Oh the Places We Go, The People We See ...Dream Trip Report

[jenseib]

And then out to the bus stop. If I remember right, we did not wait too long at all and a bus arrived. Yay! We were so excited to be going to our first ever Halloween party at Disney!

 

 

I caught myself in the mirror.

 

 

And the time. We weren’t “too” far behind schedule.

 

 

I texted my Dis friend Carey to let her know we were running a bit behind. We had wanted to meet up kind of right away, and I sure didn’t want her waiting at the front for me. Good news, she’s a slacker too! They were running behind as well, so we should be arriving very close to the same time.

 

Our first sights of the Holiday décor.

 

 

 

 

Now it was a bit of a madhouse getting in. Lots of people coming and going. I had to go through bag check and so did Claire as we had to backpacks. Then I asked where to go in at, but was directed in the wrong direction, gave my party ticket and then they realized I needed to go to the far end to enter with that. Ok, I was trying to be patient, but we were just so excited.

 

We got in finally, and we did the boring thing ….stopped to get a locker. I knew this was driving Claire a bit mad, as it was doing the same for me, but there was no way I was carrying these 2 bags all day. We got our locker, put 1 bag in and emptied the other as much as possible so I only had to carry the minimal stuff and we were on our way to a PARTY!!!!!!!

 

Edited January 5, 2013 by jenseib

[jenseib]

Going in during this time of year, you just can’t help but gasp at the decorations.

 

 

 

 

 

There was a photopass set up right at the front and I wanted to do it, but Claire said no way was she waiting in that line. Darn it.

This was the best I got from her.

 

 

But I did make her follow me around to take pictures of all the cute scarecrows.

 

[jenseib]

 

 

 

 

Those were so cute. I tried again to get her to do the photopass op right there, but nope she wasn’t going to.

 

 

Carey and I were in contact and they had just gotten off the bus. Claire and I slowly made our way up main street as we waited for them.

 

[jenseib]

 

I love all the pumpkins.

 

 

And we stopped for a photopass picture since there wasn’t a line.

 

 

 

 

He took one with my camera too. It was really dark, so I tried to lighten it.

 

[jenseib]

And then some of my Princess.

 

 

 

 

 

Our first magic shot.

 

 

[Host Mick]

Did you go to Boma? That's one of my favorite restaurants at WDW. They have a lot of interesting dishes.

[jenseib]

Did you go to Boma? That's one of my favorite restaurants at WDW. They have a lot of interesting dishes.

 

Yes, we did, for breakfast the next morning. We aren't super adventurous, but we liked our meal there. Loved the juice. :D

[jenseib]

After our Magic shots, we continued up to the hub. There we stopped and waited for Carey and her family. I think we sent a few texts back and forth. While we waited, I took a few pictures of the area. Claire jumped in some of them.

Hey! There’s Tomorrowland!

Looking to see if we see Carey.

Nope!

[jenseib]

We decided to get in line for a photopass picture here then.

Not long after the picture we got a text from Carey saying she too was near the Partners Statue. Hunh? So are we. So we walked around and kept looking, and there she was in plain view!

It was so nice to meet her. We met on Dis a few years ago and hit it right off. She loves to take pictures, which was one of the first things that drew me towards her. She also has an older daughter that is close in age to my older DD Paige. Then her younger DD, Kadence is about a year older than Claire. Claire was super excited to meet Kadence. She had seen pictures of her previous trips online and we have talked about her a LOT! Claire knew that this trip was a complete surprise for Kadence. (I think Claire was secretly jealous about that part) Claire and I will take walks to get in shape, and often on these walks we have to talk about every detail of our upcoming trip. These walks included a lot of talking about Kadence.

So the big moment has finally arrived. According to Carey, Kadence was very excited to find out she would be meeting up with Claire too. Well this big moment, was a DUD! Both girls immediately became shy. Almost hiding behind us. Seriously, after all this planning, you are NOT even going to talk to each other!

Well that didn’t matter, as Carey and I started talking right away. I had a gift for Kadence that we gave her and they had one of Claire as well. Claire kind of peeked in the bag, but I think she was too shy to really take a look, same with Kadence. Carey pulled out a journal from the bag she gave Claire and said it was for me. She said it was a gift from her and Janet (The dress maker who we were borrowing outfits from). OH Gosh! There was no need for either of them to do that. But it was so nice! I have to admit, I have only written about half a days’ worth in there and I need to get at it and finish it up. She also made this very cute autograph book for Claire. I loved it, and so did Claire. But as the trip went on, we forgot to bring it with us on a few key days and it only got a few signatures in it. I may take this with us again next trip. It’s too cute to waste and it has spots to put pictures in too.

Now it was time to get a group shot. We made Carey’s husband, John, take our pictures. Carey warned that he is not the best picture taker, but they came out OK.

The first one looks like we are cringing. We are probably smiling and giving him instructions on how to use the cameras. LOL

[jenseib]

And of course we have the bright sun in our eyes too.

 

 

We chatted a bit more and then it was time to head off. We would be meeting up in a week’s time, as our girls were going to do the Wonderland Tea Party together.

 

Claire and I headed back towards Fantasyland. We stopped and asked if the new part was open for previews, but no such luck. I did ask if it would open during the party and she gave me a knowing look and said to check back then once it started.

 

It was time for a snack. We weren’t quite ready to eat dinner (and honestly we were hoping to eat in new Fantasyland), so we went to get a Dole Whop Float. This is a new favorite for us, just having our first try of these last March.

 

We got in line and it was moving kind of slow. I think the guy we had was new, because he seemed to not understand what we wanted at first. In line I said we should share one now, but Claire was insistent that she needed her own. She said I was a pig and would eat it all. LOL.

So we decided that she would get the pineapple one and I would get the orange one.

 

 

It took a while, but we finally walked away with one in our hands and took a seat across the way,

 

Claire obviously is mad that I made her wait for a picture before she could eat hers.

 

 

 

They were darn good!

A picture of our view.

 

 

After a bit, I asked Claire if I could have a bite of hers and she could have one of mine. This actually worked out great, and we ended up trading then. We got half of one we loved and then another half of another we loved.

After we finished up, we headed out again towards Fantasyland.

 

[jenseib]

As soon as she spotted the sword, we had to stop. She learned about this on our April 2011 trip. She knows it “may” pull out for some lucky strong kid, and she wants to be that kid.

She kept telling me she could feel it move and was sure it was ready to come out.

Anyone out there? Help me!!

We had no such luck, and we headed off again.

[PathfinderEss]

Great review, thanks for taking the time to post one.

[jenseib]

Great review, thanks for taking the time to post one.

 

 

Thanks. It's taking me a lot longer than I had hoped, but I just can't find time each day to get everything I want to get done ...done!

[100viper]

I love your reviews and how you take your time to make sure you recap everything. It really makes me feel like I'm there!

[jenseib]

I love your reviews and how you take your time to make sure you recap everything. It really makes me feel like I'm there!

 

 

Thanks. I really like to write about it all so I can go back and remember it later too.

[jenseib]

After our failure at trying to get the sword out of the stone, we moved on.

I did a quick check to see if we could get into the new Fantasyland, but it was still a no.

I did ask them for a shot though, as they had the cutest outfits on.

So we headed off to Storybook Circus.

We had been lucky to already visit parts of this last spring when we spent the day here on our Universal trip, but more has been added since then. Only 1 Dumbo was running and Barnstormer was up and going then as well. This time around it was pretty much completed, though I suspect that more may be added or enhanced in the next year or two.

We got in line for Dumbo. The wait wasn’t too long.

[jenseib]

This was the first time we went into the tent with the interactive stuff, which we passed by and just glanced at.

I still haven’t gotten the gist of how this works. I guess you can ask to play and then you get a pager when it’s your turn to ride? Correct me if you know how this works exactly. Anyways, just passing by this play area, it was unimpressive to us. The first thing Claire said was that it looked like it was for babies. And I have to agree. It really seemed to be more geared towards younger children, not for the very mature 7 year old with me! LOL But again, we only glanced in and we might have missed something good.

The longest part of our wait was actually back outside, so in all the wait time in whole was not bad at all.

[jenseib]

And then it was our turn.

Claire gave me strict instructions! She would be controlling the flying and I was not allowed to touch it at all. I told her she better get us up high, as I wanted to take pictures. She failed!

For some reason she just wasn’t getting us very high. I did find out one disturbing thing. They planted trees all around this ride. TALL trees!!!! It’s impossible to get any shots of the rest of the park with trees in the way. I gave up on that idea real soon.

When we got off we walked over near the new splash train.

[jenseib]

I am not impressed with this either. Now on a very hot summer day, I am sure Claire would like it, but for the rest of the year, I could see her getting wet and then complaining all day long about being wet. If you plan to visit this area, bring along another outfit to change into as kids appeared to be getting soaked!

Claire wanted to ride Barnstormer next. I don’t remember the posted time, but I do remember the line looked longer than I cared for, but we still jumped in.

The theming in the queue is very cute.

We stalled out for a few minutes so I looked back and took another shot of the train.

And we got moving again.

[jenseib]

These would provide shade on a hot sunny day ….though not much.

I believe at some point in time I texted Carey and asked if they wanted to sit together and watch the late parade and she said sure.

Also another co-worker of mine, Stephanie, was at the World this week as well. She had spent the day at Epcot with her son and some friends. She was coming over for the party and had just arrived. So we were sending texts back and forth as well. We planned to meet up at some point too. We had never officially met in real life yet, as we both do our jobs from home and online, so though we talk daily, we have never seen each other face to face.

More theming.

And finally it was our turn.

I tried to get a few shots as we were rolling all around.

[jenseib]

It’s fun, it’s fast, and it’s way too short.

As we walked off I got this shot of a car going up. I thought it was neat and I had a poser in there …see the guy smiling for me!

I am still kind of curious what they will end up doing with this area.

Right now it has fast pass machines for Dumbo and Barnstormer. But it’s a big area for just that. And when the new system takes over I am not sure if it will be needed for that anymore either.

[jenseib]

We headed towards Pete’s Silly Sideshow and for a moment I had a brain freeze and couldn’t remember what this area was for. Then it dawned on me …character meets!

And we came across some water art too.

[jenseib]

We decided to go in and see Minnie and Daisy. The line wasn’t too long. I texted Stephanie again. We had been texting back and forth about meeting up and I let her know we were making a stop here first.

The line moved pretty fast and soon we were meeting Miss Daisy.

Lighting in here is not too great and it’s hard to get decent pictures.

Daisy has always been a hit with Claire. One year we had to get up extra early to find her at DHS. Claire was not about to leave without seeing her. Luckily we found her first thing that trip.

[jenseib]

I have to admit something dumb here. I had thought the characters were already dressed in their Halloween costumes. It was till we went back outside and I saw the signs that I realized they dress this way all the time. Oops!

[jenseib]

Next up was Minnie. I like that you can see 2 characters, but only wait in 1 line.

Minnie’s area was even worse for lighting. And many of our photopass pictures came out bad or just a complete blur.