Trip Report Pre, During, Post MNSSHP, ToT 10 miler, Villains, and Food and Wine

For me, this will the briefest of Pre-Trip reports...

Our team is 3 of us - DW and I, both early 40s, and DD9. We visit at least once a year, but his is our first Halloween season visit. DW and I are both High School teachers, so time off during the school year is tough to come by. But, DW has been training and the ToT 10 miler was the perfect excuse for a long weekend. We are still on Annual Passes that we bought this summer for our 13 day visit. This is us from that visit (thematically appropriate).



We arrive next Thursday night, late, on a flight from Dulles in the DC area. We almost always drive (even for short trips), but have splurged this time on a flight in, rental car, and hotel in Kissimmee. IF we can get in early enough AND we aren't too tired AND we get the car quickly AND (actually I forgot the next AND, but I felt like 3 ANDs was a good number, but now I've typed 5 of them and it's gone a bit overboard, oh well)...Thursday evening there is a chance we will go to DisneyQuest. I know it is much maligned, and personally, I think it is not even close to what it could be, but DD9 loves it and it would be a nice hour diversion after the flight and before sleep. Again from last trip, DD and DW at CyberSpace Mountain.



Regardless of our Thursday night, Friday morning we will be up early (that's just how we roll) and eating on the way in to Epcot for 9am opening. The morning will be spent in Future World with visits to Soarin', Test Track, Mission:Space, and whatever else we can squeeze in before 11am. At 11am, it's time for some Food and Wine Festival but (perhaps more importantly to some in our party) also a visit to the Rose and Crown before the crowds descend. We value our time with Carl (and in this shot, a trainee).



The rest of the afternoon will be touring World Showcase and sampling some delicious treats (and drinks) around the World. Some time in the evening, we will head over to Wide World of Sports to get checked in for the races, then check in at Old Key West, make a run to the grocery store, and then early to bed.

Saturday will be an early morning as DD and I get up and ready for the 5K at 8am. She is very excited to be running the race and I just hope that my knees hold up! After the race, we will likely spend a couple hours in a park. Not sure which one...maybe Epcot if there are some treats we want to check out or Studios for a drawing lesson (something DD really loves).



Regardless of the later morning, we will be back to the room in the afternoon for a nap to get ready for the night. 8pm we are on the bus to Studios for DWs race and the Villains Party. We don't know much about the party, but we do know that DW is going to have a great race - her training has been going really well and DD and I are very excited to root her on and then enjoy a relatively empty Studios afterward (and until 3am or so).

After that night, we will definitely be trying to sleep in on Sunday. Whenever wake up happens, we are planning on some down time at OKW and an afternoon meal at Olivia's. It is nice to have a good restaurant at our resort that rarely needs reservations. Some time mid-afternoon we will head to Magic Kingdom so we are there good and early for the MNSSHP. It'll be dinner via snacks and far too much candy as we enjoy the Halloween Party and all it has to offer (and again, the limited crowd for rides). Since I know some folks are wondering...yes, we will be dressed in costume for the party. Woody, Bo Peep, and Jessie. All homemade costumes by DW. She has a bit of a history with making costumes. A sample of her handiwork:



Strange to say it, but luckily, the Halloween Party ends relatively early so we will likely wake up early on Monday. Animal Kingdom has 8am EMH and will likely go to that and visit Expedition Everest, the Safari, and some other attractions before we head to the airport at 1pm for our flight back home.

A short visit, but action packed, and we are quite excited to do so many new things. For those who haven't travelled with us before, each afternoon or evening, the girls require quite a bit more sleep than I do, so there will be updates-a-plenty from the World next weekend!

 

[myhappyplace]

Sounds like a good trip you have planned, good luck in all of your races!

 

[brifraz]

No ADRs at all on this trip. The only table service restaurant we might visit would be Olivia's on the day after the races. Seems quite strange for us as we usually have pretty much every meal planned out half a year in advance, but this time it will just be eating as we go!

 

[brifraz]

As always, we've been scouring our plans and all the different discussion boards online and some changes are afoot....

Friday we are still planning a morning at Epcot with lunch via Food and Wine and a visit to Rose and Crown, but later in the afternoon we are now planning to get out of Epcot before the crowds descend and go over to Animal Kingdom for the afternoon, hoping to catch the shows and maybe the safari.

That means that on Monday, we are now not quite so married to Animal Kingdom EMH - although it is still possible that we'll dash in for Expedition:Everest. But we expect that we'll find ourselves back at Epcot for some more touring and another few booths at the Food and Wine Festival for lunch again before our flight.

I'm sure those plans will be in flux once again as we sit on the plane and discuss one more time what we need/want to do!

This is right about the time that I find myself having trouble getting to sleep and then even more trouble staying asleep each night!

 

[brifraz]

Quick live update!

It's Friday 11am and in the last 15 hours we have visited Disneyquest, Rock n Rollercoaster, Soarin, Mission Space, and Scotland, Hawaii, refreshment port, Ireland, and are ready for some Rose and Crown time!

Details to come.

 

[CtDisneyGuy33]

How are the crowds at F& W today???

 

[brifraz]

How are the crowds at F& W today???

Compared to our summer and holiday visits, light. But all the kiosks have small lines and those we have talked to say it is a bit crowded but not as bad as some day.

 

[brifraz]

OK, it's time for the real trip report to begin... it is the evening of our first full day in the World and we are getting ready for an early night so we are up for the 5k early tomorrow. Here's where we have been so far!

Day Zero
DW and I both left our school's a bit early (we both teach high school) and picked up DD9 to head to Dulles airport (about 1.5 hours from home) for the flight down. No problems there - which was quite nice, and we were in our rental car driving to Disney around 8pm. Checked in to the Rodeway Inn for our first night and then headed to Downtown Disney for a quick visit.


After some debate driving over, we decided to go ahead and do a quick DisneyQuest visit. It was quite empty, so the girls quickly did Cyber Space Mountain and then we all did the Pirates adventure, both in only about 20 minutes. Lots of fun, and here is the necessary in-ride photo from Cyber Space:


Then it was time to go back to the hotel (with a quick fast food bite to eat on the way) and get some sleep. There were no problems, but one night in the Rodeway Inn reminded us very quickly why we did the DVC investment a number of years back. And, as I type this on the couch in our Old Key West sitting room, that point is even more driven home!

 

[brifraz]

Day One
With the alarm set this morning for 7am, we were (of course) all up by 6am and were pretty much out of the room by 7am. Again, we grabbed some fast food as we headed on property to check in at Old Key West. After a quick check in, it was only 7:30 and Epcot wasn't opening until 9am, so we had a little time... so, we made a pit stop on the way to Epcot.


In for EMH right at 8am for just one ride - Rock 'n' Rollercoaster - and 3 visits with Photopass photographers. Then we were back out and at Epcot at about 8:40am for 9am opening. We did a quick 'commando' attack like this once before and we loved it. Exhausting work for one ride, yes...but, fun!

So, at 9am it was over to Soarin' for a ride on the first flight of the day and then across to Test Track to either get FPs or ride. Wait....no line at the Character Spot, then we'd better visit. The girls met with the characters while I went over to Test Track to get FPs. They were for 10:15am, so once we met back up, it was time to visit the Food and Wine Festival center. And point out to DD where all the old Wonders of Life attractions were.


We then did Mission:Space green (while DD always wants to do Orange, I can't unless I want to revisit my last meal and DW just wasn't up for it this morning) and then went to Test Track to use the FPs. Sadly, it was down, but no worries - off to World Showcase to start eating!

First stop was Scotland for the Salmon and Cauliflower Puree. Excellent. Then Hawai'i for the Pork Slider - also very good (thanks mainly to the sauce). We also enjoyed the Innis and Gunn at Scotland as a nice warm up for Rose and Crown. Skipped a couple stops, but got the Cheese Sampler at the Ireland booth and all three of us loved the cheeses. Did a quick walk through of the UK shops and the gardens. That means that it is time for my gratuitous close up flower picture for this trip (at least the first one):


It was 11:30am at this point, so we were in the Rose and Crown. DD has grown to really enjoy our visits there and talking to (and sharing pub tricks with) Carl. For this trip, she made him a birthday card as his birthday is coming up soon. 2 Carl's Combos (each), some great conversation with two new friends, and a ginger ale and cranberry juice for DD and it was close to 1pm and time to get moving again.

DD wanted to do a Perry (or, as she still calls it, Kim Possible) adventure, so we hit France to save the world from Doofenshmirtz. Meanwhile, DW got to visit with a friend:


We also got a quick visit with some old friends from home who just happened to be at Epcot as well!! We then headed around the back of World Showcase for some more good foods. DW got the Beef Slider from Florida Local and also the Ravioli from Italy later, while DD needed some comfort chicken nuggets and fries from American Adventure. We then took a break from the heat (right around 90 today) and visited the Chase Visa Card Lounge upstairs at American Adventure. A nice respite! We just sat and relaxed for a good 20-30 minutes, which was quite nice. Also, took a quick break in Germany - DD found the best spot for shade!


Getting close to 3pm at this point, and our room was now ready at OKW, so we headed out with a short stop in Norway to hang out with the Maelstrom trolls (15 minute wait, not too bad). After exiting the park, we went over to Wide World of Sports to get checked in for our races tomorrow. All three of us are quite excited about the races, but DW is the one doing the BIG race and she is ready (in 29 hours)!


After that, it was time to get settled into the room. DD and I made a run to the grocery store while DW got things unpacked and in order. When we got back, it was a quick dinner (it was already 7pm) and now it is 8pm and we are getting to bed pretty early so we are ready for the 5am wake up call!

 

[brifraz]

15 minutes to 5k race start.

 

[brifraz]

Mile 1 ish

 

[brifraz]

Day Two (part 1)

While you may have gotten two quick iPhone updates before and during the race, here is the real 5K father-daughter run report!

After getting to bed early (by 9pm), that 5am alarm still seemed a little extreme, but it got us on the bus by 6am, which meant more than enough time at WWOS to get settled in and ready to go...plus some time for a couple pictures!


At 7am, we were in our corral and ready to go - it was a bit crowded in there, but still a chance to get a DD photo!


7:30am was time for the race to start (at least for those in the first corral, we were in the 5th group to start) and the kick off was courtesy of Sleepy Hollow's most famous resident.


It was about 7:50am when we finally got to move up to the starting line.


We had a good race, maintaining a 15 minute mile pace and generally alternating walking/running every 30 seconds or so. The humidity was a bit crazy, so we had to slow down from our usual pace and as you saw above, we had to make a pit stop to visit the Big Bad Wolf (and there was also a pit stop at a Lion King display). So, right around 8:45am, here we were about to cross the finish line:


And right at the finish line, my personal favorite of the fab 5, ready to greet DD as she finished!


Post-race, we each drank our Powerade and had some of the snacks from our snack box and then headed back to Old Key West to relax a little bit. In fact, we decided to take our relaxation to the quiet pool right near our room and DD and I stretched out in the pool. Actually a very good way to get back to normal. Now, we are in R&R mode this afternoon so that we are all ready for tonight - DW for her race, and DD and I to stay up late for the Villains party!

 

[myhappyplace]

Congratulations!!! Love that the Headless Horseman started the race!

 

[SarahBella82]

How fun that you and your DD ran the 5K together. I'm putting that on my must-do for, you know, when my daughter is older.

 

[brifraz]

How fun that you and your DD ran the 5K together. I'm putting that on my must-do for, you know, when my daughter is older.

It was great. She has been 'training' with me for the past few months. Generally we walk/run between 1 and 2 miles 2-3 times a week. Since my wife has been working up to the 10 miler, it has usually been just the two of us and made for a lot of daddy/daughter time.

 

[brifraz]

Day Two (part 1.5)

It's just about 5:30pm. We have all napped and eaten dinner. In just a couple hours we will be headed to Hollywood Studios. It seems very strange to us to have down time and Disney where we aren't really doing anything. In fact, I don't think we've ever spent this long in the room not during the overnight!

DW is continuing to hydrate. With humidity forecast to be well above 80% during tonight's race, she is expecting to need all the hydration she can get. DD and I are just trying to keep our activity low so that we have the energy to stay awake late. With DD having just done her first 5K, she is feeling a little low on energy. Hopefully the excitement of the DW starting the race and getting into a fairly empty Studios will fire her back up.

I expect that the next full update will be tomorrow some time, but hopefully I can get a picture or two posted tonight during the Villains party.

 

[brifraz]

Day Two (part 2)

At about 7pm we headed to the Studios for DW to get ready for the race. Of course, everybody knows that prior to a 10 mile run, you should have an hour or so of dance party??


After some dancing, pictures, and a quick snack, DW was off to Corral H and DD and I were off to the spectator section to watch the beginning of the race. You don't quite realize how many people 11,000 runners and their families and friends adds up to, but it is a pretty healthy crowd!


Once the race got going, DD and I were into Studios for the Villains Party while DW ran to Animal Kingdom, WWOS, and then back to Studios. Much like our race, her biggest complaint was the slow runners and walkers who take up the entire path with little courtesy for those wishing to go faster. Along the way, she did get to meet the evil queen from Snow White in her old woman disguise, Dr. Facilier, Queen of Hearts, grave diggers, and the ghosts from Haunted Mansion (she skipped on a few). I'll have to load those photos from her phone later!

Meanwhile, DD got to do some meet and greets as well.




And we rode both Tower of Terror and Toy Story Midway Mania with absolutely no wait - walked right on to both! That would change once the runners started to finish the race! We also got a couple snacks and took things at a very leisurely pace. At a little after midnight, we found a spot in front of One Man's Dream to cheer on DW - sadly, the picture of her running by didn't come out, but cheer we did. She ended up finishing around 12:45am and we met back up for a few minutes of down time before a little more Villain Partying!

First up was time to meet some of the characters who were out.




DW wasn't sure about Tower of Terror after running, so we did Toy Story Midway Mania. Now that a number of runners had finished, the line was about 20 minutes. Still not bad! DD was starting to get pretty tired by this point, but decided we needed to visit the other side of the park as MuppetVision is one of my all time favorites. I had to get a shot of one of the 'new' props in the pre-show.


Despite being pretty weary at this point (after 2am), we managed to rescue a Rebel spy from the Imperial Stormtroopers by leading them on a chase to Hoth and then Naboo. Luckily Admiral Ackbar helped us along the way. Or perhaps we just rode Star Tours.

It was a bit past 3am when we finally got back to the room and fell into our beds!

Today has gone quite against our plans (it always works that way), but has been very enjoyable. More on that later. The girls are already asleep for an afternoon nap before MNSSHP and I'd better get to sleep as well if I want to make it to midnight tonight!

 

[LizC]

Great report so far. I love the costumes your wife made!

Looking forward to the rest!

 

[brifraz]

OK, we're back home, but I still have 2 days to get you updated on, so....here we go!

Day 3 (Part 1)

Sunday was supposed to be lazy, relax around the room for the whole day until MNSSHP. So much for that plan. As always, I was up pretty early (can't sleep in....ever) and started my preparations for the Halloween party - there was some shaving and hair dye involved, but you'll have to wait for the pics. We were all up by 9am and by 10:30am DD was getting a little grumpy about not doing anything so off we went. To Animal Kingdom!

As soon as we got in to AK, I headed to pick up FPs for Everest while the girls headed to Finding Nemo: The Musical. This is only because as a solo walker, I can weave a lot more easily and thus can score the FPs and then get to the Nemo entrance just a minute or so after they do. FPs secured (for just an hour later) and into Nemo we went! This is our favorite show on site and one of our highlights every visit. There were (for us at least) some new actors as both Marlin and Nemo and since my wife used to teach drama and I teach chorus, we did a little critiquing. But, still a great show!


Once Nemo had finished it was already time for our FPs for Everest and one of my favorite places to take pictures at Disney - the lift hill. This is not one of my best and my wide angle shot from the top didn't turn out, but I still love that lift hill for pictures!


By the time we were back from the Himalayas, it was lunch time. Managed to get a table at Yak and Yeti in just about 10 minutes (who says there are no walk ups!). A great lunch and especially good service. So good that we made sure to fill out the comments card with gushing compliments. After lunch, we went to check out Primeval Whirl, one of DDs favorites. The wait time was 40 minutes! So much for the crowd calendar on some other website (listed Sunday as a 1.1 in Animal Kingdom). We hit a couple shops and then headed back out to get ourselves ready for the Halloween Party!

 

[brifraz]

Day 3 (Part 2)

As we were still a bit exhausted from the previous night, we had a quick hour nap before getting dressed in our costumes. Once we were up, DD and I both grabbed a quick bite to eat, we all got dressed and headed to the party. It was about 5pm when we arrive and our very first stop was picking up the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom cards that were unique to MNSSHP - if you are going, make sure to get them behind the Christmas shop, the line is easily 1/3 the length of the line at the fire station. Done. We then decided to hit a couple attractions that had little to no lines - It's a Small World and then Philharmagic. Both of those usually hit us with a good dose of the old school Disney charm. At 6:30pm, we got into line at Fairytale Hall so we could meet the Princes with their Princesses. While waiting for them to start entertaining guests at 7pm, we got a couple shots of ourselves in costume.




Once we were in, the first meeting was with Rapunzel and Flynn - the family in front of us was dressed as Rapunzel, Flynn, and Pascal - complete with their little daughter as Rapunzel carrying a toy frying pan.That was quite entertaining! Second meeting was with Snow White and her Prince. We decided to get a family shot with them.


After those meetings, we headed to Tomorrowland to do some Trick or Treating, for the girls to ride Space Mountain, and for DD to dance with some Monsters. She and Sulley got some quality time together.


After Trick or Treating, we were back in Storybook Circus and headed over to the Diamond Horseshoe to dance with Woody and Jessie (since we matched them pretty well). This dance party was much more of the circle of kids with the characters with the circle of parents with cameras around them, so I didn't get any 'great' pictures. Maybe after some editing, I'll share one....

We then headed to the path between Casey's and Crystal Palace to watch the Castle show and the fireworks. Both were most excellent. Sadly, I was without tripod, but I did manage some decent pictures of the show.


The fireworks were great. This was our first Halloween party and we were definitely impressed. Always love the perimeter fireworks. After the show, we headed back to ride Haunted Mansion - certainly a requirement at the Halloween party! Had a brief layover in the first room of the actual ride and in case you have ever wondered about the dark portraits on the wall...


Then it was back to Main Street to try to find a spot for the parade. Now...every trip report and web site description that we have read about MNSSHP advised going to the later parade because it is much less crowded. Well...it wasn't. It was pretty packed. In fact, DD was the only one that could fit along the street while DW and I sat behind. She loved the pre-parade dance party with Phineas and Ferb and we all really enjoyed the parade itself. The Headless Horseman was again impressive and it was very cool to see all the villains that don't usually get a lot of play.

After the parade, we headed back to Tomorrowland because there was one monster who had to be met. DDs favorite monster of all.


We then went back to Haunted Mansion to get the picture out front with the ghost horse. That will be one of the many that we are looking forward to getting from the Photopass! It was almost the end of the party, so we walked at our maximum speed to Big Thunder Mountain and finished our night with a walk-on and ride, no waiting. Then it was to the bus and back to our room. And I'm fairly certain we were all asleep within about 5 minutes!