My Feet Are Killing Me and I Want a Lollipop 6/17-6/24 (Complete 7/24)

[jecskc]

This was an Epcot Day. Since Epcot is such a big park, we always get so tired on an Epcot day. So this trip, we decided to do Future World one day and World Showcase another day so we wouldn’t be so tired.
So we got up, had breakfast at our villa, packed up the back pack and headed to the park. We made rope drop again !! YAY !!

DH headed to Soarin’ to get FP’s while the kids and I checked out the gift shop to get something for DH. DS got him this:

DD got him this:

She thought this was a pen that you could write with. But as you can see, it is a wine stopper. We have used it quite a bit and we love it. We sent these to the front of the park so we could pick them up at the end of our day.

After that, the kids and I went to the pin station to get this beauty

You can see that Mickey has a tie ... pretty cute.

After that, we hung around this area until DH got back with Soarin’ FP’s

You see how empty the park was ??? Rope drop people !! Do it !! Even if you are a few minutes late, you can still get a bunch done when you get there early.

When DH got back with Soarin’ FP’s he proclaimed that the whole experience was just crazy.

Next up was Test Track …..baby !!!

It was basically a walk-on. 10 minutes tops. See ?? It pays to get there at rope drop !!

Next up was Mission Space – GREEN. Orange is not for me. Umno. The stomach does not like spinny rides. Wait was about another 10 min or so. The kids played in the playground right outside the ride and DS sent some e-mails home.

After that, it was time for us to get another FP. FP’s for Test Track again.
Then we were ready for Soarin’

This is my FAVORITE ride at Disney. I love everything about it. The sights, the smells and the music. I always insist on front row. This time we asked for front row seats and this CM was telling us we had to wait when I could see that there were five spots available. I was like “ummmm …OK, we will wait”. He makes us wait while he loads all of the other rows. There are still only two people in the front row. I kinda raise my eyebrows and him and he sighs and says … step into row one. I so didn’t get his attitude. From then on, he was known at the Soarin’ Nazi. Once we got seated, he snapped at me to put DD’s strap through her legs when she was clearly higher than the red mark. I muttered that he was the Soarin’ Nazi and I know that he heard me. It was funny. Cheer up, dude, you work at Disney in the best ride EVER !!

The ride was awesome as always.

You know those Glade plug-ins ?? I think Disney should sell those with all of the Soarin’ smells. Seriously, they would make millions. I’m just sayin’ …..….

 

[jecskc]

Up next, Living with the Land

Loved it … as usual. Several hidden Mickey’s on this ride. I’ll get pics of those next time !!

Time for lunch. We ate at Sunshine Seasons. Well, most of us anyway.
DH and I split the Rotisserie Chicken, rice and bean salad

DS got some Chicken Legs, mashed potatoes and bean salad

DD refused to eat here since she is so picky and I didn’t want to waste a credit on something I KNEW she wouldn’t eat.

DS got a cinnamon bun for dessert

I got DH and I Strawberry Shortcake for dessert.

This meal was just OK. It filled us up and tasted pretty good, but didn’t blow us away. But not bad either. Just a regular lunch. Next time we will try something in World Showcase for lunch, I think.

I took DD over to the Electric Umbrella to get something she would eat.

It was packed !! And it took FOREVER !! But we finally got her fed and went back towards the Land. I had noticed that a couple of pairs of her shoes were too small for her on this trip so we stopped on the way back to the Land and got her some new Crocs

She liked them, but they gave her blisters and in the end she had to wear socks with them so she could get through the days ahead.

 

[Disneyfreak616]

I am loving this TR! You crack me up!

Can't wait for more!

P.S. I would sooo sign a petition for Soarin' plug-ins! Brilliant.

 

[jecskc]

I am loving this TR! You crack me up!

Can't wait for more!

P.S. I would sooo sign a petition for Soarin' plug-ins! Brilliant.

I love your TR's too !!! Thanks for stopping by !! I'm surprised that Disney hasn't thought of the air freshener idea already. It seems strange that they would pass up an opportunity to make a bunch of money.

 

[jecskc]

Next up, some pin trading

And the Nemo ride

We talked DD out of seeing Turtle Talk so we could get finished and get back to swim.

We Headed to Figment

Tronorail !!!

Next up was Club cool. The kids love this place.

Our drinking team has a Disney problem .....

DD likes the watermelon one the best. I think it comes from China.

I wanted this shirt !!

Then it was time to use our FP’s for Test Track.

After that, Spaceship Earth.

Tronorail !!! (kind alike … squirrel …LOL)

We got some Photopass Pictures (which I will insert when they come in the mail. I DID pre-pay for it saving $50).

We picked up DH’s Father’s Day gifts and the kids HAD to show him right then. He loved them both.

 

[mimiecp]

Love your trip report so far! Definitely joining in. Your family looks like you are having a great time!

 

[jecskc]

Love your trip report so far! Definitely joining in. Your family looks like you are having a great time!

Thanks !! We had a blast !! I noticed your avatar photo. We have one of those.

She is two and is monumentally bad in every way. She is beautiful and sweet and that is the ONLY reason she is alive today. Her name is Sunshine, and she's a B-A-D D-O-G !!

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

Day Three – Part Four

We went back to the resort and we had planned to swim, but the pool was closed for “chemical treatment” and wouldn’t be open until 8:00 PM. We suspected that there was a “code brown” in the pool and that is why it needed treatment. So we came back to the quiet pool by our room. It was very crowded due to the closure of the main pool. We all went, but I only stayed for about 20 minutes. I had to get back to the villa to get busy with my unruly hair and attempt a decent spackling job on my face. Because tonight we had ADR’s at California Grill !!!

We rested and got everyone cleaned up. Had a glass of wine and a little snack and decided to leave early and try to get over and check out the Grand Floridian.

So we parked at the Comtemporary

We made our way up to the monorail.

Some photos from the monorail.

And the Grand Floridian !! We only had about 20 minutes and then we needed to hop back on the monorail to get back to the Contemporary ….. and dinner !!

I wanna stay here soooo bad !!!

I have more, but I don’t want to bore you with them. Isn’t it so pretty ?? We are definitely eating at this resort at least next time we come. I want to stay here so bad !! I definitely want to spend some more time exploring. 20 minutes wasn’t enough.

 

[jecskc]

Finally, it was time to head back to the Contemporary. We checked in and headed up to the elevator to California Grill. We got a table right by the window. We had some confetti on our table because we were celebrating our Anniversary which was on the 13th (our 13th year) and Father’s Day of course.

View from our table

Our waiter’s name was Gary and he was fantastic !! Loved him. He was from Hawaii and he told us stories about his parents and how they could see the attack on Pearl Harbor from their house. He brought us water and the kids each a soda. And some bread.

OK this bread ??? It tasted good, but the crust was waaayyy too hard to chew. I mean you had to really gnaw at it to get a bite and it seemed a little undignified for such a nice restaurant. He also brought the kids out a small bowl of goldfish crackers.

DH ordered The Sterling Three Palms Napa

I ordered the Conundrum

For starters, he brought DD a nice bowl of fruit which you can see here along with the Mickey confetti that DD was decorating everyone’s glass with.

The fruit was very fresh and tasty. It didn’t last long.

More views from our table

For our appetizer, DH and I decided to split the Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Pesto, Shiitake Mushrooms, and Basil. They split it up for us into two plates.

This was seriously Yummo !!! I could have eaten this whole thing by myself. So good !!

DD ordered Mac and Cheese

She didn’t like this at all. She said it was too salty. I tasted some of it myself and she was right. Waaayyy too salty to enjoy. We didn’t discover this until late in the meal and Gary offered to get her something else, but we said no because we knew she wouldn’t eat anything. And really with the fruit, bread, goldfish and her dessert. She had enough to eat. I thought it was strange that such a well to do restaurant would over salt their macaroni.

DH, DS and I ordered the Oak-fired Filet of Beef, Mascarpone Potatoes, Roasted Delta Asparagus, Spring Onion Oil, and Teriyaki Barbecue it also had some mashed potatoes with it.

This was excellent !! The meat was cooked perfectly and it was so tender. We all really enjoyed this dish.

For dessert the kids got the sushi platter

All of it was candy. Even the ginger was taffy and the wasabi was a marshmallow. We made this sushi at home with rice crispy treats, fruit roll-ups and gummy worms. It is a fun little dessert and it takes good too. They really liked this.

DH got the Profiteroles that Gary recommended.

He loved them.

I got the Valrhona Chocolate Cake

See ?? We both got some chocolate banners with Happy Anniversary on them, too.

Oh. Em. Gee. This was soooo good !!! One my favorite desserts from the week.

DH tried to catch some photos of the sunset.

It was about 9:30 PM or so when we got done so we just went out on the deck outside to wait for Wishes to start. The Electrical Water Parade came by while we were waiting and that was fun to watch. And finally, the fireworks.

It was nice not to have to fight the crowds after the fireworks for once. We just got back in the car and went back to our resort. Once we got back, we were able to catch the South Carolina Gamecocks in the College World Series defeat Texas A&M. Scott Wingo got the game winning run in at the bottom of the 9th inning. A very exciting win !!

 

[mimiecp]

Your dog is so sweet! Mine is named Charlie or Fuzzy; he'll respond to both. He's 3 and my biggest regret about going to Disney is leaving him behind. Can't wait to hear more about AK. Love the tips!

 

[jecskc]

Your dog is so sweet! Mine is named Charlie or Fuzzy; he'll respond to both. He's 3 and my biggest regret about going to Disney is leaving him behind. Can't wait to hear more about AK. Love the tips!

Sunshine is so bad. Please tell me it gets better !! I agree that reading trip reports on the DIS is a great way to learn how to tour the parks. I have learned so much from reading other trip reports. I hope you can get some good info from mine to help you on your next trip.

 

[jecskc]

Day Four – Part One
Today was our Animal Kingdom Day. This day was planned EXTREMELY well. How well, you ask ?? So well that on a day where the park was pretty packed, we didn’t wait for anything hardly at all. It was awesome. So awesome in fact, that DD announced at the end of the day …. “Mom, this trip is EPIC !!

Here’s how it went down.

We get up, get ready and head to the park.

We arrive at 8:00 AM on the dot.

We get a photopass picture after DH gets through the bag check line.

So I learned this strategy from estherhead’s TR – here. After pics, DH goes to the Safari to get FP’s while I head towards Tusker House which is where we will eat breakfast. Pics I take along the way.

We meet up at Tusker House and check in for our 8:20 AM breakfast ressie.

More pictures before breakfast.

Tusker House is a character Breakfast. Mickey, Goofy, Donald and Daisy in their safari gear. As is typical of a Character meal, it is a buffet. So we get our picture with Donald

and head inside to get seated.

I have to say something about this Donald photo. It was on our photopass CD. Which means I didn't need to purchase the $30 set they sell you at the restaurant. Yeah ......live and learn.

We sit down, meet our waitress, Tammie, who is very friendly and gives some juice which is very yummy.

Jungle juice they call it. I am not really a juice person because it contains too much acid. And since I had my gall bladder removed several years ago, I just can’t take too much citric acid for some reason. But this juice was very yummy and smooth and didn’t cause too much of a problem.

Here are some indoor pics

My plate

Clockwise – biscuit, potatoes, bacon, bobootie, eggs and Mickey waffles. I ate everything but the bobootie which I gave to DH and he seemed to like it. I have to say that I feel that this was our worst meal of the trip. And saying that, everything was just OK. We ate, it was breakfast food. Just OK. Whereas everything else we had was just better. This wasn’t bad, it just was the bottom choice out of an otherwise spectacular week.
And we were here for the characters anyway.

 

[mimiecp]

Sounds like Tusker House was okay but I don't think we'll eat there. We're paying OOP for our Sept. trip and I'm really weighing up the value vs. the cost. Looking forward to hearing more about your day.

As for dogs, it does get better. Charlie was well trained by the first family that adopted him and then later returned him to the rescue where I adopted him. I believe he spent a lot of time in a crate, but he also has a pretty laid back personality so that helps. Our first dogs, a mother and son we adopted in 1997, were terrible, REALLY terrible. Dug up flooring, chewed on everything, escaped from crates, wild as could be. They mellowed out a little bit when Ben turned 3. Now that they are in doggie heaven, I look at my bed post that they completely chewed up and miss them. I'm hope your dog will mellow out eventually. I'm sure she will in another year or so.

 

[glennbo123]

Well of course I had to check out your trip report since a little bird told me about it! I'm very honored with the fastpass-picture reference.

I'm all caught up and it sounds like your park days are very well planned and that you're getting a lot done. Awesome job on that!

OKW looks really nice and I can't wait to hear where you end up on DVC.

 

[jecskc]

Well of course I had to check out your trip report since a little bird told me about it! I'm very honored with the fastpass-picture reference.

I'm all caught up and it sounds like your park days are very well planned and that you're getting a lot done. Awesome job on that!

OKW looks really nice and I can't wait to hear where you end up on DVC.

Thanks for reading !! You will see a lot of Glennbo fast pass photos in this TR. In a pitiful effort to provide suspense, I will say that the DVC is coming up .... keep reading to find out !!

 

[jecskc]

Sounds like Tusker House was okay but I don't think we'll eat there. We're paying OOP for our Sept. trip and I'm really weighing up the value vs. the cost. Looking forward to hearing more about your day.

As for dogs, it does get better. Charlie was well trained by the first family that adopted him and then later returned him to the rescue where I adopted him. I believe he spent a lot of time in a crate, but he also has a pretty laid back personality so that helps. Our first dogs, a mother and son we adopted in 1997, were terrible, REALLY terrible. Dug up flooring, chewed on everything, escaped from crates, wild as could be. They mellowed out a little bit when Ben turned 3. Now that they are in doggie heaven, I look at my bed post that they completely chewed up and miss them. I'm hope your dog will mellow out eventually. I'm sure she will in another year or so.

I would have been disappointed to pay OOP for Tusker House that is for sure.

Sunshine is well trained. She does all of her tricks and LOVES to fetch the frisbee. I do admit that she spends some time in the crate. If we let her have free run of the house, she would destroy it. I mean I had to replace our remote control because she chewed the thing up when no one was looking. This sent DH into a tail spin ..... until I walked over to the TV and changed the channel manually ... it is like he couldn't live without the remote. It was seriously hilarious. Of course, our internet was out for several days when we got home from Disney and I about went crazy.

 

[Racey]

enjoying your trip report - thanks for sharing.

I love both your dogs - dont worry they start to behave all of a sudden, and you wondered why you stressed over them being naughty Plus its worth it, afterall, its onlya dog owner who gets greated with maximus excitement whenever you come home thats my favourite part of any day

 

[jecskc]

enjoying your trip report - thanks for sharing.

I love both your dogs - dont worry they start to behave all of a sudden, and you wondered why you stressed over them being naughty Plus its worth it, afterall, its onlya dog owner who gets greated with maximus excitement whenever you come home thats my favourite part of any day

I can't wait until our dog gets less naughty. She already is a lot better. But still, everyday, I am fishing at least 3-5 different objects out of her mouth. And we are getting better about not leaving things laying around, but she can easily get things off of the table as well, so we can't win.

Thanks for reading.

 

[jecskc]

I just got my photo pass pictures in the mail today !!!

Once I get them uploaded, I will go back and insert them. We got some GREAT ones !! Giggity !!!

 

[teacher1717]

subbing in-sounds great! Can't wait to read the rest

 

[jecskc]

subbing in-sounds great! Can't wait to read the rest

Thanks for reading !! Wow !! Look how close you are to your trip !! I bet you are so excited. That least week or two before your trip really seems to drag by doesn't it ?? Where are you staying ?? Tell us your plans !!