Birthdays. Back Pain. Battlestar Galactica. - Our May 2024 WDW Adventure! *THE END! 09/01*

[disneyAndi14]

Looks like a wonderful Birthday dinner!

 

[RedK]

I like your TR, bt I love the pictures of you, especially in your birthday outfit. You look so happy - it radiates off you, and makes me feel happy just sitting here reading your TR.

 

[Disney102015]

What a wonderful birthday!!

 

[Newsies]

Sounds like you had a wonderful birthday!!

I couldn't have asked for a better one!

I'm pretty solidly a loyalist with Steakhouse 71 these days, but this review of Shula's is seriously convincing me to pick this as our date night spot for our summer 2025 trip. Sounds like an amazing birthday!!

You know I LOVE Steakhouse 71... but it just can't touch the experience I had at Shula's! Sooooo good! Already scheming on how I'm going to get back here! It made my birthday perfect

You look gorgeous!!!

You are too sweet, thank you so much!

Looks like a wonderful Birthday dinner!

It was the most perfect Birthday meal I could have ever asked for!

I like your TR, bt I love the pictures of you, especially in your birthday outfit. You look so happy - it radiates off you, and makes me feel happy just sitting here reading your TR.

Oh my goodness, you just made my day! I'm all misty-eyed now This is so very kind -- I am very blessed to have the family I have and the opportunities to visit Walt Disney World that I have and I'm glad my happiness translates into these photos! Thank you very, very much!

What a wonderful birthday!!

It was so great!

 

[Newsies]

Day 4, Part 1:
Just Dropping In
​

Woke up the next day and again complained to my parents that my back was hurting, but I was able to power through it and soon booked our first LL for the day, Slinky Dog Dash.

We all got dressed and then went down to Captain Cook's for some breakfast. I tried the Bounty Platter.

​

This was severely lacking. To their credit, the bacon was crispy, but everything else was just meh. The biscuit was dry (as usual). The eggs were just okay, a little cold. The French Toast should have been a Mickey waffle OR a Stitch waffle. And the potatoes were cold and hard -- definitely hadn't been cooked enough.

I shrugged it off and we headed to the bus station, where a DHS bus appeared soon enough. I remember sitting in the back and thinking to myself... man, I'm glad I'm not at the office today

We arrived to DHS at around 9:45. My bag set off a metal detector and I had to go through a security check, where a DHS security guard from Brooklyn gave me the most Joey Tribbiani-esque "how you doin'?" I'd ever heard in my life.

​

With ample time before dad's Savi Workshop appointment, we headed towards Tower of Terror. Grace, Mom, and I got in the standby line. Dad said he didn't want to do ToT and stayed behind.

I think we ended up waiting about 30 minutes? Anyway, we had fun. I have to say... I've really come around on ToT in recent years! @ExpeditionEmily will remember that I was a bit hesitant to "drop in" on our College Program... but that's all in the past now!

​

Afterwards, we met up with dad on Sunset Boulevard. While the rest of the family decided they needed a restroom break, I got some photos done.

​

After the photos, it was time for dad to get over to Savi's Workshop so he could build his Lightsaber. We started making our way over there, stopping at a cart by Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway so mom could get an ear headband with Chuuby on it.

When we got over to Savi's Workshop, mom & dad went through the process of checking into Savi's and buying the different pieces of the Lightsaber. She would be his "guest" into the experience, so Grace and I found a seat in the shade nearby and to wait for him to finish up.

I asked Grace if she wanted to walk around the stalls with me and she said no, she'd rather sit and wait, so I ventured up the stairs and across the path to Ronto Roasters/the stalls. I didn't want any merch, but I was ready for a fun drink.

​

This is the Spiked Cold Brew Black Caf from Kat Saka's Kettle. It's very similar to the regular Cold Brew Black Caf they serve here, which is a Joffery's Cold Brew Coffee topped with a sweet cream cheese cold foam/cream of sorts and Cocoa Puffs, BUT, this one is spiked with my all-time favorite alcohol, Godiva Chocolate Liqueur. I loooooooves me some Godiva Chocolate Liqueur because you really can't taste any alcohol, it just tastes like straight up chocolate milk.

I love the regular Cold Brew Black Caf, but the Spiked Cold Brew Black Caf is my favorite alcoholic drink on property. It's just so good! It's really sweet and a great caffeine boost and it has Cocoa Puffs. Who doesn't love Cocoa Puffs?!? When I say, "I want a spiked coffee drink," this is what I'm talking about.

We waited about 35 minutes from start to finish before mom & dad came out of Savi's. He said his mind was blown, even mom said it was a really cool experience. He's not a Star Wars fan, but he loves things that light up, so this was kind of a must-do for him. It's a really cool souvenir, but I don't think I'd do this myself -- I just don't love Star Wars enough to have a giant lightsaber in my bedroom!

From there, it was time for us to tap into our Slinky Dog Dash LL. Dad didn't want to go on because he was carrying his lightsaber, but he tapped in and went through the line with us anyway so I could book our next LL almost immediately afterwards at Alien Swirling Saucers.

​

Slinky Dog Dash just makes me so happy! One of my favorites

We ended up having to wait 15 minutes before we could tap into Swirling Saucers. This is another pet peeve of mine with Genie+ -- you really don't have any grace period where you can tap into the ride early or late like you could with FP+. With FP+, you could tap in as early as 15 minutes before your assigned time, so we could have hopped off SDD and gone right into Swirling Saucers. With Genie+ Lightning Lanes, you really only get 5 minutes. It's really frustrating when you're on a time crunch or trying to make your next Lightning Lane selection as quickly as possible. And back when FP+ was a free service, we used to allow people to come through 20 minutes, sometimes even half an hour earlier if things weren't too busy at our rides and they were really nice about it. Now that Genie+ is a paid service, management has completely taken away the ability for frontline CMs to be courteous and make these types of accommodations. Very frustrating. The system was just a better experience for guests when it was free.

Annnnyway, rant aside we all had fun on Swirling Saucers and I was able to make our next LL for Toy Story Midway mania for about an hour and a half later, which would allow us to ride it right before heading over to Roundup Rodeo BBQ for lunch!

The rest of the family wanted to sit down and take a break, but I was ready to meet a few characters. So I set off by my lonesome to meet a few friends before our lunch ADR!

Click here to continue
​

 

[ExpeditionEmily]

Day 4, Part 1:
Just Dropping In
​

Woke up the next day and again complained to my parents that my back was hurting, but I was able to power through it and soon booked our first LL for the day, Slinky Dog Dash.

We all got dressed and then went down to Captain Cook's for some breakfast. I tried the Bounty Platter.

​

This was severely lacking. To their credit, the bacon was crispy, but everything else was just meh. The biscuit was dry (as usual). The eggs were just okay, a little cold. The French Toast should have been a Mickey waffle OR a Stitch waffle. And the potatoes were cold and hard -- definitely hadn't been cooked enough.

I shrugged it off and we headed to the bus station, where a DHS bus appeared soon enough. I remember sitting in the back and thinking to myself... man, I'm glad I'm not at the office today

We arrived to DHS at around 9:45. My bag set off a metal detector and I had to go through a security check, where a DHS security guard from Brooklyn gave me the most Joey Tribbiani-esque "how you doin'?" I'd ever heard in my life.

​

With ample time before dad's Savi Workshop appointment, we headed towards Tower of Terror. Grace, Mom, and I got in the standby line. Dad said he didn't want to do ToT and stayed behind.

I think we ended up waiting about 30 minutes? Anyway, we had fun. I have to say... I've really come around on ToT in recent years! @ExpeditionEmily will remember that I was a bit hesitant to "drop in" on our College Program... but that's all in the past now!

​

Afterwards, we met up with dad on Sunset Boulevard. While the rest of the family decided they needed a restroom break, I got some photos done.

​

After the photos, it was time for dad to get over to Savi's Workshop so he could build his Lightsaber. We started making our way over there, stopping at a cart by Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway so mom could get an ear headband with Chuuby on it.

When we got over to Savi's Workshop, mom & dad went through the process of checking into Savi's and buying the different pieces of the Lightsaber. She would be his "guest" into the experience, so Grace and I found a seat in the shade nearby and to wait for him to finish up.

I asked Grace if she wanted to walk around the stalls with me and she said no, she'd rather sit and wait, so I ventured up the stairs and across the path to Ronto Roasters/the stalls. I didn't want any merch, but I was ready for a fun drink.

​

This is the Spiked Cold Brew Black Caf from Kat Saka's Kettle. It's very similar to the regular Cold Brew Black Caf they serve here, which is a Joffery's Cold Brew Coffee topped with a sweet cream cheese cold foam/cream of sorts and Cocoa Puffs, BUT, this one is spiked with my all-time favorite alcohol, Godiva Chocolate Liqueur. I loooooooves me some Godiva Chocolate Liqueur because you really can't taste any alcohol, it just tastes like straight up chocolate milk.

I love the regular Cold Brew Black Caf, but the Spiked Cold Brew Black Caf is my favorite alcoholic drink on property. It's just so good! It's really sweet and a great caffeine boost and it has Cocoa Puffs. Who doesn't love Cocoa Puffs?!? When I say, "I want a spiked coffee drink," this is what I'm talking about.

We waited about 35 minutes from start to finish before mom & dad came out of Savi's. He said his mind was blown, even mom said it was a really cool experience. He's not a Star Wars fan, but he loves things that light up, so this was kind of a must-do for him. It's a really cool souvenir, but I don't think I'd do this myself -- I just don't love Star Wars enough to have a giant lightsaber in my bedroom!

From there, it was time for us to tap into our Slinky Dog Dash LL. Dad didn't want to go on because he was carrying his lightsaber, but he tapped in and went through the line with us anyway so I could book our next LL almost immediately afterwards at Alien Swirling Saucers.

​

Slinky Dog Dash just makes me so happy! One of my favorites

We ended up having to wait 15 minutes before we could tap into Swirling Saucers. This is another pet peeve of mine with Genie+ -- you really don't have any grace period where you can tap into the ride early or late like you could with FP+. With FP+, you could tap in as early as 15 minutes before your assigned time, so we could have hopped off SDD and gone right into Swirling Saucers. With Genie+ Lightning Lanes, you really only get 5 minutes. It's really frustrating when you're on a time crunch or trying to make your next Lightning Lane selection as quickly as possible. And back when FP+ was a free service, we used to allow people to come through 20 minutes, sometimes even half an hour earlier if things weren't too busy at our rides and they were really nice about it. Now that Genie+ is a paid service, management has completely taken away the ability for frontline CMs to be courteous and make these types of accommodations. Very frustrating. The system was just a better experience for guests when it was free.

Annnnyway, rant aside we all had fun on Swirling Saucers and I was able to make our next LL for Toy Story Midway mania for about an hour and a half later, which would allow us to ride it right before heading over to Roundup Rodeo BBQ for lunch!

The rest of the family wanted to sit down and take a break, but I was ready to meet a few characters. So I set off by my lonesome to meet a few friends before our lunch ADR!

​

ToT is the BEST, I'm glad you've given her another chance!! Tyler was also hesitant at first, but now loves it. 30 minutes isn't too bad to wait for it - last summer we hopped in line for a supposed 15 min wait that turned into an hour when one of the towers went down, so sometimes the posted wait times really don't align with the actual wait times if that happens.

 

[LoveToDisney]

Another great, fun read! I have really enjoyed being along for the ride. Thanks for taking time to do this trip report. Love it!

 

[hpygrll]

Adds Shula's to list for next Disney trip........

 

[Newsies]

ToT is the BEST, I'm glad you've given her another chance!! Tyler was also hesitant at first, but now loves it. 30 minutes isn't too bad to wait for it - last summer we hopped in line for a supposed 15 min wait that turned into an hour when one of the towers went down, so sometimes the posted wait times really don't align with the actual wait times if that happens.

That's what happened to us on our arrival day! We went to ToT as soon as we got to the park because there was a 20 minute wait, only to be immediately told that one of the elevators was down and the wait time was actually closer to 50! It was crazy.

Another great, fun read! I have really enjoyed being along for the ride. Thanks for taking time to do this trip report. Love it!

Thank you very much for following along! Writing these reports bring so much joy to my life -- it means the world to me that you take the time to read, enjoy, and comment

Adds Shula's to list for next Disney trip........

SO good! You will not be disappointed!

 

[Newsies]

Day 4, Part 2:
My Own Little "Characterpalooza"
​

The wait times for basically every character were very low at DHS today. I started out with Edna Mode, who had a 10 minute posted wait time. There were 3 families in front of me when I got in line.

"Edna," I said. "I have great news. I went to the Fashion Icon convention last week and EVERYONE KNEW YOU!"

​

As always, the topic of conversation with Edna Mode somehow or another circled back to her making me a super suit for my birthday. It's going to be black, just like her dress!

As I was leaving, her M&G, I noticed there were only two or three people in line to meet Mrs. Incredible, so I walked over there.

"What's your superpower?" One of her attendants asked me as I waited for Mrs. Incredible to call me over for a photo.

"Where does 'gossip' fall on the superpower meter?" I asked her.

"Pretty high." She confirmed.

"Okay, then it's gossip." I nodded.

Then it was my turn to meet Mrs. Incredible!

​

We had a conversation about superhero sidekicks. My sidekick is obviously the little Squirt clinging to my bag, but I told Mrs. Incredible that her kids are kind of like sidekicks, except they can talk, so that's a little bit better.

The last character I really wanted to meet today was Ariel from the live-action story, and while her wait time wasn't posted anywhere, I figured she probably wouldn't have too long of a wait, so I headed into the One Man's Dream building. I was correct -- again, there were less than 5 families in front of me waiting to meet her.

​

Meeting her was admittedly a bit awk, I asked her about the thingamabobs on her table and she seemed to really not want to talk about them, acknowledging that Prince Erica had brought her them and then immediately steering the conversation away from her table and towards my birthday button. The only thing I really remember about it is her offering to have Sebastian make me a seaweed flavored birthday cake.

Then I went back to Pixar Place, Frozone was quite literally standing around doing nothing and I asked the attendant if his line was closed and she said nope! So I got this photo taken with him.

​

I texted my family to see where they had landed, and they were walking around the shops on Sunset Boulevard. I decided to make my way over there, stopping for a cold drink at the snack stand (the one that's not a Joffrey's) just outside of Pixar Place, where they were serving slushies. There was I believe a Cherry one and this one, which was a coconut/pineapple slushy. This was a hidden gem! I would get this again in a heartbeat, so tropical and refreshing.

​

Then I met up with the family at Legends of Hollywood. Mom offered to buy Grace and I a Pandora charm, which was super nice of her. I'm not typically a Stitch girl, but this was a special birthday charm, and so for my special birthday week, I went with this cute little Stitch holding a birthday cake:

​

We looked around a few more shops on Sunset Boulevard but didn't really see anything else we wanted, so we headed back over to Toy Story Land, where we had about 15 minutes of waiting to do before we could tap into TSMM. Again... super frustrating that this window has been taken away from us, but I digress. I'll stop complaining about Genie+ now that changes have been announced for this month, hopefully that will fix the experience a little bit.

We tapped in to TSMM and went through the queue. As we waited to be loaded onto the ride, we got to meet a super sweet DCP CM named Kristen.

"Are you guys having a good day so far?" She asked us.

"The best." I said.

"What's been your favorite part of the day so far?" She asked.

I thought about it for a moment. We were having a good day, but nothing really stuck out to me so far. I thought back to that moment on the bus that morning, where I thought about how happy I was to not be answering my Slack messages or drafting an email to a vendor.

"It's all been great," I said, "but sometimes, it's just nice to be here and not at work!"

With that, we thanked her for being so nice and then we boarded the ride. Dad and Mom got one side, Grace and I got the other side, and I beat Grace this time.

As we got off the ride, Kristen walked back up to us and asked if we wanted to go again! She was so sweet, we thanked her and boarded the ride again (this time, Grace beat me!) It was really cool that she did that -- she instantly became my favorite part of that day I sent a Cast Compliment through the Disney app and even tweeted WDW about how awesome she was.

Once we were finished with TSMM, we headed towards Roundup Rodeo BBQ for our lunch ADR.

Click here to continue​

 

[LoveToDisney]

Oh so cool to be able to ride Toy Story Mania twice back-to-back! Awesome birthday week fun!!! Loved the read and the pics…keep ‘em coming!!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

You have me wanting to get to Shula's ASAP! Wow - what a great experience. I read Will's book too (technically listened to it) and really loved it. Your co-workers sound awesome and I'm so jealous that you love your job so much! Relative to Swan and Dolphin pricing, I think it largely depends on whether they're hosting a conference or not. Lower availability = higher prices. You also have to remember to factor in the daily resort fee as well as parking, if applicable, but a lot of times it compares very favorably to Yacht & Beach Club if location is your primary consideration.

 

[Newsies]

Oh so cool to be able to ride Toy Story Mania twice back-to-back! Awesome birthday week fun!!! Loved the read and the pics…keep ‘em coming!!

Thank you!!!

You have me wanting to get to Shula's ASAP! Wow - what a great experience. I read Will's book too (technically listened to it) and really loved it. Your co-workers sound awesome and I'm so jealous that you love your job so much! Relative to Swan and Dolphin pricing, I think it largely depends on whether they're hosting a conference or not. Lower availability = higher prices. You also have to remember to factor in the daily resort fee as well as parking, if applicable, but a lot of times it compares very favorably to Yacht & Beach Club if location is your primary consideration.

It was mind-blowing. LOVED Shula's and can't wait to go back eventually.

That makes a lot of sense re: Swolphin pricing and availability! I'll have to play around with dates on a different trip to see if it'll be worth it then.

 

[Newsies]

Day 4, Part 3:
Yee-Haw! Me Time!

​

We checked in and the restaurant was very busy with a lot of people under the awning of the building (where the only shade in Toy Story Land is) waiting for their name to be called so they could be brought inside. Thankfully, we weren't there for long before our name was called and our hostess brought us into the restaurant.

Their first question was, "is anyone going to ride a pony to the table?"

One of us said "yes."

​

Our waiter today was Haakon. Rhymed with "Aiken" like Clay Aiken. I. Loved. This. Man. Truly such a vibe. You know Cloud Guy from Trolls? That was Haakon. Just so chill and happy and fun to be around. LOVED him. Haakon got us started with some biscuits and the "salads", one was a watermelon salad with mint, one was a cucumber salad of sorts, and I think there was a third one that I didn't try because it was tomato-based?

​

These biscuits were soooo lovely -- I really did not expect it! They were warm and moist and cheesy. Not quite on the level of Cheddar Bay Biscuits, but definitely close. My favorite part of the meal.

To drink, I got the alchoholic PB&J shake, which featured a "vanilla smoothie mix," Skrewball peanut butter whiskey, and strawberry jam.

​

I didn't like this. I don't know what exactly the "vanilla smoothie mix" entailed, but it was not thick enough or flavorful enough to compete with the Skrewball. They should have just blended vanilla ice cream with this drink -- it ended up being very one note, like a Skrewball flavored milk. I couldn't taste any of the strawberry jam.

Our entree platter came out soon enough:

​

Of the meats, I tried the brisket, ribs, and chicken. I loved the ribs, definitely the best meat on the plate. The brisket was just okay, but very fatty. The chicken was "papery" if you can understand what I mean -- hard to describe but not very good.

The sides were all very good. The macaroni and cheese was out-of-a-box, but but still good. The corn was messy but probably my favorite site. The tots were really just a warm, crispy, potato-y vessel for trying more BBQ sauce. And the beans and cole slaw were just fine.

We were in this restaurant for a very long time. Haakon was soooo pleasant and we loved talking to him but the restaurant was packed and food was not coming out fast enough for any of the tables.

For dessert, we all got the Forky Cupcake:

​

(Haakon was very nice and got the restaurant to give me a birthday YEE-HAW!)

This was actually a hit! The Forky cookie tasted like the same shortbread base they use for the cookie that goes on the Blue Bantha drink at Oga's Cantina -- which is still my favorite cookie on property. The chocolate cake was moist and had a fudgy center to it. It was excellent and I wish they sold this at Woody's Lunchbox so I could enjoy it again!

We had fun at Rodeo Roundup, there was a lot to look at and we loved the overhead announcements from all the characters and getting to freeze when we heard Andy coming, but we're not going to run back here. The food was just adequate, nothing really wow'ed us or compelled us to return. Still, if you haven't been here yet -- I can recommend Roundup Rodeo BBQ for your DHS day knowing that the food quality is basically in line with what you'd get at 50's Prime Time, Sci-Fi, or Hollywood & Vine.

Once we paid the bill, it was time for us to head back to the Poly -- we had seen and done enough at DHS for one trip!

As you may have guessed, we went to the pool once we got back to the Poly, but I didn't stay there for long. My back was killing me and I was getting overstimulated. I was hot, I was sweaty, I was tired, my back was hurting me. I went back to the room and took a quick shower and almost as soon as I finished getting dressed, my family had arrived back from the pool and started bombarding me with questions about when to leave for Magic Kingdom and what to do for dinner.

I could feel myself getting overwhelmed and cranky and I made the executive decision from there to take some time to myself. I told everybody else to get ready and go have fun at Magic Kingdom, that I'd make my way over eventually so we could meet up again but I was going to do something by myself for a few hours.

I knew that if I went straight to Magic Kingdom, they would almost immediately follow me and find me, so I had to go to the one place in all of WDW that they weren't going to find me.

With my bad back, I waddled to the bus stop, got on the first bus to Disney Springs, and then waddled to the back of Springs. I took a quick detour into Disney Style to buy two shirts I had been looking at that week, but I soon made my way next door to my activity of the evening:

​

Yup. I saw Challengers in a half-empty theatre at the Springs AMC. After an awkward experience buying popcorn and not knowing what line to get in because I'm not an AMC Stubs A-Lister Premiere Golden Ticket Holder or whatever, I sat down in a dark, air-conditioned room to rest up my back, decompress, and see a movie I really wanted to see. This isn't a Challengers review report but it was fine -- I mostly wanted to see it because I had met Mike Faist so many times when Newsies was on Broadway and was such a huge fan of him. DISboards user "Newsies" seeing a movie with a "Newsies" actor in it... call that Newsieception.

Afterwards, I took a bus back to the Poly but I really went right to the Marina. It was about 10:30 at the time and yes, my back was hurting still, but I was eager to get some time in the Parks during Deluxe hours. Plus I would need dinner soon and didn't want to eat at Cap'n Cookes.

I ended up waiting an absurd amount of time for a boat because I was too lazy to waddle back to the monorail station and deal with the monorail again, so I got to Magic Kingdom at 11. I didn't do much while I was there. I headed to Peter Pan's Flight because there was a 20 minute stand-by line and I felt like giving myself war flashbacks to my 2016 DCP. By the time I was done with Pan, it was 11:30, so I headed back up to Main Street for a hot dog from Casey's. I got a plain ol' hot dog, which I ate quickly before getting in line for ice cream at the Plaza.

I got this absolutely luscious sundae -- I think it was the All-American? It came in a cup instead of a bowl which I loved and it had chocolate ice cream and vanilla ice cream and peanut butter and hot fudge and peanut butter chips and chocolate chips... it was epic. And as I walked out of the Plaza and the majority of park guests started leaving, I saw a Photopass photographer by himself and asked if he could please take a photo of me with my epic sundae.

​

In spite of my bad back, it was not a horrible evening for such a short amount of time spent at MK and I'm glad I pushed myself to spend some time at the Parks.

It was really midnight after the photos were taken, so I headed back to the Poly where the rest of the family was and I quickly thereafter fell asleep.

Click here to continue​

 

[LoveToDisney]

The Sundae sounds yummy! Great pic. Love your ears, too!

 

[Newsies]

The Sundae sounds yummy! Great pic. Love your ears, too!

Thank you so much!

 

[Newsies]

Day 5, Part 1
Happy Trails to Us
​

We all woke up pretty naturally around 9 in the morning and started the debate about what we wanted to do for breakfast. We had no park tickets today, the plan was to visit Fort Wilderness so we could see the horses at Tri Circle D Ranch! We didn't want to do breakfast at Captain Cooke's again, so we decided to get on the monorail and have breakfast at Contempo Cafe.

We hopped on the monorail to the Contemporary, and of course, I had to make a pit stop at the Contempo lobby Joffrey's for an Iced Latte to start my morning.

​

We went back upstairs, and Contempo Cafe doesn't have mobile ordering options for guests who aren't staying at the Contemporary, so we had to get in line to order, which was totally fine because we had the sweetest woman taking orders this day, Crystal from Orlando.

I was really interested in the Cookie Croissant, which I had heard so much about since it debuted about a month earlier. Crystal let me know that they weren't serving the Cookie Croissant this early in the morning, but they might start serving it in ~15 minutes or so. Seeing my birthday button, she asked if she could bring a Cookie Croissant to our table for free if they started serving it soon to celebrate my birthday. It was very kind of her, we let her know that she didn't need to do it but it would be very appreciated!

We ordered our meals for the table. I got this breakfast flatbread:

​

Pretty standard, a flatbread topped with sausage gravy, eggs, cheese, bacon, and green onion. This was much better than the one at the Captain Cooke's but still not my favorite, something about WDW sausage gravy just doesn't taste right to me. Everybody else at the table got some type of breakfast burrito that looked very good.

Not knowing if the Cookie Croissant was going to be ready, we still wanted something sweet for the table, so we ordered a Mickey-shaped Sticky Bun:

​

This was very, very good! Best "bun" I've ever had in the parks, miles better than any dry cinnamon bun that they whip up at Gaston's Tavern or at the Main Street Starbucks. It was just like a Cinnabon cinnamon bun without icing (which, IMO, is the king of all mall food court foods). Highly recommend for anyone with a sweet tooth. Everyone at the table liked this except for dad, who doesn't eat a lot of sweet things.

Crystal was epic and 15 minutes later, she brought us out a Cookie Croissant.

​

You'll see this treat has popped up at several Disney bakery locations recently -- the croissant filled with cookie dough is a trend that Walt Disney World has adapted from several bakeries found here up north. Amorette's has a version of this, Pop Century has a version of this, and here at the Contemporary, you can get a classic croissant filled with classic chocolate chip cookie dough.

Oh. My. Lanta.

If you visit the Contempo Cafe -- no, if you visit The Contemporary -- you must have this treat. It is served warm and the crusty, crunchy exterior of the fresh croissant is filled with straight warm Tollhouse cookie dough, which cooks perfectly on top to create that little cookie. You must get this. The sweetness of the cookie dough is cut by the buttery, flaky croissant so perfectly. I repeat... this is a must-try. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: the best treat I had at Walt Disney World this May.

After giving Crystal a cast compliment and thanking her again, we were on our way. We took a brisk walk to MK, where we caught a boat launch to Fort Wilderness. It was such a pleasant ride, we were the only family on the boat and they were training someone.

Fort Wilderness was soooooo quiet and sleepy in the morning, just very peaceful and tranquil. We saw on the map that there were two different stables, and we wondered which one we needed to go to. It looked like one was just up ahead past the Hoop Dee Doo Revue and across from the bus loop, but the other one was at the far end of Ft Wilderness and would need a bus to get to.

We walked to the bus loop and we asked a bus driver where we needed to go if we wanted to see the horses. He said to get on his bus and he'd take us to the stables. We got on the bus and it was nice to sit in the air conditioning and take in Fort Wilderness -- we got to look at the massive grounds and see all of the different cabin loops, campsites, pools, etc. that make up the complex and I won't lie, I kind of loved the vibes. I would absolutely never stay at a campground in Orlando in the dead of summer, but a late October trip in a cabin? Curling up under some blankets and watching Hocus Pocus after a night at MNSSHP? I would NOT be mad.

Anyway it turns out we went to the wrong stable so we had to turn around and head back to the front of Fort Wilderness on the next bus coming. The stable at the far end of Fort Wilderness is for horse riding, the Tri Circle D Ranch near Hoop Dee Doo/Pioneer Hall/Boat Launch/etc. is for walking through the stable and seeing the different horses. Lesson learned & a nice tour of Fort Wilderness earned.

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From my understanding, these are the horses that are used to pull carriages and participate in parades in the Parks. And they're huge!

They also had two little ponies for pony rides, and CM Caitlin was nice enough to offer to bring one out so we could pet her. This is Carrot.

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The rest of the family wanted to take the bus back to Magic Kingdom since we were already at the bus stop and then transfer to the Poly from there, but I said I'd catch up with them in a little bit. My back was hurting and I wanted to sit down at Pioneer Hall for a bit and grab an iced coffee that my friend Jess had told me about.

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This is the Gold Rush Latte, which is a vanilla latte with caramel. It's so simple yet so brilliant at the same time. Not as unique as the Peanut Butter Cold Brew from Gideons but better than a standard Joffrey's latte.

My back was killing me at this point, especially with the heat, so I had to be brisk getting back to the resort. I took the boat launch back to MK and another boat launch back to Poly, where I laid down for a nap.

Click here to continue​

 

[rdkeim]

Two lattes - woohoo! They both look good but the one from Trails End looks especially tasty. Nice you scheduled a non park day so you could take it easy. I love FW. We've stayed in cabins several times the last time being March 2022. It's so peaceful - you would not know you were in the middle of WDW. Hope your back situation improves!

 

[LoveToDisney]

You hit the bullseye on sweets when you showed us that scrumptious Mickey bun from Contempo. Then you surpassed that with news about the Cookie Croissant! WOW, did that look yummy! I hope they still have both of those when I stay at BLT next time. I’m really looking forward to hearing more about your trip…I don’t want it to end.

 

[Paulaparm]

We are headed back to Fort Wilderness with our camper Jan/Feb of 2025. This will be our 2nd time staying there. This time we are staying 3 weeks because last time we felt we didn’t have enough time just to enjoy the Fort!