Star Wars Nightastically Delicious! ~ Updated 10/24: Nov PTR Started...Link in Siggie

[Tnkrbelle565]

That Brown Derby lunch made me drool!

3733 to 1

Thanks for the video! That was so funny!

Wow you have a busy afternoon/evening up ahead. YIKES!

 

[jc040404]

Sooooo jealous that you got to see C3PO!! I LOVE him but we missed meeting him in the park. Chewie had the absolute worst line both days we tried, too. Awesome updates and LOVE your pics!

 

[Dugette]

That stinks...I looks & sounds really good!

I want to know how you liked the glasses & if they added anything extra.

Yes, that drink looked and sounded good, but Dug said it just wasn't. Oh, well.

The glasses were very cool! When I get to that part, I'll try to show you what they did!

That Brown Derby lunch made me drool!

3733 to 1

Thanks for the video! That was so funny!

Wow you have a busy afternoon/evening up ahead. YIKES!

I'm sure there will be more drooling coming in this TR!

Dug loved C3PO's response!!!

You're welcome for the video.

Yes, busy evening ahead. Busy trip, in general!

Sooooo jealous that you got to see C3PO!! I LOVE him but we missed meeting him in the park. Chewie had the absolute worst line both days we tried, too. Awesome updates and LOVE your pics!

C3PO was one of the few characters we met. It made Dug's day, though! Chewie's lines were crazy-looking! Thanks for the compliments!

 

[Dugette]

As we made our way to the exit of DHS, we ran into the Block Party Bash. Dug snapped a lot of pictures as we passed it by:

We had decided to get to the MK via the Grand Floridian. We had yet to set foot inside, so figured that this would be a good opportunity to check it out. We’d take the bus from DHS to the GF, then take the monorail to the MK. We were on the bus by about 3:30pm.

Once we arrived at the GF, we took the obligatory photos with the vehicles out front:

Headed inside and took in the lobby:

We weren’t sure what this thing in the lobby was…a fancy hamster wheel?:

The musicians were warming up:

We wandered around the place a bit. Checked out the menu at Citricos, for future reference. Took a look at the pool area. Walked up and down the big staircase. Checked out the Basin store. Then headed to the monorail around 4pm. It was nice to see the GF, but it definitely confirmed our theory that it is not really our style. No desire to stay there in the future.

We got to the MK and cut through the shops to make our way down Main Street. In the back of the glass shop, we caught sight of this and were mesmerized:

Really cool to watch. I wish we’d had more time to see how it turned out. But we had a mission. We had to make it to the Rose Garden to pick up our special glasses for that night’s Summer Nightastic fireworks debut. We had to show our APs to get into the Rose Garden, where we obtained these:

Tucked them away, curious as to what they would do for us later.

Since we were at the MK, we thought it would be wise to pick up some Fast Passes for something for later that night. We decided on Peter Pan. Picked up the Fast Passes, then made our way towards the exit. But first, we caught sight of some fireworks launchers:

And the castle:

And we saw an available PhotoPass photographer and decided to actually get a shot of us in front of the castle:

We were on a bus back to AKL before 5pm.

Up next: What animals will we see from our balcony? And dinner at Jiko!

 

[Goofy442]

Oh I love that parade, we saw it in Disneyland. Great pictures of the GF, it is so pretty in the lobby. I never saw the glass shop, how did I miss it my DH would love to stand there and watch him work.

 

[karebear23]

Headed inside and took in the lobby:

We got to the MK and cut through the shops to make our way down Main Street. In the back of the glass shop, we caught sight of this and were mesmerized:

Really cool to watch. I wish we’d had more time to see how it turned out. But we had a mission. We had to make it to the Rose Garden to pick up our special glasses for that night’s Summer Nightastic fireworks debut. We had to show our APs to get into the Rose Garden, where we obtained these:

so cool! I didn't know they had that there! Of course with a 2 & 4 year old...I stay far away from glass

 

[praisehisname]

I had quite a few updates to catch up on...

You and Doug are getting so much done; I'm very impressed! Looking forward to hearing about your Jiko dinner!

 

[Dugette]

Oh I love that parade, we saw it in Disneyland. Great pictures of the GF, it is so pretty in the lobby. I never saw the glass shop, how did I miss it my DH would love to stand there and watch him work.

so cool! I didn't know they had that there! Of course with a 2 & 4 year old...I stay far away from glass

The glass shop was a really cool unexpected magic moment. We were just cutting through shops for some reason and this caught our eye. He did gather up a small crowd. Wish we could have watched more, to see how the item came out. Definitely fun to check out!

I had quite a few updates to catch up on...

You and Doug are getting so much done; I'm very impressed! Looking forward to hearing about your Jiko dinner!

Yes, we got a lot done on this short trip. Kinda crazy! Jiko dinner coming right up!

 

[Dugette]

We got back to our room and closed our eyes for a few minutes. Then we got up to check out the view from the balcony. It was pretty awesome! We saw how a giraffe has to contort its legs to drink from a pond. And we saw an Ankole Cattle with a super-heavy right horn. Here are some pictures of the active savanna:

I think this one was a baby giraffe:

If you would like to spend a few minutes on the balcony with us, enjoy this video (and our random commentary)! Most of it is one, unedited clip. There was a lot of activity happening. At the end, I’ve tacked on a few clips that were taken after dinner: a giraffe eating with tongue outstretched and some zebras. The zebra clip is a bit foggy, due to the humidity outside. Enjoy the view from the balcony (this video is about 6.5 minutes long):



Once we’d checked out the animals, we showered and changed clothes for our dinner at Jiko. Then we headed downstairs for our 5:55pm ADR.

When we arrived, we asked to be seated somewhere quiet. We had heard that Jiko can get loud and/or crowded, so we wanted to avoid that. They had us wait for a few minutes. We took a brief look around the main dining room while we waited:

We were told that the back wall changes color with the sunset. Cool!

They ended up seating us in the wine room. Here’s the outside/wall of it:

And the inside:

Yes, we were the only guests in there (for about 10 minutes, then they seated a large family in there). We were happy to be there:

We started by splitting a glass of African red wine. We hadn’t planned on wine, but we were in the wine room, so it seemed a necessity:

It was very good. The African bread and Tandoori butter that they brought out was yummy:

For an appetizer, we split the Kalamata Olive Flatbread:

This was so, so delicious! So good we need a second picture:

Since we had the dessert party this evening, we decided to share a meal. We split the Oak-Grilled Filet Mignon with Macaroni & Cheese and Red Wine Sauce. It was quite good. They butterflied the filet for us to share:

Dug decided to live it up a bit and got the Kenyan AA Press Pot of coffee:

Even though we were going to the Fireworks Dessert Party, and I knew there was a chance they would have something similar, I could not resist the Pistachio Crème Brulee (with chocolate bottom) for dessert, which we shared:

Yum! After dinner, our nice waiter brought us out some complimentary cookies (there were actually 4, but we ate 2 before the picture):

We finished dinner around 7:30pm and headed back up to our room for a bit. So convenient to have nice restaurants in the same building as your room!

Once we returned to the room, we changed back into park clothes. Checked out the balcony again. Saw a hungry giraffe and some Roan Antelope.

Since we had a bit of time before we needed to leave for the 9:10pm dessert party reservation, we took a brief nap (for about half an hour). Got up around 8:15pm and saw some zebras outside (as seen in the video).

Up next: Dessert Party and a Summer Nightastic evening at the MK!

 

[reelmom]

I never thought about how giraffes drink water before. The poor things.

I love how you are touring the parks with lots of naps and yummy food. Looking forward to the Wishes Dessert Party review.

 

[praisehisname]

Mmmm...I keep hearing such wonderful reviews of that filet at Jiko! Gotta get there somehow!

 

[jc040404]

Yummy update!! I am soooo hungry now! Thanks!!

Can't wait to hear about the dessert party!!

 

[karebear23]

I never thought about how giraffes drink water before. The poor things.

I was thinking the same thing!
Silver Springs is right down the road from me & they have to giraffes there.
We always feed them...and they stick out their super long tounge to get the crackers!

I want to go to Jiko so bad. But I don't think DH would eat there.

I can't wait to see what you all thought of the fireworks

 

[Jennifer48]

I have to find that chocolate peanut butter cupcake! I've also read so many rave reviews of the cobb salad I need to try that too!

Can't wait to see how your 3-D fireworks turn out!

 

[Dugette]

I never thought about how giraffes drink water before. The poor things.

I love how you are touring the parks with lots of naps and yummy food. Looking forward to the Wishes Dessert Party review.

I was so surprised that the giraffe had to do that crazy maneuver to drink! You'd think, with that long neck, it wouldn't be an issue!

Thanks, we enjoyed the way we toured too. Although, it would have been better with more naps and a bit less food.

Mmmm...I keep hearing such wonderful reviews of that filet at Jiko! Gotta get there somehow!

We loved Jiko! Although the filet was good, that flatbread just blew us away! Yum!!!

Yummy update!! I am soooo hungry now! Thanks!!

Can't wait to hear about the dessert party!!

It always makes me hungry when I do these updates! Just a warning, with all the pics Dug took, I think that dessert party update is going to make you hungry too!

I was thinking the same thing!
Silver Springs is right down the road from me & they have to giraffes there.
We always feed them...and they stick out their super long tounge to get the crackers!

I want to go to Jiko so bad. But I don't think DH would eat there.

I can't wait to see what you all thought of the fireworks

The giraffes are so much fun to watch! We will do more of that later in the trip.

Your DH wouldn't go to Jiko? It's a great place, lots of variety on the menu.

I have to find that chocolate peanut butter cupcake! I've also read so many rave reviews of the cobb salad I need to try that too!

Can't wait to see how your 3-D fireworks turn out!

Definitely swing by Starring Rolls and pick up a cupcake! As someone who normally doesn't even like cupcakes, I must say this was delicious!!

Cobb Salad was tasty too. We were like you on this trip...tried to sample the things we'd heard rave reviews on.

The fireworks/glasses were quite cool. I'll try to put up pics and video of what it looked like through the glasses.

 

[Goofy442]

We have not had a chance to eat at Jikos, every time we stay at AKV we say we are going to try it. Glad to see the food was yummy! What building did you stay at?

 

[Dugette]

We have not had a chance to eat at Jikos, every time we stay at AKV we say we are going to try it. Glad to see the food was yummy! What building did you stay at?

Hope you get to try Jiko sometime!

We were in the Zebra Trail, fourth floor, pretty far down, facing the inner savanna. Room 4531.

 

[Dugette]

After our brief nap and savanna viewing, we were off to the Magic Kingdom. Tonight was the Passholder Preview of Summer Nightastic. Also, the fireworks Dessert Party.

We made it to the dessert party check-in around 9pm. Got in line and waited to be let in. Ogled the desserts from our place in line:

We were fortunate enough to have been assigned to a table in the front row. However, we asked and we were not allowed to move the table up to the rail, so we knew there was a good chance we’d be standing anyway. Here’s our view:

We could see the Main Street Electrical Parade reasonably well, even though it was far away:

We headed up to get our first plates full of desserts. Here’s Dug’s:

I believe you are seeing: a chocolate peanut butter tart (bottom left), cannoli (middle), fruit tart, pistachio crème brulee (mug), some mysterious tart next to the mug?, a chocolate banana tart (top right of plate), tiramisu (top glass), white chocolate mousse (right glass), and a mango shooter (bottom right glass). Ironic that there was pistachio crème brulee, since we’d just had some for dessert at Jiko. But I doubt it was as good as the Jiko (chocolate-bottomed) one. I skipped this one.

Here’s my plate:

It consists of: banana chocolate tart (bottom right), cannoli (right), dark chocolate truffle (middle), mango shooter (right glass), chocolate peanut butter tart (hiding in back), white chocolate mousse, and dark chocolate mousse. Lemonade to drink (blackberry, strawberry, raspberry, not sure?) Also a Hidden Mickey (confetti) in the picture.

It’s really a shame we were not hungrier. Under most circumstances, I could try one of nearly everything on the buffet. However, we were at Disney. Where there’s lots of food. Even though we’d tried to eat “light” at Jiko, we were not yet famished. So, I only picked at most things. I did have two mango shooters, though. They were yummy and did not require an appetite. We did both get seconds, but all I remember is eating a rice krispy bar.

There is one item that needs a close-up:

Yes, the chocolate peanut butter tart. It wasn’t exceptionally good or anything, it just fit a theme for my day: Reese’s Puffs for breakfast, giant chocolate peanut butter cupcake for snack, and a chocolate peanut butter tart to end the day!

Dug got a lot of pretty shots of the buffet:

The castle was a pretty blue:

The view was also pretty:

Then the castle got even more beautiful:

Remember those glasses we picked up earlier? Wanna see how the castle looks through them? Okay, here you go:

Shortly before the fireworks started (after we’d finished our desserts), people started heading up to the rail. As soon as we saw a few people, we jumped up and claimed our front-and-center spot. It did not get particularly crowded (only one deep at the rail), but we wanted to make sure we could see well. For when the castle exploded:

Okay, not really, but it is a cool-looking picture!

The fireworks were great. But why tell you when I can show you? I have some video clips of the evening. During the fireworks, I was switching the glasses between my face and the camera lens. Therefore, you can get some idea of how things looked through the glasses. Enjoy the video (about 4 mins.):



As you can see, Dug was rather emotional! He tweeted, “The special effects glasses multiply the Nightastic fireworks. I cried in wonder at the beauty, with childlike eyes.” And then, “I am not exaggerating. You HAVE to see the Nightastic fireworks with the special effects glasses. My jaw dropped. Literally.” Awwwwww…….

Afterwards, we decided to get our picture taken in front of the castle by a Photopass photographer:

Our next destination was the TTA. We love it! We made it on right away, around 10:40pm. Dug was using his Nightastic glasses on it. He said everything was like a kaleidoscope. I, however, was taking advantage of the TTA’s prime napping conditions:

I came up with a new slogan for the TTA: “Not a bed, but not bad.” I think they should use that!

Next, we headed to Buzz to make another attempt at 999,999. Apparently it didn’t work out so well. No notes or pictures, so must not have been anything to brag about. Oh, well, we’ll have to try again tomorrow.

Now it was time to use our Peter Pan Fast Passes that we’d obtained earlier. Nice to have them, as there was a pretty decent line still. Love that ride!

On our way out, we caught the MSEP again. Dug said the nightastic glasses were too much on the parade. Watching a parade while you make your way down Main Street to leave works well. Got to see the parade faster and beat the crowd out of the park. We did stop for a few minutes, in the town square, to enjoy:

We made our way out of the park just before 11:30pm. A small army of buses was arriving for the upcoming onslaught of crowds. We just missed an AKL bus, so had to wait for the next one.

As we rode the bus back, we were looking forward to our luxurious 6 hours of sleep! We had a 7:30am ADR at Boma the next morning. Our plan for the next day was a not-overly-ambitious “4 parks in 1 day”. We realized that we would have to be in 3 of the parks that day: DHS for SWW, Epcot for dinner, and MK for EMH. So, seeing we’re staying at AKL, it only made sense to make a brief run over to the Animal Kingdom the next morning. Although, that night, it was tempting to skip AK and push back our ADR at Boma. For sleep! Luxurious sleep! We were so tired!

Got back to AKL and headed right for bed.

Up next: Can you do four parks in one day when you take a 4 hour nap/pool break at the resort?

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Summer Nightastic looks very cool!!! Glad you guys enjoyed it. Looks like they stepped up the desserts at the Dessert Party too

4 parks in 1 day???? Even I haven't been that ambitious! Three has been our personal best!

 

[Goofy442]

Great video! I wonder if the glasses would work at any other fireworks? Wow you got a picture in front of the castle with nobody else in it but you two. We had one taken last time and what a awful job they did. There was other people in our family picture