Longer Trip Than Usual 4-18 to 4-25

[gbpackfan9]

When my DBFF & I visited WDW in January 2008, we had the room right below yours (sort of) - it was the first room on the left with the big balcony. Our room (1-bedroom) was the first on that floor with huge balconies and we loved sitting out there in the mornings watching people come down the stairs headed out to the boardwalk and also could see the boats come in (the view was a little blocked by the trees which weren't in full bloom yet).

Thanks for the feedback.... The balcony was an excellent place to relax and people watch....

 

[wdwgirl03]

Woo hoo, another Wisconsinite trip report! I am in!

gbpackfan, love your username. And LYNSUE, I see in your signature you guys went in December too...when were you there? My dad, sister, and I were also there right before Christmas.

 

[LYNSUE]

Woo hoo, another Wisconsinite trip report! I am in!

gbpackfan, love your username. And LYNSUE, I see in your signature you guys went in December too...when were you there? My dad, sister, and I were also there right before Christmas.

Our December visit was from the 11th to the 15th. We acutally went down for the Packer game in Jacksonville on that Sunday the 14th. Jacksonville was about a 2.5 hour drive from WDW.

PS: The Packers play in Tampa this coming November...... Just Maybe we could be there?????

 

[LYNSUE]

When I last left you…..GBPackFan9 finished up the rest of Saturday 4-18-09. As you can tell, Saturday was a very long day. It started at about 4:30am and concluded at 1:30am Sunday morning. No wonder it took so many posts to finish it. I can’t say I recommend that for the first day of vacation, but we survived it!!

Sunday 4-19-09 A THREE PARK DAY!!!

I thought maybe we would sleep in on Sunday morning, but we didn’t. We were up at 7:30am and we could hear Toy Story Mania calling us. We quickly got ready, had a quick breakfast in the room with items from the box I shipped down. I had cheerios and DH had peanut butter toast. We also shared my leftovers from YSH, We walked to DHS and arrived about 8:35. We were there in plenty of time for rope drop. We did our usual thing for TSM with DH walking fast to the FP machine, me catching up and then getting in the standby line. It works great every time. We have FP’s in our pocket and we are in a very short line for the first ride of the day. The CM’s by the fast pass machine clearly tell people not to get in line until their party is all together!! Some people don’t listen. It can be very chaotic when many people are trying to move ahead of the line to catch up with their group.

When we visited last December, we were able to ride TSM only three times. I beat DH two of the three. This trip we did it six times and he won four of the six. Here are photos of the first game scores. Although it was close after each section of the game, DH prevailed.

After the first TSM we went to ride TOT with a short wait and then back to TSM for our FP ride. 2nd game scores. I was the winner this time.

After that we left DHS, walked to Epcot and arrived about 10:30ish. We entered through the back of Epcot at the International Gateway. Our first stop was Innoventions West to get a Kim Possible mission. We were given a ticket to pick up our Kimmunicator in Norway at 11:45. While we were in Innoventions, we stopped to see a show sponsored by Velcro. It was a cute show called “What’s Your Problem” We got some information about the invention of Velcro and a demonstration of some of its current uses. Then we entered the theater for a game show. The first game included kids stacking items (with Velcro of course) the second was a couple packing for vacation and the third was two guys feeding and diapering babies. DH was one of the guys in the 3rd game. I posted the pictures here, but DH will give you the details of his game when he catches up with the report tonight. It was fun. DH is in the hat and striped shirt in the front. It sure looks like he is having fun.

After that we went to the Land to get FP’s for Soarin. They had a return time of 3:18pm. Then onto Norway to get started on our KP mission. After getting our Kimmunicator in Norway, we found our mission was actually in Germany. This worked out great because we had a 12:30 ADR at Biergarten. We did see many other people (kids mostly) doing missions. As two adults, it was still enjoyable. We definitely saw some things in Germany that we never even bothered to notice before. I would recommend this for any age, but age 7 to 10 would really enjoy it the most IMO. Just as we were finishing our mission, D&G showed up with their daughter. They were joining us at Biergarten. Daughter K, did not have to be to work at the California Grill until 4:30 that afternoon. K is in the college program at WDW. We got into Biergarten with a very short wait. It was slightly before 12:30, and the band was not scheduled until 1:15. We had plenty of time to enjoy the buffet before the music started. I do not have any photos of the buffet. I really do not think buffet plates are very attractive anyway.

We all enjoyed the buffet very much. We did stay long enough to hear the band. Poor K was not exactly thrilled with that part. There was a family of three seated with us and the lady in the group was asking about DVC. She was trying to decide if it was for them. I highly encouraged her to check into it. She asked if we had any regrets, and I said only one. "I wish we would have bought sooner". I hope they give it a try.

After lunch we split up again with D&G. We would catch up with them later in the afternoon at MK and then to the Contemporary to watch Wishes from CG. That was the plan anyway.....

DH and I walked around WS some more. We actually ran into our tour guide from our "Yuletide Fantasy Tour" from last December. DH recognized him first. The walkway was a little crowded, so I worked my way up next to him and said are you Jeffrey??? After a reluctant pause he said yes. I then explained how we knew him. He was very gracious and chatted a little. He was at Epcot for the Flower and Garden festival. It was nice to see you Jeffrey.

We hung around long enough to use our Soarin FP and then left Epcot by about 4:30. I was really tired and wanted to go back to the hotel to rest. When we got back to the room, I called D and told her I would not be very good company this afternoon and asked if we could meet up later after our 7:30 dinner at the Wave. She was ok with that. They were going to take some time to hang out by their pool at POP. I also called my mom to chat and catch up on the Brewer score. Then I had a much needed rest until 6:15. I did wake up very refreshed.

MK was open until 3:00am tonight! How late would we be able to stay???

 

[LYNSUE]

We left the room about 6:30 for our 7:30 ADR at the Wave in the Contemporary. The MK bus arrived quickly. We took our first park bus ride of the vacation

Upon arriving at MK, we walked to the Contemporary. The restaurant was very busy and we ended up waiting 20 minutes past our ADR time for a table. While we were waiting, there was a family with two children sitting next to us. Dad stepped away to make a cell phone call and when he returned he broke the news to the kids that their dog was missing. The caretaker did not put the shock coller on the dog before letting him out and he ran away. Well the oldest boy (maybe age 7) took it very bad. Obviously mom was upset and could say nothing. The boy was crying uncontrollably. Dad was trying very hard to talk the boy through it with some positive outlooks. The younger girl (maybe age 3) seemed ok? Just typing this is making be teary eyed all over again. The whole scene was very sad and upsetting. The boy was blaming himself and saying he never should have left the dog!! I was very relieved when we got called to our table. However a few minutes later, this family was sat at the table right next to ours so we could see the sadness continue. The wait staff must have been aware of the situation because the kids were presented with complimentary smoothie drinks with glow straws during the meal.

But besides all that……This was our first visit to the Wave. The décor was nice and the dining room was large with nice space between the tables.

DH started with some black bean chili and I had the soup of the day which was lobster chowder. Both were very good. Sorry, no pictures of the soups. For the main course, DH had the sustainable fish, which was Halibut that day, and it was served on a vegetable stew described in the menu as corn and edamame (young soy beans). The fish had a cilantro chutney on top.

For my main course, I had the lettuce wraps which were made with sautéed lamb and bay scallops with soy-rice wine vinegar sauce. Along with this I had a side of fingerling potatoes.

DH knows that cilantro is my favorite herb. So he let me take some of the cilantro chutney from his fish and put it on my potatoes. The combination was wonderful.

Everything we had at this restaurant was very good. We would definitely return. In fact we did return later in the week. It is rare for us to repeat a restaurant during vacation.

Our total bill with tax, tip and TIW discount came to $60.00.

I did glance over at the sad family occasionally during dinner. Things had not improved much. Every time the boy would make comments about being upset, Mom would tear up again. You could see she was trying so hard to be brave in front of the kids. On our way out, I patted Mom on the shoulder and quietly said I would pray for their dog to return. (tearing up again).

I sure hope that whole thing turned out alright.

 

[LYNSUE]

It was a 19 hour day so I guess the report is going to be long.

After our dinner at the Wave we walked back to the MK to meet up with our friends. We got most of the way there and they called to say they were at the front of the MK and were heading our way. So we met them just outside the gates. And we promptly headed back to the Contemporary to go to the California Grill. I was getting dizzy walking in circles. The plan was to go up to the CG and get a drink in the lounge area and watch Wishes at 10:00pm. I didn’t think that was possible. I thought you had to have a dining reservation to even think about getting up there. Apparently when you know someone working there, the rules are relaxed a little.

So we went to the desk on the second floor and asked about getting a drink in the lounge. D chatted a bit with the desk people and of course they knew daughter K and they were so polite about meeting her parents. With no delay we were escorted up to the 15th floor. DH was politely reminded to remove his hat. The place was just packed. They do have a lounge area with over stuffed chairs, some padded bench seating and small tables. We were fortunate to get an area for the four of us. I even saw some people dining at the small tables in the lounge area. (don't know how comfortable that would be??) K came over to greet us right away. She was a seating hostess that night. Throughout the time we were there, a whole parade of people were brought over to meet D&G. DH and I were just along for the ride.

So while we were lounging, we decided to order some wine. We decided on a whole bottle since that ended up being less expensive than four glasses of wine. So DH and D made a decision on one. (I will let DH give more details on the wine choice) Whatever they chose was ok with me and G.

As an added bonus, we were given a complimentary cheese plate from the California Grill. What a nice touch. It really pays to know the right people LOL. My feeling was, for the price on that bottle of wine, they should throw in the cheese plate. I didn’t think of it until later in the night, but we could have used our TIW card and got a 20% discount on the wine. Being from WI, we have lots of cheese available to us all the time. But it still was very good.

Here is a picture of the wine and cheese.

We continued to enjoy the wine and the conversation until it was time for Wishes. We did not go out on the observation deck. K said it was really crowded already and about 5 people deep. We had a fine view from our lounge area. The lights were lowered and the music was piped in. It was nice to enjoy wishes outside the crowded park. Right after wishes the CG cleared out.

On our way out we stopped to take some pictures.

D, G, and daughter K. Nice California Grill uniform!!

All five of us. DH and I are on the left. I do like that picture even though my hair looks really stupid!

We were escorted down the elevator and then once again we made the walk from the Contemporary to MK. The extra magic hours were until 3:00am. We got there about 10:30. Everything was pretty much a walk on. About 11:30 K caught up with us and she brought her friend A. So the six of us just wandered from ride to ride walking onto most everything. We had a great time.

When D&G parked in the MK lot, they were told that the last tram to the parking lot would be at 1:30. So they were worried if they stayed too late, they would have to walk a long way to their car. So by 1:15am we decided we had enough and we would go. I could have stayed a little longer but I was getting tired. But I really didn’t want to go since we were having so much fun. We could have had the MK mostly to ourselves for another hour and a half. D&G kept saying….this is the way to see the MK!!

DH and I made our way to the bus stop. We only waited about 5 minutes for the bus to arrive. We got back to the room by 1:45 and to bed at 2:10am.

Another long day….boy was I tired. This is a little insane for people our age

 

[wdwgirl03]

After that we went to the Land to get FP’s for Soarin. They had a return time of 3:18pm. Then onto Norway to get started on our KP mission. After getting our Kimmunicator in Norway, we found our mission was actually in Germany. This worked out great because we had a 12:30 ADR at Biergarten. We did see many other people (kids mostly) doing missions. As two adults, it was still enjoyable. We definitely saw some things in Germany that we never even bothered to notice before. I would recommend this for any age, but age 7 to 10 would really enjoy it the most IMO.

Glad to hear you enjoyed the KP mission. My sister and I are 24 and 19 but I still kind of want to do it on our trip in August.

There was a family of three seated with us and the lady in the group was asking about DVC. She was trying to decide if it was for them. I highly encouraged her to check into it. She asked if we had any regrets, and I said only one. "I wish we would have bought sooner". I hope they give it a try.

So you guys are DVC members too? We've only been members since 2006 but we LOVE it. My dad kind of says the same thing about getting it sooner, had he known we'd still like going to WDW even though we're older now.

 

[gbpackfan9]

Woo hoo, another Wisconsinite trip report! I am in!

gbpackfan, love your username. And LYNSUE, I see in your signature you guys went in December too...when were you there? My dad, sister, and I were also there right before Christmas.

Thanks for checking in We were down for the Packers/Jacksonville game on December 14th. It was a quick 5 day trip. Much more hectic than last weeks trip. We're thinking of going back in early November for the Tampa Bay/ Green Bay.

 

[gbpackfan9]

When I last posted, we had just finished our first wonderful and very long day on Saturday. We didn’t set the alarm and expected to sleep in. Didn’t happen. We were up by 7:30 and decided to make the opening of DHS. We ate a quick breakfast in the room and then walked to DHS. That is the best part of staying at BWV. Less than a 15 minute walk to the parks…… We arrived at the bag check about 20 minutes before the park opened. The lines were quite long. Fortunately for us, everyone seemed to be like sheep and followed the person in front of them. There were three empty turnstiles waiting for us. DW walked up and asked the CM if these were going to be open. It almost felt like we were “jumping” ahead but we quickly got over it. Soon there was a line forming behind us and at the other two open turnstiles. This same situation happened later in the week. All this time we thought we had to arrive and hour early to get to the front of the line. Live and learn…. Ten mintues before park opening they opened the turnstiles and I hurried up to the rope. While waiting we met a CM from Fond Du Lac. Her name was Season. We had a nice chat with our fellow Cheesehead.

DW has already explained our MO for getting the FP for Toy Story, so I won’t repeat that. But is does work well. After getting my butt kicked during our December trip it was nice to be able to turn the tables and win 4 of the 6 games we played on this trip. Did I mention that I have a competitive streak? After the stand by ride, a trip down the TOT, and back to use our FP, we got another fastpass for later in the day. We knew we would be going over to EPCOT to meet G & D, but we like to give a pair of FPs to a popular attraction to an unsuspecting couple on the way out of the park. It’s our little way of Sharing the Magic!

The walk to EPCOT took about 30-40 minutes. DW reported that I was selected to participate in a game at the Velcro exhibit/show. (See pics in prior post) The object of the game was to diaper and attached a bottle (w/Velcro) to as many babies as we could in 60 second. The babies were placed on a conveyor belt between the two contestants. It reminded me of the I LOVE LUCY episode on the candy wrapping assembly line. The game ended in a tie. We each received a First Place sticker…….

We went to our first Kim Possible mission. We reported to Italy for our first mission. (DW reported that it was Norway, but that was our second mission that was done later in the week). We picked up our Kimmunicator and got the instructions. The mission actually took place in Germany, which was very convenient because we had an ADR at the Biergarten for 12:30. It was fun. It took us into a number of shops that we normally would have just walked by. A great marketing tool for Disney! During the mission we ran into a young boy (4-5 years old) was very curious as to what we were doing. We explained to him and his father what it was all about. I hope he had a chance to complete a mission. It is a fun thing to do for those of any age, but it would especially be fun for those 5-14 years of age. After completing your mission, you have the option of selecting another mission or turning in your Kimmunicator. I think there are a total of 6 missions available.

I’ll stop here as we enjoy a wonderful lunch at the Biergarten…..

 

[gbpackfan9]

After our wonderful lunch buffet, we wandered around EPCOT waiting for our FP time for Soarin. My son kept texting us with updates of the Brewers/Mets game. The Brewers had lost two in a row and were desperate for a win. They actually did win the game that day. After riding Soarin’ we were both tired and needed a rest. Saturday was a long day and Sunday promised to be another long one. We walked back to BWV for a nice rest. After the refreshing break we boarded a bus for MK. It was very crowded. With a midnight closing and EMH it seemed everyone was heading there. We walked from the bus stop to CR for our 7:30 ADR at The Wave. It was crowded and took 20 minutes to get a table. DW told the sad story of the boy with the lost puppy. We both felt so sorry for them…… The service was wonderful. Our server, Aziz, was great. The food was very tasty and the presentation was wonderful.

After dinner, we walked back over the MK to meet up with G & D. As we approached the front gate they called and said they were on their way over to the CR to see their DD. We met them by the bag check and walked back over to the CR. We were escorted up to the CG on the top floor. It’s a great view of the MK and the fireworks from up there. We ordered a bottle of Riesling wine to share. It was a very sweet wine and tasted great. We were served a complementary cheese plate with the wine. Very tasty and a nice touch. It’s great knowing people in high places…… As the wine arrived, I received a text message from fellow Dis’er ANTTS wanted to know if we wanted to meet at MK this evening. We had exchanged numbers before the trip with hopes of having a meet at Jellyrolls on Thursday. I texted back that we’d be back to MK after Wishes. The view of the Wishes was very nice, but IMO it’s better viewing from in front of the castle. After the fireworks we took a few pictures and headed back to MK. I checked my phone and had a text from ANTTS that they had headed back to AKL for the evening.

After Wishes, the park cleared out fast. By the time we got there, we could walk onto any attraction we wanted. We did HM, SM, TMR, POC, MP, and SW. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we were both were tired. We left the park at 1:30 AM. The latest we ever stayed at any park. We had only a 5 minute wait for the bus back to BWV. When we got back to the room, we made some notes from our very busy, eventful day, and once again did not set the alarm. In past trips, we always tried to make early entries and rope drops. We decided that this trip would be more relaxing and so far it is……..

Next post, Monday and the AK…………

 

[LYNSUE]

Well it was early entry at AK today. Since we were out until 2:00am the night before, we did not make the 8:00 rope drop. Actually we got up at 8:00. We had a quick breakfast in the room (oatmeal this morning). We left the room about 9:00, waited about 15 min for the AK bus and arrived at AK about 9:45. As we were entering the park, I got a text message from my sister. She wanted to let me know it was SNOWING back in WI this morning!! (Is winter really ever over in WI??)

Our original plan showed us having a dinner reservation for Tutto Italia in Epcot for tonight. However, before we left the room, I called Disney dining and cancelled it. It got rescheduled for a lunch reservation on Wednesday.

Here is the story behind the change of dinner plans….. During one of our many walks between the MK and Contemporary on Sunday evening, D&G were telling us about the wonderful dinner they had at Joe’s Crab Shack on Saturday night. I love Joe’s!!!! So I was thinking….since they have a car, just maybe we could get back there for dinner on Monday (tonight). I casually said “so you really liked Joes Crab Shack? They said yes. I asked “Did you like it enough to return for another dinner”? After thinking about it a little they said yes. Although Joe’s seemed a little pricey… compared to the WDW restaurants, it really looked like a bargain. Yay, it was a plan and I was gonna get me some seafood. (Is it really so wrong to be excited about eating at an off site location???)

So with our dinner plans arranged for this evening, we were off to do a little of AK. First stop was of course Ex Everest. We got a fast pass. Then we did the single rider line. After that we did dinosaur (it is still very jerky), Speaking of jerky….we did Primeval Whirl next. Then back to use our FP for Everest. Upon exiting we got another FP with a return time of 1:05.

It was now time for our lunch reservation at Yak & Yeti. We walked in and were seated right away. We were upstairs. Our table sat next to the staircase so we were quite far from the windows that look out over AK. DH ordered a lemonade and I had water. We shared a dim sum basket. (sorry no picture of that). It is a variety of steamed appetizers and it was very good. For the main course, DH had chicken lo mein and I had the Pho Bowl.

Chicken LoMein

The Pho needs a little explanation. It is a large soup bowl with lemon grass scented broth, poached shrimp, rice noodles, and traditional Vietnamese garnishes. By serving the garnish on the side you totally control how spicy you make the soup. I made mine medium. I wanted to try something different and I was very happy with this choice. As you can see in the picture, there was lots of shrimp in this dish. The dish on the right was the garnish.

The total bill was $54.00 plus tip. Y&Y does not accept TIW card.

After lunch we hung around outside of EE waiting for our fast pass time to come up and we were waiting to catch up with D&G. Also we had some phone calls to make. DH called work and took care of some business. I called a co-worker back who had text me earlier. She was so happy they had finally sold their home. I had to call back to congratulate her. I finished my phone conversation long before DH. While I was sitting there, a lady started chatting with me. It was a grandmother watching the baby while everyone else was riding EE. She had a lot to say and I got a long history about her three grand children’s sleeping habits. Eventually DH walked over and she continued her story. DH could see I was starting to get anxious just nodding and listening to this woman….So suddenly he puts his hand above his eyes like he is scouting the crowd and declares he sees D&G coming through the crowd. I say that I cannot see them. DH states it is because I am too short and starts to pull me along, away from the conversation. Once we get about 10 feet away, DH admits that he did not really see them.

Eventually our friends did show up with their daughter. They also had a fast pass for EE just slightly earlier than ours. So we all waited for our time to come up and we got in line. All except for G…he chickened out at the last minute. Apparently he is not a coaster fan. Especially of a coaster that goes backwards??? Oh Well.

After the EE ride, we were walking back toward the front of the parks. All of a sudden the sky opened up and it started raining hard! We happened to be passing the Yak and Yeti so we slipped into the bar area there. We were able to have a drink at the bar and waited out the ½ hour rain shower. This turned out to be the only rain the entire week we were there. How lucky is that??????

After re-hydrating, we continued walking and stopped in at the bird show, Flights of Wonder. DH and I have not seen it for a few years. It has not changed. I think this was the first time seeing it for D&G. After that we decided to go back to the BW and rest a bit. D&G would be picking us up at 6:00 for our short drive to Joe’s Crab Shack. We left AK about 2:40.

DH and I waited 20 minutes for our bus back to BW. We stopped at Blizzard Beach where a wheel chair was loaded. Once on our way from BB we had five stops (no kidding) Stops at YC, BC, Swan, Dolphin and finally the BW. (buses in the middle of the day can be challenging.) It already seemed like a very long ride when we got to the first stop at the Swan and there happened to be another scooter to load. We said to heck with it and got off the bus at the Swan and walked to the Boardwalk. I am sure we got there long before the bus did.

We rested, showered and did a little packing. (we were moving to Wilderness Lodge the next day) I am feeling a little sad about leaving the BW.

 

[Shock13]

The weather was almost perfect while we were there. Monday was a little humid and it did rain for about 30 mintues or so. But the rest of the week it was low to mid 80's during the day with little or no humidity. I loathe the humidity also and will not travel to WDW from late May through Mid Sept. We've been there in Sept and October when it's been unbearably hot and humid also. The weather this trip was probably the best we've ever experienced at the Happiest Place on Earth

Thank you both for the information! It's also nice to hear about your restaurant experiences as my family and I love eating out and after having such good meals while I was there in January, I'm looking forward to trying new places.
Also, I have to mention that both of my brother-in-law's are hardcore Packer's fans. One is from Cali and the other from Utah. Go figure.

 

[gbpackfan9]

Thank you both for the information! It's also nice to hear about your restaurant experiences as my family and I love eating out and after having such good meals while I was there in January, I'm looking forward to trying new places.
Also, I have to mention that both of my brother-in-law's are hardcore Packer's fans. One is from Cali and the other from Utah. Go figure.

You're welcome. The restaurants and the variety of dining choices is one of many things that makes each trip a unique experience. Happy to see you're enjoying the "food porn" (as DW calls them) pics.

Not surprising about your brothers-in-law's taste in football teams There are great Packer fans all over the country

 

[gbpackfan9]

Thank you to all who are reading along and have responded to our TR. I hope you're enjoying reading it as much as we're enjoying writing it. Spreading the Magic, it's what Disney's all about. For those of "lurking", (not that there's anything wrong with that), please drop in with your comments. We'd love to hear them........

 

[gbpackfan9]

…. Back to the report. We tried to sleep in on Monday morning, but our internal alarm clocks had us awake around 8 AM. We missed early entry at AK, but we hopped the bus and headed out there by 9 AM. On the way over, I heard DW cell phone ringing in her bag. She got a message from her sister telling us it was snowing in Wisconsin. Friday when we left it was 82 degrees. The wonders of weather in Wisconsin It was sure nice being in FL.

Upon entering the park we began our journey with a visit to EE. We always hit this attraction first, grabbing a fast pass and then hitting the standby line. This time, however, instead of standby (20 mintue wait) we decided to try the single rider line. We’ve used this feature at TT in EPCOT and at RR in DHS and it has kept the wait times at a minimum. It worked well, we were in a car ready to ride in about 5 minutes. While in line, I noticed a young man (probably 17-22, young to me anyway) in line behind us. He had a birthday button on and his name was Kenny. Happy Birthday, Kenny. My brother’s name is Kenny and that is probably why I noticed him. The reason I mention this, is that in the next couple of days we ran into Kenny and his parents at a couple of other parks and attractions. As large as the WDW is and the number of people there, it was amazing to us that we kept running into them…..If you’re reading this Kenny, hope you had a great vacation……. OK, back to EE. We usually ride EE 2-3 times on every visit to AK. One time we rode it 4 times in an hour, and it finally got us a little dizzy, so we now know our limitations.

After EE, we headed over to Dinosaur. It is not our favorite ride It’s very jerky, but we usually ride it once very trip. Then we got in line for Primeval. We hadn’t ridden that since our kids were with us, (many moons ago). Just as we were to load the CM loading the ride, held us back and said something into their radio… Seems the person in that car prior to us, got sick on the ride. The car was pulled out of service. If we hadn’t been in the front of the line we never would have noticed. It’s amazing how efficient they are and how the unpleasant things in the park are kept hidden from the guests. The Magic of Disney at work again…..

We stopped for lunch at the Yak & Yeti. We stopped there for lunch in December and had a nice lunch, so we thought we’d stop in and try something else on their menu. After we were seated, I notice another of the hostesses seating people at an adjoining table. It was Jennifer, our waitress from Jellyrolls on Saturday I stopped her on the way by and said hi. She told us that she recognized a number of people in the restaurant from there but no one seemed to remember her. She also said that Saturday was a good crowd and that it was busy, but she’s seen it so busy that she has a hard time making it through the crowd to deliver the drinks.

After lunch we headed back over to EE to use our fast pass. We were waiting for G&D to meet us there. I had a few phone calls to make for work ( I know, I was supposed to be on vacation), so I took care of that while we waited. I finally spotted G coming toward us. He’s over 6’ 2” so he was the first one I saw coming toward us. He sometimes gets motion sick, so he backed out on EE. The rest of us rode and had a great ride.

As we were walking after the ride, we were in front of the Yak & Yeti again and it started to rain. We popped into the bar and had a drink. It only rained about 30 minutes ( the only rain that whole week we were there). After the rain, we went to the trained bird show. During one part of the show, I large bird flew from the back of the seating area to the stage, right over our heads. I could feel the wind from the wings as it passed over us. The thing about animal/bird shows is that there is always something unexpected that happens. During this show when they brought out the bald eagle to show the crowd, he decided it was time to relieve himself and a large stream flew from the back of the bird. The trainer turned his head and tried not to laugh. It reminded me of an old Tonight Show segment with Johnny Carson and the animals from the San Diego Zoo.

Sometime around 2:30 we decided to head back for a rest before going out to dinner with D&G. The wait for the bus at AK was extremely long, as it usually is there in the early afternoon. After about a 30 minute wait, two busses showed up. They both ended up being full. It was going to stop at Blizzard Beach and then on to the Swan, Dolphin, YC, BC and then finally BWV. We got off the bus at the Swan and walked back to BWV. I’m sure we beat the bus back That is the only drawback to BWV. Mid day busses make too many stops. But the positives far outweigh the negatives and BWV and BC are our favorite spots to stay.

I’ll pick up the report following our much need rest…..

 

[LYNSUE]

Monday 4-20-09 continued.

When it was getting close to 6:00pm, we decided to walk toward the entrance road to the BW. We were not sure if D&G could get past the guard gate or just how far they would be allowed into the resort without a car pass. While we were walking, the phone rang and they told us they were driving in. So we started watching for them while we were still on the phone. We saw them drive right past us. So they turned around and DH and I jumped in the car. They had the GPS set and we were on our way to Joe’s Crab Shack. I am not sure the address of Joe’s, but we did not drive very long and there it was. So maybe it is a Kissimmee address??? DH will tell us later in his report. I hope the readers out there will not be bored with an off site dining report…..but here goes.

There was plenty of parking at the restaurant. When we entered it was little busy, but we were seated right away. Our waitress was very friendly and casual with us. We could tell this was going to be a fun place. DH had an encounter with the waitress regarding a drink he likes to order…..he will be happy to tell you about that. But for me, it’s all about the seafood and this menu sure looked promising. It was huge and the variety was mind boggling. But my eye kept going back to the steamed pots selection. G had had one when he was there the previous Saturday and he highly recommended it. So we placed our order. If you order crab of any kind, they bring you out a bib and place it on you. Also on the table in front of you they put a news paper looking place mat. Apparently this is how the seafood boils are enjoyed down south????

Look how happy we are, and the food has not even arrived yet. And yes, G is really enjoying that beer.

D and I had the same steamed pot. It included Dungeness crab, snow crab, shrimp, andoullie sausage, corn and the most wonderful steamed red potatoes. G had a steamed pot of mussels, clams, shrimp, sausage, corn and potatoes. DH went with a regular plate of blackened tilapia. There was also a side dish of shrimp, andoullie sausage and potatoes. Mine was wonderful. And everyone else seemed very pleased also. G had never had clams and mussels before, but he found he liked them. He did add a little Tabasco sauce to them. He likes every thing a little spicy (with his food that is!!).

Here is a little more “food porn” for you.

DH's talapia, shrimp and side dish

Crab & Shrimp

Mussels & Clams

I can‘t tell you enough how wonderful this dinner was. And (compared to WDW prices) this seafood meal was a bargain!!! I will definitely be back.

After dinner we drove back to BW and parked in visitors parking. We walked over to Epcot for Illuminations. DH and I are not big fans of the show and we had not seen it in years. But D was looking forward to it, so of course we went. D was anxious about the crowds. From years ago, she had a vivid memory of seeing Illuminations and then fighting the massive crowd to get to their bus and back to their hotel. We told her not to worry. By walking in the back entrance of Epcot all of that hassle is avoided. She seemed skeptical, but she would soon see.

We viewed Illuminations in Morocco in front of a chest high stone wall. DH chose this location and it was very nice. We enjoyed the show since we had not seen it in a while. But, dang, that middle part with the globe still dragggggssss.

When Illuminations was done we took our leisurely stroll out the back of Epcot and onto the BW. D was impressed with how easy it was. We were heading back to our studio for a night cap. The guys went to the vehicle to pick up the rum and coke D&G brought with them. D and I stopped at the General Store on the BW to get some orange juice to go with the rum for those who did not want coke. D was looking around the store at some key rings. She said she really wanted a figment one. Figment is very hard to find, so I told her I would check out the shop at the end of the Figment ride later in the week to see what I could find. (I found a nice one and mailed it to her.) I got an e-mail today from D telling me how much she liked it.

So we headed back to the studio. When we got off the elevator, I walked right to our door and then noticed the room numbers started with a 5 instead of a 4. WE GOT OFF ON THE WRONG FLOOR!! But even with our shopping and getting lost, we still beat the guys back to the room. However, we were also supposed to get ice. That, we did not have time for before the guys arrived.

We enjoyed a couple of drinks and some wonderful conversation. D&G were heading home tomorrow. They planned to spend the morning with their daughter and then hit the road by noon. They were both a little sad about leaving. Their time there seemed so short to me and I imagine it was even shorter to them. When G returns to work on Wednesday, there is a very important meeting scheduled about the future of the company. Both of them were very anxious about that. So we sadly said goodbye and they left about 11:30. This would be an early night for a change. We did some trip notes and got to bed by 12:15.

 

[LYNSUE]

DH took several pictures of the topiaries at Epcot. These were special ones for the F&G festival.

Neither of us are really into this kind of thing....but we knew there were many people on these boards who would be. So enjoy.

The Bambi group

Goofy

Some lion king characters

Sorcessor Mickey

Mickey head flower bed

The princess collection

 

[wdwgirl03]

Ooh, the F&GF pictures are awesome! Thanks for sharing.

 

[LYNSUE]

We are leaving the BW area today and moving over to the Wilderness Lodge. We have never stayed at WL before so I did not know what it was like. I just knew it could not be a wonderful as BW for the convenience of getting places. WL seemed far away from everything. But in reality, it was not far away at all. I learned it was only a short boat ride to the Magic Kingdom. Once you got to the MK, the monorail could get you to the resort loop or to the ticket and transportation center for a quick transfer to the Epcot monorail. It was not like the convenience of walking there, but it turned out to not be so bad. But starting out this morning, I had a bad opinion of the WL.

We were up at 8:15. We decided not to be in a hurry to get to any park this morning. DH went for a jog/walk. I called my sister and chatted for a while. When DH got back we got ready, finished packing, hauled our luggage to bell services, checked out and headed to Spoodles for breakfast. This was our one and only breakfast in a restaurant for the trip. (I don’t count the airport breakfast…blah)

According to our receipt, we were seated in Spoodles at 10:15. DH had the vegetable frittata with a large skim milk. I had the American breakfast which is scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon, sausage and a muffin. Sorry, no pictures of the food, but we figured you all know what breakfast food looks like. It was a good breakfast and we were ready to get the day started. It would be the last time this trip we could walk to Epcot (or would it???)

First stop was Soarin for a fast pass then we headed over to Innoventions to get another Kim Possible mission. While in Innoventions, we took a picture of the Waste Management green display. It’s a little hard to see, but it is a man riding the back of the garbage truck. We took this picture for our oldest son (now age 26). But when he was age 3, his dream was to be the garbage man and ride the truck. He used to stand on the side of our wooden rocking chair and while rocking the chair back and forth he would pretend to be riding the garbage truck. It was rather cute at the time. By the way…he did not complete his dream of being the garbage man. He is now a governmental auditor for an accounting corporation. LOL

So here is the picture we took for DS.

I could not find it in my notes, but I think this was also the time we tried the Segways in Innoventions. (DH will correct me if I am wrong about the timing on this). It was something I always wanted to try and it was way easier than it looked to operate it. The man that was instructing me was very patient and kind during the demo. There was a picture of me on the Segway, but it was from the back and my butt looked really big, so I made DH delete it. We need to try it again and get a picture from the front instead!!! Maybe someday we will actually do the Segway tour in Epcot.

We left Innoventions and were going to ride spaceship earth. When we got there, the line was huge. No way was I going to wait for that. So we hit test tracks instead. We did the single rider line with no wait. After that it was onto World Showcase. We did the boat ride in Mexico and in Norway. Then we picked up our Kim Possible mission in Norway. We were asked if this was our first mission. We said no, we had already done Germany. So this time they set us up for a mission right there in Norway. Again we got to see several sites in Norway that we never noticed before. I think we passed through the seating area for the Kringla Bakery about six times during our mission. I hope no one eating there noticed. We did take one picture of a statue in Norway. It is a famous runner. (sorry I don’t remember who she is).

If we had not been on the KP mission, i probably never would have seen this statue.

After our KP mission we went back to future world to ride SE. This time the line was reasonable. We waited about 10 minutes. Then onto Figment. We stopped in the shop at the end of the ride and found the key chain I wrote about earlier. After that we went into the Land. We had lunch at Sun Shine Seasons food court. We wanted just a small lunch since we had an ADR for Ohana later. Well the one other time I had eaten at SS food court, I had this wonderful rotisserie pork chop. And although it was not exactly a light lunch, I really wanted it again. So that’s what I got. DH was good and had the chicken caesar salad. Now the only problem here was that the seating area was extremely crowded. So both of us went to find a table. Then I got my food, went back to the table while DH got his food. I wanted to eat while mine was still hot, so by the time DH got back I was done and I watched him eat his. Not a very relaxing lunch. The table we had was right on the edge of the food court with just a low wall separating it from the Soarin traffic. The whole time we were eating, this guy stood there leaning on the wall talking to his friend. He was practically at the table with us. If he would have moved about five feet one way or the other where the wall was a little higher, he would not have been hanging in the dining area?? Apparently I was the only one bothered by this. The guy and his friend were oblivious to it.

After lunch we used our FP for Soarin. After Soarin we walked back to the BW to collect our luggage. We took a cab to the WL and arrived about 3:30.

Now I know we could have had Disney transfer our luggage and then just have taken a bus from Epcot to WL, but I was more comfortable just taking our luggage with us. I didn’t want to have to wait for it once we arrived at WL. This way we were in our room along with our bags and there was no waiting around. We were able to settle in our room right away.

My very first impression of WL….. This is a very dark resort! (it does get better, but it takes a little while)

 

[gbpackfan9]

Monday late afternoon…..After a much need rest, we got ready to go out to eat with D & G. As we were walking out to the front of BWV, D called and said they were at the guard gate. As we started to walk in that direction, they drove right by us and said we don’t see you. I said, “Look in the rearview mirror”. They drove up and around the drop-off area and headed back towards us. We hopped in the back and were on our way to Joe’s Crab Shack in Lake Buena Vista. We had eaten at Joe’s in San Diego a few years back when we attended the National School Board Convention and loved it.

As DW reported the place had a laid back and fun atmosphere. The waitress came and took our drink orders. There is the drink I like, but don’t know what it’s called. It has Southern Comfort, Capt Morgan’s Spiced Rum, Amaretto, and Pineapple Juice. Soon the drinks arrived. After setting them on the table, she told us that the bartender found the name of the drink online. She told us it was called “A Piece of A**”. Needless to say, that the fun atmosphere just got more relaxed. I didn’t know whether it was true or she was just trying to get a bigger tip, but it worked. I did check it out, when I got home and there is a drink called that, but it didn’t have the spiced rum or the pineapple juice. Anyway, back to the meal. I had the blackened tilapia, with fried shrimp, and a combination for barbecued shrimp, andoulle sausage and red potatoes. It was delicious. Unlike DW, I don’t really care for crab or lobster. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that I’d rather have shrimp or a good piece of fish.

After dinner, we thanked our waitress for a great time and headed back to BWV. We parked in the BWV lot and walked over to EPCOT for Illuminations. It’s been a few years since we’ve seen it. The park didn’t seem to be too crowded this evening. We got EPCOT about 20 minutes before the show and found a spot near Morocco to watch it. As DW reported, D & G were really amazed at how easy it is to leave the park after the show, through the International Gateway. We returned to our room for some drinks and conversation. D & G were heading back to South Carolina the next day. It was great seeing them again. We got to bed shortly after midnight, earliest so far on this trip. Tomorrow we’re moving over to WL……