Giving Thanksgiving a Whirl (and a Hurl) in WDW *COMPLETE! 5/20*

[ArielSRL]

Our Garden Grill ADR wasn't until 10:15 the next morning so the boys were able to sleep in a bit. Our plan was to check the wait time at character spot after breakfast since we'd missed it the day before, then head over to MK where we had FP's scheduled for early afternoon.

Steve was up early as always and had showered already by the time I got up around 8:00. On my way to the shower I again noticed wet spots on the floor- pretty much all over the faux wood which was in front of the kitchenette, in the entry way, and in front of the sink area and closet. FINALLY Steve admitted there did seem to be a little bit of water there........after my shower it was worse. We woke the boys and they both showered since they hadn't the night before, and by the time all 4 of us had showered there were beads of water popping up like crazy! Mickey, we have a problem.......since it seemed to increase after each shower, Steve was convinced the problem was coming from the shower. In some cases it even looked like the glue or whatever the floor had been secured with was coming loose/up. We couldn't walk anywhere near the bathroom/sink/front door/kitchen area without our feet or socks getting wet.

Steve went down to the front desk while we finished getting ready. About 10 minutes after he returned, a handy maintenance guy named Tony came in to check things out. Tony must have been doing some landscaping prior to arriving at our room, because when he stood on the edge of our shower and then IN our shower, Mr. Tony left nice muddy footprints all over. Thanks! He said they'd had this problem in some of the other recently refurbed rooms and he'd notify plumbing. He said we should check with the front desk in a couple hours to see what the deal is, but that most likely plumbing would have to come in the room and do quite a bit of work. Rats! Well, this was our 4th stay here at BWV and on all previous stays we'd had very positive experiences as far as CM interactions and being accommodated, so our expectations were high that this issue would be handled in the same manner

We headed over to Epcot and arrived to a very long check-in line about 10 minutes before our ADR time at



No worries though! Chris and I were very excited to try the breakfast. We'd eaten dinner here back in 2007 when the boys were 5 and almost 2, so Chris didn't remember. I'm a big breakfast eater and the menu sounded awesome! They only started breakfast a couple weeks before our trip but the few reviews I'd read were all positive.

There were a number of people trying to get in without reservations and all being turned away. Most of them seemed clueless as to the whole ADR idea, I felt bad for them. We were given a pager at 10:10 and only had to wait 5 minutes past our 10:15 ADR time, so before we knew it we were led to a table
with this sitting in the middle



Cute, right? Even though I knew the breakfast menu by heart, I took a quick look just to make sure nothing had changed since I last checked the website:


Nope! Sticky bun still there. Our waitress Anna came quickly to take our drink order, which was coffee for Steve, chocolate milk and apple juice for the boys and diet soda for me. Right after she left a manager stopped by to let us know that we were one of the last tables to be seated, so Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale would most likely be stopping by real soon. We could see Mickey and Pluto down on the level closer to the Living with the Land ride and Chip and Dale were both at tables right behind us. We got our phones and camera ready! I can't remember the last time the boys met those rascally chipmunks!


Both Chip and Dale came by real quick. Mickey actually walked by and waved on his way to a couple tables on our level who were seated around the time we were, so we figured he'd be back. In the meantime Chris and I got busy with some old-fashioned tic-tac-toe



We did this in just about every restaurant during the trip. Chris isn't into coloring, word searches, playing tic tac toe or anything like that normally, but when we're in Disney he always wants to do those things with Steve and I while we're waiting to eat. Even Ricky will sometimes ask for a kids menu and do a word search or tic tac toe. Love it!

Before too long our sticky bun bake came out. It was delicious! Reminded me of Cinnabon but better, with LOTS of sweet frosting on top. We each had 2 decent size pieces and there was still some left. A fruit bowl was brought out at the same time. I can only remember strawberries grapes and pineapple but I think there was cantaloupe, too. Mickey passed by a couple more times without stopping, and then Anna came again with this



I had everything except the ham, but Steve said it was very good. The tater tots were nice and crispy and had a bit of seasoning to them; the bacon was typical Disney bacon but also crispy. The eggs were actually better than your normal Disney eggs and a lot less watery. And the Mickey waffles......what can you say about Mickey waffles? Are they ever anything besides fun to eat?! The one different thing here is that they gave us a melted Nutella-like "syrup" for the waffles instead of regular syrup. Ricky is the only one who likes Nutella; we requested regular syrup and Anna brought it right over.

I didn't get the biscuits and gravy in the picture, either. They gave us one biscuit pp. I'm probably not a good one to judge how these were since we don't really eat these. Steve said the gravy was pretty good. I tried it but wasn't a fan. It was pretty salty and tasted heavily of sausage; not sure if that's how biscuit gravy is supposed to taste. I like sausage and I like salt, but it just didn't do it for me.

One final thing on the breakfast; it's all you care to eat so you can get more of anything you want! We were good, but the table in front of us asked for more bacon and they got a plate with like 3lbs of bacon. Seriously, it was piled as high a 3-tier cake. I think they ate about 5 pieces of it and left the rest!

We took our time eating but unfortunately, Pluto and Mickey still hadn't found us when we were done. We only saw one other table left in the restaurant (as far as we could see) and we noticed both Chip and Dale had wandered in to the kitchen and hadn't come back out (we were seated right by the kitchen entrance). When Anna brought our check, we mentioned having not seen Mickey or Pluto yet and she looked quite freaked out. She said she'd see if she could track "those playful critters" down for us, and while we waited Steve and I came to the conclusion that all our furry friends were done for now. Remember, we had been one of the last tables to be seated at 10:20 with a 10:15 ADR, and breakfast ended at 10:30. She came back with a deflated look and informed us that indeed, Mickey and his pup were "out to lunch". She felt horrible and wouldn't stop apologizing; I'm pretty sure she was afraid we'd be mad and throw a fit. I saw a bit of disappointment on Chris's face, but I let her know it was ok and certainly not her fault. Truthfully I was disappointed too as I was looking forward to Mickey in his overalls, plus we'd missed character spot the day before, and I thought there'd be a long wait now that it was close to 12. But it truly wasn't her fault and there's no use crying over a melted dole whip! She thanked us and took our TiW card. I was totally surprised when she returned with our card and this



Woo-hoo! The infamous "golden fastpass"! I'd heard tell of these but had never been given one and was starting to doubt their very existence! It may not have been for the most thrilling attraction, but it was a very nice gesture that worked well for our family. I realize other people may have been more upset and not settled for the character spot, but Chris perked up and I knew it would save us time if the wait was long.

We thanked Anna and walked out. At that point we were the last ones to leave! TIP: if you're ADR is one of the last seatings at a character meal, don't wait until the last minute to tell someone you haven't seen all the characters.........

We headed over to the "new" character spot where we hadn't been since 2007 and saw a 35 minute wait. Not terrible, but our family's wait time doesn't normally exceed 20 minutes. YaaaaaY, FP!! We ended up waiting about 10 minutes to do this



Then we did this



Is it me, or is something weird around Goofy's middle stomach, upper crotch.....idk "blue" area???? Anyway-
Of course we met the head Mouse himself, but I'm in those pictures and they are FAR from internet acceptable.

Since we'd done Epcot yesterday and planned on coming back, our plans for the rest of the day were MK. However being the never-do-it-the-easy-way family, rather than take the bus Steve wanted to go back to our resort and check on the wet floor situation first. Our first FP wasn't until 1:30 and it was all of 12:30, so......sure!

Back to WS we went and quick walked over to the BW. We spoke to laid-back Neil at the front desk, the same CM Steve had spoken to that morning. Neil had no knowledge of maintenance going to plumbing about our room. We asked if we could switch rooms if the problem wasn't able to be fixed, and Neil said we could but all that was available at that point were non-refurbed, non-BW view rooms. I was ok with no view, Steve wasn't. But neither of us wanted a non-refurbished room because Chris was sleeping on the pull-down bed and if the boys had to start sleeping together now even after just 2 nights separately, there'd be a pre-Thanksgiving riot. Steve asked him if the problem was being looked in to and Neil assured us it "probably" was, and that by the next morning there should be a refurbed room available with a BW view if we could hold out. Well, it was just shower water we were stepping in, so we could hang. Off to the bus stop we went for our first Nov. view of the castle!

UP NEXT: MORE WATER? OOH! THE RAINY DAY PARADE!

It's the Alice dress!!!! Yay! Oh my...now you are making me second guess my decision to not get the Ariel dress. May have to take a little online walk to Hot Topic.....

Oh, that GG menu looks good. I love me some biscuits and gravy (I am from the South!). May have to add that to the June 2017 list.

Ok, on to more updates....

 

[ArielSRL]

One of my favorite things at Disney is when the bus pulls in to the MK and the music changes from whatever your resort music is, to the trumpet intro from the old Mickey Mouse Club I get all giddy and smiley and the rest of my family laughs at me. Another reason I was giddy today is that we were going to see the MK Christmas tree for the first time! We'd actually seen the other parks' trees on our previous Nov. trips, but due to the parade taping had never seen the MK one. Since this years' taping was moved up, the tree was up earlier than usual! We quickly got through bag check, tapped our Mickey's and soon beheld this



Gorgeous! All the park trees had pp photographers in front of them but their lines were always long; so, I decided this time to become my families own pp photographer



Mmm.....guess I could use some more pp training.........

For some reason I can't remember we ended up over by the Fire Station. Glad we did, because we listened to the Dapper Dans for like 5 songs! As you can see they were dressed in their holiday finery and were belting out Christmas tunes. I'm not sure what you call the instruments they're playing but they were pretty cool!



The time had come (and almost gone) for our first FP, so we hustled over to Frontierland. and jumped on BTMRR. Luckily 2 of our 3 favorite rides in the MK are right next to each other, so our second FP of course was for Splash Mountain. Since we'd waited until the VERY end of our BTMRR FP window, we went right over to see if Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox had caught that darn rabbit yet!


SPLELFIE!!

We managed to stay fairly dry this time around, but they skies were looking kind of gray when we were done. As we contemplated where to go next, it started drizzling; it was downright pouring by the time we'd hightailed it to Pirates. Steve and I were interested to see what changes had been made during the 6 month refurb earlier in the year. Well, we noticed some newer, brighter costumes on a few of our pirate friends , and we definitely noticed the addition of smells. Not get-me-away-from-these-people-in-my-boat smells, but smells that were supposed to be there. Rum; burning village; possibly something by the ending scene with Jack in the vault with all the gold? That one could just be my imagination but I swear I've smelled it each time I've been on since this ride!

It was still raining when we got off the ride so we browsed a bit in the gift shop



I think Chris looks adorable, but he decided to save his dubloons for something later on

I was seriously wanting my poncho at this point. We knew there was a chance of showers today so we'd remembered to bring them along. And Steve had remembered to put our backpack in a locker, WITHOUT removing the ponchos first, so they were currently AAAAALLLL the way at the front of the park. The 3:00 parade had been cancelled, our 3rd FP wasn't until 7:00 and our early dinner ADR was over an hour away, so we decided to make a run for the ponchos. The rain had let up a little; the boys and I let Steve go to the locker while we did a drink run in Casey's. Good decision, as when we came out we had a front row spot for this



We've never really seen this before! Once we kind of caught it, but I swear it was the CM's with the banner and a double decker bus with some characters in it like the one that used to be in the Epcot RD opening "show". This one had a bit more:
The GOOD






The BAD



And one of my favorite Princesses on the Gazebo



This was such an unexpected treat! Steve caught up with us right at the end and we moved across Main St. for our ADR at the Plaza.(continued in next post)

Oh I'll have to listen for the resort music and then the music change, in June. I never even knew but I think we drove every time last trip. We will do the bus for MK rope drop this time and drive pretty much every where else.

New Pirates: I just read about the smells. Very interesting! I also heard you get wet now? Any issues?

 

[ArielSRL]

We checked in at the Plaza about 20 minutes early, so we took our pager and sat down at a semi-dry table to wait. After about 25 minutes we buzzed. We'd gotten ice cream at the Plaza before but this was our first time eating there; the dining room was small but cute and cozy. They had some decorations up by way of garland and wreaths



Unfortunately I was still slow in the food pictures dept. at this point in our trip, but I promise I do get better! I know Steve had the meatloaf, I had the turkey sandwich, Ricky had a burger and Chris got the Plaza Club. Overall we were happy with our meals. Everything was good, nothing "wow" but a step above CS and very good for the price. Ricky got a chocolate milkshake also and that baby was GOOOOOD! Nice and thick!

I honestly can't remember what we did next. First TR guys, I'm learning as I go! Next time I will have to 1. take better notes and 2. work faster! It was still light out because I snapped this around Fantasyland after we ate



Poor kid tried to find Stitch ears the whole trip but could only find a Stitch hat so he occasionally borrowed my ears.

So either I totally missed something or it got dark extra quick that night, because according to my pictures we ended up here in Adventureland next



Are you thinking "Jungle Cruise yet something's different"? That's because it's JINGLE CRUISE!!! Another first for us, as they weren't doing this overlay back in 2012 when we were last down in Nov. Jungle Cruise isn't normally one of my faves (don't start hating!) but I must say I enjoyed the Jingle Cruise. I thought the jokes were funnier and I liked the holiday additions décor-wise. We ended up riding it again later in the week during the day, so I have these night pics and then some better day ones.

All the boats had holiday-themed names:






Our boat was Fruitcake Zelda

Backing up a little, here are a couple more pictures of the queue décor:






What about dessert? Turkey-swirl dole-whip? An apple dipped in turkey fat covered in Mickey sprinkles maybe?



Love this, Tarantula Santa!

Our guide was great and our boat was filled with people experiencing this for the first time. We'd also never ridden in the dark, that makes a big difference, too! If you're ever down while they're running the Jingle Cruise make sure you don't miss it! They were selling a really cute Jingle Cruise t-shirt I wanted to buy but didn't. They were still selling it when Steve and I went in January and I'm so mad I didn't buy it then, either! It looked like this, which is the poster they hung in the tunnel under the train station



I know we rode Pirates again and then headed over to use our 7DMT FP. Chris doesn't like this - not sure why, since he loves Big Thunder and Splash and the mine train is by far the more tame of the 3 - so Ricky rode once with me and then once with Steve. As I said before, this is another ride I prefer going on when it's dark! I love the views and I think you can see into the cottage at the end better.

Now it was time to grab a spot for my favorite parade It's actually tied with the Boo To You parade from MNSSHP which I don't get to see often enough. We went over by the shooting arcade, popped a squat with some popcorn in the adorable Mickey Christmas container, and waited for this to begin



I love this music! I didn't know what it was called until recently; it's "Baroque Hoedown". Now I just need to find it on a CD!

Hi Pinocchio!



We were almost ready to call it a night, but Steve wanted to take a boat ride around the world with some of his little friends first. I snapped a shot of this guy since we're Italian



and use gondolas as our primary means of transportation here in the Hudson Valley, NY. We came out of Small World shortly before Wishes was going to start and decided to watch from the carousel. I'd read reviews of this being a great spot but we'd always just watched from the front of the castle; this is now our favorite spot! It's like being completely surrounded by them or under a fireworks umbrella. After that we headed to the bus stop. We'd missed Elsa lighting the castle but would catch it later in the week - not high on our priority list, I'm a little upset that they fired the Fairy Godmother - but I did get a picture of it all lit up because it's beautiful regardless



We were back in our room by 10:30. We had ANOTHER late morning scheduled the next day so we chilled a little before going to sleep. Everything seemed dry when we first walked in the room, but after washing faces and brushing teeth it was getting a little damp.........

UP NEXT: HS, ESPN, AND IT'S THE END OF OUR ROOM AS WE KNOW IT

Jingle Cruise looks so fun! My parents and I used to go all the time in the beginning of Dec (I think I mentioned this in your PTR) but they never had this! They used to do the Country Bears with a Christmas overlay though....so fun!

I've heard Fantasyland (or more specifically 7DMT) is a great Wishes viewing spot - along with the TTC ferry dock - but since it's been forever since we saw it (in 2012 we had a 9.5 month old so we watched from inside Cosmic Ray's) and we've never seen CtM, I suppose we'll try to do the Hub this time. We do plan on doing MSEP (on another night) from Frontierland or by Hall of Presidents.

Trucking right along and loving it!

 

[xlsm]

I'm about 94% certain that if I die from a heart attack, it will be while I'm watching Serveur Amusant!

 

[ArielSRL]

I really tried not to get mad, because I didn't want to ruin the kids day and they KNOW that when mom gets mad things only go downhill for awhile lol. But when I see that one thing hasn't been cleaned it automatically makes me wonder what else hasn't been cleaned, and I thought the least they could do is give us a clean room! I ended up losing it later on that day. Luckily we didn't have any more flooding!



I do love your humor and normally I'm the one who loses my cool first; Steve usually takes everything in stride and is the "deal with it and move on" type. But that "out by 11" was it for him, and then the mile walk to the room did not help at all. I tend to go off on people which I may or may not have done later that day.......... but we had some fun at HS in between, so that was a plus!



Ugh, I'm sorry about your son Those night stand corners are deadly! But it goes to show there can be issues at any resort, and I do still love the BW and this won't stop us from staying there again. I believe it's more a case of the CM's you deal with at the time rather than the resort itself.

And looking back, I'm not sure being polite was the best way to go. Even though we got a credit (or two), I definitely think if we'd started out being less polite the issue wouldn't have gone on as long as it did! Because unfortunately I had to ask for that shower to be cleaned more than once

I always start out nice and I play off the customer service rep's attitude...but boy, I can go from zero to b*tch with a snap of my fingers!

I'm just gonna apologize here but I'm afraid if I don't reply to the posts, I'll forget it all at the end. Oh and I have had a few glasses of wine this evening (it is Saturday night, right?) so I'm very "talkative/type-y".

 

[ArielSRL]

All caught up!

 

[DVCAshleyB]

Really great first trip report! Loved the pictures

 

[ariane37]

I'm on pg 2 and decided to reply! One - I think the photos are fine! I think mine are that big on my PTR and I'm uploading directly onto my thread. Besides like a pp mentioned, bigger pictures are easier to see!

Two - I think it's quite funny that some studios and moderate rooms actually sleep more than some 1 bedrooms do. Our 1 bedroom at SSR sleeps 4 and a child under 3 (in a pack n play). That's it!

Three - I'm really leaning towards BWV for June 2017. I guess I'll get to see BCV this June bc we have Cape May ressies and see what I think, but so far, I really have liked everything I've heard about BWV.

Four - I admire your flexibility! I need to be really flexible on our trip, with 2 under 5 and 2 over 65...lol. But I'm worried I'm gonna be upset when they all poo poo my plan!

Ok, I think that's it for now. Grocery store time. I'll read more later tonight!

Hey! I read all your other replies - you are hysterical lol! I've been running around all weekend and have only had a minute here and there to check in. Still running in a bit so going to answer what I can!

I totally don't understand some studios fitting more than some 1 bdrms, it's weird! And I see lots of people asking on different resort threads why it's that way. But really, why are a lot of things Disney does the way they are

Go with BWV if that's the way you're leaning. Even with the problems we had this time we've always loved it, and Steve strongly considered if for our trip this coming Nov. I just wanted to try something new again.....and I was a little scared we'd walk in and see Stacey at the desk But that aside it's a great place to stay. With any Epcot resort you have the BW right there but it's the only one at this point I can speak to as far as rooms, amenities, etc.
Have you seen the clown pool though? I can handle it, but lots of people are terrified by it

Four - I admire your flexibility! I need to be really flexible on our trip, with 2 under 5 and 2 over 65...lol. But I'm worried I'm gonna be upset when they all poo poo my plan!

This is funny because I come off as a lot more flexible than I really am! I have to take lots of deep breaths when we veer off the not so rigid schedule I make, and if it screws us I make SURE to point it out to them. It also helps that we go often. But, after all our trips I have learned that it makes for a nicer time when I give in a little and listen to what annoys them.....which unfortunately at this point is getting up early Whatever the case may be, giving in a little when we're there goes a LONG way.
However, this next Thanksgiving trip will be a bit more structured and they're either listening or getting left behind!

 

[ariane37]

New Pirates: I just read about the smells. Very interesting! I also heard you get wet now? Any issues?

You know, we've been to WDW 3x now since they started talking about the excess water, and we haven't had any problems. We've been in the front, back, and middle......nothing which is good, except I probably just jinxed us!

Jingle Cruise looks so fun! My parents and I used to go all the time in the beginning of Dec (I think I mentioned this in your PTR) but they never had this! They used to do the Country Bears with a Christmas overlay though....so fun!

I wonder how new Jingle Cruise is? I totally loved it and can't wait to do it again this year!!
What was the Country Bears overlay like? I bet it brought in more people than normally go see it.....

I've heard Fantasyland (or more specifically 7DMT) is a great Wishes viewing spot - along with the TTC ferry dock - but since it's been forever since we saw it (in 2012 we had a 9.5 month old so we watched from inside Cosmic Ray's) and we've never seen CtM, I suppose we'll try to do the Hub this time. We do plan on doing MSEP (on another night) from Frontierland or by Hall of Presidents.

I don't blame you. I'd watch from the Hub too if I hadn't seen it in awhile and it's definitely the best place to see CtM. On one trip we had a great view of CtM from in front of CP, but that was before the new Hub expansion. I wonder if you would still have a good view there? I think so...... an option if you find the Hub way too crowded.

I'm about 94% certain that if I die from a heart attack, it will be while I'm watching Serveur Amusant

I'm always covering my eyes and peeking through my fingers!

 

[ariane37]

I'm just gonna apologize here but I'm afraid if I don't reply to the posts, I'll forget it all at the end. Oh and I have had a few glasses of wine this evening (it is Saturday night, right?) so I'm very "talkative/type-y".

I LOL'd when I read this last night! Steve and I had gone out to dinner with some friends so it was late when I read it (and I'd had some sangria ) or I would have replied right away

Really great first trip report! Loved the pictures

Thank you twice and

 

[ArielSRL]

Hey! I read all your other replies - you are hysterical lol!

Glad I can be entertaining! ;-)

I've been running around all weekend and have only had a minute here and there to check in. Still running in a bit so going to answer what I can!

No problem!

I totally don't understand some studios fitting more than some 1 bdrms, it's weird! And I see lots of people asking on different resort threads why it's that way. But really, why are a lot of things Disney does the way they are

So true!

Go with BWV if that's the way you're leaning. Even with the problems we had this time we've always loved it, and Steve strongly considered if for our trip this coming Nov. I just wanted to try something new again.....and I was a little scared we'd walk in and see Stacey at the desk But that aside it's a great place to stay. With any Epcot resort you have the BW right there but it's the only one at this point I can speak to as far as rooms, amenities, etc.
Have you seen the clown pool though? I can handle it, but lots of people are terrified by it

I don't know why I a, leaning that way except I love the look and location of the resort but I freely admit, I haven't really seen much about BCV except Stormalong Bay so I need to do more research. Oh, if I see Stacey I may have to make a cryptic comment...haha! I have seen the clown pool. Totally fine with it though it is weird. Is it a different pool than the one with the Keister Coaster slide, or same?

This is funny because I come off as a lot more flexible than I really am! I have to take lots of deep breaths when we veer off the not so rigid schedule I make, and if it screws us I make SURE to point it out to them. It also helps that we go often. But, after all our trips I have learned that it makes for a nicer time when I give in a little and listen to what annoys them.....which unfortunately at this point is getting up early Whatever the case may be, giving in a little when we're there goes a LONG way.
However, this next Thanksgiving trip will be a bit more structured and they're either listening or getting left behind!

I'm not good with changes but I have been forced to get better at it because I have children now...lol. Maybe all the speciality drinks I plan to consume will help. If not, I always have my "just in case" Xanax...haha.

 

[ArielSRL]

You know, we've been to WDW 3x now since they started talking about the excess water, and we haven't had any problems. We've been in the front, back, and middle......nothing which is good, except I probably just jinxed us!

Good to hear, though I'm sure I'll be the jinxed one...lol!

I wonder how new Jingle Cruise is? I totally loved it and can't wait to do it again this year!!
What was the Country Bears overlay like? I bet it brought in more people than normally go see it.....

It must be fairly new, though I admit it's been since like 2007 that I went in December. And because it's been that long, I don't remember any details about Country Bears...haha!

I don't blame you. I'd watch from the Hub too if I hadn't seen it in awhile and it's definitely the best place to see CtM. On one trip we had a great view of CtM from in front of CP, but that was before the new Hub expansion. I wonder if you would still have a good view there? I think so...... an option if you find the Hub way too crowded

Thanks for the advice! I'll write it down. I just don't even want to think about how far in advance we will have to get our spot. Maybe Dad or Mom or both can hold the spot and I'll run the boys to a M&G or something or else they are likely to get real antsy (or fall asleep that late...lol).

 

[ArielSRL]

I LOL'd when I read this last night! Steve and I had gone out to dinner with some friends so it was late when I read it (and I'd had some sangria ) or I would have replied right away

Haha...not a problem! Glad you got to enjoy yourself. I swear I was never a huge drinker - well maybe in my 20's but I digress - until I had kids and a husband! Love my wine now, though! I plan to imbibe in Disney, solely for the fun, festive drinks, but I'm so afraid my parents will think I'm a lush, as they are not big drinkers!

 

[ALEXandFAB]

But at least I got that last drink in lol!

 

[ariane37]

Totally fine with it though it is weird. Is it a different pool than the one with the Keister Coaster slide, or same?

Yes, it's the same pool that has the slide and you come sliding out of the (killer) clowns mouth.
Wait. Did I just say that?

I'm not good with changes but I have been forced to get better at it because I have children now...lol. Maybe all the speciality drinks I plan to consume will help. If not, I always have my "just in case" Xanax...haha.

LMAO The drinks most definitely help! And as my kids get older I consume MORE "specialty" drinks while at Disney.....and at home......pretty much wherever I am Yup, just slip that Xanax right in the cup if ya have to, it'll make for a wonderful, magical day

I plan to imbibe in Disney, solely for the fun, festive drinks, but I'm so afraid my parents will think I'm a lush, as they are not big drinkers!

If I were bringing my mom or mother in law I would drink MORE because there'd be someone else to watch the kids! Well, if my MIL came that's not the only reason I'd be drinking more
Seriously though, our first couple trips Steve and I rarely drank. Then we started and in addition to calming us down if the boys happen to be annoying us - yup, not for the first time on the DiS I'm admitting my boys aren't perfect 100% of the time - we enjoy it and decided what the hell, why should Disney be any different than anywhere else?? So you go ahead and partake of those festive drinks you find interesting They're too good to ignore lol!

 

[Whit64130]

UP NEXT: THE STOMACH BUG COMES CRAWLING BACK

This makes me nervous!!!

 

[Carathryn]

I loved reading about the storytellers! Hopefully this year I will have time to wander around Epcot and enjoy the entertainment as well as the drinking

 

[ArielSRL]

Yes, it's the same pool that has the slide and you come sliding out of the (killer) clowns mouth.
Wait. Did I just say that?

Haha. Sounds fun!

LMAO The drinks most definitely help! And as my kids get older I consume MORE "specialty" drinks while at Disney.....and at home......pretty much wherever I am

We don't go out too much, probably because my kids are still a bit younger, but I just make sure I buy 4 bottles of wine at Aldi each week! Don't want to run out!

Yup, just slip that Xanax right in the cup if ya have to, it'll make for a wonderful, magical day

You may find this funny but this Disney planning has definitely caused me to take a few more Xanax than I normally do!

If I were bringing my mom or mother in law I would drink MORE because there'd be someone else to watch the kids! Well, if my MIL came that's not the only reason I'd be drinking more

Great reasons!

Seriously though, our first couple trips Steve and I rarely drank. Then we started and in addition to calming us down if the boys happen to be annoying us - yup, not for the first time on the DiS I'm admitting my boys aren't perfect 100% of the time - we enjoy it and decided what the hell, why should Disney be any different than anywhere else?? So you go ahead and partake of those festive drinks you find interesting They're too good to ignore lol!

I most definitely will partake...haha. I'm sure my parents will get over it. Next June, though, when my hubby is along, I'll have a partner in crime!

 

[ariane37]

This makes me nervous!!!

It made me nervous, too! Not the greatest last night in Disney we've had

I loved reading about the storytellers! Hopefully this year I will have time to wander around Epcot and enjoy the entertainment as well as the drinking

I'm glad you enjoyed the Storytellers! Maybe you'll spend some time in Epcot as a PHOTOPASS CM while doing the CP in Nov. and get to see them a lot! If not, you'll definitely have to take some time to visit while they're there.
At least the drinks are out year 'round

 

[ariane37]

OK, I'll start this post by saying the stomach bug didn't hit me as hard as it had on Thursday; but it was still enough to put a huge damper on dinner at
Yeah that's a picture of their logo on a plate, not the greatest lol. Anyway we checked in about 5 minutes before our ADR time and were very happy when we were escorted right away to our table - only to be turned right around and brought back to the lobby because it actually was NOT our table. The host was a new CM and had read the ticket or whatever wrong, as another party was being brought to the same table at the same time. He was very apologetic and went to find a manager right away to get us another table.

In the meantime I was feeling a little more queasy and the food smells that normally would have me drooling were actually making me feel a bit worse After literally 18 minutes (Steve was counting-the man was hungry) they finally had a table for us so we sat down. As I said before it'd been a few years since we've eaten here and Steve and I had totally been looking forward to it. We all ordered drinks right away. Steve got a beer of some sort, my pictures aren't the best since I was feeling icky. I wanted a beer real bad but settled on water.

I'd also wanted an appetizer but decided against it. I was quickly feeling worse and the smells were really overpowering! I don't want to turn anyone off; I know they were delicious, wonderful smells. But they were making me nauseous It was like being pregnant again (which I am NOT! Don't even think it!) Steve and the boys went ahead and ordered the Arancini, which is what I'd wanted
We get rice balls quite often at home and, according to everyone else, these didn't disappoint! Maybe I'll get to try them next time........
He also got an order of the mozzarella and tomato salad

which we normally get at any restaurant that has it on the menu and I totally would have enjoyed, but at least everyone else did!

I ordered what I'd been waiting to try, the prosciutto e melone pizza, hoping that any minute my stomach would feel normal. Chris had been wanting mozzarella sticks all week so that's what he ordered from the appetizer menu, while Ricky and Steve ordered other entrees. Our server let us know that because everything is "made to order", my pizza would probably come out earlier than the rest.
She was right; my pizza came out in less than 15 minutes. Chris's sticks came out, too, but they were more like....balls? Mounds maybe?
He enjoyed them. For some reason I think they were cute, right??

So my favorite kind of pizza is Hawaiian which is why I'd been dying to try the prosciutto e melone (I know that's hard to translate to English, so I'll do it for you: prosciutto and melon ) Sweet and salty - mmm-mm!! Except when you're trying really hard to keep your insides inside
But here it is before I ate NONE of it

Looks interesting, right? I can tell you the prosciutto was pretty amazing and the melon was sweet. At least the one bite of melon and one bite of prosciutto I was able to take. I know, you all feel really sorry for me, and I thank you! I felt sorry for me that night, too lol! And the boys felt bad, Chris especially. He actually didn't want to eat. OMG did I feel horrible ordering and just leaving it sitting there. Steve managed to eat 2 pieces of the pizza in addition to the apps and his meal but the boys didn't like my combination so it all went back uneaten. And I kept feeling worse and worse.

Since I'm sure you're all still interested in seeing food pics after me discussing how gross I felt, here's Steve's entrée


I'm pretty sure this is the Candelle? Neither of us can remember but he absolutely loved whatever he got! Ricky got chicken parm and he enjoyed it

Sorry I didn't get this picture until after he started eating. So except for the fact that I didn't really eat, everyone loved their food here and we'll definitely go back. In fact the boys loved everything they tried so much that after his chicken parm, Ricky ordered more arancini and Chris got another order of the mozzarella mounds!
It was pretty painful for me to sit there waiting for them to finish, but I managed to do it. We had planned to hit the UK storyteller after dinner and also catch the last set of British Revolution, which along with Serveur Amusant is our favorite performer(s) in WS, but no way could I handle it. So, I ended up cutting my last night in Disney short at 6:30 by going back to the room with faithful Chris by my side, while Ricky and Steve carried out our plan. I was happy they did; I would have felt bad all over again like I did the day before if they nixed their plans because of my stupid stomach.

On our way back out Chris and I passed the storyteller in Morocco. I couldn't bring myself to stop plus she was almost done, but I snapped a quick picture
No idea what she's saying or what her story is about, but isn't she so pretty? I have to make sure we catch her this November.

So Chris and I walked slowly back to our room and I took in the beauty of the Boardwalk lit up at night one last time (and of course took no pictures). I rested a little bit while we waited for Ricky and Steve to come back, and guess what I felt up to getting when the did?
Again no picture .........Not quite a Mickey bar but ICE CREAM nonetheless! Just like the night before, once everyone was back I was feeling good enough to go down and get some ice cream from Seashore Sweets and watch Illuminations from the BW. All 4 of us got ice cream since nobody had dessert at VN and we all stayed for Illuminations, so even though our night ended differently and a bit earlier than I'd planned, it wasn't a total bust

Once the fireworks were over it was back to the room to pack up and get some rest, as we were leaving in the morning.

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