BTDTGB
Future Mayor of Main Street
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2006
Is it the Jungle Cruise.
-
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"Why the Face?!" - our Aug/Sept 2011 TR! (updated 11/28 Last Day - MK)
- Thread starter kdka421
- Start date
Is it the Jungle Cruise.
kdka421
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2011
Oops, I guess I phrased that poorly. What I meant to say was, that we had spent all afternoon in that area, so it was time to go somewhere ELSE in the MK! Any other guesses?! That was a good guess though, Jungle Cruise is a fan favorite with my Mom
BTDTGB
Future Mayor of Main Street
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2006
Oops, I guess I phrased that poorly. What I meant to say was, that we had spent all afternoon in that area, so it was time to go somewhere ELSE in the MK! Any other guesses?! That was a good guess though, Jungle Cruise is a fan favorite with my Mom
I thought you were trying to be tricky with the wording.
Then I would guess Carousel of Progress.
kdka421
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2011
Hmm. My guess is Buzz Lightyear.
Good guess, but nope! We like the ride, but weirdly we missed that one this trip. We did hit Toy Story Mania a couple of times, so we were okay with passing up Buzz this trip I guess.
I thought you were trying to be tricky with the wording.
You got it!! I'll pick up there with my next sesgment!
kdka421
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2011
Day 1 (evening): Magic Kingdom
As BTDTGB correctly guessed, after dinner we decided to head over to Tomorrowland to ride the Carousel of Progress. On our way there, though, we stopped for multiple different picture opportunities...
Crossing the bridge towards the hub:
At the hub:
Heading into Tomorrowland:
After all those photo breaks, we finally made it to Tomorrowland! We took a quick detour by way of Space Mountain to pick up FPs for later that evening, then we all took a ride on one of my Dad's favorites, the Carousel of Progress. And no ride on the CoP is complete without some good-natured teasing of Mom...who one of the last times she went on the ride, snuck on a large cup of soda, and promptly ended up spilling it all over the floor. Oops!
After a rousing rendition of "It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," we decided to split up for a little bit; Aaron and I needed to use our Space Mtn FPs (not a ride either of my parents will do, my Dad finds it too jerky). We still had a short wait before we could use those, so we rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (still fondly called the PeopleMover in our household). I think the TTA was closed on our last trip, so this was Aaron's first time on it - not a thrilling ride by any means, but a nice break. We had a nice view as the sun was setting, and got a little view from above into the Fantasyland Expansion area at one point. After, we headed over to Space Mtn - this was probably one of Aaron's favorite rides/memories from his first/only trip as a child, and he was SO upset on our last trip when the ride was closed for renovations. He was very excited to get to go on it this trip! We both really enjoyed it, as always.
While Aaron and I were doing this, my parents took a stroll through Fantasyland (weirdly, Aaron and I went this whole first day without stepping foot in Fantasyland, I was stunned!) and walked right onto Small World (I don't care for the ride one way or the other, but Aaron was certainly thrilled to get out of having to go on it this time!).
Once they were done, they went to get a seat for the Main Street Electrical Parade. Now if you ask my Dad, he will maintain that SpectroMagic is a million times better than MSEP, but (don't tell him) I personally don't see much difference between the two parades.
I enjoy them both. When Aaron and I were done on Space Mtn, we headed to meet up with them for the parade and fireworks.
Some MSEP photos, although the parade is quite hard to photograph:
After the parade, we wandered through the gift shops for a little, until it was time for the Magic, Memories, and You castle show (our first time seeing this). We were pretty far back on Main Street, so we couldn't tell much detail in the various pictures - but the different lighting effects/etc were FANTASTIC. The show was very cool!!
Then of course we stuck around for Wishes as well. I think Wishes is a wonderful show as well. This night the music/fireworks seemed particularly well coordinated (it doesn't always work out that way it seems).
After, we left leisurely, taking some time to walk through the gift shop and trade some pins with the CMs. As we were in the Emporium I received my first and only comment on my lime-green Mickey head (I hadn't joined the Dis before this trip, so this was my first time wearing one)...one of the CMs noticed it and asked if I was a member of the DisBoards, she said she was very familiar with the site. Nice to have it noticed even just once!
IIRC, we caught a bus back to POFQ very quickly, I think a bus was pulling up right as we were walking up to the stop. We decompressed a little bit, and went to bed pretty promptly, because our alarms were set the next morning for 6:15am.
Who can guess where we spent Day 2 (Bonus points if you guess our first ride of the day)?! No fair looking back at my PTR!
As BTDTGB correctly guessed, after dinner we decided to head over to Tomorrowland to ride the Carousel of Progress. On our way there, though, we stopped for multiple different picture opportunities...
Crossing the bridge towards the hub:
At the hub:
Heading into Tomorrowland:
After all those photo breaks, we finally made it to Tomorrowland! We took a quick detour by way of Space Mountain to pick up FPs for later that evening, then we all took a ride on one of my Dad's favorites, the Carousel of Progress. And no ride on the CoP is complete without some good-natured teasing of Mom...who one of the last times she went on the ride, snuck on a large cup of soda, and promptly ended up spilling it all over the floor. Oops!
After a rousing rendition of "It's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow," we decided to split up for a little bit; Aaron and I needed to use our Space Mtn FPs (not a ride either of my parents will do, my Dad finds it too jerky). We still had a short wait before we could use those, so we rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (still fondly called the PeopleMover in our household). I think the TTA was closed on our last trip, so this was Aaron's first time on it - not a thrilling ride by any means, but a nice break. We had a nice view as the sun was setting, and got a little view from above into the Fantasyland Expansion area at one point. After, we headed over to Space Mtn - this was probably one of Aaron's favorite rides/memories from his first/only trip as a child, and he was SO upset on our last trip when the ride was closed for renovations. He was very excited to get to go on it this trip! We both really enjoyed it, as always.
While Aaron and I were doing this, my parents took a stroll through Fantasyland (weirdly, Aaron and I went this whole first day without stepping foot in Fantasyland, I was stunned!) and walked right onto Small World (I don't care for the ride one way or the other, but Aaron was certainly thrilled to get out of having to go on it this time!).
Once they were done, they went to get a seat for the Main Street Electrical Parade. Now if you ask my Dad, he will maintain that SpectroMagic is a million times better than MSEP, but (don't tell him) I personally don't see much difference between the two parades.
I enjoy them both. When Aaron and I were done on Space Mtn, we headed to meet up with them for the parade and fireworks.Some MSEP photos, although the parade is quite hard to photograph:
After the parade, we wandered through the gift shops for a little, until it was time for the Magic, Memories, and You castle show (our first time seeing this). We were pretty far back on Main Street, so we couldn't tell much detail in the various pictures - but the different lighting effects/etc were FANTASTIC.
The show was very cool!! Then of course we stuck around for Wishes as well. I think Wishes is a wonderful show as well. This night the music/fireworks seemed particularly well coordinated (it doesn't always work out that way it seems).
After, we left leisurely, taking some time to walk through the gift shop and trade some pins with the CMs. As we were in the Emporium I received my first and only comment on my lime-green Mickey head (I hadn't joined the Dis before this trip, so this was my first time wearing one)...one of the CMs noticed it and asked if I was a member of the DisBoards, she said she was very familiar with the site. Nice to have it noticed even just once!
IIRC, we caught a bus back to POFQ very quickly, I think a bus was pulling up right as we were walking up to the stop. We decompressed a little bit, and went to bed pretty promptly, because our alarms were set the next morning for 6:15am.
Who can guess where we spent Day 2 (Bonus points if you guess our first ride of the day)?! No fair looking back at my PTR!
kdka421
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2011
Thanks!
Well, I guess we aren't too original
One of your guesses is spot on, the other though is NOT what we did first on the day we did go to that park. At least we fooled you once I hope to post an update this evening with the beginning of Day 2 - you'll see then which of your guesses was correct!
kdka421
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2011
Day 2 (morning) - EPCOT
kirrrby guessed correctly that our plan for Day 2 was EPCOT! Epcot had early magic hours that morning, opening at 8am...so we set the alarm for 6:15, got ready, and caught a bus by 7:15am. Not bad! We were at Epcot by 7:35, and were close to the front of the line at the turnstiles.
I don't remember exactly what time they started letting us through the turnstiles, it was either just before 8 or right at 8 - but we got in quickly, and headed straight to Soarin. We all walked together to The Land, and walked right on, I think we were on the first ride of the morning. Aaron and I rode Soarin for the first time on our last trip, and this was Dad's first time on it...we all loved it. IIRC, the pine scent was either new or not working last time, so that was a nice new effect.
Mom walked over with us to the Land, but didn't go on the ride, and instead wandered around outside for a while. When we met up with her in between Innoventions and the Fountain, and asked her what she'd been doing, she replied "Taking pictures of a bird". Indeed she had (see next pic), and a number of bird pictures were taken throughout the day.
Together we walked to the other side of Future World, and took my Dad on his 2nd new ride of the day:
Mission Space! Aaron and I had done both sides of the ride on our last trip, and I remembered the non-intense version as being relatively uneventful. I knew Dad wouldn't want to go on the intense version, so we all did the less-intense version together...and strangely, it was more intense than I remembered. It didn't bother me, but for some reason I guess I just didn't remember it well. I think I enjoyed it more this trip. I don't think Dad liked Mission Space as much as Soarin though. Win some, you lose some. Not sure what Mom did while we were on the ride, but there weren't any pictures of birds from that time period!
Future World felt weirdly empty all morning. Some of the rides still built up substantial lines, but others, like Mission Space, seemed to max out at about a 20 minute wait most of the morning. After Mission Space, we decided to split up for a little bit so Aaron and I could go do Test Track. We were going to go through the Single Rider line, but it wasn't open yet, and the regular line had already backed up to about 45 minutes. So instead we grabbed FPs, and called my parents to see where they had gone off to.
Mom and Dad had just got in line to see the characters, so we ran over to join them. They were near the front of the line, because it had just opened up, and we got in to see the characters very quickly. The photographers were great, and there was a CM plus a Photopass photographer at each character, who willingly took photos on their camera and our camera too. Very nice.
Mom loves seeing the characters, and Dad would do anything Mom wanted. I was excited to see some characters because Aaron and I didn't really do that on our last trip - because Aaron's not really all that into characters. But he gladly went along - and of course he flirted with Minnie, Goofy and he joked about who was taller, and he told a joke to Donald ("What do you get if you cross a cow and a duck?" "Milk and quackers" Donald got a kick out of that.)
After the characters, we headed over to The Seas.
We went on the ride, which I don't think my parents have been on since our first trip, when it was completely different (with the "elevator" that took you down to the ocean floor, etc). The ride was just as bad as I remembered from the last trip, lol Gosh, they really need to do something better with that. After the ride, we wandered around the various exhibits, saw one of the feeding exhibitions, and a little bit of the manatees (which are only exciting for so long). We also stopped in to see Turtle Talk with Crush, which Mom was dying to see, and I don't think my Dad knew much about it. If you haven't seen it - the show is a lot of fun. My dad talked about it afterwards for the rest of the day, puzzling over how they accomplish it from a technical perspective. It's pretty cool.
After The Seas, we all walked back across Future World (just like Day 1, we did a lot of back and forth walking) so Aaron and I could use our Test Track FPs. I think this is another one of Aaron's favorite rides. Even with our FPs there was probably about a 15-20 minute wait, which always seems to be the case with Test Track. My parents waited for us outside, and when we were done, we headed over together to the World Showcase for lunch!
Here's another bird we saw along the way:
Okay - who (without rereading my PTR) can guess where we had lunch?! One hint - we had a reservation, it wasn't counter service.
kirrrby guessed correctly that our plan for Day 2 was EPCOT! Epcot had early magic hours that morning, opening at 8am...so we set the alarm for 6:15, got ready, and caught a bus by 7:15am. Not bad! We were at Epcot by 7:35, and were close to the front of the line at the turnstiles.
I don't remember exactly what time they started letting us through the turnstiles, it was either just before 8 or right at 8 - but we got in quickly, and headed straight to Soarin. We all walked together to The Land, and walked right on, I think we were on the first ride of the morning. Aaron and I rode Soarin for the first time on our last trip, and this was Dad's first time on it...we all loved it. IIRC, the pine scent was either new or not working last time, so that was a nice new effect.
Mom walked over with us to the Land, but didn't go on the ride, and instead wandered around outside for a while. When we met up with her in between Innoventions and the Fountain, and asked her what she'd been doing, she replied "Taking pictures of a bird". Indeed she had (see next pic), and a number of bird pictures were taken throughout the day.
Together we walked to the other side of Future World, and took my Dad on his 2nd new ride of the day:
Mission Space! Aaron and I had done both sides of the ride on our last trip, and I remembered the non-intense version as being relatively uneventful. I knew Dad wouldn't want to go on the intense version, so we all did the less-intense version together...and strangely, it was more intense than I remembered. It didn't bother me, but for some reason I guess I just didn't remember it well. I think I enjoyed it more this trip. I don't think Dad liked Mission Space as much as Soarin though. Win some, you lose some. Not sure what Mom did while we were on the ride, but there weren't any pictures of birds from that time period!
Future World felt weirdly empty all morning. Some of the rides still built up substantial lines, but others, like Mission Space, seemed to max out at about a 20 minute wait most of the morning. After Mission Space, we decided to split up for a little bit so Aaron and I could go do Test Track. We were going to go through the Single Rider line, but it wasn't open yet, and the regular line had already backed up to about 45 minutes. So instead we grabbed FPs, and called my parents to see where they had gone off to.
Mom and Dad had just got in line to see the characters, so we ran over to join them. They were near the front of the line, because it had just opened up, and we got in to see the characters very quickly. The photographers were great, and there was a CM plus a Photopass photographer at each character, who willingly took photos on their camera and our camera too. Very nice.
Mom loves seeing the characters, and Dad would do anything Mom wanted. I was excited to see some characters because Aaron and I didn't really do that on our last trip - because Aaron's not really all that into characters. But he gladly went along - and of course he flirted with Minnie, Goofy and he joked about who was taller, and he told a joke to Donald ("What do you get if you cross a cow and a duck?" "Milk and quackers"
Donald got a kick out of that.)After the characters, we headed over to The Seas.
We went on the ride, which I don't think my parents have been on since our first trip, when it was completely different (with the "elevator" that took you down to the ocean floor, etc). The ride was just as bad as I remembered from the last trip, lol
Gosh, they really need to do something better with that. After the ride, we wandered around the various exhibits, saw one of the feeding exhibitions, and a little bit of the manatees (which are only exciting for so long). We also stopped in to see Turtle Talk with Crush, which Mom was dying to see, and I don't think my Dad knew much about it. If you haven't seen it - the show is a lot of fun. My dad talked about it afterwards for the rest of the day, puzzling over how they accomplish it from a technical perspective. It's pretty cool. After The Seas, we all walked back across Future World (just like Day 1, we did a lot of back and forth walking) so Aaron and I could use our Test Track FPs. I think this is another one of Aaron's favorite rides. Even with our FPs there was probably about a 15-20 minute wait, which always seems to be the case with Test Track. My parents waited for us outside, and when we were done, we headed over together to the World Showcase for lunch!
Here's another bird we saw along the way:
Okay - who (without rereading my PTR) can guess where we had lunch?! One hint - we had a reservation, it wasn't counter service.
kdka421
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2011
LOL, so funny that your mom takes pictures of birds as well. Oooh, squirrels - we have a hilarious squirrel picture coming later in the report! Good guesses, but nope! We did have a meal at Tutto Italia scheduled, because we had never eaten in Italy, but that got canceled when I rearranged our ADRs when I snagged something last minute. Not Mexico either. You are thinking of the wrong side of the World Showcase.
Actually, both of our meals on Day 2 were on the other half of the WS... (yum it was a delicious day of food!)Not sure if I'll get a chance to post an update tonight or not, hope I can, but we'll see!
kdka421
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2011
Day 2 (lunch) - EPCOT:
I have a few minutes for an update, so I think I'll just try to write about lunch...
Last I left off, we were taking pictures of birds No seriously, we were on our way to the World Showcase for lunch. We headed off to the right, going counterclockwise around the lagoon. We had a little bit of time before our reservation, so we explored a little in the UK. Aaron called a person or two in the phone booths , and then we posed for a picture:
Next stop - FRANCE for lunch at Chefs de France!
My parents had never eaten at Chefs de France, so this was a completely new experience for them. Aaron and I had dinner reservations here during our last trip (also on Day 2 of that trip!), but that day I hadn't stayed well hydrated, got overheated, and although we stayed for our dinner reservation, I was feeling pretty ill and definitely was not able to fully enjoy the meal. So we were ready to give the restaurant another try!
We had reservations for 12:15 I think, but we got there around noon, the CM was just putting out the podium and getting ready to check everyone in. We put our name on the list (note: I did notice many people walking up without reservations, and they were accommodating them all, so it obviously wasn't that busy, even being free dining), waited for a few minutes, and then we were seated.
We had a nice table in the smaller side room that looks out towards the fountain. The menu options all looked great - and with the dining plan we were given the option of a standard entree plus dessert, or ordering from the 3-course prix fixe menu. Me, Aaron and Dad all ordered from the 3 course menu, while Mom stuck with the regular menu. Our waiter (I believe it was Julien) was very attentive and friendly.
To start we were presented with a baguette, and then our 3 soups - Aaron and I had Lobster Bisque, while Dad had French Onion. Both soups were wonderful. Then, for entrees: I chose Quiche Lorraine, Dad and Aaron both chose the Croque monsieur (Ham & Cheese) sandwich (all 3 of these entrees came with a green salad), and Mom chose the Crepe Florentine.
All of the entrees got rave reviews! Personally, I liked my quiche, but I think the winner was the sandwich...it was dripping with cheese, and extremely rich! The salads balanced out the cheesy entrees quite nicely.
While we were eating....we were treated to a visit from Remy! He came around to all the tables, although it was obviously difficult for him to navigate in the small seating area. The interaction with each table was brief, but very fun.
And finally, we finished off with desserts. I chose the creme brule, while the rest of the family opted for the profiteroles.
We left the meal delighted with the experience! We loved lunch there, and would 100% go back again.
Well that's all the time I have for today...I'll continue our EPCOT adventure next time!
I have a few minutes for an update, so I think I'll just try to write about lunch...
Last I left off, we were taking pictures of birds
No seriously, we were on our way to the World Showcase for lunch. We headed off to the right, going counterclockwise around the lagoon. We had a little bit of time before our reservation, so we explored a little in the UK. Aaron called a person or two in the phone booths , and then we posed for a picture:
Next stop - FRANCE for lunch at Chefs de France!
My parents had never eaten at Chefs de France, so this was a completely new experience for them. Aaron and I had dinner reservations here during our last trip (also on Day 2 of that trip!), but that day I hadn't stayed well hydrated, got overheated, and although we stayed for our dinner reservation, I was feeling pretty ill and definitely was not able to fully enjoy the meal. So we were ready to give the restaurant another try!
We had reservations for 12:15 I think, but we got there around noon, the CM was just putting out the podium and getting ready to check everyone in. We put our name on the list (note: I did notice many people walking up without reservations, and they were accommodating them all, so it obviously wasn't that busy, even being free dining), waited for a few minutes, and then we were seated.
We had a nice table in the smaller side room that looks out towards the fountain. The menu options all looked great - and with the dining plan we were given the option of a standard entree plus dessert, or ordering from the 3-course prix fixe menu. Me, Aaron and Dad all ordered from the 3 course menu, while Mom stuck with the regular menu. Our waiter (I believe it was Julien) was very attentive and friendly.
To start we were presented with a baguette, and then our 3 soups - Aaron and I had Lobster Bisque, while Dad had French Onion. Both soups were wonderful. Then, for entrees: I chose Quiche Lorraine, Dad and Aaron both chose the Croque monsieur (Ham & Cheese) sandwich (all 3 of these entrees came with a green salad), and Mom chose the Crepe Florentine.
All of the entrees got rave reviews! Personally, I liked my quiche, but I think the winner was the sandwich...it was dripping with cheese, and extremely rich! The salads balanced out the cheesy entrees quite nicely.
While we were eating....we were treated to a visit from Remy! He came around to all the tables, although it was obviously difficult for him to navigate in the small seating area. The interaction with each table was brief, but very fun.
And finally, we finished off with desserts. I chose the creme brule, while the rest of the family opted for the profiteroles.
We left the meal delighted with the experience! We loved lunch there, and would 100% go back again.
Well that's all the time I have for today...I'll continue our EPCOT adventure next time!
kdka421
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2011
Day 2 (afternoon-evening) - EPCOT
We had just finished with an amazing lunch at Chefs de France. Since we were in France, the obvious next choice was to see the Impressions de France film, yet another random thing that my Dad seems to love. The film is definitely beautiful, even though it is so outdated.
One of the big things for us to see both in MK and Epcot is the performances/bands/etc. I had made a list of the showtimes before we left, and carefully noted the things that we could only see one day or the other. For this day in Epcot, it was our only chance to see the World Showcase Players! We always love seeing them, so this was a must-see. They had a show starting shortly, so we hightailed it one country over to the UK, and arrived just as they were beginning their act. I had heard that they had recently been doing Romeo and Juliet, which got me excited since I've never seen them do that one, but alas they were performing King Arthur and The Holy Grail, which I've seen them do a number of times before. However, it's always quite entertaining, and as always the audience participants were hilarious
At this point we were winding down, and ready for an afternoon break. The days of traveling and a hectic first day caught up to us, and we headed out of the park to go back to POFQ. But not without first taking some more bird pictures!
We got back to POFQ around 3:30. Aaron went off to relax in the hot tub, my parents fell asleep instantly, and I relaxed for a little, wrote up some notes, and then fell asleep as well. We slept longer than we wanted, for about 2 hours or so. We had dinner reservations for 6:35, so we wanted to be back at Epcot by about 6.
We made it back to Epcot just around 6, and just as we were getting into Epcot, it starting POURING. Not a nice light Florida afternoon shower, but a downpour. We took temporary cover over by the Edys ice cream shop across from the fountain (and joked somewhat seriously about abandoning our dinner plans in favor of ice cream ). There were a few people scurrying about in ponchos, mostly heading out of the park, but it's always interesting to see how empty the park can look during a rainstorm.
Our dinner reservations were at Rose & Crown, so we only had to get 2 countries into the World Showcase, but there's also quite a trek from Future World into the WS. We tried to wait it out, but by about 6:25 we knew the rain wasn't going to let up anytime soon. When it lightened up a little, we took off speed walking towards the UK.
We got to the Rose & Crown just about at our reservation time - however, the rain put a kink in their operations. The bar was packed, the restaurant was busy, because everyone wanted to stay out of the rain. So we checked in, and waited for a table to open up - we managed to snag a table at the bar, and enjoyed some tasty beverages:
About 7:15 or so, we finally got called to a table. We got a seat out in the patio area (which is covered), so that wasn't as loud or busy as being inside, which was nice. The restaurant was moving kind of slow, but we didn't really mind. We also had a waitress who was in training, which we didn't know until her supervisor came over to tell us he was only hovering around to observe how she was doing. Unfortunately again I didn't get pictures of the food...but this is what we got:
Aaron and Dad both got the Shepherd's Pie, I got the fish and chips, and Mom got the Sunday Roast platter. The Shepherd's pie was the table favorite, although I give honorable mention to my fish and chips...the chips were especially tasty! Because of the way our dining credits worked, we were doing half of this meal on dining plan, and half out of pocket - so we just got 2 desserts to share. Aaron and Dad shared the chocolate scotch cake, and Mom and I shared the sticky toffee pudding. Both were very rich and delicious.
Since dinner and service was taking so long, it was probably around 8:30 when we were finishing up dessert. Since we were right at the front of the patio, we asked if they minded if we stayed their for Illuminations, and they said that was absolutely fine. It was still raining on and off, and continued to for the rest of the evening, so it was absolutely ideal to end up with a covered place to watch the show. The view was perfect. The only negative was the rain caused it to be very misty, so we didn't get any good pictures of the show that night (we did later in the trip though). But we got to enjoy our drinks, stay dry, and LOVED the show as always.
It was still raining when the show was over, so we basically just booked it out of Epcot and headed back to the resort. Despite our naps we had no trouble falling asleep, which is good because we had another early morning and long day ahead of us.
Day 3 held some very interesting stuff in store! Find out why my parents didn't head to the park with Aaron and I first thing in the morning...and why we spent the evening apart as well! Talk to you all soon!
We had just finished with an amazing lunch at Chefs de France. Since we were in France, the obvious next choice was to see the Impressions de France film, yet another random thing that my Dad seems to love.
The film is definitely beautiful, even though it is so outdated.One of the big things for us to see both in MK and Epcot is the performances/bands/etc. I had made a list of the showtimes before we left, and carefully noted the things that we could only see one day or the other. For this day in Epcot, it was our only chance to see the World Showcase Players! We always love seeing them, so this was a must-see. They had a show starting shortly, so we hightailed it one country over to the UK, and arrived just as they were beginning their act. I had heard that they had recently been doing Romeo and Juliet, which got me excited since I've never seen them do that one, but alas they were performing King Arthur and The Holy Grail, which I've seen them do a number of times before. However, it's always quite entertaining, and as always the audience participants were hilarious
At this point we were winding down, and ready for an afternoon break. The days of traveling and a hectic first day caught up to us, and we headed out of the park to go back to POFQ. But not without first taking some more bird pictures!
We got back to POFQ around 3:30. Aaron went off to relax in the hot tub, my parents fell asleep instantly, and I relaxed for a little, wrote up some notes, and then fell asleep as well. We slept longer than we wanted, for about 2 hours or so. We had dinner reservations for 6:35, so we wanted to be back at Epcot by about 6.
We made it back to Epcot just around 6, and just as we were getting into Epcot, it starting POURING. Not a nice light Florida afternoon shower, but a downpour. We took temporary cover over by the Edys ice cream shop across from the fountain (and joked somewhat seriously about abandoning our dinner plans in favor of ice cream
). There were a few people scurrying about in ponchos, mostly heading out of the park, but it's always interesting to see how empty the park can look during a rainstorm. Our dinner reservations were at Rose & Crown, so we only had to get 2 countries into the World Showcase, but there's also quite a trek from Future World into the WS. We tried to wait it out, but by about 6:25 we knew the rain wasn't going to let up anytime soon. When it lightened up a little, we took off speed walking towards the UK.
We got to the Rose & Crown just about at our reservation time - however, the rain put a kink in their operations. The bar was packed, the restaurant was busy, because everyone wanted to stay out of the rain. So we checked in, and waited for a table to open up - we managed to snag a table at the bar, and enjoyed some tasty beverages:
About 7:15 or so, we finally got called to a table. We got a seat out in the patio area (which is covered), so that wasn't as loud or busy as being inside, which was nice. The restaurant was moving kind of slow, but we didn't really mind. We also had a waitress who was in training, which we didn't know until her supervisor came over to tell us he was only hovering around to observe how she was doing. Unfortunately again I didn't get pictures of the food...but this is what we got:
Aaron and Dad both got the Shepherd's Pie, I got the fish and chips, and Mom got the Sunday Roast platter. The Shepherd's pie was the table favorite, although I give honorable mention to my fish and chips...the chips were especially tasty! Because of the way our dining credits worked, we were doing half of this meal on dining plan, and half out of pocket - so we just got 2 desserts to share. Aaron and Dad shared the chocolate scotch cake, and Mom and I shared the sticky toffee pudding. Both were very rich and delicious.
Since dinner and service was taking so long, it was probably around 8:30 when we were finishing up dessert. Since we were right at the front of the patio, we asked if they minded if we stayed their for Illuminations, and they said that was absolutely fine. It was still raining on and off, and continued to for the rest of the evening, so it was absolutely ideal to end up with a covered place to watch the show. The view was perfect. The only negative was the rain caused it to be very misty, so we didn't get any good pictures of the show that night (we did later in the trip though). But we got to enjoy our drinks, stay dry, and LOVED the show as always.
It was still raining when the show was over, so we basically just booked it out of Epcot and headed back to the resort. Despite our naps we had no trouble falling asleep, which is good because we had another early morning and long day ahead of us.
Day 3 held some very interesting stuff in store! Find out why my parents didn't head to the park with Aaron and I first thing in the morning...and why we spent the evening apart as well! Talk to you all soon!
kdka421
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2011
Day 3 (morning) - Animal Kingdom
[Glad my cliffhangers are keeping it interesting and glad you're enjoying my TR!]
So, Day 3 was our one and only day at Animal Kingdom. It was our second early magic hour morning in a row, the park opened at 8am and we planned to be there for opening. However, the day before, during our time at Epcot, my Mom received a call from her publisher....my Mom is an author, and her first book was being released in the United Kingdom while were in Disney. My Mom's publisher was calling to see if she would be willing to do a radio interview the next morning! Of course my mom was torn because she was at WDW and wanted to spend her time in the parks, but on the other hand the interview and press is a very important part of her book release.
So she agreed to do the interview; the interview was around 8:30, which meant she and Dad decided to just stay at POFQ, do the interview from her cell phone in the hotel room, and then would meet us at the park when she was finished.
(Her interview went great. Here she is, prepping up notes before the interview started.)
So that day, Aaron and I got up at 6:15, and were out at the bus stop by 7:15 (the park was scheduled to open at 8). We either must have JUST missed a bus, or they were just not scheduled well that morning - because we saw 3 MK buses, and at least 1 HS and EP bus each, before we finally got a AK bus 30 minutes later at 7:45. I was really surprised that there weren't more frequent AK buses since it was an early hours morning, but I guess that happens occasionally.
We got to AK just at 8am. Our original plans, when we were going to be with my parents, was to all go to the Safari first. However, since it was just the two of us, we changed plans, and went straight to Everest. We walked right on, and LOVED the ride as much as we did our last trip. What an intense but amazing ride!
When we got off, the line was still short, so we walked right on and did it again! After that, we thought about going on for a third time in a row...but instead, we headed over to the safari. We grabbed FPs for my parents to use when they arrived, took a quick snack break, then got on the Safari. I love that the ride is always a little bit different. Here are some of the animals we saw:
While we were "on safari", I got a call from my parents that they had just gotten on the bus and were on their way to AK. So after we were done, we headed back to the main hub/entrance area to meet up with them. We gave them the Safari FPs and they went off to do that, while we headed to the Nemo theater where we were all planning to meet up to see the 10:30am showing of Nemo. Our plan was for us to go in and save seats for them when they met up with us....however, we had forgotten that they don't allow that. So instead, we just waited for them at the entrance, and hoped that they would show up on time.
So while we were waiting, my parents took their safari, and got these shots:
They called us as soon as they were off the Safari, we told them to HURRY over, and they walked all the way across the park, getting to the theater with maybe 2 minutes to spare. We all walked in together, and were seated basically at the top of the theater. Not great seats by any means, but good enough. Unfortunately not good enough to get any good photos though, so I don't have any from the show. I loved seeing it again, the songs always get stuck in my head the rest of the day. My parents both enjoyed seeing it for the first time.
After Nemo, we headed to an early lunch at Flame Tree BBQ. Aaron and I discovered this place on our last trip, loved it, and knew my parents would love it too. It was a HUGE hit. Aaron and I got the combo ribs and chicken platters, Dad got just the ribs, and Mom got a turkey sandwich. I think everyone thought their own meal was the best! Of course Aaron and Mom both kept feeding the ducks...and I wasn't that surprised when one of them nipped Aaron's hand!
Here's the photos of our food:
I would highly recommend Flame Tree BBQ to anyone! YUM!
I'll finish off the rest of our Animal Kingdom afternoon in the next segment...and if you're lucky, maybe you'll get another hint at why we separated again that evening! Stay tuned!
[Glad my cliffhangers are keeping it interesting
and glad you're enjoying my TR!]So, Day 3 was our one and only day at Animal Kingdom. It was our second early magic hour morning in a row, the park opened at 8am and we planned to be there for opening. However, the day before, during our time at Epcot, my Mom received a call from her publisher....my Mom is an author, and her first book was being released in the United Kingdom while were in Disney. My Mom's publisher was calling to see if she would be willing to do a radio interview the next morning! Of course my mom was torn because she was at WDW and wanted to spend her time in the parks, but on the other hand the interview and press is a very important part of her book release.
So she agreed to do the interview; the interview was around 8:30, which meant she and Dad decided to just stay at POFQ, do the interview from her cell phone in the hotel room, and then would meet us at the park when she was finished.
(Her interview went great. Here she is, prepping up notes before the interview started.)
So that day, Aaron and I got up at 6:15, and were out at the bus stop by 7:15 (the park was scheduled to open at 8). We either must have JUST missed a bus, or they were just not scheduled well that morning - because we saw 3 MK buses, and at least 1 HS and EP bus each, before we finally got a AK bus 30 minutes later at 7:45. I was really surprised that there weren't more frequent AK buses since it was an early hours morning, but I guess that happens occasionally.
We got to AK just at 8am. Our original plans, when we were going to be with my parents, was to all go to the Safari first. However, since it was just the two of us, we changed plans, and went straight to Everest. We walked right on, and LOVED the ride as much as we did our last trip. What an intense but amazing ride!
When we got off, the line was still short, so we walked right on and did it again! After that, we thought about going on for a third time in a row...but instead, we headed over to the safari. We grabbed FPs for my parents to use when they arrived, took a quick snack break, then got on the Safari. I love that the ride is always a little bit different. Here are some of the animals we saw:
While we were "on safari", I got a call from my parents that they had just gotten on the bus and were on their way to AK. So after we were done, we headed back to the main hub/entrance area to meet up with them. We gave them the Safari FPs and they went off to do that, while we headed to the Nemo theater where we were all planning to meet up to see the 10:30am showing of Nemo. Our plan was for us to go in and save seats for them when they met up with us....however, we had forgotten that they don't allow that. So instead, we just waited for them at the entrance, and hoped that they would show up on time.
So while we were waiting, my parents took their safari, and got these shots:
They called us as soon as they were off the Safari, we told them to HURRY over, and they walked all the way across the park, getting to the theater with maybe 2 minutes to spare. We all walked in together, and were seated basically at the top of the theater. Not great seats by any means, but good enough. Unfortunately not good enough to get any good photos though, so I don't have any from the show. I loved seeing it again, the songs always get stuck in my head the rest of the day. My parents both enjoyed seeing it for the first time.
After Nemo, we headed to an early lunch at Flame Tree BBQ. Aaron and I discovered this place on our last trip, loved it, and knew my parents would love it too. It was a HUGE hit. Aaron and I got the combo ribs and chicken platters, Dad got just the ribs, and Mom got a turkey sandwich. I think everyone thought their own meal was the best! Of course Aaron and Mom both kept feeding the ducks...and I wasn't that surprised when one of them nipped Aaron's hand!
Here's the photos of our food:
I would highly recommend Flame Tree BBQ to anyone! YUM!
I'll finish off the rest of our Animal Kingdom afternoon in the next segment...and if you're lucky, maybe you'll get another hint at why we separated again that evening! Stay tuned!
kirrrby
We're all mad here....
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2007
We loved flame tree. But were skipping it this december because one of our people in our party doesnt like bbq. Also what was the green and white thing? Looks somewhat like key lime gelatin? And I should have waited to read after dinner, because now I'm hungry!
saintstickets
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
We LOVE Flame Tree BBQ!! It is definately in our top 5 for CS restaurants. Just beware of the animals! You start feeding them and they get greedy and come in bunches! 
Great TR. Keep it coming!
Great TR. Keep it coming!
cp'ersmom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2009
Just joined your TR. We were there the week before and stayed at POFQ too! I love that place. I enjoyed getting up really early and walking the grounds with a cup of coffee. So peaceful and atmospheric. We also had a downpour on our way to Rose and Crown for dinner. It messed up our reservation but in the end everything worked out really well. Our waiter even got us into the little private viewing area the R & C has for Illuminations. It was lovely.
So I have to ask...what books has your mother written and did you go to R & C to celebrate her UK launch?
So I have to ask...what books has your mother written and did you go to R & C to celebrate her UK launch?
kdka421
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2011
Hello everyone! Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!!
There are people who don't like bbq?!?! The green and white thing was a key lime pie mousse, or something like that. They also have salads and sandwiches too, I think you should convince them to give it a try!
Yes indeed, those birds are crazy! Thanks for visiting my TR!
Welcome to my TR!
We agree about the peacefulness of POFQ, I would definitely stay there again. Maybe it was partially due to the location of our room and/or the timing of our trip, but the hotel felt very quiet, we never saw all that many people around the resort.
Thanks for asking about my mom's book! Yes, our R&C meal was definitely a celebration of her UK launch, the dates weren't exactly right but it was still a great celebration! The book she wrote is called "Dieting with my Dog" and it will be available in the US next month SO proud of her!! (This is her first book, but she has been published in a few different magazines, plus some compilation books like Chicken Soup, for the last 5 years or so)
We loved flame tree. But were skipping it this december because one of our people in our party doesnt like bbq. Also what was the green and white thing? Looks somewhat like key lime gelatin? And I should have waited to read after dinner, because now I'm hungry!
There are people who don't like bbq?!?!
The green and white thing was a key lime pie mousse, or something like that. They also have salads and sandwiches too, I think you should convince them to give it a try!We LOVE Flame Tree BBQ!! It is definately in our top 5 for CS restaurants. Just beware of the animals! You start feeding them and they get greedy and come in bunches!
Great TR. Keep it coming!
Yes indeed, those birds are crazy! Thanks for visiting my TR!
Welcome to my TR!
We agree about the peacefulness of POFQ, I would definitely stay there again. Maybe it was partially due to the location of our room and/or the timing of our trip, but the hotel felt very quiet, we never saw all that many people around the resort.Thanks for asking about my mom's book!
Yes, our R&C meal was definitely a celebration of her UK launch, the dates weren't exactly right but it was still a great celebration! The book she wrote is called "Dieting with my Dog" and it will be available in the US next month SO proud of her!! (This is her first book, but she has been published in a few different magazines, plus some compilation books like Chicken Soup, for the last 5 years or so)
kdka421
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2011
Hi all!
It's been a busy few days! I should get back into my regular routine and be able to write another update tomorrow, I hope. But for now - my Mom sent me a few comments that she wanted to include in my Trip Report. So here are a few notes from Mom (I have few more as well, but they are about things I haven't written about yet, so I'll save those for later):
Port Orleans: French Quarter is not as pretty as Riverside, and the food court does not have as much selection as Riverside (in addition, I found the food courts huge Mardi Gras décor rather gaudy.) But the rooms were perfect, and Id still select FQ over Riverside again, due to the convenience of the bus stops. We were only a few steps away from our room after a long day of walking around the parks.
Rose and Crown: Although the Sunday Roast sounds like an authentic British meal, I would recommend one of the other options instead. The meat was just average, if a bit tough, and lacking in flavor. However, I really wanted to try Yorkshire pudding, and I did, and I enjoyed that. But I sampled the shepherds pie, and wished Id ordered that. Although we felt the serving size was too small. Maybe youd better order two!
Flame Tree BBQ: We were trying to eat healthy, and at last! We found the perfect spot! I got a wonderful turkey sandwich on the best, grainy, oaty bread I ever ate. Served with a big slice of melon. This was my favorite quick service meal anywhere!
Hope you're all having a good week so far!
It's been a busy few days! I should get back into my regular routine and be able to write another update tomorrow, I hope. But for now - my Mom sent me a few comments that she wanted to include in my Trip Report. So here are a few notes from Mom (I have few more as well, but they are about things I haven't written about yet, so I'll save those for later):
Port Orleans: French Quarter is not as pretty as Riverside, and the food court does not have as much selection as Riverside (in addition, I found the food courts huge Mardi Gras décor rather gaudy.) But the rooms were perfect, and Id still select FQ over Riverside again, due to the convenience of the bus stops. We were only a few steps away from our room after a long day of walking around the parks.
Rose and Crown: Although the Sunday Roast sounds like an authentic British meal, I would recommend one of the other options instead. The meat was just average, if a bit tough, and lacking in flavor. However, I really wanted to try Yorkshire pudding, and I did, and I enjoyed that. But I sampled the shepherds pie, and wished Id ordered that. Although we felt the serving size was too small. Maybe youd better order two!
Flame Tree BBQ: We were trying to eat healthy, and at last! We found the perfect spot! I got a wonderful turkey sandwich on the best, grainy, oaty bread I ever ate. Served with a big slice of melon. This was my favorite quick service meal anywhere!
Hope you're all having a good week so far!
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