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

[Newsies]

Oh no, my mom’s back goes out with back spasm. I am in tears just thinking about you in pain. Not fun at all, hopefully it gets better.

You are the sweetest! It was no fun at all, and I'm sorry your mom suffers from them too -- they definitely knock me on my butt for a few days when they come around.

So sorry to read you were in even greater pain today. How disappointing to have pain interfere with your favorite park and put a damper on your entire trip. I’m eager to see the pain gremlins hurled into oblivion and never to return!

You're so sweet. It wasn't fun at all, but I lived to tell the tale and still made some great memories this trip. I can't wait to make up for lost time next month!

Did you get your back checked out when you got home? If it was muscle spasms, I feel ya, they are so bad at times.

Oh yes. I'll talk about it a little bit as part of the last chapter, but we didn't delay in getting my back checked out once we got back to NJ! Yes, it did end up being muscle spasms, it was a rough ~2 weeks for me while I recovered.

I'm so sorry to hear about your back pain . That is just plain rough. But that J'Adore bottle is to die for! That is my favorite perfume, and now I WANT!!! LOL

Thank you so much. It was definitely a rough experience and not how I wanted to spend my vacation! BUT... now I'm home and I don't have any back pain, but you know what I do have? The J'Adore bottle. And it is my favorite thing EVER. I seriously love this thing and now it's my favorite scent, I'm glad I was talked out of Miss Dior!

 

[piglet1979]

I have had back pain before and just from what you are saying can tell how bad the pain was. I hope your next day is better.

 

[Newsies]

I have had back pain before and just from what you are saying can tell how bad the pain was. I hope your next day is better.

I'm so sorry you've had to go through it, too! Not fun whatsoever. Thankfully, my last day looked up a little bit!

 

[Newsies]

Day 7, Part 1
Breakfast at Boma
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We woke up around 8 in the morning on Saturday. As predicted, my back was still in very bad shape, but given that we had a pretty relaxing morning ahead of us, I just took a shower (I took so many this trip. Which, granted, we should all be taking all the opportune shower moments at Disney, but the feel of the hot water on my back felt so good in the morning and the evening) and popped a packet of Tylenol.

One thing I will never, ever do again: travel to Walt Disney World without Costco-sized bottles of pain killers. Having to stock up on those useless little plastic baggies of pills at the resort gift shops by the end of the trip was insane. If you don't know this already, you can't buy a bottle of Tylenol or Advil at Walt Disney World: they only sell painkillers in little packets of 2. I'm already prepped for my upcoming trip with brand new bottles of Tylenol and Motrin.

Anyway, 9:30 comes along and we get a Minnie Van to Boma.

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These are expensive at ~$45 a ride before tip, but I really appreciated the service and friendliness of the drivers. And I loved the Pago Pago pick-up/drop-off location, but that's more of a Lyft thing than a Minnie Van thing. Our driver this morning was so sweet and immediately knew we were headed to Boma, which she started gushing about.

After a pleasant 10 minute ride, we arrived at DAKL!

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This was my first time visiting DAKL since my 2016 DCP, but as some of you know, it will not be my last -- I have a trip here in the very near future and I was very excited to explore the grounds again to get a lay of the land, at least in the lobby. We had a few minutes before we could check in, so of course we walked outside and to see some of the animals. We saw a pretty neat bird, but nothing else.

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Then we went inside and sat down in the area that I believe is the Victoria Falls Lounge while we waited for our table to be ready. We were able to check in at 10:20 for our 10:45 ADR, but looking down at the restaurant I could already tell that it was very busy. It was packed and loud. We ended up not getting called to our table until 11:00 or so.

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I've heard a lot of really great things about Boma, so this was one of my most anticipated ADRs of the trip. Our hostess brought us to a pretty tight corner in the back of the restaurant and I sat in a chair that was not necessarily great for my ailing back. Almost immediately our friendly waiter comes around and takes our drink orders so that we can head to the buffet.

Though I normally don't indulge in alcohol this early in the morning, I knew I had to get the Striped & Spiked Cold Brew while I was here. Joffrey’s Coffee Cold Brew French Roast, South African Amarula Cream Liqueur, Godiva Chocolate Liqueur, Whipped Cream, garnished with a Zebra Dome.

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This was okay. It's not going to change your life, BUT, if you're here at Boma for breakfast, this is the only way you'll be able to try one of their famous Zebra Domes! These moussey, cakey desserts made with Amarula are a staple at Boma, but you'll only find them on the buffet line at Dinner time. If you're visiting for breakfast, this drink is the only way to get one. I like them, I think they have a really smooth, rich texture.

Of course, man does not live on Zebra Domes alone, so I headed up to the buffet line.

One thing none of the vlogs prepared me for re: Boma is that there is only one real "entrance" to the buffet line. This is unique to Boma from what I've experienced at every other buffet on property -- everyone starts at the carved meat station and ends at the pastry bar. This means there are a ton of amazing options here and they're not "doubling up" on stations, but it also means that you'll be waiting in a line here that you may not be waiting at other buffets.

Either way, I was very impressed with everything I saw on that buffet line and it was well worth the wait.

Here's plate #1:

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That carved ham is the best thing I've ever had at a breakfast buffet at Walt Disney World, and it isn't even close. It was so juicy and salty and not at all dry. OMG. And of course, it's topped with the famous Boma mustard, which I also loved. It was a bit spicy and a bit sweet, perfect for the ham. Sitting above it are the scrambled eggs with goat cheese and chives. I've never had goat cheese before, and I'm picky with my cheese, so I was a little skeptical to try these, but I heard they were the best on property so I figured I'd try a little. They were spectacular, I cannot wait to have more of them in three weeks. So creamy and the cheese is mild and milky, these were really great.

That brown-yellow looking scoop on the left is Turkey Bobotie. This was another well-hyped dish, I didn't personally love it. I think the turkey meat was throwing it off for me, I'm going to try this again at dinner when it's Lamb Bobotie and give it a second opinion. I also had a deviled egg up there, which was a mistake -- was not a fan of the capers and the subsequent "fishy" taste that this egg had.

Everything else on my first plate was pretty standard -- a biscuit, some bacon, some tater tots. I loved everything for the most part, the tater tots were especially hot and crips here and the bacon was the crispiest I've ever had on Disney property.

Here's plate #2:

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This was my "sweet" plate, but I loved the ham so much I had to get another piece of it.

On the top right is a little scoop of coconut steel-cut oatmeal, which our server specifically told us to try. I hadn't heard about it through any of the vlogs we watched, and I can't believe people are sleeping on them. They are so creamy and have a gorgeous coconut flavor to them, definitely a hidden gem on the buffet line.

I was well prepared for the pecan sticky-buns and the cinnamon raisin bread pudding with vanilla sauce, and they truly did live up to their hype. I grabbed two sticky buns since I had waited in such a big line for them, but I really could only eat half of one, they are very sweet and will make you sick to your stomach quickly. But they are still delicious, much better than the other cinnamon buns I've had on property with that glorious caramel sauce and plenty of pecans. The bread pudding was very good, too. Again, very sweet.

It took us a while to wrap things up when we were full, they were having issues with the payment system (what can you do?) so we were sat for more than we would have liked to have been, but eventually rolled our way out of the restaurant with full bellies.

So the family ended up having mixed opinions on Boma. Mom was indifferent, thought it was "good" but didn't have much else to say otherwise. Dad was decidedly not a fan, he thought the food was good but was put off by how busy, loud, and chaotic the restaurant was. That's very fair. Everyone I know has hyped this restaurant up to be a "hidden gem" in the way of Disney buffets, but nothing felt hidden about this place, we were packed in there like sardines and I've never waited in a buffet line at the parks like I did for breakfast here. Grace and I had positive opinions, we really liked our meals and felt like the crowds didn't really hinder how good the food was.

So that's our Boma review for you. You'll get two updated ones from me soon.


Instead of getting another Minnie Van, we just got a regular Lyft back to the Poly. Our driver was friendly and we paid a fraction of the cost of a MV. Mom, dad, and Grace really wanted to head to Magic Kingdom. At first, I was set to go with them, but halfway through the walk from Pago Pago to the TTC, my bad back and I "noped" it and headed back to the room for another nap.

I'll leave you there for this update, but I'll leave you with a small spoiler to let you know that things improved a little bit that afternoon!

Click here to continue​

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

This was okay. It's not going to change your life, BUT, if you're here at Boma for breakfast, this is the only way you'll be able to try one of their famous Zebra Domes!

You can always be a weirdo like me and get them in your mobile breakfast order from the Mara! Yup, got them my first morning and ate one every day (I believe it’s 4 Zebra domes for like $4.50). Yummm

I haven’t been to Boma in ages, but it smelled SO good walking past and was always hopping.

Loving your TR as always

 

[Paulaparm]

I’ve heard that some people just go to the Mara and get a pack of zebra domes from their grab and go! (It’s me…I’m ‘some people’)

 

[Newsies]

You can always be a weirdo like me and get them in your mobile breakfast order from the Mara! Yup, got them my first morning and ate one every day (I believe it’s 4 Zebra domes for like $4.50). Yummm

I haven’t been to Boma in ages, but it smelled SO good walking past and was always hopping.

Loving your TR as always

GENIUS. I'm already thinking about those late-night trips to The Mara to grab a drink and some zebra domes before heading off to bed for the evening!

It did smell sooooooo good! I can't wait to be back!

Thank you for following along as always!

I’ve heard that some people just go to the Mara and get a pack of zebra domes from their grab and go! (It’s me…I’m ‘some people’)

As Taylor Swift once said... "It's me. Hi. I'm the problem, it's me!"

 

[Newsies]

Day 7, Part 2: A Second Wind Comes In
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As my family went to Magic Kingdom, I decided to head back to the quiet pool. And again... the quiet pool was anything but quiet, with more issues plaguing the Lava Pool. I walked up to the bar, had a pleasant conversation with the bartender, and ordered a Piña Colava (frozen drink you can find at any pool bar on property consisting of a piña colada and raspberry syrup. Not my favorite, but it'll do in a pinch). I sipped my drink and then sat in the hot tub for a little while, enjoying the jets on my back for what had to have been the 15th or 16th time this week.

I got tired of the pool pretty quickly and decided I wanted to try and head over to Magic Kingdom with the limited hours I had remaining on this trip. I don't know what happened, but I had gotten some type of a second wind. It's not that my back stopped hurting, it's just that it suddenly didn't seem like it could stop me from enjoying the Parks.

I went back to the room to shower up and pop a few more painkillers, then I took a walk over to the marina to catch the boat to MK. I texted the family to tell them I was on my way, but Grace said they were just coming back, so I shrugged and prepared for a solo journey.

Once I got there, I had one priority -- buy a Mickey Mouse tote bag and get it embroidered at Curtain Call Collectibles, just like I had seen on TikTok. I went to the Emporium to buy one, and then headed straight to Curtain Call. This was now 3:30 in the afternoon, so the line was 3-4 people deep with only one CM taking orders while a few behind her were manning the embroidery equipment. The line was being held up by one family who kept adding things to their order, so I ended up waiting about half an hour in this line. Eventually I got to the front of it, and I handed over my tote and picked the font and color for everything. I was quoted about 4 hours until my tote was ready, which I said would be fine, and then I paid and went on with my day.

As I left Curtain Call, Mulan was surprising guests at the exit of the theatre!

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I asked what Mushu was up to and she told me that Mushu was starting a warrior training camp, and that she and I would go training with him soon. So much fun. Can't wait to save defeat the huns with her.

I heard the train approaching the station, so I decided I'd take things easy and get on a train ride around Magic Kingdom. I remember being really excited that I could see some of the new artwork at Tiana's Bayou Adventure from the Frontierland station!

I got off the train at Fantasyland station and walked around for a little bit. I was curious about the Smellephants and some of them smelled nice (the cotton candy one, the rainbow snow cone), but some of them seemed like they might have been out of commission so I didn't stay for long.

Then, I went over to Tomorrowland and got in the short line to do Peoplemover, which was pleasant as always.

I was ready for a lil sweet treat afterwards, and remembered that there was one nearby I was hoping to enjoy on this trip. Auntie Gravity's was serving up an iced coffee float, with vanilla or salted caramel soft serve.

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This. Was. AMAZING. Such a gem. The way the vanilla ice cream melted into the coffee sweetened it so perfectly. It was just creamy, light, and perfect for satisfying my sweet craving and my need for caffeine. I can't wait to get this again, hopefully in a few weeks!

As I was enjoying my float, the family was talking about getting dinner, so I decided I'd head back to the resort to eat with them, then we'd all head back to Magic together afterwards.

While I was texting them, I got my text to pick up my tote bag! I got the confirmation text at 4:03, and the text that it was ready for pickup at 4:55, so I waited about 50 minutes when I was quoted at 4 hours. Not too shabby, and the final product was well worth the wait!

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I'm a sucker for anything with my name on it and I can't wait to embroider something else next month. I'm thinking a sweater.

I went back to the resort and dad wanted to start loading some bags into the truck before we left for dinner, so we packed a few things and then headed over to the monorail station to grab dinner at the Contempo Cafe. This would end up being a huge mistake, the Contempo was packed beyond belief and I had the most heinous three-cheese grilled cheese sandwich on earth (I couldn't eat it, the smell of it alone made me sick), so the "second wind" I was going through was knocked out of me pretty quickly, but I continued on to Magic Kingdom with everyone else.

When we got back to Magic, there was one final souvenir on the trip that mom, Grace, and I really wanted to make, and it was at the Crystal Arts shop on Main Street.

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I believe this is called the Crystal Wish Keepers experience, and it basically gives you the opportunity to fill a wand or a glass slipper with these little crystals. Each color represents a different value -- courage, strength, love, creativity, etc. -- and a very friendly CM will help you fill your item however you'd like, then you make a wish and they seal it closed with a special light.

I loved this experience. The CM in the photo above (I think her name was also Kaitlyn) was so chill and fun to talk to, which was great because the experience itself was kind of long with a lot of steps to make sure your wand was perfect. This is the finished product:

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It lives on my desk at work and I whip it out any time I need to magically transform one of my team's problems into a different team's problem. I kid, I kid.

Dad went back to the hotel after this experience, but Mom, Grace and I continued on to Haunted Mansion. We waited maybe 20 minutes.

The day was now coming to an end, and the fireworks were about to begin. Mom and Grace wanted to buy something at Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe and I wanted a Funnel Cake, so I ordered one at Sleepy Hollow and hunkered down at a table as the fireworks started. It was a great Funnel Cake. I remember mom & Grace taking longer than normal at the Christmas Shoppe, but eventually they texted me saying they were done, so I squeezed past the Sleepy Hollow fireworks viewing crowd to meet up with them and we braved our way on to Main Street USA to leave the park.

As we were leaving the Park, we had to walk past Crystal Palace. I briefly glanced over to the doors of the restaurant, and I'm so glad I did a double take, because otherwise I would have missed the absolute single cutest moment I have ever seen at Disney ever. I was able to quickly capture it on video, which I desperately wish I could upload here, but a screenshot of a video is the best I can do:

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Pooh and the gang were watching the fireworks with some of the children at Crystal Palace!

We made it through to the front of Magic Kingdom and stopped in front of the train station for the saddest of all Disney traditions -- one last look back at Cinderella's Castle before we said "see ya real soon."


I'll say this about our May 2024 vacation... even after I had been thrown on my butt from intense back pain, even after having to cut Park days short and being unable to fully enjoy some of the things I was looking forward to this trip, this was the first time in a long time that I cried because I was watching the last fireworks show of the trip. In fact, the last time I cried leaving Magic Kingdom was March 15, 2020, when I sobbed watching the fireworks from the cast parking lot after my last shift & the last day of Magic Kingdom's operations before COVID-19 changed our world. Ever since COVID, Disney just hasn't felt the same for me. Walt Disney World used to be my World, and I'd spend 51 weeks out of the year waiting for the 1 week I'd be back home. I was really excited to visit Disneyland for the first time when I turned 25, but the other post-COVID trips have kind of felt... meh. I've been so focused on other areas of my life these last 3 years, and while part of it is obviously because I'm an adult now with adult 'sponserbilities, I can't help but feel like I lost a lot of my love for Disney through the 2020 Spring Program ordeal. And that kind of feels like I lost a little piece of myself. So it felt really good to cry while I said goodbye to the Castle. It felt good to write a PTR, and get excited to plan a trip, and spend a week talking to Cast Members and going on adventures with the princesses and discovering new little things in the Parks to love. And it felt good to write this TR about it, too.


Mom, Grace, and I took the boat back to Magic Kingdom. Grace wanted a Pirates of the Caribbean Battleship game she saw at Moana Mercantile, so we went there, and mom wanted to know if I wanted to go on one last trip on Monorail Red. I said "why not," and we spent one last trip on Monorail Red scheming up our next vacation and waving goodbye to Magic Kingdom and the Contemporary. Eventually, we got off at the TTC station and headed back to Pago Pago for the last time. It was near midnight now, and I had done approximately no packing, so the next hour of my life was filled with laughing with mom and accidentally waking up dad while I shoved all of my clothing back into my suitcase. Seriously, how do I get all of my clothes packed in there so meticulously before every single trip?

YOU'VE MADE IT! Click here to finish the TR!​

 

[LoveToDisney]

Wow…great post! Enjoyed every second of your second wind. You found some really cute and unique souvenirs on this trip. So fun to see. Leaving MK is always sooooo hard at the end of a trip but there’s always another great trip on the horizon to plan. I look forward to hearing about all of them. Thanks for sharing with us!!

 

[Newsies]

Wow…great post! Enjoyed every second of your second wind. You found some really cute and unique souvenirs on this trip. So fun to see. Leaving MK is always sooooo hard at the end of a trip but there’s always another great trip on the horizon to plan. I look forward to hearing about all of them. Thanks for sharing with us!!

You are the best ever! I really appreciate that you followed along and commented after every update. It was a lot of fun getting to chat with you and get to know you a little more through this TR! Thank you for all of the kind words throughout my report!

 

[Newsies]

Day 8
Drive Home/Conclusion
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We woke up at 7:00. Dad is always ready to start the drive on these mornings, so we got changed, packed up the car, and had a quick final breakfast at Captain Cook's. I got the Tonga Toast, but it's not as good without the strawberry syrup they serve at Kona Cafe!

We took one last look at the Poly and we were soon on the road. It was actually... the most pleasant drive home we've ever had. We stopped twice at two different Buc-ees for some lunch and early dinner noshes, as well as some snacks for the road and some t-shirts. We also got a very cute onesie for my new baby cousin. I slept on and off from 9 PM onwards, and towards the end, I even tuned into that one girl's 4-hour long YouTube video about the Starcruiser and listened to it like a podcast while I slept. We were home at 7:00 in the morning. We made excellent time, especially given that it was Memorial Day. No traffic, no drama, no notes really.

I slept in my bed for about an hour, but of course: priority number one was making sure my back was okay. Again, it was Memorial Day when we got home, so there was only one minute clinic open in our area and it was closing early, so we had to get there quickly. I ended up waiting about an hour to be seen. They gave me an inflammatory shot and did some imaging on my back. Everything looked fine, so it truly was just a muscle spasm, they prescribed some pain killers for me and sent me on my way.

I ended up calling my primary care doctor a few days later, the pain somehow peaked on a random Wednesday morning and I was in tears, couldn't move for a little while. My doctor set up an emergency appointment at her office, where she told me once again that it was a muscle spasm and prescribed a special strength Motrin for me

By mid-June, the pain was gone and I was shaking my butt at a Niall Horan concert. Thus, effectively ending my back pain saga and the story of May 2024.

~*~ the conclusion ~*~
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I never know how to wrap these TRs up! Usually I'll rate the trip and give some of my key learnings, so I guess I'll do that again.

I'm gonna give this trip like a 7/10. All three missing points docked because of my back pain, which means it would have been pretty close to perfect if I didn't have that insane spasm coming off of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the beginning of the trip. It's hard to complain about anything else. Everyone at the Poly was giving 110%, they have the friendliest CMs and their transportation was operating so efficiently this year. Our room location was a 10/10. An 11/10, even. We couldn't have been closer to the TTC for easy access to MK & Epcot and it was its own rideshare location, which was a huge plus. Really the only complaint I had about the Poly was how frequently the Lava Pool was down, which looked like it was because of some water main issues due to the construction happening in that area. And hey, what can you really do about that? The "quiet pool" wasn't so quiet most of the week... so what?

The Parks continue to own my heart, and it is 100% because of the Cast Members. I had so many special moments with CMs this trip... it's enough to get a girl all verklempt and think about dropping everything to move back down to the Mouse. Even the 3rd-Party CMs at Shula's, various Springs stores, and Raglan Road were amazing. In fact, I would say those 3rd-Party CMs were some of the best I encountered! So to every CM who loves their job and the guests they do it for: thank you for making this such an amazing week

I know there's been a lot of talk about bad guest behavior, lack of cleanliness in the parks, rides going down, etc. -- I really didn't experience anything egregious this time around, so I don't have insight there. Could have been because I spent like 40% less time in the Parks than I was hoping to.

If I had one real, genuine complaint about WDW on this trip that I would have used this conclusion to rant about, it would have been about LL/ILL... but this morning I booked LLMP for the very first time and it is my new favorite thing on earth, so I guess there's really nothing for me to complain about?

Some final nuggets of advice to leave you with from this past trip:

1. Shula's is my new favorite fancy restaurant. My family just won't be looking for any other fancy restaurants on property again. It just feels the way a fancy restaurant is supposed to feel, with Cast Members that make you feel like family. This was a show-stopping moment on our trip and I really couldn't have imagined a birthday dinner anywhere else. Granted, California Grill is really the only other Signature restaurant we've visited at Walt Disney World in the past decade, but CG just doesn't compare to this. I hate to say it, but I think it's because Shula's is not a Disney restaurant. Don't get me wrong, the Disney way of doing things is usually best-in-class for theme park experiences, including dining. But there's just something about the fine dining scene that Disney doesn't seem to get right.​
2. Pago Pago really was the best DVC building for our standard room. I didn't make any requests this time around and I'm glad I didn't. I've said this one billion times in this thread before, but if you don't care about being far from the Grand Ceremonial House, this will keep you as close to the monorail as possible for Epcot/MK and will unlock a brand new level of simplicity for Lyft traveling if you want to take one somewhere.​
3. Fort Wilderness was cute & fun, but I don't know if I need to be back anytime soon. I know more people are looking for non-Springs, non-pool related ways to spend their days off. Do you like horseback riding or horses in general? Come to the fort. Do you want to eat at Hoop-de-Doo Revue? Come to the fort! Do you need to kill a few hours in non-horse related ways? Eh... I'm just not sure it's worth the effort of traveling there.​
4. Bring full bottles of Tylenol & Motrin. Please, for the love of all things that are holy, bring Costco sized bottles of ibuprofen and acetaminophen. You will regret your life choices if you have to make 7,000 trips to the resort gift shops and buy little packets of pain killers in bulk.​

But you know, it's funny: I don't really remember the back pain. I mean, I remember that I had to leave the Park early and that I had to spend some extra time in the pool and the hotel room, but I don't really remember how miserable it made me, if that makes sense. I mostly remember the good things about this trip, which is a good thing. I had to dig deep into my memories to remember that I cried because my back hurt, but what was really top of mind for me was the moments I cried because of the fireworks or because I was sitting with Walt in the morning. The back pain seemed so bad at the time because I had to spend more time in the room, but now I mostly remember those few happy moments where I was in the Parks.

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Anyway. This TR is now OVER, and just in time. This is going to be my fastest turn-and-burn on the TR boards ever. We're just 7 days out from my solo September trip! Thank you all so much for reading along and for commenting. I've loved hearing your stories, tips, and tricks, and always appreciated that you were so concerned about my back!

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end... See you in a few weeks as I report out my September 2024 solo trip!

THE END! ​

 

[jump00]

Day 7, Part 1
Breakfast at Boma
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We woke up around 8 in the morning on Saturday. As predicted, my back was still in very bad shape, but given that we had a pretty relaxing morning ahead of us, I just took a shower (I took so many this trip. Which, granted, we should all be taking all the opportune shower moments at Disney, but the feel of the hot water on my back felt so good in the morning and the evening) and popped a packet of Tylenol.

One thing I will never, ever do again: travel to Walt Disney World without Costco-sized bottles of pain killers. Having to stock up on those useless little plastic baggies of pills at the resort gift shops by the end of the trip was insane. If you don't know this already, you can't buy a bottle of Tylenol or Advil at Walt Disney World: they only sell painkillers in little packets of 2. I'm already prepped for my upcoming trip with brand new bottles of Tylenol and Motrin.

Anyway, 9:30 comes along and we get a Minnie Van to Boma.

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These are expensive at ~$45 a ride before tip, but I really appreciated the service and friendliness of the drivers. And I loved the Pago Pago pick-up/drop-off location, but that's more of a Lyft thing than a Minnie Van thing. Our driver this morning was so sweet and immediately knew we were headed to Boma, which she started gushing about.

After a pleasant 10 minute ride, we arrived at DAKL!

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This was my first time visiting DAKL since my 2016 DCP, but as some of you know, it will not be my last -- I have a trip here in the very near future and I was very excited to explore the grounds again to get a lay of the land, at least in the lobby. We had a few minutes before we could check in, so of course we walked outside and to see some of the animals. We saw a pretty neat bird, but nothing else.

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Then we went inside and sat down in the area that I believe is the Victoria Falls Lounge while we waited for our table to be ready. We were able to check in at 10:20 for our 10:45 ADR, but looking down at the restaurant I could already tell that it was very busy. It was packed and loud. We ended up not getting called to our table until 11:00 or so.

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I've heard a lot of really great things about Boma, so this was one of my most anticipated ADRs of the trip. Our hostess brought us to a pretty tight corner in the back of the restaurant and I sat in a chair that was not necessarily great for my ailing back. Almost immediately our friendly waiter comes around and takes our drink orders so that we can head to the buffet.

Though I normally don't indulge in alcohol this early in the morning, I knew I had to get the Striped & Spiked Cold Brew while I was here. Joffrey’s Coffee Cold Brew French Roast, South African Amarula Cream Liqueur, Godiva Chocolate Liqueur, Whipped Cream, garnished with a Zebra Dome.

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This was okay. It's not going to change your life, BUT, if you're here at Boma for breakfast, this is the only way you'll be able to try one of their famous Zebra Domes! These moussey, cakey desserts made with Amarula are a staple at Boma, but you'll only find them on the buffet line at Dinner time. If you're visiting for breakfast, this drink is the only way to get one. I like them, I think they have a really smooth, rich texture.

Of course, man does not live on Zebra Domes alone, so I headed up to the buffet line.

One thing none of the vlogs prepared me for re: Boma is that there is only one real "entrance" to the buffet line. This is unique to Boma from what I've experienced at every other buffet on property -- everyone starts at the carved meat station and ends at the pastry bar. This means there are a ton of amazing options here and they're not "doubling up" on stations, but it also means that you'll be waiting in a line here that you may not be waiting at other buffets.

Either way, I was very impressed with everything I saw on that buffet line and it was well worth the wait.

Here's plate #1:

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That carved ham is the best thing I've ever had at a breakfast buffet at Walt Disney World, and it isn't even close. It was so juicy and salty and not at all dry. OMG. And of course, it's topped with the famous Boma mustard, which I also loved. It was a bit spicy and a bit sweet, perfect for the ham. Sitting above it are the scrambled eggs with goat cheese and chives. I've never had goat cheese before, and I'm picky with my cheese, so I was a little skeptical to try these, but I heard they were the best on property so I figured I'd try a little. They were spectacular, I cannot wait to have more of them in three weeks. So creamy and the cheese is mild and milky, these were really great.

That brown-yellow looking scoop on the left is Turkey Bobotie. This was another well-hyped dish, I didn't personally love it. I think the turkey meat was throwing it off for me, I'm going to try this again at dinner when it's Lamb Bobotie and give it a second opinion. I also had a deviled egg up there, which was a mistake -- was not a fan of the capers and the subsequent "fishy" taste that this egg had.

Everything else on my first plate was pretty standard -- a biscuit, some bacon, some tater tots. I loved everything for the most part, the tater tots were especially hot and crips here and the bacon was the crispiest I've ever had on Disney property.

Here's plate #2:

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This was my "sweet" plate, but I loved the ham so much I had to get another piece of it.

On the top right is a little scoop of coconut steel-cut oatmeal, which our server specifically told us to try. I hadn't heard about it through any of the vlogs we watched, and I can't believe people are sleeping on them. They are so creamy and have a gorgeous coconut flavor to them, definitely a hidden gem on the buffet line.

I was well prepared for the pecan sticky-buns and the cinnamon raisin bread pudding with vanilla sauce, and they truly did live up to their hype. I grabbed two sticky buns since I had waited in such a big line for them, but I really could only eat half of one, they are very sweet and will make you sick to your stomach quickly. But they are still delicious, much better than the other cinnamon buns I've had on property with that glorious caramel sauce and plenty of pecans. The bread pudding was very good, too. Again, very sweet.

It took us a while to wrap things up when we were full, they were having issues with the payment system (what can you do?) so we were sat for more than we would have liked to have been, but eventually rolled our way out of the restaurant with full bellies.

So the family ended up having mixed opinions on Boma. Mom was indifferent, thought it was "good" but didn't have much else to say otherwise. Dad was decidedly not a fan, he thought the food was good but was put off by how busy, loud, and chaotic the restaurant was. That's very fair. Everyone I know has hyped this restaurant up to be a "hidden gem" in the way of Disney buffets, but nothing felt hidden about this place, we were packed in there like sardines and I've never waited in a buffet line at the parks like I did for breakfast here. Grace and I had positive opinions, we really liked our meals and felt like the crowds didn't really hinder how good the food was.

So that's our Boma review for you. You'll get two updated ones from me soon.


Instead of getting another Minnie Van, we just got a regular Lyft back to the Poly. Our driver was friendly and we paid a fraction of the cost of a MV. Mom, dad, and Grace really wanted to head to Magic Kingdom. At first, I was set to go with them, but halfway through the walk from Pago Pago to the TTC, my bad back and I "noped" it and headed back to the room for another nap.

I'll leave you there for this update, but I'll leave you with a small spoiler to let you know that things improved a little bit that afternoon!

Click here to continue​

Really enjoying your trip report! Sorry about your sore back. Having grown up with Bobotie (both parents are from Cape Town SA) you are very brave. It is the one dish I could never stomach. When we stayed at AKL and ate at Boma I had to call my parents to let them know what was on the menu. Still not “brave” enough to eat it. My mom and ouma made the best Zebra domes! I wish mine were as good as theirs. Thank you for such a wonderful and entertaining report! Love the pics.
Brenda

 

[Newsies]

Really enjoying your trip report! Sorry about your sore back. Having grown up with Bobotie (both parents are from Cape Town SA) you are very brave. It is the one dish I could never stomach. When we stayed at AKL and ate at Boma I had to call my parents to let them know what was on the menu. Still not “brave” enough to eat it. My mom and ouma made the best Zebra domes! I wish mine were as good as theirs. Thank you for such a wonderful and entertaining report! Love the pics.
Brenda

Thanks so much for reading along!

It's so cool that your parents are from Cape Town! I hear the food & wine scene is incredible, so I can't imagine some of the great dishes you've enjoyed in the kitchen with them. As for bobotie... eh, maybe it's not for me either The texture of it really caught me off guard. I can totally see that being a rough dinner growing up!

It's so funny to think and talk about the foods we do/don't eat from our childhood/our cultures! My mother's family was Irish so cabbage is a staple, particularly around March. I know so many people who look forward to it every year. Me, I've never been able to get past the stench to try it At the same time, I was an adult when I found out that most American children hated coming home to see porkchops in the oven for dinner...they've always been a favorite of mine!

 

[Sajchinook2015]

My mom has back problems and takes a muscle relaxer. She gets muscle spasms in her lower back. Glad you are feeling better. And I am looking forward to your next trip report.

 

[CML's mom]

I always enjoy your trip reports. Hope your back is better!

 

[HappyGal]

Fantastic trip report, I felt as though I was there with you. Looking forward to “our” solo trip!

 

[jump00]

Thanks so much for reading along!

It's so cool that your parents are from Cape Town! I hear the food & wine scene is incredible, so I can't imagine some of the great dishes you've enjoyed in the kitchen with them. As for bobotie... eh, maybe it's not for me either The texture of it really caught me off guard. I can totally see that being a rough dinner growing up!

It's so funny to think and talk about the foods we do/don't eat from our childhood/our cultures! My mother's family was Irish so cabbage is a staple, particularly around March. I know so many people who look forward to it every year. Me, I've never been able to get past the stench to try it At the same time, I was an adult when I found out that most American children hated coming home to see porkchops in the oven for dinner...they've always been a favorite of mine!

I agree! I’m not a fan of cabbage either because of the smell. I do love pork chops too. My family has never been a fan. So I have them when we are eating out. Thanks for sharing all your past reports. Looking forward to catching up on those as well.

Happy Labour Day!
Brenda

 

[Newsies]

My mom has back problems and takes a muscle relaxer. She gets muscle spasms in her lower back. Glad you are feeling better. And I am looking forward to your next trip report.

It's tough out there for those of us with back problems!! They gave me a relaxer, too. I appreciate you commenting and reaching out, thank you for reading along!

I always enjoy your trip reports. Hope your back is better!

Thank you very, very much! This is very sweet -- my back is definitely better and all ready for my next trip!

Fantastic trip report, I felt as though I was there with you. Looking forward to “our” solo trip!

You are just the sweetest ever! I just saw your comment on my PTR and laughed out loud. Thank you for joining along, I can't wait for "our" solo trip, either!

I agree! I’m not a fan of cabbage either because of the smell. I do love pork chops too. My family has never been a fan. So I have them when we are eating out. Thanks for sharing all your past reports. Looking forward to catching up on those as well.

Happy Labour Day!
Brenda

Happy Labor Day, Brenda! Thanks for reading along!

 

[PAsFab5]

As always-loved your report!! Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[snowpack]

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!!

Every year I tell my Dolphin loving sister "NO" when she suggests Shulas. May have to reconsider.