Our Disney Trip to Sara-topia! Sept/Oct MNSSHP & F&W trip(link to dining review 11/1)

[Poolrat]

Originally Posted by jecskc

Day 7 – Part Ten

At this point, we were exhausted and headed towards the front of the park. Since DD was in shopping mode this trip, we HAD to stop by Mouse Gear. So we entered the store on the side entrance. And I have seen a thread one the Dis that talks about how it smells in there and I never really noticed it…. until now. And they are so right !! It smells like … well …. Poo, poo in there. You don’t notice it near the middle of the store or near the main entrance in the corridor on the way to the Land. But if you go through that side entrance ?? You can really smell it. Ew.

I noticed it too.

[jecskc]

Originally Posted by Poolrat

I noticed it too.

It really smells bad. I wonder what it is and why they haven't done anything about it. It is very noticable.

Love the smilies

[Pixie Princess]

I'm super behind! What a bummer about your Kona experience. I've wanted to try there, but I know it would be a breakfast thing, and there is only so many b'fast meals I can justify in one trip! I mean honestly. DD was begging on the last trip to go to Boma and back to WCC for b'fast. Sheesh! I told her we'd try walk up (I almost wrote stand by LOL!) for WCC for dinner. We needed to try something different if we went there. Speaking of WCC, how cute is that horse parade thingy? DD and her friend did it when we went back in May, and she was mortified. She was thankful so few people were in the restaurant. She's a trip! She'll get up in front of all kinds of people and get in a math contest with a bird at FOW, but is embarrassed at the though of riding a wooden horse around a restaurant.

DD loves the China pavilion...or should I say she loves the gift kiosk outside the pavilion. Somehow we've managed to dodge the gift shop inside the pavilion. We have yet to see the movie over there, and something tells me when we do, that we'll discover the gift shop as well. *sigh* I have seen the terracotta warriors though. Pretty cool!

Okay..in November, you must, must, must see the American Adventure. It is a wonderful show! Don't make me come down there and drag you to it! Oh wait, on second thought....

As an FYI, I would avoid the outdoor pizza window in Italy. I know you have a ressie for Via Napoli, and that pizza is completely different than the pizza at the outside window. That stuff is just blech. DD LOVES pizza and even she didn't care for it. Too much crust (words I never thought I'd say) and cheese.

I'm so jealous you got to see Vern Yip. I love him. I completely forgot about him being there that first weekend!

I'm only part way through Epcot day, so back to reading. More random thoughts later.

[Pixie Princess]

DD is all about that slushie stand between Morroco and Japan. She mentioned it on this last trip, but not until we were around Norway. Umm, no we are not schlepping back over there for a slushie. Her fave is red, and I usually take a picture of her ruby red tounge and lips.

She also loves the Mitsokushi store. She is all about anything Japanese. We've decided that she needs to look in to whether there is a College Program at Tokyo Disneyland like there is here in the US. Surely there is right?

I agree they should sell the pretzle bread with that cheese soup. Of course I wouldn't eat the soup, but I'd buy it anyway just to get the pretzel bread. Dang that stuff is the bomb!

Jumping back to France, I tried the Cosmo Slushie. It was good, but has nothing on the Grand Marnier slushie. If you haven't tried it, give it a whirl. I can't imagine you'd be disappointed even if you didn't like it as much as the Cosmo.

What luck that you ran into line free characters! On 10/1 we ran into Stitch just hanging out in Tomorrowland with no line to speak of. He wasn't in his normal meet and greet spot, just walking around. It was pretty cool. Hardly anyone was there b/c folks were securing spots for the 10:00 presentation. When we first got back there, Chip and Dale were over at Club 626 dancing away with one child and her parents. No one else was around to join in, and I'm sure that little girl was having the time of her life having the characters to herself.

It is always so hard to leave yourself enough "room" to truly enjoy the F&W. I had to pass up a couple of dishes I really wanted in order to not leave the place miserably full. Usually we'll hit a couple of booths on our Future World day, but this go around the schedule didn't work out that way.

[jecskc]

Originally Posted by Pixie Princess

I'm super behind! What a bummer about your Kona experience. I've wanted to try there, but I know it would be a breakfast thing, and there is only so many b'fast meals I can justify in one trip! I mean honestly. DD was begging on the last trip to go to Boma and back to WCC for b'fast. Sheesh! I told her we'd try walk up (I almost wrote stand by LOL!) for WCC for dinner. We needed to try something different if we went there. Speaking of WCC, how cute is that horse parade thingy? DD and her friend did it when we went back in May, and she was mortified. She was thankful so few people were in the restaurant. She's a trip! She'll get up in front of all kinds of people and get in a math contest with a bird at FOW, but is embarrassed at the though of riding a wooden horse around a restaurant.


Just for the record I really liked my pancakes at Kona, it was just DH's eggs that were icky. And DH wasn't feeling the servers there. Said they weren't cheerful at the hostess stand.

Hahahha on "standby" at WCC. My DD was into the horse race. She was cute.



DD loves the China pavilion...or should I say she loves the gift kiosk outside the pavilion. Somehow we've managed to dodge the gift shop inside the pavilion. We have yet to see the movie over there, and something tells me when we do, that we'll discover the gift shop as well. *sigh* I have seen the terracotta warriors though. Pretty cool!

Okay..in November, you must, must, must see the American Adventure. It is a wonderful show! Don't make me come down there and drag you to it! Oh wait, on second thought....


For realz !! Please DO come down and drag me to it !!

As an FYI, I would avoid the outdoor pizza window in Italy. I know you have a ressie for Via Napoli, and that pizza is completely different than the pizza at the outside window. That stuff is just blech. DD LOVES pizza and even she didn't care for it. Too much crust (words I never thought I'd say) and cheese.

You have told me that. There are mixed reviews about Via Napoli on here for sure. But we will wait and see for ourselves. We have found that we like most places. Even those that get bad reviews sometimes.

I'm so jealous you got to see Vern Yip. I love him. I completely forgot about him being there that first weekend!

It was cool to see him. I was tempted to get in line, but it was REALLY long.

I'm only part way through Epcot day, so back to reading. More random thoughts later.

Originally Posted by Pixie Princess

DD is all about that slushie stand between Morroco and Japan. She mentioned it on this last trip, but not until we were around Norway. Umm, no we are not schlepping back over there for a slushie. Her fave is red, and I usually take a picture of her ruby red tounge and lips.

She also loves the Mitsokushi store. She is all about anything Japanese. We've decided that she needs to look in to whether there is a College Program at Tokyo Disneyland like there is here in the US. Surely there is right?

You would think. Something for her to check into. Myt kids love that store, too.

I agree they should sell the pretzle bread with that cheese soup. Of course I wouldn't eat the soup, but I'd buy it anyway just to get the pretzel bread. Dang that stuff is the bomb!

I can't believe you don't like that soup. Girl ...

Jumping back to France, I tried the Cosmo Slushie. It was good, but has nothing on the Grand Marnier slushie. If you haven't tried it, give it a whirl. I can't imagine you'd be disappointed even if you didn't like it as much as the Cosmo.

I do sometimes contemplate the orange one. But I find that I always gravitate back to my beloved lemon one.

What luck that you ran into line free characters! On 10/1 we ran into Stitch just hanging out in Tomorrowland with no line to speak of. He wasn't in his normal meet and greet spot, just walking around. It was pretty cool. Hardly anyone was there b/c folks were securing spots for the 10:00 presentation. When we first got back there, Chip and Dale were over at Club 626 dancing away with one child and her parents. No one else was around to join in, and I'm sure that little girl was having the time of her life having the characters to herself.

It is always so hard to leave yourself enough "room" to truly enjoy the F&W. I had to pass up a couple of dishes I really wanted in order to not leave the place miserably full. Usually we'll hit a couple of booths on our Future World day, but this go around the schedule didn't work out that way.

Yes, we didn't eat as much as I thought we would. It turned out to be a good thing, though since we ended up having to pay OOP for most everything.

[jecskc]

So I have been out of town for the last several days. My tennis team made it to the State Championships which is in Charleston. We had a complete blast and made it all the way to the semi-finals where we lost in a tiebreaker. I really needed some time away with just the girls and the weather was absolutely beautiful !!



Day Seven – Part Eleven (wow – this is a really long day)

OK. So we left off with us enjoying the High Rock Springs Pool at Saratopia. Here are some more photos.

The water was really refreshing and the kids loved the slide.








.


Taking photos was making me thirsty so DH went and got us a Mojito



DH rode the slide with the kids while I chilled on a lounger. I really like this place. Definitely coming back here. I got a Planter’s punch and drank that. We hung out for about an hour and a half and then headed back for a shower and to get ready for dinner.

The plan was to eat at the Artist’s Palette for dinner. So we headed over there.











My DH is epitome of the Southern Gentleman. He ALWAYS holds the door for me.





DH and the kids got a table while I ordered. They had these little easels set up around so the kids could draw.



I thought that was nice touch.

The lights on the ceiling.





For dinner, DH and I shared the chicken toga wrap.



It was really good. The kids were disappointed that our meals didn’t come with French fries. But I really loved the chips. They were yummy and crunchy and salty. What's not to like ??

The kids each got chicken nuggets


They really liked the chicken. For dessert DH and I shared the carrot cake



DS got chocolate cake



And DD got worms in dirt.



All good. No complaints.

We cruised the gift shop. I wanted to get a journal I was looking at when we were at Wilderness Lodge. But, you guessed it, they didn’t have it. So we got some pins.

[jecskc]

Day 7 – Part Twelve

Some more photos after.





We went back to the room to rest. DS worked on his Lego set while DH, DD and I went down to walk along the water. There were some rockers there that you could sit in and enjoy the evening. This was a lovely evening. The humidity was gone and the temps were in the low 70’s. Perfect.

This where I again prove that I take lousy night photos.









We headed back to settle in for the night and apparently DS got a hold of the camera again. And he took photos of his Lego set.























We poured a glass of wine and headed out to the balcony where we were able to catch Illuminations AND Hallowishes !!! I seriously loved our room location !! And so this ends our super long day 7. Up Next – Magic Kingdom 40th Anniversary !!

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Very nice Lego interlude! Those sets have gotten a lot more detailed since the big red bucket of Lego's I had!

That does sound like you guys had a great room location, how cool to be able to watch the fireworks from there!

[jecskc]

Originally Posted by Stringbean&Wingnut

Very nice Lego interlude! Those sets have gotten a lot more detailed since the big red bucket of Lego's I had!

That does sound like you guys had a great room location, how cool to be able to watch the fireworks from there!

Legos really have gotten so cool. We still have the big bucket, but DS loves the sets. And so do I. But when he doesn't clean them up or the dog gets a hold of them, I don't love them so much. I have vacuumed up my fair share and they hurt like the dickens when you step on them. I would swear that he places them strategically around the house so I can step on them unsuspectedly.

Yes, if you ever stay there, ask for a room to the right side of Congress Park. Amazing fireworks view. DH remarked that our view of Hallowishes was better than the one we had at MK with the tree in the way.

[Poolrat]

A lovely evening indeed.

Artist's Palette - no fries -just chips - made a note, DS will notice that for sure.

Can't wait to hear your take on the 40th.

[jecskc]

Originally Posted by Poolrat

A lovely evening indeed.

Artist's Palette - no fries -just chips - made a note, DS will notice that for sure.

Can't wait to hear your take on the 40th.

Or see if you are in any of my photos .... you know you will be looking. I'll post that later today.

[jecskc]

Day 8 – Part One – Saturday, October 1, 2011
Magic Kingdom’s 40th Anniversary !!

We had a little trouble getting going that morning and didn’t leave as early as I had wanted. We were supposed to meet one of my best friends (Pixie Princess here on the DIS) at Rope Drop, but we were running a little late and got stuck in the MOB at the front of the park. I took us about 20 minutes just to get in the parking lot. We didn’t enter the park until about 9:30 AM





We waited for DH to get through bag check



And we entered the park which seemed crazy busy. They were giving out pins at the entrance.



I texted BFF and she said they were in the hub, so we went to find her.



When we found her, we were really glad to see her and the kids were excited to see her DD. She said that there was supposed to be a parade and a special presentation, so I decided to wait with her. She had a big stash of pins and she let the kids pick one out that they could have.



The kids weren’t interested in the presentation, so DH took them all over to Tomorrowland while my BFF and I waited to see what would happen. It was nice to catch up with her for a little while without the kids interrupting. The weather this morning was amazing. High 60’s and NO humidity. Very enjoyable. You can see here how crowded the hub was.





There was character parade, but I’m short and there were people in front of us, so I didn’t get very good photos.







And the characters were always looking the other way.















After the parade, there was a presentation which I thought was kind of boring. But I stuck it out for a while thinking my BFF was finding it interesting.







There was a marching band that came out and played a couple of songs. There was some Disney execs introducing each other and talking, talking, talking. And I couldn’t really hear them. BFF turned to me and said she was kinda underwhelmed and we decided to meet DH and the kids.

[Poolrat]

I was probably about 1000 people or 20 feet to your right.

If you saw the little girl in the street with I guess her Dad and the PP, she was pretty much right in front of me.

[jecskc]

Originally Posted by Poolrat

I was probably about 1000 people or 20 feet to your right.

If you saw the little girl in the street with I guess her Dad and the PP, she was pretty much right in front of me.

I couldn't see much of anything, really. It was just so crowded. Most of the photos I got were me holding my camera up and randomly clicking. It sucks to be short sometimes .....

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

WOW that is a ton of people there!!! What a cool experience to be there, but I would have been so stressed about all the people!