"How To Keep Your Husband Happy, Alcohol & Fishing!" April/May '14 TR ~Updated ~ 1/1

[JnKinVA]

April 26 started out very early in the morning.
VERY EARLY.

When we were at WL in April 2013 we saw in our MYW package the fishing excursion. Well, we didn’t have enough time planned to do it back then, so we planned on it this time.

Today was also one of our non-park days.

We signed up for a Pontoon boat with a 4hour fishing trip at 7am. The early worm catches the fish right?
Oh I was not prepared to be up that early

We got up about 6am, and got ready. We had to be down by the marina by 6:45am to meet our guide.
And of course on the way down, I had to use the washroom. Off I went to use the pool washrooms (did you know that early you have to use your MB to get in?) and John waited by the marina.
I did what I had to do and met John and our guide Don. We hopped on, got the safety spiel, and started introducing ourselves.
Don is from New Jersey, but Hurricane Sandy wiped him out…. Literally. He had a Saltwater excursion business and home up there. Sandy destroyed both. He still has family up there, but most of them came down and work at WDW now.
Don was awesome! Didn’t treat you like an idiot if you lost your shiner, or got tangled or caught up in the weeds, etc. If you had a problem, he would just say, “Here, let me have it, I’ll fix it, take this one I have ready for you.”


Don driving the boat with the Contemporary in the background

We had about 6 rods in the water at a time, so you were constantly watching to see if anything took it.

Our first spot was below the monorail at Contemporary at the waterbridge.

We caught quite a few largemouth bass! Not any huge ones, but fighters, and a lot. It was so much fun!







We then moved to across Bay Lake to a spot next to Fort Wilderness… where it is rumoured that they will build their next resort or for DVC members at FW.

This is where John caught a nice one! We were still catching the bass, but now the big ones wanted to come out to play.



John caught a nice 4lbs largemouth bass!



I caught a bigger one too, but nothing like the 4pounder

We tried some trolling after this, and didn’t really get much. But we didn’t mind, we were having a great time, and fun with Don who was AWESOME!

We had to go back to Fort Wilderness so that I could pay. During the 4 hours, we realized we loved this so much that we booked it again for the same time next Saturday (our other non-park day) and asked for Don. Don then dropped us off back at WL. We tipped him and thanked him profusely. It was about 12pm and we were tired. We headed back up to the room, which thankfully was clean and we had this little guy waiting for us



We got cleaned up, and went down to Roaring Forks for some lunch. I had a Bacon Cheeseburger and Fries


(Sorry for the Half Eaten food! Forgot to take pictures lol)



John had the Chicken Sandwich with cheese and Canadian Bacon (or as us Canadian’s call it, Back Bacon)
We just ate down there.
But once we were done, we headed over to the Trout Pass Pool Bar and got drinks. We were so tired, I don’t even remember what we got, all I know is it was cold, tasty and full of alcohol

We drank, walked back to the room and passed out.

We had dinner reservations that night at the Yachtsmen Steakhouse at the Yacht and Beach Club, so we wanted to be well rested. So we napped…..

Up Next:Mmmmmmmm Steaky Steak

 

[WDWKOOK]

What fun and what lovely bass you caught. I love the early morning mist off Bay Lake. The fishing excursion must have been a big hit if you scheduled another one with Don. How great that Don and family were able to move south and work at WDW after Sandy destroyed their business. Four hours seems like a long time. Did it go quickly?

Can't wait to read your next installment. We have a YS ADR the day we arrive at YC. We haven't been since DD was born 15 years ago! Get to the steaky-steak!

 

[JnKinVA]

What fun and what lovely bass you caught. I love the early morning mist off Bay Lake. The fishing excursion must have been a big hit if you scheduled another one with Don. How great that Don and family were able to move south and work at WDW after Sandy destroyed their business. Four hours seems like a long time. Did it go quickly? Can't wait to read your next installment. We have a YS ADR the day we arrive at YC. We haven't been since DD was born 15 years ago! Get to the steaky-steak!

It's amazing, Don started out working the monorail and now does what he loves, his wife works in DVC and I forgot what his son did. We booked a second spur of the moment trip with Don again because he was great, but just wait what happens next

4 hours in my opinion was too short lol but that's just because I love fishing. I could be out there all day. What we may do in the future though, is book 2 hours at 7am and then 2 hours at 10am..... Then we get the discounts because you don't on a full 4hr. Plus we would get a break in between.

 

[Wood Nymph]

How cool is that to be fishing under the monorail! I love Bay Lake and it is one of the reasons why I like staying at the Wilderness Lodge. Being at that resort is like a real vacation, not just a trip to an amusement park. The fishing excursion looked fun!

That is interesting that there are plans to build another DVC by Fort Wilderness. I hadn't heard that rumor before.

 

[JnKinVA]

How cool is that to be fishing under the monorail! I love Bay Lake and it is one of the reasons why I like staying at the Wilderness Lodge. Being at that resort is like a real vacation, not just a trip to an amusement park. The fishing excursion looked fun!

That is interesting that there are plans to build another DVC by Fort Wilderness. I hadn't heard that rumor before.

Fishing under the monorail was totally awesome.

Since we became DVC members on our quick trip in May we can now participate in the Bass Tournament that they do every week for DVC members.
I'm thinking if I do my solo trip next month, I will see about doing it. I loved the fishing there. Relaxing, fun, not amusement park normal and Don was great

 

[JnKinVA]

After our nap, we got ready for dinner at the Yachtsmen Steakhouse. This is your warning. Lots of Food…. Cooked and uncooked lol

John and I love steak and we wanted to try something different this time. We also had and ADR for Le Cellier (me being Canadian an all, I like it as well).

Since we had no car, we wanted to try a few new things on this trip. This included taking the bus to Hollywood Studios and walking the path over to the Boardwalk and finally the Yacht Club.]
It was a beautiful evening, and walking over there was a nice chance of pace.


The path looking at the Tower of Terror



We walked around the long way to the Yacht Club



We arrived a little early for our reservation so we just soaked up the ambiance of the YC.
John said he would like to stay there one time… I think that the waterslide is what did it for him


Look Mickey!


John relaxing after such a long walk lol


I love this table!

So while we were waiting I went and used the washroom….and was amused when I saw these.
How posh!



It was close to our reservation so we walked over and checked in.
They weren’t quite ready for us yet and asked us to have a seat and they would call us in a few minutes. So we sat…. RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE BUTCHERS!

YAY! Did I mention John and I love Steak? Lol





We waited about 5 minutes and then a nice young fellow came to take us to our table. His name was Trevor and was on the Disney College Program from Fairmont State University. John had done a couple of semesters there until around Sept 11 and found a job making maps (which he has been doing ever since). So John chatted with him for a few minutes about West Virginia and John’s High School. We were seated in a rotunda area surrounded by windows and view of the pool. Which naturally I didn’t take a picture of lol

Our waiter was David and was very good at explaining the menu and how their cuts of steak are prepared, essentially the butcher’s station.

John started with a Pimm’s Punch which is Pimm’s No. 1 Liqueur, Hendrick’s, Odwalla Lemonade and Wild Strawberry. He probably could have downed it in one sip, it was so tasty. I just went with Lemonade.



David brought us some bread, I believe one was a roll, and the other was a pull apart onion bread…. SO TASTY. With butter with sea salt on top and roasted garlic.



I started with the Caesar Salad. It was pretty much a romaine heart uncut with dressing, shaved parmesan cheese, coppa secca, and focaccia croutons. The coppa secca (the ham at the bottom) scared me at first, but it was delicious with the salad.



John started with the Lobster Bisque. John spent some time in Maine when he father was stationed there and loves lobster, but this was first time that he had ever had a Bisque. He enjoyed it and sopped it up with some of the bread.



For our entrees we both went for Meat.

I had the Prime Rib. I love Prime Rib….LOVE.
This was no exception. It was delicious. I do not use the horseradish, I just use the au jus that served with it.
Instead of the Sweet Potato Casserole I switched it out for mashed potatoes, which were creamy and paired well with the meat.



John went with the 12 0z Prime New York Strip which is one of the steaks that they dry age in the butcher’s station.
As usual he enjoyed it, but was not crazy about the white cheddar twice baked potato. I tried it and it was a little salty.
We also ordered a side of sautéed mushrooms.



We ate the majority of our dinner. We usually have enough to bring back for John to snack on the next day, but this time we didn’t!

We were so full, and by this time John had had a second Pimm’s Punch. But we were convinced to have dessert. So we split a crème brulee
We finished as much as our stomachs could hold which was most of it.



Overall the dinner was excellent! Just too much food lol so if you decide to go, go with an empty stomach.

As we were waiting for our check, John wanted to test something…. The candles on the table were made of Himalayan Pink Salt and John didn’t believe me…. So he licked his finger and wiped the side of the candle and I won



After dinner, we were going to take the boat back to DHS, but John didn’t think he would ‘survive’. After those two strong drinks he thought he would be taking to the dolphins haha.
So we walked back along the path. Again it was a beautiful night.

When we got back we were exhausted from another long day, so we relaxed with a bit of tv and then hit the hay!

Up Next:Hangin’ Ten with Lilo and Stitch!

 

[JnKinVA]

Sunday morning was another early morning but we had our first wake up call from Olaf at 7am!
We had an ADR for ‘Ohana for breakfast with Lilo and Stitch. This was the first character meal we had done, so I thought it would be nice for breakfast, plus I had heard good things about the food at ‘Ohana for breakfast.

We got ready and took the blue flag boat from WL to Contemp to catch the monorail over to the Poly. As we got off the boat, a family of 5 (dad, mom, 2 boys and 1 girl) RUN from the boat to inside the Contemp. You would have thought they were in a race. The family was running so fast that the little girl took a header just as they got up the stairs. The family barely blinked an eye, grabbed her and continued to run. We were walking fast, but nothing out of the ordinary. As we approached where the family had their incident we noticed a grey MB. We had no clue where they were going. We walked into the resort and I had a feeling they were either headed to the monorail, or Chef Mickey’s. We took one escalator up, and another and happened to see them in Chef Mickey’s looking frazzled. We went back downstairs and the son who lost it and dad were about to run back when we saw them and gave it back to them.
I don’t even think they were very grateful at all. Oh well.

From there we went up to the monorail and went to Poly for our breakfast. We were a little early so we went into the resort shop so I could get a pin for the Poly (I like collecting Pins from any resort we go to).



We checked in, and given a pager. We also had our pictures taken at this time. Since we had Memory Maker there was no need to buy the prints.



I was taking pictures when our pager went off and we were taken to our table.



We were at the back on near the windows, but closest to the walkway. It was really bright, which can been seen in the pictures.

John wasn’t a happy boy until he had his coffee.



I don’t drink coffee but the fruit juice concoction that they have was really good. I really enjoyed the family style of breakfast. John isn’t a big breakfast eater, but he enjoyed the mickey waffles, biscuits, potatoes and bacon. I pretty much ate whatever he wouldn’t.





The one thing I didn’t like about the character breakfast was we were pretty much finished with our meal and we had only met Lilo. We had to wait for the other characters, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto to come by and the server had already left the check. I didn’t pay it until we had met the other 3.

John will have a lesson in picture taking before we go again, as most of his photos are blurry.
Luckily this one is good!




You can see how bright it was in this picture. You can also see the check sitting on the table.



When we finished with breakfast I took some photos of the waterfall for my mom. She has always wanted to go to the Poly just to visit or stay. I was sad to hear that they are removing it.



From there we hopped back on the monorail to go to the TTC to hop on the Epcot line…. Or so we thought.

Up Next:What Do You Mean I Have To Get On The Bus

 

[JnKinVA]

So John left this morning. It felt like we were going on a WDW trip... we were up at 5am for an 8:45am flight at Dulles.... but I wasn't going with him

He will be in the US and leaves for Afghanistan on Friday.

28 Days until I attempt my first solo trip. Just have to book my flight to make it official, then I can stop my worrying about it all.

I think I may take Kook's advice and do a Live/End of Day TR, I'll just have to remember to bring my laptop.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I love Prime Rib, too, and yours looks like it was delicious. The Yacht Club is a beautiful resort. The whole area is nice and we like to walk around it, too.

I'm sorry to hear that John will be in Afghanistan.

I've done live trip reports, mini trip reports, while on our last three trips, and it was fun to write them. I always like to see the room views. I hope you have a chance to do that next month.

 

[JnKinVA]

I love Prime Rib, too, and yours looks like it was delicious. The Yacht Club is a beautiful resort. The whole area is nice and we like to walk around it, too.

I'm sorry to hear that John will be in Afghanistan.

I've done live trip reports, mini trip reports, while on our last three trips, and it was fun to write them. I always like to see the room views. I hope you have a chance to do that next month.

We definitely would like to stay at the YC, maybe do a split stay with our DVC points.

I'm sad he's in AF as well.... but then we will be able to save more to be able to travel to WDW more in the future

 

[buckeev]

Nice looking meals there!
Ohana is one of the Few character meals that we've yet to do...hopefully this Christmas trip...(if it does indeed happen. Just found out older daughter is expecting late this fall....GEEEZZ...she sure know how to mess up my Disney & Universal trips! ....)

 

[JnKinVA]

Nice looking meals there!
Ohana is one of the Few character meals that we've yet to do...hopefully this Christmas trip...(if it does indeed happen. Just found out older daughter is expecting late this fall....GEEEZZ...she sure know how to mess up my Disney & Universal trips! ....)

Congrats on the upcoming grandbaby!

See, my parents won't come to Disney until we have kids.... but we bought into DVC and I may have convinced my mom that Disney might be worth it before then

I liked the breakfast at 'Ohana, in fact the food was a good 8/10 but the character interaction was just slow. I'm glad I had actually changed our ADR time from 9:40am to 8:30am, or else we might have been eating lunch!

 

[JnKinVA]

Apparently after Breakfast I didn’t take many photos until Lunch…. I also didn’t take any pictures of the topiaries. I think I wanted to wait until I had my DSLR with me.
So after breakfast at the Poly, we got back on the monorail to head over to the TTC to switch to the Epcot monorail. Or so we thought.

Apparently the Epcot line was down, so they were sending everyone down the busses to catch one of them to Epcot instead.

I really wanted to take the monorail, so I went and asked the CM who was directing folks to the busses when it might be back up and got the typical response of “I don’t know”.

Ok, fine….I will take the bus if I must.

John took some pictures while I tried to find out the status of the monorail.





We missed the bus that was there, as it was already full, but there was another pulling up behind it.
We got on and waited for people to get on…. But there was only maybe 10 people who got on.

Off we went to Epcot, and as we were driving there what do I see out the window? The monorail. *sigh*

We got to Epcot at around 10am and knew it was going to be busy. Today was the last day of the Cheerleader competition. We wanted to get photos in front of Spaceship Earth, but there were so many people waiting we decided to come back later.
Our first stop was the Camera Center to see if we could get a battery for John’s Fitbit, as his had died. Nothing. No flat batteries.
I still had mine, and since we were always together, he was just going to base his activity off of mine.

Next was the Pin Station just in front of the fountain to get our F&G pins. They had two this year so we got both.

I was also quite warm this day, and since I had burned my face fishing yesterday, our next stop was MouseGears. John was adamant that I got a hat. Reluctantly I got one. I’m actually glad I did. It really did help with keeping me cooler without the sun beaming down on my head.

Now that we had done our first duties of the day, we were finally off to our first FP at Mission Space.


Buzz Lightyear in front of Mission: Space…. To Infinity and Beyond!

John wasn’t pleased that I had picked this as we had done it last year and did the Orange side. John didn’t feel right for the rest of the day, so we wimped out and went Green.
We were the only ones in our ‘Spacecraft’ so it was fun and we didn’t have to watch our off colour comments with kids or other folks with us. I was the Navigator and John the Pilot. Thankfully we survived and Lt. Dan was happy.

In the dump area we had some fun making videos of different space adventures and emailed them to ourselves. We had a good laugh with that.

Our next FP was for Spaceship Earth. Normally I wouldn’t have done a FP for this ride, but when we got there Stand By was at 25minutes and the line wrapped around the side of the building! Glad I had the FP now.

We finished SE and loved our future selves…. I always get a kick out of our pictures.




John and I are both dive qualified so this future was perfect

By now, World Showcase was open so we headed that way, but before we did, we stopped for some PP Pictures. These we behind SE and the 2 photographers were earning their ears. Ours tried a magicshot but it didn’t quite work out. Oh well, they have to learn somehow




Stitch was supposed to be there I swear!

We walked towards Canada and got a couple of t-shirts at the outside kiosk and I chatted with the CM who was from Toronto (I grew up just outside TO)

We made it to the UK as we had and lunch ADR at the Rose and Crown, but we were a little early so off to shop we went! I had wanted a new Liverpool FC jersey. Looking around, they had Arsenal (in Many Colours), ManU, ManCity, Chelsea and….. No LFC! Even Shannon the CM working the register couldn’t believe it because LFC is in first place in the Premier League! She said they may get them in in a few months. BOO. John got a Chelsea jersey and an England football.

While John was paying, I went to check us in for our lunch reservation at 12:15pm. I got a pager and walked back to John who was trying to fill out the paperwork to have our items shipped back to the WL (I ended up doing it lol).
Once we were done with that, the pager went off and we were seated on the patio. It was hot out there. Our server Mairead got us water in addition to our drinks because it was so hot without even being asked. I had a Coke and John a Black and Tan.




We both ordered the Cottage Pie (Cottage Pie is made with beef and Shepherd’s Pie is lamb). Last year it had mushrooms in it, but this year it was more like what I was familiar with, beef, carrots and peas. It was really good! And it literally came out within minutes of us ordering it.



We were so full that we skipped the Sticky Toffee Pudding. I found throughout the trip that when I had Coke with my meal I got fuller quicker, so I stuck to lemonade most times afterwards.

We really like the UK Pavilion, so we tried to find Pooh and Tigger without success (we eventually found them on this trip) and the line for Mary Poppins was way too long (again, I eventually met her later on in the trip) so we did some shopping in the tea shop and the attached shop there. I loved the tea sets. John said to buy one piece at a time, but knowing my luck I would buy one, and then the pattern would be gone by the next time we came back. I think when we go back next year I will just buy a set.
We also found some t-shirts from Downton Abbey that we wanted to buy, but we waited on those. We became enthralled with that show and watched all 4 seasons in a matter of a few weeks.

After working off our lunch a bit we were off to Mainland Europe with a stop in France.

Up Next: I Didn’t Know They Spoke French With A Whistle

 

[JnKinVA]

Still working on the report....

Is there anything that folks want to see or not see?

This is my first report, so I hope I'm doing ok. Not getting many responses, so I don't even know if folks are reading it.
I'm open to suggestions!
Thanks!

 

[SquirmansWife]

Still working on the report.... Is there anything that folks want to see or not see? This is my first report, so I hope I'm doing ok. Not getting many responses, so I don't even know if folks are reading it. I'm open to suggestions! Thanks!

I'm following (came from the WL thread). I love your TR so far and can't wait for the next installment! Keep 'em coming, please! We won't be at the lodge until end of August so I love seeing pics and reading about other's adventures.

 

[Wood Nymph]

You probably have a lot of readers. I've been following along.

We ended up getting a fp for Spaceship Earth, too. In the past we were always able to walk on this ride in the evening, but with the tiered ride system now at Epcot, more people are riding this one just so they can use the fp. Did you notice that John's hat disappeared in the picture?

The Cottage Pie looks good. We have eaten at Rose and Crown a few times but the menu doesn't always interest us. I think I'd like to try the Scotch Egg and maybe the cottage pie since I've heard good things about them.

 

[buckeev]

Following!? ABSOLUTELY, I just sometimes have barely enough time to read through, but I love the pix...and the descriptive text too!

I hate it when Stitch disappears, just as the photography clicks the shutter!

We're character fiends!...so, whatever you have available to share of those guys would be appreciated!

Just started making my ADRs this morning...our 180 FD check-in is almost here, but I have a room only for a few days prior, so I'm completely fragmented on my planning this year!

 

[mcconnellfam96]

Definitely following along too! You are doing great!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

little late, but joining! You had me at "how to keep your husband happy" ... plus I truly love any combination of Disney and Alcohol!

and congrats on becoming DVC owners!

First, thanks to both you and John for your service to our country - and definitely wish John a safe deployment!

Glad your room was ready and looks like a very nice view - and even able to see some of Wishes - how cool!

Speaking of cool - that is just a cool image of fishing right by the monorail tracks! And the 4lber John caught is pretty impressive. That so great that after having his life turned upside down by Sandy, Don was able to move down to Florida and do what he loves - and at Disney! (though I think I'd rather drive the monorail )

Ooh, I do love a good meat room! And we are big fans of Pimms in general so that drink you got to start dinner sounds really good!

Good call going with "Meat" at Yachtsman I've heard good things about the Prime Rib there and your review definitely confirms that!

That's funny that you did the Lilo and Stitch breakfast as your break-into characters meals - we did the same thing during an adults only trip several years ago.

What! They expect you to take a bus like some commoner!

Oh, we used our fitbit last trip - said during the week we walked 35 miles

Wow - John looks too cool for school in his Future Picture ... and that is some amazing spot, or something, on the ground you both are pointing too!

ooh, John's black and tan looks great! We love the UK pavilion - so much to see and the bands are usually really good. We love Rose and Crown too - though usually try to get a late dinner ADR as they have a private viewing area for Illuminations

Best of luck for your upcoming solo trip - I am sure it will be different, but I bet it will be amazing in it's own way

 

[JnKinVA]

Whew! I thought I was alone out there
Next Installment is coming I swear!

I'm following (came from the WL thread). I love your TR so far and can't wait for the next installment! Keep 'em coming, please! We won't be at the lodge until end of August so I love seeing pics and reading about other's adventures. ��

Thanks! It means a lot that you are looking forward to my installments, I was getting a little discouraged, and wasn't sure I was going to continue.

DH and I are returning in October during his leave from Afghanistan staying CL this time, so this TR is a reminder for me too of how much we love the Lodge!

You probably have a lot of readers. I've been following along.

We ended up getting a fp for Spaceship Earth, too. In the past we were always able to walk on this ride in the evening, but with the tiered ride system now at Epcot, more people are riding this one just so they can use the fp. Did you notice that John's hat disappeared in the picture?

The Cottage Pie looks good. We have eaten at Rose and Crown a few times but the menu doesn't always interest us. I think I'd like to try the Scotch Egg and maybe the cottage pie since I've heard good things about them.

Cottage Pie is definitely very good. Being from a Commonwealth country and growing up with brit foods, it always brings me back home.
FP for Spaceship Earth... Who Knew!

Following!? ABSOLUTELY, I just sometimes have barely enough time to read through, but I love the pix...and the descriptive text too!

I hate it when Stitch disappears, just as the photography clicks the shutter!

We're character fiends!...so, whatever you have available to share of those guys would be appreciated!

Just started making my ADRs this morning...our 180 FD check-in is almost here, but I have a room only for a few days prior, so I'm completely fragmented on my planning this year!

Characters... GOT IT! We have lots of those

We have 115 days until our next trip, and unfortunately some of the ADRs that we wanted are not available, but I will keep trying. We want to do Illuminations at Rose and Crown, and I think because it will be F&W when we go, it's just not there. Crossing my fingers something will open up.

Definitely following along too! You are doing great!

Thank you
It is much appreciated!