Trip Report No rain, no lines, no crowds, no ADR's, no fastpasses, lots of fun and pool time.

OK, so I am starting my very first trip report. We went Sept. 7-15 and stayed offsite the first night then 7 nights in a one bedroom at Bay Lake Tower. This was an anniversary trip...she has tolerated me for 31 years of marriage now...something that still amazes me.
The first day we arrived around lunch time after driving through masses of lovebugs. We got there during what I understand is the beginning of the fall lovebug season. Wife's new car, white with lots of front bumper space, was covered in the little pains in the you-know-what. We stopped at a couple of gas stations just to top off the tank and try to clean them off a bit (felt we should add a bit of gas since we were using their window cleaner and water and paper towels).
Arrived at DTD, which has become our traditional first stop, and enjoyed the afternoon. Later went to the offsite room, checked in, freshened up a bit then back to DTD for the evening.
Ate at Earl of Sandwich a couple of times on this trip. Walked around, did some shopping, looked at the construction, or I should say at this point construction preparation and deconstruction, and back to the room early after a long day.

The cast of characters for this trip are Mr. and Mrs. epcotisbest, seen here at Epcot last Wednesday with a couple of other suspicious looking characters:
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We are hopeful for the changes coming to DTD, but hope it does not become too much of a shopping mall. Time will tell.
We like Rainforest Cafe and saw the remodeled volcano for the first time. It seems to me a company that talks about the environment a lot is not very environmentally friendly with all the gas used in the eruptions...just sayin'.

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We have gone to WDW and not carried a camera, we have so many pics already, but decided to take my wife's little Canon point and shoot this trip. Left the Nikon DSLR at home. Quit carrying it a long time ago. The Canon did OK.

Plenty more to come, a little at a time.
 

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
While the masses were at DHS, a couple of castmembers from TotW told us they heard it was an hour or more in traffic just to get to the parking lot of DHS. They seemed to think the crowd there affected their non crowd and I guess so. The evening got prettier, the sky glowing as we went over to the Contemporary:

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From the skybridge between BLT and Contemporary:

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Longers

Well-Known Member
Walked over to Canada and UK pavilions. Both are beautiful at night. Looked for some HP Steak Sauce while at UK pavilion and found it! Was going to get it when I noticed it was $13.99 per bottle. Not happening. I just am not going to pay twice as much just because it is at Epcot. I'm just too thrifty. Will look for it at World Market next time I am in Atlanta.
Sat on a bench at the courtyard at UK with a couple from Michigan or somewhere who were on a one month trip and we started a conversation. They had just come from Key West, were now at WDW and then were headed on up the east coast. Talked briefly until it became apparent they had been drinking around the world and did not know when to stop. What could have been a nice conversation became a "Nice to meet you, have a safe trip," as I have little tolerance for those who don't know when they have had one or three two many.

Hit a few more shops, looked at some cool Beatles shirts and other stuff, then realized it was nearly time for Illuminations thanks to the announcement from Epcot voice.

Went over and stood on the bridge to France, as we like it there and it is easy to hit the International Gateway out from there. As soon as the first fireworks went off the wind brought the smoke right to the bridge, along with little pieces of debris. My wife is very allergic, or at least very sensitive to smoke so I dragged her outta there even though she insisted she would be fine. We high tailed it over to a place just past Rose and Crown and found a good viewing spot, though a little obstructed by trees, and watched the rest, as smoke enveloped the bridge we were just on, thanks to a nice evening breeze. Good thing we did not stay there.

Love Illuminations...my favorite of all the evening shows. I'll take it over Wishes and Fantasmic! every time, but that is just me. We watched Wishes from the top of BLT several times this week and love that as well, just not as much as Illuminations. Used to really love the Tapestry of Dreams parade at Epcot as well. Miss that one almost as much as Horizons...no don't miss anything at WDW as much as I miss Horizons.
Ditto re illuminations. Love it. And if you are ever in WDW the same time as us I will happily bring you over a bottle of HP sauce!
 

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It's normally Nov for us but maybe we could have a little relay between Sept and Nov through the members of this site to get it to you. Or maybe I will consider Sept given the weather and the crowds you had- we'll see
November weather is exceptional. Sept. still has lingering summer heat and humidity and usually still has afternoon pop up rain showers. We lucked out this trip. Last Sept. it rained every afternoon, but usually those afternoon pop ups don't last very long.
 

Longers

Well-Known Member
November weather is exceptional. Sept. still has lingering summer heat and humidity and usually still has afternoon pop up rain showers. We lucked out this trip. Last Sept. it rained every afternoon, but usually those afternoon pop ups don't last very long.
Ok maybe I will stick with Nov and we are back to the relay to get the HP sauce to you!
 

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Saturday would be a day of rest, visiting other pools (allowed through DVC but I know a lot of people don't like this) and stopping by a couple of favorite restaurants:

First my favorite place in all of WDW early on a Saturday morning:

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We are trying to stay at as many different Disney resorts as possible. This is the only repeat so far:

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epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So that will about wrap it up for a wonderful week at our favorite place: Thank you for reading. I know I probably bored many of you but this is kinda how we do things now...and we love it. We do it our way, and that works for us.

I'll wrap this TR up with a link to my all time favorite version of my all time favorite song...and I do wish you were here.

 

HouCuseChickie

Well-Known Member
What a wonderful TR!!! You two are so sweet together :) Honestly, I love how relaxed the whole thing was. I'm hoping to convince DH to do a grown ups only more relaxed WDW trip...even if it's a short one. Your AKL pics also have me thinking- man, I was just there. Even had a nice conversation with a CM (from Botswana, I think) about the ankole cattle...and loved Sanaa. I also fully agree on the Contemporary- I know lots of people say it's not very Disney, but it's the first resort I think of when I think WDW. Thanks for sharing your beautiful trip and great pics. :happy:
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Immensely enjoyed your report. I love your writing style and wity and dry sense of humor. The pictures at the metal Mickey "seats" are wonderful and your wife is adorable! You know how to do a relaxed, couple WDW trip - I can only hope for the same at some point. Thanks for taking us along!
 

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