"I'm With Sneezy!" A Mom-&-Me/Solo October Trip! Upd 12/16

[STLMickeyMom]

i'm finally here! you're first day looked like a lot of fun! i'm glad you found your way back to your hotel. don't you hate those toll roads? they drive me nuts! but way to go, driving on the highway! I totally had the same problems after I was in an accident in college.

and I love your light up balloon. we bought the girls one on their first trip and they were a lot of fun (and annoying when they kept whacking us in the face, but whatever)!

I like your new purse too--it's very cute! love the castle and mickey on the front!

 

[ZehnJahren]

The only day we had rain was the day we went home.

That's so lucky. We went in October a couple of years ago too and it was such nice weather. This year was a washout the first few days, but we still had fun!

I've made it here! I read last night but was too tired to comment so lets see what I remember!

Your place looks very nice and spacious! Oh, how I long to have two bathrooms on vacation. You probably mentioned this in your PTR but I can't remember....did you use timeshare points for your stay? Just curious of the cost (although I don't think we would ever stay offsite. Honestly, the no navigating thing is what hooked DH to Disney trips in the first place).

I LOVE the CHH broccoli! 5 times? Jealous!

I think the balloon obsession is legitimate. Olivia, my 19 year old is obsessed with getting one too. She hasn't YET but now that she has her own money I am sure it is just a matter of time.

Yay for finding your perfect D&B placement and what a great story about the $50 from your grandpa! I am sure that will make your bag extra special for you.

We traded a week through II for this timeshare. We paid the transfer fees which were like $149 (?) and paid another $45 to be able to switch our weeks around if something happened with one of our jobs. So that big place with huge rooms for about $200 for 7 nights. It was awesome! And SO easy to get to Disney!

Yes, I kept eating the broccoli. I even ate what mom didn't get to a couple of times. You know, you eat like crap when you're on vacation and that broccoli was my "not such a terrible diet" lifeline.

I was so glad to find my purse! I think of Grandpa all the time when I see it and use it. He bought me a lamp as a housewarming present too; I still use it and think of him. He was a good man.

Subbing! Loving your TR so far. You and your mom look like you have so much fun together!

We do! Thank you for joining in with me; I love having these TRs to read later when I'm NOT in Disney. It's more fun when people join in! I can see the view count going up so I know people are reading it, but I like to chat....

i'm finally here! you're first day looked like a lot of fun! i'm glad you found your way back to your hotel. don't you hate those toll roads? they drive me nuts! but way to go, driving on the highway! I totally had the same problems after I was in an accident in college.

and I love your light up balloon. we bought the girls one on their first trip and they were a lot of fun (and annoying when they kept whacking us in the face, but whatever)!

I like your new purse too--it's very cute! love the castle and mickey on the front!

I DID hate those toll roads! My mom drove them unless I got lost; I ended up on I-4 twice due to my stupid GPS and each time I was just talking myself down the whole time. But I'm getting better at the highways; I just have to remember that not every truck will hit me, and I have the option of getting into farther lanes to get away from them if I want. Disney was so great because there were hardly any semi trucks at all, which put me at ease. The buses only bothered me a little, but those semi trucks.... *shudder*

Oh yay, more light up balloons! I loved mine so unnaturally much!! Of course, I only had it in a park for about 5 minutes and then it went straight back to the condo to entertain me.

Aw, thanks for noticing the castles and the Mickey. I thought it was perfect, with Mickey, Minnie, two castles in full view, and a tink or two. The back has Chip and Dale perfectly centered, Chesire Cat, and another castle. I searched the entire rest of my stay and didn't find another I liked. It was meant to be.

 

[ElenaJane]

So far sounds like a great trip! Bumping up to the front of the plane can be costly, but getting off early can so be worth it!

Your Villa looks grand! If you plopped that down within the WDW borders, I bet the cost would more than triple!

Toll roads FREAK ME OUT. We had a similar experience where we had no change and the toll options were exact change or Sunpass...which we had neither.

You are on your way to having an awesome purse collection if I do say so myself.

 

[ZehnJahren]

So far sounds like a great trip! Bumping up to the front of the plane can be costly, but getting off early can so be worth it!

Your Villa looks grand! If you plopped that down within the WDW borders, I bet the cost would more than triple!

Toll roads FREAK ME OUT. We had a similar experience where we had no change and the toll options were exact change or Sunpass...which we had neither.

You are on your way to having an awesome purse collection if I do say so myself.

Thanks so much for coming over!

Yes, I never would have paid ANOTHER $40 for a seat upgrade, but since I paid no dollars for my flight in the first place (well, $5 I think with the 911 fee that they have), and Mom really wanted to do it and get on earlier, I thought $40 was negligible.

The villa was great! I will stay there again, for sure. I love being on property, but this was a BIG money saver. I think next time will be a SVR/Swolphin mashup, unless I can rent points at BLT - which I REALLY want to stay at. You know, I never cared for GF, but we went to dinner there this trip and I could imagine a few nights there too. I feel like a week at SVR first makes it possible!

I always worry I'll miss the toll on those toll roads. I don't like them at all. What did you do in your situation???

Wait until the end of the TR! I'll post my family collection of DDB. It just keeps growing and growing....

 

[SarahDisney]

I think almost everyone buys their tickets in advance now ... I'm not at all surprised the ticket counters were empty. Disney gives you incentives to buy in advance (aka FP+).

Yay for getting the Dooney letter carrier. I love it! And it's so special that you bought it with the money from your grandpa.

I love that AP pin. So cool!

I'm glad you enjoyed San Angel.

Looks like you had a good time at Epcot - I can't wait to see what happened once you got to HS!

 

[wannabee]

Cant wait to hear about the Ultimate thrill tour ... I hope to do it next summer.

 

[ZehnJahren]

I think almost everyone buys their tickets in advance now ... I'm not at all surprised the ticket counters were empty. Disney gives you incentives to buy in advance (aka FP+).

Yay for getting the Dooney letter carrier. I love it! And it's so special that you bought it with the money from your grandpa.

I love that AP pin. So cool!

I'm glad you enjoyed San Angel.

Looks like you had a good time at Epcot - I can't wait to see what happened once you got to HS!

You're right about buying tickets in advance, especially for the FP+. Those ticket counters are ALWAYS empty. I wonder if they'll take them completely out.

Thanks; I have the LC sitting by me now. I think it's neat Grandpa could help me buy it too.

The AP pin was neat. It folded up so that Mickey was on top.

We were definitely surprised at San Angel! I had read bad reviews but we'd decided to eat there anyway; we will probably eat here again in the future!

Cant wait to hear about the Ultimate thrill tour ... I hope to do it next summer.

Hi,

Tour day is coming up as soon as I can! Lots of pictures from that day, so it takes me a while to upload them; hope you enjoy it when I get to it!

 

[ZehnJahren]

We had gone back to the condo, and Mom had changed shoes. We then headed out (maybe an 8 minute drive??) to HS!



We walked in and walked through the shops so I could check out the DDB here as well. Nothing I liked better than what I got though, so we headed back out to the street.

This photopass photographer was taking her sweet sweet time with a family in front of us, but we weren't in a hurry, so we waited and got about 1/3 of the time of the other family. This picture cracks me up:



We were obviously pretty hot!

We stopped to watch these guys for a minute:


but we weren't really impressed this time; they were just chatting with some people standing on the street.

I checked MDE to see where we should go, and ToT was only a 10 minute line! We could ride, then come back through with our FP+! Sounds perfect! So we headed down the street towards the tower.



The skies were looking even more ominous than they were at Epcot, so we picked up the pace a little. By the time we got to the gates of ToT, the rain had started. We managed to get under the shelter of the overhang before the skies opened up.



The line was more than 10 minutes, but we were just grateful to be under shelter and at least in a line for something. We spent our time in line trying to stay away from the boy in front of us; he was about 10 and was HANGING on his dad, coughing a rattling cough every 30 seconds or so. You could tell that he had been sick for awhile, because he clearly didn't even notice he was coughing so much, and the dad clearly didn't notice either. Mom and I had a whispered discussion about this, and tried to stay back.

Once we were in the hotel lobby, we looked around as much as we could, but there weren't many FP+ people in line so we were moving more quickly.



Ride #1 was a lot of fun:



When we came out of the ride, it was still pouring. I checked my phone for the time, and then we headed right back into line with our FP+.



This was a good one. Everyone enjoyed it, as you can tell from the picture!

When we got off the ride this time, the rain wasn't going to stop us, so we poncho'd up. We had a TSMM FP+ that was coming up soon, so we wanted to head that direction and find a bathroom. I knew there was one on the side of the TSMM building, so that's where we were headed.



The clouds were swirling and moving quick, dumping a lot of rain on us.



Thank goodness we had ponchos! I think I was wearing sandals too, so I was in better shape than mom with her tennis shoes.

We stopped at the bathroom, then went right to TSMM. We got in the FP+ line, removed our soaking ponchos, and enjoyed a short wait before getting to the FP+ gate inside. The regular standby line was pretty long so we were glad to have FP+. I'm sure everyone was trying to stay out of the rain like we were.



I'm not sure why they didn't send anyone in line up the stairs after us!

I have taken a picture of every TSMM score I've ever made; I started doing it back in 2010 on my first trip back to WDW after a ten year hiatus (hence my user name; in German, zehn Jahren is "Ten Years"). This trip was no different:



Mom didn't do bad, but didn't break the 100k barrier ... yet.

We came back out and it was still raining. We decided then that since it was almost 5, we'd just head back to the condo, have a nice dinner, and relax before our early morning and long day tomorrow for the ultimate day of thrills tour!



We went to the tram and took it to our car. After arriving back at the villa just a short time later, we fixed an awesome salmon dinner with green beans and garlic parmesan potatos. Then we relaxed and called it an early night. We were going to be ready to leave early in the morning!

 

[tristyp]

Following along. We were also in disney in the end of september beginning of October( Sept.25th to Oct.10th) We also found it very rainy. I loved the Sebastien add in. Our kids were so excited about magic shots. We got butterflies at Epcot, Tinkerbell at M.K. and Stitch at A.K.

 

[blancah76]

Enjoying your trip report! Love how excited you were about that balloon

 

[ElenaJane]

Those were some dark skies! And ugh, the idea of community acquired infections and Amusements parks. I give the coughers some room, wash my hands frequently, and of course wish them a speedy recovery!

I really like DHS, but it has seemed liked there is less and less to do each trip. I am hoping they put in some amazing expansion!

And to answer your toll question...they had envelopes you could take to mail in your toll! I am a rule follower, so I took an envelope, wrote a check, and mailed them the 75 cent check! As we drove through though there was a flashing red light and a sign stating STOP, because we did not pay the toll then and there. Sometimes in my nightmares I see that sign again....

 

[Sisa]

Joining in!

Enjoying your TR so far.

The Sebastian magic shot is so cool!

I really loved the fact that you got a Mickey balloon, that was pretty awesome. I could feel your excitement.

I think I am going to have to add CHH broccoli to my must try list. It's my favorite vegetable.

I like how you took pictures of the clouds, I always see pictures of the rain but never the clouds, so that was interesting to see.

 

[ZehnJahren]

Following along. We were also in disney in the end of september beginning of October( Sept.25th to Oct.10th) We also found it very rainy. I loved the Sebastien add in. Our kids were so excited about magic shots. We got butterflies at Epcot, Tinkerbell at M.K. and Stitch at A.K.

Thank you for joining me!

Oh nice! Your days just covered mine! Where did you stay??

Enjoying your trip report! Love how excited you were about that balloon

Thanks for commenting and letting me know you're reading! Happy to have you!

That balloon really = <3

I will definitely get another in the future.

My ultimate plan was to gift it to another family while I was checking out of Pop since I knew I couldn't take it on the plane. There will definitely be more balloon in this TR!

 

[ZehnJahren]

Those were some dark skies! And ugh, the idea of community acquired infections and Amusements parks. I give the coughers some room, wash my hands frequently, and of course wish them a speedy recovery!

I really like DHS, but it has seemed liked there is less and less to do each trip. I am hoping they put in some amazing expansion!

And to answer your toll question...they had envelopes you could take to mail in your toll! I am a rule follower, so I took an envelope, wrote a check, and mailed them the 75 cent check! As we drove through though there was a flashing red light and a sign stating STOP, because we did not pay the toll then and there. Sometimes in my nightmares I see that sign again....

We couldn't believe such an obviously sick kid was in HS. Further, my mom has emphysema, so she is very careful with hand washing and sanitizer because even a simple cold can turn into pneumonia very easily with her. We had a slight concern during the trip, but <spoiler alert> we both stayed healthy the whole trip, and neither of us have developed any colds or flu since we got home, so all our care paid off!

I hope they expand in an amazing way too. DHS is just so sad right now. It used to be my #2 and now it's inching towards #4.

Haha, that toll sign! I lived in Chicago for awhile (just moved away) and I was always so nervous going through the open road tolling thinking it wouldn't "get" my license plate and I'd get a fine!

Joining in!

Enjoying your TR so far.

The Sebastian magic shot is so cool!

I really loved the fact that you got a Mickey balloon, that was pretty awesome. I could feel your excitement.

I think I am going to have to add CHH broccoli to my must try list. It's my favorite vegetable.

I like how you took pictures of the clouds, I always see pictures of the rain but never the clouds, so that was interesting to see.

Thank you for joining.

We loved seeing Sebastian pop in there! I wasn't sure what she'd be holding when they took the picture!

I loved that balloon.

The CHH broccoli is the BEST. They cook it so perfectly, with just a hint of flavor. It's not doused in butter (which I hate on broccoli); it's very simple and good.

The clouds were very ominous this trip. We were soaked pretty much all day every day there for awhile!

 

[ZehnJahren]

We woke up before 6 a.m. this morning because it was ULTIMATE DAY OF THRILLS TOUR DAY!

My alarm went off at 5:50, and by 6:45 a.m. we were walking out the door. We had to be standing in Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant at 8 a.m., and I wasn't sure if the monorail or the ferry would be our transportation of choice so I wanted to arrive early.



I drove; it was still dark when we left. When we arrived at the TTC, we just so happened to be the very first car of the day, and got the very first spot! Yay! We parked, chatted with the family next to us who were arriving early for CRT, and then headed toward transportation.



The only people out and about were workers and the waves of people coming up behind us.

We took a look, and decided on the monorail. Why?



Nobody's here at all! We would be on the first monorail of the day!





I love those pictures. They're so... early.

We took the monorail around the resort line (the only one operating) and before we knew it, we were walking towards the MK. We got a nice look at the GF, where we would be eating on Saturday!



We might have been the first in the TTC and the first on the monorail, but we weren't the first in line for getting into the park early. I was a little nervous with the size of the line, but they assured us that we would get in with plenty of time to make it to Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant by 8.



They searched out our name on the list. At first, they were confused - Ultimate Day of Thrills? What's that? It ended up it was on the last page and it was named something completely different. My mom started to freak out because only my name was on there, but they grouped the people on the tour by the person who made the reservation. I happened to notice two other names on the list; could it be possible there would only be a few of us on the tour? I had my fingers crossed.





We all kind of milled around waiting for 7:45 to come around so they'd let us in. We'd arrived almost a half hour early, so we definitely had a wait.

While in line, I checked my (wonderful) DDB group, and there was a rumor that the HM bags were coming out today. NOOOOOOO!!!! There'd be no chance I'd get one if I was on the tour!!!! I was determined to look very closely inside Uptown Jewelers to see if I saw the bag, and then I'd possibly skip a ride and go buy one later. I didn't know if it would work, but I was going to try.

7:45 came, and we were off! We headed down a completely silent Main Street - the music wasn't even playing - and I paused at Uptown Jewelers and peered through the windows, carefully looking at all the bags, but didn't see an HM bag anywhere. Phew, I think I'm ok for the day!

We hung a right and headed into the bathroom across from TT, and then came out and started looking for our meeting place. It turns out they were just then setting up for us, and we were also the first people at the meeting place.

They told us the Brown Derby would be lunch today (which was excellent for us, as we'd walked by it the day before and remarked at how good it smelled outside the restaurant!!), and gave us the menu.



We got an appetizer, entree, and drink with the meal (my allergy was noted). I picked the Ashley Farms Free-Range Chicken with a seasonal Vegetable Risotto. Mom picked the Andouille-Crusted Chicken with the vegetable slaw. I told them none of the appetizers were something I'd want and I'd pass, and they offered me the children's appetizers - one was a chicken noodle soup and I went for that. Mom got the cobb salad at my insistence, since I knew it was highly recommended and she loves salad.

They gave us our VIP tour credentials on a lanyard, and they told us we still had some time before we needed to meet and that we could go into the hub and get pictures ... so we did!







I wanted to go back down and scour Uptown Jewelers (I was determined to get an HM DDB if I could) so we walked back down Main Street.



I did also take some photos of the construction going on in the hub, while we sat and waited.





Otherwise, we just kind of sat around chillin'.





It was so neat to just look around with no one in the park. It wasn't raining - yet - so it had been a good day so far!



Aw, you gotta love the castle. Isn't it just beautiful, no matter the weather?



I also love the bridge to Tomorrowland; I love that the peoplemover runs through it on the 2nd floor all the time, and it was so weird to see the peoplemover not moving at all. I kept waiting for it to start up, but it didn't while we were sitting there.



We were ready to go! But... they made us wait past 8:30. Here's where the tour first deviated from what I was told on the phone. I was told that we'd start riding before the park opened as "that was how they got you on 7DMT", but it turned out that this was not the case. At about 8:40, they called everyone for the Ultimate Day of Thrills for Families, and that left us and two other small groups; seven people! I was so glad we'd have a small group, because we'd move faster! And after another 10 minutes, we were introduced to Lauren, our VIP tour guide for our tour today; everyone present was our tour group of 7, and Lauren made 8.

She explained the structure of the tour, and here's the second deviation from what I was told - she was our FP+. I was told when I called about the tour that we'd walk right on, but no, we'd go into the FP+ line instead. Ok, I can still deal with it, but there's a big difference there! I was already just a little annoyed to have such deviance from what I was originally told, but my irritation was small and I was still ready to go.

Lauren had a co-ordinator with her (his name was Frank) and he was going to be our driver for the day. Once we were done at MK, we'd drive over to HS and ride ToT, then have lunch, finish off HS, and then head to AK. At some point at HS, we'd have to hand over our MB to use as admission to each park. I knew right away I'd keep my MB and have them take my AP card, because I had MM on my band and wanted the pictures from today.

Finally, it was almost time for the 9 a.m. opening - time for the tour to begin!

 

[wannabee]

Disappointed to hear that you had to wait in FP+ line... hope it went well. Surprised to hear lunch was at Brown Derby. I heard that it would be at Whispering Canyon. Cant wait for more.

 

[SarahDisney]

I hate when things have different names internally than they do for the general public ... if they call it one thing on their website and in their booking info, that's what it should be called on the cast member lists! This has happened to me before (not at Disney), so it's something I'm a little passionate about

I love your morning MK pictures.
One day I really have to get into MK early somehow to get those beautiful uncrowded pictures ...

I'm sorry to hear you had to wait on the FP+ line for rides ... that seems like not as cool, especially because you were told that you could walk right on.

Looking forward to reading about the actual tour!

 

[vleeth]

I know its not the same thing, but I had similar feelings when the touring plans I paid for were waterway off. Ugh. Makes me upset thinking about it.

 

[STLMickeyMom]

I love empty Main Street! The pics with walt and Mickey are so cute!

The empty monorail pics are cool too. You really were first there!

Even with the change in plans, the tour still sounds fun! What's the difference between the tour you did and the one for families?

 

[ZehnJahren]

Disappointed to hear that you had to wait in FP+ line... hope it went well. Surprised to hear lunch was at Brown Derby. I heard that it would be at Whispering Canyon. Cant wait for more.

I heard it was at Whispering Canyon too, so I was surprised when they said Brown Derby. I'd never eaten at either. I think they were trying to save time, as we heard the tour had been running long. Also, who wants to eat and then ride ToT? That's what you'd have to do if you went straight to WC from MK.

I hate when things have different names internally than they do for the general public ... if they call it one thing on their website and in their booking info, that's what it should be called on the cast member lists! This has happened to me before (not at Disney), so it's something I'm a little passionate about

I love your morning MK pictures.
One day I really have to get into MK early somehow to get those beautiful uncrowded pictures ...

I'm sorry to hear you had to wait on the FP+ line for rides ... that seems like not as cool, especially because you were told that you could walk right on.

Looking forward to reading about the actual tour!

The name was something very odd, so odd I can't remember it. I would think they'd want to keep it the same so you don't freak people out when you're like "oh, what tour? We don't have that tour."

I love the one with the castle and Walt and Mickey.

I was a little surprised too, but it didn't break my day. However, when you're told one thing and another one happens, you can get a little miffed.

I know its not the same thing, but I had similar feelings when the touring plans I paid for were waterway off. Ugh. Makes me upset thinking about it.

I understand! I used Lines a little, but I didn't know which times were right and ended up scrapping it.

I love empty Main Street! The pics with walt and Mickey are so cute!

The empty monorail pics are cool too. You really were first there!

Even with the change in plans, the tour still sounds fun! What's the difference between the tour you did and the one for families?

I thought it was so neat to be there so early! And I'd been so worried about it!

The one for families rode different rides. Instead of rides like Space Mountain and BTMRR, they rode IASW and Aladdin.