Bringing The Fam to WDW--2 DIS Vets & The Non-Believers--Update 6/11

[xoktenox]

Awesome food choices!

Cali Grill is somewhere I have always wanted to try, but I would never bring the kids there. My kids are just a tad bit rambunctious to eat somewhere so fancy. I bet yall are going to love it!

Mmm Beaches & Cream! It's such a cute little place. Good luck with the Kitchen Sink!

OHANA! I remember when we ate there together with our strong Lapu Lapu's. ALways a wonderful choice!

Kona breakfast is delicious, but I would definitely say go for Olivia's! It's such an underrated place and the kids & I are there about 3 times when we all stayed at OKW. Loved it!

You'll have to send the kiddos to a kids club one night and try CG with Josh! I don't blame you for not bringing them, even though they're very well behaved!

I'm kinda nervous about the kitchen sink but I think we'll handle it well haha

YESSS, I just was looking through old pictures and saw the ones of us from 'Ohana and also the one of us holding the Grand Marnier Orange Slushes in Epcot! Good times!! I MISS YOUUUU!

I'm really thinking we'll do Olivia's. I think my dad will LOVE OKW and basically the main thing we would get at Kona (Tonga Toast) we can get at Captain Cooks. I remember you eating at Olivia's a few times!

Don't feel bad...we've not been to California Grill yet either. We've cancelled it twice and I couldn't fit it in for September since we are trying Flying Fish this time.

We LOVE Beaches & Cream...such a fun place.

Unfortunately, we were not a fan of Ohana after all the hype. It was our most disappointing meal last year.

We love Wolfgang's; and we stay at OKW a lot of our trips and absolutely LOVE Olivia's for breakfast and dinner.

Flying Fish is also on our list to try at some point

Oh man, that makes me sad that you aren't 'Ohana fans! We find that the service isn't always the best but we just LOVE the food.

I think I'm leaning toward's Olivia's if we do a breakfast!

 

[tinkgurl]

I wish we were eating with you! You will love the Cali Grill! I can't wait to go back there!

That kitchen sink looks ginormous!

You know I love both Ohana and Kona! Can't go wrong with either.

Olivia's is good! We've done both breakfast and dinner there.

 

[xoktenox]

I wish we were eating with you! You will love the Cali Grill! I can't wait to go back there!

That kitchen sink looks ginormous!

You know I love both Ohana and Kona! Can't go wrong with either.

Olivia's is good! We've done both breakfast and dinner there.

I wish so tooooo! I can't wait to try the sushi at CG. I know you loved it there.

The kitchen sink IS ginormous so that's why Chris and I have never tried it. Now, the 5 of us will be able to!

I think we'll do Olivia's if they want to sit down for breakfast!

 

[xoktenox]

So just a quick update...I've been feeling really down and homesick lately so Chris and I have decided to make a day trip to WDW tomorrow! We're going to leave our house at 8 and should be to WDW before 10. Then, we need to be home by 5 for our dog so we should get a good 5 hours of time there. Not a lot but I'm hoping it'll help to cheer me up!

I was able to get us FPs for Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and the Jungle Cruise. We haven't done the JC in a few trips which is why I got the FPs for that. Unfortunately, since we just decided to go yesterday, there are no Mine Train FPs left online. We'll have to check the wait times throughout the day or see if we can get one while they're there!

Another thing I'm really hoping with help my homesickness is that we're going to Long Island a week from today! Actually, at this very time next week, we'll be at my cousin's wedding. We'll be there for 5 days and it's either going to be EXACTLY what I need to help me cheer up or it's going to make things worse. I'm praying for the first!

That's all I have for right now but I'll be back during the week with some pics from our day trip tomorrow! ​

 

[jmskinner]

Hi! Thought I would join in. We lived in the Tampa area for three years. Loved my day trips to WDW. Met some great people from the Dis, that I never would have.

Daisy is a cutie.

Love your wedding pics and you are right, your Mom does not look 50!

You asked for recommendation for DH's bday dinner, my husband and I love Yachtsman Steakhouse. We tried it when we went platinum dining for an anniversary trip. We had CG the same weekend. Very quiet restaurant for a nice adult meal.

 

[xoktenox]

Hi! Thought I would join in. We lived in the Tampa area for three years. Loved my day trips to WDW. Met some great people from the Dis, that I never would have.

Daisy is a cutie.

Love your wedding pics and you are right, your Mom does not look 50!

You asked for recommendation for DH's bday dinner, my husband and I love Yachtsman Steakhouse. We tried it when we went platinum dining for an anniversary trip. We had CG the same weekend. Very quiet restaurant for a nice adult meal.

Thanks for joining in! We've been here 8 months and I'm struggling to adjust a bit! I did enjoy our day trip today though!

Thank you and thank you! Yachtsman is a good idea. I booked Le Cellier because that's his favorite but we haven't tried the Yachtsman yet. Hmmm, now you've got my wheels turning lol

 

[Disneychix]

Hi Kristen! I have to say I'm jealous of your dining plans!

I love the pic of you and Chris with your wedding cake! I would totally frame that!

We had dinner at Shula's for Pat's birthday in May. It was really good!

 

[xoktenox]

Hi Kristen! I have to say I'm jealous of your dining plans!

I love the pic of you and Chris with your wedding cake! I would totally frame that!

We had dinner at Shula's for Pat's birthday in May. It was really good!

Hey Rosie! I didn't know if you were still around on here, glad you came on over

Thanks! I'm ashamed to say this but none of my wedding photos are in frames yet lol probably because I ordered them from the photography company over a year after my wedding and just received them a few weeks ago

I never even thought of Shula's! Good idea!

 

[KatMark]

Hi, Kristen; we are back from our girls trip.

I hope you had a good day at the park yesterday.

We ate at Olivia's twice this trip...one lunch and one dinner (same menu) and everything was OUTSTANDING!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

I'm glad you & Chris were able to head over to Disney for the day! How was it?!

 

[xoktenox]

Hi, Kristen; we are back from our girls trip.

I hope you had a good day at the park yesterday.

We ate at Olivia's twice this trip...one lunch and one dinner (same menu) and everything was OUTSTANDING!

Just subbed to your TR for the girls trip! Can't wait to read more.

We had a great day, I'm going to post an update now about it.

I am definitely thinking that if my parents want to do breakfast while we're there, that's where we'll go, Olivia's

I'm glad you & Chris were able to head over to Disney for the day! How was it?!

It was great, I'm going to post an update about it now!

 

[xoktenox]

So while I am having a difficult time adjusting to living in Florida and being away from my family, there is a bright side…living less than 2 hours from Disney! This past Friday I was feeling pretty down so I mentioned to Chris that we should go to Disney on Sunday…and he, of course, said yes! I immediately went online to get us some FP+ reservations, hoping there’d be some left for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. No surprise there though, they were all gone. Instead I got ones for Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and the Jungle Cruise. I’ll apologize that 1) I don’t have a lot of photos and 2) they’re all taken with my phone. So they’re not that great but hey, it’s something!

Chris and I woke up at 7 and he cooked Daisy a scrambled egg (we felt bad leaving her so this was our peace offering to her lol) to mix with her breakfast while I got ready. By 8, we were pulling out of our driveway! We somehow ended up taking the longest route on the GPS but still made it to WDW property by 10 and were taking the ferry to the MK by 10:21!



Our Splash FP was only good from 9:50-10:50. Now, this was our first time using the FP+ and I had heard that they let you in up to 10 minutes after your reservation time but I wasn’t sure so as soon as we walked through the MK gates, we hightailed it back to Splash. We walked up at exactly 10:50 so we were good! No problems with our Magic Bands at all and we didn’t wait at all to get on one of our favorite rides!



Hearing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah can make anyone’s day! Our Big Thunder FPs were for 10:50-11:50 so we went right on over there next! Big Thunder is one of my favorite rides in WDW. Luckily for us, we were directed to the front of the train! But then, the man and his son who got off the ride before us had a problem with their lap bar. They couldn’t get the bar up enough and they kind of had to squeeze out. So, Chris and I ended up having to wait an extra ride to get on. No big deal at all. Well after our wild ride through the wilderness, there was a supervisor looking CM standing there waiting for us and she handed up paper FPs that were good until June 30th! We could use it for one of many different rides like Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Space Mountain, Buzz and a bunch of others! It was totally unnecessary but we were so happy and grateful that they did that for us! Disney at it’s finest.

After our mountain rides, we were hungry for some lunch. We hadn’t eaten at Pecos Bills in a while and it was close so we headed on in. It was about 11:45 so it wasn’t too crowded but it was starting to pick up. I ordered the delicious taco salad while Chris got the burger with the onion ring on it and I believe bacon as well. Gotta love the toppings bar at Pecos Bills, too. We loaded up on cheese sauce and pickles haha

Our next stop was to our last pre-scheduled FP of the day, the Jungle Cruise!



We got right over there and saw the FP line was really long. The ride was down. We waited about 5-10 minutes on the line and then decided it wasn’t worth waiting anymore. I quickly got on my phone and used the WDW app to cancel our JC FPs and added ones for the Haunted Mansion that were good right away! Off we headed, back towards Liberty Square for Chris’s second favorite ride in WDW.



Again, the FP line looked really long but after about 3 minutes, we walked all the way through, right to the stretching room. Here’s our scared faces while waiting in line



Haha! As usual, HM was great! Our favorite thing to do during the ride is try and find hidden details we’ve never caught before during the ballroom scene. We can find something new almost every time!

After riding the HM, I had only one thing on my mind…Lefou’s Brew!! Oh man, I loveeeeee me some Lefou’s Brew. Except I’m not a huge fan of the foam on the top, so I just get it without it. We cut through the land of the strollers but first, we stopped at the FP+ kiosk near Philharmagic and scheduled some for Buzz!

While walking back into New Fantasyland, we peaked over at the newly opened Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!



I wanted to see how long the stand-by line was buuuuut…it was down. I felt bad for anyone who was on their once in a lifetime trip and maybe this was their only day in the MK because so far, 2 rides were down for extended periods of time.

Now, it was time to hustle it back to the promised land, aka Gaston’s Tavern. Of course, we got in line behind the people who stood there for 5 minutes and still didn’t know what they wanted to order when they got up to the cashier lol but soon enough, I had the deliciousness of Lefou’s Brew in my hand. Oh man, I love this stuff sooooo much! We went outside and grabbed a table under an umbrella to sit for a few. I posted on Facebook…


Lefou’s Brew makes me happy!

Our plan now was to walk over to Tomorrowland, use our paper FPs from our little BTM issue and take a ride on Space, and then use our FP+ at Buzz. It was so nice to walk through the MK, with my husband, sipping on our brews and enjoying life. I really needed it!! As we approached Space we noticed something…no line. It was down. Jeez, we weren’t having very much luck! There were a few more minutes for us to wait before the Buzz FP was good to use so we walked through the Merchant of Venus store for a few minutes. Then, it was time to ride Buzz! We got stuck in the middle of the ride for just a short time but it enabled Chris to max out his score at 999,999. Me on the other hand only scored like 75,000. I am terrible at Buzz. Much better at Toy Story Mania lol

It was about 2:00 at this point and we still had a bit more time before we had to leave. So, we walked through the hub, back around to Adventureland. We decided to use our paper FPs from BTM on Pirates of the Caribbean! Again, one of our favorite MK ride, partially because we are obsessed with the smell of Disney water haha I know we’re not the only ones! The FP line was super long so we got a little nervous but once it moved, we walked right into the glorious air conditioning and only had to wait one minute for a boat. Classic, great ride as usual!

Now, it was 2:20. We were super thirsty so we went across the way from Pirates to Tortuga Tavern and got 2 cups of water (FREE! We never buy bottled water at WDW) and a frozen strawberry lemonade to share. Ahhhh, they definitely hit the spot. Unfortunately, it was time for us to head out. Walking back to Main St., knowing we’d be back really soon makes leaving so quickly much more bearable. As we always do, we walked through all the shops on Main St. 1- for the air conditioning and 2- to browse the merchandise. I was looking for one of the new princess mugs they have (specifically Rapunzel) but the only one we saw in the Emporium was the Queen of Hearts.

Now here is the part I hate about driving to the MK. Getting to your car is a pain! I mean, it’s relatively painless, but it’s still just so much easier to take a Disney bus. We walked out of the MK at 2:45 and were to our car shortly after. So ended our impromptu day trip to the MK. It was much needed and definitely worth it! I can’t wait to be back there, sooner than expected actually, because we’re about 95% sure we’re going to go for the 4th of July!! ​

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Maaaan, what's up with all the rides being down?! You'd think in June and with it being such a prime time, that it wouldn't really happen that much. At least yall were able to ride pretty much everything you wanted to!

Mmm, I'm definitely going to have to try a Lefou's Brew in September! That sounds delicious right about now.

Are you wearing a Beauty & the Beast shirt?! Where is it from?

I totally agree about it being easier to just catch a Disney bus from MK. Getting back to your car from there definitely takes longer.

 

[xoktenox]

Maaaan, what's up with all the rides being down?! You'd think in June and with it being such a prime time, that it wouldn't really happen that much. At least yall were able to ride pretty much everything you wanted to!

Mmm, I'm definitely going to have to try a Lefou's Brew in September! That sounds delicious right about now.

Are you wearing a Beauty & the Beast shirt?! Where is it from?

I totally agree about it being easier to just catch a Disney bus from MK. Getting back to your car from there definitely takes longer.

I couldn't believe that all those rides were down! I don't know exactly how long they stayed down but still, I felt bad for people who only had 1 day at the MK. Lefou's Brew is a gift from God. You MUST try it in September!!!

Yes, my shirt is BatB! It's from Hot Topic. They have sooo many, I also bought a Lion King one. Online has a huge selection as well. Chris' shirt is from there too, it's Stitch eating an ice cream cone lol

Ugh, even when we're in the World for my birthday, I think we'll just take the bus to the MK. I hate having to get to my car at the TTC!

 

[Disneychix]

What a fun day Kristen. I could use one of those!

I was seeing online that the Mine Train was down that day and thought of you. Oh well, at least you know you'll be back!

Was that the longest you ever left your dog? Where will she go when you travel with the family?

 

[jmskinner]

I miss being able to drive over for a day. I'm like you with all those rides down, at least you can come back and didn't spend $1000's for that one day.

Fantastic about the FP's for missing a train on BTMRR. We got some on Mission Space once. The ride went down towards the end of ride, we missed like 10 seconds, but loved those FP's.

I had to laugh when I read about the scores on Buzz, we are the same way. I'm horrible on Buzz, but I beat them on TSMM every time.

Glad you have a great day!

 

[xoktenox]

What a fun day Kristen. I could use one of those!

I was seeing online that the Mine Train was down that day and thought of you. Oh well, at least you know you'll be back!

Was that the longest you ever left your dog? Where will she go when you travel with the family?

It was fun and very much needed!

Yea, I already have FPs for July 4th! Chris and I can't wait to ride it.

The longest we ever left her at home alone was about 9 hours. We left her overnight once and put her in cage free doggy daycare. Recently though, I found a website where you can find people who do dog boarding out of their homes. Each person has reviews and is interviewed and insured and we found a great couple near us who are going to be watching her when we go to NY on Saturday. I feel mostly ok with it lol

I miss being able to drive over for a day. I'm like you with all those rides down, at least you can come back and didn't spend $1000's for that one day.

Fantastic about the FP's for missing a train on BTMRR. We got some on Mission Space once. The ride went down towards the end of ride, we missed like 10 seconds, but loved those FP's.

I had to laugh when I read about the scores on Buzz, we are the same way. I'm horrible on Buzz, but I beat them on TSMM every time.

Glad you have a great day!

It's a great perk of living in FL!

That's how we felt about the BTMRR FPs, they weren't necessary but definitely much appreciated!

I feel like I'm terrible at Buzz because I never know which little red laser dot is mine...I'm glad to know I'm not alone

 

[KatMark]

Sounds like a great day despite all the rides being down. Maybe Disney should concentrate on "fixing" what hey have before they add more.

We always drive to the parks, even MK unless we are staying at OKW (we've had really good bus service there).

I wonder too if that is a Beauty & the Beast shirt?

I hope you are having a good visit back home.

 

[tinkgurl]

I loved getting updates and pictures from you all day. I'm so jealous you can just drive to MK for the day. Wish I lived that close!

 

[Disneylove1228]

Loved reading up on your TR I'm so glad you're down here, I know you're SUPER homesick and I understand. Buuuuut being so close to our favorite place isn't so bad Your BatB shirt is so cute, I'm going to look on their site now!!!