"Is this the Magic Kingdom?" - A November Trip Report

“Is this the Magic Kingdom?!” - A November Holiday Trip Report

53 rides
36 characters
6 table service meals
5 nighttime shows, fireworks and parades
4 and a half days
3 girls
And 2 resorts
All add up to….

One magical Disney getaway!

Hey everyone! I may be home physically, but mentally I’m still in Disney World. We had a GREAT long weekend (or short week, as some people have called it) For those who have read my pre-trip report, you already know the scoop. For those who haven’t, here’s a little run down:

Who:
-Me: Darolyn (or most people call me D) age 28. Disney enthusiast to the max.

DSC07392 by Derelicte19, on Flickr

-Sister: Ashley, age 26. Loves Disney as well but not quite to the same obsessive level as I.

DSC06321 by Derelicte19, on Flickr

-Mama: Terryn, age 29... Again! I thank her for bringing me to WDW at the tender age of 11 months and getting me hooked. I also thank her for buying our timeshare in Kissimmee so we can enjoy a vacation with Mickey and friends every year J

DSC06942 by Derelicte19, on Flickr

We’re all Disney fanatics!! J

Here’s me and my sister (and friend) in 2006

8131_189995891071_674341071_4381286_4635389_n by Derelicte19, on Flickr

And here we are in 2007

n674341071_2766527_4062959 by Derelicte19, on Flickr

And at Busch Gardens in 2009 (Yes, sometimes we cheat on Disney… sorry!)

n674341071_2824009_4791285 by Derelicte19, on Flickr

Me and Mama on our 2010 trip

155212_10150099410841072_674341071_7868956_7013788_n by Derelicte19, on Flickr

And May of 2011

DSC07059 by Derelicte19, on Flickr

We visited Disney World together this past May and had a great time. We had originally scheduled our next WDW vacation to be fall of next year, for a week, in our timeshare at Vistana. Well, plans changed. None of us wanted to wait a year and a half so a couple schedule changes, a few number crunches and some reservations had us flying into Orlando on Thursday night November 10 and returning home Tuesday night November 15. Yup, a full year ahead of time. Since we wouldn’t be using the timeshare, we decided to stay on Disney property. Much easier doing that than renting a car and staying off-site (though in the long run, that might have ben cheaper!) We’d stayed at the All Stars a couple times but this time we decided we wanted to go big… deluxe resort big. So we booked a courtyard view room at the Wilderness Lodge for 4 nights and 1 night at the All Star Movies (since our flight wasn’t scheduled to arrive into Orlando til midnight, we couldn’t fathom the idea of spending the $300+ nightly rate when we were arriving so late.)

This trip was a trip of many firsts for us: Our first deluxe resort. Our first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. We added 3 new restaurants to our itinerary and also it would be my sisters first time visiting WDW during the holiday season (my mother and I both visited Thanksgiving week back in 2001 and again last November) Also, our first time experiencing the Magical Express and our first time NOT having a rental car and relying completely on Disney transportation.

Now, onto the good stuff…. Enjoy!!

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Back in August, Cousin Tom wasn't our server, but (and I'm pretty sure we were at the same table as you, lol) we had an awesome interaction with him. He had that stick you're talking about, and he narrowly fished it behind the little red teapot thing on the shelf. He kept tapping the lady at that table on the shoulder. She kept turning around, thinking it was me :lol: He did it to her like 3 times, and she was getting seriously ticked off - it was hysterical! The best part was, after the third time, he just walked away. No explanation to the poor lady, nothing. Just walked away. Too funny :ROFLOL:

I haven't, no. Cherry Coke is my absolute favorite. It taste a little different here than out of the bottle but either way, it's good. Maybe I'll give the vanilla a try next time!

My sister is a Cherry Coke addict, and she loves going to 50s specifically for the Cherry Coke (she's obsessed with the pot roast too, lol). It tastes different because it's "real" Cherry Coke. Coke with cherry syrup and an actual cherry. Even I'm a fan, and I don't drink a lot of pop (yeah, we say pop here in Buffalo, lol).

I'm finally catching up on the rest of your report. Loving it!

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

Love Love Love LOVE the Bruins shirts! :animwink: :sohappy:
BOO that the trip's about done.... That's awesome though that you get to stay in the WL DVC area in May!

 

[jenseib]

I am only on page 6...well just finished that page, but loving it.
How were the crowds in general? We are cruising Nov.4-8 and I think Claire and I are going to go to WDW for a few days after. I'm trying to decide if I want just a 1 day park ticket (and go to DHS for osborne lights) and also do the party, or get a 2 day ticket and the party......well lets say I have lots of ideas floating in my head. :ROFLOL: Also did any of the resorts have Christmas stuff up yet? I am thinking of resort hopping one evening, but I'm not sure if we will if they don't have any decorations up that early.

I'll have to keep reading on, but loving it so far.

I'm bringing this back because I think you might've missed it. So it sounds like the resort decorations didn't go up till the 15th. Bummer, we wil lbe gone by then. Which parks were decorated? I know MK was, and HS, but did the other 2 have stuff going on yet?

 

[chrissyw14]

Driving from Boston in May?

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Back in August, Cousin Tom wasn't our server, but (and I'm pretty sure we were at the same table as you, lol) we had an awesome interaction with him. He had that stick you're talking about, and he narrowly fished it behind the little red teapot thing on the shelf. He kept tapping the lady at that table on the shoulder. She kept turning around, thinking it was me :lol: He did it to her like 3 times, and she was getting seriously ticked off - it was hysterical! The best part was, after the third time, he just walked away. No explanation to the poor lady, nothing. Just walked away. Too funny :ROFLOL:



My sister is a Cherry Coke addict, and she loves going to 50s specifically for the Cherry Coke (she's obsessed with the pot roast too, lol). It tastes different because it's "real" Cherry Coke. Coke with cherry syrup and an actual cherry. Even I'm a fan, and I don't drink a lot of pop (yeah, we say pop here in Buffalo, lol).

I'm finally catching up on the rest of your report. Loving it!

I LOVE Cherry Coke.... from the bottle, with cherry syrup... doesn't matter to me. It's my favorite soda. The Cherry Pepsi just doesn't do it for me. lol

Love Love Love LOVE the Bruins shirts! :animwink: :sohappy:
BOO that the trip's about done.... That's awesome though that you get to stay in the WL DVC area in May!

I think the one I was wearing that day was Shawn Thornton. I just picked up another Bruins shirt on Thursday night with Seguin on the back. I also have a Kane one! Wooooooo!! lol

Driving from Boston in May?

Yes, driving from Portland, ME in May. It's a 24 hour trip. But airfare out of our local airport is over $300 a person. No clue why it's so much. We could fly out of Boston for around $260 but then we would need to take the bus to Logan which is $45 a person so it just wasn't worth it. And since we're staying off property, we'd need a rental car and nothing I was finding was any less than like $300-400 for the week! It's crazy. So rather than dishing out $400+ a person for flights and car, we can drive for about $150 a person. I'll suffer 24 hours in the car for that!!! :lol:

 

[fractal]

Loved the report and pics!


Going back in May? I'm not sure who I'm more envious of, you are Holly.

I will interested to hear how the drive goes. We are 16 hours by car from WDW and I've often contemplated driving vs. flying.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Loved the report and pics!


Going back in May? I'm not sure who I'm more envious of, you are Holly.

I will interested to hear how the drive goes. We are 16 hours by car from WDW and I've often contemplated driving vs. flying.

We've driven before and honestly, I don't think it's that bad. We have 3 people to split the driving between. We would much rather fly but not at the cost we could get. It's just not worth it. We'd rather save the money and get an extra table service meal or two down there.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

We checked into the Crystal Palace for our last ADR. A few minutes later we were led in and seated. Breakfast is probably my favorite meal. I love all breakfast foods.... Waffles, pancakes, eggs, bacon, home fries.... yum!!

Tried Pooh's puffy french toast for the first time and it was DELISH!! Sadly, no pics But we did get to see all the characters this time, including my beloved Eeyore who we missed in the spring because he was too slow to get to our table.

After stuffing ourselves silly, we meandered over to Adventureland. I was on a mission to meet Aladdin since I was not able to see him during MVMCP. While we waited for them to come out, which we were told would be around 9:30, we hopped on the magic carpets

The grounds were soaked in Adventureland and Ashley decided she didn't want the bottom of her jeans to get wet so she rolled them up.

We got in line to meet Aladdin and no sooner than we did, he appeared along with Jasmine and they went over to the Magic Carpets and rode with some lucky guests. It was really cool. Finally, we got to get our pic with Aladdin and Jasmin. Jasmine asked us if we had any pets and my sister replied that she has a dog. Aladdin mentioned he has a monkey (Abu) and I said I'd trade my sister for Abu. He liked that deal. haha. Im sad the picture is gone because Aladdin was a stud. I'm a sucker for all, dark and handsome. *swoon*

Afterwards, we heded through Frontierland where Davy Crockett Donald was out. We hopped in line and right before we reached the front, Donald had to go call Daisy. So we waited a few minutes for him to come back as it was really dead there that morning. It ws like night and day compared to Saturday. We took a really cute pic of me and Ashley kissing Davy Donald on either side of his duck bill but alas, gone... *sniffle*

We wandered over to Fantasyland and grabbed FP for Peter Pan since they were for before we needed to leave and then onto Tomorrowland where Ashley and I rode Space Mountain. We probably waited 15 minutes this time.

While we waited, Mom took a journey on the Peoplemover and then met Buzz Lightyear. The only picture she got though was on the photopass CD and stupid me forgot to order it before it expired. UGH!!! We didn't do very good with pics this trip apparently.

We walked onto Buzz Lightyear. I scored a measly 143,000. Meh.

Before heading over to PPF we grabbed FP for Space Mountain...

 

[Disneyfalcon]

How exciting that the tree was up! What a nice last day surprise!!

I'm so sad you lost your character pictures! I know how sad I would be!

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Le Cellier = LOVE

Are you getting to visit the beloved Le Cellier while you're down there?

Unfortunately now wonderful Le Cellier we didn't even go to EPCOT, just went to the parks one day and spent it at DHS and MK

And you guys are driving???? That's crazy!!! I think it's the same amount of time from MA? well approximately..we've never driven down always flew. But flights will probably be going up more since gas is supposed to be going up...

Oh and booked dates for September! We had a bounceback offer in our room and booked for 9/26-9/30 hopefully Port Orleans is one of the host resorts! I wish that they would release more info for the run!

 

[chrissyw14]

you should stop in Jersey and pick me up! lol

 

[Kristia]

Yum! Love the breakfast pic from CP! Breakfast is my favorite meal as well. Probably because I have a major sweet tooth!

We are driving for the first time from Jersey to Florida in April for our cruise on the Magic. It should be interesting! We are going to try and go straight through since there will be two of us driving but we have built in a little extra time in case we need to stop. Do you guys drive straight through? Mapquest is saying 17 hours from our house. Doesn't seem too awful bad...I hope!

In the times I have replied to your threads I keep forgetting to tell you my 2nd most favorite place after Disney.....Maine! I have vacationed 2x in Bar Harbor and absolutely love it. My dream would be to buy a vacation house there. We stopped in Portland on our way up. What a nice town! We LOVE hiking in Acadia. So beautiful. Crossing that bridge onto MDI makes me feel like I am home. I must have lived there in a previous life lol! Don't think I would want to do winters there though!

 

[enchanted_belle]

I'm a sucker for all, dark and handsome. *swoon*

:ROFLOL: aren't we all??? I think Dan is screwed if we end up meeting Aladdin, Gaston, Prince Charming, Flynn, or ANY tall, dark, handsome man while on our trip... :animwink:

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

How exciting that the tree was up! What a nice last day surprise!!

I'm so sad you lost your character pictures! I know how sad I would be!

Yeah, I am sad We keep forgetting to bring the disc over to a friend of ours to see if she can manage to salvage anything from it.

Unfortunately now wonderful Le Cellier we didn't even go to EPCOT, just went to the parks one day and spent it at DHS and MK

And you guys are driving???? That's crazy!!! I think it's the same amount of time from MA? well approximately..we've never driven down always flew. But flights will probably be going up more since gas is supposed to be going up...

Oh and booked dates for September! We had a bounceback offer in our room and booked for 9/26-9/30 hopefully Port Orleans is one of the host resorts! I wish that they would release more info for the run!

YAY that's so awesome you booked your dates!! Flight prices from Portland right now are about $240 (compared to the $330 for May!!) and they're decent flight times. So I'm hoping to book my flight SOON! 9/24-10/1 is what I'm aiming for. If not, then 10/25-10/1.

you should stop in Jersey and pick me up! lol

Will do! Just give me directions!! :lol:

Yum! Love the breakfast pic from CP! Breakfast is my favorite meal as well. Probably because I have a major sweet tooth!

We are driving for the first time from Jersey to Florida in April for our cruise on the Magic. It should be interesting! We are going to try and go straight through since there will be two of us driving but we have built in a little extra time in case we need to stop. Do you guys drive straight through? Mapquest is saying 17 hours from our house. Doesn't seem too awful bad...I hope!

In the times I have replied to your threads I keep forgetting to tell you my 2nd most favorite place after Disney.....Maine! I have vacationed 2x in Bar Harbor and absolutely love it. My dream would be to buy a vacation house there. We stopped in Portland on our way up. What a nice town! We LOVE hiking in Acadia. So beautiful. Crossing that bridge onto MDI makes me feel like I am home. I must have lived there in a previous life lol! Don't think I would want to do winters there though!

Last time we drove, we drove straight through on the way down. Left around 6pm on a Thursday and drove all night. We did stop on the Jersey Pike and caught like 30 mins of sleep. but otherwise we drove straight through. Got into Orlando around 8pm or so Friday night. There were only 2 of us driving and this time we have 3. On the way home we usually leave around 10am and stop in either NC or VA for the night. That gets us home around 6pm the next night. We're always so tired on the way home that going straight through is harder lol

Bar Harbor is beautiful!! We go up there usually once a summer and go to Acadia and shop in the downtown area. We like to take Rt 1 and stop at Perry's Nut House in Belfast. I don't know if you've ever had a chance to stop there but it's a fun place. They have really good fudge!

I actually live in South Portland so I'm like a 5 minute ride into downtown Portland. The Old Port area is where lots of tourists go in the summer! It's ALWAYS busy down there!!

:ROFLOL: aren't we all??? I think Dan is screwed if we end up meeting Aladdin, Gaston, Prince Charming, Flynn, or ANY tall, dark, handsome man while on our trip... :animwink:

I might have stolen Aladdin if Jasmine hadn't been there. She prolly would have kicked my butt if I tried it haha

 

[enchanted_belle]

Will do! Just give me directions!! :lol:

Take me as well!!!!

I might have stolen Aladdin if Jasmine hadn't been there. She prolly would have kicked my butt if I tried it haha

I have a feeling Dan would be ok with it if I left him for Gaston... the others, not so much. He'd think they're too "girly" :lol:

 

[jenseib]

Thats a long drive. We have driven from Ohio a few times, but usually stop to break it up. Though I have gone straight through too. Driving at night is the best time though, a lot less traffic.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Take me as well!!!!



I have a feeling Dan would be ok with it if I left him for Gaston... the others, not so much. He'd think they're too "girly" :lol:

haha, we drive right over the memorial bridge, so sure! I've actually been to Wilmington for a weekend. I had a friend playing baseball for the Blue Rocks and I went down to visit him

 

[enchanted_belle]

haha, we drive right over the memorial bridge, so sure! I've actually been to Wilmington for a weekend. I had a friend playing baseball for the Blue Rocks and I went down to visit him

I love how I'm looking at Blue Rocks stadium as I read this lol! Good, you'll be able to find me easily!!! :animwink:

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

I love how I'm looking at Blue Rocks stadium as I read this lol! Good, you'll be able to find me easily!!! :animwink:

aaahhhh, that's too funny! We also went to dinner at the brewery right there, too. Wilmington was nice.



OK, so I'm finishing up the last couple entries right now and then I"ll have a thoughts/review entry

 

[AndrewnPatricia]

Very cool trip and pics so far Darolyn!
Congrats on the annual pass too! Can't wait to buy my first. Will probably do the same and take a pic. I did that of a $1500 scratch off I won and made a photo copy.

Paid for most of our trip back in '08.