Roller Coasters, MNSSHP, and Character Stalking September PTR/TR

I just finished up my first ever Trip Report of my first ever trip to Disney World only a month or so ago and here i am writing my first ever PTR for my second trip to Disney. To check out my December 2010 trip report click here http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=708766 I enjoyed my first trip so much that a week or two after we got back i booked a trip for this September. We hit the December 20th deadline so we were lucky to get free dining. We chose September so we could attend MNSSHP and experience nicer weather this time.

I have four goals for this trip:

1. Ride all the roller coasters. My first trip consisted of Me, my boyfriend ( roller coaster wuss) and our just turned 3 year old son who wasn't quite tall enough or ready to do the rollercoasters. This year were adding my brother-in-law to the mix who isn't scared of anything so he'll be my partner in crime.

2. Attend MNSSHP. On our first trip we did MVMCP and it was a blast. I'm really excited about MNSSHP. I love Halloween and can't wait to find costumes for us to wear.

3. Character Stalking. We never did the autograph thing on our first trip. This time i'm going all out and making my own autograph book and am going to get as many as i can.

4. WWOHP. I'm a big Harry Potter fan. We never left Disney property last time. This time i'm dedicating two days to Universal so i can definately get it WWOHP.

So our little family taking on this adventure will be myself ( Becki -29), my boyfriend ( Chris - 30), our son (Cohen -3) and my boyfriends brother (Jeff -21). We will be staying at POP Century September 12th - 20th. I heard great things about this resort. We purchased our plane tickets back in January and got an awesome deal with Air Canada of only $400 a ticket. Taxes in. Plus no luggage fees for our first piece of luggage. So were all booked and putting money on our remaining Disney balance every month.

This is a picture of us this past December on our first Walt Disney Trip.

A picture of Jeff with Cohen on his 3rd birthday.

 

[ladycameron]

Pluto took there hats off and turned them around. What a laugh!

Goodbye Chef Mickey's. See you next time!

 

[mamamouse]

WOOHOOOO i'm from C eh n eh D eh too!!!!

 

[ladycameron]

WOOHOOOO i'm from C eh n eh D eh too!!!!

Thanks for following along!

 

[ladycameron]

After Chef Mickey's we headed over to Epcot to catch Illuminations. Something we haven't seen yet. We thought we got there in plenty of time to get a good spot. I can't believe how early people get ready. We found a half decent spot near the entrance to World Showcase which i was pretty happy about because when it was over we would have a head start to the buses.Now i know a lot of people love Illuminations and though i enjoyed it i found it rather long. I'm glad i got a chance to see it though.

What a great arrival day!Jeff was amazed. It was his first time at Disney. As soon as we got back to the resort we all crashed. Downtown Disney and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party tomorrow!

 

[ladycameron]

Day 1 Downtown Disney and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

This morning we slept in a little and took our time getting going. Chris and Jeff were going to check out The Richard Petty Driving Experience since Chris missed out last year due to rain. However they changed their minds at the last minute and we all went downtown for the morning.

We headed right down to Characters in Flight. Someone said you have to experience it twice. Once during the day for the view and once at night to see everything lit up. Unfortunately we ran out of time and only rode it in the day. Something for next time though right?!

When we got there we didn't have long to wait. However it was very windy that day so they were only letting a few people up at a time, The four of us went up with a couple. Now i'm not one to be afraid of heights. I fly, go on rides etc... but when we went up i got scared and my knees were weak, I just didnt get to close to the edge even though there are bars there so you can't fall out. I don't know what was wrong with me but i felt okay once we went back down. i'd do it again though. It was beautiful up there and you could see Epcot!

 

[ladycameron]

After that we wandered around some more and went in some of the shops.

We had to make a stop in the Lego store of course. Cohen loves playing with the lego there and we also bought some to take home with us.

 

[ladycameron]

The only store we didn't get a chance to go in was Once Upon a Toy. Cohen was getting tired so we headed back to the resort to nap so we could be all rested up for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. When had a bus all to ourselves on the way to the resort. Couldn't believe it!

 

[ladycameron]

After a good rest we headed over to Magic Kingdom for MNSSHP around 4. We wanted to get as much time in as possible. We brought our costumes with us to put on later.

I was so excited about being back in the Magic Kingdom and so overwhelmed with all the beautiful Halloween decorations that i cried. Chris and Jeff thought i was crazy and Cohen laughed at me but i didnt care. I was just so happy!

We noticed the wait times for the princess's was super short so we headed in there to get some pictures and autographs. Now last time Cohen loved the princess's but this time he was being shy so he didn't get in any of the pictures with us.

 

[ladycameron]

Jeff was loving it! Cinderella asked him if he was single and he said yes so she was telling him all about her stepsisters and how she should introduce them.

When we headed out of the building we went right back in again so we could meet Mickey. Cohen's favorite. He definately got in the pictures for this one. And we got a surprise, Minnie was there with him.

 

[ladycameron]

We made our way to Adventureland first. Cohen's favorite from the year before was The Magic Carpets so thats where we had to go. We went on it quite a few times with no waiting. Then we did Pirates of the Caribbean. We didn't give anything away to Jeff because we wanted him to experience everything for the first time like us not knowing what to expect next. After the Jungle Cruise which was only like a 10 minute wait we went to find something to eat and get ready for the Halloween party.

Cohen made a new friend!

 

[ladycameron]

After a quick bite we got dressed for the party. I picked costumes that wouldn't get in the way of riding the rides and wasn't too hot. Jeff on the other hand was super hot in his costume and could barely walk because it was so tight but he got a lot of compliments.

My little pirate!

Then we did some trick or treating and on our way around the park Cohen discovered the Haunted Mansion. Something we didn't do last time because we thought he would get scared. But he was determined to try it. He loved it! We ended up going in The Haunted Mansion several times this night and on our other Magic Kingdom day. Move over Magic Carpets, Cohen has found a new love!

We then found a front row spot in front of Hall of Presidents to watch the parade. Everytime people came out while we were waiting we could feel the air conditioning on our backs which felt great because it was so hot. The Headless Horseman came gallopping by but it was quite sometime before the parade came through because one of the floats was broken and it was being fixed. I must say it was quite worth the wait. I really enjoyed it!

 

[ladycameron]

After the parade we headed right over to the castle stage to see The Villain show. This was so good. And they even came out to mingle with the crowd. Cohen was a little scared so we headed over towards Tomorrowland.

In Tomorrowland we did the Astro Orbiter, People Mover and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. At Buzz Lightyear when we got off they had some games set up so Cohen played one and got some special celebration pins from the Cast Member for playing.

We finished off the night at the dance party taking place in Tomorrowland and Cohen danced his little heart out until he crashed. No pictures of this though, i took video. What a great night! I definately enjoyed the Halloween Party more than the Christmas Party. When i book a trip again it will definately be during Halloween season.

 

[ladycameron]

Day 2 Universal Studios

Last time we never ventured off Disney property but i wanted to check out Universal Studios. So we squeezed in 2 days for this. It was a totally different experience than Disney but we still enjoyed it, Well i did. Not so sure about the others.

We mostly walked around and looked at everything. We only checked out Shrek 4D and ET. We tried to get on Men In Black but Cohen was a little bit under 42" so they wouldn't let him on. So i took him to Fievels Playground for awhile. One of my goals for this trip was to do the rollercoasters so me and Jeff tried out Rip Ride Rocket. That was it for me. I didn't do any more rollercoasters the rest of the trip.

 

[ladycameron]

For lunch we stopped in at Mel's Drive In. It was so nice to get out of the heat and i love the theme of this place. After we ate me and Cohen heaeded back to the resort and did some swimming. Jeff and Chris stayed behind to line up to see Wrestling. Me and Cohen had a quiet night in and got a good night rest.

 

[ladycameron]

Day 3 Hollywood Studios

We started off our day with early breakfast reservations at Hollywood&Vine. I wanted to try something different this time but Chris liked this breakfast over all the ones we tried last time, Cohen likes the characters here and plus it gives you an advantage for fast passes for Toy Story already being in the park. The food isn't bad it just wasn't one of my favorites.

 

[ladycameron]

Right after breakfast Chris ran over to get Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania. When we met up with him we seen that the line wasn't very long so we jumped in line as well. I can see why the lines get so long for this ride. It is really fun and if you get the chance you definately have to go on it more than once.

We then checked out One Mans Dream. Something we didn't get a chance to see last time. It was great. Seeing the progress that Walt has made and seeing what he was like as a person. Chris really enjoyed this.

After coming out of a nice airconditioned building and seeing how hot it was we headed right into another. I was anxious to see Disney Junier Live on Stage with the Jake and the Neverland Pirates addition. However was sad not to see My Friends Tiger and Pooh. Was a good show thought!

We left the Junier building and headed over to Toy Story Mania to use our fast passes. Another great ride as usual.

 

[ladycameron]

I lost but Cohen is awesome!

When we came out of Toy Story Mania i notice some makeup artists doing face art so i got my face done. Picked something purple of course!

I checked the times guide and noticed that Beauty and the Beast was starting soon. Chris and Jeff didn't really want to see it so they went off to do their own thing and Me and Cohen went to the show. I really enjoyed it even though i was so hot and couldn't wait to get in airconditioning again.

 

[ladycameron]

We met back up with Chris and Jeff and headed over to our 1:00 lunch reservations at Mama Melrose's. We got the Fantasmic Dining Package. Last year we went to Hollywood Studios on a day that didn't have a Fantasmic showing so we never got a chance too see it. I've heard such great things about the show so i was excited to see it. We thought with a 1:00 reservation we would have plenty of time to be done for the Pixar Pal's parade but we ended up missing it. We didn't end up getting a table until 2:00and we didn't get our food until 3:00. The longest we ever had to wait at Disney. Plus the food wasn't that great. 2 and a half hours wasted in the park. Oh well, now we know for next time.

After a dissapointing meal we went to watch Lights Motor Action. Chris seen it last year and said it was awesome. Plus Cohen loves Lightning McQueen so we knew he would like it.

 

[ladycameron]

After the show we had a photoshoot with the cast of "Cars"!

 

[ladycameron]

We wandered around somemore. Other things we did were Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Muppet Vision and Toy Story Mania again.Somewhere throughout the day Jeff had checked out American Idol and said it was pretty cool. Me and Cohen did the Great Movie ride which was entertaining. After this we discovered how tired we were and decided to skip Fantasmic and head back to the resort. I was beat. I think the heat had a bit to do with that. Jeff stayed behind to try out the Tower of Terror. Something else i haven't tried yet but another to add to the list for next time.