Halloween, Food & Wine, and a Birthday, Oh My!-A Sept/Oct 2011 Trip Report

I can't believe 2 weeks ago I was in the Magic Kingdom for my first MNSSHP, my how time flies. I hope you all are ready because here starts my first attempt at a trip report!

Introduction:

Welcome to my very first attempt at writing a trip report! I’ve been reading everyone else’s trip reports for some time now, and have been inspired to write one of my own!!! So let’s start with a little introduction!

The cast for the trip:

(Left): Mom (Diane)-The greatest mom EVER because she’s taken me on 13! WDW trips and she got me into this website so if not for her I wouldn’t be writing this right now! Mom's favorites are Mickey, Stitch, and Tigger and her favorite ride is definitely Toy Story Mania I couldn’t tell you how many times we’ve gone on that!

(Right): Me (Jessica)-22 year old Walt Disney World fanatic (thanks to Mom) who is currently seeking a job as a Mechanical Engineer (if you guys know of anything open let me know! Sorry had to put in the little plug there ) My favorite ride is the Tower of Terror and my favorite characters are Ariel, Prince Eric, Goofy, & (newly favorite) Flynn Rider.

As mentioned above this is my 13th trip to the world and Mom's 14th. She went once when she was a little girl in ’74.

Details about the trip:

When: September 26-October 3 This is the first time we’ve ever gone at this time of the year, because I was always in school.

Resort: Pop Century We’ve stayed at this resort many times and have always loved it, even though we talked about changing and trying a different resort, we didn’t. But are looking into it for next trip!

Just a FYI: the pictures in this report are taken by both me and my mom. (There will be many, many pictures in this report since I took over 800!) The ones that I have taken were mainly in Aperture and Shutter Priority mode. I wanted to go manual but realized that I would have a much harder time with it. Av and Tv mode proved successful and I had fun playing around with the settings a bit. Thanks to Tom Bricker (wdwfigment), he has inspired me to take better pictures during my trips and in everyday life! (I was able to tell him this in person as you will read later in the report!)

We also ordered the photopass CD because we knew we would be getting a lot of photopass pictures this trip. We haven't looked at them yet, so I will add in some of those pictures at the end of the report once we go through them and get the CD.

Now let the memories and trip reporting begin!!!

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Thursday September 29-Hollywood Studios, Beaches n’ Cream, and Magic Kingdom!

We were up early today because we wanted to make it for rope drop at Hollywood Studios to meet the famous Donald and Daisy duck in their Hollywood attire! And it was also time to try Starring Rolls for breakfast!

We made it just in time for rope drop and I stole some time with Donald! Daisy wasn’t coming out until the second showing of characters.

Good thing Daisy wasn’t there!

Before stopping for some breakfast we decided one last try on Toy Story Mania was in order since this would be our last time spent in Hollywood Studios! We ran into the stand-by line and of course yours truly continued to be undefeated at the midway games!

Our next stop was Starring Rolls for some yummy breakfast!!!

Some Food for you all:

A nice cinnamon roll for breakfast-This one’s for you Kenzie! (tiaragirl)

And mom had a yummy muffin (blueberry I think)

When our tummies were filled we decided to go on and wait for Goofy & Pluto to come out in their Hollywood attire. To pass the time I walked around and took a few pictures:

I thought this perspective was interesting because it looks like he was filming everyone coming into Hollywood Studios

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Finally it was time for Goofy & Pluto to come out and we were the first ones in line!

I think this was when I told him he was looking sharp

We had plenty of time to jump into Donald & Daisy’s line!

After meeting the famous ducks, we headed over to the Animation Building for a drawing class! We haven’t done this in years so we decided it was definitely time to pay it a visit! For this class we drew Daisy Duck.

My picture

Mom in the process of hers:

The Drawing class is so much and I think everyone should try it out if they haven’t! Hopefully we’ll make it a point to stop there every trip now!

We had to make a stop in the Animation Gallery, I love looking at all the different art, and someday I will buy a really nice piece of Disney art. I also love looking at the Princess Precious Moments dolls. I have the Ariel one my mom got for me for my birthday after our trip in January. I love it! Now, I saw a new one that I just absolutely love.

Rapunzel! Isn’t she adorable?

We headed onwards to the Great Movie ride and went on a Spectacular Journey into the movies! And we were able to sit in the very first row! We had never sat in the first row before, and it was really great.

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

We headed over towards the Tower of Terror so I could drop one last time on my favorite ride! The line was non-existent and I ended up going on three times in a row! As you can see it was pretty empty:

Some pictures inside the hotel

I was so disappointed when I got off the ride because I couldn’t find any towels that had the Hollywood Tower Hotel logo on it (Like the bathrobes they sell). Luckily, as we began to make our way out we stopped along one of the stores on Hollywood Blvd and found it! I was so excited!

Finally, it was lunch time! And we were headed to Beaches N’ Cream, so off it was to the Friendship boats!

Bye Hollywood Studios! Until next time!

After a nice leisurely boat ride to the Beach Club, we were finally in heaven at Beaches N’ Cream!

My Root Beer Float

We both had Cheeseburgers (best on property!) but I had fries and Mom has Onion Rings

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

After stuffing our tummies, we wandered around a bit and waited for a bus to take us to the Magic Kingdom!

The Beach Club has awesome bathrooms

Shoutout to Fractal here-the picture he took in his trip report of this inspired this picture!

Beautiful fountain near the bus stop!

We have arrived!!!

I love how they place the Mickey Mouse stuffed animals

I tried to cut out the crane while I was taking the picture

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

We made our way into Adventureland and saw Ariel & Eric! But the line had already closed and they wouldn’t be back until 4:30 so we made our way over to Frontierland and I grabbed a fastpass for Splash Mountain and Big Thunder.

Since we had time before my fastpasses, we made our way back into Adventureland to wait to meet Ariel and Eric! We waited about 25 minutes for them to come back out, but it was okie dokie with me because they are my favorites!!!!

Eric was complimenting me on my nail polish which was orange with a purple crackle over it, and then me and Ariel continued to talk about how purple is both our favorite colors.

I cashed in my fastpasses at Splash and Big Thunder, and we headed towards the Haunted Mansion so we could experience the new interactive queue! I really liked it a lot and thought it was a great addition.

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

After being spooked, we had to head over to the Christmas Shoppe so my mom could have the Mickey Pumpkin head ornament she bought personalized. My mom loves Christmas!

I really wanted to meet Tiana and Naveen since I finally was able to see the Princess and the Frog before I came on this trip. I’m actually not a huge fan of the movie, to me it really lacked something, but I have to say Dr. Facilier is one of the best villains so I give the movie props for him.

This encounter was a little strange because as Tiana was signing her autograph Prince Naveen asked me if this was my first time to Walt Disney World and I told him no it was my 13th trip. Apparently, Tiana wasn’t listening because she looked at me shocked and said “your 13 years old?!” Hmm, no I’m 22. It was a little bit awkward after that, but it was kind of funny.

The awkward oh, you’re not 13 look

Alright hurry up and get the picture over with!

We were getting a bit hungry so it was time for a Dole Whip! Unfortunately, I must have been so excited for my dole whip that I forgot to take a picture of it  But now it was onto spend the rest of the evening in Tomorrowland!!!

First, a pretty neat picture I wanted to share

Into Tomorrowland!

Love these Palm Trees

We pretty much rode everything as it had no wait: Monsters, Inc, Buzz (where I won!), Space Mountain, and the Peoplemover!

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

When it was time for wishes to start, we decided to hope onto the Peoplemover again and watch it from there! We also caught the finale right over Tomorrowland! It was definitely a different perspective for Wishes.

We waited around for a little while after the park closed by taking pictures and shopping.

We stayed until the Kiss Goodnight which I had never witnessed before. It was really cute, and we figured that most of the crowd would have left. Well, we guessed wrong. We waited about 30 minutes for a bus for POP, it was the longest we ever had to wait all trip.

Up Next: Magic Kingdom and EPCOT Food & Wine Festival!!!

 

[Fashionista007]

Another great installment! I love all the character pics! My mouth was totally watering over those pictures of the burgers from Beaches n' Cream! We've never eaten there and now I think we have a reason to go :animwink:

 

[myhappyplace]

Great report and awesome pictures! I, too, love that little nook where Tiana and Naveen meet and greet; the path out has the best views of the castle. Cute tank top too!

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Another great installment! I love all the character pics! My mouth was totally watering over those pictures of the burgers from Beaches n' Cream! We've never eaten there and now I think we have a reason to go :animwink:

Thank you! This trip was definitely all about meeting tons of characters. I love character interaction!

Never been to Beaches n' Cream?? Best cheeseburgers EVER. Definitely need to go there!!!

Tell Jason I said hi :wave:

Great report and awesome pictures! I, too, love that little nook where Tiana and Naveen meet and greet; the path out has the best views of the castle. Cute tank top too!

Yes totally agree! and thank you!

 

[jesemeca]

Great report so far. And you are getting close to my cameo. :ROFLOL: I haven't started mine yet, because I am still waiting on PhotoPass. I was missing a few of my pictures and I am waiting to find out if they can find them. I will be sure to let you know when I do start though.

Can't wait to see more!

 

[Raven66]

Really enjoying your trip report. I can't wait to read the rest. That's funny she thought you were 13. You do look very young, but not 13 It certainly looks like you and your mom had a wonderful time.

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Great report so far. And you are getting close to my cameo. :ROFLOL: I haven't started mine yet, because I am still waiting on PhotoPass. I was missing a few of my pictures and I am waiting to find out if they can find them. I will be sure to let you know when I do start though.

Can't wait to see more!

:lol: Yes it's coming soon!! And you know the funny thing we were missing a few too..we were missing some from MNSSHP the ones near the Haunted Mansion with the horseless carriage. I really hope they can find those.

Definitely let me know!

Really enjoying your trip report. I can't wait to read the rest. That's funny she thought you were 13. You do look very young, but not 13 It certainly looks like you and your mom had a wonderful time.

Thank you!

I know, I was quite taken a back, and was thinking do I really look THAT young? It's all okay though, it made for a funny conversation.

 

[fractal]

Great update! We wanted to do the Animation Academy but didn't get time - looks like fun and you and your Mom did a nice job on Daisy Duck.

Wonderful pictures and I like your shot of the Capemay Cafe beach umbrellas more than mine!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

really enjoying reading your trip report! and i know how you feel about getting mistaken for a 13 year old. i am 25 and all the time people think i am in high school. everyone says that one day you will be happy but it is pretty annoying when you are in your 20s. :lol: those pictures of your cheeseburgers from beaches n' cream look so good! i'll be eating there on the 27th! mmm...:slurp: can't wait! looking forward to reading more of your trip report!

 

[WDW_Princess24]

The Tiana story is hilarious, I was cracking up! Don't feel to bad, Jasmine made an attempt at an awkward conversation during MNSSHP LOL I always feel so funny with the princes and princesses, I never know what to say haha

 

[tiaragirl]

DHS lovers, cinnamon bun lovers, purple lovers, and fabulous nail polish lovers?

Girl, we were MEANT to be friends

 

[Magenta Panther]

But now for the best part! We were finally making our way towards my favorite ride in all of WDW: The Tower of Terror!!!! The themeing for this ride is what takes the cake for me, it is just so detailed and follows the storyline so well. And of course the drop sequences! This first ride had one of the best sequences of drops that I’ve ever experienced I felt like it was going to go on forever! The more drops for me the better!

I decided to skip over the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster for now due to our ADR’s at the 50’s coming up and the Single Rider line was looking a little bit long. And I know there have been a few times that I have waited a very long time in the single rider line so I decided not to chance it. Onward we went towards 50’s Prime Time Café!

It had been a little while since we had eaten here and we were really looking forward to it. Side story: As we were walking towards the 50’s a spot rain shower showed up. It was very strange because it was only raining in one portion of the park because you could see the sun shining over the Chinese Theater.

We were finally seated after waiting a little while and were put kind of in a little corner, which was not ideal, but we didn’t mind.

Our waiter ended up being JL. Who was funny, but it was more of a serious funny which kind of worked for him.

What I really love about 50’s Prime Time is watching everyone else’s experiences with the different waiters. There was an especially funny one in the next room over and low and behold Cousin Joey decided to peak in on the neighbors!!

For lunch Mom had the Chicken Pot Pie and I had the Chicken Noodle Soup since I didn’t want to eat much seeing as I didn’t feel well the night before. Sorry I remembered to take the picture when it was already half eaten :slurp:

Boy, do I agree with you about the Tower of Terror! It is just magnificent! I never get tired of it, and it's definitely one of the crowning achievements of the Imagineers. It's true that the Harry Potter ride in Universal kind of trumps it technically, but...really, it's like comparing apples to oranges. The Tower stands alone when it comes to perfect theming, lush design, amazing effects and note-perfect storytelling. I can't wait to ride it again - and again - and again - when I visit the world in December! Great trip report, I'm loving it so far!

 

[HollyBelle]

Oh Tiana, you must improve your ability to multi-task! :lol: It sounds as if the poor girl came close to dropping character. Hilarious. I'm with you though, the princesses are the absolute most awkward characters to meet as an adult - it never fails. In an effort to eat at every restaurant on property, we finally checked Akershus off the list a little over a year ago, figuring the Princess Half Medal would provide us with some safe conversations. Luckily we were right. I still can't bring myself to book an ADR at the castle. The awkwardness, coupled with that exorbitant price, have me steering clear. Maybe one day I'll have a daughter - that's what I keep telling myself because then I'll have a legit reason to book the meal. :lol:

One more day into your report and I'll be looking for myself in the background. Who knows, maybe we crossed paths more than once! :animwink:

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Sorry for the delay folks..I have family visiting from Canada and have been spending some time with them so hopefully an update soon!!

Great update! We wanted to do the Animation Academy but didn't get time - looks like fun and you and your Mom did a nice job on Daisy Duck.

Wonderful pictures and I like your shot of the Capemay Cafe beach umbrellas more than mine!

Thank you!!! You must do it! I forgot how much fun it was!!!

Awww thank you!

really enjoying reading your trip report! and i know how you feel about getting mistaken for a 13 year old. i am 25 and all the time people think i am in high school. everyone says that one day you will be happy but it is pretty annoying when you are in your 20s. :lol: those pictures of your cheeseburgers from beaches n' cream look so good! i'll be eating there on the 27th! mmm...:slurp: can't wait! looking forward to reading more of your trip report!

Oh yes, it is definitely annoying now.

Yay!! :sohappy: Enjoy those they are the best!!! And thank you! More will be coming soon!!

The Tiana story is hilarious, I was cracking up! Don't feel to bad, Jasmine made an attempt at an awkward conversation during MNSSHP LOL I always feel so funny with the princes and princesses, I never know what to say haha

I know, sometimes it's very awkward, I always try to think of something to say before hand, but sometimes it just doesn't work either.

DHS lovers, cinnamon bun lovers, purple lovers, and fabulous nail polish lovers?

Girl, we were MEANT to be friends

I definitely think so!!!! I smelled a cinnamon bun candle today at a store and instantly thought about the ones at WDW...oh how I wish I could have one right now.

And your favorite color is purple too? That is too funny!! My long lost sister I have found you!!

Boy, do I agree with you about the Tower of Terror! It is just magnificent! I never get tired of it, and it's definitely one of the crowning achievements of the Imagineers. It's true that the Harry Potter ride in Universal kind of trumps it technically, but...really, it's like comparing apples to oranges. The Tower stands alone when it comes to perfect theming, lush design, amazing effects and note-perfect storytelling. I can't wait to ride it again - and again - and again - when I visit the world in December! Great trip report, I'm loving it so far!

Definitely, but the Forbidden Journey is totally different I could never compare the two. They are both amazing achievements in their own categories. The themeing is what definitely does it for me with the Tower of Terror it is just amazing like you said. And thank you!!!

Oh Tiana, you must improve your ability to multi-task! :lol: It sounds as if the poor girl came close to dropping character. Hilarious. I'm with you though, the princesses are the absolute most awkward characters to meet as an adult - it never fails. In an effort to eat at every restaurant on property, we finally checked Akershus off the list a little over a year ago, figuring the Princess Half Medal would provide us with some safe conversations. Luckily we were right. I still can't bring myself to book an ADR at the castle. The awkwardness, coupled with that exorbitant price, have me steering clear. Maybe one day I'll have a daughter - that's what I keep telling myself because then I'll have a legit reason to book the meal. :lol:

One more day into your report and I'll be looking for myself in the background. Who knows, maybe we crossed paths more than once! :animwink:

Actually, I think I found characters that are more awkward than the princesses...the fairies. I went to see them during MNSSHP on the Sunday night since there was no people in there (surprisingly) and I said what the heck might as well. And that was the most awkward moment in my life. I honestly had no idea how to react they were just too peppy (i guess that's the word I'm looking for) for me. Never ever again will I go there to see the fairies or Tinkerbell.

Hopefully you and Brett will have a daughter to take them there! The experience is great in the castle. And the view if you sit along the back is amazing!!

Hopefully I will get that next day up soon!! :sohappy: