The Bananas Take On WDW, lots of pics, leaving for F&W today

[janabananas]

This trip report will be a continuous one for the year we have our Seasonal AP.

The Bananas take on WDW, dining edition

The we:
-Myself, Janabananas, aka Janet, turned 32 on my bday trip, 2011
I love all things Disney and love the immersion I feel when I am at WDW. No driving, I love the transportation. I tend to forget about regular life stuff when I am here. I love the food and the rides and singing along to all the songs.

-DBF, Jaybananas, aka Jason, 35 and along for the ride
He goes because I love going. He was rather cynical (he says pragmatic and realistic) before going on our first trip, but when we got on property he was singing along too and really loves the opportunity to try all the food options available. Don't let him fool ya, he looks all grouchy but he lights up when he gets to ride Figment or sees the aquarium at the Seas or after watching the Tiki Birds at the Tiki Room.

-DS 12, Nickybananas, aka Nickolas
-DS 8, Joeybananas, aka Joseph

The why: I really love WDW and found it was cheaper for us to get SAP on the payment plan offered to FL residents then to get tickets for our first trip. So we decided "why not, let's get the year pass and we can go whenever we choose to." We also decided to get Tables in Wonderland which was a $75 investment that pretty much paid for itself within our first trip. We both like the rides and I have my favorites but we LOVE Disney dining options. There are just so many different dining experiences to be had at WDW.

The how: We are lucky to live about 70 miles (or 1.5 hours, depending on traffic) away from WDW, so we drive over.

The where: Well, duh, WDW of course, but specifically stayed at POP our first trip, will stay there again for F&W (we are going for the F&W not hotel). After being there for 4 days, it felt like home to me. DBF found it LOUD!!! and a bit of sensory overload, but he understands that for the price and amount of time we plan on spending at our hotel, it is a great value.

We got a really good AP price to upgrade to WL for our anniversary trip in January. I am so excited about that!!
And we are renting points for my bday trip in Sept 2012, so we are staying at BWV. That hotel is already booked and paid for!!


PTR List

My first attempt at a PTR..... Please be kind.

Food & Wine PTR


Trip List:
Sept 8-11, 2011 , my 32nd birthday trip!!
Day 1:
POP and our arrival
More pics of POP
DHS day, or please move the hat in the middle of the road before it gets towed, thanks!
POP pool time
Kona Cafe and the scariest ride of all
Day 2:
EPCOT morning
Drinking around EPCOT
EPCOT at night, and Tokyo Dining Review
Day 3:
AK day
DTD/Raglan Road review
Day 4:
MK day and leaving the World til next time

I interrupt the BDAY trip report with TR for MK 40th Anniversary TR

Nick's 13th Birthday

 

[janabananas]

My birthday trip, Sept 8-11, 2011, just me and dbf for this trip, my boys will be joining in for later trips.

DBF and I stayed at POP, and this is what we drove up to!!

I started squealing as soon as we up to the parking lot!! We did online checkin, which was a good thing because the regular line had a lot of people checking out. We got our packet and room keys. Our room wasn't ready, but I wasn't expecting it to be ready yet because we got there at about 8:15 am. We did find out that we were in building 6 on the third floor.

We knew we were going to DHS so I of course wanted to RUN!!! to the bus hop on and hold on so we could pick up our passes and Tables in Wonderland ticket, which would mean we needed to hurry to make Rope Drop so we could get on TSM!!!! That didn't happen at all. DBF wanted to check out the map and read every pamphlet in the packet. I ended up having a panic attack.... Not good!! This ended up being the first of several , but luckily DBF talked me out of them. This will be a theme throughout this first trip and hopefully none to follow. I can only explain that I get so excited and when something gets in the way (DBF, bus system, other folks), I freak the frak out. We ended up getting to DHS and did everything we wanted by 230pm. 9am-230pm, not bad right?!



After lunch, we got our awaited text that we are in room 6322. We got there and found it is lake facing although there is no lakeview, only trees. It is a great location, though. A very short walk to buses and Everything POP and Hippy Dippy Pool and the Computer Pool. Also very quiet which is what we wanted. We are of the mindset that we would pay more if need be, to be away from the pools.

We got to look at Mickey's butt everyday as we got on the elevator.... LOL!!

If you stay in the 70's buildings, use the parking for 90's. The parking for 70's is way out of the way.

Most of the POP pics were taken the day we left because I forgot to take them when we got there. (remember the panic attack?)

 

[janabananas]

All DBF could say about this was "Someone could break a pelvis!!"

 

[BorkBorkBork]

I'm here!! That's great that you still got to do DHS by 2:30. Can't wait to read more!

 

[janabananas]

We arrived at DHS around 9:15am, after getting our passes and TIW card. I knew my plan but I didn't really clue DBF into it because I figured he didn't care. Boy, was I wrong.... I found out he wanted to be very involved in the planning. Also besides that and keeping my panic attacks in check, he also had to keep my health in mind. If you read my PTR or have read about me, I am in CHF and have cardiomyopathy. I am able to do most things without a problem. However, sometimes I forget I am sick and think I can still run 100mph. Ooops, not good.

Well anywho, we walked to TSM and saw there was a wait of 25 minutes. We decided to go ahead and ride it instead of getting a FP for it. DBF said we are here and there is no need to back track, and the park is pretty dead (which it was, yeah September crowds!!).

I grabbed a danish & a coke and ate that before we got on. I didn't eat bf and needed to take my meds so I ate fast and prepared for the wait.

Just a little note DBF has been very cynical about this trip. His mindset is that it will be 4 days away from work, otherwise he could care less.... He ended up loving WDW and didn't want to leave.

When we finally got on TSM, there was a posted wait time of 25 minutes.

We found we were on and off the ride within 20 minutes. Not bad at all, right?? AND dbf loved it so much he wanted to ride again. We got FP's and started to walk to TOT and RNR.

I did notice that Narnia: Prince Caspian was closing two days after our DHS day so I decided to get a pic, although we didn't go through it. I found it to be a waste of time my last trip, so I was glad to see it go Bye, Bye!!.

We walked by Starring Rolls and their wasn't much cupcake selection, so I didn't get many food porn shots. But here are two.

I won't ride TOT and dbf won't ride RNR, so we split up. I got my first bit of pixie dust on RNR. I used the single rider line and pretty much walked up to get on. After my ride, a CM saw my birthday pin and asked me if I wanted to ride again, no wait. I said "You betcha!" and got on again. I rode RNR twice before dbf was done with TOT. Awesome!!

After RNR and TOT, we decided to walk to Star Tours. We are both turbo sci-fi nerds and love Star Wars. We walked by Indiana Jones and saw a show would be starting on about 30-45 minutes, so we decided to go back after Star Tours.

We loved the new Star Tours! A vast improvement on the old version.

We went back to Indiana Jones and took in the show.

After Indiana Jones, we walked back to TSM to use our FP. DBF loved it even more the 2nd time around.

It was about lunch time so we started walking over to Pizza Planet Arcade. We wanted to see the car stunt show so we decided to have lunch over there so we could get there easily. Well we got lost in the Streets of America and it took us a bit longer than it should have to get lunch and eat it. So we ended up missing the show. No big deal though because after lunch our room was ready by 2pm.

We both had the chicken salad, which I would eat again. It was light and flavorful. While the pizza and meatball subs looked good, they both looked heavy for what we wanted to eat.

On our way out, I found the Writer's Shop and grabbed a carrot cake cookie. Good Lord was it good!! I could eat one right now!!

This is what we saw as we walked out.

We ended up getting back to POP and into our room by 315pm or so.

Next post will be our only time at the pool and dinner at Kona Cafe, followed by Wishes as viewed at Poly Beach.

 

[janabananas]

I'm here!! That's great that you still got to do DHS by 2:30. Can't wait to read more!

WOOT WOOT!! Thanks for joining me!!

 

[janabananas]

More to come tomorrow!! Dolphins are playing MNF!! against the Pats....

 

[ronnmel]

I'm in!

I'm confused, were the kids with you or not? I thought not, but they are included in the introduction, and then never mentioned again.

Your first day sounds great so far!

 

[mickeymouseclubhouse]

Great trip report so far! Love the pictures of Pop and how cool that you got a little extra pixie dust for your birthday and got to ride Rock n rolercoaster twice!

 

[lemonsours]

I'm here too! Love all the pictures, can't wait to see the rest!

 

[haven_alise1997]

Woot I made it! here for the after party!

 

[DisneyLifer87]

I'm in and caught up. Sounds awesome

 

[sillylily]

I'm here, I'm here! Sorry I'm late, Ms. Banana!

 

[teekathepony]

I'm here!! Love those Pop Century pics! Making me anxious to get there!!

 

[lbuzz52]

joining in! that cookie does look good! i like the idea of a year long trip report- lets us see all the FL updates!

 

[lovethattink]

Coming over from your PTR.

That salad at Pizza Planet and the cookie at Writer's Stop look great! They are on my list of things to try now!

Too bad there weren't many cupcakes at Starring Rolls!

Love the pics of Pop. We usually request the 70's near the Big Wheels, love that location. My son likes to fish in the lake there, so likes being close to it. Looks like you were the building directly across from where we usually are. It's a nice centrally located area! Not far from anything!!

 

[janabananas]

I'm in!

I'm confused, were the kids with you or not? I thought not, but they are included in the introduction, and then never mentioned again.

Your first day sounds great so far!

Great trip report so far! Love the pictures of Pop and how cool that you got a little extra pixie dust for your birthday and got to ride Rock n rolercoaster twice!

I'm here too! Love all the pictures, can't wait to see the rest!

Woot I made it! here for the after party!

I'm in and caught up. Sounds awesome

I'm here, I'm here! Sorry I'm late, Ms. Banana!

I'm here!! Love those Pop Century pics! Making me anxious to get there!!

joining in! that cookie does look good! i like the idea of a year long trip report- lets us see all the FL updates!

Coming over from your PTR.

That salad at Pizza Planet and the cookie at Writer's Stop look great! They are on my list of things to try now!

Too bad there weren't many cupcakes at Starring Rolls!

Love the pics of Pop. We usually request the 70's near the Big Wheels, love that location. My son likes to fish in the lake there, so likes being close to it. Looks like you were the building directly across from where we usually are. It's a nice centrally located area! Not far from anything!!

Thanks for joining me everyone!! It was a great time and loved the hotel.

I will be adding more as time allows. Darn life getting in the way!!

Ronnmel, the kids were not along this time but they will be going on subsequent trips with us throughout the year. I changed the into to make it less confusing. Sorry about that.

 

[janabananas]

After bringing up our stuff and getting it put away, we decided we wanted to visit the pool for a bit before dinner. We didn't realize it would be our only visit. The next two afternoons it rained so we decided to stay in and nap. On Saturday, dbf watched some football.

Pics of Hippy Dippy pool:

Pic of Petals, I had a nice cocktail from there. It was a limeade concoction.

After swimming we went back to the room and got fixed up.

 

[janabananas]

We got ready and intended on taking the MK bus to MK then take either monorail or resort ferry to Poly. That didn't happen because DBf was taking his sweet time. I had another panic attack....

We ended up taking the EPCOT bus to EPCOT then rode the monorail to TTC and linked up with Poly via the resort monorail.

We got there a bit early so we decided to go to the beach and figure out where to watch Wishes from. We then walked back inside and checked in at Kona Cafe.

We got a quiet corner table without any neighbors. We were happy about this because we didn't want to disturb anyone with our picture taking. We ended up getting neighbors who were also taking food pics so it worked out ok.

Our waitress was Mel. She was fantastic!!!

I ordered a Kona Cool Sundown and dbf had a Kona Fire Rock Pale Ale. We both enjoyed our drinks.

For apps, I had the duck potstickers (yummy) and dbf had a special sweet potato soup that was not on the menu. He loved it.

I had the rib eye for my entree and dbf had the tuna oscar. Both were quite good. We did learn though that my eyes are bigger than my stomach and dbf makes a great garbage disposal!! I was also saving room for dessert.

For dessert I had the banana creme brulee. Dbf doesn't eat sweets so that was my job!! It was YUMMY!!!

We decided to order drinks to go so we could get to Wishes and grab chairs. I got the infamous Lapu Lapu (and well worth the acclaim btw) and dbf had a habanero lime margarita. He wanted it to be a bit hotter but he did enjoy it.

We got to the beach and watched Wishes. It was beautiful. You can hear the music on the beach. I would love to be in the MK next time I watch it though.

We took a ferry to MK so we could catch the bus back to POP. We took lots of boat rides throughout our trip.

We got to the bus station and saw a HUGE!!!! line for POP. We waited for quite awhile but ended up getting on a standing room only bus. OMG!! I thought I was gonna die. The driver was a speed demon and was taking the turns like Dale Earnhardt Jr. It was the scariest ride we had the entire trip. Please put me on Space Mountain or Mission Space orange before I ever get on another SRO bus. If you can help it, don't do it. Wait for the next bus. It will come eventually.....

The night was great though, bus aside. Everything was so beautiful and the CM's are so nice and helpful. I got home and realized how great Disney's CM and customer service is.

Next post will be EPCOT day, followed by a detailed account of Drinking around EPCOT!!

 

[justakrazymom]

My birthday trip, Sept 8-11, 2011, just me and dbf for this trip, my boys will be joining in for later trips.

DBF and I stayed at POP, and this is what we drove up to!!

I started squealing as soon as we up to the parking lot!! We did online checkin, which was a good thing because the regular line had a lot of people checking out. We got our packet and room keys. Our room wasn't ready, but I wasn't expecting it to be ready yet because we got there at about 8:15 am. We did find out that we were in building 6 on the third floor.

We knew we were going to DHS so I of course wanted to RUN!!! to the bus hop on and hold on so we could pick up our passes and Tables in Wonderland ticket, which would mean we needed to hurry to make Rope Drop so we could get on TSM!!!! That didn't happen at all. DBF wanted to check out the map and read every pamphlet in the packet. I ended up having a panic attack.... Not good!! This ended up being the first of several , but luckily DBF talked me out of them. This will be a theme throughout this first trip and hopefully none to follow. I can only explain that I get so excited and when something gets in the way (DBF, bus system, other folks), I freak the frak out. We ended up getting to DHS and did everything we wanted by 230pm. 9am-230pm, not bad right?!



After lunch, we got our awaited text that we are in room 6322. We got there and found it is lake facing although there is no lakeview, only trees. It is a great location, though. A very short walk to buses and Everything POP and Hippy Dippy Pool and the Computer Pool. Also very quiet which is what we wanted. We are of the mindset that we would pay more if need be, to be away from the pools.

We got to look at Mickey's butt everyday as we got on the elevator.... LOL!!

If you stay in the 70's buildings, use the parking for 90's. The parking for 70's is way out of the way.

)

We had the same view of Mickey's bum...lol