Ooh-de-lally! A dining heavy October '13 Trip Report *update 2/23-We're Going Back!*

[DisneyKid4Life]

Ahhhh, But while only having one decent HM picture, the one you have is VERY important as "Umbrella Lady" signifies the location of the secret door. Or said another way, she's where the door opens to get to the ride which is why you will always find me up against that wall.

Ha, Gotta get the Frozen references in there somewhere.

I've heard nothing but great things about this Meet and Greet. Good that it was great for you as well.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Great update!

Why thank you!

Great updates! Tiana & Naveen were also one of our favorites, which we weren't expecting. You are right when you say they play off each other well!

Thank you. I had read a number of meet & greets with Tiana & Naveen that were really positive so I had high hopes but my expectations were definitely exceeded. And I was glad Olivia really enjoyed it as Tiana isn't one of the princesses she was really into - but she loved it!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Ahhhh, But while only having one decent HM picture, the one you have is VERY important as "Umbrella Lady" signifies the location of the secret door. Or said another way, she's where the door opens to get to the ride which is why you will always find me up against that wall.

Ha, Gotta get the Frozen references in there somewhere.

I've heard nothing but great things about this Meet and Greet. Good that it was great for you as well.

I had also tried to get a good pick of the Mr. Toad tomb stone but none came out ... definitely determined to get one of the stretching room though

Well, given that I have been listening to the soundtrack pretty much on loop figured I had to get some references in there somewhere ... not to mention that it is literally freezing right now

Very glad that they kept the Tiana & Naveen meet & Greet as is and didn't shelve Naveen and move Tiana to Fairytale Hall since it seems to be one Disney definitely got right

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Day 6 - Part 7: Magic Kingdom ... Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah‎!​

Before meeting up with us after their return to the magic Kingdom after their break, the McNamees stopped for some more photopass pictures on Main st. and Bridgett got some good ones with Owen:

After we were reunited and had some snacks from Sleepy Hallow it was time to ride some rides! (novel idea, I know)

First up, was another of my favorite attractions - the Jungle Cruise. We had a pretty good skipper who was extremely dry. Unfortunately we seemed to be the only people on the cruise who got the concept of "puns" and playing along with said puns as everyone else was completely silent the whole trip

The kids seemed to enjoy it - though Olivia took a bit too much of it "for real" and got scared at times.

Peter especially had fun with it:

One funny story: During the entire trip Peter seemed to like the characters from a far but got nervous when they got close. He didn't say "hello" to any of them but was more than willing to say/wave "goodbye" to them. All except for one: Sam the Head Salesman who he was super excited to say Hi too. Yup, Mickey Mouse, no way. Cinderella? Hit the road. A Headshrinker in the jungle holding up a bunch of tiny heads? Sure, hey, how's it going?

I think we need to have a talk with Peter about strangers ... as they don't come much stranger than Sam.

One other thing I liked about our trip is that we got a lot of puns from the skipper that I hadn't heard before.

Like, with the explorers on the totem pole with the rhinoceros at the bottom, I used to always get the "he'll get the point in the end" line, instead we got:

"That is the explorer party lead by Dr. Hontas. Looks like we are about to see 'Poke - a - Hontas' "


After our three hour tour we were ready to use our fast passes for Splash Mountain - again another of my favorites. This was the one ride that if Olivia had some reservations about going on I was going to push a little bit since I knew she would love it. She was a little nervous but was fairly willing to go on without too much encouragement.

Early on in the ride, we got one of my absolute favorite photos - I happened to get a picture of Judi and Olivia right as they got splashed as we were on that first ride-around in front of the drop .... couldn't get this shot again if I tried 100 times:

We also got a pretty good photopass shot:

It was a great ride and Olivia liked it ... not sure if she loved it, but she definitely wasn't upset she went on it. Tara absolutely loved it and we had some extra set of fast passes form Judi's parents who didn't want to go on so she got to go again.

While we were riding Judi's parents watched Peter and Owen - they first went to see the Country Bear Jamboree and then they played in the little play area near the exit of Splash Mountain.

After this we saw people were lining up for the Main St. Electrical Parade in Frontierland so we figured it time to get in line .... and we wound up wishing we had done that a bit earlier. But I will cover that next post.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Day 6 - Part 8: Magic Kingdom ... Electrical Parades, Projection Shows, and Wishes ... oh my!​

Ok, so text heavy intro:

So we knew we really wanted to see Celebrate the Magic as we had not seen that before. We hadn't had dinner yet (not sure why, guess just weren't hunger or had snacks or something). So Judi, her mom, and Olivia went to Columbia House Harbor to get an assortment of above average counter service food while Bob and I took Peter to try to find somewhere near/on main street where we would be able to see everything. We were still 45 mins or so away from the Main St. Electrical Parade, but apparently we were way, way late for this as we could not find 2 inches of room anywhere on Main St.

Ultimately we wound up back in the hub area on the side opposite the one that the parade goes around and found some open space. Figured while not the best for the parade, was pretty good for the projection show and fireworks, and, once again, had some open space which we figured would be good for eating. So we waited there and were texting with Judi so she knew where we were. Took her a while to get the food, but eventually we met up in time to eat some before the parade started.

While initially not excited about our spot it worked out really well and was definitely one of those happy accidents.

Peter took over one of his favorite spots - on Granddad's shoulders. We had brought some glow sticks and he and Olivia enjoyed having them (and saved us some money from having to buy them "glow toys")

Forgot to mention that earlier in the day while waiting for the parade Olivia talked me into buying a balloon. You can see the one she selected in the first picture above which is the Tinker Bell balloon, selected not because it had Tinker Bell on it but because it was the most sparkly. I must say that while these balloons are expensive, they retained their loft for a long time and we eventually had to deflate it ourselves to take it home and it now is pinned to the wall in her bedroom.

Now, while I said we didn't have to buy the kids glow toys, that doesn't mean we didn't buy something for ourselves as we got this really cool Mickey-dressed-as-a-ghost light up bucket. Peter enjoyed this as well:

So, while this wasn't the closest spot for seeing the MSEP, it did provide a pretty good vantage point for seeing the floats in front of the castle - good photo op ... if only my camera still had batteries (again, thought we were taking a break during the day and would grab the re-charged 2nd battery). Oh well, a phone will do in a pinch:

After the parade much of the crowd was trying to shift to see Celebrate the Magic and Wishes - but we just tried to hold our ground as we were in a pretty good spot. Did ok, though did get a bit crunched and the crowds were getting to Judi's mom a bit so she found a bench closer to the the center of the hub.

As mentioned this was to be the first time that we viewed Celebrate the Magic. We really loved it and it is a great kinda pre-show for Wishes. As we were there during the Halloween season there were a few additional "villain" scenes which were cool.

One of my favorite scenes:

And now on to the main event - Wishes! For my money, there is just no better feeling than being on Main St., listening to Jiminy Cricket spin a tale of wishes while watching Tinker Bell fly over your head and just an amazing fireworks display go on all around you. And getting to experience it with my kids and seeing them smile and enjoy it just cranks the feelings up to 11.

And with that throngs of people made their way out of the park. But not us. No, despite not taking our planned break we still had rides to ride and the park was open to 1am so let's go for some more adventure!

 

[emmysmommy]

Hi Phil and a belated Happy New Year!

That cupcake at Sleepy Hollow looks awesome. Are those candy corn curls on top? That's so odd that SH stops serving waffle sandwiches after 5pm. (I was curious to see if they say anything about it on the website but it just says waffle sandwiches only from 11am - 5pm. So odd.) But good to know for future trips. I must have ordered mine within that 6 hour time span before. Lucky me!

The look on Naveen's face when he is chatting with Olivia is awesome! Great character meets sure can make a big difference in the overall Disney experience since they many times are the "face" of Disney.

Glad Olivia has no fear of HM and speaking of fear... too funny about Peter and Sam! You really do need to have a talk with him.

Perfect timing with the Splash drenching photo. You were ready for that one.

Ahhh Wishes! The most sentimental 15 minutes of any night at Disney. Main Street is the best for sure.

Wow, you guys are going to have a late night.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Day 6 - Part 9: Magic Kingdom ... more rides - and day recap​

Following wishes we headed back towards Adventureland ... as we figured we deserved a treat

Shockingly this was our first Dole Whips of the trip despite my love of them and Judi's mom continual mention of wanting to make sure she gets one (she never wanted to go out of her way to get one earlier on the trip - just wanted to make sure she got one at some point during the trip).

I got my usual vanilla with pineapple juice while Judi got the Orange with th pineapple juice. I thought what she got was an interesting combination but I definitely preferred mine. Judi's parents and the kids got straight Dole Whip - no juice. Either swirled or just pineapple.

After that we wanted to ride pirates but first Olivia wanted to go on The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. I know people consider this a poor mans Dumbo - and it kind of is - but I do enjoy it and think it is a fun addition to the area.

After this we did in fact ride Pirates though I have no photographic proof apparently. It was a good ride - another classic attraction we have to hit up each trip. Olivia found some of it scary though, but she survived. Only other thing I remember about it was that it was confusing where we had to park the stroller and we had to put it near the shop and then come back to the entrance.


After that we headed up to ride Big Thunder Mountain. After enjoying The Barnstormer earlier in the day Olivia needed little convincing to ride this one ... and she absolutely loved it. This was one of my favorites when I was a kid so I am glad to see that she enjoyed it - fun to share these experiences with my kids now. Also, riding it at night is definitely a fun experience.

The people behind us were kind enough to take a picture of all three of us before we took off:

After this we booked it over to Newish Fantasyland as we wanted to ride Dumbo at night. So glad we did it as the new set up is absolutely beautiful at night with the lights on:

After this ride we made our way down to Tomorrowland hoping to get on the Transit Authority before the park closed (well, the park was actually closed at this point but hoping they would still let us on) but no dice. One disappointment of the trip was not getting on this ... but something for next trip (Olivia rode last trip but Peter had obviously not been on it yet).


So we made our way out of the part at about 1:15 in the morning tired but extremely happy with what we had gotten done, and really, just kinda floating on

At least with arriving so early that morning we were a short ride to the car. We got the kids down as soon as we got back to the resort - I think we all felt similar to Peter at this point:

And to think - we had another pre-park opening ADR the next day - er, well at this point later in the day!

***************

So, some highlights from the day:

• Great start to the day with puffed french toast, oh and Pooh and friends and other stuff too I guess
• Checking off 2 more princesses (Repunzel and Tiana)
• Olivia riding not only The Barnstormer but Splash and Big Thunder Mountains as well!
• Dole Whip!
• Eating lunch at Be Our Guest
• 2 more Jazz Hands ride photos ... well, at least I did Jazz Hands on Splash
• Surviving It's A Small World
• Riding Ariel's Ride again
• Riding new Dumbo twice - in the day and at night
• Seeing Dream Along with Mickey again
• Seeing, and loving, for the first time, the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade
• Seeing Celebrate the Magic for the first time
• Wishes!!! ('nuff said)
• Barbara the dancing CM
• Kids getting soaked at Casey Jr.'s
• Best Meet & Greet ever with Tiana & Naveen

In addition to the previously mentioned TIW savings at Crystal Palace we also saved another $15 on parking by having the AP. This brings the grand total savings so far to $489.14 - so at this point we are just shy of $75 more than the break-even point

Two more princesses down - just one to go ... the next day we were on a mission to meet Jasmine!

I don't think I got any pictures or other major errors wrong in the posts for today - though I know I put some out of order just to flow better and/or for the images to line-up better. Again, I want to be honest about my dishonesty

Next up will be our last full day in Orlando

 

[Leshaface]

I'm very late to the game, but I'm gonna attempt to catch up!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Ugh, I just find it so frustrating when people sit there like lumps on the Jungle Cruise. Enjoy it people... You're in Walt Disney World!!!!

Haha I have heard the Poke... A Hontas joke and yep, I laughed!

I would gladly sacrifice a MSEP vantage point for Celebrate and Wishes... Always.

Aww I got some chills seeing Mickey up there on the castle.

Yeah... Wishes is ok.

YAY for Big Thunder at night!! WAYYYYYY Better.

I love those late nights at MK. Magical up the wazoo.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Hi Phil and a belated Happy New Year!

Hi Brenda, you snuck in there in between my posts

Happy New Year to you too!

That cupcake at Sleepy Hollow looks awesome. Are those candy corn curls on top? That's so odd that SH stops serving waffle sandwiches after 5pm. (I was curious to see if they say anything about it on the website but it just says waffle sandwiches only from 11am - 5pm. So odd.) But good to know for future trips. I must have ordered mine within that 6 hour time span before. Lucky me!

The curls were just chocolate curls that were kinda candy corn colored - didn't taste like candy corn or at least not enough that I noticed. I thought it was odd too. Would have been one thing to just have them over lunch time or something, but to go all the way to 5 - basically the start of dinner - and then stop, seemed weird.

The look on Naveen's face when he is chatting with Olivia is awesome! Great character meets sure can make a big difference in the overall Disney experience since they many times are the "face" of Disney.

Yeah, definitely one of my favorite pics of the trip and one I didn't see until checking out the photo pass pics on line, so was a nice surprise. Interactions like that definitely help make the trip - and make it more than just a trip to an amusement parkl

Glad Olivia has no fear of HM and speaking of fear... too funny about Peter and Sam! You really do need to have a talk with him.

Well, not sure about "no fear" she went but wasn't super happy about it. I talked to her today and she does remember the hitchhiking ghost at the end using her head as a bongo drum.

Perfect timing with the Splash drenching photo. You were ready for that one.

Wasn't really a matter of being ready - more dumb luck ... wasn't trying for the shot - but I'll take it

Ahhh Wishes! The most sentimental 15 minutes of any night at Disney. Main Street is the best for sure.

Wow, you guys are going to have a late night.

In the past we have often caught Wishes from behind the castle as it is cool that some fireworks go off in front of you and some behind - so you really feel link being "in" the show. But as we hadn't seen Celebrate the Magic and knew we wanted to, we really wanted to get a spot out front on/near Main St. Twas crazy, but it worked out.

yeah, definitely turned into a long night - but with really only 4 park days we figured they would be a bit long . What kind of a parent would I be if I wasn't willing to destroy my child's schedule and make them have fun?!?!?!?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I'm very late to the game, but I'm gonna attempt to catch up!!

Hi Alicia! Welcome and thanks for joining! Been loving your trip reports - great job again with your son's birthday party

Ugh, I just find it so frustrating when people sit there like lumps on the Jungle Cruise. Enjoy it people... You're in Walt Disney World!!!!

Haha I have heard the Poke... A Hontas joke and yep, I laughed!

yeah, other than the crowd it was a great trip ... maybe it was their first cruise and they didn't know what they were getting themselves in for?

Maybe the jokes we heard weren't really new or that uncommon, just recall a number that I hadn't heard/seen before so I thought it was cool.

I would gladly sacrifice a MSEP vantage point for Celebrate and Wishes... Always.

Aww I got some chills seeing Mickey up there on the castle.

Yeah... Wishes is ok.

Yeah, it helped that no one was dying to really see MSEP. I love it but have seen it before and was satisfied with the view - we got to see it pretty good, just not super up close. Agree that the trade off vs. our view of Celebrate and Wishes was totally worth it!

Since, as you say, Wishes is 'ok' and all

YAY for Big Thunder at night!! WAYYYYYY Better.

I love those late nights at MK. Magical up the wazoo.

We had a blast at night. It helped me feel better about the day too since were weren't super productive in getting stuff done during the morning especially - but we killed it in the evening and got so much done after Wishes! Never really get to everything - especially with only really having 1 day for MK - but we wound up getting to most things we wanted to.

 

[IheartDDuck]

The Jungle Cruise is just strange when you get a boat full of poops. Really people, live a little and laugh!

Great splash pics! Gotta love it when you get great timing on a picture.

We bring glow sticks too and glow bracelets. So much better than having to purchase super expensive glowy things. Although Joaquin did have a little bit of a conniption when I passed glow bracelets out on the bus to little kids who were looking at them longingly. Needless to say, we had to have a serious conversation about "sharing and we have more than enough!"

Excellent treat selection!

Love that picture of Peter sleeping! I've felt like that often after a busy Disney day.

 

[missangelalexis]

Great updates and lots of nice pics!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

The Jungle Cruise is just strange when you get a boat full of poops. Really people, live a little and laugh!

Great splash pics! Gotta love it when you get great timing on a picture.

It was a little annoying - I guess if that just isn't you think or you didn't know what to expect you might not really react ... but made us feel like we were the strange ones when we would groan or answer the questions or just interact in an over-the-top manner. And of course we were in the back of the boat so we probably seemed like the trouble makers at the back of the bus

We bring glow sticks too and glow bracelets. So much better than having to purchase super expensive glowy things. Although Joaquin did have a little bit of a conniption when I passed glow bracelets out on the bus to little kids who were looking at them longingly. Needless to say, we had to have a serious conversation about "sharing and we have more than enough!"

I know some people are really good about stocking up at the $ store for cheaper Disney stuff like that - but we did make a point to get some glow sticks at least . Definitely fun to have. We used them the next night and handed a bunch out which was fun ... but that is a tale for another update (oooh, the intrigue )

Excellent treat selection!

Love that picture of Peter sleeping! I've felt like that often after a busy Disney day.

One regret of the trip is only getting Dole Whip once, but it definitely hit the spot.

Great updates and lots of nice pics!

Thank you! Glad to get a few good shots to remember the trip by at least ... especially since most were just with my phone or Judi's phone

 

[Tasmen]

Just starting to read this trip report and got to the post with the t-shirts. I absolutely LOVE the princess lightsaber one. Not sure if someone else asked in this thread or not yet, but is there anyway to get that image to put on a shirt for my DD? We are heading to WDW for Star Wars weekend and I would love to have that shirt for her.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Day 7 - Part 1: Animal Kingdom ... Safari Breakfast as far as the eye can see​

Well we were up and out early again for another pre-park opening breakfast. Today would be just us as the McNamees had altered their schedule and now did not have a park day today.

Today we were off to Animal Kingdom for a Safari Breakfast with Donald - our first time eating at Tusker House.

First, on the way walking in I had to snap a picture of the benches - I love any reference to Beastly Kingdom - a.k.a. "the Mythical Creatures Land that never was"

We, of course, had to get our Photopass Picture in front of the Tree of Life ... unfortunately the kids were not in a great picture taking mood as this was the best one that came out:

yeah, not so great. Oh well, nothing a little cropping and/or photo editing can't fix:

After that fun we were off to Tusker House. We checked in no problem and walked around back to wait our turn for our photo with Donald. It was a nice, if short, interaction with the big duck, and we got a fairly decent family picture with him:

We were then brought led into the restaurant and the buffet area was explained to us .... Holy Options Batman - was a bit overwhelming but smelled good so we were excited!

We were led to our table which was down the hall and the last table before you were in the back room. It was a good location as right outside the window was where they did the photos with Donald and during downtime Donald would peak in the window and play with the kids.

First a view from our table and you can see the server brining the yummy jungle juice:

and now a close up of said juice. This was soooo good - I am not a huge juice person but I had like 5 glasses of this. For those of you that haven't had it, it is a blend of Orange, Passion, and Guava juice.

We were told that we had some time before the characters would get to our table so we went up for some food. Not even going to try and remember everything, but first up is Judi's and Peter's plates:

Judi had gotten some sweet potatoes and bread pudding and other good things. Peter mostly stuck with eggs and donuts.

Then Olivia's plate - where she hit up the staples of Krispy Kreme Donuts and Mickey Waffles ... and some fruit to keep it healthy:

Lastly, my plate - I tried to include a number of the more traditional African options including the Bobtie Quiche ... and the less African Krispy Kreme Donut:

Everything was really good (though the sauce that came with the ham was way spicier than I was expecting) and a ton of variety. From a purely food standpoint this was our favorite breakfast and we are totally glad we ate here.


Now for some characters - first the Big Cheese himself, Mickey:

then Daisy:

and finally Goofy:

All of the characters were pretty good and patiently waited for a few different shots (hard to get Peter as he still wasn't warm and fuzzy with the characters).

Our server was pretty good - had a fairly dry sense of humor and always kept our juice glasses free. Also brought a signed birthday card to Bob along with a cupcake ... since after having Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast you need a cupcake for dessert.

Overall we really liked this breakfast and would definitely do it again. Not sure if it is a must do every trip, but fun to see the characters in different outfits and I really appreciated the different options for food.

With TIW we saved another $26.19. This, along with the $15 we saved on parking brought our final tally for savings to $530.33 - a full $116.06 more than the breakeven point

Up next - rides and water ... sometimes together!

 

[annie170]

Hi Phil! Tardy to the party, but finally all caught up and joining in.

Tusker House is my absolute favorite character meal. Next time, try booking a late breakfast for around 10:30-10:45. You'll get the tail end of the breakfast food and lunch is brought out around 11:00ish. The lunch foods are delicious with quite a variety. Animal Kingdom is my least favorite park, but Tusker House and Expedition Everest are good reasons to visit everytime we go.

I'm shocked your adorable kids were up for a breakfast adr after the late night. They're real troopers. Love your photoshop skills, too!

 

[michly]

and now a close up of said juice. This was soooo good - I am not a huge juice person but I had like 5 glasses of this. For those of you that haven't had it, it is a blend of Orange, Passion, and Guava juice.

That juice is amazing! I had it for the first time on Christmas after accidentally discovering you can ask super nicely for a giant glass of it (They call it Moonshine and it's available on the buffet in half-filled half-pint glasses) at Trail's End. Good thing I ate there twice for breakfast and twice at Kona!

 

[Leshaface]

I'm up through Day 2 and will be back later to read more...


The fakeorail! First time i've heard this name before. Brilliant

Spicy hot fudge!? Very bizarre but something i would definitely try.

Wonderful food photos! Thank you for being so detailed in your descriptions. Makes my mouth water!

I like the idea of not visiting a park on the first day. You kind of ease your way into park mode.

LOL I died when I saw the GIF of Stanley!

Glad the princess breakfast was a success!

I think you look absolutely lovely holding a purse and sparkly autograph book

A horchata margarita!? Holy calrissian that sounds amazing!

Thanks Judi for your report on the Grand Marnier tasting!

Seeing earth on SE is my favorite scene too.

Okay what is this 'blue crab' game in the queue of the Ariel ride?! We have never had to stand in line before so not sure what this is.

HAHA at the lights fixture!

Ugh. I just don't understand how one can allow their children to run around like that disturbing others. Glad you spoke up, even if the parents didn't care. Special snowflakes indeed.

Off to make dinner. Ya know, womanly duties.

 

[missangelalexis]

Haha love your edited photo

That juice sounds so yummy!

Great character pics, so cute!