Trip Report The Whole Family - One Long Weekend

Hello everyone! I am Concetta and my last trip report it was just me doing four parks in one day in February.....this trip is the complete opposite!

We have 17 people staying in one Airbnb with all the females going to MNSSHP and all the males going to HHN on the same night. Wondering how we got to 17 people? Well this trip was planned because my brother's wife is expecting another baby and we were talking about how we all went when she was pregnant with Cohen and she wanted to go again before the new baby arrives. We decided on the first weekend of September because our main goal is all the Halloween fun and she didn't want to be too uncomfortable while in the park. She is due around Thanksgiving and they announced her arrival on Mother's Day. We each received personalized letters...mine of course was Disney related.

So originally our trip was just 9 people, my family of four (Me, my husband Aaron, our son Joseph, and our daughter Sadie), my brother's family (Patrick, his wife Taylar, their daughter Bell, and son Cohen), and of course my mom, Sandy. Here we are from our trip last September (Cohen's first trip!).

Well on the 4th of July we found out that my step-brother, Matt, moved back to Indiana with his family (wife Filiz, and twin daughters Gwen & Ella), so naturally I invited them to Disney with us. Sorry, I have no picture of them yet. The girls have never been to Disney so that really excites me! I get to be part of their first time!! I purchased them magicband+ in their favorite colors. Then we were talking to my husband's sister, Amber, about how we are going to Disney in September and she decided to join us with her daughter, Amelia and son, Ian. They were just at Disney at the end of July (we were invited but it was the same week as the middle school tour and I didn't want Joseph to not tour his new middle school before attending). That brought the total to 16 people! Well the more I thought about it, the more I felt like Aaron & Amber's mom should come too! She has never been to Disney and the last time she was on a plane was probably 25 years ago. It took some convincing and begging. She is retired so she was a little worried about the financial aspect of the trip. We promised her we would pay for everything, all she has to do is have fun! That brought our total to 17!
We have an 8 bedroom airbnb at Windsor Cay Resorts for Friday, September 5 to Monday, September 8-yes, there are a lot of room sharing. We plan on spending most of our time at the house and then we will split up on Sunday with all the guys going to HHN and all the gals (and Cohen) going to MNSSHP and on Monday morning we all have reservations for Ohana's.

 

[cassidy]

That airbnb is absolutely amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

 

[Cetta]

We had lunch and then went to Disney springs (or as my as my husband still calls it Downtown Disney) we stopped at a few stores, dodged puddles, and spent lots of money. My kiddos introduced the twins to pin trading and they ended up buying starter packs and they are looking forward to trading at the party tomorrow night.
First stop was the candy cauldron for caramel apples!

Next stop was Disney Style.

After that it started to rain on our way to World of Disney. After we were all done buying stuff we ended up making our way to the dole whip stop but taylar was set on having one of those Halloween cones.

My mom took cohen on the little train.

We stood in line for the dole whip just to find out that they were out of pineapple dole whip! Ahhhh!!!!!! So no one got any because a majority of us wanted pineapple. Now we are on our way back to eat the spaghetti I started this morning.

 

[Cetta]

We made it home around 7:30 and I got working on reheating the spaghetti sauce. My mom wanted to show off her new shirt!

We all had dinner as a family! I was so happy to have everyone together around the table and eating.

After we cleaned up the kitchen I called all the kids back down to have Mickey “not” premium bars that I had delivered from Publix. I had them all eat outside on the pool deck. It was a great idea because it was messy!!!!

The littles are heading to sleep now and the big kids are in the pool. Night swim!

I’m putting jaws on for them!

 

[Cetta]

Sorry, I was too busy enjoying everything on Sunday to do live posts, so here is the rest of our crazy weekend!

Sunday morning, my brother made biscuits and gravy for everyone. It was so good! We just kind of had a lazy day. Amber and Amelia headed to the park after breakfast because they are APs. Everyone else got ready and then had a small lunch. The guys who were going to HHN also purchased the Scream Early access which gave them access at 3pm to the park, so they left the house around 1:30 to give them time to get there. I am going to write about their night first...
Joseph and I am big Wicked fans so Joseph was really looking forward to going into the Wicked store at Universal. I told Patrick and Aaron that they had to do that first because it wouldn't be open during HHN, so they took Joseph right there as soon as they were allowed in. Patrick said that Joseph practically ran through the store, which is typical for him when he is excited about something. When we went to the Museum of Natural History in NYC in March, he ran through the dinosaur floor. We kept having to remind him to slow down. We also saw Wicked on Broadway during that trip. My coworkers always joke that when I request PTO it is either for Disney or NYC. My brother had Joseph go back through the store slower and really enjoy it.

I believe they did the FNAF house first before the party started for everyone else.

Then headed to the Fallout house.

They grabbed some snacks and drinks.

Then they did the Doll house. They met Art the Clown and then went to Diagon Alley. One of the Death Eaters made Joseph take off his hat to make sure he didn't have the scar.

Patrick, Matt, and Ian headed back to the Airbnb around 10:30 while Aaron & Joseph stayed to do more houses. I know they went to the tribute store because I saw the $200+ charge on our bank account hahaha they also did the Jason house which Joseph said was his favorite. Not many more pictures. Aaron did mention that lots of the scare actors would target Joseph because he was young and that one lady followed him with a chainsaw yelling that she was hungry. Joseph had the best time ever and Aaron was extremely happy to have gone. Joseph keeps asking to go back....I am pretty sure next year we will be back and maybe this time as a whole family!

 

[Cetta]

Us ladies (and Cohen) left the airbnb around 2 and got to the TTC drop off around 2:45, but we had to take two ubers and Filiz's Uber got lost! Apparently they had to ask the gate cast member at the Poly for directions to the TTC drop off. While we waited for them, we saw our first Geckos of the trip. Patty, having never been to Florida before, was so excited and also kind of surprised that Sadie didn't care lol. Cohen was very happy with his hook!

We had a monorail car all to ourselves.

we were in line to enter by 3:05. My mom and Patty sat down near the planters and the kids sat on the ground. It was great, because we were second in line. Totally worth getting there early!

Cohen was very interested in the Mickey sticker on the post.

We scanned our tickets around 3:40 and we waited in another line to get into the park. While waiting, I had the girls take a picture in front of the train station. Pretty much every time I took a picture I would say "Smile for your lame aunt" haha

We were in the park before 4pm, got our bags, and headed to take a picture in front of the castle....which I didn't pay for so I do not have it yet.

After our picture, we headed to Adventureland. First stop Jungle Cruise! In line at 4:10 and on the ride by 4:29.

 

[Cetta]

Once we got off Jungle Cruise, Amber and Amelia had received their wrist band and was ready to meet up. We told them we were getting Dole Whips (to make up for the day before). I got my dole whip and then walked over to the popcorn stand to get Sadie a Mickey Premium Bar.

After everyone was done with their dessert, we got in line for Pirates!! In line around 5:15 and on ride by 5:27.

We made a bathroom break after the ride and Taylar bought Cohen a pirate sword!

While Amber and Taylar grabbed the strollers, Cohen was trying to dig in the rocks with his new sword.

 

[Cetta]

Next was Tiana's but Amelia and Cohen were too short so I believe they went to Country Bears (which is Taylar's favorite!) She said Cohen was dancing and having the best time! We were in line for Splash....I mean Tiana's at 6pm and on the ride by 6:10.

Next we all met back up. I took a picture of the river drained to show Aaron.

Everyone admired the pretty purple berries.

Once we were all together we decided to grab dinner before the party started but the line at Pinocchio was a mile long so we decided to ride Peter Pan. In line at 6:49 and on the ride by 7:09.

Cohen slept in Taylar's arms until we got into the Darling Children's bedroom. She tried to switch him to my arms but he woke up and was like "Put me down!" I love how that line is interactive. The kids love it! We went to Pinocchio's and ordered a bunch of children fingers and pizzas for everyone. No pictures were taken. I like moving fast when I am in the park and everyone was taking their time. It is hard when there are 11 other people. I was done eating pretty quickly since it was just a couple chicken fingers and fries. I think at one point I said "time is money, and if we want to do things, we need to get going!" After we ate, we got in our first trick or treat line and goodness, the little kids were over the top to get candy!

I have a cute video of Cohen and Amelia jumping up and down with their candy bags.

 

[Cetta]

Downloaded the pictures from MDE app over the weekend. Here are the ones we took as soon as we entered MK.

And our ride pics from Pirates and Tiana!

 

[cassidy]

Beautiful pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How fun to go with so many of your family members.

 

[cgersic]

Yes, the pictures are fabulous! Everyone looks so happy

 

[Swissmiss]

What a great trip!

 

[Cetta]

Beautiful pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How fun to go with so many of your family members.

I really hope all the kids remember this trip for the rest of their lives.

Yes, the pictures are fabulous! Everyone looks so happy

I was originally worried that there would be some type of disagreement or argument bringing so many people together in one house, but it surprisingly went well and everyone was happy!

What a great trip!

it really was!

 

[Cetta]

After the trick or treat stop we split up, Filiz took Bell, Gwen, & Ella to Space Mountain, while the rest of us went on the PeopleMover!

After that we all went to the trick or treat stop at the COP and then split up again, with Filiz and the girls going on Tron and us going into Star Traders to do some shopping! We purchased some party exclusive merch and then decided we should head to get a spot for the fireworks since it was starting in 25 minutes and we could all use a rest.

We were a little worried that Filiz and the girls wouldn't make it back but they did with about 3 minutes to spare.

Not sure how long we had before the rain let loose but it wasn't very long. It was a lot and heavy! Before we all headed to the park, I had put ponchos on the kitchen table for everyone to grab because I didn't want to carry 12 ponchos around. I had already put Sadie's poncho in her purse and mine in my purse. Well no one grabbed the remaining ponchos so thankfully Taylar threw them all in the stroller bag! So while the fireworks were going off, she went through the bag and started handing out everyone else's ponchos. When the fireworks were done, Amber, Amelia, and Patty decided to go back to the house, while the rest of us headed to Haunted Mansion! Side story...Amber decided to take the monorail back to the parking lot but because of the lightning, the monorail was not running. So they waited about 30 minutes for it to start back up again (she did not know that the ferry dock was right next to the monorail entrance and they could have gotten on that) and then when got to the parking lot, she couldn't remember where she parked. Apparently they wandered around a while before finding it.
We were in the HM line by 10:30 and the wait was posted at 35 minutes, thankfully the line is covered. I really loved how the lightning and thunder added to the atmosphere of the queue.

After HM, the rain was still going and Taylar, Bell, Cohen, and my mom decided to head back to the house. Filiz, the twins, Sadie, and I stayed for a little more fun! Apparently Taylar's group got back to the house about 5 minutes after Amber's group got there.

 

[Cetta]

We did It's a Small World since the line was non-existent, then did the carousel which is fun no matter how old you are. The rain was still going but not as hard and the lines for everything were really short. Mine Train wasn't running which was disappointing because I know all the girls would have enjoyed that.

The last ride of the night was Pooh because it was close.

We had a couple minutes before the party ended so we went in the trick or treat trail at fairytale hall away. It was perfect timing because we got to the treat stand at 11:59 and they were pretty much just filling up everyone's treat bags!
The girls attempted to get the sword out of the stone.

Since the party was officially over at this time, we decided to head to Main Street and do some shopping.

 

[Cetta]

While we were taking pictures behind the castle, I saw a CM and I asked if the Sanderson Sister show was going on or not. He stated it was not and that I should speak to guest services because they are giving refunds or free tickets. I would have never thought about that....all I wanted to know was if we could see the end of the show. So we headed to the front to do some shopping. The Emporium had like an inch of water on the floor from all the rain. I have been there on rainy days before, but never like that! The girls all got new pins and we took some poncho pics on Main Street.

We headed to guest services outside the front gate, told the kids to sit and eat some candy while we got in line....not realizing the line was 3 hours long! We took the monorail back to the TTC to get an uber/lyft back to the house.
I was surprised to see that many people were still awake. I reminded everyone that they would need to be up and ready by 9am so we could get to our Ohana's reservation. Aaron and Joseph were still at Universal, so I stayed up and waited for them. I think we got to bed around 2am. It was a fun night! Not sure I would do a party again because we did a lot of rides with no waits but we didn't really do or eat any of the special Halloween things. I would rather go to the after hours event or extra magic hours for the deluxe guests.