"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!!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Great trip report. Your view at the Wilderness was lovely. It is my favorite resort. We loved Via Napoli too and you are so right about the cute Waiters. My mouth was on the floor during our entire meal. My husband thought it was hysterical. He understands that I simply have a weakness for tall, dark and handsome.

WL is my 2nd favorite (POly takes the top spot) but it's my favorite that we've stayed in. Poly is a little too much for us right now. Maybe someday...

And the "view" at VN is fabulous! The food could have been terrible but I stil would have been a happy camper with all the handsome men there!! :lol:

Yeah it got stronger the closer you got to the end. I haven't had any of the cupcakes at starring roles, but the brownie sandwich at Earl of Sandwich was reallly good.

The cupcakes are really good! I did see the brownie at Earl but I was too full to get it but it looked delicious! Maybe next time I'll give it a try!

Great trip report! I'm hooked!

Thanks!! I hope to get more posted today.

What?!? Your people mover crashed?!!! That is crazy!! Crazy I tell you!! I'm surprised they didn't make you fill out an accident report or something!

Ohhh yes... I had NEVER seen anything like it before. I felt bad for the CM's because they had to walk the entire track and let everyone off. Some people were stuck for quite some time. I thought it was a little odd they didn't make us fill out anything or at least tell someone (upper management or something) what happened. :shrug:

Hollywood Studios looks like fun I haven't spent much time there as an adult but am looking forward to it after reading your last leg.

Blackthidot's art work is too hilarious. :ROFLOL:

Look forward to reading more.

I enjoy DHS a lot. 2 of my favorite attractions are there so that has a lot to do with it. They definitely do need some more 'family friendly' attractions there though to help alleviate the congestion at TSM... Maybe someday!!!! :lol:

Hey all I did was enhance the color and sharpen the photo. I did NOTHING else to that picture!

That's FALSE. The pic is all on you, buddy!

 

[blackthidot]

That's FALSE. The pic is all on you, buddy!

Whew!!! Glad you confirmed that. People probably believed you guys really looked like that!

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Been MIA for a few days but all caught up!!! Love the time you spent in HS, my favorite park!!!!!! And don't you just love walk ons on TOT?? I think in Sept I went on once 4 or 5 times in a row there was no one there! So much fun!

And I agree about RnRC definitely the best in the back!!!! same with Everest too in AK definitely the best in the back! And BTMRR too! lol

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Been MIA for a few days but all caught up!!! Love the time you spent in HS, my favorite park!!!!!! And don't you just love walk ons on TOT?? I think in Sept I went on once 4 or 5 times in a row there was no one there! So much fun!

And I agree about RnRC definitely the best in the back!!!! same with Everest too in AK definitely the best in the back! And BTMRR too! lol

Yes, love walk ons on ToT!! I love HS as well. It's always a different park each trip it seems that we spend the most time at. In the spring it was MK. This time it was Epcot.

And the back of any coaster is the best I think! BTMRR in the front is awful.. you're halfway down the "hill" before you pick up any speed. I don't think we've ever done the very back at Everest... Hmmm... there's something to do when we go next!! lol

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

After MuppetVision 3D, it was time for our ADR so we headed over to our favorite sit down meal at DHS (not that there are many to choose from anyways..) but this is always a favorite!!

We checked in and sat down and waited. I sat in the little "living room" area. I just love the details here.

Apparently I decided to play hide n seek in the flowers. Yeah... I'm weird sometimes.

We waited maybe 5 minutes before they called our name. Our waiter was Uncle Tom (or Cousin Tom? I don't remember..) Anyways, we had seen him there pretty much everytime we had dined there before. He was GREAT! I always read so many negative reviews about the antics there but we always partake in them. If you read reviews on the place it clearly states they waitstaff will tell you to take your elbows off the tables and other crazy stuff like that. The way I see it, if you don't like stuff like that, dine elsewhere or just ask them to tone it down a little. OK, moving on...

I got the Cherry Coke and my favorite meal there, the pot roast. SO. GOOD. I've never ordered anything else. I've considered it, but I'm afraid nothing will compare to the deliciousness of the pot roast. The veggies and potatoes that come with it are yummy too.

Because I'm sure no one knows what Cherry Coke looks like...

Ashley got a Bud Light Lime and the pot roast.

While Mom got the meatloaf. She really likes the meatloaf there. I'm more of a meatloaf girl if it's made at home but I tried a bite and it was good.

While we ate, Tom snuck up behind me and tapped on my head with some sort of stick (a yardstick maybe?) and then hid so I wouldn't see him. It was pretty funny. I finished well ahead of Ashley and Mom. I was so hungry, I practically inhaled my food. Proud member of the Clean Plate Club right here!!

We skipped dessert there because there was somewhere else I wanted to get dessert at. So we settled up the check and headed back out to the Studios....

 

[ArtieJim]

Because I'm sure no one knows what Cherry Coke looks like...

Every have a Vanilla Coke? Not one of those cheap ones the Coca-Cola company used to sell in plastic bottles but a real one like at that joint? Those are pretty outstanding.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Every have a Vanilla Coke? Not one of those cheap ones the Coca-Cola company used to sell in plastic bottles but a real one like at that joint? Those are pretty outstanding.

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!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

I felt kind of like a piggy going back to Starring Rolls since we had already been there once and I had already gotten a huge brownie earlier, but I knew I couldn't leave without getting my favorite treat there....

I would be sadly disappointed as this cupcake was much different than the one I had in May. The one in May was moist where this one was dry and cool. At one point I went to slice off some of the frosting and the whole chunk of frosting that was left on top came off the cupcake. I think that was due to being in the cooler so long since it was almost 4pm. When we got cupcakes there in May, it was early, around 10:30 or so. It was still tasty, but I think I will stick to ordering it in the morning instead of the afternoon. Ashley and Mom split a peanut butter cupcake and they also found it to be a bit dry.

We had originally planned to leave the Studios after lunch but when we got the times guide, it said the Osborne Lights were only on Thurs-Saturday. Well, since this was Saturday, this would be our only chance to see them this trip and we didn't want to miss them. So we decided since MK had EMH til 3am we would stay and see the lights then head back to the WL for a short break and then head over to MK. We had about 2 hours until "dusk" when the lights would come on so we started off by heading down Sunset and hit the ToT twice. Love this ride!!

We headed back over to the Magic of Disney Animation to see if there were any rare characters out yet. No luck. Since this was our 3rd time checking today, I figured I would ask a CM if anyone other than Pooh or Mickey would be out. He told me that what we saw was what we got. I mentioned that a friend of mine had said sometimes they had rare characters out later in the afternoon and he told me that while that was true, it was no more. No more rare characters would be out anymore. If that is true, well then, RATS!! We wanted some rare characters!!!!

Brokenhearted we dragged outselves out of the animation building. OK, we weren't really broken hearted but I was a bit bummed. I stopped in the store at the exit of Animation and picked up 2 drinking glasses, one Fantasyland theme and one Tomorrowland theme. We headed down in the direction of Pixar Place and were trying to decide what to do. No shows we wanted to see were starting soon and the ones that were going to start would overlap when we wanted to be back at New York Street for the lights. As we passed by Woody and Buzz's meet and greet, I pointed out that we had never met Buzz and Woody before so we decided to stop and see em! The wait was about 20 minutes but it was worth it (we even saw a little girl outside press her face against the glass and lick it. Ohhhh the germs!! lol) This was the best meet and greet we had all trip!

When we got to the front of the line Ashley walked up and Buzz gave her a kiss on the hand and Woody kissed my hand, then they switched.

After Woody kissed Ashley's hand hand, he fell back against the wall and "fainted" Buzz being the good friend he is came to Woody's aid and started fanning him (as seen below)

Woody finally composed himself and was able to take a picture.

Hey Buzz... the camera is over here!!

Woody then decided, hey were gonna leave. So we strolled, arms linked to the exit door. The CM stopped him and said "Woody where are you going?" Woody pointed at me and then at himself and then pretend to eat something. He then pointed to Buzz and Ashley and waved for them to join us. He turned back to the CM and pointed at all 4 of us and pretend to eat something again. I said "Double date!" and Woody nodded in agreement. The CM said "Sorry fellas but you guys gotta stay here" Woody shook his head sadly and he and Buzz started to make their way back over to their spot when Woody turned to me and held up his hand and signaled "Ill call you" so I said "Yes, call me!!" It was hysterical. Even some of the parents behind us who could see it were laughing. I'm sure after dealing with kids all day they were happy to have some "adults" to mess around with. Woody never did call though, sadly... I'm still crushed about it.... lol

We stopped for a drink before we made our way back to New York Street. It was starting to get dark and there were already a lot of people there lining the streets. Mulch, Sweat and Sheers were playing a set further down so we found a spot on the curb and sat down to wait....

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

I have seen the lights before, but not since they were on Residential Street. That was 10 years ago. I passed up on seeing them last year to ride on ToT a few more times with my cousin. We all wanted to see them this year. A few minutes after dusk, the lighting "ceremony" began and the lights came to life.

The lights were so much cooler than I remember. The way they synch them to music is amazing. Ashley was really impressed and she went crazy taking pics and video. You can see the snow in some of the pics.

Even the bikes had lights!!

They interchanged the dancing lights with having all the lights on at once. We got a photopass pic taken in front of the lights and admired them some more before we decided to head for the exit.

 

[blackthidot]

Jesus...I hope little bud in the red picked a winner there...

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Jesus...I hope little bud in the red picked a winner there...

haha, I saw that too. I was going to crop him out but I decided not to. I think he adds a little something extra to the photo

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

So I could not stop laughing about Woody and Buzz! :ROFLOL: Seriously, that was pretty good on their part! It's good to see characters interact with adults as well instead of just taking a picture!

And I haven't seen the Osborne lights since they were on Residential Street as well! It's actually one of my fondest memories from going at Christmas there, can't wait until next year when I finally get to see them again in person! I guess your pictures will have to do me justice for now...lol

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

So I could not stop laughing about Woody and Buzz! :ROFLOL: Seriously, that was pretty good on their part! It's good to see characters interact with adults as well instead of just taking a picture!

And I haven't seen the Osborne lights since they were on Residential Street as well! It's actually one of my fondest memories from going at Christmas there, can't wait until next year when I finally get to see them again in person! I guess your pictures will have to do me justice for now...lol

haha, Woody and Buzz were hysterical. And yeah, some characters just take a pic and that's it. We adults want to have fun too though!!!

While I did enjoy the lights on Residential Street, New York Street was cool. I like RS just because all the houses they had were all lit up. There's just so much to see on NYS. We didn't even walk all the way down so I'm sure there were some things we missed. Darn... Guess we will have to go back!! :sohappy:

 

[heartodisney]

Great pics! We had so much fun with Buzz and Woody...got our sugar rush at Starring Rolls...I was so focused on the Butterfinger Blast, I did not see the ones you obtained! We almost "crashed" while watching the Beauty and the Beast production due to the sugar rush...lol. We did not go back that night to see the Osborn lights...so this will be a must next we go back.

 

[plaz10]

Loving this TR!!! Really makes me want to take a trip with my mom.

I really like the tip about the dry cupcakes at starring rolls. Because we had one in May at about 11 or so and it was delicious. I can see that if they're sitting in the cooler - they're drying out. So I'll have to remember to make this a morning/early afternoon snack.

Keep up the good work!!!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Great pics! We had so much fun with Buzz and Woody...got our sugar rush at Starring Rolls...I was so focused on the Butterfinger Blast, I did not see the ones you obtained! We almost "crashed" while watching the Beauty and the Beast production due to the sugar rush...lol. We did not go back that night to see the Osborn lights...so this will be a must next we go back.

Yes, definitely check out the lights next time. They are so beautiful. Starring Rolls is awesome. I had a brownie and cupcake from there within 6 hours of each other! OINK OINK!! lol

Loving this TR!!! Really makes me want to take a trip with my mom.

I really like the tip about the dry cupcakes at starring rolls. Because we had one in May at about 11 or so and it was delicious. I can see that if they're sitting in the cooler - they're drying out. So I'll have to remember to make this a morning/early afternoon snack.

Keep up the good work!!!

Thanks for reading!! I love going to disney with my mama. She gets just as excited as my sister and I do. She even downloaded the Countdown To Disney app on her iPhone. lol

We got our first go round at Starring Rolls around 10:15-10:30ish and the brownies were great. Maybe it was just an off day for the cupcakes... :shrug:

 

[fractal]

Awesome pics of the Osbourne lights! Loving the report so far.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Awesome pics of the Osbourne lights! Loving the report so far.

Thanks! The lights are really awesome. I wish we had more time to spend there looking at them.

Hoping to get another update done today. I've been so busy with Christmas that I haven't had much free time the past few days!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

We headed for the exit and there was no line for us bus and it showed up within a couple minutes. Thankfully it wasn't as cold as the night before. Brrrrr!!!! We got back to the resort and headed down to the hot tub to relax a little bit while Mom went and filled our mugs with some soda. It was nice to relax and just sit in the hot tub. The resort is gorgeous at night, but I forgot to take pics.

While we were in the hot tub, a little boy came in and swam right up to my sister and bagan talking to her about spiders and how he from from really far away. He was SUPER adorable. He got out to head over to the pool and he promised us he would be back. He never did come back. Typical male... Leavin ya hangin!! haha

We got dressed and headed over to the MK. We took the boat again as it was such a nice night. The boat was right there when we got down to the dock.

When we got to MK around 8ish, the place was a MADHOUSE!! It was predicted to be a 10 day, and boy did it seem like it! The parade was geting ready to start so that meant Main Street was super crowded. We made our way up through the shops on the left and decided we wanted to get something to eat. We decided Casey's corner was fine and Ashley and my Mom waited for food while I went outside to snag a table and also to see if by some miracle I could find my friend Nick who was there visiting with his parents. I lucked out on both the table and finding Nick so him and his parents came and sat with us while the parade went by.

We then tried to make our way to Main Street for Wishes. I couldn't believe how crowded it was! We watched Wishes from Main Street on Thanksgiving Day last year and that was tame compared to this night. Of course people were putting kids on their shoulders, thus blocking the view for other people. I understand that kids are short and cant see but it's not fair to put them on your shoulders and block everyone elses view. You child is no more important than the couple standing behind you who want to see the show as well. And the way they have people crammed in there like sardines, it's not as if you can really move too far if someone blocks your view. Just hold your child so they are level with you. That'll make everyone happy!

Anyways, I only took 1 pic of Wishes. Since Wishes is my favorite, I just wanted to watch in savor the moment. Before the show started my sister looked over at me and said "I give you 5 minutes" basically meaning she gives me 5 minutes before I start crying (yes, I'm a sap, I know!)

Forget the 5 minutes, my eyes welled up as soon as Tinkerbell flew down from the castle lol Wishes was awesome as usual... the mess in the hub and on Main Street afterwards, not so much. We stood as close to the sidewalk by Casey's as we could so we could scoot out over by the Crystal Palace afterwards. Being as there were now 6 of us, we decided if we got separated we would meet at the HM. Sure enough, Nick and I got ahead of everytone else. Took us about 10 minutes to get over to Liberty Square, so not too bad. We rode HM while we were there. I know it's the same ride but it seems much better at night. We waited about 15 mins because the parade crowd headed there as well.

After HM, we hit up Jungle Cruise and Pirates. Both were walk ons. Our Jungle Cruise skipper was good but he was a little bit TOO into the role. Pirates was great (of course) We decided to head over to BTMRR as it was closing in on midnight when the park would close to regular guests. The parade was making its way through Frontierland and they were not letting anyone cross so we got to watch the last half of it or so.

Once it ended, we did BTMRR. The wait was maybe 15 minutes because most people from the parade headed there it seemed. BTMRR is so much better in the dark and we got lucky and we were 2nd row from the back. The back is the best!

When we got off, the park had already started EMH. We walked with Nick and his parents to Fantasyland. There we went our separate ways but we planned to meet up with them the next day. Nick loves Disney just as much as I do so it was fun to hang out with him there.

We were pretty tired as we headed through Fantasyland but we knew EMH would allow us to get in some rides as we would only have Tuesday morning for a few hours to spend at the MK. We walked on It's A Small World and then headed over to Dumbo. I haven't ridden Dumbo in years but we wanted to get one last ride in while it was still at it's old location. We waited maybe 5 minutes.

After Dumbo, we all kind of hit a wall. We had been going since 7am and it was about 1am. We decided we would do a couple more rides and then head for the exit. Pooh was pretty much a walk on so we hit that next. Tigger is my sisters favorite and sadly we only got on this once this trip.

After Pooh we decided that we would hit up Space Mountain and then head out. Space Mountain was about a 5 minute wait and it was great like usual. After Space we heded out of Tomorrowland. The clock on Main Street read 1:20. EMH was until 3 but we just didn't have the energy to stay until then

As we were walking down Main Street to the confectionary, we passed by some of these:

The sidewalk art is so much fun to see, especially for someone like me who can't even draw a stick figure! lol

We stopped in the confectionary and since it was so late they didn't have a ton of stuff, but they did have what I wanted.. the celebration fudge! It was pretty good. My sister got a cake pop and we headed down to the boat dock. A boat came about 2 minutes later and we were WL bound. There were two guys working on the boat, they were probably my age or a little younger. One was celebrating his birthday. They kept talking to us over the loudspeaker asking if we were all still awake. We hit got back to the room and hit the hay hard after a LONG but super fun day!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

One of my favorite movies!!