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

[Mndisneygirl]

cont.
We swung through The American Adventure and enjoyed a little fife and drum music



Should have posted this on Friday -it was Flag day!




After this, we walked along and came across a surprise character meeting area! It was great – there was hardly any line but LOTS of characters!
Mickey



Eeyore (Sarah was thrilled)


Bolt



Donald


Pluto




Rafiki


King Louie


Smee and one of the Country Bears were there too but we didn't get pics with them.

We swung through somewhere - Norway? OOPs, I mean Scandinavia! and got this:

"Rice Pudding with Driscolls Only the Finest Berries".
Not a huge fan of rice pudding, so I basically enjoyed the finest berries.

By this time, we were all pretty hot and tired. We’d hit up most of the F&W booths I had wanted to try, but left a few undone. I guess I do have my limits on how much different food I can eat in one afternoon/evening! So we finished the loop around WS and headed to the International Gateway.


I enjoyed the Festival very much thank you and I feel like I did taste my way around the world (skipping a few countries - need a return visit!)


Oh, did I forget to mention, we parked at the Beach Club? Hmm, I think we may have told the parking attendant we were eating at Beaches and Cream. But apparently, the wait was too long, so we headed to WS! Yeah, that’s it! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

On the way out by the shop at IG, (I mean Christine’s private entrance), we came across someone truly evil! Talk about perfect casting and playing the part. She was amazing. I was even a little scared of her!

Evil Queen




After our scary visit, we walked up to the Beach Club and found our way out by way of the Villas quiet pool. As we walked by, a couple of sunbathers called out to us! It was Christine and Melissa (I’m almost positive I got that right!). They had the right idea on such a hot day! We decided we’d be needing some pool time at OKW!




Once we got back to our spacious 1BR, first thing I did was laundry! I was so happy to have it IN OUR ROOM! This way I didn’t have to go home with a week’s worth of dirty clothes!! I could totally get used to this luxury!

We headed over to the pool where we met up with Brook and her family. Her little Henry is so adorable! The pool is so well themed and really cool looking. One drawback – there is no zero entry. Sarah tried out the slide and said it was “okay”. She said the Poly slide is better! She did her “big girl” thing and took her “big girl” KTTW card to buy some nuggets and fries. After 6:30 we checked out the campfire and roasted a couple marshmallows.

cont. in next post

 

[Mndisneygirl]

cont.

Back to the room to change and get ready for an evening at Downtown Disney!
We walked back over to the marina and took the boat to DTD. That’s a nice perk of staying at OKW. It’s a nice ride and you don’t have to worry about the buses or parking!
But OH MY was it crowded over there!!! I had never seen it like that before! Dave got in line at Wolfgang Puck Express over in the Marketplace and I went shopping while he waited. I went into the Christmas shop and got an ornament, bought a scrapbook kit, went to the spice/tea exchange too. By the time I was done, he was through the line! We enjoyed our food there and one of the CMs was super nice and friendly and took our picture!







After that, we decided it was just too crazy to spend much more time there, so we hit the restrooms and Basin and headed back to the boat.
A few shots along the way








Polka band


and we're back on the boat!



It had been a long and fun day, and we were all pretty tired. Paige slept on the pull out sofa bed, Sarah slept on the chair bed and Dave and I enjoyed having a KING sized bed in our own room!!

Tomorrow – our last full day at WDW! Where will we go?

 

[Dancegrl624]

Ok, I need to go during Food & Wine! All of your food pics are making me hungry....maybe because I haven't had breakfast yes.....everything look delicious!!!

LOVE the big DIS meet! I love being able to meet up while at the World and it's always as if we've known each other for years. The magic of Disney!

I love the cute little Fall decorations at Downtown Disney...those were not there in September.

Isn't the boat to DTD just heavenly?! It was one of my favorite things about staying at POFQ. It was so relaxing and much better than the bus...no standing and holding our stroller.

 

[jenseib]

What a fun day. I never even tried one food and wine festival food while we were there. But I really didn't have a desire to either. But many of your things sound good.

Love the big dismeet!

 

[wiigirl]

Awesome update!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Awesome update!

Wow what a great (and large!) DIS Meet!! Looks like a good time.

What a great day at Epcot! And you got to see A LOT of characters!

DTD looks like fun too. I love WPE! Too bad everything was so crowded that evening though. I hate when that happens!!

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

Love when there are lots of characters and NO lines! That is so rare! I love the Disney boats....nothing better

 

[Poolrat]

Whatever Mary Ellen was saying, Pat was contemplating, or worrying!

You got some "great" pictures of me-

I do believe my bra was stabbing me ....

I think by that point we were talking about hot it was and that the pool was calling.


That was a fun meet!!!! As usual I wish we all had more time together and hopefully will again.

DTD at night can really be a zoo.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Ok, I need to go during Food & Wine! All of your food pics are making me hungry....maybe because I haven't had breakfast yes.....everything look delicious!!!

LOVE the big DIS meet! I love being able to meet up while at the World and it's always as if we've known each other for years. The magic of Disney!

I love the cute little Fall decorations at Downtown Disney...those were not there in September.

Isn't the boat to DTD just heavenly?! It was one of my favorite things about staying at POFQ. It was so relaxing and much better than the bus...no standing and holding our stroller.

I think it is your duty as a TA to experience food and wine! It was some good stuff!
The DIS meet was fun - I wish it could have been longer!
I really liked the fall decor even though Halloween is my least favorite of the big holidays. I like fall though.
The boat rides are fun and relaxing - less stressful than a bus for sure.

What a fun day. I never even tried one food and wine festival food while we were there. But I really didn't have a desire to either. But many of your things sound good.

Love the big dismeet!

I think you need a do-over! It's fun because they are small portions, so if you don't love it, it's not a huge waste of food or money. The big DISmeet was great!

Awesome update!

Thanks!

Awesome update!

Wow what a great (and large!) DIS Meet!! Looks like a good time.

What a great day at Epcot! And you got to see A LOT of characters!

DTD looks like fun too. I love WPE! Too bad everything was so crowded that evening though. I hate when that happens!!

Thanks Shelly! I love Epcot and was so happy to meet with DIS friends and have that surprise character spot!
We definitely don't go to DTD much at night, and I know it's more crowded then. But we enjoyed our meal!

Love when there are lots of characters and NO lines! That is so rare! I love the Disney boats....nothing better

We definitely got lucky there!

You got some "great" pictures of me-

I do believe my bra was stabbing me ....

I think by that point we were talking about hot it was and that the pool was calling.


That was a fun meet!!!! As usual I wish we all had more time together and hopefully will again.

DTD at night can really be a zoo.

Well, you can "credit" Dave for most of those DIS meet pictures! Sorry!
your bra! The pool was definitely calling many of us that afternoon.I hope we will meet again - maybe at Beach Club - since we are waiting on ROFR for a small resale contract!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Friday October 19

Our last day!
Of course, we headed back to Magic Kingdom. As much as I would have liked to hit more F&W booths, I couldn’t be that selfish and only go to MK for the party, we needed another day!

We were up bright and early and got a bus right away. Of course, ours was the first internal stop at OKW, so it had to go ALL the way around the resort! We got there just at the end of the opening show and it seemed like there were thousands of people there already!


More cute fall decorations!


We headed in and DH went over to City Hall to buy some Disney $$$ and the girls and I headed to the Main Street Bakery for some breakfast treats.

We went back to Frontierland to get FPs for BTMRR and rode it! From there we went to Fantasyland and rode the Little Mermaid (yay! NEW FL was open), It’s a Small World, and got FPs for Peter Pan. Then it was time for our BTMRR FPs. I couldn’t do it again so soon (I’m a ride wimp), so Dave rode it twice – once with each girl! Looped back through Fantasyland to get FPs for Pooh and got some “lunch” at Sleepy Hollow. I had been wanting to try the waffles there. I got a Waffle with nutella and fruit – so Yummy!! I enjoy it at home too – sometimes a waffle, sometimes toast – whole grain if I’m feeling healthy!
After our food, we went and rode Pooh and headed to the Circus! We got FPs for Barnstormer and must have shopped or seen characters while we waited for our time. We rode and then Dave decided he’d head back to OKW and get some “stuff” for us so we could go swim over at the Poly and then later come back to MK easily.
Apparently most of my pictures were from new Fantasyland - I seem to have none of BTMRR (you've all seen that before) or my fabulous waffle!






This is kind of a lousy picture, but Gaston was arm wrestling with this boy!




Let's go see Ariel!



Okay, you might be thinking this is a bad picture. Okay, it is sort of a bad picture, but I was trying to show the shells in the "sandy" ground.






The queue was beautifully themed and I can see how on a hot day it would be nice to be inside there (I hope they cool it!). We didn't have long lines so we didn't have a lot of time to explore all the details!



Hop on a clamshell and let's go!


One last shot of the Be Our Guest sign.


How about a peek at the 7 dwarves mine train? I'm sure it looks WAY different now!


This is part of the new "walls"


cont. in next post

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Oops, forgot the photopass pic from the morning arrival! Then again, doesn't it look more like evening? Might have been after we left and came back. Sorry, I thought the pictures were organized, but the photopass ones are all just in a big folder by themselves in no particular order.


Off to Storybook Circus!
The lines for Goofy and Donald were shorter than Minnie and Daisy.

photopass






photopass



Goofy's Barnstormer!
I thought this display was cute - First Aid, Second Aid...



Guess what I found - out of order - My waffle picture! You want to see it don't you?

It was so good! I have something like this at home (usually a regular waffle or toast).

While Dave headed off to OKW, we rode POTC and the TTC Peoplemover.
We must have walked out through the Confectionary.




Dave had driven back over, and parked at BLT (sssshh, dont tell security!) then monorailed over to the Poly.
Eventually, we headed over to the Poly and met up with Dave. We didnt know it at the time, but our DIS friends Mary Ellen and Cynthia had the same idea! They were at the pool too but we never really noticed each other. They tell me later that they thought they recognized Dave though. We swam until about 6:15and grabbed some dinner from Captain Cooks. This is a great quick service place! I would go to the Poly just for this place (of course there are lots of other reasons to go to the Poly!). We got some pork nachos which were good, a Hawaiian flat bread, that was okay, and a burger, which was not as good as B&C (no surprise there, right?).




Then we took the monorail to BLT and dropped our bags off in the car and walked to Magic Kingdom. I know we arent supposed to park there for that purpose, and I know we were cheating, but dang if it wasnt super convenient!!

Once at MK, we did a little shopping. Sarah got a crystal Eeyore, and a Mickey with a palm tree. We decided to try the Enchanted Tiki Room. Id never done it before, but we had a curiosity about it since the first year Paige started dance. In the recital there was a musical theater dance to the music from the Tiki room. Go ahead, sing along you know its in your head now! In the tiki tiki tiki tiki room....
Anyway, when Sarah saw that dance, she decided to start dance lessons too. But I digress. The Tiki room is cute, cheesy, original and dumb all at the same time. So now Ive done it.

Next we headed back to the girls favorite Big Thunder! I could not do it again, so I waited for them while they went on it twice! I watched the Main Street Electrical Parade. So I was enjoying that at least instead of being bored (who could ever be bored at MK?)

Next we went to watch Wishes. From where? Sleepy Hollow. Now this is not a spot I would recommend for good fireworks viewing. But we did have a great view of Tinkerbell flying from the castle. I really enjoy the soundtrack so much, I barely need to see the fireworks!
From there we wandered back over to ride Pirates while DH waited with our drinks so we didnt have to dump them. Then it was time to go. BOO! But I needed to do one more thing. I had a purchase to make. I wanted a pillow. The one that says, Pardon our Pixie Dust on the one side and This area is being refurbished for your future enjoyment on the other. It was perfect for me – I hate dusting, so theres always a little pixie dust in my house, and I also thought it worked well in our living room while we were changing out some furniture and painting recently! So I got that, and then we ended up trapped in the shops from the 2nd parade! Oops!
Look at the crowd!


Cynthia texted that they were now in MK after their dinner at the Grand, so we tried to coordinate where they were in relation to us. Turns out they were pretty close! Just under the train station! So we made our way over for one last meet and had a lovely visit with Cynthia and Mary Ellen! They are the nicest most genuinely friendly people youd ever meet! I was so happy to see them again. We did get pictures (good DISers!) before we said our goodbyes and they headed into the park for some late night fun and we headed out for some sad-its our last night we better get to bed time! I'd share the pictures with you, but I can't find it. DH tells me that he took them with Mary Ellen's "cool" camera. I am sure I've seen the picture, but I bet it was on MEK's and Cynthia's TR!! Maybe they will be kind enough to post it here too!

We walked back over to Bay Lake to the car (that is such a great perk for people staying at BLT and Contemporary) and made it back home to OKW. I threw in one last load of laundry before going to bed.

Our time at WDW was drawing to a close, and while I was saddened by that, I was also super happy that our trip had been one of our best ever! We had good weather, good food, met up with good DIS friends, enjoyed the MNSSHP and F&W, pool hopped, went to Celebration and just relaxed and enjoyed some real quality family time!

Now, don't worry, of course there's still MORE! I took a bunch more pictures at OKW on our last morning and I also have souvenir pictures to show you! THEN, it's off to see what we thought of Hilton Head Island!!
Stick around!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Wow you guys had a long and fun filled day!!

Don't you just love the new Little Mermaid ride?! I bet the girls loved riding BTMRR so many times. I love that ride!

What a great perk to be able to pool hop! The Poly is awesome. Glad you enjoyed it and Captain Cook's!

We always seem to get trapped by a parade when we are heading out of MK too!


Can't wait to hear all about HHI. I may have to borrow a few of your HHI pics for my TA site if you don't mind!

 

[Dancegrl624]

I think it is your duty as a TA to experience food and wine! It was some good stuff!
The DIS meet was fun - I wish it could have been longer!
I really liked the fall decor even though Halloween is my least favorite of the big holidays. I like fall though.
The boat rides are fun and relaxing - less stressful than a bus for sure.

Oh yes...I need to go to Food & Wine for "research" someday!

DIS meets are always too short, but everyone is so busy!

Halloween is not my favorite holiday by any means, but I do love Fall and all of it's pretty colors. I wish the other parks would incoporate some Fall decor too.

I love all of the transportation options at WDW, but boats are right up there with the monorail.


Great update too. Looks like a very fun filled day at MK. Like you said, you can never be bored there!!

 

[jenseib]

What a fun and busy day. Always nice to get a little swim time in for the girls too. I won't tell the Disney police you illegally parked! I know lots of good people who have done it.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Wow you guys had a long and fun filled day!!

Don't you just love the new Little Mermaid ride?! I bet the girls loved riding BTMRR so many times. I love that ride!

What a great perk to be able to pool hop! The Poly is awesome. Glad you enjoyed it and Captain Cook's!

We always seem to get trapped by a parade when we are heading out of MK too!


Can't wait to hear all about HHI. I may have to borrow a few of your HHI pics for my TA site if you don't mind!

It was a fun day! I did really like the Little Mermaid ride. Hopping to the Poly on MK days is going to be a favorite activity in the future for sure! At least until I can stay there!

HHI - I hope to get going on it this week. You are welcome to borrow any pictures that you like. Hopefully there are some good ones, it's been so long since I looked at them I don't remember!

Oh yes...I need to go to Food & Wine for "research" someday!

DIS meets are always too short, but everyone is so busy!

Halloween is not my favorite holiday by any means, but I do love Fall and all of it's pretty colors. I wish the other parks would incoporate some Fall decor too.

I love all of the transportation options at WDW, but boats are right up there with the monorail.


Great update too. Looks like a very fun filled day at MK. Like you said, you can never be bored there!!

Yes, research is very important for your job!
I was so happy to finally meet my DISfriends in person! I would have liked to visit more, but we all had our plans...
Fall decor is beautiful - you're right, we need MORE around the parks!!

What a fun and busy day. Always nice to get a little swim time in for the girls too. I won't tell the Disney police you illegally parked! I know lots of good people who have done it.

We are so luck we didn't end up in Disney jail! I can trust all of my readers to keep my secrets, right?

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Saturday, October 20, 2013
As on most trips, I wasn't really "ready" to go home yet. We had been having SO much fun, I just didn't want it to end. I would have loved another couple days hanging out at OKW in that fabulous 1BR villa!
But like all good things, it had to end.

So I was up before 7:30 and finished up the packing. I kept out the camera, so we could take a photographic tour of OKW on our way out! Want to come along?

Goodbye eating area


Goodbye beautiful golf course view



Goodbye Room 2524 with the pretty blue door


Goodbye Hospitality House entrance


Goodbye General Store


Let's have a look around first before we leave, shall we?





A visit to Olivia's - the entrance at least! We never managed to eat there, and wish we had. The menu looks good!



Who's driving this boat?

Yes, the girls are basically in their PJs - comfy car clothes. Might be a little warm for today though...



wandering over to the marina


Famous for a certain libation - The Gurgling Suitcase!


Snack anyone?


Games?

Rent a bike?

rent a movie? nah, only if it's rainy

craft activities?


They did a nice job with some fall decor here!


Lovely early morning at the pool



Hot tub


cont. in next post

 

[Mndisneygirl]

The long goodbye, continued...


Goodbye Sandcastle slide

Goodbye kiddie pool

Goodbye squirting dolphins

Goodbye Disney buses


Goodbye playground


Such awesome theming around here!




Goodbye tennis courts

Goodbye shuffleboard

Goodbye surrey bikes


Goodbye exercise room - HA - well, someone ELSE might use it!


Goodbye pretty flowers (bird of paradise?)


Goodbye boats



Goodbye "hidden" mickey


Goodbye check-in counter



Goodbye cool library sitting room



Goodbye Disney Cruise ship (see you soon!)


Goodbye kids' TV area


Goodbye more cool "stuff"


See why I wanted a couple more days? There's too much to do at this resort!!

Anyway, we filled up our resort mugs - I love the pomegranate lemonade - and finally got in the car to go. We stopped at the Hess station for gas and donuts(!) and coffee and hit the road! We were on the road about 9:30.

Goodbye WDW!

We drove all day, enjoyed a nice Chick-Fil-A lunch in Georgia and just kept going. I don't have any notes about where we stopped (IF we did at all!). But we made it home safely. Another wonderful WDW trip is in the books!

I will have souvenir pictures and some final thoughts on WDW in October up next! Then it's time to check out Hilton Head!

 

[MeMom]

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.

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.

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.....

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.

It is absolutely cool that there were so many characters out at Epcot!

 

[Dancegrl624]

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.

 

[eandesmom]

Cynthia texted that they were now in MK after their dinner at the Grand, so we tried to coordinate where they were in relation to us. Turns out they were pretty close! Just under the train station! So we made our way over for one last meet and had a lovely visit with Cynthia and Mary Ellen! They are the nicest most genuinely friendly people youd ever meet! I was so happy to see them again. We did get pictures (good DISers!) before we said our goodbyes and they headed into the park for some late night fun and we headed out for some sad-its our last night we better get to bed time! I'd share the pictures with you, but I can't find it. DH tells me that he took them with Mary Ellen's "cool" camera. I am sure I've seen the picture, but I bet it was on MEK's and Cynthia's TR!! Maybe they will be kind enough to post it here too!

We walked back over to Bay Lake to the car (that is such a great perk for people staying at BLT and Contemporary) and made it back home to OKW. I threw in one last load of laundry before going to bed.

Our time at WDW was drawing to a close, and while I was saddened by that, I was also super happy that our trip had been one of our best ever! We had good weather, good food, met up with good DIS friends, enjoyed the MNSSHP and F&W, pool hopped, went to Celebration and just relaxed and enjoyed some real quality family time!

Now, don't worry, of course there's still MORE! I took a bunch more pictures at OKW on our last morning and I also have souvenir pictures to show you! THEN, it's off to see what we thought of Hilton Head Island!!
Stick around!

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!!!!