I've enjoyed reading your report! We were there the same time as you. We always go in June because DH and are teachers too. He also coaches football. Look forward to hearing more. Your little boy is precious!
I've enjoyed reading your report! We were there the same time as you. We always go in June because DH and are teachers too. He also coaches football. Look forward to hearing more. Your little boy is precious!
Yes, the life of teachers! We don't usually have the chance to travel at low-season or do the fun things like Food & Wine Festival; but we appreciate the chance to go at any time and have learned how to deal with the crowds during the summer. Thanks for reading!
Friday, June 7 Part 3 The Biggest Mistake of my Disney Life
We headed back to the Magic Kingdom at around 6:00 for dinner and had a goal of seeing the Main Street Electrical Parade. We had a really full bus on the way there as the crowds seemed really high today everywhere we had been.
We arrived back around 6:30 and decided on dinner at Cosmic Rays. It was crowded inside so April found a table outside while I ordered. We just split one meal, the chicken and ribs combo. The chicken and ribs were both pretty good and we cleaned those up. The sides, mashed potatoes and green beans, were not very good to us, but Braxton ended up eating almost all of the side of mashed potatoes that I got him, so they were good enough to him! Overall it was an ok meal, although this place is usually a little too hectic for us.
After dinner we rode one of the most relaxing rides anywhere the TTA.
Then we rode Buzz with a FP I had grabbed when we entered the park. We got to feel really important as they gave us a red card on this ride. I didnt know they sent these cards through the FP line, but I guess they track those wait times as well. Anyway, Braxton enjoyed playing with the card.
Braxton enjoyed this ride as I held him. April got mad at me as she usually does on Buzz when I beat her. She got especially mad this time as I beat her while holding Braxton. We then decided to walk around the back of the park towards Frontierland, but stopped at Gastons Tavern on the way to try LeFous Brew. I really enjoyed it, April not so much. Here she is with her drink before she gave it to me to finish.
The verdict for me: LeFous Brew was very enjoyable and I would go back and get another one later in the trip, but it did not compare to Butterbeer. The Butterbeer was just a better flavor and the foam topping was much better than LeFous Brew. Basically, April and I agreed we would consider making a trip to Universal just to get some Butterbeer, but that is not near the case for LeFous Brew.
We finished our drinks while walking towards Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and we took turns riding with the child swap passes we had from earlier in the day. By this point it was about 8:35 and we decided to grab us a spot for MSEP in Frontierland. I found us a spot right around the corner from the back exit of Pecos Bills. My thought was we could get out through Adventureland between the parade and fireworks as we didnt want to stay that late. We had a good spot as you can see.
Braxton was great waiting for the parade he just kind of hung out in the stroller as he played with the glow sticks we had gotten at the dollar store before we left home.
Here is another picture from our spot.
Now is where the story takes a drastic turn and I make some of the worst decisions of my Disney life! First of all I failed to pay attention to what direction the parade was going. I was almost positive from our last trip the first parade started in Frontierland and went to the front of the park that is why I picked this spot. Once the parade was past us we could head through Adventureland, through the Emporium and out as the parade ended. I was wrong as the parade was going to start at the front of the park, which was fine, but we would be a little more pressed for time to get out between the parade and fireworks. This is when we heard the dreaded announcement, The Main Street Electrical Parade has been delayed due to technical difficulties. Now we were in a conundrum do we wait it out as Braxton was getting ancy or go ahead and leave. We waited until about 9:15 and still no parade and the cast members didnt know how long the delay would be. By 9:20 we decided Braxton was getting to restless so we left our perfect spot and headed out through Adventureland. We got to the Emporium and right as we got there, at about 9:30 they made the announcement that the parade was starting CRAP! Now we were stuck in the Emporium. I felt horrible as now we couldnt get out of the store until this parade was over. So we waited for about 20 minutes and Braxton was not happy. He was getting very tired and we were stuck. Finally, the parade ended and we got out to the bus stop at about 9:50. So not knowing where the parade started really cost us a decent bed time.
Let me also just share a rant as the mood is bad and then we can move on to better times. The bus service from the Boardwalk to the Magic Kingdom is atrocious even at this time of night. I mean it is so bad I would consider not staying there again for only that reason. Every bus we took all week (except ones to rope drop) were standing room only and almost all of them still had people standing at the Swan/Dolphin bus stop as we pulled away. I dont mind standing, but it takes forever to go to three different resorts and by the time I got to the park my feet were killing me from standing that long. Luckily we found pretty good people most of the time who let April and Braxton sit down. Why can the Boardwalk not have a bus and the Swan/Dolphin have a bus? I dont think that would be that hard to do if the buses are full anyways. I can see sharing at non-busy times of year, but in the summer??? Ok rant over but remember this if you are staying at the Boardwalk in the future. It is a great resort, but this is one negative.
Saturday, June 8 Part 1 Test Day and a Surprise Character Meet
Today was the day April had been waiting for not really. It was her day to take her national board school psychologist certification test. A little back story: When she took her new job a couple of months before the trip she wasnt really seeking a school psychologist position yet, but one opened up in my school system, which is a good one, and we new it would be a good move for our family as it would eliminate the 30 minute drive April had to work every day. So she had to get moving on her national board test as school psychologists are required to have this in the state of Oklahoma. Well there are only four dates throughout the entire year that this test is given at University testing centers and today right smack in the middle of our vacation was the only date prior to school starting in August. So April had to schedule a three-hour certification exam in Orlando, Florida in the middle of our vacation.
So here we were getting ready to take April to go take her test. We actually slept pretty late for us and I was headed to the bakery at about 8:15 for breakfast. We walked to the Dolphin for me to get the rental car and April was tracking down a Starbucks that their website said was in the Dolphin. Well she looked for over 20 minutes and asked people and we never found the Starbucks so we just went ahead and got the car and decided to find one on the road. We found one rather easily on the way to the highway and got April her coffee. Then we set out on the 45-minute drive to the campus of the University of Central Florida. We were a little early, as planned, and proceeded to spend over 30 minutes looking for the correct building. We finally found it and April went inside. I think I drove in a restricted area to get to the front of the building, but there was hardly anyone around as it was the middle of the summer.
After dropping April off Braxton and I went to a nearby Target to gather some supplies for our second week. We grabbed everything except milk as we would still be out for a while. We took our time at Target and left there around 11:30 and headed to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. Braxton ate every one of his chicken nuggets here, but he usually does at Chick-Fil-A. We even got a surprise character meet as the Chick-Fil-A cow came around while we were eating. For some reason I didnt get a picture, but Braxton enjoyed seeing him and touching his nose.
Up Next: This Laundry is Going to be the Death of Me
Saturday, June 8 Part 2 This Laundry is Going to be the Death of Me
We headed back to pick up April at around 12:45 when the test was supposed to finish, but ended up waiting in the car until at least 1:30. Braxton had fallen asleep though so it was all good. I was starting to wonder why the three-hour test was going upon four hours and I couldnt get any answers, as April was not allowed to take her phone in with her. Finally she came out around 1:30 and told me that it took 30 extra minutes to start the test because some of the people had not come prepared with pencils and such so they had to take care of stuff like that. She said the test was really tough and that she was not quite sure how well she did. As it turns out a month later ..
SHE PASSED!!!
Which is a good thing as she had already signed a contract with our school district pending the outcome of the test. Anyways, back to the report, with the test out of the way we pulled through Chick-Fil-A and got April some lunch and headed back towards the other side of Orlando. We had decided to stop at the Outlet Mall to look for a few things at the Disney outlet. We got there about 2:30 and found a few things, but not many. I found a pretty nice long sleeve t-shirt that I am sure I will find a picture of before I am done, just cant find it right now. We found a couple of small souvenirs for Aprils niece and nephews as well.
We then made a short stop at Publix at 3:30. As we pulled up there was a bad looking thunderstorm approaching and by the time I was done getting the few cold groceries we needed it was right on top of us. I had to get to the car in the pouring rain with groceries, which was very interesting indeed! We were back at the Boardwalk by 4:15 and I sent April and Braxton up with the groceries loaded on the stroller and I drove the car back to the Dolphin to turn it in. It stopped raining right until I needed to make the walk back to the Boardwalk. I had grabbed my poncho though so I just walked right through the rain to the room.
As soon as I got back April and I spent the next three hours sitting in the laundry room waiting for our clothes to get done. Whoever had the bright idea to put three washers and only two dryers in there were crazy. There was always someone waiting for the dryers since one set of clothes was always wet if you had the odd washer out. This laundry was actually very crowded throughout the day. I wasnt expecting that since all of the 1BR and 2BR villas have washers and dryers in them, but I guess it could have been people from the Inn side sneaking over to use them too. It was so crowded we felt we had to sit there with our stuff as people were just removing other peoples things from the dryers to put their own stuff in even if those peoples clothes werent dry yet.
April and I just switched up who was down there and one of us stayed in the room and played with Braxton while it rained.
By about 5:30 we had our clothes ready to dry, but were waiting on an empty dryer and when we got one we found out we were using the slowest dryers ever made! It literally took 90 minutes to dry one load of clothes and most of our clothes were just dry fit shorts/shirts. It was crazy slow and we tried every setting and it didnt help any. By this time we knew we werent going to want to go to our ADR at 6:45 at Raglan Road as it was raining and we still had laundry going. So we had to decide what we wanted to do for dinner.
Sorry, I promise we started taking pictures again for the next update!!
Saturday, June 8 Part 3 Can We Change our ADR???
So we were in the midst of canceling our ADR for Raglan Road and we headed down to the Boardwalk to see what we could find for dinner down there. It was still raining so it was a good decision to not go to Downtown Disney. It could have been a disaster trying to get the stroller there in the rain and then having to walk to the restaurant in the rain.
Braxton was ready for dinner.
When we got to the Boardwalk April checked at Big River Grille and Brewing Works and they said at least a 45-minute wait. We knew we didnt want to do that at 7:00 as we would get done way to late. So I walked down and thought I would check at Kouzzina. I wasnt very hopeful as I figured it would be the same, but to my surprise the lady said we could get right in Awesome!! We waited about 5 minutes for them to set up our table. This was a very nice experience. They had towels out inside the door that we could use to dry off and get the stroller dry from the walk over.
We got a great waitress named Deborah. She was not extremely over the top happy, but was very nice, professional and very thorough. She made sure we understood all of our options. She even saw me taking a picture of Braxton and April and offered to take one of all of us. Unfortunately it was really dark in there and I forgot to put the flash up so the picture is not that great. .
The bread service was very good and also kind of unique with all of the different olive oils for dipping. Deborah made sure we understood what each one was as well.
Braxton was in a great mood for this meal
For the main course April ordered the Braised Short Ribs and they were fantastic. I will also say the Mashed Potatoes with Feta were incredible. I loved them and April let me love them because she didnt like them as much. She just doesnt like feta cheese though so it was not a problem with the preparation. I have food pics!!
I really couldnt decide what to order so Deborah said the Slow Cooked Lamb Shank was really good that day and just falling off the bone. So that is what I ordered and Deborah was exactly right. It was awesome and very tender. It normally comes with baked Gigantes Beans, but she said I could substitute the mashed potatoes for those so yes I had more mashed potatoes. Here is my meal:
Braxton got the kids chicken breast and pasta and enjoyed it. He cant eat it all, but we didnt think he would eat Aprils ribs or my lamb so we got him this and he ate quite a bit. Let me just say this was a GREAT meal and completely unexpected. We got lucky enough to get a walk up reservation and it was one of our best meals of the trip. The food was excellent and it was a great meal to end our day. I would definitely recommend Kouzzina to people if they are in the Boardwalk area. By the way here is Aprils thumbs up about this meal!
After the meal we headed back towards the room and I went in and put more clothes in the dryer. I was able to finish all of our clothes by about 9:30 or so. Braxton was in bed so I think we sat in the floor by the bathroom and folded clothes for the next week. The laundry process took entirely too long and I was glad it was a complete off day for us. In hindsight I should have taken the laundry with us and stopped at a Laundromat while April was taking her test. I cant believe that though never crossed my mind, but I didnt think the Boardwalk would have the slowest dryers in the world either. Oh well live and learn.
Up Next: Epcot Rope Drop and a History Lesson from the Security Guard
Sunday, June 9 Part 1 Epcot Rope Drop and a History Lesson from the Security Guard
We woke at about 7:45 on Sunday and got dressed. We were happy to just be able to walk down, grab a drink at the Bakery and take the short walk to the International Gateway at Epcot. We stopped at the Bakery at about 8:15. April just got a Latte. She said it was ok and would be good enough to get her going. I had the crumb cake and this was the only thing I had from here that I didnt really like a whole lot. It was so-so, but I would not get it again.
We got to the International Gateway at about 8:30 and were near the front of the rope drop line. While we were waiting to get in one of the security guards came out and gave a talk about how to have the bags ready so the line would move quicker. Then he went into about a 15 minute talk discussing the history of Walt Disney World all the way to the rumors that Cars Land is coming to Hollywood Studios and Lights, Motors, Action is going away. Of course we are five months later now and none of these rumors are confirmed. But this guy was talking like he was on Disneys Board of Directors!! It did help pass the time though waiting for rope drop.
They opened the gates at 8:50 and we headed towards Sunshine Seasons. We wanted to see how rope drop would work from the International Gateway as we were going to have another Epcot Rope Drop later in the trip. We went and traded rides on Soarin. April went first while I kept Braxton in the Sunshine Seasons area. He was running around playing the entire time.
After April got back I went and rode with the Child Swap Pass. It was a great ride as usual. Once finished we headed towards Test Track. I ran over and grabbed some FPs with a 12:20 return time. While I did that April parked the stroller by the Jammitors and Braxton loved watching them. They even gave him a sticker when it was finished which he promptly tried to eat!
After the Jammitors we headed into Universe of Energy. We thought Braxton would enjoy the Dinosaurs and that we would enjoy the air conditioning. He did enjoy the dinosaurs although those vehicles move so slowly he got a little restless. We had to bribe him with Goldfish!
We then headed to Innoventions to play for a while and Braxton loved the fire truck and the little house. He played with those two things for about 20 or 30 minutes.
After Innoventions we headed to Club Cool and had a good time as usual. I even got a picture of Aprils Beverly Face!
After Club Cool we headed towards the World Showcase with the goal of finding some lunch. We took some pictures along the way.
We really could not find anything that sounded good. Neither of us really wanted Mexican food or something from the bakery in Norway. We ended up wandering up into the China Pavilion and deciding to try Lotus Blossom Café the quick service there. I had never really heard much about it and now we know why! I ordered the shrimp fried rice.
It was not all that great nor was it fried rice. I think it was actually steamed and I dont want to eat that healthy on vacation!!! April ordered the orange chicken which was better than mine, but still not something we would seek out on a return visit. Here is the orange chicken.
Overall, the lunch was not that great and it is not a place we would go back to with all of the other food options available in Epcot.
Sunday, June 9 Part 2 The Search for the Perfect Hoodie
After a sub-par lunch in China we stopped to take some pictures as we were leaving the pavilion.
We then headed over to Norway and the line for Maelstrom was pretty short so we decided to take a ride.
Braxton appeared to enjoy Maelstrom, he even gave a little laugh on the small drop near the end of the ride. We then wandered over and parked the stroller and went inside the Mexico pavilion. We looked around for a while in the shops before riding Gran Fiesta Tour. Braxton really enjoyed seeing Donald in various places throughout the ride. It kept it interesting for him.
After this we headed right over to Test Track to use our Fastpass. April rode first and loved the newly redesigned ride. It took her about 30 minutes though to get through the FP line and Braxton was getting really restless while that happened. When she got out we just decided to head back as I didnt really want to wait 30 minutes through a backed up FP line nor did I really want to make April walk back to the Boardwalk alone while I got in line. I was a little bummed, but knew we would be back in the few days and I could do the new Test Track then.
I didnt write down what time we got back to the Boardwalk, but I know it was sometime around 1:00 or so as I went down to the lobby to meet my Mom, who from now on will be called GiGi as Braxton calls her. She got off the Magical Express at around 1:30 and we went and got her settled into the room. I then walked with her over to the Bakery to get her some lunch while April tried to get Braxton to take a nap.
April was successful and after we got back from lunch we all rested a for an hour or so. My mom was tired from the flight and April and I just wanted to rest! I think Braxton got up at around 3:15 and I guess we went down for a quick swim as I have a couple of swimming pictures in with my pictures for this day. I dont have this in my notes so it is entirely possible this pictures got put in the wrong day, but I might as well show it!
The plan was to head to our ADR at 5:30 or so, but April was really searching for a hoodie she had seen in one spot, but didnt know she wanted it at that point. We went back to that place a few days before, I believe in Hollywood Studios, and it wasnt there. Well, I told her we have to make a bus change any ways to get to our ADR so why not go ahead and go to Downtown Disney a little early and we can check at World of Disney the biggest Disney Store ever should have it, right?? So at about 4:30 we all packed up and headed to Downtown Disney. We arrive at around 4:45 and walked to World of Disney.
We were planning on just having Gigi take Braxton back to bed after our ADR and April and I spend some time in Magic Kingdom. So with that in mind we didnt bring the stroller as it would have been hard for Gigi to get on and off the bus with Braxton. So I had to carry Braxton all the way to World of Disney and back. He wanted down a few times so I let him play a little, but I didnt get any pictures of this time as April was shopping and I was busy with Braxton. Well, long story short the largest Disney store ever did not have the hoodie so we left Downtown Disney empty handed and wondering if we would ever find this hoodie for April.
Sunday, June 9 Part 3 Who Will End Up in a Meat Coma?
We jumped on a bus from Downtown Disney to the Polynesian Resort for our ADR at Ohana. It was an extremely long bus ride about an hour with a stop at the Contemporary in between. When we got to the Contemporary there was a huge line to go to Downtown Disney and I dont think that even a third of them got on our bus and were left waiting.
We finally arrived at the Polynesian, still 15 minute before our reservation and check in. We were sat immediately at a large round table by the window. There were only four of us and this table would have easily sat six people, which was a little odd, but we took it!
They immediately brought the bread and it was very good. Braxton, April and Gigi especially loved it.
They followed the bread up with the salad bowl.
The salad was fairly good, but not anything special and not something I wanted to waste the space on! Braxton was really eating well tonight and was loving the food as you can tell.
Next came the plate of Dumplings and Wings. I loved the dumplings and ate almost all of them as the girls didnt really like these a whole lot. April and my mom did like the chicken wings though.
The noodles were next and I really enjoyed these. They even have a slightly sweet flavor that was really good. Finally, they brought the meats around and I had my plate filled.
From that point on everything was a blur as I was in meat heaven. The table was in the midst of meat madness!
Braxton somehow got some food stuck on his forehead while eating.
Then he figured it out and started telling us about what was on his forehead.
The shrimp was the winner for me. It had a fantastic flavor and was cooked perfectly. My second favorite meat on this night was the pork. It also was seasoned perfectly and cooked well. I had a lot of both of those meats. The steak and chicken were just okay and a little overcooked. I am sure it just depends on what skewer you get as to whether they are cooked perfectly or not and those two were by no means un-enjoyable, but they were just not on the level of the shrimp and pork on this night.
Then as the meat coma was setting in they bring my all time favorite dessert bread pudding. Here are some pictures of April and Braxton waiting on the dessert.
And here is the Bread Pudding in all its glory!
Here are April and Braxton enjoying the bread pudding.
The bread pudding was awesome and is the perfect ending to what was the best meal we had ever had at Disney World. The food was cooked well for the most part and we just enjoyed everything about it. I didnt mention our waiter yet, his name was Simo, and he was great. Not a real vibrant personality but was very helpful and always made sure we (a.k.a. I, Jon) had enough meat! I had also heard that this restaurant tends to rush people through, but we didnt really experience that. There was not a lot of waiting for things, but we certainly never felt rushed. My mom also loved this meal, which was her first Disney meal, and could not stop talking about it.
After we finished we waddled down to the gift shop to make another effort at finding that perfect hoodie April had been wanting. I was shocked about 10 minutes later when April walked across the Polynesian gift shop holding up the hoodie she had been looking for. I got over the sticker shock of the price tag and we went up and purchased the hoodie and added on a beach towel they had on sale for $10 or something like that when you spent so much in a gift shop.
Now with the hoodie problem solved we headed out to finish our night off.
Sunday, June 9 Part 4 A Crowded Night at the Magic Kingdom
After finding Aprils prized hoodie we hopped on the monorail to ride around to the Magic Kingdom. Braxton was going to head back with Gigi to the hotel for bed time while April and I were going to enjoy a late night at the Magic Kingdom.
I dont have pictures of our touring on this night. I have figured out that we are terrible about taking pictures when Braxton is not with us and for that I apologize to those of you reading as I know pictures are the best part!
We headed in to get a Big Thunder fastpass and a big shocker the ride was down. Not again! I think we grabbed a FP anyways, but didnt have a lot of hope for it to re-open as it had been down almost the entire trip so far. We headed through Liberty Square and stopped in the Christmas Shoppe. We have started the tradition of buying an ornament every year so we looked through this store, but didnt find one. We got across the parade route as it was close to starting and made a pit stop at the new Tangled bathrooms. They are very cool and well done, but I still find it kind of odd Disney put that much awesome work into restrooms when there are other things that really need to be done in the parks, but that is a discussion for another time and place.
We headed into one of our favorite late night attractions Mickeys Philharmagic. April and just really love this ride. I have probably said it before in this report, but all of the music from the movies in the attraction are from our childhood, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, etc. We could sit through that show any time.
We then headed to Tomorrowland and grabbed a Buzz FP before riding the TTA. Are you noticing I love to hit the TTA during every visit to the Magic Kingdom? I then dragged April on the Carousel of Progress. She hates it, but I have to visit it once a trip for the nostalgia of it. Our time was ready for the Buzz FP and once again I beat April. We had quite the argument after this walking through Tomorrowland and towards Fantasyland. April really, really, REALLY hates to lose at anything and was taking it out on me. I enjoy the Buzz ride, but she never wants to do it because she always gets beat. We ended this argument (of course it was all in fun) with the solution that from now on Braxton and I would ride Buzz while she rode the TTA.
We stopped in Big Top Souvenirs to look around. I just love the atmosphere of that store. I think I got one of the slushy drinks just because we were hot and it was refreshing and tasty. I saw on my Disney Experience App that Big Thunder was opened so we walked that way to use our FPs. Guess what? By the time we got there it had shut down again. It was 11:00 or so by now and we took this as a sign that it might be time to leave. It was extremely crowded on this night. The waits times were not terrible, but the walking paths were just crowded. We headed out through Adventureland we always head out through Adventureland. Why you ask?? Dole Whips of course. So we stopped and had a Dole Whip float as we walked out. We were in bed close to midnight I think. It was going to be a fairly short night of sleep.
Up Next: Gigis First Look at the Madness that is the Toy Story Dash!
Monday, June 10 Part 1 Gigis First Look at the Madness that is the Toy Story Dash!
Braxton woke us all up at about 7:15 and we got ourselves ready for the day. I went down to the Bakery to grab what had become my usual, a Mickey muffin, and came back to room to finish getting ready.
We walked to Hollywood Studios as we had been finding the Friendship Boats didnt run much before 8:30 or so. By walking we were in line at about 8:15 and had a fairly good spot, maybe 20-25 people back from the turnstile. Here are some pictures while waiting in line:
They started letting people in at 8:40. The new opening of Hollywood Studios is great in my opinion it is still a little hectic getting to Toy Story, but nothing close to what it used to be. My mom on the other hand thought it was really crazy she should have seen it a year ago! I headed to grab Fastpasses for Toy Story while the others met me at the standby line after parking the stroller. I was successful in getting Fastpasses and they had a return time of 9:50 am. We then rode it standby. I rode with my mom this time and Braxton sat in my lap. They both were just laughing the entire time, especially when the car would spin.
After Toy Story we went in for the next showing of Voyage of the Little Mermaid. The Little Mermaid is Aprils favorite Disney movie and this is one of her favorite attractions. I do enjoy it and think it is a pretty immersive attraction with a good deal of cool effects. We then headed over for the first showing of the day for Disney Junior Live on Stage. Here we were waiting for it to start.
Braxton loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse it was really the only show he would watch at the time of the trip. Now that we are back home he love all of these shows that are in this attraction, especially Jake and the Neverland Pirates. He was in awe during this show. He stood there like this picture almost the entire time.
He did have to go sit with Gigi for a few minutes at one point.
After Disney Junior it was about 10:10 and I ran down to grab Fastpasses for Rock n Roller Coaster and got a return time of 12:00 pm. We then headed back to use our Toy Story Fastpasses for another ride. April held Braxton this time and rode with my mom so I rode by myself. April said they both loved it again. Here was Braxton and I before the ride playing with our 3D glasses.
It was about 10:30 at this point as we headed over towards the Streets of America.
Up Next: Searching for the Best Snack in Hollywood Studios
Monday, June 10 Part 2 Searching for the Best Snack in Hollywood Studios
We took our time exploring the Streets of America and took a few pictures while we were there. We enjoyed showing my mom the umbrella and some of the other cool little details that exist in this area of the park.
We then headed over to ride Star Tours. April and I rode as well as grabbed a child swap so my mom and I could ride after. We all enjoyed it. April is not the biggest fan of simulator rides, but she likes this one better than most. My mom also really enjoyed it, especially the robots in the line while going in. We then decided to try lunch at a new place for us ABC Commissary. I had heard a lot of mixed reviews about this place but we gave it a go anyways. I had the burger with shrimp. It was a little bit of an odd combo and the burger was not the best Disney burger Ive ever had, but it wasnt awful either. April and my mom both had burgers as well as there just wasnt a lot of other things on the menu that appealed to them.
We got Braxton what they called a Power Pack Lunch and we had never seen it before. It was a little box that had yogurt, apple wedges, carrot sticks, goldfish, milk, and a little granola type bar called a Jammy Sammy. He loved some of these snacks and especially the Jammy Sammy. He loved the thing so much we took a picture of the package so we could find some when we got home. We ended up finding that these are carried in Targets and we like them even better now because they are organic and healthy for him. So needless to say these have become Braxtons favorite snack since we came back from Disney World. We go through a box of them each week. We did think this snack box was a nice alternative so some other kids meals or just feeding the kids chicken nuggets all week.
While April, Braxton, and Gigi were finishing lunch I popped in the Writers Stop next on my search for the best snack in Hollywood Studios. I got a carrot cake cookie and that definitely takes the top spot for my best all time snack in this park. It was excellent and was large enough for all of us to have a little bit to satisfy our sweet tooth.
After we finished here we walked down to use our Rock n Roller Coaster fast passes quickly. We loved it as usual and I cant remember if my mom rode or not and I didnt put that in my notes. I think April and I just rode twice with fast passes and the child swap as my mom wasnt up to it right after lunch. It was then time for our mid-day break and a nap for Braxton. On the way out we stopped in the gift shop and Braxton tried on some hats.
We took the boat back to the Boardwalk at about 12:30. We actually got off at the Swan/Dolphin as it is much quicker than riding the boat all the way to the Boardwalk because of the stop at the Beach Club. While walking by we took this picture from the bottom of our room. We are the room on the 3rd floor in the middle of the red pillars.
Monday, June 10 Part 3 Will You Just Take a Nap Please?
As we got back to the room we were expecting Braxton to go down for a nap fairly easily as he had been the entire trip. Well, Braxton had other plans. He just did not want to take a nap today so I put him in the stroller and went to try and walk him to sleep. It did work after walking to Epcot and back. Honestly I could have done that every afternoon. The walk around the Epcot area resorts is very scenic and something I enjoyed doing. I took some pictures along the way.
I got us some drinks at the Bakery while I was down on the Boardwalk. April also texted me and asked to bring back some ice cream from Seashore Sweets. The ice cream there was really good and we had it several times on the week.
Our plan had been to take my mom to experience a couple of things at Animal Kingdom late this afternoon and make it an early night after that, but rain moved in about 4:30 and we decided we didnt want to brave Animal Kingdom in the rain. We went down at about 5:00 to try and have dinner at Big River Grille and Brewing Works. Overall we were not very impressed with the food. It was ok, but nothing special and very similar to restaurants back home like a Chilis or something like that. We did have the chips and guacamole appetizer and did particularly like the guacamole so they had that going for them.
I had the ribs and again they were good. I do remember that the sides were awful and didnt have much good about them.
Gigi had the chicken Nachos and said it was again just ok. There was chicken on the top, but about two thirds of the chips below were just there to make the pile look bigger and didnt have anything on them.
I dont have a picture of Aprls meal, and it is probably because I think she got a burger off of the kids menu. Braxton got a grilled cheese and he seemed to enjoy it as this picture shows.
Eventually Braxton just took the entire grilled cheese and started tearing into it.
Again, Big River Grill was just okay for us. We dont drink so the brewery part didnt really appeal to us so that may make it worth it for others. It just wasnt for us though.
After our meal at Big River Grill the rain had stopped so we decided to head over to Epcot for a little while. Again, we loved the ability to just wander to Epcot for a little while without having to use any transportation. We went straight to Mouse Gears to look around once we got into the park. I dont think we bought anything, but I wasnt taking great notes at this point in the evening.
We then headed an took a ride on Figment as it was one ride we could tell Braxton really enjoyed. He would just watch intently the whole ride and laugh when Figment would come out. He rode with April this time through.
Braxton and April spent a little time playing with the games at the exit to the ride. This area needs some work for sure, but it entertained Braxton (and April!) for a few minutes.
After finishing Figment we headed into the World Showcase in search of some dessert. We walked through the Mexico side and were heading here
The line was just out the door as we got there so we took some pictures while we waited.
We took our time and explored the Germany pavilion a little bit and took some group pictures.
We just got very small desserts there and I think we just got two things and I dont know what April had. I had the milk chocolate with sea salt and it was fantastic. We were on a mission to have dessert somewhere else around the World Showcase so we were off towards
Monday, June 10 Part 5 Dessert Around the World Showcase
So I left you as we were walking through the World Showcase heading here...
We walked through the countries on the way fairly quickly as we had some more time planned in those later in the week.
I apparently took a picture of the giant golf ball during the walk.
We got the France, our first time there since the re-design of the area and got in line here first
We found out rather quickly that this was the old bakery and not the newly redesigned one when people were ordering ice cream or some French version of ice cream. We redirected ourselves to the new Boulangerie Patisserie and tried to decide what to order from a rather large selection.
We ended up deciding on a few different things. April ordered what we had really been coming for the Napoleon. Gigi ended up with a raspberry mousse, and I ended up with some sort of chocolate treat. Here is a picture of our tray with all of our selections.
April and Braxton loved the Napoleon and it seemed to be just as good as our last trip although they seemed to cut down on the size a little bit.
The chocolate treat I got was good and my mom loved the raspberry mousse. Braxton then decided to tell us where he wanted to go!
We decided it was time to head back to the room and were back Home and looking out our balcony by 8:00.
I have in my notes that I ran down to the concierge desk at some point to try and get my moms park tickets fixed. She was having to get it scanned by someone with an iPad every time she went into a park as the RFID chip was not showing any park tickets. The people at the park said the concierge would have to fix it as it was something to do with how it was set up initially. The best I could understand for the park tickets to work they have to be programmed as the 1st thing on the RFID chip and the hotel room key listed second as the entry machines to get into the park only check one level deep on the card. I dont know if that is a very good explanation, but that is what I got from all of my talking with people about it. The concierge assured me it would work after they issued a new card...I guess we will see!
Tuesday, June 11 Part 1 Breakfast with Pooh and Friends
After getting in bed early the night before we were up by 6:30 to get ready for our 8:05 dining reservation here:
We were dressed and at the bus stop by 7:05 and waited about 10 minutes for a bus to take us to the Magic Kingdom. Just a note for anyone going early to an ADR the early busses like this at the Boardwalk will stop at all five resorts on the Epcot loop, instead of just the Boardwalk, Swan, and Dolphin like normal. We arrived at the Magic Kingdom at 7:35 and got in the ADR line and were let into the Magic Kingdom at around 7:45. If you have not done this early ADR I would highly recommend it. Being in the Magic Kingdom before the general public has a really awesome atmosphere and we had a great time taking some picture and playing outside the Crystal Palace while we were waiting on our name to be called.
We were called in for breakfast right at our ADR time of 8:05. The waiter was efficient, but not the nicest guy in the world. I mean come on dude you are working at the Magic Kingdom for a living!! He informed us it would be about 10 Minutes before the characters started and that we would be the 3rd table on our side of the restaurant.
First of all, we loved the meal. The food was hot and fresh, probably because we were the first ADR time, but well take it. I actually enjoyed Poohs Breakfast Lasagna it was a little different but it certainly tasted good. We all loved the Puffed French Toast, especially my mom and Braxton. I would say the food was very good for being a buffet and it is a place we will definitely return for both the food and the characters.
Now on to our Character experience. Piglet was the first one to come around and Braxton, despite not knowing these characters very well, loved his time with them.
Next came Eyore and once again Braxton just pointed at him and hugged him like it was his long lost friend. Eyore was probably my favorite character in this meal as Braxton just really seemed to enjoy him, and also because Eyore wanted a picture with me!
Between characters Braxton enjoyed the cereal off the buffet as well.
The next Character was Pooh and Braxton saw him coming from a table or two away and would not stop looking at him. This was another great meet as you could tell Braxton was getting a kick out of all of these characters.
It was about 8:40 at this point, we had seen three of the characters and eaten all we wanted. I had also already taken care of the bill so we were just waiting on Tigger. Well the characters went in for a break about then and then came back out at about 8:45. Tigger was still on the other side of the restaurant, at least 12 tables away. After he came back out from his break though he only did about two tables and then he went back into the back of the restaurant at about 8:50, so we didnt really know what was going on. We waited until about 8:55, asked our waiter who didnt really know what was going on, and decided we would head out and not miss rope drop. We knew even if he came back out before 9:00 he was still at least 10 tables from us so it would be 9:10 or so before we even got to meet him. Braxton was getting a little restless anyways and was ready to get out of the high chair and get moving so we headed out. We had a rope drop plan to get to!
Tuesday, June 11 Part 2 I Need Something Cold to Drink!
We headed out of The Crystal Palace at around 8:55 am to take our rope drop positions. I was going to head up to the castle and grab a Peter Pan FP while April, Gigi, and Braxton headed towards Space Mountain. I got a nice picture of an empty main street from the castle before they actually opened the park.
I had to wait at the entrance past the castle for a couple of minutes before they opened the park. Once they opened I grabbed FPs for Peter Pan with a 9:40 return time. I hurried over towards Space Mountain and met April, Gigi, and Braxton. My mom and I rode first and we grabbed a child swap for April to use later in the day. My mom screamed all through the ride it was hilarious to sit in front of her.
After we got done at Space Mountain we headed to Winnie the Pooh. The wait was already at 15 minutes but Braxton passed the time playing with the interactive parts of the queue. He really loved this part.
Braxton really liked the ride due to his newfound love of the Winnie the Pooh characters. Gigi even bought him a Pooh stuffed animal after the ride was over and he still plays with it to this day.
By the time we were done it was time for our Peter Pan FP. Braxton enjoyed this ride again as he had earlier in the week. Next we headed towards Frontierland and it was starting to get really hot and it was barely 10:00. It was hotter than it had been our whole trip yet. My mom said that she didnt care what the touring plan said at this point that she had to get something cold to drink. So I grabbed a Big Thunder Mountain FP while they found a drink. I grabbed the FP at 10:10 and the return time was for 10:45. I met up with them around the entrance to Adventureland from Frontierland and they had found some water and a frozen lemonade. Those frozen lemonades dont seem like they are that good, but each bite you keep taking they get that much better probably just because they are cold.
With our thirst quenched we headed off on a pirate adventure. Pirates of the Caribbean is a great classic ride and again, Braxton just sat and watched the entire ride. He even giggled a little on the small drop. We finished off our morning with April and I taking a ride on Big Thunder Mountain with our FP and we also grabbed a child swap pass to use that night as we would be back.
Tuesday, June 11 Part 3 Are You Ready for 13 Hours of Fun?
After riding Big Thunder Mountain we were heading out of the park by 11:15 to take a break at the resort. We had had an early morning due to the character breakfast so we were ready to get to a break and Braxton was ready for a nap. The park was starting to get really crowded as we were leaving, particularly around Town Square and entering the park. We witnessed a funny moment as we were walking out of the park as a dad was talking to his two kids and asked them Are you ready for 13 hours of fun? He was asking them this as they were rounding the corner under the train station and into a massive crowd in Town Square. They were obviously planning on being in the park until the Magic Kingdom closed at midnight. Now I know there was a lot of fun they could still have had that day, but I thought about all of the things we had already done that morning by being around at rope drop and we had not hurried around the park by any means. We had a laugh though at the 13 hours of fun comment and as we were riding the bus home April and I discussed how miserable we would be if we were to be in a park for 13 hours.
We were on a bus by 11:25 and heading back to the Boardwalk and Braxton fell asleep rather quickly.
This is also the first time we have seen a bus this empty all week we were the only ones on it. I guess that is what happens when you leave the park at 11:15 in the morning.
Braxton woke as we arrived back at the hotel and we decided to go down and take a swim. There was no one at the pool at 12:30 and we swam until 2:00 or so before we got hungry.
When we were done swimming I ran over the Boardwalk to grab lunch and take back up to the room. Mom and April had the signature pizza from the pizza window. It was a garlic/mushroom/spinach pizza. They said the pizza was a good quality, but the entire surface of the pizza under the cheese was covered in mushrooms. They both like mushrooms ok, but not that much. It was mushroom overload for them. I had wanted to try the Lobster Roll from the Boardwalk Bakery, it is expensive, but it was very good. It was fresh and the lobster quality was pretty good although it should have been for around $16. Braxton just ate something he had leftover from another meal I believe. It was nice for a change to just eat around the table in our room.
After lunch it was 3:00 by this point so we all lay down to try and take a little nap. April and I slept until 4:30 or so and then went out to read on the balcony. My mom and Braxton both slept until 5:45 or so before we started getting ready to head out to our evening park.
Up Next: What Have They Done to the Country Bears?
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