"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!!

 

[LeCellier.Lover]

Yay yay more trip report! :sohappy:
That's awesome that you got to meet up with your friend and have good seats for Fantasmic! (Except for Mickey not being on top of his mountain..)
I'm jealous you guys got to go on ToT and RNRC so many times! Isn't ToT at night awesome?! That's funny that you mention your friend getting the back row on RNRC because when i went with my friends one of the moms (whose not such an adrenaline junky) got the back and when we got off the ride her hair was all over the place and she just stared at us and said "DON'T SIT IN THE BACK!!" Good times.. Haha! :ROFLOL:
Can't wait to read the rest! Even though boooo for it almost being the end..

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Happy 1000th post to meeeeeee!!! Here are some random pics and pics of our room...

Our plushies that Mousekeeping put on the bed

Amazing details in the headboard

On the end of each headboard there was an animal carved out... Rabbit, gopher (?) and I don't remember the other two. I only took two pics

Ignore the messy room lol

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Yay, the pictures are back!

I'm so sad your cupcake was dry! I know what it's like to be so excited about a dessert only to find out it doesn't live up to memories. It may have sat in the cooler too long! That's a good tip to get in the morning! I'm all for cupcakes at breakfast!

I know, I was so disappointed too Morning cupcakes for sure next time! lol Honestly though, my favorite part of the cupcake is the frosting so I just scraped that off and ate it. Yummy. Next time though I'm gonna try and get my hands on the red velvet cheesecake one :slurp:

Did someone say Flynn Rider????? haha

I looove Hollywood Studios at night! All the neon lights just make that park the best

It was the most bizarre thing... No clue why the bus said that. I tried to get my camera out to take picture but I was too slow. lol

I agree with DHS at night. It's beautiful

yayy your pictures are back!

so I definitely miss dreamfinder, i wasnt at disney at an old enough age to really remember the ride with him but after seeing pictures i remember him so id like to see it again

next time i go to epcot i need to get a Parisian Cosmo Slush!

ToT is my favorite [:

I miss Dreamfinder too The old Imagination is just leaps and bounds better than the one today. I pull up youtube maybe once a month a watch the full ride through of the old attraction. So nostalgic.

The slush was soooo yummy! And I'm not a fan of slush drinks. I always get my margaritas on the rocks instead of frozen. I guess it's just a texture thing but I definitly recommend this one. I only think it's available during the Food and Wine Fesitval though

Yay yay more trip report! :sohappy:
That's awesome that you got to meet up with your friend and have good seats for Fantasmic! (Except for Mickey not being on top of his mountain..)
I'm jealous you guys got to go on ToT and RNRC so many times! Isn't ToT at night awesome?! That's funny that you mention your friend getting the back row on RNRC because when i went with my friends one of the moms (whose not such an adrenaline junky) got the back and when we got off the ride her hair was all over the place and she just stared at us and said "DON'T SIT IN THE BACK!!" Good times.. Haha! :ROFLOL:
Can't wait to read the rest! Even though boooo for it almost being the end..

lol the story about your friends mom is hilarious. The launch just seems so much longer when you're in the back. probably the weight of all the cars in front of you pulling you along. Most people like the front... nah, I'm all for the last row!! :lol:

 

[plaz10]

Thank you for that pic of the monorail going past the Imagination pavilion. It's now added to my screen saver (which is just transitions of pictures of Disney World) but it's an awesome pic!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Thank you for that pic of the monorail going past the Imagination pavilion. It's now added to my screen saver (which is just transitions of pictures of Disney World) but it's an awesome pic!

That's one of my fav pics from the trip. I was in the right place at the right time to get it

 

[SleepingMonk]

Beaver.

 

[blackthidot]

Nick was just getting off. Mom

Okay wow dude...:hurl:


Also when we meet up in Sept am I going to have to burp Ashley after every time she eats like last time. That was annoying.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Okay wow dude...:hurl:


Also when we meet up in Sept am I going to have to burp Ashley after every time she eats like last time. That was annoying.

haha dear lord... You're such a dork.

And Ashley doesn't need to be burped anymore. She can also feed herself. She's gonna hate you even more than she already does when I tell her that!!!

 

[blackthidot]

haha dear lord... You're such a dork.

And Ashley doesn't need to be burped anymore. She can also feed herself. She's gonna hate you even more than she already does when I tell her that!!!

It was kind of cool having a grown woman sitting against my chest Indian Style. Nobody knew I was burping her. They probably just thought we really missed each other. Actually that day she didnt shave her legs gave me a rash. Oh and that poor lizard she threw up on.

How do I get myself into these situations? People always think I mean but who was the first one to put his hand up when you annouced "Who wants to burp Ashley?"

 

[blackthidot]

Just think if you guys were on a ghost hunt...every idiots involved and that watched the show would say those are orbs.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

It was kind of cool having a grown woman sitting against my chest Indian Style. Nobody knew I was burping her. They probably just thought we really missed each other. Actually that day she didnt shave her legs gave me a rash. Oh and that poor lizard she threw up on.

How do I get myself into these situations? People always think I mean but who was the first one to put his hand up when you annouced "Who wants to burp Ashley?"

hahahaha, seri ously, I'm laughing at my desk picturing this. My co-workers must think I'm nuts!!!

Just think if you guys were on a ghost hunt...every idiots involved and that watched the show would say those are orbs.

Orbs... Dust... same thing.

 

[blackthidot]

Just tell them why you're laughing.

 

[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.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Great TR! I've been off the boards for awhile and am just now getting caught up with all the great TRs that are popping up. Can't wait to read more!

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Great TR! I've been off the boards for awhile and am just now getting caught up with all the great TRs that are popping up. Can't wait to read more!

Thank you! I'm having a great time writing and reliving all the great times

I should have another installment up soon. Sadly though, we lost all of our characters pics from the last 2 days of the trip They were only my sisters camera and she deleted them. I still have all my pictures but our pics with the characters were on hers... Booooo!! I literally cried when I discovered it... Blahhhhhh.....

 

[chrissyw14]

lol i was going to comment about all the orbs in the picture and then i read blackthidot's comment haha

aww man i wish the slush would be offered all the time! I've had margaritas frozen and on the rocks im not sure which I like better, sometimes i get them frozen cause I feel like since they are a slush already they won't melt watery? idk.

any drink recommendations that are offered year round?

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

lol i was going to comment about all the orbs in the picture and then i read blackthidot's comment haha

aww man i wish the slush would be offered all the time! I've had margaritas frozen and on the rocks im not sure which I like better, sometimes i get them frozen cause I feel like since they are a slush already they won't melt watery? idk.

any drink recommendations that are offered year round?

I wish it was offered year round as well. The orange grand marnier slush is really good as is the Grey Goose lemonade slush. Both are found at the kiosk outside the France Pavilion.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Monday 11/14

We woke up Monday morning bright and early since we had slept in the morning before and had gone to bed relatively early. We were out the door and down to Roaring Fork by 8:15. There were lots of choices for breakfast and I struggled back and forth on which waffles to get. I eventually decided on the waffles with bananas and a rum butter sauce. They were pretty good but I think next time I'll go for one of the other choices.

I think this was Ashley's platter... Could have been Mom's... I don't remember

After breakfast we headed out to the bus stop and an Epcot was bus was loading. Perfect!! A quick stop at Fort Wilderness and we made it to Epcot right around 9am. We made a beeline for Soarin and grabbed some fastpasses. After that we decided since the Character Spot line was short, we hit up that. The woman attending Mickey was from Portland, ME so we chatted with her for a bit about our hometown. It's always cool to see CM's from our area since it happens so infrequently.

However I regret to inform my dedicated readers of this TR that all the characters pics from the last 2 days were deleted before they were uploded to the computer. We took almost all the characters pics on my sisters point and shoot because the quality was better than mine and Ashley assumed I loaded them all but I only did the first two days.. so gone are the rest of the character pics.. Waaahhhhhh!! Seriously though, I cried when I realized this. A friend of mine has a program on her computer and she's going to TRY and recover the pics but no promises... Fingers crossed though!!!

Side note when we were in line for the Character Spot there was a woman ahead of us who looked straight out of an 80s music video. She had big teased hair and eyeshadow that went on for days. I tried to sneak a picture of her but she was never close enough to get lol bummer...

Anywho, after the Character Spot we wanted to try out something new, so we headed over to The Sum Of All Thrills. We waited like 5 minutes. Ashley and I decided not to throw any loops into our design. It was cool, but nothing we would wait for again. On the way out of Innoventions, we grabbed a pass for a Kim Possible mission later on that day and headed over to use our Soarin FP.

Soarin is one of my favorite rides at Disney. I don't care that movie is crappy and has spots on it. I love the feeling of flying over the earth. The smells are great too. The oranges bring me back to the days of Horizons... Ahhhhh, how I miss Horizons.

On the way out, we quickly stopped at the Sunshine Seasons so we could get an iced mocha. I also decided I wanted a chocolate croissant. These are just so delish!!

After finishing up there, we grabbed some more Soarin FPs and headed out because I wanted to see if Duffy was out. I just love that cute little bear!!

Monorail Peach.. which in reality looks more like the color of a nude pair of heels I have, so we started calling it Monorail Nude hehe

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

:sohappy: An update!!!!

those Mickey waffles look wiiicked good right now

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

:sohappy: An update!!!!

those Mickey waffles look wiiicked good right now

I know, don't they? I jut got to work and I'm staaaahvin!! I guess I will enjoy my breakfast of peach oatmeal and yogurt lol