Trip Report COMPLETED: "What is Mickey hiding from anyway?" ACE GANG REUNION

Hello, all! I'm Abby.

Welcome to what is sure to be a long TR!!

I’ve finally returned to the real world after a fantastic reunion with my very best friends from college. I live in Florida these days and I have a pass but I haven’t done more than 3 consecutive days at Disney since I went with my family in 2008. So, for that reason and for the fact that I would get to spend plenty of time with the best besties ever, I was incredibly excited for this trip.​

Here we are! I'm on the left then there's Kelsey, Cassie, Megan, and Val. We call ourselves the Ace Gang.

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We had all been talking about this trip since we graduated, and the hotel was booked a year out. Val and I did most of the planning. She’s from California and always seems to be at Disneyland. I’ve visited her 3 times there and it was finally time for her to come over to this side of the country. Since we were the planners (and we got the separate bedroom in our Finding Nemo suite), the rest of the girls took to calling us Mom and Dad. I was Dad since I did the driving and paid for a bunch of things so I could use my Tables in Wonderland card and everyone else could just pay me back later. We really cracked ourselves up throughout the trip, getting carried away with our inside joke and constantly trying to decide who was our favorite daughter.

We stayed at Art of Animation for 7 nights. Val and I had some extra time, and we did extra days at Disney and elsewhere in Florida. I didn’t take all too many photos on this trip. So I’ll include a bunch of photos I stole from Val, as it is probably more interesting to see WDW through the eyes of a first-timer anyway. Also, a number of these will be Memory Maker photos (We split the cost of this 5 ways and definitely got our money’s worth).​

Wednesday, October 15.
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I left work about 3pm and drove down to Orlando. Waited in the MCO cell phone lot and then it was time to go grab Val!! We headed immediately to Magic Kingdom upon her arrival by way of TTC and a pretty crowded monorail and soon enough we were entering the park.

Here we gooo!
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Val was worried that her magic band wasn’t going to work but everything went completely smoothly. We were in! We left today and headed into the lands of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy. Tears were shed as Val took it all in.
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Huzzah! More adventures to come...

 

[abzoo]

We reunited with Kelsey and took some photopass pics on the way to Africa. She wasn't up for much but luckily FotLK is relaxing enough (and awesome)! Here's a cheesy roaring photo for ya.

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Val went to get a slushy beverage from one of the carts and Megan and Cassie got frozen chocolate-covered bananas. yum.

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Then we finally made it to the Harambe theater. We waited in the standby line for a few minutes before we were able to enter the theater and we ended up sitting in the FP area anyway and were directed to sit in a handicap row. Here are some pictures from the show. It was great, as always. However, the singers didn't blow me away as much as the group I saw when I was there in August. Hakuna Matata.

 

[abzoo]

We walked past the character greet location and found out that Daisy was meeting. She's one of Val's favorites so we got in the very short line.

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Next, we had a FP+ for Dinosaur. Kelsey sat this one out. .​

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We stopped to take some pics with the dinos afterward. When I was going through Val's photos after our trip, I came across this one of Megan trying to feed him one of our sweet potato chips. I was unaware of this one being taken and it's hilarious. DON'T FEED THE DINOS!

I was feeling pretty exhausted.

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And finally we headed out of Animal Kingdom. The photographer had us do this goofy sassy pose. It's funny that Megan's just there in the middle by herself.

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And finally we made it to the bus stop around 5pm, which was definitely later than we had intended to leave AK.

 

[Tiggerish]

LOVE the sassy pose. And the chip-feeding.

 

[abzoo]

SO we headed back to the hotel and rested for a bit. I'm pretty sure that I took a nap so let's say that's what I did. Then I showered and got ready to head back out. Destination: Magic Kingdom.

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We didn't really do anything other than head to our 9:05 ADR and check in at Be Our Guest. This was a difficult ADR for us to score. All the reservations for 5 were gone even 180 days out but I kept checking and soon enough I was able to get this one. The time was a little late but we were excited to get it. Kelsey and I ate there together last September but it was a first for everyone else.

pretty napkins!
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We had a great waiter, Will, who told us about Mrs. Potts running the kitchen and played it up for our group. Val and Megan ordered the Enchanté Rosé wine.

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We gobbled up the rolls when they were brought out. They're no pretzel bread but they were warm and delicious. Cassie and I split the chicken and I got a garden salad too, which was good. Here are some other food pics. Val got the steak, which she liked (although not as much as her dinner the previous night at Le Cellier). Megan got pork. Kelsey got the ratatouille and quinoa but unfortunately was still unable to keep down food at that point. No good. Val got a cupcake to take back with her but the rest of us passed on dessert.
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too many olives for us ​

 

[abzoo]

The restaurant was really clearing out as we ate but we weren't rushed at all. We were a little worried that the Beast was going to be leaving for the night before we had a chance to meet him but that wasn't the case. And since there was hardly anyone else around, we got a great interaction with the Master.

I'm just gonna throw this picture out here first. It was one of our Memory Maker pics that Val edited and put a "special occasion" frame on. When I saw it online, I could not stop laughing. ​

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Megan totally loves the beast. She, Cassie, and I are all huge fans of Beauty and the Beast (each of us wore a BatB shirt to dinner that night) but Megan is probably the only one who would tell Belle to back off so she could have Beast all to herself. Seriously though, this engagement photo is the best.

So when we went to get pics with the Master, I called out that Megan wanted to dance with the Beast so he danced with her. It was adorable. Sorry this post is mainly pics of us with our fave Beastie.​

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Then it was time to leave the castle and head out. But not before getting some more photos.

I'm trying to help this poor guy support the ceiling but Cassie is just posin' haha.

Rocking the Beauty and the Beast shirts!

staring contest.
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We decided not to stick around MK but to head out instead. However, as we were walking by Casey's, Val found a woman whose rental motorized scooter had stopped working and stopped to try to help her. I was getting frustrated because we needed to get Kelsey back to the hotel and if we didn't keep walking really soon, we were about to get stuck by the 11:00 MSEP. So finally, Kelsey, Megan, and I went to leave the park and when we got to the A of A bus stop we were greeted with a super long line. We ended up being cut off from the next bus that came but were the first ones to board when a new one arrived. Just as our bus was almost full, we saw Cassie and Val walking up. They made it on, since the line was much shorter than it was before, but they had to stand.

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When we got back to the room, we opened some wine and watched the latest episode of Once Upon a Time. Kelsey made up her mind that she needed to go to a clinic right offsite in hopes that she would finally get better. Since I had to drive her, this would throw plans off for the next morning (Val and I were planning to go see the Welcome Show at MK) but it ended up worth it to see Kelsey finally feeling better !​

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So that's a wrap on Day 3. Up next is Chef Mickey's and MNSSHP (with pictures galore-- our costumes were awesome)!!

 

[mrdrift]

Sounds like the Girls are having a wonderful time all except Kelsey. Sorry to hear that she still isn't felling well on this trip. Glad to see that you finally got Kelsey to a doctor were they can give some real medicine and she is starting to feel better. All the pictures are turning out great. Following along.

 

[abzoo]

Tuesday, October 21.​

Val and I had been planning to go to the welcome show at MK this morning and give everyone else a chance to sleep in a little before our breakfast ADR. However, as I mentioned, Kelsey asked me the night before if I could take her to a clinic since it was becoming pretty problematic that she couldn’t keep down food (sickness had no place in our Halloween party plans). So we went to the clinic right off WDW property as soon as it opened at 8 and Kelsey got her anti-nausea meds soon enough and was able to eat a bit at breakfast! It really did make her feel better right away! Huzzah!

We drove back to the room and picked everyone up so we could head to the Contemporary for Chef Mickey’s @ 10:45. We were seated 20 minutes or so after our reservation time which was annoying because we were hungry!! We were the cool twenty-somethings participating in the napkin dance.

Look! Kelsey eating food without any issues! Finally!
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It was pretty yummy! We ate a lot. The characters didn't make it to our table until well into our meal but we met the whole gang.

 

[abzoo]

And of course, we had to meet the chef himself!

Next, we headed to Downtown Disney because there were a few in our group who wanted to do some shopping. Driving is a nightmare over there right now with the construction. Also, it really was not the best idea to go to DtD because I underestimated how much time we would need to get ready.

Val bought a Dooney wallet at the Co-op store. We stopped into Ghirardelli for some free samples, and we ended up rushing out of World of Disney after spending too much time browsing when we noticed the time. Had to get to the car and drive back home.

A seriously unreasonable amount of hair. We used 2 curling irons at a time.​

We had wanted to try to get to MK at 4 but arrived almost 2 hours after that. What took the longest was Cassie’s hair. No exaggeration, that girl has at least 7 times as much hair as any normal person. It was a team effort to curl every strand. I ended up having to rush to get my own hair and makeup done. BUT we still looked awesome!

Any guesses as to who we will be?​

 

[abzoo]

Alright, just a quick update. I'm actually in the Orlando airport right now about to fly to St. Louis for Thanksgiving. I was so tempted to drive down yesterday and stay overnight so I could go to WDW last night but the weather was so stormy and blah (it was still awful this morning on my drive here but oh well). So I'm spotting all the lucky people here heading off to Disney!

Okay, so costumes...

Pascal going for a ride.

And we're in! We got our party wristbands and then got this picture taken before heading down Main Street.

Okay my flight is starting to board. Happy Thanksgiving! See you later, Florida!

 

[FlaggNL]

Happy thanksgiving!! And great costumes

 

[Longers]

Loving your girls trip. Just for the record Megan can't have the beast he is mine! He has tried to run off with me on more than one occasion, so he isn't available but she can have him in her dreams lol. Loving all your pictures.
Jealous that you can just hit WDW whenever you like.
Hope you had s good thanksgiving.
Looking forward to more.

 

[mrdrift]

Chief Mickeys looks like a good time, meeting the fantastic 5. Great costumes for the party. Following along.

 

[abzoo]

Happy thanksgiving!! And great costumes

Thank you!! More coming soon!

Loving your girls trip. Just for the record Megan can't have the beast he is mine! He has tried to run off with me on more than one occasion, so he isn't available but she can have him in her dreams lol. Loving all your pictures.
Jealous that you can just hit WDW whenever you like.
Hope you had s good thanksgiving.
Looking forward to more.

Living close-ish to WDW is dangerous. I'm always tempted to go but it takes almost 2 hours to drive there (I wish I were even closer)!

I'll tell Megan that she should back off since Beast is taken! hahaha! Thanks for following-- I'll make a few posts tonight of MNSSHP fun!

Chief Mickeys looks like a good time, meeting the fantastic 5. Great costumes for the party. Following along.

Thanks! Chef Mickey's was perfect for a Halloween Party night. The girls in my group without passes didn't have to use a park ticket but we were still able to have a great time meeting characters!

 

[abzoo]

MNSSHP, here we come!

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First thing we did was pick up the special Sorcerers card for the party. We played a few portals in Adventureland while we waited for people to clear out of MK. We took a bunch of photos and then we went over to Merida’s meet and greet. Cassie got a very excited welcome from her “twin,” as Merida shouted when we approached. It was a great interaction! She hugged Cassie and the next thing she said was “Look at those CURLS!” She was impressed.

Merida was excited to see the rest of our costumes too!

Merida and Merida got lots of pics together, we took group photos, and then I said that we wanted Cassie out of the picture so we could see if anyone noticed her absence in the group shot. She thought it was a strange request but I crack myself up. Look, you can’t even tell the difference!!

 

[abzoo]

Then we went to continue our mission for (almost) everyone to get a picture of something related to their costume. Kelsey’s pictures were obviously very easy so she got a bunch with her castle in the background. Fun fact: part of Kelsey’s costume is from the Cinderella costume that I wore when I was 4 years old (That costume is still going strong, 20 years later haha). The skirt poofy part was something that detached from the little dress itself and can just be tied in the back. Kelsey just had to get a blue dress-- she found one in a perfect shade and one of her seamstressy friends added little poofs on her shoulders.

Next, we went over to Belle’s village to get some pics of Megan.

And we went to the Tangled rest area to get some pictures of Val.

I was the odd woman out. Not a princess, not a popular character but oh well! I got a bunch of compliments anyway. I just wish that they would have had any characters from Hercules out for meeting

 

[abzoo]

Next, we decided to check out Club Villain in the Diamond Horseshoe. It was pretty fun. Cruella, the Tremaines, and General Ratcliffe were out on the dancefloor. We showed off our dance moves. Kelsey got some pictures with her step-relatives.

Two girls dressed as Anastasia and Drizella joined the stepsisters on the dancefloor when the DJ started playing "Single Ladies."

And I danced with Gen. Ratcliffe.

Okay I lied, this was the one Hercules-related thing that I got a picture with. The murals in the Diamond Horseshoe were really cool.

We hunted down the PhotoPass photographer before we left

 

[abzoo]

Phew, all caught up! Great costumes!!!!!!!!! Love Meg!

Poor Kelsey, glad she got to feeling better though.

Thanks for reading!! I'm not quite at the halfway point yet so lots more to come!

And we're all so glad that Kelsey recovered. It would have been awful if she wasn't feeling well at MNSSHP!

 

[abzoo]

After Club Villian, it was just about time for the first parade. And we were a little hungry too. Most of us wanted to stop into Pecos Bill's but Val decided that she wanted to go to Casey’s instead. We decided to meet back in Frontierland to watch the parade-- we found a good spot. I got chili in Pecos Bill's and it was just what I was hungry for. I asked for a cup of water and the CM working there just started handing little bottles of water to everyone around… alright then. It turned out that Val got stuck when she was trying to get back to us since she brought her tray of food from Casey’s and couldn’t maneuver around the crowds very well and there was a huge impassible crowd in front of the Diamond Horseshoe. She said she was just going to stay put and watch the parade from there. I tried looking for her to no avail.

The Boo to You parade was awesome! Wish I had gotten some better pictures!

The whole Haunted Mansion sequence, from the caretaker with his dog to the hitchhiking ghosts, was my favorite. The dancers and their costumes are perfect!

Glad I'm posting all these Halloween pics now that it's so close to Christmastime...

 

[abzoo]

Seeing Pain and Panic on a float only made me even more sad that I couldn't get any Hercules-related meet and greets while dressed as Megara. Booooo

 

[DisneyFreakEst1994]

Oh my gosh, your costumes were amazing!!! I'm pretty sure I saw you guys that night. I appreciate great costumes and notice them when at the parties haha. Loving the TR!