"Au revior...that's French for get out of here!" A Jan '13 AoA TR COMPLETE

[jpmandan]

I'm in for your TR.

 

[emilyindisney]

was goofy not greeting people at the character connection spot? i dont think i have ever seen him where you met him at.

We didn't actually go through the character connection spot (we decided the wait was too long) so I'm not positive, but I believe it was only Mickey, Pluto and maybe one other character that day.

We met Goofy and Daisy to the right of Spaceship: Earth as we were entering the park.

I'm in for your TR.

 

[disneyhorselover]

We didn't actually go through the character connection spot (we decided the wait was too long) so I'm not positive, but I believe it was only Mickey, Pluto and maybe one other character that day.

We met Goofy and Daisy to the right of Spaceship: Earth as we were entering the park.

I think it was Mickey, Pluto, and either Minnie or maybe Donald...definitely no Goofy that day though.


I was also very thankful to the people who helped get our car rental situation straightened out....but I seriously wish we knew all of that stuff beforehand!!!

The boat ride from DHS to the dolphin WAS very nice and relaxing though.

 

[emilyindisney]

I think it was Mickey, Pluto, and either Minnie or maybe Donald...definitely no Goofy that day though.


I was also very thankful to the people who helped get our car rental situation straightened out....but I seriously wish we knew all of that stuff beforehand!!!

The boat ride from DHS to the dolphin WAS very nice and relaxing though.

Agreed. I feel like now I understand why so many people like renting cars in Disney. It was definitely easy to come and go as we pleased and everything was very well marked which made driving places simple.

Also- I'd love to be on a boat resort for a stay. Taking a nice boat ride home after a long day in the park would be great!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I'm completely addicted to renting cars at Disney for the reasons you mentioned. The flexibility and convenience only increases with two young children.

The only time having our own car can be a bit of hassle is when we're parked at the TTC for our MK day. But when we stayed at the Poly and had our own car - it was absolutely perfect!

I agree with you - don't know what Daisy was doing in that picture with her pose.

 

[emilyindisney]

I'm completely addicted to renting cars at Disney for the reasons you mentioned. The flexibility and convenience only increases with two young children.

The only time having our own car can be a bit of hassle is when we're parked at the TTC for our MK day. But when we stayed at the Poly and had our own car - it was absolutely perfect!

I agree with you - don't know what Daisy was doing in that picture with her pose.

On our next trip we'll be staying with someone whose driving down so we'll luckily have a car then too. If we didn't I'd strongly consider renting again! I love the Disney buses but the car was quicker and if we used it to drive from our room to the food court it eliminated the long walk.

 

[emilyindisney]

Don't know how many DISers still have this bookmarked but I promise I'll finish up soon for the family/friends that I sent the link to!

 

[emilyindisney]

Annnndddd, we're back! Schools has been driving me crazy! Luckily I've only got three weeks left so I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Even though its been a while I figured I would finish up for the family and friends I sent the link to. Also, I want to start my PTR from Feb 2014 in a few weeks and I felt bad not finishing this one first.

Sorry in advance- not many pictures in this one. Mostly my ramblings, haha!

After meeting Goofy and Daisy we decided for a turn on Spaceship: Earth. This is one of my favorite rides because its practically always the first thing we do when we enter the park. After riding we stopped at some of the photo booths at the exit and sent from funny video greetings to my parents!

At this point we sort of hit a road block in our planning again. We knew what we wanted to see but hadn't made a plan of attack until now. We already knew we wanted to split Future World and World Showcase so we made the quick decision to start with Future World now. DSis really wanted to do the intense version of Mission Space which I was admittedly nervous about. I don't spin. At all. Teacups? No way. Cait can be very persuasive- maybe its an older sibling thing- so needless to say, we were headed for Mission Space.

Despite my concerns, I LOVED the orange version. It was so much better than green and definitely made the ride more realistic feeling. We would have loved to go for a second ride but we didn't think our stomachs could quite handle that yet. Cait really loves Soarin' so she insisted we head there. Personally, I feel like I can take it over leave it but agreed to go over and see if we could get fast passes. Luckily, we managed to snag FPs for the very end of the night (this was around 4:30.)

Again, we paused to collect ourselves. We had ADRs for Coral Reef for 6:50 so we didn't have a ton of time to wander into World Showcase and Test Track still had too long of a wait (2+ hours!) We ended up heading into Innoventions to try some of the games.

First, we played the Piggy Bank game! Sure, we were the oldest people without children in that section but we had a lot of fun!

We saved enough money for our dream vacation too! Of course, our dream vacation is to Disney!

After that we designed our own coaster on Sum of all Thrills. We probably wouldn't have done this if it had a long wait but were glad that we did because it was definitely fun.

Next we made our way to The Seas with Nemo and Friends where we rode through in our clam shell before poking around the tanks. Watching the manatees was definitely our favorite! We saw a group of people getting ready to scuba dive so we hoped we'd see them while we were eating. Maybe we'd catch a Full House-esque proposal, hahaha!

Finally we headed out of the pavaillon and around the side to Coral Reef. We arrived a few minutes before our reservation and were seated on time. We were in the middle row and found the view was still great (even though we would have loved to been right up next to the tank.)

Our view of the tanks

Next Update: The best food of the trip!

 

[emilyindisney]

We were getting a little lengthy so I figured I'd cut it off before we got to the food pictures. I suppose that creates some suspense too- after all, the foodporn is the best part!

Out of the two of us, I'm the fish fan so I definitely had a hard time choosing something. At a friend's recommendation I got the Coral Reef Lobster Orecchiette Pasta. Essentially it was delicious mac and cheese with lobster in it. In fact, it was so good I couldn't resist grabbing a few bites before a picture, haha!

Caitlin doesn't eat fish so she picked the Grilled New York Strip Steak. I'm pretty sure she liked it seeing as I couldn't even snap a picture of the plate!

Now for dessert. Here, my friends, was the best food of the trip. At the suggestion of the waitress we got the Chocolate Wave and the Bailey's and Jack Daniel's mousse.

The Chocolate Wave was good, but definitely rich. The mousse, however, was absolutely fantastic. I'd recommend it in a minute to anyone whose planning on dining there.

After thoroughly stuffing ourselves we made it to Soarin' for our 7:30-8:30 FP window. Admittedly I forgot how cool that ride is. I was a little disappointed that Disney- who is generally so focused on the details- is showing the ride with so many crackles and spots on the film screen. They can't clean that up?

We stopped for more PP pictures with the Epcot ball all lit up. These are some of my favorite of the trip!

Finally, it was time to end our day. The walk to the parking lot seemed a little daunting but the fact that we could get right in the car and go home was fantastic! Definitely worth the money and makes us think twice about renting next time!

Next Update: Venturing from the World to the Universe

 

[Happy Duck]

Coral Reef! We went there in Jan 2012 and LOVED IT. Funny thing was, Mama and I booked it specifically so that my brother could get a good seafood restaurant. The other 3 of us don't care for it much. We ALL ended up getting the steak. I don't eat steak much, and it was the best steak I have ever had. Sooooo good.

Looks like a great Epcot evening! Loved the updates!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

The Great Piggy Bank Adventure is a favorite of DD's! It's been a must-do for our family for the past few trips.

Great Epcot updates!

 

[emilyindisney]

Coral Reef! We went there in Jan 2012 and LOVED IT. Funny thing was, Mama and I booked it specifically so that my brother could get a good seafood restaurant. The other 3 of us don't care for it much. We ALL ended up getting the steak. I don't eat steak much, and it was the best steak I have ever had. Sooooo good.

Looks like a great Epcot evening! Loved the updates!

Thanks for coming back, Lauren! You've gone on your April trip already, right? Hope you had a blast! I promise I've still got your PTR bookmarked so I will definitely catch up on your sister trip after finals.

Coral Reef was one of my favorites from the trip! I think DSis would say her's was BOG but she can't deny how great the steak was.

The Great Piggy Bank Adventure is a favorite of DD's! It's been a must-do for our family for the past few trips.

Great Epcot updates!

A little corny but a lot of fun! I'm definitely glad we spent a little time in Innoventions. If the crowds had been larger I'm sure we wouldn't have. One of the benefits of January trips, I suppose!

I've still got your TR bookmarked so and promise I'll catch up in a few weeks. Love reading about all the cute moments with your kids, haha! Plus, I've been loving all your pictures!

 

[disneyhorselover]

First, we played the Piggy Bank game! Sure, we were the oldest people without children in that section but we had a lot of fun!

We saved enough money for our dream vacation too! Of course, our dream vacation is to Disney!

After that we designed our own coaster on Sum of all Thrills. We probably wouldn't have done this if it had a long wait but were glad that we did because it was definitely fun.

I definitely wouldn't have wanted to do either of these things if it was crowded, and they were so awesome...a great example of how worthwhile it is to stop and see the little things between racing to test track and soarin!

 

[disneyhorselover]

The Chocolate Wave was good, but definitely rich. The mousse, however, was absolutely fantastic. I'd recommend it in a minute to anyone whose planning on dining there.

After thoroughly stuffing ourselves we made it to Soarin' for our 7:30-8:30 FP window. Admittedly I forgot how cool that ride is. I was a little disappointed that Disney- who is generally so focused on the details- is showing the ride with so many crackles and spots on the film screen. They can't clean that up?

That Mousse was the single best thing I have ever eaten in my life. Really.

Also, as much as I enjoy Soarin, I agree about the screen....how can they not clean the film up?!

 

[wide receiver]

Looking forward to more of your interesting trip report!

 

[arbolita]

I've been going crazy with school and work also, so I understand feeling behind with trip reporting!

I've still never done the orange side on Mission:Space. Maybe one day...

LOL I love the piggy bank game!

I'm glad to hear you had a great Coral Reef experience! I feel like I hear a lot of people having just okay food/experiences there, but I thought it was our best meal during our 2010 trip!

 

[emilyindisney]

I've been going crazy with school and work also, so I understand feeling behind with trip reporting!

I've still never done the orange side on Mission:Space. Maybe one day...

LOL I love the piggy bank game!

I'm glad to hear you had a great Coral Reef experience! I feel like I hear a lot of people having just okay food/experiences there, but I thought it was our best meal during our 2010 trip!

I've heard so many reviews since we went where people think its so-so and I've been really surprised! Sometimes I think people's expectations are a little high. After all, the staff there is human too!

I've been reading Jess' DCP report and I saw that you guys met up! I'm stilled subbed to your TR so I'm sure once I catch up with it I'll be able to hear your side of the meet up.

 

[emilyindisney]

I suppose you could say we were a little spoiled at the thought of the rental car because we decided to drive from our room in the LM section to Animator's Hall this morning for breakfast. Of course, those of you who've stayed here know that's not completely unjustified because it is a pretty long walk, haha!

I can't remember what we had for breakfast today but I know we both used a QS credit. I felt a little guilty about this because the breakfast options were cheap. The savings (or lack off) provided by the dining plan was the topic of the week, and we decided paying out of pocket for this meal would be a better use of the plan.

After breakfast we were ready to head to Universal! Though we were totally excited to see something new, particularly The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we were a little skeptical of having to leave the World. I couldn't help but think that we were loosing a little bit of the magic by having to acknowledge that a world exists outside of Disney World, hahaha!

I printed directions from the internet before vacation started and found that these were very easy to follow. As promised, Universal was right off the highway and everything was well marked. I believe we parked in the Jurassic Park area on the top level of the garage and headed towards the park. We found that the walk was very long because we had to get out of the parking garage, across the street, and through CityWalk before we reached Islands of Adventure. We only bought tickets to see this park because seeing Harry Potter was the goal of this entire adventure.

As you can probably guess we made a beeline for TWWHP as soon as we were through the gates. I hadn't looked up any touring plans for this park but we figured that this section was fairly new and would certainly be popular. I'd heard horror stories of people waiting for hours for The Forbidden Journey ride so I was a little nervous. DSis, however, was completely prepared to wait as long as she had to.

Luckily, the line was only about a twenty minute wait! We stuffed our bags in the little lockers, greatful they were free, and made our way through the queue.

The detail in the line was amazing. I was completely blown away by every aspect of the ride, and we hadn't actually gotten on yet, hahaha!

I don't want to ruin the ride for anyone who still plans on visiting so I won't go into any detail but it was absolutely amazing. Even if I wanted to describe it to you guys I don't know that I'd be able to because it was like nothing I'd ever seen before. I can honestly say I would wait hours to go again if I had to.

We grabbed our stuff from the locker and wandered through Hogsmeade while we sampled our first Butterbeer. It was sort of like a frozen camarel-ish drink and it was really good!

We actually got snow at home this day so I posted this picture to Facebook and told my friends not to worry- we got snow in Florida too! Hahaha!

The detail in Hogsmeade was amazing. My only complaint is that it was very crowded, and the shoulder to shoulder crowds in the shops were getting a little stressful. I think they made it small, and sort of cramped but I know that's what it looks like in the movies so I'm sure that was intentional.

We wanted to go on the other two coaster rides but the one through Hagrid's house had a really long line, and the Dragon coasters were closed. We stopped for from castle pictures before heading to a different part of the park.

Next Update: A not so terrifying free fall

 

[disneyhorselover]

Luckily, the line was only about a twenty minute wait! We stuffed our bags in the little lockers, greatful they were free, and made our way through the queue.


We grabbed our stuff from the locker and wandered through Hogsmeade while we sampled our first Butterbeer. It was sort of like a frozen camarel-ish drink and it was really good!


We wanted to go on the other two coaster rides but the one through Hagrid's house had a really long line, and the Dragon coasters were closed. We stopped for from castle pictures before heading to a different part of the park.

I was amazed that we were able to ride Forbidden Journey with essentially no wait (sure, it took about 20 minutes to wind through the queue, but I could have taken much longer just happily looking at all the details in the castle-I would not consider it waiting in line at all.

Butterbeer was delicious! I wish we had also tried the non frozen variety, but the frozen kind was soooooo good. Does anyone know how this compares to Lefou's Brew in New Fantasyland? We didn't try that so we couldn't compare.

I was very disappointed that the dragon coaster wasn't open...it was one of the things I was most looking forward to riding.

 

[emilyindisney]

I was amazed that we were able to ride Forbidden Journey with essentially no wait (sure, it took about 20 minutes to wind through the queue, but I could have taken much longer just happily looking at all the details in the castle-I would not consider it waiting in line at all.

Butterbeer was delicious! I wish we had also tried the non frozen variety, but the frozen kind was soooooo good. Does anyone know how this compares to Lefou's Brew in New Fantasyland? We didn't try that so we couldn't compare.

I was very disappointed that the dragon coaster wasn't open...it was one of the things I was most looking forward to riding.

I haven't heard great things about it, but I'm sad we missed it! Plus, we could have ordered it in a kinda cool cup!