Food, Fun, Firsts, and Friends - An October 2016 TR - Updated 1/19: Day 2, Parts 1-3

[IowaTater]

Well what do you know? It's another Pasta and Taters Trip Report! If you followed me over from my PTR, thanks for coming along! If you didn't and want to read my PTR, the link is in my siggy.

Who are we? Well, this is us.

Pasta (DH) & Potatoes (moi). We're from just outside of St. Louis, MO and have been together for 12 years, married for 6. This is our second trip to WDW as a couple and are currently planning on doing some kind of Disney trip every other year.

DH aka Pasta (he's half Italian) is a 41 year old retail sales clerk. He is a self-proclaimed nerd and fountain of useless knowledge. He's a huge fan of Marvel, Doctor Who, and Transformers and can tell you what movie is playing before the opening credits even start. Before our anniversary trip in 2013, he had been to WDW a couple of times as a kid. He enjoys Disney a lot but lets me plan the trips pretty much on my own. I'm not sure what all his favorites are but I'll tell you the ones I know for sure.

FAVORITES
Favorite restaurant: Sci-Fi Dine-In
Favorite ride: Star Tours
Favorite park: Hollywood Studios
Favorite movie: Wreck-It Ralph

Me aka Taters (I'm half Irish). I am 39 years old and I work as an executive assistant for a manufacturing company and also run a craft business on the side. Before our anniversary trip, I had only been one other time and that was back in 1995 for my senior class trip. I am an uber-planner and have been known to be a "vacation Nazi". In spite of that, DH has told myself and several other people that I did an "awesome" job planning our last WDW trip. *pat on the back*

FAVORITES
Favorite restaurant: Liberty Tree Tavern
Favorite ride: Tower of Terror
Favorite park: Hollywood Studios
Favorite movie: Lilo & Stitch
Favorite character: Stitch

So how did this trip come to be? Well, like I said, we got bit by the Disney bug HARD. Almost immediately after leaving Disney property, we were talking about going back. I told DH that it was happening one way or the other (hence the PTR title). Unfortunately, finances being what they are, we figured it would a long time before we could save up enough money to go. However, we came across the Disney Vacation Account and we had a cure for our Disney withdrawal sooner than we planned.

We decided to go again in October because we loved the Halloween season there so much. Plus with DH's job, he cannot take vacation past Nov. 1. This also allows us to celebrate our anniversary in our Happy Place.

Even though this trip got off to a very un-Disney start, we still had lots of Fun, experienced a lot of Firsts, ate lots of Food, and met up with some Friends (old & new). I will warn you though. I was horrible with remembering to take pictures and I am always bad about noting time but I hope you'll stick around while I relive our wonderful trip.

So I'm going to stop here for right now, before this glitchy DIS deletes everything I just wrote. I'll try to get together another update tonight when I'm at home & have access to all of my pictures.

 

[franandaj]

Joining in! Looking forward to hearing about your trip!

 

[IowaTater]

October 18 - Pre Travel Day

I know most people start their TRs on Travel Day but our adventures started the night before. I'll apologize ahead of time. This post has very few photos but it does get better.

I worked all day as usual and then went to the gym. DH worked until 5:30 so I figured that was the best way to kill some time before I had to pick him up. We stopped at Chili's for dinner and was home by 7 pm. We had every intention of going to bed early because we had to be up at 2:30 am for our flight. We did some last minute packing and prepared for bed around 8:30 pm. And that's when it all went downhill. As we were laying in bed, I could tell DH was really restless and coughing a lot. When I asked him what was wrong, he told me he was having trouble breathing. Great.

*so a little backstory on this. DH has really bad allergies, including an allergy for cats. "But wait, Taters. I thought you had a cat?" you may ask. Why yes, yes we do and it was completely his idea to get said cat (I wanted a dog). But he had a cat growing up that he "got used to" so he thought that would happen again. But a couple of times in the past year, it's gotten to where he needs an inhaler & it was recommended that he take an OTC allergy med every day but he often forgets*

By 10 pm, he decided to get up to find his inhaler. Of course, it's no where to be found so he decided to sleep out on the couch. Because I was worried about him, I didn't get into that deep sleep I so desperately needed for our busy day the next morning. The alarm went off at 2:30 am & I got out of bed immediately. DH was feeling better thankfully & he woke up immediately as well (usually he's very slow moving in the mornings). We threw the last of our items into the suitcases and got the kitty all set up for the day (our friend was coming over to check on him every day while we were gone). At 3:30 on the dot, my FIL pulled into the driveway and we loaded the suitcases in the car. After double checking to make sure we didn't forget anything, we were on our way to the airport.

Needless to say, we had no trouble with traffic at all because most normal people were still in their nice warm beds asleep. We got to the airport around 4 am, said goodbye to FIL, and went in to check our bags. I had already done the online check in and reserved our seats (we were flying Delta) as well as prepaid for our checked bags. We had no trouble with the bag check area and we headed off to security. DH always brings his laptop so while he was unzipping all of his laptop bag compartments, I dropped my purse & backpack on the conveyor and proceeded through the full body scanner.

"Excuse me, ma'am but we'll need to check a couple of areas."

Apparently my bra, hair barrette, and button down jeans lit up my scan like a Christmas tree. (Note to self, wear NOTHING metal the next time we fly).

Next came DH. His scan was fine but I noticed they had pulled aside our small carry on suitcase. I went over to take care of that while DH took care of his laptop bag. I didn't remember that I had a bag of epsom salt in the carry on and that combined with the rolls of change we had for the penny machines looked suspicious. We got to keep them both and as I was sitting down to get my shoes back on, I hear a crash. As DH was trying to get his laptop together, his external hard drive fell out of one of the pockets and hit the floor. The outside casing shatters, DH curses his life, and I'm cursing the fact that he constantly brings things he doesn't need every time we leave the house. We got everything packed back up & made our way to our terminal to search for breakfast.

On the way, we pass a Starbucks. Jackpot!! I got myself a bagel with cream cheese & my favorite drink, a Mocha Java Chip with 3 shots of peppermint. DH asked for a hot chocolate and chocolate muffin. They were crazy busy but we got our order and were on our way. We got to our gate and it was packed!! Luckily we found a couple of chairs together and sat down to enjoy our breakfast. I guess I should have checked our bag before we left Starbucks because they gave DH a chocolate chip cookie instead of a muffin. Instead of going back to Starbucks to correct it, DH decided to see what else he could find. I stayed behind and enjoyed my deliciousness.



After just a couple of minutes, DH came back with a breakfast sandwich from Dunkin Donuts. I had promised people I would post updates on FB and Instagram so I posted our first update to everyone.



We were going to be boarding soon so I figured it would be a good idea to go ahead & use the restroom. By the time I got back, they were boarding our group (we had booked SkyBonus tickets so we were the second group to be able to board). I knew DH was going to sleep so I asked if I could have the window seat.
I'm pretty sure DH was out as soon as we took off. I put my ear buds in and listened to my iPod, hoping that would lull me off to Neverland as well. Unfortunately, I just dozed off and on but it enabled me to catch a truly amazing site.



Unfortunately, DH began to get a little queasy on this leg of the trip but he kept sleeping so it wasn't too bad. We landed in Atlanta and had a hour and a half layover. We debated getting something to eat but I wasn't really ready for a full meal so DH went off to find us some beverages. He came back with a soda for himself and a water for me. I also had a snack from the bag I brought.

After only about 45 minutes, we were boarding our second plane to MCO! DH asked to have the window seat this time so I was forced into the middle seat. I think our pilot thought he was driving in NASCAR instead of flying a plane because he was doing a lot of dipping & banking, which was making me really sick. Ironically DH was fine & slept the whole time. I plugged myself into my iPod and tried to sleep but again I just dozed off and on. We actually landed in MCO about 10 minutes early!

We gathered our carryons and headed to the Fake-o-Rail but first I made another stop at the restrooms and so we could get our MBs on. We debated stopping for a quick bite to eat but we both just wanted to get to our resort. Right about that time, I got a text message that our room wasn't ready yet. We piled on the train and made it to the Main Terminal. We stopped at the Disney Store there so I could get the Pilot Stitch pressed coin I wanted. We got turned around a bit but made it to the ME with no incidents. The line to ASMo was walk on AND we got the real ME bus, not the generic one. DH dropped off our rolling suitcase and we boarded the bus.

It was packed to the gills so we had to go all the way to the back of the bus to find seats. Oh, and why do they need to make the main aisle so freaking narrow??? Little kids barely fit down them so you know my big booty has a terrible time. Trying to move quickly and safely while not taking out some innocent person with my baggage is not an easy task. We collapsed into our seats and we were off. Time for another social media update.



It was at this time that I realize one of my hitchhiking ghosts had come off my MB. GRRRRRRR! The new ME movie came on and I hate to say it but I didn't really care for it. And what is with this "classic" Mickey stuff? He is not classic Mickey to me. Classic Mickey does not look like that. At any rate, I at least managed to grab a good shot of the best sign in the world.



We got to the All Stars area at about 12:30 pm and did the drop offs at Sports & Music first. Movies is the last one and would be the whole week. We gathered all of our carry on bags and headed into the lobby. We still had not received a text message about our room so we decided to grab some lunch and our refillable mugs. At that time, the mugs were still the handle-less ones so I was not thrilled at all. I think I ended up only using my mug twice the whole trip.

DH went up to get food while I sat at a booth with our luggage. Just as he sat down, the power went off. No joke. I bet you all can guess what that means....





Yep, no food could be cooked. Cash registers don't work. MBs can't be scanned. Heck, even the soda machines won't work.

Now it was time for me to curse my life. Between my blood sugar getting a little low, the lack of sleep, and the fact that my stomach was beginning to eat itself, I was not feeling Disney like at all. But, like a good DISer, I did remember to take a picture of DH's food. He got a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a M&M cookie.



He said it was okay. I ended up having a package of Pringles from our snack bag and a few of his fries. We sat there for about another 30 minutes waiting for the power to come on or to get a text about our room (although now I realize the computers might have been down too so that could have affected the texting system). The CMs were starting to stop people at the entrance to the food court so we decided to cut our losses and head to HS since that's where our dinner ADR was. I tossed my purse into the rolling suitcase and DH took that and his laptop bag to the bag check CMs. By now, it was about 1:30 pm and luckily we didn't have to wait too long for a HS bus (the bus schedule boards were up but we honestly didn't pay too much attention to them).

Would Tinkerbell bless us with Pixie Dust once we arrived at HS? Or would our bad luck continue to follow us? Stay tuned for the next installment to find out!

 

[IowaTater]

Joining in! Looking forward to hearing about your trip!

Yay!! You're the first one too!

 

[Elevationist]

I'm here, I'm here! I am on my way out the door for TURKEY, but I will be back to read and comment (eventually)!

 

[Elevationist]

"Excuse me, ma'am but we'll need to check a couple of areas."

Apparently my bra, hair barrette, and button down jeans lit up my scan like a Christmas tree. (Note to self, wear NOTHING metal the next time we fly).

Maaaaan, this always happens to me, too! It's usually my bra or the metal port I have in my chest. Usually I just explain that last one and they let me through. (I do carry a card with proof and information about it, but nobody's ever actually asked for documentation.)

As DH was trying to get his laptop together, his external hard drive fell out of one of the pockets and hit the floor. The outside casing shatters, DH curses his life, and I'm cursing the fact that he constantly brings things he doesn't need every time we leave the house. We got everything packed back up & made our way to our terminal to search for breakfast.

WHAAAATT! Oh man, I would have been effing my life too!

I guess I should have checked our bag before we left Starbucks because they gave DH a chocolate chip cookie instead of a muffin.

WHAT. Who the hell confuses a muffin for a COOKIE, especially during breakfast time???

I knew DH was going to sleep so I asked if I could have the window seat.
I'm pretty sure DH was out as soon as we took off.

I am so super jealous of your DH. I cannot sleep on a plane to save my life.

At any rate, I at least managed to grab a good shot of the best sign in the world.

Oooooh, you really did!!! How exciting!

At that time, the mugs were still the handle-less ones so I was not thrilled at all. I think I ended up only using my mug twice the whole trip.

I think I'm in the minority here... I love my handle-less mug! I use this one way more at home than I ever have my others, because it fits in my cup holder in my car! Love it!

DH went up to get food while I sat at a booth with our luggage. Just as he sat down, the power went off. No joke. I bet you all can guess what that means....





Yep, no food could be cooked. Cash registers don't work. MBs can't be scanned. Heck, even the soda machines won't work.

Now it was time for me to curse my life. Between my blood sugar getting a little low, the lack of sleep, and the fact that my stomach was beginning to eat itself, I was not feeling Disney like at all.

Oh, hell. You've got to be kidding me. I'm totally face-palming over here for you!

Would Tinkerbell bless us with Pixie Dust once we arrived at HS? Or would our bad luck continue to follow us? Stay tuned for the next installment to find out!

Time for some MAD pixie dust, no more bad luck! I hope!

 

[heaven2dc]

I'm joining too! What a rough start to your first day! Always love seeing that sign <3 At least your hubby got his food before the power went out - just too bad you didn't receive the text that your room was ready (sometimes we never receive the text only to find out the room was ready already). Anxious to see how HS ends up!

 

[khertz]

I'm joining in!! Looks like we just missed you by a couple of days unfortunately.

 

[IowaTater]

I am so super jealous of your DH. I cannot sleep on a plane to save my life

I'm joining too! What a rough start to your first day! Always love seeing that sign <3 At least your hubby got his food before the power went out - just too bad you didn't receive the text that your room was ready (sometimes we never receive the text only to find out the room was ready already). Anxious to see how HS ends up!

I'm joining in!! Looks like we just missed you by a couple of days unfortunately.

Hopefully you haven't all abandoned this TR! I apologize for the long lapse but a lot has happened in my non-DIS life that has left me with little to no time to post. However, I will finish our first day after a short RL update.

 

[IowaTater]

If you followed me over from my PTR, you already know this but for those of you that didn't, my last day at work was November 29th. I won't go into all the sordid details but I did get a nice severance package. Unfortunately, that afternoon my FIL fell down the stairs and broke his leg. The following week, he had surgery to fix said leg. Because I'm not working, this has left me with time to help he and my MIL out while he's on the mend. Throw in preparing the holidays & I've been kept busy.

Being unemployed is the hardest thing for me because I've been working since I was 14. Not working makes me feel like less of a person. I feel like I'm not contributing to society & that I can't provide for my family. I really get down on myself. So far I've managed to keep myself busy and convince others that I'm doing okay. Deep down, I can feel that depression and self-hate lingering. Hopefully something will come along soon. (Oh, Mylanta I sound like Debbie Downer. Sorry all)

Another thing that's on the horizon is that I may be going back to WDW earlier than I expected. A friend of mine and her hubby were taking their 5 grandchildren to WDW in January. Unfortunately her DH just started a new job that requires a lot of travel and he may be in England the week they were to be in WDW. She has asked me to go in his place (if he does have to go out of town). All I would have to worry about is my meals and souvenirs. This trip would be completely different than any trip I've taken so far. I've never gone with anyone but DH, let alone with children. My friend hasn't made any ADRs or FP+s at all and you all know I have everything planned months in advance. Plus they are staying off-site (which also means no dining plan) while we've always stayed on-site and used the dining plan. It should be really interesting, if I actually do end up going. (and I'm sure I'll do a TR for it)

With all that said, let's continue on with our terrible, horrible, no good, very bad first day, shall we?

 

[IowaTater]

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Arrival Day - Part 2:

So let's see. When I left off, we were having one H-E-double hockey sticks of a day. After having bad luck at the resort, we decided to head to HS (our favorite park).

We had to wait a little bit for a bus but it wasn't too bad. Soon we were rolling up to the entrance to HS. Right after we got off the bus, we saw a PP in front of the topiaries. Because we get Memory Maker, we get every photo op we can. First she had us a do a regular old boring picture (which included gusts of wind).



Then she asked to look cold (again including a gust of wind).



Our first magic shot!! We finally got some pixie dust!

We gathered our bags and headed to the gates, where apparently the pixie dust wore off. DH was picked for his first random screening of the trip. They quickly determined that DH was safe and off down the thoroughfare we went. Some of the Hollywood characters were out and about, which is always enjoyable. Of course, we had to stop for more pictures.



Because we hadn't planned on getting to HS so early, we had no plans at all so I got on my phone to see what FP+ was available. Unfortunately, that's when I realized that I had miscalculated the amount of TS dining credits we had so we decided to cancel our ADRs at WCC on our last day. DH also decided that he needed a hat (even though I had asked him multiple times if he wanted to pack on before we left) so we ducked into a gift shop to buy a new one.

We were still trying to figure out what to do when we saw the stage in front of GMR. We got up closer to see what time the next stage show was & noticed that The March of the First Order was getting ready to start. DH decided he was starving (because obviously the bacon cheeseburger and fries that HE had didn't fill him up) so he ran off to the closest snack cart to get a Mickey pretzel (no pic, sorry all). We split it along with a soda while waiting in the blazing sun for the Stormtroopers. Luckily we didn't wait to long before we heard the music. Just a word of warning, it takes a LOOOOONG time for them to actually get to the stage from the front of the park. I had managed to get a spot right on their marching path so I snapped some decent pictures all things considered.



After the Stormtroopers marched back to the front of the park, we debated waiting for the upcoming stage show but I had had enough of the sun & heat for the time being. I remembered that they were showing a sneak peek at One Man's Dream so I conned, I mean politely ushered, DH to it. We didn't do this exhibit last time because I thought it would be too boring but I was definitely wrong. I really enjoyed all the items on display and all the history. I'm not sure it's something we would do every time but I'm sure it would depend on what sneak preview they were showing.

Oh, you want to know what they were showing while we were there?? Of course!



DH was thrilled! I have to admit, I enjoyed it too (I mean, it's Benedict Cumberbatch) but still not enough to see it in the theaters.

Since we couldn't book any FP+ because I had booked them all for MK that evening, we decided to head back over to the area where our ADR was and just hang out. We noticed a PP just standing around looking bored out of his mind so we had him take some pics of us.










Those from my PTR will probably know where we were eating that night. If not, here's a hint:



Okay, so that's not so much of a hint as it is just tell you. Whatever. Stop judging me.

Anyhoo, this was a new place for us but I've heard so many good things about it, I knew we had to try it.

Our ADR wasn't until5:05 but by about 4:25, we were bored out of our minds and wilting in the heat. I knew it was a long shot but I went ahead & asked if we could check in. The hostess allowed it but let me know we would probably have to wait awhile. We were in the air conditioning so we were okay with that. We also noticed that there were 2 open spots at the bar so we grabbed then. It tooks us a bit to get the bartender's attention because they were so busy but that was okay because we were going to be sitting there awhile, right?

WRONG!!!

No sooner had he started pouring our drinks, the hostess called our names for our table. In case you're wondering, I got a Shirley Temple, DH got a Coke, and they called us at 4:35!! Wooohoo! Pixie dust strikes again!




Our waitress was Cindy and she was amazing! I was a little worried because I know DH isn't a big fan of hijinks but she was the perfect balance. She was a little slow but she had several large parties that required much more attention than us. DH chose the fried chicken while I chose the special, pork osso bucco.





DH loved his but couldn't finish it. I think he had a little bit of the corn & taters left along with about half a piece of chicken. Mine was okay but after not eating all day, I wish I had gotten something bigger. I debated finishing DH's dinner but decided to save room for dessert. After perusing the menu again, we both picked shakes for our desserts. Chocolate for plain-Jane DH and pumpkin spice for pumpkin-lover me. As much as it pains me to say it, we were not impressed at all (in fact, I didn't even take pictures of them). The flavor in both was very artificial tasting to the point where it was making me sick We actually ended up pitching them both into the trash on our way to the buses.

We knew we were coming back to HS in a couple of days so we settled our bill with Cindy and headed out to MK, which I will go into in the next post.

 

[DMGeurts]

I am here!!! I didn't even know you started this!!! Now time to read and catch up!

No wonder you were so tired when we met up - if this was your day... LOL You guys totally put my Disney touring to shame.

D~

 

[franandaj]

I hope the job situation gets resolved soon. Sorry about your FIL, I hope he recovers soon. You definitely have a lot going on! How fun to have a chance to go back to Disney!

That Florida heat was brutal when we were there! I'm glad you found ways to escape it! The Fried Chicken looks really good, I could use some good fried chicken right now! Sorry the desserts weren't to your liking.

Hang in there.

 

[IowaTater]

No wonder you were so tired when we met up - if this was your day... LOL You guys totally put my Disney touring to shame.

Haha, yeah there's usually no downtime when we do Disney. Although this trip was a little different as you'll probably see as the TR progresses.

I hope the job situation gets resolved soon. Sorry about your FIL, I hope he recovers soon. You definitely have a lot going on! How fun to have a chance to go back to Disney!

That Florida heat was brutal when we were there! I'm glad you found ways to escape it! The Fried Chicken looks really good, I could use some good fried chicken right now! Sorry the desserts weren't to your liking.

Hang in there.

Thanks! I'm really hoping everything works out soon. FIL is on the mend & getting along really well with his walker. It's a lot better now that he doesn't have a cast. He broke his both his tibia & his fibula right below the kneecap so until his surgery was scheduled, he had to wear an immboliser. Between that and the pain, getting around was pretty difficult. After the surgery, they started him on physical therapy because they actually wanted him to bend his knee and such. He just can't put any weight on that leg yet but it's still a lot better than not being able to bend it.

That heat was pretty bad this year. Or maybe it just bothered me more this time. I don't know. I could use some chicken too and I probably didn't really need a whole shake anyway lol.

 

[IowaTater]

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Arrival Day - Part 3

We had planned to go to MK that evening because with EMH, it was open until 1 am. I had laid out what rides we were going to go on, what snacks I was eating, and even included a DISMeet. We were going to rock the midnight (well, after midnight) hour! I do apologize now. There aren't many pictures from this evening but I promise it gets better.

From HS, we hopped on the bus to the Poly and then caught the monorail to MK. We proceeded to the bag check area and BAM! DH is subjected to random search #2 for the trip! I definitely noticed an increase in security while we were there & even though it's a pain, I understand why they have to do it. As soon as we entered Main Street USA, I got teary. I love seeing that castle and realizing that we are finally in my laughing place.



Can you see how busy it was that evening? Yeah. Wall to wall. I didn't write down any times but this was probably around 7 pm.

I really wanted to get our picture taken in front of the castle but with the crowds, it just wasn't happening. I thought we would be smart and head to the right of the castle to avoid most of the foot traffic. It was about this time that the heat and food choices for the day caught up to me and my blood sugar dropped. And I don't mean by a little bit. I mean getting a headache and having trouble seeing dropped. I managed to get DH's attention and he quickly helped me over to the snack stand next to Winnie The Pooh (again, I didn't write the name down). DH has a sweet tooth like no one else so he always has candy with him. He grabbed me a handful and got a bottle of water from the snack stand. After just a couple of minutes, I felt good enough that we could continue to our first FP+.

We took our time getting over to Peter Pan as my vision got better. By the time we got to the ride, we were about halfway into our window and I was very close to as normal as I get. When we were here last time, the ride was down for refurb and I don't remember going on it on my first trip so I absolutely did not want to miss it. As we were waiting to board our ship, I received a text from @DMGeurts wanting to know when we would be available to meet. I knew we had a little bit of time between Peter Pan and our next FP so I told her we'd meet her at Splash Mountain after our flight through Neverland.

After a very short wait (I love FP), we boarded our ship and were off. The ride was really cute and DH said he liked it too. Is a ride we'd go on every since trip? Eh, maybe not. Although I would like to go through the regular standby line just to see the full queue.

Our pixie dust fully worn off, I texted D to let her know we were on our way and off to Splash Mountain we went. We made a quick stop at the Tangled bathrooms (along with my horrible attempt at a photo).



You can still see how crowded it was. This was probably around 8.

We made it over to Splash Mountain and camped out by the main drop for my first DIS Meet ever. Not long after we got there, D and her daughter found us. It was so nice to finally meet her and we had a nice little chat. I know they were waiting for their FP window to open for Splash Mountain so it was a short visit but we did manage to document it!



See how I was glistening? Thanks Florida humidity. After goodbyes & hugs, they headed off to Splash Mountain (smart ladies) and we headed off to PotC. We got there too early for our FP window so we sat in Tortuga for a bit. It was nice to give my legs a rest. I had gotten new shoes for the trip and had made sure to break them in but the doggies were still a-barkin'.

Our FP window finally opened at 8:45 and we hoped into another boat, this time to get us some treasure and cause a little ruckus. We got a little wet on the small drop but to me, it was refreshing. We even got to see the mermaids swimming along the side of the boat. We loved the ride as usual. It's a must do for us every time.

After successfully evading capturing, we exited out into the Florida heat. Because they had extended regular park hours the week before we left, I had booked us a FP for Under the Sea at 10 pm. We still had plenty of time to get there but I looked at DH and he looked at me and I knew we were both done. So we wimped out and hauled our old selves back to the resort. Unfortunately, I forgot about Wishes that evening and it was an absolute madhouse trying to get back to the entrance. We finally made and boarded the bus to ASMo.

It was now close to 10 pm and we still had not received any text regarding our room. I was a little irritated because this meant I would have to deal with the check-in desk when all I really wanted was to take a bath & go to bed. When we got back to the resort, DH went off to get the bags we had checked earlier and I went to deal with the room situation.

The CM was very pleasant and apologize for us not getting a text (she thought it maybe had something to do with the power going out) and she quickly gave me our room number. During online check-in, I had requested early check-in (which we obviously didn't get) and a room on the ground floor. So where was our home away from home?

In the Love Bug section. In the very back of the resort. On the 3rd floor.




With our checked bags in tow, we made the 30 mile trek to our room. Okay, okay. It wasn't that far but it sure felt like it. Several days before our trip, I had sent a box of snacks, toiletries, room decorating supplies, etc. to the resort. I purposely sent it earlier this trip because of what happened last trip. I tracked it that morning and it had been delivered the day before. So I assumed it would be in our room waiting for us. We opened the door. Luggage? Check. Mickey Head towel arrangement? Nope. Box of supplies? Nope.



DH offered to start unpacking the suitcases while I made a call to the front desk. The nice CM told me that even though I addressed the package specifically to the resort that it goes to a central receiving area so it can take up to 48 hours to arrive. Since it was so late in the evening and I was soooo done with everything, I admitted defeat and thanked her for her help. I explained the situation to DH and unpacked our clothes while he unpacked everything else. I took a shower and hopped into bed. I'm sure we watched a little bit of TV before setting up a wake up call for the following morning and passing out around 11:30. We had another busy day coming up and we needed as much sleep as we could get.

Would the next day be any better? Check back after Christmas to find out!

 

[disvisitorkim]

following along! hopefully your bad luck runs out so the pixie dust can come in!!

 

[franandaj]

Sorry you had a blood sugar issue, but I'm glad you recognized it and were able to take care of it relatively easily. I totally understand why you wimped out early. I never would have made it as long as you did! Bummer that your samples box wasn't there waiting for you. I can't believe that it takes another 48 hours to get to you once it arrives!

Merry Christmas! I hope you have a very happy one!

 

[IowaTater]

following along! hopefully your bad luck runs out so the pixie dust can come in!!

and thank you. It does eventually get better!

Sorry you had a blood sugar issue, but I'm glad you recognized it and were able to take care of it relatively easily. I totally understand why you wimped out early. I never would have made it as long as you did! Bummer that your samples box wasn't there waiting for you. I can't believe that it takes another 48 hours to get to you once it arrives!

Merry Christmas! I hope you have a very happy one!

Very rarely do I have low blood sugar but when I do, it usually hits me pretty quickly. Luckily, I can also get it back up pretty quickly too. I couldn't believe it about the box either! I guess next time, I'm going to have to send it a week in advance!

Thank you! I hope you guys had a happy one too!!

****************************************************************************************************************************************

Well, I hope everyone had a safe & wonderful holiday season! For DH and I, Christmas is still going on. We are heading to Iowa next week to have the final 3 Christmases with my family. I'm still looking for a new job but life in general is just frustrating right now. I am on DH's insurance now but unbeknowst to me, it takes them 60-90 days to get the new cards mailed out. This means I have no updated insurance to get my prescriptions or keep my doctor's appointments. Also, Missouri has a waiting period for unemployment so I haven't started receiving unemployment checks yet. This all has me at about wit's end but I know we'll survive it.

One last real life thing before I get into our Day 2 updates. Can you please keep my friend (the one that spends the day with us in the next update) in your prayers? Right before New Years, her DH passed away after a 10 day battle with Leukemia. He was only 40 years old and they have 2 precious little ones. I would appreciate it.

Now on to happier things.

 

[IowaTater]

Day 2 ~ Food! Glorious Food!

This was to be our first F&W day and my good friend was coming up from Tampa to meet us as well as having our 2nd of 3 DISmeets at some point. Before we had gone to bed the night before, I called for a wake up call. Now, I have no idea if we actually got the call or not but we ended up not waking up until 8:15 am! We were supposed to meet my friend at EPCOT at 9 so we flew out of bed and rushed to get ready. We got to the bus stop and the buses seemed to be taking FOREVER!! I'm not sure how we did it but we pulled into EPCOT at 9 am. The bag check lines were really long because the park had just opened but my friend had sent me a text that she was running late as well and had just pulled into the parking lot.

We made it through bag check with DH being pulled for a 2nd screening (I made a joke that he should have shaved the night before) and even though I knew we were running a little behind, I of course had to take an obligatory golf ball picture.

We met my friend over at the Photo Center area under SE. It was so great to see her! We've been friends for about 7 years but about 3 years ago, she and her family moved to Georgia and then about a year later moved to Florida. She is an AP holder & so had already been to F&W a couple of times. I knew the booths weren't open yet so we went to the Festival Welcome center so I could look at the merchandise and purchase a Tasting Sample lanyard. I will say, if you are planning on drinking and/or trying the more expensive samples and don't have the snack credits, this is the best thing since sliced bread. My goal for this year's F&W was to try as much food & drink as my tummy could handle (wait...isn't that everyone's goal every year???).

After getting the lanyard, we decided to head back towards Norway. Apparently my brain was still half asleep or I would have known right away this was a huge mistake. World Showcase wasn't open yet so everyone was converged in Norway (thanks Anna & Elsa). There was no where to sit in the shadow so we made our way back to the UK pavilion to see if any of the shops were open over there. I know DH really wanted some Doctor Who stuff but couldn't find anything he wanted but he did end up getting some shortbread cookies at the tea shop. By the time we were done shopping, the food booths were open so it was time to eat!!

Our first stop was France. DH didn't want anything but I was dying to try the Boeuf Bourguigon.



It was pretty good, although the wine flavor was a little bit more prevalent than I would have liked. DH ended up trying some of it and thought it was okay. (Just a note: I know my friend end up getting food as we walked as well but for the life of me, I don't remember what she got nor did I take pictures of hers.)

Our next stop is one of DH's favorites: Belgium. I decided to bypass that one and headed back to Brazil. DH ended up getting the Belgian waffle with chocolate (shocker) and I got the crispy pork belly from Brazil.



As you can see, DH dug right into his. HAHA. He loved those waffles! And I really enjoyed the pork belly as well. It's the first time I've had it anywhere and seriously, how can you possible go wrong with pork belly?? I did think the black beans were a little bland but I usually eat mine with lots of cilantro.

It was at this time, my good camera stopped working on me. It wouldn't focus on anything close up. Thank goodness that not only did I have my phone but I had enough sense to pack my trusty old point & shoot one as well. We walked past some more food booths while my friend offered her opinions on the offerings but I was feeling a little full (and hot) so we didn't get anything. Instead, we heading into the gift shop in Japan so I could do Pick A Pearl. I had done this on the last trip and loved it. This time I ended up getting a 7mm cream-colored pearl and absolutely no pictures of it! DIS FAIL. We also ended up getting some gifts for a couple of friends as well as my MIL.

Just as were leaving the store, I got a text message from @franandaj saying that she had just gotten back around where we were. After saying a quick hello, we all decided it was time to get more grub. Our first stop was Italy because I was ready to get my drink on!



The oh-so-delicious Italian Margarita! Dang, I could use one of those right now. It was absolutely refreshing and even though I could taste the alcohol in it, it definitely was there because I was feeling it shortly afterward! I thought it tasted just like a frozen lemonade and it definitely hit the spot on that warm afternoon. I know we also stopped at Germany but only my friend and Alison got anything. Unfortunately, right after that, my friend had to leave to go back to Tampa. We said our goodbyes and gave hugs while Alison, DH, and I chatted a bit at a table in the shadow. After we had cooled off & finished our margaritas, we decided to hit up some more food booths. I remember Alison got something at the Japan booth but I skipped it for the time being. The heat was getting to be a bit and I knew we were coming back another day so I thought it would be best for me to slow down a little.

We continued to chat while we walked/scooted until we came up to the Mexico booth. I really wanted to try the shrimp taco so we stopped while DH went off to find a soda. (Thanks to Alison for the picture).



This was very good. It was the perfect size with the right amount of heat. The shrimp & cabbage were nice & crispy while the tortilla was warm & soft.

DH caught back up with us and I mentioned to Alison that we wanted to try the floats and cronut so she so nicely escorted us over to those booths. I believe we stopped at the Refreshment Outpost first for a cronut for DH and my first ever Dole Whip.


The cronut was HUGE!!!! I was not expecting it to be so large but DH loved it so much, he devoured the whole thing after giving me one bite. LOL I now see what all the hype for Dole Whips is now. It was soooo good and refreshing. Not too tart, not too sweet. I decided I would need another one at some point. The sample was kind of on the small size but I'm sort of glad it was, just in case I didn't like it.

Our last stop for the day was Desserts & Champagne so we could get floats. DH is not a big drinker so he went for the non-alcoholic root beer float while I went for the Hard Cherry Cola Float. I can't remember what Alison got.



The top one is DH's root beer float. He liked it okay but thought there could have been just a little more ice cream. The Hard Cherry Cola float is the bottom picture and I thought the opposite of my float. I thought it had a lot more ice cream than alcohol but it was still pretty tasty. Between the heat & the alcohol, I was starting to feel a little tipsy. We had some FP+ to get to and Alison decided to go back & check on Fran so we took a quick picture for proof of our DIS meet before parting ways.



Alison, I'm so glad we got a chance to meet and hope to do it again in your neck of the woods soon!

To be continued in next post....

 

[IowaTater]

Day 2, Part 2: Beverley is For The Birds

After leaving Alison, DH and I made our way towards Furture World when DH proclaimed that he was starving. Use the MDE app, I found a couple options for him and he chose the Electric Umbrella. I was still full from all the F&W stuff so I went to grab a table while he ordered. It was really crowded but I managed to grab a spot in the center of the restaurant. DH got his favorite QS meal at WDW: chicken nuggets and fries. For dessert, he got a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting and apple slices for me. He said the chicken nuggets were good but he didn't like the french fries at all. The cupcake was really soft but not crumbly and the frosting was very creamy and not too sugary.



He also let me know that they had water at the self-serve soda fountain so I took the opportunity to fill up my water bottle while he ate (I filled it again before we left). I love that some of the restaurants still have self-serve soda fountains because after awhile, I got tired of asking for water at the windows. After DH finished his lunch, we still had a little time before our first FP+ so I suggested going to Club Cool. I knew there was no way I could trick DH into trying Beverley but I wanted to try it myself.



Surprisingly, I didn't think it was too bad at all. To me, it tasted like fountain Sprite that is running really low on flavored syrup. It wasn't horrible but not something I could drink all the time. Because it was so hot that day, Club Cool was packed but I did also manage to snag a sample of the pineapple Fanta which was pretty good. I have a hard time around being around crowds so we hightailed it out of there fairly quickly.

When we got back outside, I double checked our MDE only to realize that I had gotten the time of our first FP+ wrong and we still had over an hour to kill. We debated hitting up a couple of food booths but neither of us were very hungry so we made our way over to a couple of PhotoPass photographers for some pictures. We got lucky and they graced us with several Magic Shots and a couple of videos as well. These are my favorites.

Afterward, we stopped at the nearby gift kiosk and got some new pins for both of us as well as gifts for some of our friends & my dad. We slowly made our way over to Living with the Land while taking in the sights. We sat outside on one of the walls & DH called his parents since he had forgotten to call them the day before. While he chatted, I took some pictures with my phone.



We still had quite a bit of time before our Land FP+ so I checked MDE to see what had low wait times. It was showing that the Pixar Film Festival only had a 10 minute wait and it was close by so that won out. They were just letting out a show so the wait was truly 10 minutes. The Film Festival shows 3 short films in 3D in what DH told me was the old Captain EO building.



We had already seen a couple of the shorts in the movie theater but it was so cute to see them in 3D. My favorite is still For The Birds


After the films were over, it was finally time for our first FP+.

To be continued in next post....