The 5 trips of My "Disney Free Year" - A Mermaid, A Buzz, A Boat and A Steak - 7/8

[pixiegirl]

Tequila always makes everything better!!!

 

[Princess_K]

Those margaritas look so good! I'm adding that to the to-do list too

I will probably definitely have questions throughout the planning process. There are just so many options, and if we get to do the Disney wedding, it'll be budget friendly so going down to see the locations will be out. I"ll have to rely on other people's opinions! I'm glad to know you're here for me

 

[meeko_33785]

Gotta love watching the animals from your room.

 

[thechesters420]

Love your trip report so far! Where is that margarita place located? I have to go!!

 

[Panic Attack]

Love your trip report so far! Where is that margarita place located? I have to go!!

Go to Mexico in Epcot. Enter the pyramid-thingie, walk past the colorful animal statue makers, take the RIGHT-HAND ramp down to the main area inside, and look to your right. There'll be a stone-looking archway-type door with a menu stand in front of it. That's Cava del Tequila. It is mucho awesome-o. We've hardly ever had to wait to get a seat / table in there. Kind of amazing, since the bar is pretty small.

^_^

 

[thechesters420]

Go to Mexico in Epcot. Enter the pyramid-thingie, walk past the colorful animal statue makers, take the RIGHT-HAND ramp down to the main area inside, and look to your right. There'll be a stone-looking archway-type door with a menu stand in front of it. That's Cava del Tequila. It is mucho awesome-o. We've hardly ever had to wait to get a seat / table in there. Kind of amazing, since the bar is pretty small.

^_^

I can't wait! Thank you so much!!

 

[norybell]

On a side note...I got engaged on New Years Eve! We are so excited and are hoping for a Disney Wedding in the next few years. Your wedding TR was one of the ones that got me really excited about the idea!

Congrats, Princess K! My DH and I got engaged last year on NYE -- it certainly is a wonderful way to start the year!

Joanna, I can't help but think that the Mexico ride would have been even more thrilling (hard to imagine, I know) if you had visited the tequila bar first!

Speaking of drinking, and Wisconsin (OK, not like we were necessarily speaking of these things, but I'm dealing with a bit of a cold medicine situation today, my brain is affected)...we were at my parents over the holidays, and we went out to lunch, where my DH ordered a Bloody Mary.

He was shocked to see that it came with meat (Slim Jim) and cheese (cheddar) on the toothpick, along with the more-typical olive and celery.

Classic Wisconsin!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Tequila always makes everything better!!!

Why yes, yes it does!

It works double-especially extra if you combine your tequila with a glow cube

Those margaritas look so good! I'm adding that to the to-do list too

I will probably definitely have questions throughout the planning process. There are just so many options, and if we get to do the Disney wedding, it'll be budget friendly so going down to see the locations will be out. I"ll have to rely on other people's opinions! I'm glad to know you're here for me

Definately put the Cava on your list! My favorites are the blood orange and Jalapeno margaritas. So good. We average at least 2 visits a trip num-o!

If you haven't already, check out the disney wedding blog - she's got great detail about all the sites. I'm sad that it wasn't around when I was planning. But seriously, feel free to ask away. We were lucky enough to have 2 site visits and a planning session, so I'm happy to share!

Gotta love watching the animals from your room.

I didn't think we'd be as into the Savannah view as we were, but I'm SO glad I sprung for the extra points. It was so worth it. You never get over that "OMG there's a giraffe outside my window!" feeling.

Love your trip report so far! Where is that margarita place located? I have to go!!

Go to Mexico in Epcot. Enter the pyramid-thingie, walk past the colorful animal statue makers, take the RIGHT-HAND ramp down to the main area inside, and look to your right. There'll be a stone-looking archway-type door with a menu stand in front of it. That's Cava del Tequila. It is mucho awesome-o. We've hardly ever had to wait to get a seat / table in there. Kind of amazing, since the bar is pretty small.

^_^

I can't wait! Thank you so much!!

Yep, what she said. In fact, I *think* the only time it was super crowded is when we went there for my bacholerette party and it had just opened a month or so before, AND the canteena was closed for referb. Otherwise, it's a hidden little delicious gem! Panic's step by step directions are spot on!

Congrats, Princess K! My DH and I got engaged last year on NYE -- it certainly is a wonderful way to start the year!

Joanna, I can't help but think that the Mexico ride would have been even more thrilling (hard to imagine, I know) if you had visited the tequila bar first!

Speaking of drinking, and Wisconsin (OK, not like we were necessarily speaking of these things, but I'm dealing with a bit of a cold medicine situation today, my brain is affected)...we were at my parents over the holidays, and we went out to lunch, where my DH ordered a Bloody Mary.

He was shocked to see that it came with meat (Slim Jim) and cheese (cheddar) on the toothpick, along with the more-typical olive and celery.

Classic Wisconsin!

See, that's why we had to do the ride first. Tequila first would have pushed us waaaaaaaay over the excitement limit.

It's okay, with me, I'm always thinking about drinking and Wisconsin, so those subjects are never off-subject.

Seriously, it was a sad day for me when I learned that in the rest of the country you don't get lunch served with your bloody. I'm sort of surprised your DH didn't also get Shrimp and a pickle - that's the "proper" way Also devastating is there you can't order a good old fashioned out of state either. Reasons 3 & 7 why I probably won't ever live outside of WI



Okay, My update today will be a little later. DH and I are having a discussion about whether or not we should go on one more weekend trip for our anniversary in 2 weeks! I found really cheap airfare, and he seemed pretty interested, so fingers crossed!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Ok really, your mom got stopped for having Kleenex in her pocket?! I guess I better plan on being stopped then.

That Wii drawing tablet looks really cool!

I'm curious to hear more about the crowds...we've been after Christmas a bunch of times so we've seen it pretty crazy. My dad just subscribed to one of those websites where you can check out wait times and crowd calendars. Apparently on NYE (or sometime last week) the wait for Maelstrom was 200 minutes. And yes, I meant 200.

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Well, if that isn't a picture of happiness, I don't know what is!

Oh WAIT! Now THERE'S a picture of happiness!

Ahhh, the Tequila bar, lovingly know as "The Ditch" with our folk has quickly become our go-to spot to get away from the elements (and crowds) and add a little happiness to our day.

The Avocado Margarita is hands-down my fave, but that Blood-Orange one, looks mighty tasty!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Ok really, your mom got stopped for having Kleenex in her pocket?! I guess I better plan on being stopped then.

That Wii drawing tablet looks really cool!

I'm curious to hear more about the crowds...we've been after Christmas a bunch of times so we've seen it pretty crazy. My dad just subscribed to one of those websites where you can check out wait times and crowd calendars. Apparently on NYE (or sometime last week) the wait for Maelstrom was 200 minutes. And yes, I meant 200.

Yes, she really got stopped for Kleenex. They tell you to make sure your pockets are empty. She didn't realize she had the kleenex in it, and they stopped her and patted her down.

I don't want to give too much away, but I will say at Disney, we never waited more than 25 minutes for anything. But that was using Tour Guide Mike's green days and general DIS tips. On Christmas day, we saw the posted time on Soarin' was 200 minutes at one point - but we didn't wait in that line

We actually all commented that (and I reiterate) at Disney we did a really good job at avoiding the crowds and long lines. We could tell that on the 23rd it got a lot more crowded, but by going early in the morning, we hardly waited in lines. But the crowds weren't unbearable as I'd worried they would be.

We did run into unbearable crowds, but I'll get into that when the time comes....





So DH and I talked and we decided not to go to Disney in January. I'm kind of bummed, because it would be cool to have an anniversary dinner are California Grill, but we've got a lot more years for that. Plus we were just there. And we're definitely going in September, so it's a win win I suppose

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Soon, we were back on the bus headed back to Epcot.

I haven’t seen these lighted sidewalk pieces before. They’re awesome.

Next, we were finally able to cash in those FPs for a flight on Soarin’. You know there was no way I’d be standing in that 120 minute line!

Even with a FP – the line is still BORING

Seriously Soarin' get an exciting line!

Soarin’ impressed both Queenie and Grumpy – which is quite a feat. Though this is the first time I’ve been on it and people didn’t clap when it was done.

After Soarin, I suggested we go to Greg’s favorite…

Capitan EO! He looked at me like I had suggested we launch a campaign against sunshine and fluffy bunnies. Um. NO! So we just wandered around.

We happened upon the British Invasion. So we stopped and listened for a while.

Afterwards, we went to take some pictures and as we were walking to the picture spot, I stepped wrong and off the curb and face planted right onto the sidewalk. There’s nothing worse than tripping in public. Except maybe tripping in front of your family. Especially when you have a family full of really helpful people who all swarm around you trying to help and you just want to get up and pretend it never happened. Unfortunately for me, it did happen and my ankle was sore for the rest of the trip. Not enough to slow me down, but enough to make me have to pop a few advil every day.

See the look of sheer pain in my eyes?

This sent us on a picture taking frenzy!

Photogenic we're not

After posing for a few pictures, we headed to Bistro de Paris for our ADR. They also made me change times when I added a 6th person, and the restaurant was never more than ½ full. That really ticked me off.

We started off with a mushroom mouse amuse-bouche

We ranked this about a 4 out of 10. It would have been better warm.

Grumpy and Monica got the Duck Pate

Greg, DH and I got the escargot

Queenie got butternut squash soup.

For our Entrée, I got the sea bass and gnocchi

Greg and DH for the Pork Tenderloin

(here’s a picture of DH’s so you can see the portion difference between the regular menu and the prix-fixe menu)

Queenie got the lobster risotto

Grumpy and Panic got the Duck

Pictures out of the way, it was time to eat!

Everything was good, but not great. I was expecting so much more, given its hoity-toity reputation and atmosphere.

After our entrees, Panic and Greg ordered coffee drinks, and Queenie ordered a coffee, and DH and I were waiting for our desserts.

This is where the service took a nose dive from okay to awful.

We waited for the coffees and our desserts for an easy 30 minutes

So much for our goal of watching IllumiNations. We could sort of see them from the window, but we’d have to come back and catch it another day.

Seriously, are you going to Columbia to get the coffee yourself?

Then when our chocolate almond cake came, imagine my dismay when it came with a strawberry, even though I made mention of my allergy on our reservation, and when we sat down.

The service wasn’t “French”, in France they don’t ignore you, they give you time to eat. This was out and out ignoring. I was disappointed. I was expecting a lot more.

After we finally could leave, Epcot was closed, and so we made our way to the front of the park.

My mom was worried we’d be swept from the park and forced onto the “naughty” bus. Apparently this happened to us once in the 90s, and she forever lives in fear of the naughty bus. LOL

When got back to the resort and some of us played Epic Mickey, and the rest of us watched our Packers fall to the Patriots . But we went to sleep rather early, we had a big day the next day.

 

[meeko_33785]

The queue in Soarin' could use a little more excitment, couldn't it? I know it had those games, but I've never seen them on and the Fastpass line skips right over them.

Sorry to hear that Bistro de Paris was so disappointing. I've never been there, but I thought that they'd have better service than that.

 

[Princess_K]

I've actually spent a lot of time on the Disney Wedding Blog...she does a great job with it!

You all looked so nice in this update. But how disappointing about Bistro. At least you can say you've tried it

That stinks about your ankle. What a thing to happen so early into a trip. I hope it didn't bother you too much!

 

[norybell]

Seriously, it was a sad day for me when I learned that in the rest of the country you don't get lunch served with your bloody. I'm sort of surprised your DH didn't also get Shrimp and a pickle - that's the "proper" way Also devastating is there you can't order a good old fashioned out of state either. Reasons 3 & 7 why I probably won't ever live outside of WI

I've seen the shrimp elsewhere...the slim jim/cheddar combo was new to me, though!

Okay, My update today will be a little later. DH and I are having a discussion about whether or not we should go on one more weekend trip for our anniversary in 2 weeks! I found really cheap airfare, and he seemed pretty interested, so fingers crossed!

Bummer that this didn't work out! If you had gone, though, we would have just missed each other for the second time...I'm going in 3 weeks. This addiction is getting out of hand.

Even with a FP – the line is still BORING

Seriously. Possibly the most boring line in the universe. And why does it always take so long, even with a FP?

Afterwards, we went to take some pictures and as we were walking to the picture spot, I stepped wrong and off the curb and face planted right onto the sidewalk. There’s nothing worse than tripping in public. Except maybe tripping in front of your family. Especially when you have a family full of really helpful people who all swarm around you trying to help and you just want to get up and pretend it never happened. Unfortunately for me, it did happen and my ankle was sore for the rest of the trip. Not enough to slow me down, but enough to make me have to pop a few advil every day.

Aw, that really sucks. At least they didn't laugh? I'm pretty sure my family would've been laughing their b u t t s off at me.

Photogenic we're not

Baloney. You all look really nice! - perfect for a Christmas card!

After posing for a few pictures, we headed to Bistro de Paris for our ADR. They also made me change times when I added a 6th person, and the restaurant was never more than ½ full. That really ticked me off.

Do you think it's because of the online reservation system? I'm really torn over how I feel about it...I love being able to make reservations so easily, but everywhere I've eaten these past few trips has been at least partly empty (even Le Cellier!), so it doesn't seem like it should be so hard to make ressies!

It's too bad Bistro was a disappointment...bad service is the pits.

My mom was worried we’d be swept from the park and forced onto the “naughty” bus. Apparently this happened to us once in the 90s, and she forever lives in fear of the naughty bus. LOL

See, now maybe it says something disturbing about myself, but I'd get a total kick out of leaving a Disney park on the "naughty bus"!

 

[Caretames1]

Good thing you weren't hurt in your fall. My family would have pee'd themselves before they helped me up!
Sometimes I think fancy isn't all what it's cracked up to be. I get good service at Taco Bell

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

The queue in Soarin' could use a little more excitment, couldn't it? I know it had those games, but I've never seen them on and the Fastpass line skips right over them.

Sorry to hear that Bistro de Paris was so disappointing. I've never been there, but I thought that they'd have better service than that.

I'm so not a fan of the Soarin' line. Good thing the ride is so exciting!

I was really bummed by the Bistro. I wish we would have saved the cash and just gone to Chefs instead.

I've actually spent a lot of time on the Disney Wedding Blog...she does a great job with it!

You all looked so nice in this update. But how disappointing about Bistro. At least you can say you've tried it

That stinks about your ankle. What a thing to happen so early into a trip. I hope it didn't bother you too much!

Yeah, that also bummed me out, we dressed up a bit for dinner, and people were totally scrubby there. I know it is in a park, but i thought the whole no DDP would mean it would be a bit nice. Oh well, at least we tried it.

I've seen the shrimp elsewhere...the slim jim/cheddar combo was new to me, though!

Bummer that this didn't work out! If you had gone, though, we would have just missed each other for the second time...I'm going in 3 weeks. This addiction is getting out of hand.

Seriously. Possibly the most boring line in the universe. And why does it always take so long, even with a FP?

Aw, that really sucks. At least they didn't laugh? I'm pretty sure my family would've been laughing their b u t t s off at me.

Baloney. You all look really nice! - perfect for a Christmas card!

Do you think it's because of the online reservation system? I'm really torn over how I feel about it...I love being able to make reservations so easily, but everywhere I've eaten these past few trips has been at least partly empty (even Le Cellier!), so it doesn't seem like it should be so hard to make ressies!

It's too bad Bistro was a disappointment...bad service is the pits.



See, now maybe it says something disturbing about myself, but I'd get a total kick out of leaving a Disney park on the "naughty bus"!

Our neighborhood bar serves bloodys with slim jims, cheese wedges, shrimp, pickle, celery So yummy!

Ohh another trip? I'm jealous. The addiction is real isn't it! Have an awesome trip!

Yeah, there is something wrong with the system for Soarin. The line is like painful.

My family didn't laugh. They know better. Once when were were riding horses in Sweden, my horse was a bit on the chunky side, and while we were running, the saddle loosened up and so while we were standing still, the saddle slipped and I rolled off the horse with my foot caught in the stirrups. The horse started walking and eating dragging me behind. My family was laughing hysterically the other people in the group came running. It was so funny.

I think your right, I think the online reservation system has really changed things. Not that I'm complaining when restaurants aren't full, but when I can't get a reservation because the number of people I have isn't what the computer thinks I should have and the restaurant is 1/2 full then something just isn't working right!

Haha... your love of the naughty bus does say a lot

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Before we went to sleep, I told everyone they needed to be out the door by 7:30. I knew this was a lofty goal for this group, since getting us anywhere is like hearding squirrels, but I thought we should try…

What do you know, we were piling into the rental car by 7:45. Not bad squirrels, not bad at all…

Soon we were at our destination…

That’s right… It was Harry Potter day!

I think that Disney has spoiled us, because the parking at Universal was awful, lots of winding and walking without really knowing where we were going.

We got there right after 8:00, and it was pretty deserted.

Grumpy and I haven’t been to Universal since 1999, Panic an Queenie were there in 2004, so this was all new territory for us.

Our game plan was to do Spiderman and then head to Harry Potter to see what the line was like.

Grumpy has been taking about wanting to go back on Spiderman since 1999, so this was #1 on the list. We got there and the wait was posted as 0 minutes.

What the queue looks like when you’re dad is dragging you behind him like a puppy on their first walk.

Coooooooooooooooome ooooooooooooooon… You’re slooooooooooooooowing me dooooooooooown

It was literally walk on, and soon we were roaming the mean streets trying to get the scoop. This is a great ride.

When we got out, there still was no line, so Grumpy empathically “suggested” we ride again. Queenie decided to sit this one out, so she waited for us, as we rode again.

We seriously considered a 3rd ride, but decided that the Hulk was calling us instead.

The line here was a little longer, about 10 minutes

Which is good, because as waited, we got in character….

you puny roller coaster – we will conquer you.

Something happened on this ride that has NEVER happened to me before. The harness wouldn’t close. It wasn’t my gut – there was plenty of room there. It was my DDDs! There were 3 staff members trying to get it closed. Then suddenly this tiny girl came up and got it closed. But my chest was numb! I couldn’t feel the girls. It kind of felt lonely – I was worried they would fall off.

The ride was fun, but I was really worried about Harry Potter since I hadn’t heard of anyone not fitting in the Hulk. Needless to say, we only rode this one once!

Then we headed through Comic Island.

It was cold – like in the 40s, so we all voted not to do any water rides. was about 8:45 at this point, so we thought “well it’s still early, the Harry Potter line can’t be too bad.” So we thought we’d check it out.

Well we walked like 10 smack into a wall of people.

Um… This is the line for Harry Potter? That better be some delicious pumpkin juice!

Panic and Greg ran ahead to see what the story was…. They made it to the Jurassic Park gate, and found out it was a 90 minute wait from that point to get into line to get a ticket to get into Harry Potter World. Yes, you heard me right it was a 90 minute line to get into another 60 minute line to be able to get into a 2 hr line for FJ. Um…. Yeah… No! Apparently this is where all the people were!

We figured that it must be a early morning thing, so we decided we’d come back. We consulted the map and decided that the only other rides we were interested in were all water rides and we really had no interest in being wet. So, we decided to head to Universal and come back to HP in the afternoon.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

At this point, we were all kind of hungry, so we set out in search of breakfast. We found a Starbucks – we were going through massive withdrawl.

This is sooo good, why can’t Disney have coffee like this?

Must suck up every last drop of real coffee before going back to Disney…

After Starbucks, we headed towards Universal.

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons were up all over the park. It was kind of a fun holiday thing.

It was about 9:15, and the park opened at 9:00, so there was a bit of a line for the Shrek movie, but it wasn’t the HP line, so we hopped in. It was a 20 minute line or so.

The line was promising

Hmm… cleaver.

Maybe this won’t be so bad?

There better not be any ogre burps – ala Stitch.

Okay, this line was pretty boring too – well not Soarin’ boring. But still

So, um… yeah… the movie makes no sense. You’re supposed to be in a dungeon, but then your watching a movie, it just makes no sense what so ever.

After Shrek, we decided to walk towards Rip it Rock it to check out the line. It was 40 minutes, so we decided to pass. We went to the Mummy instead. Queenie and Grumpy struck out on their own, and we went into line.

Now, something you need to know about Panic is she is a total Necrophobe. Like afraid of the Haunted Mansion, hates ghosts, mummies and other dead things. But she decided to stick it out and ride it anyway – what a trooper!

Do you think there will be Mummies on the Revenge of the Mummy ride?

Donde esta le fast pass?

Don’t stare directly at the ceiling – you will become a mummy

Oops too late.

In the first room, of the ride, there is a part where 6 mummies pop up. We heard a yelp from Panic, and then she closed her eyes for the rest of the ride. When asked she said the ride "felt good" LOL! The rest of the ride was okay. There was a fire effect that was really cool, but the ride tired to have a story and again the story made no sense what so ever, so spoiled by Disney.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Good thing you weren't hurt in your fall. My family would have pee'd themselves before they helped me up!
Sometimes I think fancy isn't all what it's cracked up to be. I get good service at Taco Bell

Ack - how'd I miss you?

My family like lurched on me trying to help. I hate that feeling!

See I get crappy service at Taco Bell too -maybe it's just me