Disney 12.0 and Anniversary 9.0 Shenanigans

[ArmyVet80]

Well, we have been back for about 3 days so I figured that I better start this report before I start forgetting things.

Introductions...

I'm Dan and am a pretty avid Disney fan.
My favorites are:
Park: Epcot
Movie: Wreck It Ralph
Dining location(s): Toss up between Yachtsman and California Grill
Resort(s): Yacht Club and POFQ



DW is Alison (Ali) and she is a Disney nut.
Her favorites are:
Park: Magic Kingdom
Movie: Little Mermaid
Dining location(s): California Grill and Artists Point
Resort(s): Yacht Club and POFQ



We are from Indianapolis, IN and travel to WDW roughly 2 times per year. Once for our annual anniversary trip and once for Ali to run a Run Disney event. We are/were AP holders but next year for our 10th anniversary we are going to Germany for 10 days so we decided not to renew until we come back.

Our trip was from 22 Sept 18 thru 29 Sept 18 and we stayed at the Yacht Club Concierge Level (first time) and had a blast. Below are some pictures leading up to the trip.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #1, Part #1: Travel from Indianapolis to MCO, checking into the "fancy" room and just doing random things.
We always fly Southwest because it usually has non-stop flights which are about 2 hours and 20 minutes from departure from the gate to arrival at the gate at MCO. I didn't see any small aircraft at MCO so I'm wondering if Indy is the only airport with a small Southwest jet hanging from the ceiling at Southwest gates??


I got a laugh at the snack truck pulling up after we had arrived at MCO. Makes sense that the snacks are on it??


We made if off the plane rather quickly and after a ride on the "fake-o-rail" we were in front of this beauty.


We scurried our way down to the Magical Express so we could get to the resort. We had been up since 0300/3:00 am to get to the airport and such but the adrenaline of being "home" was starting to kick in. It was only 0800/8:00 am at this point and the lines for the Magical Express were nonexistent.



We were on on Magical Express coach within 5 minutes of checking in with the initial CM's. Who doesn't like the nice comfortable buses with Disney Trivia playing as soon as you board?


We crossed under the this little guy and proceeded to the Yacht Club.


While I didn't get any pictures during our check-in process I did get some pictures of the food the Regatta Club had to offer during our stay. It was all very good. In the picture below there is ham (deli meat), roast beef (deli meat) with horseradish sauce, a small apple strudel muffin and an egg, cheese and bacon circle of happiness. This was pretty much our standard breakfast for the week. We were on the deluxe dining plan which we set-up lunches for earlier in the day (between 1100/11 am and 1200/12:00 pm) and dinners later in the night at Signature eateries.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #1, Part #2: Our room was not ready upon our arrival but we were able to hit up the Regatta Lounge as you can see from the previous post. We decided to walk around the resort to see if we could kill some time for our room to be ready. Below are some pictures of the Ale & Compass lounge and some more pictures of what the Regatta Lounge had to offer. Coincidentally enough we decided to walk over to Epcot to get our AP magnets and as soon as we got through security at the International Gateway we got a text stating that our room was ready. We walked and got our magnets and then headed back to the room.






The room.. It was amazingly clean and the view was perfect. We requested the King bed and we had a water view (room 5227). The view did not disappoint. Our first night we sat on the balcony with a couple of adult beverages from the Regatta Lounge and watch the aerial portion of Illuminations from the balcony in our "fancy" slippers.






Looks like I have put too many pictures on this post. I'll be doing a Day #1, Part #3 in the next post.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #1, Part #3: A few pictures of the Regatta Lounge offerings, lunch at Via Napoli and dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse.



As stated above, we went to Via Napoli for lunch. At this point we had only had only shared the plate of food from the previous post so that we didn't starve but we also didn't want to over eat due to knowing we were going to get an appetizer, entree and dessert per person per meal. We are "foodies" and take full advantage of the dining plan.




We got the Picante pizza (me) and Ali got the Prosciutto E Melone pizza. They were very good but also our usual food from Via Napoli. For dessert we got gelato.

We love the Ottawa Apple at the Canada Pavilion. I found all of the ingredients at a local liquor store and have been making them at home for a few years now.


We had a very nice dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse for dinner.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #1, Part #4: The view from the balcony at night, our fancy slippers and some desserts from the Regatta Lounge.







We did sample a few items but we were really full from dinner and pretty tired as it was 2145/9:45 pm already and we had been up since 0300/3:00 am. We ended up watching Illuminations from our balcony with a couple of adult beverages from the Regatta Lounge and called it a night. We were in bed by 2300/11:00 pm. Not a bad way to start off our trip.

While we did walk around Epcot for a little bit we didn't really do a lot. Just walked through the WS and had lunch then went and got our AP magnets. We have a whole day later in the trip for Epcot. Unfortunately I didn't take a lot of pictures this trip (only 338 all on my cell phone) but we got our Photo Pass pictures also. I did not download those yet so I'm hoping by the end of this I'll have all of those and just fill in the gaps with a few picture filled posts (like the previous 4 posts don't have enough pictures...)

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #2, Part #1: Woke up to the beautiful view below, hit up the Regatta Lounge for a mimosa bar (Sundays only I believe), lunch at Sci-Fi and dinner at Skippers Canteen. There are some pictures of Star Wars items from Solo and we met Chewy..













Unfortunately the pictures of the food didn't turnout very well due to the lighting and I don't like to use flash photography in areas that it may disrupt other peoples enjoyment. More pictures to follow in Day #2, Part #2. There may be a "Red head" sighting?!?

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #2, Part #2: Dinner at Skipper's Canteen and some other fun pictures.




See... I said there may be a "Red Head" sighting.. Maybe we can compare two red heads?? I have a feeling we'll be seeing double.


Yes, Ali went as "The Red Head" and during the Boo to You parade all of the Pirates were very "fond" of her. Capt'n Jack was even trying to get her to come with him on the black pearl as they went by. Ali said "This is the most interaction that I have ever had for a halloween costume". It was entertaining. Even the Mad Hatter during the Boo to You parade said "We wants the red head" as he walked by. I got a decent picture of the "grave diggers" grinding their shovels across the pavement. You could even see the sparks in the picture which I thought was pretty awesome.



Ali was extremely hot in her Red Head costume and when we got back to our room for the night she went to shower and get all of the red hair spray out of her hair. She dropped her dress very quickly to try and cool down. The temps were in the upper 90's during the day before MNSSHP and only down into the upper 70's after it was over. She was happy to be able to cool off some.
Ali is also a huge Wizard of Oz fan and I told her that it looked like she melted out of her outfit because of her flip flops.. I'll let you decide..

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #2, Part #3: Hallowishes fireworks and a couple of Boo to You pictures.. We love going to WDW for the Food & Wine Festival and the MNSSHP.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #3, Part #1: We ventured off to Animal Kingdom to check out Everest, FOP and a few other rides. We actually got FOP FP+ so the wait was very short. We had lunch at Sanaa (mmmm bread service) and then dinner at California Grill. This will still probably be at least a 2 part day if not 3 part day due to only allowing 10 pictures per post.






They gave us champagne with raspberries in it as an "anniversary" gift. It was very nice of them and the two went together very well. This isn't the first or last glass of champagne that we get on this trip.






More to come in Day #3, Part #2. Maybe even a surprise visit from De-vine?

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #3, Part #2: More AK, a small monsoon and a great view for HEA.


As we walked out of AK for the day it started to drizzle a little bit walking to the bus stop. Nothing spectacular as it is September in Florida and we are used to "pop up" showers when we are at WDW. The bus ride back to the Yacht Club was pretty uneventful and it was just starting to sprinkle when we arrived. By the time we got up to our room it was if the clouds decided it was time to open up and rid themselves of any moisture they were storing. It was pretty awesome as it cooled off by about 8 degrees but also stopped us from walking through Epcot to hit the monorail to get to the California Grill for dinner. A nice little $9.00 Uber ride later and we were at the Contemporary.



When in Rome do as the Romans do? Yes, I tried it. Yes, it was expensive. No, I will not be doing it again, but we did get a fancy champagne flute and the manager had to come out and pour the drink at the table.






We both got the Oak Fired Filet Mignon which is why there is only one picture of an entree. I didn't take any pictures of the desserts because we were out on the observation deck watching HEA (which I didn't take any pictures of either due just enjoying the moment with my wife). Ali got the cheese board which she said was amazing and I got the shrimp which were really really good and I would highly recommend them.

Off to Day #4, Part #1. A little bit of a spoiler... It's going to start off with our awesome view from our balcony.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #4, Part #1: The view.. We couldn't get enough of the view. Every morning we woke up to a nice sunrise while sipping on juice from the Regatta Lounge. This was our "Around the World" day with the Biergarten at the German Pavilion as lunch and Rose & Crown Dining room for dinner. I was picked to be the Burgermeister (spelling??) and had a very lengthy speaking part during the first show of the band during lunch.. My line you ask??? "Tap the Keg" of course..



This was our 4th day and our 4th time into Epcot which means we got to get our cutting boards. We stopped by the Festival Center to pick them up and decided to have a mimosa or two. It was about 0930/9:30 am so the park had not been open very long. Our cutting boards print/burned in Mickey weren't very good but we had no plans to use them for cutting anything on. Instead we got character signatures on them. Ali brought just about every colored sharpie imaginable on this trip.


Ali decided that she wanted to get her picture taken in the arm of another (man??). I obliged by taking the picture for her.


Ali got the picture with her new man and I got my picture with my travel purse (ziploc bag) for doing the Kidcot stops. We had a lot of fun just walking around the WS and sampling the different beverages and such.


This was my third plate of food at the Biergarten but just my 1st bier.



Every other trip that we go to WDW and hit up Epcot I buy Ali two "pick a pearl" picks. This trip she actually let me pick an oyster and I got one with two pearls. Not bad getting 3 for 2. I will admit that her pearl was bigger at 7 mm but my two weren't too shabby at 6 1/2 mm and 6 3/4 mm for a total of 13 mm combined.



Day #4, Part #2 will have a few adult beverages from Around the World (showcase) and dinner at Rose & Crown. We both got Fish & Chips and I didn't take a picture of them because I spaced it. Our reservation was for 1955/7:55 pm and Illuminations was starting when we got our entrees. We took our time eating our Scotch Eggs which will be posted in the next post. Ate the Fish & Chips while watching Illuminations and then had desserts technically after the park closed. Since it was just a short walk to Yacht Club after dinner we ate desserts on the go.

 

[Nohal]

Happy Anniversary! I'm enjoying your report and I'm looking forward to more.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Happy Anniversary! I'm enjoying your report and I'm looking forward to more.

Thanks for following. I'll be updating more shortly.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #4, Part #2: Adult beverages from around the world to start. The first drink is the leaping leprechaun from the UK. Ali is sporting the ever so fancy Orange Slush from France.


The orange drink in the picture on the left is the orangecello from the Italian Pavilion. On the right is the Jalapeno Margarita (my personal favorite from Mexico). Ali got the "Twitter" shot so I took a picture of the back of the bar.



Scotch Egg and then my dessert from Rose & Crown Dining room.


There was a private event going on on the beach when we were walking back to the Yacht Club. It looked like it was a pretty fun time or the end of a pretty fun time.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #5, Part #1: More pictures of the sunrise from our balcony. As you can see we couldn't get enough of the view. It was pretty awesome.



We were invited to go to one of the Early Morning Pass holder days at HS for Toy Story Land. It was a neat experience and we got to ride Slinky Dog a few times along with TSMM a few times. The saucer ride was a one and done though. If you have ridden the Mater ride at DL then it's pretty much the same concept. We arrived at 0730/7:30 am and left at 0900/9:00 am due to the arrival of everyone else. It was a mad dash to the slinky dog and pure madness. We leisurely walked out of Toy Story Land and walked back to the Yacht Club. It was a nice and quite walk.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #5, Part #2: Le Cellier for lunch.. I kind of messed up on this one. I didn't get a picture of the appetizers but everyone got the Cheddar Cheese Soup which was awesome as usual. I got the Canadian AAA Filet Mignon which was pretty good. There is a picture of what is left of my DW's steak. All one bite of it. I did manage to get the dessert




We went for a walk around the MK to kill some time and to work off some of our lunch. We had Narcoossee's for dinner and it was pretty awesome. I'm pretty sure that we also saw the making of a Disney commercial. There was a group of about 6 females dressed up with a sound guy, video cameras and some other stuff going on. One of the gentlemen with the group would yell out "cheers" and the ladies would raise their glasses of champagne and toast something but none of us were sure what. This was going on when HEA was going on and the ladies were watching the fireworks.




More of that fancy champagne and raspberries.. Ali was so excited she was taking a picture of it also. For dessert I got mango sorbet with fruit. It was light yet satisfying.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #5, Part #3: Follow up on desserts from Narcoossee's. Ali got the raspberry sorbet with some very very sweet hockey puck looking thing. She said it was super sweet even for her. Can you tell that we are starting to get tired? She looks like she could drop out at any minute in this picture. That or she is sick of me taking all of these dang pictures of her and her food... She is used to it that though.


Here are the ladies we believe are in the commercial. I only got them from the backside (I got permission from Ali before I took the picture) but you can see the sound guy and the two guys to the right. There are also six chairs lined up and they all had small water bottles and some of them had purses on them.


That was about it for Day #5 for us. At this point in the trip we got back to the Yacht Club and the pool didn't close until 2300/11:00 pm so we jump in our bathing suits and hit up the lazy river and hot tub for about an hour. We did sleep in to start off day #6. By sleeping in I mean we made it until about 0900/9:00 am.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #6, Part #1: Today started off with us wandering through Future World at Epcot trying to kill time for our lunch reservation at Spice Road Table in Morocco. I have read on here not so great reviews of Spice Road Table but we have never had a bad experience here and this trip was very good. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of my lamb chop meal due to being so hungry I ate without thinking of taking a picture. I did get a picture of my appetizer which was the lamb sausage. Ali got the baked Brie. She is a big fan of cheese and she normally gets a cheese board or something cheesy as an appetizer.



We went to the MK to walk around again before we had dinner at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue. We really like the Hoop Dee Doo and always have a blast while we are there.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #7, Part #1: We had Test Track FP+ so we did that and then had lunch at Garden Grill. Ali got her AP cutting board signed and we had a pretty good lunch. Dinner was at Artists Point which is one of our favorites and we figured we should get in there before they change it up to the character meal. We walked around Epcot until lunch and then went back to the resort for some pool time before heading off to dinner. We decided to Lyft to dinner as we knew we were going be hanging out that pool a little more than normal.



At the Garden Grill. Sorry for the not so great cropping job. I didn't ask Ali's friend if I could post her in any of the pictures.



Now a couple of food pictures from GG.

 

[ArmyVet80]

Day #7, Part #2: Artists Point for dinner and another picture of the MK arch. Since it was our last full day we decided to go to the Regatta Lounge for some desserts and adult beverages and such. When we arrived they had just changed over to the nightly offerings. Ali of course ate more cheese..