It's gonna take a lot to take me away from this view! 7/10 - Finished!

[MEK]

A fall trip on the horizon! That's awesome! You already know that an off site trip can be fun. It's just seeing Disney in a new way.

So congrats on your trip! Let the planning begin!

 

[Jackiemarie21]

Just found your TR and I am loving it so far! I also went back and read your PTR I had to sub because I am really going to need all of the photography tips! Those are great. Thank you for taking the time to do all that. I am in for the rest for sure!

 

[teekathepony]

I'm more of a lurker than poster but I've read and enjoyed all your trip reports. Your love of Disney just shines through and your photos are absolutely amazing! I can't wait for the rest of it.

Terri

Well, officially and happy to see you out of lurkdom! And thank you very much!

A fall trip on the horizon! That's awesome! You already know that an off site trip can be fun. It's just seeing Disney in a new way.

So congrats on your trip! Let the planning begin!

It will be a different experience for me and I'm really excited! I can't wait to start really planning!

Just found your TR and I am loving it so far! I also went back and read your PTR I had to sub because I am really going to need all of the photography tips! Those are great. Thank you for taking the time to do all that. I am in for the rest for sure!

aboard! Glad to have you! Sorry to say I haven't been keeping up with the photo tips in this TR, maybe during the next PTR I'll start again though!

 

[teekathepony]

Hi again!

I'd like to start out by saying that if I get through this update it will be a miracle. I just started watching Cirque du Soleil's "Worlds Away" on Netflix and it is absolutely enthralling! I can't take my eyes off it! It's a good thing I know my laptop keyboard pretty well. But I'll apologize in advance for any errors.

One other thing before I get to the report. Have you seen Saving Mr. Banks? Or as I like to call it, How Many Times Can We Make Wendy Cry in the Space of 10 Minutes. I know I was late seeing it, so you all probably have already. If you haven't, omg drop everything and see it. Go now. I'll wait.

Back?

Yeah I know, right?

Okay, back on track.

Tuesday, November 12
"The Pizza Ruiner"

We had just watched the bridge go up and allow the IllumiNations barges through. When the bridge was back down we made our way to our next destination.



We were headed into Italy!



I was excited about this. It was a first time restaurant for us.



We had a few minutes before our ADR time so we tried to capture some details around the pavilion.





Soon it was nearly time for our meal. We decided to try checking in a few minutes early. We were hungry!

If you hadn't guessed, we were going here:



Yep, first time! It was on our list so many times and always got cut for one reason or another so this trip it was ADR priority number one.

We were checked in and seated in no time flat.

I have a thing for light fixtures. I want this one.



Our early meal meant the restaurant wasn't very busy.

I posted this:

[Facebook: Check-In]

Time for some pizza and pasta!  with Johnny at Via Napoli.



Our waiter was very fast and very friendly (and yes, ok, very good looking. Seriously. Italian boys every where and Italian food on the menu. WHY didn't I go here before???)

He had taken our order and brought us our food before you could say Poseidon. He also kept the drink refills coming!

Johnny got the pepperoni pizza.

I got the spinach lasagna.

Our thoughts so far?

Mine was pretty good. I was not enjoying my food much though, despite it being delicious, I couldn't eat even half of it. Looking back now I can see that I was probably starting to get sick. No matter, it didn't affect me too much. Just no appetite!

Johnny's ruined all other pizza for him forever. He still hasn't stopped raving about this pizza. I had some and he's right, it was delicious. SO authentic too! This man is a pizza connoisseur. He eats pizza everywhere and loves it. He could eat pizza every meal of every day. So when he says this is the best pizza he's ever had, it really means something. We heard a waitress explaining the lengths they take to make it authentic, starting with importing all ingredients and even using a treated well with water the same hardness, alkalinity and mineral make up of the water in the town in Italy where they are based from.

So, despite the low appetite, Disney meal plan means dessert. And who am I to say no to Italian desserts??

Johnny had:



Mmmmm zeppoles! They were really delicious, nice and warm and slightly crispy on the outside, soft and creamy insides, and the chocolate dipping sauce and whipped cream were great.

Me?

An old favourite of mine.



Tiramisu!

It was delicious. Again, so authentic! The coffee flavour was very strong and the cream was to die for.

All through our meal our waiter was fantastic. Always coming to check on us but never being pushy or annoying. Drinks were refilled before they quite emptied. Food brought out hot and prompt. He was very friendly. Even the other wait staff were friendly to us. One waitress stopped and chatted about my camera (big lens on, attracted a lot of attention! lol) We were extremely impressed by the entire experience and have been talking about it ever since. We can't wait to go back!

(Continued in next post)

 

[teekathepony]

After our fantastic meal we were feeling full and satisfied. We settled our bill and headed out. I wanted to take some photos around Italy and Johnny wanted to text his (travel agent) mother to tell her to recommend Via Napoli to all her clients.





It was just starting to get dark and the photos were getting interesting in the twilight.





Johnny and his camera joined me.





What a beautiful pavilion.



We started to wander off a little, in no rush and with nothing to do and full of tiramisu. It was heavenly.



We had a little look around Japan.









Then moved on to Morocco.





As always, we were blown away by the beauty and detail in this pavilion.



After Morocco, we decided to skip ahead to our final destination for the night (or so we thought...)

We did get a couple of Photopass pics along the way.





Then we arrived "home" to Canada. We watched the film, it brought a feeling of slight home sickness, but not nearly as strong as it does when we watch the film near the end of our trip like we usually do.



Now a little story. I wear glasses. You'll notice in my PP pics, I'm not wearing them! On sunny days in Orlando, I rather wear my contacts so I can wear my sunglasses. I'm not a fan of transitions lenses or perscription glasses so this is my preferred route. I just get the daily contacts so I can chuck them out at the end of the day.

During the Canada film, I noticed my left eye would not focus. I tried moving the contact around and blinking, thinking there was something under it. It was starting to sting. That's when I realized my contact was falling apart in my eye. Crap!

We left the film and went to the gift shop. I got a kick out of this stand:



Yup. Tim Hortons. That sums us up right there!

Eye driving me crazy, I kept trying to tell myself that I just had to make it until the end of the night. It was 7:00 when I realized I just couldn't do it and would have to make a mad rush back to the hotel to get my glasses. Could I do it?

You'll have to wait to find out!

 

[WDWaddictt]

Great update! Via Napoli has always slipped off my list too, but now I am thinking it will have to be a must do... Looks yummy!

Ouch... Hope you make it!

 

[natebenma]

The Ticker Story

They had just returned from their apparently (accidentally!) yearly Disney trip and were swearing that no Disney trip would happen the next year.

THAT IS AWESOME!!!

I can so relate to the accidental yearly trips.

People have asked me "Do you go to Disney every year?" and I answer

"Well, we don't mean to, but..."

I love your Disney GIFs, but reading your update I was picturing something from The Godfather

"The Family made us an offer we couldn't refuse!"

YAY!!!

 

[natebenma]

As always, we were blown away by the beauty and detail in this pavilion.

Great picture!

Wow, that is quite an impressive endorsement for the pizza. I really must put Via Napoli on my list. For the pizza. (not the hot waiters everyone talks about)

I love the picture of Johnny texting his mom about the meal.

The photopass pictures of the two of you in France are very nice.

Sorry to hear about your contacts. I know from personal experience with Ben how annoying and distracting eye discomfort at Disney can be!

I think you will be able to make it There and Back Again to retrieve your glasses and salvage the evening.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I have not seen Saving Mr. Banks (but I will I swear!!!), but I did finally see Frozen, so that's something... right??!!

Haha, so funny that I always take a picture of that Lion thing. Since a top notch shutterbug like yourself took it, I feel good about my eye for photo ops.

Don't feel bad about this being your first Via Napoli visit. It is still "relatively" new and I've never been there either. But I think I need to try this Pizza.

I did, however, spend some time last trip nearby and the CM's there were wonderful!!! Truly wonderful.

Ahh I love the boats in the "canal".

Hahaha, dueling cameras.

I have to admit, I have never once gotten homesick in Disney. I do, however, get home sick FOR Disney when I'm in Halifax. Like right now.

WHAT??!! I did not know there was Tim Horton's stuff in the store. WOW!!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Love your pictures in and around the Italy Pavilion!

And looking at your pictures from Via Napoli I am getting very excited for our, yes, first visit to the restaurant for our upcoming trip! For some reason every trip I have had an ADR for Via Napoli that's been cancelled at the last minute for various reasons. Here's to hoping it will stick this time!

 

[Valgoof]

We are going to Via Napoli for the first time in Feb. So excited!! I am like Johnny and could eat pizza for every meal.

 

[eeyore04]

Via Napoli was one of our ADR's in 2012 but we cancelled that day for some reason. It's on the short list for John and I.

 

[Disney9.9.10]

Another trip!!! Woohoo!! That is so exciting.

I have done the same thing as you with Via Napoli - it makes my short list every trip, but has so far always ended up getting the axe. I'm glad that you guys enjoyed it so much.

Your pictures from the WS are gorgeous as usual!

 

[eandesmom]

I am here, late late late but here! Now to catch up...

 

[Pixel Dust]

During the Canada film, I noticed my left eye would not focus. I tried moving the contact around and blinking, thinking there was something under it. It was starting to sting. That's when I realized my contact was falling apart in my eye. Crap!

I wore contacts for the first time on our honeymoon trip. Actually, got them for our wedding. But it was always in the back of my mind something like this would happen. Since I was still a newb at wearing contacts, I carried an extra set with me throughout the day, just in case.

Via Napoli would always get bumped for us too. We finally scheduled a beer paring lunch during F&W on our engagement trip. We just love it so much. And have been back every trip since!

 

[jedijill]

Via Napoli is delicious and those waiters are worth it. I'm so glad I had Lasik done so I don't have to worry about the inevitable contact issues. I feel you pain...I've had many a contact tear and it is horrible!

Jill in CO

 

[deedee2177]

I'm sorry to read that you were having issues with your contact, but it totally made me write a note in my Disney Reminder Journal (yes I have to keep a journal to remember things) that DH needs to make sure he either brings his glasses with us each day or a spare pair of contacts just in case he has an issue with the ones he is wearing. If he doesn't have contact lenses or glasses he is blind as a bat, and since we are staying off-site this time might not be so easy to run back to the hotel to get an extra pair!

Enjoying your TR!

 

[B&WMickey]

We got to eat at Via Napoli for the first time ourselves this trip. Loved it. The pizza was awesome. I had always said the one thing WDW really lacked was a good pizza joint. Of course I wouldn't exactly call this Via Napoli a "joint" but at least it beats the generic pizza that is served up around the WDW CS eateries.

 

[MEK]

Oh NO! Your poor eye! That stinks. I suspect that you do rush out and come back, but what a pain.

I love the film in Canada. I always want to plan a trip there the second its over.

I absolutely love all your post dinner pictures - they are awesome.

I love Via. I could seriously eat there every trip. I have not had a bad meal yet and, I agree, the pizza is freaking awesome!!!!!!

Sorry you could not fully enjoy your dinner. I hope you stay well for a little while yet.

 

[eandesmom]

Leg one: Sydney - Halifax -- no issues. Smooth flight.

Leg two: Halifax - Toronto -- very rough, very motion sick. Ick.

Leg three: Toronto - Orlando -- Good flight. Watched "Now You See Me" - good movie!

UGH on 3 legs to get there, that is no fun at all! I always think I am far away but...ugh.

It was roughly 8:00 when we arrived at Jambo House. There was no line to check in at online check in (which of course I had completed) so we went right up. We were going smoothly through the process, the CM was excited to see our red and green Magic Bands! Then she said "So I have two adults in a savannah view room..."

And time stopped.

Johnny looked at me, fit to burst.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" I said to him "Do not jinx it!"

You see, we didn't book a savannah view room. We booked a pool view room. We went along with her. We took our Magic Bands and set off to find our room.



[/COLOR]

Wow, wow and WOW!

Wow! Sorry it's taking me so long to get back for updates. My head is absolutely spinning with how busy I am, especially at work. On top of things picking up because it's Christmas, we also do the Santa photos at the mall which I mentioned, and on top of that we took on a $3,500 video transfer order... one tape is $25 so that should give you some indication of the enormous amount of work involved in this one! I see this guy's family home videos in my sleep!

Yikes, I hope they were interesting videos at least

It felt like we waited a long time. It was probably 20 minutes. We shrugged it off thinking we must have just missed a bus.

After what felt like a very long drive, we were there. We had just missed rope drop by about 2 minutes so we walked right in.

That is the biggest drawback to AKL...it really is far away. So lovely and so much right there that it can be ok but it's not a short trip anywhere. Then again, if you are there on a non park trip, it's pretty perfect!

We spotted a PP Photog and knowing we had already paid for the CD, we wanted to get every photo we could!



I actually really like this one. And that's big, because I never like photos of myself!

I love that SE shot with the fountain, gorgeous. Very cute picture of the 2 of you!!! I really should have "made" Jeff get more couple only pictures, we've a shocking lack of them...as usual.

We had a great ride! I was the engineer (so I put my sunglasses on and pretended to be Geordi Laforge... you know, since we were on a Star Trek kick anyway!)

I'll also admit that I tend to lose interest in photography while on vacation. I just want to enjoy my time there. Who wants to do their job on vacation, right? So maybe I wasn't paying as much attention as I could have. Oh well! I had fun.

For someone who loses interest, you have some amazing shots! I do know what you mean and it's not even my job, or close to it. I brought the good camera and 90% of my photos are...taken from my phone.

I'm with Johnny on Sunshine Seasons though I know I am in the minority. You did so many things in Epcot that we missed entirely! Hoping to rectify some of that in May but I love seeing it all as it gives me things to look forward to.

a Via...yes, yummy on EVERY level.

Wendy's travel agent Mother in law won a free week at a three bedroom condo in Orlando. Of course she tried to get the couple to come with her, but with a trip to Germany (that WAS going to happen next year, no matter what!) and a potential trip across the country to visit friends, a basement reno that had been put off for three years in a row, the couple said no, there just wasn't room for Orlando this year.


A few weeks ago Johnny's young cousin had a birthday party that Johnny and Wendy attended. The Princess was turning 11. The happy couple were surprised to learn that the Princess and her family (King, Queen, and younger Prince, age 5) would be going to Orlando with Mother and Step-Father in law. Mother in law kept begging the couple to come. It would be so fun! A big family fun trip! I'll pay to upgrade to the 4 bedroom condo! It has its own pool!


The couple were intrigued.

A Disney trip with kids? It had never happened before! What would it be like? The couple just love these kids, they're great! The Princess was excited that Wendy and Johnny knew so much about Disney and Universal, and begged them to take her on all the biggest roller coasters. They thought about free accommodations, flights with AirMiles, just a few park tickets, and their carefully constructed walls of "No Disney Trip" started to crumble.

Then one dark and stormy day, while Wendy was at work, Johnny went to visit his mother at her travel agency. She was convincing her son (who is just so agreeable!) to come with her. He never actually said yes, but she called and booked the 4 bedroom condo anyway. September 20th - 27th.

Looks like we're going to Disney!

Off site can be wonderful and that's a great time of year for it. Plus exploring outside of the world is not a bad thing...makes you appreciate it more (if you ask me). The teens might differ a bit on the ride side but...

Now a little story. I wear glasses. You'll notice in my PP pics, I'm not wearing them! On sunny days in Orlando, I rather wear my contacts so I can wear my sunglasses. I'm not a fan of transitions lenses or perscription glasses so this is my preferred route. I just get the daily contacts so I can chuck them out at the end of the day.

During the Canada film, I noticed my left eye would not focus. I tried moving the contact around and blinking, thinking there was something under it. It was starting to sting. That's when I realized my contact was falling apart in my eye. Crap!

Oh that is the WORST feeling! I take it your eyes are too bad to be able to manage with just one? I remember having to do that many times, just toss the ripped one in the trash. While I miss contacts for the pure vanity/aesthetics reasons...I do not miss that aspect of them at all.