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

[arbolita]

Chapter 24: Timon, Go Home, You're Drunk.

HEY GUYS GUESS WHAT. I AM GOING TO DISNEYLAND IN EIGHT DAYS!!!!

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving for Arizona, where I'll be spending a week split between the Grand Canyon and Sedona, then next Tuesday I am going to hop on a plane to Disneyland! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS TRIP IS FINALLY HERE!!!! I absolutely plan on documenting the entire trip through photos and videos, and I absolutely will share it here! I wanted to try and get at least one more chapter in from my WDW trip before leaving, so here we go!

After meeting up with Lindsey and taking an awesome ride on Expedition Everest, we made our way to Camp Minnie-Mickey for my first viewing of Festival of the Lion King!

Yes, you read that correctly - even though I LOVE the Lion King, this was going to be my first time seeing the show. I actually think this may have been the first time I even walked into the Camp Minnie-Mickey section of Animal Kingdom, because seeing these adorable Mickey & Friends figures was also new to me.

We don't usually take the time to stop and see shows while at the park, but I'd read so many trip reports of people raving about FotLK that it was a priority for me to see it on this trip.

We were seated in the giraffe section, and maybe it's just me, but that giraffe looks absolutely terrifying.

What did I let you guys talk me into??

Fortunately the rest of the show was notably less horrifying than the demon eyes of that giraffe. We absolutely loved the tumble monkeys.

Really, all of the music and performers were fantastic!

And I fell in love with the zebra costume!

However, Timon seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much. Go home Timon, You're drunk.

We were all getting hungry after the show ended, but weren't quite sure where we wanted to go for lunch. Lindsey offered to drive us wherever we wanted to go, and my mind IMMEDIATELY went to one place!

Following the monorail always leads to good things!

BOOM!

I'm guessing most of you are familiar with Cast Connection, but if you're not, this is a special store for Cast Members (and unofficially, their friends) where they can buy heavily discounted Disney merch - it has clothes, toys, pins, Vinylmation, housewears, even some costumes! I'd heard about this place, so I was excited to finally have someone who could take me!

After I spent a long time browsing through everything and making some purchases, we actually really did need to go and get some food. I had been making most of the decisions about our trip so far, so I left our lunch choice up to Scott. Who picked...

Steak n' Shake.

What is there to say about Steak n' Shake. It was cheap, it was quick, and they looked at Scott like he had two heads when he asked for chili on his burger. Apparently that's a regional thing, who knew?

Having a small and quick lunch worked out really well for us, since later that evening we were going to be dining at one of our favorite restaurants. the Yachtsman Steakhouse, and knew we wanted to make sure to save room to fully enjoy our dinner.

After lunch, Lindsey dropped us off at Saratoga Springs, and we made plans for her to join us for lunch on Thursday as well! I was really happy that she had been able to schedule a few days off when we were in town!

Once we were at the hotel, Scott and I decided to shower and get start getting ready for dinner. And watch some more Stacey.

Since there wasn't really enough time to go to a park before our dinner reservation, we decided to spend the time browsing the stores at Downtown Disney.

While we were there, I received a very excited text that my friend Morgan was on her way to Downtown Disney!! Morgan and I had become friends over Twitter through our love of random animation icons (me, with Gertie and her with Oswald the Lucky Rabbit). Morgan had arrived in Orlando earlier that day as she was about to start a Professional Internship with Walt Disney Imagineering. I had been hoping that we would be able to make our schedules work to see each other before I had to leave, so the fact that she was about to arrive at my exact location seemed like fate was on our side!

We met up with Morgan and her dad at Earl of Sandwich - that is one of my favorite WDW counter service restaurants, so it was killing me to sit there but not eat anything! However, Morgan and I spent so much time talking that I'm not sure I would have had a chance to eat had I ordered anything.

I was sad that we couldn't stay to talk longer, but we had to leave to make our reservation. Morgan and I exchanged schedules for the rest of our visit and said we'd try to make it work to see each other at least one more time before we left to come home.

Continued in next chapter




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[__disneygirl]

YAY DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, I never noticed but that giraffe doesn't look too friendly. Maneating giraffe!!!

My dream is to be that dancing zebra!! Oh how I wish!!!

Oh how I love my Timon! (Let's not talk about his drinking problem).

OMG CAST CONNECTIONS IS SO FUN. I got so many amazing things and the total was NOTHING compared to what it would have been had I bought that stuff when it was full price in the parks! It was perfection.

I went to Steak N Shake in Indiana and loved it! For some reason I find restaurants that don't exist near me to be fascinating. You should go to In N Out while you're in California!

"Morgan and I had become friends over Twitter through our love of random animation icons" Now that's friendship!

 

[wiigirl]

Awesome pics!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Obviously you'll be gone by now, but have a great trip to DISNEYLAND!!!

Ahh I love those statues in Minnie-Mickey. You'd be surprised how many people miss them and walk right by.

FOTLK is such a great show. Those performers sing their faces off. So good.

OMG I would LOVE to get in to Cast Connections... although I don't think my bank account would like it quite as much.

 

[khertz]

I love FotLK! I'm glad you finally got to see it. It's probably my favorite live performance in all 4 parks!

Going to Cast Connection sounds amazing. You just can't beat deeply discounted Disney parks merchandise!

Hope you have SO MUCH FUN in Disneyland!! I miss it so much!

 

[jpmandan]

I'm in for your TR.

 

[flyergrad09]

Huh. I never noticed that you can see the giraffe's teeth. Welp, that's terrifying!

Come on, Timon, PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER! Haha!

Oh man... I would LOVE to be able to shop at Cast Connections.

It weirds me out to do non-Disney restaurants on a Disney trip. I've done it before, and I always find myself feeling a little disappointed in them. That said, Steak N Shake is delicious, so good choice!

 

[marDgreen88]

Letting you know I'm still here! FotLK is my LIFE. Best thing ever.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[arbolita]

Hey guys! I am currently sitting in the LAX airport, killing time before my 5 hour flight home (at least we get free WiFi on board). Just wanted to post to day I had THE BEST time at Disneyland and I cannot wait to get home, finish this trip report, and get started on that one!

 

[arbolita]

YAY DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, I never noticed but that giraffe doesn't look too friendly. Maneating giraffe!!!

My dream is to be that dancing zebra!! Oh how I wish!!!

Oh how I love my Timon! (Let's not talk about his drinking problem).

OMG CAST CONNECTIONS IS SO FUN. I got so many amazing things and the total was NOTHING compared to what it would have been had I bought that stuff when it was full price in the parks! It was perfection.

I went to Steak N Shake in Indiana and loved it! For some reason I find restaurants that don't exist near me to be fascinating. You should go to In N Out while you're in California!

"Morgan and I had become friends over Twitter through our love of random animation icons" Now that's friendship!

DISNEYLAND WAS AMAZING!! I am so genuinely excited to get that TR started. Good thing I have a little more to get done on this one, because editing pictures is going to take a little while.

I really wish we could go to the OTHER side of Cast Connections. Guess we'll just have to become CMs one day (what a burden).

While in California, we didn't really venture off of Disney property (no rental car), but we did pass one in Phoenix on our way to the Grand Canyon on the very first day of our trip. We really wanted to go, but my family didn't, and they didn't have them in the northern part of AZ where we spent the week. Scott was really bummed, he's the same way about wanting to try burger places that we don't have near us.

Awesome pics!

Thank you!

Obviously you'll be gone by now, but have a great trip to DISNEYLAND!!!

Ahh I love those statues in Minnie-Mickey. You'd be surprised how many people miss them and walk right by.

FOTLK is such a great show. Those performers sing their faces off. So good.

OMG I would LOVE to get in to Cast Connections... although I don't think my bank account would like it quite as much.

Thanks!! It was an AMAZING trip!

The prices are extremely discounted at Cast Connections, including costume pieces for $2 each, lol. It's actually a good place to stock up on souvenirs instead of going to the Emporium, World of Disney, etc.

 

[arbolita]

I love FotLK! I'm glad you finally got to see it. It's probably my favorite live performance in all 4 parks!

Going to Cast Connection sounds amazing. You just can't beat deeply discounted Disney parks merchandise!

Hope you have SO MUCH FUN in Disneyland!! I miss it so much!

We don't generally sit through the shows very often, but after seeing FotLK, it's making me excited to go check out some of the others during our next trip!

Thank you! We had such a blast in Disneyland!!

I'm in for your TR.

Glad to have you here!

Huh. I never noticed that you can see the giraffe's teeth. Welp, that's terrifying!

Come on, Timon, PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER! Haha!

Oh man... I would LOVE to be able to shop at Cast Connections.

It weirds me out to do non-Disney restaurants on a Disney trip. I've done it before, and I always find myself feeling a little disappointed in them. That said, Steak N Shake is delicious, so good choice!

I'm so glad I could bring the horror of the giraffe to everyone's attention in my trip report, haha. My work here is done.

This is one of the few times we've gone off property to eat (and twice in one trip!!)

Letting you know I'm still here! FotLK is my LIFE. Best thing ever.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

HIIII!!! You and Lia were two of the main people who helped convince me that I had to finally go see it and I'm so glad that I did - so thanks!

 

[arbolita]

Chapter 25: Our favorite Cast Member and more Brickering

After saying goodbye to Morgan, we caught the bus going from Downtown Disney to the Yacht Club/Beach Club. We were on the bus with another couple who had gotten married at the Boardwalk the day before, and the bride was telling us about how she was walking around in her dress and a little girl exclaimed, "Wow look - a real princess!!!"

I love moments like that - randomly talking with other guests and hearing about special or exciting moments that occur during their trip, that might not happen in any place other than Disney.

We arrived at the Yacht Club just in time for our reservation at the Yachtsman Steakhouse! We were very excited for this dinner because in addition to always having a fabulous meal, it was where one of our all-time favorite cast members worked - Ricardo! He was our server during our first trip there on our honeymoon, and he just went above and beyond to make sure that we were having a great time. He actually gave us his card with his contact information so that we would be able to check in before we arrived in Orlando to make sure he would be working when we were there.

We did not have a long wait, and as we approached our table, we saw this waiting for us:

(I blocked out our name there - he didn't just write it to Mr. and Mrs., haha.)

When Ricardo came by, he brought us complimentary champagne (which I don't have a picture of), and kept our bread basket filled with plenty of those delicious onion rolls.

I had also ordered a press pot of coffee and Scott had a beer called Session Black.

Scott ordered the filet mignon with mashed potatoes, which he absolutely loved, as usual.

I had the duck two ways - it's no longer on the menu, but I believe it was a duck breast and duck confit.

The plating of this dish wasn't great, but it sure was delicious!

We also always love the desserts at Yachtsman - during our anniversary trip, in 2010, that was when they had a trio of pistachio desserts, and I've been addicted to pistachio since!

This time, we ordered the Chocolate-Peanut Cake Pretzels, Salted Caramel Gelato, and Liquid Ganache and the sorbet trio with white peach & papaya, red & green apple and cherry cranberry.

Scott and I both split the two desserts; my two favorite components were the salted caramel gelato on the one dish and the white peach & papaya sorbet on the other. Scott loved the chocolate peanut cake and the red and green apple sorbet. We definitely cleaned our plates!

So, even though I was loving dessert, I was starting to get a little anxious towards the end of our meal. I had made our reservations for 6:50, in the hopes that we would be done in time to head over to Epcot and see Illuminations. Well...that wasn't exactly happening. This isn't one of the restaurants where you can sometimes rush things through.

By the time we got to International Gateway, it was 9:06 and I was watching the finale from outside the gates.

Guys, I'll be honest with you - I was NOT happy. Don't get me wrong, I loved our meal and seeing Ricardo, but we only had two nights after this, and I was planning to see Wishes the following night and we had dinner plans with friends on our last night. I was upset with myself for not making the ADR earlier, for not going to see Illuminations earlier in our trip, and since Epcot closed at 9, for getting us stuck outside the gate where we'd have to wait for a bus to go to Downtown Disney then walk back to SSR. But mostly, I just reallyreally was upset about not getting to see Illuminations.

Scott is always in problem-solver mode, particularly when he can tell that I'm upset. He spoke with the security guard and ticketing cast member at the gate to ask if we could go through the turnstiles in order to catch the direct bus back to our resort, since our dinner went later than we anticipated. It took a couple minutes for them to decide, but fortunately they conceded and let us through.

What we neglected to mention was that if we were in a Disney park after closing, we weren't going to head straight to the park entrance - there were pictures which needed to be taken!

I was amazed at how quickly World Showcase emptied out, especially considering Illuminations hadn't ended all that long ago - don't these people want to be in the parks as long as physically possible??

I don't know exactly what they do to get the colors to shine on Spaceship Earth in the evenings, but I adore it.

When we left, it was about an hour after park closing, and oddly enough, most of the other people meandering out of the park at that hour were all heading back to Saratoga Springs as well. As much as I loved being in the park in January for the last of crowds, it was really weird to be heading back to the resort around 10:15 and have that be a "late" night. On the other hand, it did make it a lot easier to get to sleep in the evenings, and I was sure excited about sleep that night - the next morning we were going to be participating in one of my favorite Disney Vacation traditions!

Continued in Next Post





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[beachphotog]

It's so sad about Illuminations! I think I've missed it on at least 2, if not 3 of my last trips. I hope that you got to see it another night! But if not, better start planning your next trip!!

Love the empty park pictures! I am bound and determined to do that this time around! Did you use a tripod, or just shoot free hand?

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

It's those little moments that make Disney so unlike anywhere else I think. That must have made that bride's wedding day even more incredible.

Wow, Ricardo is seriously famous. I've heard about him in so many TR's. Clearly there is a very good reason for that.

That's such a shame that you missed Illuminations.

BUT, WOW, what beautiful photos of an empty Epcot. I really love the walk out of Epcot at night. It's just stunning.

 

[flyergrad09]

It's so cool that you guys have a CM friend from your honeymoon!

That's such a bummer that you missed Illuminations! We missed it on our last trip too because the day we were planning on seeing it, the weather was horrible and rainy and by that point in the day we were just too soaked and miserable to stay in the parks any longer.

Look on the bright side, at least you got some excellent Epcot-at-night pictures! That is totally weird that there weren't more people sticking around after Illuminations though. Maybe they didn't realize that you could hang around for a little bit after the show ends?

 

[marDgreen88]

Yachtsman looks awesome! And I don't think I've ever seen such an empty Epcot! Amazing!

 

[Lovethatmouse7]

Hate that you missed Illuminations. Believe it or not, my son and I had never seen Illuminations until the last trip we took. It just wasn't something we though about... We were both amazed, and it has now become a "must do"!!

 

[__disneygirl]

AWW! That is such a cute story about the little girl thinking the bride was a real princess. Oh my heart. You're right, random convos with guests are the best.

That was so nice of Ricardo! Oh how I love CMs.

GAH The desserts. Signature desserts are just so interesting (and delicious, of course!!)

I'm sorry you missed Illuminations. If I've learned anything from Disney trips, it's always schedule things earlier than you think you need to! I often want to squeeze as much into the day as possible, but it's always better to have extra time than miss something. At least they let you back into the park though. Being practically alone in Epcot must have been a decent consolation prize!

 

[arbolita]

It's so sad about Illuminations! I think I've missed it on at least 2, if not 3 of my last trips. I hope that you got to see it another night! But if not, better start planning your next trip!!

Love the empty park pictures! I am bound and determined to do that this time around! Did you use a tripod, or just shoot free hand?

Fortunately, plans for our next trip are currently being put into motion! Looks like I may finally make my first trip to the Flower and Garden Festival!

All of those pictures were from my point and shoot camera, so they were done freehand. I'd never actually used a tripod until my trip to Disneyland!

It's those little moments that make Disney so unlike anywhere else I think. That must have made that bride's wedding day even more incredible.

Wow, Ricardo is seriously famous. I've heard about him in so many TR's. Clearly there is a very good reason for that.

That's such a shame that you missed Illuminations.

BUT, WOW, what beautiful photos of an empty Epcot. I really love the walk out of Epcot at night. It's just stunning.

I agree! I really can't think of any other place that something like that could have happened (or where a stranger would randomly share a story like what with you)!

Haha, I know of another person who has written about Ricardo in their trip reports. He really deserves all of the praise he gets (and more)!

Yeah, it definitely put me in a bit of a mood that we missed Illuminations (although at least it was because of Disney food and not a negative reason). And yes! I love walking around an empty World Showcase, dancing around to the music by Fountain of Nations...it's probably my favorite after-hours park.

It's so cool that you guys have a CM friend from your honeymoon!

That's such a bummer that you missed Illuminations! We missed it on our last trip too because the day we were planning on seeing it, the weather was horrible and rainy and by that point in the day we were just too soaked and miserable to stay in the parks any longer.

Look on the bright side, at least you got some excellent Epcot-at-night pictures! That is totally weird that there weren't more people sticking around after Illuminations though. Maybe they didn't realize that you could hang around for a little bit after the show ends?

Me too! And I'm glad it's someone who is clearly going to be there for many years in the future.

I'm sorry to hear that you missed Illuminations! And especially for weather - it's definitely hard when you have those days where the weather interrupts your plans.

I think a lot of people don't realize that they don't rush you out of the park right at closing - probably because I imagine every other theme park DOES want you out ASAP. Oh well, more room for me!

 

[arbolita]

Yachtsman looks awesome! And I don't think I've ever seen such an empty Epcot! Amazing!

I really hope you get to try Yachtsman at some point! It's definitely my top signature restaurant (although I have to admit, that isn't saying too much because we really haven't been to many of them). It's so weird that it really only took about 15 minutes for it to completely clear out back there.

Hate that you missed Illuminations. Believe it or not, my son and I had never seen Illuminations until the last trip we took. It just wasn't something we though about... We were both amazed, and it has now become a "must do"!!

Oh wow, I'm glad you finally were able to see it! I think of all of the WDW night time shows, it has my favorite soundtrack - and I just love how many good viewing areas there are, each offering a different perspective of the show as you move around World Showcase.

AWW! That is such a cute story about the little girl thinking the bride was a real princess. Oh my heart. You're right, random convos with guests are the best.

That was so nice of Ricardo! Oh how I love CMs.

GAH The desserts. Signature desserts are just so interesting (and delicious, of course!!)

I'm sorry you missed Illuminations. If I've learned anything from Disney trips, it's always schedule things earlier than you think you need to! I often want to squeeze as much into the day as possible, but it's always better to have extra time than miss something. At least they let you back into the park though. Being practically alone in Epcot must have been a decent consolation prize!

I feel like I've been really lucky with a lot of the guests that I've randomly struck up conversations with while in the parks - for the most part, I always walk away with an even bigger love and appreciation for Disney and the Parks and their fans.

I know, I feel like Epcot got the shaft a little during this trip, because we visited the most of any park, but for the most part, they were really brief trips. I guess we all can't bank on getting #stuckinDisney. And yeah, I'm so grateful they decided to let us in, because they really could have told us to take the buses over to DTD to catch the one we needed. And it's impossible to stay upset when you have the magnificence of empty Epcot in your sights!