"Can I see your pins?" 12 Days of Disney Fun: Oct. 2011 3/13 It's the end.

[DisneyCrafter]

Does my ticker really say 19 days until Orlando?! I need to get to work b/c this is everything I still have left to do:

-Calculate misc. and food budget (I've honestly started this at least 3 different times but then I end up spending the time contemplating if I've made the right dining choices. Please tell me I'm not alone!)

-Print out directions (to hotel and back to airport, to massage, Cocoa & Daytona Beach and Greg's aunt's house) --> Our GPS and Florida don't particularly get along, it's a very rocky relationship. I'm going to be prepared in hopes that it will save Greg and I from getting frustrated with each other.

-Make packing list (I swear that I'm going to just create one to use every trip that I can just add to/delete from when need be.)

-Go through toiletries and make list of what we need

-Print itinerary (it's nearly completed, I just need to input a few more addresses and such)

Luckily, I'm off this weekend and next so I'll have time to tackle this list!

 

[Simba22]

I change ADRs ALL the time! And when it's a short trip, it's especially hard! I never feel like I've picked the right things!

I did that with my packing list! I made one master list and I just print it out every time we're going away some where. If it's not a Disney Trip, I just cross off all the Disney related items. It's so much easier than making a new list every time!

I can't believe you only have 19 days!

 

[Nermel9]

Great update! Can't believe you got to meet the Cake Boss, that's so cool! I can't get into that show, as much as I try, but it's still cool that you got to meet him!

Ughhh...the rain that weekend was so awful!

Can't believe your Orlando trip is so close, yay!!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Yay for 19 days & yay for me finally making it through your Cake Boss update! I've started reading it so many times I can't even count.

What a fun event! I'm glad he stuck around for you to get an autograph & photo! We've never done any of the special events... and probably won't with the kids. But I do have a girls weekend trip coming up during this year's F&W... so I guess you never know.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

I change ADRs ALL the time! And when it's a short trip, it's especially hard! I never feel like I've picked the right things!

I did that with my packing list! I made one master list and I just print it out every time we're going away some where. If it's not a Disney Trip, I just cross off all the Disney related items. It's so much easier than making a new list every time!

I can't believe you only have 19 days!

To be honest, I still don't think I'm happy with our itinerary. I need to tweak it some more...

I just finished making a list in Excel. Hopefully I can just alter it as I need for future trips. Thanks for the tip.

Great update! Can't believe you got to meet the Cake Boss, that's so cool! I can't get into that show, as much as I try, but it's still cool that you got to meet him!

Ughhh...the rain that weekend was so awful!

Can't believe your Orlando trip is so close, yay!!!

The first season or two, my friend continuously tried to get me to watch it and I was just not into it. Then one day, Greg and I really started liking the show. It was weird.

I hope we don't get a lot of rain on this next trip...

Yay for 19 days & yay for me finally making it through your Cake Boss update! I've started reading it so many times I can't even count.

What a fun event! I'm glad he stuck around for you to get an autograph & photo! We've never done any of the special events... and probably won't with the kids. But I do have a girls weekend trip coming up during this year's F&W... so I guess you never know.

I know what you're talking about! With me, I always have the best intentions on commenting on an update on someone's TR or PTR after I read it but somehow I get distracted.

I don't blame you, I don't think kids would enjoy those type of events very much.

They do have mixology seminars and short cooking demonstrations that are low cost (I believe around $15), which wouldn't take up too much of your time with the girls but would be a lot of fun.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Sunday, October 9:

Well, this is it. The last update. After 6 months and just two weeks before our next trip, I am finally finishing this TR. It’s bittersweet but it can’t be prolonged anymore.

When I last left off, Greg and I had just left the Festival Center after attending the Sweet Sunday Event featuring Buddy Valastro. I forgot to mention that Greg proceeded to say, “I’m Buddy and I’m the boss!” in a Jersey “accent” alllllll day. *Queue eyeroll*

Guess what we encountered upon exiting the Festival Center? SUN! No rain! (We really were able to put our sunglasses on.) I was so happy. What should we do now that we have this coveted sunshine? Why, see Universe of Energy, of course!

We had never done this attraction before and since we were right near it, it only made sense to give it a try. We had some laughs but overall it was pretty boring and it didn’t seem to last as long as I thought. They made such a fuss about getting to your seat and staying there or saying that if you felt that you couldn’t sit for the duration of the ride to exit now. I wonder if they have problems with small children staying seated for the duration of the show.
Who knows???

Once we said goodbye to Ellen, Greg wanted to do Test Track one more time so we debated over getting FPs but decided to hop in the single rider line as the wait time was listed as 25 minutes. Guess what? Disney math that day made 25 minutes = 45 minutes. UGH! I was not happy. Greg and I did end up in the same car, though. I also wrote in my notes that for some reason the car felt like it was going really fast this time.

At this point, we decided to say goodbye to Epcot for what we thought would be this trip and head back to Pop to do some packing before our dinner at Ohana and our evening at Magic Kingdom. Well, packing didn’t take very long, I tend to stay very organized for the duration of our trip. (Who am I kidding, I tend to stay organized in almost every aspect of my life.)

At this point, I was kicking myself for not getting a Food & Wine Fest cookbook. Greg said he wanted a Food & Wine Fest pin. Well, what are we to do? Head back to Epcot, of course! As soon as we had our souvenirs in hand, we were off to the Polynesian!

However, we were a *little* early. So early that they gave us the choice to wait as a walk-up (1.5 hours) or come back 30 minutes before our ADR time. We chose the latter and took the monorail over to the MK and grabbed FPs for Space.

As you can tell, the sunshine didn’t stick around for long, but the rain wasn’t being obnoxious.

We checked in and waited about 25 minutes before we were called to our table. We had a nice waitress and she was very attentive for the majority of the meal. The steak was particularly delicious and what I wouldn’t do for Ohana’s dessert right now! I wish there was somewhere else to get it besides Ohana. When it came time to get the check, it literally took 30 minutes. Our waitress disappeared and never even apologized! I was peeved. Anyway…

We headed back to the MK to ride those last few attractions before it was time to call it a night. We rode Pirates, Splash and Haunted Mansion:

We saw Philhar Magic:

Snagging a picture of this not so hidden Mickey may have also prompted the CM to remind us not to use flash photography. (The show hadn’t started yet, I promise!)

Then we rode Space and then we thought it was time for the park to close. SURPRISE! It’s EMH and I forgot! We rode People Mover and Buzz. I hit the 100,000 target! Woo hoo! Beat that, Greg. (He didn’t.)

Oh yeah, it was ON!!!

As we made our way out of the park, Greg literally was in “attack” mode. Every single CM Greg saw, he asked to see his/her pins. We went in gift shops and saw the pin book at the Confectionary; he even went over to the stroller rental and asked to see the stroller (for about the third or fourth time this trip) and they told him no, they only take it out certain times of the day and
it had already been out. Poor guy!

So with one final farewell, we said goodbye to our happy place, promising to return before too long.

~*~See Ya Real Soon!~*~​

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Monday, October 10:

Although this is a separate post, I'm still counting it as one large update. Our departure day wasn't very exciting but I do have a few food pictures to share:

We decided to have breakfast at Earl of Sandwich and spend some time browsing the shops in DTD. However, they must have had some power issue overnight as NONE of the stores had A/C. It was not fun. Especially when the line in the Christmas shop was forever long. There were so many cute things I wanted in the Christmas shop but I just couldn't bring myself to spend the money. I want the advent calendar and the bell wreath but both are near $50 or more and I just couldn't do it. One day, though, those will be mine!!! Greg was still on a pin hunt this morning. If I saw a CM, I also saw Greg disappear. Oh, that boy. What did I create?

Once we had enough of the mugginess both inside of the stores and out, we headed back to Pop and sat in the food court until it was time for the ME to pick us up.

Before we knew it, we were home. Home Sweet Home. I love going on vacation but I also love sleeping in my own bed.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

This was our collection of souvenirs:

I actually think more of those things were for me, but it's also because Greg's pins (what few he bought) were expensive and he was all about the pin collection and didn't really care so much about anything else.

Overall, we had an amazing trip. If the biggest thing I could complain about was the rain, I think that's not very much to complain about at all!

I did jot down some notes shortly after the trip to reflect on things that we liked, would do differently and things that we didn't like:

1. I would have liked to use the dining plan. I like the prepayment. It takes a lot of stress out of the trip.

2. I wish we would have done more culinary demonstrations. Even the short, informal ones. I conside
r myself a foodie and they looked right up my alley.

3. I really liked Pop but the walk (we were in building 7) was far. The pillows aren't very comfortable and the room never got cold enough. If we stayed again, I'd pay extra for the preferred room.

4. The Dolphin was nice. Actually, I would rate it as the number two resort we've stayed at in Disney, only second to the Grand Floridian. The only thing I can complain about is the sink layout. There wasn't much room to keep my things organized in my travel bags. However, the bed was sooooo comfortable and the room was always nice and cold!

5. I seemed to grow more of a fondness for DHS this trip. I love the drawing class in particular and Starring Rolls has wonderful food. I think it's just me but the food in DHS seems to cost more than the other parks. It could just be because I don't feel that there's as much of a choice.

6. We LOVED Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I'm just getting caught up! That is so neat that you got to meet the cake boss! I'm really hoping to do some of the demonstrations when we're at F&W this year. Love all the souvies! So glad you went back for the cookbook. I want one of those, too!

I can't believe it's the end. It's always so sad when a TR has to end. Thank you so much for sharing it with us! I have loved following along! I hope you'll be sharing your Orlando spring break! I can't believe it's so close!

 

[DisMomAmy]

So sad to see your trip come to an end, but you have another just around the corner!

Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Nermel9]

I love that Food and Wine cookbook, I might have to get one of those if we go back this year!

Looks like you guys had a fun last day in MK! 'Ohana is soooo good, isn't it? I could eat that bread pudding every day of my life!

I love EoS for breakfast!

Thanks for sharing your trip, sad it's over, but at least you're going back soon!

 

[Simba22]

I am SO sorry! I totally missed your last update!

Sounds like a great ending to a great trip! So glad you guys had fun and enjoyed the Halloween Party!

Have a great time on your upcoming Florida trip!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

So sad to see your trip come to an end, but you have another just around the corner!

Thanks for sharing!!

We're back! We've been home since Tuesday afternoon but I've been swamped with work and it isn't going to let up anytime soon. It was like this before I left as well. I already need another vacation!

I love that Food and Wine cookbook, I might have to get one of those if we go back this year!

Looks like you guys had a fun last day in MK! 'Ohana is soooo good, isn't it? I could eat that bread pudding every day of my life!

I love EoS for breakfast!

Thanks for sharing your trip, sad it's over, but at least you're going back soon!

OMG! That bread pudding.

Even though we didn't eat at 'Ohana on this trip, I did get a bread pudding fix. Not the same but still pretty darn good! We went to Boma for breakfast and they had french toast bread pudding with banana foster sauce. OMG! It was sooooooooo good!

I am SO sorry! I totally missed your last update!

Sounds like a great ending to a great trip! So glad you guys had fun and enjoyed the Halloween Party!

Have a great time on your upcoming Florida trip!

I would say overall, we had a pretty good trip, definitely not in our top 3, though. We experienced some pretty unmagicalness on our last day.