Clear Skies, Full Bellies...Can't Lose! A September 2012 Trip Report

Well…since it’s now been 1 month since I’ve been in Disney and I have received my Disney Photopass – I don’t have any more excuses to not start this trip report. So…let’s get this show on the road.

For those of you who don’t know me…I’m Jess.

Here’s my stats:
Number of Trips – this is trip #8
Favorite Park – EPCOT
Favorite Ride – Spaceship Earth
Favorite Disney snack item – Mickeys Cookies n Cream Ice Cream Sandwich
Favorite Disney Character – Ursula the Sea Witch

And traveling with me is my fiancé, Bill.

His stats:
Number of Trips - this is his 6th
Favorite Park – Magic Kingdom
Favorite Ride – The Haunted Mansion
Favorite Disney snack item – Red velvet cream cheese cupcake from Starring Rolls
Favorite Disney Character – Winnie the Pooh

This is our 5th trip together – once a year since we started dating. And on our last trip in May 2011…THIS happened…

Well I guess it’s not really a surprise since I already called him my fiancé and wrote a whole trip report on it.Here’s the link if you want THAT whole story…

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...s-and-a-proposal-may-2011-trip-report.796403/

But to cut to the chase: He proposed at night by the fountain in front of Spaceship Earth.

I cried. It was absolutely perfect. And I’ve yet to read any other stories of people getting proposed to in front of SSE…which makes it even more magical. (And if you know of one – keep it to yourself. Hahaha!)

This trip was born not long after our trip in May. My fiancé is in med school and his school works with 11 months of rotations and 1 month off. Bill’s month off was September. So we decided to go then and too go for our longest trip ever (8 days!) and to bump up resort levels after staying at POP Century for 4 trips. So this trip we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter. We chose it for the intimate size of the resort, the fact that it had a sister resort we could utilize and neither of us had stayed there before. Spoiler alert – we absolutely fell in love with the resort ! But we also bumped up an extra day because - this will be OUR (notice – not MY) last trip until 2014. We have a wedding date set for October 12, 2013…and we are NOT doing a Disneymoon.

I know…we’re crazy. But we’ve been there together so many times already and plan to go so many times after the wedding that we wanted a honeymoon that is unique and special. Plus – my Disney trips are anything but relaxing. And I want a honeymoon that is basically – sleeping, drinking, eating, and…other stuff that I wouldn’t talk about on a family site but you get my drift. Pure relaxation. And at Disney – I’m sun up to sun down kinda girl. Plus I’m going with my mom and sister in March 2013 and probably for a few days in September before or after my WDWMAGIC GIRLS CRUISE! Check out all the info on this awesome cruise happening with some fantastic ladies of wdwmagic!

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...agic-girls-cruise.816925/page-46#post-5173681

Ok. Enough with the explanations and shameless plugs for girl cruises (which again is September 8th – 12th 2013…plenty of girls still looking for roomies!) Let’s get on with the show!!!

September 11th, 2012

Work all day – blah. But at night…my sister, mom and I were going to see Jersey Boys in Pittsburgh. Every year on my sister and my birthdays…we buy each other tickets to see whatever musicals are playing in Pittsburgh. This year nothing great fell ON my birthday (October 15th) but Jersey Boys was playing mid September and I had never seen it.

I loved the show and was totally worth the 12:30AM bedtime that followed the show.

September 12th, 2012

Boy…2:45 AM comes really quickly when you pour yourself into bed at 12:30. We were up and moving (albeit quite slowly) finishing packing and such. Bill’s friend from med school came to pick us up and take us to the airport. We were flying out of the Pittsburgh airport but flying into the Latrobe airport because Latrobe is about 15 minutes from our house. But they had no outbound flights on this day. ANYWAY…we fly through security – grab a bagel & pumpkin spice latte to split and we’re on the plane at 6:05 AM. Touchdown in Orlando at 8:10am. Then I saw this and squealed like a school girl…

WOO HOO WE’RE HERE. Well almost. We head through DME and we were on a bus at 8:45 ready to head to our home for the next 8 days…

 

[plaz10]

These were our seats in France. I thought it was so cute and had a small covering in case of rain.

Our snacks. (Which caused 3 separate trips into the bakery - first they straight up charged our room - then charged us 3 snacks until we could finally get the meal. We had so many counter services we'd never use...we really wanted to use one when we could. Talked to 2 different managers. Big mess. Oh well)

We were just about done eating when it started to POUR. Torrential downpour. Eventually we had to stand under the little awning...pressed up against the wall as to not get wet. So once it died down a bit - we donned our jackets and headed for the France gift shop/Impressions de France exit. We sat on the ramp by the exit of the ride for about...20 minutes. I snagged a Hidden Mickey book from the shelves to read and Bill played on his phone. It was dying a bit so we headed to Morocco - just to take some pics as we hadn't been there yet.

The Art of Henna! It's hard to read this sign here but it says that on your wedding day - the bride gets their hands painted in henna...and then they don't have to do any housework until all the henna fades. SIGN ME UP!

Strolling over to Japan now since we hadn't visited it much yet.

 

[plaz10]

It started raining more - so into WS biggest time waster...

I could waste so much time in here. In fact...I think that's exactly what we'll do!

One day I will buy these

The rain cleared a bit. We had ADRs at Le Cellier so we headed that way

Twas a dreary day in EPCOT

Exploring the United Kingdom

If you know why I took this picture...I love you. And no it's not for the tea. Laters, baby...

Old school Kit Kat wrappers

Onto our neighbors to the North!

The only hockey I may see all season...

 

[plaz10]

Time to check in at...

Our ADR was for 2:00. We were seated at 2:30.

Bread basket

My filet over cream cheese mashed potatoes

Bill's filet over risotto

(You can see he's patiently waiting to dig into his steak as I take the photo...)

Both filets were good - but not as amazing as in the past. We were kind of disappointed. Just not as good as we know Le Cellier can be. This one may not make the dining rotation next time. Eeeeek.

Desserts:

Bill got the Cheesecake (to go)

I got the Nanaimo bar

My dessert was actually pretty good. I was really looking forward to some bumbleberry cobbler as that is what Bill had last trip and it was amazing - but no such luck.

 

[ejsanta13]

It started raining more - so into WS biggest time waster...

I could waste so much time in here. In fact...I think that's exactly what we'll do!

One day I will buy these

The rain cleared a bit. We had ADRs at Le Cellier so we headed that way

Twas a dreary day in EPCOT

Exploring the United Kingdom

If you know why I took this picture...I love you. And no it's not for the tea. Laters, baby...

Old school Kit Kat wrappers

Onto our neighbors to the North!

The only hockey I may see all season...

wasn't that tea referenced in some book or something... I guess the "grey" day fit your theme here. hehehe..

 

[plaz10]

wasn't that tea referenced in some book or something... I guess the "grey" day fit your theme here. hehehe..

Exactly. Hahaha!

 

[Tiggerish]

OK, so I'm late to this party, I just started reading your TR today...I've tremendously enjoyed and admired your SSE pictures up to this point (there are more to come, I believe!) but I have just finished reading about the drunken visit to the Wedding Pavilion and had to comment. Hysterical. Can we hang out on the girls' cruise??

Back to reading...

 

[Tiggerish]

Love it!!!! Those Lapu Lapu's sure do sneak up on ya!!! They really pulled a fast one on me during one of our trips. I had two with dinner, finished eating, and headed to the monorail... got on, headed to... wait, wait we were staying at the POLYNESIAN!!!! LOL

OMG, this is priceless. I just burst out laughing (and I'm at work, so now everyone knows I'm goofing off).

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

If you know why I took this picture...I love you. And no it's not for the tea. Laters, baby...

I know what this is from!!! hehe... Matt Bomer for Christian Grey! I say we start a petition!!

 

[tehSAC]

If your ever in Cincinnati go to jungle Jim's. You can purchase the Pocky's there. I've seen them and bought them on numerous occasions.

Loving the report btw.

 

[plaz10]

OK, so I'm late to this party, I just started reading your TR today...I've tremendously enjoyed and admired your SSE pictures up to this point (there are more to come, I believe!) but I have just finished reading about the drunken visit to the Wedding Pavilion and had to comment. Hysterical. Can we hang out on the girls' cruise??

Back to reading...

Yay! So happy you're here! We will absolutely hang out on the girls cruise! I'm really excited for it - even though I've got a few days in Disney before that and so much other crap to deal with first (moving in June to...don't know yet!) but I asked for Cruise guides for Christmas so I can't wait for those! It's my first cruise so I gotta read up!

I know what this is from!!! hehe... Matt Bomer for Christian Grey! I say we start a petition!!

Matt Bomer. Be still my beating heart. I'm a total fan girl. My dream man is a straight Matt Bomer. Bill knows that my love for Matty B knows no bounds. He just likes to remind me "You know he likes dudes, right?" UGH - DON'T REMIND ME. When he's not cast as Christian Grey...I'll be really sad. Which is sad in itself.

If your ever in Cincinnati go to jungle Jim's. You can purchase the Pocky's there. I've seen them and bought them on numerous occasions.

Loving the report btw.

Thanks for reading! Yep I've gotten some Pocky at Wal Mart I believe before...and at Five Below they have a bunch of other Japanese candy like the Yan Yan sticks. I buy them sometimes when I'm in the Disney blues. But then when I'm at Disney - I don't buy them saying "Oh I can get these at home." I don't make sense.

 

[plaz10]

September 18th continued...

After our disappointing Le Cellier lunch we headed towards the front of the park and rode....(if you guessed anything other than SSE then you haven't been reading closely) Spaceship Earth. Then out of the park and back to the resort for a short nap/shower/change for the evening. Tonight was our FIRST EVER Not So Scary Halloween Party.

Immediately we stood in line for some photopass pictures. Our shirts are Disney halloween ones - mine is FrankenMickey and Minnie that says "Together Forever" and Bill's is just FrankenMickey. So that doesn't count as matching ones though, does it? Ok the jig is up - we're CHEESY AND WE KNOW IT!!!

We were kind of lost. The park wasn't closed to all guests yet because the party hadn't officially started. So we wandered a bit towards Tomorrowland.

We rode Space Mountain and the TTA. Then headed back towards Fantasyland.

Then the party started. There was no real announcement or anything at first but we did see characters coming and swarms of people behind them. So we got in line.

Bill was more excited to trick or treat than anything. So I told him we could on our way to the hub to find characters and wait for the Villains show to start. I had only 1 character I wanted to really meet as I'm not a wait a long time for characters person - but I wanted to meet Maleficent.

 

[plaz10]

We saw some OTHER VILLAINS out in the hub. Ok I was squealing. I love villains. This must be how other people react to seeing Cinderella.

First one to meet - Jafar

Then we saw Lotso and Gaston. Only time for 1. Easy decision. I've been dreaming just 1 dream nearly all my liiiiiiife

Poor Gaston. He was a hot mess. He was so sweaty in that costume. I felt bad for him.
You can see it more in this picture.

Yucky.

It was about time for the parade to start so we snagged some seats on Main St. Bill went to grab Casey's for us for dinner while I saved our seats.

 

[plaz10]

Overall - GREAT parade!! We really enjoyed it. And kept singing "Boo to YOU" all night. Quite catchy. Now time to wait in line for Maleficent before the Mix & Mingle even started.

Then it was time...

WOO HOO. Mission: Accomplished.

We did a little trick or treating - then found a good spot on Main Street for HalloWishes!

Very cool fireworks show. I enjoyed Ursulas role and the phrase "so nice of you to plop in." Because she's fat and a fat octopus would flop when it entered somewhere. Haha. Love it.

Moving on into some more serious trick or treating. Bill wanted to do every spot. And I said fine as long as we could do some rides along the way.

 

[plaz10]

We rode Winnie the Pooh, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. All were walk ons.

The party was winding down. About 10 more minutes until it officially closed. We headed towards the front of the park and into meet Mickey. While waiting in line - they closed the doors for others so the "party" had officially ended.

CASTAWAY CAY! I'll be seeing you SOON for the girls cruise in September 2013! Can't wait!

Afterwards...we swam upstream to the castle. We just sat there for a while. We were hoping for some kind of Ghostly announcement that the park was closed. No such luck. So Bill looked at me and said "When do you think we should leave?" Just then the movie version of "This is Halloween" came on. And I said "I think that's our sign" and we walked out. Bill actually filmed our whole walk out on his phone but it's like a 10 minute video. It was a very cool experience overall.

We didn't know it at the time...but this would be our last time in Magic Kingdom this trip. We had plans to go back the next day (our last day) but due to some rain and time constraints...we never made it back. But I think it was a very fitting departure. MK - I love you and I'll see you in March!

Back to the room to dump our loot and head to bed.

Up Next: Our last day

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

We went to our first MNSSHP this year too and we had a blast! I LOVED the parade! And yes, the tune is so catchy!! "Boo to you and you and you and you..." hehe You can thank me later for getting that stuck in your head now

 

[diddy_mouse]

Hooray for MNSSHP pics!! This is my all-time favorite event and I always love seeing the HM gravediggers in the parade. Glad to hear you guys had a great time and bravo on that candy haul!

 

[plaz10]

We went to our first MNSSHP this year too and we had a blast! I LOVED the parade! And yes, the tune is so catchy!! "Boo to you and you and you and you..." hehe You can thank me later for getting that stuck in your head now

ITS REALLY NOT SO SCARY!!! Hahaha yep it's very catchy. And no one at my office will know what I'm singing for the rest of the day...Thank Darolyn!

Hooray for MNSSHP pics!! This is my all-time favorite event and I always love seeing the HM gravediggers in the parade. Glad to hear you guys had a great time and bravo on that candy haul!

It's the only Disney event we've ever been to (besides Star Wars weekends - but not a ticketed event!) so we were so excited to experience something new. I really look forward to going to Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party sometime...but that won't be for a few years.

It was quite a haul. The best candy we got was the caramel apple Werthers Original candies. Yummy!
Thanks for reading!

 

[tiaragirl]

Had so much fun catching up on this!

Few things: When I read that about the KitKat "old school" wrappers I was like, what? Then I saw your treats and the wrappers are SO DIFFERENT?! We're still old school here! Hahaha.

Love your many Canada pictures! Best!

In the second to last "entering MK for MNSSHP" picture you are doing the Jess-ring-pose HARDCORE, I laughed.

I love that you guys wear matching shirts! Those I'll be your Mickey/Minnie ones are ALL over Pinterest. I think Andrew would murder me if I suggested them, ahahah.

Can't wait to read the end!

 

[plaz10]

Had so much fun catching up on this!

Few things: When I read that about the KitKat "old school" wrappers I was like, what? Then I saw your treats and the wrappers are SO DIFFERENT?! We're still old school here! Hahaha.

Love your many Canada pictures! Best!

In the second to last "entering MK for MNSSHP" picture you are doing the Jess-ring-pose HARDCORE, I laughed.

I love that you guys wear matching shirts! Those I'll be your Mickey/Minnie ones are ALL over Pinterest. I think Andrew would murder me if I suggested them, ahahah.

Can't wait to read the end!

Maybe they aren't "old school" because I really don't know what older kit kat wrappers look like...I was just assuming that they were old since I didn't recognize them and I'm an avid candy fan. Haha.

The ring pose...you can't help but do it when you're sporting your bling. And now it's a habit. You'll see....

We are total cheese balls but I don't care. I love it. My grandparents still coordinate their outfits to match and they are both 80 and have been married for 60 years. Love it!

 

[plaz10]

September 19th - Our Last Full Day.

Up early and get to EPCOT at a little after 8 (EMH).

We headed straight for the Land pavilion to get our last Soarin' rides in for the trip.

We rode once and then grabbed FPs. We headed over to Sum of All Thrills as we have NEVER done this before!

We walk in to see NOBODY around! SCORE....wait. It's down. LAME.

So we head over to do a few more things to finish our last time in EPCOT. Starting with Mission Space.

Had our own capsule again!

Even though we were both pulling double duty on our positions - we still made it to Mars. We're good like that.