A Newbie and a Veteran Drink Around the World - Updated w/ VIDEOS!!!!

[rigs32]

I just returned from a glorious 8 night stay at Pop Century from Jan 21 - 29. I will be documenting my trip so that others may learn and/or live vicariously through me as they wait to travel to the World.

I promise that I will take the time to make hyperlinks in this post as I update the various events. I will be creating a separate dining review thread in that folder, but will post links so that you can read about the food as we go along as well.

I am happy to answer any questions that folks have as I go along as well, and I promise lots of photos - both from our camera and photopass.

Here is an overview of what I plan to share:

Friday - travel to MCO, rental car pickup, checking into POP, heading to POR for dinner at Boatwrights and Bob Jackson's show
Saturday - breakfast at Boma, Wilderness Back Trail Adventure, lunch #1 at Wolfgang Puck Express, Wishes Dessert Party at MK
Sunday - MK, dinner at The Wave, drinks and football at Polynesian
Monday - Epcot, dinner at Chefs de France
Tuesday - AK, dinner at Sanaa
Wednesday - HS, dinner at Sci-Fi
Thursday - lunch #2 at Wolfgang Puck Express, dinner at Kouzzina, HS for Fantasmic, Paradiso 37 at DTD for drinks, outlet shopping
Friday - Epcot, drinking around the world
Saturday - breakfast at Pepper Market, lunch #3 at Wolfgang Puck Express, Goofy's Candy company

ETA - since i'm not getting responses I'm not going to hyperlink my TOC as it's easy to just scroll down to read. If I do start getting responses then I will add hyperlinks.

 

[rigs32]

Here we go!

Who are we?
Rigs32 - 32 years old, attorney. This was my 9th trip to the World, 7th staying onsite. The first onsite trip where I had a rental car.
Jefe Blanco - that's his nickname - 36, IT guy. He had only ever been to MK twice and it was years ago.

Friday, Jan 21 - arrival day

We made the choice to pay a tiny bit more money to get direct flights to Orlando, and I would say it was well worth it. We flew AirTran, so we paid $20 to check one bag and then gate checked our carryons for free. The check in process was simple and security was a breeze. Our flight was ontime and we had a group of 2 seats to ourselves near the front of the plane.

Once we could use electronic devices, I got down to business reading on my new Nook. Jefe was playing with his phone. He had a spedometer app and once he figured out how to remove the upper limit, we had a good laugh at the results.



The plane was traveling 473 mph.

As we landed at MCO, it was raining, and I don't think I've ever traveled faster than raindrops before. It was interesting to look at.

We chose to rent a car for our trip as we were planning to eat at a lot of resorts and we were also staying in Kissimmee for a few days after our time in WDW. I booked through Alamo and our rate was less than $15/day for the 11 days we'd be there.

While Jefe waited for the luggage, I went down to the Alamo desk. I registered my info online, so checked in via kiosk. There were a handful of people in line and no one else using a kiosk. I know how crazy the car rental counters can get at MCO, but I guess Friday at 4pm is not one of those times. After getting my car paperwork, I accidently got on the escalator that took me to the airline counters. Oops. Back down one flight via elevator. Even after all that, our flight's baggage had just started to come out on the carousel. A few minutes later, we had all three bags - a touch wet from the rain outside , but nothing inside got wet - and we were off to get the car.

The Alamo cars were not far from the terminal. We crossed the road via a covered walkway. The rain was stopping, but we did not get wet. Into the garage and Alamo cars are just on the right. We could pick any car from the Economy aisle. It was two of us and we weren't going to drive that much. I saw no need to pay for anything bigger. There were only 5 or 6 cars at that time - a later flight and we might have got a free upgrade because they ran out. They were all white and tiny and boring. Except one. The one I chose. I knew I would never lose it in the parking lot, and that was helpful a few times during our trip. What was it?



That's right. A lime green VW Beetle. We had to load bags into the backseat via the trunk, but it was easy to drive, except for the overly sensitive brake.

We took the highway south and stopped at Target for ponchos, water, wine, poptarts, and gum to have in the room. Then off to Pop Century.

I was hesitant to do online check in at POP because I had heard that not all room requests would be taken into account. All I really cared about was a king bed. The values are the only way to get a King without paying extra and Pop only has about 100 out of 3000 rooms.

On the phone I'd requested a King bed (top priority), upper floor, and lake view if possible. I prefer to walk a little farther to get quiet. I got everything I asked for. Well, our view was half trees and half lake, but it was better than the parking lot. We were in the 80s section, building 7. The walk wasn't bad to the food court and we were close to our car and always got a great spot.



There is the view from outside our door as you look right. Not all rooms in our wing were taken when we got there, but they did fill in slowly over the week.

The whole resort seemed really quiet, except for Everything Pop, but I think the cool temperatures were part of that. Very few people were ever in the pools.

Up next.... First dinner at Boatwrights and Bob Jackson's show

 

[rigs32]

bump. Just wondering if I should keep writing. Not really getting any traffic on my thread.

 

[jesemeca]

Hey there. Yea! I'm first. Lol. IKm in for the ride. I was there the same week as you. So it should be interesting to see your point of view of the week. I just started my trip report also. Can't wait to hear more about your trip. Hope it was fun.

 

[aprilisis]

Great start! I'm subscribing!

 

[rigs32]

We both purchased refillable mugs as we like our tea - both hot and iced. I hadn't been to WDW in two years, so I didn't mind that the mug design was still the red one left over from 2010. I did miss the icee option that Pop used to have.

Total cost $29.80

One major bonus of the rental car was easy resort to resort travel. No double bus transfers for us!

Night one I wanted to visit my favorite mod - Port Orleans Riverside. I've stayed there twice and really enjoy the atmosphere. I'd had breakfast there before the rehab and enjoyed it, so we wanted to try dinner there.

It was really not crowded on a Friday night at 7:45. With most parks closing early in the off season I was surprised more people weren't back at their resort. Maybe POR just wasn't that heavily populated that weekend. We were seated within 10 min of arrival.

Our waitress was Patti. She seemed a little inattentive when we first sat down, but she must have been switching from earlier sat tables to our shift as she was great once things got going.

We both ordered the Mega Berry Smoothie for our beverage ($4.69). They were really tasty. Thick, fruity, but not too thick. This was included with the DDP at WDW owned restaurants where we saw it offered, but it would have been an extra charge at Kouzzina. It was nice to have an option other than pop, iced tea, etc. We got enough of those at the resort with our mugs.

I had the Grilled Tenderloin Medallions - served with mac and cheese, Crayfish beignet and red wine Demi-glace ($27.49). Cooked medium, but with a nice charring on the outside which was really tasty.



Jefe had the Slow-roasted Prime Rib - with red wine Demi-glace with Yukon gold potatoes, watercress and balsamic vinaigrette ($27.99). He thought it was really good. Cooked medium rare the way he likes it.



A recurring theme was that I would take a bite before remembering to take a photo.

For dessert I had the No Sugar Added Lemon Pound Cake - with seasonal Berries ($5.49). The strawberries were nice for being January. And it was a nice light way to end the meal.



Jefe had the Chocolate Cake - with Fresh Cream and Raspberry Sauce ($5.99). Neither o us remembers anything outstanding about this one. It was a LOT heavier than mine. The ice cream would have been a $1 charge, but that was covered by the DDP.



Total amount the DDP covered: $82.37

All Jefe knew was that we were staying for a piano player in the bar after dinner. Little did he know....



If you have a free evening at WDW between Wed and Sat, you should check out Bob Jackson at POR. Make a night of it - if you don't want to have a sit down meal, the ambiance in the POR food court is much nicer than at the values. His show runs from 8:30 - midnight and is a ton of fun.

When we arrived, gosh darn it, everyone else seemed to be from NY as well! I was in the kick line and led the hand jive. Jeff was up doing the YMCA and riding a horse around the bar. Good times were had. You must bring a sense of humor and silliness to Bob's show.

The bar area was full for Bob's first set, but slowly emptied out. We staying until around 11 before heading back to POP to get a good night's sleep.

Up next..... Segways!!!!!

 

[rigs32]

I lied. Before Segways we have Saturday breakfast to discuss.

I had eaten at Boma for dinner before and enjoyed it, but it was kinda crowded and noisy. Because of our schedule on Saturday we wanted to have a good breakfast. I was trying to decide between Boma or Trails End. Since we were going to Ft. Wilderness for the Segway tour, Trails End would have been easy. But their buffet is so simple and if we were going to use a dining plan credit for breakfast, I wanted to get as nice a meal as possible. So I took the suggestion of many Disers and made a reservation for Boma.

I think AKL's lobby is amazing. I've since learned that this opinion only holds true for Jambo house, but that's for a later post. When we arrived at AKL we found a great parking spot and walked in. So beautiful, calm, etc compared to Pop Century. Yet there is no way I can justify quadrupling my housing budget for vacation. Hence the visiting hotels for meals plan.

After checking in we waited about 5 min to be seated.




We had a small 2 top by the window. The size of the table was definitely cozy, but the location was great. Almost as far as you can get from the buffet, but we could see out to the pool area, the sun was shining in, and there were only 2 others groups in that area. This was the first of many times were I was a little concerned about noise levels from families with multiple small children, but the family of 6 near us was extremely well behaved. They were from the UK and the children spoke excitedly about their food and their plans for the day. There was also a family of 4 adults near us, also quiet.

This is the view out the window from our table.


This is the view from our table towards the buffet - I had my back to the window.


My first plate. You can see the omelette, fresh fruit, my tea, and jungle juice.


We both got the Jungle Juice - I believe the waitress said it was orange, guava, and mango. Jefe does not enjoy mango but he drank two large glasses of that juice. We both also had hot tea.

As for the food, we both loved the scrambled eggs with goat cheese. I'm not an egg girl. Omelets with lots of toppings are good, but not straight eggs and I liked them as well. The texture and sharp taste were a great compliment. We've talked about trying to replicate them at home. I had a made to order omelet with everything that was quite yummy. It included green pepper, onion, mushrooms, cheese, ham, and bacon. We were both disappointed with the bacon - greasy, limp, not flavorful. I'd heard so many people praise it that I was extra disappointed. We got a lot of yummy, fresh food - the fruit was pretty good for January - and were happy with the meal.

Here you can see the scrambled eggs w/ goat cheese at the top, sausage, ham, brisket, what I think is french toast, a muffin, and some potatoes.


This plate of food has, from the top going clockwise, a chocolate croissant (yummy and not too sweet), bacon, potatoes, grilled tomato, brisket, and some grapes in the middle.


DDP covered $40.45

Total DDP savings $122.82

 

[rigs32]

Updated w/ photos from Boma

 

[rigs32]

After breakfast at Boma, we headed over to Ft. Wilderness for the 11am Segway tour. It's strange to drive through the MK tollbooth and have to explain that you're not actually going to the park. We had room keys, so we wouldn't have had to pay, but if we were staying offsite I would have felt awkward about the situation.

My mom paid for the Segway tour as a holiday gift for us. Jefe had no idea what we were doing and was quite confused as to why we were going to Ft. Wilderness. He thought we might be horseback riding, then fishing. He was a little underwhelmed at first that we were riding Segways for a couple hours, but in the end we both loved it.

After a 15-20 min drive from AKL we arrived at Ft. Wilderness. The way the resort is laid out it's not easy to get anywhere. A few years ago I made the mistake of trying to walk from the check-in area to Trails End. It took a LOOOOONG time. So after parking, we waited for one of the internal buses to take us from the parking lot to the Bike Barn where we were scheduled to meet the tour. There were two buses that go past the Bike Barn area, so we got on the first one that came. We waited less than 5 min. As you can see, we were the only people on the bus:


Here's a view of the lake near the Bike Barn and swimming pool in the middle of Ft. Wilderness:


There were lots of kids playing in the field - boy scouts, perhaps. The archery class was full that day and many people were renting bikes.

Our tour consisted of 10 people - 5 couples, actually. One couple was late, saying they went to the wrong place. We started on time regardless, which I appreciated, and they got caught up.

We all had to wear helmets:


We watched a short video about safety. Our two instructors - Jeff and Ron - were great.



They were personable, upbeat, helpful. We spent about 45 min learning to ride the Segways and practicing - turns, weaving, up and down hills, stopping. One woman had a bit of a tough time and they made sure that she was looked after. Because there were 10 of us, we were in two groups of 5. Jefe and I were the ones who got split up which was a bit of a disappointment; we couldn't laugh at each other the way others could.

When the class was over, we set out as a group to ride around the resort. Again, Jefe and I were separated and eventually he was able to hang back so that we could ride together. The guides knew we were together, so I'm not sure why they didn't assist us in being able to experience the whole thing together - they only part I was a little disappointed in.

We first rode along one of the camping loops to get the feel of riding on the road, then headed up toward Bay Lake. We got to take photos on the Segways by the lake with BLT and Space Mountain in the background. It's tough to see in the thumbnail, but here's our photo:


While we were there, Ron was asking WDW trivia and I rocked it, in part thanks to the Disboards. We both started playing with the Segways while we waited for others to take photos and both managed to anger them by pushing a little too hard. No harm done, but we knew what we could and couldn't do. On the path near the lake, it's part sand, so it was fun to make patterns in the sand. Getting to use the SUV Segways rather than the regular ones is a big part of why I chose this tour rather than the World Showcase one.

We then headed to the horse barn where Disney houses the horses used in parades and on Main Street. The horses that guests can ride are housed near the check-in area at the other end of the resort, but ponies that children can ride are near this area.

You can see the tires and the thickness of the tread here.


This is the horse that rides with the headless horseman during the MNSSHP parade:


After our horse break, we headed off to Wilderness Lodge. The path between the two resorts is pretty long - a mile or more. We off roaded along the way, weaving among trees over pine needles. Ron gave us lots of interesting information about the vegetation we saw along the way. On the way back to the bike barn, almost everyone was feeling confident enough to play with the Segways abilities. I felt quite comfortable myself once we'd gotten going.

Along the path to Wilderness Lodge:


The tour ran about 2 hrs and 15 min in total. We got a pin when we were done, which was a nice surprise as I am a pin person. We hopped on the bus running the wrong way and rode all around the resort before getting back to the car. It didn't add on that much time and I had never seen most of Ft. Wilderness before, so it was a nice ride.

Any questions about the tour? I would highly recommend it. While not cheap, I didn't feel like we over paid (especially since it was a gift, but I would have been happy even if I had paid for it).

Up next... lunch #1 at Wolfgang Puck and more than a day after arrival we finally get into the parks.

 

[rigs32]

After the Segway tour, it was 2pm and neither of us was overly hungry, but wanted to have something so that we would get some more real nourishment before the Wishes Dessert party that night.

Since we had a car, we headed over to my favorite counter service location on property - Wolfgang Puck Express on the Marketplace end of DTD. It was a Saturday afternoon and the Marketplace was packed! The parking lot closest to WPE was closed so we parked closer to the Pleasure Island entrance and walked over. There was no line at WPE given the off hour we were there.

We ordered the Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf ($14), a fountain drink ($2.65), and Creme Brulee ($5). Amount saved through the DDP - $23.06.



As you can see, the meatloaf comes with mashed potatoes and onion straws on top. The onions were nice, the potatoes yummy. The meatloaf was good, but not as good as I was hoping. I tend to make really moist meatloaf and while this wasn't dry it was just normal. I'm not a huge creme brulee person, but the stuff at WPE is always really good. The top is crispy, not burnt, and the texture is nice.

For our drink we got the tropical tea. It was unsweetened, which was nice since flavored teas are almost always sweetened. We actually added a touch of sweetened tea and it was lukewarm from brewing, but ice took care of that. It was sunny, but windy, so we took an inside table near the windows. It didn't take long to get our food and it was a nice sized meal to share.

After that, we went back to POP so I could shower and change. We were headed to the MK that night and with the TTC to deal with, I would rather hop on a bus than drive myself to MK.

When we got back to the room, we found a towel creation - not an animal:


Sadly, it was the only one of the week even though I left tips. It was quite convenient so that our toothbrushes didn't take up too much counter space.

Total DDP savings $145.88

 

[rigs32]

Up next, evening at MK and the Wishes Dessert party.

 

[CarolynK]

Hi! We were in WDW at the same time, from the 20th thru the 23rd. Your title caught me eye, we like to do the same!
The segway tour sounds fun; we're DVC members, and looking for different things to do at WDW...on the 23rd we did the Wild Africa Trek.
Looking forward to more!

 

[aprilisis]

That juice at Boma is SO good! That Segway tour looks really fun, too.

 

[rigs32]

CarolynK - How did you like the Wild Africa Trek? I thought about switching from the Segway tour to that one while the price was affordable, but it just didn't work with our schedule. So many of the tours are 1st thing in the morning and the Ft. Wilderness Segway was at 8:30 or 11. I jumped at the 11am - a nice relaxing start to the trip since we're not morning people.

Aprilisis - I was at the grocery store this weekend and debating whether to buy the juices that went into the Boma juice and try to recreate it, but realized that I had no idea of what proportions to use and I'm always a little cash poor after vacation.

 

[rigs32]

Saturday Night at MK and the Wishes Dessert Party

After a quick shower and changing into warmer clothes, we headed off to the MK. I hate parking at the TTC, so we took the buses to get there. I was surprised how many people were in line for all the park buses around 5:30 or so when we got there. Since we were in the 80s section, it was easier to cut across the parking lot to get to the bus stop. It did take a little of the magic away from the resort atmosphere, but we were at POP, not the Poly, so our expectations were in line with the bottom line.

We waited less than 10 min for a bus to arrive and we were able to get seats for the ~20 min ride to MK. Once we got through security and stepped out onto Main Street. Surprise! It's a parade! The Move It Shake It Celebrate It Parade was turning the corner to head backstage. There was no one between us and the floats, which was exciting - as though it was to welcome us to the World.



After the parade was gone, we went to walk down Main Street. And oh. my. goodness. It was crowded. Crowded in a way that I had never before seen during the off season. Crowded that I had only ever seen in the summer. And people were waiting for the Electrical Parade. An hour early. That's also something you don't tend to see in the off season.

This photo is a little fuzzy, but you can see the size of the crowd behind us.


It was about 6pm at that time and the doors to the Dessert Party opened at 7, so we headed off to find some fun in the meantime. We grabbed a fast pass for Buzz (return time before 7 - awesome!) and hopped on one of my all time favorites..... TTA! Ok, I know they're calling it the Peoplemover again, but I love this simple little ride. I love that when Space Mountain went down on my solo trip I knew enough to hop on the TTA to see the track with all the lights on inside the mountain. It made me giggle, cause that track in no way looks scary, intense, or imposing. More like your low-end 6 flags coasters.

I'd never ridden any of the Dumbo clones, and the line for Astro Orbiter was listed as only 10 min, so we hopped in line. We waited, got in an elevator, waited up on the platform, then went to our ride vehicle. We saw another couple tell the cast member that they would ride together, so we said that we would do the same. As you can see from my photos. We are not tiny people, nor are we overly large people. We should not have ridden together. Jefe had to push back as far as possible and I had to pull my knees up and almost lay down in order to fit. I got a different view of the attraction than I'd thought. I'll have to post a photo of the two of us crammed in there and the video I shot. Maybe I should set up a youtube channel..... Project for the week!

We rode Buzz and of course it took me half the ride to find my laser site. And of course Jefe figured out a way to score more than me his first time ever riding. I play almost as many video games as he does, but not shooters. At least he didn't beat me by TOO much.

Then it was time for the Dessert Party. I had never walked the path by the Tomorrowland Terrace where it was held - I guess my preference for going off season meant that it was always closed. I did not book the Dessert Party until a week before. I booked it prior to the new laser show premiering, but the day after park hours were extended from 9 to 11 and a 2nd showing of the MSEP added. When I saw the crowds on Main St, I was so glad I did. We paid less than $45 for both of us. It wasn't cheap, but it was a nice extra on our first day in the parks and I don't regret it at all.

The line to check in moved quickly. We were escorted to our table that had my name on it. Before we even sat down, Jefe looked at the table, the location, and the view of the castle and said, "this is for us?" He is not an overly emotional guy, but I was also quite impressed with our location. You can see in the photo below how perfect it was.

Our table at the Dessert Party:


The party was sold out and larger parties were in the 2nd row of tables. I'd read on the boards about people moving to the railing to watch the show, so I warned Jefe that we would need to in order to make sure our view was unobstructed. As we hadn't been walking all day, I didn't mind.

You could see the MSEP floats from where we were - we each took photos of Elliott - but it was not prime viewing. I'd intended to watch the 2nd parade, but the park emptied out after Wishes, so we used the time to ride rides and get photopass pics taken instead.

There was a photopass guy with a camera on a tripod to take photos with the castle in the background. He was in training and the photos were not great. I was disappointed, but we got so many great ones later that night I didn't care.

Food. The fruit was nice. Fruit tarts were amazing, but I love me a fruit tart. Chocolate covered strawberries were yummy. Didn't care for the mango shooters. Didn't eat any of the cookies or brownies. We each had a cup of very chocolatey hot chocolate. They ran out of it as it was about 50 degrees at that point, but we didn't mind and switched to hot tea. I don't know if they replaced the hot chocolate, but on such a cold night I would have been annoyed if I wanted more and they did not replace it.

The laser show started around 7:45 and it was amazing. The effects were fantastic. I won't spoil it by sharing my favorites, but I'll post what video I do have to youtube once I get that up and running. You cannot see many of the guest photos because of the angle, a couple trees, and distance from the castle. There was one on the far side that could have been from the photopass person on Main St that I posted above - it was the right setting, two adults, and the clothing looked right, but we were too far to tell if it was us. Since we weren't taking video it really didn't matter anyway.

Still shot taken during the laser show:


There was maybe a 10 min break between the laser show and wishes. Enough time for tea refills and a bathroom run. There was a line for the bathroom directly across from the party, but only because as is usual in a crowd, several stalls were going unused and herd mentality kicked in. I pointed out the unused stalls and the line disappeared.

The show.... Tinkerbell really does fly over you. "She" seemed a lot closer than it appears in the video I took. I kept trying to get a self portrait of us with fireworks in the background, but that was a total fail. I did get some great fireworks shots, though. And I was so busy with my camera that for the first time ever, I didn't tear up watching Wishes. I think the cold played into that, too.

Wishes!


Up next - how much can you get done in an empty themepark?

 

[CarolynK]

CarolynK - How did you like the Wild Africa Trek? I thought about switching from the Segway tour to that one while the price was affordable, but it just didn't work with our schedule. So many of the tours are 1st thing in the morning and the Ft. Wilderness Segway was at 8:30 or 11. I jumped at the 11am - a nice relaxing start to the trip since we're not morning people.

We liked the Trek--we decided to do it because we are getting a little tired of the same-old park stuff (DVC members), and we happened to be there during the $129 introductory price. We're not morning people, either, so we did the noon trek. It was a nice way to see AK in a different way...the lunch break, where we got to spend time just sitting in the middle of the savannah, watching the animals, was our favorite part.
The segway sounds like fun; my kids are 15 and 13, and I'm guessing there's probably an age minimum? Anyway, we're happy there are alternatives to park time.

 

[CarolynK]

Forgot to ask you, did the weather improve as your trip went on? We were very disappointed at the temps for our trip. Obviously, a hazard of traveling in January, but still, we wore our winter coats almost the entire time (and we're from Chicago!). Holding a cold beer in Epcot is not easy when your hands are freezing

 

[Disney_Jill]

The Segway tour looks like a lot of fun. Your rental car is very cute!! We did the wishes dessert party once and it was really nice, the view, obviously, is amazing!
We just got back from the Pop yesterday and I miss it already.

 

[rigs32]

The temps weren't terrible. We were actually overdressed when we Drank Around the World, but rented a locker for our extra layers and were glad to have them after dark. Most days were 60s. The wind is what would get you and, of course, it was quite chilly at night. But the only 2 nights we spent in the park were Sat at MK and Epcot for drinking.

I think the Segway age limit is 16. You have to sign a release, so I'm sure that's the basis for the age limit. Definitely something to check out once they're old enough.

 

[aprilisis]

That dessert party looks awesome!! Definitely post a link to the video when you get it on Youtube. I can't wait to see it!!