Beauty and Majesty, Shining Magically * Nov '15 TR! UPDATE 2/18

[Vernie822]

Lunch that day was at Food and Wine! We were excited to get back and try a few more items.

We entered through the International Gateway and started in France.

I went with the Ice Pop Pomme

And Justin started with the beouf bourignon (that is likely spelled 100% incorrectly).

Both of these were good. The ice pop pomme was the messiest thing ever. The plastic contraption it was in was of really poor quality, so any time I pushed it up (like a Flinestones push up ice cream!) it just leaked everywhere. It was frozen, but not frozen enough. Yes it was tasty, had a green apple flavor to it, but I much prefer the Grey Goose slushes in France. Far less messy. I wouldn't get this again, but it was a cute idea. Poor execution.

The beouf bourignon was good, the mashed potatoes were really creamy and the short ribs were falling right apart. The cabernet sauce was really delicious too.

Next we moved on to Belgium where Justin chose the Belgium waffle with chocolate and I chose the braised beef waffle.

Last year we had tried the chocolate waffle & the waffle with berry compote, and we loved both. This year I wanted to try the braised beef waffle with smoked gouda cream. Both of these were outstanding. We intended to stop again. Justin was surprised at how much he loved the braised beef waffle. The beef was plentiful and there were some other veggies in the dish as well. The smoked gouda cream really added a ton of flavor. The waffle itself was nice and thick (it was a potato and leek waffle). We loved this and we can't wait to get it again in the future.

Next up, in the American Adventure pavilion, we gave the Chase Visa Lounge a try. Anyone with a Chase Visa can enter and bring a few guests. I'm not sure how many because there is only two of us. All we had to do was show the CM our card upon entering. I think this is only for the festival but I could be wrong.

We headed up a few flights of stairs, but there's also an elevator.

To the right of the stairs, there was a room where you could get a *FREE* cup of Coke. They were the fun Coke Freestyle machines where you can get just about anything. I think they also had coffee and tea, and you could purchase beer or wine.

We each grabbed a Coke and found the seating area. It was nice and cool. There were plenty of tables and they had a tv playing episodes of The Chew. There was also another room with stuff for kids, maybe a Wii or a Playstation?

After the Lounge, Justin decided to try the ravioli a caprese in Italy.

Justin declared that "Chef Boyardee does it better" and while he still ate it, he was less than thrilled and said it pretty basic.

We approached Mexico, where we decided on a frozen lime margarita, and while we were there, we hopped in line (notice NO line to the right of the booth, and a huge line to the left!)

Justin went with the chilaquildes de pollo (corn chips with chicken, queso fresco, sour cream, and cilantro) and I chose the shrimp taco, which I'd heard great things about. I also meant to try the sweet corn cheesecake but I never got around to that.

We ended up parking it on a bench and enjoying the sights and sounds of Epcot for a bit with our Mexican goodies. Justin liked the chilaquiles okay, the corn chips were soggy (I think that's part of the dish though) and said the flavor was good but it was just an odd texture.

The shrimp taco was fabulous! The perfect size. The shrimp were battered and flavorful, and the pico de gallo and pickled onions added to it as well. The chipotle mayo was creamy with just the right amount of spice. This was definitely a great item in my opinion.

I went with one more item, the infamous scallop with bacon and spinach cheddar gratin.

This was my first time having this and WOW, was it good! I just loved it. Honestly I loved the baby puke colored spinach cheddar gratin with bacon even more than the scallop itself. It was a really good dish.

It honestly wasn't too long after 1 before we left and headed back to AKL. I know I didn't nap, just chilled in the room for a bit, but Justin did nap that afternoon.

Up next, we head to Downtown Disney to do some Christmas shopping!​

 

[Vernie822]

Hey there... apparently I missed you starting your TR about 2 months ago. In my defense, I know I was out of town when you started it. Anyway, I managed to start reading along and I'll have to finish catching up later.

Hey Andy.. Welcome!! It's ok, I'm about 2 months late keeping up with it hahaha. I need to give it some more attention!

It's good to see how much stress a relationship can handle before there's a wedding.

Hahaha... if TSMM/Buzz Lightyear is the only stressor right now, I'm all for it!

Pretty awesome, isn't it?

It was our first time seeing the Christmas decor. Justin basically had to drag me down Main Street because I just stood there gazing at everything.

That's a great idea! I noticed my phone battery was draining ridiculously fast between going in and out of cell coverage and constantly searching for wifi... I think my phone dropped to like 20% before lunch one day in MK.

Thanks, I do it almost every day while we are there! I always bring a portable charger but yes my Iphone is down to 20% by lunch some days. Especially with having it out to take pictures. It saves a ton of battery not opening up the app every 30 minutes.

Holy crap. An hour for a flight of beer? Forget this, I'm going next door to Cava de Tequila!

Right! I should have done the same. An hour was ridiculous especially with how hot it was - I learned my lesson during hot weekends at food and wine, that's for sure.

Always my choice too.

This was so good, I can't wait to get it again. I'm not sure how I made it 3 trips in the last few years without one. Although the No Way Jose at Beaches and Cream may be even better.

That's frustrating. I always just plan to stand, regardless. I was getting on a full bus at MK one night and it frustrated me seeing so many younger people just plopping down. And there were a few parents with strollers too who just sat down with strollers in the middle of the aisle so that people couldn't get through. I was standing in the back half of the bus and there wasn't anyone standing within 10 feet of me because they couldn't get past the strollers. I've been on a bus with a stroller myself, but I at least try to hold it up or get it out of the way so that people can at least get through. Its things like this and the people butting in front at the parade that bother me. I was kind of an ****** to some people at a parade one night myself. But I'd been holding my spot for 30 minutes so I really don't care what they thought of me!

It is so frustrating! I always feel like saying something but I never do. I just always feel terrible for the dads holding sleeping kids and strollers and the moms (when they get a seat) with 1-2 kids and a bunch of crap piled on top of them. I really felt bad that the girl next to me didn't have a seat. It's unfortunately every man for themselves at the parade, hahaha.. and if you stand there for 30 minutes and hold a spot, I don't blame you for saying something! Those people are the worst.

 

[afwdwfan]

While we were in line, we were behind a really nice family with a mom, dad, 5 or 6 year old girl, and baby sister. The mom turned around and asked us if we would be here for the week and we said yes. She offered us 3 rider switch passes since this would be their last day.

Awesome! You got some really useful ones too!

(My hair today had already had enough!!! Lol)

I wanted to make a comment that for better hair, pictures should be taken before riding roller coasters. But that goes against every bit of my park touring methods.

We did the Safari after that. Again, no wait, so we switched some FP's around. We honestly don't ride a ton at Animal Kingdom, I won't do anything in Dinoland because it makes me wanna hurl, so last trip we discovered that if we rope drop AK, we can get our favorites done and just use FP's elsewhere that day.

I agree. AK is my 4th favorite park. I really do love it, but it just doesn't have a lot for me. We've got a great zoo locally that in my honest opinion offers some better views and experiences with animals than AK. So it doesn't really appeal to me just to see the animals. And there aren't enough rides/attractions to take a whole day. It really is a beautiful, well themed park, but we've always used it to give us a break in the afternoon and an evening elsewhere. I'm looking forward to the river of lights but kind of cursing it under my breath because now we'll have to dedicate an evening to AK.

My brother had two pet parakeets for a while growing up. Until my sister fed one of them candy corn and then we only had one..

A guy a few rows back said he had one. So they had him get it out and stand up, and the bird was (I think) supposed to fly in, get the dollar, and leave.. or fly in and sit on his arm, I'm not sure. The bird flew in.. parked it right on his arm.. and started.. "loving" him. Of course the kids had no idea but all of the adults were laughing hysterically.

It's a bird of the night... workin' for a dolla

Then there was another bird who just had to.. Let it Go, I guess.. right in the middle of the air.. thankfully I don't think it landed on anyone but the stage but that definitely added some entertainment to the show.

Makes me re-think wanting to see this one!

I snuck a few pictures inside the Rivers of Light curtains.. Right before I was carted off in handcuffs.. (Kidding)

I appreciate the dedication to the TR. But we're not starting a gofundme for your bail.

The portions are a perfectly acceptable size here, but for someone with a big appetite, they may seem a bit small. I was hungry a few hours later, mostly because of the heat and a small breakfast.

This one hasn't ever been high on my radar due to the menu... I'm just not into Asian flavors. But I'm a big eater. So I'm not sure that would work for me!

If you entered through the main doors at Kidani, through the lobby, our room was to the right, #7237. It was maybe a 4 minute walk to the lobby, and we were on the same floor. It was nice not to worry about going up or down on the elevator to get to the lobby. This came in handy as when we got off the bus we could just go through the lobby, fill up Justin’s mug, and head to our room.

DW and I had a conversation about this during our trip. We loved POR, but we were remembering our stay at WL and how convenient it was that everything was right there in one building. That really is a nice advantage of the deluxe resorts.

The gym had plenty of cardio and weight machines, as well as some free weights. Definitely a very nice gym! Justin intended on maybe using it, but with all of the walking that's done at Disney, I didn't really expect us to make it there (we didn't.)

If you have time and energy for the gym at Disney World, you're doing it wrong.

Typically we are commando/go go go type of vacationers with very little downtime, and the downtime we do take is usually a half hour to an hour catnap to get out of the sun and relax. In the future, if we stay deluxe, I think we'll plan at least one day where we have nothing to do to explore the resort. When we stayed at the Poly, we definitely spent more time at the resort. AKL has so much to do that if you're ever planning a "resort heavy" trip, it's the perfect place to stay!

I think this is an important point. This is my touring strategy and that's why I tend to like the value resorts. I just need a room with a comfortable bed. But I really would like to take a long enough trip to give us plenty of park days and still have a day or 2 to relax at a deluxe resort.

Pizza Planet! I had not been here for years (we definitely begged our parents to eat here as kids). It does not get rave reviews, but it's perfectly acceptable for a quick service meal in my opinion.

I agree. It isn't great, but it is ok.

Justin had intended to order just the pepperoni pizza with an ice water, but instead the CM rang up a bottled water and a pepperoni pizza meal (comes with Caesar salad). When we let him know that wasn't what we wanted (we hadn't even paid yet) he said he had already put it through. Which sounds like a load of crap but we're not really ones to argue so we paid our $13 and moved on.

I had a similar problem on our last trip at a different CS place. It was like the CM was in too big of a hurry to enter the info that she was pretty much deciding what I wanted to order for me. I got the receipt, noticed that it was incorrect and she told me it was entered and she couldn't change it and I'd just have to tell them at the counter. In my case they just ended up giving me extra food I didn't pay for, but if this is an issue that they can't fix a screwed up order, you'd think they'd want to modify the system a bit.

Justin didn't love the pizza. He said it was obviously frozen (I hated to break it to him but I hope he didn't expect Buzz and Woody to be back there hand tossing the pizzas haha) but he ate it anyways and said it was fine.

Well.... yeah. I mean this is why Pizza Planet is loathed by so many. It is fine, but just don't expect gourmet pizza.

I am SO GLAD we were able to see these for our first and final time on this trip. Being there was truly magical. I might have even cried. It really put me in the Christmas spirit and it was amazing to watch. I hope you all have had the chance to see them at some point, because they are so awesome!

I'm really glad you were able to see them. I absolutely love the Osborne lights and it killed me that I missed their last night by 2 days...

Granted I didn't have a ticket for the night I was there 2 days after the lights ended, but if they had still been running... I'd have spent a hundred bucks to get in there and see them once more.

So if you’re keeping track, Fantasmic is approximately 25 minutes long and 10 minutes later we were checking in to 50’s. Not bad!

Yeah, you got out of there fast! Definitely helps that it was just 2 of you and you're both adults, but still impressive.

ustin ended up eating my meatloaf and my chicken leg since I wasn't going to finish. But both were yummy and we'll definitely be back again sometime.

I'm glad you liked it and that the meatloaf met his approval.

Omg, YOU GUYS.. I am AWFUL at updating this thing, haha!! I have got to get better at it. I definitely have been updating the dining report over this - oops.

That's alright. I've obviously been slow to find it. Thanks for waiting. I don't know that I'll get to the dining review. I don't often follow those unless someone with a TR posts about a place I'm really interested in learning about.

 

[ariane37]

Steve and I just had breakfast at Boma last Sunday and I agree, that French toast bread pudding with the pecan sauce is AMAZING! BTW we also loved AKV Decided that's where we want to stay with the kids the next time we go!

 

[Vernie822]

I apologize if these updates are a little boring. This night was kind of our quiet night, so we took it easy.

After our relaxing in the room, we headed out to Disney Springs to look for some Christmas gifts. We didn't end up taking anything home with us - with the new shop app we found that the ornaments we picked out for our moms were also at plenty of other places, so we got them later that week.

We waited quite a while for a bus, but we weren't too worried about it.

The Christmas shop had an entire room dedicated to Frozen. We found a really cute Olaf ornament and Olaf mug for Justin's mom.

We did lots of walking around Disney Springs to check everything out. The Boathouse is still on our list of places to try.

And Il Gelato had recently opened up! They had some really good looking flavors.

And Jock Lindsay's Hangar Bar had recently opened as well!

We decided to pop in and see what the inside looked like. The hostess was so friendly and invited us to come in and look around and take pictures.

Hopefully we'll be popping in here for a drink next time.

There are lots of great places to try now that Disney Springs is booming! Morimoto, Boathouse, Jock Lindsey's, and lots of new places opening up too. I think next trip we'll try a DTD Bar Crawl (I say that lightly because chances are we'll split a drink at most places since neither of us can drink much anymore haha) to try out a few of these places. We're doing the Deluxe Dining Plan in April, and I've been wanting to get back to Raglan Road (Justin's never been and while I didn't love my meal, I do love the bread pudding). I also want to try the Boathouse (not sure if I can justify 2 credits) so maybe we'll try both and just split something at each.

Except the bread pudding. Even if Justin did like it, I still wouldn't share.

Back to Kidani we went, for a "chill" evening of Animal watching and naan dipping.

Our ADR was for 7:50 PM. Originally it was for a different day of our trip, but I had switched things around a week or so before and had my pick of times. So I thought if we wanted to check in early we'd give it a try and it would probably be no problem. Well we were back from DS around 6:30, so we decided to try and check in. We thought that if they took us, great, if not, we'd go hang out in our room for a bit or explore the resort some more.

We checked in and we were told that the restaurant was operating "on reservations only". No walk ins would be allowed and they were seated according to reservation time. Before we could tell her "that's okay, we'll come back at 7:50" she gave us our buzzer. We stayed within the area so we wouldn't miss our table being ready. Our buzzer worked in the lobby, and on the back patio, so we thought we'd go look at the animals with night vision goggles.

​

It was raining a bit (drizzling) that night, so they actually weren't doing the night vision goggles. They said they can't get them wet, so they don't bring them out when it's raining. (FYI in case you plan to do this in the future!) We were pretty bummed because this was the main "resort time" we had planned here. Definitely wish we would have planned more!

The fire pit area was pretty cool and it would definitely be fun to sit out there when it wasn't wet and rainy!

The lobby has such warm colors and is very warm and inviting. We sat up there for a little bit, too.

After a bit longer of waiting, we got called to our table around 8:00. So we had been waiting an hour and a half, which was our own fault since we checked in super early!

Our server was really sweet and we liked her a lot. We decided to start with bread service, which I had heard soo many good things about.

This was SO GOOD. I had been looking forward to this for so long, so I was really glad we got all 5 breads and 9 dips! We shared this and I didn't order an entree so I just considered this my meal. It was definitely big enough for multiple people to share. And the price ($12 or $13?) really isn't too bad. A couple of families near us had it and shared it between 4-5 people.

Justin ordered an entree. He went with the Tandoori chicken.

The menu here wasn't really something I thought Justin would enjoy, but we both wanted to try the bread service so we booked the ADR. He didn't want something huge, so he ordered this. He and I both agree that he just ordered poorly. Delicious looking food was coming out left and right! This was just kinda dry and didn't have a ton of flavor. Justin wasn't thrilled with his choice but overall we enjoyed the dining experience and we'd return again.

We stopped in the little store up in the lobby to fill up Justin's mug. We also decided to grab dessert as I'd been eyeing up these guys for the past few days..

And of course, we ate them in bed as we watched TV that night.

And they were DELICIOUS! Justin's first Mickey bar and it may have been my first too (blasphemy!) as I don't ever remember having one as a kid (I was a fan of the strawberry Minnie popsicles).

Up next, day 4 finds us eating around the world at Epcot pretty much all day. ​

​

 

[Vernie822]

I wanted to make a comment that for better hair, pictures should be taken before riding roller coasters. But that goes against every bit of my park touring methods.

Haha! I am always trying to get Justin to stop at Photopass people and it's a rarity that I can actually get him to, so I'll take what I can get!

Awesome! You got some really useful ones too!

I know! That was so nice of them. They came in handy the rest of the trip for sure.

I agree. AK is my 4th favorite park. I really do love it, but it just doesn't have a lot for me. We've got a great zoo locally that in my honest opinion offers some better views and experiences with animals than AK. So it doesn't really appeal to me just to see the animals. And there aren't enough rides/attractions to take a whole day. It really is a beautiful, well themed park, but we've always used it to give us a break in the afternoon and an evening elsewhere. I'm looking forward to the river of lights but kind of cursing it under my breath because now we'll have to dedicate an evening to AK.

As much as I love the theming and overall vibe of AK, I just can't spend a whole day there. Sure, I go to WDW a few times a year, so it's easier for me to say that since I'm there so often. But by lunch time we are almost always done. We have the Pittsburgh Zoo not too far from us and I grew up going there so I totally hear you on the nice zoo part. Believe it or not Justin HAD NEVER BEEN TO A ZOO before we went to Animal Kingdom. What. I knew he grew up in the country of Ohio but he had never seen an elephant or a giraffe! AK is his favorite park even though we don't do a ton of the attractions. It will be interesting working an AK evening into our touring plans (considering DHS also has the new SW fireworks) but I am anxious to see the show.

Makes me re-think wanting to see this one!

Especially due to my irrational distaste for birds, I wasn't too thrilled either but it was definitely a good show. Just make sure you're way in the back so you don't get pooped on hahahaha.

I appreciate the dedication to the TR. But we're not starting a gofundme for your bail.

Lol - just trying to help out the people of Disboards!

This one hasn't ever been high on my radar due to the menu... I'm just not into Asian flavors. But I'm a big eater. So I'm not sure that would work for me!

We only ate here the trip before this because I had a gift card, but I think we'll skip it next time. It's good, but we just got a brand new Asian place around here and they have awesome food. Generally at WDW we like to stick to places we don't have around us.

DW and I had a conversation about this during our trip. We loved POR, but we were remembering our stay at WL and how convenient it was that everything was right there in one building. That really is a nice advantage of the deluxe resorts.

It was so nice! Especially for families with young kids, I can see how easy that would be to just go down the hall and go to your room at the end of a long day.

I think this is an important point. This is my touring strategy and that's why I tend to like the value resorts. I just need a room with a comfortable bed. But I really would like to take a long enough trip to give us plenty of park days and still have a day or 2 to relax at a deluxe resort.

I totally hear you! We rented DVC points this trip and we loved it. We ended up buying in - but when we do quick trips (3 or 4 nights) we tend to stay value because it gives us more park time. I wish we would have spent more time at the resorts here.

I'm really glad you were able to see them. I absolutely love the Osborne lights and it killed me that I missed their last night by 2 days...

Granted I didn't have a ticket for the night I was there 2 days after the lights ended, but if they had still been running... I'd have spent a hundred bucks to get in there and see them once more.

Hahaha, I would NOT spend $100 at DHS the way it is now, but the lights would be sooooo worth it. Sorry you didn't get a chance to see them on their last night. What a memory that would have been.

That's alright. I've obviously been slow to find it. Thanks for waiting. I don't know that I'll get to the dining review. I don't often follow those unless someone with a TR posts about a place I'm really interested in learning about.

No worries, a lot of the dining reviews are shortened and placed in the TR, haha!! Only so much you can say about food. I tend to lurk there because dining is a huge part of our trips so I'm always interested to see different restaurant experiences.

Steve and I just had breakfast at Boma last Sunday and I agree, that French toast bread pudding with the pecan sauce is AMAZING! BTW we also loved AKV Decided that's where we want to stay with the kids the next time we go!

It was SOOO good... I found that Trails End has it so we may try there next time, haha!! I am so glad you loved AKV. I am sure the boys would love it too. So much to do there!!

 

[kastoney]

Sorry all, I have been neglecting this! On a positive note, I finished my dining report? I'm going to do my best to get this one moving!

How dare you neglect this Ashely???? It's not like you are busy planning a wedding or anything ; )

So, we get on a bus to Animal Kingdom. Justin looked at me like “I sure hope you’re right or we’re going to Animal Kingdom” – surprise! We were going to Animal Kingdom! Oops – so we got off the bus and asked if the driver was going back to AKL and he said “Nope, All Star Sports.” Ok. So we high tailed it all the way over to where the AKL bus stop was and basically RAN towards a bus… got there and it was empty. So we stood there and a driver came up and told us to hop on. He was much friendlier than the last driver and explained to us that people complained about multiple internal stops, so until 11 AM, they ran separate buses. I guess it makes sense – I mean I wouldn’t want 6 or 7 internal stops but I don’t think 1 is too bad.

Oh no, I can't believe this happened. I always thought they went up to Jambo house too, though the 11 am thing may make sense. When we stayed at AKL we had to wait for almost an hour and buses to get to AK because they kept showing up full from Kidani

I believe he was drawing Goofy. Mid conversation, Justin and I walked past it and Justin stepped RIGHT ON TOP OF GOOFY. Children screamed, dads booed, and Justin had no idea he stepped right on Goofy.

Shame Justin, ,shame

We stopped for a drink at a popcorn cart and spotted this cute little guy.

Did you get this???? He's so adorable I don't think I could resist

e didn't end up taking anything home with us - with the new shop app we found that the ornaments we picked out for our moms were also at plenty of other places, so we got them later that week.

What is this app? I don't do a ton of shopping but would be good to know when I really "needed" to buy something.

he Christmas shop had an entire room dedicated to Frozen. We found a really cute Olaf ornament and Olaf mug for Justin's mom.

Wow, my daughter would love this.

We decided to pop in and see what the inside looked like. The hostess was so friendly and invited us to come in and look around and take pictures.

Hopeing we can check this out sometime soon. Love the decor and it sounds like so much fun.

I think next trip we'll try a DTD Bar Crawl (I say that lightly because chances are we'll split a drink at most places since neither of us can drink much anymore haha) to try out a few of these places.

Think we may do the same if we can get a night without Casey. I figure an appetizer and drink at each place would be a great way to sample the new places.

We're doing the Deluxe Dining Plan in April, and I've been wanting to get back to Raglan Road (Justin's never been and while I didn't love my meal, I do love the bread pudding). I also want to try the Boathouse (not sure if I can justify 2 credits) so maybe we'll try both and just split something at each.

When are you going in April? I didn't think you had anything planned with the wedding this year. We'll be there 15-24 April staying at WL

It was raining a bit (drizzling) that night, so they actually weren't doing the night vision goggles. They said they can't get them wet, so they don't bring them out when it's raining. (FYI in case you plan to do this in the future!) We were pretty bummed because this was the main "resort time" we had planned here. Definitely wish we would have planned more!

We missed out on this because of rain too.

This was SO GOOD. I had been looking forward to this for so long, so I was really glad we got all 5 breads and 9 dips! We shared this and I didn't order an entree so I just considered this my meal. It was definitely big enough for multiple people to share. And the price ($12 or $13?) really isn't too bad. A couple of families near us had it and shared it between 4-5 people.

I wasn't going to comment on the food since I"ve already shared my plethora of opinions but couldn't resist on this one. Amazing!

 

[afwdwfan]

And Justin started with the beouf bourignon (that is likely spelled 100% incorrectly).

Google is your friend.

But regardless of spelling, I know what you mean. And it does look fantastic!

Last year we had tried the chocolate waffle & the waffle with berry compote, and we loved both. This year I wanted to try the braised beef waffle with smoked gouda cream. Both of these were outstanding. We intended to stop again. Justin was surprised at how much he loved the braised beef waffle. The beef was plentiful and there were some other veggies in the dish as well. The smoked gouda cream really added a ton of flavor. The waffle itself was nice and thick (it was a potato and leek waffle). We loved this and we can't wait to get it again in the future.

Interesting. I'm glad the waffles were a hit! Considering the options, I doubt the beef waffle would be something I'd order. It just doesn't seem like something that would go together really. But I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it so much. Might be something worth trying after all.

As if I'll ever make to F&W...

To the right of the stairs, there was a room where you could get a *FREE* cup of Coke. They were the fun Coke Freestyle machines where you can get just about anything. I think they also had coffee and tea, and you could purchase beer or wine.

Looks like a great way to relax for a bit. A nice perk!

Justin declared that "Chef Boyardee does it better" and while he still ate it, he was less than thrilled and said it pretty basic.

Yeah, I can see how that might be. But even Chef Boyardee quality Italian isn't all that bad. It's hard to screw Italian food up beyond edibility, although it definitely takes some skills to make it something special.

Honestly I loved the baby puke colored spinach cheddar gratin with bacon even more than the scallop itself. It was a really good dish.

It's gotta be a good dish with baby puke colored spinach.

We decided to pop in and see what the inside looked like. The hostess was so friendly and invited us to come in and look around and take pictures.

Hopefully we'll be popping in here for a drink next time.

What??? You went inside Jock Lindsey's and didn't even get a drink? At least get a Reggie's Revenge to go or something!!!

There are lots of great places to try now that Disney Springs is booming! Morimoto, Boathouse, Jock Lindsey's, and lots of new places opening up too. I think next trip we'll try a DTD Bar Crawl (I say that lightly because chances are we'll split a drink at most places since neither of us can drink much anymore haha) to try out a few of these places.

I can relate to the not drinking much anymore, but that is still a great idea. And some good food to help soak up the alcohol along the way.

It was raining a bit (drizzling) that night, so they actually weren't doing the night vision goggles. They said they can't get them wet, so they don't bring them out when it's raining. (FYI in case you plan to do this in the future!) We were pretty bummed because this was the main "resort time" we had planned here. Definitely wish we would have planned more!

That stinks. I'm sorry you missed out on the night vision goggles, but at least you had a full hour and a half to look around...

This was SO GOOD. I had been looking forward to this for so long, so I was really glad we got all 5 breads and 9 dips! We shared this and I didn't order an entree so I just considered this my meal. It was definitely big enough for multiple people to share. And the price ($12 or $13?) really isn't too bad. A couple of families near us had it and shared it between 4-5 people.

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

We stopped in the little store up in the lobby to fill up Justin's mug. We also decided to grab dessert as I'd been eyeing up these guys for the past few days..

Excellent choice!

And they were DELICIOUS! Justin's first Mickey bar and it may have been my first too (blasphemy!) as I don't ever remember having one as a kid (I was a fan of the strawberry Minnie popsicles).

What??? Well, at least you've righted that wrong. I'm glad you liked it!

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

I just found your TR and am really enjoying it!!

AKL looks so beautiful! I have never stayed there but it's on my "list." I think my only hesitation is that it seems out of the way. Which honestly it really isn't but it just feels that way. We will be at Beach Club Villas in December! Maybe the next trip I'll have to look into AKL

I am loving seeing all the Christmas decorations...we are going Dec 1st - 9th and I cannot wait to see WDW all done up for the holidays

The Boathouse is on my ADR wish list too! It's a toss up between that and Morimoto Asia. And I am considering doing a dining report along with my TR. We'll see!

Can't wait to read more updates!

 

[NittanyKK]

Just found your TR and caught up... Your trip sounds awesome! I'm going to Disney World for a few days in September and we are staying at WL but I think our long trip after that might be at AKV! We are considering renting DVC points because I would looooove to stay there! I am also in the midst of planning a wedding (December!) so I'm sure our longer trip will have to wait until 2017. Little busy at the moment as I'm sure you can understand!

Also, yaaaayy for Pennsylvania residents! I'm in State College.

 

[Vernie822]

Day 4 - Tuesday 11/10

The next morning we slept until around 7. We were showered and out of the room by 7:45. We had a quick breakfast of bagels from home and carrot cake cookie from two days before (still good FYI ). At this point in my trip I had quit caring about my hair - the Florida humidity was going to do whatever it wanted anyways!

We got to Epcot by 8:20. I guess it must have been EMH that day, though I don't have it in my notes.

We did some cute PhotoPass pics and hopped on Spaceship earth with a 5 minute wait.

With a thumbs up from the CM! Haha.

We still had our extra FastPass for Test Track from the nice family in front of us a few days before, so we decided to use that this morning.

Since Justin has designed the car on our last trip, he let me design the car on this trip.. Well, I picked the body style and color anyways..

I dislike the "holding room" prior to this room, especially when the doors are closed. Yeeeeeesh. Too many people.

When we were done with Test Track, we happened upon this little Joffrey's Coffee information area. I wandered around, read some stuff about coffee, and they gave me a 30% off coupon for a drink. I love a good coupon!

I had planned to get an iced coffee at Starbucks that morning, but since I had the 30% off and Joffrey's was right there, I decided to try a caramel latte from Joffrey's instead. They also had some delicious sounding fall drinks.

It was reallllllly good and I'd definitely get another one sometime. I'm a Dunkin Donuts fan but I do like Starbucks too, I'd put this latte right on par with either of those. The price wasn't too bad either considering it's inside a theme park.

After that we wandered around the Festival Center for a bit. There was virtually no one in there this early. We'd signed up for a wine tasting event later that day so we were able to pick up our tickets.

This is the area where the wine tastings are held:

We also checked out the Ghirardelli area and were given a free sample.. Gotta love chocolate.

The tickets were able to be picked up at a little info booth towards the front of the building. When we picked them up, the CM asked if we were Chase Visa cardholders. We were, so we showed him a Chase Visa and he gave us Priority Seating vouchers which was nice - being a Chase Visa cardholder had some good perks at Epcot this trip.

We did Ellen's Energy Adventure after that. Another one I hadn't done in years, and Justin had never done. We definitely said it was a great ride if you were looking for a quick snooze or a break out of the heat. I actually like it, I think it's corny yet cute. Just wish they'd update the video!

We had a FP+ to use at Character Spot, so we headed over towards that area and stopped at Club Cool. I nearly got Justin to taste the Beverly, but no such luck. He tried a few then called it quits - I don't think he really liked the flavors. Maybe next time. Side note - I went to Atlanta with some friends this fall and we toured World of Coke. It was so cool - there were probably 50 or 60 different flavors you could try. Puts Club Cool to shame just a little bit. Something fun to do if you're ever down that way.

Once we got to Character Spot, we shouldn't have even used a FP+, the wait was seriously minimal. I think it was at 20 minutes, but we had the FP+ so we used it anyways.

Next we had a FP+ for Soarin' and Justin wasn't feeling like a boat ride, so we started eating not long after that. The booths had just opened up not too long before.

Our first stop was Hawaii. We really liked the Kalua pork slider last year so we picked up one of those ($4.00) and a sampling of the pineapple wine ($3.50).

We really like the slider, we've even made them at home. It was a bit labor intensive for the pineapple/red pepper chutney, but they were delicious. The pineapple wine was good, it wasn't the best thing I tried but I did like it. It was a different flavor.

We also had a Cronut at the Refreshment Port (SO DELICIOUS) and a chicken gyro from Greece.

Next we had the cheese fondue with sourdough bread, I think this was from the cheese studio.

After our first few food stops, we went back towards the Land to do our Soarin' FP+ which took us a good while. I love this ride even though it always takes a bit even with a FP. My mom is obsessed with Soarin'. We were planning on trying to squeeze in a trip this spring, but I told her it would be down and she was not having it! We ended up having to put the trip on hold due to scheduling but I don't know if she would've been able to handle Soarin' being down!

Once we were done with Soarin', we headed out of Epcot and back to AKL. We were back to the room a bit earlier than usual (1:30 ish) and really only rested until 2:30. Since our wine seminar was at 4, I wanted to leave for Epcot by 2:50ish.​

 

[Vernie822]

How dare you neglect this Ashely???? It's not like you are busy planning a wedding or anything ; )

Hahahaha.. right! Between that and an actuarial exam Tuesday, I could use a Disney vacation!

Oh no, I can't believe this happened. I always thought they went up to Jambo house too, though the 11 am thing may make sense. When we stayed at AKL we had to wait for almost an hour and buses to get to AK because they kept showing up full from Kidani

I wondered if that was a problem since a lot of the time we stopped at Jambo. I can see how people would be mad if they waited an hour like you said, if full buses kept passing them by! I know I wouldn't be too happy.

Did you get this???? He's so adorable I don't think I could resist

He is so cute! I didn't get him but I kept seeing it all week and thought it was adorable. I just kept thinking, what am I going to use this for? To eat popcorn on the couch?

What is this app? I don't do a ton of shopping but would be good to know when I really "needed" to buy something.

It's called Shop Disney Parks. You can scan any item and it will tell you where in WDW the item can be purchased. Or you can just search for something by name and it will pop up too. I think you can log in and purchase items with an AP discount too which is nice.

Think we may do the same if we can get a night without Casey. I figure an appetizer and drink at each place would be a great way to sample the new places.

It's so hard to get to DTD multiple times in one trip since we're usually in the parks or having dinner somewhere, but there are so many great places to try.

When are you going in April? I didn't think you had anything planned with the wedding this year. We'll be there 15-24 April staying at WL

We will be April 16-19th! Just a quick trip. We didn't intend to take one this year, I think we had actually sworn off "no Disney before the wedding", but we got a room at Pop for $100/night and scored some cheap flights.. the AP will burn a hole in your pocket, haha! Are you running the Star Wars half, or will you be observing Jason's early morning run from the sidelines with a margarita in hand!?

We missed out on this because of rain too.

I was bummed, since we didn't have too much resort time planned. There's always next time.

Interesting. I'm glad the waffles were a hit! Considering the options, I doubt the beef waffle would be something I'd order. It just doesn't seem like something that would go together really. But I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it so much. Might be something worth trying after all.

As if I'll ever make to F&W...

Ya know I didn't think I'd ever like that combo, but once I'd heard so many great reviews, I'm glad we gave it a try!

Yeah, I can see how that might be. But even Chef Boyardee quality Italian isn't all that bad. It's hard to screw Italian food up beyond edibility, although it definitely takes some skills to make it something special.

Right! As long as you can get the noodles/sauce combo down, it's not too hard.. this wasn't the greatest, I think Disney could've done better, but still OK.

It's gotta be a good dish with baby puke colored spinach.

Hahaha.. it really looks like the grossest thing!

What??? You went inside Jock Lindsey's and didn't even get a drink? At least get a Reggie's Revenge to go or something!!!

I know, blasphemy!! We definitely want to get back there sometime. Really neat atmosphere.

That stinks. I'm sorry you missed out on the night vision goggles, but at least you had a full hour and a half to look around...

Hahaha, right! An hour and a half to either stand out in the rain, or sit in the lobby!

I just found your TR and am really enjoying it!!

AKL looks so beautiful! I have never stayed there but it's on my "list." I think my only hesitation is that it seems out of the way. Which honestly it really isn't but it just feels that way. We will be at Beach Club Villas in December! Maybe the next trip I'll have to look into AKL

I am loving seeing all the Christmas decorations...we are going Dec 1st - 9th and I cannot wait to see WDW all done up for the holidays

The Boathouse is on my ADR wish list too! It's a toss up between that and Morimoto Asia. And I am considering doing a dining report along with my TR. We'll see!

Can't wait to read more updates!

Thank you so much for reading! We felt the same about AKL. I didn't notice it too much, though of course when we stayed at the Poly I felt like that was closer to MK obviously. The bus stops were pretty close to our rooms so that was nice, it wasn't much of a pain at all. Beach Club Villas sounds lovely!

You will loooove the Christmas decor! Having been to WDW a few times in the last year or two, it was a whole different feeling walking down Main Street. Honestly I could've just stood there in awe for an hour. The castle lighting was wonderful too!

Just found your TR and caught up... Your trip sounds awesome! I'm going to Disney World for a few days in September and we are staying at WL but I think our long trip after that might be at AKV! We are considering renting DVC points because I would looooove to stay there! I am also in the midst of planning a wedding (December!) so I'm sure our longer trip will have to wait until 2017. Little busy at the moment as I'm sure you can understand!

Also, yaaaayy for Pennsylvania residents! I'm in State College.

Hi!! Thank you so much for reading. WL sounds so nice, we've always wanted to stay there but we switched this time due to construction. I love the atmosphere there! We did September 2 years ago and it was so nice, the weather was humid and hot, but the crowd level was soo fantastic it was worth it for sure.

Renting DVC points was really easy and a lot smoother than I expected. I was nervous for checking in and all that but we didn't have any issues at all. I highly recommend it!

Congrats on your upcoming wedding, that is so exciting! My sister goes to PSU so she lives in State College. I'm originally from Pittsburgh but now I live in Erie.

 

[Vernie822]

While Justin filled up his mug in the lobby, I took a few pictures outside at Kidani.

This seating area just to the right of the lobby looked out over the savannah. So peaceful.

There's also a really nice seating area inside. Quite a few times I passed people reading or using their laptops.

Outside of the seating area, just before the lobby, they list all of the activities for the day.

We made it back to Epcot by like 3:15, it was actually really quick from AKL. We left the room by 2:50 and 35 minutes later we had walked to the bus stop, waited and rode the bus, and arrived to the park. Not bad in my opinion. I was worried about AKL being "really far out" but it wasn't too bad. We have stayed at Pop twice and I don't think it's much farther, so I really didn't even notice.

We had some time to kill before our wine seminar at 4 PM, so we decided to grab a couple items from the booths in Future World.

Quick pic in the front of the park.

Our first stop was Sustainable Chew where we picked up the spare ribs and white sangria.

We grabbed the NY strip and liquid nitro almond truffle from Sustainable Chew and found a table in a grassy area in between the two booths.

Here's the spare ribs on mascarpone grits:

And the Beso del Sol white sangria:

NY Strip from the Chew Lab - this was really good, not done enough for Justin's liking but we both really enjoyed this.

Liquid Nitro Almond Truffle, which was soooooo delicious.

After that, it was time to head over to the Festival Center for our wine seminar with King Estate Winery.

The wine seminar area was towards the back of the pavilion. To the right of the wine seminar area was the Priority Seating line.

The Priority Seating thing wasn't a huge necessity, but it was a nice perk. There were a few others in line with us, maybe 10-12 or so. We ended up in the second row which was cool. I wouldn't be unhappy sitting in the back or something though, the presenters had a mic and our guy was walking around a bit engaging with everyone.

Each place setting had the wine glasses, a water glass, and some paper/pencil to take notes.

John was our presenter, I can't remember his exact title but I believe he worked in Florida and worked with the wineries, so he knew a lot about the winery, its winemaking, etc,. and had been out to the winery to visit it a few times. King Estate Winery was started by a father and son, and they primarily grow their grapes in Oregon and Washington, although their operations are mostly in Oregon.

I won't bore you with too much details, but John was great and we enjoyed this. I want to say it was $15/person and there's a DVC/AP discount of a few dollars. This was worth it to try something different during the festival. I think if we went down for a strictly F&W trip, we'd probably try to squeeze in another seminar or two. There are plenty of culinary demos that also sounded like fun but I didn't know if Justin would like any of those since he's kind of picky. We'll probably try some next time.

John let us try our wine to start, as opposed to hearing all about the wine and the winery, and then trying it. The wine was really delicious. I believe we tried a semi-dry white, a dry red, and a semi-sweet white. I don't think we had quite enough wine in our glasses It was just a few sips worth, just to get a good taste. If you're looking for 3 glasses of wine, this is not the place haha. I gathered that the point was more to learn about the winery and their offerings, how their wine is made, how the winery got started, etc., with just a sampling of the wine.

Anyways, we really liked this wine! I've seen it in our local stores and I plan to pick up a bottle eventually. I think the two drier ones we tried were a Pinot Grigio (or a Pinot Gris.. delicious), Pinot Noir, and a Riesling. I'm not really a dry red fan but I liked the taste of Pinot Noir that I had. This was well worth the $15.

After this, we'll head back to Food and Wine for more eating.. ​

 

[Vernie822]

Afterwards we headed around to a few more food booths for dinner. New Zealand was up first.

Justin chose to try the seared venison loin with mushroom marsala sauce and kumara dumpling. I think the kumara was like a sweet potato. I'm not a big venison fan so I just had a taste of this and it was good, I think I ate the mushrooms in the sauce and Justin ate the meat. He liked it.

We stopped at Australia. Nothing here really appealed to me, so Justin chose the lamb with mint pesto and (Lays) potato crunchies.

Lamb isn't really my thing but I had a bite and it was good. Justin really liked this although I think the mint was a bit overpowering for both of us.

China was up next.. we're both a fan of the food offerings here and we almost just got one of everything.

I went with the black pepper shrimp with sichuan noodles and Justin went with the chicken potstickers. I believe the other two options included a beef slider and roasted duck in a steamed bun.

We really liked the options we chose! The black pepper gave the noodles a bit of a kick, and the shrimp had a nice light breading on them. The portion was pretty generous and although Justin doesn't care for shrimp, he enjoyed the noodles. His potstickers were the best ones we tried on our trip.

We stopped at Africa for a butter chicken with naan bread.

And Germany, where we tried a bratwurst in a pretzel roll and an apple strudel.

Justin loves the bratwurst in a pretzel bun (I agree, it is delicious) so we were glad we chose that. I really liked the apple strudel, too. It was done right and it was the perfect amount of sweet. It had some raisins and apples inside with a vanilla sauce on top.

Germany is probably my favorite pavilion.

Had to get a Schofferhofer to wash down the strudel.

Next up was pierogies and kielbasa in Poland. Yum.

I believe we stopped in the Chase Lounge for a quick RR break and a Diet Coke refill.

Then it was over to Japan for a Tokyo Sunset.

We stopped in Les Halles in France for some breakfast the next morning. We chose a plain croissant and a roulade au fromage (bacon and cheese roll).

Everything in here just looks so good, we need to actually stop and have dessert in here sometime! Usually we end up grabbing pastries for the next day.

We decided to turn the opposite way and head back towards Mexico, specifically towards La Cantina de San Angel (the quick service place). Justin and I had seen someone with nachos earlier in the day and he was determined to have some during our trip. Little did I know we'd be back TWICE again for these nachos..

It was packed and we weren't going to get a table inside La Cantina. We ended up finding a bench not too far from there and sitting down to eat.

After a day of what was pretty much snacking on miscellaneous F&W items, it was good to have something with some substance.

Ok, I know these are just nachos, with plastic cheese, beef, beans, tomatoes, sour cream, and jalapenos.. but they're great. You can get them as part of a QS meal or on their own.

We planned to stay for Illuminations but eventually we decided against it. We were pretty tired and wanted to be up and at 'em early the next day to get checked out of our room at AKL and head to Magic Kingdom.

We did grab some of the ever famous Zebra Domes on our way back to our room..

Yeah, not my thing. I really wanted to like these. Justin took one look at them and wouldn't even taste them. I'm not sure what I didn't like about them. I don't think I expected them to be so soft. They were almost soggy in my opinion. I ate half of one and the rest went into the trash.. So sorry, my Zebra Dome loving friends!

I apologize that this post was so food picture heavy.. tomorrow, we'll head to Magic Kingdom for the parade taping (well, not specifically, but it was going on while we were there), lunch in the Beast's castle, and we'll check in to the Poly, during which we informed the staff that we were NEVER leaving. ​

 

[ariane37]

Day 4 - Tuesday 11/10

The next morning we slept until around 7. We were showered and out of the room by 7:45. We had a quick breakfast of bagels from home and carrot cake cookie from two days before (still good FYI ). At this point in my trip I had quit caring about my hair - the Florida humidity was going to do whatever it wanted anyways!



Side note - I went to Atlanta with some friends this fall and we toured World of Coke. It was so cool - there were probably 50 or 60 different flavors you could try. Puts Club Cool to shame just a little bit. Something fun to do if you're ever down that way.




​

I have come to the conclusion that, with my ridiculously thick hair, it does not matter what month we go to Florida - it's gonna frizz

I went to the Coca-Cola factory about 22 years ago and then again back in Oct. since my sister moved outside Atlanta. The boys were with me and my 3 nephews. They LOVED trying all the sodas and couldn't believe how many more flavors there were than in Club Cool! They also managed to get their cousins to try Beverly

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

This seating area just to the right of the lobby looked out over the savannah. So peaceful.

There's also a really nice seating area inside. Quite a few times I passed people reading or using their laptops. ​

Did you explore Jambo house at all while you where there? I've just booked using DVC points but for that side rather than Kidani and I'm in love with your pics and hoping Jambo is just as awesome!​

Liquid Nitro Almond Truffle, which was soooooo delicious.

Now that looks incredible!

We stopped at Australia. Nothing here really appealed to me, so Justin chose the lamb with mint pesto and (Lays) potato crunchies.

Lamb isn't really my thing but I had a bite and it was good. Justin really liked this although I think the mint was a bit overpowering for both of us.

As an Australian can I say how much this disappoints me that this is what they're picking to represent out country. We have great lamb, don't get me wrong, but we'd never put chips on it ​

We did grab some of the ever famous Zebra Domes on our way back to our room..

Yeah, not my thing. I really wanted to like these. Justin took one look at them and wouldn't even taste them. I'm not sure what I didn't like about them. I don't think I expected them to be so soft. They were almost soggy in my opinion. I ate half of one and the rest went into the trash.. So sorry, my Zebra Dome loving friends!

Did you find these coffee heavy in terms of flavour? Every keeps telling me to try them when I'm there but I can't stand coffee.​

 

[Vernie822]

Day 5 - Wednesday 11/11

This day made me sad yet excited at the same time. For some reason on a vacation I'm always like "Today is our halfway mark, that means our trip is halfway over, that means I only have 4 days left til we leave... WAHHHH" instead of "We still have half the trip left!" So I was sad for a split second that morning, but then I remembered we were on our way to Magic Kingdom, AND we'd be transferring to the Poly that day.. yayyyy!!

We were up around 7 AM. Had a quick breakfast of our pastries from Les Halles the night before, and gathered all of our things. I think we had packed some stuff up the day before during our midday break/after we got back, so we didn't have too much to do.

Our pastries were good, the croissant was a typical croissant, but we really liked the roulade au fromage. It was a really tasty bacon and cheese roll, nice and doughy! We heated this one up in the microwave and we toasted the croissant. It was the right amount of food for the two of us to split. I'm sure the bacon and cheese roll is even better fresh.

I will say, the only thing I didn't like about the split stay was that I really didn't unpack. 3 resorts in 8 days was loads of fun, but next time I don't think I'd do 3 resorts. I'd probably only do 2 and I'd probably only do a split stay on a longer trip. We liked seeing the different DVC resorts and that was pretty much the point of our split stay.

We were showered and down to the lobby with our luggage by 8:15. It took us a bit longer to check out here, the people that handle luggage were seemingly short staffed and pretty busy. There was a woman in front of us checking out that had some pretty detailed instructions for the CMs. I guess she was vacationing with her husband and kids, and her parents, and her immediate family was moving to Saratoga Springs, but her parents were staying put at the AKL villa!? So she was instructing the CM's on what to move, what not to move. Basically sounded like she thought they'd do every little thing for her. She was saying "now move this bag, this bag, this bag, not the purple one, that's my parents', I need the baby food and bottles from the fridge, but not the styrofoam container with leftovers..." I don't know. Justin is pretty particular about not wanting them to go get our luggage from our rooms, so we just take our luggage down with us when we check out. It took about 10 minutes for the CM to handle this woman's requests, and then another 5 minutes for the CM to deal with an angry customer on the phone.. he got a little "not so magical" with the woman on the phone but I could hear her yelling at him so I felt bad.

Anyhow, we were quick and painless and the CM was super friendly!

We must have filled up Justin's mug because I have some pictures from the little store in the lobby. There's not a QS place at Kidani, but you can stop in here on the way out if you're in need of some breakfast.

They had the option of breakfast sandwiches and oatmeal. And I think they also had just plain english muffins and bagels that you could toast, as well as some muffins and danish. Personally, I don't think this would be worth it on the dining plan. I'd rather grab something at the parks, but it's nice that they have these options available.

We arrived at Magic Kingdom around 8:50. I have in my notes "no opening show" - I know I wanted to see it, but I'm not sure if maybe they didn't do it that day, because it was a parade taping day, or if we just missed it. I'm going to assume the second.

The parade people had a special line where they could enter. It was neat to see everyone dressed up in their Christmas gear.

From the get-go, I had this day as a MK day. At my 180 days it was the only day on our entire trip that I could find an Ohana dinner, and coincidentally a BOG lunch. So we stuck with that day as our MK day. Maybe 5-6 weeks prior to our trip (I know it was after I had booked FP's), we found out the parade taping would be that week instead of in December, when it usually is. I was a little nervous because I'd heard that all of Main Street was blocked off, the crowds were crazy, etc. A few people in some FB groups I'm in were downright MAD that the parade would be taping. (How dare you tape a parade during my vacation, Disney! LOL).. But we just went with the flow and decided it would be a FUN experience. We could say we were there for the parade taping.

Some Christmas decorations on our way in.

We started by hustling over to Peter Pan. Justin doesn't get the appeal of this ride and hates waiting for it. I wanted to see the new queue and we didn't have a FP so we did it first thing.

The new queue was AWESOME.. We probably waited 25 minutes or so which was fine and worth it to see the new queue.

After that was the People Mover, I'm not really sure why we headed over towards Tomorrowland, but I think we had a FP+ for the Mine Train and it wasn't quite up yet. We did Small World next, another favorite of mine that Justin just does to appease me

So the Mine Train followed, then we went Under the Sea with Ariel and friends.. I seriously love this ride. It's probably my favorite Disney movie and I've always loved Ariel, so the theming, music, colors, etc of this ride are great in my opinion.

5 rides in, and it was time for lunch at Be Our Guest. I was able to grab an 11:20 lunch ADR, which was a little early but fine with us since we were doing Ohana that night for dinner. We tried to check in maybe 15 minutes early, since we were in the area, and we were told we had to come back 5 minutes before our ADR. I noticed this at a lot of the more popular restaurants.

We headed towards Gaston's to check out that area, and got a few Photopass pictures. I always forget the name of the Beauty and the Beast store, but I love it so we went and looked in there, too.

5 minutes til, we hopped in this ginormous line. CM's were walking up and down, instructing people on where to put their strollers, and letting everyone know that the restaurant was reservation only.

One woman in particular wasn't happy with that answer, and told the CM's she was told she didn't need an ADR. When the CM said no, she did need one, the woman got snippy and said "Well then, I was misinformed.." Sorry lady! I felt bad because I think her kids were looking forward to eating there.. but nothing you can do.

We preordered so we were able to skip the line on the bridge. We were given a yellow rose and took it up to the register. My curious fiance decided he wanted to open the rose to see what was inside.. Spoiler alert, it's a Magic Band. A few older CMs saw him and said "YOU ARE RUINING THE MAGIC!!!" LOL.. We had a good laugh at that.. Oops.

We sat in the Rose Gallery/Music Box room, which I really like. We have eaten lunch here once before and Justin really liked it so he requested it again. He wanted the Croque Monsieur (ham and cheese sandwich) with fries. I got the same, Justin had ordered it last time and really liked it. I also ordered a bowl of French Onion soup for us to share, and I think Justin had a Diet Coke and I had an ice water.

The meals didn't take too long to come out, but the sandwiches and fries were room temperature at best. Definitely felt like they'd been sitting under a heat lamp. The soup was really tasty and I'd get that again.

We took some pictures in the ballroom, which was decorated nicely for Christmas.

Having had a really good experience here the first time we did lunch, we were really looking forward to it again. We were slightly disappointed. It won't keep us from returning, but with the "stress" of getting a BOG reservation, I think we'll skip it for the next few trips. Columbia Harbor House is still my favorite.

After our meal, I wasn't feeling 100%. I only ate about half of my sandwich, and I think the heat was just getting to me. So we took a spin on Buzz, which didn't have a very long wait. Between this and Toy Story Midway Mania, I NEVER beat Justin. I wasn't feeling well so honestly I was just sitting there pressing the button, not really caring. Well I guess I looked up, saw a target on the ceiling, got it, and scored a TON of points. I ended up beating Justin and he had no idea how...

We decided to swing by the hub to see what the parade taping was all about. We knew that Seal and Reba would be there that day. I think Charlie Puth was there as well. We had totally missed Reba, but we were there for Seal's song.

I'll include this little tidbit for those of you who may be skeptical about the parade taping. It did not affect our touring AT ALL. Yes, the hub towards the front of the castle was pretty busy, but honestly we were able to navigate Main Street with no problem. As you can see we did 6-ish rides before 1 pm, and had an hour lunch at BOG, so I really don't think we even noticed the parade taping. The only time we really noticed was when we were in the hub because we could hear the music playing.

So here are some pics of Seal's performance, honestly I don't remember what song he was singing but it was a Christmas song. They ushered him on and off stage with an umbrella, and any time they stopped recording, someone would come hold an umbrella over his head. It was SO HOT that day and I'm pretty sure he had long black sleeves on, so I can imagine how hot he was onstage performing.

(You can see the CM's in red vests lining the perimeter of the parade audience)

It was really neat to see and while I wouldn't plan my trip around the parade taping, it was cool to witness everything. I think the audience was mostly made up of cast members and their families.

I have in my notes after that, that we rode the monorail. I can't remember if maybe we went to get our passports stamped for F&W.. That could be right, otherwise we just rode the monorail to Epcot and back to get out of the sun, which is a possibility, lol. I remember having an empty monorail car to ourselves so we put our feet up and just chilled for a bit!

Once we got back to MK after our jaunt around the World on the monorail, we stopped at the Plaza for an ice cream cone.

I decided on a kids cone since the little Mickey ears are so cute. Plus, at $2.99, it's a pretty good value. I got mint chocolate chip and Justin had vanilla.

We headed over towards Frontierland, I believe to use some Fastpasses. We had one for Big Thunder and one for Splash. Splash's wait time was up to 55 minutes and Big Thunder's was at 45, so we were glad we had FPs for those (one of which was our "bonus" FP+ from the nice family in front of us a few days prior).

We used the restrooms after that, of course in the middle of the day, it's hot and the restrooms are packed with people. I get into a stall, there's an older woman next to me that came in around the same time. A few minutes in, she knocks on my stall wall, sticks her hand underneath, and in the sweetest Southern grandma voice, says "Excuse me ma'am, can you spare a square?"

It took everything in me not to fall over laughing. Thankfully I was able to spare a few squares for the lady next to me.

We hit up the Christmas store next, since we decided to get each of our moms an ornament. We didn't purchase them here but they had a lot to choose from. We stopped in the hub again to watch the parade taping. This time they were recording a song called "One Call Away" which I had never heard at the time, but I have heard it plenty on the radio since then. I think Charlie Puth sings it, not that I have any idea who that is. He was good and the song was catchy!

We had received a text that our room at the Poly was ready..
We were like two ten year olds at that point, we were like "LETS GO TO THE POLY NOW!!!!" So, off we went... to paradise!! ​

 

[ariane37]

We did grab some of the ever famous Zebra Domes on our way back to our room..

Yeah, not my thing

I'm with you here, not my thing, either I tried them back in 2011 when we ate dinner at Boma and expected to really enjoy them since I'm a huge dessert person and because of all the love they get, but I just didn't. Then last month while we were staying at AKL, Steve went down to the Mara for a snack one night and came back with them, all excited. Poor guy thought he was bringing me something great lol. I tried one again.......yeah, nothing.

 

[Vernie822]

I'm with you here, not my thing, either I tried them back in 2011 when we ate dinner at Boma and expected to really enjoy them since I'm a huge dessert person and because of all the love they get, but I just didn't. Then last month while we were staying at AKL, Steve went down to the Mara for a snack one night and came back with them, all excited. Poor guy thought he was bringing me something great lol. I tried one again.......yeah, nothing.

Hahaha.. at least he tried, right!? I just didn't get the hype, maybe it's the texture, I don't know. I think I expected it to be like a little cake ball and in reality it was just mushy.

 

[NittanyKK]

WL sounds so nice, we've always wanted to stay there but we switched this time due to construction. I love the atmosphere there!

I've actually never been and I am soooo excited to check it out! I have only stayed at POR and then yeeeears ago, at Disney's All Stars Movies so this will be all new.

We did September 2 years ago and it was so nice, the weather was humid and hot, but the crowd level was soo fantastic it was worth it for sure.

I am sliiiightly worried about the heat and humidity. I went last June and it was around 105 with humidity, gaaahhh. But hoping the lack of crowds will help!
And even horrifically hot, it's still Disney!

Renting DVC points was really easy and a lot smoother than I expected. I was nervous for checking in and all that but we didn't have any issues at all. I highly recommend it!

That's good to hear!! Hoping we will have good luck with it as well.

My sister goes to PSU so she lives in State College. I'm originally from Pittsburgh but now I live in Erie.

That's awesome! I feel like I might have commented on one of your previous trip reports because I remember talking to someone semi in my area. I've never made it to the Erie area but I did go to graduate school at Seton Hill and I often ventured into Pittsburgh.

This seating area just to the right of the lobby looked out over the savannah. So peaceful.

This looks amazingly peaceful!! Maybe if I wish hard enough, I can just appear in one of those rocking chairs...

I was worried about AKL being "really far out" but it wasn't too bad.

This is good to know too!! We are hoping to stay there in April 2017 but I have been wondering if the transportation would be too much of a pain. Sounds like it's worth it though!

Liquid Nitro Almond Truffle, which was soooooo delicious.

Yuuuuuuuummmm

After this, we'll head back to Food and Wine for more eating..

Can't go wrong with that plan!

For some reason on a vacation I'm always like "Today is our halfway mark, that means our trip is halfway over, that means I only have 4 days left til we leave... WAHHHH"

I'm always guilty of doing this too!! You plan for so long and get so excited for the different ADRs and parks and then suddenly you realize, we're already halfway through the trip!! Just neeeeever enoooough.

It's probably my favorite Disney movie and I've always loved Ariel, so the theming, music, colors, etc of this ride are great in my opinion.

I LOVE ARIEL!! It is a great ride. I love in the beginning when you go backwards into the "sea"!

We had received a text that our room at the Poly was ready..

YAAAAYYY!! Excited to read more.