Megan's October 2013 Pre-trip/ Trip Report!

So it begins! This first part is gonna be boring, and kinda short, because it has no Disney and no pictures! . But I'll try to keep the updates coming as quickly as I can.

Wednesday--

Our travel day!

I took the day off, and Manda works from home so even though she had to take and make a couple calls, she didn't have any meetings or anything. So we both were running around town getting last minute things, not to mention our park tickets from the Disney store! Best 300 bucks I ever spent, lol. Our flight took off at 6:45 and we had a Groupon for a place to park the car, so we figured we should get there around 5:30. Traffic was kind of crazy, so we got to Flight Park at literally 5:30- by the skin of our teeth! They're great though- never too busy, so they put our luggage in their van, we hopped in, and got to the airport in about 5 minutes. Our driver was super nice- we chatted all the way there about, what else? Disney! He had just been there with his kid a couple weeks before, so we talked about the weather and the crowds- neither was too bad when he went, so we were glad to hear that. Plus we'd been obsessively checking the weather for that last ten days, and it was supposed to be pretty perfect. yay!
We got to the airport and checked our luggage and got our boarding passes(we flew Southwest, so we had checked in for our flight the night before, but we didn't print our boarding passes at home). Security was a breeze- the Nashville airport is never too bad during those odd times like 5:30 on a Wednesday night, and they remodeled a couple years ago, so everything in the security area seems to be designed for maximum efficiency(we'll talk about efficiency in airports more on our trip home ). Nothing of note happened at the airport or on the flight- all went smoothly. We got to Orlando at about 9:45(2 hour flight, plus a time change), and Manda went to get our bags, while I went down to get the rental car. I got it through carrentalsavers.com- 96 bucks for 3 days! We got the paperwork for a compact car(something along the lines of a Nissan versa, they said) and went to the garage to pick it up. When we got there, though, there were no compacts left! So we got upgraded to an SUV! Sweet! I guess that's an easy way to get a free upgrade- get there late! The first car we were directed to made a weird noise when we pulled out, so we backed up, re-parked it, and got another one. We didn't want to take any chances on something like that. The one we ended up with was a Ford Escape(I think), and it was great! So many buttons on and around the steering wheel, I felt like I was driving a dang spaceship! lol.
On over to the good old Holiday Inn Express(we stay in a lot of those on vacations, since our dad gets points through them). Great service- the guy at the front desk was super nice, and had Manda sign some paperwork confirming that she was using her points, and so the credit card would not be charged one cent! woohoo! The hotel itself seemed a little dated, but it had everything we needed and the beds were comfy, so that's all we could ask for. By the time we got up to the room, it was about 11:30, and we were pretty tired. We had talked about possibly heading over to Jellyrolls that night if we felt like it, but we didn't really feel like it, so we just unpacked and hit the hay. Tomorrow was Epcot and Food and Wine!!

I promise the next installment will be a lot more interesting, with photos and reports of actual Disney stuff. lol

Thursday- Epcot/Food and Wine, Day 1

We let ourselves sleep in a little this day- since we had two days planned for Epcot, we figured we didn't have to do the crack of dawn till midnight thing. So we got up up and around by 9:00, and out the door by 10:00. It was a super easy drive into the Disney area- a couple turns, and finally we were driving under the "Walt Disney World-Where Dreams Come True" sign!

We were FREAKING OUT with excitement when we started seeing all those purple and red signs(who came up with those colors? kind of a weird combo, but they stand out, so I guess they do their job). Of course we took a billion pictures of every one.

We finally got to the Epcot gate, paid that $15(ugh), and drove into the "Discovery" lot- Discovery 16, to be exact. Our family has this thing where whenever we park somewhere with a big lot, we go, "remember where we parked- Goofy 12!" or something. Yeah, we're all Disney nerds. So it's always fun to see the names of the lots.

We made our way to the tram, and we were sitting near the back, where the microphone is. The CM who was making the announcements went through her safety spiel, and then handed the mic to a little girl with a "1st Time Visit" button to give the "Driver, we're clear!" It was pretty cute, because the girl was kind of shy and quiet about it, so it took her a couple times, but she got it, and *beep beep*! we were off to the gates!

Next....Epcot Rides, Food, and Wine(and other alcoholic drinks )

We ALWAYS take Southwest, and have never been disappointed. Just make sure to check in to your flight as soon as you possibly can(24 hours before your flight) so you can make sure to get a good choice of seats.

It really was delicious. I love pumpkin pie, so it was just perfect.

I LOVED reading your trip report, Allie! It got me excited for this trip, so I guess we have a sort of symbiotic relationship with our TRs

Oh you know it, girl. I was looking at that closeup of the filet and my mouth literally started watering lol.

No it did not Sincerely, a fellow Lush

That's amazing- I've never had it before, and it was so good! I was not a fan of that teeny tiny portion, though....

Starting off Friday was a trip over to the Wilderness Lodge for breakfast at the Whispering Canyon Cafe! We had never been to the Lodge, and didn't realize we would be driving through the Magic Kingdom gates on the way! This automatically made our smiles even wider

Okay, this place is seriously impressive. You walk in and your jaw immediately drops at the immense-ness of the place. All the wood carvings and beautiful details are an example of how Disney just does it so right. We went to the WCC and waited about 10 minutes to be seated. More great details here- the backs of the chairs all had western motifs, and the light fixtures looked like teepees- cute! When we opened the menu, my eyes zoomed in on one of the things that I had been looking forward to the most- a Mickey waffle!! I'm a little obsessed, lol. This wasn't an ordinary waffle that you can find at most of the buffets around the World- it was huge, and topped with maple butter and candied pecans. I'm drooling just thinking about it. Manda had a more simple breakfast of eggs, home-fries, and sausage- I think her stomach wasn't quite ready for anything too heavy after all the F&WF food we had the day before. Simple as it was, it still looked delicious. The experience here wasn't as rowdy and crazy as we had heard it might be. They might have just been winding down from the earlier morning rush that I'm sure happens with all the families trying to make rope drops. The ketchup thing happened a couple times, and you can definitely tell that they're a little more fun than typical servers. They were excellent though- I think we had 3 or 4 different ones come to the table to make sure we were doing okay. We actually had conversations with a couple of them about F&WF and things they recommended. Overall, a great experience and great food! We decided to explore the resort a little before we left for the 2nd day of Epcot.

Ok, back again!!! Just love the sight of that big geodesic dome in the morning Our first stop on day 2 was the Land Pavilion. Manda just HAD to go on the Living with the Land ride( or what I call, "the learning about plants ride" lol). No, it's actually a very interesting and enjoyable ride- I imagine it would be perfect for a mid-day break from the heat and a nice rest for your feet. The line is never too long and it's so nice and cool in there. The FPs were already gone for Soarin', but that is a must-do ride for us, so we stood in line for around 40 minutes. There are some digital screen games that the crowd plays while in line, so that took away some of the monotony.

Next was the Seas Pavilion to Nemo and Friends. This queue was fabulous!! We were very impressed with the detail and the lighting, but didn't get to enjoy it very long because we walked right onto the ride! October is definitely a great time to come to Disney!! We didn't spend a whole lot of time in there after we got off the ride- the aquariums are really cool and everything, I guess we just weren't into it that day. We headed over to Journey into the Imagination again...Figment!!! Just had to spend a little time there again. The line was even shorter than the day before and we walked right on.

Next up- more food!

By now we were hungry, so off to the F&W booths! We knew we wanted to go to Hawaii to try the Kalua pork slider with pineapple chutney and spicy mayo...DELISH! We also both had an Aulani Sunrise, which was equally delicious! We definitely wanted to hit the Morocco booth, so we stopped there next and each had a different entree. Manda had the Kafta pocket and I had the Harissa chicken roll. Manda also got the baklava, which I took a bite of, and wow, was it good! I just had a bite, but it was one of my favorite things! Next we went to Belgium-remember how obsessed I am with Mickey waffles? Well, that actually extends to ALL waffles, lol. I got the one with berry compote- very yummy! I also grabbed a Stella Artois, because why not? You know, that classic pairing of waffles and beer....

(We slacked on the pictures of food this time- no waffles or pork sliders. )

By this time, we were stuffed, so we made our way back to Future World We had talked about a couple attractions that we wanted to do for a second time (if time permitted) and were ready to check some stuff off our list! Again, all of the FPs for Test Track were gone pretty quick that morning, so we had planned on this taking some time...no big deal. Before making it there, we stopped at Starbucks...it wasn't really cold out, but just cool enough for a hot cocoa! Then we got to Test Track...love this ride! We walked right onto Spaceship Earth again and then went to the Art of Disney store to browse. There was an artist there painting right in the middle of the store, which was really cool!

For dinner, we stopped again at Canada because we just HAD to revisit the filet mignon and I also got the cheddar cheese soup. That stuff really is so thick and rich- I don't know how you could eat a much bigger portion than the small bowl they have at the booth(not that I wouldn't love to try... ). We walked around the World Showcase a little more- at this point, we had hit pretty much everything we wanted to so we were just wandering. The crowds were way heavier this day(Friday) than the day before. I grabbed another Dos Equis, and Manda was craving that Tokyo Sunset from the day before, so we went back to Japan for that. On our way back out of the Japan area, something super cool happened! We saw some celebs! A few actors from General Hospital were walking towards Mitsukoshi as we were walking out! We're not super into the show, but our mom watched it when we were little and we've watched it intermittently since high school, so it was pretty cool to see them. It crossed my mind for a split second to ask for a photo, but I thought better of it- I felt like it would be awkward to ask, and I didn't want to interrupt their day. I settled for a quick "big fan!" to one of them in passing and he was very appreciative and nice.

At this point, it was time to head over to the Events Pavilion where the 3D Dessert Discovery was to be held- we wanted to make sure we knew where we were going and if we really needed to be there that early. We walked toward the building, and saw the sign for the event, and cool lighting around the entrance- okay, this was gonna be cool. We signed in and grabbed our wrist bands and 3D glasses. We still had over an hour until the event actually started, and there weren't that many people there yet, so we went back out into the World Showcase for a bit. We got back to the pavilion with about a half hour to spare and sat on the floor in the holding area while we waited.

So at 8:00, the curtains opened for the party, and the mad dash for a table ensued! I had read reviews of this event from previous years, so I expected it, but people really were hustling! Once we really got in and took a quick scan of the room, we realized there was actually plenty of seating- the room was huge! We got a table with a good view of the band and a close proximity to a lot of the dessert stations. There was so much to see and eat that it was almost overwhelming!! We decided to go toward the stations with the least amount of people (which turned out to be another good decision because the lines went WAY down after the first 20 minutes or so). We tried pretty much every dessert and drink they had to offer (some was just one bite to say we had it!). And we just happened to be sitting right by the Flavored Whiskey table, so of course I had to try the whiskey cider- that'll DEFINITELY warm ya up! A couple other faves were the flambeed cinnamon donut a la mode, chocolate covered Mickey brownie, and the flavored Pinnacle vodka (shots!). There were also some fruit stations as well as some more savory foods, like charcuterie and pretzels with a few different dips to choose from. There was a live band, which we thought was ok...the lead singer seemed not to know the songs very well! But that didn't stop us from singing along to some of our 'sweet-themed' favorites: Mandy Moore's 'Candy', Jackson 5's 'ABCs', Aretha's 'R-E-S-P-E-C-T' (instead she spelled D-E-S-S-E-R-T...what?!), and the Eurythmics 'Sweet Dreams'. It was corny, but we ate it up!(see what I did there? ) I kinda wanted to get up and dance, but no one else really was, so I just shimmied in my seat a little. One lady actually noticed as she passed by and came over and we danced around for a few seconds- so silly and random! We were definitely on a sugar high, Disney style!! After the event, we were escorted to a roped-off area to watch Illuminations. The spot was at the front of the World Showcase, right on the lake, kind of in front of the gift shops at the entrance. When we put on our 3D glasses, we were super excited that all of the lights turned into MICKEYs!!!! (Needless to say, we will be keeping these glasses with us at all times in case we ever need a Disney-fied pick-me-up. They work on pretty much any light!) The fireworks were sooooooo cool through them. There were a lot of ooh's and ahh's and it really was pretty magical