I'm BAACK!! Moms dream vacation a success! Trippie is COMPLETE tons of pics... 1/21

[kaysmommie]

Loved your updates! You are so crazy going over to the Legendary years at night . I would be too scared, enjoyed your pics though. I love your pictures of all the Christmas decorations at the parks! I think I'm going to plan and early December or late November trip next year.

 

[whgrn]

What I wouldn't give for a mother-daughter trip with DMom. But at 70, she is quite arthritic, so we'd both have to use WC or ECVs. Plus, she HATES the heat. Anything over about 82 just kills her--she gets really grumpy. This is a woman who wears capris in January in NJ!

So if I'm gonna ever do mother-daughter, it'll have to be with ME as the mother. Hmmm, think DD, who isn't big on rides to begin with, will ever want to go to Disney with me when she's all grown up big?

 

[disneygirlinnj]

OK guys! I'm back from hiding and going to start my next section of the report after this!

Great update Disneygirl and lots of great pics. I loved the story about Mickey and Pluto, that is cute. That was great that you were able to add your friend Sarah to the ressie and she was able to eat with you at Mama Melrose!!! I hope she gets to spend a few days with you!!!! Did she stay in your room? Can't wait to find out!

Thanks mommom! Yup! Sarah got to spend 3 days with us but she didnt stay with us... more stories about her visit coming up soon!!

Yeah, another update, you are moving right along

You got a lot of great Character pics. That is a shame the photopass person messed up your photo with Pluto and Mickey....They must do that on person, to make sure you buy their photopass pic instead Can't wait to see them

I love how some of the characters are wearing Christmas attire

That is great you were able to add your friend to your ressie. I have never eaten at Mama Melrose and always hear mix reviews. I can;t wait to hear your review

My review of mama's is coming right up! I also got the photopass CD in the mail so I'll post a LOT of the pics at the very end of the whole report when I'm done!

disneygirlinnj - another great report and fabulous pix! Keep them coming and thanks for sharing!

BTW- I know the coffee is AWFUL! We always stay at the BW, so there's coffee makers in every room. I now pack 1pd.bags of Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks coffee to bring and make myself when I get up in the a.m. Don't know if Pop has coffee makers in room, but something to keep in mind for next time! (I've even read about people on these boards buying cheap little coffeemakers from Walmart and shipping them down to have in their room!)

I thought about bringing a coffee maker but it actually worked out somewhat ok with the cappucino and then finding real coffee in the parks. Hopefully by the time I go again in May (geez I should prob start another pre-trippie! haha!) for my friends wedding, they'll have real coffee!

Hi! I've been reading your TR this morning - lovin' your great mother-daughter time! You had great timing - no lines! We tried Chefs on a whim last June as we were at Epcot with no ADRs - loved it! I will definitely repeat that one! Looking forward to your next update!

HI CAMMIE!

Thanks magicfor2!! Glad you found your way over here!

Now I know this is a long shot, but you did say it was supposed to be from the "legendary years"? Could it possibly have something to do with the Beatles Yellow Submarine? Like I said, it's a long shot but that song was very popular not to mention the group is "legendary".

We actually thought the Yellow Sub too but hten realized that that would have been the 50s/60s and those are the Classic Years. Guess we'll just have to see if they do anything with it!

maybe the subs are just being stored there from the old 20,000 leagues under the sea ride since the area is not being worked on at the time. Just a thought.

It was only that one sub sitting there and it's not the one from 20,000 Leagues. It was just weird!!!

Subs were used in WWII - so it could be for the 1940s section.

Great TR by the way. WDW is something my mom and I do together also - she is always who I go down there with. So its cool to ready about another mother daughter trip!

Ohhh...I didn't think of WWII! You might have the best guess so far!

Loved your updates! You are so crazy going over to the Legendary years at night . I would be too scared, enjoyed your pics though. I love your pictures of all the Christmas decorations at the parks! I think I'm going to plan and early December or late November trip next year.

Definitely go during Christmas time next time! I honestly think that I'm going to go around this time EVERY year from now on! It's AWESOME

What I wouldn't give for a mother-daughter trip with DMom. But at 70, she is quite arthritic, so we'd both have to use WC or ECVs. Plus, she HATES the heat. Anything over about 82 just kills her--she gets really grumpy. This is a woman who wears capris in January in NJ!

So if I'm gonna ever do mother-daughter, it'll have to be with ME as the mother. Hmmm, think DD, who isn't big on rides to begin with, will ever want to go to Disney with me when she's all grown up big?

January I hear isn't hot at all, even a little chilly so if anything, I say go around then. And you guys can have ECV races..haha! just kidding And I'll cross my fingers that your DD will definitely want to go with you when sh'es all grown up! My mom isn't really big on rides and she loves it!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

So I last left you with mom and I leaving the Jedi Training to meet Sarah over at Mama Melrose for some food!

Mom and I headed over and told the hostesses that we had arrived and a few mins later Sarah came walking in the door. Yayyyy! So in another post I think I mentioned this (maybe?!) but Sarah and I actually met at Space Camp in Alabama. yup! We're both huge space dorks and love anything to do with NASA, space, etc. We were roomates and totally hit it off and got along great the minute we first met. We haven't seen each other since the alumni space camp reunion at the Space and Rocket Center in Alabama in August so we were excited to finally see each other again! She lives I think 80-ish miles from Disney and is also a Disney nut so what better place to meet? hehehe

Since my mom and I were on the dining plan and Sarah wasn't, we told the waiter and he was realllly nice and helpful and did everything he could to have us get the most free food possible and have Sarah pay the least amount of money possible too. Hm.... I think his name was Ken so look for him! First he brought out to our table the Artisan Breads and Spreads - freshly baked breads served with an arugula and chive pesto, sun-dried tomato, roasted vegetable and roasted garlic spreads. We LOVE bread and dipping oils so we were in heaven. This was also complimentary and so yummy!

For one of our appetizers we ordered the Bruschetta - marinated tomatoes served with crostini. This was yummy too! The tomatoes were perfectly marinated and the bread had melted parmesan cheese on them.

Finally the last appetizer we had was the fresh tomatoes and mozzarella.

These were good too, I think much better than the one you get at Tony's at the Magic Kingdom. The cheese was soft and creamy and the tomatoes and dressing was just right.

So now sadly this is where the excellence of the meal started going downhill. We're pretty picky about our Italian food and I was disappointed about the rest.

I ordered the chicken parm and didn't care for it at all. They either didn't drain the pasta completely or the sauce was watery so my meal was sitting in watery tomato liquid. The pasta was way too overcooked, the sauce just didn't seem 'right', and the chicken was a little burnt and dry.

Sorry for the blurry pic..

I still ate all of the chicken since I was hungry so it wasn't inedible.

Sarah had the pepperoni flat bread and said it was only so-so.

My mom somehow managed to get the winner of the meal though. she ordered the Wood-grilled Shrimp over pipette pasta tossed with artichokes, peas, peppers, sweet onions in a basil and four cheese cream sauce and it was GOOD!!! Since I don't like shrimp she ate it all and then let us eat the rest when she was done picking at it. The pasta was perfectly cooked and the vegetables and sauce were very tasty!

I wish I had known and I would have gotten that and just asked for grilled chicken instead!

Dessert was pretty decent too. For one, we had the warm chocolate truffle cake with raspberry sauce and liquid center. This was YUMMY! the outside was more 'cake' then I've had in the past with the 'lava cakes' but it was really good!

We also had the spumoni... vanilla, chocolate, and pistachio gelato. This was good too but the chocolate cake won in my book. Plus a nice cappucino... yum!

When we were finished we headed down sunset boulevard to grab fastpasses for either rock n rollercoaster or tower of terror. On the way though we saw one of the impromptu shows so we stopped to watch. They were great! They were trying to film a movie and picked a guy out of the audience to be the leading man. Every time the leading lady had to smack or hit him, they would bring in the 'stunt double' (another one of the actors). It was hillarious. The poor guy they dragged in the show was so shy!

stupid shadow... haha

I think all the fastpasses were already closed so we then headed over to the theatre to see the Harlem Gospel Choir. Some of the choir was outside trying to lure people into the theatre. Somewhere in the conversation, Sarah ended up being recruited for the choir....hehehe

So since we've been back I've been reading reviews of the choir and it seems that people were expecting something totally different. We were too I think. They were good, don't get me wrong, but maybe I was thinking of the Harlem Boys Choir? They sang a few Christmas themed gospel songs but then just started singing strictly gospel songs. After 20 mins we headed out (i think it's a 30 min show).

We headed over to Tower of Terror and the line didn't take long at all. Why have I never noticed the unfinished game of mah jhong being played?

I've always loved this ride and wish we went on it more than once! Next up? Rock n Roller Coaster! yayyyy!!!

About to be blasted off in the limo..

The line for the coaster was a little long then we had expected so we were running a little late to go see the Osbourne Spectacle of Lights. We headed over there as quickly as possible and caught the tail end of the last showing with the music. Oh! And did I mention it was snowing while we watched? It was awesome! The lights were mesmerizing and I wish we could have seen more!

After the lights finished we headed back to the hotel to drop off my mom (Sarah drove us so we didn't have to wait for the bus...niceee!!) and then she and I headed over to Raglan Road for a little snack (or full blown meal..haha) and a drink or two. This time we sat inside (with Evan we sat outside) and it was nice! I had never eaten here or saw the Irish dancer so it was cool. I had the shepards pie and it was decent...I've had better though!

We also split the bread pudding later (sorry no pic!) and that was awesome! Oh...we did have the worst bar waitress ever (we sat at the bar) and laughed as we watched her and the bar back just yell and ignore each other the whole night. Entertaining!

After a few drinks we decided to call it a night and planned to meet at Epcot the next morning.

 

[Trentmom]

Great update

I am sorru you didn't have a great meal at Mama Melrose. The appetizer looked reallly good, though...I love bread and bread with dipping sauce makes it doubly good.

I love RNRC....The take off is the best and the cool breeze as you are whipping around makes it so much better

I love TOT, the random drops makes the ride so much better...love the element of surprise.


Osborne lights look amazing. I have not seen them in years and hope to see them again soon...


Keep those great updates comeing.


Hope you and your Mom have a wonderful Holiday

 

[JoAnnPan]

Really enjoying your trip report...thanks for sharing!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Great update - I have to ask, what is on top of the shepherd's pie? I won't say what it looks like....

 

[Camster0307]

Thanks for posting again - I've been patiently waiting!

Your Osborne pix look amazing! Sorry to hear about the Mama Melrose's dinner - we haven't eaten there in years - have not heard good things about it lately. Can't seem to find a good TS meal in MGM anymore!

(back at 'ya, Tammie! )

 

[lovemyguys]

I am loving this trip report!! I am 34 weeks pregnant with my 3rd son and I stayed up until midnight last night reading your report in bed. Fell asleep dreaming of Disney and FOOD! Can't wait for the next installment!

 

[meriann]

Every time I read your reports I am SOOOOO jealeous that you are having SOOOO much fun!

All the food looks so yummy too. Keep them coming!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

Great update

I am sorru you didn't have a great meal at Mama Melrose. The appetizer looked reallly good, though...I love bread and bread with dipping sauce makes it doubly good.

I love RNRC....The take off is the best and the cool breeze as you are whipping around makes it so much better

I love TOT, the random drops makes the ride so much better...love the element of surprise.


Osborne lights look amazing. I have not seen them in years and hope to see them again soon...


Keep those great updates comeing.


Hope you and your Mom have a wonderful Holiday

Thanks trentmom! Hope you and yours have a great holiday too!

Really enjoying your trip report...thanks for sharing!

Great update - I have to ask, what is on top of the shepherd's pie? I won't say what it looks like....

ha... hmm...honestly? I dunno! I just took it off and put it on the side! haha!

Thanks for posting again - I've been patiently waiting!

Your Osborne pix look amazing! Sorry to hear about the Mama Melrose's dinner - we haven't eaten there in years - have not heard good things about it lately. Can't seem to find a good TS meal in MGM anymore!

(back at 'ya, Tammie! )

I think next I might try the Brown Derby again. we haven't eaten there in a long time!

I am loving this trip report!! I am 34 weeks pregnant with my 3rd son and I stayed up until midnight last night reading your report in bed. Fell asleep dreaming of Disney and FOOD! Can't wait for the next installment!

Thanks!!! Glad I can help you dream sweetly!

Every time I read your reports I am SOOOOO jealeous that you are having SOOOO much fun!

All the food looks so yummy too. Keep them coming!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again meriann! Hopefully another piece of the report is coming up tonight!

 

[Trentmom]

I just saw that another part of your report might be coming up soon.

Can't wait to see some more great pics

 

[Disneymommom]

Great update DisneyGirl!!! Glad you and Sarah had a good time. Looks likeyou were all enjoying the food there, sorry your meal at Mama Melrose wasn't so hot, what a shame. It was nice of your waiter tho to get as much free stuff as possible so Sarah didn't have to buy much.

Will be waiting for your next update!!!

Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your Mom!

 

[SGMCO]

What a Great Trip Report! I'm really enjoying it!!

I love the picture of you as a little Girl at WDW in 1983--So Cute!!

Epcot has also grown on our Family--I think because my DS is Getting
older and he's getting more out of it.

We also got totally soaked on SM in the middle of the Day
and took quite awhile to dry because of the Humidity--we were there
in mid Sept.

All your food looked good!!

I'm glad you had an enjoyable trip--it's so nice that you could go with your Mom!!

I will be checking back for more updates!! Thanks

 

[byoung]

Nice report and pictures.

 

[GusT]

I am so subscribing! I just read this entire thing at work and loved it, your pics are great!!

 

[Shir Kahn]

Subscribing! Great trip report and wonderful food pics. I love reading through trip reports with all sorts of pictures to show what the food looks like, rather than descriptions. Giving us lots of ideas for our March trip!

 

[disneygirlinnj]

ahh so I'm watching the Holiday special on the travel channel about disney world so I got a little motivated to continue on with my report!! Side note though....does anyone else REALLY want Samantha Brown's job?! She's got the best job everrrr!

First... I want to say thank you to everyone for reading!!! I just quickly checked and there's a LOT of new faces over here! HIIIIII EVERYONEEEEEEEE! hehe... ok...so let me stop babbling.. oh...and there will be LOTTTS of pics for today, which means a lot of pieces of the report! My friends Sarah and Holly are crazy picture people too and they came along with us for the day.

I'm also realllly far behind on reading everyone elses reports! It's been crazy at work and that's usually when I catch up! I will soon! (i hope!)

So lets see... we already did 1 day at the MK, 1 day at Epcot, 1 day at MGM, and omg... we're already on our 2nd and final day at Epcot! Boooo!

Since I had a brain fart on the first adventure to Epcot and told my mom that we'd go back to take pics with the characters when the line is less than a half hour (FYI.... IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN! HAHA), that was the first thing we did since we wanted pics with MICKEY!!! Luckily, we got there right at 9am and walked right to the character spot and omg! 5 minute wait! WOOHOOO! Happy dance! First up? The Big Cheese! I was a dork and wanted one with him by myself...and then mom jumped in later for a group shot.

Next in line? Pluto!

and Ms. Mouse

our favorite chipmunks..

and then goofy tried to knock me over... haha

As we were finishing up, Sarah called to say she just came into the park so we met up and decided to get Mission Space and Test Track over with! There was no line for Mission Space so we headed over to Test Track to get fast passes. For some reason it was shut down but they were still handing out passes for when it was fixed/opened. We plopped mom down (well I think she might have went on a mission to find her Mickey ice cream...did I mention she was addicted?! I think we used all our snack credits on those things!) and headed over to Mission: Space.

And again....please remember that Sarah and I are space/NASA DORKS! Seriously. Oh! Today was the day that the space shuttle was supposed to launch but of course when I woke up I already had a text message from Sarah that it had been scrubbed until the next day. OK..back to Mission Space....

Oh...and Sarah has a slight obsession with Apollo 12....this is where it landed on the moon..haha

All strapped in and ready to go!

oh...and I know I've mentioned we're dorks before... lol

So after a little shopping for a cute space shirt (you'll see it on our last day at the MK! haha) we headed over to find mom and see if test track was open. Found mom and saw that the ride was back in business so we left mom again (no, I dont think she went to go get another ice cream..haha) and jumped on Test Track with nooo line! YAYYY!! This is another one of those rides where I don't think it's worth waiting on a long line for so this was perfect!

Since we were on that side of the park, we decided to start making our way through the countries and get some passports!!! First on today's world tour? Mexico!

and we tried on some merchandise..

Sarah with the mini one..

and mom joined in on the dorkiness..

we jumped on Rio del Tiempo and while it's better than the old version...this one was still a little dull...

After the ride we had our passports signed and then headed outside and I smelled churros!! I have been addicted to Disney's churros ever since I was kid. They're SOOOO GOOD and I honestly haven't found ones that I like as much. So I ran over to buy one and Sarah's friend Holly called her saying she had just gotten into the park as well and was heading over by us. We've both heard so much about each other so we finally get to meet! yayyy!

Holly appeared almost instantly after Sarah hung up the phone and as we walked past the margarita stand, it was instantly agreed that the drinking around the world must begin!!! I bought the rainbow, Sarah the original (I think), and Holly got the green apple...mmmm!!

We then headed into Norway so we can all smell the perfume Laila (I have a bottle from a previous trip...love it!), play with the viking stuff, pick up some of my favorite ginger snaps, and ride Maelstrom! Oh...and get our passports signed! (Holly picked one up in Norway)

what...you've never seen a girl with viking horns drink a margarita?!

possibly my favorite picture of the day...

I hate to ask...but do people actually buy any of the hats and stuff for sale at the countries?! After awhile we felt bad just putting them on for pictures! haha!

After all riding Maelstrom, we continued on our journey. Oh...no drinks in Norway...I think we were still working on the margaritas.

Next on the tour? China...

and we stopped to listen to some of the Chinese holiday traditions..

since we finished the margaritas we just had to try some plum wine! I thought it was a tad too sweet but it wasn't a big glass so it was tasty..

as we headed into the 360 movie, we saw Mulan hanging out by herself so we grabbed a few shots..

we walked around inside for a bit admiring the terracotta warriors, etc and then headed into to watch the movie. wandering around the store was fun too

After getting our passports signed and learning what animal we are according to the year we were born (I'm the year of the monkey), we wandered around a little more.

Ooops! I'm also out of picture room.... continuing on to the next part!

 

[Hedy]

Can't wait for more.

 

[disneygirlinnj]

After finishing up in China we headed over to Germany and Snow White and Dopey were just walking out to say hello to everyone..

I used all my willpower not to buy every bag of Haribo gummybears in the candy store. I can find them everywhere at home so that was the only reason I didn't get any! Last September some friends and I went to Munich for Oktoberfest so when I saw they had Spaten beer, I was in heaven! Too bad my mom isn't a big German food fan or I definitely would have dragged her to the restaurant!

and I think the donkey was thirsty too..

Heading over to Italy there was a street performer starting his routine so we stopped to watch and laugh for a bit. This guy was pretty funny! He was a mime (I'm assuming...lol..he didn't talk!) and did a big juggling act and got some of the audience (including Sarah!) into the act.

Heading over to the US, I mentioned that I REALLLY wanted to see the Voiced of Liberty again and Holly chimed in how amazing they are. Sarah (!) then mentioned she had NEVER. SEEN. THEM. BEFORE!! and she LIVES in Florida and has a season pass!!!! OMG! Holly and i must have looked at her like she had 5 heads. So off we went to go see them so that Sarah wasn't exiled.

Again, they were amazing! They sang a few of the same songs from the first time that week but some were different.

this lady was amazing so after the show we went up to say hello. the lead guy (conductor? i'm so bad with these things!) also mentioned that she has an album out? I have to go check out their website!

oh..when we were talking to him, he recognized us from the beginning of the week and welcomed us back. that's where we mentioned that sarah, the florida girl, had never seen them before. he pretended to get all offended and told her to leave immediately. haha. it was cute. We didn't want to see the American Adventure so we wandered around the exhibit for a little bit.

Hey look...a space painting!

and checking out abe lincolns hat and mirror..

We finished up with the dorky pictures and headed over to Japan to wander the store a little bit and check things out..

Sarah grabbed some sake and I pretended to be a samurai warrior..

We then headed to france and grabbed grand mariner and grey goose slushies..

By then mom was getting a little tired keeping up with us and we only had a few more countries to get our passports stamped in so we left mom to relax on a bench and people watch while we went to travel the rest of the world.

We headed over to the UK and enjoyed a little bit of Off Kilter

and then a quick skip and jump to Canada for a stamp in the passports!

Ran back to the UK for a trip in the phone booth

and a little hopscotch!

oh..and if you couldn't tell, Sarah and I needed a cider and Guinness to top off our trip around the world...mmmm!!

heading back we also saw Alice hanging out for a bit. when we got up to her Sarah tried to shrink down to her size and Alice got all offended.. lol

After a quick shot we ran back over to my mom since it was time for dinner at Teppan Edo! Sarah and Holly weren't able to get reservations with us (which I don't get b/c our table had 3 empty seats but...oh well) but they had reservations at Nine Dragons instead.

Mom and I checked in quickly and hung out until our name was called. Everyone there was VERY polite and bowed every time they came or went. I read a few reports where people found this annoying but we didn't mind it at all. In Japanese culture, it is customary and a sign of respect to bow to others so they are only showing everyone courtesy.

The restaurant is beautiful...very modern and the colors look great

OK...review of the restaurant and the rest of the night in Part 3!!