Diana and Peter's Bonus October trip

Day 6

Magic Kingdom day. The park opened at 8 a.m., and it was fun to walk up Main Street with almost no one in front of us. I should have stopped and taken more pictures, but I really wanted to get to Peter Pan before it got crowded. It was one of my favourites when I was young, and I really wanted to do it for old time's sake. We were about the fifth car out - not bad. Then we went over to the Haunted Mansion, and were the ONLY people on the first ride of the day. It was so cool to get to do the ride without idiots with flash cameras ruining the experience that we did it again before anyone else showed up. We also got to hear something we've never heard before, even though we've done this ride so many times - does everyone else know that after the stretching room's doors open to proceed to the doom buggies, there is a child ghost that whispers? I won't say what she says, but we were so grateful to the CM for telling us to wait and listen. Normally once the doors open, everyone just rushes out, and the noise is too much to hear anything else.

It was hard to top this, but we headed down to Pirates and Jungle Cruise. Even though it was only 9:30, we decided that it was time for a dole whip. Then it was over to Tomorrowland, and back to the teacups and Philharmagic. Every ride was a walk-on, which meant we could do it multiple times if we wanted to. We did Buzz Lightyear, and for the first time ever I beat Peter. This was a major event for me, because I am really, really pathetic at this stuff. My score was still laughable, but hey, it beat his! We did it again, and I beat him again. Icing on the cake! Finally, on the third go round he managed to regain his manhood and score better than I did.

We had heard that parts of the new Fantasyland might be open, so we walked over to see if we could at least look at it. If we had gone sooner, we would have been able to ride Under the Sea. The CM's told us it had been running that morning, but was now down due to technical issues. BOG had also been doors open that morning, but was now shut up tight. We enjoyed walking around the area though - Gaston's was open, and looked great. The theming in general was very well done, and I can see this area being super busy when it finally fully opens.

It was time to check in for lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. I was really looking forward to having the pot roast after seeing Jeff's pictures earlier this year. It did not disappoint! My picture isn't the greatest, since there is a sea of gravy covering the beef, but honestly, underneath all that was a huge piece of pot roast that was done perfectly! I would order that again in a heartbeat. Peter said if all my ADR's were going to work out this way, he was going to have to let me make them more often. I took that to mean he thinks there will be another trip in our not so distant future.

We wandered some more, poked in the shops, did a few rides again, and finally decided at 5:30 that we'd had enough. We stopped at the Main Street Bakery for ham sandwiches for a midnight snack, and headed off to the hotel for the night.

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Day 7 - our last day

It was back to Epcot this morning, so Peter could ride Soarin' at least one more time. We managed to do it twice, and pulled fastpasses to give away later. We did all our favourites in Future World, and then headed over to World Showcase for lunch. We weren't very adventurous today - we decided to just munch on the favourite things from the festival we had already tried. Even at 11:30, there were line-ups starting at some of the booths.

To get out of the crowds, we thought we'd watch the movie in the French Pavilion again. I really like this movie, and Peter has been to France, so it brings back great memories for him. While we were waiting for the theatre to open, we got chatting with a couple in line. They were from Florida, but had never been to WDW before. They had just this day in Epcot, and I don't think they had researched much. They told us it had taken a lot of scrimping and saving to be able to do just the one day, and they were just excited to be here. They had done Spaceship Earth, and headed over to WS. She said they had stumbled upon the ride in the Mexican Pavilion, and the movie in France was the only other thing they had found to do. They were a really sweet couple, and we had fun telling them about the ride in Norway, and what they were missing in Future World. She was very sad when we told her about Soarin', but also told her that by now the fastpasses were either gone, or the return time would be 8:30 or 9 p.m. That's when we whipped out the ones we had pulled to give away - the look on their faces was priceless! I think we made their day, and it certainly made ours! They were the perfect people to give them to - never done the ride, and not likely to be able to afford to come back any time soon. We also told them about Club Cool - they were just drinking from the fountains, trying to save a little money. They were thrilled to think they could have some ginger ale or something without having to pay. It reminded Peter and I how very lucky we are to be able to afford to go twice in one year.

After watching the movie, and saying good-bye to our new friends, we went shopping at the Japanese pavilion. I always find something special there, and was not disappointed. I found a Christmas gift for my best friend, a small gift for my Mom, and a purse for me! I thought I had done enough damage to our budget, so we headed out, stopping at Spaceship Earth for our last ride. Time for a swim, and then on to the Magic Kingdom later.

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Last Day continued - new Fantasyland

Tonight was going to be Magic Kingdom again. We arrived around 6 p.m., and headed straight over to Sleepy Hollow to get another nutella waffle sandwich each. We weren't in the mood for burgers or anything like that, and convinced ourselves that since there was a ton of fruit on it, a waffle was a really healthy choice. It wasn't all that busy, and it was nice to just sit and watch everyone getting ready for the electrical parade. As it was starting, we cut through the back way and went to the Haunted Mansion and Pirates again. By the time we'd ridden both twice, the parade was over, and we thought we'd check out the new Fantasyland and see if it was open tonight. Hooray - yes it was!

We got to walk into BOG, but not all the way into the dining area. It is all set up, just waiting for the first customers - lovely. We went over to Under the Sea, and yes, that was running too. I don't think many people were aware it was open - it was a walk-on twice for us, and we were able to take our time and check out the queue decor. There will be lots to entertain you if you are stuck in a line - it is beautifully done. The animatronics on the ride were also pretty good, and the Ursula part, although dark, is NOT scary. (just in case you have little ones and are worried about that). The meet and greet was up and running, and Gaston was roaming near the tavern. We spent probably an hour back there, and it was a great way to spend our last night. As we exited the Under the Sea area, the fireworks were going off directly over our head!

We stayed in Tomorrowland and rode a few things multiple times, and then it was time to leave. It was 11 p.m., and I still had to pack up everything. Our bus pick-up was 10 a.m., so we wouldn't be able to squeeze in any park time before we left.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip. Friends and family have asked if we weren't bored, seeing as we had been in May. Absolutely not! Doing our favourite things is never boring, and we had so many new experiences too. The weather was perfect, no rain, low humidity, and temperatures in the mid 80's. We would gladly return in October again, even though we felt it was a little more crowded than early May. I hope I haven't bored you to tears - thanks for reading.

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Here's a few more from new Fantasyland. I'm sorry a couple of them are blurry - I'm using an old Nikon Coolpix, and it doesn't like dim lighting. I'll post them anyway though, so you can get an idea of what the restaurant, etc. looks like.

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You'll have to bear with me - Beauty and the Beast is not one of my favourites - . I'm not sure I'm understanding your question properly. The small castle off in the distance is supposed to Beast's, right? If so, you don't actually go through that - it is just off in the distance. The forced perspective works well I thought, and at night it's really nicely lit. Unfortunately, my ancient camera refused to capture a reasonable picture of it.

Eric's castle is part of Under the Sea's queue, and although it is not huge, I really liked it. Again, you don't actually walk through his place, just around it and under it to get to the ride. The picture below is also part of this area - I think there may be a little more to be done before opening - there seemed to be a few places that should have had water flowing, and didn't. There is a pathway off to the right of the entrance to Under the Sea, and that is to Ariel's grotto, for the meet and greet. We didn't get that far, but the little girls exiting seemed quite excited about it.

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OK, I get the confusion now. The small castle is *not* Be Our Guest. The restaurant is actually at ground level, to the left of the bridge as you cross into the new section. The doors to it are built into the "stone" at the base of the mountain. You don't go up the hill to the castle - that is just for "show". Just past the BOG restaurant is Gaston's Tavern, also at ground level. And then next to that is the gift shop. You turn right and go down the path to get to Under the Sea and Ariel's Grotto. Does that make sense?

If it's closed the first time you try, try to find a CM to see if it will re-open later. From what they told us, it was opening and closing several times a day.

Even if BOG, etc. is closed, it's really nice to walk through if the path is open.

Here's a few more photos from the New Fantasyland. Once you are in the inner area of Under the Sea, look through the glass portions of the chests, etc. It doesn't show in the photos, but there are laser images that are very amusing.

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I hadn't noticed! These are Peter's pictures, and I had to resize them before I could post. Better than I thought even!

I can't wait to see yours - we weren't able to get in that area at night. Isn't it fantastic?

I'm in Disney withdrawal right now, so I can't wait for your trip report. I'm reading everyone's, even the old ones, just to try and preserve the magic a little longer!