Wow. The food at O'hana looks amazing. I want the shrimp. You got some amazing crowd free pics of the castle!! Very impressive. I like your strategy for avoiding stuffed Pluto. Gawd my kids have so many plush toys and they just gather dust. I get it because I used to have lots as a kid but...sigh...it's annoying!!
The problem with Emily is she really is a one-animal friend girl, and a stuffed Pluto would surely end up in the closet next to the Simba she absolutely had to get on a prior trip.
Stay tuned as this saga plays out
We are missing O'hana this trip which leaves ME sad. Dh wasn't crazy about it the last time and we booked this trip inside the magical 180 day mark so it will be skipped this time around. No worries, though.....we ARE dining at Kona for dinner one evening and word is we can get the bread pudding for dessert there
Unless it changed, you can still get the sticky wings as an appetizer at Kona. We did that the few years that we skipped 'Ohana in favor of Kona.
Kona was one of our favorite restaurants at WDW until two straight years of less-than-stellar meals and one year of absolutely sluggish service got us down on it. Now, it's back to 'Ohana. If that falls apart, maybe we'll have to start having "dinner" at the Pineapple Lanai
Okay...it took a bit, but I have caught up.
No worries! I've been less successful trying to do that on your past TRs
As always, I LOVE your storytelling Jon.
But no Olivia's? I should stop reading right now since you don't know what you missed out (just ask MEK!). And I still can't believe you didn't stay at CSR.
Thanks! And yes, we skipped Olivia's. I was a bit saddened by missing the conch fritters, but the decision to go to Shutters made the most sense. Stay tuned to see how we liked Shutters! (lots of cliffhangers in this post, aren't there?)
The decision to skip CSR was a very tough one, but one we didn't regret. CBR is every bit as amazing, IMO. Do the others share this view? Will we be skipping CSR for CBR again next year? Stay tuned
I am glad Dylan caught the dog.
When this all happened, I don't know that I would've cared if he didn't.
But, in retrospect, yeah, I'm glad, too
I'm glad the second room also had a murphy bed (but sorry Em was a little scared of it) and that Kristin was able to get the rooms changed.
Don't be sorry! Since Emily basically wants to sleep with Kristin every night, her fear of the Murph means a queen-sized bed all to myself!
Yay for TOT...my favorite ride at Disney.
Kristin's, too. I like it, but don't love it. I'd actually like it more if the drop area were better lit and more themed, though it is cool when you can spot the family during it.
First full day at the World and you are at the MK...so appropriate. That's too bad that Mine Ride was down, but you got in some other great attractions. I've read that the FP+ line has been up to 1-1/2 hours for some rides. I love the new system, but it has some kinks.
I don't know that I'm ready to pin long standby lines on FP+ just yet. Last May, I didn't really notice a difference from when the paper FPs were still being used, and I expect lines to be long in June. We made it work, though, and didn't really wait very long for anything.
The new Hub is gorgeous...I think it will look spectacular when finished.
Agreed! I don't like the skrim (or the backhoes, or the dirt), but love the end results of all of Disney's refurb efforts.
I'm not liking the sounds of Kristin not feeling well after every meal. I hope this doesn't last the whole trip.
It was not good. At the point we're at in the TR, however, they don't seem to be as debilitating as my past stomach issues, so there is hope it will all subside.
I like the new lobby, but I MISS the old lobby at the Poly.
I feel the same way! I'd be happy with it either way. Hard to not like something about the Poly
Okay...I'll try to stay caught up now. Who am I kidding? I leave for Disney on Friday and am here on the DIS less and less. But I will be back for your updates at some point...promise.
Awesome! Have a blast! And thanks, as always, for following along.
Steve & I took Emily to the airport today for her European trip. She's en route from Indianapolis to Atlanta now and I am tracking the flight on Delta's website - so cool!. Her flight to Barcelona leaves this evening. I'll be tracking that flight too! (Even though she lands at 2am Indianapolis time!)
Our friends' daughter is in Europe right now, and I believe she's either 15 or 16. It has to be nerve-wracking, but it's a great experience for those going. Plus, it also removes another potential trip on the "to do" list that might interfere with Disney
Hope she's having a blast!
I love that you took a photo of this! The hubby bought me a print of the Alice one while we were there...and I didn't get a photo of it. It's not hung up yet though, I'm going to make a "Wonderland" themed frame for it.
Very cool! I'd love to see a photo of it in the frame, when finished.
I really like how Disney ramped up the darker merchandise. It's like they finally realized people like us exist!
I also think it's cool that we're writing non-intersecting Trip Reports from the same time frame and resort
Excellent resort pics again! It's a very photogenic resort for sure.
Thanks! I have MANY more where that came from
And naps for Kristin and Dylan? Pssssh. Who has time for naps at Disney? Unless it's in a stroller, it ain't happening.
I agree! Well, I might take ONE later in the trip, but there might be reasons for that.
The Poly lobby is pretty, but I liked the old one better. That pond/fountain was amazing. Your dinner looked so good at O'hana. We really want to try dinner there sometime, but haven't been able to break the breakfast cycle there yet. My girls love Stitch, so it's always one of their top choices. When they get bored with it, we'll try dinner.
The breakfast looks fun, but we don't do big breakfasts. If we did, we'd be doing big bathroom breaks the rest of the morning. Our stomachs are touchy enough without that
I really liked that fountain, too, but also like how they opened it all up.
Sorry Kristin wasn't feeling so good after dinner again. She seemed to keep going though.
She's a trooper! But yeah, I hope this problem ends soon.
Why are you teasing us with your mine ride experience. WHY?
Blame Disney!
It's surreal but surprisingly it has happened to me a couple of times too. I think also it happens more now because of social media...I've been on FB while at Disney and seen that people I know are there too!! But what a co-incidence when you actually run into them somewhere...what are the odds lol
It's happened to us a number of times, too, and may happen again on this trip. Stay tuned!
Glad you enjoyed Prime Time ... definitely a unique restaurant as you experience definitely can vary based on how into things your waiter/waitress is bummer about having to wait for a while though. I realize that ADR's aren't actually reservations but still always think about the Seinfeld episode with "You see, you know how to *take* the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them."
Agreed! However, while I don't like to have to wait for a table, I also don't like being rushed to vacate my table for the next group, so I guess I can't have it all
wow, those "Big Eyes" Disney pictures are really cool - though not sure where I would hang them in my house. I mean, a little creepy to put up near the dining room table or something. Maybe keep to hang over the guest bed when guests that we don't want to stay very long come to visit
I would then come and visit.
I like that artwork, but as Pee Wee Herman might say, I like them. LIKE them. But don't love them. Well, I love pretty much everything about them but the faces. Just doesn't do it for me. But the concepts definitely are cool!
That's pretty cool they have Baymax doing the wake up calls. Would be funny/annoying if he kept calling back until you said "I am satisfied with my care"
It is cool, but I'd prefer to have them done by my favorite Disney character, "Low Battery Baymax".
45 minutes for a MK bus? that's pretty unacceptable ... though, to be fair, it's not like a lot of people in the morning want to go to the Magic Kingdom
We also COULD have gotten there earlier! But NO, someone wanted to sleep in
That's great that Kristen talked to someone and you got new Splash Mountain FPs ... I mean, it isn't your fault a bus didn't come for 45 minutes
Yep! Worrying about missing FPs isn't really a thing for us
Until, possibly, later in the trip. Stay tuned!
I still enjoy Space Mountain quite a bit - just a unique experience not knowing exactly how the car is going to move. I am excited to experience the one in
Disneyland this fall as it's supposed to be better than the WDW version ... plus Halloween Overlay for it!
I'll have to read up on that! I've heard stories of people riding it with the lights on, which might be fun once, but I think that would kill a lot of what makes it fun.
The Haus isn't a bad option and I thought the caprese flat bread was pretty darn good. It can get crowded though and not the easiest place to maneuver a large stroller through though. Ugh, sorry to hear that Kristin wasn't feeling well.
It's become a staple for us recently. Especially since we're not big fans of most of the other QS places in MK!
eh, just tell them it is based on a movie that most people have never seen - nor are able to see now and see how he reacts to that piece of information!
I may have to try that!
Finally catching up on your last few updates! CBR looks absolutely beautiful. I was looking up prices for a possible weekend in October (after getting a pin code in my email that nearly made me cry) and CBR was one of the available resorts. The colours and the beach are just stunning!
Book it.
BTW, comments like "(after getting a pin code in my email that nearly made me cry)" pretty much sum up why I love your Trip Report.
Can't wait to hear how you guys liked the Mine Train!
Me, too! These ride shutdowns are annoying!
Oh, and I forgot to mention I loved your Golden Girls reference! One of the best shows EVER!
I planned on posting another update on Monday night, but got sucked into an episode of The Love Boat where Rue McClanahan played Richard Van Patten's (I had to type "Richard" because the DISboards censored his nickname. Seriosuly?) under-appreciated secretary.
Part of this was because I love the Golden Girls (not as much as Kristin does, though, admittedly), and part was because I recently watched Van Patten's scenes in Mel Brooks's "High Anxiety" ("If you love me, baby, tell me LOUD!").
I remember seeing an episode a little while back where they implied at the end that Sophia rode Space Mountain. This was somewhat interesting, since the show aired on NBC, and ABC is currently the "every single show has to have a Disney World episode" channel.
I read through a few of your older Trip Reports, and then hopped over to this one... I'm all caught up, but it sounds like I should expect to wait awhile for the rest of this one?
I'm spoiled, your other reports I read through were already done by the time I found them! I guess I'll just encourage you to keep up the good work; it's been fun to "revisit" the park through your eyes, and I'm getting more and more excited for my October trip! Hoping the weather won't be too awful, but we really wanted to see the Food & Wine Festival...
I'm trying to be better this time! But, in my defense, there are TRs still being updated that are several years old. I've never been THAT bad...unless you count the year I scrapped my Trip Report altogether.
Food and Wine is something I'd love to see (and consume) myself.
Thanks for joining in! I'll be sure to add you to my secret "who has commented on my TR" list, which I have to recreate since I accidentally overwrote it with the post you're reading right now. Shoot.
Anyway, I'm hoping to get another update out tonight. The Mine Train awaits....if all goes well!
