Tricia and Roy's trip to Orlando/Disney 10/22-10/29

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My boyfriend and I just got back on Saturday from a week in Orlando. I finally got around to typing up a trip report in Word, so I'm going to cut and paste it here to share with everyone.

Just to get everyone familiar--on our trip was:

Tricia--that's me
Roy--my boyfriend of almost 3 years
Jenny--Roy's mom
Bob--Jenny's husband, Roy's step-dad
Candy--Roy's aunt, Jenny's sister
Felipe--Candy's husband, Roy's uncle
Tony--Candy and Felipe's son, Roy's cousin
Chris--Roy's brother
Maria--Chris' wife, Roy's sister-in-law
Makayla--Chris and Maria's daughter, Roy's niece
Donnie--another of Roy's brothers
Monica--Donnie's wife, Roy's sister-in-law
Clayton--Donnie and Monica's son, Roy's nephew

Saturday, October 22—Day 1—

We got up at 4 am, got ready, loaded up the car, then we took off about 5:15 am. We drove down with Chris, Maria, and Makayla following us. I fell asleep pretty much right away, waking up as we got ready to get onto 95 in Emporia. It rained a little bit on our way to Emporia, so I’m told. We stopped at South of the Boarder in SC for a little bit to walk around and stretch our legs. In the Myrtle Beach shop, Maria put Makayla on the little dolphin ride…it was the funniest thing. None of us were expecting it to be like a bucking dolphin. Kayla was looking at Roy and then to her mom and said “Stop, I wanna get off”. It was so funny! We got to the Florida welcome center in time for us to get our free sample of orange juice, one of my favorite things to do. We got our pictures taken in front of the welcome to Florida sign. I had a little bit of a headache forming, so I went to sleep for a little bit, waking up when we hit the Jacksonville area. We hit a few minutes of rain when we went through Daytona, and then some rain in the Orlando area. We got to Star Island around 7 or so, and went straight to Candy and Felipe’s villa, where we were staying for the week. Chris, Maria, and Kayla were staying there for the night until everyone else got in the next day. We didn’t really do much, and went to sleep early because we were really tired. Hurricane Wilma was making her way to Florida, so we watched reports first, and were trying to plan what we were going to do and when we were going to do it.

 

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Sunday, October 23—Day 2—

We were expecting today to be a total washout because of Hurricane Wilma, so we didn’t really have anything planned. Since it didn’t seem to be a washout day, we headed to Downtown Disney for the day. Candy and Felipe had to go to some timeshare spiel and so we just walked around some of the shops waiting for them to show up. We walked around the Planet Hollywood shop that was outside of the restaurant, and everyone was putting their hands up against the stars hands that were all over the building. My hand fit perfectly into Johnny Depp’s hand, to my surprise. Roy’s hand fit perfectly into Dudley Moore’s hand. Makayla was trying her hand up against everyone because she saw all of us do it. There was some midget actor who had hand prints there, and hers fit on there, so that was cool that she found someone that fit hers.
We walked around some of the stores and it didn’t take long for Candy and Felipe to get there. Roy and I really wanted to go to Planet Hollywood for lunch, we were going to go there even if everyone else went somewhere else. But everyone ended up at Planet Hollywood with us. I was so excited because once again, we were seated in next to Dorothy’s dress from the Wizard of Oz…two years in a row I got to sit next to the dress, very exciting for me! After lunch, we walked upstairs to see some of the other movie props and then we headed over to the other end to do some more shopping.
Today was Susan’s birthday and so I had to find her a great birthday present. I didn’t know what to get for her and Roy was great telling me I could get her whatever she wanted because she’s such a good kid and deserved it. We got to go into more stores this year than we did last year. I loved the Christmas shop. I really wanted to buy an ornament for our first Christmas tree this year, but they were all so expensive.
After we left Downtown Disney, we headed back to Star Island for the welcome dinner that they have for the guests. The food was ok, not much there I really liked. Then in the middle of the raffle, it started clouding up really badly and then once the lightening started, everyone left. Jenny had to go to Wal-Mart, and Maria and Monica were going to go too. I knew Roy and I need to go pick up a few things, so we decided to meet them up there. Tony decided to come with us. We left about 8 or so and it was pouring outside! We looked around for a little bit, got separated from Jenny, Maria and Monica, so we bought what we needed and left. It was still raining when we left and kept raining all night.

 

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Monday, October 24—Day 3—

We woke up to the outer bands of Wilma as she was going across Florida. Thank goodness she had picked up speed and pretty much just flew across the state! By 1:00 or so, she was completely gone from the area and it was sunny outside, of course it was still a little bit windy, and the temperature was very cool outside. Sea World was the only theme park that stayed open during the storm, although some of the Disney parks opened later in the day. We decided to hit some of the outlet stores in the afternoon and then the whole gang went to Capone’s Dinner Theater at night.
We went to the one Premium Outlets, which we had really wanted to see. But everything was so upscale and the prices were crazy! We did make it into the Universal outlet store, where I picked up a few gifts. I had really wanted to go to the Disney outlet that was there, but it was closed because of the storm. After we left there, we went to the outlets that we usually go to. Went to the Hard Rock outlet, Old Navy outlet, and the Disney outlet that is there. Then we went over to the other store that I go to every year, that has Wizard of Oz collectibles. I got a snow globe with Dorothy and the Scarecrow, and a Wizard of Oz street sign. They had some Snow White collector plates that Candy got. We left the outlets and went back to get ready to go to Capone’s. We had a good time, but the table they put us at kind of sucked. It was hard to see the stage the way the table was set up. Makayla was really cute, she really enjoyed the show. She kept jumping from lap to lap, sat with me for a little bit then Roy, before ending up next to Clayton. The food was good this year, better than we remembered it being 2 years ago.

 

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Tuesday, October 25—Day 4—

Today we went to MGM. Chris, Maria, and Makayla went with us today as well. I really didn’t want to go this day, because I knew it was going to be crowded.
When we got into the park, we stopped and had the Disney Photo Pass photographer take some pictures of us. We walked up towards the hat and saw the characters out. We decided to get in line to meet Lilo and Stitch because I hadn’t met them yet. Plus we really wanted Kayla to meet some characters. We weren’t sure how she was going to do. Roy and I went first. I was dancing with Lilo, and then we got pictures with them. Then it was Makayla’s turn. She seemed a little bit nervous at first, but Lilo came up to her while Maria was holding her, and she gave Makayla a big kiss. That was all it took. Kayla was fine after that. She kept talking about Lilo gave her a kiss. After that we headed over to get in line to meet Piglet and Eeyore. When it was her turn, Kayla had no problems at all! She got her autograph and got her picture. Then she hugged Piglet and then when she was hugging Eeyore, Piglet came over and it was a group hug. It was really cute. Then it was my turn, I walked up and got my autographs from them. Piglet tapped me on the shoulder, pointed at my shirt and then at himself and I said “Look, we are both wearing pink!” and he nodded his head. He was very excited about that. After the picture, I hugged Piglet and then Eeyore and we left. After that, we headed over to the line to meet Mickey and Pluto. Makayla was very excited to be meeting Mickey Mouse. After her turn, I guess the girls behind us didn’t realize that we were in line as well to get pictures and they cut right in front of us. The cast member that was there tried to tell them that we were next in line, but we said it was ok and let them go.
After that, quick stop to the bathroom and then to the Great Movie Ride. We were afraid that Makayla might be scared of the ride, some of the stuff might be scary for her. The line was a little long, but it moved sort of quickly. We got on the first car and we had the cowboy hijack our car. I think I liked the gangster guy that we got last year better. Makayla was doing fine in the ride until we got to the scene from Alien and it scared her. She said that she needed to go home now. Then when we were going through the Wizard of Oz scene, she was doing ok, and Maria told her it was Aunt Tricia’s favorite movie. Then the Wicked Witch popped up and that scared her again. When Maria asked her if she liked Aunt Tricia’s favorite movie, she said “No”
After we left The Great Movie Ride, we headed down to see if Mike and Sulley were out yet. They were getting ready to come out and so we got in line to see them. Makayla walked right up to them both and gave them big hugs. It was so cute. She wasn’t scared of Sulley at all because of his size. Then Roy and I went up and I got a big hug from Sulley as well, and our pictures taken.
After that, we headed down to the new Lights Motors Action stunt show. That was really neat. After that, we decided to head over to find something to eat for lunch. On our way, we found the characters from Toy Story out, so we got in line and got pictures with Woody. Kayla was very excited because it is one of her favorites. Then Roy and Chris took her over to get in line with Jessie while Maria and I got in the line to meet Buzz Lightyear to save our spot. After we got the pictures with them, we decided to see when the next Muppet Vision 3D was going to be. It was getting ready to start, so we decided to get inline for that before lunch. After that, we went to Pizza Planet to eat lunch. After lunch we were walking down the one street and found where Sorcerer Mickey was doing pictures, so we got in line there because he is our favorite Mickey to get a picture with. Maria wanted to get Makayla’s picture taken with JoJo and Goliath but they delayed that, so we went to see when the Little Mermaid show was, and we were the last people they let in for that. After that, we walked into the Magic Of Animation tour through the gift shop, and found where the Chicken Little meet was at and got pictures with him and Abby Mallard. After that Chris and Maria took Makayla to meet JoJo while Roy and I looked around a little bit. After we met back up with them, we decided to go over to our favorite parade spot, thinking it wasn’t going to be all that crowded. We were wrong! It was really busy over there. But we still ended up with front row seats for the parade. Makayla enjoyed seeing all the characters again and waving at them. Several of the ones walking around came up and paid attention to her. I also got some attention from Sweetums and JoJo. After the parade, Makayla passed out in the stroller. I really wanted to see the Beauty and the Beast show, so we headed over there. They took Makayla out of the stroller, laid her down on the bench in the show and the girl slept through it all! After the show, Roy, Chris, and Maria were going to ride the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, but the line was long, so they got Fast Passes and headed over to the Tower of Terror. Kayla was still sleeping so I pushed the stroller around and was looking in the different stores. I ended up finding a bench to sit on between the 2 rides so I sat there with Kayla still sleeping in the stroller, waiting for them. They did the 2 rides and we were going to grab something quick we could take in with us to Fantasmic so we could get seats. But we couldn’t find anything that was outside of the area where they do Fantasmic, so we started to head in. We still couldn’t find any food, Kayla had woken up and was shivering because it was so cold, so Chris and Maria decided to leave with her. Roy and I headed on, and when we turned the corner and saw how crowded it was and that it was standing room only, we left. There was no way we were going to be able to stand through the whole thing. We were disappointed to miss it, but I think we both would have ended up hating it if we had to stand through the whole thing and then be freezing as well. We met up with Chris and Maria, and enjoyed strolling through the stores. They weren’t crowded at all because everyone was in watching Fantasmic. Then we checked out our Photo Pass pictures before leaving. On our tram ride back to the car, we had the funniest operator onboard. His name was Dennis and he had us cracking up on the way back to where our car was parked. He was so funny! Roy and I decided to go by Wal-Mart after we left MGM. We wanted to get some lightweight pullovers in case it was cold again the next day at Epcot. Then we went through the drive through at Wendy’s to get dinner and take it back to the timeshare.

 

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Wednesday, October 26—Day 5

Epcot today! We were really excited to go back to Epcot because we went through there so quickly last year. We went with Candy, Felipe, and Tony, with plans to meet up with Jenny and Bob there later. We got in the park and I told them the first thing we really need to do was get over to Soarin’ because the lines get long for that really quickly. So we headed over there first. We had maybe a 5 minute wait. I was REALLY nervous about this ride, because I hate motion simulator rides, I get motion sickness very easily, and I hate heights, but I promised Roy I would go on the ride. We got in and we were in I guess the B section in the first row. Roy sat on one side of me and I made Candy switch with Felipe. I didn’t want him next to me because I knew he would tease me the whole time. The ride started, we were lifted up, scared the mess out of me! I didn’t like it at first, and I was gripping the hand rails extremely tight, and closed my eyes at first. I didn’t like the being in the clouds feeling, but once we started going over scenery, that wasn’t too bad. It really was an amazing ride, and I think most of my nervousness was because I didn’t know what to expect. Oh, and my eyes started tearing up because of the wind blowing on us. The smells that came through were awesome too, especially the orange grove. Once we landed, my legs were a little shaky, I had to make Roy bend down to get our backpack out of the under seat storage because I was afraid to bend over. My palms were all sweaty and they were bright red from gripping the handrails so tightly. As we were leaving, I made Roy take my picture in front of the Thanks for flying Soarin’ or whatever it said sign as proof that I was on the ride. After that we went on the Living with the Land boat ride. When we left we all said that it was something that Jenny would absolutely love. After we were done there, we decided to head over so Roy, Felipe, and Tony could go on Mission Space and Test Track. Neither Candy nor I wanted to do either ride, so we went shopping in Mouse Gear. Roy called me on the 2-way when he got off Test Track to tell me that Astronaut Mickey and Astronaut Goofy were in front of Mission Space, so Candy and I headed to check out. As we were arranging to have our stuff taken to the package pick up area, Candy told me to head over and see if I could still meet them. When I walked up, I asked the Cast Member with them if it was too late to get in line yet. She was really nice and let me in line and said I was her last victim. Candy showed up and she was going to take the picture for me. Roy got off the ride and showed up where I was at just as it was my turn with them. I didn’t even see him at first. I walked up, handed Mickey my autograph book and Goofy pulled me into a big hug and rocked me back and forth like 6 times or something like that, it was cute. Once he let me go, I turned around and there was Roy. We got our picture taken with them and they left for their break. We decided to call Jenny since she hadn’t called us yet. We couldn’t get a hold of her, so for some reason Candy or Felipe called Maria. Turns out Bob and Jenny brought Maria, Makayla, Monica and Clayton with them to Epcot that day, and no one wanted to bother us since we didn’t have any kids and they didn’t want to slow us down with the little ones. Bob and Jenny were off doing their own thing but came over and met up with us. We all decided to it was time for lunch, so we called Monica and Maria to tell them. They couldn’t figure out which part of Innoventions they were in, and we searched both sides of it before telling them that we were going to the Electric Umbrella and for them to meet up with us there. We went to have lunch, and for some reason, Monica walked off towards Spaceship Earth, she had her own plans for the day, which was fine. Maria and Tony followed as well. So that left me, Roy, Candy, Felipe, Bob and Jenny. We headed back over so Bob and Jenny could get on Soarin’. I decided that since I had just eaten, I didn’t want to get back on it, and Candy decided to wait with me. So the other 4 went on the ride. When they got off Roy reported that they were in the 3rd row and that he didn’t like being in the 3rd row. You could see the bottom of the screen and see the people’s feet dangling down in front of you. He said that it wasn’t as amazing when he rode it from there, but it was still a great ride. After that, it was back to Living With the Land, so Jenny could see it. Then we headed over to Honey I Shrunk The Audience. After that Roy and I went off on our own, and we told them we would meet up with them later. Last year we had our picture taken with Belle and the Beast and the flash didn’t go off, so the picture didn’t turn out. We wanted to get over to the France pavilion so we could try and meet them again. So we headed straight over to there. We saw the Beast walking away, behind the fence, we had just missed him. But Belle and Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) were still there. I walked up to Belle first, she was really nice. She asked where I was from, and when I said Virginia, she said that wasn’t too far of a carriage ride away. She asked if this was my first trip to Disney World and I told her it was my 3rd. Then she looked at my homemade autograph book and said it was nice and I certainly had a hang of what was going on with that. She then asked if my prince was with me. I pointed out Roy, standing there with the camera. She asked if he just didn’t want to get in the picture or if I wouldn’t let him. I told her that he said he would take the picture since her and the Beast were my favorite. So she told him to give the camera to the photographer there and get in the picture, which he did. After the picture, I asked her if the Beast was going to be coming out again, and she told us when. Then we said goodbye and walked over to Aurora. She asked where we were from as well, and commented on my autograph book. Then Roy and I got a picture with her. We walked around the France area for a little bit and realize we still had a good bit of time before the Beast was out, so we headed over to Morocco to see if the Genie was out there. We didn’t see them, so we walked around for a little bit and decided to head back to France. We ran into Jenny, Bob, Candy and Felipe on the way back and they came with us into France. The Beast was out, so we went and got in the short line. I was talking to the photographer and other cast member about my picture that didn’t turn out last year and they said they would make sure I got my picture this year. They were both really nice. When it was our turn, Belle remarked that I made it back and told the Beast that I came back just to see him. When he heard that he gave me a big hug. Then she told him that they were my favorites. She asked if I wanted a picture with just the Beast and I said that no, I wanted a picture with both of them. Roy went to go stand on the other side of Belle and she told him to go stand next to his princess and she would stand next to him. Our picture turned out, so I was really excited. Before we left the girl that took the picture with our camera made sure that we liked the picture we got. She also made sure we knew that Aurora was coming back out in case we wanted to meet her. We said we had met her a little bit earlier. She also told us that Genie and Aladdin were out in Morocco, so we left and headed over there. We didn’t see them as we were walking around Morocco, so we asked someone and we were told that they were out front. So we walked and saw Aladdin by the water, next to a tree. We asked the Cast Member there with him when the Genie would be out, and he said in 10 minutes. We had met Aladdin already and we had never met the Genie before so he was one we were really looking forward to seeing. So we got a drink and waited for the Genie to come out. We got in line and we didn’t have too long of a wait once he came out. The little boys in front of us were scared of him, so he was right in front of us when they walked away. So the Genie offered his arm to me and walked me away from my boyfriend. I waved and said “Bye baby” over my shoulder and the Genie waved at Roy. Then he stopped and he put his hands on my shoulders, leaned forward and gave me a big kiss. It was cute. When he was taking the picture with me, he was tickling my ear, it was cute. Roy wanted to get in the picture too, but the Cast Member with him was on the phone, so we didn’t have anyone to take the picture. That was kind of disappointing. After that we decided to head over to the German pavilion to see if we could find Snow White. The girl over with Belle and the Beast had told us that their day was over at 6, and we really wanted to try to meet Snow White before the end of the day. So we headed over there, walked around and didn’t see her. We walked into a few stores, and then went back and looked just outside of the pavilion and sure enough, she had come out. I was so excited. It was my goal to meet all the Princesses, and she was the only one I hadn’t met yet between last years trip and this years trip. And I have to say that this was the best casting of a princess we had seen out of all of them that we had met. She was Snow White…looks, voice, everything! After we were done, we tried to call Candy, since she is a huge Snow White fan and let her know that Snow White was out, but we figured they were somewhere that she couldn’t hear us calling her. We knew they were heading over to the America pavilion, so we decided to head back that way. As we were walking, we saw Rafiki pass by and Roy said “Look it’s Rafiki” and I guess he heard, because he turned, looked at us and waved. Then he blew a kiss and pointed right at me. It was cute. On our way back, we saw that the Family Stone Experience was doing their first concert of the day, so we went in and saw them sing 2 songs before Felipe called us on the 2-way to let us know they were done where they were at and wanted to know if we had tried calling them. So we ended up leaving the concert and meeting up with them. We walked over to the German pavilion because Bob is family of German descent and he wanted to go there. We ended up eating at the restaurant there, which made Bob really happy. I wasn’t all that thrilled with the food, but then I’m a real picky eater. Roy decided to order a beer and when the waitress brought it, we were shocked with how HUGE it was. But Roy drank it all and he was feeling good after! We got the funniest before and after shots of him and the beer! We watched the show during dinner and afterwards we all split up again. They had to go meet up with Monica, Maria, Tony, and the kids. Roy and I wandered around the China and then Mexico pavilions, before meeting up with Candy and Felipe to find a spot to catch Illuminations at. We had never seen Illuminations before and we were very impressed with it. What a wonderful display, just beautiful. After Illuminations, we took our time leaving the park, stopping to look at our Fast Pass pictures and buying one before we left.

 

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Thursday, October 27—Day 6—

Tonight is our night at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party! We slept in a little bit this morning and then headed over to Old Town for a little bit. We had to go by the Sunny Puppet place to get some puppets for the kids. We had lunch at Flippers Pizzeria and then wandered around for a little bit before heading back to the timeshare to get ready for the party. I’m not very creative with costume ideas, and I really wanted to wear my Jack-Jack shirt for when/if we met the Incredibles, so I wore that, and then added my tiara. Monica also bought a tiara so she could wear to the party. Makayla was dressed as Cinderella and Clayton was a Ninja. We had dinner reservations for Cinderella’s Royal Table at 4:45 and we got to the park and headed straight over there. We met up with Felipe, Candy and Tony, and our big group headed into the Castle for dinner. On our way in, I sat on Cinderella’s Throne for a picture, and then up to dinner we went. It was wonderful. I had prime rib and root mashed potatoes. It was so yummy. Roy asked if we could get a copy of the menu and our server, Jay, brought a fresh copy of one out for us. I really would love to have gotten the whole menu (the backing of it plus the paper part), it was so pretty. I loved sitting in the castle, having dinner and being referred to as “Princess”. Actually, I loved being called Princess all night long by many of the Cast Members that we encountered. One of my favorite parts of the night! After dinner, we wandered around Fantasyland, before heading towards Adventureland and Frontierland, where they told us we needed to be at. We hit some trick or treat spots as we were wandering around. I’m not big on too many rides, so I sat rides out as some of our group went on Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. At that point, the rest of the park was open, so we started heading back to Fantasyland. I spotted Cinderella’s Carriage on our way and I had to get a picture in front of it, so Roy and I got in line, and Maria got in line so she could have Makayla’s picture taken as well. Candy waited for us, and I think Monica, Donnie, Felipe, Tony, and Chris went on Haunted Mansion. After we got our pictures taken, we headed over to see It’s A Small World, and then Maria took Makayla on the carousel. After that, we headed on to Peter Pan’s Flight, then we went over to the Snow White ride. After that we were heading over towards Tomorrowland and we passed all the Villians walking around. I was snapping pictures of them, and when I took a picture of Frollo, he came up to me and just stood looking down at me. I just smiled at him, pointed at Roy and said “He made me do it” and started laughing. After that we found another Trick or Treat spot and got in line, but then saw Pooh and Tigger in their costumes. We got in line to get pictures with them, but they ended up leaving and being replaced by Piglet and Eeyore. Since they were in their costumes as well, we stayed and got pictures with them. I was kind of disappointed that we never made it back to get pictures with Pooh and Tigger in their costumes. While we were in line, someone radioed us to say that Snow White and all the Dwarfs were out and doing pictures, so we went over and got in line to get pictures with them. Makayla was so cute, she hugged Bashful first, and he did his shy, embarrassed moves, it was so cute. She would have hugged all of them, I think, but Snow White came over and hugged her, and then Dopey hugged her, she got her picture, waved goodbye and was done. After that, we started heading over to ToonTown because we wanted to see if Cinderella was there, and we wanted to see Mickey in his costume. While we were in line to go to the Princess room, I noticed the time and said we couldn’t wait, we had to get over to see the fireworks. So we walked over, and we ended up picking a really bad site on the bridge by the Tea Cups and that area near the Castle. We had trees that were blocking some of the fireworks, and we had the debris from the fireworks falling on us. But the display was still wonderful. After the fireworks, we headed over to the Buzz Lightyear ride, and then almost everyone went on the Stitch ride. We found out that the Incredibles were getting ready to come out, so Maria, Makayla, Chris, Roy and I got in line for seeing them. Makayla was so excited about seeing them, but when it was her turn, she got scared for the first time with all the characters she had met. Mrs. Incredible was great with her, Mr. Incredible was on knee, trying to get her to come over, and she finally did. (Now, it’s really the only character meeting she talks about!). When it was Roy and my turn, I told them how much I loved their baby and they looked at my shirt. Mr. Incredible pointed to himself and then rocked his arms like he was holding a baby...I took that to mean “That’s my baby”. I asked if he was at home and Mrs. Incredible motioned that he was sleeping. I wish I had asked if they had left him with Kari the babysitter! After that, we should have gone over to get a spot for the parade, but no one wanted to see the parade. I was disappointed, but I didn’t let them know. So we headed off, back to ToonTown. We saw Donald at his boat and got pictures of him with his costume on. I told him I liked his pumpkin costume and he patted his belly. It was cute. Then we headed over to see Mickey. He was so cute dressed as a scarecrow. When Roy and I went up, he took my hand and kissed it and then gave Roy a big handshake. We took our picture with him, and he kissed my hand again and gave Roy another handshake. After that, we went over to the Princess tent and FINALLY got in to see Cinderella, who had Prince Charming with her. Makayla was absolutely adorable with her, and talked and talked and talked to Cinderella. She also told Cinderella “You have a BIG Cinderella dress on” It was so cute! Then it was Roy and my turn, and she asked us if we were having fun, and if we got a lot of candy. When I told her we got too much candy, she said “Oh, there is not such a thing as having too much candy”. Then it was time for the picture. Prince Charming offered his arm to me and said “Princess”, which I loved of course! Next we went over to see Perla the mouse. Then over to Minnie Mouse, all dressed up. She hugged and kissed both me and Roy, we got the picture, and then we got hugs and kisses again. After we left the tent, Roy and I went up the Alice treat trail, we got lots of candy, one of the cards said “Hi Princess, I love your tiara”, but all the characters were on a break. We met up with everyone else back in Fantasyland. Candy, Felipe, and Tony had already left the park. Clayton and Makayla were sound asleep in the stroller with Chris and Donnie sitting with them. Maria and Monica were waiting for Philharmagic, so Roy and I went in to join them. We did that, came out and it was midnight so we started heading to the front of the park. We stopped through one store on our way out and then headed to the monorail and back to the car. We had so much fun, everyone loved the party and had a great time. I think it was the highlight of everyone’s trip. We loved how there was little to no wait on the rides, and of course it was great to be able to trick or treat again! I think next time we go to one, I might skip the sit down dinner, so we can get more done when we are in the park. But all in all, it was a wonderful night.

 

[TLC371]

Friday, October 28—Day 7—
We decided to sleep in just a little bit and then go over to Sea World. We got there in time to head straight over to see the Shamu show. After that we went over to the Wild Arctic place. The ride part of it was so backed up with a wait, we decided to just go in by foot. We saw the animals, and then when we left a few wanted to go back in and do the ride part. Roy and I were hungry and so we decided to leave everyone behind and go get some lunch. After we ate, we went in to the Penguin Encounter. Everyone else was finishing up eating, and we radioed them and told them that we were heading in to see the Clyde and Seamore show if they wanted to meet us there. They met up with us, and we watched the show. After we left, I have no idea what everyone else was doing, but Roy and I decided to head over to see the Sea Lions and seals and see if we could feed them. We love going over to see them, and we love when they “talk” to us when they see the fish. We found one that we especially liked, who was very talkative when it saw we had 4 trays of fish! Everyone else showed up and there was more feeding sea lions and then we headed back to the Penguin Encounter for the others to see the cute little penguins. We headed over to see Blue Horizons, which was amazing. What a great show! We really enjoyed that. Roy and I had some other stuff we wanted to do, and he had no desire to ride Kraken or Journey to Atlantis this trip, so we left everyone, headed over to Dolphin Cove. Trying to get near the front to touch the dolphins was impossible, so we left. We went back around to the Dolphin Nursery to see the baby dolphins, and left the park. We headed over to Downtown Disney for some last minute gift shopping. Then we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner, then went up the street to the Super Target, before heading back to the timeshare to pack up for our drive home on Saturday.

Saturday, October 29—Day 8—

We got up at 4 am, left at 5:15 am, and we were home by 6. It was a nice drive home, and although I love Orlando, going to Disney, etc., it was still nice to be back home. We had a great trip. Sometimes I think it was too much with ALL the people that went with us, and everyone had a different idea of what they wanted to do, but we worked it all out. Most of the time, if it was something we wanted to do, we would leave the group and use the 2-way to catch up with them later. I can’t wait until we go back again next year!

 

[TLC371]

And because you made it all the way to the end of my LONG trip report (sorry it was so long!!!), here are some pictures...

Some of the pictures I took during our vacation...and you don't need to have a shutterfly account to look at them...
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8Ect2jNoxbvxg

And these are our photopass pictures:

http://disneyphotopass.go.com/DPI/r.d?i=268712846

 

[Angelrose]

Thanks for your report. Sounds like you had a great time. Your pictures came out beautifully.

 

[tiki23]

Thanks Your pics are great!

 

[Jennifer48]

Glad Wilma didn't spoil your time. Thanks for sharing!

 

[DaisyGirlAllTheWay]

those pictures were absolutely adorable!! You saw Lotsa characters!!!!!!!! Characters I've never even seen before, I can't wait to look for them myself, your pics are so unique! Looks like you had the inside scoop on where to be

Really enjoyed your report!

 

[VanniGirl]

Thanks for sharing your trip & photos!

 

[TLC371]

Thanks everyone for your comments! I tend to get a little long winded when I talk/write, so I appreciate everyone who actually read everything!

We were really lucky with the characters...I love meeting the characters, and luckily I have a very understanding boyfriend!! And since it was our niece's first trip since she was 9 months old and could really enjoy the characters this time, it was so much fun to see reactions to them! We were really lucky, most of them we just kind of ran into. The only ones we really had to ask about were the Genie, the Beast and the Incredibles. We were in the right place at the right time with them all I guess!

 

[LightBurnsBlue]

Thanks for your photos and the report. Where did you get your Jack Jack shirt? I love it!

 

[TLC371]

Thanks for your photos and the report. Where did you get your Jack Jack shirt? I love it!

I ordered it from Zazzle from their Disney section.

 

[eeyoresmountainpals]

Thanks everyone for your comments! I tend to get a little long winded when I talk/write, so I appreciate everyone who actually read everything!

Fantastic trip report. Sounds like you had a great trip, just like we did.

I tend to get long winded when I type/write, too, which is obvious in my trip report. But that's half the fun of doing the trip report 'cause you're reliving your trip, if only for a short time. So maybe long-winded isn't that bad!