14 Days, 28 Restaurants, 2 Resorts & 1 naked guy in Harry Potter's World....NEW 11/7

[JKMastalski]

Hey everybody! This is my first trip report so I hope you will all follow along!

I thought the word "naked" would get your attention! More on that later....

This trip came about when we were trying to plan a big 10th anniversary trip to Mexico. After coming thisclose to booking a fabulous resort in Cabo San Lucas, we realized that for what Mexico would cost us for 6 days, we could spend two whole weeks in Disney World, no holds barred. Sounded like a plan to us!

Let me introduce “us”. I am Jennifer, mid 30’s, loves decorating, party planning, reality TV, and frequent trips home to New England.

My DH is Joey, Also mid 30’s, biggest Philadelphia sports enthusiast, loves movies, wine, cigars, fine dining and will do anything to get out of mowing our lawn (You can take the boy out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the boy!)


Back when we were dating, in the very late 1990’s, we would take frequent trips to Disney World. I had vacationed there many times as a child and teenager and my husband had only been once, when his sister was granted “make a wish” and the whole family got to go. We both soon realized our mutual love for Disney and a new era was born for us!

We used to go almost every year – staying anywhere from the All-Stars to Shades of Green (DH was in the army) to The Wilderness & Animal Kindom Lodge.

I remember saying to him “One day we will come here and spend two whole weeks and take our time with EVERYTHING and not have to rush”. We both laughed and thought when would we be able to go away for two weeks at Disney? Being in our very early 20’s, that thought seemed lifetimes away. But the idea always stuck with me.

Fast forward many years later and no better excuse than our 10th anniversary milestone to celebrate! Especially since its been 6 years since our last trip down there! Mexico was quickly forgotten…..hello Walt Disney World!

 

[JKMastalski]

CHAPTER LINKS

Arrival Day

Day 2 - Hollywood Studios, Sci-Fi Drive In and 'Ohana

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom, ESPN Club & Magic Kingdom

Day 4 - Epcot, Hollywood Studios

 

[mickeystoontown]

Joining in! I'd much rather go to WDW for 2 weeks and would have ditched Mexico too.

 

[SillyFamily]

Dying to see all your food porn!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And maybe hear about the nakey guy.

 

[alwayspooh]

I'm with ya! I can't wait to hear about the naked guy and to see some great pics but not of the naked guy... just have to clarify.

 

[JKMastalski]

We knew that we wanted to book The Boardwalk Inn because we had been wanting to stay there forever. Luckily, free dining was going on during our trip, so we upgraded to the Deluxe Dining Plan. Deluxe worked out great for us – we have no children so we can enjoy the luxury of fine dining at signature restaurants in the evening.

After figuring out the cost of The Boardwalk Inn for two weeks, I knew I had to come up with plan B in order to make this trip work for us. I remembered that the Shades of Green Resort did a special promotion in September for Veterans. After looking into it, we were able to book for the first week there at a super low rate and then we would move to the Boardwalk for the second week. For those of you who are not familiar with Shades of Green, it is on property, right across the street from The Polynesian. In fact, Shades of Green has the largest guest rooms on property. The deal was too good to pass up, so we booked!

We had a 5:20 pm flight out of Philadelphia. Originally this was against my better judgment, I despise flying, so I wanted to wake up early and get on the first flight to Orlando, that way I didn’t have sit around all day and fret! But it didn’t work out that way, so 5:20 pm it was.

We had an okay flight to MCO and arrived in the rain right on time at 8 pm. We had booked Tiffany Town Car service and they were waiting for us at baggage claim and we grabbed our luggage (4 suitcases + 2 carryons!) Thank God that Southwest allows each person two suitcases for free! Woo hoo!

We had asked for a quick grocery stop to load up on water and necessities (Wine). He took us to a lovely Publix and we were able to get a case of water, a case of seltzer (I am a seltzer addict – however I was a little disappointed they didn’t have any of “my” brands I drink, but I made the best of it) and a few bottles of wine. We were finally on our way to Shades of Green.

We arrived at the resort around 9:15 pm, which wasn’t bad considering that we had only landed at 8 pm! I guess it didn't hurt that we apparently had Mario Andretti as our taxi driver. Everything was moving so quickly and smoothly! We checked in, received a terrific room on the 4th floor in the new Palm Wing. We were exhausted at this point so we went to the hotel’s restaurant Mangino’s for burgers and turkey clubs and then settled in, unpacking and getting ready to hit the parks early in the morning.

Next up….Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Lunch at the Sci-Fi Drive In and Dinner at ‘Ohana’s!

 

[mad madam mim78]

Here!!!

 

[dreamdisney14]

Great start- can't wait to read more!

 

[JKMastalski]

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to kick off our first day. We always have a tradition of going to Hollywood Studios first every time we visit Disney, so we couldn’t break tradition now!

A nice perk of Shades of Green resort is that we have our own resort buses and they are rarely crowded, unless its when a park is closing for the night. They have a schedule that they keep and being that it’s the military, they keep it! So its nice to be able to plan for when your buses are coming and going.

After a short ride to the studios, we began by popping into guest services to get our Anniversary Pins. Its also the place where people get passes for medical reasons of not being able to wait in line for attractions. There was a young couple in front of us that was soooo trying to work the system to get one. The woman just kept saying “Well my doctor doesn’t want me to wait in line” and the cast member kept questioning her, but I guess they can only question so much because he gave in and gave her the pass. Really made my blood boil to see how many people were taking advantage of getting passes and wheelchairs. I would see the same families with wheel chairs with different family members in them each day. Ugh, nothing infuriates me more.

Onward, we first went to the Great Movie Ride. Even though we have ridden this dozens and dozens of times, it never gets old. We get the “gangster” scene every.single.time. Do they even do the cowboy one anymore?

After hitting the Muppets (I finally lifted the door mat and saw the key, how cute!) and the Beauty and the Beast show, we went to the Sci-Fi Drive in for lunch. We had a 12:15 ADR and only had to wait about 10 minutes once showing up. They showed us to our car and told us we were the hitchhikers and had to sit in the back.

We decided to get black and white milkshakes and my husband knew that he wanted the “All American Picnic Burger” I couldn’t decide between also getting that, or trying a new sandwich that they had just put on the menu. I cannot remember the name of it! But it was with either Salmon or Grilled Chicken, a spicy mayo, bacon and arugula on a soft roll. I decided to go with it, choosing the grilled chicken. It was just ‘ok’. The chicken was kinda thick and big for the sandwich and was a little chewy. I didn't get any photos of it. However, the Picnic Burger did not disappoint. So much in fact, that I think it earned a couple of facebook statuses and pictures from my hubby. He has already requested I try to make it for him at home!

After lunch we tried to hit a bunch of other things, Tower of Terror, Indiana Jones Show, and DH did the Rock N Roller Coaster twice I think. Single Rider lines are the best, you get right on! I waited around for him and people watched – one of my favorite activities in Disney! After wandering around and stopping to take some photos with characters, we decided to head back to the resort around 5 pm and rest up for our dinner at ‘Ohana’s at the Polynesian.

After a quick nap and shower, we took the 8 minute stroll down the path from Shades of Green over to the Poly. I hadn’t been to the Poly in years and I am yearning to stay there now! After walking the grounds and hearing the Hawaiian music softly playing everywhere – I kept thinking of the Brady Bunch when they went to Hawaii!
When we walked up the flight of stairs to the restaurant area – holy moly, was it crowded!!! I was having second thoughts of staying there if this is what it was like all the time. The hostess gave us a pager and we waited for probably a good 25 minutes til they called us. I had noted on our ADR that it was our anniversary and when they started taking us back to the table my head was doing a little happy dance when I saw that they brought us to a window table directly overlooking the castle. The hostess told me that it was the best seat in the house. We were thrilled! They gave us our lei’s and took our drink orders – we decided on a Lapu Lapu and a Pina Colada – I am not a huge fan of pina coladas but I thought the little tiki faced glass was so cute, I had to order it!

Being we had never eaten here before, I didn’t have the highest expectations because I had heard 50/50 from these boards, some people love it, some not so much. I have to say we thoroughly enjoyed every bite!!! I could have eaten that salad all night long! Our waiter was very nice and kept bringing us more of whatever we wanted and checking on us. However, the bus boy (man?) was irritating me to no end. He came over and asked if he could take the Salad bowl away (it was still half full) and I told him No, I was still eating it and he took it anyways! DH was going to ask to bring us back more but I told him to forget it, I had had enough. Then he came back over with more shrimp and DH asked when he got a minute if he could bring back more Steak and bus boy/man got all annoyed and was all “Well NOW I will have to go wash my hands then”. He was just acting really rushed and annoyed about working there. But all that aside, we thought the food was great.

When the fireworks started, it was just the most perfect view while enjoying our dessert. I have to admit, I wasn't as jazzed about the bread pudding like I thought I was going to be. Everyone raves and raves but it just didn't do much for me. I thought it was good, just not great. They did put a little chocolate congratulations on top and I thought that was a really sweet touch.

We settled our bill ($92.37 + $18 tip) and took the evening stroll back to Shades of Green.

UP NEXT: Animal Kingdom, Football at ESPN club and Magic Kingdom at night

 

[JKMastalski]

So Sunday morning we got up and headed over to Animal Kingdom. AK is my least favorite park, but its DH’s favorite, so off we went. DH, and I use the term dear lightly, had convinced me that I would be “fine” riding Expedition Everest. That it wasn’t “bad” and I could “handle” it. Well sounded good to me! DH would never steer me in the wrong direction if he didn’t think I could handle it, right? As soon as we got to the park, we decided to go directly to Everest. There was no line so we were able to walk right on. Oh.My.Lord. That is the last time I will ever trust him. UGH, it made me so sick. Plus the fact, when we were up at one of the highest points before you drop, the ride either hesitated for a little while or got stuck, it was all I could do to not lean over and get sick. I was concentrating soooo hard on not puking, all the while fighting back tears and cursing DH!!! Haha. We got off and I made a bee line right outside to sit down in the shade and tried to ignore the nauseous. It took me quite awhile to get over it. After some water and crackers I was able to start moving again. But I have to admit it ruined my whole morning. I never felt right the rest of the day there. I was okay though, Animal Kingdom to me, is just alot of this:

and this:

Considering that it was Sunday and I live with a major football fan, I had told DH that I was okay with going over to the ESPN club to watch the Philadephia Eagles game. Arriving at the boardwalk I was so excited knowing that in 6 days, we would be making it our home for the week! After a short wait to get in, we waited at the bar for awhile until our table was ready. There were so many other Eagles fans there. We got a high top table and a great view of the game. We ordered Nachos, Beers and we split one of their enormous hot dogs. After a pitiful game that they lost, we decided to pack it in and head over to Magic Kingdom since they were going to be open til midnight.

We hopped the bus and were there fairly quickly. It was insanely busy that night. The lines seemed to be so long. We headed to Adventureland first and rode the Jungle Cruise and of course Pirates. We took a little stroll around and DH wanted to do Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. He knew better than to ask me if I wanted to ride, after our Everest debacle. I happily waited for him and people watched. We walked around a little bit more and did Mickey’s Philharmagic and then headed back to Main Street USA. We were both a little hungry at this point, so we got a snack of Corn Dog Nuggets from Casey’s before leaving the park. We got back to Shades of Green around 11 pm and I will tell you, I am so surprised about how dead Shades of Green is at night. We seemed to never pass a soul on property when we would come back at night. I don’t know if everyone is on strict military time and go to bed early or what!? LOL. It just seemed to be a ghost town at night! We were happy to crawl into bed and crash for the night.

Up next: Breakfast at Kona, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and dinner at 50s prime time.

 

[MissPrice]

Joining In Yep..Naked man totally got my attention -Amanda

 

[JKMastalski]

Monday morning we woke up and took the 10 minute stroll down the path to the Polynesian for breakfast at Kona. We had never been there before so we were looking forward to it, myself to try Tonga Toast and DH to finally have a “real” cup of coffee!

After a few minute wait, we were seated and our lovely waitress started taking care of us. She was probably the sweetest waitress we had all week. The coffee was as delicious as we had hoped and the Tonga Toast was amazing! DH got the Big Kahuna breakfast and he was equally as happy.

After we were finished eating, the waitress came over and asked how many years we were celebrating for our anniversary and promptly returned with 2 cupcakes on a plate for us with a little bit of confetti. It was so nice that she did that and even though it was only 8 o’clock in the morning, who can turn down cupcakes? Not us! They were delicious!

From the Poly, we hopped on the monorail and made our way to Epcot. It was virtually empty, however Soarin’ was already a 45 minute wait – apparently everyone had the same idea. So we waited. And waited. And waited. It turned out to be about an hour, but in my opinion, its worth it. Puts a smile on my face everytime – in fact, sometimes I find myself ignoring the screen and just taking peeks at the people’s faces around me, I want to make sure people are enjoying it as much as I am! After a couple of other stops in Epcot, including the Land and Spaceship Earth, we headed back to our hotel for a short rest and to unwind a little bit before we headed back out to Hollywood Studios for dinner. We discovered the little show “Mulch, Sweat and Shears” and we really enjoyed it! The guys were entertaining, and played some great tunes!

We headed over to the American Idol Live set for their daily 7 pm show. The singers were okay and everyone had a good time. After idol, we rushed over to 50s Prime Time Café, arriving a few minutes late to our ADR, we didn’t realize that the 7 pm show runs longer than the shows during the day. All was good though and we got seated pretty promptly. Our waiter was kind of a dud and didn’t really do anything too funny. We split an order of onion rings and a black and white milkshake. We both ordered the trio of fried chicken, meatloaf and pot roast. I thought the pot roast was great. I ate most of that and DH finished his dinner and then polished off mine. I thought I had taken pictures of it, but I guess I didnt!

After leaving 50’s, we went down to Hollywood Blvd to get in line for Fantasmic. Holy cow, I had forgotten how long the lines get for it! We waited quite a while and then they slowly started making our way in. We ended up with pretty decent seats so we were pleased. Once the show was over, the park was empty, everyone was filing out, but it was extra magic hours so we decided to stay to see if we could get on Toy Story Mania. No dice. Still a 75 minute wait. So we took a nice walk all around the park and tried to get on the 10 pm Shades of Green bus.

The bus line was sooo long and we realized that we would never get on that bus and since they only come once an hour, we decided to take a bus over to Ticket and Transporation Center and get a SOG bus over there. A couple of other Shades of Green guests had the same idea so we all traveled over there and got off and sat on the benches to wait. By now, it was around 10:30 pm and the transporation center was pretty empty. A very nice security guard wandered over and asked why we were there waiting, that the Shades of Green bus was done running from there at 10 pm and we had missed the last bus. Uhhhh…. Ok. Uh-Oh. Well he couldn’t have been nicer or more accommodating. He got on his walkie-talkie and arranged for a Polynesian Bus to come right over and pick us up! He said he wished he could have it take us right to Shades but Disney prohibits it since its not a Disney Hotel. So the very nice Poly bus driver took us over to the hotel and we took the short walk back to Shades of Green. I thought that was so nice that he would take care of us like that. I was wondering if he did it due to the fact that Shades of Green is military and he wanted to accommodate us however he could. Either way, it was greatly appreciated!!
After the 10 minute walk, my feet were literally ready to fall off and we collapsed into bed!
UP NEXT: Universal Studios and the Naked Guy…..