"You're not making good choices, Phoebe!" A July 2015 Trip Report *completed 1/2/16*

[xlsm]

ooh, Biergarten! We've thought about eating here but we're always wary of the "family seating" especially when it's just the two of us

Oh, I totally understand! I was nervous about it too, I didn't want to get stuck with someone lame, LOL!!

Fortunately, the restaurant was so empty that it was a nonissue...SO, if you decide to try it, plan for an early meal and maybe you'll get lucky too!
It's not my favorite by any stretch, but I'm really glad we tried it. We enjoyed it and would eat there again someday!

Oh, and I just saw the picture of the chicken and waffles on instagram that you posted...oh my goodness. That looked so good!!

 

[dragonflydoll2]

Joining along. Loving your report so far!!! Can't wait to try Biergarten for our next trip next May!

 

[xlsm]

Hello, hello!!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday so far. I'm not ready for it to be over just yet, because I have another crazy busy week ahead. I just need to make it through September. It's such a busy month for school stuff!!

X starts ACTUALLY playing the violin this week, which is either very exciting or very terrifying, I haven't quite decided. Please send "no break!!" vibes our way, because lord help me if he destroys that instrument

After this update I get to go dive headfirst into piles and piles of laundry. My life is so glamorous.

Chapter Eight Part Four

After dinner, we popped into the crystal shop in Germany real quick, because we'd missed it before. I pretended to be Amy Farrah Fowler:



I think this might be my favorite vacation photo.

To keep with the Big Bang Theory theme, X then channeled Sheldon once we got to the outpost, and played the bongos:



You know, we make a LOT of BBT references. Cause we're the cool kids. Or something like that.

We kept moving toward China and took in the sights.



The acrobats were performing, but they were nearing the end of their set, and the crowd was pretty crowdy (<-- that's totally a word.), so we went inside the shops and saw the terra cotta warriors. We almost watched the movie, then decided not to, but I can't remember why???



I love that they are all different. I spend way too much time looking at them and my family gets annoyed. They can get over it.



In the distance you can see the crowdy crowd, lol. No acrobats for us.



I think the China pavilion is so beautiful. We've also found that the CMs there are often some of the nicest in the whole park. There was a very weird moment this time, though. L had a headache, so when we were in one of the stores in China, DH asked one of the CMs if they had tylenol. She looked really confused and kind of shook her head. He then said, "It's headache medicine. Do you have any headache medicine?" She became incredibly agitated and looked so upset and almost angry and just kept shaking her head and saying, "No, no!" DH was caught so off guard and said it was a very uncomfortable situation. I wonder what she thought he was asking for?? The language barrier was not on our side that day!

We though L might benefit from someplace cool, so we passed by Norway (for now) and went here:



We thought a river ride while chasing Donald might be just the thing to provide some relief for his headache. So we walked into the temple, hopped a boat and saw ANOTHER temple...



We love the Fiesta Tour and the Three Caballeros! It's not a visit to Epcot without a ride here. Sometimes I miss El Rio del Tiempo, but I do love the addition of those loco birds.

Oh, and is anyone else completely obsessed by the colorful wooden animals??



I lust and drool over these things every. single. time. Next trip I WILL get one!!

The boys enjoyed the land of 1,000 hats:





I contemplated a margarita, but the line was 75 and a half miles long, so I took a pass there. We made a vow that San Angel Inn would be a must do on our next trip, and said goodbye to Mexico



The Mexican pavilion is one of my top three favorites. I love it. DH had to use the restroom or something, so the boys and I hung around outside for a few minutes:



That second picture is some kind of weed or plant growing in the cement on the railing of the pavilion. I was so fascinated by it. I thought about 2Pac (a rose that grew from concrete) and smiled.

DH came back, L declared his head felt much better, and we backtracked to Norway.



Another favorite photo.

I can't get enough of the trolls in Norway. On my first trip ever, I bought one, and he was my special little love. When we lived in Missouri, he was on our big entertainment center. I know he got packed when we moved, but I have no idea where he ended up. If I find him, you'd better believe he's going out on display. I always think about getting another, but I've yet to pull the trigger.

I also thought about getting some Laila, and it is one of my trip regrets that I did not. It smells so good! The other day, I was somewhere and smelled something that was so similar, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was!!

(on a side note, the toiletries from the Westin in Kansas City smell EXACTLY like the smell when you walk in the doors from the buses at Wilderness Lodge - by the Mercantile. So much so that I'm going to order some of the lotion online. I'm not crazy, I SWEAR it's the same smell! I'm not sure what white tea and aloe have to do with the Pacific Northwest though.)

Since our dessert at Biergarten was unsatisfactory, the boys and I got some treats from Kringla.

X had the mousse kiss, L had a troll horn, and I had...SCHOOL BREAD of course! I love the pudding stuff inside it. It's one of my favorite Disney snacks.




No one liked the mousse kiss but me. I don't know why, I say they're all crazy. It was really good! The inside was berry flavored and it had a kind of shortbread crust. I ate it AND my school bread, and I didn't even feel guilty. So there.

L devoured his troll horn and my school bread was good as always.

After we had our yummies, we went to stake out our spot at the fence for Illuminations. Do you want to know a secret??


It's a pretty big one.


Like, it's kind of embarassing.

I haven't watched Illuminations since.....

.....

.....

...since the Tapestry of Nations parade was before it.

No kidding.

It's really been that long.

DH was very excited to watch it for the first time, and I was glad we were actually staying for the nighttime entertainment this year!

We stayed where we were, between Norway and Mexico. Like a good Dis-er, I got pics of the Frozenland construction. Behold:



Not very exciting.

But it was a beautiful night



I love the second photo because it looks like X is puking into the bushes.

He was not.


As usual, we amused ourselves with selfie taking





and gazed out across the water while we waited for the big show to begin.



While we were waiting, a nice janitorial CM came up and started talking with us. He noticed DH and the boys' buttons and that I didn't have one. So he gave me an "I'm Celebrating" button and made me write, "I'm celebrating...everyone else's birthday" on it. I wasn't so sure he was nice after that, LOL!!

Soon, it was time.









The show was perfect and the smoke didn't bother us, even though we were afraid we were downwind. It was really breezy, so it kind of floated up and over us, which was lucky.

When the show was ending, we left the World Showcase, but then found a bench to sit on to wait out the crowds. The hords became a slow trickle, so we got up and started hitting up photopass CMs. None of our photos came out very good, but we got a couple of cute magic shots and a video with Inside Out characters. I would show you, but the photos themselves are pretty terrible.

We "ooh"-ed and "ahh"-ed over Spaceship Earth all lit up





before stopping in the Art of Disney to look around.


X wanted this Stitch painting:



and this one is on my lottery winning list:



Larry Dotson was there and signing his work, so we decided to make our special souvenir a print of his of Wilderness Lodge. He signed it for us and everything. We had it shipped home, and it is hanging on our living room wall!

Pleased with our purchase, and pleased with our day, we made our way to the bus stop and back to our Disney home sweet home.

Goodnight, Epcot. See ya real soon




Next chapter up in a couple of days!!

 

[xlsm]

Joining along. Loving your report so far!!! Can't wait to try Biergarten for our next trip next May!

Welcome!! I'm so glad you're here!!

Biergarten was fun! I hope you enjoy it on your trip!!

 

[ariane37]

We're in our resort, getting ready for our first day at IOA tomorrow so I decided to catch up on TR's and am I glad I did!! You made my day (other than being in Fla) by using a Supernatural gif of my boy Dean And I should have known school bread would be your Kringla pick of choice....when can we visit WDW together lol??

Last August I was searching for a specific size Larry Dotson HM print and couldn't find it anywhere. One morning while I swam with younger DS, DH took older DS to DTD. Larry was signing his work there and he had my print in the size I wanted, so DH had him sign it to our family-and it's hanging in our living room. Next I want a signed one of the BW! I have 2 castle prints of his but not signed.

I won't say anything about you not watching Illuminations for so long since you've corrected your mistake

 

[coloredimage]

Oh, I totally understand! I was nervous about it too, I didn't want to get stuck with someone lame, LOL!!

Fortunately, the restaurant was so empty that it was a nonissue...SO, if you decide to try it, plan for an early meal and maybe you'll get lucky too!
It's not my favorite by any stretch, but I'm really glad we tried it. We enjoyed it and would eat there again someday!

Oh, and I just saw the picture of the chicken and waffles on instagram that you posted...oh my goodness. That looked so good!!

Hmmm, I'll have to see if I can convince Jey about Biergarten. I probably can't twist her arm to change any of our suggested meals in April (unless I could convince her to change one of our Studios days since it seems it'll be a little torn up while we're there lol).

Those chicken and waffles were so good! It's a local bakery that does Sunday brunch. All our food was really great though the service was pretty slow.

Confession: I use the Jergen's tinted body lotion (not the sunless tanner but the one meant to help even out your skintone) because it smells like Laila. And you should definitely find your troll - they're good luck We have them and tomten all over our house and I'm kicking myself for not buying the little troll sleeping on the crescent moon - it's so cute!

 

[xlsm]

We're in our resort, getting ready for our first day at IOA tomorrow so I decided to catch up on TR's and am I glad I did!! You made my day (other than being in Fla) by using a Supernatural gif of my boy Dean And I should have known school bread would be your Kringla pick of choice....when can we visit WDW together lol??

Last August I was searching for a specific size Larry Dotson HM print and couldn't find it anywhere. One morning while I swam with younger DS, DH took older DS to DTD. Larry was signing his work there and he had my print in the size I wanted, so DH had him sign it to our family-and it's hanging in our living room. Next I want a signed one of the BW! I have 2 castle prints of his but not signed.

I won't say anything about you not watching Illuminations for so long since you've corrected your mistake

I'm so glad you made it safely!!

Oh Dean. *swoon*

Jensen Ackles is a national treasure. When I was in school, he played Eric Brady on Days of our Lives for awhile and I fell in love. He's incredible as Dean.

You have a signed Larry print too! That's awesome! He was the nicest guy. It really capped DH's birthday off nicely.

And I would be thrilled to have a school bread with you in Norway! We would have an amazing time!!

Enjoy your day at IOA!! Good locker karma and prayers for low crowds coming your way

(thanks for not giving me a hard time about Illuminations, lol)

Hmmm, I'll have to see if I can convince Jey about Biergarten. I probably can't twist her arm to change any of our suggested meals in April (unless I could convince her to change one of our Studios days since it seems it'll be a little torn up while we're there lol).

Those chicken and waffles were so good! It's a local bakery that does Sunday brunch. All our food was really great though the service was pretty slow.

Confession: I use the Jergen's tinted body lotion (not the sunless tanner but the one meant to help even out your skintone) because it smells like Laila. And you should definitely find your troll - they're good luck We have them and tomten all over our house and I'm kicking myself for not buying the little troll sleeping on the crescent moon - it's so cute!

Oh, definitely don't change your April plans unless you have a spot open up. Like I said, it's worth doing, but not at the expense of something else. I'm interested to see how things at DHS look in the coming months. I hope it's not too much of a mess!!


I'm so sad about my troll. It's the one with his hands over his eyes, but he has one uncovered and peeks out. I love that thing so much! I'm so afraid that he got lost last summer when we bought this house and moved from our rental. The sleeping one on the crescent moon is the other one I want too!!

 

[missangelalexis]

Your dinner at Biergarten sounds lovely, minus the not so good dessert! Glad you made up for it later in Norway!

What a fun time exploring World Showcase. I'm glad you were able to stay for Illuminations!

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Hello and Welcome!! I'm glad you're here

US/IOA...it's just a whole other animal entirely, that's for sure!!

I hope your son enjoys the lego store at DTD!! It's so much fun to see all of the different sets and to see all of the lego formations around the area.

Enjoy your trip in 12/16!! That's the next time we'll be back as well

I am sure he will! He loves Legos and the DTD location is super cool I'm sure.
December is a great time to visit! It's been years since I've been during Christmas and I am so excited for it.
There's nothing like seeing WDW all decked out for the holidays

Can't get enough of that gorgeous Spaceship Earth.

It really is beautiful! I am happy they took the wand down, I thought it was too distracting

"Hello and welcome to my crib! Are you here to see my sweet ride? Yo, check this out. This is a photo of a car I designed at Epcot."

And the audience would be like

Except all the Disney fans would be like:

Every single beer was good. My favorite was the one on the left, the Schofferhofer Grapefruit. Oh. My. Gosh. Unfortunately, we don't have this locally, which is a real shame. We've found a couple that are just ok, but none compare to the Schofferhofer. I think I'm going to ask one of our liquor stores if they'll order some. All they can do is say no, right??

I have wanted to try that beer for so long! Carbonation bothers me so I don't drink beer anymore but I think I am gonna suck it up next time and just try it because it sounds sooooo yummy & refreshing!

X starts ACTUALLY playing the violin this week, which is either very exciting or very terrifying, I haven't quite decided. Please send "no break!!" vibes our way, because lord help me if he destroys that instrument

Sending lots of "no break" vibes your way!

No one liked the mousse kiss but me. I don't know why, I say they're all crazy. It was really good! The inside was berry flavored and it had a kind of shortbread crust. I ate it AND my school bread, and I didn't even feel guilty. So there.

No reason to feel guilty about dessert while in WDW. It's science!

I haven't watched Illuminations since.....

.....

.....

...since the Tapestry of Nations parade was before it.

No kidding.

It's really been that long.

I am not a huge Illuminations fan...I like it and will watch it if I'm there but I don't mind if I miss it either. I'm more of a Wishes girl!

We "ooh"-ed and "ahh"-ed over Spaceship Earth all lit up

Because it's so dreamy

Larry Dotson was there and signing his work, so we decided to make our special souvenir a print of his of Wilderness Lodge. He signed it for us and everything. We had it shipped home, and it is hanging on our living room wall!

How cool! And what a fun & unique souvenir!

 

[annie170]

We've never eaten at Biergarten because there are so many great options in World Showcase. I'm surprised how empty is was while you were there. Did it fill up while you were at the tail end of your meal? From the looks of it, it would appear to be a place that wouldn't be difficult to get an adr.

An evening walking around WS sounds like heaven. Was Tapestry of Nations around 2000? If so, it has been quite awhile since you've seen Illuminations.

Those Larry Dotson prints are so lovely. Glad you were able to get an autographed one. That's what I call a really great souvenir!

 

[xlsm]

Your dinner at Biergarten sounds lovely, minus the not so good dessert! Glad you made up for it later in Norway!

What a fun time exploring World Showcase. I'm glad you were able to stay for Illuminations!

The dessert was very disappointing, but you're right...Norway made up for it.

I just saw your ticker...your Disneyland trip is so close!! Are you planning to do a report on it? We're headed there next summer and for some reason I am terrified of it. I feel like I could do Disney World in my sleep, but Disneyland makes me nervous.

I am sure he will! He loves Legos and the DTD location is super cool I'm sure.
December is a great time to visit! It's been years since I've been during Christmas and I am so excited for it.
There's nothing like seeing WDW all decked out for the holidays



It really is beautiful! I am happy they took the wand down, I thought it was too distracting



Except all the Disney fans would be like:

I have wanted to try that beer for so long! Carbonation bothers me so I don't drink beer anymore but I think I am gonna suck it up next time and just try it because it sounds sooooo yummy & refreshing!



Sending lots of "no break" vibes your way!



No reason to feel guilty about dessert while in WDW. It's science!



I am not a huge Illuminations fan...I like it and will watch it if I'm there but I don't mind if I miss it either. I'm more of a Wishes girl!



Because it's so dreamy



How cool! And what a fun & unique souvenir!

I was there during the Time of the Wand. I liked it for awhile, but it didn't need to stay forever. I felt the same way about the hat at DHS. I was so excited when it was coming down, but the Frozen stage still blocks the view of the theater, so I was still annoyed, lol!!

That Jake picture made me LAUGH!!

The grapefruit beer is really, really good. Definitely worth trying even if you're not a beer fan. Our waitress said she doesn't like beer but she will drink that one. It's so good, I was sad when it was gone.

Wishes has my heart, too.

It was the perfect souvenir. We love it!!

We've never eaten at Biergarten because there are so many great options in World Showcase. I'm surprised how empty is was while you were there. Did it fill up while you were at the tail end of your meal? From the looks of it, it would appear to be a place that wouldn't be difficult to get an adr.

An evening walking around WS sounds like heaven. Was Tapestry of Nations around 2000? If so, it has been quite awhile since you've seen Illuminations.

Those Larry Dotson prints are so lovely. Glad you were able to get an autographed one. That's what I call a really great souvenir!

It's so hard to choose in the World Showcase! Like, I always want to try Garden Grill, but I just can't plan a meal in Epcot that isn't in the World Showcase. (although now that there's breakfast at Garden Grill, we may do that!) Biergarten wouldn't have been my first choice, but it's what DH wanted for his birthday, and enjoyed it. It did fill up as we were eating. About 15 minutes into our meal, they opened the second side of the buffet, and people started coming in. I think 5:30 was the magic time, and we just got lucky coming for our ADR early. Depending on the time of year, it would probably be a good one to keep on the radar as a good choice for trying as a walk up. I know it seems to book up during the holidays because it's one of the participating restaurants for Candlelight Processional packages.

The last time I saw Illuminations was in 2001!! Yes, it's been years. The kids would have been fine with missing it, but DH had never seen it at all, so we had to stay!!

It was so exciting to have him sign it! I didn't know he was going to be there, so it was an amazing surprise.

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

I love Biergarten! Last time we were there we were seated at a table front row center for the show; so much fun! But you know...I'm with you on the desserts. I really, really wanted to like them but I was unimpressed.

 

[xlsm]

I love Biergarten! Last time we were there we were seated at a table front row center for the show; so much fun! But you know...I'm with you on the desserts. I really, really wanted to like them but I was unimpressed.

Right?!?!? Everything else there was so good. I was very confused by the desserts.

Wow!! That must have been the perfect spot!

Your trip is in FOUR DAYS???? Have fun and Happy Anniversary!!

 

[missangelalexis]

The dessert was very disappointing, but you're right...Norway made up for it.

I just saw your ticker...your Disneyland trip is so close!! Are you planning to do a report on it? We're headed there next summer and for some reason I am terrified of it. I feel like I could do Disney World in my sleep, but Disneyland makes me nervous.

I will definitely do a TR It is very different planning for Disneyland vs WDW, and there are times where I've felt nervous, but it's also more laid back! I can certainly help you if you end up having any questions!

 

[Anesthesia Fine]

Right?!?!? Everything else there was so good. I was very confused by the desserts.

Wow!! That must have been the perfect spot!

Your trip is in FOUR DAYS???? Have fun and Happy Anniversary!!

YESSSS! And thank you! Real life was keeping me busy and I wasn't feeling too into this trip over the past couple of days, but your TR is helping get me back in the spirit!

 

[dashtheunicorn]

I just starting reading your TR yesterday, and as of now, I am officially caught up. Whew!

Loving it so far! Looks like your family had a great time.

 

[xlsm]

I just starting reading your TR yesterday, and as of now, I am officially caught up. Whew!

Loving it so far! Looks like your family had a great time.

Hello and welcome!! I'm so glad you're here and enjoying our adventures!!

 

[xlsm]

Hello, Friends!!

I'll be getting more updates posted over the long weekend.

We're closing in on the finish line!!

Be safe, have fun, and I'll have more chapters up soon

 

[ariane37]

Hi there Hope you're enjoying the long weekend! We're back from our Universal trip We had a good time, older DS13 LOVED all the roller coasters in both parks and commented that he wished Disney had a few more thrill rides ( I admit that would be nice). Rip Tide Rocket was completely awesome as was Gringotts, and luckily it was dead all 3 days we were there so even without EP we waited on no lines with 2 exceptions: one 20 minute line for Gringotts (rode 3 other times with no wait) and a 40 minute wait for Dr. Doom's Fearfall b/c Hulk was down THAT was a huge letdown! Up once super fast, then halfway down slow - and that's it Anyway overall the HP theming is incredible and some other parts are great theme-wise, too. On the other hand, I feel many areas are lacking theming and while I tried not to compare it to Disney (yeah sure.....) I couldn't help but do so and I realized just how much I love all the storylines/backstories of the rides at MK, HS, etc. almost more than the rides in some cases. That's what I missed greatly at US/IOA. And as I think you said earlier in this TR (or at least you said something like this)as fun as those parks are it's just not Disney. And since it's not Disney, even though everyone enjoyed Universal, as we ate dinner at Raglan Rd. our 2nd night down there both DS's and DH suggested going to MK for the day So Friday we spent 12.5 glorious hours there with very VERY low crowds, and I finally felt like I was "home" So while I would certainly take the boys back to Uni if they ask, my heart is and will always be with Disney and it made my night when my men suggested going there with no prodding from me lol!!
OK I'm done hijacking your TR and I apologize for doing so! Have a nice Labor Day - looking forward to your next update

 

[maggiepie87]

I'm finally all caught up and loving it! I started reading and I said "I know that airport!" I'm in Rogers, Hello fellow Disney neighbor