Taking the Leap! My first PTR! TR link posted 11/19

[kayemgi]

I'm in! We are also planning our Oct/Nov trip! It will be the first trip for us!
Yaay for the Starring Rolls cupcakes, I'm really looking forward to them!

Me too! Mmm cupcakes. I hope you have a great trip too!

Your day at HS sounds exciting Since you're really bothered by ghosts, are you sure you want to do ToT? Have you looked on youtube for videos? That might be a good place to start

I'm pretty sure. I think the combo of daytime, amusement park, Disney, and being with DH at night (he works nights here at home) will make it ok. I probably should watch a video or two though!

You're going in Novmeber and we did that two years ago...and rode Star Tours over and over and over again...there was no wait. I hope you have the same experience!

I hope so too! That would be awesome!

You totally had me at "I never buy magazines except for when I fly, mostly because I think reading them too much is bad for your self-esteem and perception of reality."

We're headed to WDW just a few weeks before you guys so I'm running out of time to do all the planning. I think you've picked a great week to go. I look forward to reading more!

Thanks! Good luck with your planning!

 

[Disney_Princess83]

I'm pretty sure. I think the combo of daytime, amusement park, Disney, and being with DH at night (he works nights here at home) will make it ok. I probably should watch a video or two though!

A YouTube video or two might help to prepare you for the ride. That is what we do on on most rides where possible, so we know exactly what we're getting into. We're ride chickens

 

[missangelalexis]

Ok I'm here!

So nice that you get to do a Disney trip and visit your grandparents too!

Hooray for getting Free Dining!

Your DH sounds like my DBF, not into planning and doesn't get overly excited about things! But as long as they have fun in the end thats all the matters right?

Love your pics from your last trip; I hope one day to go during F&G!

I am a definite advocate for Disney transportation. Personally I've never had any problems, though with stories I've heard I'm always prepared for the worst! It's also nice to feel fully immersed in the vacation and not having to worry about driving!

I think you guys will have a blast at HS! I'd also recommend checking out the drawing class at the animation academy, it's really fun!! The cupcakes at Starring Rolls are massive, I loved the Butterfinger one! I think it's a good idea not watching videos of Fantasmic beforehand. I did the same thing and it was totally worth the wait!

 

[kayemgi]

Well hello there!
In my last post I was agonizing over whether to utilize EMH on Saturday and Sunday at HS and AK or to switch the days and take advantage of the lower crowds at the non EMH parks. Well, last night DH had a night off, so I plied him with burritos and begged him to please read easywdw's article on the pros and cons of EMH and help me make an informed decision.

Well, he declined to read the article (it's REALLY long, but very informative and interesting!) but he let me summarize it for him and I also explained about how rope drop has been done away with at AK, HS & EP. He asked me what time we'd have to get up for EMH (remember, at home he works nights). "Probably around 6 am."

"Nope."

And that was the end of that! DH would much rather get an extra hour of sleep in the morning (I'm happy he's even willing to get up for rope drop, considering how off from his usual schedule it is) and I'm thrilled to pieces to have a decision made. Now I can fix our ADRs for Sanaa and Sci Fi and stop worrying about making the wrong decision. And I'm excited to test it out and see if easywdw is correct! We'll be keeping our MK and EP days the same, because of MSEP and I don't want to switch EP to a weekend day because of F&W. Also, the overall crowd level on Saturday is a 7 and on Monday it's a 4. So while MSEP is at MK on Saturday as well as Monday, I think Monday is the better choice overall.

WHEW!

So I will be continuing this PTR with Sunday, which will now be at HS. But since I already wrote our HS day, I'll just write our AK day plan, and you all know it's switched if you read this long explanation, and if not, it really doesn't matter to your daily lives, does it? You're just here for the...wait I don't know why you're here? It must be for my clever writing and fabulous adjective use.

Moving on! Animal Kingdom day! Another first for us. We both love animals, and we have a membership to the Philadelphia Zoo, which is a pretty great zoo, so we're super excited about AK. I think the thing I'm the most excited for is to see the bats. DH is most excited to ride Expedition Everest. I guess if I'm being honest and I had to choose between seeing the bats or riding EE, I would choose EE. But it would be tough! The bats at our zoo are in the nocturnal house, and always sleeping and difficult to see. I am going to love seeing bats in daylight!

This photo is somewhat unrelated, but it's my favorite shot I ever got at the zoo. The sloth was up and moving around. So rare! I fell in love with him, and now every time we go we check to see if he's awake and he never is. But at least I have this photo to remember the moment by!

So we will arrive to AK for rope drop and head straight for the Kilimanjaro Safari. I've made a note that to see the lions and the hippos best (DH loves lions and I LOVE hippos) we should sit on the driver's side of the vehicle.

Photo by Scott Thomas on Flickr.

Then we will walk over to EE and either ride or get a FP. I'm going to assume that that early in the morning it will make sense to ride standby, and get a FP for later, because I know we are going to want to ride this one more than once! Disco Yeti!

Photo via About.com

After that we will probably head over to DinoLand and ride DINOSAUR and Primeval Whirl and explore that area a bit. I read the story of Chester & Hester on AllEars, and it's really interesting! I think it really adds that Disney level of detail to the land. It's unfortunate that they don't have this story readily available for guests who aren't crazy and reading everything on the internet they can get their hands on. I think it would definitely add to the overall level of enjoyment, and maybe help people understand why it looks like a local carnival set up shop at Disney.

Photo via Trip Advisor.

We really prefer to tour the parks in a circle, as opposed to criss-crossing for certain rides, so after DinoLand, I expect we will head counter-clockwise back to Asia and walk the Maharajah Jungle Trek. We probably won't ride Kali River Rapids, as neither of us is excited about getting soaking wet, but I've heard the queue is cool so maybe we'll walk through and then take the chicken exit. And I definitely want to see Flights of Wonder while we are here. In addition to hippos and bats, I also love birds! I think they are so beautiful. I would love to have a pair of finches at home, but I would hate for them to have to live in a constant high level of stress because our two cats were watching their cage 24/7!

Photo by Gary Burke on Flickr

Then we will stroll around to Africa and walk the Pagani Forest Exploration Trail. I also really want to take some time to browse around the Mombasa Marketplace for some souvenirs. I saw a little beaded wire frog recently on the DIS Unplugged that I know my grandmother would adore. She collects frogs and I have to find it for her. We also have a beautiful hand-carved giraffe from Jamaica that I would love to find a friend.

Photo via disney-pal.com

After Africa we'll need to decide if we want to take the train to Rafiki's Plant Watch or back down to check out what we skipped of Discovery Island. We'll probably be past due for lunch at this point, so probably down to Discovery Island so we can eat at Flame Tree Barbecue. I've heard such good things about this place, and I love some good BBQ. The one time I was in Nashville we went to a local BBQ joint, very small and very crowded, that had a BBQ sauce station, and you could try everything from their secret family recipe to Carolina style and Texas style. It. Was. Amazing.

Photo via Disney Food Blog.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing It's Tough to be a Bug, and I want to spend some time exploring all around the Tree of Life and finding different animal carvings. Especially Jane Goodall's chimpanzee, David Greybeard. Did you know he's the only carving in the whole Tree to have an official name?

Photo via the DIS!

Then we will head down to Camp Minnie-Mickey to see Festival of the Lion King! We've been wanting to get up to NYC to see the Lion King on Broadway, but we just haven't been able to make it happen, so this will be the next best thing for us.

Photo via warpho.co on Flickr

Towards the end of the day, assuming we're not running out of day at this point, we will check out Rafiki's Planet Watch and also maybe Finding Nemo, The Musical. But those are not high on our priority list.

The last thing for our day will be to head over to AKL for our ADR at Sanaa! Cannot wait for this ADR. It's our only nice meal of the trip until we get to my grandparents (we always go to the Chart House with them, it's tradition, delicious tradition), and we both love Indian food and I expect this to be a great experience. I can't wait to try the fancy bread service with all the dipping sauces.

Photo via About.com

Our ADR isn't until 7:15, and AK closes at 5, so we will have ample time to get over to AKL and explore a bit. I hope that it's not dark yet when we arrive so we can see some of the animals over there. Daylight Savings Time is ending on Sunday (and remember, we're actually describing Saturday, despite what the header says!), so it could be close. Even if it is dark, there should be plenty to see at the resort to kill time until our ADR.

Photo via Trip Advisor

It's going to take some figuring out to get back to ASMu from AKL. I think the shortest would be to take a bus to HS to transfer to an AS resort bus. However, HS will probably be closed by the time we finish dinner, so we might have to bus to EP or DTD instead to transfer. Such a shame that AKL and ASMu are so close, yet so far from each other! I understand why Disney doesn't have resort-to-resort buses, but it sure would be more convenient if they did.

And that's our AK day! Which is now our first park day. Sunday we'll be heading to HS, for the day I already described, minus the EMH. Up next is Monday, and MAGIC KINGDOM DAY!!!!!!!

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Sounds like a great day at AK planned. Honestly, during the time you're going, getting to the parks really early isn't a necessity. The lines might be a little longer but using FP, you'll be able to avoid the longer lines with the headliners. You can FP EE and the Safari. so you'll be fine.

Great idea about doing the Safari early. The animals are also really active toward dusk so you could go again if you get the chance.

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[kayemgi]

Ok I'm here!

So nice that you get to do a Disney trip and visit your grandparents too!

Hooray for getting Free Dining!

Your DH sounds like my DBF, not into planning and doesn't get overly excited about things! But as long as they have fun in the end thats all the matters right?

Love your pics from your last trip; I hope one day to go during F&G!

I am a definite advocate for Disney transportation. Personally I've never had any problems, though with stories I've heard I'm always prepared for the worst! It's also nice to feel fully immersed in the vacation and not having to worry about driving!

I think you guys will have a blast at HS! I'd also recommend checking out the drawing class at the animation academy, it's really fun!! The cupcakes at Starring Rolls are massive, I loved the Butterfinger one! I think it's a good idea not watching videos of Fantasmic beforehand. I did the same thing and it was totally worth the wait!

Thanks for joining in! I definitely want to check out Animation Academy if we have time. I don't think DH will be into it, but I might do it while he rides Star Tours a few more times!

Sounds like a great day at AK planned. Honestly, during the time you're going, getting to the parks really early isn't a necessity. The lines might be a little longer but using FP, you'll be able to avoid the longer lines with the headliners. You can FP EE and the Safari. so you'll be fine.

Great idea about doing the Safari early. The animals are also really active toward dusk so you could go again if you get the chance.

I'm just so nervous because we're leading into Jersey week. And I pitched this November trip to DH based on lower November crowds, and then picked the exact wrong week! I mean, at least we are not going later in that week, when the crowds will start to be heavier because of the NJ break, Veteran's Day AND the Wine & Dine Marathon, but I still don't think it's going to be as empty as I'd hoped. I am really hoping to be proven wrong on this! DH was very sweet when I expressed the fear that if the parks were crowded that I had ruined our vacation. He said I really need to stop worrying so much because nothing can ruin a Disney vacation!

And thanks for the tip about Safari, I would definitely love to ride again at dusk if we can!

Following along!

Yay, thanks for reading!

 

[Disney_Princess83]

We are there around the same time and honestly, you'll be fine. Some days are a little busier than others, but the NJ break and Veteran's Day won't impact the crowds "that" much. If possible hit the headliners early or late and do the other rides and things in the middle of the day. You sound very well prepared

I'm just so nervous because we're leading into Jersey week. And I pitched this November trip to DH based on lower November crowds, and then picked the exact wrong week! I mean, at least we are not going later in that week, when the crowds will start to be heavier because of the NJ break, Veteran's Day AND the Wine & Dine Marathon, but I still don't think it's going to be as empty as I'd hoped. I am really hoping to be proven wrong on this! DH was very sweet when I expressed the fear that if the parks were crowded that I had ruined our vacation. He said I really need to stop worrying so much because nothing can ruin a Disney vacation!

And thanks for the tip about Safari, I would definitely love to ride again at dusk if we can!

 

[kayemgi]

We are there around the same time and honestly, you'll be fine. Some days are a little busier than others, but the NJ break and Veteran's Day won't impact the crowds "that" much. If possible hit the headliners early or late and do the other rides and things in the middle of the day. You sound very well prepared

Thank you for the reassurance! That makes me feel better.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Thank you for the reassurance! That makes me feel better.

You'll be fine.

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a good AK plan! I love Flame Tree Barbecue!!

 

[kayemgi]

Taking a break from my daily plans to show you something I'm really excited about! As I've mentioned a time or two, I have been browsing the internet in excess in preparation for this vacation. I came across several ideas for Disney shirts that I really fell in love with. But at anywhere from $20-$30 per pre-made shirt, I decided to DIY instead. I'll be showing you a few more of these later on (I want to make a shirt for every park plus two more!). But today, I want to show you my shirt for Epcot! I love the Mexico pavilion, and I love sugar skulls and Dia de los Muertos stuff in general. We have these coasters at home:

via Day of the Dead Realm on Etsy

And this ironing board cover:

via Compelled to Craft on Etsy

And this necklace:

via balance9 on Etsy

So I was thinking, I should make a sugar skull tee shirt for Epcot! And then I thought, I should make it in the shape of a Mickey head! So I did! And love love love how it turned out, so I wanted to share it with you.

First, in Adobe Illustrator, I traced a Mickey head outline. I didn't like how the 'three circles' head looked with the sugar skull art, so I traced this classic Mickey head instead:

Photo via wikihow

Then I simply filled it in using different stock illustrations found on istockphoto.com. I'm not great at illustrating myself, but once I have the vector art, I can manipulate it to what I want. There was a LOT of manipulation here, it took hours. But I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

Illustration

So then I printed it out onto iron-on transfer paper for dark fabrics. I kept some black around the outside of it because I was planning to iron onto a black tee shirt.

Printed onto iron-on transfer paper.

That way, when I trimmed out the image, if it wasn't perfect it wouldn't show mistakes on the tee.

Trimmed and ready to iron.

Then I ironed it on! The iron on was pretty good quality. It looks like something you could buy at a store.

Ironed on.

And leaving the edges black was a good idea.

Detail of edges.

And I think it looks great! I can't wait to wear it on our Epcot day!

 

[the real robp]

Fantastic job on the shirt... it looks great! Very creative idea!

 

[wiigirl]

Love the shirt!

 

[missangelalexis]

What an awesome job on the shirt, that is SO creative! Came out great!

 

[kayemgi]

Fantastic job on the shirt... it looks great! Very creative idea!

Love the shirt!

What an awesome job on the shirt, that is SO creative! Came out great!

Thank you all! Sometimes my ideas don't come out as well as I see them in my mind, so I was super excited that this one did! Awhile ago I tried to do a Tangled shirt and it turned into a big fat mess. Luckily I was able to redo it better later!

 

[kayemgi]

Hey everyone! Did you all have a nice holiday weekend? We almost literally did nothing, which was actually nice! Well, I should say "I" almost literally did nothing. DH had to work Saturday and Sunday, but we had Monday off together, which is a rare treat, so we just kind of hung out around the house. We played a board game together and watched a movie and ordered in Italian for dinner. It was quite nice!

My DH also accused me of being more excited for Disney than I was for our wedding last year. I denied, but you know, I think he might be right! Only because planning our wedding was a lot of work as well as fun, and planning for Disney is almost 100% fun!

Speaking of planning, we are up to my most excited-about day, Magic Kingdom day!! I just love MK. It's where the magic lives for me! Plus I have a special surprise planned for DH today, and I am just bursting with excited about it and I'm so happy I can tell you all here about it!

Photo by me

But before we get to the surprise, we have a busy day to get through. Even though none of the touring plans say to do this, we really love to start in Adventureland and work our way around clockwise. Usually we meander down Main Street first, but this year I am thinking we should save that for later in the afternoon when ride lines get longer.

So I think we will head straight to Adventureland and Jungle Cruise first. We both love that ride so much! I watched a ride video of it the other day and it just made me so happy. I love those corny jokes, and the animatronics completely amazed me as a child, so I still feel that sense of wonder looking at them as an adult. The hippos are my favorite!

Photo by Shutter Worm on Flickr

After our titillating view of the back side of water, we'll head over to Pirates of the Caribbean! My second favorite ride at MK, after HM. JC is third, and it's a very close call between the three!

Photo by me

Then we will move into Frontierland, and if the weather is warm, we'll ride Splash. If it's a cool morning, we'll save that for later. Then we'll ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and then it's over to Liberty Square for Haaaaunted Maaaansion! Considering that I confessed my fear of ghosts to you guys earlier, you're probably wondering how on earth this could be my favorite ride. But it's so silly and fun, and the effects are amazing, and I just don't find it scary at all. I even loved it as a kid! If the line is short to nonexistent (which it really should be at this hour of the morning), we'll probably ride this twice in a row. Then if it breaks down in the afternoon, as it's wont to do, at least on my trips, we'll be satisfied.

Photo by me

Moving on to Fantasyland and New Fantasyland! First we will ride it's a small world. I really love this ride as well. I just love the Mary Blair aesthetic, and it's a dream in there for someone like me who loves bright colors and pretty design! I don't even mind the song! Then we will head over to Under the Sea. If my little wait time app says the wait is building there, we will probably switch these two rides. I know that small world has a good capacity, but I think that LM does as well.

Photo by Ricky Brigante on Flickr

Then we'll check out the new Dumbo ride, which I'm so excited to see, and maybe Mad Tea Party if I'm feeling like I can handle all that spinning so early in the morning! We might end up saving that for later as well. I've always wanted to ride it at night, so maybe we'll save it for then.

Photo by Jay Andruckow on Flickr

Completing our circle, we'll hop onto Space Mountain, or by this time we may need to collect a Fast Pass. I'm guessing it's going to be close to 1:00 by this time. We'll do Buzz either before or after, depending on the wait times. Then it will be time to head back to NFL to get in the standby line for lunch at Be Our Guest! I'm dying to see the inside of Beast's castle. I've read that the wait is much lower if you wait until about 2:00, 30 minutes before they stop serving lunch, to get in line. I hope it's true and we don't end up missing it altogether.

So beautiful! Photo via disneyworld.disney.go.com

After lunch, we'll try to see Mickey's Philharmagic before heading back to Tomorrowland to take it easy with a ride on the PeopleMover! It's yet another favorite of mine.

After that, we'll stroll back down to Main Street to walk around, and then start another circle to check out anything we might have missed, and do stuff with low wait times. I'm hoping to be making great time and be able to check out the Enchanted Tiki Room (never seen before), the Country Bears, ride the Liberty Belle, and maaaybe get over to Tom Sawyer's Island. I'd like to do it just to say I have (never gone there before), but it's really not a priority. There are other things I would like to repeat more than I care about seeing the Island. Like riding BTMRR in the dark, Splash if we didn't do it earlier, JC and PotC again, etc.

Photo via Disney Parks Blog

And we have a schedule to keep to for the evening, because at 7:30 we need to be getting our spot in front of the Plaza to watch Main Street Electrical Parade! I vividly remember seeing this parade as a child, and I haven't seen it since. I MUST see it this trip!

Photo via Disney Parks Blog

And the reason we must see it from in front of the Plaza is because of my surprise for DH! I'm hoping I can wait until this very moment to tell him. The parade will be finishing, he'll be looking around at all of the people waiting for Wishes and he'll say, "Dearest Wife, you know how I hate crowds, can we please do something else besides stand here behaving like sardines and waiting for Wishes?"

And I will reply, "SURPRISE! I booked the Wishes Dessert Party for us and we have our own special view plus a buffet of desserts to enjoy!" And he will be surprised and thrilled and we will book it back to Tomorrowland Terrace to grab as many desserts as we think we can eat before Celebrate the Magic and Wishes begin. Whoo-hoo! I really hope this goes as planned. Some people recommend going up to the viewing area before MSEP even starts, but from what I've read you really can't see it up there and it's very important to me to see it. I've seen mixed reports of desserts running out vs. the desserts being replenished all the way up til the end of Wishes. So I guess I will just cross my fingers and toes and hope for the latter. Because I am not missing MSEP!

So beautiful! Photo via disneyworld.disney.go.com

And I really hope I can contain my glee and keep this a secret until that moment of MSEP finishing up. We are both terrible with keeping surprises from each other, but I really want this one to be a surprise! We both hate crowds, but DH realllly hates crowds, so I think this will be a wonderful and unexpected surprise for him. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

I'm hoping they extend the park hours by an hour, which it seems like they do a lot, so that we can still explore a little bit after Wishes. But if not, we will have had a full and amazing day no matter what, and we will happily and surely exhaustedly head to the exit, shopping along the way!

Photo by Matt Pasant via AllEars.net

The only day I'm afraid of not getting to do everything I want to do is today. MK just has SO much to do, and it's all stuff I hold near and dear to my heart because MK is the only park we went to when I was a little kid. (Side note: I was such a weird kid! My favorite rides at 5 years old were Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I had no time for Dumbo or it's a small world back then!) It's a not recommended MK day because of MSEP, but it is also an overall crowd level of 4. So I am hopeful, but also trying to stay realistic. And to remember that just being at Disney, in MK, is a success for any vacation!

Next up: Epcot Day and F&W for the first time ever!

 

[kayemgi]

Hey there! First a quick note, I switched the Chapters and the Intro posts on the first page. I found it annoying to have to scroll down through the intro to get to the chapters. I hope that's more convenient for you all.

Day 5 we head to Epcot for morning EMH. Even though we've decided NOT to use EMH on days 2 and 3, we couldn't really switch Epcot to another day, and I think we will need the EMH to get everything that we want to do done!

Photo by me

First we will head right over to Test Track to ride. I'm very excited about the new interactive queue! Even though it seems it has no affect on your ride whatsoever, I think building a car will be fun. I'm interested to see how the ride itself has changed as well.

Then, since our #2 priority in Epcot isn't open during morning EMH (Sum of all Thrills), we will walk over to Soarin' and ride that. I enjoy Soarin', but if the line is already huge we will probably just skip it and try to come back to it later. It was a family favorite (before DH came into the picture) so I've ridden it tons of times, and DH doesn't feel strongly about it one way or the other, so we're not going to wait in a big standby line for it. We could also get a Fast Pass if the return time is early. We have big plans for F&W in the WS, so I don't want to have to trek back to FW in the afternoon when we are already in the WS!

Our #3 priority, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, ALSO doesn't have morning EMH, (come on, Epcot!), so if we are still in EMH time, we'll probably pop over to Mission: Space or Spaceship Earth, depending on what DH wants to do. (I'll be checking wait times on my phone, so we won't waste the time to walk over to Soarin' even for a FP if the wait is long). I could be happy not riding Mission: Space ever again. It was just not my thing. But I will if DH wants to ride it. I'd be much happier to head over to one of my favorites, Spaceship Earth!

Photo by me

By then EMH should be over, so we'll head over to be at the front of the line for Sum of all Thrills. We've never done this one before and I'm really looking forward to it! After we've done that, we'll get over to The Seas, ride Nemo, and spend some time looking around the aquarium. DH and I both love the manatees, and there's not really a lot of places you can see them, so we'll spend a good amount of time there. I was reading about Crystal River Manatee Tours. Has anyone ever done that? I think DH would really enjoy it on our next trip to Florida, whenever that may be. Unfortunately it's on the other side of the state, so we won't be fitting it in on this vacation.

Photo via allears.net

If it's still early (before noon) we'll do Living with the Land. I kind of want to sit in on Turtle Talk with Crush, because it looks neat, but we don't have kids. Would that be super weird?

Sometime around noon I want to plan to head up to the WS to start walking around there and checking out the F&W booths. I want to start in Canada this time, even though we usually prefer to tour the parks in a clockwise fashion, because my big drink splurge is going to be a blood orange margarita at La Cava, and I want to have some food in my belly before we get to Mexico!

(Bad) Photo by me

We love the WS. Just strolling around, checking out the exhibits and the shops. I plan to get a wall tile for our house in Morocco—I say I'm going to get one every time I go, and I never do. I'm definitely getting one this time! I also want to try and find some good Christmas gifts for our family and friends.

Photo by me

Maelstrom and Gran Fiesta Tour are must-dos, and I think I want to do Pick-a-Pearl this time as well. It looks fun and would be a nice souvenir. We've never watched any of the films in the WS (Canada, France and China) and we've never seen the American Adventure show either, so I hope to get to a few of those this time.

And all along the way we'll be snacking on delicious F&W treats! The items I'm most excited for are: Cheddar cheese soup (Canada); Mongolian beef in a steamed bun (China); Grilled cheese with pistachios and honey (Greece); Grilled and marinated calamari (Greece); Lobster roll (Hops & Barley); Craisin bread pudding with Grand Marnier Anglaise (Hops & Barley); Fisherman’s pie (Ireland); Garlic escargot in brioche (France); Beef bolognese ravioli (Italy); Crispy pork belly with black beans, onions, avocado and cilantro (Brazil); Taco de Ribeye with salsa de chipotle (Mexico); Kielbasa and potato pierogi with carmelized onions and sour cream (Poland); and Dole Pineapple Fritters (Refreshment Port).

That is an excessive list. There's no way I'm going to be able to eat all of that. I plan to prioritize stuff that I can't get easily at home, like the lobster roll, the escargot, and the pineapple fritters. I also need to save room for my margarita, and I really want to finally try the Grey Goose lemonade slush as well. In any case it will be a delicious day!

Photo by Kelly Tressler via Disney Food Blog

I'm not a diehard fan of Illuminations, and DH doesn't care (again!), so I suspect we will head back down to FW to ride stuff we missed earlier while the crowds are getting their fireworks spots. And that's our Epcot day!

Photo by me

Up next: Day 6, bonus day!

 

[anna's mama]

Hello!
I've been lurking here and just wanted to say its not weird to do Turtle Talk without kids! Its super cute and if you're like me, you'll wonder how they can make Crush so believable

 

[kayemgi]

Hello!
I've been lurking here and just wanted to say its not weird to do Turtle Talk without kids! Its super cute and if you're like me, you'll wonder how they can make Crush so believable

Thank you! That makes me feel better. Don't lurk! Otherwise I feel like I'm just talking to myself.