Trip Report *COMPLETED* 6 Parks, F&W Fest, MNSSHP & One HUGEEE Surprise!!!

Hi everyone! We got back from our Disney vacation two days ago and I am still exhausted and unfortunately sick, but I wanted to jump right into the report because if I don’t do it now, it will never get done!

You can find my pre-trip report here, http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/first-trip-in-6-years-with-a-wdw-first-timer.915675/ but here is a quick recap:

Who: My boyfriend, Mark, and yours truly

What: 5-Day Park Hopper Tickets, Food & Wine Festival, One night at Mickey’s Not-So-Scary-Halloween Party, One day at Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure and one HUUUUGE surprise, but I’m not giving anything away just yet!! You’ll have to follow along J

When: September 26th-October 3rd

Where: POP Century

Why: Mark’s first trip to Disney, and my first time back since being an AP 6 years ago!

Now that we have the particulars out of the way, let’s dive on in!

 

[deanna88]

hmmm...what could the surprise be? Following along....

 

[Second Star to the Right]

SURPRISE?! Can i guess?? Hahaha definitely following along

hahah you can guess, but I won't say if it's right or wrong

 

[bebert]

Following along, POP Century is a great place to stay for the "value". Sorry you had bad start to your stay there.

 

[Second Star to the Right]

Last we left off, we were heading to Space Mountain for our first FastPass+ of the trip. I love this ride but I never enjoy waiting in line for it! I had to snag another picture of the castle on our way over as well as the adorable Halloween decorations on the lampposts. I love the Fall/Halloween decorations at MK!

I love his face in this picture

Mark liked it, but thought it could have been done better. It’s always been a favorite of mine, but I get his point that there could be more stars & planets showing while riding so it actually feels like you’re in space and not just in a big black hole.

We did a quick walk-through of the gift shop and were very happy to see LEGO sets for sale

By that point it was time to start heading back toward Fantasyland for our ADR at Be Our Guest!! I was so excited for this! My friend had eaten here earlier this year and she said it was a must-do. I had ready plenty of reviews that it's better for lunch than dinner, so that worked out perfectly for us.

On our way over we saw Gaston, but we couldn't get picture with him as he was heading back inside soon, but I grabbed this one on the way:

 

[Second Star to the Right]

hmmm...what could the surprise be? Following along....

Thanks for following along!

 

[Second Star to the Right]

Following along, POP Century is a great place to stay for the "value". Sorry you had bad start to your stay there.

Thank you for following along! It wasn't a huge deal, it was just a bit gross if it was in fact blood. I'm not easily grossed out by stuff like that either. I just didn't want Mark having a negative impression of the place since we would be there for 7 nights!

 

[Second Star to the Right]

Our ADR was for 11:35 and we arrived about 10 minutes early. We got in line and that took about 15 minutes to get through to order our food.

They had water waiting at the front of the line for people which was very nice, because it was a HOT day!

The ballroom:

 

[steviej]

what an awesome TR so far! Definitely following, I also can't wait to find out the surprise

 

[Trisha Lynn]

Following! Also:

He basically refuses to take a normal picture

That's pretty awesome. I can't get my hobbit to take any pictures at all. I'm lucky that we have engagement pictures, let alone wedding pictures.

We checked out Jungle Cruise but it was a 30-minute wait so we passed.

You are definitely more impatient than I. Back at Disneyland and back in the pre-Fast Pass days, a 30 min. wait was a godsend and pretty bearable.

 

[Second Star to the Right]

When we were ordering our food, I asked the CM if she had any recommendations on where to sit. She said the ballroom because it's a great view and makes you feel like you are in the movie. She also said the West Wing is cool to see, but it's dark in there and harder to see your food. However, after seeing the West Wing room we think she is nuts. That place is so cool! Who cares if you can see your food

We tried getting a seat in there, but we were out of luck as they were all taken. Oh well, the ballroom was still very pretty and the scenes of falling snow "outside" were very cool. I tried taking some pictures of that but they did not come out well.

It's so magical!

Now, onto the good stuff! The FOOD! I ordered the braised pork, and I thought it was very good. The meat was incredibly tender and was a very large portion. I was also pleasantly surprised when I realized the mashed potatoes were REAL potatoes and not imitation out of the box. The green beans were also excellent, nice and crisp. Mark ordered the roast beef sandwich and he said it was very good as well. Another large portion. We both ordered the Master's Cupcake, because...how can you not?! Mark actually loved the cupcake and he isn't usually into sweets or chocolate all that much so that surprised me. The cake was very moist and the frosting wasn't overly sweet for me, but man was I STUFFED after all of that!!

Inside look at his sammie...he was so good about letting me take pictures before he could actually eat. What a terrible girlfriend. Let the man eat!

I took pictures of the cupcake with and without the flash and neither one of them came out all that great, but here you go!

I don't think I stopped singing "Be Our Guest" for the rest of the day! I would definitely eat there again!

 

[Second Star to the Right]

what an awesome TR so far! Definitely following, I also can't wait to find out the surprise

Thank you! and thank you for following along!!

 

[steviej]

I would definitely eat there again!

Wasn't that lunch mindblowing!? I can't wait for lunch there again in March/April!

 

[Second Star to the Right]

Following! Also:



That's pretty awesome. I can't get my hobbit to take any pictures at all. I'm lucky that we have engagement pictures, let alone wedding pictures.



You are definitely more impatient than I. Back at Disneyland and back in the pre-Fast Pass days, a 30 min. wait was a godsend and pretty bearable.

hahah, it's like pulling teeth with him to get pictures.

I actually don't mind waiting 30+ minutes for a ride. I've waited 120 minutes for Rockin' Roller Coaster on many occasions. It's Mark that really never wants to wait more than 20 minutes. Plus, we figured it was still early enough that other rides might have less wait times, and we were right.

 

[Second Star to the Right]

Wasn't that lunch mindblowing!? I can't wait for lunch there again in March/April!

I was very impressed! I feel like I had read a lot of negative reviews prior to going, but it was definitely one of the best, if not the best, lunches we had while there! So jealous you get to go again so soon!

 

[Second Star to the Right]

We snapped some more pictures on our way out and decided if we get to eat there again we will wait for a spot in the West Wing.

NERD ALERT!!

After lunch we decided to stick around Fantasyland for a bit since there was still so much to see. Mark saw the wait time for it's a small world was only 15 minutes, so that would be up next! I'm fine with not doing this ride if we don't have time, but Mark felt it was a classic that had to be done...so we did!

What kind of sorcery is this?!?!

The really fun part of the ride was at the very end when the boats got backed up 6 deep and they kept bumping into one another *insert sarcasm here*. It's a miracle that song didn't get stuck in my head.

 

[steviej]

I was very impressed! I feel like I had read a lot of negative reviews prior to going, but it was definitely one of the best, if not the best, lunches we had while there! So jealous you get to go again so soon!

Anyone who doesn't think that's one of the best lunches in WDW is on drugs!

I went for the dinner, and it was just ok. But Be Our Guest is one of those places you go to in WDW for the atmosphere, not the food. The amazing food at lunch time is a bonus

 

[Trisha Lynn]

Call me odd, but the Disney boat bump on Pirates, small world, and Splash Mountain are actually my favorite thing about the boat dark rides. I get disappointed when there's no bumping.

 

[Second Star to the Right]

Next stop was a bathroom break over in the Tangled section. Just from reading previous Trip Reports I knew there were bathrooms there. I didn't have to use a map once when we were there lol!

The Tangled section is very cute, I just wish they could have done something more with it.

I had to explain to Mark why the frying pan was there...clearly I did not educate him enough prior to this trip!

 

[Second Star to the Right]

Next stop was the Haunted Mansion for what would be one of several rides on this attraction! The posted wait time was 20 minutes, in actuality it was probably closer to 10 minutes. BONUS!

After Haunted Mansion we started heading back toward Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for our 2nd FP+ of the day. On our way through the Tangled Section Mark and I saw a man speaking with his son about how he can't just go running off without his parents knowing, and how dangerous that could be. Definitely good advice, but then I noticed Mark was staying behind. He turned to me and said, "Hold on a sec, I know that guy!" Turns out, it was one of his friends from his former job in Pennsylvania! It really IS a small world!

We stopped to chat and it was really nice running into the family since Mark used to work with both of the parents and hadn't seen them in several months. We didn't even know they were in Disney that week, so that was extra fun! We ended up passing them again later in the day at Tomorrowland, but that was it for the trip.

 

[steviej]

I feel like I run into someone every trip I go to at WDW. 2 years ago, the sister of a friend of mine from elementary school recognized me. (kudos to her, cause she only had facebook pics to go from since I didn't have the goatee in 2nd grade)

The trip after that, I ran into my old assistant principal/disciplinarian from high school (spent a lot of time in his office back in the day)

THEN, the trip after that, my sister who I haven't spoken to in 15 years came over to say hello (awkward to say the least)