Food, Frights, & The Fortieth: A Trip Report of Epic Proportions. *11/28*

[wdwgirl03]

Your Bean vinylmation is super cute (and so is the coin purse in the background...hehe). When my sister and I got TS vinylmations we were always afraid of getting Big Baby. Glad Matt was happy with the trade though.

So what exactly is the cheddar cheese soup like? I know everyone says it's really good and I'm curious to try it myself.

 

[melmar136]

The food you got at F&W looks so good! That's too bad it was such a long day for you and you couldn't stay longer.

And the Mousekeeping situation...yuck! I don't think I would have been able to drink out of one of those glasses either.

Can't wait to read more, and see the MNSSHP costumes on!

 

[Nermel9]

I was at the 9/30 MNSSHP AND Wishes on 10/1! The fireworks were great, but what I really loved was the Magic, the Memories, and you show! It was my first time seeing it, and I was just captivated, it was so amazing! I started my TR if you want to stop by, the link is in my signature!

I cannot believe you got Bean Bunny!!! I LOVE Bean Bunny! I just started trading Vinylmations on this trip too, and I got some really strange ones, but I got a lot that I loved and kept! Still...I'd really love a Bean Bunny!

I was tempted to get one of those little wrist gift cards for F&W, but I figured we'd run out of money too quickly on it and have to keep refilling it, so we just paid cash for everything...we ate a lot, I'm ashamed to say...

LOL, my DH gets SO sick of Stacey, he can't stand her actually! I, however, could watch her my whole Disney trip, she makes the trip complete!

 

[Disneymoon23]

Hi BerrysGirl! I made my way over here from TanzUnited99's trip report. My husband and I were also there over the 40th on our honeymoon. It's been fun reading your report so far. I especially like that you took pictures of all the vinylmation trading that you did. My husband and I just discovered the world of vinylmation on our honeymoon and had a great time buying them and trading at all the stores.

 

[kokotg]

Great update! I love Spaceship Earth, too. I think I could stay on it all day.

The giant beer picture is making me really thirsty, and I don't even like fruity beer

 

[IheartDDuck]

You guys are too cute with the Vinylmation trading! I think it's hilarious that Matt loves Big Baby. I got him by chance and I have to admit, I was a little creeped out too.

I will have to put Purple Haze on my list (since my trip got rescheduled, thank goodness). Also, good to know the kimchee is spicy. I cannot handle spice!

 

[shan23877]

Joining in and enjoying the report so far!

 

[teekathepony]

Great update! I wanted to try the cheddar cheese soup so bad and I didn't get to! But I'm far too scared to try South Korea just yet. I'm an incredibly non adventurous eater!

 

[poisonapple_PRINCESS]

Love your vinlymations! So cute! I havent decided if I'm going to buy any yet...I have a tendency to get hooked on things very easily!
I have a Disney Dooney! It was love at first sight! And THAT is an addiction...I just want more and more of them!

We got ready for bed and crashed when I wanted to watch some Stacey to fall asleep! That's when
we realized. There was no remote? Weird... around this time was also when we discovered a candy wrapper filled with crumbs that I spilled all over the carpet when I discovered it. The wrapper was on our dresser next to the glasses (glasses I was unwilling to use after because not noticing the wrapper means they did not change the glasses. And what if they had been used?). We called the front desk and shortly had a new remote. Which is good because Stacey had just completed her loop and I think Matt was a little sick of her.

Needless to say we were less than thrilled with our Mousekeeping staff at this point. Matt mentioned the state of our room the next day at work and his manager told him that to get more rooms ready earlier in the day, they had brought in a Third Shift mousekeeping staff. Which I thought was a fantastic idea... a Third Shift means more jobs for people who need them AND rooms ready earlier! It seems like a win-win but apparently the Third Shift Mousekeeping is notorious for doing a horrible job (our room being an obvious example). So the moral of the story? If your room is available very early in the day, give it a proper examination. It will save you a late night call to the front desk and some peace of mind because I was a little grossed out by our room the rest of the trip. Not enough to truly get to me but enough that I didn't use the blankets and I walked around the room with flip-flops, not bare feet.

Now that is just nasty. I'm hoping this doesnt happen to me..I'll be totally disgusted. Have you ever had to deal with this before? I cannot stand dirty rooms!

 

[flounderfan12]

im so i iwas at disney the same time and at mk for the 40th so im excited to read about your experience im debating writing my own trip report but im not good at writing and i didnt take a ton of pics but we'll see maybe i can get someone to write it for me lol like a ghost writer

 

[BerrysGirl]

I really hope you get your hands on the D&B wallet later on.

I love the F&W festival photos.

Lol I love all of the Epcot rides as well - they sure are great

Wow at the crowds at Epcot - aaw that is sweet that DBF noticed you were tired and suggested leaving.

Ugh at the Mousekeeping situation - thanks for the tip though.

Ah the elusive D&B wallet... it surely was a coveted item. Guess we'll have to see if I finally get it

F&W is a ton of fun. But when you hear the suggestion to go during the week if you can... heed that warning! It becomes absolute chaos during the weekend and even worse when the sun goes down. While Matt was in line at South Korea I was holding some seats open for us to eat and the drunkest man I've ever experience at WDW sat beside me. It was super uncomfortable and even further evidence that I was too tired to handle F&W that night!

I've certainly looked at Mousekeeping a little different now. I may start carrying disinfective wipes from now... just in case!

Your Bean vinylmation is super cute (and so is the coin purse in the background...hehe). When my sister and I got TS vinylmations we were always afraid of getting Big Baby. Glad Matt was happy with the trade though.

So what exactly is the cheddar cheese soup like? I know everyone says it's really good and I'm curious to try it myself.

I went a little crazy with the Safari Sunset pattern from VB. I have the coin purse, pencil pouch, lunch box, sunglass case, jewlery box, AND agenda all in that color I'm insane! The coin purse I actually use as a camera case though. I looove it! It's such a perfect size.

And as for the soup... have you ever tried cream of potato soup? Imagine that, without the potatoes, and WITH rich creamy cheddar cheese. Yum yum yum... ok I need to stop talking about it. I'm making myself hungry!

The food you got at F&W looks so good! That's too bad it was such a long day for you and you couldn't stay longer.

And the Mousekeeping situation...yuck! I don't think I would have been able to drink out of one of those glasses either.

Can't wait to read more, and see the MNSSHP costumes on!

I'm so glad we had the opportunity to go back to F&W later on in the week. I'd be so disappointed if that had been my only experience! Although I just realized... we never actually had any wine at the Food and WINE festival. The food was just too exciting by itself!

I was at the 9/30 MNSSHP AND Wishes on 10/1! The fireworks were great, but what I really loved was the Magic, the Memories, and you show! It was my first time seeing it, and I was just captivated, it was so amazing! I started my TR if you want to stop by, the link is in my signature!

I cannot believe you got Bean Bunny!!! I LOVE Bean Bunny! I just started trading Vinylmations on this trip too, and I got some really strange ones, but I got a lot that I loved and kept! Still...I'd really love a Bean Bunny!

I was tempted to get one of those little wrist gift cards for F&W, but I figured we'd run out of money too quickly on it and have to keep refilling it, so we just paid cash for everything...we ate a lot, I'm ashamed to say...

LOL, my DH gets SO sick of Stacey, he can't stand her actually! I, however, could watch her my whole Disney trip, she makes the trip complete!

I loved both the fireworks from MNSSHP and the 40th. They were actually the only evening shows we saw while we were there. We decided if we were having such a special weekend we might as well keep the fireworks special too! I do love the Magic, Memories, and You show too. It absolutely fascinates me... seriously, how DOES Disney do it!?!

Bean was definitely one of my favorites. He was adorable. There were a few I regretted trading a little but I really enjoyed our game. It was just so fun to see all the different ones!

I really loved our gift card. I did not keep it on my wrist like you're suppose to though. Once one we were in a crowd and a guy kinda flicked it and I realized it'd be easy for someone to grab it! So I just kept it in my purse after that.

And I will admit to watching Stacey a few more times after the first night but shockingly she started to get to me too Have I matured???

Hi BerrysGirl! I made my way over here from TanzUnited99's trip report. My husband and I were also there over the 40th on our honeymoon. It's been fun reading your report so far. I especially like that you took pictures of all the vinylmation trading that you did. My husband and I just discovered the world of vinylmation on our honeymoon and had a great time buying them and trading at all the stores.

I'm so glad you found me! Were you at Magic Kingdom for the 40th? It was nuts, right? Vinylmations were so much fun but I don't think I'm "dong them right" according to Disney. I loved having our two to trade but I couldn't see myself acquiring any more than that. It's just so much fun to see what's out there! Did you start a specific collection?

Great update! I love Spaceship Earth, too. I think I could stay on it all day.

The giant beer picture is making me really thirsty, and I don't even like fruity beer

Oh this beer is amazing! I highly encourage you to try it someday (is there gluten in BEER? ).

 

[BerrysGirl]

You guys are too cute with the Vinylmation trading! I think it's hilarious that Matt loves Big Baby. I got him by chance and I have to admit, I was a little creeped out too.

I will have to put Purple Haze on my list (since my trip got rescheduled, thank goodness). Also, good to know the kimchee is spicy. I cannot handle spice!

The weirdest thing about Big Baby was the CM who we were trading with offered us a CHOICE. She had us pick two numbers and she pulled them both out and we picked which one we liked better. And he picked Big Baby!

I really hope you like Purple Haze. It is so amazing :

And FYI about F&W. Quite a few of the dishes we tried were spicy... New Zealand and Singapore come to mind instantly. So sample carefully!

Joining in and enjoying the report so far!

Hope to see you again :

Great update! I wanted to try the cheddar cheese soup so bad and I didn't get to! But I'm far too scared to try South Korea just yet. I'm an incredibly non adventurous eater!

Oh but that's the whole point of the Food & Wine Festival. Branching out and exploring things you wouldn't otherwise try! I guarantee you'll be pleasantly surprised. Plus it's Disney... how scary can it be?

Love your vinlymations! So cute! I havent decided if I'm going to buy any yet...I have a tendency to get hooked on things very easily!
I have a Disney Dooney! It was love at first sight! And THAT is an addiction...I just want more and more of them!

Now that is just nasty. I'm hoping this doesnt happen to me..I'll be totally disgusted. Have you ever had to deal with this before? I cannot stand dirty rooms!

I've only recently caught the purse collecting bug. It does hit hard, doesn't it?
I've never had this problem with Mousekeeping before! Of the 10 times I've stayed at a Disney resort this is the first problem I've ever had. Just be sure to do a thorough check of the room as soon as you get it in and you'll be fine.

im so i iwas at disney the same time and at mk for the 40th so im excited to read about your experience im debating writing my own trip report but im not good at writing and i didnt take a ton of pics but we'll see maybe i can get someone to write it for me lol like a ghost writer

So how much does this ghost writer gig pay... ?
I hope you decide to give TR-writing a try. I can guarantee you'll have at least one reader :

 

[brookelizabeth]

I'm a bit late, but I'm here!!! Now, going back to catch up!

 

[Merida]

Came over from wdwgirl03's pre trip report! Catching up now.

 

[Disneymoon23]

I'm so glad you found me! Were you at Magic Kingdom for the 40th? It was nuts, right? Vinylmations were so much fun but I don't think I'm "dong them right" according to Disney. I loved having our two to trade but I couldn't see myself acquiring any more than that. It's just so much fun to see what's out there! Did you start a specific collection?

We went to the Magic Kingdom that day around 3 or 4 and it was insane. We could barely walk through. I'm glad that we didn't try to go in the morning. I really wanted one of those 40th anniversary buttons but they were out I think. Anyway we walked around for about 20 minutes, saw that the wait for splash mountain was 80 minutes , so we decided to get a snack and then leave. We did however have dinner at the California Grill that night, so we got to see the special fireworks from up there. It was amazing.

The vinylmation thing kind of came out of nowhere for us. My husband saw the animal themed ones at the animal kingdom in a shop and thought they were really cool. So his idea was to collect one to represent each park as a souvenir we could display. We also got a bride and groom one. Then we became a little bit addicted and figured out that you could trade them at the different stores. So that led to buying more and trading everywhere we could. We ended up with some pretty cool ones, but going to the shop in downtown disney with all the vinylmation made me wish that there would have been a bigger selection. But then again that would have meant spending even more money I'll post pictures in my trip report of all the ones we ended up with whenever I finally getting around to starting one.

 

[BerrysGirl]

I'm a bit late, but I'm here!!! Now, going back to catch up!

You found me! Yay!

Came over from wdwgirl03's pre trip report! Catching up now.

How much fun is it that her sister and my boyfriend are both working at Disney at the same time? They even live in the same apartment complex! Isn't the dis a wonderful way to meet other Disney lovers? :

We went to the Magic Kingdom that day around 3 or 4 and it was insane. We could barely walk through. I'm glad that we didn't try to go in the morning. I really wanted one of those 40th anniversary buttons but they were out I think. Anyway we walked around for about 20 minutes, saw that the wait for splash mountain was 80 minutes , so we decided to get a snack and then leave. We did however have dinner at the California Grill that night, so we got to see the special fireworks from up there. It was amazing.

The vinylmation thing kind of came out of nowhere for us. My husband saw the animal themed ones at the animal kingdom in a shop and thought they were really cool. So his idea was to collect one to represent each park as a souvenir we could display. We also got a bride and groom one. Then we became a little bit addicted and figured out that you could trade them at the different stores. So that led to buying more and trading everywhere we could. We ended up with some pretty cool ones, but going to the shop in downtown disney with all the vinylmation made me wish that there would have been a bigger selection. But then again that would have meant spending even more money I'll post pictures in my trip report of all the ones we ended up with whenever I finally getting around to starting one.

Matt's family's Christmas tradition is to go to Disney and he says the 40th rivaled any Christmas he's ever experienced. We heard a CM tell another guest that they reach 70,000 guests that day... and they haven't done that in years!

And your vinylmation story is so cute! I love the idea of getting one to represent every park and I saw the bride and groom ones and they were adorable!
I can't wait to see your pictures. That's the best part... seeing all the different ones!

 

[BerrysGirl]

Day 2 of vacation dawned bright and early when Matt's alarm went off at 6 am. I stayed in bed a little longer but when Matt decided to head off to work at 7:45 I tagged along. It was nice to start the day with a nice quiet walk to OPR. It was a little weird though because Matt was in full costume and we were both very aware of this. We decided, for instance, it'd probably be best if we didn't hold hands while we walked. Matt was stopped by a guest for directions to the Customs House for check out and we realized he was officially on the clock. People were probably thoroughly confused by the guest just strolling with the CM and if we had been holding hands it probably would have looked like young tourist looking for adventure was have an illicit relationship with the cabana boy

When we got to OPR, Matt grabbed some bowls for me to use for my morning yogurt and granola and I promised I'd be back in the room when he got off work at 2:15. Matt went to work and I headed back to the room. I took my time getting ready and had a nice breakfast and enjoyed some coffee before I hopped in the shower and got dressed for the day.

I walked back to the OPR bus stop to reduce the amount of stops I'd have to sit through at the resort and instantly a bus for my park destination arrived. I climbed on and was one of only about 4 other parties on the bus. In no time at all I was here...

If you read my PTR you know initially I was planning to go to AK today. But when I woke up I just wasn't feeling it. So instead I decided I was itching to know what the new Star Tours was like so I headed to DHS!

The park had been open for about an hour at this point and, to be honest, I do not understand the appeal of the Toy Story stampede so I was one of the black sheep who did not instantly book it to Pixar Place.

Instead I shortly found myself here:

The wait time said 20 minutes. I debated briefly about grabbing a fastpass but I decided I wanted to wait in line. I wanted to see all the new stuff! Plus there was a Jedi Training Academy going on and I always find it adorable to see the little Jedis battling Darth Vader so I was certainly entertained.

It was while waiting in line I saw this:

Tour Group!!! I'll kill the suspense now by letting you all know that I really didn't experience any tour group issues during this trip. The few I saw were very small... maybe 8 or 10 people large and no chanting so overall they did not affect me. I found this flag slightly horrifying though because the leader had hung a bunch of little stuffed Mickeys off the top of her flag. It looked like the woman was torturing Mickey!

The outside queue of Star Tours has not changed at all but the inside has some cute additions.

Ok, random rant. I don't understand the engineering of ride queues but how come every time you're waiting in a line you sit FOREVER outside the building but once you get inside to the interesting stuff, you find yourself sprinting through? The same thing happened when we waiting in line for the Forbidden Journey at Harry Potter World. We waited for what seemed like ages in the Green House but once we got inside the castle we were RUSHED along.

So I sat forever in the Forest of Endor outside but once we got into the new and fun stuff I felt rude even stopping for a second to take these pictures. Sorry people behind me, but I was really excited!

We finally stopped rushing in this room and I enough time to comfortably grab this photo:

I love how the robots have stickers on them that read "defective" but it also makes me very sad. I miss that little guy already I wonder how many times that little dude apologized for it being his first flight in the history of the old ride?

Soon enough I was seated in my Star Speeder and the Tour began!
I got Darth Vader, Hoth, Yoda, and Coruscant. My verdict? So exciting but I was not feeling too hot after my ride. Motion Sickness strikes! Matt and I discussed my ride afterward and he told me it was Coruscant. Even he feels motion sick after that particular sequence and he doesn't nearly have the same problems with motion sickness that I do. He was also very jealous that I got Yoda because he hasn't seen him yet!

 

[BerrysGirl]

After my tour in space, I headed over to see what the Phineas and Ferb meet-n-greet looked like.

Ducky Mo-Mo!

The line was ridiculous (as expected) so I decided to snap these quick photos than move on. I passed the cars meet-n-greet and was surprised to see they weren't there. But when I turned the corner I spotted:

Car butts!

I don't know where they were going but it was cute to see them out and about.

Back on the Streets of America I was also surprised to see:

I can't believe they set up the Osbourne Lights so early! I'll see you guys in December

Moving through Pixar Place I saw TSMM was at a 50 minutes wait and the FP were already at 5:20 - 6:20. I just don't get it! I wasn't willing to wait in a 50 minute line by myself and we had to be at MK at 4 so TSMM got skipped this trip! Instead I headed to its less-popular neighbor:
One Man's Dream!

I was so excited to see the exhibits here since my ultimate career goal is work in a museum.

This one is for Matt. Ever the lover of Donald Duck.

I was soo excited to see the Zorro exhibit. I had SUCH a crush on him when I was little... back before I even knew what it meant to have a crush on someone. Him and Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins!

My favorite parts of old-school Epcot. Horizons, Figment, AND Food Rocks? This is like a display just for me! I use to drag my parents into Food Rocks EVERY time we went to Epcot. I looooved the music!

Hi Figment! Where's the DreamFinder? I miss him so.

Shortly after this picture my camera died I hadn't paid attention to the battery and I was a little surprised how quickly it pooped out once it started to drain... something I'll have to keep in mind in the future.

Two other things I was excited to see in the display were the rocket pack from the Rocketeer (another one of those movies I just adored) and an original helmet from Tron. Too cool! I decided to skip the movie (something Matt chastised me later on for doing. He says it's totally worth seeing) and headed over to the Art of Animation building to see who was out and about. I went in through the store and decided to trade my vinylmation. Mine got traded a lot more than Matt's because I did it a lot when he was working. I would just bring mine though and leave his in the room.

Here's the one I got for my turtle:

Taken back at the room.
I loved him but I'm not entirely sure who he's suppose to be... Obviously he says Toon Town but is he a train? Never could figure that out.

This is the only time I traded vinylmations at DHS that day. Since my camera was dead and my phone was dying (poor planning on my part) I didn't want to trade him before I documented him. So I tucked him away in my purse and continued my adventures.

Back in the character meet only two characters were out, Pooh and Sorcerer Micky. And both of their lines were massive! I remember back in March my BFF and I just happened to stumble in here and turned a corner and look who was waiting for us with nothing to do:

This was truly a magical moment. And one made all the better because Sorcerer Micky was my BFF's favorite Mickey incarnation. She was beyond thrilled for the experience. And Sorcerer Mickey was super impressed by my BFF's ears!

I sent a quick text to my BFF reminiscing and decided to move on. I wanted to head down Sunset Blvd. just to see what the wait time for Tower of Terror was. It read 20 minutes which could have meant a walk on, or 30 minutes for Tower of Terror and at the point I was starting to get a little lonely walking around the park by myself so I decided to skip it for now.

I thought I'd start heading to the exit. With the Halloween party that night I wanted to make sure my camera was charged so I wanted to get back to the room with plenty of time to spare.

I did want to peek into a few stores before I left. You know, just to look.

The first (and ironically only) store I went into was Sunset Club Couture. And what did I see?

MY 40th ANNIVERSARY DISNEY DOONEY WALLET!!!

Matt had been searching for it for MONTHS and I just happened to wander into this store and BAM there it was! Needless to say it's a big and expensive purchase but there were only three left and I had a flashback...

It was December of 2010 and I was in Disney with Matt and his family for Christmas. Tron: Legacy had just come out and Matt and I had fallen in love with the movie. Adidas had partnered with Disney and made a special jacket for the movie:

Matt LOVES adidas. He's one of those athletes who took sides in the whole adidas / nike debate and he is team adidas all the way.
So that jacket was amazing for him for so many reasons. But at $70 (I believe) it was a little on the expensive side and Matt is one of those think-about-it buyers. So we walked away from it SEVERAL times. Finally Matt decided it was a purchase he really wanted and went for it. Only to find IT HAD SOLD OUT!!! And it never came back in stock again. Matt has called Disney sporadically since and has always been been told the same story: they sold out and never reordered.

So with this story fresh in my mind and only three wallets hanging in front of me I knew I had to go for it:

Isn't it beautiful? I love it so. Absolutely no regrets. And the CM gave me the Premium Annual Pass discount (20%) instead of the Annual Pass discount (10%). So I didn't even miss out on the savings I would have gotten by waiting for Matt to come with me to get a CM discount (20%)!

And I would like to note that we checked on several occasions and only saw the wallet one other time... one was sitting on the display of the other 40th anniversary DB merchandise. And when we went back a few hours later... it was gone! So I truly have no regrets because I think it was my one and only opportunity for a purchase I have been coveting for ages!

Walking out of the store with my wallet significantly lighter but spirits significantly higher, I decided to head back to CBR.

I plugged in my technology and crashed for a while.

I decided I needed something small so I walked to OPR for a light lunch. Matt was working as the greeter so I even got to see and talk to him on the clock

He mentioned he too was hungry and with only an hour or two left before he got off, I decided to get the California Sushi Roll and eat half and save the other half for him when he got off work:

The sushi was very good but I liked the veggie roll better. The California Roll has caviar on it which I am not a fan of. But I ate the four with the least amount and Matt ate the other four.

Back at the room, I relaxed, ate my sushi, and read a magazine waiting for Matt to get off. Finally he showed up, ate his sushi, and we started to get ready for the Halloween Party!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Yay, you found your D&B wallet AND got a better discount!

 

[kokotg]

Ooh, I didn't even know you COULD see Yoda! I'm determined to ride until I see him next year!

Very nice wallet!

Can't wait to hear how your Halloween party was...was it the infamous sold out one on 9/30?