places for people to go.

I did a walk in to Sci-fi too! I was surprised! I was only one person, though, and it was January on my solo trip. I ordered a turkey sandwich and fries; they brought me out a bacon sandwich. Yes, just bacon. Still, it was an interesting place!

 

[ElenaJane]

Whoa, bananas foster mickey waffle? Yes, please!

I always go through that line at TSMM regardless of the posted time if I come in at rope drop. I don't think they ever change the time from the night before until there are a certain amount of people there. I walked in to the line once at rope drop and it said 45 minutes; I walked through the line at a fast pace and ended up being the second group on to the ride. My wait was more like 5 minutes - including the line! You would have had less than a 10 minute wait!

HS doesn't handle its crowds well. There just aren't too many places for people to go.

I did a walk in to Sci-fi too! I was surprised! I was only one person, though, and it was January on my solo trip. I ordered a turkey sandwich and fries; they brought me out a bacon sandwich. Yes, just bacon. Still, it was an interesting place!

Seriously. We went to plenty of nice table service restaurants this trip, but those waffles were amazing and my favorite!

I was skeptical of the 30 minute sign! I should of just gotten in line! Good tip. I will do that next time. I agree about the crowd situation. There seemed to be two globs of people. They need to make a new thrill ride on the opposite side to try and spread people out more!

I see your trip is getting closer! Yay!

 

[ElenaJane]

October 25: Part 2: Underdressed for dinner?

Finally I was done with the conference!

I wish it would be as easy to say this in real life: “Fast forward back to Disney!”

Will and I met back up at HS gate close to 5:00pm. Now our FP+ came into play! First one up, TSMM again! This was a real perk of FP+, that we could ride so late in the day with a planned FP!

Then we headed over to our last ADR of the trip…

….Collective moment of silence....

Saved the fanciest one for last!



We had a 5:50 ADR for the Hollywood Brown Derby. Fanncyyy.





I really was worried we would be underdressed, but come on, it is a Disney Park. I had sleeves and shoes so I fit in fine!

We both got the vegetarian version of the Cobb salad and the Noodle bowl.




We ordered the “chocolate 3 ways” for dessert without even reading the description. Chocolate one way sounds fine by me! While tasty, be warned there is a heavy citrus flavor. I pictured actually 3 different chocolate presentations and this was not the case!




Our waitress was the nicest we had all week. She was just polite and efficient and was working really hard! I thought it was odd to see her busing tables also. Maybe they were understaffed?

We had some time before our next FP+ so we went to the Animation class!



We got to draw Dopey. I am a horr-i-bleee artist. Even with expert instruction, my Dopey looks a little more like Scuttle or some angry bird.



Will was concentrating really hard and got into it! His Dopey reflects this.



Next up was RnR at 6:50 and then ToT at 8:00.

Sadly we did not stay longer as we were so tired and tomorrow was like the saddest thing ever. Departure Day!!

Miles walked 9.9

 

[ElenaJane]

I know how most people seem to like to plan a late flight on the departure day to try and squeeze as much Disney out as possible. I can understand why! For me, I know I would be a big sack of sad that day, so it would kind of be wasted. Turns out it did not even matter as JetBlue only offered one direct flight back home, and it was an early one! Actually, 9:30am does not sound too bad, until you do the DME 3 hour countdown and wham, we needed to be outta there at 6:30!

I took some last minute shots from our room. Sighhhhh.








So we moped down to the lobby. Too early even for a last Mickey waffle!!

Insert Obligatory Sad leaving Disney comments here!

It was a great trip and I felt so blessed to be able to experience it! So many horrors in this world, and I have my health, an amazing family and husband, and a week at Disney! Work can be stressful and my “hobby” to keep my mind occupied is thinking about the happiest place on Earth!.

On the way home, I was mentioning to Will maybe we could plan a November trip to WDW next year. His response “You sure you want to wait that long?”. Could I love this man any more? That’s right. We are now planning for a 4 night stay in May. After spring breakers but before summer mayhem! I actually just booked a stay at The Villas at GF! Studio-standard view. So excited!!!

I do have a whole new level of respect for Trip Reporters as this does take time!!!

I hope you enjoyed this TR. It was fun to take photos and keep in mind sharing my experience. Writing about it was like re-living it as well! I look forward to reading your Trip Reports to tide me over! After all, the only cure for ADS (after Disney Syndrome) is to start planning the next trip!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Elena, this was a wonderful report. I hope you do another as your writing is REALLY great and engaging!

So much to comment on, I don't even know where to start so I'll just highlight a few.

The childhood "tenting with biting flies" had me laughing.

I had the EXACT SAME THING happen regarding the toll booths the first time I rented a car at MCO. Thankfully nothing ever came of my speeding through without paying scenario. I now always make sure to have LOTS of change.

Loved your room decoration and REALLY LOVED all those gift cards. What a genius idea. Not to mention shaping them into a Mickey Head.

Wishes Fireworks is Life! Yes, I am emotionally done throughout Wishes.

OK, so I admit that I just continued reading the rest without taking any notes (I did read it all in one sitting) but I really wanted to thank you and tell you that I really enjoyed it.

 

[ElenaJane]

Elena, this was a wonderful report. I hope you do another as your writing is REALLY great and engaging!

So much to comment on, I don't even know where to start so I'll just highlight a few.

The childhood "tenting with biting flies" had me laughing.

I had the EXACT SAME THING happen regarding the toll booths the first time I rented a car at MCO. Thankfully nothing ever came of my speeding through without paying scenario. I now always make sure to have LOTS of change.

Loved your room decoration and REALLY LOVED all those gift cards. What a genius idea. Not to mention shaping them into a Mickey Head.

Wishes Fireworks is Life! Yes, I am emotionally done throughout Wishes.

OK, so I admit that I just continued reading the rest without taking any notes (I did read it all in one sitting) but I really wanted to thank you and tell you that I really enjoyed it.

Thank you so much Rob! That really means a lot. I am new to Disboards and am so excited to read other TRs. Your recent one apparently almost has 100,000 views? I can't wait to check it out!

 

[BijouJohnson]

Great report!

 

[ElenaJane]

Great report!

Thanks Bijou!

 

[DisneyHusband]

This is my first post. I have been reading trip reports for a while though. I just enjoyed this one so much, I wanted to say thank you. I loved your Halloween costume as the wallpaper. My favorite ride too! I can't wait to read about your May trip. I hope you do decide to do another report.

~DH

 

[ElenaJane]

This is my first post. I have been reading trip reports for a while though. I just enjoyed this one so much, I wanted to say thank you. I loved your Halloween costume as the wallpaper. My favorite ride too! I can't wait to read about your May trip. I hope you do decide to do another report.

~DH

That's awesome! I was a "lurker" for quite a while as well. Welcome to the light of day of the Disboards! Everyone seems so nice here, so don't hesitate to post!!

 

[basketlacey]

Great trip report. I loved reading about your trip. Poly is on my bucket list. Dh and I did an adult only trip in October and stayed at WL. we loved it. We are staying one night at FW before our cruise in Feb. unfortunately, my family can't fit at WL.

 

[ElenaJane]

Great trip report. I loved reading about your trip. Poly is on my bucket list. Dh and I did an adult only trip in October and stayed at WL. we loved it. We are staying one night at FW before our cruise in Feb. unfortunately, my family can't fit at WL.

Thanks for reading! I really loved WL. The rooms did seem kind of tight though!

I've never been on a cruise. I bet Disney cruises are amazing! It is so cold and nasty right now, a February Disney cruise sounds warm and wonderful! Have a great time!

 

[disneymd33]

Fantastic TR! Love the pics!

 

[ElenaJane]

Fantastic TR! Love the pics!

Arggggg (my Pirate voice), thank you so much!!! It was my first attempt. I want to do one for my May trip. I plan on taking way more pictures (sprung for the MM also). I also will learn how to make chapters for easier viewing! Maybe even incorporate video so everyone can hear that Train whistle and Ferry horn Love spreading that Disney joy!

 

[saintstickets]

Great TR Elena! Are you sure it's your 1st? I really enjoyed it because we were at WDW during the same week you were! I don't know why I didn't see you! It was great to relive some of the same moments we had even down to viewing the Boo-to-you parade from almost the same spot! DW had a massage in the Mandarin Spa at the Dolphin and we had dinner reservations at BlueZoo. I remember seeing signs for the convention you were attending! As much as you enjoyed Poly and WL, it sounds like you might be a candidate for Disney Vacation Club!! The rooms at VWL are bigger and they are in the process of building DVC at the Poly!

Again, great TR! I just started mine. Pop over using the link below and maybe you will be able to relive your trip through mine as I was able to through yours!

 

[ElenaJane]

Great TR Elena! Are you sure it's your 1st? I really enjoyed it because we were at WDW during the same week you were! I don't know why I didn't see you! It was great to relive some of the same moments we had even down to viewing the Boo-to-you parade from almost the same spot! DW had a massage in the Mandarin Spa at the Dolphin and we had dinner reservations at BlueZoo. I remember seeing signs for the convention you were attending! As much as you enjoyed Poly and WL, it sounds like you might be a candidate for Disney Vacation Club!! The rooms at VWL are bigger and they are in the process of building DVC at the Poly!

Again, great TR! I just started mine. Pop over using the link below and maybe you will be able to relive your trip through mine as I was able to through yours!

You are so sweet! Thanks so much. I am definitely checking your TR out! Fall is such a fun time to go. Well, ok, any time is awesome, but fall is particularly nice!

I'd love to be a DVC member! However, I have to bat my eyes at my husband to agree for each trip, one at a time. I don't see him agreeing to DVC anytime soon. Maybe once Poly builds the bungalows I can try and sway him! Though the contract for those will probably cost the same as owning an actual bungalow in Fiji.

 

[disneymd33]

Maybe even incorporate video so everyone can hear that Train whistle and Ferry horn Love spreading that Disney joy!

That is a favorite for everyone! I've searched YouTube for those videos!