WDW in October vs. Hilton Head in March: a tale of two trips NEW! 10/6 p20

[jenseib]

Great last day pictures. I tend to take a lot on the last day thinking I must've missed things.

 

[MEK]

I'll try to find the pic, too!~ I look half asleep in it, but that's nothing new at night.

It was me who thought I saw Dave. I remember thinking "that looks like Sheree's DH", but then I looked around and didn't see you or the girls and thought "nah".

I am a resort parker too. We did it a lot on our last trip when we stayed at our top secret off-site location. We tried to park at the Contemporary saying we were going to the Outer Rim, but they turned us down saying parking was limited due to construction. Boo! So we went to the Poly!

I really enjoyed reading about your October trip. It looks like you all had a great trip. Thanks for the OKW pictures. What a wonderful resort. Wish I was there right now.

Anxious to hear about HHI!

 

[MEK]

Found it!

That Sheree! In one day we had three accidental meetings with her - in the morning in FL, at the Poly pool (when we never saw her), and at the parade!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Thanks Mary Ellen!!
I wish I were going back to OKW - not now, it's too hot there, and it's BEAUTIFUL here today! October was just perfect! Hot enough for the pool, not too humid, sunny...
I just said this morning that I'd like to go to HHI in October. Maybe in another year or two.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Great pictures of the group! We never know when anything will be our last, so it is good to treasure each day and event. Those pictures will bring smiles to many people.
So true!!
I think it would be fun to tell my students I had eaten snails. They would think it's cool and gross all at once. I would have to eat snails, though. If I ever do, it will be in WDW, for sure.
Second graders think just like that, don't they! Drenched in garlic butter and in a bread bowl is a good way to eat them!

You know I love Old Key West! I have yet to get to stay there, but I have visited many times. My living room even has the OKW theme. I can so easily picture myself there through your wonderful pictures! They make me long to be there for real. I am thinking when we go back in December I may need to purchase the OKW print. Or maybe I'll just take a bunch of pictures and do a collage picture frame. That might be even better. Except it'll be decorated for Christmas, so I may wait until spring to take 'normal' OKW pictures. Oh well, have plenty of time to think about it.....
OKW is so cool - I've never been to the real thing, but I hope to get there one day - maybe on a cruise! You could do a great collage with all the cool pictures you take!

Comfy clothes for the ride home = happiness. And I think it's cute to see kids walking around a resort in their jammies. It makes it feel homey and cozy.

The girls and I rented a movie at Vero for a rest time afternoon. Brooklynn picked two older ones - The Cat from Outer Space and Homeward Bound II. They put a blanket and some pillows on the floor in front of the TV and just had a relaxing afternoon. There is something neat about being able to have some down time during a Disney trip.
Isn't that great? Sometimes we try to cram in so much into a vacation and then it gets tiring!
It is absolutely cool that there were so many characters out at Epcot!

I was thrilled to find all of them and no lines!

That last day is the worst....especially if you don't visit a park. Isn't it funny that most TR's end with resort tour photos? It's like "Oh no! I haven't taken pictures of our resort and I must be a good DISer and do so!" I did the same thing.....sneek peek of my last update.

It's weird, I tend to linger longer on the last day because we are driving, so there's no "real" hurry! But we MUST have all the pictures of every part of the resort and room to share with our DIS friends!

Sorry the photopass pics weren't in order they should have time stamps that you can sort by? It was so great to see you guys again that night, I do have the picture and will post it, maybe Dave used more than 1 camera? It's a cute pic

I wish we'd have seen you at the Poly, so funny we all were there at the same time, including Tracy

Fun and full last day and I love all your goodbye pictures of one of my most favorite places in the world!!!!

That would be nice! Mary Ellen found her picture, thanks. I'm glad we kept bumping into you guys! It was too bad we didn't spot each other at the Poly. Oh well!
I hate saying good bye to WDW, but at least I know I'm going back.

Great last day pictures. I tend to take a lot on the last day thinking I must've missed things.

Thanks Jen! I want to be thorough too!

I'll try to find the pic, too!~ I look half asleep in it, but that's nothing new at night.

It was me who thought I saw Dave. I remember thinking "that looks like Sheree's DH", but then I looked around and didn't see you or the girls and thought "nah".
Too funny! It is rare to see him without us at WDW!
I am a resort parker too. We did it a lot on our last trip when we stayed at our top secret off-site location. We tried to park at the Contemporary saying we were going to the Outer Rim, but they turned us down saying parking was limited due to construction. Boo! So we went to the Poly!
It's funny, it's just one of those rules that I don't think are that big of a deal. Some I totally would NEVER break, but that one seems unnecessary. I'm sure someone who had to park a mile away from their resort because of me would disagree. It's not like I take the closest spot, really.
I really enjoyed reading about your October trip. It looks like you all had a great trip. Thanks for the OKW pictures. What a wonderful resort. Wish I was there right now.

Anxious to hear about HHI!

It was wonderful! I loved OKW and will definitely go back there.

Going to get my souvenir post up and then have some thoughts. The girls are going to chime in with what they liked and disliked (if anything) about going in October.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I know you've all been anxiously waiting to see our LOOT! Other than the ridiculous amount of candy from MNSSHP, here's what we got!

Gifts from MEK and Cynthia



This soap reminded me of the Beach Club. Still haven't used it yet. Anyone else do that? I found a bag of cute soaps from Basin in the closet from our December 2009 trip!! I did bust open the Florida Sunshine yesterday.

Treats for my office mates (and me)


Kind of hard to see - but pins and charms for the girls

Paige got a new watch - all of a sudden a regular clock face is too hard!


Basin goodies. I might have given the bar soap to someone. Otherwise it's in the bag with the other old ones! HA!






For my newest great-niece


Our 2012 ornament


Goodies for family
My dad is from Aleppo and loves to put red pepper on his food, so I thought that was appropriate. I got the spice grinder for my brother and my co-worker and they loved it!


My second Mickey head keychain. Sadly, both of them met the same fate: lost an ear, and fell off the chain. I guess I'll try something else next time.


My F&W mug - HANDWASH!!!



This was the candle Sarah made for me at Basin while I wasn't looking!


The latest in Disney blankets


MNSSHP Popcorn bucket



Gift for my mom (who watches the dog)


Someday I'll use this (and the ones from all the other trips too!)


Sarah's Crystal Mickey


Sarah's Eeyore


Cont. in next post

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Souvies, continued!

Gift for my boss - who was VERY stressed due to her contested election - it sits on her desk now (she won!)


Something I could have gotten in Paris?



Another fabulous ornament!


This was our COOL souvie - I love the carvings and authentic items at AKL, so we got this one.


Blurry pin pics



My AK t-shirt. It's a little slim fitting for my torso, but we'll work on that!


The practically perfect pillow - well, sort of! It's perfect for my house - it's always a bit dusty! It was great to have sitting in the living room while we were re-painting and getting new furniture.


Should I remove that tag? Or will there be some PENALTY!!!??

That my friends, sums up our souvenirs from our October trip. Looking back, I think we got a few things that we REALLY wanted, and a few things that were just for fun. If I had a little more will power, I might not have spent money on some stuff, but I'm really glad we got the F&W special things, and we ALWAYS get a pin and ornament.

Sarah and Paige will be posting some of their thoughts soon. Stick around!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

oooooohh!! Love all the goodies you brought home!!!!

 

[MEK]

I love all your soaves! Love that AK tee. It is so cute. Love Mickey sitting under the palm tree - so cute. Love the Christmas ornaments - so cute. Heck, all your loot is awesome. Thanks for posting those pictures!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I love all your soaves! Love that AK tee. It is so cute. Love Mickey sitting under the palm tree - so cute. Love the Christmas ornaments - so cute. Heck, all your loot is awesome. Thanks for posting those pictures!

Soooo, you think I got some cute stuff?

 

[Mndisneygirl]

These are all Sarah's words, unedited by me. Enjoy!

I enjoyed our Disney trip in October a lot. I liked the time of the vacation, not too hot, not too cold- Wait but when is it cold in Florida? Rarely! Anyways I had a great time one reason because of the weather. Also something that goes with the time that I liked was the Halloween party. The Halloween theme made it a more special trip because it was different than every other trip. I don’t know if my mom mentioned this but either way I’ll say it; it was my first trip to Disney World during the time of the Halloween party. The characters were cute in their costumes and it was nice to see other people wearing Disney costumes too. The decorations were really cute-lots of pumpkins, orange and yeah… You probably get it. My favorite decorations were near the Haunted Mansion...They were a little bit scarier than the other decorations- not that Disney would be scary…
I liked the parade with the headless horseman. The song does get stuck in your head though.
I tried some slides during my Disney trips and on this past trip in October I found my fave. In the past trips and the October one I tried the Old Key West, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and Polynesian. My favorite one was the Polynesian slide and I can explain why.
1. I prefer darker slides- sometimes
2. I got too dizzy on the Old Key West slide

The Polynesian slide was fun because u couldn’t see where u were going. The theme was cool- entering a volcano.
I loved the new fantasyland and some of my favorite things there were-ALL OF IT! I liked Ariel’s ride- it’s similar to the finding Nemo ride at EPCOT, but instead of screens it has real figures. I liked Belle’s ride/ story thing with the exception of one part- I had to be picked to play a horse and I was in my embarrassing Boo costume. Pictures to prove it, I didn’t want the part but my parents told me to go. I LOVED the Goofy Barnstormer. I liked how there was two Dumbo rides, it definitely made the lines shorter.
Now to the section where I say what I didn’t like. The trip was too short to do everything. I feel like we needed a couple more days to see all of the New Fantasyland. That’s pretty much all I liked/disliked, so if I think of anything else I might end up getting to post it later.

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Great post Sarah! And I never think I have long enough at Disney either!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Great update!

Thanks!

Great post Sarah! And I never think I have long enough at Disney either!

Thank you! I will pass along your comments to Sarah (she's not home now).
Shawna- I was digging through some stuff and found a picture of you and me with our girls at DHS in DECEMBER 09!!! I'll send it to you!


Getting ready to start with the HHI portion of the TR! Going to pick a different color as well.

 

[KatMark]

Saw this posted on our group on FB; signing up and will be back to catch up.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Wow you got so many great souvenirs!! Love them all, but I especially love Sarah's crystal Mickey! Love the girls' charms too!

Loved hearing Sarah's thoughts on the trip - so cute!

Looking forward to hearing about Hilton Head.

 

[MeMom]

Nice souvenirs. I'd like to get some of the soap that smells like Beach Club.

Thanks for sharing Sarah's thoughts.

 

[petals]

Luvin the updates and the souvenir pics

 

[KatMark]

I was too far behind to comment on everything.

It looks like a great trip. Sorry about the not so clean room at AKL (our tied for first resort) and I love your one-bedroom at OKW (our other tied for first resort; we've only stayed in a studio but they are big too). You had a great view.

Fun time at the parks; love the henna tattoos, love the costumes.

How great that you had a DIS meet with my girls trip partner, Mary (MaryAZ) and you met Maryellen (MEK) who I had the pleasure of meeting on our girls trip last month.

Love all the souvenirs.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Saw this posted on our group on FB; signing up and will be back to catch up.

Hey Kathy! I move pretty slowly here, so it shouldn't be too hard to keep caught up! Glad you are here!

Wow you got so many great souvenirs!! Love them all, but I especially love Sarah's crystal Mickey! Love the girls' charms too!

Loved hearing Sarah's thoughts on the trip - so cute!

Looking forward to hearing about Hilton Head.

Yeah, looking at the pictures it seemed like a lot of stuff, but we gave a lot away. Hilton Head is on it's way!

Nice souvenirs. I'd like to get some of the soap that smells like Beach Club.

Thanks for sharing Sarah's thoughts.

Thanks! I tend to get soaps and then I don't want to use them! Sarah will be sharing thoughts on the next phase too!

Luvin the updates and the souvenir pics

Thanks! It's fun to go back and see all the "stuff". Then I realize how much there is and how much we spent!

I was too far behind to comment on everything.

It looks like a great trip. Sorry about the not so clean room at AKL (our tied for first resort) and I love your one-bedroom at OKW (our other tied for first resort; we've only stayed in a studio but they are big too). You had a great view.

Fun time at the parks; love the henna tattoos, love the costumes.

How great that you had a DIS meet with my girls trip partner, Mary (MaryAZ) and you met Maryellen (MEK) who I had the pleasure of meeting on our girls trip last month.

Love all the souvenirs.

That OKW 1BR is crazy big! I could get spoiled staying there! I might venture to get a henna tattoo next time. They are cool!
I really enjoyed the DIS meets and meeting people this trip. Mary and the girls are so great - it was super fun to have someone for them to pal around with! Everyone was so nice!