Trick-Or-Treat & Birthday Sweets! Oct 2013 PTR *NEW* 11/4 TR Link Posted!

[amazingact21]

It's hard to get him into nicer clothes sometimes, so it's definitely easier with Mickey on them. By the way, when is your next trip? I'd love to see how it goes on Landon's first trip if you do a TR.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one either!! I struggle with it every trip. And not just for me, for Paxton too!

Haha, if someone overheard my husband and I's conversation while packing for Disney, they'd think we were nuts! "Are you taking your Epcot 30th Anniversary shirt or your World Showcase one?" "What about your pins? which collection you wanting to work on?" "Lanyard?"


And I would think it would be worse with a kid, because there's just so many cute clothes out there for him. I don't think Landon goes a week before one of his Mickey onsies pops up on the top of the clothes pile.


We're planning on going to WDW Dec. 1-8th. He'll be just shy of 8 months, which is kind of young still, but we have family nearby that we promised Thanksgiving to, so those times just sort of worked out best for us. I definitely plan on doing a TR about it, but right now I'm refusing to do any kind of PTR because I have a report going from a 2012 trip that I should've have finished by now.

 

[khertz]

Haha, if someone overheard my husband and I's conversation while packing for Disney, they'd think we were nuts! "Are you taking your Epcot 30th Anniversary shirt or your World Showcase one?" "What about your pins? which collection you wanting to work on?" "Lanyard?"

Oh man, I'm pretty glad no one is around to hear us as we are packing because we are the same way, minus the pins! As much as it drives me nuts to figure out which ones to bring for myself and Paxton, then I have DH asking me which ones of HIS he should bring! And sometimes we are either making sure we don't bring a lot of the same ones (because we do have some matching shirts) or to bring them if we plan to match one day.

And I would think it would be worse with a kid, because there's just so many cute clothes out there for him. I don't think Landon goes a week before one of his Mickey onsies pops up on the top of the clothes pile.

Oh yes, it's WAY worse!!! Paxton wears a Mickey/Disney character shirt at least 4 times a week, if not all 7 days. Every once in awhile he goes for Thomas or Ninja Turtles, but not often. He has so many shirts that are perfect for the parks for one reason or another, and I just want him to wear them ALL on our trip!

We're planning on going to WDW Dec. 1-8th. He'll be just shy of 8 months, which is kind of young still, but we have family nearby that we promised Thanksgiving to, so those times just sort of worked out best for us. I definitely plan on doing a TR about it, but right now I'm refusing to do any kind of PTR because I have a report going from a 2012 trip that I should've have finished by now.

I can't wait to see the TR! 8 months is on the younger side, but I think you will still find he will enjoy himself in the parks, and then that in turn will make you & your DH will have an amazing time watching him! After taking Paxton at 12 months, I think I'd be willing to take the second one a little sooner if Paxton was at a good age to go and still excited about it (which I hope he will be for many years to come!).

 

[mandas08]

Sorry to hear about DH stepdad and everyones illness over the holiday.

Too bad our dates sont overlap I would love a Dismeet.

Your first day plans sounds great. Maybe we will head over to Universal for dinner one night. We enjoyed dinner at Bubba Gumps on our honeymoon. Never been to a Margaritaville before.

Great finds shopping. I love a good deal. I love his Nemo shirt and the swim trunks

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Aww what adorable clothes purchases. Really cute.

And yes, I do absolutely wear Disney clothes on vacation, and to the mall, and to work, and so on and so on... I think I have more Disney clothes than non-Disney clothes.

 

[khertz]

Aww what adorable clothes purchases. Really cute.

And yes, I do absolutely wear Disney clothes on vacation, and to the mall, and to work, and so on and so on... I think I have more Disney clothes than non-Disney clothes.

I'm starting to get there, where my Disney clothes are overtaking my regular clothes!! Between t-shirts and fitted shirts, I think I am prepared for the apocalypse!!

Sorry to hear about DH stepdad and everyones illness over the holiday.

Too bad our dates sont overlap I would love a Dismeet.

Your first day plans sounds great. Maybe we will head over to Universal for dinner one night. We enjoyed dinner at Bubba Gumps on our honeymoon. Never been to a Margaritaville before.

Great finds shopping. I love a good deal. I love his Nemo shirt and the swim trunks

Aw, that is too bad. I am looking forward to meeting a lot of DIS friends on this trip, so hopefully it all works out. Incidentally, I have found out on Facebook that a LOT of my high school friends will be there the same week, as well as DS's old in-home daycare sitter! So we will have lots of people to meet up with that week if it all works out well.

We really enjoy Jimmy Buffet restaurants! The menu is really great, but if you aren't feeling adventurous, you just can't go wrong with the Cheeseburger in Paradise. We've eaten at the one in Orlando, New Orleans, Panama City Beach, and Honolulu and NEVER had a bad experience!

Thanks!!

 

[khertz]

Wednesday October 23rd

For our first park day, we will be up bright and early to get to the early opening of Islands of Adventure for onsite guests. Why? To FINALLY get to experience Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

That's about all I know for certain for this day. I'm not sure how long it will take us to see and do everything, but I'm hoping we can get most of the rides in that area of the park done in that extra hour. We both want to ride Forbidden Journey, of course, and want to see the show at Ollivander's. Plus I'm sure we will take DS on Flight of the Hippogriff just because it's something he can ride. We can skip Dragon Challenge if need be since it's really just Dueling Dragons with a new name. I know we will want to look in all of the shops and have some Butterbeer, but for first thing in the morning, I think we will just focus on attractions.

Then I am thinking we might need to head over to Universal as close to its opening as possible. There are quite a few new things over there for us to check out, mainly (and the one I'm SUPER excited about) Transformers the Ride!

I freaking LOVE the Transformers movies, so I'm really excited about the ride! On both of our trips to California last year, I had really pushed going to Universal Hollywood for a day specifically for this attraction, but we just couldn't squeeze it in since both trips were pretty short. So I was really excited to see that they were bringing it to Florida and that it would be open for our trip! I hope that we are able to use our onsite Express Pass for this one. I know when some rides have first opened, you weren't able to.

And also Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem. Just recently saw Despicable Me for the first time and thought it was adorable! DS likes it too, but we just read up on it that it actually has a height requirement because the seats move & DS is too short! There are stationary seats he can sit in though, so I know we will have to ride this at least twice so we can each experience it in a moving seat.

Since Universal closes at 5 pm this day for Halloween Horror Nights that night, we will probably spend the middle portion of the day here. I'm sure both DH and I will want to ride The Mummy and probably Men In Black. Plus we will have to do a couple things for DS, probably the Woody Woodpecker coaster, and maybe the live animal show, plus E.T. I'm a little worried taking him on E.T. since DS would have to be in his own seat...not sure how that's going to work out, but we'll see! I'm sure we will at least stay through lunch so DH can get his much desired Krusty Burger in the newly expanded Simpsons area!!

Then we will likely head back over to IoA mid afternoon or so to finish up over there since it closes a little later at 7 pm. We will want to ride the Hulk, Spiderman, and check out the whole area of Seuss Landing with DS. Plus I'm sure we'll want more turns on Forbidden Journey! And to check out all of the different shops in WWoHP also.

Our parents will be joining up with us this day, so hopefully we will have an easy time switching out with them so we can all experience the attractions without DS getting too bored. Both parks have a few shows he may be interested in, plus they each at least have one play area, if not more, so I think we will be okay. I'm just a little worried about only having one day to enjoy both parks, but that's why we are staying onsite so that hopefully the unlimited Express Pass will help us accomplish a lot! There are also quite a few things that while we do enjoy them, we could skip: Disaster, Rip Ride Rockit, the water rides at IoA, etc.

Overall I am just really excited to be heading back to US/IoA! We have not included days at Universal since our 2009 trip, so a lot has been added since the last time we were there, and of course all of it will be brand new to DS! I am just keeping my fingers crossed that there is enough to do there to keep him happy. And that he naps in the stroller or does okay without one, because we will have checked out of the Royal Pacific by then and have nowhere to take him for a nap.

When we're finished at the park, we'll be heading to Lake Buena Vista to check into our 2 bedroom unit at Wyndham Bonnet Creek!

That evening, one of us will have to make a grocery run to stock up for the week, and also pick up DS's cake for his birthday the next day! We'll need to make a decision on that on, though, because we could get another Coldstone cake since we still have that gift card from last year when they messed up our order, or we can just order a cake from Publix and make it easy on ourselves by only having to make one stop that night. Decisions decisions!

​

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I don't think you'll have any problem getting through the WWOHP attractions in that hour. You may end up wanting to ride Forbidden Journey again though.

I'm excited to try Transformers as well. Nothing but raves. I came so close to getting it in Hollywood, missing it by about 2 months. I do believe they have Express for it as well. The Rockit has it now too I hear. And apparently so does Despicable Me.

With Unlimited Express and low crowds, you're gonna get A LOT done, no doubt. Just watch out for those lockers...

 

[khertz]

I don't think you'll have any problem getting through the WWOHP attractions in that hour. You may end up wanting to ride Forbidden Journey again though.

I'm excited to try Transformers as well. Nothing but raves. I came so close to getting it in Hollywood, missing it by about 2 months. I do believe they have Express for it as well. The Rockit has it now too I hear. And apparently so does Despicable Me.

With Unlimited Express and low crowds, you're gonna get A LOT done, no doubt. Just watch out for those lockers...

I think we will have a hard time tearing ourselves away from Forbidden Journey, but there is still lots to see in one day!

My friend and her husband just got back from a Disney/Universal trip and her DH waited in a FOUR HOUR line for Transformers!!! So I am really hoping for Express Pass, because that's insane! I believe I read on the Universal boards that they do have EP available there, thank goodness. DH and I didn't have a great first experience on RRR, so we will probably skip it unless we have plenty of time and can just use EP to get on quickly.

Oh man, I will definitely remember your locker story when we go!!! Luckily we have the stroller so we shouldn't have to use lockers unless my parents go off with DS and the stroller for awhile!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I'm so excited for you about your plans for Universal! And you're going to have to tell me what Krusty Burger tastes like! It's funny how they went with that brand since in the TV show, the burger joint and its food is really not painted in a positive light.

I think we're about 2 years away from visiting Universal with the kids.

 

[DDuck4Life]

I'm so excited for you about your plans for Universal! And you're going to have to tell me what Krusty Burger tastes like! It's funny how they went with that brand since in the TV show, the burger joint and its food is really not painted in a positive light.

I think we're about 2 years away from visiting Universal with the kids.

haha, I know what you mean about the Krusty Burger. I don't know why I'm so excited to try one when they really make them very unappealing on the show. I also plan to have a Duff beer and flaming moe to go along with the buger. So, even if it's bad those might make up for it.

I don't think I've ever been this excited for a restaurant or food before. Normally I'm all about the rides and food is just sustenance to keep me going from one ride to the next. This is different.

 

[eandesmom]

That's about all I know for certain for this day. I'm not sure how long it will take us to see and do everything, but I'm hoping we can get most of the rides in that area of the park done in that extra hour. We both want to ride Forbidden Journey, of course, and want to see the show at Ollivander's. Plus I'm sure we will take DS on Flight of the Hippogriff just because it's something he can ride. We can skip Dragon Challenge if need be since it's really just Dueling Dragons with a new name. I know we will want to look in all of the shops and have some Butterbeer, but for first thing in the morning, I think we will just focus on attractions.

The Dragon Challenge is the same ride but the theming is really really neat, if you can fit it in, I would.

I freaking LOVE the Transformers movies, so I'm really excited about the ride! On both of our trips to California last year, I had really pushed going to Universal Hollywood for a day specifically for this attraction, but we just couldn't squeeze it in since both trips were pretty short. So I was really excited to see that they were bringing it to Florida and that it would be open for our trip! I hope that we are able to use our onsite Express Pass for this one. I know when some rides have first opened, you weren't able to.

And also Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem. Just recently saw Despicable Me for the first time and thought it was adorable! DS likes it too, but we just read up on it that it actually has a height requirement because the seats move & DS is too short! There are stationary seats he can sit in though, so I know we will have to ride this at least twice so we can each experience it in a moving seat.

Right now, FJ, Transformers and Despicable Me are non Express pass rides. I don't expect that to change. Given that FJ never has been and it's been there a few years now I have a feeling both Transformers and Despicable Me may end up in that bucket, just like RRR never has been. Guess they want a few painful experiences for all. Sigh.

I hope the park isn't crowded and you are able to get a lot done

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

haha, I know what you mean about the Krusty Burger. I don't know why I'm so excited to try one when they really make them very unappealing on the show. I also plan to have a Duff beer and flaming moe to go along with the buger. So, even if it's bad those might make up for it.

I don't think I've ever been this excited for a restaurant or food before. Normally I'm all about the rides and food is just sustenance to keep me going from one ride to the next. This is different.

I didn't know they had Flaming Moes!! Very interested in hearing what that's like. I wonder if some of the royalty will go to Homer this time or is Moe pocketing all of the money and fame again.

Favorite Krusty Burger moment: When Bart rubs a fish sandwich on the wall to show the level of grease is enough to turn the wall clear see-through.

 

[khertz]

I'm so excited for you about your plans for Universal! And you're going to have to tell me what Krusty Burger tastes like! It's funny how they went with that brand since in the TV show, the burger joint and its food is really not painted in a positive light.

I think we're about 2 years away from visiting Universal with the kids.

I keep teasing DH for how crazy he is about wanting to eat a Krusty Burger, because I'm sure it'll be just like the burgers at all the other places around the park!

Ideally, I'd like to wait until DS is older (and taller...I was hoping he'd hit 40 inches before our trip but it's not looking likely), but I don't think I can go 2+ more years before seeing WWoHP. And hopefully by the next time we visit WDW/UO, the expansion will be open!

The Dragon Challenge is the same ride but the theming is really really neat, if you can fit it in, I would.

Good to know! We did enjoy it as Dueling Dragons back when. I think since it has EP, it's something we can save for later in the afternoon and focus on the brand new WWoHP attractions first thing in the morning.

Right now, FJ, Transformers and Despicable Me are non Express pass rides. I don't expect that to change. Given that FJ never has been and it's been there a few years now I have a feeling both Transformers and Despicable Me may end up in that bucket, just like RRR never has been. Guess they want a few painful experiences for all. Sigh.

I hope the park isn't crowded and you are able to get a lot done

I'm getting really confused by all of the EP information out there! Some places say Transformers & Despicable Me have EP, some say they don't. I know FJ still does not, but I think it at least has a single rider line, right? We could at least utilize that later in the day when we want to re-ride.

I hope so too!!!

 

[khertz]

I didn't know they had Flaming Moes!! Very interested in hearing what that's like. I wonder if some of the royalty will go to Homer this time or is Moe pocketing all of the money and fame again.

Favorite Krusty Burger moment: When Bart rubs a fish sandwich on the wall to show the level of grease is enough to turn the wall clear see-through.

Where's the puking smilie?

 

[DDuck4Life]

I didn't know they had Flaming Moes!! Very interested in hearing what that's like. I wonder if some of the royalty will go to Homer this time or is Moe pocketing all of the money and fame again.

Favorite Krusty Burger moment: When Bart rubs a fish sandwich on the wall to show the level of grease is enough to turn the wall clear see-through.

OK, I just looked into the flaming moes and am very disappointed. It's $8 and Orange Soda. The cup has a spot in the bottom to hold a piece of dry ice which causes the "Flaming" effect. Not sure if I can spend $8 on some orange soda but you do get to keep the cup so it might be worth it just for the cup but was hoping for something a little tastier than plain orange soda.

 

[MEK]

I didn't realize you were going to Universal studios this trip. We had some changes to our October trip (which I haven't written about yet) and I am toying with the idea of a Universal stop. It just looks like so much fun. I checked room rates and they are actually pretty high, but it would be nice to have that front of the line advantage.

I think you should try to use the coupon again. I guess you could always try later in the trip. Then you would have plenty of cake to eat all vacation long.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Yay for Universal and for finally getting to see the WWOHP!!! Forbidden Journey is amazing, and I agree, you may want to ride it more than once. There is really nothing like it.

Mmm...butterbeer! So good! The stores are cool too, but they are pretty tiny so they can get quite crowded.

 

[khertz]

I didn't realize you were going to Universal studios this trip. We had some changes to our October trip (which I haven't written about yet) and I am toying with the idea of a Universal stop. It just looks like so much fun. I checked room rates and they are actually pretty high, but it would be nice to have that front of the line advantage.

I think you should try to use the coupon again. I guess you could always try later in the trip. Then you would have plenty of cake to eat all vacation long.

Yeah, the resorts definitely aren't cheap, but you can't beat the unlimited Express Pass and being withing walking distance to the parks.

Actually, we looked and there is a Publix right near the Coldstone, so that solves that problem! We will be giving them another try!

Yay for Universal and for finally getting to see the WWOHP!!! Forbidden Journey is amazing, and I agree, you may want to ride it more than once. There is really nothing like it.

Mmm...butterbeer! So good! The stores are cool too, but they are pretty tiny so they can get quite crowded.

I can't even express how excited I am about it! I really wish we could do 2 days like we used to, but with taking an "off" day for the Halloween party, we really couldn't squeeze it in.

We will definitely want to ride FJ more than once, so I really hope it's not too crowded that day.

Good to know about the stores, so thanks for that info. And oh my gosh, how could I forget to mention the butterbeer?!?! We will definitely be trying that!! I also would like to have dinner at Three Broomsticks if possible, just to say I ate there.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

OK, I just looked into the flaming moes and am very disappointed. It's $8 and Orange Soda. The cup has a spot in the bottom to hold a piece of dry ice which causes the "Flaming" effect. Not sure if I can spend $8 on some orange soda but you do get to keep the cup so it might be worth it just for the cup but was hoping for something a little tastier than plain orange soda.

That is very disappointing indeed. And overpriced. I could make my own Flaming Moe's at home if that's the recipe!

 

[amazingact21]

Universal/ IoA sounds like so much fun. With all the hype of WWoHP, I'm sure it has to be as great as everyone says it is. (I'm like you and haven't been there in years. I think my last visit was 2004)

The Transformers ride looks so cool! My younger brother went to the park for his senior trip a few months ago, and he said the Optimus figure they have is gigantic, and it just builds the excitement of the ride up.

I'd think so long as you take everything in stride you'll be able to see and do everything you really want in the one day. Especially since you'll have extra help with Paxton.


I remember reading about that gift card incident. I will say, if you do want to get a cake from Publix, they're delicious. My DH and I had our wedding cake done at a local one, and even his super snobby aunt couldn't believe a supermarket had made it.