The 999'th Haunt stole my bra Completed 7-20, Final thoughts added 8-20

[natebenma]

It's the Peanut donut walnut dog deer!

 

[natebenma]

Sounds like you had a great time at Disney Springs.

True confession here- I am not a fan. I don't like to shop, and although I know there are some amazing restaurants there, I find plenty of places to eat at the theme parks. I haven't been there for at least 5 years, even though my last trip was right across the way, at Saratoga.

- The gingerbread popcorn sounds amazing! I'll have to look for it if I get to the World during that time of year
- Sorry the Christmas Tree Trail was disappointing both by day and at night
- Boo on getting the Paddlefish runaround. Or should I say run-up-and-down
- Morimoto's sounds like a winner! Glad you were able to find a place to sit, eat and drink

Good for you and Mark for gettin' down and boogying!

There was no bedside clock what??? I wish Disney would have kept the clocks in the rooms. I don’t want to have to wake up enough to have to pick up the phone to see the time and then try to focus my eyes (Rant over).

Ranting right along with you! I HATE this decision!

 

[CaseFace5]

Count me in as annoyed that they got rid of the bedside clocks! It's so annoying to have to grab a phone to find the time instead of just peeking open your eyes!!

 

[thumper*]

I have been trying to talk my Husband into a first anniversary trip this coming October/November so we could do both Halloween and Christmas, but all the TRs I am reading now seem to be Christmas time and I am leaning more towards then lol.

Sorry I meant to quote this sooner. That would be a great time to go. Something we're considering on a future visit.

LOVE this it's eggseptional.

I actually bought another one I'm going to try out on my next trip which has illuminated numbers, so hopefully will be just bright enough!

Please let me know if it works out and what type it is.

Well, I was going to yell at you for not saying "Hi!", but as you figured out, it wasn't me.

I wanted to put a short joke in here but thought that would be little of me.

Love the kid who pulled the sweatshirt up so he became the headless tween.

 

[amazingact21]

Yay for an impromptu DISmeet! That's awesome that you found another DISer on the boat back to your resort.

Sorry the tree trail was even more crowded at night. What a bummer.

Too many people steal the clocks that some hotels have to take them away. My father works as a maintenance manager at a hotel and he said you'd be amazed the lengths people go to take stuff from their rooms. I know when we stayed at Pop in 2016, my dad was able to call the front desk and have a clock delivered to his room. Maybe they still do that...

 

[kastoney]

We bought my brother and his BF Mickey Mouse wine glasses for Christmas presents.

I NEED THIS!!!!!!!! Hope your brother enjoyed!

She was surprised and called a manager who said that there was a private party inside but the outside deck was open for service. At this point neither of us were willing to walk up there again, plus not certain what type of service that waiter would have given anyway.

Very strange that they turned you away and for no reason at all. Though as someone who as gone up those stairs, I can certainly see why you wouldn't want to do it again.

Once outside we discuss our options and I paint the picture for Mark and availability for the restaurants at DS on a Saturday nt.

I love that DS is so popular now, but on a Saturday night that had to be frustrating. Glad to see it worked out though!

We started off with each of us getting a glass of Stag Leap Chardonnay.

This is one of my favorite wineries. We've been out to Napa a few times and Stags Leap is truly something special.

or dessert Mark ordered his 4’th glass of wine and I had the Snow Shadow Sake (thinking of you here Kari @kastoney). In total we had 7 glasses of wine but they only charged us for 6 giving us a break since we didn’t order the bottle

7 glasses of wine sounds like my kind of night! Hope you loved the sake as much as we did. We got a true lesson in good sake at Morimoto and it was well worth it.

That duck looks like a think of perfection. I'm hoping we can get back to Morimoto on a future trip. Glad your night of frustration ended on such a good note.

 

[thumper*]

Real Life update

Sorry for the delay on the TR. I had to leave to go to Springfield Mo last week as my senior dad had to have emergency surgery. He is still in intensive care and after 2 surgeries they are talking about doing another surgery on him next Monday. I may end up taking Family medical leave and heading back down there so I may be away from the boards a bit.

So if I'm following your TR sorry I'm not caught up on them yet.

Yay for an impromptu DISmeet! That's awesome that you found another DISer on the boat back to your resort.

Too many people steal the clocks that some hotels have to take them away. My father works as a maintenance manager at a hotel and he said you'd be amazed the lengths people go to take stuff from their rooms. I know when we stayed at Pop in 2016, my dad was able to call the front desk and have a clock delivered to his room. Maybe they still do that...

I have heard others say that they had them in their rooms but we didn't have one at POFQ or at GF.

I NEED THIS!!!!!!!! Hope your brother enjoyed!

He loved them but I wouldn't be surprised if he has already broken one. Not graceful especially after a few glasses of the red stuff.

This is one of my favorite wineries. We've been out to Napa a few times and Stags Leap is truly something special.

we are hoping to make it to Napa in a few years we'll have to make this one of our wineries to visit.

7 glasses of wine sounds like my kind of night! Hope you loved the sake as much as we did. We got a true lesson in good sake at Morimoto and it was well worth it.

We out for lunch at a great local Sushi place here for Valentines day and I ended up with a glass of Sake. I ordered a Pearl Saki thinking it was what I got at Morimoto's. Boy was I way off. It's a sake with sweetened condensed milk added. I was able to drink it but was a touch to sweet for me and I'd never order it again, but it was learning experience.

That duck looks like a think of perfection. I'm hoping we can get back to Morimoto on a future trip. Glad your night of frustration ended on such a good note.

it was perfectly crisp skin and juicy succulent meat. Probably the best duck dish I've ever had.

 

[pkondz]

Sorry for the delay on the TR. I had to leave to go to Springfield Mo last week as my senior dad had to have emergency surgery. He is still in intensive care and after 2 surgeries they are talking about doing another surgery on him next Monday. I may end up taking Family medical leave and heading back down there so I may be away from the boards a bit.

Sorry to hear that. Hope all goes well.

 

[Raeven]

Sorry for the delay on the TR. I had to leave to go to Springfield Mo last week as my senior dad had to have emergency surgery. He is still in intensive care and after 2 surgeries they are talking about doing another surgery on him next Monday. I may end up taking Family medical leave and heading back down there so I may be away from the boards a bit.

So sorry to hear that . I hope your dad is doing better after the surgeries are all complete.

 

[DLo]

Sorry to hear about your dad. Hoping he will be on the road to recovery soon

 

[richkaryn]

Pre trip and travel day


With Magic Bands decorated it was time to work on getting on with this vacay.

View attachment 288541 View attachment 288542 View attachment 288543 View attachment 288545

We drove down to Orlando from Indy and left on Wed Nov 29'th. I worked nights Mon the 27'th and Tues the 28'th was spent taking a quick nap and getting ready for the trip. Errands were ran and a trip to the nail salon for a mani/pedi is always on the agenda prior to most any trip I take. Had to have a little Mickey bling.
View attachment 288546

To help get ourselves into the Christmas spirit we watched Christmas cartoons while packing and having a few beers. Hey what can I say vacation has started.

It was an early to bed night as we wanted to be on the road by 4am. Alarm was set for 3am but wasn't needed I was up at 2:30am.

It's a good thing because with being up early we still didn't get on the road until about 4:10am.

Decide to stop for some breakfast at McDonalds about 6am pull in to the parking lot and it was closed.......what their never closed....unless their remodeling. So off to the Burger King next door and I realize why we never eat at Bugger King (pun intended).

We stopped to top off the gas tank before we hit Nashville and wouldn't you know it was closed, they were installing new pumps. At this point I remember @MeghanEmily trip report titled Disney is Broken and was hoping that this wasn't a sign of things to come at Disney.

We stopped in Marrietta Ga. for lunch. We wanted to try a place that was on Diners Drive Ins and Dives the Marietta Diner. After our lunch it was back on the road again to Valdosta Ga.

We got a room at a newly remodeled Hampton Inn. Once I get us checked in and Mark starts to drive to the back a warning alarm goes off on the car computer saying to check oil pressure. He shuts the car off and the alarm stops, but restarts just as we parked in the back of the hotel. We decide to let it go for the moment thinking that maybe it was because we had driven it so long today (12hr's) and it wouldn't be an issue after sitting for a bit. We get all our luggage and pillows out of the car and walk to the door to discover it was broke and we needed to go to the front of the hotel to park and enter. Again Meghan Emily's TR comes to mind. So we haul all our stuff back to the car to do it all over again. After taking potty breaks we go down to the lobby for social hour 5pm-7pm and free beer and wine. We each get a glass of the Cabernet and head back to the room. Mark wasn't in the mood for the wine and just got a glass so that I could have it, such a sweet guy. He opens a Heineken from our cooler and after we've chilled for a few we walk next door to Cheddars for dinner. Off to bed at 9:30 so we could get on the road before 8am. I woke at 2:30am and never did fall back asleep and Mark was tossing and turning. He didn't sleep all night because he was worried about the car. Up for our free breakfast and lot's of coffee and on the road about 8am. Do we make it to Orlando or do we have car issues? Stay tuned.

This sounds like the start to our trip last June. Flat tire just as we were almost to Chattanooga. Luckily an officer was driving by a few mins later and stopped, because apparently our tire removal tool that came with car was missing a piece and the officer drove DH to walmart a few miles back. We made it to tire store about 15 mins before they were closing. (a valve stem had split) Then we decided to just go eat at a Chick fil a we knew was a few miles back. (We usually stop in Cartersville GA, but we were also usually almost to Cartersville by this point. Chick fil A was closed for remodeling. So we drove over to a Firehouse subs, in which there were only 2 other customers...but our food took 30 mins because the staff was more interested in talking to a buddy who had came in. Then we hit Atlanta around 10:00pm (by which we should have been to our hotel in Tifton). They had shut down interstate to 1 lane each side for construction. Stand still and crawling for hours.....then when we get to Tifton at 2:30am, they make me pay for room again saying I hadn't prepaid (even though I had proof). I slept all of maybe 2 hours and got up and when talking to manager to get a receipt showing new card number charged (so I could dispute old charge with other card company) that morning he tells me that the card I used at checkin was not charged because I had paid for the room when I booked it. (Yeah, well not according to the girl who argued with me for 30 mins the night before, and who I surrendered new card to. ) Then we hit another hour and a half stand still when we were about an hour from destination due to a wreck. Luckily, we had no more issues once we FINALLY arrived. Just starting your report so I hope to find your issues disappeared for the duration of your trip as well!

 

[CaseFace5]

So sorry to hear about your Dad. Sending healing thoughts your way!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Doing a quick catch-up here!

I'm sorry to hear you weren't big fans of the Christmas Tree Trail. I know it's not like the usual level of Disney fare, but I LOVED it and I went during the first year when they didn't have characters (that's why this year got better reviews cause they have a lot of characters roaming about as well as more photo ops and trees... I think). I'm glad to hear at least you tried to enjoy yourselves, it really isn't fun when it's crowded and I always went at night not long before the Springs closed so it was like a trail to myself and that was pretty magical for me.

Mmmmm, Morimoto Asia sounds delicious. Bless DS for having so many bars in these restaurants for impatient adults to go to and get their food (and drink) lol It all sounded so good. I never much ventured outside of EoS during my program so guess I got to add that to my list (especially since I'm of age now)

Awwww, how magical you just happened to meet another DISer! It's too bad she hasn't figured out the boards yet to comment or communicate. I hope you both get to reconnect soon.

I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. Sending lots of pixie dust you and your family's way.

 

[thumper*]

Thanks everyone for well wishes for my dad. He is doing better now and is out of ICU. He does sound better I hate that I can't be there in person to see him. He is the one that taught me all of my drinking skills. LOL

This sounds like the start to our trip last June. Flat tire just as we were almost to Chattanooga. Luckily an officer was driving by a few mins later and stopped, because apparently our tire removal tool that came with car was missing a piece and the officer drove DH to walmart a few miles back. We made it to tire store about 15 mins before they were closing. (a valve stem had split) Then we decided to just go eat at a Chick fil a we knew was a few miles back. (We usually stop in Cartersville GA, but we were also usually almost to Cartersville by this point. Chick fil A was closed for remodeling. So we drove over to a Firehouse subs, in which there were only 2 other customers...but our food took 30 mins because the staff was more interested in talking to a buddy who had came in. Then we hit Atlanta around 10:00pm (by which we should have been to our hotel in Tifton). They had shut down interstate to 1 lane each side for construction. Stand still and crawling for hours.....then when we get to Tifton at 2:30am, they make me pay for room again saying I hadn't prepaid (even though I had proof). I slept all of maybe 2 hours and got up and when talking to manager to get a receipt showing new card number charged (so I could dispute old charge with other card company) that morning he tells me that the card I used at checkin was not charged because I had paid for the room when I booked it. (Yeah, well not according to the girl who argued with me for 30 mins the night before, and who I surrendered new card to. ) Then we hit another hour and a half stand still when we were about an hour from destination due to a wreck. Luckily, we had no more issues once we FINALLY arrived. Just starting your report so I hope to find your issues disappeared for the duration of your trip as well!

@richkaryn so glad you found my TR and are joining in. Wow that sounds like a horrible trip down, glad it got better as it progressed.

I always went at night not long before the Springs closed so it was like a trail to myself and that was pretty magical for me.

That does sound magical. Interesting about the characters roaming about CTT. I didn't know they did that and none were there on either of our visits. Still looking forward to hearing the deets on your next CP @disney land.

 

[thumper*]

Sunday Dec 3’rd Epcot

Swept off my feet and everything’s coming up Daisy’s

We had drifted off to dream land about 1 am and were awoken at about 5am with the click, click, click of someone rolling their luggage over the bricks at POFQ. I was feeling bad for the poor person having to leave before the crack of dawn or worse yet only just arriving. I quickly fell back asleep until I heard a dad and his kids walking past and speaking loudly. At this point I figured I might as well get up since my belly was saying feed me.

As I was primping I was surprised at how much outside noise could be heard in our room. I believe that our location on the first floor and in a high traffic area right next to the lobby and food court didn’t help or having a corner room with two windows. In 2014 we loved our room location at POR and it was so quite. So I was surprised with the noise at POFQ. I enjoyed POFQ and would stay here again in a heart beat but would request a room in an area away from the lobby and the boat dock. The boats always sound their horns as they are pulling into the docks and I sure wouldn’t want to hear that up to 11pm at nt. I actually enjoyed both POFQ and POR and believe price would be the deciding factor to help us choose on our next visit.


Our room is that red dot on the map


I left Mark in bed sleeping and walked the few feet to the food court. I obeyed my stomachs cry for grease after all the alcohol from the evening before and ordered the Breakfast Big Easy.


This plate consisted of scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, bacon and a biscuit. I found an unoccupied table in the side room near the trash cans and sat down to enjoy my greasy breakfast (you can’t see it but there was a ton of grease under all that bacon). As I was sitting there I got to watch everyone throw their trash away. As I’m thinking what a glamourous breakfast spot I chose an employee helped me to solidify that opinion as he came by sweeping the floor. He got so close that he actually swept the broom over my foot. I made no haste in finishing eating after this. As I stood up to throw out my potatoes and biscuit I hadn’t touched, the same employee came over and took the plate from me and set it on the top of his bus tub. Not sure why he did this for me since he had not done it for anyone else. When I told Mark this story he joked that the guy just wanted to get my attention. I hate to say it but I suspect that he took the leftover food to eat.
This whole experience with the broom and the food left me like.



I returned to the room to find Mark awake and I offered to get him a hot tea from the food court and some Beignets. We had been anxiously waiting to try the Beignets we’ve heard so much about. He was all for this, so I went back and got in line for the Beignets. They had just sold the last beignets and had to make more, I’m all good with that as I’d rather have them fresh and hot. While I and another gentleman stood waiting for the Beignets the cook was asking us if we we’re going to be around in a few days as they were going to have Ginger Bread flavored Beignets starting soon. Oh those sound wonderful but we wouldn’t be around long enough to get that experience. I returned to the room and we enjoyed our sweet treat, though I had to turn mine over and knock off some of the excess sugar. We tried both the Chickory and the Carmel dipping sauces and liked them both. These disappeared too quickly, and Mark got ready for the day.



We were soon out the door and walking to the car to drive to Epcot. As we were entering into Epcot we had a magical moment as the monorail wizzed right by us as we were entering. We had a FP set up for Living with the Land that expired at 11:35am and we were walking into Epcot at 11:30am. We chose to pose for PP instead of racing over to the Land a ride Mark doesn’t care for anway. I haven’t ridden it since I had become a Master Gardner so I did want to ride it but it wasn’t a major priority for me.





After our PP we found Daisy meeting near the front and I had to meet one of my main gal pals Miss Sassy no pants. She is a character I had yet to meet so I was excited for this M&G. We waited about 20 minutes as the line wasn’t short and Miss Daisy had to take a few minutes out to go call Donald. Funny in 2014 we had to wait on Donald as he went to answer a call from Daisy. As they were leaving Daisy’s handler seemed a little exasperated (read almost gruff) with having to ask the crowd to step back into an orderly line as she had been doing continuously since we had got in line.

While we waited there was a mother and her two kids about 8-10yr’s in line in front of us. Shortly the father joins up with them and gives them their cards not magic bands. We over hear them talking and the dad talks about the FP’s that the lady at guest relations set up for them for the day and none of them were any of the headliners. Then one of the kids asked what type of ride Spaceship Earth was and the dads response was that he thought it was a rollercoaster inside. I felt bad for this family that spent big bucks on tickets and weren’t even sure what any ride was. It was so hard for me not to pipe up and start telling them all the great things they needed to do.

Soon Daisy was back from her phone call and the line started moving again. When the kids in front of us were up to meet Daisy the handler asked them if they could kindly wait and let a family with an Autistic child meet first. They were surprised but agreed. Once the special needs family were gone the kids in front of us were posing with Daisy, her handler thanked us for our patience. I responded with how happy it must make you feel to experience these families and make their visit special. Her demeaner changed immediately and she became a bright and bubbly personality and she started talking to us about it. Once our M&G with Daisy was over she pulled us off to the side introduced herself as Kerry and shook Marks hand. When Mark wished her a Merry Christmas she just gushed all over this and they both started talking about how they don’t care about being politically correct and they are always going to say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays. I gotta say I was surprised at how much was said between us in only a matter of minutes it was such a whirl wind that by the time we left her I was almost dazed.




After our fabulous M&G we were off to use our FP’s for Soarin. While in line I booked our 3’rd FP for Pixar Film Shorts as a throw away FP. We got center seats and enjoyed our first ever Soarin around the world. As the ride was going the 3 kids next to Mark were talking a lot and trying to name all of the locations we were flying over. When we got to Neuschwanstein’s castle they were incorrect about it and Mark had to tell them the name and that we had been there in person. They thought that was pretty cool and then I had to remind Mark to tell them that is the castle the Walt designed Cinderella’s castle off from. Too soon our flight around the world came to an end and Mark and I had a special long awaited lunch date to get to. But where were we going for lunch???

 

[buzzrelly]

Joining in! Loving your TR so far, and I'm glad I got here before the big title reveal!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Awww I'm sorry to hear the room ended up not being optimal. But I guess that's the cons of being close to the lobby and the boat launch, people are always going to be walking by or at least nearby.

Mmmmm, those French Quarter beignets look so good, per usual. I recommend the raspberry sauce they have, it tastes so good with the beignets uggghhhhh Imma need some soon. Bless Disneyland for NOS so I can stop by for some Mickey ones on the daily.

Your photos with Daisy came out so good! You should ask to see if she'll pose with you next time. Daisy has some FIERCE poses. Glad to hear you got to perk up the Daisy's attendant's. Really just talking to the CM rather than just passing them by really makes one's day (especially since attendants do get yelled at A LOT).

Can't wait to read more about your Epcot day!

 

[Lesley Wake]

While we waited there was a mother and her two kids about 8-10yr’s in line in front of us. Shortly the father joins up with them and gives them their cards not magic bands. We over hear them talking and the dad talks about the FP’s that the lady at guest relations set up for them for the day and none of them were any of the headliners. Then one of the kids asked what type of ride Spaceship Earth was and the dads response was that he thought it was a rollercoaster inside. I felt bad for this family that spent big bucks on tickets and weren’t even sure what any ride was. It was so hard for me not to pipe up and start telling them all the great things they needed to do.

I had a friend who went to Disneyworld for his daughter's cheerleading competition last year. They didn't get a single Fastpass! I tried to explain the whole system to them beforehand, but they just didn't get it (and they are Disneyland vets, just didn't figure out the digital FP system). They ended up only going on a few rides the entire time. I guess the kids had fun playing with their friends, but the dad (my friend) was a little bit frustrated!

 

[amazingact21]

After seeing where your room was located, I can understand why you heard a lot of outside noise on the walkways. A bit of a bummer, but it's good to hear it didn't tarnish your opinion of the overall resort.

Yikes, nothing like a broom on your feet to speed up the breakfast process.

Good thing you got some beignets to make up for that lackluster situation.

That was really nice of you guys to talk to that handler and brighten her day. It can make you feel good, sometimes, giving those hardworking CMs a breath of fresh air. Hopefully, she was able to carry your kindness through the rest of her shift.

Spaceship Earth...a roller coaster. Oh boy!

 

[pkondz]

I was feeling bad for the poor person having to leave before the crack of dawn or worse yet only just arriving.

The former is worse.

I enjoyed POFQ and would stay here again in a heart beat but would request a room in an area away from the lobby and the boat dock.

Good to know. Not sure if I'll stay there... but it's a definite possibility.

Looks good. mmmmm... grease.

He got so close that he actually swept the broom over my foot.

What???

This whole experience with the broom and the food left me like.

Nice! Left you feeling young! Wonderful!

We had been anxiously waiting to try the Beignets we’ve heard so much about.

I did try one at DL... but still want to try the ones at POFQ. Different shape... might be different taste... certainly no dipping sauces.

I had become a Master Gardner

What is that?

Cute shot!

After our PP we found Daisy meeting near the front

Nice that you got to meet her.

Then one of the kids asked what type of ride Spaceship Earth was and the dads response was that he thought it was a rollercoaster inside.

Oy.

And yet......


I have this huge urge to follow them closely. I want to be (if possible) in the same car or the one right behind them. Then I'd start yelling, just before the photo... OMG! The lap bars aren't coming down! We'll all be killed!"

Once the special needs family were gone the kids in front of us were posing with Daisy, her handler thanked us for our patience. I responded with how happy it must make you feel to experience these families and make their visit special. Her demeaner changed immediately and she became a bright and bubbly personality and she started talking to us about it.

There ya go! Nice!

As the ride was going the 3 kids next to Mark were talking a lot and trying to name all of the locations we were flying over.

Hmmm... was that annoying? Or fun?

When we got to Neuschwanstein’s castle they were incorrect about it and Mark had to tell them the name and that we had been there in person.

Me too! Four times.

that is the castle the Walt designed Cinderella’s castle off from.

Mostly. This from wiki:
Cinderella Castle was inspired by a variety of real and fictional palaces. These included Fontainebleau, Versailles and the châteaux of Chenonceau, Pierrefonds, Chambord and Chaumont, as well as Castle Neuschwanstein, Bavaria, the Alcázar of Segovia in Spain and also the Moszna Castle in Poland which was built in the 18th century, in addition to the Tyn Church in Prague, Czech Republic, which was built in the 14th century. The chief designer of the castle, Herbert Ryman, also referenced the original design for the castle in the film Cinderella and his own well-known creation — the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland in California.[1]

But where were we going for lunch???

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess.... somewhere with food. I know... It's a long shot.