Christmas In The World...Dec 18, 2015 - Jan 4, 2016

[tyandskyesmom]

We were seated right about at our ADR time at Cape May...right in the middle of the room close to the buffet. Our server was Wang and she was good. Our drinks were always full and our plates cleaned form the table. Cary was starting to not feel very well. Which really stunk because he loves everything at this buffet. He has some stomach issues that are un-diagnosed but mostly he can control with Nexium but for some reason it wasn't helping. We later found it seems to involve caffeine and once we figured that out he stopped drinking coffee and monsters and he mostly drinks Sprite and Root Beer and he has been so much better! Anyway we dug in.

Skye's mac & Cheese. cheese pizza, and green beans.

My Crab legs, a rib, boiled red potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, mashed potatoes,, a crisp, olives, and some dip type thing under the crisp...can't tell what is was but I assume it went with the crisp.

Ty's cheese pizza, beef from the carving station, and something else...

Wow, I really failed on pictures at this one. I didn't even get Cary's plate. He did eat but he had to leave well before we were done. He didn't feel well so he went to sit outside in the fresh air. But I know we all have multiple plates of crab legs, we all love 'em. I know we had more ribs...they had a ton of meat that practically fell right off the bone. I know we hit up the carving station a few more times too. Plus various desserts. I must have been more concerned with Cary's condition than I thought.

We were here about an hour. We were all full. Cary was disappointed because he wanted to eat...he said everything looked and smelled so good and what he did eat was really good. He did feel a little better getting outside though. THis is one of the few dinner buffets we like but there is a lot to like! We will be back.

TOTAL = $170.36 ... TOTAL FOOD = $1943.95
USED 4 CREDITS ... USED 44 MEAL CREDITS

 

[tyandskyesmom]

After the three of us finished dinner, we found Cary and we strolled slowly through the hotel.

We grabbed a boat back to Hollywood Studios.

And then a bus home from there. The birds were comfy on one bed.

And everyone else on the other...

...until we kicked them off so we would fall into bed. It didn't take long to fall asleep.

 

[JoAnnPan]

Thanks so much for sharing your trip! Your kids are so cute together and I love your daughters outfits .
Fantastic Lion pictures - I have never seen him up on the rocks like that!
Looking forward to your next update.

 

[Barbara76]

Was that last dinner Cape May?

 

[Alice Sr.]

Awesome, love the narrative and pics and how much fun you are all having!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Was that last dinner Cape May?

Yes, it was...sorry...I forgot to put that didn't I???

 

[tyandskyesmom]

The morning of December 22, 2016 dawned for us around 6am. Cary hadn't slept well so he was going to stay in the room for a while and catch up with us later. I was kind of disappointed in that because I wanted him to see and do what we saw and did but it was better than him not feeling well. So Tyler, Skyler, and I were on a bus to Hollywood Studios by 6:50am.

When we got on the bus, we were the only ones on it. The bus driver asked where we were headed. He said he had to stop at the Yacht Club first but would drop us right at the Beach Club after...score!

We arrived a bit early and were told we could not even check in until 7:15am for our 7:30am ADR at Cape May again (we had a couple of these back to back meals...not planned that way necessarily, it just worked out that way schedule wise). So we lounged around the lobby of the Beach Club and took pictures.

Around 7:15am other people started showing up so we got up and checked-in. We were called right at 7:30am but we were not the first ones, even though we were first there. They had no problem with one missing person from the ADR. We were seated on the back side right where the characters come out of. Our server was Dottie and she was very friendly. She told us we had some time to fill our plates before characters came around. So off we went.

This would be mine...scrambled eggs, ham, frittata, breakfast potatoes with ketchup, sausage, bacon, French toast, apple Danish, fruit and asparagus...I love that the have asparagus for breakfast!

My oatmeal and OJ.

Tyler and SKyler's bacon, scrambled eggs, fruit, chocolate chip muffin, cinnamon roll, and Mickey Waffles.

And more cinnamon rolls!

And then Donald showed up!

Followed by Minnie...

And Goofy...

Who made me get up for a picture...I look thrilled right?

And Dottie brought Tyler a super chocolaty Chocolate Grenache cup cake for his birthday and a card!

And another button because he did not have his on yet.

We had a great breakfast here this morning. We missed Cary and he would have loved it but I guess if he was going to miss a meal, breakfast was the one to miss since most of the food is the same across the board. It was great being dropped off right there and not having to navigate multiple forms of transportation and being one of the first seated meant we have full, fresh food all the time. We were the first to see the characters as they entered the room so no waiting for someone else to finish. We were outta there at 8:09am! How's that for an efficient character meal. SO if you're looking for fast, get the first ADR of the day and ask to be seated where the characters enter the room.


TOTAL = $95.82 ... TOTAL FOOD = $2039.77
USED 3 CREDITS ... USED 47 MEAL CREDITS

 

[tyandskyesmom]

After our great breakfast we headed out of the Beach Club...

And towards the International Gateway of Epcot!

We arrived at 8:19am, used the rest rooms outside the gate and headed in to an empty World Showcase. It was an EMH day open from 8am -9am for resort guests!


We walked through the U.K. and Canada.

Look how pretty and peaceful it is at shortly after 8am! The do only let you go around in one direction since there is only one place that is technically open at that hour. None of the pavilions you walk past are open for exploration, just for pretty pictures. But it was a nice walk in without hordes of people around.

We walked through to Future World and straight to The Land. Soarin' was at 90 minutes already so we were not aging to wait. But we did ride Living with the Land with no wait. We all love this ride.

It was nice that it was all decorated for the holiday.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Then we headed into Imagination! Skyler loves Figment.

And we played a little a little in the area after the ride. Tyler really liked the memory game on the wall. It was like a giant Simon.

We made some Figments.

And played in some photo booths that we could put on our Photopass!!!

There was no one else around so we just played. And no, three people do not fit into a photo booth very comfortably. Especially when one is close to 6'3'' tall and size 14 feet!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

It was now about 9:30am so the park was open. We headed to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. We never seem to spend enough time in here. We always seem to has someplace to be right after we go here. So today, I made sure we were good. We had fast passes for Turtle Talk with Crush at 9:40am - 10:40am. So after walking through the line to our Clammobiles we headed there. Skye sat on the floor and was the first to get to ask a question. And I don't remember what she asked. SOme silly question she already knew the answer to...she said she choked under pressure! LOL Then we headed out to look around.

The kids said they were having a lobster meeting. I have never seen lobsters so active as these guys were.

"I can't hear you Peach!"

We spent a lot of time in there this time and looked around at everything. It was a good time.

 

[snowbell]

I'm enjoying your trip report... Boy you guys sure to ALOT of stuff.... I remember those days... now I have my one year old so its off to bed early.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Then we headed over to Innoventions. The kids went through the Colortopia exhibit while I sat/napped on a bench. There was a little bit of a line so I got a decent rest. LOL!

They loved it and thought it was really cool. When they finally came out we headed out towards Test Track. We were still a little early for our 12:25pm - 1:25pm fast passes so we stopped for some snacks. We grabbed a Mickey Head Ice Cream Sandwich...

...and a Frozen Lemonade...

...and a Mickey pretzel and a Smart Water (no pic?)

It was $8.25 for the frozen treats and the pretzel and water were $9.25 (or 4 snack credits). It was hot out so it all went down very well!

Then it was finally time to head in to Test Track.

We had not ridden since the changes but I had told the kids about designing your own cars. And they loved it.

We did like it but we liked the old ride better. This was definitely updated and "fancier" but we missed all the testing chambers and such. But don't think that means we didn't enjoy our ride!

Then we played around in the after show for a while. With Tyler being 17 cars were more interesting so we were in there a while.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

After Test Track we headed back into the World Showcase via Mexico.

Norway

China

Germany

And finally Italy.

Italy was the only country we actually went into at this time. The others we just walked past. The dragon dancer in China was out on the promenade so we stopped to watch a little. Then when we got to Italy we had some time to spare so the kids started a KidKot ornament and we watched as the flag bearers put on a show.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Lunch at Via Napoli! Via Napoli had just opened on our last trip and we already had our ADRs planned so we did not change to eat there. So for all this time we had been hearing about the wonderful pizzas at Via Napoli. Being on the dining plan, I pushed around the idea of doing it or not, paying out of pocket or dining plan, how many credits to use...and then there's that nasty thing about them not letting dining plan patrons share. So in the end we decided to go out of pocket here. While we would have loved to try appetizers and desserts, I figured we did not really need to so we'd go OOP!

Our ADR was for 2:30pm. We arrived at around 2pm and it was a bit confusing back there. They has a check in line under umbrellas that was not labeled. There were two girls there with menus. So we go in the line/ Turns out that line was for the Candlelight Processional Package ADRs and regular ADRs could just check in at the counter inside. But no one offered up this information until we asked. SO we went inside and checked in at 2:13pm. Two families were complaining that they had the CP package and had been waiting a long time while they watched others (like us) get seated who came in after them. I don't know what their procedure is but whatever it was, it wasn't working for these families. We sat in the lobby for a few minutes.

And we were seated at 2:20pm. We were seated along that wall opposite where we came in. They also had no problem that it was only the three of us still.

We each ordered a drink and one Pepperoni Signature Pie ... Mezzo Metro (serves 3 - 5) tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni

And Cary would later be sorry he missed lunch after we demolished it and sang it's praise! I think we even fought over the crust. All the hype was not lying! Now, pizza is one of Tyler's main food groups so I figured he'd like it but we all really loved it!

We DID NOT need a doggy bag!

We were done here about 3:20. Service was kind of hard to understand and not very patient. It was very loud in there. Lots of wait staff running around. Like I said our pizza was awesome! We will be back in the future!

TOTAL = $ 55.00 ish (I can't find my receipt!)... TOTAL FOOD = $2039.77 (nothing new on DDDP cost)
USED 0 CREDITS ... USED 47 MEAL CREDITS

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We headed out of Via Napoli towards the ferry boat.

And landed back at the start of World Showcase between Canada and Mexico. Aren't those countries pretty?!?!?

We headed up front and stopped for a ride on Spaceship Earth.

We had fast passes for 3:25pm - 4:25pm. I can't believe Spaceship Earth has a line!!!

We didn't play too much because we were getting tired and wanted to get back to Cary and see how he was doing. SO we grabbed a bus back to Caribbean Beach. I hate the bus stops at Epcot. They are so far from the entrance! We got to the stop at 4:35pm and did not get on a bus until 4:56pm. This was one of our longest waits. We must have just missed a bus!

When we got back to the room Cary was up and raring to go. SO we all got our suits on and went to the big pool. It was very cool. As usual, the kids made friends and had a great time. Cary and I enjoyed the hot tub. We did not have ton of time to spend but it was a nice moment to relax and cool off.

About 6:45 we gathered our stuff and headed back to our room to get dressed for dinner.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So we went back to our room and everyone got dressed and dried hair and reapplied make-up, well, just Skye and I did the make-up part.

At 7:20pm we were at the Martinique bus stop waiting about 10 minutes for a bus to the Magic Kingdom to pull up. Then we caught a ferry to The Wilderness Lodge. We waited about 10 minutes here too.

And while we were on the ferry we were able to catch fireworks over the Magic Kingdom (actually the captain had clued us in to sit on that side of the boat for a better cruise!).

The kids never believe me that the "bridge" is for the water/boats. Today they actually paid attention to the cars coming out form "underwater". LOL!

We arrived at the Wilderness Lodge and looked around. Cary loved it!

And then it was time to head to dinner.

 

[Mainemama]

Love the latest updates! I am happy to hear you like Cape May. We were at Yacht Club as a guest when you visited Cape May, but we have never made it over there. Remedying that this summer, and yours is the first review I have stumbled on since I booked it. We are trying dinner, but that breakfast looked good, too! We were in Epcot on 12/22, entering as you were leaving. I see you were in an tank top. Me too! What a hot, crazy, wonderful December.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Dinner that night was Artist Point. Over the years, we have heard differing opinions on this venue. We love it.


We checked in at 8:15pm for our 8:50pm ADR and we were seated at 8:20pm. We were in the back section near the windows. Our server was Carol and she was great! She took our drink orders and brought bread.

Bread is never wasted on my family!

Skyler had decided she was eating here. For an appetizer she ordered the Land Greens Salad ... heirloom apples, seed granola, goat milk cheese, Banyuls vinaigrette (with the vinaigrette on the side).

She loved it...although, take that with a grain of salt because she picked it apart and didn't eat it all together as intended. But as long as she ate it, I'm good!

Cary ordered the Romaine Salad (as it is listed on the receipt) but I do not see it on the menu now...I wish I did because I remember it being served oddly but I do not remember what it was exactly.

I think, now that I am looking at the picture, it was basically a head of romaine lettuce with housemade croutons, looks like some herb and something else...I know, real descriptive. If I had gotten my butt in gear sooner maybe the descriptions of food served in December would still be on the menu!

Anyway, we all thought the presentation was unique...weird even. But it was very fresh and Cary really enjoyed his salad.

I had the Crab Cake that is no longer on the menu. It was very food and I at the whole thing. MMMMM...

And Tyler. Well, Tyler wasn't thrilled by anything on the appetizer menu...to eat. But for entertainment purposes, he ordered the Artisanal Cheeses - handcrafted breads, seasonal accoutrements.

It is so pretty and I so want to love a cheese plate. But sadly, I don't. Cary was feeling better but he wasn't pushing his luck so that fell to me and Skyler. Some of these were ok. Skyler would only try them if I said they were ok. I'm glad we got to experience these and not have to wonder if we were missing out our whole lives but in the future, we will not be ordering a cheese plate...no matter how pretty they look!

Tyler, Cary and I all ordered the Grilled Filet Mignon - crushed potatoes, charred eggplant, spring onions, herb vinaigrette...

Mine medium rare, as presented.

Cary's medium well, as presented.

And Tyler's with French fries.

I always have a hard time deciding. I have had the salmon before and I know it is awesome. And there are so many other dishes I would love to try. And since the boys were getting the filet, I could have still tasted theirs and gotten something else, branched out. But I didn't. And in the end, I didn't regret it. We all cleaned our plates. It was al very good!

Skyler was the only odd man out. She ordered the Chinook Cedar Plank Salmon...local potato, cauliflower steak, leeks, petit turnip , whey butter.

She loved it. She loves Salmon anyway but this one she really likes. She ate the whole thing...and that's not like her. I didn't even get a bite! She was also impressed when they brought it out on the cedar plank it was cooked on and then laid it on her plate.

For dessert I got the CObbler with Seasonal Berries and Black Raspberry ice Cream.

Yum!

Skyler got the Old Fashioned Butter Cookies - cereal milk shake, old-fashioned butter cookies

There were a lot of cookies in that bag and the milkshake did taste just like the milk in the bottom of the cereal bowl...maybe like a fruity pebbles. She liked it a lot a a lot of the cookies came back with us.

And Cary and Tyler both ordered the "seasonal Dessert" which was the Warn House made Doughnuts ... Nutella ganache, marionberry jam

Ooohhh...these were gooooood! Messy though. One of the orders was to go...the other we all inhaled. They were still good after being in the refrigerator a few days. I remember we did eat his take home treat because I had one when I was ready to go one morning and waiting for everyone else and it dropped messy,. red, sticky jelly all over my shirt and it never came out!

Some where in here, Skyler has a contact issue and of course she does not listen to her mother and bring a case with fluid in it with her when she's out. So Cary ran to the store and grabbed the only contact solution they had and a case while we waited at the table. I am sure he paid much more than he needed to since she had all of that in the room but her eye was really bothering her so we had no choice.

All in all, we all loved Artist Point as usual. We were one of the last ones in there that evening and they were starting to close things down but we were repeatedly told not to rush. It was quiet and cosy and comfy. We had a great time with great food. I wish it wasn't so out of the way. But I guess if it wasn't it would be loud and crowded and that just wouldn't be the same. We will be back.

TOTAL = $317.12 ... TOTAL FOOD = $2356.89
USED 8 CREDITS ... USED 55 MEAL CREDITS

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Sorry, I was all gung-ho and now I've left you hanging!

I'm just busy. Tonight is dress rehearsal for Skyler's recital next Sunday. This is the night the girls really love! She is in all three shows so dress rehearsal is 4pm till at least 9pm. She has ten dances plus is on stage for two of the classes she helps with. THeir theme this year is Disney...yeah!

Advanced Hip Hop is Got No Strings on Me form Pinocchio. (show 3)
Tap is something we are not sure of...their costumes are like a genie. (show 1)
Ballet level 6 is Gift of a Friend form a Tinkerbell Movie...she's Tink! (show 3)
Pointe 1 is a song from Wall-E. (Show1)
Competition B/C is Rockin' at the House of Mouse. (in all three shows)
Advanced Ballet is a song form Narnia. (show 2)
Advanced Jazz is a song from Newsies...a very long song from Newsies that she will also be tapping in. (show 2)
Pointe 2 is a song from the new Cinderella movie. (show 2)
Advanced Jazz Competition is Lion King. (all shows)
Advanced Lyrical Competition is Once Upon a Dream from the Malificient movie not Sleeping Beauty. (in all shows)
And her babies are in show 2 too.

So she is going to be a busy little girl...but she loves it...she'll happily complain about it the whole time but would have it no other way!

In addition to that, she has pictures for dance next Friday...which is the same day as Tyler's junior prom....UGH!

And the weekend after that is Dancefest at Great America. So I assume duting the week between recital and Dancefest, there will be rehearsal.

So, as you can see I'm one busy mama! BUt I will get back in here whenever I can!

Oh, and I just paid off our room for our trip in July...69 more days!!!!!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

After our long dinner, it was actually very long and leisurely for us, we headed back out to the boat dock.

Love the decoration!

We had just missed a boat so we ended up having to wait a while. Not a big deal though since we had been sitting for quite a while. There was a family waiting with us with a couple of small kids, a boy and a girl, obviously very out of their element and loving every minute of it so we had entertainment while we waited.

About 15 minutes later a boat arrived to take us to the Magic Kingdom where we walked to the bus stop and headed back to Caribbean Beach.

And that's the great thing about Disney World...by the time your head hits the pillow, you're sound asleep!