1st time F&W, MNSSHP, Africa Trek & no kids! (Updated 5/11/14)

[TinksThree]

(Continued from previous post 2)

I counted how many pictures I took at FOTLK and it was 231! Don’t worry, I won’t show them all but here are a few anyway

Yea...sounds like me!! Great pics of FOTLK...I adore that show!!!

 

[POLY1985]

We did MNSSHP on Tuesday, 10/22 and left WDW Sunday 10/27. I don't know why we didn't see you there! BTW, I started reading your 2012 TR and remembered it from when you were writing it. Okay now, where's the TR from your October, 2013 trip???

Awww. Thanks for reading my TR and remembering it! I actually thought about writing the October one but it was only three days so I never bothered. I did take some really nice pictures though. Maybe I will do a combo after my upcoming June trip. I am going in June with my cousins - yep this time ditching hubby and kids.

 

[eandesmom]

You started this in October.

It is April

I am lame!!!!!!!!!!

But I am here and will try to get caught up.

 

[saintstickets]

Your photo pass picture of the two of you on EE is absolutely hilarious!

It's a self defense mechanism....I don't want Disney charging me for breaking their camera if I tried a serious pic!!

I am glad your pp pics that had been lost were found. I kinda feel like you were pretty lucky in that.

A little pixie dust (or creepy spy cameras!) was in store that day!

I was so sad that I missed my fp+ reservation for FOTLK when I then found I would not be able to see the show in January. I am so happy to hear they are reopening in time for my next trip.

We are going to just miss it during our trip in June. We leave on the day it is supposed to reopen but I'll catch in on our return trip in October!

You pictures of both shows are great!

Thanks!

I know that buffets are not for everyone. In fact, I mostly prefer sit down to a buffet. However, in Disney there is always one I have to go to and that is TH. I usually try to go for breakfast though. (not for the characters though... that is just a bonus) I have found that lunch or dinner doesn't appeal to me quite as much. Not sure why breakfast does Maybe because I feel Boma is just better for dinner? I don't know....

It wasn't bad but there are so many other options to try before I begin return trips to most any restaurant. Boma is on our bucket list!

This owl is so cool! Wow!

The Harry Potter wanna be is...dare I say...magical?

Your eyes look like they are seriously going to pop out of your head on EE. too funny!

One learns many ways to cover up abject fear!

I enjoy the Flights of Wonder show. I had the same host the last time I saw it. Unfortunately, I don't think people who are really afraid of birds get over that fear as quickly as Joe did. People that are afraid of birds are usually terrified.

Kinda that way with most things but people can mask it quite well with humor and funny faces (i.e....read this TR!)

Great pics from FOTLK. I love the fire eating picture. Yup - that looks safe. g

Thank you ma'am. I wonder how much the show will change in the new theater?

Denny and I ate at TH in March. We had really enjoyed it a few years back, but it was really quite expensive, even with the TIW discount. The unfortunate thing was I really wasn't even that hungry so I didn't like I normally would. Buffets don't bother me, but I probably won't go back for awhile either. Just too rushed and noisy and ....

As I posted earlier, we still have way too many restaurants we have not tried so we aren't repeating many at this point. We will do BOG again in June but that is because our DD wants to go.

Just caught up on the trip report! I can't believe some of the comments you have made to CM's! I'm sure that won't be something they forget any time soon.

That's my goal...to give CM's something to remember their time at WDW..."I remember some old coot telling me..."

You got so many great shots on your Wild Africa Trek Tour. I would love to do it someday and I know my DH would too. But it's very pricey! Maybe one day.

Thanks for the compliment. Like everything at Disney, it ain't cheap! When DW and I go alone, we try to get in something like the Wild Africa Trek since it is only two of us. When DD, DSiL, DS & DDiL join us...sorry!!

 

[saintstickets]

Phew....finally found five minutes at work to breathe and hustled right to your update.

Thanks...you've got multiple TR's going at one time...I don't see how you do it! Wonder Woman!!

LOVE the EE ride pictures...those are awesome.

Awwww...thx

I lost several pictures last year as well. Thankfully, I had my own photos so I knew what I was wearing and a pretty good idea of the time we were getting the photos taken. Disney was great in trying to find them...and they did find most of them.

It surprised me 1)that they found them and 2)that they found them so quickly. We were lucky but at the same time it's kinda creepy!

We've never done the bird show. Maybe in September.

There is a new bird show starting this year with the colorful macaws flying over Discovery Island. I'm not sure of all the details yet but is sounds interesting.

Of course, Festival of the Lion King reopens the day AFTER I leave.

Same here too but it'll be there when we return in the fall.

Great pictures from the show. Love those tumbling monkeys.

Thanks. The monkeys and the flying bird lady steal the show. Not bad singing either!

I only do breakfast buffets at Disney now (Tusker House and Crystal Palace); I just find the other meals to be "eh."

Oooh...Yachtsman...my new favorite signature restaurant.

So many places to choose from!!

I did my last day at the park on my PTR.

I am going to do a RECAP next week sometime with exactly where we are what day so that we can arrange a meet up.

Thank sound great!

How exciting that your trip is in a little over a month! I am leaving May 18th. I had no idea FOTLK was going to open so soon. I wonder if they would ever do a soft opening for a show? Hope to find out soon! I've never seen it, but your pictures have intrigued me...

Single digit days for you now! FOTLK is worth a FP selection at AK. You have to see it more than once because so much is going on during the show!

Yea...sounds like me!! Great pics of FOTLK...I adore that show!!!

I can't even imagine how much I would be spending if we were still using the old cameras that had a limited number of exposures on them! So grateful for digital cameras and memory cards!!

 

[saintstickets]

Awww. Thanks for reading my TR and remembering it! I actually thought about writing the October one but it was only three days so I never bothered. I did take some really nice pictures though. Maybe I will do a combo after my upcoming June trip. I am going in June with my cousins - yep this time ditching hubby and kids.

I always love a TR with lots of pics!! When are you going in June? We will be there at BWV from 6/01-6/07

You started this in October.

It is April

I am lame!!!!!!!!!!

But I am here and will try to get caught up.

Take your time dear lady. I've been reading your fantastic TR and you've been busy!!

 

[POLY1985]

Looks like we will miss each other by a few weeks. I arrive June 22.

 

[saintstickets]

Looks like we will miss each other by a few weeks. I arrive June 22.

Well shoot!

 

[saintstickets]

Friday – October 25, 2013

As I stated in my last post, today is all about F&W! We started off the day by having breakfast at France’s Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie! That thar is fancy French for a bakery/pastry store. As you know, EPCOT’s World Showcase does not open until 11:00am. However, with France’s new bakery opening at 9:00am, they will let you cross over the bridge into France for breakfast. We walked from our room at BCV to the International Gateway and turned right to get to France. Along the way, there were CM’s putting down pine straw on the flower beds that lined the waterway.




Just head towards the Eiffel Tower and you can’t miss it








Our offerings this fine morning were a quiche Lorraine, ham & cheese croissant, iced cappuccino and a Mimosa (Hey…I behaved myself for a few hours yesterday so I deserved a reward…even though it is before 10:00am!)
DW’s quiche




The rest of the order




As for a grade…

A- The food choices we tried were great but don’t get the Mimosa. First off, they use a less expensive sparkling wine and not a true champagne. Secondly, I know there is such a thing as a grapefruit juice Mimosa and even though the pre-trip menus I read said their Mimosa was a normal orange juice one, mine was definitely grapefruit juice! Maybe it has changed since then or I got an inexperienced CM. Except for that, this would have been a solid A. There are many items to choose from and now they are open all day long as well. There is no doubt we will use our close proximity to Boulangerie when staying at BWV or BCV to visit again and often!

(Continued in next post)

 

[saintstickets]

(Continued from previous post)

As we left Boulangerie, the sky writers were out




I don’t remember what it was, but I left something in the room and had to go back and get it. It is so nice that it is a quick walk back to BCV. If we had been staying at another resort (besides BWV or Yacht Club), I would have been upset to waste an hour getting back on a bus and going all the way back to the room. DW decided she needed a picture of me as I returned to meet her on the bridge to France. Hey, I’m supposed to take the pics!!!




They need to be a little quicker if they want to get their message out!




We walked around France for a while looking at the shops until it was 11:00 and time for the rest of World Showcase to open! Time to go all in on F&W!!

We headed to Morocco and tried a Harissa Chicken Roll




Oh yeah! Don't let the looks fool you. The way it looks is like chocolate pudding...it may look like crap but is sure tastes good! I could eat lots of these!

(Continued in next post 2)

 

[saintstickets]

(Continued from previous post 2)

At the Florida kiosk in America (where else would it be), we tried the Shrimp Ceviche. It was shrimp cured in lemon/lime juice and served with fire roasted vegetables with micro cilantro. It must have been pretty good because there isn’t a picture! I do remember the cilantro was a bit overpowering though. Cut back on that and it would have been perfect…at least for our taste.

In Italy, DW tried the Pinot Grigio Placido




It was MUCH better than my Mimosa earlier

Also in Italy, we tried the Ravioli de Formaggio all’Emiliana or in American speak, baked cheese ravioli with a beef Bolognese sauce. The cheeses were parmesan & mozzarella.




This was just okay. The cheeses were pretty good but I like ravioli with real meat and not just a beef sauce.

Going on around the WS we head into Germany and although I was VERY tempted to try the many different choices of beer, we settled on apple strudel




This had Werther’s Karamel & Vanilla sauce slathered on top as you can see. Mmm..Mmm..Mmm

In that space between Germany and China where numerous rumors over the years have a new country locating, South Korea set up shop. DW was slowing down on her F&W consumption at this point so I had to eat their Kimchi dog with spicy mustard sauce all by myself.




Spicy?...yes! Good?…oh yeah!!

(Continued in next post 3)

 

[saintstickets]

(Continued from previous post 3)

By now it was around 1:00pm and the crowds were picking up. The kiosk lines were fairly long in China and Norway so we made our way into Mexico.

The mariachi band was entertaining the F&W guests




We stepped inside Mexico to see if we might get an adult beverage here




No way Jose! (no pun intended) It was packed!!! I never even knew this place was here until I read some TR’s here on the DISboards. It opened in the fall of 2009 and we have yet to try any of the 70+/- tequila varieties which make for a seemingly endless list of margaritas. They also serve a handful of various chip, dip, salsa and finger food items to aid in the tequila digestion. There are several sampler flights if one is not a tequila aficionado but be prepared. The prices here can range from around $6 to over $60 for something like Chicano Emperador Extra Añejo, not that I would know anything about tequila.

Outside again, DW decided to try a frozen strawberry margarita. Next door to Mexico, Argentina had their kiosk and we tried the Beef Empanada. Here are both




The margarita was good and the empanada was okay.

There are numerous specialty kiosks that are not affiliated with a country as you first enter WS around the boat ramps and gift shops. One of these was called Terra and there was something on their menu list I just had to try being a good ole Southern boy…it was Fresh Watermelon Juice!




I may or may not be an aficionado on tequila but I know my watermelon. Heck, I’ve even made homemade watermelon ice cream!! Watermelon had better be ripe enough to have good flavor but not too ripe so that it becomes mushy. Too many people use the watermelon all the way down to the rind when making juice to drink or mix with alcohol. The juice at the Terra kiosk was just right! If the lines weren’t so long, I would have gone back for more!!

(Continued in next post 4)

 

[saintstickets]

(Continued from previous post 4)

Another non-country kiosk in this area was the Craft Beer kiosk. They offered 8 different craft beers. I figured when in Rome…so I tried the Florida Beer Company’s Devil’s Triangle. Well…let’s just say it wasn’t my type.

I’m not sure why there isn’t a picture of this next item but just around the corner from the Craft Beer kiosk was a Desserts & Champagne kiosk! We got the dessert trio that included chocolate orange cupcake, hazelnut chocolate cheesecake and Morello cherry pistachio mousse. Yup…that definitely passed muster! DW liked the mousse best but I liked the cheesecake best. It would have been great with just the cupcake!

By now it was REALLY getting crowded. The college aged visitors were obviously out of class and at EPCOT en masse. We decided to head over to the Festival Center to see where we would meet for a seminar already reserved and see what seminars were available for tomorrow. I’ll tell you in a later update what we found. After scoping it out, we walked around a bit more, went through some shops in Canada and the UK and headed back to our room at BCV to get ready for our ADR at Yachtsman Steakhouse.

Our ADR was for 7:20pm. We left early and stopped at Martha’s Vineyard Lounge for a pre-dinner cocktail. I had a Sam Adams amber draft and DW had a habanero margarita




Both hit the spot! This is an interesting candle on the table




BTW, Martha’s Vineyard accepts the TIW discount card so score!!

Next up we arrive here




After a very short wait, we are seated. Here are a couple of pics from our table





(Continued in next post 5)

 

[saintstickets]

(Continued from previous post 5)

DW had a glass of Placido pinot grigio and ordered the lobster bisque soup and the filet mignon with mashed potatoes and a cabernet wine sauce. I had a shrimp cocktail and the prime New York strip steak with white cheddar twice-baked potato and a peppercorn-brandy sauce.

The appetizers, or what was left of them, when I took the pictures






And the entrees






Looks great, doesn’t it? And it was very, very good but for a $50 apiece steak, I expected more. Maybe it was over anticipation but I was a little disappointed…not because it wasn’t good but because it wasn’t slap-yo-mama great! Our grade…

A solid B

I would compare the steak at Yachtsman Steakhouse to the steak at Le Cellier in this way. The steak was a better cut of meat but the price is a few dollars more as well. With that said, one can have the best cut of meat in the world and not prepare it adequately. For my taste, I would rather have the mushroom filet mignon at Le Cellier for $46 than the 12 oz New York strip at Yachtsman Steakhouse for $48. I’ve had better steaks that cost less and worse steaks that cost more. Will we return to YS? Yes…definitely...but probably not until we’ve tried most of the other nicer restaurants at WDW. For example, during out June trip this year, we will try Shula’s Steak House at the Dolphin. We shall see.

After a very relaxing and leisurely day, we stroll around the YC/BC area and then head to bed.

For tomorrow we have seminars at the Festival Center and a very much anticipated DISmeet!

 

[eandesmom]

I am actually caught up!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Far too much to comment on but a few things.

Really unacceptable with the multitude of CM's our front when you arrived that no one said anything to you. Welcome home or not, you could have wanted bell services to take your bags, need directions to parking, all kinds of things. Honestly I'd probably have said something to a manager.

Lovely room location and glad they were able to switch you to a higher floor.

Your splash picture is a riot!

Bummer about the costumes, you'll just have to go back and try again! They are cute.

I agree with your assessment of Tusker. I'm not a buffet fan in general and while the food was quite good, the overall ambiance was just too...something for me. What I can never put a finger on. Crowded, long wait, chaotic a bit, ambiance once seated...none horrible alone but combined, just not my favorite.

LOVE Blue Zoo!

I'm getting excited for F&W, very timely today as I was looking at things for that fall trip.


Great TR!

 

[MEK]

Great roam around the world! Denny was not impressed with the kimchi dog because he said "they just put it in a regular walmart hotdog roll". I tried it last year and really liked it, so what does Denny know!

Boo that you never got a rita in the ditch. They really are excellent, although the last one I had there was actually too strong and too spicy. Is that possible???????

Denny really wants to go to Shulas for our anniversary dinner. since we will actually BE there on our actual 25th anniversary I made a reservation for Cali Grill. I haven't changed it yet. Shhhhh - don't tell him. Can't wait to hear what you think of Shulas. You need to let me know ASAP! Promise?

Love your breakfast. Sorry the mimosa fell flat.

 

[khaleesi]

I'm glad they were able to find your pictures!!! That would be so disappointing to be missing some.

That close-up picture of the Tree of Life is really cool. Like it a lot!

Love the FOTLK pics. I was bummed that it was closed when I was there, but it did ensure that I saw the Finding Nemo show for the first time.

Tusker House's character breakfast was one of my favorite things from my trip... not sure that I would have loved it as much for a different meal and without Donald Duck.

Now I want apple strudel with caramel. Actually, I want caramel.... the apple strudel would just be a bonus! Ha.

Yay for another trip in June!!!! I desperately want to go back and I've only been home for about 2 1/2 months!

 

[annmarieda]

Love all your f&W samplings. I tried a couple of the things you mentioned. The dessert trio I felt the same way about... the ravioli... felt the same on that.

DH and I have an ADR for Yachtsmen... in someways I am so excited and in others I am just worried it will fall short. I use to love LC... then finally got dh to go and it was one of the worst meals we ever had. (So much salt on the steak I was literally cutting away the outside edge to make it palatable.. not sure why I didn't just send it back. ) We finally tried BD in January and it too fell into "one of the worst" categories for us. So a solid B gives me hope that Yachtsmen wont fall short.

 

[MommaPeel]

Your trip looks delicious! I can't wait to go this September! I have my MNSSHP booked and a ton of meals. Still deciding on which Tour I want thou. I'm leaning towards the Africa Trek I think! I have already cancelled the Backstage Magic once, an 7 hour walking tour seems a bit much during short days at Disney.

Can't wait for your next installment of the trip!

 

[saintstickets]

I am actually caught up!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yea!! I knew THE master planner could do it!

Far too much to comment on but a few things.

Really unacceptable with the multitude of CM's our front when you arrived that no one said anything to you. Welcome home or not, you could have wanted bell services to take your bags, need directions to parking, all kinds of things. Honestly I'd probably have said something to a manager.

Lovely room location and glad they were able to switch you to a higher floor.

It was a bit of a let down when we first arrived but the room change made up for it.

Your splash picture is a riot!

Thx

Bummer about the costumes, you'll just have to go back and try again! They are cute.

Thx again. We ARE going back this fall soooooo

I agree with your assessment of Tusker. I'm not a buffet fan in general and while the food was quite good, the overall ambiance was just too...something for me. What I can never put a finger on. Crowded, long wait, chaotic a bit, ambiance once seated...none horrible alone but combined, just not my favorite.

Maybe next time I need to partake in a few adult beverages beforehand

LOVE Blue Zoo!

We really enjoyed it. The Swan & Dolphin have several nice places to eat.

I'm getting excited for F&W, very timely today as I was looking at things for that fall trip.

Great TR!

Thx again, again! My little brain gets confused sometimes when I'm prepping for one trip (Jun14) and planning for another (Oct14)...ahhhh...it's rough I know but I'll survive!

Great roam around the world! Denny was not impressed with the kimchi dog because he said "they just put it in a regular walmart hotdog roll". I tried it last year and really liked it, so what does Denny know!

You had to like spicy food to like the kimchi dog. I grew up with my mother saying chili wasn't any good unless it was hot enough to make you break out in a sweat!! I LOVE spicy food! We're going to have to get you two down here during crawfish season and let you experience Cajun spicy!!

Boo that you never got a rita in the ditch. They really are excellent, although the last one I had there was actually too strong and too spicy. Is that possible???????

It almost seemed sacrilegious to leave with out a rita! I'll have to try their jalapeno rita!

Denny really wants to go to Shulas for our anniversary dinner. since we will actually BE there on our actual 25th anniversary I made a reservation for Cali Grill. I haven't changed it yet. Shhhhh - don't tell him. Can't wait to hear what you think of Shulas. You need to let me know ASAP! Promise?

Will do...we have it scheduled in our Jun14 trip.

Love your breakfast. Sorry the mimosa fell flat.

I'll know better next time I guess but it's hard to beat a non-crowded walk into WS early in the morning for a good breakfast!