Grand Gatherings & more! 1 year of Disney Dining! Illuminations Grand Gathering 5/26

[Goofy22]

Haha ! Good fun! Tammy I think you covered it pretty good is the best pic ever coming up in part three? That was hysterical it has to be! This was definitely really a good time! I haven't been on PB in so long I have to try to remember my password so I can go see if my pics are on there. Lmao I must have posted this right after you did part three lol!


I think if you could only do one of the 2 ! I would definitely pick this one looking back now it was definitely a blast. Illuminations was amazing to but the entertainment here alone wins it if you like to have a good time and join in.

The Rafiki moment was definitely priceless I swear we never laughed so hard then the guys sat back because the baby was sleeping and you shouldve been there when we tried to explain to them you wanna talk about hysterical lmao!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Haha ! Good fun! Tammy I think you covered it pretty good is the best pic ever coming up in part three? That was hysterical it has to be! This was definitely really a good time! I haven't been on PB in so long I have to try to remember my password so I can go see if my pics are on there. Lmao I must have posted this right after you did part three lol!


I think if you could only do one of the 2 ! I would definitely pick this one looking back now it was definitely a blast. Illuminations was amazing to but the entertainment here alone wins it if you like to have a good time and join in.

Was it?

I never noticed before how odd that kids leg looks positioned in the Rafiki picture.

I agree. I liked this one out of the three the best! If you guys want to do the breakfast one morning I will! Set it up. As late as it is now it may be full though. I like your new ticker. I should make one. I don't have room in my signature though.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

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[Goofy22]

Was it?

I never noticed before how odd that kids leg looks positioned in the Rafiki picture.

I agree. I liked this one out of the three the best! If you guys want to do the breakfast one morning I will! Set it up. As late as it is now it may be full though. I like your new ticker. I should make one. I don't have room in my signature though.

LOL!If you wanna try we could do it anytime after te 22nd because idk what time we will get there.We could even try for Maybe the morning of the 28th since we're doing HDDMR and thats not til 9:30pm so a nice breakfast would wrk well that day! LMK anyday but the 26th since were doing a big lunch that day at TE! I know the ticker is pretty cool! you need to delete some of those old links !lol


BTW the way fellow Disers the desserts here were some of the Best i've had on Disney grounds! I thinks the desserts alone were worth the 2 ts's! And Tammys youngest slept through dinner aqnd they were more than happy to give us some cups aka containers thats all they had ! To stuff some eatings in there to go for him!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Yep. They let us bring whatever we wanted home w/ us so he could eat later. We must have worn him out. He missed the entire thing! The chocolate cake was worth 2 table services on its own! I totally agree!

 

[Goofy22]

Yep. They let us bring whatever we wanted home w/ us so he could eat later. We must have worn him out. He missed the entire thing! The chocolate cake was worth 2 table services on its own! I totally agree![/QUOTE

Yes, The choc cake definitely was! Btw I have a pretty funny question? It makes me laugh everytime. Wasn't this the day that my camera went flying into the Bat cage?? and I didn't get pics? or was that a diff day we were at AK? I haven't gotten in to PB yet.

 

[jenseib]

Yay! I missed you girls so much.
I love Disney Choclate cake. I never hardly like choc. cake ever, but at Disney I LOVE it. I think part of it is the fugdy frosting! MMMMM!
Colleen, you are are stasying at Riverside now this trip? I didn;t know that.
Where are you staying Tammy?

 

[thunderbird1]

This does look like a lot of fun! Thanks for coming back to finish it, lol. Can't wait to see you all in August!

 

[Goofy22]

Yay! I missed you girls so much.
I love Disney Choclate cake. I never hardly like choc. cake ever, but at Disney I LOVE it. I think part of it is the fugdy frosting! MMMMM!
Colleen, you are are stasying at Riverside now this trip? I didn;t know that.
Where are you staying Tammy?

I dont know what it is but it was delicious!!
Jen, I had all intentions of staying at POP! and getting A REFURBED ROOM!!
Then a few nights ago my mother called me to tell me she defiinitely wanted to come with us! I was like eeekkk!!! What to do!!??? So the only thing available that would accomdate all of us with my bb offer was POR! I'm glad my mom is coming she usually don't and she hasn't been there in 4 or 5 yrs so it should be fun! My son is happy he was getting tired of POP! lolAnd he's really excited about Ole man island! My dd got a summer job so we had to shorten the trip by a week anyways so it all worked out! Im hoping we arent disappointed in POR it gets really mixed reviews!

This does look like a lot of fun! Thanks for coming back to finish it, lol. Can't wait to see you all in August!

Jenn, I can't wait to see everyone again it will be real fun! Maybe we need to have 2 pool parties now 1 at Pop and 1 at POR!! or just 1 at POP would work to whatever works lol!! I definitely wanna check out those refurbed rooms and see if any construction is underway!

 

[WrightFamily06]

I really need to come back and add the Grand Gathering stuff. I just don't have the time. I miss everyone over here though. Not everyone is part of our lil Disney FB group. Maybe Colleen will want to do something together. We're meeting up again in August.

Thanks for coming back and posting the GG stuff , we have missed you so much & your stories are always so fun !

you need to do something together for August , your fans miss u !

Nice pictures of the Safari Animals Sorry it wasn't more than the everyday Safari , seems they should have done special with it since it was a GG.

Love the food pictures , it all looked soo good !

I remember from your FB pictures that Rafiki was really showing himself off

I'm doing a pre-trip report if you want to take a look it's in my signature , were going September 16-22

 

[Lynn5700]

Tammy!! WOW. That Grand Gathering looked like soooo much fun! I would love to do it. You took awesome pics. How have you been? I finally have time to come on here more often. Hope all is well.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Yes, The choc cake definitely was! Btw I have a pretty funny question? It makes me laugh everytime. Wasn't this the day that my camera went flying into the Bat cage?? and I didn't get pics? or was that a diff day we were at AK? I haven't gotten in to PB yet.

Yes this was the day! I took pics of the camera laying in the cage! I will have to add them when I finish working. Maybe later tonight since we have a birthday party at 6pm. Anyway....I will post some. Does this mean you didn't have any pictures of the GG? I know you took a bunch at the Epcot GG.

Yay! I missed you girls so much.
I love Disney Choclate cake. I never hardly like choc. cake ever, but at Disney I LOVE it. I think part of it is the fugdy frosting! MMMMM!
Colleen, you are are stasying at Riverside now this trip? I didn;t know that.
Where are you staying Tammy?

Aww. Thanks J. This chocolate cake is different than all of the chocolate cake I've tried at Disney! You have to do this GG and see for yourself! I am at the same ol' same ol'. I love it but after this trip it's probably time to go elsewhere. This year we had to get two rooms. Might do AK next time for free dining. I didn't much care for the WL.

This does look like a lot of fun! Thanks for coming back to finish it, lol. Can't wait to see you all in August!

It really was. We're all very excited about August. These kids are about to go crazy! OMGosh I am such a bad mommy for not going for six weeks this year! Shame on me!

Thanks for coming back and posting the GG stuff , we have missed you so much & your stories are always so fun !

you need to do something together for August , your fans miss u !

Nice pictures of the Safari Animals Sorry it wasn't more than the everyday Safari , seems they should have done special with it since it was a GG.

Love the food pictures , it all looked soo good !

I remember from your FB pictures that Rafiki was really showing himself off

I'm doing a pre-trip report if you want to take a look it's in my signature , were going September 16-22

Well thank you Ang. BTW you all I was able to meet Angela a few weeks ago! Those sweet little kids of hers are so precious and well behaved. I wish we could have spent more time together so it would wear off on mine!

Rafiki was a trip I tell ya! He could get in trouble for his antics.

Tammy!! WOW. That Grand Gathering looked like soooo much fun! I would love to do it. You took awesome pics. How have you been? I finally have time to come on here more often. Hope all is well.

Lynn, you guys have to do all three! You are like me when it comes to wanting to try everything at least once! These are must dos! I know you know a bunch of people going at the same time. Just find a group of 6 or more to add to you guys and make it a GG! Every GG we've done we've shared with Dis friends!

 

[WrightFamily06]

Well thank you Ang. BTW you all I was able to meet Angela a few weeks ago! Those sweet little kids of hers are so precious and well behaved. I wish we could have spent more time together so it would wear off on mine!

Rafiki was a trip I tell ya! He could get in trouble for his antics.

Your very welcome & Thank You, your soo sweet ! The kiddies are def not always so well behaved lol

Shame on you !lol Your kids are all soo cute & well behaved also but I do wish we could have spent more time together too

To bad you guys won't be at WDW in September when we will be , the kiddies would have a blast together !

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Your very welcome & Thank You, your soo sweet ! The kiddies are def not always so well behaved lol

Shame on you !lol Your kids are all soo cute & well behaved also but I do wish we could have spent more time together too

To bad you guys won't be at WDW in September when we will be , the kiddies would have a blast together !

Yes they would! If a BB is offered again I will book it late in the season next year. Whatever the last booking is so we will be there in the Fall instead of Summer. I feel sure something will be offered.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

I will be telling you guys all about the Illuminations Grand Gathering soon but first we must hit the earlier meals in the day. That is, IF I can remember what we had.

We met up w/ Colleen's family and spent most of the day together, or heck, it may have been after the meal but who cares. We're going to make up a new story. Ya ready? Here's Ms Colleen having herself a dandy time in Mexico!

Here are our boys, the little ones, playing vikings!

Here are our boys, the big ones, doing God knows what.

Here I am on Mission Space.

Colleen rode too.

We did NOT spin.

We saw some creatures here and there...

Looks like lunch was at Sunshine Seasons that day! I totally recognize the salmon. They have YUMMYLICIOUS salmon! I had mine with double mashed potatoes. Also very good at SS.

My boys do not care for SS so we stopped and picked them up some nuggets on our way over.

Oooh. Memory! This was the day Ashley, Chimere, and Tabatha drove down to FL to join us. We were not with Colleen just yet cause I remember calling to see if they wanted some of this chocolate cake. We ended up w/ extra cake because they were out of the delicious coffee cake that day. None of us were in the mood for chocolate. I know...WEIRD! I'd slap someone for that slice of cake right now!

My daughter wanted her salmon without the dill sauce.

Sidney wanted the Salad...

More desserts and some kind of soup.

No complaints here. SS is always a fun place to eat. I hate it when they run out of coffee crumb cake but hey...it's good and people eat it up! Salmon is my first choice. Sidney has tried about everything at one time or another, all yummy! Two thumbs up here!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

This was an event I could barely find anything on. I searched all over and found one negative review with little detail. Not knowing how all of this worked we decided to show up early. No need to do this. Doesn't matter when you check in, they randomly call people out by name. There's really nowhere to wait and the sun will beat you down, in August anyway. Enjoy your park time and show up about 5-10 minutes before it starts 'cause you will NOT get in early!

About 10-15 minutes before opening a lady comes out and does this spill. She's our hostess and her name escapes me now. She's a fun lady and sticks around for most of inside meal.

This event is held inside the old Odyssey restaurant. This is located on the bridge that connects Test Track with World Showcase. First Aid is along this same path. The restaurant itself is a hidden gem. Very well kept and set up nicely. This dinner looked more formal than the one over at the Animal Kingdom. It was set up like a wedding or banquet hall.

When you walk in the music is playing and excitement fills the air! Each table has its own center piece on the table, there's a huge dance floor/stage at the front center, and lights flash onto the walls making flashy pictures. It is done up right!

Here are a couple of pictures of our little group ~

We were of the first people called in. Of course Colleen and I ran up by the food and started taking pictures before it was hit. Doing this in a big hurry made for some icky pictures on my part. Sorry about that but at least you can see what's offered. I know Colleen took a bunch too.

There are tables set up, also banquet style. They have some sort of selection from each country around World Showcase. For example Canada offers its famous soup while the UK serves up fried fish! There is also a pasta station, compliments of Italy, where you can have your own special pasta cooked up. For those children and non adventurous adult eaters like myself there is a kids buffet.

Colleen and I were away doing the picture thing for about 10-15 minutes. We came back to the table and still, no server. The guys were getting fed up. After all we had been standing out in the hot sun for over an hour and everyone was thirsty.

Some guy had stopped by the table to drop off the Grand Gathering pins.

Another 10 minutes probably passed before the server showed up. Poor thing, she was nice, but terrible at her job. We noticed that the service wasn't very good at any of the tables. Maybe they don't care since gratuity is included but whose to say you wouldn't leave more money for a job well done? I was a server for a few years and I treated my grat tables just the same, if not better, and I always earned extra. Anyway, like I said, very nice lady but not very good at waiting tables. That about covers the service end.

Here are the kids having fun...

Towards the end of the meal the hostess came back out. Couples celebrating were called up to dance. The GG's were recognized. The children were called up to dance in the end and they loved this!

Then these guys showed up for the party!!!

At the end there was a little meet and greet with the characters. This was a little rushed, but it's a cute photo-op and there are photopass people on hand as well.

This part of the GG was coming to an end, but the best was just about to start! Stay tuned for part 2!

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

After the meet and greet we all exited the building with our guides. We had to put on out Grand Gathering pin and follow the human with the red flashing wand. If you ever saw these flashing wands and wondered what the heck is that now you know! They take us in groups over to our gathering spot. This one you want to line up for first! There are no seats! If you want the best spot to stand and watch Illuminations skip the meet and greet or make sure you hit it first.

Once we're escorted out by the water you will find a few stations loaded down with all kinds of desserts and beverages. Nothing alcoholic.

Everything we tried was very good! There is one big problem though. The cups have open tops so when the fireworks go off your drink fills with ash or paper....whatever the debris is...and this is gross! I suggest you bring your own cup with a lid. Maybe the restaurant has them, not sure since they served in glass, but I'd definitely try to find a covered cup. After the fireworks are over you can sit, mingle, and wait for the crowds to clear out. Our GG happened to fall on an EMH night. Perfect for us. We waited a little bit, then sat out for a trip around the World!

After trying out all three Grand Gathering I have to say my favorite is...



















































ALL THREE! Why do I say this? Well, the BEST meal was at the Animal Kingdom Safari GG. The BEST dessert selection was at the Illuminations party. Hello!? Yummy dessert while watching fireworks!? Duh. Yes, the chocolate cake at the Safari meal was the bomb but overall...Illuminations wins out. The BEST Entertainment ~ hands down Tony's wins this. The Good Morning Grand Gathering at Tony's Town Square was by far the best! Tony himself was a trip. He is the same guy who plays a part in the HDDMR show. Funny guy. There were also a bunch of characters that spent a lot of time with the tables and the main man in the house was Mickey Mouse! Each family got one on one time with M I C K E Y ! I covered this GMGG earlier in the trip report. Anyway, I will be back soon with more yummy food. (50's Prime Time) If you have any questions about these GG's feel free to ask.

 

[John's Mom]

Great reviews and pictures! Thanks for sharing!

 

[WrightFamily06]

Yes they would! If a BB is offered again I will book it late in the season next year. Whatever the last booking is so we will be there in the Fall instead of Summer. I feel sure something will be offered.

I think next year we are gonna try and do the Christmas Party & activies next year ! Hoping that they may offer another military deal in 2011 , if not we will still be on the lookout for a great deal durning Nov. or Dec. . Keeping my fingers crossed that we both find great deals for 2011 !

We love SS also ! Can't believe the boys didn't like anything there, they have such a selection

Great Illuminations GG pictures , that restaurant def looks like a hidden gem . Wish they still used it for regular dinning, I bet it would get a lot more use that way

Can't wait to hear about 50's Prime Time

Once again so glad to have you back doing a little reporting