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OK, just a short report. I only took a few pictures so we won't be too heavy on those either.
We just returned from a trip to WDW. We went from Oct 27 thru Nov3 with the intentions of checking out the Food and Wine as well as the "Not so scary" party. We had a big crew this trip as my wife and I (in our 50s), both sons and one of their girl friends (in their 20s), my mother in law (in her 70s) and my brother in law (in his 50s). So what started out as a trip for me and my wife got a bit expanded
First of, let me say we had a blast and even tho I caught a cold about mid week, nothing was going to slow us down.
We stayed at the Port Orleans, French Quarter on the "Gator Bayou" side. While the "Mansions" are prettier inside and out, we were closer to the restaurants, stores, and front desk which makes things easier after a long day of walking in the parks and not having to when we got back.
We did have the Dinning plan and decided that as long as your getting it free it is worth it. For us we normally wouldn't spend that much on food, nor eat that much, but with a free plan we did get out and enjoy meals that we wouldn't have had from Boma to Morocco, to Germany, and many more.
The food and wine was fun, but a BIG WARNING!!! do not go to EPCOT on Friday or Saturday during the festival! Unfortunately there are wayyyyy to many drunks and party hounds. While Im not an old fuddy duddy and do drink myself, I believe that when in public you shouldn't be falling down drunk. Far too many college kids getting hammered, certainly NOT a family atmosphere. On the other days the lines were reasonable, and the choices very varied. Was certainly worth the trip down for it.
As a surprise, we didn't tell the kids we were going to dress up for the Not so scary party. We hid our "costumes" in the luggage and everything fell into place as "they" all went off to their rooms to get ready. I knocked on my son's door and his girlfriend answered, she had no idea who this guy was talking to her! LOL!!! The kids thought it was great as we got into the spirit with them. My mother in law didn't come with us because it was past her bed time.
The party was a lot of fun. I'd say about 35-40% of the people dresses up, but most of that was kids. They had "trick or treat" stations setup around the park. The lines got a bit long here and there but nobody seemed to mind. The Haunted Mansion was a bit more special as the CMs added makeup to there dower interactions which made it a bit more fun.
We got lucky as during the party they opened up the new section of Fantasy Land (was only open for CMs and their families during park hours). We got to check out the new stuff. The trip into the beasts castle was amazing as first the mirror turning into a door way, then the interaction with characters from the movie was all well built and executed. The animatronics are becoming amazing. Lumiere looks life like and I swear the flames on his wicks are real!!! We got to check out the restaurant and the "grand ballroom" which looked beautiful.
Ariels ride under the sea was also very cool. It is certainly geared to the kids, but the grown-ups will find it a nice little ride, I know I did. As I said, the expansion was only open during the party. My mother in law felt a bit bummed she didn't get to see it with us so the next time we were in the park with her we went over and explained how our 73 year old "mom" didn't get a chance to see it and the CM's were very nice and let us in so she could get a ride on it. We were very thankfully for the kindness.
All in all it was like every other trip we have taken down to WDW.... rush from one thing to another with never enough time to see everything you wanted. We did make it to all the parks, some a few times. We all had a great time. I'm sure we will recover financially quicker than we will physically
As I said, I didn't take a lot of pictures, but I will leave you with this one as I'm am a bit proud of it. Until our next trip....
Originally Posted by mratigan 
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