Boardwalk to the Beach Club.. with a cruise inbetween! April 2015

[disneybarbie]

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We headed back to the Boardwalk, the weather looked cloudy and like it might rain... but luckly it didn't, as we wanted to play mini golf at Fantasia Gardens!














Our park tickets had unlimited mini golf included in them, and we both enjoy playing the courses at Disney.




While my golf game wasn't great – I did see a turtle swimming in the lake nearby!



















We spent the afternoon by the pool, then back to the room to get dressed up for dinner – tonight we were returning to one our favourite places... Blue Zoo at the Dolphin.









It was pouring with rain as we made our way over to the Dolphin, so we were glad it was only a short walk from the Boardwalk!




We sat at the bar first for a drink, I had a super berry cocktail.









We were given a really nice table in the corner of the restaurant, with a round high backed seat.









I had scallops to start, and seared tuna for main – both were extremely tasty.

(Lighting not great for photos!)








Through the windows we could just about see Illuminations.









The meal was really well paced and each server we spoke to was so nice – one asked about the UK, and what time of year was best to visit for good weather (… not very often!).




We made our way back to the Boardwalk, it'd had been a great day with excellent food.

 

[disneybarbie]

Friday 17th April 2015


Undiscovered Futureworld tour and dinner at Via Napoli



I got up early and went for a run – making the most of our last full day at WDW for this part of the vacation!









I paused my running app at a stop light on the resort boulevard rode, and unfortunately it didn't switch back on properly when I started running again! So my run was actually about 5 miles – I didn't really stop that far away from my start point



I had wanted to book a backstage tour for our trip, as we like to try out new things on each visit to WDW – but I couldn't make my mind up for ages between Keys to the Kingdom (which I have done once before in 2009 but with my sister rather than DH) and the Undiscovered Futureworld tour at Epcot. I finally decided on the latter, as DH said it would be good for me to do something new, and he really didn't mind which one we did!



As we had to be at Epcot guest relations before park opening, we weren't able to walk through International Gateway, so we got a quick cab ride to the front of the park.









We went to the entrance marked 'breakfast reservations' and a cast member had our name on the list for the backstage tour, so we were allowed in and made our way to guest relations, to the left of Spaceship Earth.

This area always feels unusual to me because we so rarely arrive at Epcot at the front of the park!



















We checked in at the desk and were given name tags, we had to wait about 10 minutes for the rest of our tour group – I think there were 12 of us altogether.






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[disneybarbie]

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Our tour guide was called Julie and was absolutely fantastic. She had grown up in Miami and only visited WDW for the first time while at college! But she fell in love with it straight away, started on the college programme and stayed.. she'd even met her husband there too.


We were given headsets so that we could hear everything Julie said, this was particularly good when we were walking around the park.


The tour began with a quick summary of Walt Disney's life and how Epcot came to be – I imagine most of us on the tour were already huge Disney fans so knew most of this, but it's always great to hear a CM talk about Walt – they always sound so proud to work for his company.




At lot of the tour we couldn't take photos, as we were backstage, but some photography was allowed in the 'on stage' areas.




Julie often asked us pop quiz questions and I was surprised how many I got right (e.g. 'who plays 'Stupid Judy' in Ellen's Energy Adventure?')




I won't give away too much of the tour for any of you who may want to do it in the future – but some of the highlights were... getting to hold a piece of Spaceship Earth, going in the private lounges at Mission Space and the Living Seas.




Seas lounge – this space is used for wedding receptions and private events..
































Going backstage at the Land pavilion and skipping a 2 hour queue to ride Soarin' .. using the entrance that VIP guests get to use – we even got front row centre seats for the optimum view.




While in the Land pavilion – Julie pointed out that the seating area for Sunshine Seasons is themed to the four seasons.. I'd never noticed that before!







Julie, our guide, outside Mission Space showing us that each of the markers on the moon model was a space shuttle landing site..




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[disneybarbie]

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Going backstage at Innoventions and getting to touch and operate an animatronic head, seeing the cast member hub backstage behind world showcase and the wardrobing department... plus where the princesses get ready, we saw Sleeping Beauty putting on her makeup!


We went to the marina where the Illuminations barges are moored and learnt more about how the show works.. I had no idea that there's a cast member driving the boat below the globe that is sailed into the middle of the lagoon!



The tour lasted for about 5 hours, we had a 15 minute break in the Land where we could get snacks from Sunshine Seasons if needed.




We each received an exclusive tour pin at the end too.









As a special treat, Julie offered us access to a VIP viewing area to see Illuminations that evening... and luckily, DH and I were already planning to spend the night in Epcot!




We ended the tour behind the China pavilion, and got to re-enter 'on stage' in the store there.



I absolutely recommend this tour to all... and Julie let us know that a new World Showcase tour (including lunch) is going to be launched soon.. which I think may now have been announced officially.




On a Disney fan high, we strolled around World Showcase and I got a 'La Vie en Rose' cocktail to celebrate.









We got a couple of dishes from the F&G booths for lunch, ending with icecream from Les Artisans des Glaces – I had one scoop of coconut and one of mint choc chip.




[









For the afternoon, we headed back to the Boardwalk to do one of my least favourite things... packing! However, this time it wasn't really too bad... as we were packing our suitcases ready to board the Disney Fantasy the next day.




I had to pack some of our souvenirs very carefully... it's dangerous when two of your favourite brands combine!







We'd had our cruise information letter delivered to our room, it said to have our luggage ready by 8am tomorrow for collection by bell services (the next time we'd see our bags would be outside our stateroom door on the ship!), and to be at the Bellevue Lounge at the Boardwalk for 11.45am, ready for a 12pm departure to Port Canaveral.

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[disneybarbie]

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Once most of the packing was done, we got showered and changed and made our way back into Epcot for the evening.


We spent some time looking around the shops in World Showcase, we went to Tutto Gusto for a pre-dinner drink, but it was so busy in there – we realised we only had 10 minutes until our ADR too!














So instead we headed to Via Napoli – I'm glad we did as there was already a line and quite a lot of guests waiting to be seated.









While we waited for our table (about 10 minutes in the end), I was surprised how many other guests were trying to get a table for that evening... they seemed amazed when the cast members told them that the restaurant was fully booked most evenings!














We were seated at a table in the side section of the restaurant, it was a little quieter there and we had a view of the courtyard area too.


Last time we ate here we had ordered appetisers, and while they'd been really good – we now knew how big the pizzas were! So instead, we got a pizza to share along with the house salad.

Our server was called Venturo and was really attentive and helpful – I ordered a glass of pinot grigio at the start of the meal, and he convinced me to try the reisling instead (not a grape I usually like), but he promised me I'd like it.. as it was an Italian wine and I was probably used to German Reisling, which tastes very different. And he was completely right!


We ordered a pizza that was half proscuitto e melone, and half piccante (spicy meat).

It was huge, and so delicious!




I couldn't quite finish my portion!



After dinner, we walked around a little more –
















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[disneybarbie]

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Then got a drink before finding the VIP area that our tour guide had booked for us. It was by the Italy pavilion and there were only about 30 other people there in total.














Prosecco and Epcot on a Friday night







I tried to not take too many photos of Illuminations and just enjoy the great view of the show – but that didn't seem to happen!



















































After the fireworks we made our way back to the Boardwalk, it's always bittersweet to know that our week at WDW had come to an end, but then very exciting to think that in less than 24 hours we'd be onboard the Disney Fantasy!

 

[TXMNie]

Thanks for the great updates! I also heard about the Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge on the WDW Radio podcast - glad to see it lived up to the hype!

 

[Disdreamprincess]

I am totally following this thread
I like the fact that you are sipping cocktails in each place The pink one looks delicious!

 

[Dugette]

Once the three E Ticket rides were completed, we went to get some breakfast as the new Starbucks!

That's the way to do a morning!

I had heard about the Brown Derby Lounge on the WDW Radio podcast, and really wanted to try it out as we don't have a favourite quick service dining location at DHS particularly.

Great to hear about this! We had thought about trying it, but ended up booking an ADR at Brown Derby instead to make sure we got our Cobb Salad without a wait. Your food all looks great, though! Nice to have a good non-ADR option at DHS.

After lunch we went on the Great Movie Ride, the line was about 20 minutes – but when we got to the room where the trailers are being shown, we were directed to a much shorter 'party of two' line – this worked really well and the cast members were filling the cars with couples once the rest of the guests had been seated.

Huh, never heard of the Party of Two line before. Neat.

I won't give away too much of the tour for any of you who may want to do it in the future – but some of the highlights were... getting to hold a piece of Spaceship Earth, going in the private lounges at Mission Space and the Living Seas.

This tour sounds awesome! I knew nothing about it, but it sounds really fun and you got to do a lot of backstage/non-public stuff, it seems.

As a special treat, Julie offered us access to a VIP viewing area to see Illuminations that evening... and luckily, DH and I were already planning to spend the night in Epcot!

Sweet! Looks like you had a great view!

After the fireworks we made our way back to the Boardwalk, it's always bittersweet to know that our week at WDW had come to an end, but then very exciting to think that in less than 24 hours we'd be onboard the Disney Fantasy!

I'm so excited to hear about your Fantasy cruise!

 

[snoopygirl79]

Another great update!! I still can't believe we'll be there on Friday!! I really look forward to hearing about your cruise!!

SG x

 

[oceanmarina]

Emma,

Thanks for the fantastic update! I'm following and am completely obsessed with this trip report!! You have given me so many great ideas for our upcoming trip next month. And drinks to try! Hope you continue with some pictures of the cruise and the rest of the trip.

Loved the picture from Brown Derby.... chartusie plate, great drinks, being at Disney World..... can you say "my happy place?"

I just got the mapmyrun app, i'm not a runner, but I love taking long quick-paced walks, would this app be good for that too?


~ Marina

 

[elphie101]

So I'm curious.....when is the best time of the year to visit the UK? (I sure hope you say the end of June, that's when we'll be visiting next year!!)

The Brown Derby Lounge looks so yummy!! That looks like the perfect place to grab a drink and people watch at Studios. I love One Man's Dream too - it always makes me tear up!

Thank for your summary of the Future World tour - that's one DH did before he even knew me, and so it'll probably be some time before get around to repeating it. The new tour around World Showcase looks cool though!

Yay cruise time!!! Can't wait to see my ship again

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I've just finished reading your trip report. Perfect timing as your week in Disney is just finishing and I'm now early for the cruise portion. I've read your other trip reports and I'm enjoying this one as well.

 

[Benchley]

Excellent report. Looking forward to your cruise report.

 

[jedijill]

That sounds like a fantastic tour. I'll have to check it out some of these days.

yay for getting ready for the Fantasy! Can't wait for the cruise portion of the report.

Jill in CO

 

[misscmac]

Great report so far - loving all of the drinks you sampled, and hoping to try a few next month! Looking forward to reading about the cruise next

 

[LanaBear-ox]

Can't wait to hear about your cruise! We are from Britain too (North Wales) so it is always nice to read TR's from fellow Brits

 

[Leshaface]

About 12pm we decided to leave the park, walking back to the locker area I really appreciated the water sprinklers that were shooting across the walk ways, keeping our feet cool!

Haven't been to any of the water parks yet, but this is seriously the best idea. I've heard it before from you (I think?!) but still think it's brilliant.

I sat out on the balcony and read my book (I was reading Gone Girl and couldn't put it down!).

I've been wanting to watch the movie, but maybe I should read the book instead!

We had a private dining area for the first 20 minutes, before another handful of guests joined us!

Very nice.

A delicious spread!

Aw cute!

We were given headsets so that we could hear everything Julie said, this was particularly good when we were walking around the park

That is a great idea giving headsets.

While in the Land pavilion – Julie pointed out that the seating area for Sunshine Seasons is themed to the four seasons.. I'd never noticed that before!

Yes! One of the DIS'ers on here had mentioned that in her TR and thought how cool that was!

That is really neat.

we saw Sleeping Beauty putting on her makeup!

Ah!

Okay, I need this pin.

I had to pack some of our souvenirs very carefully... it's dangerous when two of your favourite brands combine!

For reals! I was looking through my old IG photos and saw one of my Starbucks Cup with the Disney logo on it back in 2012 when I was pregnant at Disney's California Adventure.

Darn it, you almost made it!

Prosecco and Epcot on a Friday night

Such a perfect Friday night.

Excellent viewing spot from the VIP area.

 

[disneybarbie]

Thanks for the great updates! I also heard about the Hollywood Brown Derby Lounge on the WDW Radio podcast - glad to see it lived up to the hype!

Thanks! I'd definitely recommend the Brown Derby Lounge, we had a great lunch and there was so much more on the menu to try

I am totally following this thread
I like the fact that you are sipping cocktails in each place The pink one looks delicious!

Thanks for reading so far! The pink cocktail was lovely - it was from the Flower & Garden booth in France.

That's the way to do a morning!


Great to hear about this! We had thought about trying it, but ended up booking an ADR at Brown Derby instead to make sure we got our Cobb Salad without a wait. Your food all looks great, though! Nice to have a good non-ADR option at DHS.


Huh, never heard of the Party of Two line before. Neat.

It was a really nice surprise, especially as the wait was pretty long for GMR at that time of day!


This tour sounds awesome! I knew nothing about it, but it sounds really fun and you got to do a lot of backstage/non-public stuff, it seems.

Such a good tour - I love seeing extra parts of WDW when taking the tours, gives me even more appreciation of what a wonderful place it is


Sweet! Looks like you had a great view!


I'm so excited to hear about your Fantasy cruise!

Another great update!! I still can't believe we'll be there on Friday!! I really look forward to hearing about your cruise!!

SG x

Thank you! Have an amazing time, I'm sooo jealous!

Emma,

Thanks for the fantastic update! I'm following and am completely obsessed with this trip report!! You have given me so many great ideas for our upcoming trip next month. And drinks to try! Hope you continue with some pictures of the cruise and the rest of the trip.

Loved the picture from Brown Derby.... chartusie plate, great drinks, being at Disney World..... can you say "my happy place?"

I just got the mapmyrun app, i'm not a runner, but I love taking long quick-paced walks, would this app be good for that too?


~ Marina

Thank you so much!
Yes you can use Map My Run for walking too... I think people use it for cycling as well - I really like the maps it produces, particularly when they're in WDW

So I'm curious.....when is the best time of the year to visit the UK? (I sure hope you say the end of June, that's when we'll be visiting next year!!)

The Brown Derby Lounge looks so yummy!! That looks like the perfect place to grab a drink and people watch at Studios. I love One Man's Dream too - it always makes me tear up!

Thank for your summary of the Future World tour - that's one DH did before he even knew me, and so it'll probably be some time before get around to repeating it. The new tour around World Showcase looks cool though!

Yay cruise time!!! Can't wait to see my ship again

So actually.... yes June is probably the best time to visit! Temperatures should be mid-70s... but we have 'heat waves' (in the 80s) or sometimes torrential rain, just never know but June is great as the days are so long... sunrise about 5am and sunset at nearly 10pm.

Cruise updates coming soon! It was so good to get back onboard the Fantasy after our 2013 cruise.. love the familiarity, I know what you mean by 'my ship'

I've just finished reading your trip report. Perfect timing as your week in Disney is just finishing and I'm now early for the cruise portion. I've read your other trip reports and I'm enjoying this one as well.

Thanks for reading so far! Cruise updates on the way.

Excellent report. Looking forward to your cruise report.

Thank you so much!

That sounds like a fantastic tour. I'll have to check it out some of these days.

yay for getting ready for the Fantasy! Can't wait for the cruise portion of the report.

Jill in CO

The tour was excellent, I was worried it might not be a much fun as Keys to the Kingdom, Segways, Wild Africa Trek etc. ... but we both enjoyed it so much and learnt a lot about WDW and Epcot.

Great report so far - loving all of the drinks you sampled, and hoping to try a few next month! Looking forward to reading about the cruise next

Thanks! Not long until your trip now

Can't wait to hear about your cruise! We are from Britain too (North Wales) so it is always nice to read TR's from fellow Brits

Hi! Thanks for reading so far

Haven't been to any of the water parks yet, but this is seriously the best idea. I've heard it before from you (I think?!) but still think it's brilliant.

Hope you get to visit the water parks on a future trip! I love the theming of both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, everything is so well laid out and designed.

I've been wanting to watch the movie, but maybe I should read the book instead!

I actually watched the movie on our flight home! I would definitely recommend reading the book (before seeing the film) - I think they got the characters and setting perfect in the movie, but due to time constraints I felt like they had had to cut out so much of the story... it was a great book IMO

Very nice.



A delicious spread!



Aw cute!



That is a great idea giving headsets.



Yes! One of the DIS'ers on here had mentioned that in her TR and thought how cool that was!



That is really neat.



Ah!



Okay, I need this pin.



For reals! I was looking through my old IG photos and saw one of my Starbucks Cup with the Disney logo on it back in 2012 when I was pregnant at Disney's California Adventure.

A few weeks after we got home I saw that the AK Starbucks had opened too... so I still need to go back and get the fourth cup... oh and the two from DL/DCA as well

Darn it, you almost made it!

DH was saying 'come on, just one more piece!' but I was soo full up!

Such a perfect Friday night.



Excellent viewing spot from the VIP area.

 

[disneybarbie]

Saturday 18th April 2015




Embarkation Day!




The DCL app countdown had ended...







I woke up just before 7am, ready to spend an hour finalising our packing and getting ready for an exciting day!




Few pictures of our studio now it was all clear and tidy!



















Luggage by the door, ready to go!







Bell services arrived just after 8am, we stayed in the room a little longer, then said goodbye and made our way over to the Beach Club for breakfast.
















It was a beautiful morning










Storm Along Bay







We got to the Beach Club lobby and it was pretty busy (as it always seems to be!), we checked in at Cape May Cafe and were given a buzzer to wait for our table.









After a short wait, our buzzer lit up and we were lead to our table. Our server was from New Jersey, and unfortunatelyI can't remember her name, however she was so polite and commented that I 'looked like an olympic athlete', which made my morning! All that running has paid off


We'd picked Cape May Cafe for location more than anything else for our breakfast– however the whole meal was excellent – we loved the variety on the buffet and the character interactions were cute too!




First plate of food including fritatta, chorizo scrambled eggs, asparagus, biscuits and gravy (this dish would be something completely different in the UK!) and the obligatory Mickey waffle.









We got to meet Minnie, Donald and Goofy... when Donald arrived at our table, he stood to pose with DH just I was handing him the camera to take a photo of me... and Donald acted really grumpy that DH didn't want a picture taken too! So we both had a picture









Later Goofy and Minnie came by..











Second plate.. fruit and some amazing bananas foster french toast