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

[shan23877]

Fun update! So glad you treated yourself to the wallet! Looking forward to reading more.

 

[teekathepony]

Oooohhh nice wallet! Glad to see you scooped it up while you had the chance!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Sounds like you had a fun day! Great pics of Star Tours! I did the same as you with P&F - got a photo from afar and quickly moved on.

on getting your D&B wallet with a 20% discount!!! It's soo nice and am glad you purchased it when you did.

 

[melmar136]

Yay! So glad you got the wallet! And I agree, if you see something you love, you have to get it right then, cause we've had the same thing happen, when you go back and it's gone!

 

[wdwgirl03]

That retro Epcot display is cool! I really miss the old Figment ride.

WOO HOO on your Dooney and Bourke! I love that pattern and really want to get one of the bags. I hear the CM holiday discount is pretty nice.

 

[Nermel9]

Wow, I love the wallet! I learned that valuable lesson in Disney on this past trip-if you see something you want, buy it, you can always return it! I wanted one of the Halloween mugs SO bad, and only saw them on the 2nd day of our trip, and when I went to look for them later in the week, they were gone. My sister will be there in a few days, I'm hoping they stocked up so she can get me one while she's down there!

Can't wait to hear what you thought of the Halloween party! You went to the one on the 30th, right, that was sold out? I was there too, it was crazy!

 

[sue_88]

I agree with everyone else. That wallet is sooo cute! I want it too!!
I understand why you wouldn't want to be in the crush for riding Toy Story Mania. And usually if something is super crowded, I am heading in the opposite direction. But I am a huge Midway Mania fan! I want to be given a dream fastpass so that I can repeatedly ride that ride until I wear myself out. I'm sure that will never happen, but it is the dream.
Speaking of Dream, I need to do the One Man's Dream this time for sure! Looks fun.

 

[BerrysGirl]

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

I knew I was buying the wallet one way or another... I was NOT risking missing out on it at that point to wait for Matt's 20%. I'm not sure why the CM gave me the bigger discount. She wasn't the cheeriest CM in the world and she seemed more inconvenienced by me more than anything else so I'm guessing she may have accidentally given me the larger discount. But I'm certainly not complaining

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?

I didn't know Yoda was so elusive. I'm so glad I got to see him now!

Yes yes, our halloween party was sold out that would be my luck that the only party in the span of late September / early October that sold out would be the one I went to... Do you know why it sold out? Was it because of the 40th? I just couldn't figure it out

Fun update! So glad you treated yourself to the wallet! Looking forward to reading more.

Why thank you : Every time I look at my wallet it's like my own little dusting of Pixie Dust!

Oooohhh nice wallet! Glad to see you scooped it up while you had the chance!

May it be the moral of the story: when it comes to Disney, don't wait. Seize the day!

 

[BerrysGirl]

Sounds like you had a fun day! Great pics of Star Tours! I did the same as you with P&F - got a photo from afar and quickly moved on.

on getting your D&B wallet with a 20% discount!!! It's soo nice and am glad you purchased it when you did.

It was a lot of fun to wander around the park by myself. I went at my own pace and did whatever I wanted -- without apology it was great! I may make DBF stand in line for P&F in December. We do really love the show. And their meet-n-greet area is so cute!

Yay! So glad you got the wallet! And I agree, if you see something you love, you have to get it right then, cause we've had the same thing happen, when you go back and it's gone!

Don't you hate that? I mean, you tell yourself "I'm on vacation. I have all the time in the world." But there are thousands of people who are "on vacation" too and they don't seem to have that mentality. I think when it comes to Disney if I love it once, I'll always love it so there's no point in debating because I've never had buyer's regret in Disney!

That retro Epcot display is cool! I really miss the old Figment ride.

WOO HOO on your Dooney and Bourke! I love that pattern and really want to get one of the bags. I hear the CM holiday discount is pretty nice.

Someday all of us old-school Figment lovers should rally and demand the to bring it back! Or at least the Dreamfinder...
Hopefully this will you feel a little better

Matt's permanent address is mine so I get all of his CM-stuff... like his free pass and his holiday discount card. It just came in the mail yesterday and it's pretty darn nice... free popcorn, discounted dinning, extra park passes... There's A LOT! Of course it's all blacked out between December 18 and January 2 but we plan to use the as many discounts as possible at the beginning of December. Like getting into DisneyQuest for free. I can't imagine spending money on it but if it's free... may as well check it out!

P.S. The holiday discounts go into effect in October so if you see this before you go see if there are any discounts you can use when you visit your sister!

Wow, I love the wallet! I learned that valuable lesson in Disney on this past trip-if you see something you want, buy it, you can always return it! I wanted one of the Halloween mugs SO bad, and only saw them on the 2nd day of our trip, and when I went to look for them later in the week, they were gone. My sister will be there in a few days, I'm hoping they stocked up so she can get me one while she's down there!

Can't wait to hear what you thought of the Halloween party! You went to the one on the 30th, right, that was sold out? I was there too, it was crazy!

I hope you find your mug!
Yeah we were at the 30th party too, so of course it was sold out! I had a really intense plan of attack so the crowds didn't get to us too much... except the second parade. We stayed for that one and we always heard how dead it was. That was NOT the case on the 30th party. Man, were there a lot of people!

I agree with everyone else. That wallet is sooo cute! I want it too!!
I understand why you wouldn't want to be in the crush for riding Toy Story Mania. And usually if something is super crowded, I am heading in the opposite direction. But I am a huge Midway Mania fan! I want to be given a dream fastpass so that I can repeatedly ride that ride until I wear myself out. I'm sure that will never happen, but it is the dream.
Speaking of Dream, I need to do the One Man's Dream this time for sure! Looks fun.

Thanks : Toy Story Mania is one of those things that if I tell myself I want to do it I will fight the crowds... but I'm also content skipping it. However this trip I didn't ride TSM or Buzz so I'm a little sad... this will be remedied in December

 

[BerrysGirl]

Party Time!

When I shipped my costume to DBF, the headband that held the bow for my hair had snapped and we had been scrambling to figure out what to do. Eventually we realized that the headband was a lost cause so when we went to Publix and I picked up a pack of cheap headbands, along with some super glue. I glued the bow to the new headband without much hope for its survival but surprisingly it held throughout the entire party!

I would like to apologize in advance for my behavior over these upcoming photographs. I think Matt looks amazing and definitely has lost some weight. I, on the other hand, have not Normally it doesn't bother me, I try to eat right and get at least an hour of exercise every day. But the way the belt sits on me for this costume made me look gawky and awkward and I kinda cringe whenever I see photographic evidence.

Not too bad to start out with.

Matt didn't think we'd be recognized all that often but it didn't really bother me. I was proud of all the work I'd put into the costumes and I thought they were really fitting for us so I was pleased that the night to wear them had finally arrived.

At about 3:15 we left the room to catch a bus to Magic Kingdom. I was a little self conscious in my giant bow waiting a the bus stop with all the non-party goers (man this post is making me sound really insecure, isn't it? ) but we snatched up a bench and sat for a few minutes waiting for our bus. The wait wasn't bad at all and by the time it arrived, other families also in costumes were waiting so I felt like my giant bow head blended in a little better.

After our short ride, we were faced with this sight:

I know, that sign is always there but I was really excited!

We went up to the Will Call window to the right of the entrance and quickly had our tickets to the party. I was a little nervous because I had forgotten to print off the confirmation email. I had it on my phone just in case but the CM did not seem overly concerned. She mostly wanted to see my Photo ID to make sure I wasn't illegally getting my discounted AP tickets. There were zero problems getting our tickets and we very quickly had these in hand:

Pretend Mickey is dressed as Jack Skellington and Pluto is Zero, or something equally festive. It bothers me they don't offer special tickets for special events.

We had about 5 minutes before the park opened to Party guests so we decided just to wait to enter rather than go in with our normal passes and get wristbands inside. At 4:00 on the dot, the special events gate opened and we were in, donning these babies:

I think the color of the wristband changes for the party date... that's how they know if you're where you're suppose to be. Later that week I saw a family wearing green bands and another couple wearing yellow ones.

I had purposely not come to the Magic Kingdom yet so all the Halloween Decorations would be a surprise. Sure enough, they did not disappoint. I love this holiday!

Ugh. Such an awkward belt.

These were my favorite!

We had stopped into one of the shops on Main Street to see if they had the Disney Dooney wallet I had purchase earlier in the day (they had one, but it was on display and gone the next day when we checked back) and came out on that cute little side street where we saw this:

I love that they took the time to decorate this little side street even though barely anyone goes back there. It's the little touches, right?

At this point we were starving so we discussed our dinning options. Matt wanted CHH so we were making our way there when I noticed Casey's Corner was open! Matt and I thought it was still closed but apparently we were wrong. Yay for being wrong!

I had never tried Casey's and we had both been to CHH multiple times so I convinced Matt to eat there instead.

We decided to split a plain hotdog and corn dog nuggets (brookelizabeth this is for you!). I got a bottle of water and Matt got a coke... exclusively for the holiday cup. He loved that the characters were dressed up like Disney villains on it. I have to admit, it was pretty darn cute.

Oh I forgot to mention, the hot dog was a meal so we got apple slices for our side.

We loaded up our fixins and I made sure to get enough plastic cheese to last me a lifetime. I love me some plastic cheese!

Our meal was excellent! The bun was unnaturally large for the plain hot dog but I understand why they do that... If you ordered one of their specialty dogs, your bun is overflowing with fixins... They need the extra space on those! But when you order a plain dog it just looks a little sad (kinda 1980s Where's the Beef?). Maybe Casey's needs to provide two different buns. I can't imagine it costing that much more?

The corn dog nuggets were absolutely heavenly! Seriously some of the best things I've ever tried in my life. Matt loved them too and declared them dangerous because he could go and have them all the time... that would be so dangerous for both your pocketbook and waistline!

View from our table at Dinner

After our amazing Dinner we decided to scope out the lay of the land for the party. We found where the dwarfs would be stationed and explored the rest of Magic Kingdom looking for hints of the party that was to come. We went into the pin trading store in Frontierland to see if they had the special event pins out yet and so Matt could trade pins. We did not bring the vinylmations tonight... we'd be back at MK tomorrow to trade! The pins were not out yet but I insisted Matt trade with the CM for a Figment Vinylmation pin. That one I LOVED and Matt is not allowed to trade!

When we were leaving the store a girl on the street called out "Yeah Phineas and Isabella!" We shouted back our thanks and continued on our stroll with light hearts. We had been recognized!

Matt declared our costumes a success at that point because, as he put it "to be recognized once is one time more than I expected."

With still over half an hour to kill before we wanted to get in line for the dwarfs I requested a quick ride:

I will never get sick of the Peoplemover.

At first I was a little bummed by this shot because I didn't get the castle centered. But now I actually like it because you can see the Sea Monster topiary too.

Always have to try to catch these guys!

 

[BerrysGirl]

Peek!

After our excellent tour, we decided we better start heading to Frontierland to get in line for the dwarfs.

But not before giving a bored Photopass Guy something to do:

Giant Bow Head!!!

The last Dream Along with Mickey show of the day was going on but I realized I hadn't gotten pictures of the statues in the light yet so I squirmed my way through the crowds to capture them.

They are too cute!

We headed back to Frontierland and got there a little before 6. Woody and Jesse were still out where the dwarfs were scheduled to meet but CMs were announcing that the line for Woody and Jesse had ended and it was now a line for the Halloween Party. Score!

We were the 4th or 5th party in line so we settled in for our hour-long wait. We took turns sitting and just in general chilled out. There was a family and another couple behind us who started chatting and I just had this feeling: they're on the dis... Matt wears a Lime Green Mickey Head in his pin trading lanyard so I made sure that it was pointing towards them. You know, just in case. I'm a little weird about introducing myself to strangers so I didn't speak up, but Matt and I just continued our own conversation.

After about twenty minutes of waiting I decided to get a bottle of water for us to share in line. I headed back towards Splash Mountain (I don't remember if I mentioned this but the meeting spot for the 7 Dwarfs is at the exit of Splash... right by the bathrooms) and saw that the line was already past the Splash Mountain play area! Wow... I'm real glad we didn't get in line at 6:30 like I played around with doing! I figured at first 30 minutes for a September party would be more than enough time. Glad I reanalyzed this decision because our party was the only party in late September / early October to sell out! Of course!

I bought a bottle of water from a vendor then went back to wait in line with Matt. With only about 15 minutes left of waiting time, the couple behind us noticed Matt's lanyard and asked if we were on the Dis! Why yes, thank you we are!
The father of the family who leading most of the conversation exclaimed "well of course you are to be ahead of US in line "

I was so excited to be experiencing my first DisMeet but I'm sorry to say I did a really bad job documenting it. I didn't ask either family their usernames and did not photographic evidence. So according to DisRules it didn't happen But I was pretty pleased with the experience!

The family had a little girl so I decided to break out the glow sticks early and offered her one. At first she was a little unsure, but once she got her mom’s ok she was proudly sporting an orange glow bracelet!

Shortly after the dwarfs came out and within 5 minutes we were here:

It was such a neat experience! I'm so glad we waited it out. What a great picture

From Frontierland we headed over to Fantasyland to see Cinerella's Carriage.
There was a little bit of wait so I snapped this picture:

Fantasyland at Dusk. All those people to the right are waiting in line for candy. The trick or treat lines were crazy all night long! We never bothered.

Almost there!

Looking back I don't think I'd wast me time with the carriage again... unless for some unforeseen reason Matt and I were at the party dressed as Cinderella and Prince Charming. It was cute and definitely got cuter once it got dark but up close it was just so-so.

After our photo ops we wandered around the rest of the park checking out the special decorations.

I loved the lighted murals in Tomorrow Land!

We stumbled upon Club 626 and saw alien Stitch getting his dance on.

Action Shot!

After our brief dance party we went into Mickey's Star Traders and I secured my Halloween souvenir:

It's the special pin only for passholders. I love it!

Near the Buzz meet-n-greet we saw this little guy:

I think it was a Trick or Treat spot not distributing candy yet but any opportunity to see a Little Green Alien makes me happy. So cute!

At that point it was about 10 minutes before the first Villain Mix-n-Mingle so we headed to the hub to check it out.

You are going to notice a bias in my photos of this show.

I was most excited to see him!

Creepy and awesome picture of the castle!

I snapped this picture while waiting in line for our mix-n-mingle. Kingdom Keepers flashback!

The main event! I only waited around after the show for Dr. Facilier.

I thought the show was awesome. And it was neat that the characters came down after the show.

 

[jesemeca]

Hi! I'm enjoying your report so far. I was there the same time you were. I think I was in line behind you for the Dwarfs at MNSSHP. Was this on September 30th? My dad and I were there. I was dressed as Minnie, with a red and white tutu on. There were a lot of Dis'ers in the line that night. Besides my dad and I, there was a family with 2 boys and another family of 7.

Can't wait to see more!

 

[poisonapple_PRINCESS]

Looove all your Halloween party photo's! That is what I want to plan my next trip around because it just looks so much fun! Looks like you guys had an awesome time!

 

[teekathepony]

You look adorable in your costume! I must admit that I would never have recognized you guys, but now that I know who you were I must say good job!

 

[wdwgirl03]

First of all, awesome video of Journey Into Imagination.

Those corn dog nuggets are really good. They're another one of those things that I read about on the DIS and had to try.

Great party update! The pictures with the dwarves and in front of the carriage turned out so cute! I am definitely planning on waiting for them as well.

 

[kokotg]

Yes yes, our halloween party was sold out that would be my luck that the only party in the span of late September / early October that sold out would be the one I went to... Do you know why it sold out? Was it because of the 40th? I just couldn't figure it out

That seems to be the going explanation, from what I've heard...I don't quite understand why that would be, though

Loving all the pictures of the party! You guys look great, giant bow and all

 

[TanzUnited99]

You guys look great and I'm glad someone recognised your outfits! I have to admit I wouldn't have had a clue but my little sister who adores Phineas and Ferb would have been very excited about your costumes! I'll have to show your pics to her.

Yay on getting to meet the seven dwarfs. Your pics of the party are bringing back memories - it sure is a great event!

 

[archdandy]

Great trip report so far! It looks like you guys had a great time at MNSSHP. I can't wait until we go next year for the first time. I have to admit, I thought your halloween costumes were supposed to be piglet and tigger I've never seen Phineas and Ferb so I don't know any of the characters. Don't worry about the pictures. You look adorable!

 

[melmar136]

I love the costumes! You guys looked great!

 

[BerrysGirl]

Hi! I'm enjoying your report so far. I was there the same time you were. I think I was in line behind you for the Dwarfs at MNSSHP. Was this on September 30th? My dad and I were there. I was dressed as Minnie, with a red and white tutu on. There were a lot of Dis'ers in the line that night. Besides my dad and I, there was a family with 2 boys and another family of 7.

Can't wait to see more!

That's so neat you were in the Dwarfs line! I don't remember a Minnie but we were definitely there on the 30th and if you were in line before the party started we were there too : Hope you enjoyed the party as much as we did!

Looove all your Halloween party photo's! That is what I want to plan my next trip around because it just looks so much fun! Looks like you guys had an awesome time!

It was a really neat experience. Not something I imagine having to do every year but something I will do again someday. The decorations are my favorite I've ever seen at Disney and yes, I've even been there at Christmas! Of course I am bias, Halloween is my favorite holiday

You look adorable in your costume! I must admit that I would never have recognized you guys, but now that I know who you were I must say good job!

Thanks! It was fun to dress up... I really felt like it put us in the spirit. If we ever go back, I'll definitely be dressing us up again!

First of all, awesome video of Journey Into Imagination.

Those corn dog nuggets are really good. They're another one of those things that I read about on the DIS and had to try.

Great party update! The pictures with the dwarves and in front of the carriage turned out so cute! I am definitely planning on waiting for them as well.

I will be going back to Casey's and I will be having those corn dog nuggets again. The hot dog itself was so-so but man oh man were those little nuggets good!
The dwarfs definitely felt like a must-do. It's really one of those once in a lifetime experiences. I mean, when do you see 7 characters together like that?
But really, get there early!!! That's can't be stressed enough :