Uponastar's Family Celebration Vacation Oct. 17-25

Here goes...
The six of us left from Philly International on Friday night October 17th.
All of us are celebrating special occasions this month:
George and I...our 35th anniversary Oct. 27th
Our daughter Lauren and her husband Ken...their first anniversary Oct. 6th
Our daughter Stacey...her 27th birthday Oct. 31st (Halloween)
Stacey's longtime boyfriend Ray...his 26th birthday Oct. 18th
Needless to say, we were very much looking forward to a week-long celebration.

Here we are at the airport

That's Ken, Lauren and me in the back
George, Stacey and Ray on the floor.

George and I, since we go to WDW fairly often, always stay cheaply outside the park. This time we rented a townhouse in a Kissimmee development. It suited our needs perfectly!

My girlies outside the house

On our first day, which was Ray's birthday, we started the day with Ray and George having their morning coffee in the hot tub

Then out to Downtown Disney

Stacey

George and the kids having fun at the magic shop

George and the kids

A very crowded evening in the World Showcase to come later.
Before I go for now, I'd just like to say that being at WDW when the home team is playing in the World Series is an AMAZING experience. Most of us wore Phillies gear every day and the interaction between fellow Phillies fans and opposing team fans in the parks was much fun!
Stacey and Ray...the most serious Phillies fans of all of us...went to ESPN on the opening night of the Series to watch the game. They had a blast!
A wonderful experience they'll never forget.

That's it for now.
More to come!

 

[smk]

I have to say I witnessed, many times this trip, a CM going out of their way to make a guest feel special. I was really impressed with the CM's at the parks. I was not so impressed with the CM's at the front desk of POP but that is another story altogether.

 

[Uponastar]

We happened to be on the TTA when Space Mountain was down and the lights were up

A few random MK pics

For someone...:kiss:

And OMG...He was THAT GUY!!!

 

[minnie2000]

Great report Dot! And wonderful pictures - you all look like you're having lots of fun together!:wave:

 

[Uponastar]

The Studios...

Looks like Otto lost out to George...

Aw...

 

[Uponastar]

George snuck into Indiana Jones in between shows

And Toy Story Mania was fun, even though I learned too late that aiming
doesn't work as well as just furiously pulling that cord till your arm aches.
And, the lines were just too long to try it more than once.

 

[Nemo14]

Be still my heart! George without a vest!!!!

Great report so far Dot!

 

[Pongo]

A salute to...the pear?

They had that last year too! So weird.

For someone...:kiss:

Why aren't you sitting in one of them!?

And Toy Story Mania was fun, even though I learned too late that aiming
doesn't work as well as just furiously pulling that cord till your arm aches.

Too true! It was my strategy too :lol:

 

[Uponastar]

Why aren't you sitting in one of them!?

Looks much better this way.

:lol: George is the EPITOME of THAT GUY!

Indeed he is! :lol:

 

[unkadug]

Great report Dot. :wave:

Did you hide something again this time?

 

[joanna71985]

And OMG...He was THAT GUY!!!

Oh my goodness, that is too funny! I bet he hammed it up

 

[Alexx]

That guy was working when I was there as well, he was so creepy.
People with fastpasses he was asking them "do you have reservations"
Great acting!

 

[DisneyGigi]

Great report Dot! You have a beautiful family and the pictures are great.

 

[DisneySam]

Loving the Trip Report Dot! :sohappy:

 

[Uponastar]

I'd like to mention that, because we were all celebrating special occasions this trip, we had much discussion about when to wear our anniversary and birthday pins to the parks. Do we wear them everyday, just pick one day for all of us to celebrate together, or have each of us have their own special day? We decided to wear all our pins every day. And it was definitely the right choice! If any real perks or surprises went along with wearing the pins, we wouldn't have abused the system by taking things we weren't entitled to. But it wasn't like that. Instead, CMs throughout the parks made us all feel special over and over again by saying or in some cases singing Happy Birthday or Happy Anniversary. Our AK tram driver had the entire tram wish George and I a happy anniversary, and, when leaving, we happened to get the same driver and she did it again! This sort of thing occured often for all of us and we loved it!
George and I did receive free cookies one morning while ordering breakfast in The Land. And Stacey and Ray got free drinks at EPCOT. That was nice...and more than enough. We were appreciative, but the real fun was in feeling special and we all had plenty of that.
So, since we were there to celebrate our special occasions, we all felt that wearing our pins added to the magic and we're very glad we did.

Speaking of wearing pins...
I, once again, wore my WDWMagic pin, as well as my avatar badge, every day. One day I wore a WDWMagic t-shirt. And, once again, no one noticed. Fellow Magicers...where were you???

 

[Uponastar]

At the AK...
Usually a restful park for me, the AK, as well as the rest of WDW, was a lot more crowded this trip than in previous Octobers.

 

[Uponastar]

More AK...

In ITTBAB, a woman sitting behind me was laughing so hard, after the show I told her I wanted to join her group. :lol: Laugher is infectious.

 

[HollyBelle]

I love your Everest pictures...the angle on that second one isn't often seen! Great report!

 

[Uponastar]

Back at the Studios...

Fantasmic was Fantastic!
We arrived shortly before showtime and still go excellent seats.

Some random shots of my second favorite park

 

[Uponastar]

George's favorite hangout...

The Studios has an atmosphere...a mood...about it, that I just love.
It doesn't have as much to do as the other parks, but it's a great place to just hang out and soak it in. It's one of my favorite people-watching spots.

 

[DisneySam]

GREAT Everest Pictures Dot!!!

The Studios has an atmosphere...a mood...about it, that I just love.
It doesn't have as much to do as the other parks, but it's a great place to just hang out and soak it in. It's one of my favorite people-watching spots.

I totally agree! I always attribute my love for DHS to the fact that it was the first Disney park I ever attended.