What's this? What's this? A Halloween AND Christmas TR? Oct/Nov 2014 ~ UPDATED 10/27

[TinkerBelle_325]

INTRODUCTION​

What's this? What's this?
There's color everywhere
What's this?
There's white things in the air
What's this?
I can't believe my eyes
I must be dreaming
Wake up, Jack, this isn't fair
What's this?​

Greetings all!

I'm leaving for WDW on Friday and thought it was time I started a TR! We are particularly excited for this trip because we will be attending Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party on Friday, October 31st AND Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party on Friday, November 7th! Halloween and Christmas in one trip? Yes please!

I'll be doing my best to post some live updates along the way, here and on my social media accounts:

For those interested, you can follow me on Twitter @thedisneyfoodie, Instagram wdwdestination and my blog The WDW Destination Blog to watch for live updates from the parks

WHO?

Myself

I'm Megan and I am 29 years old. I completed a 16 month Master of Business Administration program in October 2013. It was one of the most challenging and rewarding things I have ever done. I was fortunate enough to land a dream job in December 2013, as a Marketing & Communication Specialist at one of the largest accounting firms in the world. I love my job but the past month has been a stressful emotional roller coaster. To say I am desperate for a vacation is an understatement. I have been to WDW more times than I can count.

I am a foodie at heart and have been taking pictures of food for years (well before Instagram made it cool ). I will admit that I am a Disney Commando, but I have started to appreciate the more laid back aspects of a vacation. For example: On vacation I love trashy magazines (Us Weekly, People, Star etc.), reading my Nook by the pool, afternoon naps (which are so much better at Disney for some reason), and simply taking pictures and enjoying the background music at the parks.

My favorite parks are the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. It is very hard for me to name "a" favorite ride because I love so many! My top 10 are Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, Under the Sea, TTA, Spaceship Earth, Soarin, Tower of Terror, Star Tours and Kilimanjaro Safaris.

DMom

DMom works for her father's family business. She also works with my DDad. So basically she is one of the busiest and most efficient people I know. She could organize any room, any time. She loves WDW because it is the place where most of our best family memories have been made. Her only criteria for this trip? A resort with a balcony and a great pool. Done

DDad

DDad works in financial services. He loves WDW just as much as me but he hides it better LOL. He also loves challenging me with obtaining impossible dining reservations. In fact....in my dining review I wrote this: "NOTE TO DDAD: California Grill is CLOSED. So there really is no way I can get us that reservation this time." And guess what.....NOW THE CALIFORNIA GRILL WILL BE OPEN SEPT 9TH....ugh I am *never* going to hear the end of it. I swear he has some psychic dining reservation power He would be content to only visit MK once and spend some evenings at Epcot, but he visits the parks a bit more often than that for me

WHAT?

As always, this trip is special (aren't they all? ). We decided that we don't need tons of Christmas presents under the tree this year. Instead, we would rather have a fantastic family vacation to our favorite destination that combined all our favorite things. The criteria? Food & Wine, MNSSHP & MVMCP. Sounds like the perfect trip to me...fall & christmaas decorations, two parties, food & wine AND some awesome signature dining too.

WHERE?

Well, our first choice was Disney's Coronado Springs...but we discovered that it is completely sold out during our dates! We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge in December 2012 and fell head over heels in love. So it was an easy choice....back to AKL we go! We've booked a pool view room with a great ORBITZ deal.

WHEN?

October 31st - November 9th

TABLE OF CONTENTS: PRE-TRIP
4 days and 7 hours!
3 days and 16 hours!

TABLE OF CONTENTS: **LIVE** TRIP REPORT
Friday, October 31st
Travel Day & MNSSHP
Saturday, November 1st
Resort day at AKL
Sunday, November 2nd
Magic Kingdom & Epcot
Monday, November 3rd
Epcot
Tuesday, November 4th
Hollywood Studios & Epcot
Wednesday, November 5th
Epcot
Thursday, November 6th
Magic Kingdom & Epcot
Friday, November 7th
Animal Kingdom & MVMCP
Saturday, November 8th
Magic Kingdom & Epcot
Sunday, November 9th
Resort day at AKL & Departure
​

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

4 days and 7 hours!​

I can't believe we leave in less than 5 days! This month has been particularly intense at work and I'm just wrapping up my involvement in a HUGE project. With any luck, the next 4 days at work will just fly by.

I spent this weekend completing my Disney Moms Panel Round 2 application, organizing my packing, getting a manicure and pedicure and working on this trip report and my dining report

The weather is looking good so far!



I thought it might be fun to highlight some of the things I'm looking forward to this trip...


Epcot's International Food & Wine Festival - This will be our 7th Food & Wine Festival. We skipped 2013, so I'm really looking forward to this. We are focusing on visiting on weekdays and have even dedicated two evenings at Epcot with no reservations just so we can have dinner at the booths.


Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge - We've only stayed at Animal Kingdom Lode once before, in December 2012. We fell absolutely in love with it and we're thrilled to be returning. Not to mention, Jiko and Boma are two of our favorite restaurants!


Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party - I believe this is our 5th MNSSHP. Our very first MNSSHP was on Haloween night and now we're getting to repeat the experience! I even snagged us a dinner reservation at Liberty Tree. Maybe it's my undying (pun intended) love for the Haunted Mansion, but I think Liberty Square is the best area in all of the Magic Kingdom, especially during MNSSHP.


Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party - Our first MVMCP was in December 2012. You should have seen the looks on our faces when it started snowing. We looked like giddy children. Should be exciting to see the first of the season! Particularly with the addition of Anna, Elsa, Kristoff and Olaf in Mickey's Once Upon A Christmastime Parade.


The PANDORA Disney Collection - I am a huge PANDORA fan! In fact, when I first got my bracelet, I was shocked that there wasn't a Disney collection. I can't wait to see all the charms and pick up a few.


Starbucks….with character!- I've seen the trend of giving the Disney baristas a character name for your cup, and I LOVE it! I'm definitely going to do Tinkerbell….Snow White…maybe Elsa, Merida, Belle….so many options!


Dooney & Bourke suitable for the stylish….foolish mortal- I've looked at every collection of Disney Dooney's and none of them have quite done it for me. That is, until I saw the 2014 Haunted Mansion collection. LOVE! I'm hoping to be able to get a wristlet.

Well it's almost time for bed. 4 more sleeps!​

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[TinkerBelle_325]

3 days and 16 hours​

​

Oh I had a feeling this week at work was going to be a bear. Can today be over please? In fact, scratch that. Can we fast forward to Thursday at 5pm? Right now, I feel like my vacation is very far away….

You see, I’ve spent the past 12 weeks working tirelessly on a massive project. When we had the initial meeting the deadline was set for November 10th. I let the head of the project know that I would be on vacation from October 31st through to November 9th and assured the team that I would get the project as close to completion as possible. Everyone was fine with that.
The last month has been brutal. I’ve worked lots of overtime and written over 12,000 words! It was very rewarding when, on Friday, I was able to pass the working draft off to the review committee. One member of the review committee is a senior executive. I created a packet and left it with his assistant on Friday afternoon. He was to begin reviewing this morning.
Well, at 10 a.m. one of the project leaders stops by my workstation to tell me the senior executive doesn’t have the packet!! This pretty much sums up my feelings:

I explain that I handed the packet to his assistant on Friday afternoon. However, it turns out that the assistant is out of the office until 1 p.m. and the packet is no-where to be found.

Thankfully, the executive is fine with waiting until his assistant returns. Phew. About a half an hour ago I gave her a call, explained the situation and she burst out laughing. Apparently, he slipped the packet into his briefcase with the intention of beginning the review process on the weekend. And now he has forgotten that it’s there!

Can the rest of the week be stress free please? Oh well, even if it isn’t, I’m going to WDW on Friday!​

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[NJPluto]

Safe travels! it sounds like it's going to be a great trip! My family leaves on Saturday. Thanks for posting weather report. I'm enjoying your report and planning what to pack at the same time!

 

[FLkid]

INTRODUCTION OF CONTENTS: **LIVE** TRIP REPORT Friday, October 31st Travel Day & MNSSHP Saturday, November 1st Resort day at AKL Sunday, November 2nd Magic Kingdom & Epcot Monday, November 3rd Epcot Tuesday, November 4th Hollywood Studios & Epcot Wednesday, November 5th Epcot Thursday, November 6th Magic Kingdom & Epcot Friday, November 7th Animal Kingdom & MVMCP Saturday, November 8th Magic Kingdom & Epcot Sunday, November 9th Resort day at AKL & Departure

Is it safe to say you'll be going to Epcot on this trip? (lol)

Have a great time! Looking forward to your report!

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Is it safe to say you'll be going to Epcot on this trip? (lol)

Have a great time! Looking forward to your report!

Ha! Just a bit Before we booked our tickets to MNSSHP and MVMCP, the purpose was to attend the Food & Wine Festival. Plus, Epcot is our favorite park by far