Bring on the Pixie Dust! Going Back to Disney with Mom - a May 2016 PTR 5/18: LIVE UPDATE!

[kadrachb]

Awesome! This is a place Will and I have wanted to try but haven't gotten around to - we were pretty happy with the lunch prices and the food, which had good options for mom (who likes somewhat lighter stuff sometimes) and us (definitely not light eaters on vacation).

If you like dessert (or carbs) you need to try to sci-fi candy bar!

 

[LindseyJo22]

Wishes Dessert Party! I've NEVER done this! It looks SO CUTE. Someday! Maybe I'll even work it into my October trip for next year!

We did it with Will's family before the price went up - it was awesome! I'm not totally sold on it being worth the increased price, but I'm happy to pay for it so my mom can have the experience. It's a great place to watch Wishes, which is really what you're paying for anyway! And the time we did do it I loved all the desserts, it's just not humanly possible for me to eat my money's worth or anything

If you like dessert (or carbs) you need to try to sci-fi candy bar!

I'll definitely keep that in mind! I have my eye on a milkshake too, which might preclude any other kind of dessert But the candy bar does look awesome!

 

[LindseyJo22]

Good morning everyone!

Sorry for the lack of updates - there just really hasn't been much going on in terms of this trip! However, we did have a short trip in December, and we are only 9 days out from our extremely short weekend trip to Epcot!

I am hoping to update my regular TR this week and also start telling you about the awesome holiday Disney trip we had So hopefully that will tide you over until we get to do more exciting things - like make fastapss reservations (only 58 days)! And actually come up with some kind of schedule for ourselves

Thanks for following along, despite my serious irregularity in updates!

 

[Elevationist]

Dang, lady. When are you NOT at Disney??

 

[LindseyJo22]

Dang, lady. When are you NOT at Disney??

Haha, this year was definitely an anomaly - we had our DVC points to use, and then Will's family used some of their points for us for the January trip. I think after this year, we'll be back to one big trip a year for a while! Also, thanks for reminding me (again) that I need to update all my stuff here

 

[kastoney]

Joining in on your party. It's always fun to see how the planning half lives ; ) Sounds like you have some great plans shaping up already. Have a fab time in Epcot!

 

[chelsearenee]

Joining in! My fiancé and I will be there May 22-30 for our honeymoon. Enjoy your weekend trip!

 

[LindseyJo22]

Woo hoo! Today is Disney Day!

Sadly, we had to cancel our Cape May reservation yesterday - Will couldn't get anyone to cover his 2:00pm class, so we'll miss out on the buffet tonight.

However, that just means that we added Cape May into our May trip!

So we'll be getting into Orlando May 17 and we've got a 6:05 reservation

Honestly, I was a little bummed yesterday because we had both been looking forward to it so much - but we discussed our options and thought that saving the meal for another trip was the best way to go. They could have gotten us an 8:45 reservation for tonight, but we really didn't want to wait that long for dinner, and we were also really worried that it was so close to the end of their service for the night. I love Disney food, but I didn't want to pay $40 or so per person and be disappointed after we had been so excited.

So now we're going in May at a regular dinner time, and I can't wait!

Plus, we have Texas Roadhouse gift card we got for Christmas which will cover our dinner on the road tonight. Yay! We got a bunch of Disney gift cards to help pay for the food on this trip, so it was going to be slightly frustrating to have to pay more OOP for dinner, but it all worked out.

Plus, no big fancy TS meal this trip means more money for Epcot snacks, which I never get enough of - we tend to actually eat CS meals, so I am too full for all the delicious treats I see on dining reports. However, I'm already scheming to get back to the French bakery and try something, and maybe even to Norway. We'll see!

I'll try to post a little bit as I have time, but since it's such a short trip I might not get much computer time at all.

 

[LindseyJo22]

Mini Live Update

We got into the Boardwalk around 10 last night after leaving at 3:30 or so. Not a bad trip! Tried to stop at Texas Roadhouse in Gainesville for dinner since we had a gift card, but it was packed! So if you're driving down 75 on a Friday night around 7, stop somewhere else for dinner

We ended up eating at a Zoe's kitchen which was delicious and fast. It's a super short trip, so we've really only got the day in Epcot - but I may try to convince Will to head over to MK since it stays open till 1am tonight

On the agenda for today:

Test Track
Spaceship Earth
Nemo
The Land
World Showcase Wandering - and snacks!
Beaches & Cream for dinner

Here's to a great day at Epcot! Even though it's kind of a drive to get here and back in a weekend, I'm super glad we came A Saturday in Disney totally beats a Saturday hanging out at home!

 

[cinderkelly]

Good morning!
I've been lurking on your PTR and have read through your honeymoon TR. Just wanted to say have a magical Epcot day! I'll be following along

Kelly

 

[DisneyKates]

A Saturday in Disney totally beats a Saturday hanging out at home

Why yes, yes it does! I can't wait to hear all about your day!

 

[LindseyJo22]

Good morning!
I've been lurking on your PTR and have read through your honeymoon TR. Just wanted to say have a magical Epcot day! I'll be following along

Kelly

Awesome! Well, I hope you enjoyed my first attempt at a TR Hopefully I'll get a little better as I go along We had a really great day! We got home about an hour ago, and I'm hoping to post a mini TR in this thread this week. We got a lot done for just one park day, and it was so wonderful to have a little Disney break Plus, we made a few updates for our May trip so I'll be able to add more substance to the PTR part of this thread soon as well.

Why yes, yes it does! I can't wait to hear all about your day!

It was so awesome! I've got to get my pictures in order, and then I'll definitely be posting a mini report Always glad to have new people following along!

 

[Elevationist]

We ended up eating at a Zoe's kitchen which was delicious and fast

I never even heard of this place until a couple weeks ago, I saw one in the outlet mall in the next town over. Now here you are mentioning it! I should look up more about it, since you say it's good!

n the agenda for today:

Test Track
Spaceship Earth
Nemo
The Land
World Showcase Wandering - and snacks!
Beaches & Cream for dinner

That sounds like a PERFECT day!!

 

[LindseyJo22]

Mini Trip Report - January 30, 2016

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful week. Mine has been nice - I work part-time this semester on MWF, so I've actually got some time for Dis updating

We had a fabulous time on our mini trip this past weekend - and yes, I will also get to our December trip too But this one is still fresh in my mind, so I thought I'd start with that.

After arriving at the Boardwalk pretty late Friday night, we didn't really do much. Got checked in, saw family, and essentially headed to bed - except for a late night snack of course!

After we checked in at the desk, we went down to the Boardwalk Bakery to grab ourselves something to munch on. We figured it was closest to us then, since who knew where our room might be. Sure enough, I would not have wanted to go back down after putting all of our stuff up, so I'm glad we checked it out even though I had like two computers and a plate to carry The plate sounds weird - but my sister in law had accidentally given us an extra piece from their grandmother's china set, which she generously gave us half of. So we finally remembered to give it back

At the bakery we picked up this deliciousness:

It was a vanilla cupcake with strawberry filling, a swirl of half strawberry half vanilla icing, and chocolate shavings. Plus a half of a chocolate covered strawberry on top - half white chocolate, half regular. This was phenomenal - and I'm not usually a cupcake person. But apparently Disney cupcakes are a totally different matter. It was light and fluffy, moist cake with delicious icing - and the filling helped the usual issue I have with cupcakes: the ratio of cake to other stuff. Plus, since this cake was not dry like many cupcakes, it was even better! Highly recommended from me - and everything else there looked wonderful as well

EPCOT

The next morning, Will and I slept in a decent amount - we were tired and since we were there just for the weekend (while everyone else in the family was either ending or starting a longer trip), we didn't want to totally wear ourselves out. Spoiler - I'm not sure we really succeeded on that front, but we got way more done than we would have if we had gotten up early!

We met everyone in the park around 11:30 for our Test Track fastpass:

We all went in to design our cars - pretty sure Will and I created the ugliest car imaginable. We were going for aerodynamics and balancing power and efficiency, but we got too caught up and didn't have time to make it pretty At least the police lights make it a little better, maybe?

Then it was time for the speed test - my favorite!

And we had to get a group shot with Spaceship Earth of course

After Test Track, we decided it was time for lunch. Everyone ended up going to the Taste Track food truck for some grilled cheese sandwiches.

Will and I split the Gruyere & Applewood Smoked Bacon - with caramelized onions on sourdough bread. This came with a choice of a side of soup or salad. We went with the salad since it turned out to be a pretty warm day!

This is not the best picture ever - the salad was really good! It had thin apple slices, some good cheese, golden raisins, and candied pecans in addition to the lettuce. The dressing was kind of tangy and very yummy. The grilled cheese was also wonderful! It reminded me of French Onion Soup in a way. You've got the cheese, the bread, and the onions - plus bacon. Yummy and really not too expensive at 9.75 plus drinks.

After lunch, it was time for Spaceship Earth - of which I don't have any pictures :/ But it was awesome as always!

Then everyone split up for a while, and Will and I went to the Imagination Pavilion to see a few things:

I really like the Figment ride. I know it's silly, but the song is fun! And the dump area afterward is actually pretty awesome. We both loved the Pixar short films. We were a little sad to see Captain Eo go - we loved the show - but this is a pretty awesome replacement. We had both seen a couple of the shorts before, but the 3D effects made them even better, especially Get a Horse. If you haven't seen that one, you need to go to this just for it! Easily my favorite short in a long time.

After some Pixar fun, we wandered to Mexico to see if we could ride the boats before meeting everyone else again. Nope! Apparently Soarin' being down created some crowd issues in Epcot. Living With the Land and the Mexico ride both had long lines! The line for the boats was almost through the marketplace in the pavilion, so we decided to just get a few Photopass pictures and head back:

I liked how these turned out And it was cool to be able to get a picture inside here, even though the volcano isn't a prominent as I had hoped it might be.

Next up:

This is so cute! I love it Then, we spent some time with the manatees - my favorite - and wandering around looking at all the aquarium tanks. However, we'd just been to the Atlanta aquarium relatively recently, so our wandering was a little shorter than usual. After that, we headed to World Showcase to get a snack.

We ended up at Karamell Kuche which had been on my list for a while. I thought about getting one of the caramel marshmallow swirls, but was pretty hungry and worried that it wouldn't last me until our 7:00 dinner. Instead, I got something I'd been talking about since our September trip: a caramel apple.

I need to get a little better at photographing

Will got a chocolate covered S'more:

Both of these were so good! I only ate half my apple and saved the rest for Sunday night. It was really nice to have a Disney treat when we got home, and it didn't suffer too badly after being kept in the fridge

After our snack, it was a good time to head back to the Boardwalk for some rest and relaxation. We loved our view and wanted to enjoy it a little more:

I'll be back with our Beaches & Cream dinner and a night at the Magic Kingdom

 

[cinderkelly]

It was a vanilla cupcake with strawberry filling, a swirl of half strawberry half vanilla icing, and chocolate shavings. Plus a half of a chocolate covered strawberry on top - half white chocolate, half regular. This was ph

That cupcake looks rally good! Something special about Disney cupcakes...

Will and I split the Gruyere & Applewood Smoked Bacon - with caramelized onions on sourdough bread. This came with a choice of a side of soup or salad. We went with the salad since it turned out to be a pretty warm day!

Wow that looks amazing! This Is in Epcot??? Must put on my "food wants" list!

After our snack, it was a good time to head back to the Boardwalk for some rest and relaxation. We loved our view and wanted to enjoy it a little mo

You really scored on the view! Absolutely beautiful!

 

[Elevationist]

I'm not usually a cupcake person.

I totally am! And that cupcake looks/sounds AMAZING!!!

But apparently Disney cupcakes are a totally different matter.

That's because EVERYTHING is better at Disney.

We both loved the Pixar short films.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this in October!

After some Pixar fun, we wandered to Mexico to see if we could ride the boats before meeting everyone else again. Nope! Apparently Soarin' being down created some crowd issues in Epcot. Living With the Land and the Mexico ride both had long lines! The line for the boats was almost through the marketplace in the pavilion

Say whaaaaaaaaaaaat! Mexico NEVER has a line! That's CRAZY!

Then, we spent some time with the manatees - my favorite

Mine too!

 

[LindseyJo22]

Wow that looks amazing! This Is in Epcot??? Must put on my "food wants" list!

Yes! It's a food truck basically right outside of Test Track - they have three different kinds of grilled cheese, and I think there may be a larger salad option as well. It's delicious and pretty affordable for Disney food

You really scored on the view! Absolutely beautiful!

I know! Sadly, it was a bit noisy since we were on the side with Jelly Rolls and the dance club - so we won't be seeing this lovely view in May, but the Boardwalk is definitely one of my favorite places

That's because EVERYTHING is better at Disney.

It's so true!

 

[Saphire5742]

At the bakery we picked up this deliciousness:

Looks yummy!

We both loved the Pixar short films. We were a little sad to see Captain Eo go - we loved the show - but this is a pretty awesome replacement. We had both seen a couple of the shorts before, but the 3D effects made them even better, especially Get a Horse. If you haven't seen that one, you need to go to this just for it! Easily my favorite short in a long time.

I was thinking of skipping this, but you convinced me to try it out

Also great pics. And what a great view!

 

[LindseyJo22]

Mini TR - Part 2! Beaches & Cream

Hi everyone!

Today is double digit day for my May trip! Only 99 days until we get to spend a week at my favorite place SO excited!

However, I still have part of this mini TR to catch up on. After we rested a little bit in the room, went down to visit with Will's parents for a while, and generally enjoyed hanging out at the Boardwalk, it was time to head on over to the Beach Club to meet a friend of mine. I finished grad school last spring, and one of my friends from my program just happened to be starting a Disney vacation with her boyfriend on the same day we were there! So it seemed like the perfect time to meet up

We met in the Beach Club lobby at 7:00 for our 7:10 reservation. I was really happy I kept looking for a good time. At first, we had booked 9:20 because it was the only thing we could find, but repeated searching gave us an actual dinner time reservation! We put our name in and ended up being seated probably 20 minutes after our actual reservation time. Not awful, but a little bit annoying. However, considering how tiny the place is, it makes sense. Plus, as Will says, they have the "Cheesecake Factory issue" where nearly everyone feels like they need dessert. I think this definitely makes it run a little slower than other places, but we were glad to wait. Though we were hungry when we did get a table!

This was a really nice dinner - Will and I decided to split the patty melt:
Angus beef burger with sauteed onions, swiss, garlic-peppercorn dressing on rye bread $15.99

Honestly, this wouldn't have been my first choice, but we wanted to split something so we could get dessert, and was the most appealing thing to Will. So I agreed and figured if I didn't like it there would be more room for ice cream

When our food appeared, this is what we got - they went ahead and split up the sandwich for us (and Will gave me his pickle - yum).

I have to say, I was hugely pleasantly surprised by this! The cheese and onions gave the sandwich a ton of flavor, and it looked way better than the burgers that were coming out. Also, the fried were amazing. And this is coming from someone who doesn't usually like big thick fries. But these were still crispy and nice and salty, which I love. And in my opinion you can't go wrong with pickles - though Will definitely disagrees with me

My friend Ashley got the grilled cheese, which also looked wonderful. If we hadn't basically had grilled cheese for lunch, that would have been pretty high on my list.

After we all finished our dinners, we decided we definitely had to order dessert. I needed no deliberation - I knew exactly what I wanted from seeing it so many times on the Disboards: The No Way Jose!

A Peanut Butter and Hot Fudge delight featuring Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Morsels, Whipped Cream, and a Cherry $8.49

So I had seen pictures - but I was not prepared for the sheer size of this thing! And even though I'm going to put in a picture, I'm not sure it really shows how huge this sundae is. And it was just for me - Will isn't a huge fan of peanut butter either (crazy!).

And this was just as amazing and fabulous as I had imagined - even more so really! The fudge and peanut butter were both in very thick layers so you could get a good scoop of them with the ice cream. I'm still dreaming about how amazing this sundae was However, I think if I got it again I'd get it all with vanilla ice cream - or maybe ask them if they have a mini version. I did my best, but could only eat about half of it and I'd feel bad wasting the food again.

Will got a mint chocolate chip milkshake which he loved, and it had chocolate sprinkles in it, which are his favorite!

There was even some more milkshake in the metal glass - all these desserts were giant!

Overall, we had a wonderful meal at Beaches & Cream. Our server was really friendly and nice - and it was not a totally unreasonable price for a TS meal. We thought it was quite affordable, even with drinks and dessert. Though of course we did split an entree, which makes a difference. We're already trying to figure out how to make a good patty melt at home, and I'm plotting to get another No Way Jose as soon as possible

I've got to get myself ready for work, but I'll be back sometime soon with our Magic Kingdom adventures!

 

[Saphire5742]

Today is double digit day for my May trip! Only 99 days until we get to spend a week at my favorite place SO excited!

YAY!!!!!!!!

Aw Man, does that look like ice cream sundae HEAVEN!!!!!

I would totally forgo dinner and head straight for this baby.
Totally doing this for my next trip (although that won't be for a few more years yet)