Team Renfroe's 2nd Trip Report - 1,500 pictures, dining reviews, and DISmeets!

[inkedupmomma]

Alan says: "Uh....yes....I know I suck. And I just KNEW you were going to be the one to call me on it! I had full intentions of going ahead and posting the Narcoossee's chapter immediately after this last chapter, but work got in the way. Wouldn't you know it?

Yes, I am very glad they have those value resorts also. I would rather stay at a value resort ON property than a luxury place OFF property...simply because I love being at Disney World! I would hate to leave the property everyday! That being said, there will probably be a trip in our not-too-distant future where we stay off property and do Universal Studios, Sea World, etc......but not until the kids are older."

I say " I knew you knew I would that's how you and I roll. Glad we understand each other! Work always gets in our dang way..but hey, that work pays for our addiction!

and I COMPLETELY agree! I rather stay on property then off in a big huge place! Most people do not get that. If and when we decide to add in US and S, we will stay on property. I rather stay there and drive to those parks, then vice versa!"

Now onto your review! Awesome pics! I think we will for real for real go there next year! and Idk what got into me, but reading what your son said made me start crying... just so sweet!

 

[TigerKat]

Yep, you are so right, when your child tells you it was the best day ever, that's Disney Magic at it's very best!

 

[MA pigletfan]

LOVE THIS report!! LOVE the raspberry mojitos!!! Those are my favorite drink to get at disney..i had them at the Tambu lounge at the Poly then again at Narcoosees...SOOO good!

 

[Janet B]

Alan
Great pics - makes me wish I was eating at Narcoossee's as well as Ca Grill (I can't complain, I have ressies at Flying Fish also - I will have to try the crab cakes).

You are so right, having our kids tell its us it was the greatest day ever is so worth all the time we spend planning and the saving to make our trips a reality.

Love esp. the close up pic of Elizabeth, Juliana and Will on the boat.

I will have to try me a raspberry mojito next month

 

[disneyfan61]

Great update Alan!! We were on vacation last week & went to an All You Can Eat Lobster place at Wells Beach (Maine) for $30.00 each. My DH & oldest DS ate 10 lobsters a piece!! My other DS & I each had 4 a piece & I thought that was good!! I want to try Narcoosees just because they have the lobster. What a great thing that Wil said it was the best day ever. Don't you just love hearing that???? What-No MK yet?? Great update.

 

[Leshaface]

As of January 2010, my DH and I will no longer be virgins to Narcoosses and i'm sooooo looking forward to it even more now, after seeing that scrumptious lobster!!!

Bring on the Magic Kingdom!

 

[Mysteria]

Those pics look so good it's making me wish I liked lobster!

 

[portocall]

Thanks Alan, for your honest review of "It's tough to be a bug"... I have one little boy who thanks you too! I would rather err on the side of caution than have him spend the rest of his vacation too scared to go on rides and such... I have been letting him watch youtube videos of ones that I think are maybe's...

I am gonna have to look up b.f. dawgs on facebook....

 

[jmamom]

Oooh, that lobster looks awesome! And Will's comment, so sweet, makes it all worth it!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Alan says: "Uh....yes....I know I suck. And I just KNEW you were going to be the one to call me on it! I had full intentions of going ahead and posting the Narcoossee's chapter immediately after this last chapter, but work got in the way. Wouldn't you know it?

Yes, I am very glad they have those value resorts also. I would rather stay at a value resort ON property than a luxury place OFF property...simply because I love being at Disney World! I would hate to leave the property everyday! That being said, there will probably be a trip in our not-too-distant future where we stay off property and do Universal Studios, Sea World, etc......but not until the kids are older."

I say " I knew you knew I would that's how you and I roll. Glad we understand each other! Work always gets in our dang way..but hey, that work pays for our addiction!

and I COMPLETELY agree! I rather stay on property then off in a big huge place! Most people do not get that. If and when we decide to add in US and S, we will stay on property. I rather stay there and drive to those parks, then vice versa!"

Now onto your review! Awesome pics! I think we will for real for real go there next year! and Idk what got into me, but reading what your son said made me start crying... just so sweet!

Hahaha....exactly! That's how we roll, IUM! You get me!

I thought that comment Wil made was so precious. In the last year, he has emerged from being my sweet son to this pre-teen who hates us and never seems to be happy. For him to voluntarily say that was huge for me. No matter how old he gets, he and I will always have a father/son bond....and that's special.

Yep, you are so right, when your child tells you it was the best day ever, that's Disney Magic at it's very best!

As he is getting older, he is starting to get more skeptical...and you rarely hear him say something this positive anymore. It really made me feel good about the whole trip, our relationship with each other, and a great way to end a wonderful day.

LOVE THIS report!! LOVE the raspberry mojitos!!! Those are my favorite drink to get at disney..i had them at the Tambu lounge at the Poly then again at Narcoosees...SOOO good!

I love those mojitos too. They have them at the bar that connects with the Yachtsman Steak House also.

Alan
Great pics - makes me wish I was eating at Narcoossee's as well as Ca Grill (I can't complain, I have ressies at Flying Fish also - I will have to try the crab cakes).

You are so right, having our kids tell its us it was the greatest day ever is so worth all the time we spend planning and the saving to make our trips a reality.

Love esp. the close up pic of Elizabeth, Juliana and Will on the boat.

I will have to try me a raspberry mojito next month

Definitely order the crab cakes at Flying Fish! I've never had a bad crab cake at Disney...but their's is the BEST.

You know how some kids get excited when you share the details of planning the trip with them? Juliana is like that....but Wil is NOT. He wants to be surprised by the whole thing. Elizabeth, Juliana and I spend months looking over the menus at the restaurants and putting touring plans together - because it's FUN! Wil just wants to go and be spontaneous. So, I've started respecting that and he's responding very well to that.

Great update Alan!! We were on vacation last week & went to an All You Can Eat Lobster place at Wells Beach (Maine) for $30.00 each. My DH & oldest DS ate 10 lobsters a piece!! My other DS & I each had 4 a piece & I thought that was good!! I want to try Narcoosees just because they have the lobster. What a great thing that Wil said it was the best day ever. Don't you just love hearing that???? What-No MK yet?? Great update.

Whoa! 10 lobsters! That's like paying $3 a lobster! It's more than 10 times that much at Narcoossee's!

Oh yes, I LOVED hearing that it was his "best day ever." It makes me want to cry just thinking about it! You don't get many of those kinds of days in your life.

As of January 2010, my DH and I will no longer be virgins to Narcoosses and i'm sooooo looking forward to it even more now, after seeing that scrumptious lobster!!!

Bring on the Magic Kingdom!

YES! Bring on the Narcoossees in January! MK is coming up next.

Those pics look so good it's making me wish I liked lobster!

Do you not like seafood, or is it just lobster that you don't eat?

Thanks Alan, for your honest review of "It's tough to be a bug"... I have one little boy who thanks you too! I would rather err on the side of caution than have him spend the rest of his vacation too scared to go on rides and such... I have been letting him watch youtube videos of ones that I think are maybe's...

I am gonna have to look up b.f. dawgs on facebook....

Oh, you are VERY welcome....and I'm glad to know that you are heeding my advice. For an adult, the whole scene is funny....but for most of the younger kids, it is terrifying to them. When we went last year, I kept thinking to myself, "why would they not do more to warn parents?"

Oooh, that lobster looks awesome! And Will's comment, so sweet, makes it all worth it!

You are right - it DOES make it all worth it! From that moment on, I knew that no matter what else happened, it was going to be a special vacation.

 

[alan_renfroe]

After a wonderful, (albeit wet,) day on Monday, we were ready to hit the Magic Kingdom on Tuesday.

We had to get up early because we had reservations for breakfast at the Crystal Palace at 8:05am. We didn't want to be late, so we were at the bus stop by 7:10am. It was already raining pretty hard. As we made our way to the bus stop, we saw a Magic Kingdom bus pulling away....so we knew we would probably have to wait for 15 minutes or so for the next one.

So.....we waited....

.....and we waited....

....and waited....

(You know I'm bored when I start taking pictures of drink machines!)

We waited so long that we started getting seriously worried that we were not going to make our reservations at Crystal Palace. We had seen 3 Animal Kingdom buses, 4 Disney Hollywood Studios buses, and 3 Epcot buses....but no Magic Kingdom bus. It was now 7:45 and I was getting angry.

Finally, I asked the driver of a bus that was heading to DHS why we had not seen a Magic Kingdom-bound bus in over 35 minutes. He said, "Well I KNOW there has been one because I PERSONALLY drove the last one to MK and that was about 20 minutes ago!" (with a tone!) (Oh no he didn't!) (I am NOT a morning person!) So, I snapped back: "Really? Well then you didn't have your destination marked properly!" He scoffed and drove off. This day was not starting off very well.

At 7:56, a Magic Kingdom bus finally arrived. By the time we got to the Magic Kingdom, it was already 8:20 or so. We had seen the Magic Kingdom several times already on this trip, but had not been inside yet. Unfortunately, we were very very rushed to get to our destination and could not fully enjoy that magical walk down Main Street USA.

Tony's Town Square - where Wil and I will be eating dinner tonight!

Here is our rushed, rainy walk down Main Street USA for the first time on this trip:

We finally arrived at Crystal Palace around 8:35...a full 30 minutes past our reservations. Fortunately, they were understanding. We had to wait about 10 minutes or so, then we were seated. Whew! That was close! Maybe now we can turn this bad start of a day around!

Coming up next - breakfast at the Crystal Palace

 

[KatMark]

And this is exactly WHY we drive to all the parks--including the Magic Kingdom. I was able to snag an 8:05 at CP on our Saturday in September and we will definitely be driving to the MK. Can't wait to see your review of CP.

 

[alan_renfroe]

Although we were 30 minutes late for our reservations at Crystal Palace, they were very accommodating and understanding.

This was our first time to eat at Crystal Palace and we were already starving for breakfast!

I think we were all excited to see the Pooh characters! They are so cool!

After being seated, the characters had just come by the table where we would be sitting....all except for Tigger...so we decided not to go up to the buffet until we got to meet Tigger!

After meeting Tigger, we were ready for that buffet!

The food was Yummy...with a capital "Y". Very good food....much better than I would have expected for a huge buffet within the Magic Kingdom.

Here was my plate:

Breakfast pizza? Are you kidding me? Count me IN!

Lots and lots of fruit:

I did not take enough food pictures here to show just how delicious everything was....and not to get ahead of myself, but this was THE BEST breakfast of our entire trip. Crystal Palace breakfast is now on the Renfroe's MUST DO list!

Now, we were ready to meet the other characters!

and finally.....Juliana's very favorite....EEYORE!

Crystal Palace was a WONDERFUL experience for us. The food was awesome, the character interaction was great, and they were accommodating. I was no longer in a bad mood. We were ALL now in a good mood and ready to turn this day into a good day!

Coming up next - you can pretty much ride anything you want when it's raining! We tackle the Magic Kingdom full on. Later - lunch at The Wave. Stay Tuned!

 

[Mysteria]

I like other types of seafood. It's just most shellfish I don't like (love scallops though!)

Ohhh nasty bus driver. Happy that your experience at CP made up for a rough start to the day!

 

[CRdisMom]

that does make me wonder how often a bus goes by with the wrong info on it. It seemed to happen to us at POP a lot.

Hmmmmm Lobster.

 

[serene56]

I am so torn between Breakfast / lunch at Crystal Palace.

Last time we were here--2001 we did a late lunch (2:30) and had the place to ourselves almost.

If I take a late breakfast-- 10:10 I cut prime touring time down.

If I take an early lunch 11:30/noon We can tour fantasy land in a calm manner then take our 2 hour break at Crystal Palace.

Your photos are awesome.

Did youhave to wait long for the characters to wind their way back to you?

 

[inkedupmomma]

Alan, how old is your son? He is gonna be a hotty.. I'm seeing him and Kayla at a dis-meet already. Just sayin. Jack is a bit too young for your duaghter though I ask how old, because he doesn't look old enough to be in the hateful mode yet LOl.. but YES, hearing that from him must have been extra awesome! I think it is always awesome to hear it though! I never get sick of it!

I am so glad you liked CP.. it was one of our least favorites last year. But that may be because we felt rushed through and were seated well past our ADR time. They started switching into lunch pretty soon after we arrived. Meaning the breakfast that was there was kinda oldish. The fruit was incredible though! We are giving it a 2nd shot this year though and have an 8:05 ressie, so hopefully i will be as pleased as you! Breakfast pizza is the bomb!! Thanks again for sharing with us

 

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

Long time reader/lurker jumping in to say... you missed the best part of the CP breakfast... puffed french toast on the kids' buffet.

You MUST get it next time. I dream about that french toast. I would string it on thread and wrap my Christmas tree in it. I would send it to people as wedding presents. Best buffet item there. CP breakfast is our first day must-do every trip. We're hitting it twice next month in five days.

 

[KatMark]

Long time reader/lurker jumping in to say... you missed the best part of the CP breakfast... puffed french toast on the kids' buffet.

You MUST get it next time. I dream about that french toast. I would string it on thread and wrap my Christmas tree in it. I would send it to people as wedding presents. Best buffet item there. CP breakfast is our first day must-do every trip. We're hitting it twice next month in five days.

ABSOLUTELY! I could not agree with you more. That is the first thing I head for when we go to CP ever year--the PUFFED FRENCH TOAST.

 

[M & E love WDW]

Really is a great t/r. Your family is just so photogenic. Love the pics. Yeah, all of a sudden, firewall is allowing pictures. Makes the in-between-customer time go by much faster.

Keep up the good work. Love MK. Since it was the only park in 1971, I still think of it as Disney World - truly my favorite park.