Our magical, "Mickey dusted" October 2011 trip

We have been back for a little less than 2 weeks now. I miss it already, but hope that I can recapture some of the magic by writing this trip report. First, I want to apologize that the quality of my pictures is not up to par with some of the other posters here. I only have a point and shoot and do the best that I can!! Secondly, I apologize for the lack of food pics. By the time we got our orders placed for 7 people and got the kids settled down to eat, the last thing I wanted to do was wait any longer to get to my food!

So, on to the trip. We'll start with the basics. We were at WDW from Friday, October 14 through Saturday, October 22 and we stayed at All Star Movies. "We" is me, Amy, my husband Brian, my mom and dad, Logan (8), Lily (6), and Owen (3).
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We started our trip with a 7 am flight out of Dayton on Friday morning. It is never fun to have the alarm go off at 3:30 am, but at least we knew we would be at WDW soon! The kids and I found the flight to be uneventful, but Brian thought there was too much turbulence. There really was next to none, but Brian hates to fly, so he will never admit that a flight was fine!! Unfortunately, the week before we left Owen began to pick up on Brian's reluctance to fly. We had several conversations that went like this:
Owen: How fast is the plane going to go?
Me: Really fast. That's why we can get there so quickly.
Owen: I don't want the plane to go that fast. Maybe it can go slower for me.
Me: You really don't want it to go slower or it won't stay in the air.
Owen: Oh! Okay!
We must have had that conversation at least once a day the week before we left. Luckily, he loved it once we got on the plane.

Once we landed, we made our way to DME and were soon standing before this sign
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We had quite the trip ahead of us as we had to stop at Coronado Springs and both other All Stars before we arrived at Movies. It seemed to take forever, but I know it was just that we were anxious to arrive. Everyone was excited to see this sign
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Once we got to All Star Movies, check in was very quick. Our rooms were not ready yet, but we were told they were adjoining rooms in the 101 Dalmations building and that they would text us when each of the rooms were ready. Our original plan was to head to DTD for lunch, but we decided to eat in the food court to see if maybe the rooms would be ready shortly. Brian and my parents took the kids to find a table while I went to get our MNSSHP tickets. Before I was even finished, Brian came and said that one of our rooms was ready, so we went back to our original plan and dropped our things off at the room and headed to DTD. We were greeted by this
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We never did get a text about my parents' room being ready.:shrug:

We strolled on over to the bus stop and waited patiently.
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We very quickly caught a bus and arrived at our destination.
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TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Enjoying your report, and great pics; especially Fantasmic!
Thanks! I took a whole lot more pics of Fantasmic, those are about the only ones that turned out halfway decent!

Great TR! Can't wait to read more!!!
Thanks. Hopefully I'll have more up tomorrow night. Logan and Lily started basketball this week and Lily and I had dance tonight, so I'm a little busy right now, but I'm trying to get it up quickly so I remember all of the little details!

Love your trip report! You have a beautiful family & your pictures are great! :)

I can totally relate to the fear of flying thing. I'm always the one in my family who thinks that flights are awful when everyone else thinks they were fine. Nobody ever wants to fly with me, haha. But it's all worth it when you get to the DME bus!

I love that your son got a hot pb & j at Chef Mickey's! I eat them hot all the time & people think it's so weird. I ate them constantly during pregnancy. I swear it's better hot.

I had the same experience at Boma. I liked it, but my picky husband didn't. I think it's for less picky eaters, but there's definitely enough for everyone. I don't think I can get DH to go back anytime soon though.

Love your Halloween room decorations! I have never seen pictures of them before, I didn't know Disney did anything like that for Halloween. Thanks for posting!
Thanks for reading! We put the pictures in the window and then Mousekeeping took the stuffed animals and other Halloween items we had taken with us and did the decorating. The kids got the biggest kick out of it!

Loving your TR - great pics! Can't wait to see more!

great pics!!!
Thanks so much for reading. I'm glad you are enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it!!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Epcot

Today we started off with breakfast at the resort and then headed to Epcot. We made it just as they were allowing guests to enter.
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We had to stop right away to see:
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Then we had to stop to ride SSE because the kids wanted to ride what they saw when they saw it!! They didn't understand the concept of going to get FP when there was something right there that they wanted to ride! It was early enough that it worked out okay.
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Lily absolutely loved this ride and begged to ride again. Instead, we headed to
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All 7 of us rode this one. Everyone but Owen liked it!

Then we went right next door for Brian, Logan, Lily and my dad to ride
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I didn't really care if I rode or not, so I sat it out so that the four of them could ride it together. They went for the green side. While they rode, I hiked across Future World to
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I obtained FP for Soarin' for all 7 of us then hiked back across Future World.
I found this mural in the shop at the end of Mission Space.
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Logan couldn't stop talking about this one and couldn't wait to ride again!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Epcot

Then we all headed across Future World to ride
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Owen loved it!! It was easily his favorite so far this trip.
We had to get Bruce pictures at the end.
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Then we were off to Innoventions West for
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We weren't sure what to expect with this and it was okay. It was nice to experience it once, but we certainly won't be doing it again! Our storyteller was Snow White. She was great trying to interact with the kids, but there was only 1 other little girl there and none of the kids were very talkative.
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Logan obviously didn't want to be part of the group. He was a little punk that morning. He wouldn't answer any of the questions Snow White asked and he was very standoffish with her. What can you do?? It's hard to see here, but he refused to take his hands out of his pockets while getting his picture taken.
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TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Epcot

Owen and Snow White led a little parade around the room while the adults all sang "Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho". He and Lily enjoyed themselves.
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One last picture of all of us before we left.
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Then it was time to make our way toward our much anticipated lunch ADR.
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Before long we were headed into Canada.
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We were about 45 minutes early for our ADR and they told us we would likely have to wait until our 12:50 ADR to be seated. I said okay and sent the kids out to the Kidcot Station and sat down to wait. Not even 5 minutes later they called us to sit down in a nearly empty dining room.:shrug: I'm not sure what that was about.
Lunch was good, not great, but good. I definitely want to eat there again to give it another chance. Brian and I both ordered cheese soup, the house burger, and chocolate mousse from the prix fixe menu as we had heard such good things about the soup. I'm gonna be honest and say I was a little disappointed. I personally like the cheese soup I can get at our local O'Charley's better.:lookaroun The burger and the mousse were good. The pretzel bread was delicious. Next time I will order the fillet! My parents both got the steak and potato skillet and raved about it! The boys both ordered pasta with tomato sauce and Lily got the grilled chicken. All of them enjoyed the food, but what they really liked was the milkshake that they could order as their drink!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Epcot

Sadly, that was the last time we would step foot in World Showcase that day. Potentially even the rest of the trip. That did not make Brian happy because he loves World Showcase. But we had a FP deadline to make!! I know, I know. You can use the FP anytime after the initial return time, but I hate breaking rules, even ones that Disney says you can break!:ROFLOL:

Numerous times on this trip I caught Lily and Owen like this:
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It was really quite sweet! She was all about looking after him. If only that were the case when we are at home!

So, with minutes to spare, we arrived to redeem our FP for
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All 7 of us got in line and waited about 10 min. before we were taken to get in line for our seats. Then Logan started complaining that he had to go to the bathroom. We told him he needed to wait because it was almost our turn. He insisted that he couldn't wait. The funny thing was that the 10 year old in front of us had the same problem and his mom was getting really upset with him. I tried to lighten the mood by telling her that we had an 8 year old with the same problem. We decided that maybe we should send the two of them to the bathroom and then they could come back and ride together! The CM at the front of the line let the 2 of them and Brian and Logan out and said that they could get FP to re-enter after relieving themselves. Brian was so not happy!! He said he was not going to let Logan come back through the line. Well, the other 5 of us got on the ride. Owen loved it and kept saying it was his favorite. Lily didn't really care for it. The rest of us really enjoyed ourselves. We exited and found Logan and Brian. Luckily for Logan, the FP that they had been given was for 3 people, so Brian and I both got to ride with Logan. I have a feeling that if it had only been good for the 2 of them, Logan would not have gotten the opportunity to ride! Needless to say, Logan learned to anticipate the need for restroom breaks before entering ride lines!

We then proceeded to ride Living With the Land.
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Then it was on to:
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It was enjoyable for the kids. That's about all I can say about that ride!

The kids wanted to check out Innoventions, so we headed over there and stopped first for our Disney Visa session.
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Next up was a quick bathroom break. We ran across these two as we were returning to Innoventions.
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Owen was begging to ride Nemo again, so he and I went there while Brian and my parents took the other two back into Innoventions.
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After we met back up, we decided it was time to head back to the resort. On the way out, we had to ride Spaceship Earth again for Lily.

My hope for that night had been that we would take my parents and the kids back to the resort and that Brian and I would then go to EMH at Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately, Brian still wasn't feeling well, so we decided it was easier to just stay in the room and relax.
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
love epcot! :) :p

So does my husband! I have to say, and I'll probably take a lot of heat for this, it is my least favorite park. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being there, but if I took a trip and didn't get to go to Epcot, my heart would not be broken. It kills my husband every time I say that!
 

PolynesianPrincess

Well-Known Member
Le Cellier is my favorite restuarant anywhere. The filet is AMAZING, IMO. I've never tried the cheddar cheese soup before though. I think we're planning on trying it on Monday though.

Keep the updates coming! It'll give me something to read when I get back from the World on Wednesday!! :wave:
 

93boomer

Premium Member
Hi! We were there the same week you guys were and your family even looks familiar to us! I betcha we were on some of the same rides at the same time! I really like all your group family shots with the characters. Nice looking family! We are having major withdrawals especially with the temps here getting down in the 20s tonight! Keep those pix coming! Great job!:wave:
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hi! We were there the same week you guys were and your family even looks familiar to us! I betcha we were on some of the same rides at the same time! I really like all your group family shots with the characters. Nice looking family! We are having major withdrawals especially with the temps here getting down in the 20s tonight! Keep those pix coming! Great job!:wave:

Thanks! How funny would that be if we were on the same rides!?! We actually had snow flurries here today, so we are definitely feeling the withdrawal blues!
 

sam_disney

Active Member
So does my husband! I have to say, and I'll probably take a lot of heat for this, it is my least favorite park. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy being there, but if I took a trip and didn't get to go to Epcot, my heart would not be broken. It kills my husband every time I say that!

Oh No!!

I do think I'm a little biased though because Epcot was the first disney park I ever visited and I can still remember that special feeling of being in florida and seeing the big golf ball for the very first time. :)

I just love the difference between future world and world showcase... and Illuminations is sooo magical! I cry everytime!

I think I also like Epcot because I adore disney don't get me wrong, but I feel Epcot is a little more grown up and less disney... its gives you a break from it all being sooo disney all the time!

Anyway thats my reasons why I adore Epcot! Oh and I love the music that you hear walking around it too! :)

Anyway, please continue with your trip.. loving it!! 35 days to go for me and my honeymoon:) xx
 

lbrad

Well-Known Member
Just joined in ... love your TR!!!

Such a beautiful family.

Love the shot of Lily holding Owens hand in the stroller.

Also LOVE the 2 pictures of Lily next to the Dalmation ... they grow so fast!
...sigh

So nice that your parents were able to join you ... hoping to do the same with my own grandchildren someday.

Can't wait to read more :wave:
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Oh No!!

I do think I'm a little biased though because Epcot was the first disney park I ever visited and I can still remember that special feeling of being in florida and seeing the big golf ball for the very first time. :)

I just love the difference between future world and world showcase... and Illuminations is sooo magical! I cry everytime!

I think I also like Epcot because I adore disney don't get me wrong, but I feel Epcot is a little more grown up and less disney... its gives you a break from it all being sooo disney all the time!

Anyway thats my reasons why I adore Epcot! Oh and I love the music that you hear walking around it too! :)

Anyway, please continue with your trip.. loving it!! 35 days to go for me and my honeymoon:) xx

I do love Epcot, just not as much as the other parks, so don't hate me too much!!:wave:

I look forward to reading your TR when you return from your Disneymoon!

Just joined in ... love your TR!!!

Such a beautiful family.

Love the shot of Lily holding Owens hand in the stroller.

Also LOVE the 2 pictures of Lily next to the Dalmation ... they grow so fast!
...sigh

So nice that your parents were able to join you ... hoping to do the same with my own grandchildren someday.

Can't wait to read more :wave:

Thanks so much for reading! It was so nice for my parents to see the kids enjoying themselves and discovering WDW! They hadn't been in 22 years, so they had fun themselves seeing it all again.

Hopefully I'll have a chance to post more tonight.
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Magic Kingdom

So this was our big day of the trip. We had two ADRs and would be attending MNSSHP. We were up and at the bus stop by 7:00am because we wanted to enter MK early for some pics before our 8:20am ADR. Here are some pics from before we entered the park.
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Then once we were in the park we took in all the Halloween decorations.
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Then I took this one so I wouldn't forget to get it later!
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Then we headed up Main Street.
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TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Magic Kingdom

Then we headed through the castle to our ADR at
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They immediately ushered us into line to meet Cinderella.
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Then it was upstairs to our table where Owen was showing off his souvenir from Cinderella.
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Snow White was the first princess to be announced. Owen was totally captivated and even fell out of his chair because he was watching her so closely. It was very cute! (Not so cute when he fell out of his chair two or three more times because he wasn't paying attention!)
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The food was okay, but we had eaten there before and were't expecting anything different. The efficiency with which they get you in and out is amazing! Our photo packages were there before we ever got our food, and our bill was taken care of before the last princess ever made it to our table. However, all this was done without us feeling rushed. I understand why they have to do it this way and I certainly appreciated it as it allowed us to be back down in Fantasyland before rope drop!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Magic Kingdom

On our way out of the castle we had to stop for this photo.
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I have no idea what kind of face Lily was making!

Then we were in Fantasyland waiting for the rope drop.
We immediately went to Dumbo and were on the first flight of the day.
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Then we made our way over to
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Next up was most likely our last ride ever on
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Then we rode what became Owen's all time favorite ride of the trip.
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He asked to ride it at least once an hour for the rest of the trip. It didn't even matter if we were in a different park!

Then it was across the walkway to
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TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Magic Kingdom

Then we crossed back to the other side of Fantasyland, stopping for this quick pic along the way.
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We reached our destination only to see these two out.
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Unfortunately, before we reached the front of the line the White Rabbit had to take a break.
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Then on to the ride!
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Brian and my dad decided to sit this one out. Logan and Owen were nice to me and would stop spinning for a few seconds when I asked them to!

All of this was accomplished in under an hour!! Definitely says something about getting up and being there at rope drop.

We were going to head back to Philharmagic next, but the kids spied this
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and we never made it back to Fantasyland that morning.
My mom didn't care to ride by herself, so she was a spectator for this one.
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The kids really enjoyed this one. The adults all left with a headache, between the exhaust fumes and the jerky driving!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Magic Kingdom

Then it was time to let Brian ride his two favorite rides. First up was:
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The kids liked it, but weren't asking to ride it again! Brian was kind of disappointed, but what can you do?

Then we spotted our next destination in the distance.
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Lily and Owen were very apprehensive about this one. We were all about letting the kids ride what they wanted this trip, but not making them ride anything that they didn't want to. Except for this one!! This was the only ride Brian wanted them to ride with him, so my mom basically had to bribe them to ride it.
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My mom, Owen, and I were in the first seat and got soaked. Owen was none too happy about this!

As we were getting off, it started to sprinkle, so we headed to Columbia Harbour House for lunch. It was delicious!!
 

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Magic Kingdom

Logan then started asking about Pirates, so we headed over that way. We had to make a stop on the way.
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Then we arrived.
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All three kids really enjoyed this one and asked to ride it again this trip.
We met this guy on our way out.
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Then it was back to the resort for a much needed rest before returning that night for MNSSHP.

While the kids were napping, I wandered around the resort and got some pics.
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