Wine and Dine Pre Trip Report *Completed*

Login to post comments
37 posts / 0 new
Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786
Wine and Dine Pre Trip Report *Completed*

It feels like it's been awhile since I've done a pre trip report ( or any trip report for that matter!) so I figured I might as well write one up! So without further ado, here it is mickey

As usual this trip is just Erik and I, and our crew Mister Penguin and Itty Bitty ( we know we're odd laugh ). We arrive October 30 and leave November 10. We were originally planning on driving but then Sunwing had a great deal on flights ($587 TOTAL) so we of course booked the flight. Personally I'd much rather drive but I also like to save money laugh

We will be moving resorts a record three times this trip! Originally it was only going to be twice but when we changed plans to fly, there wasn't much DVC selection. We will be staying at two new to us resorts, Saratoga Springs and Wilderness Lodge ( Boulder Ridge). Then Animal Kingdom. We are also running all 3 races during Wine and Dine Weekend, going to two Halloween parties and a Christmas party! Throw a few ADR's and a couple of meet ups in the mix and it should be a great time awesome

October 30- We fly in nice and early then will take the Magical Express to SSR for our first time at this resort. We are only here the one night so we won't get to much of a feel for it unfortunately. We plan on exploring the resort and hitting Disney Springs for lunch. Blaze Pizza is high on the list. We are also going to try and go for dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. If we drove, we also would've hit up the character wharehouse at the outlets but that will have to wait for another trip.

October 31 Happy Halloween! After we check out, we plan on doing the DVC tour to check out the Copper Creek villas. I really want to add on here! Sadly, I have to wait a few more years but I can't wait to see what they look like in person. After the tour, we will head over to Wilderness Lodge and check in. I was told that if there is a cabin unoccupied and cleaned, we could probably see it. I'm going to try crossfingers Tonight we have the DVC member Halloween Party at the Contemporary. We've never been to this event so I'm pretty excited.

November 1 Not much planned for today other than Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. We are going to have a lot of candy after this and the DVC party from last night laugh

November 2 Again not much planned. We aren't making fastpasses or anything for the few days we are staying at Boulder Ridge so we can make the most of our stay and really check out the resort. These would be good days to eat at the Food and Wine festival though hehe. Although we do have to go to the Expo at some point to pick up our race packets ( and who knows what else!)

November 3 Early morning number 1. 5K starts at 5:30am and we have to be there even earlier than that yuck It's called the Fall Feast 5K so I plan on dressing as turkeys. After the race we have a breakfast ADR at the Wave. It will be our first time there. After that, probably a nap laugh

November 4 Early morning number 2. Today is the 10K. After the race we have to check out of Boulder Ridge and in to Animal Kingdom Lodge. We are staying at Kidani for the first time as last time we were at Jambo. No plans for the rest of the day as of yet.

November 5 Early morning number 3. BUT its daylight savings so we gain an extra hour sleep before the half marathon yay Whoever planned that should get a raise! After the race we will probably nap because there is an After party tonight at Epcot for half marathon participants. Rides and food booths will be open during the party which runs from 10pm-1am

November 6 Most likely sleeping in today laugh This will probably be an AK day as we have dinner at Boma so won't want to to travel too far.

November 7 Today is probably the only Hollywood Studios day. Not much interests us at this park especially since we aren't into Star Wars.

November 8 Animal Kingdom day with lunch at Yak and Yeti. Every trip we plan on eating there and never do so this is our first time!

November 9 Last day sad I'm thinking Epcot for a final round of food and wine then Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party to round out the night.

November 10 Board the Tragical Express. Then countdown to DisneyLAND!

I am SUPER bummed that Jingle Bell Jingle Bam starts the 9th. Sadly we already booked the christmas party and our flights when it was announced otherwise I would have added a night Sad

Offline
Joined: 07/19/2013
Posts: 1562

Sounds like a great trip! It's interesting that there is a Halloween party on Nov. 1st. I always thought Disney cut over to Christmas stuff that day. I wonder when they actually do the switch of decor from Halloween to Christmas?

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

KenJ wrote:
Sounds like a great trip! It's interesting that there is a Halloween party on Nov. 1st. I always thought Disney cut over to Christmas stuff that day. I wonder when they actually do the switch of decor from Halloween to Christmas?

I've seen it on November 1 in the past. Still seems odd since it's a Wednesday. I can see if Halloween fell on a weekend but mid week?

I bet they'll be taking stuff down right after the party ends since Christmas parties start the 9th

JoAnn C's picture
Offline
Joined: 05/20/2011
Posts: 6757

Sounds like a great trip. My cousins and I are having breakfast at Wave after the 5K too. I will also be at Animal Kingdom on the 8th.

__________________

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

JoAnn C wrote:
Sounds like a great trip. My cousins and I are having breakfast at Wave after the 5K too. I will also be at Animal Kingdom on the 8th.

Oh awesome! What time is your breakfast at the wave? Maybe we'll see you there (ours is 10:15). If not, we should at least be able to meet up at AK mickey

JoAnn C's picture
Offline
Joined: 05/20/2011
Posts: 6757

Spook wrote:
JoAnn C wrote:
Sounds like a great trip. My cousins and I are having breakfast at Wave after the 5K too. I will also be at Animal Kingdom on the 8th.

Oh awesome! What time is your breakfast at the wave? Maybe we'll see you there (ours is 10:15). If not, we should at least be able to meet up at AK mickey

9:15. We should still be there when you get there

__________________

Allie's picture
Offline
Joined: 06/26/2012
Posts: 5477

Wow what a line up of resorts! I can't believe you've never done Yak & Yeti! It's a must do for us almost every trip...so yummy and such a great value! I'll be at the Christmas Party on the 14th so I'll be looking to you for any helpful tips! laugh And I can't wait to hear about the Halloween event!

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

Just added the Fantasmic Dessert and VIP viewing experience awesome

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

We fly out in the morning yay
Met up with Ken and Jan tonight for dinner and had a great time awesome
Early bedtime tonight as we catch the airport shuttle at 3am eek

JanJ's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/14/2013
Posts: 1681

Spook wrote:
We fly out in the morning yay
Met up with Ken and Jan tonight for dinner and had a great time awesome
Early bedtime tonight as we catch the airport shuttle at 3am eek

Safe flight and have fun. Enjoyed having dinner with the two of you, although it felt weird being that close to the airport and not going anywhere! laugh

Say "hi" to all the other WDWFGU peeps.

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

At the airport. That 2am wake up call was hard but it will be worth it. Plane leaves at 6:20. Originally we were supposed to arrive in Orlando at 9:20 but now we stop in st Petersburg so we don't get to Orlando until 11:20 sad

JMed's picture
Offline
Joined: 02/16/2014
Posts: 3849

Spook wrote:
At the airport. That 2am wake up call was hard but it will be worth it. Plane leaves at 6:20. Originally we were supposed to arrive in Orlando at 9:20 but now we stop in st Petersburg so we don't get to Orlando until 11:20 sad

boooooo... tell them to kick it into overdrive!!! Safe flight and hope to say hi!

__________________

"I do not like the cone of shame."

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell."

"It seems to me that we have a lot of story yet to tell."

Jennifer Huotari | Create Your Badge

The Huotari's Disney Adventures | Promote Your Page Too

MrHub's picture
Offline
Joined: 10/29/2009
Posts: 9504

Enjoy, have fun!

Kristen K.'s picture
Offline
Joined: 09/01/2011
Posts: 23803

You'll be there soon, having an absolute blast!

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

Well, we made it! We were so happy to get off the plane as the kid in front of us was super annoying! We had lunch at Chik-fil-A. It was our first time eating it and we weren't impressed. We timed the magical express perfectly though! Walked right on the bus and it left not even minutes later awesome

This was our only night at SSR. We got our request of Congress Park and are SO close to Disney Springs. The lobby is really far away though but since we're only here one night and Disney Springs was where we wanted to go, it worked out great. After checking in and finding out our room was already ready ( at 12:30!), we relaxed a bit then heading to Disney Springs. We browsed around then walked to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. The walk was long enough but it was nice. I think it was about a mile each way. Sweet Tomatoes was awesome as usual. The only downer was no coconut muffins ( which I knew ahead of time they wouldn't have them. Seasonal item). But the pumpkin muffins were yummy!

After dinner we walked back to the Springs and bought stuff we picked out earlier. I tried on the Orange Bird dress and Tiki Room dress. Can't decide if I want one. I want the Orange Bird one because it's Orange Bird lol but the light colour wasn't really winning me over. I love the colour of the Tiki Room dress though! Decisions, decisions lol

We went to bed around 9:30 since we'd been up since 2am. Today we check out of SSR and into Boulder Ridge which I'm so excited for!

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

Falling behind already laugh

After checking out of SSR, we went back to Disney Springs and had lunch at Blaze Pizza. We really enjoyed it! Dessert was the crissy fields sundae from Ghirardelli. It was good but huge! Definitely a two person treat. Afterwards, we headed to Wilderness Lodge and did the Copper Creek tour. We saw the studio, one bedroom and cabin. Wow. I loved it! I wish I could just live in a cabin muchlove I can't wait to add on there! After the tour we checked in but our room wasn't ready yet ( staying at Boulder Ridge). We hung around the lobby for a bit then went for tea/coffee at roaring forks. By 5pm I still hadn't received an email saying our room was ready so we went back to the front desk. They ended up having to call mousekeeping to get someone to check and see if it was ready. It was ready shortly after that so we headed up. This is our first stay here and I love it!

After getting settled, we took the boat to the contemporary for the DVC member Halloween party. There was a DJ, games, desserts, candy and characters ( Captain Hook and mr Smee and jake from the neverland pirates). Party was pretty fun. It was 7-9 but we left around 8:15 since we'd played all the games and couldn't eat any more desserts lol.

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

November 1

Got up early today to be in the lobby by 9am for the wilderness lodge tour. It's a free one hour tour about the architecture of the resort. It was pretty interesting to learn about. After the tour we headed out down the nature trail for a run ( gotta keep up the training!). Next was lunch at the food and wine festival. We stopped st France and Brazil. We got jumbo pretzels in Germany and they are definitely jumbo! They also happened to be free biggrin they were out of "good" ones and said the only ones left were harder than they should be. She said we could have them free. We only wanted one but she gave us two anyway. I couldn't finish mine. Too big and too salty. After all that salt erik got a beer and I tried a bubble milk tea from China. All I can say is yuck! The drink itself wasn't too bad, but those tapioca bubbles yuck

We got ice cream in France and while we sat eating it, we were joined by a couple fellows who had had a little too much to drink. They were happy drunks at least laugh we then headed back to the room to change for MNSSHP. It felt a little strange being at a Halloween party after Halloween lol. We sure got a lot of candy though! My treat bag was at max capacity and we hadn't even hit all the treat stops! We watched the parade and fireworks and had dinner at pecos bills. We rode pirates and then called it a night.

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

November 2

Slept in a bit today then headed to Epcot for more food and wine. Today we stopped at Africa, Ireland, farm fresh and India. We watched the Pixar shorts ( I love Piper!). Then we walked to the beach club to catch the bus to the expo. We picked up our race bibs and shirts and shopped around a bit before heading back to the resort. Since we had such an early morning ahead of us, we decided to just relax in the room and order Papa Johns pizza!

JanJ's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/14/2013
Posts: 1681

Sounds like you're having a great time. Love following along on Facebook. Good luck with all your races. awesome

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

JanJ wrote:
Sounds like you're having a great time. Love following along on Facebook. Good luck with all your races. awesome

Thank you! We are having a great time mickey

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

November 3

Got up at 3am this morning for the 5K. We walked more than usual because there was too much traffic. It was still fun though. Loved running through Animal Kingdom in the dark. It was actually the first time we've been to the new Pandora area. It looks amazing! Even though we ran through it laugh

After the race we had breakfast at the Wave. We both had the buffet and it was delicious. Loved the sweet potato pancakes. We took the boat to Fort Wilderness after and walked the nature trail back to Wilderness lodge. That trail is one of my favourite places outside of the parks. Sadly we didn't see any deer but we did see an armadillo.

We pretty much just hung out around the resort the rest of the day. Did some laundry and had leftover pizza on the balcony. Early bedtime tonight. Have to catch the 10K bus at 3am yuck

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

November 4

Up at 3am again yuck Today is the 10K. We got pictures with Chip and Dale at the start line. We went for a Tangled theme today. I was Rapunzel and Erik was Flynn Rider. We started in the parking lot at MK and ran to Hollywood studios. We ran by tower of terror then out to the Boardwalk and into Epcot. This race was much less crowded than the 5K. We had a good run awesome

After the race we took a nap then had to check out. I'll miss Wilderness Lodge but we're checking into Kidani at AKL. Before we even left Wilderness Lodge, I got an email that our room was ready so we headed over to drop off our stuff. We walked to the Mara for lunch. I had the African stew, Erik had the crispy chicken BLT and we split the PB brownie. Everything was good.

Next we headed to animal kingdom for our fastpass for flight of passage. Ok, that ride is intense! Good thing there is a back restraint because I kept pushing back on the big drops laugh We wandered around the park for a bit after, grabbed some popcorn and headed back to the room. One more early morning!

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

November 5

Even with the clocks going back, 2am came waaaay too early! We didn't do any character pics at the start line but I did wait 20min in line for porta potties yuck Our corral started around 5:45 and we again started in the MK parking lot. This time we ran to animal kingdom first then to Hollywood studios, passed the beach club and into Epcot. We dressed as the Garden Grill restaurant and got quite a few compliments mickey We really enjoyed the race other than the 100% humidity!

After the race, we had breakfast at the Garden Grill. We went right after the race so we still had our costumes on. The staff loved it but nobody liked our outfits as much as Dale! He was very impressed! Breakfast was delicious as always. We were so full so we waddled to the bus and headed back for a nap. Our nap lasted almost 5 hours laugh

When we finally got up, we headed back to Epcot for the race after party. We stopped at more booths, rode Soarin (10min wait!), and got our picture with Remy and Emile. The party went until 1am but we left around midnight. There were no lines at all at the booths by then either.

On a sad note, we heard last night that a man collapsed at the finish line of the half marathon and died. No other details have been released ( cause, age). Such a terrible thing sad

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

November 6

Slept in today. Then spent the day at Animal Kingdom. First up was the Navi river ride in Pandora. It was a cool ride. Probably would have made more sense if we'd seen the movie laugh We had lunch at flame tree BBQ. The baked mac and cheese with pulled pork and onion rings was really good. After lunch we rode dinosaur. I've heard Flights of Wonder is ending this year and since we've never seen it, we figured it's now or never. It was actually pretty good. Gus the bus driver in the magical express video was in the show. We wandered around a bit before our safari fastpass. It was dark by the time we went on but there were actually quite a few animals out.

After the safari, we headed back to the resort for dinner at Boma. Our reservation was at 8pm so we figured it wouldn't be too busy. Wrong! The place was packed! Food and service were great but the buffet lines were pretty long. It was also more expensive than I thought it was. We walked back to Kidani, grabbed some tea and called it a night.

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

November 7

Started the day off at MK. It was crazy! We couldn't believe how busy it was. We got coffee and a donut at Joffery's. The donut seemed way smaller than at the other Joffrey locations. We wandered around looking for Orange Bird but found nothing. I was hoping to find the Funko Pop. We got a citrus swirl float and it was very good. The park was too chaotic for our liking so we headed back to the room.

Later, we went to Hollywood studios. We had fastpasses for tower of terror and toy story mania. We planned on having dinner at pizzarizzo. At around 3:45 I checked the app to look for snack ideas and saw that pizzarizzo closed at 4 eek So we hoofed it over there and had an early dinner. I know it's not the most popular, but we really like it. We really enjoyed pizza planet too. We watched the Indiana Jones stunt show before heading to Fantasmic. We did the dessert and VIP viewing experience. We went through the fastpass line up to a kiosk where you check in. We were given lanyards then went to a table where we were given drinks and our dessert boxes. Seating was the same area as the dining packages. Dessert boxes consisted on a chocolate cupcake, apple crumble, cheesecake, trail mix, crackers and cheese and chocolate dipped strawberries. They were pretty standard desserts but we still enjoyed them.

After the show, we headed back to the room for the night.

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

November 8

Animal kingdom day again. We did the river ride in Pandora again and rode primeval whirl. Grabbed a couple premium Mickey bars because no trip is complete without at least one mickey We stood on the bridge by Kali river rapids and sprayed a few people before heading to Yak and Yeti. While we waited to be seated, we had a nice ( but short) visit with Joann. This was our first time eating here and it was delicious. Erik had the Kobe beef burger and I had the crispy honey chicken. We split the fried wontons for dessert. We were also really excited that they had Pibb! We don't have that in Canada so we always get some when we are in the states.

After lunch we took the train to the conservation station and wandered around a bit. Next was the safari and it was awesome! Kept getting stopped due to a "giraffic jam" laugh But there were a ton of animals out. Our last fastpass was for Rivers of Light. This was our first time seeing it. It was pretty good. No Fantasmic though laugh I was surprised it was only about 15 minutes long. I thought it'd be closer to 30. Oh well. After the show we headed back to the resort to do laundry and pack since tomorrow we'd have a late night.

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

November 9

Last day sad We started out at Epcot with fastpasses for mission space and test track. We had lunch at sunshine seasons and snacked a bit around the world. We then headed to Wilderness Lodge to look for pins. There was a resort specific one released today that I wanted. We got the pin and took the bus to MK.

Tonight was the first Mickeys very merry Christmas party. The treat stations all offered different drinks and snacks. The peppermint bark cookie was my favourite. We rode space mountain and small world, watched the fireworks, stage show and parade. We also met Rapunzel and Flynn and Tiana and Naveen.

We got back to the room just after 1am. Glad we did most of our packing yesterday! Tragical express pick up is at 6:30am

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

November 10

Home time. Boarded tragical express at 6:30am. Security wasn't too long at the airport. Flight was fine. Customs was pretty fast and our luggage was came pretty quick too. Then it was a 3.5 hour drive home.

I'm so glad we had an early (10:30am) flight. I heard later that afternoon, a camera battery exploded in the security line. Everyone thought it was gunshots and just ran for it creating all kinds of chaos and delays. So glad we missed it!

JanJ's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/14/2013
Posts: 1681

Spook wrote:
November 10

Home time. Boarded tragical express at 6:30am. Security wasn't too long at the airport. Flight was fine. Customs was pretty fast and our luggage was came pretty quick too. Then it was a 3.5 hour drive home.

I'm so glad we had an early (10:30am) flight. I heard later that afternoon, a camera battery exploded in the security line. Everyone thought it was gunshots and just ran for it creating all kinds of chaos and delays. So glad we missed it!

That was your flight day? That's good you missed it - I think the airport shut down for a bit too.

JoAnn C's picture
Offline
Joined: 05/20/2011
Posts: 6757

It was nice seeing you and Erik even for a short visit.

Glad your flight was not impacted by the battery incident. That was crazy.

__________________

Spook's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/27/2012
Posts: 2786

JanJ wrote:
Spook wrote:
November 10

Home time. Boarded tragical express at 6:30am. Security wasn't too long at the airport. Flight was fine. Customs was pretty fast and our luggage was came pretty quick too. Then it was a 3.5 hour drive home.

I'm so glad we had an early (10:30am) flight. I heard later that afternoon, a camera battery exploded in the security line. Everyone thought it was gunshots and just ran for it creating all kinds of chaos and delays. So glad we missed it!

That was your flight day? That's good you missed it - I think the airport shut down for a bit too.

Yeah! I was reading about it that night. We lucked out for sure!