Plans?! What Plans?!?! An Oct 2012 TR. 11/17 - Final Update!

[smile4stamps]

Funny that Hunter found a Dis-er for you!!

The party's fireworks look really cool!!

That's my husband.. making friends everywhere! I will miss him not being along on my next trip, even though he doesn't like the parks he makes the trips fun!

 

[smile4stamps]

Yes! I am still alive!! I've had a very busy past few months. 1st my DH came to CA to see me (and his frineds!) for a week and then I went to CO for 2 weeks. After that I was only back in CA for 10 days of which I worked most of them and then I went to WDW for 10days for some fun and a conference! Then back in CA for a week (again all work!) and then CO for 10 days and that left me with no DIS time through the end of June. July I worked ALOT and then went to CO for 9 days in August... So yeah.. not much time for my TR I am SO sorry! I've caught up with a few people's TR's but I know there are some I meant to read that I didn't subscribe to so I will be going back to find those!

Anyways... I have 7.5 weeks to get this TR complete before I return to WDW!! Do you think I can do it?!?!? Yup.. I have my doubts too!!

So anyways lets get back to it... I had last left off with the viewing of Hallowishes....

After Hallowishes we moved to find a spot for the Villain Show and the Parade to follow.

Here are some HORRIBLE pics of the Villain show!

The Queen of Hearts turned back around to dance a bit to "Off with your head!" Or something like that!

It's a cute little show but I guess the draw is to meet with the Villains after the show and I just wasn't that interested in trying to get to one before they went back so we just had a seat on a bench to wait for the parade!

Just like the Villain Show I didn't get very good pics of the Parade as we weren't right up front but I will still share some of them anyways!

Trying to get the sparks flying!

And Pluto driving Goofy's Candy Truck!

Because goofy was busy elsewhere!

And last but not least...

Our candy haul for the night... We ended up giving a lot of it away before we left the resort as there was not room in our bags and we wouldn't have eaten it all anyways!

Overall I was glad I had tried out MNSSHP but I think because I have been to the Disneyland party a few times I just like that one better! There seems to be more Trick or Treating at DL and the CM's giving the candy away there have more fun with you.. I like the DL fireworks. The big draw to MNSSHP is the Parade which I enjoyed but not enough to return to the party this year. (I will most likely go to a DL one before my trip.)

If I had been solo at the party I would have done a LOT more character M&G's but as it was I was trying to keep hubby happy!

One other thing about the party and probably the thing I remember most... IT was HOT & HUMID!! When we left after the parade we were still sweating! YUCK!

 

[smile4stamps]

I think I can do this day in one update as it was mostly relaxing or food related!

After the late night at MK for MNSSHP we went to bed without an alarm set (well maybe for like 10am!) and slept till we awoke. The plans for the day included the sleeping in.. yes this was written down! Packing to move to our second resort, a Signature Lunch at Citrico's with Lasseter Wines, checking into our new resort, relaxing, ending with the Hoop de doo Review!

I had originally thought we might check into the second resort early but nope, we were actually running a bit later than I had planned so we decided to head straight to the Grand Floridian... by way of boat from the Magic kingdom of course!

As we were waiting for the bus to take us to the Magic Kingdom we were looking at our surroundings and saw this...

Are those bananas in there?!!?

Why YES! They ARE!

So if anyone is hanging out at the Coronado Springs Bus Stop (the one near the main building) keep an eye out for the bananas growing there!

Soon after capturing the bananas our bus arrived and then we were at the Magic Kingdom catching a boat. The boat is our favorite form of Disney Transportation!

A bird hanging out at the Grand Floridian!

And there she is! The Grand Floridian is beautiful! But I think it may be to "stuffy" for me to ever stay there! And Expensive but that's another story!

We ended up being a little early (but not early enough to have had time to check in to the other resort) so we stoped in and got us a half bottle of wine to share.

And saw Princess Aurora walk past?!?!?

We observed the final touches being put on the Citrico's Dining Room for our lunch

Mr. & Mrs. Lasseter

John Lasseter came out to say hi to those that were waiting.

And then we were seated

We had a FABULOUS lunch which I am hoping to get the review up for tomorrow...

One last picture from the lunch of Mr. & Mrs. Lasseter, The Citricos Chef and Hunter & I.

A Happy Hunter after the lunch as we waited for a boat.

Soon enough we had arrived at our next resort! We were so excited to stay here! If anyone read my PTR you will know I was ubber excited to have snagged a RCI exchange into the Villas at Wilderness Lodge!

Some pictures of our One Bedroom Villa

(no idea why they are slightly blurry sorry!)

Hunter feeling like he is "home" stepping out on the balcony

He loved the view!

Yup! Nothing but trees!

The cute towel animal on top of the TV.

The King Bedroom

Hi honey!

The bathroom was kinda weird, it was split into 3 different sections...

Love having a door to just the toilet lol!

The jacuzzi tub which we never sadly used...

And it looks like I need a part 2 after all as that caps out my photos!

Stay tuned for more... Hopefully tomorrow at the latest!

 

[wiigirl]

Great update! Great pics!

 

[smile4stamps]

Great update! Great pics!

Thanks!

 

[smile4stamps]

After exploring our room a bit we decided to head down to the Territory Lounge to relax for a bit before heading out for our evening plans.

We found some comfy seats and ordered some apps and drinks!

We shared these.. I have no clue now what they are lol!

And the cheese fondue

A Mojito for me.

Long Island for Hunter

Someone was handing out Mickey Stickers and he put one on his phone case... This from the man who doesn't like Disney mind you!

After sharing the apps and a drink we just relaxed for while. It had been a pretty busy week and it was nice to have a down day.

After awhile we finally got going...

We didn't have very far to go...

It included another boat ride...

To find us here...

Hmmm... wonder what the plans might be?!?!

Stand in a line?!

Nah! We were actually pretty early so we were checked in and had our picture taken and were just waiting.

What was it we were waiting for? The Hoop Dee Doo musical Review of course!

Hunter and I loved this show in 2009 so I happily booked it again! There was awhile in the planning where it looked like the show might not be happening but that thankfully was not the case!

I'll cover the food in my Dining Review but here is a sneak peak!

The show is just so much fun!

We booked Category 3 because we like it up in the balcony!

Piano player below us

Stage

Let the show begin!

Mmmm... Strawberry Shortcake!

Audience Participation

Hunter having a good time

And me too!

At the show was another Dis'r (Joyce)! She was actually seated on the main floor below us so we had waved during the show and then we said hi after.

After the show we had the luxury of being able to take the boat back to WL! So much nicer than having to take a bus that drives you all over the place before you get to your resort! (That was what it felt like in 2009!)

 

[PixieMama]

While waiting for our food I began taking random pictures of my husband...

Hey! That's my hubby over there in the corner!

It also gave me the chance for DisMeet #3!

Shannon from the October group was also going to be having dinner there and I happened to see her sitting a few tables back to the right.. We asked our server to go over and ask if her name was Shannon. Indeed it was and she came over. I think our husbands both thought we were nuts! LOL.

Did you know that you're my first ever DISmeet?! Yup!

 

[smile4stamps]

[/SIZE][/FONT][/COLOR]

Hey! That's my hubby over there in the corner!




Did you know that you're my first ever DISmeet?! Yup!

Lol! I didn't even realize I had captured your hubby in the picture.

I had no idea I was your first DISmeet! Hopefully we can meet up again!

 

[smile4stamps]

Saturday, October 20 arrived and in my head I had planned to head to DHS for Extra Magic Hours. Hunter had told me the night before he wasn’t interested so I figured I would go by myself. However, when I woke up the next morning I had no energy. We had slept just as poorly this first night in VWL as we had at CSR so I knew a phone call would be in order to Mousekeeping to see if we could get the Egg Crate for our bed again! So anyways, when my alarm went off I simply turned it off and tried to sleep some more! I was kinda thankful I had as when I checked the Wait Time on my phone 20 minutes after open the waits were already huge!

So instead we just slept and dilly dallied around the room. We had an early afternoon ADR for lunch so eventually we got going… Since our ADR was in France we decided to take the Bus to HS and then boat it over to Epcot International Gateway. I believe we actually ended up being a few minutes late despite having done nothing all morning!

Lunch was at Chefs de France. We had dinner there in ’09 and Hunter remembered liking it while I had thought it was just OK. We are seated at what I thought was the perfect table as I had heard other reports from people sitting in the same area that they had seen some interesting sights out the window.

We ordered our meals but before it could arrive we had a little visitor!

Hunter as a Chef is a fan of Ratatouille!

And after peering out the window through the whole meal finally at the end I caught a glimpse…

I was a bit too late with the camera!

So, others I had read about had seen MANY characters go through that passageway.. Unfortunately our timing must have been off as we only caught a glimpse of Aurora and no others. Better luck next time lol.

After lunch in France we caught a bit of the performer high on his chairs…

No WAY I could EVER do that job! I don’t even like climbing on a step ladder!

From France we headed to America where we caught some Fife and Drum

And then inside the American Pavilion for some Voices of Liberty! Love watching them!

We followed the herds after the Voices of Liberty into the theatre for my first time as an adult and Hunter’s First visit to the American Experience (or whatever its called!)

No flash was used in the following pictures! I promise!

Not wanting to walk around too much as it was VERY CROWDED we found a place to sit in Morocco where we could hear the performers even though we couldn’t see them very well!

Hunter decided a snack was in order so I went into the Tangerine Café to see if you could get just a side of Hummus! Sure enough! You can! And it comes with plenty of Pita Chips!

After enjoying the Hummus we headed back to America to get our seats for the Eat to the Beat concert. Survivor was going to be playing.

We were able to get pretty good seats since we had Reserved Seating at Party for the Senses in just a few hours.

After the concert we made our way to the other side of the World (Showcase) and found ourselves in Canada listening to some more music!

Gotta love a man in a Kilt!

I will say it took a really long time to make it to the other side of the World Showcase because Epcot was just packed for the F&W festival. Unfortunately we will be in Epcot on 2 Saturdays this year! Eeeks!

After the Off Kilter show we headed to the World Showplace to check into

Of which you will have to tune to my Dining Review for more info on that!!

 

[smile4stamps]

Sunday October 21.

This day started out REALLY early after the night before at Party for the Senses! I had booked the pre-park opening ADR at Crystal Palace for both Sundays we would be at the World not knowing how all our plans would come together with F&W. About a month before the trip WDW changed their hours and the first Saturday we were there Magic Kingdom would be opening at 8am instead of 9! This meant my ADR was no longer BEFORE the park opened so I canceled that one keeping the second one. Unfortunately that meant an early morning after the event the night before. I still wanted to do it anyways so we got ourselves ready and took the boat from the Wilderness Lodge to Magic Kingdom. We were able to enter the park soon after we arrived and walked down a nearly empty Main Street!

Looking the other way down Main Street

We only had a short wait to be seated and before we know it there were characters stopping by to see us! First up was my Favorite! Mr. Winnie!

My two favorite Guys!

Awww!

Eeyore

Piglet

T-I-Double G-R

We finished breakfast just as the Park was going to be opening for the day. We headed towards..

As we were walking towards the Jungle Cruise I noticed where Tink has her Meet n Greet. I pointed it out to Hunter and he thought I meant I wanted to do it.. Hey.. If he was willing?!? Unfortunately I didn’t know that it would be at least 20 minutes before Tink “Woke-Up” and even though we were first in line we didn’t get to do the waking!

Not the best pictures…

I was actually really sad after as the interaction was just not that great. Oh well..

More soon!!

 

[smile4stamps]

From there we headed where I originally intended! The Jungle Cruise! Now if you are like my husband you are asking.. “But didn’t we do that already?” My answer.. “Yes, I want to do it again!”

And no waits! What could be better!

Our boat

Pictures of our Cruise..

Good thing they got the Jeep to turn over!

Think the tourist got the point?

The Back-side of Water!

She sure has been bathing for a long time!

After a cruise through the jungle it was time to visit some Pirates!

Sure Jack.. Toss me some treasures!

And what could be next?!?!

It was a crowded show!

Gotta love Singing Birds, Flowers and Tiki Gods!

If that wasn’t thrilling enough for you just wait for whats to come next!!

 

[smile4stamps]

Yup! Country Bear Jamboree!

Our hosts for the show.

Can anyone name these bears?

After the Country Bears I took a solo trip on Splash Mountain as Hunter wasn’t feeling it this morning.

Then from there we took the train from Fronteirland to Fantasyland.

Once in Fantasyland I wanted to take a ride with Goofy. Hunter at this point was pretty much done with rides so I again went solo. This worked to my advantage as I was able to move way up the line when they asked for a Party of 1 or 2!

There were a few more things I wanted to do before I would call it a day in MK though. First up.

I LOVE this show! It’s a must-do for me at least once a trip!

And this one!

It was probably only around noon at this point but it was still time for us to be heading out of Magic Kingdom. We had to get something to eat and head to another F&W event!

 

[emmysmommy]

Oh my gosh! Hunter is so like my DH. He doesn't want to pose with characters, doesn't care for any park open show, why do we need to go on rides more than one time, if it's hot why are we outside the ac... and so forth!

I hope I remember all the comments I had but starting with Territory Lounge.... I LOVE that place. We tried it this last trip and shared the fondue. I didn't care about anything else that we ordered since that was so good. I would love to see the Hoop de Doo show and would like it even better if they just had the show and no dinner. Em's not a BBQ fan. Boo!

Your CP breakfast photos reminded me of your recent FB post where Hunter weighed in. I almost responded to his comment about the bad breakfast foods and all the sugary options. I was going to list all the ingredients of the breakfast lasagna that is a diabetic event waiting to happen. (In agreement with his observation yet I fully indulge in that stuff!)

You did so many great activities this trip. Does it make you have to live up to the expectation to meet or raise the bar for subsequent trips? I want to do it all and I don't have an unlimited bank account!!

Great updates Paula!

 

[smile4stamps]

Oh my gosh! Hunter is so like my DH. He doesn't want to pose with characters, doesn't care for any park open show, why do we need to go on rides more than one time, if it's hot why are we outside the ac... and so forth!

I hope I remember all the comments I had but starting with Territory Lounge.... I LOVE that place. We tried it this last trip and shared the fondue. I didn't care about anything else that we ordered since that was so good. I would love to see the Hoop de Doo show and would like it even better if they just had the show and no dinner. Em's not a BBQ fan. Boo!

Your CP breakfast photos reminded me of your recent FB post where Hunter weighed in. I almost responded to his comment about the bad breakfast foods and all the sugary options. I was going to list all the ingredients of the breakfast lasagna that is a diabetic event waiting to happen. (In agreement with his observation yet I fully indulge in that stuff!)

You did so many great activities this trip. Does it make you have to live up to the expectation to meet or raise the bar for subsequent trips? I want to do it all and I don't have an unlimited bank account!!

Great updates Paula!

Yeah.. the guys just don't understand! My husband loves a lot of the Disney food though so he was actually upset that I went to WDW without him in May/June! This time he will be along and some of my park time will be solo but most meals will be together! I'm getting another Nutella waffle whether he is with me or not lol! They are SO GOOD!

We did do a ton of activities with even more coming up! This upcoming trip does not have near as many! It's also shorter by 4 days so would be hard to fit everything in!

 

[smile4stamps]

When I last left off we were heading to Epcot for another F&W event. I wasn’t sure if there would be FOOD at the event so we stopped to get a quick bite from the Electric Umbrella. We chose 2 items and shared.

My plate with both items! Chicken Nuggets, a meatball sandwich and fries.

Then it was time to head to the F&W event. I had booked the Grand Marnier tasting!
Which you can read about HERE!

After the event we headed into Innoventions to see if there was anything new and interesting. We ended up taking a tour of the energy house! Very informative (but kinda like a walk through Infomercial!)

The living room

A BEAUTIFUL kitchen!

A Wine Box recycled into the Doggy Eat & Drink

After that tour we headed back to our room to get cleaned up for dinner. We stopped to get some pictures of Walt Disney’s Personal Train cars that are in the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge Villas

Can you believe that Walt and his friends & family rode on those?! I would never fit lol!

Love the fireplace grate in the room with the train displays!

I believe we sat and relaxed for a bit in there as well!

And just a pic of another train that is in that room

After going upstairs to clean up we headed over to the main resort building where we indulged in a few pre-dinner drinks at the Territory Lounge followed up with dinner at Artist Point!

 

[emmysmommy]

Paula I didn't realize that the VWL was in a separate building. Going back and looking at your villa I really like the 1 bedroom. If we stayed more than 1 nite at WL I may check out that option.

So what did Hunter think of Electric Umbrella? And would he ever go back? I have memories of that place from 2006 and can't say they are good.

I love your THREE tickers. Especially the ultimate dining dismeet version!!

 

[wiigirl]

Great update! Awesome pics!

 

[smile4stamps]

Paula I didn't realize that the VWL was in a separate building. Going back and looking at your villa I really like the 1 bedroom. If we stayed more than 1 nite at WL I may check out that option.

So what did Hunter think of Electric Umbrella? And would he ever go back? I have memories of that place from 2006 and can't say they are good.

I love your THREE tickers. Especially the ultimate dining dismeet version!!

Yes.. It's connected by a walkway.. And the one and 2 bedrooms have a King Bed. The Studio only a Queen.

Electric Umbrella wasn't bad for us.. We knew it wasn't going to be fancy so it was okay.. I went back in May.... Okay not really.. I walked through to refill my Water Bottle!

I love my 3 tickers too! I should add in my Diva Trip in Feb/March! Maybe once the October ones are gone! The Dining Dismeet is going to be so fun.. I wish it was longer though!!

Great update! Awesome pics!

Thank you!

 

[smile4stamps]

On Sunday my DH told me he was done with the parks. I could go on my own but he wasn’t interested in doing anymore! I was a little upset but I have come to realize that the next few days were actually really nice! However he did have to wait one more day as I had something special for him planned on Monday, October 22.

Unfortunately this something had us getting up VERY VERY early!

Yes, it’s an awful picture but you can see it’s still VERY dark out…

Yup! It’s early!!

Even I am not so thrilled to be awake yet!

Time evidence!

I’m pretty sure we were the only crazy people on the bus! However we didn’t have all that far to go…

And the pictures progress as it starts getting light out…

Looking a bit more awake..

The Train is rolling into the station.. but what is it doing out so early!??!

Could it be for us?! Oh.. I didn’t mention WHY we were at the MK so early did I?! We were going to do our first ever Disney Tour! The Magic Behind the Steam Trains! And we both got to be Hunter today!! How they goofed that up I don’t know!

Still not totally awake though!!

But it was finally light out!

Just cause I like pictures of the entrance without a bunch of people in them!

And there is our ride!

We were then allowed entrance to the park but were told we couldn’t take any pictures yet as it’s not “show ready”

We were on the train when they said we could start with more pictures so I took lots!

All Aboard! Bye Main Street Station

Backing the train up they have to rely on the conductors as they can’t see behind the train.

The monorails “sleep” in the same building as the trains.

No idea what was being said but I guess it was pretty funny!

One of the other trains.

Time to get up close and personal with this train!

A Happy Hunter!

 

[smile4stamps]

And the rest of the tour!

Both of us

We got to go in the train Cab one group at a time so while we waited our turn we chatted

We decided since it was just us and the other couple we would all go up together

This baby can move!! A whopping 20mph!!

All kinds of nozzles and switches that they told us about..

Then it’s more picture of us time

Then I stepped out so I could get some pictures of Hunter in the Engineer’s seat

Our tour guide and the train conductor

Getting warmed up!

FIRE!

Getting some more water.. after all it is a Steam Train

After we were done in the train house we took the train back to the Main Street Train Station where we got even more history on the trains and why Walt wanted them in the parks.

At the end of the tour we got these pins!

And a look at the crowds on Main Street.. It was now probably 11am or so.

Some more train related pictures as we were getting ready to leave the park

It’s Home!

Pueblo, CO is a major train area, In the old days all the major lines went through there.

A map of all the major railways across the US.

These maps are all near the stroller rental area.. Pretty cool to look at if you have a chance.

I don’t remember all the details of the tour (Hunter probably remembers far more!) but it was a great time and best of all Hunter thoroughly enjoyed it!