After 15 years, it's almost here - We're going back to WDW!! (May PTR)

[fairyfan]

Our next morning we headed straight to Boma for our first Disney breakfast.
We love AKL and Boma is just the icing on the cake. My DH proclaimed it the best breakfast buffet he has ever eaten at. It was delicious, espescially the french toast. It was really fabulous.

We headed to the buses and off to the happiest place on earth.

Notice the bright beautiful sky!

Once again, I bypassed the photpass folks and headed straight to the castle.
Just kept thinking, we'll do that later in the week!

On the way, I saw this little guy!

Here's another pic of that beautiful castle.

It really wasn't that crowded this morning and we headed to tommorrowland.

We had no wait for Buzz, Stitch (ok, yuch on this one) and Carousel of Progress. We actually rode Buzz twice in a row, but the practice did not help my score....It was about 11,000, lol - I'm such a girl! It was defintely alot of fun though. DH, he scored about 360,00. Much better!

We ate lunch at Columbia Harbour House and split the tuna sandwich. I was defintely as good as everyone said it was and CHH was a nice air conditioned break.

We spent the rest of the afternoon hitting the rides and never needing a fast pass. It was a great day at the MK!!

We had an ADR at 5:40 for the GF cafe so we headed to the boat launch at the MK around 4:30. Grand Floridian Cafe was absolutely wonderful. It ended up being my second favorite dinner the entire week. DH had the NY Strip and I had the Pasta with Shrimp and Proscuitto with Asiago Cream Sauce. My portion could have easily been split between two people and I finished a little less than half. They had great sourdough rolls and butter and we were way too full for dessert! I wish now that I would have taken food pictures, but I didn't. Being the "newbie" that I am, I was so overwhelmed by everything, that I missed alot of great photo ops. Defintely a lesson for the next trip.

We wandered around the GF hotel and the shops and then headed for the monorail back to the MK. It was about 7:30 and we were getting tired. Wishes was not until 10:00 that night, so we decided to see Wishes another night and headed back to AKL. I've never seen the fireworks at the castle in person, only on tv, but I was just sure I wanted to wait.

 

[H20DogsNDisney]

What a great Start!

 

[fairyfan]

It had been a long day, so we decided to visit the pool and hot tub at AKL.

They have a great pool bar, so we picked up a couple of drinks and headed for a swim.

AKL has a great pool area with zero entry and 2 hot tubs!

p.s If you like raspberry, I highly recommend the Pina Colava which is a Pina Colada with raspberry puree swirled through it.

 

[Blesseddaddy]

How awesome that you didn't even have to use Fast Passes!!! Doesn't the castle just make you feel like you are AT Disney World?? Oh and great pictures by the way!!

My girls loved Stitch confused3), well the youngest of the two wanted to know why they had to strap us down just for "that"? I say they loved it........they did think it stunk, but they thought it was funny!!

You have much better will power than I, we planned our first full day at WDW at MK and planned to be there from rope drop, until we dropped (which we knew would be late into the evening, since it was EMH).....and we did. Spectro was fun, but wishes out in front of the Castle......just AWESOME!! Our girls were so excited, just like your first full day in WDW, ours was great too. I am so glad your trip got off with such an awesome day for you and DH.

Great update and already looking forward to the next one!!

 

[fairyfan]

How awesome that you didn't even have to use Fast Passes!!! Doesn't the castle just make you feel like you are AT Disney World?? Oh and great pictures by the way!!

My girls loved Stitch confused3), well the youngest of the two wanted to know why they had to strap us down just for "that"? I say they loved it........they did think it stunk, but they thought it was funny!!

You have much better will power than I, we planned our first full day at WDW at MK and planned to be there from rope drop, until we dropped (which we knew would be late into the evening, since it was EMH).....and we did. Spectro was fun, but wishes out in front of the Castle......just AWESOME!! Our girls were so excited, just like your first full day in WDW, ours was great too. I am so glad your trip got off with such an awesome day for you and DH.

Great update and already looking forward to the next one!!

Thanks BD! I wish I would have stayed until the end, as you will find out.

 

[fairyfan]

Day 3 and we're off to the Animal Kingdom. We were really looking forward to this one. Animal Kingdom didn't exist the last time we were in Disney and so were so excited. We ate breakfast in the room. We tried AKL room service which was a real treat for us. It was quick, hot and delicious.

We caught the bus to the Animal Kingdom and arrived in no time. It was another nice morning, but was a little overcast. It was a sign of things to come.

We loved the Kilimanjaro Safari

Can you tell I loved the giraffes?? I think I have more pictures of them than anything else!

We visited Rafiki's Planet, hit the walking tours, and rode Dinosaur twice (we loved this ride).

We had lunch at Flame Tree and split the BBQ chicken salad. It was really good. On my next trip,, I'll defintely substitute Flame Tree for one of my TS meals. Thanks for the tip BD, the counter service KING!!

We headed to It's a Bug's Life (isn't that the cutest thing!!) and then to Nemo. When we left Nemo, time was running out (AK closes at 5:00) and it was starting to rain

It looked like your typical Florida afternoon shower that you read about all the time. You know, it never rains days on end at Disney, or does it??
Of course not. We headed to the buses and to Dinner at Boma.

Boma is alot more crowded at Dinner than it is at Breakfast, but the food is still wonderful. We watched it rain as we ate and enjoyed our dinner.
My DH loved Boma dinner and I liked trying the different things. I really only liked the soup and salad, but I'm a really picky eater.
One thing I didn't like were zebra domes. I thought they were way too sweet. Everyone seems to love them, so I'm just one person. All in all, Boma was good, but breakfast was much better for me.

 

[fairyfan]

Ok, now to the bags ( I know that you're waiting for this BD!). Let's talk about them before the trip report turns soggy on us.

Remember this one?

Way too small. Once you got your stuff in it, it was hard to get it back out!

I used it for 1 day and it went back in the luggage for the remainder of the trip.


And this one

which is the one hanging onto my shoulder in this pic

or should I say cutting into my shoulder.

It had enough room, but was slightly painful with the camera, iphone and other stuff in it. By the time the trip was over, it looks like it's ready to fall apart.

So, my first purchase for my next trip will be this -

Yep, a Vera backpack. I may also get a "Wigd like" Vera hipster too!

I know these bag discussions are painful BD, but we gals have an obligation to share our knowledge of bags with each other. We can't just stuff things in our pockets like you guys can although DH managed to stick our ponchos in one of his cargo pockets so we could ride Soarin!! It was worth quite a laugh - we thought of you!!

 

[fairyfan]

We wake up on day 4 and it's raining . Not too hard, but steady off an on. We head off with ponchos in hand and head to Epcot.

Flower and Garden was drinking in the rain. I hardly took a single picture this day, but did buy my new best friend, the WDW baseball hat! DH bought the ESPN one and we were good to go!

We made our way from place to place all through Future World, first stop was the Fast Past station for Soarin! We managed to see everything in Future World but Test Track (closed during the rain) and Honey I Shrunk the Audience. We had Mickey Bars for lunch and were heading to the Biergarten for Dinner.

I had really looked forward to the Biergarten. My grandparents were German and I was raised on German food so the picky eater in me goes out the window here. I took pictures of the show and every one of them is completely out of focus . I don't know what happened to the camera, or me...no, I did not have the big jumbo beer!
We sat with 2 couples from South America. They had a great time, got up and danced and enjoyed themselves. We enjoyed watching them try the food!

We loved the buffet and I stuffed myself with sauerbraten and red kraut.
DH loved the schnitzel and german potato salad. We enjoyed every bite and moment at the Biergarten and will most certainly go again!

When we left, it was raining much harder so we walked as fast as we could to the buses and headed back to AKL. Surely this will all slow down by tomorrow!

 

[Blesseddaddy]

We tried AKL room service which was a real treat for us. It was quick, hot and delicious.

We had lunch at Flame Tree and split the BBQ chicken salad. It was really good. On my next trip,, I'll defintely substitute Flame Tree for one of my TS meals. Thanks for the tip BD, the counter service KING!!

We headed to It's a Bug's Life (isn't that the cutest thing!!) and then to Nemo.

ROOM SERVICE..........."sweeeeeeet", even as cheap as I am, a splurge every now and then isn't a bad thing. I have been running around the house here the last couple of weeks saying we are going to burn the candles and use "the" soap!! I have been trying so hard to declutter and I realize we "save" way too much JUNK for a special day.....it's time to consider EVERYDAY special!!! Though room service, would still have to be a SPLURGE!!

I am glad that you enjoyed Flame Tree, it probably is my favorite CS. I know there will come a day, when the girls are older that we will slow down and probably enjoy some TS meals , but until then I can survive with Disney's CS......much better in most places than one might expect IMHO.

I also have to admit that It's a Bug's Life was my favorite of all the 3-D/4-D movies at all the parks and we saw them all. I think I got into it more than the girls did, but I like what I like!!

Loving the updates!!

 

[Blesseddaddy]

Ok, now to the bags ( I know that you're waiting for this BD!). Let's talk about them before the trip report turns soggy on us.

Remember this one?

Way too small. Once you got your stuff in it, it was hard to get it back out!

I used it for 1 day and it went back in the luggage for the remainder of the trip.


And this one

which is the one hanging onto my shoulder in this pic

or should I say cutting into my shoulder.

It had enough room, but was slightly painful with the camera, iphone and other stuff in it. By the time the trip was over, it looks like it's ready to fall apart.

So, my first purchase for my next trip will be this -

Yep, a Vera backpack. I may also get a "Wigd like" Vera hipster too!

I know these bag discussions are painful BD, but we gals have an obligation to share our knowledge of bags with each other. We can't just stuff things in our pockets like you guys can although DH managed to stick our ponchos in one of his cargo pockets so we could ride Soarin!! It was worth quite a laugh - we thought of you!!

OK, I'm not enjoying ALL the updates!! We could have lived without this one!!! GEEZ, who knew that you have to pick out a bag before you go to Disney, discuss it, share it, dwell on it, discuss it some more, purchase it, share it again, discuss it some more, finally get it to Disney, use it, find the flaws and/or the advantages of it while it was actually IN use, come back and share more about it, discuss it, decide if it was the right BAG, then start the process all over again for the next trip???? GEEZ........it's a BAG!!! OK, enough ranting.........Wigd. will be proud that you have come over to the VERA.....your DH probably not as much, because apparently with a VERA you have to have one for EACH outfit........well, at least, according to Wigd.?? Wow, pants with extra pockets, which allow you to ride the rides, while still holding all your stuff and being hands free?? What a genious idea!!! Glad it brought a smile to your face that your DH was smart enough to be able to tote the stuff, while being hands free, allowing you both to ride, while being able to keep up with the important stuff like his wallet and the ponchos!! also brought a smile to my face knowing that my words were at least heard, during all the BAG talk and you thought of me, as your DH was PROVING MY POINT!!!! I just don't get why you women can't see the ease of this concept. FREE YOURSELVES of the clutter in your BAGS....carry only what you need IN your pockets.........burn the candles, use the special soap....LIVE and ENJOY LIFE!!

You were right, it was PAINFULL, but I have survived yet another BAG discussion on the Dis........maybe one day, some lady, somewhere will hear my pleas and decide hey that guy is RIGHT???

 

[Blesseddaddy]

We wake up on day 4 and it's raining . Not too hard, but steady off an on. We head off with ponchos in hand and head to Epcot.

Flower and Garden was drinking in the rain. I hardly took a single picture this day, but did buy my new best friend, the WDW baseball hat!

I about fell out when I saw the picture you posted.......The Ostriches!!! What memories.......one of my favorite pictures of our trip. We got to Epcot at rope drop the morning we went. I had no idea what I was getting into when I said I would run over and get Fast Passes for Soaring for us and then meet Tracy and the girls at The Seas. Whew what a mad house, but I survived with FP's in hand!! When we came back by the Ostriches, since it was Flower and Garden, I wanted a picture of the girls in front of them. MY youngest ran ahead and postioned herself happily posing for her Daddy .......the oldest wasn't having it!!! I finally looked over at her and said OK, but when you want something and I don't go along, just remember what is fair for one is fair for the other.......to which she "strolled" over by her sister and you can imagine how those pictures turned out...... one one and three Ostriches!!!!!

ANOTHER ingenious idea from a MAN.......The Ballcap........which indeed has the perfect brim for rain or sun!!! Maybe if they just added a pocket to them, more women would see how PERFECT they are???

I am glad you enjoyed your dinner and had such a great time. I hate that the rain isn't letting up on your trip, but again, I find joy in knowing that it didn't dampen your spirits and that you made the most of it!!!

 

[fairyfan]

I about fell out when I saw the picture you posted.......The Ostriches!!! What memories.......one of my favorite pictures of our trip. We got to Epcot at rope drop the morning we went. I had no idea what I was getting into when I said I would run over and get Fast Passes for Soaring for us and then meet Tracy and the girls at The Seas. Whew what a mad house, but I survived with FP's in hand!! When we came back by the Ostriches, since it was Flower and Garden, I wanted a picture of the girls in front of them. MY youngest ran ahead and postioned herself happily posing for her Daddy .......the oldest wasn't having it!!! I finally looked over at her and said OK, but when you want something and I don't go along, just remember what is fair for one is fair for the other.......to which she "strolled" over by her sister and you can imagine how those pictures turned out...... one one and three Ostriches!!!!!

ANOTHER ingenious idea from a MAN.......The Ballcap........which indeed has the perfect brim for rain or sun!!! Maybe if they just added a pocket to them, more women would see how PERFECT they are???

I am glad you enjoyed your dinner and had such a great time. I hate that the rain isn't letting up on your trip, but again, I find joy in knowing that it didn't dampen your spirits and that you made the most of it!!!

LOL, BD! I have 2 nephews (now grown) who are 4 years apart. I swear every picture ever taken of them, one is and the other is . Too funny! I loved F & G! Wasn't Soarin amazing?

Hat's with pockets, ok, maybe no for that one, but I appreciate the idea. Maybe Shocker would try one out.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

The pocket in the ball cap would have to be a very long one that hangs down the back.........

 

[fairyfan]

Ok, so this is were the trip goes from somewhat soggy to totally drenched. The next day we woke up to see a steady downpour. Surely, we thought, this won't last all day. We were pretty much wrong. We decided to head to DTD for some shopping and head to DHS when the rain let up.

The day itself was pretty much a wash, literally. Downtown Disney was great though, it seemed to have changed alot since we had been there last
there. The retail therapy eased the pain of another rainy day at Disney!

We ate Dinner at Fulton's and although it was good (and not the least bit crowded - but we had an ADR), I wouldn't go back. It seemed really overpriced for the food.

We also had a 5 star hot fudge sundae at Ghiradelli's! If you have the chance you gotta go there. It was sooo good.

We never made it to DHS that day and we headed back for the evening at AKL . It was defintely time to dry out.

 

[fairyfan]

So here's a letter I visualize receiving:

Dear Ms. Fairyfan.

Thank you for your recent visit to Walt Disney World. We understand that some rain fell on your Parades, Wishes, Spectro, Fantasmic, and many other parts of your trip including your quest to identify manpris in all instances,

Since you were such an excellent customer, spending money on all things Disney, completing a glowing survey, keeping your room in neat order, raving about our food and transportation and never once complaining even when your jeans were soaked past your knees, we would like to extend you this magical offer............

Ok, it's a dream.

The next day we headed to DHS. No rain this morning - WooHoo!!
We had learned to not trust the weather so we tied our raincoats around our waists and off we went.

The first thing we did was grab our TSM fast passes. They weren't good until noon, so we wandered around, went on a couple of rides, enjoyed the morning. TSM was great, I thought it was so much fun. For some reason, I was really good at it vs the Buzz ride at the MK. I had 275,000 and wished we could have gone on it a second time.

We ate lunch and for the life of me I can't remember where (it wasn't that great) and decided to go to the AI experience. What was really fun about that was it was the day of the finale results show for American Idol. They asked who was for Kris and who was for Adam, and I have to admit that the majority were for Kris. I love that show and have watched all 8 seasons. What a great idea to give someone the chance to fulfill their dreams.

Can't say that any of the three we saw will make it to Hollywood, but the show was great and we really enjoyed it.

When it was over and we were exiting, the line was not moving. Finally the CM's started yelling at the top of their lungs, "You have to exit the building. We were so far back,we couldn't see why, but when we could, guess what.....

You got it, RAIN!!!

This was the hardest rain yet.

We tried to wait it out walking through the gift shops, running to Starring Rolls and getting coffee, running to Star Wars and riding it twice, but the rain just didn't stop.

Sadly, it ended our day at DHS and we cancelled our ADR at the Plaza, headed back to AKL - once again, pretty soaked. We ate a Mara for dinner, sat around the fireplace and headed to the room to watch the AI finale. We only have 1 day left

 

[wigdoutdismom]

I loved your update, but hated the fact that the rain kept you from getting so much done!
I would have been terribly upset, I can't stand being out in the rain....
I've heard that Fulton's it overpriced so we have never gone there to eat.
How was Mara?
Oh and you totally rocked on TSM!:thumbsup2

 

[fairyfan]

I loved your update, but hated the fact that the rain kept you from getting so much done!
I would have been terribly upset, I can't stand being out in the rain....
I've heard that Fulton's it overpriced so we have never gone there to eat.
How was Mara?
Oh and you totally rocked on TSM!:thumbsup2

Thanks Wigd, I used your advice with TSM, just keep shooting!

Our bill at Fulton's was 108.00 which we would never pay for dinner other than vacation. I had 6 crab claws, and a baked potato, DH had a NY strip which does not come with any sides (we split the potato) and was not as good as LeCellier or GF Cafe which are cheaper and do come with a side. I had and iced tea and he had a beer. The claws were good, but not great.
It's off my list.

We enjoyed Mara. We would pick up breakfast and take it to the room in the mornings and watch the animals. I loved the cheese danish and DH loved everything.
For dinner, I just had the cheese flatbread (just like cheese pizza), and he had the roasted chicken dinner which was like rotisserie chicken with couscous and roasted veggies. He ate every bite and proclaimed it very good!

Being wet all the time and having to deal with my hair was a downer. I have a wild mop of blonde hair that gets out of control on a good day. Ponytail and baseball hat was my everyday routine. On the bright side, I was ready in no time!!! !

I think I'm going to treat myself to the Vera backpack today. 25% of retiring patterns!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Thanks Wigd, I used your advice with TSM, just keep shooting!

Our bill at Fulton's was 108.00 which we would never pay for dinner other than vacation. I had 6 crab claws, and a baked potato, DH had a NY strip which does not come with any sides (we split the potato) and was not as good as LeCellier or GF Cafe which are cheaper and do come with a side. I had and iced tea and he had a beer. The claws were good, but not great.
It's off my list.

We enjoyed Mara. We would pick up breakfast and take it to the room in the mornings and watch the animals. I loved the cheese danish and DH loved everything.
For dinner, I just had the cheese flatbread (just like cheese pizza), and he had the roasted chicken dinner which was like rotisserie chicken with couscous and roasted veggies. He ate every bite and proclaimed it very good!

Being wet all the time and having to deal with my hair was a downer. I have a wild mop of blonde hair that gets out of control on a good day. Ponytail and baseball hat was my everyday routine. On the bright side, I was ready in no time!!! !

I think I'm going to treat myself to the Vera backpack today. 25% of retiring patterns!

My hair just gets plain nasty in the rain! I kept it shoulder length for so long just because of Disney trips and ponytails. It's cut now, so just a ball cap for rainy days.
What Vera pattern are you getting?

 

[fairyfan]

My hair just gets plain nasty in the rain! I kept it shoulder length for so long just because of Disney trips and ponytails. It's cut now, so just a ball cap for rainy days.
What Vera pattern are you getting?

I think the Daisy Daisy like in the picture. It's kind of cute. Of course when I head to the store, who knows what I'll pick.

I love talking about bags, just like BD!!

 

[Blesseddaddy]

I think the Daisy Daisy like in the picture. It's kind of cute. Of course when I head to the store, who knows what I'll pick.

I love talking about bags, just like BD!!