Updated: Feb Trip plans "It's a Bit Less Humid Today, Right?" - a September 2018 Trip Report

[Araminta18]

Looks like you guys had a great party! I went to MK and the party on Labor Day and loved it! It was also super uncrowded which helped. Had the same experience of being able to walk up right before the parade and get a front row seat. The Cadaver Dans were definitely a highlight of the party for me along with the parade! I didn't do any of the rides that had overlays though since I'd read they were all pretty underwhelming. I love all of your magic shots!

Glad you had a great party! I'm jealous of you getting to see the Cadaver Dans--we only caught that one 30 second snippet, but they were awesome.

Thanks!

 

[PrincessP]

Your costumes were practically perfect in every way! Looove!

Sounds like you had a fantastic MNSSHparty day from start to finish. You got tons of wonderful photopass shots. Hooray for your Tarzan and Jane M&G! So kind of the handlers to take pics with your camera.....and to do the candids. They don’t always do those. Wonder why they didn’t have an official photopass photographer there?? It is a rare “only at parties” m&g. Cost cutting I guess. And doing your homework definitely paid off for you.......getting all your must do’s done with time to spare. I feel bad for that family you saw that came ill prepared. Like you said, big bucks to not have a good time. I haven’t been to a party, but it sounds wonderful......as long as you plan ahead. And woohoo for it not being a crowded night!

Enjoyed the back story of your rice pudding. I am glad you enjoyed the canteen’s rendition.

Did you have to purchase that Mickey straw for the blue raspberry slushee from Pinocchio Village Haus? I know they are limiting straw distribution now....and doing paper straws some. I got a plastic straw at Epcot when I ordered a slushee from African Outpost. They brought the plastic straw dispenser out from behind the counter to offer me one.

Oh. I totally would have sought out the headless horseman straw clip, too. I saw a vlogger demonstrate one. Soooo cool! We got Buzz and Tink cup clips for my kids on their first WDW trip in 2009, and we still have them. One still lights up.

 

[Araminta18]

Your costumes were practically perfect in every way! Looove!

Sounds like you had a fantastic MNSSHparty day from start to finish. You got tons of wonderful photopass shots. Hooray for your Tarzan and Jane M&G! So kind of the handlers to take pics with your camera.....and to do the candids. They don’t always do those. Wonder why they didn’t have an official photopass photographer there?? It is a rare “only at parties” m&g. Cost cutting I guess. And doing your homework definitely paid off for you.......getting all your must do’s done with time to spare. I feel bad for that family you saw that came ill prepared. Like you said, big bucks to not have a good time. I haven’t been to a party, but it sounds wonderful......as long as you plan ahead. And woohoo for it not being a crowded night!

Enjoyed the back story of your rice pudding. I am glad you enjoyed the canteen’s rendition.

Did you have to purchase that Mickey straw for the blue raspberry slushee from Pinocchio Village Haus? I know they are limiting straw distribution now....and doing paper straws some. I got a plastic straw at Epcot when I ordered a slushee from African Outpost. They brought the plastic straw dispenser out from behind the counter to offer me one.

Oh. I totally would have sought out the headless horseman straw clip, too. I saw a vlogger demonstrate one. Soooo cool! We got Buzz and Tink cup clips for my kids on their first WDW trip in 2009, and we still have them. One still lights up.

Thank you! Yea, not sure what the deal was with them not having a photographer, but I was grateful that they offered to take pics.

Sort of? We just asked for the slush, and it came with the straw. I don't think you can buy the slush without the straw, at least at Pinocchio Village Haus. Also, we got straws without asking pretty much everywhere! I read the articles that they were limiting straws, but that wasn't our experience at all.

It is sooooo cool! We started collecting the glow cubes--got Buzz at Sanaa and Tink and Pascal at Bon Voyage....they're super fun. That's awesome that one of yours still lights up!

 

[Stasieki]

Fun party night!!!! You had great luck with timing. Last year the magic shot lines were always super long. Except we lucked out with a short Haunted Mansion carriage magic shot line.

 

[Araminta18]

Fun party night!!!! You had great luck with timing. Last year the magic shot lines were always super long. Except we lucked out with a short Haunted Mansion carriage magic shot line.

We really did have good luck with the timing--after reading the MNSSHP thread and hearing about all the crowds I was worried. Glad you guys got a short line last year for at least one of the shots! It's such a bummer with the lines--Disney does such a great job with those shots.

 

[DnA2010]

Newbie jumping on board! Your report is so much fun! Love all the awesome food updates and you hallowe’en party looks like a big success!

 

[disneyseniors]

Late to the party, but enjoying it immensely! Congratulations on your weight loss. I lost 30 lb's but it took over a year. I know how hard it is to lose that weight, so "hi five". No high 5 emoji, so here's a jumpy dog!

 

[Araminta18]

Newbie jumping on board! Your report is so much fun! Love all the awesome food updates and you hallowe’en party looks like a big success!

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it!

Late to the party, but enjoying it immensely! Congratulations on your weight loss. I lost 30 lb's but it took over a year. I know how hard it is to lose that weight, so "hi five". No high 5 emoji, so here's a jumpy dog!

Thank you! Best emoji ever!!

 

[Araminta18]

Monday, September 17th (part 1):
Toy Story in the morning, Food and Wine in the afternoon!
​

After our late night, we slept in, for reals. The plan was to do Hollywood Studios in the morning, and then Epcot for the rest of the day. But I was smart and didn't plan anything super early: our Slinky Dog Dash fastpasses started at 9:30, so we figured we'd get breakfast at Woody's Lunchbox around 9 and then use our fastpass.

We moved pretty slow that morning, and so were at the dock waiting for a boat to Hollywood Studios at 9:30. The boat came pretty soon after that--we boarded at 9:36, and enjoyed the leisurely ride over.

Once at Hollywood Studios, we walked right into the 10 am March of the First Order, so that was kind of fun.

We watched if for a minute or two and then continued in to Toy Story Land. The original plan was to eat first and then ride Slinky Dog Dash, but since we got to the park a little later than originally planned, and Trevor was a little concerned about eating and then riding a coaster, we decided to ride Slinky first.

I love that there's always a picture of Slinky's head! They really need to fix this picture.

After Slinky, we made it to Woody's Lunchbox for the last half hour of them serving breakfast (I wanna say it switches to lunch at 10:30?). There was a huge line, but we did mobile ordering, which was awesome. What was not awesome was the people camping out at the tables, when they didn't have their food yet. One group was camping out at one of the few tables in the shade and was waiting for Woody's Lunchbox to switch over to lunch--half an hour in the future. #notbitter

We eventually got a seat when a family vacated their semi-shaded table in front of the fan. The fan was nice, though I kept getting some of my flyaways in my hair! Oh well Also, I loved all the details--the awning has the embossed outlines like a real lunchbox top would!

We did like the food though. We wanted to try lots of the things (kind of like at Satuli Canteen the other night), so we got the Raspberry tart, the Smoked Turkey Breakfast Sandwich, and the kid's version of the S'more French Toast sandwich, all to share. I'm glad we only got the kid's version of the S'more sandwich--way to sweet to have a whole one! I really liked the Turkey Breakfast sandwich, though Trevor's not a big cheese fan and didn't really like that part of it. We both loved the tart. Overall, we'd eat there again, but they should really do something about the seating and people hoarding tables.

After breakfast, I had a fastpass for Rock n Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror, but the Green Army Men came out! So we watched them for a little bit--they're a hoot!

Trevor actually stayed to watch their whole show while I headed down Sunset Boulevard to ride rides. I think Rock n Roller Coaster went down while I was heading down there (my notes are failing me!), so I rode Tower of Terror instead. Had a fantastic drop into the Twilight Zone, as always

Trevor's plan was to watch the Green Army Men and then ride Star Tours while he waited for me, but I realized when I got down there that they had the lenticular photo in the Tower of Terror gift shop, and I really wanted us to do that, so I called Trevor and had him come on down. He met me at the gift shop and we did the photo (which turned out great!)

Then we bought a bunch more stuff from the Tower of Terror gift shop, cause we love that ride and the theming, even if Trevor won't ride it again. We got two magnets and a key chain, and I got a Tower of Terror notebook, and Trevor got a pin for his lanyard at work.

After that, we headed towards Star Tours! We got the pod racing scene, and then Boba Fett and the death star for the second scene, both of which were new to me, so that was exciting. The lines were super short so we hopped back in line and this time we got the Wookiee planet and then the Death Star. The wookiee planet was new to me, and bonus: no time on Naboo!

After that we were pretty hungry so we decided it was time to head over to Epcot and Food and Wine festival! We did take some photopass pictures as we headed out of Hollywood Studios; I also noticed that Jedi Training signups were still available at 12:15! A testament to the low crowds, I think.

We grabbed the boast to Epcot slightly after 12:30 and headed right into France. A lot of our choices were influenced by the crazy crazy heat, so we didn't get a lot of the beef stew type dishes (there were a *lot* of them this year it seems!).

First up: the escargot croissant and creme brulee. I liked the buttery herbs, and the snails weren't too bad, but I'll be honest that after one or two bites that included the snails I just picked the rest of them out. The creme brulee with the raspberry jam was surprisingly good! I don't really like creme brulee all that much, but this one was quite good. Trevor loved it. We also were weak and got a water bottle, cause it was nice and cold.

While we were eating we had a fairly nice view of the Serveur Amusant, which was really fun to see, but scary! I really thought he might fall a couple times, but obviously he didn't. It was very impressive.

After France we were on to Brazil! The only thing we got here was the cheesy bread. That was actually pretty disappointing--too cheesy and doughy even for me, and I love both of those things. But after having had real cheese bread in Brazil, this was too greasy and heavy and just kind of sad.

Fortunately the next booth was Belgium, and we got the waffle with the chocolate ganache. That was delicious. Very very yummy--a good follow up to the disappointment of Brazil's cheesy bread.

Next, Morocco! We got all the things: the Kefta pocket, the hummus fries, and the baklava. And all were really good! The kefta pocket was only slightly on the dry side, and while the hummus fries were a bit disposed to fall apart, the slaw that came with the fries made it really good. And the baklava was nothing outstanding, but a solid entry. Yum.

We were starting to get full, but we had many many more booths to conquer! We did find a photopass photographer so we took some pics. You can tell we were getting tired though. The heat man, it just sucked all the energy away.

Japan was next: we were going to get the beef nigiri, but we read some unfavorable reviews, and it didn't look super appetizing when we were there, so we got the Teriyaki Chicken bun and the Spicy roll. Trevor liked the spicy roll, and I liked the Teriyaki Chicken bun. It reminded me of a sloppy joe? Not that they really tasted similar, but that was the vibe I got. The balance of the bun to the meat was really good. It was a much bigger portion overall than I expected, but we liked it.

(Trevor thought he was being funny taking this picture...)

We found another photopass photographer, but not sure why it's tilted and off-center but....oh well.

From there we went to Hops and Barley. Trevor wanted the lobster roll, and last minute decided he wanted to get the Carrot Cake. I only had a bite of each--they weren't really my thing. Trevor liked them both though.

We looked a little bit in the American gift shop there, and were going to watch the American Adventure for the a/c, but the next show wasn't starting until 3 pm and it was 2:20ish. We weren't going to wait around for that! So we pushed on to Italy.

In Italy we only got the cannoli, I have no memory of this, so I'm gonna go with it being fine. Nothing memorable.

More slightly off-center pictures from the photopass photographers...

I think we also got gelato from one of the other stands, cause again, hot. The gelato wasn't very good--though that may be because we attended a gelato festival in DC the weekend before DC and that gelato was part of a worldwide competition and it was top notch. Super creamy and flavorful...this gelato was mostly just cold. Which was sufficient in the moment but I wouldn't really recommend it.

While sitting eating our gelato we saw the Master Juggler doing his show, which was also entertaining. I like being able to just happen upon these fun shows. I mean you can plan them in, but I like just happening upon them. Adds some nice whimsy to our park days.

After Italy we skipped Spain 'cause nothing appealed and went right to Germany. We looked a bit in the gift shops and I found appropriate headwear but decided the $80 price tag was a bit much...

(I think I'm doing my "we are not amused" face? XD)

Food wise we got the apple strudel and the roast bratwurst. The strudel needed salt or something--it was a bit bland. The roast bratwurst was good though. We also got to see Snow White doing her meet and greet--at one point there was only one group waiting in line to see her!

At that point it was 3 pm; we'd only been in Epcot about 2 hours, but we were flagging. The crowds were amazing--we pretty much always and easily got a seat in the shade to eat our food. But the heat was insane. So, since I had gotten a 3 pm fastpass for Frozen earlier (while we were on the boat), we decided we'd go ahead and use that, cause it's Frozen and we both liked it, but after Frozen we'd head back to the Boardwalk to rest.

I really love my reaction in this photo. I have no memory of why I'm so surprised or excited, but apparently it was an amazing ride.

We were back in our room at 4, so we made pretty good time all in all. Mousekeeping had come today, and had left us a nice little towel mickey. We smiled, took a picture, then moved them and fell into bed for a nap immediately. I know people gush about the midday break, and I never felt the need before but wow, I'm a convert. Those breaks were a lifesaver this trip.

In part 2, Epcot at night!

 

[Araminta18]

Monday, September 17th (part 2):
Coral Reef and Illuminations
​

I left off with us taking a break back at the Boardwalk. We slept for an hour and a half or so, and then were back down at the dock getting on a boat back to Epcot at 6. We would have walked but the boat was right there, so...why not?

Our ADR at Coral Reef was at 7 pm, and so we decided we'd explore The Seas a little bit before dinner. However walking from the International Gateway down to the Seas, we passed more of the Food and Wine booths! So we had to stop and get a few things.

We first got the Butternut Squash Ravioli from the Wine and Dine Studio. Trevor didn't much care for this but I *loved* it. Unfortunately I only got one ravioli before I was a clutz and dropped the rest on the ground! I decided not to get another one 'cause we were on our way to dinner, and sadly we never made it back another day.

Next was the Cheese Shop and the cheese trio. Trevor doesn't like cheese a lot, so he ate the smoked salmon pinwheel and I had the other two. We both liked this a lot. Light, good flavor...very nice.

At that point we headed to The Seas. It was our first time there--we enjoyed the ride, especially at the end where they project Nemo and friends into the tank.

We still had some time afterwards so we were going to do Turtle Talk with Crush, but we must have just missed a show, since it wasn't going to start for another 10 minutes. We enjoyed looking at the rays in the tank though, and the jellyfish! One of our friends back home has her own tank with jellyfish, so we had to send her a picture of Disney's big tank of jellies!

We bailed on Turtle Talk and headed to Coral Reef, finding a fun photo opportunity on the way...

(she told us to make our best fish faces. Also you can see our matching buttons!)

We checked in about 10 minutes early, and asked for a seat next to the tank.

They said it would be a 45 minute wait and we told them we'd be happy to wait, but it turned out to only be a 15 minute wait! We were seated by 7:06--only 6 minutes after our original ADR time! And our table was fantastic--tankside with a great view. We spent quite a lot of dinner taking pictures of the animals and commenting on them.

(the manta ray is smiling at us!)

(turtle!)

Our server was nice, though she seemed a bit distracted? Maybe just a busy night for her. She treated us well though--we had no complaints. The rolls were decent, nothing special. And I got a "no"-jito for a drink, and Trevor got the lemonade with the mixed berry foam.

I got the sirloin steak, which was delicious, as all my steaks so far this trip had been. I think there was bacon in the mashed potatoes? It was good.

Trevor got the blackened salmon, which he also enjoyed.

Then our server was kind enough to bring me a birthday dessert! The Chocolate wave--raspberry gelato and chocolate cake. It was *delicious*. I love chocolate and raspberry. Very kind of her.

We left dinner at 8:40, with our only plan being to watch Illuminations. However, I got seduced by the Chocolate studio--there was no line, and they had the Sweet Dark Chocolate Raspberry tart and we had eaten dessert half an hour ago, so....I got it. It was delicious, though I was hitting that "uncomfortably full" feeling!

We stopped in at the Festival Port or whatever that shop is called to redeem our Remy map, and while doing that I noticed a Mary Poppins "Practically Perfect in Every Way/Supercalifragilistic" pillow. I passed on it at the moment and we headed out to look for a good spot to watch Illuminations.

We ended up in a spot right in front of the Brazil Marketplace. It was a really good spot--not crowded, and the lights weren't really bugging us. We enjoyed the show, though you can really feel the heat from that fire! I'll be honest I'm glad they're going to do a new show--it needs it. It feels a bit old and dated.

After Illuminations, we ended up going back to the Festival Port or wherever so I could buy my Mary Poppins pillow. We also discovered that Mouse Gears was still open so we did a BUNCH of shopping. We got gifts for friends back home but also souvenirs for ourselves, including a fun Haunted Mansion frame (we're using it to hold our lenticular Tower of Terror photo) and Haunted Mansion Hitchhiking ghosts magnets. Bought all the things!

We then slowly strolled back through Epcot (taking photos whenever it struck our fancy)

and through the International Gateway back to the Boardwalk. It was still pretty warm, so we decided to stop and get ice cream at Ample Hills--dark chocolate for me and baked/unbaked for Trevor. Yum. And a sweet end to a day full of eating.

Fun with Metrics:
Steps Walked: 21,755 (9 miles)
Total AP discount: $59.66 (we spent *a lot* at Mouse Gear...)
Ride Total (Tiffany): 6 (Slinky Dog Dash, Tower of Terror, Star Tours x2, Frozen Ever After, The Seas)
Ride Total (Trevor): 5 (everything I did minus Tower of Terror)

 

[DisneyyDaydream]

Trevor's not a big cheese fan

I’m shocked that it’s possible to not be a fan of cheese!! Lol

Such a cute pic!! Love your leg out to the side

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Busy day! Mid-day breaks are a must for us.

Looks like you got a decent amount of booths done even though you had a few misses although that does happen.

Glad you enjoyed your meal at Coral Reef and got the table next to the window! That makes the restaurant worth it sometimes even with iffy service.

 

[Dentam]

Also, I loved all the details--the awning has the embossed outlines like a real lunchbox top would!

I loved my lunch there - the raspberry tart was so good and HUGE! I had to save half of it for the next day's breakfast. I never even looked up at the awning! Will have to do that when we're there in January.

After that, we headed towards Star Tours! We got the pod racing scene, and then Boba Fett and the death star for the second scene, both of which were new to me, so that was exciting. The lines were super short so we hopped back in line and this time we got the Wookiee planet and then the Death Star. The wookiee planet was new to me, and bonus: no time on Naboo!

It was a walk on while I was there so I rode it three times in a row... and got the very same sequence of scenes all three times.

I really love my reaction in this photo. I have no memory of why I'm so surprised or excited, but apparently it was an amazing ride.

Too funny! Everyone in your boat seems pretty happy and excited about the ride!

We first got the Butternut Squash Ravioli from the Wine and Dine Studio. Trevor didn't much care for this but I *loved* it. Unfortunately I only got one ravioli before I was a clutz and dropped the rest on the ground! I decided not to get another one 'cause we were on our way to dinner, and sadly we never made it back another day.

That was one of my favorite dishes I tried at F&W. Bummer that you dropped some of it! I'm a klutz too so can totally relate!

However, I got seduced by the Chocolate studio--there was no line, and they had the Sweet Dark Chocolate Raspberry tart and we had eaten dessert half an hour ago, so....I got it.

Loved this raspberry tart too! I also got the chai shake and it was pretty good though it melted super fast into an un-shake-like consistency.

 

[kclark9830]

I loved the green army men too! And you know, I noticed during our stay at BWV no one ever made our bed, not even once. We never left it cluttered because I didn't know which day they'd do it. We were there for 8 days. Not that it matters, of course, I just remembered when reading your report!

 

[Araminta18]

I’m shocked that it’s possible to not be a fan of cheese!! Lol


Such a cute pic!! Love your leg out to the side

Right? I told him if I had known how much he was really not a fan I might have had to rethink the engagement... lol but now more cheese for me!

Thanks! That was totally the photographer prompting, but I like how it turned out

Busy day! Mid-day breaks are a must for us.

Looks like you got a decent amount of booths done even though you had a few misses although that does happen.

Glad you enjoyed your meal at Coral Reef and got the table next to the window! That makes the restaurant worth it sometimes even with iffy service.

Oh yea--midday breaks are the best.

We did! I wanted to get more done but it all worked out. And there were enough awesome ones mixed in with the misses to make it fun.

YES! That tankside seat is worth the whole meal. Our meal wasn't bad, but the tank was really the highlight

I loved my lunch there - the raspberry tart was so good and HUGE! I had to save half of it for the next day's breakfast. I never even looked up at the awning! Will have to do that when we're there in January.

It was a walk on while I was there so I rode it three times in a row... and got the very same sequence of scenes all three times.

Too funny! Everyone in your boat seems pretty happy and excited about the ride!

That was one of my favorite dishes I tried at F&W. Bummer that you dropped some of it! I'm a klutz too so can totally relate!

Loved this raspberry tart too! I also got the chai shake and it was pretty good though it melted super fast into an un-shake-like consistency.

You should! The theming in TSL is just amazing.

Bummer! It felt like we were getting Naboo on every Star Tours ride initially but at this point we started to get a lot of variety. Star Tours is less fun when the scenes are all the same.

Ooh bummer about the shake! the heat did kind of warp some of the dishes, that's for sure!

I loved the green army men too! And you know, I noticed during our stay at BWV no one ever made our bed, not even once. We never left it cluttered because I didn't know which day they'd do it. We were there for 8 days. Not that it matters, of course, I just remembered when reading your report!

The green army men are one of my favorite meet n greets.

That's so weird! I know when you stay on points (either your own or rented) you're supposed to get towel service on day four and then a full housekeeping on day 8, but we got full housekeeping on day 4 and towel service on day 8. But to not get anything? That's very strange!

 

[Dentam]

That's so weird! I know when you stay on points (either your own or rented) you're supposed to get towel service on day four and then a full housekeeping on day 8, but we got full housekeeping on day 4 and towel service on day 8. But to not get anything? That's very strange!

Sounds like you lucked out! I just got the towel service during my stay there.

 

[Araminta18]

Sounds like you lucked out! I just got the towel service during my stay there.

I guess! I feel like I’ve heard talk that housekeeping at DVC rooms is kind of random/not as consistent as one would like. I’m sorry you only got towel service!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

I guess! I feel like I’ve heard talk that housekeeping at DVC rooms is kind of random/not as consistent as one would like. I’m sorry you only got towel service!

Its actually pretty consistent - it just isn't probably explained really well to people. It depends no how longer you stay as well.

If you stay 4 Nights to 7 Nights - you only get Towel/Trash at Day 4 - Its the 7 Night/8 Days stays that feel really weird.
If you stay 8 Nights to 11 Nights - you get a full cleaning at Day 4 and a Towel/Trash at Day 8.
Days include check in day.

I've been DVC since 2012 and find this to be true no matter the resort.

I do find that the daily trash helps though since that is usually the biggest annoyance for us before the daily trash was added.

 

[Araminta18]

Its actually pretty consistent - it just isn't probably explained really well to people. It depends no how longer you stay as well.

If you stay 4 Nights to 7 Nights - you only get Towel/Trash at Day 4 - Its the 7 Night/8 Days stays that feel really weird.
If you stay 8 Nights to 11 Nights - you get a full cleaning at Day 4 and a Towel/Trash at Day 8.
Days include check in day.

I've been DVC since 2012 and find this to be true no matter the resort.

I do find that the daily trash helps though since that is usually the biggest annoyance for us before the daily trash was added.

That makes sense! It wasn't explained to me at all--that was just what I gleaned from hanging around on the boards. Thanks for the clarity!!

 

[Dentam]

That makes sense! It wasn't explained to me at all--that was just what I gleaned from hanging around on the boards. Thanks for the clarity!!

Same here. Thanks for clearing that up, @Dis_Yoda!