I didn't get married, but I won the lottery and took a walk on the wild side at WDW!

To make a long story short, I was supposed to get married on September 21, 2012, but that didn't work out. I had planned part of my honeymoon to be at Disney World so when the engagement fell apart I knew I still wanted to go to my most favortie place in the world at what I knew was going to be a very difficult time. My friend Autumn agreed to go with me. For the longer version refer to my pre-trip report and when I figure out how to, I'll post the link.

Dates: September 21- September 26, 2012

Cast of Characters: Autumn, 34 and Me (Ty), 27

Hotel: Port Orleans French Quarter, Free Dining


September 21,2012
Autumn lives in Pittsburgh and I live in upstate NY, so we agreed to meet in Florida. Only bad thing is there was a 6 hour lapse between our arrivals. My flight landed at 10:31, I was on line for DME at 10:52 and on a bus at 10:55. I was slightly disappointed to get on a Cruise Line Bus, I have yet to be on an offical DME bus.Not that it really matters cause they all go to the same place.

French Quarter was the 3rd stop after Old Key West and Saratoga Springs. I checked in just before noon. I thought I made pretty good time. I quickly dropped my stuff off in the room.

View from just outside our room...

We got an excellent location. We were in building 4, 3rd floor right behind the bus stop. Before I headed to the bus stop, I picked up out resort mugs and bought a Disney bookbag to lug all our stuff around in. That thing was the best $30 I spent the whole trip.

As always my first stop was of course...

I just took my time taking in the atmophere as I slowly made my way down Main Street USA. Now, this was supposed to be my wedding day and the week leading up to the day had its fair share of ups and downs. I'm not ashamed to say I did some crying. Now I'm walking down Main Street alone and I see a show up on the castle and I see Mickey and Minnie dancing and holding hands on this platform and I get all teary eyed.

I think it was a combination of saddness and shear joy, but I quickly pushed back those tears and kept moving. I headed towards Frontierland and stopped to get a pretzel and water.

Sorry his ear is gone, I hadn't eaten all day and I couldnt wait.

While I was eating, I sat next to this elderly couple sitting in rocking chairs and holding hands. I couldn't help but smile at how cute they were, but I was sad too, hoping that I'll have that one day. Soon the rest of the family joined them, they had just gotten off splash mountain. They too thought grandma and grandpa were adorable, they took pictures and helped them back into thier matching scooters and drove off. People watching is quite fun sometimes.

By that time the birds that hangout in Frontierland and Liberty Square were starting to get a bit too close so I wrapped up the rest of my pretzel and threw my water in that handy bookbag and headed towards Pirates. Pirates was having technical issues and was closed, so I hopped on the line for the Jungle Cruise instead. It was a nice ride, but nothing fantastic. I did have a great skipper though. She tried to get everyone invovled, but no one was really responding. She told the most corny jokes that few laughed at. They were so bad they were funny, which was actually the best part of the cruise.

Afterr the cruise I was starting to get really hot. I didnt realize it would be so hot in late September. I still had a few hours before Autumn was set to arrive so I just wandered around in and out of air conditioned shops and ended up on Main Street again headed towards the exit. Before I left I took a leisure ride on the MK railroad. I caught the end of the 3:00 parade and lef the park about 3:30.

Autumn texted me she arrived at MCO about 4:30 and I went down to meet her bus about 5:30, just as a storm was about to roll in. I sat on a bench out front enjoying the nice breeze and trying not to think about the fact that at that very moment I was supposed to be walking down the aisle.

 

[YoungNY]

I wanted to dress up as Princess Tiana, but I could only find an adult costume online. It was 50 bucks and I wasn't sure if either of the 2 sizes they offered would fit and it was non-returnable. So instead I opted to make my own costume. I chose to be the queen of hearts.

Ignore the mess in the background. Autumn chose to be Esmerelda. It totally suits her presonality.

We took the bus to MK and arrived about a quarter to 8. Before our trip I was concerned we'd be the only adults wearing costumes, but by the time we got to MK I felt underdressed. I think next time I'll invest in a real costume. Autumn wa most excited for the trick or treating so I found a place near the rides we hadn't done yet. We hit up the trick or treating next to buzz first. Autumn had no interest in meeting buzz, but she loved the ride. She kicked my butt.

Oh I wish I had gotten a better picture, it was so funny. We were so competitive and it was really reflextive in our picture. I had one eyed and was making a funny face like a pirate. It was great. Damn, my crappy camera.

We did the laugh floor next and wandered over to the tea cups. I had to ride the tea cups dressed as the Queen of Hearts.

I was trying to look mean like the Queen. I actually love the tea cups, but these don't go spin very fast and just as we got a good spin going the ride was over. Oh well, it was still fun.

I wanted to see what was open in the new fantasyland, but I just saw Dumbo. Autumn thought it dumb to have two of the same ride right next to each other. Dumbo has always been one of the rides I wanted to ride along with the flying carpets, just because they are MK classics to me anyway. But I'd feel strange being an adult getting on those rides alone. Guess I'll just have to wait til I have kids.

Not sure how much I like the theming here, I''l have to see once everything else opens. He hit the trick or treat trail starting at the fantasyland train station. There were 3 stops ending back in tomorrowland.

Again trying out my mean Queen look. It was about this time that we noticed the fireworks starting. We made our way to the bridge to the castle and watched from there. It was a good show, but we missed half of them while walking around and the only place we could find on the bridge was behind a tree. It was after the fireworks were over that things got worse. I'm a pretty easy going person, I don't let much bother me so the crowds aren't a real problem for me. Autumn is a different story. It was so crowded on that bridge with people trying to go in every which direction and some not moving at all, it was chaos. Autumn yells to "I thought this was supposed to be a not so scary halloween party." I said what's scary. She pointed at all the people around us and said "This!" I felt bad for her, I really had no idea of her crowd phobia. We finally found a place right in front of main street that had enough space for two. We figured we weren't going to find a better place for the parade so we decided to just stay there. I left Autumn there to fight the crowds and save our spots while I got us some waters. She was so happy when I came back. We sat down and waited for the parade for about an hour.

Don't let that smile fool you. She was already ready to go.

 

[ExtinctJenn]

Ignore the mess in the background.

Show me someone's hotel room that doesn't look like that while they are vacationing at Disney. LOL! Heck I think yours is clean compared to what ours turns into usually.

 

[Gabe1]

Show me someone's hotel room that doesn't look like that while they are vacationing at Disney.

And that would be me. The mousekeepers have to love me (family, not so much lol) and I tip well.

 

[disney1077]

I wanted to dress up as Princess Tiana, but I could only find an adult costume online. It was 50 bucks and I wasn't sure if either of the 2 sizes they offered would fit and it was non-returnable. So instead I opted to make my own costume. I chose to be the queen of hearts.

Ignore the mess in the background. Autumn chose to be Esmerelda. It totally suits her presonality.

Great costumes!

 

[YoungNY]

And that would be me. The mousekeepers have to love me (family, not so much lol) and I tip well.

I used to have a friend who would make us wash the dishes and make the beds before we left the room every day. Her mother was a maid, so she hated leaving a mess. I understand where she was coming from, but still.

 

[YoungNY]

Great costumes!

Thanks!

 

[Gabe1]

I used to have a friend who would make us wash the dishes and make the beds before we left the room every day. Her mother was a maid, so she hated leaving a mess. I understand where she was coming from, but still.

I'm not that bad! lol. And I do it, I don't make anyone else. I'm not that OCD at home but that is one small space. I do wash refill mugs at night. I pull up covers on bed, but don't make. Put my coffee cup by little coffee pot. Laundry bag hangs on rod closet. Big bag hangs for all the items we buy. All our stuff by sink is out tucked back in each of our bath bags and used towels on side of tub. All drink bottles etc. in garbage, uneaten food always goes outside trash at night. I never want a mousekeeper to walk in my room and be sad to enter my room. I do miss the old bed frames where I could slide empty suitcases under bed.

I'm really enjoying this TR! Love friend trips.

 

[bethymouse]

Love the trip report! The costumes are great!

 

[YoungNY]

Love the trip report! The costumes are great!

Thanks!

 

[YoungNY]

Alright for those still reading. I'm hoping to finish this up tonight.

We got excited when this guy came riding through...

But that was really bad timing on Disney's part. As evident by the time stamps, after the headless horseman came through it was a 20 minute wait until anything else happened. That put us at close to an hour sitting aournd waiting for a parade. I love Disney, I just think they could've organized that a bit better. It was a lot of wasted time. By the time the parade came around my interest and excitment was half gone. It was a good parade, but not a great parade. I also thought it was a little for short. It felt like it lasted only 5 minutes.

Ok, I got a kick out this portion of the parade. I have no idea where the cowboys came from, but I told Autumn they put that part in to keep the mommies interested. Hey, it worked for us.

Did I mention my camera has awesomely bad timing. I press the button and it takes the picture like 5 seconds later. I caught the back of a lot of characters.

And just like that it was over. They had people handing out candy at the end, but they went by so fast hardly anybody got any. At home I don't like parades or fireworks, but at Disney World I love them. This was one parade I wouldn't mind missing next time. Oh well, glad I did it once though.

 

[Gabe1]

Ahhhhhh...Cowboys!

.

 

[Allie_Marie]

I love your TR!! You're beautiful! I'm sorry about your wedding but you'll find someone else MUCH better! I'm so jealous of your animal experience! It's amazing! Can't wait to finish

 

[YoungNY]

As the parade ended, I suggested to Autumn that we go sit on the bench right behind us until the crowds departed. She agreed. We waited for about 10 minutes or so. The park closed in about an hour and I was busy trying to figure out what we were going to do, but as the crowds cleared I saw the villians come out. It was like they just started popping up out of no where. I didn't know which line to get on first. I saw the evil step mother and step sisters first and since I have an evil step mother, I jumped on that line.

The Step mother called me Your Majesty and the sisters glotted about how good of friends they are with the queen of hearts. I told Autumn later the Step mother is probably the only character allowed to show her disgust with the guests because it's part of her character.

Autumn wanted to take pictures with characters, but she was a little nervous about "people characters". She was fine as long as they didn't talk to you, but these 3 talked. They said something to her about keeping her kind (gypsies) away, which made her laugh and relaxed her enough to pose for the picture.

I think the castle looked great during the party. I'm really surprised this picture actually came out.

After this picture I noticed my girl in the bottom corner. I got so excited, I looked around for Autumn who was doing something in her bag, I couldn't form words I was so excited. I started jumping up and down and pointing like a little kid. She said go and waved at me and I took off. Now usually I'm a slow walker, but at Disney I can move. I was gone and on line in seconds. I checked my costume and most of my stickers had come off so I grabbed the extras I bought with me and tried to reapply in line as best I could. We were in line for a few minutes when the handler came over and told us all the characters were going in in 5 minutes. I got super nervous. The whole trip I kept telling Autumn all I wanted to do at the party was get a pic with the Queen of hearts as the Queen of Hearts. I thought it'd be the coolest thing. Now I might just miss her. I nearly turned into one of those rude. pushy guests, but lucky the handler took care of that for me. I didn't mind she was being rude at all. Hurry it up folks! And finally, I got what I had been waiting for!

I was so happy I met her, I didn't even care how off my costume was or that the picture wasn't zoomed in more or that Autumn didn't catch us bowing to each other. Those memories are reserved in my head and I cherish them. By that point the park was set to close in 15 mintues, I asked Autumn if she wanted to do one more thing, but she was ready to go. That's when it hit me, I was about to leave MK for the last time and I had no idea when I was going to be back again. I got that panicky feeling inside, sort of like if I was kid I would've thrown a temper tandrum screaming "No! I don't want to leave! Ever!" But I sucked it up and we started down main street.

Then I got this brillant idea. I remembered when we where at MK a few days earlier Autumn mentioned she wanted to stop back at the Bakery because the coffee rolls or iced buns or whatever you call them looked amazing. We also still had quick meals to burn so as we got close I suggested to stop in. She agreed.

She got a brownie, a banana and water and they charged her a quick meal.

I asked her why she didn't get the coffee roll she said those are for breakfast. OK.
I ended up getting a ham and cheese, cheesecake and iced tea.

I didn't get to enjoy my food and I ate most of it on the plane back to NY. Now Autumn and I have been friends for about 5 years now, in those 5 years I can't recall a single fight. We've disagreed sure, but never fought. We weren't fighting this night either, but we definately disagreed about the course of action. Now I had heard about this goodnight kiss, I wasn't sure if they were gonna do it on a party night, but I wanted to stay and see if they did. I also knew the buses ran late and you could stay in the park until it was nearly empty. It was part selfish and part thinking of Autumn, but I thought if we stayed as late as we could we wouldn't have to fight the crowds that she hates so much and I'd get to see everything I wanted. She on the other hand wanted out of the park a.s.a.p, before the crowds. I told her people started leaving right after the parade and it was probably packed at the bus stops, so it was best to just stay and wait it out. She repeated she needed to leave right then. There was no arguing with her. I knew I was either gonna leave with her or she was gonna leave without me. So I packed up my food and we left MK. I tried to get some last looks goodbye, but Autumn was moving so fast and I didn't want to lose her in the crowds. I did manage to grab a few quick shots as we left.

This one looked so much better on my camera. On my camera you could actually read it.

Blurry, but you get the effects more.

Bye Bye Magic Kingdom. See ya real soon. I hope.

Needless to say it was quiet trip back to the hotel. Autumn packed as soon as we got back to the room. I just sat around and did nothing honestly. I didn't want it to end and I was a little upset she was so eager to leave. When I finally got over it, she finished the beers I had bought, since she couldn't take them back home and I don't drink beer and we watch/laughed at crazy reality tv until we fell asleep.

 

[YoungNY]

The next morning I got up early and found the fantastic present on our door.

I went down to the foot court and spent the rest of our quick meals on breakfast.

Our pick up time was 9am. After we checked out, Autumn went to get something for her new 5 monthh old nephew and I took pics of the lobby.

Autumn came out of the shops just as the bus pulled up. As sad as I was to be leaving, I was happy to be finally riding on an offically DME bus.

We were both sad to go.

Bye Bye Port Orleans French Quarter

 

[YoungNY]

Now for some random pictures Autumn sent me from her camera. They aren't in order.

Despite how it looks, I was not drunk.

 

[mamamouse]

NO WAY!!!! I was there from the 24th-30th awe man sucks that I missed ya,I love meeting new Disney friends

I remember reading your pre TR ,glad I found this and that you had a good time


believe it or not prosciutto and cantaloupe are one of the best flavor combos ever!!
I so want that pizza now.

mmm butter pecan ice cream is so yum.

YAY you did it !!!! that bridge looks super scary YIKES!!!So way to go !

awe I love the giraffes,they are so precious,i have to do that trek.

OMG GIRL SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!!!!! Boyz II Men& I won't be there to see them ,ugh my heart is broken.

awesome report

 

[YoungNY]

The take away:

The Resort: Port Orleans French Quarter was nice. The beds we comfy, the themeing was great. The pool and hot tub were great. I thought the food court was a little small and didn't have many choices. I thought the food court at the POP was better and bigger. The Jazz Lounge was nice, but the location was weird. I thought it should've been a more private, intimate place. The people were extremely nice.

The parks: Fun as always. I did notice a lot of construction, even outside of MK. That can only mean things are improving right? I'm glad I got to experience things I've never done before. Maybe next time I'll get up the guts to ride Splash Mountain. I didn't get to do everything I wanted, but that's just my excuse to go back. Though I probably wont get to experiance it for a while, I'm excited for the new fantasyland. And if the rumors I hear about Avatarland are true, I think that would be awesome. I'd like to spend a little more time exploring the countries in Epcot and try to tackle drinking around the world again.

The Wild Africa Trek: It was by far one of the greatest experiances of my life so far. That might be lame, but it was. Getting picked to be in a promotional shoot for Disney just made it even better. I can't wait to see the pictures from the shoot and I'll be sure to share them with you all when I get them in the mail in a few weeks.

The Not So Scary Halloween Party: It was a great experiance. It was fun. I was also a lot of money. I don't think I would pay to go if I had a big family or pay to go every year if I lived close, but I'm glad I did it once and I might do it again. It wasn't much different than a normal night, except everyone was dressed up and it was halloween themed. I don't think the quarter bag of candy we got and 5 minute parade was worth the $60 a person. I think we got more out of the Chirstmas Party than the Halloween Party. I'd do the Chirstmas Party again in a heartbeat.

Food: I can't say there was anything this time that stuck out for me. There was nothing over the top amazing. It was all good food with the exception of Hollywood and Vine which I will never visit again.

Future trips: I'd like to do a 5k next year and later a half marathon in 2014. We'll see if my finances will allow that and I'd have to get medical clearance first to start training. My hip is getting worse and I might need a new replacement first. But my next trip I'd like to try a deluxe hotel. I have my eye on the Boardwalk and Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Overall: I know a lot of people here are tired of WDW or upset with the upkeep, mantience and lack of production. While there I did notice several things mentioned on these boards, but honestly if I hadn't read it here I wouldn't have noticed. I don't visit often and while there I'm not trying to look for things that are wrong and if I happen to spot something, I can overlook it. It's just not important. Sure Disney is cutting back on stuff and trying to save money where they can. I don't blame them, the rest of us are doing the same thing. As long as Disney continues to make me feel special and the level of service doesn't decline, I'm a happy girl. I tell everyone, "Yes, Disney is expensive and you could probably stay at a five star hotel on a tropical island for half as much as you'd pay at Disney, but the level of service you get at Disney is far better than anywhere." I still feel that way, they made everyday feel magical and special and that's all I can really ask for. Anyway, I had a fantastic time at Walt Disney World. I look forward to many more adventures and new experiances in the future. I'm also looking into the cruise line and Disneyland in California and Disneyland in Paris. I guess with all these plans, I need to hit the lottery for real.

If you're still here, thanks for reading. It was fun sharing my trip with you.

 

[harveyt0206]

Wow, what a great report! It looks like you definitely experienced some pixie dust magic this trip. Winning the free trek is awesome. Thanks for sharing your journey with us.

 

[NemoRocks78]

Super cool TR! Getting a free Wild Africa Trek is awesome. It sounds great too. Definitely something to look into next time. I also agree with forgetting what's "wrong" with WDW and focusing on the good - makes for a heckuva great time that can't be beat.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[disney1077]

Really enjoyed reading your trip report. Thanks for sharing! So glad you had a wonderful time.