Old, New & Long Lost Friends, with a Side of Frump! FINISHED! DL TR started 1.20.14!

[__disneygirl]

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHHAHAHAKJHAKJHDHAHAH

I'M BRIAN FELLOWS!!!!!!!!!! Dare I say Tracy Morgan's finest SNL moment? Or maybe it was his dance moves during I Wish It Was Christmas Today:

It's a toss up.

Your picture with the giant Mickey ears is magnificent!!!

I am the same childlike and antsy person. If someone wants to kill me all they would have to do is put a poison cookie in front of me that says "Eat Me" or even more effective would be "Don't Eat Me".

I LOVE THE POGUES AND I LOVE THAT LOVE YOU TIL THE END WAS YOUR WEDDING SONG! OMG! Flawless choice! I got into them after that song was in the movie P.S. I Love You. If you haven't seen it, oh god, see it... it is so above most romantic comedies/dramas.

I'm so excited to write about my Raglan Road experience. We finally tried it and had a ridiculous blast!

 

[arbolita]

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHHAHAHAKJHAKJHDHAHAH

I'M BRIAN FELLOWS!!!!!!!!!! Dare I say Tracy Morgan's finest SNL moment? Or maybe it was his dance moves during I Wish It Was Christmas Today:

It's a toss up.

Your picture with the giant Mickey ears is magnificent!!!

I am the same childlike and antsy person. If someone wants to kill me all they would have to do is put a poison cookie in front of me that says "Eat Me" or even more effective would be "Don't Eat Me".

I LOVE THE POGUES AND I LOVE THAT LOVE YOU TIL THE END WAS YOUR WEDDING SONG! OMG! Flawless choice! I got into them after that song was in the movie P.S. I Love You. If you haven't seen it, oh god, see it... it is so above most romantic comedies/dramas.

I'm so excited to write about my Raglan Road experience. We finally tried it and had a ridiculous blast!

YESSSSSSSS. I loved "I Wish it was Christmas Today" - definitely one of my favorite recurring jokes/sketches that they've had in recent years!

I love that you love The Pogues!!! More and more little things keep popping up that make it clear we were destined to be friends. I think you'll love the story of why it became our first dance song. After my husband and I had been dating for 2 years or so, we went to go see them in concert. I got really drunk, as one does during a Pogues concert, and when they played that song I remember yelling belligerently at Scott that it should be "our" song, lol. Scott is of Irish decent, so I like to think that was the moment that he decided I was a keeper, because 3 months later we got engaged (while in Orlando, of course)! Ah love.

Can't wait to read your update about RR!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

All this talk about Tracy Morgan's SNL days is making me feel nostalgic and old! I think the first time they did the Christmas skit was in 2000 when I was still in medical school. Yikes! That was also the year I think when one of my favorite SNL skits ever was aired: "More Cowbell!" Good times.

 

[hobbs6799]

We are going in October and plan on dinner at raglan Road one night. My daughter is DYING to try the shepherds pie. I love bread pudding so much and often make it here at home, so I am eagerly anticipating my first bite of their bread pudding!

I am really enjoying your TR. SS looks amazing.

 

[arbolita]

All this talk about Tracy Morgan's SNL days is making me feel nostalgic and old! I think the first time they did the Christmas skit was in 2000 when I was still in medical school. Yikes! That was also the year I think when one of my favorite SNL skits ever was aired: "More Cowbell!" Good times.

That seems right! I wasn't watching SNL regularly when the More Cowbell sketch aired, and I remember being so confused as to why it kept popping up in conversation!

We are going in October and plan on dinner at raglan Road one night. My daughter is DYING to try the shepherds pie. I love bread pudding so much and often make it here at home, so I am eagerly anticipating my first bite of their bread pudding!

I am really enjoying your TR. SS looks amazing.

I'm excited for you to finally get to try Raglan Road! The other dish that I've had there which was DELICIOUS and I came very close to ordering again this time was Kevin's Heavenly Ham

 

[__disneygirl]

YESSSSSSSS. I loved "I Wish it was Christmas Today" - definitely one of my favorite recurring jokes/sketches that they've had in recent years!

I love that you love The Pogues!!! More and more little things keep popping up that make it clear we were destined to be friends. I think you'll love the story of why it became our first dance song. After my husband and I had been dating for 2 years or so, we went to go see them in concert. I got really drunk, as one does during a Pogues concert, and when they played that song I remember yelling belligerently at Scott that it should be "our" song, lol. Scott is of Irish decent, so I like to think that was the moment that he decided I was a keeper, because 3 months later we got engaged (while in Orlando, of course)! Ah love.

Can't wait to read your update about RR!

OMG I am cracking up at this, especially b/c when you started to tell the story, I thought you were going to have this extremely romantic mushy story about how the song came on during your first kiss or something like that and instead the story is "I was drunk and screaming" so yeah, I would say we're destined to be friends.

 

[arbolita]

Chapter 7 - The Scariest Thing I've Ever Done During a Disney Vacation

Settle in folks, I packed a LOT in to this post!

After lunch, we were about to set on a mission that seemed so bizarre and foreign to me while at Walt Disney World.

We were going to walk to a non-Disney hotel.

To rent a car.

To leave Disney (and NOT head to another theme park).

WHO PLANNED THIS DISNEY TRIP WHILE I WASN'T LOOKING?

In reality, we did have a good reason for doing this. One of Scott's friends from high school had moved down to Florida and he hadn't seen her in at least 10 years. He'd asked early on if we could try to work in to our schedule some time to get together with her and I thought it would be a good way to spend our first evening in Orlando - mostly because I knew we wouldn't be able to fit in a full park day anyway, heh.

I knew that National had a rental place within walking distance from the Downtown Disney Marketplace, so we wandered back in that direction. I thought it was pretty exciting to be able to see our resort from where we were!

As we were walking, there was an announcement made that the Princesses of the Bibbiti Bobbiti Boutique would be doing a parade through Downtown Disney. I had no idea they did this and thought it was so adorable - how exciting for those girls after receiving their makeovers to feel even more like royalty!

The National rental office was located at the Buena Vista Palace hotel. You guys all remember how fabulous my sense of direction is, so this time I decided to bring up where we were supposed to go on the GPS on my phone. After we crossed the street, there was a map which at least helped confirm we were going in the right direction!

We continued walking down the sidewalk and within a few minutes we had arrived at the hotel!

Now, even though we knew we were in the right location, that sign was actually pretty far removed from the hotel buildings, and we still had no clue where to go once we got there.

We just kept walking along and went across that bridge in the above picture and eventually found a small courtyard area and located in there was the rental office. Apparently since we were officially out of Disney, I didn't think enough of this area to take any pictures, so I'll keep this brief. The guy who was working (whose name I didn't catch) had this bizarrely dry sense of humor and spent the entire time making sly remarks - the kind where you can never tell if they're joking or not. I was torn between finding him hilarious and being terrified. We finally got to our car, and they had given us a 2013 Toyota Corolla, which had a grand total of 150 miles on the odometer - it even still had new car smell! I don't think I've ever been in a car that new before, so that was actually pretty nice.

We drove the car back to Saratoga Springs, which was SO EASY! The exit you take from the rental car lot is directly across the street from the SSR entrance which is closest to Congress Park. When we got back to our room, there was something exciting waiting for us!

We did some unpacking (and watched more Stacey), then walked over to Carriage House so we could purchase our park tickets. Now that we had an idea of where we were, this journey went MUCH more smoothly than when we were trying to find our room.

At the Concierge Desk, the person who was assisting us had his "Earning My Ears" ribbon, and it made me think of my friend Jess, who was starting her Concierge training that week as well! I felt a little bad for him, because while we were there, the computers had dropped their internet connection and they were unable to process anything, but he dealt with it well!

Once we had our tickets, I wanted to do some quick exploring of the gift shop.

Hooray for the return of resort-specific merchandise!

They also had your typical collection of Disney merch:

I loooved this shirt, but it was slightly more than I wanted to spend, so I never wound up buying it:

In addition to housing the gift shop, Artist's Palette is also the area where you can get quick service and grab-and-go food and beverage items.

And they have some pretty cool light fixtures!

Quick warning - I became a little obsessed with Disney light fixtures on this trip, so be prepared to see many pictures of them!

After we left Carriage House, we did a quick stop back at the room, then got in the car to meet Scott's friend. Before we left though, I had to get another Characters in Flight picture - it made me so excited every time I saw it in the air!

I posted on Twitter:

Guys. I'm in a rental car leaving Disney property. I'm scared.

Again, apparently since we were leaving Disney, I didn't feel the need to take a ton of pictures, so I'll keep this relatively brief. We were meeting Scott's friend Kate, along with her son and husband, at the Four Rivers Smokehouse. On our drive, we passed the hotel we had stayed in back in 2008 when we got engaged, so of course I had to get a quick photo!

Kate was so excited to see us when we finally got to the restaurant - I was excited to meet a friend of Scott's who could tell me embarrassing high school stories! The food was good, but nothing stood out overwhelmingly to me. The most notable part of my evening was finding a pickle with a face.

We spent several hours just sitting and talking, and it was a really great evening! It was close to 10:00 by the time we left. On our way back to Saratoga Springs, we decided to make a quick stop by Wal-Mart to pick up a case of water to bring in to the parks with us. We decided to return the car to Buena Vista Palace that evening, so we wouldn't have to cut into our park time the next morning.

When we got back to the room, I was so excited to look out and see Downtown Disney all lit up!

However, I was not excited to be able to HEAR Downtown Disney. It wouldn't be so bad if it was the typical Disney music, but in the evening they switch over to some Top 40 pop music noise that is just not my style. Luckily, we realized that if we turned our ceiling fan to the highest setting, it worked as a nice noise cancellation system!

We settled in bed and turned the television back on to Stacey (so many new quotes to learn!), set the alarm and tried to get some sleep. But first, a Twitter update:

Amazing first day in Walt Disney World & we didn't even go near the parks. Can't wait to finally see Robin Hood and New Fantasyland tomorrow!

Continued in Next Post


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[marDgreen88]

HAHAHA, I love that when I read the title I knew exactly what you'd be talking about. Because I specifically remember asking you about it on twitter.

Resort specific merchandise is my favorite thing! I love it. Eventually I'll have too many resort specific tshirts and pins to count.

Glad you had a great first day!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Good to hear you survived leaving the Disney Cocoon! I'm like you. Once I'm inside the bubble, I don't want to leave. I try to avoid contact with the outside world as much as I can

Seeing your SSR pics and the Artist Palette brought back memories of our trip at that resort two years ago when DD who was four at the time started playing with the CMs at the gift shop while we were ordering our food. A couple of CMs were letting DD bat a balloon in the air and then it suddenly popped which scared DD to tears. The CMs felt so bad and we kept telling them it was okay. About 10 minutes later while we were sitting and eating, one of the CM brought over a helium balloon for DD to keep! LOVE the Disney CMs and their service is why I don't want to go outside of WDW after I enter.

 

[arbolita]

HAHAHA, I love that when I read the title I knew exactly what you'd be talking about. Because I specifically remember asking you about it on twitter.

Resort specific merchandise is my favorite thing! I love it. Eventually I'll have too many resort specific tshirts and pins to count.

Glad you had a great first day!

I don't understand why they had gotten rid of resort-specific merch in the first place, but I sure am glad it has returned!

Good to hear you survived leaving the Disney Cocoon! I'm like you. Once I'm inside the bubble, I don't want to leave. I try to avoid contact with the outside world as much as I can

Seeing your SSR pics and the Artist Palette brought back memories of our trip at that resort two years ago when DD who was four at the time started playing with the CMs at the gift shop while we were ordering our food. A couple of CMs were letting DD bat a balloon in the air and then it suddenly popped which scared DD to tears. The CMs felt so bad and we kept telling them it was okay. About 10 minutes later while we were sitting and eating, one of the CM brought over a helium balloon for DD to keep! LOVE the Disney CMs and their service is why I don't want to go outside of WDW after I enter.

That was the other reason why we did this dinner at the beginning of our trip - so that we wouldn't have to leave mid-week and take us out of the Disney mindset halfway through our vacation.

Glad to hear the pictures brought back such a great memory for you and your family!

 

[khertz]

Joined in on your TR today! I have not read many TR's of people staying at Saratoga Springs, so it's nice to get a new resort to check out through pictures. Being close to DTD is great too, since that seems to be the hardest place to get to by bus or to park when taking a car!

Looking forward to the rest!

 

[danimaroo]

Oh man, Matt and I were just discussing the possibility of leaving Disney to check out WWoHP at some point and I just feel like I'd think it was so weird! I know that sounds silly, but obviously you get it.

At least it sounds like you guys had a great time catching up with old friends!

OH! And that little Princess Parade is too adorable! I'm sure those girls felt very special.

 

[beachphotog]

I LOVE resort specific merchandise! I'm so so so glad they are working it back in!

I love the princess parade, it's pretty adorbs!

I'm glad to see you made it off property and back in one piece! My parents went off property on our last trip to see a friend of my dad's and I know my mother was a little worried about leaving her happy place! But all was fab!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Yay for successfully navigating outside of the Disney Bubble!! Hahaha I like the pickle with a face, very cute!

I always always always think it is a brilliant idea to get a case of water rather than keep buying the $2.50 bottles on-property. Was the Walmart far from SSR?

 

[arbolita]

Joined in on your TR today! I have not read many TR's of people staying at Saratoga Springs, so it's nice to get a new resort to check out through pictures. Being close to DTD is great too, since that seems to be the hardest place to get to by bus or to park when taking a car!

Looking forward to the rest!

I totally agree with you about DTD being difficult to get to when at other resorts (aside from the ones with boat access) - it really was one of the best parts about staying there!

Oh man, Matt and I were just discussing the possibility of leaving Disney to check out WWoHP at some point and I just feel like I'd think it was so weird! I know that sounds silly, but obviously you get it.

At least it sounds like you guys had a great time catching up with old friends!

OH! And that little Princess Parade is too adorable! I'm sure those girls felt very special.

We've done side trips to Universal before - it's actually where we got engaged - and I'd say it's worth doing at some point! They have some great rides (The Mummy, Spiderman & Forbidden Journey) and the butterbeer is as amazing as everyone says it is. And with the two parks being set up near each other, like at Disneyland, it's easy to see what you want at both in one day.

That being said, they are going through so much expansion right now, I would definitely wait until after they've opened the new Harry Potter area, or even after they finish Transformers and the new Simpsons area they have coming.

I LOVE resort specific merchandise! I'm so so so glad they are working it back in!

I love the princess parade, it's pretty adorbs!

I'm glad to see you made it off property and back in one piece! My parents went off property on our last trip to see a friend of my dad's and I know my mother was a little worried about leaving her happy place! But all was fab!

Same here! I didn't buy anything for Saratoga Springs, but I probably would have bought something from Coronado or Port Orleans when we stayed at those resorts during our honeymoon and anniversary if they'd had them.

 

[arbolita]

Yay for successfully navigating outside of the Disney Bubble!! Hahaha I like the pickle with a face, very cute!

I always always always think it is a brilliant idea to get a case of water rather than keep buying the $2.50 bottles on-property. Was the Walmart far from SSR?

I'm glad somebody else appreciated the pickle-face, hahaha. I was laughing so hard when I saw it.

We were so happy we made the choice to get the bottled water - it was great not having to buy it in the parks, and to have at night when we got back to the resort.

The Wal-Mart we went to was by Universal, since we were driving back that way from dinner, so it's probably about 15-20 minutes away. I'm sure there's a Wal-Mart (or Publix) closer than that one, though. And I've heard a lot of people use GardenGrocer to deliver water to their resort the day they arrive.

 

[RachelNinja]

I got home from work and saw that you commented on my TR and was highly entertained by it because I JUST bookmarked yours yesterday and read the first few pages! I'm caught up now. Love your sense of humor!

You make Raglan Road sound so yummy. That's what I'll be writing about in my next TR update. It wasn't our favorite, but I think a LOT of it had to do with the atmosphere. We went during dinner when the bar area was packed, and we were sitting at the end of the round connected booth around the stage. These guys behind me were leaning on the booth, and one kept moving! I was getting booth-sick! I said to my husband that if we were to ever return, it would have to be for lunch. We're old farts, and we didn't appreciate the music, dancing, and the loud people all at once.

Ooo, I'm curious to see all the light fixtures you took pictures of on this trip! My husband is OBSESSED with Disney light fixtures. He takes a ton during each trip and even started a Flickr group for it, haha (http://www.flickr.com/groups/disneylights/).

 

[arbolita]

I got home from work and saw that you commented on my TR and was highly entertained by it because I JUST bookmarked yours yesterday and read the first few pages! I'm caught up now. Love your sense of humor!

You make Raglan Road sound so yummy. That's what I'll be writing about in my next TR update. It wasn't our favorite, but I think a LOT of it had to do with the atmosphere. We went during dinner when the bar area was packed, and we were sitting at the end of the round connected booth around the stage. These guys behind me were leaning on the booth, and one kept moving! I was getting booth-sick! I said to my husband that if we were to ever return, it would have to be for lunch. We're old farts, and we didn't appreciate the music, dancing, and the loud people all at once.

Ooo, I'm curious to see all the light fixtures you took pictures of on this trip! My husband is OBSESSED with Disney light fixtures. He takes a ton during each trip and even started a Flickr group for it, haha (http://www.flickr.com/groups/disneylights/).

Ugh, I'm sorry your experience at Raglan Road wasn't great - I think even I would have had a bad time with the booth rocking like that! And as much as I love the restaurant, I also don't love being seated in the center room while eating dinner - it's just so difficult to hear the people at your table. I hope you do try again for lunch though, because it was pretty empty/quiet while we were there.

The pictures in the Flickr group are awesome!! Makes me wish I had upgraded to a better camera before we had taken this trip so I could get even more of the detail in them.

 

[laurenvic1312959]

Joining in great report so far!
I love the look of Saratoga springs, considering staying there the next time I go, definitely with a DTD view, it looks amazing!
I've never ate at Raglan road either and now I feel like I'm missing out haha
I don't like leaving disney once we get there either, next time we go I don't think I'll leave there at all If I can help it x

 

[wdwgirl03]

I'm joining in! I follow a lot of DIS friends on twitter and I think I might've recently started following you because you were in the list of people to follow!

OMG, you make Stacey GIFs? When I saw that I had to click on your link. Those are pretty awesome.

Subscribing to catch up!

ETA: OK, I totally love that picture of the princess parade at DTD! My sister works at DTD and I also had no idea they did this until she told me about it. SO CUTE!