A Private, Romantic 30th Anniversary Trip- Just Ask My Friends! Last Afternoon: EP p. 37 9/19

[Grumpy's Wife]

Don't you just love an empty park? Even though it's not totally empty it's so nice walking down Main Street and not being pushed by the mobs. Great pictures.

 

[natebenma]

Yes, tinted fertilizer... that's what it was.

Loving your report, Dee.

Thank you so much! Glad you are enjoying following along!

Great pictures, both from top of the world and pre-opening MK.

It was fun to watch the fireworks from the top of the world. It really showed how Disney uses perspective. the castle looks small compared to Space Mountain because the castle is really small. It is a perfect example of the tricks Disney plays with perspective. I was really struck by the fact that there are two sets of fireworks that combine to make one show. I was surprised at how far apart the fireworks are set off. They must be at least a couple of miles apart.

It was such a nice surprise to meet Missy and Franklin. They are such incredible people and the best example of a perfect Disney fan.

I'm amused that they paint the grass. Not at all surprised, but hadn't given that any thought before.

So good to hear that your Ben scare was innocent. It is so hard to go through the first time leaving your child alone. He did great and will do even better next time. I still remember how anxious I felt the first time we left our son alone. All was well, but it was stressful!

Keep the updates coming. I love that I can relive some of my trip through yours!

Thanks!

It was great going up to the Top of the World! Watching Wishes from above and not having to jostle for a viewing position. Given my, um, height deficiencies, when I try to watch shows from ground level my view is always blocked.

It is always a treat to spend some time with Missy and Franklin. We met them in person for the first time in April in DC when they met us for dinner. And we talked about our overlapping October trip. So glad we got to see them again, even though it was a brief encounter.

Painted grass- wonder what other illusions are perpetrated at the World.

We were so proud of Ben. He contacted us at least 3 times a day, when he woke up, when he got home from school, when he was going up to bed. This was the only glitch we encountered.

It was great sharing a trip with you for the 3rd time!

PPO breakfast is on our bucket list as well. Unfortunately at least for now we travel during 2 very popular times Spring Break and Thanksgiving. They just updated March hours and there goes my BOG PPO breakfast
I love all your castle pictures and you can never have too many
Magic shots are great and I love your profile pic so cute
Spraying painting the grass

We normally travel at busy times, summer or during the kids' school breaks (Feb/April). This is the first winter the boys have different vacation weeks- Nate's is now spring break in March.

I'm glad we kept our early breakfast reservation, but there were a couple of issues. Coming up in the next update.

I was happy with the pictures on Main Street, but I kept cutting off the very top of the castle in many of the pictures I didn't post- which I probably wouldn't have noticed if my better half hadn't pointed that out to me!

 

[wdwnut61]

I was happy with the pictures on Main Street, but I kept cutting off the very top of the castle in many of the pictures I didn't post- which I probably wouldn't have noticed if my better half hadn't pointed that out to me!

I like to cut off the top of the castle in my pics too DD's always like to point it out

 

[natebenma]

I remember that the Yacht Club was one of the first resorts to test the new Magic Bands.

Of course you should have taken the picture. You are doing important research for the benefit of all.

That's correct. Our family trip to the Beach Club was in July 2013, and then the following month the limited Magic Band testing began at the Yacht Club. Someone who was at our table that night may have been involved in long-term MB testing.

There may have been a short conversation about photographing the painting of the grass:

"Don't take a picture of that!"

"OK"

"Click"

I "liked" the most recent update for many reasons, but these are at the top of the list:

1. Painted grass!!!
2. Really wonderful photo of you and Mark.
3. The photo of Mark pointing at Tink.

Glad you enjoyed the update and I agree with your top 3!

Don't you just love an empty park? Even though it's not totally empty it's so nice walking down Main Street and not being pushed by the mobs. Great pictures.

We do love an empty park! That is one of the reasons we always go to the early magic hours park. It was great not being crowded on Main Street.

I like to cut off the top of the castle in my pics too DD's always like to point it out

The world, and our families, are full of critics apparently!

 

[annie170]

Watching Wishes from Top of the World Lounge has to be one of the most perfect things in life! Looks like you had great company, too!

That had to be an incredibly scary few minutes worrying about Ben. Was he by himself?

Cute Main Street photos of you two!

We were able to see the new welcome show in January. It's now done in front of the castle, so Main Street is much more crowded. We were able to get some good family shots. This was a smart move on Disney's part as people are able to shop and get coffee before the park officially opens.

We've only had lunch at BOG, so I'm interested to hear your thoughts on breakfast.

Happy Valentines Day! I've got to get out of here to pick up donuts for my students!

 

[natebenma]

Watching Wishes from Top of the World Lounge has to be one of the most perfect things in life! Looks like you had great company, too!

That had to be an incredibly scary few minutes worrying about Ben. Was he by himself?

Cute Main Street photos of you two!

We were able to see the new welcome show in January. It's now done in front of the castle, so Main Street is much more crowded. We were able to get some good family shots. This was a smart move on Disney's part as people are able to shop and get coffee before the park officially opens.

We've only had lunch at BOG, so I'm interested to hear your thoughts on breakfast.

Happy Valentines Day! I've got to get out of here to pick up donuts for my students!

It truly was a magical experience watching Wishes from the Top of the World! It was so great to be there with dear friends!

I didn't come out an explicitly say it, but yes, Ben was alone. My next door neighbor and 3 of my trusted friends who live nearby were the only ones who knew. If he felt uncomfortable at any point, he could have stayed the night at my neighbors or at one of the other friends' houses. He was excited that we stocked the house with all of his favorite, easy to prepare foods including a leftover Chinese food feast. When we talked about the different scenarios of people who could stay with him, we came to the conclusion that there was nobody whose judgement we trusted more than his own. Ben did not tell his friends that nobody was home, so he didn't put himself in an awkward position of someone trying to take advantage the situation. Again, we could not be more proud of how well Ben handled himself.

Thanks for the info about the welcome show. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I will probably have to wait until I experience it myself to know.

BOG update coming right up!

Happy Valentines Day to you. What a great teacher and lucky students!

 

[natebenma]

Be Our Guest


When we finished taking our pictures on a not-so-crowded Main Street, it was time for our breakfast.

This would be the first time Mark had been in New Fantasyland.

We walked towards Beast’s castle and Mark asked “What’s that?”

I told him that is where we were eating.

“Don’t you remember seeing the construction on our last trip?” (July 2013)

“No”



I don’t remember the exact process to check in. I got into the line here on the left.

It was confusing and I think we got conflicting directions about where to go if we had preordered our meal. At some point we got a rose which would direct the servers to deliver our meals after we picked out seat.


We went past the "golions" (goat + lion) guarding the door and entered the restaurant.

Where to sit?


The one time I had been before for lunch with a friend, we ate in the music box room.


The West Wing has amazing theming, but it is too dark for me.

Light up goblets


So we grabbed a seat here:

We had pre-ordered our meals. Or so I thought…

It is unusual for both Mark and me to order the same entrée because we like to share and try different things, but nothing else on the menu appealed to us, so we each selected this in our MDE accounts when the pre-order notification came:


Open-Faced Bacon and Egg Sandwich - Poached Eggs, Applewood Bacon, Brie Cheese, and Arugula on a toasted Baguette served with Fresh Fruit and a selection of pastries. - $24.00


We took our seats and each got coffee and one juice to share.

The servers come by pushing large carts to deliver the food that was ordered.

When our server came by, she just set down one of the sandwiches. When we told her we both ordered the same thing, she looked confused. She said she would come back with a second sandwich.

I looked at the receipt I had and it only showed one meal. Apparently, I should have ordered both meals through my MDE account instead of us each ordering on our own.

So Mark went up to the order stand, explained what had happened, and ordered/paid for his meal.

Shortly after coming back, a server came by with a sandwich for him.

And then a few minutes later, another server tried to bring a third sandwich.

We said we were all set and had received everything we ordered:

The egg sandwich was really good, but both of ours were cold.

I’m not wild about pastry, I don’t like too much sweet stuff in the morning, but the tray of treats was better than I expected.

The fresh fruit was ok, not quite ripe enough, but not bad.


Overall, the meal was meh. The setting is beautiful, but it didn’t blow Mark away. The food was good, but expensive. But we weren’t paying for the food so much as for the opportunity to get into the park early for some once-in-a-lifetime pictures. Mission accomplished there.


We also had a lunch reservation booked at Be Our Guest on our final day of the trip. We had not pre-ordered our meals for this.


We had hoped to be able to get into the park a little bit before the park opened at 9 am, but we were held back here

We could see the a few of the people who were part of the Early Magic Morning from where we were standing


At 8:52, we heard an announcement that the Magic Kingdom was now open!


We were free!

Where to first?


Next up: Magic Morning and a first for Mark

 

[rteetz]

I have yet to do BOG for breakfast and it seems thats one of the least preferable meals there. I really do enjoy dinner there though.

Can't wait to see where you went first.

 

[Feckless]

Love the update!

 

[wdwnut61]

More great pictures
I agree the West Wing is too dark great theming but I had to use the flashlight on my phone to read the menu
I had read other reviews their food was cold.
I booked ours for the same reason early park access not the food .

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

I have loved your last 2 updates Sitting here today looking out at the rain and thinking of all that I should be doing but having a thoroughly wonderful time reading your report. Your (almost) empty Main Street snaps are so good. I love the one with the moon in the sky and the photopass photos of you and Mark are just perfect for a post Valentine's Day session on the Dis
I did a pre-park breakfast at BOG with my youngest son last summer and we loved it,like yourselves, mainly for the early access and that feeling of being in before the madness begins. We only ate about half our food and he hasn't quite forgiven them for sneaking a bran muffin in there when he thought it was chocolate!! I loved the ballroom with all the snowy windows and found the staff to be very friendly. My son enjoyed getting a round of applause as the restaurant opened for the day and we were all led inside
We managed to ride 7dmt twice back to back and then scooted over to splash mountain all before the rest of the world invaded

Oh and the "green" grass made me laugh

 

[annie170]

That breakfast sandwich looks good. That's too bad it was cold. We've only had lunch at BOG, but the breakfast does appear to be a good value on the dining plan. That's a lot of pastries for two people. I'm kind of surprised they don't ask what you would like instead of giving the whole platter.

I love the West Wing, but our little granddaughter found it too scary. Ballroom or Music Box Room for us.

Let me guess, 7DMT first?

 

[chunkymonkey]

Will write more soon but I just saw that they changed the open faced sandwich at BoG breakfast to a croissant instead of the baguette. I'm kinda bummed as usually when croissants are in sandwiches they are soggy and I liked the crunch of the baguette. I still ordered it though because I really liked that dish so I will report on it when I get back!

 

[amazingact21]

I'm so happy to read that you were able to experience a pre-park opening on Main St. It's so refreshing to see the park empty and ready for the day to start. And now with the new opening setup, it's good that you accomplished that bucket list item when you did.

BOG's prices always seemed crazy for the type of food served. However, your sandwich did look better than I expected. (The minute you said Mark went to pay for his sandwich, I thought to myself, "They are gonna bring an extra one.")

I'm curious to see how your morning goes since you had a jump start on location.

 

[MrsPMcD]

Just joined DIS and found your trip report VIA the BC/YC FAQs section - thank you for both! Really enjoying reading along, sounds like a fantastic trip and a great way to celebrate your anniversary - congratulations

 

[natebenma]

I have yet to do BOG for breakfast and it seems thats one of the least preferable meals there. I really do enjoy dinner there though.

Can't wait to see where you went first.

I have only been for breakfast and lunch.

I loved being able to get into the park early, but I think I liked lunch at BOG a bit more.

A special occasion dinner there would be nice.

Love the update!

Thanks so much!!!

More great pictures
I agree the West Wing is too dark great theming but I had to use the flashlight on my phone to read the menu
I had read other reviews their food was cold.
I booked ours for the same reason early park access not the food .

Thank you!

I don't think I could eat in the West Wing. I am just so much happier in a well-lit dining room.

The sandwich was good, and probably would have been excellent if it had been warm. Breakfast was really pricey, but it was definitely about the experience of getting into the park early.

I have loved your last 2 updates Sitting here today looking out at the rain and thinking of all that I should be doing but having a thoroughly wonderful time reading your report. Your (almost) empty Main Street snaps are so good. I love the one with the moon in the sky and the photopass photos of you and Mark are just perfect for a post Valentine's Day session on the Dis
I did a pre-park breakfast at BOG with my youngest son last summer and we loved it,like yourselves, mainly for the early access and that feeling of being in before the madness begins. We only ate about half our food and he hasn't quite forgiven them for sneaking a bran muffin in there when he thought it was chocolate!! I loved the ballroom with all the snowy windows and found the staff to be very friendly. My son enjoyed getting a round of applause as the restaurant opened for the day and we were all led inside
We managed to ride 7dmt twice back to back and then scooted over to splash mountain all before the rest of the world invaded

Oh and the "green" grass made me laugh

Thank you!

The moon was so pretty that week. First on the plane, then at night while we were watching Illuminations and as the sun was rising over Main Street! This was the month before the November super-moon.

Bran muffin???? I missed that! Or I was tricked too.

How fun to open the restaurant and to get to ride some things early. Like, were you riding Mine Train before the park opened? I think we would have been let into the park a bit before opening if they didn't have the paid Early Morning Magic going on that day.

 

[natebenma]

That breakfast sandwich looks good. That's too bad it was cold. We've only had lunch at BOG, but the breakfast does appear to be a good value on the dining plan. That's a lot of pastries for two people. I'm kind of surprised they don't ask what you would like instead of giving the whole platter.

I love the West Wing, but our little granddaughter found it too scary. Ballroom or Music Box Room for us.

Let me guess, 7DMT first?

You are right at $Twenty-something for the meal per person, it would have been worth it on the dining plan (for a quick serve?). We paid OOP.

My biggest complaint with lunch is that I ordered the wrong thing. I got the tuna Nicoise because it was light and I had a big breakfast that morning, but it didn't really hit the spot.

I like the ballroom dining room.

Good guess, close...

Will write more soon but I just saw that they changed the open faced sandwich at BoG breakfast to a croissant instead of the baguette. I'm kinda bummed as usually when croissants are in sandwiches they are soggy and I liked the crunch of the baguette. I still ordered it though because I really liked that dish so I will report on it when I get back!

UGH!!! The baguette was good, I think better than on croissant. Plus that will make it much smaller, right?

I think I told you I had Mark read all about your review of your BOG breakfast and morning before we went.

I'm so happy to read that you were able to experience a pre-park opening on Main St. It's so refreshing to see the park empty and ready for the day to start. And now with the new opening setup, it's good that you accomplished that bucket list item when you did.

BOG's prices always seemed crazy for the type of food served. However, your sandwich did look better than I expected. (The minute you said Mark went to pay for his sandwich, I thought to myself, "They are gonna bring an extra one.")

I'm curious to see how your morning goes since you had a jump start on location.

Yes, I'm so glad we finally got into the park early. It was as great as I imagined it would be!

The sandwiches were good. Ha! That's what I figured, too. I was pretty sure he would get a sandwich, but he didn't want to get it without paying for it. Although I would have been perfectly content sharing mine and the pastry with him and not paying or getting an additional (or 2) sandwiches!

Hopefully I'll get to my update soon.

 

[natebenma]

Just joined DIS and found your trip report VIA the BC/YC FAQs section - thank you for both! Really enjoying reading along, sounds like a fantastic trip and a great way to celebrate your anniversary - congratulations

to the report and posting on the DIS!

Glad you have found the FAQ as well. It is a great resource and there are a lot of knowledgeable and friendly people who hange out there.

Thanks for the good wishes. It was an amazing trip! Lots of magic moments for us.

 

[SarahDisney]

We walked towards Beast’s castle and Mark asked “What’s that?”

I told him that is where we were eating.

“Don’t you remember seeing the construction on our last trip?” (July 2013)

“No”

I actually laughed at this. Oh, Mark, how can you forget the construction that took up half of Fantasyland??

Overall, the meal was meh. The setting is beautiful, but it didn’t blow Mark away. The food was good, but expensive. But we weren’t paying for the food so much as for the opportunity to get into the park early for some once-in-a-lifetime pictures. Mission accomplished there.

I love BOG, but I definitely see it as more of an atmosphere thing than a food thing. Plus, pre-park "empty" castle pictures are definitely worth what they charge for BOG. I'm sorry to hear that your food wasn't so good, but at least you accomplished your mission.

I'm looking forward to reading about how you made use of the emptier first few hours in the park!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

The moon was so pretty that week. First on the plane, then at night while we were watching Illuminations and as the sun was rising over Main Street! This was the month before the November super-moon.

Bran muffin???? I missed that! Or I was tricked too.
Yup! I went back and checked your photos and you've got a mini bran muffin there too. It really does look like a chocolate one though much to my son's continued disgust!
How fun to open the restaurant and to get to ride some things early. Like, were you riding Mine Train before the park opened? I think we would have been let into the park a bit before opening if they didn't have the paid early morning opening

We got to ride mine train about 10 minutes before the park opened to everyone else which meant we got 2 turns. Then we speed walked to splash mountain and had only a couple of minutes to wait before we were aboard our log ( sorry to add to your pain)
I would do early breakfast again in a heartbeat for the pleasure of being deep in the park before everyone else