A Disney Geek-tastic Trip to the World Updated 3/27!

[DisneyFreak06]

We've watched it from a couple of different places: the balcony in Japan (twice), between the two stores where World Showcase and Future World meet and down by the fence at Japan. All were really good spots. I *think* Franklin likes the balcony because it let's him frame the scene a bit better for the photos. I like being closer to the lake, but that's just me.

I will make note of those locations! Can you go up on the balcony if you are not eating at the restaurant?

 

[Pixel Dust]

I will make note of those locations! Can you go up on the balcony if you are not eating at the restaurant?

Anyone can go up there. There are no barriers. Just lots of stairs.​

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Anyone can go up there. There are no barriers. Just lots of stairs.​

Oooh! Thank you!

 

[natebenma]

Great, Great pictures of Illuminations. The colors are just spectacular! Love the photos of WS, too. It is so beautiful at night.

I'm very tempted to try Tokyo Dining. Every review I have read is very positive. The menu looks amazing. There is a local restaurant near us that serves Bento boxes and it is Ben's favorite restaurant, because in one meal he can get sushi and tempura and goyoza and salad and soup. Nate has turned into a shrimp tempura freak, so he would love it here too.

Have you been to La Hacienda- I can't seem to recall a review by you from there. That is our only expendable meal during our July trip. If you have been, thoughts (and not just on the margaritas!)

Even if we don't eat there, maybe I will try to lure the boys there for Illuminations. We always watch from the UK/France bridge because it is close to the BC, but it is usually crowded and it is not the best vantage point.

 

[Angeejoe]

Missy Rose & Franklin,

I'm loving this TR as well! You guys rock !

I know people are going to throw tomatoes at me , but I have to say I've experienced your attack in the hot tub experience & it drives me nuts. My DH & I have not been blessed with kids & would love to have them. I love seeing kids all over Disney- it makes me smile to see the magic on their faces.....BUT I don't want them in the hot tub!! I know the kids love them & hear them call them little pools because the can touch the bottoms, but I wish they had at least 1 hot tub for adults only. Now let me put on a poncho before you throw the tomatoes !

Thanks for sharing your TR!
Angeejoe

 

[jpmandan]

I'm a little late for your TR, but I'm in now.
I love the RNR picture!

 

[tinacaplan]

Stopping by, saying hi...and getting subbed to your TR! Apparently there are some amazing pics of Illuminations I've gotta see!

 

[Shazzasmd]

OK, at the risk of boring you, I'm going to once again say how wonderful Franklin's photos are - almost as good as your narration

I may switch out one of our ADRs for our December trip to do Tokyo dining - it looks delicious.

As for the Illuminations photographs - the 2nd to last one may be the nicest capture I've seen of the show. Well Done, Franklin!

 

[Missyrose]

Great, Great pictures of Illuminations. The colors are just spectacular! Love the photos of WS, too. It is so beautiful at night.

I'm very tempted to try Tokyo Dining. Every review I have read is very positive. The menu looks amazing. There is a local restaurant near us that serves Bento boxes and it is Ben's favorite restaurant, because in one meal he can get sushi and tempura and goyoza and salad and soup. Nate has turned into a shrimp tempura freak, so he would love it here too.

Have you been to La Hacienda- I can't seem to recall a review by you from there. That is our only expendable meal during our July trip. If you have been, thoughts (and not just on the margaritas!)

Even if we don't eat there, maybe I will try to lure the boys there for Illuminations. We always watch from the UK/France bridge because it is close to the BC, but it is usually crowded and it is not the best vantage point.

We've eaten at San Angel Inn, which was good. But I'd would absolutely pick Tokyo Dining over it. The food is really good, the atmosphere is nice and the windows looking out into the World Showcase are great for people watching!

Missy Rose & Franklin,

I'm loving this TR as well! You guys rock !

I know people are going to throw tomatoes at me , but I have to say I've experienced your attack in the hot tub experience & it drives me nuts. My DH & I have not been blessed with kids & would love to have them. I love seeing kids all over Disney- it makes me smile to see the magic on their faces.....BUT I don't want them in the hot tub!! I know the kids love them & hear them call them little pools because the can touch the bottoms, but I wish they had at least 1 hot tub for adults only. Now let me put on a poncho before you throw the tomatoes !

Thanks for sharing your TR!
Angeejoe

Thank you so much! No need to duck flying tomatoes here, we're all friends. I'm with you on the kids in the hot tub thing. I go to Disney knowing full well that kids are part of the equation, but it would be nice if they installed more hot tubs near the quiet pools, since there are usually fewer kids there.

I'm a little late for your TR, but I'm in now.
I love the RNR picture!

You're not late, you're just in time. Plenty of fun still ahead!

Stopping by, saying hi...and getting subbed to your TR! Apparently there are some amazing pics of Illuminations I've gotta see!

Hi Tina, happy you popped by! When's your next trip?

Yeah, there are a couple of decent fireworks shots.

OK, at the risk of boring you, I'm going to once again say how wonderful Franklin's photos are - almost as good as your narration

I may switch out one of our ADRs for our December trip to do Tokyo dining - it looks delicious.

As for the Illuminations photographs - the 2nd to last one may be the nicest capture I've seen of the show. Well Done, Franklin!

Thanks! You're making me blush. I highly recommend Tokyo Dining, it has been a fabulous meal each time we've eaten there. You won't be disappointed. ​

 

[Missyrose]

Welcome back friends! We last left off with a delicious dinner at Tokyo Dining (I’m so glad to hear some of you want to try the restaurant now. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!). We woke up to beautiful Florida sunshine. We made our way out to the Boardwalk.

Did I mention it was a beautiful morning? Because, yeah, this sight never gets old. Ever.

Good morning to you, kind sir!

We didn’t have far to go that morning, just over the bridge to the World Showcase. We had a very important date!

We had a preopening ADR at Akershaus! We’d never eaten there before, so we were very excited to try it. Plus, Epcot (and especially the World Showcase) is just so darn pretty in the early morning quiet. They had a list of the early ADRs at the International Gateway. Our name wasn’t on it, but the CM thought it was just a printing error since we had our printed-out confirmation. She sent us on our way to Norway.

It was a full stroller-parking kind of morning at Akershaus.

I hopped in line to check in. The CM looked for our name and couldn’t find it. Then she searched for our reservation number, no luck. She called her manager over and he said he’d get to the bottom of it. He pulled up our reservation and saw the date we made the reservation (180+10 days out!) and then saw that the system had cancelled our reservation in August. Not a dining CM, but the actual system had just deleted our ADR for no reason. Scary that it can do that, right? He apologized and assured us he could get us in for breakfast, it just would be a couple of minutes. Phew. The extra time gave Franklin a chance to take some pictures of Norway in the meantime.

About 10 minutes after solving the ADR fiasco, we were buzzed. It was princess time!

There’s nothing I love more at Disney than seeing the mini princesses all dressed up and ready to meet the big princesses. I confess, I cry at this sight all the time.

Who’s excited for the princess breakfast? This girl!

I had worn a very special hoodie that morning, it might be my favorite piece of Disney clothing that I own. It’s a hand-painted designer Belle hoodie. Belle loved it! She said she’d never seen such a beautiful piece of clothing in the whole royal kingdom!

We were seated just as the princess parade began!

The princesses came quickly. Cindy was first!

*

Enjoy that photo of Franklin, it’s the last in-focus one you’ll see at this breakfast. I’m a writer, not a photographer, remember?​

 

[Missyrose]

This Snow White was simply adorable. Much more chatty than any other Snows we’ve met.

There was a bit of a break, so we took the opportunity to actually eat! For those of you who have never eaten breakfast at Akershaus, there’s a cold bar with pastries, fruit, yogurt, granola, oatmeal, etc. And the rest of the meal is brought to your table, family style. There were eggs, home fries, sausage and bacon. We had a lovely waitress, Anja.

We were just finishing eating when Aurora stopped by, what timing!

And lastly, our favorite under the sea princess.

The restaurant itself was really pretty.

The princesses brought Franklin a birthday surprise!

With our bellies full and our princess quota for the day fully met, we headed back out into Epcot.

We made a beeline for The Land.

Time to fly!

We thought about making our way toward Test Track, but we spotted one of the scariest sights you can encounter at Disney: tour group flags!

There were tons of people streaming into the park. With the crowds building, we took it as our cue to head out.

This, my friends, is why you get to the park BEFORE rope drop.

We wandered over to the bus depot and found the stop we were looking for.

That’s where we’ll stop for now, anyone want to venture a guess about why we were going to Hollywood Studios?​

 

[natebenma]

Fun update! Love all of the EPCOT pictures without any people. You always do an excellent job dodging the crowds by being either early or late. At least until you started leaving EP.

Breakfast with the princesses looked like a great time.

The shadow picture is one of my favorites! Great shot!

Is today Franklin's BD and lunch?

 

[abbybeth]

*sigh* empty Epcot. It's just such a glorious sight!

Love your Belle hoodie, it's beautiful

 

[Wood Nymph]

We never really knew much about Akershaus and what goes on there. If I did then We would have gone there with our 3 year old granddaughter. She would have loved it.

I going to guess that you are going to HS so that you can see Beauty and the Beast. It goes with your hoodie, which is gorgeous.

 

[wiigirl]

Awesome update!

 

[khertz]

Gotta love walking into World Showcase before the park opens. Stunning! That photo of SE behind the monorail track is amazing.

Wow, that is pretty scary that the system can just cancel your ADR! For most of my ADR's it would not be devastating, but if anything happens to my CP breakfast for Paxton's birthday morning, I'd lose my mind!! I'm glad you were still able to get in with no problem, though.

Cinderella is absolutely stunning! And Ariel looks perfect. What a great group of princesses to meet. It seems like you and Franklin had a wonderful breakfast!

 

[teekathepony]

What a wonderful breakfast! I have always wanted to do breakfast at Akershus but it never seems to make the cut. Some time I have to make it a priority, looks so pretty inside!
Love your hoodie!

 

[jke2013]

Great updates! Loved the shadow pic! Also, I liked your Belle hoodie.

 

[Missyrose]

Fun update! Love all of the EPCOT pictures without any people. You always do an excellent job dodging the crowds by being either early or late. At least until you started leaving EP.

Breakfast with the princesses looked like a great time.

The shadow picture is one of my favorites! Great shot!

Is today Franklin's BD and lunch?

Even though our trips are far more laid back than they used to be, I still map out which are the best parks for the day. Franklin and I really dislike big crowds, so we take advantage of the hours in which the parks are at their emptiest.

I always love seeing everyone else's shadow pictures, so we decided to give it a shot!

Good guess on what we were up to next, but it wasn't Franklin's b-day just yet!

*sigh* empty Epcot. It's just such a glorious sight!

Love your Belle hoodie, it's beautiful

I love, love, LOVE early morning in Epcot. Even on normal mornings, just coming through the International Gateway entrance has fewer people than the main entrance. So you get this lovely walk through Epcot with no one else around. It's heavenly.

Thanks! Alice, the woman who did my hoodie is ridiculously talented. She's painting me a pair of TOMs for my wedding/honeymoon with a Cinderella/Cinderella's Castle motif and I can't wait to see how they turn out.

We never really knew much about Akershaus and what goes on there. If I did then We would have gone there with our 3 year old granddaughter. She would have loved it.

I going to guess that you are going to HS so that you can see Beauty and the Beast. It goes with your hoodie, which is gorgeous.

I had read many positive reviews on Akershaus but had never seen many photos of the restaurant itself, it's so pretty inside! Now having done CRT and Akershaus I can honestly say that once you've had the thrill of eating in the castle, Akershaus is a much better (and cheaper!) choice for princess meals on return visits.

Good guess on our DHS plans, but not quite!

Awesome update!

Thank you!

Gotta love walking into World Showcase before the park opens. Stunning! That photo of SE behind the monorail track is amazing.

Wow, that is pretty scary that the system can just cancel your ADR! For most of my ADR's it would not be devastating, but if anything happens to my CP breakfast for Paxton's birthday morning, I'd lose my mind!! I'm glad you were still able to get in with no problem, though.

Cinderella is absolutely stunning! And Ariel looks perfect. What a great group of princesses to meet. It seems like you and Franklin had a wonderful breakfast!

Franklin looooooooves how the monorail goes into Epcot, it make for really neat pictures all over the park.

Yep, it's truly terrifying that Disney's ADR system could have a mind of its own. Luckily, it keeps a detailed record for each ADR so they can fix problems that arise. I'm sure your CP breakfast will be fine. We've had dozens upon dozens of ADRs and this was the first time we'd ever encountered this, so the odds are definitely in your favor. You'll love CP! It's one of our favorite Disney breakfasts!

What a wonderful breakfast! I have always wanted to do breakfast at Akershus but it never seems to make the cut. Some time I have to make it a priority, looks so pretty inside!
Love your hoodie!

It was a great princess breakfast. Definitely worth doing, especially on an Epcot day!

Great updates! Loved the shadow pic! Also, I liked your Belle hoodie.

Thanks! ​

 

[Missyrose]

We last left off with Franklin and I hopping on a bus from Epcot to DHS.

When we got to DHS, did we go to Toy Story Mania? Rock-n-Roller Coaster? Maybe the Animation Studio? No, no and nope. We had a very special afternoon planned at Hollywood Brown Derby. It was our chance to Dine with an Imagineer!

We were brought back to the Bamboo room, the private dining room at HBD.

Meet Chad Stachnik, our Imagineer.

Chad has been with Walt Disney Imagineering for three years and has been with Disney for 13 years. He’s a mechanical engineer and has been a project manager for New Fantasyland for the past few years. He first oversaw the Littler Mermaid ride and Ariel’s Grotto. He’s now in charge of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Coaster. Let’s just say I died and went to Dine With an Imagineer heaven! We were going to get to pick the brain of someone who had been working on New Fantasyland for YEARS!

But before we get to the good intel, bring on the food. We started with the crab bisque.

Then we had the world famous Hollywood Brown Derby cobb salad, so delicious (and refreshing!).

Franklin had the seafood dish that included Tiger shrimp, mussels and grouper.

I had the filet with mashed potatoes.

Franklin’s dessert was the vanilla bean creme brulee.

And I had the grapefruit cake.

The food was really yummy, but that wasn’t why we were really here (it was just a lovely bonus), let’s get down to what we learned from our new buddy Chad. There was a 14-year-old at the lunch and he wanted to know how to become an imagineer. Chad told him to look into Disney’s College Program because that’s how he was introduced to the company. He worked at the magic shop on Main Street during his CP.

He started his talk by going over some of the basics about New Fantasyland, the project began early construction about five years earlier and the new space spans about 13 acres of land. The Mine Coaster wasn’t part of the original plans, that space was supposed to be individual meet and greet spaces for each princess. But Disney began to think that NewFL was starting to feel too princess-y, so they scrapped those plans and made a new model with the Mine Coaster and Princess Fairytale Hall. The Mine Coaster is slated to open in 2014, but he says to expect it open earlier in the year, rather than later.

At that point (late January) about half the track was laid for the coaster. And for those of you wondering, it won’t be a true thrill ride. He says it will settle in between Barnstormer (one lift) and Big Thunder Mountain (three lifts). Mine Coaster, with its two lifts, will be a family-friendly coaster (with many elements of a classic Disney dark ride) but the real thrill will be the newly designed cars that swing freely back and forth as you travel through the mine.

We asked about the next generation system (Fastpass+, MagicBands, etc.) and he said NewFL was the first attractions to be built with the RFID technology built in to the attractions and queues. He also said the older attractions have been retrofitted with the new technology when they’ve gone down for refurb for other reasons.

I asked about the three FP+ reservations per day that were in the terms and conditions of the new app and Chad smiled and said, “We didn’t spend all this money on all these technology components for guests to use the system three times a day.” He said he wasn’t an expert in the new system, but he believed that eventually you will do much more with the system than just make three advanced reservations. I felt better about the coming system after chatting with him.

I also asked about the Rapunzel bathrooms and how nicely themed they are -- for just being bathrooms. He again chuckled and said there is plenty of room and possible plans for Rapunzel to eventually make appearances there.

He said that with the big expansion at MK nearing completion, the focus will likely turn to DHS. He said there are lots of plans floating around WDI and even let slip that he’d seen mock-ups of how a Monsters Inc. coaster could work (!).

All in all, the meal was about three hours and I felt like we really lucked out with having such an amazing and talkative Imagineer guide the discussion. For those of you wondering, the Imagineers volunteer for the Dine With an Imagineer program, so you’ll always get an Imagineer who wants to be there. And the Imagineers for the program come from every corner of the WDI, some are in construction, some are from creative. And this is definitely something Franklin and I could see ourselves doing every year or every other year, it was just so interesting!

We were really full (a princess breakfast, followed by a signature lunch will do that to you), so we decided to head back to the resort for some rest. We saw the Friendship Boat pull away from the dock just as we exited DHS, so we decided to give our walkway to BWV a shot.

It ended up being a lovely walk and took about 15 minutes, not bad at all. We were both pooped after our busy day so far, so we both passed out for a while. I woke up before Franklin and spent some lovely time out on the balcony on the Disboards and enjoying the Boardwalk sights and sounds below. That’s where we’ll leave off for now, but what did you guys think of Dine With an Imagineer? Have any questions about it? Have any of you done it before?​