Escaping Irene: A NY family "evacuates" to Disney! *Update 7/7 WWoHP*

[DrMomof3]

OMG poor Nathaniel, and you!!
We all do way to much for our families and deserve a break once and a while. Our yellow lab had a tumor too and passed away 3 yrs. ago right before our Disney trip.

I'm sorry about your dog! Buffy is doing pretty well but we know we likely have limited time with her.

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

As any good Disney geek knows, pre-planning is a big part of most Disney trips. it's hard to pre-plan with 2 days notice! I started thinking about what we could do on this short trip and quickly came up with 2 good ideas (beside F&W, of course!): Keys to the Kingdom tour and MNSSHP. I signed us up for both!
Friday night before our trip was my 40th. My parents joined us at a local Hibachi place for dinner. Nathaniel went home with them which was scary for me. Saturday morning we had the regular activities.
I had already purchased a pirate wench Halloween costume for myself. On Saturday between Hebrew School and ballet, Jessica and I went shopping for Tom's costume. We found a Captain Jack Sparrow costume in XL Tall that would be perfect! Then during ballet I ran to a local luggage store and found a nice rolling carry-on suitcase (no need to check bags when 2 adults travel for 2 nights!).
The timing was going to be tight since Tom was performing a bris in Long Island. (My husband is a mohel which is a person who does religious circumcisions on Jewish babies.One of his colleagues had a new baby and Tom had promised to do the ceremony which has to be done on day 8 of life.) Once he got home and packed, we were off to JFK.
JFK is perhaps my least favorite of the NYC airports. The traffic is unpredictable and it can take a while to get there. Tom drove and we parked in an off-site lot with free shuttle service. Quick and easy! It's amazing how easy security is when you don't have children! We were soon in the JetBlue terminal.
My last time in this terminal was in August with a vomit-covered child and a child with a broken carry-on. Very different experience this time around!
Tom and I went to the bar/restaurant near our gate. We grabbed some dinner and a beer and enjoyed some adult time. Before long we were boarded and ready to go. Our flight was easy and we were met a MCO by our FL Tours driver. We checked into the Swan, dropped our stuff off, changed out of travel clothes and ran down to Il Mulino to see if we could get some food and a drink. As luck would have it, the kitchen was open for 15 more minutes! We ordered some appetizers and drinks and hung out at the bar.
The food was good. Our bartender was lovely, although there was a slightly creepy Canadian guy trying to hit on me. Weird. . After we finished, we headed upstairs and went to bed.

Amanda

 

[natebenma]

Can't wait to read more! And seeing photos of you and Tom in costume!

Sounds like a really good start (other than worrying about Nathaniel and having to cancel your cruise, of course)

I can't tell you how many times my husband and I looked at each other during our past few familly Disney trips and said "This would be really fun without the kids!"

MNSSHP is definitely on my Disney bucket list, hopefully sooner rather than later! I know I would love Keys to the Kingdom too.

 

[DrMomof3]

Can't wait to read more! And seeing photos of you and Tom in costume!

Sounds like a really good start (other than worrying about Nathaniel and having to cancel your cruise, of course)

I can't tell you how many times my husband and I looked at each other during our past few familly Disney trips and said "This would be really fun without the kids!"

MNSSHP is definitely on my Disney bucket list, hopefully sooner rather than later! I know I would love Keys to the Kingdom too.

Too funny! Tom said to me at the end of the trip, "Disney is really fun without children!"
I really loved MNSSHP. I listen to several Disney podcasts and have heard complaints about the parties getting worse over time. As 1st timers we didn't feel this at all!

Amanda

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We went to Disney "kid free" for a week in 2008 for our anniversary. It was the best!!!! Who said Disney is just for kids?? LOL
My 40th was in Sept. We celebrated it while in Disney in August.
Can't wait to hear about Keys to the Kingdom. We'll like to do that someday.

 

[DrMomof3]

We went to Disney "kid free" for a week in 2008 for our anniversary. It was the best!!!! Who said Disney is just for kids?? LOL
My 40th was in Sept. We celebrated it while in Disney in August.
Can't wait to hear about Keys to the Kingdom. We'll like to do that someday.

Disney is completely different kid free and awesome!

Amanda

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Hi Amanda-glad things have settled a wee bit for you and hope Nathaniel is doing ok
I'd have been gutted too if I'd had to cancel my trip so I totally get the need for a break sans kids
I would definitely have made my getaway even if it was only for a few days so I'm glad you did too

 

[DrMomof3]

Hi Amanda-glad things have settled a wee bit for you and hope Nathaniel is doing ok
I'd have been gutted too if I'd had to cancel my trip so I totally get the need for a break sans kids
I would definitely have made my getaway even if it was only for a few days so I'm glad you did too

Thank you for the support! Obviously my kids come 1st but it was a really bad time for the adults, too

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

I started an update, clicked the wrong button, and lost the whole post! Yikes!!!

We woke up earlier than I would have expected given that we were traveling without the children. Then again, I wake up at 5:30am most mornings so maybe it isn't that surprising! After showering and dressing we headed downstairs to find some coffee. One nice thing about S/D is that there is actually GOOD coffee to be had!
We decided to take a nice stroll over to DHS. I think this pathway is really pretty (although having taken the same path in the opposite direction during the marathon, it has a whole new meaning for me now! ).

We did not take a lot of pictures on this trip and many of the ones we took were taken with my iPhone so I apologize to the photo snobs for the lack of good pics!

We reached DHS and to our great surprise it was still a few minutes before Rope Drop! We really weren't even trying to make RD. Amazing how efficient 2 adults can be. After RD we headed off to one of the E ticket rides that I'd never be on before - RnR!!! We'd made a valiant effort in August but the ride was broken that day. (As a side note I believe that both Nathaniel and Jessica will be tall enough to ride in August.)
We hopped right in line and we soon riding upside down. I will confess that the initial acceleration was definitely thrilling! After RnR we headed over to ToT. My children will NOT ride this ride. This was only my 2nd time on it (although I have been on the one in California once). I loved it!!!
At this point we stopped at Starring Rolls for some breakfast.

And then started heading over to Star Tours.

I love the new Star Tours!!! We decided to head back to RnR to see if we could get another ride. Someone offered to take our picture:

When we reached RnR, a nice man asked us if we wanted to FPs. The return time was right then so we were thrilled! A little pixie dust....

We stopped at Guest Services so I could have a Birthday Button before hopping on a Friendship Boat over to Epcot for F&W. (Our lunch plan was to eat and drink our way around the World!)

Amanda

 

[ddluvsdisney]

That sounded like a fantastic morning!!
RnR is one of my favorite rides even though I get terribly anxious waiting in line b/c I know how fast it starts. Sometimes knowing too much isn't very good.
Isn't it so easy to get ready when you only need to worry about yourself!!??
Celebrating B-days in Disney are so much FUN!!
for FPs!
F&W must be so fun-yet another thing on my bucket list

Deb

 

[natebenma]

What a super morning! Nice walk over to HS. Riding rides YOU want to ride! No tantrums Friendly strangers taking your picture and giving you Fast Passes! Love it!

Can't wait to try to the new Star Tours in June with the teens! I see a lot of ToT and RnR in my near future, too.

 

[DrMomof3]

That sounded like a fantastic morning!!
RnR is one of my favorite rides even though I get terribly anxious waiting in line b/c I know how fast it starts. Sometimes knowing too much isn't very good.
Isn't it so easy to get ready when you only need to worry about yourself!!??
Celebrating B-days in Disney are so much FUN!!
for FPs!
F&W must be so fun-yet another thing on my bucket list

Deb

I actually enjoyed RnR more the 2nd time because I was prepared for the fast start!
Tom and I were up and out. And we weren't even trying to get anywhere quickly.

What a super morning! Nice walk over to HS. Riding rides YOU want to ride! No tantrums Friendly strangers taking your picture and giving you Fast Passes! Love it!

Can't wait to try to the new Star Tours in June with the teens! I see a lot of ToT and RnR in my near future, too.

It was lovely! Everything was magical.
I love the new Star Tours. I liked the old one but it's even better now!

Amanda

 

[WDW2012]

I'm sorry you had to cancel the family vacation but glad to see you got to escape for a weekend. DH and I did a kid free trip for our ten year anniversary and we had a great time. We also did the Keys to the Kingdom Tour which was something we would obviously not be able to do with kids. Sadly we went too early for F&W. Maybe next time.

P.S. I'm in Westchester too! Our favorite local Hibachi is Edo's. Yum. My kids love it!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

What a lovely chilled start to the dayYour photo brought me back to our last holiday-I loved going for a wee dander along that path
I've never done RnR but hoping to persuade 1 of the chickens I live with to have a go this summer
I would love to go to food and wine (who wouldnt) but need to win lottery first

 

[DrMomof3]

I'm sorry you had to cancel the family vacation but glad to see you got to escape for a weekend. DH and I did a kid free trip for our ten year anniversary and we had a great time. We also did the Keys to the Kingdom Tour which was something we would obviously not be able to do with kids. Sadly we went too early for F&W. Maybe next time.

P.S. I'm in Westchester too! Our favorite local Hibachi is Edo's. Yum. My kids love it!

Is Edo's the one in Ardsley? We've been going to the new one - Banzai - which is on Central Avenue in Hartsdale. It's SO close to us that it's hard to convince ourselves to drive further away.
That's exactly why we did Keys to the Kingdom on this trip!

What a lovely chilled start to the dayYour photo brought me back to our last holiday-I loved going for a wee dander along that path
I've never done RnR but hoping to persuade 1 of the chickens I live with to have a go this summer
I would love to go to food and wine (who wouldnt) but need to win lottery first

I was amazed by how much $$$ we spent at F&W! I love the path to DHS. So quiet and peaceful.

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

One funny moment. We were on the Friendship Boat to Epcot and were surrounded by retirees. Not exactly what you expect at Disney! The boat driver was announcing the Eat to the Beat concert series and said that Howard Jones was going to be playing that day. All of the grandparents on board were wondering who the heck Howard Jones was! I, of course, having come of age in the 80's knew exactly who he was. We were trying to explain who he is - without much luck. (His biggest hit was probably "What is love?")

So we had to take this picture!

Upon arriving at Epcot we went straight to that little shop near the International Gateway and bought a gift card on a bracelet for the F&W festival. We made a right and started our counter-clockwise tour by going to France. We started things right by getting delicious frozen Cosmopolitans (yum!) and some escargots. Tom had some coq au vin. YUM! France definitely had one of my favorite booths.
I found the whole F&W experience a little overwhelming. Maybe we should have read up on everything before starting our journey. We looked at each booth and ended up skipping many. I tried some lobster in America which was quite disappointing. We had delicious cheese in a "cheese booth" over near Germany.
The lamb chop from Australia was to-die-for and the nice young man from the Bronx gave me a piece of chocolate cake for free because it was my birthday (I also work in the Bronx so we talked about it - I'm sure that helped!). The fisherman's pie in Ireland was probably my favorite. Like Shepard's pie but with lobster and scallops. Yum!
We also tried some champagne at a special champagne booth. Also yum! I think we put about $100 on the gift card and it was mostly gone by the time we made one loop.
The temperatures were getting warm and we were full of food (and drink) and so we decided to take a little siesta. Tom was tired and wanted to take the Friendship Boat back to the Swan. I wanted to walk over to Beach Club to see if I could find my favorite Cast Member who works on Sundays!
Teena was VERY surprised to see me because I wasn't supposed to be at Disney. Anyone who gets a chance to see her at BC - GO! She's awesome. She works as a greeter in the lobby on Sundays and Mondays. Teena and I probably spent an hour catching up. No kids to distract me. No place I had to be. Lovely!
I finally headed back to the hotel, put on a bathing suit, and headed down to the quiet pool where there was a hammock with my name on it! I took a nap in the sun. When I'd had enough, I grabbed some ice coffee and went back to the room to get ready for MNSSHP. We had asked some CMs at the IG of Epcot if we could walk through Epcot in costume to get to MNSSHP and they said yes....

Amanda

 

[ddluvsdisney]

Sounds like the perfect kid free day!
F&W does sound a little overwhelming. I love food! but it does sound like a LOT of it.
Did you not tell Teena so you could surprise her? I met her in 2010.
I'm sure I know who Howard Jones is too but I just can't picture him right now.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Ooooh I remember Howard Jones-my friend and I when to one of his concerts here when we were both student nurses Concerts didnt happen here very often as most musicians wouldnt play here in the 80's. It was a great night but we left early because we were scared to travel back to the hospital (we lived in) too late at night as we had to cross some rough parts of town
Loved his spikey hair-it was so tall

 

[DrMomof3]

Sounds like the perfect kid free day!
F&W does sound a little overwhelming. I love food! but it does sound like a LOT of it.
Did you not tell Teena so you could surprise her? I met her in 2010.
I'm sure I know who Howard Jones is too but I just can't picture him right now.

I didn't really know if I'd get to see Teena so it was a complete surprise. She and I have talked on the phone several times when she was having medical issues and needed support and advice. I've also met her in person a few previous trips!

Ooooh I remember Howard Jones-my friend and I when to one of his concerts here when we were both student nurses Concerts didnt happen here very often as most musicians wouldnt play here in the 80's. It was a great night but we left early because we were scared to travel back to the hospital (we lived in) too late at night as we had to cross some rough parts of town
Loved his spikey hair-it was so tall

Too funny about Howard Jones! I was a fan. I had his cassette - remember cassettes???? - and might have even seen him in concert once.

Amanda

 

[DrMomof3]

I've always wanted to attend one of the Halloween Parties. We did the Christmas party back in 2009 and enjoyed it. But everyone says the Halloween Party is even better.
Tom and I changed into our costumes and hopped on the Friendship Boat over to Epcot. We figured we'd get a drink or 2 - MK is dry afterall! - and maybe some food before taking the monorail over to MK. We did get some funny looks but mostly it was fine. The monorail was filled with people in costume so it was a bit less awkward.
We rode Splash Mountain, stopped at the Trick or Treat stop at the exit, and then headed to Big Thunder. AWESOME! We rode Haunted Mansion (of course - Halloween!) and headed to Tomorrowland. Some of the Trick or Treat spots were jam-packed (Liberty Square was ridiculous) and others were fine (Tomorrowland near Carousel of Progress). We rode Buzz, Space Mountain, TTA. At this point we were hungry so we went to Cosmic Rays and got burgers. We sat outside within view of the castle.
These were taken with an iPhone...

We were near the Noodle Station for the fireworks but it ended up being an ok spot.

We headed over near the train station, in front of Guest Services for the parade. We figured we'd be near the exit so we could make a clean escape. I'm not a huge parade person but this was AWESOME! While we were waiting for the parade, some Disney geeks were on twitter and I got to meet them! JL Knopp of the Disney Driven Life with me:

A very blurry Headless Horseman!

My parade pictures aren't great....

Blackbeard kissed my hand and wished me a Happy Birthday! Captain Jack yelled birthday wishes down from his float.

The parade was awesome! I couldn't get good pictures so I just enjoyed it. Loved the grave diggers! Loved the music. I had Boo to You stuck in my head for weeks and weeks!

As soon as the parade ended, we raced out. We were soon on a bus back to the Swan!

Amanda