Whining, Dining, and MNSSHP...with In-Laws! Oct 2015 (Day 3 Complete!)

[goodmorningirl]

Hello and welcome, welcome, welcome!

I’ve just finished up the trip report for my husband and my Feb/March 2015 trip which can be found in my signature, along with other trip reports, including our Disney Wedding and Honeymoon.

Finally I can start the trip report for our October 2015 trip where we wined, dined, and trick-or-treated, along with our in-laws! (some of them may have even whined along the way…)

I’ve got to get all of my photos uploaded and such, but I just wanted to start with a quick introduction.

This is a photo from our Disney wedding back in August of 2013. On the left is my dad and mom, the middle is Cory and I, and on the right are Cory’s mom and dad. This was the last time the six of us were in Disney together and for some crazy reason, I invited them all to Food and Wine Festival! Lol



Our trip was from Oct 18-23 and we rented points to stay in a two-bedroom villa at Disney’s Beach Club resort. Man, I love walking right into Epcot, especially during food and wine. I don’t know anybody who enjoys getting on a bus full of people after having a few drinks.

And here’s us on our first day at Animal Kingdom. Look how happy everyone is…that’s because vacation just started!



I hope you all will join in and enjoy my report. We did a lot in 6 days, including all dressing up for the Halloween party, and seriously, you don’t want to miss that. So please follow along and comment to let me know you’re here. I’ll be back real soon with my first actual update!

 

[goodmorningirl]

I thought I'd start with our itinerary for the week. While I'm always detailed in my planning, this vacation needed very specific detailing, as Cory and I were wrangling a crew of 4 others who had little recent experience in the parks. So here's the plan that I sent to our parents ahead of time and we will see how exact we ended up being!

October 18
Flight leaves at arrives at 8:30am, arrives at 10:51am.
At Beach Club Villas by 12pm. (one night and then switch to new room)
Catch the bus to Animal Kingdom.
Lunch: Yak and Yeti counter.
Park: Animal Kingdom (closes 6pm)
FP+: Everest (12:30pm-1:30pm), Kilimanjaro Safaris (1:50pm-2:50pm), Dinosaur (2:50pm-3:50pm)
Dinner: Sanaa at 5:15pm.
Park: Epcot (closes 9pm)

October 19
Park: Hollywood Studios (opens 9am)
FP+: Tower of Terror (9:05am-10:05am), Toy Story Mania (10:25am-11:25am), Star Tours (11:25am-12:25pm)
Lunch: Epcot Food Booths
Park: Epcot (closes 9pm)
Dinner: Chefs de France at 6:40pm.

October 20
Park: Magic Kingdom (opens 9am)
FP+: Space Mtn (9am-10am), Thunder Mtn (10:10am-11:10am), Mine Train (11:15am-12:15pm)
Monorail to Epcot
Lunch: Epcot Food Booths
Break: Change into costumes
Park: Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (7pm-12am)
Dinner: Columbia Harbor House

October 21
Park: Epcot (opens 9am)
Lunch: Epcot Food Booths
Park: Hollywood Studios (closes 7pm)
FP+: Star Tours (2:05pm-3:05pm), Tower of Terror (3:15pm-4:15pm), Toy Story Mania (4:25pm-5:25pm)
Dinner: Yachtsman Steakhouse at 6:05pm.

October 22
Park: Magic Kingdom (opens 9am)
FP+: Mine Train (9am-10am), Space Mtn (11:10am-12:10pm), Big Thunder Mtn (12:35pm-1:35pm)
Lunch: Be Our Guest at 2:05pm.
Park: Magic Kingdom (closes 7pm)
Dinner: ‘Ohana at 8:10pm

October 23
Park: Epcot (opens 9am)
FP+: Test Track (9:25am-10:25am, Mission: Space (10:35am-11:35am), Spaceship Earth (11:35am-12:35pm)
Lunch: Epcot Food Booths
Back to the hotel by 5pm. Flight leaves 8:33pm, arrives 10:39pm.

 

[goodmorningirl]

I will start by saying that while the notes are very detailed for the first few days, I started to just use pictures instead of constantly writing stuff down after a day or two because there was just too many people and things to wrangle lol

Also Photobucket is super wonky and even though I'm resizing my images are still appearing large. I hope this isn't too annoying, but I'm trying to figure it out.


Day Zero

Our plan was to have all of us in costume for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. This meant it was our responsibility to get costumes for all 6 of us. We went ahead and picked a tough theme, one that doesn’t just allow you to buy all of the costumes, and so we had to make, fully, three of them, one for each of the guys. I won’t get ahead of myself and say what our theme was just yet, but we ended up finishing at 2:40am the day we were leaving. We were overtired and giddy and really grumpy. But the costumes were done. Here are some pictures of the costume process with Cory and our assistant Huckleberry.

Cutting fabric.



Dying fabric.




Day One: Part One

We had dropped off our puppy, Huckleberry, at Cory’s brothers the night before as we were up early, me at 4:45am to shower, Cory at 5:15am. Our goal was to leave at 5:45am, but we didn’t hit the road until 6am. We were meeting our parents at the Atlantic City airport for our Spirit flight (if it wasn’t so cheap…ugh). But anyway, I had Cory snap this pic of our drive, somewhere on the Atlantic City Expressway. He acted confused at first, I mean, you’d think he’d know by now that all the pictures are necessary with the number of reports I’ve written.



We had a fine drive down and got to the airport with plenty of time. Our flight was at 8:30am. At 8:25am we were leaving the gate, but had to be deiced and didn’t takeoff until 8:50am. I get it, safety and all, but come on, I need Disney!



We finally landed at 10:50 and made lots of stops to accommodate the parents. I quickly realized this was not going to be the efficient and smooth trip like we were used to. I had to learn how to breath deep and let it go. We were finally on the magical express at 12 and were passing the entrance shortly after.



We were at Caribbean Beach by 12:36, Boardwalk by 12:46, and finally the Beach Club by 12:52. We got checked in, got credit cards assigned to specific magic bands, which took longer than expected…and then we were waiting at the bus stop for our first park! But the bus took SO long to get to us. I guess we usually have good bus luck, but we were waiting.

Hitchhiking didn’t make the bus come any faster.



Finally, 20 minutes later, we were on the bus!

Guys



Gals



Once at the park, our headaches weren’t over. My dad is a disabled veteran and was able to get park tickets for the parents, Cory and I still had annual passes, so we had to go to guest relations to get those tickets verified. That took way longer than expected, but then finally, we got to enter the park, woo!

 

[tinkerbell1991]

I already can't wait for this trip report

 

[goodmorningirl]

I already can't wait for this trip report

Welcome, tinkerbell1991! Aw, thank you! I'm so happy you are joining and following along

 

[goodmorningirl]

I forgot to mention that while waiting for our bus, I was able to switch around our Everest FP to after Dinosaur, I think it was around 4ish. I just knew there was no way we could make it and luckily there was an opening.


Day One: Part Two

So that meant our first ride was Terry’s most anticipated…but not before we got a snack because we were all starving! Cory and I knew what we wanted, a jalepeno pretzel. If you’ve never had one, put it on your must-list. They sell them at the cart in front of the safari and they are to die for. Seriously don’t even bother sharing.

So we got to the cart and turned around and the park was a bit packed.



And devoring our pretzels. I don’t know how I found the time between snarfing it down to take a pic, but I suffer for you guys…



So we quickly ate our pretzels, and watermelon, and headed onto the safari. Cory’s mom is obsessed with giraffes and so she was ecstatic. We got on pretty quickly, though at one point they tried to stuff us all in one row which, you know, we are six adults, and our dads are big guys, so we waited for the next one. And now, the obligatory safari pictures.

Crocs.



Baby giraffe!



Baby warthogs! Seriously adorable.



Elephant.



This rhino was super close to us! Look at the hair on his ears!






Snoozy lion.

 

[goodmorningirl]

Day One: Part Three

After the safari we walked over to the new area between Africa and Asia (I believe we kind of just beared left after the safari instead of going back the way we came). They have a bunch of little food stands with snacks and drinks. This whole area was so beautiful and detailed. I couldn’t get enough.







Then you walk through this arch to get to the food stands. It looked like a little market/bazaar and was really neat.



Iced coffees and beers were purchased and we were on our way to our next ride.



On our way, we passed one of Cory’s favorite places, the soft serve ice cream truck in Nepal (it’s right past the building on the left).



Of course he had to get a vanilla cone.

 

[goodmorningirl]

Day One: Part Four

We hustled over to Dinoland and found our next ride.



My Mom has been on this before and she does not love rides. We convinced her to go on though, and she was a good sport. We were terrible people and made excuses and directed her to the seat right next to the dino. Whoops. Also this is why I love Photopass. Also LOL at Cory who is just pointing at her. My mom is the best. And Cory’s mom who is looking in the complete opposite direction.



We walked through the area, but had to hustle back to our last FP of the day.

 

[goodmorningirl]

Hey all. Hope you guys are enjoying the TR so far. I'd love to hear from you!

Day One: Part Five

Our last ride was Expedition Everest. My father had been on once before, about 4 years ago, my Mom had no interest in going on, and Cory’s parents had never been on. We went through in just a minute or two with our FP. Now, Terry wasn’t too psyched about the ride. She kept asking if it was crazy and we may have fibbed that it wasn’t…

Waiting for our train car.



Like last time, Cory was very into taking pictures while on the rides, so we have a bunch of those.



Cory’s dad was super into immediately.





And up until this point, Cory’s mom was good. It wasn’t too much further though that she did not like what was happening.

You know, about here.



Where the track ends.



She wouldn’t even look. (lol I love this moment Cory captured)



And this is a definite favorite of mine from the trip.



And the ride photos.

 

[goodmorningirl]

Day One: Part Six

Next we had an ADR at Sanaa so we made our way toward the front of the park. We took some pics along the way because, Photopass.



Normal.



Wild animals. That looks more accurate…



Magic shot.



We left the park at 4:58 and got to Kidani and observed the animals until 5:15. It’s so pretty here and relaxing.









We were buzzed in and Sanaa was amazing as always. We got the naan platter and everyone agreed with us that it is pretty much the best thing in the world. Seriously…ugh I want it now so bad. Please, please go here and eat this. You will forever rejoice. Again, I don’t know how I took this picture while I was also stuffing my face.



On the way out, I just thought this was a cool light fixture.



We caught the Epcot bus so we could stroll right through to our hotel. Of course we didn’t just walk through! We had to stop for our first treats of the Festival!

 

[goodmorningirl]

Day One: Part Seven

We entered and took another Photopass pic in front of the main sign for the Festival.



While I wanted Festival eats, Cory was on a mission for another of his favorite desserts.



Ice cream from France.



I love this little stairway in there.



My parents and Cory got ice cream. My mom’s the cutest, for real.



I was in the market for something different. Pomegrante Kir from France, a past festival favorite. And I asked Cory for a nice picture. Oh, well. I guess nice=ice cream on my cheek.



Cory’s mom and I enjoyed our kir and wine.



We all were so exhausted. Cory and I were running on less than three hours of sleep, so it was time for our room. We were in one room for one night and then were switching on the second day to one for the rest of the trip (just how the points worked out). The room was super far from the lobby, but very nice. I took no pictures because I was asleep almost instantly and was passed out by 9:45pm.

Our first day was a success and we were off to a good start!

 

[hokieinpa]

Followed you over from my TR!

We were meeting our parents at the Atlantic City airport for our Spirit flight (if it wasn’t so cheap…ugh).

Is Spirit awful? The fares a bit lower than Southwest but with the fee for bags it really does even out. But when they have sales, it's really tempting to book a quick flight down!

Cory and I knew what we wanted, a jalepeno pretzel. If you’ve never had one, put it on your must-list. They sell them at the cart in front of the safari and they are to die for. Seriously don’t even bother sharing.

Yum! I've never had one but it sounds like something that I need to try on our next trip!

My Mom has been on this before and she does not love rides. We convinced her to go on though, and she was a good sport. We were terrible people and made excuses and directed her to the seat right next to the dino. Whoops. Also this is why I love Photopass. Also LOL at Cory who is just pointing at her. My mom is the best. And Cory’s mom who is looking in the complete opposite direction.

Hilarious! I love the picture! This is so something I would do to my mom! Lucky for her, we still have kids that don't meet the height requirement for the big rides yet. But in a few years...

That looks amazing! And what kind of yummy drink do you have?

 

[goodmorningirl]

So happy to see you over here!

Followed you over from my TR!
Is Spirit awful? The fares a bit lower than Southwest but with the fee for bags it really does even out. But when they have sales, it's really tempting to book a quick flight down!

Spirit is pretty much awful. They charge for everything, bags, seats, water, and are unreliable. We almost always have an hour delay going down to Orlando, this time we lucked out. Also the seats are packed in and are super uncomfortable. I would only travel on them if they are the absolute lowest price. Otherwise, skip them.

Hilarious! I love the picture! This is so something I would do to my mom! Lucky for her, we still have kids that don't meet the height requirement for the big rides yet. But in a few years...

LOL Your mom is very lucky. My mom has to deal with two adults who love her and enjoy watching her squirm.

That looks amazing! And what kind of yummy drink do you have?

It is one of the best things ever! I'm drinking a red sangria which was very, very yummy.

 

[goodmorningirl]

Day Two: Part One

Everyone was up for our first rope drop of the trip. We would have been very much on time for getting to Hollywood Studios early, but when I went to the front desk to switch our rooms, basically check out and check in, there was an issue and it took forever.

Finally we were out at the boat dock waiting for a Friendship Boat.



There’s the crew. Everyone was still in good spirits, at this point at least. And oh, hey. There’s our reception venue in the background, The Atlantic Dance Hall.



We finally got on the boat at 8:30, when I wanted to be at the park. Ugh. I just breathed and kept my cool. Except that when we got there, it was about 8:50 and the park was already open. Double ugh.

Warning: Lots of talk and little pictures for this next bit of drama.

As we were walking in, we were on a mission to get to TSMM immediately to be able to ride it twice. When we got there, the line was back by One Man’s Dream, I think because they hadn’t yet opened inside the building. While waiting, my dad said he needed breakfast. So my mom and Cory’s dad went with him to Starring Rolls to grab something. Grab being the keyword. Well the three of us stayed in line and it was a while until we finally reached the point where you go in the building, by the cast members. We were waiting, looking for them, wondering why the heck they weren’t back yet and Cory went to try and find them. I don’t think it’s cool to let people in line at a certain point, and I wasn’t going in the building without them.

As we were standing there, I started talking to this one CM about my R2D2 t-shirt. We had a nice little chat. Well as it was our turn to head in, we just got out of line. It was probably 9:20 by that time and we waited for nothing. Well, I was not happy at all. So we went by the Buzz and Woody meet and waited. Finally, 10 mins later, Cory comes back not too happily with his dad following. My parents were still not back. Cory was annoyed we wouldn’t get on and as we were moping, because we are adults, that lovely Star Wars fan of a CM came over and asked if we were all together now. We said we were still missing two. He said to just come over and he would let us through the FP line. I could have hugged this guy. True Disney magic. I profusely thanked him and we got in line.

Cory and his dad rode together and I rode with Cory’s mom. My score is on the right and hers is on the left.



And Cory was best in vehicle, of course.



They really loved this ride and were excited to play again later.



So my mood and Cory’s were much better as we exited. And then, we spotted my parents who came out from that area of TSMM a few minutes later. When we asked where they were, they said they just rode the ride. We were confused lol turns out, the same CM saw them looking confused outside the ride and asked if they were with our group and when they said yes, he let them through the FP also. Man, that guy was amazing and I’m sorry I didn’t get his name to let Disney know about him.

Our next FP was for Tower of Terror so we headed on that way. As we approached, my mom was set on not going on. When we did our mother/daughter trip she went on for the first time and was none to happy, screaming, “We’re gonna die!” But not in a joking manner, like for real. So I was fine with her not going on.

So, the 5 of us got in the FP line and boarded the ride. Well, almost immediately, Cory’s mom was terrified. By the time the ride actually started she was crying, which you can see in the ride picture. I know we look mean, but we aren’t I promise! Lol We really did not know she wouldn’t like it.



As soon as the doors opened, she was gone, bolted from the building. She found my mom and immediately sat. I did feel a bit bad. Whoops.



We got some coffee from the cart there and sat for a few.

 

[goodmorningirl]

Day Two: Part Two

Next it was over to our FP at Star Tours. I had to get a quick picture with my hero, R2.



Everyone enjoyed the ride, no motion sickness for the parents, which was a win. Then we headed over to the Streets of America back to TSMM, and my parents foun this beautiful gazebo.



And we showed our parents how to properly sing in the rain.



We found the new Watto’s Grotto store and had to look around.





Coming out of the store, I decided I wanted to meet my old scare friends. We hadn’t met them in quite a while and I thought our parents would enjoy meeting them. Turns out the dads weren’t interested, but our moms were game. While waiting, I was kept in line by this sign. I decided it only meant while I was waiting for Mike and Sully and didn’t apply to the whole week. Cory would probably disagree.



Finally after about 20 mins, it was our turn. These guys were so funny with us. I walked up to Sully and called him Kitty. He gave me a great big hug.





Sully was obsessed with my mom lol He would not lift his head off of her. We were cracking up.



Then I requested we be scary and this is another favorite picture.



On the way over to TSMM, Cory found a relic that he demanded his picture with.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

Enjoying your report so far! You were so brave to take both sets of parents! I once took my whole family (a group of ten of us) and it got a bit stressful toward the end.

I've been thinking about renting points for my next trip, what was the process like for you? Easy? Did you rent from someone here on the boards or did you go elsewhere?

What did Cory's mom think about the giraffes? and babies? I think the baby warthogs are my favorite thing in this world, and I'm very sad to realize that they must be all grown up by now and finding their own Timons and venturing out into the world to find their own hakuna matata.

That is pretty amazing you got both sets of parents on both Dinosaur and Everest, kudos to you. I stopped at the Sanaa part so I have some more reading to do.

 

[goodmorningirl]

Enjoying your report so far! You were so brave to take both sets of parents! I once took my whole family (a group of ten of us) and it got a bit stressful toward the end.

Hi OhioStateBuckeye! Happy to see you here as I've enjoyed your reports. Stress level definitely rose each day, and by the end I was wanting a trip to ourselves lol but it was all in all a great experience. It was hard keeping 6 of us together, I can't imagine 10!

I've been thinking about renting points for my next trip, what was the process like for you? Easy? Did you rent from someone here on the boards or did you go elsewhere?

We used DVC-Rental.com just because I read good reviews of them. I found the process pretty easy and they were very nice to work with. I would say the process of switching rooms from that first night was stressful and wasn't very easy, but that was due to the way the points worked with what rooms were available, so no fault of DVC-Rental. It was a very nice way to keep everyone together at the Beach Club at a very reasonable rate.

What did Cory's mom think about the giraffes? and babies? I think the baby warthogs are my favorite thing in this world, and I'm very sad to realize that they must be all grown up by now and finding their own Timons and venturing out into the world to find their own hakuna matata.

Cory's mom could not get enough of the giraffes. I think she would have jumped out of the truck to pet one of the babies if she could. At one point there were maybe 3 or 4 babies all together and I thought she was going to cry from excitement. I could not get over the cuteness of those warthogs. So sad they get bigger, but hopefully, as you've suggested, they've all found their new best meerkat friends.

 

[goodmorningirl]

Day Two: Part Three

We found some army men walking around on our way in TSMM.



And of course our retired Marines fathers needed their pictures too.





We rode together as couples and had a good run.







My score is the one of the right, Cory’s is the one on the left.



And Best in Vehicle for Cory, again.



We headed out of Hollywood Studios and to the Friendship Boats. We were heading to our first lunch at Food and Wine.



We waited maybe 15 minutes and then were on our way to Epcot by 12:30!

 

[goodmorningirl]

Day Two: Part Four

We were in Epcot by 1. I believe we got off and walked from the Beach Club, maybe? We were planning to eat at a bunch of booths and spend the rest of the day in Epcot.

We started in the UK. Except that we didn’t exactly. Cory’s dad was set on getting Fish and Chips from the stand that is always there. This would be the first of many times he didn’t get the whole festival thing.





I went into the bar for a favorite drink of mine, a Pimm’s Cup. Yum, yum. And got all fancy with my pinky out.



Next we walked over toward Canada and found a table to enjoy our goods.



With this pretty view.



We got yummy treats from both Greece and Canada. From the top, clockwise: Canada: Canadian cheddar cheese soup, Greece: Chicken gyro with tzatziki sauce, Canada: “Le Cellier” wild mushroom beef filet mignon with truffle butter sauce,

Greece: Spanakopita. This was all really, really good.



Next we stopped at Dominican Republic.



From the Dominican Republic, we got two of the Pescado con coco: Seared grouper, pigeon peas and rice with coconut sauce. I don’t eat fish, but everyone said this was amazing. It was a favorite of our moms.



Cory is not a big drinker, but he really likes cider, so when I saw there was a cider flight, I knew that was a must-have. These drinks are all from the Farm Fresh booth. So from top right, clockwise: Woodchuck Raspberry Hard Cider, Wyder’s Dry Pear Hard Cider, Two Henrys Elderberry Hard Cider, ACE Hard Pumpkin Cider. Also on the right is a glass of the Florida Orange Groves, Key Limen Wine. The wine was very good and we were happy with all the ciders, but especially the raspberry and elderberry.



From Farm Fresh, we also got: Loaded mac n’ cheese with Nueske’s pepper bacon, cheddar cheese, peppers and green onions. I love mac and cheese. It’s my favorite food. This was good, but mainly just okay.



Next was Australia. Our moms were itching to try the shrimp. So this is a blurry picture of: Grilled sweet and spicy bush berry shrimp with pineapple, peppers, onions, and snap peas. They loved this also.



At this point, the dads were tired, so they headed back to the room and were planning on meeting us back in France for dinner. We planned on sticking out the rest of the day and continuing to eat around the world.

Me and my mom.



Cory and his mom.



We stopped in Mexico for, from left to right: Guava margarita, Mexican sangria, Pastel de elote con queso: sweet corn cheesecake. Wow. These drinks were fantastic, especially the Mexican sangria. Cory and my mom split the cheesecake and really enjoyed it.



Cory wanted some candy from the story in Norway so we stopped in there. We found a photopass photographer outside the closed Maelstrom and got some cute pictures.





We made our way into Germany, giddy from our drinks, and went into the caramel shop. Doesn’t this place smell so amazing! I gained weight just sniffing the air. Cory got a caramel apple with nuts, my mom got a dark chocolate covered caramel with sea salt, and Cory’s mom got this sugar cookie drizzled in caramel, and a bag of caramel popcorn.



Next we were ready to show our moms one of our favorite parts of our trip two years ago to Food and Wine, the Chase relaxation place in America. This place is so fantastic to take a break. There’s free soda and water and you can charge your phone. We took a bit of a break here which was much needed. All of our feet were feeling tired.

 

[TXMNie]

Following along! Food and Wine looks divine. It is definitely on the must do list sometime for us. And I love, love beach club and their villas. It is where my family stayed on vacations growing up. I have to commend you on taking both sets of parents. I love my folks and my in laws, but having so many people with differing opinions/ways of doing things does sound like it could get stressful. Good for you for taking deep breathes and having so much patience!