Trip Report THE November ('14) Engagement Trip

Mom@disney · Oct 16, 2015

Love the cute towel animals! I couldn't imagine drinking around the world in Epcot. I'm not much of a drinker...I'd rather spend my money on souvenirs

SeanWM48 · Oct 17, 2015

Mom@disney said:
Love the cute towel animals! I couldn't imagine drinking around the world in Epcot. I'm not much of a drinker...I'd rather spend my money on souvenirs

ha trust me after trying it myself i can't imagine doing the whole thing either!

it wasn't even a goal really. after we hit mexico and canada (didn't exactly go in order) we grabbed wine in france and i said hey we're making good progress let's try it. probably the mezcal talking. i would not attempt again

bee · Oct 17, 2015

Great report so far! I've drunk around the world twice, BUT my wife and I always share a drink in each country. There is no way I could make it to all eleven countries by myself.

ILoveDisney2006 · Oct 17, 2015

Great trip report!!!

Can't wait to read more!

SeanWM48 · Oct 18, 2015

Really enjoying the feedback everybody thank you. Now where was I? oh right
WE TAKE A DAY OFF

Take my word for it on this one - taking a day off is one of the best things you can do during a full week's stay at WDW. There are so many little cool spots to see at your resort, or Downtown (Springs).

Let me address the large blue plush Stitch in the room (literally). Kristen and I did a fitness challenge leading into the trip. The loser had to buy the winner ANY stuffed animal they wanted. Sure enough she won (I did not 'let' her i promise) and she went for the biggest, baddest stuffed animal in the building at 'World of Disney.' Definitely made for some funny pictures

Stitch with a crazy margarita at T-rex for lunch. Not as good as the cava but what it lacked in quality it gives you in quantity.

had to carry him back after said margarita

This was also the first time we 'posted' anything from our trip. Kristen wanted to wait a couple days to call certain people in her family and let them know she was an engaged woman. Classy move that I hadn't even thought of but glad we did it. Take some time, especially at WDW, to let the social media wait for YOU for once instead of immediately posting photos and stuff. it's worth it and makes it more fun later when you do decide to sit down and send a few things out for people.

There are a lot of cool things to do at Fort Wilderness during the day, especially when it isn't 50 degrees. We always do the little speedboats, and we did this time despite chilly temperatures. i don't have pictures of that but here's one from a prior year. tons of fun and you can drive them all the way around the lake alongside the Contemporary and towards the MK. Makes for some awesome sightseeing.

Kristen driving away from the beach that I'd be proposing on one year after this photo...

(as you can see it was October that trip)

Anyways. It was a fun relaxing day. You need that sometimes especially if you plan on taking on parks basically every other day. That night, thanks to a friend who knows a friend who knows a character or two at Disney, we had passes to get into Hollywood for dinner. I wouldn't normally spend for a ticket at Hollywood Studios, but Kristen really wanted to try 50's Prime Time and my buddy was generous enough to bring us in so we went for it. More on that part of the day shortly

prfctlyximprct · Oct 18, 2015

Love your report!!! Maybe I should make my boyfriend read it .....

Mom@disney · Oct 18, 2015

Every time we visit Disney, my youngest daughter begs for that giant Stitch...tempting to get especially with her cute puppy dog face, but we always convince her to get something else. I think that was great that you waited to let the whole world know of your engagement. I agree with taking a day off and just hanging around the resort.

SeanWM48 · Oct 18, 2015

prfctlyximprct said:
Love your report!!! Maybe I should make my boyfriend read it .....

thanks, you've had some good ones too. if he wants to do something cool at WDW that isn't typical i would suggest looking up the woman i mentioned in one of the first posts, she does special events and is very accommodating, write me if you want a link to her site

Mom@disney said:
Every time we visit Disney, my youngest daughter begs for that giant Stitch...tempting to get especially with her cute puppy dog face, but we always convince her to get something else. I think that was great that you waited to let the whole world know of your engagement. I agree with taking a day off and just hanging around the resort.

ha the big stitch was fun but getting it home was pretty difficult. we ended up shipping it home from the Fort instead of making it my carry-on

Mom@disney · Oct 18, 2015

SeanWM48 said:
thanks, you've had some good ones too. if he wants to do something cool at WDW that isn't typical i would suggest looking up the woman i mentioned in one of the first posts, she does special events and is very accommodating, write me if you want a link to her site

ha the big stitch was fun but getting it home was pretty difficult. we ended up shipping it home from the Fort instead of making it my carry-on

I bet! He would need his own seat on the plane

ScarletBegonias · Oct 19, 2015

I love that Stitch was posed in the pictures! That's hilarious!!!

SeanWM48 · Oct 24, 2015

Man what a busy week. Let me get back to it
HOLLYWOOD

That Mickey pretzel is a MUST every year.

This was another real cold night. I'm not a Studios guy as I think I stated earlier but always wanted to see the lights. We also had reservations at the 50's Prime Time, which was highly recommended everywhere I looked.
Christmas theme was pretty strong at Hollywood which was a nice sign. Christmas definitely takes over the parks on a bigger level than Halloween does

The necklaces with the Christmas lights were on Kristen's must-have list. We saw people wearing them all week leading up to this point but could not find to buy until we explored Studios

As you can see I'm carrying a merch bag. Boy did they get us good on this trip. Disney merch is a blast to look at and I get something fun every trip but this was one of those times where we got home and were like "what were we thinking" with a couple items haha.

So here's 50's Prime. Look I'll say this: it wasn't bad, and by this point in the trip I appreciated having a "normal" meal with veggies and whatnot. It was due. At the same time I didn't find it to be GREAT dining. I give a lot of credit to the staff because they're all in character and keep it up throughout the meal. The 'grandpa' working the front desk was perfect for it. The whole thing is an experience but not the type I'd be dying to go back to, and this was a pretty tough reservation to get.

Funny story about that black finger nail - that's not paint. A couple weeks prior to the trip I accidentally shut my truck door on it. Full closure with the door too. I've had some injuries over the years from sports and gym stuff but that was the most physical pain I've ever felt. That fingernail stayed black for like 2 months before falling off. Hope I didn't gross anybody out!!!

The lights delivered. What a show. The place was SLAMMED with people and everybody is looking up, so watch out when you venture down the street. You get used to people bumping into you; don't take it personally just keep it moving

that necklace ended up fitting right in with the scenery

one of the few minutes where I had room to stand for a pic

this was a great setup for something. Private event? Special ticket? Maybe somebody here knows but I think it was catered; it was a pretty good sized area blocked off. What a great spot for pictures and a big dinner. We hung out for a while and nobody used it for as long as we were there so it must have been something that started fairly late.

Even with all that, we had a hopper and hit MK for the heck of it. Really just for dessert.

First time we ever tried a park hopper. Pretty awesome although I wouldn't recommend unless you've been to Disney once or twice before. There is enough to do at each park to take up most of your day if not all of it (maybe not AK I guess, until they add the Rivers show).

Visiting MK late was cool but kind of spoiled the look of the park for the Christmas party later in the week. Ah well.

We headed to bed reasonably early compared to the other nights. The next morning was one of the biggest parts of the trip (besides getting engaged): the Animal Kingdom Wild Africa Trek. We had to be at AK bright and early (before doors) so I was in a hurry to get some rest.

Mom@disney · Oct 26, 2015

I agree, Mickey pretzel is our must have treat. We always get it on our first day and share 2 amongst the four of us.
The Christmas lightbulb necklace is really cute! Can't wait to hear about the Wild Afruca Trek!

ScarletBegonias · Oct 26, 2015

I still cannot imagine being in gloves and winter clothes! LOL. The lights look amazing!

SeanWM48 · Oct 26, 2015

Mom@disney said:
I agree, Mickey pretzel is our must have treat. We always get it on our first day and share 2 amongst the four of us.
The Christmas lightbulb necklace is really cute! Can't wait to hear about the Wild Afruca Trek!

thanks. that part is coming soon. probably today since i have the day off. that one is fairly pic-heavy. otherwise, as you can tell, we actually don't go TOO heavy on pictures. our next trip we might look into the memory maker since otherwise all our pictures are selfies and stuff like that. could use some new stuff with both of us actually in the photo together

ScarletBegonias said:
I still cannot imagine being in gloves and winter clothes! LOL. The lights look amazing!

we're from Connecticut and it basically was the same temp in Florida as it was back home, and this was November. pretty funny looking back at it, although I do remember a couple times getting worn out from the cold and wanting to tap out and just go back to the cabin and chill.

we did not, though. the secret is getting hot drinks. i'm an iced coffee guy, and in that pic earlier you saw i also got the 'tipsy ducks' drink at epcot, and those were not the best ideas when it's in the 40-50 degree range. hot drinks will help a lot, as well as keeping your head/hands warm.

ScarletBegonias · Oct 26, 2015

SeanWM48 said:
thanks. that part is coming soon. probably today since i have the day off. that one is fairly pic-heavy. otherwise, as you can tell, we actually don't go TOO heavy on pictures. our next trip we might look into the memory maker since otherwise all our pictures are selfies and stuff like that. could use some new stuff with both of us actually in the photo together

we're from Connecticut and it basically was the same temp in Florida as it was back home, and this was November. pretty funny looking back at it, although I do remember a couple times getting worn out from the cold and wanting to tap out and just go back to the cabin and chill.

we did not, though. the secret is getting hot drinks. i'm an iced coffee guy, and in that pic earlier you saw i also got the 'tipsy ducks' drink at epcot, and those were not the best ideas when it's in the 40-50 degree range. hot drinks will help a lot, as well as keeping your head/hands warm.

I would love to go when it's cooler, but not sure that'd want to be freezing! We went the very end of Setpember and it was 95 every day! I hear it's pretty warm in October too! Wonder if this was just a really cool year for November, or it's always like that? I wouldn't mind 60's- 70's...

Mom@disney · Oct 26, 2015

You can never have too many pictures! We've caught a couple of cold days in Disney on our trip in 2012. I love sweater weather and my oldest has a rare heat allergy, so we enjoyed it when it was cooler. It was that trip where my youngest got her beloved Yeti hat.

SeanWM48 · Oct 26, 2015

ScarletBegonias said:
I would love to go when it's cooler, but not sure that'd want to be freezing! We went the very end of Setpember and it was 95 every day! I hear it's pretty warm in October too! Wonder if this was just a really cool year for November, or it's always like that? I wouldn't mind 60's- 70's...

it was an anomaly according to locals and cast members. i don't think it's usually that cold over that many days. and for what it's worth we were fortunate enough to have that first day be warm, and the last couple days (Africa trek) were warm enough too. October has always been great weather, and I'm sure November isn't that different from October under normal circumstances. one of the main reasons we picked this particular week was the weather report from previous years, which obviously changed dramatically

ScarletBegonias · Oct 26, 2015

SeanWM48 said:
it was an anomaly according to locals and cast members. i don't think it's usually that cold over that many days. and for what it's worth we were fortunate enough to have that first day be warm, and the last couple days (Africa trek) were warm enough too. October has always been great weather, and I'm sure November isn't that different from October under normal circumstances. one of the main reasons we picked this particular week was the weather report from previous years, which obviously changed dramatically

Interesting!! like I said, every time we go, it's absolutely sweltering, so that's all I can ever imagine!

SeanWM48 · Oct 30, 2015

FINALLY back to this. Where was I?

Right, I was on my way to Africa

So I set this up very far in advance as one of the last big parts of our trip. I looked through all the different guided tours as I wanted something real special to do. I also wanted something reasonably challenging and exciting.

My background on Animal Kingdom - we actually did not go to this park our first year. The second year we gave it a shot and I was completely blown away. It really is my favorite park and probably Kristen's second only to MK. The details, the atmosphere, the merchandise, the Lion King show all impressed me SO much. I couldn't wait to see the place again, and when I found the 'Wild Africa Trek' option I knew this was the right move. At ~$150 per person (PLUS park fee) this makes for a pretty expensive day. Worth it? Read on.

So you get to the park before doors. First time we ever did that with any park. Thankfully the weather was a bit forgiving this time and probably more around 60 degrees as the sun rose. You go through the park and meet at the site of the normal African Safari ride (which is the most impressive regular ride/experience on Disney property in my opinion). They have you fill out some safety forms in case somebody gets eaten by something, and they even weigh you. This brought some laughs because we both gained a few pounds. It's that meal plan's fault I swear (mostly those breakfasts at Trail's End).

As you can see from the last 2 pictures, they strap you UP. The vest is awesome and there are carabiners everywhere. I don't think you could actually fall in if you tried your very hardest. Seriously, we've done zip-lining trips with obstacle courses 40 feet in the air in trees and we were not as strapped up as we were on the African Trek.

They also give you a radio piece (which was spotty at best, not really needed), a water bottle, and a strap to put on your sunglasses. A few words of advice before the Trek begins, if anybody is thinking about doing this:
-watch your water intake. Usually I'm all about pre-loading up on water before a park so you don't fall apart as you sweat, but this is a 3-hour tour with only one bathroom break that I recall (when you stop for lunch). The straps around your waist will probably make you think about the bathroom pretty quickly too haha.
-wear stable shoes. This whole trip I wore Under Armour Mirage tactical shoes, I swear by them and they were particularly useful when doing the rope bridges and whatnot
-show up on time. Can't stress that enough. Get there early, hang out in the Kingdom before doors, its a fun place to be when there aren't hordes of people wandering around.
-don't worry about the phone or pictures. I have a few of my own here but as the Trek goes on they get plenty of cool pictures of you in better quality than what your phone will get you. Those are coming as the story continues.

Here is our Trek group. It was the right amount of people for the experience. Fun people too.

As you can see there are people of various ages here and nobody struggled. The website sells this as a very physical day but it really isn't.

'quick, everybody roar'

The guides are great. These are full-time animal care specialists and do this year-round. The girl hosting us also works with Adventures by Disney and was talking about how she was going to be traveling all over the world that year. What a gig right? Sheesh. They walk you through some of the normal parts of the park and have all kinds of tidbits of info that I don't really remember (shame on me really). Then you get to head backstage and feed some hippos

You get to walk right up to the edge of the rock as they toss heads of lettuce down to the hippos. Funny part was watching the hippo sit there and just leave his mouth hanging open as he expects more food. The guy feeding them was also very informative and hangs out for a while answering all kinds of animal-related questions.

Once the hippos are done with brunch it's time to move around to the crocodile paddock. You probably just walk back into the now-crowded park and wander along the path like everybody else right? No.

part 2 coming up

lostpro9het · Oct 30, 2015

SeanWM48 said:
.... I couldn't wait to see the place again, and when I found the 'Wild Africa Trek' option I knew this was the right move. At ~$150 per person (PLUS park fee) this makes for a pretty expensive day. Worth it? Read on....

I'm interested to see what they serve you for a morning trek. We've done the WAK twice but always around lunch time, the food was awesome.

Trip Report THE November ('14) Engagement Trip

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