Touring the Tower of Terror and other Ghoulish Delights! Sept 13 TR | FINALx2 4/17!!!

[danimaroo]

Yep, and we're heading down to Disney 2 weeks from today and I cannot wait!!!!

Oh even better!! That's so exciting to have a trip so close by.

YAY!! I am so excited for another one of your trip reports.

Aw thanks!! I'm happy you're here and super excited for my TR! I think it'll be a good one!

So HAPPY to see another trip report from you!

Thank you so much! I'm so glad I'm able to write another TR and re-live this trip. Thank you for joining!

Yay! You're back! Bring on the food pictures!!!

I sure am, yay! And oh my gosh, I have LOTS of food pictures from this trip! YUM.

I have been waiting for this moment!

I love the intros, not gonna lie.

Villas at Wilderness Lodge, holler! Beach club, holler!

4:15?! Sounds like me on a Disney trip morning. If I wake up before my alarm, there is no hope for extra sleep.

First class on a 5 hour flight sounds like the only way to do it. Question: Did it feel weird flying on the 11th?

So lucky your airport has a Starbucks! Ours only "proudly brews Starbucks Coffee", aka suck.

One day I will fly first class and if they serve me weird watermelon salad in the morning I will feel bad for not wanting to eat it, haha. Ravioli though, that's an anytime meal.

I feel you on the bathroom break immediately upon arrival. I HATE airplane bathrooms and will hold it if possible.

Magical Express EEEEEEEEEEEE

YAY I'm so happy you're here Rachel!! It's never the same without you.

Hahaha yeah I just couldn't believe he woke up that early! I found it impressive... and adorable.

It didn't feel weird at all. The only minor thing I noticed in the security line was these airline attendants all upset that screening them took longer, and the TSA guy said to one of his co-workers that the ladies evidently forgot what day it was. If anything, 9/11 is probably one of the more safer days to fly!

Haha we have a LOT of Starbucks at the airport. Starbucks are kind of everywhere here though!

The Watermelon Salad was oddly tasty! It was a weird choice but not terrible. Raviolis though, are the breakfast of champions.

Yeah I was fine but then once I got off that plane I made a beeline for the bathroom! Being at the ME was so excitingngnggnngngng!

in, looking forward to it!

Awesome, glad you're here!!

Yipee!!! I'm here!

YAY! Glad you're here again for another TR!!

I was so excited to see you had started your new report. Cant wait to read about all your adventures!

Aw thank you!! I'm really excited to re-live this trip, it was such a good one! Thanks for joining!

Oh my God, Dani, you are already on page 4! Someone is DIS popular!! So I feel lame now that I'm so late, but I'M HERE!

I am totally with Matt, I can't sleep a wink on pre-Disney night. I take forever to fall asleep, and then if I wake up at any point, I'm up.

As a Fresh Prince super fan, I am HIGHLY DISAPPOINTED that your first class experience didn't include drinking orange juice out of a champagne glass! But it sounds pretty amazing nonetheless. We got a new credit card to rack up airline miles in hopes of getting first class on at least one of our long flights either to or from Italy next year.

Great start! I look forward to the rest, which will get me all in the Halloween spirit leading up to our trip in 17 days!!

Hahaha I have no idea how this happened! It's kind of crazy but I'm happy so many people are popping in and commenting! But you aren't late at all! And I'm obviously thrilled you're here!

I somehow finally fell asleep, but Matt did and theeen woke up ridiculously early, hahaha.

BAHAHA, I forgot about that! I should have requested it, darnit! It was pretty sweet! And we try to use my JetBlue card for everything to rack up points for free flights to Disneyland. We get at least one per year, if not multiple, so it's pretty awesome!

Thanks so much... and I'm so excited for you guys! You'll have such an amazing trip!

Hi Dani! I'm definitely on board for this one! So excited to hear about it, I hope to do a Halloween trip one day! Also, I read through your comments and I live on the South Shore of Massachusetts. Cue "It's a Small World".

HOORAY! So glad you're joining in! Going to Disney World in the Fall was SUCH a different experience for us, but a good one in my book! And that is so funny you live on the South Shore! I grew up in Abington! Small World indeed, because the South Shore isn't huge!

Oh my! I'm seriously late to the party! Better late than never!

Haha, you are so not late! Only one chapter in, and we're not even ON the ME yet... So don't worry too much! Glad you're here!!

 

[courtneybelle]

HOORAY! So glad you're joining in! Going to Disney World in the Fall was SUCH a different experience for us, but a good one in my book! And that is so funny you live on the South Shore! I grew up in Abington! Small World indeed, because the South Shore isn't huge!

I don't want to say exactly where I live on the Internet just because I still live there haha, but I'm only about 15-20 minutes from Abington!! So funny.

 

[danimaroo]

Chapter 2: Holy crap, we are actually HERE.
Day One: September 11th, 2013

As we walked up to the waiting area, a bubbly cast member walked us outside and brought us right onto a bus! We were both super excited that we didn't have to wait at all for a bus. There were a few other families on it, but we lucked out with a second row seat. I had a ton of bags with me, so Matt sat across from me while we waited to leave.

It was weird, the front row had reserved signs on them, aaaand we left that way.

While we waited, the Main Street Electrical Parade music came on and I think I basically died in my seat. I was so happy to hear that music again...

After what seemed like an eternity (but in actuality probably wasn't), our bus driver got on the bus and we drove off. He announced that the order of stops, and Wilderness Lodge was FIRST ON THE LIST! This was super exciting as we were way ahead of schedule in terms of what time we thought we'd be checking in and getting on our way to our first park of the trip.

The front windows of the ME were COVERED in lovebug splats, which you can kind of see here:

I took video of us going under the WDW sign and all you could see were the splats, which was kind of gross, hahaha. The DVD player also broke on the bus, with the volume dying, and I couldn't help but laugh as I watched the bus driver smack the thing while driving along. He finally gave up after a few minutes and just let the rest of us sit there, barely being able to hear the video.

We got to Wilderness Lodge and hopped off the bus, tipped our driver, then headed on inside, but not before I insisted I take a photo of Matt:

It was REALLY weird driving up to a different resort, and not Beach Club! But we were really excited to give Wilderness Lodge a shot, and it was wonderful walking into that beautiful lobby.

We waited for a minute before someone near the online check-in area came over to us and helped us out. Check-in was super easy since everything was all set for us, and they even gave us Happy Anniversary pins, too! The CM gave us directions on how to get to our room. We made our way back to the Villas and found our room pretty easily, right on the 3rd floor. I'd put in a room request to be on a higher floor and near an elevator, as I'd heard the halls can get veeeery long in the Villas building.

Luckily, we were close enough to the elevator, but not so close that it was noisy.

We walked in and I took a couple of photos of the room very quickly, since we wanted to get out the door to a park!

We both REALLY liked the decor of the room, and it definitely had a cozy Pacific Northwest vibe to it.

BUT we had no time to waste! We had places to be, and we were both VERY excited to get going.

We made our way outside, and down to the boat dock, where there was an absolutely gorgeous sunset happening.

A boat had JUST left, so we had to wait for a couple of minutes before another came to pick us up, but I didn't mind. Both Matt and I were just in a total state of excitement and disbelief that we were finally back again AND that we were going to a park already!

We hopped onto a boat, and really enjoyed our view. It was a perfect way to start our trip.

If you haven't figured it out yet, we were of course on our way over to the Magic Kingdom! It was so exciting to know we'd be starting off our trip in my favorite park at my favorite time of day to be in the parks! We got off the boat and were walking up by about 7:30, which was a half hour earlier than we'd planned for prior to our trip.

As we walked up to the entrance, we both noticed that there were only RFID readers now, and since our Premier APs didn't have the RFID chip in them, we knew we'd have to get new ones. Since the line wasn't too long over at Guest Relations, we headed over there first, even though I was DYING to get into the park!

We waited a few minutes and then got it sorted out relatively quickly and were given new APs. Fortunately they still use the same exact cards, so we can still say we have those Golden Tickets! They did say though, that when we go to Disneyland again, we'll have to reactivate them, which is always fun.

Anyway, we walked ourselves on up to the little RFID scanners, which was way different than the old card readers.

It was admittedly kind of sad not feeding the ticket into the slot, but the new system was pretty snazzy, as well!

Soon enough, we were back inside my favorite park of all!

Continued in next post​

 

[danimaroo]

Chapter 3: My first Pumpkin Spice Latte in the Magic Kingdom? Yes please.
Day One: September 11th, 2013

I was SO SO happy to see all of the Halloween decorations up! I had to just stop and get a photo, since this was my first time going during the Halloween/Fall season!

Matt was actually really patient with me in wanting to stop and take a ton of photos, which was nice. There is something so perfect about Main Street at night, nevermind all of the amazing decorations that were up, which just made things even better.

We finally turned the corner and I was so happy to see the castle again... whenever I see it for the first time during a trip, I just stop and stare and it's right there at that moment that I am home again. THAT is when everything feels real, it's not a dream anymore, we are home.

It couldn't have been more perfect, either. It was dusk, Main Street was lit up, people were leaving the park, and the balloons. They were everywhere.

Matt had been a patient husband, but I knew he wanted to get to his first stop and top priority at that moment... Main Street Bakery/STARBUCKS!!

We were both PUMPED to have Starbucks available to fuel our trip, and we were both needing it to keep going tonight, especially Matt, since he'd been up since 4:15.

It wasn't very busy inside, so we walked up pretty quickly to the register to order.

There were all sorts of Starbucks treats (from their OLD bakery, not this new La Boulange that you see in the normal stores, which is terrible), AND Disney treats.

The Peanut Butter Cupcake was looking amazingly good, so I decided to get one to eat.

There was someone by the pastry case who took my order for my cupcake, then we ordered our drinks (Pumpkin Spice Lattes) at the register. The girl there noticed our anniversary pins, and started chatting with us while writing on our cup, which was fun! We paid and since we were trying to actually get stuff done, I went over to a counter area to dig into my cupcake while we waited for our drinks.

ERMAHGERD, this cupcake was amazingly good. Seriously, the frosting was perfect, and the cake was moist, and it has little peanut butter chips inside of it. It was SO good, but also really rich, so I had Matt help me eat it, as well.

Matt picked up our drinks for us at the counter, and the girl at the register had written a cute little message on our cups for us.

Matt was just a happy man to have his Starbucks!

We finished eating that delicious cupcake, took our drinks, then headed back out to Main Street, where the sky had gotten a bit darker.

The Mickey pumpkins were flickering even more brightly, and I was just so happy. I could have just stood there for the next few hours and people-watched/castle-watched and be perfectly content.

We decided to head over towards Adventureland to hop on our first attraction of the trip...

Continued in next post​

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Your resort room looks very nice! I am hoping to vising Wilderness Lodge next trip, most likely for some food. I love checking out new resorts.

Ahhhh, MK in the Fall! There is just nothing in the world more beautiful than MK at night with those pumpkins and lights. You started off your trip in the perfect way (and the Starbucks just added to that!).

 

[407-W-DISNEY]

I couldnt for the life of me figure out where you were going to get a pumpkin spice latte in the MK!! Duh!! Starbucks! ! I forget that its there. ..but, I am Dunkin Donuts girl myself.... :-(

 

[IheartDDuck]

Never seen reserved signs on ME before. Kinda bizarre, and stranger yet that they didn't ever have an occupant during your ride.

The Wilderness Lodge is beautiful. I've only stayed there once so far on my DVC tour. I love the resort, but I'm a huge Beach Club, Boardwalk fan, so it's kinda hard to go elsewhere sometimes.

Love the pictures in Magic Kingdom during that time of year.

 

[khertz]

That's so great that you were ahead of schedule! Gotta love when that happens. The WL is so gorgeous. The room decor looks so comfy & cozy!

The sunset pics from the boat are so pretty. And MK at dusk is always gorgeous, but HELLO HALLOWEEN!!! I love Christmas at WDW, but Halloween now has a special place in my heart since I associate it with DS's birthday.

That was so sweet of the girl making your coffee to write you a Happy Anniversary message on the cup! Matt looks like he was REALLY happy to have that coffee right about then. My first attraction guess is Pirates!

 

[rachel09985]

Wow your dusk photos are gorgeous. Those sunset photos on the boat ride over took my breath away!! Yay for Starbucks! Great addition- minus the lack of a decent selection of disney pastries. The new La Boulange pastries aren't good?? I was curious about them but since I am on a diet I can't have them.

 

[gracer9977]

Ahhh Gorgeous pictures!!! I Love WDW at Halloween time. Since that was when we went the last two times it holds a special place in my heart.

Great update. So happy you are back home and so far having a wonderful first day.

 

[MrsDrewsky]

Wow, it looks like you made it into the Magic Kingdom just in time for the golden hour. Your pics are stunning!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Hey Dani! I'm joining along for this report!

Sounds like yall got off to a GREAT start with being ahead schedule! That's always nice.

MAGIC KINGDOM AT DUSK = Oh my gosh! Isn't it perfect?! Gahh. I want to be there right now. The Halloween/Fall decorations just add to the perfection. LOVE LOVE LOVE!

How cute are those Starbucks cups with all of the Disney touches on them? I wish my local Starbucks had those!

 

[czmom]

What an awesome evening to start your trip! The weather looked so perfect.

I am super excited to read your new trip report.

 

[AbbyMarie]

Oh Dani - you are such a talented photographer! It's really nice that Matt is so patient with your picture taking. Your trip report and your amazing pictures make me so happy! We love Wilderness Lodge - even though we're from the PNW we really enjoy staying there. I can relate to how long those hallways are. On our first trip there, my then 8 year old son went missing, and we ran up and down those halls in a panic looking for him. He had seen Grandpa outside our room and decided to head down in the elevator with him, but forgot to mention it to mom and dad

Off topic - wasn't it beautiful in Seattle today? 75 degrees in October? I guess it's to make up for the weather debacle that happened last Saturday

 

[laur roo]

Those sunset boat ride pictures are incredible! And even more incredible are the dusk Main Street pics...I may have drooled over a few of them. Looks like a lovely start to the night at the Magic Kingdom!!!

 

[__disneygirl]

Dani, before I comment on this latest update I have to tell you I have decided to save up for your camera. Well not YOURS, but the same one. hahaha. Your pictures are just SO stunning! I used to be so into photography and I know having this camera will get me back into it more than ever! So thanks for the inspiration, hopefully I will be as talented as you are when I am equipped with such an awesome camera.

I LOLed at the DME driver smacking the thing to get it working. Most electronics can be fixed this way!

OOooOH you were on the boat during the Golden Hour. SO BEAUTIFUL!

Your. PICTURES. OF MAIN STREET!!! AHHHHHHHHH I LOVE THE HALLOWEEN DECORATIONS SO MUCH! This is really taking me back to my trip last year. AHH. I am so glad you got to see Disney around Halloween time.

Was the PSL like 9284938 dollars? I'm curious because here it's like 4.39 for a small size and 4.99 for a large. I'm so obsessed with them but $5 every time I need a coffee just kills my soul.

So looking forward to more!!

 

[blabbermouth]

Wow, MK was especially gorgeous that night, fab photos! Always nice when you make it there a bit before you expect.

Iced PSLs! Nice work, was it still hot out that night? I like the Happy anniversary message written on your cups

 

[STLMickeyMom]

So I knew I'd love this update as soon as I saw the words "holy crap"! it's totally something I say--so much so that my 3 year old repeated it, which actually made me want to laugh but I put my mommy face on and tried to explain why it wasn't appropriate for her to say. Kids!

I adore all your sunset and Mickey pumpkin pics, but I am in LOVE with the balloon pictures! I just love those!!

WL looks like a place my DH would like to stay. Can't wait to see more of it!

 

[katt789]

Ahhhh hearing the MSEP music on the bus is always one of my favorite things!!!! I haven’t even gotten to WL pictures and Im dying, I know they’re gonna be so great and I’m gonna be all “well crap, now I’ve got to stay there too!” Yup…nailed it…need to stay there!

Oh my god those sunset photos are UNBELIEVABLE!! Aw man, we were so close to each other! We were headed over to Chef Mickey’s as you guys were pulling into MK. Oh thank goodness they stay the same card, I always felt so cool with a golden ticket I would hate to have a boring one lol!

Oh dear god that cupcake, I knew I should have gotten it. Also, I am deeply disappointed that I never had a pumpkin spice while I was down there, I was just always so full, or had things to do, or margarita’s to drink instead! Lol. Next fall!

I’m dying, your photos of Fall on Main Street are seriously perfect, I wish I could capture that feeling and essence of it and you do it wonderfully, I wish I was there right nowwwww!

 

[DisneytheKid]

Great start to the TR! Random side note, is your countdown click for disneyland broken? I've noticed it say 59 days for a couple days now.