"It's Time for the MONORAIL PUB CRAWL!" April 2013 Trip Report**COMPLETE 7/14

[jecskc]

PINK SLUSHIE !!!!

I loved it !! I don;t know if I could GO to Florida and not visit Disney. I went with some girlfriends in 2010 and none of them wanted to go to Disney. I was like

We did go to DTD and see La Nouba, though. So I was OK with it.

Susan

 

[scottny]

Great topiary pics.
The rose slushie is the best. Wish they would keep it permanently.
Nice update

 

[rachel09985]

Hi everyone!!

I am back from my vacation to Panama City Beach! We had a great time but at the end I was ready to come back home. I missed my dog and I was sick of being in the sun every day. I got nice and tan though!

Also, I have some news!!

Corey and I are going to Disney World in July! July 2nd-July 9th, our longest trip yet! So excited! We contemplated it over and over and finally decided to go. He is out of work starting end of June so we are taking advantage of his time off. Plus I get two days off that week. I know we shouldn't go there if he doesn't have a job but I hope we will be fine. I am excited! We are staying at Port Orleans Riverside. I know it will be crazy busy and hot but since it is a long trip for us hopefully we can take lots of breaks.

So with that news out of the way I will post some pictures of my ultra relaxing lounge vacation to Panama City Beach Florida.

Lounging at the beach



Before dinner on our balcony.



At mini golf on Mother's Day



Sunsets during mini golf. It was a gorgeous sky!





More beach.



View off of our balcony. We were on the 5th floor.



Corey and his nephew Austin.



Waving hi! I took a day off the beach so I took pics of them.



We went down to the pier with my tripod to get some photos of us and the sunset.













Right after the sun dropped.





We set my timer and then took some jumping shots. Haha, this is funny but kind of a bad picture.





We went down to Destin one night and found this funny thing to take a picture with.







The last night we took photos on the balcony.







Thanks for following along my non Disney updates! I had a rough night last night. My flight was supposed to land at 8:58pm, instead it landed at 1:10am. There were massive delays in Atlanta and my layover was in Atlanta. It wasn't fun. Hopefully I will finish up this trip report before July! I gotta get moving.

 

[Linda67]

Yay for a trip in July - and a nice long break as well

Let the planning begin!

Love your photos from Panama City Beach, especially the ones of you both on the beach at sunset

 

[wdwgirl03]

Yay for a summer trip! I've been in August a couple of times and yeah it is hot but as long as you take breaks it should be fine.

 

[wiigirl]

Wonderful pictures.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Glad to hear you had a nice vacation and SUPER glad to hear you have a Disney trip planned. Even though it's July, yup just pace yourself and you should be good to go.

Gawd, I need to book a trip soon.

 

[UGAFan0829]

I loved seeing your beach pics and glad you had a good time. Panama City is my most favorite beach ever...we love it there! Where did y'all stay?

Sorry that your flight got delayed in Atlanta. We had some pretty yucky weather here over the weekend.

 

[marDgreen88]

A Disney trip in July will be great! Two POR trips in a row, huh? I'm taking that as a good sign that you REALLY liked it there, so yay!! And yeah, the heat can be rough but it is bearable. You just have to know how to handle it!

Your pictures of the beach are gorgeous! Love those sunsets.

 

[rachel09985]

Awesome update!

Thanks!

Great F&GF updates! I really liked the Oz garden and those glass flowers were so cool. I really wanted to try that lemonade but I forgot!

Those windchimes/decorations are really cute. Love the pink castle one!

Me too! The pink castle is perfect. The lemonade was delicious! I loved that it was purple too.

It's funny you mention the topiaries. I remember vividly the topiaries of the past, and they were indeed very simple. I did love them though.

I don't know why, but I just get fascinated watching the manatees eat. For some reason I just think it's cute.

Ahhh I love that hidden Mickey in the aquarium.

It is kind of fun. They are little loveable animals!

Nice view of the fountain.
Love the fireworks on the headboard.
That room is really nice. She looked like she was having so much fun.
Great pic of Mickey topiary at DHS.
Hmm, I was going to put HBD on the list for December and now not sure.
Nice TOT pics.
EEK! High Schoolers.
I would have been fuming from that girl and would have said a few not so nice things.
Love the hat and balloon pic.
LOL you ignored her.
Yum yum yum. All that food looked so good. Love the strawberry soup.
WOW! Tigger knows instagram. LOL
I never heard of the violet lemonade. Looks good.
All caught up. Fun updates and great pics.

Thanks so much for the comments! I was very perturbed about that girl. Luckily I got over it quickly!!

Hey Rachel - you had another cocktail? I'm shocked! Lavender huh? Not so sure about that only because I'm not big no sour drinks.

The Oz play area looks like such fun for the kids but it can create a bit of a problem for the parents if you have kids that don't want to leave!! Good think the ground is cushioned.

I'll have to look for the hidden Mickey in the aquarium. I love to watch the manatees eat too. You had a great shot of the jet stream on the Nemo ride. That would be really hard to photograph but you pulled it off. Do you ever put your camera on auto settings?

Hi! The lemonade was actually non alcoholic! Although it would have been good with some vodka! Lol. Yes I actually do put it on auto settings! I always get nervous during character pictures that the picture won't turn out so I put it in auto. I would hate to miss out on those pics.

Oh Epcot just looks so pretty during F&G

I've really missed not seeing it this year, it's such a great time to visit

The violet lemonade is just sooooo beautiful

it is pretty! It is such a vibrant color!

PINK SLUSHIE !!!!

I loved it !! I don;t know if I could GO to Florida and not visit Disney. I went with some girlfriends in 2010 and none of them wanted to go to Disney. I was like

We did go to DTD and see La Nouba, though. So I was OK with it.

Susan

I so would have gone to Disney if it was closer. Originally we were going to do a weekend in orlando then the beach. Disney is 6 hours away from PCB so we just didn't want to drive that far.

Great topiary pics.
The rose slushie is the best. Wish they would keep it permanently.
Nice update

It is good! I love all the slushes. I hope they bring it back this year.

Yay for a trip in July - and a nice long break as well

Let the planning begin!

Love your photos from Panama City Beach, especially the ones of you both on the beach at sunset

thank you! I am excited about July. Already changed oue resorts!

Yay for a summer trip! I've been in August a couple of times and yeah it is hot but as long as you take breaks it should be fine.

We will try to take as many breaks as possible. I want air conditioned food breaks! lol

Wonderful pictures.

Thanks!

Glad to hear you had a nice vacation and SUPER glad to hear you have a Disney trip planned. Even though it's July, yup just pace yourself and you should be good to go.

Gawd, I need to book a trip soon.

I just have to keep remembering to pace myself. I am not so much worried about the crowds but I am worried about the heat! I don't do well in heat. I will have to order a case of water since i normally don't drink much water there.

I loved seeing your beach pics and glad you had a good time. Panama City is my most favorite beach ever...we love it there! Where did y'all stay?

Sorry that your flight got delayed in Atlanta. We had some pretty yucky weather here over the weekend.

I love Panama City Beach beach too! It is gorgeous. The water and sand is awesome. We stayed at Tidewater Condos right by Pier Park.

A Disney trip in July will be great! Two POR trips in a row, huh? I'm taking that as a good sign that you REALLY liked it there, so yay!! And yeah, the heat can be rough but it is bearable. You just have to know how to handle it!

Your pictures of the beach are gorgeous! Love those sunsets.

I did really like it there but we just changed resorts! LOL! We are doing a split stay; 3 nights at POP then 4 nights at AKL! I am so excited.

 

[rachel09985]

Well since I last left off we were waiting in line to see Aurora. I was so excited to see her new dress. It did not disappoint. Emme went up first since she is so princess happy when she sees them!





Next it was my turn. I told her I loved her new dress so much and that it was much needed. She laughed. I love the rose gold crown and I love the fabric and new color of her dress. This pink is so much more of a pretty pink and I hated the velvet of the other dress.

Patty wanted to find some Emme some rice so she went to Japan to see if they had fried rice. I went to the smokehouse to get the mousse brownie.



I love this sign because it is a phrase my cousins from New Orleans used to say to me.

Here is the mousse. It was very very very rich. I wish I would have had water with it. It was good but just rich.



Woody the topiary is in this area.



So it Lotso. We couldn't find Buzz anywhere!



Next country we passed was Italy where I passed another favorite topiary; Lady and the Tramp. I loved Lady so much because she has ears like my cockapoo's which are long and fluffy. The different assortment of flowers around them were beautiful.









I had to try the lobster and asparagus with garden cocktail sauce. Patty hated it but I needed to try it. I really liked it! It was very overpriced. I think it was $7.75 but the garden cocktail sauce was spicy and had a kick. Paired well with the asparagus and lobster.



Next up was Germany. Patty and I got Hefeweizens and they were delicious! Nice light wheat beer.



I also had the mushroom bread pudding. This was piping hot! I almost burnt my finger on the dish. The bread pudding was very good and savory. I loved the green peas but did not like all of the mushrooms. I thought the long skinny ones were noodles but they were mushrooms.



When we passed the bridge by the African area I saw them moving in the globe! I knew they did this but I didn't realize the bridge went up! It was kind of neat.







Our last country to stop at on our first round was Mexico. We walked around the stroller path and saw beautiful orchids!







Our stop was a margarita at La Cava! I got the blood orange one. It took forever to get it. I felt like I was at a college bar trying to get their attention before someone elses.







By this point Emme had fallen asleep so we shared the margarita while she slept. It was good marg but pricey at $15! It was probably my favorite La Cava marg that I have had before.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Haha, I'm generally not someone who's going to get upset about change anyway, but I really like the new Aurora dress.

Honestly I think it's WAY better.

 

[rachel09985]

Haha, I'm generally not someone who's going to get upset about change anyway, but I really like the new Aurora dress.

Honestly I think it's WAY better.

Me too!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I'm joining! Emme is adorable and you guys look like you had a lot of fun together.

We're actually going to be there from July 4 - 14. We'll probably cross paths at some point.

 

[scottny]

That brownie looked good. I should have tried it while I was there.
I have to try that margarita bar.
Nice pics.

 

[rachel09985]

When we got out of Mexico I needed more booze! So off I went to the Florida booth. I was also on a mission to shovel as much as food as possible in my mouth.

I got the shrimp and grits and orange blossom pilsner.



I really liked the shrimp and grits minus the hard sausage pieces. The spice was great!

The orange blossom pilsner was good but not as good as the Hefeweizen.

Patty got some food from Mexico. The crab tostado was pretty good but the tostado was too hard.







Next up it was time to use our Soarin fastpasses!



One of the most beautiful spots of the flower and garden festival.



What do you know that a monorail passed by?? How lucky is that! I was snap happy for this glorious moment.







And we passed another one of my favorite topiaries of the Lion King scene where Rafiki is holding up Simba. Corey and I act out this scene all of the time with our dog!!! Haha, he holds up Lola and sings the song. It is hilarious. We are disney dorks. Wouldn't ask for anything different though.







I was a little tipsy so I guess I thought it would be a good idea to hold my arms out??







We got to Soarin' and basically walked all the way through.





they had room for us in the first flight but we would have had to sit in separate rows and I wanted to see their reaction since they have never been on it before. So we waited for the next flight and got front row!

Emme loved it! At first I think she was a bit scared but she loved it.

The grain in Soarin' was super noticeable. It is so distracting. It is all I can look at!!! We were in the farthest right room if you are staying at the line. It was like long black hairs were in the film. You would think they could fix that or replace the film without closing the ride? I wonder if the one in DCA is like that.

Because we never got rice in China we stopped at Sunshine Seasons to get rice for Emme. And I got a strawberry shortcake!





She ate her mashed potatoes after I picked out all of the green things. Patty had to go back in her stroller and get her new chopsticks and bowl.





She was good with those chopsticks even if they were kid chopsticks. better than me!

Haha, i love this one.

 

[rachel09985]

After our snack at Sunshine Seasons we went on another "ride" that Patty and Emme have never went on: Living with the Land.

It was a walk on!



If you check out the mailbox number it says #82. I wonder if that is because Epcot was opened in 1982?





Emme absolutely loved naming and looking at all of the veggies and fruit! It was so cute to see her recognize their names.



Hidden Mickey!





Since it was close to being nightime we wanted to head back into the World Showcase to eat!!!



One of my favorite parts about Epcot during this time is the massive amount of flowers by the pond areas!





Of course I had to stop for the Monsters University topiary! I can't wait for the movie to come out!







I spotted the Fruits by the Glass booth next and I had to try two beverages that I was thinking of: the blueberry beer and the mango wine.



The blueberry beer was DISGUSTING! I like fruit beer but this was bitter and not that cold so it made it worse. Smelled good though! The mango wine was good but too sweet. I think it had to be paired with yummy food.

We stopped at this little stand where they were selling moss topiaries. This little minnie was cute.



Except she was 400 dollars!!!

Yes, you heard me right! $400 bucks!



I felt the moss topiary and it was so weird. It was cold and wet and squishy. Can you imagine carrying that as your carry on? Lol!

We saw Captain Hook again!



Oh look here is the guy with the red shirt and green pants. Either my pictures are out of order or I really saw him just now, not earlier.



I wanted to eat at Les Halles, it was one of my must dos. While I ate Patty and Emme did the Phin and Ferb mission in France. I think they had fun doing it!



The line was pretty long but went fast. I liked how they had two identical lines.









I got the ham croissant with bechamel cheese.



OMG this was amazing. One of my favorite things from this trip. The croissant was so fresh and warm and gooey. It was delicious melt in your mouth.



I also got the creme brulee. This was amazing as well. No need to go to Chefs de France anymore because it was just as good as the creme brulee there!

 

[rachel09985]

After my Les Halles dinner Patty went to Tangierine Cafe for a Schawarma Platter. I don't think she cared for it that much. I liked it, especially the lamb.



I felt like I needed to shovel more food more food in my mouth so in Japan I got something from the booth. I got this rice dish that had cooked fish and shrimp on it. It had a volcano and dynamite sauce on it. The green was like a wasabi sauce and the other sauce was a spicy sauce that they would put on a spicy tuna roll.



This was amazing!!! the spicy mixed with the jasmine rice and the cooked fish was amazing. I loved the wasabi sauce. I am obsessed with wasabi so I actually wished I had more on this. I am glad I got this.

After my snack Emme played in this like playground area and then we decided we needed to find a spot for Illuminations. It was getting to be not much time so we just grabbed a spot at the rail. It was right in front of France where Belle meets. I just planned on taking hand held shots but then I found this ledge that held the sign for Belle meet and greets. So I set my camera on that to take long exposure shots. It was right under a tree so I don't want to know what kind of bugs fell on me from the tree. Yuck!

This picture was actually right before I put my camera on the ledge.







This was where we were in France, kind of right next to it.





Camera on the ledge! It wasn't the best because of the people in front but it worked.

It was a pain to put my camera on it because I had to reach my arms all the way up. The ledge came to the top of my head. Also was really annoyed because a girl was standing on the rail next to me and was holding onto the sign and kept moving it. I don't know if she didn't understand what i was doing or didn't see my camera but she got down after a bit.







Now time for Illuminations: another first for Patty and Emme. I like Illuminations, but it isn't my favorite. It is a once every two or three trips thing.

You can see the ducks right on that ledge watching the show. How nice it would be to be a disney duck!

















I like this one









It was quite hard to take pictures of this but I am proud of my work. I really like the music in Illuminations but am not a huge fan of the show. I don't really love the globe!

Anyways, one more post for Day 2, the end of our Epcot day!

 

[MeeskaMomma]

I have a lot of catching up to do but I am here! ::

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Ack, I'm falling behind.

I love when the monorail passes overhead like that and I always have to take a photo.

I realized on my trip last month how much I missed the Flower and Garden topiaries (and the flowers in general) when I was there in October. They're just so amazing.

I always wanted to capture the fireworks with the stream like that, but alas I don't think my point and shoot is up to the task. I love your shots.