A Magical October

It seems like ages ago, but back at the beginning of the year, my wife and I decided that we would take a kid-free trip to Disney for October.  It was good timing, because we would be in a nice work period for both of us and we could attend Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.  Fun, right?

Months later, I’m in a tizzy, because there’s so much going on at Walt Disney World that I don’t know where to start!  We’re only there for three and a half days…how will we fit it all in?  That was my conundrum a few weeks ago, as I tried to solidify our plans – ADRs, Food and Wine booths, parties and more.  So, let’s look at all the options we had for a magical October, and then what we picked.

New Dining Experiences – Our first thought on this trip was to do the Deluxe Disney Dining Plan and start trying some of the Signature Dining Experiences.  After all, we’ve only done Cinderella’s Royal Table, and wanted to try some more fine dining, like Jiko, California Grill and Yachtsman Steakhouse.

However, with all the other things going on, we soon figured out we’d never have time for all those meals (and all that food), and downgraded to the regular Disney Dining Plan.  We kept an ADR at Yachtsman Steakhouse, and decided to try one of the new restaurants at Epcot – Via Napoli or Hacienda San Angel.

Since our last trip, both of these places have opened in World Showcase.  As lovers of Epcot dining, we have tried every restaurant around the “World,” so we have to try these as well.  Don’t know when we’ll fit it in, but we are planning on pizza from Via Napoli and margaritas and tacos at Hacienda San Angel at some point.

Then there’s the places we’ve not had a chance to try yet, like the Portobello Meatball Bar, or the cold, cold beers at Paradiso 37.  We will have to find time for those, too.

New Food and Wine Experiences – I’ve been to the Food and Wine Festival before, but it seems that this year there are many more new experiences to choose from.  Many of them I won’t be around for (the preview night or particularly interesting Eat to the Beat concerts), but one of them I will experience.  The all new Delicious Dessert Discoveries was right up our alley.

This new event offers up a dessert party, basically, with the opportunity to try all sorts of new desserts from around the world, topped off with a viewing of Illuminations.  I love Illuminations, so it was a no-brainer for us to take up one night of our trip with this event. 

Food and Wine Fun – Sure, there’s lots that is new, but don’t forget all the Food and Wine fun that is what we’ve come to know and love.  The booths all around World Showcase are a cornucopia of treats, and neither of us wanted to miss them.  This is why we cancelled the Deluxe Dining Plan, because we knew that at least three meals would be taken up eating at all these wonderful booths.

One thing we really enjoyed before were the cooking demonstrations and wine seminars in the old Wonders of Life pavilion, so we didn’t want to miss those, either.  We picked a couple favorites, but there are so many to choose from.

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party – Last year was our first time to this annual event, and we loved it.  So much so that we have spent the last year talking about what great costume we’re going to wear to this year’s party.  From the dressed up characters to the candy trails, every part of this event was fun.

My personal favorite was the Boo To You Parade, when we got to see the Headless Horseman coming down the street.  It was fantastic, and we had to see it again, so when tickets went on sale, we grabbed them.

Disney World – Oh yeah, besides the food, the Festival and the party, there’s a whole bunch of theme parks, water parks and nightlife out there for us to experience.  Despite our many trips down there, there’s a ton of things we have not done yet.  Flights of Wonder, American Idol Experience and Jellyrolls are all things we’ve never done but want to try this time.

So what did we end up with?  A whole lot of fun!  We were sure to go right, no matter what we picked, because October is an amazing month to be at Walt Disney World.  We put a whole lot of stuff in the plan, including dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse, the 3D party, Food and Wine, the nightlife at the Boardwalk and Downtown Disney and much, much more. 

What about you?  What’s the thing you’re most looking forward to in October, or what things might you skip in a few weeks?