GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN - Update: AK Part 1

[MadilynnsMomma]

Your first day sounds like a blast! I love classy girls that know how to work a mixed drink in a hurry!

I am a little disappointed to hear about the slow service at O'Hana as we have ressies there in December , which also happens to be "free dining" ...

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

So loving your report!!! What a way to spend time with friends!!!

 

[MouseKTeer]

Just now coming aboard and enjoying your report!

Wow, first a trip to WDW and then to France? Girl, you must be livin' right! Would love to hear about that trip too--France is about my favorite place in the world (besides the US of course)

Don't feel bad about getting lost. I think it must happen to everyone. By the time ya figure things out, the vacation is almost over!

Love how you take Winnie on your trips (he'll go to France, right?). It reminds me of the "Flat Stanley" that gets photographed by people in various places; I think some elementary teachers use it in geography-related assignments.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Awww the Poly! I miss it there so much. The Great Ceremonial House is pretty neat. Wishes on the beach sounds awesome.

 

[tinkgurl]

Just found your TR and lovin' it so far!

We watched Wishes from the Poly beach in June and it was beautiful!

 

[disneyaddicted]

What a great first day. Drinks on the beach while watching wishes, I'm sure it doesn't get any better than that. If I can ever get DH to go with me, that is what I want to do.

Sorry the service was so slow for you girls. I hate that tired feeling but you still want to get your moneys worth and you wait and wait and try and stay awake.

I am looking forward to your next update.

 

[Beauty & the Best]

Oh, how fun !
I would love to do disney with my friends !
But, we usually just go to Vegas . And, we always get lost while driving also !
I'm not a gamblin' kinda gal, I'm a Mickey kind of gal !!
Maybe, when all our kids are older, and wouldn't give us the guilt trip.
Someday.....................
Oh, I bet there was alot of laughing and giggling going on !!!
Can't wait for more.......................

Vegas sounds like a blast too! There's so much to do there, not just gambling. I think we'll have to do a girls trip there in the future. Disney may have been a little too "family" for my group I think.

Great update Tink!

I'm glad that you girls had good weather. I was in Maryland at the same time and I swear it was just as cold as it is in Pittsburgh. Especially by the ocean, the sun was out - but when that wind was going it was COLD!

And I don't know if this applies to your slow service at O'hana situation- or if it was just a one time thing.... But when my DH and I were eating at O'hana on our honeymoon in 2008 - we were there for Wishes also. The service was pretty slow, but what killed us was at the end of the night when we were getting ready to leave, our server actually said to us "Do you guys mind hanging out for a little while longer? We still have a half hour until we close and if they clear this table now - I'll never get out of here because they will seat someone else"

Us being the blushing, glowing newlyweds that we were back then said 'Sure! Why not!' But, after the fact we were so exhausted and barely found transportation back to POR because it was so late.

So, maybe because it was so late was why they *slowed down a bit* because they didn't want to get another table.

Yeah the weather was anything but cold! I am used to it in FL but I think the heat & humidity was a bit of a shock for my friends, especially on our MK day, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

Hmmm, that could be the case in O'hana. I swear I couldn't find out waitress all night...I've been a waitress before and I don't know WHAT that girl was doing, but she was nowhere to be seen. I try to always give people the benefit of the doubt b/c I've been there, but this was pretty ridiculous. Usually they rush you there but this time it was the complete opposite!

Your first day sounds like a blast! I love classy girls that know how to work a mixed drink in a hurry!

I am a little disappointed to hear about the slow service at O'Hana as we have ressies there in December , which also happens to be "free dining" ...

Well, I think a lot of people were trying to get into O'hana that night. There were a bunch of people in the waiting area but by around 8:30 they had all cleared out. Typically the service at O'hana is actually a little rushed, but that night it was slow instead. I've been there 3 times w/in the past 2 years and this time was definitely the slowest, so hopefully it was a fluke & you won't have any problems. The food is still really yummy even if the service is "meh".

So loving your report!!! What a way to spend time with friends!!!

I go back & forth between our two reports to keep pace w/ you girl! I think we both have our first days done now.

Just now coming aboard and enjoying your report!

Wow, first a trip to WDW and then to France? Girl, you must be livin' right! Would love to hear about that trip too--France is about my favorite place in the world (besides the US of course)

Don't feel bad about getting lost. I think it must happen to everyone. By the time ya figure things out, the vacation is almost over!

Love how you take Winnie on your trips (he'll go to France, right?). It reminds me of the "Flat Stanley" that gets photographed by people in various places; I think some elementary teachers use it in geography-related assignments.

I'm so glad you joined us! This really was a fun trip!

Yes, we are off to France next Friday w/ an overnight in Disney on Thursday b/c we don't want to drive all the way out to Sarasota after we drop my dog off at boarding in Sanford (near WDW.) It is really exciting but honestly I haven't gotten all psyched up for it b/c I was so busy w/ this girls trip.

Me & my husband love to travel so we take a couple of trips a year. We don't have nice cars and we have no kids, so travel is really our luxury in life. It's what we love, so we try to do it as much as we can!

ABSOLUTELY Winnie is going to France! I wouldn't leave home w/o him! I'm hoping for an Eiffel tower pic for him....we'll see. I haven't heard of Flat Stanley, but now I'll have to Google that!

Awww the Poly! I miss it there so much. The Great Ceremonial House is pretty neat. Wishes on the beach sounds awesome.

It is! I am actually disappointed that I didn't do Wishes on the beach before now. Whether or not you're staying there, it is just an awesome experience. So relaxing to see the fireworks with your feet in the sand.....

Just found your TR and lovin' it so far!

We watched Wishes from the Poly beach in June and it was beautiful!

Hi Tinkgirl, Thanks for joining in! I really think watching Wishes from the Poly beach is the way to do it.

From your screen name I take it you like Tink a lot... are you looking forward to the release of the new Tinkerbell movie? I wish they'd stop teasing us w/ the trailer and just get on w/ it.

 

[Beauty & the Best]

What a great first day. Drinks on the beach while watching wishes, I'm sure it doesn't get any better than that. If I can ever get DH to go with me, that is what I want to do.

Sorry the service was so slow for you girls. I hate that tired feeling but you still want to get your moneys worth and you wait and wait and try and stay awake.

I am looking forward to your next update.

It really was a great first day. You & your mom could watch Wishes from the Poly beach too. It's better if you have dinner before/after Wishes at Kona or O'hana or even Capt Cooks, but I totally recommend...very relaxing.

Yeah we were literally falling asleep by the time dessert came. It only made my getting lost on the way home all the more interesting!

 

[wdwgirl03]

From your screen name I take it you like Tink a lot... are you looking forward to the release of the new Tinkerbell movie? I wish they'd stop teasing us w/ the trailer and just get on w/ it.

OK, I know I am not tinkgurl but I am excited for the Tinkerbell movie! Yeah, maybe they're made more for kids but the first one was so adorable and I loved the animation. Can't wait!

 

[Angies1274]

Great update!!

Aww....Wishes on the Poly beach. What a great way to start vacation!!

Sorry service was soooo slow at Ohana's. We are hoping to try Ohana's for dinner on our next trip. I hope since we are not going during Free Dining next year, the service will be better.

Soarin' is such a fun ride!! Love it! I'm anxious to find out if you can get Belle to ride it.

 

[tinkgurl]

From your screen name I take it you like Tink a lot... are you looking forward to the release of the new Tinkerbell movie? I wish they'd stop teasing us w/ the trailer and just get on w/ it.

Haha, yes I like Tink. So much, I got a tattoo of her!

I hate being teased with the trailer!

 

[rusafee1183]

TWO of my managers at work at at WDW this week. I helped them both plan their trips to help me get through the Disney Depression. Now that they're both gone - I need a fix bad....



Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

[rusafee1183]

Haha, yes I like Tink. So much, I got a tattoo of her!

I hate being teased with the trailer!

I think I am going to get Mickey and Minnie tattoos on my foot next time we're down there! Just silhouette's of their heads. And Minnie with her bow of course.

 

[Beauty & the Best]

TWO of my managers at work at at WDW this week. I helped them both plan their trips to help me get through the Disney Depression. Now that they're both gone - I need a fix bad....



Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

I will update today/tonight for sure...I know you need your fix! lol

 

[kitty44]

A friend and I just had dinner at Ohana's earlier this month, and the service was excellent. We never waited more than a minute for anything. Our ressie was at 6:30, so maybe they wanted to get their next group of people in. I love the Captain's Mai Tai.

 

[Beauty & the Best]

A friend and I just had dinner at Ohana's earlier this month, and the service was excellent. We never waited more than a minute for anything. Our ressie was at 6:30, so maybe they wanted to get their next group of people in. I love the Captain's Mai Tai.

I'm glad it was good for y'all. I've been there a few times and it's always been not the best service, but not terrible either...I don't know what happened that night.

 

[Beauty & the Best]

DAY 2 Epcot

**I would have put more smilies into this tr, but there is a limit on images so oh well! Imagine the smilies in the appropriate places LOL!

So we left off where we just had a great and relaxing first day…now it’s time for our first park day at Epcot!

Let’s go!

We woke up early and I pushed everyone to hurry so we could make it to rope drop and get some rides in before the crowds showed up. There was lots of coffee being made in our room, but not for me, I’m the driver! Lol

We pulled up to Epcot and it was just a little past opening, maybe like 15 minutes, so we did pretty good. We were able to park very close so that was nice.

Smile for the camera

I wanted to get some pictures out in front of Spaceship Earth so we did some photo ops. It was kind of hard to get one without other people in it, but hey! I can crop that guy out!

Where to start?

I wanted to avoid the Soarin’ stampede at all costs so we headed left towards Test Track to start. But wait! Is this a store? We must go in Mousegears right now! After all, that’s why we got to rope drop! Lol

So we went into Mousegears and Ariel bought a purse just like my cute Mickey one except hers is black with multi-color Mickeys and Jasmine talked to a CM and played with those huge bouncey balls that are out front. We had a lot of fun joking her about playing with some guy’s balls.

Then we walked over to Test Track. No line so we just went right through the queue. I was trying to find hidden Mickeys but I didn’t see any.

Belle was feeling a little nervous about this one, but she did just fine. Here’s her “after” picture…does she look pale to you?

Ariel said she’d like a little crossover like this one

The Cadillac CTS is a little more my style, but they didn’t have that one in there anymore.

Space Recruits

Next we decided to do Mission to Mars. The “intense” orange version is the only ride I really can’t handle. I’ve ridden it twice and didn’t need the little baggie, but I always feel a little off when I ride it so I don’t like to do it. Belle chicken that she is, didn’t mind AT ALL! So she and I did the green and Ariel and Jasmine did the orange.

We were very proud to be the Engineer and Navigator of the green team!

The Land

I thought that the Land was probably safe at this point so we walked across to grab our fp’s for Soarin’.

It was only about 10:30 or so, but Ariel doesn’t eat breakfast so she was starting to get hungry. I promised her we’d come right back to the Land after our next ride.

A kids ride? You decide

And then we went over to see these little guys.

We walked right on the Seas with Nemo and jumped in our clamshells. I love the Nemo ride, but my friends were of the opinion that it was a kiddie ride….I guess I’m just a kid at heart!

Lunchtime

Now we were all starting to get hungry. I know the perfect place! The Land! Seriously I think the Land is the best place for groups to go for lunch. There are so many choices that everybody is happy.

I got the goat cheese salad (my favorite!) without beets and Jasmine got the same. Belle got a veggie sandwich that she really liked and Ariel got something from the Asian bar. For dessert it was strawberry shortcake, a rice krispy treat and an orange something for me.

Soarin’

After we ate it was the perfect time to go back and use our fp’s for Soarin’ so that’s exactly what we did. Belle was really apprehensive about this one too, but we were able to talk her down and get her on the ride. It turned out to be her absolute favorite of the trip!

Hi Minnie!

Soarin’ was a big hit for everyone. We were all really high from that ride and then Ariel says that her sister wanted her to get a picture of Goofy. Well, I know the best place for that is the Character Spot in Epcot, so we walked in there and got in line.

This was by far the longest line we waiting in for the whole trip. It was a little difficult because there were lots of cranky kids in line so there was a bit of tantrum going on. None of us complained though, Ariel wanted to do it so we stood in line and watched the old Disney cartoons until it was our turn!

We met all of the characters and it was really fun – TOTALLY worth the wait! I’m always impressed with the character interactions and how they can just pull at your heartstrings. Our favorite was Minnie who had us put down our purses and do a pose with her. It was just really fun.

We also got pictures with Mickey, Donald, Pluto and Goofy. Belle said later that it seemed like Goofy was a little touchy feely so we had a little giggle about how Goofy must be quite the ladies man, lol.

Beverly

After our fun character interaction we were a little thirsty so we went to Club Cool. I didn’t warn anyone about the Beverly ha ha so they tried it and made faces that would have broken my camera. And I got my favorite Veggie Beta.

One little spark

Then we went over to the Imagination pavilion for the Imagination ride.

Not everybody loved this ride, but I just think its so cute! Figment was totally my favorite when I was a kid, that was the old version, but that little purple guy still holds a place in my heart!

We also played with the Imageworks photo creator machines. Here’s our photo:

Awww man, I really wanted the elephant trunk!!

It was starting to get pretty hot at this point and we needed a break so we decided to check out the Mexico pavilion and the new tequila bar there.

Muuuuy Caliente!

We played around the pavilion for a few minutes until we spotted La Cava de Tequila, which I’m pretty sure means the Tequila Cave.

There weren’t a lot of people in there since it was right around noon. We strolled right in there and got a nice large booth at the back of the bar.

This place is really cool. I recommend checking it out next time you’re there, but it’s not all that child friendly, so its best for the grownups.

We all decided to order different margaritas…I don’t remember the exact names, but I remember the main flavors. Jasmine had the blood orange, Belle had the passion fruit, I don’t remember what Ariel got. I had the Durazno, it was peach flavored with that St. Germain Elderflower liquor. It was AMAZING! Sooooo good. In fact, all of them were really good. These were the best margaritas I’ve ever had & the best overall drinks I’ve had in a while.

We hung out here for a while....can't you tell why? it was so much fun there! Jasmine ordered another, the jalapeno margarita which was really refreshing and Ariel ordered a blood orange.

Our waitress was a total sweetie. Her name was Nancy and she’s wonderful. We liked her so much we even took a photo of her!

And she took one of us….with our camera of course!

We paid the bill and decided to ride the Mexico boat ride. I’ve been on this ride a few times, but it adds a whole new dimension of fun when you’ve had a few margaritas!

I took some pics in the ride since we had the boat to ourselves.

Adios!

Step into your future

Backtracking a little, we went to ride Spaceship Earth. I sat with Jasmine and we had a bunch of fun with our future.

Hey, why is my head so small?

This is getting long and I really want to watch Desperate Housewives so I’m going to cut this post here and post the rest of DAY 2 on the next post. See you then!

 

[Beauty & the Best]

DAY 2 Epcot – Part 2

Chocolate and Canada

After doing Spaceship Earth Belle wanted to get a snack so she opted for the classic Mickey bar. It looked good but was a little messy…..really messy as we found out later in Morocco.

We went to Canada for the circlevision film there. It was starting to cloud up a little at this point.

The film was entertaining as usual. I just love that line at the end about Soarin’!

Rose & Crown

We made our way over to England. Man it was hot in that phone booth!

Next it was off for another drink to the Rose & Crown. I have always wanted to go in here and get a drink.

Ariel had wine and Jasmine got beer and I tried the Welsh Dragon. Belle got a Shandy which was really just like extra fizzy beer.

It was pretty crowded in there but we did get a spot at the bar. We talked about what to do next and decided to take our drinks on the road.

We walked through France and had a seat to finish our drinks.

Are those real?

Next we were off to America for the America movie. Half way there we saw a stand that had sushi as a snack (part of the food & wine fest) so Ariel used her snack to get a spicy tuna roll. Epcot during F&W is really the best place for snacks!

We got there in time to catch the end of the singers so that was great.

Unfortunately the movie was a bit of a buzz kill for my group, but the funniest thing happened in there! Ariel was sitting beside me and about half way through the show she turns to me all serious and says “are those real people?” I had to do everything I could to hold my laughter but I explained to her that no, those aren’t real, they are animatronics, so funny.

At this point it was about time for our dinner reservation in Morocco….things starting moving really fast from here.

Dinner and Illuminations

We were running a little behind schedule so we hot footed it to Morocco and used the ladies room and then checked in for our ADR.

I was looking a little rough, so I asked Belle if I could use her hairbrush. I thought it smelled a little like chocolate when I was brushing my hair…weird…and then after I was done I noticed there was chocolate on my hand!

Remember that chocolate Mickey icecream bar that Belle had? Well, some of it ended up in her purse! My hair didn’t have any chocolate in it but it sure smelled like Hersheys for the rest of the day! LOL

Then we were seated at our table.

Everybody got the beef medallions but I went with the waiter’s recommendation and I had the fish something…I should have had the beef because it was really yummy, the fish was so-so.

After dinner we took a cute photo at the fountain

And then we walked over to China and went to the shop there. We kept walking and ended up in Germany and got some wine from the stand there.

Now it was starting to get dark so we put on our glow stick jewelry

And we staked out our spot for Illuminations. I really like the area near Germany by the boat dock for Illuminations, not too crowded and you can see everything.

Illuminations was awesome! I just get wowed everytime I see it.

After the show we made our way home and that’s it for Day 2!!!

Coming up next…our HOT day in MK!

 

[MouseKTeer]

Awesome update!

What did Jasmine and Ariel say about the orange version of M:S afterward? (You can check out my TR for our group's unforgettable experience)

We just love Soarin'! And margaritas, too!

Wow--chocolate hair

Great photos of Illuminations!

Do you leave for France this coming Friday? I wish I could be like Flat Stanley or Winnie and come along for the trip! Will you be in Paris most of the time? If you like museums, you'll be in the best city in the world!! My favorite is Musee d'Orsay. IMO, Paris is also the most romantic!! Esp. the places along the Seine. If you walk behind Notre Dame and over the little bridge onto the next island, it's just breathtaking. Also, right there on the other side of the bridge is the best ice cream--Bertillion; the raspberry (framboise) is to die for!!

 

[tinkgurl]

I think I am going to get Mickey and Minnie tattoos on my foot next time we're down there! Just silhouette's of their heads. And Minnie with her bow of course.

That will be cute!

Looks like a fun day at Epcot. So glad there wasn't a bad line at TT. It can get ridiculous! I can't wait to go around World Showcase and try different drinks this upcoming trip!