Oh the Horror!!! A most excellent, horrifying adventure! Sleepy Hollow, MNSSHP & HHN ***NEW***

[cynditech]

Welcome to our super fun – and super late – trip report We’ve been going to Disney a couple times a year since about 2012. Last year we became DVC members, since we’ve been renting points all these years. We really enjoy going in the fall – especially because of MNSSHP!!! This year we also switched things up by attending our 1st Halloween Horror Nights at Universal. We stayed at Bay Lake Tower in a one-bedroom unit (wanted two full bathrooms, which was a lifesaver).


The cast of travelers will include:

Me (Cynthia), Hubby (George), Son (Nicholas, 12) and Niece (Atlanta, 14)

Dates – October 17th to October 24th

Day 1: Travel - Check In - Epcot

Day 2: Hollywood Studios - Hoop de doo - Wagon Ride

Day 3: Disney Springs - MNSSHP

Day 4: Animal Kingdom - Sleepy Hollow Event

Day 5: Magic Kingdom

Day 6: Part 1 - Animal Kingdom

Day 6: Part 2 - Halloween Horror Nights RIP Tour

Day 6 *BONUS* - Halloween Horror Nights Video

Day 7: Epcot & Top of the World Lounge

Day 8: Magic Kingdom - Check out - Travel

 

[cynditech]

Day 1 – Travel, Check In, Epcot

Tuesday, October 17th


We had packed the vehicle the night before, knowing we would all be up early in the morning (and dragging a$$ ). We hit the road and ended up hitting the absolute worst traffic we’ve ever encountered on the way to the airport. I think there must have been a couple of accidents, paired with rush hour traffic – high stress for me lol! So, we dropped the car off in the parking lot, shuttled over to the airport – and then began my normal overzealous security screening lol. It has now become a family tradition for me, and my bag, to get pulled to the side, searched and tested. I like to get to the airport early in anticipation lol. And so, once everything in my bag was tested, we were off and running to the gate (since boarding had begun). We passed by a McDonalds, and we grabbed a super quick breakfast. We have a tradition for every time we fly – the kids make thank you cards for the flight crew and they give them the cards and Godiva chocolates. It starts everyone off in a great mood, and it gives the kids something to work on the evening before we travel. We had an uneventful flight, everything went great. I had upgraded our seats on Delta to the Comfort Plus and we really appreciated the extra room. I sat with the two kids and George ended up having a whole row to himself. It worked out great, he was able to get a quick sleep (since he had not slept after his shift at the Fire Station).

The plane landed at about 1:00pm, grabbed some Starbucks for all of us and headed towards Magical Express. Of course, it seemed like forever until the bus left – I know we were all soooo anxious to get to the resort. Around 2:30pm we checked in to Bay Lake Tower and they had a room available. Once we got to the room, we called Bell Services for our grocery order (from Amazon). Someone from Bell Services showed up, but with only a few items from our order? I had the print out from our order, and we knew there was a lot missing. So, he comes back about 20 minutes later with more – but still not the whole order. We honestly got the impression from Bell Services that they were not pleased with having to try to find our Amazon order. We called Amazon (who were amazing), and they refunded everything that was missing and we placed another order for all of the missing items, with delivery later in the evening.

We had an early O’hana reservation to get to, so we headed out to the monorail. Dinner was pretty good, Nicholas is a super picky eater, so they made him a plate of his favorites – hot dogs and French fries lol! We started dinner with a Corona for George and a Lapu Lapu for me – yummy as always. We all agreed this was a great way to start our vacation! We used our AP or DVC discount for 10% off this dinner.

We headed back to our room to just relax and get settled in. While I was unpacking, the kids carved a pumpkin and decorated our window. That was seriously one of the things I enjoyed the most. I had brought the window clings with us and ordered the pumpkin from Amazon Prime now (it was pretty big). I had packed flickering, battery operated, votives to light up the pumpkin – so fun!!!!!

At around 8pm we decided to head over to Epcot (I think we didn’t to MK because MNSSHP was going on). We took an Uber to Epcot, so that was quick. Our first stop was Test Track where we did the single rider line and got on the ride in about 6 minutes! We walked around a bit and saw everyone getting ready to watch Illuminations (which we had never seen). There was a sweet couple in front of us that invited the kids to get in front of them to watch. So, we all had a great view and were glad we got to see the show. But we did all kinda agree it was a “one and done” for us. From there we rode Soarin and then headed to the front of the park. We took an Uber back to BLT and then watched Hallowishes from the front of the hotel, with the music piped in. We headed to our room, and everyone was in bed by 11pm. Whew, what a day !!!

 

[cynditech]

Day 2 – Hollywood Studios, Hoop De Doo, Wagon Ride

Wednesday

October 18th

After a long day yesterday, I tried my luck to wake everyone up early this morning – lol, that was a no go! Finally, everyone was up around 8:30am and we hopped on the monorail and headed over to the Poly for breakfast at Captain Cooks. It our favorite quick service for breakfast, plus we received 20% off for AP or DVC discount). So not only was it delicious, it was a good deal! From the Poly, we took the bus over to Hollywood Studios.

We arrived there around 9:50am and rode Toy Store Mania and met Starlord & Groot as well as Chewbacca. The meets were really fun and we were glad that we waited in the somewhat long lines to meet them. From there we went on Tower of Terror and used rider swap because of Nicholas (not wanting to go on the ride). From there we hit Star Tours and then walked slowly over to our lunch spot – 50’s Prime Time. This was our 1st time eating there and we were all excited to try it out! George and Atlanta got milkshakes, which they both enjoyed. We split the appetizer of fried cheese, delish! We all ordered something and then basically shared. So, we tried salad, pot roast, fried chicken. For dessert we split the chocolate and pb cake. It was fun to try out, but we probably wouldn’t return. We all agreed the food was just ok. We received a 10% discount with our AP or DVC discount. After lunch we headed out and caught the bus back to BLT. We spent the afternoon hanging out at the pool and relaxing in the room.

Around 5:30 we took a Minnie Van over to Hoop de doo review. The cost was $18, the driver was so amazing and fun, and she dropped us off right near the hall. We walked around a bit before our 6:15pm dinner time. We have been here before, it’s George’s favorite! While the show was good, and the food was the same, the service was really lacking this time. Again, we probably wouldn’t return for a while. After exiting the show, we decided to take a wagon ride through the campground. Cost was $12 for the adults and $8 for the kids and the ride lasted about 30 minutes. We would do this again for sure. It was so much fun seeing how the campers decorated their sites for Halloween – very impressive! Loved it! When done, we took the boat back to Contemporary – which took forever!!! Once back at BLT we took a late swim, had a snack and went to bed around 11:30pm.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Following along! Better late than never!

I love that you guys carved a pumpkin at the resort!

 

[cynditech]

Day 3 – Disney Springs, MNSSHP

Thursday

October 19th

We woke up this morning excited for our favorite breakfast, O’hana! Managed to get everyone up and ready, and at the monorail by 8:30am and headed over to the Poly. We all really enjoyed our breakfast, same as always. Service was a bit slow, and they were slow to refill items, but it was all delicious. On a trip the month before, we noticed they started serving ham instead of bacon (devastating to Nicholas, lol). But a simple request, and we had all the bacon we needed! We received a 10% AP discount on the meal.

From the Poly, we took a Lyft over to Disney Springs. The kids absolutely love hanging out here! We split off for a bit – and the girls headed over to MAC and Sephora. Forty hours later (lol) the guys found us there still shopping! We all absolutely love Basin, so we headed over to check everything out and pick up some gifts. We also hit the Coke store where the kids had an absolute blast with the Coke Bear! Then we headed to the rooftop for some Coke floats. The kids like to taste them all and rate them from best to worst. From there we went to the Ganachery to pick up some chocolates and caramels. The skulls were so cool, and delicious. We also stopped at Sprinkles for some cupcakes to take back to the room (10% DVC discount).

We had a later lunch at Morimoto. The food was excellent. Atlanta absolutely loved the sushi – Nicholas, not so much lol! We all enjoyed the roast duck and crab Rangoon. We also ordered the kids Bao Wow for Nicholas, it was pathetically small. The only thing we would note about our meal was that the service was unusually slow, especially since they didn’t seem that busy. We enjoyed a 15% DVC discount on the meal. We headed out from Morimoto and did a bit more shopping, stopping at the Lego store and World of Disney.

From Disney Springs, we got a Lyft and headed back to BLT. Our driver seemed not familiar with the area, went the wrong way, took forever (this happened a couple times this trip). Once back, we did some laundry and rested up before MNSSHP this evening. We made dinner in the room, frozen pizzas lol.

We walked over to MK around 6:30pm. We all had a great time, met with some of the characters, watched the 1st parade, watched the fireworks from behind the castle. We ended up with about 4 bags of candy. The kids picked out their favorites the next day and gave the rest to the staff at BLT. It was a nice evening, great weather, lots of fun! We stayed until about 11:30pm and then walked back to our room and everyone was out by midnight!

 

[cynditech]

Following along! Better late than never!

I love that you guys carved a pumpkin at the resort!

Welcome! LOL - I can't believe it took me this long to start!!! I absolutely loved carving the pumpkin - a definite highlight!

 

[cynditech]

Day 4 – Animal Kingdom, Sleepy Hollow Event

Friday

October 20th

We had a lazy morning and everyone was ready to head out around 9:30am. The kids had to survey their bounty from the night before lol!!!! We walked over to Contempo Café for breakfast (20% AP discount). Service was slow, it was very crowded and the food wasn’t great.

From there we took a Lyft to Animal Kingdom. Our driver got lost 3 times, so we arrived later than planned. We 1st got in line for Navi River. We all were happy that we did it, but it was super short and kinda meh. From there we went to Flight of Passage – amazing of course! I get pretty motion sick, but did ok on this, it was well worth it. Took the kids over to Windtraders to pick out Banshee’s. Nicholas ended up getting one, Atlanta did not want one. Number of times it’s been played with since – zero! We also grabbed a couple Night Blossom drinks – just to try what everyone was talking about. Way too sweet lol! We then watched Tough to be a Bug and went on Dinosaur. We backtracked and hit FOP one more time and then headed out.

From Animal Kingdom, we took a Lyft to Beach Club for our dinner reservation (the kids wanted crab legs). Dinner was fine, the person that sat us was kinda rude. She 1st seated us right next to the doors that the wait staff go through a million times. We asked nicely if we could have a booth or anything else – she said “well, there’s doors everywhere, what do you expect?”. Then she left, came back, and sat us at a booth. The food was mediocre and we added this to the list of places we probably wouldn’t come back to any time soon. We did receive a 20% AP discount). From Beach Club we took a Lyft back to BLT to rest up.

Around 7:15pm we took a Minnie Van over to Fort Wilderness for the Sleepy Hollow event (premium package, $38 per person). The Minnie Van driver was so sweet, fun and knowledgeable – we loved her!!! When we arrived, we all received a black insulated bag – inside was small bottle of water, Headless Horseman pin & lanyard, miscellaneous candy. The premium package included seating in rows 1-5, so we sat in the 1st row. You could also grab bagged Pop Secret popcorn (not the greatest). This all takes place inside the horse barn, which was cool. The barn was warm, and they had large fans blowing the whole time. We watched the Sleepy Hollow movie and then took a picture in front of the Headless Horseman (who showed up right when the movie ended). We all enjoyed the event, it was nice to do something different. We were done at 9pm and took a Lyft back to BLT (could not get a Minnie Van). We then relaxed and hung out in the room. I worked on booking us a RIP tour for Sunday at Universal. Everyone was asleep by 11pm.

 

[cynditech]

Day 5 -Whispering Canyon, MK

Saturday

October 21st

Everyone slept in this morning and laid around a bit. We headed over around 10am to Whispering Canyon Café for our breakfast reservation. We took an Uber to Wilderness Lodge and then waited around before we were called for our reservation. We had been here before and loved it. The food was typical for Disney, we all had the “all you care to eat” skillet. OK, this was seriously the slowwwwwest service we’ve ever had. It seemed to take forever to get anything. This was when we also decided, no more breakfasts like this. We received a 20% discount on the meal. We took a Lyft back to BLT.

For the afternoon, we played at the pool and then relaxed in the room (while I did laundry and straightened up). We had dinner in our room this evening, very simple, hot dogs and tater tots. We also tried some of our tasty treats that we had bought in Disney Springs!!! The cupcakes were pretty good, the chocolates from the Ganachery were amazing!!!

After dinner, we walked over to MK. We just took our time walking around the park (which was super crowded). We rode our usual favorite rides, had some churros, and then strolled around. We walked back to BLT around 10pm. We grabbed some snacks from Contempo Café, watched TV and then went to bed.


I forgot to mention, on our second day, we came back to this in our room. We thought it was pretty nice and totally unexpected!!!

 

[cynditech]

Day 6 – Part 1 - Animal Kingdom

Sunday

October 22nd

We wanted to try to get an earlier start this morning, and had a busy day planned. We headed out early and took a Minnie Van to Animal Kingdom. We had a fastpass for FOP, so we ran over their 1st. The park was really crowded.

After riding FOP, we headed over to our reservation for Tusker House. We all enjoyed breakfast, the food was fine, service was good, character interaction is always great there. We received a 10% AP or DVC discount here).

From there, we went on Kilijimaro Safari. Did I mention it was getting pretty hot in the park? So, we stopped for frozen Cokes, which really hit the spot. We hit Dinosaur, and then FOP one more time. We then took an Uber back to BLT. We really wanted everyone to get some rest before the evenings activities. The kids were super excited to head over to Universal for the 1st time. So, for the afternoon, we swam, had pizza and relaxed.

 

[cynditech]

Day 6 - Part 2 - Halloween Horror Nights @ Universal, RIP Tour

At around 4pm we took an Uber over to Universal Studios. We printed our tickets for the event at the front gate, there was basically nobody around. Employees, we noted, we so super friendly and helpful any time we had questions. We lined up at the gates by 5pm and were at the very front. We had an absolute blast talking with the other people waiting in line, everyone was so geeked for HHN! The area we were in got absolutely packed by 6pm, so I’m thankful we got there early. There was an opening skit and then the gates opened at 6pm.

Since we knew we had a tour planned for later in the evening, we headed to Diagon Alley before it got crowded. There was nobody back there, it was beyond awesome. So, we did spend a decent amount of time back there, and of course enjoyed some frozen butterbeer!!!

We were supposed to check in around 7pm at Café LaBamba, so we headed that way, taking in some of the Scare Zones on the way. The Trick r Treat scare zone was beyond cool, and we went through it multiple times. Once checked in, you could help yourself to food and beverages (I didn’t realize they would offer that much to eat)! So, we grabbed a little bit of stuff, but nobody was very hungry. They encouraged us to grab sodas and waters to go. At 7:30pm, our tour guide Dani started the tour. I believe we had a group of about 8 people maybe?

With the RIP tour, you go to every single haunted house and every scare zone. Sometimes we would use the back lot to get from one house to another. Our guide was so awesome – she told so many stores, so much information and was great with everyone! We were able to just enter every haunted house, without waiting in the long lines. The houses were incredible!!! We did do all nine of them, even though, at one time or another, we almost chickened out. A couple times, we did stop to use the restrooms and to get beverages. They had private areas set up for this, which made taking a break very convenient and quick. We also went on two rides, The Mummy & Transformers, having front of the line access for these as well. Near the end of the tour, we also had seating for the Bill & Ted show. Yeah, that wasn’t the greatest for us, it was just ok. The tour ended at 12:30 and we headed out of the park and took an Uber back to BLT. The tour was an absolute highlight of the trip and I am so glad that we decided to do it. We are returning to Florida this October and plan on going again (and actually staying at Universal). Needless to say, when we got back to our room, everyone passed out lol.

 

[cynditech]

Day 6 *BONUS* - Halloween Horror Nights Video

This was some more of the pictures - and video from our evening at Universal, Halloween Horror Nights!

 

[Mrsbird1129]

Looks like a great time!!

 

[cynditech]

Looks like a great time!!

Thank you and Welcome! We did have a fantastic time

 

[cynditech]

Day 7 – Epcot

Monday

October 23rd

After a very very long day, and late night, we all slept in of course. We did not leave BLT until around 11:30 or so.

We took the monorail over to Epcot for our lunch at Via Napoli. We normally love it here. This time, we had been waiting around 30-40 minutes after placing our order and we finally asked what was going on. A manager (rude) came over and told us they had made a mistake on our pizza and a new one was being made, sigh. We would have taken anything at that point – but why not tell us earlier? So, much later, our pizza arrives, grossly undercooked. Naturally we snarfed it down anyway, because we were starving by that time. The meal was comped, which we did not ask for.

We headed out from lunch over to Frozen Ever After of course! We enjoy the ride quite a bit. After riding that, we strolled through the other countries and picked up caramels in Karmel Kuche. Oh, and we did get ice cream in France. Basically, a lazy afternoon strolling around. When we were done, we walked over to Beach Club and took a Lyft back to BLT.

For the evening, we worked on packing everything up so we would be ready the next day to fly home. We had bagel bites and I think chicken tenders, trying to use up the food we still had. The kids swam a bit, watched TV, etc. We finished our laundry and packed things up.

Around 9pm we headed up to the Top of the World lounge to watch Hallowishes! We found the last table available and had drinks. The place gets really crowded inside right before the fireworks. When we headed outside to watch the fireworks, they did put a sign on our table so that nobody would take it. We left shortly after the fireworks were over and headed back to our room. Everyone was asleep pretty early.

 

[cynditech]

Day 8 – MK, Crystal Palace

Tuesday

October 24th

Our last morning at Disney. Everyone was up early and we got ready and finished packing. We checked our luggage in with the airport check in and then walked over to MK.

We had an 8am Crystal Palace reservation. Breakfast was delicious. We did not see all of the characters, it always seems to take quite a while here with character interactions.

So, we headed out quickly, as we wanted to do some rides one last time. We were able to hit Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Ariel, Haunted Mansion, Dumbo and the Speedway. On our way out, we stopped for ice cream on Main Street. After finishing up, we walked back to BLT to wait for ME (which arrived at 1:15pm).

Security took forever, so we barely had time for anything before it was time to board the plane. We arrived back in Detroit to cold, rainy weather, ugh! We grabbed McDonalds on the drive and headed home.