OCt 2010 - the good, the bad and the not so scary!

[ddoconnell]

Ok, I am going to take a stab at a trip report. We are just back from our stay at the GV at SSR...so here goes:

Day one Monday the 18th:

We arrive at the resort about 10:00 a.m....went to check in hoping our villa was ready...but no pixie dust yet. So we got our keys, the sister's family got their park tickets and we headed to DHS. We got our annual passes and headed into the park. Had a great time....hitting all of the rides we wanted to with little or no wait. The only real wait was for TSM (no surprise there!) but all in all a great time.

My sister and I had to cut out early so we could meet the We go shop folks. First time we used them and got some pixie dust out of them. I must say they are great shoppers and even got us some BOGO's! All of the food was exactly what we ordered and the produce looked great!

Got settled in and fixed a great dinner for the folks returning from DHS..we were all starved!

Got our plan of attack for EPCOT laid out for Tuesday and headed off to bed! More info to come!

 

[CarolMN]

Keep it coming! Got pictures?

 

[mcrabeck]

Looking forward to more!

 

[KyCruisinSusan]

Living on other's trip reports til Dec.

 

[Ms. WDW]

I'm glad you were pleased with WeGoShop folks. I met Amy for the first time also a few weeks ago and she was a dream. Everything I ordered was there and like you I got a few BOGO items!!

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip! I'll be living off of trip reports for a LONG time since I only got home about a week ago.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Wow, a GV at SSR sounds wonderful! Do you have any pictures?

 

[ddoconnell]

Sorry for the delay....had to get back to working again! Thanks for all of the comments!

As far as the GV at SSR...it was fantastic! I highly recommend the resort and the GV! No pics of the villa because this is the 2nd time we have stayed in one....but it is well worth all of the points!

Day 2: Off to EPCOT
This is what my nephew had been soooo looking forward to. He told me that he was going to eat his way around the world! We caught the resort bus and got there about mid morning (teenagers....can't get them up too early!) and hit future world. Had to do Spaceship earth (my fav!) Then we hit Mission Space and got fast passes for Soarin'...then off to the food!

We got one of the gift cards to make it easier to get our samples at each new spot! We hit almost every country....the guys were in heaven! (The girls are not such food adventurers, so not as much enthusiasm from us!) Loved Greece, gotta have the spanikopita and baklava! Ireland was awesome with the cheeses, fisherman's pie and lava cake. DH said the short ribs and potatoes were fantastic in France. DD tried creme brulee for the first time and wanted to know where it had been all of her life! DSis had to have her funnel cake once we got to America (her fav part of the food adventure!)

Then we headed over to hit Soarin' because our fast pass time had arrived. Loved Soarin'...always a great ride. The girls headed back to the villa and the guys hit the rest of the countries. One downer for the day was the bus service back to the resort...the girls waited for 45 minutes before I called the resort to see what was up with the bus. It did arrive after about 5 more minutes with assurances that it would be fixed going forward. The guys had the same problem....had to call member services and they referred me to transportation. Went to see the concierge to talk about this and some maintenance issues with our villa....met with concern and promises of action. All maintenance issues were handled quickly and no problems with the buses the rest of our visit!

So full from all of the food we just hit the Artist's Palette for some flat bread pizza's and chicken nuggets. Always great food there!

Day 3: it is off to Magic Kingdom!!

 

[ddoconnell]

Forgot to mention that we hit the movie at the pool on Tuesday...got to watch Monster's Inc and swim or sit in one of the hot tubs! Great way to spend an October evening!

Day 3: Magic Kingdom!

As I mentioned earlier....3 teenagers with us this visit so we could forget rope drop! But we did get there about mid morning. Went to the Swiss Family Tree house for the DNephew....it was pretty good. After that, worked our way around the park hitting the Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mt Railway, Space Mountain, etc....till about 1:00 then decided to head back to the villa for lunch. Cooked a great lunch of ham and veggies while the kids chilled.

After lunch we all chilled out and then headed back to the park about 4:30. Went toward the Terrace restaurant once we got back and saw that they were setting up for the dessert buffet. (Side note: we had been trying to get reservations for this, and were told that they weren't doing it!) DH went to talk to the folks to see if we would be able to get 7 of us in that evening. They told us to come back in about an hour and they would check.

We were able to get a table!! The DSis and family had never seen the fireworks this way so they were psyched! We hit a few more attractions...including my fav Carousel of Progress! Then headed over to the buffet and fireworks. If you get the chance to do this...it is a must. You get to enjoy some fabulous desserts and the wonderful Wishes fireworks show all from the comfort of a front row seat!

After the fireworks we got more when a cast member let us duck backstage to get in front of the exiting crowd! Headed to the bus stop and the bus was waiting for us! Standing room only...but it was all good. We were exhausted but had had a great time!

 

[supersuperwendy]

awesome! I've thought about trying the dessert buffet. Was it the worth the $$$? How was the view of the fireworks?

 

[KyCruisinSusan]

What's the cost of the dessert buffet running these days? Did you find it to be worth the cost?

 

[ddoconnell]

The dessert buffet was fantastic! It runs about $23 per person and well worth it! The view of the fireworks is great and it is sooooo nice to not have to fight for a spot in the crowd of folks on Main Street! You should do it if you get the chance!

 

[Ms. WDW]

If it's still running when I'm down next year I think this is something DH and I would like to try.

 

[cmanuel]

Well if you think about it there are a lot of little ones out there and Disney won't want to scar them......

 

[nolanboys]

We saw people at MK doing the dessert buffet and wanted to try it. After your report, I may have to try and book it for our March trip. Is it $23 for adults and kids?

 

[ddoconnell]

We didn't have anyone under 10 so I can't say for sure on the cost for kids....but it was $23 per adult after sales tax...if you can do it, it is well worth it!

 

[ddoconnell]

Day 4:

We hit Animal Kingdom on Thursday and had a great time. It was the first time we had run into the "It's tough to be a bug" show being shut down due to a system problem. Our last ride that afternoon was the soaking wet river ride (as we affectionately called it!) We squished our way back to the villa for some rest and some home made pizza's!

Day 5:

This was our crazy combination day. We hit Magic Kingdom in the morning to hit the rides that we missed. Then on to EPCOT to catch Mission Space and some of the other fun things there too. Then we headed back to the villa to get ready for our dinner reservations. We had dinner at the Trails End buffet (if you've never had it, I highly recommend it!). Lots of good food, in a really friendly restaurant.

Then we wandered around Fort Wilderness for a while and watched the ducks on the lake. Then we headed over to the Blacksmith's shop for our haunted carriage ride. It was just as good as the year before. The weather was a little warm, but the fact that it was a full moon certainly added to the atmosphere! My nephew asked me how much Disney payed for the full moon!

For those of you who have never experienced the haunted carriage ride, let me fill you in. It is done during October and you ride thru the back areas of Fort Wilderness while you listen to the Legend Of Sleepy Hollow. There are some exciting other parts to the ride, but I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise!

This was a fantastic ending to our trip...the DNeice and DNephew thought it was great and are ready to head back now!

We were all totally bummed when we were packing up the cars the next morning and leaving our little piece of paradise!

 

[bobbiwoz]

We'll have to try the Haunted Carriage Ride some day! My family has asked for a Halloween visit next year, so I hope I remember this special thing to do!

Bobbi

PS. We did the dessert buffet on July 3rd and we'll do it again if we can!