A Celebration Trip Full of Surprises - May 2015 PTR (New 9/15 - New TR Link!)

YUM!!! Though I just ate dinner you have me ready for LOTS of desserts now! :rotfl:

I haven't tried the carrot cake cookie yet but it's absolutely on my list for next month! ::yes:: As is the cream cheese pretzel from Lunching Pad - I had my first on my last trip and OMG! Yum!

The Cauldron Cake also looks fabulous! :thumbsup2
 
That is one yummy group of snacks. But even more importantly - adult beverages. :drinking1 I really liked the avocado rita, but a warning - don't drink it right before dinner because it will really fill you up.

That donut /sundae thing from Universal looks amazing. ::yes::

I'm VERY excited about the adult beverages! :hyper: I tried to get the avocado margarita with dinner last time, but La Hacienda said they no longer served it?! I've seen it there on more recent trip reports so enough people must have complained. :rotfl: Thanks for the heads up - I'll just have to make it an afternoon snack!

It looks like a sugar explosion! :laughing: I'm not sure that it will be my favorite snack as I'm not a major donut fan, but I think Anika will love it. She loves donuts AND ice cream!

Oh... I should have skipped this update. I'm sitting at work hungry. And now I'm hungrier.

I'm sorry! I knew the "all food" post would make a few folks hungry! :P

That looks awesome. I've never heard of that one. I think that would be a must do for me!

Anika doesn't even know about this one as she doesn't know about Universal - I think her eyes may pop out of her head! :eek:

Ice cream. A bucket. A shovel. How appropriate. :rotfl2::rotfl:

I know, right?!

Well, have 2 then! Well, have one of the Grey Goose Slushes and then try one of the orange ones too! They're really good!

Believe me, I may just do that! :goodvibes

Can't go wrong with any of the cupcakes there. I've tasted one of those before and it was good. It still can't compete with my love of the chocolate peanut butter cupcake, but it is definitely not a bad choice!

The chocolate peanut butter cupcake is another great option... I need to see if I can convince Anika to get that one so I can try both! :thumbsup2

I thought that was how it was supposed to be? :confused3 :rotfl:

It is in our world! :woohoo:All sugar, all the time! :lmao:

Not one of your snacks, but your rundown reminded me -- my wife saw a 2-second clip of a "kitchen sink" in one of those Behind The Scenes tv shows (infomercial?) and said, "what was that?!" So then I had to go and try to get a Beaches and Cream adr. :faint:

I always get ideas when watching those Disney park shows/commercials, too!

I think a Beaches and Cream ADR sounds great - I'm really looking forward to ours! I would LOVE to try a Kitchen Sink but I think I'd need to travel with a lot more people. I think your family of five would be perfect for it! :thumbsup2

I'm sure it's happened, but then I don't tend to read a lot of PTR's, but I have never seen a post dedicated solely to snacks. And I'm very embarrassed to say I that there are so many that have escaped me. Oh so many!!

Sunshine Seasons Strawberry Shortcake!!!!!! That is not one of them. :)

On a related note, I do highly recommend the Strawberry cupcake at the Boardwalk Bakery if you can fit it in among all this other stuff. Seriously, it may even be worth substituting the Red Velvet. It is THAT GOOD.

Can you tell that food is a major part of my Disney planning? :rotfl2:

I'm very excited about finally trying that shortcake. :goodvibes

I remember that Strawberry Cupcake from your trip report! If I can swing a trip to the Boardwalk Bakery, I'll definitely be getting one of those cupcakes!

YUM!!! Though I just ate dinner you have me ready for LOTS of desserts now! :rotfl:

I haven't tried the carrot cake cookie yet but it's absolutely on my list for next month! ::yes:: As is the cream cheese pretzel from Lunching Pad - I had my first on my last trip and OMG! Yum!

The Cauldron Cake also looks fabulous! :thumbsup2

I do love my dessert! :D

The Carrot Cake Cookie is AWESOME! I hope you love it! (A warning - it is super sweet so it's tough for even me to eat the whole thing at once. I've packed up the remainder and carried it along and it's just as great the next day!)

That cream cheese pretzel was FAR better than I was expecting (and I was expecting it to be pretty good!).

The Cauldron Cake was PHENOMENAL! :worship: I bought it three years ago as it looked interesting - I had no idea how good it would be! I can't wait to have another one!
 
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The Day with Four ADRs
2013 Trip Report – Part IV

Our first full Disney day had a lot of plans – we were going to visit two parks and I’d booked four ADRs. Did we lose our minds that day with all those plans and all those meals? You’ll see…

ADR #1

Our first ADR of the day was our very first breakfast at Kona Café. I’d heard nothing but rave reviews for this place and we were both excited to try it out!

Our reservation was for 7:30 in the morning, so it was pretty quiet when we checked in.

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We started with a pressed pot of Kona coffee:

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This was DELICIOUS! Highly recommended if you’re a coffee person! I also got a glass of Lilikoi juice (which is also delicious!).

Anika didn’t hesitate for a second about her order – I told her about the Tonga Toast and she found the winner! For the few of you that don’t know about Tonga Toast, it is a banana stuffed French toast that’s rolled in cinnamon sugar:

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They also deliver the butter, syrup, and strawberry sauce (already poured onto her Tonga Toast so you could see the inside).

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Anika LOVED her meal, although she wasn’t able to finish all of it. That Tonga Toast is big!

I ordered the Macadamia Pineapple Pancakes, which come with macadamia nut butter and pineapple garnish:

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Although the menu states these come with ham, sausage, or bacon (Anika chose bacon), you can get a side of eggs instead.

My meal was also delicious and I wasn’t able to finish mine, either! The pancakes are excellent, but man alive, they are filling! (The pancakes themselves are light and fluffy, but they’re stuffed full of macadamia nuts so they really pack a punch!)

Not surprisingly, we loved Kona and can’t wait for our next breakfast here!

We finished our breakfast and took the nifty walking path from the Polynesian to the TTC:

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It was a beautiful and very short walk. We passed a HUGE group of people waiting for the express monorail to open for Magic Kingdom, and ran up the ramp just in time to grab the monorail to Epcot.

Our timing was perfect, as we were in this very short line just fifteen minutes later:

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Believe it or not, this was the line at 8:40 on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend! What amazing luck! (Truth be told, there were CRAZY lines closer to the left side of the entrance – I think people see a line and jump into it rather than take note that there are MANY MORE LINES available on another side. That’s okay – win for us!)

The CMs started letting people into the park about ten minutes before opening, so we made it here before 9:00:

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The REGULAR LINE of Soarin’! :yay: I don’t think we’d ever been in the regular line before! We even made it on the first soar of the day!

Next, we booked it over to the new (and supposedly improved?) Test Track:


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I did laugh when the CMs thanked us for choosing them as our first ride of the day. :rotfl2:

Test Track was one of our favorite Disney attractions before the refurb, but now this attraction is rather “meh” for us. We still like the attraction and still love zooming around the track outside, but we agree that we liked the original version better. Believe it or not, this was the only time we rode this during this vacation.

Next was a mission to Mars:

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Every time I see the instructions from Gary Sinise I always want to watch Apollo 13. :laughing:

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Just an hour after we entered the park, we headed back across to the Land for our second soar of the day. After my attempt at a selfie, a very nice CM offered to take our picture:

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I also broke the rules a bit and took a few pictures on the ride itself:

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I think the pictures are even better with the feet in them! That always seems to be my view on Soarin’! :rotfl:

I’d love to see a new movie (although I also like the current one), but I really hope they don’t change the soundtrack. I LOVE the Soarin’ soundtrack! :lovestruc

After soar #2 we went on a journey with a few fish and visited the tanks in the Seas:

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I always love standing next to the clownfish tanks and hear all the small kids’ shrieks about “Nemo!”

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We’d grabbed a few old Fastpasses for Living with the Land before our second soar, so we went back to the Land to use them:

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I think Living with the Land is rather underappreciated – I think it’s such an interesting attraction and I love looking at all the plants and animals while on the leasurely boat ride.

Our final Future World attraction of the day was this relic:

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I’m glad we watched Captain EO before it left Epcot. I’d seen it in its original glory back in the 80’s, but I wanted to give Anika a chance to see it. I’m not sure whether she was appreciative. :scared:

We were super successful in Epcot that morning! In just three hours we rode five attractions (including three headliners and one of those headliners twice!), as well as looked through the seas and watched a movie.

It was time for our next ADR!

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(continued from previous post)

ADR #2

Lunch that day was at one of Anika’s favorites – the Rose and Crown. Since we enjoyed our experience so much in 2012, we requested an outdoor table:

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Perhaps we should have requested an indoor table as I was not yet used to touring Disney World in the summer heat. All of our previous trips were in January or February - those are quite different than May! :crazy2:

Due to how overheated I felt, a hot lunch wasn’t in the cards for me. I ordered some sort of apple salad:

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It was light and tasty – perfect for the summer heat!

Anika ordered the Fish and Chips:

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Of course, we also ordered dessert!

I just had to get the same dessert as I’d ordered last time even though it’s a warm dessert. I ordered the Sticky Toffee Pudding:

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Anika (no shock here!) ordered the cheesecake, which was featured with peaches and pecans:

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I didn’t love our meal here quite as much as our experience in 2012 – sitting in the heat probably didn’t help, and we didn’t have nearly as delightful of a server as we had last time. I would make another reservation at the Rose and Crown, but I think we may try other places first.

Two ADRs down, two to go!

As ADR #3 was also in Epcot, we had a few hours to kill in the World Showcase. As we were both pretty warm, we decided a nice air-conditioned attraction was the way to go:

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Our timing continued to be good that afternoon as we made it in time to see this:

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The Voices of Liberty! They really are wonderful to listen to – I’d highly, highly recommend catching them before or after seeing the American Adventure! Or perhaps just because!

After our journey through the history of America, we stopped for a Photopass picture:

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Next we ventured to Germany to look at the miniature train and search through the shops. I LOVE the shops in Germany, particularly the Christmas shop:

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This year I’m going to buy one of those darn pickle ornaments they have available here!

We continued on to China:

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We explored the shop in China as well as the rest of the China pavilion. We also watched the movie in order to stay in the air conditioning. The movie was nicely done but Canada’s movie was still our favorite.

We did a bit more wandering and then ventured back around for our next reservation.

ADR #3

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I was SO EXCITED to grab this ADR even though we booked after 180 days! I’m sure that the restaurant turning into a two credit restaurant may have influenced that extra availability, but we were happy to take advantage. :-)

This restaurant had the longest wait, but we didn’t mind one bit as the restaurant was nice and cool. It was actually pretty amusing to watch people attempt to get a walk up dining spot. My favorite was a 20-ish year old guy that was arguing with the hostess that his mother had called for a reservation the night before. He was convinced they made a reservation (for 10 people!) even though he didn’t have any confirmation information and looked totally perplexed when they asked for a confirmation number. Hey, it was an entertaining way to pass the time! :laughing:

Once we were called in we received our nifty light-up menus:

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These were awesome! Not only was it easier to read the menu, but the novelty of it was just fun!

We’d eaten just a few hours before, but I made the ADR to provide some form of “dinner” before our special event later in the evening. I knew we wouldn’t be ordered any big meals, yet there were a few things I was dying to try.

The first was brought our shortly by our wonderful server:

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The famous Le Cellier pretzel bread! It really is delicious and went very well with:

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The also-famous Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup! The soup is made with Moosehead Beer and applewood smoked bacon, which made it even tastier than I’d imagined. I LOVED this! :worship:

Anika chose our other two appetizers, including the Steakhouse Caesar Salad:

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And the Le Cellier Poutine with Canadian cheddar, black truffle, and red wine reduction:

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Oh my goodness, both of these were delicious! The Caesar salad, in particular, was just awesome – and we both eat a lot of Caesar salads! Anika wants to order both of these again.

I was pretty full, but I just couldn’t keep myself from ordering the Maple Crème Brulee:

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Speak of delicious, this was great! It was well worth the stuffed feeling I had afterward!

It was no surprise that we LOVED Le Cellier – after all, it made Anika’s list of “must-do” restaurants for her trip. I will agree that it’s a little dark in there (none of my interior restaurant photos really turned out) and the tables are pretty close together (we struck up a nice conversation with our neighbors!), but the food was awesome and our server was excellent. I’m very excited to return! Anika’s super excited to try a steak!

With three ADRs down, we headed to Magic Kingdom via our resort. My eyes had had enough of my contacts for the day, so I switched into glasses and we both grabbed sweaters. It was extra magic hours at the Magic Kingdom and we planned to make the most of it!

The Magic Kingdom greeted us with this beautiful site:

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Looking at those crowds, I’m glad we had plans for the fireworks! We were headed to check in for our Wishes Fireworks Dessert Party!

ADR #4

As of this moment, the dessert party is held in the Tomorrowland Terrace Restaurant. It’s somewhat fun to find, :scared: but you just need to look for the glowing sign and for the BIG line of people.

We were pretty far back in the line, but a big plus of the dessert party is you’re assigned a table before your arrival. The CMs will have a small tent with your last name and party size on your assigned table. I’ve heard that tables are assigned based on when you sign up, so I was looking forward to see our location since I’d caught the reservation about 5-10 minutes after the date was released:

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Yep, not bad! :laughing: :woohoo:

Anika was ridiculously impressed with our table location. I definitely won some cool sister points that day! :thumbsup2

For those interested in the dessert party offerings, here is what the buffet looks like:

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There’s a HUGE selection of desserts (as you’ll see from our plates) as well as several great drink options. There is coffee:

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Tea:

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And some of my favorites of the evening, the lemonade, iced tea, and MILK:

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(continued in next post)
 


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We gathered a few plates of tasty desserts and headed back to our prime table. :cool1:

Here were my plates:

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And Anika’s plates:

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We also both grabbed a cup of coffee and a glass of milk:

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I can’t stress how awesome it was to have milk with all those desserts – it was perfect! Bravo, Disney!

As for the desserts themselves, my favorites were the fruit tart, tiramisu, and the chocolate covered strawberry. Anika’s favorites were the cannoli, chocolate peanut butter tartlet, and the chocolate chip cookies. The desserts weren’t high gourmet, but they were quite tasty and it was a very relaxing way to ease into the fireworks.

There was a Photopass photographer available so we had to take advantage:

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For those interested, here’s a view of the rest of the seating:

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We joined most of the other people and stood to watch the castle show and Wishes. There was a pretty cranky lady near us that was upset that people were standing, but based on where she was sitting she could still see just fine. People are fun? :confused3

I’m not a great fireworks photographer, but I did get a good picture of my favorite castle projection:

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I LOVE when they turn the castle into the Sorcerer’s hat!

This one wasn’t too bad either:

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What did we think of the Fireworks Dessert Party? It was really fun to try it once and it was great to see the fireworks while not being smushed by thousands of other people. :thumbsup2 We also enjoyed the desserts (but there aren’t too many desserts we don’t enjoy! :laughing: ). I would absolutely do it again but it probably won't be an “every trip” experience. If you’ve never tried it and are interested, though, I’d definitely recommend it!

We did it - four ADRs in a single day! :banana: Would we do that again? Absolutely! Our trips tend to be ADR-heavy anyway, so it's not a huge surprise that we had a day with so many. It was nice to not have to battle the crowds at the quick service restaurants and it was REALLY nice to escape into the air conditioning throughout the day. I know this many ADRs are not for everybody, but we still had plenty of park time and got a ton done even with our ADR schedule! Don’t let some of the hyper people on the dining boards dissuade you from doing this if you’re interested! :goodvibes

After our dessert party, we wanted to take full advantage of the extra magic hours.

We started on Buzz Lightyear (with some Fastpassess we grabbed before the dessert party):

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Next up was a rotation on the Carousel of Progress:

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We love, love love the Carousel of Progress! :love: I’m so glad that Anika loves it, too! (If she didn't, I may have to find a new travel partner! :laughing:)

We also ventured into a new area (for us) – the Storybook Circus. First up was Dumbo:

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I just wanted to see the new land, but I LOVED riding Dumbo at night! I thought it was beautiful all lit up!

Anika was a fan, too:

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Since we were right next door and there was no line, we also went on my buddy Goofy’s coaster:

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We really lucked out and got the front row!

I will agree that it’s a really short ride, but it was great to check it out! We’d do it again!

After wandering around Storybook Circus we headed next door to Fantasyland. First up was a spin on the carousel followed by an adventure with our pal Donald Duck:

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Is there anyone that doesn’t love Philharmagic?!

We also ventured to Adventureland for a boat ride with some pirates (I’m so sad that this won’t be open this time! :sad: ):

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We also enjoyed the wildest ride in the wilderness:

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Although I’ll ride it at any time of day, I think Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is even more awesome at night! If you’ve never ridden it at night, you need to give it a try!

Our last official attraction of the evening was with our favorite 999 ghosts:

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I love these headstones. I think one of my souvenirs this time will be the Haunted Mansion coasters – I hope they still make those!

We passed by Rapunzel’s awesome bathrooms:

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And finished off our night in front of the castle:

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One last Photopass picture ended the evening:

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We packed tons of fun into one day. Tons of attractions at two parks and four awesome ADRs! It was a great (but exhausting! :faint:) day!

Up Next for 2013: Waterpark time!
 
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Not surprisingly, we loved Kona and can’t wait for our next breakfast here!
I'm glad to see another good review of breakfast there. I'd like to try it sometime, but a big breakfast usually isn't a priority for us unless we're doing it to see the characters or something.

Next, we booked it over to the new (and supposedly improved?) Test Track
:rotfl2:

I did laugh when the CMs thanked us for choosing them as our first ride of the day.
Must be rookies earning their ears... :rolleyes1

Test Track was one of our favorite Disney attractions before the refurb, but now this attraction is rather “meh” for us. We still like the attraction and still love zooming around the track outside, but we agree that we liked the original version better
I won't go as far as meh... I kind of like the queue. And I really like the design aspect. But I'm definitely not crazy about the Tron-ish part. :sad2:

Every time I see the instructions from Gary Sinise I always want to watch Apollo 13. :laughing:
::yes:: :rotfl:

I think Living with the Land is rather underappreciated
::yes::

This restaurant had the longest wait, but we didn’t mind one bit as the restaurant was nice and cool. It was actually pretty amusing to watch people attempt to get a walk up dining spot. My favorite was a 20-ish year old guy that was arguing with the hostess that his mother had called for a reservation the night before. He was convinced they made a reservation (for 10 people!) even though he didn’t have any confirmation information and looked totally perplexed when they asked for a confirmation number. Hey, it was an entertaining way to pass the time! :laughing:
I always feel sorry for those front line CM's at restaurants. I mean, rarely ever do you check in for an ADR and not overhear them dealing with this kind of a situation. It would be pretty easy to hate your job dealing with unreasonable wannabe customers like that all the time.

The also-famous Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup! The soup is made with Moosehead Beer and applewood smoked bacon, which made it even tastier than I’d imagined. I LOVED this!
::yes:: That stuff is incredible. I'm not typically one to enjoy many soups, so I didn't really have high expectations for it, but decided to try it based on reviews. But now that I've had it, I'd get it every time I go back!!!

Anika’s super excited to try a steak!
Mmmmm... the filet is great. And I liked the risotto with it almost as much as the steak.

Yep, not bad! :laughing: :woohoo:

Anika was ridiculously impressed with our table location. I definitely won some cool sister points that day! :thumbsup2
Wow... you definitely got great seats!!

There was a pretty cranky lady near us that was upset that people were standing, but based on where she was sitting she could still see just fine. People are fun? :confused3
I think some people would complain that they didn't have anything to complain about.
We did it - four ADRs in a single day! :banana: Would we do that again? Absolutely! Our trips tend to be ADR-heavy anyway, so it's not a huge surprise that we had a day with so many. It was nice to not have to battle the crowds at the quick service restaurants and it was REALLY nice to escape into the air conditioning throughout the day. I know this many ADRs are not for everybody, but we still had plenty of park time and got a ton done even with our ADR schedule!
That actually looked like a great idea. Especially hitting up LeCellier for some appetizers before your dessert party. Looks like a great way to try some new things.

I always have a hard time fitting in as many new restaurants as I'd like to try. I wouldn't have a problem with doing 4 ADR's like that. Especially as efficiently as you managed to get through them and get a lot done in the parks.
We love, love love the Carousel of Progress! :love:
Finally, there's somebody else!!!! :rotfl2::rotfl::lmao:

I just wanted to see the new land, but I LOVED riding Dumbo at night! I thought it was beautiful all lit up!
::yes::

I will agree that it’s a really short ride, but it was great to check it out! We’d do it again!
It is a fun little roller coaster. I'm always willing to go on it. I don't know that I'd wait in a 15 or 20 minute line to do it, but if it is a walk on... heck yeah!

Although I’ll ride it at any time of day, I think Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is even more awesome at night!
::yes:: ::yes:: ::yes:: :thumbsup2
 
FOUR ADR'S????? In ONE DAY???? Wow. It's not only that you do it, but you manage the time so well. :worship:

You know, you are absolutely correct Jenny. People absolutely just jump into a line without any thought whatsoever. Often without even knowing what the line is for. I almost feel guilty starting my own line... Almost.

I'm always curious about Soarin'. The only thing I can remember is no "flash" photography. I don't know that I've heard an outright ban on photos. I've never tried though. I agree though. Do NOT touch the soundtrack.

Oh GOD GOD YES, THE VOICES!!!! :love:

Haha, I still can't bring myself to even have one ADR let alone four. Pretty sure I will never match you on that one.
 


It’s Snack Time!
Must-Do Snacks

Oh no... My stomach is starting to growl already..!

Anika’s favorite snack in all of Disney World is the Mickey Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Sandwich.

A great choice by Anika! This is a childhood favourite of mine :goodvibes:goodvibes But I always make such a mess when I try to eat it :laughing:

My favorite snack is the Carrot Cake Cookie from the Writer’s Stop in Hollywood Studios.

Ooh, I haven't tried this yet, but I've heard a lot about it. There's just too much to enjoy at Disney! If I was in the area I'd be inclined to get a red velvet cupcake, so maybe Jamie and I will get one of each and share :thumbsup2 (So really, he has no choice in his snack. I just want both of these so I'll pretend it's in his best interest :laughing:)

It isn’t a Disney vacation without Disney (crack covered) popcorn:

I haven't had the popcorn either, but if it tastes as good as it smells, then I think I'm missing out on something special!

Red Velvet, anyone?

Umm.. YES PLEASE. :hyper:

The Day with Four ADRs

Oh no, I'm officially hungry :rotfl:

For the few of you that don’t know about Tonga Toast, it is a banana stuffed French toast that’s rolled in cinnamon sugar:

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I'm SO excited to try this!!

Not surprisingly, we loved Kona and can’t wait for our next breakfast here!

I'm really glad you enjoyed Kona, and thanks for the recommendation :thumbsup2 after seeing your photos I'm really looking forward to eating there in September :goodvibes


Pretty ladies!! This is such a nice photo :goodvibes

I think Living with the Land is rather underappreciated – I think it’s such an interesting attraction and I love looking at all the plants and animals while on the leasurely boat ride.

Jamie makes fun of me because I love this attraction! It's so interesting!

I LOVE the shops in Germany, particularly the Christmas shop:

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My favourite shop in World Showcase!!! I'm excited to see the pickle you pick :thumbsup2

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The also-famous Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup!

Omg. OMG. I forgot how good this was :goodvibes

I was looking forward to see our location since I’d caught the reservation about 5-10 minutes after the date was released:

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Yep, not bad! :laughing: :woohoo:

Wow, GO YOU! That is literally the best table in the house, right?!?! Nice job! Could you see the Electrical Parade from up there?
OMG all of your desserts looked so good :goodvibes This sounds like it was such a perfect day (Any day at Disney that involves copious amounts of Disney food is perfect to me though :laughing:)

Is there anyone that doesn’t love Philharmagic?!

No. No, there is not.

:laughing:

Loving the updates! :goodvibes
 
I'm a bit late to the party but joining in here!! Loving all your planning...and the food!! One thing I noticed that you are a strawberry shortcake person...and I think I remember reading that you plan to go to HDDR?? (hope I am not hallucinating here)...you will LOVE that shortcake...and with just the two of you...you will get tons of it lol. I could have had just that for dinner lol. Looking forward to more of your plans and hearing about how the trip goes down. You are an awesome sister!
 
OMG! You day sounds absolutely perfect and that food is to dye for. Excellent choices. The Tonga toast and the macadamia nut pancakes must be the greatest breakfast entrees on earth. YUM!

Then R&C is one of my favorite and the outdoor seating is so lovely.

The Le Cellier.

and not to be outdone - the dessert party!

OMG - what a food frenzy. Ahh to be young and be able to handle all those calories. I am SO jelly!

Plus your park plans look amazing! ::yes::
 
I'm glad to see another good review of breakfast there. I'd like to try it sometime, but a big breakfast usually isn't a priority for us unless we're doing it to see the characters or something.

We LOVED our breakfast here - it worked really well for our Epcot day. I know it's a lower priority for those with kiddos (due to the lack of characters), but it really is a gem of a restaurant.

:rotfl2:


Must be rookies earning their ears... :rolleyes1


I won't go as far as meh... I kind of like the queue. And I really like the design aspect. But I'm definitely not crazy about the Tron-ish part. :sad2:

Don't get me wrong, we still like the ride... the "story" is now a bit lost on me as I could still envision the old ride as we went along the track. The fact that the ride now has insane wait times doesn't endure me to it, either. I would like to try it a few more times on our upcoming trip - maybe it will grow on me.


Seriously - Every. Single. Time. :laughing:


Living with the Land is so lovely. It's not my "favorite" Epcot attraction, but I can't think of a trip to Disney World without it!

I always feel sorry for those front line CM's at restaurants. I mean, rarely ever do you check in for an ADR and not overhear them dealing with this kind of a situation. It would be pretty easy to hate your job dealing with unreasonable wannabe customers like that all the time.


::yes:: That stuff is incredible. I'm not typically one to enjoy many soups, so I didn't really have high expectations for it, but decided to try it based on reviews. But now that I've had it, I'd get it every time I go back!!!


Mmmmm... the filet is great. And I liked the risotto with it almost as much as the steak.

I think it would be a tough job - you're dealing with feisty, unreasonable, angry people all the time. I think it's amazing how much composure those CM's can keep. ::yes::

I'm not a big soup fan either... but, my goodness, that soup is incredible! I'm hoping the steak will be tasty, too. The steak our neighbors shared looked (and smelled!) pretty darn good! :cloud9:

Wow... you definitely got great seats!!

I was SO EXCITED! All of that stalking definitely paid off! :thumbsup2

I think some people would complain that they didn't have anything to complain about.

True.

That actually looked like a great idea. Especially hitting up LeCellier for some appetizers before your dessert party. Looks like a great way to try some new things.


I always have a hard time fitting in as many new restaurants as I'd like to try. I wouldn't have a problem with doing 4 ADR's like that. Especially as efficiently as you managed to get through them and get a lot done in the parks.

It worked out even better than I'd hoped! It's possible we could've eaten more desserts if we'd skipped Le Cellier, but we both enjoyed Le Cellier so much that I'm glad we fit it in.

Our day was great and SO successful. We made it on tons of great rides AND ate tons of great food! A definite double win! :D

I always have trouble picking between restaurants! There are too many great choices!
Finally, there's somebody else!!!! :rotfl2::rotfl::lmao:

Absolutely! We both ADORE the Carousel of Progress and do it several times each trip. It's one of Anika's favorite attractions in all of Disney World!

I have friends that went to Disney World and they SKIPPED the CoP! They thought it looked "dumb" - I told them I was quite disappointed in them. :sad2:

::yes::


It is a fun little roller coaster. I'm always willing to go on it. I don't know that I'd wait in a 15 or 20 minute line to do it, but if it is a walk on... heck yeah!

Storybook Circus was quite fun and VERY pretty at night! We rode Barnstormer on a whim (and certainly wouldn't wait in a long line for it), but it was really fun!


Several rides are great at night, and BTMRR is right up there near the top of the list. :-)
 
FOUR ADR'S????? In ONE DAY???? Wow. It's not only that you do it, but you manage the time so well. :worship:

You know, you are absolutely correct Jenny. People absolutely just jump into a line without any thought whatsoever. Often without even knowing what the line is for. I almost feel guilty starting my own line... Almost.

I'm always curious about Soarin'. The only thing I can remember is no "flash" photography. I don't know that I've heard an outright ban on photos. I've never tried though. I agree though. Do NOT touch the soundtrack.

Oh GOD GOD YES, THE VOICES!!!! :love:

Haha, I still can't bring myself to even have one ADR let alone four. Pretty sure I will never match you on that one.

Yes, have you met me? I'm crazy. ;) :rotfl:

It worked ridiculously well. Traveling with another "adult" and both of us being pretty fast movers definitely helped!

I wouldn't feel too bad. ;)

I knew you would like that part! I actually managed to catch them twice - we saw them again a few days later. :goodvibes

That's okay - more ADRs for me! :thumbsup2

Oh no... My stomach is starting to growl already..!

My posts can have that effect. ;)

A great choice by Anika! This is a childhood favourite of mine :goodvibes:goodvibes But I always make such a mess when I try to eat it :laughing:


Ooh, I haven't tried this yet, but I've heard a lot about it. There's just too much to enjoy at Disney! If I was in the area I'd be inclined to get a red velvet cupcake, so maybe Jamie and I will get one of each and share :thumbsup2 (So really, he has no choice in his snack. I just want both of these so I'll pretend it's in his best interest :laughing:)

Our favorites snacks have stayed the same through two trips. Anika ADORES that sandwich - I think she usually does a pretty good job eating it. I would probably make a mess! :laughing:

GET A CARROT CAKE COOKIE! They're just delicious. They're very sweet, so they're a great choice to get on the way out of the park so you can eat it a bit at a time. :-)

I haven't had the popcorn either, but if it tastes as good as it smells, then I think I'm missing out on something special!

You MUST try Disney popcorn on your next trip. It's WONDERFUL!

Umm.. YES PLEASE. :hyper:

I'm SUPER excited to try that cupcake! :yay:

Oh no, I'm officially hungry :rotfl:

:rotfl2:

I'm SO excited to try this!!

Anika LOVED it! I'm betting she orders it again this year!

I'm really glad you enjoyed Kona, and thanks for the recommendation :thumbsup2 after seeing your photos I'm really looking forward to eating there in September :goodvibes

They serve an awesome breakfast. I'm sure you'll love it! :D

Pretty ladies!! This is such a nice photo :goodvibes

Thanks! It turned out really well!

Jamie makes fun of me because I love this attraction! It's so interesting!

I totally agree! :thumbsup2

My favourite shop in World Showcase!!! I'm excited to see the pickle you pick :thumbsup2

I'm so excited to get a pickle! (At this point, I'm leaning toward sparkly...)

Omg. OMG. I forgot how good this was :goodvibes

It is DELICIOUS - well worth all the hype it receives.

Wow, GO YOU! That is literally the best table in the house, right?!?! Nice job! Could you see the Electrical Parade from up there?
OMG all of your desserts looked so good :goodvibes This sounds like it was such a perfect day (Any day at Disney that involves copious amounts of Disney food is perfect to me though :laughing:)

There were two others next to us, but those three were all ridiculously awesome! :woohoo:

You could see parts of the MSEP and overhear the music, but there were a lot of people in the way (on the street) so the view wasn't great. The desserts, however, were great! :cloud9:

It was an excellent and fabulous day. :flower:

No. No, there is not.

:laughing:

I'm glad you agree. :goodvibes

Loving the updates! :goodvibes

Thanks so much for your great comments! :-)
 
This is all I have to add to this post: :worship:

Well done, my friend, well done. :thumbsup2

:blush:

Thank you! It was truly a super fun day. :goodvibes

I'm a bit late to the party but joining in here!! Loving all your planning...and the food!! One thing I noticed that you are a strawberry shortcake person...and I think I remember reading that you plan to go to HDDR?? (hope I am not hallucinating here)...you will LOVE that shortcake...and with just the two of you...you will get tons of it lol. I could have had just that for dinner lol. Looking forward to more of your plans and hearing about how the trip goes down. You are an awesome sister!

:welcome: Kathy! Thanks for joining in!

Thank you - as you can see, my Disney planning involves a lot of food plans! :laughing: Anika probably loves strawberry shortcake even more than me (as I really dislike angel food cake, which a lot of people use for strawberry shortcake), but I love practically any dessert! I'm excited to try the strawberry shortcake at HDDR as I hear so many great things about it! (And I'm VERY excited to finally see the HDDR!)

There's much more to come! :goodvibes

OMG! You day sounds absolutely perfect and that food is to dye for. Excellent choices. The Tonga toast and the macadamia nut pancakes must be the greatest breakfast entrees on earth. YUM!

Then R&C is one of my favorite and the outdoor seating is so lovely.

The Le Cellier.

and not to be outdone - the dessert party!

OMG - what a food frenzy. Ahh to be young and be able to handle all those calories. I am SO jelly!

Plus your park plans look amazing! ::yes::

It was such an excellent day! :D We kicked it off very well with Kona - it is as excellent as people say it is.

Rose and Crown is such a gem in Epcot (where there are so many great choices!). I was thrilled that we were also able to enjoy those appetizers at Le Cellier.

We really enjoyed the dessert party! An event with tons of desserts AND a prime view of Wishes?! Sign me up! :thumbsup2
 
Hi Jenny! Love your PTR/TR!! You have amazing plans! I commend you on the number of ADRs you guys have! Very impressive! I'd like to do more ADRs too but then DH would ask "well, when are we actually going to RIDE anything?" LOL.
Looking forward to hearing more about your plans!

Su-Lynn
 
I just realized you had this PTR! However, it's 1:30am and I need to sleep, so I'll be back to read later. Just wanted to say hi! :wave2:
 
Hi Jenny! Love your PTR/TR!! You have amazing plans! I commend you on the number of ADRs you guys have! Very impressive! I'd like to do more ADRs too but then DH would ask "well, when are we actually going to RIDE anything?" LOL.
Looking forward to hearing more about your plans!

Su-Lynn

:welcome: Su-Lynn! Thanks so much for stopping by!

I'm so, so excited about this trip! Anika's pretty willing to go with the flow on the ADRs - in fact, she tells me that as long as I feed her, she'll be happy! :laughing: They usually change up a bit once we're there, but based on our last May trip we are looking forward to our time in the air conditioning! :cloud9:

I just realized you had this PTR! However, it's 1:30am and I need to sleep, so I'll be back to read later. Just wanted to say hi! :wave2:

:welcome: Dugette! I know you've been a posting machine with your "one month from now" posts, so I'm thrilled you stopped by to say hi!
 
Must-Do's – The Magic Kingdom Edition

First, a few updates! In SUPER exciting news, our first set of Magic Bands have shipped! :yay: I’m expecting to see them in my mailbox tomorrow as the latest tracking information tells me that they’re local! (Not that I’m checking, or anything… :rolleyes1 )

Second, I bought many of my must-have items for our upcoming trip. I went shopping with my cousin this weekend and got a fun new selection of shirts and shorts, bought new tennis shoes, and purchased a new, much bigger suitcase. My 24” bag is just not going to cut it for a two week trip! :rolleyes: I also ordered our Harry Potter lanyards – we’ll “need” ;) them to carry around our multiple cards at Universal, plus I plan to incorporate them into the Universal surprise for Anika. :D

Finally, I pre-purchased Memory Maker. Just 27 more days! :banana:

Moving on to today’s update!

I’m going to take a page from Jen’s (a.k.a. Nermal9) awesome PTR and tell you about my must-do’s at every park! I also plan to have a few posts with my day-by-day plans as well, but I thought this would be the best way to incorporate pictures! :thumbsup2

Magic Kingdom has really grown on me during our last two trips – while my favorite park has always been Epcot, Magic Kingdom’s attractions and nighttime spectaculars continue to grab more and more of our attention. Most importantly, as Magic Kingdom is Anika’s favorite park, I've planned for us to spend a lot of time there.

2365_zps1032e1d8.jpg


There are very few attractions that we won’t do during this trip given its length; however, there are a few things that won’t make the list: The Enchanted Tiki Room (I think Anika will only do this about once every ten years), the Tomorrowland Speedway (seeing it from the Peoplemover is close enough), and, of course, Stich’s Great Escape (seriously, who does that attraction?! :crazy2: ).

As I mentioned in the Grand Floridian post, one major must-do I plan to cross off the “never been done” list is to see the entire Magic Kingdom welcome show. I’m really looking forward to it!

Another thing we haven’t done the last two trips (but keep meaning to) is to ride this:

WDWRR_zpsdjdhltnl.jpg


The Magic Kingdom Railroad! I hope to ride every segment – a grand loop around the park would be nice.

Getting into the Magic Kingdom, our favorite mountain is at the top of the list:

2478_zpsa3bce7ba.jpg


Mad mouse coaster or not, we LOVE Space Mountain! :lovestruc

Other must-do’s in Tomorrowland include several rides on the PeopleMover:

1351_zpsecrqw2x0.jpg


Pure bliss, I tell you. :cloud9:

As well as several spins to sing along to “It’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow!”

2464_zps2d6b3575.jpg


I seriously don’t know why people skip this. Foolish, foolish people…. :sad2:

Moving onto Fantasyland, I can’t wait to ride their newest attraction:

2613_zpshf6zjjkw.jpg


The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train! This will be our first time(s) on this attraction as it wasn’t open yet during our last visit. I can’t wait to see all the fabulous theming!

We’ll also hit all the other Fantasyland rides (including It’s a Small World – sorry, Rob!), but I’m really looking forward to seeing this again:

2419_zpse61d1e99.jpg


I can’t believe we skipped this during Anika’s first two trips – it’s fantastic!

This time, I must step foot in this place:

1301_zpssl8lsqiy.jpg


I will give myself bonus points if (1) I get a picture of myself sprawled in Gaston’s chair and (2) I follow up a trip into the tavern with meeting Gaston himself. Poor Anika has no idea what she’s up against with all the character meets I have “planned”! :rotfl:

A trip to the Disney World is also not complete without a spin on a dune buggy:

308.jpg


A nice chorus of “Zip a Dee Doo Dah”:

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And a beautiful view of the “backside of water”:

435_zpsa8ec02bf.jpg


Yes, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and the Jungle Cruise are all Magic Kingdom must-do’s!

I’m also very, very excited that this will now be open during our trip:

321.jpg


Magic Kingdom is just not the same without a ride on Pirates! pirate:

I’m also VERY excited about this:

2529_zpsf537b4dc.jpg


TALKING MICKEY MOUSE!!! :mickeyjum (Don’t worry – I’ve already warned Anika that this is a must-do on the agenda.)

The rides I’m most looking forward to riding at night include Dumbo:

613_zpsgbtugpha.jpg


As well as, “The wildest ride in the wilderness!”


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The late extra magic hours in Magic Kingdom are our favorite by far – we had such a wonderful time last time that I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish this time! Our first MK EMH may be limited due to our plans the next day, but we can stay all night during our second EMH evening!

Magic Kingdom also has my favorite nighttime entertainment. I can’t wait to introduce our uncle to the Main Street Electrical Parade:

1931_zpsbk8g1pvs.jpg


And also introduce him to THE BEST FIREWORKS IN ALL OF DISNEY WORLD:

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I love, love, love Wishes. :love: I saw it for the first time during our 2012 trip and can't believe I missed it on all of our prior trips!

I plan for us to spend Anika’s birthday in Magic Kingdom – there is no better place on your birthday than your favorite Disney park! I’m also very excited to share Magic Kingdom with our Uncle Wade – he’s been to Epcot a few times and Hollywood Studios (then MGM) once, but he’s never been in Magic Kingdom. I hope he enjoys all the magic!

Up Next for 2015: Epcot Must-Do’s
 
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You have some great "must do's" on your list!! Does seeing talking Micket need a FP+? Just wondering how long the wait is....looks like fun!! And of course...the Peoplemover is always on my list too!
 
Hey now, I used to do Stitch’s Great Escape a fair bit. I never really understood the backlash, lol. That said, it has been a while.

Um, given the fact that this is a 2 week trip, AND you'll be staying so close, there really is no excuse NOT to see the Welcome Show. There is no better way to start a day.

We’ll also hit all the other Fantasyland rides (including It’s a Small World – sorry, Rob!)

Hey, it's your funeral. :rolleyes:

Well, I would think that Anika would at least be ok with face characters since if I recall correctly, her aversion was mostly to the "creepers" in the fur costumes.

Ooh boy, I cannot wait to hear the story meeting Mickey. That should be a keeper.
 

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