20th Anniversary Trips: "I don't know" Cruise Edition (A Feb Wish Cruise Report)

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Park Day! EPCOT

We hopped on the Skyliner at 1:24. As we were heading out, we said if there was a boat we would take it but there wasn't so we went with the Skyliner. It is such a shame they didn't make a direct route between the two...
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But regarless, we were walking into EPCOT at 1:49. So, not too bad for time. It did feel like forever to get to EPCOT but only because we were STARVING!!!
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Thankfully, we had already devised a plan and didn't have to decide which way to go. Pretty sure we would have been a little snatchy if we had. Our plan?

We headed towards England and Canada and down to The Craftsman’s Courtyard. We had a list of items we wanted to try and most were actually up front. So we headed that way.

This is where my pictures start to fall apart... I would of had a picture of the booth itself... Anyway, we ordered 3 things and looked for a place to eat. they were already starting on a playground area for Flower and Garden right next to the booth, so we had to walk over more towards the main area. There was plenty of picnic benches but they were all in the direct sun. We were so hungry we didn't care!

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The first thing we got was the Beef Wellington-inspired Croissant Supreme with creamed spinach croissant pinwheel, mushroom-gorgonzola ragout, mustard-grilled flank steak, red wine sauce, and pickled mustard seeds

This was a favorite for Andy and I. The meat wasn’t as tender as some of the vloggers said it was but it was still good. And I am sure the tenderness of the meat is a little bit of luck at a booth like this. It def hit the spot!

We also got the Roasted Bone Marrow with onion marmalade, pickled mushrooms, and petite lettuce. This was mostly because I had never had bone marrow before and was very curious to try it.

This was just ok. Since, I had never had bone marrow before and wasn’t sure what to expect. This was very vingary… and it over powered everything else. I wouldn't get it again but glad we tried it. Also not the greatest sitting in direct sun mid day...

And lastly, we ordered the Coffee Old Fashioned Cocktail: Joffrey’s Coffee Cold Brew, simple syrup, orange bitters, and Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon

I had high hopes for this, It was good. The one I had at BOMA was better. But I guess that would make sense. It's funny, the bourbon and the coffee kind of meld flavors to have a chocolatey taste to me.

Since we were in the direct sun, we didn't sit too long. Once we had scarfed down our first round of food, we got up to find more food and hopefully some shade!

Next we found Opening Bites. This is the new "booth" in the new area. It really is just part of the new building. This was our first time seeing the new area. And I am not sure how I feel about it. I thought it would feel more open and it felt pretty busy. But I will say I loved the seating options! There was plenty of options.

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We ordered the Soft Shell Crab Slider: Green papaya slaw and mango ketchup on toasted brioche

and a Diet Coke. Man this diet coke HIT the SPOT!!! It was was nice and cold and the caffenie was just what we needed!

This was another item I was wanting to try for the first time. It was good mostly tasted like crunch and the slaw… Just a little fishy… But I would eat it again. I am not sure if I would like a really big soft shell crab.. Bigger crab,... bigger insides...

We grabbed a seat in the new seating area which was really nice. But again, I didn't take any pictures of the area. Probably also because my phone was already dyeing! Trying to vlog was killing the battery!!!

We were going to go inside and see the broadway display but we were still looking for some food! And they said Andy couldn't bring in his diet coke. So we just moved on.

We checked out the sidewalk chalk art in the bridge as we headed to our next targets!
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We popped into both of the stores there at the front of world showcase. I was still on the hunt for my cup! I did not find it but I did see a cup that I liked as an alternate.

We then divided and grabbed food from 2 booths, I went to Fictional Victuals while Andy went over to El Artista Hambriento.

It was about now that I started to realize that the crowds weren't that bad. We weren't really waiting too long at any booth. Granted it was a weird time of day but it just didn't feel crowded...

i grabbed the Squid Ink Pasta with Lumb Crab, Truffle Cream, and Shaved Truffle.
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Enjoy this terribly blurry picture.... This is literally the only picture I took. oye...

I wanted to try the Octopus as well, but it had olives and that is a hard no for me and I was worried about stomach space at this point.

This was really good. Def not for everyone. The squid ink pasta gave a "fish-y" taste that I can see bothering folks who aren't into seafood. But the truffle cream wasn't too heavy which was nice being in Florida. It was a good portion, so fairly filling. Which after this "feeding" as Molly would say, we were finally not dieing for food!

Andy grabbed the Carne Asada: Ancho-marinated Beef Sirlion with Pasilla Chile Sauce, Grilled Queso Fresco, Nopales Salad, and Chicharoon Dust.
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This does not photograph well, at all! This was good. I think I had higher expectations for this. There was nothing wrong with it, just not amazing. At this point, Andy was saying everything we had so far was good but all of it wasn't mind blowing.

I also told Andy to grab a drink when he was getting his food.
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He decided on the Floridita: Centinela Blano Tequila, Cirtus Juice, Orange Liqueur, and Grapefruit Soda with a hint of Aperol.

This was nice and refreshing. Andy wasn't a fan as it was fairly graphfruit-y which he is not a fan of. But I glady drank it.

We had taken our food and headed into the Odyssey Pavillion to grab a seat inside. This was easy to do and we were able to hang out in there for a little bit. Unfortantly there was nothing in there that we wanted to try otherwise. We spent about 20 minutes in there, recharging.

But around 3:00 we headed out. We wanted to make it around the world showcase still. So we headed to Mexico. After our small Florita drink, Andy wanted to get a "grownup" size drink. So we stopped at the Mexico Margarita booth.
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I think he just got a good old regular standard margarita. Three Cabaleros was down for refurb, so we didn't go into the pavillion, we just headed on.

At this point we weren't starving anymore, so we were able to kind of slow down and just enjoy the area. We made our way to Germany where I had my eye on the A Play on Rose Flight. I grabbed that and then we grabbed a table as it is not something you can really walk with. We were able to grab a table right there and in the shade.

This is always fun. I have no pictures of it... Sorry... Once I had finished 2 or the 3 drinks we headed onward. We skipped Italy and went for America. We divided up again, Andy got in line for a drink at Reagle Eagle Bar outside and I sent to the Artist's table.

Andy ended up waiting twice as long as me to get our drinks! And then of course by the time we got up to move on there was no line...

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I picked up the Chicken "Pot Pie" with Smoked Cheddar Mornay Sauce, roasted vegetables, pickled mushrooms, wasabi peas, and sherry-chicken jus served open-faced on flaky pie crust.

I totally would have skipped this but all the vloggers really hiped this up. So, we wanted to try it. Again, it was good but I also would have been ok if we had skipped it. The sauce was really good. It tasted like well, a pot pie. In a good way but again it was not anything crazy or new tasting. Which is why I could have skipped it.

Andy grabbed us two Texas Mules from the bar. They were good. But once he came back with the drinks I realized that I had wanted the Moonshine Sour but forgot it was there. So I was slightly sad. None the less tasty drink.

After our stop in America we headed to Japan. We were able to watch the very end of the female drumming group. They really are amazing. And I am so glad they are back!

After that, we headed into the japan store.
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They girls always love this store. And we were looking for anything that they wouldn't be able to get elsewhere. Deku plush was not one of them but still cute.

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We did find these baseball hats that we thought Morgan would like. I made Andy put it on and I sent the girls a picture. Which turned into this weird text chain of the girls talking about how they like the hat but it looked stupid on Andy... Ah teenagers.

We didn't buy anything but I was glad to see that the store was starting to have more Japan items. After covid, for awhile it seemed like they weren't getting stuff actually from Japan.

After our window shopping, we headed out and grabbed something from Goshiki booth. We wanted to try the Wagyu Bun: Steamed Bun filled with American Wagyu Beef served with Japanese Karashi Mustard Sauce and Violet Shiso Sauce.

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This was good but I don't know if you would have known it was "wagyu" beef. I guess american wagyu isn't as fancy as realy wagyu. I could have used a little more sauce to dip in but I am an over saucer...

As we walked towards France, we saw Belle. And Andy said a little too loudly, that Belle didn't look like well Belle. I sished him. that there was children around. Which turned into us laughing that Andy had "Buddy the Elfed" Belle. He stated making jokes about Belle smelling like Beef and Chese and her sitting on a throne of lies...

I LOVE Elf and Gwen HATES it... So of course we had to text the girls about it...

it was about 4:30 by now, so we didn't hang out too long here, we were getting ready to head to Magic Kingdom. But we had one more stop on our list!!! France.
We hit up L'Art De La Cuisine Francaise. I REALLY wanted to try the Creme de Brie en Petit Pain: Warm Creamy Brie in a House-made Bread Bowl.
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This did not disapoint! It was what you would think... warm creamy cheese. It was perfect, not too sharp but did have some flavor. I am glad we did this last, as it was starting to cool off with the sun going down a bit, if we had gotten this when we first got there, it would have been so hot. This was a perfect last items for EPCOT.

We were texting with the girls at this point. And I sent this pic... saying that Andy wouldn't let me leave the tiny piece of bead.
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This prompted the girls to ask if we were ok. That we were "acting weird"... I said we were just having fun... (and maybe a little tispy)
This was the conversation between Gwen and I.
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While we were hanging out eating cheese, Morgan had said she did like the hat we texted. So, Andy being the good Dad he is, decided that we needed to go back and get one for Morgan. So, we back tracked to Japan to grab one of the hats. Once hat had been obtained we headed BACK towards France and towards the Land Pavillion. We had a LL for Soarin and it was time! Perfectly timed!!!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Park Day! EPCOT

We made it into the Land Pavillion around 5:30.
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We scanned in and headed right in. We were able to get on the ride fairly quickly.
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We were seeing Patrick in about 10 minutes.

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And ready to ride at 5:51.

by Ariella Saucier, on Flickr

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I don't think I have ever tried to film on the ride, but I did and snapped some photos.

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This was the newer version with the Eiffel Tower less bendy.

After Soarin, we cut across to shop at Creations Shop. I wanted that cup! Sadly they did not have the cup, so I decided to get the cup I saw earlier in the day.
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We checked out some other things but I think that was all we grabbed.

I can't remember if I got a Spaceship Earth LL or we just walked on, but after shopping it was time to head to Magic Kingdom. But Spaceship Earth is on the way out, so why not!!!

We headed onto the ride at 6:30.
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We had a good laugh at the fact that Andy's big head didn't get photographed for the end portion of the ride.
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Oh good times! Spaceship Earth was fun as always.

But finally at 6:45 it was FINALLY time to head out!!
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We slowly made our way out of the park. My feet were KILLING me by now. But I was determined to have some more fun in Magic Kingdom!!!

by Ariella Saucier, on Flickr
Goodbye EPCOT.

That walk up the ramp to the Monorail is so so MEAN!!! It is way too steep!!! We just missed a monorail but we were not about to run. Another one came pretty quickly. And we were on our way by 7:00.



Andy my have taken a power nap on the monorail.

Up next some evening fun in Magic Kingdom! How much will we have the energy to do?!?

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Wow, you managed to try a ton of food at the booths! I’m impressed! I’m glad you enjoyed many of your choices but it’s too bad some of them weren’t as great as you’d hoped. The squid ink pasta and the Brie bread bowl sounded especially tasty.

Your text conversation with Gwen was pretty funny.

And hooray for rides on Soarin’ and Spaceship Earth! Those are two of the best classic Epcot rides, in my opinion. (Can Soarin’ be considered a classic with its arrival in 2005? Since it’s now 20 years old, I say yes.)

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

hought though - with the number of trips you plan, why do you not have an annual pass?? That would have made this park day essentially free. At least if you use my Disney/girl math skills. Let me know if you need those skills to justify annual passes to Andy.

It's still not enough trips.... We are only going to Disney World 4 park days this year. The other trip is Disneyland, so an annual pass won't be worth it. sadly... We have done it before. But not on late... one year we will do it again!

For someone who said they didn’t take a lot of pictures… you have a lot of great pictures!

Don't worry it goes downhill fast... Especially once we are on the ship. I have it down to a science in the parks. But I also think it is just different feeling once on the ship.

You had an excellent morning at Hollywood Studios! You managed ALL the heavy hitters (I’m SO impressed with your lightning lane booking skills!) and managed a few fun drinks as well.

We did! I credit that to the fact that it was February. The crowds were a managable size this day.

Way to go on beating Andy on Toy Story Mania! I LOVE that attraction and always like to beat the other people in my group, too.

I almost never win. It is usually between Andy and Morgan. So I was syced.

Such a successful morning!! Excited to hear about how the rest of your park day goes!

Thanks for following along. Everytime I write a trip report it feels like you do so much more after the fact. Why is that?

We saw the cup you wanted when we were there in January. I think they had just dropped. I hope you finally found it.

I didn't sadly. But they did have the minnie version and when I picked it up I was a little disapointed in the quality of the mug. Which made the not finding it a little less painful. ha!

We stayed at CBR in January in a Trinidad room Our building was close the bridge so the walk wasn't bad at all. Loved the updated room. We had Danielle so not as much space as you and Andy had but we still felt it was great.

We didn't mind the location. If we were there a full week, the location might have gotten old but the way we don't go to the main building that much, I think we still wouldn't have cared. The small quick service in that area helps as wel.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Wow, you managed to try a ton of food at the booths! I’m impressed! I’m glad you enjoyed many of your choices but it’s too bad some of them weren’t as great as you’d hoped. The squid ink pasta and the Brie bread bowl sounded especially tasty.

Those were both 2 of my favorites of the day.

nd hooray for rides on Soarin’ and Spaceship Earth! Those are two of the best classic Epcot rides, in my opinion. (Can Soarin’ be considered a classic with its arrival in 2005? Since it’s now 20 years old, I say yes.)

I think it can be a classic. I mean there isn't too many "old" rides in EPCOT anymore.

 

[Stasieki]

Joining in! Guess what? I think I was at Disney Springs same night as you! Was that Thursday? We were there for our annual cheer trip. Abby and Monty were at Epcot going around the World Friday. I didn't go to a park Friday. I stayed back to watch the cheer practices before they completed Friday night.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

What a fun Epcot afternoon!

 

[PalMikey]

Just joined!

BTW, I’m an Eastern Alum (‘05) and a SCAD Alum (‘10)

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Guess what? I think I was at Disney Springs same night as you! Was that Thursday? We were there for our annual cheer trip. Abby and Monty were at Epcot going around the World Friday. I didn't go to a park Friday. I stayed back to watch the cheer practices before they completed Friday night.

Disney Springs was Wednesday. I did see that you were there for cheer but it was such a whirl win day and change. I didn't reach out to anyone but I thought about it. How did they do? We over heard a BUNCH of cheer moms saying they only go to EPCOT when they come. Do you find that to be true? Maybe it's just Jersey Cheer moms...

What a fun Epcot afternoon!

Thanks. We did have a a good afternoon!

Just joined!

BTW, I’m an Eastern Alum (‘05) and a SCAD Alum (‘10)

Welcome!!! What a small world! I just told my girls. And Morgan said you just missed the 1 year the football team was good.

 

[SEAGULL59]

It looks like you had a great park day weather wise too!! I love how you keep your girls in the loop as you are living your best life at the parks. I'd be the same way.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Hi Everyone!!! Happy Thursday. I keep thinking it's Friday but sadly it's not.

I am going to watch my sister's kids while they go to parent teacher meeting and MAN! I don't miss those! There was nothing wrong with them, they were just so short and every teacher said the same things each year. But I guess that was just because the girls were good students. ANYWAY! I will be hanging out with my sisters kids for a bit tonight. THey are good kids but have the energy my sister did, which let's say is signifigantly more than I did!

I wanted to finish up our park day, as I am pretty sure most folks are here for the cruise stuff. And I sat down to do that, and I realized that I stopped typing up notes at this point. I must have skipped over to the cruise day and never came back. oops. So bare with me on this last installment.

Park Day: Magic Kingdom

We made it to Magic Kingdom around 7:30 PM. I believe the park was closing at 10:00 tonight. We were walking in with 3 LLs, Haunted Mansion, Pirates and Buzz Lightyear.

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It was weird walking into the park this late for the first time. And at night..... I would not suggest for your very first time. People were starting to line up for fireworks, so main street was a bit busy. We headed towards Haunted Mansion.



As we passed where they do dessert parties, there was a bunch of equipment in the area. And I said to Andy what is going on there? But we didn't think much of it.

We made it over to Haunted Mansion and made inside pretty much immediatly with our LL.
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After our party with some ghosts, we poked into Memento Mori. I have a haunted mansion mug that I love and Gwen has been using for her morning chocolate milk. And I wanted to get a 2nd one if they had it. But they did not. I feel like it is hit or miss in finding stuff in that store.

I looked to see what the waits were like, and I saw that Jungle Cruise was low, so we headed that way next. It was about 8:10 by now, so the fireworks had started. And when we walked up there was no one... We almost thought it wasn't running.

We walked right up to the que, a boat pulled up and we just looked around in disbelief...

There was LITERALLY no other guests!!! The CM said that it was normal to have no one during fireworks... They waited a minute or two but said our skipper could head out!!

This was our boat...
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We had a private cruise! It was amazing! Our skipper kept the energy up even though it was just us.


We could see fireworks here and there as we went around.


I will say, I don't like riding Jungle Cruise at night as much. It is hard to see some fo the stuff. But you can't beat a private cruise!

Once we finished our private cruise, we stodd by magic carpets and just watched some of the fireworks. There was no one around. It was so weird.


We hopped onto Pirates just as the fireworks were finishing up. it was about 8:20. We used our LL since we had it but we REALLY didn't need it. We did not get a private boat here but we did walk pretty much right on.
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After pirates, we weren't exactly sure what we wanted to do. We have Buzz across the way, but I was afraid that the hub was still full, as it was still DEAD in adventureland. We say NO LINE at Alhoa Isle, and we impulsed orderd a dole whip!



See 1 person behind us!! ONE!!!

We went to our secret spot and enjoyed our dole whip. Once we sat down, I was like, man, I should have gotten a Orange Float. But you can't beat a classic Dole Whip.
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no body around...

As we sat we talked about what we still wanted to do. I said if nothing else I wanted to ride the People Mover. So, we headed over to Tomorrowland

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We did find people again. Not sure if people just weren't intrested in Adventureland or what but the park wasn't completely empty.

We were able to just walk on to the People Mover.
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This was a nice ride as it always is.
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After our ride, we decided to skip our Buzz Lightyear LL and give waiting in line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train instead. The wait was only half an hour, and it had been awhile since we had ridden it.

We got in line at 9:13.
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https://flic.kr/p/2qLMZct]] by https://www.flickr.com/photos/139829364@N03/]Ariella Saucier[/url], on Flickr
And were ready to ride around 9:35

While we were in line, Morgan had texted me and asked me to send info to my sister. She said she still didn't feel good and was thinking she wasn't going to want to go to school on Friday. So, I took care of that while we waited.

After our ride on a mine train, we decided to call it a night! It was 9:40, so we could have hopped on one more ride but we were done! We just started slowly making our way out of the park.

Strangly, we saw a line of people waiting to pull the sword out of the stone of all places....
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Magic Kingdom is beautiful at night...

We saw someone filming in the fireworks area where we saw all the equipment. It turned out to be Wheel of Fortune with Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White. We didn't see them but we didn't try that hard.

We poked into the Main Street store but didn't buy anything and we were walking out at 9:58!

We took our time walking to our bus stop, we were in no rush. Our bus ride was pretty full. A family got on with what looked like a wagon that they didn't fold up and they were blocking the aisle. At the time the bus driver didn't' say anything. I pushed our way through as there was tons of space behind them. But the people behind us decided to just wait. I assume they probably also wanted to sit. The lady ended up arguing with the bus driver, because he tolder her to fold up the wagon, as she was blocking folks from getting off. She "folded" it up but it was still too big in a folded form. She just didn't care that she was in everyones way and made no apologizes for it. It was a sour way to end the night.

Regardless of the arguing, we made it back to our area around 10:30
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I took my shoes off once we got off the bus. My feet were killing me!!!

It was an epic day, we rode 14 rides, enjoyed Festival of Arts food, started the day at 8:00 AM and finished at 10:00 PM!

We went pretty much straight to bed, as unfortantly we did need to be up early again tomorrow!

Up next we finally get on the cruise!

 

[erinch]

Here for the fun!

 

[rdkeim]

What a fun but long day! Maybe you have your sisters energy after all Anxious to hear about your cruise experience.

 

[ksquare19]

Travel Day​

Leading up to this trip I was feeling a tiny bit guilty, as we were leavind the girls with my sister while we were gone. And they were feeling the middle of winter blues and were not happy we were leaving them for a vacation. But not too guilty to not go.

I dropped the girls off at school this morning and said goodbye. (see guilt fueled dropoff) My sister showed up at the house in the morning and worked from the house. While Andy and I worked in the morning from the house as well.

Andy called an Uber around 1:00 and we were off to the airport. We live outside of Philly, so it's a short 20 minute ride to the airport. We got dropped off at our terminal, dropped off our bags and made it through TSA Pre-check in no time.

We stopped at Marlyn and Buds, a local restaurant for Philly and grabbed a snack to hold us over till we got to Florida. It was about 2:15 when we got our Mules.
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Andy and I have been on a Gin and Tonic or Gin Mule kick lately.... These were just good old regular mules. But they helped us kick off the trip! We also ordered an order of Buffalo Wings. No photo but they looked like, well buffalo wings.

It was just enough to keep us from getting hangry. After we had our “lunch” we headed to our gate. AND here..... we were greeted to not ONE, not TWO but THREE cheer teams waiting to get on the same plane!!! Eeek! It was very full in the waiting area. All of the girls were just sitting around talking, so it was loud but not terrible. This weekend was the superbowl, and the Eagles were in the superbowl. So there was a few E-A-G-L-E-S chears.

The plane was over booked and since it was groups of cheer squads, the airline was struggling to get folks to take a credit and not fly. And some of the cheer parents/ chaperones looked stressed. There was a snow storm coming the next morning as well and getting off really risked you making it anywhere for possibly 48 hours. But finally they resolved everything. We did leave late but only 10-15 minutes.

The kids on the plane were actually very well behaved. It was the moms who talked the whole time!!!! I knew WAY too much about them… oye. But we made it to Orlando with little issues.

We were seeing this beautiful site a little before 7:00 PM
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We grabbed our suitcases and went outside to get an uber. We only had to wait 5 minutes for an uber.

And just a little before 8:00, we were passing under Disney World Sign
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We were headed to Caribbean Beach, but our driver tried to take us to the Riveria. When we pulled in the guard asked which resort and told the driver where to do. (I am guessing this happens often, since the guard asked which resort) This was a huge issue when we stay at Caribbean Beach when the construction was happening. But back then there was no one to tell the drivers where to go.

Once the drive got to the correct place, I was able to direct him to our building. Which was nice as we didn’t have to walk too far with our stuff.

We got a room in Trinidad Building 38 Room 3819, 1st floor. When I looked it up, I realized that, that was the REALLY far away rooms. But it didn’t really matter too much for us. We had 1 day, so we weren’t too worried about it.

We were in the room around 8:15 PM
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The room was nice with just 2 of us… we didn’t have to pull the bed down so we had lots of room. Andy changed real quick. I think he went from jeans to shorts. And we headed out.

We decided to just get an uber over to Disney Springs. Andy didn’t want to wait for the bus. We were able to get picked up at the circle by our room. So that was nice. As a side note, there was a group of clearly cheer girls waiting and got papa john’s pizza delivered to them.

It was 8:45 PM when we arrived at Disney Springs. Our uber driver dropped us off on the west side. And I knew we were on the WRONG side of disney springs for where we wanted to eat dinner.... Also the walk around Cirque du soliel is LONG!!!!
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But we made the best of it and just did our shopping as we made our way to the other side of disney springs. We were both looking for a cup for the cruise. Andy wanted a corkscicle cup and I was looking for a mickey balloon cup.

We popped into a few stores. Andy picked a Captain America cockscicle cup.

Checked out World of Disney. Sadly did not have my cup…
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I asked a CM if they had the cups and she kindly told me they sold out pretty quickly... Her tag said she went to SCAD, so of course Andy had to ask her how she liked it. As we are going to see SCAD in April, Morgan our oldest is intrested in going there. (That will be the next installment in our trips for the year) After we finished chatting with her, we headed out to what was our ultimate destination...

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We finally made it to Eet! around 9:40!

This was our second time eating here, and IT DID NOT DIS-APOINT!!!!

It was late, so there wasn't really anyone in there. I really hope they are doing ok, because, seriously, this is soooo good!

We started with the bread service. The first time we came here, I didn't get the bread service as I thought it couldn't be as good as Sanaa's.

eet Bread Service with Pimento Whipped Paneer
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buttered naan, garlic naan, pimento whipped paneer cheese, masala vegetable sticks, indian pickle, coriander honey, chutneys

This was great!!! I think the naan itself is actually better than sanna’s. And all of the dips were great!!! The pimento whipped paneer cheese was mild cheese spread that you would find on a charchutier plate. The Coriander honey was really good. Andy really liked that. Coriander tonned down the sweetness of the honey. There was alos a mint chutney that was excellent. I love most mint chutneys.

Highly recommend! If you haven't gone to Sannaa as you are worried you won't like the food. Come here, and get the bread service. You don't have to commit to a full meal or full sit down meal time!

D.I.Y. Pani Puri
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(7 pcs.) crispy semolina puffs, black garbanzo beans, potatoes, tamarind, date chutney, mint cilantro water

These are really fun. The garbanzo bean filling is fairly mild but well seasoned. And you are to put the beans and some of the crunchy puffs into the semolina balls. And then you pour in some of the mint cilantro water. It is a mix of all your senses... warm from the garbanzo beans and cold from the water.

These were good as well. But my least favorite thing so far from here. It reminded me of a dish I make at home.

But the star of the show for dinner tonight was the Tandoori Chicken Kebab. (I think that is what it was called. It's not on the online menu. And I can't find it anywhere online)
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This was amazing!!! They brought this out a little after the other 2 items as they book them to order. And they were crispy and hot when they brought them out. The breading was so different than anything we have had. It was so flavorfull but not spicy.

And the hot honey sauce was AMAZING!!!! It doesn't look like much but it was soo good and alot of chicken! Andy has been dreaming about it.

We had a conversation with the manager as it was late and we were literally the only people in the place. We talked to him about opening more stores and we said we would love to have one in the Philly area. We also talked about how the location they are in at Disney Springs is not exactly the best spot. So, this is my plea... GO and try it!!!! Last time we got the Butter Chicken Poutine! Amazingly good!!!
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This and the bread service are perfect first time trying Indian foods!

If you are a little more adventurous or love Sannaa, try the Walking Tacos. I loved it so much that I have tried to make this at home.
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After our meal, we popped into Goofy’s Kitchen to get snacks for the girls. Sadly, I passed on dessert for us as I was So full and it was already late. After that, we headed to the ride share and got an uber back to the room.

We headed pretty much to bed. It was a long day and we knew we had a full day ahead of us tomorrow!

Up next, Our Park Day!

Sounds like an amazing trip!

 

[Stacybaeasm]

What an amazing day! You got everything done. And I'm going to make a note about Jungle Cruise during fireworks!

 

[vamassey1]

The first thing we got was the Beef Wellington-inspired Croissant Supreme with creamed spinach croissant pinwheel, mushroom-gorgonzola ragout, mustard-grilled flank steak, red wine sauce, and pickled mustard seeds

This was a favorite for Andy and I. The meat wasn’t as tender as some of the vloggers said it was but it was still good. And I am sure the tenderness of the meat is a little bit of luck at a booth like this. It def hit the spot!

This was one of the few items I did get to try. We went on opening day and it was soooo crowded. I had to wait awhile for it too. It was ok but mine was too salty.

And lastly, we ordered the Coffee Old Fashioned Cocktail: Joffrey’s Coffee Cold Brew, simple syrup, orange bitters, and Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon

I had high hopes for this, It was good. The one I had at BOMA was better. But I guess that would make sense. It's funny, the bourbon and the coffee kind of meld flavors to have a chocolatey taste to me.

This sounds really good. Remember to always stir your drink. The CM making the drinks don't have liquor licenses so they can only dump the shot and not mix it.

We checked out the sidewalk chalk art in the bridge as we headed to our next targets!

Love the sidewalk chalk art.

It was about now that I started to realize that the crowds weren't that bad. We weren't really waiting too long at any booth. Granted it was a weird time of day but it just didn't feel crowded...

You're so lucky it wasn't crowded.

Andy grabbed the Carne Asada: Ancho-marinated Beef Sirlion with Pasilla Chile Sauce, Grilled Queso Fresco, Nopales Salad, and Chicharoon Dust.

I wanted to try this too.

We had taken our food and headed into the Odyssey Pavillion to grab a seat inside. This was easy to do and we were able to hang out in there for a little bit. Unfortantly there was nothing in there that we wanted to try otherwise. We spent about 20 minutes in there, recharging.

This is our go to spot to sit, eat and recharge too.

I picked up the Chicken "Pot Pie" with Smoked Cheddar Mornay Sauce, roasted vegetables, pickled mushrooms, wasabi peas, and sherry-chicken jus served open-faced on flaky pie crust.

I totally would have skipped this but all the vloggers really hiped this up. So, we wanted to try it. Again, it was good but I also would have been ok if we had skipped it. The sauce was really good. It tasted like well, a pot pie. In a good way but again it was not anything crazy or new tasting. Which is why I could have skipped it.

I wanted to try this too.

Andy grabbed us two Texas Mules from the bar. They were good. But once he came back with the drinks I realized that I had wanted the Moonshine Sour but forgot it was there. So I was slightly sad. None the less tasty drink.

Moonshine Sour is my go to here too.

We did find these baseball hats that we thought Morgan would like. I made Andy put it on and I sent the girls a picture. Which turned into this weird text chain of the girls talking about how they like the hat but it looked stupid on Andy... Ah teenagers.

I like the hat.

After our window shopping, we headed out and grabbed something from Goshiki booth. We wanted to try the Wagyu Bun: Steamed Bun filled with American Wagyu Beef served with Japanese Karashi Mustard Sauce and Violet Shiso Sauce.

Wanted to try this too.

I LOVE Elf and Gwen HATES it... So of course we had to text the girls about it...

Elf is a favorite in our household.

This did not disapoint! It was what you would think... warm creamy cheese. It was perfect, not too sharp but did have some flavor. I am glad we did this last, as it was starting to cool off with the sun going down a bit, if we had gotten this when we first got there, it would have been so hot. This was a perfect last items for EPCOT.

This looks good too.

This was the conversation between Gwen and I.
Unt

While we were hanging out eating cheese, Morgan had said she did like the hat we texted. So, Andy being the good Dad he is, decided that we needed to go back and get one for Morgan. So, we back tracked to Japan to grab one of the hats.

Dennis would have done the same thing, anything for his girls.

Andy my have taken a power nap on the monorail.

Dennis would do this too. He always has a power nap on Small World.

We didn't mind the location. If we were there a full week, the location might have gotten old but the way we don't go to the main building that much, I think we still wouldn't have cared. The small quick service in that area helps as wel.

We enjoyed the small quick service too.

We had a private cruise! It was amazing! Our skipper kept the energy up even though it was just us.

Never have a seen this!

We could see fireworks here and there as we went around.

Even better.

We went to our secret spot and enjoyed our dole whip.

Love this spot too. Thank you for introducing me to it.

We were able to just walk on to the People Mover.

Perfect last ride.

Magic Kingdom is beautiful at night...

Yes it is.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Happy Tuesday! I have to admit something... I started this post LAST Tuesday but couldn't finish it before I had to start working and well the week got away from me! But I am here to get the cruise portion of this trip going!! ​

Embarkation Day​

Today was the day! I was excitied and nervous all at the same time. It had been awhile since we had done a trip that we really didn't know what to expect!
Countdown

We need to have our bags ready for pick up at 7:00AM. So, I set our alarm for 6:30 so we could both shower before they came for the bags. I really didn't want to have extra stuff to lug around till our room was ready. But let me tell you, I miss Magical Express!!! It was nice to not have to worry about our bags!

I also woke up to a text from Morgan saying she didn't feel good and wanted to stay home. So I shot a quick email to the attendance office and let Morgan know she was good to stay home.

We were able to both shower and get fully ready before anyone came for our bags. We were just throwing stuff back in the bags and I was worried we would be over flowing by the end fo the trip but it was just that we weren’t really repacking so much as just throwing stuff back in.

We headed to the SpyGlass Grill to get some breakfast. I wanted something, so I wasn’t hangry by the time we got to the boat.
Andy said for me to go and he would wait for them to get the bags, and I said it said we didn't need to be in the room for them to get the bags. This was the last time I knew the answer to one of Andy's questions......

The SpyGlass location was nice to have, since we were so far away from the main area. CM here were really nice. And really made the location of our room feel not that bad.

We were back in our room a little before 8:00.

We decided to split the Breakfast Cuban
Cuban Breakfast Sandwish
Egg, Slow-roasted Pork, Ham, and Swiss served with Breakfast Potatoes
This was really good. The slow roasted pork was really nicely seasoned. It had the mojito flavoring down. I would totally get this again and depending on where our room is in April, I might!!!

And then we impulse ordered the Lemon Meringue Croissant
Lemon Merangue Croscant
Butter Croissant filled with Lemon Curd and topped with Toasted Meringue
This was actually just ok. It was def canned lemon curd but still good. It def looked prettier than it tasted.

Breakfast
We also got 2 cold brews. The only downside here was they didn't have milk, it was just creamer. Blek…

When we got back to our room our suitcases were magically gone! We relaxed in the room and ate our breakfast. It was nice to sit at the couch and eat.

We needed to be in the lobby at 9:30, so we headed out at 9:15 and it took us a good 20 minutes to walk to the lobby. Oops! We weren't really rushing and I knew we had a half hour window before we left so I wasn't worried. We were the last ones to check in, We had to do our health questionnaire still to do. I tried doing it in the room but it didn’t go through, I guess. I will say the wifi at Caribean Beach isn't the greatest.

Waiting by Ariella Saucier, on Flickr
The CM with us was very nice, he gave us an idea of what would happen when we got to the port and answered any questions.

bus by Ariella Saucier, on Flickr
Once it was time, he gathered us all up and walked us to the the bus. Once we were all loaded up, we had one additional stop before heading to the port. We stopped at Coronado Springs to pick up a few more people and then on our way!

Ready to Go!

We were ready! We were tired as well. So, we both tried to nap a bit on the bus.
on our way
The drive from Walt Disney World to the port wasn't too interesting from what I could tell. So we didn't miss much.

We arrived at the terminal a little after 11:30. So it was about and hour and a half with the stop at Coranado.
BOAT!

Our Home for the next 3 nights

We were let off near the ship and were able to go directly up into the terminal.

Once inside, we were directed to the line for going through security. That was a quick process, basically TSA sercurity but less stressful. Once through that, we were able to go directly to check in! Woo hoo.
Into the Terminal

That picture makes the lines look long but we really didn't wait long at all. It felt like we were barely in that waiting terminal. We were boarding grounp 5 and they were already on 7 or 8. The CM checking us in said they were moving fast today.

We got checked in, the CM linked our magic bands and we were on our way!

We got a picture as we got in line to board. I told Andy I thought we would need to get the photo package to see the photo which was true. I could see it later ..... which turned out TERRIBLE!!!

Goofy
It was right at noon that we headed onto the ramp to get into the ship.

View from the gangway
We commented that Morgan wouldn’t love the wait on the ramp.

Waiting to get on.
This was the longest we waited for the day and it wasn't long and really just becuase they introduce each family as they get on.

Boat docked
The one step going from the ramp onto the ship. Morgan will def NOT love. But I think she can handle it.

Here we go!
Here we go!!! Side note, I look sooooo tired in this picture!!! Maybe yesterday was too much...

We only waited 10 minutes to be introduced and on the ship. I was super overwhelmed and nervous when we got on. I am not even sure why. I was just super overwhelmed!
The Attrium by Ariella Saucier, on Flickr
The attrium is beautiful! I was actually suprised by how small it was. I don't know why but I thought it would be bigger. But I had nothing to compare it to.

First look inside

Chandaler

Belle!
We tried to soak in the lobby. Belle was there greating everyone!

We got to see a little “show” with the chandelier. Maybe called Kiss or something? Not sure but it was a magical small moment for the very few folks around.

Andy used the bathroom and I logged into the app to start to see what was going on and see if I could find a map. I could not find one… Turns out there was one but I didn’t find it till 3rd day… I wish you could see the app before hand just to figure out where stuff is. I mean you can but you can't see the on board side till you get on.

Andy asked where we should go. I responded with "I don't know" this became the answer to almost all of Andy's questions. He is so used to me knowing everything about our trip and I finally had to tell him stop asking. I just didn't know!

We knew we wanted to explore the ship and try and get our bearings a bit. So we headed up the stairs!
Stairs
Carpet at top of Stairs
I think I was overwhlemed because the ship was just beautiful and details EVERYWHERE.

Belle!

Announcemetn
As we were leaving the main area, this guy came out to give a proclmation. Which he gave to one little girl, which I thought was hilarious. It turned out to just announce Belle. She probably went for a potty break and needed to be re-announced.

Introducing Belle

Chandaler

We somehow found our way to the main pool deck.

Pool Deck

It was super overwhelming once we walked into the area. There was so many people already swimming and doing there thing! It was also very HOT! I felt like we were the only people who had no idea what was going on.
Funnel Vision

We were approached by a CM trying to see the beer and water packages. And we weren't intrested. The CM did push a bit and did feel a little not Disney like but thankfully we only got asked once. And was the only time I felt like it was not disney like the whole trip.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Embarkation Day​

We quickly discovered the Mickey & Friends Festival of Foods. So we grabbed lunch, it was now about 12:40.

Andy grabbed some tacos from Cantina
Tacos

and I grabbed BBQ.
BBQ Lunch

The BBQ was taking longer to get, so I sent Andy to also get some chicken fingers... Molly said they were worth it, so I HAD to try them...
Chicken Fingers and Fries

We found a table on the cooler side of the ship. The one side had the sun baking the one side and it was HOT! All of the food was good. it was solid counter service options. I am glad we realized that the food wrapped around both sides of the ship, as the side we sat on was quieter when we got there and cooler. Not sure why everyone was sitting on the hot side.

But we enjoyed our meal, refilled our tiny paper cups with soda and headed out to explore some more. It was about 1:10 when we headed back out.

Port hole thingy

Pool by Ariella Saucier, on Flickr
I was suprised by the size and set up of the pools. I know I had heard that you shouldn't go on a cruise to swim but I was almost shocked at just how small they were! But later I saw how they used the area and was kind of amazed at how effiecent it was.

We def wandered around aimlessly.
Map
Andy snapped a photo of the ship map to reference.

View while still docked
Our view while still docked.... Not sure where we were when Andy snapped this picture.

We did find the adult area.
Adults only area

Which looked amazing! And if we do another cruise, I would grab lunch and then head here. Away from the chaos!

We walked to find the front of the ship. Found the kids splash pad area and the concierge lounge area, Which also looked amazing. I said I wondered how much a a regular room cost for that. I can dream right? There was one woman just sitting in a lounger reading. It was a stark difference from the main pool area!

As we were trying to find Marcaline Market, we saw that the rooms were ready, so we headed to find our room to ditch the backpacks. Which was nice cause it was HOT!!!

Hallway
We were on a Cinderella floor.

Finding out room

We found our room.
Welcome Aboard

We checked out the room.
Cinderella Head Board

Cinderella Picture

It was a nice room. Def more than enough room for the 2 of us. I am not sure how it would feel with all 4 of us in the room. But for us, it was perfect.

Let's talk about the lights in this room.... Took us awhile to figure out how to use the lights!!! Someone needs to tell you this ahead of time. Literally the only reason I knew what to do was I watched a vlog with Adam Hatton and the he talked about it! I am really not sure if we would have figured it out otherwise...

Once we settled a little we headed back out. We found our first suitcase outside our room! Yeah! So we brought it inside and headed out.

We of course went the wrong way, but in doing so, we saw our other suitcase. So by the time we doubled back it was also in front of our room. So we brought that in as well. And then FINALLY headed back out again.

Andy wanted to find our location for the Muster drill. We were to go to the Marvel restaurant.
Marvel Restaurant

We found the restaurant and took advantage of the fact that there was no one there. Andy was convinced we needed to be in our room at the start of the drill. I said we def did NOT need to do that, that we just needed to be there at the time for check in.

Once that was found, we just wandered. Lucifer
Somehow ended back in the lobby.

Cinderella Stairs
And these beautiful stairs.

We found some of the bars, and peeked into Hyper Space lounge
Hyperspace Lounge

Hyperspace Lounge
We decided to come back to visit properly.

We finally 2:50: Found Marcaline Market. It took us WAY too long to find this place. We really didn't have any idea where we were going this first day. ha.
Flower Pots

We saw that they had Butter Chicken and it looked really good. So we grabbed that and a charcuteries plate.
2nd Lunch

Found a table at the back and just relaxed a little We were kind of sad we didn’t go here for lunch as the food looked much better!
The butter chicken was excellent!!!! highly recommend.

So, my recommendation, find marcaline market for lunch and then go to the adults area to relax when you get on the ship!

After our snack, we explored some more. We were really getting turned around but was starting to get a general idea. We headed for our muster drill, which was chaos! Which I knew it would be but it was hard to tell if you were in the right place or not. Thankfully we were and didn't wait too long before they let everyone into the dinning area.

We survived the drill and I said we should head up to get a spot for the sail away party. Up next the sail away party!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Mama was always so glad to see us because she didn't remember when anyone visited. So, to her, she felt like she had been alone there for hours and hours. It was always so hard to leave but I knew that we must. Sorry, y'all, this isn't what a trip report is about. Let me move on to better things.

I don't feel the need to rise and shine super early. We were up about 7:45 a.m., showered and dressed and out the door around 8:30. O

Here for the fun!

Welcome!!! Glad you are here!!!

What a fun but long day! Maybe you have your sisters energy after all Anxious to hear about your cruise experience.

It was a LONG day!!! I only have my sisters energy in Disney. I am the meme about getting up at disney but dragging at home.

I started the cruise portion! I hope you enjoy it!

Sounds like an amazing trip!

it was a great day! It is exactly what I wanted it to be. Exhausting but good.

What an amazing day! You got everything done. And I'm going to make a note about Jungle Cruise during fireworks!

It was crazy! I have to think it was because it was February as well. but it was amazing. We have done the jungle cruise during the parade as well and had luck getting on easily. Not an empty cruise but little wait.

had to wait awhile for it too. It was ok but mine was too salty.

All the food was good but I am starting to not believe the vloggers oppinions on the food. When we go in April, I might not do as many food booths. Go with the tried and true items.

Dennis would have done the same thing, anything for his girls.

My father was a sucker for his girls as well. I think it's part of being a dad of girls.

Love this spot too. Thank you for introducing me to it.

I saw a picture of them redoing the concrete near by and I got worried they got rid of them. But they are still there! Thank goodness!!!

 

[SEAGULL59]

Excited to see how the cruise goes. I am afraid I would get seasick. I take medicine to help prevent motion sickness at the parks and don't think I could handle the open water.