Chris and Jessica's Halloween Trip

This was a short trip that Chris and I planned somewhat at the last minute. We met on Halloween of 1998, and so this was the fifth anniversary of when we met (and yes, we married two months later in January of 1999). When we realized this, in September, we decided that we'd go to Disney for at least the night to celebrate. Things were up in the air for a while, and we finally opted for two nights at All Star Sports, to experience the Food & Wine Festival. The only sad part about this is that because we waited so long to decide on the trip we were unable to get tickets to MNSSHP, as it was already sold out.

Chris was working midnights this week, so he left work at 6 am Friday morning to come home and wake me up. Unfortunately, I had had a hard time settling in to bed and then couldn't sleep, so I'd only gotten to bed about an hour before he came home. While I finished up the packing and made the bed he showered and got ready to go. We loaded up the car, and headed off.

Chris decided that since he was so awake at the moment he'd drive until he got tired and then I'd take over. I tried to nap in the car, but for the most part was unsuccessful. We spent much of the trip down dealing with various phone calls that we had to make. I had been having problems with the plans for our vow renewal and basically had escalated the issues to the general manager of the hotel, and he called to help resolve the issues. I felt much better after speaking with him, and the rest of the trip was relatively uneventful.

We stopped around 10:30 am to get some food at Wendy's and Chris actually was able to drive the whole way. We arrived at Sports at about 12:30 pm and headed in to check in. By this time, I had gotten a headache and was afraid it would turn into a migraine. We finished checking in, and luckily our room was ready immediately. We were in building 10, one of the Touchdown buildings, as requested.

We headed to our room, and I settled in for a few minutes of rest while Chris got some ice. I took a pain killer, rested for a bit and then called Maggie. In all of our trips Maggie and I have never yet managed to meet up, this time would be our first meeting, and both Chris and I were excited about it.

Maggie and Clive were on their way to the Magic Kingdom, and so we made plans to meet outside Mickey's Philharmagic in about 45 minutes. We gathered up what we would need for the day and headed over to the MK. After parking the car, we headed into the park. We've never been to Disney in October, so we'd never had a chance to see the holiday decorations they have up. It was really cool seeing it decorated. We made our way down Main Street and through the Castle to Mickey's Philharmagic, where we hung out for a few minutes waiting for Maggie and Clive. A few minutes later we saw Maggie, dressed as a Mouseketeer for MNSSHP later that night. Clive followed her a few minutes later, and after all the introductions, we headed in to see Philharmagic. Every rave review I've heard about it was true. The show was just incredible and it truly is a must do attraction.

After the show, we headed over to the back side of the Castle, where we met up with Bianca. Shortly after that, Annette, Joe and Kyle arrived, and we all headed into the Castle and upstairs for dinner. This was our first time meeting everyone, but after a short while we all seemed like old friends. Chris and Joe hit it off right away and spent most of the meal discussing their respective jobs, when not planning the destruction of something.

I had to order the Bibbidy Bobbidy Brew, and had my choice of vanilla with chocolate or blue raspberry. I went with the vanilla. This is an ice cream based drink, sort of like a milkshake but thicker, and comes in a glass mug that you get to keep. The drink is $8.00, but you can just order the mug for $3.00. Chris ordered Jaq's Seafood Risotto, and I had the Kingdom Feast which is a beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes. For dessert I ordered a chocolate mousse.

The meal was a lot of fun, we had a wonderful time with everyone, and the birthday boy was just incredible. I hope that our trips overlap with Annette, Joe, Kyle and Maggie and Clive in the future as we just had a great time. After the meal Chris and I had to head out, as we didn't have tickets for MNSSHP. Annette tried her best to come up with a way to sneak us in, but it just wasn't to be. We headed out and back to the car, then drove over to Epcot.

We parked and then made our way through security and into the park. This is the first time we've ever been to the Food & Wine Festival, so we grabbed a program and headed out to the World Showcase. We decided to start off by Mexico, so we headed in that direction. We skipped the Greece booth, and opted to try the Blackened Mahi with Pineapple Salsa and a glass of Florida Orange Groves Strawberry Wine at the fresh from Florida booth.

The Mahi was good, but more spicy than either of us were expecting, so we ended up not finishing it. The wine smelled wonderful, but just had too much of an alcoholic bite to it. We both prefer sweet wines, and it was just a strange combination. I've had orange strawberry banana juice before, which is pretty much what this tasted like, but with a nasty bite and after taste to it. After a sip or two each we tossed this one out.

Moving onwards, we went to the Mexican booth where we got a glass of Watermelon Water. Since I don't like watermelon, I wasn't surprised that I didn't care for it. Chris, on the other hand, loved it. It basically was watermelon in a glass, without the seeds.

Next up was Ireland, where we tried the Whiskey Flan and a glass of Bunratty Meade Honey Wine. The Flan was quite good, however the last few bites are pretty strong. Neither one of us cared much for the wine. We skipped over Scandinavia and China. We were going to get pierogies and kielbasa in Poland, but there was bit of a line, and since we eat them all the time, figured it was not a big deal to skip them. We got to South Africa and wanted to try some wines, however they were no longer doing the tastings that night, so they told us to come back tomorrow. We ran into the same problem when we tried to go to the Australian Wine Walkabout.

Next up was Germany, where we hit the Oktoberfest booth and got an apple strudel in vanilla sauce and a glass of Graf Piesporter Michelsberg Spatlese. The strudel was good and we both really enjoyed the wine. We passed over the booths for Italy and South America, along with the Specialy Beer Garden. We then decided that we'd come back the next day to see if there was anything we wanted to try at the United States, Champagne and Sparkling Wine, Japan, Morocco & Mediterranean, France, Great Beers of the World, New Zealand, and Cognac, Port & Brandy booths. We decided to try the Sangria Flan and a glass of Sangria at the Spain booth. Chris had had Sangria for the first time at Mama Melrose's a few years back and loved it. This one, Zambra Sangria, he didn't like at all. The flan was really good though.

Next up was Canada where we got the Pan Seared Salmon with Honey Maple Glaze, Maple Walnut Fudge and a glass of the Insikillin Pearl Ice Wine. All of them were wonderful. We then decided that it was time to head back up to Future World out of the park. It was almost closing, and as we were leaving Illuminations started.

We headed back to the room, and then walked over to the food court to get something to eat (I know, how could we be hungry?) I picked up a fruit salad and a chef salad, and Chris got a cheesesteak and fries. Back in the room we settled in and ate. After we ate, I put in my walking DVD and we both did a miles walk, then I did my Pilates DVD. After showers, it was time for bed. It had been a very long, very full day, and we were both glad to settle in to sleep.

I forgot something in Day 1. Chris loves Jack Skellington, and when we were in Disney is Sept, we found out that the Jack big fig was on sale since it had been discontinued. We went back and forth about whether or not to get it, and Chris said that if it was meant to be we'd get it another time. Well, when we got to Epcot, we stopped in the Gallery and there he was. I had them check and he was still on sale, and they had one already boxed up, so we bought him. They also just recently came out with a Beauty and the Beast big fig, and we had put our names on the waiting list back in August. They had come in and Disney had called us to see if we wanted it, but it just wasn't in the budget at the time, so we had to pass. Chris was planning to buy it for me as our anniversary gift, but they were out of stock, with none expected in until January, so we put our names back on the waiting list. In the meantime, he tried to buy me the Tinkerbell big fig with fiber optics in her wings. So, as we were leaving the park, we stopped back at the Gallery to pick up Jack and take him home with us.

We hadn't bothered to set an alarm today, as we both needed the rest. I woke up shortly before noon and watched some of Sweet Home Alabama (the DVD we'd put on while we were sleeping) until Chris got up at about 1:30. We decided to walk another mile that morning, so that we'd done our exercise, and following that we got ready and after a quick call to Maggie to make plans, headed off to Epcot.

We parked the car and hiked up to the gates. When we got inside, a photographer stopped us and took a few pictures. Then we took a picture of the topiary at the entrance before heading on to Spaceship Earth. After the ride, we decided to split a cheeseburger at the Electric Umbrella. When we were done eating, we stopped in Innoventions so Chris could watch the Aibos for a bit. He's going to finally get his dog in the spring, so until then he has to settle for watching them at Disney.

Then we headed off into the World Showcase. We started off towards Mexico again, and the lines were really long for the various stands. The park was pretty crowded, so we ended up not trying a lot of stuff, which was fine. We'd gotten just about everything we had to try the night before.

In Mexico Chris got his customary churro, along with a soda and we continued on, to Norway where I got a rice cream. At the last minute Chris decided he wanted to try a lefse, so we got one of those too. It was pretty good, and we decided it was something we'd get again. We sat for a bit in the courtyard at Norway, eating and talking before we headed out and on to China.

As we were heading into China we decided that we'd stop to see the movie there, as we haven't seen any of the World Showcase movies so far. We caught the very end of the acrobats in the waiting room and then watched the movie, which we both enjoyed. After the movie we decided to split an order of egg rolls, and sat in the Lotus Blossom Cafe for a bit, just relaxing. Mushu walked by and Chris took off after him to get his autograph, while I cleaned up the table. We met back up and Chris had met both Mulan and Mushu. Then we wandered out and over to Germany where we each got a glass of our favorite wine, the Madonna Eiswein.

We found a bench and sat for a bit while enjoying the wine, and then kept wandering on through the World Showcase. We stopped for a while in Morocco, to listen to Mo'rockin, and then headed out of the World Showcase.

I had wanted to pick up a copy of the recipe booklet, so we stopped at the Festival Welcome Center, but they were all out of them. Then we decided to go to MouseGear, to see if they could put some links back into a watch Chris had bought. They were able to, and we wandered around the store for a bit before it was time to leave the park. We stopped to check on the pictures that we'd had taken and decided to purchase one of them. Chris also bought me a license plate frame. It has Jessica Rabbit on it and says I'm not bad, I just drive that way.

We left Epcot and headed out to the car. Then we drove over to the Magic Kingdom and parked. We took the monorail to the park and headed in. We headed straight for the Gallery since it is open again, and they also had the Beauty and the Beast big fig. The one at Epcot had a sign on it saying for display only, and this one didn't, so Chris asked if they had any. It turns out that they had gotten a shipment the day before, so they had several of them. That was it, he immediately bought it for me. This thing is huge, and the box wouldn't even fit in our car, so we had to have it shipped home. I'm trying to wait patiently for it to get here, but I'm not being too successful.

After that we headed down to Casey's to have dinner. We got stopped though, on the corner outside of the Fire Station while Spectro Magic passed us. We hadn't intended to watch the parade but ended up with a pretty good view. While Chris was getting us each a hot dog and an order of fries to share I tried to call Maggie. We ate, and then I tried to reach Maggie again. Eventually I was able to, and she told me to head toward CRT to meet up with them. We were standing at the bridge to Adventureland, so we decided to cut through Liberty Square and go up the left side of the Castle, but they had the Castle totally blocked off. So, we turned around and went through Liberty Square to Frontierland, and then back over into Fantasyland where we found Maggie and Clive. It turns out that they rope off the entire area surrounding the Castle for wishes, so we were right at the rope strung between Philharmagic and the Carousel. We watched the show, and it really is incredible. I took a bunch of pictures of it, but none of them really capture the show. It's hard to describe, but it's definitely not to be missed. After the show, we waited where we were until they took the ropes down and then we headed down towards Main Street, and found a quiet seating area in front of the Ice Cream Parlor. Shortly after that Bianca and her daughter Christi joined us, and we spent a long time just sitting and talking with everyone. After SpectroMagic passed by us again, it was time to head out. We said our goodbyes and headed off to the car.

We left parking lot and headed out to Celebration, to stop into the Celebration Hotel. Due to the problems I'd been having, we were invited over to have a drink with one of the managers to help resolve some of the issues. We met up with the banquet manager and he was very reassuring. We expressed our concerns to him, and updated him on the current situation, and then it was time to head back to the Sports. We got back just in time to order some food, and we both got a turkey and cheese sandwich.

After we ate, it was time for showers and bed. We called to arrange a late checkout the following day and also a wake up call and then we fell asleep watching Catch Me If You Can.

This was our last day in Disney, and due to my lack of forethought, I had scheduled my hair and makeup trial run for the Vow Renewal on the day of checkout. I also managed to schedule it right around the time we were supposed to be checking out. Through a bunch of phone calls, I moved the trial run back a bit, and was able to get late check out, so things were all straightened out.

The wake up call came, and Chris and I got up and got ready for the day. We finished packing everything up, and then there was a knock on the door. It was Alison Atkins and her husband, coming for the trial run. Alison had lots of toys with her, and she quickly unpacked all her stuff and we got started. Her husband left to get some coffee and Chris started taking the bags out to the car.

I had brought some pictures with me that I had cut out of magazines with different hairstyles that I liked, and we picked the same one as our favorite. So, we settled in and she got to work.

It took about an hour, but she did an amazing job and my hair was exactly like the picture. She also did a great job on the makeup. We firmed up the reservation for the vow renewal and then she and her husband left. Chris and I followed shortly afterwards, after Chris called the front desk to make sure there were no charges and I called Maggie to see where they were at. We made plans to meet up at Epcot for a bit, and then headed out. We got to Epcot and parked the car, then hiked through the parking lot to the gate. Most of the time it takes longer to wait for the tram, so since it's just the two of us, we walk. We got into the park and decided that we should have a quick bite to eat. I didn't want to eat too much, since I knew we'd be leaving that day, so we headed to the Electric Umbrella. We decided to split an order of chicken fingers and fries, and we sat and rested upstairs while we ate. As we were finishing up, Chris heard the Jammitors, his favorite streetmosphere performers, so he took off to see them while I gathered up the trash and threw it out.

I got downstairs and outside in time to catch most of their performace, which we always enjoy. After it was over we decided to just wander around Futureworld a bit. We stopped back at the Festival Welcome Center to see if they had any of the recipe books back in stock and they did, so Chris bought me one. They were also doing tastings of champange and sparkling wine, so I got a glass of the Valckenberg Madonna Sekt, and Chris got a glass of the Banfi Rosa Regale, which he loves.

We decided to sit and watch the fountain while waiting for Clive and Maggie, but were stopped by a photographer first. He took some pictures, and then we headed to a spot to watch the fountain. Silly me, I picked a spot right in the sun. I don't react well to the sun to begin with, and between the sun and the champagne and the fact that I never drink enough liquids at Disney, I quickly started to feel sick. We decided that the best thing to do was to buy a soda and head indoors to get me out of the sun. Where to go? Back to the Aibo's so Chris could watch them some more. There weren't any other people around, so Chris got a chance to talk quite a bit with the CM, while I slowly came back to normal. After about 20 minutes I was feeling better and it was time to meet up with Clive and Maggie.

Our signals had gotten crossed so it took a few phone calls to sort out where each other was. But, we caught up with them at the entrance to the World Showcase, and headed out towards Mexico. We wandered around talking, and we learned that Clive and Maggie hadn't seen the new movie in China, so we all stopped in and saw it together.

After China, we headed to Germany, where we got a glass of Eiswein and introduced them to it. We sat out in the courtyard and talked for a while, then headed over to the American Adventure to see the show. As we got there, the fife and drum corp was coming out to do their show, so we watched that and then noticed that the next show wasn't until 3:45. It was only 3:15, so we sat on the fountain and talked until it was time for them to go into the show and us to head out. We still had to stop at Downtown Disney, and didn't want to get home too late.

We said our goodbyes and headed off around the rest of the World Showcase. We took a different route into Futureworld this time, going down the Rose Walkway. We saw the Peanut Exhibit and the Kitchen Kabaret, and the circled back by the Fountain. We decided to stop in the FountainView Bakery to get a snack before leaving, so I got a creme brulee and Chris got a piece of cheesecake. While we were sitting there watching the fountain, a rainbow formed and Chris went outside to take a picture of it. Then, sadly, it was time to leave. We stopped in to look at the pictures, but didn't like any of them, so we headed out of the park. We got in the car and headed over to Downtown Disney.

We parked at the Marketplace and headed into one of my favorite stores- Basin. I always have to wander around and smell everything. This time we bought a bath salt sand castle and a peach mango facial mask. Then we walked through EuroSpain and out to Once Upon A Toy. After the Toy Store, we took a quick trip through the Candy shop, and then headed over to the Christmas Store. From there we checked out the Gallery, and Chris bought a Jack Skellington pen.

I then drug him into Disney at Home to look at all the stuff I want for a house we don't have, and then it was time to head to World of Disney. We had to pick up bride and groom mouse ears for a girl I work with (engagement gift) and I was looking for a purse that was supposed to be out now, and debating over some pajamas. I decided to skip the pajamas, and the purse wasn't out yet. Then I discovered that they don't have the mouse ears, so we had to go back to Days of Christmas.

We left World of Disney and went back to the car. We drove over as close to the Days of Christmas shop as we could get and then ducked in to get the ears. After buying them, we headed back to the car and it was time to leave the World for good.

It was pretty sad, because at that time there had been a very good chance that we would be moving within the next month. This meant that we would not be able to make our planned trips for early Dec, and maybe Christmas. So, after being able to visit so often for two years it was hard leaving knowing that we wouldn't be able to just "drop in". In the end though, we are staying put, at least for the moment, so all is well. The drive home was taken up with phone calls to our various family members (Sundays are usually a day to play catch up with everyone). We stopped to get food at Wendy's ( a traveling tradition from when we met) and then just went straight home. We got in around 11 pm, and did our usual routine of unpacking right away and sorting the laundry. Then we showered, put on our pajamas and started plowing through our emails.