Cue the magic, Mickey bars, Ferrari and rain - we've got a 5th Anniversary trip report!

Every trip I return with the full intention to do a trip report, and often I get sidetracked. However, this one is happening!

First, here we are, DH - Rich (31) and myself, Jessica (28)

Disclaimer: This was taken very early in the morning, forgive the tired eyes, we were heading to the WDW Speedway for Rich's drive experience which we needed to be at for 7:30 am.

We don't always look like zombies. However, sometimes we can be a little, hmmm, what's the word - stone-faced?

We of course decided that our 5th anniversary must be celebrated at our happy place. Originally the trip started as a birthday gift for my husband. The gift wasn't the trip itself, but that I booked him to drive the Ferrari 458 Italia at the Exotic Driving Experience at Walt Disney World Speedway. At our Kingdom Konsultant Agent Education Program back in January, us lucky agents were able to do thrill rides in the exotic cars. Meanwhile, my husband was back home in cold Massachusetts, working and tending to the house and dogs. To say he was jealous was an understatement. So, naturally, feeling so horribly bad for him, I booked him a driving experience for his birthday. (It had nothing to do with the fact that if we were going to travel all the way to Florida for him to drive a Ferrari it would make sense to just make a trip out of it - nothing at all)

Once he found out about his drive experience, we decided to make it a week-long stay celebrating our 5th anniversary (my plan worked). We stayed from September 14 - 21, at Pop Century. On the 16th, my father and stepmother would be arriving at Caribbean Beach Resort (they live in North Carolina) and would meet up with us throughout the day. This was also my first trip with my new SLR and I came back with nearly 4000 pictures (I won't post all of them, I promise) so that was a celebration within itself. So now that we've gotten the introduction out of the way let's move on. Everybody neat and pretty? Then on with the show!

 

[Disney_Belle]

My father and Jen showed up around 4:30. They had arrived earlier in the day from NC. Once we said our hellos, I checked in for Ohana and we were called in at about 5:05.

It was delicious, and not much was left spared...

And then this divine thing happened:

After our scrumptious dinner, we hopped the monorail to MK for EMH that evening. We hit the Laugh Floor once more, then Space Ranger Spin and PotC. We made our way over to Storybook Circus and at this point my father and Jen were tired from traveling, so they headed back to their resort. We left a while later. Most of the evening was spent walking around, enjoying the MK atmosphere.

I love balloon pictures. I'm actually borderline obsessed, so I'll just post a couple...

Some night pictures:

 

[myhappyplace]

We headed over to the Magic Kingdom around 10:00 am. Here is the train station, looking lovely in fall hues:

Gorgeous picture!!

One of my favorite spots in all of WDW:

Mine too!

 

[harveyt0206]

Your photos are absolutely gorgeous. We were at WDW over the same time you and your hubby were. I've been trying to decide whether to do a trip report, but after seeing your gorgeous pictures, I might just enjoy reliving my trip through your photo lens. Following along!

 

[Disney_Belle]

Thank you Amber and harveyt!!! I'm glad you like the pictures. I love taking them. I came back with nearly 4000 lol.

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

There isn't a prettier place in the world than MK and Epcot!!!! And Ohana, OMG Ohana.... be still my Poly heart!!!!!

 

[Disney_Belle]

Day 4: September 17th

We headed back to Epcot this day. My father and Jen love Epcot a lot, so we figured a full day there for their first full day would be a good idea. We were up and to Epcot around 9:30. They didn't show up until a bit later than us. We went through Innoventions, another trip through MouseGear (there are never too many trips through MG) and The Art of Disney. We also hopped on SSE while waiting. They showed up around 11:00. We walked over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends and the wait was 35 minutes. Yes - 35 minutes! Rich and I had already been on once that trip, so we left it up to them if they wanted to wait or not, they said no and wanted to go to Living with the Land. We made our way over, and the wait time for LwtL was at 40 minutes. So we tried the same strategy as before - lunch at Sunshine Seasons and see if the wait goes down. And it did. Again, Rich and I ordered the turkey and monterey jack on ciabatta, but this time opted for a side of noodles rather than the potato salad. It was good! When we finished lunch up, the wait time was down to 20 minutes. So we took another ride through LwtL. No one was interested in Soarin' or Soarin' FP (boo), so alas, Soarin' would have to wait until the next trip. We left The Land, and asked them what they wanted to do. They were eager to get to World Showcase, so that's where we went to. Rich and I are pretty easy going when it comes to WDW as we go once or twice a year (I go about 4 times per year lol). We're okay to skip out on some rides, especially when traveling with people who don't get to visit as often as we do.

Normally we start WS off in Mexico, but this time we started in Canada

On to the UK:

While in the UK, Jen & I got our pictures with Pooh and Tigger. However, Rich couldn't figure out how to get my camera to take a picture and that picture is on Jen's PP card. Oops.

Well hello Mary!

Next stop was France. We watched Impressions and made our way through the stores. My stepmother loves shopping in WS, so that's pretty much what the day consisted of, which was fine by me. I love taking our time through WS.

Morocco:

 

[Disney_Belle]

Japan!

Italy!

.

 

[Disney_Belle]

Next up, Germany! Love Germany!

Not much exciting happened here. Besides this...


Curse you girl with the blue hammer!

Oh, and Rich and my father got some beers. I guess that could be exciting for people who really like beer. I'm not one of them.

Waiting for her prince, perhaps?

Another visit to China. This time I was able to take pictures outside without fear of my camera melting from the rain.

 

[Disney_Belle]

Mexico again, with another stop at La Cava. Rich got the coffee margarita and Jen got the pineapple. I opted out. Though I wish I'd gotten the coffee marg. I thought I'd get one before the trip was over, and never did.

And while we're in Mexico I've got a shameless plug! I've started a World Showcase Spotlight series for the Kingdom Konsultant Blog. Each month I'll be featuring a different country (in order by location). Today's post was on Mexico! Check it out (and while you're there, subscribe!): http://www.kingdomkonsultantblog.com/2012/09/world-showcase-spotlight-mexico.html

Okay, back to the TR:

After our World Showcase tour (which actually lasted around 5 1/2 hours) we hopped the monorail to T&TC then to the Contemporary for dinner at Chef Mickey's (which I really slacked off and didn't take pictures).

Here's one:

After dinner Rich and I decided to call it a night. For some reason, we were both really beat, so we headed back to Pop and grabbed a Mickey Bar and relaxed for the night.

I'm going to try and finish this TR tomorrow, but I make no promises!

 

[Disney_Belle]

Day 6: September 18th

Jambo! Today was our Animal Kingdom Day. I was really looking forward to it. On my last trip (solo trip) in May, I didn't get to AK (I was only there for 3 1/2 days). I was looking forward to bringing my camera in and taking some pictures on the trails and treks, and of course Kilimanjaro. However, Mother Nature had other plans for us.

Rich and I arrived earlier than the other two. We looked at some animals in the Oasis, small chatted with some CMs and took some photos.

My father and Jen showed up about 30 minutes after us. We headed toward Discovery Island.
Let me stop here for a second - I was on a mission. My mission was to meet Dug. We don't always stop to get character photos, but this was a must. Dug reminds me of my parents' dog, Kenzie (who happens to be my dog's brother/littermate). We adopted them in 2009. They are shepherd/retriever/collie mixes. And because they're super cute, here they are:

Kenzie (aka Dug)

And just because I mentioned him, here's my boy, Blitzen:

Now that I derailed the TR train into the land of bragging about my dogs, we're back on track. So I was on a mission to meet Dug, which I did. I'll upload the PP picture later. It came out cute After hanging out with Dug and Russell, we were right by the entrance to It's Tough to Be a Bug, and we went in and became honorary bugs. I was so happy to see Hopper again! No more strange voice from the sky. When we had gotten outside, the sky was getting darker and darker.

We did some shopping (as I mentioned, Jen loves to shop lol). Jen stopped for a cigarette break by the location near Pizzafari. About 2 minutes later we started feeling drops of water, and then it started to pour. We ran into Pizzafari. It was about 11:30, so we decided in an effort to stay dry, we'd have an early lunch. We love Pizzafari, and always have a great meal. Rich had a sandwich and I had the veggie pizza.

After lunch it was a very light rain. I checked the radar on my phone and it looked like there was a good amount of rain heading our way. We headed to Kilimanjaro Safari which had a 30 minute wait. I came up with the genius idea that at least the entire queue was covered, so we could avoid the rain for a bit. When we got to the loading dock (which was quickly, the wait ended up being about 15 minutes), it was still fairly dry. I wanted to be last to load in the car so that I could be on the edge to take photos. Two mistakes here: 1 -I should have loaded first, because all of the animals were hanging out on the left side of the vehicle. 2 - Kilimanjaro was about to be hit with a hurricane. (Not a real one, but it felt like it).

We started driving and the rain came down, and hard. We were remaining fairly dry, however it made it pretty impossible to get good pictures because the rain was heavy and big. We approached the rhinos and one of them was running in circles having a blast. Our guide told us that the animals love when it rains.

Horrible rain interrupted photos:

Running rhino!

Crazy amounts of rain!

Reminds me of the Lion King scene in Mickey's Philharmagic:

At this point we were in the open savanna and the winds had picked up. We made a turn to head toward the elephants and then it happened. The wind picked up and turned the falling rain into sideways rain. It was cold and painful. I turned my back against the outside of the truck in an effort to keep my camera safe and try to get it into the bag. Just as I was going to put it in the bag, we rounded the corner and the elephants were playing in the pool. In all my KS journeys, I hadn't seen this yet. It actually brought a hint of tear to my eye, and I have no idea why. It was just amazing and it made every soaking, cold, painful moment worth it. The pictures aren't great because I was on the opposite side of the truck and trying to snap around other people trying to snap, but still, it was awesome.

Right after this we the winds were picking up again. And they were whipping the rain right into the truck. People were standing up, sitting on each other's laps, trying to get to the middle of the seats to stay dry. The cheetahs were no where to be found. The lions were hiding. Obviously because cats don't like water. We were very slowly approaching the ride exit. We couldn't get to the unload dock because when people were getting off, they were just sitting under the covered shelter and the CMs couldn't get them out of the way. Once we got closer to the unload area, we had trees and rocks on either side of the truck, so that helped keep us from being pummeled with sideways rain. At this point, aside from my left leg, every inch of me was soaked. Thoroughly and utterly soaked. We finally unloaded and headed toward the exit, when we got stuck standing in the rain because there was another crowd at a standstill under a covered area exiting back toward Harambe. No one was moving, so it was really like an NFL training camp pushing our way through, but we made it. It was still raining pretty heavy, and we headed into the first store we saw by the fruit market, along with everyone else. I had a poncho back in our room, but didn't bring it that day. So my father bought Jen and myself each one. I mainly wanted it to keep everything in my backpack from being soaked. I had everything in my bag secured in ziplock and waterproof bags, but I still wanted to keep my bag itself dry (as dry as I could, seeing I was soaked and would be wearing it). And, I needed heat. It was so cold, especially knowing that every bus, store or attraction was going to have a/c blaring, so the greenhouse effect the ponchos have was welcomed. I put the backpack on and the poncho over myself and I was happy and warm. Wet, but warm.

 

[WDW_Princess24]

Yaaay so excited your finally posting a TR! I totally feel your excitement about the new castle walls and anything fantasyland related, having watched it being built since 2009 makes the anticipation so much greater! I cannot wait to get into AoA either, the burgers look so yummy! What is the new camera you are using; you got some beautiful shots, especially in Epcot! I’m so glad Rich loved the driving experience, I know it’s something Ryan wants to do, it would be a nice present one day haha.

Your pics of Poly are gorgeous! I love it there. We went to ‘Ohana for the first time on our last trip and it has become one of my absolute favorites. I love the safari pics in the rain, I want those giraffes!

 

[Disney_Belle]

After the crazy storm, the winds calmed and the rain lightened up a lot. We walked over to E:E, which no one at that point felt like riding. Soggy shoes and clothes really can put a damper in one's day.

 

[Disney_Belle]

Yaaay so excited your finally posting a TR! I totally feel your excitement about the new castle walls and anything fantasyland related, having watched it being built since 2009 makes the anticipation so much greater! I cannot wait to get into AoA either, the burgers look so yummy! What is the new camera you are using; you got some beautiful shots, especially in Epcot! I’m so glad Rich loved the driving experience, I know it’s something Ryan wants to do, it would be a nice present one day haha.

Your pics of Poly are gorgeous! I love it there. We went to ‘Ohana for the first time on our last trip and it has become one of my absolute favorites. I love the safari pics in the rain, I want those giraffes!

Thank you Nicole! Stay tuned for a castle wall picture I'll be posting it soon

We love Poly too! And 'Ohana has become one of our favorites. Absolutely delicious!

I have the Canon T3i (600D). I love it. For now it does the trick, but in a couple of years I'll probably upgrade to something else, but I do love it so much.

 

[Disney_Belle]

We soon realized that we weren't going to do anything else at AK. We all really just wanted to head back and change into some dry clothes. We stopped in the Island Mercantile on the way out and made our way back to our resorts. We had ADRs at Cape May Cafe the evening, followed by Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. So we headed back to Pop, dried off, changed and got ready for dinner. It was still rainy out, not nearly as bad as earlier, but it was rainy. We took a bus to Downtown Disney and took a bus to Beach Club. Had it not been raining, we would've just taken the bus to Epcot and walked to Beach Club. But with Mother Nature's trickery, we didn't want to take a chance.

Dinner was good. I don't eat seafood, so I didn't enjoy it as much as the others did, but it was good. The boston creme desserts were delicious! As were the strawberry shortcake ones. After dinner, we hopped on a bus to MK to head to MNSSHP. My favorite party! I was afraid the weather wasn't going to hold out, but it did, thankfully! We watched the first Boo to You Parade. It's my most favorite parade of all and normally we see the second one, but where it was still dry during the first one, I didn't want to chance it! We grabbed some seats in Frontierland (we love watching from FL, where the parade kicks off). The Headless Horseman came cantering down the road, which was awesome. Last year he was in a brisk walk, which, while still cool to see, cantering down the road really gives it an extra cool feeling.

I didn't take as many pictures as I'd expected myself to, but it was because I really just wanted to enjoy the parade.

Waiting for the parade and tinkering with the settings on my camera:

So many pirates! Arrrrgh!

My favorite sequence in the parade: The Haunted Mansion. I really didn't take many during this, I love it too much and I didn't want to be too concerned with getting the perfect shots.

 

[Disney_Belle]

After the parade, we cut into Adventureland. We did some trick or treating (well, the older two did more than us lol). Then we decided to make our way to Main Street for Happy HalloWishes. Love it. I didn't have a tripod with me, and I had some pretty tall guys in front of me, so my fireworks pictures, well, take them with a grain of salt.

 

[Disney_Belle]

 

[Disney_Belle]

After HalloWishes, we hung out in the hub to let the crowds disperse (this was the busiest MNSSHP I'd been to to date). After they thinned out a bit, we did our must do at every MNSSHP- Haunted Mansion (it's the unwritten rule)!

We headed in to Fantasyland next. No one wanted to ride IASW with me, they just wanted to trick or treat by Peter Pan's Flight, so I took pictures.

New castle wall!!!

 

[Disney_Belle]

We saw that the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh had no line, so we took advantage. It's one of DH's favorites.

After visiting the 100 Acre Wood, we went through Tomorrowland, did some shopping, and made our way back out to Main Street. It was getting to be about 11:00 and we wanted to get out before everyone else had the same idea. First though, I needed some pictures of Main Street looking so awesome for MNSSHP.

 

[lebeau]

Wow. Great pics. Thanks for sharing!

 

[myhappyplace]

Reminds me of the Lion King scene in Mickey's Philharmagic:

I love it!! AK seems to be where I always am when it rains, too!