Fall Full of Disney

In our house Fall is not welcomed. The weather gets colder (although this summer has been pretty darn cold), the daylight hours get shorter, and the boat gets put into storage for 7-8 months. The only redeeming qualities of fall for us is the start of the fall race / travel season and Oktoberfest beer.

In the next few months we have three separate trips planned to Disney Parks. All three weekends were chosen because of special events.  As luck would have it we stumbled into some added Disney bonuses (and by bonus we mean special events you pay extra for).

First, we are heading to California for a few days at Disneyland. It's their Half Marathon race weekend. Holly is participating in her first Dumbo Double Dare which consists of the 10K and the Half Marathon. Dave is being smart and sticking to just the 10K. We're looking forward to spending lots of park time especially since we were worn out from doing the Coast to Coast Challenge in a week last time we were there. Highlights of the weekend should include taking in those parks again, seeing friends, visiting Trader Sam's, and trying Disney Family Wine Flights at Alfresco Terrace. Oh yeah, and maybe the races.

Our third trip chronologically was booked a few months ago so we could visit during Epcot's Food & Wine Festival. This event is our equivalent of "Disney Christmas". 27 food booths surrounding World Showcase with tasty food, great wine, beer, and cocktails. Add to that all our normal Epcot favorites (La Cava del Tequila, Tutto Gusto, Rose & Crown) and 3 concerts nightly from a headlining band makes for a good time. Usually we attend one or two seminars or special tastings, but this time we opted not to because we are attending the one-weekend only Swan & Dolphin Food and Wine Classic . During this event you pay one price to sample different food and drink options in the causeway between the Swan & Dolphin hotels.

We were hoping for some bands we enjoy to perform at the festival while we are there but we ended up with 38 Special and Boyz II Men. That means more time will be spent at Off-Kilter.

That last paragraph leads to the reason why we booked our second trip chronologically. Based on history Hanson (of Mmmbop fame) should have played the weekend we were booked for F&W Classic but they ended up on the schedule a month earlier. Dave's been wanting to see Hanson at F&W (yes he likes their music and as adults they are a decent band and they have their own beer) so we pulled the trigger.

Because of this decision we get to do some events that aren't available in November. The night we arrive we will go to one of the last Epcot After-Hours Wind Downs. For an added price you get to stay in a selected Epcot bar 90 minutes after park closing for a snack and drinks. We will also get to see the Disney Frozen Summer Celebration at the Studios, which includes our first viewing of fireworks in that park. Another added bonus is we booked the Parisian Breakfast as part of Food and Wine Festival. That means lots of pastries, cheese, and champagne early in the morning. Holly has optimized our touring plans to see the new Magic Kingdom Parade, ride the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and visit with Anna and Elsa (a usual 3-5 hour wait).

Leaving Illinois in the fall for warmer climates should help to extend summer a little longer. We're looking forward to all the new Disney Park experiences.

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We have a Spotify Playlist with some of our favorite Hanson songs.  We loaded it in reverse chronological order so you can listen to their newest music first: