Trip Report Disney Zombies: Must Eat Cronuts – An October Trip Report

I suppose I should explain the title of this report before we get into it. My cousin, Pat, began the trip by saying we were “Disney Zombies” and it just kind of stuck throughout the trip. It was true that we did have some similarities to zombies. On this trip there were 8 of us so we moved in a herd. Like zombies, we also had very simple goals; we must visit attractions, eat food and have fun. The similarity to zombies ends there, I promise. Towards the end of the trip we began saying in our best zombie voice, “Must eat cronuts. Must eat churros.” It makes me chuckle so I thought it would be a good title for this October (not so scary) trip report.

The Details

Who: Me (Ashley) and my husband (Wes)

My cousin (Kevin) and his wife (Allyson). They were also with us on our November 2012 trip and were joining us again.

My cousin (Pat), his wife (Kim)

and their daughters, (Emily age 11 and Rylee age 6).

When: Monday October 13th – Saturday October 18th

Where: Disney’s Pop Century Resort

This was Rylee’s first trip and it was Emily’s first trip since she was 3. Rylee was 42 inches so she could ride almost all of the attractions, although some of them she skipped since she wasn’t quite mature enough to handle. It was Pat and Kim’s first trip in a long time so there were a ton of new attractions for them to see!

This, of course, wasn’t my first trip, but it was Wes and my first time going with kids. The last time I went with kids this young, I was a kid! We were really looking forward to seeing the girl’s reaction to everything. It was our first trip all together and I was looking forward to showing them the wonderful world of Disney!

Monday October 13th – Let the fun begin!

Today was an early morning. Our flight was at 6:05am so we were up super early. I didn’t get much sleep since I was too excited to sleep and I had to stay up until midnight so I could book our excursions and Palo dinner for our January cruise. (Tough life, right? ) I think I had about 3 hours of sleep and then it was time to wake up and head to the airport. We spent the night at my parent’s house since they live close to the airport. Kevin and Allyson were on the same flight so we picked them up and all drove to the airport together. The rest of the group was driving down so we wouldn’t see them until later today.

Security was a breeze and we were to the gate with plenty of time before our flight. Our flight wasn’t even remotely full so we were able to spread out. Wes took a little nap on the flight and I listened to some Disney tunes to start this vacation off right.

So sleepy.

I thought it was very fitting listening to this song on the plane.

We arrived in Orlando about 20 minutes early. Sweet! That’s one of the many reasons I love Southwest and early morning flights. We made our way to Disney’s Magical Express around 7:45. (I know because I took a picture of this clock)

Pretty empty this morning

We checked in using our handy dandy MagicBands and got in line to board a bus to Pop Century.

We were on a Mears shuttle instead of a DME bus. Boo. I wasn’t too upset though because we got a front row seat!

We’re here!

Pop was the first stop (haha that rhymed!). We checked in and unfortunately our rooms weren’t ready yet so we dropped off our bags with luggage assistance and then made our way to Epcot.

Our rooms were going to be in the 50’s building.

It was only 9:30am and we were already at Epcot! We decided that the first attraction of the trip should be Spaceship Earth. It gave me a chance to take a ton of pictures while we waited in line.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Kim kept laughing that we were going all the way to Hollywood Studios just to ride one attraction but it’s such a good one! I felt that it was worth it. We didn’t have anything else to do so why not!

Emily was so funny on the attraction. She was a little nervous and couldn’t keep her eyes open but she liked it. Kim also kept her eyes closed!

We made our way back to Pop for a little break before heading to Epcot for the night.

Mousekeeping is so cute! They set up Rylee’s Minnie in the window.

I spy Emily!

When I got back to my room, the guys were getting ready to head to Epcot so they could visit the Food and Wine Festival. I wanted to go too since I didn’t get to enjoy it the night before so I quickly changed and me and the guys made our way to Epcot. The rest of the girls were going to relax for a little bit at the resort and eat dinner in the food court.

I wanted some PhotoPass pictures of just me and Wes since he was missing earlier today.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

After a brief stop for pictures, we made our way straight to World Showcase. I knew I wanted to go back to Mexico to get the shrimp taco and the guys headed to the Craft Beers in the Odyssey building.

Soooo goooooood!

The mixed nuts were really good! The beers weren’t too bad either.

We drank most of the flights and took the few we had left with us.

We hadn’t even had much to drink yet.

We continued our tour around World Showcase and decided to stop in Germany.

More beer flights!

While the guys were drinking their flights, I wanted to grab a Singapore Sling from the Singapore booth. My Mom doesn’t drink and one time in college she got drunk on Singapore Slings and ended up laying in the grass outside her house. She always tells the story so I knew I had to try one. (Although, I’m not sure she would appreciate me telling the internet…Oh well!) Hahaha Sorry Mom!

I sent my mom a picture of the drink and told her what I was drinking. She said “Be careful. They’re dangerous.”

We finished our beer flights in Germany and decided we needed some food. Well, I really needed some food. I kept talking about a soft pretzel so while I wasn’t paying attention, Wes went and got me one. What a nice husband!

So good!

Wes wanted to get something from Italy so we stopped there real quick while Pat and Kevin got some more drinks.

I love this next picture. Kevin wanted to send a picture to Allyson to show her how much fun we were having. There’s just so much going on in this picture. Pat’s duck face, my pretzel in the background...so good.

We passed by the America Gardens Theater and Billy Ocean was playing. “Caribbean Queen. Now we're sharing the same dream. And our hearts they beat as one. No more love on the run.” We stopped and listened for a few minutes and then continued on.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

We went to Japan and got some sushi. Pat dropped one of his rolls and ended up picking it up and eating it. Hahaha 5 second rule applies in WDW too, I guess.

Pat unknowingly photo bombing my picture

It was almost time for us to find a spot for IllumiNations. Allyson sent Kevin a text letting him know that they were on their way to Epcot. As we were walking by Morocco, Kevin noticed a ton of empty tables on the patio at Spice Road Table and suggested that we grab a table there. I went up to the hostess and let her know that we would have a party of 8. I told her we all weren’t here yet so we didn’t mind waiting but she said she could seat us now. Sweet! We got a great table outside with a wonderful view of IllumiNations.

Kevin ordered Jager shots from our waiter and I ordered the Tangier’s Breeze. The waiter brought out the shots and they were clearly not Jager. Kevin asked him what it was and I can’t remember what they were. I know they sounded nothing like Jager though. Hahaha

My drink was very tasty

We sat and enjoyed some drinks while we waited for the rest of our group to arrive. They had already eaten at Pop’s food court so they would just be joining us for a spot to watch IllumiNations.

The rest of us ordered some food. I went with the calamari and the guys all got the same thing. I don’t remember what it was called but they liked it.

Emily and Rylee were being very silly. They had only ordered water but they started playing with the lemons on their glasses. I told them to ask the waiter for more lemons, since they were fighting over the two they had. So he brought out a whole plate of lemons and they started racing each other trying to put them on their glasses faster. Crazy kids.

Such a funny child

They also started daring each other to see who could put the lemon in their mouth the longest. It was weird but it kept us entertained.

I really enjoyed Spice Road Table but the biggest plus I found was it’s viewing location. We didn’t have to stake out a spot around the lagoon for an hour and fight with people to hold our spot. We had a nice table, with no fear of our view being blocked. And while we enjoyed our spot, we also got to enjoy some great food and drinks! Great choice Kevin!!

IllumiNations was wonderful! Of course Rylee had to use the restroom right at the end so Kim had to miss part of it. Darn kids.

After dinner/IllumiNations, it was time to head back to Pop. Rylee was getting sleepy so Kevin carried her out of the park.

So sleepy

We stopped to take some fun pictures in Canada on our way out of the park.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Rylee decided to wake up so she could join in on the fun.

As we were walking out, Kevin stopped to take some pictures of SSE. Since the rest of our group continued walking, I stopped with him so we wouldn’t lose him. We took pictures for a little bit and then went to catch up with the rest of the group.

When we found them right before the exit, they were all standing there giving us angry/impatient faces. They were kidding of course because as soon as we saw them they started laughing. I didn’t get a good picture of their mad faces because it was too dark but I managed to get one where Rylee was still posing.

We got back to Pop and called it a night. Tomorrow would be our last day in the parks.

 

[FlaggNL]

Thank you! Kevin loves Pearl Jam. And I mean LOVES! Aw, thanks! I was really happy with how that turned out. With the sun in my face it was hard to tell if I was getting any good shots. I lucked out on that one.

It's great to love a band I am totally addicted to U2 And Sometimes you come home and when checking the pics it seems that the one you didn't expect is one of the greatest! Sometimes luck, sometimes it just happens

 

[mrdrift]

All of the pictures turned out so beautiful especially the family pictures. Seems like everyone had a wonderful break feast. The again in Magic Kingdom and Hollywood. Then their is Epcot with all the food and drinks, to die for. Following along.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

It's great to love a band I am totally addicted to U2 And Sometimes you come home and when checking the pics it seems that the one you didn't expect is one of the greatest! Sometimes luck, sometimes it just happens

I love it when you come home and look through your pictures to find some true gems!

All of the pictures turned out so beautiful especially the family pictures. Seems like everyone had a wonderful break feast. The again in Magic Kingdom and Hollywood. Then their is Epcot with all the food and drinks, to die for. Following along.

Thanks! We had a great time. Last installment coming up now.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Friday October 17th – Last Day in the Parks

Today was our last day in the parks! So sad. I’m sad now just thinking about it again.

Today was also the one day that we all would be wearing coordinating outfits. Our family is all originally from Maryland so we support the Washington Redskins as our football team. (I know, they are terrible but what can you do?) So, when I originally told Wes that I wanted us to wear matching shirts, he said no. I then said, what if we all just wore Redskins stuff and he agreed. Kim also thought that the only way Pat would participate would be if it was with Redskins stuff. So today we put on our finest Redskins apparel and made our way to Hollywood Studios.

(Side note: During this day, I said how I wished we had worn more coordinating outfits throughout the trip and the guys said they would have done it. Well now they tell me! Next time…)

Instead of making our way straight to Toy Story Midway Mania like I normally would, we decided to go straight to Rock n’ Roller Coaster. I love TSMM but some of our group wasn’t so impressed and everyone hadn’t been on RnR yet.

On our way down Sunset Boulevard, Kim and Allyson needed to use the restroom. Seriously? We just got there. Oh, well. This gave me an opportunity to take some pictures.

Wes started taking pictures of Emily and she was giving him some funny, evil eye pictures.

No evil eyes in a picture with me

Wes volunteered to sit out with Rylee and grab a rider swap ticket. While we were riding, he had a mini photo shoot again with Rylee.

Not sure what this face is….

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

After we got out, Wes, Pat and Kevin went through with the rider swap ticket and Emily, Kim and I went through the single rider line. Emily and Kim ended up being able to sit together so that was nice. I think Emily was a little nervous to ride by herself so it was just pure luck that they were able to sit together.

Hahaha Wes makes some great faces in these attraction photos

After RnR, Kim took Rylee over to see Disney Junior Live on Stage and to meet Princess Sofia.

The rest of us went to the Twilight Zone and a galaxy far, far away.

We met back up with Kim and Rylee outside of Disney Junior. Rylee really liked it so I am glad they were able to see it. It was now time to use our FP+ for TSMM.

Hey back of Wes’ hat

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

This kid is nuts.

Emily and I rode together and Wes rode with Rylee.

It was time for lunch so we went the Streets of America route to the Backlot Express. Pat loves Coke so he wanted his picture next to the giant bottle.

After lunch, the girls were all going to see For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing A Long and the guys had FP+ for Star Tours.

It’s snowing!

The sing-a-long was so cute! I loved the guy storyteller. I think his name was Eric. He was so funny.

After the sing a long, Emily wanted to buy an Olaf stuffed animal and Rylee went to buy a Minnie stuffed animal under the hat.

We met the guys under the hat and found out that they didn’t use their FP+ for Star Tours. They were tired and didn’t feel like it. We hung out under the hat for a little bit just relaxing. At the time, I didn’t realize this would be the last time we saw the hat. I’m not sad to see it go but I wish I had gotten more pictures. I always wish I had gotten more pictures.

Kim, Emily, Rylee and I went in to Sweet Spells to browse. I wanted to get some rice crispy treats to take home and a couple for my mom as a thank you for watching the dog.

Everyone was feeling like getting ice cream so we then walked down to Hollywood Scoops. On the way, we stopped for some PhotoPass pictures in our coordinating outfits.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

We slowly walked back up Sunset Boulevard enjoying our tasty treats. I stopped in the Frozen store again to look at the merch.

I LOVE this Sven! I really wanted to buy him but I really don’t need a stuffed animal. I may cave the next trip and just buy him anyway.

We saw the Citizens of Hollywood and stopped for a minute to listen. Our group didn’t want to hang around too long for fear that they would make fun of our choice in team.

We stopped for some PhotoPass pictures in front of the hat. Again, I’m really glad we got these since the hat is going away.

On our way out of Hollywood Studios, I stopped in one of the shops to look at the Christmas decorations. I absolutely LOVE the new “The Holidays are Swell” merchandise. So cute. I ended up getting an ornament and the cookie plate and mug for Santa. The plate and mug came in a box so I figured that would be best for transporting back on the plane. I asked for some more of the stuff for Christmas so I’m hoping to see some under my tree this week.

The original plan was for all of us to go to the Magic Kingdom to watch the Festival of Fantasy parade. I figured the guys wouldn’t want to go but that us girls could go. I talked to Kim earlier in the day and she said that they thought they would skip it and just go back to the resort to relax by the pool. I really wanted to see it again but Wes didn’t want to go. I didn’t feel like seeing it alone again so I was planning on heading back to the resort with the rest of the gang.

Right before we got to the buses, Wes said “let’s go to the Magic Kingdom. I’ll watch the parade with you.” Such a sweet husband. We said bye to the rest of our group and caught a bus to the MK.

Right in front of where we sat for the parade

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Magic Kingdom toes

We grabbed a spot in Town Square as soon as we arrived at the MK. I wanted to make sure I had a good spot, with the sun behind me, for the parade. It was a pretty hot day and my rice crispy treats started melting. I knew they would be fine but I was a little worried at how much they would melt.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Wes took some photos of the dragon on his iPhone.

I love this parade. I was really happy that Wes came with me so I could see it again. After the parade, we went back to the resort for a little break. We saw Kim, Allyson, Emily and Rylee hanging out at the pool. We hung out with them for a little bit and Kevin and Pat joined us.

It was time to get ready to head to Epcot for dinner so we all went back to our rooms. Everyone decided they had enough of our matching outfits so we changed.

The girls had to bring their stuffed animals with them.

Kids with stuffed animals are so cute.

We were ending our trip with a night at Epcot. We decided to eat dinner at La Cantina de San Angel. On our way to Mexico, we stopped in Club Cool for their first taste of Beverly.

I got Emily to try some and she had a great reaction. I missed capturing it on film though. Boo.

There was a group of guys that asked Pat if he had tried Beverly yet. I couldn’t help but laugh at the guys setting up a complete stranger. Pat tried it and everyone got a good laugh.

Kim hadn’t been paying attention so I asked her to try Beverly. Her reaction is priceless!

Kim was so mad at me. She was like “here I thought you were being nice and you were setting me up” Hahaha She said she knew something was up when I had my camera ready to take a picture. She thought I had only done it to her but when I told her that Emily and Pat both got it too, she was like “Oh, ok!” Oh, Beverly...you provide so many laughs.

On our way to Mexico, we saw Duffy out dressed as a pumpkin. The girls had been watching the Duffy channel on our TV all week so they knew who he was at this point. He’s so cute.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

We got to Mexico and were on a mission to stake out some tables. We had 8 so we would need two tables. Luckily, my sniping skills are superb and we grabbed two tables next to each other within a few minutes.

After dinner, I really wanted to see Night Ranger. I don’t think anyone else really felt like going but they were all troopers and indulged me. We found a spot off to the side of the theater and just stood and watched the band.

I really just wanted to hear Sister Christian, so once they played that, we left. Everyone else enjoyed the music too, though. Originally the plan was to stay to watch IllumiNations but we had only been on Soarin once so the group decided we would go there instead. Not a problem.

Rylee passed out while Wes was carrying her. She literally fell asleep on his head.

He was doing okay but then had to give her to Pat because he couldn’t see while he was walking. Her little body was pushing his head down. Hahaha

We got to Soarin and Rylee woke up for one final ride. It was a nice way to close out the trip. And even though we missed IllumiNations, we got to see some fireworks in Soarin.

We made our exit and actually saw some of IllumiNations one our way out.

Rylee fell asleep on Kim’s lap on the bus ride home and Wes helped Kim by taking her once we got to Pop.

I would say we had one successful trip!

Pat, Kim and the girls were leaving early in the morning to drive back home and Kevin and Allyson were being picked up by DME around 7:30am for their flight home. We said goodbye to everyone and went back to our room for one last night at Pop.

Wes and I weren’t on a flight until 6:40pm tomorrow night so we would have a full day of resort hopping.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Saturday October 18th – Now it’s time to say goodbye…

This morning we slept in a little bit after a week of waking up early. We were still in WDW though so we couldn’t sleep in too late. We left the resort around 10am to do a little resort hopping.

My mom had asked me earlier in the trip to get her some postcards for a decorating project. She wanted vintage looking ones but so far I couldn’t find any. I bought a few at Pop’s gift shop but they just weren’t what she was looking for. I didn’t want to go home without putting in some more effort, so I decided that we should check out a few of the resorts to see if they had anything better.

First stop was the Grand Floridian. We took a bus to the MK and then a ferry to the GF. We wandered around outside for a little bit before heading inside.

Hello Magic Kingdom!

We checked out a few of the shops and then located the postcards in Sandy Cove. I found a nice one of the Grand Floridian that I thought my mom would like.

Next we took the monorail back to the MK so we could catch a bus to the Beach and Yacht Club.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

We had a bus all to ourselves.

We got off at the Yacht Club since it was the first stop.

We didn’t find any postcards here that we didn’t already have so we moved on to the Beach Club.

We found a Beach Club post card and then made our way to the BoardWalk.

Enter Wes photo bombing my picture

That’s better

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

We didn’t find any postcards at the BoardWalk. Oh well. We had gotten a total of 8 postcards so hopefully some of those would work. Turns out, the postcards were actually for me! My mom put together this mail holder thing for our mudroom and put the postcards on it. I wish I would have known that they were for me because then we wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble searching for them!

It was about time to grab some lunch so we decided that we would head back to Pop. We needed to get our bags out of our room and drop them off with luggage assistance. We decided to walk over to Hollywood Studios to catch a bus.

Despite not actually going to any parks today, we saw three of them. We dropped off our bags and then went to the food court for some lunch.

After lunch, we still had time to kill before our Magical Express was coming to take us to the airport. We were originally supposed to stay at the Art of Animation Resort but switched to Pop to take advantage of a discount. I was sad we didn’t stay there since I still hadn’t seen the resort yet so we walked over to take a look around.

View of the 50’s section at Pop from the bridge

I love the sides of the buildings

I love this little guy!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

I really liked the Art of Animation Resort. I was kinda bummed we didn’t stay there this trip because I think the girls would have really liked it. There’s always next time!

We made our way back to Pop and continued our resort tour checking out the different sections.

It was now officially time to head to the airport. So sad! We grabbed our bags and boarded the DME.

So long Pop!

It was really hard leaving but it made it a lot easier knowing that we had a cruise coming up!

Now our cruise is only 19 days away! Woo hoo!

Final Thoughts:

We had an absolute WONDERFUL trip! It was so fun going with this group. Wes and I were really worried that there may be some tantrums or meltdowns from the girls but they were so good. I was really impressed with how well behaved they were. The adults were acting up more than the kids. Hahaha

When we got back from our trip we decided that we needed to do it again! Next time we want even more of the family to join us. We need to take my parents, Kevin and Pat’s parents, and Kevin’s brother and family. The plan is for Christmas time 2017. I figure that will give everyone enough time to plan and save. Not to mention Wes and I have 2 cruises in 2015 and a trip to Aulani scheduled for 2016. Lots of trips planned!

So lookout for #DisneyZombies2017!

Thanks for reading!

 

[LisaBelle]

I really enjoyed your TR. Your title pulled me in because I tried my first cronut at Epcot last summer. Delish!!!!! Family trips are lots of work, but definitely worth the effort. My family of four went with my mom & dad, and my sister's family of four back in 2008. We had a ball and created lots of memories. So glad we did it, because my mom now has a degenerative disease and cannot travel. Your photos were great and you could definitely get a feel for how much fun you were having. Have a great time on your cruise . Will you be doing a TR for your cruise? I have never been on one, but love reading cruise TRs. Maybe someday I will get to go on one!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

I really enjoyed your TR. Your title pulled me in because I tried my first cronut at Epcot last summer. Delish!!!!! Family trips are lots of work, but definitely worth the effort. My family of four went with my mom & dad, and my sister's family of four back in 2008. We had a ball and created lots of memories. So glad we did it, because my mom now has a degenerative disease and cannot travel. Your photos were great and you could definitely get a feel for how much fun you were having. Have a great time on your cruise . Will you be doing a TR for your cruise? I have never been on one, but love reading cruise TRs. Maybe someday I will get to go on one!

Thanks for reading! Oh, how I love cronuts! They are just too good not to be in my trip report title. Hahaha Family trips are hard to balance everyone's likes and dislikes. I learned a lot this trip and think I have a better idea of what to do and not to do next time. We'll need to adjust our planning strategy if we end up going with 15 people. I'm sorry to hear about your mom but glad that you were able to do a big family trip.

Thanks! We are super excited for our cruise! And yes, I plan on doing a trip report when I get back. Reading the cruise trip reports always makes me anxious to get back on a ship. Hopefully someday you can go on DCL.

Looks like everyone in your party had a great time on you Magical Trip. Hope 2015 brings you continued happiness and great health.

Thanks Bruce! I hope you all had a wonderful vacation. We had a really great time! I wish we could all go back sooner.