***Official November 2016 Thread***

[wdwnut61]

I'm back...my trip was just a quick one-day trip plus half a day at Disney Springs. Our park day was Thursday -- we did Epcot EMH for Frozen (15 minute wait at rope drop -- not bad), then did TT (single rider), Finding Nemo, Living with the Land, Journey into Imagination, and Soarin, as well as the Food and Wine booths that we wanted to do. The crowd calendar showed it as a 6 and that seems about right. It wasn't too bad, and we didn't wait too long at any of the Food and Wine booths. I was really disappointed, though, that we weren't able to get any same day FP+ for anything, at any park, that fit our schedule. The attraction lines were crazy -- 45 minutes for Spaceship Earth at 2 pm on a Thursday in November....and no FP+ availability at all for later that day. I've never had that happen before, even on our August trips when the crowd levels are at 9. So that was frustrating, but oh well. We left Epcot at about 2:30 and headed over to Hollywood Studios to use our FP+ for ToT and TSMM. Tried to do RnRC single rider but that line wasn't open, and everything else had insane waits -- 40 minutes for Great Movie Ride, well over an hour for Star Tours.... So we just did ToT and TSMM and then hopped over to MK since we had tickets for MVMCP. Was disappointed to see that they weren't checking party tickets when we arrived around 5 pm -- they were giving wristbands to everyone who came in the park. The crowds were fairly heavy until around 7 pm, but we were able to do all of the attractions we wanted to do except 7DMT which was down most of the night. The fireworks were amazing. We watched the second parade and then headed out of the park around 11:40 pm. It was chilly first thing in the morning and then in the evening....I had a long cardigan on over my t-shirt and jeans and almost bought a sweatshirt/hoodie, but I ended up being fine.

The next day we went to Disney Springs and did some shopping. The crowds weren't bad at all and the Christmas decorations, though rather sparse in many areas, were lovely.

The weather was gorgeous while we were there -- high of about 82 degrees, clear skies, sunny, and a gentle breeze. It was really lovely.

I hope everyone enjoys their trips!

Wow you packed a lot in a short time. I'm exhausted just reading it.
Welcome back and thanks for posting

 

[PirateD]

I'm back...my trip was just a quick one-day trip plus half a day at Disney Springs. Our park day was Thursday -- we did Epcot EMH for Frozen (15 minute wait at rope drop -- not bad), then did TT (single rider), Finding Nemo, Living with the Land, Journey into Imagination, and Soarin, as well as the Food and Wine booths that we wanted to do. The crowd calendar showed it as a 6 and that seems about right. It wasn't too bad, and we didn't wait too long at any of the Food and Wine booths. I was really disappointed, though, that we weren't able to get any same day FP+ for anything, at any park, that fit our schedule. The attraction lines were crazy -- 45 minutes for Spaceship Earth at 2 pm on a Thursday in November....and no FP+ availability at all for later that day. I've never had that happen before, even on our August trips when the crowd levels are at 9. So that was frustrating, but oh well. We left Epcot at about 2:30 and headed over to Hollywood Studios to use our FP+ for ToT and TSMM. Tried to do RnRC single rider but that line wasn't open, and everything else had insane waits -- 40 minutes for Great Movie Ride, well over an hour for Star Tours.... So we just did ToT and TSMM and then hopped over to MK since we had tickets for MVMCP. Was disappointed to see that they weren't checking party tickets when we arrived around 5 pm -- they were giving wristbands to everyone who came in the park. The crowds were fairly heavy until around 7 pm, but we were able to do all of the attractions we wanted to do except 7DMT which was down most of the night. The fireworks were amazing. We watched the second parade and then headed out of the park around 11:40 pm. It was chilly first thing in the morning and then in the evening....I had a long cardigan on over my t-shirt and jeans and almost bought a sweatshirt/hoodie, but I ended up being fine.

The next day we went to Disney Springs and did some shopping. The crowds weren't bad at all and the Christmas decorations, though rather sparse in many areas, were lovely.

The weather was gorgeous while we were there -- high of about 82 degrees, clear skies, sunny, and a gentle breeze. It was really lovely.

I hope everyone enjoys their trips!

Thanks for the report! You did get a lot done in a short time! It sounds like a lot of fun!

My mom and I are going for a short mother daughter trip at the end of the month and I'm so excited! I've had a pretty serious illness and we are celebrating getting back on my feet (hence the short trip I've been on medical leave from work) - we have reservations for BOG and SCI-FI. We have tickets to the December 1st Christmas party and I can't wait for her to see it snow on Main street... I went last year, but this will be her first time. I also want to take her to Japan for pearl while we are at Epcot. It's going to be amazing.

I'm glad you are feeling better! What a great way to celebrate! It sounds like you have a lot of great plans! I hope you have a very magical trip!

I didn't get as much done this weekend as I had hoped, but that's okay--it will all get done eventually! I have prepacked a lot of stuff but need to finalize outfits and finish some laundry. I worked on some gifts that I'm taking down for family and got most of that done so that's good!

Good luck to the next round of us who are finishing their preparations this week!

 

[Funfire240]

Back to the real world after a great trip! We arrived Friday 11/4 and stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. This was our first stay there and we really enjoyed it. Our room wasn't ready so we headed to the Expo for our race info. I was excited to have our picture with Lumiere! From there we went back to the resort and ate dinner and went swimming.
Saturday 11/5 I ran the 10K then we headed to WWOS for the kid races, which were a blast and the kids loved! Spent the evening at Epcot but stayed in the Future World area and avoided WS due to the crowds.
11/6 was Animal Kingdom with breakfast at Tusker House. Enjoyed a wonderful day there then headed to Disney Springs for dinner at Paradiso 37.
11/7 was our MK day. We arrived at 8:30 and did Buzz twice and the speedway before heading to check in for the Family Magic Tour. This was one of the highlights of our trip! It lasted from 10-12:30 and involved a scavenger hunt around the park among other things. Nothing like playing follow the leader through Fantasyland while hopping like frogs and having everyone stare at you! We had a private meet with Peter Pan, rode the teacups and ended with a meet with Mickey Mouse! I highly recommend as the kids (ages 6 and 8) loved it! (Geared towards about that age group). DS6 really surprised us as he's normally shy and sticks by my side but he was off and running and really involved! After that he had his hair cut at Harmony Barber Shop and then we watched FOF from up top of the train station. We then headed to HS to catch teh Star Wars fireworks - absolutely amazing!!! From there we headed back to the resort and met up with my in-laws
11/8 - MK again for DD's PPO BBB appt. She wore her Pocahontas dress and received a lot of compliments with people noting they don't see a lot of her dresses there. We did a lot that day and then had dinner at CRT which was wonderful as always. We planned on leaving right after that but ended up staying until the park closed for regular admission at 7 and headed back to the resort.
11/9 - took the day and headed to Universal. Mears transportation was wonderful - we had a private van with driver rented. Although not bad, we decided Universal is not for us. We did really enjoy the Jurassic Park area though. Dinner was at Bubba Gump Shrimp which I enjoyed (although bummed the rest of the party didn't want Margaritaville but we still stopped in to check it out and get shirts from there). Originally we were supposed to be picked up at 8 but moved the time up to 5:30 and just went back to our resort.
11/10 - another new adventure at Typhoon Lagoon. We had a blast! Stayed until about 3 then headed back and got ready for MVMCP. Another first, we arrived about 5:30 to MK, had dinner at CHH and then hit the party. We watched the stage show, had a seat on Main Street for the parade and enjoyed the fireworks. After got in line for Nick and Judy which was only about 30 minutes but as we were 4 families away, they took their 2nd break and Judy never came back out. DD was very disappointed but we looked on the bright side that we still were able to meet Nick. We left about 11:00.
11/11 - started a little later at Epcot - it was crazy busy! We did some things in Future World and did make our way around WS. Love the new Frozen ride and meet & greet!
left about 3:15 to head to Mickey's Backyard BBQ. We had cat 1 and could enter at 4:30 but due to the monorails and waiting for the boat, didn't get there until 5 which worked out great. Best character interaction of the trip! We were walking right in while people arriving in Cat 2 were issued to the line to wait. We met Mickey and Minnie, Chip & Dale and Goofy. Had a table reserved along the dance floor with our name on it We also had early access to the food before everyone was let it. We again were not disappointed here.
11/12 - went to HS. Caught the March of the 1st Order, loved Launch Bay, meeting Chewbacca and Kylo Ren. My DD8 was scared to tears of Kylo Ren trying to get her to the dark side and DS6 had a resistance fighter shirt on so he kept his arms crossed over it when seeing him and also when the storm troopers were walking around so they wouldn't see! Stayed until about 2:30 and headed to MK. Caught Derek Hough and Julianne Hough doing some taping which made DD very happy! Bought my Dooney & Burke purse as my reward for completing the 10K Then dinner at Be Our Guest which was once again amazing! After dinner we ended up just leaving because MK was wall to wall people but that's okay because we were all beat. We flew home yesterday morning and now back to real world!! Another great trip and I wouldn't change a thing!

 

[PirateD]

Thanks for the trip report @Funfire240 ! It sounds like a great trip!!! I'm so glad you had so much fun and appreciate you sharing the things that were so successful!

 

[wdwnut61]

Back to the real world after a great trip! We arrived Friday 11/4 and stayed at Port Orleans Riverside. This was our first stay there and we really enjoyed it. Our room wasn't ready so we headed to the Expo for our race info. I was excited to have our picture with Lumiere! From there we went back to the resort and ate dinner and went swimming.
Saturday 11/5 I ran the 10K then we headed to WWOS for the kid races, which were a blast and the kids loved! Spent the evening at Epcot but stayed in the Future World area and avoided WS due to the crowds.
11/6 was Animal Kingdom with breakfast at Tusker House. Enjoyed a wonderful day there then headed to Disney Springs for dinner at Paradiso 37.
11/7 was our MK day. We arrived at 8:30 and did Buzz twice and the speedway before heading to check in for the Family Magic Tour. This was one of the highlights of our trip! It lasted from 10-12:30 and involved a scavenger hunt around the park among other things. Nothing like playing follow the leader through Fantasyland while hopping like frogs and having everyone stare at you! We had a private meet with Peter Pan, rode the teacups and ended with a meet with Mickey Mouse! I highly recommend as the kids (ages 6 and 8) loved it! (Geared towards about that age group). DS6 really surprised us as he's normally shy and sticks by my side but he was off and running and really involved! After that he had his hair cut at Harmony Barber Shop and then we watched FOF from up top of the train station. We then headed to HS to catch teh Star Wars fireworks - absolutely amazing!!! From there we headed back to the resort and met up with my in-laws
11/8 - MK again for DD's PPO BBB appt. She wore her Pocahontas dress and received a lot of compliments with people noting they don't see a lot of her dresses there. We did a lot that day and then had dinner at CRT which was wonderful as always. We planned on leaving right after that but ended up staying until the park closed for regular admission at 7 and headed back to the resort.
11/9 - took the day and headed to Universal. Mears transportation was wonderful - we had a private van with driver rented. Although not bad, we decided Universal is not for us. We did really enjoy the Jurassic Park area though. Dinner was at Bubba Gump Shrimp which I enjoyed (although bummed the rest of the party didn't want Margaritaville but we still stopped in to check it out and get shirts from there). Originally we were supposed to be picked up at 8 but moved the time up to 5:30 and just went back to our resort.
11/10 - another new adventure at Typhoon Lagoon. We had a blast! Stayed until about 3 then headed back and got ready for MVMCP. Another first, we arrived about 5:30 to MK, had dinner at CHH and then hit the party. We watched the stage show, had a seat on Main Street for the parade and enjoyed the fireworks. After got in line for Nick and Judy which was only about 30 minutes but as we were 4 families away, they took their 2nd break and Judy never came back out. DD was very disappointed but we looked on the bright side that we still were able to meet Nick. We left about 11:00.
11/11 - started a little later at Epcot - it was crazy busy! We did some things in Future World and did make our way around WS. Love the new Frozen ride and meet & greet!
left about 3:15 to head to Mickey's Backyard BBQ. We had cat 1 and could enter at 4:30 but due to the monorails and waiting for the boat, didn't get there until 5 which worked out great. Best character interaction of the trip! We were walking right in while people arriving in Cat 2 were issued to the line to wait. We met Mickey and Minnie, Chip & Dale and Goofy. Had a table reserved along the dance floor with our name on it We also had early access to the food before everyone was let it. We again were not disappointed here.
11/12 - went to HS. Caught the March of the 1st Order, loved Launch Bay, meeting Chewbacca and Kylo Ren. My DD8 was scared to tears of Kylo Ren trying to get her to the dark side and DS6 had a resistance fighter shirt on so he kept his arms crossed over it when seeing him and also when the storm troopers were walking around so they wouldn't see! Stayed until about 2:30 and headed to MK. Caught Derek Hough and Julianne Hough doing some taping which made DD very happy! Bought my Dooney & Burke purse as my reward for completing the 10K Then dinner at Be Our Guest which was once again amazing! After dinner we ended up just leaving because MK was wall to wall people but that's okay because we were all beat. We flew home yesterday morning and now back to real world!! Another great trip and I wouldn't change a thing!

Welcome Back!

Sounds like you all had a great time

 

[lancgirl]

24 hours and we'll be boarding our plane for MCO!!

 

[wdwnut61]

24 hours and we'll be boarding our plane for MCO!!

Safe travels have a wonderful time

 

[PirateD]

Thanks for the trip report @Funfire240 ! It sounds like a great trip!!! I'm so glad you had so much fun and appreciate you sharing the things that were so successful!

Have a fabulous time! Wishing you safe travels and lots of pixie dust!

 

[Karabear15]

A lot has changed in the last few days in regards to ADRs and FP's...How about anyone else, or have you stuck to your original plans? Ours is as follows, and is not changing!!

Tuesday 11/22 We check in! Parents will arrive around 4ish since they are driving, Dustin, Dani and I are flying after work so we will arrive via ME. Our flight arrives at MCO at 930pm...we are hoping since we have a late flight we won't have very many contenders for ME and it won't take that long to get to OKW
We will be the starting family for the Christmas tree exchange, so mom and dad will pick up the tree when they check in. I planned to get Amazon NOW delivered, but now since the resorts have established a fee to have things delivered, mom and dad will just do a grocery run before we arrive. Depending on how tired we are and arrival time, we may take a boat ride into DS, or we will just wander the resort.

Wednesday 11/23
Spending the majority of the day at MK...possibly all day
Fastpasses:
1040-1140 Haunted Mansion
1140-1240 BTMRR
130-230 Pirates of the Caribbean
740pm dinner at 1900 Park Fare
Then after dinner, we either return to MK to watch some fireworks, or we head to Top of the World lounge for drinks and fireworks, then maybe return to MK since they are open until 1am!

Thursday 11/24 THANKSGIVING
It's an Epcot day
Fastpasses:
1040-1140 Living with the Land-Mom enjoys this
1235-135 Soarin'
145-245 Spaceship Earth
8pm dinner at Cape May Cafe
Not sure how we will spend the time after dinner, but I am sure we will figure it out.

Friday 11/25
Animal Kingdom
Fastpasses:
935-1035 Kilimanjaro Safari
1125-1225 Expedition Everest
135-235 Dinosaur
635pm dinner at Captain's Grille
We may head back to AK for RoL, considering this will be the first night of Epcots holidays around the world and it's sure to be crowded.

Saturday 11/26
Non Park Day
We are heading over to Cocoa Beach, hopefully spend the day at the beach, maybe drive over to Cape Canaveral...the day is up in the air
740pm dinner at Olivia's Cafe
Will probably head into DS after dinner and check out the new drone show as well as any new stores, and the new hall of trees.

Sunday 11/27
945am brunch at Trails End
Fastpasses:
1120-1220 Dad and I only on ToT
1225-125 Great Movie Ride
540pm dinner at 'Ohana
This is really an open day since it is our last day, so just cramming in whatever we didn't get to see or do. Probably an early night since we have to be ready for ME to pick the three of us up at like 7am Monday morning.

6 more days!!!

 

[gorkt]

Back from our 11/5-11/14 trip!

We had an exhausting but fantastic time!
General impressions: Food was more expensive but higher quality than in trips past. I don't think I had one bad meal the entire week. Magic bands worked perfectly and online check in was amazing. Cast members were fantastic at WDW and really went above and beyond. Fastpass plus is a mixed blessing - trading total # of rides for better ride experiences. The parks were a LOT more crowded than we were used to, particularly on weekends, but a decent touring plan saved us and allowed us to ride everything we wanted to.

11/5 - Early flight from Boston arrived in Orlando at 9am. We got to the Polynesian at 10am and surprisingly, our room was ready by 10:30am! We got one of the exact rooms we requested from Touring Plans - Room 2928 Tokelau - it was a standard view, but I could see Space Mountain from my room. After a Kona Cafe lunch, which was fantastic, we went to Magic Kingdom for a few hours to ride our old favorites. We left around 6pm and ate at 1900 Park Fare. My husband said this was his favorite meal of the trip and we had some great character interactions, although the stepsisters were not there that night.
11/6 - Back to Magic Kingdom in the AM, ate at LTT for lunch which was fantastic! One of my favorite meals of the trip! We returned to our room, hung out at the pool. We had another stroke of Polynesian luck when we went to go get a Dole Whip at Pineapple Lanai. We ordered our Dole Whips and when we went to pay, the cashier said that the computer was down so they were free! We went back several hours later for more (I have a Dole Whip Problem), fully intending to pay, but they were still down so my daughter and I got a second free Dole Whip. Later that evening, we went to Ohana for dinner which was very good - too much food, but really yummy. We returned to MK to watch Wishes and Once Upon a Time, which was AWESOME!
11/7 - We checked out of the Poly in the morning, no problems, and then went to Kona one more time for breakfast. OMG, Tonga Toast was amazing! Then we went to Epcot for the food and wine festival. I found the Festival to be worse than previous years sadly. I felt like a lot of the food choices were very heavy, but maybe that is because I am getting old . I would have liked to see more salads or palate cleansers. We left Epcot on the early side and checked in at Old Key West. Online check in worked like a charm, and we got a room with a really nice water view and close to transportation as requested. We were also close to one of the quiet pools. The space at OKW is enormous, and is a definite benefit.
11/8 - My daughter and I went to the Magic Kingdom Early Morning Magic. For all the skeptics out there, this is WELL WORTH DOING. Think of it as an extended, high quality breakfast buffet where you can eat over a two hour span, ride all of the most popular fantasyland rides with no wait, and get a head start on other rides before general admission. We started at 7DMT, rode it three times, then went to Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan. By that point it was 8:15, so we went to the buffet and had a plate of breakfast. Then at 8:45 we headed out to Haunted Mansion and rode the first elevator down. Then over to Splash Mountain with a 5 minute wait. At 9:45am we went back to grab another plate of Breakfast. We hung around MK until about 11:30am and then met the rest of the family at Animal Kingdom. We had lunch at the Yak and Yeti, another winning meal. We toured AK until close to closing - the park is really lovely at night, and the tree of life awakening is really gorgeous. DS and I were still frisky so we went to Epcot to watch Illuminations. We watched it from the Chase viewing area which is a great spot between the US pavilion and Italy.
11/9 - After a mostly sleepless election night, it was off to Universal. I was super tired and went around mostly in a fog, but we mostly spent the day in the Harry Potter areas of the park since my 14 year old refused to let us leave ;P. I think we drank about 4 butterbeers, and we ate at the Leaky Cauldron, which was just fair in my opinion, but the ambiance was spot-on. One thing I will say, Universal's cast members seemed especially cranky and unhappy. We bought one of the infrared wands, which allow you to interact with stuff all around Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.
11/10 - We went to Epcot for EMH. We rode Test Track, then Soarin. We had breakfast at the Garden Grill which was AMAZING! I still am having dreams about that Sticky Bun. My husband ordered a second one for the table. After that we rode the rest of the Epcot rides that we wanted to, then returned to the hotel for some rest. We went to HDDR for the 6:15pm show, which was fun, as usual. We went to Disney Springs that night for dinner. I ate at Blaze Pizza, which was quite good, if you like thin crust pizza.
11/11 - We went back to Universal to ride some other rides, visit Harry Potter stuff again, and see the Simpsons land, another of our favorites. Everyone was extremely tired today, so it ended up being low key. We did visit the Toothsome chocolate factory for a late lunch, which was very good, but the service was lacking. The desserts were out of this world, of course.
11/12 - Today was our HS day. RnRC, which had been under refurbishment had opened a few days prior, and had long lines immediately. We rode it anyway, then rode other stuff until lunch time at SciFI dine in theater, then we took a break at our resort. We returned around 5pm, rode a few more rides, saw Star Wars launch bay and then watched the fireworks. Unfortunately, we didn't head to a viewing spot until 7:30pm and ended up standing all the way in the back since the park was PACKED. The viewing would have been fine but we were behind a couple of tall guys who decided to record the entire show with their cell phones held high up in the air. In retrospect, I really wished I had sprung for the Dessert party, just for the view. It's too bad they don't have an alcohol free ticket price. We split up after that and me and my son went to MK where I got one last Dole Whip float and watched Wishes. They were doing some taping at the MK to so they lit the castle just as we walked in the park at around 9pm - Magical! We rode some rides and stayed until around 11:30pm.
11/13 - One last morning at Animal Kingdom. We did a morning Safari and then went to Tusker House for breakfast. This breakfast was decent, but not as good as I remembered from last time. We stayed until about noon and then returned to the resort. We spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool and then went to Disney springs where we ate at D-luxe burgers. They were okay, but I'd take a Shake Shack burger any day over those.
11/14 - Time to go home - sigh. We hung out in our room until around 10am, then checked our bags at the resort. We had one last meal at Olivias, and then it was off to the airport.

I will provide more detail in my trip report later, but overall, a great trip!

 

[wdwnut61]

Welcome back sounds like a great time thanks so much for posting. Looking forward to trying the early morning hours for our March trip
Only 4 more days

 

[Family Loves Disney]

30 minutes and I will be officially on Mickey Mouse time! lots to do before we leave tomorrow morning - laundry, mail stop, last minute packing, etc...

 

[wdwnut61]

30 minutes and I will be officially on Mickey Mouse time! lots to do before we leave tomorrow morning - laundry, mail stop, last minute packing, etc...

Safe travels have a magical time

 

[Coconuts]

So excited!!!! 4 more days!!!!

 

[wdwnut61]

So excited!!!! 4 more days!!!!

Me too

Still can't believe only 4 more days

 

[ariane37]

This time tomorrow we'll have landed at MCO As long as I didn't just jinx myself into a late arrival by writing that lol!!

 

[Karabear15]

They are calling for rain Tuesday when we are supposed to fly out...I really hope that doesn't cause any delays. We are already arriving after 9pm...fingers crossed all works out and mother nature takes pity on us!

 

[wdwnut61]

This time tomorrow we'll have landed at MCO As long as I didn't just jinx myself into a late arrival by writing that lol!!

Safe travels I hope you and your family have the most wonderful time

 

[ariane37]

Safe travels I hope you and your family have the most wonderful time

Same to you and I hope we meet up

 

[wdwnut61]

Same to you and I hope we meet up

Oh we will