He Went During Deer Season: Sept 19th - 23rd

[hillo]

Hi everyone. My step-dad (the hunter), my mom, and myself went to Disney Sept 19 - 23 for Free Dining. My step-dad hasn't been to WDW in eleven years. My mom and I talk about it all the time, and we convinced him to go. We didn't want to go during deer season, but because of Free Dining, he agreed to go.

I had asked him a couple of times if he would like to look at menus or know what days we would be going to each park. He said he didn't want to look at menus, and he never really cared about which parks we were doing on which days. This led to him asking many questions during the trip. A couple of times, he didn't know which park he was in or where we had just been.

My mom and I had a great time, of course. We love all things Disney and food. So, food at Disney is an excellent combination. My step-dad loves food also. I'm pretty sure he had a good time. We could tell when he was having a good time. He laughed out loud at a lot of things.

I will be doing food reviews on the dining board.

Friday, September 19th

We planned to leave at 6:30am. It's an eight hour drive to WDW. We had to leave by 7 to arrive in time to freshen up for our 4:30pm reservations at Boma. We walked out the door at 6:50am. S-d (step-dad) says he's hungry, so we have to stop at McDonald's before getting on the interstate. Fortunately, this didn't take long. My mom and I are used to eating very little before making it to Boma and not stopping for food.

About an hour down the road, s-d says he forgot his shoes. This is after he has already complained about the uncomfortable van seat. Not a great start to the vacation. He also needs some sort of insoles. Not only do we have to stop at Wal-Mart, but also Rack Room Shoes.

We arrive at All-Star Music at about 3:15pm, so we need to hurry a little. I'm fine, but DM has to do her hair. S-d says he needs a shower. We did fine for time, but s-d would not get ready. He continued to piddle and walk around and do nothing. I tried to explain the concept of an ADR to him. He didn't seem to care. He kept saying he didn't want to be rushed. I had hoped to make it to Boma earlier, but we did arrive at around 4:20pm, so we were fine.

During the meal, he seemed a little upset. My mom found out while I was at the buffet, that it was because I had said the men shouldn't wear short shorts. I said they don't look good in them. We had about a 5 minute agrument about it. Come to find out, I had offended him. I thought the whole thing was rather silly, but at least after I apologized he seemed to enjoy Boma. Finally, we were having our usual eating out fun.

After our meal, we walked around the lodge. S-d bought an alcoholic coffee drink from Victoria Falls Lounge. He said it was very good. We returned to ASMu, upgraded s-d's ticket (concierge had a lot of trouble doing this for some reason), looked at the gift shop, showered (yes, s-d showered again), and went to bed.

We found this interesting thing in the lodge that I had never seen before.

 

[hillo]

September 20th

We started the day at DHS's EMH. We arrived 10 minutes before park opening. I was very proud. We headed straight for Toy Mania with pretty much everyone else. I grabbed FP which had a very long line, then we got in line. It was less than a 30 minute wait.

S-d laughed so much on TSM. He loved it and is still talking about it. He never could remember the name. He just called it the shoot-em-up game. Keep in mind that he's a hunter. He had been grouchy getting up this morning and was in a bad mood... until he rode TSM. I was thinking while riding, "Thanks Disney. This is your purpose. You have turned a grouch into a little kid." This was the perfect way to start off our day in the park. TSM really put him into a better mood. We rode TSM 4 times during our vacation.

Now, s-d wanted breakfast, so we went to Starring Rolls.

Next, we headed to ToT and RnRC, then used our TSM FP. S-d couldn't handle ToT as good as he did eleven years ago. I wasn't expecting that, but he still had fun. We saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid and left the park.

A boat was waiting at the dock, so we took it to the Beach Club and walked the rest of the way to Epcot. I wish the walk had been shorter since we were so hungry. It was around 12:30. My mom and I were getting sick on the boat since we hadn't eaten. We had lunch at the Tangierine Cafe. The outside seating was beautiful. It was cooler on the patio than in the inside seating area, and we had a great view.

After we finished eating, we headed to Soarin' and grabbed a FP. S-d grabbed a coffee at Sunshine Seasons. We did all of the Seas and Imagination pavilions and used our Soarin' FPs and grabbed some more. We had to hurry to our reservation in Italy. We were only 5 minutes late though, and they sat us immediately. Our meal was excellent.

S-d wanted wine from somewhere else in the WS, so I told him the other countries, and he chose Germany. He didn't enjoy the wines there.

We leisurely walked through the W:S and stopped at Maelstrom. We actually watched the movie. If I've ever seen it, I don't remember it. It was ok, but I wouldn't watch it again for a long time.

We headed back to Soarin' and used our FPs. We were let in even though we were 20 minutes late. The CM didn't seem to mind at all. It may have been because very few people were at Epcot. We then walked on M:S and TT. I thought my s-d would enjoy M:S more, but he said he couldn't take it again. He thinks some of his problem was the wine. We left Epcot and headed back to room with a very short wait at the bus stop.

 

[hillo]

I lost everything I typed, so here I go again.

I forgot to mention that the CM told us at check in that we had a room in a country building. I said we would prefer Jazz if it's available. The CM checked with a lady behind him at a computer, and came back to tell us that they could accommodate us. Yay! Our room was right near the elevator and stairs. This was great since it was on the third floor. It had a pretty nice view for a value resort. It was a fairly short walk to the lobby. About the best you can get without paying preferred prices.

I was also happy to have the curtain since my s-d was with us. This was a very nice addition.

Now on with the trip...

We started Sunday at the MK. S-d woke up and told us to go on without him since he was tired. Mom and I wasn't sure what to say. We knew he would have trouble meeting back up with us. He really didn't understand the dining plan, and this was our only day at MK. After explaining that we got up a little earlier so he could have breakfast at the Main Street Bakery before the park opened, he decided to come. This meant we were running behind, but it didn't matter because people weren't being let onto Main Street when we arrived at the MK anyway.

We arrived at 8:50, just a couple of minutes before their welcome show. I have never seen the show, and I'm not sure when they started doing it. We thought people were allowed on Main Street around 8:30 and then could branch out into the park at 9.

I'm so glad we got to see the show. It was wonderful! I started to cry, especially when everyone gasped when the train came into the station.
Here's some pics...

We headed straight to the bakery and had a short wait. People filed in right behind us. Our meal was great. It was fun just to sit there and have breakfast in the MK. My mom wasn't feeling well and isn't good with sweets in the morning, so I suggested she go buy a 79 cent pack of pretzels next door at the Confectionery. This was perfect for her. She felt better after eating them.

As I finished eating, the trolley with a group of singers started coming down Main Street. They stopped right outside of the bakery. I walked outside to watch them and then my parents joined me. It was magical. I almost cried again. They were singing "I'm Walking Right Down the Middle of Main Street USA." I know all the words by heart. I have heard that song since I was very young and watched my Disneyland Fun music video. (I still watch it sometimes.)

We had our picture made and then headed to an empty Tomorrowland. S-d loved Buzz Lightyear, so we rode it twice. Even though I grabbed FPs for Space Mountain, we didn't need them and rode in the stand-by line which was the same length as FP - no one in line until it branches off. S-d couldn't ride it again, so we never used the FPs.

We moved on to Fantasyland and rode Snow White and IASW. I grabbed FPs for Peter Pan before riding IASW. They had too many boats running on IASW. We hit the next boat all the way back in the white room. Next, we rode HM, went to Peter Pan, moved on to Big Thunder, Pirates, and grabbed a FP for JC.

We ate lunch at Columbia Harbour House overlooking Frontierland from upstairs. I loved the view and the food!

We then went to see Philharmagic. Fantasyland was very crowded by this time, but of course Philharmagic was easy to get into. Next, we took a cruise through the jungle (uninteresting skipper, unfortunately) and headed to the Laugh Floor where my mom was put on the screen with the caption "She has no idea where she is." She really looked that way. She had a confused expression on her face because I was trying to tell her something and she couldn't understand me.

We left the MK and went to Epcot. After riding SSE in French (I could only understand a few things, but I was able to read and answer all the questions), we saw Stormstruck, the new exhibit in Innoventions. It was really cool. I thought it was awesome for not being a major attraction. I would definitely see it again.

Dinner was in France. Absolutely wonderful. Great view, atmosphere, food, and service.

I had grabbed FP for Soarin' before heading to France, so we rode Soarin' after eating. S-d realized he left his hat in France, so we had to go back and get it. He kept saying he didn't want to go back to the MK. He wanted to go sleep. My mom was trying to tell him that he wanted to see Splash Mountain. He kept thinking she was talking about Space Mountain. After he finally realized what she was talking about, he agreed to go.

At the entrance, the CMs were checking room keys. Funny thing is, my mom and I were using a 2007 key with our tickets on it. They waved us through anyway. Later, at Buzz Lightyear, I could tell the CM was paying attention, so I told my mom to get out the 2008 keys. At Splash, we just got out our 2007 keys since they were easier to get to, and the CM didn't notice. I believe we did the same at TTA.

We rode Splash, Buzz again, and the TTA. At first, I said we didn't have to ride the TTA, since it was so late. My mom said she knew how I enjoyed it, so we rode it anyway. We grabbed two hot fudge sundaes from Auntie Gravity's before riding though. My mom and I split one and then I finished s-d's. He's not a fan of soft serve.

We walked quickly through the Emporium where I bought ballet flats that were actually on sale. We then headed out of the park to find a very long line at the bus stop. Thankfully, an extra bus pulled up after 10 minutes and two buses where loaded at a time.

 

[hillo]

Whether anyone is reading or not, I'm going to finish with our last day at WDW.

S-d needed breakfast this morning, so we ate at Intermission food court. We then headed to AK for EMH. We arrived at the park at 8:30 and headed straight for EE. I grabbed FPs even though the line at the time had no wait. I thought s-d would love the ride, but we didn't feel so well after it, so we didn't use the FPs later. We headed over to Kilimanjaro Safaris. It had a 20 minute wait as the park had just opened to the public. Next, s-d and mom went to Pangani. I had to use the restroom, so I went in Harambe and then I went to meet up with them.

To my surprise, the Dream Squad was on the trail. Mom and s-d had just missed them. I won a dream fastpass! I knew that I could ask for 2 for my parents, so I did. I almost didn't at first, because I thought they may have won them. I called my mom and she said they had just missed them. The nice CM asked me to bring my parents back to her, but they were already finished with the trail and would have to walk back through, so she went ahead and gave me the FPs anyway.

I was very happy to win even though the lines were quite short, and we had already ridden EE and the safaris. It was still awesome to win something, though.

We did FOTLK and had to hurry over to Nemo. S-d fell asleep during some of the show. He needed coffee which we grabbed at Restaurantosaurus right after the show. We were able to ride Dinosaur with our dream FPs which was very nice. It saved us a 15 minute wait which was perfect since we were starving and didn't want to backtrack since we wanted to eat at Pizzafari. Their chicken sandwich is great.

We were going to use our FPs for ITTBAB after we ate, but the FP line wasn't even in use. We walked right in anyway. S-d loved this. It was one of his favorites. A Flights of Wonder show was coming up, so we headed over there. We have never taken the time to do this. It was really great. S-d said this was one of his favorite things. He said at one point it was his favorite, but my mom reminded him of a few other things he really liked. This may still take the top spot for him, though.

Mom and I then rode EE with our FPs. If we hadn't won them, we wouldn't have ridden EE again, so that was very nice.

We had some extra time before needing to leave for dinner at Akershus in Epcot, so s-d got a coffee at the Tea cart in Asia and I got a very good Frozen chai. I would definitely get this again, even if it was a little on the expensive side - $4.50 (includes tax) for a small (12 or 16 oz - it was plenty, I wouldn't have wanted anymore). I carried my drink though the Maharajah Jungle Trek. S-d asked why we didn't ride Kali River Rapids. All we had to do was point out the people getting off the ride.

It started to rain as we left AK. It didn't take long for an Epcot bus to show up. It started to rain much harder by the time we got to SSE, so we took refuge in Mouse Gears and then the Electric Umbrella where we rested and my mom fixed her make-up. When the rain slacked off, we headed to Akershus.

After our meal, we walked through the gateway shops and went back to France - s-d's choice. I debated about getting a Napoleon. I couldn't help myself and bought one with a snack credit. S-d had wine and 2 Grand Marnier slushies. I didn't know you weren't allowed to carry an alcoholic drink out of the park until then.

We took the boat over to DHS. We saw Muppets, Fantasmic (a little over half full), mom and I rode ToT, then we went to TSM. It was the only thing with a line. We were able to ride twice before midnight.

This was EMH at DHS. The lady at ToT noticed that our resort key tickets said 2007, so we had to fish out our 2008 ones. The guy at TSM just waved us through when my mom started to rummage through her bag. The next time she remembered to have them out. I'm pretty sure she showed the 2007 ones here, though. I told the guy at TSM we didn't have them out because we were so used to the wrist bands. He said the wrist bands were so much easier. He told us Disney was going green and that's why they stopped the wrist bands.

The next day we went to Downtown Disney and left. Well... I shouldn't be sad. It was a great trip. The only thing good about the last day of a vacation is that it's one day closer until the next vacation!

 

[Krista in MA]

Hi hillo!

Glad to read you had a good time on your trip! Your TR caught my attention - as with your step-dad being able to go during deer season - I had to make sure my parents were okay going during golfing "season", and didn't have any tournaments planned or anything for when we went down to Disney

Edited to add - I'm curious.... were your park tickets somehow connected to your 2007 key cards (did you have non-experation date tix on them?) or did you just happen to carry them around and those were easiest to grab? I'm just being nosey - not sure if I misunderstood that you had your tickets on the 2007 ones?

 

[hillo]

Hi hillo!

Glad to read you had a good time on your trip! Your TR caught my attention - as with your step-dad being able to go during deer season - I had to make sure my parents were okay going during golfing "season", and didn't have any tournaments planned or anything for when we went down to Disney

Edited to add - I'm curious.... were your park tickets somehow connected to your 2007 key cards (did you have non-experation date tix on them?) or did you just happen to carry them around and those were easiest to grab? I'm just being nosey - not sure if I misunderstood that you had your tickets on the 2007 ones?

Sorry, I should have made that more clear. We bought 10 day park hoppers with no expiration last September. We had days left on our 2007 tickets, so we were using those before adding days to a new ticket. We kept our room keys separate to make sure we didn't use the one day ticket we had on them, because we wanted to save it and upgrade it later.