My latest attempt at a complete Trip Report...WE R BACK! Sept 2014 TR! 10/31 UPDATE

[kittylady1972]

Ok, full confession here...I am terrrible at completing my trip reports here. I love to read other people's and I've started a few of my own (see those links below? ) but I can never quite get them done. Oh I've done some complete ones in the past...but the most recent ones? They just haven't been finished!

And yet, here we are...I really want to succeed this time! So let's see how I do with this shorter-than-average trip!

Up next: Background, details, cast of characters

 

[kittylady1972]

Background, details, cast of characters

Hey look...a second post already? That's progress right?

Just a few details about this trip. It seems like I've told this to soooo many other people who have asked me...you are going to Walt Disney World in September? I get that look...we all know it...that look of confusion that says why? It seems to demand an explanation. This time around it's been even more frequent because....are you ready? We ALREADY have a trip planned for Thanksgiving of this year!

There are many reasons for this trip, so I'll state a few of my favorites, or at least the ones I tell everybody else.

1. Early Anniversary Celebration: My husband and I celebrate 16 years of wedded bliss on October 3rd. We have spent MANY wedding anniversaries at Walt Disney World for the Food and Wine Festival...all without the kids. We usually do the MNSSHP as well...again no kids. This time we promised the kids we wouldn't take a trip without them. Last year we did a 7-night Disney Wonder Cruise to celebrate our 15 year anniversary!
   
2. Early Birthday Celebration: My daughter and my husband both celebrate their birthdays in October. Sure they are at the end of October...but these trip dates in September worked better for us. So we will consider it a month-early celebration for both of them as well.
   
3. Food and Wine!: We love the Food and Wine Festival! We've managed to attend it a few times already. However my in-laws have never had the experience of enjoying it, and since they have annual passes they will be able to join us this time as well.
   
4. Family time is precious Family time is just a precious commodity. We get so busy in our daily lives with work and school and all the craziness that sometimes it's nice to get away together. My in-laws also love visiting Walt Disney World and travel with us for most of our trips and we all get along really well. Sure we have the occasional scuffle (which is usually between my husband and myself) but overall we just love our WDW trips together. My MIL also has a few health issues and was diagnosed with kidney cancer back in the spring. She will most likely return from this trip and our November trip and then have surgery. We will make the most of these trips for her as well!
   
5. Halloween Party Back in 2003 we visited WDW at the end of Sept/early October. We were with the in-laws and at the time had two small kids ages 3 and not quite a year old. My husband and I had big plans to celebrate our anniversary and visit MNSSHP and my in-laws would watch the little ones. Well my MIL got sick and they flew home after only two days. We still did the party...with the kids. Of course they don't really remember it. They are now 14 and 11 and we also have child #3 with us this time who has never done the party. Having kids old enough to stay awake for the party and enjoy it should be fun! We really love MNSSHP! Did I mention my DH was born on Halloween day?
   

So that's our short list of reasons and the timing just works out well for us. We were able to utilize some airline miles to book 3 of our airline tickets for free...saving us about $600. We have pre-purchased the special Annual Passes with Waterparks thru DVC back in April, and with any luck we hope to visit at least one waterpark and maybe two of them...maybe more than once if weather permits!

So our trip is now just over two weeks away and we are excited...of course! I tried to keep it a surprise to the kids, but my daughter is just too slick and she just knows everything...so I gave up on the secret keeping.

And even though I might get some backlash, I will tell you they WILL be missing school for this trip. Two full days of it. Normally I wouldn't be too concerned about it since my kids rarely miss school. Plus they are good students and I know they will be okay. However what didn't help was that my daughter ended up missing school already this year...the first THREE days of school actually. That made it a bit tougher, but we'll just have to soldier through it.

So we will actually get 5 nights overall in WDW for this trip, leaving on a Wednesday night and flying home on a Monday night. Plan is to attend Food and Wine as well as MNSSHP and overall just enjoy ourselves. I'm trying not to overplan this trip, but it's tough.

Yes we have ADRs...but they are all for lunch. No dinners...which never happens for us.

Yes we have some FP+ reservations but we'll see if those work for us. We've never used this new system...I'm a bit nervous about it.

It's all good though...we will be in Walt Disney World!!

On and just for future reference, our last real trip to Walt Disney World (for all of us) was November 2012!

 

[eporter66]

Thanks for the report - we are gearing up for our trip in a few weeks, we go in early October. Same as you guys, we love the Food & Wine festival, and always go to MNSSHP. We usually go closer to Halloween, but things are crazy at work, and as we go later in the year, it will only get worse. So, at least we get to go this year.

Our DD11 is in 5th grade, and we have taken her out of school every year. Dont worry if people dont agree with your decision, family time is very important. There are people who cant take vacations the same time as the school calendar due to work. Our DD knows that if her grades slip, we will not take her out of school to go. I still think back to when my parents took me and my sister to WDW for the first time back in 1981 - so family vacations are very important to me.

I cant wait for the vacation to get here, I just dont want it to go too fast!! Enjoy your trip, and make sure to post.

 

[kittylady1972]

Thanks for the report - we are gearing up for our trip in a few weeks, we go in early October. Same as you guys, we love the Food & Wine festival, and always go to MNSSHP. We usually go closer to Halloween, but things are crazy at work, and as we go later in the year, it will only get worse. So, at least we get to go this year.

Our DD11 is in 5th grade, and we have taken her out of school every year. Dont worry if people dont agree with your decision, family time is very important. There are people who cant take vacations the same time as the school calendar due to work. Our DD knows that if her grades slip, we will not take her out of school to go. I still think back to when my parents took me and my sister to WDW for the first time back in 1981 - so family vacations are very important to me.

I cant wait for the vacation to get here, I just dont want it to go too fast!! Enjoy your trip, and make sure to post.

Thanks for reading! Yes we have a 5th grader, 6th grader and 9th grader to pull out of school. Back to school nights have been 2 days this week so far (with #3 tonight!) and already I noted a group project due for the 9th grader...the day AFTER we return and he'd be out for the 2 days leading up to that.

I agree with the fact that family time is important. Health issues among both sides (both my mom and MIL are battling cancer) make it even more of a priority for us. My husband says we should throw that out there but I'm not willing to share that information with the school. As far as I'm concerned, it's a family event that's important for us...and that should be enough.

I also don't want it getting her too fast...because I know it will be over before we even blink. 5 nights is NOT a long time but I am hoping we make the most of every minute!

 

[kittylady1972]

OUR PLANS

My family knows me all too well, so they don't even LOOK at our plans until we get there because they know I'll change them. Again. And Again. And again.

Anyway, here's my quick recap of the days.

1. Day 1: Arrival: Our flight departs around 5pm...PLEASE PLEASE be ON TIME! I have a very aggressive plan if it all works out. Touch the ground at MCO by 7pm, hop in our rental car and drive, hoping to arrive at MK for the FINAL HOUR of the day. Park closes at 9pm and I want to get ONE ride on the 7DMT before the park ends where we have our best shot (hopefully) at a short wait. Then we will head to our hotel, Shades of Green, for late checkin
2. Day 2: MK and F&W: This is EE for MK day, so we need to be there early. I have lunch plans for us at The Plaza. By afternoon, we'll head over to EPCOT for the Food and Wine Festival. We know we want to avoid this place for the weekend, so we plan to do Thursday and Monday and maybe one other evening. I'd also really like to try to see Yeehaa Bob that night. Never seen him, heard great things. It's on our NEW-TO-TRY list just like 7DMT.
3. Day 3: HS MK Frozen Fireworks: This is our Hollywood Studios day, so plan to head there in the morning. We'll get in a few rides and then take a break for pool or waterpark, weather permitting. I have my ONE and ONLY FP+ reservation for all 7 of us for 7DMT at 5pm this day, so if we haven't had the chance to ride it yet (Wed or Thurs) then we'll head over to MK quickly to get in that ride. OKTOBERFEST is going on at SOG so we may have dinner there. Plan to head BACK to HS sometime that even to experience the Frozen Fireworks.
4. Day 4: AK Waterpark Illuminations: This is our Animal Kingdom day. EE is one of our favorite rides. I think we'd like to do this a few times...and of course the Safari. Anything else is a bonus. We have lunch plans at Sanaa this day, so we'll head there around 12:30pm. After that it's back to either a waterpark or our pool. That evening we have a late reservation at Rose and Crown, just for drinks and dessert as my DH loves their Sticky Toffee Pudding! Illuminations is at 10pm this evening so we are hoping to catch that while eating and drinking at Rose and Crown.
   
5. Day 5 HS MNSSHP: This will either be EPCOT or HS, but I'm leaning more towards another HS morning. Then perhaps we'll head over to EPCOT where I have a 2pm lunch reservation at LeCellier. This late lunch will fill us up so we can cruise through dinner. This is our MNSSHP night, so I want to get there close to 4pm and enjoy all of it until as late as we can go! This is our LAST night!
   
   
6. Day 6:EPCOT Homebound: Rise and shine and pack up our stuff...time to check out of the hotel. We have a late flight, so we still get all day to enjoy a park or two, so I'm thinking more Food and Wine at EPCOT. I have lunch plans at Via Napoli. Our flight is at about 7pm, so I'm sure DH will want to hit the road by 4pm or so. We arrive back at our home airport at 9pm.
   

So that's the plan for now, but it's all subject to change based on weather. Farmers Almanac shows this to be a rainy week in Florida, but we've already loaded the kids up with all new raincoats for the trip! We have ponchos as well that I may pack just in case. We can slog through the rain...we'll be in Walt Disney World!

 

[kittylady1972]

My *HAPPY* note for today...finding somebody else who loves Disney like I do at my place of business!

I happened to overhear a conversation in my office today between two women, and the words Animal Kingdom just couldn't be ignored. I walked over to apologize for eavesdropping...but I heard Disney talk and I had to introduce myself.

So one woman is going end of October with her daughter and grandkids. They are surprising her 4yo grandson...how cool!

Her daughter is doing all of the planning for her, and it sounds like she's got it under control, but the other friend she had talking to her was giving advice. I learned the other friend was a DVC member...and of course...INSTANT BOND!

So she and I were talking to her about some of the things she shouldn't miss, some of the great events we'd attended (Star Wars Weekends, Candlelight Processional, Osborne Lights, etc.) and it was just awesome. Nothing like some Disney talk to make the workday go a little bit faster!

 

[kittylady1972]

Happy Note #2: Saving money on my rental car!

I almost forgot that I managed to book a lower rate on my rental minivan today as well, which is always good news. I haven't mentioned a lot about this trip, but I keep a spreadsheet that has our schedule and our costs. I've booked and cancelled and booked a rental vehicle for this trip several times, each time getting the price a little bit lower.

Today's savings: $44 (which equates to $22 for each of us, back in our pockets where it will be well spent at Disney for sure!)

My minivan rental started out at a total of $377 originally. I'm now at $171 for the long weekend. Quite a savings so stalking those rental car sites and looking for discounts is so worth it!

We have never really relied completely on Disney transportation. We actually like the freedom of driving to the parks and if anybody decides to leave a park early, then the rest of us use the Disney transportation to get back.

Plus this time around my MIL will need to rent a scooter. She hates doing it but she had a hip replacement years ago and she still suffers from a lot of pain from it. While we know they can go on the buses and the monorail, it is also just as easy to throw it in the back of the minivan to go to the parks.

So that's where we are today. Money saving and finding new Disney/DVC people to talk about Disney!

 

[heaven2dc]

I'm in! Your daily plans look great My fav park is Epcot and would love to be there some year for Food & Wine. I have a friend at work who is leaving 9/21 for 5 days there - going with her friend and mom (the mom works for Disney Reservations here at Disneyland) and my friend is so excited - this is her first trip! One funny thing tho - I overheard her the other day talking about her trip to the Mom who does reservations for DL and heard that this mom doesn't know as much about WDW and completely had some of the attractions wrong (said BTMR is at AK and that they "have" to rent a car because the transportation at WDW like boats and monorail cost extra.) Of course I had to put my 2 cents worth in - so now the "mom" is asking me questions even tho she works for Disney

Anyway....I hope you have a grand trip - sounds like so much fun!

 

[dvc at last !]

I am in ... enjoy your trip - looking forward to more !

 

[jerseygal]

What a nice trip with EXTENDED FAMILY!
Moments and memories are PRECIOUS!

I just "light up" when someone starts talking Disney!
So many FUN tips to share and learn!

 

[kittylady1972]

I'm in! Your daily plans look great My fav park is Epcot and would love to be there some year for Food & Wine. I have a friend at work who is leaving 9/21 for 5 days there - going with her friend and mom (the mom works for Disney Reservations here at Disneyland) and my friend is so excited - this is her first trip! One funny thing tho - I overheard her the other day talking about her trip to the Mom who does reservations for DL and heard that this mom doesn't know as much about WDW and completely had some of the attractions wrong (said BTMR is at AK and that they "have" to rent a car because the transportation at WDW like boats and monorail cost extra.) Of course I had to put my 2 cents worth in - so now the "mom" is asking me questions even tho she works for Disney

Anyway....I hope you have a grand trip - sounds like so much fun!

Thanks for reading. . That is so funny about you giving somebody who works for Disney advice! I have done that myself in the parks a few times believe it or not. I once had to explain to a customer how to get their Photopass card processed when the CM behind the counter could not!

I am in ... enjoy your trip - looking forward to more !

Thanks for reading. Hopefully knowing others here are waiting to read will help me remember to come back and write/update!

What a nice trip with EXTENDED FAMILY!
Moments and memories are PRECIOUS!

I just "light up" when someone starts talking Disney!
So many FUN tips to share and learn!

Thanks for commenting and I totally agree with everything!

Well it dawned on me today that I only have to get thru one last full work week this month! Pretty soon I'll be doing a single digit dance!
I think for the most part our plans won't change too muçh. Weather will probably be a factor but that is okay since we know no matter what we will all be in our happy place!

 

[kittylady1972]

10 more days to go!

Today when I got home from playing tennis, my 11 (soon to be 12) year old daughter could not WAIT to show me something. I wander up to her room and it's a countdown calendar, complete with a different Disney character for each day!

I sure hope they never lose their love for Disney!

One of the questions I can't seem to answer for myself for this trip is if we should get the Memory Maker. It's a lot of money to spend, but I do love having our ride photos available at least. I have a few more days to decide.

Other than that, so far every time I look at our plans I don't see them changing. I've checked on and off for rebooking our 7DMT ride passes but I've had no luck there. We have ONE reservation for the seven of us at dinnertime one day, but it's a day we didn't plan to be at MK. We may just have to wander over there just for that ride.

I did tweak a few FP+ reservations, but I haven't updated those on our schedule yet. I guess I should do that.

 

[kittylady1972]

ONE MORE WEEK!!

I can't believe that in a week we'll be leeeeeeeaaaaaaving on a jet plane.....

I still can't believe it's been almost two years since all of us have visited Walt Disney World together. Well...sorta. Our last trip as a family was November 2012. I visited myself in May 2013...a quick solo trip. And in January 2014 we visited Walt Disney World...but only for a day and we did not TECHNICALLY go to ANY parks!

This was as close as we got to going inside a park...


We only visited the park so that I could help my in-laws purchase their Annual Passes and their TIW cards for an upcoming trip that they were taking in February...alone! That's why my MIL is smiling...they had park passes and could have gone inside without us if they had wanted to do so!

That January trip was our cruise on the Disney Magic...which was AWESOME!! However we had a down day before leaving on the cruise....and we spent that day on property, having lunch at Kona Cafe, dinner at Boatwrights, and visiting resorts and doing some water excursions on Bay Lake. It was a great day...even without visiting any parks!

So I did spend some time yesterday modifying some Touring Plans. I had to bite the bullet and get a Touring Plans subscription because I KNOW I'll want it in November...and it would be useful for this short trip as well.

Oh yeah, did I mention the November trip?? We will all be making a return trip to Walt Disney World for Thanksgiving 2014. We just love the parks at the holidays. The castle is so beautiful:









All of the decorated trees are so cool to see:






It will be the 7 of us that are going on this trip (our family of five plus my in-laws) and we'll add in my SIL and nephew for that trip. That will be a stay at the wonderful Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village in a Savannah View room. CAN'T WAIT! Our last stay at Kidani was in May 2009, not too long after that had opened, and we had such a GREAT time there. Of course, we spent a lot of time at the Kidani Pool for that trip...something that we may not be doing in November.

So no new changes to our FP+ reservations, even though I admit I have done some scouring to see if I could get any other 7DMT reservations for this trip for us. No such luck. I think for the most part I'm happy with our plans but there is definitely room for flexibility. I wish I could think of something to do that we have NOT done there before. There is plenty I know. November 2012 was our first time at Hoop-de-Doo:



Well for all of us and it was so much fun...but expensive!!

At this point, I think the goal really might be to try to at least squeeze in a visit to one water park, and two if we are lucky. We haven't been to Blizzard Beach in a long time, and I don't think any of the kids have been there. However we do LOVE Typhoon Lagoon as well. So if the Florida weather cooperates, we'll attempt those.

This weekend will begin our packing and prepping for our trip!!

Can't wait to see this guy!



Well we won't be joining him for a meal this time. We will save that tradition for our November trip. I am hoping to surprise the kids by going to visit him at his new location in MK and hopefully visiting the TALKING Mickey! My kids aren't aware of him that I know...and I think it would be cool to surprise them by having them meet him and having him talk back. Yes they are older but I still think they'd get a kick out of it! I think I'll enjoy it too.

 

[jerseygal]

ONE MORE WEEK!!

I can't believe that in a week we'll be leeeeeeeaaaaaaving on a jet plane.....

I still can't believe it's been almost two years since all of us have visited Walt Disney World together. Well...sorta. Our last trip as a family was November 2012. I visited myself in May 2013...a quick solo trip. And in January 2014 we visited Walt Disney World...but only for a day and we did not TECHNICALLY go to ANY parks!

This was as close as we got to going inside a park...
http://s1244.photobucket.com/user/disneyholic/media/IMG_2134970703003_zps99e5e3f1.jpg.html

We only visited the park so that I could help my in-laws purchase their Annual Passes and their TIW cards for an upcoming trip that they were taking in February...alone! That's why my MIL is smiling...they had park passes and could have gone inside without us if they had wanted to do so!

That January trip was our cruise on the Disney Magic...which was AWESOME!! However we had a down day before leaving on the cruise....and we spent that day on property, having lunch at Kona Cafe, dinner at Boatwrights, and visiting resorts and doing some water excursions on Bay Lake. It was a great day...even without visiting any parks!

So I did spend some time yesterday modifying some Touring Plans. I had to bite the bullet and get a Touring Plans subscription because I KNOW I'll want it in November...and it would be useful for this short trip as well.

Oh yeah, did I mention the November trip?? We will all be making a return trip to Walt Disney World for Thanksgiving 2014. We just love the parks at the holidays. The castle is so beautiful:

http://s1244.photobucket.com/user/disneyholic/media/DisneyNov2012/mkcastle_zpsad41c662.jpg.html

http://s1244.photobucket.com/user/disneyholic/media/DisneyNov2012/mkeve1_zpsfaed38d1.jpg.html

http://s1244.photobucket.com/user/disneyholic/media/DisneyNov2012/mk2012n_zps8ca02d35.jpg.html

All of the decorated trees are so cool to see:
http://s1244.photobucket.com/user/disneyholic/media/DisneyNov2012/day2b_zpsebb224b0.jpg.html

It will be the 7 of us that are going on this trip (our family of five plus my in-laws) and we'll add in my SIL and nephew for that trip. That will be a stay at the wonderful Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village in a Savannah View room. CAN'T WAIT! Our last stay at Kidani was in May 2009, not too long after that had opened, and we had such a GREAT time there. Of course, we spent a lot of time at the Kidani Pool for that trip...something that we may not be doing in November.

So no new changes to our FP+ reservations, even though I admit I have done some scouring to see if I could get any other 7DMT reservations for this trip for us. No such luck. I think for the most part I'm happy with our plans but there is definitely room for flexibility. I wish I could think of something to do that we have NOT done there before. There is plenty I know. November 2012 was our first time at Hoop-de-Doo:

http://s1244.photobucket.com/user/disneyholic/media/DisneyNov2012/hs1d19_zps378c8f4c.jpg.html

Well for all of us and it was so much fun...but expensive!!

At this point, I think the goal really might be to try to at least squeeze in a visit to one water park, and two if we are lucky. We haven't been to Blizzard Beach in a long time, and I don't think any of the kids have been there. However we do LOVE Typhoon Lagoon as well. So if the Florida weather cooperates, we'll attempt those.

This weekend will begin our packing and prepping for our trip!!

Can't wait to see this guy!

http://s1244.photobucket.com/user/disneyholic/media/DisneyNov2012/cm1_zpsf4e6301a.jpg.html

Well we won't be joining him for a meal this time. We will save that tradition for our November trip. I am hoping to surprise the kids by going to visit him at his new location in MK and hopefully visiting the TALKING Mickey! My kids aren't aware of him that I know...and I think it would be cool to surprise them by having them meet him and having him talk back. Yes they are older but I still think they'd get a kick out of it! I think I'll enjoy it too.

Have a BLAST! We too stayed at Kidani summer of 2010 2 Br had a GREAT time. Moved to
a few days at Vero which we loved too! Enjoy your extended family trip. Can't wait for DH and my trip to Jambo this December! Yay!

 

[kittylady1972]

Have a BLAST! We too stayed at Kidani summer of 2010 2 Br had a GREAT time. Moved to
a few days at Vero which we loved too! Enjoy your extended family trip. Can't wait for DH and my trip to Jambo this December! Yay!

THANKS!!! Yes looking forward to that trip as well of course. We stayed at Jambo many years ago...just my husband and myself on an adults-only anniversary trip. It was there that we decided to look into DVC...and of course soon after we were members!

 

[kittylady1972]

So yesterday I did a quick review of the budget for this trip, specifically in terms of food. Wow. It is just crazy the amounts that I'm estimating for food, and that is taking into account splitting some meals and counter service. I'm hoping I can maybe keep a running tally while I'm there just to try to stay on track and really be mindful of what we are spending.

I'm okay with skipping a meal or two here and there in favor of snacking instead. NOTHING wrong with that in my opinion! Dole Whips for dinner? SURE! It is VACATION after all!

So as of now my restaurants include:

Day 2 (1st full day): Shades of Green (breakfast), The Plaza (lunch), EPCOT F&W booths will be dinner

Day 3: HS for breakfast (counter), HS lunch (counter), MK dinner (counter)

Day 4: SOG for breakfast, Sanaa (lunch), SOG dinner (Oktoberfest Bavarian buffet!)

Day 5: SOG for breakfast, EPCOT LeCellier (BIG lunch), MK snacking for dinner (MNSSHP)

Day 6: SOG for breakfast, EPCOT Via Napoli (lunch), EPCOT F&W snacking for early dinner (we leave for airport by 4:30pm)



So of all of these, the ADRs I will most likely keep for sure are The Plaza (lunch) and Sanaa (lunch). I also have an ADR for one night for Rose & Crown Pub at 8:45pm just for drinks and dessert. I'm not sure if I'll keep it yet. We may do better trying to see the Frozen fireworks that night, if we don't get to them the night before.

I'd love to do LeCellier again for lunch, haven't done it in a while, but it will be so expensive that I'm not sure if I'll keep it. I kinda like doing Counter service and not being tied down. Maybe we'll head to MK early for the party and just do a counter service there instead??

I really enjoyed Via Napoli on a prior trip, but this is our last day at the parks so that one also may get dropped in favor of just more F&W snacking or counter service.

Budget right now, including estimates of food and snacks, is close to $1500 for about 5 days of Disney food. That includes the spending on drinks and Food and Wine which I know won't be cheap for the two days we plan to do that. So we'll see. Weather may also cause the need for changes. While I'd really LIKE to purchase our MNSSHP tickets right now, I'm wondering which is going to be the better day, weather-wise, to go to it. My preference really is for Sunday, as it's a great last night celebration for us I think. We'll see.

 

[kittylady1972]

So I did it...last night. I dropped LeCellier for lunch. It would have been such an expensive meal and with F&W we can still get the cheddar cheese soup and the filet...for less! So it is done and that leaves us only 4 ADRs. I am still considering dropping Rose & Crown since it is just for dessert.

I am also still debating the purchase of Memory Maker. I need to decide by this weekend.

Time is going by so fast. I am sitting here this morning just hoping day one goes as planned and we arrive in time that night to hit the park, even if only for Wishes. And then maybe the Poly so my MIL and DH can get themselves a Lapu Lapu!

 

[jerseygal]

Never been to F&W and we are "thinking" about it for next October, DH and I!
Always FUN planning the "next" trip as we haven't even taken ours yet coming up this Dec!

HAVE FUN!

 

[kittylady1972]

Never been to F&W and we are "thinking" about it for next October, DH and I!
Always FUN planning the "next" trip as we haven't even taken ours yet coming up this Dec!

HAVE FUN!

We have done F&W several times without the kids...and so I say GO! You won't be disappointed!

Honestly I'm trying to remember our last trip for Food and Wine. I'm thinking it was maybe 2011 or 2012, or maybe even 2010? Oh wow...so I just looked and I'm thinking it was October 2008 since our last Food and Wine trip! Crazy!

 

[kittylady1972]

FLASHBACK FRIDAY!!


I really didn't think it had been THIS long, but sure enough I think our last trip for the Food and Wine Festival was back in October 2008!

And here we are:

And just one of the food items consumed:

And of course the drinks:

We stayed at the Beach Club, which is perfect for multiple visits to EPCOT of course:

We made sure to stop at our brick, located at the TTA in case you are interested in visiting it yourself:

We had an awesome meal at the California Grill. It would become a favorite, after years of avoiding it since I am such a picky eater.

The sushi was great:

And I loved the flatbread:

And that would have been our last Halloween Party as well. Trying on some hats (I bought mine):

The decorations in the MK are just so great:

And of course, in comparison here we are with kid number one in Disney in October 2003:


Nicolas loved Stanley at the time, so seeing him for Trick or Treating was cool:


And of course, he did manage to stay awake longer than his 11-month-old sister and he got to watch the parade from Daddy's shoulders:


We did snap a photo before the baby girl was asleep. Here is our big family at the time:



I really can't wait for everybody to experience all of these events together. Well the kids won't really enjoy F&W like the adults, but they certainly are looking forward to MNSSHP!

I can't believe we leave in just FIVE MORE DAYS!